Sir_Andrew's page

Hello Everyone!

A friend of mine is running a Spheres of Might/Power home game (starting at level 1) in a month or two, i'm fairly new to the spheres system and still learning new things about it, so far I've decided on playing a Halfling Scholar.

After looking up the scholar class, i have some questions about it that maybe those who are more rule savvy or familiar to the system might be able to answer.
Questions:

1) the alchemy combat sphere allows to make a certain number of formulae for free at a time, but how many formulae can you make per day?

"You may craft any item whose formulae you know in 30 minutes, or 15 minutes if you have access to an alchemist’s lab or alchemist’s crafting kit, but due to the volatile nature of the enhanced formulae you cannot prepare more formulae at one time than a number equal to 1/2 your ranks in Craft (alchemy) (minimum 1) + the number of formulae talents you possess. For every 4 ranks in Craft (alchemy) you possess, you may craft 1 additional formulae as part of the same 30/15 minute time period"

if i have 2 alchemy formulae talents (can craft 3 formulae in 30 mins)
do i:
a) craft 3 formulae per day?
b) craft 3 formulae and then craft more once the first 3 are used up?

bonus question: if you know the improved alchemist fire formulae, can you craft it normally? (spend the appropriate gps and time to craft it) or is using the above method the only way to make a improved version?

2) the scholar ability "Careful packer" allows you to use your intelligence score in place of your strength score for carrying capacity, how does this interact with abilities/items like ant haul spell and masterwork backpack that all stat "treat your strength score as "x" higher"?

3) the scholar knack "Large Animal Training" says you keep your familiar's special abilities and the Intelligence score. what counts as special abilities?

a) do i keep stuff like Alertness/improved evasion/etc? natural armor?
b) do i keep the bonus it grants me, say a fox's +2 bonus to it master's reflex saves?
c) does it still gain more familiar abilities in addition to animal companion abilities as i level up?
d) can you have a familiar archetype and a animal companion archetype on it at the same time?
e) if i misunderstood how this knack works, what does it do exactly?

4) is the scholar knack "Genetic Modification" just a reverse version of "large animal training?

Advice:
1) what knacks are good or useful to have?
2) besides the alchemy sphere, are there any really good combat spheres that work well with scholar? any particular talent combos that i should focus on?
3) is a pet build viable for the scholar? or should i focus more on crafting or healing? or all?
4) feats?

A few helpful things if needed:
my stats after modifiers, str 8, dex 16, con 12, int 18, wis 14, cha 9

party is made of:
-either a maneuver based technician or a Dps Striker
-Incanter focused on the Protection sphere
-undecided, but probably a blaster type caster or melee tank

So my group is doing a one-shot campaign this weekend,

We are a group CR 4 evil minions who are in charge of protecting a dungeon while the master is out. We soon find ourselves attacked by a lv 10 adventure (class unknown), Our goal is to somehow defeat the adventure using our wits/various traps found in the dungeon/random shenanigans.

Rules:
-We are allowed to play a creature with a CR no greater then 4 (can add classes/templates up to make up the difference, with DM approval)

-we get 2000gps for equipment

-other players:
Mimic
Shadow creature template assassin vine
Advance+commando template ship in a bottle

I have decided on playing a pugwampi with maybe the advance and half-fiend templates and one other class or template. My tactic is to use a potion of invisibility to hide and fly behind the adventurer to use my unluck aura.

Are there any other neat combos or tricks I can do with a pugwampi with the above rules?

Hello Everyone!

I was wondering if you guys/gals could offer me advice/ideas for a backup character in a campaign i'm currently in. (home game, not society) I've began to realize lately that we are lacking in the skill department, and my current build is only good mainly for damage and diplomacy. Being the only person without a backup character i thought i should create a character that is great at dealing Damage/good with skills and/or has a good amount of utility. note: i'm not interested in playing a full caster since we have 2 already.

the group we have is
1) lv 7 L/N paladin 2/cavalier 5 (Tank role)
2) Lv 7 L/G Cleric (buffer/healer role)
3) Lv 6 N/E Arcanist (blaster/debuffer role)
4) Lv 7 L/G bloodrager 1/Paladin 6 (DPS role) *Me

a little info about the campaign:
its very Lovecraft meets Lord of the rings, basically the shadow plane is slowly leaking into the Material Plane and corrupting it (Dm is using a slightly modified version of the 3.5 "taint" rules). Our group is in charge of fighting the tainted creatures/people, find where its leaking in from and cure the land, In addition it involves some type of elder gods and ancient unheard of civilizations/fractions that are connected to the taint somehow.

Other rules/house rules/notes
1) *one automatic 18 at character creation
2) were allowed to take one 3pp feat with DM approval
3) Mythic rules might be added soon depending on if the group whats to use it. (DM has previous experience with those rules)
4) No Gnome Characters for plot reasons
5)During the the course of the campaign we have rolled these skills the most:
Diplomacy/(knowledge Arcane/history/nature/planes/religion)/linguistics/perception/sense motive/ spellcraft
6) lately we running into a problem with not having disable device for traps, so having that on the new character would be nice.
7) Aberrations/monstrous humanoids/plants/undead being the most common foes
8) rolled stats *18,17,16,16,11,9 pretty awesome stats :)

Any builds that could be awesome for this type of character and campaign?

what does the swashbuckler archetype get?

hello! so i making a lv 5 catfolk eyebiter mesmerist for a upcoming one shot. so far i have decided on everything but the traits. are there any especially useful or tricky traits i can use that you'd suggest? i was maybe thinking mutant eye for the third eye for the first one.

Hello everyone!

does anyone know the stats of a eyeball familiar? there isn't too many stats from the text. here are some questions.

1)does the HP equal mine? are the saves equal to mine? does it have a AC?
2) what is its creature type?
3) it has a str/dex/con score but what about its int/wis/cha?
4) it says its similar to the tumor familiar, but it in't one right? would the protector archetype work? other archetypes?
5) how does it deliver touch spells if it has no attack bonus?
6) what skill bonuses/feats does it have?

sorry for all the questions, making a lv5 eyebiter mesmerist for a one shot and couldn't find all the stats for it, so i need help. thank you in advance!

I making a character for a lv 5 one shot that utilizes smoke as a type of defense. Are there any items that would allow me to see through it for cheap price? any traits or if not, feats?.

what kind of abilities does the swashbuckler archetype get? what does it trade out?

Inquisitive Malefactor wrote:

And what does Planar Heritage do?

** spoiler omitted **

would that allow a Tiefling to take angel wings feat from aasimars? i wmight have to make a redeemed tiefling paladin back-up character now.

since the Azatariel swashbuckler is a champion of Elysium, are they tied to Cayden by any chance? i have a caydenite Swashbuckler and this might help with that theme :).

also what abilities does it have? does it seem like a good option?

Sir_Andrew wrote:

what about archetypes? what are they called?

** spoiler omitted **

-Skeld

cool! what does the Azatariel swashbuckler do? does it look good?

what about archetypes? what are they called?

A player characters ecplicit ability always overrides any monster abilities and you shouldn't take that away, that's written down somewhere (maybe in the Game Mastery Guide?).

I would definetly rule it so.
Even with a level 20 spawn slayer (and acompanying party), the Tarasque is a level 25 threat & can wipe out the pc's.

interesting, but even if you stop the regeneration for 2d6 rounds, wouldn't it just revive it after regeneration kicks back in?

John Ryan 783 wrote:

Forgive me if I am wrong, but I think the new slayer can kill the Tarrasque.

I mean, it's called a Spawn Slayer for a reason.

i don't think it can. its regeneration stats: "No form of attack can suppress the tarrasque's regeneration". so a slayer wouldn't be able to stop it. though it would have been awesome if it could

Awesome, funny enough i actually have a backup character that is a Diplomancer/translator investigator, this might help make it better :)

what are the Investigator archetypes like?

can a rogue with the Snoop archetype take the extra investigator talent feat to gain talents he can't normally get?
the class stats that a rogue can pick from a selected list of investigator talents instead of choosing a rogue one.
what i'm wondering is if you pick one up from the feat, are you allowed to take a different one, say expanded inspiration? it only seems to have that talent restriction when replacing a rogue talent. thoughts?

Can you use the the Protector’s Strike feat to grant a Ally a bonus to AC while playing a Virtuous Bravo paladin? i'm not sure because i don't get the deflection bonus to AC due to the archetype.

So recently a posted about what cohort i should take when i get the feat. (Face ranger wins). but looking at followers I've come across a conflict. Is there any reason to take commoner over expert for my skill based followers? it seems like experts would be better since they have more health and can wield stronger weapons. thoughts?

ok so i don't plan on using him that much for combat. more of a utility character that good which people.

so far in our party we got
1) me, skirmisher/face lv6 monk/paladin,
2) aid-another/tank lv5 fighter/cavalier,
3) skirmisher/caster lv4 unchained-monk/druid.
4) healing/buffer lv5 cleric
5) buffer/DPS lv4 skald

Hi everyone. so our group is about to hit lv 7 and last session the GM stated that we are allowed to take the leadership feat under the condition we get approval on the cohorts and there uses (just safeguarding his game) it should be fine since were a 4 (sometimes 5) person group. anyhow, were technically in a urban campaign which has us visiting nearby areas. we are also using downtime rules to run a guild that focuses on city protection, investigation, escort missions, improving quality of life and run a tavern on the side for extra gold. so our GM figures we could use our followers as guild members and our cohorts as second in commands while were gone or bring them along for extra muscle since we also do a few caravan escort missions that go through some very dangerous places.

so now that i'm done with may wall of text. what class/archetype should i pick for my cohort? i never had a opportunity to take leadership before. i was thinking a Majordomo investigator (maybe with Cryptid Scholar) as a butler or secretary for the guild.
some important notes though

1)doesn't need to be combat focus since our team has got that covered.
2)doesn't need to be crafter since one or two of the other players focus on that and might get crafting partners
3) if it helps it helps my class is a monk/virtuous bravo multi class and will have a leadership score of 13-14
4) no 3PP (3rd party publishers)
5) my alignment is NG (special house rule for monk and paladin from the GM)

MrRetsej wrote:

Actually, it looks like Noble Fencer and Inspired Blade do in fact stack as neither archetype replaces the same specific deeds.

"A character can take more than one archetype (sometimes called 'stacking' archetypes) and garner additional alternate class features, but none of the alternate class features can replace or alter the same class feature from the base class as another alternate class feature."

Both alter the Deeds class feature so they wouldn't stack. I think it would be a reasonable home rule to allow it, but from what I've heard about PFS they strictly adhere to the rules.

i can see the reasoning for that. but if its true that they both alter deeds, that would mean a PFS swashbuckler can never take more then one archetype. so i assume by RAI that Swashbucklers should be able to take multiple archetypes if they can stack (if they don't replace the same deed)

happened upon the grand marshal last night and was curious about a few things

1) the grand marshal prestige class stats that you gain deeds at 1\2 your lv, but it also stats that if you have gunslinger lvs that your lvs stack.

so would gunslinger 5/grand marshal 2= deed lv 6 or 7?

2) (like above) grand marshal gains deeds as a gunslinger. so if i was mysterious stranger before entering Grand marshal, do i gain deeds from the archetype? the base gunslinger? or both? like could i get quick clear back with this prestige class?

3) (off topic question) is there any way to sheath your weapon as a free action? i was wonder if i could sheath a sword in my off hand (story item) to quickly reload my gun.

When I designed the pyrausta, the only reason I didn't list them as familiars then was that despite my fondness for the cute little guys, they didn't really seem like they could compete with the other options. They've since been added in, but they remain a bit weak compared to other improved familiars; you could maybe take away the fast healing and pinky swear not to use magic items / gear like an improved familiar might with its little dragon hands and then try to see if it could be a regular familiar.

sorry to necro my thread, but don't Pyrausta already lose fast healing when they become a familiar?

okay cool, didn't realize it was errata'd, though i have one of those GMs that says "you need at least X to pass" when it comes to skill checks or saves, so i guess that's like knowing if i fail or not.

so say i make a will save and choose to add my Cha bonus to it as a immediate action using the swashbuckler's charmed life ability and then fail. if i use lessons of chaldira trait to reroll the will save, do i still get the Cha bonus to the new save?

so i'm planing on taking a 2 lv dip of paladin for my cha focus throwing starknife build and i was wondering what would be the best archetype for it

1) so awhile back i heard a build that allowed you to wield a huge star knife in one hand with effortless lace at a -2 penalty, is this correct ? i mean do the sizing rules and effortless lace rules allow this?

2) what is the damage of a huge starknife? 1d8 or 2d4? and isn't there a pair of gloves that allows you to lower the penalty by 2 for inappropriate size weapons?

so a friend and i were discussing if a samurai made a good range character. i check all the sites and found out that a samurai, despite having at least to abilities that include longbows, can't make range challenge attacks? is this right?

whoops yeah, i plan on taking the startoss style chain next. that fills up the next 3 feats.

way of the shooting star is a divine fighting technique(a feat) that allows you to use Cha for attack/dmg with starknives.

so i'm making a thrown starknife build for a homegame. the build is a CG muse touch aasimar enlightened paladin 2/far strike monk 1/flying blade swash 3.
my stats are str 9, dex 18, con 14, int 16, wis 16, cha 20

feats
1 quick draw,point blank shot, way of the shooting star
2 weapon finesse
3 combat reflexes
4
5 weapon focus
6
afterwards ?
traits: second chance, Black powder bravo

notes:
1) i'm taking 2 lvs of paladin for divine grace. we have encountered many save or suck spells in the campaign so far
2)no third party stuff
3) DM has house ruled paladin alignment from LG to any Good

what can i add too this build to make it more fun or stronger.

quick question, can a far strike monk use a star knife that has a modification on it? since it doesn't change the fact that its still a thrown weapon. thoughts?

you can hit more foes with startoss style and normal daggers or starknifes have a better range then sharding

i need the guide too. anyone know how to access it?

well i have to use only one weapon because precise strike doesn't work when wielding two weapons. plus i kinda have to use dagger or starknife to get the most out of the archetype. so AOo are resolved before the actual attack? so could i use parry/disrupting counter before the weapon leaves my hand?

so if a flying blade swashbuckler makes a range attack against a foes and provokes a AOo from a adjacent foe (next to you), can he/she disrupting counter/parry/riposte before the weapon leaves your hand? or is the weapon already considered out of your hand?

does the stargazer just get proficiency in star knives? or does it get so special abilities with them as well?

so how are the new Investigator Archetypes? what do they add and change? do any standout as "must have"

if you don't mind me asking, could someone post what arrow champion alters/replaces? i want to check if any pre-existing archetypes stack with it besides wildstrider. thanks in advance!

arrow champion: Pretty much adds a bow to swashbuckler. Parry/riposte works with ranged, precise adds to bows [1/4th level], ranged feint, ranged attacks added to most deeds.

wild-strider: stealth added to derring do, move in difficult terrain, and ignore miss chances.

thank you! that's pretty cool, i'm a little disappointed on the 1/4th lv to dmage on bows, but being able to switch between sword and bow and still having all of your deeds working makes up for it big time!

also how does the bow parry work? does a foe have to make a range attack against you in order to parry with a bow?

arrow champion and/or wild-strider swashbuckler? (yes i know, i have a unhealthy addiction to the class)

ErisAcolyte-Chaos jester wrote:

Why do I feel some of this discussion is coming from people deliberately being salty, or jerk-ish.

I think you're reading too much into people's reactions.

ErisAcolyte-Chaos jester wrote:

P.S: how does the arrow champion look.

Looks pretty good, it's pretty much a swashbuckler that can use Deeds at range.

so i'm assuming they get precise strike with bows? can they parry with bows? (:

is it possible to go a little more in depth about the arrow champion swashbuckler? does it turn it in to a pure range build? does it get any new deeds? Dex to damage with the bow? what does it alter/replace?

Sir_Andrew wrote:

any swashbuckler or swashbuckler-like goodness in this book? (fingers cross)

** spoiler omitted **

does arrow champion stack with inspired blade or whirling dervish by any chance?

any swashbuckler or swashbuckler-like goodness in this book? (fingers cross)

i don't suppose there's any swashbuckler or swashbuckler-like archetypes in the book?

are you fully set on luring/musketeer cavalier? the Dune Drifter Cavalier is a great alternative for a gun toting build. (note: they confirmed that challenge works with dune drifter, though only guns)

1) the loud noise would cause the GM to roll for random encounter (forget what page its on) any loud noise have a chance of attracting monsters.
2)your right, it doesn't seem to mention upgrading it.though the dune drifter "have gun" mentions its identical to gunslinger class feature.
3)there are feats that give deed like abilities (no name, named bullet,Ricochet Shot to name a few) dune drifter actually gets amateur gunslinger and a good amount of deeds at set levels. (16 deeds i think)
4) I've heard good things about empty quiver style. also extra grit helps any class that has amateur gunslinger.

special note: this might take a lot of feats but....since your a tiefling, take the tail racial trait and get another pistol when you can, take two weapon fighting feats and then devastate your foes with double challenge damage while reloading you pistols with the aid of your tail.

Daring/Dashing/Drunken Detective (mix 'n match al dente...someone who likes you might call you daring, someone who hates you might call you drunken and use "detective" disparagingly)

Flair for panache and deeds. The Detective does everything with such flair! He's a showoff.

I like Knacks for both inspiration and talents. How did you do that? *Shrug* I guess I just have a knack for it

Experienced Combat, Cunning strike. The Detective has survived more than a few brawls in his time, you'd be surprised what a little experience and a lot of cunning can do

Drinkin' buddy is good. I like Homebrews as well, although it would realistically take too long to ferment. So maybe instead of Recipe Book, Fortifying Concoctions combined with a preexisting alcohol. Don't rightly know how he stands them concoctions he mixes in 'is liquor but I ain't never seen a beer do THAT before

Lucky guess and/or "A thing for details". How'd you know/remember that? Just a lucky guess? Maybe. I got a thing for details.

POCKET SAND. OBVIOUSLY GLITTERDUST IS POCKET SAND.

Sixth sense or Instinct. What's spooked you Detective? Why'd you stop? I don't know, I just have this feeling we should look a little closer at that doorway. Call it a sixth sense. (edit: OR A HUNCH)

Clever/Quick/Light Fingers for the actual disarming. Just let him work his magic, not one's got quicker fingers than the Detective, he'll make short work of that lock. Also doubles if you take Sleight of Hand.

i really like

note: i'm not playing my character as a detective but rather a very versatile/knowledgeable swordsman of Cayden Cailean

Hi everyone, so i need some creative or funny fefluff names for my swashigator. my GM said i can rename/refluff the class/class features/spells of my Aasimar inspired blade/noble fencer swashbuckler and bonded investigator character who is a inspiring cook/brewer/swordsmen.

so far i thought of the following:

Swashigator: Cayden Exemplar or just plain Exemplar.
Panache: Flamboyant Panache
Deeds: Drunken Deeds
Alchemy: Recipe Book
Extracts: Homebrews (instead of vials of chemicals he has allowed shot-glasses of magically enhance alcohol)
Inspiration: Inspired Caydenite
Familiar: Drinking buddy
Keen Recollection: Tavern Gossip
Studied Combat: Cayden Fighting Style
Studied Strike: Cayden Strike
Talants: Tavern Knacks
Glitterdust SLA (muse-touch) Barley Dust

i can't think of anything for trapfinding or trap sense yet.

The familiar has to be threatening your opponent to aid another on attacks/AC. For tiny and diminutive familiars this would mean entering the enemy's space and provoking an attack of opportunity.

Protector familiars of any size can aid another on AC without entering your enemy's space. Small sized familiars and mauler familiars in battle form can aid another for AC or attacks.

so in order to make this work, i would have to either get a small familiar or get the evolved familiar feat for the reach evolution. (though figment archetype works as well, but i like valet better)