Well, Saturday was Day #1. A quick word about my current group. There's two of us in our mid/late 30s. We've played with others, but our once/twice-a-week games are now just the two of us. What we usually do is run two campaigns and alternate days. One of us DMs one campaign and the other the other. I'm DMing our CoT campaign. The player runs three PCs, the DM provides a DMPC to round out skill sets.
My player has:
Zharo - human fighter using feats to replicate a soulknife, sort of.
Sibyl - tiefling cleric.
Anansi - elf universalist wizard.
I'm running:
Shiv - human werepanther monk (using Sean K. Reynolds' alternate lycanthrope rules <- neat book!)
I allowed a LA+1 race/template at zero cost except loss of Favoured Class benefits. No extra hit point or skill point per level for anyone taking a LA+1. This together with the enhanced PF base races seemed a reasonable gamble and allows use of the excellent tiefling materials in CoT#25.
Notable events so far:
In about seven hours of game play, we made it through to the point of completing the rescue of Arael.
My player elected to go without light in the sewers for the most part. It ran reasonably well and I used the unstructured rules as provided. The abstracting of the maze worked pretty well.
First encounter: three skeletons. channel positive energy End of first encounter.
Torbles didn't present a credible threat, which is fine. Sibyl used create water above a cluster of them, trying to was them into the open sewer. I assigned a reasonable Reflex save for them to avoid being swept away. Several failed. Zharo used her greatsword to scrape the rest away and again I had to rule on the go, but the Torbles ended up in the drink. No bloodstains, no sign of the player's passing.
I combined a blockage with a hazard. I placed a pile of dead dear in the party's way, with a pair of shriekers on the other side. The party chose to move the pile carefully behind themselves to turn it into obstruction from the armigers. Good thinking. The monk managed to smell the shriekers, giving some advance warning. The mushrooms were taken out without much ado, but one got off a noise. Shortly afterward a goblin patrol showed up to check, and... died badly.
Given the stealthy manner the party had been operating in, I gave them an encounter were they could ambush some armigers. Three of them at an intersection, arguing and lost. One was vaporized in a lucky 14 damage greatsword swing from Zharo, the second was knocked out in the same round by a combination of the Anansi's hand of the apprentice and Shiv's fist. The third got plugged down to 1 hit point by Janiven's longbow as he came in, so he pulled a potion as his standard but couldn't drink it. Shiv got in and pulled a Disarm attempt (the player's idea, not mine) and succeeded. Given the circumstance (1 hit point, two rapidly dispatched competitors, just got his only potion snatched away) the armiger surrendered. He was knocked out, they were stripped and dropped off a few bends and turns away.
The player took great leadership action at the safe-house, offering advice that it might be even more effective to NOT use any visible armbands etc when "working". The general idea included not having something on hand in one's civilian life that could be searched for or planted on one, as well as the idea that the populace might be inspired by an invisible group working for them. Anyone could be one of us!
The rescue was also completely coordinated by the PCs, without Janiven offering advice at all. Purely a matter of giving enough information. The general idea followed mostly what was in the book, but with four groups. Sibyl went down to a lucky crit in the first round but stabilized with a good save. The woke up after the fight to find the ground littered with prone armiger bodies as well as a couple horses. How? Anansi prepared sleep. And sleep. And sleep. What can I say? Even with the occasional good save (the armigers are at -1 Will) DC15 is going to knock people out.
Here's where it gets fun. The party stripped the armigers and Shanwen and convinced Arael to get back in the carriage. They got the Children to don armiger armor and they rode back to town. In the middle of the Plaza of Flowers, the party "released" Arael, apologizing to him while dropping names found in the letter on Shanwen. They then took off and stashed the carriage, hid the armor and the session ended.
Liberation begins. Overall, pretty fun.
Cool start! I like the way the party was using less-used spells in cool ways. Sounds like great fun.
Best.
Thanks Elorebaen. In re-reading what I wrote I'm shocked by the number of typos I managed to produce. I'm actually quite literate. It's shameful. My sole excuse is that I was highly distracted as I produced that during my lunch hour. I'm especially shamed to see the word "dear" where I intended "deer". Please folks, know that this isn't typical for me. I'll do better in the future... promise. <Grin>
Session two summary. Long, but there're a couple doozies late in this. Bolded for the short-attention-span-theater types.
Note: My player is damned clever. Worse, he's elected to play this adventure path smart. He's doing everything right to build a smart insurgent movement. He's well-read and aware of current military theory, which he happily applies to Westcrown. It's very interesting to me so far to adapt situations to react to his tactics. Generally I'm inclined to run with what he does instead of rail-roading him. So far it's making for a game that we're both finding interesting and challenging, instead of simply a bunch of dice-roll gore-fest encounters.
The party members go their separate ways to lay low for a few days. The Hellknights are put in an uncomfortable position and don't advertise that they've been had.
Arael contacts them a couple times over the next week as he's researching the Bastards. To try to fill out the adventure somewhat, I dangle a lead on what the story was with the pile of dead deer in the sewers. (A goblin raid on a dwarven butcher... maybe related?) A conversation is had with the butcher (who seriously did in the goblins) and the PCs are told there's some goblin king problems but they don't bite on the hook. Still, they take the opportunity to make sure the butcher's story gets advertised wide and far to inspire the people of Westcrown. You can defend yourselves. You can stand up to that which scares you.
Eventually I have to roll forward and Arael shares what he knows about the Bastards. A lot of discussion goes on and the party decides to start playing psychological warfare. Long story short is they set up a "fake" weapons shop in one of the abandoned buildings near the Bastard's stronghold.
They bring in a cartload or two of stuff, hide the act of smuggling in the two Westcrown native members, and the two foreigners act as front men. A couple flashy/expensive items are borrowed and a local smith is enlisted to bang away all day in the basement (at-will mending to fix his damaged anvil). It's obvious to the Bastards' watchmen in the tower that something serious is up. When "customers" (other Children of Westcrown) start showing up in the deserted and dangerous Old City to buy "weapons" it's deeply puzzling.
"What the Hell is going on here? It can't just be a couple idiot foreigners who got tricked into crappy property. It's clearly a front for something but... what?"
Night #2 the Bastards make their move and send in a lone scout to case the joint. To this point the Bastards have only seen two people working this place (the smith goes home at night) so one scout to take a look-see seems appropriate.
Sadly, Sibyl (the tiefling cleric) and Shiv (were-panther monk) are happily on guard on the main floor. (Made tiny holes in the walls to watch out of.) The Bastard pulls a good Stealth and sneaks up and around, having come from one of the out-buildings by tunnel. He gingerly pulls the curtain to the back room of the "shop" aside, and there's Sibyl, ten feet away (and Shiv further in). Awkward!
Sibyl (quietly): Hey, I thought I was supposed to check this place out... what're you doing here?
<Lucky Bluff roll, unlucky Sense Motive roll>
Bastard: Um. What? They sent me to case the place... who're you and who's he? (Indicating Shiv.)
Sibyl: Oh dear. Are they hazing you? I thought they were going to stop doing that to new guys.
<Another great Bluff vs Sense Motive>
Bastard: Oh crap. Really? Crap. But... I've been with the gang since nearly the beginning. Hazing? Crap! Um.
Sibyl: Don't worry. Let's check the place out together. I won't tell them how you believed you were really going to be sent in alone, when we get back.
Bastard: Um, okay, but again... who's he? (Indicates Shiv again.)
Sibyl: He's my back-up. Just a meat-shield.
At this point, these two slink around and Sibyl whispers that the two "owners" are quietly asleep upstairs. Whatever they're selling must be down the trap door in the basement. The scout is "given the honour" of unlocking the basement door and heading down first. Sibyl follows, gesturing to Shiv to go upstairs and wake Zharo (human fighter) and Anansi (elf wizard). Shiv also has great Stealth, so he gets upstairs without being heard by the Bastard scout. He starts waking the cavalry.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Sibyl and the Bastard start checking things out. There's an anvil and smithing tools in the middle of the room, and a stack of plain crossbows and armor (stolen from the Hellknights and not sold!) in the corner. Additional fancy boxes and cases (borrowed musical instrument boxes with nothing inside) are in the far corner. To buy time, as the Bastard starts heading over to the cases, Sibyl asks, "hey, are you checking the floor for traps? I saw the elf using magic to mend the walls!" Poor Bastard buys a Bluff again and starts taking 20 since as far as he knows, they've got time.
Properly woken and briefed, the cavalry gathers their stuff and stomps down the stairs from the top floor, pausing to fake a scuffle with Shiv who calls out a "warning" to Sibyl.
The Bastard is in a panic now and is thinking of escape. Still, he's come to believe Sibyl is a fairly experienced member of the gang that maybe he just hasn't met yet. Maybe... Palaveen's mistress or something?
Bastard: "What do we do?!?"
Sibyl (still whispering): "I think you're going to have to take one for the team."
Bastard: "What?!?"
Sibyl: "You make a run for it, and I'll hide down here. Maybe they'll think there's only one of us and I can sneak out later."
<Final nasty Bluff of the night coinciding with the poor guy's unlucky Sense Motive>
From here the Bastard made a break for freedom but Zharo, Anansi, and Shiv were all in place to block his escape. Monk = non-lethal = prisoner.
The poor mook is dragged back downstairs where Zharo interrogates him. Role-playing ensues and a couple vague comments are dropped that cleverly suggest Zharo has no clue what's up with the Bastards. An Intimidate roll just manages to convince him to act friendly for a while. He starts to suspect that maybe - just maybe - these people are something worse than he ever imagined. What if he's just stumbled into something officially sanctioned? His mind is going a million miles an hour as he starts trying to guess what's going on. Maybe it's some drug-smuggling/dealing scheme that's being done outside of the City proper to avoid legal technicalities? Who knows?
The Bastard cracks and spills what he knows. Tunnels, rough numbers, Palaveen's name, and that they've been doing petty little robberies. Zharo is careful to not act too interested, as though she's worried about her operation being meddled with, not as though she's after the Bastards in particular.
The prisoner is bound and gagged (with promise to be released later if he's a Good Boy) and the following morning Anansi and Zharo start including larger bags with their "sales" as if maybe... just maybe... a certain Bastard scout has been chopped up and his body parts are being moved out.
Session wrap.
This has been an absolutely excellent game so far. Please keep the details coming!
Thanks for the kind words.
Third session summary.
Dawn rose on the third day of the party's new "business" in the Old City, but visibility was somewhat craptastic due to a mid-summer drizzle that followed the struggling sun. The front door was opened for business and one or two of the Children stumbled by miserably to fake buying weapons, something unknown and take away presumed chunks of the Bastard rogue.
A pack of wild dogs wandered by and were encouraged to savage eat their dead as Anansi picked off a few from the second-story window. Problem solved.
Somewhat later, a highly erratic bag lady staggered out of the stormy wet and invited the party to "come in, come in, stay a while sheltered from the rain, can I get you anything?" This was in fact a fabricated encounter I added to fill out the session that I knew was going to be short. "Fario" was a tiefling telepath (psion) with heavy investment in Bluff and Perform(actor). She threw back her cloak and revealed her silver horns and bright red skin (off of which water droplets would immediately steam). Hot tiefling chick indeed! She played the mentally unstable elderly homeless woman to the hilt, being careful to not appear threatening or overly nosy. The group shared stories (she told an erratic tale of the creation of the world involving "the first dragon", who ate a black hole and was eating everything else to sate its hunger until a sorcerer girl teamed up with it, the dragon flew away as far as it could while the sorcerer girl curved the world into a ball so she could create the sun to protect its limited size while the dragon got eaten along with everything else and that's why the sky is black and full of nothing while the sun keeps the round world safe <gasp!>)
Fario didn't get much out of the party but what she did was instantly relayed back to Palaveen thanks to the fact she had mindlink manifested and running the whole time. Having only met Anansi and Zharo, the telepath figured she could handle things and manifested psionic suggestion to recommend Zharo should help carry her backpack over to the temple next door. Zharo made her save and Fario was invited to leave. A readied greatsword and a readied spell of some sort convinced her she was maybe outclassed, so she accepted the offer and departed.
The party elected to carry the battle to the Bastards once night fell. Knowing there were multiple entrances they figured they'd probe each in sequence, hopefully convincing the Bastards they were under large-scale attack. This went well overall, and the party rapidly depopulated the Bastard infestation.
The general tactic was to kick in a door and declare everyone present "under arrest". Zharo was wearing the captured hellknight full plate. Poor Shanwen... that stuff's expensive. One entertaining encounter involved the building with two tiefling rogues who have (according to the adventure) become lovers. Their sex isn't mentioned in the module, so I ran with it and made them both male and busy. This erupted into an interesting misunderstanding wherein they thought they were under arrest for sodomy. A pants-less argument ensued that nicely explored the labyrinthine and ever-changing Cheliaxian legal system. "Yes, okay, it's technically illegal NOW, but we were legally married before that law was passed two weeks ago and we're outside of the actual city limits and besides... it's Thursday!" Deprived of their armor (and pants), the two unfortunate lovers were subdued without significant (yet awkward due to a nude grapple) trouble.
The giant rot grub was fun. It assaulted Shiv, leading to bitter comments about him getting attacked all night by writhing worms.
They riled up Dravano and his group, making for a total of 8 tiefling rogues, Dravano, and the sorcerer there all trying to get up into the aboveground building to whack intruders. Ultimately while it was a lengthy and dangerous fight, the party won.
Thing is, Palaveen knew he needed information, so he and a few of his men used another entrance to sneak out and were busy searching the party's "store". The party healed up some, and kept poking at the underground complex. The cleaned up but were somewhat surprised to run out of tunnels without having found Palaveen, only his room. They couldn't open his chest, so they went out hunting for something they might have missed.
That's when they noticed movement over by their "store". The final battle involved a well-warned Palaveen already having cast his invisibility along with the telepath Fario returning to enter the fray. Three more tiefling rogues and two tiefling thugs rounded out the complement. A spiritual weapon kept smacking Anansi upside the head while Zharo was successfully psionic suggestion influenced to finally deliver that damned backpack to the temple next door. With the primary fighter temporarily out of the fight, things got tight. Shiv used his scent ability and was eventually able to track down the invisible Palaveen, and after a couple attempts managed to grapple him. Sibyl mowed her way through offending tieflings and it looked like there was about to be some hot tiefling chick on tiefling chick action but Anansi took the reprieve from the spiritual weapon to cast sleep deep in the "store". Fario took a nap. Palaveen finally the last active enemy was busy doing things like channeling negative energy in a last-ditch attempt to win. Zharo finished her errand and returned to the fight in time to close along with everyone else, who promptly beat the living snot out of Palaveen.
The (many) carcasses were dragged off towards where the party had heard the Goblin King's territory might be, to get rid of evidence. A handful of prisoners were turned over to the dottari (while the party was wearing hellknight armor), along with a few Mammon coins. The party kept the majority of the coins. The thought is evidently to not advertise the destruction of the Bastards, but rather to use these coins periodically to draw the hellknights to specific areas when the party wants to work elsewhere.
Notes:
Combat at low level goes by pretty quick. The party was reasonably hefty and didn't rely on magic much, so they were able to carry the fights efficiently. Things felt rapid and perhaps due to the cleverness of my player, easy. Or not. It was nice that he didn't have to pull back and rest overnight to clean out the Bastards, making for a typical dungeon crawl. The mixture of opponents was varied enough that he had to use shifting tactics from time to time. All in all, for a level 1-2 adventure this was pretty decent. There was plenty of room for the player to imprint the adventure with his own actions.
Now we wait for the next module to release. I'll probably run a little bit of filler material of some sort in between as the party has a few loose-ends they are interested in and I've got them (deliberately) about 600XP short of 3rd level. Maybe the Goblin King needs a few levels of barbarian!
Again thanks for the kind comments.
My player has expressed interest in following up on the goblin king's depositing deer meat in the sewers, and mapping them. To that effect, I've statted out King Whitechin and his lovely consort Lupi below. Note that I've done this using the same 25-point-buy that the PCs use. I sometimes do this for my named challenges to keep things hopping. I'll likely add about a dozen goblin warriors from the Beastiary Preview.
Okay, so what's Whitechin up to? Simply stated Westcrown has a bit of a were-rat problem it doesn't know about(as mentioned in the module). Whitechin wants to expand deeper into the sewers but keeps getting his subjects eaten by the lycanthropes (amongst other creatures, but especially them). He bought the deer meat as "bait" hoping to spring a trap and start killing off the were-rats. Didn't go so well but hey, Whitechin's a goblin barbarian so how brilliant do you expect him to be?
As a quick aside, in my campaign Shiv's shared a few personal details to assuage the concerns of his non-were-panther companions. Natural lycanthropes (of which he is one) breed true and are effectively a race. Birth-rates are low and they're pretty much an invisible minority. Natural lycanthropes have full control over their nature and don't transmit the curse by bite. Sure, a natural lycanthrope can be evil and eat people but that's true of anyone. Afflicted lycanthropes are "the problem". They've got self-control issues and tend towards instability and murder. They're the reason people (rightly) fear shape-shifters and they certainly pass on their curse by bite. The natural lycanthropes would like nothing more than to eradicate their degenerate cousins and declare themselves openly amongst the world.
Without further ado, here's Whitechin and his lover Lupi. He's basically a two-weapon-fighting, raging, shield-bashing nut-job and she's a sensitive healer who spams positive energy throughout the fight. The goblin minions will benefit from her 1d6 channel a lot more than the PCs will. I look forward to goblins they figured were dispatched getting back up and rejoining the fight!
Word version of Whitechin and Lupi
Male goblin barbarian 3
NE Small humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60ft; Perception +8
DEFENSES
AC 20, touch 15, flat-footed 20 (+3 armor, +2 shield, + 1 size, +4 Dex)
hp 32 (3d12+6)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +2; trap sense +1
OFFENSE
Speed 40ft
Melee mwk shortspear +6 (1d4+3/x2) and shield bash +6 (1d4+3/x2)
Melee mwk shortspear +8 (1d4+3/x2)
Special Attacks rage (6 rnds)
TACTICS
During Combat Whitechin isn’t afraid of medium creatures and takes whatever opportunity presents itself to prove this. He tends to charge at any opponents without reach weapons, but is just clever enough to use Acrobatics to avoid those who do. He rages early and tries to break the morale of his foes by battering them repeatedly with his spear and shield.
Morale Whitechin has come to enjoy his position of power and will fight to the death to avoid becoming thrall to anyone else.
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 19
Feats Two-Weapon Fighting, Double Slice
Skills Acrobatics +10, Ride +14, Stealth +8
Languages Goblin
SQ fast movement, superstition
Gear small mwk shortspear, small mwk spiked heavy steel shield, small mwk studded leather armor, 16 gp
raging
AC 18, touch 13
hp 38
Fort +7, Will +4 (+6 vs spells, spell-like abilities, supernatural abilities)
Melee mwk shortspear +8 (1d4+5/x2) and shield bash +8 (1d4+5/x2)
Melee mwk shortspear +10 (1d4+5/x2)
Str 20, Con 18
CMB +7; CMD 21
Female goblin cleric of Calistria 1
CN Small humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60ft; Perception +2
DEFENSES
AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+2 armor, +1 size, +3 Dex)
hp 9 (1d8+1)
Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +4
OFFENSE
Speed 30ft
Melee whip +6 (1d2-1/x2 nonlethal); 15ft
Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st)
6/day – bit of luck, copycat
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 1st)
1st – true strikeD, cause fear (DC13), command (DC13)
0th – create water, detect poison, mending
D domain spell (Luck, Trickery)
Special Attacks channel positive energy (8/day; 1d6 DC13)
TACTICS
During Combat Lupi has learned that the channel energy ability her goddess grants is a powerful one and spends most of her actions healing those around her regardless of the fact that this benefits her enemies as well as her allies.
Morale As Whitechin’s lover, she fights within range of him until he is slain, after which she collapses on his corpse in despair.
STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 16
Base Atk +0; CMB -2; CMD 11
Feats Extra Channel
Skills Heal +6, Ride +10, Stealth +7
Languages Goblin
Gear worn wooden holy symbol of Calistria, small whip, small leather armor, 41sp
Bit of Luck (Sp): You can touch a willing creature as a standard action, giving it a bit of luck. For the next round, any time the target rolls a d20, he may roll twice and take the more favorable result.
Copycat (Sp): You can create an illusory double of yourself as a move action. This double functions as a single mirror image and lasts for a number of rounds equal to your cleric level, or until the illusory duplicate is dispelled or destroyed.
For anyone who feels like including the telepath Fario that I mentioned in session three, here she is.
The only note is that there's a tiny deviation from XPH/SRD standard psion. We're toying with basic "conversion" to Pathfinder status. What we've done (reflected here) is give psions enough power-points per encounter to manifest their most powerful power twice. No bonus from Int, nothing else. What this means is that long-duration powers become at-will like orisons or cantrips, and it also prevents a psion from going completely nova.
We're tweaking our mechanics and we're currently thinking that a psion can draw additional power points but suffers damage to do so. We're currently thinking that drawing more power-points than you have causes a 1d12 per power-point non-lethal damage. This is undergoing playtesting, and we've done the basic math that a psion can JUST manage to kill herself if she fails to stabilize and she's got normal damage. It's risky, but it allows a psion to contribute all day long without a daily limit while not out-shining standard casters.
Female tiefling telepath 3
CE Medium humanoid (psionic)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60ft; Perception +1
DEFENSES
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 22 (3d6+9)
Resist cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5
Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +4
OFFENSE
Speed 30ft
Melee dagger +1 (1d4/19-20x2)
Telepath Powers Known (ML 1st; 6pp/encounter)
2nd – psionic suggestionA (DC 15), thought shieldA
1st – decelerationA (DC 14), intertial armor†, mindlink†, psionic charmA (DC 14)
TACTICS
During Combat Fario is no fighter. She’s a consummate actor and convincingly manipulates those around her into cooperation. She liberally uses suggestions and charms to influence those around. She has learned thought shield specifically because she knows full well that the mind is the ultimate weapon.
Morale Fario will take any opportunity to escape combat unharmed if possible. She uses deceleration on anyone who chases her.
STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 13, Cha 14
Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMD 13
Feats Skill Focus(Bluff), InquisitorB, Skill Focus(Profession)
Skills Bluff +10, Knowledge(psionics) +6, Profession(actor) +7, Psicraft +6, Sense Motive +4 (+14 vs Bluff), Stealth +4
Languages Common, Infernal, Abyssal, Dwarven, Goblin
SQ does not need to drink, skin scalding to the touch
Gear backpack with assorted semi-valuables, 32 gp
Okay, I've got my sewer encounter "Where, oh where are the weres?" prepped up. The idea here is that a small gang of were-rats have been making their home in the sewers and harassing its rightful inhabitants, like goblins! This is meant to be the tip of the iceberg and introduce the idea that there may be more were-rats in hiding throughout Westcrown. Drickie (the leader of this little gang) doesn't know who turned him, but it was only a few months ago and odds are his assailant is still out there.
I fully expect this to be a cake-walk. I'd be surprised if the party doesn't go hunting down a silver weapon or two before hitting the sewers. I'm okay with that as the risk involved with a lycanthrope bite this early on is kind of major. It's not a given that remove curse is actually available anywhere the party can get their hands on.
This all uses Sean K. Reynold's Curse of the Moon book which I can't say enough good about. I'm very glad I bought this one as it does a lot of smart things to lycanthropy. I encourage anyone interested in low-LA and low-CR-change lycanthropes that make sense should pick up the PDF. It's only $5 at DriveThruRPG
To summarize so you can use the statblocks as written, the key changes here are:
1} Moon Hit Points. While in wereform this pool of hit points depletes first. This is NOT DR so it works against magic attacks and the whole deal. Silver bypasses this pool and goes straight to the were's normal hit-point pool.
2} Shape-shifting doesn't inherently change major stats. Drickie's friends have a feat that gives them a stat change but otherwise in rat form they're just like their human form unless otherwise noted.
3} The lesser scent ability is basically scent with a 5ft range.
4} Shape-changing involves a save mechanic instead of a new skill.
Male human afflicted wererat fighter 2
NE Medium humanoid (shapechanger, lycanthrope)
Init +3; Senses Perception +0
DEFENSES
AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 20 (2d10+4)
Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +0 (+1 vs fear)
OFFENSE
Speed 30ft
Melee handaxe +5 (1d6+3/x3)
Ranged alchemist’s fire +6 (1d6/x2 plus splash) 10ft
TACTICS
During Combat Drickie has come to terms with what he is and exploits it. He stays back from his friends and repeatedly throws alchemist’s fire at his enemies. He is unconcerned about the splash damage they might suffer as he counts on their hardiness to buy time.
Morale Drickie values little more than his own hide. He will run away if at all possible unless confronted with a foe who has seen his natural form’s face. In that instance, he fights to the death.
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 18
Feats Precise ShotB, Point Blank Shot, Far ShotB, Throw AnythingB
Skills Handle Animal +5, Profession(guard) +5, Swim +5
Languages Common
SQ animal form, hybrid form, lycanthropic rage
Gear handaxe, hide armor, mwk bandoleer, 10 flasks of alchemist’s fire, two tanglefoot bags, 13 gp
wereforms
Senses low-light vision, lesser scent; Perception +2
AC 13, flat-footed 10 (rat form)
mhp 20
Melee bite +5 (1d4+3/x2 plus curse of lycanthropy)
Feats Alertness
Skills Sense Motive +2
SQ enhanced senses, limited actions, moon hit points
Animal Form (Su): Drickie looks like a normal rat, except that his size remains Medium. He cannot vocalize in animal form except to make sounds that a rat normally makes. It gains none of a rat’s abilities except those specifically noted.
Hybrid Form (Su): Drickie’s natural form takes on aspects of his rat form, such as fur, teeth, tail, and posture. Drickie can perform any actions in this form that he could in his natural form (including speaking and using equipment), except as noted below in the description of the limited actions special quality.
Lycanthropic Rage (Su): On the three nights of the full moon, Drickie is forced to assume an animal or hybrid wereform (a standard action) and remain in that form until the sun comes up the next morning. He may resist these changes by making appropriate Will saves to Control Shape. Drickie returns to his normal form if slain. In wereform Drickie has the following special qualities as a result of the lycanthropic rage. When the lycanthropic rage ends, these abilities go away as well. These qualities are in effect for voluntary and involuntary transformations.
Enhanced Senses: Drickie gains low-light vision, lesser scent, and the Alertness feat.
Limited Actions: Like a barbarian in the midst of a rage, Drickie cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Acrobatics, Escape Artist, Intimidate, and Ride), or any abilities that require patience or concentration. Furthermore, he cannot cast spells or activate magic items that require a command
word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function. He can use any feat it has except Combat Expertise.
Moon Hit Points: Drickie gains 20 moon hit points while in wereform.
Control Shape
Involuntary Changes: Drickie must make a DC 20 Will saving throw at moonrise each night of the full moon to resist involuntarily assuming animal form. If injured, he must also check for an involuntary change after accumulating enough damage to reduce his hit points by one-quarter of his maximum hit points, and again after each additional one-quarter lost.
A failed save indicates that the lycanthrope must remain in animal form until the next dawn, when he automatically returns to his natural form. After such an involuntary transformation, an afflicted
lycanthrope who is aware of his condition may make one attempt to return to his natural form (see below), but if he fails, he remains in animal form until the next dawn.
Voluntary Changes: Drickie can attempt to change form voluntarily (to or from any of his lycanthrope forms or his natural form), regardless of the state of the moon or whether he has been injured. To do so, he attempts a Will save; success means he changes form, failure means he does not. He can retry the save to make a voluntary change to animal form or hybrid form as often as he likes. Each attempt is a standard action. However, on a failed check to return to his natural form, Drickie must remain in his current form until the next dawn, when he automatically returns to his natural form.
Voluntary Change Full Moon Not Full Moon
Natural to hybrid 18 20
Natural to animal 15 18
Hybrid to natural 20 18
Hybrid to animal 15 18
Animal to natural 20 18
Animal to hybrid 18 15
Male and female human afflicted wererat ranger 1
N Medium humanoid (shapechanger, lycanthrope)
Init +1; Senses Perception +5
DEFENSES
AC 14, touch 11, flat-footed 13 (+2 armor, +1 shield, +1 Dex)
hp 12 (1d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +1
OFFENSE
Speed 30ft
Favored Enemy +2 attack & damage vs humans
Melee trident +5 (1d8+3/x2)
Ranged light crossbow +2 (1d8/19-20x2)
TACTICS
During Combat These three sewer cleaners are comfortable in the underground environment they used to work in. They tend to use formations to block enemy movement. They rely primarily on their tridents but resort to bite attempts if reduced to less than half their normal hit points.
Morale These three view themselves as dead men walking and fight to the death.
STATISTICS
Str 17, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 15
Feats Weapon Focus(trident), Wereform EnhancementB
Skills Climb +6, Handle Animal +3, Heal +5, Knowledge(dungeoneering) +4, Stealth +4, Survival +5
Languages Common
SQ track, wild empathy, animal form, hybrid form, lycanthropic rage
Gear trident, light wooden shield, leather armor, light crossbow, 10 bolts, 4 gp (each)
wereforms
Init +3; Senses low-light vision, lesser scent; Perception +3
AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (hybrid form)
AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 10 (rat form)
mhp 20
Melee trident +7 (1d8+5/x2)
Melee bite +6 (1d4+5/x2 plus curse of lycanthropy)
Str 21, Dex 17
Feats Alertness
Skills Climb +8 (+9 rat), Sense Motive +3, Stealth +6 (+7 rat)
SQ enhanced senses, limited actions, moon hit points
Anguish, thanks again for all this great material. I haven't DMed in years (expected a brief and aborted RotRL campaign this past January), and I'm putting together a CoT campaign in my spare time. Your stories are inspirational to say the least.
Cheers!
Anguish, might I suggest you transfer the pertinent posts - or ask for this thread to be moved - into the Campaign Journals section?
Great stuff! It is fascinating to see the different takes on Whitechin, the "Special Encounter" in the sewers and so much more from the different campaigns. :)
Thanks Elorebaen. In re-reading what I wrote I'm shocked by the number of typos I managed to produce. I'm actually quite literate. It's shameful. My sole excuse is that I was highly distracted as I produced that during my lunch hour. I'm especially shamed to see the word "dear" where I intended "deer". Please folks, know that this isn't typical for me. I'll do better in the future... promise. <Grin>
How liberate are you? *friendly poke*
Well, Saturday was Day #1. A quick word about my current group. There's two of us in our mid/late 30s. We've played with others, but our once/twice-a-week games are now just the two of us. What we usually do is run two campaigns and alternate days. One of us DMs one campaign and the other the other. I'm DMing our CoT campaign. The player runs three PCs, the DM provides a DMPC to round out skill sets.
Wow, this post was incredible. My Beloved Spouse (Kobold chorus: "We love you!") and I are in a similar situation to the one you describe (I think..)
She was building for a bit grittier/darker party. But it's VERY cool to see such a well built party do such an incredible job.
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Without further ado, here's Whitechin and his lover Lupi. He's basically a two-weapon-fighting, raging, shield-bashing nut-job and she's a sensitive healer who spams positive energy throughout the fight. The goblin minions will benefit from her 1d6 channel...
Whitechin:
stats are 25 point buy before racial mods. That's epic fantasy for a low level goblin. I didn't even give my players 25 point buy. Since I wasn't spending the time to change this and considering my players were 1st level I ditched the shield, and thus both feats were unused.Lupi:
Cleric of Calistria who channels positive energy...my players (and I) had a hard time swallowing that one. Goblins (usually) worship Lamashtu and/or the 4 lesser goblin gods.
She got pushed back and separated from the rest, so her channeling didn't affect the party, as she never got to harm the monk wailing on her. (not for lack of trying)
Also, Command is Language based, so unless the PC speaks goblin, Command isn't going to work on them. She has an 8 INT and her stats say goblin only, not common. I let this slide, as I was called out by my players and just figured she put a rank in linguistics. How else would she have found out about Calistria? -- particularly in a society were Calistria, Lamashtu, and Rovagug are banned.
I know I'm picking at someone else's stats and hard work, I just thought if anyone else wants to use this they may consider a different god and a different spell for Lupi, and lowering Whitechin's stats moderately.
Your comments and suggestions have helped my game tremendously. I loved what you did with the deer meat. I'm changing it so that there are two groups of goblins (to account for Whitechin only having lupi and three rogues), and the other group has lycanthropy. One of the players has a silver longsword, so the DR won't hurt this party much.
Wererat (Goblin Form) CR 2
XP 600
Goblin afflicted wererat rogue 2 (augmented goblinoid)
CE small goblinoid (goblin, shapechanger)
Init +3; Senses low-light vision, dark vision, scent; Perception +6
Defense
AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 10 (2d8+2)
Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +3
Defensive Abilities evasion
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee masterwork short sword +6 (1d4+1/19–20)
Ranged masterwork heavy (small) crossbow +6 (1d8/19–20)
Special Attacks sneak attack +1d6
Statistics
Str 13, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 6
Base Atk +1; CMB +2; CMD 13
Feats weapon finesse
Skills Acrobatics +7, Bluff +3, Climb +6, Intimidate +3,
Knowledge (local) +5, Perception +8, Sense Motive +8,
Stealth +7, Swim +6
Languages Common
SQ change shape (human, hybrid, and dire rat; polymorph),
rogue talents (fast stealth), lycanthropic empathy (rats and
dire rats), trapfinding
Ecology
Environment any urban
Organization solitary, pair, pack (5–10), or guild (11–30 plus
5–12 dire rats)
Treasure NPC gear (masterwork studded leather, short sword,
light crossbow with 20 bolts, other treasure)
Wererat (Hybrid Form)
CE small goblinoid (goblin, shapechanger)
Init +3; Senses low-light vision, darkvision, scent; Perception +8
Defense
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+3 armor, +3 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 16 (2d8+6)
Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +3
Defensive Abilities evasion; DR 5/silver
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee masterwork short sword +7 (1d4+2/19–20), bite +2
(1d4+2 plus disease and curse of lycanthropy; DC 15)
Ranged masterwork heavy (small) crossbow +6 (1d8/19–20)
Special Attacks sneak attack +1d6
Statistics
Str 15, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 6
Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 14
Feats Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +8, Bluff +4, Climb +5, Escape Artist +8,
Perception +6, Sleight of Hand +8, Stealth +12, Swim +6; Racial
Modifiers +4 Ride, +4 Stealth
Languages Goblin
SQ change shape (human, hybrid, and dire rat; polymorph),
rogue talents (fast stealth), lycanthropic empathy (rats and
dire rats), trapfinding
Special Abilities
Disease (Ex) Filth fever: Bite—injury; save Fort DC 14; onset
1d3 days; frequency 1/day; effect 1d3 Dex damage and 1d3
Con damage; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is
Constitution-based.
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CE Tiny animal rogue 2 (shapeshifter)
Init +2; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +1
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Defense
AC 17, touch 15, flat-footed 14 (+3 Dex, +2 natural armor, +2 size)
hp 14 (2d8+4)
Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +3
Defensive Abilities evasion; DR 5/silver
Offense
Speed 15 ft., climb 15 ft., swim 15 ft.
Melee bite +6 (1d3+2)
Special Attacks sneak attack +1d6
Statistics
Str 15, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 6
Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMD 4 (8 vs. trip)
Feats Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +8, Bluff +4, Climb +5, Escape Artist +8,
Perception +6, Sleight of Hand +8, Stealth +16, Swim +6
Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth
Languages (understand only) Goblin
SQ change shape (human, hybrid, and dire rat; polymorph),
rogue talents (fast stealth), lycanthropic empathy (rats and
dire rats), trapfinding
Special Abilities
Disease (Ex) Filth fever: Bite—injury; save Fort DC 14; onset
1d3 days; frequency 1/day; effect 1d3 Dex damage and 1d3
Con damage; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is
Constitution-based.
Whitechin:
stats are 25 point buy before racial mods. That's epic fantasy for a low level goblin. I didn't even give my players 25 point buy. Since I wasn't spending the time to change this and considering my players were 1st level I ditched the shield, and thus both feats were unused.
Completely understandable. I actually called that out in the same post where Whitechin and Lupi got statted. My players do have 25-point and I occasionally give the same to "named" threats. Not regularly, but every once in a while, for BBEG type baddies. Still, not everyone wants to do that, and not everyone plays with 25-point even if they do, hence identifying it.
Lupi:
Cleric of Calistria who channels positive energy...my players (and I) had a hard time swallowing that one. Goblins (usually) worship Lamashtu and/or the 4 lesser goblin gods.
I don't have the Campaign Setting in front of me at the moment. I knew Lamashtu was inappropriate because I definitely wanted positive energy, not negative. Part of the thought process is that this delusional goblin moron has to have some benefit to Whitechin, hopefully beyond rubbing his... belly. If she did a negative channel (especially in any sort of fight), I imagine Whitechin would off her himself. Also, the design goal was to have extreme low hp bad guys (ie. goblins) able to get back up after the PCs think they've finished with some of them. Surprise!
As for Calistria in particular, I've long forgotten the details behind that choice, I'm sorry to say.
She got pushed back and separated from the rest, so her channeling didn't affect the party, as she never got to harm the monk wailing on her. (not for lack of trying)
Bummer.
Also, Command is Language based, so unless the PC speaks goblin, Command isn't going to work on them. She has an 8 INT and her stats say goblin only, not common. I let this slide, as I was called out by my players and just figured she put a rank in linguistics. How else would she have found out about Calistria? -- particularly in a society were Calistria, Lamashtu, and Rovagug are banned.
1} I suppose I should have mentioned this. I sometimes do things this way: imagine the situation and build it. This cleric has a spell prepared that doesn't work against the PCs. Unless a PC happens to speak goblin, which is a reasonable assumption, that leaves it as a spell - get this - prepared against goblins! Right. Again, ingratiating herself with Whitechin, supporting his throne so he in turn protects her.
2} I won't pretend I had a huge back-story for Lupi. But the way I see it, the best way to find out about a God in a campaign world where Gods are real and have very tangible impact on the world in the form of granting spells and whatnot... is for the God to tell you all about itself. Visions, dreams, hallucinations, visitations... you name it.I know I'm picking at someone else's stats and hard work, I just thought if anyone else wants to use this they may consider a different god and a different spell for Lupi, and lowering Whitechin's stats moderately.
For the record, absolutely no offense taken. I just wanted to drop on the table some of the justification for the things you've seen. Doesn't mean it's GOOD justification, and it's water under the bridge as you've already run the encounter, but at least it's context as opposed to my stats being... loopy. <Grin>
Your comments and suggestions have helped my game tremendously. I loved what you did with the deer meat. I'm changing it so that there are two groups of goblins (to account for Whitechin only having lupi and three rogues), and the other group has lycanthropy. One of the players has a silver longsword, so the DR won't hurt this party much.
Nasty. Good luck with that. I've been working hard to introduce as much lycanthropy into the city as possible. I'm using it symbolically like a rot that's happening out of sight. How many of the citizens are afflicted? How many of the nobles? How deep does this problem run? Just as the city's physical attributes are falling apart and just as it's morale and moral fiber are decaying, perhaps so too its... humanity (elvinity/darfinity/halflingity/tieflinginity/whatever).
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i love it. Stealing the whitchin stuff and the wererat stuff (gonna have to up the CR's a bit, as i'm running the sidequests after Bastards will technically have concluded) and can't wait to see more of your stuff.
keep it up!
-t
ps, i agree with Turin, you should see if you can get the thread moved to the Campaign Journal section
ps, i agree with Turin, you should see if you can get the thread moved to the Campaign Journal section
To be honest, I've got two issues of varying severity.
1} My campaign is stalled at the moment. The player is disheartened, as has been discussed in another thread. I'd like to pick this back up and continue, but... we'll see.
2} I um... disagree. Gently. Politely. Here's why: it't not campaign fiction per se. It's not Story Hour, and I like to lace it with stat blocks. It's the kind of material someone coming to the CoT section should find since it's material (both "inspirational" and mechanical) for GMs. I know I don't set foot in the CJ section because the signal-to-noise ratio for things I need is... work. I know it's a hard distinction and I may be entirely wrong-thinking on this, but... well, that's my reasoning. And why I didn't respond to the original comment. Now that two people have brought it up, well, discussion-time. Please, show me how I'm wrong.
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ps, i agree with Turin, you should see if you can get the thread moved to the Campaign Journal sectionTo be honest, I've got two issues of varying severity.
1} My campaign is stalled at the moment. The player is disheartened, as has been discussed in another thread. I'd like to pick this back up and continue, but... we'll see.
2} I um... disagree. Gently. Politely. Here's why: it't not campaign fiction per se. It's not Story Hour, and I like to lace it with stat blocks. It's the kind of material someone coming to the CoT section should find since it's material (both "inspirational" and mechanical) for GMs. I know I don't set foot in the CJ section because the signal-to-noise ratio for things I need is... work. I know it's a hard distinction and I may be entirely wrong-thinking on this, but... well, that's my reasoning. And why I didn't respond to the original comment. Now that two people have brought it up, well, discussion-time. Please, show me how I'm wrong.
#1: can't help there, sorry, hope you get to play some more though...
#2: stat blocks and special encounters abound in Turin's CJ's (from Savage Tide, Curse of the Crimson Throne, and now Council of Thives). I plan on adding in some of mine as the players pass those particular encounters, as well as storing them on DMTools.org.
As far as signal-to-noise, i can see where you're coming from, but i have found it invaluably helpful for ST, CotCT, and now CoT to see where other groups failed/succeeded/had to change things. It's also very interesting to see just how other groups handled the same encounter/challenges as yours (the bluffing tiefling in your group, btw....priceless!)
in the end, it's your choice, obviously, but i would recommend at least glancing through the CJ section when you have a free moment...it may surprise you.
-t
I don't really use the CJ section to tell a story per se. I do like stat blocks mixed in with my CJs, since it gives readers an idea of what comes up, house rules that have to be made to accommodate game play, adjusting situations to specific characters and the like.
With CoT, since it is being run "in the present" - and my group has concluded Chapter 2 already - I am considering homebrewing some "sidebar" material to torment my player characters, "seed drop" future-planned antagonists and the like.
Such materials are often 'harvested' from the other campaign journals, whether by myself or others. For example, Paizo's CEO has apparently thoroughly mined board-posted material for her home Rise of the Runelords campaign.
In any case, the suggestion for moving to the CJ section is just that - a suggestion. Keep in mind that Certain Someone(s) may elect to move it for you is all. :)