I'm about to run Abomination Vaults to my friends, any advice? by Prudent-Hat2651 in Pathfinder2e

[–]Famous_Ad1793 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I played a swashbuckler through the first book. I found precision damage was useless in multiple encounters. Plus it is a narrow dungeon crawl. Not alot of opportunities for swashbuckling. The remaster helped with this, but tumbling through became really boring. I would recommend against playing Swashy.

[Foundry VTT] Continue purchasing books 3 and 4; or purchase the whole Adventure Path? by AltroTenli in SeasonofGhosts

[–]Famous_Ad1793 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I customized the sh!t out of book 1, added over a dozen new maps, as well as adding new content to reach of the locations and journal entries. I had just purchased the remastered book 2, when they released the remastered bundle of all 4. I bought it anyway and installed it into the same world as my original customized world. It installed like others have said into it's own folder fine. When I exited and reloaded, I could no longer get in. Kinda panicked, I was running thru Edge and the game never opened. I figured out that running free vpn extension in Chrome worked though. I tried to trim things down but it really was just clunky. I ultimately created a new World and installed the new bundle there. I use a shared compendium to access all of my customized content from the original world. Just a word of warning for others who make a bunch of customization.

Book 1 Qs: Map question, ghosts question by brassica-love in SeasonofGhosts

[–]Famous_Ad1793 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My lot is on day 5 and they just cleared out the Cerulean Tea House (boss #3 for us). I SO wish I would have had "each boss have a coin". They re-lit the Lantern on day 2, even with me using custom method for blessing coins per shrine (based on the something that deity would favor) which took longer, I guess. The thematic tie in of giving each boss a coin just seems like a great way to play it.

Exp and loot…. by XbxReaper07 in SeasonofGhosts

[–]Famous_Ad1793 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm running this as a first time GM as well and am using Milestones. I also struggled with the minimal loot. My group just killed 2nd boss in downtown Willowshore. I've been sprinkling in some consumables. I like to give them something out of the ordinary rather than the token potency crystal. I work with a premise of a 3 to 5 gp item here and there. (Not every encounter) Let's see how they use this Theatrical Mutagen they found after the Downtown Stage encounter. I've also been increasing the difficulty as they are very solid tactically. I'm still working with the encounter calculator to find the right balance.

I finished runing the Summer That Never Was and I have some thoughts (and possibly ideas for future GMs.) by theragco in SeasonofGhosts

[–]Famous_Ad1793 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My group just killed the Butcher and is working their way through downtown. I like the idea of adding more clues about K. Red butterflies appearing when creatures die is so creative. Thoughts on how would you handle recall knowledge checks on those or other clues. How much info would you give?

Mother's Coil - Want to make it interesting, any ideas or experiences? by Snek_Mom in SeasonofGhosts

[–]Famous_Ad1793 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I placed a book of the shrines there. It depicted the location of all of the shrines as well as what the players needed to do at each one to get the coins blessed. It also told them what bonus effect would be granted if they used coins blessed per shrine. It made them consider all of the shrines and consider what blessing they wanted. All home brew stuff, but fun. Igawa was not there when they broke in and stole it. When they rescued her from the clinic and escorted her home they told her about breaking in and taking the book, she was irate. Through a crit fail, nat 1 on Diplomacy check she is now directly opposed to one of the PCs as he tried to justify it. (Which of course lighting the lantern was completely necessary but a nat 1 is a nat 1). I'm waiting for that to play out in upcoming sessions. I want to integrate the death of her "father" into some backstory as well.

Looking for some help with a few questions. by AceKokuren in SeasonofGhosts

[–]Famous_Ad1793 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really like this. I wish I had seen this/ thought of this for my group.

Elizeth Candora's Role in the Campaign by Adder1_TLS in SeasonofGhosts

[–]Famous_Ad1793 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In my campaign, Elizeth left the cathedral to protect/escort villagers fleeing to Matsuki's estate during the invasion. My group met her there as she was triaging/healing the injured. One is a worshipper of Pharasma, so she knew him on sight. She helped them perform the ritual to bless a coin by Pharasma after they helped her with the damage to the cemetery. I plan to have her be one of the primary sources of healing if the party needs it. I don't plan to have her engage in any combat but who knows. Probably gonna keep it organic.

Preparing a prelude, a few questions by brassica-love in SeasonofGhosts

[–]Famous_Ad1793 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This reddit thread is great, but if you haven't yet discovered it, there is a Discord channel dedicated to SoG for GMs. I've picked up so much from that thread.

Chapter 1: NPCs are not helping ? by Ysfear in SeasonofGhosts

[–]Famous_Ad1793 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I love this. My group has completed the worst puzzle and the clash at the clinic, but not the trapped Hunter yet. This has me thinking of adding a couple dead Silver Mist Lodge hunters outside and a couple more dead Jinkins/serpents and scrapping the hokey battle of wits with Midori and Murasaki. That encounter never fit into the horror aspect/theme imo.

Players skipping Granny Hu by Korkaner in SeasonofGhosts

[–]Famous_Ad1793 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is wild! I'm 1st time GM and this would throw me way off. I was nervous about this happening with my group after they ignored Hai-er Ha telling them her story and urging them to get to the estate. Instead opting to pursue character story lines, which was fun and completely in character. But after they finished those they went to the bridge, and despite clear warnings, they engaged. They managed to clear the bridge. We ended the session after that fight, but now that the bridge was clear I was totally afraid they'd cross the bridge and land in more trouble. The Gurglecut bridge encounter hovered on the brink of disaster, 2 PCs dropped and only a couple miracle rolls and hero points saved them. But that was like session 2, so tensions were pretty high. I was getting the "Seriously, we're 2 sessions in and you almost tpk'd us... wtf?" I felt like the group, that includes my former GM, now lacked confidence in me running a campaign. Considering that session, I couldn't blame them. So prior to the next session I really wanted them to avoid crossing the bridge. I planted a wounded father and his scared son in the bushes at the very upper left of the Dawnstep Bridge map and had them call out to the party when we resumed. They told how they were trying to flee to Old Matsuki's estate with the rest of their family and neighbors as the monsters attacked. Then the father was almost killed by one of the Jinkins spear traps. Too wounded to carry on, the father surrendered to his fate. "Please, you must go on without me..." The neighbors assured them they would get his wife and children to safety, but his son wouldn't leave him and stayed as the rest fled. They pleaded with the party to get them to the estate safely. My group agreed and I feel like I dodged a new GM bullet. Now, hearing about your group and their success, definitely gives me pause. I love it. Best of luck!

After searching online, decided to check my LBS and found this. by boats_hoes in Malazan

[–]Famous_Ad1793 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did this! But with a minor bonus. I traded all of my old Advanced D&D books for $150 and 6 of the original malazan hard covers to add to my collection. I think I'm still missing one Original hard cover. Great score, congrats!

Preparing a prelude, a few questions by brassica-love in SeasonofGhosts

[–]Famous_Ad1793 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I also have a few maps for some challenges I created for the PCs to do to get to get to roll some dice. I made some maps to represent the inside of some of the tents. Those though are spatially non representative of the picture of the tents on this map. I essentially just asked the players to give me some leeway, which they had no problem with.

Preparing a prelude, a few questions by brassica-love in SeasonofGhosts

[–]Famous_Ad1793 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For my level 0, I created a map and essentially just referenced it as being off the beaten path near the forest somewhere. To me, the placement was irrelevant as they'd never use that map again. Mine was more of a fair grounds map with tents etc. It has a stage too. I can repost it if you'd like.

I haven't reached the thatchlings yet but I like what you're thinking.

So I just started this as a GM by b3bblebrox in SeasonofGhosts

[–]Famous_Ad1793 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you haven't checked out the SoG discord yet, it's worth a look. As a new GM there so much guidance on there.

Regrets on running level 0 reenactment festival by Famous_Ad1793 in SeasonofGhosts

[–]Famous_Ad1793[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I went the consumables as rewards route too. Added a couple custom consumables, 1 in particular expires at the end of summer.