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Hi Everyone. I am hoping to find some alternate digital version of battle maps to use for the Stag Lord's keep and the ruined Temple of Erastil. The ruin keep that is in the book just doesn't do it for me. Suggestions/links are most welcomed! Thank you.
USE IT! Yes! That's what it's for! Let me know how it works out. If you make any changes, share them with me since I might like your version even more! Thanks :) Edit: I plan to have a PC spellcaster perform some kind of ritual to regrow a new tree that the Dryad will then be reborn from and bound to. The Old Beldame will have to die to complete the ritual, but she does so gladly, having spent many long lonely years without her loved ones. She dies with a smile on her face and thanks the party. A sapling will grow in the place where the ritual takes place, and in time a Dryad will be born of it.
"My story? Well, it is long in the telling, but I have not told it in an age and so it would give me happiness to share it in remembrance of those I have outlived. When I was a young lady this region was part of the Taldor frontier. I settled here with my husband, Arturus, a handsome military man, after deciding we would jump on the opportunity to make our own place out here. We had a daughter, a lovely girl. The meaning of love was not known to me until I held her in my arms. My husband was called away for a military campaign against the Centaur tribes. He never returned. When my daughter was 5 years of age, we had a very harsh winter, and she became gravely ill. I rode north for 2 days through a blinding blizzard, trying to reach the town where now the ruins of the old fortress still dwell upon the lakeside. We sheltered in a wooded grove, in a circle of great fir trees, where a small spring flowed. I was lost, she was burning with fever, and we were both bitten by frost. I wept there in the snow, holding my girl, and cried out to the gods, to the sky, to the very trees and the soil. I swore that I would give anything if my child could be saved. I swore to the wind, and felt a desperation I had not ever known. My strength waned, and I fell asleep from exhaustion. When I awoke, I was in a sunlit glade, and it was as if it were a warm autumn day. Of the snow, there was no sign, and the air was filled now with a blizzard of bright autumn leaves drifting from the treetops above. There, in the clearing before an immense tree, I met the wood lady. She told me that she had heard my pleas for help, and had taken pity on me. She told me that a great curse had been placed upon her, by a jealous nymph, a being named Nyrissa. The curse was a blight that would kill her tree. She explained to me that her kind, the Dryads, have a soul which burns brightly but requires another soul to sustain it, and that in ages forgotten the first of her kind had made a pact with a powerful tree spirit. The trees of this great spirit are ever renewing, growing, and gaining life from the very earth and the light of the sun, and so in exchange for protection and companionship from the dryads, they would bind their souls as one, so that each may benefit and thrive. Her tree was dying, a creeping black mold of some corruptive nature clung upon it, and rotted it from within. She explained that without her tree, she too would die. She proposed a pact, and I listened raptly, for I was in no place to negotiate terms. She explained that she could save my daughter, but that I would have to save her in exchange. I agreed, not knowing the cost, nor caring. She spoke to her tree there, in the glade, and wept. Where her tears landed on the trunk, a branch began to grow, and she trembled and cried to look upon it. From the branch, a marvelous fruit took shape, its color I could not describe, but it was like looking at warm sunrise on a summer morning. She whispered with the tree, plucked the fruit, and we both watched as the tree withered, rotted, and died. She grew palid, and I wondered if she were already a ghost. The glade darkened, and I could feel a cold wind blowing. The birds had fled, and there was only cold wind, and the sound of the Dryad weeping. She gave to me the fruit, and said "Your daughter must eat the flesh of this fruit, but not the pit. You must swallow the pit and in so doing it shall bind our souls as one. Within you I shall sleep and my spirit will burn low so that I do not drink too deeply of your essence, for if I should awaken you would burn as a dry leaf in a forest fire. You will live here until such a time that a great mortal practitioner of magic shall come to you. I have seen his coming in the pool of sight. His skin is the color of the night and the earth, and his hair is the hue of the winter storm. He is mighty, and will know how to reawaken me. I have foreseen it. Do this, for you have made pact with me and of your word there is no undoing." And so, I knelt quickly, chewing the fruit and placing it into my daughter's mouth, carefully, one piece at a time, giving her water from the pool and slowly she consumed it. It felt an eternity, I shook like a leaf, and was in a dreadful hurry though I forced myself to feed her each tender chunk of the fruit carefully. I waited and looked to the Dryad. She glared upon me until I realized I still held the pit. I forced it down, a rough pulpy thing, and once it was swallowed, I pitched once again into darkness. I wakened within the snow covered fir circle that I had fallen in. My daughter was crying over me, her tears pattering down on my face, as she shook me. She kept calling for me to awake. I sat up, and felt renewed. My energy had returned, as had my daughter's. We came back to our home, overjoyed to have each other. Over time we found that we could speak with the animals, call to the spirits and fey of the forest, and other stranger things. Our skin changed to the greenish hue you see now, no doubt a sign of the Dryad's power which had saved us. For many years we lived happily together in the forest. The land provided for us, and our powers grew with each passing season. Eventually she met a woodsman, a kind man whom she married. They moved to the city and were happy for many years. She wrote letters to me often. One year, I received a letter from her eldest son that an inquisitor had found her guilty of witchcraft and burned her and her daughters at the stake. Her husband was killed trying to save them from the flames. The years have been long and lonely. I have waited for this day for many decades. It brings me great joy to see you here, because it means that I can finally fulfill my promise. " Likely Inquiries: Husband? "Arturus, Handsome, brave. He treated me like a friend and equal, not like most men of that age. Born a farmer's son, he was lifted to minor nobility by proving himself in battle against the Tiger Lord barbarians in the Taldan campaign to the west. He never treated me like the peasant girl I was, and I always felt like his queen. Sometimes in my sleep I can feel his hands running through my hair, and hear his deep kind laughter. I miss him terrible." Daughter? "Glorianna. Her hair was golden as mine was in my youth. Her laughter was sunlight in a dark room, and she had a spirit that could melt ice." Fruit Taste? "It tasted like hope, and peace. The kind of serenity you have when you hear the laughter of someone you love." Grandchild? "His name is Arturus, after his grandfather. Though I have never met him." Time? Age? How long have you been out here? "I stopped measuring the years long ago. I had nothing more to look forward to but this moment, and simply lived season to season here, with very few visitors or news from the outside world. Most people fear me. Perhaps they are right to do so." --- Feedback and additional ideas welcome. Hope you like it or gain some inspiration for your own game.
How did you handle this with your players' kingdom in the game? Did they end up having to pay tribute to Brevoy in some way because they made those routes safer?
Does anyone else feel like Nyrissa is a little bland for a villain? She wants to steal the whole land to win the heart of an Elder? I mean... how does that even work? I guess it just seems she is a very difficult to understand/relate to villain, and I find the more you can humanize villains the better they become. The best villains are the ones we can see ourselves becoming given the right circumstances. I was thinking about having the background plot be more along the lines that she and this elder were in fact together, but that she took another lover from the lesser courts, and that in his jealousy the elder imprisoned this other fey in the shadow realm and took away Nyrissa's capacity to love. "If you will not love me, then you will not love." I would rather almost paint her as a tragic figure. Perhaps she needs to consume all the life of the new kingdom in order to have enough power to open the rift and free her lover? I guess I feel like her general backstory and motivation don't make much sense to me. Any suggestions there?
Ohhh I like the idea of tying it all to Nyrissa. Maybe make it so she is making herself into a goddess that is the antithesis to Erastil. Reskinned minotaur is a GREAT idea. I have lots of great ideas to chew on now. Thanks a ton Pennywit. If you think of anything else, please feel free to jot it down here.
How about Gyronna? That actually ties in well with events in later modules. Only issue I see here is that the majority of the bandits are male, and the cult of Gyronna has no males. I am not sure I want an all female cast of bandits.
Any particular reason?
Pennywit, I really like the idea of making the bandits a lot more active. And making the Stag Lord like a feudal lord. I was actually thinking of making the Stag Lord a monster as the rumor mentioned. Making it so they have converted the old temple of Erastil to a cult dedicated to Lamashtu. Perhaps they are actively capturing some of the animals in the area to create half man half animal monsters. Perhaps creating an army of beastmen. The former priest of Erastil is the partial bear monster who leads the cult. Thoughts?
Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I will be running Kingmaker soon and have already made a few adjustments here and there. I am looking for any advice you may have about running the adventure path. I actually plan to run it using the Dungeon World rules and keep the maps, plots, etc. Would love any tips you have if you have experience playing or running this AP. Questions:
The trappers and hunters that trade at Oleg's, where do they live? Only one of them is mentioned, and hes dead under a tree (Breeg). Surely if there are enough trappers and hunters around to keep a trading post alive (even while getting robbed regularly) they would have cabins or places to live in the area? I guess Oleg ships furs north to Restov in exchange for supplies to trade/sell to the trappers and hunters right? How does he have anything to trade if the bandits are constantly stealing from him?
I bought the book as soon as our local FLGS had it (actually he didn't have it on the shelf yet). Well worth it in my opinion, though it is fairly useful to have the linked searchable reference online as well. Still, no website is a substitute for owning the book itself imo. Remember to support your hobby folks (not accusing anyone, just reiterating).
Thank you both! I like the wealthy lifestyle, and I will allow the withdraw action too, but I will make sure they understand its risky. Note: I explained both of these things to them...their response was "We should make that gold mine a privately owned mine to make money" *sigh* my players kill me with the "what's in it for me" thing. Any suggestions on handling the above if they decide to develop the mine "privately"? I'm thinking that knowledge of it could get out and cause unrest etc. Any other suggestions if they try to go this route? Thank you again,
We are just starting Rivers Run Red and our first kingdom building session tonight. My players have already asked "Do we get paid from the kingdom?" Can anyone tell me if there are any rules on handling "salary" for rulers? Any suggestions? The more you can help me argue the point the better, my players will try to squeeze me for everything they can. Help! Thanks,
Good job with the "X of the Y" title, people seem to love that for some reason. Way too large. There is no way this will fit in the format requested (32 page adventure) Too epic for the level. If this were for a much higher level, and for an adventure trilogy proposal, I would so vote for it. It has some great ideas (sailing a ship through a giant glacier? Fantastic but not really realistic enough for the prime material world I think) Good ideas, but too much and too over the top in some areas for the required format. Good luck though, and congrats on top 4.
I like the visuals of the ethereal plane. The dead ethereal dragons are great. If you wanted them to like your title, you just have to make it like this "X of the Y" like "Island of the Sleeping Dragon" or something similar. I HATE adventures where you MUST have this sword or whatnot to defeat the enemy. It is very railroaded in this fashion. Go to point A to get item, take item to point B and kill boss. Its a very tired RPG concept. I like elements of this, but the thing that took my vote away most was the complete and utter TPK that the final encounter is. Good luck though, some good ideas here.
I am amused greatly by the title comments. It seems that if you want to impress people, go with the traditional "X of the Y" title. That being said, this adventure seems interesting, but looks like a TPK to me (just like Dragonrest Isle, I guess he should have named it "Isle of the Dragon's Rest" to get extra points there too). I think that its a TPK waiting to happen, but could be adjusted. It doesn't get my vote, but its a good job nonetheless. I like Neil's submissions, I think he should team up with Matthew and they could really create some seriously amazing material.
Alright, finally got some time to comment. I love the visuals AGAIN. Battle on a bridge with a giant octopus? GREAT. Breaking the tentacles into smaller creatures so that the CR is appropriate is brilliant. Sure, in this case the bridge is too large, so what, move the adventure, problem solved. I could fix this whole setting issue with a couple "Find and Replace" commands for the location names. Now from what I have read, this just looks like it needs a new location (make up a city) and voila! Ready to rock. Maybe make the adventure begin with the storm for the action junkies. I personally don't mind adventures beginning calmly. I think its too common a mistake to start EVERY adventure with some exciting moment like "OMG EMERGENCY! YOU WAKE UP IN A BURNING BUILDING WITH GOBLINS EATING YOUR TOES! WHAT DO YOU DO?!!?!?" And as for complaints about the title...I personally rarely ever like published adventure titles. I guess if you wanted to be generic and follow what people are used to you could have named it "Lair of the Boiling Beast" to follow the over-used formula of published adventure titles. The title is fine, and I don't usually judge a book by its title or I would never buy adventures. Sure it gets the player's attention, but then they are focused on the encounter and not the setting. If you start quietly, it lets the players see the setting and understand it a bit before dropping a bomb on it. In my experience, players who have time to learn about the setting are actually more likely to save the setting (in this case a city). I don't really see a solid foundation on the complaints people are giving. Personally, for me the pros far outweigh the cons. Pros:
Cons:
Most of the others I have read so far are MUCH too big to fit into the asked for adventure format. It's almost like they are grasping for a trilogy or something. This one is just right with a little work. You get my vote, I think its easily fixed, and very cool.
Sorry I did not comment on this before. This is amazing. I LOVE the feat (though it does need some tweaking) and it is very much in line with the villain's theme. Also, to the people who think that a villain having an army is "too hard" of an EL or whatever...have you ever watched a movie or read a story with a villain in it? They almost always have lackeys and minions and armies. Obviously only a very powerful party could confront such a force head on, and it would be foolish to do so generally, which I think is a GREAT plus for having this villain in a game. It might take some *gasp!* planning and role-playing before rushing in and hitting things! Anyway, this villain definitely gets my vote. Awesome work.
This is easily the best villain of the whole bunch. I wish I could vote for this more than once! Wow. This is a villain I could see on a cover. The imagery is terrifying. There were a couple other entries I really enjoyed, but this is by far my favorite of the bunch. Great job!
I completely agree. This item is horribly overpowered for the cost. This just oozes power gamer exploits and GM headaches. My mount died?Who cares! I will buy another one and have a nightmare all the time! Changing a mount into a nightmare sounds cool, but in practice I think this would be terrible to have in a game from a GM standpoint. Grats on the top 32 though!
Cool defensive item, but way too expensive for 3/day uses for 1 round each. In general it seems there aren't a lot of defensive items submitted. At least it isn't overpowered. I was worried it would be a fantasy version of the iron man suit for a second there, thanks for not doing that. congrats on top 32!
OK, this item is absolutely freakin' amazing. The nitpick about construction requirements is pretty ridiculous, someone is letting their rules lawyering get in the way of a great concept. Concept and imagination come first, before the rules. Bend them for a good idea and benefit. I am also amazed at the amount of concerns over "you can cast extra spells!?" and "what happens if he dies!?" when the description plainly states that you have no more spells, hit-points, or other resources than the SINGLE character does. I am not trying to be a jerk, but read over the description well before posting feedback. You basically get 2 full rounds of actions, as 2 separate entities that share the same resources, then miss a round, then resume third round as normal. Sort of like an old second edition haste with a body double. Very cool, with great limits to keep it from being overpowered. Bravo, and congrats on top 32!
Metamagic items seem a tad overdone to me in general, though I have not seen any others in the contest. Its a decent item, but very vanilla. Not bad. Grats on top 32!
This item would be annoying without a uses/per day. Horribly so. Good concept, terrible mechanics. I would take out the CON damage too. Congrats on top 32!
I like this idea, its creepy and magical. I also agree the grappling hook should poop the web, maybe after the hook is lodged somewhere. He could shoot it at the user, so that he can easily grab it. That would at least make it ideal for difficult climbing. Not sure its worth the price though, a decent rogue with a padded grappling hook could do all this, but flavor wise its sweet. congrats on top 32!
Its very simple to correct. If you are running your game, and you like it the other way, then run your game as such. Also, if you have power gamers, then simply do not allow casting in animal forms. I prefer giving them the stats of the creature they shift into (old man becomes huge powerful bear that CANT cast spells), so thats how it goes in my games. The rules should not be set in stone, I feel that it is up to the DM to stop munchkin power gaming in his game to keep it fun and challenging for all the players.
Cool item, not overpowered, fun to use and visualize. Grats on the top 32!
I would love to see an example of this "potential for abuse" that some of the judges have alluded to. How could this be abused? The negative levels MUST be paid for or the item doesn't function. I hate dealing with level drain mechanics and keeping track of that, so on the one hand as a DM I hate this. On the other hand, I love items that have a huge drawback and a useful power, so bonus points on that. Grats on top 32!
Wow, people actually make Bard items. After recovering from that initial shock, and realizing that people must also still play Bards (I know, crazy right?!) I began to like this item. I like that it still uses 2/bardic music uses, and I don't understand why it would need a uses per day since that in and of itself is inherently limiting. It's not like Bards are just such powerhouses that we have to stem the tide of their unbelievable god-powers! :D Grats on top 32!
As Clinton B. mentioned, this item would be balanced in an initiative rolled every round kinda game. But, in the usual rules (roll once at start of combat) this is quite powerful. You could basically use it every time you are fighting a "boss" encounter. I don't know, I kind of like the item, but it doesn't have a lot of flavor in my opinion. Still, its not too bad considering you can only use it 1/day if you only have ONE, but the thing is...you could switch out the used one, and put on a fresh one in between combats if you have a munchkin group of players. They are probably too cheaply costed for that reason alone. I would definitely make it "roll twice, take better result" or even "reroll 1 initiative check" Congrats on top 32!
The visuals this item creates for the imagination are great, the rules need tweaking. Overall I think the item is pretty great though. As others have stated, the duration needs to be much longer on the fairy fired footprints. The item has wonderful flavor. Great job, and congrats on top 32.
This is definitely one of my favorite items. The flavor is just awesome, and I think the execution is wonderful. If I were to use this in my game, I don't know that I would completely destroy the item if the leaves were destroyed. I think it would be easier to just say that the 1/day has been used up, and the leaves will be able to "grow back" the following day. That might be too powerful for the price so... Or perhaps the option to scry up to 80 miles away could be used, but because the leaves did not return (or were destroyed) the item enters a dormancy period, where it can't be used for 1d6 days or a week. During the dormancy period, the Leaf could be covered in a thin layer of frost, and gradually "thaw" and turn green over the course of the week and finally when turning to autumn color again, be fully recharged and ready for use. This could drive up the price maybe, but I think its a fair trade off. Great job! And congrats on RPG Superstar Top 32!
A very neat utility item. Straight forward and useful. It has an old school feel too, which is fun. I also like the visual description. Am I reading the description right? In that it is both locked (dc 25) and arcane locked? As in, they are stacked?
I think the concept of this item is absolutely creepalicious! I could easily see this as some sort of villainous item, or an item the party finds within the confines of some tentacle-filled cult hideout. Or with the fishy flavor, some sort of kuo-toa/sahaguin item? Aboleth worshipers maybe? Or perhaps it could be in the possession of some half mad wizard? The rules could be cleaned up, but overall I think a lot of people missed some of the original description. I see a lot of questions about how spells and sight effects will effect the user's sight, when the description clearly states that anything that effects sight effects the user normally. It also clearly states that you can dismiss the swarm at will, and that when they are so dismissed, they are permanently gone. I would like to see some rules on how durable the eyes are, as I can tell from the context in the description that they can be destroyed and reborn in 1d4 days. If they are very fragile, they could be used early on in an adventure to scout, etc, but may not always be available as the party is hit with more area effect damage and the like later on. If they are very fragile, that would explain the somewhat low item cost. This seems like an item that would be discovered (for flavor), rather than created anyway, so the cost is not terribly concerning for me. As for all the "too gonzo" comments, not everyone wants to play generic vanilla fantasy. To each his/her own I suppose, but it is good that the value of something non-traditional was recognized here. I for one, LOVE the types of things which others consider "gonzo". It is fantasy after all. -RBG
Please Cancel my subscription as well. I was very disappointed that Paizo will not be supporting 4th edition. I love your products, you have talented writers, but I will have no use for 3.5 material. I have already removed my payment info. Thank you. Sincerely,
Greetings everyone! I just picked up the first 3 installments of the new "Dungeon Magazine Adventure Path: Age of Worms" and I really like it. I just have one problem. I cant find the adventure hooks anywhere! I see where it says on page 16 "Pay particular attention to the Adventure Hooks section.." but there is no Adventure Hooks section! There is only a section in the backdrop diamond lake article about the origins of PC's and there is something about meeting at an old mine office, but it doesnt say why, or who asks the PCs to meet there. Please tell me I have just overlooked it! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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