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 Recent Posts
I would be Human. Neutral Good, by all accounts. Ability Scores (according to *that* test):
I like to think of myself as a good guy. I do tend to cheat and lie when I know I can get away with it, but I also help friends and random people, donate to charities, am loved by animals and children, and generally well liked. I empathize (often reflecting the emotions around me), so at least I know I'm not a complete sociopath, which was a personal fear for awhile. I believe in karma, oddly enough, and for the most part I am in balance. Sooo, that all said, on Golarion I would likely be a Sorcerer, with a few levels of Rogue and perhaps Cleric as well. Scratch it up to my ego, but I think a Golarion deity would call on me to be its servant. Sorcerer 5 (Cross-Blooded with Bloodlines: Infernal and Arcane) / Rogue 1 (Charlatan or Rake) / Cleric of Desna or Pharasma 1
1. No
Further explanation: The guy who can do real magic is awesome, and should find apprentices. But Einstein was not limited in what he could do. -- The greater good. Speaks volumes about me right there. Although I would ask others for prayers/spirit songs/thanks to the horse. -- I like turtles. I don't want skulls in my home. Cheers!
Search for tbug on these boards. He GMed an all-undead party for the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path. They had a blast. Found the threat for you here There are spoilers in that thread for the AP. It's a campaign journal. Hopefully you'll find inspiration there.
I have one drawing request. I'm excited to see what happens. Janessa, my pirate for the Skulls and Shackles Adventure Path. Female Human Druid (Aquatic) / Cleric of Besmara [Domains: Water (Oceans), War (Tactics), familiar in exchange for 1 domain] Details:
About 5’10”, wiry with signs of muscle tone. ‘Soft’ rounder/oval face, sharp-ish nose Green/blue eyes, thick-ish eyebrows Impish grin Dark brown hair, just past shoulder-length, curly and chaotic. Perhaps in a pony-tail that refuses to stay bound. Also a braid or two, with sea shells, bones, feathers, etc, woven in. Long, slender fingers Breasts are on the smaller size, and amount of cleavage is left to the artist. Parrot familiar [blue and yellow plumage] Cutlass-pistol Regular pistol in belt Leather belt with kraken buckle Barefoot, ankle jewellery (coral anklets, etc) Pants with bottoms rolled up, white sailor’s shirt Floppy leather hat Dagger in left forearm sheath Wrist and arm jewellery (coral, gold, leather, etc) No earrings. Leather and coral choker with Besmara holy symbol (skull and crossbones) In case the artist is curious, also provided is Janessa's history:
Janessa History:
Janessa was born in the sea. She almost died in the sea, too. Her father didn’t scoop her out of the water until she began to drift on the tide. Janessa has memories of her birth, fuzzy around the edges, more sensation than perception. Starting with warmth and her mother’s beating heart loud in her ears, sliding, a burst of cold, a blanket of cold, salt in the mouth and nose and lungs, darkness on the border, salt, wet, stifling, something slimy sticking to her back and face, pure darkness. Then the fiery light of day, lances of heat on her skin, sweet salty breeze and roars of victory from mother and father. Her mother Lassichia Three-Braids, a cleric of Besmara, was adamant on a sea birth. Her father Verthans Stormcaller, a druid following the ways of Gozreh, was delighted with the idea. So, on the shores of the sea, Janessa came to be born. As soon as she could walk strongly, her mother went back to the sea life and brought along her daughter. Some ships consider woman on board bad luck, and Janessa watched her mother and fellow crew sink those ships during raids. She learned to thumb her chin at superstition. Those early years on various ships’ crews were full of wide-eyed wonder. The exotic atmosphere of foreign ports, the rush of blood during raids and escapes, and the open skies and freedom all defined who Janessa became. All thanks to the sea. Lassichia taught her daughter about the Pirate Queen’s expectations and faith. Janessa dutifully listened, but her desires were more primal. She cared about the wind, the waves, and the creatures below. Looting and pillaging were secondary benefits in her eyes. Recognizing her daughter’s talents, Lassichia passed on Janessa to Verthans every time they made a new port. Somehow the druid always knew where to be to pick up his daughter. Together they would explore those shores, the woods or hills close by, and dive into the deep. After some weeks together they would travel to a new port and arrive just in time to be picked up by her mother. This routine continued until she was deemed ready by both mother and father. Janessa did not have a rebellious streak, having enough freedom in her life to not feel stifled. It was time, however, for her to make her own reputation. So, with a final party she departed to find her own crew. Over the next few years, she sailed on a variety of vessels, not all of them buccaneers. Most recently she sailed on an experimental craft, the ‘Roaring Dragon’. Rumours were the ship was a joint commission of Absalom and Alkenstar. It didn’t fly nation colours, but the make-up of the crew gave strong hints as to ownership. The ‘Roaring Dragon’ wanted a few local experts on board for advice. Janessa was brought on due to her low reputation but obvious sailing and druidic skill. She was sworn to secrecy through a geas until she left the crew and the ship was dismantled. The ship was testing black powder cannons and their utility on boats. Janessa saw the power of firearms first-hand and was impressed. She convinced her shiplover, one of the Alkenstar craftsmen, to teach her how to make and use ‘simple’ firearms. Janessa saw the weapon’s potential, and compared to arcane magic, it was a natural weapon. Sulphur, charcoal and saltpetre all come from the earth, and wood and metal are used in other acceptable weapons for druids. Janessa had discovered the ace up her sleeve. After the ‘Roaring Dragon’ experiment was dismantled, Janessa came to a tavern in Port Peril called the Formidably Maid in search of her next crew. She wasn’t sure how many drinks she had, but they quickly went to her head and she passed out on the table... Thank you! I hope this intrigues someone.
I will be playing: Janessa
Human CN Druid (Aquatic), Domain: Water (Oceans). Janessa will eventually also take 1 level of Cleric of Besmara, take the 'swap 1 Domain for a familiar' option for a parrot familiar, and the War (Tactics) Domain. Feats
Janessa was born to a Cleric of Besmara mother and a Druid father. Born through a sea birth. -- My alternate is/was: Jorick
Cheers
I always award 1 prestige point if the main mission was achieved. Regardless if a player was a fly on the wall, they were part of the group and they get the point. Faction missions are treated separately. If they do nothing to achieve the mission, they don't get a point. If there was another player of the same faction in the group, and that player achieves the mission, I would award ALL faction members the point. Why? Because the faction leaders would not differentiate between who actually fulfilled the mission. Only the success of the mission is important. Now, I have had players who have actively refused to do their faction mission (usually for RP reasons). I discuss with them the consequences, and in this case, even if there are other faction members in the group, the refusing player will not receive a faction mission point. Why? Because they are actively against the mission (rather than passively against) and in RP terms will speak out about the mission. Thus their prestige and reputation will be slightly damaged. Hence, no prestige point. The important point here is that I discuss the consequences with the player and we agree on the end result. Cheers
I dip when appropriate for the character concept, though I rarely plan ahead if the character starts at 1st level. I view my characters as organic, who level up based on their experience. Didn't use a skill during a campaign? I'm not going to add a rank. Started praying fervently to a deity because of a near-TPK? Add a level of cleric when leveling, if its fits. Planning ahead for a character can fit if the character has an idea of what they want to achieve. But things change, and experiences change perceptions and goals. So, I respectfully disagree that planning ahead is part of this game. It can be, but that's a player perspective, not an absolute. So, what have I dipped in? -Rogue for the sneak attack and skill points. Often added to my sorcerers and fighters.
Anticlimax - The Test of the Starstone is a "shell game" in which a being places the starstone under a cup and mixes it up with other cups. Each player must successfully guess which cup the stone is under in order to become a deity. Iomadae just refused to play, as gambling is wrong. The being scratched his head and shrugged. *Boom* She's a goddess. See, Lawful Stubborn can make you a deity!
The Test of the Starstone is a challenge to GM if everyone is at the table. It is probably better to DM it with individual players. Why? Because the test itself is for individuals. Now, of course, you can easily hand-wave that aspect because there are no official rules yet, but I think it would be more fun to have individual tests that cater to a character's strengths, but more importantly, weaknesses. The manner in which a character overcomes adversity will demonstrate their potential to be a deity. The character's methods may also determine their portfolio as a deity. If you want to try something fun that involves every player, have your players design a test for another player. Obviously they would need to keep their ideas secret, or ruin the concept. But, I think it would be interesting to see what they could throw at each other in terms of challenges. Cheers
Darkmoon Vale modules are great, great fun. Because they are individual modules with a common thread/location, you can get a sense of 'completing the story' anytime you want. An adventure path requires a longer commitment to get a sense of 'completeness'. The Darkmoon Vale modules are a blast to play. For actual adventure paths: Rise of the Runelords is very fun. Carrion Crown has been a blast.
Gestalt can be very fun to play, but does require some ground rules to make it fun for everyone. If you have min-maxers in your group, beware they don't overshadow other players/characters in terms of sheer power and taking on multiple roles. When I have done gestalt games I make sure there is a common theme tying the characters together. Usually this manifests through a shared gestalt class. For example, I have a done a "Thieves Guild" game where every character was X/Rogue. I.e. everyone had to have have Rogue as their second class. I am currently doing a sandbox gestalt game where every character is X/Oracle. The characters have mysterious tattoos on their necks and their Oracle abilities, setting them apart from the norm. The characters also occasionally 'jaunt' (teleport) in and out of the group. Where they go, they don't recall. (This is a mechanic to allow players to attend sessions as they please. If they miss a night, their character goes 'pop' until they return. This also allows some extra mystery. Who put those tattoos on their necks? Why do they have extra powers? Where do they go when they 'jaunt'? Are all these elements tied together? Provides some meta-plot on top of the sandbox element). Cheers
Relying on wands of Remove X at higher levels is problematic. The caster needs to do a caster level check, using the wands minimum caster level and minimum stat bonus, against a DC that will likely be very high for high-level adventuring parties. Most Remove spells are 3rd level spells, so those wands have a whopping +6 for the check. Users will be bleeding charges until they beat the DC. Not very efficient use of party funds. Asking your party cleric to burn a feat to Create Wands is not a real option either.
Spoiler, question dealing with the Braid. spoiler:
Slightly confused over the wording of the Braid's power for non-monks. The Braid provides the fast movement of a 2nd level monk to a character without any levels in monk. It specifically says the bonus does not stack with anything else. Yet a 2nd level monk has *no* fast movement. Why include fast movement at all? Thank you, I am scratching my head over the inclusion. I just can't see the point, and I would like to see the point ;) Cheers!
Update: After spoiler: we got some PvP after Philip the Brooding succumbed to evil temptation. Sir Fellinor was accused of murder (framed), imprisoned, shackled, then had his throat ripped open by tiny teeth. Philip soon went insane, and had his heart eaten inside his chest. Yeah. The players were cool with it, so I (albeit slowly and reluctantly) put away my axe I was grinding over PvP and generally what happened.
investigating Old Megus shack and not finding the ratkin Sooo, two characters died in not-so-heroic fashion, but certainly memorable. We now have two new members: Ashta Vondaniken- Half-elf monk, unknown gender (androgynous and silent on the matter). Versengutorix - Elder Dwarven cleric of Torag. Believes himself to be our 'mentor', whether we want him to be or not! We just spoiler: and returned home with a sense of accomplishment.
destroyed Tsutamu and recovered the Kaijitsu chest.
Taking a break from DMing Carrion Crown, I am a player in Jade Regent. I insisted we create our characters together, to mesh well and be a group from the start. It worked out well. We had our first session last week and we just finished the misadventure in the goblin camp. Our characters are: Philip (‘the Brooding’) – Neutral Human Cleric of Pharasma. Think emo, including the young age. Very amusing. Crush on Ameiko (likes older women, apparently). Zora Soran – Chaotic Good Half-Elf Gunslinger (Pistolero). Reformed thief. Hero worship of Shalelu. Sir Fellinor the Foul – Lawful Neutral Halfling Knight (actually just fighter, but pretentious). Friend of the family. Clarette Tear – Chaotic Good Half-Elf Bard. Plays the castanets and dances a little. Koya’s foster child. Sable – Lawful Neutral Tiefling (Devil-spawn) Fighter. Sword and Board. Secretly worships Asmodeus. Caravan guard, and the hardest person to bring into the group, but the player has a habit of creating distant characters. I’m happy I got this much cooperation out of him :) (me) Sangezi Copperhill – Lawful Good Tiefling (Demon-spawn) Paladin of Shelyn. Raised in Sandpoint by his adventurer father (and begotten by either a succubus or alu-demon, he’s not quite sure) and trained at a temple of Shelyn. Not much artistic talent, so trained as paladin to be protector and patron of artists. Discovered a knack for, and love of, cooking. Best friend of Ameiko and works in the kitchen of the Rusty Dragon, part of the the inn’s reputation as a place of good eating. It’s been very fun so far. We all got to play a concept we wanted and we have strong relationships with each other (for the most part). Somewhat lacking in arcane power, but the bard will cover that (along with traps). Go bards!
I roll the dice in front of my players when I am DM. Usually I tend to roll well as DM. Murphy's Law. However, I have a general rule when PCs are on the precipice of death. If the encounter is not a significant one, (i.e. not a climatic fight, a random encounter, etc) then I allow the player to choose if their character dies or remains stable at maximum negative hp.
That's my philosophy :)
I play in a group of 6 players, and I don't think the GM adjusts the AP. I could be wrong, though. Still, I think it will remain balanced. Most summons are good for distractions and some damage, but are very squishy, even with Augmented Summoning. Enemies can crush them in 1-3 hits, but that's essentially the summons job, to be ablative armour of sorts. If you don't have a min-maxing group, then I really wouldn't make any changes. Encounters will be challenging enough as is. Cheers
Thanks for the search, Cheapy. I am one of the more prepared players when I play (knowing my class-specific rules, being ready with summoned stats, etc). I have played Conjurers in the past with much fun and quick play. That's not really my problem. I just want to experience playing a Summoner and their Eidolon. However, if my Eidolon is not around I wanted to know if there was another option available besides summoning more things. Obviously I know the Summoner is meant to do just that, summon. I was hoping, though, that there was an archetype that focused on another option besides Summon Monster. If there isn't, then I shall explore (hopefully) balanced House options. Such as a list of battlefield control spells that can be used 3+Cha mod/day. Like the Summon Monster ability, these spells could not be used if the Eidolon is in existence. So, the Summoner could choose between an offensive option (Eidolon) or defensive/control option (list of spells). Anyway, that's for the House rules thread. Thanks for your comments :D
My group cannot be called 'optimal', but they have a lot of fun!
Heinrich: Male Human (Ustalav) Inquisitor of Pharasma 3 / Gunslinger 1
The lack of arcane magic has really punched them in the gut a few times, but they're managing :)
joela (OP), There is lots of good advice on this thread, particularly on the first page. Being away from your partner for either long periods, or frequent shorter periods, can be tough. I don't travel for my job much, but my wife has been in Japan for over a month visiting relatives with my 6-month old son. I'm alone at home with an empty bed every night. How do I do it? I have pre-arranged call nights for either the telephone or Skype. OMG, how I love Skype! Just seeing her face, and my son's face, makes all the difference. What else do I do? I masturbate. Now, if you're religious this may be against your code. Then I would suggest prayer, confession, or whatever spiritual outlet you can find. Faith can be wonderful for so many different things. I do not have any marriage vows or oaths. I got married in a city hall, writing my name on a piece of paper. Hmm, now I can't think why I wrote that. Well, oaths work for many people. While I don't have an oath, I have my integrity and my love. One of the best pieces of advice on this thread is: Think about how you would feel if your partner cheated/had sex with another on you. If you have a closed relationship, this works. If you have an open relationship, this works. Put yourself in their shoes and soul search. Good luck, and I hope to hear from you again. I'd like to know if this is helping. Cheers!
Thank you for your comments everyone. Food for thought. My cleric is NG, and the focus is definitely more on the individual's right within the group, although the group/community is still the important "meta" relationship. His domains are Animal (feather) and Community (Home), although he is not a proponent of "everyone must get married. NOW". I like the idea of making the rules and laws of the city as it grows. Much influence can be had then. Ah, good ol'Community Charter. Nice. I like the idea of no tenements. Brothels would be acceptable by my cleric, with certain guidelines. A classy brothel that allows men (and women) to release stress and therefore be more stable at home is better for the community. A lot less domestic troubles (arguably). Of course, my cleric may get into hot water with the church over this... Much obliged, and if others have thoughts, please keep on writing :) (Final note: I probably won't shift deities, some excellent opportunities came up after last session, when other churches got some scandals)
I am playing an aasimar cleric of Erastil (part of the Medvyed family, "Noble" trait) and 2/3 of the way through the first book. I know that our village will be founded soon, and the goal is for the village to grow into a city, and then kingdom. So, I am looking for other experiences in wrestling with the dilemma of having a cleric of community, family, farming, and nature be comfortable with an urban lifestyle (as one of the leaders in the realm). My character does have political motivations (he was forced into the church of Erastil, since Erastil is the Medvyed deity of choice), so things (i.e. deity of worship) may change, but I am curious how other players (and GMs who NPCed Jhod and his church) dealt with playing clerics of Erastil. Cheers!
I have a dream. Using APG’s Summoner’s Eidolon format, convert the Book of Incarnum Totemist to Pathfinder. The Totemist would no longer use Incarnum as the source of their power. No more unborn souls as a battery. Pharasma would be angry ;) Instead, Totemists draw power from...? Maybe the same magical essence that fuels magical beasts. Totemist
Each day they spend 1 hour choosing their form. Their base form is either biped, quadruped (looks like a centaur, with hindquarters made of a white/blue force), or serpentine (body gets raised off the ground, with tail (made of white/blue force) trailing behind.
Abilities can be taken from the current Eidolon list, and/ore maybe more added from the original Totemist soulmelds. I haven't gone much beyond this, as the idea hit me when viewing a few posts about Summoners making themselves their own Eidolon, and Totemists as Skinwalkers (i.e. eliminating Incarnum completely). I would love to hear other ideas/views/thoughts and advice. Cheers!
Inquisitor - Handy for any class/character that has some religious zeal. Could be good or bad, as in rooting out evil cults, or just any religion except the kingdom religion. Can either be guided/led by a ruler, council, or given a free hand. All kinds of possibilities here. Diplomat and/or Spy - Good for many kinds of classes, except out and out melee classes like barbarians, and even then they can work as ambassadors to wild lands. Fun for RP sessions with Bond moments of combat. Headmaster/Headmistress - Founder or leader of a school and/or college of magic. Traditional or experimental (either with sorcerers, or just an offshoot theory of magic). Students can have official ties with the army, providing a few years military service for free/cheap tuition. Equal opportunity to peasants even, if they show promise (either intelligence or raw power). Official Explorers of the King - Given powers to go to new/contested lands and claim them in the name of the realm. Power to do whatever it takes, either diplomacy or force, to secure new trade routes, goods, services, slaves (if allowed in the kingdom), and land. Power to call in reinforcements to build a fort, then a town, etc, in the new land. Fingers of the King - Secret elite force to deal with internal and external problems. "Officially, they don't exist" kind of thing. Their regular work, if any, could be fairly low key. A cook, a Master of Stables, a Jester, a court scholar, a Lieutenant in the King's Guard, etc. A position that gives access to major points of a stronghold without question from others.
Apologies for the threadjack! tbug, I just moved to Victoria and I'd love to join your/a group if you have space available. I also sent you a mail on Nearby Gamers, but just in case you don't check there often I thought I'd send up a flare here as well. I chose this one cause it's the most recent and least disruptive for everyone. You can send me a mail at Spoiler:
dave.vanommen@gmail.com Cheers! ...and now back to your regular thread...
I enjoyed his novel, "American Gods", though I also know many who thought the book was re-hashing many concepts from "Sandman". Read both. "Sandman" is a series of graphic novels (compiled from the original comic) and has a few reprints, so you should be able to find the whole series fairly easily. Well worth every penny...and it likely will cost you a fair penny... ...but, ooooooh so good!
Excellent, PDK! Thank you. That store is only 10 blocks away from my upcoming apartment. Ooh, I'm getting tingles. Heh. Cheers!
Yah! A fleshy body has answered ;) Well, it's more like "welcome back", since I went to UVic for 5 years for my undergrad. Ah, the memories. If there are special events or days like an organized Pathfinder Society series of games then I'd likely make the drive north. But, otherwise, yeah a bit far. Still, the things we do for gaming :) It's good to know there's a store that sells Paizo stuff. I will definitely have to check that out! Cheers, it's good to hear from you!
Thanks, Cosmo! I'll let you know. The biggest hassle is that I am moving from Japan to Canada in less than a month. I'll be updating some other info as well, such as changing credit cards and addresses. Cheers!
I thought that was gas.I don't know... When I met Eric, he was always happy... Josh on the other hand...Never smiled... not once..I think he would be a better bitter ballistic projectile, and more aerodynamic because of the lack of hair. ;-)I smiled at least twice. And both times I was thinking about sleep. Okay, that one got me :) I laughed out loud at work. Good work, Vic!
Half-giant ancestors are Varisian giants who were warped by runic magic. Rune giants (from one of the RotRL books beastiary's), can't remember if they're infertile or not. But even if they are, there are always exceptions. They had their way with other giant ladies, and their offspring were stunted runts. The runts turned out to possess psionic potential, thanks to the rune magic taint, and bred true. Thousands of years later, the half-giants roam the Varisian mountains in nomadic tribes. Always on the move from other giants, and never welcomed by smaller creatures, the half-giants fend for themselves, their psionic powers helping their defense.
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