tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18857820130395089872024-02-19T06:42:59.077-08:00Send More MonstersFrom First Edition Dungeons & Dragons to the Pathfinder Role Playing game in 30 years or less.Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-7772894636597378842020-12-01T13:08:00.001-08:002020-12-01T13:08:06.583-08:00My Firearms Rules<p> While expanding on the new rules for my modified Inquisitor class, I'm also building out a structure and rule set that will make the Inquisitor a feared and hated adversary. </p><p><br /></p><p>One of those rule sets revolves around firearms. Now, contrary to the standard Pathfinder rules, which allow you to turn any character concept into a superhero, I want firearms to represent a sort of existential threat to the players. In this case, gunpowder is a problem that arises when magic becomes rare or weak, a Great Equalizer much like... well, gunpowder actually was in history. </p><p>I've pretty much scrapped the ridiculously OP gun rules from Pathfinder. Even though the gunslinger class has been modified and toned down since its initial release, I don't wish to change my game into a wild west analog. I want guns to be introduced slowly, to be powerful in numbers but unappealing to work with as an individual player. </p><p>In place of the standard rules I've started with adopting the firearms rules from Lamentations of the Flame Princess, which sets itself right around the mid 1600s. Matchlock pistols and muskets and blunderbusses (blunderbussi? blunderbuses?) are expensive, finicky and powerful, requiring special training and resources. I've locked down gunpowder in the campaign by making it require a special low-magic method to manufacture, while the guns and ammo themselves are still non-magical. </p><p>Most guns are "flat" - meaning uniform in effect. Guns usually do a d8, and take a substantial amount of time to reload. Some basic mechanical innovations allow a somewhat faster reload but again require time and training to handle properly. They are also prone to malfunction. Tuns in general will have the following traits: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>most of them do around 1d6 to 1d8 damage </li><li>range is generally shorter than a crossbow (range increment of 25 for pistols, 50 for muskets)</li><li>Ignore up to 5 points of armor bonus</li><li>Automatically critical on 20s (thus the low damage relative to Pathfinder rules)</li><li>Automatically break on 1s (broken condition and if another 1 is rolled, explode)</li><li>Take 5 rounds to reload</li></ul><p></p><p>So far I've prepared two different versions of the gun; the pistol and the musket. </p><p>Pistols do a d6 damage, have a range increment of 25 feet (meaning every increment of 25 feet you are from the target, reduce your attack roll by -2), do a d8 damage, and ignore 5 points of armor if within short range (first range increment). </p><p>Muskets are similar, do 1d8 damage, have a longer range increment (50 feet), and retain their armor penetration beyond the first range increment. </p><p>I haven't worked out what I want to do with blunderbusses yet. </p><p>Those who use firearms may in addition take "apostle rounds", which are an early form of pre-loading device that allow the firer to quickly set the charging powder, wad and ball round, reducing reload times to 2 rounds. </p><div>With new weapons come new tactics. My gun troops will make use of cover and screening allies whenever possible. It was common for early troops to travel in high-sided, heavy wagons with firing loopholes in the sides, allowing them to shoot from a defensive position. I wonder what other innovations I will come up with along the way? </div><div><br /></div><div><div>I think these rules will provide a substantial threat to players without seeming overpowered in the hands of individuals. After the first time they experience a critical hit from one, they will have to respect them. Especially since they run around in troop-sized allotments. </div></div><div><br /></div>Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-50399116693846196962020-11-24T08:41:00.003-08:002020-12-01T11:50:58.575-08:00Inquisitors Are Hot Garbage and Here Is How I'm Going to Fix Them*<p> *or at least try to. </p><p>In pushing our current campaign into its new phase, I want to bring a little of that Old Tyme Religion to bear. That is no easy feat in Pathfinder, as the system relies heavily on magic across nearly every class. Even the allegedly magic-hating Barbarian has a host of supernatural abilities they can call upon. So how do we grim-dark this up and establish the theme of anti-magical zealotry in this set of rules? </p><p>Let's start with the Inquisitor class. Nigh unplayable as a player class (in my opinion), it's completely unmanageable from the DM standpoint. Tons of fiddly abilities, scores of ridiculously intricate Teamwork Feats that require a constant micromanagement of battlefield position, range and attack modes and types, and a weak spell list all add up to a headache for me and a lackluster villain for my players. So lets tackle these one at a time. </p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Spells, Orisons and Domains</h3><div>The Inquisitorial spell list is ho-hum at best, mimicking that of a Cleric, but with reduced casting capacity and a limited tableau of spells to pull from, much like the Sorcerer. Also, there's a lot of humbug chicanery in the Domains list which doesn't jive with an anti-magical standpoint, so let's chuck it. ALL of it. No spells, no domains. </div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Teamwork Feats</h3><div>As much as I love the idea of feats that work for the whole group, I consider their implementation in Pathfinder to be a failure overall. There's just so much overhead to managing them that I don't think they are worth the +1 or +2 conditional bonuses you get from them. Solo Tactics gives the Inquisitor a nice party-wide buff smorgasbord they can share with others, but I still find them unmanageable. </div><div><br /></div><div>How about we make it simple? Instead of messing with bonus feats, let's just give the Inquisitor and his henchmen a nice, flat +2 buff that emulates a lot of what these teamwork feats do? Inquisitors are going to have a cohort or retinue following them about, so why not make it useful for their lower level followers to stay within his protective/augmentative bubble? Give them +2 to initiative, CMB and CMD while in his radius, as well as all three types of AC? I'm tempted to give them a +4 bonus on attacks of opportunity and flanking attacks as well, given the tight-knit fighting tactics they would employ. </div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Class Abilities</h3><div>Like most Pathfinder classes, the Inquisitor has a gob full of abilities based on level (oh remember when dead levels were a bad thing?). Many of these are Supernatural Abilities, and I want to get rid of those, so I will. Ditch them all. These guys hate magic, remember? We'll find something to replace them with later on. </div><div><br /></div><div>First let's get rid of all their Supernatural (Su) and Spell-like (Sp) abilities. That leaves behind a whole bunch of dead levels for us to fill in. </div><div><br /></div><div>Let's change Judgement, shall we? The Inquisitor is supposed to be a scary, tough-as-nails opponent, even though their most impressive feature is their scary and indomitable personality. I'm thinking replace the fiddly Judgements list with the Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic from 5th Edition D&D. Instead of wondering where to apply this or that +1 or -1 from round to round, the Inquisitor gets 1 re-roll per round of a d20 roll (attack, save, ability or skill) or damage roll during combat, representing their ability to wade through battle in only the armor of their faith, knocking aside opponents and deflecting arrows. Then Second Judgement lets them reroll 2 rolls per round! ...I may have to soften this, but we'll see how it goes. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Keeping things in the antimagic vein, what about adding a wide area effect of magic suppression? Something like an area Spell Resistance, based on the size of his horde? Or ego? Let's call it the Chorus. The Chorus I think would operate something like this: Any magic acting at up to Medium Range would have to overcome a caster level check equal to 10 plus the Inquisitor's Charisma bonus (or Wisdom?), with numbers of followers adding to the difficulty. </div><div><br /></div><div>What do we have so far? A fighting cleric with no spells but a resilience that belies his otherwise humble combat abilities due to the modified Judgement ability, a hefty buff and protective aura for all his followers, a wide variety of skills with which to supplement his forces, and lots of attitude. </div><div><br /></div><div>Add in things like special materials for weapons, tanglefoot bags, thunderstones, fireworks and intelligent massed attacks. </div>Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-25330142179368965602020-08-25T13:48:00.001-07:002020-08-25T13:48:04.315-07:00The Bleak Theater<p> As I predicted in my last article, we had quite a bit of down-time between games. We started off with a bang, however, as the party finally entered the Bleak Theater. <br /><br />The initial entry was fairly routine. The party did attempt stealth, but the invisible thief still triggered the silent Alarm spell set by the duergar wizard posted at the back door of the Bleak Theater. Note: There is really only one approach to the Theater from the surface, so the party had few options in that regard. <br /><br />As scripted, the wizard alerted the other guards and began buffing, while the two duergar with tower shields set up a front line facing the stairs and the 3 duergar "ushers" (reskinned as fighter/rogues) became invisible and positioned themselves to make maximum use of their nets and saps. Yes, SAPS! <br /><br />It was all for naught, though. The party blasted through this encounter, with only a single invisible usher at 1 hp slipping through the smaller door next to the larger entrance and alerting the rest of the complex. <br /><br />The party opted to kick open the bigger doors and found themselves facing a bunch of maddened animals. Initially brought in as fighting animals for the Theater, the advance warning of the mephit Grime, allowed them to prepare another surprise for the party. Several invisible duergar stagehands (who had been tormenting the animals to "get their blood up") began releasing the animals caged in this staging area. <br /><br />The party found themselves confronted by enraged rhinos, tigers, smallish dragons, and a pair of owlbears, but wound up getting the initiative and slamming the doors closed again before more than a single rhinoceros could get through the entrance. Bear's wild empathy ability managed to calm the creature down with a few incredible rolls, but after a few rounds, the animals within the room had begun picking each other off. The party re-entered the room and mopped up the remaining animals. <br /><br />But before they could finish off the remaining creatures, the double doors to the left of the entry burst open, almost knocked off their hinges by an enormous (fifteen feet long) boar, which charged through the room, trampling everyone and smashing the wizard and cleric against the far wall. This took a few more rounds to clean up, with a few serious wounds being distributed before dropping the giant pig. Nobody had their head lopped off by its vorpal tusks. Sigh. <br /><br />What followed was some frenetic searching as the party tried to figure out where they were in the Theater complex and what was going on. Jonas used his Locate Creature ability to help them find their way to his nephew, but while attempting to release him from his cell, the hobbit thief accidentally freed the bodak from the cell next door. At the same time, farther down the hall in the darkness (remember, duergar can see in the dark just fine, better than stinky humans), the remaining stagehands and their human ranger leader had set up a picket of chained up slaves to use as a shield, and were about to unleash a withering storm of arrows and crossbow bolts on the party. But Gektas went first and neutralized the ranger with a Baleful Polymorph, turning her into a cockroach and stealing her buffing abilities from the duergar. Boo! <br /><br />Also, the bodak's lethal attacks against the group failed and they killed the beast, finally getting the nephew free of his cell. <br /><br />At this point, Jonas implores the party to leave. They got what they (he) came for, and sticking around in a fortress of evil dwarves was not wise. But the party wanted to stay and find out what happened to the rest of Jonas' nephew's group - it's what they were hired for, after all. Jonas disagreed, paralyzed (hold monster) his nephew, threw him in some sort of bag, then disappeared, bidding them farewell and good luck. </p><p>At about the same time, the dreaded hobgoblin Gora-Khan appeared and began fighting Bear. Simultaneously, a reddish, lizard-and-bug like creature with four arms suddenly appeared and began attacking the group from the other side. Bear managed to take the vampire down, forcing him into gaseous form before losing any energy levels. The bug-like creature was beaten back, but disappeared again to lick its wounds.</p><p>After this the party cast about, trying to find their bearings and looking for traces of the other missing adventurers. They wound up fighting more monsters on a wide stairecase going up; ettins and blind, barbarous caveman-like creatures called grimlocks, behind which were more duergar, but a quick, invisible scouting mission by Paco revealed that the duergar were set up to bait the party in and expose their flank to an enormous, bus-sized rust monster. Paco warned the group and the party chose the better part of valor. </p><p>At some point, Bear observed "You know, aside from those duergar at the front (sic) door, we haven't killed anything that looks important" i.e., no more duergar had been killed beyond the first combat, just successive waves of animals, beasts, undead and servitor monsters. <br /><br />Returning to Pelltar's Redoubt, they collected Chauntessa and returned to the Inn of the Slumbering Drake to recover and consider what they had learned. <br /><br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The party received their award from Chauntessa as agreed, for locating the latter party's ultimate fate. </li><li>They also received a mysterious delivery that turned out to be from Jonas, who paid them a hefty sum in the form of diamonds and adamantine bars. He also exhorted the group to get as far away from the area as quickly and quietly as possible, as he feared the retaliation of Thane Vejik. </li><li>Chauntessa did not find what she was looking for in Pelltar's massive library, "But" she added cryptically, "I now know what it <b>isn't</b>! And that is a good deal further than I have gone in quite a long time." </li><li>The party rescued one slave from the Theater, Brandis the Bard, who knows a bit about the Theater and is oh so grateful. I look forward to annoying the group with songs about their adventures for years to come. </li><li>The Inquisitors of Nuln have taken up residence in Cillimar, under the auspices of "keeping the peace" and quashing any unauthorized use of magic. It's a problem. </li><li>Aside from some uncomfortable rumors from Kemp's extraplanar experience regarding the actions of Lomri and his ilk and how "they are changing everything, how the world works", the group hasn't really addressed what to do about it. </li></ul><div>The party needs to decide what they wish to do next; run, stay in place and build up some stable infrastructure nearby, or what? They are 9th level, after all. <br /><br />And as Kemp said, the world is changing...</div><p></p>Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-91591549946201156302020-05-31T11:59:00.002-07:002020-05-31T12:00:00.075-07:00They Finally Did It!Well, despite the COVID lock-down, my group managed to get together digitally via Zoom and have several productive sessions in Castle Whiterock! One of my players even designed his own shared online grid that we used for miniatures (because I am as yet too cheap to shell out for Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds). <div><br /></div><div>Much progress within the campaign has been made by the players. First, the party overcame the aboleth Acanthus after their first attempt faltered. They didn't kill him, of course, but forced him to surrender and give up the lair. There is now a very dangerous aboleth with a lot of slaves and a bruised ego wandering the Underdark, but I'm sure nothing bad will come of that... <br /><br />Next, the party managed to pick up and follow the hanging thread of Pelltar's Boot, using magic to locate its partner in Pelltar's Redoubt (level 12A in Castle Whiterock), and exploring said redoubt. They even managed to get access to his spellbooks and ingredient cabinet. The party wizard won out on that deal, as (unsurprisingly) most of the loot on this level is oriented towards wizards - grey robes of the archmagi, a staff of conjuration and the motherlode - 12 spellbooks with every spell of levels 0 through 5, as well as a strong collection of spells in the 6th to 9th level range.*</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, safely ensconced in their new 9th level class duds, with not one but TWO secret lairs at their command within the dungeon, and not-quite-unlimited travel due to having both the teleport spell and the reunited boots of teleportation, the party proceeded into dungeon level 9, the Immense Cavern. <br /><br />Having visited these caves a few times before, they stopped by to visit their "friend" Gar & Nar. Luckily, Gar was in ascendance and was feeling chatty, as he had been alone for quite some time; since the party first met him and plied him with food and companionship. They learned a bit more about the denizens of the cave and of the hazards ahead of them, as well as a few behind them which they had managed to miss. </div><div><br /></div><div>Departing the abandoned ettin village, they made their way - forewarned - the bridge across the river that divided the chasm and met with "Goldy" the kobold knight. It was apparent that something was off about the kobold, who conducted itself within the utmost standards of chivalry, and a knightly(ish) duel to first blood ensued, which the party's knight (samurai) easily won. <br /><br />Upon further conversation with the kobold they determined that it must have been the target of a curse or perhaps a baleful polymorph, and they expended every resource they could muster to break it... but all to no avail. Their highest level magical resources spent, they decided to spend the night there inside the wizard's Secure Shelter. Not much rest was to be had, though, as the first night's watch was disrupted by a large, gelatinous ooze squeezing its way through the cracks of the cabin. The party quickly existed the cabin to deal with the threat - perhaps a bit cavalierly - and found themselves facing the granddaddy (mommy?) of all gelatinous cubes, one big enough to engulf the entire house with room to spare. The party managed to dispatch it, but not without some effort and cost. Another few watches went by with nothing but irritating bats to keep them from sleeping. </div><div><br /></div><div>The next day they tried again to break "Goldy's" curse, and finally met with success! The kobold was revealed to be a semi-angelic being who had been cursed decades ago. Backstory to be filled in later, there was at first a notion to bring the being, named Galdiera, with them, but it soon became apparent that she was in no condition to be more than a hindrance. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, it was off to the other secret lair where the angelic creature could recuperate and gather her wits while the party made their way to the cave entrance which, according to Gar, would lead to the Bleak Theater...</div><div><br /></div><div>Upon entry to that cave and a climb up a steep staircase, they found themselves in a rather nasty trap. A modestly sized, smooth floored stone chamber with a solitary stalagmite in the center of the room. A dead roper decomposing along the right wall. </div><div><br /></div><div>Once the party worked up their courage to enter the room, one of them triggered the trap; both exits were blocked by enormous slabs of stone which slid seamlessly into place, and an Incendiary Cloud spell was set off. <br /><br /></div><div>To make matters worse, the party had all but hung billboards out on the road announcing their presence, like a band promoting its concert tour for the summer, so I added a little something special into the mix: Two mercenary zealots of the orcish Bloodfire tribe, a sorcerer and a warpriest, who had been hired to obstruct the path of the party, and had been tipped off by Alarm spells and the devious mephit, Grime. </div><div><br /></div><div>The two casters, fully prepared for what was about to transpire, leveled their worst attacks at the party. Trapped, unable to escape the room, unable to dispel the Incendiary Cloud, had no choice but to deal with the most immediate threat. They made short work of the warpriest once they found him, but had more trouble with the sorcerer, who was lurking near the top of the ceiling with a Fly spell, concealed by the incessant smoke of the Cloud. Casting fireballs every round, he was making a bad situation worse until the cleric rose up on her boots of levitation and bumped right into him. Firing off her last Dispel Magic, he plummeted to the ground and was quickly ended by the rest of the group. <br /><br />Luckily, the wizard (with some prompting by the DM) remembered he'd brought Communal Protection from Energy, and bought the party several rounds, which they spent searching fruitlessly for a hidden release which would allow them to exit the room. There was none to be found; the trap was set to be released from the outside only. <br /><br />Eventually, the cleric used stone shape to make a slim exit for the party to escape. Beyond, a pitch black corridor leading down, ostensibly to the Bleak Theater. <br /><br />And the Theater knows they are coming... </div><div><br /></div><div>It looks like this group probably won't meet again until August, so I will be taking my time getting things ready. Hopefully this game will be in person, and I'm planning to get a bunch of minis painted and built for that eventuality. I also need to make sure my dungeon tiles are sufficient to the task. I may have to skim the Youtube channels of Wyloch, DM Scotty and Black Magic Craft for terrain ideas. </div><div><br /></div><div><font size="6">This is why we can't have nice things. </font></div><div><br /></div><div>However, one conclusion I've arrived at after last night's game is that I need to find a way to make combat more manageable. Pathfinder is a very crunchy, statistical game, and every die roll devolves into a 20 minute discussion of every possible modifier and permutation of cause and effect. There's too much going on for my old brain to allow for in-game naval-gazing.<br /><br />I'm going to institute a timer for our games. It's one I've seen used to great effect in-game before, and it's one I use as a scrum master at work also. When we are in combat, and I go through the initiative order and get to you, you have 6 seconds to say what you are doing. Think about what you want to do on your own time when I am dealing with the other PCs and NPCs. </div><div><br /></div><div>The other thing I need to do is find a more compressed and DM-friendly way of managing monsters. All the aforementioned crunch just taxes my brain, so I will likely be boiling things down a bit. What do I really need to know about that NPC fighter beyond his basic stats; AC, hp, hits/damage and saves? Need to work on that... <br /><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>*I decided to temper that down a bit, restricting "every spell" to mean "every spell published in the core rulebook" which is still sufficient to keep the wizard busy decoding and learning spells for the next TWO YEARS of game time. Really. I did the math! </div>Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-86305017435272089532020-02-10T10:54:00.002-08:002020-02-10T10:54:52.336-08:00Castle Whiterock: On and AnonWow, lots going on these days! Between a resurgence in D&D and 40K miniature painting and participating in four different RPG campaigns (I'm running two, and playing in the other two), time has been blissfully short on the planning front. On top of that, Dundracon is next WEEK and I have a two-day airbrush painting course at the end of the month!<br />
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TL;DR I haven't been posting much here.<br />
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The Update</h3>
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My players finally reconvened last week, wisely taking a break from the dungeon to re-equip before pushing on into the grip of the duergar Thane, Hrolad Vejik. </div>
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Upon their return to town they were met by an old friend; the party's npc fighter who was flung into the multiverse a few sessions ago by a Prismatic Spray. Along with him came his tentative ally, Jonas Arenmoradas, who claims to be related to one of the npcs the party is trying rescue from the Bleak Theater. Convenient timing, no? Hmmmm... </div>
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Jonas related his story of being a plane traveler, a "horizon walker" or some such thing, who experienced enormous injuries while traveling on a plane which lacked any sort of biological life. The living machines who dwelt there attempted to reconstruct him, but with mixed results. The party accepted his story with only a sprinkling of salt and laid their plans. </div>
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The Thane was not idle in the interim. He spread the word that a group of adventurers from the surface had been sowing destruction in the warrens beneath the Castle and put a price on their heads: 10,000 gp dead, 30,000 gp alive! In addition he fed many captive orcs to the aboleth on level 7, including one or two trolls to be converted into skum. </div>
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Return to the Castle</h3>
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Upon the party's return, the tunnels were quiet... too quiet! They made their way down to level 7 without incident, only to run afoul of the aboleth's newly bolstered slaves. The game ended with the following cliffhanger:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITsnCBYkkSfdagOjKUPXjUR3TU3pvOVoM17x0cxS6fdacxoOutnlkwlFJUIdWxHfBs-cuGTi3ghs2ZxiwvzdqzdjYvEhe4wscCCedA-zBVsPIUBenh8yaKZ0rcN4Pf9C4leZwde7ogLU/s1600/Inked84510270_3282399905121467_4821775383093313536_n_LI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITsnCBYkkSfdagOjKUPXjUR3TU3pvOVoM17x0cxS6fdacxoOutnlkwlFJUIdWxHfBs-cuGTi3ghs2ZxiwvzdqzdjYvEhe4wscCCedA-zBVsPIUBenh8yaKZ0rcN4Pf9C4leZwde7ogLU/s320/Inked84510270_3282399905121467_4821775383093313536_n_LI.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Yes, that's the new npc, Jonas, who is now mostly made of metal, sliding down a chute into an underground lake teeming with leeches, being advanced on by some waterlogged zombies and 4 hungry ropers. Nice knowin' ya, Jonas!<br />
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Next Up</h3>
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The party will have an uphill slog ahead of them, facing multiple motivated opponents. Most of the number crunching for that has been done. However, they party did - as usual - throw me a few curve balls. They finally did some investigation into the single magical boot they found (Pelltar's boot of teleportation), and have begun triangulating its location via various Locate Object spells. They even have a plan; using dimension door to travel to it is, in their eyes, much safer than teleporting, as the off-target chance has less chance of disastrous results, aside from the ascending damage of re-jinking if they land off target. So I guess I'd better prepare 12A, Pelltar's Redoubt for a future session. </div>
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That level is a game-changer. Once you get past the few traps, the party will find themselves in possession of several powerful magic items and a full set of spellbooks from a 19th level wizard. Oh and a super-secret lair. ANOTHER super-secret lair. </div>
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In addition, I need to go over the Bleak Theater and Narborg again. Once the party gets down there, it's going to be a major series of fights to get to the trapped npc. I can think of no way for them to reach the Theater without alerting the forces of the Thane. Especially since Gunrolz, the mephit, has been assigned to watch the party stealthily and fly ahead of them to warn waiting groups of monsters. </div>
Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-53830960062290438842020-01-13T15:13:00.002-08:002020-01-13T15:13:28.136-08:00Castle Whiterock: The Immense Cavern, part 3The party is going to go through some rather critical encounters on the way back down through the dungeon. Though the upper levels have been mostly cleared, a few notable stumbling blocks remain; there is the clan of trolls who have moved into the old troglodyte warrens (still unencountered since the party prefers to take the lift from level 2 to level 7), the aboleth lair on level 7, and several untouched encounters along the way through level 9, the Immense Cavern.<br />
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The party has negotiated a truce with the hidden drow enclave and Gar & Nar, so those areas can largely be ignored. The trolls have not been encountered yet; perhaps an ambush is in order. Everyone loves fighting trolls, right? </div>
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In addition I've decided to eliminate the drunken delver from 9-8; it's obnoxious and a distraction from the main theme the party is pursuing and they certainly don't need any more distractions at this point. Likewise I will omit the teenage stone giants, for similar reasons. </div>
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Galdiera Goldmoon, the polymorphed half-celestial guarding the bridge, is another story. Unless they decide to fly, they will have to cross the bridge at some point. She's a potentially fantastic ally if the party decides to continue through with the theme of Whiterock. She is also a considerable rebuild; paladins are significantly different between Pathfinder and the original 3.5 material. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This also allows me to trash the original 9-7 text. It's long-winded in its history and short on the actual tactical details that could make it an interesting encounter, especially given that it is by default a combat encounter. Save the plot development for after the fight! </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's worth noting that the original author mistakenly included Galdiera's half-celestial abilities and resistances in the kobold statblock. This is a no-no. When polymorphed, you lose any supernatural abilities based on your previous form! </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Three encounters before they exit the level? I can do this!<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-73852532178361805042019-12-17T11:31:00.000-08:002019-12-17T11:33:57.349-08:00Castle Whiterock: The Thane and the World OutsideAt the point where the party retreated fully from the dungeon, several things were happening.<br />
<br />
Within the dungeon, the Thane had become aware of the threat presented by the party. He was also going through some troubling diplomatic issues with the stone giant clan living atop the mountain, though he was unaware that the party was in cahoots with the stone giants in order to keep the peace between them and the local villages outside Cillamar.<br />
<br />
Thus, the Thane has put the word out through his web of affiliations that there is a price on the party's head. Grime, the dust mephit, has been taking notes on the party as they pass through the dungeon and collected fairly accurate descriptions of them. The following NPCs/factions within the megadungeon setting which can be leveled against the party are as follows:<br />
<ul>
<li>the aboleth and its servants on the Watery Way</li>
<li>The troll band near the entry to the Immense Cavern (I've been rolling really badly at encounters so far)</li>
<li>Vulgaris, the minyad druid</li>
<li>the young stone giant band (unaffiliated with those atop the mountain)</li>
<li>Gar and Nar (who doesn't trust the duergar AT ALL)</li>
</ul>
<div>
I've decided that the duergar have finally cleaned out the last holdout orcs from level 3. Drugila can go hang; it's not likely to be worth their while to get her out. The least of the orcs will be offered to the aboleth, while those of any worth will be taken to the Theater for sport, or as slaves. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This will make the aboleth encounter a significant roadblock. Likewise, the troll band may be a good speedbump as the party re-enters the cavern. I don't see Vulgaris or Gar and Nar getting actively involved in fighting the PCs, as they have direct experience with them and don't have a vested interest in helping the duergar. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The stone giant kids are likewise insufficient a threat, unless they do something sneaky like throw rocks and then summon a purple worm on the group, then run away. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Adding something to spice up the trap at 9-11 seems likely, since the party would have to pass through that area to get to the Theater anyway. Maybe a few fire-friendly mercenary monsters, or at least something tough enough to weather the damage from Incendiary Cloud until the characters are dealt with. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But what I really need here is an enemy character party. Another group of murderhobo are being paid by the Thane to track down the party and eliminate them; or better yet capture them! </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A rival or enemy party with abilities roughly equal to the PCs, and hopefully with a foil or two for the group's normal MO, would serve both to up the threat level and promote the kind of hate that motivates players to pursue enemies. I'll have to start working on that idea. I'm thinking a group led by a Lawful Evil cleric devoted to a god of oppression and slavery would be the perfect counterpoint to Fhaariys' Shellyn cleric. I'll have to come up with something suitably irritating for the rest of them, too. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That pretty much handles the dungeon, but what's going on in town? The party has said they are returning to town and I'm going to use this visit to advance the plot a bit. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now, in the past, there's been a struggle going on between the local baronies and the far-away Duke Garth. Garth has been expanding his realm and gobbling up the little baronies along the royal road. He hasn't violated any of the laws governing the use of the road, but exploiting every opportunity to bring every neighboring land under his banner, one way or another. He has secretly been using dark magical items to build his power, items of a kind not seen in ages; mildly vampiric weapons that derive power from their victims, but also armor that feeds that power up the food chain. Thus his military units fight normally until they begin to take casualties, but then the remaining troopers become stronger. This makes his army greatly feared and he takes great care to ensure no one outside a small, necessary group knows about these items. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
He's also allied with a group called the Inquisitors of Nuln. The Inquisitors are an anti-magical cult. They operate mostly as fighters and members of the Inquisitor classes, but eschew magic use in any form. Their magic use has been supplanted by enhanced Counterspell ability, using special feats to increase their ability to stifle magic used by opponents. The Inquisitors may have started out as benevolent, but over time and through their affiliation with the Duke, they have warped into a ruthless, if not outright evil, organization. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Their battlefield role is to listen for cries of "Witch! Witch!" and ride out to start dealing with magic, usually by countering spellcasters. If they get a chance they move in and apprehend or kill the offender, regardless of class or alignment. Staging mass witch burnings is a favorite past-time for them. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On each return to Cillamar, the party hears tidbits of news from the "war in the North" about how this barony has been annexed, or that free town has been burned to the ground or occupied, as the Duke's reach slowly expands. By this time, his forces have reached almost all the way to Cillamar... it makes sense that these forces come into play soon. </div>
Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-34194082232668572802019-12-03T05:00:00.000-08:002019-12-17T11:32:20.380-08:00Castle Whiterock: The Immense Cavern, part twoIn the previous installment, the party made a lot of noise and then camped on the spot where the combat occurred, drawing some attention to themselves while they snored away inside a Secure Shelter. Upon awaking, they found the front door almost glued shut by what turned out to be webs.<br />
<br />
The webs were not so thick as to be unbreakable (they were placed there so the arachnids would be warned when the party emerged). But whoever had placed the webs was long gone. Kemp did some tracking and found many "small, light humanoid" and "claw or dagger-like" prints on the ground, circling the Shelter and leading off in two directions - one set of tracks toward where they buried Bear's body, and another off towards where they buried Bear's equipment. No tracks could be found leading away from the area, so after some deliberation, they determined that the robbers must have come from above.<br />
<br />
<aside: the location of the banshee's clearing is precisely below the Inverted Tower, 400 feet or so above.><br />
<br />
After cobbling together a way for everyone to travel up, via a combination of levitation, flight, and using Reduce Person spells to make people tiny, the group ascended. Eventually they came within sight of the Tower, it's portcullis down and two humans (disguised drow spider riders) inside, desultorily grooming their mounts while a half dozen dog-sized spiders scurried about the place. The group entered via some quick thinking and Dimension Door and began a fight.<br />
<br />
After the first round, however, things turned south. Two driders appeared from balconies above the spider stable and began raining down spells on the group, who had not gained much momentum in their efforts to secure the area. It was at this point that Paco, the hobbit, took a hard left turn into the land of unintended consequences.<br />
<br />
Paco noticed two doors. One on the right, past the drow and their spiders, was standing open and apparently that is where the two riders had come from. The one on the left was closed. Thinking it might be a good way to get around behind the driders <edit: I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here, I don't know that he thought it through any further than "Oh look! A door!" and ran to open it.<br />
<br />
The door was, of course, a trap which released a Most Excellent Prismatic Spray, damaging pretty much everyone in the room, killing off all the spiders and both driders, but hurting the party as well. Paco himself was driven mad by a beam of green energy, while Kemp was driven off the material plane completely. His whereabouts is currently unknown.<br />
<br />
This could have been a TPK if I'd decided to press the issue; the drow high priestess, the fighter lord, the monk, the two sneaks and various other underlings were untouched at this point and only showed up after the Prismatic Spray. The behir hadn't even shown up. I decided instead to parlay with the group, and we proceeded to broker a deal whereby the drow would return Bear and his equipment, even returning him to life in return for performing a task and promising never to return to the Tower or speak of it to anyone.<br />
<br />
This was acceptable to the party, of course, so the party left to spend several days recuperating and figuring out what happened to Kemp. Nothing conclusive was determined about Kemp's destination, and a Divination spell revealed to Fhaariys that "This is not the warrior you should be concerned about at this time..."<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the drow were as good as their word. Bear was sewn back together and Raised, and became the temporary plaything of Matron Cheliax, the high priestess. He got to see a bit more of what the drow had to hand, such as the behir, the gargoyle fighter and a number of other NPCs the party never saw, and learned that these were not people he wanted to toy with.<br />
<br />
In three "days" time, the party returned, accepted the Geas spells from Cheliax, and departed.<br />
<br />
At this time they decided to return all the way to town, feeling out of their depth in this cave and wishing to stock up significantly for the more serious effort required to travel onward.Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-64299536886367913402019-12-01T11:45:00.002-08:002019-12-01T11:45:20.905-08:00Castle Whiterock game update: The Immense CavernWhen last I posted here, the party had finally won through to the Immense Cavern (level nine) after defeating the last derro slaver outpost on level 7.<br />
<br />
This was really a landmark, because this was the first step beyond what my previous group accomplished. The old group stalled out at the derro slaver camp on 7 after 2 players moved away and one got a promotion. At that point we had to build up a new group and I let another player run games for a while before the current group finally spun up.<br />
<br />
The party had done well for themselves up to this point, having handily beaten the derro slavers, the Wight Lady and numerous random encounters on level 7, but I was a tad concerned. I strongly dislike the flavor of levels 8 and 8A in Castle Whiterock, and had put in place a home-tooled replacement for it using various online resources and the excellent Dolmenwood setting as a template. However, the party wasn't interested in chasing down any leads to Fairyland, and so they returned to the derro camp, rolled aside the stone blocking the tunnel, and headed downward.<br />
<br />
Now, level 9 is a quantum leap in difficulty. The Watery Way (level 7) was designed for 8th level characters (the party consists of 5 7th level pcs) while the Immense Cavern was designed for 9th level characters (i.e., characters with access to things like Raise Dead and Teleport; game-changing mechanics that make life much easier in the harder levels).<br />
<br />
In addition, there are at least two other sub-levels *within* level nine: the Inverted Tower, a secret hideout for a small drow enclave, and the Tomb of Ankhotep, a fairly traditional tomb-raider-style dungeon. The Inverted Tower is exceedingly hard to stumble on, since it hangs from the roof of the Immense Cavern hundreds of feet above the cave floor and well beyond the range of darkvision. The Tomb, however, sticks out like a sore thumb. Inadvertently dropped there by an improperly phrased wish centuries before, the giant, obsidian pyramid stands surrounded by a veritable mountain of sand, standing in stark contrast to the moraine and mucky humus of the surrounding cave.<br />
<br />
My players were not to be daunted, though. They made their way down the tunnel to level 9 and promptly set their sights on the pyramid. After some noodling around the exterior and narrowly avoiding being crushed by the falling slab traps, they found their way inside and ran smack dab into the clay golem. They wisely beat a hasty retreat and watch from afar while the golem emerged to reset the slab trap.<br />
<br />
They then went on to meet and befriend Gar and Nar, the lonely ettin. I'll admit I made him seem sympathetic, but I felt the need to provide more foreshadowing and local history for the cave system and how it relates to the duergar. The cavern began to take on shape and scale to the players...<br />
<br />
They set off from the abandoned ettin lair to find the way down to the Bleak Theater, but wound off getting sidetracked in the fungus forest by the "old trail" leading off to the north. (NEVER follow the "old trail") The party wound up crossing swords with a drow banshee, which they dispatched, but at a cost - Bear died as a result of the banshee's wail.<br />
<br />
Knowing they didn't have access to Raise Dead yet, but that a Resurrection could be performed back at their little secret lair in the Fane of Justicia, they prudently decided to cut off Bear's head and bury his body and equipment rather than slog all the way back up there with a corpse weighing them down.<br />
<br />
Here's where my party's short-sightedness may have cost them. Gektas cast Secure Shelter right there in the banshee's clearing so the party could rest in relative safety, not bothering to consider whether the sounds of combat - much less the banshee's wail - might have drawn any attention. It's worth noting that there's a significant aerial component to this dungeon, as the party has been attacked by giant bats and frequently heard the distant, echoing growls and flutters of the eponymous Immense Cavern. Oh well.<br />
<br />
While camped out, one of the folks on watch detected the sound of scuttling (feet? claws?) on the roof of the shelter, followed by timid scratching and clawing around the walls of the solid Shelter. The party chose to ignore the sounds and rest fully, so they could meet whatever threat presented itself when fresh in the "morning".<br />
<br />
This they did, and had some difficulty opening the door, because it was being held closed by something stretchy. Webs.Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-30109834966446011912019-06-02T12:44:00.000-07:002019-06-02T12:44:00.466-07:00Castle Whiterock: The Duergar, part 2The second part of the exercise, understanding how duergar fight is the more difficult aspect, at least to me.<br />
<br />
I tend to get muddled in combat, as a DM. I'm constantly forgetting special attacks my monsters have, their tactical tricks forgotten in the fog of war as I'm bombarded with questions. But for these fights it will be extremely important to understand how they should be played.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
First off, they have the usual dwarven abilities; resistant to magic and stable. So they are slow but sturdy, getting +2 on their saves against magic and +4 on their CMD against bull rush attempts or the dreaded (and IMHO overpowered) trip attack. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On top of that, they see in the dark. With 120-foot darkvision, they will see you coming in pitch darkness, probably before you are even aware of them. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Likewise, they are immune to paralysis, poison and phantasms, meaning they can drop area of effect attacks with relative impunity, if they need to exert some crowd control. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Lastly, and perhaps most especially, they have two spell-like abilities; invisibility and enlarge person (self), both once per day. While only useful once per day, they are real game changers, essentially giving them control over how fights begin or end. Let's review. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Invisibility</h3>
<div>
Perhaps the most overused and misunderstood spell of them all. Within the game, invisibility lasts a minute per level (based on the duergar's class level, in this case) and allows the target broad leeway in their actions so long as they don't directly attack. From the <a href="https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/i/invisibility/">SRD</a>: </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "varela" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Thus, an invisible being can open doors, talk, eat, climb stairs, summon monsters and have them attack, cut the ropes holding a rope bridge while enemies are on the bridge, remotely trigger traps, open a portcullis to release attack dogs, and so forth."</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "varela" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
That's a lot of shenanigans you can get into while invisible. But it is far from all of what this spell gives you! Elsewhere in the <a href="https://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/conditions/" target="_blank">SRD</a>, it also gives you a +40 (if immobile) or +20 (if moving) bonus to your Stealth checks, good enough to override the massive Stealth penalties of heavy armor, and grants you a +2 non-typed bonus to hit another creature and ignore their dexterity bonus to armor class while invisible. While that ends your invisibility, it can be a game-changer, especially if the duergar in question possesses sneak attack capability. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So you can choose to either begin combat invisible and get the drop on a foe, or save your invisibility for later to escape combat. Nice!<br />
<br />
<h3>
Enlarge Person</h3>
</div>
<div>
This one actually requires a little more of you, mechanically. It seems like doubling your height and octupling (if that's a word) your weight would increase your strength by more than +2, but the benefits still outweigh the drawbacks. The aforementioned Strength bonus, coupled with reach, outweigh the penalty to Dex and armor class. Your net delta is +0 to attacks, +1 damage, -2 to AC and -1 to Reflex saves, but your reach increases to 10 feet and your damage increment is upgraded due to size. In addition, your increased size gives you a +1 bonus on your CMB and CMD, which will be beneficial to the Stalwart Defender. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I can see both these abilities playing out differently depending on the purpose of the encounter. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A) Feeling out the abilities of the enemy - using invisibility to disengage from the fight.<br />
B) Setting up a lethal ambush - an alpha strike in which invisibility and enlarge person are used in combination to control the first round of combat, hitting as hard as possible in order to capture or kill the opponent, or at the very least, prevent them from pursuing as the duergar escape.<br />
C) Performing a holding action - using enlarge person to lock the enemy in place while the rest of the group falls back to a better position or escapes. </div>
Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-60529344174745406442019-05-31T15:03:00.000-07:002019-05-31T15:03:00.623-07:00Castle Whiterock: The Duergar, part 1Duergar are an important part of the Whiterock campaign. Dominating fully three levels of the dungeon and driving the economy of interaction between the lower levels and the surface, they are truly the heartbeat of the campaign. Once you've cleared the Thane and his clan out, you will literally have the run of the dungeon.<br />
<br />
That's why I think it's important to spend some time on converting them properly. As I see it, I need to study two particular areas:<br />
<br />
A) Finding the best conversion path for the duergar in the module, and<br />
B) Learning to use duergar properly in a tactical sense.<br />
<br />
B is the much larger of the two, I think. Very little is required for A but some intelligent decision-making and number-crunching. But tactically using the duergar effectively is important. Just their racial abilities of invisibility and enlarge person open up a number of ways to manipulate things like reach, threatened spaces, and the ability to hit with surprise and then run. Fighting duergar should be annoying and exhausting!<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Theater/Narborg Roster</h3>
<div>
Let's start with A), above. Running down through the rosters of levels 10, 11 and 12, duergar NPCs can be broken into three categories: Specialists, Muscle, and Leaders. Leaders could be considered specialists, I suppose, but in all forms of D&D Leaders typically worth as both Specialists and Muscle.<br />
<br />
Most of the top level NPCs of Narborg seem to represent the end-goal of a particular path. Thus the career path that starts with the duergar bouncers in the Bleak Theater seems to naturally end in with the Underdeep Veterans in Narborg. The Guards and Experts seem to be all of the same type across a pretty narrow band of class levels, so there isn't much of a progression there. Thus a rebuild of the basic fighters seems in order. I'll probably use the Defender of the Weak build from <a href="http://zenithgames.blogspot.com/2017/02/rogue-eidolons-guide-to-fighters.html">Rogue Eidolon's excellent Fighter Guide</a> as a template. (note:The original version seems to have disappeared, so I'm linking Zenith Games for the content. Thanks to RE and to Zenith Games!) Also of interest, the Stalwart Defender prestige class, with build guidance <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mR2SAPeQg6HYo6nnMkd1GEA4CPXpJhZWe5bxsDU9wpQ/edit?usp=sharing">here</a>.<br />
<br />
The rest of the duergar, the Leaders, need to be redone. A LOT has changed for these classes overtime, especially for Unchained classes. The Impresario, the Thane and his family, the commanders, almost all of them need some work. I will probably adopt some linear Unchained rules for the rogues and monk - I don't need them to be complex, I just need them to be workable when I'm juggling a combat with multiple monsters.<br />
<br />
The casters from the above list really need to be redone. I find that most of the ancillary abilities of specialist wizards - not to mention the domain abilities of clerics - get lost in the shuffle. I've never had an NPC caster survive long enough to fall back on their X/day Elemental Ray attacks for a d6-plus-change, so why worry about it? Time to re-build!<br />
<br />
I won't dive too deep into the rebuild itself but suffice it to say that it should allow for some interesting tactics during gameplay. The Defender build linked above should make it very hard for players to simply move past the front line of defense and force them to use their resources more intelligently.<br />
<br /></div>
Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-26771127247729055972019-05-29T10:46:00.000-07:002019-05-30T12:47:38.151-07:00Castle Whiterock: The Quest Continues, Volume Three<h2 style="height: 0px;">
Buffing the Bleak Theater</h2>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Most of The Immense Cavern (level 9 of Castle Whiterock) can be played as is. You've got your troll squad with delusions of grandeur, the ettin, the mushroom forest, some drunk teenage stone giants... all of these can be played out with minimal hassle. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The final room, though, is problematic, as I've mentioned before. Unless the party is caught totally unawares, without protection from fire, they will probably survive it. It's even possible they make it through taking only minimal damage. Indeed, even Energy Resistance (Fire) 10 turns the entire affair into a tedious exercise. So let's give it some snap! </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
The Trapped Route to the Bleak Theater</h3>
<div>
So what do we have here? A password that gets you through the trap, disabling it for 5 minutes. A dead roper for color and continuity. And a big-ass fire trap. While 60d6 sounds like a lot, it's spread out over 15 rounds, at 4d6 per round. Also, there's a save, albeit a DC22 Reflex save. (why do you get a save against a cloud you are entirely engulfed in? No good reason!)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There's even a chance to avoid it entirely, at least for cautious players with a high Reflex bonus. If you are lingering near one of the doors when the trap is triggered, you can slip outside. Of course, that will split the party, which brings its own hazards. The sliding doors are tough (120hp, hardness 8) but blasting your way through or using stone shape is another option. </div>
<h3>
Detection or Avoidance</h3>
<div>
Now it is likely the party will be looking for trouble in this place as it is a choke point and a fairly obvious transition to a deeper level of the dungeon. So Find Traps may be in effect or the rogue may actually scout ahead looking for traps, but the detection and disable DC is 33! So let's just assume that the rogue doesn't find it, or can't defuse it. Likewise, a 7th level caster is not likely to be able to Dispel the magical portion of the trap, as the DC to overcome it is 26, meaning they would have to roll a 19 or 20 to bring the spell down. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Once Triggered</h3>
<div>
Now let's look at the damage. Over 15 rounds you are looking at 210hp, assuming average damage per round (14 hp) and you fail every Reflex save. But over the course of 15 rounds, you're likely to make at least one of those saves even if your Reflex bonus is only +3 or so, so let's call it 200hp. Energy Resistance 10 drops that total to 50 points; bad, but not generally lethal at 7th level. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Assume your party is going to be casting spells during this time. Concentration checks against continual damage will be 18+ half the damage dealt, or 25 on average. And again, if Energy resistance is involved, that will probably be reduced to a 20. Not terribly difficult, given that the average Concentration check bonus in this group is +12. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That means the party wizard or cleric will probably be able to get debuffs off. Either communal energy resistance or at least a few Channel Energies to keep people from hurting too bad; in fact a 7th level cleric's channel healing is 4d6, the same as the DPS of the trap. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So while the cleric is healing or casting prayer for the party-wide +1 buff to Reflex saves and keeping people standing, what are the other folks doing? Standing around on fire, mostly. The wizard might have some utility spells to fire off that may help, but the fighters and rogues have time to burn (nyuk nyuk nyuk!), so this becomes an exercise in waiting. BORING. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Snorefest or Gorefest</h3>
<div>
So let's introduce some more threats.<br />
<br />
Let's add this guy: <a href="https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/npc-s/npcs-cr-7/wrath-priest-half-orc-cleric-8/">https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/npc-s/npcs-cr-7/wrath-priest-half-orc-cleric-8/</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
He's got a nice set of combat buffs, energy resistance and, once fully prepped, will accomplish two goals: A) giving the fighters something to do and, B) force the party healer to make decisions every round (heal the party or heal the fighters or deal with the threat directly), keeping things interesting. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But even this might not be enough to stress the group. So I'm adding another potential threat:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/npc-s/npcs-cr-6/bloodfire-sorcerer-half-orc-sorcerer-7/">https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/npc-s/npcs-cr-6/bloodfire-sorcerer-half-orc-sorcerer-7/</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now we have a real fight on our hands. A small NPC party of 2 casters, buffing each other, attacking the party while they are on their heels, all while the room erupts in fire around them. Beautiful!<br />
<br />
<h3>
Conclusion</h3>
</div>
<div>
This setup gives me three options: the base encounter as written; a medium nasty fire trap in case the party is already taxed, and two upgrade positions in case the encounter goes to easily or they somehow manage to disarm/avoid the trap. It might seem mean, but in the end I actually hope this will deter any foolishness on the part of the group and make them take the Thane and his minions very seriously!<br />
<br />
Also, the party has managed to get to this level with very little in the way of magic (they've been avoiding high risk-reward encounters like the plague), and the two NPCs will at least provide them with a number of basic magical equipment they will need later on. </div>
Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-44832088403752043382019-05-27T09:18:00.000-07:002019-05-30T12:47:29.395-07:00Castle Whiterock: The Quest Continues, Volume Two!<h2 style="height: 0px;">
Now What?</h2>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The following factors have been lined up: </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>The Thane and his clan are now Aware Of The Party and are Taking Steps To Mitigate, as described in the module. </li>
<li>The derro are all but wiped out, the Iron Manacle and the mountain troglodytes are but a distant memory. </li>
<li>The Whiterock Orcs have held on to their little postage stamp of territory, against all odds. </li>
<li>The stone giant clan is a new factor, as yet unaligned in this struggle. </li>
</ul>
<div>
The party's plan is to trundle down to the Bleak Theater and rescue the <b>old</b> character party. Heroically!</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This leaves me with a number of things to do: </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
First and foremost, I need to convert the duergar up from 3rd edition to Pathfinder. There has been some power creep over the years since CW was published, both within D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder, which is now closing in on it's second edition. Things which were dangerous to base classes are now laughable in this later edition of the game, and they need some hardening. I'll try upgrading the NPC-classed duergar to PC classes and keep both version on hand, just in case I've overestimated the party's abilities. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Next, I need to figure out what to do with the trapped entry to the Theater on level 9. A sealed room with an incendiary cloud trap sounds rough, but I anticipate it being a cakewalk as written. Honestly, 15 rounds of 4d6 - even with the DC 22 reflex save for half - sounds awful for a bunch of 7th level characters, but really that's just a few Resist Energy spells and Channel Energy buffs. It's entirely possible they can walk away from that room unscathed, and I can't have that. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If they keep sailing through these deeper levels without a serious check to their advance, they won't take the threats seriously until they are in way over their heads and I have a full TPK on my hands. Case in point, while the party handily dealt with bands of kamikaze derro backed up by an ettin and hell hounds, they were utterly crippled by a single Confusion spell. </div>
<div>
<br />
No, I need them to <i>feel</i> it. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
The Plan</h3>
<div>
With regards to the incendiary cloud room, I think I have an answer. I found two fire-wielding NPCs online that would fit nicely in that room; a priest of Wrath and a sorcerer, both half-orcs. The aforementioned 4d6 a round is not troubling on its own, but when backed up with a fully buffed beat-face war cleric and a direct damage and debuff-casting sorcerer augmenting the threat, it should keep the group nicely occupied and force them to be more cautious in their advance.<br />
<br />
It works thematically, as well, since Thane Vejik is notorious for outsourcing talent to solve problems for him. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Again the goal isn't to exhaust them utterly but to make them play smarter. </div>
<h3>
Bleak Theater Upgrades</h3>
<div>
Converting the duergar NPC classes is problematic. The simplest solution is to up-convert them: basically this means adding +1 to their base attack bonus, but that option carries neither flavor nor punch. Ditto applying the "advanced" template; adds a little punch, but doesn't give them any flavor at all. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Castle Whiterock included a custom NPC class called the Guard, sort of a mixed duty sentry and fighter. These Guards patrol the duergar domains keeping an eye out for trouble. A straight conversion to Fighter would make them better combatants, but at the cost of other skills. Likewise, a straight Thief would sacrifice combat ability in favor of skills. So maybe I'll do a mix of both.<br />
<br />
Thus the duergar "ushers" (Guards) become Fighter/Thieves 3/3 or 4/4, while the "bouncers" (Warriors) become straight up Fighters.<br />
<br />
I'll leave the "stagehands" as Experts. Someone has to know how to make the sausage. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Most of the monsters in the theater can be directly converted. I'm considering tossing out the Grimlocks, because grimlocks are just stupid. I mean, what the hell? They're blind orcs with blindsight. No special attacks or abilities, nothing to differentiate them from other horde-type assailants. Out they go. I'll throw something else cool in there to take their place if I need to. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Last, but by no means least, I will have to determine what happened to the old character party after their arrival. Since I don't have copies of most of those characters, I'll have to recreate them based on notes I have from before. Or at least the ones that survived. That should be fun! </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So this is me, planning three or even four sessions ahead. That's the game! </div>
Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-62062273021018791752019-05-25T08:42:00.002-07:002019-05-30T12:48:27.612-07:00Castle Whiterock: The Quest Continues!I'm worried about my players. I am.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My current group has been playing around - and in - Castle Whiterock and its environs for a year or two now. They've become cursorily familiar with the area, the nearby town of Cillimar, and various and sundry NPCs important to the plot of the supermodule. They've also introduced some variances to the setting. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For instance, after wiping out a group of gnolls who had moved into the spot previously occupied by the Slavers of the Iron Manacle, they ran into a group of stone giants (random encounter), and directed them (unintentionally) to the ruins of the castle. Upon their next return, a clan of 20 or so of the giants had moved in and started remodeling the upper keep. The giants are friendly, for now... </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They've met Lorus Swiftquill and arranged a quid pro quo deal with him; information for information. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They've located and restored the Hidden Fane of Justicia on level 7 and cleaned out both the chapel of Bobugbubilz and the Wight Lady!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They've made friends with the folk of Stone Pig's Crossing, in a tiny hamlet half way between Cillimar and the Castle. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They've forged a business relationship with Chauntessa, and guessed more about her nature than I'm comfortable with as a DM. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The one thing they haven't done, though, is the first job that Chauntessa gave them: find the "other group"... </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You see I had another group once. This group of adventurers swept through the upper levels of CW, murder-hoboing their merry way down to level 7, when the group sort of fell apart all at once. A few players moved away, another one got a job that didn't allow for much downtime, and that was all she wrote. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Fast forward a year or two and I have a new group with no connections to the old! Their game started out in the same world but relatively remote from Castle Whiterock, but I introduced one plot thread that lead to Whiterock, and that was the one they chose to follow.<br />
<br />
I decided to keep some continuity going; this group would follow on where the other group ended; Chauntessa would offer them the same deal as to the other group with a caveat; they should also try to determine what happened to the party that came before. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At the point where the old group broke up, their party had a nasty scrap with the skum and, impaired with lowered resources and damaged boats, came to the derro slaver's outpost and (I deemed) were finally overwhelmed, captured, and taken down below. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
All Roads Lead To Narborg</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now it was up to the PCs. This was not their first rodeo and not even the first time they had to deal with duergar, even within Whiterock. They did a bit of sleuthing as they explored the now semi-repopulated dungeon. They have pieced together that the previous party was (mostly) captured by the slavers and shipped down to the Bleak Theater. In the interim several other things have happened.<br />
<ol>
<li>Having wiped out most of the derro on level 7 and interrupted the flow of slaves, the party has faced increased resistance from the duergar and their lackeys upon each return to the Castle. The pattern has been established: an ambush involving troublesome cannon-fodder monsters supported by the duergar, who flee as soon as the battle turns against them. </li>
<li>The party has pieced together the fate of the previous party and passed that on to Chauntessa. Chauntessa was gravely concerned about the party's ability to infiltrate the Bleak Theater and warned them against doing so - noteworthy because this is the first time she's ever advised caution. (And she has now thrown THREE parties into the maw of Whiterock!)</li>
<li>And most recently, they learned that the stone giants had been visited by the envoy of Thane Vejik and offered them payment in return for slaves. </li>
</ol>
The giants are ambivalent, neither trusting the duergar to honor their agreement nor leave the clan alone, but not wanting to deal with the hassle of having an angry clan of duergar under their feet. They have handed the problem off to the PCs, as they have helped the clan out before. But if they do accept, the town of Stone Pig's Crossing could be wiped out by the giants virtually at one blow, and quite easily.<br />
<ol>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
Thus here we are; the characters stand at the brink of level 9, the Immense Cavern, facing a determined enemy that is growing hungry and desperate to restore its economy.<br />
<br />
(to be continued)</div>
Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-42204710881105386712018-10-25T08:16:00.002-07:002018-10-25T09:25:25.180-07:00This should be funTotally stealing this from Zak over at D&D With Pornstars, who stole it from <a href="http://meanderingbanter.blogspot.com/2018/09/automatic-list-to-html-translator.html">Meandering Banter</a>!<br />
<br />
The party has chosen to work their way up from level 7 of Castle Whiterock, looking for traces of the previous player group, who were TPK'd in the dungeon. The previous group, however, did such a great job of depopulating the dungeon levels above them that I now have to fill in the blanks.<br />
<br />
<button onclick="selectRandom2MC()">From the Fane to the Stairs</button><br />
<div id="outputText2MC">
</div>
<br />
<script>function selectRandom2MC(){document.getElementById('outputText2MC').innerHTML = ["4 cloakers","4 bat swarms (Ohhh Bats)","Duergar Slaver skiff (A slaving we will go)"][Math.floor(Math.random() * 3)]}</script>
Need to buff up the slaver party; the PC have wiped out the small derro camp at the foot of the elevator. Thane Vejik is tired of all these nuisances; the flow of slaves must never cease! More surprises await above...<br />
<br />
<button onclick="selectRandomjKr()">The Troglodyte Caves</button><br />
<div id="outputTextjKr">
</div>
<br />
<script>function selectRandomjKr(){document.getElementById('outputTextjKr').innerHTML = ["No Encounter","4 Wights","8 stirges","Gibbering Mouther","4 Ogre scouts"][Math.floor(Math.random() * 5)]}</script>
The party finally wiped out the last of the toad god cult and the undead troglodytes, but random encounters in this area will keep them from getting lazy.<br />
<br />
<button onclick="selectRandom6gX()">The Upper Troglodyte Warrens</button><br />
<div id="outputText6gX">
</div>
<br />
<script>function selectRandom6gX(){document.getElementById('outputText6gX').innerHTML = ["3 giant spiders ","5 fire beetles ","1 bugbear (scrounging)","1 gelatinous cube"][Math.floor(Math.random() * 4)]}</script>
This area was wiped out by the previous party but is now quiet, filled only with scavengers and a few escapees from the original purge. The bugbear lost a bet and has to scavenge for food for the others above. <br />
<br />
<button onclick="selectRandomRbw()">The Lower Dungeons (level 3)</button><br />
<div id="outputTextRbw">
</div>
<br />
<script>function selectRandomRbw(){document.getElementById('outputTextRbw').innerHTML = ["4 shadows","8 stirges","3 ghouls and 1 troglodyte ghast","ochre jelly "][Math.floor(Math.random() * 4)]}</script>
More nuisance monsters. Where do these stirges keep coming from??? The White Roc orcs have fully retreated to the inside of the fallen tower, insufficient in numbers to secure the entire level and insufficient in power to negotiate with the stone giants up above. <br />
<br />
<br />
<button onclick="selectRandomiZe()">The Upper Dungeons (level 2)</button><br />
<div id="outputTextiZe">
</div>
<br />
<script>function selectRandomiZe(){document.getElementById('outputTextiZe').innerHTML = ["Grime, dust mephit","Gray ooze","3 fire beetles"][Math.floor(Math.random() * 3)]}</script>
This level is mostly empty except for the duergar envoy party, who are engaging the giants in negotiations.<br />
<br />
<button onclick="selectRandomYM0()">The Upper Ruins (dungeon entry)</button><br />
<div id="outputTextYM0">
</div>
<br />
<script>function selectRandomYM0(){document.getElementById('outputTextYM0').innerHTML = ["dire bear sentry","stone giant sentry"][Math.floor(Math.random() * 2)]}</script>
At this point the party simply has to gain access to the surface. Since they are already on fairly friendly (ish) terms with the stone giants, that shouldn't be too hard unless they antagonize the sentry.
<br />
<br />
And perhaps more important; what are they doing?<br />
<br />
<button onclick="selectRandomsky()">How are they feeling? </button><br />
<div id="outputTextsky">
</div>
<script>function selectRandomsky(){document.getElementById('outputTextsky').innerHTML = ["Hungry","AngryAggressive/Looking for a fight","Satiated/Passive/Not looking for a fight","Busy doing something else/fighting another monster (roll again)"][Math.floor(Math.random() * 4)]}</script>Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-35193603629712778412017-09-08T13:08:00.002-07:002017-09-08T13:08:21.999-07:00Altruism - with a helping of Self-Interest<span style="font-size: large;">My guess</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
Is that no one is reading this blog anymore. I can't blame them, I've let it go the long slow heat-death road into oblivion. BUT. Right now, there's a chance that this might reach someone. Someone who has forgotten to take this blog off their watch list!<br />
<br />
Over at RPGNOW, <a href="http://www.rpgnow.com/product/220360/Hurricane-Harvey-Relief-Fund-Charity-Donation">there's a charity drive going on for victims of hurricane Harvey</a> (and hopefully for the forthcoming victims of Irma). For the pittance of $25, it gives you access to a host of useful game supplements, as well as entire games.<br />
<br />
Among those are Deep Carbon Observatory - which pdf I've bought and paid for several times now as a part of other packages without regret.<br />
<br />
So head on over to the link above and get yourself some goodness. There's something for everyone in it, from OSR D&D to OSR space gaming to Zombie Apocalypse gaming to just good weird old shit, man. Hurry!Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-65126437743346972582015-04-06T13:05:00.000-07:002015-04-06T13:05:00.706-07:00Campaign Development: North and SouthNow that I have the rough outline of where all the larger regions are, it's time to develop some more boundaries to the north and south of the campaign area.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<h2>
Orientation</h2>
I've long since decided that Merain should be in the southern hemisphere, for no good reason whatsoever. So while visiting, don't let yourself be freaked out when the toilet swirls in the other direction. Otherwise this doesn't really have a bearing on the game.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Kolai</h3>
North of Merain (meaning, toward the equator) extend the vast grasslands and steppes of Kolai. Sparsely inhabited, it doesn't boast any great cities or valuable resources. Water sources are minimal. It's common knowledge that Kolai extends to the "Burning Steppes" of the north, where the Sun is so close that it scorches everything it touches and the flesh roasts from your bones. So why go there? <br />
<br />
No good reason, unless you have a reason to trade with the Kolai people. Comparable to the Scythians, Huns and Mongols, these nomadic tribes of horsemen have been known to mount raids into Merain, occasionally assembling into hordes numbering in the thousands if a sufficiently charismatic leader bands them together. These incursions are short-lived, as the lifestyle of the Kolai does not lend itself to protracted sieges, nor to claiming more loot than they can carry or use. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Ettur</h3>
To the south lies Ettur, a single, long rolling expanse of hills, bogs, and densely packed coniferous forests. While more densely populated than Kolai, the terrain is no more hospitable as it grows steadily colder, greyer and damper as you head south, until you reach a barren plain of rocks and icy slush that descends into the frozen seas.<br />
<br />
The people are similarly unwelcoming, bearing a long history of grudges with Merain due to disputes over land along Merain's southern borders. A sullen peace has been maintained for a generation, due to the drubbing delivered by Merain's armies during the last war, but the disintegration of southern Merain - due to strife in the Warlands - has the tribes and clans of Ettur casting their eyes north once again. Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-89936761305352726502015-04-03T11:58:00.001-07:002015-04-03T11:58:09.244-07:00Campaign Development: From Tarabi to KohanWhile taking a break from running games (I'm in a group that trades off DM duties and we're currently in mid-stride of the other DM's campaign), I'm taking pot shots at building up my own campaign. <br /><br />What I'm doing differently from my regular homebrewed method, which consists of custom content interspersed with published material, is leaving space for megadungeons.<br />
<br />
Boxed settings never interested me, but I have a fondness for modules. In this case I'm creating a customized background, while planning for large empty spaces in which I can fit things like Castle Whiterock, Rappan Athuk, Slumbering Tsar and the Greyhawk Ruins. No one lives long enough to complete all of these, but I like to leave it open. Just in case... <br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<h2>
Worldbuilding with Megadungeons</h2>
It shouldn't be a secret that I'm a big fan of Zak Smith's blog (and I totally agree with his gender politics, if you care), and through his copious links and posts I found <a href="http://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2009/08/how-to-make-fantasy-sandbox.html">this</a>. As a mental exercise - well really I just like doodling maps - I used the short form of Bat in the Attic's sandbox campaign generation to flesh out the world using the campaign's starting point as the reference point.<br />
<br />
Since the campaign had already begun with an introduction to Castle Whiterock, and my first round of players had introduced some juicy plot threads, I've been building on that. I've also taken a hybrid approach to creating the world map. <a href="http://www.strangehorizons.com/2002/20020610/medieval_maps.shtml">No land-sat view for me! I'm kicking it old school</a>!<br />
<br />
Take a moment to read the link above about medieval mapping. What I like about these old maps is basically that they are WRONG. Even in a fantasy setting, with access to powerful divinations, flight, and so on it would be incredibly difficult to create the kind of maps you typically find in boxed campaign settings.<br />
<br />
You might have a vague idea of what's over the horizon, but always from the point of view of a single observer. Would your 8th level ranger or your 15th level wizard even be able to recognize a USGS map? Probably not. And why would they bother trying? They have dungeons to sack, lairs to defend, threats from the personal and local to the apocalyptic. And then there's that raid on Asmodeus' castle planned for next week. Who cares about meter-accurate mapping when there are XPs to be gained? <br />
<br />
Using T-O maps and Zonal maps from the link above I fleshed out the world - or at least one half of a hemisphere - to a sufficient level of detail to start things off. <br />
<br />
My goal? Create enough of a background to evoke the players' imagination. Making a Knowledge: Geography check shouldn't regurgitate an encyclopedia page about the region (that's a sort of printed wikipedia for you kids). It may tell you where it is, generally, and general information about it with varying degrees of accuracy depending on how well you roll. <br /><br />My campaign map runs roughly from west to east, with the current party's location - Merain - roughly to the right of center. The major geographical zones are presented in this order. <br /><br />
<h3>
Tarabi</h3>
Far Tarabi. The mystic West. It is so old that its origins have been forgotten.<br />
It is so vast that no one knows its bounds.<br />
It is a place of slow, stately stagnation, where a traditional caste system dictates all.<br />
The culture is so vast and sprawlingly complex that no non-native can comprehend it.<br />
The worship of reptiles is common.<br />
Cities are vast, strangely temple-like structures, ruled by exceedingly powerful individuals or conclaves. Some are even human.<br />
Great for reptilian or jungle adventures of any kind. <br />
<br />
<h3>
The Lum Archipelago</h3>
Not a nation, but a long island chain stretching hundreds of miles across the sea roughly from southern Tarabi to western Merain.<br />
Treacherous to travelers, who perforce cross the straits and channels by ship.<br />
Pirates, cannibals, slavers, feral merchant ports, tribes of all species, volcanoes, sea monsters.<br />
Anything goes, including you!<br />
Suitable for standalone/island based adventures, or the Slave Lord modules (AD&D) <br />
<br />
<h3>
Merain</h3>
A kingdom in decline. In its heyday, it was crossed by two great road systems, the King's Road which ran from the northern capital to the furthest southern reaches bordering Ettur, and the Gold road which runs from the western port city of Galaron to the town of Eastgate bordering the dwarven realm of Skrod. <br />
The current site of the campaign, where some exploration of Castle Whiterock has already begun. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Skrod</h3>
The great mountain range of this continent, the dwarven clans and their High King rule this forbidding realm.<br />
At least they say they do. And only near or under the surface.<br />
Really though, the dwarven realms are small, it's surface roads poorly maintained and patrolled.<br />
These ancient mountains have cracked open in places, revealing mysteries within their strat harkening back to primeval times.<br />
Deep Carbon Observatory, Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, Greyhawk Ruins, Anything Underdark related.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Kohan</h3>
A sprawling, decadent coalition of free city-states spreading across the dry plains, rocky hills and fetid moors for a thousand leagues. <br />
Patient, insular, convoluted, subtle. <br />
A demon-haunted realm. <br />
Rappan Athuk, Slumbering Tsar. Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-87126802635650925442013-10-24T20:24:00.000-07:002013-10-24T20:24:01.789-07:00"The One Thing", Down Time, Restarting and More...So in the months since closing out the old campaign I ran, I have not been idle. Mostly I've been working, brewing beer and engaging in other hobbies. But last night I started up a new campaign with a new group. Still kicking the weeds but it's promising!<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
</h3>
<br />
<h3>
What Is Different</h3>
This time around I've added a "One Special Thing" rule for character creation. Stolen directly from Monte Cook's Numenera, the idea is that the player can include a statement about their character from its inception which is, at least in some respect, true! Imagine! Self-determination in RPGs! What's next, diceless combat?!?!<br />
<br />
Now that's not to say that they can go nuts. "I am the TRUE king!" will most likely get you locked up, shipped out of town or hanging from a gibbet, but... what if it's actually true? Interesting plot twists in there for the DM to fiddle with, eh? Or what if it's not but some significant NPCs happen to believe it to be true? Or some nefarious nobleman's plot can make use of this deluded fool's belief in his own royal blood? <br />
<br />
For example one of the players chose to be from a disgraced aristocratic family. I was able to work that into my skeleton setting and expand on it to create a living segment of the game that tied directly into that character's story and thus into the player.<br />
<br />
Another player chose to be, ahem, a KOBOLD ROGUE. For some DMs this is ground for instaneous thermonuclear TPK, but I rolled with it. The kobrog's "One Special Thing?" He (she?) is a dragonborn ("Whatever that is!") in service to Bahamut, and is merely awaiting his full maturity to inherit his full set of abilities.<br />
<br />
True or not, it's true to the character, and it just so happens I've got something for such a character to do; a task, a hook that ties in well to this character's stated need!<br />
<br />
So far this has been a win-win tool; allowing me to further develop the setting in which the players find themselves while simultaneously engaging them and their vision for their characters. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Next Up</h3>
<br />
This has actually inspired me to develop encounter tables based on the same plot hooks. Thus I will have a "special" entry on any random encounters that will prompt a separate roll which ties into the hooks either directly or indirectly; a random encounter with a wounded dragon, a fugitive uncle from the disbanded noble family, a group of witch hunters seeking anyone wielding Conjuration spells? Or maybe the next time I roll up some lame encounter like "herd animals" I'll plop one of these into play. <br />
<br />
The juices are flowing... Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-25326333317309923092013-06-15T22:42:00.003-07:002013-06-15T22:42:42.153-07:00The End of the LineToday we 'finished' my ongoing campaign, started in 2003 when my wife and I had just started dating (cue: AWWWWW).<br />
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<br />
<a name='more'></a>We'd been moving toward this for a while, but when it came it was sudden, intense, and somehow over before we knew it. The players were asking "what's next?" and "what about items? XPs?" before realizing... oh.<br />
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What's next, after a campaign you've been running for 9 years? A break, for one thing. Also a thorough weeding of my working D&D directories for Scrivener projects, notes, character and NPC sheets and anything else not of global gaming significance. A cleaning of the slate after years of haphazard yet painstaking world building.<br />
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My next campaign will necessarily be different. If I pursued a campaign in the same setting I would (and do) feel compelled to advance the clock a few centuries at least. I have a few ideas along those lines.<br />
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A. Let the players pick their characters' futures. What are their long-term goals now that the BBEG has been defeated? What would they like to accomplish? How might their goals change things in the future?<br />
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B. Mix things up. This was a high-magic, morphing-geography, localized-religion setting. Magic items are available to those with money in fairly large metropolitan areas. I've no experienced the full effect this can have on a campaign from bottom to top, from 1st to 15th levels. My next campaign may have low-magic or self-made only.<br />
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C. Rules refinements. Lethality. It's something that is sadly lacking in Pathfinder. Buying extra hit points with feats and leveling options, death at negative con in hit points, and lacking overall any penalties for dying. I've added a few layers of complications to the rules and find that there is still more room for consequences in the rules system. <br />
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More D&D, different stuff, more sand boxing. That's what's next! Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-65777724648940056892013-02-20T12:54:00.002-08:002013-02-20T13:01:16.799-08:00VornheimLast weekend I finally picked up a copy of <a href="http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/">Zak Smith</a>'s Vornheim at Dundracon.<br />
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I'd been meaning to pick it up for a while, but when it comes to reference material - particularly in the rarified world of RPGs - I have learned to be very circumspect. Who does not remember picking up their first copy of the World of Greyhawk setting? The maps, the charts, the tables, the NPCs, the names, the places, the histories, the racial politics, the inclement and average weather tables, the holiday calendars... yawn. The indefatigable minutiae!<br />
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In general I try to avoid anything of that type; where rules are written into a setting in such a way that an alleged "game aid" becomes an enormous albatross around your neck, tying you to a particular setting and condemning you to struggle against a plethora of stat blocks, charts and oblique references to canonical material FOREVER. Or at least until you chuck the manual and write up your own homebrew.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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Thus I waited to procure Vornheim until I could put my grubbly mitts on it and read it. Nothing against Zak; I avidly follow his blog and admire his acumen when it comes to gaming, even if our opinions on some things might differ. <br />
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And this is what I found: crunch. Flavorful crunch! Crunch which not only adds flavor but with a great many fast-and-loose tricks to overcome the double whammy of poring over references and doing bookkeeping. This book is a game aid in it's truest sense; providing you with quick ways to deal with the sort of obstacles that break the flow of a game session and get through what is often the dullest part of RP gaming; getting around in town, finding the right store, obtaining contacts, information, handling chases, creating floor plans, you name it!<br />
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Nor is it simply a collection of ad hoc methods for running city games. As Zak says in his introduction:"...anyone hoping they bought a book containing The Real Vornheim That The D&D With Pornstars Girls Play In has got it.These are our rules and tables and monsters and places. I wouldn't want to spend all this time writing a book I couldn't use."<br />
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The book contains a few points of interest in the Vornheim setting; a library and a zoo. I'm not sure which I would hate to be trapped in, myself. They are both very dungeon-crawly places without being proper dungeons. There is some detail concerning just a few of the NPCs mentioned in the I Hit It With My Axe web series; certainly enough to fill in any back story for fans. <br />
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But the crunch, the conveniences this book provides are the true gold, even to homebrew DMs like myself. Say the party has met a smattering of NPCs and wants to know if there is any kind of relationship between them; there's a chart for it. Want to know if the information source a PC spoke with is secretly a double agent, feeding information to enemies? There's a chart for it. Need to roll up the floor plan for a house all impromptu-like? How does 30 seconds strike you? <br />
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This book is dense. At just over 8 inches by 6 inches in hardcover, it packs a wallop! One of my laments of RPG publications, particularly during the 2nd edition days of D&D, is that a $25 splat book might be 84 pages long, of which only 6 pages is actually useful; two new spells, a dozen class 'kits' you will never use, and 4 new magic items which frankly don't contribute much to the game. Snore!<br />
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Not so, Vornheim! Vornheim has useful charts everywhere, both random-roll and die-drop. Every page is used. There are die drop charts on the front and back cover, and on the dust jacket there are instructions on how to use those two charts for generation of creatures, characters, locations and attacks. There's also a readily-customizable map of inner Vornheim on the inside of the dust jacket. Too small for you? There's a URL to a large printable version. Damn! <br />
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I have to give this book a rating of 4.999999 stars out of 5. My only complaints are that I wish there were more of it, and more of Zak's art in it, but then it might be a bit bloated. The rules and charts are more focused on Old School Rules systems than Pathfinder, but not in any significant way. Converting the OSR stuff to your group's native system should not be any sort of deterrent; nothing is completely dialed in to one rule set and wherever necessary basic alternate stats are provided. For example, in the basic stat bloc for monsters you are given AC in both Old School and D&D d20-based formats. <br />
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I could go on about the virtues of this book, but there's really no need. This is a GM's aid that really aids the GM; a rarity! Get it. It's available at your FLGS (and if not, ask them WHY!?) or online in both hardcopy and PDF versions from just about everywhere. Why are you still reading this? Go! <br />
<br />Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-84358929115634750812012-11-19T10:43:00.004-08:002012-11-19T10:45:04.917-08:00Attack of the Scrivener!I was recently turned on to <a href="http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php">Scrivener,</a> the writer's utility, as a tool for organizing game content. Intrigued by the possibilities, I downloaded a 30-day free trial version and started putting it to the test.<br />
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It's been a few months and a few games now, and I'm hooked. I upgraded to the full version and downloaded the updates and I've been busy pecking away at the next five to ten games in my campaign. <br />
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<h3>
Features</h3>
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First of all, Scrivener is packed with features. More than you will ever likely use... unless you plan to publish your material, I suppose! That is what Scrivener is designed for, after all.I won't catalog all the features Scrivener carries but I will say it goes far above and beyond whatever your gaming needs may be.<br />
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It is an EXCELLENT tool for the GM or worldbuilder. It's incredibly convenient to able to spontaneously organize data for a game or campaign, and even if you only use the linking features it's well worth the $40 to put everything together. <br />
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<h3>
Community Support</h3>
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There is a huge Scrivener community, including a number of ebooks, online classes and regular print material supporting the product. Finding an answer to your questions about Scrivener should never be more than a quick Google search away. <br />
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<h3>
Scrivener in your game. </h3>
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The combination of Obsidian Portal and Scrivener seems like the be-all, end-all of DMing utilities. Scrivener allows you to organize your material and work at it piecemeal in much the same way as a wiki, except that you can actually move the material around without requiring you to re-invent your hyperlinks along the way.<br />
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One way that I use the linking is as a local rules wiki. When I create monsters, usually cut and paste from a local or internet copy of the <a href="http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/">Pathfinder SRD</a>, I can actually use or insert hyperlinks to get to a file or website, which saves me a fair amount of time if I need to look up one of thirty or so special abilities that might be on the table at one time. The only real weakness of the linking feature is that it doesn't seem to support hash-tagging, so if I want to link directly to a feat, it instead takes me to the Feats.html document, from which I have to search to find the pertinent entry. Other than that, it's a win! Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-88477499970058340542012-04-20T11:02:00.000-07:002012-04-20T11:02:29.056-07:00Good vs. Good; a Follow-Up (Continued)<a href="http://in%20my%20last%20post/">In my last post</a> I detailed the main action points of our last high-level game. The whole party is around 14th level now and loaded for bear. Finally, I can start letting my imagination run away with me - er them. MWAHAHAHAAHA!<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Really though, the point of these posts is to show how to make for an interesting game even when the main antagonists share ethical and moral alignments, or even have the same overall goals.<br />
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After drubbing the Guardian, the players made their way to the Sanctuary; an immense cloud island; more fortress than monastery. At the entrance they were met by the seneschal of the place, with a small flock of silver dragons perched above, just in case...<br />
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The obligatory introductions were made, and the characters plead their case; they needed access to the legendary saint who lived within. The seneschal politely invited them in, informed them that he would take it up with the other guardians of the place and let them know what was decided.<br />
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After a brief rest (conveniently close to the donation box at the entryway to the chapel, ahem!) the seneschal returned to inform them that they would be allowed visitation - after performing the obligatory tests. Groans and eye-rolling: 'Drat these paladins!'<br />
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<h3>The Test of Honesty </h3>The first test was a good RP opportunity; the Test of Honesty. All you are doing is sending someone into the garden for an 'interview'. Tea and cookies will be supplied. After warning my players that Discern Lies and Zone of Truth will be active and that anyone who so much as clears their throat will be considered present and will be required to answer, the party selected the least, shall we say, morally reprehensible characters for the interview.<br />
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The first question "Do you consider yourself to be a 'good' person, and if so, why?" nearly stumped the entrants. Hints from the peanut gallery quickly filled the room with kibbitzers, so they ALL had their turn. Overall, they were fairly honest in their answers (which was the main point of the question anyway; the group's overall alignment had been puzzled out already).<br />
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With all the players securely in the trap, I moved on to the next question; "What is the most evil thing you have ever done?" Not even evil, necessarily, but most evil. There was a hush. Here was a tricky spot. One PC had - knowingly or not - deliberately stated a Wish earlier in the campaign such that two characters (himself and one other PC) were saved from a certain and nigh-permanent death while two others were left to hang.<br />
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Granted, that Wish was the result of a rather clever ploy on the part of a demon whose specific purpose was to drive a wedge between party members, but still. It worked! (patting myself on the back here for the sweet DM roleplay of a high intelligence foe!) <br />
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Oh, then there was the matter of the Orgy. Perhaps a little back-story is necessary for that one.<br />
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A while back, the party had run afoul of a high level dwarven cleric of a long-forgotten, evil god. As it turned out the cleric had something the party wanted, and like most villains, was extremely difficult to pin down. After a lengthy bout of research and planning the group discovered that this fellow liked to visit a particular town from time to time and was prone to polygamy. The less morally strident members of the party decided to throw an 'orgy' as a trap.<br />
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They did their job too well. They hired musicians, cooks, servants, and an entire brothel. Staging the event in a Magnificent Mansion and charging a high door fee, they circulated rumors and invitations amongst those who could afford it. It worked; the evil priest came along with two of his concubines and -<br />
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Did I mention that this evil priest was a vampire? I should probably mention that now. <br />
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What followed was a horrifying debacle as the midget vampire and his soul-sucking minions devoured the greater part of the party's attendants (and all of the brothel workers) using their charm and energy drain abilities during the course of the night. Dozens of folks died the long death, and the participating players escaped by a hair's breadth, leaving them with local authorities to deal with, some extremely upset members of the local organized crime ring (brothels ain't cheap!) and a lot of irate ex-customers. I can't say it did much for their local reputation either.<br />
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Anyway, this came up during the course of the interview. There was much uncomfortable silence and squirming as the tale was extracted from them. I have to give them credit, though; they finally came out with the truth, and that was the point of the test, after all.<br />
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<h3>The Test of Judgement</h3><br />
The next test was for a single player, in this case the party cleric. The idea was to present the player with a judicial decision to make. Long story short, the player did well. There was no clear answer to the dilemma, so anything short of a wholly black-and-white condemnation at least proved (to the inhabitants of the Sanctuary) that there was a sense of nuance to the player's sense of justice. Nuff said. <br />
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<h3>The Test of Courage</h3><br />
After so much time spent talking, I knew everyone would be brewing for a fight, so I arranged one. The part would spend 24 hours 'in the chute' so to speak. Somewhere in the multiverse, a pious cleric of Bahamut would make a dying cry for aid in his/her cause, or use a Summons bead from a Necklace of Prayer Beads. 'The chute' was the method used to answer it.<br />
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The players would not know who was calling nor where they were headed; it was a blind drop into an unknown conflict. The point would be to emerge from that conflict victorious (and hopefully alive). In this case I dropped them into the lair of the Shadow Dragons in <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/12529/Rappan-Athuk-Reloaded?it=1">Rappan Athuk</a> (Room 9A-7, if you own that worthy module). <br />
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It was a bit touch and go at first, with the dragons dropping two breath weapons on the party at first and making hit and run attacks, but eventually the party won out. There was also loot, which is always appreciated.<br />
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While this was not technically an encounter against a good foe, the idea of proving your worth to a potential ally is a heroic trope with a fine tradition. The added element of the unknown forced the party to be on their toes, since the fight could start at any point in a 24 hour period and the enemy was unknown. <br />
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<h3>Conclusion</h3><br />
I think I did fairly well with the staging and pace of this little adventure. Starting with a fight and ending with a fight, with a reasonable amount of quick-thinking and fast-talking in the middle. Loot was had, friends were made, and at least one of my players got a little public shame; good stuff!Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-62458010265318798992012-04-16T11:48:00.001-07:002012-04-16T13:40:09.365-07:00Good vs. Good; a Follow-Up (First Part)Last Sunday I put my players through the Good-vs.-Good scenario <a href="http://sendmoremonsters.blogspot.com/2012/03/struggle-of-good-versus-good.html">I mentioned in the previous article</a>. Here's how it went.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>First encounter was actually an obstacle; a teensy-weensy bridge receding into the haze of distance over an immense cloudbank. A sign near the foot of the bridge states: "Flying Prohibited Beyond This Point."<br />
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Sometimes you have to give your players choices, even dumb ones. Why no flying? Flying is faster and avoids unwanted terrestrial encounters. Such an inconvenience! And yet... what happens if they ignore it and fly across the gulf anyway? <br />
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In this case the party chose to respect the local posted notices and walk along the bridge. The suspect (correctly) that I'll do something awful to them if they choose flight. <br />
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Next up, the Guardian. The party continues along the bridge above the clouds until they come to a brightly shining, star-shaped obstacle. A man in black armor stands before the barred portal. "None shall pass!" You know the rest... <br />
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The party has another option to foil themselves here. The Guardian is no slouch, and he's standing in front of a gate that is actually a Prismatic Wall. If the party sends in their main fighter and engages in an honorable single duel, they should be able to pass this hazard. If, however, they choose to gang up on the guy, all hell breaks loose.<br />
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The Guardian is no slouch in combat. He automatically hits anyone who hit him in the previous round, meaning he usually switches to Power Attack mode during those rounds. Energy damage (fire, cold, acid, lightning, sonic,) heals him, targeted spells reflect back at the caster, and so on.<br />
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Worse still, if the Guardian is defeated ignobly, his backup behind the gate fires off a quick Reverse Gravity spell, causing everyone to be hit with pre-loaded Prismatic Spray from the gate building itself. <br />
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Again, the party chooses the right (easier) path and sends in their main tank to face off vs. the Guardian. The party wins and passes through the gate.<br />
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(This was a win because it allowed the party fighter to do some serious fighting in between stretches of intra-party squabbling and ruminating. Fighters get bored easily.)<br />
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Beyond this, the sanctuary, and some very polite people welcoming them. They will be granted access to the 'saint' they are looking for but first have to pass several test. The Guardian was the first...Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885782013039508987.post-36091727379388820932012-03-27T17:43:00.000-07:002012-03-27T17:43:23.102-07:00The Struggle of Good versus... Good?My current player group is a (mostly) good-aligned (professed alignment anyway) group of PCs fighting off hordes of cackling, evil Outsiders. This makes the conflict pretty cut and dried; you know who the bad guys are, you know there is almost no chance of a diplomatic solution, you know they just want to kill you, take your stuff, and swallow your soul. Simple!<br />
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A much more interesting level of conflict can be found when two good-aligned parties (or the party and an NPC group or faction) are at loggerheads. <br />
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<h2><span style="font-size: large;">Who says the Good Guys always get along? </span></h2><br />
We've come to an arc in my current campaign I wasn't really expecting, way back in the beginning. The party will be travelling to a dragon's lair; a <i>good </i>dragon's lair. Why is this a problem? Well, it partly has to do with the party's nature; while they do profess to be good guys, they <i>really</i> love to mix it up and beat faces in to the exclusion of most other RPG activities. So yet another talking game is not going to be that interesting for the majority of players who want to roll dice, kick ass and take names (or at least loot corpses).<br />
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This campaign is reaching the higher end of its lifespan, with most of the characters hitting 14th level. That makes combats complex and I am lazy. In some cases I prefer to have my NPCs/monsters negotiate rather than deal with a tooled-up band of hooligans bent on wrecking their house/lair and ransacking the cupboards. It makes sense, it lets the party flex their superiority muscles, and keeps game sessions from ending mid-combat.<br />
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My face-crunchers don't like it, though. They didn't get to pull off their awesome attack or launch a maximized fireball! They didn't get the satisfaction of wiping the floor with the other guy! Instead the eggheads and accountants take over and negotiate a hostile takeover of the whatever-whatever blahblahblah. Boring! These players leave the table disappointed, and I want to keep these players engaged. <br />
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The problem with this scenario is that the dragon lair they are planning to visit is full of good-aligned dragons. In fact, the party wants to curry favor with the dragons so that later on they will help out with their cause. So we're looking at another talking game. Well, the last game was a talking game. The next game is likely to be a talking game, too. Uhoh.<br />
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<h2>Paladins are Dickheads</h2><br />
Wanting to put something in the game for everyone, I wracked my brain and the internetz for solutions. Here's what I've come up with so far:<br />
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1. Paladins are Dickheads. Just because the PCs and NPCs share the same alignment doesn't mean they have to play nice. History is replete with examples of leaders or nations sharing common values and still kicking the crap out of each other given the slightest excuse. It's a bit different in an RPG world because Alignment (the moral and ethical compass) has fairly concrete values. There are even spells that allow you to look at someone and determine their position on the Good-Evil and Law-Chaos axis. If you and I don't align properly (and paladins in particular are notorious for this), you are in big trouble! <br />
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2. The Quest! In this case, I've decided to go with a preponderance of classes we haven't seen much of in our campaign so far: paladins, monks, and bards. Partially because they are obnoxious, archetypical medieval characters and partially because their abilities are more defensive and supportive than aggressive. They support one another well and there is some overall redundancy to some of their abilities. Taking on an army of these folks could be a very expensive proposition. It might be simpler to satisfy some token quest or test that is offered up, rather than risk not only failing in their diplomatic mission but also dying in the process! Some good old Trial By Combat is a good start. <br />
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3. None Shall Pass! The dragons have a staff, and the staff's job is to keep solicitors from tramping on the yard (dragons take long naps and don't like to be disturbed). Any initial attempt at contact - without the proper moral imperatives - will be politely rebuffed. Following knightly logic, if the group really, really needs to talk to someone important, they will have to prove it.<br />
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4. Donations are Accepted. Even if you make it past the safeguards into the lair proper, proper protocol must be observed. The lair in question has religious significance; how about a nice donation? Have you ever been to one of our services before? No? Well, let me invite you to attend while we wait for your appointment! <br />
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I don't want to go into particulars since we haven't had the game yet (and I'm not yet sure whether my players read my blog), but I've created space for at least two major combats within the upcoming game session, as well as a host of diplomacy rolls. I'm pretty happy with it so far. I'll let you know how it goes!Fonkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11936510908865843127noreply@blogger.com0