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Pants are an illusion, and so is death.
On the PFSRD, under Other Spreadsheets, you will find the Bestiary with Statistics. The BwD has the accumulated statistics of all the Bestiary creatures (as of when it was written), sorted by CR. From this, we see that the highest CMD of a CR5 creature was 31, while the average CMD was 22. The highest Perception modifier was +19 and the average was +11. So you're aromatically beating the out-of-combat flat 20 Sleight of Hand, as well as the average CMD for your level, and beating the highest CMD on a 7+. That's pretty good. The perception is a bit harder to quantify, being an opposed roll. If we assume a 10 for the target, you're also automatically beating the median at 21. Because you want to beat and not meet the Perception, you would need a 6+ to beat the highest CR5 perception. Sounds to me like you have things well in... *puts on glasses* Sleight of Hand.
I want to see the return of Monkey Grip. Or at least take out that dumb sentence which prevents scaling weapons. The (cumulative!) penalties are enough to balance it out. I'd also like to see a book with a bigger emphasis on skills like Complete Adventurer and Complete Scoundrel from 3.5. More uses for skills, especially Knowledge and Profession. Standard DCs for more actions, skill tricks maybe. Also, some higher level DCs (35+) to make skills more useful to high level and mythic characters.
Manacles are a classic trick, available and affordable from 1st level. Even better, make them Manacles of Cooperation- once they're on, the victim never tries to escape and you can just keep making requests until they fail the saving throw. Shackles of Compliance are less hazy rules-wise and you get a more powerful Command effect, but only 3 times per day and the victim can try to escape.
I still want to play a Lantern Archon. I'd hire a Commoner in a green tunic to carry my stuff in the early levels. Once I could afford them, I'd start buying intelligent magic items with fly speeds so they could follow me around without needing to be carried. Class would probably be Cleric, so I can eventually summon other archons to form a gestalt.
I agree on the level adjustment point. I miss having that simple system for including more powerful races as PCs. My favorite used to be the Goliath from Races of Stone (+1LA), but if you were willing to wait you could play a minotaur (+2LA) or even a hill giant (+4LA). I like the LA system because I like stupid unexplainable menagerie parties. I like having a pixie (+4LA) and a giant in the same party. I like seeing parties made up entirely of gnolls or lizardfolk or DRAGONS. One of the things I really don't care for about Pathfinder is that humans are the only race to play. With the exception of obviously powerful races like Aasimar (who were +1LA in D&D 3.5) there is just so rarely a justification for not taking that extra feat and assignable stat boost. The ARG was a nice step, but the race points are no basis for level adjustment. Hobgoblins are 9 RP and goblins are 10 RP despite hobbos having better ability scores. Svirfneblin are a character race but have a whopping 24 RP. Lizardfolk have a swim speed, natural attacks, natural armor, and only good ability scores but are 8 RP- less than humans and goblins. I know the official Paizo stance on monster races is a resounding "NO!" but it would still be nice to have some kind of balance system for those of us who like monster races. Plus, I still want to play a lantern archon.
The king was secretly a lich and came back later on his own. He has killed everyone else who was present at his death, and still rules the kingdom as if nothing happened. Except that now the PC is the only one left who knows he 'died', and thus may figure out his secret. This solves the return, the superpowers, and him becoming a villain. Also, if your PC ever tries to return home nothing will have changed and everyone will think s/he is a raving lunatic- prompting the local guard to swoop in and force an encounter with the king.
15 goblins gives just over 2000 XP- that's a CR 5 encounter. And that's assuming that the warband doesn't have a higher-level leader. If they do, it's likely a CR 6. Your PCs are all level one, so the encounter is either 4 or 5 CR higher than their average level. The CRB sets "epic" hard encounters at CR 3 above the party's average level. Tl;dr you have way too many goblins.
The Robe of Vermin cursed item (it's near the bottom) knocks your initiative by -5 in addition to its other ill effects. Also, the Lovesick drawback from Ultimate Campaign gives a -2 to initiative.
...Everytime there is even the slightest bit of dialogue one of my players just sits back and shuts down, whining about everything the other players are doing until he can have a chance to throw a fireball at something... This player obviously isn't interested in RP. He's not necessarily bad at it, he's not trying. You can approach this one of two ways: encourage him to try by providing in-game incentives or just accept that he isn't interested in dialogue. Combat is a huge part of tabletop RPGs, and there are just some people who are more into that aspect of the game than the character acting aspect. Under no circumstances should you ever force the player to RP. ...And my other player always asks me about something in game he wants to know and when i point out the HE cant ask me that he lets out a huge sigh and in a mocking tone "his character" asks me the same exact thing... This player is mocking you because you are being overly pedantic. Imagine an old school computer RPG with an inflexible text parser- the kind which would accept "pick lock" but not "pick the lock." YOU are the text parser for your PF game. When you make your player say every line of dialogue his character says, you are slowing the game down by requiring the exact correct input in your parser.
Sounds less like slavery and more like a life prison sentence. In a traditional prison you'd have guards (the giant) restricting the prisoners who are wrongdoers (raiders and slavers) from leaving the premises (the farm) while possibly having them do manual labor (farm work).
This is a great suggestion. Building on it, don't just tell the players they can't do both. Present them with multiple things they can do and when they finish one, tell them the other is now impossible. Then when you present even more things which need to be done, they'll be conscious of the events progressing where they aren't present. The factor of not knowing what will happen while they aren't paying attention is the key to causing the tension you want.
Once again, the Book of Erotic Fantasy comes to the rescue! The BoEF adds a seventh attribute just for attractiveness. At character creation, just roll an extra set of dice or add 3 points (the equivalent of a 13) to your point buy. Disguise becomes Appearance based, and bluff, diplomacy and intimidate share Appearance and Charisma by GM discretion. If you're starting a new game, problem solved! If you're mid-game, give your characters the option of revisiting their ability scores. If you rolled, they just roll again. If you went point buy, add 3 to the amount of points they spent on Charisma, then let them re-spend that many points on Charisma and Appearance. Surely this is the solution is the least ham handed and the least awkward for everybody. Surely.
Worship Lamashtu, then the possibilities are endless!
...Certain half elf qualities would be absorbed into elves, and certain half Orc qualities would be absorbed into orcs... I really like this idea. Alternate racial traits already accomplish the mechanics quite well. Say start with Human, then have Orc Heritage as an alternate racial trait which replaces Skilled the bonus feat with everything a half orc normally gets. There is even a precedent for referencing racial traits as prerequisites with feats like Catfolk Exemplar and Draconic Aspect. That said, I really like this ruling with the current system. The concept that a Half-Orc isn't Orc-ey enough to ritually cut themselves really bothered me. I always enjoy more character options and more flexibility rather than less.
Just noticed the Magic Is Life trait in Ultimate campaign- sounds pretty good. Trait bonus vs. death effects and automatic stabilizing "while under the effects of a spell." It seems to me that if you had a cheap spell like Detect Magic cast on you with Permanency, you would always be "under the effects of a spell." Unintended interaction? It's almost like buying the Diehard feat for 2500gp, except you can't act but do get a save bonus and whatever spell you tacked on.
But potions of Fly cost 750 gp! Instead, buy a cannon for 6000 gp to fire your melee at the target. Potions of Feather Fall only cost 50 gp- that's a 700 gp savings! After 9 uses, the cannon will pay for itself!
You have to play this sound whenever it turns into the ship.
..."Don't waste everybody's time with this s!$&." If I want to run a game about petty theft, I'll do that, and find a way to involve the entire group. You (the GM) not being able to find a way to involve the whole group isn't the player's fault. Robbing a store takes as little or as much time as you want it to. If you really dislike it that much, the whole encounter can be boiled down to "Make a stealth check: if you beat this DC you get an item, if you don't your rogue has to pay a fine." Done. Your rogue player might be a little disappointed, but s/he still got to do the thiefy thing and all it took was one roll. If you're going to prevent skill-based classes from using their skills, I hope you warned your players before they made their characters.
You have to shout the name of your attacks at the top of your lungs, just like "POWER ATTACK!" and "SMITE EVIL!"
Hello, my name is Lurk3r, and I'm a sunder addict.
I love building characters around the sunder maneuver. Breaking things is just so satisfying! I use it out of combat too- I once sundered a hole in the bow of a pirate ship to goad the pirates into fighting me (adamantine vs. wood, adamantine wins). And in deference to SotS, PF did a LOT to help sunder. The silly magic item +X protection clause is gone, so with the bonuses provided by the feats I can sunder your armor with a teaspoon if I'm high enough level. Also, the most of the greater feats have some additional effect which they didn't in 3.5 because it was only the improved feat. Sure, some of the other greater feats are lame, but a lot of them aren't. Greater Bull Rush makes your target provoke just like SotS suggested. Greater Dirty trick makes them waste a standard action, so you can just pick entangled and lock any melee character down forever. And sunder's is the best- damage overflows on to the victim? Yes please!
I don't see what's stopping the dwarf from running away properly here. The Fleet/ Run feats are character investment as are spells like Expeditious Retreat. They are not requirements. Those characters spent resources on running so they should be better at it but that doesn't make normal characters bad at it. Or, to put it a different way, how would non-adventuring dwarves run away? They'd take full round Run actions (for which the feat is nice, but not necessary) every turn. You can run for a number of rounds equal to your CON score before needing to make checks- and dwarves have a racial CON bonus. If the dwarf really wants to get away, in the long run the dwarf will get away. And that's just the rollplay side of it. If the player wants to run, the GM shouldn't just slap their hand and say "Bad player! Go sit in the corner and roll 3d6 in order!" The GM should tweak the scenario so that the player has at least a chance of succeeding. In the OP's example of untiring incorporeal pursuers, maybe there will just happen to be something along the way which can distract them- hint hint. It may not be a big chance of success, but no chance at all is just railroading and encourages the "never run away" attitude the OP is worried about. Why should I, as a player, waste time trying to run away when the GM is just going to railroad me into an early grave?
...And in the end, the player chooses this death. They could have overridden their character's personality long enough to save the character's hide if the player had really wanted to... A player chooses, a slave obeys?
Clerics have spells. With a WIS of 18, he should have some very good spells. What spells did he cast? If he didn't cast anything, why not? With a STR of 7, it should have been obvious that he is focused more on casting than on melee so you probably shouldn't have expected him to fight. Was there any possibility of his character sticking to the sidelines, or did this melee beastie just appear out of nowhere in reach of the party's squishy caster?
(does it work on you? because the spell just states your allies)You are your own ally. That would make a great Oracle curse. Call it 'Split Personality': you don't count as an ally when targeting spells. As the oracle levels up, they'd get nondetection type spells or bonuses to bluff.
When I was in college, I heard a great story from a group at the local game club: the party had just beaten an encounter and were looking at some treasure. At about the same time, two different players asked "Are there any magic items?" and "How far is it to get back to town?" The GM responded to the second player "A walk of about two miles." The first player then exclaimed "A wok which is two miles across!?" The GM rolled with it and the party carried the magic wok (which could shrink or expand to any size under 2 miles) for the rest of the adventure.
I always thought that part of activating smite evil was shouting "SMITE EVIL!" at the top of your lungs. You know, like "POWER ATTACK!" and "SNEAK ATTACK!" (which is why you lose stealth after the 1st attack, btw)
The real question is, "Does it work on a corporation?"
Who knew paladin threads had such high ranks in stealth? Prostitution = evil or not is a setting specific thing; as GM you can answer that question yourself. Stealing is definitely not a nice thing but, as others have pointed out, can be used for good. As GM you can also answer that one yourself by evaluating the player's actions surrounding the theft.
Fire Flowers? Venus Flytraps? Deadly Nightshade?
Halflings. They're small, they bother me.
In the games I run and the game I'm playing in it's max HP per HD for both PCs and NPCs (and monsters). Ditto- makes calculations easier and makes fights last longer. Both are things I desire as a GM.
A creature with Swallow Whole has to "grapple you with its mouth" and while in gaseous form you are insubstantial. The spell doesn't specifically state 'immune to grapple,' but it may as well. So barring any person-sized hookahs, I'd say no.
Masterwork Tool(Bluff), 50gp.And that tool is? A padded codpiece.
You mean the vocal component doesn't consist of shouting the spell's name!? "Lightning Bolt!"
You could use the AT's ranged sleight of hand ability to pickpocket the belt. Totally worth it for the 7 level investment.
Wow. I always thought that Snap Shot only worked with bows, but now that I check it doesn't... Now I need to build a Barbarian hurler who snap shots boulders at people.
Ditto. The best way really is to talk to him Ooc and get him to stop or at least be more considerate of you. However, most people who RP jerks are jerks outside of RP, so talking may not be an option. Especially if he knows he is being annoying, which as the "complicated tier-based loot distribution" shows may be the case. If you can't make progress OoC and you still feel like playing in this game, you really will need the other PCs' support to axe another member of the party. Otherwise you may change from a PC to a recurring antagonist. Since you are all pirates, I recommend a scroll of Hideous Laughter and then pushing him off the side of a ship. Tortles have a swim speed, but they don't have the ability to breathe underwater. Especially not when they're laughing uncontrollably. Of course, if it really is that annoying, you can always leave the game. Leaving a group sends a powerful message, and most people will rethink their ways (at least a little) if it happens enough. Make your reason for leaving clear in a polite and not overly spiteful or pissy way, then leave and don't come back until another player says that your problem player has changed his ways. Please don't actually kill the player IRL. If you do, please don't implicate us as encouraging you. O_O
Or you could take leadership and get 4 level one commoners to carry you around on a palanquin. *sigh* I'll never find a group who'll let me play that character...
Geas the goblins to be civilized?
RAW, it has no affect at all.
I always thought it was a finesse weapon too. Maybe ask your GM?
Mind you a GM may always rule that a katana, even an adamantine one, deals no damage to stone walls, as he might rule that a hammer cannot damage a rope. That sounds very zen. A hammer cannot harm a rope, young grasshopper, for it is supple and the hammer is not subtle. Using a katana on a solid stone wall is definitely not an appropriate use. You're applying a very concentrated force to a point on the wall, and depending on the makeup of the stone (yes, I know, too real world) the blade will just make a neat little hole and maybe some cracks. You'd have to do it a thousand times to actually break a wall that way. If it wasn't adamantine, I'd even say you run the risk of breaking the sword.
1. A magic weapon which ages the enemy d4 years with every hit but otherwise does no damage. It can't ever hurt him (as requested) because it does no damage. It can kill his enemies when they hit their max age (eventually). 2. A ring which has the same effect as a megaphone. It is a great boon to his oratory because now EVERYBODY can hear him. Make it cursed so that its effect is always on (no charges or limit/day is a benefit, not a problem) and he can't take it off (so it can't ever be lost or stolen, again a benefit, not a problem).
It's legit, but every time you do it you are required to shout "YOINK!"
/\ This /\ Or, since you are high enough level to have a brilliant energy weapon and therefore a badass, just sheath it in your enemies and carry them around.
Where is his spare bow? I know it hurts- I mean REALLY HURTS- to have the GM break your favorite weapon, but there are lots of ways that could have happened. It could have gotten stolen in the night by a Goblin Rogue with +40 stealth. It could have gotten sundered. It could have gotten disarmed. All of these things, the players have access to as well by the way- maybe your local spellcaster could pick up Charm Monster and go around dominating succubi (woo woo). My point is bad things happen, it isn't the GM's fault that you weren't prepared when he had a monster make what is a very logical move versus a fighter. Succubi have a decent WIS, one should be able to exploit your weaknesses.
The upping stats idea should work fine, check out the Monster Advancement Rules on the SRD for some quick and dirty numbers. Another really easy way to up the CR on low level encounters is to just take the preexisting enemies and increase the number of them you field. No fudging new ACs and DCs, just run three goblins where there used to be one. For anything but a 'boss' monster, it is easy to fit story-wise, and the action economy of multiple enemies ups the danger level pretty fast.
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