(Woah, it's been a while since I've updated this site.)
Read that my new years resolution, that I've seemed to have forgotten, was to start a campaign. I should really refocus on that. The players and rulesystem is still up in the air, but its down to either a traditional fantasy (Pathfinder) or dystopian cyberpunk (Eclipse Phase). To be honest, I would rather play a game of Eclipse Phase before running one. As well, Pathfinder is a nice game to get a group together with.
| Barbarian | CN | Animal Destruction Strength War | Battleaxe |
| Blacksmith | LN | Artifice Law Protection Rune | Warhammer |
| BonesD | NE | Death Destruction Evil Trickery | Scythe |
| Empress | LE | Charm Evil Law Nobility | Whip |
| GatekeeperD | TN | Death Darkness Knowledge Repose | Quarterstaff |
| Guardian | NG | Good Liberation Protection Strength | Warhammer |
| Healer | LG | Community Good Healing Liberation | Spear |
| Hunter | CG | Animal Strength Plant Weather | Bow |
| Judge | LG | Glory Law Liberation Protection | Mace |
| King | LG | Community Glory Law Nobility | Longsword |
| Lover | CN | Charm Healing Madness Trickery | Dagger |
| Mad | CE | Chaos Madness Travel Trickery | Spiked Chain |
| Mage | TN | Artifice Knowledge Magic Rune | Quarterstaff |
| NecromancerD | LE | Death Evil Magic Rune | Quarterstaff |
| Planter | NG | Good Plant Sun Weather | Sickle |
| Rogue | CN | Charm Luck Liberation Trickery | Dagger |
In the world, deities are plenty. Temples and shrines are scattered to worship the myriad of deities, however worshipers never learned their names. Only the highest priests and priestess have learn the names of their deity, and such knowledge is kept secret. With such secrets, the deities are best acknowledge by the form they take and the profession they appear as.
Lorekeepers debate the reason for this and blame the events that lead to Second Age of the world, the age when the world was cover in darkness and cataclysm. During the first age, the deities had direct connection to the world and help bring prosperity to all facades of the world. The people of the world grew pampered and arrogant from the gods' presence. The gods felt necessary to remove themselves from the world, and the world entered the Second Age when a star fell to the ground.
After centuries of turmoil, the deities return to guide and influence the world. Taken only mortal forms, they stayed anonymous in their actions. They also began appearing as visions to wise men and leaders, allowing monuments and temples to began to appear again across the world. Even when they grew notable and return to the world, they kept their names to themselves.
Well, with me growing up on AD&D. I thought cantrips and level 0 spells to be relative weak. Not in Pathfinder though.
Any class with Orisons or Cantrips has a steady supply of magic they can use. Casting 0-level spells don't use the memorization. Classes that prepare their spells memorized a list of 0-level spells, and then they can continue to reuse those spells over and over. The other classes (Bard and Sorcerer) that don't prepare just can cast any of their cantrips at anytime.
So for example, a cleric memorized Create Water, Light, and Stabilize. That cleric will always have the option to cast those spells... no matter how many times he casts them. However, if he needs to cast Virtue, he must rememorize a new list of spells. A more combative example is a wizard having Acid Splash as a memorized cantrip, each turn he can use his magic to deal damage in combat.
This ability makes magic-users always have a means to cast spells, and they never drain all their powers like in prior versions of AD&D.
Gunpowder isn't unheard in the world, however most realms only see it as a novelty. Alchemists had stumble across the mixture making blackpowder, but little has found a suitable application to the substance. The majority is used for entertainment purposes, such as fireworks, but a few engineers managed to design devices to transform blackpowder into weaponry.
Such weapons are a rarity throughout the world, many see them as trinkets and curio pieces. Only a few realms produce the weaponry for military purposes, the most well know is the Dwarven Halls of Felsite. Locked in a war with several goblin tribes lead by a fierce warlord, outnumbered and surrounded the dwarves designed the first reliable muskets. From behind they're thick stone fortresses and the ingenuity of dwarven tinkerers, they repelled the goblin hoards. However, this knowledge of gunsmithing remained a secret within the halls of Felsite, but tales of the firearm's abilities spread through the realms.
As alchemist and engineers attempt to recreate their own version of the musket, only a few inventors met success. And even then, many lords didn't accept the idea of using them in there armies. The risk of the blackpowder exploding on there own men, and complexity of the devices swayed lords to dismiss the weaponry in favor to practical crossbows and pikes. Only a few nations accepted the idea, but only to the less complicated larger cannons and mortars in means of protecting their fortresses and ships.
With most rejection from the lords, inventors either kept their secrets to themselves or formed small guilds to supply private groups with weaponry or the masses with common fireworks. Out of the guilds, a few of venture out to the world and bringing their personally firearms to face the world for glory and treasure. These few are known as "Gunslingers". Gunslingers are rare to find, but tales of their deeds are sometimes confused with sorcery from the unknowing, the fire and smoke they produce often mistaken with the magic of the arcane.
The Gunslinger class (in the Ultimate Combat book) is open for players to pick. Available freely at the character's start, but cannot be gained in game unless special circumstances are ment, either coming across another gunslinger or gunsmith that will be willing to train you or the coming across a firearm in your travels.
Another thing, guns are rare. You will more often be spending the 1,500 GP for a basic musket due to that fact. Suppliers are rare and demand is slim in the world, forcing gunslingers to upkeep and repair the guns themselves. With guns only emerging in the world, advance weapons (like rifles) are unheard off or even don't exist, and only the early firearms and simple cannons are available in the world.
Most rules are addressed in the book: firearms are consider exotic, rolling a within the misfire range gives the weapon a broken condition (or explodes if already broken), Gunslinger start with a broken firearm, etc etc.
I only reference the book for rules on firearms and the Gunslinger class cause I admire the idea and appeal of early firearms, and allowing players the option to pursue such characters concepts and me the ability to incorporate blackpowder to the setting. Anything else in the book is up to debate, but I'll primarily use the core book for the majority of rulings.
And talking about emerging gunpowder, let's watch this trailer:
Traps are often designed for one purpose: to kill and/or capture trespasser. That s a pretty easy concept to understand with it comes to trap design. Now, the question is: where will you find them?
Traffic is a big deal for trap design. In a dungeon that will have lots of the inhabitants moving about, you won't find many traps scattered though out the halls. And if they were traps, all would be linked to arming switches to provide a measure of safety for in the inhabitants. High traffic areas will probably only have traps at entrances or vaults, or built into important chests most won't open.
Upkeep and maintenance plays a role in trap design as well. In an abandon keep or dungeons, some traps may have already been sprung by prior adventurers, or the time decay to in can't be used. Gears rust and ropes fray without some keepers tending to the traps to ensure their working order.
Probably the biggest place to find traps is in the areas no one should be venturing into. This most being scared tombs, hidden vaults, and the such. Such locations could have traps in every corridor.
Traps make a dungeon more a challenge, as well as entertaining. Traps harm, hinder, or even leave characters confused (see 'idiot buttons'). As well, puzzles are often intergrated with traps, allowing players to match wits with the dungeon instead of simple cunning or skill.
Let talk a few rules behind traps though... game-mechanics that is. Pathfinder and in its ingenuity, finding traps only take a Perception check. Anyone can make Perception checks, and then anyone can find traps. The only plus that Rogues have is that they add half their Rogue level to finding traps, as well as Search is a class skill. Rogue also have a better chance to disarming traps to, since they get a modifier just like finding them. Plus Trap-finding ability allows Rogues to be able to disarm magical traps, non-Rogues cannot.
Another thing about trap-finding is how GM's deal with it. One DM we had made our Thief roll for each square as we traveled. It slowed the pace of gameplay and aggravated the Thief's player to the point of saying 'Fuck it' and let the douche cleric take the lead.
In both 3.5 and Pathfinder, there is a rule that settles this... called "Taking 10", and it goes to all times of skills. It simply stats: If there is no risk in the environment and the character can take his time, he can treat the check as rolled a 10 and add his modifers. This means if the characters are not in conflict or not rushed, ie: running from death, the player can always be counted as rolling 10 plus any relating modifier. So the Thief in the prior incident could simply state, "I combing the area carefully as we make our way though the halls." The DM should translated it as Taking 10, just to quicken the pace. The thief would've been searching with the result of 17-ish as he walked, and whenever an item is found, the DM could either alert the Thief and allow him to closer inspect the area, or provide a Reflex test... depending on situations.
(Personally... I feel the DM's handling of the game (as well as his campaign) was done wrong. But that's personal opinion.)
With the Taking 10 option, it just helps streamline dungeon encounters. Let alone, Pathfinders approach allows the ability of surviving a dungeon with traps without a Rogue being in the party. A variety of characters can find traps, be it any individual with Perception or anyone with divination spells. All which allows parties not to depend on a Rogue to do such tasks.
