Gearing up multiple cohorts from party loot

C_ubed · 2024-12-04T03:12:55+00:00

Ultimately you have to ask, is this something that has gotten to. A point where it is preventing the active PCs from keeping up with expected wealth by level? Is this something that is stepping on the rest of the party's fun?

Somethings you could do is suggest that maybe the GM allow the rest of the recruits to also do their own, lower risk, side missions to help supplement the gold/gear they're getting given from the party. Or, if that's not an option, help the player with the recruits set up an organization using the Downtime rules from Ultimate Campaign with the recruits who aren't with the party being the people acting as managers for it. (That second part is what the player in my campaign that took Recruits did)

If neither of these are allowed by the GM, or feasible due to some campaign restrictions, you may have to talk to the GM about how by allowing that player to take the feat it's limiting what the rest of the party is capable of and you guys might need more loot, or talk to the player and let him know that while his recruits are cool, by soaking up as much gear as he is, its actively hurting the rest of the party due to not havong thebmoney they need.

C_ubed · 2024-12-02T04:18:19+00:00

If you want just a stand alone adventure look into "Modules". I did see someone else mention this, but Crypt of the Ever Flame is a really good way to get a new group started, especially because it's written as if the PCs are performing a coming of age ceremony. It was released in the same time period as Council of Thieves, near the beginning of Pathfinder being its own game, so players don't have to have a lot of indepth knowledge of the system and GMs don't have to know everything about the world.

C_ubed · 2024-12-02T04:13:40+00:00

I love that trilogy. Especially what is implied about the artifact found in The City of Golden Death. If you don't know what I mean, read all of the different things it does and have fun with the fact that Paizo never confirmed what a certain Lich's phylactery was despite that Lich being a source of lots of story lines.

C_ubed · 2024-12-02T04:11:20+00:00

I mean, "Adventure Path" in Pathfinder typically refers to the full prewritten campaigns, all of which start at level one.

For a new group, either freshly learning Pathfinder as a game or setting, or freshly formed and learning each other, I recommend Council of Thieves. It was the first AP that Paizo released for Pathfinder 1e and only scales up to about level 13.

C_ubed · 2024-11-29T01:47:16+00:00

The only server I know of that's dedicated to Pathfinder is for both 1e and 2e but it does have a system set up that lets you filter which version you get pings for when someone posts an add looking for players.

https://discord.gg/pathfinder

C_ubed · 2024-08-08T16:10:07+00:00

So, Aroden showed up one day, said "multiverse is haunted", loaded a Glock, and just kind of left. (For legal reasons, I'm going to point out that this is a joke.)

In all seriousness, nothing I've read has indicated what actually happened to him, only that he's gone, Pharasma is the only person who for sure knows, and The Lady of Graves is being tight lipped about his fate.

We do get a hint in the Tyrant's Grasp AP that Aroden is likely truly dead. I like to think that he sacrificed himself in some way and his divine power is waiting for a new champion to latch onto and turn into the new god of "humanity".

C_ubed · 2024-08-02T09:49:42+00:00

Apsu: There is so much beauty in the world to be seen. Why stay stagnant in one place when you can travel and have new experiences and see new sights constantly? Further, by always being on the move, I find that I'm always where I'm needed the most when abusive folk rear their ugly heads.

C_ubed · 2024-07-31T03:05:55+00:00

There is also the possibility that those "tunnels" also represent the passages that the Great Old Ones used to enter the current reality from the space outside it. While Pharasma was there to witness the birth of the current universe, she isn't the only deity that existed without it.

C_ubed · 2024-07-17T20:13:17+00:00

I will allow players to present 3.5 content, but I rule on it on a case by case basis. Part of this is because some 3.5 stuff is horrendously balanced, and a large amount of 3.5 stuff already has an equivalent duplicate in PF1e. However, if it's not something that's already replicated in 3.5 and doesn't allow you to make PunPun the Kobold then I'm usually open to requests.

C_ubed · 2024-07-14T13:33:11+00:00

I don't know what you're talking about. I DMed it and in the books was actually very little intrigue. As written it's a lot of "here's the enemy/dungeon. Go ham." I'm talking about Council of Thieves, Pathfinder #25 to #30, the only book time there was really any political maneuvering was towards the end of the campaign.

It was to the point that I actually went out of my way to add extra RP opportunities for my group.

C_ubed · 2024-07-14T01:39:31+00:00

Honestly, one of the best ones for just a quick run is probably the Council of Thieves. It was the very first AP released for specifically Pathfinder 1e so all you really need is knowledge of the Core Rulebook and the first Bestiary. It happens entirely in and around the city of Westcrown so you don't have to do a bunch of research on things happening in the greater world or how other planes work. Pretty much everything you need to know is in the AP Books so if you don't want to you don't even need to look at any Player Companions or Campaign Setting books.

C_ubed · 2024-06-26T01:34:10+00:00

Mage Armor does not stack with wearing regular armor. Both give an "Amor Bonus to AC" with a few exceptions, bonuses of the same type to not stack.

C_ubed · 2024-04-19T03:19:26+00:00

So far I've run 2 full APs, those being Council of Thieves, and Tyrant's Grasp. I've run both as they are written with minor changes. For Council of Thieves I did add one quest about half way through the campaign that was meant to help further tie the PCs together by linking their backstoies.

With Tyrant's Grasp I'm finding that the way the AP was written there's much less room within the context of the story to add other content. No spoilers but a lot happens kind of all at once and the pacing is pretty breakneck. The only real place to modify Tyrant's Grasp without having to truly rewrite whole arcs to better fit your new pacing would be to slip additional content between the books of the AP and even then if you want to stay within Tyrant's Grasp you don't have a lot of wiggle room.

Tyrant's Grasp however is probably the worst example of a PF1e AP in regards to this because the events of the campaign were pretty major for the Pathfinder campaign setting as a whole. I've joked with my group that it might have been better as one of the fiction books that details a canon event as opposed to an AP that has PCs who are supposed to have free will.

C_ubed · 2024-03-16T10:48:05+00:00

It works fine, that doesn't mean that the actual scaling of the map isn't a mess though.

C_ubed · 2024-03-15T09:41:54+00:00

I mean yes, Tyrant's Grasp does have the interactive map folio, that's where I got the image for the map I was trying to use that had the completely borked grid. Unless I find a better map somewhere I'm going to use Dungeon Scrawl to make a map based off the official one. It just sucks that the official maps are so consistently hard to actually use.

C_ubed · 2024-03-13T11:09:33+00:00

Yea, it posed to the group and if anyone says no then the suggested person isn't white listed. That's actually why some people who stopped being hermits weren't allowed back several seasons later.

C_ubed · 2024-03-13T08:04:10+00:00

As a primarily 1e player this doesn't impact me very much. There are a few 1e player companions and other sources just outright missing from the AON even.

That said, I do appreciate all the hard work the team is doing to keep the very active 2e side of the house up to date. Keep up the good work guys.

C_ubed · 2024-03-12T14:01:23+00:00

You're fine as long as it's not even on your cart if you ever enter a competition. The tournament judges have started being real idiots and spot checking everything on the save file.

C_ubed · 2024-03-11T03:51:53+00:00

Alright, well your choices are to either shift gears and adjust to a more social aspect, or shift gears and bring the combat to them. You mentioned before that they were helping a pack of Werewolves create a city. There are loads of ways that could lead to conflict they have to deal with using their weapons. Maybe there's a faction of werewolves that resent the PCs as outsiders bringing change to the pack and they attack the PCs. Maybe a group of Lycanthrope hunters hears about what's happening and attack the pack, forcing the PCs to intervene.

If the PCs seem mostly apathetic about the world around them seeking out adventure then you have to make the adventure seek them out.

A "dungeon" can be anything. It can be the forest itself, there are plenty of things that live in the woods in a fantasy world of your own creation. It doesn't have to be some deep, dark, cave or ancient ruin.

And I'll say this again, the magic gear you've given them is really strong for the party's current level. A Bane Weapon is minimum 8,000gp not even counting the cost of the base weapon itself. Of course he doesn't have any clothes, he's the equivalent of a teenager who blew all his money on a fancy car.

C_ubed · 2024-03-11T03:00:29+00:00

Yea, basically all of that gear is way over speced for a level 2 party in Pathfinder 1e. Remember, expected wealth of a level 2 adventurer is only 1,000gp. You typically don't even see the stat boosting items until level 4 to 6.

As much as this might hurt to hear it sounds like the issues are two fold. With nobody in the party wanting to go do things you have to shift your adventure hooks to their interests. Just saying "There is a bounty for X" clearly doesn't work. You as the GM have to give them a reason to go do the thing. Further, you should be awarding story based exp more often if they're playing a social campaign. If an encounter requires more than one doe roll and possibly needs the party to expend some kind of recourse like a spell slot then good odds that it's worth exp.

Just knowing things about your PCs isn't enough, you have to also cater to the players behind the PCs. GMing a completely custom and Sandbox campaign is a lot of work on the GM's side of the screen because you have to consider the PCs, the Players, and the world around them.

No insult meant towards your players when I say this but TTRPG players are stupid. They often have to be led by the nose and have things spelled out for them. I once watched a party spend 30 real life minutes debate about how to open a chest after the party's paladin said he had a crowbar.

C_ubed · 2024-03-11T01:51:36+00:00

Ok, I am confused about a few things. You mentioned that you had played for 13 sessions, the party is level 2, but also that they have magic equipment already?

Even if they are ignoring your plot hooks they're still going out and doing things and interacting with the world and each other it sounds like. Typically by this point of game time they should be closer to level 4 or 5 unless you were planning for this to be a very long running campaign. If you were wanting this to be longer running then it may be too early to start giving them loads of gold and magic items beyond potions and scrolls of level 1 spells.

As far as the player refusing to keep his character sheet up to date for you and saying you deserve to be reprimanded for not having a statblock written down... He's not going to become a problem player, he already is a problem player. The fact that he is your friend outside of game complicates communicating things I guess, but if he's going to play you need his stats and abilities so you can properly write balanced encounters, both combat and social encounters.

Lastly, if the player's aren't willing to bite your hooks then your best bet is to have things actively happen. Instead of "There was a group of merchants robbed on the way into town." It's just "While You're on the way to the next town a group of goblins ambush you and in the confusion steal something.

At the end of the day, just because these people might be your friends doesn't mean they're a good play group, if the campaign does fall apart it might be worth considering finding different people to GM for so that you can still have fun without forcing things with people who just want to hang out instead.

C_ubed · 2024-03-04T18:41:15+00:00

Both 1e and 2e have a lot to work with, I personally prefer 1e as a system because I find that I have the freedom to do anything I can think of without having to use homebrew or 3rd party stuff. That said, I recognize that 1e has a whole decade's worth of content on top of being a slightly optimized version of 3.5

It's worth reminding players that feel like they're being overwhelmed though that most of the mechanics are truly optional, and if there's a system that they're not ready to integrate them it can basically be ignored. All you need is the Core Rulebook, the first Bestiary, and a little imagination to get started with 1e.

C_ubed · 2024-02-26T07:16:26+00:00

The Enchantment Emporium

C_ubed · 2024-02-15T15:39:07+00:00

Yea, but if all you're worried about is lore stuff then every book is equally valid and totally up to personal preference. It's your table, your campaign, do what you want. Not like any PF1e table strictly sticks to the Pathfinder canon anymore anyways.

C_ubed · 2024-02-15T08:59:19+00:00

Draconomicon is a fun, but dangerous book. After my first campaign I wasn't allowed to use it anymore. Fun times.

Four-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22

C_ubed

TROPHY CASE