Madclaw's page

However, a non-rogue with minimal intelligence investment will be trained in 5 skills at level 1 and have 9 skill increases over their career. Because the DC math incentivizes "doubling and tripling down on the stuff you should be good at" I've found people do not spread their skills around very much. In a vacuum, that would be fine but unlike "using the wrong weapon/armor" circumstances emerge for "roll that random skill" quite frequently- "determine if that mushroom is poisonous", "climb the garden wall", "sneak past the old guard dog", "pass yourself off as a waiter to get into the party", "identify the contessa without drawing attention to yourself", etc.

It's hard to run sequences like this if no one but the rogue is trained in nature, athletics, stealth, deception, and society so everybody else is eating -4s all over lest this turn into a solo adventure for the one person who has got all the skills.

I mean, if the point is "you should avoid doing things you are untrained in" we're going to need to hand out more skill increases; since while weapons and armor are largely subject to player choice, skill checks are subject to narrative circumstances.

I know this isn't PFS but scenarios regularly have everyone attempting things they won't have skill training in. Also, it means that ONLY the Rogue and maybe the Bard will be able to participate in skill challenges which isn't fun. A game in which professionals who have spent significant amounts of their career and resources to be the best at something only succeeding 50% isn't fun and it doesn't make sense.

I'm not sure if this has been brought up yet but with the -4 penalty Trick Magic item has been dealt a severe blow. If you're fighting anything your level or above and are using wands, scrolls, or staves for spells the enemy is passing the save generally on a roll of 5 or more. With many combat spells a critical success negates any effects and becomes a waste of resonance and actions. With the previous -2 it was manageable and you could have a reasonable chance of the enemy failing, -4 pushes that too far. I don't know whether Trick Magic item should instead use your proficiency rank in the skill used to trick the item or be always at trained so you're not suffering a massive penalty to the DC. Either way it is something that should be looked at because the -4 is a harsh blow.

I'm sure it's been said but make sure that there's a I didn't trigger the trap but someone else did option in the future questions.

This was a design idea pulled from Starfinder. A lot of the stat block happens behind the scenes and doesn't make sense with the math we see directly. Hopefully there will be a guide on how to build monsters.

But if you look at the NPC section of the Bestiary you will note that the math does add up and acts like PCs. They even make mention of this at the beginning of the section.

Congratulations Abound!

Look at Possession and Resilient Sphere for some good hard nerfs. And LOL at Dominate.

Dominate got upgraded to a two action cast. Unless you prepared a reaction to disrupt it Dominate is going off in the same round.

I was annoyed at first too, but seeing that taking half-elf/orc opens the ancestry feats for both elf/orc and human is a neat benny. I mean you still get the trait like boon for taking the ancestry feat too.

The real problem is ancestry being reduced to a trait like system. Its too sparse, lacking in both theme and mechanics.

It's not a benny though, that was already present in 1E. It's nothing new. I can see that it saves space, but I would much rather have them separate and be able to take other abilities.

So long as you can get every player to agree on not using such a tactic on the first round, I think you're golden ^_^

I agree. Dropping the BBEG round one does take the fun out of it.

So, with 1st edition coming to a close with regards to new content and the scuttlebutt being that there will be more high tier options in Season 10 I want to discuss a prickly topic, Save or Sucks. Now, this topic has probably been beaten to death before but with the final season looming and no more new content for 1st ed coming out afterwards it's probably something that should be talked about.

I was playing a recent 7-11 scenario and the boss dropped a SoS round one as part of their written tactics. I rolled a natural 1 and with my re-roll got the same result. I was then out of the hour and half long combat with nothing to do and this isn't the first time it has happened to me other others. What I'd like to ask is that those writing scenarios and GM's alike to hold off using such tactics on round one. Not the elimination of their use, just not on round one. With limited new content for 1st ed. left, maximizing play time is going to be a high priority for many because not all venues/players will have the availability/option to continue playing this edition.

Now, I know people may comment about being prepared for such things or the party doing something to help out or bad rolls happening will come up. And I know with some party compositions and the ways some play that enemies don't last past round one, but not all play this way. I'm also not asking for easy-mode or kid gloves. I'm not asking for SoS to be removed just don't have tactics written that the drop them round 1. Hold off using them until round 2 or 3. I hope it's not too much of a request.

What are other people's thoughts? Was I too redundant? How's your day going? I hope it goes well. And remember...

Or Razmiran realistically being in his 80s, if not pushing 90. Even with a dash of Sun Orchid Elixir, he's super old and likely frail. By the time they get to that AP he'll be so old defeating him will likely amount to getting a single Trip attack off that will break his hip. (And it's also suddenly weird that he never managed to gain that last level in over a decade.)

I can't remember where I read it but something did confirm he's gotten his hands on the Sun Orchid Elixir once or twice.

If they're doing this I wish they'd set in stone how the knowledge check works and how you get pieces of info. In our area we get to ask questions like: what are it's defenses? which will usually net DR, energy resistances/immunities, and the like. I've seen others you have to ask specific questions does it have DR? Yet other groups the DM gets to pick what they give you. I've even had DM's leave info out entirely when asking for specific things because they wanted to. There's even a feat that gives you a bonus if you identify ALL the information associated with a creature.

I would be all for this but I also want hard rules for monster identification. At least for PFS.

I'm all for goblins being core. It's a nice breath of fresh air to a new system.

Plus there's already at least one settlement where goblins are an accepted part of the community. Thornkeep. They're allowed to come and go and do odd jobs in the town. To me goblins as core is an extension of this.

Madclaw wrote:

I'm not sure on how I feel about this yet. Making save or sucks stronger is not a way to decrease M/CD. I think this only goes to increase it. Of course, this is only one subsystem and other changes could be incoming but it is worrying. The loss of an action was always the gamble with save or suck and balanced them out. Giving them an effect even on a successful save only increases their power and thus casters. Not sure if this has been covered or not, because 10 pages is a lot to go through.

Many of the worst effects of old SOS spells now only happen on a critical failure of the save, with simple failure being a lesser penalty. And critical failure won't happen often. So this was a means to balance that out and still let the SOS caster usually achieve something with their turn even when the target saves.

I suppose. Without seeing the effects of failure and critical failure on the SOS it still has me leary.

I'm not sure on how I feel about this yet. Making save or sucks stronger is not a way to decrease M/CD. I think this only goes to increase it. Of course, this is only one subsystem and other changes could be incoming but it is worrying. The loss of an action was always the gamble with save or suck and balanced them out. Giving them an effect even on a successful save only increases their power and thus casters. Not sure if this has been covered or not, because 10 pages is a lot to go through.

I am not so sure about option 2. If campaign leadership wants to bring in glyphs than those glyphs should mean the same for everyone.

As the proposal stands a 5 glyph GM could be someone with between 100 to 150 GM credits, based on the number of stars that GM has. I don't think that is fair to newer GMs. Either keep stars for both current and 2nd edition (similar to core and standard) or make a new system (like PFS and SFS), but in my opinion this is bound to lead to unhappiness somewhere as people will wonder who is a 'real' 5 glyph GM and who is a subsidized 5 glyph GM.

There are also some questions that are very likely to be asked:

Will there be a single cut-off point (August 2019) when the discount on games GMs will be calculated?

If not: would a future 5 glyph GM also receive a discount when he or she starts GMing 1st edition scenarios?

Being an accomplished GM also helps in GMing SFS, will there be a retroactive discount for Novas?

I like option 3 the most, as that represents an additional "thank you" above the rewards stars currently give. That reward could be tiered based on the number of stars someone has by August 2019, or not.

I don't think that there will be a worry about who is a "real five star" and isn't. Part of the star system includes acknowledging time and effort put forth. People that already have stars have put in that time and effort and a discount wouldn't and shouldn't cheapen that to someone who wasn't part of PFS 1. I firmly think it's a non-issue.

I personally would like a hybridization of Option 2 and 3. It not only gives a reward but makes earning the new option easier. I think it would go to help assuage a lot of people who have put in a lot of effort over the past 10 years, myself included.

Madclaw wrote:

Saldiven wrote:

Darksol the Painbringer wrote:

Right. Because sex appeal and Charisma are synonymous in this game.

Except they're not.

Except they are, to a degree. From the CRB:

"Charisma measures a character's personality, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and appearance."

Yeah, but look at Amiri, she only has a 10 Cha and is very attractive. So, really YMMV.

Sex Appeal and Charisma need not be synonymous, but they can be. It's just as valid to say that a Sorcerer's CHA 20 is from being someone who turns heads wherever they go, even if they're really introverted and shy, as it is to say a very attractive person is CHA 10 because their personality and ability to lead aren't up to par. Because Charisma is a combination of all those traits, not just one.

Precisely what I was trying to drive at. And you did so eloquently.

Darksol the Painbringer wrote:

Right. Because sex appeal and Charisma are synonymous in this game.

Except they're not.

Except they are, to a degree. From the CRB:

"Charisma measures a character's personality, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and appearance."

Yeah, but look at Amiri, she only has a 10 Cha and is very attractive. So, really YMMV.

What's wrong with multi-classing?

I'm firmly on the side of keeping things as is. Yes, you have people who try and game the system to maximize their gold potential. But I wouldn't say that's a large section of players. What I have seen happen is, at least in our area, is players having to play up because the table is full. They can of course play a pre-gen at that point but if you have a character in the level range 99% of people are going to want to play their character. Don't punish those people that end up having to play up.

42) Will magical pants finally be an option?

Mystic_Snowfang wrote:

So there are some things I've noticed that are missing gods or demi-gods that show interest in them.

Such as there is no god or goddess or anything else of horses. Nor do any of the daemon lords lend themselves to snake oil.
What other gaping holes in areas of interest have you noticed?

Horses: General Susumu

Snake Oil: You mean liars and con artists in regards to medicine? Yea not seeing anything that's deception/trickery and healing.

I always felt this was covered by Norgorber.

Freakin' morlocks. At least the assassin is pretty cool.

I really wish they'd put out a mini of one morlock standing on the other's shoulders, since they usually end up that way in combat.

Erik Mona wrote:

Core Rulebook iconics have a more essential quality to them than the iconics for all of the other classes.

NO ONE IS SAFE!!!

LOL.

I swear, if something happens to Yoon...

I think Deadpool said it best.

I don't think this needs to change. If you have an issue with it in your games don't allow it.

I know this isn't quite the place for it but I'd love to see a PFS season centered around getting the Society to Arcadia. Building the resources for it, setting out, and then making contacts there. I think it could make for some good times. And with the advent of PF2 coming it'd be a good time as any to do so.

James Jacobs wrote:

I've not yet totally abandoned the plans for chaotic neutral Nocticula as a goddess of Midnight, Artists, and Exiless. The core pantheon of the game remains the same, but that doesn't mean the expanded pantheon won't change.

Lamashtu's not going anywhere, never fear!

Could the expanded pantheon include deities from other mythologies? Finnish? Etruscan? Roman?

Correct me if I'm wrong here but I've always gotten the felling that Arcadia is the Golarion equivalent of Greece. So, it's possible they're worshiped there. Not that we've gotten much info on Arcadia.

NetoD20 wrote:

They are changing small aspects of their costumes. I would absolutely love if Ezren were to get a pointy-hat.

Assuming he's not too old to adventure now.

Are you kidding? Ezren may be getting older but he still keeps in shape. I mean have you seen mythic Ezren? Dude is swole! His adventuring days aren't done yet.

I know this is a new edition and a number of people are suggesting putting various golden cows on the proverbial pyre but if they're keeping the alignment system I think the current nomenclature is sufficient. Mainly to discourage any confusion.

"they did this so much better in PF1."

You heard it here first folks! Just kidding. I am cautiously optimistic for PF2.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who heard it when they read the title of this post.

John Compton wrote:

I rather relish any opportunities I get to highlight non-human NPCs and villains, especially in diversifying the venture-captain roster and presenting unexpected foes.

Clearly we need a gnome arch-villain. And not some goofy gnome, either, but an obsessively sinister schemer.

The eyes of the ground squirrels are everywhere, John.

The squires are organized!

Shifty wrote:

I'm really not getting where the 'no' vote is coming from.

Because I don’t want to run 1E scenarios in the future for people who have replayed everything multiple times. You want to replay a scenario? Have a GM run it for you for no credit. Do like my wife and I did, play the scenarios with a group as a campaign free of PFS rules.

But you don't have to run for people who have replayed multiple times. Just like the the people who are saying if you don't like PFS 2.0 then you don't have to play. Nothing is requiring you to run it.

I think an expanded replay after PFS 2.0 launches is something that could not only help support the system Paizo spent 10 years crafting with minimal effort and support. If you don't want to offer PFS1.0 in your area you don't have to.

If materials retain the hardness values from 1st to 2nd I think we're going to see a plethora adamantine shields.

Also, I hope there will be a feat or class feature that allows you to absorb more blows with the shield. If for an action you get 2 or 3 reactions to reduce damage. That could be useful.

It's amazing how fast the 5 Cha dwarf fighter can run when creatures with Cha damage show up.

A lot of creatures that do stat damage/drain do so in d4 or more amounts. Two to three hits or even a crit will send anyone with an average score running. Not just people that dump stats.

This has already been mentioned before but more unique gear would be fantastic. We've started to see it more but I want to further encourage it things like certain scabbards and cords made for mules or potions with dual effects. Simpler things like higher caster level potions, scrolls, and wands are almost always bought by players in my area.

On a similar vein I'd like to see items that are in the CRB discounted on chronicles or do what some have done where you can use prestige to reduce the cost of an item. It's made some neat items that are a little to costly attainable.

Thing numero 2 I'd like to see is a balancing of faction boons on chronicles and the difficulty to attain them. There have been a couple of instances of the old season 1 and 2 disparity of difficulty show up between faction goals. One requires succeeding on all 4 difficult checks in a row whereas another faction just had to complete the scenario with both success conditions. Only to find out the more difficult one was less rewarding. Further, having more variety for boons would be nice as well. I'm looking at you Silver Crusade and your 3 to 4 free atonement boons

I'd like to disagree with the death needs to be more meaningful. I think it is already. 20 prestige is nothing to scoff at to get the raise dead and the 2 restorations to negate the two negative levels. That means you're part way through 5th level so you don't have the gold cost. If you're not 5th level you're dishing out gold that is needed for gear. I think death is fine where it is. It's *almost* never fun to have a character die that you've invested time and effort in, even if you have the 20 pp cushion.

That's really all I have. Other than the addition of a magical pants slot but that's more a system request than a PFS one.

What the subject states. I read through the SFS guide but didn't see anything, although I could have missed it. My guess is that it will since they're tied to the same PFS account number but I just wanted to be sure. Anyone know?

Well, at least we'll get to see more of Tom Cruise running?

So, the Wild Hunter archetype from Ranger gets the Animal Focus ability as follows:

Animal Focus (Su): At 1st level, as a swift action a wild hunter can take on the aspect of an animal, gaining a bonus or special ability based on the type of animal emulated. This functions as the hunter’s animal focus class feature (see page 27), though this only applies to the wild hunter and not an animal companion (see shared focus, below). The wild hunter can use this ability for 1 minute per day per ranger level. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be spent in 1-minute increments. He can only emulate one animal at a time. This ability replaces all instances of the favored enemy class ability.

Now, this specifically calls out how it works and that your animal companion doesn't benefit from Animal Focus until you get the Shared Focus Ability. What it doesn't call out is the third paragraph of Animal Focus from hunter which reads

If the hunter’s animal companion is dead, the hunter can apply her companion’s animal focus to herself instead of her animal companion. This is in addition to the normal one she can choose, and (as with a companion’s focus) remains in effect until the hunter changes it instead of counting against her minutes per day.

Does the Wild Hunter archetype also get this part of the ability since it specifically states it functions as the the hunters' Animal Focus class feature and says where it differs?

Thoughts?

color me interested as wanting to test it.

Personally I love Dragonslayer.

"We don't do tests!"

Color me interested. I've got three characters that I think would fit in perfectly. One in particular that has some schemes that would flow well with Sejanus' plans. I'll have them put in by tomorrow night.

I did the same thing Haladir. I wasn't too interested in PFO, but wanted to support the project anyways and get Emerald Spire. Totally looking forward to getting my hardcopies.

I completely forgot the Michael Stackpole was working on a floor. It's been awhile since I've read something by him. Great author though. Really excited he contributed.

LazarX wrote:

Falcar wrote:

the quiver could hold swords in the javelin spot, greatswords in the bow spot and maybe daggers in the arrow spot (Daggers may be too large)

I'm not going there again.

Oh no, you won't?

Perhaps instead of comments like that you should include a link to a prior discussion, hmm?

I believe LazarX is making a sexual innuendo.

Madclaw wrote:

AHHHHHHHHHH!! *blood curdling scream*

Ghostbusters (as Slimer attacks Bill Murray)?

Really this could be any of a thousand movies.

That was my intent.

Listen! Do you smell that?

Hmmm, this very well may lead to another tie in with the theive's guild.

AHHHHHHHHHH!! *blood curdling scream*

Have it not be Excel Spreadsheet the game?

Depends on the scenario level. Mid to higher levels starts seeing casters and many of them will have at least one AoE. Good-bye swarm.

Also, this

Tell everyone to take off their boots. When dopplegangers shape shift they generally just shift into having their clothes on. If they can't take off their boots then they are a doppleganger. Kudos to any doppleganger that actually wears clothing.