JollyDoc's Rise of the Runelords...Updated 12/22

[carborundum]

I read bits and pieces piecemeal over the last few weeks and kept getting muddled up with all the names. The problem was being too busy at work and taking too much work home. Today I finally got the chance to catch up on the story and, having read it all the way through in one glorious, coffee-filled hour, I'm totally hooked and back in the JDZone!

I'm so looking forward to getting back into the routine of waking up, checking for a new chapter, cheering on a Monday or Tuesday, printing it out, and taking it to work!

JD - You've done it again!

 

[Dr Simon]

So, I've been catching up on the old Savage Tide story hour and loving it to bits (up to Divided's Ire at the mo', Mandi reminding me of Avon from Blakes 7).

Anyhoo, question for JD and the players - it's clear from the STAP story hour that you're all into maxing out characters with as much supplement use as possible and finding those killer combos. How does it feel returning to basics, as it were, using only the Pathfinder playtest rules? Or are you mixing in other stuff?

 

[Aracase]

Anyhoo, question for JD and the players - it's clear from the STAP story hour that you're all into maxing out characters with as much supplement use as possible and finding those killer combos. How does it feel returning to basics, as it were, using only the Pathfinder playtest rules? Or are you mixing in other stuff?

As you may have seen in another thread, any thing from WoTC was fair game in SATP. We've since agreed that the power creep was a bit much, so we have a house rule that we use Pathfinder RPG, the SRD, plus the Spell Compendium and Magic Item Compendium these are the base books and each player is allowed 3 other books of his choice.

We can only buy pre-made magic items from the DMG/Pathfinder and anything from the MIC would either be treasure or have to be crafted. At least that's what I think we agreed on.

 

[JollyDoc]

So, I've been catching up on the old Savage Tide story hour and loving it to bits (up to Divided's Ire at the mo', Mandi reminding me of Avon from Blakes 7).

Anyhoo, question for JD and the players - it's clear from the STAP story hour that you're all into maxing out characters with as much supplement use as possible and finding those killer combos. How does it feel returning to basics, as it were, using only the Pathfinder playtest rules? Or are you mixing in other stuff?

Plus, we'll be using the three buff optional rule from PFRPG as well, although that hasn't come into play yet. I think the guys are enjoying having to sweat just a bit. As you'll see in this week's post, they ran into a couple of tough encounters that took resources, team work and ingenuity to defeat. So far, I haven't seen one single shining star among the PC's. Instead, they all seem to have roles to play and are contributing equally, which is as it should be.

 

[JollyDoc]

I read bits and pieces piecemeal over the last few weeks and kept getting muddled up with all the names. The problem was being too busy at work and taking too much work home. Today I finally got the chance to catch up on the story and, having read it all the way through in one glorious, coffee-filled hour, I'm totally hooked and back in the JDZone!

I'm so looking forward to getting back into the routine of waking up, checking for a new chapter, cheering on a Monday or Tuesday, printing it out, and taking it to work!

JD - You've done it again!

And welcome back sir! I'm going to be trying a slightly different narrative style this time. I found in STAP that I enjoyed writing the character interaction parts more, and got quickly bored with detailing combat, which can be a bit tedious to read as well. So this time, I'm trying to keep more focus on the characters, and paint more the feel of the combats and the high points, without making it so detailed that you can hear dice rolling while you read.

 

[LordVyreth]

On the other hand, weren't the last three adventure paths ludicroously hard. I mean, despite your groups skill at the power gaming, the party effectively lost two of the last three campaigns. I know you had to make some changes to scale based on level and party numbers, but still. Do you worry that this adventure will eventually get as tough?

 

[JollyDoc]

On the other hand, weren't the last three adventure paths ludicroously hard. I mean, despite your groups skill at the power gaming, the party effectively lost two of the last three campaigns. I know you had to make some changes to scale based on level and party numbers, but still. Do you worry that this adventure will eventually get as tough?

This is always the fine line, but this time they have seven PC's on an AP (theoretically) meant for four. At this point, I'm only scaling the grunts, and even then I'm only increasing numbers of them, not increasing CR. I'm leaving main NPC's/monsters as written, though they will be subject to the 3 buff rule as well. Leveling up might be an issue, as the first installment of RotRL is meant to take the PC's from level 1 to level 4. Right now, Wesh, Dex, Skud and Luther just reached 3rd level, with the other three not far behind at 2nd. I'm hoping all can be 4th or at least close by the end of the adventure. I'm using the 'fast' xp progression so that things can stay in line.

 

[gfunk]

Plus, we'll be using the three buff optional rule . . .

This sounds like an awesome rule. It will really ramp up the tension at higher levels.

 

[Zurai]

Leveling up might be an issue, as the first installment of RotRL is meant to take the PC's from level 1 to level 4. Right now, Wesh, Dex, Skud and Luther just reached 3rd level, with the other three not far behind at 2nd. I'm hoping all can be 4th or at least close by the end of the adventure. I'm using the 'fast' xp progression so that things can stay in line.

As someone who has run Rise of the Runelords (my group is on module 5 now), I wouldn't be too worried about leveling at the wrong speed. I have actually skipped several sections of the modules so far and it really hasn't hurt my players much.

 

[JollyDoc]

This sounds like an awesome rule. It will really ramp up the tension at higher levels.

Always a pleasure to hear from the G-Man!!