Latharien "Lefty" Setiva's page

How about a link to a bigger image?

To all my friends here on the boards and in RL who enjoy Paizo and Pathfinder, I wish you a happy holiday season, and a great 2013. I've enjoyed this site immensely, and learned a lot and laughed a lot reading through it.

That may sound corny, but I really mean it! Merry Christmahanukwanzaa!

It's certainly possible.

Even Thom Hartmann mentioned it.

Strange times we're living in!

Focus yields nothing but the sticky.

I noticed, unless I didn't search right, that Community doesn't have its own thread beyond the DnD episode.

It's been mentioned in other threads, and I just thought it deserves its own. What a weird, wacky, enjoyable show. The first episode had me hopeful, and it just kept getting better from there.

It's like Firefly or Legend of the Seeker in that there's a loyal fanbase, but it just doesn't have the draw some cheaper shows seem to get. A 4th season is underway, so maybe we will get 6 seasons and a movie.

Who doesn't love Inspector Spacetime? This show is built on spoofs, and it hasn't gotten stale, for me. Long live the Greendale 7!

One of our players has bowed out, due to RL getting too busy. This campaign started with We Be Goblins and continued from there. We've been playing just over a year. I'm willing to play this as high as we want to go, as long as people still want to play.

Before you submit anything, please take a look at the campaign to get a sense of how the goblins interact, their playstyles, etc.

Goblins 2: The Wreckin'ing

Tark is the one leaving, and another frontline warrior type is strongly preferred. This game is a little on the goofy side, and the goblins are all crazy and crude, but with a tinge of humor to it all.

Look over the gameplay and campaign info, and if you think you'd like to play a bloodthirsty, zany goblin, please indicate your interest here.

They're good at what they do, and it's the little comments and asides that give them personality. There are a number of things specific to this game, and I'll go over it all with the selected candidate.

If nothing else, there are some giggles to be had reading this tale of utter weirdness.

It's not entirely done, but here's the text. If anybody can help me format it more like the other guides, that would be a big help.

A Highly Regarded Expert's Guide to the Arcane Trickster

It's quite long, and geared somewhat to newer players.

Comments and constructive criticism welcome!

Click "Favorite" here for Barack Obama-->

This is where we can discuss anything outside of the ongoing fray.

The best way to get in the game is to send a PM to myself, Mr. Swagger, LazarX, and hopefully a few other people willing to act as judges. Outline your character following the rules given in the gameplay thread, and once he's been looked over and given the OK, he can wait in line for his turn at the reigning champion.

This is just for fun, so let's just have some giggles watching mages kill each other in new and creative ways!

Welcome, people of Paizo, to the first of what we hope will be many battles of arcane might!

It's pretty simple: Put 2 mages in a box, and have them fight to the death.

If you would like to make a mage and fight, here are the rules:

Our first contestants will be Wareagle, with his elven wizard, "Lenwe Sirfalas," and Mr. Swagger, with his human sorcerer, "Sir Blast-A-Lot."

I will roll initiative for both characters, and the bloody conflict will ensue. Good luck, mages!

Lenwe Sirfalas:

Sir Blast-A-Lot:

Lenwe will go first.

HERE IS THE MAP

ROUND 1!

Wizards and Sorcerers: Duel to the Death!

You begin play in opposite corners of a 100' x 100' flat, featureless cube. The surface is mown grass on firm, dry land. It's a sunny, cloudless day, with a light breeze at 72 degrees farenheit. You can move and teleport within the cube, but not outside of it. The cube further extends 50' down into the soil beneath you (so it's not really a cube. It's 100 x 100 x 150', 50' of it below ground. ). The boundaries are permanent walls of pure magic, hard as steel, created by a powerful god, and you can't dispel or otherwise escape them. Air moves through it normally, and all spells work as normal within the boundaries.

*10th level characters, single-classed as wizards or sorcerers. Any race from the PHB.
*Everyone is true Neutral. Alignment spells won't be much use. You can only escape by reducing your opponent to 0 - their con score hit points.
*15 pt. buy. Two traits; one magic, one general. Feats and skill points as normal for your race/class.
*No stats above 18 or below 7 before racial and level adjustments.
*40 hp before adjustments.
*You get the standard 62,000 gp. for a 10th level character, and can have any item or class spell listed in the PRD (for commonality and ease of reference).
*No one item can be worth more than 15,500 gp.
*No partially-charged items.
*No crafting. Pay book retail for everything.
*You begin with your full daily roster of spells, and haven't cast ANY.
*Have a full list of all your feats, your gear, its cost and weight, and the spells you know or have prepared in all slots.

Both mages begin in opposite corners, aware of each other, and roll initiative. One of you MUST DIE.

The winner will be immediately restored to full health and spells, and defend his champion status until he's defeated or gets bored with his awesome superiority. Any charged items used are also restored to full.

This is just for fun, not to prove anything. We are simply going to delight in brutal killings, like we used to.

The mage who gets initiative has a definite advantage, but is it enough to win? Do you cast offensively first, or do you buff?

We'll start with one wizard and one sorcerer, winner goes on until defeated. Post a build for peer review, then wait in line for your chance at death or glory. First come, first served. Defeated mages may not try again, though players who submit new mages can get in line again. If you don't show up for your turn, you'll be skipped.

Show us your mage-killing uber-death mage!

Here's the MAP.

Just noticed it. I wuv woo, Paizo!

It took many months of careful and secretive planning to get the 6 of you involved, inculcated and initiated, but it happened. The Night Ravens are ready to do everything but hire criers and hang a shingle to advertise. There's a new gang in town, and for the first time, you're the “original gangsters.”

Rumors are everywhere, naturally, and come pretty cheap. Folks who cheat and steal are also known to lie, so news of a formidable new presence in Absalom alarms some, and bores others. Alliances come and go like ships in the harbor, leaving little to remember, so there's no telling what, if anything, is going on. That remains to be seen. And demonstrated.

The Happy Harpy is one of the Docks District's landmark taverns, run for nearly 50 years by an ornery dwarf named Brig Ironton, a former adventurer known for his strong arms and his accuracy with the pair of throwing axes always hanging from his belt. The tavern occupies the first floor of a 4-story tenement on the east side of the Dock District.

There is a small shrine to Gozreh in one corner, frequented by sailors and dockworkers alike, a grinning, stuffed harpy Brig reportedly killed himself, which hangs swooping from the ceiling, and enough cheap ale to keep his customers (mostly dockworkers and other working locals) drinking well into the night.

There are usually a few working girls, peddlers and cutpurses to be found in or near the place, now that the sun has gone down. The watch doesn't seem to come around the far east end of the Docks District too often, except to dispose of the mutilated bodies of victims of mostly-unsolved crimes, conveniently (and perhaps truthfully,) chalked up to undead or other horrors from the adjoining Precipice Quarter.

The place is fairly full, and some men stare at the female members of your troupe, but no one bothers you directly. The clientele are mostly human, with a few halflings thrown in.

Brig's wife, Dottie, along with a human barmaid, escorts you to the private back room, where Dottie sometimes performs harrowings for those with the coin during the day. They leave you all at a long table with mugs all around, a basket of bread, and three full pitchers of Brig's Bitter, and roll out with another cask for the bar.

Two measure for the room and all you can drink. If you need more, just call. You have the room for the entire evening, as far as I know, she says, and leaves you to your business. The Black Talons have some things to talk about, and perhaps some ambitious plans to hatch on an unsuspecting city.

A few things about this campaign:
(Some copied from the goblins thread)

Pretty much RAW. If it's in any shiny hardcover book with "Pathfinder Roleplaying Game" at the top, and the words "Ultimate," "Guide," or "Rulebook" at the bottom, it's probably okay to use here.

Other sources may be permitted on a test-case basis. I reserve the right to change things I don't like, but I'll discuss it with you first, and try to reach a solution that works for everyone.

I'm not using a published adventure. This is completely pulled out of my @$$, so comments, criticisms and suggestions are welcomed.

GM Goblin King's style of play:
As you may know, I roll real dice right here by the computer. I just like it that way. It lets me have more conversational, flowing posts if they're not punctuated with a lot of dice brackets and such. I do make critically important rolls ("This could kill Sidoze!") with the dice roller, just so you know I really am being impartial.

XP:
You can expect to level up very quickly, probably faster than the fast xp track, until we're around 6th or 7th level. Then, it'll be normal fast progression. I'm eager to see what higher-level gangster play will be like, and we've all played low levels more than any others...

PCs: (just so it's here in one spot)
3rd level, 25 pt. buy, 2 traits, at least one level must be in Rogue, with 4 ranks in stealth, and at least one in Bluff, Knowledge (local), and Sleight of Hand.

The arcane trickster and duelist prestige classes have been souped up to make them more powerful and fun to play. I'd encourage you to look at the changes and imagine the possibilities. You don't have to, though. Your characters are yours to build as you like, other than the above requirements.

Gameplay will start on or near Jan. 2. We have time to talk.

You can use this thread to discuss ideas and synergize your gang. I'll post more information as we get settled in, so grab a snifter of Varisian brandy, have a bowl of Jalmerayan pipeweed, and join us in plotting your ruthless and bloody ascent to power.

Gauging interest for a gangland/thieves' world campaign based in Absalom.

I'm just getting started, but here's the outline:

Start at 3rd level. 25 point buy, since there will only be 4 (maybe 5) of you, and you'll multiclass. Average hps (PFS rules). A straight rogue, for example, would have 18 hp before adjustments: 8+5+5.

2 traits, normal feats. I'm interested in concepts over numbers, to start.

4, possibly 5 players. I'd like the “traditional” roles to be reasonably covered: Arcane, divine, meatshield, and face/stealth/specialist/skillmonkey,” one way or another. There are many ways to do that.

One of your 3 levels must be in the rogue class. You must have 3 ranks in Stealth, and 1 rank in Bluff, Knowledge (local), and Sleight of Hand. Skills matter in the big city.

BAB will be determined by fractions, so levels in rogue won't hurt you too much. Poor: .5, Medium: .75, Good: 1. So, if you took 2 levels of rogue and a level of bard, your BAB wouldn't suffer. It would be 2.25, same as a straight rogue or bard. You could take a level in either class, add .75, and have BAB 3 at 4th, same as the straight classes alone. A rogue/fighter/wizard would have .75+1+.5, for 2.25.

Core races only. No cavaliers, gunslingers, summoners, or oriental classes allowed. Lawful good characters are out, too, so obviously no paladins. Ranged weapons aren't generally allowed in town, so archery builds won't get to do their thing that easily or often. The leadership feat, if we reach 7th, is not allowed. Standard starting wealth (3000 gp).

Anything in PFRPG, APG, or ISWG is allowed. Feats, traits, spells, etc., from other sources may be allowed on a case-by-case basis. I reserve the right to remove or alter them after allowing them, with a fair discussion of options, if I decide it doesn't fit.

There are also some options for the more “urban” prestige classes, like duelist and arcane trickster, to make them a little more fun to play. Ask, if you're interested.

You will be young toughs trying to establish street cred, expand your fortunes, and exert influence to protect your interests in the mean streets of the city at the center of the world. Guide to Absalom is strongly recommended reading, though it's not canon in itself.

Lots of role play, but I like lots of fighting and intrigue, too. I don't like PvP, though. You need to be loyal enough to get your gang established, and we all know what happens to traitors.

You'll be doing a lot in the city, but you'll go other places, too. Sometimes, maybe, by yourself.

Players should post daily. More is better. Weekends aren't mandatory, but encouraged. So, think up an interesting urban troublemaker, and tell me a little about her or him. Not too long, please.

I'm undecided as to whether you'd want gang wars for turf and such, or more specialized robbery capers, or some sort of mix. Alignments would veer toward chaotic, but I'm uneasy with a purely evil group. You might have some code of honor, and I'd like you to be likable in some ways, in a "bad guys who sometimes do good things" sort of way.

We won't start until January, so take your time. If you've tried to get into PbPs here before, but haven't managed to, you'll be given special consideration. More later.

Big as they can be, it seems dragons don't swallow you whole. I suppose they like to peel you gently out of your armor to savor your soft, gooey center and crunchy limbs. They swallow people whole in the movies, but not in PF.

Other monsters do just down you in one gulp. I find it hilariously funny when adventurers go sliding down a gaping gullet. It's something every character should experience in their career. Problem is, there don't seem to be that many monsters that have the "swallow whole" ability.

Is there a list? Can you help me make one? I'd hate for my players to miss out on the fun of being inside a purple worm, or some other creature that says "I want ya in mah belly!" wondering why they didn't bring a light slashing or piercing weapon.

Purple worm
Behir
What else?

Are the protestors on the right track? Are they mad at the right people? Is the media ignoring the event?

As a former teacher, and aficionado of all things related to the English language, I proffer this thread in the hopes of helping us all to become better users of the lingua franca used on this site.

This is not an effort to berate, but to educate. All useful contributions are welcome.

There: location. The cat is there.

Their: belonging to them. That's their cat.

They're: contraction of They + Are. They're playing with the cat.

Put it all together now!

They're there with their cat. A useful sentence to help you remember!

More later. I gotta rewatch "Sons of Anarchy."

I love you guys...

So if you're tired of not getting into any games around here, you're guaranteed a spot in this one.

Rules: You start at 1st level with no gold, and a 32 point buy. You may have nothing but a broken stick. Any of the standard PC races in the PFRPG are acceptable.

Post your characters here, and once we've got some promising players, we'll begin. Good luck!

It's been years since I last looked in any of the older edition books. Not sure what happened to mine (or all my cassettes, either), but I ran across this blast from the past:

Harlot encounters can be with brazen strumpets or haughty courtesans, thus making it difficult for the party to distinguish each encounter for what it is. (In fact, the encounter could be with a dancer only prostituting herself as it pleases her, an elderly madam, or even a pimp.) In addition to the offering of the usual fare, the harlot is 30% likely to know valuable information, 15% likely to make something up in order to gain a reward, and 20% likely to be, or with, a thief. You may find it useful to use the sub-table below to see which sort of harlot encounter takes place:

00 – 10 Slovenly trull
11 – 25 Brazen strumpet
26 – 35 Cheap trollop
36 – 50 Typical streetwalker
51 – 65 Saucy tart
66 – 75 Wanton wench
76 – 85 Expensive doxy
86 – 90 Haughty courtesan
91 – 92 Aged madam
93 – 94 Wealthy procuress
95 – 98 Sly pimp
99 – 00 Rich panderer

An expensive doxy will resemble a gentlewoman, a haughty courtesan a noblewoman, the other harlots might be mistaken for goodwives and so forth.
------------
This always got a laugh back in the day. Apologies to those who still have their old books, but I hadn't seen it in a long time.

So, to my question: What are the stat differences between a wanton wench and an expensive doxy? Anyone converted it to PF?

I'll list a few I like to get started. Community, Louie, Archer, Wilfred. There are others, but those always have some good laughs for me.

What do my fellow gamers watch for laughs?

I'm finding myself at home more than ever before (long story), so if you know of any good comedy shows I may not know about, post it up!

Convenient link to OOC thread, for OOC-type stuff!

It's been 2 weeks since your routing of Vorka the cannibal. Early-early spring is giving way to early spring, and with it, the usual threats begin to emerge from the forest, hungry for Licktoads.

Your celebrity seems to have waned. As life in the village goes on, goblins, with their short memories, seem to have forgotten your life-risking heroism, your derring-do, your "charasma."

Now, the mundane is again the norm. Goblins hunt and gather, get distracted by the weirdest things, and practice their psychotic ways on all and sundry. The weaponworks which keeps your tribe in good stead is busy cranking out reliable dogslicers and other items for whoever can trade for them, and business is brisk. Thanks to you, all is well in Licktoad Village.

Yet, though you've been of inestimable service, you've forgotten, too. Each day brings little challenge, and past glories fade quickly in the warped minds of wicked goblins.

Tark, strolling through the woods with his fine earthbreaker, was gathering mushrooms, when the urge to bash overcame him. He swiftly destroyed the 'shrooms, along with the basket he carried them in, shattered some rocks, then pounded an anthill until he was covered in them. Finally, the painful biting of the flying ants brought him out of it. What was this feeling he was feeling (besides the pain of ant bites)?

Klepy? What you call it when there's nothing fun to do? And where my hammer?

Klepy was hunched over, staring at the hammer he'd pulled out of Tark's belt, entranced by the shiny. His basket had almost no mushrooms in it, he'd been so distracted.

Klepy forgotteds. Thassa good question, Tark. Mebee we aks Bucko or Velag. They smarts!

And so Tark took his hammer back, and the 2 clinical psychopaths went to find their friends, to ask them what the feeling was called when you had nothing fun to do.

They encountered Velag on their way back to the village. He was busy casting acid splash on every bug that flew by, and though his aim was improved, it just wasn't much of a challenge any more. They just didn't dissolve with the same panache as they once did.

Velag knew exactly what they were talking about, but couldn't remember the word, either.

Less ask Bucko! He know lotsa words, and he don't write 'em down! Velag chirped, and joined his friends to look for the witch.

They found Bucko in the middle of the village, drinking the last of the whiskey they'd found in Vorka's ship, and a little tipsy. He'd putrefied so much food in the last few weeks, the other goblins kept away from him, lest their food be spoiled, too.

Ah can'n'remember. Dis hooch gone straight to mah haid! the little spoiler hiccupped.

They conferred awhile, when Slorb suddenly walked by.

Hey, Slorb! What you call it when you feel like there nothing fun to do? they inquired, sort of in unison, but not.

Slorb know, came his answer. It called "patrol." You goblins come with me. We talk to His Mighty Girthness. He fix you good.

"Patrol?" Tark asked, mulling it over. That don't sound right...

With shrugs of their collective shoulders, the 4 goblins followed Slorb to the Chief's big hut. Surely, they would remember the word there.

This is the OOC thread for 4 goblins, whose unlikely heroism has brought them to 2nd level. Bucko, Klepy, Tark and Velag have become big heroes, and will now make the world suitable for rule by the mightiest race in all Golarion. None dare stand in their way!

Links:

Our previous We Be Goblins PbP

Original recruitment thread

Humans:

This show may not be nerdgasmic, but I like it. What's not to like? It's a soap opera with Harleys and plenty of violence.

Recently rewatched seasons 1 and 2 on Netflix, and loved it. Ssn 3 was a little cheesy (Ireland? Really?), but I like any show where someone gets brutally killed every episode. Low standards, I guess.

I'm not a Harley guy. I ride a street-legal one of these. I'm a dual-sport kinda guy, but Harleys are ok in their own way.

Just wondered who else watches it among my fellow Paizonians. Ssn 4 is coming up. Think I'll watch it!

You are goblins of the Licktoad tribe, who live deep in Brinestump
Marsh, south of the hated man-town called Sandpoint. Once,
other goblins tried to burn Sandpoint down, and they would
have been legends if they had succeeded. But they didn’t bring
enough fire, and got themselves killed as a result.
Yesterday, your tribe discovered that one of your own had
been using forbidden arts and was engaged in one of the
greatest of taboos—writing things down. In fact, rumor holds
that what he was writing was a history of your tribe! There’s no
swifter way to bring about bad luck than stealing words out of
your mind by writing them down, and so your tribe had no
choice. You branded the goblin’s face with letters to punish
him, which is why everyone calls him Scribbleface now, and
then you ran him out of town, took all of his stuff, and burned
down his hut.
That’s where things got interesting, because before you all
burned down his hut, Chief Gutwad found a weird box within
the building. Inside was a map and a lot of fireworks—fireworks
that immediately came to use in burning the hut down. Then,
this morning, Gutwad announced that tonight there would
be a feast in order to drive out any lingering bad luck from
Scribbleface’s poor decisions. But perhaps even more exciting,
all of you have been secretly invited to meet at Chief Gutwad’s
Moot House. Why would the chief want to speak to you? It
can only mean that he’s got an important mission for
you all... one that the other goblins of the
tribe couldn’t pull off. This could
be your chance to go down in
Licktoad history!

You wonder if you can withstand the might of the words of His Mighty Girthness Chief Rendwattle Gutwad, since they are said to be enough to topple the greatest of goblins.
Slorb directs you to wait in front of the great Moot House, and sing the Song of the Licktoads in honor of your great chief.

And-a-one, and-a-2...

Goblins!
®
We be Lick toads! We make raid!
Put the longshanks to the blade!
Burn them up from feet to head,
Make them hurt, then make them dead!
Cut the parents into ham,
Smush the babies into jam,
All the rest in pot get stewed,
We be Lick toads - you be food!

Sign in, brave goblins. Each of you will sing his own song once in front of His Mighty Girthness, so it better be good! Goblins aren't particularly imaginative lyricists, but the general theme of any goblin's personal song doesn't vary much from the above.
Confirm your place, post a short personal song, and finish whatever final touches are left for your characters.

If you wish to fight and tussle amongst yourselves in the meantime, well, it's expected...

Somebody still has to make a saving throw, I think. XD

The Great Gutwad will address you Monday around 5:00 EST.
In game time, just a few minutes, so look sharp! LOL!

"We be Goblins" seems to be quite popular, so I've decided to run it as a PbP here. There's already a group running it, but there were a lot of applicants, so I'm sure I can find 4 (not 3, not 5, but 4) people who want to let their inner goblinliness shine!

Some caveats, addendums, and so forth:

Please be available to post at least once per weekday. Showing up is more important than anything else. I speak from experience. Miss a day, get replaced. Simple.

Please refrain from reading the adventure. If it isn't new to you, it won't be fun. If you already have, please find another game. By the same token, reading the already extant PbP thread for WBG, while funny, could also spoil things for you. Be funny in this game.

1st level goblins, 20 pt. buy (We be AWESOME Goblins!). Average starting gold, two traits. No abilities below 8, before adjustments.

Anything from PFRPG or the APG is fine. No lawful classes, and NO gunslingers. I'll want a "balanced" party, more or less, and I'm inclined to believe a goblin barbarian more than a goblin with the actual discipline and training of a real fighter, know what I mean? No, you probably don't. You're goblins.

You're all from the Licktoad tribe, and already know each other. That doesn't mean you have to like each other! Goblins iz nasty and fasty! Pranksy and stanksy! Stabby and grabby! Icksy and tricksy! Well, you know...

This is not some silly, free-for-all, wild activity. It's an actual AP that requires silly, free-for-all, wild activity.

Interested goblins may apply here. Briefly describe your nasty little self and which class you want to play, with some stats. I'll post my choices Saturday, and start the game Monday night, around 5:00 EST, playing weeknights until we're done.

I'll pop in later to answer any questions.

I was thinking about an NPC harrower to advise/accompany my PCs in an upcoming adventure, around 11th level (and possibly later around 17-18th) or so. I could use a more mundane character, but the harrower has a lot of flavor to it.

I'm inclined to build a sorcerer, but there are other classes that could work, too. Does anyone have a harrower they're using to good effect I could crib from? What would be your ultimate harrower?

I made a few simple tweaks.

* Good fort save. Frontliners get that in other classes. Why not the duelist?

* Add int. to AC AND damage. This idea came from another thread.

* Duelist levels stack with and count as fighter levels for qualifying for fighter bonus feats. He may take them at any appropriate feat level.

Too much? Not enough? I don't feel high...

I like prestige classes when they're done thoughtfully, and not just to sell splat. Does anyone have a custom PrC to share?

The dervish dance feat requires the weapon finesse feat as a prerequisite.

Since you can't take weapon finesse with a scimitar, are we to assume that the finesse feat applies to another weapon?

What I mean is, what if a bard sings and plays an instrument at the same time? Or sings and dances, or does oratory with percussion, etc.

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but would the bard be allowed to roll for both performances? Just their highest? A flat +2 for doing both?

I'm thinking along the lines of some bonus for doing 2 things at once. We all enjoy a good singer, but it's better when they have some music to go with it. Is there some mechanism I missed, or does a bard who's singing and playing an instrument do no better than just singing alone?

That seems to be my players' style. I'm fine with it, and dispensed with the carefully-crafted long story arcs, and just let them work as adventurers-for-hire. NPCs of different stripes approach them with things they can do for swag, and they take the bait.

No real story, little role-play, just hack-n-slash 'til they're all dead. Again, I'm not complaining, since it makes things pretty easy for me: Just come up with encounters and reasons for them being there. As long as they get to fight, they have no complaints.

I'm looking for suggestions for making this kind of play style as fun as possible. My players are younger guys who love the game, but get bored with descriptions, puzzles, etc. What do you do for your action-crazed Rambos to keep things adrenalized?

I was looking at maybe letting my 3rd-level group (in Absalom) get themselves some axe beaks, but the price seems a little high:

An axe beak requires training before it will bear a rider.
Taming an axe beak requires 6 weeks of work and a DC 25
Handle Animal check, after which it can be taught tricks
as normal. Riding an axe beak requires an exotic saddle.
Axe beak eggs are worth 1,000 gp apiece on the open
market, while young are worth 1,500 gp each.

We're looking at 2000 or so gps for a mount only marginally better than a standard horse. A trained heavy warhorse is a bargain at only 300 gps, and just about as good.

I'm thinking that since axe beaks are common in Absalom, and horses aren't, I'd switch those prices around. What do you guys think?

I'm GMing a game with newish players (and trying to get my GM chops in back in shape, assuming they ever were), and have an idea for a daring heist of some sort.

There are 2 characters, a half-orc Rogue 2/Fighter 1 (heading for duelist) and an elf rogue 2/wizard 1 (heading for arcane trickster) in a homebrew set in Absalom. They've befriended a cleric of Calistria who works at the pleasure salon, and will serve as the "contact" for setting up a robbery of some kind. It should be important to the temple, I think, but it doesn't have to be.

Pretty standard fare: Go into building x and steal object y without being noticed or killing anyone. I want to make it memorable without making it too hard for a pair of 3rd level characters.

Both characters have good scores between them in the relevant skills, but, as with any heist, one bad roll can really ruin things. Any suggestions on how to make this fun and suspenseful, but with a reasonable chance of success?

I just moved here and don't know anyone who wants to play. I live in Elkhart, but I'm willing to drive pretty far for a good game. Anybody?

The Versatile Evocation ability (p. 143 in APG))allows an evoker to change the energy types between acid, cold, electricity and fire spells.
This is a nice ability for blaster casters, but I'm not clear one one thing.

Would changing a fireball to an acid ball mean that it would bypass SR? Acid spells do, but they're conjurations. What say ye?

Dagger. Morningstar. Any character with simple weapon proficiency can cover a lot with that. A fighter with a sword likes it, too.

Having seen and owned quite a few combat knives, I've yet to see one that isn't both an effective slashing and piercing weapon. Whether it's a Fairbarn-Applegate dagger, or a single-edge Japanese-style tanto, a fighting knife is an excellent slasher, and can pierce hard materials with a strong thrust.

Also, a lot of the swords in the game were both slashing and piercing weapons IRL. Would saying that daggers, short swords and long swords (perhaps others) did both slashing and piercing damage make them too good?

C'mon. Don't tell me the writers of Lost never played DnD. They mined it. They probably post here. They'd write fiction for PF, if it paid enough to be worth their time.

Paizo has to do the "starving artist" dealio just to make a buck in their fiction line. No new writers, here. They need names, crappy as they may be.

My favorite character is Sayid. He's trying to unbecome the evil man he was in his past. That's a great trope.

I'm no expert on Lost, so fill me in. What great character tropes can you use in your game? Claire, the Australian woman who lost her baby is another one. By mentioning her, I leave out so many others.

Great inspiration for a GM. Let's talk about Lost, now in the final season, and see how plot devices can improve our games.

Mention any and all dramas that help make your game more immersive.

If you're in or near LB and need a player for a long-term 1-20 game, I'd like to join you!
Mature player, late 40s, bathes regularly. I'm not crazy about 4e, or any other RPGs. PF is my game of choice, preferably in Golarion, but FR was ok with me, too. Your custom campaign is way cool with me, too. I've GMed enough to know how much work it is, so I like to play towards the story. Sorry, my place is too small to host.
My favorite game was a 1-20 played with only two players, each controlling two characters. We didn't abuse it.
I like a moderate level of roleplay with a lot of humor, and a lot of action.
bongodave at sbcglobal dot net.

I'm curious to know what other people have done with the class. Is it underpowered? Does the trickster have any good tricks? Tell us about the one in your game.

Race, class, feats, level, etc. How does it do?

Your eyes glow blue, and you can see magical auras 120 feet away.
Okay, I imagine that other creatures could easily spot you from a good distance with the spell active.

How about if you're invisible? Or just turned away from whoever's looking your way?

You may remember the 2e chronomancer book from 1995. It was, by most accounts, a troublesome, if fascinating trek.

Time-traveling mages are NOT what a GM wants to deal with, generally. All the same, I played a campaign (3.5 Red Steel hybrid, if it matters,) in which our party traveled through time (though we had no chronomancers, but we knew they existed), and it was a blast.

At 20th level, the goals of our campaign put us several thousand years into the past, and we literally f***ed with the threads of time, even seeing our own images in murals painted long before the PCs existed in real time.

I see the chronomancer class as a prestige class, in PF rules, if the GM allows it at all. Perhaps it should be an epic-level prestige class.

I just wonder if the chronomancer has any place in PF-style rules. It's certainly possible, if a GM allows it. What would it look like?

I'm guessing a generalist wizard taking a prestige class of some sort.

What do you think?

I personally like what PF did with the prestige classes, including the caps they get at 10th level.
But what if the character wants to go on with it? In 3.5, it was shown that higher levels were possible in the Epic level handbook.

Some of the classes (spellcasting classes in particular) would work fine going to 20th level. You get your capstone at 15-17th level, but you've got more levels to go. Why not keep going? What say ye?

I'm thinking in particular of creating, say, a lighter effect to light a candle or a pipe. You could also use that to start a fire, though. I think it's cool to visualize a bard lighting his pipe after a performance, but what if he decides to light up the curtains while he's at it, and burn the place down?

Is the idea that it can't do damage enough? I like to think so. You can light a pipe or candle (something made to be lit), but setting fire to something in order to burn a place down shouldn't work, IMHO. You'd need a torch, and the spell won't light a torch. Would it light a flask of oil? A torch could. Maybe it just can't create a flame at all.

I'm interested in your interpretations of this spell. What creative purposes have you seen it used for?

Looking at a human rogue2/Fighter5/Duelist3

How would you go about it? Inquiring minds want to know.

My mind wants to know, too.

I've always enjoyed the "magical rogue" concept since I played a mage/thief in 2e.

It seems Paizo really paid attention to the discussion of this class, and fixed the big problems and gave it some useful toys, to boot.

*2nd level spells, not 3rd, to qualify. Wiz3, or Brd4/Sor4. Yay!
*Ranged legerdemain all day long
*Tricky Spells (they used the name I suggested, if not the mechanic! I feel like I've contributed!)
*Invisible thief feature at 9th

Is anyone playing one? It looks like a much better class, power-wise, and I'm curious to see how it's working out. What'cha think, Paizo pundits?

I once played a long-term game years ago with a multilingual group in Chicago. Between the participants, there were People who spoke three languages other than English; Polish, Japanese and Spanish.

Thus, for our game, Dwarven was Japanese, Druidic was Polish, and Elvish became Spanish. I spoke Spanish (along with the DM), so my elven character became the interpreter when we encountered elves.

It added some flavor, and we named our weapons in these "racial" languages, among other things. It helped to have, and speak in these languages, and gave our characters some real chances to speak in real languages, mirroring the "what are they saying?" aspect of interpretation and wondering if there were secret agreements being made right in front of us.

Has anyone else played this way? Just wondering.

I'm looking for one for some fiction. Can anyone tell me about this monster? I know the origins, just need the mechanical, or a rough idea about its abilities.

If it breaks any rules or copyright, I don't want to tick off anyone. A genereal idea is enough.