Burnt Offerings and the A.P.G. ((Spoilers inside))

[Trei Shouri]

Hello all.

I recently added a sixth player to my gaming group, and have taken the opportunity to begin modifying the A.P. to be more of a challenge and more entertaining for my group. And, since I recently got my copy of the A.P.G., I decided to apply some of the more "advanced" templates to the characters inside. Here are some of the things I was debating:

Spoiler:

Tsuto Kaijitsu- Acrobat (Rogue) 1 / Hungry Ghost Monk 2
-Reasoning: Acrobat adds to Tsuto's already ridiculous acrobatics checks, letting him take a total of +10 to any dodging. My group just fought this encounter last night, and the added acrobatics allowed him to acrobatics his way past everyone multiple times. And Hungry Ghost swaps out Stunning Fist for Punishing Kick, which against a melee-heavy party is VERY effective at buying Tsuto time to recover and set up traps.

Orik- Antipaladin. This has both flavor bonus (one of the PCs previously partied (backstory) with a paladin, who he thought was killed in a TPK), and lets me through some new tactics at the group.

Lyrie: still debating. Protean sorc bloodline, or modifying her to include the school-focus bonuses.

Nualia: Debating switching her to an Inquisitor of Lamashtu, primarily for flavor and challenge purposes.

*Note: I do not have my copy of the A.P. with me at the moment, so I can't fully flesh out all the changes. I am currently using two existing threads in this subforum as a basis for most of this, which will be cited at the end of this post.

Anyways, as I am still a fairly new DM, I would love to see what other people think of these changes, and if anyone has any recommendations that will make these encounters that much more interesting for my players. Thanks in advance for constructive comments/criticism!

References:

Spoiler:

Changes to Rise of The Rune Lords for 6 PCs (Spoilers):
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/adventurePa th/runelords/changesToRiseOfTheRuneLordsFor6PCsSpoilers

(Muchos Spoileres) Conversion of Burnt Offerings to PFRPG:
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/adventurePa th/runelords/mUCHOSSPOILERESConversionOfBurntOfferingsToPFRPG

[Rodger Graham]

I think the change to Tsuto is a great move, and your other proposed changes could work. I do, however, think that the change to Orik may be a bit much.

Spoiler:

Orik is portrayed as a down-on-his-luck mercenary that keeps getting in over head because of the women he falls for. In my game, I played this up quite a bit, and the PCs acutally befriended the poor guy, even as they killed Lyrie and subsequently lied to him about what happened to her (she attacked the party before they ran into Orik, and when the group found out, they told him that Nualia killed her to spare his feelings about the kind of person Lyrie really was).

From the standard narrative view, it seems unlikely that an anti-paladin would be following Nualia wihout very good reason. To me, the anti-paladin seems like the complete bad-guy package and ultimately the BBEG, which may take away from the impact of the revelation that Nualia is the cause of the recent trouble.

Of course, you know your game better than anyone. Just my opinion

[Carpy DM]

I would agree with Rodger with respect to Orik.

Spoiler:

I think the AP deliberately sets him up as a possible redemption possibility, and my group also wound up befriending him (in fact, he eventually became a cohort). If you want ti discount that option, that's entirely your call, but in the AP as written, I think the move to antipaladin doesn't really fit his flavor.

One interesting possibility might be to make him a cavalier currently suffering from not having an order - bump his level a bit to make up for the loss of abilities, and then he has a real motivation to consider whether he wants to sign up with a new group or not. Alternatively, he might be an order of the lion cavalier, who gabve his oath to Nualia and is now really, really regretting it...

[Lord Fyre]

Rodger Graham wrote:

I think the change to Tsuto is a great move, and your other proposed changes could work. I do, however, think that the change to Orik may be a bit much.

** spoiler omitted **

Of course, you know your game better than anyone. Just my opinion

But, ...

Spoiler:

If you want to use the Anti-Paladin, consider making Nualia a straight up Anti-Paladin - rather then a Multiclass Cleric/Fighter. It gives her a bit more "punch" and fits the Anti-Paladin's BBEG role better.

[Stewart Perkins]

Lord Fyre wrote:

Rodger Graham wrote:

I think the change to Tsuto is a great move, and your other proposed changes could work. I do, however, think that the change to Orik may be a bit much.

** spoiler omitted **

Of course, you know your game better than anyone. Just my opinion

But, ...

** spoiler omitted **

I'd have to agree as Orik became a pivitol party friend after they spared him and actually through their help began turning his life around... I may run mishmashed second darkness game in the future with Orik as a patron but thats another thread. Suffice it to say that I love Nualia as an Inquisitor or anti-paladin. I think she'd have been awesome and if you want to use apg stuff to really show unique baddies, convert Ripnugget to cavialier since he is so focused on mounted combat with his gecko :P

[Trei Shouri]

That's fair, I will take that in to account.

Spoiler:

Originally, I was replacing the text's Orik with the "Paladin" who had been travelling with our sorcerer's (the recent addition) original party, and have the new paladin character have been part of the original group of Lamashtu minions.

However, judging by the existing comments, Orik might be worth keeping as he is. Lyrie's change doesn't alter her character so much as her skill set, so she could definitely be updated.

That said, I love the idea of Ripnugget as a cavalier of the Cockatrice. And now I have to decide which I would rather have Nualia be, because an Antipaladin or Inquisitor of Lamashtu would be epic.

[Carpy DM]

If you're looking for a good character to convert to an inquisitor,

Spoiler:

I'd suggest Justice Ironbriar, in Skinsaw Murders. As written, he's something of a pushover, but inquisitor would fit his role perfectly.

[Trei Shouri]

Carpy,

Spoiler:

I had not made it that far into A.P. 2, but I can read ahead. That would let me get my inquisitor fix (as inquisitors are awesome) and at a higher level.

[golem101]

Orik could benefit...

Spoiler:

... from the Shielded Fighter class variant. When I DMed Burnt Offerings, I changed him to be a shield bash/trip maniac, with a nasty effect.
This rather simple customization gives him a flavourful theme as a mercenary while leaving unchanged his motivations and character.

[Trei Shouri]

Golem,

I actually really dig that idea. Maybe not the same variant, but I could definitely run something along those lines. Thanks! Plus, Improved dirty trick could be very useful.

[Ravenot]

Spoiler:

Orik definitely isn't antipaladin material. He's a merc, plain and simple, and his #1 priority is himself, #2 being whoever has the most money.

<quick side story on Orik>
The party in my game actually encountered him in his room below Thistletop. He quickly saw he was outgunned and outmatched (5 to 1 and backed in a corner) so he surrendered immediately. The party actually found out that he was just hired muscle, then doubled Nualia's price and hired him instead! He was able to give them what limited information he had, then was told to leave Sandpoint and never wanted to see him again on pain of death.

The same PC who hired him actually encountered him a second time under the Trestlespan in a seedy tavern. Orik tried to run when he saw the PC, but was cornered. He explained that he was hired as a caravan guard and waiting for the end of the week for the merchant caravan to head out, and use both the traveling opportunity of he caravan as well as the money to get far away from Sandpoint and Magnimar. He was allowed to leave.

The party ran into him a THIRD time, in Turtleback Ferry (what Orik considered the middle of nowhere) when the PC's walked into the local tavern and a card player at a table of gamblers cursed and bolted for the back door when they walked in.

The PC's actually hired him as a guard in Rannik Keep after that :D