Dabbler's page

I unfortunately cannot maintain my current subscription to Pathfinder Rules, and I need to cancel. Can this be processed please?

Here's a question: does anyone know what is meant to lie to the east of Galt and the River Kingdoms?

I know that the Sea of Castroval lies there, with Iabaria to the north of it, but on the maps I have there is essentially a blank space between the eastern border of the River Kingdoms and Galt and the coast of the Sea.

So what's there? Any ideas?

My Kingmaker group want to go exploring past the end of the campaign and may head that way.

Recently I ran the War of the River Kings adventure, and my players found the mass combat system too abstracted and, well, boring. The problem was that while quick to run a battle, it contained insufficient detail for real PC interaction. They would have preferred a system that allowed them more influence and reflected the battle scene more accurately.

This is what I came up with. It retains the basic system for the army units, but instead of using different sized armies, each army is broken down into elements or units which you can maneuver upon a tactical grid.

Thoughts, people?

Download PDF from Mediafire

I was heavily involved in the Dreamscarred Press psionics work for Pathfinder, so I was interested to see what Paizo had made of their own take on psionics (which is, effectively, what this is), but haven't had the chance to until now. Given how let down I felt with the Advanced Class Guide, with a selection of largely mediocre or unnecessary classes, I wasn't too optimistic.

I was very pleasantly surprised.

The classes are much more original than those in the ACG, and in many ways while they have captured the flavour of psychic powers, they have avoided in many cases even coming close to the mechanics or style of the 3.5 psionics system. Some will count this as a plus, some as a failing - of the former, that's great, of the latter it is really clear that you can run the classes of the Occult Adventures right alongside those from DSP's Ultimate Psionics without any problems: the classes are different not just in name but in nature, as are their abilities for the large part.

My impressions:
The Kineticist - this class works a lot more like the 3.5 warlock than like any of the psionic classes, so much so that I couldn;t tell for sure if it was intended to be a replacement for a psionic class at all! It's much more interesting than the old warlock class, though, and more flexible. 9/10

The Medium - now this class is what the shaman from the ACG should have been, rather than the "meh" version of the witch casting divine spells it turned out to be. It's different, and I LOVE the crossover with the Harrow that has been thrown in with the spirit names. I haven't had a chance to play-test this properly, but I look forward to the chance. Again, there is no real psionic equivalent to this class, so it should run alongside psionic classes just fine. 9/10

The Mesmerist - holy cr*p they made Darren Brown a PC class! I like the mechanics of this, the mesmarist's tricks are fun and interesting, and the spells give them some utility outside of just staring into the enemy's eyes. My only concern is that this class may be too highly-focussed to work well in all kinds of campaigns. Again, in terms of psionics there's no clash with this class's features. 7/10

The Occultist - I think the use of implements shows that the designers really did their homework with this class. I like the way the class spells are limited by their implements, giving this class a great deal of focus and theme without mucking about with archetypes. Once again, the old psionics system has no clash with this class, it's a straight stand-alone that looks like it will work very well. 8/10

The Psychic - OK, this one is a take on the psion, that much is clear. But is it sufficiently different that you could stand the two next to one another in a party that they would compliment rather then clash with one another? Yes, I think so. The psychic has only four disciplines, and they are thematically very different to the psion's. They also play on different attributes, that make them different in flavour as well as in mechanics to the psion. I would play this class, not instead of playing a psion, but simply for it's own sakes. 9/10.

The Spells - some of these are directly lifted from the psionic powers, but you know what? That's OK. Powers and Spells have ALWAYS had a huge overlap, and that's never mattered before and doesn't now.

Overall I was very pleased with this offering, excellent work with a lot of thought gone into it, and a far cry from the ACG. Now if Paizo could put the same level of thought into fixing the monk... :p

I know somebody somewhere will have the quick answer to this, but I can't put my finger on it right now. Can a non-animal companion character class gain an animal companion, through the Leadership feat or anything else?

Hi, I've just tried to download the Skull & Shackles Player's Guide PDF, and it downloads great - but I cannot print the darned thing. When I attempt to do so I get the error messages:

The Document could not be printed.

No pages were selected in range.

My adobe reader version is 10.1.7, run on Windows XP.

The devs are going to hate this, but here is another question about Deflected attacks:

If an attack is deflected (such as by Deflect Arrows or Crane Wing), do all harmful effects get negated along with just the raw damage of the attack?

For example: A shocking arrow is shot at a monk with deflect arrows, does the successful block negate all damage, or just the physical damage.

Is a melee touch considered an attack that may be deflected?

For example, a wraith's attack of negative energy and con drain, or a wizard's melee touch with a shocking grasp?

In short, is anything harmful to the character that relies on an attack roll negated by the deflection, or is only actual physical damage negated, or something in between?

In another thread I paused to consider what options are available for improving these three classes. Rather than throwing abilities at the classes, or radical changes, I would suggest that any changes must be thematic with the class's nature. They must also be minimal, so that they can be applied with minimal disruption to the game.

The monk I have done a lot of work on along this vein, and there is a thread for my preferred fixes here.

The Rogue I've thought about now and then for a while. The monk's main features are their skills, their main combat ability is sneak attack. The big problem for the rogue is that other classes do skills as well if not better (and have other skills beside), and sneak attack...has problems. The rogue is meant to be a clever 'everyman' guy, someone who has his wits as his weapon. Any fixes should take this into account.

The fighter is the 'least weak' of the three. Nonetheless the fighter has his problems: he has little out-of-combat utility, and his Will saves are famously weak. The fighter's concept is again an 'everyman' hero who uses his discipline and skill-at-arms to overcome. Any fixes should come from this angle.

Ideas for Rogue Fixes
The main avenue for rogue fixes should come through rogue talents. These are terribly underused and often weak. I would recommend that rogue's firstly gain an extra talent at first level, as well. To address the rogue's problems I would suggest the following talents or abilities:

Jack of All Trades - The rogue uses his wits to improvise what he doesn't know from what he does. The rogue may treat any skill in which he has no skill ranks as having as many ranks as he has Intelligence bonus. This does not gain him the +3 bonus for class skills he would get if he had actual ranks in a skill, but does allow him to make untrained checks on any skill.

Work Smarter, Not Harder - The rogue uses his smarts to improve what he's good at. The rogue gains a bonus equal to his Intelligence bonus to any skills he has ranks in that do not rely on Intelligence.

Hit Where it Hurts - The rogue may make a Perception check as a swift action against the AC of an enemy. If they succeed they may make a sneak attack as a standard action, even if the target is neither flanked nor denied it's dexterity bonus.

Placed Blow - whenever making a sneak attack, the rogue may go for accuracy over damage. Each 1d6 of sneak attack instead becomes a +1 insight bonus to both attack and damage, and the bonus damage will multiply on critical hits.

Strike with Precision - when not making a sneak attack, the rogue gains a +1 bonus to damage for each 1d6 of sneak attack they possess if they attack with a finesse weapon.

Ideas for Fighter Fixes
The fighter needs a few adjustments to his class features, and I would suggest doing as follows:

Discipline - replaces Bravery, Discipline is a bonus to Will saves across the board, not just to fear effects. Also adds to physical (strength and dexterity based, to represent athleticism) and Craft (weapons)/Craft (armour) skills (have to maintain equipment!) that the fighter has ranks in.

Skills - the fighter gains 4+int ranks per level, not 2.

Hi all,

Following from some threads concerning monks and suggested changes, I realised that I was in a perfect position to test my own ideas, running a game where by a quirk of fate we have a monk as the primary martial character. The party (when all present) consists of:

Halfling wizard (transmuter)
Human wizard (summoner)
Human rogue
Half-elf cleric of Shelyn
Human Monk

The player was new to Pathfinder, which is one reason I wanted to try my changes after the first few sessions of frustration for the player.

The changes I am making are:
1) Zen Warrior: A monk may choose to use their Wisdom bonus rather than their strength or dexterity bonus for attacks made with special monk weapons, combat maneuvers, or with the monk’s unarmed strike. One reason I chose to introduce these changes, as the monk in this game has wisdom as his primary stat and was already struggling in melee.

2) A monk’s unarmed strike treats the hardness or damage resistance (of any type) of a target as less by one point for every level of monk the character possesses. This is a big one, replacing the existing ki-strike options and making the monk able to attempt to hurt anything.

3a) Amending the Ki-Pool entry as follows:
As long as he has at least 1 point in his ki pool, he can make a ki strike. At 4th level, ki strike allows his unarmed attacks to gain a +1 enhancement bonus to hit as a magic weapon. At 7th level this increases to +2, at 10th level, his unarmed attacks are +3, at 13th level +4, and at 16th level his unarmed attacks gain a +5 enhancement bonus to hit. Replaces existing ki-strike options.

3b) By spending 1 point from his ki pool, a monk can make one additional attack a round at his highest attack bonus. As opposed to just with flurry-of-blows

3c) In addition, he can spend 1 point to move 20 feet in a swift action. As opposed to just +20' movement.

Currently the character only has access to the first two changes. The great thing about this test is that I am running the same adventure for two different groups on two different days. The other group is martial-heavy with a ranger, cavalier, magus, and a barbarian, so there is plenty to compare the monk's performance too.

We completed the first session with these changes this evening. The edge from having wisdom to hit came into play fighting a burning skeleton, securing one successful hit that finished off the undead. A lucky crit with a hand-axe made him the star of damage dealing against a wraith variant, although that had little to do with my changes. Will keep everyone posted about subsequent sessions.

OK, it's been a while since Paizo released the changes for the monk in repsonse to a lot of feedback that the core monk (and most archetypes) is weak and underpowered compared to other classes. For those that missed them they are:

* Flurry of Blows: We have decided to reverse a previous ruling (that came from this very blog) that stated you needed to use two weapons when using flurry of blows (or a combination of weapon attacks and unarmed strikes). You can now make all of your attacks with just one weapon, or substitute any number of these attacks with an unarmed strike. Of course, if you have a pair of weapons and want to keep using both of them, that still works as well.

* Ki Pool: Monks typically have problems bypassing DR with their unarmed strikes, forcing them to rely on weapons to deal with many forms of DR. We have decided to add a new ability to the Ki Pool monk class feature. At 7th level, a monk's unarmed strikes count as cold iron and silver for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction, so long as he has at least 1 point remaining in his ki pool.

* Amulet of Mighty Fists: On Friday, we posted up a FAQ that stated that the enhancement bonus from an amulet of mighty fists does allow natural attacks and unarmed strikes to bypass damage reduction if the enhancement bonus is at least +3 (as with other weapons, see page 562 of the Core Rulebook). In addition, we have decided to adjust the price of the amulet of mighty fists. The new prices are as follows: 4,000 gp (+1), 16,000 gp (+2), 36,000 gp (+3), 64,000 gp (+4), 100,000 gp (+5). Accordingly, the costs to create these amulets are also reduced to the following: 2,000 gp (+1), 8,000 gp (+2), 18,000 gp (+3), 32,000 gp (+4), 50,000 gp (+5). This makes this item priced a bit more competitively for monks and creatures that rely on natural attacks. I should note that this change will be reflected in future printings of the Core Rulebook, Ultimate Equipment, and the NPC Codex.

Now, how have people found these changes? Have they fixed monk problems, or are they still extant?

For myself...no. They've helped, but not significantly.

Flurry of Blows: This was how most people already played it. No change there, though that was a welcome clear ruling.

Ki Strike: Bypassing cold iron or silver at 7th level can be handy but mainly for fighting later creatures with DRs that include it - the ones that had that DR exclusively you tangled with five levels ago when everyone else had cold iron or silver weapons.

AoMF: Still capped at +5, so any properties exclude you from getting past any DR at later levels. The cost reduction is nice, but still keeps you behind slightly as the TWFers will stagger their enhancements. It also blocks up that amulet slot.

For me, the problems are still multiple:

* MADness: The monk still needs too many good scores. Abilities that all depend on good Wisdom, Dexterity, and Strength to function properly don't function at all when you have to skimp one or more of these scores. You will still always be behind at something. There are a lot of options for fixing this, as the paladin was fixed to depend on only two scores, not three or four.

* Bodywraps of Mighty Strikes: this is the item that really needed fixing, it really rubs the monk's nose in it when used by another class that does not suffer the drawbacks. There were better ways of making it less effective than the AoMF than limiting the number of hits you could apply it too.

* Monk abilities not fit for purpose: I could list them individually, but really it would take too long. Suffice to say that wholeness of body is a great example of a never-used ability, and diamond soul of an ability that nerfs you more than it helps you. Ki as a resource is too sparse on the ground.

So, what do other players think? Has the monk been fixed?

I recently played a game of a D20 system, Darwin's world, and the DM made a few changes that worked fairly well.

I'd like to expand on this for the next game I DM, starting Thursday, using Pathfinder.

The changes I am making are:

1) Armour as DR. This is a fairly standard one to use.

2) Because AC is now touch AC in effect, no stats add a bonus to hit. CMB/CMD remain unchanged.

3) As stats are less emphasised for combat, the same should hold for casting. Save DCs are now calculated as 12 + spell level + 1/2 caster level.

I'm hoping this will lead to a more interesting game with high stats de-emphasised a little, giving PCs a little more flexibility in character creation. MAD classes don't suffer so much, particularly the monk.

There have been a few of these threads to see if the optimizers can see exploits we cannot in some of the 'monk fix' suggestions.

Here's my set of suggestions, I would appreciate if anyone can see a way of making these fix ideas 'broken' in combination or in isolation:

Fix #1: Enhancement:
Ki-strike: At 4th level the monk gains a +1 enhancement bonus to hit (but not damage) with their unarmed strike. This bonus increases at another +1 for every three level the monk has, to a maximum of +5 at 16th level and is treated as a magical enhancement bonus for all effects. It cannot stack with other enhancement bonuses to hit from other sources, but can be stacked with other effects that apply to the unarmed strike. It also applies to CMB when used with maneuvers unarmed.

This means, you can wear an amulet of mighty fists but only the enhancement damage bonus will apply, and any properties it has, to the monk's unaremd strike. Thus the AoMF is still relevant and useful, but not essential and the monk is able to 'keep up' with the martial classes in terms of hitting their targets.

Fix #2: MAD:
Zen Combat: At 1st level, the monk may substitute their wisdom bonus for their strength or dexterity bonus when making attack rolls with special monk weapons or unarmed strikes, or for CMB calculations.

This I can't see as any more broken than Weapon Finesse or Guided Hand (but then that's the reason for this thread), but reduces the monk's dependence on maxing out several stats to just one.

Fix #3: DR-bypass:
Ki-Pool addition: The monk may expend 1 ki-point as a swift action to ignore 1 point of damage resistance or hardness per monk level on a single target creature for one round per monk level.

DR shuts down monks if they are not HULKSMASH-monk, if the damage output is to be kept low. This allows the many-small-attacks concept to actually function as intended, and gives monk a nice little extra trick to help them stay useful in a fight.

Existing ki-strike damage bypass is removed with these fixes. We crunched numbers in another thread, and found a monk built with these fixes has similar to-hit numbers to a non-smiting paladin, but only between 60%-70% of the DPR. Odds of getting a stunning fist were good but far from automatic - it just about made up for the lack of damage.

However, I'm more concerned about how this could be exploited by dipping levels of monk and then using the effects for other classes. I don't think anything exists that can't already be exploited by Guided Hand or several other feats, but I'm not the world's greatest optimizer.

Our party just met a version of the Deck of Many Things, and one PC ended up a werebear. As I have all the PCs on HeroLab, I'm looking for a way of applying the werebear template to him. Now I know I may have to get an extra supplement, but I don;t know if I'll need the Advanced Race Guide or the Bestiaries for HeroLab to get this option, if I can at all. Can anyone help?

Hi All,

My Mystic Monk build attracted a lot of attention in another thread some time back, but I abandoned work on it at the time as Paizo said that they were not looking at a complete restructuring but just tweaks. Recently I blew the dust off it and rebuilt it somewhat. It is rather different from the typical monk in essence but not in feel, I think. A lot of monk archetypes can be restructured and made just from this base class, which I like a lot. I've included an archetype not many people would associate with the monk just as an example, I'll work on more as time goes on.

For example, Qingong Monk can simply replace the existing mystic powers with those of their own selection. Sohei and Zen Archer primarily just need the flurry options available at 1st level with non-monk weapons.

Anyway, her is is: The Mystic Monk

I've been looking, and there are no mysteries linked to Callistria, does this mean you can't have an oracle of Callistria?

I had an idea for something to expand Combat Expertise that draws on some personal experience with martial arts & sword fencing, where when pressed you can either fall back from an attack, yielding ground, or dart inside it to avoid the force of a swing.

How does this sound:

Fancy Footwork
Your dexterous feet help you avoid harm's way when defending yourself.
Pre-requisites: Combat Expertise, Acrobatics 5 ranks.
Benefit: When employing Combat Expertise when attacked, you may take an immediate action to take a five-foot step independent of any other movement you may have taken. Doing so doubles the AC gain of your Combat Expertise against the attacker. If you cannot take a five-foot step because of terrain restrictions, you cannot employ this feat. Once you have made a five foot step as an immediate action, you may not take a five foot step on your own action.
Normal: You can normally only take a five-foot step as part of your action if you have not otherwise moved.

Is it me, or does this monk archetype basically not deliver? Their ability to heal is extremely limited, and to do so they lose some of their better abilities. They jump from healing a few hit points to suddenly raising the dead...

It just doesn't do it for me. So I drew up an alternative...

Monk of the Healing Hand

I've borrowed the paladin's lay-on-hands and mercy features to make them able to function as the party healer. Ki is going to be thin on the ground, but the monk can use vows to offset this.

Thoughts?

Recently perusing the threads, I had an idea for an item that might make up the difference for the poor old monk, and might not annoy the devs by replacing the amulet of mighty fists.

Ring of Unerring Strikes

Aura moderate transformation; CL 5th

Slot ring; Price 3,000 gp (+1), 12,000gp (+3), 27,000gp (+3), 48,000gp (+4), 75,000gp (+5); Weight —
Description

Also called a Monk's Ring, this item is most often a small silver ring engraved with tiny effigies of various weapons. When worn, it adds an element to the wearer's aura that provides a weapon enhancement bonus to hit with any melee weapon that they hold that is not a reach weapon, including a monk's unarmed strike, or anyone using the Improved Unarmed Strike feat. The enhancement bonus will not stack with other enhancement bonuses to hit from spells or other items - only the highest of any enhancement bonuses to hit will be used. The ring's effects' do stack with any other weapon properties, such as enhancement bonuses to damage, special properties etc, including those granted by the amulet of mighty fists.

Targets struck by a weapon or unarmed strike enhanced by this item have their damage resistance overcome as if by a magic weapon of the ring's enhancement value.

Construction Requirements

Forge Ring, Craft Magic Arms and Armour, greater magic weapon; Cost 1,500 gp (+1), 6,000gp (+3), 13,500gp (+3), 24,000gp (+4), 37,500gp (+5).

Advantages: This item helps the monk in the area where he struggles, actually delivering accurate strikes and getting through DR. It can stack with the amulet of mighty fists to provide the equivelant of up to a +10 weapon (almost) at high level, at the same cost as a +10 weapon.

Disadvantages: This item does not provide any enhancement bonus to damage. For the monk this is not a bad thing, their damage scales regardless. It also means it does not replace the need for magic enhancement on weapons themselves.
It takes up a ring slot that a monk would probably prefer to have for a ring of force shield or similar.

Questions for the forum: Should this item enhance natural weapons as well? My instinct was not, the druid and his animal companion have greater magic fang, they do not need this, and nor does the dragon or other monsters. Any other thoughts/feelings?

There is a debate on anothere thread about whether it is legal for a wizard to cast project image and then cast ethereal jaunt to place oneself on the ethereal plane without breaking the link to the projected image.

The important line in project image is this one:
You must maintain line of effect to the projected image at all times. If your line of effect is obstructed, the spell ends. If you use dimension door, teleport, plane shift, or a similar spell that breaks your line of effect, even momentarily, the spell ends.

Now the argument that ethereal jaunt is legal stems from the fact it is not a transportation spell but a transformation spell. Most importantly:
An ethereal creature can see and hear on the Material Plane, but everything looks gray and ephemeral. Sight and hearing onto the Material Plane are limited to 60 feet.

Now here is the argument: Does becoming ethereal and the resulting alteration in your senses disrupt the link to the projected image, or not? There are those that argue this is legal, and a wizard can use project image and then become ethereal and still attack material foes through the projected image. There are others that say that clearly, although project image is not specifically mentioned, it breaks RAI and RAW in that you are shifting to another plane, and that the momentary shift in senses is indeed that mentioned that should disrupt the project image spell.

This thread is for the suggested changes to the monk to make it, well, do what it's meant to do, really, and not struggle to do anything at all but make saves and run away.

I'll open the batting with my own ideas.

Dabbler’s Monk

This version of the monk class is designed to correct some perceived flaws with the monk class as it currently stands. The monk is a combat class that struggles to inflict significant damage on its targets – or indeed, to hit them with its primary offensive feature, the flurry-of-blows with an unarmed strike. The monk has other problems, too: the monk’s high mobility is at odds with the flurry-of-blows class feature, making the custom skirmisher class a poor skirmisher; while their multi-attribute-dependency makes them famously poor in any one area.

Because I am looking at a fix to the existing monk, rather than rebuilding the class, any class features I do not mention are unchanged.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Monks are proficient with the club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shortspear, short sword, shuriken, siangham, sling, and spear, and with any weapon with ‘monk’ in its description.
Monks are not proficient with any armor or shields.
When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, a monk loses his AC bonus, as well as his fast movement and flurry of blows abilities.

I’ve added the clause that monks are proficient with any monk weapon. It’s a no-brainer, most monk weapons are not worth taking a feat to use.

Flurry of Blows (Ex): Starting at 1st level, a monk can make a flurry of blows as a full-attack action. When doing so he may make one additional attack using any combination of unarmed strikes or attacks with a special monk weapon (kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, and siangham) at the same number and penalty as if using the Two-Weapon Fighting feat (even if the monk does not meet the prerequisites for the feat), but without restriction on which weapons can be used in what order, and all monk weapons counted as light weapons. If the monk wishes to use the same weapon for all attacks, they may do so. For the purpose of these attacks, the monk’s base attack bonus is equal to his monk level less the penalty for Two Weapon Fighting. For all other purposes, such as qualifying for a feat or a prestige class, the monk uses his normal base attack bonus.
At 8th level, the monk can make two additional attacks when he uses flurry of blows, at the same number and penalty as if using Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (even if the monk does not meet the prerequisites for the feat).
At 15th level, the monk can make three additional attacks using flurry of blows, at the same number and penalty as if using Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (even if the monk does not meet the prerequisites for the feat).
A monk applies his full Strength bonus to his damage rolls for all successful attacks made with flurry of blows, whether the attacks are made with an off-hand or with a weapon wielded in both hands. A monk may substitute disarm, sunder, and trip combat maneuvers for unarmed attacks as part of a flurry of blows. A monk cannot use any weapon other than an unarmed strike or a special monk weapon as part of a flurry of blows. A monk with natural weapons cannot use such weapons as part of a flurry of blows, nor can he make natural attacks in addition to his flurry of blows attacks.
A monk using the Power Attack feat applies the bonus to damage with their weapon as if the weapon was a one-handed weapon, regardless of what weapon they are actually using, even a two-handed weapon.

Save for the Power Attack clause, this is identical to the flurry-of-blows as used since Pathfinder’s inception by the majority of players. Two-handed monk users need not worry, however, just keep reading.

Monk Weapon Training: At 1st level, monks have training to maximize their effectiveness with monk weapons. The monk can be treated as having the Weapon Finesse feat when wielding any monk weapon to which the feat is applied, including the monk’s unarmed strike.

This feature is designed to reduce MAD, by reducing requirements on strength without imposing a crippling feat-tax. It also encourages the monk away from high strength while not prohibiting it – the traditional Shoalin priest was a small, lightly built man, not a hulking brick outhouse.

Unarmed Strike: At 1st level, a monk gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A monk’s attacks may be with fist, elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk may make unarmed strikes with his hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk may thus apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.
Usually a monk’s unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but he can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on his attack roll. He has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.
A monk’s unarmed strike is treated as both a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.
A monk also deals more damage with his unarmed strikes than a normal person would, a medium-sized monk will deal 1d6 base damage for their unarmed strike. A small-sized monk will deal 1d4 damage, and a large sized monk will deal 1d8 damage.

This may appear counter-intuitive, but the reason for having such a low and non-rising base damage will become clear below.

Monk Precision: At 2nd level, the monk gains a +1 competence bonus to damage when using their unarmed strike or a monk weapon. Every four levels this bonus increases by another +1, to +5 at 18th level.

This is the first off-set to monk’s low damage output, armed or unarmed; by making it a competence bonus it doesn’t stack with a number of buffs, off-setting its usefulness in all situations. The monk is supposed to be a self-sufficient class, and this way he becomes his own buffer.

Maneuver Training (Ex): At 3rd level, a monk uses his monk level in place of his base attack bonus when calculating his Combat Maneuver Bonus. Base attack bonuses granted from other classes are unaffected and are added normally. In addition, the monk may make maneuvers as if possessing the Agile Maneuvers feat if they do so unarmed, or with a monk weapon, if they wish.

Again, reducing dependence on high strength scores and making the ‘traditional’ monk more viable.

Ki Pool (Su): At 4th level, a monk gains a pool of ki points, supernatural energy he can use to accomplish amazing feats. The number of points in a monk’s ki pool is equal to 1/2 his monk level + his Wisdom modifier. As long as he has at least 1 point in his ki pool, he can make a ki strike with his unarmed attack or a ki focus weapon. At 4th level, ki strike gains a +1 enhancement bonus to hit and damage, treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. ki strike improves with the character’s monk level; ever four additional levels the ki strike increases by +1, to a maximum of +5 at 20th level. This enhancement bonus overcomes damage resistance as if it were a magic weapon, but will not stack with a magic weapon’s own enhancement bonus if a ki focus weapon is used – only the higher of the two enhancements will be used. At 8th level it also bypasses five points of hardness when damaging objects, and this increases by five points every four levels to 20 points of hardness at 20th level.
By spending 1 point from his ki pool, a monk can make one additional attack at his highest attack bonus when making a flurry of blows attack. In addition, he can spend 1 point to increase his speed by 20 feet for 1 round. At 8th level, the monk may expend a point from his ki pool to make a short flurry of blows as a standard action; the monk may make two attacks, as if the first and third attacks of their flurry of blows. At 15th level, this increases to three attacks, as if the first, third and fifth attacks from their flurry of blows. Finally, a monk can spend 1 point from his ki pool to give himself a +4 dodge bonus to AC for 1 round. Each of these powers is activated as a swift action. A monk gains additional powers that consume points from his ki pool as he gains levels.
The ki pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation; these hours do not need to be consecutive.

The ‘short flurry’ is the real ace-in-the-hole, it allows the monk to actually move and attack effectively. The enhancement bonus gets around the monk’s major problem of gaining enhancement to the unarmed strike. Combined with the Monk’s precision you gain a total +5 bonus to hit +10 bonus to damage when using your unarmed strike – and 1d6+10 damage isn’t that much more dangerous than 2d10 damage, especially when you consider it can get no further magical enhancement. It makes the amulet of mighty fists the gravy, not the main course, of the monk’s attacks. When applied to weapons the fact that the enhancement bonus only works with a ki-focus weapon and does not stack with it helps cap off the damage before it threatens the fighter’s top-spot.

Comparisons:

At 20th level, a TWF fighter will have +6 to hit from feats and weapon training, with +5 from the weapon for +11 in total. To damage they will have +8 from feats and weapon training and +5 from the weapon, for +11/+13.
At 20th level our monk will have +1 from feats and +5 from either ki strike or weapon enhancements. To damage he will have +5 from monk precision, and +5 from either ki strike or weapon enhancements, for a total of +6/10. The monk can have multiple ki focus weapons with other enchantments it is true, but this is not much more than the fighter can also have and is offset by the fighter’s greater bonuses to hit and better weapons.

There is a greater issue with two-handed weapons, in that the monk can flurry with them. However, the monk’s lack of Power Attack enhancement tells against them, as do the poorer nature of monk weapons with which they can flurry. It’s important to remember that +1 to hit is worth +2 to damage in these comparisons.

At 20th level a fighter will have the same bonuses above, with -6 to hit +18 to damage. The monk will have -5 to hit and +10 to damage from power attack, their effective BAB being two points below the fighter’s. The fighter is therefore at +5 to hit +31 to damage with less attacks, the monk at +1 to hit and +20 to damage. Bear in mind, the fighter is also likely to have higher strength which will also increase their damage potential still further, they will achieve more hits and their weapons have better threat ranges.

The result of these changes is that while the monk is now in the same ball-park as the fighter, he’s not able to approach the fighter’s top-spot. In addition to this, his AC might be comparable (if he throws most of his resources into it) but his hit points are likely to be worse, and at high level hits are inevitable. The fighter is still better at fighting, but the monk is now able to fulfill his stated role of hitting hard and fast.

Addressing problems with Monks

The monk is a good class, let me make that clear at the outset, but it is a class that suffers from some fundamental problems. While monks can be effective, they have real problems performing in some arenas. Fundamentally, the monk is a combat class that has major problems dealing damage to foes at the mid-to-high range of the CR spectrum. They are also MAD classes, requiring several good ability scores to work effectively.

There have been a lot of suggestions for ‘fixing’ monks, such as arminas’ monk here. However, they all seem to require re-writing the class in some way. I can’t see this happening for a long time yet, so when DeathQuaker pointed out the issues the monk faces I came up with easily implementable ideas based on some suggestions from Skull.

Leaving aside the currently undecided matter of exactly how flurry-of-blows works, they can be summed up as follows:

At mid-level and onwards, monks have difficulty hitting and damaging many CR-equivalent foes. The issue is due to a combination of factors:

• Monk weapons deal very little damage, typically having poor threat/critical qualities and dealing on average 1d6 per hit. If the monk uses weapons, he has to add ki focus to be able to use any of his special abilities through the weapon. The monks ¾ BAB means that he qualifies late for feats that can enhance damage. As MAD classes, monks tend to have less outstanding ability scores, so upping damage that way is not easy. The agile weapon property helps, but costs a +1 equivalence the monk can ill-afford (see below).

• Unarmed strike delivers more damage, but lacks any enhancement bonus. This means that by level 20, the TWF fighter has +5 to hit over the monk, with Weapon Focus feats and weapon training on top of that again. In addition, he has weapon qualities that add to his damage still further. The Amulet of Mighty Fists is not a solution for the monk, having three major problems of its own: it is very expensive, is limited to +5 equivalence, and it takes up the amulet slot that the monk needs to keep pace with the combat classes’ AC. If the monk uses an AoMF to close the gap some way on hitting, he then loses on damage and AC.

• Damage resistance. Overcoming DR is done in several ways, either deal more damage or use weapon properties that bypass it. A fighter with a +5 mithral holy sword will chop through most things. A monk’s unarmed strike does get past magic, lawful and by 16th level adamantine, but DR/magic isn’t challenging, DR/lawful is incredibly rare, and by 16th level adamantine arrives a little late to be of much use. Using an AoMF runs into the problem outlined above. As far as dealing more damage is concerned, also see above.

• Just plain hitting the target: A monk’s ¾ BAB is limiting in other ways. While flurry-of-blows has the monk almost on parity to hit, the enhancement bonus on weapons (which are not very good) will suffer if the monk wants to do anything but hit the target.

• Maneuvers: Some effort has been made to equalize the monk in terms of maneuvers. Unfortunately, the monk is still going to be behind the curve with ¾ BAB, when a fighter with a reach/trip weapon can also apply the weapon bonus, and his other abilities to CMB that the monk does not have. In short, whatever the monk does, the fighter will always be a lot better.
  

Now I don’t think we can fix all of these issues, and as the monk has a lot of other abilities I am not entirely sure that we should want to fix them all either. That said, there is a lot we can do to bring the monk up some so that they can be effective in combat while still leaving the dedicated combat classes ahead of the curve. Here are some ideas for ‘fixes’ in the form of feats and items that can make the monk better without unbalancing the game in their favor.

Monk Feats:

Ki Focused Strike
You can deliver damage that bypasses your foe's normal defenses.
Pre-requisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, ki-pool.
Benefit: When you expend a point of ki, your unarmed blows (or blows with a ki focus weapon) can for that round ignore any damage resistance a single target may have.

To be sure, the ki strike (adamantine) sort of goes here, but doesn’t at the same time. By requiring ki and focusing on DR rather than hardness, this is not the same ability. Instead the monk is attuning the ki to the creature’s vulnerabilities. Ki is a shallow resource, and this ability addresses one of the monk’s major disadvantages, particularly with unarmed strike, as the AoMF does not bypass any DR.

Improved Ki Focused Strike
You can deliver an attack that bypasses most of your target's defenses.
Pre-requisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, ki-pool, ki Focused Strike.
Benefit: When you expend a point of ki, your next unarmed blow (or blow with a ki focus weapon) is resolved as a touch attack, also ignoring any hardness or damage resistance. For the rest of your turn your blows (or blows with a ki focus weapon) may ignore any damage resistance a single target may have.

Some martial arts masters are reputed to be able to burst internal organs by focusing ki to flow past the defenses of the target and into their bodies. This simulates that, allowing the monk to ‘get in a good one’ on a target. However, as noted ki is a limited resource. A wise monk will save this for very high AC foes they would otherwise have problems striking.

Ringing the Gong
You deliver your unarmed strike at a distance.
Pre-requisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, ki-pool, ki Focused Strike, Improved ki Focused Strike.
Benefit: By expending a point of ki you may deliver one unarmed strike as a ranged touch attack on any target you can see within thirty feet.

An extension on the theme above, this isn’t really here to address a flaw so much as to complete the set.

Enhanced Ki Strike
You can amplify the benefits of your ki strike.
Pre-requisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, ki strike class feature.
Benefit: Your unarmed strikes (or strikes with a ki focus weapon) gain an Enhancement bonus to hit. For every four monk levels that you have, your unarmed strikes gain a +1 enhancement bonus to hit, to a maximum of +5.
Alternate Wording:
Benefit: Your unarmed strikes (or strikes with a ki focus weapon) gain an Enhancement bonus to hit. For every ki feat that you possess, your unarmed strikes gain a +1 enhancement bonus to hit, to a maximum of +5. ki feats are any feats that mention ki in their title (Extra ki, ki Throw, etc) or require ki to be expended to work.

This addresses the monks major issue of hitting the target at all. It does not replace or stack with magical enhancements, as it is only an ehancement bonus to hit, but it does help close the gap with the combat classes using magic weapons. It could be combined with the AoMF using the latter to supply weapon properties rather than enhancements to hit if so desired.

Items:

Gloves & Tabi of Striking
Aura feint evocation CL 5th
Slot Hands & Feet Price Enhancement bonus squared x 2,500gp.
DESCRIPTION
These gloves and tabi can only work if the set is worn in both hand and foot slots. The provide an enhancement bonus as a weapon to unarmed strikes, and may possess weapon qualities. The maximum enhancement equivalent is +10.
CONSTRUCTION
Craft Magic Arms & Armor, greater magic weapon, creator’s caster level must be at least three times the amulet’s bonus, plus any requirements of the melee weapon special abilities; Cost bonus squared x 1,250gp.

This item is not going to replace the AoMF – for one thing, while half the price it takes up two body slots, not inappropriate for an item enhancing the whole body. For another, it does not enhance natural weapons, only unarmed strikes.

Item Property:

Greater Ki Focus: As ki focus, a monk with these weapons can apply their ki abilities that they would normally focus through an unarmed strike through a weapon with this quality. Furthermore, the monk may substitute their unarmed strike damage for the damage dice of the weapon if they wish. This weapon quality is equivalent to a +2 bonus.

This is a biggee, it allows the monk to use a weapon AND get the advantage of their unarmed strike damage. On the flip side, they lose out on +2 worth of enhancements. That can be worth +2d6 damage, which makes the replacement of 1d6 with 2d10 at level 20 a lot more palatable. The biggest advantage of this feature is that a weapon can have a higher threat range than an unarmed strike, although using such a weapon usually requires another feat from the monk for the proficiency…

I need a system to generate me spell books and/or lists for my players, who are all largely new to the game. I have found some on-line generators, but I'd rather have a generator that gives me a list or spells with a short description that I can store, update and print off for them, rather than mess about with spell-cards for each and every player.

I've used PCGen, but it doesn't seem to have the latest content from Paizo. I've looked at HeroLab, and it seems a much slicker program, but I get the feeling it assumes every player is updating and working on their own character sheets when I need something I can print off and hand out.

Does anyone know of a suitable system?

OK, here is an idea I was working with and posted in another thread, but I'd like to paste it here for ideas and feedback to. I started with the Cavelier as a base, but it just wasn't flexible enough for the archetypes I wanted, it was too tightly focussed.

So I started on a 'nobleman' class that would be flexible, but that name seemed inappropriate given that not all of the styles were appropriate for the 'gentleman' and yet some definitely were. So I settled on the name, 'Elite' to describe the focussed styles of the class.

This is far from complete, I have basic ideas and concepts down, but have not worked out the details of many class abilities. I'm posting it up here for people to comment on the basic structure of the class and to make suggestions on abilities.

The Elite (pre-Alpha)

I want to keep this class with clear specialisations and I want to avoid magic - this is a spell-free class! so ... thoughts, anyone?

Hi everyone, I am running a Rise of the Runelords game with most of the principal 'casters' drawn from Dreamscarred Press' psionics for Pathfinder project. I'm looking for a replacement psion as ours quit unexpectedly. Anyone interested?

Here's an idea I am using in my games now. I like traits, and I think they have a place as more than just background. After all, 'background' is 'everything that has happened before' and that includes adventuring career. So rather than starting with one or two, I start PCs with one and then allow them to add one after each significant 'chapter' in the adventure (like each module in an adventure path). This represents personal and background development, much like ordinary experience gains, but can be used to add flavour or other hooks to the character. Players are encouraged to select for flavour rather than effect.

Chapter 1: Burnt Offerings

Sandpoint is a small town sitting on the Varisian coast within the influence of the city of Magnimar. Lying on the overland North-South trade route it sees many visitors, and has it’s own industry in the lumbar mill, glassworks and a shipyard in it’s sheltered harbour. The town also sports a small dojo, a school, a theatre, and under construction an impressive cathedral. It is a bastion of civilization on the wild coast amid the crumbling ruins of an ancient time: ‘Old Light’ is the ruined tower from a time out of legend, the stump of which only hints at a former height far in excess of any building in the town today.

Newcomers to the town recently are struck by the industry and optimism in the citizens. The preparations are well underway for the upcoming consecration of the cathedral and the festival surrounding it.

The Swallowtail Festival

It is the first day of Autumn, cool and crisp but sunny and clear. As the sun burns off the morning mist the people are out and working hard preparing for the festival, setting up tables and stalls, preparing food and laying out their wares. Relieved of school children scamper around underfoot and generally get their best clothes in danger of becoming dirty as they alternately help out or get underfoot. Even the towns older and grumpier citizens are dignified and if not smiling, at least not complaining.

Amid the town are many visitors: some Varisians have come, for the festival is sacred to Desna, their patron, and others for the festivities, and others are merely passing through along the coast road.

All of you are variously present at the start of the day …

... and there's no-one around to see it, does he change alignment?

More seriously, there is an issue about paladins and falling, and what constitutes an act that would make him 'fall'. So rather than have a thread arguing about the particulars of a given situation, how about a thread that compiles some genuine opinions about whether a paladin should fall or not for a given action.

So can people give their opinions, please ...

On what a paladin can definitely do.

On what a paladin can definitely not do.

On what a paladin might do that can be atoned for.

And on what areas in between are grey areas and should be looked at closely.

Seeing as we now have numbers and people are generating character ideas, we'll migrate the thread here.

For character creation, use 25 point buy. APG stuff is OK, as is any of the updated beta from Dreamscarred Press save for the soulknife, which is still a work in progress. I won't rule out other sources, but please ask me first.

2 traits per character, with the following psionic traits also available:

I'm going to need a little time to rework a few encounters for a party this big, so please feel free to take your time!

Hi all,

I've been involved in Dreamscarred Press's work on updating 3.5 psionics to Pathfinder standard, and their work has come on very nicely, to the state where I'm looking to help with some play-testing.

I'd like to run a PbP game of Rise of the Runelords (as it's an AP I have and it's a good standard to run against) for a party that includes (but does not have to consist exclusively of) psionic characters using the beta-releases from Dreamscarred's site. Currently they have everything in beta to my satisfaction except the soulknife, for which a beta-2 is expected shortly.

More information will follow, including a little history on where such psionics could fit in the Golarian cosmology, but who's interested?

Kelvin

OK, well the last thread I started has kind of imploded now, as was inevitable I suppose, but it gave a LOT of good information all the same. So again, another 'market research' thread here, only this time I want to know what people LIKE about the 3.5 psionics system that they would like to see maintained in a Pathfinder version.

I know that there are some things it may not be possible to incorporate, but all the same there are sacred cows to some of us that we want to see if we can. Hence I'd like for people to NOT come onto this thread saying "You cannot have that in Pathfinder psionics!" - this thread is asking people for their wish-lists, not their demands or expectations.

For example, I have three items on my list:

1 - Backward compatibility: I have existing psionic characters, some in Pathfinder games, that I want to update if any rules come out, and any new rules would have to fulfil the backward compatibility goal of Pathfinder to 3.5 for that to happen.

2 - Power Points: I know these are a contentious issue, but I absolutely love the way the power point system works and synergises with what I perceive as the basic concepts of the system.

3 - Flexible Powers: In line with the power points, the fact that powers are more flexible, but you get less of them, is a concept that I really like.

I was thinking about how on occasion you just have a run of luck that seems to go right for doing one particular thing, and how you could reward that kind of fluky-ness. It’s not the sort of thing you would spend a feat on, but at the same time you want to have something that will effect the game and make clear the effect that seemingly random events can have.

For example, a character in a game at the moment has an unerring run of luck with their slingshot. I didn’t even want to take the sling as a weapon, but I needed a missile weapon and to keep the weight down, so I took it at first level, intending to drop it pretty much as soon as I got my hands on a crossbow.

Except that … my first use of it in difficult conditions was a critical hit. In fact, I had to get it out again when the party wizard ran out of spells and I gave them my crossbow. I kept hitting and hitting well with it. The dice loved that slingshot, and I wanted a reason to keep using it after a while.

Wouldn’t it be an interesting twist if characters could gain a new trait, say every four levels, that could reflect their happenstance development over the course of the last four levels?

Just an idea to chuck out there …

This is a question aimed at those who do not like the 3.5-type psionics system. I'm not looking to start a flame war or anything, I just genuinely want to get an idea of the reasons why some DMs and players do not like that system from those people. So please, no psionics-lovers posting their conjectures here or trying to correct 'misunderstandings' about their beloved systems (I'm a lover of the psionics system myself).

I just want to know what the obstacles are to a Pathfinder psionics project from those that wouldn't want to see an upgrade of the OGL psionics system.

Just reading through the APG and some of the details on the Free Hand Fighter variant (something I like conceptually) jumped out at me: Singleton is gained at level 5 instead of Weapon Training, and grants a +1 on attacks and damage just like Weapon Training does. However, Weapon Training scales up at 9th, 13th and 17th levels, but it does not state that Singleton does this (not asking if he gains weapon training at these levels, just if the original ability scales as the Weapon Training you took your first benefit with does). If it does, the FHF become very viable, if it doesn't the FHF ... doesn't cut it. Losing that potential damage and chance to hit increments alone is enough to make one think twice.

A question: In Pathfinder, the grappled condition does not deny the dexterity bonus to a person grappled any more, instead it applies a -4 to their dexterity.

However, it is unclear if this makes the grappled person vulnerable to sneak attacks, particularly from their grappler. It can be argued that while they are not denied their dexterity bonus, they still cannot defend themselves adequately, much as a person who is flanked does not lose his Dex bonus but is still vulnerable to sneak attack.

So is someone with the grappled condition vulnerable to sneak attack?

I had it pointed out to me that Freedom of Movement prevents you being swallowed whole, as you have to be successfully grappled first before you can be swallowed. Now while technically correct, it occurs to me that if the bite hits, you might just be easier to swallow as you are skewered on the teeth.

How do these interact? Is the RAW correct and you effectively cannot be swallowed? And would you be an instant constipation cure if you were?

I'm currently trying to make a finesse-based fighter work in a game, and was looking at ways to up the damage potential. Unfortunately there isn't much - you can take the combat expertise based feats, but when it comes to actually sticking someone where it hurts, there aren't many options.

Now Power Attack works OK for the heavy smiters, and if you attack at range, Deadly Aim works too, and I was thinking about adding a feat to apply extra damage to a finesseable weapon along the same principal when I thought, "hang on, if you can aim an arrow to do more damage, surely you can aim a rapier for more damage?"

So here's a question for you all:

Should Deadly Aim apply to finesseable weapons? (not does it, because as written it doesn't, I know that and don't need to be told it, but should it)
Should we have a separate feat for finesseable weapons?
Should I just forget it?

OK, we all want to do this, so here's what I worked out to actually do it, using Feats rather than level adjustments to make the changes.

The PDF can be downloaded here, please let me know what you all think.

I know people are downloading ... I can count them ... where's the feedback?

Hi All,

I currently play with the iWARPUK group in Gloucester, but in mid-November I will be moving to Glossop, Derbyshire. If anyone games or knows of groups in the vicinity of Glossop or Manchester I would be very grateful ...

I play mainly D&D3.5/Pathfinder, but will cheerfully join in most games! I know there's a group that meets in Stockport, and I'm looking for others too ...

Kelvin

Eberron Races

In preparation for my next campaign, for which I intend to use Pathfinder, and which I intend to set in Eberron, I was considering reworking the Eberron races (which were pretty well balanced with 3.5, making them sub-standard in Pathfinder).

The only real detail from Eberron that needs updating are the new races: Kalashtar, Warforged, Shifters and Changelings. The main factors to change are their stat adjustments and their favoured classes; in the case of Pathfinder all races have on average an extra +2 bonus to a stat, and two or more favoured classes. Some of the Eberron classes had more penalties than bonuses; this was due to their having abilities that compensated – warforged had their natural armour, their fortification and their immunities; shifters had their shifting ability. This is still reflected bellow, shifters and warforged come out a net 2 points bellow other races once all penalties and bonuses are calculated.

Changeling

• Changelings are experts at disseminating, at appearing to be one thing or another. They are masters of the art of being personable. Hence they gain a +2 bonus to Charisma.
• Favoured Class: Rogue or Beguiler.
• Racial Hit Points: Changelings are not a frail race, but are less suited to fighting than to stealth and intrigue, they gain 4 racial hit points if the option is played.

Kalashtar

• The Kalashtar are gestalt beings, with an intense spiritual connection to their host spirits. At the same time, Kalashtar were at one time human. Kalashtar gain a +2 bonus on any mental ability score of their choice – intelligence, wisdom or charisma.
• Favoured Class: Kalashtar may choose any of the psionic classes as their favoured class. If you are not playing psionics, they may choose from Monk or Sorcerer.
• Racial Hit Points: while cerebral, kalashtar do not neglect their bodies; like humans they gain 6 racial hit points if these are used.

Shifters

• The shifter race are close to their animal side, and often seek the direct solution to any problem they encounter. Shifters gain a +2 bonus to Dexterity, and a -2 penalty to intelligence. They no longer take a penalty to charisma.
• Favoured Class: Shifters may choose Ranger or Druid as their favoured class.
• Racial Hit Points: Shifters are tough, independent survivers, and gain 8 racial hit points if this option is used.

Warforged

• The warforged are made for battle, not cogitation. They gain a +2 bonus to strength and constitution, and a -2 penalty to wisdom and charisma.
• Favoured Class: Warforged may select Fighter or Warblade as their favoured class. Psiforged may select Psychic Warrior instead of Warblade.
• Racial Hit Points: Warforged are made for fighting, they gain 8 racial hit points if these are played.