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My (now rebuild min/maxed) 11th level synthesist summoner / maneuver master monk died 5 times. ...I believe the synthesist wasn't so much overpowered as just simply silly and very hard to understand completely. And min/maxing does also have a "min"-side to it.
He is now rebuild as a 12th level fighter/monk and seems to be doing very very much better in terms of both figthing and not dying :)
But 5 deaths over the course of roughly 30 scenarios does seem a little tough. He doesn't have a lot of prestige, and his wealth is less than it could be.
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I always wanted to play an Elf wizard with 5 Con, and at the beginning of every session, ask my teammates which one wanted to push him around in his wheelchair.
Build him up to a decent level with GM credit and he'll be fine, because Wizard. Supposedly Raistlin was once a real character with low single digit Strength and Con.
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I always wanted to play an Elf wizard with 5 Con, and at the beginning of every session, ask my teammates which one wanted to push him around in his wheelchair.Build him up to a decent level with GM credit and he'll be fine, because Wizard. Supposedly Raistlin was once a real character with low single digit Strength and Con.
Perhaps, but that would have been in a home game, where there's leeway for that sort of thing. In PFS, a Con 5 anything isn't going to last very long.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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Perhaps, but that would have been in a home game, where there's leeway for that sort of thing. In PFS, a Con 5 anything isn't going to last very long.I always wanted to play an Elf wizard with 5 Con, and at the beginning of every session, ask my teammates which one wanted to push him around in his wheelchair.Build him up to a decent level with GM credit and he'll be fine, because Wizard. Supposedly Raistlin was once a real character with low single digit Strength and Con.
I'll verify that having a high CON in PFS is the bomb. Although, I've been spoiled at bit by my barbarian.
He has so many hit points that I just shrug off any attack he takes. So when I transition back to my other characters and get hit for 30 or 40 a pop, my initial instinct is to not care--instead of realizing I'm almost bloodied!
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I just killed three characters out of four (would have double-killed the same three that died after they came back, but I was being very nice because that just seemed horrible) in Rebel's Ransom. I blame the other GM for the day, since I was putting GM pressure on our group of eight players (levels 5, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8) to play with the 5, 7, and 7 with a pregen at a 5-6 table and let the 5 8s play 8-9, since, as I put it, "It's by Jason Bulmahn, so consider it Bonekeep Lite". He said it wasn't that hard, which convinced the players to want a split that made two 8-9 tables. At least one of the players wanted his character to die to get Risen Guard, and he thought it was awesome and wants to play Bonekeep a lot more now.
The sorcerer used a huge number of empowered and regular magic missile attacks and beat both hags himself.
I also had the level 5, who died to AoE crossfire from Alarka.
The level 8 rogue died from slay living from Alarka and needed a resurrection.
The sorcerer killed that encounter with summoned creatures, thanks to some good hits from the rogue before he died.
After the resurrection and raises, they came back and three of them got helpless while the sorcerer retreated behind them all into a narrow 5-foot corridor so the mummies could only attack him one at a time. I decided to be exceptionally kind and not have the three mummies that literally couldn't do anything else finish off the PCs, instead spreading out all the attacks for no reason and not even knocking out the level 5. The sorcerer dropped 2 of 4 mummies that way before he got KOed. Then the level 5 finally broke free of the despair and used remove paralysis to save the archer, who killed the other two.
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oh my, ~130 tables....I really don't have that many kills.
I haven't had any PFS tpks, most of my PC kills are in higher level things.
Most of the deaths are player error, usually someone running in all by themselves, I haven't yet drowned someone, which is actually pretty surprising.
*=breath of life
5 in waking rune* 3 characters, 2 breath of life.
1 in Eyes of the Ten* (scallywags)
1 in Siege of the Diamond city (14-15)* (marilith full attack)
3 in heresy of man part 2 (poor party make-up, and many failed saves)
4 in Echoes of the Evarwar III (clumped up, failed saves vs Web, lost)
1 in Quest for perfection 2 (crit happens)
1 in Storming the diamond gate
I don't remember a lot more than those. I'm sure there are more, but they were likely just random crits or something less memorable.
Venture-Agent, Australia—QLD—Brisbane
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Been playing and running PFS for about 18 months now, and...have personally witnessed 3 character deaths, two while GMing, and both on the same table - a particular PFS mod that featured a pair of Air Elementals in an area with a 40' high balcony, with a 6-man party where a number of the characters were below top tier.
The other death was the result of an unfortunate Attack of Opportunity from a Remorhaz, resulting in a swallowed PC, just before the Remorhaz's next turn - two sequential lots of 8d6 on a 7th level Magus wasn't pretty.
I had also heard of a recent (technical) TPK in a particular PFS mod that featured a surprise attack by a rather large centipede. After the trample attack, the cleric's player was regretting having cast Shield Other on another member of the group. The last surviving member of the group escaped via Gaseous Form, and came back later to retrieve the bodies.
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I had also heard of a recent (technical) TPK in a particular PFS mod that featured a surprise attack by a rather large centipede. After the trample attack, the cleric's player was regretting having cast Shield Other on another member of the group. The last surviving member of the group escaped via Gaseous Form, and came back later to retrieve the bodies.That particular scenario does not involve a surprise round and even it did Trample is a full round action.
Just wanted to point out that the scenario doesn't determine whetherthere is a surprise round. A surprise roumd happenes when not all combatants are aware. As for trample being a full round action, you are alowed to start full round actions in the surprise round and "finish" them using your next standard action.
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It has been clarified that the creature is just as surprised as the PCs by the campaign leadership.Wait .. we're all surprised by the campaign leadership?
hrmm ... I thought that was just me on occassion
Clearly Mike Brock is a sohei monk and John Compton is an as-yet-unpublished bard archetype that acts on the surprise round. They both have the Lookout teamwork feat (and probably several other teamwork feats), so as long as they are right next to each other, they can both take full-round actions in any surprise round. Since the creature and the PCs are all surprised, but Mike and John are not and can take full-round actions, it's really not surprising at all that this scenario leads to so many TPKs in the first encounter.
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Yeah, but it's only Mike's full round action I'd be worried about. John would just try to spend the full round action trying to talk us all down.
Hmm...you may be right. Especially since I have seen firsthand when Linda had her AC-focused alchemist in Mike's crosshairs and he said "Oh, her AC is that high? Well it doesn't matter because I'm going to roll a natural 20" and then he did. This is further evidence that underneath that mask on his avatar, Mike is actually a cyclops, using Flash of Insight.
The real question is, has John ever spent 10 consecutive rounds trying to talk down an enemy that was attacking for all 10 rounds when the GM ruled not to allow quick Diplomacy? That was a weird but fun encounter due to our group's decisions, with an emphasis on a very different set of skills and talents than the typical DPR race.
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After all you are not saying an archer who won inititiative[sic] could full attack by saying "I am starting a full round action and then finishing it on the next round" are you?
That would be clearly against the rules.
Start/Complete Full-Round Action
The "start full-round action" standard action lets you start undertaking a full-round action, which you can complete in the following round by using another standard action. You can't use this action to start or complete a full attack, charge, run, or withdraw.
The Trample UMR makes no mention of "full attack" merely a full round action. And although it references the Overrun combat maneuver, which can be made against one creature as part of a charge, trample is not considered a charge or a run, and is not limited to one creature.
I have no idea what scenario is being referenced, but I am running one tonight that has trampling elephants that could potentially act in the surprise round. The way I intend to handle it is to have them make a single Overrun attempt in the surprise round (if there is one), and start actually trampling in the first regular round.
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I feel like a slacker. I genuinely try to kill my players (using the tactics given, obviously), but in my area, players love to play crazy-optimized characters. I've only got the one star, presently, so I suppose I have time.
Look out, Baltimore/D.C. when I'm done playing in WotR!
EDIT: It looks like I didn't include that none of my players have died, yet in a scenario that I've run. I guess I figured that you guys are all smart enough to infer.
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I feel like a slacker. I genuinely try to kill my players (using the tactics given, obviously), but in my area, players love to play crazy-optimized characters. I've only got the one star, presently, so I suppose I have time.
Look out, Baltimore/D.C. when I'm done playing in WotR!
EDIT: It looks like I didn't include that none of my players have died, yet in a scenario that I've run. I guess I figured that you guys are all smart enough to infer.
I have never killed a player, characters though, gotta kill those suckers.
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That mistake happens roughly every other time this subject comes up.
Anyhow, I've gm'd 16 tables as of last week, and, after checking a memo, have killed 4 characters. Decent enough percentage, I'd say.
Truth to be told, I softball way too much, giving players surprise rounds and letting them play fast and loose with the environment. The bastards keep killing themselves though. My favorite character death so far has been the dwarf scout starting a combat by evoking Leeroy Jenkins and charging between two angry mummies. A turn and 4 slam attacks later the player realised his fumble.
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I feel like a slacker. I genuinely try to kill my players (using the tactics given, obviously), but in my area, players love to play crazy-optimized characters. I've only got the one star, presently, so I suppose I have time.
Look out, Baltimore/D.C. when I'm done playing in WotR!
EDIT: It looks like I didn't include that none of my players have died, yet in a scenario that I've run. I guess I figured that you guys are all smart enough to infer.
lol, I tend to not actively try to kill anyone, I play more as the referee since I feel like losing characters sucks, but in my 8 tables, I have killed two and almost TPKed 2 separate other tables, had their dice not heated up when they needed them to. Perhaps I should start trying! Apparently everyone lives then! :D
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Venture-Captain, Germany–Hannover
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Bonekeep 2
Well, as soon as i got overvoted to play higher tier i expected that 100%.
Guess with my char instead of a pregen things would have happened different^^ Actually Wolf critted me a room later with Kyra too the next evening as i was helping out a table.I have no character deads so far. Many downs and very close situations though. And thank god no dead players!
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I just killed three characters out of four (would have double-killed the same three that died after they came back, but I was being very nice because that just seemed horrible) in Rebel's Ransom. I blame the other GM for the day, since I was putting GM pressure on our group of eight players (levels 5, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8) to play with the 5, 7, and 7 with a pregen at a 5-6 table and let the 5 8s play 8-9, since, as I put it, "It's by Jason Bulmahn, so consider it Bonekeep Lite". He said it wasn't that hard, which convinced the players to want a split that made two 8-9 tables. At least one of the players wanted his character to die to get Risen Guard, and he thought it was awesome and wants to play Bonekeep a lot more now.
** spoiler omitted **...
The other table didn't have a single death. Don't blame the other GM for what happens at your table.
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Icebound Outpost
I just ran this scenario yesterday, and even though I knew it would be tough at 4-5 (we lost Amiri in that scenario), I didn't realize how tough it would be at 1-2.
The brand new monk went down in almost every combat (sometimes multiple times), and in most of them, a second person went down as well. However, not one death was reported during this scenario that wasn't Aspis.
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The other table didn't have a single death. Don't blame the other GM for what happens at your table.I just killed three characters out of four (would have double-killed the same three that died after they came back, but I was being very nice because that just seemed horrible) in Rebel's Ransom. I blame the other GM for the day, since I was putting GM pressure on our group of eight players (levels 5, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8) to play with the 5, 7, and 7 with a pregen at a 5-6 table and let the 5 8s play 8-9, since, as I put it, "It's by Jason Bulmahn, so consider it Bonekeep Lite". He said it wasn't that hard, which convinced the players to want a split that made two 8-9 tables. At least one of the players wanted his character to die to get Risen Guard, and he thought it was awesome and wants to play Bonekeep a lot more now.
** spoiler omitted **...
:P You guys didn't have any 5s or 6s. The poor level 5 oracle didn't even have a chance, and it turns out the rogue perma-died (he had counted his prestige wrong).
Actually it was also that Wizard 7 at your table who was strongly pushing for two 8-9s as well. I still really wish we had done a 5-6 with the 5 and 7s and an 8-9 with all the 8s.
---
In other news, I have broken my cursed death streak today running, of all things Subtier 1-2 of the notoriously killerific Darkest Vengeance!
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Rebel's Ransom is one scenario where I strongly suggest softballing. It's a close call anyway if the enemies are played straight. One or two deaths are enough, I reckon. :D
I don't think I'd allow playing up, unless I know the characters in question to be sneaky back row types wont to staying out of the fray.
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Rebel's Ransom is one scenario where I strongly suggest softballing. It's a close call anyway if the enemies are played straight. One or two deaths are enough, I reckon. :D
Agreed - I played it originally with a brand-new, first game (of any kind) GM, and we skipped the optional encounter, and it was still a very tough run.
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Out of 30 games, I think I've only had two or three PCs die. However, there were so many times that I pulled back and switched targets over to healthier PCs. I can't count how many I've knocked unconscious. Usually one or two per game.
Sometimes it's just a good day for my dice. Sometimes it's poor player choices.
My personal fave was the paladin that decided to punch a shadow, this was after he had taken significant Str damage. The AoO was a crit that resulted in one unconscious paladin.
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Out of 30 games, I think I've only had two or three PCs die. However, there were so many times that I pulled back and switched targets over to healthier PCs. I can't count how many I've knocked unconscious. Usually one or two per game.
Sometimes it's just a good day for my dice. Sometimes it's poor player choices.
My personal fave was the paladin that decided to punch a shadow, this was after he had taken significant Str damage. The AoO was a crit that resulted in one unconscious paladin.
Uh, Shadows can't knock you out. They can effectively paralyze you due to encumbrance, or outright kill you by dropping your Strength to 0. But they can't knock you out.
Edit: I guess a Shadetouch Shadow can technically knock you out, but it's far more likely to outright kill from strength damage long before its claw damage does much.
I'm pretty sure no Shadetouch Shadows show up in PFS, so I think RCW has one more kill than he expected!
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shadows kill by draining strength [quote: Strength damage(su): A shadow's touch deals 1d6 points of strength damage to a living creature. This is a negative energy effect. Acreature dies if this strength damage equals or exceeds its actual strength score]
RCW was a very nice GM and spared his pally player... bad GM :P
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]Uh, Shadows can't knock you out. They can effectively paralyze you due to encumbrance,Note that strength damage does not reduce carrying capacity in Pathfinder.
That may or may not still be true. There was a fairly recent FAQ issued due to some of the weirdness with the way ability damage and temporary bonuses only specified a few effects. I am not 100% clear what the upshot of that FAQ is supposed to mean or how far-reaching, but it may have changed that.
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Over the course of running just over 60 games, I can remember two PCs that I've killed. Plus a couple of animal companions, but those are easily replaced, so they don't count ;-)
Oddly enough, none of the deaths happened in Bonekeep. But the party I had then was two Clerics, two Paladins, and a Druid, so they had plenty of healing to go around!
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I have 32 games run and I have 5 deaths at the moment. Which puts me about 1 and 6 games someone dies and I am running the Waking Rune on Friday,2/7, which hopefully won't bump me up to 11 deaths cause then I'd jump up to having a 1:3 and I'd feel a bit too vicious about that.
In all fairness, I've never coup de grace a character or for that matter played all that aggressively. 2 of the deaths came from lucky crits at low level and the other 3 happened in one game of players playing up and bunching up in front of a creature with a breath weapon.
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shadows kill by draining strength [quote: Strength damage(su): A shadow's touch deals 1d6 points of strength damage to a living creature. This is a negative energy effect. Acreature dies if this strength damage equals or exceeds its actual strength score]
RCW was a very nice GM and spared his pally player... bad GM :P
Going to have to remember this next time, considering how many times shadows show up. The bad thing was is that I actually had the creatures printed out in front of me at the time. More PCs have probably survived because trying to remember all the little things.
I need to get me an assistant GM. You know, to check the rules for me and get me snacks.