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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16. RPG Superstar 6 Season Star Voter, 7 Season Star Voter. **** Pathfinder Society GM. 1,177 posts (1,185 including aliases). 5 reviews. 3 lists. No wishlists. 7 Organized Play characters. 2 aliases.



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Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

I'm planning to give my GM a customized Iron Gods GM screen for his birthday. I have some nice art for the front side, but on the back I'd like to include some useful info specific to this adventure path.

Without getting too spoilery, are there any particular rules or tables that would be especially useful to have handy in this AP moreso than others?

So far I'm going to be putting on Concentration check DCs and the weapon hardness/HP table, but there's plenty of room for other stuff! Please let me know what you think would be useful to have for quick reference during this adventure path.

Thanks!

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

So, my party is just starting Island of Empty Eyes. One PC got the bright idea to buy a Lyre of Building to assist with construction on the island.

I think it's a fantastic idea, but I'm not sure how to adjudicate it. How many man-hours does it take to reconstruct the Fort? Should using the lyre to rebuild the fort count towards the Respect score at the end of the adventure, and if so, how much?

Any thoughts?

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Good afternoon,

I'm hoping to give my normal Pathfinder gaming group a taste of Starfinder in the near future, and I'm looking for advice for a good scenario to use. I'd like something that is a one-shot, and gives a good taste of what Starfinder is all about, without getting bogged down in too much exposition. Can any of you recommend a good scenario to start with?

My players are all Pathfinder veterans, so I don't need something super beginner focused. But the world of Starfinder is different, so I'd like something that shows off the setting without overwhelming the players.

I'm looking for a one-shot scenario, since they don't want to commit to a whole adventure path or anything. I'm thinking that a SFS scenario would be a good place to start. But I'm open to other ideas.

Low level would be good, to keep things simple. But it wouldn't necessarily have to be level 1.

I'd like to have a taste of starship combat included, or at the very least have the players use a starship in the course of the adventure. I want to show that it's more than just dungeon crawling on a space station or whatever.

A plot that's fairly lighthearted and straightforward would be good as well, so that my players can jump right in and not get lost in the weeds.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

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We got confused about this last night. A monster has Greater Constrict, which on a failed save renders the subject unconscious.

All of the rules I could find for the Unconscious condition seem to assume that the unconscious creature has zero hit points.

Unconscious wrote:

When you’re reduced to 0 Hit Points, you fall unconscious...

If you return to 1 Hit Point or more, you become conscious.

So does that mean that a constricted creature immediately falls to zero hit points? That doesn't make sense. People don't wake up every morning and chug a healing potion because they only have one hit point left after waking up!

If it doesn't mean that you fall to zero hit points, do you immediately wake up, because you have "1 hit point or more"? If not, how can you awaken an unconscious creature?

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

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Does anyone else feel like high level spells require rolling too many dice?

A player cast Meteor Swarm last night, targeting all of the meteors on a single target. Each meteor does 4d10 bludgeoning damage and 19d6 fire damage. All together, that's 16d10 + 76d6 damage!

The game completely ground to a halt for about 10 minutes while the player had to add up 92 dice. Not fun!

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

A data point from my game last night:

Players were fighting the Rune Giants. One of them got a 20 to hit the party cleric. It had the Rune of Destruction up:

Spoiler:
Rune of Destruction The weapon gains the deadly trait with
three dice of the same die size as the weapon, and any armor
worn by a creature hit with the weapon takes 1 Dent (a
second Dent causes it to become broken) unless the creature
succeeds at a DC 32 Fortitude save.

The rune giant's weapon is a Gargantuan greatsword, which does 4d12 + 9 damage. On a crit, this doubles to 8d12 + 18. Adding three more sets of weapon damage dice from the Deadly trait brings the total to 20d12 + 18.

The cleric was dropped from full to dying in one hit!

I feel like having the deadly trait only add 1x the weapon damage dice would be more balanced.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

This topic came up in this thread, but I thought it was worth breaking out and starting a new thread about it.

Suppose you are playing a Fighter, and you are grabbed by a creature with a long reach. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that it's a Kraken, which has a 60 foot reach. You get grabbed when you're 60 feet away from it.

Can you attack the kraken in melee?

On the one hand, by the Rules as Written, you are not within range to Strike the creature with a melee attack.

On the other hand, from a narrative standpoint it seems ludicrous to me that you wouldn't be within range to attack a creature that is literally touching you.

Thoughts? Do we need a rule for how to handle this?

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

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So, obviously the design team is doing a whole lot of work on the death and dying system, given that they have released multiple updates changing/fixing that system. However, in my games, despite the players going down fairly frequently, they don't really care about the death and dying rules at all because of Hero Points.

Let me explain:
Because anyone can spend 1 Hero Point to come back from dying, there's no tension in the death saves. If the party is doing badly, the player will spend a hero point to come back and take her turn normally. If the party has the situation in hand, she'll go, "Eh, whatever, I guess I'll roll. If I crit fail or whatever, I can just spend a hero point to come back."

Since each of my players has been getting 2-3 hero points per session, that essentially means they have to be taken out three times before actually being at risk of dying. And since combats are taking so long, there are only 2 or 3 encounters per session, so there's practically zero risk of any one PC dying unless there's a TPK.

I really do like Hero Points! But I am worried that the way they interact with the death and dying rules makes the latter irrelevant.

Personally, I'd rather swap the costs so that spending 1 Hero Point gives you a reroll, and two brings you back from dying. Or maybe make 1 point count as a crit success on a death save, and two points come back with 1 HP and clear the Wounded condition.

Sczarni 4/5 RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Any chance we could get these surveys added to the main playtest page? It looks like the PFS section there still only has the surveys about the four adventures, not any of the general PFS surveys. I think that would help people find them, rather than having to look through the blog history.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

I'm a little concerned about the tables on pages 349+ listing both consumable and permanent items with wildly varying costs at the same level.

As an example, let's look at the 6th level treasure table. The cheapest item at that level is a True Darkvision Elixir, at 24gp. There are several items, such as the Eyes of the Eagle, that cost 250gp.

Why are some 6th level items worth 10x as much as others? That seems wildly imbalanced.

In normal play, I could see how this would be useful in some cases (e.g. when trying to decide what treasure to give out for an encounter). However, the GM would be very unwise to just pick a random 6th level item, since they could be worth such disparate amounts.

This is an even worse problem when rolling up a higher level character. For example, in Doomsday Dawn part 3, characters get one 6th level item, two 5th level items, one 4th level item, two 3rd level items, and some gold to spend on additional stuff. But a character who uses her 6th level slot to get a Potion of Quickness is going to be severely underpowered compared to one who bought, say, a Lesser Ring of Energy Resistance.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

I've seen a few different people bring up the idea that there are too many traits in Pathfinder 2nd Edition. I think that's true, to a point, but the real problem is a little bit subtler than that.

The problem is not that there are too many traits per se, it's that some of the traits carry additional rules baggage with them. It's very difficult at the table to know which traits require additional rules and which don't.

For example, my Fighter player was completely unaware that his Furious Focus feat couldn't be used on the first attack of a turn, because it has the Press trait. (And that's with a sidebar right next to the feat description explaining that trait!) Because this important rule was "hidden" inside the traits list, he just glossed over it without looking up what all of the traits were and what else he needed to know about each of them.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that there are a *lot* of traits that don't have any "rules baggage" associated with them. For example, the traits list for the Fighter's Intimidating Strike feat is:
Attack
Fear
Fighter
Emotion
Mental

Let's examine each of these:
Attack - This indicates that the action is offensive, and that it will cause the multiple attack penalty to increase. This comes up often enough that it's probably safe to assume players will understand it after the first game.
Fear - No rules effect by itself
Fighter - Not listed in the Traits glossary. Presumably this just indicates that it's a fighter feat, but no rules by itself
Emotion - No rules effect by itself
Mental - No rules effect by itself

Many of these traits will be used by other abilities, such as a monster's stat block saying that it's immune to fear. I think those kind of traits are okay. They help streamline the game and make it easy to tell whether a certain rule will affect a given situation.

But sometimes, there will be a trait buried in the list that requires you to go apply a new rule that isn't obvious just from reading the description of the ability, like with Furious Focus. In those cases, I think it's very likely that players will just plain miss that there is additional stuff they are supposed to be doing! And with most of the traits not having any rules impact by themselves, it becomes very hard to tell when you need to go look up what the trait does in order to know what the feat does.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Air elementals have the following ability:

air elemental wrote:

[Reaction Icon]Disperse

Trigger The air elemental takes damage from a hostile action.
Effect The air elemental disperses. Until the end of the current turn, it can’t be attacked or targeted, doesn’t take up space, and deactivates its aura. At the end of the turn, the elemental re-forms in any square within 15 feet of where it dispersed and its aura reactivates.

If multiple characters ready an action to attack the elemental when it re-forms, can it use the Disperse action as soon as the first attack hits? Or do all the reactions happen "simultaneously" and therefore it can't use a reaction until after all of the other reactions are resolved?

In the more general case, how should we handle the sequencing of multiple reactions occurring based on the same triggering action?

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

So, casting Summon Monster is now a 3-action spell, rather than taking 1 full round of casting. But does the summoned creature get to take an action when the spell is completed? Or does it need to wait until the next round when the caster Concentrates on the spell?

The spell says, "Summoned creatures have 2 actions per turn
(which they use when you Concentrate on the Spell) and can’t
use reactions." So it would seem that it doesn't get to act on the first round. But I could also see an argument that the creature should be able to act on the first round, because the casting of the spell itself counts as concentrating on it.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

As the title says, is persistent damage doubled on a critical hit? I didn't see anything in the rules that specifies one way or the other.

I went with "no", because I didn't want my party to die. But I was curious what the intent is for that rule.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

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So, in part 2 of Doomsday Dawn, one of my PCs was a druid with a Large-sized bear companion. However, many of the passages in the Tomb of Tular Seft are only five feet wide.

The only reference I could find in the rules for how to handle this was the Acrobatics "Squeeze" activity, which on a success allows you to move 5 feet per minute of squeezing! That seems incredibly harsh to me, and basically meant that it was impossible for the druid to bring his bear into the dungeon with the party in anything close to a reasonable time.

I think that use of Squeeze makes sense if you are talking about a creature trying to fit through a really small space, like a human contorting themselves through a 1-foot-wide crack in a wall or something. But for a Large creature to take a full minute to move five feet down a five foot wide passage seems really out of whack.

Am I missing something? Or does this need to be addressed somehow?

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Looking at the stat block for the Electric Latch Rune in the Playtestiary, I don't see an indication of the trap's reset time. Is this a one-and-done thing, or does it happen every time someone tries to open the door? Or does it need time to recharge?

This makes a significant difference for parties who lack a rogue (or whose Thievery-based character is rolling poorly).

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

I think the rules on this are pretty clear, but I just wanted to call it out because it seems a little surprising. If I'm reading this right, then you cannot command a summoned creature to ready an action.

This is because the Summon Monster spell states, "Summoned creatures have 2 actions per turn (which they use when you Concentrate on the Spell) and can’t use reactions."

That means they have a lot less flexibility because you can't do stuff like say, "ready an action to attack that quasit when he becomes visible again!"

Is this intended?

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

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I was making a character for Doomsday Dawn Part 3 tonight, and decided to roll up an Elven Paladin. My concept was that she'd be an agile woodland warrior, focused on speed and dexterity, so that demons would have no chance to escape!

Unfortunately, it seems like the Paladin class kind of shoehorns characters into wearing heavy armor:

Pathfinder Playtest wrote:

Armored Fortitude 7th

Your proficiency rank for heavy armor and shields increases to expert, and your proficiency rank for Fortitude saves increases to master. While wearing heavy armor, when you succeed at a Fortitude save, treat your result as a critical success instead.

Why is this ability restricted to heavy armor? It seems to me that the AC bonus from choosing heavy armor should be its own reward; if I want to build a dex-based paladin, it seems strange to me that I would be expert in heavy armor but not in light or medium. Is there a particular reason why this ability doesn't just apply to all armors?

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

My group wanted to go buy some holy symbols in order to get past a certain encounter. However, I didn't see any listed in the Equipment chapter! Looks like it was left out for some reason. That's probably something that people are going to want to buy :-)

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

So one of the Quasits in Wolf form used an attack that included "knockdown". But it doesn't say in the statblock what that actually does. I searched the rulebook pdf and the only reference to Knockdown there is the level 14 Fighter feat. Is a level 0 creature really supposed to have such a powerful ability? Or is the description for this power missing from the rulebook?

Thanks!

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

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First off, let me say for the record that I really like the background system. I love how your background not only gives some history to your character, but also grants you stat boosts and abilities!

That said, I'm a little worried about players not getting to use the "default" backgrounds. The playtest adventure includes backgrounds specific to the adventure, and I presume that upcoming Adventure Paths will do the same. I really like that. It's great to tie characters into the story!

However, if you only have one background to pick, and you need to pick one of the specific backgrounds for the adventure you're playing, then you'll never get to pick any of the other backgrounds. That seems like a big missed opportunity.

With the old trait system, you had two to pick, so one could be from your own character's background and the other could be setting you up for the campaign you're playing. You can't really do that with the new system.

Thoughts?

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

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I tried building an archery-based Ranger last night. He was an Elf scout who wields a shortbow... a classic character concept, I thought.

Unfortunately, none of the 1st level Ranger feats deal with bows. As much as Harsk might take offense, I think bows are more of a classic Ranger build than crossbows. It seems that the Ranger as presented is kind of forced down either the animal companion route, the crossbow route, or the two-weapon fighting route.

I'd like to see more support in the final rules for a short/longbow-based ranger.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

tldr: my party was stymied by very limited healing resources at 1st level.

I ran my first playtest game last weekend, and overall I think it went pretty well. I wanted to give some feedback, particularly around healing or lack thereof.

Character creation was a bit rough, but I will let my players provide that feedback.

Party composition: half-orc barbarian, human monk, human bard, human sorcerer (imperial). (Yeah, I know, we need to work on having more diverse ancestries! :-P )

We started out with some great die rolls on my part; the sewer ooze critted once and hit twice on the first round! Fortunately I decided it was dumb enough to split up its attacks, so I didn't just insta-kill the barbarian.

After that fight, the party realized that none of them had healing magic. We kind of assumed that the Bard would be the healer for the group, but we didn't realize until we started play that bards don't actually have heal on their spell list anymore. We also looked through the bard's powers and didn't see anything healing related, at least not at level 1. This probably needs to be addressed, especially since the class description says that "You can alternate between helpful spells, attacks, and healing as needed."

The party pooled their money and were able to afford a single 1st level heal potion, which the barbarian drank.

They proceeded on to fight the goblins in the second room, taking minimal damage, but they decided to drink the goblins' healing potion as well. The barbarian was out of resonance, but fortunately made her check. Then in the fight with the centipedes they again got unlucky die rolls and got quite beat up.

With no more healing resources and everyone quite badly hurt, the party retreated. By selling the goblins' gear, they were able to purchase a single healing spell from a local temple of Erastil. But they were very disappointed to learn that they could only get a burst heal of all of them for 2HP (I figured the NPC had a Wisdom of 15), or one of them for 1d8+2. That seems like not very much for 27sp. They begrudgingly paid and spent the next two days healing mundanely. The lack of a "Treat Deadly Wounds" option in the Heal skill was also a pain point.

Finally, they decided they needed to press on, even though only half the party was at full HP.

Overall, the game was pretty fun, though a bit rockier than usual with everyone needing to learn the new system. But it definitely felt like we are back in "mandatory cleric" territory, with very limited healing options available at level 1. I know this is always an issue in low-level games, at least until the party can afford a wand of cure light wounds or something. But since heal isn't on anyone in the party's spell list, they won't even have that option. Potion-only healing gets expensive really fast!

We were also disappointed that having an NPC cast a healing spell was only 3sp cheaper than buying a potion. We really think that NPC spellcasting needs to be much cheaper, especially at low levels. In PF1, an NPC spellcaster is only 1/5 the cost of an equivalent level potion; in PF2 they are nearly the same price. This makes "retreat to the temple and heal up before going back in" not a viable strategy at 1st level.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

So in my playtest game a couple of characters got confused, and the other PCs wanted to restrain them until they came to their senses. I read that Grapple is a usage of the Athletics skill, so I suggested that they try to do that. This led to a couple of questions:

1) Grappling only takes a single action. If you fail the grapple and try again, do you take any penalties to the roll? It seems like you ought to, similar to making attack rolls, but I didn't see anything about penalties for making the same skill check more than once a turn.

2) The confused condition states that you will attack the creature that attacked you since your last turn. Does someone grappling you count? Again, it seems like it should, but grappling isn't actually an attack, so...

3) How can you pin a creature in PF2? I see that on a critical success the creature is restrained, which is pretty much like pinned. But I don't see anything about "upgrading" a grappled creature to restrained other than by a crit on a grapple check. It seems like there ought to be a path to restraining an already grappled creature, like tying them up or something.

4) How can you move a grappled creature? I ended up letting them roll Athletics to "drag" the other PC, like a Shove but in the opposite direction. But there doesn't seem to be an explicit rule for accomplishing this. I think there probably ought to be a "Drag" or "Reposition" skill usage for Athletics that accomplishes this.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

I ran the Mindfog Fungus encounter last night, and it seemed to me that there was some information missing from the stat block.

1) The Trigger says that the fungus rolls initiative, but I couldn't see anywhere listing what skill the initiative roll should use. I ended up using Stealth because it was the first line on the statblock.

2) The statblock lists AC, TAC, and Hardness, but not hit points. So I wasn't sure how much damage it was supposed to be able to take.

Fortunately, after attacking it once and seeing that it released more spores, my party just left the room (dragging the two confused PCs with them) and didn't end up trying to kill the thing after all.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

I know there are already a whole bunch of threads with people bashing or defending the resonance system. I don't want this to turn into another of them. But I would like some clarification on how exactly resonance is intended to function, to make sure that my playtest feedback is accurate.

I'm a bit confused about what things require spending resonance, especially when it comes to invested items.

For example, take the following item:

Collar of Inconspicuousness wrote:


COLLAR OF INCONSPICUOUSNESS ITEM 9
Traits Invested Primal Transmutation
Price 625 gp
Method of Use worn, collar;
Bulk 1
Activation Focus Activation
This leather collar’s worn and almost threadbare look defies its magical nature. When you invest the collar and attach it to your animal companion’s neck, it grants you the ability to change your ferocious animal companion into a more inconspicuous form. While touching your animal companion, you can activate the collar to transform your companion into a nonthreatening Tiny creature of the same or a similar species (for instance, a house cat instead of a tiger or a puppy instead of a wolf). This has the effects of pest form (2nd level, or 4th level if your animal companion can fly). The effect lasts until you dismiss it with another Focus Activation action that doesn’t cost RP.

So, you invest the collar and put it on your animal companion. 1 Resonance spent so far. Then you activate the collar to turn them into a nonthreatening creature. Does that cost a second Resonance? Or do you get it for free because you invested the collar? If you activate the collar later in the day, would it cost a third Resonance?

If it does cost a resonance to activate, why is this an invested item? Is it just a stealth way of making it cost at least two Resonance?

Another example:

Cloak of Elvenkind wrote:


CLOAK OF ELVENKIND ITEM 10+
Traits Illusion Invested Magical
Method of Use worn, cloak;
Bulk L
Activation Focus Activation, Operate Activation
This cloak is deep green with a voluminous hood, and is embroidered with gold trim and symbols of significance to the elves. The cloak allows you to cast the ghost sound cantrip as an innate arcane spell. When you draw the hood up over your head (an Interact action), the cloak transforms to match the environment around you and muffles your sounds, giving you an item bonus to Stealth checks. If you activate the cloak, you pull the hood up and are affected by invisibility for 1 minute or until you pull the hood back down, whichever comes first.

It's invested, so it costs 1 resonance at the beginning of the day. But I'm unclear what abilities you get for free, and what you need to spend resonance on.

Casting an innate spell sure sounds like activating the item to me, and using an item to cast a spell matches the developers' descriptions of a thing that would use resonance. But it doesn't specifically say it is an activation action, so does that mean it's free? If so, how often can it be used? If it's not free, where in the rules does it say that such a thing costs resonance?

If you draw up the hood of the cloak to become invisible, that clearly costs Resonance. But if you do the same thing to gain a bonus on Stealth checks, does that cost resonance? It's not a "constant ability", so by RAW it would not seem to be powered up merely by investing the item. But if so, why is gaining the stealth bonus an Interact action, while going invisible is an activation action?

Again, I don't want to discuss the merits or problems with the resonance system as a whole in this thread. There are other threads for that. But I would like to gain a clearer understanding of how it's supposed to work, so that I can run it correctly at my playtest table!

Thanks!

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

In Pale Mountain's Shadow, under the Tracking Time sub-header in the Tomb of Tular Seft, it says:

Doomsday Dawn wrote:
On average, a group of PCs should have time to fully explore areas C1-C6 of the tomb before the Night Heralds make it through the labyrinthine eastern reaches of the complex. Remind the PCs how long they have left when they enter the tomb so they know whether they'll have any time to rest before or during their explorations.

How are the PCs supposed to know in-character how much time is left? All I can find in the adventure is that the PCs know from the briefing that the Night Heralds are on the way, but nowhere does it state where they are coming from or how long the PCs should expect them to take. They don't encounter the Heralds until that group arrives, so they don't have any way to tell what their adversaries' progress is before they arrive.

Am I just supposed to tell the players, "Hey, your characters have no way to know this, but you have 2 days to explore before the bad guys get here, sound good?" Or is there some in-character way that the PCs are supposed to know how much time is left, and I just missed it?

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Obviously it's the McGuffin that the PCs are supposed to retrieve, but I don't see anywhere in the module that describes what the Star of Desna actually is. I'm sure that's something that my players will ask about when Keleri asks them to retrieve it.

I'm guessing that maybe it's a special magic Starknife? If so, does it have any special properties? If not, what else might it be?

Sczarni 4/5 RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

I participated in a playtest event at Gen Con, and I realized yesterday that our GM never asked for our PFS number. From what I read on the blog, the playtest rewards require GM reporting in order to track the playtest points.

Has that changed, or did our table GM just forget to gather the reporting info? If the latter, is there any way to submit my information so that I can get PFS credit for the playtest scenario?

Thanks!

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Hi, folks

Recently in a treasure horde my group found a word bottle. It sounds intriguing, but I'm not sure what would be the best use for it.

Do any of you know of a particularly clever or useful targeted language-dependent spell of 3rd level or lower that would be worth putting in the bottle?

Thanks!

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

I know that one of my weaknesses as a gamemaster is narrating travel scenes or otherwise making them interesting. I'm just not very good at getting the players from point A to point B without either giving the players a pretty bland description of the trip, or having a random encounter.

Do any of you know of any tips/resources for how to make overland travel interesting without bogging down the game?

I always think of this scene from The Gamers as something I aspire to, though I feel like in a non-visual medium it would take a bit more description to give a sense for the journey.

I would also like to know how you make things interactive for the players without just having them roll Survival checks or the like.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

I'm looking at making a Witch character for my next campaign who uses a firearm (probably a rifle) as her weapon. However, looking through the rules, I'm not seeing any options designed to support this particular combo.

Right now, I'm thinking of foregoing Gunslinger levels entirely, and instead taking Witch (and later Winter Witch) as my class levels, and using feats to learn the gun stuff. I've gotten my GM to agree to let me take Exotic Weapon Proficiency at level 1 even though I don't have a +1 BAB yet. I was also considering skipping Gunsmithing and relying on Mending spells to repair misfired guns. Then I could spend my feats on things like Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot.

Any thoughts or suggestions for bringing guns into the Witch class?

Thanks!

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Hey, folks!

I've been playing Pathfinder for years now, but I'm going to be running a D&D 3.5 game for my old gaming group next weekend. I really want to make it feel 3.5ish, not like Pathfinder.

What are the most memorable things about the D&D 3.5 system to you? What seems the most "quintessentially D&D"?

Right now, I'm working on pregen characters with lots of prestige classes and multiclassing. I want there to be undead, because those changed a lot with Pathfinder. Any other suggestions?

Sczarni 4/5 RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

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Good morning,

I've been listening to the PaizoCon 2016 seminar coverage (thanks, Know Direction Podcast!), and one of the things that was mentioned was that 4 and 5-star PFS GMs would be getting free subscriptions to Syrinscape. I'm eager to start adding this to my games. Is there anything I need to do to claim the benefit? Or should I just be waiting on the Paizo and Syrinscape teams to coordinate?

Thanks!

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Hi, folks!

Sorry to bring up another download issue -- I'm sure you all must be sick of those by now. I'm eagerly attempting to download the PDF for the new PFS scenario, Faithless and Forgotten Part III. I'll be running the game for a convention this weekend, so I would really like to read it ahead of time. However, it seems to be stuck somehow and isn't downloading for me.

When I click the download link, the page refreshes and scrolls to the link for the scenario. However, at that point nothing happens. It doesn't actually start to download, nor does it say "personalizing". It just does nothing.

Here's the link I'm using, for reference:
https://secure.paizo.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Store.woa/wo/11.StandardPageTem plate.1.29.3.1.1.2.5.1.1.2.1.3.4.1.1.MAAssets.2.9.1.13.1.0.2.5.1.1.3.0.1#v5 748cbhctfkyv5748q6o1pt2p

I have tried with both Chrome and IE, on a Windows 8.1 computer. I did leave for about 15 minutes just to see if it was a temporary glitch. That caused my session to time out, but the download still didn't work.

Thanks for all your hard work, and thanks in advance for looking into this!

Sczarni 4/5 RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

I'm a big fan of scenarios that have a lot of roleplaying, such as The Immortal Conundrum and Merchant's Wake. However, it seems like the scenarios always start with the roleplaying and devolve into combat at the end.

This is often a problem, as when I'm running the scenarios I don't know how much time to allocate to the roleplay section and still have enough time for combat. Particularly if there is no "warm up" encounter early on to get a feel for the group's playstyle and how quickly they will get through fights. I do enjoy the combat aspect of the game, but I sometimes wish that scenarios with less combat would spread it out better throughout the scenario.

Do any of you know of some good scenarios that have strong roleplay sections at the *end* of the session?

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

2 people marked this as FAQ candidate.

If you have an ability that lets you use a particular skill in place of another skill, and you have another ability that grants you a bonus on the second skill, does it apply?

My current build that prompted the question is the Asmodean Advocate cleric archetype from Dirty Tactics Toolbox.

Dirty Tactics Toolbox wrote:
At 1st level, an Asmodean advocate learns to choose her words so carefully that even when she says something designed to deceive listeners, the words are phrased to be technically true. She can use her Profession (barrister) skill for Bluff and Diplomacy checks.

Part of the archetype also grants a familiar.

The viper familiar wrote:
Master gains a +3 bonus on Bluff checks

In a similar vein, could I take the Deceitful feat and gain a bonus on my Bluff checks?

The deceitful feat wrote:
You get a +2 bonus on all Bluff and Disguise skill checks.

I know that this archetype is pretty niche, but I imagine that the same sort of thing would apply to other skill-substitution abilities, such as the Bard's Versatile Performance.

Thanks in advance for your replies!

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Hey, folks!

I have a witch NPC who is joining my party. She's significantly below the level of the rest of the group, but I'd like her to still contribute at least a little bit to the party. However, the PCs all have mythic tiers, so the spellcasters can cast pretty much any spell in the game.

I'm wondering if you all know any good witch-only spells that would not otherwise be available to the party. That way the character can contribute something unique.

Currently I'm looking for 2nd or 3rd level spells, but advice for any spell level would be helpful.

The party consists of a barbarian, alchemist, wizard, and druid. So if there are any non-alchemist, druid, or wizard spells that *are* on the witch list, those would be the ones I'm most interested in.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Hey, all!

I'm toying with builds for a Wrath of the Righteous game that will hopefully be happening soon, and I'd be interested to hear your advice for my character. Sorry for the length!

Background:

Galem NoLastNameYet is a Varisian who worships Nethys. He's obsessed with uncovering knowledge at all costs, and the mystery of what created the Worldwound (and how it can be stopped) has drawn him to Kenabres at the start of the campaign.

Overall, Galem is pretty non-confrontational, so he would rather sneak around and/or talk his way out of a fight than engage in combat. When he does have to enter combat, he prefers nonlethal damage (a dead creature can't be interrogated (speak with dead aside)), and his tactics are pretty rogue-like, focusing on mobility and sneak attacks.

level 5/MR 1:

The first few levels will be a bit of a struggle, as I try to get prerequisites for things. I'm starting with a level in Cleric to get Channel Smite and Guided Hand, then switching to Inquisitor. My favorite thing about the early levels is the Door Sight domain ability, which will let him scout through doors without opening them! At level 5, this build starts to actually come together, with mythic guided hand, sneak attack and the precise strike teamwork feat letting him stab things in combat for a decent amount of damage.

Note also the Conversion inquisition that lets him use Wisdom instead of Charisma for Diplomacy, Bluff, and Intimidate, continuing the theme of powering basically everything off Wisdom.

Galem NoLastName
Human (Varisian) cleric (separatist) of Nethys 1/inquisitor (sanctified slayer) of Nethys 4/Hierophant 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 99, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 38, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 32)
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +6; Senses Perception +13
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 17 (+7 armor, +1 Dex)
hp 37 (5d8+9)
Fort +7, Ref +2, Will +11
Defensive Abilities hard to kill
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 40 ft. (30 ft. in armor)
Melee +1 quarterstaff +9 (1d6+8)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 1/day (DC 8, 1d6), mythic power (5/day, surge +1d6), sneak attack +1d6, studied target +1 (1st, move action)
Inquisitor Spell-Like Abilities (CL 4th; concentration +13)
. . At will—detect alignment
Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer) Spells Known (CL 4th; concentration +13)
. . 2nd (2/day)—align weapon, lesser restoration
. . 1st (5/day)—bless, divine favor, know the enemy[UM], litany of sloth[UC] (DC 16)
. . 0 (at will)—acid splash, create water, detect magic, disrupt undead, read magic, virtue
Cleric (Separatist) Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +10)
. . 1st—bless, comprehend languages, endure elements, expeditious retreat[D]
. . 0 (at will)—create water, guidance, light
. . D Domain spell; Domains Conversion inquisition, Travel (Exploration subdomain)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 11, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 20, Cha 7
Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD 14
Feats Channel Smite, Deific Obedience, Dual Path[M], Guided Hand[M], Precise Strike[APG], Sap Adept[UC]
Traits touched by divinity, weapon of peace
Skills Bluff +15, Diplomacy +15, Disable Device +1, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +6, Knowledge (nature) +6, Knowledge (planes) +10, Knowledge (religion) +10, Perception +13, Sense Motive +15, Spellcraft +6
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Varisian
SQ door sight, forbidden rite (exploration[APG]), monster lore +5, silver tongued, solo tactics, stern gaze +2, track +2, variant channeling (self-perfection variant channeling[UM])
Other Gear +1 agile breastplate[APG], +1 quarterstaff, 150 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Channel Smite Channel energy can be delivered through a Smite attack.
Cleric (Separatist) Domain (Conversion Inquisition) Deities: Any deity.

Granted Powers: You are a powerful persuader. A honeyed tongue empowered by divine argumentation sways the indifferent and adversarial to your side.
Cleric (Separatist) Domain (Exploration)
Cleric Channel Positive Energy 1d6 (1/day, DC 8) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Deific Obedience Purify yourself daily to prove devotion to a deity and gain benefits.
Detect Alignment (At will) (Sp) Detect chaos, evil, good, or law at will.
Door Sight (8/day) (Su) By touching a door for 1 minute, use clairvoyance on the other side.
Guided Hand [Mythic] Apply Wisdom bonus instead of Strength or Dexterity bonus on favored weapon damage
Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2.
Inspired Spell (Su) Use 1 power, cast one divine spell from your class spell list at +2 CL, it doesn't need to be known/memorized.
Monster Lore +5 (Ex) +5 to Knowledge checks when identifying the weaknessess of creatures.
Mythic Power (5/day, Surge +1d6) Use this power to perform your mythic abilities.
Precise Strike +1d6 precision damage for melee attacks if you and an ally with this feat flank the same target.
Sap Adept Gain bonus damage on nonlethal attacks,
Self-Perfection Variant Channeling (±1 Sacred) Ignore one condition/Penalty vs conditions
Silver Tongued You can shift a creature's attitude by three steps with Diplomacy.
Sneak Attack +1d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Solo Tactics (Ex) Count Teamwork feats as if your allies had the same ones.
Studied Target +1 (move action, 1 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Move action, gain +1 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Surge (1d6) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount.
Surprise Strike (Ex) As a swift action, use 1 power to attack foe in 30 ft. They are flat footed and you bypass all DR.
Track +2 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
Weapon of Peace When using a melee weapon to deal nonlethal dam, penalty is only -2.

Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Inc.®, and are used under license.

level 10/MR 3:

By level 10, Galem has multiclassed into Evangelist, giving up a couple of high-level Inquisitor abilities for a slew of interesting and flavorful divine abilities. He takes the Trapfinding slayer talent to let him act as a rogue for trap-finding as well, and Vanishing Move makes it easy to scout ahead without being spotted, or allows him to turn invisible for easy access to sneak attacks.

Also, by this time he has the Enduring Blessing mythic power, which lets him essentially get 24-hour access to one spell. In this case, he's chosen Heroism.

Galem NoLastName
Male human (Varisian) cleric (separatist) of Nethys 1/evangelist 5/inquisitor (sanctified slayer) of Nethys 4/Hierophant 3 (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Gods, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 99, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 38, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 32)
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +10; Senses Perception +21
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+7 armor, +1 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 75 (10d8+22)
Fort +11, Ref +7, Will +16
Defensive Abilities hard to kill, trap sense +2
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 40 ft.
Melee +1 merciful quarterstaff +15/+10 (1d6+10 nonlethal plus 1d6 non-lethal)
Special Attacks bane (14 rounds/day), channel positive energy 1/day (DC 8, 1d6), mythic power (9/day, surge +1d6), sneak attack +2d6, studied target +2 (2nd, swift action)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th; concentration +12)
. . 2/day—mirror image
Inquisitor Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +18)
. . At will—detect alignment, discern lies (8 rounds/day)
Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer) Spells Known (CL 8th; concentration +18)
. . 3rd (3/day)—arcane sight, dispel magic, heroism
. . 2nd (6/day)—align weapon, cure moderate wounds, lesser restoration, spiritual weapon
. . 1st (6/day)—bless, cure light wounds, divine favor, know the enemy[UM], litany of sloth[UC] (DC 17)
. . 0 (at will)—acid splash, create water, detect magic, disrupt undead, read magic, virtue
Cleric (Separatist) Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +11)
. . 1st—bless, comprehend languages, endure elements, expeditious retreat[D]
. . 0 (at will)—create water, guidance, light
. . D Domain spell; Domains Conversion inquisition, Travel (Exploration subdomain)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 11, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 23, Cha 7
Base Atk +6; CMB +8; CMD 18
Feats Channel Smite, Deific Obedience, Dual Path[M], Extended Bane[UM], Extra Path Ability[M], Guided Hand[M], Outflank[APG], Precise Strike[APG], Sap Adept[UC], Seething Hatred[ACG]
Traits touched by divinity, weapon of peace
Skills Acrobatics +9 (+13 to jump), Appraise +11, Bluff +23, Climb +9, Diplomacy +23, Disable Device +17, Disguise +7, Escape Artist +9, Fly +9, Handle Animal +7, Heal +15, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (arcana) +9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +9, Knowledge (history) +11, Knowledge (nature) +9, Knowledge (nobility) +11, Knowledge (planes) +17, Knowledge (religion) +17, Linguistics +11, Perception +21, Ride +9, Sense Motive +23, Sleight of Hand +9, Spellcraft +9, Stealth +9, Survival +15, Swim +8, Use Magic Device +7
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Dwarven, Varisian
SQ amazing initiative, door sight, forbidden rite (exploration[APG]), mirror image 2/day, monster lore +6, recuperation, silver tongued, slayer talent (trapfinding[ACG]), solo tactics, stern gaze +4, track +4, trapfinding +4, variant channeling (self-perfection variant channeling[UM])
Other Gear +1 mithral agile breastplate[APG], +1 merciful quarterstaff, 150 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Amazing Initiative (1/round) (Ex) As a free action, use 1 power to gain an extra standard action (can't be used to cast a spell).
Bane (+2 / 2d6, 14 rounds/day) (Su) Make the weapon you are holding a bane weapon.
Channel Smite Channel energy can be delivered through a Smite attack.
Cleric (Separatist) Domain (Conversion Inquisition) Deities: Any deity.

Granted Powers: You are a powerful persuader. A honeyed tongue empowered by divine argumentation sways the indifferent and adversarial to your side.
Cleric (Separatist) Domain (Exploration)
Cleric Channel Positive Energy 1d6 (1/day, DC 8) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Deific Obedience Purify yourself daily to prove devotion to a deity and gain benefits.
Detect Alignment (At will) (Sp) Detect chaos, evil, good, or law at will.
Discern Lies (8 rounds/day) (Sp) Discern Lies at will
Door Sight (9/day) (Su) By touching a door for 1 minute, use clairvoyance on the other side.
Enduring Blessing (10+ minutes) (Su) Single-target spells with duration 10+ minutes cast on willing creatures last 24 hours.
Guided Hand [Mythic] Apply Wisdom bonus instead of Strength or Dexterity bonus on favored weapon damage
Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2.
Inspired Spell (Su) Use 1 power, cast one divine spell from your class spell list at +2 CL, it doesn't need to be known/memorized.
Mirror Image 2/day (Sp) 2/day use mirror image as a spell like ability.
Monster Lore +6 (Ex) +6 to Knowledge checks when identifying the weaknessess of creatures.
Mythic Power (9/day, Surge +1d6) Use this power to perform your mythic abilities.
Outflank Increase flank bonus by +2 if flanking ally has same feat. If you crit, ally gets an AoO.
Precise Strike +1d6 precision damage for melee attacks if you and an ally with this feat flank the same target.
Recuperation (Ex) Fully heal after 8 hrs rest, use 1 power and 1 hr to heal half and restore all non-mythic abilities.
Sap Adept Gain bonus damage on nonlethal attacks,
Seething Hatred (Favored Enemy [Evil Outsiders]) Bonus dmg from studied target is doubled vs selected creature type.
Self-Perfection Variant Channeling (±1 Sacred) Ignore one condition/Penalty vs conditions
Silver Tongued You can shift a creature's attitude by three steps with Diplomacy.
Sneak Attack +2d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Solo Tactics (Ex) Count Teamwork feats as if your allies had the same ones.
Studied Target +2 (swift action, 2 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Swift action, gain +2 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Surge (1d6) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount.
Surprise Strike (Ex) As a swift action, use 1 power to attack foe in 30 ft. They are flat footed and you bypass all DR.
Track +4 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
Trap Sense +2 (Ex) +2 bonus on reflex saves and AC against traps.
Trapfinding +4 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
Vanishing Move (Su) Swift action: become invisible until end of turn. 1 power: acts as greater invisibility.
Weapon of Peace When using a melee weapon to deal nonlethal dam, penalty is only -2.

Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Inc.®, and are used under license.

level 15/MR 6:

By level 15, Galem is extremely flexible. With both the Multitude of Talents Evangelist ability and the Master Dilettante Mythic power, he has a +10 bonus on untrained skill checks, and can use any skill untrained. Combined with the Inquisitor's Monster Lore ability, he should have no trouble identifying any monster the party comes across. He's also taken the Legendary Item mythic ability to get Undetectable on his staff. That means he is completely undetectable whenever he goes invisible while holding the staff (which he can do as a swift action using Vanishing Move).

For "normal" combat, he now has 4d6 sneak attack, which doubles to 8d6 using Sap Master and his merciful quarterstaff.

Galem NoLastName
Male human (Varisian) cleric (separatist) of Nethys 1/evangelist 10/inquisitor (sanctified slayer) of Nethys 4/Hierophant (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Gods, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 99, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 38, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 32)
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +16; Senses Perception +31
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 20, touch 13, flat-footed 17 (+7 armor, +1 Dex, +2 dodge)
hp 117 (15d8+39)
Fort +14, Ref +11, Will +22
Defensive Abilities hard to kill, mythic saving throws, stalwart, trap sense +4
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 40 ft.
Melee +1 merciful Legendary quarterstaff +25/+20 (1d6+18 nonlethal plus 1d6 non-lethal)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 1/day (DC 8, 1d6), greater bane (22 rounds/day), mythic power (15/day, surge +1d8), sneak attack +4d6, studied target +3 (3rd, swift action)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15th; concentration +17)
. . 3/day—arcane eye (plus arcane sight)
. . 2/day—mirror image
Inquisitor Spell-Like Abilities (CL 13th; concentration +26)
. . At will—detect alignment, discern lies (13 rounds/day)
Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer) Spells Known (CL 15th; concentration +28)
. . 5th (3/day)—dispel evil, true seeing
. . 4th (5/day)—divination, forceful strike (DC 23), litany of sight[UC], communal protection from energy[UC]
. . 3rd (6/day)—arcane sight, dispel magic, heroism[M], remove curse, greater stunning barrier[ACG] (DC 22)
. . 2nd (7/day)—align weapon, cure moderate wounds, invisibility, lesser restoration, spiritual weapon
. . 1st (8/day)—bless[M], cure light wounds[M], divine favor, heightened awareness[ACG], know the enemy[UM], litany of sloth[UC] (DC 20)
. . 0 (at will)—acid splash, create water, detect magic, disrupt undead, read magic, virtue
Cleric (Separatist) Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +14)
. . 1st—bless[M], comprehend languages, endure elements, expeditious retreat[D], liberating command[UC]
. . 0 (at will)—create water, guidance, light
. . D Domain spell; Domains Conversion inquisition, Travel (Exploration subdomain)
. . M mythic spell
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 11, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 28, Cha 7
Base Atk +10; CMB +14; CMD 23
Feats Channel Smite, Deific Obedience, Demon Hunter[ISWG], Dual Path[M], Extended Bane[UM], Extra Path Ability[M], Guided Hand[M], Lastwall Phalanx, Mythic Spell Lore[M], Outflank[APG], Precise Strike[APG], Sap Adept[UC], Sap Master[UC], Seething Hatred[ACG], Shake It Off[UC], Weapon Focus (quarterstaff)
Traits magical knack, touched by divinity
Skills Acrobatics +14 (+18 to jump), Appraise +16, Bluff +33, Climb +14, Diplomacy +33, Disable Device +26, Disguise +12, Escape Artist +14, Fly +14, Handle Animal +12, Heal +23, Intimidate +25, Knowledge (arcana) +16, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +16, Knowledge (history) +16, Knowledge (nature) +16, Knowledge (nobility) +16, Knowledge (planes) +24 (+26 to know the powers and abilities of demons), Knowledge (religion) +24, Linguistics +16, Perception +31, Ride +14, Sense Motive +33, Sleight of Hand +14, Spellcraft +24, Stealth +14, Survival +23, Swim +13, Use Magic Device +12
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Dwarven, Elven, Varisian
SQ amazing initiative, door sight, forbidden rite (exploration[APG]), force of will, legendary power, legendary surge, mirror image 2/day, monster lore +9, mythic bond, recuperation, robes of nethys, silver tongued, slayer talent (trapfinding[ACG]), solo tactics, spiritual form, stern gaze +6, track +6, trapfinding +6, undetectable, unyielding, variant channeling (self-perfection variant channeling[UM])
Other Gear +1 mithral agile breastplate[APG], +1 merciful Legendary quarterstaff, 150 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Amazing Initiative (1/round) (Ex) As a free action, use 1 power to gain an extra standard action (can't be used to cast a spell).
Beyond Morality (Ex) Count as having no alignment, any effects on your either fail or treat you as the most favorable alignment.
Channel Smite Channel energy can be delivered through a Smite attack.
Cleric (Separatist) Domain (Conversion Inquisition) Deities: Any deity.

Granted Powers: You are a powerful persuader. A honeyed tongue empowered by divine argumentation sways the indifferent and adversarial to your side.
Cleric (Separatist) Domain (Exploration)
Cleric Channel Positive Energy 1d6 (1/day, DC 8) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Deific Obedience Purify yourself daily to prove devotion to a deity and gain benefits.
Demon Hunter Gain Knowledge and combat bonuses vs. demons
Detect Alignment (At will) (Sp) Detect chaos, evil, good, or law at will.
Discern Lies (13 rounds/day) (Sp) Discern Lies at will
Door Sight (12/day) (Su) By touching a door for 1 minute, use clairvoyance on the other side.
Enduring Blessing (10+ minutes) (Su) Single-target spells with duration 10+ minutes cast on willing creatures last 24 hours.
Fickle Attack (1s as max value) (Su) Treat natural 1s on damage rolls for attacks with weapons or alchmical items as highest possible number.
Force of Will (Ex) As an immediate action, use 1 power to reroll any d20, or force non-mythic to reroll.
Greater Bane (+2 / 4d6, 22 rounds/day) (Su) Make the weapon you are holding a bane weapon.
Guided Hand [Mythic] Apply Wisdom bonus instead of Strength or Dexterity bonus on favored weapon damage
Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2.
Inspired Spell (Su) Use 1 power, cast one divine spell from your class spell list at +2 CL, it doesn't need to be known/memorized.
Lastwall Phalanx Bonus equal to adjacent allies with this feat to AC and saves vs. attacks & abilities of evil foes.
Legendary Power (4/day) All legendary items contain a pool of power - at least two uses that recharge each day. This power is called legendary power, and it works differently than mythic power. Any creature bearing the item can expend the items uses of legendary power, whet
Legendary Surge (+1d6 to Attack Rolls - All, Combat Maneuver Checks) All legendary items have a legendary surge ability, similar to a mythic character's surge ability (see page 170). It can be used only on specific rolls or checks based on the nature or purpose of the legendary item - see the Legendary Surge sidebar o
Magical Knack (Inquisitor [Sanctified Slayer]) +2 CL for a specific class, to a max of your HD.
Mirror Image 2/day (Sp) 2/day use mirror image as a spell like ability.
Monster Lore +9 (Ex) +9 to Knowledge checks when identifying the weaknessess of creatures.
Mythic Bond A legendary item is typically bonded to a single mythic creature. Others can pick up and use a legendary item for its basic functions (like hitting a foe with a legendary mace), but only the creature bonded to the item can utilize it fully.

A myth
Mythic Power (15/day, Surge +1d8) Use this power to perform your mythic abilities.
Mythic Saving Throws (Ex) A successful save negates all effects from a non-mythic source.
Mythic Spell Lore [Mythic] Gain mythic spells equal to your mythic tier.
Outflank Increase flank bonus by +2 if flanking ally has same feat. If you crit, ally gets an AoO.
Precise Strike +1d6 precision damage for melee attacks if you and an ally with this feat flank the same target.
Recuperation (Ex) Fully heal after 8 hrs rest, use 1 power and 1 hr to heal half and restore all non-mythic abilities.
Robes of Nethys (4 rounds/day) (Su) Illusory robe absorbs up to 3rd-level spells as lesser globe of invulnerability
Sap Adept Gain bonus damage on nonlethal attacks,
Sap Master Deal twice your sneak attack damage when dealing nonlethal damage
Seething Hatred (Favored Enemy [Evil Outsiders]) Bonus dmg from studied target is doubled vs selected creature type.
Self-Perfection Variant Channeling (±1 Sacred) Ignore one condition/Penalty vs conditions
Shake It Off Gain +1 to all saving throws per adjacent ally
Silver Tongued You can shift a creature's attitude by three steps with Diplomacy.
Sneak Attack +4d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Solo Tactics (Ex) Count Teamwork feats as if your allies had the same ones.
Spiritual Form (Wisdom, 10 minutes/day) As a standard action, gain telepathy, stat boost, and ability of choice.
Stalwart (Ex) If you succeed at a Fort or Will save for reduced effect, you take none instead.
Studied Target +3 (swift action, 3 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Swift action, gain +3 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Surge (1d8) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount.
Surprise Strike (Ex) As a swift action, use 1 power to attack foe in 30 ft. They are flat footed and you bypass all DR.
Track +6 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
Trap Sense +4 (Ex) +4 bonus on reflex saves and AC against traps.
Trapfinding +6 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
Undetectable This grants its bonded user the ability to become utterly undetectable while invisible. While invisible and in physical contact with this item, the bonded creature can't be detected or scryed by any method.
Unyielding A legendary item with this ability has double the hardness of a typical item of its type and triple the hit points. Furthermore, it's immune to all attempts to sunder it made by non-mythic creatures. This is a persistent ability.
Vanishing Move (Su) Swift action: become invisible until end of turn. 1 power: acts as greater invisibility.

Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Inc.®, and are used under license.

Level 20/MR 10:

There's no capstone in this build, so nothing super exciting at level 20. However, he does have a few neat abilities like Beyond Morality (letting him use whatever alignment is best whenever he's subjected to an alignment-based effect, which seems like it would be useful in this game!). Also, his teamwork feats have gotten better, and he picked up two-weapon fighting for an extra attack.

Galem NoLastName
Male human (Varisian) cleric (separatist) of Nethys 1/evangelist 10/inquisitor (sanctified slayer) of Nethys 9/Hierophant (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Gods, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 99, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 38, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 32)
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +23; Senses Perception +39
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 20, touch 13, flat-footed 17 (+7 armor, +1 Dex, +2 dodge)
hp 168 (20d8+65)
Fort +16, Ref +13, Will +27
Defensive Abilities hard to kill, mythic saving throws, stalwart, trap sense +6, unstoppable; DR 10/epic
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 40 ft.
Melee +1 merciful Legendary quarterstaff +32/+32/+27/+22 (1d6+23 nonlethal plus 1d6 non-lethal)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 1/day (DC 8, 1d6), exploit weakness, greater bane (30 rounds/day), mythic power (23/day, surge +1d12), sneak attack +5d6, studied target +4 (4th, swift action)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 20th; concentration +22)
. . 3/day—arcane eye (plus arcane sight)
. . 2/day—mirror image
Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +17)
. . At will—dimensional hop (80 feet/day)
Inquisitor Spell-Like Abilities (CL 18th; concentration +34)
. . At will—detect alignment, discern lies (18 rounds/day)
Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer) Spells Known (CL 20th; concentration +36)
. . 6th (5/day)—cleanse[APG], greater dispel magic, heal[M], legend lore
. . 5th (6/day)—commune, mark of justice, communal spell immunity[UC], true seeing
. . 4th (8/day)—forceful strike (DC 26), freedom of movement, holy smite[M] (DC 26), greater invisibility, litany of sight[UC]
. . 3rd (8/day)—arcane sight, dispel magic[M], heroism[M], invisibility purge, prayer, remove curse
. . 2nd (8/day)—align weapon, cure moderate wounds, invisibility, lesser restoration, see invisibility, spiritual weapon[M]
. . 1st (8/day)—bless[M], comprehend languages, cure light wounds[M], divine favor, know the enemy[UM], litany of sloth[UC] (DC 23)
. . 0 (at will)—acid splash, create water, detect magic, disrupt undead, read magic, virtue
Cleric (Separatist) Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +17)
. . 1st—bless[M], comprehend languages, endure elements, expeditious retreat[D], liberating command[UC]
. . 0 (at will)—create water, guidance, light
. . D Domain spell; Domains Conversion inquisition, Travel (Exploration subdomain)
. . M mythic spell
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 11, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 34, Cha 7
Base Atk +13; CMB +17; CMD 26
Feats Channel Smite, Critical Focus, Deific Obedience, Demon Hunter[ISWG], Dual Path[M], Extended Bane[UM], Extra Path Ability[M], Guided Hand[M], Lastwall Phalanx, Legendary Teamwork[M], Lookout[APG], Mythic Spell Lore[M], Outflank[APG], Pack Attack[UC], Precise Strike[APG], Sap Adept[UC], Sap Master[UC], Seething Hatred[ACG], Shake It Off[UC], Step Up, Two-weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (quarterstaff)[M]
Traits magical knack, touched by divinity
Skills Acrobatics +18 (+22 to jump), Appraise +20, Bluff +41, Climb +18, Diplomacy +41, Disable Device +34, Disguise +16, Escape Artist +18, Fly +18, Handle Animal +16, Heal +30, Intimidate +35, Knowledge (arcana) +20, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +20, Knowledge (history) +20, Knowledge (nature) +20, Knowledge (nobility) +20, Knowledge (planes) +29 (+31 to know the powers and abilities of demons), Knowledge (religion) +29, Linguistics +20, Perception +39, Ride +18, Sense Motive +44, Sleight of Hand +18, Spellcraft +29, Stealth +18, Survival +30, Swim +17, Use Magic Device +16
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Dwarven, Elven, Varisian
SQ amazing initiative, combat style (two-weapon combat), divine vessel, door sight, forbidden rite (exploration[APG]), force of will, immortal, legendary hero, legendary power, legendary surge, mirror image 2/day, monster lore +12, mythic bond, recuperation, robes of nethys, silver tongued, slayer talents (ranger combat style[ACG], trap spotter, trapfinding[ACG]), solo tactics, spiritual form, stern gaze +9, track +9, trapfinding +9, undetectable, unyielding, variant channeling (self-perfection variant channeling[UM])
Other Gear +1 mithral agile breastplate[APG], +1 merciful Legendary quarterstaff, 150 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Amazing Initiative (1/round) (Ex) As a free action, use 1 power to gain an extra standard action (can't be used to cast a spell).
Beyond Morality (Ex) Count as having no alignment, any effects on your either fail or treat you as the most favorable alignment.
Channel Smite Channel energy can be delivered through a Smite attack.
Cleric (Separatist) Domain (Conversion Inquisition) Deities: Any deity.

Granted Powers: You are a powerful persuader. A honeyed tongue empowered by divine argumentation sways the indifferent and adversarial to your side.
Cleric (Separatist) Domain (Exploration)
Cleric Channel Positive Energy 1d6 (1/day, DC 8) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Critical Focus +4 to confirm critical hits.
Damage Reduction (10/epic) You have Damage Reduction against all except Epic attacks (weapons with a +6 bonus).
Deific Obedience Purify yourself daily to prove devotion to a deity and gain benefits.
Demon Hunter Gain Knowledge and combat bonuses vs. demons
Detect Alignment (At will) (Sp) Detect chaos, evil, good, or law at will.
Dimensional Hop (16 5-ft inc/day) (Sp) As a move action, teleport with no AoO to seen destination. Spend an equal distance to carry others.
Discern Lies (18 rounds/day) (Sp) Discern Lies at will
Divine Vessel (Ex) Non-mythic foes save vs your spells twice. Healing is maximized for you. Activate when take 20+ dam in a rd to gain 1 power.
Door Sight (15/day) (Su) By touching a door for 1 minute, use clairvoyance on the other side.
Enduring Blessing (10+ minutes) (Su) Single-target spells with duration 10+ minutes cast on willing creatures last 24 hours.
Exploit Weakness (Ex) With a crit, ignore DR, suppress Regen, and take advantage of vulnerability.
Fickle Attack (1s, 2s as max value) (Su) Treat natural 1s on damage rolls for attacks with weapons or alchmical items as highest possible number.
Fleet Warrior (Ex) You may move up to your full speed before or after making a full attack.
Force of Will (Ex) As an immediate action, use 1 power to reroll any d20, or force non-mythic to reroll.
Greater Bane (+2 / 4d6, 30 rounds/day) (Su) Make the weapon you are holding a bane weapon.
Guided Hand [Mythic] Apply Wisdom bonus instead of Strength or Dexterity bonus on favored weapon damage
Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2.
Immortal (Su) Ressurrect next day, unless killed by an artifact's crit.
Inspired Spell (Su) Use 1 power, cast one divine spell from your class spell list at +2 CL, it doesn't need to be known/memorized.
Lastwall Phalanx Bonus equal to adjacent allies with this feat to AC and saves vs. attacks & abilities of evil foes.
Legendary Hero (Su) One use of mythic power is regained each hr.
Legendary Power (4/day) All legendary items contain a pool of power - at least two uses that recharge each day. This power is called legendary power, and it works differently than mythic power. Any creature bearing the item can expend the items uses of legendary power, whet
Legendary Surge (+1d6 to Attack Rolls - All, Combat Maneuver Checks) All legendary items have a legendary surge ability, similar to a mythic character's surge ability (see page 170). It can be used only on specific rolls or checks based on the nature or purpose of the legendary item - see the Legendary Surge sidebar o
Legendary Teamwork [Mythic] Increase any fixed numeric bonuses to teamwork feats by 1
Lookout Not surprised if adj ally with same feat isn't surprised. Extra actions if both are aware.
Magical Knack (Inquisitor [Sanctified Slayer]) +2 CL for a specific class, to a max of your HD.
Mirror Image 2/day (Sp) 2/day use mirror image as a spell like ability.
Monster Lore +12 (Ex) +12 to Knowledge checks when identifying the weaknessess of creatures.
Mythic Bond A legendary item is typically bonded to a single mythic creature. Others can pick up and use a legendary item for its basic functions (like hitting a foe with a legendary mace), but only the creature bonded to the item can utilize it fully.

A myth
Mythic Power (23/day, Surge +1d12) Use this power to perform your mythic abilities.
Mythic Saving Throws (Ex) A successful save negates all effects from a non-mythic source.
Mythic Spell Lore [Mythic] Gain mythic spells equal to your mythic tier.
Outflank Increase flank bonus by +3 if flanking ally has same feat. If you crit, ally gets an AoO.
Pack Attack Ally's attack allows you to take a 5-foot step
Precise Strike +1d6 precision damage for melee attacks if you and an ally with this feat flank the same target.
Recuperation (Ex) Fully heal after 8 hrs rest, use 1 power and 1 hr to heal half and restore all non-mythic abilities.
Robes of Nethys (6 rounds/day) (Su) Illusory robe absorbs up to 3rd-level spells as lesser globe of invulnerability
Sap Adept Gain bonus damage on nonlethal attacks,
Sap Master Deal twice your sneak attack damage when dealing nonlethal damage
Seething Hatred (Favored Enemy [Evil Outsiders]) Bonus dmg from studied target is doubled vs selected creature type.
Self-Perfection Variant Channeling (±1 Sacred) Ignore one condition/Penalty vs conditions
Shake It Off Gain +1 to all saving throws per adjacent ally
Silver Tongued You can shift a creature's attitude by three steps with Diplomacy.
Sneak Attack +5d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Solo Tactics (Ex) Count Teamwork feats as if your allies had the same ones.
Spiritual Form (Wisdom, 10 minutes/day) As a standard action, gain telepathy, stat boost, and ability of choice.
Stalwart (Ex) If you succeed at a Fort or Will save for reduced effect, you take none instead.
Step Up When a foe makes a 5 ft step away from you, you can move 5 ft to follow them.
Studied Target +4 (swift action, 4 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Swift action, gain +4 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Surge (1d12) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount.
Surprise Strike (Ex) As a swift action, use 1 power to attack foe in 30 ft. They are flat footed and you bypass all DR.
Track +9 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
Trap Sense +6 (Ex) +6 bonus on reflex saves and AC against traps.
Trap Spotter (Ex) Whenever you come within 10' of a trap, the GM secretly rolls for you to find it.
Trapfinding +9 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
Undetectable This grants its bonded user the ability to become utterly undetectable while invisible. While invisible and in physical contact with this item, the bonded creature can't be detected or scryed by any method.
Unstoppable (Ex) As a free action, use 1 power to end one listed condition on yourself.
Unyielding A legendary item with this ability has double the hardness of a typical item of its type and triple the hit points. Furthermore, it's immune to all attempts to sunder it made by non-mythic creatures. This is a persistent ability.
Vanishing Move (Su) Swift action: become invisible until end of turn. 1 power: acts as greater invisibility.
Weapon Focus [Mythic, Quarterstaff] As a swift action, use 1 power to add half tier to attack with selected weapon.

Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Inc.®, and are used under license.

Note that I didn't put a lot of effort into choosing spells or equipment, since I imagine a lot of that will depend on how the campaign goes. But if you have any suggestions for either of those categories, please feel free to make them!

So, what do you all think? Thanks in advance for your advice!

Grand Lodge

...and with that I just started my subscription to this again... This is a cool spell.

Would have been a cool investigator spell too...

Sczarni 4/5 RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

My card gaming group is just finishing Rise of the Runelords this week. We are considering doing Wrath of the Righteous next, but I am hoping to play that Adventure Path in the RPG.

Will playing the organized play scenarios spoil the Adventure Path for me? Should I stay away for the sake of my future enjoyment of the RPG (which I do consider to be more important)?

Thanks!

Sczarni 4/5 RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Hi folks,

I'm curious about the rationale for the decision to irrevocably switch characters over to the non-Core Campaign once they have played in a non-Core game. As long as the character doesn't have any options from non-core sources, why restrict a player from moving back and forth between the two play "modes"?

I'm envisioning the following sort of scenario: a new player joins a group, playing PFS Core. She plays several games and enjoys it. Then she goes to a local convention, sees "Pathfinder Society" offered, and plays a game. Then she happily takes her character back to her local group after the convention and is told that she can't play their games anymore because her character is "non-core".

I totally understand restricting characters from rejoining the Core campaign once they have taken non-Core options. But I'm curious why, if a character still obeys all the "Core Only" rules, it would not be allowed to play another Core game after earning a non-core Chronicle sheet.

Thanks!

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you all in Customer Service are still sober enough to check on this for me ;-)

According to the March 2015 New Release Shipping Thread, the March subscription orders should now be shipped. However, my order #3421433 is still showing a state of "pending".

Would you mind checking into this, please?

Thanks very much!

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

1 person marked this as a favorite.

My PCs are playing through The Frozen Stars right now (they are currently Level 11/Mythic Tier 3), and in order to tie the events of TFS more closely to the rest of the AP, I have decided to place a Winter Collector somewhere near Yrax's palace. (Thanks to Jeven on the GM reference thread for the idea!}

In my version, Elvanna created a series of new Winter Collectors in order to spread Irrisen's winter throughout Golarion. One of these was on Triaxus, and she paid off the white dragon Yrax to guard it. So it should be somewhere in or near his palace.

I'm looking for ideas on what exactly the Winter Collector is, and how it can be destroyed. I was thinking of something like a D&D-style skill challenge, but I'm open to suggestions. I do want its destruction to be more involved than just "hit it with the adamantine warhammer!"

(If it matters, I'm also having a simulacrum of Elvanna in the palace to keep an eye on Yrax and guard the collector. My players will be facing her next week, which should be very exciting!)

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

Hey, folks!

I'm wondering about the interactions between haste and chaos hammer.

Chaos Hammer wrote:

You unleash chaotic power to smite your enemies. The power takes the form of a multicolored explosion of leaping, ricocheting energy. Only lawful and neutral (not chaotic) creatures are harmed by the spell.

The spell deals 1d8 points of damage per two caster levels (maximum 5d8) to lawful creatures (or 1d6 points of damage per caster level, maximum 10d6, to lawful outsiders) and slows them for 1d6 rounds (see the slow spell). A successful Will save reduces the damage by half and negates the slow effect.

The spell deals only half damage against creatures who are neither lawful nor chaotic, and they are not slowed. Such a creature can reduce the damage by half again (down to one-quarter) with a successful Will save.

Slow wrote:

An affected creature moves and attacks at a drastically slowed rate. Creatures affected by this spell are staggered and can take only a single move action or standard action each turn, but not both (nor may it take full-round actions). Additionally, it takes a –1 penalty on attack rolls, AC, and Reflex saves. A slowed creature moves at half its normal speed (round down to the next 5-foot increment), which affects the creature's jumping distance as normal for decreased speed.

Multiple slow effects don't stack. Slow counters and dispels haste.

(emphasis mine)

So, my question is: multiple PCs are affected by haste, and then the BBEG slaps a chaos hammer on them. If they fail the save, they are subject to the slow effect.

  • Does the slow effect dispel the haste on that PC?
  • Is the haste dispelled completely, or only for the 1d6 rounds of the slow?
  • If the haste is dispelled, is it only dispelled for the characters who were lawful and failed their saves? That is, are other PCs who are under the same haste spell still hasted? (And does it make a difference whether the caster is one of the affected characters?)

Thanks!

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

So, my party is currently exploring Artrosa. They are about to encounter Caigreal, and if all goes according to plan (I know, this rarely happens when PCs are involved), she will pretend to be a captured maiden and join with the party as they continue through the dungeon.

Shortly after that, it's likely that the PCs will encounter Jadrenka in "The Maiden in the Field".

I assume that Jadrenka will recognize Caigreal even through the disguise, so how would this affect their interaction? Would Caigreal and Jadrenka both be attempting to turn the PCs against the other? Would Jadrenka blow Caigreal's disguise?

If any GMs who have run this encounter have any advice or stories, I'd greatly appreciate hearing it.

Thanks!

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