Pathfinder 1E Advice for way of the wicked?

[Drathir]

umm josh if he has a familiar he doesnt need the check thats the good thing about them... cause other than that theyre mediocre. and bonded item wise... well this is the kinda campaign where that penalty is harsh... at the begining. you could always say he was taken from near by and the guards have his item... maybe a wand that they goof off with. Wiggle swish woosh "Im invisable OOOOHHHHH!" cause lets face it the guards are dicks and this kinda taunting is harmless... untill he gets out and shoves a shocking grasp down your throat.

 

[Joshgenti]

Well, true, I could just have the item laying around. But then what about all the other PC items? Like animal companions, mounts, etc... Feels like I'm kinda playing favorite with the wizard.

Though, like you said, having a guard taunting him & then later eating shocking grasp does sound funny. And appropriate for the feel of the game.

I'd say the Warden might have it. But, then the Warden would have to actually care about what's going on in the prison, which seems highly unlikely given his write-up.

 

[Drathir]

mount doesnt really matter, there arent alot of opportunites to use it, until the point that the campaign says you should now deliver them on a silver platter. truthfully its worst for an alchemist... who doesnt get bombs extracts or mutigen until your about to leave/after you leave. Animal companions are nice but not an overly integral part of who that class is, a druid has spells and can choose domain instead, the warden might have it simply to study it though, after all he has little to no experience in bonded items may be... informitive... or he could not care.

All in all it is your decision on how to handle the wizard... you could even heavily suggest sorc or magus (although much more focused they can both cast well enough, and magus offers more melee to party and the ability to decimate a single encounter latter if he chooses to explode on the good-guys face) try to get a feel on what the player wants from the wizard if its spellcasting (especially 1-2 schools) then suggest the sorc... if its the versatility then they'll have to go with familiar or deal is my suggestion, the party i gmd only had 3 people an AP a rogue and a monk(zen archer) and they tore the place a part... although GJ helped... and is now running around with a fighter level and an Earthbreaker... i hate GJ sometimes.

 

[Fooly_Cooly]

ShadowDenizen That party sounds fun man! Glad you have such a diverse and thought out group. As for advice in brandescar.. Its really not very complex. I believe its been stated before but try to keep grumblejack alive. He can come in handy later. Watch out for the dogs... I guess I just rolled good but I had 3 of my 4 players all tripped on the ground at 1 point. Hah. But really noe problem. Mathias Richard is actually kind of beefy . If you use his invisibility right and have him waiting for the PC's in his tower or at the guardhouse he can really cuase some mayhem. Try and show them that just cuase they are evil doesnt mean good guys are push overs. But that shuldnt be too hard seeing as the Good NPC's are well designed. Joshgenti It really shouldnt be to big of a deal the he deosnt have his spell book. If they take out Mathias he should have a new spell book that is actually kind of nice. Then he can write his own spells back in for a small sum.By the end of book 1 he should have 2 fairly good spell books that he has..come in to .

 

[Aberzanzorax]

We've been gearing up for a while, and will be playing our first session in 1 week (June 18).

Two things I'd like to know about, that I have either missed or not noticed:

1. Is there a clear penalty spelled out in the contract if it's broken?
2. I plan on giving my (small group of 4) players the leadership feat for free. The optional evil organization rules are too cool to not use. So far, out of the first three/four books there appear to be three potential cohorts.


SPOILERS FOR THE REST OF THIS POST!!!!






1. There's the first guy...seriously spoilers here. Stop reading if you don't want spoilers.
2. There's the first guy...grumblejack (if he survives).
3. There's the evil priest of the (I think it was 8th knot)...the priest of trickery.
4. There's the guy hinted at in book three, a paladin likely to fall in a later book (4?,5?)...not going to list his name here.

Are there others in the course of the adventure that people have noticed (or that Mr. McBride would like to give us a heads up in regard to)?

The way my group does cohorts, the DM introduces some "potentials" who are statted out as NPCs, and players can recruit them. That way it seems more story oriented and the feat isn't overly powerful with players getting a min-maxed cohort (instead of a +2 to damage or somesuch, as they might from any other feat).

So I'm asking in order to stat some obvious NPCs (or pull their stats already, and keep them in mind). Currently, I'm looking at creating a: bard (based on chaucer), witch (named Hope), alchemist (focus on poisons and hulking out), the fallen paladin as an antipaladin, rogue (poison based assassin, but not assassin class), and GJ as a fighter with an emphasis on tiefling heritage.

Oh, btw, my pcs will be a necromancer (with lich aspirations), an oracle of fire (devoted to asmodeus), and an inquisitor (of asmodeus, trickery domain). Our fourth member has been dragging his feet in creating a character.

 

[Fooly_Cooly]

Im not sure about it being spelled out but I've told my players that breaking the contract will( Cause your soul to be ripped from your body.Slowly dragged through every lvl of hell and then take you to the bottom were your lord asmodeus resides. There you will reside for the rest of eternity as his personal plaything.). Thats the gist of it.I would change a few things on the leader ship feat though. Such as kindness and generosity,,,yuck . Wouldnt work with an evil party. Also lost a cohort..your evil..heck you might go darth vader and randomly kill off followers. So maybe make them things such as cruelty and ruthlessness and change the other to a bonus for turning a do gooder to yuor side. Something like that.

 

[Drathir]

theway i understand it if the Necro survives he will definately get the opportunity. i dont remember where i read that though... i think it may have mentioned vampirism as well but not sure.

 

[Joshgenti]

Joshgenti It really shouldnt be to big of a deal the he deosnt have his spell book. If they take out Mathias he should have a new spell book that is actually kind of nice. Then he can write his own spells back in for a small sum.By the end of book 1 he should have 2 fairly good spell books that he has..come in to .

Fooly Cooly, the issue isn't the spell book. I agree, there are multiple spell books a motivated wizard can... "acquire".

It's not having an Arcane Bond, which forces such a hard concentration check for a 1st level wizard. Now, after they break out, it's not horribly hard to get. You need a masterwork item & 200 gp. Not hard to come by. But for that first adventure, it wouldn't be very fun for the Wizard PC.

All in all it is your decision on how to handle the wizard... you could even heavily suggest sorc or magus (although much more focused they can both cast well enough, and magus offers more melee to party and the ability to decimate a single encounter latter if he chooses to explode on the good-guys face) try to get a feel on what the player wants from the wizard if its spellcasting (especially 1-2 schools) then suggest the sorc... if its the versatility then they'll have to go with familiar or deal is my suggestion

Drathir, I hate the idea of just telling someone "don't play a wizard!" it's a core class & a necromancer specialized wizard fits so well with an evil game.

I'll think it over. If the wizard PC goes with an Item for his Arcane Focus, your suggestion of having the guards keep it is probably what I'll go with. In fact, I think the corrupt Sergeant finding it when the wizard is searched & "procuring" it for himself would work well. And further highlight the colorful, corrupt nature of the NPC. Also, it would lead the PCs to his hidden stash of goodies in search of the Arcane Focus item.

Thanks for the advice. And I'd be interested to hear if anyone else had this problem.

 

[Drathir]

i wasnt saying to force it just point out that the bonded item plan is a little difficult early game and give different options, personally i think the undead sorc bloodline is awesome... ill admit others are better but whats not to love about summoning skeletal arms that grab your foe and prevent him from moving for one round, while dealing some decent damage. its only down fall is its limited number of uses... 3/day at 20. Also it has a pretty awsome bonus spell list and moderate feats... ok kinda crappy but a few are damn useful (spell focus necromancy to go with your finger of death spell for example). and of course infernal is a great blood line and fits well with the campaign itself, i love infernal...

 

[gdmcbride]

For bonded item wizards, the way I'd handle it is this. You were captured before you had a chance to choose your bonded item. You gain no penalties and no benefits. It is as if when choose between familiar and bonded item, you chose none-of-the-above.

Somewhere in game, you'll find your bonded item...

Spoiler

It could be on the veil if you want to make it easy.

It could also be in the warden's tower. While chained up in prison perhaps it even calls to the wizard...

Hope that helps,
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games