the Shifter's page

Hey all,
I’ve been planning on dropping some more clues for the PCs over the first three adventures that will make the extent of Nyrissa’s sponsorship of their enemies a little more apparent—as it stands now, I feel like there will be next to no warning for the stuff that goes down in the sixth installment. There’s simply no way for the PCs to appreciate the fact that she’s been working against them since first level.

My first idea was pretty small: make something of the Stag Lord's incorporate the lock of Nyrissa's hair he woke up holding after his dream. I'm thinking his amulet would be the best candidate. It would make sense that his prior success was partly due to her inspiration, and would tie in nicely with the ring the PCs will find in the Owlbear's lair at the end of the second module. In fact, I was thinking of making the amulet cursed as well--probably making all animals refuse to come within 30 feet of the bearer, or become hostile towards him (this will make riding pretty difficult for the cursed character).

My second idea is a little more involved. Given how excited my players are at owning their own gold mine (they've stopped by twice to check on it), I was thinking of having a "problem" come up at some point, maybe around the end of the third module (which while a solid adventure, does very little to advance the overall plot of the campaign). The problem: a gang of Derro, their leader once again "inspired" by Nyrissa to cause problems for the PCs, and with yet another cursed magic item using a lock of nymph hair.

By this point the PCs should be wise that someone has been giving out locks of cursed Nymph hair to their enemies. If they’re feeling extra smart, they may even realize that it could be a Nymph, at which point I suspect that they might start asking around among their fey contacts.

This could be problematic—how much would Tyg-titter-tut or Perlivash know about Nyrissa? No idea? Scarred to death of her? Obviously, they shouldn’t reveal too much, but I feel like it would be pretty neat to have one of them drop her name in a whisper, and then suddenly get possessed by her, deliver an ominous warning to the PCs that they’d better abandon their kingdom, and then turn to stone or something. Could get especially dramatic when the surviving one blames the PCs…

Anyways, if anyone else has other ideas for how to improve the pacing of the campaign, I’d love to hear them.

I'm envisioning a situation where my players will want to claim (e.g., I will tacitly suggest they take) Aldern's townhouse in Magnimar as a home base. I think this would be good, since its well sized for a group and already has a convenient floor-plan. I know, I know, Fort Rannick is just around the corner, but real estate is always a hot commodity, and I'm thinking it would be pretty sweet.

I intend to give them some hassle with Aldern's relatives that could lead to some interesting roleplaying and perhaps even a side quest involving the Brothers of the Seven.

I'm wondering though, how much do you think a house like Aldern's would go for? Convenient location, near some historic landmarks, nice neighborhood...10,000 gp? Do I hear 11,000? Anyone? Anyone?...

A couple addendums:

1) I did not give Malfeshnekor a new feat; he should gain one more from the conversion. I like Improved Trip or Improved Disarm.

Also, while not in my conversion, I just realized this also needs changing:

2) The Raven Familiar—I see that this now gives the standard +3 bonus to the now quite respectable Appraise skill. Yet, as with all familiars, it grants Alertness, which is now +2 Perception AND +2 Appraise. I think this makes the Raven, already a strong choice for its small size and flying ability the best choice of familiar. I recommend changing this bonus to +3 Linguistics (Mr. Poe would approve).

I've been thinking about running a side quest where the PCs can learn more about Nualia; one idea I've been toying with is having her miscarried child, now an Attic Whisperer, causing some trouble around town.

I'm not sure how to present it though; rescuing another child after the goblin closet thing seems lame. Anyone have any suggestions?

Hello! My old dungeon magazines are sadly 3000 miles away from me right now and I was wondering recently about a prestige class outlined in one of my favorite adventures.

Does anyone have access to the adventure "Demonblade" (which, if I recall, was printed in issue 97), and could you tell me the name/overall theme of the prestige class at the end of the module? Extra gratitude if you can come up with the actual progression chart.

Hello,

I am a little confused about this order...it is for an ongoing Pathfinder subscription, that cost me $0.00, plus shipping of about $3. Am I correct in believing that this is leftover credit from my old Dungeon subscription?

Also, I intended the order to be for PF #6. Has this issue been shipped to me? Was my order mistakenly made for #7, which I see is scheduled to ship to me next month?

Thank you in advance.