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Rise of the Runelords

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My PCs are facing the portal to the Runeforge that has just opened in front of them.


Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

My players just finished the fight with the Scarecrow and are about to take the long walk of doom to the top of the Shadow Clock. I decided to let them level to 7 before the fight, but I'm not going to dumb down Xanesha at all.


We're at FotSG too. The party is getting to the bottom of the stairs at the start of the next game.

Secret DM Timing:
As suggested by James Jacobs, I'm shifting the raid on Sandpoint at the end since they wanted to move to Jorgenfist after Dead-talking with Barl. And they'll be in town for the start of #5! I want to exploit the timing and involve the giants or possibly some Lamia in the sinkhole to the Scribler. I still have a few thing to work out but I think I've got some time ;)!

Grand Lodge

My group is just about to enter the Shadow Clock (we ended our last session with them at the entrance)...

We'll see how they stand up against Xanesha...

-That One Digitalelf Fellow-

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

The 15th level party went in and confronted Karzoug. After a long fight, he killed the druid and then used Wish to bring back the druid as a vampire and unleashed him on the party. Karzoug died under a full attack the following round rather ignominiously, to his chagrin. But at last, after 1 year and 11 months, it is over. RotR is over for us.


My party finished up the Catacombs of Wrath with ease, and made their way to Thistletop. They are overlooking the rope bridge connecting the island to the mainland.

I'd like to finish it up next session. Guessing it will be another two sessions to finish though. That would make the first adventure 5 sessions of 6 hours. Not bad at all time-wise, though I'm sure the further along we get, the longer each book gets since higher level fights take longer and longer.


cibet44 wrote:
cibet44 wrote:
I just DMd my group this past Sunday. In this session in Runeforge they cleared out the Vault of Greed, Shimmering Veils, and part of the Halls of Wrath. Next session should complete Runeforge and start the trek to Xin-Shalast. I think we have about 5 sessions left until the end. Right now the group is 3 players using 6 PCs (4 12th level, 2 11th level). Core 3.5 classes only.
This Sunday my group finished Runeforge and made it to Vekkers cabin. We are in the home stretch to Xin-Shalast. Runeforge took much longer then I thought it would. We spent 3 full session there. Now I think we have 4 sessions left.

This Sunday my group finished the Vekkers cabin, got the journal to Xin-Shalast and is preparing for the mountain trek to the lower city.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
Cydeth wrote:
The 15th level party went in and confronted Karzoug. After a long fight, he killed the druid and then used Wish to bring back the druid as a vampire and unleashed him on the party. Karzoug died under a full attack the following round rather ignominiously, to his chagrin. But at last, after 1 year and 11 months, it is over. RotR is over for us.

Congrats!

Anything you wished would've done differently during the campaign?

Thanks.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

Well, Fortress of the Stone Giants went past pretty nicely. The party is now in the cave at Rimeskull, ready to turn the final key and enter the Runeforge, in <i>Sins of the Saviors</i>.

The white dragon fight felt like a pushover, though that may be just because the barbarian and paladin got to make flying charges and the paladin critted twice. Thanks to the dragon's manoeuvrability, he couldn't get away without provoking AoOs, and down he went.

Next session... the Runeforge!

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Elorebaen wrote:
Cydeth wrote:
The 15th level party went in and confronted Karzoug. After a long fight, he killed the druid and then used Wish to bring back the druid as a vampire and unleashed him on the party. Karzoug died under a full attack the following round rather ignominiously, to his chagrin. But at last, after 1 year and 11 months, it is over. RotR is over for us.

Congrats!

Anything you wished would've done differently during the campaign?

Thanks.

Hrrm...this is likely going to be a somewhat ramble-y post, as its going to be as I think of things.

First off, I wish I'd decided to change things about NPCs early on to make them my own. I just couldn't get the party to truly care about all but one or two, simply because I wasn't necessarily as enthused about the NPCs. Making the immersion even worse was the fact that I started with six players and ended with four, and only two of them were the same players. Five players came and went, which made for difficulties in the AP overall as the new players just couldn't really get into the game as deeply. Also, since we started under the Beta rules and converted mid-game, one player chose to drop his character in favor of a new one (didn't like the changes, though I can't remember what they were) so that was another issue I saw.

But as for things that could have made things better in my opinion. Spoilering, just in case.

AP Ideas:
First, I caused a bit more anguish in the party by having an NPC they met in town be in love with Nualia (Rinshinn, the tailor) which was a regret that was gnawing at them. It made the situation more...personal to some of the players when they found out that Nualia was trying to destroy the town. Also, I wish that I had begun giving hints of the murders from Skinsaw as they were closing on finishing things in Thistletop, which could have made things more interesting.

Once that was done, I began the Skinsaw Murders as written. As the party was more powerful than normal, I had Aldern go after the mother of the PC he was obsessed with, turning her into a ghast as well. This meant that they had to deal with not only Aldern, but a 6th level elven rogue ghast in the basement of Foxglove Manor. Of course, when Iesha was unleashed I realized that neither the rogue nor Aldern could even hurt the revenant, which made me wish that I had rebuilt them slightly so that they at least would have had a chance. It made the fight very anti-climatic. At this point, given what I knew about Xanesha, I wish that I'd had her kidnap important NPCs and have them brought to Magnimar as hostages against the party. Fortunately for them, I didn't think of it.

Once in Magnimar, I spiced things up when they had the rogue tail Justice Ironbriar by having him frame the party for the murders, claiming that they'd been tailing him, and were about to murder him, which was close enough to the truth. Since there was ample evidence that this was incorrect if the guard sent to Sandpoint, he quietly got on a boat heading for Korvosa with the tide, leaving his journal behind. I wish that I had put the connection between the Skinsaw Men and Nualia into the Journal, which would have made things fit together better, but that's neither here nor there. Another connection I had thought of that I saw online was the connection between Xanesha and Lucrecia, and it would have made sense if they'd found evidence linking the two together, thus sending them in pursuit to Fort Rannick when Xanesha got away. I will also add, those two tag-teaming is evil, especially when you give them Rings of Spell Storing to make life more fun.

In Fort Rannick...honestly, I almost could've passed on the Skull's Crossing part. I almost would have rather had the ogres and trolls have attacked either Fort Rannick after it was reclaimed, or hit Turtleback Ferry. Either probably would have been more interesting to me and my group. Another bit of fun that could have been had would have been an alliance with lizardfolk that began plaguing the Wicker Walk, but again, it didn't happen.

As for Fortress of the Stone Giants...I almost could've skipped the adventure, sadly. While it had some neat concepts, it was effectively a massive dungeon crawl that drug on and on. Mokmurian was one of the most badass bosses I've ever seen, and if I'd played him intelligently the combat would have ended in a TPK. Instead they only lost two PCs, one of which was brought back with a Wish from a Luckblade I stuck into an earlier treasure. Otherwise they would have lost anyway. What I might have done is instead set up a rival stone giant clan/army that was gathering to challenge Mokmurian, and turned the entire thing into more negotiating and then an assassination strike in the midst of a huge battle. It could have caused a lot of neat bits, especially if you have a number more Black Arrows from Fort Rannick survive and help out.

Sin's of the Saviors...I skipped the section underneath Sandpoint, as they had found (sidequest) a stasis chamber with a servant of Sorshen, who gave them additional information and aid as she could. The party had secured the aid of Enga, who prevented them from getting killed by the white dragon with her Necklace of Fireballs, since when she was about to be swallowed Enga detached a bead, threw it down the throat of the dragon and detonated all of them at once. I ruled that SR did not apply, nor could you Reflex save, when a fireball storm goes off in your throat. Once inside, I altered a number of groups, increasing the numbers in the Iron Cages, and the party allied with them before proceeding to shred the opposition, though the demon in Wrath nearly killed everyone, which was coming to be a common theme. The problem that the party was running into by this point was encounter fatigue, really.

When they finally challenged Xin-Shalast, they went through the Vekker's cabin about as written before heading up to the mountains (all of them picked up Amulet's of Adaptation). When they got their, they befriended the nymph and convinced her to cast Wind Walk on them, allowing them to bypass the entire city, and their first act was to disable the Leng Device, though unintentionally. They retreated to figure out how to bypass the Occlusion Field with a variety of spells, and then went straight for the front door. Taking out the giant guards, they stole the Sihedron rings and then nearly died in the Throne Room, though they made off with the unconscious Champion of Greed, whom they proceeded to restore to her senses. (One of them recognized her.) Anyway...after this Karzoug sent his minions to head them off at the staircase, not knowing how they were getting up there. (Word of Recall + Wind Walk.) They tore into the place behind the forces, knowing how to get to Karzoug due to Viorian, and then pulled off an adroit assassination attempt. Honestly, my big thing would be to put more NPCs in the last quests that could be allies, if only a mountaineering team outside of Xin-Shalast. It would have made things more fun for us, I think.

Liberty's Edge

My group just finished off the Skinsaw Cult at the Mill. They discovered that Ironbriar was behind the cult, and the prisoners they had brought him, Orik Vancaskerkin and Tsuto were now in his employ. Orik, however, had a surprise for the cultists as he shoved Tsuto over the edge of the machinery pit and to a bad fall then surrendered to the party, "I never really liked him" he said to the Monk before surrendering. The party Let him go after he told them what little he knew of the cultists and that Ironbriar pretty much kept to his office/room. The group seemed to think that his side switch was enough and let him off.

Next up. Xanesha, crossing my fingers on this one. They are a good tactic/build kind of group. Just made 6th level and are smartly scouting out the clock tower to learn what they can and gear up before going in. I hope it is enough.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
Cydeth wrote:
good stuff

Thank you for taking the time to share!! I am about to start FotSGs, and so I've been looking for various ideas to make it better, while I am looking forward to the last two installments.

Grand Lodge

Wow...

Xanesha was nearly a TPK...

Killed 3 characters out of 7 outright, leaving the remaining characters with extremely low HP (3, 5, 8, and 1 HP(s) respectively)...

And unfortunately, one of those that died was the party cleric...

But in the end, they took her out...


The group I run for has finally made it to Karzoug, which is what we will do next time. Its a weekly game so normally we would be done next Monday, but we are going to take it easy and watch the Packer game and resume on the 4th.

It has been a great ride, everyone is excited for the final battle!

Liberty's Edge

I ran the first adventure when it originally came out, way back in the day, and never finished it. I just started it again with a new group a while back, and they just finished Burnt Offerings tonight. The group loves the campaign, and I'm really psyched about starting The Skinsaw Murders.

My party:
*Errol, LG male human monk (drunken monk); de facto party leader, the group's moral compass. Became a drunk after his wife was killed by the Chopper; found enlightenment while fighting goblins for his life. Worships Cayden Cailean, but a little stiff for most Caydenites.
*Amareen, CG female elf cleric (of Calistria): sacred prostitute, works in the town brothel where she maintains a shrine to the wasp-goddess. Wears studded leather, wields a scorpion whip, and expects her enemies to call her "mistress."
*Peter, CN male human rogue (sniper); goblin expert, crossbow expert, bad with women. Just picked up a level of evoker by studying with Erylium (who they spared and have locked in a cold iron cage now).
*Trag, N male dwarf druid (cave druid); has Charisma 6, so no one likes him--not even his friends. Claimed the smuggler's cave as his house. Has a pet lizard named "Mr. Nibbles."
*Grock, CG male half-orc barbarian (drunken brute); likes his axe, likes his booze, and goes out drinking with Errol sometimes. Drinks to hide his terrible shame--that his parents are happily married.
*Ballis, NG female halfling oracle (of waves); has the tongues curse, so she only speaks Aquan in combat. The party's conscience, and their connection to the Scarnetti family (she doesn't realize they're bad).

The player of Ballis (my wife) has decided that she likes oracle, but wants to try something different for a while (partly to playtest the APG stuff in preparation for her own upcoming campaign), so she's rotating out for a halfling summoner (Ballis' twin sister, Siball). I think it's a cute concept, and I told people at the beginning of the campaign that it was okay to change characters between books. We're all having a lot of fun. ^_^

Jeremy Puckett


cibet44 wrote:
cibet44 wrote:
cibet44 wrote:
I just DMd my group this past Sunday. In this session in Runeforge they cleared out the Vault of Greed, Shimmering Veils, and part of the Halls of Wrath. Next session should complete Runeforge and start the trek to Xin-Shalast. I think we have about 5 sessions left until the end. Right now the group is 3 players using 6 PCs (4 12th level, 2 11th level). Core 3.5 classes only.
This Sunday my group finished Runeforge and made it to Vekkers cabin. We are in the home stretch to Xin-Shalast. Runeforge took much longer then I thought it would. We spent 3 full session there. Now I think we have 4 sessions left.
This Sunday my group finished the Vekkers cabin, got the journal to Xin-Shalast and is preparing for the mountain trek to the lower city.

This Sunday my group made the trek from the Vekkers cabin to the Lower City of Xin-Shalast. The trek took basically the whole 6 hour session with only the last hour or so in the city itself.

If I had to guess I would say from here the party will spend another 1/2 session in the lower city then try to assault the Spires and be rebuffed. The next session they would spend in the lower city again this time with the single focus of prepping for the assault on the Spires and then a final assault on the spires. So I would say 2 or at most 3 more sessions.

Liberty's Edge

hida_jiremi wrote:
The player of Ballis (my wife) has decided that she likes oracle, but wants to try something different for a while (partly to playtest the APG stuff in preparation for her own upcoming campaign), so she's rotating out for a halfling summoner (Ballis' twin sister, Siball).

Just to keep everyone updated, we just started Skinsaw Murders, and the rest of the party has quickly accepted Siball into their ranks. After briefly confusing her for her twin sister, Siball has proven her worth, and that of her eidolon: a man-sized dragon named Aurym (who is prone to snarky comments and kind of looks like a 1st/2nd edition gold dragon).

The party just entered the cornfield and met their first scarecrow ghouls. The roaming ghouls haven't been alerted yet because of the party's stealth, but the looks of horror on their faces when they cut down a crucified victim, only to find out that it was a flesh-eating monstrosity... Well, they made my day. XD

Jeremy Puckett

Dark Archive

I have a pbp on the forums, that's under the glassworks right now. I also have a face to face group, that is about to descend to the bottom level of Thistletop, and face Nuelia and Lyrie together. With any look, the guy playing Orik (he was only introduced last session) will turn when he sees his love, and make it a tough fight for the other three....


The party has just dealt with the encounters at the Seven's Sawmill, and killed Ironbriar before they knew who he was. (They've been told since.) They questioned the messenger birds and are aware that the Shadow Clock is the next link in the chain.

However, that will have to wait. Having decoded Ironbriar's ledger, they know that Vorel's Phage has been acquired by agents of the Red Mantis and they need to hunt those agents down and destroy this [they hope] last sample of the disease.

The assassins will have a lead of a day or two but will be travelling in a way that doesn't call attention to them; they'll book passage on ships already headed their way rather than charter a ship to cross the Varisian Gulf to Riddleport. [I'm not using the storyline that has them targeting Korvosa.] So the assassins might have to be patient while stops are made at Sandpoint, Windsong Abbey and Roderic's Cove and cargo shifted back and forth at each stop.

Once the PCs determine they need to go to Riddleport, they'll be able to hire a ship to take them straight across. I want to give them a choice of several ships and have them weigh various factors to pick one. There will be no one "right" ship to pick. The fastest ship might only have a skeleton crew available and so have the highest DC to handle; the slowest ship might have a crew willing to assist in the search once they reach their destination.

I'd like to hear some suggestions for advantage/drawback combinations like this for the three different ships I plan to have them choose from.

Sovereign Court

The party has just spent the night in Aldern's townhouse, and will set out in the city to investigate the murders.

I have decided to add several decoys doing copycat kills just to add some confusion in their brains.

MWAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!

Grand Lodge

Damon Griffin wrote:


I'd like to hear some suggestions for advantage/drawback combinations like this for the three different ships I plan to have them choose from.

Nice... I wish I had thought of that when I was running that part. I had a similar situation when running, when my PCs had to choose a ship. I also had three ships.

1) Capt. Gallows (yes, I know, ominous...) was the Captain of a merchant vessel. This vessel was the least expensive, provided they could find cargo heading the same way. However, in my campaign, they were headed away from Riddleport, rather than toward. But there can be all sorts of real excuses for him to be heading up to Riddleport. If the PCs offer to work the trip he may offer to reduce the price. (Unless, they have real sailing experience. Then possibly free passage.)

2) Capt. Jarvik was the Captain of a Vessel of less repute. Cheap fare, no questions asked. If they look rich, they may be robbed at sea, and forced to walk the plank. If not, or look like toughies, they may find themselves witness to piracy... Worse yet, the attacked vessel is the merchant vessel of Captain Gallows. Who knows them from their search for passage. (Who do they fight for?)

3) Capt. Maynard of the Sirocco, the fastest ship this side of the world. More expensive, but the safest way to travel.


Aeshuura wrote:


Nice... I wish I had thought of that when I was running that part. I had a similar situation when running, when my PCs had to choose a ship. I also had three ships.

1) Capt. Gallows (yes, I know, ominous...) was the Captain of a merchant vessel. This vessel was the least expensive, provided they could find cargo heading the same way.

2) Capt. Jarvik was the Captain of a Vessel of less repute. Cheap fare, no questions asked. If they look rich, they may be robbed at sea, and forced to walk the plank. If not, or look like toughies, they may find themselves witness to piracy...

3) Capt. Maynard of the Sirocco, the fastest ship this side of the world. More expensive, but the safest way to travel.

Well, expense isn't going to be a real issue for them. Local law enforcement in Magnimar actually had Ironbriar's journal decoded after the PCs brought it to them as [presumed] evidence of Ironbriar's murderous activities. But having decoded it, they had no idea what "Vorel's legacy" referred to until the PCs were questioned again.

Now that they do know, they're quite willing to back these experienced PCs in any way necessary to recover the disease samples (preferably without chancing any exposure themselves, of course, so their backing will probably be mostly financial.)

Finding cargo headed the same way needn't be a concern either, since it's not a long trip across the Varisian Gulf and they'll have enough cash to charter a direct trip to Riddleport. That is in fact their best hope of getting to Riddleport not too far behind the Red Mantis agents, and the PCs know that.

I'm using ship stats from the 3.x book Broadsides!, so this is what I'm giving them to work with. The Red Mantis agents, as they will probably be able to determine, sailed on this caravel:

Caravel:

Caravel
Description: This ship is a lateen-rigged vessel with at least three
masts, quite seaworthy despite its small size. Its small size allows for some travel in large rivers.

Size: Length 60’, Keel 40’, Beam 18’, Depth 15’
Crew: Optimal: 18 (Piloting DC 16)
Adequate: 13 (Piloting DC 20)
Skeleton: 9 (Piloting DC 24)
Minimum Sailing Ranks: 4
Rigging / Sails: Lateen rigged /
Main Mast -1 Large Lateen, Hit Points 30
Mizzen mast -1 Medium Lateen, Hit Points 20
Bonaventure mast -1 Small Lateen, Hit Points 10
Oars / Oarsmen: none
Speed: 7 (sail)
Acceleration / Deceleration: 1/3 (sail)
Maneuverability: D
Seaworthiness: +3 (good)
Cargo: 60 tons
Transport: 40
Hull: Hit Points: 75, Hardness: 10, Break DC: 30
Deck: Hit Points: 60

They'll have a choice of a Brigantine, a Xebec or a Yacht for pursuit and I'm trying to work out pro/con combinations I can tack onto these so that there could be meaningful differences in their choice, again without making any choice "wrong" ahead of time.

Brigantine:

Brigantine
Description: This ship is a small sleek ship with oars like a galley, but more sails, and somewhat broader. It is often preferred by pirates in coastal waters.

Size: Length 60’, Keel
50’, Beam 15’, Depth 8’
Crew: Optimal: 16
(Piloting DC 16)
Adequate: 12 (Piloting DC 20)
Skeleton: 8 (Piloting DC 24)
Minimum Sailing Ranks: 5
Rigging / Sails: Lateen rigged /
Main Mast -1
Medium Lateen, Hit Points 20
Foremast -1 Medium Lateen, Hit Points 20
Mizzen Mast - 1 Small Lateen, Hit Points 10
Oars / Oarsmen: 40 oars, 40 oarsmen
Speed: 8 (sail), 3 (oar – cruising)
Acceleration / Deceleration: 2/4 (sail), 3/3 (oar)
Maneuverability: C, A (oar at 0 speed)
Seaworthiness: -3 (poor)
Cargo: 20 tons
Transport: 90
Hull: Hit Points: 45, Hardness: 8, Break DC: 28
Deck: Hit Points: 35

Xebec:

Xebec
Description: This ship is a medium-sized lateen-rigged vessel, built with narrow lines for speed, but broad enough deck to carry three masts. Unlike the carracks, it does not ave a high fore or aft
castle. It is able to travel in fairly shallow waters as well as open sea, but it is rarely seen on open ocean. It is often used as a corsair.

Size: Length 90’, Keel 65’, Beam 24’, Depth 10’
Crew: Optimal: 50 (Piloting DC 16)
Adequate: 35 (Piloting DC 20)
Skeleton: 20 (Piloting DC 24)
Minimum Sailing Ranks: 5
Rigging / Sails: Lateen rigged /
Main Mast -1 Medium Lateen, Hit Points 20
Foremast -1 Large Lateen, Hit Points 30
Mizzenmast -1 Small Lateen, Hit Points 10
Oars / Oarsmen: none
Speed: 10 (sail)
Acceleration / Deceleration: 2/4 (sail)
Maneuverability: D
Seaworthiness: 0 (fair)
Cargo: 60 tons
Transport: 200
Hull: Hit Points: 200, Hardness: 8, Break DC: 28
Deck: Hit Points: 140

Yacht:

Yacht
Description: This ship is a small, swift vessel, usually only lightly
armed, capable of sea travel, and some river travel.

Size: Length 40’, Keel
33’, Beam 11’, Depth 8’
Crew: Optimal: 11
(Piloting DC 17)
Adequate: 8 (Piloting DC 21)
Skeleton: 5 (Piloting DC 25)
Minimum Sailing Ranks: 6
Rigging / Sails: Lateen rigged /
Main Mast -1 Medium Gaff, 1 Small Square, Hit
Points 50
Bow sprit -2 Small Lateen, Hit Points 40
Oars / Oarsmen: none
Speed: 11 (sail)
Acceleration / Deceleration: 2/4 (sail)
Maneuverability: C
Seaworthiness: +5 (good)
Cargo: 14 tons
Transport: 20
Hull: Hit Points: 30, Hardness: 10 (stern 8),
Break DC: 30
Deck: Hit Points: 18

So for example the Xebec is fast (10) but has a DC 24 piloting with a skeleton crew; the Yacht is fast (11), privately owned and probably has a full crew but might only be willing to go as far as Roderic’s Cove because Riddleport is a wretched hive of scum and villainy. The Brigantine (Speed 8) is barely faster than the Caravel (Speed 7) but has loads of room for support troops if you don’t mind being conspicuous.

Grand Lodge

Cool, well, it seems that you have it well in hand... my PCs were trying to head from Riddleport to Absalom on a little side adventure, so they didn't quite have the backing of the Gub'ment like that.

It seems that their best bet would be the Yacht, for efficiency anyway. Reliable speed, and it would likely be just them against the Mantis.

Is the Transport stat passengers?


Aeshuura wrote:

Cool, well, it seems that you have it well in hand... my PCs were trying to head from Riddleport to Absalom on a little side adventure, so they didn't quite have the backing of the Gub'ment like that.

It seems that their best bet would be the Yacht, for efficiency anyway. Reliable speed, and it would likely be just them against the Mantis.

Is the Transport stat passengers?

My group just finished with Ironbriar and his cult and are having some issues decoding the text but they will get it since they have until the weekend to figure what their characters will do.

They are going to arrive at the tower at roughly 6th level. A Human Paladin of Iomedae from Magnimar, a Merfolk Magus (with his amulet of alter self) from the limits of the Eye of Abendego and an Elf Wizard Celwynvian at 6th level and a Duergar Monk from Katapesh at 5th. They are going to have a rough time.

Grand Lodge

I agree, especially if they intend to go head to head. They should be sneaky, and try to turn the battle in their favor, before the first blow is struck...


Aeshuura wrote:

Cool, well, it seems that you have it well in hand... my PCs were trying to head from Riddleport to Absalom on a little side adventure, so they didn't quite have the backing of the Gub'ment like that.

It seems that their best bet would be the Yacht, for efficiency anyway. Reliable speed, and it would likely be just them against the Mantis.

Is the Transport stat passengers?

It doesn't feel well in hand just yet; like you I believe the Yacht is the obvious choice at the moment, and the point of this exercise is largely defeated if there is an obvious choice. I'm hoping to give them more reason to seriously consider at least one of the other two ships, and ideally all three.

Goverment backing, as I said, is going to have to me limited to paying for the trip. Not only are the government officials in Magnimar squeamish about exposing their own people to a horrible disease, they don't want its existence to be advertised any farther, so the PCs, for example, can't commandeer a ship on the authority of the Lord Mayor or even tell the captain they're acting under such authority.

IIRC, the Transport stat is crew+passengers, so with an optimal crew the Yacht has room for 9 more, and the PCs are a party of 6.

Side note: the players are all worried about having to go head to head with assassins, but the main reason I'm sending them off on a side trek right now is to give them a chance to level up before facing the Scarecrow and Xanesha in the Clock Tower. These assassins are a gift.

Grand Lodge

And a good gift it is. Though, you really can't come out and tell them, or make it easy on them either...

Grand Lodge

After finishing the events in Magnimar, my group accepted the Lord-Mayor's offer and took a river-barge up to Turtleback Ferry...

They didn't stay in town very long before taking off towards the fort, but did manage to catch one of the townsfolk sporting that nifty tat (they questioned him and found out the info they needed)...

The party just tangled with Rukus, forcing him to run home crying...

Our next session will have them going after Rukus...

This is going to be fun!

-That One Digitalelf Fellow-


A Gnome Sorcerer from Varisia, a Half Elf Rogue from Magnimar, an Elven Ranger from Kyonin area, a Shoanti(Human) fighter by way of Riddleport, and a wandering Druid from the Darkmoon Vale. All brought to Sandpoint for the Swallowtale Festival and brought together during the goblin raid and afterward by Sherif Hemlock.

They got rid of the skinsaw man but the political hupheaval after such a magor political figure being killed...

My group is in Magnimar now wrapping things up and I am getting ready to send them into Hook Mountain Horror.

Tsuto escaped them and is aprenticing under a Monk and is working in a thieves guild so he will be a re ocurring villain later on... Monk/Rogue of higher level, perhaps even Assassin :)

Liberty's Edge

After years of waiting, we're starting tomorrow. The characters are:
- A local scion of the Valdemar family, Elemental (Water) Bloodline Sorceror. The back story is that Old man Valdemar's Paternal grandfather shipwrecked on a small Island off Garund and was rescued by a Nereid, they fell in love, had a kid and eventually father and son left the island using the Nereid's treasure to start up a shipbuilding empire.
- An elven Cleric of Saranrae from Meiriani. To see the world, he left his homeland and ended up in Galduria, whereupon he was asked to attend the consecration of the Cathedral in Sandpoint.
- A Shoanti hunter who has unknowingly been chosen by Erastil (is a cleric but the character does not know this, manifests powers without understanding them). He has "a way" with animals, can concentrate to aim his bow better (+1/+1), can tell fresh water from tainted etc. I'm not sure how this will play out but it may continue to be subtle, culminating when they meet the captured horse in Thistletop
- A Chelaxian rogue fleeing prosecution in Korvosa. Fast talker and quick with a knife
- A Varisian ranger from near Turtleback Ferry, grew up idolizing the black arrows.
- A Halfling (Societal Chelaxian) bard from Magnimar. A bit of a historian, interested in becoming part of the story.
- Some bow guy that I haven't met yet.


We just finished up moments ago. Was a tough battle that quickly spiraled out of control for the party, but they recovered and finally got him with a 150 point destruction spell.

We started last year Memorial day and had 61 game sessions in that time, starting with Pathfinder Beta and ending with PFRPG.

Next week starts a CotCT with heavy ties into the Runelords game, and including the APG into the mix.


I just started Burnt Offerings a few weeks ago, but our party easily got through the majority of the campaign, but things took a turn for the worse when they missed the catacombs amd charged straight to thistletop once they wrestled the information out of tsuto.

Once there their dwarf fighter with 26 AC kept failing skills that dealt with armor check, fell down the 80 foot hole, nearly died outright. Defended against the fish thing and then found the wand of shield. He thought it'd be cool to just try to use it without knowing any information about it and failed by more than 15. The shield couldnt come together right and instead became a whirling baring of force shards shredding his armor to pieces. Now they all got really mad from the bad day and since they let a goblin get away in the refugee fight, all the goblins made an exodus to Thisletop. They probably won't even make it in before having to retreat back to rest and heal.

Also I decided that since they killed tsuto but left his corpse downstairs and nothing to happen to it, a goblin witch nualia hired from another clan raised him as a wight and brought him back to her.

Lesson to my party, never leave bodies around, burn them. Especially if that body is in a relationship with a big baddy, one with antipaladin levels.

party level 2
phalanx fighter
Elemental barbarian
magus
life oracle

Liberty's Edge

My group is more than halfway through the Catacombs of Wrath right now. Last week they managed to get information from a couple of goblins that they captured alive about the leader of the raid being a half elf. So, when they found out about Ameiko being missing, and her brother being a half elf, they immediately knew he was involved.

They pulled off the glassworks goblin fight with only two players (plus a summoned dog that they used to great effect). They managed to get one of the goblins alive and tried to get him to pretend to have captured them so as to take Tsuto by surprise. Goblins being very bad actors, the plan didn't work. However, they still managed to take down Tsuto, but stabilize him, so they could bring him back for questioning. They found Ameiko and helped get her back to the sheriff as well.

From Tsuto's journal, they have a pretty good idea of who is really behind the attacks and are fairly certain that a bigger attack is coming. This also lead them back to the tunnels under the glassworks. Since there was only two of them, they asked Ameiko to come along, along with Kyra the iconic cleric.

The first part of the Catacombs has not been terrible for them, although the rogue did almost die fighting Koruvus. The meditation chamber really freaked them out. And they spent a good amount of time trying to figure out the pool of water. They were convinced it was some kind of trap. That's where they've camped at the moment. They wedged the druids sickles into the two door, in an attempt to lock them. I foresee them having a scare in the middle of the night, when something tries to get in. Then it gets quiet, and when they open the door, nothing is there.

We will see how they handle Erylium in two weeks when we get back together.

Grand Lodge

My group handled the Graul's fairly well, and recued the three remaining Black Arrow Rangers...

After healing the rangers, the party had the rangers lead them to a small cave a couple of miles from Fort Rannick so they could rest up before the assault upon the fort (This is where Vale drew his map for the PCs)...

The party forced Lucrecia to flee (so they'll meet here again), and cleared most of the fort of the Kreegs before confronting Jaagrath and defeating him (but not before losing a member of the party to his hook)...

The last session ended with the party in the process of mopping up the last few Kreegs within the fort...

We’ll see if the party decides to take over guardianship of the fort or not...


The group in the game I'm running will be starting the last adventure Sunday. Been a little over 12 months.

Grand Lodge

My group handled the Graul's fairly well, and rescued the three remaining Black Arrow Rangers...

After healing the rangers, the party had the rangers lead them to a small cave a couple of miles from Fort Rannick so they could rest up before the assault upon the fort (This is where Vale drew his map for the PCs)...

The party forced Lucrecia to flee (so they'll meet here again), and cleared most of the fort of the Kreegs before confronting Jaagrath and defeating him (but not before losing a member of the party to his hook)...

The last session ended with the party in the process of mopping up the last few Kreegs within the fort...

We’ll see if the party decides to take over guardianship of the fort or not...


Digitalelf wrote:

My group handled the Graul's fairly well, and rescued the three remaining Black Arrow Rangers...

After healing the rangers, the party had the rangers lead them to a small cave a couple of miles from Fort Rannick so they could rest up before the assault upon the fort (This is where Vale drew his map for the PCs)...

The party forced Lucrecia to flee (so they'll meet here again), and cleared most of the fort of the Kreegs before confronting Jaagrath and defeating him (but not before losing a member of the party to his hook)...

The last session ended with the party in the process of mopping up the last few Kreegs within the fort...

My group did very well against the Grauls and the dam, and pretty well over the course of two attacks on the fort. Kevan Windstrike snuck off and got away pretty much as soon as he was recovered; Vale died during their first attack on the fort. 9th L party of 6 plus Jakardros is now trying to decide if they should go straight to the mountain stronghold.

They don't know how many ogres slipped away from Rannick while they were off dealing with the cracked dam, or how many more may already be at the stronghold. They've seen Jaargrath and have cause to respect his hook; and they've seen Lucrecia (known to them as "Miss Lucy") but believe her to be a human sorceress. They haven't so much as heard Barl's name.


My players are about to hit Xanesha. There are only 3 PCs, and only 6th level, and not so far a particularly effective team... but. They have managed to turn Ironbriar, and got a dump of information from him; they then did some quick research and got a good roll on the relevant Knowledge skill, so they know just about everything about lamias, and will prep themselves withmagic weapon, invisibility, flight, and protection from evil; they followed this up with a divination, which told them to disarm her melee weapon, so the cleric (who has the Destruction domain) is planning to open the fight with true strike and to use it on a Disarm move in the first round.

If she doesn't roll a 1, they have a chance.


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Running by play by post. The group has just faced down Tsuto, who has surrendered to them. They are currently arguing whether to kill him or arrest him. Most are leaning against murder, but as some has pointed out, at this point it would no longer be in self defense.

Liberty's Edge

(SPOILERS ABOUND! No tag since I figured that would be obvious in a thread such as this one)

My mightily dysfunctional company came up with, after a great deal of squabbling, a rather cunning plan to handle the Fortress of the Stone Giants.

Using the Summon Dragon spell from the Spell Compendium (and a not inconsiderable bribe), the party distracted Longtooth and the Rocs long enough to allow them to air walk or fly their way to the caves over the river. While successful, this plan proved to be a learning experience for them and for me:

Lesson 1) (For the players) Aerial battles with Harpy Monks are less than fun

Lesson 2) (For me) One of my players has a pretty big issue with spiders.

Lesson 3) (For the players) Redcaps make PCs with poor mobility weep.

They bribed Enga with a Handy Haversack and have since snuck their way to Conna the Wise, whose peculiar attitudes have them muttering about whether to help or not - but this party wouldn't be this party if they weren't arguing about something.

They are now hiding in Conna's chambers, plotting how to get down to the Library without having to fight everyone in the Fortress.


My group is in Magnimar right now having just encountered the faceless stalkers into Foxglove Townhouse.

It was tedious at first as they didn't want to break the law by entering into the house, even though they had the key. They wanted a meeting with the mayor... had to improvise and grant them access and showing them in the meantime that he is nervous about the murders, having high placed friends being muredered. They even suspect him to be part of it...

After finding the deed and notes in the secret cache, they decided to wait to go to the sawmill on an Oathday at midnight as they want to go give the 200 gp as said in the notes... I guess they will have a surprise finding the cult all in the same room with Ironbriar...

While waiting to this day, one of my player, a cleric of Saranrae, decided that he wants to renovate the shrine in Underbridge, even prioritizing doing that before the mission... This is clearly slowing things down. Although I find the idea as a roleplaying point of view very good, it is kind of not the time to do it, as I know they won't even stay in Magnimar that long. So I decided, not that I want to discourage him but... , to triple the fee for labour, as Underbridge is a dangerous district, and add some encounter when he goes back to the shrine, such as rat swarms and szarni thugs asking for money. Also, more murders during the night for ''wasted time'' on trying to build the shrine.

I hope that the fight with Xanesha won't be hard for them. Already had a player (he was an elf) killed by Bruthazmus earlier.

The group is:

Human Magus 5/Fighter 1
Human Sorceress 6
Human Inquisitor 6
Half-Elf Cleric of Saranrae 6

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