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I'd love to see an open world AP sort of like Kingmaker or Skull & Shackles. Personally I love hexploration, but I don't know how much people would actually want something like that. I think the Skull & Shackles formula could work really well with Starfinder though.

finish kingmaker!!!

Just wanted to chime in here, I love the idea for this product. I am committed to picking up every pawn box you put out, even if it is for an AP that I never plan to play. You can never have too many pawns in my opinion. I'm planning on picking up at least 2 bestiary boxes when they come out.

Can you please make one of these boxes for Kingmaker? We are all having our doubts as to whether the paper minis will ever be finished. We know they are trying their best but they aren't really delivering...

Awesome. I don't even play RotRL but I'm going to pick up one of these in case I do one day. I applaud Paizo's continuing efforts to tie the game mastery line to the adventure paths. Does Paizo listen to its customers? Yes. As a result, they are getting my money.

I think what the OP means is that to the Minkai a katana is commonplace. Whereas to other races it is rare. ie. A dwarven waraxe is a martial weapon for dwarves, yet exotic for other races. I understand how the game mechanic works, but there are real life cultural differences in weapon styles between East and West and he was wondering if that carried over to the game's depiction of an Eastern style race.

It's a very valid question concerning your choice in skills. My advice would be to to speak with your DM and see his views on it. With your character being Minkai and a Samurai at that (intimately familiar with the weapon you are crafting) as long as there were no serious game-breaking issues I would definately allow it.

OP here, yes Netromancer, that was my question. For a character from Minkai, the katana would have been commonplace and one would expect that the crafting of the katana would be central to the study of weaponscrafting in those parts. We talked it over as a group and decided to go with Cheapy's explanation. The way that we are playing it, "exotic" does not mean "Originating in or characteristic of a distant foreign country" but rather that by nature, it requires some very specialized skills to craft. That is, someone trained in Minkai to craft katanas would still find katanas more difficult to craft than longswords due to the nature of the katana. That isn't the standard definition of "exotic" by any stretch of the imagination, but rather captures the relative difficulty of crafting certain items. My samurai will still be crafting his own katanas, but must role an exotic DC. To me at least, this question is answered.

I'd certainly like to see, in future editions of the core rulebook, the term "exotic" changed to something else more indicative of crafting difficulty.

Oh and a second question, if you don't let horses pass through hex Q, do you let PCs explore the hex with horses, since theoretically they cannot get to half of the hex with their horses?

I have a question about whether GMs typically have rivers impede the progress of horses when doing hexploration.

For example, on page 14 of Stolen Lands, if the party is on horses and starts out in the hex with L. Goldmine, and proceeds through the hex Q. Rickety Bridge, to the hex with W. Fangberry Thicket, Do you let horses cross the hex with Q. Rickety Bridge? I know that at the actual Landmark of the Rickety Bridge horses cannot cross (page 24) but if the PCs are not exploring the hex but just passing through do you let horses pass? One could theoretically say that the bridge itself is not passable by horses but further up the river in the same hex is a section of the river shallow enough that horses can ford. This would make travel a bit more challenging for the PCs, but might add more hassle than fun.

What have GMs who have run Stolen Lands done?

kingmaker

ah I see, thanks!

I'm not sure I fully understand this answer. It seems that some weapons are listed as exotic because they are not normally encountered and should be therefore harder to craft. But for my specific character, the opposite would seem to be true.

Btw, this is not a hypothetical question. I actually am playing a samurai in an adventure path that does not take place in Tian Xia. So I've given him ranks in Craft: Weapons and Craft: Armor so that he will still have access to his tools of trade while far from home. My question is whether he is should be rolling a DC 15 or DC 18 when crafting weapons and armor that he has been in contact with all his life.

If my character is from Minkai and attempts to craft a Katana or Naginata, is the DC check still 18 even though my character is from Minkai? Both these weapons are listed as "exotic", but they would not seem exotic to my character. On the other hand, a rapier would seem exotic to my character (having never encountered it) but since it is a martial weapon, by the current rules it seems that it would be easier for my character to create a rapier than a katana.

Hey guys, I've got 2 questions relating to Stolen Land

1. I'm having a hard time thinking up pranks from Tyg-Titter-Tut and Perlivash. Any suggestions? What worked well for you?

2. In the first encounter with the bandits, what do the horses do? There are 6 horses, but only 4 bandits (Happs+3Bandits) why do they have 6 horses? Are the bandits riding the horses or are they dismounted? Are they trained to fight or do they stand around? Should the PCs be fighting them?

I have two really basic questions. Sorry if these have already been addressed.

1. Do you allow PCs to roll multiple perception checks? What I mean is, when the PCs enter a hex with a hidden location, and they all fail their perception check, should I allow them another chance - perhaps in a day or something? How have you been handling this? Do the take 10 or take 20 rules apply here?

2. How do you determine if an enemy gets away when fleeing? I posted this question in the pathfinder RPG->Rules Questions board but didn't really get a straight forward response. Many of the monsters in the AP have a moral section which dictates that they flee after they take a certain amount of damage. How do I determine if the monsters get away or not? Does this simply constitute getting off the board, or is there a more sophisticated mechanic that you are using?

Thanks!

So how do I handle an enemy attempting to flee? The place where this has come up is the Kingmaker adventure path (although fleeing is not exclusive to that.) Most of the enemies will flee once they are down to a certain level of HP. At least one monster will flee if any damage is taken at all. I'm the one DMing, so how do I handle this? Once the enemy is off the board, how do I determine mechanically if they get away or not? Thanks for your help!

Sorry I must have missed this when reading the CRB but I can't seem to find this anywhere. Monsters typically have a morale block which states at what point they will flee.

How do you flee? Is it just a matter of getting off the board and then you're scot-free or is there some mechanic? Where would I find this in the CRB? Thanks!

I'm not sure if this was brought up, but there is a typo on the Stolen Land paper minis. Fat Norry is listed as Bandit 1 rather than Bandit 7 (assuming that bandits are numbered left to right).

I'm thinking about getting some cards but I'd like to keep them in good condition. Does anybody have any recommendations for sleeves which will be snug? I tend to like the quality of the fantasy flight sleeves, but do they fit?

So we're starting Kingmaker in a week. I've GMed for a while, but nothing like Kingmaker before.

So can you give me your top 3-5 pieces of advice for running a good Kingmaker campaign?

are there any modules or adventures written in non-japanese areas?

I'm contemplating whether or not to order the Jade Regent adventure paths. We're playing KM right now and loving it as well. My only hesitation with asian inspired fantasy themes is that usually asian = japanese, and japanese only. The authors might make mention of chinese/korean/se asian inspired areas, but in general everything that you encounter is based on japan.

Before paying money for the Jade Regent APs, I'd like to know if this rule of thumb applies as well.

module "enhancement pack"

hire this man now. I would buy. make for adventure paths as well. thanks.

I've commented on this issue before and I'd like to again. One of the main weaknesses with games like pathfinder and 4e is the maps. As GMs, we have to do all sorts of somersaults and backflips in order to have usable maps. I GMed 4e for a while, and I would blow up the images from the pdfs and print them out with my color printer. One big problem is that everything was pixilated because of the low resolution of the original graphics. The other problem is the mapping notation/symbols/footnotes were still on the image, such as "firetrap" written over a shaded floor square or a big footnote with a circle around it right behind a door so that PCs would be expecting something there.

I know that a lot of GMs will say "why not just use dry erase maps? It gets the job done!" My response is "no it doesn't." Dry erase maps completely ruin the experience of the game, unless you are an artist and you can draw quickly and on the fly.

I played a few living forgotten realms games at a very large store in my area with (supposedly) one of the best GMs around here (I live in Los Angeles). His mapping style came down to "um lemme see, there's a log here" and he'd draw a box around three of the squares on the map and crosshatch them in. "There's a statue here" and he'd draw a box around another square and write "statue" inside. What the heck is this???? I didn't realize how much of a difference it made, but as a player this completely destroys the experience. Even worse, later on I looked at the module and saw all the beautiful maps that he was looking at, which could not be transmitted to us through the dry erase mat and a few hastily drawn blocks on top of a blank grid.

Let me just say, some of the WotC products got it right. I hate WotC, I hate how they treat their customers, and I think that 4e is absolute crap. But have you seen the gamma world box sets? They come with all the counters you need to play the game AND THE MAPS. No boxes on dry mats with the word "statue" written inside at all.

When I first got into pathfinder I was blown away with the detail and the obvious care that was put into the products. I read through a few of the adventure paths and I can honestly say that 4e modules aren't even in the same league. The stories and encounters in pathfinder adventure paths are worked out with such meticulous detail, and it shows! The maps in the adventure paths are gorgeous, the only problem is... how do I deliver that cartographic quality to my players? I've even been tempted to scribble a few things on a drymat, then hand them the adventure path and say "this is what it was supposed to look like." I just feel that one of the greatest parts of these modules and the adventure paths are completely squandered because they aren't sold in playable form, either bundled together or sold separately.

Maybe this is why the only module I own is crypt of the everflame. I love pathfinder but I'm not planning on buying anymore modules. It's a complete tease. I look at the maps and yearn for my players to gawk at the beautiful cartography like I am, and experience what I am experiencing, but I know that will never be. How many other customers are holding back their dollars with the same thought in mind?

Let me just conclude by saying yes, I would pay twice as much for a bundle. I would pay 3 times more in fact. Package the module with two flip mats. If those flip mats are double sided then you've got 4 maps that come with the module. Some of your maps might only require half or a quarter of the flip mat, so you can have up to 16 maps included! I would easily pay three times the amount for a module with two flip mats included. If your adventure path map folios came with playable maps, I would buy more adventure paths. Paizo is on the right track by releasing the Bestiary Box (of which I plan to purchase 2 or 3) so that we don't have to use pennies or bottle caps anymore. I really do think that the Bestiary Box + modules/paths with all the maps available for purchase will be a GM's dream that I will not be able to resist.

Mark: yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

I've recently started GMing Pathfinder after having GMed 4th ed for a while. The APs are great, but I was wondering what people did regarding the maps.

In Dungeon magazine, WotC would release zip files of the images in the magazine which were relatively high resolution. I would blow these up and print them out and create the maps like that. I'm guessing with Pathfinder APs, the only way is to directly copy and paste from the pdf, which is generally pretty low res. Once you blow it up, it becomes extremely pixilated. Have the actual graphics ever been offered?

I'm really not a fan of dry-erase on blank battle maps, as this is far less fun than using actual graphical maps. Having been both the GM and the player, I can tell you that what you see in your head, while you are drawing in and filling in little squares on your battle mat, and what the players see is completely different. Using nice minis and then using the blank battle mat really breaks the immersion.

Right, that's not exactly what I asked. Thanks though.

Looks like this has been out of print for 3 years. Is there a chance it will be reprinted? I'd definitely buy one if it was reprinted...

Before you go and start a spending spree, take note that the first few APs were done for D&D 3.5 and not Pathfinder rules. That is not really that big of an issue as the rules are very similar. But what is key is this June (if I remember correctly) Paizo will be releasing a collected volume of the first 6 AP volumes updated to the Pathfinder rules and with tweaks derived from all the feedback they have received over the years from people running that Adventure Path. Look for the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition.

Thanks. Yes I am aware of that. Let's just say... I'm a collector. I like collecting RPG things, so I'm really not buying this to run it. We're actually doing Kingmaker right now!

Thanks!

Out of curiosity, did any of the APs come with inserts that I would need to look for?

Thanks all!

I know that many would disagree with me, but I'm all for the maps in the APs being reprinted in flip mat style. If I could have my wish, all of them would be printed so that I'd never have to use the dry-erase/battlemat nonsense.

Thanks! Can anybody else conform that?

So I just purchased Adventure Path #1 on ebay (don't ask me why.) According to the seller, it is "like new".

My question is, what came in this particular AP? Were there any pull out maps things that I need to look for (that might be left out) when I get the AP?

The last thing I was is for the AP to have come with a fold up map or poster which is not sent to me, even though it's listed as "like-new".

Thanks!