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View Full Version : DM Help Campagin Direction/Horror in Pathfinder/Enemy balance ie this campagin is a mess...



Flicker Nicker
2018-03-13, 03:20 PM
So I have three problems but to explain them here is some context. I'm a fairly experienced DM I've been running for a few years now, I am personally a lover of horror games with a nice action spin. So when requested to run this last weekend (we cycle) as we had just finished one of the others campaigns. I accepted and was requested to run in pathfinder which I am familiar with but have not quite mastered. I made some minor class restrictions and nothing to weird race wise. Level two slow track exp characters. My three players returned to me a Human Dandy Ranger, a Crusader Cleric Changeling, and a Human Knife Master Rouge. This seemed fine made sense actually as basically a low tier government operative, a outcast, and a noble. I decided to get them together by having them all on the same sky ship. Basically to summarize the first session had people going missing, the ship being pushed horribly of course and crashing, a saboteur responsible who they killed on the ship but couldn't stop, and they have no idea why. Beyond the person was worshiping one of the gods that people are forbidden from worshiping in the setting. It had been the calm likable half elf, not the obviously unhinged big game hunter they suspected. Who they did fight on the island as he snapped from something in the bowels of the ship. They wandered the island looking for a way off and fighting a local tribe of orcs who weren't hostile originally. That is where things left off. Now My problem is A) Enemy balance as this party is horribly lopsided, As the party despite seeming pretty solid just isn't, now at third level the ranger has 15 health with toughness, where as the rouge has twenty seven without the crusader has 20, she has a twelve con. She also has the highest AC by far, a 20. So yeah sicking an enemy that can challenge them without killing them instantly is surprisingly hard. Then B) theirs the horror element that I think is going alright but I don't want to be to jarring yet I want to keep it subtle for a good bit longer. As the main antagonists are horrific conceptually and physically but blowing horror early always rips the fun away while waiting makes it seem to sudden and they seem to think their in mwangi expanse. So recommendations on how to keep that down low would be great. Finally theirs part C) to this mess the campaign direction the steady decent down from the upper layered islands in which they live heading down, only to find that the rot they find their has already set in at home when they go to warn about it. Paronia at not knowing who to trust. The monsters wearing smiling faces and cancerous degradation setting in. Slow and subtle while they desperately try to burn it out before its to late only realizing it just gets deeper. Till they venture back down again looking for the source, the wakening being below in the ocean beneath the clouds... Is that even good? how do I execute on that? Help Please?

vasilidor
2018-03-13, 07:36 PM
what is the constitution of the Ranger? 10? if so the must have rolled 1's on hp. if it is a 12 or more they never rolled for second or third level hp as with toughness the minimum hp should be a 16 with a 12 con and toughness. also you should let them know what the ranger should take (or not take) for favored enemy. what sort of role is the ranger trying to take? also did they remember to take favored class bonuses? if not tell them to do so and add it to hp.
on trying to do low key horror try using things like hearing music in the distance, and they can never find the musician. if the song has lyrics make it so the lyrics are foreshadowing events and monsters. also have them see images of monsters that disappear, have said images look at the characters. strangers should come up to them and deliver cryptic warnings before forgetting everything, make it seem as though someone was talking through the stranger. put shadows in places where there should be none, or give extra shadows when there are shadows. letters or books from a way long time ago should reference the characters, and tell them to run away. the higher the perception bonus the more they should notice. people should up and vanish and have only the characters remember them.
also it is rogue, unless he is playing the rouge joke class. Rouge is a word that means red, or make up that is red.

DRD1812
2018-03-14, 03:18 PM
A) Enemy Balance: Target touch AC and reflex saves. Use swarms. Your cleric should be only middling at those. Remember: there are more vectors of attack than AC. Otherwise, I say don't worry about it. AC 20 is supposed to be good at low level. Not every encounter is meant to be a life-or-death challenge. (A good write-up on that idea lives over here (http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/2050/roleplaying-games/revisiting-encounter-design).) Continue to throw CR-appropriate creatures at the party and wait for the bell curve to even out. Eventually they'll struggle against an enemy that, by the numbers, should have been easy.

B) Horror is an art more than a science. You won't get it just right every time, and that's OK. I suggest showing creatures that have been affected by this (viral?) antagonist, but don't explain what's making them go crazy. When it's finally time to make the big reveal, have your villain say that "one of you is already infected." This can be a lie or not at your discretion, but if they suspect one another you can maintain tension. Tension is the foundation of good horror.

C) I didn't follow any of that. I think you're doing a body snatchers thing...? I'm guessing they'll be fighting a lot of infected critters, which means you can have them fighting plot-relevant antagonists while still getting plenty of variety. That's a good thing.

Good luck out there, and happy gaming.

Kallor
2018-03-15, 06:02 PM
at third level the ranger has 15 health with toughness, where as the rouge has twenty seven without the crusader has 20, she has a twelve con. She also has the highest AC by far, a 20.

You sure the health on the ranger is done right? That seems incredibly low. If its just due to bad rolls, might want to consider not rolling for HP, in order to avoid these types of situations.

vasilidor
2018-03-16, 05:36 PM
yeah, like i said, if the ranger has a 10 con then the ranger has rolled ones each level.

Flicker Nicker
2018-03-20, 02:30 PM
Thanks for the advice and no the Ranger has 14 con. I asked about this,
3+3(2 from stat 1 from toughness)
2+3 on the second
2+3 on the third for a total of 16 apparently.
I told them to take favored class bonus health and maximize his first hit die,
taking him to 26 at third level which is much better. So thanks guys. Horror advice was kept, it came in handy.
As for the antagonist see the corruption rules with mental influence coming from their point of origin.
Swarms used that was handy mass swarm of centipedes.