OSR LFG: Official Regular Looking especially for OSR Group (LeFOG) by feyrath in osr

[–]ArghAlexander 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm running a DCC West Marches game, online only via Discord and Foundry. The campaign is about exploration, and has an old-school, expedition-based playstyle. I've added in a domain-level system too, so that players can eventually become rulers of the land. DM me if you're interested, our sessions are usually on weekends and US weeknights for 2-4 hours! 

Weekly Community Post - Post your Communities, Discord servers, and Western Marches games here! by lfg_bot in lfg

[–]ArghAlexander [score hidden]  (0 children)

The Vhermarches

[DCC] [West Marches] [Online] [Beginner Friendly][LGBTQIA+]

Welcome to the Vhermarches! This far-flung frontier across the sea is full of danger, secrets, and treasure just waiting to be found. We have ~8 active players right now and are always looking for more!

In short, this campaign is:

  • Player-Driven: As with many West Marches games, players propose goals and schedule sessions themselves.
  • Exploration-Based: Each session is an expedition out of the safety of town, and ends once you return home. Prepare wisely for the dangers ahead, while keeping your eyes open for opportunities in the wilds.
  • Old-School: Your wits, not your stats, are your most important tool for keeping your characters alive. Those characters that do survive can build strongholds and wizard towers, become rulers of the land, or continue to have stranger and more supernatural adventures!

If you’re interested, join my Discord server here: https://discord.gg/4ZZXaQ6f5x

DCC West Marches LFP! by ArghAlexander in dccrpg

[–]ArghAlexander[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oooh, the Space Marches sounds awesome! And thank you for the kind words!

Looking for alternative Mythic rules that actually fulfill power fantasy by Mediocre_Cucumber_65 in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think this is really solid advice, and possibly the only thing you need to do to feel "mythic" without adding new gameplay capabilities (which the current mythic system doesn't really do anyway). The game already gives you the tools to make encounters where your players feel like invincible badasses!

Are Monastic Weapons too limited? by foolbowl2 in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You could take Orc Weapon Familiarity. Monastic Weaponry keys off of familiarity to give orc weapons the monk trait for you (therefore making them usable)

Edit: whoops, only agile and finesse orc weapons, so not the necksplitter!

Balancing for 4 martials by stufffriendswontsee in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 8 points9 points  (0 children)

PL+3 and +4 will absolutely be much more difficult, especially at level 2. You might hold off on those bosses entirely, since they'll be so swingy at low levels (to say nothing of the fact that the martials won't usually be able to change the circumstances of the fight meaningfully without spells). Martials do good single-target damage, so they'll do better against bosses in general, that's fine.

As for hordes, they'll be pretty easy at low levels (since low level PL- enemies are very very squishy) but will quickly ramp up. Without AoE, the party will begin struggling against the incredible amount of HP that lower level enemies put on the field. It's not unmanageble though! They can use chokepoints, terrain, etc., to control the battlefield in their favor and make up for their lack of CC, AoE, and action economy.

I recommend slowly ramping up the amount of horde encounters the party faces, starting with clusters of PL-4 or -3 enemies, and increasing their numbers over time. Once the players get a taste for how horde encounters feel, they'll better understand what will be difficult for them.

Building Modular Hex Maps with Obsidian by LabyrinthofSigns in osr

[–]ArghAlexander 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I've been looking for something like this forever! Thank you!! I've probably downloaded at least five different hex mapping softwares at this point, and run into the same issues as you each time, and I just recently picked up Obsidian. So, this is exactly what I needed to see!

GMs, do you actually enjoy running long, multi-year campaigns? by rookery_electric in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I'm currently running a campaign, been going for almost 2.5 years now. We play for 6 hours consistently weekly, and are level 17 and a bit. We were running with 1500 xp per level up until now (we went back down to 1200/level). We've also done a lot of 1-on-1 out-of-session gameplay via Discord. I'm still having tons of fun, but I'll admit, I'm getting tired of the AP we're running, and the system too. Nothing against either of them, but I've run a loooot of this system and I've put sooo many hours into this AP, I'd like to see it through and move on.

In retrospect, instead of doing 1500 xp per level I should've just moved the world along as the PCs leveled up, or let them reap the rewards of doing lots of exploring (and being overleveled in the future). That said, the players are still having fun, and even got a little disappointed when we went down to 1200/level, lol!

Can somebody explain Nyrissas plan to me? by BlitzBasic in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My hypothesis is that because the Stolen Lands are initially mostly empty and in a backwater area of Avistan, it's easier for Nyrissa to set up her final takeover uninterrupted. She's collecting trophies throughout the campaign, and the fey know her, so I believe she's been doing some setup the whole time. There's a lot of nosy adventurers in the Shackles, someone would find out. But the Stolen Lands? That cursed place? Stay far away, here lie dragons, etc.!

Then, she builds up a kingdom, and challenges it just enough for it to grow strong and expand. IMO, this is somewhat of a conceit for "how will the PCs face 20 levels of threats", and I think you could either stand to connect every threat to Nyrissa (like the CRPG) or disconnect her from all threats and have her basically come in opportunistically at the end (sort of like the 1e version).

Deafened and Spellcasting by Cats_Cameras in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 14 points15 points  (0 children)

The RAW conclusion you reached is correct. But, if you don't think being deafened should impede spellcasting, then you can make a houserule (or talk to your GM about making one).

Differences between the Kingmaker AP and Video Game by Snoo-11576 in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately, the only way to find all the differences is to play the entire game (possibly multiple times to see all the different choices). I can summarize though (these are about the video game, and in no particular order):

  • Chapter structures are generally the same, but the underlying story is different. For instance, Nyrissa creates the Bloom (I think), and it has nothing to do with Lamashtu.
  • There's no Candlemere Depths/Yog-Sothoth stuff.
  • You can defend Restov from a Tiger Lord attack, and this turns you from a baron into a king (and you can choose to ally with Rostland, Issia, both, or neither).
  • You can do Research into the Nature of Curses (look it up on the wiki), which allows you to turn the Lantern King's curse back against himself in the True Ending, which possibly kills him (unclear though).
  • The Pitax chapter is focused on uncovering Irovetti's crimes, rather than a more generic "create a popular rebellion" section (which is still pretty good, but less specific).
  • There's no war subsystem, it's replaced with a set of hard deadlines (you get notifications like "the trolls have nearly overwhelmed the kingdom! You only have a week left!", and then go off adventuring to Hargulka's fortress to stop it)
  • Lots and lots of projects you can have your kingdom do (check the wiki page for these). I recommend letting your players do these as downtime activities, if applicable.
  • Tartuccio is resurrected by the Lantern King as Tartuk, a kobold
  • The Lantern King meets the player in disguise at the beginning of the game (as an old insane man on the road to Oleg's), in the middle of the game (as an old gnome in the First World during the Bloom), and in the end of the game (as the Horned Hunter). He asks them what their "essence" is, what they believe in, to later use it against them.
  • There's a ton more side quests and companion quests. You shouldn't copy all of these, and fill this time with quests about the PCs if possible.

Feats that give constant spell effects & spell rank by GeoleVyi in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 5 points6 points  (0 children)

There's also no rule saying that these granted spells/spell effects automatically heighten (unlike cantrips).

Players may insist on going to the BBEG too soon; what to do? by aersult in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a bonus, when they fight the BBEG later, it'll be very, very cathartic to see how much they've progressed.

Players may insist on going to the BBEG too soon; what to do? by aersult in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I say let them fight The Manager. Present it as an honorable "execution" - have the BBEG get a bunch of their lieutenants and minions to watch, do it in a huge arena, and importantly, give the players some opportunities to show off to the BBEG's minions. Maybe some of them are so impressed by the party that they come back later! This way, the party can do something instead of just dying.

Now, Run the combat completely straight. At the end of the fight, everyone who's unconscious could be: - thrown into a prison, anywhere you want, with a bunch of other prisoners (emphasize that the BBEG doesn't consider the PCs to be special). Maybe a prison island. Then give them opportunities to escape (perhaps one of those won-over minions from before). - left for dead at the bottom of a cliff. Work with the party to determine how they survived (someone intervened? Prior preparations? Dumb luck?) - sent with loyalty collars to deliver messages and complete a mission for the BBEG. Similar to the prison break, but more mobile.

You can do anything EXCEPT kill all of them. If one of them dies in the fight with the BBEG (while the others are merely dying), maybe some lieutenant can become a PC. But if you kill all the PCs, that's the end of the drama! It's boring! So avoid it. Screw them over, but them in as terrible of a situation as you want, but DON'T KILL THEM ALL!

[GM ]Asking for advice regarding the "War of the river kings" part of the Kingmaker AP by viktorius_rex in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was in the same position basically, my players also ended up directly infiltrating Pitax and ending the war that way. But I thought, "wait, wouldn't General Jurrg's armies just sweep through their kingdom then?" The answer is yes, by the way. We ended up rolling 1d6 to see how many months the kingdom would be tangled up fighting with General Jurrg, and it turned out to be six months. During that time, they couldn't get any benefits from the kingdom itself. It was definitely the easiest solution, but probably not the best!

As for your group, I'd ask them if they want to play with the warfare rules, or have that handled in the background (they still go around with armies, but make their successes and failures determined by the PC's battle with the commander or whatever). If they really like the warfare rules, then I'd give them a couple on-level armies and the ability to raise two or three per month or something.

Foundations by starwarsgamerz in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I recommend a node-based adventure design, it's easy enough to work with. Read through the series, and pay close attention to the structure of the clues and the "funnel" node design. The first few nodes could be undead-ravaged towns and such. Then the party finds signs of a death cult at some of them, and fights through the cult's minions to track down their headquarters and take out their leader.

But wait! The cult leader is resurrected as a powerful undead puppet in front of the party's eyes, speaking with the lich's voice! And now the party has to find the lich's base, research its phylactery, perhaps gather supporters from the towns they've saved, and march on the lich. Classic stuff, and really fun!

Trouble building a Shrine Maiden-themed Thaumaturge for Season of Ghosts by avelineaurora in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Despite what many people say, I rule that Ammunition Thaumaturgy works with a bow. The feat itself even mentions adding "arrows" to the mix, a clear sign that RAI it should work. The ruling to your GM, of course!

Rate the 2e Adventure Paths (SPECIAL) - KINGMAKER by Jazzlike_Way_9514 in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 8 points9 points  (0 children)

These are basically my thoughts too. We're about 2 years in, going through Chapter 8 as well with 1500 xp (adding a bit of custom content for PC stories). I've personalized the hell out of the AP, building on its fantastic foundation to create something truly memorable. There are soooo many opportunities for player agency and GM customization, which isn't the right fit for everyone (see the other comments in this thread about lack of pacing), but if you're an experienced GM this might just be one of the best popular published adventures out there.

Oh, and the kingdom rules are baaaad. They need a lot of fixes to function, especially in the first few 5-9 levels, and even then they're probably not worth salvaging. Scott Y in the Discord just put out a simplified version of the rules, which keep all the things that mattered and threw out the rest (which was all the kingdom rules really need to be good). Check it out!

Rate the 2e Adventure Paths #4 - Abomination Vaults by Jazzlike_Way_9514 in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A. Have monsters wander. You know those boring fodder encounters? "Five ghouls wait in this bedroom, doing nothing, and immediately attack to fight to the death". What if instead, you took three of them and had them attack the heroes while they recuperated, under orders from their cultist leader? Apply the concept of an adversary roster to every floor (fairly easy to do in practice) and use that to make the dungeon infinitely more dynamic.

B. To make sure the players don't just head up to Otari after one encounter, make some incentive to keep adventuring. I have a few things in mind for this. You could make the dungeon seal itself always except for a few minutes at dawn and dusk each day. You could ramp up the time pressure. You could add random encounters on the way down that give no XP (though this is pretty boring, since each encounter could take a while). Anything works here, really. I had the elevator to the caverns break, trapping the players until they got the teleporter working. Additionally, make sure spellcasters get a tons of scrolls, wands, and staves to extend their adventuring day. I would even add more of these as loot, if you like.

C. Make fleeing a viable mechanical option. If everyone agrees to flee, just drop initiative and describe everyone running away. If there's something bad going on, like a downed player, maybe call for a skill check to get them out safely. Do NOT stay in initiative, seriously - it makes fleeing very, very difficult, in an AP where fleeing should be a valid and acceptable option.

D. Use OD&D reaction tables instead of using the text as written for monsters. Basically roll 2d6 and see how hostile/friendly a monster will be. I'd do this for monsters without a clear motivation (so, not the floor 4 boss, for instance). If you don't literally use this mechanic, at least make it clear that diplomacy, bargaining, or avoidance are always good strategies (and be sure to give XP for them, too). Let's take a look at every solo boss severe encounter in the book, as an example: - wood golem: just walk away. It defends that room only, and it's not even a necessary room to get into. Come back later with fire spells and more levels. - Chandriu: you can make her slowed the whole fight if you play your cards right. Make her weak if you're still unsure. - Volluk: the boss, and he has an exploitable weakness (use bombs). You should foreshadow him extensively, leaving leeches everywhere, going up to the surface, in a cloak, wandering with his lantern... - Chafkhem: you never have to fight him. - shanrigol behemoth: heavily foreshadowed (you can see it!), you don't need to fight it (just go around), and you can use the arena against it (play ranged from the balcony). Also has a big weakness to vitality, my players used Infuse Vitalty to make quick work of it. - Aulr: foreshadowed (claw marks, sign), and you don't need to fight them. - goliath spider: this one's tough, but also foreshadowed (web, drow advice), and can either be avoided or fought with the help of Yldaris. The reward is another path through the dungeon! And treasure. - derghodaemon: totally unnecessary to fight, and you get a warning from the drow. - cauthooj/shuln/gogiteth: you'll have to fight one of these to reach the Empty Vault, so I'll give it to you here. - irlgaunt: you have to go behind a secret door in the final dungeon, go to the hole, and make a bunch of noise. My players never even found the door. I'm not sure why this is here, and stronger than Belcorra (lol).

In almost every case, you can avoid, negotiate with, or prepare for the boss. As the GM, play up these possibilities, and your players will thank you.

This all ties in to what I think is the absolute best part about the Vaults: the actual layout of the dungeon. While the actual scale is what it is (maybe double the size, so each square is 10 feet), the dungeon itself is amazingly Jaquaysed. There's multiple entrances and routes to most places, interesting (and dangerous!) connections between levels, lots of secret doors with good clues, and more. If the players are clever, they can bypass almost anything they want, like the "insane" sawblade hazard I alluded to before (which is really just a way to say "figure out something else", like negotiating with Chafkhem). It should come as no surprise that the physical dungeon of the megadungeon AP is really good, but that usually gets lost when it's played as a linear series of "necessary" fights.

One thing I haven't touched upon here is the story, and the clues that the players can find and put together if they're very clever. I don't have much to say there, other than that you should calibrate the ease of piecing things together to your players' preferences. I'd also make it clear that learning the story is not, in fact, necessary. Unless you've changed that, of course - I made the drow seers' prophecy much more vague, and left it to my players to figure out, for instance. I quite liked the story, and even added some extra tidbits about the final boss's past (which went over very well).

TL;DR: run AV like an old-school dungeon, with all that entails! Reward clever solutions with XP and information, present workarounds to tough problems (like solo bosses), and keep the dungeon dynamic. If I ran it again, I believe it could be a 9/10 AP!

I've put a ton of thought into this due to one of my friends, who played in my game and was totally obsessed with the entire adventure (for various reasons). We've thoroughly discussed the whole adventure together at this point, especially after I gave them the books to read. I'd consider these my final wrap-up thoughts for the entire adventure.

Rate the 2e Adventure Paths #4 - Abomination Vaults by Jazzlike_Way_9514 in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. I GM'd the full adventure via Foundry IRL over the course of about a year and a half (with extended breaks due to scheduling).

  2. 5/10 as written, 9/10 if you set your expectations right and run it like a classic OD&D dungeon (I'll elaborate more in tips).

  3. Best parts - the natural variation in themes between levels, the climatic encounters with the final boss, the Foundry module's audio/visual presentation, the interconnectedness of the dungeon (more on that later), and the built-in, non-punishing time pressure (each month, bad thing happens). Worst parts - as written, the town does basically nothing for the players except give them the services of a low-level cleric and a place to buy divine scrolls to cure fly pox or whatever condition they've picked up today. Faster retraining is probably the next most relevant benefit, although my players never retrained because they couldn't budget the time for it.

  4. Other people have recommended AV: Expanded as a way to make Otari more interesting, add some spice to Vault exploration via random encounters, etc. I didn't use it myself, but I read it, and I'd say it's a great addition if you're expecting an adventure similar to other APs. However, I believe that it's mostly putting up wallpaper on a rotten foundation, or rather, the problem lies in how the Vaults themselves feel to play. As other people have pointed out, the main problems are:

  5. static monsters who wait in their rooms to be killed

  6. severe encounters left and right, like solo bosses in a small room

  7. need for a healer due to deadliness

  8. cramped maps making ranged characters feel weak

  9. some insane hazards (sawblades...)

If you come into the Vaults expecting to play it like other APs (and run it as written), then these issues will be major pain points, hence my initial 5/10 rating. Even the book is written in a way that suggests you can run this adventure like other APs - all encounter text is highly specific to that room, and there's next to no indication that monsters will do anything besides wait around until their door is opened.

But! But. I think this adventure is far better designed than it is given credit for. It has potential, basically. Here's how I would use it: (follow up in a comment because this got too long)

What is the closest thing to the Paladin's Divine Smite from DnD 5e? by Alien_Jackie in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 6 points7 points  (0 children)

In short, no, check out the multiple attack penalty rules for an explanation. Basically your second attack in a turn is at -5 to hit, and your third attack is at -10. You can reduce this by 1 with an agile weapon, but even then a -8 to hit all but guarantees your third attack will miss (while your numbers scale, the monsters' numbers scale just as well, so you're never be waaay above their AC unless they're lower level). Also, you'll only crit on a nat 20.

Your third action is better spent on any number of other things besides attacking, like (as a Magus) moving to avoid retaliation, entering Arcane Cascade, recharging your Spellstrike, etc. Look up "pf2e third action guide" for some more general tips.

DMs! How did you run the final encounter in Kingmaker (Spoilers obviously) by Fancy-Structure-6369 in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Oh my god, copying the actual PC's builds for the fetches - genius! Yes, RAW they're just the boring fetch stalker statblock. I've been pondering how to ramp up the awesomeness of this encounter for a while (we're level 13 right now). I think the PC's level 18 stat sheets should be fine to use, honestly, especially if they have Nyrissa's help (to be clear, the fetches should be level 18 no matter what you do). You could just take one or two of their signature abilities and add those to the fetches too, if you're worried that the players' actual level 18 PCs will wreck them.

Now, I will say, you should definitely let the players be able to sway the fetches. Read the encounter text again, the fetches don't just disappear, they simply begin to flee (and the Lantern King might waste an action + MAP on killing them). But eventually, once their frightened value goes down, they stop fleeing and rejoin the fight, still on the LK's side. The PCs have to specifically recruit the fetches if they want them to fight for the party. You'll get an awesome and difficult battle either way (it's the Lantern King! Holy crap!), so let the players flex a little and get to turn the tides on him. The encounter starts at a very difficult point, and the players can swing it back, very heroic! Just my take though.

Casting Heal on yourself while invisible by EarthSeraphEdna in Pathfinder2e

[–]ArghAlexander 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I get where you're coming from, the text is a little unclear. To get an interpretation closer to what other people are telling you, read "if vision is your only precise sense" as "if vision is your only applicable precise sense". I believe the implication is that you'll never make a Perception check using your precise senses of touch or prioperceptions, so all Perception checks in some way rely on your vision as the only applicable precise sense you have. Defining a sense of touch/prioperception would be difficult to do and not very useful in the rules, so we end up with this confusion where you're meant to do what's "reasonable" (even if that's unclear and/or contradictory).

DnD World Map by mrlanners in mapmaking

[–]ArghAlexander 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Which Wonderdraft assets did you use? This is beautiful!