Spell-Like Abilities (Sp) Spell-like abilities are magical and work just like spells (though they are not spells and so have no verbal, somatic, focus, or material components). They go away in an antimagic field and are subject to spell resistance if the spell the ability is based on would be subject to spell resistance.
A spell-like ability usually has a limit on how often it can be used. A constant spell-like ability or one that can be used at will has no use limit; unless otherwise stated, a creature can only use a constant spell-like ability on itself. Reactivating a constant spell-like ability is a swift action. Using all other spell-like abilities is a standard action unless noted otherwise, and doing so provokes attacks of opportunity. It is possible to make a concentration check to use a spell-like ability defensively and avoid provoking an attack of opportunity, just as when casting a spell. A spell-like ability can be disrupted just as a spell can be. Spell-like abilities cannot be used to counterspell, nor can they be counterspelled.
So...by reading that I still go back to my original conclusion that "Spell-like abilities are magical and work just like spells". Where does that say they cannot be enhanced by meta-magic?
That's why there's a whole slew of 'monster' feats that are devoted to faux-metamagicing (Empower, Maximize, Quicken, etc.) SLAs.
So I need monster feats is what you're saying? :P
Technically the monster feats are better than the not-monster feats because they don't eat up more valuable resources.
I'm happy with what I asked for. :)
Okay, well, would making the rod function with my SLAs be the only custom thing I could squeeze onto it? Or are you willing to let me squeeze something else in there, KC?
I'd avoid the SR Carina. Spell resistance will affect our buffs/healing too.
On another note, I feel like I post the least in this game. I have been thinking about why, because I want to participate more in this epic campaign (more than 16,500 posts!).
I have thought of a few reasons why this might be. The first is that I actually don't really like Rodrigo. I'm not sure why I made him into a perverted drunken cliche, but I did. Now whenever I'm like "What would Rodrigo do?" to myself, I don't like the answer, and it's always the same thing. I think one reason might be that when I made Rodrigo I was really busy IRL, and didn't want a character who was complex to play. Now I've evolved into a stay at home dad, I find myself with more time to post and less time to do other stuff I like doing (because of its asynchronous nature and baby).
The second is that I'm basically in the same party slot as Eben, but he does it way better. Maybe not mechanically, but as a character he is way more fleshed out and interesting. Mechanically we overlap quite a bit too I feel like.
Which brings me to the third thing, which is that I don't like my role mechanically. It seems to be buff, buff, buff, archon archon archon. That's really boring to me I'm discovering. I was having tons more fun playing Cuetzpalli. I almost never play casters, the only reason I did here was not wanting to step on Tanith and Farrukh's toes as the melee guys. Back then we were also finding ourselves in a lot more 5' wide corridors it seems, and I remember some concern about the front line getting too crowded.
So...I am wondering, what can be done about this? I'd really like to play a character that I can get more into roleplaying/rollplaying and interact more with the group. Thoughts?
Would you be up for bringing Cuetzpalli back? Maybe as some kind of pseudo undead revenant?
There was a sweet Spawn-like race late in 3.5 that represented a soul that had been sent to Hell but earned a second chance.
Yeah, I would love to play Cuet again....though without Spiny it would be a bit strange. Perhaps with some retraining...
Retraining to an archetype without an animal companion is easy enough.
The race I was thinking of is called Hellbred from Fiendish Codex II. Mechanically it would need some tweaks to bring them up to PF standards but the flavor was very cool.
Well, an undead-ish, hellspawned Cuetzpalli would certainly confuse the hell out of Astraden. That might be worth the loss of 2nd level haste spells by itself!
Okay, so some preliminary statting on a hypothetical sentient bowstring. I am trying to model it on a lillend where possible, which is why there's some non-instinctive stuff going on. (I.E., the cheese thing to do creating a custom intelligent item that doesn't have any powers involving save DCs would be to give it 10s in all its mental stats to save on cost & ego issues, wheras I'm giving it the mental stats of a lillend, for instance.)
Wilorith, the Archer's Song
intelligent tuned bowstring (18,000 base price + 500 base intelligent upgrade, +3 ego for base item price)
Aignment: CG
Int: 14 (+1,000 gp, +2 ego)
Wis: 16 (+2,000 gp, +3 ego)
Cha: 19 (+5,200 gp, +4 ego)
Abilities: senses 60 feet (+500 gp), darkvision (+500 gp), speech [common, celestial, draconic, infernal] (+500 gp), telepathy (+1,000 gp, +1 ego)
Powers: gravity bow 3/day (+1,200 gp, +1 ego), true strike 3/day (+1,200 gp, +1 ego), leaping (+2,000 gp, +1 ego)
total so far: 33,600 gp, 16 Ego
I might be cherry picking a bit too liberally with the powers, so KC, feel free to beat it with a nerf stick as you desire.
You have room for a couple more tricks. Maybe some of the SLAs lillends have naturally like invisibility and cure light wounds.
Well, I already feel like I'm pushing it, power-wise- most intelligent items have only one spell-power, unless they're 'special purpose' items. (And making it one of those would be far out of the Manzorian Shopping Network budget.)
It could get a skill or two, though. We're often so short on Knowledge checks. Or it could take Read Languages/ ReadMagic, which is something Eben completely lacks in otherwise.
Are resistances an option?
Not in the basic chart, no. Without creating a custom power, the closest approximation would be allowing it to cast resist energy 3/day. (+7,200 gp, +1 ego).
Is the intelligent item ability chart on the SRD?
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/intelligent-items
The shapechanging power could be cool. Not that you swing a weapon in melee often.
I'd avoid the SR Carina. Spell resistance will affect our buffs/healing too.
Alright--I think I'll swap it out for Moderate Fortification then.
Also, regarding bringing back Cuetzpalli, I'd definitely be on board with that. Since Astraden was able to scry where Spiny was (IIRC, at least), how difficult would it be for Spiny to recognize him, assuming we go through with bringing him back?
You could always put Rodrigo through some character development, of course. Though that wouldn't help your mechanical woes.
I like to think I've developed Farrukh at least a LITTLE over the course of this game. When we started he was basically just "Generic adventurer guy" and TBH I'm pretty sure the only reason KC picked me over some of the others is because I posted endorsement for him running a game to begin with.
He's not nearly as unflinchingly pragmatic as he was when we started, and has a bit more good humor to him and concern for others' well-being. Which makes him more fun to play.
Rodrigo could be a really cool character with a shift away from his current actions, or even an exploration of the darker sides of that where it's not just FUN, it's kinda depressing. Which could give him impetus to crawl out of it, take on a bit more responsibility in his life.
But that won't do anything for mechanical woes...it also doesn't make sense that he would suddenly not be an addict anymore, playing an addict is just less fun than I imagined. Though his sheet says his charisma is high, I feel like his actual charisma is like 2...
Basically when I was Cuetzpalli I felt like part of the team...now I feel like if Rodrigo disappeared the only thing the others would think is "Hey, where's my haste?"
This is my fault, I made the character that way without thinking it through all the way. But now I feel trapped in him and his stupid patterns.
Well, addiction isn't fun. That's what I was saying, play up the depressing tendency for self-destruction your character has.
...Or bring back Cuetzpalli, yeah. Honestly come to think of it it wouldn't be any more crowded in melee than the tigers and whatnot you summon.
I think it would be much more in character for Rodrigo to be like, "I'm richer than I ever imagined now. I'm retiring before this s@&& gets really crazy. Devils ambushing me? So not worth it..."
Then Cuetzpalli has been in Kordhalla or whatever it's called doing endless battling and feasting and now he's ready to get back on the meatsack train and finish stopping the age of worms. So he convinces someone to contact you guys or get him a resurrection or whatever.
Adding new characters is always tricky. It's hard to join an established party and become "one of the team", and yeah, I have noticed Rodrigo struggling in that department. If you want to switch up characters, I'm open to that. It would be interesting to have Cuetzpalli back.
Okay, well, would making the rod function with my SLAs be the only custom thing I could squeeze onto it? Or are you willing to let me squeeze something else in there, KC?
I was okay with the Giant Extending. What else do you want, though?
Eben, what you have looks okay. I also think that a lillend-minded bowstring is both interesting and has potential for interesting interactions later in the campaign.
Well, I didn’t haveanything else specific in mind yet, I was just checking. However, if Cuet can come back I’d much prefer that, and then it’s kinda a moot point.
It might be tough but I think there's plenty of fun to be had with a high functioning addict.
But I totally know what you mean by mechanics not being fun necessarily. There's a few classes out there that I can't wrap my head around because they feel so one-note.
KC, any thoughts on Living Tattoo of the Fortunate Brawler or Tenser's Rough Past or Tenser's Bad Day or Tenser's Drunk Weekend?
Are you asking about the name or the item?
The item. The name's a work in progress.
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KC, any thoughts on Living Tattoo of the Fortunate Brawler or Tenser's Rough Past or Tenser's Bad Day or Tenser's Drunk Weekend?
Weekend at Tenser's? (I mean, technically, that's what this interlude is. Now we just have to find his Hawaii-shirt clad corpse hanging out on a bench in Manzorian's place...)
I'm still considering the item, for the record. My main problem is it's a lot of cobbled-together bonuses and seems primarily geared to shore up Tanith's defense (which is not at all weak to begin with). Then again, it's not much more cobbled than the rest, and I hate to be the guy who tells his PCs they can't get tattoos. I'm not like a regular GM. I'm a cool GM.
It's not really any more defensy than the armor you approved for Farrukh. In fact it'll be the same net AC bonus for both characters. We'll both be getting a +5 bump to our ACs and Farrukh's will jump even further once he finishes his training reading montage.
Would you prefer it be less defense oriented? I could go for the version working in Tenser's Brawl.
Well, yeah, but Farrukh is getting an armor bonus. You're getting natural armor and luck. Plus a +5 to CMD and an effective crit immunity unless you get really unlucky. And some crappy DR that makes you better in tavern brawls, I guess.
What do you have in mind for the Tenser's Brawl item?
Armor boni and natural armor boni are roughly the same. With the exception of brilliant energy weapons and the textbook magus, very few effects differentiate between the two. Farrukh already has the same luck bonus and 1/day crit immunity. The CMD bonus and crappy DR are worth significantly less than persistent fast healing 1 (11k vs 20k to 90k).
I could drop the Boneless portion and add 3/day Tenser's Brawl at CL 5 for a similar cost of 10800 (((Level 2 * CL 5 * 1800)/5)*3). Just adding the brawling enchantment would probably be a lot simpler and accomplish almost the same effect.
Farrukh's will jump even further once he finishes histrainingreading montage.
Actually my AC will go DOWN by 2 points, since my Dex will be dropping from 16 to 12. I wanted Full Plate so I could break even on AC, and I wanted Fusing and such so I didn't have to eat the ENORMOUS ACP on top of my Dex drop so I could still do Acrobatics.
I agree that my Fast Healing 1 is probably better long term than your DR though.
Dunno if this is relevant, but isn't acrobatics limited to light armor?
Move Through Threatened Squares
In addition, you can move through a threatened square without provoking an attack of opportunity from an enemy by using Acrobatics. When moving in this way, you move at half speed. You can move at full speed by increasing the DC of the check by 10. You cannot use Acrobatics to move past foes if your speed is reduced due to carrying a medium or heavy load or wearing medium or heavy armor. If an ability allows you to move at full speed under such conditions, you can use Acrobatics to move past foes. You can use Acrobatics in this way while prone, but doing so requires a full-round action to move 5 feet, and the DC is increased by 5. If you attempt to move through an enemy’s space and fail the check, you lose the move action and provoke an attack of opportunity.
Just saying this because you mention full plate. I haven't been following the minutiae of your item.
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Yeah, I noticed Rodrigo struggling to be involved in the party, though I always thought it was just because Jelani was so busy. If Cuetzpalli doesn't come back, we could at worst bring back awakened!Spiny :0
What if Cuetzpalli came back as some sort of Kordian outsider? Like, whatever the Greyhawk version of an azata is?
Or what if he realized that the brawling of Ysgard is just as bad as that of the real world, and is now willing to come back? Maybe Astraden could plane shift to ask him if he's willing to come back?
KC, if I were to get something like the robe of arcane heritage but for cleric domains, would it cost twice as much or no? The item doesn't have a caveat for crossblooded sorcerers but that may have been an oversight.
Dunno if this is relevant, but isn't acrobatics limited to light armor?
Just saying this because you mention full plate. I haven't been following the minutiae of your item.Move Through Threatened Squares
In addition, you can move through a threatened square without provoking an attack of opportunity from an enemy by using Acrobatics. When moving in this way, you move at half speed. You can move at full speed by increasing the DC of the check by 10. You cannot use Acrobatics to move past foes if your speed is reduced due to carrying a medium or heavy load or wearing medium or heavy armor. If an ability allows you to move at full speed under such conditions, you can use Acrobatics to move past foes. You can use Acrobatics in this way while prone, but doing so requires a full-round action to move 5 feet, and the DC is increased by 5. If you attempt to move through an enemy’s space and fail the check, you lose the move action and provoke an attack of opportunity.
Yep. Hence why it being essentially Mithral (dropping it to Medium) and has the Fusing property (making it Light) is necessary. =)
Really? I thought warder had access to the beefier AC boosting stances/manuevers.
Sorta. There's not many, and being in one Stance means I can't be in another, of course.
Mithral Tortoise Stance eliminates the last of my ACP and gives me +2 Dodge AC, but that means I can't use, say, Broken Blade Stance (an extra attack per round). The only other AC boosting stance I know of is Iron Tortoise Stance, which is +1 Shield AC per 4 levels (so +2 at the level I come in, +3 the level after that, and up to +5 at 20th).
And I'd considered trading that out for Golden General's Attitude, to give us a back-up Morale bonus to Attack/Damage/Stuff for when we run out of Good Hopes and whatnot.
Iron Tortoise is more about COUNTERS than AC boosts.
Turtlee General's Stance will be pretty rad when I can get it though. +2 AC is meh, but I automatically block cones and lines. Zyrxog can finally eat s*** when I hit 15th!
Yeah, I noticed Rodrigo struggling to be involved in the party, though I always thought it was just because Jelani was so busy...What if Cuetzpalli came back as some sort of Kordian outsider? Like, whatever the Greyhawk version of an azata is?
Or what if he realized that the brawling of Ysgard is just as bad as that of the real world, and is now willing to come back? Maybe Astraden could plane shift to ask him if he's willing to come back?
Talking to KC via PM about something exactly along those lines.
Armor boni and natural armor boni are roughly the same. With the exception of brilliant energy weapons and the textbook magus, very few effects differentiate between the two.
Yes, but natural armor is harder to increase. :P
I'll allow it, or the Brawling variant. Either one.
Yeah, I noticed Rodrigo struggling to be involved in the party, though I always thought it was just because Jelani was so busy. If Cuetzpalli doesn't come back, we could at worst bring back awakened!Spiny :0
What if Cuetzpalli came back as some sort of Kordian outsider? Like, whatever the Greyhawk version of an azata is?
Or what if he realized that the brawling of Ysgard is just as bad as that of the real world, and is now willing to come back? Maybe Astraden could plane shift to ask him if he's willing to come back?
KC, if I were to get something like the robe of arcane heritage but for cleric domains, would it cost twice as much or no? The item doesn't have a caveat for crossblooded sorcerers but that may have been an oversight.
I'd say it's roughly the same price, but it depends on what you want to add on to it.
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Okay, I think I have a "concept." This robe was created by a worshiper of Zagyg (or by Zagyg himself), and enhances powers related to his portfolio.
Robe of divine power - 16000 gp
Plus 1/day veil - 7200 gp
Plus 1/day insanity - 9800 gp
Plus, what, a little skill bonus or something? Think the CL boost to illusions is out of my price range, even if it's only half the cost of an orange ioun stone. Maybe a +2 competence bonus on all Knowledge checks? (2^2)*100*10=4000 gp?
Comes out to 37000 gp.
(After I picked out spells from the Trickery and Madness domains, I noticed that Zagyg doesn't actually grant those domains . . .)
Yeah, that looks okay.
Everyone is escorted to the vaults to pick their loot. Honestly, because of the magical nature of the whole keep, I'm sort of inclined to leave what the vaults look like open. Just roleplay how you find the items and feel free to use your own imagination to define your part of the vaults.
Tanith, are you envisioning the "word jar" as the embodiment of the tattoo thing?
Oops. I missed this post but you seemed to have gotten the gist.