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"Damaging Magic Weapons: An attacker cannot damage a magic weapon that has an enhancement bonus unless his weapon has at least as high an enhancement bonus as the weapon struck." -Core rulebook, p468
Incedently, not in the SRD that I could find. I had thought that was one of the little things that changed from 3.5 to PF, so I'm happy to see it stayed. Thanks for the reminder, Gorbacz!
So I revise: Your Barbarian is now the bane of all mundane weapons. :)
From the prd:
Weapons fashioned from adamantine have a natural ability to bypass hardness when sundering weapons or attacking objects, ignoring hardness less than 20.
Which means that if the weapon you try to sunder has hardness less than 20, the adamantine weapon ignores it. If the weapon has hardness 20 or more, the adamantine weapon doesn't ignore any of it.
That's how I read it, anyway.
Weapons fashioned from adamantine have a natural ability to bypass hardness when sundering weapons or attacking objects, ignoring hardness less than 20.
Missed that, not that I was looking too hard ;)
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I'm looking for the connection between Foxglove's Magnimar townhouse and the Seven's Sawmill. In the hidden cache there are some clues, specifically that there is a sawmill but not which particular sawmill. Magnimar is a vast city and I don't see my PCs investigating every sawmill they come across. I don't really want to add an address to the thin black ledger because I just don't see Aldern being quite so sloppy. Anybody else run into this problem running Skinsaw?
Has anyone answered that one officially ?
After all, what's inside is supposed to be quite secret ...
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I'm looking for the connection between Foxglove's Magnimar townhouse and the Seven's Sawmill. In the hidden cache there are some clues, specifically that there is a sawmill but not which particular sawmill. Magnimar is a vast city and I don't see my PCs investigating every sawmill they come across. I don't really want to add an address to the thin black ledger because I just don't see Aldern being quite so sloppy. Anybody else run into this problem running Skinsaw?
Has anyone answered that one officially ?
After all, what's inside is supposed to be quite secret ...
Treasure: The hidden cache contains one of Foxglove’s
nest eggs: a bag of 200 pp along with a shallow wooden case
containing a number of legal papers pertaining to the townhouse,
as well as the deed to Foxglove Manor. The deed indicates that
the Foxglove family only financed two-thirds of the manor’s
construction 80 years ago; the remainder was financed by a
group called the “Brothers of the Seven.” The deed also bears an
unusual clause near the end that indicates that after one hundred
years, ownership of Foxglove Manor and the lands within a mile
“around and below” reverts to the brothers.
Under the case is a thin black ledger—the majority of the
purchases and payments recorded are mundane, but several near
the end of the ledger should catch the PCs’ attention. These
are nearly a dozen entries over the past three months labeled as
“Iesha’s Trip to Absalom,” each indicating Foxglove was paying
someone referred to as “B.7” 200 gp a week for her “trip,”
dropping off the payment every Oathday at midnight at a place
called “The Seven’s Sawmill.”
'The Seven's Sawmill' is specifically mentioned, the B7 and Brothers of Seven are also called out.
This should be enough to track them down - remember that the Seven operate a double-bluff: They're a secret society of killers pretending to be a semi-secret society of businessmen (like the masons). The Semi-secret society should be easy to trace and from then the hunt to Seven's Sawmill is easy enough.
This should be enough to track them down - remember that the Seven operate a double-bluff: They're a secret society of killers pretending to be a semi-secret society of businessmen (like the masons). The...
This is the best way to think of them, imo.
Xanesha is "Known to some as the Wanton of Nature’s Pagan Forms".
But exactly by whom?
And in particular, WHY?
What is considered "pagan" in Golarion?
As a non-english speaker, is "wanton" a synonymous of "harlot"?
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It has occurred to me to have Vorel possess Aldern. In one of my campaigns (running RotRL concurrently) they left Alderns body in the lab with the Vorel fungus goo... I thought it might be interesting to have the fungus take over the body and stalk the party later. No idea beyond that, but the gross out factor (and the fact that one of the parties completely dismissed Aldern as the bad guy.) Makes me want to up the ante just a tad.
Question:
If the fungal remnants of Vorel are supressed (in my PbP parties case by multiple acid splashes) are the other haunts suppressed for that time or are they still active.The players want to take 20 to search the whole house and I'm loth to let them if the haunts are still a threat.
How do you destroy a hount now? Channel energy?
just came back from the final fight
quite tough!!
dead paladin and ranger/rogue
4 victorious heores remained!!
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How do you destroy a hount now? Channel energy?
It's in the PRD, from the GameMastery Guide:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/mastery/haunts.html
I'm re-writing the haunts as per the above rules.
You could just use a plain old lamia matriarch.
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Horses and Foxglove Manor...
My PCs tend to ride their horses everywhere, and they did so to Foxglove Manor. They just arrived at Foxglove Manor as the session ended last night, and left me with a dilemma: They tied up their horses to the ruins of the servant's quarters, which they assumed was the remains of the carriage house, and entered the Manor. [Shot: Front door of the manor. The party enters, and the door closes behind them. Fade to black, "To Be Coninued..." Roll credits.]
So, I'm not sure what I should do with the horses vis-a-vis the carrionstorm swarms that roost there?
I assume that they will attack and eat the horses (alas, poor Shadowmist!), but what what do you think I should use as the time delay? And how much noise should the horses make when they're attacked? (And what Perception DC to hear the frantic whinnying?)
Thanks for any suggestions!
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Use the distance and walls/doors penalty for the hearing the horses in battle so base DC of -10, +5/+10 for doors/walls, +1/10' distance. +5 for PCs being distracted, maybe +20 for the horses being invisible (full cover once the door is closed). It'd be pretty easy to fudge the DC to make it really tough for the PCs to hear if you wanted.
It seems to me that I called for perception rolls once the party was partway through the manor. They failed so I killed some of the horses and let Shadowmist escape (animal companion at the time). Alternatively, kill like 1d3 of them and let the rest escape and be trackable later. The image of carrion swarm picking over fresh horse bones was too good for me to pass up. As I recall, this was a tough fight because my group waited until they were pretty depleted before retreating from Misgivings.
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I'm in the process of converting Justice Ironbriar to PF, and while doing so, noticed that the spell "Cat's Grace" is not on the cleric's spell list. Is he receiving this from another source that I'm not aware of? I'm planning on just giving him a Potion of Cat's Grace, and then filling up that last slot with another appropriate spell.
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"Creatures: The first time the PCs pass by this area, a few sickly
looking ravens are perched atop the foundation stones; they fly
clumsily away once approached. The second time the PCs pass by
(likely on their way out of the manor), hundreds upon thousands
of ravens sit quietly in this area, covering every square foot of the
ruins. These ravens are disturbingly silent and still, watching as
one as the PCs approach. As soon as anyone comes within 30 feet,
the ravens take to the air and swoop to attack, only then revealing
their true natures. These ravens are, in fact, three swarms of
undead birds known as carrionstorms, created when carrion birds
feed upon ghoul-tainted flesh. The carrionstorms can sense Vorel’s
influence in the area, and although the evil spirit cannot control
them directly, the birds do their best to kill anyone attempting to
escape the manor. They pursue foes as far as the Lost Coast Road,
but do not follow those who flee back into the manor—their goal,
after all, is to return the intruders to Vorel’s cradle for him to deal
with personally."
Based off this, I wouldnt have them attack the horses once they go inside. I think it would be more telling that as soon as they step out of the manor, feeling relieved that they got out of there, THEN have the swarms attack the mounts.
There is two thoughts to this to me....
1) Ever see a movie where someone is like "ahhh we're saved when the see the cavalry approach only to have it wiped out by some bomb. Love seeing that reaction with my players...
2) If they are leaving the manor in a hurry then most likely they will be down a few spells and hit points making it harder for them to save their mounts....
Carrionstorms (5) CR
Horses and Foxglove Manor...
My PCs tend to ride their horses everywhere, and they did so to Foxglove Manor. They just arrived at Foxglove Manor as the session ended last night, and left me with a dilemma: They tied up their horses to the ruins of the servant's quarters, which they assumed was the remains of the carriage house, and entered the Manor. [Shot: Front door of the manor. The party enters, and the door closes behind them. Fade to black, "To Be Coninued..." Roll credits.]
So, I'm not sure what I should do with the horses vis-a-vis the carrionstorm swarms that roost there?
I assume that they will attack and eat the horses (alas, poor Shadowmist!), but what what do you think I should use as the time delay? And how much noise should the horses make when they're attacked? (And what Perception DC to hear the frantic whinnying?)
Thanks for any suggestions!
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I'm in the process of converting Justice Ironbriar to PF, and while doing so, noticed that the spell "Cat's Grace" is not on the cleric's spell list. Is he receiving this from another source that I'm not aware of? I'm planning on just giving him a Potion of Cat's Grace, and then filling up that last slot with another appropriate spell.
Its an error, unless you want to give him the 3.5 Elf domain instead of the Charm Domain.
Otherwise go with potions of cats grace OR max out his Use Magic Device skill and give him a wand of cats grace...
Here's a question I haven't seen yet. Look at page 43, the townhouse map.
How do the stairs work?
I've been re-drawing all of the maps in MapTool out of necessity, and realized that the stairs didn't seem to make sense to me, either.
On my map, the stairs go straight up for ten feet. I extended the wall between the landings, and made the second 5' x 10' section a coat closet.
On the second floor, I extended the staircases by 5 feet into area C7. From that perspective, the staircase on the north heads down to the ground floor, and the staircase to the south goes up to the third floor. I also put a door before the stairs going up, to give the bedroom upstairs more privacy.
On the third floor, I reversed rooms C10 and C11: C10 is now the southern room, and C11 is the northern. (This required re-orienting the furniture and descriptive text, but I generally re-write that anyway.) Now the staircase opens up into the southern room. I also described a railing around the stairwell.
Scanned the thread, and haven't seen this issue yet: What happens when the PCs know that it's Aldern the moment they read the very first note? They're nowhere near powerful enough to face him, but knowing my group, the instant the first murder turns up they're going to head straight for Foxglove Manor.
I played him as cowardly, awkward, and very interested in the one female party member. (Playing him as-written wouldn't have helped in this case.) He's the only noble they've met, he's the only NPC who's expressed any interest in her, and as soon as they read, "My Love" and "Your Lordship", they're going to know it's Aldern, no matter how many bluffs I throw their way. (Yes, I hand-picked my group, and they're really quite bright.)
Suggestions? I'm thinking I may have to have one of the nobles from the Scarnetti family court her just to throw them off the scent...
I'd love to hear whether anyone else had to deal with this issue, and how they got around it.
I love a good murder mystery; I just think my PCs are going to have read the last page before they've even started...
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If he's the only noble they've met then you need to flesh out Sandpoint a bit more.
It has four noble families, Lonjiku they should have met (he may be dead but that has't stopped Aldern) just by following the AP but the Scarnetti and Deverins are well worth meeting. Isn't the first murder at a Scarnetti sawmill?
More than that, I wouldn't overestimate the psychic powers of your group: 'the pack', 'master' these should be completely foreign to them... honestly, if they get it from one note then they need to stop meta-gaming so hard (We've only met one lord so it should be him...)
In any case... they investigate the murder thinking that it is Aldern... okay, fine, last time they met him he was fine and dandy: the first thing they'll probably figure from the murder scene is that the undead are involved...
Bascially, there is more going on than the notes, and even if they guess at Aldern's involvement it isn't the end of the world: just hit them with the other encounters while they're investigating Aldern (like figuring out where he might be - they only know if you let them) there are only two encounters left and they can come think and fast (the farm and the sanitorium) before they are expected to head out anyway.
Basically, don't sweat it. It hasn't come up in 5 years of discussion because it isn't a problem.
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Excellent point about the "5 years and not been brought up yet".
Yes, they've met the Kaijitsus, Lonjiku is dead, and one of them has a serious interest in Ameiko. They have a strong distrust for the Scarnettis, so I like the idea of adding a young male Scarnetti suitor to the equation, especially if he and Aldern encounter each other while Aldern's still human, and then Aldern "disappears".
Completely obfuscates the trail, and forces them to roleplay through the whole thing.
Well, we may see on Saturday; we're scheduled for RotRL on Friday and board games on Saturday, but if the non-RotRL guy doesn't show we're going to do two massive sessions to finish off Book 1 and start Book 2.
As the heroes in town, perhaps you could add a few more groupies that like to follow them around a bit?
Good call though, I may have to add some tidbits when I eventually run this. Our group is also smart and will run with the info they have.
On a side note, we played through the first part of chapter 2 a couple years back, and we had little interaction with him so when the first letters came, we still had no clue who it could be.
In our runthrough, my sorceress was hitting on Aldern all kinds - she wanted a sugar daddy. Then, when the letters showed up for the Paladin (who was married to the Bard) my sorceress was incensed. "How come SHE gets the obsessive crazy? Why isn't he in love with ME?!" Ah, good times.
Has anybody tried playing the AP without this portion? I don't think my group will go for a horror adventure that doesn't involve Call of Cthulhu. What is at the end that ties it to the rest of the AP?
NobodysHome - how did it turn out?
I have the same fear. Perhaps I've been a bit too overbearing role playing Aldern, for the object of his obsession is really suspicious of him. Even though we're well past the boar hunt she still occasionally brings up, "what ever happened to that noble guy I wonder?"
I've been thinking as well about adding in a Scarnetti connection. Maybe some completely innocent courting following a request from Scarnetti to do a "job" for him. Considering the female PC in question has ties to the Sczarni from her background it should fit really well.
I'm also considering dropping the "Your Lordship" from the note entirely. My fear, like yourself, is that it will point directly to Foxglove!
NobodysHome - how did it turn out?
I have the same fear. Perhaps I've been a bit too overbearing role playing Aldern, for the object of his obsession is really suspicious of him. Even though we're well past the boar hunt she still occasionally brings up, "what ever happened to that noble guy I wonder?"
I've been thinking as well about adding in a Scarnetti connection. Maybe some completely innocent courting following a request from Scarnetti to do a "job" for him. Considering the female PC in question has ties to the Sczarni from her background it should fit really well.
I'm also considering dropping the "Your Lordship" from the note entirely. My fear, like yourself, is that it will point directly to Foxglove!
Being my group, we ran 2 full sessions (both Friday and Saturday) and they're still assaulting Thistletop. If you're ever bored to tears, you can spend many an hour reading about their antics here, although I have been accused of being fond of the sound of my own voice.
However, on Tuesday I had the fortune of being violently ill all day, so I got to read through the first four sections of the Skinsaw Murders, and it allayed my fears quite a bit -- the very first evidence is that it's something undead and barefoot. At worst, my players are going to think, "Oh, gosh darn, someone went and did away with Aldern. Now we have to find and kill his sorry a**," and they'll set about searching the swamps. Foxglove Manor is clearly safe, because they're not going to think he's alive, and they're not going to think an undead critter is wandering all the way back there to rest.
I did write out a bit for Tsuto's Thistletop journals to throw them off a bit more: "I have him! Podiker asked me to pass on that the Sczarni used too much, and a better cleric than Zantos might have determined that the death wasn't natural. I asked around, and one of the glasswork's rabble-rousers recently died of a 'mysterious illness'. Father will comply or I'll have Zantos dig up the body."
It gives them some background on Lonjiku's involvement in the plot, and should send them straight to Podiker's, where he'll crack like an egg and start implicating Sczarni and Scarnettis alike so the characters are intricately involved in shutting down a major crime organization before the murders start. That way, they'll seem like revenge, and I can have some of the henchmen take unpleasant interest in the paladin. It's nice having only one female party member... makes any and all interest creepy...
Oh, and I keep seeing mention of Jubrayl Viski as a Sandpoint crime lord. Which module would I find him in?
EDIT: Never mind. I found him in the description of Sandpoint. The characters just haven't touched the Feedbag and have no in-party Varisians, so they've had no reason to interact with him. I'll have to have him (or his thugs at first) ask the PCs to mind their own business at some point, just to throw some suspicion his way.
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Update: As everyone here said, my fears were unfounded. As soon as the scenario started, the players starting joking, "It must be Aldern!" because of his obsession with the female paladin. But they didn't run off to chase him down, and they didn't take the accusation seriously until finishing the Sanitorium and realizing that oops, it really was him. So they found out on schedule, and weren't shocked, but weren't blase about it either.
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I got around teh Aldern problem in a pretty novel way, I screwed up. I left Alder's crest ripped from his jacket on the floor of the sawmill. My PCs thought "It's someone trying to frame Aldern!" immediately, and from then on I just ramped up the pressure severely so they didn't have time to think that out too much. Belor Hemlock asked them to check out the sanitarium where (thanks to Rune Lords anniversary edition changes) they found teh map of ghoul sightings in the basement with the necromancer. Then, when they got back into town, as they were reporting their findings to Belor Hemlock, the farmer came in raving about the scarecrows to take them to the fields.
Side note, I've been humming the Mumble Mumble Scarecrow nursery rhyme to myself outside of sessions around them. so when they heard about the fields with scarecrows eating people they freaked out. which is great, because the rhyme wasn't actually written for that encounter, it's for later on in the module. Which means I can ramp up the paranoia again.
You should add a campaign blog, Stratagemini!
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Yeah, keeping up the pace is what helps me, it seems. My party has a druid who is a great tracker, and he comes up with these plans that would skip right to the end, and I'd certainly let him proceed, but he ends up delaying just enough for the automatic plot hook (e.g. farmer yelling about walking scarecrows) to lead the party to some XP, and look, here's the clue you needed on a silver platter. This must be frustrating for the player of said druid, so I'm going to play along with one of these plans eventually. The conditions just haven't been quite right. It's a little ham-handed of me, but I'm getting better at this GMing thing, I swear!
One thing I need to do is to cut back on the clues/leads the adventure hands out like candy. I don't blame the adventure, as sometimes you need to go overboard on these things. But sometimes my players don't seem to need them. I'll need to read ahead again, and think about how to modify the clues. For example, I'm thinking the mayor of Magnimar won't need to lead them to Turtleback Ferry, as the note they'll find should do that already. Once there, that's when they'll find out about the rangers missing. Or maybe they won't know, they'll find the rangers and then go after the fort.
Back to Aldern:
I pretty much rolled randomly to determine who Aldern was obsessed with. Ended up with the wizard, so decided to go with envy, "brains of the operation" type thing. I figure Envy or Wrath are the ways to go for Aldern. Lust is just too easy to figure out, unless you add some noise in the way of swooning fans of the Heroes of Sandpoint, or something, like that Shayliss bit.
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Here's how you pull Lust. Use the pics involved in the adventure pretty heavily. if you're using the old version? grab that version of Belor Hemlock, and Jade regent's Shalelu and Ameiko, then use Shayliss, and if you want to obfuscate more? that gay theatre owner. Burnt offerings is really where you need to be pretty characterization heavy. Introduce the Scarnettis and the owner of the Pixie's kitten if you can. The thing every murder mystery needs is a lot of red herrings. also? emphasize the items going missing. make sure you look at the PCs inventory, and start stealing their mundane items. You really need to amp up the creepy stalker aspect on Lust.
But the most important thing you need to do if you're running Skinsaw murders? Is realize that This isn't a whodunnit. That's not the mystery. The mystery is HOW, and WHY. Also, the relationship between the Sihedron runes. If they realize it was aldern right away? that's not a real issue. Just congratulate them (or smile mysteriously) and nod, and ask them (preferably using an NPC like Belor Hemlock or Mayor Deverin), "Okay, so if Aldern Foxglove did it, how did he do it?" and if that doesn't work? nod and smile and continue "Really? Well, that certainly makes sense. But why is he doing it? and what about that seven pointed star?" if they've gotten to the scarecrows and know that there are Ghouls behind this? Make sure to ask them why the victims hit with the rune aren't Rising as undead. The big mystery isn't who did it, it's why those specific victims. What is he getting out of it?
if you can throw that question in the mix, Aldern's obsession becomes a bit more confusing for the PCs, instead of holding back evidence, pour it on, but leave confusing motives. if it looks like an obvious frame up, the PCs might start thinking that it is one.
Looking for insight on how others ruled the shadowclock rooftop. Is the platform level with the beginning of the shingled portion, or does the roof extend upwards? It states the angel is 15' up, does that mean you can move under it? It also states there's something of a nest in a hollow under the roof, which I'm assuming means the roof itself is higher than the platform, how would Xanesha slither off the roof if this were the case? Where are the "openings" to the roof proper?
I'll come up with something, but my players will want to know details like this, and I'm interested in how others deciphered the map provided.
dot
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Question about dispelling Vorrel's mold. Just how is a 6th level party supposed to do this as all of the spells listed require a 9th level Cleric. I guess they could figure out what spells are needed and then go buy some scrolls. It just seems like a very long shot that any party would do this instead of just moving on to Magnimar.
Question about dispelling Vorrel's mold. Just how is a 6th level party supposed to do this as all of the spells listed require a 9th level Cleric. I guess they could figure out what spells are needed and then go buy some scrolls. It just seems like a very long shot that any party would do this instead of just moving on to Magnimar.
I think the entire idea is for the party to find someone in Magnimar capable of doing this and escorting them back to the mansion; at least that's what my party did...
Seems like a sort of incentive to return for later. They can potentially go get a higher level NPC to come help them clear it out, but a situation left unfinished can also serve as a useful GM tool.
Question about dispelling Vorrel's mold. Just how is a 6th level party supposed to do this as all of the spells listed require a 9th level Cleric. I guess they could figure out what spells are needed and then go buy some scrolls. It just seems like a very long shot that any party would do this instead of just moving on to Magnimar.I think the entire idea is for the party to find someone in Magnimar capable of doing this and escorting them back to the mansion; at least that's what my party did...
I allowed the PCs to consult with Father Zantus and the cathedral's library to find a 24-hour divine ritual that would dispel the evil of the place. They also needed Madame Mvashti's assistance, and convincing her and her family to go there was a roleplaying challenge.
I starting to develop the Brother's of the Seven further into a larger story arc. I've started by considering Justice Ironbriar's could use his position to further the goals of the Skinsaw cult. I am thinking that he probably would develop a relationship with Aeryn Darvengian (and perhaps he is in fact one of the brothers as well?). This would explain how an enclosed prison continues to thrive. He could also use his position to find like minded psychopaths to add clergy to his 'church' among those who come before him as a justice, have them sent to lower levels of the jail, and then back to civilization in some way? What are your thoughts? Has this been developed anywhere else or by anyone?
Where is Foxglove Manor located? Is it halfway between Sandpoint and Magnimar. I can't seem to find any information on it. Thanks for any help.
Where is Foxglove Manor located? Is it halfway between Sandpoint and Magnimar. I can't seem to find any information on it. Thanks for any help.
South of Sandpoint, about three miles down the Lost Coast shoreline. If you check the Sandpoint Hinterlands map - p.21 of AP#2, p.386 in the AE - it's on the far left of the image.
Hi everyone! I've got a ghoul question for you and I hope this is the right thread to post it :/ It has to do with their morale actually. Would Ghouls Coupe de grace the first PCs who became paralyzed or should I have them focus on the rest of the party who are still moving??!
Hi everyone! I've got a ghoul question for you and I hope this is the right thread to post it :/ It has to do with their morale actually. Would Ghouls Coupe de grace the first PCs who became paralyzed or should I have them focus on the rest of the party who are still moving??!
I'd say that's up to you, the kind of story you want to tell, and how deadly you want your game to be. Coup de grace attempts on PCs of this level tend to be pretty lethal.
Remember that a coup de grace is a full-round action that provokes an attack of opportunity. (Rules here.) Other PCs would still have an action to interrupt the attempt.
Ghouls are intelligent, and would know better than to try that if a still-standing opponent is poised to stick a sword through its head. Of course, threatening a coup de grace is a good way to get the other players motivated to get over there to intervene.
Another scary possibility would be for retreating ghouls to grab a paralyzed victim and drag it off with them!