Friday Round Up

Hey there space cadets! Time for a good old miss-mash of a mix-tape of a hodge-podge post!

First: new N7 operation this weekend! WOO!

Awesome things to note:

• Commondation packs are pretty easy this weekend; you only need to get ONE person to extraction on SILVER or higher; and at least ONE person on the squad must be a new class (Vorcha, Male Quarian, or Ex-Cerberus).
• Victory Pack guarantees an N7 (or Ultra Rare) weapon! So get out there and play some games!

This should be a nice, simple, fun N7 weekend, space cadets. I for one will be rolling random map/random enemy on silver and gold as I level up my soldiers, sentinels and engineers!

And now for something completely different: KINGMAKER!

My Thursday night group is currently on book 2 after over a year, I think, because a) we don’t get a lot of playtime and b) we are slooooooooooooow. In order to speed things along, we decided last night that I should go ahead and take care of the kingdom building stuff for about 12 months of game time on my own. I’m a big strategy game nerd so this appealed to me (and I’ve been basically running it for us from the get-go). The other players like the results but aren’t super into the crunch, being more interested in exploration and dealing with events/issues that arise. It’s especially hard to do the kingdom building as a group since we play online.

Thus, I went ahead and took some basic suggestions on what to build from everyone and plotted the events of our kingdom over the course of a year; and I have fairly handily busted the economy. And here is how.

SPOILERS I GUESS?

Every month your kingdom goes through four phases. During these phases you can assign new NPCs/PCs to leadership roles, acquire new hexes, try to get unrest under control, build cities/stuff in cities, and so on.

The important part is the Income phase, where you roll your economy check. It’s fairly easy to get your economy up rather high, but even so you’re not going to earn much revenue that way. This was slowing us down because we were saving to buy some big ticket items (market, town hall, etc), and it could take MONTHS to get enough income.

Then I searched a bit online and I found a clause in the Income phase that lets you sell magic items your kingdom generates for Build Points (the currency of this game structure). Since you generate magic items every month so long as you have empty slots, you can SELL them every month.

Minor magic items don’t sell for much, but when you start getting to Medium and Major items the rate of return is fairly significant; and this is on top of what you are earning with the normal Economy check.

To put it simply, I prioritized getting buildings that a) generated items and b) made OTHER magic item generating buildings cheaper, and by the end of 12 months our economy had increased it’s average income by over 800%. Pretty sexy, no?

For those of you who want to know the specific path I used:

Save money -> buy Cathedral -> buy Academy -> buy Caster’s Tower and Magic Item Shop -> go crazy.

Cathedrals halve the cost of Academies, Academies halve the cost of Caster’s Towers and Magic Item Shops. At this point you should have enough districts and enough items to be selling one Major and several Medium items every month, generating a TON of BP.

If you REALLY want to break your game, you can repeat that in multiple cities. I don’t recommend this, however; as with any strategy game, breaking the economy can make everything else a bit of a joke, and that can suck out a lot of the fun.

The cool thing about this path for us is that it made sense story wise, too; we have a good mix of Gods that we want represented (and a big Cathedral seems a great way to do that), our party wizard really wanted a tower, and Academies/Magic Item Shops are good for bringing in trade.

But I also made sure we built taverns and breweries and a garrison and a jail and so on, trying to flesh out the city.

All in all I found it to be an enjoyable exercise; it remains to be seen if our DM approves it or decides he needs to tone things down (which would be fine).

My suggestion to other DMs out there who are worried about this breaking their Kingmaker game is this: put a “cooldown” on magic items.

• Minor Items refresh every month.
• Medium Items refresh every two months.
• Major Items refresh every four months.

That should keep things from getting TOO out of hand while still allowing this to be a viable (and I think necessary) strategy to build up the economy of the kingdom. It also makes sense thematically, since it takes longer to craft things with higher GP values.

Kingdom building aside, I am enjoying Kingmaker as a whole. One of the big challenges in the game is that the story is (for a while) very open and sandboxy; and it will take some good flair from the GM (and a certain mindset from the players) to REALLY get into it. But it works perfectly fine as a weekly hex-crawl, too, which is how we play it. Just expect to do a bit more work than normal to get people invested in the world.

Finally, I’ve been preparing to run the introductory module for the Eclipse Phase quick-start rules.

Eclipse Phase is AWESOME. Crazy transhumanist dystopic hard sci-fi setting with a lot of flair and flavor. Mechanics are simple on the surface, deep as you get into things (from what I can tell). The best part is it’s all Creative Commons licensed! That’s right, the core book is FREE! CRAZY!

It’s good stuff, and I’m excited to run it for my Monday group (who have never played before).

One of the things I’ve been doing to get ready is to flesh out the very bare-bones scenario they give you in the quick-start rules; it’s a great framework, but it needs a bit more meat to be run properly I think. When I’m all done and have finished running it, maybe I’ll do a post about my process and reaction to it … until then, here’s hoping it goes smoothly!

That’s all for now space cadets, have a great weekend!

COMMENTORS: SURPRISE ME!

Mixtape

As the name implies, today I talk about all kinds of things!

First: as I mentioned Wednesday, Operation SHIELDWALL starts today at 6:00 PM PT! Be sure to get out there and get those promotions in-between beach time and BBQs!

Second: the Mass Effect 3: Rebellion Pack comes out on TUESDAY! Bioware hinted at this in the description for Operation: SILENCER, and it’s coming sooner than I expected and it’s FREE! Super pumped (despite the fact that I STILL haven’t unlocked any Geth or even all of the launch class/race combos), especially for the new maps!

Things of note:

• SIX new class/race combos including VORCHA!
• New guns!
• Two new maps!
• New equipment!
• Whatever this totally kick ass power is! (see below)

WINNING.

You can check out the full list of details here. Drops on Tuesday, May 29th stateside!

TAKE THIS POLL:

 

Third: In non-Mass Effect news, looks like Skyrim is getting even more free goodies! The Kinect patch came out a while ago, adding some very handy voice commands to the X-Box. I didn’t realize how much the limited real-estate on the controller hampered you until I started mixing in the Kinect commands … Sort By Value by itself would have been worth an update. And now, we are getting MOUNTED COMBAT.

This is a first for the Elder Scrolls franchise, and if it’s at all usable I may finally buy a good horse, because up until now there has been no point in owning one (aside from watching them kick dragons in the face). Okay, so now there will be MORE reasons to own a horse. Looks like both melee and ranged combat will be possible from horseback, which could make some outdoor battles pretty cool!

No word on when that will drop for consoles, but PC players can hop on the Beta now. The update will be free and will contain some mild bug-fixes as well, so grab it when it comes out!

But free mounted combat isn’t the only thing in the works for Skyrim; Dawnguard is on the horizon! The first paid DLC for the Elder Scrolls V has some sketchy details at best, but Bethesda is planning to reveal more at E3 in just a couple short weeks! Stay tuned for more!

Mmm Dovahkiin.

Fourth: since I haven’t posted any crunchy goodness in a while, I leave you with a simple list.

What’s that hallway like, anyway?

1. Water stains are evident on the ceiling in several places. A DC 17 Perception check notices some water actively dripping down the walls.
2. The walls are bowed inward slightly, as if there is pressure from the other side.
3. The walls are covered in hideous wallpaper. A DC 15 Perception check notices that the wallpaper is relatively new.
4. The floor has been covered with a series of once-beautiful rugs. Lifting them up reveals a large number of stains on the wood floor.
5. The walls have been hastily whitewashed. A DC 20 Perception check and some time scraping with a knife reveals that the white wash covers mad writing, haphazardly painted in black ink.
6. A series of portraits hangs on the walls. Close inspection (and a DC 18 Perception check) reveals that the paintings have recently been re-arranged.

Enjoy!

COMMENTORS: What feature would you most like Bethesda to intruduce to Skyrim in the Dawnguard DLC?

Check out these awesome dice

A little while ago I was struck by an urge to by some dice.

Fellow P&P gamer space cadets out there will understand the urge. There’s something FUN about a new set of dice; the shapes, colors, the hope that they won’t screw you on that critical saving throw the way the LAST set did …

Q Workshop is a company I stumbled across in my search, and they make some pretty sexy dice. The set I went with was their Steampunk set in white and black.

Q Workshop Steampunk Dice Set.

I was pretty pumped when I ordered them. They cost me about $15; not cheap, not super expensive. I was hoping they’d live up to the price tag. Good news is, they do! Check out the detail on this D6:

Q Workshop Steampunk D6

But the bad news is, Q-Workshop makes a lot of dice sets. And they’re all really awesome. And I shouldn’t spend more money on dice like these:

Q Workshop Crimson Throne Dice

Or these:

Q Workshop Kingmaker Dice Set

Or even these:

Q Workshop Rise of the Runelords Dice Set

Even though having a special set of dice to murder players with when I run the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary edition later this summer would be pretty awesome.

Honestly, it’s only a matter of time before I break down and get them. I have no willpower.

In all seriousness, I am impressed with the set I got. They look great, feel great, and are well balanced. You can grab a set of your own in the usual places or at the Q Workshop store! They even do custom dice!

COMMENTORS: What’s your favorite set of dice and why?

Being a good GM

When it comes to pen and paper role-playing games, no-one has it harder than the Game Master (or Dungeon Master, or Referee, or Storyteller, etc). They tasked with world-building, scenario design, and playing all of the NPCs in game. They are arbiters on rules questions. They have to juggle the most content in game. They have to draw out maps (if the group uses them). In short, the GM has to do all the work!

They also have to contend with players. A dreaded life-form who’s sole purpose is to ruin all of the GM’s carefully laid plans, jumping off the rails and wrecking the story whenever and wherever they can!

This guy, for example.

And that right there is where so many Game Masters (myself included) go wrong.

Playing a pen and paper RPG is not listening to the GM telling a story; it is EVERYONE telling a story together. As Justin Alexander wrote, a good GM doesn’t prep Plots, they prep Situations. The definition of players I outlined above stems from a situation in which the GM has a “grand vision” of an epic story that the players partake in. The players are guests in the GM’s world, privy to the GM’s whims. That attitude sets up an adversarial relationship of GM vs. Players, a mindset of My Ideas Are The Only Good Ideas, and it inevitably leads to problems.

One of the hardest things I had to learn (and frankly am still learning) is that RPGs are not novels, short-stories, or screenplays; they are more akin to improv sessions. What’s the situation? Who are the major characters? What is everyone’s motivation? Got it? Okay, let’s run with it!

The issue is rather simple: if the GM writes a story, all of the key decisions are made before anyone picks up a blank character sheet and a pencil. In order for it to unfold as written the players are no longer active participants but passive viewers. And to be perfectly frank, there are MUCH better mediums in which to tell people a story! Novels, short fiction, films, animation, comics, poetry. Pretty much anything other than collaborative roleplaying.

Modules require flexibility too! Don’t be fooled by their seductive written-for-you-ness!

So what does this mean for Game Masters? It means one simple thing:

The most important thing every GM needs to have is flexibility.

Flexibility is useful regardless of system, players, materials or setting. Flexibility allows you to take part in the story as it’s being told. Flexibility lets you deal with mechanical oddities, broken systems, overpowered characters and renegade players. Flexibility is essential to being a good GM.

If you are flexible, you can handle pretty much any situation thrown at you. If you are flexible, you can turn a disaster (say, the players taking the BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy) out of the picture too soon) into a boon. If you are flexible, you can let the rules work for you instead of the other way around. If you are flexible, you can keep the game going even if everyone is having an off night.

That all sounds great! But as with most things, it is easier said than done. Flexibility is HARD. It means prepping less and prepping more efficiently. It means going off book. It means letting go of control (something my friends and loved ones will be SHOCKED to know I struggle with); control of the story, control of the game.

Because the GM is not the hard-nosed, tyrannical authority figure who hands down judgements on the rules, kills player characters with abandon, and dictates the story from atop their chair of paper-mache skulls. The GM is the gateway to another world, the conduit through which everyone gets to experience grand adventures, daring escapes, deadly combats, lurid romances, and so much more. The GM is not an adversary; they are simply playing the other side so that there is an other side! The GM is the person who poses the timeless question:

“Okay, what does everyone do next?”

And if the GM doesn’t have flexibility, there is only one answer to that question: whatever the GM already had planned. And at that point, why are we playing at all?

So be flexible. Roll with the punches. Don’t be afraid to make it up as you go and build upon that later. Not everything you come up with will be great, but no-one expects it to be! And remember, the players have a responsibility to be flexible, too. Which is why the second most important thing every GM has is:

Good communication skills!

For example, asking your player why they’re reading the module …

A good GM doesn’ t need to be an Obama-esque orator, or a Maryl Streep caliber actor, or a Terry Pratchett skilled writer. They DO need to be able to clearly communicate an idea, lead a discussion, and sell a performance. For some GM’s (myself included) this means doing silly voices, using props, and making faces. For other GMs, it might mean writing descriptive text they can read aloud when the players encounter a new NPC or location, or wearing costumes!

Ultimately, what it all comes down to is the ability to engage the players in a dialogue about their actions in game, and their reactions out of game. It means being able to gauge everyone attention span for the evening and (going back to flexibility!) playing down the creepy ambiance in favor of simple descriptions and head-bashing combat. Or playing UP the ambiance and dialing back the combat! Or dropping extra hints about where to find the next clue, or having the cute tavern owner make googly eyes at the character who’s been quiet all night and might need some attention, or realizing that no-one is interested in your scenario about rival gangs in the town they just came to for supplies. But they ARE interested in finding out why the local temple has closed its doors to the public!

RPGs are all about communication. D. Vincent Baker, in the RPG Apocalypse World, said “roleplaying is a conversation. You and the other players go back and forth, talking about these fictional characters in their fictional circumstances doing whatever it is that they do.” And that conversation leads to the stories we all love so much. It helps everyone get into the mindset of the characters, to experience this fictional world.

The GM is the window to that world; if the GM can’t communicate effectively, it’s a pretty opaque window.

And there we have it. The two most important aspects of being a good GM: flexibility and good communication. Master this, and the rest will fall into place, whether you’re running Dungeons and Dragons, Eclipse Phase or Bunnies and Burrows.

Commentors! What are some traits YOU think every GM should have?

A Trio of Twelves

Hey there space cadets! Today I present you three lists to help enhance your gaming session. Pick your favorite or roll a d12 for random fun. Inspired by this guy! Who rocks, by the way.

12 Rumors for Small Towns (up to 2000 residents)

1.  “Well, I heard that Mrs. Buxley, the butcher’s wife? She’s been seeing that young man who got hired on at the stables.” – Butcher’s wife is having affair with a stable boy.
2. “Hmph! Iron isn’t the only thing being pounded at the blacksmith THESE days. It’s unseemly!” – Blacksmith is sleeping with one of his assistants.
3. “Mr. Jeffries has been getting an AWFUL lot of custom leatherwork done at the tanners, if you know what I mean.” – Local resident has a leather fetish.
4. “If you ever find yourself at the Hair of the Dog tavern, talk to Jaocim and ask to see the “special reserve.” But don’t tell him I sent you.” – Local bartender is involved in the drug trade.
5. “Old Jim runs a classy shop, sure, but he knows what we know: sometimes you need a bit of help dealing with all the vermin around here. Ask him about the fish.” – Local alchemist sells poison on the sly.
6. “I don’t like that Serena lady. Have you ever been in her shop? The whole place feels wrong. “ – Old shop in town buys and sells cursed/evil objects.
7. “Yeah, the priests are always talking about how they can only help the faithful, but I hear if you pull Mother Richards aside she’ll help you out for an appropriate tithe, faithful or no.” – One of the town priests offers divine spellcasting services to anyone with coin, regardless of religions affiliation.
8. “You see that new shop just opened above the stables? All kinds of weird stuff in there! I heard the proprietor used to be an adventurer!” – Retired adventurer has opened a magic item shop in town.
9. “Looks like Sam got that contract to make armor for the baron’s men! That should put us on the map!” – Local armor smith is the best in the region, can make any kind of armor you want (including basic magic armor).
10. “Last couple of merchants to come through told us the roads are gettin’ dangerous. One even thought he spotted orcs! I just hope we get enough salt before winter …” – Orc bandits are attacking travelers on the main road into town.
11. “The Baker farm has been losing livestock. I heard they’re talking about packing up, can’t make taxes if they lose much more.” – Roving monster is attacking farms in the rural areas around town.
12. “Todd and the boys from the mine came in earlier, wouldn’t shut up about some door they found while tapping a new vein.” – An ancient dungeon has been unearthed in a mine near town.

12 Personality Quirks For NPCs

1. Sarcastic
2. Abrasive
3. Curious
4. Loud
5. Shy
6. Boastful
7. Haughty
8. Flat
9. Creepy
10. Wheedling
11. Cowardly
12. Direct

12 Interesting Scars

1. Puncture wound on left cheek.
2. X-shaped scar on back of right hand.
3. Long thin scar across neck.
4. Twin sets of four claw marks down chest.
5. Five long faded scars on back.
6. Circular scar on scalp.
7. Scar running from nose diagonally across the lips to the base of the chin.
8. Bite wound on most of right thigh.
9. Mass of scar tissue on gut from old projectile wound.
10. Matching scars on palm and back of hand.
11. Circular scar around mid bicep of left arm.
12. Letter “S” carved into forehead.

Enjoy! Let me know what you think in the comments!

Another take on 5e …

I talked about this on Monday, and I think Penny Arcade sums it up rather well.

-CJ

Jandor’s Magic Item Series #14 – One of Five

Hey there space cadets! Check out the first in the series here!

NAME: One of Five (small +2 fire resistance moderate fortification champion hide armor)

Aura Strong abjuration; CL 13th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, protection from evil, resist energy, limited wish; Price 54,165 gp; Identify Spellcraft DC 28

DESCRIPTION: This suit if hide armor is sized for a gnome or halfling. A tower, with banners streaming from its battlements, is etched on the chest piece, and a simple symbol for fire is etched on the pauldrons.

Anyone who wears the armor has fire resistance 10, and a 50% chance of negating any critical hit or precision based damage. Additionally, any good-aligned creatures with the challenge ability (such as cavaliers) or the smite evil ability (such as paladins, half-celestials, and creatures with the celestial creature template) gains an additional benefit. When worn by such a creature that uses a challenge or smite ability, the wearer gains a +2 sacred bonus to AC against attacks from the chosen opponent.

HISTORY: One of Five is one of five suits of hide armor crafted by a master armorer named Filiu. Filiu built these suits for a band of cavaliers who had made a name for themselves defending her country from a variety of threats.

The adventurers were planning on leading an assault against a fire giant stronghold, with the hopes of slaying their leader and putting an end to raids coming from the mountain. They ordered these suits of hide armor in the hopes that it would give them an edge in the fight (and a cool look).

It took her the better part of a year to complete the enchantments. The cavaliers had been fighting off patrols, skirmishing with the giants, and gathering intel in the meantime, and once the armor was finished they launched their attack.

Two weeks later they returned, having lost two of their number but bringing the fire giant king’s head with them. They retired soon after, selling this particular suit of their armor to fund the resurrection of their fallen comrades.

SAMPLE TREASURE HORDE: 10,005 copper pieces in a heavy gold coffer worth 1000 gp, and One of Five. This horde is suitable for any CR 9 creature that uses standard treasure.

---

Now for the legal stuff:

This supplement uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Publishing, LLC, which are used under Paizo’s Community Use Policy. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This item is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Publishing. For more information about Paizo’s Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Publishing and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com.

Sources Used: Core Rulebook and Ultimate Combat

Jandor’s Magic Item Series by Anthony Borzotta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.d20pfsrd.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-use.

Jandor’s Magic Item Series #13 – Eclipse

Hey there space cadets! Check out the first post in the series here!

NAME: Eclipse (+3 Bastard Sword)

Aura Moderate evocation; CL 9th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, blind-fight, darkness; Price 20,495 gp; Identify Spellcraft DC 24

DESCRIPTION: This bastard sword is a very well-balanced weapon made of superior steel, with a worn leather grip. When drawn, it sheds silvery light (reminiscent of moonlight) like a torch. Due to the blade’s exceptional craftsmanship, it swings quickly and surely despite its weight.

Once per day, the wielder of Eclipse may (with a command word) turn the light it sheds into darkness, as the spell, centered on the weapon. This effect lasts for9 minutes, or until dismissed (a free action). If the wielder has the Blind-Fight feat, he or she does not need to roll for concealment caused by this effect.

HISTORY: The bastard sword Eclipse is one of a series of weapons bearing the same name, each created by an Oracle of the dark tapestry named Orien. Cursed with clouded vision, Orien had spent many years training to overcome his limitations in combat. He was in many ways a better fighter than his longtime companion, an Inquisitor, and one of his favorite tactics was to lure his foes into a location where sight did not present much of an advantage (shade, caves, darkened alleys, etc.).

Later in his career, Orien began a study of weaponsmithing, and his proudest accomplishment was a line of weapons he called Eclipse. Each weapon shed light, much like the light of the moon and stars Orien worshiped. But in a unique twist, each weapon could also invert that light, creating a pool of darkness, a great advantage to those trained to fight with more than their vision.

This particular Eclipse was wielded by Orien’s Inquisitor companion, and was donated to their church upon the Inquisitor’s death. Many agents have wielded it in the years since, and it has become something of a collectors item. How it ended up here is a mystery, but perhaps the church might know more …

SAMPLE TREASURE HORDE: 900 gold pieces in nine leather pouches, and Eclipse. This sample horde could belong to any CR 7 creature that uses standard treasure.

Editor’s note: I specifically didn’t mention any Gods in the description above so as to keep this item setting neutral. Feel free to substitute any deity who may be connected to the Dark Tapestry in your campaign setting (or to stars, night, darkness, the moon, or another similar domain).

---

Now for the legal stuff:

This supplement uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Publishing, LLC, which are used under Paizo’s Community Use Policy. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This item is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Publishing. For more information about Paizo’s Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Publishing and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com.

Sources Used: Core Rulebook and Ultimate Combat

Jandor’s Magic Item Series by Anthony Borzotta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.d20pfsrd.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-use.

Jandor’s Magic Item Series #12 – Coplamak

Hey there space cadets! Check out the first post in the series here!

NAME: Coplamak (+5 huge Heavy Mace)

Aura Strong evocation; CL 15th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor; Price 50,336 gp; Identify Spellcraft DC 30

DESCRIPTION: This 10 foot long, 8 inch thick wooden pole is reinforced with copper bands. One end is wrapped in leather and has a strap; at the other end, a heavy stone ball is securely fastened. It weighs around 32 lbs altogether. Given the size and balance, it looks like it’s was created for a Storm Giant or something of similar size.

HISTORY: Coplamak is an ancient heavy mace, created by a Storm Giant priest named Taştan.

During the mythic era, when giants walked the earth and orcs, elves, dwarves and the other humanoids were just beginning to come into being, the storm giants of Gökyüzü were warring against the devils of the Nine Hells. The conflict had been raging for centuries, with neither side gaining the upper hand.

Taştan, a warrior priestess, was the leader of the Gökyüzü church, and one of their mightiest warriors. Frustrated by her foe’s natural resistances to sword and hammer, bow and blade, fire and acid and many energies besides, Taştan desired a weapon that would instil fear in her enemies and give her people an edge.

Many prototypes were created. Some were instilled with holy energy; some aligned themselves with the wielder; some exploded with frost and silver flame upon striking a creature or object. She used cold iron, steel, stone, bronze, mithral, adamantine, dragon bone … and rejected them all. Each had a single element in their favor, but none accomplished her goal.

Frustrated, Taştan communed with her gods for a year and  a day. The war waged on, and the giants, bereft of one of their most powerful soldiers, began to give ground. The Gökyüzü high command begged her to return, to fight, to help, but she refused.

In the end, the priestess had an epiphany. She looked around her chamber at all of the discarded ideas, the formulas worked and re-worked and abandoned, the countless hours of thought, and she realized that she was simply trying to hard. She realized that sometimes, simplicity is the key to greatness.

So she forged Coplamak, and she forged it with such skill and precision that despite being made of stone and wood, despite having no unique properties or powers, it was and remains her greatest work. And when she finished Coplamak, she took it up and strode into battle and laid waste to an army of devils, their natural resistances as nothing before its might.

Coplamak did not win the war, but it did turn the tide. Since that day, all giants revere it as an example of the perfect weapon, and seek to wield it themselves.

SAMPLE TREASURE HORDE: 9,000 gold pieces in a dragonskin sack, a complete set of the Harmonious Figures of Kan-Le (each a statue of a monk, approximately 1 foot high, in a unique pose; when collected, the depict a lost kata of the Kan-Le style; individually they are worth 1500 gp each, together considerably more), and Coplamak. This sample horde could belong to any CR 17 creature that uses standard treasure.

---

Now for the legal stuff:

This supplement uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Publishing, LLC, which are used under Paizo’s Community Use Policy. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This item is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Publishing. For more information about Paizo’s Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Publishing and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com.

Sources Used: Core Rulebook and Ultimate Combat

Jandor’s Magic Item Series by Anthony Borzotta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.d20pfsrd.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-use.

Jandor’s Magic Item Series #11 – The Grandfather Clock

Hey there space cadets! Check out the first post in this series here.

NAME: The Grandfather Clock

Aura Overwhelming transmutation; CL 21st; Slot none; Weight 175 lbs

DESCRIPTION: The Grandfather Clock (sometimes referred to as the Aeon Clock) is a tall, heavy clock hewn out of a single piece of wood. The clock face is carved from a large piece of bone and features two spindly hands. It is crude, ancient, and has a seamless door with no obvious handle. The interior reveals a void of darkness, in which swings an infinitely large pendulum of bone. Looking inside causes you to go mad, as the insanity spell, unless you succeed on a DC 30 Will save. The clock never needs to be set, and once you have heard it, the tick, tock sound seems to linger with you no matter how far away you are from the clock.

Once a day, The Grandfather Clock can stop time for one hour. You must be within line of site to the clock and speak a command phrase (“proin tempus”). This functions as a time stop spell, except you cannot cast spells or use spell completion or spell trigger items while time is stopped. Time stops for you and any entities you are touching when you speak the command word (up to 21 people). After the hour is up, you (and any who were touching you when time stopped) return to normal relative time, no matter your distance from the clock. You can return to normal time as a free action, but cannot use the clock again for one day, even if you end the effect early. Additionally, every time you use the clock there is a cumulative 10% chance that you attract the attention of an Bythos Aeon who appears before you to demand an explanation for your tampering with the time stream.

HISTORY: The Grandfather Clock was first created by the inscrutable Aeons. It is a physical representation of the time stream itself, and seems to surface during critical turning points throughout the history of the multiverse, almost as a physical embodiment of cataclysmic change and the infinite possibilities of the time stream.

Because of the potential abuses by any entity who uses the clock, the Aeons guard it very closely, and continually monitor the time stream for ripples indicating that the clock has been activated. Deities (particularly those with dominion over time) also watch The Grandfather Clock, and may intervene if they deem it necessary.

The Grandfather Clock is effectively part of the time stream itself, and therefore it cannot be destroyed without undoing time itself. Attempting to break the clock (with a hammer, or dropping it off a cliff, or lighting it on fire, using a shatter spell, etc) simply causes it to disappear, only to reappear in another random location on a random plane 1d10 days later. To fully destroy the clock, you must enter the time stream and travel to a nexus point, where all past events come together and burst into an infinite number of futures, and smash the clock with a cold iron hammer. It should be noted that doing so may irrevocably destroy the planes and all reality as it is currently known or understood, and that any individual attempting to do so will draw the attentions of very powerful outsiders and gods.

SAMPLE TREASURE HORDE: The Grandfather Clock should never appear as part of a random treasure horde. If it is in the lair of a randomly encountered monster, it should be for a purpose; typically because whoever finds it will somehow be instrumental in shaping the future of their world.

---

Now for the legal stuff:

This supplement uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Publishing, LLC, which are used under Paizo’s Community Use Policy. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This item is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Publishing. For more information about Paizo’s Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Publishing and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com.

Sources Used: Core Rulebook and Ultimate Combat

Jandor’s Magic Item Series by Anthony Borzotta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.d20pfsrd.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-use.