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I was just thinking about Settlers of Katan hexes.
Got me thinking: why not blow the map up to SoK size hexes, mount them on cardboard, cut them out, and let the players "build" the map as they go?
I think that's what I'm going to do.

Fletch |

To the right of the map it leads to Restov, by way of a small village called Nivakta's Crossing. This route will appear in Pathfinder #33's map. When it heads off the top of the page from Oleg's it winds back into Rostland on a meandering route.
So the Gnarlmarches are the big forest area we see to the west of Restov on the map on page 66? And the border line drawn there is just the wishful thinking of House Rogarvia?
When we see the map for the Nomen Heights next month, will we see that Restov is right there on the Shrike River north of the Levenies? Or will we see this Nivakta's Crossing with an arrow saying "this way to Restov"?
And looking at the grand, unmarked map on pages 58 and 59, are any of those waterways to the west the East Sellen River? If so, how will the Little Sellen River in the Greenbelt meet up with the East Sellen as Appendix II says it does?
Finally, will Pitax appear on the Stolen Lands map when we get to the Glenebon Uplands? Any hints to where I can expect to see that when looking at page 58?
Thanks loads.

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So the Gnarlmarches are the big forest area we see to the west of Restov on the map on page 66? And the border line drawn there is just the wishful thinking of House Rogarvia?
The Narlmarches are indeed the big forest area west of Restov, and the border line is a certain amount of wishful thinking, yes.
When we see the map for the Nomen Heights next month, will we see that Restov is right there on the Shrike River north of the Levenies? Or will we see this Nivakta's Crossing with an arrow saying "this way to Restov"?
Restov does indeed appear on the map of the Nomen Heights on the Shrike, up in the upper right corner of the page. On the big map on page 59 of PF 31, Restov is more or less right on the river directly south of the letter "W" in the word "Wild" in the header.
And looking at the grand, unmarked map on pages 58 and 59, are any of those waterways to the west the East Sellen River? If so, how will the Little Sellen River in the Greenbelt meet up with the East Sellen as Appendix II says it does?
The East Sellen River flows through the swamp and the big lake. The Little Sellen River flows into the East Sellen south of the city of Mivon, which will not show up on the maps of the Stolen Lands at all.
Finally, will Pitax appear on the Stolen Lands map when we get to the Glenebon Uplands? Any hints to where I can expect to see that when looking at page 58?
Pitax will indeed appear on the map of the Glenebon Uplands. Pitax is pretty much right at the junction of the river where the tributary flows up to the small lake.

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If anyone is able to help, I have a game starting in about an hour and something cropped up now that I have the Adventurer's Armory, and I'd appreciate a quick response. Thanks in advance.
Now, I suppose this could seem easy, but I'd rather be sure, or at least have some support. Kingmaker player's guide has the Sword Scion trait. Let's you start with a longsword or Aldori Dueling Sword, and has bonuses on those. I've just learned that the ADS needs Exotic Weapon Proficiency. I doubt the players with said trait get that for free despite getting the sword for free, even though they can't properly use it until they take that feat, as well as WF in order to make the most out of it. Any insights?

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Actually, I think it's an interesting character bit if a character takes that trait and inherits a sword he doesn't yet know how to properly use. It gives the character something to look forward to learning how to use at some point in the future where they spend a feat to use it properly.
"This is my father's sword. Some day, I hope to be skilled enough to wield it with the skill it deserves."
(fast forward to a higher level)
"Huzzah! I am now a master swordfighter!"
Good times!

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Actually, I think it's an interesting character bit if a character takes that trait and inherits a sword he doesn't yet know how to properly use. It gives the character something to look forward to learning how to use at some point in the future where they spend a feat to use it properly.
"This is my father's sword. Some day, I hope to be skilled enough to wield it with the skill it deserves."
(fast forward to a higher level)
"Huzzah! I am now a master swordfighter!"
Good times!
I understand that sentiment in regards to Sword Scion, but the cost I was referring to for the other one is monetary (minus the masterwork fee). I just thought it strange that Dad would be charging you 20gp to hand down an heirloom they probably want kept in the family anyway. However, like I said, as for the other trait, I think that works well. I was just looking for some clarification because I had a question as soon as I saw it, and I know my players would ask as soon as they did. Thanks to both of you for the quick and insightful replies!

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Well, since your starting equipment isn't really stuff you just bought the day before you started adventuring, but more like the gear you've acculmulated throughout your backstory/training, it kind of makes sense that some of those resources might be tied up in inheriting the weapon (ie, the "20 gp" cost is actually the extra time/effort you took out of training to spend with your family or whatever.)

Gibberer |

So thrilled that someone referred to Pawn Stars. Fun show to watch and I just love how the owners always know an expert for any given item.
Not to mention the amusement potential when someone drives up with a late 19th Century cannon for appraisal...
When the rewards seem too extreme there are options, like a token reward but the effort to get, say, radishes first encounters a wandering monster who just happens to be carrying a gem or two, or a useful magic item or...
In the case of Svetlana's ring, 1000 gold for a ring worth slightly over 100 gold may seem excessive but success/payment means the PCs have dealt the bandits a crippling blow, with associated risks and possible casualties, and ensured that the ire of the Stag Lord will be direct elsewhere than Oleg and his wife so it isn't that outrageous.
Besides, if he offers a mere 20 gold how will he know if the party never found the ring, actually selling it later for a higher price?

Niklas |

I've run this exploration system several times before, giving out XP for each hex the PCs explore and simply drawing in the details of the hexes they explore on a big hex battlemat. It worked out VERY well, and the satisfaction of seeing your map slowly fill in not only gives the players constant physical proof that they're actually exploring and expanding and doing stuff, but also makes it blatantly obvious where the PCs have and haven't gone yet. It's really fun.
I think I'll do it this way. You inspired me.

Niklas |

Oh, a couple of more things.
Garuum, the outcast boggard only knows the words "boggard, bug, slurk, snake truce, hungry, me, you, die and go" in common. In the description it says that he is willing to tell his story and even what he knows about the nearby woods. Is it an error, or should the PC's manage to establish another way of communication than common (by spell or if one of the PC's speak whatever language Boggards do (quite unlikely)).
I'll probably expand Garuums knowledge of common, because I think he's a really cool NPC, and it would be great fun if the PC's manage to befriend him.
I'll probably change the Owlbear in the Stag Lords fort for some other monster, mainly because an owlbear will show up in the upcoming adventure, and I want that one to feel unique (not just "oh, another owlbear"). Any suggestions for a good substitute? I was thinking of an ogre, but it might be better with a more feral monster.

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I'll probably change the Owlbear in the Stag Lords fort for some other monster, mainly because an owlbear will show up in the upcoming adventure, and I want that one to feel unique (not just "oh, another owlbear"). Any suggestions for a good substitute? I was thinking of an ogre, but it might be better with a more feral monster.
Apparently there will be an Owlbear in each episode of Kingmaker, and they're meant to be a recurring theme with some role in the story. You might want to keep the fella around :)

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Garuum, the outcast boggard only knows the words "boggard, bug, slurk, snake truce, hungry, me, you, die and go" in common. In the description it says that he is willing to tell his story and even what he knows about the nearby woods. Is it an error, or should the PC's manage to establish another way of communication than common (by spell or if one of the PC's speak whatever language Boggards do (quite unlikely)).
I'll probably expand Garuums knowledge of common, because I think he's a really cool NPC, and it would be great fun if the PC's manage to befriend him.
I'll probably change the Owlbear in the Stag Lords fort for some other monster, mainly because an owlbear will show up in the upcoming adventure, and I want that one to feel unique (not just "oh, another owlbear"). Any suggestions for a good substitute? I was thinking of an ogre, but it might be better with a more feral monster.
While Garuum doesn't really speak Common, he's fluent in Boggard. PCs who can speak Boggard (or who can use magic to figure that out) get a bonus in that they can learn a lot from him. Alternatively, if the PCs meet him and then later level up they can take Boggard and go back to talk to him. All of this is done by design; the boggards have an important role to play in the fourth adventure, and having some PCs who can speak the language will help.
As for owlbears... they sort of turned into a recurring theme of the adventure. My suggestion is to keep the owlbear in there, since having repetition in some of the encountered monster types is a good way to make a region feel like a real and logical and organic wilderness rather than just a zoo where there's something new everytime you look.

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While the conversation is a bit stale on this topic, I wanted to throw in my two cents regarding Svetlana's Moon Radishes. To make the quest a little spicier, I put a timer on it. She pulls the adventurers aside as they head out to track down bandits in the narlmarches, and asks if they'd be willing to look for radishes while they are out exploring. You see, it's her and Oleg's anniversary in 3 days. If they can bring her the radishes by then for his favorite soup, she'd gladly give them the money she has been saving up for months to buy him a present.
Also, I have run most of book one twice now, and can I just say how happy I am about the Hot Springs encounter? In both groups, the adventurers' first response to "you find a giant hot tub in the forest" was to strip down and jump in for a steam. Hilarious nude frog wrestling ensued. Bravo!

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Also, I have run most of book one twice now, and can I just say how happy I am about the Hot Springs encounter? In both groups, the adventurers' first response to "you find a giant hot tub in the forest" was to strip down and jump in for a steam. Hilarious nude frog wrestling ensued. Bravo!
It's good to hear this encounter is working 100% as intended!

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Actually, I think it's an interesting character bit if a character takes that trait and inherits a sword he doesn't yet know how to properly use. It gives the character something to look forward to learning how to use at some point in the future where they spend a feat to use it properly.
"This is my father's sword. Some day, I hope to be skilled enough to wield it with the skill it deserves."
(fast forward to a higher level)
"Huzzah! I am now a master swordfighter!"
Good times!
kind of OT:

Earwig |

Hey GMs, I'm getting ready to run Stolen Lands very soon and had some questions as to how many of you chose to run the more breifly described encounter areas. such as:
The Spider's Nest
The Frog Pond
Tusk Gutter's Lair
- my question for these encounters is, how have GMs staged these encounters? Did you have your PCs find the notable areas first, describe them, then have the creatures attempt to strike from ambush? Or did you have the encounters happen first, such as the spider leaping out at a PC, then describe the area? Or did you roll an appropriate starting distance based on the terrain type and immediately square off with no surprise of ambush whatsoever?
and the Fangberry Thicket.
- I'm curious as to how big, and what shape GMs made their thickets. Also, how did your PCs go about defeating the swarm? Fire is the usual method, but perhaps not the best idea when inside an area of dense underbrush and you risk cooking yourself alive along with the berries you were here for in the first place!
I also have a few questions about the abilities and tactic of these monsters:
Garuum and his Slurk - If talking doesn't work, things get violent. But how? Does Garuum ride his slurk into battle? The illustration certainly implies so. But if this is the case, the slurk is only a medium sized creature, just like his rider, the 200 lb (as noted in the beastiary) Boggard. Can a medium creature ride a medium creature? I have it stuck in my head that a mount needs to be at lease 1 size larger than its rider, but when consulting the rules, I couldn't find anything concrete. What rules dictate what creatures can ride others without penalty?
Tatzlworms - The dragons are noted as having grab with their bites. In the beastiary, grab is noted as only working on creatures 1 size smaller than the grabbers unless noted otherwise. As medium creatures, by this ruling, Tatzlworms would only be able to grab small creatures. Looking over the creatures' stat blocks, grappling is pretty much their whole schtick and against a party of only medium ized PCs this doesn't look to be nearly as exciting of an encounter. Am I correct in assuming that the Tatzlworms don't get to use their grab against medium sized PCs?

thenovalord |

Hey GMs, I'm getting ready to run Stolen Lands very soon and had some questions as to how many of you chose to run the more breifly described encounter areas. such as:
** spoiler omitted **
with some of them the terrain just feels wrong, or disturbed, if you think about what dwells there, and so you may have:
there maybe no bird song
no bird life at all on ponds
little evidence of small mammals
holes gouged in terrain
dessicated shells of other beasts
buried eggs / old opened eggs
other dead predator...
so stuff to give a clue 'something' is wrong, has upset the balance of nature, but not to say what it is for ex.
do the party buff?
do they buff too early!
do they back away entirely
do they set up watch
loads of good stuff / ideas can flow

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Hey GMs, I'm getting ready to run Stolen Lands very soon and had some questions as to how many of you chose to run the more breifly described encounter areas. such as:
** spoiler omitted **
I've thought about two of those encounters, and love the ideas above about the hot springs. Here's how I'm planning to handle them:
For Tuskgutter, I've put him on the random encounter table. He will be leading a back of boars and will do a fly-by attack on the party (each boar making a single charge attack and then continuing on through). They can follow the tracks back to his lair, or just follow the boars and ambush them when they stop to rest.
For the spider, I've moved it to the bottom of the hex, in the rocky transition area between the two hexes. That one, I'm mostly running as written, with the spider popping out to have some fun.

Rodel |

Is there any official nomenclature for the coinage of Brevoy? many of the other Companions mention this but I didn't notice it for Brevoy. I really like using actual names for the coins instead of just gold, silver, etc... If not I'll just go with my own (Scales, Wings, Drakes, and the rarer Crowns (cp, sp, gp, pp respectively).
Same question for the River Kingdoms. Discovering an assassin has a pouchful of say River Kingdom "Marks" for example gives a clue about who hired him. Although the nature of the land probably means no codified minting system.

Scipion del Ferro RPG Superstar 2011 Top 4 |

I also have a few questions about the abilities and tactic of these monsters:** spoiler omitted **...
The tatzylwyrm's stat block honestly confused me a little. I couldn't really make heads or tails of how the grab/grapple/breath attack thing was supposed to work (I may have been on my second martini though...). So I mainly had them charge taking advantage of their pounce ability to get full-attacks and calling for Fort saves vs. the poison on successful bites.

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Is there any official nomenclature for the coinage of Brevoy? many of the other Companions mention this but I didn't notice it for Brevoy. I really like using actual names for the coins instead of just gold, silver, etc... If not I'll just go with my own (Scales, Wings, Drakes, and the rarer Crowns (cp, sp, gp, pp respectively).
Same question for the River Kingdoms. Discovering an assassin has a pouchful of say River Kingdom "Marks" for example gives a clue about who hired him. Although the nature of the land probably means no codified minting system.
Nope; we just call them gold pieces, platinum pieces, copper pieces, and silver pieces. In a few of the earlier Pathfinder products we toyed with naming coinage, but that tends to get forgotten or starts cluttering things up.
Which means you can go ahead and name them whatever you want without worrying we'll contradict you! :-)

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Earwig wrote:I also have a few questions about the abilities and tactic of these monsters:
** Tatzlwyrm can't grab medium creatures **
** The medium boggard can't ride on the medium slurk **Any answers yet?
1) Not all PCs are Medium. Some are small. Some of their animal pets and companions are small. Part of being a low-CR creature with grab is limitations. Note that a tatzlwyrm can STILL attempt to grapple creatures it's own size or larger, it just can't do so with it's fancy grab ability. It still gets its +4 bonus on grapple checks even with normal grapples.
2) I'm fine with the idea of seeing a medium boggard trying to ride a medium slurk. That's kinda funny. You can houserule it that Garuum suffers a –4 or even a –8 on Ride checks with his slurk, or you can give the slurk the giant template (if the PCs are at least 2nd level, otherwise that's mean), or you can rule that Garuum can only ride the poor overtaxed slurk outside of combat. Or you can just treat the slurk as a "guard dog" or pet instead of a mount.

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What date and year does Kingmaker start?
And it says they arrive at Oleg's the day before the bandit come to "collect their taxes", which is always the first of the month, so 30 Calistril 4710 to arrive at Oleg's, with the bandits showing up on 1 Pharast 4710. You can change the year obviously, but with the gazetteer of Brevoy in the back, as well as the 2010 thing, I think it fits perfectly. Of course, this is just how I read things, so YMMV.

Ken Vreeman |
Question to any other DM's out there.
How are you all handling landmarks with the players?
In particular, do you give them hints that the Stag Lords fort would be a good place for a castle? Do you tell them outright that the fort awards so many points towards the building of a castle?
OR
have you let them sink their own ship and do what ever they feel is right? Like burn it!

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Question to any other DM's out there.
How are you all handling landmarks with the players?
In particular, do you give them hints that the Stag Lords fort would be a good place for a castle? Do you tell them outright that the fort awards so many points towards the building of a castle?
OR
have you let them sink their own ship and do what ever they feel is right? Like burn it!
In my case, since they (The P.C.s) will not get the word to settle the lands until AFTER the Stag Lord is defeated. Therefore, I will let them make thier own beds and lie in them come what may.

The Grandfather |

Question to any other DM's out there.
How are you all handling landmarks with the players?
In particular, do you give them hints that the Stag Lords fort would be a good place for a castle? Do you tell them outright that the fort awards so many points towards the building of a castle?
OR
have you let them sink their own ship and do what ever they feel is right? Like burn it!
The fort is a ruin in the first place. If the players burn it down, I do not see how it affects the cost of rebuilding . I would allow them to do it at half BP either way.

Ken Vreeman |
good answers.
That's what I ended up doing. Before they left, one of them started a fire which will burn most, if not all, the wooden structures and blacken the rock. So I decided that IF they make it to the end of book one and notify the swordlords about the bandits being taken out, they can build (rebuild) the keep with a few BP leftover, instead of the full award.
They should make it through easily, as they started the campaign with 4th-5th level PC's. I've toughened the encounter to give them a challenge and not awarding them XP for exploring. I couldn't toughen up the Mites and Kobolds though.
So a follow up question on BP's, when book 2 begins.
Should the DM notify them of the BP credits at each area they have explored. i.e.
1. Nettle's bridge
2. Fort
3. Temple
ect......

thenovalord |

all finished
last session the party utterly slaughtered
-troll and his pet owlbear who had been bothering some boggards
-shambling mound on one side and surprise bandit attack on the other
-walked through the stag lords fort though i did get the rogue chap and the SL to get in one sneak attack each.......before color spray did for them

Scipion del Ferro RPG Superstar 2011 Top 4 |

How did a 3rd-4th level party even kill a troll? Or a shambling mound for that matter. Those things are brutal. I mean two attacks for +11 to hit, one of those will score. Then they can grab even the toughest fighter with a 75% chance and constrict them dealing between 4d6+12 and 6d6+17 in one round with those attacks. It can even do the grab/grapple/constrict when they approach through it's 10ft reach.

thenovalord |

How did a 3rd-4th level party even kill a troll? Or a shambling mound for that matter. Those things are brutal. I mean two attacks for +11 to hit, one of those will score. Then they can grab even the toughest fighter with a 75% chance and constrict them dealing between 4d6+12 and 6d6+17 in one round with those attacks. It can even do the grab/grapple/constrict when they approach through it's 10ft reach.
E-N-T-A-N-G-L-E
and a druid with awesome perception
Its brutal on a shambler that has rubbish movement anyway. shoot to pieces
same with a troll really
color spray from a sorceror is a troll killer (as troll crawls out of entangle its battered every round by color spray....this also did for the stag lord......its has no upper limit to affect does color spray so lots stunned 1 round, drop everything)
grease as well
ray of enfeeblement (which is still useful)
multiple flaming spheres
party is all spell casters with the druids bear being the tank
the other front liner is an armour wearing celestial sorceror who is armour class 22 before a spell is cast

Geeky Frignit |

E-N-T-A-N-G-L-E
and a druid with awesome perception
Its brutal on a shambler that has rubbish movement anyway. shoot to pieces
same with a troll really
color spray from a sorceror is a troll killer (as troll crawls out of entangle its battered every round by color spray....this also did for the stag lord......its has no upper limit to affect does color spray so lots stunned 1 round, drop everything)
grease as well
ray of enfeeblement (which is still useful)
multiple flaming spheresparty is all spell casters with the druids bear being the tank
the other front liner is an armour wearing celestial sorceror who is armour class 22 before a spell is cast
Same thing happened to a Shambling Mound in my game. Even with a 27 Stealth check, a half-elf rogue with Skill Focus Perception spotted it hiding in the underbrush. This really increased her value to the party. The ranger who is an advance scout ahead didn't see it with his 25 check.
Lucky shots through concealment, critical hits with a +3 Str Composite Longbow and entangle make for a nasty mix.

thenovalord |

Same thing happened to a Shambling Mound in my game. Even with a 27 Stealth check, a half-elf rogue with Skill Focus Perception spotted it hiding in the underbrush. This really increased her value to the party. The ranger who is an advance scout ahead didn't see it with his 25 check.
Lucky shots through concealment, critical hits with a +3 Str Composite Longbow and entangle make for a nasty mix.
yep our druid is half elf too with skill focus perception

thenovalord |

Yow. Makes me glad my party doesn't have a real arcanist. The summoner won't be casting color spray any time soon...
The druid, on the other hand, may need to be watched lest an entanglefest turn every combat into a foregone conclusion.
he did get most upset when in one encounter they where on grasslands heavily grazed by elk, so i said by RAW the grass wasnt tall enough for entangle!!
strangely the party dont seem to mind winning easy! they dont have a tank so in some of the dungeons in Rivers & varnhold i sense some GM win.
we have 3 sorcerors and a bard, so loads arcane

Kamelguru |

Warforged Gardener wrote:Yow. Makes me glad my party doesn't have a real arcanist. The summoner won't be casting color spray any time soon...
The druid, on the other hand, may need to be watched lest an entanglefest turn every combat into a foregone conclusion.
he did get most upset when in one encounter they where on grasslands heavily grazed by elk, so i said by RAW the grass wasnt tall enough for entangle!!
strangely the party dont seem to mind winning easy! they dont have a tank so in some of the dungeons in Rivers & varnhold i sense some GM win.
we have 3 sorcerors and a bard, so loads arcane
So... you will have quite a few submissions to make to the Kingmaker Obituaries when they get to the latter half of Rivers Run Red then, as the trolls in their stonework fort/barren rock caves will make short work of them and feast on their squishy bits.
My party BARELY survived, and they have two "tanks" (AC25+), one which is a horrible damage dealer too.

thenovalord |

So... you will have quite a few submissions to make to the Kingmaker Obituaries when they get to the latter half of Rivers Run Red then, as the trolls in their stonework fort/barren rock caves will make short work of them and feast on their squishy bits.
My party BARELY survived, and they have two "tanks" (AC25+), one which is a horrible damage dealer too.
oh yeah the trolls will squish them..
...as long as the toughest trolls have a will save better than +5, and a reflex better than +4......that'll be a no then!!!!
poor little trolls