My GM is working on an all-dwarf campaign, starting play in the Five Kings Mountains, and has asked us to start thinking about what kind of dwarf characters we'd like to play.
I was leaning either gunslinger or alchemist, to play on the image of dwarves as masters of the forgefire, in war as much as in craft. Bu tthe more I look at the gunslinger and firearm rules, the less I like. So now I'm leaning alchemist.
Is there a decent alchemist build that focuses on bombs? Most of the archetypes I've found are more focused on the mutagens or extracts, and some of them trade away or diminish the bombs. The sapper is the only one I've found that seems to lean towards bombs, and it doesn't even look that interesting. The crypt breaker could be interesting for a campaign focused on dwarven holds and tunnels, but it really asks you to be focusing a lot on fighting undead and constructs.
The tinkerer was another good one I was looking at, as it plays up the image of a dwarven craftsman, but is a clockwork spy familiar even that good? I really just don't know.
Dwarven Battlestein
Exotic Light Weapon
Cost: 35gp
Dmg(s): 1d3 (see text)
Dmg(m): 1d4 (see text)
Critical: x2
Range: -
Weight: 3lbs.
Type: B
Special: see text
Typically crafted from hewn stone or wrought iron and etched with traditional dwarven drinking songs, the handle of this ale stein is inlaid with leather and shaped to sit tightly against a drinker's fist, making it suitable as a close-combat weapon as well as a vessel for drinking out of.
You get a +2 bonus on Bluff checks to convince someone that the stein is not a weapon. The stein can hold up to one alcoholic drink or one potion without spilling, and the latched lid can be opened or closed with the thumb of the hand wielding it as a free action. (Drinking the contents takes the normal amount of time.) If the stein is full, it deals damage as though it were one size category larger. If you have the Catch Off-Guard feat, you may treat the battlestein as both an improvised and a manufactured weapon.
Dwarves treat the battlestein as a martial weapon, and get a +2 on Sense Motive checks to recognize the difference between it and a normal stein.
This is a silly idea, but one that amuses me. How would you build H.P. Lovecraft?
Now, I know IRL the man himself was hardly what you'd call "adventurous", but since this is a fantasy game, we'll assume that I'm actually talking about a composite character of Lovecraft himself and the various protagonists of his literature. An "archetypical" Lovecraft, as it were. What would be the most important traits to represent, and how best to represent them and still be able to play the game?
Here are my thoughts so far:
Classes:
Ranger
Pros: Favored Enemy: Aberration, Outsider(water); Favored Terrain: Urban, then later Swamp, and Track all add up to a character who seeks the truth and follows it to the source.
Cons: Neither Hunter's Bond really fits, and neither does divine spellcasting.
Bard
Pros: A good fit for a well-educated renaissance man who dabbles in the arcane and gets by on his guile. Lovecraft was a fiction writer, and bards are all artists in some form. Plus I can flavor his performances as chanting.
Cons: I just can't see Lovecraft inspiring courage in anybody.
Wizard
Pros: Fits the "tomes of eldritch lore" trope to a T. Doesn't use armor or weapons, and neither did Lovecraft's typical hero.
Cons: Magic in Lovecraft's world is something to be feared and ultimately consumed by, whereas Pathfinder wizards are in command of their magic. None of the wizard's spells really match what you'd expect a Lovecraftian occultist to do.
Races:
Human seems the most obvious choice. Gillman or Tiefling might make for poetic irony and a source of his motivation, as his fears would be an inescapable part of his identity. Similarly, Android would help explain his alienation from the biological world. If I did go Bard, Gnome becomes an option simply for the ability to cast Haunted Fey Aspect.
Build Options:
As far as I know, the only weapon commonly used by one of Lovecraft's heroes is a pistol. If guns are commonplace, a Ranger with archery style feats starts to look good. A dip into Gunslinger could also accomplish this.
If we're casting spells, I'd probably be looking at an odd mix of necromancy, conjuration (summoning), and divination. Picking one school and sticking with it is probably out.
I definitely want this character to have a decent selection of skills. Combat should not be this guy's first solution, but then again, none of the traditional social skills seem right to me either. Maybe a few Knowledges, Disable Device, Linguistics (and a satchel full of forged documents to do his Bluffing for him), Use Magic Device, or Survival?
Looking forward to any help I can get on this one!
If a paladin falls, he loses all class features except "weapons, armor, and shield proficiencies". I don't see an exception for base attack bonus. Does an ex-paladin of any level have a BAB of +0?
I ask because I often see ex-paladins compared to fighters without bonus feats, which suggests that they keep BAB (or at least, people expect them to.) I also see the idea that ex-paladins can retrain their paladin levels for fighter levels, but I don't see that mentioned anywhere in the CRB. Was retraining to fighter a 3.X thing? A popular house rule?
Could a fallen paladin retrain into another class besides fighter? Maybe barbarian, if he failed at the Lawful part instead of the Good part? Maybe cavalier? Maybe Celestial-blooded sorcerer?
What about other classes that can "fall"? Would a barbarian who becomes Lawful have to retrain as a fighter? What would a druid retrain as? A monk?
Why is it that the Summon spells are numbered by Roman numeral when the Cure and Inflict spells don't, even though there's also one at every spell level?
What if, instead of Cure Light, Cure Moderate, Cure Serious, etc., you just had Cure Wounds I-IX?
At some point, the Cure and Inflict spells start affecting multiple targets, so I don't think there actually is a spell that heals 9d8+caster level, but could there be? What if, just like Summon Monster IX lets you choose 1d4+1 of a lower level monster, Cure Wounds IX let you focus all the healing on one target or break it up among a few targets, with reduced healing the more targets you spread it by?
There's plenty of other spell chains that use Roman numerals. Beast Shape, Monstrous Physique, and most of the other polymorph chains. Are there any other spell chains that could benefit from standardized notation? Would making them a "I-N" chain imply the existence of additional steps in the chain that don't currently exist? Could they exist?
Would a 9th-level version of single-target Cure or Inflict even be worth casting?
In another rogue thread, I suggested that the most quintessentially "roguish" thing to do is to pretend to be something you're not. To that end, I decided to try and come up with some rogue talents that would let a rogue steal some abilities from other classes. Here's what I've come up with so far; feel free to add your own ideas or comment on mine.
Alchemist:
The rogue gains Brew Potion and Throw Anything as bonus feats. Choose a number of 1st-level alchemist formulae equal to 3+the rogue's Int. The rogue may brew potions of those formulae as though she had a formulae book containing them. In addition, the rogue adds her Int bonus to all damage rolls made with thrown weapons, including the splash damage (if any). The rogue must have at least 11 Int to select this talent.
Barbarian:
Choose a rage power that the rogue qualifies for, using her rogue level as her effective barbarian level. The rogue gains that rage power. This does not grant the rogue the ability to rage. If the selected rage power is usable once per rage, the rogue may use it once per day. If the selected rage power is always active when the barbarian rages, the rogue may use it for a number of rounds per day equal to 3 + her Con modifier. The rogue may also use this rage power during any rounds of rage she has from additional sources, or while under any effect that simulates a barbarian's rage (such as a skald's ragesong or the Rage spell).
Cavalier:
Choose a cavalier order. The rogue gains the challenge class ability, and the skill bonuses, challenge bonuses, and 2nd-level Order ability of that order. The rogue's melee attacks against the target of her challenge deal Sneak Attack damage instead of the bonus damage normally granted by the challenge class ability. The rogue is not required to follow the edicts of this order to gain these bonuses, but gains a +4 bonus on Bluff, Disguise, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Sense Motive checks relating to his order as long as she is not known to have violated her order's edicts recently.
If the rogue already has levels in cavalier, or gains levels of cavalier later, she must choose the same order.
Cleric:
The rogue gains the ability to channel energy using a holy symbol, using her rogue level as her effective cleric level. Channeling energy in this way is a full-round action, and requires a DC15 Knowledge: Religion check and a DC20 Use Magic Device check. Whether the rogue channels positive or negative energy depends not on her own alignment, but on the alignment of the deity whose holy symbol she displays. A rogue may not use a neutral deity's holy symbol to channel energy.
The rogue must not have any levels in a class that gains the channel energy class feature to select this rogue talent. If the rogue later gains the channel energy class feature from another class, she loses this rogue talent and gains Extra Channel as a bonus feat.
Druid:
The rogue gains the wild empathy, woodland, stride, and trackless step class features. The rogue's version of woodland stride and trackless step function in urban as well as natural surroundings, and apply to any sort of difficult terrain one might reasonably expect to find in those terrains. In addition, the rogue gets a +2 insight bonus to Knowledge: Nature checks and all Wisdom-based skill checks.
Fighter:
The rogue gains a +1 bonus to her BAB and proficiency in one light or one-handed martial melee weapon of her choice. In addition, the rogue treats the max dex bonus of any armor she wears as +1 higher, and her total ACP as 1 lower (to a minimum of 0).
Inquisitor:
The rogue gains the stern gaze, track, and cunning initiative class features, using her rogue level as her effective inquisitor level.
Bored with the pantheon in the CRB? Homebrewing a whole new setting? Love clerics so much you played one for every deity in the splatbooks? This is the thread for you!
Try to include everything a player would need to know to roll a cleric of that deity, but if you don't have the idea fleshed out yet, that's cool too. Somebody else will be along to fill in the gaps, I'm sure. I'll start.
1.Zhraatha, the Vandal King (CE)
Domains: Artifice, Chaos, Destruction, Evil, Strength
Favored Weapon: Warhammer
God of vandalism and demolition. Bestows his faithful with the means to destroy their enemies' weapons and raze their lands.
2.Count Hemoseptimus (LE)
Domains: Death, Evil, Law, Nobility, War
Favored Weapon: Dagger
God of blood money. From the hired assassin and his clients, to the callous aristocrats who advocate war for political gain, to the wandering sell-sword who offers his loyalty to the highest bidder, the Count is watching.
3.The Keeper (LN)
Domains: Community, Knowledge, Law, Madness, Trickery
Favored Weapon: Blade Boot
Goddess of secrets. There is power in knowing what others do not, and that power is lost when the knowledge becomes widespread. The Keeper grants that power to those she can trust with it. What they do with it is their own secret to keep.
I want to play a Paladin whose code of conduct forbids him to ever knowingly deal HP damage.
My GM has agreed to let me use a modified form of Smite Evil, granting me bonuses to my CMB and CMD (and possibly AC) so that I can benefit from the class feature without having to roll for damage.
So, how do you think I should do it? My thoughts so far:
-If you never deal damage, Power Attack and Improved Unarmed Strike are more of a feat tax than Combat Expertise, believe it or not. Thus I should focus on Disarming and Tripping. Dirty Tricks and Stealing seem quite unfit for a Paladin, though technically they aren't off the table.
-Since I don't need a weapon in my hands, I could use the Flagbearer feat. I'll have the Charisma for it.
-Free hands and solid Charisma also lends itself well to using wands. What sorts of wands would such a character need?
If anybody has anything else to add, I'm listening.
So, you've got 18 Charisma and max ranks in Bluff? Good for you! What should we lie about first?
No matter how good of a liar your character is, it doesn't mean much if you the player can't think of anything that you want NPCs to believe. Let's brainstorm some tall tales to tell. Remember to include the situation you're lying your way out of!
1.(You're invisible, but the guards detected you anyway.) "Thank goodness, I've found somebody! I was sure I was a goner when that barghest jumped me! I had to quaff my last potion of invisibility to try and escape, but I'm sure the beast will be right on my heels! Mercy's sake, surely you'll grant me asylum from it, won't you?"
2.(You're negotiating with a shady character.) "Wait, what did you say your name was? I thought I had heard of you before; your name came up just yesterday when I was meeting the Witchfinder General for tea! He didn't have kind things to say, I'm afraid, but I could be persuaded to convince him otherwise..."
3.(You wanted to play a Goblin or some other "monstrous" race, but the campaign takes place in Sandpoint and the GM insists you "roleplay it".) "I was born an elf, you see, but was slain helping defend a circle of druids from a lich. The druids were grateful enough to reincarnate me into the form you now see before you. They told me of some ancient magic that might restore my original form, but until I find it, well..."
Cavaliers are THE mounted class, but are they really that much better at it than a Ranger with a horse AC? Does the Challenge ability compare to Favored Enemy?
Here's the story. I joined PFS way back at PAX East 2012,assuming I'd be able to find a local playgroup. Turns out, not so much. I've played a grand total of TWO PFS sessions since then, both with pregens at conventions. Well, PAX East 2014 is almost upon us, and I hope to get to play in one or may even two PFS sessions there, so that means I'm going to hit level 2 and therefore need to finalize a character build. I've got some ideas, but I want advice.
My Requirements:
1.Core and APG only. I have friends that own the other books for home games, but I'm not buying my own copy for the sake of a character that I only get to play once or twice a year.
2.Must be able to "do its thing" straight out of the gate. I'm not building a character around a class feature or item I won't be getting for another three or four years.
My current ideas:
Halfling Cleric of Zon-Kuthon:
Kyra was one of the two pregens I played, and I liked it well enough, but I also like the idea of a spiked chain and Inflict spells. I'd probably start with Weapon Finesse to go with my DEX bonus, and act as a melee blaster with some support spells on call. I know the table won't be thrilled that their cleric channels negative energy, but I'll keep Bless memorized and that should make them happy enough.
Roleplay-wise, I'm imagining that he lost his parents at a young age and turned to religion to hear bear the grief. And what better deity to help cope with the pain of loss than the god of pain and loss? I'd roleplay him as "in mourning", having memorized all the platitudes by rote yet not really taking any comfort in any of them.
Half-Orc Fighter:
The idea here is that he's a half-orc who's determined to prove that half-orcs are good for more than just hired muscle. Trouble is, he himself isn't good for anything more than hired muscle-- not with his 7 INT and CHA. He joined the military to prove he was more than a mindless brawler, and because there's a prestige to a man in uniform. Trouble is, the military he joined was in Galt, and the general organizing the army were soon overthrown. He escaped the guillotine only because he wasn't high-ranked enough to be worth executing. He still identifies as a military man, though-- his armor is a military uniform, he introduces himself as "Private", and he carries the book on politics that his former CO gave him, so people can see him read it.
Mechanics-wise, I'm thinking Weapon Master archetype, but what weapon? Polearm and spiked gauntlet? Maybe sword-and-board? What weapon most suggests "rank and file soldier" yet is still effective? In my group I'm usually the arcane caster, so straight-up martial could be fun for a change of pace (and you don't have to wait around for the good spells).
Alchemist. Just...alchemist:
I've had good luck with half-casters like bards and inquisitors, but my group frowns on alchemists ever since one fateful session where bomb splash damage killed more PCs than the enemies. I'd like to try one out, but how best to build one? Since it's an APG class, I can't use any archetypes or non-APG discoveries; was the alchemist robust enough to run with fresh out of the gate? Can you focus on bombs in PFS without killing strangers' characters and getting beaten up in the parking lot? Is "mutagen melee" worth it, or are you basically a rogue who thinks he's a barbarian?
There have been several attempts to being casters and martials more in line with each other, or at least to keep full-casters from breaking the game across their knee like so much dry tinder once they get into late-game. So, here's my attempt at it, presented for your approval (or disdain).
The Rules Changes:
1. 7th, 8th, and 9th level spells no longer exist.
2. Clerics, druids, and oracles-- who currently get 3/4 BAB and a few other martial options-- have their spell progression adjusted to match bards and inquisitors.
3. Wizards, sorcerers, and witches-- who have 1/2 BAB and no real function outside of spellcasting, keep their current spell progression. They now gain their highest level spells at level 11 or 12. Optionally, they still gain slots for 7th, 8th, and 9th level spells, but can only use the slots to cast metamagically-enhanced spells.
The arguments of such a house rule, as I see them:
In Favor Of:
1.Several of the most game-breaking spell effects (Time Stop, Gate, Wish, the majority of instant-death spells) are removed from the game.
2.The cleric, druid, and wizard lists all have plenty of powerful effects at or below 6th level to justify playing those classes (and clerics and druids have plenty of class abilities outside of their spells to focus on).
3.Most, but not all, spells that can bring a dead person back to life are removed, giving death more in-world significance without eliminating the possibility of coming back to life.
4.Martial and hybrid classes become more relevant in comparison.
5.The majority of 7th+ level spells were simply extensions of lower-level spells (Mass Invisibility, Summon Monster VII-IX, Greater Scrying) and were therefore not contributing anything to the game that it didn't already have at lower levels.
Against:
1.The most gamebreaking spell effects are also some of the most beloved by a certain portion of the community.
2.The full-casters were built with the assumption of eventually getting high-level spells. Taking those away and giving them nothing in return is a drastic and unwarranted nerf.
3.The monsters in the Bestiary whose CR are high enough to be pitted against a PC who can cast 9th level spells was built under the assumption that it would have to face 9th level spells. The CR of those enemies and the difficulty of endgame in general may need to be completely re-balanced.
4.The majority of 7th+ level spells are simply extensions of lower-level spells, and thus removing them from the game accomplishes nothing. Indeed, losing the Mass versions of several staple spells (including higher-level Cure and Inflict spells) simply adds additional headaches when multiple targets are involved.
5.Most PF campaigns don't even go into higher levels anyway. PFS, for example, stops at level 12, so sorcerers, wizards, and witches would be completely unaffected by these changes while clerics, druids, and oracles lose 5th and 6th level spells for no clear reason.
I'd love to get some feedback here. Any pros or cons I missed? Any favorite spells I'd forgotten? Any anecdotes of your own experiences?
There are rules for making up your own spells, but it seems like nobody ever does it. Here's a few I dreamed up.
Sinister Strength School Necromancy [evil]
Level Alchemist 3, Antipaladin 2, Cleric/Oracle 3, Sorcerer/Wizard 3
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S
Range: Close
Target: One creature
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving throw: Will negates
The target creature gains a +6 profane bonus to Strength, but takes a -2 penalty to AC and a -1 penalty on Will saves. In addition, the target takes 1d4 negative energy damage each round for the duration of the spell.
Forcefists School Evocation [force]
Level Alchemist 2, Bard 2, Magus 2, Sorcerer/Wizard 2
Casting time: 1 move action
Components: S
Range: Personal
Target: you
Duration: 10 minutes (see text)
Your hands become surrounded with arcane energy. While this spell is active, you can use this force to deliver powerful punches. This is a melee touch attack that deals 2d4 force damage plus your Intelligence or Charisma modifier (whichever is higher).
You can make a number of touch attacks equal to your caster level plus your Intelligence or Charisma modifier (whichever is higher), but note that Forcefists does not have a range of "touch" and the casting of the spell does not grant any free touch attacks-- you must make these attacks when you would normally be able to take an attack action. Also unlike most touch spells, picking up an item in your hand does not discharge this spell, though you must have a free hand to make these attacks. The spell affects both your hands, regardless of what (if anything) you were holding when you cast it.
In addition, for the duration of the spell, you are treated as though you had the Two-Weapon Fighting and Arcane Strike feats, but only if you make at least one attack that round with the forcefists. Once you have made all your touch attacks, the spell's duration ends.
My GM asked me to do him a favor: do some extra research on ways to travel to another plane. He didn't specify which planes, but he did mention that he wanted to see how low a level a party can be and still pull it off. He said that the most reliable way he's found was doable at level 15, but wants me to find a way to do it any earlier than that. This may be relevant in our current campaign, but we're all level 2 right now so it probably won't be for a while.
So far, all I've found is the spell Shadow Walk, and I'm not even sure which other planes you can get to with it. So I'm hoping the Messageboard Hive Mind has some more suggestions.
Most other planes aren't too hospitable to Material Plane natives, so any advice you can give me on surviving the conditions of a plane once you get there would also be appreciated.
1. I keep hearing it said "your gear melds into your animal form." Neither Wild Shape nor the Beast Shape spell say anything about this happening. Is it a holdover from 3.5? Does it still happen in PF?
2. I also can't find any info on gaining natural attacks. Combined with the absence of any mention of where your gear goes, does this mean a druid with a scythe is still wielding the scythe when she wild shapes?
Back in 3.5 you literally turned into the animal, and your ability scores were entirely replaced with that of the animal. That's no longer the case-- now you get bonuses to certain scores. Do you still "turn into" the animal? I'm getting a mental image of a druid taking on a "hybrid form"- she's still bipedal, wearing her armor, and carrying her weapon, but now she has the strength of a bear and her head has been replaced with a bear's head, for example.
A lot of people are talking about ways to fix the monk, and I've had an idea of how to do it for a while, so I figured now was as good a time as any to share.
Spoiler:
Step One: Tear pages 57-60 out of the Core Rulebook. There is no such class as a "monk". Sounds like a cleric archetype to me. Also we've always been at war with Eastasia.
Step Two: Errata the following feats:
Improved Unarmed Strike now changes the damage die of your unarmed attacks to 1d6 (if Medium) and lets you add your full Strength bonus to your off-hand unarmed attacks as though you had Double Slice. You can use IUAS as the prereq for Two-Weapon Rend, but if you do so you can only Rend with unarmed attacks.
Stunning Fist and other feats like it are now usable a number of times per day equal to 3+ your Wisdom modifier.
Step Three: Add the following feats:
Greater Unarmed Strike
Prereq: BAB +3, Improved Unarmed Strike, STR 13
Your unarmed attacks gain a +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls. For every 4 points of BAB you have, this bonus increases by 1, to a maximum of +5 at BAB +19.
Intuitive Reaction
Prereq: WIS 15, Sense Motive 1 rank, Survival 1 rank
As long as you are not wearing armor, add your WIS bonus to your AC and CMD. This bonus applies against touch attacks and even while you are flat-footed, but does not apply while you are paralyzed, helpless, or wearing armor of any kind.
Pre-emptive Defense
Prereq: Intuitive Reaction, Dodge
As a swift action, you can focus on your defense, gaining a +4 insight bonus to your AC until the beginning of your next turn. You may not use this feat under any circumstances in which the AC bonuses from Intuitive Reaction or Dodge do not apply.
Quivering Palm
Prereq: Stunning Fist, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
As a swift action, you may attempt to finish off an enemy whom you have hit with three or more melee attacks this turn. Make one additional unarmed attack, at your lowest BAB and including any penalties from TWF, fighting defensively, or otherwise, against your target's Touch AC. If successful, your target takes damage as normal and must make a Fortitude save (DC 10+your BAB+your WIS modifier) or die. This attack counts as one of your daily uses of Stunning Fist.
I know it's not perfect-- there's more work to be dome. But I feel like this could save unarmed combat as PF knows it, by opening it up to other martial classes. That's why I'm opening it up to the forums.
I'd love to come up with some rogue talents or rage powers that would compliment this idea, to allow different classes to go bare-knuckled in their own ways.
There are 33 domains in core Pathfinder. Four of those domains are tied to an alignment; Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos. Every Golarion deity has five domains, including whichever alignment domains (if any) correspond to their alignment. Each deity also has six subdomains, further defining it. Most homebrew/3pp deities I've seen follow this pattern.
Here's my challenge to you: Pick five domains at random, and then come up with a deity based on the five you pick. Describe the deity's portfolio, and who would worship such a deity and why. Pick a favored weapon of your choice for this deity, and pick six subdomains out of the possible ten.
Here's an algorithm for doing so:
Spoiler:
Step 1. There are nine alignments. Roll a d10 to choose one (roll again on a zero.) You now know which of the four alignment domains you must/can't choose.
Step 2. That leaves 29 non-alignment domains. Roll a d30 and count down the list (roll again on a 30). Continue until you have five.
The fact that it has the "monk" quality seems to imply that you can recover the dart as a free action and thus full-attack with the rope dart. Is this true?
Do you add your full strength bonus to damage with a rope dart?
Can you make trip attacks with it? Can you do so at any range within 20 feet? Can you do so in melee?
Can you throw a rope dart further than 20 feet if you're willing to let go of the rope?
Can you dual-wield rope darts? Does doing so allow non-monks to "flurry" with it?
There's a lot of talk about why rogues aren't as good as other classes. For me, rogues aren't as good for one reason-- I can never find a rogue talent that I actually want to take. They're all too narrow or only good in a certain type of campaign. The ones that grant feats are nice, but there's only three or so of them and maybe I don't want Weapon Focus.
So, I decided to try and make up some new ones. Here's what I've got so far.
All in the Wrist:
You gain proficiency with whips, nets, and spiked chains. You must have the Weapon Finesse feat to select this rogue talent.
Shower of Caltrops:
You can throw a bag of caltrops in such a way that it spills its contents on impact, covering the ground and your target alike. Treat this as an attack with a thrown splash weapon with which you are proficient. When thrown in this way, the caltrops deal 2d4 piercing damage to your target and 1d4 piercing damage to each adjacent creature. In addition, the caltrops are spread on the ground in the target's square and all adjacent squares, and catch in the target's clothes and hair, dealing an additional 1d4 damage if that creature takes more than a single move action on its turn. This damage forces the target to make concentration checks to cast spells (DC 15+spell level). The target can spend a move action to shake the caltrops off of itself, but provokes AoO's and takes 1d4 damage in doing so.
Improved Sneak Attack:
Whenever you deal sneak attack damage, you deal an additional 1d6 of sneak attack damage. You may select this talent multiple times. Its effects stack.
Exploit Lapse:
Enemies are considered flat-footed against your attacks of opportunity.
Hit 'em While They're Down:
Prone enemies are considered flat-footed against your melee attacks, as long as you are not also prone. If an enemy provokes an attack of opportunity from you by standing up from prone, you do not deal sneak attack damage on that attack unless you also have the Exploit Lapse rogue talent, or you are able to deal sneak attack damage for another reason (such as flanking the enemy who stood up).
Knack for Entanglement:
Entangled enemies are considered flat-footed against your attacks, as long as you are not also entangled.
Animal Accomplice:
You gain a familiar, as the wizard class feature, using your rogue level as your effective wizard level. If you already have the familiar class feature from another class, your rogue levels now stack with levels of that class to determine your familiar's abilities. If you do not have the familiar ability from another class, then you must choose a Tiny or smaller animal as your familiar, and your familiar does not gain the share spells or deliver touch spells abilities.
Instead, you gain a +4 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks to conceal your familiar on your person. In addition, your familiar can make Disable Device, Escape Artist, or Sleight of Hand checks for you, using your Handle Animal check in place of the relevant check. You must be able to see both your familiar and the item(s) it is manipulating in order to make a check in this manner.
You must have at least one rank in Handle Animal to select this rogue talent.
And here are two advanced rogue talents, to continue the themes.
Improved Shower of Caltrops:
Whenever you hit a creature with your Shower of Caltrops ability, that creature is flat-footed until it removes the caltrops from its body. You must have the Shower of Caltrops rogue talent before selecting this rogue talent.
Improved Animal Accomplice:
You gain Improved Familiar as a bonus feat. You are no longer restricted to Tiny or smaller animals as familiars.
In addition, your familiar now deals 1d6 of sneak attack damage with its natural attacks. Note that a creature must be at least Small size in order to threaten adjacent squares and therefore flank a creature, but a Tiny or smaller creature concealed on your person can attack (and has concealment from) any creature that you are grappling with.
If I think of any more, I'll post them here. If you have any good ideas, feel free to post them here! Feedback is always welcome!
The Ammunition section of the core rulebook says that drawing an arrow to fire a bow is a free action, but crossbows and slings require an action to load.
The weapon descriptions for crossbows and slings details exactly how long it takes to load them, but the description for the blowgun doesn't, and the ammunition section doesn't mention them either.
They're not mentioned in the Rapid Reload feat either, which implies that A) they're already a free action to load, or B) you can't load them faster with a feat.
I can only assume that the Paizo devs figured that the only time a character would use a blowgun would be to deliver poison in the surprise round, in which case it would be a move action to apply the poison anyway and you'd immediately switch to a stronger weapon. Is it possible to full-attack with a blowgun?
As inspired by my other thread regarding scatter weapons, here's my take on a Gunslinger Archetype devoted to scatter weapons: The Sweepshooter.
Some gunslingers feel that the true power of firearms is not in their accuracy or power, but in their spread. Dominating battlefields in large swaths at a time, these sweepshooters excel when outnumbered as no other warrior can.
Gunsmith: As normal, except a sweepshooter chooses a blunderbuss, dragon pistol, or culverin as her starting battered weapon instead of the normal choices.
Grit: As normal, except a sweepshooter regains grit under different circumstances than other gunslingers.
Three or more hits in a Scatter: Whenever a sweepshooter makes a scatter attack in the heat of combat, if that attack hits and deals damage to at least three creatures, the sweepshooter regains one grit point. Helpless or unaware creatures, or creatures with fewer Hit Dice than half the sweepshooter's character level don't count towards the three-creature minimum. This ability replaces "critical hit with a firearm".
Deeds: Sweepshooters are able to perform the following deeds.
Selective Scatter: At 1st level,as long as the sweepshooter has at least 1 grit point, whenever she makes a scatter attack, she may avoid hitting up to one creature in the area of her cone. Additionally, she may spend any amount of grit when performing this deed. For each grit point spent this way, she may avoid hitting an additional creature in her cone. Creatures avoided this way are in no danger of being hit by the scatter attack, but provide cover from the attack to any other creatures behind them. This deed replaces the deadeye deed.
Focused Scatter: At 7th level, as a full-round action, a sweepshooter is able to focus the entire destructive potential of her scatter attack onto a single target. She designates the position of her cone as normal, but chooses one creature in that cone as her target. She then fires a single shot, but makes as many attack rolls as there are creatures in that cone. If any of the attack rolls hit the target, the sweepshooter’s single attack is considered to have hit. For each additional successful attack roll beyond the first, the gunslinger increases the damage of the shot by the base damage dice of the firearm. If one or more rolls are critical threats, she confirms the critical once using her highest base attack bonus –5. For each critical threat beyond the first, she reduces this penalty by 1 (to a maximum of 0). Performing this deed costs 1 grit point. This deed replaces the dead shot deed.
Smoke and Sizzle: At 7th level, when making a scatter attack, a sweepshooter may spend 1 grit point to leave a lingering effect in the cone of her attack. She resolves the attack as normal, but may choose any one of the following effects:
Flash: All creatures in the cone are dazzled for 1 round.
Bang: All creatures in the cone are deafened for 1 round.
Smoke: The cone is full of residual smoke, providing concealment for 1 round.
Choke:All creatures in the cone are sickened for 1 round.
All targets in the cone get a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the sweepshooter's Wisdom modifier + half the sweepshooter's level) to negate these effects (except for the Smoke effect). This deed replaces targeting.
Menacing Shot: As normal, but for a sweepshooter this deed affects a 60-foot cone instead of a 30-foot burst.
Gun Training: As normal, except at 5th level, a sweepshooter must choose a gun with the scatter quality. (She is free to choose any firearm at 9th, 13, and 17th level.) When a sweepshooter makes a scatter attack with a firearm for which she has gun training, she no longer takes a -2 penalty on the attack roll.
1.The rules for the scatter weapon quality say that a scatter weapon can fire a bullet (as normal) or pellets (making a scatter attack in a cone). The description of the culverin, however, seems to imply that it can only make scatter attacks. Can you attack one creature with a culverin? If so, does the culverin's listed range increment (30 feet) apply to the width of the cone or the range increment for a normal attack?
2.The culverin's description also says it uses "grape shot" as ammunition, thus furthering the impression that it can only scatter. But grape shot isn't listed under the table for ammunition. How much does it cost then? Is it negligible? Does it come in silver or cold iron?
3.The dragon pistol's description says that it, like the blunderbuss, attacks in a 15-foot cone or with a 10-foot range increment. But on the table, its range increment is listed at 20 feet. Which is correct?
At first glance, it looks like adding six levels of Summon Monster to your spellbook, except oozes only. Then I noticed a few things.
-You have to be level 6 to take the discovery,
-The extract level is the ooze's CR, and
-The alchemist isn't in control of the ooze.
Remember, alchemists get bard-style spell progression. At level 6, they have 1st- and 2nd-level extracts, and are one level away from getting 3rd-level extracts. That means that next level, they can throw a CR 3 ooze... into a CR ~7 encounter. What's a CR 3 creature going to do against the kind of enemies a 7th-level party would be facing?
The fact that the alchemist doesn't control the ooze means that it can't even be relied on as a flank partner. And since it'll last a minimum of six rounds, summoning an ooze you can't control is putting the entire party at risk of having to fight another enemy.
Is this discovery as much of a trap option as I'm making it sound, or is there an upside I've missed?
It seems like in any discussion of Gunslingers or of firearms, there's very little exploration of the various types of firearms. Either you choose a pistol (or two), and go Pistolero, or you choose a musket and go Musket Master. Never is there any discussion of the culverin, the pepperbox, the buckler gun, or so forth.
I can understand that a lot of it is to do with the fact that you begin play already owning a musket or pistol, and buying a firearm is prohibitively expensive. But one would think that the third firearm a gunslinger can begin play with, a blunderbuss, would garner a bit of discussion as well.
Are pistols and muskets really the only firearms worth using? Has the Scatter quality truly failed to capture the imagination? Does anyone have any experience to impart with any of these other guns?
And when Ultimate Combat says gunslingers may begin play with "a pistol", does that include the five other firearms that have "pistol" in their names, like the dragon pistol, sword cane pistol, etc.?
My GM came up with an interesting way to keep Leadership from getting too out of control. The player can build the cohort however they want, but the starting attributes have to be 12 in everything (before racial adjustment). His idea is that this creates an NPC who's above average in everything but won't be as good as a PC in that PC's specialty.
This got me thinking-- what class would want to start with 12's in everything? What race/class combinations? What strategies? You'd need to be Human, Half-Elf, or Half-Orc just to qualify for Power Attack before Level 4. An Elf could take Combat Expertise or Dodge. A Two-Weapon Fighter would have to be a Ranger. Spellcasters would have terrible save DCs (and half-casters like bards would actually hav an edge over full-casters, as they wouldn't need magic items to get their casting stat high enough to cast high-level spells).
What would you build with 12's in everything? Would you even want to?
The Paragon
While most clerics are well-versed in divine magic, the Paragon forsakes all magic but that which most embodies her deity's portfolio.
Domains: A Paragon chooses three domains instead of the usual two.
Spontaneous Casting: In addition to casting Cure or Inflict spells spontaneously, a Paragon may also spontaneously cast her domain spells. This is the only way a Paragon can cast spells-- she does not prepare spells like normal clerics. She still regains all her spell slots after eight hours of rest, and treats her domain spells and her choice of Cure or Inflict spells as her list of spells known. A Paragon does not gain additional spells known for having a high Wisdom and can not take the Expanded Arcana feat to gain new spells known.
Here's a thought. It seems on these boards that people favor a wide crit range over a high crit multiplier. I seem to remember back in 3.5 it was possible for powergamers to crit on a 12. Suppose a GM wanted to curb this behavior.
Here's my proposed house rule: Improved Critical and Keen don't double the crit range of a weapon. Instead, they double its crit multiplier. Thus, 18-20/x2 weapons become 18-20/x4 weapons, and x4 weapons become x8 weapons.
Would this rule change conventional wisdom about which crit range is the "best"? Would x4 weapons finally get some love?
What if, instead of doubling the multiplier, it added 1 to them?
What if only Keen were changed and Improved Critical left as is (or vice versa)? Which would you rather have? If they worked differently, would allowing them to stack be too powerful?
And most importantly, would you want to play at a table where that rule is in effect?
The title says it all, really. I'm in north central Massachusetts, and I'm looking for a PFS group to join somewhere in central MA or southern RI. It saddens me that the PFS website has no search function to find nearby groups by zip code.
And before you ask, no I can't make it into Boston. It's at least 2 hours to get there, and that's by commuter rail.
Feel free to ask me anything else, via PM or in the thread. Thanks in advance!
So we're starting a new campaign. I started building a Halfling Sorcerer, with solid DEX and CHA but not much else. Then the GM decided to make it a gestalt campaign-- pick two classes and get the abilities of both at each level.
So, I looked at what I had and decided the best class to mix Sorcerer with would be Ninja. Here's what I've got so far.
Spoiler:
Halfling Sorcerer
STR 8
DEX 16
CON 13
INT 12
WIS 8
CHA 17
Bloodline: Arcane (Bonded Item: Wand of Mage Armor)
Feats: Scribe Scroll (Eschew Materials as bonus feat)
1. What spells should I learn if I'm going to be a ninja? I should probably replace Magic Missile with something I can sneak attack with. Silent Image might be awesome if I can create an illusion of a wall and sneak attack enemies through it until they make their save.
2. What ninja tricks are good for a sorcerer? The smoke bomb line all looks good, but not if Silent Image can basically do the same thing. (Can I use the smoke to conceal myself for sneak attacks?) Vanishing Trick seems awesome, except that I can get it as a spell too. (Is it better to spend a ki point on Vanishing than a spell per day?) Since I have 8 STR and 16 DEX, I'm thinking shuriken are the way to go, so Flurry of Stars/Ki Throw?
I've looked over the rules stats for the kusarigama (sickle and chain). It has the "double" and "reach" properties. The idea is that the chain part is swung like a flail while the sickle part is wielded, well, like a sickle. It's a double weapon because you hold the sickle in one hand and swing the chain in the other, and it's a reach weapon because you have 10 feet of chain.
Here's the question: are both ends of the kusarigama "reach"?
Based on the weapon's description (and YouTube videos of people demonstrating kusarigama techniques) I would expect the sickle end to threaten adjacent while the chain end attacks at reach. Though I suppose you could swing the sickle as well, if you held the chain part. Is the idea that you have to switch between "double" or "reach" by adjusting your grip?
A lot of people lately have expressed dissatisfaction with the idea of preparing spells. I count myself among them-- I don't like Vancian spellcasting either. Some have suggested that all spellcasters should be spontaneous, but that comes with its own problems. It makes sorcerers and wizards redundant, and cheapens the feel of the different classes by giving them all the same system. So I've been thinking: what could replace Vancian casting for each class? What would help each class retain its flavor and have its own way of casting without having to prepare spells?
Here's what I came up with. I admit, none of it is playtested and the numbers haven't been nailed down, but if you've found your players shy away from classes that prepare spells I welcome you to give this a try or add your own feedback.
Cleric:
Clerics would keep their current number of spells per day. Their spells known would be: either all the cure or all the inflict spells (depending on alignment as normal), the spells from their domain, and a very small number of other spells off of their spell list. At first level a cleric would likely only get one "free choice" spell. The cleric could cast these spells spontaneously.
In addition, once per week as a full-round action, a cleric could beg her deity for divine intervention and attempt to cast a cleric spell she doesn't know. To do so, the cleric would have to make a Wisdom check, DC20 + the level of the spell per day she is expending to attempt it. The cleric may not beg for a specific spell; she may only give a vague description of what kind of spell she wants. The GM may give her a +2 circumstance bonus on this check if the situation is desperate enough and her request is reasonable in the eyes of her deity. Success means the GM picks an appropriate spell from the cleric list, and the cleric successfully casts that spell. Regardless of the spell's casting time, the cleric can not apply metamagic feats to a spell cast in this way. Failure should be treated as a spell mishap with a wand, or should result in the cleric casting a spell that does not match her request or is of much lower level.
Either way, if a spell the cleric does not know is cast in this way, the cleric can attempt a Spellcraft check, DC 25+the spell's level. Success means that the cleric adds the spell to her list of spells known.
Wizard:
A wizard's spellbook, number of spells per day, and means for obtaining new spells remain unchanged.
To cast a spell, the wizard must first open his spellbook to the appropriate page (a move action). Once the spellbook is open, the wizard can cast that spell, and only that spell, spontaneously. To cast any other spell, the wizard must spend another move action looking it up. The wizard must hold the book in one hand to read it, unless he is next to a stand or table. If the spell has somatic components, he must use his other hand to cast it. If the wizard is prone, he may rest the book on the ground in front of him.
Applying metamagic feats to spells does not increase their casting time for a wizard. However, a wizard must first inscribe the metamagically-enhanced version of the spell in his spellbook as though it were a separate spell. Inscribing the spell in this way costs no gold and requires no Spellcraft check, but takes the amount of time and pages in the spellbook that the spell's (increased) level would suggest.
Druid:
The druid's number of spells per day remain unchanged. The druid's spells known include the summon nature's ally spells, the druid's domain spells (if any), and a small number of additional spells as chosen by the druid.
In addition, many druids imbue their spells into "standing stones" that are hidden in the druid's territory. Imbuing a standing stone in this way is a ritual that takes 24 hours. The druid must choose a spell that he or she knows, and must carve the spell's name in Druidic into the stone. Once imbued, a standing stone's spell can never be changed. The stone itself must be at least one foot thick in all three dimensions. There is no limit to the number of standing stones a druid may imbue, but having imbued a standing stone neither benefits nor hinders the druid's ability to cast the spell in question.
Finding another druid's standing stone requires a DC 25 Survival check. Non-druids take a -20 penalty to this check. Any terrain where druids can be found, even cities, may be expected to have any number of standing stones. A druid can always identify a standing stone for what it is on sight, and always knows what spell is imbued into it. (The GM should determine what spell is imbued into the stone-- roll 1d10-1 to determine the spell level, then choose an appropriate spell from the druid spell list). Once a standing stone has been found, a druid can spend an hour meditating on the stone to attempt to learn the spell. At the end of the hour, the druid makes a Wisdom check, DC 20 + the spell's level. Success means the druid adds the spell to her spells known. Any number of druids can learn a spell from a standing stone. Imbuing a standing stone, or directing a druid towards a stone you have imbued, is usually considered an act of charity towards a druidic circle. Directing a non-druid towards a standing stone is considered a crime against the stone's imbuer and may require an atonement spell.
Paladin:
The paladin's spell list and spells per day are completely replaced.
At level 4, the number of uses per day of the paladin's Lay on Hands ability is now based on Charisma score instead of Charisma modifier. As a standard action, the paladin may expend one use of her Lay on Hands to cast the following spells: Bless, Challenge Evil, Divine Favor, Grace, Magic Weapon, Protection from Evil, Protection from Chaos, and Rally Point. At 8th level, the paladin adds Bestow Grace, Bull's Strength, Eagle's Splendor, Owl's Wisdom, and Shield Other to this list. At 12th level, she adds Burst of Speed, Discern Lies, Dispel Magic, Fire of Judgment, Greater Magic Weapon, Holy Whisper, Prayer, and Sanctify Armor to the list. At 16th level, she adds Dispel Chaos, Dispel Evil, Holy Sword, King's Castle, Mark of Justice, Sacrificial Oath, and Symbol of Healing to the list.
Ranger:
I'll admit it: this one's really got me stumped. Flavor-wise I never really understood why Rangers cast divine spells, and as a full-BAB class, they don't really need spells at all, do they? But just plain removing them would feel like an incredible nerf, and I can't imagine a Ranger would be happy to lose cure spells, Lead Blades, or Gravity Bow.
My best suggestion would be to pick one of the Ranger archetypes that swaps out spellcasting and make that the default ability. Or give them a grit mechanic like gunslingers, and have them spend grit to cast spells (like I made the Paladin spend Lay on Hands usages to cast spells). I wish I had something better, but I don't.
Witch:
Of all the prepared spellcasters, this is the one where a straight "now they're spontaneous" rule makes the most sense. The witch's familiar already acts like a "list of spells known", and there's already a mechanic in place for it to learn new spells. No additional rules needed really.
Alchemist:
By contrast, this is the one where Vancian spell preparation makes the most sense. When each spell is literally a vial of potion, it makes perfect sense that you have to prepare it and you run out over the course of the day and you might not have prepared the right one that day. I recommend leaving the Alchemist as is-- even if the spell preparing turns folks off of it, it's just the most sensible execution of the class. Besides, anti-Vance players should be a lot happier with only one class to avoid instead of seven.
A spell with a range of "touch" like Shocking Grasp or Inflict Wounds involves making a melee touch attack. Could the caster use Power Attack or Combat Expertise in conjunction with that attack to get the extra AC or the extra damage to the spell? Combat Experise states you must make an attack or a full-attack action to declare you're using it, it doesn't say it can't be a touch attack.
So a friend of mine built a scimitar-wielding cleric of Sarenrae. His plan was to dual-wield them, because he had found a rule online stating that a character is treated as having a light weapon in his off-hand if both his weapons are scimitars.
A great deal of searching failed to turn up the source of that rule, however-- it's not in the CRB (in fact, the CRB's weapon descriptions actually skip the scimitar) and we couldn't find it anywhere else.
Does this rule actually exist, or was it an old 3.5 rule that my friend misremembered as being in PF?
I'm working on an encounter in which characters are expected to get between various rocky outcroppings, possibly by jumping. I know the DC for a horizontal jump is equal to the distance jumped (in feet), and the DC for a vertical jump is that times 4.
Here's the question: what about a jump that is both horizontal and vertical? Let's assume a 15-foot chasm, the other side of which is five feet higher than the side you're on? You'd be jumping 15 feet across, and 5 feet up, so would that be a DC of 15+(4x5)=35? Moving the other side only five feet up seems to disproportionately bump up the DC. Does lowering the other side of the chasm make the DC easier?
Is there anything a PC might be able to do to make these DC's easier? Maybe shoot a rope over with a bow? Where would a second PC need to stand in relation to the first in order to aid another?
I've been thinking a bit on the subject of randomized content in video games. A thought occurred to me: could a random encounter in Pathfinder be similarly randomized? We already do quite a bit with our dice in the way of random numbers, why not build a monster out of them?
Here's how I imagine it working.
1.Roll a d4 to determine the creature's size, from Small to Huge.
2.Roll its stats. 3d6 in order I would think.
2b.From there, you can figure out its AC, attack bonus, CMB and hit points. Assume a number of hit dice equal to the desired CR?
3.Roll d% on a list of monster abilities, feats, spell-like-abilities, or weapons to decide what this creature uses against the PC. Feel free to roll several times and mix and match abilities.
4.Roll to see how many of this creature there are in a given encounter. 2d4 sounds like a good amount.
After the statblock looks solid, decide the fluff. What kind of creature did you get? What does it look like?
The upside is that these encounters can be generated on the spot using the exact same algorithm, using the players' rolls if you like, and can in theory produce hundreds of different kinds of encounters. And since the GM provides the fluff after the fact, the players are never left to wonder why there's a minotaur and a zombie in the same room.
The downside is that rolling all those dice and deriving the AC and HP and everything, not to mention writing up a d% table, takes time that would slow the pace of play (or cut into the GM's prep time) and most GMs might rather just flip to a random page in their Bestiary. Any given page in the Bestiary is also a lot less likely to have a mishmash of non-synergistic abilities, and already has the fluff to explain why it has the abilities it has.
So what do you think? Is this worth attempting? From a player's perspective? From a GM's?
Point Blank Shot and Sneak Attack both work within 30 feet.
Channel Energy has a 30-foot radius.
Most spells with multiple targets specify "no two further than 30 feet away".
Why is 30 feet the most common distance for all these effects? Was it decided that most combat takes place in rooms not significantly larger than 30x30? Did the folks in beta conclude that your average kitchen table didn't accomodate fight scenes any more spread out than that, so the rules were written to encourage staying within that range? Or do all these effects want the limit of their range to be how far you could get to in a move action-- in which case why don't these effects work differently if your move speed isn't 30 feet?
Does anyone here ever feel like 30 feet isn't far enough, or too far? How wide is your group's average "combat arena"?
There's been a lot of discussion on these boards about the problems with monks, and how to fix them, and why to fix them, and what the monk should be that it isn't, and so forth. Along the way, I got to thinking-- does Pathfinder even need the monk class at all? Think about it- a lot of the monk's abilities are suspiciously similar to feats or spells, which several other classes could get just as easily.
So here's my challenge to the people of the Paizo boards: Can you build a "monk" character without it actually being a monk? My rules are:
1)The character must "feel" like a monk-- it should do everything you expect a monk to be able to do.
2)It can have levels in any class from any Paizo book... except monk.
3)Build to Level 12-- the PFS max level.
4)Take a few sentences to explain why your character is a monk, and whether or not you think an actual monk would do it better.
I think this would be a good thought experiment, because it explores what players expect the monk to be and whether or not the monk as it stands does what players want it to. Plus, we all love building characters, right? I'll add a few of my own ideas when I have some more time to think on it.
Here's a question. A thought experiment, if you will.
Can a character go from level 1-20 without ever taking more than one level in a single class?
By my count, there are currently 21 base classes. Alignment restrictions means we can't take all of them: a level in Barbarian locks us out of Monk or Paladin, a level in Druid locks us out of Paladin, and a level in Paladin locks us out of Druid or Barbarian. Of the four, it seems like we can at most pick two, which means we'd need at least one of our 20 levels to be in a prestige class (unless we want to resort to NPC classes, which I'd rather not).
Then there's the question of what we'd actually do. I'm envisioning a strange breed of "gish" warrior that acts as a martial character backed by a series of cantrips and level-1 spells. I can't even guess what our BAB would be, but we'd be proficient in pretty much all weapons and armor, and not ever getting any level-2 spells means we'll never really be spellcasters. It also helps that the most front-loaded classes tend to be the martial ones. I'm also not sure how prepared spells would work-- would it take one hour PER prepared-spellcasting class we have to fully prepare all our spells?
Our skill points and feats would likely be geared toward meeting prestige class prereqs. Interestingly, if we want a level in Nature Warden, we need a level in Horizon Walker to qualify. We can't ever meet the prereqs for the Rage Prophet (requires a rage power) or the Master Chymist (3rd level extracts). Any PrC that grants +caster levels is probably worth looking at.
Sometimes, when the players have been pondering what kind of magic weapon they want to buy for long enough, it gets a little difficult to surprise them with an enchanted weapon found in a hoard. Or, if you're not the GM, sometimes you just can't find a good enchantment that compliments your build. So I've thought up some enchantments to put on weapons. Here's what I've got so far:
Venomous
Price: +1
When wielding a venomous weapon, add the weapon's total enhancement bonus to your fortitude saves against posion, the DC to resist any poison applied to the venomous weapon, and the number of rounds that the poison remains on the weapon (similar to the Sticky Poison alchemist discovery).
Galumphing
Price: +2
A galumphing weapon deals an additional 1d6 damage as long as its wielder is mounted. This bonus increases to 2d6 if the wielder is attacking a creature of diametrically opposite alignment, but the wielder must still be mounted to get this bonus damage-- regardless of alignment, a galumphing weapon deals no extra damage if its wielder is not mounted.
Veteran's
Price: +2
When a veteran's weapon is created, choose a combat feat. Any character wielding the veteran's weapon is treated as having the chosen feat for attacks made with the veteran's weapon. The wielder does not need to meet the prerequisites for the feat to benefit from it, but if the wielder does not actually have the feat, then he or she can not apply it to any attacks made with any weapon other than the veteran's weapon. For example, a veteran's weapon of Power Attack in your main hand does not allow you to make Power Attacks with your offhand weapon. If the feat requires you to choose a weapon (i.e. Weapon Focus), the chosen weapon is always the veteran's weapon itself. The wielder always knows what feat the veteran's weapon grants.
If the wielder of a veteran's weapon already has the combat feat chosen for the weapon, that wielder simply treats the weapon as having a +2 enhancement bonus (in addition to whatever other enhancements it may have).
My group has had some confusion as to how the Fighter archetype Polearm Master works with his Pole Fighting ability. For reference, here's the ability.
Spoiler:
Pole Fighting (ex): At 2nd level, as an immediate action, a polearm master can shorten the grip on his spear or polearm with reach and use it against adjacent targets. This action results in a -4 penalty on attack rolls with that weapon until he spends another immediate action to return to the normal grip. The penalty is reduced by -1 for ever four levels beyond 2nd. This ability replaces bravery.
Our group is divided into two camps on how this ability works in practice.
Interpretation #1: Polearm masters can change their threatened area from 10' reach to adjacent as an immediate action. Attacks made against adjacent enemies are made at a -4 penalty.
Interpretation #2: Polearm masters can change their threatened area from 10' reach to adjacent as an immediate action. The act of switching, in either direction, causes a -4 penalty until they spend another action to adjust his grip.
I've seen almost nobody use crossbows, and I've seen at least one class guide that dismissed them outright as an option. I'll admit, needing Rapid Reload is a hassle, but they do more base damage than bows and have a wider crit range, making them better with critical feats. I would think they'd at least be worth considering.
Are they really that bad? Are there circumstances under which you'd prefer a crossbow to a bow? Am I just not seeing the gaping flaws?
The role of "skill monkey" is one that's often neglected but deserves some extra attention. So, I decided to try and create a class whose primary ability is skills. Here's what I came up with.
SAVANT
ROLE: Savants are individuals of extensive and impressive talent. There's no telling what a savant might know how to do, or how he might choose to apply his skills.
ALIGNMENT: Any
HIT DICE: d8
CLASS SKILLS: All skills are class skills for a savant.
SKILL RANKS PER LEVEL: 8 + Int modifier.
WEAPONS AND ARMOR: Savants are proficient with all simple weapons, light armor, and with shields (except tower shields).
BAB: 3/4 lvl
GOOD SAVE: Reflex
Savant Techniques
At each odd level, a savant learns a new application of a known skill. A savant may choose any technique as long as he has at least one rank in the associated skill.
Bonus Feats
At 2nd level and every four levels thereafter, a savant may select a bonus feat from the following list: Acrobatic, Additional Traits, Alertness, Animal Affinity, Athletic, Breadth of Experience, Cooperative Crafting, Cosmopolitan, Deceitful, Deft Hands, Magical Aptitude, Martial Weapon Proficiency, Master Alchemist, Medium Armor Proficiency, Mounted Combat, Persuasive, Self Sufficient, Shared Insight, Skill Focus, Sociable, Stealthy, Stone-Faced, Taunt, Underfoot. A savant does not need to meet any racial or size prerequisites to select a feat on this list, but he must meet all other prerequisites.
Take 12
At Level 4, a savant becomes more adept at everything he does. Whenever he chooses to take 10 on a skill check, he treats the check as though he had rolled a 12 instead of a 10. This action is otherwise identical to the Take 10 action. Every four levels thereafter, the savant adds an additional +2 to his Take 10 attempts. At Level 20, he can take 20 on any skill check as though he had taken 10.
Savant Techniques:
Acrobatics: Whenever a savant moves more than 5 feet and makes a melee attack, he may make a leap at his enemy as part of his movement. The savant rolls an Acrobatics check in place of his attack roll. In addition, the savant treats this as a charge and adds the +2 bonus, as well as the +1 bonus for attacking from the high ground unless the enemy is at least two size categories bigger or would otherwise have the high ground over the savant.
Appraise: The savant may cast Beguiling Gift as a spell-like ability. Using this ability requires a DC 25 Appraise check. This ability may be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the savant's Int modifier.
Bluff: The savant gains Improved Feint as a bonus feat. He does not need to meet the prerequisites for this feat.
Climb: The savant no longer takes a size penalty on grapple checks made against creatures larger than himself, and can make grapple checks against creatures of any size category. In addition, when grappling a creature two or more size categories larger than himself, the savant gains the +1 high ground bonus on melee attacks against that creature and against any adjacent creature not larger than the one he is grappling.
Craft: The savant adds his savant level to any caster levels he possesses for purposes of qualifying for item creation feats.
Disable Device: The savant adds his total ranks in Disable Device to all damage rolls against constructs.
Escape Artist: The savant adds his Escape Artist ranks to all Reflex saves.
Heal: The savant may cast Cure Light Wounds as a spell-like ability. Using this ability requires a DC 25 Heal check. This ability may be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the savant's Wis modifier.
Knowledge(all): Whenever the savant successfully makes a Knowledge check to determine a monster's weaknesses or abilities, he may add his total ranks in the relevant Knowledge skill to all damage rolls made against creatures of that type. This ability lasts for one minute per savant level, after which point he must make a new Knowledge check (even if he remembers the abilities and weaknesses of the monster in question).
Linguistics: The savant adds his total ranks in Linguistics to all saves made against language-dependent effects.
Perception: For each rank in Perception, the savant adds 10 feet to the range increment on all ranged weapons he wields.
Perform: The savant gains Inspire Courage +1, as the bard ability of the same name. He may use this ability for a total number of rounds per day equal to his ranks in the relevant Perform skill, and must make a DC 10 Perform check each round he chooses to maintain the performance. This technique may only be taken for one Perform skill.
Profession: The savant adds his total ranks in Profession to all Bluff, Diplomacy, Sense Motive, Intimidate, and Perception checks against members of the relevant profession, and to Disguise checks if the savant is savant is disguised as a member of the profession.
Ride: The savant adds his total ranks in Ride to all damage rolls made while mounted. This ability does not stack with the Disable Device or Knowledge savant techniques.
Sense Motive: The savant adds his Sense Motive checks to all Will saves.
Sleight of Hand: The savant gains Well-Prepared as a bonus feat. He does not need to meet the prerequisite for this feat.
Spellcraft: The savant may attempt to counterspell as though he were a spellcaster. This action works exactly like normal counterspelling, except that the savant is always treated as though the spell in question were one of his spells known and prepared. The savant can only attempt to counter spells with caster level no greater than his total ranks in Spellcraft.
Survival: The savant adds his ranks in Survival to all Fortitude saves.
What do people think? Does it look horribly under- or over-powered? Does it look like it'd be worth playing as? Any ideas for new savant techniques? I tried to think of good ones for Intimidate, Fly, and Use Magic Device, but couldn't.
We have a barbarian with a Strength score like you read about, before Rage. We have an anvil. And we have the Throw Anything feat. Need I say more?
The crux of the issue is: how heavy can something be before Throw Anything won't let you throw it? A similar question arises for Deflect/Snatch Arrows, which specifically mentions a size limit but doesn't really pin it down. And if a barbarian successfully chucks an anvil at a target, what sort of damage dice are we talking about? And what's the range increment? Can a ranged weapon have a range increment of only 5 feet? I can't imagine throwing an anvil much further.
For the record, the APG recognizes three types of anvils: silversmithing anvils (10 lbs.), farrier anvils (50 lbs.) and blacksmith anvils (100 lbs.). The closest weapon I can think to compare any of them to is the Orcish Shotput, which I remember seeing somewhere but can't remember where. I believe it deals 1d10 damage, but I can't remember how heavy it is. I want to say it's 10 lbs, and if so, a silversmith anvil would be equivalent.
The issue of traps came up in another thread, and it seems most people are unimpressed. Either a trap just kills your party outright, or you pop a charge off your wand of CLW and never give the trap a second thought. Well, I believe that traps should be a little more impressive than that, so I'm designing a few.
My theory is that for traps to really be dramatic and threatening, they shouldn't be the encounter by themselves, but should contribute to the total CR of the encounter. To that end, my traps are less likely to deal damage to players and more likely to trip them up in other ways.
Portcullis Trap:
Portcullis Trap A large wrought iron grate drops down from the ceiling, dividing the corridor into two rooms and cutting off escape.
Type: Mechanical, Perception 20, Disable Device 20
Trigger: Location, Reset: Manual
Effect: Portcullis Door drops into place (2d4+4). DC 20 Reflex avoids, and allows an adjacent character to choose which side of the door he is on when the trap goes off.
Once triggered, the door forbids movement into or through its squares, and provides cover for any attack made through it. A DC 20 Disable Device check unlocks the door, and a DC 20 Strength check then allows the door to be lifted as a full-round action. Holding the door open requires a Strength check each round, with the DC increasing by 1 each time. Once the door is released, it re-locks and requires another Disable Device check to open.
Prison Cage Trap:
Prison Cage Trap Steel bars shoot upwards from the floor-- not to impale, but to ensnare.
Type: Mechanical, Perception 20, Disable Device 20
Trigger: Location, Reset: Hidden Lock
Effect: Steel cage bars. DC 20 Reflex save avoids and moves character into adjacent square of his choice; otherwise the trapped character can not leave the square without succeeding on a DC 30 Escape Artist check. Other characters can not move into this square, and the square provides cover for any attack made into, out of, or through it.
Conveyor Belt Trap:
Conveyor Belt Trap The long rug traversing the room is actually a conveyor belt concealing pressure-sensitive plates
Type: Mechanical, Perception 25, Disable Device 25
Trigger: Location, Duration: 1d8+1 rounds Reset: Automatic Reset
Effect: Moving conveyor belt (CMB +15 trip and bull rush) in 25x5 area. Can not bull rush a character further than 5 feet out of its own area.
Those are my initial ideas-- anyone else have any thoughts?
According to the Core Rulebook, "When the gem is crushed, a Large elemental appears as if by the effect of Summon Nature's Ally V".
The Summon Nature's Ally spells all have a duration of one round per level. The Gem's description makes no mention of a duration, though, leading one to think that the elemental might be a permanent summons. The Gem does have a listed CL, though. Should using an elemental gem use the spell's listed duration at the gem's CL, or some other duration? Or be permanent?
I looked at the spell description for Permanence, and I was kind of disappointed in the small list of spells it says it applies to. As far as spells you can make permanent on yourself, only Detect Magic and Enlarge Person seemed worth bothering with. Invisibility on items is sort of useful, but on the whole, none of the spells I'd really want to make permanent are there.
Luckily, the spell also contains an extra reminder of Rule Zero. So I got to thinking-- out of all the spells in Pathfinder, which ones would be the most fun, the most powerful, or the most headache-inducing when comboed with Permanency? Here's my ideas.
Magic Weapon: The material cost of Permanency is probably fairly close to what you'd pay for an equivalent magic weapon, but there's something satisfying about adding a bonus onto the old reliable blade you've been using since your first adventure instead of trading it in at the pawn shop for a new one. If I did it, I'd immediately name the weapon.
Secure Shelter: Congratulations, you just magicked up a house for yourself. I can imagine at least one wizard getting to the point where he could cast this and Permanency, going out to find a quiet, pretty spot of land, and just retiring in his brand new cottage.
Rage: Just imagine it. You're now raging every minute of every day for the rest of your life. A cleric of Gorum would consider it an honor. Now imagine sitting down to the dinner table with this guy. I'm not sure if you can cast spells while raging, but I suppose if these are last two spells you'll ever cast, you could pick a worse way to end your spellcasting career.
Rope Trick: I'd have one in my house. The one I magicked up for myself. ;)
The druid spell Shillaleigh (sp?) gives a +1 bonus to both ends of a quarterstaff and makes them deal damage as though two sizes bigger (so for a Medium druid, 2d6)
Quarterstaves are also monk weapons, and thus usable in a flurry of blows.
See where I'm going with this?
My plan for my next campaign is to make a multiclass druid monk who can cast Shillaleigh on his quaterstaff, then flurry with it, effectively dual wielding +1 greatswords at level 2.
But I'm not sure where to take it from there. Aside from being melee-capable and valuing their Wisdom, monks and druids have very little in common. And they both really want to hit level 4 quickly, monks for their ki and druids for Wild Shape, which I'm not sure synergizes with a monk's flurry (though it might with IUAS). Should I dip into one class and just focus on the other, or just go one class? I could just go straight monk and get a Wand of Shillaleigh, but then I'd pretty much be spending all my skill points and a good chunk of my gold. I could go pure Druid with the TWF tree, but then I lose the monk's flurry BAB, and have to spend feats on this instead of getting monk bonus feats (and I need a 15 dex to do this at all). Druids do get some sweet spells at later levels, but the Monk's scaling AC and movement speed are sweet too.
I'm split! Which class should I focus on? How can I balance the two? And should I roleplay in an Irish accent?
