Or "How four idiots managed to survive the apocalypse".
I will try to sum up my party's progress in the AP in this thread to not clog up the general thread too much.
Everyone was super excited to play Tyrant's Grasp. Especially because :
- the characters start up as nobodies, instead of heroes or extraordinary people.
- motherf*cking Tar'Baphon. Some of my players already played Carrion Crown and we wanted to see this next chapter in Tar'Baphon's story.
The Setup
We play once per month at my house, for sessions going up to 8 hours.
All the maps are put on Roll20 and I use a projector to show them to my players on the table. This way, I can anotate my maps and uncover only the sections they saw, and they can place their minis on the map.
When the confinement started, we switched to playing on Roll20. And... boy, it's not the same thing at all. Those sessions were particularly painfull. Now that the confinmenet is lifted in our country, we are back to playing IRL.
House rules used
- No grid : We play without the tactical grid. We find it too limiting, so now we do all our movements the real distance. This needed some adjustments though, like stating that the enemy's mini must be at least half inside your attack's area to be a valid target, but it's more intuitive for the players.
- Equipment points : Heavily inspired by the PF2 system. Each character has 10 Equipment Points (EP). They can equip any item regardless of its slot, as long as they have enought EPs and it's logical (you can't wear two pair of boots but you can wear two belts).
Slotted items cost 1 EP, and most slotless items and consumables cost 0 EP. Weapons and armors also cost 0 EP.
Metamagic staffs are now Metamagic conduits. They all cost 1 EP each. If you have the ability to craft magical items, you can fuse all Metamagic conduits in one object that will cost you only 1 EP (this way, you can have a staff of Minor Quick Spell and Major Bouncing Spell for only 1 EP instead of 2).
All items giving back slots and spells are now Thaumaturgical conduits. In terms of cost, they work like the Metamagic conduits. They can either give you back a slot you already used if you are a spontaneous caster, or make you cast once again a spell you already used if you are a prepared caster.
Items effects are no longer bound to the item type, as long as the effect is logical with the item (you can have the effect of a Cloak of Arachnida on gloves for exemple). - No alignment : Alignment always was a pain point for my players, so we removed it.
Now nobody has an aligned aura.
The paladin and antipaladin Smite works on any creature, regardless of its alignment.
The aligned DRs of creatures change depending on the creature's original alignments (and not the alignment that could bypass the DR). Loyal > silver ; Chaotic > cold steel ; Neutral Good > cold steel ; Neutral Evil > silver. If the creature already had this DR, the new DR becomes a "DR X/magic" instead.
All spells who deal damages depending on the alignment were fused (and you can now choose which side effect you want to inflict) depending on their target (area spells and single targets). All Aura spells, Protections, Dispel, Magical circles were fused. By default, all other spells who use alignment were removed from the game (unless a character asks).
Other rules
- 20 creation points
- Background skills (Unchained)
The Party
- - Levyriah "Levy" : A female Ifrit Sorceress (Red Dragon), building towards a Draconian Disciple. Took the Outsider trait. Fights with a Lucerne hammer, and specializes in Evocation magic, particularly Fire. She does not remember where she came from and is in search of her family. She's really rough and lacks empathy. Her player is a newcomer who never played Pathfinder before. She has been sent by Evni Zongnoss to Roslar's Coffer to work a bit and search for clues on her parents.
- - Qil : A male Samsaran kid Word Magic Druid (Moon child) (Tempest Domain). Took the Reclaimer trait. Full caster, healer, with very low melee battle capabilities. In therms of combat casting, mainly does Electicity damages. He was an inhabitant of Roslar's Coffer. By some twist of fate, he is his own grandfather/grandson. A kind and polite kid, who lets the adults speak. Some memories of his past lives come back from time to time, and he knows about his family's weird shenanigans. After Book 1, he especially likes to shapeshift into a crow to scout and cast spells from a distance. His player already played some Pathfinder, but is still a bit of a beginner and never played a spellcaster before.
- - Phileas : A male Half-Orc Cavalier (Strategist), with a dip in Ranger and building towards a Knight of Ozem. Took the Optimist trait. Mainly built as an armored, sword-and-board tank, and the secondary melee DPR. He relies on his stategist abilities to give his allies the edge in battle. He's an apprentice soldier from Vigil who was sent to Roslar's coffer to guard the town after failing to become a Knight of Ozem. He holds justice in his heart, but lack kindness and is very pragmatic, sometimes even cruel. His player is an experienced Pathfinder player and DM. Was part of the group that played Carrion Crown.
- - Roy Summerleaf : A male Human Swashbuckler (Whirling Dervish). Took the Word trait. Built as a finesse melee fighter, with extra reach and the ability to use rotative attacks, and the main melee DPR. His parents were priests of Sarenrae when Roslar's Coffer got attacked by the orcs. His father died fighting the orcswhile his mother and him fled, and they went to Vigil. When he became an adult, Roy came back as a priest of Sarenrae to Roslar's Coffer to help reconstruct it and take back the Bastion of Light. His player is an experienced Pathfinder player and starting DMing recently. Was also part of the group that player Carrion Crown.
- - The DM (me): Played Pathfinder for 5-6 years, mostly DMing official Paizo content.
I planned for each character a secret arc that will play out during the AP. Unless someone asks to know these in advance, I will reveal them once they are played out.
We started playing in June of 2019.