Just a quick question - will undead be overpowerinly present in this campaign? I'll be DMing it and one player would want to play a Ranger with them as favored enemy, of course, but I'm kinda worried how will that turn out since all Undead fall into one category. Meaning, if they make up 60% of the campaign, he'll be getting huge bonuses all the time, which is too much to handle as a DM and also the rest of the party would feel overshadowed. Are my worries unfounded?
I know absolutly nothing about the campaign but from the title I would imagine it to be a safe bet that the undead are prevelante.
So what if the ranger gets huge bonuses is it any diffrent than a cleric with the sun and glory domain combo from 3.5.
My opinion is let your players have fun being able to be effective rather than haveing them say " man I wish I had picked X"
Heck maybe his order sent him specificly to this undead infested region because he was the best man for the job and let the guy that deals best with oozes deal with them somewhere else.
So what if the ranger gets huge bonuses is it any diffrent than a cleric with the sun and glory domain combo from 3.5.
This isn't 3.5.
My opinion is let your players have fun being able to be effective
I want that, but I don't want one player to be *that* effective that the rest of the party feel like they're his sidekicks. Having significant bonuses for the most of the campaign (which are greater than rage/weapon training/smite) would just be frustrating for whole of the party.
Lets see:
1st level: +2,
5th level: +4, +2 against something other
10th level: +6, +2 against two other types
15th level: +8, +2 against three other types
20th level: +10 but probably party won't reach that level unless you plan on tweaking the AP.
This are decent situational bonuses to skills and damage. I admit that such bonuses to attack rolls are quite big for their levels taking into account that thy stack with other bonuses.
However, if ranger happens to choose bond with hunting companions (i.e. party) instead of animal companion he might grant half of that bonus to the rest of the party... Which makes Paladin under its effects that uses Smite Evil and happens to take Channel Smite feat assaulting big bad undead completly scarry.
I think that writers/developers mentioned somehwere, somewhen that there will be various horror-related enemies and opposition, not only Undeads but it was long ago and could been changed in mean time.
My understanding (and, frankly, my guess,) is that there will be some C'thulhuoid (i.e., Aberrations) in there as well. I would also not be surprised to see Werewolves, and a Flesh (or other) golem.
What Archmage_Atrus said. If it was undead all day, every day, that would get old REALLY fast for players and DMs. They certainly will be a large part of the campaign, but Paizo does a good job of making sure there's variety in the monster types. Kingmaker is all fey, humanoids, and animals; Rise of the Runelords isn't all goblins, giants, lammias; etc.
Well, Burnt Offerings is mostly goblins, but still.
I want that, but I don't want one player to be *that* effective that the rest of the party feel like they're his sidekicks. Having significant bonuses for the most of the campaign (which are greater than rage/weapon training/smite) would just be frustrating for whole of the party.
I think it's smart that the DM is keeping an eye out for internal balance between party members so early, as sometimes this can gnaw away at players over time.
I don't think taking favored undead is a problem though. It's an edge but not much more so than say a cleric taking Extra Channel or the Sun Domain. And it's probably not even as significant as a ranger taking favored enemy (Human) in your typical city campaign.
It's fun when your character generation choices come into play.
I don't think the campaign is going to be as undead-heavy as we're making it out to be.
Book 1: some undead, yes, but a lot of those will be tied up in "haunts" rather than creatures, so the point is somewhat muted
Book 2: no undead probably (target: insane humans & their constructs)
Book 3: no undead probably (target: shapeshifters)
Book 4: no undead probably (target: aberrations & insane humans)
Book 5: the goal here is to kill the vampire killer, not the vampires, but I'm sure some vampires will die too
Book 6: yea, probably lots of undead, but at this point, a lot of things are also save-or-die
I really don't think the situation will be worse than in Rise of the Runelords:
Book 1: no giants
Book 2: no giants
Book 3: pretty much all giants
Book 4: pretty much all giants
Book 5: only a few giants
Book 6: a healthy serving of giants
And for what it's worth, our Enchanter made mincemeat out of this campaign, moreso than our Ranger w/ FE Giant and FT Mountain (though he was also incredible).
Just a quick question - will undead be overpowerinly present in this campaign?
Let me direct you to the discussion over here.
To be brief: Don't worry about it.