Creative Director
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I wonder, does the title of this book refer to something specific in the adventure and I'm just not making the connection, or is it just meant to be evocative of the phrase "run red with blood" (and then, why)?
The title does not describe a specific event at all; it's basically just saying that "as the PCs start to tame the land, they'll be fighting enough monsters to make the rivers of this part of the River Kingdoms run red with blood."
Not all of our adventure titles are meant to evoke specific scenes or villains or events in adventures, in other words. Sometimes, they're just meant to evoke a theme or feeling or mood, such as with "Howl of the Carrion King" or "Endless Knight" or "A History of Ashes."
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I wonder, does the title of this book refer to something specific in the adventure and I'm just not making the connection, or is it just meant to be evocative of the phrase "run red with blood" (and then, why)?The title does not describe a specific event at all; it's basically just saying that "as the PCs start to tame the land, they'll be fighting enough monsters to make the rivers of this part of the River Kingdoms run red with blood."
Not all of our adventure titles are meant to evoke specific scenes or villains or events in adventures, in other words. Sometimes, they're just meant to evoke a theme or feeling or mood, such as with "Howl of the Carrion King" or "Endless Knight" or "A History of Ashes."
FINALLY got my copy of Rivers Run Red, and there's a part in the beginning that says (paraphrased):
If the PCs cannot overcome the challenges their kingdom faces within the region, then the rivers will run red with the blood of yet another doomed attempt to civilize the Stolen Lands.
There's a nice evocative explanation of the title if I ever heard one. :)
What would Kundal the werewolf barbarian's stats be if he is cured from his affliction? (The party cleric plays the "Redemption" part of Sarenrae's portfolio quite aggressively)
I tried to recalculate them, but end up getting results that doesn't conform with the elite NPC array.
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Creative Director
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What would Kundal the werewolf barbarian's stats be if he is cured from his affliction? (The party cleric plays the "Redemption" part of Sarenrae's portfolio quite aggressively)
I tried to recalculate them, but end up getting results that doesn't conform with the elite NPC array.
Remember that lycanthropes are weird. Not only do they have bonuses to stats from the lycanthrope template, but their physical stats change to be that of the animal if those stats are higher than their non-animal stats. Which means that you can build Kundal's stats however you want if they're lower than what a werewolf would grant.
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What would Kundal the werewolf barbarian's stats be if he is cured from his affliction? (The party cleric plays the "Redemption" part of Sarenrae's portfolio quite aggressively)
I tried to recalculate them, but end up getting results that doesn't conform with the elite NPC array.
As James said, his non-lycanthropic human stats can be whatever you want, but when I statted him up, he started at Str 15, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 10.
I start this on tuesday
we tool 7 sessions of 4 hours to dop first mod, and 7 characters got to 4th
How are people finding the pace of this mod?
For example did everyone do as suggested and spend a whole year developing the kingdom?
Did this take more than 1 session to do 12 months worth of kingdom making?
I know there is a specific Kingdom making thread, so no discussion of specifics here!
should id do 2 hours of buidling and then start to throw hints at the team its time to go for a wander?
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Another errata post. Some of these may have already been mentioned, I'm just compiling the ones I've noticed on a read through.
p10, Kundal: CMD should be 21 due to -2 from rage.
p11, Grigori: bardic performance should be 18 rounds/day, rather than 8.
p13, Malgorzata Niska: Attack should be +7. CMD should be 15. (+3 bab, +1 str, -1 dex, +2 deflection)
p20, Jubilost Narthropple: Attack with crossbow should be +10. (5 bab, 3 dex, 1 magic, 1 size)
p22, Scythe Tree: CMB should be +14, CMD should be 23. Was the tree originally Gargantuan? That would account for the 2-point difference.
p33, The Lonely Warrior: Attack should be +11. The Warrior shouldn't be able to fully benefit from his +4 Dex, since chainmail has a max Dex of +2, and being broken doesn't alter that. He should be AC 23, touch 12, flat-footed 21. Alternatively, you could make his armour a broken chain shirt and give him AC 24, touch 14, flat-footed 20.
p34, Rigg Gargadilly: Attack should be +16.
p36, Grimstalker: Poison DC is too low according to standard poison rules. It should be DC 17.
p38, The Dancing Lady: Captivating Dance (Su) should be DC 18. Dying Words (Sp) should be DC 17.
p50, Enraged Owlbear: CMD should be 33 due to -2 from rage. (not that it really matters!)
How are people finding the pace of this mod?
For example did everyone do as suggested and spend a whole year developing the kingdom?
Did this take more than 1 session to do 12 months worth of kingdom making?
should id do 2 hours of buidling and then start to throw hints at the team its time to go for a wander?
Pace is completely up to you and your group. As it recommends, you should let them get a year to get their kingdom started, as you can't very well spring the scripted encounters without a town, and the quests given out is from people in your kingdom.
The building can go really fast if you are dedicated to doing it fast. Took us a while to figure out the rules 100%, but now it flows quick. A ruling month is usually resolved in less than 20 minutes game time, even with several magical items being generated, and sold for BP.
I recommend using the additional rules for kingdom-building, like dedicated rulership, camps/mines/forts, rivers and whatnot. Otherwise, it will take a painstakingly long time to expand, as you will have very little in terms of resources, and I find that it makes a lot more sense to make rivers, special resources and so forth have a larger impact on the nation's economy.
Also, when I roll events, I rerolled some of the events that did not make sense at the time. Like "Feud", as there were no nobles in the very beginning, just the PCs, a handful NPCs and some common folks in one farm-hex :P
How have parties faired with encounter P, the mud bowl?
compare to another very similar CR 6 (the shambling mound), this thing seems horrendous
Although
it is changed from the 3.5 version, which seems even worse!!
i guess with only +5 stealth in encounter P, it may not catch the party unawares
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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How have parties faired with encounter P, the mud bowl?
compare to another very similar CR 6 (the shambling mound), this thing seems horrendous
Although
it is changed from the 3.5 version, which seems even worse!!
i guess with only +5 stealth in encounter P, it may not catch the party unawares
I actually just ran this encounter last session. My party is way higher level than standard for the mod (8th). I kept the encounter concept intact but made the mud bowl terrain area more interesting. Everybody saved vs. the stinky sulfur gas, but they also had to negotiate around boiling mud pots/hot springs and around some slippery ledges to get to where the monster was. It was lurking IN one of the pools and glorped up to attack a flying halfling sorcerer who was going around gathering mushrooms.
The fight was relatively short and not really a big threat to the party as a whole, but nonetheless harrowing for the halfling (who got swallowed in spite of the party's rogue/bard casting grease on him). The inquisitor character came up big in the campaign, due to both the Travel domain powers (ignore gnarly terrain and dimension hop both) and calling plant bane on the monster.
Well if you make it steamy or foggy that'll add +5 to the stealth check. Maybe even cutting it down to a maximum view distance to ten or twenty feet. +1 to the DC for every ten feet away they are if you don't cut the distance. It can charge and attack anything 35 feet on a surprise round.
I had a lot of fun with the encounter. One thing to keep in mind...it can be blinded :(
Concerning the "Assassination Attempt" Kingdom event:
- If a PC is the target, is he supposed to handle the assassin alone (CR = the PC's level +1)?
- Have you already had such an event occur, and how played it out?
- Which monsters/NPCs were used or would be good choices (other than the obvious, like an actual Assassin NPC...)?
- Where did the attempt take place, or what would be a good place to play out the attempt?
Concerning the "Assassination Attempt" Kingdom event:
- If a PC is the target, is he supposed to handle the assassin alone (CR = the PC's level +1)?
- Have you already had such an event occur, and how played it out?
- Which monsters/NPCs were used or would be good choices (other than the obvious, like an actual Assassin NPC...)?
- Where did the attempt take place, or what would be a good place to play out the attempt?
Personally, I make roll the assassination randomly, assigning numbers to the rulers down the list, and rolling appropriate die.
If a PC is targeted, he will likely be targeted when he is alone. Possibly around one other, if there is a love-interest or some other good reason why someone would hang out 24/7.
For assassins, I use the escaped villains come back, since I now have Tartuk the Kobold Sorcerer and Rigg Gargadilly the Quickling Rogue (just leveling up one level beyond the PCs, which is fair to me, since they are living off the lands while the PCs are holed up in their castle for months) and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike (Assassination event :P)
Otherwise, I would look at the backgrounds, and see if I could make a good reason why someone would want them dead (if someone are playing a Brevoyan noble for example, it make a lot of sense when the seeds of civil war is sprouting)
The assassination attempt should be played out in a place where the relevant assassin has an edge. A skilled assassin never gives away the upper hand if he can avoid it. They will pick the place, prepare it with traps and escape routes, and make sure the victim can't summon aid easily:
Target's house: Assassin sneaks in while the target is out, prepares whatever traps he can muster, waits until the target is settling in for the night and strikes when it is at its most vulnerable and or distracted (like taking a bath, in bed, reading a book, in the process of crafting items etc etc)
In town: If the PC is living in a castle, the assassin might find a spot where the PC frequents in town, make sure the assassin knows what the PC would react to, lure it into a trap in a sideway/alley etc, and block obvious escape routes. Gives the PC an edge, but should hinder interference.
Using a hostage: If the PC has been procreating in the time that it takes to build the kingdom, have the assassin kidnap it's offspring, and threaten to kill it if he doesn't come alone to wherever the assassin wants. This could allow the assassin to hinder the PC from using AoE attacks, and limit its power. Remember when you do this: You CAN'T READY A COUP DE GRACE (or any other full-found action), so unless the assassin really is an Assassin (PrC) then he won't be able to just kill the hostage.
Poison: Putting some exceptionally potent poison in the PC's food could qualify as an assassination attempt. Or something more devious; like exchanging his vials of antitoxin with ingested poison, in identical containers.
The options! MWAHAHAHAaaaa! *maniacal hang-wringing*
First session
14 months pass
kingdom up to size 11
survived flood, plague and finished with assaasination attempt for next time
horrible takeover of 'Olegton'
Kingdom rules all worked really well.
Printed all the buildings onto stickers so they could just be stuck in place
Hartlake, is the capital city and boasts a fine brothels, shrine, various trade areas and a dump
bravo to Paizo
Concerning the "Assassination Attempt" Kingdom event:
- If a PC is the target, is he supposed to handle the assassin alone (CR = the PC's level +1)?
- Where did the attempt take place, or what would be a good place to play out the attempt?
I would put the assassin's CR at the PC's level -3 unless you really *want* him dead.
Remember, a when the CR is equal to the *party's* level, that is deemed a "fair fight." A PC on their own (without the aid of tanks, magical backup, bardsong, whatever) is so much weaker.
Also, as Kamelguru pointed out, the assassin would choose the perfect time to kill the PC. Generally speaking, an ambush or otherwise ideal situations (for the enemy) are considered +2 EL.
That's how I got level-3. At least as a baseline for a fair fight. If you want it to be quick thing that doesn't detract from the rest of the session (it is a solo afterall) then maybe drop it by one. If you want it to a centerpeice of the evening showing how dangerous it is to rule, then maybe raise it by one.
Just remember: they would wait for the Fighter to be out of armor and the Wizard to be out of spells, and that situation is known as "dead PC."
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Creative Director
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Concerning the "Assassination Attempt" Kingdom event:
If you decide an assassination attempt targets a PC, you absolutely should take the time to build up stats and play the scene out. The first time you do this, you probably should use a relatively lower level threat (CR of PC level -2 or -3 is a good guideline), but if it happens again you can get a bit rougher since, in theory, the PCs should now be expecting such possibilities.
And if the PCs actually take the pains to set up defenses and specifically hire guards or do other things to protect against assassinations, don't be afraid to simply say that those defenses actually work now and then and stop assassins automatically (or perhaps with a successful Stability or Loyalty check). Players feel good when their plans work.
So tonight I ran four encounters. Old Lockjaw, Howl-of-the-North, Grigori, and the Lizard King.
My party is 5th level now and so nearly every fight is starting with haste since almost every fight takes place on a new day, it's making things special.
They managed to talk their way into the village and find out the kid was their. Veskket came out and confronted them before too long. It was at this point the party wizard calls out, "Fine, if you're god is so powerful, why doesn't he strike me down!" I simply could not resist using this as the opening for the will-o-wisp. Between the paladin and the wizard they where able to kill the wisp without too much trouble. While that was going on the ranger and fighter fought the King and his harrem.
I notice that Veskket has his attacks listed as "trident +12 (2d6), bite +10 (1d6)" and I figure the extra trident damage was from Vital Strike. Can a creature use Vital Strike and then secondary natural attacks as well? I was kinda under the impression they couldn't because Vital Strike was a standard action. Also having his reach listed as 10ft is slightly confusing. For a second there I thought he could bite people 10 feet away! I really wish that Veskket could have landed a critical before his trident was greased...
Oh, one other thing. Does anyone have a website, spreadsheet, program or something to generate random minor/medium/major magic items? The slowest part of our kingdom turns is filling the magic item slots. It's fun to roll for them, but no one would object if I just automated it.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Here was a long rant I sent out to the PCs when they came back from the Howl of the North Wind mission (which btw I turned into a winter wolf with worg minions; but then, my PCs are over-leveled for the adventure).
At this point, the PCs had established their first town at the trading post and were concentrating on building farmland. They had just built a second town at the Temple of the Elk, and most of their early BP were spent on a caster's tower to build up the magic item trade. The queen/baroness/ruler is a halfling fighter/barbarian.
The funny part is that, after reading this, more than one player said "You know... he does kind of have a point." In the end, after several Diplomacy checks, they bought him off and hired him to be the Councilor for the kingdom. For the next six months, he was using his Charisma bonus to alter their kingdom rolls and to influence events until they finally found him out and chased him down and killed him. They hated him for all the mess he caused... and then right after he was killed, the next kingdom event? ASSASSINATION! Which I worked into the plot as a sleeper agent set up to take someone out if anything happened to Grigori. It was delicious...
Anyway, happy reading!
The rantings of Grigori
Down with Queen Irina!
Public meeting tonight at Oleg’s Market to denounce the false and foolish so-called heroes who would call themselves our leaders! Where are they now? What have they done for us?
Defeated the Stag Lord? I halfway wonder whether there ever really was such a man. Surely, they brought a scarred head with a stag mask on it, but what of the ruined keep where he held court with his men? Where is that castle now? Abandoned to the wilds! Even if this Stag Lord was killed, who rules there now? Probably another bandit worse than the first! Or some savage beast not even human.
Yet here we cower, clinging to the pioneer spirit of noble Oleg, who dared the wilderness himself and established this place. Sure, our wise leaders have built up this mill and smithy, and roads, but leading where? Nowhere! Where is their vision? They have done nothing here but build upon the vision of Oleg himself, a man braver and wiser than they. They stand upon his shoulders.
Even this new town in the woods, Elkhart, is no doing of theirs. Surely they provided the gold, but it was the vision of Jhod Kavken to restore the temple of his noble divine patron, Erastil, master of hearth and hunt and home. Loy and Latricia Rezbin, they too would establish a new town of Tatzlford, turning riverbend once known for menace into a place of industry and hope, yet our leaders string them along with empty promises. Where is their leadership? Why is it that the only leading being done around here is by you, the smallfolk.
Where are your leaders? What have they brought you? A new kingdom. Where is their throne? Where is their palace? Where is their court? Where are they that we can find them when we need them? Are we savages that we kneel in the mud before our tiny queen as she sits a rock before the fire, or tipping back a fine pint of ale in the tavern? Oh wait, we don’t HAVE a proper tavern!
Even if we ARE a kingdom in truth, what good is that, when an army could sweep down upon you unawares at any time and wipe us all off the map! We have houses, a mill, a smithy, near on two thousand souls gathered here, but where are the walls to defend us? Where is even a watchtower to give us warning when enemies approach? Sure, we have a graveyard to bury our slaughtered dead, and a fine dump to toss the refuse of their burned homes, but how about something to protect us so we don’t NEED a graveyard and a dump?
I ask again, what have our leaders brought us? PLAGUE! That is what. I don’t need to remind you that the very moment they founded this excuse for a kingdom, we were ravaged by it. What taint have these foreigners brought among us? And what else have they brought us? WORK! Sure, we have work aplenty. Work to do for THEM. Logs, boards, nails, horseshoes, axes to fell more wood to saw into more boards to expand the mill and the smithy, and for what, to make more boards and more axes!
We gather roots and herbs and berries and the gods alone know what else for that thrice-curst tower… that does what exactly? Magic? It makes magic? Have any of you seen any magic coming out of it? Oh no, they don’t show us what they’re doing. Those bars on the windows, those funny-colored smokes coming out; who knows that they’re doing in there? Even if it’s doing everything they say, what good is magic for you and me, when everything they sell would take us little people an entire year of labor to afford? Oh, I forgot, it’s for “trade” to make us all richer. If our lords and masters get rich enough, they’ll share with us. How could I forget?
We sow and we reap, we clear the farms from the chill of winter, and we look forward to a new spring, but what do they bring us now? SCANDAL! A brothel, my brothers and my sisters. A brothel. Our leaders seem a lot more interested in tending to the luxury crowd, as if we even HAD rich people living here, than in seeing what we really need. Are they hoping to somehow make this a vacation spot for the rich and famous? LOOK AROUND YOU. We’re on the edge of the wilderness, and not the beautiful edge! What are they DOING over in that brothel. Well, I mean, we KNOW what they’re doing, if you know what I mean, but our leaders, wasting their time on rubbish like that when we have a hundred more important things to do.
Now, far be it from me to judge those who crave the pleasures of the flesh, but that flesh will not protect us when the wild folk beyond the hills and forests decide to take an interest in our little kingdom and see that we are sitting here undefended. Disorganized. No town hall. Leaders who are always wandering off “adventuring.” They are negligent in the extreme. They don’t care about you, or me, or any of us, or all of us.
Look, I’m not saying they are no good at anything. They’re handy with a sword, to be sure. If there’s killing that needs doing, they seem like the people for the job. But that’s just it; do you want a gang of thugs, of killers for hire, as your leaders? Don’t you deserve better? Don’t you deserve someone who really has your best interests at heart? Someone who doesn’t go around antagonizing the menaces that live in the dark places of the wilderness, raising up their ire, and then gallivanting off again on another errand, whether legitimate like their much-appreciated wolf hunt, or some fool’s errand of their own. Who will protect us against the hornet’s nests that they have stirred up? Bandits? Worgs? More werewolves? What’s next? Trolls? Unruly fey angried up by their depredations?
We need someone who will respect the will of the people and the wants and desires of the people. We need a queen… or a king… or SOMEONE to rule us as we deserve. Say it with me:
DOWN WITH THE QUEEN! DOWN WITH THE QUEEN! DOWN WITH THE QUEEN!
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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As far as Ol Crackjaw, btw, what I had him do was stay underwater and sunder their BOAT. After he bit a hole in it, a sorcerer PC had the clever idea to summon a water elemental to seal the hole until they could get the boat to shore, but it certainly added a little drama to the proceedings...
So tonight I ran four encounters. Old Lockjaw, Howl-of-the-North, Grigori, and the Lizard King.
With regard to the lizard king - he's a large creature, so he *can* bite people 10 feet away and the 2d6 base damage is before adding vital strike which would bring it up to 4d6.
Yoinked x2!
A Fist-Full of Awesome
Yoinked x4!
With regard to the lizard king - he's a large creature, so he *can* bite people 10 feet away and the 2d6 base damage is before adding vital strike which would bring it up to 4d6.So tonight I ran four encounters. Old Lockjaw, Howl-of-the-North, Grigori, and the Lizard King.
Huh...so he is...
Regarding the Dancing Lady. Could she tie up entranced characters or force them to drink her elixir of love?
She looks like a really fun encounter up until the part where she stop dancing and everyone else not grappled kills her. Any advice here?
Regarding the Dancing Lady. Could she tie up entranced characters or force them to drink her elixir of love?
She looks like a really fun encounter up until the part where she stop dancing and everyone else not grappled kills her. Any advice here?
Well, she's pretty smart, so I'd think she wouldn't stop dancing until all the rest of the threats are taken care of. First round, she starts dancing and uses entangle. Next round, if there are any threats she uses suggestion on them to defend her. If there are still more threats after that, she would engage in melee. Remember, the Grimstalker might be in the room too if the PCs have already encountered him and he got away.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Regarding the Dancing Lady. Could she tie up entranced characters or force them to drink her elixir of love?
She looks like a really fun encounter up until the part where she stop dancing and everyone else not grappled kills her. Any advice here?
Her dancing is not limited in duration and she is able to do other things WHILE dancing... so why would she ever stop dancing?
Just keep it up until she's finished off everyone...
Regarding the Dancing Lady. Could she tie up entranced characters or force them to drink her elixir of love?
She looks like a really fun encounter up until the part where she stop dancing and everyone else not grappled kills her. Any advice here?
Her dancing is not limited in duration and she is able to do other things WHILE dancing... so why would she ever stop dancing?
Just keep it up until she's finished off everyone...
Well - she can so *some* things while dancing, but it was clarified further up the thread that she cannot grapple while dancing which means she has to subdue everyone in some other manner before draining their blood.
Alright, y'all are gonna have to point me in the right direction.
Building a kingdom - I've read a couple messageboard posts that indicate a kingdom can only increase in size by one hex per turn. Where (volume and page number) are those rules? Because the only thing I can find is that a hex must be explored before it is claimed, and that those hexes must be in contact with a currently claimed hex. That could mean (with proper exploration) that the PCs claim 6 hexes in one month.
Also, I want to check my understanding of the city-building rules. Volume 32 p 58 (Building A City) states "It takes 1 month to construct a building . . . ." Is this the only wording that indicates 1 building per month can be built? I ask because that wording doesn't actually say "only one building per month."
Thanks in advance for pointing out things that are probably right in front of my nose!
Alright, y'all are gonna have to point me in the right direction.
Building a kingdom - I've read a couple messageboard posts that indicate a kingdom can only increase in size by one hex per turn. Where (volume and page number) are those rules? Because the only thing I can find is that a hex must be explored before it is claimed, and that those hexes must be in contact with a currently claimed hex. That could mean (with proper exploration) that the PCs claim 6 hexes in one month.
Also, I want to check my understanding of the city-building rules. Volume 32 p 58 (Building A City) states "It takes 1 month to construct a building . . . ." Is this the only wording that indicates 1 building per month can be built? I ask because that wording doesn't actually say "only one building per month."
Thanks in advance for pointing out things that are probably right in front of my nose!
Pg. 65 Improvements per Month table at the top
Pg. 65 Improvements per Month table at the top
Figures. I'd been drooling over the potential side-quests that could be garnered from the description of the Kingdom Events and completely missed that table. Thanks, Scipion!
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Well - she can so *some* things while dancing, but it was clarified further up the thread that she cannot grapple while dancing which means she has to subdue everyone in some other manner before draining their blood.Regarding the Dancing Lady. Could she tie up entranced characters or force them to drink her elixir of love?
She looks like a really fun encounter up until the part where she stop dancing and everyone else not grappled kills her. Any advice here?
Her dancing is not limited in duration and she is able to do other things WHILE dancing... so why would she ever stop dancing?
Just keep it up until she's finished off everyone...
Eh, fair enuf. My party was over-leveled for the encounter anyway, so I don't feel bad about letting her cheat a little.
Have to say I really get the 'Age of Empires' vibe from the city building rules..
Is there a limit on the number of districts you can have in a city?
Not really. A GM can certainly limit the number of districts a party puts in a single city if he wants, but multiple districts would be the only way you'd ever be able to model a really BIG city, after all. A city the size of Westcrown would take, IIRC, nearly 30 city grid districts.
Of course, your kingdom needs to be able to AFFORD all of those districts!
Edit: My next question is does the bonus from two kings/queens stacks or does the higher one apply?
The Base Value(page 58 book 2) of the city is confusing me. Do I just convert the BP to gold value, and if so does the BP convert to 2000gp or 4000gp. I understand that the limit is 16000 for t. At least I hope that is right anyway. I am trying to figure you the magic item possible values so I can put the formula into excel.
Edit: Is it influenced only by the buildings like magic shops and academies?
The Base Value(page 58 book 2) of the city is confusing me. Do I just convert the BP to gold value, and if so does the BP convert to 2000gp or 4000gp. I understand that the limit is 16000 for t. At least I hope that is right anyway. I am trying to figure you the magic item possible values so I can put the formula into excel.
Edit: Is it influenced only by the buildings like magic shops and academies?
It's only adjusted by the buildings. not your actual BP. The Base GP value represents what kind of merchants are in your town and the items they have to offer. If you never build anything besides houses and barracks then who will you buy from even if you have a ton of BP?
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Creative Director
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Edit: My next question is does the bonus from two kings/queens stacks or does the higher one apply?Have to say I really get the 'Age of Empires' vibe from the city building rules..
Is there a limit on the number of districts you can have in a city?
Not really. A GM can certainly limit the number of districts a party puts in a single city if he wants, but multiple districts would be the only way you'd ever be able to model a really BIG city, after all. A city the size of Westcrown would take, IIRC, nearly 30 city grid districts.
Of course, your kingdom needs to be able to AFFORD all of those districts!
Having two rulers does allow the bonuses they grant to stack; it's the only case where two leaders in the same role can stack their bonuses. This is, of course, intentional, so that we can model a king/queen (or king/king, or queen/queen) type element in a kingdom.
It's only adjusted by the buildings. not your actual BP. The Base GP value represents what kind of merchants are in your town and the items they have to offer. If you never build anything besides houses and barracks then who will you buy from even if you have a ton of BP?The Base Value(page 58 book 2) of the city is confusing me. Do I just convert the BP to gold value, and if so does the BP convert to 2000gp or 4000gp. I understand that the limit is 16000 for t. At least I hope that is right anyway. I am trying to figure you the magic item possible values so I can put the formula into excel.
Edit: Is it influenced only by the buildings like magic shops and academies?
I see the gold value of the buildings now. I guess that is what I get for skimming over things instead of reading.
So the druid,and bear, couldnt make tonights sessions.....no entangle wahoo!
...my sorceror and missile heavy party....
A. added another worg and more wolves to the Howl of the north, he fell to another outrageous perception roll. One worg nuked by a ray of enfeeblement....and the other color sprayed after getting in a hit each....other wolves hit by calm emotions before they got to act.
B. Poor little cairn wight (which i bumped up a bit...)
the front line 4th lvl celestial-sorcereses critted with her gifted adept (?) shocking grasp for 42 damage, a few minor hits from other party members, i then missed by a couple of points the AC of the sorceroress. she makes her concentration checks and blasts it again for another 20+ damage and its all over....
;-(
I know shocking grasp is supposedly a bad spell, but average 17.5 energy damage isnt bad and touch attack against metal armour is very high success
I did have a will o wisp get to do a bit of damage, before it crumbled to a magic missile frenzy
werewolf officially cured by being beaten down
also had minor undead attack on their city too
and lots of RP in town as well
...seemed to get loads down in a 4 hour session!
loving KM.
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...seemed to get loads down in a 4 hour session!
loving KM.
Cool!
Question: do you think that more is "accomplished" in a session because of the nature of the campaign--everywhere you turn and go, something to see and do? Seems like in other APs/campaigns, I have spent a good part of each session recapping what's happened and "baiting the hook" to help things move in the direction of the adventure. I don't claim to be a perfect DM, but sometimes with railroady-by-nature "Paths" I think a lot of time can get eaten up just laying rail.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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...seemed to get loads down in a 4 hour session!
loving KM.
Cool!
Question: do you think that more is "accomplished" in a session because of the nature of the campaign--everywhere you turn and go, something to see and do? Seems like in other APs/campaigns, I have spent a good part of each session recapping what's happened and "baiting the hook" to help things move in the direction of the adventure. I don't claim to be a perfect DM, but sometimes with railroady-by-nature "Paths" I think a lot of time can get eaten up just laying rail.
I think that's a fair point. If you add in the set-piece encounters, the mini-quests, the random encounters, the random kingdom events that might tie in to encounters and events, and any organically developed narratives or player-sponsored ideas, you have no shortage of stuff for them to do!
Yes, and yes
i think it also helps that
-hasnt been much dungeoneering and all the stuff that involves
-where there has i have had tiles to lay it out quick or have just made a battlemat by extracting from pdf
yesterday was nice as it started with a fight in their town. Id laid out a few buildings (inn, shrine, graveyard, park) just how they had made it in the city grid, so it really felt like they where defending their 'baby'.
How big a kingdom are the PCs expected to have by the end of Rivers Run Red?
I know it's largely up to the PCs, but wise PCs (and players) will try to get hints through skills, magic or advice from NPCs. What are the target numbers I should be steering them towards?
Considering experiences in previous adventure paths, I'm worried my PCs will try to make the absolute most of their time, i.e. governing for a week, then adventuring for three weeks, and I expect that will have them facing some dangerous threats with a little less XP than expected, and worse, going into the next adventure with a tiny little kingdom.
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How big a kingdom are the PCs expected to have by the end of Rivers Run Red?
I know it's largely up to the PCs, but wise PCs (and players) will try to get hints through skills, magic or advice from NPCs. What are the target numbers I should be steering them towards?
Considering experiences in previous adventure paths, I'm worried my PCs will try to make the absolute most of their time, i.e. governing for a week, then adventuring for three weeks, and I expect that will have them facing some dangerous threats with a little less XP than expected, and worse, going into the next adventure with a tiny little kingdom.
Well, the goal they give in a sidebar in Varnhold Vanishing is to hold off on really starting the main key locations in Varnhold until their kingdom is around 50 hexes or so. They can certainly start exploring when their kingdom is smaller than that, but the ideal goal is to have them at 70 or so hexes right before finishing the 3rd chapter of the AP. (The PCs get a big new area of terrain added to their kingdom, which ideally will be just what they need to push them up to 81+ hexes and thus true Kingdom status.)
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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How big a kingdom are the PCs expected to have by the end of Rivers Run Red?
I know it's largely up to the PCs, but wise PCs (and players) will try to get hints through skills, magic or advice from NPCs. What are the target numbers I should be steering them towards?
Considering experiences in previous adventure paths, I'm worried my PCs will try to make the absolute most of their time, i.e. governing for a week, then adventuring for three weeks, and I expect that will have them facing some dangerous threats with a little less XP than expected, and worse, going into the next adventure with a tiny little kingdom.
It's certainly reasonable for you as the DM or you as the gaming group to simply force the elapsing some time. The hardest thing to wrap your players' minds around with Kingmaker is the idea that this campaign isn't supposed to be a rush to the finish. There is no particular hurry to it. Events can and will happen (and rolling up a your random kingdom events in advance will help you weave them into an ongoing narrative that connects with the scripted events and the encounter locations).
You can also reinforce winters being beastly cold and bad weather and pretty much unpleasant for adventuring (everybody needs endure elements and such all the time, difficult terrain from snow and ice, etc.), which may help encourage them to spent the winter months ruling instead of trying to max out adventuring time.
But, from time to time, you can simply declare a vacation. If the players fuss, ask them quite simply: What's the hurry? Play up the idea of just *DOING* things, surveying the land before expanding and wandering around it after they've claimed it. Meeting the citizens. Delving into politics.
And every now and then going and killing some bad guys!
When buildings list Unrest modifiers, are these one-time modifiers, or are they applied each turn?
For example, would a kingdom with two houses built (Unrest -1 each) suffer no negative effect from the rumours of troll raids (increas Unrest by at the end of each Event phase)?
Those are one time effects. Unrest builds up pretty slowely. I don't think my group has gone over 2-3 at any one time in 11 months.
Once the trolls attack, which should be the second event that occurs, it builds up at 2 per turn, before any other adjustments.
Even with Akiros as the Royal Assassin killing people who spread troll panic, my group is now at 5, and considering that one of the prime ways to gain unrest is to fail badly at the Stability check right at the beginning of the turn, and that Unrest gives a penalty to all checks, things are looking pretty grim...
You only gain unrest from the Troll rumors if you consistently fail the Loyalty check at the end of the month. if this keeps happening they may want to consider applying their modifiers to that stat (king and spymaster) and constructing some +Loyalty buildings.
Initially I read the troll event as offering only once chance to stop the rumours, otherwise they continue until the trolls are destroyed, but seeing what a death spiral 2 Unrest per turn creates, you're probably right.
Not sure how to best handle the situation, since now the kingdom's so deep in Unrest that even if they start making checks to stop the rumours from spreading as they should have been, they'll probably keep failing them...
I think a good way to do that would be to have Tyg's parents show up asking for help. Have the PC's gather information that leads them to the Lizardfolk, and deal with that encounter. Once that's finished encourage your PC's to point out "look guys we've taken care of the green troll rumors, turned out it was lizardfolk!" However when people keep reporting rumors let them start making new Loyalty checks.
If they build a city wall for 8 BP that'll lower it by 2. Building a house will lower by 1, and if you "give" them a new Vassal event by having Restov send some new colonists and soldiers to help with the rumors that will boost the treasurey and get rid of another 2 Unrest. Ta-dah! Games back to where it should be, no death spiral.