TheMightyTeebs's page

There're a few conversions of Shifters from the Eberron setting floating around; obviously not Pathfinder canon, but should at least be a good source of inspiration if not what you're looking for.

The Distant Worlds book was already mentioned;

Possibly not exactly what you're looking for, but there was a thread here that you might mine for ideas:

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ng5v?Worldbuilding-Exercise-Get-5-Random-Races

Of course, science fiction is rife with thematic worlds; Star Trek and Firefly both come to mind, as do maybe Lexx and Farscape (although I've never really watched either of those, so caveat emptor).

Although I've not been in a campaign like that before, it's similar to any campaign where you have to hook the PCs into the plot 'cold'; you might want to take a look at anything that revolves around seafaring campaign, since you can easily map 'a new port of call' onto 'the MacGuffin has transported us to a strange new land' and go from there.

I'm also assuming that there's an overarching plot to be slowly revealed across the various worlds?

To save on the need for keeping PC levels in mind and gestalting and assorted other complex-ish bookkeeping, maybe just:

+6 hp
+2 untyped bonus to save of player's choice
+3 skill points; one skill in which they're spent may become a class skill for that PC

at first level to keep it simple and not mess around with the character level calculations

Developing this for a homebrew setting that I'll hopefully eventually be able to put online. Initially designed as a feat to allow Serpentfolk wizards to bind hobgoblin and ogre warrior-servants.

Please let me know what you think, and I hope you like it!

Arcane Thrall
Prerequisites
ability to cast 4th level arcane spells
Benefits
The character gains an NPC Thrall with whom they have an arcane bond. The Thrall,
willingly or not, undergoes a ritual lasting 24 hours in which they are bound
to the caster. Once this bond is created, the Thrall gains the following special
qualities:

Link
A spellcaster and their Thrall share a special link. When the caster and their
Thrall are within 100' of each other, the caster may, as a free action, give
orders to their thrall. When the caster and Thrall are within 1 mile, they
may communicate empathically, as per the description under Familiars. These
two aspects of Link are cumulative.
Share Spells
A spellcaster may cast a spell with the target of "You" on their Thrall, even
if the spell normally doesn't affect a creature of that type.
Devotion
A Thrall gains a +4 morale bonus on Will saves against enchantment spells and effects.
Arcane Lever
A Thrall automatically loses all Will saves against all of their bound spellcaster's
enchantment spells and effects.

The maximum level of the Thrall is determined as for Cohorts under Leadership, substituting
the modifier of the ability score from which the caster derives bonus spells and/ or spells per day in place of Charisma, and
applying none of the penalties or bonuses listed under Leadership.

Limitations
The Thrall must be of the type Humanoid or Monstrous Humanoid.
This Feat may be taken multiple times, but each new thrall incurs a cumulative -4
on the maximum level of the new Thrall.

I'm thinking that the wizard might be evil because of the enslavement detail

I was actually trying to get it to be more of an unbalanced partnership with an arcane lever on the thrall, less an outright enslavement. I'm not sure how to get that flavor into the crunch, though

Just make it a subset of leadership.

Is this for 2 PCs or a PC + NPC Thrall?

PC + thrall, in this case.

Looking for some sources for generating rules for binding a warrior-type in service to a wizard, in a manner which is beneficial but tyrannical; I'm going for an (at best) grudging partnership where the spellcaster is undoubtedly the boss, with the ability to make it stick.

So far, the only thing I've found is the Thayan Knight prestige class, and about the only thing that I can really see taking from it is the tattoo which causes the Knight to automatically lose their saving throws against mind-affecting spells cast by a Red Wizard.

I'm looking at both the Leadership feat and the various Eidolon and Familiar rules vis-a-vis their connection to the Summoner and Wizard; I might even make this a feat that replaces the familiar for wizards.

Trying to put together some home-brew stuff, and hoped to pick the hive mind concerning more sources for what I'm trying to pull off here.

Thanks in advance.

Had an idea for a campaign that I never got to run, where the PCs were enforcers for the local thieve's guild. The first assignment was to track down someone who'd broken the code of honour, and tried to flee to a part of the city that was run by another thieve's guild, who would allow the PCs 24 hours of free movement in order to see "justice" done before they were no longer welcome in a foreign gang's territory.

A little bit of research on current and Prohibition-era gang structure and turf feuds is a good way to get a lot of ideas for a campaign like this.

One of the important things to remember is that, in societies where there is no law to enforce contracts, a person's reputation for keeping their word is paramount. Which is why the PCs should always be honest with people who have the ability to end their lives, right up until that threat is no longer valid ;)

Using the I don't have a wife, so I'll ask the Internet method, I got

72. Drider
74. Serpentfolk
13. Aasimar (humanoids with celestial ancestry)
15. Ifrit (humanoids with efreet ancestry)
50. Faun

Inside a planetoid hurtling through the Void, the Aasimar build cities around their Temples of the Forgotten Sun, which bathe enough land in light to feed their people and keep the Fauns as shepherds. In the darkness between their cities, Ifrit nomads navigate the wine-dark seas and crevasse-riddled lands by the constellations of Aasimar cities on the opposite surface of the world, and the Serpentfolk erect the arcane spires of their metropoles.

The reason for their banishment has been lost to the ages, and the earliest records give only hints. It is said that the Drider contemplatives know the truth, having once worshipped a demon goddess before renouncing their ways and searching to balance Law and Chaos. As the only beings who have visited the true surface, they are also the guardians of the whole, as well as the only observers to whatever calamity awaits the world.

I'd originally done this in another thread, but I think it's both topical and worth sharing here:

Traveler's Bindle

Aura faint transmutation; CL 1st
Slot -; Price 1780 gp; Weight -.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This square of cloth appears to be made of modest material bearing a simple pattern. When a waterskin and up to
three smaller cloth bundles of nuts, berries, or grain are wrapped in the Bindle and the whole carried for a
full day of travel, come the next morning the bearer finds the waterskin filled and the bundles of simple
food transformed such that each becomes filling enough to feed a creature of Medium or smaller size for a full day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Create Water, Abstemiousness; Cost 890 gp

Trying to keep my hand in while I don't have a group, I started to think about "strange" races to include instead of the standard races, and came up with the following. Let me know what you think, mechanically or flavor-wise.

Ability Score Modifiers
+4 Str, -2 Dex, -4 Wis, +2 Cha

Racial Abilities
Pipes of Pan
Like their namesake, Satyrkin are lovers of
wine and music, and can use hypnotism as a
Spell-Like Ability 1/day
Self-Centered
Satyrkin have a strong sense of what they desire
at any given moment, and gain a +2 bonus to saves
agains charms and compulsions.
Low-Light Vision
Satyrkin can see twice as far as humans in conditions
of dim light.

Racial Feats
Reach
Your reach increases by 5 ft. This feat may only be taken once.
Honeyed Words
You may use Suggestion 1/day as a Spell-Like Ability.
Prerequisite: Character level 4

Alternate Favored Class Bonuses
Any Class
Add +1/4 to the effective CL when using the Pipes of Pan
or Honeyed Words Spell-Like Abilities
Barbarian
Add +1 to the barbarian's total number of rage rounds/day
Bard
Treat the bard's level as +1/2 level higher when using the
Fascinate bardic performance
Sorcerer(Fey Bloodline)
Add once spell to the list of spells known; this spell
must be of a level the character is able to cast

General Description
Decidedly more beastial than, but still capable of much
of the charm of their namesakes, the hermaphroditic
Satyrkin are what Satyrs might have been had they
been birthed into a world that drove them to excel
physically. In such a world, their larger size
is matched by an even lesser ability, some would
say a survival trait, to contain their urges.

Although all satyrkin possess the ability to both sire
and bear children, they have a decidedly masculine frame,
and must nurse their young with skins filled with wine and
blood taken from their flocks.

Satyrkin begin the game speaking Common and Sylvan

Physical Description
Satyrkin tend to tower over other races at 7+' tall,
their heavily-muscled phsyiques giving them an imposing
silhouette. Two rams' horns sprout from their head,
framing what turns into a bushy mane going halfway
down their backs. Two powerful, animal legs end in
broad hooves.

Society
Arranging themselves into temporary nomadic bands
which coalesce and dissolve in ways that outsiders
find mystifying, Satyrkin live primarily as shepherds,
trappers, and hunters. Rarely forming permanent settlements,
Satrykin who have settled in civilized lands tend to
do so in larger cities, where they tend not to succumb
to the lack of variety in smaller communities.

Alignment and Religion
Satyrkin are no more likely to be good or evil than
other races, but they are creatures of passion, both
for good an ill, and skew very heavily to the Chaotic
alignments. Satyrkin tend to worship gods of nature
and caprice.

Adventurers
Adventuring comes naturally to those who are able to
wander, and Satyrkin are no different, viewing a life
on the road as a way to experience the new, and give
breath to their whims.

Randomly, this thread was reactivated about the same time: http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2n98r?Looking-for-Denver-gamers

Serendipity, ho!

Apologies if you've already seen it.

Hi,

Pathfinder in Germany seems to be a little... barren to say the least, though not quite a lost effort entirely. I live around half an hour (by train) away, so I might be interested if any other people come up.

Okay, 30 minutes by train isn't a killer. I've PM'ed you with some info.

I'm moving to Hannover in a few weeks, and would like to begin poking around to see if anybody's down there (passing through Hamburg on my way there).

Sadly, my German is truly incomplete (e.g., I can only string together phrases which amuse me; "Darf ich deinen Clown reiten?" etc.), so for the first few months (let's be realistic!), I'd have to speak English. Apologies if that's a burden for everybody :-|

I'm coming off of a year of DM'ing a Pathfinder group, so I'd much prefer to come as a player, if possible :)

TheMightyTeebs wrote:

A one-shot adventure that revolves around the fantasy world equivalent of a world sporting championship post-victory street riot.

I'll get started. What level range were you thinking of?

Your first mistake is to assume I was thinking! :p

Let's say 7th-9th or so.

A one-shot adventure that revolves around the fantasy world equivalent of a world sporting championship post-victory street riot.

I've been thinking about a way to highlight the concept of reincarnation in games.. maybe a combination of some feats for people who're getting glimpses, and then a prestige class for someone who seriously dedicates himself to past life experience?

Bonus points if the reincarnate PrC has a left-hand path that embraces eternal life through reincarnation (going towards Rakshasa) as well as a right-hand path breaking out of the cycle (Nirvana)...

Maybe a 3-piece PrC; both paths share an initial stage (PrC 1), but then diverge into left and right hand paths (PrC 2/3)?

Was considering such a PrC, but hadn't gotten beyond the basic idea that it would be interesting to have one. The left-/right-hand path is definitely an interesting and thematically-appropriate way to do it!

As someone who believes in reincarnation, yeah, add 1 to each bonus.

I designed a mystery called incarnate for a random townsfolk topic(will bump). Someone with that mystery could obtain all 3 feats(but not free).

Good thread; thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Are the bonuses out of line with what you'd expect from feats? Or do you think that, thematically, it's more appropriate to crank them up?

I think the concept is strong, but you could afford to actually bump up the power level on these feats a bit; Sleeper for example resembles the Iron Will feat, but strikes me as slightly weaker. But if you really want to push a concept in a campaign (like Reincarnation), it's fine if the thematic feats/traits are a bit (say 10%) stronger than regular feats.

Thanks for the feedback.

I'll agree that Sleeper is slightly weaker, but then I was going for the specific mechanic of "controlling your mind is harder, since it's been around longer than others"; would bumping the bonus against mind-controlling effects to +4 balance out against Iron Will, then?

The middle group was trying to be 1 feat + 1 trait equivalent, so that they'd be a bit more tempting on their own, as well as to balance the (low) feat tax applied.

I'm still rather unsure about the capstone feats; they feel weak to me, but I'm unsure how to tweak them. Any advice on those?

Reading over the Wikipedia entry for Sikhism, it occurred to me that that would be a really good non-European translation of the Paladin, which then led to me sketching out a southern/southwest Asian-inspired campaign world(still under construction).

As reincarnation is a strong element in religious traditions from India, I decided that I wanted some game mechanic for that, and so I've ginned up some Feats that I think are appropriate, with low- and mid-level offerings, with the idea that the 'capstone' feat is the only one that is really class-specific, so that the 'intermediate' feats in the tree are of general use to various character concepts.

My question to ye, the good folk of this board, is whether or not

1) the feats themselves are roughly balanced, and
2) whether or not they seem to cohere around the reincarnation theme in a game-mechanic-appropriate manner.

Apologies for any and all formatting issues; the 3 levels are Sleeper -> Echoes of the Past -> Awakened, if it's hard to read below; more Feats are, of course, bubbling away where only I can see, but feedback on what I have already is much needed.

Sleeper

Sleeper: Echoes of the Past
Prerequisite: Sleeper, Character level 5th

Sleeper: Awakened
Prerequisites: Sleeper: Echoes of the Past, Character level 9th

I don't thin the math here was not done correctly.

Yeah, I completely misread that section; the dangers of attempting mental activity before the coffee has had time to penetrate the brain; I'd be tempted to just call it 750/1500gp and call it a day so that nobody's carrying around a half gp that they can't spend on anything.

This item is more flavor, than mandatory, and fairly cool in my opinion.

Hoorayz someone loves me :D

My turn! I think that the cost may be a tad high, due to not shaving enough off for the circumstances of use. I think it's a nifty adventuring tool, though :D

Traveler's Bindle

Aura faint transmutation; CL 1st
Slot -; Price 1780 gp; Weight -.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This square of cloth appears to be made of modest cloth bearing a simple pattern. When a waterskin and up to
three smaller cloth bundles of nuts, berries, or grain are wrapped in the Bindle and the whole carried for a
full day of travel, come the next morning, the bearer finds the waterskin filled and the bundles of simple
food transformed such that each becomes filling enough to feed a creature of Medium or smaller size for a full day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Create Water, Abstemiousness; Cost 890 gp

As you can probably tell, I was inspired by old-timey cartoon hobos.

There's a general rule somewhere that states that bonuses and effects from the same source don't stack. The same spell is considered the same source.

Yes, when you receive, say, multiple "+2 morale bonus to craft(helicopter)", they don't stack; but IIRC there exist "typeless" bonuses (the wording of which I can't recall exactly right now) which stack with anything. Reading the description of the Evolution Surge spell, I find no mention of it being typed, and would happily allow multiple castings to stack, if that's how the player wanted to expend their PC's resources (but I also don't run games where people can decide to hole up and rest the instant they run out of spellcasting, so resource management is an issue for my players).

Just my $.02.

ETA:

Since the description of the spell reads

You may only grant one evolution with this spell, even if that evolution can be taken multiple times.

it reads as if it was specifically meant to be able to be cast multiple times on the same eidolon.

Try combining multiple spells effects and run them by the DM.

Time stop magic missile!

What do you think about saying a bludgeoning attack does normal damage to the swarm AND actually knocks a skull out of the swarm, thus spawning a separate flying skull, up to the number of HD of the swarm?

Assuming that you're not going to let the newborn skull shriek again, I'd say it warrants a CR bump, because the enemy now gets, essentially, an extra attack every round. So, that said, it sounds like a neat encounter, and not like the changes would be overwhelming, so I'd go with a +1 on the CR (although that's just shooting from the hip, and I may be lowballing it here).

PS - thanks for making me reread the swarm description

You could stat out a Large swarm of humanoid skulls to bump this to a higher-level encounter if you were so enclined; but I see your point, given that the Skull Swarm entry lists it as Tiny.

Still, this has given me something for later in my current campaign, so thanks for letting me mumble to myself for a bit.

Mechanically it's the same, so the CR would be +0; if you wanted to be a complete and utter b*****d, though, you could make each skull, as a "Beheaded", get a crack at the characters, and force multiple consecutive saves, one for each skull in the swarm.

That might actually be something to throw at them again in a few levels to catch your PCs off-guard with something they think they know all about ;)

There was the Master Specialist PrC from Complete Mage, although I remember the abilities granted as being middling.

Limbs- Cannot take this feat more than 5 times.

There goes my dream of a human centipede eidolon.

Deathless from the Eberron campaign setting were explicitly positive-energy undead; it should be possible to adapt something similar to your campaign if you want to have some sort of good/evil duality among undead.

But if you think that it makes sense in your campaign to have undead be neutral with good/evil decided by whomever is controlling them, then I can see that as a perfectly legitimate way to construct a time-space continuum.

Personally, I like the "necromancers are some shady folks" vibe, so I go with the undead=evil in my own games.

We've more or less basically assumed that the PCs knew each other for reasons which were driven by the first adventure arc; e.g., we had all drifted together as highwaymen, when (during the first campaign session) one of the carriages we robbed had a massive onyx, which was both cursed and sought after by a gang of cultists.

Although I've got to say that the idea of doing mini-scenarios with each player needing the help of the others is interesting, it's, to me, something that can be handwaved a bit in order to get to the actual playing, if the "you all meet in a tavern/ship's mess/drunk tank" isn't part of the story going forward (which we've also done when the story warranted).

Great! Thanks for the advice, all; I'll just keep the adventure as-is and deal with the necromancer turning the undead against each other as much as he wants to, since it's unlikely to be anything more than one more kinda-lame combatant (but, it's got DR 5 against other skeletons, and they'll likely find a mace lying around...).

And this was more or less for a single dungeon, so I'm not concerned about the fighter long-term, as we still have an entire rift filled with soon-to-be-subjugated-by-the-big-bad monster civilizations to adventure through (and one of my side quest ideas involved negotiating with an evil fungal treant and his forest army), so I think I'll be okay there.

I'm starting an underdark campaign this week, and although I've managed to crib and modify a relatively sweet dungeon, one of my 2 players hit me with a necromancer, which throws a bit of a wrench in the works in that the primary enemies will be kobold skeletons (although it now gives me a great campaign hook, in that the big bad doesn't need to necessarily be defeated right away, because he owns a big shiny necromantic power source, so it's a blessing in disguise, really :) ).

I'm not worried that this will necessarily make the encounter too easy, as I had actually designed a few failsafes because I thought the encounters might be a bit overwhelming to a pair of 1st-level characters.

My concern is that the 2nd PC is a straight fighter, and may end up feeling like a 5th wheel (although there are a few non-undead encounters where he may shine, but the big one of those is supposed to be a super-run-away encounter that I would've hoped they would leverage to help deal with the undead hordes).

Is there any advice that folks can give about balancing necromancers vs. undead vs other players in this situation? Or am I worrying needlessly?

ETA: I'm allowing core/UM/UC to narrow down the scope here

TIA

PS - this is my first time DM'ing pretty much ever, so I'm accepting that I'll likely fumble a bit at first whilst feeling my way around balancing players/encounters/fun/TPKs/etc, so I'm willing to risk entertain new and strange ideas.