My concern is that if we feed an RSS of the blog directly to twitter, it will include just the title of the blog and the first few words, which will often sound like nonsense. I suspect that might be even MORE annoying.
I agree with you :). I believe there are repeaters meant especially for blogs that will tweet "New blog post: [title]", though most of the ones I've seen used look to be wordpress/blogger plugins, and I know you use custom software.
I also see Vic's point that this would make any sort of automated Facebook feed difficult.
Sorry; I wish I could suggest a solution :S. Thinking about it, I have problems with this kind of integration myself, and you're working with more content.
I've used Tweetdeck myself. It's a twitter client that has optional Facebook support. I believe it only does status updates, however, which wont help you post links in quite the same fashion.
Hey folks, while I appreciate having the blog entries repeated to Twitter, I really don't like that the attached links take me to facebook pages, which then link to the actual blog post. It's not so bad once, but if I try to follow two or three in a row, it gets old really quickly.
I realize you're probably using a facebook repeater, but there are plenty of RSS repeaters that feed to Twitter directly.
I read in an interview that the base box would have rules for levels 1-5, then they would work on upcomming product that would support 5-10, 11-15, and 16-20. I would never buy a game using this strategy so I would like to warn others who feel like I do.
I think the final cost is the same as for three big hardcovers in the end ...
I've been subtly trying to give you guys a scaup. But if I teal too much, I'll need to run for muscovey. But you will totally be gadwall when you find out why I am writing this stupid post! Friday. Friday.
-Lisa
Paizo has FINALLY listened to my many, many letters and worked the archaic word for a group mallard ducks (a "sord" of mallards) into the new game "Sords and Sorcery: Ducks and Dragons". I'm so glad to see you folks producing this; I think it's going to be a really solid product! I especially look forward to the Wayne Reynolds art of the noble Hen Queen Amvarria protecting her stash of golden eggs from the dreaded aurumvorax.
This is one of a bazillion things we're gonna be fixing if/when we reprint. Honestly, this error is the tied with the "Reigon" typo on the poster map for "Most Embarrassing Error in a Pathfinder Product" as far as I'm concerned, and that they're both in the same product is shameful. Neither error is one we talk much about. But yeah... they're errors. (cries)
Don't cry! I just wanted to make sure you knew ... Knowing is half the battle (sadly, it's usually the easier half, before you get to the tanks at the back, but half the battle nonetheless ;)).
A 1st level arcane Sorcerer or generalist Wizard, or 2nd level Adept, could make a handy living for himself by getting a Raven or Hawk familiar and hanging around the chasm, distracting note-tossers with begging, the hawking of imaginary wares or services, or doing a brief entertainer's routine (comedy, dance, prestidigitation-enhanced 'magic tricks, extemperaneous verse, mime...), while his familiar snags their note. He could then, using the information in the note, arrange for elaborate cons and stings based on the desires they've expressed, or, sell that information to rivals or merchants who might have use for that information.
Yes, the ultimate sacriledge, stealing people's letters to the gods to use to swindle them!
This is too amazing to not happen :). This kind of operation could provide fuel for a whole information network ...
Absalom certainly seems a likely destination, for all the reasons given in the last post plus a few.
Hahaha ... not that you're biased or anything :). One of my PCs just got back from an (abstracted) holiday in Absalom, and had a ton of (abstracted) fun there :).
Here's the writeup I gave my GM:
Spoiler:
•On Lamashan 27, they check into a high-class bed-and-breakfast in the petal district, and spend some time exploring the city. They decide to celebrate Jestercap at a Taldoran pub, which involves a lot of singing and beer drinking. They later get dragged along to a sports game by some enthusiastic rabble-rousers, and there is much carousing.
Over the course of the next several days they do a lot of things.
• In the Ivy district, they visit a show by a collective of myopic artists, and later a concert by a genius (if morose) violinist from Üstalav, rumoured to have gained his talents via spirit possession.
• After running into Montlarion, they follow him to a tour of some Pathfinder trophy galleries and the museum, meeting him again the next day to explore Little Korvosa. Much time is spent browsing in Pseudohoard.
• They take a day-long cruise to a nearby island off Kortos, rumoured to be formed from a random piece of rubble displaced by the impact of the Starstone. They climb down a sheer ridge on the edge of the island to see a large piscine skeleton fossilized in the strata, speculating on rumours that it is, in fact, a hoax.
• As with most visitors to Absalom, they visit the great chasm in the Ascendant court and toss written wishes into its depths. While there they patronize street vendors and merchants, and their respective temples.
I may have to expand that description with some of the ideas above, though :).
This isn't really errata, but recently we've been gaming at the office, and my copy of the Campaign Setting has been living there as a result. Some of my co-workers pointed out the other day that the cover art is not actually at print resolution, and you can see signs of compression artifacts against the blue-green background (look against the edges of Valeros's sword for an easy-to-spot example).
The Branding looks fine and the Pathfinder Chronicler on the back is very crisp, but they're right: something's up with that cover painting.
According to the timeline of holidays in the Campaign Setting, there is a holiday called 'Jestercap' celebrated in Druma, Taldor and Andoran on Lamashan 27. Is is there any information elsewhere on what this holiday or festival might be?
It's not mentioned in the entries for those countries ... or maybe it is and I just missed it ...
The "Cthulhu through the ages" angle is a neat one -- it reminds me a lot of Eternal Darkness, which is not a bad thing in the slightest :). If I wasn't a starving artsy type, I'd be all over this ...
Sounded like at least one of those voices hidden behind the distortion was one of the people who do unskippable over on Escapist Magazine.
Is that right?
Ulric is played (puppeteered?) By Paul Saunders of Unskippable ... also modeled after him, (though the present RL Paul is beardless, having shaved his goatee for charity).
This module has one of the best opening encounters I've ever seen. Great setpiece (although it doesn't come close to fitting on my flip-mat) and great use of monster powers to create some truely epic mayhem. Looking forward to running it tomorrow :).
Xqaluk Xquash was the greatest flumph hero the cosmos had ever known. As a
Cleric 8 / Evoker 8 / Fighter 8 / Monk 8 / Paladin 8 / Ranger 8 / Rogue 8 / Sorcerer 8 he was by far the most powerful and effective champion of his race.
As such a decorated hero, he took it upon himself to hunt and kill the demon lord Andirifkhu, but only got as far as the doorstep before running into problems. As he approached, a terrible trap unleashed a curse upon the flumph, tearing him into pieces and scattering them about. These pieces fled back to their home, and soon discovered themselves unable to merge back into one being. Where once there had been one flumph, now there were eight.
Shortly thereafter, a portal opened up, and they were unexpectedly sucked into another world. Oh dear!
Character Creation Guide
Spoiler:
Each of you is a severed part of the great Xqaluk Xquash.
Abilities - Use standard point buy to generate your ability scores
Race - Flumph racial characteristics:
• small size
• 2 Aberration hit dice (2d8; +1 BAB; +3 Will; 2 skill points/level)
• 20ft fly speed (average)
• +6 natural bonus to AC
• natural weapon: spikes (1d6 + 1d4 acid for 2d4 rounds)
• darkvision 60 ft
• nauseating spray (ranged touch; nausea [Fort DC 11 + Con negates]; affects all creatures within 100 ft of target; recharge 1d4 rounds)
• alignment: lawful good
• abilities: Dex +6, Wis +4
* for more info, see Tome of Horrors Revised
Class - Choose eight class levels from the selection above. You can mix and match, but there may not be more than eight levels in any one class between you.
There will be eight flumphs in total no matter how many players are present. Any flumphs not played by a player merge with an active PC to temporarily create a gestalt character. Basically this means in any circumstance where such a character needs to make a check, that player consults both character sheets and chooses the higher modifier. He also has access to all the abilities, feats and skills of both characters. Gestalt flumphs use the higher hit point total of their component characters, and split any damage between them equally when they separate.
Equipment - the group my split the following (presumably the armour has been custom-crafted to suit flumphs, and presumably flumphs can wield weapons in their tentacles):
+1 evil outsider bane cold iron [melee weapon]
+1 flaming cold iron [melee weapon]
+1 holy [ammunition] x18
+1 mithral shirt
+1 mithral heavy shield
+2 ring of protection x2
+2 armoured kilt with
+1 cold iron ki focus [melee weapon]
+2 cloak of resistance
+4 cloak of charisma
+2 pseudopod decoration of ogre power (glove slot)
+4 pseudopod hangings of dexterity (glove slot)
+4 headband of intellect
masterwork missile weapon
metamagic rod of lesser extend spell
pearl of power (2nd level)
potion of neutralize poison
potion of cure serious wounds x3
wand of cure moderate wounds (50 charges) x2
wand of magic missile (CL 5; 50 charges)
wand of invisibility (25 charges)
spellbook (0-all [except banned school]; 1-9; 2-7; 3-5; 4-4)
The first session was taken up entirely by character creation, which is fair given that there were twice as many characters as players. Character creation also involved miniature creation, with some fantastic results.
Well, sure, the last time we checked they were charged a large sum of money for tiny spaces in which to play. I'm not sure if that changed, but even if did I wouldn't put PAX on my radar for PFS.
This is fair, though Paizo's presence will be felt. WotC was there in force last year, and I expect Green Ronin and Bioware to have a big Dragon Age RPG presence, given the crossover potential. Somewhere in there, I'd love to play some Pathfinder. There was certainly a lot of unused space in the gaming building last year, so hopefully some of us can get together for some a game or two-I don't travel for cons that often and would love to game with strangers :).
I'll check when the final schedule is up to see what folks are into.
How comprehensive a gazetteer of Westcrown will we be looking at between these various documents? My GM made most of the Guide to Korvosa required reading prior to the start of our CotCT campaign, and I must say that having a reference for the city and its people has HUGELY improved the experience.
In case you missed it: Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook PDF will be just $9.99. #pathfinder #pfrpg (SKR)
I am floored. Seriously, guys, well done - that's one hell of a lost leader.
While I knew I was going to buy the book, I was wondering whether my players were going to be willing to buy-in right away ... now that is no longer in question.
My group will be playing this game; please enjoy our money.
Could you have Pathfinder Modules that could be related to the AP (It would have to be able to stand alone as well to make it viable).
So if your AP ends at Level 15 you could have a level 18 Pathfinder Module with ideas on how to connect it to the AP.
(EDIT: James it was raised and JJ gave valid reasons for not doing it :-( bummer)
Sorry, I missed the thread where these valid reasons were presented, so I may be treading well-worn ground here, but I think high-level mega-adventure sequels to established APs could be a grand idea ... not something that happens directly after the curtain drops, but maybe several (or more) years later. There would be a delicate balance to strike between making the sequel feel baked-into the plot of the original, and making those who purchased the original feel ripped off for not getting the full story; however the results could be quite rewarding.
... there's a certain charm to the idea of retired or just otherwise occupied heros being called back to old haunts, Dark Knight Returns style, to deal with menaces they may have helped create :).
This whole thing makes me really sad. I find it especially ironic that not a month ago Wil Wheaton was publicly crowing about how awesome it was to be able to relive his childhood through legacy pdf products.
There's also the feeling that leveling is occurring too rapidly. Maybe it's my old-school gaming experience, or Living Greyhawk/Arcanis convention play experience, but I've always felt I've had to work for those levels. I'm not gaining that sense in Pathfinder Society, it seems almost too easy.
Is it that I'm burning through playtest scenarios more rapidly as a Pathfinder GM than I did as a LG/LA con player? Specifically I'm interested to hear from other Living Greyhawk/Arcanis players - do you feel Pathfinder Society advancement is more rapid than you're used to? Pathfinder Society is it's own game, it doesn't have to mimic LG/LA in every regard, faster or slower advancement is okay, but what I am asking is does it feel "right" for you, or a little faster than you're comfortable with?
I'll throw my hat into the "faster than I'm comfortable with" category. If each level represents a new toy to play with, then I feel I'm not really getting to appreciate each one before I have the next thrust upon me. Does that make sense?
Two thirds of the time I'm either getting a new toy for the first time, or thinking ahead to the toy I'm about to get. It would be nice to see that curve plateau a little longer in between those states.
I'm also a little uncertain of the forced progression inherent in PFS XP. Because the same principle isn't also applied to treasure, a party that fails a mission gets no loot and full experience. Three such scenarios theoretically put these characters a level behind in terms of treasure, which, I don't think is desirable. In standard 3.5, this problem is self-correcting: PCs who fail a lot (and don't get treasure) advance in level more slowly. The all-or-nothing approach to leveling might be a problem.
As has been mentioned, the fact that Xp doesn't scale also means that a character who gets behind his party will always be behind. Again, this removes the system's inbuilt ability to self-correct, and I think this may be the root of many players' worries with regard to low-level death and subsequent character creation.
My co-submitter and I figured we knew more about Andoran's forests than Taldor's slums. We were going to submit for both, but got a late start and ultimately ran out of time.
A couple of the local folks are indeed planning to pool their money to buy the cleric a wand of cure light wounds, and I, for one, am happy that there's no rule in PFS banning that.
This looks like an oversight to me; I wouldn't get my hopes up.
I seem to recall a Living Jungle scenario whose point was to convert characters from second to third edition. In this scenario, the heroes were sent by a shaman or something to a special place of power, where they undertook a ritual of transformation to become "great heroes of the jungle", or somesuch. The module then had an hour scheduled into it for players to convert their characters, before delivering the final encounter in 3rd ed.
Josh, if you're looking for some kind of special Gen-Con event, this could be a fun way to handle conversion :).
A friend and I co-submitted for 23. If nothing else I think it was a far stronger submission than my last one :). We were thinking of doing 24 as well, but didn't have time to get it together.
Another way to offset the cost of a resurrection might be to allow a characters to throw themselves on the mercy of their factions. The faction in question could step in as a mysterious benefactor to raise its agent, but not be too happy about it and dock him or her some privileges.
Mechanics wise, this amounts to losing a certain number of prestige points in exchange for a free raise. This wouldn't affect the faction's overall points for the shadow war (which have already been reported anyway) but would affect the prestige on the PC's chronicle, and his ability to purchase items.
The players have decided that all of their characters are from or have at least been living on Lof'Rhiane, a small island in the Nyr Dyv that houses the equally small town of Salt Harbour.
In truth, Salt Harbour was our group's Living Greyhawk "club village", and is an entirely original creation. Those who played Living Greyhawk in the PNW circa 2001 might remember this as the setting for the adventure Lonely Harbour, as well as a couple interactives, and a regional adaptation for Descent Into Darkness. It's been fun updating the setting six years from 592 to 597, though it's been a slog cutting through my own writing from age 17.
If you're interested in slogging through such prose yourself--which I've had time to update and add to, but not greatly improve upon--you can see it here. Fair warning though, it's long.
We've spent a few weeks in character creation so far, mostly over the internet, though we've done some work in person as well. As we're using the Pathfinder beta, the rules are a bit new to all of us--not entirely new, of course, but new enough that there have been some questions.
Part 1: The Guide
Here is the guide that I gave the group:
Character Creation Guide wrote:
Character Creation Guide
Use the material in the Pathfinder Beta to create eighth-level characters. You may use material from the core book, and its various web enhancements. Your characters live and have always lived somewhere in the Flaness.
Abilities
Use the "Purchase" method for ability score generation outlined on page 5 of the beta. You have 25 points. Don't forget that because you are 8th level, you get two +1 bumps to any score after all is said and done.
Hit Points
You get maximum hit points at first level, and half your hit die (plus appropriate modifiers) for each subsequent level. Add 10 to your total hit points at eighth level.
For each odd-numbered level beyond eighth, gain half your hit die plus appropriate modifiers; for each even numbered level beyond eighth, gain this number plus one.
You may choose to get one bonus hit point for each level you take in your race's favoured class, but you may opt for skill points instead. Choose wisely.
Feats
You may use feats from this thread in addition to those in the beta.
Money
Purchase equipment from the Beta and its web enhancements with a value of 33 000 gp. Anything left over is cash on hand.
Of course, I made one mistake: while I meant to tell them they could have 15 points for ability scores, I was so used to "standard 3.5 point buy" that I must have written "25 points" by accident. By the time we all got together to talk about characters, many of them had purchased their scores based on these guidelines, and I didn't have the heart to tell them to reroll.
Knowing what they will be up against (thanks to the devious gentlemen who wrote it), I doubt this will help them all that much when all is said and done.
Observant readers will note that of the five characters listed, four chose to play fighters. Their "concept party" idea was that everybody would play a fighter of some sort, and multiclasss to fill another party role (albeit lackingly). Horrified by this idea, the fifth player decided to break the mould in an attempt to cover all the spellcasting bases herself. I look forward to seeing how this party functions in the Greyhawk dungeons, especially if confronted with Will saves.
Part III: Questions
The following issues or questions were raised by various players over the course of chacter creation. These are summarized below (with my temporary rulings):
questions wrote:
Q: Does the DR from my Adamantine Full Plate (3/-) render 3 points of my vicious weapon self-dealing damage null?
A: No. Vicious weapons deal damage with 'a flash of disruptive energy', or untyped energy damage of some sort (one of the vagaries of magic items, I guess). DR doesn't help against energy damage.
Q: How about hardness?
A: Energy damage doesn't cut through hardness. Objects in general only take damage from specific types of energy, and the type done by vicious weapons is not among them. Negative and positive energy similarly do no damage to objects.
Q: What happens when a vicious weapon wielded by hand of the acolyte hits a target?
A: Mage hand is 5 lb telekinesis that targets an item, therefore there is no "hand" per se (even if hand of the acolyte seems to imply that one exists). While this is seemingly contradictory, I'm going to say that the target takes 2d6 damage, but because there is nothing actually wielding the weapon, nothing takes the additional 1d6.
Q: Does Devastating Blow work with the Critical Hit Deck?
A: Critical Hit Cards count as a special effect; devastating blow is for damage only.
Q: Fleet's movement bonus does not apply if one is carrying a "medium or heavy load". So... if I'm wearing heavy armour, but have a high enough strength, my base move goes up 5'? Does that mean my move is 25'? Or does 35' get reduced to 20' as well?
A: For now, I'm ruling that 35 becomes 25 in medium or heavy armour, and 25 likewise becomes 20. Literal interpretation of the rules implies that this is not the case, but why explicitly make the the feat function in medium and heavy armour if it clearly does nothing under those circumstances?
Q: Can a shield be used as a primary weapon?
A: The rules don't mention this, but I see no reason why not (I'm sure I will soon). Remember one can only have one shield bonus to one's AC at a given time.
Q: Into what fighter weapon group do a dragon sorcerer's claws fall?
A: This is unclear. I'm going to say an unlisted one called "natural" that also includes other forms of natural weapons.
Q: How frequently does one get new feats?
A: While it's not explicitly stated in the beta, the chart implies every odd-numbered level.
Q: Now that specialist bonus spells have been rolled into a wizard's class features, does a mystic theurge continue to receive them?
A: The rules seem to imply that, no, the mystic theurge is screwed, as compared to 3.5. Tough beans.
I’ve decided to run Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk campaign using the Pathfinder RPG beta release. I've been waiting to run this adventure for a while, and now seems like a fine time :). While I’ll be documenting the game as it progresses. My players will likely read this thread, so information not meant for them will be hidden behind spoiler tags. Please comment on anything, but use spoilers liberally.
I'll also be following the lead of other recent playtesters and posting a blog containing both the content posted here, and other information not relevant to the playtest (but possibly relevant to the campaign).
• There is nothing about mage hand beyond its name to suggest that it actually creates an anthropomorphic hand. It is not a conjuration spell, and its target is the object upon which it is cast; it is simply a 5 lb telekinesis. My ruling (based strictly on the text of the Beta) would therefore be that hand of the apprentice can wield a two-handed weapon if that weapon weighs 5 lbs or less, and if the caster is proficient.
But that's not going to happen, right?
• Well actually, a mithral weapon weighs half the weight of a standard weapon of its type, putting a greatsword in hand of the apprentice range.
But you still need proficiency right?
• No. Because hand of the apprentice makes no concession for the size of the weapon wielded -- note that it is the weapon itself that attacks, and that while it borrows some of the caster's stats, it has no size of its own -- an elven wizard can wield a large mithral longsword without a hitch.
That's a really high ranged attack roll that effectively ignores firing-into-melee restrictions and does a metric tonne of damage.
Want to break it even more?
• Try it with a vicious weapon. A spectral hand would be destroyed by the mysterious untyped energy damage a vicious weapon deals, but the straight telekinesis of mage hand sidesteps this problem.
So my eighth-level wizard, for 10,015 gp, now has (about) +10 to hit from 30 feet away for 4d6+6 with his flying DOOM sword OF DOOM.
Also, this is also a supernatural ability, isn't it? Meaning I could use it in conjunction with transformation? That would be . . . vicious :D.
Snarky tone aside (And I'm only playing, of course), here are my suggestions:
• Change the wording of hand of the apprentice such that it doesn't refer to an actual "hand". There is no hand according to mage hand, and adding one would drastically increase the complexity of this ability.
• Add a proviso that the weapon affected must be a light or one-handed weapon of the caster's size.
• Add a further clause that any effect that would cause the weapon to damage its wielder (heat metal, damage from a vicious weapon, etc.) ends the effect.
• Also, in general this ability does more damage than spiritual weapon, which is a second-level spell of limited duration. It's not a force effect like spiritual weapon, but it can be augmented as suggested above, making it (in my oppinion) a little too good, even before being abused. A damage modifier more in line with spiritual weapon's seems like it would be more appropriate.
Bob the 1st level fighter is fighting a greataxe wielding orc, and Eric the cleric is healing Bob.
The Orc is standard Monster Manual Orc armed with a greataxe. This gives the Orc an attack bonus +4 and damage 1d12+4 (average 10.5 points). I'll ignore criticals for simplicity's sake.
Bob has AC 15 (Dex +1, scale mail +4). This gives the orc 50% chance to hit Bob, and so the orc's average damage per round versus Bob is 5.25.(including criticals will boost this a bit)
Eric the cleric hasn't specialized in healing, and so his cure light wounds heals 1d8+1. Average damage healed per spell is 5.5....
That's fair, but remember that a first-level party doesn't fight an orc; it fights two--effectively doubling the damage intake; and that's only 50% of the time according to the DMG. in reality, I think encounters with CR equal to APL have fallen out of style (there's not a single CR 1 encounter in Burnt Offerings), so it's likely the damage to healing ratio of an average fight is even higher.
That's as it should be.
The cleric isn't supposed to be able to support all the hats, but I think the trend towards tougher encounters over the lifespan of 3.5 has resulted in more fights where the cleric bounces from ally to ally, bringing each person from -[X] to +[number less than the hit he's gonna take next round].
Further, with the increase in character hit points in the PFB, it can take longer for a party to heal between delves. This is somewhat offset by the cleric's ability to channel positive energy, but that doesn't apply to bards, druids, or (to some extent) clerics multiclassed into prestige classes.
I'd say healing could use a little boost.
My current idea: replace the "standard" d8 healing die with 2d6
Why?:
• Simple: Healing spells aren't broken. Simple changes are best.
• Power boost: the average heal die increases from 4.5 to 7.
• Bell curve: cures are easier to predict. The chances of rolling a minimum on a cure light drop from 1/8 to 1/32. Further, the chances of rolling above the previous maximum (8) are only 23%, meaning the potential to make healing too powerful is dampened.
• Flavour: single-target cures are clearly more effective for healing single targets than Channel Energy, which, presently breaks away after about 6th level.
• It makes non-cleric healers more effective, especially at low levels.
• Damage: cure spells are very effective single-target weapons against undead - as they should be.
In the alpha playtest I ran, we went with the Con + hit die option for starting hit points. Everyone played their favoured classes, and a couple characters took toughness, and the result was a group with massive numbers of hit points, that served to make healing seem incredibly ineffective.
At third level, the fighter had something like 65 hit points, and once he got down to single digits, it took more healing than the cleric could muster for the entire day to bring him back to full.
I don't know if this needs to change, but the overall increase in party durability seems to suggest a proportionate healing increase.
I was always under the assumption that the bonus spells beyond what was accrued at base levels were lost. This is one of the reasons that the players in my games have avoided it. I really think that there could be some review performed on this that could have some value.
Check out the example at the bottom of the WotC page dragonborn3 just linked to. You'll see that Deggum the Theurge has both a third-level domain spell, and a third-level specialist spell. That's the way I've always seen it ruled.
I'm really unclear as to whether or not pathfinder prestige classes (and Theurges in particular) get bonus specialist bonus spells, but losing one spell per level (two for the Theurge) in the transition from 3.5 constitutes a hefty (if not very obvious) nerf.
My girlfriend was making a Mystic Theurge this weekend and we were all over the book looking stuff up. Given the final book will be BIGGER, my vote is that everything go in the Classes chapter
I think he's talking about the new Weapon Training fighter ability, the one that gives +1 to attack/damage on the weapons in that group.
Since many 0-level player races can have natural weapons (Eberron shifters have them, don't they?), I don't think it'd be even out of place to put natural weapons (claw, bite, tail, wing, slam, etc) as a Weapon Group for the Fighter's Weapon Training ability.
I have a sorcerer (dragon bloodline) 2/fighter 6 playing in my upcoming playtest campaign, so this issue is foremost in her mind. Natural weapons could fall into Close, Monk or a new group called Natural. I'm going to go for the latter, as she's going Dragon Disciple, and will have access to bite and wing attacks later anyway.
I'm starting a group using the beta fairly soon, and we're creating characters at eighth level.
It has occurred to me watching character creation process, however, that wizards and clerics multiclassing into prestige classes that continue their spell progressions get a bit of a hose-down in Pathfinder.
In 3.5, cleric domain spells and specialist wizard bonus spells are part of their respective classes' spell progressions; thus they continue to accrue after the wizard or cleric multiclasses into a spellcasting prestige class. Now they are a separate subsystem tied into wizard and cleric class levels. While I may be wrong, it appears to me that under the beta rules wizards and clerics no longer get these spells after multiclassing into a prestige class--even a class that builds on their previous class's spellcasting abilities.
Am I wrong in this assertion? If so, please let me know.
If I'm correct, this amounts to a 20-25% reduction in total number of spells gained over 10 levels of prestige class progression . . . which frankly seems a little harsh -- especially for the Mystic Theurge, who in 3.5 doubled her spellcasting repotiore at the cost of her other class abilities and upper-level spells, and in Pathfinder gets only 1.5-1.6x the number of spells she would have if she'd stayed a straight caster at the MUCH steeper cost of cool domain and specialist abilities.
Furthermore if specialists stop getting their bonus spells under prestige classes, yet continue to face the cost of having restricted schools at higher levels, this makes the generalist look like the clear winner: he doesn't get bonus spells at prestige levels, but neither does he suffer restricted schools for his entire career in exchange for this non-benefit.
Literal interpretation of the rules would have it that a medium-sized character with Fleet (+5 ft base movement if not carrying a medium or heavy load) still has a movement of 20 in medium or heavy armour, even if he is still lightly encumbered.
beta wrote:
Speed: Medium or heavy armor slows the wearer down. The number on Table 7–6 is the character’s speed while wearing the armor. Humans, elves, half-elves, and half-orcs have an unencumbered speed of 30 feet. They use the first column. Dwarves, gnomes, and halflings have an un-encumbered speed of 20 feet. They use the second column.
Remember, however, that a dwarf ’s land speed remains 20 feet even in medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load.
Is the speed of a medium character in medium armour 20 ft regardless of other factors? Or is the speed of the a 35 ft base speed character 25 ft in medium armour?
What if a small character takes Fleet twice to improve his base speed to 30 ft, then puts on medium armour? Is his speed 20 ft or 15 ft?
PLAYER 1: What? A harpy carrying an adolescent boy?
GM : She could grab him as an unattended object!
PLAYER 1: It's not a question of how she grabs him! It's a simple question of weight ratios! A Strength 10 harpy cannot carry an eighty pound slave.
GM : Well, it doesn't matter. Please roll initiative.
PLAYER 1: Listen. In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a harpy needs to carry a light load, right?
GM : Please!
PLAYER 1: Am I right?
GM : I'm not interested!
PLAYER 2: It could be carried by an elite harpy!
PLAYER 1: Oh, yeah, an elite harpy maybe, but not a monster manual harpy. That's my point.
PLAYER 2: Oh, yeah, I agree with that.
GM : Will you please roll initiative and prepare for battle?!
PLAYER 1: But then of course a-- elite harpies are all flesh-eating.
PLAYER 2: Oh, yeah.
PLAYER 1: So, they wouldn't really need slaves anyway.
[GM leaves]
PLAYER 2: Wait a minute! Supposing two harpies carried it together?
PLAYER 1: No, they'd have to have it on a line.
PLAYER 2: Well, simple! They'd just use a strand of assassin vine!
PLAYER 1: What, held under the dorsal guiding feathers?
PLAYER 2: Well, why not?
Could a PC conceivably know to bring appropriate face-protection with a decent survival or knowledge (local) check? Certainly Osirion PCs should be familiar with the desert.
I wouldn't recommend it for running a sanctioned event, because it would give those players an advantage not otherwise written into the scenario, but for use in games outside of the Pathfinder Society, I'd think it would be reasonable.
Acknowledged. Granted you don't have space in a 7000-word scenario to go into Osirion's weather patterns - I was more-or-less trying to establish the line of reasoning: If sandstorms of this severity happen often, shouldn't the PCs know to prepare for them ;). You're right though, that in the interests of fair play this is probably not a good option.
Spoiler: Entombed with the Pharaohs
Spoiler:
I'm a bit unclear as to how the timeline of the PFS scenarios syncs up with that of the published Pathfinder modules, but Entombed with the Pharaohs suggests the the Osirion djinni have been causing a lot of nasty sandstorms of late - certainly more fierce than the locals are used to.
This disturbance would certainly justify a lack of preparedness on the part of the caravan, and if the Osirion ranger asks how a bunch of goblins out-survived her, I'm going with this as an explanation :).
Greg A. Vaughn wrote:
Jer wrote:
Also, does Gasper's 19 Str reflect his state pre- or post-bull's strength?
The Str 19 is with bull's strength. His stats without the buff are listed in the "Base Statistics" portion of the stat block underneath "Morale."
How common are sandstorms of the type encountered in this adventure? If desert raiders frequently wear headgear of the type described, wouldn't caravan merchants have figured out the utility of this by now?
Could a PC conceivably know to bring appropriate face-protection with a decent survival or knowledge (local) check? Certainly Osirion PCs should be familiar with the desert.
Also, does Gasper's 19 Str reflect his state pre- or post-bull's strength?
I don't feel this rule adds any more drama to the game than using "and then they all died" as the conclusion to a story. The drama of combat lies in the tracking of resources, whether they're hit points, spells or whatever. Tossing in an arbitrary death check just seems like a killjoy, especially for a barbarian or fighter whose job is to suck up huge amounts of damage.
Some other points
• At epic levels, massive damage saves are made more frequently. Combat does not need any more die rolls.
• At low levels, a massive hit against a monster can ruin the drama of an encounter. Sure, it might feel awesome to take out Strahd in one hit after months of harassment, but is that a fulfilling final fight? Was it worth the weeks of preparation? Probably not.
• At epic levels, many monsters are immune to massive damage. All deities with a divine rank of 1 or higher are similarly immune. At this point, massive damage becomes a PC-only threat, making it seem that much more arbitrary.
Some suggestions:
• Make Massive damage optional again. Those who want it can keep it.
• Introduce a feat in the Toughness tree that gives a +4 bonus to saves vs. massive damage, and negates the auto-fail on a 1. Make this a fighter feat and give it to Barbarians as a bonus feat later on.
Pity theres no Irish hospital sponsored by the charity.
Vagrant, get a children's hospital hospital in your area to give Kristen at Child's Play a call. She is super enthusiastic about getting more hospitals involved from all over the world.
