Xuttah's page

I'm sorry, I just don't get it. My GM gave me a copy of the rules, but I just can't quite wrap my head around building or costing mounted units. Could someone show me an example of how to build a cavalry unit? Let's say normal goblin warriors (level 1-3) on normal wolves. How does that work?

How about human heavy cavalry?

Iomedaean Sword Oath, is it a feat? It's worded like a feat, has the same format, but is it a feat? It's pretty weaksauce if it is.

We're gearing up for the last leg (the tip of the toe, really) of the last module for SD and my cohort has kicked off. As sad as it is, we don't have the time or resources to True Ressurect her ATM. So, I'm looking for a pretty simple and durable filler cohort to take her place.

As far as party goes, my character is a LN kobold Bard/Dragon Disciple and there's a paladin in the party (no evil critters). I can attract an ECL 14 NPC/thing to be my BFFN (Beast Friend for now). We also have an evoker, cleric and duelist who are all CG and pretty easygoing. Any ideas?

My kobold bard/green dragon disciple is taking Leadership at 15th level and he's recruiting a kobold Oracle 13 as his number two. Does anyone out there have any advice on a build?

I've got the Beta Oracle download and the Flame, Nature and Wind mysteries are looking interesting. 15 point build (she's an NPC and not as powerful as the 25 pt PC's), with double the NPC wealth from the chart.

Any advice would be appreciated. Feats, spells, choice of mystery and curse. Anything really since it's a new class that I don't have a lot of experience with.

Okay, so we're playing CoT and we're knee deep in the Infernal Syndrome, and we've made a deal with a certain elf diabolist. My question is:

Not like it impacts the plot any, just wanna know.

I understand there's been some discussion about this, but my rules-fu on this one is still a little fuzzy:

Does and Amulet of Mighty fists +3 (+3 enhancement bonus) confer the ability to ignore DR silver and cold iron?

If someone could link me to that or just quote the relevant ruling, I'd be much obliged. :)

X

(edit) That should be does it confer the ability to ignore DR silver/cold iron to natural weapons and/or unarmed attacks?

Can a bard countersong a Power Word? It doesn't have the sonic or language dependant descriptor, but it requires speaking a single word. My guess in no, but I was wondering if that's right.

Would a readied action to cast silence do the trick?

Can you use animate dead to create a swarm of creatures? How would that stat up for, say, a zombie rat swarm?

Hey folks, got a couple of quick questions:

1) Where can I find the PRPG version of the Bracelet of Friends, or was it eliminated from the text entirely?

2) With the Screaming Bolt, does SR apply?

Cheers!
X

If a spellcaster were to cast Grease on a wall or ceiling space occupied by a creature(s) with a climb speed, what happens? Do they:

A) Roll a Reflex save as normal and fall to the ground if they fail,

B) The surface is considered slippery for the purpose of making climb checks (+5 DC),

C) The surface becomes too slick to stand on and they automatically fall, or?

D) Something completely different that I'm missing.

Stuff about campaign goes here. Comic 1 is done, comic 2 in the works!

I'm enjoying letting my bard's kobold side come into play. The sadism inherant to the drow house we're working for really lends to letting his cowering, sycophantic suck up side run wild a free. So many plans, only eleven weeks of drow meat suit left to finish them in...

PDK,
Here are the random die roll results you asked for:

Knowledge Nobility to have some juicy rumours to trade: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23
Knowledge Nobility to know what to entice the general with: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18

Cheers!

EDit: STupid crappy dice roller! :P
Edit 2 added your bonuses from PM

Disclaimer:* I know the ideas I'm about to present may not be well received by the community. I think these may be viable alternatives to the eidolon-centered Summoner. They are in no way intended as an attempt to devalue or disrespect Jason's or any other member of the Paizo team's work; they're just options to consider.*

I can't say that I'm totally in love with the idea of a PC playing second fiddle to his NPC buddy. While it may be fun to play a monster for a while, I have read a few posts expressing concern about the power levels of the critter -i.e. being close to equal to another complete PC, plus you get another slightly underpowered (maybe) PC as backup.

I'm also concerned about the RP consequences of having an alien being the dominant force of the duo in a humanocentric game world.

To this end, I propose two alternatives to the Summoner class as is; the first adjusts the eidolon power level downwards, and turns it into a capable helper for the PC, but does not overshadow it. The second alternative would be to eliminate the eidolon altogether and retool the Summoner into a true master of the Conjuration [summoning] list.

Option 1:
The first thing I would do is trim back the eidolon to 3/4 HD of the Summoner. At 20th level, the creature would end at 15 HD instead of 17 and the HD would maintain that approximate ratio at lower levels (3 HD at 4th, 6 HD at 8th, 9HD at 12th etc) with a minimum of 2 HD at first. All outsider traits remain unchanged, except it counts as called so Protection from X does not affect its physical attacks.

The only other thing I would do is reduce the number of Evolution points (that name still annoys me) to 3/4 of what they get over the 20 Summoner levels.

I think that those two changes would reduce the power level of the eidolon sufficiently that the PC would become the dominant element of the duo (or at least an equal partner) without reducing it to the point of no longer being an asset for the party.

Option 2:
Cut out the eidolon and all associated powers from the Summoner class and replace them with a slightly more robust spell progression and class abilities to augment summoning and calling spells.

Level 1: Summoner adds his CHA bonus (or half of level, minimum 1) to the number of rounds a summoned monster lasts for (spell or SLA).
Level 2: Augment Summoning as a bonus feat without requiring Spell Focus (conj.) as a prerequisite.
Level 4: Communicate with summoned creatures -Summoner can issue commands to summoned creatures to execute complex tasks, even if they are animal intelligence or mindless. (The new templates in the Bestiary do not change the intelligence of celestial/fiendish creatures. This gives a bump to the class by enabling them to do things non-specialists cannot do)
Level 6: Summoner's Call -character may recall up to CHA bonus summoned/called creatures to be in adjacent squares, as per Dimension door. I like the Maker's call ability, but it could just as easily be applied to summoned creatures.
Level 8: Transposition -same only with the highest level creature you have summoned that's in short (maybe medium?) range.
Level 10: Badass monsters -All summoned creatures have the simple advanced template
Level 12: Underpants
Level 14: ?
Level 16: Profit!

I don't have much beyond that, but people much brighter than I could certainly fill in the blanks and recajigger the powers to fit.

That's it. They're just suggestions, but maybe they can help make a great concept into an excellent, playable class.

Cheers!
X

'The Orb Of The Waybringer' (Gods and Magic p. 58)
3900gp; CL 3rd
1/day breath weapon as per burning hands except electricity
If follower of Apsu, in addition: 1/day eagle's splendor and light at
will.

What is the cost breakdown for this item? Also, how many dice does the burning hands do? 1d4? 3d4? 5d4?

Question regarding the item creation rules:
If

...This process can be accelerated to 4 hours of work per 1,000 gp in the item's base price (or fraction thereof) by increasing the DC to create the item by +5.

and

The caster can work for up to 8 hours each day.

Does this mean that an item crafter can create 2000 gp worth of an item in 1 day (8 hours) by raising the craft DC by 5?

Is that the intent, or is it to only have to spend 4 hours/day crafting?

(This is a player thread, so no spoilers please!)

I'm a player in Purple Dragon Knight's CoT campaign and we just played the first part of the Six Trials module. We just finished the dress rehearsal, and boy, is it ever fun!

I thought the idea of getting cast in a play to infiltrate the the mayor's house was a little contrived at first, but soon forgot all about that as our party got sucked into the pettiness and politics of the theatre scene.

I loved how our success (or failure!) impacted the outcome of how the play turned out, and the characters with communications skills really had a chance to shine. It was nice to be engaged for an entire session without laying out the battle mat or rolling initiative.

Our halfling rogue (cast as the paladin) and the cleric of Shelyn (Larazod, with a perform-act check of 40 at one point) had an ongoing rivalry as they competed for the affections of the rising starlet (who's name escapes me right now). The cleric threw an outright on stage spoiled actor fit worthy of Christian Bale when he lost out to the halfing. It was great!

My character (a conjuror typecast as Dentris) mostly stumbled around and failed his diplomacy and acting checks (2 ranks in diplomacy is worthless when it's not a class skill and your Cha is 10). Every time I failed a roll (75% of the time thanks to dice hate), I would trip over my feet or bang my forehead on a doorjamb. Not very dignified, I know. I did, however, look cool during reheasals by floating my lines in front of me using prestidigitation, and managed to talk shop with the special effects master.

The half orc barbarian (torturer) had a horseshoe up his butt and managed to do rather well, and even managed to make a few acting checks. "What Targar's motivation?", He also won the affections of the Deva/Chorus. "Targar like big women!"

Next session, we go into the big new theatre and the perform The Murder Play. The players are game, so we're actually going to do a read through of the play as the session and adventure unfolds! Hopefully enough of us will survive to meet our real goal.

Again, a great adventure and I've had a blast so far! Thanks to PDK for running it so well, and to Richard Pett and the rest of the Paizo staff for crafting such a memorable and fun game!

Ian
(Playing Morvius Claringbold playing Dentris Malagrada)

Are the effects of multiple nets/webs (monster ability not the spell) cumulative?

When attempting to break/escape from multiple nets, do you have to roll for each one or does one roll count for all?

Does SR interfere with your ability to benefit from taking a potion?

eg. Will a potion of Cure Light Wounds need to make an SR check to affect a drow taking it?

[rant]
I've noticed a theme in the last few dust up's with the Drow...they like minions who make people barf.

Shadow in the Sky: Trogs and Dretches
Armageddon Echo: Dretches and Trogs

I'm gonna hafta start carrying around bags of sawdust just to keep from slipping on all the lost lunches!

Was this on purpose?[/rant]

If a character starts play with a wand as a bonded item, does it contain any charges?

Hi all,

My CoT character is ex-military and I want to give him a rank. He's gonna be the immortal sergeant or regimental sergeant major type, but I don't wanna call him Sarge. :) I was wondering if there were any ranks for the Chellish military out there, or if I should go digging in historical sources (roman legions maybe?).

Hi all,

My character has written a book about his harrowing experiences on Devil's Elbow. "Tiny Zim and the Island of Devils" is sure to be a great hit with all of the treasure seekers headed for the island. It'll contain detailed maps and illustrations, as well as journal entries about the exotic flora and fauna of the island (including the space monsters).

Problem is that kobolds are paranoid and he doesn't want bootleg copies surfacing before he can cash in, so he wants to produce the book himself. In order to do this, the plucky little Cyphermage has designed a magical pen to copy his original manuscript into blank books.

We are currently using only the Beta rules with no splatbooks or Spell Compendium, so I needed to find a way to replicate Amenuensis (sp?) without delving into non-Beta sources:

New Item:
Stylus of Rapid Replication
Aura: Faint Transmutation CL: 1st
Price: 1800 gp Weight: -

This finely crafted pen has an adamantine tip that never dulls or seems to run out of ink. Upon command, the pen will magically animate and transcribe any non-magical written work at a rate of one page per minute for up to 100 pages per day.

The pen makes exact copies of all visible, non-magical writing and
illustrations, and changes the ink colour as needed. It does not translate the text or reveal any coded messages and requires sufficient blank surfaces (loose pages or a book are common choices) to complete its task, otherwise it will stop when it runs out of space.

Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, Prestidigitation or Arcane Mark, Mage Hand, 900 gp, 2 days, Craft DC 6

I priced it using a command word (unlimited uses at will), but limited the amount of pages per day for balance. It also has the potential to run amok if left unattended (keeps writing even if out of paper, so you could come home to writing all over the wall).

So, fire away! :)

Do the cyphermages have a particular badge or crest?

I just watched two episodes of this while waiting for Torchwood CoE to start. Very nearly broke my brain.
Has anyone else seen it?

Hi folks,

I'm posting this in the Off-topic area too since it gets lots of traffic and I'm trying to turn this around quickly.

I do this little comic book style chronicle of my D&D group's Second Darkness campaign. There's no chronicle this week due to our summer gaming schecule, so I am taking reader's questions to do a filler comic, like what R.K. Milholland does with his Something Positive webcomic (actually, I'm totally ripping off his idea, but imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, right?).

The question I choose will be in the filler comic. Please don't ask anything that would violate the messageboard policies. Be prepared for a snarky answer (Zim's a sarcastic bastard). :)

Oh, and go read Something Positive. It's a great comic. A little PG-13 most of the time, so consider yourself warned!

Deadline 2pm EDT :)

If my PC actually survives long enough, I plan on taking Craft Construct at Level 9. Problem is that the constructs in the OGL are either lame or really expensive.

Are there any Golarion-specific constructs that can be built by the kobold on a budget that won't be a total waste of time crafting? I'd like to steer clear of splatbooks, but the best answer I can come up with on my own is the Effigy Creature from CA.

The three factors I'm looking at in order of importance are

1) Price under 20,000 gp (10,000 gp to make)
2) Effectiveness in combat (usually damage output, but open to interpretation)
3) Specials (SLA's, Ex abilities, ability to transform into a Red 18-Wheeler or Tyrannosaurus etc..)

Right now, I'm still mid level 5, so there's a while to go. It's just good to be prepared with some schematics when the time comes. :)

I'm toying with idea of following this PrC with my kobold bard, but before I talk to the DM about it, I'd like to see what the general impression is about whether it's a worthwhile PrC. Are the new special abilities worth sacrificing the caster levels and higher level bardic abilities?

If anyone's played the class in the Beta rules, or has crunched the numbers, I'd appreciate the feedback.

PS I like the bard class just fine and don't mind going all the way to the end of the progression, I just want to keep my options open.

Hi there,

PDK and Galnorag, scram! :)

I've begun doing some prep work to run D0 using the Beta rules and I was wondering what the total xp gain for this adventure should be.

I ran the numbers using the Beta XP rules and it works out to about 8800 xp or 2200 xp per character if the encounter everything (I counted the wolf sentries and the ones in the den as the same, so they're only one encounter).

Does this sound about right?

What kind of XP gain can I expect from D1? Will they power through it if they level up too soon in the adventure?

Would it be better to use the medium XP progression? Don't like to skimp on the XP if the PC's earn it, but I want to make sure they're challenged later on too.

Thanks in advance for any input.

PS Does anyone have any stats for the zombie virus? I'm working up to a zombie outbreak/modified Hungry are the Dead and I'd like to make the zombies contagious. >:D

Here's an item I'd like my character to craft using the new magic item creation rules. It's more of an item of convenience so that I don't need to lug around 10 MW toolkits and gives an occasional save against screw ups. Please comment, especially on crunch.

Artificer’s Astounding Toolkit
Aura: Faint Divination CL: 5th
Price: 1000 gp Weight: 10 lbs
This battered but sturdy tool box contains a jumbled mess of finely-crafted tools, exotic material components, and lucky charms. It counts as a masterwork artisan’s kit for any craft skill (except for alchemy) and disable device checks. The box also contains the necessary tools for the creation of magic items and is a convenient place to store valuable material components for item creation.
Once per month, the user may re-roll a failed craft check to create a magic item. She must accept the new roll, even if it is a lower result or results in a cursed item.
There are rumours of more valuable kits magical tools that grant further bonuses to craft checks, but these are few and far between.
Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, Guidance or Inspire Competence class ability, 500 gp, 1 day, Craft DC 10 (assuming all requirements are met)

Hi all,

Player posting here, so please avoid future spoilers.

We just wrapped up Shadow in the Sky and have ended up with a lot of flooding in certain underground locations that we want access to. To remedy this situation, my tinkering kobold bard had come up with the following wondrous items to help remove the water. Any feedback and help with costing/mechanics would be appreciated.
(edit) This is my first attempt at using the PF Beta magic item creation rules.

Option 1:
The Telltale Pump (wondrous item)
faint necromancy, CL 5th
Slot -, Price 900gp Weight 100 lbs
This plain, iron-bound metal chest is secured with a good lock and has two metal pipes emerging from the sides and a series of levers and control knobs on the front surface. When attached to canvas or hide hoses and activated, the chest will pump 50 gallons of water per minute for up to 1 hour per day.
If the chest is unlocked, the grizly truth about this device is revealed. Contained within is the still-beating heart of a whale or similar huge creature, magically preserved and animated.
Requirements: CL 5, Craft Wondrous Item, Animate Dead, Gentle repose

Just hook it up to some hoses and let it go! I'm not sure about the costing and duration of the pump though. Maybe it should have a limited functional lifespan before wearing out or require fuel (whale oil?).

Option 2:
Servant's Bell (Wondrous Item)
Aura: Faint Conjuration CL: 1st
Slot: - Cost:1080gp Weight: 1/4 lb
This fine, ornate bell is the type typically used by wealthy individuals to summon their servants. Three times per day, when rung gently, the tinkling bell conjures an Unseen Servant, who will serve whoever holds the bell for 1 hour, or until dismissed.
If you put the bell down, the servant will continue to perform the last
instruction given to it until the bell is picked up and a new command is given, or the duration ends, whichever occurs first. The bell counts as the caster for determining the range of the unseen servant(ie CL 1 = 25ft).
Requirements: Craft Wondrous item, Unseen Servant, 540 gp, 1 Day

Just build a normal bellows pump and set the servant to work or have it carry a bucket and dump it out. I can see this taking a while though.

Thoughts?

I'm working on the script for the next comic to chronicle Galnorag's Second Darkness campaign. The events I'm coving in this comic are the party's assault on the GG after Saul sold them out. The comic will end with them decending to the cave area beneath the arena.

Rather than have my character narrate this page, what I'd like to do is have a quote from The Asmodean Disciplines on how to deal with traitors and oathbreakers. Problem is that I suck at poetics/prose. Does anyone have any ideas?

Events of note for the session to use for inspiration:
We bribed the back door guard to let us in
kobold bard charmed two GG gaurds and got them to fight for us
Kwava (sp?) did some very nasty shooting of Saul's personal bodyguard
Big fight on the catwalk involving lots of acrobatic awesomness from several PC's and NPC rogues
Battle in the ring between party rogue and Bojask & piggy (kobold bard tricked piggy into an ambush by taunting it)
Decent into the caves, avoided the barracuda by dropping Bojask in the water
Ended session entering a cave with a long-dead fella with a sword in him.

All I need is about 100 words of narration and it doesn't have to include all of these events. The only image I have locked into my head is the last panel with the dead guy in the water.

Please note that I'm a player in the game and don't want any spoilers of future plot, although I expect a confrontation with a sniveling Saul in the immediate future.

I anyone wants to take on this challenge, I'd be grateful!

Are there plans for roughing in a handful of kobold dieties? The absence of Tiamat and Kurtlemak is making my brain hurt.

Asmodeus is an obvious non-reptilian choice, but what about others?

I didn't see a note on this in the magic item thread (must admit I didn't look too closely), but the prices on the Bag of Tricks (all of them) do not match between thier table entry and the magic item description. I hope that can still be fixed.

Also, is there any chance of seeing an alternate bag using vermin?

Hi all,

I'm working on my latest chronicle of our Second Darkness campaign and I need to be reminded of a name. If anyone has a copy of Shadow in the Sky handy can you please tell me

That would be really helpful. Thanks!
X
PS I'm a player, so no spoilers please! Y'know, except the names I need. That'd be swell. :)

The following are my ongoing comments on Galnorag’s Second Darkness play test campaign. It’s mostly observations about whatever game mechanics come into play at any given session and won’t contain a lot of fluff. That’s kept to the campaign thread and any character journal entries/comics I decide to post.  I play the bard; so much of the commentary will be on that character’s rules and stuff he does. I’ll try to avoid spoilers, but some things about the campaign will be disclosed as a matter of course.

Commentary from other players and the DM on rules and game play should go here too.

We generated our characters using the PF 25 point buy system and coordinated our efforts to get a reasonably balanced party. We actually ended up with the classic 5 character mix:

Human Fighter –sword and shield
Elf Wizard –Generalist
Human Cleric of Desna
Human Rogue –finesse melee/traps
Kobold Bard – interaction specialist/spy

About character traits: Do the rules for researching the blot change using PFRPG? Any other changes to traits we should consider?

There was only one combat in the first game and the fighter and bard were blinded for 4 of the 5 rounds of combat due to a pyrotechnics spell. It ran smoothly with the hired goons going down easily. I noticed that hand of the apprentice made the wizard extremely proficient in melee with a +4 to hit and damage with his longsword (elf weapon familiarity).

The party bard was blinded, so he wasn’t able to fight until the final round, but still attempted some actions:

First was moving while blind. You have to move at half speed when blind (no blind fight) and the terrain counted as difficult (covered in prone bystanders), so my question is does that count as triple cost (using the same doubling system for critical hits), or do you count it as quadruple cost (2 squares per rough ground, doubled again for blinded)?

Second was using a bardic performance. I can’t seem to find a reference to using countersong to disrupt the bardic performance of another bard. That would seem like a great application of the ability. Maybe opposed perform checks or something, I dunno. Since we couldn’t find a rule for that, the character just bolstered the efforts of the non-blinded party members with inspire courage.

Third was using arcane strike with his small light crossbow when the blindness wore off. That made a satisfying hole in a hired thug when combined with the inspiration!

The rest of the session was spent in role play and making various diplomacy/gather information and knowledge checks.

That’s always nice when you get into the interaction with the campaign world a bit. The bard has to remember to take 10 more often to avoid the plague of 1’s rolled! More skill points for knowledge and perform would be a good thing since those things eat up most of the basic skill points. Something like 2 skills get bonus skill points and/or you add your bard level to checks (instead of half). A free rank per level in one perform skill would also go a long way.

On the subject of skill points, I think it’d be great if there was an allowance for hobbies and professions. Each character should get one free skill point in either a profession or craft skill to represent either hobbies or non-adventurer training they had. The limited number of points in the new system (which I like, don’t get me wrong) makes this kind of character background impossible.

That’s it for now! Thanks for reading.

I just watched Idiocracy on Pay Per View. It made me fear for our future. Seriously, I'm worried. <8(

Hi Folks!

This time, I playtested an air elemental bloodline sorcerer. All feats were PFRPG and the character started at 5th and is currently 7th level. I selected one or two non PF spells, but they don't really come into play and I'm probably going to sub some out as levels go up. This post is more feedback on the use of the character rather than a narrative of specific combats.

Relevant info:
Sorcerer 7, Air Elemental Bloodline (elemental ray 1d6+3, resist electricity 10, bonus feat empower spell, bonus spells burning hands, scorching ray, protection from elements), improved initiave, 25 point build (Epic Fantasy)
Spells To Comment On: Ray of Enfeeblement, Minor Image

Race Commentary:
This is the first time I've ever played a half-elf, and I admit it was so that I could playtest it. I liked the mid-ground between elf and human for abilities. The +2 CHA and Favoured Class option was a nice addition to the race and made it attractive enough to try it out. The Skill focus was a nice plus too; about on par with a racial bonus to skills. I did find it odd that both humans and elves have a weapon familiarity/proficiency listing and the half-elf does not. Maybe they should get one choice from the elf list.

Class Commentary:
I like the concept of sorcerer bloodlines! They create an interesting bit of flavour for what would otherwise be the wizard's gimpy brother.

The elemental bloodline has a solid list of bonus spells and the movement modes and resistances are great, but I wonder about how useful the bonus feats are and the number you get. Power attack, for instance, does not make much sense for a low BAB, usually low STR class. Point Blank Shot would be much more useful, as would Deadly Aim. I also think that the spacing and number of bonus feats are given out on could increase by 1 more in 20 levels and the interval could be altered to 4th, 9th, 14th, and 19th level (or some other regular spacing -it just feels tacked on to fill dead levels right now).

Question about elemental ray: Is it 1d6 plus one (point) per 2 levels, or 1d6 +1 (die) per two levels? The former feels too weak at higher levels and the latter too strong at low levels. What about 1d6 + 1d6/3 caster levels above 1st (2d6 @ 4th, 3d6 @ 7th, 4d6 @10th, 5d6 @13th, 6d6 @ 16th and 7d6 at 19th)? It should also have close range instead of a fixed one. Not a bit deal, but it would make sense to me.

Ray of Enfeeblement: I know I've been vocal about keeping ROE as written in the Beta, but I'm beginning to rethink that now. I've only tried the spell out once, and it didn't have a huge impact on the combat (creature died before it could really do anything), but I think the implications of it's use were pretty staggaring.

My character shot an Umber Hulk with ROE before it's initiative (he was 35' away at time of casting) and it resulted in a roll of 5 on a d6 plus 3 (half caster level) for a total of an 8 point STR penalty. -4 to hit and damage is a pretty punishing blow for a I level spell.

If I had empowered it as a full-round casting (does that happen just before my next turn or mean that I can only do that plus 5' shuffle?), it could have been between 10 and 12 poins of STR penalty (depending on how you interpret the Empower Spell feat -I think it's the former). That's about right for a III level spell, but the basic I level concerns me.

What if we just change the die that we roll or spread out the additional caster level based penalty? I suggest going with either 1d4 + half CL (max 5) OR 1d6 + 1/4 CL (max 5). I like the latter since it gives the spell increases right up to 20th level instead of plateauing at 10th.

Minor Image (an all other figments by extension): How do you define interacting with something in order to disbelieve it? Must you touch an illusion or only see it? How do mindless creatures (constructs, vermin, oozes) treat figments? What about extraordinary senses like blindsense or tremorsense?

That's it for my feedback and questions. Hope the information is useful.

Has anyone converted the statblocks for Crown of the Kobold King into Pathfinder Beta? What about Hollow's Last Hope or Revenge of the Kobold King? They're all +5 to awesome and I want to torment some PF players some day... >:D

This is a question regarding the magic item creation rules and meeting the prerequisites for making them. Do spell-like abilities count if you want to make a magic item?

Eg. If a cleric with the trickery domain want to make a ring or potion of invisibility with their 4th level (sp) invisibility, can they?

What about spell completion items? Can same cleric make a scroll, wand or staff of the same spell?

(stupid forums ate original post)

So, I had the opportunity to playtest the PF monk in a friend's game tonight and I thought I'd put in my 2 cents on the various rules we used. Spoilers abound, so consider yourself warned!

The character is high fantasy point build intended to have a high AC and avoid getting hit:

We only had one complete encounter which was the showdown at the shadowgate in the Lost Refuge in Cormyr:The Tearing of the Weave. Enemies were a handful of Shadar-Kai goons, Shadar-Kai Caster, Undead half-black dragon Lizardfolk Tank.

The following PF features were tested out by one side or the other, my feedback is below each:

Ray of Enfeeblement
Was cast by enemy caster and hit the monk and party cleric. Missed 1 shot in 3 attempts. Pretty much as expected given the high touch AC of the Monk (see below). The CL was 6, so it resulted in a 6 and 9 point STR penalty respectively, which lasted for 6 rounds.

The shortened duration meant that by the end of the combat, the monk had recovered the loss of STR and was able to fight effectivly again (such as it was). Taking a -3 to hit and damage was a pain, but it wasn't an overwhealming obstacle. I think keeping it the same wording it is right now is fine. I would suggest, though, that a clarification on the fact that the penalties don't stack but overlap instead should be noted.

Ki Points
I used several Ki points to add a +4 dodge AC several times in the combat and found it to be a great compensation for the lack of armour; even if it was for a short time. Combined with Mobility and fighting defensively, this allowed me to waltz through most of the AOO's I provoked from flying over enemies. I think it's a good class feature, but it should probably scale with level since I could imagine it's utility dropping off at high levels.

Fly Skill
A fly speed of 30 provides pretty limited options for movement in the air, but it became obvious that some clarification of the movement mode is nescessary. Take off needs a blurb. Do you just take off from the ground and go? Is a running start needed? How do you count climbing movement? I know how it worked in 3.5, but clarification for PFRPG would be nice to have for handy reference. Also, can you fly and tumble at the same time?

Fighting Defensively
I did this often to raise my touch AC by 3 throughout much of the combat. It was nice to have the 4:3 bonus, but I would have much rather used Combat Expertise of a 1:1 trade instead. Sadly the limitation to my INT bonus made it impractical. The MAD from needing too many good stats already greatly reduces the effectiveness of this feat. I strongly suggest that it be reverted to the original 3.5 wording. Same goes for power attack.

Trip
There were several trip attacks made by goons with spiked chains. Only one succeeded against a character with a CMB of 5 (DC 20), but I noted that the CMB and CMB roll should be have modifiers to reflect defensive actions taken. Modifiers applied to attack rolls (combat expertise or power attack for example) should be taken into account for the attacker, and anything affecting the touch AC of the defender (like dodge and deflections bonuses) should be considered. Otherwise, a sickened, shaken, slowed foe can more easily attack with a CMB option against an opponent who's in cover and on full defense. Doesn't make sense to me, and I've mentioned this before.

Monk Class in General
I found that the monk is great for picking on goons and casters, but I had considerable difficulty landing a shot on the enemy tank. The ROE made the problem more pronounced, but it highlighted the issue rather than creating it. This stems from a low BAB and MAD. I suggest that the Maneuver Training class feature also apply to the monk's attacks with unarmed strikes and monk weapons. This way, they can kick butt, but only with attacks that are thematic to the class.

Hit points from Favoured Class option was nice too.

That's it for my (considerably long) feedback. Thanks for reading, and thanks to PDK for the game!

I think that Brigandine should be added to the armour list as Medium or High-end Light armour. It's a common RW armour type and is different than scale in weight/coverage and less cumbersome too, but less costly than a breastplate.

Maybe something in between Breastplate and Scale? Either that, or make it light armour, but a little more cumbersome than a chain shirt and slightly less expensive with the same armour value?

Hi All,

I know this has been beaten about forever now, but I'd like to throw my hat in the ring. I've tried to distill the discussion on the PF kobold and come up with what I think is a reasonable design.

Couple of design notes:
1) I kept the -4 Str -they're only 2.5' tall and 45 lbs max. That's smaller than most 2 year old humans if you count the tail for some of their weight!
2) I know the basic weapon familiarity is lame, but I didn't see any martial weapons that fit thier style too well (except maybe the ranseur). The weaponized version of the pick is too dissimilar to a miner's pick to count as a weapon familiarity IMO. I gave them bola and net as EWP's to reflect their cowardly nature (better to trip or entangle a foe before attacking it).
3) There had to be a good trade off for being a common kobold and I thought free skill focus was good enough. Stealthy or Alertness might also fly.

Anyhoo, opinions would be great. I know this is not likely to ever become official, but someone may get use of it in thier home games.

I find it a bit odd that the rules around ability drain has not been revisited and it's still permanent in spite of the changes to energy drain/negative levels.

With negative levels, you can regain them with a successful Fort save, and permanent ones (like from being brought back from the dead) can be fixed with Restoration. Ability drain still can only be fixed with Restoration, period. This feels like these two drains have been treated unevenly.

I suggest that Abilty Drain be recoverable with a Fort save to recover 1/day. That way it recovers at a rate similar to Ability Damage, but still reflects the severity of the condition.

I'll tell you what! PANTS! There is no magic item slot for pants.

Sure, you can have a belt of giant strength to hold'em up, you can and you can have boots of elvenkind to tuck the cuffs into (if that's the way you roll - I'm not judging here), but your actual pants (stylish or no) cannot bear any sort of magical enhancement.

Why is that? Is there some sort of interference generated by zippers and button flys that prevents the safe enchantment of clothing for your lower body? Is it a conspiracy created by kilt-wearing aberrations from beyond the stars? What?

Seriously, I think that we should consider adding this as an item slot. Stop leg discrimination now!

Hi All,

I've started this new thread because I want to discuss options for spellcasting for paladins. LastKnightLeft, this is the thread I was talking about. :)

As I see it, there's a few different paths to take here:

1) Leave it as it is. Spellcasting is a minor ability of the class and it's fine as written.

2) Change it to make it more flexible. Should the paladin be able to cast spells from his entire class list, or is this too much power? Personally, I think making them like a spontaneous caster with a clutch of known spells to choose from is a better option.

3) Dump it altogether. The paladin is getting enough new abilities and SLA's that the handful of spells they get are not needed anymore.

Discuss?

Hi Everyone,

My archivist character is rapidly approaching level 9, and I'm seriously considering taking leadership for my next feat. The character is an archivist of the forge god, and I was thinking about having some sort of construct or construct-themed cohort, but I have no idea what's out there. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd also like to keep the LA below +4 to make it fairly robust.

As I noted in my platest report, I think it's unfortunate that Track, which was a bonus feat for the ranger, has been changed into a simple Survival check. This IMO takes away one of the class's defining freatures and turns it into an everyman skill. Sure, the half level bonus is nice, but it doesn't equate with the secondary class abilities of other core classes (eg. bardic knowledge, fast movement, trapfinding, channel positive energy).

To remedy this, I suggest that we change the track class ability to reflect the ranger's special expertise in woodcraft.

Master Tracker (ex): Rangers are such experts at tracking foes that they can glean information about them just by looking at the trail they leave. Upon making a successful track check to find and follow a trail, a ranger can determine the number and size of creatures she is following. If she exceeds this roll by 5 or more, the ranger learns what type of creatures (eg. small humanoid) left the tracks. If the ranger beats the DC by 10 or more, she also learns what subtype the creatures are (eg. reptilian). Finally, if the ranger beat the track DC by 15 or more, she is able to determine exactly what kinds of creatures she is following (eg. kobolds).

Although this check does not yield much information about the specific abilities of the quarry, it does not require the ranger to have skill ranks in the relevant knowledge skill to identify the tracks. If the ranger successfully identifies the creature being followed, supplimentary knowledge checks can be made to gain further information as normal. If the ranger has ranks in the relevant knowledge skill, add those ranks to the result of the track check.

My friends have started a new campaign using the Pathfinder setting, starting out at level 1. The DM has set the game in the area of the River Kingdoms, but we started with a mini "pre-game" adventure just to get our feet wet with our new characters.

I chose a half-orc ranger and rolled well (19,16,15,12,17,11 after racial mods). Here's my thoughts so far. I'll try to keep it class-specific, but the odd note on other rules is bound to sneak in.

Character generation:
LIKED -The stat bump to str and wis made the half-orc an ideal ranger, and the int penalty didn't hinder the number of skill choices since I rolled really well. Even if I dump-statted Int, the 6 skill ranks would have cushioned that blow. The racial weapon familiarity (orc double axe) was nice too and saved me a feat. I chose improved initiative as my starting feat.

DIDN'T LIKE -Allocating skill ranks was fast, but I did miss the old system where I could have a smattering (1 or 2 skill ranks) in a larger field of skills.

LIKED -The boost in HP was welcome. The party has a lot more HP than the usual 3.5 group, thanks to the upgrade to Toughess and favoured class rule. The dwarf cleric had the highest count at 17, but 12 HP for a level 1 ranger was still respectable.

Class Abilities:
LIKED -Increase to HD, rest of the level one abilities appear the same.

DIDN'T LIKE -Changes to Track. This bonus feat used to be a defining role for the class, but now everyone can do it with a survival check. The bonus is okay, but does nothing at level 1.

Play Begins
We ran a short mini adventure to get used to the new characters and gains some XP for the first session. We rescued some kids from an ankheg. It basically involved a few skill checks and a short combat, plus dealing with the aftermath of the encounter.

Skill checks:
LIKED -The party had to make a survival check to find and follow the tracks of the missing children (easy DC 15). The ranger did his job there very well.

DIDN'T LIKE -Once we found the ankheg tracks (burrowing marks, footprints, acid slopped on ground), he was unable to identify what kind of creature it was (knowledge arcana is not a class skill and the few skill ranks prevented taking a smattering in knowledge skills). Thankfully the wizard made his roll to ID the beastie.

PROPOSED RULE CHANGE: If Track is becoming a skill check rather than a feat, why not give the ranger a class ability to identify creatures by their tracks? Perhaps not going as far as the exact creature (eg. kobold), but what about size, type and subtype (small humanoid, reptillian)?

Combat:
We fought an ankheg; a hard encounter for 4 level 1 characters. The cleric almost died (thankfully had 17 hp or he would have died from the first bite). The illusionist stunned/blinded the beast with a colour spray in round 2, so it became pretty one sided after that. That saved our butts, so a shout out to Archade for good spell choice!

The fight was fast and the beast died when I rolled a natural 20 and confirmed the critical with my axe (did 35 points of damage when it had 2 left). We saved the day, and the kids!

The aftermath involved the cleric using a heal check to heal an injured child (bleeding out from an ankheg bite) and channeling positive energy to heal the party. This is a good bump to the cleric's skill set! The ranger cleaned goo off his axe.

There you go! Hope my feedback helps.

PS this is my 3rd attempt to post. Server keeps eating it. If duplicates appear, please delete them. (Thank goodness for copy/paste)