KOTS Challenge!

In my two battles, both started with my guys surprised for the first round.

 

I did use Temple+ nightly build 2585 for this. I wasn't surprised in a second try as well. Autosave is disabled.

 

because i can't control the guards, they tend to get in my way and we don't work as a synchronized team


and some like to run thru them collecting all the AoO for themselves

 

I heard Marshals and Bards were helpful at times like this.

 

Yes.

 

For the module I'm considering modifying Sorcerer class.

Sorcerer home brew
* Bonus feats like Wizards have;
* Scribe scroll at level 1;

And specially for Sorcerers there will be many Knowstones to find and buy. I will probably modify worth of these spell stones (very pricey), but it needs play testing first.

Reasoning for Sorcerer modification
In my numerous play of KotC game I really liked the idea picking spell spontaneously (the game has spontaneous Wizards and Clerics ). I could test different approaches without tedious resting mechanics. What Sorcerer is lacking is the Craft or Metamagic feats which are picked as bonus feats for Wizards frequently.

Don't get me wrong, I love the D&D 3.5 rules, more over will run a session this evening with my friends without home brew at all. But combat video game needs adjustments.

The game has mechanic to Rest only near Fireplace. There are maps, where PCs will have to find far room with Fireplace, so resting will be rare. These were tough maps and I loved the idea.

 

@anatoliy
I likey! Pathfinder 1e has the Arcanist, a hybrid Sor/Wiz. I'm also very for craftable Knowstones for all spells.

Remember, the cost of Knowstones is still significant at spell level squared * 1000 to buy or half that to craft. (A level 6 spell known costs the same as a +6 stat item.)

 

Forge Weapon

 

I'm in favor of anything that saves money in the early game. But isn't 1st level a bit low for masterwork? Seems that would take time to master.

 

Good question, @hammyh.

As Dungeon Master, I agree, that it would be more immersive, if masterwork and other non standard materials would be somewhat restricted from level 1.

On other hand as a Player, additional restrictions add only annoyance to the play. Moreover KotC does not have such restrictions. It only needs INT 8 for the feat.

Unearthed Arcana does have Craft Alchemical Item, Craft Masterwork Armor, Craft Masterwork Ranged Weapon and Craft Masterwork Weapon. For me it is complete overkill. Feats are just too pricey for this shit.

Forge Weapon could have such prerequisites:

• Normal materials from level 1;
• Masterwork quality from level 2;
• Cold Iron material from level 3;
• Mithril from level 4;
• and Adamantine from level 5.

Personally I always go with Mithril Full Plate in mid games and start enchaining them for my melee right away. It will have +2 Max Dex so my melee would have bonus AC. This module I will recommend playing with 32 point buy, as combat is much tougher than typical D&D.

From balance perspective - PC party would achieve level 2 in the Keep, and level 3 in the first village. Low levels will go very fast. Funds will be low, so no worry about not having ability to craft different materials. Plus quite big drain of XP for crafting them.

Afterwards there will be Goblin Fort for levels 3-6, or the Caves for same levels. Both of them are quite hard. Goblin Fort will have lock down from from some point with disability to Rest . And the Caves will have insanely hard casting damage reduction Spiders and the Spider Queen.

 

Are you going to implement the crafting points from UA? It seems like an interesting idea for limiting the amount of crafted stuff without time restrictions, and without having to tightly control the money available. I can't really tell how much of a restriction it'd actually be without a bunch of calculating, though.

Like a level 1 guy has enough points to make 50 1st level scrolls, which is probably more than they would really make. But maybe you need to save some of those points for later.

 

Well, item boosts are a tricky thing to regulate.

In some ways, access to Mithril Full Plate mid game could be comparable to a larger point buy with limited access to items. For example, 20 dex with simple leather. If a +2 weapon is readily available, then 4+ related stat points are more-or-less equal to this character boost. Not to mention an indefinite magic-weapon spell if +1 is actually required for anything.

I suppose it all depends on individual interpretation of what makes for a harder game. Or possibly how we see the challenge evolve over time.

 

I agree with you @dolio, that Craft Points are nice idea. And we used such in our Shadowdale tabletop adventure play.

But I'm not sure I get your point about limitation. The most annoying problem with crafting is duration: 1 day per 1k gold of base price. So if party requires Cleric to craft Belt of Giant Strength +4 (16k) = 16 days, even though they can adventure in parallel. It is still a problem. They want here and now.

So that is where Craft Points interfere. An item will be completed next morning when Craft Points are spent. That's the only reason to use CP, everything else stays the same.

For Forging a Weapon CP could apply to mithral and adamantine armor mostly, as Adamantine Full Plate forge costs 9075 gp and 726 xp (I will publish prices later). And you need to display current Craft Points amount somewhere with explanation why (per level + from crafting feats). PC can craft an item with other PC "help" thus sharing CP cost. It is quite burdensome.

All of that is too complicated for Player. Most likely I wont do it.