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First off, love the idea. Using the ancient magic of Thassilon to stop Karzoug is great.
The problem I have is with the abilities. Specifically, they don't seem grand enough for what they supposedly are. I can see how the abilities are useful, and wouldn't mind having them, but feel that they don't hit the level that the rune magic of Thassilon seems to have.
I'd like some thoughts on the subject. I'm still not really sure where I would take it, but something just niggles at me, so I thought I'd throw up a post here.
Take it away, everybody.
I have to agree here, I really expected to be "wowed" and even I dare say impressed by the depth of the magic from this fabled era. If Pathfinder has fell short in one area is has been on this very topic. Every issue I open I keep hoping to find glimpses of this time of magic but instead bored and just presented with monsters that don't add that much flavor to the background of this world.
Also where is the promised Web Enhancement, I looked at the link provided in issue #5 and nothing seems available?
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Well, the web enhancement is supposed to be up by next Friday. Not really surprising, considering that #5 has only just begun to ship out.
As for the other Thassilonian magic, I'm fine with that. A good portion of the super power the Runelords were supposed to have is probably epic level spellcasting, and with the levels of the AP, the players just can't get that. I just feel like the runeforged weapons could be a bit grander, seeing as they use a bit of the true magic of Thassilon, not just the remnants of it.
Creative Director
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Yeah; we're hoping to have the web enhancement live by Friday.
As for the runeforged weapons, I didn't want to blow the roof off of the power curve. Since the powers granted by these weapons stack right onto existing weapons, it's a little trickier. Adding the runeforged weapon quality to a +1 weapon is a LOT less "gamebreaking" than adding it onto a +5 vorpal longswod, since the difference between a weapon that's an effective +3 weapon and a +12 weapon is pretty huge.
That said, you can certainly up the power granted by the runeforge for your campaign. Two pretty good options would be to "set" the weapon's enhancement bonus at +3 or even +4 for free. Alternately, you could even have the runeforge awaken the weapon and turn it into an intelligent weapon with the special purpose to defeat Karzoug.
Also: There's a few things in the last adventure that make things a LOT easier to fight Karzoug if there are domineering runeforged weapons in play...
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Sounds pretty good. I play a DMPC in the campaign, and he's practically assured to fit the domineering weapon.
I'm pretty sure that I'll think of something to use if I really feel the need to up the power. I like your suggestions James, so I expect they'll be the ones to pop up. Who knows, I may find that I don't need to use any powerups at all by the time I get there.
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Creative Director
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Sounds pretty good. I play a DMPC in the campaign, and he's practically assured to fit the domineering weapon.
I'm pretty sure that I'll think of something to use if I really feel the need to up the power. I like your suggestions James, so I expect they'll be the ones to pop up. Who knows, I may find that I don't need to use any powerups at all by the time I get there.
That may well be the case. The key point is that the powers granted by the runeforge don't replace those that the PCs' weapons already have; they add on to those powers. Plus... there's already a LOT of treasure in the adventure for PCs to catch.
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Personally, I would be ready to be flexible with it. If the PCs are already running around with +5 or greater effective weapons, just load up the bonuses as written. If the PCs have been spending their money elsewhere, then be ready to dial up the power on the runeforged weapons a bit more.
At the same time, though, I think that the "curse" on the weapons needs to be cranked up as well. If I tell my players "when holding this weapon, you feel more domineering," that doesn't give them much to work with. Anyone want to try their hand at creating some game effects for these babies?
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Creative Director
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Personally, I would be ready to be flexible with it. If the PCs are already running around with +5 or greater effective weapons, just load up the bonuses as written. If the PCs have been spending their money elsewhere, then be ready to dial up the power on the runeforged weapons a bit more.
At the same time, though, I think that the "curse" on the weapons needs to be cranked up as well. If I tell my players "when holding this weapon, you feel more domineering," that doesn't give them much to work with. Anyone want to try their hand at creating some game effects for these babies?
I toyed with adding more crunchy effects to the "curse" aspect of the weapons, but tossed that idea out when I realized that many players HATE curses and, since I wanted players to want to keep the weapons, I wanted to give them as few reasons NOT to throw them out as possible.
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For my group, it depends. We don't really raid dungeons for stuff to carry back. Sure, we'll grab the most convenient money bag, aka the gold and platinum, and every potion we find, but other than that, we don't grab much. Weapons only really get taken if we think they're cool. Thus the more described the weapon, the more likely it gets taken. Armor is pretty much guaranteed to never leave the dungeon unless it's a type already in use or it's made of a special material. We don't really do art, etc. unless it's an original, or the character decides the base needs it. Having a bard may up the art quota a bit, but I've yet to really see.
Essentially, we don't really cash in on dungeons, etc. We take things from 'boss' people, cause we know they have stuff, but most enemies get skimmed. So most likely, we won't have +5 insert other ability here stuff by the time we hit the runeforge. I'm guessing probably +3 insert ability here, or +4 thingy.
And to be really honest with myself, it might just be me. I tend to like having fewer toys, but more powerful ones. All of the group falls somewhere in that range. We definitely don't get a full suite of items. No festooning here, unless you count expendable magics, like scrolls, potions, and wands. Then, the bard/artificer would definitely be festooned.
The problem is that I don't really know what to do with the things to enhance them.
I was thinking simple not telling the players what it does unless they have aquired a Thassilonian Identify spell, the power is detectable and powerful but nothing more is known. then in the game make their weapons do great things but don't worry about the mechanics so much. Just do what ever makes the game work better and helps kill off those evil minions and evil Runelords.
As GM you should have some idea of what it does, Bane, Double Bane, +2 to hit and Damage. But don't tell the players. Just tell them that the sword is still a +2 Frost Brand but also has a Thassilonian added feature that adds to the power which normally isn't allowed to be done. That alone should make the "feel" of the power of the magic a bit more interesting.