Jason Beardsley's page

Laithoron, James Jacobs has ruled so here.

I'm (slowly) working on getting the OpenSource stuff going. Anyone should be able to view all the code now at:

https://sourceforge.net/p/combatmanagerpf/

If you want to add bug tracking tickes to the system (which would be awesome), tru:

https://sourceforge.net/p/combatmanagerpf/tickets/

I haven't used the ticketing system yet, so I don't know what to expect. Put your bugs and feature requests in here so I've got a way to track them and have the other people in the system see them.

I haven't been as responsive as I used to be and I can't promise I will be in the future, but I hope to keep this project vital with the help of the community.

Caineach, Laurefindel: I would say that the Law/Chaos axis contains a lot more grey areas than the Good/Evil axis. However, I wonder if that's the point. If Good and Evil are the "right" and "wrong" outcomes, Law vs. Chaos may describe the different paths by which you can arrive at either outcome (i.e. "2+2" isn't the only equation resulting in the number "4"). I'm also wondering if there's a better descriptor for the Lawful vs. Chaotic axis than the 'Ethical' axis. The reason I've always referred to it as the ethical axis is not to imply that Lawful = ethical and Chaotic = unethical. Rather I've always taken it to describe the ethics by which someone is going to approach their morals. An ethical choice for someone who is lawful good and an ethical choice for someone who is chaotic good may be very different things.

To illustrate what I mean by this, here are some common qualities that I would attribute to the two extremes of the Lawful vs. Chaotic axis...

Disclaimer: Just for the record, the alignment test portion of the "What Character Are You?" test that folks are responding to in another thread gave me equal ratings on Good & Neutral (Good vs Evil), and equal ratings in Law, Neutrality, and Chaos (Law vs Chaos). In my mind that would imply Neutral Good (since I had 0 points in Evil), but the test seemed to think True Neutral was more appropriate — go figure. I mention this only because I'm trying my hardest to be unbiased in the following opinions.

Chaotic: Artists tend to thrive on sensation and free-thinking. They are likely to take inspiration from whatever form they find it in. They probably don't care too much about how others go about their lives so long as it doesn't impinge upon their own freedom. Those that a society might deem as chaotic are probably not as concerned about precedent as they are with progress and individual rights — things that they believe too many rules (or at least an over-reliance upon rules) can smother.

An ethical decision for someone who is chaotic good would probably give stronger consideration to individual rights than to precedent.

Lawful: Those who are devoutly religious or clinically scientific may tend to work within a more codified set of parameters. They may be less apt to thrive on inspiration save where it comes from their dogma or methodologies. They may have more issues with others doing their own thing since it may directly defy their beliefs or threaten the stability on which their work depends. Those that a society might deem as lawful are probably concerned with precedent because they see it as the strong foundation on which progress is built.

An ethical decision for someone who is lawful good might involve acting in someone's best interest even if it might go against what that individual would want.

...

Naturally I don't expect that this explanation is perfect (it's certainly too short and general to be comprehensive), but it may at least help to explain where I'm coming from a bit better than my previous post. (Maybe.) :)

Edit: BTW, in a lot of ways I consider the Lawful vs Chaotic issue to be more pertinent when it comes to determining the alignment of a settlement or nation. For such purposes, I found pages 80-82 of the book I previously mentioned to provide particularly good examples of the legal structures of societies following each of the 9 alignments.

Lots of interesting comments about a Pathfinder Epic (rather, "Mythic") from James, James, and Erik in this blog.

(All due credit to Cheapy for pointing the blog out.)

Amhranai the rabblerouser! :p

Hi all, just finished work on a spreadsheet that allows you to create settlements quickly and easily by marking values in a spreadsheet. After you've finished, you can then select a city and export its stat block in one of 3 formats: plain text, bbcode (formatted for these messageboards), or wiki text (formatted for MediaWiki).

Further details, usage instructions, and the download link can be found on my wiki:

Link: Settlement Stat Block Calculator

If you find any bugs, or you just want to give feedback on whether it's useful or not, you can either leave a message here or send me a PM.

Enjoy!

Just figured I'd share a set of map symbols that I made this morning. Given the scale at which I've been working, fancy buildings and such were becoming difficult to see so I went for high-visibility B&W symbols.

FWIW, the technique I used is essentially same one that Jonathan outlined in his tutorials above.

Linkage: http://wiki.worldsunknown.com/wiki/File:Map-Symbols-BW.zip

The blog's been updated with the most recent tips from last week - how to colour a dungeon map and how to remove labels from maps - which should both work in Gimp and Photoshop. Today on G+ and facebook - some thoughts on uses and abuses of different tree styles on battlemaps.

Since the title is a double negative. Yes, bring on the mythic levels!! Let me know when the public playtest is and we can hash it out then..

I've been putting together a few mapping tips and tricks and posting them on G+ and facebook at lunchtime 2-3 times a week. If you're interested, you can find them here:
• tips on facebook
• tips on Google+
• collated tips on the blog (every Saturday more or less)

I hope the tips come in handy to people, and let me know if there's something you'd like to see covered.

Tips so far (from the last 3 weeks):
• Drawing top down hills
• City design - start with the roads
• Dungeon design and adventure flow
• Simple hatched city district styles
• Using the Shape Tool to create quick simple icons in Photoshop
• Hand drawn mountains
• Turning a map into an aged paper handout
• A classic gatehouse design for guarding your front door
• Creating isometric dungeon maps
• Quick and Easy Dungeons using Grids
• Using layer styles for attractive dungeons.
• Using paths to create pretty dungeon maps
• Old School Mapping in Photoshop and Maptool

OP - I don't think you're viewing this in quite the right light.

If your PCs don't fit in with the local culture, if they aren't viewed as functional members of mainstream society and if they stick out like a sore thumb - THAT'S A GOOD THING.

I'm going out on a limb here and thinking you might want to be running a campaign focused on adventure. Color me crazy, but I think that's what Pathfinder is best at.

You don't want the NPCs to view PCs as a good future son-in-law or business partner, promising able hand or good neighbor. They NEED to be seen as outcasts, layabouts, troublemakers or threats. You NEED to let the PCs know that they are discriminated against by the locals, just enough to make them think "someday, I'm gonna prove that they were wrong about me" but not so much that they think "someday, I'm gonna burn this whole wretched place to the ground". (unless you were aiming for THAT sort of campaign...)

You need to give them that one ray of hope for a happy ending. The mayor's daughter, who thinks that a PC is nice, even though her father thinks that the Sheriff's son is a better match. The Wizard's apprentice who has a not-so-secret crush on a PC, even though the wizard wants to marry them off to the GuildMaster's kid for political gain, etc.

The PC has to know that they have a rival with all the establishment advantages of higher class, more money, better gear, political power, etc. They have to think out of the box to get what they want.

They have to answer the call and go to the places that civilized people avoid. They have to do things that townsfolk won't.

They have to go become adventurers.

Anguish wrote:

The point is interesting though. What's the difference between MP3s I rip myself and MP3s I download, as long as I already own the album.

Legality.

What's the difference in me stealing a car off the street or using the one that's in my garage. Except that I have to go to all the trouble of opening my garage.

Seriously, you're trying to justify a crime with your laziness.

Of course, if he steals the car from someone else, they have no car. See, that's one of the biggest problems with all the talk about internet piracy, and the word theft being tossed around.

Stealing, theft, or piracy implies you are taking something from someone else. If I walk into a grocery store and steal a can of beans, they no longer have those beans. If I walked into a store, whipped out a magical device and made an exact copy of those beans, I haven't stolen anything from you. You might get pissed because I didn't buy your beans, and you might get angry and say I stole your beans because you paid X and wanted to sell them for Y, and now you're angry because someone got those beans for free.

The problem is, it's not stealing. At least, if it is, it is a new kind of stealing. You cannot compare it to someone stealing your cookie, or your CD, or your gameboy. It's not like someone boosted your car, or stole your lawn gnome. You have technically lost nothing by this act of replication.

Now, the biggest argument is the idea that this replication means that no one will buy the products. That somehow this act of replication means that a theoretical amount of income is lost, because someone would have bought it if they couldn't have gotten it for free. Maybe, maybe not. It's hard to say. I've seen, first hand, people get into the game because they were introduced to it by illegally downloading copies of Dungeons & Dragons materials. It resulted in them spending currency on other D&D products that they actually wouldn't have spent money on at all otherwise.

Because of these types of what-ifs, it makes it very difficult to actually gauge the effects of this "piracy". Mainly because it's all theoretical, and at the end of the day isn't stealing in the traditional sense.

In many ways, Paizo actually appeals as a company because of their willingness to be open with their products. Notice that virtually everything they have printed for the actual game is available via their online PDF, and much more that they print is done so as open game content, allowing sites like d20pfsrd.com to stockpile huge resources; many of which are from actual Paizo books.

While some might not agree, I think that this change in the way people acquire their media means that companies will have to market themselves on something they have been ignoring for many years now: Integrity. See, for a long time, consumers have gotten a kind of cold shoulder from companies. Doesn't matter what sort of industry you look in, you will find this customer dissatisfaction.

I'm pretty sure Paizo continues to get peoples' business because many of their fans and people that their fans introduce to the game respect or see value in them as a company. As noted by another poster, I could go right now to the ocean that is the internet and find copies of every Paizo book I wanted, for free. Yet even now I sit here with my copy of the Golarion campaign setting, Pathfinder Core Rulebook, Bestiary, some game modules, and some adventure paths on my shelf right now. I'm already building up a Christmas wish-list which might as well have the Paizo logo at the top. Do you think this is because Paizo is a tyrannical company suing children and their parents for downloading Rise of the Runelords? Probably not.

Testing something here.

1d20 ⇒ 2

1d20 ⇒ 10

1d20 ⇒ 9

1d20 ⇒ 12

On preview: 2, 10, 9, 12

After canceling and previewing again: 2, 10, 9, 12

After deleting and reposting: 2, 10, 9, 12

Not really an app but very useful, in your browser create a bookmark to the PFPRD and then create an icon for it on your screen and you now have one touch access to the PRD.

Take a look at the new Pathfinder Reference Document. Now take a look using your phone, or your iPad. Notice anything different? That's right, it doesn't suck anymore.

In addition to now including all the open game content from Ultimate Combat and the errata for the third printing of the Bestiary, the PRD is now optimized for tablet and mobile display. Before you ask, yes, that means iPhone, iPad and Android. Probably others, too, but that's what we tested on.

I have been showing this thing off to anybody I can corral here at the office. Lissa and Chris Lambertz have put in a lot of hours tweaking this thing and they deserve all the credit. Ross deserves some too, but he gets all the credit for making the Pathfinder Battles subscriptions working. So there's plenty of credit to go around! Except for me. I take no credit for any of this. Except to say, "Make it not suck."

Since this is a major revision of several hundred pages of content and navigation, there are bound to be problems. Please use this thread to let us know anything you find that needs to be fixed, and we'll fix it as soon as we can.

And yeah, searching the PRD kind of sucks. We're working on that.

If a wizard walks into a fight with a book under his arm that's ONE thing... but it seems VERY metagamey on the DM's part to only have sunder attempts on teh Wizards backpack and not the rogues or monks....

hi im the antagonist, i have a 23 INT, im smarter then any real person outside of this rpg. im trying to do something bad, and these pesky pc's are trying to stop me. so i will GATHER INFORMATION on the pc's then i will do everything in my power to stop them from killing me.

i think you have the wrong idea. a DM is not a person playing himself. a DM is playing NPC's that have there own personality. so its not meta gaming if they are walking through a town and a ninja/theif pick pocket snatches their haversack with the spell book in it.

in no way would i ever, as a dm, go " john you're pissing me off with your fireballs, im going to steal your book" but if the npc that i was role playing was methodical enough, i would steal the wizards book,disrupt the clerics meditation, poison the fighter, etc...

never would i do something without giving the players a chance to stop it, IE perception to stop the pick pocket, sense motive against the waitress serving the poisoned food etc... but this is how a dm should whack players into realizing how important non combat skill are. every action has a reaction, and that reaction is what stops the npc from taking the book.

Maybe I'm just in the most incredible games imaginable, but when someone says their PC is attractive we say "ok" and move the f+&! on with our lives and not obsess over making it a stat or trying to minmax it or getting way autistic over what kind of bonuses that should have.

Or maybe I just play with rational adults.

I'd comment on the rest but the kvetching about charisma is the dumbest g@@&!%n thing I have ever seen on these forums.

Will Paizo ever make a Psionics book?

Well, if Paizo monitors this thread to gauge interest, I'll add another voice for:

'Psionics is just what you call magic in a sci fi setting. Keep it out of my fantasy setting, please. We already have a magic system'.

Yes, a magic system ripped off from a science fiction world with sciencey names.

There, ProfCirno, now you don't have to say it :P

Jason Rice wrote:

Nice ideas

Hadn't thought of this approach. Will pass it by the team.

Thanks,
S.

No problem.

Actually, I just thought of another idea for you. One that you may like better.

In the front of the Advanced Player's Guide, There is a list of "Favored Class Options" for each of the core races. If its your goal to really limit the available classes, then these lists can pull double duty. Use these lists (with or without the alternate options) as your list of available classes. For example: Gnomes can become Alchemists, Bards, Druids, Oracles, Rangers, Rogues, Summoners, and Wizards.

Paizo did the work for you, possibly without even knowing it.

Alright, the albums arrived today while I was at work. I just got home and filled-up one of the two that I had ordered. Since seeing is believing, I took some photos and uploaded them so you can evaluate this solution for yourselves.

http://wiki.worldsunknown.com/wiki/File:Map-Album.jpg

TL;DR: They work.

Reminded of this.

I didn't know outsiders treat as outsiders with racial HD so they should not be immune to the hold person type spells. I know devs have said they don't get the other benefits outsiders get such as automatic proficiency with martial weapons and so on.

They're saying here right now if that counts.

Weapon and armor proficiencies are basically "rewards" you get for taking a class level OR getting a racial hit die. Some races (like elf or tengu) do grant specific weapon proficiencies regardless of Hit Dice, and in those cases, they have a specific racial trait that lists that.

But beyond that, a creature that does not possess racial Hit Dice gains its weapon and armor proficiencies pretty much ONLY by taking class levels and feats. Thus, a tiefling or aasimar does not gain the standard Outsider trait of "proficient with all simple and martial weapons and any weapons mentioned in its entry," and the human doesn't gain the standard Humanoid trait of "proficient with all simple weapons."

It's not really spelled out as clearly as it probably should be, I agree, but it's also kind of common sense as well.

THAT SAID: it's true that spell effects DO care about type. Hold person won't hurt a tiefling or aasimar, for example. Neither will charm person.

The FAQ has new goals that make it more of a monthly project and less of a "back burner" deal. Expect more updates from the entire design staff in the coming days and weeks.

We've sped up high-level combat fairly well at 12th-13th levels, even with eidolons, cohorts, and companions, but this is our first foray into high-level Pathfinder. We've always changed gears at higher levels.

* One initiative roll per encounter rather than per round

* Initiative board. We use the one sold on this site, and it keeps things moving.

* DM must know his monsters. There shouldn't be flipping in books to see what effect A is or what spell B does.

*Same goes for Players. If they know their character (and they should having played to 12th level!), they shouldn't spend overly long figuring out what to do.

* Roll all combat dice before your turn. It's a trust move between the DM and players, so it might not work for all groups. It is a HUGE timesaver. Players resolve crits/fumbles, etc., and if they get to their turn and it doesn't make sense to attack, etc., the dice don't count. My players are mature enough to take their lumps even with rolling 1s, or to forfeit 20s when it doesn't make sense to attack.

* Same goes for damage rolls, simultaneous with attacks. Casters should ready these in advance too, even if you end up not casting that fireball.

* If the player's ask, I'll tell them what AC they're gunning for so they have an idea of what hits/misses, and if anything changes when their turn rolls around, we quickly resolve that.

* Players should use a "cheat sheet" to keep track of what's changing their (1) attacks (2) damage (3) saves (4) misc. Players are responsible for telling others what is active.

* If a player misses an effect (the extra haste attack, etc.) and the DM has already moved on, we don't go back. You snooze, you lose, harsh but necessary if the game is to move and players be sharp.

* I delay a player's action till the end of the round if they cannot decide what to do in a reasonable amount of time. Usually not a problem with my players.

I feel like this is all I post about lately, and I've not even got around posting my thoughts on running the high level game I've finished running recently.

Anyway, if it looks like I'm repeating myself from previous posts, I am, but I hope someone finds this useful.

What would make HLP easier to run (GMs perspective)?

In short, better guidelines for designing high level encounters, where by "encounters" I mean "anything that is a challenge in an RPG" not just combat. There is very little available to look to for examples of high level encounters and challenges, and the existing guidelines in core apply only so much to high level games, in my personal experience. Much of what you end up have to design you have to design on your own with no support (which then makes it less likely you will run a high level game).

More and varied pre-genned NPCs, monsters, hazards, and traps of CR 13+ and higher.

I would like to see specifically the following in some kind of rules supplement:
- More and varied hazards and traps. A lot of pre-genned high CR traps tend to be save-or-die traps. And ultimately, for a high level party, something that a good dispel or Disable Device will take care of too easily. Things that debuff and have complicated means of resolution are highly desired, and I didn't always have time to make up my own.
- More specific suggestions for how much and what kind of treasure to give out. Even just some good random tables geared toward certain kinds of campaigns would be great. WBL is not enough -- and hits a problem if you use a lot of NPCs as I did. NPCs of a certain level have, according to NPC generation guidelines, less nice gear than PCs of the same level. Meaning treasure NPCs drop will never be nice enough for a PC to use (or more likely, the PC already has the same kind of gear). But when abandoning the guidelines which don't work, it's hard to come up with a sense of what is fun, balanced, and fair, without at least a few examples to reference. Not impossible, of course. Hard.
- High CR monsters that are NOT dragons, outsiders, or undead, and that are no larger than Huge size (have you ever tried to fit a Colossal creature inside your average sized building in a way that they can still move?).
- Pregenerated "spells known/prepared" lists for spellcasters. Of course, high level pre-gen NPCs would be nice, but just the spell lists with useful cross-references would be very useful.
- Better/fast-design guidelines and templates for boosting up existing monsters (or designing your own). Once you hit higher levels, the Advanced Template isn't enough (but it is still useful, to be fair).
- More in-depth guidelines for running planar adventures than in the GMG (but is not Golarion specific, because yes I am aware of The Great Beyond or whatever it's called).
- Some general advice for adventure design at high levels---just adapting a low level module doesn't work, usually.

What would make HLP easier to play (Player's perspective)?

I've only run and not played Pathfinder at high level, but I found players struggling to track certain abilities. I think even more readable/better organized character sheets would help (maybe some are out there that we are not aware of; bear in mind my players do not play with laptops, though I do).

Some of my players were frustrated with monsters too-frequently making their saves, but I was sometimes frustrated with the PCs too-frequently making their saves, so I think that's more of an issue of perspective and the grass being greener on the other side than an actual gameplay issue. My game's PCs were godlings and yet the players seemed frustrated easily by what they could or couldn't do, and I am still trying to figure out how much of that is mechanical and how much of that is the players underestimating themselves (or overly fearing the high level monsters' destructive powers).

Please share some hints, tips, and tricks you use, or think would benefit making HLP not as difficult as it is, at least, perceived to be.

If you run with a laptop, I highly recommend Kyle Olson's Combat Manager program (there should be a thread about it in technology). I didn't discover it till shortly before the end of the campaign, but I found it made a marked difference in my ability to track combat--especially when running multiple monsters. Its spell and feat lookup functions are also amazingly useful, as well as the treasure generator.

But my #1 piece of advice is--learned very much the hard way--is relax, roll with it, and learn to enjoy what crazy things the PCs come up with. Rather than worry about stopping the PCs from using some incredibly amazing ability they have easily at their disposal, just know that they ARE going to use that ability, and play out the consequences from there.

My personal preference as a GM is to design slightly sandboxy adventures--there IS a plot and a villain and so forth (often too complicatedly so), but there is also a general world which keeps moving on, and if the characters go "off the rails" I know enough about what's going on in the world to respond. This I find especially worked well for running a high level game, as PCs will take short cuts when you expect them to take the long route--and vice versa--so just rolling with it and adapting as I went along was required.

Nice meta conversation. Kinda worthless though.

Hell yes, I want high-level content. I want them to "fix" 13+ with optional rules (and maybe actual rules changes for the worst offenders).

I want a single chapter on post-20th, and from there I think we will all decide collectively whether it's headed in the right direction.

Most importantly, I want Paizo to do it when and how they want to. These kinds of developments must be supported by adventure content, and that introduces many factors into the publication beyond whether or not we all want the rules.

I've got some time and I've got the bug, so let's do this again.

It's easy to say "Such-and-such class does a lot of damage," or "so-and-so class can't do damage." Usually, people are speaking from personal experience, which is heavily influenced by books available, player skill, random chance, GM whimsy, dice rolls, and the winds of fate. It's a bit more involved to actually sit down and measure those claims in a fair way. In the previous thread, a simple, conservative baseline was established to see how much damage optimized characters could do with a full attack in one round.

Understand that this is simply a scratch baseline for damage dealt. This is emphatically not a tier list, a how-to-play guide, a value judgement on the utility of each of these classes (as most of them do other things than damage), or a contest of any kind. It's just to get a good baseline on how much damage a character of this level will typically do, so "a lot of damage" can be something other than a gut call. If you want a magic list of all classes listed by overall power level, it's obviously the class's names reversed, arranged by alphabetical order.

Level 10, since pretty much all classes are expected to have come into their own by then, plus it's a good round number. If you don't think this is a good level to use, feel free to redo the math for some other level; I know level 10 is arbitrary and any other level from about 4 on would work just as well.

Elite array for stats, which is 15 / 14 / 13 / 12 / 10 / 8, arranged however you'd like. While I know most people play with more forgiving point-buys or rolling schemes, this is a baseline. The CR system was originally based around players using elite array or a comparable point buy.

Standard wealth by level in magic items, but no magic items limited on a per-day or consumable basis. This means 62K gold in gear. No custom items, please.

Magic items will be prioritized for doing damage without adversely affecting survivability. Most classes will have a +3 weapon(s), a +4 stat booster to their damage-increasing stat, and miscellaneous other items. Most classes will also have boring magical weapons, favoring plain bonuses over fiery or holy or whatnot; this is because it's almost always better DPR and it makes my life easier. Everyone will also have a Handy Haversack because, seriously, they are level 10 characters.

Regarding survivability, AC 22 and fort/will saves at +8 are the minimum for melee characters, barring some explanation of why the character doesn't need these things to survive. (For example, barbarians get cut some slack on AC because of their raging HP totals.)

If you use non-core material, please state up top where it came from. This is so people can check your work without having to wonder where Crouching Hyena Strike came from. Try to stick to Paizo/Pathfinder non-core, player-oriented material. this isn't really the place to discuss WOTC 3.5 material or other d20 publishers' work, and Bestiary races are generally not well-balanced for player use.

Once the character is made, we need to figure out how much damage it does with a full attack. This standard is meant to best approximate typical combat circumstances, when damage is most on the line.

Target AC of 24. This is the standard for AC at CR 10, according to the Bestiary monster building guidelines. Target touch AC, when relevant, is 12 because that seems as good as any number.

A single full attack unless another attack routine is more effective.

Classes with significant limited abilities, be they situational ones (favored enemy, sneak attack) or limited on a per-day basis (smite, Quickened Divine Favor), will have their damage figured out both with and without those limited abilities.

Damage is figured out without consumables. There are just too many consumable-related shenanigans in D&D, and this avoids a whole ton of corner-case builds that illustrate nothing but the fact that consumables in D&D just aren't balanced.

Point Blank Shot is not applicable (unless you can't practically attack from longer range, as in the case of weapon throwers and alchemists). Most archers will prefer to avoid getting this buff, in most circumstances.

The value in DPR of a +1 to hit, a +1 damage, and an additional full-BAB attack will be figured out for each class. Some classes benefit more from one type of buff over another.

No class will be allowed any in-combat rounds to set up.

Buffs are an allowable part of your baseline only if you can apply them yourself, they are self-only or always apply to the entire group in every reasonable combat situation, and they either have a duration of 10 min/level or longer or can be applied as a swift/immediate/free action. (For example, bards should include inspire courage as a limited-use ability, per the above rule, but spellcasters won't be assumed to be using Greater Magic Weapon or Greater Magic Fang.)

Why this rule works the way it does:

From the original thread wrote:

If the buff more or less unlimited use (e.g. GMW), then everyone who needs it will have it if there's a party member who can cast the spell. This means that it can be safely eliminated for a baseline comparison.

If the buff is limited use (GMW from a caster with limited slots), then the party member who benefits most from it will get it. Since the best way to tell who benefits most is to look at baseline DPR before the buff, then it's best to calculate baseline DPR before rationed buffs.

If the buff affects the entire party (bardic performance), then the caster is always benefiting from the buff whenever possible, and there's no decision involved in figuring out who to cast the buff on.

The damage formula is h(d+s)+tchd.

h = Chance to hit, expressed as a percentage. Remember, this will never exceed .95 or go below .05.
d = Average damage per hit.
s = Average precision damage per hit (or other damage that isn't multiplied on a crit).
t = Chance to roll a critical threat, expressed as a percentage.
c = Critical hit bonus damage. x2 = 1, x3 = 2, x4 = 3.

If there's no precision damage involved, this can be simplified to hd(1+tc).

There is a more-involved formula which covers corner cases like elemental burst weapons, Critical Focus, etc. If you need it:

Finally, there is the last rule, and the most important: rule zero. Feel free to break any of these rules, as long as you make it absolutely clear that you are doing so. If you want to stat a selfish cleric or a 3.5 splat build or a character that abuses consumables or a character that demonstrates a house rule, that's fine. Just don't make people dig into your build to find out that you've done so.

This isn't an advice thread; it's math in service of a discussion of class design. It's not a how-to guide or instructions on how to build a character.

I really like threads like this, and I'll tell you why.

Usually, when you start playing a roleplaying game with your group of friends, fellow players, w/e, you learn to play the game in whatever way your group played. Eventually, this playstyle becomes ingrained as your "game", and without exposure to other playstyles, you begin to think that yours is the only one there is.

Now, I'm not bashing the OP at all. But the study of gamer behavior is really fascinating. Now, more often than not, someone on these boards will look at the guy and get one of 3 reactions:

1) OMG NO UR WRONG
2) Yeah, so?
or
3) Wait, your DM lets you do that?

Of course there are other reactions, but those are most of the ones you'll see.

Now, reactions 1 and 2 are relatively boring, and don't contribute much to the growth of community, though they may very well be pertinent or meaningful. However, it's that 3rd reaction that I love to see. It's that eye-opening experience that makes you realize that other people play differently than you do... and that's not necessarily a BAD thing.

That's why I like threads like these. Even if a bunch of people pass it up or offer nothing but praise/criticism, chances are that 1 person will find it and be inspired, bringing more people to the game.

Let's say you had your way for one day. You get the chance to grenlight any product that you choose, be it a rulebook, setting book, module, or anything else. What would you like to see Paizo release?

As far as setting books, modules, Adventure Paths, and player companions, I already pretty much have that power.

Rulebooks are mostly greenlit by Erik Mona, though—but if I had my way, the next one up would be a book that provides lots of advice and help for high-level play (levels 13 to 20th) and that segues into Mythic level play (levels 21s to 36th or thereabouts).

Brassbaboon: I'm just curious. What do you use the copper sheets for?

Since I don't carry ten foot poles or quarterstaffs, I sometimes make them in the field, and when I do I use the copper sheets to protect the ends of the poles or quarterstaffs by wrapping the end, pounding the copper into a cap, and then heating it to fuse it together. Sometimes if the GM allows it I use magic fire spells to do this.

I also use it to modify iron pots and pans to make them cook better since some of my characters take cooking very seriously.

I've rolled them into tubes and melted them watertight to hold scrolls or important papers. I've even used them to hold samples of liquids that I thought might be valuable when I didn't have a spare flask for that purpose.

I also use them when I need some small object for a special purpose, such as making a crude bell or whistle. Copper is easy to cut, easy to bend and shape, easy to beat into shapes, easy to melt, etc. A round stone, a hammer and a fire is all you need to make a copper pot.

And it's reusable. You can always beat the copper back into sheets when you are done with it.

Most of this is more role playing than mechanics, but I do like to role play. If I buy a wooden shield, I'll frequently cover it's edges with copper to improve its durability.

Lots of stuff like that.

I remember the last round of layoffs from WotC generating the same mean-spirited jabs as this most recent rumor.

The edition wars rage on for no good reason.

A new generation, irrespective of edition, is maligned because of their background in MMO-parlance.

Within a given edition, extremists from both styles-of-play tear into each other like it somehow matters how other people have fun.

There are chicken-littles decrying the destruction of the game over rules of little consequence — their constant pestering has driven the staff to avoid providing guidance in the manner that they so kindly once did.

Worst of all, the frustrated moderate posters clutter the board with well-meaning but ultimately fruitless peace-making rants.

--

I know it's just that I have a new job with scads of free internet time, and that I'm bored so I spend more time here recently. But for the love of the game, can we please chill the hell out?

Please, for your own sake and for the sake of others, be a kind, well-adjusted person who wants to help. Don't be a dick.

I know we are a minority but I think we're being ignored and long. I do not understand how it's going to be a larger community without the publication of Epic Level Handbook.

the truth I do not think I'm willing to wait 2 years to be published. I guess our best hope as with Psionics is a 3rd Party

I would say if they were just out to make money they would rush another flawed version of the epic rules into print, instead of actually taking the time to figure out how to actually make the epic rules work.

I'm with you DMCal. Sometimes the only thing stopping me from making my campaigns human only is the threat of player revolution.

I don't mind A demihuman in the party. Even two if it's a large party, but when the ratio of humans to demihumans starts to approach 1:1, or goes beyond that and you end up with a party with one human and four or five demihumans, I just get annoyed.

I try to explain to players that even places like Golarion and the Forgotten Realms are still humanocentric, and most villages/small towns are going to be human. Which means your "adventuring party" of a "good" drow, a dragonborn, a warforged, a tiefling and two cat people is going to seem like a roving band of monsters to most peasants, and is not going to be welcome.

Its one thing when a bunch of adventurers show up in town with their one elf friend. That's a curiosity. Its quite another when an alien invasion force shows up claiming they're "just like you, only different."

This is a means to create various options for sorcerers that do not require a decision to be made at character creation.

Sigils
Through the mystic force of their blood, able sorcerers can focus their training so that instead of manifesting knowledge of new spells, they bond that potential arcane energy to their bodies to grant themselves heightened powers and ability. Called sigils, these special powers are as natural to a sorcerer as their own living magic, and are thus impossible for a wizard to write down in a book or a cleric to pray for.

In sorcerous writings, each sigil has a distinct symbol representing it, hence the name. Sigils a sorcerer knows appear on her body in any location she chooses. Many manifest them in aesthetically pleasing arrangements. A sorcerer may choose the colour and style of her sigils (such as flowing script, jagged angles, etc) and may choose for any or all of her sigils to be invisible without the aid of magic. Invisible sigils may be seen in the same manner as an arcane mark.

A sigil is learned in the same way that a sorcerer learns new spells and count toward the total number of spells known. Whenever a sorcerer could learn a new spell, she may select a sigil of the same level or lower instead. Additionally, when a sorcerer may exchange a spell known for a different spell, she may exchange a spell for a sigil or vice versa. A sorcerer may not have a given sigil more than once unless that sigil specifically permits taking it multiple times.

Visible sigils may be identified with a Knowledge (arcana) check with a DC equal to 15 + the sigil's equivalent spell level.

Sigils are presented in the following format:

--

Sigil Name
Level A sigil may have a level from 0 to 9. This indicates its equivalent spell level and the level of spell known that must be spent to learn it.
Prerequisites Most sigils have no prerequisites but some may require certain feats, skill ranks or knowledge of specific spells. If a sorcerer has a sigil that she is missing one or more prerequisites for, it ceases to function until the prerequisites are fulfilled.
Benefit All sigils provide a benefit to the sorcerer proportional to the level of the sigil.

--

I'll start coming up with sigils soon. In the meantime, feel free to add to this idea! Sigils are sort of like feats, and should provide passive effects. 1/day spell-likes or supernatural abilities may be okay but should at least do something different than knowing a spell.

The regenerating D&D troll, and the original 1e paladin class, were both lifted straight out of Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions.

Going back to the source of THAT, 1st ed. clerics were more or less based on Archbishop Turpin from the Chanson de Roland, who claimed he used a mace because it "didn't shed blood."

The cubic gate magic item is meant to represent the titular object in de Camp & Pratt's The Carnelian Cube.

The hand and eye of Vecna were inspired by the Hand of Rhynn and the Eye of Kwll, from Moorcock's "Corum" books.

The rogue class (originally the "thief") is arguably a tribute to Cugel the Clever, from Jack Vance's "Dying Earth" books. The robe of eyes appeared in the story "Chun the Unavoidable," from The Dying Earth. And, yes, the "fire-and-forget" concept of prepared spells is from Vance as well.

Carnivorous apes (which later became dire apes) can be found in R.E. Howard's "Moon of Zembabwei," and in E.R. Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes. Girallons first appeared, under the name of "Martian apes," in ERB's A Princess of Mars.

Halflings were originally called "hobbits." 'Nuff said. And giant spiders in 1e were intelligent, a la the ones in The Hobbit. And treants are a pretty obvious ripoff, too (not to mention dwarves and elves as PCs).

Also, didn't the OP already take his ball and go home to play Essentials?

I'm generally of the opinion that the fewer self-proclaimed, all-knowing lords of balance and good game design in the Pathfinder population, the better the gaming experience will be. I'd say I support having Pathfinder be the least balanced, most ridiculous game ever in the history of the hobby if it drives off people like the OP.

Don't get me wrong, I like creating ridiculous scenarios based on reading the core rules as if they were instructions for assembling a nightstand as much as the next guy, but I also like having fun while gaming. Pathfinder is fun to play, and that's really all I care about.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong...

I hear Rock, Paper, Scissors is well balanced. But I read on a blog somewhere Scissors is getting a splat book soon that might mess that up.

RPS™ hasn't been the same since the 2e of the game introduced lizard & Spock as player options. How are three inanimate objects or a lizard supposed to compete with a highly intelligent vulcan? I'm sticking with RPS™ 1e myself.

We've been using this for over a year:

Lightly wounded (<50% total hp left): fatigued*

Heavily wounded (<25% total hp left): exhausted**

* In game, fatigue just applies a -1 to everything -- including concentration checks and spell DCs!
** Exhaustion applies a -3 penalty to everything (and you can't run).

Effects in play: PCs actually start using things like tactical retreats when they're overmatched and unprepared. The party likes to set things up, if possible, so they don't take a lot of damage. They use buffing spells a lot more (vs. relying solely on battlefield control and save-or-lose), and they use scouting, divination, and ambushes more often. Undead are scarier, because they don't take wound penalties.

If someone were to convert Zotani, the Firebleeder to PRPG, how would you recommend they proceed? Keep it at CR 20, or make it CR 25 since it's supposed to be in a similar power bracket to the Tarrasque?

My general word of advice in converting 3.5 monsters is to keep the CR the same. Rebuild the monster if you need to in order to fit that CR, but the CR should be static when at all possible. The Tarrasque is supposed to be the toughest of the spawn, in any event.

For us, there was a stronger reason:

Add value to direct-damage attacks.

In a core game, evokers and fighters might as well not exist. To pick a standard, low-level example: throw an area-effect spell like burning hands at a bunch of 10 hp orcs, reducing them to 5 hp or 1 hp each, and you might as well not have bothered. However, if those same orcs are now taking -3 to attacks and damage, you've potentially saved your party's lives: orcs do a lot of damage, compared to low-level characters' total hp.

Fighter PCs feel a big boost in importance, too, because instead of just whittling down intangible numbers with no effect, they're actually impeding the enemy's ability to fight. Imagine: "The medusa's gaze would have instantly turned you to stone, but that last slash of your blade made her cringe back with the blood running into her eyes -- and the effect is weaker, allowing you to barely resist."

Can someone share some insight as to the differences in trying to do freelance work for WotC and Paizo? Submission guidlines, advice from staff, willingness to view, or comment on, a submission, etc? Especially concerning those that are new, not well established yet, or trying to get into the business?

I've done freelance for both, but nothing for WotC since 2007. I never had a problem with them, my editors were all cool and helpful and offered advice and direction when needed and let me do my thing otherwise. Pay was regular and timely, sometimes even BEFORE product was turned over, depending on what the budget money looked like for that line item.

That said, everyone I worked with at WotC is long gone, and they also non-renewed my contract for my webcolumn with a rather vague "Your hit count and ratings are still good, but we can't renew you and can't actually tell you why, but we're bringing things in house right now." Which, of course, turned out to be the run-up to 4th Edition. Amusingly, Stephen Radney-McFarland, now of Paizo, was the one who replaced me on the "Behind the Screen" webcolumn... :)

Paizo staffers are very forthcoming with advice to gamers, including prospective submitters. That said, it's a relatively small company, and if you are someone they don't know sending something in cold, it's going to be a hard sell to get them to spend time reviewing and commenting on something you send in, especially if they are slammed with a deadline (which is most of the time).

If you are interested in writing for Paizo, my suggestion would be to go back and review now four years of RPG Superstar threads. On it, you will find an insane wealth of advice and analysis by staffers, professional freelancers, and peers out there. You can see the kinds of ideas people have brought forth and the way they have framed them or presented them, and get all kinds of data on both the content and the presentation. This is a resource. Use it. The ideas people submit aren't going to exactly mirror your ideas, but approach reading it from a perspective of "what could I possibly learn from this" rather than "here is why this wouldn't apply to me."

Do the same with published modules, or rulebooks, or whatever flavors of RPG writing appeal to you. Focus on Paizo's own material, but look at others as well. See how established professionals approach the task of writing.

Meanwhile: Write. Design. Think about what you might create. Share your creations with others. Learn to accept criticism, and learn how to defend your design decisions *AND* how to revise your design decisions. Find people with whom you can share creative ideas and professional presentation. Becoming a patron in Open Design could be an opportunity, as could submitting things to open calls in various PF-friendly 3PP publications.

There are many ways to become a pro, but hoping a chronically busy Paizo staffer is going to read and champion your unsolicited manuscript may not be your most productive avenue. That's my thought, although you'll note I am in no way an official spokesman for Paizo or WotC.

Just tryin to help anotha Jason out! :)

My 2 cents:

Atheists on Golarion are practitioners of Athiesm - A, a prefix meaning without, and Theism, meaning 'faith in a god'. (loose translations, I'm not an English major). Thus an atheist professes worship of no god. "Do they exist? Sure. Are they powerful? Yes. Am I going to give them one copper shekel or one sheaf of wheat as an offering, a request for power, or a thanks for the harvest? No. My hands sowed, tended, reaped. My belly gets the grain, and those in my community if I choose to sell, barter, or share. Gozreh wants my bloody wheat, he can come get some, I've got a bushel left that he can have before winter if he'll give me a fair price."

Agnostics are unsure which gods are right. Which ones are worthy of devoted worship - or, at an extreme, unsure that any of them, with their petty squabbles and tawdry backstories are any better than ordinary people that happen to be able to level mountain ranges - and frankly, 4 of them are ordinary people that have that power level.

This will not of course end the debate, but it's how I use it in my games.

Frequently Unknown Rules (through post 400)
Frequently unknown rules

including summary from:

Things you might have missed

Format is a bit messy...running against the clock or resort. Will repair on next iteration. Now in order by Type of Change (new to PF, always like this, etc.) and then by CRB chapter.

Change from SRD/D&D to Pathfinder (includes brand new to PF)
Races
1. Elves sleep, but are still immune to magical sleep.

Classes
1. Class HD changes in many areas.
2. Barbarians rage x rounds/day instead of x times/day
3. Bardic performances no longer based on Perform skill (other than Countersong and Distraction) and the bard can do other things while performing without interrupting a performance, such as cast spells. In SRD/3.5, a verbal performance would be interrupted by spellcasting.
4. Bardic Knowledge is changed. Bards get bonus to knowledge checks and can use untrained.
5. Clerics don’t get heavy armor proficiency, get proficiency with deities favored weapon, and need a feat to turn undead.
6. Fighters can retrain bonus feats.
7. Monk flurry of blows different.
8. Paladin double of smite against some creatures is on first attack only.
9. Caster level for ranger and paladins is class level –3 instead of class level/2.
10. Ranger favored enemy bonus applies to attack rolls as well as damage.
11. Cantrips and orisons are at-will
12. Uncanny Dodge changed: character with uncanny dodge is not flat-footed.
13. Wizard specialists can now take spells from their opposed schools, but such spells cost two slots to prepare. All wizards, whether specialist or not, gain abilities at levels based upon their specialty.
14. Wizards can opt to have a bonded object instead of a familiar. A bonded object provides various benefits for use and penalties if unavailable.

Skills
1. Concentration is no longer a skill. New mechanic makes it tougher for multi-classed characters.
2. Stealth/Perception changed in multiple ways from multiple skill set in SRD.
3. Alchemical items no longer require CL1 for some items.
4. Blind creatures use Acrobatics check to move faster than half speed else prone. Cannot run or charge.
5. Animals do not gain armor proficiency via any form of trick training. The animal type description text regarding trained for war leaves the discussion as well. Armor proficiency for animals is obtained through feats.

Feats
1. Many Shot and Rapid Shot can now be used together.
2. Dodge applies to all opponents, not just one specified opponent.
3. Improved Trip and Improved Disarm split into a feat tree (Improved and Greater)
4. Grapple works differently. Some highlights: grapplers no longer share space. Ranged attacks into a grapple no longer risk hitting the wrong target. Grappled creatures threaten surrounding squares and can attack into them (at –2 to hit). Effects on AC and sneak attack are debated (see below). Effectively, while changed, grapple is still problematic.
5. Power Attack, Cleave, Greater Cleave, and Combat Expertise all different.
6. Track is no longer a feat
7. Far Shot halves range penalty instead of increasing range.
8. Mounted Combat now uses immediate action rather than 1/round language.
9. Animals do not gain armor proficiency via any form of trick training. The animal type description text regarding trained for war leaves the discussion as well. Armor proficiency for animals is obtained through feats.
10. Vital Strike feat is a standard action. It cannot be used as part of a full attack, charge, or spring attack.

Equipment
1. Spiked chain no longer has reach.
2. Weapon enhancement bonus (the plus portion, not the cost equivalent) overcomes various DR at different DR than just magic.
3. Mithral weapons count as silver for overcoming DR/silver.
4. Mithral armor now requires proficiency in original type of armor, not just resulting armor.
5. Damaging Magic Weapons: An attacker cannot damage a magic weapon that has an enhancement bonus unless his weapon has at least as high an enhancement bonus as the weapon struck.

Additional Rules

Combat
1. Anything that improves attack rolls improves CMB, including weapon feats if using weapon for the special attack.
2. Sneak attack and critical damage applies to many additional creatures, including undead and constructs.
3. Characters can draw a weapon during a charge, but can only charge a single move distance and must have a BAB of +1. If charging a single move distance due to being restricted to a single action (surprise, slow, etc.), charging character must have Quickdraw to draw a weapon in the same round as a charge.
4. Stabilization and death changed.
5. Blind creatures use Acrobatics check to move faster than half speed else prone. Cannot run or charge.
6. Initiative is rolled prior to the start of surprise round for all combatants. In SRD/D&D, surprised characters do not roll initiative until after the surprise round is over.
7. If damage is less due to strength penalties such that damage would be less than 1, the damage in PF is 1 point of non-lethal. In SRD/D&D, the damage is reduced to 1 point of lethal.
8. Sunder can be used as a tactic that is not self-defeating for loot-loving PCs. Minor repair magic, such as mending and make whole, are more useful as a result.
9. Damaging Magic Weapons: An attacker cannot damage a magic weapon that has an enhancement bonus unless his weapon has at least as high an enhancement bonus as the weapon struck.

Magic
1. Concentration is no longer a skill. New mechanic makes it tougher for multi-classed characters.
2. Polymorph school spells have changed. See polymorph spells and specific spells, such as alter self.

Spells
1. Many save-or-die and save-or-suck spells have re-saves or more limited effects.
2. Cantrips and orisons are at-will
3. Gate spell changed from 2x level to 1x CL in terms of HD called/controlled.
4. Detect (alignment) spells work differently. They do not detect alignment auras at low hit dice, and can register based upon intentions rather than actual alignment or deeds.
5. Harm spell explicitly cannot reduce hit points below 1, whether the save is made or not.
6. Celestial and Fiendish templates, such as used with summon spells, do not advance Intelligence to 3. This reduces communication options related to language.
7. Summoned creatures cannot use spells or spell-like abilities that require expensive material components. Expensive material components are typically those that would need to be tracked with a cost of 1gp or more.
8. Protection from evil grants a resave at +2 and does not automatically suppress ongoing effects.

Prestige Classes

Gamemastering

Environment

NPCs

Magic Items
1. Magic item creation vastly changed. Note that there are various disagreements about exactly how it works, particularly with reference to prerequisites; those discussions are outside the scope of this document.
2. Magic item creation no longer uses XP.
3. Market Value of Magic Items (Language Pending)
4. Indentification of magic items changed significantly (see detect magic, identify, Spellcraft, and Perception)
5. Scrolls take a standard action, but longer if the spell contained has a longer casting time. (This may have been added in D&D add-on material as well, such as Rules Compendium).
6. A character can make a magic item without being a spell caster through the Master Crafsman feat.
7. Damaging Magic Weapons: An attacker cannot damage a magic weapon that has an enhancement bonus unless his weapon has at least as high an enhancement bonus as the weapon struck.

Appendices and Monster Rules
1. Poison rules incorporated into affliction and changed significatly; poison tougher all around.
2. Natural attacks changed. Creature can have multiple primary attacks.
3. Regeneration is simpler. See universal monster rule for regeneration.
4. Templates changed in many ways.
5. Incorporeal creatures take 50% of damage of effective attacks instead of only being affected for the full amount 50% of the time.
6. Ability damage results in a penalty for every full –2 damage. The result of such penalties are limited in scope depending on the ability. Contrast with ability drain.
7. Ability drain is required before losing benefits from skill points and ability prerequisites required to qualify for feats and prestige classes. Contrast with ability damage.
8. Animals do not gain armor proficiency via any form of trick training. The animal type description text regarding trained for war leaves the discussion as well. Armor proficiency for animals is obtained through feats.
9. Celestial and Fiendish templates, such as used with summon spells, do not advance Intelligence to 3. This reduces communication options related to language.

Always like this, but frequently misplayed or not known previously

Races

Classes
1. Inspire courage is free action to continue once having started.
2. Animal companions can be dismissed at will and replaced with 24 hours; note that new companion requires training other than bonus feats.
3. Animal companions gain feats as they gain hit dice.
4. Animals do not have to be proficient in armor to wear barding, but may have penalties depending on what barding they wear.
5. Sneak attack and other precision damage applies to every attack in a round, not just once per round.
6. Familiars and animal companions can be the target of spells that they can not normally be the target of, such as enlarge person.

Skills
1. Rules for tying up a character are in Grapple section.
2. Auto-success on a 20 and Auto Fail on a 1 are not universal to all rolls. They apply only when called out. Typical examples are attack rolls and saving throws. The following are not subject to auto-success/failure: Skill checks, caster level checks, concentration checks.
3. Take 10 on skill check can be used when not in immediate danger or distracted. Do not confuse with Take 20’s restriction from use if there is a negative consequence.
4. Take 20 cannot be used if there is a negative result for failure. Do not over-generalize to apply this to Take 10.

Feats
1. Ride-by Attack is still a mess.
2. Empower spell only applies to the rolled portion of the effect.
3. Metamagic applied to spontaneous casting (bards, sorcerers, etc.) and to class-based spontaneous casting (cleric’s spontaneous cure or druid’s spontaneous summon) take longer to cast. Such spells take a full round action (different than 1 round casting time) to cast if originally a standard action; spells with a casting time originally longer than a standard action take an additional full round action. A sorcerer’s empowered magic missile would take a full round action to cast, and would come into effect at the end of his turn; in contrast, a wizard’s enlarge person (with no metamagic), has a 1 round casting time and comes into effect at the start of the wizard’s next turn.

Equipment
1. Reach weapons can be used to attack opponents 10 feet away, but cannot be used against adjacent foes. Various feats and class abilities can make it possible to do so.
2. Animals do not have to be proficient in armor to wear barding, but may have penalties depending on what barding they wear.

Additional Rules
1. Darkvision is not spoiled by other light sources. (Different in comparison to some pre 3e versions of D&D)
2. Rolling a natural 1 on a saving throw can damage a randomly determined worn magic item.

Combat
1. Ranged attacks suffer from cover from objects, enemies, or allies. Allies often overlooked. Applies to reach weapons, ranged touch attacks, and melee touch attacks that have reach as well. (Last portion of this is subject to review).
2. Readying an action is a standard action. One can move first, and then ready. The readied action itself can be a standard, move, free, or swift action. (Note: could not explicitly be swift in SRD 3.5; swift was not in the SRD.) Can include 5’ step as part of the readied action if no other movement in either the readied action or prior to the readied action during regular turn.
3. Characters who use the run action lose Dex bonus to AC, and thus are subject to sneak attack.
4. Spells can crit if they have an attack roll.
5. Characters and creatures can charge a single move distance as a standard action if limited to a single action, such as during a surprise round. This doesn’t mean you can opt to only charge as a standard action if you have a full round of actions available.
6. Coup de grace can be performed against a creature with total concealment, such as invisibility, by using two full round actions.
7. Rules for tying up a character are in Grapple section.
8. Withdraw action can be double move. AoO only prevented from first square left.
9. You cannot take AoOs when flat-footed (usually in surprise round or before you have acted in first round) unless you have Combat Reflexes or a similar ability.
10. Ranged touch attacks (rays) and touch attacks can be the object of weapon improvement feats such as Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, Improved Critical, etc., and also benefit from feats such as Weapon Finesse.
11. A character can take only one immediate or swift action per round. Note: Swift and Immediate actions not part of the SRD, but commonly in use. (When does it reset language)
12. Reach weapons can be used to attack opponents 10 feet away, but cannot be used against adjacent foes. Various feats and class abilities can make it possible to do so.
13. Initiative is a Dexterity check, which is influenced by rules that modify ability checks.
14. When using manufactured and natural weaponry, all natural weapon attacks become secondary.
15. Difficult terrain and poor visibility hamper movement. You cannot take a 5-foot step nor charge in hampered movement.
16. The delay and ready special actions may be taken in initiative. When initiative starts is generally at the determination of the GM/DM. The ability to delay or ready an action outside of initiative should not be assumed and is subject to the individual table or playing group culture.

Magic
1. Spells can crit if they have an attack roll.
2. Empower spell only applies to the rolled portion of the effect.
3. Mutliple magical effcts that increase size do not stack.
4. Wizards learning new spells require time and a Spellcraft check. If the spellcraft check fails, it cannot be tried again until the wizard gains a rank in Spellcraft. The wizard may Take 10 on the Spellcraft check.

Spells
1. Lesser Restoration is a three round casting time. Usually, this means it isn’t used during combat. Potion of lesser restoration is good for in combat, though.
2. Enlarge person has a 1 round casting time.
3. Dimensional anchor has no saving throw, just spell resistance.
4. Harm (moved to item 50 of things that have changed)
5. Summon spells have 1 round casting times, even from wands.
6. Grease can be used to disarm.
7. A number of spell effects (remove disease, remove curse, knock, etc.) require a caster level check to be successful instead of automatically; this is not universal to all similar spells
8. Summoned creatures attack enemies without additional communication. Communication is required for other tasks or more specific instructions. Different groups may handle specific instructions differently.

Presige Classes

Gamemastering

Environment

NPCs

Magic Items
1. Weapons and armor must have +1 enhancement prior to gaining additional enchantments.
2. Summon spells have 1 round casting times, even from wands.
3. Using a wand with a casting time longer than a standard action takes that long to activate. A wand of summon monster I takes 1 round and a wand of lesser restoration takes 3 rounds. But, you have to know to look under the activation section at the start of the wand section to know this.
4. A character can use a wand with a spell on his class list, even if he can’t cast spells yet. For example, a 3rd level paladin can use a wand of cure light wounds.
5. Spells with range of personal cannot be made into potions.

Appendices and Monster Rules
1. Immunity to cold/fire gives vulnerability to opposite. (Developers have indicated future change for this)
2. Elementals are immune to flanking and critical hits.
3. Creatures can often overcome the DR that is needed to hit them (magic, epic, etc.)
4. Fear effects stack or escalate; characters can become more fearful.
5. When using manufactured and natural weaponry, all natural weapon attacks become secondary.

It’s the same between SRD and PF, but PF makes it confused

1. Reach weapons for small and medium creatures have a reach of 10 feet. Despite a diagram that says otherwise, they can still attack two squares on a diagonal.
2. Double weapons are two-handed weapons with special properties regarding two-handed fighting. If a double weapon is used in one hand, only one end can be used. The missing text that clarifies things is that using a two-handed weapon with one hand only happens if it is sized smaller than you or you have an additional rules resource to permit it.

It’s the same between SRD and PF, but PF makes it clear

1. Wizards with prestige classes only get 2 free spells when gaining a level of wizard, not when gaining a level of the prestige class.
2. Ranged touch attacks provoke an attack of opportunity, even if the spell that causes the attacks was cast defensively. (In 3.5, this was subject to variance.)

Pending Resolution or More Complex than Can Be Dealt With Here
1. Quickened Spell on spells with casting time of 1 round. (see discussion in rules section of forum, here.
2. What is the interaction between grapple, pin, AC, Dex Bonus to AC, sneak attack? Contradictory rules (particularly when inclusive of condition table footnotes) are contradictory or ambiguous. discussion thread.
3. Defending Weapons discussion thread.
4. The arcane topic of dragon skin armor.
5. The role of Wealth by Level and interaction with crafting, consumables, wizard spell book, etc.

I'm about to start GMing my first session of a new game in a couple weeks. I'm allowing the players free reign with the CRB, APG, and UM, including Words of Power.

One of the players is a power gamer, despite my disclaimer beforehand that "you can make suboptimal choices" in an attempt to encourage RP choices. He's decided to play a Synthesist Summoner, and seems intent on building a super-powerful character.

Another player is playing with Words of Power.

I'm not too worried about the power gamer, as I think I can manage to find something that can still challenge his character. However, I'd like to know how you'd handle something like that?

Also, do you have any advice for Words of Power, given it's my first run with them?

Words of Power are really complicated, and they have a significant danger of slowing down game play since they let players mix and match and build spells on the fly. I personally think that words of power are TOO complex, and I don't allow them in games I run. My advice is, honestly, to not allow words of power unless you really feel that you can handle them and that you really feel you can trust the player who's using them to be able to do so without grinding the game to a halt each and every time he wants to cast a spell.

If I were you, though, I'd be far more worried about the power-gamer and his summoner—the summoner is VERY susceptible to being min-maxed and tweaked to be super powerful. I suspect that's why your power-gamer has gravitated to it. That's fine... but not as fine if the rest of your players are NOT power gamers. You'll run a very big risk of having the game be dominated by the summoner, I fear—if you pump up the encounters to challenge him, you'll murder the other player characters, and if you DON'T pump up the encounters, he'll just dominate the combats.

The basic underlying advice, I guess, would be that you've got a lot of work cut out for you, since you need to be a better expert on summoners and words of power than your players, OR you need to be comfortable making ad hoc rulings that your players will be eager to argue with you about.