I have a Sylph mobile fighter idea I've been wanting to play quite badly. I've got a rough background for her but it needs a lot of fleshing out. I've got a busy day, but I'll try and have something up by tonight.
I'm going to post my rough concept first and see if it floats your boat at all, since gun-using characters can be a divisive topic sometimes.
(Note: this is going to get MUCH more detailed, this is just a skeleton of an outline)
Messidia Jochalt is the child of a moderately powerful wizard from Nex and a marksman from Alkenstar's military. She became enamored with her parents opposing professions at a young age and spent much of her formative years blending the two into a singular practice. When she came of age, she and a dear childhood friend decided to strike out on their own to find fortune. They settled in Korvosa. Unfortunately, it was not long before her friend developed an addiction to shiver. After many months of trying to persuade her friend to go clean, he overdosed and did not survive. Messidia traced the source of the drug back to Gaedren and she intends to get revenge.
Messidia would be a musket-weilding Spellslinger wizard with a one-level dip into Musket Master gunslinger at level 2. Her opposition schools will be Enchantment, Divination, Illusion and Abjuration making her primarily a blaster loosing her spells through her musket. She is going to be either a Tiefling or a Half-Elf, I have not decided yet.
If you like the idea, I will post the full build later this evening.
Definitely interested! I've heard nothing but good things about Crimson Throne!
If you decide to allow Sylphs, I've got a (decidedly non-optimized but fun) Fighter I've wanted to use in something for a little while. If not, that's no problem, you've given us plenty of options to play with so far.
Um, I don't think everyone will be in the final party; garabbott said it would be 4-5 people.
Speaking of who'll make it into the party, I just read your background and it turns out you and I had some similar thoughts going on when writing up our PCs, haha. Given similar-ish backgrounds, perhaps Jannet and Elspeth could be pals? I mean, she's not exactly fun to be around, but Elspeth has to have at least a *couple* friends...
(Assuming, of course, that I get selected to join. Being the most recent submission, I'd understand if grabbott already had his heart set on 4 or 5 of you.)
Leading with the fluff, which I'm more interested in anyways. Spent a good couple hours on all this. There's a big 'ol chunk of "secret stuff" to her past and parents that I would be happy to send to you in a PM if you are interested, Garabbott.
Description&Personality:
Elspeth Luren is a tall half-elven woman of 25. While her expression is often dour, she possesses a dry sense of humor and amongst her few friends she often shows affection with sarcastic but good-natured jabs.
If her olive skin and thick, straight dark hair were not enough to indicate her Shoanti heritage, then the distinct Shoanti facial tattoo serves to make it unmistakable. Despite her obvious ancestry, she has had little interaction with the Shoanti in her life, in fact going to great lengths to avoid them or hide her face in their presence. If asked about her tattoo she often becomes uncomfortable, if someone aware of its nature and significance inquires she becomes angry and defensive.
Backstory:
Elspeth was raised in Biston by Old Lady Luren, a widow and retired priestess of Abadar in her eighth decade.
25 years ago Elspeth’s father appeared at Old Lady Luren’s door. An elven man with an ashen face and hollow eyes, he held a squealing baby not a day old and by its size clearly born premature. Despite this, they baby was a healthy pink and full of vigor. After a moment’s hesitation, she invited them in. The elven man offered little information and would not give his name, but when he requested the child be given a home neither Luren’s heart or faith could refuse. The man stayed with them for three days, instructing Luren on what to tell the child of her parents:
Her mother was a Shoanti warrior, her father an elven mage. Both had died shortly after her birth. That was all. On the third day, before he left, he inscribed a tattoo on the babe’s face. Years later Lurue learned it was the tribal tattoo of the Shiikirri quah. The Hawk tribe.
Elspeth’s childhood was troubled. She suffered terrible, inexplicable fits of anger and often claimed she saw ghosts or was being haunted. The skeleton of information Luren had to offer Elspeth of her parents was a constant thorny spot between them and the progenitor of many fights in Elspeth’s adolescence but, despite this, the two loved each other as true mother and child.
Luren passed when Elspeth was 17. In her will she left Elspeth her small home in the Lakeside district and bequeathed her name to Elspeth as a surname. She also used her connections in the local church of Abadar to get Elspeth accepted into the small but growing militia, hoping that martial training would help her control her anger problems as well as provide an occasional outlet for her violent urges. This proved mostly successful. While she is not a particularly devout follower of Abadar, she finds the church and the militia provides a certain element of purpose and control that has eluded her most of her life.
Under the surface though, she remains deeply troubled. Elspeth is known to visit the Stomping Squat roughly once a month and drink to excess, desperately chasing what she once described to a curious patron as “the sweet oblivion of that fifteenth ale”. During these monthly indulgences it is not uncommon for Elspeth, near to incoherent with drink, to begin ranting of the spirits that have harried her since childhood…
As much as I love running my dedicated group of PC's through my latest dastardly narrative, lately I have been itching to sit on the other side of the table.
My preference would be a Pathfinder group, but I have experience in (and books to share!) many other tabletop RPGs.
Also, while I'm only interested in being a player I don't at all mind "backup DMing" and helping with the boring stuff (running numbers, checking rules, keeping track of initiative, etc.). I did that for the DM of a group I played in a couple years ago and it really helped move things along.
ALSO: Groups in the East Bay are a possibility as well, as long as you are near-ish BART access.
Hope to hear from some of you Bay Area dice-chuckers!
(Seriously guys, I'm drowning under something like thirty character ideas and only coming up with more. Help!)
Also, I just noticed that Cavaliers and Samurais don't get a single Knowledge skill as class skill. They get out-knowledge by EVERY other class in the game. That's just sad.
That's not *entirely* true, as I'm pretty sure every single Order grants at least one Knowledge skill as a class skill.
Inquisitor: Terrible. More MAD than Monk. This is a class that just doesn't know what it wants to do.
The two Inquisitors I've taken to mid levels would beg to differ.
Inquisitors make me feel like freaking Batman. I *always* have something for the situation at hand (combat or otherwise) and whatever I'm fighting, I can hurt it.
I found the "likes" a lot easier to come up with than the "dislikes". In fact, narrowing "likes" down to ten took a bit of work.
Like ("Love" is a bit strong):
1. The availability, earnestness, and dedication of the Paizo staff.
2. Skill consolodation.
3. Emphasis on modularity in classes (i.e. Bloodlines, Cavalier Orders)
4. Vast improvements to martial classes over 3.5
5. Everything they have done with my favorite class since 2nd Ed., the Bard.
6. The Inquisitor, the only class I've ever loved almost as much as the Bard.
7. The Golarion setting. Particularly the much greater emphasis on diversity (of all kinds) than I typically find in tabletop RPG settings.
8. The effort the designers make to cater to a wide variety of playstyles and aesthetic prefrences.
9. Archetypes.
10. The way Wayne Reynolds draws monsters.
Dislike ("Hate" is a bit strong):
1. Even with my deep lack of concern for precise balance and mechanical optimization, the Rogue still needs some help outside of the hands of a veteran player.
2. The fact that, even though I love the Summoner and have no compuctions against it in the games I run, something about it still feels "off" to me.
3. The lack of support for a "Free-Hand" fighting style. I like the little bit we've got, but it has by far the least support of any classic fighting style.
4. Vital Strike's lack of interaction with other feats. This is the only extreme contention I've ever had with a Pathfinder ruling, so I can't complain too much. It just irks me like crazy.
5. The nerfing of the Spiked Chain. Yes, I am a Spiked Chain fanboy. No, I am not proud. I go to a support group. The road to recovery is long.
6. That "Elves of Golarion" is the only race guide not written under Pathfinder rules.
7. That, as far as I know, there is no non-campaign specific trait that grants Acrobatics as a class skill. This is one of the very few mechanical things that has gotten in the way of a few "off the beaten path" character ideas I've had.
8. While I think Paizo has done a *lot* to mitigate it, the game *does* still start to fall apart once characters hit 17th or so.
9. The way Wayne Reynolds draws people. (Here come the slings and arrows.)
10. That katanas, RAW, can't cut a mountain in half.
That last dislike isn't true, at all, but it's the best thing I can think of to try and draw fire off of the fact that I really don't like the way WR draws people.
But it's futile, isn't it? Oh well, just find a nice stake to burn me on. I prefer cedar, but birch will do in a pinch.
Well, the last adventure starts at level 14, so level 16 is a safe bet.
You shouldn't expect any adventure path to get you to level 20. Of the Pathfinder APs, we currently have two capping at 17, a 15, and a 13. Pushing to 20 would likely take at least another volume, if not two. People have asked for APs that got all the way to 20, but there are a variety of impediments to the idea. Right now, the "Continuing the Campaign" articles are the best you can hope for.
Wait, doesn't Kingmaker end at 18? I'm probably wrong, and I don't have the books with me at the moment, but I coulda' sworn...
Pharasma, Shelyn, Shizuru, and Groetus are also quite high on my list.
Cayden and Irori get high marks for "Coolest ways of becoming a deity".
Honestly, Golarion has probably the most consistently fascinating and well thought out deities of any published setting I've ever read. As an "armchair expert" on mythology I've gotta say: Not only do the Paizo folks *really* know their stuff and do their homework, but the play around with all the parts and reassemble them with a superlative amount of creativity and ingenuity.
Bard, Inquisitor, Magus... In that order, depending on my mood.
That said, I love all characters that get their hands dirty effectively. As long as I think of an interesting/fun gimmick that doesn't bore me you'll see me playing everything from polearm fighters to Dex-based, dual-wielding clerics.
I've made so many characters at this point that now the way I mostly manage to enjoy myself is to find a few interesting-sounding mechanics and see what I can do with them.
For a possible upcoming Carrion Crown game, I decided I wanted to give Channel Smite a try (I rarely play Clerics, when it comes to Divine casters Inquisitors are much more my style) and decided that I also liked taking that a step further and trying to build around Guided Hand.
For those without UC: Lets you use Wis. for attack bonus on deity's favored weapon.
To add an extra layer of nuttiness (and feat dependancy, har) I also decided I wanted to be an archer. I passed on Erastil because, while I find him quite intriguing from a world-building standpoint, I have no interest in *playing* a borderline misogynistic traditionalist. After some poking around on the Pathfinder Wiki I found the Empyreal Lord Shinashakti: CG, Shortbow for favored weapon, and a couple of fun domains. Sold.
Finally, the mechanics! (And what I'd like a little help on).
I'm going human, and I'm going to use the Crusader Archetype (One Domain, One less spell per day/level/tasty bonus feat selection in return) and taking Focus: Shortbow for my 1st-level Crusader bonus feat.
Here's my conundrum: I'm going for a minimal Dex of 13 to qualify for Deadly Aim later. Being Human I have two feats... Do I use them to go Channel Smite + Guided Hand to get Wis. on attack at level 1, or do I go Point Blank Shot + Precise Shot to not take that nasty "firing into melee" penalty?
Either way, the two not chosen would be picked up at level 3 and 5 repectively. But which is best to start out with?
And, please, none of the answers that tell my why this is suboptimal and I should just play "X" instead. This is what I want to do, I'd just like some outside perspective on this starting feats business.
Prot Evil on the tanking ranger and bless for everybody combined with touch of luck and guidance when I have burned everything else.
I keep a Grease up my sleeve to change the battlefield when the bad guys make their charge and I have the bonded object give me whatever circumstantial spell that I need to be awesome when we need that spell you would normally not have.
Its looking like I'll be grabbing crafting feats at 3rd and 5th because I need them for the character and the party made some noise in the direction of Gee it would be great to have this item and the nearest magic item mart is in another country.
So its:
3rd Wiz 2 craft misc shiny
4th Wiz 3 Intelligence
5th Clr 2 Craft arms and Armor
6th clr 3
7th MYT 1 Minions!
8th MYT 2 Wis
9th MYT 3 Freedom to choose whatever feat makes me feel shiney inside.
I don't know what the general consensus about it's usefulness is, but I rather like the feat Theurgy from Ultimate Magic. It gives you a little bit of versatility with all those spells you'll have ready to go each day. I find it's best for the option that boosts your caster level for Divine magic. Drop a low-level Wizard spell and get an extra caster level's worth of effectiveness out of one of the "always useful" low level Cleric buffs, like Shield of Faith, Entropic Shield, or Align Weapon.
Aroden's death is indeed such a mystery, and, IIRC, James Jacobs has stated that he doesn't intend for the truth surrounding it to ever be revealed.
Other mysteries may or may not ever be dealt with, as the setting is developed, such as the nature of the Four Pharoahs of Ascencion and their connection to the Dark Tapestry (and the 'countdown'), or what exactly happened to Old Mage Jatembe and his Ten Magic Warriors, or where Nex wandered off to, or whether the Black Sovereign of Numeria is machine or man (and the techno-mages control the machine-men, or the other way around...).
Has anything more ever been said about that ominous inscription on the sphere that sits at the center of the Negative Energy Plane? I actually got a chill down my spine the first time I read that. It's probably my single favorite piece of mysterious "What the %$#&?" lore in any campaign setting ever.
Whichever one of you fellows at Paizo thought that up, let my buy you a beer sometime. I insist.
I'm going to echo the above sentiment: it's not really overpowering, but it's also not really necessary. I find that just a straight Gunslinger/Spellslinger/Eldritch Knight is both the best application of Spellslinger and one of the best applications of EK, especially if you go Musket Master for your Gunslinger level.
But, it's important to have fun, and if you want the Gunslinger tricks it shouldn't be a problem. Except for maybe Targeting.
Strange spell for level 3. The con damage hurts and one-full round is a lot, but the benefits are really great: 5d4 at level 10 means that maximized it does 20 point of int damage, and you can maximize it easily with a lesser rod.
Even if the target passes the save it will take 10 point of int damage, which are more than enough to drop most powerful foes or render a wizard/witch foe useless.
Not sure how often I would use it if I had it, but seems too powerful for it's level.
Thanks for your input! I was kinda hoping this thread would get a bit more attention.
As I said, it is supposed to be too powerful for it's level (special goodie and all). The idea was "powerful effect at personal risk". My question is weather or not it is *too* "too powerful for it's level".
I felt the Con. damage, full round action, Will save, *and* being subject to SR would help reign it in a bit, but I could be wrong. I'd like to hear from more people.
My Kingmaker game is pretty much by-the-book with the exception of tossing the players a 20-Point-Buy bone and allowing one player a non-standard race choice. However, I really like "personal sidequests" for PCs and often include them in my homebrew campaigns.
Since Kingmaker is so sandbox-y, I figure it would be fairly easy to throw in a little side quest for each of my players with some sort of goodie at the end that's somewhat stronger than what they'd have at that level. Two I've got figured out: The halfling druid is going to get the "Fey Creature" template applied to her giant frog companion and the human cavalier is getting a custom feat that'll provide some nice buffs to make him a better king. I'm stuck on the gnome ranger and tiefling witch.
For the witch, I decided some custom spells at spell levels 3, 5, 7, and 9 a bit more powerful than they should be could work. Since her family is a big part of her character and has been fleshed out a lot, I think some sort of inherited "blood magic" would have the proper flavor. Each spell would be quite great for the level, but would require hefty personal risk to make use of.
Thing is, designing spells is a pain in the umber hulk.
This is what I've got for the first spell, at spell level 3. Please, let me know what you think and offer any suggestions you think are worthwhile. *Constructive* criticism is appreciated, and any clevel thoughts on flavor are also welcome.
Mind Crush:
3rd-Level spell
School: Transmutation (mind-affecting)
Casting Time: One Full-Round Action
Components: V,S,M (a significant amount of the caster's own blood, freshly shed)
Range: Close (25ft + 5ft/2 levels)
Target: 1 creature + 1 additional creature/5 levels, no two of which may be more than 5ft. apart.
Duration: Instantaneous
Save: Will for half
Spell Resistance: Yes
When you cas this spell you must wound yourself deeply, inflicting 1d6 points of Constitution damage to yourself per creature targeted by the spell. Targeted creatures take 1d4 Intelligence damage/2 levels, to a maximum of 5d4 at level 10. A successful Will save halves this damage.
The rules for mithral predate that of the magus. It's still medium armor in form and proficiency/ so the arcane spell failure still applies.
Um... you are wrong. Mithral counts as medium armor only for proficiency -- in every other way it is light armor. Which means that for the purposes of if it is light armor for ASF for a bard or magus it is.
Even if you get the proficiencies you're still subject to arcane spell failure since the armor types aren't being covered by your magus class features.
That is why I said Mithral. It counts, in every way but proficiency, as light armor. Thus, no spell failure. The armor check penalty is also so low that it isn't the end of the world to not bother with it at all.
The rules for mithral predate that of the magus. It's still medium armor in form and proficiency/ so the arcane spell failure still applies. Again an arcanist is not going to win the AC race, there are quite a few magus spells that deny or greatly reduce opportunities to be struck at. That's where your focus should like, or combat maneuvers to disable your enemies which generally is the strength of the staff magus who can combine heavily CMB flavored combat with spell combat.
No. Mithral breastplate is still medium for proficiency, but for nothing else. Staff Magus ignores spell failure for light armor. Ignoring spell failure has nothing to do with proficiency.
I don't know if you care for multiclassing, but I really like doing a two or three level dip into Monk of The Sacred Mountain when it comes to the Staff Magus. You get a natural armor bonus, some bonus feats, Toughness for free, Unarmed Strike, and you can flurry with your quarterstaff. Additionally, since Stunning Fist will do little for you, you could slap Monk of the Four Winds on there too to get some elemental damage in a pinch.
Also, everything Mort (hey Mort!) said about wands/staves is excellent advice. On that subject, taking Craft Staff at higher levels is a very, very good idea.
Hope for something like this has been lurking in the back of my mind since the day I got sucked into Pathfinder.
When you guys announce a new product, my initial reaction is usually "This is exactly what I wanted and I didn't even know it." This time, you have actually given me exactly what I wanted. I love you guys.
The Rage Prophet is an odd duck, and at first brush I appraised it as mostly fluff for people with really specific character ideas.
However, it is important to note that they eventually get to add their Con modifier to spell save DC's (something I somehow missed on my first pass of the class) and that can be pretty slick, as ways to enhance your save DC's are somewhat few and far between.
I don't know if it appeals to what you're going for, but this dovetails nicely into an intimidate-focused build as you have a nice bump to your save DC's as well as an easy way to slap a save penalty onto your opponents. Most of your spells are going to be combat buffs, but this means you can mix things up with a Hold Person or a Greater Command that actually has a fair chance of sticking.
Also, while I know you're looking for easy ability to convert to Forgotten Realms or the like, I personally find Pathfinder's campaign setting to have done a much better job with ethnic diversity than just about any of the established D&D settings.
I am 100% in favor of more cryptids. Aside from being a general fan of the concept (seeing the Chupacabra in Bestiary 2 was glorious), I find that (if I may be so bold) it only strengthens Golarion's concept as an "everything *and* the kitchen sink" setting. Cryptids definitely posess their own special flavor, and can color the tone of an adventure in very significant ways, just like powerful undead, dragons, fiends, and dinosaurs. As a DM, I like having crytpids available as one of many tools to build an atmosphere.
Additionally, monsters that aren't "real" cryptids but can fit the general flavor (things like chokers, mobats, gryphs, and crocottas) would also be appreciated.
"Saul says his occaisional fits of battle-rage are a "side effect" of all those magical extracts he's always usin' on himself. Funny enough, he still hasn't explained why they all smell like potato vodka."
Honestly, the more booze-fuled classes (or options) we get, the closer I am to running the most hilarious and doomed one-shot of my entire GM-ing career.
Hooray for buttloads of Fighter archetypes! Particularly "Unarmed Figheter"... I *really* hope that ends up being as cool as it sounds.
Also, Cavalier archetypes! It's been a long time coming, but I feel it will be worth the wait. Musketeer is the one I'll be looking foreward to the most.
It's one of the smaller lists, but I find myself really excited by the sound of the Magus options. Kensai and Myrmidarch hint at wonderful possibilities (and continue to fuel my assumption that this book is going to vastly improve a player's ability to emulate a lot of traditional JRPG concepts in Pathfinder). I have no idea what a Soul-Forger could be, and while the name "Skirnir" has my obsession with Norse mythology dancing I have no idea what it could imply mechanics-wise. My first thought, meant completely in good-natured jest, was a character who always happens to be holding on to someone else's magic item when that person really needs it.
Lastly, yay to the laundry list of Monk archetypes. While I don't have nearly the amount of Core Monk gripes that most people seem to, I do believe that can use a little bit of help moreso than the other Core classes. They also seem to me one of the classes for which archetypes are most thematically appropriate, what with such a wealth of highly iconic variations on the central theme it shoots for.
There being no rules for acceleration, using the Peasant Railgun offensively is more or less pointless. The real exploit is to use it to send messages and packages cross-continent instantaneously.
You Sir have just inadvertantly invented Peasantweb. The midevil Interweb's.
All this talk about the Peasant Railgun is bringing back fond memories of the "Blind Kobold Drive" from 3.0.
A really easy way to do it that doesn't involve changing/tweaking/customizing anything (which is how I prefer to work things out, YMMV) would be to just play a Half-Elf and take the "Fey Foundling" feat from the Inner Sea World Guide at first level. It represents having a strong connection to the world of the Fey, which could represent being a "quarter-blood".
I don't have the book right in front of me, but I believe it gives you a +2 bonus on saves vs. death, +2 points of healing to any magical healing you recieve, and you suffer +1 point of damage from any cold iron weapons (but you can weild cold iron weapons without any mechanical penalties).
I don't see a rogue yet. I like playing rogues but I know in some campaigns they don't end up being needed because there aren't very many traps or anything. Will a rogue be necessary/useful here?
It's the Temple of Elemental Evil, so, YES.
There are plenty of moments for a Rogue to shine in the module and, honestly, I'd seriosly consider opening all chests with two 10' poles tied together if we don't have a Rogue.
Ielexia Vilvanderael is in many ways a shining example of the typical Elf. She is smart, swift, deadly with a bow and competent with a blade. She appreciates beauty in both form and function: everything from elegant archetecture to the untouched beauty of a remote glade untouched by civilization. Growing up, she was considered gifted by her instructors, her talent with magic exceeded only by her prodigious archery skills.
She was somewhat different in one key manner: she has become obsessed with human culture and the romanticized life of the adventurer. Minstrels traveling through her Elven homeland brought with them tales heroism and high adventure. Of noble nights slaying fearsome dragons and brave wizards bringing their arcane might to bear on those who would do evil. By the time she had come of age, she had made up her mind.
Months before her arcane studies would be complete and her place in Elven society determined, she stole away from her homeland in the night. Bringing with her the arcane implements of her studying, she resolved to finish her wizardry training her way while on the road.
She wandered for a while, meeting many strange and wonderful new people (mostly humans). Finding herself months later in Verbobonc, she heard of bandit problems out near a small village named Hommelet. Seeing the perfect opportunity for the adventure she craved, she set out for Hommelet the very next day.
Ielexia is a smart, capable, competent Elven woman. Her romanticization of the adventurer's life is perhaps a bit naive, and she is aware of this. She cannot deny the life that calls to her heart, however, and she intends to bring her considerable talents to bear on the world of daring, heroism, and glory.
It does not seem to be letting me edit my post, so here's my full character sheet. (Also, how are you guys making those neat alternate messageboard names/profiles for the characters? Are you just starting new messageboard accounts?)
A couple of items, first: What is our starting gold? Max? Average? The stat block I am presenting is without gear (though you can assume she has a Longbow, at least). I will add after we determine starting gold.
Also I have some general fluff ideas, but I'm not terribly familiar with Greyhawk and don't know how you intend to "start us off" storytelling-wise (do we know each other? Are we all just sitting in the same bar when the curtain comes up?). I can provide background later, as well. I'm perfectly willing to study up on Greyhawk. Is there a good website for info?
I haven't decided on my favored class yet, so her HP may go up by one in the near future.
Also, some people have mentioned the possibility this starts at level 4, in which cas she's a Fighter2/Transmuter2.
Ok, made up my mind. I'm putting together an Elven Fighter that will multiclass to Wizard and then go in to Arcane Archer. So, yeah, "Ranged Artillery" I guess would be the role. I'm hoping to make him not totally hopeless in melee, though, at least at the first few levels.
Roland Red-Hand is a (in his words) supremely gifted man born and raised in The Shackles. He wouldn't have it any other way. He spent most of his young life after his parents' death getting short stints of work on any ship he could and carefully learning everything he could about the diverse and wily ways of the Bard from whatever minstrels passed through the islands. Roland posesses a magnetic personality, useful for getting is numerous and disparate teachers to reveal small bits of their craft to him over the years and which could develop him into a significant leader of men. He will have his own ship one day, he knows. He is a man born for adventure, freedom, and living under no man's law but his own. He might even be just talented enough to pull it off.
I am down. One question, though: will we benefit from making characters geared towards seafaring mechanics? Such as, dealing with wind effects, abilities that manipulate weather/sea travel/etc.? Because I'm cooking up a Seasinger Bard and I'm definately gearing him towards being a sea captain/role-play heavy character. I just don't wanna get hosed for being quite "unoptimized".
Aye sorry mate I generally keep to very basic stuff cause it's all I have in print.
Oh, understandable, I'd take the same position if that's all I had in print. I'm just the "guy that almost always DM's" so when I have the opportunity to play my brain kinda blows up with all of the cool options that have been coming out that I don't get to use, haha.
As it is, I'm workin' on two ideas: a Bard and a Transmuter/Ranger Arcane Archer. I'll see which one I like best when they're done.
Would anyone be interested in playing my updated version of Return To The Temple Of Elemental Evil?
I've been watching the boards for a while and feel my first pbp game should involve something I have some experience running.
Would be PF 1st level to start 25 point - looking to go for the long haul and with characters of any non-evil alignment using rules from only the PF core book.
Temple of Elemental Evil!? I am so in... Imma start working on a character to submit for application now...
Orannis - Asmodean Demon Hunter is fine for the Cheliax trait. I know it's in the APG, but it is also reproduced in Cheliax, Empire of Devils.
Rannald - I'm fine with Extremely Fashionable as a trait.
For all:
For anyone keeping tabs, we currently have a large number of charisma based casters and a fair number of melee types as applicants. Certainly don't feel like you can't submit for a class/niche that someone else has, but if you are looking for low-competition areas, we currently have 0 INT-based casters (and given the setting a wizard would be wonderful), and only two clerics.
Definitely submit characters you'd all have fun playing, but just to let people know, at the moment I'm thinking I'll pick 1-2 fighting types (including a rogue), a divine caster (a battle/melee cleric would count here just like a caster cleric would), and an arcane caster in addition to the two reservations.
I'm quite enamored with the monk I posted above, but I could throw an Int-based caster into the field as well, if it would help liven things up.
How do you do those nifty little cuts in the text? It'd be useful for me to know, especially after I just slapped that wall o' text on everyone.
If you look under the post text box, you should see a line saying "BBCode tags you can use:" with a box to click to show them. That will run through each of the ones you can use.
Also, I am not the most tech-savvy person.... How do you do those nifty little cuts in the text? It'd be useful for me to know, especially after I just slapped that wall o' text on everyone.
I'm plenty competent enought to keep up with a pbp, though (even though I've never played one, heh). I've got an iPhone, so regular updates really shouldn't be a problem for me at all.
Chammady Lorica, Human Female LN Qingong Hungry Ghost Monk
Chammady is an orphan in the truest sense of the word. She has no memory of her parents dying in a tragic accident, no snippets of recollection regarding an abandonment on the streets at a young age, not even a sad tale of being found on an orphanage's doorstep as a squirming babe tucked hastily into a wicker basket. No, Chammady's first memory is of survival: scavenging the last scraps of food from the improvised shelter of a dead old woman she found in an alley. At the age of six, she killed a boy in self-defense when he tried to shiv her upon discovering she posessed a copper piece. He overextended and stumbled to the ground, there was a large stone near her feet, and if the boy got up it meant her death. For her, it was a simple equation. It shook her at first, and she took no joy in it, but neither did she regret it.
Discipline is what ultimately kept her alive those first years on the streets. Running and leaping from rooftop to rooftop kept her safe, always carrying just a little bit more than she thought she could kept her fed, and paying constant attention to her surroundings kept her alive. This also kept her fast, strong, and able to tell someone was going to move before they themselves did.
At 8, for the first time in her short life, her instincts faltered. She knew the confident woman sitting in the city square was a risky mark, but food had been scarce the last couple of weeks and the woman had a fresh apple sitting a full six inches from her on the bench. The woman was Sister Novennia Praxia of the Order of the Golden Erinyes, and she caught Chammady almost instantly. Normally, Novennia would have cuffed the child she now held by the wrist and sent her on her way bu she hesitated: this street urchin had a molten determination in her eyes and even now was methodically working out any -*any*- escape that presented herself. Novennia smiled to herlself, this was exactly the child the Order looked for.
Life at the Order's orphanage fit Chammady (for that was her name now, given to her by Sister Novennia) like a glove. The Asmodean faith appealed to her instantly. While she had little interest in Asmodeus' love of contracts, bargaining and manipulation she instantly gravitated to his emphasis of elitism. She had survived on the streets by being the strongest, the fastest, the quickest. Here, she was rewarded for her personal strength and drive. The world was behaving as it should: she had been the strongest and thus rose above lessers, and she would prove herself stronger still.
When she came of age, she was one of the top orphans chosen for admittance into the Golden Order where she proved a talented pupil. Her instructors prize her for her unstoppable drive, implacable self-discipline, and unwavering devotion to Asmodeus. Despite this, she does not particularly care for her god's more outright moral perversities, as she she's them as an indulgence impractical to all but those at the top of power. She is intensely pragmatic, and tends to respect other people who are practical and driven, particularly those who show great talent or skill in an area outside of her expertise.
Sorry, I realize that got long and wordy so I skimped on the details towards the end. If I had to sum her up in a quick (and slightly sarcastic) fashion, it'd be "Ayn Rand + Goku".
I'll have crunch a bit later, but one quick question for you, DM Morvious:
Can the Faith Trait "Asmodean Demon Hunter" count as my "Cheliax Trait"? I ask, because it suits a devout Sister of the Gold Erinyes rather well and I was fairly nonplussed by the other Cheliax traits in regards to my background.
A.) I apologize. I was not trying to be condescending, I was trying to make a joke with a little bit of snark to it... You know, the sort of thing that's almost ubiquitous on these boards, and not uncommon from some of the people rebuking me but I digress. It was meant in good humor, but it was late and I'd just finished slogging through an hour of stats homework and it seems I came off a bit more vitriolic than I intended. If I insulted you Shuriken Nekogami, I am sorry.
B.) For the record KaeYoss: I was *specifically* refrencing the aesthetics of JRPGs on the Nintendo or Super Nintendo which I *realize* are old. Next time I unsuccessfully make a joke, I'll remember to refrence something more current.
here is what i would do to fix the rogue (for free)
remove immunity and resistance to sneak attack across the board, whether through conditions, creature type, armor property or spell effect. nothing should ever be able to negate a primary class feature. especially one that is so highly specialized in use.
treat the rogue as automatically sneak attacking, regardless of circumstances and allow sneak attack to multiply on a critical hit or even by means of vital strike. sneak attack may as well be a permanent bonus as far as i am concerned.
allow multiple applicable rogue talents to affect a single sneak attack
This seems awfully drastic, and contrary to the intended tone of the game in many ways.
Golems are all but immune to spells. Spells are a primary class feature of... well, quite a lot of classes actually. Should golems loose this ability? Without it, I'm suddenlty not very afraid of them anymore.
Swarms are immune to weapon damage as well as many combat maneuvers. I would argue that these things are both major features of the Fighter. Should swarms loose this ability? For that matter, swarms being immune to sneak attack makes an awful lot of sense.
Immunities to certain things are what make some powerful enemies so powerful. Some enemies force certain classes to come up with different ways to deal with the situation. Playing a Rogue and battling something immune to Sneak Attack? There's a good chance you've got Use Magic Device, so whip out a wand or scroll and toss some spells. Does it have high AC? Use the "Aid Another" action to help the fighter land a hit.
This isn't a JRPG on the Nintendo. You have options beyond selecting "Attack" and waving your sword at the goblin standing on the other side of the screen.
Orannis
