ZenithTN's page

My understanding of Pathfinder is that most characters do not have a set sexuality. When it's brought up, it's usually a plot point of some kind (like if they're married). Otherwise, it's deliberately left vague so that it can be whatever a given group wants it to be.

As. It. Should. Be.

Gregory Rebelo wrote:

All Thunderlips aside, I think its important to explore other personas in this hobby. Obviously not ones that are disruptive or hurtful to others. Lacking the first-hand knowledge as to how those characters behave should invite introspection into ... well... how those characters behave.

Steven, do you remember having to tone down Thunderlips? If so could you describe the mental/social process?

There was a table at one PaizoCon past where a woman had an adverse reaction (Wow... WOW... WOW) to my standard character intro speech for THUNDERLIPS!. She did not say "This makes me uncomfortable" or "Can you please not refer to it as a 'chest pelt'?" but it was very clear she had an issue with the way I described him. Within thirty seconds I knew one player at the table had an issue. So I just played a regular barbarian for that scenario and that was that. The chicken was a chicken and nothing more.

If a GM or another player asks me to keep the chicken jokes to a minimum or none at all before the game starts I will happily comply.

** spoiler omitted **

Tha.... that's fowl! There, I said it.

As we wrap up our production on Pathfinder Society (1st edition) scenarios, we would like to reiterate that this is not the end of the road for the campaign.

It is for many.

While this is an interesting exercise, since Renown is portable, taking a week to re-calibrate, why don't Vigilante players just assume Renown has been relocated to the next adventure?

It's no different than the off-camera Day Jobs, Handle Animal training, Retraining, and Alchemical crafting that takes place.

Inspiring [Quests & Campaigns] Std action, grant +1 morale to an ally within 30’ who can see & hear me. Ally can use it on any d20 before your next turn. Cannot use on self. Can only benefit once/24 hours. Useful for that out-of-combat roll: disabling device, dispel magic, remove disease, etc.

Kin Guardian [Ult Campaign] Your Aid Another to assist AC yields an additional +2 for members of your family. Great for Bodyguard characters who are into adoption.

Vandal [Heroes of the Wild] +2 Strength checks to break objects; and ignore 2 hardness when damaging an object with a weapon, natural weapon or unarmed attack. For your non-roguey breaking & entering characters.

Tireless [Exchange, PFS Guide] +1 HP. And other stuff of minimal concern. Take this at first level for survivability. Retrain at second level.

Inspired [Ult Campaign] 1/day roll twice & take the better for any skill or ability check. Initiative! Day job!

Priest-Blessed [Faiths and Philosophies] 3/day when targeted by a harmless divine spell, +1 CL as it relates to me. For that self-buffing divine caster.

Strength of Submission [Divine Anthology] Razmiran. +1 trait HnD when affected by a [compulsion]. Examples: Aid, Abadar’s Truthtelling, Bane, Bless, Confusion, Good hope, Heroism, Greater heroism, Prayer, etc.

Desperate Focus [] or Focused Mind [APG] +2 Concentration checks (not just casting defensively).

Havoc of the Society [Faction Guide] Whenever you cast a spell that deals damage, +1 force damage. Useful for when you have a rider effect that takes effect upon damage, but the target just may be immune to the primary damage. E.g. Dazing fireball.

Less Effort [Agents of Evil] Select one abjuration or transmutation spell on your spell list. +2 CL when you cast it, or it is cast on you. I'm fond of pairing with Shield of faith or Prot/evil.

Magical Knack [APG] +2 CL in one class, max your current HD. (Great for multi-classing, Paladin, Ranger, Bloodrager)

Transmuter of Korada [Champions of Purity] +1 CL Transmutations. 1/day Extend a stat buff spell (e.g. bull’s strength).

Unscathed [Ult Campaign] Each type of Energy resistance you have (if any) increases by 2 points. Suli, Tiefling, Aasimar! Oracle of the apocalypse!

(Azlanti) Enduring Spellcraft [Inner Sea Races] +1 CL for duration only.

(Dwarf) Tunnel Fighter [Ult Campaign] While underground, +2 Initiative & +1 weapon damage for crits (multiplied). For your characters built for extended dungeon crawls - Emerald Spire.

(Half elf) Bifurcated Magic [Inner Sea Races] +1 CL to two classes, max = HD. Doesn’t stack with other trait bonuses, e.g. Magical knack. For the theurge types.

(Half orc) Cruel Rager [Agents of Evil] 1/rage, regain 1 round of rage if you confirm a crit while raging.

(Half orc, raised by Orcs) Finish the Fight [Bastards of Golarion] +1 attack rolls vs opponents you injured in the past 24 hrs.

(Half orc) Lasting Ferociousness [Agents of Evil] You may use orc ferocity for 2 rounds, instead of 1.

(Human, Azlanti) Enduring Spellcraft [Inner Sea Races] +1 CL for duration only

(Tiefling) Blessing of Darkness [Blood of Fiends] Whenever someone capable of channeling negative casts a beneficial spell on you, they act as if they were one level higher for that spell’s effect.

(Tiefling) Chain Master [Blood of Fiends] +2 CMB trip with spiked chain
or whip.

Bellis Honey Master [Andoran, Andoran Spirit of Liberty] DR 3/- swarms, +1 saves vs their poison & distraction.

Blighted Physiology [Numeria, People of the River] +1 natural AC; sickened 1 rd anytime I receive magical healing

Cloistered Upbringing [Any city, Heroes of the Streets] +1 saves vs Su channeled energy or abilities powered by ki, and regain 1 additional hp when healed by Su effects.

Destined for Greatness [Large city, Dungeoneer Hdbk] You start with a kit ≤300 gp. Replenished whenever you enter a settlement, pop 2500+.
Zombie slayers kit is a good one.

Enemy of the Undead [Geb, Inner Sea Primer] +2 saves vs spells & SLAs from undead.

Erutaki Sky Reader [Crown of the World, Adv Class Origins] 1/day, +2 luck on a save, *after the roll*.

Free Agent [River Kingdom, Pirates of the IS] +2 saves vs charm & compulsion.

Giant-Harried [Regional, Giant Hunter’s Hdbk] +1 CMB & CMD vs larger.

Huldra’s Luck [Irrisen, People of the North] 1/day, +1 luck on a save, attack roll or skill check. (After the roll.)

Mivoni Duelist [Mivon, People of the River] +1 damage when I am the only one threatening. (Doesn’t specify weapon damage.)

Nidalese Shadowcaster [Nidal, Inner Sea Primer] +1 CL one [shadow] spell. Not a trait bonus.

Precocious Spellcaster [Taldor, Taldor] +1 CL with one cantrip & one 1st level spell. Not a trait bonus.

Prismati Player [Andoran, Andoran] +1 to hit with fist sized rocks & similar. +1 concentration.

Prophet of Burrows [Blood of the Beast] Ratfolk, +5% money earned from a skill check.

Secret of the Impossible Kingdom [Jalmeray, Inner Sea Primer] +1 CL with one spell. Not a trait bonus.

Slave Taker [Okeno, Pirates of the IS] +1 damage when inflicting non-lethal. Not a trait bonus.

Tianjing Temple Guard [Tianjing region, Dragon Emp Primer] +1 on AoO with polearm weapons. Polearms: bardiche, bec de corbin, bill, crook, glaive, glaive-guisarme, guisarme, halberd, hooked lance, lucerne hammer, mancatcher, monk's spade, naginata, nodachi, ranseur, rhomphaia, tepoztopilli, and tiger fork.

Whip Specialist [Okeno, Pirates of the IS] +1 damage with whips. Not a trait bonus.

Affinity for the Elements [any Elemental Lord, Inner Sea Gods] +1 DC to your spells from one element.

Bestial Wrath [Rovagug] +2 confirm crits.

Chosen of Iomedae [Iomedae, Champions of Purity] Light 1/day, CL 1. Mw Longsword. 2x duration & radius whenever light is cast upon the sword.

Mother’s Teeth [Lamashtu] 1d2 secondary bite

Opportune Slayer [Lamashtu] +2 damage with AoO.

Propitiation [any Dwarf diety] Pick one at the beginning of each day: Appraise, one Craft, Diplomacy, Intimidate or Knowledge local. You gain +2 to that skill all day.

Scarred by War [Dalenydra] +1 trait Diplomacy outside of combat. +1 hp when you heal others with class abilities, feats, spells, spell-completion and spell-trigger magic items.

Wisdom in the Flesh [Irori, APG] Pick one Str, Con or Dex based skill. Change to Wis modified & becomes class skill. (Only way to get Fly as a class skill. Choosing a Dex based skill might allow it to be used in a rage.)

Blackthorn Rancher [Lambreth, People of the River] Specialize in Handle Animal & +3 hp Animal companion or bonded mount.

Blessed Touch [Faith, Champions of Purity] You heal +1 hp when you Lay on Hands, Channel energy or cast a cure spell. (Great w/ Alt Chan.)

Flames of Hell [Religion, Inner Sea Gods] +1 DC channel energy. Not a trait bonus.

Sacred Conduit [Faith, APG] +1 DC channel energy.

Deathtouched [Racial, any race, Ult Campaign] +2 vs mind-affecting.

Sound of Mind [Zi Ha region, Dragon Emp Primer] +2 vs mind-affecting.

Envoy of Healing [Sarenrae] Reroll natural 1s when you channel energy, fervor or lay on hands to heal the living. 0 PFS

Nice read, nice presentation. Thank you.

I haven't seen a subsystem in PFS yet that I felt added to my enjoyment of the scenario. They definitely add to the labor on the GM side. I really wish you guys would just stop with them.

... why would you bother using the fire lance?!?

To weaponize misfires:

A javelin has the potential to damage one opponent.

A misfired fire lance has the potential to damage everyone in a 5' radius.

By maximizing the alpha strike, simultaneously raising misfire probability, minimizing impact upon yourself and surviving, repeatedly, you'll have made a memorable character. And isn't that why we play?

"One of the topics of discussion during the planning meetings was the use of Year and Season. We tend to call them "Year of the X" but refer to them numerically as "Season X". For example, last year was both "Year of Faction's Favor" and "Season 9". This has the potential for confusion and so we are moving to use Year exclusively."

I'd have voted for the opposite. My players want to know which season we're playing tonight, and "Season Six" answers that question. "Year of the whatever" does not answer the question they're asking.

It's the year I stopped putting ranks in knowledge skills, even on knowledge-heavy classes. The game goes by so much quicker and smoother when you can file the first 33-50% of the game session off and get to the good stuff. It's like skipping the warmup comedian, and getting to the headliner. It's like eliminating wild card playoff games, and only letting those teams that WIN their division play. It's like PFS without commercials. It's like a family picnic without relatives or ants. It's been cathartic. I recommend it - if only for the look on everyones face when your wizard doesnt even roll a die when the knowledge planes check comes up.

I'm 3-for-3 at this strategy not affecting outcomes even one little iota this season. Im loving season nine now that i have adapted my character build style. Its glorious!

What difference does it make if PFS allows unlimited replay? My lodge is looking forward to unlimited replay. Convention play will go extinct. There's no longer need to report games - there never was much of one. If the local player base wants to replay 100 scenarios, so what?

Oh. I get it. Revenue. A player base content to NOT buy the next, big, shiny thing is bad for business. Nevermind. I withdraw the question, Your Honor.

Modify No-Replay. I believe an expiration date is the way to go. Allow replay every 2? years. Most of us already keep up with scenarios played/GMd with a checkbox system of some sort. It would be negligible additional effort to keep tally with a date instead. I will concede this has been discussed at length in other threads and this thread should not be derailed with a lengthy discussion on any one topic.

Change restriction to applying credit from a higher level scenario from level 1 pcs to level 1-2 pcs. Agreed. Credit to Dan Armstrong.

Update Season Zero scenarios. Update First Steps II, First Steps III and other retired scenarios. Credit Hillis Mallory II for the basic idea.

I'm intrigued by the option to report non-permanent PC death as well. Credit GM Lamplighter. But only if we get to see the results! [See next]

Publish the results of polls. Publish the results of scenarios. I'd like to know how many people have played The Golemworks Incident, for example, how many have died and how many achieved primary & secondary success conditions, if applicable.

Scenario maps always on the 90 degrees. Arbitrarily hard to free-hand rooms should be the exception. Credit BNW & Dan Armstrong. And well-answered by Thursty, but I stand by my request. Minimizing the occurence of oddball rooms minimizes prep time. A good thing.

Devote significant staff time (two weeks annually?) to resolving FAQs. Video Conference Calls are a thing. You needn't be all in the same room, same time zone or same hemisphere. Vacations happen. 75% of staff present is a respectable quorum. It can be done.

When writing scenarios, limit access to the thesaurus - DM prep should not include oral yoga to get through the introduction. Proper names need not be multisyllabic monstrosities. Michael, Jorge, Paolo, Sven, Mufasa, Barry, Jessica, Margo, Monique, Clara, Dee, Shar and Zella are all fine, multi-cultural names. Then lower the length requirement for scenarios. These go hand in hand. Lower the word count/length requirement so word bloat, bizarre naming trends and vocabulary vomit is not required. And more trees may survive.

Enough with the overuse of the skill check - Despite the publishing of the Investigator class, I'm generally not here to play Sherlock Holmes. Maybe two meaningful skill checks for background information during mission briefing, but make them useful - "Yes, with that knowledge planes 35, you can be certain there's an Erinyes active in the area. Not the sterilized "I got a 35. Oh, well, a black feather has been found with a strange odor." Maybe two skill checks for gathering information. Done. This goes for Chase Scenes, reverse-Chases and other arbitrarily contrived skill challenges - so many of these could be resolved with an arrow to the knee. If I wanted to negotiate trade treaties I'd play Lawyers and Lobbyists. If I wanted to waste d4 hours getting directions to 'a pizza place in NYC with a pool hall, frequented by Ted the Informant on Tuesdays after 5:00, unless its his mothers birthday - get there early, parking is a nightmare', I'd stick to RL challenges. PFS, the corporation, will be a ton more efficient once it starts using its resources better. Get those answers with divs prior to scenario & give them to the Agents. Seriously! A divination is, what, 280 gp for an NPC spellcaster? Perhaps less if you keep them on retainer? What does replacing an agent cost? What does replacing a shanked VC cost [the fictional ones, not the RL VCs!]? Move on to smashing faces. 16+ scenarios a season worth of smashing face! Yes!

More overt labeling of scenarios: "Good aligned characters may have a hard time with this." "While other strategies are accounted for, this scenario was written with stealth in mind." "Harold don't bother with this one. Too much RP; hardly any combat. We apologize." Stuff like that would be lovely.

And now that we've shaved GM prep time, avoided unnecessary skill checks, and guided people to picking out characters appropriate for the mission, we can devote more time to battle. Since we have more time for battles, give NPCs max hp at first level, and FCB.

Less haunts. Zero would be ideal. I've never enjoyed an encounter with them, either as player or GM. The only joy they provide is taking a permanent black marker and redacting them from every random encounter table in the evergreens. A haunt could be better represented by build-a-ghost.

Less prep time investment for Specials. Players should not be punished for finishing a wave of monsters by another wave of monsters, without a commiserate increase in reward.

While I enjoy the idea of the faction cards, I really don't enjoy factions at all. Ceasing faction missions was a decision I applauded. I have enough factions to deal with RL. One PFS is plenty for me.

Zero!!! delay between product release and Additional Resources update. Your retailers deserve this. Your players deserve this. Credit Shaventalz, but I've been praying for this for well over a year. While we're on the subject... HEY PAIZO, CONVENTION SEASON IS COMING UP! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR HOW HARD IS ON YOU GUYS. IT DOES NOT SNEAK UP ON YOU. THIS IS A SELF-INFLICTED SITUATION - PREPARE BETTER! YOU HAVE PLENTY OF NOTICE! QYB.

And I'd like to end with a positive ... My players and I are really enjoying the 3-7 Evergreens. They have just enough story. They are challenging. They are appropriately rewarding. Please continue. Thank you.

In a recent PFS game, we had what may be the fastest Paladin fall from grace.

Situation: Evergreen scenario, all first level characters.

In the first battle, our PCs were separated from the hostiles by running water and someone on our side had tripped a trap that shot a poisoned dart at us, but missed. The dart was not destroyed.

Paladin, with no readily apparent way across the water, and without the forethought to pocket a sling or buy some javelins, asks for suggestions.
Cleric of Trickery suggests the Pally pick up that dart and throw it back. Paladin does so and falls from grace, having used poison. On his very first attack roll ever.

Cleric player overjoyed. Pally player briefly bummed until reminded of PFS rebuild rules. Good time ultimately had by all.

RIP Philly's Season

Doubt it. Your #2 is pretty good.

ekibus wrote:

Wow that is nice... probably won't be allowed in pfs :p

No, no, I'm sure they'll allow it. The hexes will just be usable once per day, with an effective witch level of zero.

But we won't know until July, 2018.... because, y'know Gencon is right around the corner.

... because, sadly in many cases, closure is anathema to writing.

Hexblades.

I miss them too, but you can work with a Hex Magus chassis and get the flavor I want.

Harold Ervin wrote:

Steven Schopmeyer wrote:

Might you be able to take a Venture Lieutenant position? You'd be able to join the content review task force and help make sure the reviews are of the best quality and finished in a timely manner.

Thank you for the offer, but no thank you.

I'm just going to point out that you wrote a very long post criticising the quality and timeliness of work by the staff and volunteers, but when asked to step up and help them out, you said "no."

Questioning is not the same as criticizing.

As for my reasons, as HMM pointed out (thank you), I already serve Paizo in a volunteer capacity. I'm a venture agent with responsibility for two stores, shared with another person. Our region consistently overfills a table on a weeknight, make a table on Saturday nights, add on games on holidays (e.g. 4th of July was a full length module), and special events (e.g. Free RPG Day). I'm active with the local convention. I post & report a majority of our games. I share my resources (maps, minis, battlemats, scenario prep, etc.). We're grooming new GMs. Without a VC. I've served Paizo long enough to log nearly 200 tables GM credit. I have a very large library of hard product (By choice, I'm not much of a .pdf guy). I think I'm doing my part. So when I declined the offer extended by VL Steven, on PFS' terms, you'll just have to forgive me. My plate isn't full, but it's full enough that the remainder of my free time is not free of charge. If you think that decision undermines my passion for, or investment in the subject, you are mistaken.

71. Ask them to spell 'offering'.

As an aside, methinks the Tome of First Contact would also count as Recovering a Named Text, for purposes of a faction card.

Harold Ervin wrote:

With a new product line (Starfinder) and only one new hire (Thursty), thus inevitably PFS must be even more talent-diluted....

Addressing this now, before anyone makes any further assumptions on the matter...

Yes, I was hired to help handle development on Starfinder Society. I'm currently doing that right now. [snip] That being said, I've been more and more involved on the Pathfinder Society side of things to help further my skills for Starfinder Society, and to help the OP Team (John, Linda, Tonya, and Mark S.) out. Even before the official announcement of my position, I'd been involved in developing Pathfinder Society scenarios, along with some other external freelancers. So please don't misinterpret my presence as just being something to drain Pathfinder Society resources.

I appreciate your taking the time to respond, Thursty.

Thursty, it perceive my comment was taken as a personal affront. That was not my intent. I apologize for not being more clear. Please accept my public apology and allow me to clarify my statement.

I don't see you [Thursty] as taking away from PFS. I see Starfinder as taking away from PFS [AMEN to that!], and your presence as an attempt to mitigate that.

This is a correct interpretation of my intent. Thank you.

Paizo & VO resources already seemed strained before your hire and adding one person for a whole new product line (no matter how talented) seems underwhelming.

This is a correct interpretation of my intent. Thank you.

I believe his point was that the team now has double (or more) the workload as it did before, but only 1 extra person to help. Meaning there'll be less time to work on something since you need to make 2 things in the time it took 1. Thus you can't make it as good, or "dilute the talent" available to the book.

Also a reasonable interpretation of my intent. Thank you.

My intent, as these three people correctly inferred, was to point out that there's a new product line (Starfinder Society) with all that entails, and yet only one new hire to assist an already overwhelmed staff.

I meant you no personal ill-will. Again, I apologize.

I'll try to keep this brief, as many before me have stated the case far more eloquently than I ever could have.

Nerfing Lore Warden was not needed. I purchased the appropriate source. It was vetted at that time (or more likely two months later). I should be able to continue to use it to build new characters. The fact that someone wasted word-count in a new product in an unneeded nerf is galling. Who is the author for that fleabag anyway?

Nerfing the Lore Warden behind a $40 price tag smells doubly so like brown matter. John Compton's ruling seems to kindly mitigate that somewhat, the fact that it is a reactionary ruling tells me it was an unforeseen consequence. Good Game designers should foresee consequences better.

Nerfing the ioun stone was not needed.
What's next? Nerf Deflect Arrow, because it forces Manticores to enter melee?

Nerfing Tribal Scars invalidated the entire People of the North purchase as far as I'm concerned, and you've cost yourself sales... again. Though perhaps you don't care at this point, because that's a product that wasn't moving anyway.

When every PFS-effective option is dead in the water, there will be no PFS and this saddens me.

With Additional Resource sanctioning taking an unconscionably long time, thereby causing me to hesitate with my purchase, thereby costing retailers a timely sale, thereby causing retailers to rethink carrying Paizo product at all, thereby costing Paizo shelf space, thereby freeing up shelf space for 5E....

With retro-nerfs and invalidation of PFS-effective character builds becoming more commonplace...

With the nuclear option being the first-line option (e.g. jingasa)...

With continued purchase-invalidation, double-switching, and poorly edited product...

With player benefits disappearing (Where'd that Retail Incentive Program go?)...

With the Additional Resources, no, wait, it's in the Campaign Clarifications, no, wait, it's in a blog, no, wait... dance continuing...

With a new product line (Starfinder) and only one new hire (Thursty), thus inevitably PFS must be even more talent-diluted....

I too am reconsidering my discretionary spending.
C'mon Paizo. You can do much, much better than this.

Please continue the dialog.

I don't understand the significance of this. Please enlighten me.
What does being an official Paizo podcast entail? What does this mean for Glass Cannon and how is this good for me? Do they get paid? Do they get better production equipment? Must they censor themselves if they might otherwise naysay a Paizo product? Will they be getting free product to test drive? What if they try out a Paizo product and really don't like it? How heavy of a hand will Paizo try to exercise on the podcast?

Thank you for the survey & boon. I'll direct my player base to it immediately after creating this post.

The boon is worthwhile. Thank you. I've grown rather jaded at the '+1 to a die roll during surprise rounds when applied on Thursdays in the country of Armpit if you are a member of the Book of the Month faction. Then check the box because this is way too powerful to allow to become permanent.' I'm looking at you, Sun Orchid Scheme. This one was a lovely surprise.

I arbitrarily decided to select character #s divisible by six, thus #6, #12, #18, #24, #30 & #36 without checking to see which characters they were. That seemed as reasonable as any method, for those who have 36 or more characters.

Will Paizo be publishing the results of this survey?

Will there be more surveys forthcoming? Of note, a survey of character races, deities, domains, languages, ranks-in-skills could be quite useful. I'm sure there's other statistics that would be equally beneficial.

Again, thank you for taking the time to survey.

Nova strike on a cleric with the Destruction domain, brace weapon, weapon of spell storing, consecrated weapon, channel smite, poison on it.

I wish:
We are stopping all production and publishing until 75% of existing FAQ & known problems are resolved. Where nerfing is required, it is applied much more judiciously, meaning the nuclear option is not used (e.g. jingasa)

There will be no Starfinder Society or equivalent. There will be no Starfinder tie-in to PFS.

Additional Resources will be updated PRIOR to product release so that buyers know what value the product has, and vendors can actually sell product in a timely manner.

Second Darkness et al sanctioning.

More evergreens beyond first level.

Scenarios may be replayed and re-GMd after X (two?) calendar years.

No more haunts, chases, sub-systems, APL+3 or greater encounters and other contrivances.

All PFS scenarios will have combat. ESPECIALLY part III of a series and beyond.

Mission-givers will thoroughly vet their missions prior to recruiting PCs. This includes casting of routine scrying & other divinations. This includes recruiting appropriate PCs for said missions.

Simpler maps to draw on battlemat. North shall always be the top of the map. Five foot squares is standard.

Tighter diety restrictions. Perhaps Iomedae, for example, has decided the PFS does not align with her goals and prohibits her followers from participating. Perhaps an entire pantheon or alignment spectrum has withdrawn from PFS. And the inverse may become true. Cayden, for example, may grant a boon for those who assist PFS.

DM PCs get Day Job rolls.

Specials are reformatted so as to require no more than 2 hrs prep.

More quality control in the GM star system. As is, it is mostly a representation of longevity, not skill.

Editors who play the game, find the errors, and fix the errors, prior to release.

Hard product support return to conventions, albeit a reduced amount.

Less exclamation point usage with new release announcements, blogs, etc. Seriously. Not every publication is exciting. Some is decidedly ho hum.

I expect:
Starfinder Society. With copious PFS crossover. With no/minimal addition of staff.

Which necessitates 3D mapping. Get off the floor, Z, your histrionics are not welcome here. Besides, we have these tools to sell you.

Bone keep I-III special release in this spiffy new binding.

I know we haven't exhausted our use of Bestiary I-III, but here is Bestiary VIII!

TS;DR (Too snarky; didn't read) Not a better product, just a more profitable one.

We have music (perform skill), magic (prestidigitation), stupid pet tricks (handle animal), fireworks and cards. But we don't seem to have sports. I have surmised Paizo does not appear to be staffed with sports fans.

Pity. I would like to see more sports represented - and I am not talking about all-inclusive, everyone-gets-a-trophy putt putt, disc golf, badminton, etc.

Sports is an untapped mine of adventure and game design ideas. Many concepts already have game mechanics in place - Lord knows we don't need more page-bloating sub-systems.

Imagine a competing distance javelin chucker needing rescue. "Thanks guys! I got five of them before they got too close. The last three surrounded me. Would you like me to autograph your javelins?" Autographed javelins sell for up to 5 gp once authenticity can be verified. Which could beget an adventure to disrupt the fake autograph industry, cuz Linguistics/forgery is a thing.

Imagine a halfling lacrosse team (halfling staff sling), and their adopted, helpful, non-halfling goalie with deflect arrow providing covering fire as you invade a keep.

Imagine a chariot racing circuit with Pimp My Chariot adventures.

Imagine the diplomacy DC to talk the small air elemental into the inflatable bladder for maximum bounce (volleyball, basketball, etc.) or flotation (water polo?).

Imagine the pampering a champion animal would get. A player could buy the grandson of a great racing camel in the hopes of it inheriting the Fleet feat as a bonus. Or, what happens when two druids breed their 70 hp bobcats?

Imagine breaking up an illegal stirge-fighting ring. Or lobbying for its legalization.

Even jousting has historical precedent, but isn't represented well by Paizo, outside of combat.

Harry Potter has Quiddich and their Wizarding tournaments.

Star Wars has pod racing.

ST:TNG has dom-jot.

Pathfinder has ..... a deficit?

Item Mastery Feats, introduced in Weapon Master’s Handbook and expanded upon in Magic Tactics Toolbox, are a strong bit of game design with some intricacies. The following is my research for magic items you can use to fuel these feats. I looked for items that are either very low cost, purely to fuel the feats, or are of moderate cost (Edit: <10k) and moderate usefulness of their own accord. As I am primarily a PFS player, forgive me if I’ve omitted items that are not PFS legal.

There are two ways to look at this data. First, you own one of these items and might consider the corresponding feat. Or, you are looking to take the feat, and are looking for an inexpensive item to power it.

Elixirs, potions, scrolls, staves, wands and limited use items were not considered, as they are not able to fuel these feats. If the spell in question is on multiple lists at varying levels, I’ve made the PFS-based assumption the item was created by a wizard, cleric, or druid.

I’d also like to echo that the Item Mastery character option on p10 of the Magic Tactics Toolbox is not, and should not be, PFS legal. These feats are good options to add flexibility to your (probably) martial-minded character, but not game-breakingly so, unless someone runs it through the nuclear reactor that is Item Mastery + Martial Flexibility.

Now, on to the good stuff...

Ability Mastery – Requires a magic armor or wondrous item with a second level or higher transmutation spell. Must be worn!
Flight Mastery – Requires a transmutation spell of second level or higher. Bonus if it’s your armor, though I didn’t find any economical options for armor.
Telekinetic Mastery – Requires a transmutation spell of fourth level or higher. (Only the funnel & any-tool qualify)
These three feats have the most plentiful means of powering them.

Hybridization Funnel, 200 gp, That’s a sweet, sweet bargain! At this price, who cares if you can craft alchemy or not?

Traveler’s Any Tool, 250 gp, and is more useful than the funnel to most characters.

Armbands of the Brawler, 500 gp. Excellent value for a grappler interested in these feats.

Belt of Tumbling, 800 gp.

Muleback Cords, 1000 gp. For when you absolutely, positively, have to bench-press a Buick! While flying.

Adaptive bows, +1000 gp

Daredevil Boots, 1400 gp or Slippers of Spider Climbing, 4800 gp

Aegis of Recovery, 1500 gp. Can heal you once, so arguably cannot be used to power this feat. Otherwise, this item has two spells required to make it, thereby qualifying for two of these feats. As an aside, once destroyed by using the healing power, can be restored with a make whole at a mere CL 6.

Scabbard of Vigor, 1800 gp

Amulet of Natural armor, 2000 gp+

Bashing shield quality +1 (equates to at least +3000 gp)

Belt of Strength, Dexterity or Constitution, 4000 gp+

Headband of Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma, 4000 gp+, or
Shifter’s Headband or Headband of Aerial Agility, 4500 gp+ , or
Circlet of Persuasion, 4500 gp

Vest of Escape, 5200 gp

Agile or Keen weapon quality +1 (equates to at least +6000 gp)

Compulsion Mastery – Requires enchantment spell of third level or higher.

Plume of Panache, 1000 gp – For those with deeds only.

Knights Pennon of Battle, 4500 gp

Concealment Mastery & Illusion Mastery – Requires illusion spell of first level or higher

Sleeves of Many Garments, 200 gp. Quite the bargain for this feat, even with the errata/nerf/clarification.

Cap of Human Guise, 800 gp or Hat of disguise, 1800 gp

Cloak of Elvenkind, 2500 gp. Or Cloak of the Hedge Wizard, if you aren’t wearing a Cloak of Resistance.

Shadow armor quality, +3750 gp

Concealment Mastery, higher function – Requires illusion spell of second level or higher

Shadow armor quality, +3750 gp

Curse Mastery – Requires necromancy spell of third level or higher.

Restful armor property, +4500 gp

Dispel Mastery – Requires abjuration spell of second level or higher.

Swarmbane Clasp, 3000 gp

Spellguard Bracers, 5000 gp

Energy Mastery – Requires an evocation spell of first level or higher, with an acid, cold, electricity or fire descriptor.

Clockwork Key, 500 gp. Arguably cannot be used to power this feat, however, it isn’t a one-shot item if Abadar isn’t your patron. And the secondary power has such a pathetic DC, I can’t foresee using it even if Abadar was your patron.

Campfire Bead, 720 gp

Flaming, Frost or Shock weapon enhancement +1 (equates to at least +6000 gp)

Energy Mastery, higher function – Requires an evocation spell of third level or higher, also with an energy descriptor.

Flaming, Frost or Shock weapon enhancement +1 (equates to at least +6000 gp)

Force Shield Mastery – Requires an item with an abjuration spell of first level or higher

Ring of protection, 2000 gp+

Restoration Mastery – Requires a conjuration (healing) spell of second level or higher.

Vest of Surgery, 3000 gp

Scarab Shield, 4399 gp

Restoration Mastery, higher function – Requires a conjuration (healing) spell of third level or higher.

Aegis of Recovery, 1500 gp. Can heal you once, so arguably cannot be used to power this feat. This item has two spells required to make it, thereby qualifying for two of these feats. As an aside, once destroyed by using the healing power, can be restored with a make whole with merely a CL 6.

Teleportation Mastery – Requires a conjuration spell of third level or higher.

Bag of Holding, minor, or Pathfinder Pouch, 1000 gp

Bookplate of Recall, 1000 gp

Robe of Infinite Twine, 1000 gp

Endless Bandolier, 1500 gp

Efficient Quiver, 1800 gp

Handy Haversack, 2000 gp. The pricier extra-dimensional spaces work as well.

Ring of Sustenance, 2500 gp

Ghost touch weapon quality +1 (equates to at least +6000 gp)

Vision Mastery – Requires a divination spell of first level or higher.

Formula Alembic, 200 gp. As if I needed more reasons to play an alchemist.

Dungeon Ring (Prisoner’s), 250 gp. Inexpensive indeed, but relatively worthless on its own merits, takes up one of two ring slots, and is difficult to remove, but there may be uses, when combined with the Dungeon Ring (Jailer’s) worn by someone else for 16000 gp.

Ring of Serene Contortions, 1200 gp. +2 unnamed bonus to Escape Artist and True strike 1/day.

Cloak of the Hedge Wizard, 2500 gp, if for some reason you aren’t wearing a Cloak of Resistance.

Eyes of the Eagle, 2500 gp. You were going to buy them anyway!

Trapspringer’s Gloves, 4000 gp

Resistance Mastery – Requires a magic armor or a worn (!) wondrous item with a second level abjuration spell or higher. No qualifying items found.
Implement Mastery – This feat is not relevant to this research. Included for completeness only.
Racial Item Mastery – This feat is not relevant to this research. Included for completeness only. Plus, weaksauce.
Symbolic Mastery – This feat is not relevant to this research. Included for completeness only.
Weapon Evoker Mastery – This feat is not relevant to this research. Included for completeness only. I believe it's a weak option.

A 9th level character (race, class largely irrelevant) with base Fort +6, I could take Ability Mastery @ 5th, Vision Mastery @ 7th & Flight Mastery @ 9th. I’ve gained +2 to a stat, Darkvision or See invisibility 2/day and Fly 1/day. I’m ‘forced’ to buy a Traveler’s Any Tool, Eyes of the Eagle to fuel those three feats. I have less than 3000 gp spent on items that would have been useful otherwise & three feats invested in some game-changing abilities that scale with my character.

Comments? What items have you found?

Threeshades wrote:

I think the general consensus is that Pathfinder is largely a better system than 3.0 or 3.5 were. That is why we are all here after all.

I'm only here because 3.5 isn't printed anymore.

That, and in the process, that company didn't treat me very well.

A magic missile readied vs. Enemy spellcasting often forces a concentration check for being damaged during spellcasting.

It has plot holes you can float the Titanic through, BUT I still enjoyed many elements of it.

I still remember having a Chevy Chase style rant at one NPC over plot. The NPC was around 9th level, travelling the wilderness, with a sending prepared. After we finally rescue his sorry hide, my warmage goes off on him.

You mean to tell me you are a divine servant of [somebody] and you had a sending prepared? You could have prevented ALL of this with a plain old flamestrike. Hell, even a mass inflict light wounds would have given you a fighting chance. You either would have won, or died and we could still be in town. But instead you hide in a closet casting sending FOR TEN MINUTES. Who travels with a gods damned sending?? Seriously! Are you sure Wisdom is your primary stat? You, sir, are either an idiot, or your god wants you dead. Either way, here's a dagger with one bullet in it if you know what I mean.

Reply, Part II, because my forum editing is elementary at best.

Other alignment-oriented boons aren't off the table, though they are tougher to adjudicate and balance.

Social rewards (e.g. A reward given to someone for being a good person out-of-game) might be possible. I recall working through this idea with Mike Brock a few years ago and running into some major logistical and distribution issues at the time. It's something to revisit.

As for rewarding behavior I want to see repeated, I'm mostly on board. The way I tend to write evil boons involves a significant (often ongoing) cost; it's not so easy as getting an atonement vaccination and then walking off with the prize. Good-oriented boons rarely require upkeep because they're rewards for having done something impressive and nice. Evil-oriented boons in a campaign that doesn't allow evil PCs should be more of an investment in which the PC (and possibly the player) is regularly sweating about whether it was wise to sign that infernal contract—and perhaps bleeding Prestige Points to repair the collateral damage.

Quote:

I have to admit, I am disappointed Paizo would ask such a thing. Doing so is indicative of the state of affairs on multiple levels, and saddens me.

Much as you have offered a resounding "no" to evil boons, I must offer a firm rebuttal of your take-away above. If I ask for feedback about a potentially contentious topic, it is because I acknowledge the potential impact and value the community's feedback on the subject. Perhaps I am missing some of the ramifications of your statement beyond my asking about evil boons. If so, please send me a private message or email at your leisure.

Evil-oriented boons in a campaign that doesn't allow evil PCs should be more of an investment in which the PC (and possibly the player) is ...

I disagree. Evil-oriented boons in a campaign that doesn't allow evil PCs should be anathema. Evil options are not best presented or catered to in Pathfinder Society.

Asking for input from your constituents is normally a laudable effort.
But there are limits even to acts motivated by good intentions. I don't ask the populace who I should stalk. Megacorp doesn't run a headline polling for which rainforest to strip. SuperGas doesn't ask us about forcibly evicting a tribe off an oil-rich parcel of land. I really wish Paizo would not have evil boons, let alone ask about evil boons.

Although I hear the overall message of your post loud and clear, I'm getting confused by your reasoning. The third and fourth paragraphs seem to be contradictory. To paraphrase you, if good-aligned (i.e. "upstanding") people are hindrances to the goals of a conglomerate of archaeologists, and those good-aligned options are allowed for "revenue" purposes, why does that support steering the organization away from morally ambiguous choices in an adventure?

I was stating my view of the way things are, and apparently could have been more clear.

The in-game Pathfinder Society Corporation is functionally hindered by employing good aligned characters. But Paizo.com overrules the in-game corporation. It certainly isn't because Paladins make the best Pathfinder Agents; it's for the sake of real-world revenue.

The out-of-game Pathfinder Society does not allow evil characters. Thank you for this. Remember the reasons for this.

Thus, Pathfinder Society, both in-game, and out-of-game, caters to neutral characters.

PFS has in some ways deteriorated from its intent in my mind. If we are going to ban Vivisection and Undead Lords based on flavor, then don't undermine that flavor with blessings from the nefarious.

That depends in part on whether nefarious character mechanics (e.g. archetypes, feats, and spells, which the player plan a character around) are equally disruptive as corruption-oriented boons acquired in-play (e.g. a boon on a Chronicle...

My turn for confusion, John. If you are lobbying for nefarious character mechanics, so long as they aren't disruptive, then you've missed my point.

PFS has banned some character options. The publicly advertised reason was to defend the campaign from nefarious character types. I agree with that reasoning. Please continue to do this.

If you ban some character options as distasteful (evil alignments, Vivisectionists, Undead Lords, the list goes on), it's then incongruous to allow evil boons. Just at face value, Evil boons are a bad message to send for our public game. I regret the ones we've already allowed. Beyond face value, the conflicting message it would send is also bad. "That particular evil isn't good. This particular evil is okay. Hey, wait, Mister, why are you taking your wife and kids away from the table?"

PFS in my mind has never been about good-aligned adventuring. It already caters to neutral-minded characters. Partly because of system (e.g. smite neutral and protection from neutral are not a thing.) Partly because of plots and meta-plots (Fetch the McGuffin, often at any cost.) As the game face of the company, this is imperfect.

If I were a virtue espousing diety, PFS would likely be on the list of agencies my people are not allowed / encouraged to associate with.

If I were a conglomerate of archaeologists and rabid collectors, there would be many times I wasn't interested in partnering with upstanding people, as they are a hindrance to my goals.

I understand PFS has to allow these options..... because .... revenue, but I wish it weren't so. I'd like to see our public game stop catering to the morally ambiguous characters and go back to old school gaming that I can be proud to share with my son and his friends. You can do what you will with your private game, as I do with mine, but I'd like to see the public game face for Paizo become warmer, not colder.

PFS has in some ways deteriorated from its intent in my mind. If we are going to ban Vivisection and Undead Lords based on flavor, then don't undermine that flavor with blessings from the nefarious.

As such, I have to issue a resounding NO to evil boons and instead ask for boons to reward a PFS refocused on the elements worth rewarding. Boons like You must give this boon to someone you have gamed with no more than once. Boons that trigger on You stayed true to good alignment and the gods noticed. Boons that trigger on I overheard you talking up the game to a new player. Boons like Sorry you couldn't make the convention, but we want to include you. Boons like Thanks for letting us play at your house this week. Boons for helping the authorities shut down a drug ring. Boons for contributing to positive change in Golarion canon, like a partial victory over slavery. Boons for putting out house fires. Boons for capture, trial and incarceration of evil doers. My list could go on awhile, but is summed up with Behavior rewarded is behavior repeated. Please reward only good behavior.

I have to admit, I am disappointed Paizo would ask such a thing. Doing so is indicative of the state of affairs on multiple levels, and saddens me.

Source: 4 star GM, convention goer, 30+ characters, father of one.

Tl;Dr No evil boons please.

It does. It can. They can.

Wow. That's a lot!

Throwing an acid? Fine.
Throwing two acids duct taped together? Improvised weapon (which Throw Anything should mitigate) and you made it bigger, so -2 to hit, and now technically takes two hands. I would only allow Intelligence modifier to damage once.

Which makes it similar to Rapid Shot.

I.B.C. root beer, cream soda or black cherry.

To those of you who hold MB/jc blameless for this ruling, I think you failed a save vs Delusional.

This ruling clearly weakened the value of several Prestige Classes.

Lower value Prestige Class = less books sold. You can argue all you want about the size of this effect, but I don't think you can deny it IS an effect. I know I won't be buying any PrC books again.

Less books sold is never a Paizo goal.

So, in my mind, this ruling could ONLY have originated from PFS Admin. And it probably came with a very big "pretty please!?"

It may have been an offhand comment at the communal coffee pot that got this rolling, but I'd bet my next Day Job roll the seed of thought BEGAN with PFS.

That being said, I hold more resentment for them allowing us to believe otherwise than I do for the actual ruling. My ranger 1 / diviner 1 / eldritch knight is so far down the assembly line (char #32?), it may be 2020 before I get to play him. So I'm going to flat out ask....

Hey PFS... did the about-face to the FAQ originate with you guys? Did you request this change to the FAQ? If so, why haven't you said so?

My sincere apologies if I've missed such a statement. I looked. I really did.

I sure hope it has six or eight bits of crunch that are highly situational, loaded with feat taxes and dubiously edited.

Oh yes, and full of extraneous, unnecessary, unwanted and redundant adjectives to fill up page count without adding worthwhile content.

*sigh* Of course I'm going to buy it.

As GM, I only care about food/water if the adventure runs over one day, most often because they chose to sleep off the fatigue caused by the 30 minute adventuring day.

It's a non - instantaneous fire spell. It has a duration. It can catch you on fire, per the environmental rule above (Reflex 15 negates).

I was a player in a Skull & Shackles campaign and I was greatly disappointed. The campaign, as written, seems to be unplayable and we had to drop it after the third near Total Party Kill.

I have no idea how anyone could enjoy the first 21 days.

And it didn't get better from there. Not one character shined.

In the end, I just wish we had the time & money invested into the game refunded, though I'd trade it all for the opportunity to meet the author of the first book in a dark alley. I won't even give him the courtesy of mentioning his name, but suffice to say I'll not be buying any of his products again without significant due diligence. There's a special place in hell for that guy.

At the risk of mortgaging today's textspace for tomorrows...

Could you please not waste post-count with simple "Oooohs", "Aaahs", "Gimme!", "Like-button" and similar when a new release is posted? Please. It doesn't add to the conversation nor is it incentive for me to buy the product. To the contrary, if the post-count gets too high, it isn't a wise use of my time to try to get up to date with the thread.

Instead, perhaps you could nudge the publisher to release more details.
Or perhaps you could sway final editing with your wish list for inclusion. Whatever you choose, please be considerate of those of us who must wade through afterwards to get to the crux of the conversation.

Thank you.

[Reposted to general forum.]