Thread for asking questions about the campaign, house rules, and RTJ questions, i'm sure there will be alot of them from new players.

Okay... campaign essential reading... just because it was asked in PM.

The Campaign Premise... RTJ... character stuff is explained here.
link to a message in this game

Really all you need to start is a solid roleplaying concept to sell me on, and then we'll me the character sheet to follow... but some of the nuts and bolts are explained there too.


This thread is followed shortly by... House Rules... which at the moment is still rather small but has been known to be a sprawling document.  I've archived this document to spare you the massive reading.  Instead the petite abridged version can be found here.

link to a message in this game


Any other questions you cant find answers to can be posted here and i will try and answer them.  I encourage this thread to be used, because if you have the question another player will too and it will save me the hassle of posting the answer twice if the question is asked and answered here.

Regarding equipment...

Try to limit spending your coin stuff you will need.  Armor... Weapons... Master Works items you plan to Imbue.

It helps to keep my math easy to track.  You'll have opportunity to shop for more mundane stuff, but for now you should consider trying to secure key expensive stuff, that you're not going to buy later.

Remember this is the only time you'll really have such an open opportunity to pick up what you NEED.  After this you shop the stores and you'll be force to purchase what's available.  So don't waste resources on things that will always be available and purchase the troublesome stuff now.

I take it for granted that the premise of the campaign is well known.  My bad since at least some of you were never part of the original campaign.

So the premise of this campaign that humanity is on the skids because they're in a world without friends.

The Dwarves mining exposed a really impressive mineral that they started forging stuff with.  Except the metal was radioactive, and when refined became even more lethal.  Essentially the dwarves have all gone crazy and kill humans (more or less) on sight.  A few of the more lucid or greedy ones, trade with humans for stuff they want/need.  You'd have to be one of these bootleggers to know the details, but it's speculated that stuff like food and livestock, which are hard to come by under a mountain are traded for dwarf goods in modest quantity.

The Elves had a civil war.  Unlike most campaigns where good prevailed and evil was sent underground, the results are different.  In this campaigns the factions you might know as 'Drows' have won and sent their weak willed goody two shoes cousins deep into the under earth.  There aren't a lot of them, but running into elves is generally considered a lethally bad thing.  They're EVIL, fully capped.  They're also, as a general rule, notably higher level than you, a side effect from living so long and their inclination to kill stuff for fun.

Halflings... Gnomes... don't exist.  Wiped my game master paint brush over them and made them go away entirely.

Sidhe... The Fey and Wee fold do exist.  They (rightly) think most of the world is nuts and keep to themselves though.

Beast Folk...  Half Humans with animal characteristics... Cat, Wolf, Dog, Rabbit, Bears, Beast folk to name a few.  Humans with animal characteristic... or Animals with human characteristics... it depends on who's doing the looking.

Black Bloods... The traditional 'bad guys' are less disorganized and have gotten their shyt together.  There is an Ogre Emperor at the heart of this alliance that keeps thing in line with brute force.  He's assisted by an Orc Tactician and Goblin Spy Master.  Under the flag of mutual hate of humans, there are hints of cooperation with the Elves.  That said, left to their own devices they will go to war with one another, because there can only be one apex race when the dust settles.

The Euro Empire... This is a collection of all the human faction on the Eastern continent, united in the mutual goal of survival.  The most influential of these countries directs the efforts of survival to keep humanity from being annihilated.  The various factions can be considered the countries of Europe, with 'England' at the top.  German, Welch, Italian, Spanish, and Nordic factions (among others) with their own culture all fall into this alliance.  The Black Bloods are a more serious problem here, with occasional elvish problems.

The Asian Empire... This is a collection of human (Asian) countries on a continent far to the West.  They're not hostile to the Euro Empire... quite friendly actually as the desire of survival is mutual.  Enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that.  The problem is that they're a month away by ship making coordination of any sort at best an exercise in patience.  There have been some exchange though.  Ambassadors... Merchants... even a few military advisors as they explore the potential of a formal alliance.

The Franco Empires... Between the two human empires are several islands, that form the Franco Empire.  This loose alliance of islands has managed to keep itself together mostly because they're out in the middle of no where, and aren't really a concern or priority as yet.  They do not boost the largest, but they do have the most advance navy, at least among human factions.  Vigilant patrols have made certain that hostile Black Bloods have been kept off their shores.

That's the general overview of races

Giving final look overs for characters here.  Will make notes on what i need from the players before i'm willing to give them adventure ready stamp of approval.

Except for Saskia (last one to be processed so fair), everyone is getting last looks from me.

Rolling through them alphabetically.

Aeron 1 Feat Selection, Stats on Sabre, and designated Magic Imbuement.

Clotilde 1 Feat Selection

Sara Final edits to feats, please review and comment as needed, designate an improvement for free Masterwork equipment, and Magic Imbuement.

Victoria 2 High Human Perks to pick out, i think you were looking at divine spells?

Zander Final draft being worked on

MeiFinal draft still being worked on

Saskia Final edits.  Review feats, favored class bonus, skill ranks, equipment.  Last call for changes.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:01, Sun 16 Apr 2023.

For new players to know, and maybe as a reminder for old ones.

The mulligan rules is still in effect.  You're allowed to take the new character out for a test drive, and then during the bookkeeping phase, you're allowed to tweak it, or if you really hate it, scrap it for a new concept.


Death rules are in effect to.  In the event your character dies, you're allowed to roll up a new character, though they will have two less ability points, or maybe I'll just say you take a 2 character hook penalty for starting over.

Equipment... accumulated would of sorts... in some fashion at least partially if not completely carry over to the new character.

That should answer the question above.  If you need more clarificatin/detail, just ask.

We live in the real world, so i try to equate things in the campaign to them to make them instantly relatable.

Misty Valley Currency
1 copper is roughly    1 dollar
1 silver is roughly   10 dollars
1 gold   is roughly  100 dollars

Higher denominations appear at large business and national levels
1 Platinum  roughly   1k dollars
1 Mithral   roughly  10k dollars
1 Adamant   roughly 100k dollars


So... most people will carry coppers... silvers... and maybe a piece or two of gold.  The higher denominations are there for your reference, but i dont expect to actually use them.

To keep players from dragging 10's of thousands of bits of coin, a banking exist.  Deposits of hard currency can be made, and withdrawn as needed.

The Magic Shoppe also has a magical credit system.  Where players turn in magic found, and they generate a credit with the Shoppe, which can be used to purchase things from the shoppe, which includes the Imbuement of magical equipment.

I'm sure i'm missing something, but this should cover the basic crucials.

---

Oh... right lifestyle tax.

Most of you have an 'average' or 'standard' cost of living tax.  That means that the first 10 gold pieces worth of reward/treasure is spent to cover this tax.  That means you have a small room in one of the many possible locations you might find to use in Northshire.  Fort McAlistar's barracks, the temple barracks, the Northshire inn, Guest room in the mansion...  You have personal space.  It covers normal meals, that cost 1gp or less, and presumes you have some incidental items {1gp or less} that you can gather with a little time (d10 minutes) by checking into your room, to pick up.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:01, Tue 18 Apr 2023.

Obviously, Combat will be conducted with the group party initiative system that i use, that the returning players (most of you) should be familiar with.  Players new to this system, or just plain forgot it are not at a huge handicap.  Just follow directions for the first combat encounter and you'll have it down pat.

I'm not enforcing the Light/No Encumbrance rule, but if you're moving 20' and the rest of the party is moving 30' you will look more attractive to the monsters to beat up.  You can expect to draw more combat aggro, consider yourself warned.

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Melee combat with negative strength.  I can't believe it's not an official rule but, it makes sense to me that using a weapon two handed will reduce this penalty by one.  In the event that your damage is reduced to zero from negative modifiers, then your damage is reduced to 1 point of non-lethal damage.

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Whetstones...
I remember this thing had the potential for getting out of hand and tracking.  It does however provide a valid bonus.  Sharpening a 'Piercing' or 'Slashing' weapon will provide a one time +1 damage to the first blow they land.  You can sharpen ammo, but if you hit or miss with it, the ammo is gone along with the sharpness bonus.  I'm not going to track ammo used and recovered, it's gone.

Non-spell casters may get up to three uses from the whetstone during the adventure/chapter, at the rate of one weapon a day.  Weapons that have been sharpened and not used dull over time and need to be sharpened for the next adventure, so you wont be able to horde them.

If your character chooses not to have a bookkeeping crafting project, i'm okay with presuming that he passed some time keeping his weapons in lethal readiness, and you may start the chapter with (3) weapons pre sharpened and ready to go at the start of the adventure (this replaces any crafting project you might have).

Whetstones are dirty cheap and i refuse to really track stuff that cost coppers in expense so if you want one.  The cost will be covered by your lifestyle tax, just presume you have one, and the weight will be tracked for encumbrance.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:20, Tue 18 Apr 2023.

Is there an exp bonus for a high prime requisite in Pathfinder?  If so, how much is it, and can I apply it to the prologue exp?

There is not.

Answered slightly out of order...

First...

I'm going to presume you read Message One at the start of Chapter One.  I will make reference to that in this explanation, and if you have not you will be lost.  'Called Shot' is just something i tagged from a wargame i play, where you pick a location you're aiming for.  In this particular application.  There are no 'down sides' to stating what you're looking for.  It only helps you find it.


2)  'Called shot', this is simply stating what you're looking for.  This means you're going out of your way to look for herbs in places that they're likely to be found.  The bonus at the end of the line for each herb is the called shot bonus.  ie.  Marigold is +4, Aloe is +2, Fade Leaf is +1.


1)  You do not have have to state what you're looking for, but if you don't you don't get that called shot bonus from above.  If your roll, with the called bonus is high enough to find it, then you found what you were looking for.  If it is not, the consolation prize is the removal of this bonus and simply finding the best herb available in the environment.


3)  The right terrain is required, no matter what you're looking for.  ie.  No matter how well you roll, you can't find Aloe at the moment because you're not near water.  That plus is the 'Called shot' bonus from 2)


4)  No.  ie.  Aloe requires a lot of moisture to grow, they won't grow anywhere that doesnt have lots of water, which is why they're not available to find at the moment.  Aloe IS on the shopping list, and the only way to actually find it is to travel along the river.  I don't consider a adventure breaking problem, because you can loop around along the river to look for it on the way back.  (shrug)

5)  Its a bonus for ks:nature... and lets you make ks:nature rolls without a skill rank, so yes.  It would.


6)  You take your best roll.... and you get a +1 synergy to it if you have any of the other skills.  The +1 bardic knowledge would help get you a ks:nature roll, and you would add +1 from perception, or you can take a normal perception roll and add +1 for ks: nature... you won't get a +2 from it.  The biggest difference here would be ability base (Int vs Wis) (+1 vs -1) and skill ranks (+1 vs +3).  In this case they both net out to +2.  So you pick one over the other and that one gets a +1 synergy bonus.  So your base roll would be made at a +3  (which would also benefit from a 'called shot' modifier)


So... Zander's base roll is modified by +3,  'should' state what he's looking for and this roll will be modified by the bonus of the herb only to find this herb.  {The +4 bonus to find marigold won't help him find Fade leaf, and you wont ever find Aloe Vera on the dirt path you're on away from water}

Well a chainmail shirt... is light enough to no be an instant movement penalty, but is sort of heavy when combined with everything else.  If you are carrying everything 'as is' yeah, you're going to be too slow to look for stuff.  That's why i mentioned... a few times that if players wanted to balance encumbrance and share loads, they could discuss it out of character to find out if anyone was travelling light and willing to share the load.  OPening an account at the magic shopped and leaving coin at the register there also helps to lighten the load.

Very early on i mentioned being an encumbrance nazi, and most old players (there is only one new one) should know this about me.  Carrying a wagon load of equipment in you backpack, and wearing full plate, and zipping around the battle field like a rogue in light gear and armor doesnt seem quite fair to the rogue, so i've always made a point of enforcing these rules.  That said i do provide some tools to people to ease it as well... pouches of holding, a banking system, the item box spell like ability, just plain old sharing encumbrance... no one faults the wizard with a crap strength for needing help carrying his rations.  That's party organization.

Thunder Head has empty saddlebags.  Some characters have pretty impressive strength.  It's not my fault if players dont discuss this to take advantage of the party's advantages.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:56, Wed 03 May 2023.

Not know the game system or the house rules, I have a lot of questions.

What hex is shadowy chainmail guy in?

My range increment is 80, so I assume there's no range penalty.

Is there a darkness penalty?

Does shadow guy have cover?

Is there aiming in this game?  If so, how does it work?

Anything else I need to know about shooting a crossbow?

0215
Footnote - I usually use squares instead of boxes, but i've decided to go with 'hexes' to see how it goes.  It provides better 'diagnol' range (and movement) measurements.  The weakness is 'left' and 'right' ranges, which tends to 'short' the ranges somewhat.  I'm hoping to (usually) orient the map to action from the top and bottom to reduce this weakness.



There is no penalty for ranges up to 80' which is 16 hexes on this map which is effectively the whole map.

per Weapon Qualities ~ Range
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment/weapons
You take no penalty up to the range bracket (in feet), taking a -2 and -4 penalty for each additional range bracket in the range.

The 'Monster' is standing behind a grave headstone (+4 Armor modiifer) though and in dim lighting (20% miss chance).



On this map, there is a campfire, that provides 'torch' lighting which negates lighting penalties when you're fighting in the lit radius of 20' (four hexes from center).  The lighting is 'dim' from a radius of (five to eight hexes from this center).

The tomb is tall enough to actually 'block' lighting so if the tomb is between the campfire and any hex behind it (like the one zander is standing in), it won't benefit from lighting from the campfire.

Zander just made a light spell though, which produces as much lighting as the campfire.  So the entire back area is currently lit.  As a mexican ruling, i'm inclined to say that overlapping 'dim' areas between the campfire and Zander's Light spell will be considered 'Lit'.



He is currently behind a Tombstone, and in 'Dim' lighting.

So the Tombstone will adjust his armor by +4 making him harder to hit.  The lighting will have 20% of ranged attacks that might have hit just miss.



There is no 'official' Combat action for 'Aiming'.  There are a few 'feats' that allow for aiming, but as a general action there is no rule for it.

If the players want, i'm willing to make a house rule on this.

A Full Round Action to make an 'Aimed' attack (melee or ranged) will grant +1 to the attack roll.  {Allowing only a Free Action for anything else they want to do}

A Full Minute action to make a 'Snipe' or 'Ambush' attack (melee or ranged) will grant +2 to the attack roll.  {Obviously done out of combat}

Keep in mind, if players can do, this, monsters can also.



It is a 'ranged' weapon, and not made for melee combat, so if someone is standing next to you when you try and use it, they get to make an attack of opportunity on you for trying to shoot them.  It's strongly suggested to move out of their melee range before taking such shots.  Firing into 'melee' is also a thing.  You take a -4 penalty to make such shots to avoid hitting any friendlies in the melee.  Otherwise there is AT LEAST a 50% chance that you'll resolve your combat against an ally.  (increase this chance if more than one is engaged in the melee).  I also count armor check penalties to ranged combat, which is why people in full platemail are usually not bothering to muck around with a crossbow.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:36, Fri 11 Aug 2023.

Wow, you really hate armor, don't you?


The description of a light crossbow lists reloading a crossbow as the trigger action for an attack of opportunity.  Does firing draw another attack of opportunity?

Normally... you can only make one attack of opportunity a round.  You need feats or some other special event to make multiple attacks of opportunity.

If you have something like combat reflexes... then yes, you can be attacked twice.

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamem...tacks-of-Opportunity

Can Zander talk normally while aiming or is he limited to 3 words?

In reply to Zander Val Banjur (msg # 17):

Its a six second time span, i figure a reasonable sentence or two can be fit in that time span if youre not casting spells.

The earlier constraints were because you were about to enter combat, and the whole issue of sharing information at that time or preparing personal actions was something i wanted players to make a choice on.

Cool.