Old DM's & New Tricks [Looking for cool Pathfinder stuff]

[Chambers]

Hello Playground! I recently volunteered to take over DM duties for a group of my friends that play Pathfinder. I'm starting a new campaign for them and though I know them from my extended gaming circle I haven't really played with them. I know all about 3.5 and have a pretty good grasp on what the Pathfinder classes can do. What I'm interested in here is some advice, tips, and suggestions for cool or neat things that are different or unique in Pathfinder as opposed to 3.5. To my understanding it is strictly a Pathfinder game, no 3.5 material allowed.

The campaign will start at 11th level with new characters. This gaming group has played through 2 and 1/2 Adventure Paths (Rise of the Runelords, Skull & Shackles, and some of Way of the Wicked), while I have played exactly 0 games in the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Golarion. So as way of setting up the campaign the players are choosing which Region we play in, who their Patron is (important NPC friendly to the party), and some specifics about their Stronghold that they're getting (i.e. a Wizards Tower or Warlords Keep, etc). As of this moment none of those particular details have been decided. All Paizo material available on the SRD is allowed (except for Mythic rules).

What are some cool monsters in Pathfinder that weren't in 3.5 (or are significantly different in a good way)? What are some neat PF magic items that they would probably like to find? Are there any traps (game-design wise) in PF that I should avoid, like underwhelming monsters or spells? What are some cool dungeons that would be fun to go through?

[upho]

Hello Playground! I recently volunteered to take over DM duties for a group of my friends that play Pathfinder. I'm starting a new campaign for them and though I know them from my extended gaming circle I haven't really played with them. I know all about 3.5 and have a pretty good grasp on what the Pathfinder classes can do. What I'm interested in here is some advice, tips, and suggestions for cool or neat things that are different or unique in Pathfinder as opposed to 3.5. To my understanding it is strictly a Pathfinder game, no 3.5 material allowed.

The campaign will start at 11th level with new characters. This gaming group has played through 2 and 1/2 Adventure Paths (Rise of the Runelords, Skull & Shackles, and some of Way of the Wicked), while I have played exactly 0 games in the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Golarion. So as way of setting up the campaign the players are choosing which Region we play in, who their Patron is (important NPC friendly to the party), and some specifics about their Stronghold that they're getting (i.e. a Wizards Tower or Warlords Keep, etc). As of this moment none of those particular details have been decided. All Paizo material available on the SRD is allowed (except for Mythic rules).

What are some cool monsters in Pathfinder that weren't in 3.5 (or are significantly different in a good way)? What are some neat PF magic items that they would probably like to find? Are there any traps (game-design wise) in PF that I should avoid, like underwhelming monsters or spells? What are some cool dungeons that would be fun to go through?Whoa, I think there's tons and tons of stuff which would fit here. But as I haven't actually played 3.5 for more than eight years now, there's probably also a lot of stuff I believe to be unique in PF but which did exist in 3.5 and I've simply forgotten about. So please forgive me if anything of the following is old news.

First, if the players are still more used to 3.5 than PF, I suggest you make good use of the many PF unique classes when possible. I think especially the alchemist, bloodrager, magus, summoner, and to some extent the barbarian, gunslinger and combat maneuver specialist monk archetypes (such as the tetori and maneuver master), stand out as different from 3.5 classes and are often suitable to combine with monster races and/or PC races with various templates.

Of special interest is I think the bloodrager, the eldritch scion magus archetype and the synthesist summoner archetype - the first two because bloodrager bloodlines allow for some pretty different supernatural stuff which combines well also with less civilized races, while the synth is just unlike anything else and can be customized into almost anything weird. These three also stand out as having the potential to be true melee power houses, and especially when combined with larger sized humanoid(-ish) monsters they can be very effective in combat roles other than the old damage dealer/damage sponge brute. For example, a grabbing (Snatch feat) huge sized humanoid or monstrous humanoid with primalist bloodrager levels and the aberrant bloodline (for additional reach), Unexpected Strike and Savage Dirty Trick rage powers plus Combat Reflexes, Intimidating Prowess, Cornugon Smash and grapple feats can make for one hell of a melee controller/debuffer, something which I believe most 3.5 and even PF players won't expect from what they'll undoubtedly see as just another typical melee brute. (Shameless advertising: for extra fun, flexible and truly monstrous bloodrager melee focused opponents, use my homebrew bloodrager archetype - the wrathblood (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?442363-Wrathblood-The-Monster-Bloodrager-Archetype-New-and-Improved-Monstrous-Thread!).)

Second, there are quite a few new and/or altered outsiders related to the planes of the Golarion setting which differs from the standard 3.5. For example daemons (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/daemons) (NE) include a bunch of new interesting monsters. Also, certain creatures with a old names are new, such as the nicely horrible Hellraiser cenobite-inspired sadomasochistic kytons (http://archivesofnethys.com/MonsterDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Interlocutor) from the Plane of Shadow (and of course somewhat related to Zon-Kuthon).

Third, I believe there are a few new templates which can be of interest, though PF so far has fewer than I remember 3.5 to have. I personally like the Graveknight (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/graveknight-cr-2), which is basically a powerful combat oriented version of the lich and IMO much more interesting than the old death knight (which also exists in PF). Perfect for recurring villains, especially if also given some good disguise magic to keep their true nature and "resurrections" hidden.

I think these are very similar but generally slightly less powerful and flexible than in 3.5 (nothing quite as versatile as the MIC stuff from Paizo yet) but thankfully also a bit more balanced, although there are some things which I think stand out. For example, items which grant natural attacks (such as the Helm of the Mammoth Lord (gore), the Abyssal Bloodline Amulet (claws), the Fleshwarped Scorpion's Tail (sting) and more) can be great for virtually any melee character who doesn't already use the associated limb to make attacks, and absolutely awesome for a PC focused on natural attacks. (Just remember that natural attacks work differently from 3.5 and can be quite a bit more powerful for martial PCs).

There's also of course a bunch of generally very useful/good standard-ish items, like the relatively cheap cracked opalescent white pyramid (weapon familiarity with one weapon, grants WF when put into wayfinder), cracked dusty rose (+1 initiative) and cracked pale green prism (+1 competence attack or saves) iouns, the handy haversack (a smaller but cheaper and "faster" bag of holding) and lots of other stuff. A few other items also stand out as great but highly dependent on your players' character builds (furious weapon for those with rage, reliable and distance weapon for gun wielders, dueling (PSFG) weapon for most combat maneuver builds, maelstrom shield for those who make shield bashes, the two versions of celestial armor for those who wear armor, eidolon anchoring harness for most summoners, gloves of dueling for fighters, rod of giant summoning for anyone focused on summoning, pearls of power for prepared casters, orange prism ioun for any casters and much more). I suggest you check out the various class guides (http://zenithgames.blogspot.se/2012/11/the-comprehensive-pathfinder-guides.html)and of course talk to your players (and/or have them write wish-lists) for more tips on this.

I think you'll easily recognize the underwhelming monsters and spells, since these things are similar enough to 3.5. My tip is that you generally try to avoid more damage focused opponents, and especially those focused on crits and/or those which also have a rather poor durability, since they have a tendency to be very unpredictable and increase the risk of boring rocket-tag style combat. Unfortunately, since the bestiaries are written to primarily be compatible with the CRB, the number of suitable feats are very limited for many creatures, which means they almost always primarily contain stuff which promotes rocket tag and/or are simply very underwhelming (such as a number of crit feats, Awesome Blow, Improved Natural Attack, Weapon Focus etc.). I therefore suggest you replace a few of at least the more challenging opponents' feats, preferably with options which help make them more tactically interesting (combat maneuver stuff is often good) and durable rather than increase their DPR.

Also remember to check for Spell Resistance (which is a lot more prevalent in PF), CMD values and of course various immunities so you don't unintentionally keep robbing certain characters of their main combat strengths.

And before I forget, you should probably ban the Leadership and Sacred Geometry feats.

I have played very few published adventures, so I unfortunately don't have any tips on cool dungeons.

Finally, just as in 3.5, be wary of the old caster/martial balance issues, which are very much existing in PF as well, especially in the higher levels which your game will focus on. If you feel up to it and the players are interested, IME a good way to help mitigate the risks of running into this problem is to include Path of War (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/path-of-war) material (from Dreamscarred Press, available for free on d20pfsrd.com), which can help make martials considerably more versatile, especially in combat. This is based on the system introduced in Tome of Battle but has a its own classes, disciplines, feats etc, and a lot more options, also for the Paizo core martial classes. I also think PoW is better designed and more balanced than both ToB and Paizo stuff.

Hope this might help. And good luck!

[Chambers]

Thanks for the suggestions. We had a mini-session last Sunday and worked out some details for the campaign. It's going to be set in Lastwall and the characters Stronghold is an island fort near the mouth of the Path River. The first session is going to be the assault on the fort, as it's currently occupied by a black dragon and a tribe of sahuagin.

I think the group is more familiar with Pathfinder than 3.5. I floated the idea of Path of War stuff but no one's jumped on it. The party is as follows (subject to change): Gnome Illusionist, Dwarf Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer), Human Fighter (Two-Handed Fighter), [Insert Race] Hunter, and I don't remember what the other player is playing. Either a healer or a rogue.

The Black Dragon is Adult (CR 11), and I'm still calculating how much XP a whole tribe of Sahuagin are worth (Tribe per the monster listing: 90 CR 2 warriors, 3 Under-Priestesses, etc). There's a few other monsters in the Fort that are thematic (A pair of Sirens, some big sharks, maybe something creepy/fiendish). I found some really cool spells for the priestesses. Bloodbath, Blood Blaze, Blood of the Martyr, Boiling Blood, Fleshworm Infestation, Aura of Cannabalism, Hyrdophobia & Enemys Heart. It's like Tucker's Kobolds, except they're fishpeople and they want to eat your heart! Thanks for the reminder about natural attacks, I need to read up on that for the sahuagin claws & bites, as well as the dragon.

I like what PF did with the Simple Templates, like Advanced Creature. That's such a great idea, why didn't I think of it? :smallsmile: