stese's page

Will the pocket edition already contain the first errata?

I was starting to read this adventure after reading James L. Sutter's "Death's Heretic". The novel has a map of Lamasara, but it quite obviously does not correspond to the Lamasara described in this adventure which I thought to be quite funny.

This adventure has a "Serene Spiral" as Pharasma's Temple built from alabaster, and the book as a thematically a bit more on-point cathedral that "rises black into the sky". Also, it has entertainment and theater at the river, while in the novel, the theatre district is nowhere near the water.

So, in my head, I have to make some adjustments, and it is honestly the first time that I find two official Pathfinder products which are incompatible to this degree - and granted, it's not even that much, just geography. Thematically, the the two Lamasara's work together quite well. And, after reading, I *REALLY* want to GM this one. This sounds like a lot of fun.

For me AP's becoming less than 6 books is great news, because I know I just don't have the energy to run 6 books. I'll run two or three, but not 6. So all in all, this change for me was very welcome. I agree with some of the posters here, it would be great to have a bit more variety concerning levels: The fact that you're planning to publish APs that start somewhere between level 1 and level 2 makes me happy.

Partial Ability boosts should really never have been introduced. Instead, just cap ability scores at certain levels. Maxiumum 18 till Level 9, Maximum 20 till level 19, and 22 only on Level 20. Sure, that means we possibly have two a few more ability to spend, but frankly, that is a minor issue.

Woow this is super exciting! Compatibility with Pathfinder

Not for all of it, but specifically for Hunclay I did :) https://imgur.io/gallery/7WO8Es2

Just stumbled onto this, and this sounds just wonderful. A playtime of 2-3 hours means that my group will probably take 3-5 and that‘s just perfect, as scenarios are usually too long for us to finish in one evening. What are the changes you‘re introducing to quests, generally? Very interested in this new format.

stese wrote:

The Raven Black wrote:

It feels like Strange Aeons with less Lovecraft and more Golarion.

Is there actually a 2e AP or section of an AP that is very Lovecraft?

SOON.

❤️

It feels like Strange Aeons with less Lovecraft and more Golarion.

Is there actually a 2e AP or section of an AP that is very Lovecraft?

I also just used Social media to express my wish that the line continue. Please do so as well.

Too few people knew about the one shots, but everybody who does, loves them.

I’ve done this twice for my group. Sundered Waves was excellent, but there is no way Lionlodge is a 1-session adventure.

Both Mark of the Mantis and Lionlodge easily fill two sessions when thye GM loves to pad their adventures a bit and players love to roleplay. I feel that both Head Shot the Rot and Sundered Waves are better run condensed to one session. With Sundered Waves - at least for me - clearly being the weakest of the line.

But happy to read that so may people love the One Shots. Paizo, do more of them, please!!

I really love the One Shot line for Pathfinder. Currently, there are four products listed, and no new ones announced. I brought them to my local group, and people love them and run them all the time. Will there be any new additions to this product line soon?

Poland, and Europe for that matter are a much bigger market for Chaosium than it is for Paizo. Pathfinder is 80% US+CAN and 20% RoW, and a solid chunk of that RoW is Americans scattered across the world, US army bases etc.

What is the source of this information about Chaosium? And in addition: I’m not surprised Paizo is only 20% RoW, because frankly, the availability of products sucks!

Wzrd wrote:

Due to the cost of international shipping, I would had of loved to see the ability to subscribe to just the PDFs.

If there was a PDF subscription, would it change your print buying habits?

With all due respect, Aaron, but I don’t think you guys appreciate this point enough: When I subscribed back in 2020, shipping cost for one volume of an Adventure Path was $5.65. It is now $17.75. Sometimes even more. Do you think I am willing to pay almost double just for shipping? I’m not even really looking for a PDF-only subscription, but for you to fix your shipping problem. When I order from Chaosium, I can get their slipcase set for $8 in shipping costs. Because they have a regional warehouse in Poland. I really think that Pathfinder could be so much bigger outside of the US if Paizo just fixed these issues.

I love print. But I just cancelled my subscriptions because I can’t afford them. Now that I’m not automatically getting the products anymore, I will probably buy less and be much more selective.

Here is a visual example of how to line up the four cards.

Thanks for this post! Now I'm excited and can't wait for my local game store to get the deck! This looks like the Starfinder Deck of Many Worlds, which is so much fun even if one doesn't actually play Starfinder! Looking forward to getting this into my hands.

It's a special, extra magical scenario-specific wayfinder that grants a +1 bonus as indicated?

Not really, it specifically references the Core Rulebook Page 617. And that Wayfinder does not grant such a bonus. So I’m going to assume it’s an error, and lower all standard DCs for anything related to Sense Direction or Tracking by 1.

On page 8 it says the Wayfinder provides a plus +1 bonus on Sense Direction and maybe also Track. I wonder if that’s a mistake. A wayfinder being a compass simply avoids taking a -2 penalty on Sense Direction checks. Or am I missing something? Admittedly, it’s not super relevant for the adventure.

I believe you are referring to the wonderful RPG Chronicles tool rpgchronicles.net

OMG, Yes! That’s it. Been googling all over, but it seems their search engine keywords don’t match anything I searched for. Thank you so much!!

Hi All,

A few months ago, I found an online tool that could handle player signups and would take care of generating chronicles and reporting them to Paizo. All nearly automatic. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost the bookmark, and now I can't find it anymore.

I remember being super surprised that such an amazing tool exists (I found it through a warhorn group that used it for registration). Does anyone know what I'm talking about, or have tips on what you use?

Apparently, the news haven’t gotten all the way up to Lisa: This is absolutely *not* the leadership expansion anyone was hoping to see, quite on the contrary, it is quite exactly the opposite. And I am quite sure, they know.

The undead brain collector can absorb phantom brains every round as a reaction as long as it has at least 1 brain. This lets it spend a reaction every round to heal damage to itself. It'll take more than 1 round of reactions spent to do so to absorb all 7 brains, but assuming a fight against it lasts long enough, it'll happen eventually.

Ah, I don't know what blocked me from understanding this simple process. Of course, this makes so much sense. Thank you for your quick answer, from the author himself <3. Really looking forward to running this adventure!

I am trying to figure out how to run the Undead Brain Collector. He has the Brainlash ability which says that after using it "seven phantom brains glow and shimmer.... it can't use brainlash again until all seven brains are absorbed".
But then, "Absorb" itself is a reaction with the trigger "The undead brain collector possesses at least 1 phantom brain after using Brainlash".

That doesn't seem to make any sense. After Brainlash he possesses 7 brains, and the Absorbe reaction only absorbs 1d4 brains. So that trigger never becomes true again. Shouldn't the trigger be something like "The undead brain collector takes damage and posseses at least 1 phantom brain" or something along those lines? Or am I completely messing this up?

Oh a new one shot! Can‘t wait to hear what that one‘s about. I love that series.

I got this as part of my subscription, looks like a cool module! But trying to find it myself on the Paizo website? Impossible. I think this is not categorized correctly.

Investigator can choose Alchemical Sciences as their methodology at level 1 and start learning elixir or tool formulas, 1 common alchemical elixir or tool per level. At level 4 they can choose Alchemical Discoveries class which increases the amount to 2 instead.

Do I retroactively add the additional formulas for common alchemical elixirs or tools from level 1 through 3 to my formula book?

I would love to know that too. It’s not very clearly worded… as in: do I get an additional formula for level 2, 3 and 4 each?

(For Level 1 you get 6: 4 from Alchemical Crafting and 2 from the methodology. Then you get 1 at level 2, 3 and 4 each. The question is, if with you retroactively get one at these levels. And if you retroactively will get more when you increase your crafting to master and legendary… it would mean a lot of “free” formulae…… which you could theoretically also gain by learning them… so my hunch is “no”)

With a lot of critical messages, I want to say that I am VERY happy you are making these changes. Getting more One Shot adventures is something I truly look forward to. I think one shots are a great addition to your offering, and getting "half a dozen" sounds amazing. We use them when one of our group is missing and we don't want to continue the main campaign of the group.

I can't really see that you are lowering the output at all, but you are shifting it away from content that has "PFS" slapped onto it, to content that feels like it is available for everyone.

Playing with 30+ y/o players, PFS as a concept always felt strange to us, and the two times I have run a PFS scenario at my main table, I removed all references to PFS from it. I do love to play PFS online as a player, however, but the concept of the PFS still feels strange to me. I'd play it all the same or even more without this label.

All this to say: Great changes, thank you!

Its just an unfortunate situation.

Absolutely. It‘s not the end of the world. I think what Paizo should be aware though is that their subs are effectively „region locked“ for practical considerations. And „just go and buy the pdf“ is exactly that: A subscription perk that is invalidated by high shipping rates. For anything other than the Pathfinder Society scenarios, this point has already been reached. I can get the physical AP from Bookdepository for around $20, free shipping included. With the PDF another $15, which just under getting the sub from Paizo, which comes in at $36 per issue.

I kind of wish I could mark my subscription to get a code to buy my book from a friendly local game store (or even Amazon) just so I could get my subscription PDF instantly rather than wait for the physical book to ship from Paizo.

But I completely understand that Paizo's systems are in place for a good reason and I still LOVE being a subscriber!

Sorry we just parallel posted the same idea :) Love it. And love Paizo. Criticizing to make it better. I hope the people at the company who read it get that it’s meant well. <3.

What’s really interesting is that Chaosium (makers of the Cthulhu RPGs) ships European orders from Poland. Beginner box shipping was 7€. Versus $57 for the Beginner Box here at Paizo. And Chaosium is definitely not the size of Paizo.

Thing is: If I have a subscription, I “auto-spend” and don’t make individual purchasing decisions. Which arguably is good for business, and what Paizo lives on. Buying a $24.99 book from Paizo gives Paizo $24.99. Buying the same at Amazon or someone else probably gives them half that (just guessing). So yeah, it’s an investment, but it’s no longer 2010, there are now warehousing service providers. Also, ecologically: shipping the books from the printer in China to the US, then from the US to Europe (or back to Japan) makes no sense.

But codes in the boom would be a great start. It would also be beneficial to the local game shops to be able to have a product that includes the PDF. I also suggested to Paizo that they ship subscriptions in Europe directly to local game shops for pickup.

A large and reliable customer base doesn’t grow anywhere if shipping is so insanely expensive. I think the current business model seriously holds back Paizo products outside the U.S.

Unfortunately for European subscribers, all subscription products are shipped from the U.S, and with the new shipping provider, shipping costs have gone from high to insane. One adventure path volume? Before $5.65, now $10.36. Lost Omens line is around $30 each, box products up to $50 for one box. I am not saying you are overcharging, I am sure it costs that much for you, too. But, competitors have European warehouses and manage to ship for 2-5x lower shipping rates. Sure, I can buy Paizo products elsewhere, but the PDF is an important aspect of getting a sub in the first place. I really wish you’d upgrade your logistics to cater more for non-American subscribers.

I am super looking forward to this one. Coming out in summer, this gives me ample time to find players and prep it by the time the days get shorter again.
And this being James Jacobs, I expect some hellish fun, mean NPCs and a lovely adventure experience for everyone *evilgrin*.

While checking out your shopping cart, in Step 2 (Payment Method), there should be a field at the bottom under Promotions & Gift Certificates. Enter it there.

Got it, thank you! I didn't go to that page because I'm a subscriber and my Credit Card is in there anyway. But now the "Place your Order" button just does nothing... Argh, the store on this site is really a bit of a pain.

I must be blind, but I can't find any field where I could input my Holiday21 to get the discount. Can you tell me at what step that field would appear or point me to the page where this is explained?

Can we please get more info on what is on this screen? I have a normal GM screen, and would love to know what is the difference. I wouldn't order unless this info is available somewhere.

If I buy a core rulebook now, are the errata also fixed in print?

stese wrote:

I’m currently working on a Dragon’s Demand conversion, will start sharing on A Series of Dice Based Events once I feel comfortable with the base I’ve built. If someone want’s to help, let me know.

This is one of my favorite adventures and I would be happy to help convert! PM me, tell me where you are at in the process, and we can discuss how to move forward.

YESS! Really hoping to collaborate! I am on the "A Series of Dice Based Events" Discord and have a channel for everyone interested in this conversion.

Will Curse of the Crimson Throne ever see an official 2E release? I am really really missing some good old content, like this AP.

I’m currently working on a Dragon’s Demand conversion, but I can already tell you: It’s going to be a while, this thing does not follow any of the guidance in the original and has a lot of monsters and items that don’t exist yet in PF2. Will start sharing on A Series of Dice Based Events once I feel comfortable with the base I’ve built. If someone want’s to help, let me know.

But you'd have to perhaps change a few details in their backstory (such as the missing sister connection being related to Lamm) in order to make it robust.

Yeah that's a good hint. I have in the meantime run some homebrew content tying 2 out of the 5 characters into stories that give them a connection to Korvosa. One of the characters is a cleric who is out adventuring because she is hunting an artifact, which, through my homebrew content, ties the theft into the wrongdoings of one of the criminal organizations in Korvosa. The other character is trying to find his sister, which I thought about tying to the fate of Korvosa (haven't really figured out how, but I'm quite sure I will be able to find a hook.) .. Just in case you were wondering: I love to do homebrew content, so I will definitely change quite a few things around in the AP.

I also thought about killing one or two of the PCs early on, and have them come back new as local Korvosans who can help the PCs in their quest.

But there's one idea in my head: There's one character in the party who is Shoanti. I haven't yet full understood the form the Shoanti get involved in chapter 4, but could this be something I could use to tie the PC into the AP?

... the players are going to allow themselves to be guided along the rails of the pre-written story. As long as your players know this you should be fine. It is metagaming, but then so is life.

Good luck.

That is a great hint actually. I think by having this explicit talk I can offload part of the problem onto them, because it was them in the first place who said that they would love continue with their existing characters but still venture into an AP.

Thank you so much for your thoughts!

Woop, thanks for your feedbacks! Indeed doesn't sound like a great idea to run with the existing characters in that case...

stese wrote:

I am still on 1e but never managed to get my hands on a bestiary 1 pawn box. Since this seems to contain about 90% of the same monsters, I was wondering if they’re available for purchase somewhere in europe... $50 for shipping is a tad much.

Order it from a local book or game shop.

Where in europe are you?

Switzerland. Nobody has them in stock, and on Amazon they're not even listed yet.

I am still on 1e but never managed to get my hands on a bestiary 1 pawn box. Since this seems to contain about 90% of the same monsters, I was wondering if they’re available for purchase somewhere in europe... $50 for shipping is a tad much.

I am looking to start the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP with my group.

I have a group of beginner players who are big on having their own backstory. I am running the classic Black Fang's Dungeon, but integrated a lot of content, so after 4 sessions they are only now approaching the actual dungeon). But naturally, being huge fans of the roleplay-side of things rather than the tactical fighting, they have really fleshed out their characters nicely, and I would hate to force them to kill their characters.

I asked them to keep their backstory open, so that still have material to work with, and can probably create a tie in with the Traits and Gaedren Lamm as laid out at the beginning of the AP; For some of them. But some have absolutely no connection, and it would be a narrative disaster to force it. For example, one character's sister - a very hedonistic person - went missing, and the character is looking for her. She could have fallen for 'shiver' which was sold by Gaedren, and I could give him the "Drug Addict" trait.

In your experience, how important is it for the characters to have a close relationship with Korvosa? Do they need a backstory where they grew up in the city? Gaedren seems to die early, so basing everything around him could also backfire, and the characters could want to leave...

Sorry for all the ramblings, I'm just trying to find a good hook for my players to run this AP, because I know my players will absolutely love it.

LOL, thanks guys for the inputs. Rolled up a new character since then, been fun to do that.

Probably a simple question: My character recently got hit and was dying with -7 HP. Somebody stabilized him, and so he was lying there in the middle of the battlefield without anyone being able to heal him.

Then, a magic fireball hit and added another 33 damage to the square my character was in. Can dying characters take more damage? Should this character actually die?