Gwen Smith's page

Artanthos wrote:

Defender of the Society is a very good trait, but is balanced by being class restricted.

That's not balance, not unless it's restricted from the classes who need it most.

OK, fine, you won't see any monks with it. Big deal. If fighters, arguably the one class most in need of high AC, can take a trait that increases their AC, then this trait is available suddenly becomes THE ONE crunchy trait that every fighter needs and saying it's balanced because other classes that don't need it as much can't have it doesn't really apply.

Medium or Heavy armor is pretty restricting, IMO, especially since most of the fighter archetypes trade out armor training. Anyone who takes this trait and is not a plain vanilla fighter is going to have reduced movement for most of their career.

Armor check penalty and encumbrance are also big issues at lower levels. Mithral medium armor starts at 4000 gp, heavy at 8K, so you're offsetting the weight until at least level 6. At that point, you've probably already invested in +1 to your armor, so you also incur the cost of swapping out armor.

Not to bring up old posts, but I had a question for you guys that have run it.

Did you do swim checks for the party to not be swept or crushed under the water during the puzzle before the final boss. Lookin' at the room we have about 80 to 100 feet area for the room with door 2 filling that room to 20 feet in 18 seconds. Its gonna be a blast of water that throws whatever character that opens it on his back and potentially drowns them. The more heavily armored party members can't even get on the stairs for safety unless with rope, but what is up there for them to even tie a rope too.

I am just wondering how the characters with 100+ pounds of equipment and a negative to swim are going to get up the 30 feet, especially in uneven water that is churning as the gates flood the room with water.

I am wondering if I am over thinking or not reading it correctly and how you guys can this part. To me it seems this part is the deadliest encounter and runs the highest risk of having 6 drowned adventurers.

My party actually climbed up to the stairs when the water was around 5 feet, then had the mage with Fly go around and pull the other chains. Granted, he had to try several times to make that DC7 strength check, but it was a nice tactic.

I believe the level 3 stuff zen archers receive let them threaten with bows.

The 3rd level Zen Archer feature is Point Blank Master, which allows the archer to shoot while in melee without provoking an attack of opportunity.

Now, since Zen Archers have improved unarmed strike, they threaten adjacent squares without needing a melee weapon. They don't threaten with the bow: they threaten in spite of carrying the bow.

Logically, a non-Zen Archer ranged character could accomplish the same thing with a cestus or a boot blade or (my personal favorite) a Halfling sling staff.

Nevertheless...is the threatening and AoO build the way to go then? The only reason I hesitate over doing this is really because of Serpent's Lash which seems like a brilliant feat at lower levels, but somewhat underwhelming later on. Hence the earlier I get it, I'll get more use out of it. Making extra AoOs at reach, by contrast, is one of those things which is always useful and hence it would still make sense to take as a feat at later levels as well as earlier levels.

Another nifty thing you can do with the AoOs at reach is get Bodyguard and aid another within that 15 foot range. This is nice if you're mainly running a party-buff bard: Bodyguard gives you a way of buffing your allies' AC when it isn't your turn.

And don't forget Weapon Wand to put a cure light wand in your whip. At lower levels, Cure light at 15 feet out is awesome.

Yeah, I'm not understanding how "your flurry can include disarms, trips and sunders" leads to "grapples too, right?"

It doesn't. That's why Maneuver Master has to state specifically that this archetype lets a monk flurry with combat maneuvers.

If you can use the Elves of the Golarion book, they have quite a nifty selection of trick arrows, including tangleshot (tanglefoot bag on an arrow), smoke arrows, grappling arrows, "raining" arrows that are filled with holy water and splash undead, etc.

I have a Zen Archer who is just waiting for the right opportunity for her to use a whistling arrow (that can be heard for 500 yards along the flight path)...

We have had good luck at conventions with 1-2 hour "mini games", either the Beginner Box Bash or some quests. We've also used individual encounters from an adventure path that were slightly modified for PFS rules.

If you have trouble filling a table for a full game, you might consider the shorter ones. The shorter time frame works well at conventions with a lot of events. Most people can find an hour or so free, even if they just want to sit down for an hour to eat or rest.

Also, there is a thread called GM Shared Prep, where GMs upload handouts, notes, tracking cards, etc. that they use in different scenarios. You should look through that one and see if you can use anything.

(Wow. Monthly convention. My brain is having trouble processing that...) :-)

Except that attacking from Stealth doesn't deny your opponent their Dexterity bonus either.

Isn't that the point of attacking from Stealth?

Your opponent isn't "flat-footed" in that they can still act and take attacks of opportunity, but they should be denied their dex bonus against any attacker they can't see.

@Gwen: Yes, the full attack was factoring in Quick Draw. On the other hand, if they're trogs, they don't need a weapon to full attack.

Right. Of course, if they had Quick Draw, I'd have them more a lot more than 5 feet a round. They'd maneuver around the room into "5 feet from flanking" positions and then step in the last 5 feet all at once. (And the first ones would ready an attack for "as soon as my buddy is in position"...)

Non-combat wands I like are
Detect Magic (especially if you're the main trap-spotter for the party)
Create Water (my haunted Oracle of Flame carries around this one to put of random fires started by her poltergeist)
Prestidigitation (I HATE being dirty!)

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I at least assumed it was more like:

1) advance, throw javelin.
2) 5-foot step, throw javelin(s). Quick-Draw would make this pretty cool.
3) 5-foot step, throw javelin(s).
4) 5-foot step, draw and full attack.

If the bad guys are very slowly advancing, have you tried very slowly retreating? All you need is one guy with a longspear and a readied action.

<Everburning torch appears above my head>

Oh, THAT's what the GM was doing! 5 foot step, MOVE ACTION TO DRAW new javelin, throw javelin! He wasn't abusing the 5 foot step: he was adhering to the "move action to draw a new weapon" restriction. The trogs were closing but maximizing their ranged attacks as long as they had ammunition. So yeah, the correct tactic here is close the distance. (Actually, that's my preferred tactic anytime the other guy has range and I don't.)

Thanks for making that make sense!

One correction though. Without Quick Draw, they couldn't do #4: Draw and full attack. The "free draw" at BAB 1 has to be done as part of a movement, and 5 foot step doesn't count for that purpose.

Very good points Ichigeki. I think the number of encounters between resting affects how powerful the fighter is in comparison to a barbarian- if you have fewer encounters per day the barbarian's rage outshines even a well-optimized fighter. A well-optimized fighter has options for maximizing attack rolls, damage, or AC. But a raging barbarian has a bonus to attack, damage, and hit points without having to optimize any of the three.

My observation is that fighters are the most effective class with a ten-point point buy. Their combat effectiveness is dependent on feat selection and equipment. MAD classes have trouble (especially at low levels) with low point buy or low attributes, and a fighter can carry a low point buy party. Because a fighter is easy to make effective at low levels (power attack, cleave, weapon focus, combat reflexes, and vital strike all are very effective at low levels) there might be an assumption by a lot of players that it should be as easy to make a fighter effective at medium and higher levels. Almost any fighter feat adds to combat effectiveness for the first few levels, by level 6 a feat has to work in conjunction with other feats to have a similar effect.

You made very good points without raising an obvious question, I hope this response is appropriate to the thread you've started.

I think the issue might stem more from the fact that, at low levels, what makes fighters effective is pretty obvious. It's very easy to see how Power attack helps at levels 1-3. Weapon focus and combat reflexes also have clear usefulness. You want more of a dex-based build? Easy: Dodge and Combat Expertise. Etc.

As you get into more advanced levels, you have so many more options. Each of those "obvious" feats at your first three-four levels opens up one or more feat trees. Once you take Power Attack, you have to decide if you want to be a cleave-monster or go the overrun/bull rush route. After Dodge, do you want to go down the Mobility-Spring Attack-Whirlwind Attack road or should you follow any of the Improved and Greater Maneuvers that open up from Combat Expertise? And once you grab Weapon Focus, doesn't Dazzling Display start to look tempting?

To me, higher level fighters are harder to build because they have too many possibilities and too many different ways to be effective.

My newly-sixth level Earthbreaker fighter is having a tough time deciding between starting the Disruptive tack, staying on with Improved Overrun/Charge Through/Greater Overrun, or leveraging her +14 Intimidate check with Dazzling Display (demoralize all enemies in 30 ft) or Enforcer (when you deal non-lethal damage, demoralize an enemy to leave him shaken for as many rounds as damage you just dealt). The idea of leaving an enemy shaken for 2d6+13 rounds has a certain appeal...

Eventually, of course, she'll break down and pick up Weapon Specialization, but honestly, she hasn't needed it yet. Hasn't noticed a lack of Cleave, either, come to think of it.

If you want a long distance sniper, check out the Deep Sight feat. It increases the range of your character's darkvision to 120ft. With a composite longbow range of 110ft, and everyone else having only 60f darkvision, you'd be able to shoot people long before they have a chance of seeing you.

There are also feats that increase your chances of hiding after sniping, and Deadly Aim increases the range at which your rogue can sneak attack by 10ft a shot.

If you want an archer for a low-magic game, check out the Zen Archer monk (UC). You have the choice of going WIS/dex for high AC or WIS/str for higher damage.

You are still effective in melee, you get Point Blank master at level3, and have ridiculous saves.

Algar Lysandris wrote:

for cleric/oracle AC is easy to come buy

@ Level 3: AC 23 (+2 for shield of faith) = 25

@ Level 6: AC 26 (+3 shield of faith) = 29

items: +1 full plate +1 Heacy shield +1 Amulet of Nat Armor +1 Ioun stone

Tanking the Chaos Spawn or the large Hell hound with Armor in the plane of Hell = Priceless

(and that is with not sacrificing anything. Just a little cash)

I'd say it does sacrifice something... it takes a feat to get heavy armor.

It also sacrifices quite a bit of movement, too. And unless your strength is high enough, you probably have some encumbrance issues.

Ah, I see the issue. Two-weapon rend isn't an attack--just additional damage. It's the equivalent of a rogue's sneak attack damage.

You get the bonus damage from Prayer or Inspire courage on each of the attacks that triggered the two-weapon rend damage, but not on the die roll for two-weapon rend itself.

In the same way, a rogue gets Prayer/Inspire courage bonus on the attack that triggers the sneak attack damage, but not on the die roll for the sneak attack itself.

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Best uses I've seen of disarm:
- Remove a potion from the enemy's hand before he gets a chance to drink it (step up + combat reflexes makes this especially devastating)
- Relieve the evil cleric of his holy symbol
- Take away a caster's bonded item

Generally, damage bonuses apply to all martial attacks* (ranged and melee) unless they specifically state otherwise. The main issue is that most damage bonuses of the same type do not stack with each other. So morale bonuses won't stack with other morale bonuses.

Is there something in the text of two-weapon rend that implies it wouldn't stack with morale bonuses, competence bonuses, sacred bonuses, etc.? I can't think of why it wouldn't.

*Spells and magical attacks are a different animal, but not what you were asking about.

I have to admit that I've noticed some...oddities in some of the Major's assignments before.

Once he sent me to dispatch a merrow that had been terrorizing the Precipice Quarter, then proceeded to dress me down because I didn't ensure the brute realized I was from Andoran before it died. I couldn't help but wonder: what difference would it make if the merrow knew that an Andoran blacksmith had done it in? Was Major Maldris somehow concerned with the merrow's attitude once it reached the Boneyard?

On another mission to the Kingdom of the Impossible, he asked the Great Rinaldo and myself to deliver a letter but warned us that it could be dangerous because Andoran was not well thought of in Jalmaray, and the letter bore the Andoran seal on the exterior. I could see by the twitching of the Halfling's lips that the Great Rinaldo was on the verge of asking Major Maldris why in Desna's name he put the Andoran seal on the outside of the letter. Surely, he could have placed the sealed letter in a larger envelope, no?

Now, I'm just a simple blacksmith with a modest talent for fighting, so I don't pretend to understand the intricacies of spycraft, but it does seem as though some of the Major's decisions are based on something other than necessity.

If you threaten, you can contribute to flanking.

So yes, PC1 does get the bonus.

This comes up quite often with people getting kocked unconscious then being healed, they're often better off staying down than trying to get up and provoking etc.

True. As long as they can pick up their weapon or have a weapon they couldn't drop while unconscious, they can flank from the ground.

?? The range of a bow is the same vertically or horizontally (technically it should be half, but still). You can shoot at something 300' in the air.

and if he's that high up, just get some cover or make some concealment. a fog cloud or something that cuts his line of sight gives him no targets for spells.
==Aelryinth

Yeah, ranged weapons can go range increment times 5, so your composite longbow is going to shoot up to 550 feet in game. If you want some extra fun, hire a Zen Archer monk with high jump and shot on the run, then watch her jump 30 feet straight up and fire at the top of the arc.

Throw in some seeking ammunition, or even some smoke arrows, tangleshot, thistle arrows, raining arrows (for flying undead), explosive arrows, grappling arrows... Check out the trick arrows in Elves of Golarion and turn Hawkeye loose on him. (Can you tell what my favorite build is?)

Also, what's your motivation for this fight? If he's so high he's out of your reach completely, he's out past long range for his spells, too. Just walk away. He'll either come lower to get you or bugger off.

(Here, I'm assuming he can't really command minions from that far out, and any nefarious plans will probably fizzle without his input, too.)

Some thoughts about Dervish Dancer:

Does your swashbuckler actually use a buckler? If so, you don't want Dervish Dancer (can't have a shield in your off hand).

If you take Dervish Dancer and Power Attack, you could potentially put your second hand on the scimitar, and trade the dex bonus to damage for 1.5 times power attack bonus. That won't be useful until you are high enough level that half your power attack bonus is higher than your dex bonus.

Some thoughts on Piranha Strike:

You do have to watch the difference between "light weapon" and "weapon I can use weapon finesse with". There are quite a few weapons that you can use with weapon finesse (with the right feats) but can't use with piranha strike (scimitar, whip, Elven curved blade, Aldori dueling sword, etc.).

General thoughts:

For Dex-based fighter damage, your biggest bang for the buck is probably the Elven curved blade with Power Attack: 1d10, two-handed weapon you can use with Weapon Finesse. The sweet spot there is a 14 STR, though, so you have the 13 str minimum for power attack and the extra +1 damage for two hands. Those extra points might be better off in a different stat, and two handed weapons don't seem very "swashy" to me.

The Pirates of the Inner Sea has some interesting stuff for swashbucklers, including the hook hand. (Hm...would a hook hand count as a "weapon in your off hand" for Dervish Dance? Maybe only if you actually attack with it that round?) If you go with the Piranha Strike, the cutlass is a spiffy weapon, and it fits in the theme nicely.

I'm a big fan of swashbucklers, so I'd love to hear what you finally come up with!

There's a thread and a folder for GMs to share prepping materials and handouts:
GM Shared Prep
Google Docs Folder

Any reason you can't keep your scrolls in a Handy Haversack? It would still be a move action to draw them, but at least you wouldn't provoke AoOs.

If you're a throwing build (or any ranged fighter), get Precise Shot as soon as possible. Most of the time, you're throwing into melee, and that -4 will kill you. You'll usually also be throwing through at least soft cover, which is another -2.

Here's how I would do it, just based on your description:
(As Arcane Duelist)
AD1 Arcane Strike
1: Point Blank Shot
H: Precise Shot
3: Weapon Focus : Dagger
5: Close Quarters Thrower (no AoO for using ranged weapon in combat, requires Weapon Focus)
AD6: Disruptive

You can swap out the feats at 3 and 5 for Quick Draw and TWF, if you don't find yourself in melee or you don't mind the AoOs.

Without Close Quarters Thrower, you might want Weapon Finesse so you have a chance to hit something in melee. (With CQT, you just always throw and not worry about melee attacking. You will have trouble landing your own AoOs, but that's probably not a big deal.)

(I'm working on a throwing bard with Perform: Juggling. If we're at a con together, we should totally put on a show!)

Oh!

If possible (at higher levels), Point Blank Master would probably be a good choice. Most throwing weapons you're only one move away from being in some guy's face.

For a throwing build, you want Close Quarters Thrower. Point Blank Master is for projectile weapons. (I found that out the hard way!)

On the plus side, Close Quarters Thrower only requires Weapon Focus, which means you pick it up a lot sooner. (Point Blank Master requires Weapon Specialization, which itself requires 4 fighter levels. There are only a few ways around that.)

Each AoO is a completely separate event. You don't have to dedicate a single weapon to all of them.

Related fact: During your turn, you can full-attack with BAB +6/+1 and take your two attacks with different weapons, without taking TWF penalties.

Is this a recent rule change? The reason I ask is that I saw this in theShielded Fighter archetype (5th level):

"With a full attack action, a shielded fighter may alternate between using his weapon or his shield for each attack."

Am I missing something here? Isn't this "feature" available to anyone who has a weapon, two attacks, and a bashable shield?

In two years, I have yet to have a GM question any of my 3 Halfling characters with the war slinger racial trait, including the specialized Halfling slinger/sling staff build that uses Rapid Shot. Actually, the only question I've run into regarding sling vs sling staff was "Does it require Point Blank Master (for "projectile" weapons) or can I use Close Quarters Thrower (for "thrown" weapons)?"

The weapon focus/weapon specialization is a trickier question. Since these feats apply to daggers/spears/javelins/light hammers/hand axes whether you throw them or use them in melee, I'd argue that they should apply to the melee side of the sling staff, also. Throwing a dagger and stabbing with it are very different actions and require different techniques, just like using a sling staff in melee vs. ranged.

As far as Zen Archers go, the archetype specifically says "bows" not "ranged weapons". Zen archers gain proficiency with longbows and shortbows, and they must use these weapons for all the class features.

Likewise, Manyshot and Stabbing Shot specifically call out longbow/shortbow, as does Gravity Bow.

Rapid Shot, Point Blank Shot, and Precise Shot apply to all ranged weapons.

Many thanks for the question and the answers. I bought Pathfinder two weeks ago as I want to start playing pen&paper with my kids (now that they're old enough) ... and the same question confused me. So ... no need to worry, it's badly worded in the rules?

You take your monk level as the attack bonus (plus strength bonus) and deduce 2 because you attack with both hands (legs ... whatever)?
The -2 is nowhere mentioned under "monk", though it says (lvl 1 monk): he is treates as if he was using the two weapon fighting talent ...
I read the rules about two weapon fighting: you normally have
-6 / -10 ... when using light weapons (which a monk does), you have
- 4 / - 8 ... and when you use two weapon fighting talent, you get
- 2 / - 2 ... so that would solve it, wouldn't it? As you apply your level to attack, a lvl 1 monk would have -1 / -1.

I'm afraid I will have more questions (all those rules are a bit daunting as I stopped playing pen&paper about 25 years ago).

You have it exactly right.

Copying the FoB from the chart is fine as long as you do not multiclass. If you have, say, a 4th level monk/2nd level ranger, well, that way lies madness. :-)

As far as the rules go, several of the rules are much, much simpler in Pathfinder. Skills, multi-classing, grappling--all much improved.

In regards to OOC conversation and metagaming, I actually see a lot of OOC conversation triggered by the players trying hard NOT to metagame. I get questions like "Would my character have any way of seeing/knowing this {thing that I as a player can clearly see}?" or "I know what that monster is, but would my character be likely to know that?" and the always-classic "Are you going to say anything about that perception check you just made? If not, that changes what my character is going to do."

Trying to confirm whether an action is possible is a real-life time suck, but perfectly reasonable in "character time". The character should know instantly whether he could fit in the space that's right next to him even though the player can't tell whether that's a stray pen mark or an actual thing.

You have the same problem with knowledge skill checks. Identifying the monster takes seconds in character time, but getting information from the GM and figuring out how to communicate that information in character takes several minutes in real time. Sure, it's faster to say "It has DR 8/bludgeoning!" but "Last time I fought these, I was only able to hurt them with my war hammer. The long sword and short sword were useless!" is actually in character.

So do you punish the guy who's trying to stay in character, even if it takes him longer to do his turn?

Genuine wrote:

Awesome, #2 especially as I'm already planning on a Maneuver master/weapon adept character. I had been assuming that the normal limitations of flurry of blows would also apply to flurry of manuevers. But there isn't any exceptions in the wording and there isn't any 'this works as ... except as follows' sort of language that would apply the same restrictions. It appears that you could even use this wearing armor! That opens up all sorts of ideas.

I don't know your build, but Monks are not proficient with any reach weapons. You can go with heirloom weapon longspear, or with rough and ready trait for pseudoproficiency with anything you want until you can spare a feat for a nice exotic.

There are some racial traits you can use, also:

For a half-elf, there's the Ancestral Arms racial trait.
Tengu are proficient with most "weapons that act like a sword", and they can trade out this Sword Training for proficiency with a number of single weapons equal to their Int bonus. (So 14 Int = 2 weapons) I haven't seen a specific limitation on which weapons they can pick for this, but it's intended to be for the Eastern weapons.

We noticed that Lesser Restoration mentions "temporary" ability damage, but there's no mention of "temporary" or "permanent" under the section on ability damage.

Does this mean that the old term "temporary ability damage" is now simply "ability damage" and "permanent ability damage" is now "ability drain"?

We ended up in an argument over whether lesser restoration could heal the Con damage from ghoul fever, because the ghoul fever didn't specify whether it was temporary or permanent ability damage.

Walter Sheppard wrote:

I agree with the ban of dice rollers in games. It was once explained to me by an incredibly gifted software engineer how its impossible to have true randomness in programming, which is the basis I would use for disallowing them at my table.

I work creating and running randomized clinical trials used to have medical devices (often used for implanting in human subjects) approved and made available for the market. A key component of said trials is that you need to randomize subjects to a treatment or control arm of the trial. This is done under the prevue of the FDA which is primarily responsible for making sure that those devices are safe for human use. I am intimately aware of the "limitations" of computerized randomizations as we use them regularly to randomize the subjects for said trials.

If it's good enough for the FDA, it's good enough for the game table.

I know that some dice rolling programs are better than others. Can you give use a quick list of what programs are good/bad or what randomization "type" or "feature" to look for?

I'm actually more interested in getting a good dice rolling program for myself, as a GM. Being able to roll without the players even seeing/hearing the dice could be a great way to keep the surprises coming.

If every attack for the witch has to be within 30 feet, it seems like negative channeling would be very effective.

Channel negative energy affects the familiar, too, right?

I was reading the Cavalier Order of the Dragon this morning, and I saw something I hadn't noticed before:

Aid Allies (Ex): At 2nd level, whenever an order of the dragon cavalier uses the aid another action to assist one of his allies, the ally receives a +3 bonus to his Armor Class, attack roll, saving throw, or skill check. At 8th level, and every six levels thereafter, this bonus increases by an additional +1.

I was not familiar with using aid another on saving throws, so I looked up aid another in the "actions in combat" section:

You can also use this standard action to help a friend in other ways, such as when he is affected by a spell, or to assist another character's skill check.

I'm confused as to exactly how this would work. I can see some cases where a character could aid on a Will save ("Don't listen to her! She's lying!"), but that's about it. I did a search on the message boards for more information on the mechanics of this. I found this old thread arguing about whether it was possible, with no resolution.

On this more recent thread, Chris Mortika made the following comment:

Aid Another can assist in combat, for saving throws, or skill checks. I'd be hesitant to allow it for class abilities. But I could be convinced to allow it in some circumstances.

Can someone clarify how this mechanic works? Would the aiding character use their own saving throw modifier or would it be a melee attack?

Would you always allow aid another to assist a saving throw, or only under particular circumstances?

Thanks in advance for the help!

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I think a lot of GMs forget that "player knowledge and character knowledge are two different things" needs to work to the players' benefit, too.

There are a whole lot of situations where the characters should know things that the players don't, especially as you get new players running characters beyond the low levels or players running new spell caster classes that they don't have experience with.

For example, the player might not realize that a spell is a melee touch attack instead of a ranged touch attack, but even the first level wizard who has studied that spell would certainly have to know that. I've run across a lot of GMs who would force the character to lose the spell or the action for that mistake, because it's the player's responsibility to know the spells or the player should study the book more.

Not only is that frustrating for a player, it actually sets the rule that player knowledge trumps character knowledge--which then sets the precedent for players acting on knowledge their characters can't possibly have. Like seeing the room behind a door on the map or knowing about a scenario from conversations and spoilers, or pulling out the bestiary in combat...

As a GM, I'm trying to adhere completely to the rule that characters are not the players, even (and especially) when the players get the benefit: "Your character, as a wizard, would know that he can't charm a swarm of rats" or "Your character realizes that moving there will provoke an attack of opportunity--is that still what he would do?"

I'm hoping that once the players realize that character/player separation can help them instead of just punish them, they'll be more inclined to maintain that wall.

** spoiler omitted **

the AOO is "provoked normally" which seems to me drawing a weapon does not provoke? Unless we say that drawing a weapon from a wrist sheath normally does provoke - but that would make no sense.

Is there anything that drawing normally provokes AOOs?

I think the intent is that drawing a weapon from a wrist sheath does provoke an AoO. Based on the descriptions, the purpose of a wrist sheath seems to be hiding the weapon, not just carrying it. (Sleight of Hand can be used to draw a hidden weapon without provoking, and wrist sheaths add to your Sleight of Hand check to hide the weapon.) I think this might be the intended difference between "buying a separate wrist sheath" and "taking the sheath that came with your dagger and just strapping it on your wrist".

The use of the wrist sheath, particularly the spring loaded ones, as a fast-draw wand holder was probably not foreseen by the developers. If the character wears a spring loaded wrist sheath openly and does not try to hide the weapon, then it might fall under "drawing a weapon you happen to keep on your wrist", which wouldn't provoke. (Then you get into the issue of drawing a weapon vs. drawing a wand.)

As for the scroll issue, I think the problem is that paper isn't stiff enough to stand up to the spring forcing it out. If there's a small scroll case that would pop open automatically instead of making the character open it, that would probably solve the scroll issue. (Actually, the design would be really simple, and easily accomplished with PFS technology...I wonder how to go about submitting non-magical equipment for consideration?)

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I have never had a female GM in Pathfinder, I have had one in Legend of the Five Rings and she was phenomenal. In my experience though the biggest issue for a female GM would be a female player. After my time in the military I have come to the conclusion that females find it hard to get along with each other. Its an unfortunate truth that I know can be hard to swallow.

Sorry for the thread-resurrection, but I read an article this week that perfectly echoed this comment.

This is a great example of how/why stereotypes get started. We tend to see members of our own group (or the overall majority group) as individuals, while we see people from a different or minority group as representative of all members of that group. Throw in a little confirmation bias, and suddenly you have a stereotype. (I think xkcd has the best illustration of this, ever: http://xkcd.com/385/)

I suspect that the poster has also seen a lot of men who couldn't get along with each other but concluded (correctly) that "those particular individuals don't get along". However, seeing two women who can't get along with each other becomes "all women find it hard to get along with each other."

The article I read was "why don't business women help/mentor their junior women?" It goes on and on about the "queen bee" attitude and how powerful women cut out competition and keep other women down. Of course, a whole lot of powerful men do exactly the same thing to their juniors, but nobody ever sees that as a comment on "men in general", just "this jerk of a boss I had" or "the particular men at this really competitive company".

This all ties in to the female players and female gms discussion, because female players and gms are still a small enough minority to trigger this generalized thinking. Since most of us make these generalizations without even realizing it, I was really glad to see how many people responded with comments on individuals without making them representative models or stereotypes.

I'm not sure if it's Paizo, or Pathfinder, or PFS, or just these forums, but I have been really impressed with the lack of sexism in this community. I'm very, very happy I stumbled on this group.

Daniel Luckett wrote:

Yes, and how many wrists do you have?

Ty for info i was wantin to know if springloaded wristsheath was legal and what is the number of (standard) sheaths worn at once

Standard sheaths can go anywhere, even on a bandolier across the chest. I'd say you can have as many of those as you want. Most characters will hit their encumbrance limit before they hit their "Seriously? You have a sheath there?" limit. (I can picture 9 or 10 without a bandolier.)

Most "sheathable" weapons come with sheaths. Wrist sheaths are special because they give you a bonus on hiding the dagger/wand/item. If you're not trying to hide the weapon, you don't need to buy a separate sheath.

I was wondering if I am understanding this weapon correctly. It is pretty much a longsword that for the exotic weapon feat you can use your dex with. But only if you have yet another feat , weapon finesse.

Why is this an exotic weapon? It is not worth a feat . It should also crit on a 18-20 . Granted the eleven curve blade is two handed but it is a (exotic)finesse weapon that crits on a 18-20 and does a d10 , worth the feat. You don't get a shield but then again the whole purpose the of the Aldori dueling blade is not to use a shield either.

The Aldori dueling blade is designed for the archetype or the prestige class. Three or four feats down the tree, you get a bonus on initiative and a shield bonus with the Aldori sword. Whether that whole tree is worth the investment depends on your character.

Sawtooth sabres, on the other hand, are my favorite choice for two-weapon fighter builds. With 1d8 in each hand, Enlarge Person or Lead Blades kicks it up to 2d6, and all weapon focus/specialization/training features apply to both attacks at the same time.

Without the sawtooth sabre, a dual-wielding fighter either needs to double on weapon focus/specialization feats or use two light weapons. It just isn't as effective.

If you're not making a TWF build, though, just stick to the long sword.

1)I have NO expectation that historic Nor SCAdian heraldry would apply to Galorion nor any other fantasy world.

2)SCA heraldry is MOSTLY historical, and is it's own beast. (Though I think the rules for making your own beasts are currently not favored)

And SCA heraldry is based on a specific subset of European heraldry to narrow down the blazoning styles (which were/are all over the place!). The heralds in our area specifically followed the Lion College of Arms blazoning, but that was (cough! cough!) years ago.

3) I would attempt the blazon as such: Sable, Upon a Demisun Or & argent, a wolf segent purpur. this would solve the tincture issue. I'm not actually certain you can designate a demisun and Or& argent either. And there may be a better descriptor for the wolf than segent. I don't have my books handy.

If you're looking for straight lines, I think Demisun is correct (though some people might call it a Compass Rose if you're not careful with your line lengths).

If you're looking for wavy lines, you might want a Sun in Splendor or a demi-sun in splendor (or is it that the combo of straight and wavy lines with the face?--damn memory!).

If you're looking for no lines, I'd call it a Rondel.

If you're looking for the wolf in the center of the sun, I'd go with a Wolf En Soleil.

If you want a horizon line with the demisun in two colors, you might divide the field per fess with the upper part gules and or, with the demisun reversed. Then you can put the wolf on the sun without breaking contrast rules.

4) a search for "SCA Heraldry" will yield many helpful links for those that would like to understand what the blazon is going on here, as well as a good approximation of historical heraldry rules.

-=Zotikos=-
Rostered Herald
Certifed Dork

Yes, but that way also lies madness. :-)

Gwen
AKA Gwyneth ferch Morien, Former herald of Elfsea
(Where can I get a dork certification?)

I heard someone discuss a similar tactic with Beguiling Gift and a steel shield.

Since a shield actually provides an armor bonus and specifically says druids can only use wooden ones, I think I'd have to give that point to the players.

I was actually looking into researching that aspect of his plan too.

+20 on all attacks in a round is a bit ridiculous, but I'd allow it if there isn't a rule against it.
Thanks for the info, I'll look into potions more.

There is a rule against it. True Strike is for you next attack, not all the attacks in a round:

"Your next single attack roll (if it is made before the end of the next round) gains a +20 insight bonus. Additionally, you are not affected by the miss chance that applies to attackers trying to strike a concealed target."

Even if there were some way to make it permanent, True Strike would only allow him one attack at +20 per round. (Which, if that's his real goal, kind of makes the multi-attack approach somewhat useless.)

I'm surprised you don't get any additional AC from dual-wielding shields. It seems like you'd have double the coverage. Also, the idea of a dual-shield expert is both funny and awesome.

I'm picturing the character "sandwiching" an enemy between shields...hee!

Stinking Cloud.

Where is your AC now, why is it not helping you?

Of course there's always "Hey look! I rolled a 20!"

Or "You didn't win initiative this time? Aw, poor flat-footed baby."

Probably the best way to handle "monster" AC builds is ignore them. If they can't hit and can't do damage, why bother attacking them at all.

That's exactly is why I went the party support route with my defensive Halfling build ("Take 2 AC and call me after the fight!"), and why Antagonize is a great feat for this character, too.

Looking at the way these traits interact, I'm not sure the math is correct:

Threatening defender: When you use Combat Expertise, reduce the number you subtract from your melee attack rolls by 1.

Exotic Weapon Prof (Madu): If you are proficient with the madu, you may wield it and fight defensively with a –2 penalty instead of the normal–4 penalty for fighting defensively, and your attack penalty for using Combat Expertise improves by +1 (minimum –1 penalty).

So the normal minuses would be:
Combat Expertise: -2 (for +2 dodge bonus)
Fighting defensively: -4
Total: -6

Adjusted would be
Combat expertise: -1 (from Threatening defender; Madu doesn't kick in yet because it has to leave you with a minimum -1 penalty)
Fighting defensively: -2 (from the Madu)
Total: -3

Still, that's a good trade off for +6 AC.

You need the Antagonize feat to force opponents to attack you :-)

Oooo! And Mobility so you can suck up attacks of opportunity!

Also, I'm not sure, but I think mithral medium armor doesn't qualify for the +1 defender of the society bonus, since mithral makes it count as one category lighter.

3) It is fairly potent at low levels. But something to keep in mind is that if he is minimizing the penalty to attack, he'll be using light weapons which generally have a smaller damage die. So he might have two short swords both doing 1d6+3 damage, rather than one greatsword doing 2d6+4 damage.

Actually, you only need the light weapon in your off hand; you can use a one-handed weapon in your main hand.

Also, your strength bonus to damage is halved in your off hand (unless you have the Double Slice feat). So you get
- 1d8+3 on the main hand for an average of 7.5
- 1d6+1 on the off hand (3/2=1.5, which rounds down to 1), for an average of 4.5.
Which gets you about 12 points of damage a round (assuming you hit both times, of course).

Your great sword example would average about 11 points of damage per round.

You're absolutely correct about TWF being more effective at lower levels. Additional damage tricks (like rogue sneak attack, precise strike, vital strike, etc.) makes the build more viable at higher levels. (My 8th level fighter/rouge just switched from Long sword/short sword to twin wakisashis with improved critical. If I had know about the sawtooth sabre two levels ago, I would have gone that route, instead.)

But to the OP: no, the TWF is not game breaking. The designers have done a really good job balancing the mechanics.

I try to gm the same way I used to do corporate training, with a motto that kind of bundles Integrity and Confidence and Humility: Never try to BS the class.

This not only means don't lie or cheat (Integrity), it also means recognizing that some people in your class might know more than you do and taking that opportunity to learn from them(Humility). You are much better off saying "I don't know--let me check" than trying to bluff your way through a rules question and hoping no one at the table knows the correct answer.

Probably least obviously, it means realizing that these people willingly took time out of their day to come listen to you/sit at your table for four hours, and you do have something valuable to offer them (Confidence). Don't waste time trying to impress them or bully them or prove your superiority. Just get started, and deal with any problem students on an individual basis if you have to.

If the class/players catch you in any kind of BS moment, not only will they stop trusting you in the future, but you can actually undo the experience they've already had with you: what if everything you said or did was BS?

Adult instruction to GM is not a direct comparison, I know, but they have more commonalities than differences. A lot of it comes down to respecting everyone at the table, including yourself and the scenario author/game designer.

Also, dodge bonuses do not apply when the character is denied his dex bonus for any reason (flat footed, blind, etc.).