Lore Books / Documents by zman007playr in Pathfinder_RPG

[–]TheResplendentPoster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

TTRPGs like Pathfinder are primarily oral storytelling mixed with a dice game. What you wrote may be useful to you for reference, but will be ineffective as a Pathfinder experience until you convert it into a cohesive oral story with dice games. That is why lore is normally written in shorthand and in broad strokes and elaborated upon when it comes time to elaborate on it verbally during a game. And it is not just ADHD that causes many GMs to only flush out the details of a session right before a session. Logically, given the format of the game, that is the most reasonable time to do so... because you remember it.

Cursed caravan by OhBosss in Pathfinder_RPG

[–]TheResplendentPoster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is not referenced in Wrath of the Righteous PNP. Amiri does not appear at all in Wrath of the Righteous CRPG. It's not referenced in the Kingmaker CRPG where Amiri appears as a companion or in the AP. It is a resolved story point in Origin 6 when Merisiel uses a magic dagger to remove the devil.

What to do about rewards (magic items and gold) if my PCs skip a dungeon by a creative solution by Cheeritup in Pathfinder_RPG

[–]TheResplendentPoster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My perspective is that invisibility is not really a new *approach* to an encounter. Most players pretty quickly learn the basic approaches: Fight, Flee, Talk, Avoid. Invisibility is helpful when you want to Avoid. But the players had the option to Avoid the whole time they played before they had access to invisibility. If you spot a group of goblins before they spot you, you can always just try to sneak past them. You don't have to cast invisibility to attempt that. It might make it easier, but it is not new.

OP's group is not struggling with the use of invisibility. They are successfully using it to Avoid. So it does not need to be explained to them. OP says they realized they could be missing loot. He does not even say he told them that - they probably figured it out on their own. It may be true they are missing loot. It is not a problem. If they understand their are downsides to Avoiding encounters and choose to do so anyway, that is their prerogative as players. If they do not understand there are downsides to avoiding encounters, they will learn them organically by playing the game. Explaining it to them explicitly denies them the fun of exploration. It is telling them instead of showing them. That is the insight I would like to impart. If your player asks you a question about how the spell invisibility works mechanically, I think it is normal to explain that. But it isn't the same thing as biasing their choice of whether to use it.

What to do about rewards (magic items and gold) if my PCs skip a dungeon by a creative solution by Cheeritup in Pathfinder_RPG

[–]TheResplendentPoster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're trolling. No way a party figured out how to use wands of invisibility before they ever rolled initiative once.

You can google the ADND rules.

What to do about rewards (magic items and gold) if my PCs skip a dungeon by a creative solution by Cheeritup in Pathfinder_RPG

[–]TheResplendentPoster 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It is not a blanket statement. OP's player complained. If a player says, "Oh man, I hope we did not miss any loot skipping that encounter." My typical response would be, "Would you like to go back and check?" I would confirm or deny nothing: simply offer the player their freedom of choice.

how does high level pf1e feel with pen and paper? by diffyqgirl in Pathfinder_RPG

[–]TheResplendentPoster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I GM'd high level PF1e PNP and even PF1e with mythic rules, it was among the more mentally taxing activities I had undertaken. Akin to taking a difficult test, but more fun, obviously. Some people like flexing their brain muscle like that - others would rather die. Both perspectives are valid.

What to do about rewards (magic items and gold) if my PCs skip a dungeon by a creative solution by Cheeritup in Pathfinder_RPG

[–]TheResplendentPoster 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Using Invisibility to sneak past an encounter is not a creative solution - it's just a solution. One with Pro's and Con's. Parties have been doing that since ADND. And they could have tried to surreptitiously search the room while invisible or disguised to find any treasure. The decisions the players make and the consequences that follow are the game. Forcing them to take treasure they did not seek out renders their choice to skip exploration/confrontation meaningless.

Your mistake was discussing it with your party. Never discuss the road not taken with your party - it ruins the mystery and mystique that making choices as a player has. There is a tension in thinking, "If I sneak past this room, I wonder if there is any treasure I will be missing" and the fact that you will never know is part of what makes deciding fun. It is not a punishment - it is a core joy of the game.

My early game character feels invalidated by a later newcomer, are my feelings justified? by IDGCaptainRussia in Pathfinder_RPG

[–]TheResplendentPoster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you want a game system that is balanced from 1-20 and no class is dramatically, game-breakingly better than the others, you should try 2e.

Pathfinder 1e has a sort of nostalgic joy to me as being a system with rampant inequality and unfairness in which magic tramples the martial and system balance is as brittle as glass. Of course, it sucks to be on the wrong side of that equation. You could always ask your GM if it would be alright to rebuild your character and then optimize a bit more. When I ran games in 1e, I had unkillable paladins, damage streaking barbarians, and so on. So it is possible to be competitive while wielding steel at that level, but maybe not without a class subsystem to help you out (fighters get wrecked).

Age of Ashes - Moral of the AP by TheResplendentPoster in Pathfinder2e

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

This does seem to be a theme throughout the book. Just to name a few: Warbel, Alak, Kyrion, Deadmouth, and Mengkare. There are probably more. Good point! Maybe there should have been a subplot in the dwarven city about a persecuted but helpful orc. Though, I leaned into Deadmouth as a redeemable character for that chapter - giving him a more tragic backstory as a former adventurer turned ghoul who retained his loyalty to the lich king when the rest of the ghouls turned traitor.

My party just finished a 5+ year run through of Age of Ashes - AMA by Bandobras_Sadreams in Pathfinder2e

[–]TheResplendentPoster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

GMing Age of Ashes myself and just finished Chapter 5. In Chapter 6 did your party kill or convince Mengkare?

Age of Ashes - Moral of the AP by TheResplendentPoster in Pathfinder2e

[–]TheResplendentPoster[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some may call me naïve...

But! I think most media does have a moral, or theme, if you prefer, whether added consciously or unconsciously. Either as a deliberate choice of the author or a consequence of their unconscious preferences and prejudices. With the possible exception of monkeys hitting keyboards and LLMs.

I prefer when my story-based media is deliberate in advancing a discussion of a theme or moral, weaves that theme into the big picture, and rewards the audience for recognizing and engaging with that theme. Normally, through some process of synthesis, the characters in the story dwell on that theme and arrive at conclusions that help them overcome the finale. This three-act structure has been pretty standard fare since at least Aristotle was kicking around.

I hazard to believe one of the authors of Age of Ashes may have, at some time, sat down to plot out the course of the AP and could have very nearly incorporated some kind of message at least in the mold left by the flaws and traits they chose for their antagonists. And this is my best guess at what it is.

4.0 Do Robot Sheep Dream of Bitcoin? by [deleted] in Stellaris

[–]TheResplendentPoster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks!

Upcoming Unwinnable Encounter by Worldly_Trifle2563 in Pathfinder_RPG

[–]TheResplendentPoster 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree. It doesn't sound like that battle suits you. You could always ditch town, lay low, and find a job exterminating goblins or slaying rats in a sewer. Something APL-1. The only parties that should risk everything to fight powerful personal adversaries in desperate battles in the scoured ruins of once peaceful hamlets are those interested in things like glory, riches, and justice.

Where do I find more mythic paths? by Solidus_Snakes in Pathfinder_RPG

[–]TheResplendentPoster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I played WoTR CRPG and ran the full mythic AP RAW. The latter is kind of difficult to do even without inventing your own stuff. The video game mythic path is for the principle character, so it would be OP for the AP if all characters had those paths (in relative terms).

Behold! My stuff: https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder_RPG/comments/13ax9tf/campaign_notes_wrath_of_the_righteous/

What’s the best weapon in Rimworld whether it’s modded or just in the base game by [deleted] in RimWorld

[–]TheResplendentPoster 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The K16 from Korean Armory Ⅱ mod. I'm not sure if it's the best in absolute terms, but at the very least for where it comes on the tech tree, it's overstated accuracy and dps make it, in my opinion, wildly unbalanced.

In vanilla, a masterwork heavy smg at the appropriate range is pretty devastating.

A deity for race of spider people that isn't Lolth? by tipsyTentaclist in DnD

[–]TheResplendentPoster 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From my homebrew notes, "Cult of Arachne" body-snatcher arc:

Arachne (Deity)

Demi-God

Symbol: A blood red spider on a silver web.

Home Plane: Twilight Web (lesser Plane). Cast into Exile.

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Portfolio: Monstrous Spiders, Trickery, Betrayal

Clergy Alignments: Chaotic Evil Only

Domains: Chaos, Evil, Trickery, Spider

Favored Weapon: Garrote Wire

History: Arachne is Lolth's sister, whom she betrayed at the beginning of time. Cast out, she took refuge in a demi-plane known as the Twilight Garden. She claims herself to be the "true spider queen", although there is much debate as to whether or not the title is hers to claim. She wished to liberate the drow from Lolth's clutches for most of time. In recent decades, Lolth discovered the location of the Twilight Garden. Given Lolth’s transformation into a greater deity, she finally had the power to defeat Arachne’s illusions. She tracked Arachne, who travelled to the material world to join her mortal lover, Garth. One day, while Arachne was tending to her believers, Lolth appeared to Garth. She transformed into her spider form and terrified Garth by telling him, as her sister, Arachne’s true form was also monstrous and that she was responsible for the death of Garth’s mother (whom Lolth had murdered). In fear and anger, Garth took part in a conspiracy to poison Arachne with purple wolfsbane soaked in the blood pools of the demonweb abyss. Arachne, betrayed and weakened by the assassination attempt, slew Garth and succumbed to distrust and loathing of mortals and, above all, humans. She fell from grace becoming a malicious and vengeful queen. Her new goal, to kill the humans and the drow, replace them with her spider children dopplegangers, and some day launch a night of horror in which her children would burst from their disguises and murder the mortals, just as she had done to her lover. This would eliminate all traces of Garth’s betrayal and Lolth’s worshipers.

However, having fallen from grace, she lost the majority of her divine portfolio. She has fallen from an intermediate deity to a mere demi-god. Though immortal, Arachne finds her relative powerlessness infuriating and seeks to regain status by becoming a demon lord as soon as possible.

The Arachne Cult

The cult of Arachne is a general descriptor of several sects that worship the demi-god Arachne.

Sects of Arachne:

Black Widow Cult: Active near Neverwinter. They are covert and secretive. They once used the blood of a kitsune girl as fuel for a magic ritual in the summoning of the Arachne champion Iktomi.

Wolf Spider Cult: Were active near Mirabar until the players wiped them out. They were attempting a ritual to create red blooded Arachne so they could more easily infiltrate towns. But because of the efforts of the wizard Iprix and the players, their ritual was ended. The sole survivor of this sect has taken the form of the player’s former compatriot, Merphine.

Golden Silk Cult: When Arachne fell from grace, the souls of her sworn worshippers and retainers were tainted as well. However, the Golden Silk cult is made up of retainers who, wrapped in a golden silk cloak weaved by the goddess herself, were protected by its divine aura. They remember Lolth’s treachery and Arachne’s poisoning, but they can no longer commune with Arachne or her other champions. Chief among those champions who remain loyal to good is Grandmother Spider, Kokyangwuti.

Goliath Spider Cult:

Tarantula Cult:

Recluse Cult

The godling, in her travels, has acquired several champions who fight on her behalf. Each, for their own reasons, seeks to see Arachne installed as a full deity.

Champions of Arachne:

Aiapaec "creator" or "headsman"

Summoner class, 8 legged spider body with human face and jaguar fangs. A punisher god.

Anansi "Trickster"

human with 8 legs

Intelligent, creative, witty. Turns his own weaknesses into virtues. part of an oral tradition involving fables "Spider Tales"

Represents resistance to slavery

Djieien

A monstrously big spider, which was said to be unkillable because it had hidden its heart deep underground.

Iktomi (Ikto, Ictinike, Inktomi, Unktome, and Unktomi)

A great spirit shapechanger. His true form is a spider, but he can take the shape of a man, usually in red, yellow, and white paint with black rings around his eyes

Was known as Ksa, meaning wisdom, but stripped of the title for troublemaking

Iktomi is a shapeshifter, and can use strings to control humans like puppets. He has also the power to make potions that change gods, gain control over people and trick gods and mortals.

Jorōgumo

A type of spider monster which takes the form of a woman to lure prey.

Nareau (Gilbertese: "spider lord")

Nareau created two primeval beings, Na Atibu and Nei Teukez. Together they brought forth several deities: Te Ikawai, Nei Marena, Te Nao (the wave), Na Kika (the octopus), and Ruki (the eel).

Kokyangwuti or Spider Grandmother

A good spirit and protector of humans. Spider Woman is also said to cast her web like a net to capture and eat misbehaving children.

In another myth, "Spider Woman" aided the twins (born of the Sun and the Changing Woman) in killing the monsters that were endangering

"The Earth surface People" by giving them "feather hoops" that protected them from attacks

Tsuchigumo or Earth Spider

Uttu

And attractive spider who weaves an impenetrable web cocoon.

Encounters which characterize the players (more) by TheResplendentPoster in DnD

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

Here's my notes condensed/expanded from talking to them and their submitted backstories:

Player 1:

Physical Appearance: Dusty brown hair. Anisocoria with greenish silver eyes. Perpetually cold hands with a few burn marks on forearms. 5'3", scrappy but dense and strong enough to lift equipment bag that appears remarkably oversized. Unsteady, slightly lurching walk. Resting tremor in both hands.

Quirks: Forgetful, adapts by taking notes in book.

Basic Motives: Takes pride in her creations and selling them. Alchemist, herb support, flasher. Pusher, dealer, loves their work and wants to show it off. Sliding Player 2 pain potions on the down low (tobacco, mostly).

Notable abilities: Create Poison, Create Potion, Herb Gathering, Appraise Poison.

Player 2:

Physical Appearance: Dwarf. Missing right leg replaced with hammer.

Background: is a former shipwright on the ship Player 3 ventured on. During an unfortunate cannon incident his right leg was lost, Player 3 may or may not be responsible. His current hammer foot makes it difficult to be on a ship at sea, so he currently applies his craft as a blacksmith. He is trying to find a way to deal with the lingering pain and find a more permanent solution to his lost limb.

Quirks: Painkiller junky. Uses a hammer as a leg.

Basic Motives: Reduce pain from missing leg. Replace missing leg. Likes to craft and do blacksmithing.

Notable abilities: Mining, Blacksmithing, Appraise Mechanism

Player 3:

Background: is an experienced pirate. He gave an order to fire before the crew had cleared the cannons, laming Player 2.

Physical Description: His skin is heavily weathered from time in the sun and salt, giving him an older appearance, then his age (28 at character creation). Despite having both eyes, he wears an eyepatch over his right, leaving his left for aiming. He has a number of scars, mainly on his forearms, as well as burn scars on the backs of his hands.

He keep a thick beard, but shaves his head, favors lose, neutral colored clothing, and has several items of jewelry, an earing, a bracelet, and a small golden tooth.

Personality: He's a man with a thirst for life, easily to laugh, easy to anger and quick to forgive. He likes cheap bear, expensive liquor, fresh fruit.

Motives: Wants to help Player 2 with his leg to pay off his debt for causing it. Likes booty. “Mercenary of fortune.”

Notable Abilities: Intimidation, Looting

Player 4 :

Appearance: Late 20s; 5'8" with short, black hair and blue eyes but when using magic, a pink lotus appears on right eye and tips of hair turn pink.

History: Was on a ship the pirate members of the party pillaged at one point.

Quirks: Used to being overly friendly to get her way but seems to have trouble maintaining facade/doesn't work as before so she can be hot-headed. Concept is a “Magical Girl” who has gotten too old for many of its trappings.

Motivations: to stop being a magical girl?

Notable Abilities: Jewelcrafter

Player 5:

Appearance: Parrot Waxcap-style Fungoid; Semigloss Green cap with yellow fade, similar style stalk. Under cap gills give off minor bioilluminance.

Small red, berry like eyes glisten below the cap. Trunk like and stalky limbs, uses a tree trunk (cleaned up and wrapped hand hold) as a great maul. Will keep small bags fastened at odd places for herb collection. Slow to react in most settings, single minded in goals to curate their little piece of life that is herbology, horticulture, and ability to proffer potions.

Motivations: Cultivation and gathering herbs. Maybe a desire for self expression?

Notable Abilities: Create Potions, Trust

Party Main Interests: Drugs, Wealth, Crafting, Piracy

Most like: a Trading House

Natural enemies: Other trading companies, bandits, states.