On Sunday, our gaming group came together for play. The fun task at hand was two-fold. First, try the material purchased through Nicholas Logue’s new “Sinister Game” company. As the DM, I bought the first wave of Indulgences, and specifically wanted to see players’ takes on Greg A. Vaughan’s “Blood Waters” adventure and Craig Shackleton’s “Art of the Duel.” Secondly, I wanted players to create characters knowing a bit about the “Blood Waters” scenario, and using the new Pathfinder (Alpha 1.1) RPG. The following briefly summarizes our exploits.
Our group’s adage of, “when in doubt, pick a human” ended. The biggest draw was the additional bonus and how the racial benefits were re-packaged. We almost had a ferocious Half-Orc, but the idea was dropped in lieu of a skill-focused thief.
Choosing classes seemed easiest, since we decided we’d like to try each of the four initially presented. We all read a part of Wolfgang Baur’s “Death Beneath the Waves,” which helped us flesh out characters a bit more. Some specific influences were the cementing of the rapier-using swashbuckler, a trident wielding dwarf, and a low-encumbered mage. Comments about this article were well-received too, except fro the mage player. She would have like to see more spells, more familiars specific to the sea, and alternatives to the water-logged paper spellbook. I think all three suggestions make sense. The fighter-turned-rogue also liked understanding more about how weapons and armor function (or maybe better said, DON’T function). I had to keep some of the article from the players, since it detailed some other NPCs and adventure kick-offs.
1. The cleric liked being able to heal more often, but felt that some of the domain powers were too similar (note that the buoyant Dwarf selected the Water and Weather domains.) Nick, if you read this, please help create some more inspiring water deities with nifty domains ala PRPG.
2. The swashbuckling rogue pulled many of his ideas from the “Art of the Duel” Indulgence from Sinister Games. Able to swap some of the roguish talents for combat feats, the charming Halfling was able to take Cloaked Duelist by 7th Level! I don’t think it was coincidence that the rapier – a piercing weapon that takes no penalty underwater – was highlighted in this first wave of aquatic adventure material.
3. The Human took Rogue, too, even though this went against our initial decision. He justified it well, explaining the need for more testing of the roguish talents, whereas the other rogue used his extra feat opportunities like a fighter would, and was a duelist.
4. Finally, the Elven evoker found difficulty choosing between animal or item as her bond. I think that the decision would have been easier if she had different choices of animal familiars in a seaside setting. She finally asked about a “sea turtle,” but I couldn’t find one listed anywhere. As a group, we agreed that a +2 AC bonus would fit a sea turtle familiar. Again, Mr. Logue, please consider adding appropriate watery familiars and/or familiar feats- Heck, I’d like to help you with that task!
So, the wife (playing the elven evoker) came to me today and asked about her character. While she liked being able to blow-up stuff from the surface, she is now wondering what will happen underwater. Specifically, what happens to things like fireball, etc. I explained to her some of the rules, and reminded her about Wolfgang's Sinister article about underwater adventuring. Specifically, she wondered if she was locked into the specialist abilities listed on her sheet. I asked why she wondered. She wants to be more of a water evocation specialist, with a lot of damage coming from water and steam and ice, etc. This wasn't a problem. I only wanted to log this concern a player had about the gameplay, and being locked-into a certain set of wizard abilities. I think others have shared this question. My big question is this- what would you suggest for these alternative options?