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What if we make the bard the new "skillmonkey"?

What if the bard now has the most skills, as opposed to the rogue? The rogue got some really cool enhancements, and it would fit since bards are jacks-of-all-trades.

Possibly, I might also advocate for increasing their hit die to d8.

The Attic Whisperer and Devilfish are my faves.

I am about to start Edge of Anarchy myself and am trying organize a prequel where the charatcers are 0 level and gain the traits the hard way.

Very nice.

What did you have in mind? Do all of the PCs know each other as children? Rough outline of the prequel's plot?

[sarcasm]Cheer up! There will always be the pain-in-the-ass players that take Profession (hooker) regardless of the skill changes. [/sarcasm]

Hm..this thread is not getting a lot of love...so I'm guessing not a lot of people have tried this.

One formative thought I had, especially if you go the 1 on 1 prequel route, is to set up a mini-adventure where the PC is a child on a pickpocketing mission from Gaedren. They are sent with one of their childhood friends to complete the mission, the mission goes badly, and the friend is killed right before the PC's young eyes by Gaedren as "a lesson."

I guess the prequel you construct though really depends on the trait the particular player wants to pick for their character.

I love the setup for CotCT - far better than your standard "meet in a tavern" trope. I think the setup with Lamm and the PCs' connection to him is brilliant, and Nic Logue has really outdone himself.

But (and I apologize if this is posted elsewhere, I didn't see it anywhere else) - is anyone doing any prequel adventures to setup CotCT? I think it would be so much more powerful if early 1 on 1 adventures were done with the players where their characters were children/younger versions of themselves and had an adventure involving Gaedren.

This would build up their hate for him, and motivation to kill him or bring him to justice that much more.

So....any ideas? Anyone run any pre-adventures to really make the PCs hate him? Anyone put together an adventure where the PCs actually earn their traits in the player's guide? I think with the right backstory, Gaedran could be a really memorable low-level villain.

Well, I can understand why their won't be "8 different types" of paladins in the PHB, all unique to the god they worship. (Wouldn't mind seeing something like this in a supplement later though.)

I do think the special mount ability needs to get beefed up though. Perhaps at later levels, the paladin is able to cast a variant of the wizard spell mount that summons his mount from thin air. Or, perhaps the mount at later levels becomes an ivory statuette, akin to a figurine of wondrous power, that the Paladin's horse can be summoned from. Just a few ideas to reduce the clunkiness of "carrying" the animal with you at times when you can't use it. Perhaps some additional horse-related or cavalry related feats need to be thrown in for free as well to make taking the special mount a more attractive option, rather than the joke I think it has become.

Additionally, I would like to see a dichotomy between the special mount and a bonded sword. Perhaps, the paladin chooses one or the other (like a ranger chooses combat styles). The paladin's sword slowly gains special abilities with leveling, until at some higher level it turns into a holy avenger. If the sword is lost, the paladin could reestablish his bond with another blade after a month or so. I also like keeping holy avengers special and think only paladins should have them. I kind of like it if wizards and clerics cannot manufacture a holy avenger - they are produced only through the pious faith and devotion of an experienced paladin.

My only question is, would these changes interfere greatly with backwards compatibility? I don't think the mount changes, in making the mount "portable" and offering some additional feats to make the Paladin a better cavalry figure, are that sweeping. The bonded sword might be a problem because it's an option that simply didn't exist before.

Food poisoning.

And being up all night with it.

Then your girlfriend wakes up and she has it too.

Now, you're sharing the bathroom and fighting over who is hogging it more, while arguing vehemently as to why you should be allowed to puke in there for awhile.

Worst. Easter. Ever.

I agree, paladins should be lawful. I also like the distinction between paladins, blackguards, and justicars.

A few scattershot thoughts -

1) A paladin always smites evil. Just take the smite evil ability and weaken it a little - maybe a paladin always gets a +1 to hit evil creatures and always does extra damage according to their charisma bonus with every hit. Perhaps the actual smite evil ability could be yanked, or renamed and reworked. Just a little benefit for playing a paladin on the straight and narrow.

2) Definitely keep the immunity to disease. Since diseases and sickness will now affect PCs of all levels, this becomes a boon (rather than a useless ability) to paladins. Also, perhaps at about 7th level or so, a Paladin picks up an immunity to poisons of a certain strength. Maybe their poison immunity is equal to the Paladin's level plus their charisma modifier, all poisons of that DC or lower Paladins are simply able to shrug off.

3) More differentiation among Paladins of different gods. At 5th level, when one typically got the "special mount", the Paladin now becomes an "Exemplar" to others of their faith. Depending on the god they worship (and really, only a couple gods are lawful and would have paladin orders dedicated to them) they proceed down a different track and pick up extra goodies. One god's exemplars grant the special mount abilities and have supreme mounted cavalry. Another god could grant a mystical bond with the paladin's holy sword, and that weapon improves with experience. Another god's exemplars sprout rudimentary wings, and eventually the Paladin can fly with them.

Just some thoughts to making the class more attractive.

Peace at last, peace at last.

Thanks Paizo! Looking forward to supporting you guys for years to come.

Yup, Tarren is aces in my book. I think his PbP for youngins is pretty cool, and it's great that he's taking the time to do it.

On a more general note, amidst the negativity that is pervading these boards as of late, the usual cast of characters (the Paizo Community Leaders, as it were) continues to impress, inspire, and keep me coming back day after day.

Heathansson, James Keegan, Kruelaid, Sebastian, Mothman, Fatespinner, Lilith, Daigle, the Jade, Rambling Scribe, Aberzombie, Fake Healer, etc. (and others I'm certainly forgetting at the moment), thanks for continually adding to the quality of the conversations on here.

It is appreciated.

Let the kitties starve. :D

I purchased a copy - worth every penny if you have any desire to design professionally or up the quality of your DMing abilities.

15 essays, all targeting different aspects of game design, written by Wolfgang Baur (mainly), Nick Logue, Keith Baker, and Ed Greenwood.

Highly recommended.

This is a really good thing you're doing here Tarren.

Great idea.

(I don't have any kids myself, but I think it's really cool that you're willing to run a PbP to introduce youngins to the game.)

You've been following smoke on the horizon for the better part of two hours. When you finally arrive at the source, you find a merchant's wagon overturned and smoking in the fading daylight. The obese merchant lays dead, throat gruesomely slashed, with his lifeless head resting against one of the wagon wheels. His two guards are dead nearby as well, one disemboweled, the other with his neck badly broken and corpse resting approximately 30 feet from the main stage of carnage.

Inside the merchant's furs, you find a concealed pouch containing the following:

33 gp

19 sp

A locket with platinum filigree that contains the picture of a young, blonde-haired girl.

A small idol of queer design, made of some strange wood and red-black feathers of unknown origin, depicting an odd half-man, half-beast creature. Upon turning the idol over, you drop it in shock, as the idol's humanoid face looks exactly like you.

Strength 13
Intelligence 11
Wisdom 10
Dexterity 15
Constitution 11
Charisma 14

Rogue, all the way baby. (EDIT: Well, "Thief" is more appropriate here.)

*sniff* Been awhile since I rolled 'em that way.

Thanks Mr. Gygax. For everything.

Hm...this is encouraging.

Cowbell, I have forgotten thee.

I now need more Linnorm.

Sounds really good Erik.

Keep it a horse, but add a mysterious quality.

- It has scars along it's flanks suggesting it once had wings.
- Children claim to be able to hear its thoughts.
- If you sleep in its saddle you will have prophetic dreams.
- It's pregnant, with something strange.
- Its causes all other horses in its presence to fight as though they were trained warhorses.
- It snorts when someone lies.
- It and anyone who rides it is immune to the effects of harsh weather.

Minor characteristics can really liven up the average Paladin's mount.

The horse is pure white and the center of its forehead has a small, broken shank of bloody bone protruding from it, suggesting that something at one time was growing there. The wound constantly seeps blood and cannot be healed. The horse has an especially mean disposition to anyone but the PC, and has almost feral tendencies.

The PC could find it somewhere, and nurse it back to health.

Ross Byers wrote:

Daigle wrote:

Happy Birthday, Mitch Hedberg! What a weird 40 years it’s been! Hope you’re well.

Poor Mitch. I'm glad I got to see him live before he went.

You a lucky man, that dude was great. I saw him on Letterman way back when. Sorta the same...not really.

I was fortunate enough to see him in Sacramento a few years ago. (I think it was a few months before he died . . . it was the last time he did Sac.)

He was messed up. Really funny, but very very drunk. Sloppily so. And I saw him at the first showing. He was doing 2 back to back shows that night, and was swilling vodka on stage during the entire first performance. I can only imagine what the 2nd show must have been like.

Sad, really. He was incredibly funny.

Joshua Stevens = SHAVE NOT JESUS

Don't shave him. Just don't do it.

I think what we all really need to remember when dealing with such a divisive political issue is that Fidel Castro is an anagram for docile farts... and if that doesn't bring us back together again, I don't know what will.

heh. And Jade wins the thread.

Check this out.

Both, actually.

Check the really old blog posts for pathfinder, IIRC, it was in one of the first few blog posts.

EDIT: And the blog post I'm referring to was a sneak peek of Pathfinder #1, pages 60-61, titled The Late Unpleasantness.

Pazuzu's name isn't directly mentioned, but it's strongly hinted at.

Hope this helps.

I was wondering, the bird-like demon the Chopper supposedly worshiped whose name none dared say aloud, is this perhaps Pazuzu, king of the Wind demons...?

It is.

The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes. It's a bit odd, which I like.

Thus far, it's pretty good.

Has RPG Superstar, given its popularity, replaced the Open Call contest? I kind of liked that format too, where basic guidelines were given and you had to fill in the details.

You're gonna have to get past Chuck Norris first. Or you could just wait for him to die of old age...

Chuck Norris doesn't die of old age.

Old age dies of Chuck Norris.

*Cue the million other Chuck Norris jokes on the 'net*

Congrats Christine, your submissions were consistently strong and creative.

The Paizo freelance pool will be that much stronger with your contributions.

...And give it the Swallow Whole ability.

The Migrus Locker and Yithnai were my biggest highlights - I truly hope to see Mr. Kisko's stuff in the future.

Christine's dead god's head and chase scene were great too.

Too many to list really - all of the top contenders had some real gems to offer up.

Just came across this thread - really really nice work Lilith.

Now, if it says "written for 12th level", and it's something your average 7th level party would breeze through, that's a problem. Or vice-versa, if it is written for 12th, and there's no way in the 7 hells an average 15th level party would have any hope of successfully completing the adventure, that's a problem too. But if it's written for 12th, and WELL written for 12th, and it would be a not-impossible challenge for 12th, then it should be worthy of consideration, all else equal.

Sorry...rant over. Anybody need this soapbox?

I can't speak for anyone else, but I voted for the submission that I thought was the best, period. I would have preferred a low level submission, but I voted for the one that I thought was the best written and most interesting. YMMV

Lords of Madness had an awesome set of aberration blood feats.

The Waterspawn feat requires two prerequisite feats, but it grants water breathing and some other helpful benefits.

DMcCoy1693 wrote:

Magic Missile

It does force damage and autohits. Boring.

(Unless you dress it up. One of my players described her missiles as looking like miniscule dragons, launching themselves at opponents, ducking and weaving around obstacles, before impacting with claws out and fangs bared.)

That's what I love to do.

I played an arabian-esque sorcerer about a year ago, I just made basic flavor changes to his spells.

Mage Armor became "Blessing of the Eastern Wind" and was described as whipping winds coming off his body that deflected incoming attacks. Same effect, just a different descriptor.

Magic Missile was "Fire of Heaven", and was described as the caster praying to the sun and actual beams of sunlight took fiery form and shot from the sky towards his enemies.

Oh man, that's awesome Wes! There's a lot of really good stuff there.

Thanks for the info.

I love low level adventures more than anything else. Anything level 6 and below would have definitely caught my eye.

but I'd also like to me able to dump them underfoot against an opponent. How do you feel about this idea?

I think that's an awesome idea/character concept - could have an effect similar to a grease spell.

Alas, I would love to throw my hat in the (already crowded) ring for this Pbp, but I think upcoming time constraints at work might prevent me from doing so. I'd like to lurk on this Pbp though.

I'm really digging this monk, guys. I probably don't have to ask this, but please, please, put him up on the blog.

Ditto.

I love well thought out monks. Can't wait to find out more about this guy. He looks really interesting.

I remember reading their stories but did we ever get any stats for iconics 5 and 6, the old guy and the dwarf? As far as I know, all the GameMastery stuff still uses the first four as pregens. I love to see the numbers on the other two as well.

Probably will be included in the new CotCT series.

I'm guessin'

Kingslayers has my vote as the adventure I'd be most likely to buy/be excited to play.

Well done.

A complete campaign setting book. The golden age of Greyhawk was before my time in gaming, and it drives me utterly crazy that I missed out on it and can't get a complete, in-one-book compilation of all the goodness that was spawned from this world setting.

Lisa's idea works for me too. :)

That would be nice.

Something respectful to send the old girl off in style.

Greyhawk did so much for D&D, and yet the setting was constantly put on the back-burner for other projects.

I loved Greyhawk, played it almost exclusively for many years. I dabbled in FR, completely skipped Eberron, and now I'm moving into Golarion full time. (Though, I do admit that Wolfgang Baur's Zobeck material will probably get meshed with my Golarion to some extent.)

Still, Greyhawk was really where it all began for me. An all-in-one, "you have everything you need to play this game into perpetuity regardless of WotC's decision to drop this setting" collection would be great.

And to them I say: get over yourself. It's just a game.

Words to live by.

Mike, that should be your signature tag on all of your posts. :D

The warblade is very effective in dealing out damage in melee. The iron witch is a new character, the player was running a very social beguiler that just wasnt working out in the exploration heavy game I am running. The player was getting frustrated so I encouraged her to try something different. The theme for this campaing is "try something new." That goes for me too, I rarely run prewritten modules but have always thought the Obsidian Eye looked interesting and want to give it a shot.

Ah, well I think you're up for a great game. In my campaign, I liked Harbinger so much that he escaped and became a great recurring villain.

One of my all time favorite dungeon adventures. Actually, just one of my favorite adventures for any RPG, ever.

I would just suggest that you know the party's ability to fight and their use of tactics. If they are a newer group/weaker/minimally optimized party/whatever, allowing Mio and Harbinger to team up on them will result in them getting slaughtered.

Both Mio and Harbinger are pretty tough customers. Played well, they can be very deadly. You just have to know your group.

Same for the jackalwere trio - depends on how well your group plays together and how effective they are.

I'm not familiar with the iron witch and have never DM'd a warblade before, so I couldn't tell you how effective/ineffective they might be.

If anyone is thinking of quibbling about the meaning of 'amazing' and whether or not a player's guide can 'amaze' someone please read this thread first.

Want to debate the meaning of the words "penultimate" and "ultimate"?

Hm?

What, did I say something bad? :D

*whispers*The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. However, I only "splooorch" where I'm welcome.

VOMIT GUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*sticks a celebratory finger down his own throat*

Sploooorch.

Good to see you buddy.

xx
0
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_____

I miss Vomit Guy.

*lights a candle in remembrance*

Kobold Cleaver comes across as a little strange (animal noises in a certain post come to mind), but I suspect he's the most well-adjusted of us all.

I miss Vomit Guy too.

The Paizo boards just aren't the same without the presence of his forcefully expelled hot vomit.

A Pathfinder comic would be amazing.

It would also, as far as I know, cost more than our entire RPG staff's net worth, including organs sold on eBay.

Maybe someday....

Ah.

Well, thanks for the reality check!

The best comic book (or graphic novel, if you prefer that term) products are those that have a perfect storm of writer and artist. Would Preacher have been as good if Dillon didn't capture the writing of Ennis so well? Or Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson for Transmetropolitan? A great story is paramount (which "Eando Kline" has provided for us), but finding the artist that can capture the pacing and feel of the writing is when the magic happens.

I hope you can find that artist! 'Cause I want a Pathfinder graphic novel. A lot and stuff. :P

A PF graphic novel would be awesome.

That's why I like the idea of a Paizo/Dark Horse team-up.

I like their Star Wars art a lot. Dynamite comics might be a good partner too, as Red Sonja has had some pretty good art lately IIRC.