huh, a bit of googling tells me epic did not in fact precede 40k - just in my personal experience i guess :)
on the monster front - i would probably just pick monsters from the current line up that had abilities similar to what you are looking for, then just re-skin them as the appropriate zerg.
1. who knows? it all went on behind the scenes and never gets explained. when the PCs turn up the deed is done and the giant is already there.
2. stars align. like you say, something cosmic is going on. maybe this creates a weakness in the dracoliches defences that the giant (and maybe the PCs too!) can exploit. epic three way battle ensues.
3. manipulation. the giant poses as someone else, or pulls strings behind the scenes to manipulate the party into doing his dirty work. once he is revealed this has the added bonus of giving the players a reason to really hate him.
4. flesh out the dracolich. if we know what the dracolich wants, or what his goals are, then we can find a way into his sphere.
5. some combo of the above - maybe the giant poses as a friendly, helps the PCs get to the dracolich, then pulls the ole turncoat, laughs evilly and swipes the macguffin. cue the REAL big bad fight, now with artifact powered giant!
it sounds like dimension door is not going to be that useful in this situation, but i would just like to point out that there is no mention of LoS in the spell description - it says you can visualise the area, or simply state direction.
I've been wanting to do this for a hypothetical homebrew caster class that only has one spell known but all the slots of a 9-level caster and a lot of ways to augment it. Problems were:
1. The ways to augment it would require customization (essentially spell research) on a per-character basis for the spell in question to make sense.
2. If the spell was higher than 1st-level, the earlier spell levels would need to be backfilled with weaker or partial versions of the spell in question.
3. Some spells just don't lend themselves well to this.
So it's a pretty hefty amount of houseruling, but I'm game if any of my players are. In any case, I highly encourage spell research along these sort of lines as it builds distinction between otherwise similar casters.
dunno if you've read it but sounds a bit like the wizards in hugh cooks novels. only a few different abilities but can vary the affect with skill and the amount of power they put into it.
my PCs recently defeated a dragon, and im pretty sure they are going to discover its lair (and hence its hoard) in the next session or two.
most of their magic items are found rather than purchased or crafted - so im looking for some cool items for the party rogue and wizard to find (the other two players have recently had some great upgrades)
we are traditionally CRB only, but i have been gradually integrating stuff from other books - plus its a cool way to give them stuff they dont know about.
i was thinking about a +2 agile short sword for the rogue (he is a melee damager).
for the wizard i would like to throw him some new spells in the form of scrolls. he is a utility type wizard, but could really use some more COMBAT utility. possibly some sort of damage - i know its not typically a utility wizards forte - but he currently has zero options in this respect.
a few ideas for sweet non-core spells would be great, or a better suggestion for the rogue as well :)
oh i should note they are both 9th level currently.
yeah talk to your players is good. i have a couple of slightly irregular players too, one is about 50% and the other 80.
fortunately i do run a campaign that has room for PCs to come and go - its not endless dungeon crawls or what have you.
its a chance for that person to develop their character in different ways - what goals do they have that differ from the main groups? my 50% guy is currently collaborating with his PC's brother to smuggle an army of mercenaries into the capital city under the guise of refugees. the other PCs know nothing of this (email is a wonderful thing) but it will allow him to do something really dramatic at some point, and keeps him involved.
i typically award half exp to players who dont come to sessions for advancing different goals of their own. they also gather new or different resources (said merc army being a good example). so far there is only a levels difference across the party, and if i have to fudge things to keep it that way i will.
i also like to email before a session about what their PC has been up to, so it can come from them if or when the question is asked.
someone above mentioned if they are going to be really irregular then the sort of SWAT team helps out the PCs approach can work too.
i'd like to propose an elven magus/dragon disciple, using the envoy alternate racial trait to satisfy the spontaneous casting requirement of dragon disciple.
there are probably other races that can make it work too, but elf seemed appropriate - open to discussion here.
the favor owed in broad strokes would be survival - though loyal and good natured, as his draconic heritage begins to manifest he becomes something of an outcast - and only the intervention of the noble in question has kept him from being run off or otherwise disposed of by an intolerant society. the nobles motives might be benevolent or otherwise at the GMs discretion (obviously).
i've got a few variants on this theme floating round in my head - maybe half elf for extra outcast points, and/or hexcrafter...
if you arent opposed to the theme, and more imporantly the method of accessing dragon disciple, i will flesh it out further.
optionally i could skip dragon disciple and emphasize the darker aspects of hexcrafter to explain his outcast status.
zen archer seems very fitting to me, i've had these same character thoughts myself. monks are all about the quest for perfection after all - hes looking for the path to spiritual enlightenment through experiencing the perfect bow shot - that one moment of pure nirvana where all the stars align, relentless practise and extreme talent come together as the arrow describes a perfect arc and strikes exactly where it was envisioned to.
maybe what hes looking for doesnt exist, because no matter how well he shoots that feeling remains elusive. maybe it just drives him to train ever harder, or maybe he is subject to huge mood swings and self-doubt - the self harm comes at his low points.
he might be a one trick pony, but that doesnt mean he needs to be one dimensional!
self harm might be a touchy subject with some other players though, so i'd tread carefully with that.
im inclined to agree with kwauss, sometimes it seems like the acronym RAW really stands for 'here is some bogus s~$* i can get away with by twisting the crap out of the english language'
my group played a low magic campaign that used armor as a form of DR (damage was non-lethal up to the armors AC bonus, then lethal beyond that) as well as a reserve point system (you recover from non lethal damage much faster)
it was fun and kind of cool. combat was much more dangerous due to lack of healing magic, and tended to last longer. it also added a TON of book keeping. we ended up only applying those rules to PCs for simplicity sake.
in the campaign im currently running for example, the PCs are tryng to find an artifact they hope they will be able to use to end the threat of demon invasion once and for all.
my intention is for the campaign to end once they have found the artifact, but if they want to we could keep going and have them venture off into the lower planes to take the fight to the shadowy demon prince who is orchestrating the invasion of their homes.
after reading this I actually see how this might work, but could you clarify a bit?
the story i have in mind ends, for me at least, once the PCs defeat the mega dungeon ruled over by an ancient red dragon and reclaim the artifact they need. i expect them to be mid teens in level by this stage. i've got the end in mind, but all the steps along the way are hazy - and hopefully the players feel like they have driven the story to this point.
then again if everyone is really liking their characters, and wanted to keep playing, then there is room for more story there.
conversely, they are currently trying to piece together clues and a 'key' to find / get into said mega dungeon. the campaign could end once they have put that together as well, if everyone had had enough.
it really comes down to talking to your players, and like splode said - it just means moving on to something new with the group.
in the campaign im currently running for example, the PCs are tryng to find an artifact they hope they will be able to use to end the threat of demon invasion once and for all.
my intention is for the campaign to end once they have found the artifact, but if they want to we could keep going and have them venture off into the lower planes to take the fight to the shadowy demon prince who is orchestrating the invasion of their homes.
for me this is where your 'board strokes' campaign outline comes into play. once the PCs achieve their main goal or motivation, (or even a more minor one) you can stop and discuss what everyone wants to do. got some more loose ends to tie up? (that pesky NPC that they never quite managed to kill could turn into a whole new plot line) then keep playing.
otherwise, you can start fresh, have someone else GM, whatever.
i've been playing with the same group for years now in the same campaign world (our own version of forgotten realms) and old high level PCs sometimes have cameo appearances, quite a neat way to link things together and help the players feel more a part of the world - and proud of their previous achievements. we even had one story arc where our original group, who were created and retired under the 2nd edition rules, were bought out of retirement by a new party who had reached a similar level to fight off an epic threat. was great fun rebuilding our characters under 3.5 rules and playing two high level PCs each. we mixed the parties up and set them off to achieve different goals... anyway, i have gotten way off topic.
not every campaign needs to go to 20th level, if you get to 10th and have beaten back the orcs, reclaimed your ancestral castle or whatever you can stop, or if everyone is still having fun you can keep going. talk to your players about it :)
on the other hand as a DM i like to sprinkle low level casters into my encounters - not every group of bandits has a caster equal level to the PCs, but can probably muster a 3rd - 5th level sorcerer or something - and SR15 could be fairly useful in that situation.
really depends on your campaign expectations. perhaps ask your GM?
it really depends how much you expect to be fighting dragons, for me SR15 at level 10 is not great - for example, a CR9 bone devil has a caster level of 12 so it only needs a 3 to beat your SR.
so if i expected to be fighting more dragons than a typical campaign, i might be tempted by the saving throw bonuses.
as a bit of a paradox, an adult red dragon (CR14 so a sturdy test of an APL 10 party) only has a caster level of 7 for his spells, although his SLAs are 17th.
his breath weapon on the other hand is DC24, so that +4 could literally be a life saver vs 12d10 fire damage.
both bonuses are pretty situational, does the save bonus extend to draconic creatures?
one of the best tips i ever got has already been sort of mentioned but i thought i would bring it up again. i've found one of the greatest sources of ideas and inspirations is my players - sitting quietly and listening to them discuss what their plan of action should be, or just talking about NPCs etc can give you some great insight into what they are focused on and so forth.
another one was not to get too bogged down in the details. if you are not tied into things being a specific way there is more chance for your players to help describe your world, which in turn will make them feel more involved in it.
my time for prep is limited, so i try to focus on doing things that are going to make the very next session fun. outside of that, the players dont need to know you dont have stats and floormaps for every inn and barkeep in the realm. i have a list of names i use to make up new random NPCs off whenever they meet one, basic stats and descriptions of major NPCs (mainly personality and motivations - what are their aims and how does it affect the PCs?) and the broad outlines of the main story of the campaign. the rest comes between sessions.
well i had a read last night. i had thought to modify the loot-loss thing so maybe one random thing went missing each time they got teleported...
but there are alot of points where just making the wrong choice results in unavoidable death. i can see my guys getting a bit upset by those kinds of shenanigans, so i might have to make some more modifications.
so after reading a tomb of horrors recruitment thread on PbP forums, i went looking, and found enough stuff to easily run it in PF.
right now in my tabletop game, the PCs have just entered an extremely spooky, mysterious cathedral thats been warped by some dark force. they are already expecting a full on dungeon, which i hadnt actually planned on but after the one player mentioned it i quite liked the idea.
seems like i could easily drop the tomb of horrors in their lap. they vitally need to find something in this dungeon, its campaign critical, so it would literally be do or die.
the question is, should i put them into the tomb of horrors without fair warning? from what i read its pretty deadly. i havent read all through it, or ever played it, so im looking for the opinion of some people more experienced than myself.
reasonably blatant plagarism from WoW but i always liked the idea of an ancient world thats been torn apart by some historic conflict, leaving in pieces - some small, some large - with all kinds of scope for whatever you can dream up. the age of the planet means all sorts of historical ruins could be present, and the terrible forces that tore it to pieces mean creatures could be twisted or corrupted by the remnants of these forces.
for anyone interested, i have been keeping a bit of a campaign journal about what the party gets up to. it was an attempt to keep my players reminded of what has been going on between sessions since we rarely play more than once a month, but i dont think any of them actually read it haha.
its pretty haphazard / unfinished in places, but heres the link anyway - hopefully it works ok.
edit - first attempt at link was a fail, lets try again -
i think the theory is that MAD classes have better class abilities than SAD classes, so 15-20 PB is supposed to hold them back a bit. once you throw that out the window it changes the whole dynamic. or at least thats how it seems like it should work.
of course if you dont buy into the idea that MAD classes are inherently more powerful (rogue lol) then its a whole different story.
my group still like to roll their stats, and they like having high stats too - so there are usually a few sets of re-rolls until everyone is content. the average PB in the current party is probably around 30, though with only 3-4 pcs at a given session it sort of evens out. they do tend to stomp equal CR encounters with ease though.
the issue im starting to find at APL 8-9 is the creatures that can take more than one or two hits from the barb and fighter tend to be +4 encounters, which means they often have SLAs or similar with DCs that are way out of range of the party, so its getting trickier to build encounters that are still challenging without straying into insta-gib territory one way or the other.
ultimately though the aim is for everyone to have fun, and if thats happening then who really cares how its achieved?
wow there is some great stuff here. i'd really like to get the enviroment involved more in my encounters - as you say, surround and pound has fun limits.
minions are definitely going to be a part of his shtick, as demanded both by his military background and desire to dominate the territory surrounding his keep.
thanks for all your feedback and ideas folks - its why i love these forums so much.
back in the dim old days of ad&d we fought a massive ancient dragon, and my character managed to die twice. she was turned to stone early on in the fight somehow (i forget how) and then returned to flesh. this dragon had a bunch of special abilities from an old dragon magazine, including that old chestnut 'hide studded with treasure'. when it finally died all the treasure exploded outwards, and my poor character failed her save and died again.
cue many RL years of jokes about her being a pillar of society, or having a heart of gold and so forth.
i like the kingsguard idea. you can have a mock guard with wonderful uniforms or some other similarity (all women, all scarred veterans, whatever) but when the heat really gets turned up, out come the heavy hitters.
the thrones you can project your image onto is great too. do the unexpected! no matter the defenses you build around a throne, there will always be a counter... but if you arent really there, then its much harder to kill you.
until your grand vizier betrays your secret projector room, of course.
the PC is a barbarian/ranger, who was a young slave of the nemesis (aitius) in question when he was a commander in some border wars not far from where the campaign is based. his PC is extremely suspicious of magic and sees the occult in everything. though aitius was just a warrior at that time, the years spent near the pulsing heart of corruption in this fortress have given him strange powers which will cause some great tension with the PC. maybe some kind of sacrificial power or blood magic or something... hmm.
the PC is a reckless fighter and i can imagine him charging aitius without regard for anything else - but he might also play him as scared of his old master, its hard to tell.
half fiends are great, but they've just fought one - bringing out another might be a bit samey, though i guess it might also tie the encounters together in their minds somehow... im not sure if i want aitius corruption to be that obvious though.
as for his abilities - i know i can give him whatever i like, but as a group we like to try and keep things at least semi by the book. i liked the idea of him having drilled some evil humanoids into a cohesive fighting force, i usually try and avoid having stacks of high HD humanoids running around and instead use teamwork and tactics to try and keep encounters interesting as the PCs get higher and higher level.
the 1v1 fight is a great idea, i'll have to try and set that up one way or another
one of the PCs in my game has a backstory nemesis who i have started working into the game a little bit. a showdown is on the horizon, so its time for me to get some mechanics on the board.
the nemesis in question has a military background, but the PC has since discovered that since they parted ways (his character threw boiling water over him, horribly disfiguring his face) his life took a darker twist. i've been dropping hints that the nemesis is now the brooding overlord of an ancient fortress, which happens to contain a macguffin the pcs need. on a broader front, they current story arc has them working to stave of an imminent invasion of demons, and they are starting to discover pockets of demonic corruption - im planning for the fortress to be one of these locations, with its dark heart having given the twisted and bitter nemesis a new set of powers.
i'd originally set him up as a summoner with a fighter dip, mainly because i think summmoners make great enemies - lots of useful combat oriented spells, 3/4 bab and the eidolon to top it all off. hes going to have a bunch of humanoid allies, and i'd pictured him using a bow, flying, and spamming summon spells on the battlements of his castle.
then a happened to read a magus/kensai guide as was quite taken with the idea of the whip using magus throwing around status effects and using the bodyguard / gloves of arcane striking / benevolent armor combo to help out a highly trained squad of elite bodyguards. his military background got me thinking about teamwork feats, and shield wall seems like an obvious one.
but what are some other ideas, or some extensions of what i already have? i expect the party to be 10th or 11th level by the time they encounter this guy, i only have four players but they have proven capable of dispatching APL +4 encounters. then again, i've been restraining myself on the will saves cos i have a party full of martials... with a utility wizard recently added.
i'd really like this fight to be memorable, given this guy had a large part in shaping the backstory of this character.
Brita Bystrom
Dhampir Witch 2
N Medium humanoid (dhampir)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +5
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Defense
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AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 18 (2d6+6)
Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +4; +2 bonus vs. disease and mind-affecting
Defensive Abilities negative energy affinity; Resist undead resistance
Weakness light sensitivity
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee spear +1 (1d8/×3)
Special Attacks hexes (cackle, evil eye)
Dhampir Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +3)
. . 3/day—detect undead Witch Spells Prepared (CL 2nd; concentration +5):
. . 1st—charm person (DC 14), lock gaze (DC 14), summon monster i
. . 0 (at will)—dancing lights, detect magic, guidance, read magic
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Statistics
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Str 11, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 13, Cha 14
Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMD 13
Feats Improved Initiative
Traits dangerously curious, reactionary
Skills Bluff +4, Fly +6, Intimidate +6, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (history) +7, Knowledge (planes) +7, Perception +5, Spellcraft +7, Use Magic Device +8; Racial Modifiers +2 Bluff, +2 Perception
Languages Common, Osiriani, Undercommon, Varisian
SQ patron spells (time), resist level drain
Other Gear spear, backpack, bedroll, blanket, silk rope (50 ft.), 185 gp, 4 sp
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Special Abilities
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Cackle (Su) As a move action, extend the duration of other hexes by 1 rd.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Empathic Link with Familiar (Su) You have an empathic link with your Arcane Familiar.
Evil Eye -2 (6 round(s, DC 14), DC 14) (Su) Foe in 30 ft takes penalty to your choice of AC, attacks, saves, ability or skill checks (Will part).
Familiar Bonus: +3 to sight-based Perception checks in shadows You gain the Alertness feat while your familiar is within arm's reach.
Light Sensitivity (Ex) Dazzled as long as remain in bright light.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Negative Energy Affinity (Ex) You are alive, but react to positive/negative energy as though you were undead.
Resist Level Drain (Ex) Negative levels don't impose penalties or become permanent, but still kill if exceed HD.
Share Spells with Familiar Can cast spells with a target of "You" on the familiar with a range of touch.
Undead Resistance +2 save vs. disease, mind affecting effects.
well thats a pretty strong stat block, and also the most interesting race/class combo i reckon. something i would never choose, which is the perfect reason to use it in this game!
do we think MAD classes are balanced around being MAD? that is, their class features are powerful so they are toned down via forcing you to spread your points wider to play them?
ignoring the rogue for the moment, since i dont want to open that can of worms.
Exciting stuff! I have been pecking away on my phone at work thus far - once I get home tonight I will fire up ye olde hero lab and work something out.
Regarding combat and long turns - I read a recruitment post for another game where the gm was planning to take everyone's actions and resolve rounds on a group initiative type arrangement. Bit of gm fiat involved but on the face of it seemed like a reasonable improvement on waiting for each person to post at the appropriate point in initiative order.
Julius doesn't need to be called Julius, I just popped it out to put a name to a face, so to speak. Shall think on this too (and other plans unmentionable)
Fair enough. Julius has always had aspirations to grandeur, believed that he was meant for something more - hardly unusual. Once acvana began visiting his dreams however, and revealed him to be of Azlanti royal descent ( perhaps he is a bastard who his mother has been concealing from his supposed father) he knew he was special. His ambition will permit nothing less than the refounding of his birthright.
And if disappearing into the jungle allows him to stay one step ahead of his various creditors, cuckolded husbands and angry officials, so much the better!
This, I like. He should definitely be a secret bastard: the legitimate heir to a throne that doesn't exist, and the illegitimate heir to one that does.
Excellent - I rather like it myself. What further would you like to see from me? Obviously it's missing some pertinent details, but in general terms I feel like its a good concept that will be fun to play. I could write some more stuff, but in general I think once you have the bones of s character it's nice for backstory to come out organically, as its needed - keeps things from getting too wall-of-texty, if you know what I mean - and it makes it more interesting if its relevant to what's going on.
On a personal level, I expect to be able to typically post multiple times a day. My tabletop sessions (which I usually GM) are getting both shorter and further apart, so I'm excited about a creative outlet and looking forward to being a player again.
To date however no amount of scheming or machinations have allowed him any upward mobility in the heavily stratified society he comes from. Frustrated and angry when the dreams begin, he suddenly has a new avenue to power before him - after all, if there is to be a new kingdom, who better to run it? If not in his own name then as considerable influence behind the throne.
You've got a good start until you get to this point; you (the PCs) are not so much a legitimate organization preparing to found a kingdom inasmuch as you are religious fanatics on an insane pilgrimage to the ends of the earth because a dream told you that you'd be able to resurrect the greatest empire the planet ever knew.
I bring this up because your version of the story seems to hinge on the plan actually being sound. It's not. The only reason it has a chance is because the people attempting it are PCs. Any intelligent evaluation of the situation would predict failure. So we need to learn how the dreams affected your character, and why he's going along with all...
Fair enough. Julius has always had aspirations to grandeur, believed that he was meant for something more - hardly unusual. Once acvana began visiting his dreams however, and revealed him to be of Azlanti royal descent ( perhaps he is a bastard who his mother has been concealing from his supposed father) he knew he was special. His ambition will permit nothing less than the refounding of his birthright.
And if disappearing into the jungle allows him to stay one step ahead of his various creditors, cuckolded husbands and angry officials, so much the better!
Another one abit late to the thread, but this game sounds like too much fun to pass up throwing my hat in the ring - loving the various themes going on. Most of my rpg experience has been with a tabletop group playing various dnd rule sets in faerun, so please forgive my lack of golarion specifics - if you are interested in my concept I'll obviously do some reading to flesh out details.
In broad strokes I would like to play a disaffected minor noble - probably a third or fourth son of a lesser family who has been on the outskirts of power and influence his whole life. He would look something like a renaissance gentleman - impeccable manners, accomplished orator, competent musician and handy with a rapier - Playing the foppish dandy to conceal his slightly amoral nature and staggering ambition.
To date however no amount of scheming or machinations have allowed him any upward mobility in the heavily stratified society he comes from. Frustrated and angry when the dreams begin, he suddenly has a new avenue to power before him - after all, if there is to be a new kingdom, who better to run it? If not in his own name then as considerable influence behind the throne.
At first blush I see him advancing as a bard, playing a support role in combat and coming to the fore in social settings. though his exact crunch could be manipulated to some extent based on party make up of course.
Anyway as I said I'm keen to get involved, so if you see something that interests you let me know and I will work on some more detail.
