PoisonToast's page

So my PCs don't really want to do ship to ship combat. They want to use quick rules and just get to the boarding actions.

I'm fine with this but I'm concerned about how to figure out damage to ships, because otherwise they will end up with ships to sell and add to fleets without a scratch on them.

Because even the quick rules you basically have ship to ship combat.

I was thinking of just breaking the ship up into sections, they either hit or don't hit. They roll a d10 to determine how bad the damage say, section 1 got hit with a 5 so its at 50%. On a roll of 0, the PCs have punctured a hole through the ship.

And of course sails or ores count as their own section.

Then its just a roll to grapple and begin boarding.

Any thoughts? Has anyone skipped the actual ship combat parts and just did the boarding? How did you handle it?

Thanks.

It really depends, unless they are firing ballista/cannons/spells at each other crossbows are not going to do a whole lot. The ships hardness will take care of most small arms fire (the sail not so much). I just make the player make sailing checks in the rules to gain ground or use spells to give them a speed advantage. each round they are not in boarding range to the ship they are attacking is a round they take a ballista shot / spell from the enemy ship (rolling to hit as normal). This can all be done very quickly as they don't want to damage the ship they are trying to take, we do all the rolls in about a min or two.

I find more often then not, the players ship takes quite a bit of damage while the opponent's ship is fairly unscathed. I also force my players to squib ships before they can sell them, people are not going to buy a ship that can be easily identified as stolen. It's bad for business. So they have their own repair costs and the squib costs.

This has made the acquisition of ships dangerous and more often then not the players break even (not including cargo). This has also made it so they don't just hit merchant ships, they also hit villages and I give them treasure maps/charts/letters all the time (from the enemy captain's cabin) to promote normal adventuring between the main story line.

Read the linked quote above where they express that their intent was that they are a light weapon just like spiked gauntlets. It doesn't always have to be "hands" so much as readiness and focus. Again, reach weapons have a limitation for a reason, and even an archtype with an ability to overcome that limitation with a drawback, using workarounds to circumvent those limitations is cheesy and is not the intent. Be they spikes or gauntlets or knives on your boots.

(and forgive my typing/syntax... it is very late here and I am on pain killers after getting a pair of root canals done this weekend :P)

Read further down

The rule hasn't changed. Until there's a change to the Core Rulebook, the PFRPG FAQ, or the Pathfinder Society rules documentation, this is just me posting on the messageboards.

It might have been the intent of PF to not allow that. But it wasn't with 3.5, it was ruled in 3.5 that it was the intent to allow it. Again, as the RAW is now, its legal with AoO.

Hope your face feels better, root canals are no joke.

It is a free action to take a hand off of, or regrip a two handed weapon.

Again, read the above post. Not talking about Spiked Gauntlets. Talking about Armor Spikes. Different weapons.

Edit: Check out Spiked Armor on the PRD.

PoisonToast wrote:

By your reasoning, if I'm so focused on using my spear with my full attack attack then I would not be able to use any other legal weapon with my other irative attacks such as armor spikes.

But that's not the case. According to RAW, you can use different weapons you are "wielding" with your irative attacks. One of those weapons, in the Armor Spike TWF thread (i would quote it but I don't care enough anymore, you can search for it as easily as me if you care), it was confirmed if your NOT TWF you can use armor spikes with a THW if you have...

I clearly stated that I am OK with using (reasonable) free actions to switch back and forth during YOUR TURN, but at the end of your turn you decide on which stance you are in, two handed to wield the pole arm, or hand free to use the armor spike. But not both.

Again where is this free action your talking about coming from?

If I have 2 longswords, one in each hand. I can use both if I have irative attacks without using TWF. That does not require a free action to do. They are already being wielded. Just like if I have a Shield strapped to my arm its being wielded. Just like if I have my armor donned properly and it has spikes, the spikes are being wielded.

No where in the rules is it cited that a free action is required to switch between currently "wielded" weapons. the only time a free action comes into play is when I have quick draw or need to pull ammo.

Edit: Just to clarify, I am NOT talking about spiked gauntlets when I'm talking about armor spikes. They are not the same thing. I agree completely that it would cost a free action to release your grip on a THW in order to hit with Spiked Gauntlets. So you cant threaten with those while holding a THW.

PoisonToast wrote:

Fomsie wrote:

and without a hand free, you cannot threaten with the armor spikes.

I can understand that with the Spiked Gauntlet, but if my armor is "covered" in spikes and I kick you with my spiked boot, I'm not threatening you?

You think its unreasonable/cheese that I shoulder check you with my spiked pauldrons as you try to quickly move past me while I'm holding my spear?

Why would I be able to have the skill to, under 6 seconds, stab someone with my spear and then shoulder check the guy next to me with my spike armor in the same turn, but I cant just shoulder check you because you decide you going to walk up and cast a spell right next to me?

Because everything is happening in that seconds, your actions and everyone elses, so it is even faster. And if you are focusing on your spear and the area it covers, you are not focusing on what you can hit with your spiked pauldron.

And really, if you can understand why the limitation would be there with your spiked gauntlet, it should stand to reason that it IS cheese to try to work around it with your armor spikes or even your foot (unless you are a monk). There is a drawback built into reach weapons, it is there to balance out the benefits, but like most questions of this sort it seems that people want to have their cake and eat it too.

I don't see it as cheese, and there are no rule against it. The FAQ ruling only applies with TWF.

By your reasoning, if I'm so focused on using my spear with my full attack attack then I would not be able to use any other legal weapon with my other irative attacks such as armor spikes.

But that's not the case. According to RAW, you can use different weapons you are "wielding" with your irative attacks. One of those weapons, in the Armor Spike TWF thread (i would quote it but I don't care enough anymore, you can search for it as easily as me if you care), it was confirmed if your NOT TWF you can use armor spikes with a THW if you have irative attacks.

Man I said irative a lot... irative... irative. Yep lost all meaning and sounds weird when I say it out loud.

What it boils down to is its legal by RAW, if you don't like it don't allow it at your table.

I can't find the ability listed in the PRD or d20PFSRD. I'm looking at my book right now.

Edit: pg 305

Edit: It looks like you pick an ally when you call total defence and only they gets the bonus.

and without a hand free, you cannot threaten with the armor spikes.

I can understand that with the Spiked Gauntlet, but if my armor is "covered" in spikes and I kick you with my spiked boot, I'm not threatening you?

You think its unreasonable/cheese that I shoulder check you with my spiked pauldrons as you try to quickly move past me while I'm holding my spear?

Why would I be able to have the skill to, under 6 seconds, stab someone with my spear and then shoulder check the guy next to me with my spike armor in the same turn, but I cant just shoulder check you because you decide you going to walk up and cast a spell right next to me?

It would be nice if the devs from 3.x on to PF took into consideration this one feat and reworded everything in the state block...

Based on RAW, if an NPC has the same build rules as a player character per game design and balance, and something in RAW doesn't come out and explicitly say NO, then its not against RAW.

You could argue that its in that gray, "Golden Rule" zone that's ultimately up to the GM.

I personally build all my characters in state block format because it easier for me to build, read and post. Plus it has the added awesomeness that any GM should be able to recognize and reference it quickly.

Just buy some darts. :D

Oh, and darts are totally not as cool as being Gambit from the x-men. That's not a opinion, its a fact. ;)

I'm drawing up Remy LeBeau right now as a Varisian staff wielding Magus...

Just buy some darts. :D

Anyway, using either interpretation, the wording is confusing. Really, if you can enhance them, it should be as darts but for the price of ammunition (as I previously suggested). Enhancing them as though they were "a ranged weapon with 54 pieces of ammunition" is just nonsensical. The deck of cards is the ammunition. What's the ranged weapon?

Marked for FAQ. If this is ever answered, I hope there will be some elaboration beyond the initial question.

The range weapon is the deck box, you don't just keep loose cards in your bag or pocket. They will get all bent up! That is no way to treat a harrow deck. The spirits might get angry, then you get The Harrowing!

I agree, they should clarify.

Note: all links are to the Paizo Store.

From the Critical Hits rules...

Spells and Critical Hits: A spell that requires an attack roll can score a critical hit. A spell attack that requires no attack roll cannot score a critical hit. If a spell causes ability damage or drain (see Special Abilities), the damage or drain is doubled on a critical hit.

It would be nice if this entry was "Spells, Critical Hits and Precision Damage:" but that whats I use it for. If something can be Critically Hit then it is subject to sneak attack as long as it doesn't have another defense against it. Such as immune to Flanking, uncanny dodge, etc. So if an Attack is subject to critical hits/fumbles then it can be used to sneak attack.

All Critical hits are subject to attack rolls period.

Critical Hits: When you make an attack roll...

It would be nice if they came out and said it because I felt it was fairly cut and dry until this post.

A spellcaster with this feat can enhance a deck of cards as though it were a ranged weapon with 54 pieces of ammunition. This enhancement functions only when used in tandem with this feat, and has no affect on any other way the cards might be used. Only a character who possesses this feat can make use of an enhanced deck of cards, and must still use the Arcane Strike feat to activate the cards’ enhancement.

Taking a look at the 2 bold sentences, there is no reason for those sentences to exist unless it was talking about item crafting. Especially the second one. The second bold sentence indicates your taking an already enhanced deck and using Arcane Strike to activate it like you would activate a Flaming enchantment on a sword.

If you used different terminology, changing cards for shuriken and deck for bag, it come out like sounding like:

"A spellcaster with this feat can enhance a bag of shuriken as though it were a ranged weapon with 54 pieces of ammunition."

While not perfect I think it shows the design intent.

Now I'm off to make an Abundant Ammunition Deck of Cards...

Question: Would you allow a player who used both hands to attack with a longsword make an attack of opportunity with that same longsword in the same round?

If you say yes (which you should) then you agree that AoO's are not limited by the "metaphysical" effort restriction. So now the question comes into play about reach/not reach.

Question: Would you allow a player with a +6 BAB to make their first iterative attack with a spear, and their second iterative attack with armor spikes without removing a hand from the spear?

If you say yes (which you should) then you agree that changing between reach/not reach weapons is allowable at any given time, and that for each new legal attack the player may chose what equipped weapon to use.

f you said yes to both of these questions then you should be convinced that a player may make an AoO with armor spikes after attacking with a spear on their last turn.

^^

I re-read your question, my bad.

To be clear, you don't EVER have 2 of the same racial ability, you only get the best.

You would qualify for the 60 ft darkvision as your not getting darkvision from being a drow. You also do not get light blindness because of Surface Infiltrator. You have low-light vision too. ;)

Edited for clarity.

If a Half-dragon Drow takes the "Surface Infiltrator" Alt. Race Trait. Does he still have Darkvision. I only ask because he has darkvision from being drow and he still has darkvision for being a half-dragon.

From what I understand...

When you receive the same racial ability from multiple sources you take the best of them (e.g. you would get darkvision 120 ft from the drow as its higher than the half-dragons 60 ft.).

Because you take the best of the Darkvision sources you only get one instance of Darkvision. So if a trait would cause you to loose darkvision you just wouldn't have it at all.

I would like someone else to weigh in on this to make sure while I search for sources but I'm fairly certain that's how it works.

Oh, I agree, otherwise the special entry is useless.

However, anytime this comes up, there's a landslide of 'NO YOU CANNOT TAKE ITWF/GTWF WITH MWF YOU CHEESE HEAD LOSER' posts. So I think short of an FAQ entry it'll keep going around and around on the boards with a lot of 'uh huh'/'nuh uh' arguments.

I can totally see them having to step in on this and clerify what the "special" ruling in MWF means.

Its a good thing my group respects the acting DM interpretation of the rules (whoever it may be) as issues come up and come up with ruling solutions over email or after sessions as a team.

I usually find that if it sounds reasonable and not clearly contradicted by the RAW, it should be allowed.

PoisonToast wrote:

Give it some time and they will FAQ this to hell as well. ;)

LOL, there's only a few that I think really need FAQs. Mostly the 'MWF/TWF' with Improved/Greater TWF and Monk flurry MWF/TWF questions.

Personally I don't see the issue with RAW not allowing you to use MWF as a replacement for the requirements of ITWF and GTWF as its stated right on the feat "Special: This feat replaces the Two-Weapon Fighting feat for creatures with more than two arms."

As the character description states that you have one primary and 3 off-hand you would only get one extra attack from the feats with an off-hand of your choice.

I would also assume that because of the "Special" ruling on MWF, MWF qualifies you for ANY feat that requires TWF as a prerequisite.

I could easily be wrong but I haven't seen anything yet that tells me otherwise...

Give it some time and they will FAQ this to hell as well. ;)

Uhm,

I did not make the second statement you attribute to me. For the first though, fair enough. We're in agreement. :)

Oops, edited. Sorry about that.

in all fairness, elementals are also immune to critical hits.

Very true, I used them because they were the only thing I could think of at the time. I think Oozes are also immune to flanking... and critical hits. Darn, did it again. ;)

PoisonToast wrote:

I'm no expert, but...

Melee attack is listed as a standard action in the "Actions in Combat" table.

PRD wrote:

An attack of opportunity is a single melee attack...

PRD wrote:

Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally. However, there are reasonable limits on what you can really do for free, as decided by the GM.

That would lead me to believe that you can use a free action as part of your attack of opportunity to adjust your grip and stance because an attack of opportunity is an action.

That with the fact that spiked armor is always being "wielded" and you can easily shoulder check someone moving past you, kick at a spell casters shin, etc. I would allow it if I was the DM.

No, you have to threaten with the weapon to take the AoO. If you don't threaten with the weapon (spiked gauntlet while wielding a two-handed weapon for example), you don't threaten, and you don't get an AoO, and you don't get to take free actions to qualify for the AoO.

On the other hand, armor spikes work fine for this. They are available to attack despite the arms being taken up.

In other words, on your action, with a BAB of +6, you could make a polearm attack followed by an armor spike attack legally, with your two iterative attacks, and not requiring a free action. This means you can AoO with both weapons.

I, at no point mentioned Spiked Gauntlets as they would not apply. I merely stated that an Attack of Opportunity is an action and can be used with free actions and armor spikes are always considered being wielded, giving examples of such.

Edit: I can see how my example for the free action might allude something else, I was just using a prior example I had read in the thread.

Melee Attack is one of the many choices you have for Standard Actions - that does not make all melee attacks Standard Actions.

I also never said that all melee attacks are standard actions, I just showed my reasoning how a AoO was considered an action by listing a similar action.

First and foremost...

The rogue must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot.

Precision-based damage is referenced with "Creature Type" descriptions when a type or sub-type is immune to sneak attack. Like Incorporeal creatures:

An incorporeal creature is immune to critical hits and precision-based damage (such as sneak attack damage)

Precision-based damage usually walks hand and hand with critical hits. If its immune to critical hits its immune to sneak attack dmg. One of the exceptions I can think of off the top of my head being creature types immune to flanking such as Elementals...

Not subject to critical hits or flanking. Does not take additional damage from precision-based attacks, such as sneak attack.

Now onto Spells and Critical hits.

Spells and Critical Hits: A spell that requires an attack roll can score a critical hit. A spell attack that requires no attack roll cannot score a critical hit. If a spell causes ability damage or drain (see Special Abilities), the damage or drain is doubled on a critical hit.

I'm no expert, but...

Melee attack is listed as a standard action in the "Actions in Combat" table.

An attack of opportunity is a single melee attack...

Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally. However, there are reasonable limits on what you can really do for free, as decided by the GM.

That would lead me to believe that you can use a free action as part of your attack of opportunity to adjust your grip and stance because an attack of opportunity is an action.

That with the fact that spiked armor is always being "wielded" and you can easily shoulder check someone moving past you, kick at a spell casters shin, etc. I would allow it if I was the DM.

Here's hoping that its as good as it sounds.

Also make sure we can import character sheets from Hero Lab (html/xml copy n paste support) and have Google Docs support eventually.

My vtt group uses shared google docs for party swag, timelines, etc.

Oh sweet, thank you much! I am off to buy some right now!

I would love to see digital versions of the comics start coming out too. hint, hint....

Sorry Liz. :)

SomePDF didn't work as well, which is what I figured.

Really the only issues I'm having are the maps that are full pages (such as "The Inner Sea Poster Map" and maps in the "Folio" compilations.

The smaller maps and pictures (as long as they are not the interactive ones, which are cool maps) I don't need to brute force the pdf in order to use them.

I just think it would be great idea to release jpegs/pngs of the maps in the folios and books for consumption. Especially if they release the different maps with/out grid lines, markers & secret doors.

I exclusively play online. It takes far too much time to get a live group together and where most of my original group lives in several states, playing online is our only option most of the time.

You can export the images from the pdf without having to screen shot. Try SomePDF or similar software.

You cant export a full page (Isle of the Shackles full map). I am using adobe pro and because a lot of the maps are special, because of the tech they are using to toggle the map markers, I cant seem to pull the images correctly or cant select them.

I will try that software but I'm not sure if it will work any better then what I have.

Thanks though.

This aggravates me to no end.

Why is it that the Map Folios are locked at all? They are easy to brute force into. All it does is add an extra step when I'm trying to put maps into my VTTs. Snipping tool and taking a screen shot doesn't work very well for full page maps (8.5x11), as they get a little blurry.

I would love it if Paizo would provide PNGs/JPEGs of the maps so I could use them in VTTs. It would make the setup time a lot shorter and I wouldn't have to break into PDFs I buy to use them.

Quick thing, the discussion for the mega dungeon will be moved here:

https://sites.google.com/site/theshadowsstir/home

I want to try out this good site thing and this is the perfect excuse. I invited all members of our group to it. I'm still playing with it at the time of this writing and it not done yet.

The email will be sent soon to everyone with my Google Drive link.

For the love of crap. I want my NPC CODEX PDF!

Hey brian could you send me the pdf's?

I will send you the pdfs first thing in the morning.

Brian, you said we could apply templets to our characters correct?

Yes, but I changed my mind. No templates unless you run it by me first. all main races are ok. any rare or exotic races run by me first.

No paragon or any of that nonsense. You will need as many levels as you can get. This dungeon was designed to TPK. You need to be careful.

Edit: Let me clarify the races thing. I will allow any races out of the advanced race guide that are in the Core Races section.Some that are in the Featured Races sections. Anything in the Uncommon Races section and ANY templates needs to be ran by me first.

I changed this because you guys have been adventuring before this for a while. All of you. I would like you all to use your common sense and judgment when picking a race. Why would a Hobgoblin be adventuring with a dwarf and a half elf? Some racial combinations can work and I will reward creativity by allowing a good character concept. Run it by your fellow players. Will the other characters even partner with yours? This game world holds a lot of the same racial prejudices that are common in pathfinder and DnD. So if it sounds like a weird combo, it probably is. And no Drow out to redeem their heritage, there is no way to make that creative in a way that has not been done by RA Salvatore. I will kill your character on the spot.

k im going to be running late. Misty's finals are this week.

I'll probably be on tomorrow morning around 10

Sweet. Just hop on Skype and we can work on the vassal mod.

I need you Zack when you have a chance. Not sure what your schedule is but I need to pick your warmachine brain. Hop on Skype and send me a message and let me know when your free. I am far too lazy to learn warmachine right now. I'm editing that guys warmachine vassal mod, but the math is all f!#&ed up. I cant reverse engineer everything, so I believe it has something to do with the warmachine rules. I could go through and rewrite it all so it uses inches and such but that's a lot of work I could skip if I knew the conversion formulas they were using to turn a 12 inch control area into a measurement of 382 in vassal.

Also I was thinking of editing the rulers to measure inches or show inches more clearly I was wondering what you all thought. Because the current measurement they are using is 1/10th of an inch... which does not make any sense considering 1 inch is 2.54 cm is 25.4 mm. Unless its some warmachine thing. I have played a lot of tabletop war games that use correct measurement, so I hope this is just the mod and vassal and not how warmachine's math works.

Nice sheet Brian, now it will be easier to track my death!

Thanks! Once you edit the sheet you can save the sheet just make sure you change the name so you don't overwrite the original.

It was a lot easier to make then I thought. You need to log into your Google account to DL it.

Here is v1 of the the IK fillable Character Sheet: Link

Profile sheet updated with damage capacity. Working on fill able PDF now. We should have one by next session for at least the character sheet. Working toward having Character, 'Jack and Encounter sheets finished by the Wednesday after next.

This is my first time doing this so I make no promises on time frame, but it will get done.

Sorry to hear MJ, also are we still playing tonight?

PoisonToast wrote:

Hey MJ where are you? I need stuff to make stuff for stuff or something...

Hold yinz horses ... I'm putting stuff on stuff, so that I can post the stuff so you can do stuff with the stuff I've got.

'

HAHAHA! BUT!

Hey MJ where are you? I need stuff to make stuff for stuff or something...

That wasn't there before! I call shenanigans! Also, all I hear are excuses.

@Please Don't Kill Me

That's a lot of backup characters but no back story for your first. You know what happens to character without back story to back up the name right? Here's a hint.

Filled out Corvo's back story more to my liking. The first draft was thrown together off-the-cuff and was not up to my normal standard.

great job with the characters everybody, way to dominate the new system! Hey Poof and Brian, have you gotten around to backstories for your new characters?

After spending all that time making that auto sheet I learned a lot about the system (more or less). Also back story is up on Corvo's profile.

Also Poof, I believe you only speak English and Drunk and only one of those fluently...

I'm pretty sure the fluent language is Drunk.

We should all know Cygnaran unless someone is not from the area for some reason. Even then its one of the largest kingdoms, so knowing the language would be important to anyone traveling.

Because this forum has s!~$ code for us to use (cant post plain code or color text for that matter like you can on any other forum), I will email anyone an example who wants it of how I used forum code to stylize your character plain text version.