Wonder if our group can use module TC1 (Into the Haunted Forest) as beginning before we do ROTR.
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The description of TC1 module doesn't state where it happens, but there are many "village/small-town beside a forest-that-could-be-haunted" in souther and western Varisia where this could happen.
I don't know TC1's adventure and conclusion yet, but once this adventure is over, the heroes could still not be the most popular people around. So they could flee that village, find out about Sandpoint's Swallowtail festival (that opens RotRL), learn that Sandpoint is a relatively new and open-minded community, decide to go there to see if they are welcome and see if things there are interresting.
I missed this one earlier. I just got my copy of TC1, and I am planning to run it towards the start of Burnt Offerings.
Instead of Aldern going on a boar hunt with the PCs, he instead recruits them to recover the 5 relics from TC1. Although I am changing the relics. The biggest change is swapping the Spirit Staff for Xanesha's spear (The Impaler of Thorns) from the Skinsaw murders.
The basic plot line is that Xanesha tasks Aldern with recovering this fine weapon for her in addition to capturing a couple of rats (which to me always seemed like he got off easy). He sees the PCs as a perfect opportunity to get some additional help, promising them the other pieces in return for their assistance in retrieving the spear.
I am thinking of swapping most of the panoply as they seem rather underwhelming, and not really tied to the elements all that closely. I would like to make their elemental connections a bit more blatant. Also, they don't really strike me as the weapons a druid would wield in battle to change the tide. Here are my ideas, if others have better ones, I would love to hear them.
The Impaler of Thorns replaces the Spirit Staff of Narven (and provides a Sonic component as well)
The Breastplate of Sacred Fire remains the same. Although I will probably tweak it a bit to be Dragonhide, since it is supposed to be a Druids Breastplate.
The Codex of the Firmament I am swapping for a Runestaff* of Electricity / Air. I haven't exactly worked out all the spells yet, but they will obviously come off the druid list, which works well as I have a Druid in the party. It will only have Cloudburst or Thunderhead (both from Spell Compendium) "active" and if they choose to investigate, they will work out how to "unlock" the higher levels spells.
The Vial of Pure Water I am leaving. Although it will have the Properties of an Everfull Mug (MIC) when they find it. I have yet to work out it's further properties, if any one has any ideas, I would love to hear them.
The Wand of Earth's Fire I am swapping for a Crystal of Energy Assault:Acid. It will have the potential to be a Greater version, but will have waned to be a least. Aldern will claim this, and by the time the PCs face him in the Skinsaw Murders, will have powered it up to the Greater Version.
I had the most problem coming up with a replacement for this, deciding in the end to just go with a simple Acid theme for Earth. The original wand didn't really scream earth / Acid to me, and seemed a little straight forward and simple / blase.
I am also swapping out the ring of swimming with a Greater Armor Crystal of Underwater Action. It provides everything you would expect a ring of swimming to provide, and I like the symmetry of using a water based item with the fire based breastplate.
I also think I am going to swap out Cachee (the nixie) for a Giant Frog (from Tomb of Horrors), and have pudge ambush the PCs as they try to fight it.
This should all provide a nice side trek for our runelords campaign, and give me the opportunity to flesh out Aldern a bit more. Also with 6 PCs the extra XP won't hurt either :)
*I know Runestaffs are only supposed to be for Arcane casters, but that is ridiculous, and I'm the DM and can change the rules, which i am doing here.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Mevers, that sounds fantastic. Nice job.
General comment: the earth == acid correlation has never grabbed me. If I wanted to make an earth-based attack, I wouldn't use an energy type. I'd use bludgeoning damage, possibly combined with an encumbrance / slow / petrification theme.
General comment: the earth == acid correlation has never grabbed me. If I wanted to make an earth-based attack, I wouldn't use an energy type. I'd use bludgeoning damage, possibly combined with an encumbrance / slow / petrification theme.
Yeah, I agree.
After thinking about it a bit more, I am making the "Runestaff" a Runestaff of Earth (basically all the spells that are on the Druid spell list form the Earth Domain. I think I only need to swap out 2 [and swap the levels of another couple]). This will also work well as my Gnome Druid is planning on taking the Earthdreamer PrC (Races of Stone).
And then for the air element, I'll sub in a Ring of the Four Winds.
Now, just need to finish prepping, and hopefully my guys get Char gen done reasonably quickly and we can get started today :)
As I said in a previous post, I am adding this in as a side trek for my Rise of the Runelords group. Although the module is pretty solid, I feel overall the elemental theme is not as strong as it could have been. I have 6 players (with good stats, stupid high rolls) in my group, and they will be accompanied by Aldern, so I need to increase the difficulty level of all encounters.
To both increase the encounter level and add the elemental theme, each item of the Panoply will be defended by an animal or plant creature infused with the corresponding element (via the Element-Infused template in Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary). I'll also include stat blocks for all the members of the Company of the Black Banner, and brief (Magic Item Compendium style) write ups for the Panoply.
Guarding the Breastplate of Sacred Fire, instead of an Assasin vine that just wandered in, Willowroot planted a Tri-Flower Frond (from Necromancer Games' Tome of Horrors I revised), and in a ceremony with the breastplate of sacred fire, infused it with the heat of flame.
N Medium Plant [fire]
Init +1; Senses Blindsight 30ft; Listen -1 Spot -1
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Defense
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AC 14, touch 11, flatfooted 13 (+3 Natural, +1 Dex)
HP 13 (2d8+2)
Fort +4, Ref +1, Will -1
Defensive Abilities Elemental Body
Immune Plant Traits
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Offense
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Speed 0ft.
Melee 4 Tendrils +2 melee (1d2+1 plus 1d6 fire plus sleep)
Space 5ft. Reach 5ft.
Special Attacks acid, breath weapon, fluid drain, heat, sleep
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Tactics
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Thanks to it's camouflage ability, the Tri-Flower Frond looks like a normal plant until it senses prey in it's reach, when it lashes out with it's Tendrils, attempting to sleep a victim. It focuses it's attacks on the one creature unless it moves out of range, in which case it switches it's attention to whoever is closest or dealt it damage last. Once a creature succumbs to it's sleep effect, it uses it's fluid drain ability in an attempt to feed. Lacking a mouth or breath the Tr-Flower Frond does not make use of its breath weapon.
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 12, Con 12, Int --, Wis 9, Cha 11
Base Attack +1; Grapple +2
Feats --
Skills --
SQ Camouflage, Elemental Body, Fire Healing, Fire Walk
Gear None
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Special Abilities
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Acid (Ex) A tri-flower frond can tip its yellow bloom and drip a shower of acid onto a creature in any space adjacent to the frond. This acid deals 1d6 points of damage each round the foe remains in that space. A tri-flower frond usually reserves this attack for a sleeping victim, but if molested, it doesn’t hesitate to use it against a foe within range.
Blindsight (Ex) Tri-flower fronds have no visual organs but can ascertain all foes within 30 feet using sound, scent, and vibration.
Breath Weapon (Su) The Fire-infused Tri-Flower Frond can breathe a 30-foot-long cone of fire once every 1d4 rounds. Every creature in the area must succeed on a DC12 Reflex saving throw or take 1d6 points of fire damage. A successful Reflex save halves this fire damage.
Camouflage (Ex) Since the tri-flower frond looks like a normal plant when at rest, it takes a successful DC 20 Spot check to notice it before it attacks. Anyone with ranks in Survival or Knowledge (nature) can use one of those skills instead of Spot to notice the plant.
Elemental Body (Ex) The Fire-infused Tri-Flower Frond's body gain ssome of the qualities of elementals. Each time the Fire-infused Tri-Flower Frond is exposed to a poison, paralysis, sleep, or stunning effect, it has a 25% chance to avoid it. In addition, there is a 25% chance that a sneak attack or critical hit deals no extra damage.
Fire Healing (Ex) The Fire-infused Tri-Flower Frond regains 1 hit point for each full round that it remains in contact with fire. When struck by a magical fire effect, the Fire-infused Tri-Flower Frond heals 1 point of damage per 10 points of damage that the fire effect would otherwise deal.
Firewalk (Su) A fire-infused creature can climb an object on fire as though it had a climb speed equal to its highest speed. Furthermore, it can fly at its highest speed with perfect maneuverability so long as it remains in contact with fire, and it can walk on flames at its highest speed, as though walking on air via the air walk spell.
Fluid Drain (Ex) Against a sleeping or helpless foe, a tri-flower frond releases a needle-sharp tendril from its red bloom that pierces the opponent and drains its body fluids. This deals 1d4 points of Constitution damage each round and the foe is considered grappled.
Heat (Su) Each of the fire-infused Tri-Flower Frond's natural
attacks deals an extra +1d6 points of fire damage.
Sleep (Su) A tri-flower frond can fire a tendril from its orange bloom that causes an opponent struck to fall into a deep, coma-like sleep if it fails a DC 13 Fortitude save. The save DC is Constitution based. This effect is similar to a sleep spell, except it can affect a creature of any Hit Dice and slapping or attacking an affected creature does not wake it. A slept creature awakens on its own after 1d4 hours. A dispel magic spell (against caster level 4th) or a DC 20 Heal check ends the sleep effect. The Heal check takes 1 minute of work.
I am swapping the wand of earth's ire for a Staff of the Earth, basically a rune staff with Druid earth spells. Guarding it is an Earth-infused Dire Badger. Out of all the animals in the MM, the Badger strikes me as the most associated with earth, and burrowing and caves etc. Having just stated him up, he is definently a bruiser, so just be careful if you run your party against him. Easily the toughest pure melee challenge out of the lot of them.
N Medium Animal [earth]
Init +2; Senses Tremorsense Low-light vision, scent; Listen +7 Spot +7
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Defense
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AC 15, touch 10, flatfooted 13 (+5 Natural, +2 Dex, -2 Rage)
HP 37 (3d8+24)
Fort +10, Ref +5, Will +6
Defensive Abilities Elemental Body
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Offense
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Speed 30ft., burrow 30ft.
Melee 2 claws +9 melee (1d4+7) AND bite +4 melee (1d6+4)
Space 5ft. Reach 5ft.
Special Attacks Rage
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Tactics
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The Earth-Infused Dire Badger fights to the death.
Base Stattistics When not raging, the Earth-Infused Dire badger has the following statistics
Str 18 Con 21
HP 31
AC 17, touch 12, flatfooted 15 (+5 Natural, +2 Dex)
Fort +8
Melee 2 claws +7 melee (1d4+5) AND bite +2 melee (1d6+3)
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Statistics
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Str 22, Dex 15, Con 25, Int 1, Wis 14, Cha 6
Base Attack +2; Grapple +6
Feats Alertness, Toughness, Track, Iron Will
Skills Listen +7, Spot +7
Special Qualities Earth's Armor, Grounded, Tremorsense
Gear None
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Special Abilities
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Earth’s Armor (Ex) The Earth-infused Dire Badger's natural armor bonus improves by +2 compared to a normal Dire Badger.
Elemental Body (Ex) The Earth-infused Dire Badger's body gains some of the qualities of elementals. Each time the Earth-infused Dire Badger is exposed to a poison, paralysis, sleep, or stunning effect, it has a 25% chance to avoid it. In addition, there is a 25% chance that a sneak attack or critical hit deals no extra damage.
Grounded (Ex) While in contact with the earth, the earth-infused dire badger gains a +1 morale bonus on attack and damage rolls for melee attacks. (these have been included n the stat block)
Rage (Ex) A dire badger that takes damage in combat flies into a berserk rage on its next turn, clawing and biting madly until either it or its opponent is dead. It gains +4 Strength, +4 Constitution, and –2 AC. The creature cannot end its rage voluntarily. These have been included in the stat block.
Tremorsense (Ex) The earth-infused dire badger can automatically sense the location of anything within 20 feet that is in contact with the ground.
The vial of pure water is protected by a Water-infused Crocodile.
N Medium Animal [water]
Init +0; Senses Low-light vision; Listen +7 Spot +7
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Defense
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AC 14, touch 10, flatfooted 14 (+4 Natural)
HP 28 (3d8+15)
Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +2
Defensive Abilities Elemental Body
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Offense
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Speed 20ft., swim 30ft.
Melee Bite +7 melee (1d8+7) OR tail slap +7 melee (1d12+7)
Space 5ft. Reach 5ft.
Special Attacks Improved Grab, Quench, Waterball
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Tactics
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The Water infused crocodile hides beneath the water with only it's eyes and nose above the water line, gaining a +10 bonus to it's hide check. Once it's prey is within reach, it launches out of the water. If it establishes a hold using improved grab, it attempts to drag it's prey into deep water and pin it to the bottom.
The Water-Infused Crocodile uses neither it Quench not Waterball abilities.
The Water-Infused Crocodile fights to the death.
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Statistics
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Str 21, Dex 10, Con 21, Int 1, Wis 14, Cha 1
Base Attack +2; Grapple +6
Feats Alertness, Great Fortitude, Skill Focus (Hide)
Skills Hide +6* Listen +7, Spot +7, Swim +14
Special Qualities Hold Breath, Water Born, Water Breathing
Gear None
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Special Abilities
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Elemental Body (Ex) The Water-infused crocodile's body gains some of the qualities of elementals. Each time the water-infused crocodile is exposed to a poison, paralysis, sleep, or stunning effect, it has a 25% chance to avoid it. In addition, there is a 25% chance that a sneak attack or critical hit deals no extra damage.
Improved Grab (Ex) To use this ability, a crocodile must hit with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, the crocodile establishes a hold on the opponent with its mouth and drags it into deep water, attempting to pin it to the bottom.
Hold Breath (Ex) A crocodile can hold its breath for a number of rounds equal to 4 x its Constitution score before it risks drowning.
Water Born (Ex) While in contact with water, a water-infused creature gains a +2 circumstance bonus on Listen and Spot checks. Rainfall or a puddle suffices for water contact, but smaller quantities of water do not. This has been included in the stat block.
Water Breathing (Su) Once per day, a water-infused creature can use water breathing, as the spell (caster level equals water-infused creature’s character level).
Skills A crocodile has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.
*A crocodile gains a +4 racial bonus on Hide checks when in the water. Further, a crocodile can lie in the water with only its eyes and nostrils showing, gaining a +10 cover bonus on Hide checks.
And the final creature is an air-infused giant fly (ToHI) guarding the ring of the four winds.
N Medium Vermin [air]
Init +2; Senses Darkvision 60ft., scent; Listen +1 Spot +5
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 14, flatfooted 12 (+2 Natural, +4 Dex)
HP 13 (3d8)
Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +1
Immune Vermin Traits
Defensive Abilities Elemental Body
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Offense
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Speed 30ft., fly 60ft. (perfect)
Melee Bite +2 melee (1d6+0)
Space 5ft. Reach 5ft.
Special Attacks Breath Weapon
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Tactics
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The Air-Infused Fly makes liberal use of it's breath weapon before attacking prone foes. It lacks the intelligence to position the cone to catch multiple creatures, instead simply aiming at whoever dealt it the most damage last. It uses it's superior movement and tries to avoid toe to toe fights.
The Air-Infused Fly fights to the death.
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 19, Con 10, Int --, Wis 12, Cha 11
Base Attack +2; Grapple +4
Feats Lightning Reflexes
Skills Spot +5
Special Qualities Air Born, Gaseous Form
Gear None
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Special Abilities
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Air Born (Ex) When in flight, the air-infused giant fly gains a +1 morale bonus on attack and damage rolls with ranged attacks.
Breath Weapon (Su) Once every 1d4 rounds, the air-infused giant fly can breathe a 60-foot-long cone of wind that mimics a terrible windstorm. Every creature within this area that is not flying must succeed on a DC 11 Balance or Strength check or fall prone. A flying creature that fails is instead blown away from the air-infused creature, moving a distance equal to 5 feet per point by which it failed the check. If the creature encounters a large object (such as a wall) during this movement, it takes 1d6 points of damage per 5 feet the object prevented it from moving.
Elemental Body (Ex) The air-infused giant fly's body gains some of the qualities of elementals. Each time the air-infused giant fly is exposed to a poison, paralysis, sleep, or stunning effect, it has a 25% chance to avoid it. In addition, there is a 25% chance that a sneak attack or critical hit deals no extra damage.
Gaseous From (Su) The air-infused giant fly can use gaseous form, as the spell (caster level 3), on itself once per day.
OK, that last post got away from me, I was not expecting it to get that big. It's posts like that that give me a whole new level of respect for rpg editors (stat blocks are tough), and the RPG superstars, not to mention thanks for spoiler tags which make the whole thing manageable.
Anyway, now we move onto restatting the NPCs. Since I need to bump up the challenge a little, I am giving them all a 28 point buy, and they will all be encountered together at the end (along with the Wooden Protector). The first item they attempted to nab was the Staff of the Earth and after seeing the Earth-Infused Dire Badger, they high tailed it out of their, and decided to wait for the PCs to finish everything off, hoping to attack them while they are weakened. (And just quietly, seeing the stats for the earth-infused dire badger above, I would run like a sissy as well).
The fist one we'll start with in Knu. I was tempted to change him from a Goblin since I am playing this right in the middle of Burnt Offerings, but a goblin fits so well, and it will provide a nice contrast to the other goblins. He is originally a Rogue / Sorcerer, but a beguiler fits him so much better.
Male goblin beguiler 2
CE Small humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +3, Spot –1
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+2 armor, +1 deflection, +2 Dex, +1 size)
hp 13 (2d6+4)
Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +3
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Offense
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Spd 30 ft.
Melee mwk rapier +1 (1d4–2/18–20)
Ranged dagger +4 (1d3–2/19–20)
Spells Per Day (CL 2nd):
1st (5/day) – DC 14
0 (6/day) — DC 13
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Tactics
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Knu is a coward, and avoids combat at every opportunity. He hides before combat, and once combat is joined, uses his spells to hamper the party as much as possible. He especially fond of grease and color spray, and saves a 1st level spell to cast obscuring mist to aid his escape.
Once he has lost half his hit points, he attempts to flee.
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Statistics
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Str 6, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk +1; Grp –5
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Bluff +6, Concentration +7, Diplomacy +3, Disguise 6+2, Escape Artist +7, Hide +11, Move Silently +11, Open Lock +4, Search +4, Sleight of Hand +6, Knowledge (Arcana) +8
Languages Goblin, Common
Gear black hooded cloak, leather armor, ring of protection +1, small dagger (5), small masterwork rapier, spell component pouch, travellers outfit, 6sp.
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Beguiler Spells
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1st Level - charm person, color spray, comprehend languages, detect secret doors, disguise self, expeditious retreat, hypnotism, mage armor, obscuring mist, rouse, silent image, sleep, undetectable alignment, whelm
0th Level – dancing lights, daze, detect magic, ghost sound, message, open/close, read magic.
Grelm Hammerlock has not changed much, just swapping out his masterwork greatsword for a masterwork earthbreaker since the Crusader in the group uses one.
Male human ranger 1
CN Medium humanoid
Init +7; Senses Listen +5, Spot +5
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +4, Ref[/b] +5, Will[/b] +1
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Offense
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Spd 20 ft.
Melee mwk earthbreaker +5 (2d6+3/x3) or [/i]punching dagger[/i] +3 (1d4+2/x3)
Ranged [/i]longbow[/i] +4 (1d8/x3)
Special Attacks favored enemy +2 (humanoid [human])
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Tactics
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Before Combat Against an obviously evil foe, Grelm anoints his sword or his bow with oil of bless weapon.
During Combat Grelm prefers to hide and attack from ambush and weaken opponents with his bow. He likes to finish his wounded foes in hand-to-hand combat whenever possible. He always attacks humans first.
Morale As long as at least one other member of his party remains in the fight, Grelm does not retreat except to drink his potions.
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Atk +1; Grp +3
Feats Improved Initiative, Track, Weapon Focus (earthbreaker)
Skills Climb +0, Craft (trapmaking) +1, Hide +4, Listen +5, Move Silently +4, Spot +5, Survival +5
Languages Common
SQ wild empathy +1 (–3 magical beasts)
Combat Gear oil of bless weapon, 2 potions of cure light wounds Other Gear 50 ft. hempen rope, explorer's outfit, grappling hook, flint and steel, longbow, 20 arrows, masterwork breastplate, masterwork earthbreaker, punching dagger, whetstone carnelian (50gp), 13 gp, 3sp, 8cp.
Next we come to Nirashi Sylvanmede. She hasn't changed all that much either, except in my campaign we have a feat a call Deity's Weapon Focus which gives a cleric proficiency and weapon focus in their deity's favored weapon.
Female elf cleric 1 (Urgathoa)
NE Medium humanoid
Init +0; Senses Low-light vision; Listen +5, Spot +5
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 10, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor)
hp 9 (1d8+1)
Fort +3, Ref[/b] +0, Will[/b] +5; +2 racial bonus against enchanment spells and effects
Immune magic sleep effects
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Offense
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Spd 20 ft.
Melee mwk scythe +3 (2d4+3/x4)
Ranged [/i]Javelin[/i] +0 (1d6+2)
Spells Prepared (CL 1st)
1st - cure light wounds, enlarge person, magic weapon
0th - cure minor wounds[i] (x2), [i]virtue
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Tactics
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Before Combat If there is time, Nirashi cast magic weapon on her scythe and enlarge person on herself (this increases her STR to 16, her AC reduces to 14, she gains 10ft. reach, and her scythe (attack bonus of +3) now does 2d6+5/x4), in that order. If a major battle seems imminent, Nirashi drinks her potion of shield of faith +2
During Combat Nirashi perfers to fight in melee with her scythe in hopes of getting a devastating critical hit. If an opponent falls nearby, she attempts a coup de grace or spontaneous inflict spell to finish him if possible.
Morale Nirashi fights to the death for the glory of Urgathoa.
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 10
Base Atk +0; Grp +2
Feats Deity's Waepon Focus (Urgathoa)
Skills Concentration +4, Heal +7, Knowledge (religion) +5, Listen +5, Search +2, Spot +5
Languages Common, Elven, Sylvan
SQ magic item use
Combat Gear 2 flasks of unholy water, potion of shield of faith +2; Other Gear 50-ft. silk rope, banded mail, black banner emblazoned with symbol of Urgathoa, courtier’s outfit, healer’s kit, 3 javelins, mwk scythe, spell component pouch, wooden holy symbol of Urgathoa, small spinel (75 gp), 6 gp, 4 sp.
And last, (and probably least), we come to Pudge Whartley. I was tempted to make him an evoker, since he basically just likes to take the path of least resistance, and what problem can't a fireball solve. But then i thought a Warmage makes even more sense and is a great fit for his character. The only downside is the high Charisma doesn't seem to really fit him, Warmages should cast of INT anyway, so for Pudge, I'm going to just swap it to INT. The advantage of being DM :) Although if a player wanted to play a warmage, I would let them switch their casting to INT if they asked.
Male human warmage 1
NE medium humanoid
Init +2; Senses Listen +1, Spot +1
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Defense
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AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +1 shield, +2 Dex)
hp 11 (1d6+5)
Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +3
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Offense
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Spd 30 ft.
Melee club -1 (1d6–1)
Ranged mwk light crossbow +3 (1d8/19–20)
Special Attacks Warmage Edge
Spells Per Day (CL 1st):
1st (4/day) – DC 14
0 (5/day) — DC 13
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Tactics
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Before Combat If outnumbered, he drinks his potion of blur.
During Combat Pudge stays at range using his rays, magic missile, and crossbow. If multiple opponents are in the same general direction,
he uses his screaming bolt to unnerve them.
Morale If Pudge is injured or an injury appears likely, he flees unless somehow prevented from doing so (if charmed, for instance).
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +0; Grp +0
Feats Skill Focus (Concentration), Toughness
Skills Concentration +7, Hide +3, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Spellcraft +6
Languages Common, Draconic, Infernal
SQ Armored Mage
Combat Gear potion of blur, screaming bolt; Other Gear club, mwk light crossbow with 10 bolts, scholar’s outfit, spell component pouch, chain shirt, buckler.
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Special Abilities
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Armored Mage (Ex) Normally, armor of any kind interferes with an arcane spellcaster's gestures, which can casue his spells to fail (if those spells have somatic components). A warmage's limited focus and specialised training however, allows him to avoid arcane spell failure as long as he sticks to light armor and light shields. This training does not extend to medium or heavier armors, nor to heay shields. Nor does this ability apply to spells gained from a different spellcasting class.
Warmage Edge (Ex) A warmage is specialised in dealing damage with his spells. Whenever the warmage casts a spell that deals hitpoint damage, he adds his Int bonus to the amount of damage he deals. This only applys to spell once.
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Warmage Spells
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1st Level - accuracy, burning hands, chill touch, fist of stone, hail of stone, magic missile, lesser orb of acid, lesser orb of cold, lesser orb of electricity, lesser orb of fire, lesser orb of sound, shocking grasp, true strike
0th Level – acid splash, disrupt undead, light, ray of frost
mevers,
I dig the storyline you are going for here. Thank you for posting, and let us know how it goes.
mevers,
I dig the storyline you are going for here. Thank you for posting, and let us know how it goes.
That's cool. Wasn't sure if anyone was actually interested. My game is tomorrow night (arvo) so i had better get cracking on those magic items.
As promised, here are my replacement magic items for the Panoply of Narven. The biggest issue I had with them in general is that they don't seem to make much sense for a single NPC to wield them all together. I mean, there is armor, a scroll, arcane wand, and a vial of pure water. I am making Narven a Druid, and they all become items wielded by him in Battle.
The first magic Item is the Breastplate of Sacred Fire. This is a pretty cool magic item, although a Druid can't wear a normal (metal) Breastplate so I am changing it to Dragonhide. Also, since I would like my PC to keep this item for heir entire career, it has to match up mechanically to the "best" choices, ie Mithril Breastplate. So I simply made it a Dragonhide reinforced Segmented Chain Shirt, with AC bonus +5, Max Dex +5, this will fit my Hexblade character nicely (Reinforced and Segmented are from Dragon 358). Eventually it ends up being a +5 Dragonhide reinforced segmented Fiery, Fire Defense Chainshirt of Daylight. I haven't worked out the mechanics of improving it yet, but see the spoiler for the progression those improvements will make
1 - Enhancement Bonus +1 (2,500 [1,875])
2 - Fiery (5,500 [4,125]) - Equivalent +1 bonus MIC, as acidic but for fire)
3 - Daylight (8,500 [6,375]) - Flavored as an increase in the inherent flame of the armor
4 - Enhancement Bonus +2 (13,500 [10,125])
5 - Blurring (20,500 [15,375]) - MIC +1 Bonus, flavor due to the flames.
6 - Enhancement Bonus +3 (29,500 [22,125])
7 - Enhancement Bonus +4 (40,500 [30,375])
8 - Fire Resistance (58,500 [43,875])
9 - Blurring, Greater (86,500 [64,875]) - MIC +2 Bonus
10 - Improved Fire Resistance (110,500 [82,875])
11 - Enhancement Bonus +5 (127,500 [95,625])
12 - Greater Fire Resistance (151,500 [113,625])
13 - Fire Defense (166,000 [124,500])
The price in the braces () is the total cost of the Armor at each step, while in the brackets [] is the price I would charge the player, giving them a 25% reduction since they can't choose the abilities of their armor.
The next item is the Codex of the Firmament. I must admit, when I first saw this item, I was underwhelmed. So this legendary magic item of great power is a.... scroll? And what does it have to do with the sky or the element of air? This is a simple swap for a Ring of Four winds (MIC 124). As Aldern will be claiming this ring from this adventure (not my PCs) I have a little time to work out what abilities this will gain. I will probably combine its effects with other air / electricity rings from MIC.
Third is the Spirit Staff of Naven a pretty cool item. But it seems more fire than any other element. Since I am running this as part of Rise of the Runelords, this is a straight swap for the Impaler of Thorns that Xanesha uses. Also adds a nice sonic component to the panoply, without over emphasising it, and in a way that makes sense. Just need to work on other abilites, but again, I have some time for that. Thinking about it now, I might just head it towards being a +5 Corrosive, Flaming, Frost, Shock, Thundering Longspear.
We come to what I think is close to the most "underwhelming" of the entire panoply, the Vial of Pure Water. When I read this I was underwhelmed (especially as it does nothing). How on earth is this a legendary magic item? I am completely stumped for options, so I'm going to cheat a little. When discovered it has all the properties of an everful mug (MIC 160). But then I am going to make it's "ordinariness" work for me, and it's big thing is that it grows in power in response to it's wielder / owner. Basically a "build you own magic item." I'm interested to see what the PCs can come up with.
Actually, thinking about it some more, I think I’m going to make it an “eternal potion.” Similar to an eternal wand (MIC), but with potions. It can hold up to 1 spell of each level, and to “charge” it, you need a vial of the potion, which you mix with some water from the joining of bodies of water* in a special ritual with a gp cost. Just need to work out the gp cost, probably pitch it around the cost of an eternal wand, but make the potions function at Caster Level = Character level of drinker.
*Where the number of bodies of water joining equals the spell level of the potion. So a 1st level potion potion needs water form a single body of water (river, stream, ocean etc), a 2nd level spell needs water from where two bodies of water meet (the joining of 2 rivers, a river reaching the sea etc), and a 3rd level spell needs water from where three bodies of water meet, etc. This way there is no hard and fast limit on the number of “potions” it can hold, but good luck finding a place where 9 separate, individual bodies of water meet.
And finally we come to the Wand of Earth's Ire, again a rather plain magic item, basically just a wand of burning hands. Again, what does this have to do with earth? Are these supposed to be elemental items or fire items? So I am swapping this out for the Staff of the Earth. This is basically a Runestaff for Druids with 1 "Earth" spell of each level. I used quite a few spells from Spell Compendium, otherwise the Earth domain is a good place to start.
Price (Item Level): 41,850 gp (17th)
Body Slot: — (held)
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: Strong; (DC 21) transmutation
Activation: As spell used
Weight: 3 lb.
This short staff is carved of almost unbreakable gray stone, tipped on one end with a fist-sized emerald that gleams with smoldering power
A Staff of the Earth allows you to cast any of the following spells (the number of times per day indicated in the description) by expending a prepared divine spell or divine spell slot of the same level or higher.
- Animate Stone (3 times/ day)
Earthbind (3 times / day)
Stone Shape (3 times / day)
Sudden Stalagmite (2 times / day)
Stoneskin (2 times / day)
Wall of Stone (2 times / day)
Master Earth (1 time / day)
Earthquake (1 time / day)
Undermaster (1 time / day)
Prerequisites: Craft Staff, Animate Stone, Earthbind, Earthquake, Master Earth, Stoneskin, Stone Shape, Sudden Stalagmite, Undermaster, Wall of Stone.
Cost to Create: 20,925 gp, 1674 XP, 42 days.
So there we have my updated (and upgraded) Panoply of Narven. Granted, they don’t match the item cards anymore, but I’m not using them so it’s not a big issue for me, but know there is a strong “elemental” theme running through them all. But if anyone has any suggestions on improvements, I would love to hear them.
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At the request of my wife, I am actually about to start a new all women's group (6 female role-players at one table -- I have been called a brave DM). I greatly appreciate these additions and conversions as I plan to run their group through TC1 first then the Rise of the Runelords AP. Great job so far and I look forward to your future conversions.
I just returned from running my heavily modded / altered version of this for my Rise of the Runelords group. And the session went very well if I do say so myself. I altered the Panoply, and after rescuing Aldern, he recruited the party to help him locate the items. Promising them the other 3 items in return for their assistance retrieving the the Impaler of Thorns (as requested by Xanesha), and the ring of the four winds (for himself).
I don't think I did a very good job of Roleplaying Aldern, but I kept him out of combat, and the party expected that, especially as they decided on their own that he was basically a noble who wanted an adventuring group to "take him on safari" (their words, not mine). I think it should come as quite a shock not only when he turns out to be the Skinsaw Killer, but also when they face him down at the end, and he is tough to take down.
The early highlight was them completely missing the riddle about the Breastplate of Sacred fire. When they defeated the fire-infused tri-flower frond, the (gnome) Druid correctly ID'd it as being fire infused, and the Hexblade felt the burn of it's attacks. As they recovered each of the other pieces, they quickly worked out they were protected by "elemental" guardians. The recovered the first three pieces, and read the riddle about a high stone, and they were looking for a location. By this stage they were back in the original clearing, and trying to work out where to go next. At this stage the Elven Scout said "Well, there's a stone right here" but they were still a little lost, and since I was trying hard to keep a straight face by this stage (and close to failing), I simply said to the Hexbalde "What happeneed when the plant in front of the alter hit you?" and there was that great moment as collectively they all worked it out, and the recriminations began about whose fault it really was for missing it. It was one of those great gaming moments. Ahh...
Where was I? Oh yeah, the rest of the session. Unfortunately, they ploughed through the air, water and fire guardians. I rolled poorly on initiative for all of them, and they died before the end of the 2nd round, most of them lucky to get off any meaningful actions. I did manage to surprise them with the crocodile hiding in the water (made sweeter because the gnome druid used his "Earth sense" feat to check the surrounding 20 feet, finding nothing touching the ground :), but his attack as he launched out of the water missed the Hexblade's AC by 1, and he was dead before he could act again.
However, the earth-infused dire badger was by far the highlight of all the guardians. Our gnome druid is an earth focused druid using the shapeshift variant from Players Handbook 2, and his preferred form is of course, a (normal) badger. Well, once the badger emerged from his cave (much to the surprise of the sneaking elven scout), our gnome druid understandably refused to help in it's defeat. Luckily for the party, the badger fumbled his initial attack on the surprise round, and was soon surrounded. I managed to take 2 members down to negatives before he died, and they were much more on their guard after that.
The final battle was pretty climactic as well, although it is tough. Knu beat everyone in initiative, and busted in the door and color sprayed both the Elvin Scout and the Rogue, taking out a third of the parties firepower for the fight. (note to self, avoid color spray against 1st level parties). Luckily the Wooden Protector soon emerged, and as the party hadn't actually damaged it, it focused on the Company of the Black Banner, who likewise went after it, allowing the party to pick them off on the side. I forgot to suggest an alliance, but it worked out alright in the end. The Hexblade thought the Wooden Protector was only attacking in retaliation, and so as the last of the company fell, he stepped up next to the Wooden Protector (I'm not sure why), only to have it turn on him in seconds. They were able to finish it off, and then burnt it to beat the regeneration, took their loot and headed back to town.
Once they got all the items identified, they were genuinely excited about their gear, even the Vial of Pure Water. The druid is stocked with his Staff of the Earth (and only knows about the 1st level spell, Animate Stone, although he knows more are coming, he isn't sure which ones), The Hexblades loves the Breastplate of Sacred fire, and I can see him taking improved grapple just so he can grapple things and burn them with "the very fires of hell" (which fits his character very well), and they were even excited about the possibility to customize the vial of pure water (even though they were rather underwhelmed when they found it. It really does need a better name).
All in all, it was a great session and the Flip-Mat: Woodlands added a great deal to the encounters, saving the need to draw out the battle map each time, and giving everyone a strong visual reminder we were adventuring in a forest. I hardly described the background, but it "felt" like we were in a forest. If Paizo releases more adventure / flip-mat combos, I would most probably pick them up, they are on a winner.