playing somethign that can heal but not dedicated would probably be a good idea. My party right now has a seer archtype oracle, life mystery. She is a half angel aasimar who is going down feat lines to get wings and everything. Oracle is actually alot of fun, basically just a sorcerer who uses divine magic instead. Any positive energy oriented oracle would work since all the cure spells you know automatically. Could be a fire oracle or something if you want to burn things it could be fun plenty of mysteries to choose from and very flavorful.
Paladins are also really fun when they give you devils, demons or undead to fight. You may also want to look into cleric with healing ability there is also the crusader archtype for them makes them more paladin like. Just avoid the healing and sun domains if you dont want to play a healbot imo.
If you want you can convince the witch to roll hedge witch :p
There is a dragon humanoid race already in the book that is fairly balanced. I wouldnt give fly or large to a PC race unless i had a really really good reason to except a centaur race or something but that has its own list of problems. If your player really wanted to just be a dragon the dragon disciple solves alot of those problems. If you are going for dragonborn type then look at the Dray from darksun 2e and the book with the dragon race already in there.
So i wanted to make a pathfinder society character and its been so long since ive played in it i decided to start over. And i cant find my old character anyway so im trying to fit a class and build over a personality i devised and ill fill in the logistical as needed. Still need a place of origin.
My character i imagine him to be a young magical prodigy. He has shown extreme magical talent from a young age making him a perfect candidate for an adventurer...He is however prone to vice and decadence. He tries to do what is right but more often than not finds himself doing whatever will benefit himself the most and even though he tries not to he has trouble resisting the temptation for using magic for selfish reasons. At times because of his superior intellect (real or imagined) he can have a bit of a god complex feeling he needs to meddle in things that are really not his to meddle in...He is not without redeeming qualities. He tries to be an overall good person and usually his work is for a good cause. He cannot turn down a plea for help if it is genuine and will do his best to help in any way he can.
*Beliefs*
-The universe is magic, therefor anything can be fixed with magic.
-People who are incapable of using magic are stupid.
-Cannot refuse a plea for help
-Some things however cannot be helped and must happen
-All things have their time and must come to an end
So this is what i have so far for this nameless hero I have. I wanted someone who can be a hero but is prone to his own faults. So now im trying to come up with a good character class and in context background for him where someone like this mightve grown up and what profession he would be. I am thinking wizard or arcane sorcerer but it is beyond me as to what school I might be specializing in. Keeping in mind it IS organized play i want the character to reflect his personality so I can get in what sort of hero he is without having the home group to set it up over a long period of time.
So my brainstorm:
Probably a wizard but any school of magic with the exception of enchanting because i dont see him that manipulative plus 20% of all creatures are immune to it. Leaves me with:
divination (think would stroke his god complex side of always "knowing" whats going to happen),
Evocation (Great mind for physics would reflect this)
Conjuration (nothing says can do anything like being able to create things from nothing)
Necromancy (Seems overly weak in pfs and breaks his everything must end belief)
Transmutation (I love alot of the spells here particularly refering to gravity, time and space but dont know much about it)
Alternatively the sorcerer fit his concept decently, the sage in particular would let me keep his intellect. SO anyways, any advice on this character? Also a good place of origin/faction that fits him.
Would anyone be interested in joining a campaign near the orlando area? We are using pathfinder rules for the planescape setting. We have two players and a GM, and we are still deciding on a suitable meeting time and date for all players involved. We are looking for players who enjoy a more roleplaying intensive group, and open to using homebrew/third party material in a game including the psionics material and spell point system.
More than anything we are looking to have fun.
You can contact me via E-mail (mjpalazzolo@hotmail.com), PM me or just leave a reply if you are interested.
Do have a question about content. The spell line Grave summoning has "Conjuration(Summoning) [Necromancy]" for its descriptor and one of the fog spells has "Conjuration(Creation) [Necromancy]" what does this mean in terms of mechanics. Does it benefit from both necromancy and conjuration feats and powers i mean pathfinder seems to shun dual school spells. Or was it for mostly fluff, which school does it actually belong to my guess is conjuration.
I'm searching for a way to nerf the wizard down to approximately meet the powerlevel of the sorcerer
Don't allow your characters to rest and recover spells after 15 minutes.
Don't allow them to burn all their resources and then rest without any problem before the door of the BEEG. Random encounters exists, things that go bump into the night exists.
Don't always give the possibility to the wizard to tailor his spells to teh specific encounter.
The difference between a wizard and a sorcerer is that the wizard should prepare his spells and a good wizard need to select a mix of defensive, offensive and utility spells, so he can deplete some of his options, the sorcerer, as long as he has spell slots, still has all of his options open.
A the wizard that need a extra fireball and has fly memorized is out of luck. A sorcerer, as long as he has a 3rd level slot and know the spell, has both options available. He is an endurance fighter, that is his advantage, so if that aspect of the game never come in play in your campaign he is weaker than the wizard.
Ive seen this in more than 1 game and this is usually the reason why wizards womp all over your encounters. Also it was said here, wizard has alot of weaknesses as well, like getting your spell book or bonded object destroyed or lack of information. I mean there is nothing like being a wizard with all the wrong spells prepared. This is a GM issue, not a game mechanics or player issue. Personally if my GM came to me with wizard nerfs I would A)Laugh at him, B)Not play in his game/let him be GM, or C) Not play a wizard. I would go with option A every time on top of options either B or C. Also in my games a kind of buff to spontaneous casters, is i borred the 4e dnd rules about retraining and allow it on leveling up to change 1 feat or in spontaneous casters one spell or for some in game cost. Gives them a bit more trial and error for spell and feat selection.
You could always halt their experience until they finish the mod. I think the mod assumes level 3 by the time they leave? I wouldnt sweat it if they are a bit short by trial of the beast. Have they done everything in town? THe research on the WW, Harrowstone, and the prisoners? there is a nice chunk of experience there. Also in the optional events, like the fire, apprehending gibs, the dream and zombies. I think level 3 is close enough if you cant bump them enough experience, or do a short side quest to make up for the exp missing if you want.
My group is almost through with this module and i thought id give my 2 cents on what ive learned through running it and things i wish i could have done differently. They have not yet finished harrowstone dungeon but anyways
The actual prison of harrowstone is filled with haunts, which in my honest opinion are mechanically lame. They drag on forever without a cleric they are obnoxious and they feel more like a trap that you need a cleric to disarm instead of a rogue. What should have been done or what you need to do as a GM is have a blanket DC for fear effects kind of like in ravenloft 3.5 setting
Ravenloft Fear System:
Will save, dc=8+1/2 HD of trigger+charisma modifier of the cause or EL+8= Fear dc and failing the dc by 1-5 means you are shaken, by 6-10 means you are frightened and 11-15 means you are panicked, 16+ you make a horror check and are panicked and this effect lasted for 5d6 rounds)
Horror: For those of you that dont have access to the horror system, a horror check was also a will save (example: DC 15 was a scene of torture or terrible agony, DC 20 was a scene of evil, cruelty and madness like "dismembered bodies turned into marrionettes) and this dc is modified by certain conditions like environment or relationship to the victem. Horror was similar to madness with either a mild, moderate or severe horror effect that usually had long term effects on your character with the exception of the mild ones usually were temporary.
On the first floor of harrowstone, just focus on creepyness and the overall atmosphere. Describe the dungeon to the best of your ability, keep it dark and grim. Ask for perception checks occassionally, and on obvious success let them hear things. Talking, panicking, seeing shadow people and if necessary ask for [bold]Fear[/bold] checks unless they are doing a great job roleplaying them.
Second floor of harrowstone: here add a bit more let the haunts do more than just be creepy. Keep the combat encounters up here but i would also keep the same with the first floor's environment this should be their first real taste of what the haunts can do.
Dungeon level: Here is where you pull out all the stops because it is the most dangerous part of the dungeon. This is where the meat of it happens where they will actually be confronted with the five prisoners and find the badge. Here let the haunts do things that could seriously hurt them, give them visions of them burning alive and such.
*A note on haunts as written: i dont like them because they are stationary haunts that function too much like incorporeal traps. Let the haunts be more atmospheric for most of it, letting them be organic and fluid throughout the prison. Assign some of them to certain rooms but usually taking up the entire room that they occupy unless there is a reason not to do it. Remember most ghosts should not pose a direct threat just scare the pants off your party. The real threats should be the undead. If needed add a few more undead to the dungeon to make up for lost experience for what would have been the actual haunts. Oh and dont feel obligated to activate a haunt every time a party member enters a room or delay it a bit for the haunts you do use. That way you cant have someone be the meatbag who takes all the hits. Maybe they dont manifest until shortly after entering a room or if they linger there for too long.
Example of Haunts:
DM: "The dimly lit hallway is littered from the rubble leftover from the fire. You can see the fire from your torch reflected in the charred wood. Make me a perception check"
Player: *rolls perception* "34!"
DM: "You can hear whimpering from behind the door"
Player: "Im going to go check it out" *he opens the door*
DM: "Here in this room is the feint smell of burning flesh. Several branding irons are scattered on the floor and an empty brazier lies in the corner of the room"
Player 2: "Creepy, I pick up the branding iron"
DM: "Okay" *rolls behind the GM screen* "You see the iron glow red hot and take 8 points of fire damage and you drop the branding iron on the floor, it looks as if it had not been used in some time. You look at your hand and you see the mark of the prison, branded into your hand where you gripped the iron."
This is my example of how i would run it, maybe i would leave out the stench in the room but the way this scene is written in the module, the branding irons fly around the room and attack the pcs as animated object encounter. Which 1) at level 1 is a phenomenal pain in the ass, and 2) just isnt very scary.
Example 2, would be if a player walks into a room by himself the door slams shut behind him him as if the slamming portal haunt were active, and the room erupts in flames and he gets to live the fire in the prison for bit. Here would be a great time for a fear check.
Example 3, seeing the professor walking around as a zombie could possibly warrant a horror check.
Core (equivalent to always available + fame access)
Limited (chronicle access)
Restricted (only authors can use, will not be allowed on chronicles)
Banned (not allowed for use in the campaign, at all.)
Sorry double post cannot figure out how to delete that last one. I think this is the best option, and it would be kind of nice to know what is just outright banned. On another note, i strongly advise against retroactively banning options that were once allowed, as with the last update alot of players were a little upset about some of the options being banned, especially if they already had characters set up for them. So letting us know what is never available for play and maybe why on that account you dont need to say what chronicles a certain PrC or race would be awarded as a boon. I already think this provides too much incentive to go chronicle hunting just to unlock things and leaves people who cant actually attend conventions SOL.
They really should be able to unlock boons in local games, not just conventions or special events unless it is something more cosmetic, and i wouldnt be too bent out of shape on races since your race is mostly flavor. Also a short description on why said item is banned from PFS play when you do make these decisions might help put some minds at ease or help us understand some decisions that might not make sense to us or leave us to speculate. Like the recent changes to available archtypes, some were more understandable than others.
You do realized my backup character for this is a cheliaxian summoner who loves to play with demons right? If i was a paladin id choose the necro any day
Witches have pretty solid utility. Their Hexes, being most often supernatural and not spell-like abilities, can bypass Spell Resistance. They make good single-target healers with the Healing Hex and maintain a nice repertoire of debuff and control spells. They don't have the breadth of spells you see with the Wizard/Sorcerer list or the durability that many Clerics have (being armored, Channeling, lots of buff spells), but they are a nice middle ground. I enjoy playing my Winter Witch.
I think im definitely going to go towards the wizard side for this one. My original idea was to make the gravewalker witch because it seemed awesome then it got ban hammered. Think im going wizard but the witch hexes seemed to be pretty awesome for the debuff department and for necromancer flavor but to be honest im drooling over the Nercomancer's Athame.
I think this thread is going off track. The thread discussion was how to make a necromancer work not not "prepare for everyone to be a dick to you." I do feel that on players should respect each others character, paladins and clerics if they are bothered that much can either A) do an atonement at the end of the session, or b) find a different table to play at. I am perfectly comfortable with handling the rp aspects of my character with the party but i DO expect the GM to step in when a player starts to act immature, like smiting my undead creatures and tell him no he cannot do that. Because then I would feel that the rules are intentionally trying to screw me because they can hurt me but its against the rules for me to do anything against them. Either way it makes for a crap play environment that would likely lead to me leaving the table and then writing a legnthy letter to Mike i think his name is who organizes PFS. People do have to remember than PFS actually does condone the use of undead by a player it even states in the handbook that you can play a necromancer type if you want, orison loves them. This much hostility towards necromancers i wonder if diabolists or infernal binders get this much grief. Also if a synthesist can walk in town fused with his eidolon before he was banned as half snake half man and not have people freak out.
Anyways i was asking how the witch does on the caster side opposed to the minion side.
At which point the Clerics and Paladins would be kicked out from the table.
As a GM I would not rule destruction of undead (even those under the control of a fellow party member) as Player vs. Player.
Wow, i hope i NEVER have you as a GM at my table. That is roughly equal to me dissolving their equipment while they sleep with acid. Would you not rule that pvp either? Or just whispering a death spell on them while they sleep? Or maybe just trapping their soul if they die so that character cannot be resurrected. Wait thats messing with their character too but if the someone tries to kill my undead, I would probably try to kill their character for it. In character aside this is called griefing. And as a gm myself yes i would rule this as a pvp action. This isnt just a mind controled creature this is a charactr's pet. It would be like killing a druid's companion.
1) thats obnoxious as a player to mess with anothers character even if you dont agree with the way its played.
2) thats irresponsible as a GM for letting other players mess with someone elses character.
Are people at a table really such a~#*%@!s for this sort of behavior to be common...
I can deal with the rp conditions. That is fine, also is it true wizard is the best caster necro I really don't have interest in a minionmancer type. Well better than divine classes at spells that are not about creating or boosting undead? How is it compared to cleric, oracle or witch in terms of life and death spells and debuffs
Thinkin about going for one of the first two options. I want to focus more on debugging, damage and.death effects than undead summoning. If go wizard what are good forbidden schools. Also you left out undead sorcerer :p. But witch looks like hexes are good, but I have a hard time justifying plague witch and urgathao cleric for non evil. Oracle, sorcerer and wizard seem the easiest to play as neutral or good even
I have been trying to make a necromancer that i enjoy playing and found a spell, create soul gem. The spell is listed as legal for pathfinder society play, the item crafted contains the soul of said creature however there is another part of the book that is not mentioned in the additional resources online but does actually describe what you use these soul gems for and their primary use is they reduce component costs of spells, or can be used as offerings.
With this in mind my question is this: If i use create soul gem on a dying creature assuming my party is willing to tolerate me doing so, can i use its soul as a component in my spell particularly for animate dead, and create undead. It would not completely solve my problem of paying a component cost for a permenant spell that only lasts a single session but will mitigate it to 25gp per casting assuming i have soul gems available.
Oh wow i did not know that. Are the undead you can create that great? Or the more powerful versions of that spell are they powerful enough to be worth the component cost? Im more interested in the caster side of necro than army builder but i do like having at least 1 potent undead on the field if im playing a necro type. My backup option right now is a conjuration specialist wizard
im ever so close to creating a character and decided i really wanted to play a necromancer. They seemed fairly powerful in pathfinder (they sucked when i played 4e to the point of unplayable) and then i saw the recent bans. And also the major, major inconvenience of not being able to keep your undead from one session to the next and having to create new undead at the start of each session. So my question, are necromancers worth creating in PFS or are they so badly crippled that you are better off playing a different concept altogether. I was looking at necromancer specialist wizard, but death domain cleric, bones oracle, and witch are not out of the question. I think sorcerer also makes an effective one but, at 25gp per HD for zombies and skeletons, and 50gp per HD for anything else just to have them be destroyed automatically at the end of each session it seems impractical to ask me as a player to spend that much just to play my class. How big of a part are having undead minions of being a PF necro anyways...
Best characters are ones you like the best. There is no "best class" for PFS, unless you're trying to power game or something. But play what you think will be fun.
I wasnt asking for the best class was trying to find something fun
I did look at the Aldori swordlord but they just confused me. Their fluff said they didnt wear armor but nothing about the archtype gives you incentive not to. Or i missed something
Yeah my duelist would be either a lore warden fighter or swashbuckler rogue. Ive heard a few complaints about rogue though at least for the duelist type.
Okay im broken indecisive about what class to commit to. So thought id do a poll see maybe i can get a bit of help deciding on what fits the best in pathfinder society and would be the most *fun* character to play. Right now i usually prefer playing arcane casters either pure casters or melee caster hybrids and typically lean more towards the dark arts as far as play style I.E, necromancers or diabolical summoners. So I could stay within my field of comfort or try something completely different for me either way i just wanted my character to fit well with the story and other player characters at the table for organized games. Right now i put a few character concepts together as what would be fun to play as follows they are:
Viking Warrior (Fighter or Barbarian): Survivor of an annhilated tribe of Linnorm defeated by another tribe. this viking seeks to redeem his people in the eyes of his tribal gods by proving himself worthy of Valhalla carrying the weight of his kin.
Fencing Duelist (Rogue or Fighter): This character disdains armor and knows his way around a rapier, or any similar weapon. Either from Brevoy or Absolom this guy is the son of a noble family who could afford to pay a fencing instructor to teach him the art of combat, he joined the pathfinder society out of a sense of duty and family prestige.
Nature Priest (Druid): Another class i dont really have much experience with; Either hailing from the elf lands or one of the more wild places in Galorian this character would be as an explorer and guide to the society helping them safely through areas that are still wild, ensuring they do not desecrate the natural landscape and slaying abominations to nature. Industrial growth and Undead.
Heroic Wizard: Here i can go a couple of ways this is usually my fallback class, I could go universalist wizard maybe that absolom specialty and be loosely based on a wizard like "Zed from Wizards first rule" or Merlin from countless others. Adventuring with the society for arcane lore and be a overall sort of good character.
Antihero Wizard: Other options im considering for this type are any of the specialist wizards, Infernal Binder/Genie Binder, could be kind of cool. Also necromancer i would not oppose playing I can usually fluff them up to not be evil, make them more like the death priests of ancient egypt or something. Also I would not be opposed to trying a Magus, they seem to make good adventurer types.
Witch: Yeah same reason as wizard, originally was making a gravewalker but then i found out they banned it. So i would go either Death, Spirit, Occult or Shadow witch focusing more on the darker aspects of magic and playing this one more mysterious working with darker or unknown forces for more noble ends.
NOT trying to circumvent the no evil characters rules i just think they would be fun classes to play. Anyways comments on what my first pathfinder society character should be? Im having trouble picking
