Hi gang, I'm building a low-level front-liner for a campaign that I expect to have lots of firearms in it. Since early firearms target touch AC when I'm up close, and I will want to be up close a lot, I'm looking for ways to defend against or mitigate attacks against my touch AC or, specifically, firearms.
Even though I know you should specialize in PF, I'm thinking of taking a class with medium armor proficiency and also keeping my Dex high. Is this a terrible idea?
I know Attacks of Opportunity are important for being up close against ranged attackers, but while being close to the gunner I'm attacking will get me an AoO, I'm still within the first range increment of the gunner behind him.
Are there feats (or even traits) that will help with this? Should I just focus more on a high HP? We are starting at level 1.
Every now and then, I see a lot of Recruitment threads related to something called "Outpost." A Google search tells me that this is some sort of online PbP convention.
Is that accurate? Is this PFS-related? How frequently does it roll around?
I guess I have all of these same questions about "Gameday."
How do various GMs running PbP games handle abilities that affect a roll that must be decided upon before the die is actually rolled? With the board's function to preview a post, a player could make the post that includes the [dice] tags, preview the post to see how well they rolled, and then decide whether they want to apply their ability's bonus or save it if it's not necessary. Obviously, previewing a die roll is not in the spirit of the ability's restrictions, but how is a GM to know and enforce that?
I'm sure there are better examples of what I mean, but the one that comes immediately to mind is the feat Inexplicable Luck. This feat gives the PC the ability to once a day apply a +8 to any single d20 roll, so long as the player decides to apply the bonus before the die is rolled.
Perhaps this isn't all that frequent in Pathfinder games, but I'm sure plenty of 3.5 paladins would have loved the option to preview their attack rolls before they knew if they should use Smite Evvil.
In games that use the Cypher system, most rolls have the option to apply a bonus ("Effort") so long at that decision is made before the die is rolled.
Do GMs just not worry how a player uses such an ability in a PbP? Do they go by the honor system and trust the players? Have they developed houserules for this scenario? I just want to know the different ways this is addressed in PbP games.
Are there any feats available that pertain to a bonded object from a wizard's arcane bond class ability?
I have a character (a bonded witch, actually) who has a bonded object, and it makes in-game sense to focus on this item. I'm wondering if there are any feats that do that. I don't have anything in particular in mind; I just want to see what the options are, if any. Thanks.
I went searching for a particular user by putting their handle in the search field at the very top of the board, and then clicking the Users tab in the search results. I could not find the user, even though I verified that they were still around and I used the correct spelling. I actually copied and pasted the username in case it was a special character I wasn't picking up on.
I tested it with another user, and I could find them under the Users tab of the search results with no problem. After trying other searches, it seems like Users that are older (as in, the username is older, not the age of the actual person behind the username) still show up in the results, but newer Users do not.
If you're interested in the actual usernames that I tried that did or did not show up, feel free to send me a PM.
Hi, folks. I'm building a high-level Shifter for an adventure that's using Automatic Bonus Progression, and I'm looking for relevant or fun magic items for this PC. The challenge I'm having is that I'm trying to find items that will still help out when the character is in wild shape.
As a polymorph effect, all gear melds into the Shifter when he uses wild shape, and only those items that provide a continuous effect or bonus remain effective; anything that needs to be "activated" cannot be used in wild shape. Additionally, since this campaign is using ABP, items that provide static numerical bonuses to AC, saving throws, and ability scores don't exist, so I can't use things like a Cloak of Resistance or Belt of Physical Might.
At the level this PC is at, he can stay wild shaped 23 hours a day, so I'm not looking for things that extend wild shape use. He doesn't use armor, and he relies almost exclusively on his natural weapons.
Beyond that, I'm considering the Deliquescent Gloves and Eyes of the Eagle, but these are lower-cost items, and the Eyes especially seem redundant. I'm trying to avoid looking like a Christmas Tree, and I'd like to stay close to the intended lore of the Shifter and not be decked out in shiny steel gauntlets and helmets and such. But I'm also worn out from combing through lists and guides looking for useful items.
Does anybody have any suggestions of useful or fun magic items I should consider? Thanks.
Does anybody have a PF2E character on these boards with a good character sheet they wouldn't mind me copying? Something simple and clean, but that breaks down all the bonuses. Thanks.
Hi, folks. I'm having trouble with a spoiler tag in this alias. About halfway down the page, I have four spoilers one after the other. I can open three of them, but not the third spoiler titled "Unchained Rogue." I'm hoping someone can take a look and tell me where my mistake is, or what quirk about the tags is causing this issue. Below is a copy of the alias' code, with the square brackets replaced with the pointy brackets. Thanks!
(P.S. I know that the Bigger and OOC tags don't work in aliases. I modified this alias from a time when those tags did work, and I leave them in in the hopes that they will one day work again.)
<bigger><b>OFFENSE</b></bigger>
Speed: 30
BAB: 0
CMB: +5 <ooc>= 0 (BAB) + 4 (Dex) + 1 (Houserule)</ooc>
+1 trait bonus on attack rolls when making an attack with a light weapon during a surprise round.
<bigger><b>ABILITIES</b></bigger>
<b>STR:</b> 10 <b>DEX:</b> 18 <b>CON:</b> 13 <b>INT:</b> 13 <b>WIS:</b> 12 <b>CHA:</b> 14
<smaller>+1 to all checks within 30 feet of a good outsider</smaller>
<spoiler=Enhancements Log>Lvl 1: Melee Enhancement</spoiler>
<spoiler=Aasimar><b>darkvision</b>: 60 ft.
<b>Celestial Resistance:</b> Aasimars have acid resistance 5, cold resistance 5, and electricity resistance 5.
<b>Skilled (Azata-blooded):</b> +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy and Perform checks.
<b>Variant Aasimar Ability: Gain a +1 racial bonus on ability checks while you are within 30 feet of a good outsider.</spoiler>
<spoiler=Unchained Rogue>
<b>Sneak Attack:</b> The rogue’s attack deals extra damage anytime her target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the rogue flanks her target. This extra damage is 1d6 at 1st level, and increases by 1d6 every 2 rogue levels thereafter. Ranged attacks can count as sneak attacks only if the target is within 30 feet. This additional damage is precision damage and is not multiplied on a critical hit.
<b>Trapfinding:</b> A rogue adds 1/2 her level on Perception checks to locate traps and on Disable Device checks (minimum +1). A rogue can use Disable Device to disarm magic traps.
<b>Finesse Training:</b> At 1st level, a rogue gains Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat. In addition, starting at 3rd level, she can select any one type of weapon that can be used with Weapon Finesse (such as rapiers or daggers). Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed. Whenever she makes a successful melee attack with the selected weapon, she adds her Dexterity modifier instead of her Strength modifier to the damage roll. If any effect would prevent the rogue from adding her Strength modifier to the damage roll, she does not add her Dexterity modifier. The rogue can select a second weapon at 11th level and a third at 19th level.</spoiler>
<spoiler=Mythic><b>Hard to kill</b>
<b>Surge:</b> +1d6
<b>Mythic Power:</b> (Tier x 2) + 3 + 2 times per day
<b><url=https://aonprd.com/MythicPaths.aspx?Path=Trickster>Tric kster Path</url> Abilities:</b> Trickster Attack (Surprise Strike), Transfer Magic</spoiler>
<bigger><b>BACKGROUND</b></bigger>
Ty was an orphan in an orphanage run by the <url=https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Starstone_Brewers>Starstone Brewers</url>, who tell Ty that a group of their members found him as a baby left in the members' campsite as they travelled to Absalom. The orphanage tried numerous times to find the boy a good foster home, but Ty never stuck around long enough to form any bonds with (or learn many lessons about morality from) anyone wiling to take him in. Ty preferred the adventure of Absalom's rooftops and back alleys, and the self-confidence he felt being self-sufficient. Morjun Purgest, a now-elderly half-elf but who was one of the Starstone Brewers who originally found Ty as a baby, eventually officially adopted the boy, with the understanding that Ty didn't have to remain with Morjun but that he could always return if he needed help or was in trouble.
An aasimar, Ty ages slower than the boyish human he tries to resemble. When he discards the disguise, his metalic gold hair and burnished skin reveals his outsider heritage, and he acts of an age of a human in their late teens.
Ty is beginning to realize that he can't live the life of a street urchin forever, and has started dabbling in jobs with a local thieves' guild, putting his skills to use as a novice cat burglar.
He is not religious, but he does retain a fondness for Cayden Cailean, the Starstone Brewers' sponsor deity.
I used to GM PbP games for friends on a forum that doesn't have dice-rolling capability. I used an app where I could choose the number of sides of the die and how many of that die were rolled with the push of a button. I could also build macros for commonly rolled things like initiative and complicated attacks with lots of bonuses/penalties that I didn't want to look up every time.
Sadly, the developer stopped updating the app and it stopped working with a recent iOS upgrade. Does anybody have any recommendations for apps like what I've described above?
I use iOS, but recommendations for other mobile operating systems are also welcome. I guess websites that do the same would be acceptable, but I'd prefer an app that doesn't rely on the internet to work when I need it to.
I can't get Paizo.com to load properly on my iPhone. It's been an issue for both versions 13.1.2 and 13.1.3.
(And looking that up, I see they've released a 13.2 today. I'll download it when I get a chance and see, but I'll continue this post anyway.)
What I see when I go to the site is the Pathfinder|Starfinder|Adventure Card Game|etc. drop down menus displayed as indented links on the left side of the screen. On the main page, most of the content appears, but it's not formatted as intended. On any of the Forums pages, I see the same link tree along the left, then below that I'll sometimes see the iOS loading circle and sometimes I won't. In either case, none of the links for the forum threads ever appear.
The issue where I submit a post and it doesn't show up right away has returned. Sometimes I refresh the page after a few seconds and my post appears, but sometimes it takes as long as three minutes for the post to appear.
I first noticed this happening on Sunday 8/18. I use a fully updated Chrome browser.
The thing is, I know that there are important updates to the site that need to happen, but I also know that there are quality-of-life updates to the site that are of a lower priority. While I'm confident that Paizo is working on the important updates, I don't have any idea if the smaller updates have gotten lost in the shuffle.
A publicly available bug list would let users know what Paizo recognizes as something that needs to be worked on and which discovered issues need to be brought to their attention.
The two quality of life bugs that I'm thinking of right now are:
OoC Text in Alias Profiles - This one used to be implemented, but the functionality was lost. I think the [smaller] and [bigger] tags also aren't working properly in profiles.
Indenting Spoiler Text - This one especially makes me think that Paizo has forgotten about it, since it was implemented in literally 15 minutes when I brought it up three years ago. This functionality was rolled back with the major code update last year.
In both of those cases (and others) Paizo has acknowledged the issues, but nothing has been followed up on. So I don't know what's been lost in the shuffle and what's just a lower priority.
My GM has mentioned something called "lord and saviour mwk studded leather armour barding" which he says has no armor check penalty. But I can't find this anywhere. Does anybody have a link or know the source?
Jerk (Homebrew): You are a jerk. You may not compliment anyone other than yourself (backhanded compliments are exempt) without becoming shaken for three rounds for every person you complimented. Your penchant for rarely listening long enough to learn from anyone else means that all Knowledge or Lore checks have a permanent -2 penalty. In addition, any summoning spell or effect cast by you lasts three rounds shorter than normal since very few things like you and want to stay around you for very long. At 5th level, your persistent belief that that everyone else is in the wrong grants you a +4 bonus to Sense Motive checks. At 15th level, you are fed up with anyone who thinks they know better than you. You gain immunity to any spell with the charm or compulsion subschools.
Hi all. I'll need four posts to ask my question. This is post 1/4.
I was always under the impression that once a person makes a die roll using the [ dice ] tag, that the results of that roll stay with the person (or perhaps the alias) until they submit a post with that specific die roll. For example, if I were to roll a d20, preview it to see the result, but not submit the post, I could come back at a later time and make the post and the die roll would come out the same.
I feel like I've experienced this in the past, but I don't have any specific recollection of testing the feature in that way with those results. Now, however, the results are different than what I feel they should be. I can make a post, preview a die roll, remove the dice tag equation from the post and click submit, and put the dice tag equation in a new post to receive different results.
A cleric who chooses a subdomain must have access to both the domain and its subdomain from her deity.
The Martyr subdomain is under the Nobility domain. Vildeis has Martyr, but not Nobility.
1) So, this means that a cleric of Vildeis cannot choose the Martyr subdomain because Vildeis does not also grant access to the Nobility domain. Correct?
2) Are they any classes that get access to a subdomain granted by their deity when their deity does not have the associated domain?
Hi, the ooc tags don't seem to work in alias profiles. I don't know if this is something that has recently changed or if I'm just now noticing it. I do recall that they used to work in alias profiles, however.
Is this a permanent change, or is this something that is planned to be restored eventually?
I tried to search on "ooc" to see if this has been recently discussed, but that search returned any result that contained a genuine ooc tag, which overwhelmed any results discussing ooc tags.
I realize that this is a low priority with the other stuff you have going on, but I'm just trying to determine if I should reformat some of my PbP aliases. Thanks.
I recall a Knightly Order or similar organization dedicated to preserving and promoting art. I want to say that it was called something like "Knight of the Chord," but I don't have a lot of confidence that I'm not just making that up.
I feel like I came across it in a 2nd edition splatbook, but it might be from 3.0 or 3.5, also.
Hi, Paizo team. I have a suggestion for the spoiler feature that improves readability: Indent the spoilers. Or give them a slightly colored background or some other way of distinguishing the spoilered text from the text that follows.
For example:
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Sometimes I find it difficult when reading a spoiler to know when the spoilered text that I'm reading ends and when the regular text begins. Obviously, context is the key indicator, but I've also been known to open and close the spoiler text a couple times to note when the regular text begins so that it's clear what the author intended to be spoilered and what they intended to be regular text. I hope you'll consider it.
I'm looking for an image hosting site that can host my PbP Kingmaker campaign's kingdom map. This is a large file, so a high file size/pixel count is a must.
It's also a very wide image. I know that most browsers automatically resize images if you link directly to the image, but not all browsers do that, I believe. Any sort of viewer zooming/resizing capabilities is a plus.
Finally, I'd like some sort of versioning support. What I mean by this is that I would like to be able replace an image with a new image and have the URL stay the same so that I don't have to update my PbP campaign's link to the map.
I'm not intending to use this service for battle maps, so I don't need the interactivity that, say, Google Docs provides. I edit the map using image editing software at home and then post updated an map as the map changes.
Does anyone have any suggestions or relevant experiences? Currently, the map is just hosted on our campaign's wiki, which is pretty basic and I'm forced to keep the image small. With the expanding kingdom, this is becoming problematic. Any advice or suggestions will earn you a virtual fistbump.
Ok, I'm GMing a 4th level ranger with +7 Survival tracking a guy moving at full speed on a horse through the wilderness. The runner's destination is days away, but he only departed about 15 minutes prior, and with a tracker moving at half speed (the ranger's half speed or the ranger's horse's half speed?), this "chase" could potentially last many days.
So, assuming I'm reading the rules right, I'm making a skill check for every mile, factoring in terrain, visibility conditions, and the length of time that has passed since the tracks being followed were made. The length of time is subject to change throughout the chase because the tracker is not moving as fast as the trackee. I make this check every mile, more if the tracker loses the trail, and then tries again an hour later.
Am I over-thinking this? Is there a mechanic that I'm overlooking that simplifies this? Do most other GMs in similar situations make all of these calculations/rolls? They're not hard, but it seems counterintuitive that a GM would devote time out of the game to make all of these rolls, so I wondering if there's not an alternate method.
I really wanted an online sheet to help my group manage our kingdom, and I looked pretty closely at the various automated kingdom tracking sheets that I came across. Despite being extremely impressive, the fact that they weren't Google Sheets was a sticking point. That's my long-time PbP group's share method of choice.
Thinking about it, I think the reason that the automated sheets are too big for Google Sheets is because they're, well, automated. If you built a sheet that focused mostly on the calculations and less on features such as automatic city creation and really specific event results (leaving those scenarios to be handled manually), you might be able to keep the file size under the limit. So that's exactly what I did.
I can't say that I directly copied any of kingdom building sheets that I came across, but I was heavily influenced by some of them, and a while back I came up with a tool for my campaign that I'm pretty proud of. I also created a template to share with the community, but the only problem is that I ran out of steam before I could ask people to test it. I think it's good, but asking the community at large to try it out would be best.
So, if anyone feels like trying out Andostre's Kingdom Tracking Template (instructions for set up are on the first tab) by filling it out and plugging in their kingdom's nubers, I would really appreciate any feedback they might have.
I've always really liked the idea of GMing for, or playing in, a campaign where all the PCs were the same class, race, or something similar. A party where the PCs all come from the same Dwarven clan or the same Halfling village, a party where everyone is part of the same thieves guild or wizardry college, or even various types of PCs that are all agents the same church are along the lines of what I'm thinking about.
I've never played in a campaign like this (except for a pirate campaign, but that still allows for a wide range of classes, races, personalities, and motivations). Usually, the idea doesn't appeal to enough people in the group, or I don't want to enforce such restrictions on a group when I'm GM.
So, I'm not looking for advice, or anything. I just want to hear about anyone else's experiences GMing or playing in a group like this. What was your theme? What sort of adventures were involved? Was it fun? What sort of challenges were involved in such a campaign?
Hi, folks. I've recently split my five-player party. Two PCs and one NPC did the encounters for Melianse the Nixie and lumberjacks, Tyressia the Druid, and the Scythe tree. For the other three PCs, I ran a version of the popular Venture Capital fan addition in my campaign. While successful, it has gone on too long, I think. This is a play-by-post game, and while all of the players like to roleplay, one player has really gotten into it and I think that the other players are ready to move on to something more exciting. The same player has also expressed interest in roleplaying the founding of their first city, and I want to accommodate that.
I plan on starting the scene in the middle of a tent city where the settlers and resources from Brevoy have already started to arrive. The players have already worked out who most of their kingdom leaders are going to be, so I'm going to have all of those NPCs show up, plus a few others they've encountered, and one or two roleplay surprises.
However, as much as I love the roleplay, I feel that for pacing purposes, something exciting needs to happen, but I'm having a hard time coming up with a combat or exciting skill challenge that is appropriate. I'd rather not have some monster come tearing through the tent city and trampling a good portion of their citizens before they can do something about it, but at the same time, this is the first time they party is all together in a while, AND we are finally getting around to starting up their city. I don't want to pull them away, again. I'd love to have something happen where they can look like heroes and leaders in front of all of their brand new citizens.
If it helps with any suggestions, I do plan on having Mikmek the kobold come by and invite the PCs to the kobold lair to run the first scene of Hargulka's Monster Kingdom, soon afterwards.
My players just killed the scythe tree from book 2. One of my players is asking if its wood has any interesting properties beyond that of normal wood. Has anyone done anything interesting with the scythe tree wood, or does anyone have any interesting ideas?
I love Pathfinder, as I'm sure we all do. However, I'm not against considering other rules systems that work best in a play-by-post environment. I know that there are games out there that don't rely quite so much on, for example, action economy or battlefield positioning to run smoothly. Those sorts of considerations might make the game run more smoothly, or at least faster.
So, I have a two part recommendation:
1. What rules systems do you think work best for pbp?
2. What rules systems based on d20 work best for pbp? (This question is for GMs who have players used to Dnd 3.5, Pathfinder, etc. that don't like having to completely re-learn a new set of mechanics every game.)
Hi, I'm looking for advice about what PCs would find if they were to go into a church devoted to a "God of Cities". The description of the god is merely "A major god of civilization and sophisticated living." His portfolio is "He is Neutral and his domains are Civilization, Knowledge and Protection. (The Civilization domain is found in the Ptolus campaign book.)"
What would the church look like? What special services would it offer? What unique areas would it have on its grounds?
(Specifically, this is the god Asche, from Monte Cook's "Ptolus: City by the Spire" 3.5 campaign setting.)
Does anybody know of any successful Google Spreadsheets of the Ultimate Campaign version of the Kingdom Building rules?
I know that this has been asked before, and I apologize in advance for asking again, but I haven't been able to find an answer. Most of the search results are for people asking for the same thing, or lamenting that they can't take someone else's spreadsheet and copy it into Google Drive. Thanks in advance.
I guess it comes down to whether an Earth Elemental ever fully stops using its Earth Glide ability. In other words, do they ever form feet to walk around, or do they just sort of poke out of the ground all the time?
I came across this article today, where an inventor in Finland re-designed the basic wood-chopping axe (a tool thousands of years in use) to require less force and to be safer.
Immediately, I started to imagine it as a medieval fantasy weapon. Gnomes are the tinkerer race that I automatically think of (and "Vipukirves" from the article even sounds like it could be a gnomish word), so I started imagining the design from their perspective.
I came up with the idea that a Lever Axe has the same stats as a Battleaxe, except that it costs three times as much and it has the special quality "Kinetic." This negates the penalty to attack and damage that a wielder with low strength might possess.
The term "Kinetic" might need some work, but the few minutes I spent browsing the thesaurus didn't turn up anything better. Has anybody seen a weapon or special quality similar to this?
So, a wielder with a 10 or higher Strength could wield the Lever Axe the same as they could a Battleaxe, but it's unlikely they would buy the more expensive weapon. However, a low strength melee combatant who wanted to even the odds a bit might consider this weapon. I can envision this being a common weapon in a gnomish army or militia.
Another option is to make the weapon exotic and rename it to Gnome Lever Axe. This would allow gnomes to use the weapon as a martial weapon due to their Weapon Familiarity racial trait.
The party is ambushing two hostile NPCs, both mounted. I'm not sure if this is relevant, but the two NPCs do not have a ride skill, and the mounts are both regular horses (not war horses).
They kill the first NPC's horse and capture that NPC. The second NPC retreats, galloping away never to be seen again.
Now, my question is which of those four targets grants the party experience points? Here's what I'm thinking, but please tell me if you disagree.
Obviously, I'd grant xp for the first NPC. I'd also grant xp for the second NPC, since he was a threat that the party defeated. I'd also grant xp for the first NPC's horse, since it did require the party's resources to kill it.
I would not grant xp for the 2nd NPC's horse, since it was never a threat to the party. Yes, it would have provided a challenge to the party if they wanted to catch it's rider, but if they were interested in that, they did not best that challenge.
So, thoughts? There's probably an established line of thinking for similar scenarios that I've never been exposed to. Any education would be appreciated.
I was mostly making this list for myself, and then I realized that it would only take a modicum of effort to be able to share the list here, and I might get some feedback by doing so.
This is a list of modules or published adventures I've found that the community here on the Paizo Kingmaker forum has mentioned can be used to supplement the material in the Kingmaker AP. This might be useful to GMs who want to maintain player xp levels when they have more than four PCs (the number that the AP was designed for) or to GMs who want to drop some of the elements of the AP for whatever reason, or just want to add more content.
I can't claim that this is an exhaustive list. In the few searches I've done on this topic, I have listed any item that I saw mentioned two times or more. Most of the time when I saw these mentions, very little other information about the product was given (such as a link or what level it is designed for) other than the title. I've included notes when I think they're relevant to adapting to Kingmaker, but I haven't actually used most of the products on this list. If you have questions about a product beyond what's linked in the list, I suggest you use search box found at the top of the Kingmaker forum.
Format:
Level or level range -- module link (if it's 3.5 and/or a third party product) -- any relevant notes
For a sandbox AP, Kingmaker seems to make the exploration mechanic pretty necessary for the AP to advance. My party is nearly done with Book 1, and I think that they're not so keen on combing through even more hexes when they'd rather be doing things that relate to the part of their kingdom that already exists. Plus, I run Kingmaker as a play-by-post campaign, which already takes a long time. If I can advance part of the AP in the background in a way that doesn't make the players feel like they're missing out on things, even better.
So once they've founded a kingdom, I'd like to set up a basic system where the country's borders could expand slowly but automatically. The point of this isn't to replace the exploration mechanic entirely; it's to make it more or less optional -- something that the PCs can do when they want (and probably even do so more efficiently than the auto-exploration), but if they focus on kingdom events or sidequests, their kingdom doesn't stagnate.
Here's some of the ideas that I'm mulling over. I'd love to hear some criticism or refinement:
1. The auto-exploration rate is population based. It would start off slowly at first, so a starting off population might gain the nation one hex per year, but the rate of hex accumulation would increase as the nation's population grows. Obviously, this rate will increase exponentially and could easily get out of hand, so perhaps some sort of diminishing returns should be put in place. Another thought is that after a certain point, instead of a new hex being discovered, a Hidden site within the nation's borders that was earlier passed over is discovered, instead. (See point #3 below.)
If anyone who has experience with actually seeing a KM nation that's up and running wants to suggest the math for this formula, you will get a virtual high-five from yours truly.
2. The GM picks the hexes. This allows for the GM to steer the nation's growth as the story dictates, and can potentially save the hexes with more interesting encounters for the PCs to discover themselves. Hexes without any planned encounters would naturally be the easiest for citizen explorers to claim, and resource hexes could be added if the GM feels the nation could use a boost.
3. Hexes with landmark/standard/hidden sites should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Sites that are not related to the overall plot can be skipped or saved for when they're more appropriate. Hidden sites would not be discovered immediately to allow the PCs to discover them later if they're passing through, but they could be discovered later when the nation is larger and it's assumed that the earlier hexes have been more cultivated.
4. Dangerous encounters stop the auto-exploration. I've really liked the "lead from the front" philosophy expressed on these boards for why a nation's rulers would be the ones to go forth and conquer new frontiers. The populace shouldn't be the ones to go out and take care of a tower full of will-o-wisps, for example. This allows for the PCs to be driven to take care of some of the AP's encounters that aren't directly tied to the overall plot. Another thought is that random encounters are still rolled when the citizen-explorers enter a hex, and any dangerous encounters rolled will have the same effect as the planned encounters.
I'm really interested to hear others' thoughts on this.
Hi folks. I'm running the Kingmker AP in Monte Cook's "Ptolus: City by the Spire" setting instead of Golarion. I've dropped Brevoy and the Stolen Lands into an area of that setting called Cherubar without too many setting-related issues that need to be resolved. (Technically, I've also included the River Kingdoms, but the campaign hasn't had any interaction with that area, yet.)
The only major change is that instead of the two nations that now make up Brevoy being conqured by Choral the Conqueror, Brevoy was formed under similar circumstances by the setting's Tarsisian Empire.
One of the major inhabitants of the Cherubar region are a race of winged elves named the Cherubim. They are reserved, timid, slightly arrogant, and live in small groups high in the mountains. I'm thinking of having the Cherubim more prominent in the AP, perhaps even replacing one of the races or cultures that the PCs interact with. This is especially appealing because I have a player who is a half-elf with a Cherubim father.
So, I'm looking for suggestions on races, cultures, or even events that can be replaced by or redesigned using the Cherubim. The Cherubim can be used in place of a relatively benign race or culture or a moderately antagonistic one. I think an outright combative or violently aggressive culture would limit the roleplay value of encountering the Cherubim, but it could be possible.
This is a slow-moving play-by-post game, so I've been taking my time reading the later AP volumes. I'm wondering if Pitax would be a good candidate or possibly the Tiger Lords, but I haven't read enough of the AP to determine that, yet. I suppose I could also replace one of the fey encounters and increase its significance.
Hi, I have a question about the Gunslinger's Mysterious Stranger archetype. To start, I'm going to paste this archetype's Deeds section:
Quote:
Deeds: A mysterious stranger swaps a pair of deeds for the following.
Focused Aim (Ex): At 1st level, as a swift action, the mysterious stranger can spend 1 grit point to gain a bonus on all firearm damage rolls equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum 1) with all firearm attacks she makes until the end of her turn. At 7th level, when she uses the dead shot deed, she multiplies this bonus by the number of hits she made while rolling the Dead Shot attack. This deed replaces the quick clear deed.
Clipping Shot (Ex): At 11th level, when the mysterious stranger misses with a firearm attack, she can spend 1 grit point to deal half the damage that attack would have dealt if it were a hit (roll damage normally). She can decide to use this deed and spend the grit point after making the attack. This deed has no effect if the attack used the dead shot deed. The cost of using this deed cannot be reduced with the Signature Deed feat, the true grit class feature, or any similar effect.
Here's my question, what deed does the Clipping Shot replace?
The quote above clearly states that the Focused Aim deed replaces the base Gunslinger's Quick Clear deed, but there isn't a similar statement for Clipping Shot. There are three deeds made available to the base Gunslinger at 11th level--Bleeding Wound, Expert Loading, and Lightning Reload--so it stands to reason that it's one of those, but that's as far as I feel confident guessing at.
Hi folks, I'm running a KM campaign online, but I'm out of town amd didn't bring everything I need with me. My players are at Thorn Camp. Would somebody mind letting me know what the bandits' perceptions scores, Kressle's perception score, and Kressle's hit points? That's all I need.
If this breaks the forum rules, I sincerely apologize.
I am going to be starting a PbP thread for some friends, and one of the types of campaigns we are considering is a dungeon crawl campaign. Rather than just informally agreeing with the players that their characters are going to spend most of their time traveling from dungeon to dungeon for loose change, I'd like to offer more of a motivation for the characters to justify the dungeoneering, but not have it be so binding that the campaign can't have a few other types of adventures thrown in.
So, here's my idea, and any criticism or suggestions to help develop it would be appreciated:
About 15 to 20 years ago, the Empire sent a large regiment of soldiers into hostile lands to deal with a barbarian threat. The soldiers were efficient and ruthless, destroying villages and communities in their pursuit of the enemy, specifically a popular shaman leader, named ToBeDetermined. :)
A small detachment of the regiment's leadership finally cornered the shaman leader and his retinue deep underground in some ancient barrows that the barbarians considered holy. The shaman leader knew that he was cornered, and spent the remaining few hours of his life performing a ritual that would curse the invading soldiers and their descendents.
The Curse of ToBeDetermined affects every living member of said regiment and their descendents. Since ToBeDetermined (and most of the barbarian hordes) viewed the empire as greedy and decadent, the curse is designed to force the soldiers to find an enormous amount of money, and "spend" it in a ritual to try and wear away the curse. When enough money is given to pay off the curse, the curse will be lifted for all of the soldiers and all of their descendents, whether living or dead. It's sort of like punishing a glutton by forcing him to overeat. Since the regiment destroyed whole families and tribes, the curse is extended to the soldiers' families.
The immediate consequences of the curse are ill-defined at this point, but the lasting consequence is that the souls of those affected aren't sent to an afterlife. They're not undead, but they are enslaved in a sort of limbo ruled by ToBeDetermined. So, the PCs will be those soldiers or their descendents going into dungeons to get cash to work off the curse. I envision that at the end of every dungeon, the PCs will perform the ritual and then head out to possibly another dungeon. All over the world, others also affected by the curse are attempting to do the same. This provides an easy entry for new PCs to come into the party in case of player death or if more of our friends want to play.
The mechanics are where this idea has issues, and I'm especially open to suggestions. As we all know, 3.5 and PF rely on the PCs getting more and more wealth, and telling them that they have to give that wealth away is contradictory. While it could provide for an interesting decision over how much to give vs. keep, having to make the same decision every dungeon (and the extra bookkeeping) would grow tiresome. The option that I'm considering is stating that the details of the curse only allow for 10% of the wealth gained to be spent towards the curse (to make the curse harder, maybe?), and then just give 10% more wealth to the PCs.
The campaign will be set in Praemal, which is the name of the world for Monte Cook's "Ptolus: City by the Spire" campaign setting, but this campaign doesn't necessarily have to be strongly tied to that. The empire obviously has to be the Tarsisian Empire, and the curse could have taken place during the invasion by the Eastern Hordes.
I'm trying to put a character on a sort of vision quest, and before I pull a plot device completely out of thin air, I'm hoping that a spell or other game mechanic already exists that I might use. The weirder the better, as more inspiration is always welcome. Ideally, I'm hoping to find something that will send the character's awareness into another plane of existence or into some dream world, but leave his body alone.
The character in question is a dragon-themed cleric. That's not really important, but if that helps choose something thematically appropriate, so much the better.
Any ideas or inspiration would be appreciated. Thanks!
I'm hoping that somebody can recommend a fantasy author and/or series. I am looking to get my wife a complete fantasy series in paperback for her birthday. (It doesn't necessarily have to be a complete series if you were to count supplements, spin-offs, short stories, etc., but I don't want to give her two-thirds of a trilogy or start her on a series where the last available book ends on a cliffhanger.) So, based on that criteria, this very well could be an older author or series. That's fine!
She likes your standard George R.R. Martin or Steven Erikson, but she loves Katharine Kerr's Deverry novels and Elizabeth Haydon's Rhapsody trilogy. Honestly, I'm not sure if she likes the fact that they are female writers or if they just wrote stories that really spoke to her.
Anyway, I hope that this is enough information for some recommendations. Thanks in advance!
Have there been any fan-based attempts to Pathfinderize the d20 Modern rules? Especially the Urbana Arcana stuff?
Actually, a good question to ask first is would d20 Modern benefit from a Paizo wash? I never played it in the higher levels. Does it have the same scaling issues that 3.5 does?
Actually actually, the most important question: Isn't there a better word out there than "Pathfinderize" that means the same thing? I mean, seriously. That's a pretty big oversight, if there isn't.
How do you come up with fantasy-sounding names for people, places, and nations? Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Personally, my favorite way to come up with a name is to scan a particular area in an atlas until I see a name that I like or that inspires a name I like. However, sometimes I feel like I'm running out of names I can use or that inspire other names. I'm hoping people can use this thread to share how they come up with names.
I've been asked to run an adventure or two for my play-by-post group to introduce them to Pathfinder, and while I love the idea of doing this, I was hoping to save myself a lot of time by running a pre-published adventure. Plus, I feel that a Paizo-quality adventure will give PF what it deserves in terms of quality.
Asking around, someone recommended Tower of the Last Baron (LB1). Reading through it, it looks like a fun, fast-moving adventure with a lot of variety... until the party enters the castle. The castle is full of rooms with guards, guards, guards, and more guards. Some are regular guards, some are guard sargeants, and some are Chelaxian Elite guards. If the party stealths their way to the more interesting parts of the castle, that's fine. But if they don't bother with stealth or in the likely event that they'll be detected before they reach the end, then they're in for a slog of repetitive fights.
Maybe I'm just not recognizing that a 5th-level party will mow right through all of those fights, but fights take a lot longer in a PBP, so I don't want the players getting bored and having that affect their first impression of PF.
Now, I'm more than prepared to beef up the guards and lower their numbers, but I also want to explore my options. What other adventures out there would do well in a PBP style of play and would also serve as a good intro to PF? Some of the guidelines I think apply are:
4th to 8th level adventure
A variety of encounters (skill checks, social encounters, head-to-head fights)
Stronger enemies rather than a lot of little fights. (Because fights can drag down a PBP game, it's better to pack more of the challenge into fewer enemies.)
It would be a nice bonus if the adventure had both a wilderness and a somewhat urban element.
It's a nice, short adventure. The adventure being part of a series is fine, so long as it is somewhat self-contained.
As I said above, I'm not afraid of fiddling with an adventure to make it fit a PBP style better, but I also want to make sure I'm looking at all of the promising candidates.
The online SRD for the Spellcraft skill reads, "If you fail to learn a spell from a spellbook or scroll, you must wait at least 1 week before you can try again."
However, the magic section of the SRD has a section titled "Adding Spells to a Wizard's Spellbook," which states that the wizard needs to make a particular Spellcraft check, and then "If the check fails, the wizard cannot understand or copy the spell. He cannot attempt to learn or copy that spell again until he gains another rank in Spellcraft."
Now, I've re-read those entries numerous times, and I feel confident that they are both referring to learning a spell, not visually identifying a spell being cast or just preparing a spell from an unfamiliar spellbook. The only difference is that the magic section is talking about learning a spell with the intention of adding it to your spellbook, while the Spellcraft section just talks about learning the spell.
Is there a reason to learn a spell and not add it to your spellbook, or am I completely missing something? Are the two bits I've quoted talking about the same thing?
