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Okay, this is a stupid little thing, but on page 12 of The Stolen Lands, it lists the stats for the bandits, their leader, and their horses. Okay so far, but it gives XP for the horses! Not only that, but because the horses are CR1, each horse is worth more XP than the bandit leader!
Now, I've been playing for years, and I like to think I'm past letting my players get quite so munchkin that they're grinding up horses for the XP, but really? Why even list XP for horses? You're just going to confuse some poor new GM somewhere, whose PCs just leveled after fighting Mr. Ed...
I noticed that too but then I thought to myself;
If they attack a horse a horse will run away, this isn't a creature who will stand and fight. I'm sure the traders and hunters won't look too kindly on people who just kill horses in cold blood, good luck buying more horses. Also lawls cause they get to walk and spend a year exploring the greenbelt on foot. If they some how manage to keep doing it then they get to play with The Greenbelt Devil."
Creative Director
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Horses are capable of being combat menaces. But if the PCs fight just the bandits on foot, then they don't fight the horses and thus don't get the XP. On the other hand, if the bandits start riding around on them and fighting from horseback, they SHOULD get the XP. Of course... that's probably too rough an encounter for 1st level characters, but that's where those XP for dealing with mounted combats kick in.
But yeah. If the PCs defeat the bandits without their horses entering the picture (which should be the case in MOST sessions), then they shouldn't earn the horse XP.
I really like how you included the speak with animals part of the Stag Lord's fort. It was a nice touch.
Thank you James I wondered about this too.
Ugh, I think I just threw up a little. Yeah, pretty sure I did.
Stay as far away from Legend of the Seeker as you can. Destroy your TV if necessary. Same thing goes for the Dresden Files series > . < Why do they let people make tv shows from books?
Except for the new Diskworld movies, those are great.
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Why do they let people make tv shows from books?
Because occasionally you get something awesome like the soon to come Game of Thrones TV series.
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Okay, I can accept that the XP is meant to represent the increased threat of the bandits if they're mounted (though it would be nice to have that written explicitly), but why are there six horses, if there are only 4 bandits? Are they remounts? Pack animals? Backup in case the fight goes poorly?
"Dammit! These adventures are too much for us! But they didn't reckon on our secret weapons! Send in Blackie and Clip-Clop, and let these fools taste the steely hooves of DOOM!"
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Why do they let people make tv shows from books?Because occasionally you get something awesome like the soon to come Game of Thrones TV series.
YEAH!
The two extra horses should have pack saddles methinks..they are for bearing off the'taxes'
This is a nice way off giving a low level party the mounts they need to explore and saving them money.
Okay, I can accept that the XP is meant to represent the increased threat of the bandits if they're mounted (though it would be nice to have that written explicitly), but why are there six horses, if there are only 4 bandits? Are they remounts? Pack animals? Backup in case the fight goes poorly?
"Dammit! These adventures are too much for us! But they didn't reckon on our secret weapons! Send in Blackie and Clip-Clop, and let these fools taste the steely hooves of DOOM!"
I think common sense will get you through this encounter. If the PCs fight and kill the horses, give them the XP. If they only have to face the four bandits, you've got that listed too.
A (CR 2), encounter is set at 600XP, which would pretty much account for Happs and his 3 minions. The horses are just listed because that is how creatures are referenced in the modules.
Paizo couldn't possibly spell out every possible run-through of every encounter. The XP is there simply for your convenience.
Send in Blackie and Clip-ClopThat's also the name of the worst R&B duo, ever.
You are my new god.
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Creative Director
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Okay, I can accept that the XP is meant to represent the increased threat of the bandits if they're mounted (though it would be nice to have that written explicitly), but why are there six horses, if there are only 4 bandits? Are they remounts? Pack animals? Backup in case the fight goes poorly?
"Dammit! These adventures are too much for us! But they didn't reckon on our secret weapons! Send in Blackie and Clip-Clop, and let these fools taste the steely hooves of DOOM!"
The other two are indeed pack animals. The bandits are there, remember, to rob Oleg of a big pile of furs and loot. They'll need those extra two horses to carry their swag!
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That's pretty much what I figured. 'Course, my PCs butchered those bandits before any of them took an action (Happs rolled so low that, with the -8 penalty, his initiative number was, like, -5, and a mounted charge attack with a lance and a sneak attack critical with a sawtooth sabre finished him off well before then), so the horses had zero effect on the fight.
They will make great boons to the PCs' resources, though, assuming anyone thinks of taking them (if not, Oleg's gonna hold onto a couple of 'em, just in case; probably Blackie and Clip-Clop, whose classic 1976 film was the apotheosis of Blaxploitation in any serious movie buff's book; soundtrack available from Tower Records).
I bet when you're PC's realize that spending 3 days exploring a hex sucks they might think about ways to speed that up. Or perhaps you Guide hireling should suggest it ;)
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I bet when you're PC's realize that spending 3 days exploring a hex sucks they might think about ways to speed that up. Or perhaps you Guide hireling should suggest it ;)
So far, they have not expressed interest in hiring the hirelings... so far. :P
They'll figure it out eventually. We do have two horses right now- my girlfriend's cavalier PC's got her mount, and my GMPC has a horse from the Pioneer trait, which I use as a pack animal. That gets the slowest PC off the ground and reduces my GMPC's carrying capacity to no penalty, so we're moving at 30 ft., which makes for solid travel through plains. Once they hit hills and forest, I bet they'll wise up. :D