Xisifer's page

None can stand against the might of Doctor BEEEES!!

This honestly sounds awesome to me. I don't want to deal with the eastern mysticism content that's so deeply baked into the Monk that a LOT of work has to be done on the GM side to strip it out. I don't think it fits very well with the fundamentally European medieval style of the rest of Pathfinder. Honestly, a Psion fits better, as their abilities, while making some nods to New Age and eastern mystic concepts, remain relatively agnostic on a fundamental level. It's the same reason I wouldn't let a player make a "ninja". If they wanted to make a character who had ninja abilities, and wanted to work out the fluff to keep it thematically consistent, I'd be fine with that.

I'm one of those weird types for whom the fluff matters as much as the crunchy bits. :P

My go-to example for a Western-style Ninja would be the Assassin's Creed games.

Some of it doesn't fit, like the throwing stars or Shadow Clone, but Hidden Weapon, High Jumper, Darkvision, Wall Climber, etc all fit in perfectly.

There's your Western Ninja.

Yeah, sam vimes might be good example. I think I'll try to stat that out.

I would actually point you towards a very, very helpful post someone made to me a while back:

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2mrb1?Whats-the-best-archetype-for-a-town-guard #4

While most default town guards could of course just be fighters (using polearms for improved stylishness ;) ), that class lacks sense motive and diplomacy as class skills.

If you really want to follow the footsteps of Sam Vimes, let's take a closer look at him.

- lawful at heart, even if he sometimes bends laws in order to do justice.
- his sense of justice is so strong that it was even able to fend off the attempts to possess him by a 'quasi-demonic thing of pure vengeance -> Chevalier PrC (Stubborn Mind)
- effective and brutal hand-to-hand fighter, who specialises in "dirty fighting". He also prefers non-lethal takedowns whenever possible.
- equip: battered old watch armor (breastplate), sword and truncheon (nightstick)
- found and still pays the 'Watch Widows and Orphans Fund'
- does his duty on foot -> only Cavalier or Paladin archetypes that replace mount / divine bond with something else
- in extreme situations, his darker side comes out and he effectively 'goes spare', yet he never totally loses control -> Urban Barbarian
- recieved knighthood -> Cavalier or Chevalier PrC
- dislikes nobility, protects the common folk -> Cavalier (Order of the Shield)
- survived nine murder attempts
- could tell exactly where he was anywhere within the city limits of Ankh-Morpork just by the feel of the cobbles beneath his feet (until his wife urged him to wear new boots) -> Urban Ranger (!)
- "old school" speciesist, especially hates vampires. -> Ranger, fav. enemy undead.
- has personally disigned and installed various traps around his family house and the watch headquarters. -> Trapsmith Rogue, Trapper Ranger
- distrusts clues and loathes mysteries, yet is personally investigating important crime scenes -> Investigator Rogue
- has no spellcasting abilities -> Paladin & Inquisitor are out

So... If I wanted to build Sam Vimes, I'd start with an Urban Trapper Ranger. With that combination, you have almost everything you need.

Include either the Suspicious trait and/or a few levels of Order of the Shield Cavalier (in that case, use Standard Bearer archetype to get rid of the mount) and/or Investigator Rogue - every one of the three gives you Sense Motive as a class skill, the latter additionally gives you double rolls on Diplomacy (Gather Information).

Take Chevalier PrC to gain Stubborn Mind.
Take the improved dirty trick feats.
Add a few levels of Urban (Superstitious) Barbarian if you want a mechanical backup to focus on the whole "dark side" thing.

That said... how about that:
Urban Trapper Ranger 11 / Standard Bearer Cavalier of the Order of the Shield 2 / Investigator Rogue 2 / Urban Barbarian 2 / Chevalier 3

A rapier is not ever going to be better at parrying attacks than a shield. Heck, a rapier isn't good for parrying attacks from anything much heavier than a rapier either, so no, 'swashbucklers' shouldn't be about attack negation.

This is a primary problem with Pathfinder where AC is not tied to level/combat prowess. This was fixed in the Star Wars Saga version of D20, where the Reflex 'save' (not really a save, more like Reflex AC, there was also a Will and Fortitude AC) was what people had to beat to hit you. And like saves, they went up with character level.

Star Wars Saga Edition had a lot of mechanics that were very good for swashbuckling style play. I don't know if it's OGL; if it were I'd recommend Pathfinder 2nd edition (if/when it happens) steal heavily from it.

Saga had a number of great ideas that would work well for a Swashbuckler. You got your character level as a bonus to AC (in PF, it might be more balanced to be 1/2 your character level instead).

Additionally, there was a Talent for the Jedi base class called Block. I don't think it's OGL, so I won't quote it directly, but a basic summary would be roughly:

As an immediate action, you can negate a melee attack by making a successful Use The Force check (DC = incoming attack, DC + 5 for each additional attack you try to block since the beginning of your last turn). You must have a weapon drawn, be aware of the attack, and not be flat-footed.

A PF version of that would probably substitute an attack roll instead of a UTF check, or perhaps a Reflex save.

Some food for thought.

The Room of You: A room where, at the same time you enter, twelve other versions of you- from parallel universes- enter from different doors. Some look glad to see you, others not. They all know you. It gets disturbing when one walks in as a mindless zombie, and later, another simply falls through the door as a smoking corpse.

More on the Room of You: Instead of other universes, the other people you meet might be the you of the past and future. None will talk about themselves (sorry, no hints to the future), not why you can't remember these talks. One will be you as a child, another you as a teenager, then yourself, an older you, and so on, until to reach the great old grandfatherly you. But when when younger and older versions of you start to turn up dead, things get creepy...

Sounds like the Maze of Many:

http://goblinscomic.wikia.com/wiki/Maze_of_Many

Recruitment closes tomorrow! Get those characters in if you haven't, people!

Rebellion Era Campaign Guide.

Actually, my GM found another document that's a gigantic list of every single piece of equipment in Saga, along with all of their stats and effects! Omegadex just lists where to find everything, but there's no way to compare everything in the game if you're looking for "the most damaging heavy rifle" or whatever.

I'll have to upload the file when I get home tonight. No idea where he originally found it, since he sent it via Skype.

As a general PSA: Since Saga doesn't have an SRD, it's often difficult to locate things spread across a number of different splatbooks. In order to help with that, allow me to present a wonderful tool that I (and my GM) have found indispensible:

http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/showthread.php/16157-Star-Wars-Saga- Completed-Omegadex-1-9

It's basically a giant index of all Talents, Feats, PrCs, Equipment, everything in the game and a listing of where to find it. Great stuff.

Sweet, glad to be a part of this!

If our group survives the first mission, I'll look into ordering a group picture commission! :D

Been on a big KOTOR/TOR kick lately, myself. I'm game for some Saga Edition.

Depends on the game you'd be running. Do you have any more details? Plot, level range, timeline, world, etc?

Good stuff. I'm just about done with my character.

All this info should probably be added to the original post.

What's the status of the galaxy? When does this take place? What's the status of the Empire, and why is it allowing aliens in? What's going on with the New Republic?

Also, do we roll for HP? If so, how and where? If not, do we take average? Max?

The way skills work in Saga is that there are no "points" or "ranks". There is simply Untrained and Trained, with the option of taking Skill Focus on top of that. There are also certain items that give bonuses, but Saga is a very character-dependent system, rather than item-dependent. There are no "magic" items in Saga, no +1 Blaster Rifles, etc.

In Saga, all skills gain a bonus of 1/2 the character's total level. For example, a Scoundrel has the option to select Stealth as a Trained skill. By selecting it as Trained, he gains a one-time bonus of +5. That's it. He never needs to worry about putting ranks into it or improving it ever again, because he gains +1/2 his level to it. If he wants, he can take Skill Focus: Stealth, for another one-time bonus of +5.

(Note that a character can become trained in additional skills later down the line, but he must take the Skill Training feat to do so.)

That went a little bit longer than I thought, but hopefully that gives you a good idea of how skills work in Saga, and how advancing skills can be done in the middle of the game.

With nothing better to do over my lunch break, I'll continue hounding you with questions. :)

I've got a few character concepts I'm rolling around in my head that I want to run by you for suitability. What do you look for in a character?

Do you try to build a balanced group of PCs?

Do you like inter-PC collaboration (shared backstories, that sort of thing)?

Do you like reading richly detailed backstories with lots of plot and NPC hooks, or do you just like to get a quick snapshot of the character and watch how they perform in the game?

How often do you expect people to post, at minimum? Several times per day? Once a day? Once every other day?

How often do you expect to be posting?

It's a shame Saga doesn't have an online SRD available, otherwise I would work on my character over lunch break. As it stands, I'll only be able to make progress after work this week.

What's the Empire's outlook on Twi'leks? They're not mentioned in the above list.

What sourcebooks are allowed?

Also, why do races outside of that list experience trust and discrimination? If the Empire is already allowing aliens, what makes one alien more alien than another alien?

Also, what's the deal with armor proficiencies? RAW, Soldiers are the only ones with any sort of armor proficiency at all by default, everyone else has to spend a feat. If this is an Empire-centric game, it might be good to make sure we know how to wear our own flightsuits at the very least.

Woke up and tried to edit my post with John's appearance/personality/background/etc, but apparently you can't edit posts after a certain time limit? Or something?

I'll work on it over lunch.

Xisifer wrote:

Tom Badgerlock, a humble farmer who found a litter of wolf pups that had taken shelter in his shed one winter. The mother fled upon discovery, but one was overlooked in the hay and left behind, which Tom decided to raise as his own pet. Though his horse reacted nervously at first, Tom was slowly able to domesticate his new companion, who helped to keep other predators and scavengers away from his farm and small collection of livestock. He lives out on the edge of the village, but regularly goes into town to sell produce and trade a few drinks with the friends he's made there. (Ranger)...

If you do tom, then We'd be farmin' buddies!!

You realize what this means, right?

Oooh, this sounds fun. Definitely dotting for interest.

I assume we're less concerned about a "balanced" party and more into fun, deep characters to roleplay? I've got a few ideas...

Soren Keel, a grumpy, middle-aged town guard whose devotion to his job and the law is only matched by his penchant for whiskey and cigars. His pessimistic outlook comes from too many years dealing with scumbags and criminals, but although his faith in humanity has eroded with the years, his inner backbone of decency and righteousness is as bright as ever. A hardened copper to the bone, Soren's very much a Knight in Sour Armor type of guy. (probably Fighter or Rogue, possibly both)

Arven Lantir, a bright and idealistic young Bardic student who eschews the musical arts for a considerable talent with the written word. He's somewhere between a journalist, an archivist and a reporter, frequently doodling and scribbling away in the massive leatherbound tome he carries around at all times. (Bard)

Elena Derosa, a disgraced young noblewoman who fled an arranged marriage to work as a humble dancer and waitress among the common folk that she so rarely got to see when growing up in a noble estate. She's also been studying a few forms of martial arts for self-protection from any amorous patrons she performs for, but off the stage she practices painting and artwork. (Monk)

Tom Badgerlock, a humble farmer who found a litter of wolf pups that had taken shelter in his shed one winter. The mother fled upon discovery, but one was overlooked in the hay and left behind, which Tom decided to raise as his own pet. Though his horse reacted nervously at first, Tom was slowly able to domesticate his new companion, who helped to keep other predators and scavengers away from his farm and small collection of livestock. He lives out on the edge of the village, but regularly goes into town to sell produce and trade a few drinks with the friends he's made there. (Ranger)

I've got a few more ideas, but lunch break just ended. Any of these particularly strike your guys' interest? I'd love to collaborate on backstories or something with another player.

This sounds like a ton of fun. Count me in.

Are we specifically required to be pilots? Or can we be storm/scout troopers, that sort of thing?

What about non-Core races? What splatbooks are allowed, if any?

I've decided to go with my Inquisitor character, but I'm not sure where to host the character sheet. Is Myth-Weavers fine?

Posting interest! I'll read the Player's Guide tonight, but I've got a few characters waiting in the wings that might mesh with this.

1. LG Human Fighter (Tactician or Cad) or Rogue (Investigator), character concept is a City Guard captain or sergeant who's on an investigation related to a crime or mystery back in his home city. Think Sam Vimes or Humphrey Bogart.

2. CG Human Monk (Martial Artist), character concept is a burly Ulfen bartender (perhaps working at The Silver Stoat?) who's trying to find and rescue his kidnapped son. Think something from Street Fighter.

3. TN Kobold Rogue (Sniper), character concept is a cunning infiltrator trying to track down a party of "noble" adventurers who killed his clan's patron White Dragon. Think Solid Snake or Sam Fisher as a Kobold.

4. LN Half-Orc Inquisitor of Asmodeus, character concept is a dour, serious lawyer-from-hell who is trying to track down some NPC of note and serve them with a court order or an eviction notice. Think Judge Dredd + Anton Ego (the Critic from Ratatouille).

@TriOmegaZero: Oooh, good idea! I hadn't thought about rage powers

@Sub_Zero: Good idea. However, I'm not 100% sure about staying in Barbarian for 8 whole levels, mainly because I want to pick up Weapon Specialization at some point, and I don't think there's anything that lets a Barbarian get that.

@LearnTheRules: Ooh, good catch on unarmed being included for Brawler. Great ideas for Weapon Specialization and Boar Style, too. That +1atk/+5dmg is nothing to sneeze at.

@supar: Good idea. Dragon Style and Weapon Specialization look like they'll combine marvelously.

Going from all these replies, it's sounding like the way to go might be:

Brawler 4 (gain +1 attack / +3 damage from Close Combatant, +1 attack / +2 damage from Weapon Focus/Specialization)

Martial Artist 5 (gain Exploit Weakness, immunity to Fatigue and 1d8 unarmed damage)

Barbarian X (gain Powerful Blow, Crippling Strike, and whatever other goodies I want)

This looks like a pretty solid build. Thanks!

Hello, Paizo community!

Recently, I came across an interesting story on Reddit and it really inspired me to see if that kind of character can be replicated in Pathfinder: an unarmed fighter who can knock people's lights out with sheer badassery. He doesn't need any fancy tricks, just the ability to deal a LOT of unarmed damage with huge haymaker punches. Think like Balrog or Zangeif and you're about 75% there.

However...

The actual game mechanics of Pathfinder don't seem to support this concept very well.

The Monk has a lot of supernatural Eastern martial arts flavor to them, which doesn't quite fit.

The Unarmed Fighter [Fighter archetype] improves the Fighter's durability somewhat, but doesn't do anything to give better unarmed damage or Combat Maneuver bonuses.

The Brawler [Fighter archetype] receives bonuses when using close-range weapons, but doesn't actually get anything for being unarmed.

Is there something I'm missing? Any help would be appreciated!

Bresann Inmondeep (Sorcerer, Serpentine Bloodline)

Just to let you know, GM Nel, that this is the first of my friends that I recruited and recommended to this game. I'm hoping to join with him in a group. Sorry that we're just barely squeaking in under the wire, but hopefully you'll still consider us.

My own submission:

Harek Harper (Elven Bard, Archaeologist)

Harek Harper was not the product of typical Elven society, to say the least. Far from the typical leafy canopies of the Elven homelands, Harek was raised in the far-flung desert society of Osirion. He was a curious child, forever questioning and trying to learn about both his surroundings and the ancient monoliths that dotted the landscape beneath his feet. He was a bit of a loner as a child, forever exploring off on his own rather than tending to his father's business as a historical curator for the national Osirion Museum. He often snuck away with writings, inscriptions and papers from his father's study, using the theoretical essays as practical guides to help him plunder the depths of the Osirion tombs and retrieve artifacts for his father's museum.

However, while venturing deep into a tomb one day, he found to his surprise that his intended target had already been plundered, and that someone had beaten him to his prize. He burst into the room just in time to find a group of scholars from the Pathfinder Society packing away the artifact and meticulously examining the wall carvings. Upon speaking with them, Harek was excited to find that there existed a society and organization that actively encouraged his explorations and discoveries.

Packing up his extensive supplies, Harek took his father's old diary writings and research and embarked for Andoran. Arriving at the Grand Lodge within a few tendays, Harek Harper adjusted his signature jaunty hat and stepped inside, curious about what lay in store for the adventurous young Elf...

Hi there! At my weekly Serpent's Skull game tonight, I mentioned this game to my group and two fellow players decided it sounded like fun and want to join. We might even coordinate and come in with inter-mingled character concepts, if that sounds like something you'd like.

How long is recruitment open? Is it first-come, first-served?

I'll be eagerly awaiting it!

I'd love to join! The local PFS in my city runs on Monday nights and goes late, which conflicts with my work schedule. I had almost lost hope of actually participating.

Hey, folks. I have a friend who is has a specific character concept in mind that he thinks the rules support, but I think it's a grey area.

He wants to play a character who uses a Greataxe (a Two-Handed weapon), but uses Two-Weapon Fighting via Improved Unarmed Strike (head-butts, kicks and so on). He argues that IUS allows him to consider himself as armed even when he's not, and therefore he can use TWF even when both hands are holding his Greataxe. He's also thinking it might be possible (in the middle of a full-round attack) to take one hand off his Greataxe and make an unarmed strike with that.

I'm not 100% convinced, but I told him that if anyone knew, it would be the collective nerd hive-mind of The Internet. What do you guys think? Is that possible?

Goblins, you say?

How about... Not a druid at all? Oracle of nature, oracle of wood, wood specialist wizards.

Eh, he says that Oracle's spell list doesn't work for what he's trying to do, which is be a generalized elementalist-type spellcaster. Summoning the powers of earth, fire, storm, etc. Kind of like a shaman, more concerned with communing with the spirits and elements instead of being all nature-y. Anything that would help with that?

One of my players is wanting to play a Druid more like a nature-oriented Gandalf than an Animorph, and so he's looking for an archetype that replaces Wild Shape. Unfortunately, I can't find anything in the APG or UM.

Any ideas?

I'm thinking of building a guardsman to join a party in their adventures as sort of a parole officer, taking a number of cues from Sam Vimes of Discworld. He's an officer of the law who's not afraid to fight dirty if it helps him do his job.

Since he starts at level 1, I thought a straight Fighter would work initially, but are there any archetypes out there that would fit? The only one that comes to mind is the Investigator (Rogue) archetype from APG, but beyond that I'm not super sure about where to take him.

Argh, this seems to be a curse. Every promising PbP I've found today have all closed down recruitment less than 24 hours ago.

Sigh....back to the searching...

Argh. I saw this game and wanted to join, but it looks like you posted your final roster already.

Sad day.

Here is the latest version of the sheet.

It contains numerous bug fixes that my group and I have found over the course of the past few months.

Michael Jacobs wrote:

any chance of being able to add custom spell names to the spell-book section, and then being able to select them in the daily spell sheet? or does that make it too complex?

This feature is included here as well!

I'm now moving to implement content from the APG. I'll either start with traits, archetypes or feats. Let me know if you have any preferences or requests. Keep in mind that the APG classes will probably be last.

Is there any chance of implementing an <Other> field for the Race column? I want to put my Kobold Paladin onto this, but there's no option for it. :(

Also, any chance of implementing Ninja and other UC content?