PF-erized Expedition to Castle Ravenloft

[PaleEnchantress]

  After giving the matter some consideration, whilst the status of a Co-DM would certainly be a better description of what PaleEnchantress is angling for, I feel potentials problems could arise from them having only one character, which would oblige the party to not try and kill the conniving chessmaster as soon as they finish giving their spiel as that would not be fun for them, which I feel should be an equally viable option for the PCs as playing along would be. There may be some "enemy of my enemy" style NPCs in the module, I feel it is import that one course of action with them not be more obvious narrative speaking than another, and the best way to insure this is to have them all controlled by me.

  Me and PaleEnchantress had a game concept a while back, and I think it would be best if we resumed that instead of trying to incorporate them here, especially since the Master of Ravenloft doesn't really give his minions too much agency to betray him.

I was beginning to see that as the most likely outcome. No big deal several individuals here have proven to be beneath my standards for recreational associations. We will continue our talks in PM.

Good luck everyone. <3

[TheGlyphstone]

So GM, when were you going to make a final-cut decision?

[Ixy]

Um... yeah, I guess I'd love to know what the vision of the game is overall, and if I would even be considered.  Thanks...

[LisztesFerenc]

  This game will be the standard Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, save that some encounters will be cut/merged/made more easily by passable by non-combat means to prevent the game bogging down. You get called to Barovia, and decide to stay to rid the land of the evil that so obviously blights it.

  I will likely be adding characters on Friday or Saturday.

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  Meanwhile, just a couple more notes on mechanics/characters:

Potion, Cure Light (3):   150   neg (1D8+6)
Potion, Cure Moderate (3):   900   Neg (2D8+5)

  How are your healing potions so strong? Should they be 1d8+1 and 2d8+3?

The net difference is that I trade the jumping for the tumbling skill aspects in Acrobatics and it'll make her fun to watch roll all over the place.

  Sure, that’s a reasonable swap.

Rravenloft as a setting would be so much fun, especially all sexed -up.  I have tried to make a rogue that would be of benefit to the missions, linked below. I will add traits and background tonight.  I also have an urge to play a monk in this type of game, if that is an option that suits better.

Mostly I would love to play with interesting characters and horror elements in this setting.  If mechanics arguments will become the main focus then please let me know. On the other hand, I'll gladly cooperate for any mechanics necessary for balance so long as the story is active and moves at a reasonable pace.
Proposed character:http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=688997

  Looks good. Pathfinder unchained can be mixed with Pathfinder normal (chained?) right?

  Does Combat Trick allow you to bypass the preqs for the bonus feat? You don’t have +5 BAB for Defensive Weapon Training (you also need to choose which weapon group this applies to).

Shattered Psyche: Your mind is crowded with dozens of voices, fragmented snippets of your past lives. You take a -2 penalty on all Intelligence-based skill checks, Wisdom based skill checks, and concentration checks. You gain a +4 competence bonus on saving throws made against mind affecting effects. At 5th level, you're immune to charm effects. At 10th level, you're immune to compul-sion effects. At 15th level, you're immune to all mind-affecting effects. Pg. 57 of Valley of the Brain Collectors of the Iron Gods AP.

  Hmmm, seems a bit more powerful than the bonus provided by other oracle curses, and mind affecting is particularly relevant for Ravenloft, but it’s not terribly OP, so it should work.

Daaaaang -- that is a really good catch.  I'm actually impressed that you combed over the character sheet like that, GM.

I will amend my sheet to reflect that change, and I've also added background skills.

You give me far too much credit, I missed Blinkin’s character not qualifying for Improvisation. Any idea for a background story?

Melisandre Whitethorn

  I can’t find the tattoo you mention on her sheet. The runeward tattoo is similar, but it gives +1 insight bonus to saves, not resistance and its only against spells from 1 school magic, the wearer also gets the ability to use detect magic, but again only that one school. Is it just a refluffed cloak of resistance? That works, as long as the cost has been doubled for making it slotless.

  Is Sun Elf fluff? I can’t find a Pathfinder race, or are you using the 3.5 Sunelf stats?

  Any idea for a background story?

It's a Tiefling Alternate Racial Trait:
Entirely different than the Pass For Human feat.

  Well that’s totally not needlessly confusing Paizo.

Oh, and since it's worth asking, one of the other maneuvers I was going to take allows me to strike at a possessing fiend or spirit without harming the person it's possessing. Is an ability like that going to utterly derail anything in the upcoming module, and thus I should swap it out?

  Not that I can see. If I’ve missed one encounter where it will be super useful, then it will be a nice surprise for both of us.

I notice we have a lack of actual arcane casters (1 level of bard doesn't count!) so, I can put up a "plan B" character - a Witch, pr maybe a psychic or occultist (Occult classes + Ravenloft = mi gusta) since, eh, we kinda need it, and I'll be first to admit that Keely's a bit light-hearted for the scenario   :D

  She should be fine. No reason Barovia can’t support a light hearted character. It gives me something to break…


  …apart, to see how it works. Wait, that didn’t improve things did it?

[Blinkin]

Oops, damn typo's. I'll fix the potions and make the change to the equipment the morning.

[TheGlyphstone]

I imagine the feat/trait thing is because Tieflings have a number of other alt-racial traits that make them explicitly inhuman-looking...hooves, prehensile tails, claws and fangs, etc. Pass For Human the racial trait forbids taking those, and it might have been more elegant to just make the alt-trait than graft in a whole paragraph on additional restrictions for the Feat when specifically applied to a Tiefling.

Plus, it means I don't waste a feat slot, which is nice.

[Ixy]

  Looks good. Pathfinder unchained can be mixed with Pathfinder normal (chained?) right? 

  Does Combat Trick allow you to bypass the preqs for the bonus feat? You don’t have +5 BAB for Defensive Weapon Training (you also need to choose which weapon group this applies to).

My understanding is that it can... description of the class variant, according to the SRD: "The revised rogue gains enhancements to its combat abilities and solidifies its role as the master of skills."  Hopefully that's not unbalancing... it's supposed to just open up options.

And you're right about Combat Trick... plus the character lacks the intelligence score requirement.  ooops... I apparently just effed that up... thanks for the catch.  I will swap that out with something less wrong.

I also wanted to be sure that the race features were ok with you.  I went with those in the SRD to replace the defense, the spell-like ability, and the skill focuses, but I think if anything it's a little toned-down (I hope).

Thanks again for your time on this

[LisztesFerenc]

I imagine the feat/trait thing is because Tieflings have a number of other alt-racial traits that make them explicitly inhuman-looking...hooves, prehensile tails, claws and fangs, etc. Pass For Human the racial trait forbids taking those, and it might have been more elegant to just make the alt-trait than graft in a whole paragraph on additional restrictions for the Feat when specifically applied to a Tiefling.

Plus, it means I don't waste a feat slot, which is nice.

  I have no problem with the Trait, I just wished they had given it a different name so that googling it didn't give me the Half race only feat. Incidentally, what type of tiefling are you? Regular, or one of the alternate heritages?

My understanding is that it can... description of the class variant, according to the SRD: "The revised rogue gains enhancements to its combat abilities and solidifies its role as the master of skills."  Hopefully that's not unbalancing... it's supposed to just open up options.

  I checked properly: whilst it is a straight upgrade mechanically, they only made an unchained barbarian, monk, rogue, and summoner, so clearly they were intended to be used with chained classes (unless unchained parties can only be composed of those 4 classes).

I also wanted to be sure that the race features were ok with you.  I went with those in the SRD to replace the defense, the spell-like ability, and the skill focuses, but I think if anything it's a little toned-down (I hope).

  I'm fine with swapping sorcery for a tail and the +1 Nat AC in return for a less varied energy resistance, but how are you doing the rest? Doesn't it take a feat to get an alternate heritage? Commune in particular seems a little too good, since its a 2nd level spell for a 5th, even if it is a little more situational.

[TheGlyphstone]

Regular. Taking a variant heritage would have definitely cost me a feat, and I don't really have any to spare.

As for unchained stuff, you can use it alongside regular stuff, as long as it's not identical - you can't, for instance, multiclass Barbarian/Unchained Barbarian, any more than you can multiclass Rogue/Ninja. It's one or the other for any single character.

[PhantomPistoleer]

You give me far too much credit, I missed Blinkin’s character not qualifying for Improvisation. Any idea for a background story?

Yes.  I have a very broad backstory for Hector, but I would require some GM guidance to peg it down.  It's not particularly brilliant at any rate.  Hector is a simple person often placed in complicated situations, and it's been tough for him to deal with the ramifications of his decisions in those situations.  For example, given the limited amount of spells he's able to cast, there were oftentimes instances where he had to choose who got to live and who got to die because he only had one spell left.

He carries a lot on his shoulders, and he can't really travel any stretch of road without meeting people who he's known or has heard about.  "That's Timmy.  His father was Timothy the Herald, who died in my tent because I had spent the very last ounce of my energy stabilizing a man named Bradley.  I chose Bradley over Timothy because Bradley had three sons.  Timothy only had one."

Hector is haunted by his choices -- but he's also haunted by his work.  Not only did he get to choose who lived and who died, but Hector was expected to restore soldiers to health so that they could re-enter the battlefield.  Some begged him not to heal them.  Many of his patients did not survive the war.

So -- I sort of need the framework for a great war that occurred recently. 

[Pockets]

Also, the Unchained Monk is incompatible with the normal Archetypes.

[Pockets]

Regular. Taking a variant heritage would have definitely cost me a feat, and I don't really have any to spare.

Taking a variant heritage doesn't cost a feat.

Copied from Blood of Fiends pg. 18

Regardless of where their fiendish blood comes from, most tieflings exhibit similar traits and abilities. The unpredictable manner in which fiendish essence combines with a mortal soul often makes it nearly impossible for the average person to tell a tiefling’s heritage simply by looking. A few tieflings, however, retain more overt ties to the particular type of fiend that first corrupted their bloodlines. A player may choose one of the following 10 heritages for her tiefling character in place of the traditional tiefling racial features. Each heritage presents new ability modifiers, spell-like abilities, and skill modifiers, as well as a pair of custom traits. Each entry also discusses the most common (though by no means ubiquitous) personality traits, physical features, and places of origin of tieflings belonging to that particular heritage.

Ergo, the only thing you'd change would be what is specifically listed under the given heritage.

[TheGlyphstone]

Taking a variant heritage doesn't cost a feat.

Copied from Blood of Fiends pg. 18

Regardless of where their fiendish blood comes from, most tieflings exhibit similar traits and abilities. The unpredictable manner in which fiendish essence combines with a mortal soul often makes it nearly impossible for the average person to tell a tiefling’s heritage simply by looking. A few tieflings, however, retain more overt ties to the particular type of fiend that first corrupted their bloodlines. A player may choose one of the following 10 heritages for her tiefling character in place of the traditional tiefling racial features. Each heritage presents new ability modifiers, spell-like abilities, and skill modifiers, as well as a pair of custom traits. Each entry also discusses the most common (though by no means ubiquitous) personality traits, physical features, and places of origin of tieflings belonging to that particular heritage.

Ergo, the only thing you'd change would be what is specifically listed under the given heritage.

Then what the hell is the Fiendish Heritage feat for?

[Chulanowa]

  She should be fine. No reason Barovia can’t support a light hearted character. It gives me something to break…


  …apart, to see how it works. Wait, that didn’t improve things did it?

Yeah. You saw how that worked out for Firelord Ozai, right?  ;D

Still I think i'm gonna poke the witch idea and see what I come up with.

[Chulanowa]

Then what the hell is the Fiendish Heritage feat for?

Mostly it's there to get ignored by DM's who note that aasimar, skinwalkers, dhampir, and geniekin don't have to jump through that hoop like Tieflings do.

[Zaer Darkwail]

Then what the hell is the Fiendish Heritage feat for?

Considering Aasimars get similar alternatives without a feat spend, I think it's GM call to decide does he allow alternatives for tieflings without or with a feat. Some tiefling alternative special abilities (instead spell-alike) are very potent.

[Muse]

  I'm not sure, but I tink Fiendish Heratige is kind of out of date.   I thought it was from a thid party tiefling suplmenet, but it looks like I was wrong about that. 

  I can’t find the tattoo you mention on her sheet. The runeward tattoo is similar, but it gives +1 insight bonus to saves, not resistance and its only against spells from 1 school magic, the wearer also gets the ability to use detect magic, but again only that one school. Is it just a refluffed cloak of resistance? That works, as long as the cost has been doubled for making it slotless.

  Is Sun Elf fluff? I can’t find a Pathfinder race, or are you using the 3.5 Sunelf stats?

  Any idea for a background story?

Tatoos:  There are very few pre-existing tatoos.  I just used standard magic item creation rules and the rules for the Scribe Tatoo feat to make those tatoos.  +1 resitence bonus costs 1,000 gold.  Level one spell at first level with 1 day duration is also 1,000. 

  Sun elf is strictly fluff. 

  House Whitethorn were the ruling line of a failing elven comunity north of the Moonsea.  50 years ago, a band of Kiransulee worshiping drow--ousted from their home in the Underdark by worshipers of Lloth--raised an army of vampires, revenants, and other undead--along with some goblin minions--and assailed her homeland.  Every elf who didn't flee was slain, and the vampire spawn were put into stasus for future use. 

   A Whitethorn house retainer--a moon elf named Shara Thistledown-- escaped with young Melisandre.  The two settled in Raven's Bluff, where Shara took work as a trancandental alchemist's maid.  The pay included housing and an aprenticeship ofr Melisandre. 

  Over the next fourty years, Melisandre studdied trancandental alchemy and physical combat in preperation for leading a strike force to retake her homeland.  She focused on creating alchemical weapons for use against the undead.  A year and a half ago, she lead a force of elves and mercinaries--armed with Alchemical Flare Bolts, Undead Bane ARrows, and holy water to retake her home.  A few precision strikes goaded the drow to sacrafice the remainder of thier slave force to awaken the vampire spawn.  When the Vampire Spawn struck, Melisandre's force was ready with vials of Sun Flash.  Before the spawn could be routed, though, several priestess of Kiransulee sang a faith-specific spell refrered to as Threnody.  The elves and their alies were confroted by new waves of the undead wearing the faces of thier slain loved ones.  The elven force broke in horror and Melisandre could do nothing to rally them.   In her despair, the mists of Raveloft rose and stole her away. 

[Zaer Darkwail]

I wonder is my char okay now, crunch and fluff wise that is. I sort created a 'viking elves' in setting as part of my char background/origins. Not sure do they fit GM image though.

[Blinkin]

Lydia is finished. A couple of last minute changes, but nothing significant. Dropped a couple of items to get another, things like that.

[Pockets]

Then what the hell is the Fiendish Heritage feat for?

That feat is from the 2009 printing of Bastards of Erebus, it's not required as of the 2013 printing of Blood of Fiends.

[Ixy]

  I'm fine with swapping sorcery for a tail and the +1 Nat AC in return for a less varied energy resistance, but how are you doing the rest? Doesn't it take a feat to get an alternate heritage? Commune in particular seems a little too good, since its a 2nd level spell for a 5th, even if it is a little more situational.

Ability changes- Ugh.  Yeah, missed that. I can move that back.  The rest of it- I went with the table "Variant Abilities and Physical Features" I think. 

I thought Commune would be a better choice for the story as a vehicle to deliver DM instructions.  What if we changed it from a spell-like ability to a class feature, rather than the spell as written? Rather than just "poof, tell me the answer," the PC has to enact a ritual and meditation, risking harm to seek an infernal or diabolical being's advice without actually knowing who she will reach?  Also, we could leave it ambiguous as to whether the infernal or abyssal creature she reaches-- possibly an ancestor, possibly not-- will answer truthfully? It could be a vision, a trip, or even a semi-physical confrontation, requiring her to communicate back and forth with it, possibly trying to earn its approval. This opens up nasty possibilities, like "go sacrifice me that farmer's favorite goat before I tell you," or "You are not worthy, prepare to be flogged," or naughtier, elliquiy-tinged things that would sure be swell with me.

I can switch back any features you'd require, if you decide to go with this character... just let me know what you'd want to nix.  I appreciate the consideration either way.

[Muse]

  I think Melisandre is actualy ready now.  :)

[LisztesFerenc]

Tatoos:  There are very few pre-existing tatoos.  I just used standard magic item creation rules and the rules for the Scribe Tatoo feat to make those tatoos.  +1 resitence bonus costs 1,000 gold.  Level one spell at first level with 1 day duration is also 1,000.

From the item creation guide - "An item that does not take up one of the spaces on a body costs double." so it would cost 2,000gp.

House Whitethorn were the ruling line of a failing elven comunity north of the Moonsea.  50 years ago, a band of Kiransulee worshiping drow--ousted from their home in the Underdark by worshipers of Lloth--raised an army of vampires, revenants, and other undead--along with some goblin minions--and assailed her homeland.  Every elf who didn't flee was slain, and the vampire spawn were put into stasus for future use. 

   A Whitethorn house retainer--a moon elf named Shara Thistledown-- escaped with young Melisandre.  The two settled in Raven's Bluff, where Shara took work as a trancandental alchemist's maid.  The pay included housing and an aprenticeship ofr Melisandre. 

  Over the next fourty years, Melisandre studdied trancandental alchemy and physical combat in preperation for leading a strike force to retake her homeland.  She focused on creating alchemical weapons for use against the undead.  A year and a half ago, she lead a force of elves and mercinaries--armed with Alchemical Flare Bolts, Undead Bane ARrows, and holy water to retake her home.  A few precision strikes goaded the drow to sacrafice the remainder of thier slave force to awaken the vampire spawn.  When the Vampire Spawn struck, Melisandre's force was ready with vials of Sun Flash.  Before the spawn could be routed, though, several priestess of Kiransulee sang a faith-specific spell refrered to as Threnody.  The elves and their alies were confroted by new waves of the undead wearing the faces of thier slain loved ones.  The elven force broke in horror and Melisandre could do nothing to rally them.   In her despair, the mists of Raveloft rose and stole her away.

  Looks good, but this isn't the demiplane of Ravenloft, its in the material plane and is simply a realm with some funky localized magic geography.

So -- I sort of need the framework for a great war that occurred recently.

  The Riptide War – A period of coastal battles against a pirate fleet united by a charismatic aquatic elf called Dimma. The war lasted for two years and under his leadership pirate forces were capable of occupying coastal settlements for upwards of 6 months in one case. The war ended with Dimma’s death at the naval Battle of Ulllum’s Reef.

  War for the Silver Crown (Now sometimes called War of the Strix Tail) - The War to determine the succession of the Tavok Crown, eventually won by the armies Princess Elivira of House Machura, colloquially known as the Strix Tail House.

  The Canigmact Campaign – The slow, systematic, and brutal advance of a Canigmactii general into the lowlands of the Kingdom of Inixej. The war took 18 month, but had been decided in the first three, the defenders were outplayed tactically in every engagement. To this day, Canigmact controls 80% of the lowlands, and this campaign is cited as the reason to fear their military might.

  Or you can make up one of your own. Since this game takes place in Barovia, the outside world doesn’t matter yet, and I’m happy to have players design snippets of it via backstory.

I wonder is my char okay now, crunch and fluff wise that is. I sort created a 'viking elves' in setting as part of my char background/origins. Not sure do they fit GM image though.

  As above, I’m more than happy to have players design aspects of the world via their backstory.

Ability changes- Ugh.  Yeah, missed that. I can move that back.  The rest of it- I went with the table "Variant Abilities and Physical Features" I think. 

I thought Commune would be a better choice for the story as a vehicle to deliver DM instructions.  What if we changed it from a spell-like ability to a class feature, rather than the spell as written? Rather than just "poof, tell me the answer," the PC has to enact a ritual and meditation, risking harm to seek an infernal or diabolical being's advice without actually knowing who she will reach?  Also, we could leave it ambiguous as to whether the infernal or abyssal creature she reaches-- possibly an ancestor, possibly not-- will answer truthfully? It could be a vision, a trip, or even a semi-physical confrontation, requiring her to communicate back and forth with it, possibly trying to earn its approval. This opens up nasty possibilities, like "go sacrifice me that farmer's favorite goat before I tell you," or "You are not worthy, prepare to be flogged," or naughtier, elliquiy-tinged things that would sure be swell with me.

I can switch back any features you'd require, if you decide to go with this character... just let me know what you'd want to nix.  I appreciate the consideration either way.

  That does sound good, so let’s make the following changes:
Prehensile tail and Scaled Skin remain unchanged
You need to find a new feat instead Defensive Combat Training, which could be Fiendish Heritage, then rather than rolling on the table you simply swap Darkness for Contact Outer Planes with the above limitations (but CoP allows one word questions, not just yes/no ones, to make up for the unreliability). I like the ideas you have for the how divination works.


  Regarding the new rules for tiefling’s, I never saw the point. The tiefling was a complete race without it, and unlike the dhampir and skinwalker, it has more than enough alternate racial traits to keep it versatile (11 vs. the dhampires 5 and the skinwalkers 1). Even requiring a feat, the option to take it is still an advantage, and as for aasimars, I’d rather they had to take a feat to change their heritages too, instead of giving a huge dose of versatility to a race that doesn’t need it.

[Muse]

Okay, this not being ravenloft throws me for a loop, but it should be something i can roll with. 

Is this world multi-pantheistic?  If the faerunian pantheon can exist here, I simply tweak things so that geography isn't mentioned and that I flee with my men when the priestesses of Kiransulee break my army. 

*  *  *

This is the Inscribe Magic Tattoo feat: 

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/item-creation-feats/inscribe-magical-tattoo-item-creation

Magic tattoos are not sloteless.  However they do double the number of magic item slots on your body.  If that's too powerful and you don't want it in your campaign, I completely understand and will adjust so that my tattoos are a slotless wondrous item. 

[LisztesFerenc]

Okay, this not being ravenloft throws me for a loop, but it should be something i can roll with. 

Is this world multi-pantheistic?  If the faerunian pantheon can exist here, I simply tweak things so that geography isn't mentioned and that I flee with my men when the priestesses of Kiransulee break my army.

  As I said, Barovia is only what really matters for the game, so players are free to invent snippets of the setting through their backstory. It won't be set in Faerun, but there's no reason some dieties of that world wouldn't have found their way to the surrounding lands. The setting will certainly be multi-pantheistic though, I can say that much.

This is the Inscribe Magic Tattoo feat: 

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/item-creation-feats/inscribe-magical-tattoo-item-creation

Magic tattoos are not sloteless.

  From the feat - "Magical tattoos are treated as slotless magical items for pricing purposes."