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Had a bit of free time, so I made sure to use it wisely. Changes I made to WotW--Book 1, part 4.
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Whoah - there's some great stuff there! Thank you :)
Now I want to start over :)
Three of the four captains are dead or imprisoned, fourteen men are dead, tens are sick...all in the space of two days. This is no coincidence, obviously, this is an attack. The ravens sent south have, unfortunately for Balentyne, been intercepted by Kilkiletz but I'm sure that Lord Havelyn and Father Donnagin will want to take the fight to the PCs. The question is how?
Obviously the newcomers are suspects, and a quick divination (scroll) will confirm their dodginess. What to do?
My PCs are disguised as good, earnest, naive adventurers. They've been training troops and generally helping out. Maybe a mission to find the lost patrol, followed by an ambush with clerical support? I don't see the Magister leaving the Tower. Shame, his golem would be a nice surprise :) Hmmmm - any and all ideas greatly appreciated - also if you think going on the offensive would be a bad idea, I'd love to hear your plans to shore up the defense.
Cheers, folks!
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Whoah - there's some great stuff there! Thank you :)
Now I want to start over :)** spoiler omitted **
The focus here is you're supposed to make them completely unawares. They're supposed to feel safe in their impenetrable fortress. Now, things are starting to go awry, and immediately they're conspiracy theorists with the means to prove that they're right? That's kind of heavy handed. And unless you're faking the rolls and saying that Mitra is always divining with a 100% chance instead of the actual 70%+1% per CL, that's even more heavy handed.
I don't know the whole deal. I'm just reading what's there. I know if I was a player I'd be questioning you on the side about what's going on. Right now I'd you've painted yourself into a bit of a corner.
Tactitus wouldn't leave his tower unless his life depended on it.
Make everyone do it the old fashioned way with Sense Motive. No scrolls. They're not listed so don't add them just to make it even harder for the PCs. That's not right. If you're going to do that, increase the CR and give them the XP owed to them.
I wish I had some advice, but I've got nothing.
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I was just thinking along the lines of "losing one captain is bad luck, two is carelessness, three captains and an outbreak of cholera(?) in 24 hours goes beyond the realms of normal probability."
You think they'd just be dismayed and send for new captains, then?
We´re starting this tonight and i´m still thinking about what character to play. Was thinking a kitsune with realistic likeness might be great fun and thought of several opportunities there:
-antipaladin
-arcanist occultist
-mesmerist
What do you think would fare the best?
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** spoiler omitted **
Remember that Balentyne is the best of all the forts along the river. If it falls, the others are easy by comparison.
Think of it this way. Balentyne is lead store in a chain. It's always had the best managers and the healthiest of staff. If you lose three managers: one had an affair with another's wife so the other had him killed, and the third is suddenly a no-show, do you sudden ask for another of the chain stores to give up 2-3 of their managers? Especially when you've got an outbreak going on? No. Firstly, you know they're going to see you as a laughing stock because now one of them get a chance at being the super power. If anything, they'd send in men with radiation suits to cleanse the disease, and then dethrone you because you obviously can't handle your position and everyone in the tower gets replaced. Secondly, you always hire within first before looking outward. You have 90 soldiers. Surely one of them is captain material. So you have them try out for the now open positions. Lord Havelyn himself would look over the proceedings.
Now, can outsiders try out? Only if they know about it. Chances are this is going to be an inside-only knowledge as they're going to want to keep things quiet. Regardless, this is going to take time.
Here's the thing though. Again, you're making it harder unnecessarily. You have Victory Points to gain in a short amount of time. What do you do when you suddenly bring in more captains and purposely push back the PC's timeline? You're raising the bar on required points needed, decreasing the time they'll have, and making it more likely that they'll fail and end the campaign prematurely.
This is what I suggest:
- Have the soldiers train and try out for the positions of captain. This changes a three of them from warrior 1 to fighter 1 with elite stats. As such, change the VP for those three into 1 just for them. Instead of 1 VP for five soldiers (I suggested 1 VP for four), make them 1 VP for the group.
- If they're really that concerned that they're being taken out by an "obvious" attack then have more guards posted at a time, and make Lord Havelyn more active. At least until things "turn out" that it's just a coincidence. The PCs might have to lay low for a few days so as to not confirm suspicions.
- Have the cleric and acolytes spend a lot of their time creating tonics that will help boost the immunity systems of those who are still on duty. Some of the soldiers will be pulling double shifts now, so they'll be more likely to fatigue or come down with something. In game, this would essentially give them +2 vs. disease and Endurance for up to four hours.
We´re starting this tonight and i´m still thinking about what character to play. Was thinking a kitsune with realistic likeness might be great fun and thought of several opportunities there:
-antipaladin
-arcanist occultist
-mesmeristWhat do you think would fare the best?
Kitsune don't particularly fit the area, but it depends on backstory and is between you and your GM.
All of those will work as character classes , which is best depends on your group you will probably want an arcane and a divine caster. You will also need a good melee. Sorry without knowing the rest of the group it is not clear what the 'best' choice is|
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We´re starting this tonight and i´m still thinking about what character to play. Was thinking a kitsune with realistic likeness might be great fun and thought of several opportunities there:
-antipaladin
-arcanist occultist
-mesmeristWhat do you think would fare the best?
If you go with antipaladin be sure to use the Lord of Darkness archetype made specifically for this AP.
Kitsune would never be in Kitsune form, but using realistic likeness a lot to do mischief. Sort of an alien in Talingarde and banned because of being different.
Rest of the group is
-Slayer
-Fighter gladiator focussing on performance combat when i understood right
-witch
-druid, not sure if going tanky as bear or more casting
I´m aware of that Lord of Darkness archetype and planning to use it if, thanks.
I would say you have a free choice, the rest of the party cover all the major area's. Antipaladin may be a good idea with a high charisma you can also cover the face area.
Slayer has the sneaky role covered perfectly well
Yeah the slayer should cover stealth and traps actually.
Manipulation and CHA are more important at this point i guess.
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Yeah the slayer should cover stealth and traps actually.
Manipulation and CHA are more important at this point i guess.
Yeah, it just depends on what you're wanting. I didn't suggest slayer only because trapfinding can't be taken before 2nd level, and the DCs are INT-based.
Kevin - thank you. Organic, believable, doesn't mess with the difficulty.
(Can't think straight the last few weeks - young baby = sleep deprivation)
Yeah, having a kid can rob you of a lot of things. Just remember that everything has to balance out. In an upcoming blog entry, I'll show that I did play with things a bit because I had such a large group, but I gave extra VP to accomodate too.
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I was just at the Paizocon preview banquet. The next adventure path after Hell's Rebels...is called Hell's Vengeance, in which you play as evil characters loyal to Asmodeus. Hmm...I feel like I've seen this before. :)
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I was just at the Paizocon preview banquet. The next adventure path after Hell's Rebels...is called Hell's Vengeance, in which you play as evil characters loyal to Asmodeus. Hmm...I feel like I've seen this before. :)
Yeah, I saw that on Facebook and kind of facepalmed. Given that Jason Bulmahn on co-writer with Gary on books 4-6, I'm curious on the similarities.
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I've seen a lot of people groan at the idea that Hell's Vengeance will somehow just be a cheap copy of Way of the Wicked. Unlike Way of the Wicked though, this AP will be set on Golarion, AND also means Paizo will be publishing 3+ additional books like they do for every AP -- the player's guide (free download about making evil characters!), a Player's Companion about playing evil characters with new options, new rules, new classes, etc, and a Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Hell? And there will be related products etc. WotW may have been good, but when Paizo does an AP, it, it's players, it's part of the world, etc. gets the royal treatment by Paizo.
It's not like the basic premise of say Mummy's Mask is all that "original" in the grand scheme but some great stuff came from that, etc.
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Mr. McBride dropped the ball on filling the niche market for "evil AP's" that he created.
Paizo picked that ball up.
This is nobody's fault but Mr. McBride.
He should have known this was coming eventually. I did.
Instead he piddled away his 15 minutes until Paizo took his niche market from him.
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Why on earth is it someone's fault? If see it as a compliment, proof there's a market. This thread alone is one of the busiest on the forums. I certainly didn't expect Mr. McBride to have churned out eight evil APs by himself by now. (The next darklands chapter would be welcome of course but that's for another thread.)
And anyway, how many "good" APs are there? Why should a company with a stable of top writers copy the one evil AP - which they will all have read and which they have been selling in their shop for a few years?
It's not like there aren't any more tropes to explore!
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Why on earth is it someone's fault? If see it as a compliment, proof there's a market. This thread alone is one of the busiest on the forums. I certainly didn't expect Mr. McBride to have churned out eight evil APs by himself by now. (The next darklands chapter would be welcome of course but that's for another thread.)
And anyway, how many "good" APs are there? Why should a company with a stable of top writers copy the one evil AP - which they will all have read and which they have been selling in their shop for a few years?
It's not like there aren't any more tropes to explore!
According to Gary's original timeline, he had three APs in the works: Way of the Wicked being completed, Throne of Night, and then a sequel to Way of the Wicked where you play the descendants of the first AP but are now spreading the evil throughout the world starting with an uncharted island. If everything had gone according to plan, then the third AP would have been completed by the end of this year.
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Wow, that sounds fantastic! Shame he got bogged down in whatever he's up to. Maybe one day :-)
Now back to the original thread!
In Aldencross is an alchemist's and a shop with minor magic items. They are going to be SO looted by the party in a few days, game time. I have a fairly boring list of stuff prepared, but has anyone made use of 3pp pdfs and the many other Paizo books to give the party some fun items?
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Wow, that sounds fantastic! Shame he got bogged down in whatever he's up to. Maybe one day :-)
Now back to the original thread!
In Aldencross is an alchemist's and a shop with minor magic items. They are going to be SO looted by the party in a few days, game time. I have a fairly boring list of stuff prepared, but has anyone made use of 3pp pdfs and the many other Paizo books to give the party some fun items?
I always use the Legendary Items from Purple Duck Games with my groups (as per my blog). It's nice to give them items that they want, granting abilities they want, and it helps alleviate low wealth adventures, or modules that are only made for a group of 4. Other than that, I mainly use the 3PP magic spells, especially for clerics. I've brought back a few 3.5 items from the Magic Item Compendium, as well as stuff my players have found in the Dragon Magazines. If I think it fits, or it thematically fits their character, I'll try to work it in.
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Carborundum, the reason that it is someones fault is because that someone piddled away his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
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Changes I made to WotW--Book 1, part 5. This is solely a write-up that I did for the side-quest "Lost Island of Taane-Thak" as suggested in the back of Book 1.
EDIT: Anyone who wants the NPC stats, let me know, and I'll do another entry specifically for them.
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Here's WotW part 5b with the three NPCs.
Sorry for the bland formatting. Tumblr's acting strange tonight. I got it as best I could.
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The doors were closed, the dwarves were having an off day anyway... so they asked the dwarves, "Fancy a wyvern hunt?" Surprisingly enough, the dwarves were up for the challenge, grabbed their crossbows and headed out for the day.
The party staked out a sheep at the spot where they'd met the wyvern a few times, and sure enough he flew into view after a few hours of drinking games. Everyone was hidden in the bushes when he landed and the dwarves unleashed a volley at him. Not a single shot hurt him - I rolled abysmally. The party went into hack and slice mode and felled five dwarves in the first round. A crit from Barnabus almost killed the barbarian outright but apart from that it was all over in seconds.
After that they waited until nighttime, flew over the wall and picked off two guards with spectral hands and negative energy. Next time they're going through the tunnel to wreak some more havoc.
So far they're picking off targets one at a time - it's tricky to give them any sort of challenge - they'll be silent and invisible in the castle, and heading up to see Lord Havelyn. I don't imagine he'll be sleeping in armour so... any ideas? They have now picked off guards from the walls, so a measure of alertness is warranted :D
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** spoiler omitted **
1) The armor has the Called property from 3.5 Magic Item Compendium (+2000g). If you're not sure what this does, think Thor's hammer.
2) Make Ballinger a +1 legendary sword (PDG Legendary Items). It'll only be worth +1 to the party, but it'll have a few nasty surprises for them in Lord Havelyn's hands. Maybe it's a lesser version of the Holy Avenger. Your call how you want to design it, but stay within the rules.
3) Add +1 aristocrat level for 10 HD. This gives you a boost for the above Legendary Item suggestion.
4) A paladin without a mount? This simply won't do. Standard action to bring out and summon his Obsidian Steed to battle.
5) Add in a stone of alarm if they plan to get him his own room, as well as a potion of see invisibility. At the very least, he shouldn't be caught with this pants down.
6) Finally, he's a lord. Give him a signet ring of protection +1.
That should be close enough to making him a bother for the PCs. At the very least, he can't be caught with his pants down.
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I was looking for excuses to give more loot - there's been little since they arrived in Aldencross, though they're now all fifth level. The obsidian steed is interesting - gets Havelock out of the tight situation nicely. I'd need to make it small enough to fit in his pyjama pocket but that's fine :-)
The Lord can sleep soundly.
Thanks for your help again!
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** spoiler omitted **
Don't know how sold you are on the previous suggestion, but I do have
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Hahahaha! I can just see their faces :-)
I do still recommend the "Called" aspect if he's caught unawares.
I can only imagine what insanity is going to happen.
Keep an eye out for my upcoming blog update. If you read the earlier posts in this thread, you'll have seen the NPC already, but I added an inquisitor/ranger by the name of Clifford Gates. He's been hunting the PCs down since their escape.
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Oh, most definitely. I'll let it stay in afterwards too when it... blackens. Your blog updates pop up fairly instantly in my feedly account, so I'll be looking forward to that.
Just getting ready to do another blog today, and started to re-read Book 7. Check out page 34 about Dominik Vallison and his men. That will be handy for you. Change the -4 VP to -5 VP instead if you're using my adjusted victory points for the soldiers. Personally, I would give him two levels in the the merchant class from Elves of Darkness (which I would do because I have the book), then make it -6 VP, and just ignore the fact that you have to be non-lawful to be the class. Might be a bit much at CR 7, but he's an incredibly weak CR 7. Two more levels would give him another stat bonus and feat though. Hmm. His stats would go up too. Oh well. Still not a real threat.
Also, if he's really a merchant, shouldn't he have the merchant social trait?
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Anyone looking for my blog this week, it's been delayed. My car got written off in an accident (not my fault btw) so most of my week was dealing with insurance people and adjusters, and I'm also at a gaming convention this weekend. As soon as I get the chance, I'll be uploading it. One of the games I happen to be running is the stow version of Throne of Night. Should be interesting.
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Nightmare! I hope the insurance got sorted out and that no-one was hurt.
My game just took a strange turn - I think the players have decided to ramp up their Balentyne-destruction.
The party decided to go on up. "If the guards bring help we'll just slaughter the whole tower tonight hahaha" One stayed in the form of a guard to "sow confusion". The rest took out the guards at the rookery, wasted a few rounds trying the guards' keys in the lock and then heard the door open below them.
The cleric of Asmodeus disguised as a guard said, "Thank Mitra you're here - they're downstairs!" He did an abysmal bluff, the guard pulled a stellar sense motive and tried a quick code phrase - "Hammer..."
"Hammer...?" said the baffled cleric.
"Put down your weapons and surrender!" shouted the guards.
Which is when the cleric called up some sort of evil rainstorm (3.5 Spell Compendium) and the guards attacked or started blowing horns.
That's where we left it - what would you folks suggest as a suitable response? I have 6 guards checking out whats going on, but now there are multiple horn blasts.
Father Donnagin and Lord Havelyn?
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Nightmare! I hope the insurance got sorted out and that no-one was hurt.
My game just took a strange turn - I think the players have decided to ramp up their Balentyne-destruction.
** spoiler omitted **
Technically I was hurt. Having my physio and chirpropractor looking me over. Finally going to hear from the insurance people tomorrow.
As for your scenario... I'm honestly expecting a TPK. The dice just aren't in their favour, and it's looking like fate has decided to end the game early. Wow.
To be honest, I'm thinking option A. However, I'll have an Option C for you guy, and others tomorrow. I had meant to write it last week, but the convention took up all of my time, and then I got a little con plague, which I'm now over.
Mr. McBride dropped the ball on filling the niche market for "evil AP's" that he created.
Paizo picked that ball up.
This is nobody's fault but Mr. McBride.
He should have known this was coming eventually. I did.
Instead he piddled away his 15 minutes until Paizo took his niche market from him.
I agree that Gary McBride has ruined his own reputation and "dropped the ball", but I don't see Paizo picking up said ball and running with it.
Way of the Wicked has a lot of dark, "R rated" content. Paizo tends to stay with a safe "PG-13".
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Mr. McBride dropped the ball on filling the niche market for "evil AP's" that he created.
Paizo picked that ball up.
This is nobody's fault but Mr. McBride.
He should have known this was coming eventually. I did.
Instead he piddled away his 15 minutes until Paizo took his niche market from him.
I agree that Gary McBride has ruined his own reputation and "dropped the ball", but I don't see Paizo picking up said ball and running with it.
Way of the Wicked has a lot of dark, "R rated" content. Paizo tends to stay with a safe "PG-13".
Agreed. Paizo wants to bring in new blood, not scare away a portion of their subscribers.
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Changes I made to WotW--Book 1, part 6.
It's a shorter one, but it has a couple of NPC builds for you. So much going on today. I'll make up for it later.
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Very nice! They can definitely pop up at some point :-)
They'll have to arrive in the village soon, the castle has been quarantined since this morning :-)
If they escape into the open their new friend can always provide a distraction if the straits are dire. He's got some white dragon blood, Int 9, and they've been feeding him well.
Has anyone ever thought about playing as a worshipper of Zon-Kuthon in this campaign? In the PF campaign setting, Cheliax and Nidal are allies, so an alliance between Asmodeans and Kuthites to take down Talingarde is not out of the question. The player could ask Cardinal Thorn for permission to turn a city like Ghastenhall into a temple to Zon-Kuthon in which he and his fellow cultists can commune with Kytons and enact their perverse rituals of torment upon the populace. There is the matter of the hell-binding contract that all the PCs must sign, but one of Zon-Kuthon's major areas of interest is jealousy..he may find a way to steal back his follower.
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Changes I made to WotW--Book 1, part 7.
This one's a bit lengthier. Thought I'd make up for last week. There's also another NPC in there that people may or may not use. GMs can be very particular about that kind of add-on.
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Great stuff!
I can always have the white wyvern admit he was chased from his normal hunting grounds by some sort of black dragon-spawn. Should they ask.
The disguised Mercane is going in too, ASAP. Though they'll have to escape Balentyne first. I believe their plan is a barrage of channeled negative energy to clear the tower level, then a mad dash to the secret passage. They also mentioned being unable to sneak in again, and an invisible zombie wyvern troop carrier was suggested. They truly are eeevil :-D )