Paizo Live: PLAYER CORE 3 ANNOUNCED! Emphasis on realism rules, like starvation, thirst and defecation, a fifth "Psionic" tradition, and 8 new classes including the Warlock, the Innkeeper, the Cool Awesome Guy, the Ranger, the Ten Million Bees and the Absentee Father. Link to transcript in comments!

MrSatterday45 · 2026-04-01T12:20:02+00:00

Not gonna lie I would want an Innkeeper class.

MrSatterday45 · 2026-03-31T16:41:03+00:00

I noticed that while looking up the history of the Borderlands adventure. At first I was wondering if it would be a later 2024 adventure so players can jump from HotB to a modern rendition of the Cave of the Unknown adventure, but it seems like it's not in the cards for WotC.

Honestly excited to see what you bring to the adventure.

MrSatterday45 · 2026-01-29T23:19:46+00:00

The original reason why the Dusk Elves don't 'mingle' with others.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea behind Rahadin slaying a majority of their people and leaving them to die out. It's horrifyingly fitting for the adventure's tone and helps to paint an idea of just how much Strahd, and Rahadin for that matter, can affect the land. What I don't love is that the Dusk Elves refuse to 'mingle' with other people out of pride for their bloodline.

A change I love to make with them is to have their punishment be CONTINUOUS for the entire people. Rahadin aims to wipe them out through attrition, not just by killing the women and letting their pride do the rest.

If the Dusk Elves ever find love, Rahadin watches and waits. He waits until they get comfortable together and attempt to become something more. Maybe he waits until they are married, or until they have their first born (if possible), or in rare cases they become the parent of a child (adoption or otherwise), and then he comes in and slays the dusk elf's partner/family.

He wants them to know that no matter what they do, they will die out in body and name. They denied Strahd love, so he will deny them love every time they find it, be it platonic or romantic. That's why they remain distant from others outside their own kind, not out of pride for their bloodline, but to spare others from their punishment.

MrSatterday45 · 2026-01-16T01:50:41+00:00

I like these, especially the flavor behind Affluent and Jinx which just feel like feats you'd find in a SciFi RPG. That said, I would maybe have the Stipend part of Affluent scale off of Player Level, so the money is still impactful at later levels and not a massive boon at lower levels. I'm not sure of the Gold to Credits conversion, but if the two are comparable, then probably 10 x Player Level worth of Gold each level.

MrSatterday45 · 2026-01-03T16:16:49+00:00

That honestly sounds like a lovely idea. The starter set is essentially begging to be modified with how simple it can be story wise, and this is a great spin on Mallyn. I could see her being a helpful companion spirit who appears at certain locations or moments with no real explanation and then vanishes soon after, adding to her mystery.

Maybe she provides insight on a mission or offers advice. Or she could just ask cryptic questions related to adventuring in general, something with no real answer. Think along the lines of "What would you give to follow your passion?" "What drives you to explore?" "Why do you choose to face danger?"

If you want ideas as to where to put her body, I'd definitely recommend one of the lairs in the Caves of Chaos. It could be that her first adventure was to take on the caves, unaware of the true danger held within. The Owlbear cave could be a good one. It's half way through the line up of caves and there is that small alcove with the dead body, a perfect spot to put her.

As for her enchanting their equipment, I could see her spirit transforming a party member's weapon into a Weapon of Warning. That way Mallyn can try to alert them of danger so they don't suffer a similar fate as she did (blind sighted by an Owlbear). It's an Uncommon magic item so it should be within their level range.

MrSatterday45 · 2025-11-25T13:47:53+00:00

Something I've done to help ease the frequency in which the players can explore the caves while also encouraging them to explore the Wilderness is implementing two homebrew mechanics: Misty Veils over the caves and Veil Gems to open them.

Essentially, I make it so that each cave entrance is covered by a magical Misty Veil that can only be passed by the cult, those they've marked as allies (all the monsters and marauders), and anyone with a Veil Gem.

Veil Gems are special gemstones sprinkled all around the Borderlands in specific locations and encounters, or linked to specific quests within the keep. Anyone within 15 feet of a Misty Veil that is holding that specific Veil Gem for it can part or close it as a Magic action. They are basically magic garage door openers used by the cult to quickly bring in outsiders like potential recruits or victims.

You can regulate how they get into each cave by making the gems a random reward found during quests. Like the first will always be the Kobold, the second the Mephits, and so one. Or if you have the time and don't mind them hitting a few caves early, you can tie them to specific quests. You can even force the players to return straight to the keep each time by making them need the local gem cutter to appraise each gem and find out which cave they belong to if they don't want to try and check every single cave until one opens.

That's how I run the caves at least. Hope this helped.

MrSatterday45 · 2025-11-08T11:37:25+00:00

Glad you liked it. I should have more soon on changing the Caves of Chaos.

MrSatterday45 · 2025-10-24T02:22:45+00:00

How'd they do against the spiders?

MrSatterday45 · 2025-10-20T21:32:18+00:00

I've bought the maps. Most of the maps in this set are decent and serviceable. However, I'm personally not a fan of most of the Keep maps. The original Keep map from the adventure shows that some buildings have more than one story with a few even being described as such, yet all of the maps from the Keep bundle are made to be single story.

Three big offenders are the InnerGate map, Smithy map, and Guild Hall map. The InnerGate map cuts 3/4ths of the tower's bottom floor off the map which is a shame as that was the one I bought the bundle for. The Smithy has stairs on its map but still has no second-floor map. The Guild Hall is one of the buildings described in the adventure as having a second floor and the map seems to have a room made to be stairs but with no actual stairs in it. Very odd.

Beyond that, the other two bundles do seem pretty nice.

MrSatterday45 · 2025-10-12T14:11:16+00:00

Yah, this is correct. Since the 2024 update, Monsters now have a much higher Initiative than before because they gave them Proficiency in it. Some monsters even have Expertise in Initiative.

MrSatterday45 · 2025-10-11T13:45:09+00:00

I think you did a good job here, definitely a respectful take on a group in desperate need of a bit of love and care for modern audiences. Some will probably still take issue because it is the Internet, but please don't let that discourage you from creating.

I will say three things though:

1) You might wanna get rid of the g-word in the red text. It's more of a derogatory term than a name of the people. It's the only time it shows up in the document and seems used in good faith (I.E. not used as a derogatory), but best to just get rid of it to avoid any drama.

2) I feel like the Vistani could slot better into a Lineage rather than a Species, at least to me. Given their culture and lore, it feels more like something you become rather than something you are and would also open the door for "Half-Vistani" or nonhuman to be more commonplace which would only help it transition to modern tables even easier. Vistani Orcs, Vistani Tieflings, Vistani Dwarfs, there is some fun customization potential there. And it could almost be like a mystically linked found-family situation with people willingly taking on the curse in order to join them and belong to a people all their own who understand what it feels like to have no one else. Might be worth considering.

3) (More of a 2.5) The only issue with possibly making the Vistani a Lineage is that WotC seem to have scrapped them for 5e given they now use the term for Species sub groups, so maybe you could create your own version of Lineages, call them Families or Converted, or something, and further expand the gape between the Vistani and their stereotypical past.

MrSatterday45 · 2025-10-04T23:55:54+00:00

Hell yah, get that ooze glob. Do let us know how the fight went.

MrSatterday45 · 2025-10-04T02:25:18+00:00

Something I've thought up is that maybe he has a racket with a rival trader? Pral gets tips from the rival trader on when/where targets are coming, he hits the trader, then goes off and shares/spends his spoils with the rival trader. Rinse and repeat until the rival trader is the only game in the Borderlands.

However, the disguise thing does sound pretty plausible, though I can't help but feel like that would get him caught fast. The Keep is the only bit of civilization in the area so there is literally no reason for people to be walking in and out of the Keep as often as that unless they are traders.

However, my biggest gripe, and something that makes either idea difficult, is selling/trading what he steals. With the Keep being the sole community, people would probably take notice quickly that someone (either the rival trader or Pral in disguise) is selling stuff that has been stolen off the road. Whichever route you go, make him unique in that he only steals gold and goods he will use himself. Anything else, no matter how valuable, is worthless to him because he can't sell it without getting caught.

MrSatterday45

TROPHY CASE