February 20, 2013 / James Wylie / 2 comments
In “Magical Trinkets,” I explored how to use the Pathfinder magic item creation rules to create non-consumable rewards suitable for low-level characters, but what about consumable items? Magic potions and scrolls are staples of gaming and fantasy lore. And for all the tricks to reduce the value of a permanent magic item, a potion or scroll still comes in at a far lower cost.
The problem with potions and scrolls is not their gold cost, but the difficulties of using them in combat when it counts. The rules provide that retrieving a stored item is a move action that provokes attacks of opportunity. Drinking a potion or reading a scroll is a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity. With these rules, the cost in both time and potential reprisals is very high—drinking a potion of cure light wounds is rarely going to be worth essentially an entire turn and further damage. Scrolls are slightly less dangerous to use in combat because they allow a concentration check to cast defensively just as a spell does. That said, there remains the issue of retrieving the scroll.
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November 5, 2012 / Kobold Staff / 8 comments
Shadow Magic and Clockwork Kings! The Crossroads region is the heart of Midgard. Here’s where you’ll find the alleys of Zobeck, the mighty dwarven cantons, the dark pathways of the Margreve forest, the undead principalities, and the subterranean empire of the ghouls. The Players Guide to the Crossroads has new options for those who seek adventure and fortune in this exciting realm!
This 36-page collection of materials provides players with an overview of the central region of the Midgard Campaign Setting, plus a wide range of new powers and options for any Pathfinder Roleplaying Game campaign, including:
- 3 New PC races: Kobolds, ghoulish Darakhul, and Gearforged
- The Shadowsworn Class: a 20-level class of roguery and shadow magic, with 7 new spells!
- Dark Holidays of the Crossroads
- New options for Cavaliers, Paladins, and Rogues, including Griffon Knights, Fixers, and White Lions
- Ghoulish and Vampiric Sorcerer Bloodlines
- Clockwork and Illumination Schools of Magic
- 60 new feats and dozen of regional traits
- 8 new weapons for dwarves, gypsies, and rogues, including the rat poniard and Nordmansch greatax
Master the secrets of the Crossroads region and unleash its new spells, feats, and mysteries!
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January 26, 2012 / Brian Liberge / 5 comments
Kobold Quarterly #19 (which is still available if you want a copy!) presented an all new racial theme, which allowed PCs to take on the role of a legendary werewolf. The theme gives you a range of optional powers to choose from throughout the heroic tier. For those who want to focus more on a character’s lycanthropic ways, Brian provides these feats to you so that you can have options that help your characters benefit from their cursed blood through all levels of play.
Blood Scent
The trail of blood leads into the marketplace. Tracks are of no value here, but scent will sort out this lot.
Heroic Tier
Prerequisite: Werewolf theme
Benefit: You gain a +2 racial bonus to Perception checks used to track and to Insight checks used to detect enemies hidden by disguise, illusion, or stealth. If the creatures is bloodied, this bonus increases to +5.
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October 11, 2011 / James Thomas / 8 comments
The empathic connection between a master and familiar has a way of shaping the behavior of both…
[previously]
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Lennox pleaded with the grey-bearded man in the park. “C’mon… I know you know the old woman in the swamp outside the city. You told a nobleman she could raise animals from the dead. Now please, help me broker a deal.”
Shevats replied instead, “Well, there’s also this pet cemetery I know of… you know, the soil of a man’s heart is made of stone and…”
“Never mind that idea. I’ve heard of that place and, uh … sometimes dead is better…”
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October 3, 2011 / Kobold Staff / 4 comments
The lich chuckled dryly as the scrying glass showed yet another party of would-be heroes die in one of his fiendish traps. For centuries he had existed in perfect safety within this maze of stone catacombs, a lair crawling with unnatural guardians he had raised from the dead or summoned from the Abyss. Nothing could touch him.
“The gods will honor their sacrifice,” said a voice at his shoulder. He whirled in astonishment, then drew back in pain at the aura of divine radiance shining from the grim warrior-priest before him. “Nergis, deathless sorcerer of the Wastes: for five hundred years you have spread misery and terror unchecked. I come in the name of the gods who rule the heavens: Your last hour has come, foul one. Tonight you die the final death.”
With a cry the warrior raised his warhammer and charged the lich, his eyes blazing with holy fervor…
The cleric has a vital yet complex role within a party: healer, backup wizard, backup fighter, and a specialist in dealing with the undead. Divine Favor: the Cleric is an invaluable resource to anyone wanting to play one of the oldest character classes in fantasy roleplaying, with many new options for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
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