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Improved Unarmed Strike really seems to be a worthless feat. All it really does is convert 1d3 nonlethal to 1d3 lethal damage. D20 Modern did a little tweak that doesn't seem to imbalance gameplay, but makes an unarmed combat feat slightly more useful by having unarmed lethal provide 1d4 damage. It seems a fair house rule to adopt this feat instead of Improved Unarmed Strike. Thoughts?

A post-apocalyptic setting. Something something staff Creative Director something something has massive outline something something Unspeakable Futures something.

D20 Modern

D20 Future
D20 Urban Arcana
D20 Apocalypse
D20 Menace Manual

Strong, Fast, Tough, Smart, Dedicated and Charismatic classes are cool, especially with talent trees and occupations to choose from, and I'd be cool with re-building these on par w. PRPG classes, but I'd also like to see Paizo re-envision PRPG classes (or at least some of them) as archetypical frameworks for modern classes.

just give them the weapon enhancing abilitys of a pally or magus

I gave some thought to the weapon enhancement ability of the paladin, but in the end - too mystical for my blood. Here are some variants I came up with instead. Not sure the balance (over or under).

SAM (Variant): Monastic Disciplined
CL01 Bonus Feat of Improved Unarmed Strike [at 1d4 Dmg.] aka (d20 Modern's Combat Martial Arts). Unarmed Damage increases +1D every 4 SAM CL thereafter. Replaces Mount.
CL04 Evasion (Ex): Reflex Sv for Half Dmg. results in No Dmg. Replaces Mounted Archer.
Query: Don't know if the above adequately replaces a mount. What about a special ability that is akin to the monk's armor bonus, but toned down to allow for armor, e.g., Wis Mod to armor bonus.

SAM (Variant): Soldier
CL01 Fast Movement (Ex): +10 Base Speed in no armor, light or medium armor and with no heavy load. Replaces Mount.
CL04 Armor Training (Ex): Reduce Armor Check penalty by 1 and increase Max Dex by 1 (and ea. by 1/4 CL thereafter). Moves at normal speed in Med. Armor. CL08: Move at normal speed in Hvy. Armor. Replaces Mounted Archer.
Query: Don't know if the above adequately replaced a mount. What about a weapon training variant?

SAM (Variant): Houndmaster
CL01 Hound (Ex): (Animal companion at SAM CL. (1) Considered Combat Trained. (2) No Share Spells SA. (3) Upon death. 1 week to regain new companion (but cannot regain Link, Evasion, Devotion or Improved Evasion until 1 CL Advancement). Replaces Mount.
CL04 Combat Bonus Feat of Outflank. Applies to Allies and Animal Companion. Replaces Mounted Archer.
Query: Seems a little "less" than a mount. What about giving the animal companion a special attack, e.g., +1d6 sneak attack (or like the monk, allow the animal companion +1D to its attack every 4 levels).

Has anyone seen or built a samurai variant that doesn't use a mount? I was thinking, perhaps, of a variant that takes on unarmed attributes of a monk, or armor/weapon attributes of a fighter. Of course, I'm open to any feedback.

Gotcha. Much thanks!

Hi Cosmo,

Would you clarify when the package containing my two missed Adventure Path chapters was sent? I've yet to receive it.

Thanks.

Thanks Cosmo! I wish there were more companies with customer service like yours!

I received notice on November 10th to expect shipment of my Order No. 1832604, i.e.,

The following products are included in this shipment:

1 x Pathfinder Adventure Path #51: The Hungry Storm (Jade Regent 3 of 6) (PFRPG) Print Edition

1 x Pathfinder Adventure Path #52: Forest of Spirits (Jade Regent 4 of 6) Print Edition

I have yet to receive these. Note that, in looking over the email order form, Paizo included an address that I no longer live at AND haven't lived there for well over a year. I have no idea why Paizo shipped to that address as opposed to the one I have registered, and to which Paizo has been shipping my subscription June 2010. Am I S.O.L. here?

Help?!

I'd have to wonder why anyone would want those blades converted, all they are just munchkin blades.

Epic adventure. Play it like the Twelve Swords where each chapter uncovers more of the arc and eventually, it is the heroes' mission to destroy the blades .. because they are too powerful.

No. Green Ronin didn't own the game. They printed it for another company. I doubt that it would ever get redone for Pathfinder.

Bummer. From what I've seen, it looks like a pretty good supplement.

I just came across a cool d20 Modern supplement - Sidewinder Recoiled. Has Green Ronin mentioned updating it for PRPG?

Has anyone converted Saberhagen's 12 Swords for Pathfinder? I have played with various ideas, but would like to see other peoples' builds.

I recommend you check out Game Room Creation's d20 Modern re-envisioning for Pathfinder. They have one base class, "Modern" with archetypes that serve for specialization. See Game Room Creations.

Has anyone been developing NPCs for GRC's new rules system? It'd be really cool to get archetype characters to use as adversaries.

You might want to check out this addition for Pathfinder...

The Modern Path. look it up on this site.

Do you have a site link? I love d20 Modern and continually am seeking ways to update it to Pathfinder rules.

Maestr0 wrote:

So after getting the PDFs I never really even touched my book when it arrived and today while paging though it I noticed I am missing about ~16 pages of the book. Pages 9-24 are just not there.

I have put a replacement in your sidecart to be shipped with your next subscription shipment. Go ahead and keep your current copy but we do ask that you take it out of circulation.

I wish more companies modeled their customer service after Paizo's.

I wouldn't sweat the small stuff. I'd look at that compartment as more "allowing" something bigger, rather than needing something that specific.

It probably won't affect much in gameplay, and just means even less bookkeeping with regards to counting shots.

In a slightly different (but related) direction, I've heard and considered some ideas of using the quiver for holding things like rods of metamagic or other weapons that are similar in shape, but not exactly like a staff or bow (or javelin).

I've seen an efficient quiver become a perfect golf bag for the fighter who has a sword for every season.

LazarX wrote:

Concrete jungles don't exist in worlds like Golarion. You're about a thousand years too early.

Oh sure, I see how it is. Way to move the goal post! Never said anything about golarion before. Now I can't even use Sharn as an example. Tch! :)

If we're talking Golarion, I'd say that Magnimar and even Absalom have a flavor of a concrete jungle ... only, it's more dilapidated wood, cobblestones and the like.

Any large city system in the middle ages would have had its own semblance of what we construe today to be a concrete jungle.

I held out for a long time after Dreamscarred Press came out with its Psionics Unleashed, thinking that Paizo would eventually produce its own version of psionics. Guess not.

Now I'm holding out after Game Room Creations recently came out with its d20 Modern revision, hoping that Paizo will eventually produce its own version of d20 Modern. ... At least I'm not holding my breath.

I don't think a normal man can sling 100 pounds on his back and not notice it. Better to lower the initial category and introduce a moderately encumbered penalty with lower penalties.

Honestly, I don't think there's anything to be gained by tinkering with the encumbrance rules.

I think class defense bonus is a good idea, and I've been trying to find a way to make it work for years. As you can judge by the fact that I'm speaking in the present tense, no joy.

The thing I was shooting for with encumbrance was a quick and easy formula that covered the gamut. This way, we wouldn't have to consult the table. The level of simplification is in the spirit of Star Wars Saga.

One thing I haven't figured out with the table is how the formula is devised. Anyone?

Also, I have play-tested the class defense bonus. We tend to be magic light when I use this set of house rules. So, it has tended to work.

I did strike out the Dex bonus to damage. Still, I liked it in play-test, although it does create some serious damage situations.

The condition track is a mixed bag. In play-testing, it's been a nice addition to the game - adding flavor to prolonged (or serious) combat. However, tracking it during combat can become a bit burdensome.

Hi all,

My work on house rules started out as a means to increase compatibility between D&D and D20 Modern. (Now, PRPG and D20 Modern.) Along the way, Star Wars Saga left a little mark. And so, below is an outline of various house rules I've envisioned. If you have done something similar, let me know the outcome. In any event, input welcome.

1. Base Defense Bonus to AC. In D20 Modern this is the Class Defense Bonus. I envision that in PRPG this would best be met by ½ BAB. (Must be proficient in armor worn to apply.)

2. Condition. Instead of Death by Massive Damage, this is akin to the Star Wars Saga approach whereas Damage > Mas = -1 Atk, Dmg., Def, Sv, Checks.

3. Damage Roll.

This started out as an idea that if Str is added to melee damage, why shouldn't Dex be added to ranged damage. From there, it grew with the concept that the higher level, one should be dishing out more base damage, akin to higher level characters having better BABs.

From there, I copied the concept from Star Wars of two-handed weapons resulting in x2 Str Damage (instead of 1.5). Akin to that logic, I pose x2 Dex Mod Damage to two-handed ranged weapons.

I know that this deals a lot more damage for ranged weapons than before, but damage-wise, this doesn't seem imbalanced when compared w. melee weapons (except ranged weapons have the bonus of being ranged).

Melee Weapon Damage + Base Damage Bonus (½ BAB) + Str Mod; [2-handed strike = Double Str Mod; 2-weapon = Str Mod ea.].
Ranged Weapon Damage + Base Damage Bonus (½ BAB) + Dex Mod; [2-handed shot = Double Dex Mod; 2-weapon = Dex Mod ea.].

4. Encumbrance:

Instead of relying on a table, I figured a simple formula could serve without throwing things too out of balance. As such, I modeled a new encumbrance scale derived from Star Wars Saga:

Normal (Str x10) = No penalties.

Heavy (Str x20) = -6 to Str- and Dex-based Checks, -10 ft. Spd, Max. Dex to Defense +1, Rux x3 instead of x4.

Drag/Push (Str x40) = Movement 5 ft/round, No Dex bonus to Defense.

Maybe also to cater to religious people who don't even want to play a character worshipping a "false" god?

Bingo. Some people believe that deities are only higher-powered beings and not truly gods.

Thank you for the link!

We reformatted the file for easier reading, clarified and updated the rules, added new content and incorporated player feedback.

If you check out our website we also have a link up for the online SRD.

I noticed a couple of things my first run around that raised a flag re: Pathfinder compatibility.

First, Saves are along good/medium/poor tracks, whereas in Pathfinder they are good/poor. It would seem that this throws off the compatibility .. and moreover, doesn't match the core classes of d20 Modern. I'm assuming that you went this route to simply mimic the advanced d20 Modern classes, which had good/medium/poor tracks. Right? My sense would be to remain Pathfinder compliant on the good/poor. How does your scheme measuring up in playtesting using Pathfinder creations?

Second, I like the concept of DR and Fort % with armor, but this too, is not compliant with Pathfinder. D20 Modern had the same AC bonus as Pathfinder and if you're wanting the two settings to stand together, it would seem logical that the armor defense remains compatible.

Third, you didn't go crazy with skills. I like that. That said, I don't see the need for Examine. Couldn't that be rolled into Perception? Also, Operate Transport may be too much of a simplification for Drive and Pilot. Thoughts?

That said, I like the idea of archetype, background, training, talent and difficulty. You've really opened up the playing field for unique characters. It did take some time to track all of these in rolling up my first batch of characters, but in time, it might get simpler.

What I'd like to see is perhaps various character builds that take advantage of your arrays.

Last, but not least, how "final" is your .pdf at DriveThruRPGs? I'm reluctant to buy if it's still in the beta/update stage. (Will we be able to download revised versions as you make them, assuming we buy now?)

Thanks!

Another thing d20 Modern characters have going for them are Action Points. A few times per level, they can add +1d6 to any d20 roll.

Then I thought, what if there were additional things Modern Heros could do with their Action Points? And then I remembered how I'm a bit bugged by the "empty" levels PCs have at levels 2, 6, 10, 14, and 18. At the odd levels, every PC gets a feat. At 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th level, PCs get an ability score increase. But there are no non-class related abilities gained at 2, 6, 10, 14, and 18. Might these levels be used to enhance Action Point usage?

Actually, without going through your list of possibilities, actions points can be used for more than just adding +1d6. In addition, at the cost of an action point, you can:

1. activate a special ability (that would normally be exhausted, e.g., rage,
2. gain an extra attack,
3. automatically stabilize, or
4. emulate a feat you don't have or exercised an improved feat version of one you already have.

At least, that was in D20 Modern and 3.5. GRC has taken a different path. I'm not quite sold on their version yet.

I think it depends on where the bad guys are coming from. If I run a modern only system all those bonuses I put in the last post won't be needed, but some people will want to combine the two. Maybe a Rift brings strange monsters(bestiary monsters) to the modern world, and in that case those bonuses might be needed.

Personally, I come from the school of two compatible campaign settings that allow for rifts, combining and the like.

The attack bonus just give you a +1 to you attack. Your Archetype will give your attack, hit dice and save rates. The rates are the same as the Pathfinder Role Playing Game rates. I will see if I can find a link on the prd of the rates and post them.

Not sure I'm reading this right. I believe that Pathfinder has only good and poor saves. Your version of modern appears to be utilizing the advanced classes' saves (and not the original core classes, which had only good and poor save progressions). My thought would be to simplify as Pathfinder did and have only good and poor save progressions. Makes it easier and much more compatible.

Most of my thoughts are actually posted over in the dedicated thread. I *think* I have the character-building system they used pretty well in hand. So now I gotta whip up a list of targ- erm, encounters and run a couple of characters thru them. Most of it looks pretty straightforward.

I've been character building. The one issue that I'm not jiving with is the Fast/Medium/Slow save progression. Yes, advanced classes of D20 Modern had this, but not the base classes. Rather, why not treat class as good and poor saves like Pathfinder has done?

I know three of us are going to sit down and play with it over the next few days...

Have you had a chance to play? I'd love to get your feedback.

Just started looking at it. One class fits all? An "interesting" concept. I'd be interested to hear other peoples' opinions.

Check me out!

Very good to see. Thanks!

I noticed that there are various requests for a PF Modern game system that have been archived, but nothing in the recent months. I am assuming that the cry for a revised d20 modern system has all but waned. Shame. Please tell me I'm wrong.

Rather that re-write all the 3.5E NPCs, I'd like to see whether there are any websites out there with pregenerated NPCs. I'm not necessarily expecting to find an exact match .. but something close. Gamemastery Guide offers some assistance, but not enough. Are there any 3rd party websites with pregenerated characters?

Playtesting the Gunslinger is useless if we cannot also playtest firearms simultaneously.

I concur.

One of my favorite depictions of the samurai came through Legend of the Five Rings. Lawfulness was important to the samurai, but depending on your clan, you focused on different skills, feats and weapons.

(That said, I also liked the depiction of Samurai in the 3rd edition Rokugan Campaign Setting.)

A buddy and myself were kicking around stuff like this as possible options to help scale the Gunslinger.

We thought that maybe the weapon was more of a bonded one (since people are up in arms [pun intended] about costs) that could be upgraded/altered as the Gunslinger gains levels kind of like the Alchemist's bombs. You get enhancements that you achieve by making alterations to the gun like making the barrel longer for accuracy or at level 10 you can alter it to include a small clip.

We're gonna attempt to use the Gunslinger in a real campaign setting and see how it goes...maybe play out a couple player vs. player groups of 4.

I really like this concept. As a bonded weapon, perhaps as you progress in levels, you can fine-tune it to function with greater damage output, quicker reloads, greater range, and maybe even magazines, clips or means to fire more than one bullet per round. This could conceivably offset the penalties that currently exist in firearms.

I also think that the cost of powder and bullets could be offset with class progression - learning ways to build cheaper bullets and powder.

Heck, you might even be able to learn how to manufacture different kinds of bullets: hollow point, armor piercing, exploding, etc.

There are a variety of concerns that I have about the Gunslinger, but at the top, it's cost prohibitive. I.e.,

10 gp for a single dose of powder and 1 gp per bullet? 11 gp to take one shot?

Also, there's quite a lot of sacrifice w. misfires and times for reloading that, quite frankly, aren't offset by the damage of the firearms. 1d8 and 1d12 aren't bad, but considering that a longbow does 1d8 and doesn't require the amount of sacrifice a gunslinger has, I'd say a bowslinger looks better.

Note that I'm not one of those purists who is opposed to firearms in Golarion. In fact, I'd like to see more of it. It's just that, given the costs v. gains of playing a gunslinger, I simply don't see the merit of focusing on firearms via a class.

Like someone else said, you can role-play the bards music as something other than music.

Eleven bard, usually take sing and dance. Then i treat the sing as elven song magic, kind of like what you would see in lord of the rings. Were they speak in elven, while creating a spell effect.

Most of my bards pan out as skalds, marshals or lorekeepers. I don't go down the lute-route. Frankly, I'm a fan of the bards. They just need to know their place.

It's important to know that you can't be a jack of every trade. It's better to be okay at several things than absolutely rubbish at everything.

I'd say that the bard, itself, is pretty much a jack of all trades.

1. Some magic (including both arcane and divine)
2. Some roguery
3. Some armor and martial prowess
4. Knows tidbits of knowledge throughout, even if not well-knowing in a specific area.

Personally, I found d20 Modern to be my favorite game system. Great diversity. At a very base level, you could simply substitute Pathfinder spells and add CMB and CMD. There are no "dead" levels in d20 Modern. But I suppose you could find little ways to boost each of the classes some.

Frankly, what I'd like is a revised d20 Modern that could be compatible with Pathfinder without tweaks, i.e., expand the Pathfinder universe.

I think the hardest thing would be with regards to armor class. In d20 Modern, there was less emphasis on armor and with class progression came armor class boosts. In that vein, it'd be imbalanced to simply drag and drop characters from one setting into the other.

A line of twisted goblin Ts then.

The last glorious Paizo T that I purchased was the goblin song. Classy and twisted. We need more of those.

One suggestion vetted and supported around our gaming table - the pic of the goblin holding the dice. That would look grand on a T shirt!

Sure anyone can contaminate food, but I like the supernatural bent. Besides, putrefy is the opposite to purify, which the cleric has.

Cure v. Inflict
Detect Good v. Evil
Protection fr. Good v. Evil
etc.

It would seem logical, given good and evil clerics, that this would have become a cleric spell, too. But it appear only to be for the witch. I think the same can be said for the druid.

If we're looking at spells that a witch would typically have, it seems to me that lesser restoration/restoration/greater restoration and commune w. nature would be there. They were in the Beta. Why were they stricken?!

Okay. Add to that, Hideous Laughter, Insect Plague and Wall of Thorns, which are gone, too. :[

With the exception of having Summon Monster IV instead of Summon Monster IX, the Summoner spell list is correct.

They deliberately changed it from the final APG Playtest version. They obviously meant to do this.

I was just about to make note of the Summon Monster IV thing. Beat me to it.

It appears to me that the summoner's spell list at the end of the class section in Chapter 2 is rife with errors. Somewhere between 3rd and 4th level, it seems that the caster got a nice bonus leap into spell access a level early. Spells include, but are not limited to: black tentacles, dimension door, enlarge person (mass), invisibility (greater), locate creature, magic circle against chaos/evil/good/law, magic fang (greater), minor creation, nondetection, reduce person (mass), stoneskin, summon monster IV, tongues, wall of fire, wall of ice, water breathing.

The reason I suspect that this is an error is because summon monster IV is available at 3rd level, whereas Summon Monster II is available at 2nd level.

Moreover, in comparing the beta Summoner's List, it seems that the intent was not to give a 3rd level summoner access to typically 4th level spells.

Paizo - please clarify.

I would like to see at least one adventure path with the new set of APG iconics realized to their fullest. Or at others have suggested, have a nice little .pdf with their level evolution included. (Heck, throw it into the player's guide.)

My PCs recently encountered the kobolds in the radish patch, and proceeded to find out about the stolen "god" and the problem with the Mites. They're now asking where the kobold lair is so that they can get the "god" and return it.

We has a similar encounter ... only to find out that the mites were in the area, having captured some kobolds ... and while we were preoccupied, the mites made off with some of our gear ... but not before defecating and urinating in our packs and food stores.

It became quite easy to side with the kobolds after that, and Mikmek even hung with the group for awhile and even joined us in our first foray into mite extermination. (We eventually signed a peace treaty, recognizing Sootscale lands (including the mite's tree) and made Mikmek an ambassador for the Sootscales.

At a very base level, keep the power point set up. Love that as opposed to the model of spell usage for Sorcerers and Wizards.

As for classes, no real need to devolve far from what already's provided in the Expanded Psionics Handbook (though the Lurk is pretty darn cool).

Also, while this isn't necessarily a mechanic, I've always preferred the theme that Psionics do NOT equal Spells, i.e., Dispel Magic, Antimagic, etc. need not apply.

There was a time when Paizo was suggesting that they had done some "unofficial" work on a Pathfinder Modern game. I was hoping that they could at least share with the public the work thus far done.

Hint. Hint.