Which is exacerbated by a nearly entirely work-from-home staff, per James' comments in another thread.
And they stuck it in Paizo: Other. Took me a while to find it. Why you do us dirty like that, Paizo? ;)
Exactly. Which is why I suggest using non-lethal damage. It will have the same type, and if the character keeps failing the DC 11 flat check, you can just knock him out.
Seems wrong. I wouldn't enforce that. However, have your rogue attack using non-lethal damage. The sneak attack would be as well.
Return of the Runelords and Strange Aeons as a backup while one of our usual players is out of town for a few months. Unfortunately, I have to play a PC in the latter since there are only 4 of us with the other guy out of town. SA is a tough one to do as a GMPC knowing what's coming. I think I'm going to start Ruins of Azlant after we finish Return, unless the group settles on a 2E AP.
Thanks, James.
Would the pawns from this be usable with the 1E version?
This. Given other comments regarding splitting resources, I think this would also be more viable anyway. Paizo needs to focus on their flagship for obvious reasons (for now at least), but if they could contract others to create Golarion-based content, particularly module/AP type products, I'd be happy. Clean-up in aisle 4 stuff would be nice, too, i.e., fixing broken rules (I'm looking at you, Monkey Lunge), FAQ updates. Granted I'm subscribing to almost everything, but I don't think my current group is interested in moving to 2E. I'll likely soon be forced to stop subscribing to most products (college kid next year), but an AP per month that I might actually use would be nice.
I think there's a FAQ on this somewhere. Basically, you get the one that was originally replaced when you would otherwise get the greater version. IOW, you push the lesser version off till later.
Oh yeah, $181. MONSTER order... with monsters. Love ya guys, thanks!
We finished the war last week and Kosseruk's camp yesterday. It was pretty cool. I nearly killed them with the area Q4 disciple and area Q3 phalanx troops. I played the phalanx as turning towards the party as they exited the warbeast pens, and the disciple troop closed from the other side. I nearly killed them. Right as they finished the two troops off, Kosseruk and her guardians stepped out, gave her speech, and she began reading her scroll. This was arguably the tactic that cost her the battle (in under 2 rounds). I would rework it because she pretty much announced her intentions to a group that had just started all of their 1 min/level buffs and still had a few 1 rd/level buffs running. Her scroll of fireball was pointless. In hindsight, I'd bump it up to 10d6, or have her drop down (featherfall ring?) into battle with the priests following, maybe even reading her scroll of haste first then running down the stairs before saying anything. In general, she's in a really bad spot tactically for a group that comes up through the tunnel. In all, it was a lot of fun, however. I really liked this book, and Siege of Stone is up next though we may not play this coming Sunday. I have a question about the troop tactics. Do they get to do their auto-damage AND the standard action 4 line volley?
Hey guys, I hope you're having fun. I'm catching up on your progress just now. We'll start book 4 of Ironfang Invasion this weekend (Sunday) and we're going so fast I'm pretty sure we'll be done sometime this fall. That means I will likely get to run RoA NEXT! The other option I like is Strange Aeons, but my buddy doesn't care for Lovecraft. Either way, I'll have all of your work to look at for our next adventure (Ironfang is great, btw)! Thanks for that! Oh, btw, Expo no longer makes chisel-tip markers. There are still multi-color 4-packs out there, but my guess is not for long. I'm going to buy a few just for the black (I use green/blue infrequently, red never).
The first one that goes away is the catapults, but I'm going to throw in the 4 sharpshooters and have them approach the east gate picking off defenders at will. We are reasonably ranged (and the one non-ranged can fly), so this could be an interesting long-distance battle (200-300') that would likely take several rounds and burn more than a few resources. Even the alchemist can throw things 100s of feet without much of a penalty (far shot, bombchucker, bomber's eye or longshot, it gets sick), so it should be fun. I'm also going to play at least one or two turns out over 10-15 minutes... just sitting there, quietly. Make it eery, like you describe in the book. Every once in a while I can throw in a few descriptions of what is going on. They're helpless, really, waiting on major concerns (they are the strongest people in the entire valley by this point, so taking part in the drollery of the war would be a waste). I wonder, too, if I should have them do some %ile roles on "off" turns, for a stray arrow or something. That'll force them to do something even if it isn't life threatening, e.g., a single d8.
Not THE big bad, the big bad's mount: Giantslayer.
Rivers are actually probably a mile wide on the map. If they drew them to scale, they'd be a line so thin you couldn't see them. Don't complain, it's called "artistic license."
Must post our recent foray into the Chernasardo... I drew it up on the back of a 24" hexmap. The hexes are 4 miles each, allowing 3 or 4 hexes each day. I had the Chernasardo rangers tell them to search the forest for stragglers, then led them out into the Hollow Hills after they encountered the dwarves and the Maenad. Throw in the spider and a few of the unplaced encounters along the way and oila! They are at the ridgeline. Regarding the Maenad: OMG! That was the closest I've come to a TPK. I killed 3 (2 dying, 1 CON dead) but the ranger and his AC (a large wolf). I didn't push them into combat immediately, rather, she attempted a charm monster first. They stood there and said "let's negotiate!" That was silly. Then she danced like never before, confusing everybody but the magus. They ended up all damaging each other, and the grenadier dropped himself and the archer, severely injuring the ranger and his AC. The magus rolled under a 7 every time except 1 for his next 10 rolls or so (the dwarves weren't a challenge) until she dropped him, too. The ranger finally attacked her and killed her, lucky that his wolf spent most of the fight licking a tree or baying at the sun. It was epic. The magus was the only one that ended up CON dead, btw. The others were on fire, but salvageable. When the Maenad finally dropped the magus, he was at 1 HP, and she hit him for 23.
Yeah, the product pages are mostly gone. Can't get to any of the APs, for example.
Wooo... fancy new digs.
I'm surprised nobody has commented yet... My first impressions are that these all look pretty cool. In general, they are fully statted and populated establishments. There are plot hooks that make sense, and each can serve as a decent encounter/mini-adventure. They put a lot of thought into the layout of each tavern, too. The end of the book inlcudes rules for imbibing alcohol, bar fights, drinking games, and some new feats, archetypes, etc. I haven't given it a full read, yet, but I'll definitely be inserting these into some campaigns. Oh, I'm really digging the vineyard.
They do care, immensely. They are simply convinced that not enough customers care. Big difference.
This topic comes up every once in a while but never actually gets answered. In cases where a spell is on both the witch and wizard lists, but the witch level and wizard level differ, which does the hexcrafter choose? As an example, bestow curse is on the witch list at 3rd level, but the wizard list at 4th level. Which one does the hexcrafter take? Common interpretations vary. Hero Lab offers the spells at wizard level. It is worth noting that every thread that has been marked for FAQ has also been marked as "Answered in FAQ," yet it is not. At least, if it has been answered, which FAQ? Certainly not Ultimate Magic, where the archetype is defined.
That is what happens when things don't sell well. Then you stop making them. I like the modules. I'm not creative enough to do my own stuff, and I don't want to use single books from APs or non-Golarion material during periods we aren't actually running an AP. The modules fill in the gaps nicely. Heck, as I've already said, I'm tying several in to our CoCT campaign, too.
There are a few tavern/pub flipmats that might work, however. My buddy got me the bigger tavern for Christmas and I've already got the waterfront pub as well. With this, I intend to incorporate both into our CoCT campaign in some fashion.
So, like, did you throw it at him or something? ;)
Hah, I was merely stating fact. I have no idea what is slow or fast. Frankly, we are probably right on track for the number of hours we put into it. It seems to be mostly kids' soccer that's our problem... :)My f2f group has average finishing an AP per 4 or so years. Mine tolerates it. Twice weekly, actually.
O-Ya.....Lunge and Monkey Lunge are definitely worth while....thanks for that lead ;) No on Monkey Lunge. It is a broken feat. Read it carefully. It costs a standard action and only lasts till the end of your turn. That means you can't attack. On the plus side, you don't take a penalty to your AC.
Given the GM's other "interpretations" of the module, I'm not surprised he missed this one, too.
Didn't D&D have a rarity/frequency entry for critters back in the day? Such an entry would be useful for this dispute, I think. Named, specific creatures are obvious, of course, but not all are.
It does make a difference. He has GM'd, a lot, actually, just not an AP. I prefer the GM route myself. I don't have to wait for my turn... ever. ;)
Ah, yes, dictator style! I love it! /jk I totally agree, Adam. I put in probably a minimum of 5-10 hours per session, and each of the AP books is 6-10 8-hour sessions. For a marathon single book, 80-100 hours from the GM wouldn't surprise me, particularly given how much effort you put into it. Map drawing alone is a killer, and I'm not nearly as detailed as you are. I'm just now getting to the point where I know how to plan fights appropriately, which adds additional time. At least one of my guys doesn't seem to understand why I do as much work as I do to prepare. To him, it should be no problem to simply scale battles for additional characters that decide they want to play. His point of comparison is "fight of the week" style gaming, which tends to be about building a couple big encounters geared toward the party you have. There's no real long-term story, and you don't have to concern yourself with any related elements. Furthermore, an 8-hour session in an AP can easily be a dozen encounters (not all involving battles) that need at least some prior consideration. The GM needs to know tactics, dialogue, and even a certain notion of how to perform an NPC's actions. We certainly would not do this if we did not love it. Bang on, Adam and the rest of your team.
That would certainly increase the realism. My guys are adamantly against splitting the team up, even if it means bringing someone along that might not be helpful. In fact, they'd probably find a reason to delay the mission in such a case. I can see this coming up in our upcoming Ironfang Invasion campaign because it has a similar fish out of water (no pun intended) beginning. They will similarly have a group to hang out with performing other tasks (such as crafting) as well. I suppose time will tell!
Most of what we play are APs and I require one trait from the AP itself. As a result, players typically can't get MM campaign traits unless we are actually playing MM (we were on Saturday, until drama). That said, slayer or ranger seems a synergistic dip.
I really want to run this AP except for a few reasons... First, the pawns won't be out till May, and I want these in hand before starting. Unfortunately, we'll be ready to start our next AP (my Sunday group) sometime in January. Second, one of my players is iffy on the underwater aspect. We all enjoyed the underwater portion of Giantslayer, but not enough to do an AP that really hinges on it. Finally, and oddly, given that we will be coming off of a heavy wilderness/large scale themed AP (Giantslayer), my players really want the even heavier wilderness/large scale themed AP. There are big similarities between GS and Ironfang Invasion which i guess they like. All that as it is, I'm still undecided on Saturdays, so thus may get off the ground (in a manner of speaking) anyway. I hope, at least. I've read the first two books and really dig the story so far. It doesn't seem to be a railroad, and there is a nice mixture of encounter types PLUS a string role-playing element involved. I think we'll get a similar mix out of Ironfang, but this is so much different.
Now I'm going to have to put this build together in HL to see what he can actually do.
Or shall I say, zero resources!
Zero feats dedicated towards anything else. The monk evades...
Yeah, yeah, but you're penalty to hit is so high you'll never land a hit. :)
So, you can carry everything that isn't tacked down, as well as much of the stuff that is tacked down, but what else? Can you kill anything? ;)
I'm *pretty* sure the Gaming Police will not come to your house and rip your Core Rulebook in half for deviating from the rules. The phone police, however, now that's a different story.
We're all aware that the best melee bulids (non Core) are some 3/4 BAB class with lots and lots of class features (Alchemist, Magus, etc etc) Does AM BARBARIAN really do anything cordially?
They are nothing if not inconsistent. ;) To be fair, the game is so massive and so many people contribute, the cohesion they do have is amazing.
Anything that doesn't have the [Mind Affecting] tag on it is not mind affecting. There are a few things that don't specifically list mind-affecting, but instead list enchantment. Enchantments are all mind-affecting, however, so it's indirectly tagged.
Saves (as well as other properties in general) get pretty weird sometimes. One of the hexes can be broken with break enchantment, but it is specifically listed as an abjuration effect. Go figure.
Lots of the better hexes are mind-affecting. It's a problem for my GM witch PC right now since there are lots of things with immunity so far.
I would say cackling would make it trivially obvious where you are. It would be like being invisible and yelling. Sure, you still have total concealment, but people are pretty sure you're in this area when you yelled. Absolutely. I'd rule similarly for other spell casting (that wouldn't otherwise break the ongoing invisibility) that had a verbal component, but maybe require a perception check to notice.
I've found that the more we play, and the better grasp I get of all the rules, the more comfortable everyone is with implementing a lot of these more obscure rules. One rule subset I doubt we'll ever warm to, however, is equipment damage. There is no sunder in our games. Frankly, about the only combat maneuver we ever attempt is trip, and only because the large wolf AC gets it for free. Every time one of my baddies uses grapple I regret it, and I've never done anything useful with bull rush, either.
We use them except in cases where it likely won't matter, e.g., when the body is outside of the main combat area.
That happened to me once, too.
I've always wondered: what's the point of pricing rules if the default response is that they shouldn't be followed?
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