Katina Mathieson wrote:
Ok, let's cancel the order for the book then. you have been very prompt and helpful but this is too long to wait for a book that I thought was in stock.
Katina Mathieson wrote:
Anymore news on this Katina? I would like this book but I really don't want to wait much longer as this order is WAY overdue at this point.
Has anyone seen a class background generator like that found in Ultimate Campaign modified for the psionics classes and races? I've been looking and find it hard to believe someone hasn't cobbled it together yet or that there is no official table from the folks at Dreamscarred. Any links would be appreciated. Thanks!
sorry to intrude. I don't have access to the playtest but I wanted to request one thing if possible. Could you make a table for class background generation like that done in Ultimate Campaign for the occultist class? I'm pretty sure there was one in the second book but I want to make sure it makes it into the grimoire. Thanks.
I remember the orcish shot-put from 3.0 as well. An OP weapon to be sure. There does need to be a few additional racial weapons. Kind of surprising that the complete equipment didn't have some additional options. As it stands now, each race has maybe one weapon associated with it (dwarves have two). That's not really a lot to work with.
Alexander Augunas wrote: Thanks for reviewing us, eggplantman! Happy to do so! Really enjoy the products and the effort put into them. I do miss the goetian spirits though I see that yours are a little more approachable while the goetian ones from ToM are quite monstrous. If you ever come up with a supplement that tackles them as spirits, please let me know.
I came up with these just for fun and as a way to better justify the NPC classes' utility and make them more attractive, perhaps even almost desirable for a player character to take a level in them. Please let me know what you think. Adept: This class represents divine or arcane practitioners who are not quite powerful enough to be adventurers. The class does not progress past level 10 and does not gain the call familiar ability (but see below). At first level, the choice is made wether the adept will be arcane or divine.
Aristocrat: Maximum 20 levels. The main ability of the aristocrat is to grant honor and fame (see Ultimate Campaign). The aristocrat can grant +1d6 honor at first level to any person or allied group within a few minute of time. The bonus can be granted only once until the target has achieved a new level. The bonus increaes by an additional +1d6 at every odd level. Likewise, the aristocrat can increase fame in a similar manner by adding an amount of additional fame equal to 1/3 the aristocrat's level (minimum 1). Thi takes a few days of spreading fame and can be used once until the target gains a new level. In addition, aristocrats gain honor and fame at double the normal rate and spend fame in increments of 1d4 intead of 1d6. Commoner: Maximum 10 levels. This class is humble but works together well with other. At first level, a commoner can use aid another to grant a +3 bonu instead of a +2. This further increases to +4 at 5th level and +5 at 10th level. Expert: Maximum 20 levels. At first level, the expert chooses one of his class skills to gain a +5 competency bonus. At 5th level, and every 5 levels after, an additional skill gains this bonus and another increases by +5 which may the be same skill or the one just gained. Warrior: Maximum 10 levels. Warriors are not the most skilled but they are tough. Warriors gain +3 hit points per level. At 3rd level they gain endurance as a bonus feat and gain die hard as a bonus feat at 7th level. Just some ideas to make them more interesting.
a bard is an excellent choice I think to get a lot done as far as spreading your fame and handling a lot of the charisma skills your wizard may not be great at. Leadership is problematic for some GMs but I've never had an issue. Allow the GM to roleplay him/her but you level them and make the decisions on what the character is like as far as personality. That is a suggestion but regardless, you need to work with your GM to decide on a way to handle this feat. As far as kingdom building, using ultimate campaign is a good idea. Read those rules as they are the only ones I know of. Make the rest of your party involved in your kingdom idea. That is how it is supposed to work so everyone is involved and it fills a lot of holes in rulership and is more fun for everyone.
I would say yes as a GM but some may argue that technically it would not be possible. I'd still say yes. It's awesome and hard to argue with. BTW, I had an alchemist / barbarian once. Never got to play him up to high levels but the potential for a +8 to strength at second level was very attractive. With this option, he could do it even faster and have it going on the first round and attack!
Here is the rogue upgrade my group has been using with good results. It involves a big change to sneak attack and a minor change to AC. Sneak attack - First, instead of d6's, use d4's. This is because your rogue always does this damage with any attack. In addition, certain conditions give you sneak attack advantage or disadvantage which adds +1 or subtracts -1 point of damage per die of sneak attack. This result can end up being as low as zero. The conditions should be familiar and include: opponent Flanked +1
So, for example a 5th level rogue will always do 3d4 sneak damage in melee combat with each attack. If he is flanking, it is 3d4+3. If he is attacking an elemental, he does 3d4-3 (cannot be flanked and immune to sneak attack). All ranged attack add +3d4 unless he is beyond 30' when they will do 3d4-3 is all. The second boost is similar to the monk's AC bonus that goes up with levels. It only applies if the rogue is wearing light armor, not heavily encumbered and the rogue does not add his intelligence or wisdom.
I've been following the thread for a time and once I got past the idea that you were not after homebrew fixes, I liked the challenge. For one thing, I think you need to look at just the core book to determine if rogues can work. Secondly, you need to see if rogues can work at every level and for most races. My opinion is that the rogue can work fine but needs a lot of effort on the part of the player to pull it off well. The player has to really think like a rogue by pulling on every advantage and really thinking ahead. Also, the rogue needs to pick a specialty or two and work with it. The challenge is then to show rogues of various levels and race combinations that work in some fashion and would be fun to play using the core book only. If you can't do that, the rogue needs some fixing. This build is not the best but I'll give it a try. Halfling rogue lvl 1 Weapons: longspear, dagger, light crossbow, tanglefoot bag
Skills: acrobatics, Climb, Diplomacy, disable device, Escape artist, perception, Sleight of hand, stealth, use magic device Str 10
Tactics (without this, the rogue suffers): Avoid detection at all costs, Use longspear in melee if possible and fight defensively if allies are unavailable and run at first opportunity. Use ranged attacks first by always carrying a dagger in hand or light crossbow if trouble is expected. Climb to a safe position and snipe if possible. Rough, I know but this is how the rogue has to be approached. If thrown into an arena, they do not do well and that's why they should never let that happen. This is my contribution.
TarkXT wrote:
Oh... I thought that was the whole point of your post. My bad. There's lots of ways to make them effective. It's just harder to make them as effective at one thing as many other classes or make them the jack of all trades they are supposed to be and not be overshadowed by the bard/ranger/inquisitor/wizard every time. Sometimes this quest is even impossible some might say. I have seen very effective rogues. The ones that do use all the resources at their disposal every time and play it smart (tough to do sometimes) by using their strengths and applying them well. Some ground rules to remember to play your rogue well.
You may notice from my above list that there is no "build" mentioned. The build is not as important as the approach to the class. The rogue has no innate magical ability nor does he have the hardcore martial training that other classes do so he has to work harder and play smarter than almost any other class. In the end, that is the challenge and reward of playing a rogue well IMHO.
Here's something I tried. Look to the ninja for some inspiration. First, the rogue gets a pool of points at 2nd level I've been calling a "wits" pool. The pool is equal to half rogue level plus intelligence modifier and allows the rogue to do the following as a swift action. 1. gain a +4 dodge bonus to AC or reflex saves for one round
Next, I really revised all the rogue talents. They need a lot of help but have potential. Some do not need changing but almost all need a revision of some kind. They should really give rogues an advantage they could not have just by gaining feats. I made the rogue talent "finesse rogue" not only grant the feat but the rogue deals damage with finessable weapons based on dex as well. That's what I tried.
I have not read all the previous comments but I'll try. First, I don't like the GM telling me what my actions/reactions are. Please tell me what is happening and maybe what I might assume from what I see but I want to be in control of what I do. The ever-smoking bottle is a neat idea with a skirmishing character. I assume the villain has blind-fight or the improved version? Without that he has a hard time landing consistent hits. The bleed damage can be stopped with any application of healing. It can stack but is stopped and has to restart when healed. With all of that assumed, here's what I might try as a player. Readied action of any kind whether a spell or sword or anything. The rogue cannot sneak attack because he cannot see him (there is a feat to get around this though. This would be most players immediate strategy. Only if it looks like the party will actually be killed in this manner will we think about running and that will take a long time as the healer gets to go as often as your dervish. I don't see the pressure necessary to make the characters run from the chasm early on if that is your goal. The party will eventually defeat this guy with readied actions unless he if far above their level. You could add extra pressure to this by giving your dervish some minions with the blind fight, dodge, mobility, spring attack feats. He comes in with the bottle, bleeds everyone and the minions sprint in and attack each party member as well. Puts some extra pressure on them that might be enough for the party to say "we gotta get out of here, we're being cut to ribbons!" Again, if that is your goal.
I understand a lot of your points. The balance to some of them is that the rogue can burn through them really fast. I want the rogue to have some options when he is alone as the main vehicle of SA is flanking so unless the rogue can drop an enemy in the surprise round (unlikely) they will likely be doomed. I've made some modifications. Please let me know what you think. Wits Pool (Ex): At 2nd level, a rogue gains a pool of points, supernatural energy she can use to accomplish amazing feats. The number of points in the rogue's wits pool is equal to 1/2 her rogue level + her Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). As long as he has at least 1 point in his wits pool, he is treated as having the improved feint feat. By spending a point from the wits pool as a swift action a rogue can gain one of the following benefits:
The wits pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation; these hours do not need to be consecutive.
I've seen a lot of talk here on the problem with rogues and I've thought long and hard about a simple solution to help bring them up to standards of at least some of the martial classes. Please let me know what you think on the suggestion below. Rogue Class Changes
Wits (Ex): At 1st level, a rogue gains a pool of points to represent his ability to accomplish amazing feats. The number of points in a rogue's wits pool is equal to 1/2 his rogue level + his Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). As long as he has at least 1 point in his wits pool, he is treated as having the improved feint feat. Uses and costs are detailed below. 1 point – free action
The wits pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest; these hours do not need to be consecutive.
Queen Moragan wrote:
It's a lot of options but similar to the number of domains, wizard schools or bloodlines and that was the goal to make it kind of like a rogue chooses a specialization. Extra rogue knack might be OK but hard to juggle and potentially very powerful, like having two bloodlines.
Mr.Alarm wrote: Dire Weaponry is really really strong. Con hits mixed with any kind of poison would make a really deadly combo. Plus, you don't have now this ability interacts with Pressure Points. This ability struck me as far and above better then anything else you've written. I agree a little that it could be the best one. According to how I have it written, the effect would stack with pressure points but a dread rogue could only use this ability once per any combat round no matter how often he delivers sneak attack. I made the dread rogue as a good villainous type. I did not see it as that incredible for players but I guess it still could be. Any suggestions? I'm always amazed at just how much better the ninja tricks are compared to the rogue talents.
Ciaran Barnes wrote: I like the idea of it. I would have gone a little more general by removing intelligence from Sure Strike. I thought about that but intelligence seems to be the default secondary rogue mental stat and there are several other rogue abilities that do revolve around it such as master strike so I thought it best to keep with the team and reward smart rogues.
I have been noting a lot of talk about the rogue needing something but there is a lot of difficulty in deciding what to do without wrecking everything else. I have tried to come up with a solution that changes nothing and adds just the right amount of extra flavor, power and versatility to this class. Feedback is much appreciated. I have included a googledocs link and the bulk of the file itself. At the end are the rogues from the NPC codex with their chosen focus and the results of that conversion. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZqnxjDDxkrIU1HzwsZsOxRS75xnu--Hy59M9-vH PmNk/edit?usp=sharing Additions to the Pathfinder rogue class. Sure Strike (Ex): At 2nd level all rogues gain the ability to focus their attacks for greater effect. As a swift action, the rogue can add +1d6 damage to any attack. The extra damage is not limited by range and it is not precision damage so creatures immune to critical hits are affected normally. The rogue can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 plus his intelligence modifier. By spending a feat or a rogue talent, the rogue can increase the number of daily uses by an additional 3. At 8th level, the rogue can spend two uses of sure strike as a swift action to deal +2d6 damage and this increases again at 15th to 3 uses for +3d6 damage. Sure Strike damage stacks with sneak attack extra damage. Roguish Knack
Brilliant Rogue -For brilliant rogues, their wits are as sharp or sharper than their blades.
Brutish Rogue - Subtlety is lost on these rogues who hit harder and delight in the pain of their enemies.
Charming Rogue - Charming and lucky, these rogues use their good looks and golden tongues to defeat foes.
Confounding Rogue - These rogues attack in strange manners to keep their opponents off balance.
Dastardly Rogue - These scoundrels use dirty tricks and take advantage even more than regular rogues.
Deceptive Rogue - The deceptive rogue is mysterious to the extreme and a master spy
Dread Rogue - Dread rogues give other rogues a bad name for inflicting the worst afflictions on their enemies.
Elusive Rogue - Defense is paramount for the elusive rogue who frustrates his enemies by avoiding all attacks.
Fast Rogue - A fast rogue is a blur on the battlefield and uses speed and quickness to overcome enemies.
Finesse Rogue - These rogues have learned to use agility and even small size to their advantage.
Sniper Rogue - Masters of ranged combat and unseen attacks. Snipers take down foes from a distance.
Thieving Rogue - Even in combat, the thieving rogue cannot resist separating foes from their possessions.
NPC Codex Rogues
I agree with another poster that using several lower-level minions would be better than having one fighter as a partner. The party will focus their tactics on what they see and their action economy will likely wear him out no matter what. My advice is the give the party so much to handle that they become divided and then dispatch them. First, set the Inn on fire while they sleep. That's great but also make it so they are torn about saving their own lives or the people who are still sleeping. Second, minions wait outside and I mean right outside ready to swarm every party member so spellcasters do not have the safety of being left alone. The rogue uses a scroll of greater invisibility and poison plus bleeding attack and anything else you can think of and he goes after the ones that can likely do something about him, namely the major spellcasters. take them out with a full-attack sneak barrage ASAP and it would probably be best to focus on the healer until he is out of the picture. When the healer is down, move onto the arcane spellcaster. Hide while invisible and make full attacks whenever possible. Don't give the party any details other than they just took a ton of damage. You could make him a two-weapon fighting rogue. A two-weapon rogue with greater invisibility is a monster. So, the party wakes up in a burning building, might not even have time to don armor or prepare spells (especially if you wear them out the previous day), they are divided upon saving their own lives and the people in the inn and are immediately set upon by minions who seek to harass each party member while something they cannot perceive is doing horrendous damage to their spellcasters. Very exciting. This has great potential to kill a lower-level party or really frustrate them if they don't figure out something fast. Have a contingency plan for the rogue's escape cause once they figure out what is stabbing the crap out of them, they will focus everything on him. Keep them divided and vulnerable.
I'd say it is good but so conditional that it is never "great". I have seen encounters with creatures that add fire damage to every attack and since they made multiple attacks, the fire resistance was golden saving tons of healing. However, when the enemy is not using fire, it's no use at all. I kind of agree with some other posters in that innate resistance is nifty, but if I can find a way to get it from a spell, I'd rather have something that is always helping me such as a combat feat or other ability.
I have heard from the boards here that the tiger is an exceptional CR 4, maybe one of the best in straight up melee combat but there may be some errors in what you have listed. First, a tiger can pounce and deliver two claws and a bite but It only gets the option to rake if it can first establish a grab successfully and I don't think it can even do that on the round it actually establishes the hold. If the grab is successful, then it can continue to apply grab damage and the two rakes in following rounds. Tiger animal companions do not necessarily get all the advantages of tigers. Don't assume they have rake and pounce (I'll have to check). Same for wild shaping into a tiger. Do not assume they get all the advantages, though at later levels, the wild shape improves and they obviously will. Still, tigers are awesome and some of the best out there. Overpowered? probably not. The best for their CR in melee combat? Possibly true.
I wouldn't worry too much about it really. My players discovered this a long time ago and have used it in every party since D&D 3.0. They all agreed to split the cost of the wand equally (even though the front-liners use it more but they protect everyone else so it works out I think). Most parties will try to heal up to maximum after each encounter if possible. If they do not use wands, they will use scrolls or simply a butt-load of potions but they are going to try and find a way to keep those front-liners at near max before the next encounter. My advice is to not change a thing unless you sense the need to, that is things are becoming way too easy. The wand changes some things in that the party does not need to rest as often so you can have more encounters per day. Also, the party has invested a lot of money in those wands so they should have some benefit from it. What real problems do you anticipate with the wands? They won't make encounters easier, especially at higher levels but if they do, you can bump them up a bit. Bottom line of the advice I can give you is that the main change it will make is that the party will want to stop and rest (i.e. regain healing spells) less often, so they may travel faster. This might be the only major consideration.
We encountered it in a desolate area in an oriental themed land and we barely managed to teleport it to another plane of existence where the damn thing is now somebody else's problem. It was a D&D 3.5 instead of PF but we were not prepared anyway so we did not really bother fighting it and trying to get it out of our lives ASAP.
Lately, I feel totally underappreciated as a DM. My last session may have been my last. I GM for a large group. Starting the game was not my idea but I agreed to GM every week with my only request being that one of the teenage players coordinate everyone to make sure we can play. She turned out to be a terrible coordinator. She only thinks of it when we are together for something else. I level up half the characters. One time, I showed up and half of the rest of them had not leveled up after a two-week break and it took hours when we had only an afternoon to play with. They talk on their phones, they go into the other room to watch TV if it does not involve their character and they are barely aware of what is going on. I have to remind them what their characters' names are when I call on them. I put forth several hours at least a week and I own most of the books I use but they are just not interested. They don't read the books to see what their options are and half the time they forget what their characters can do. I have a player with an inquisitor character who so far has mostly just shot a crossbow; he's never used bane or a judgement and I have to remind him about detect alignment. I also bust my ass trying to make detailed counters and full-color pictures of their characters because I can and I enjoy it but I think I have run out of patience. I can't be the only one at the table that give a crap about the game. I don't know their reasons for playing and I understand if they are not as obsessed as I am but A LITTLE EFFORT OR INTEREST IS ALL I'M ASKING FOR! I could continue this little rant of mine for a long time now. Most of my players are my family and they have apologized but it really doesn't change anything. They just don't care about the game like I do. I'd love to find some new friends, heck they don't even need to be friends if they would just focus for a while. Sad. I love the game but can't continue with the people I play with.
These are cool. GRRR! I want this product but I want access to everything in the bestiary 1 in this format and in a format so I can make as many of the pawns of a given creature that I want. I have already been scanning the pictures from the bestiary and using them as counters but the full-body pawns are very nice indeed.
I've got some suggestions to help bring the rogue class up to the standards of the many other classes. Sometimes I miss things so I wanted all of your opinions as well. My goals were to give the rogue something of its own (debuffing), to give it a little more "punch" without relying solely on sneak attack and to make sure not to tie it to a particular ability score. In doing this, I have borrowed some mechanics from the paladin and the fighter. All of the following are additions. Nothing has been removed. Deft Strike (Ex). At first level the rogue learns how to make a carefully planned, exceptionally brutal or amazingly precise strike for maximum effect on any type of opponent. Once a day, the rogue can declare a Deft strike before the attack roll is made on any opponent within 30 feet. If successful, the rogue adds double his sneak attack dice as extra damage to the target. For the purposes of Deft strike, this damage always applies even if the target is not currently vulnerable to sneak attack or precision damage. If the attack is unsuccessful, the use of Deft Strike is wasted. The extra damage from Deft Strike does not stack with normal sneak attack damage and like sneak attack damage dice, they are not multiplied on a critical hit.
Armor Class Bonus: Much like a monk, the rogue learns how to avoid getting hit whenever possible. The Rogue adds a bonus to his armor class equal to one-fifth of his level. This bonus applies to all attacks but is lost if the rogue loses his dexterity bonus because of being restrained or unconscious. Sapping (Ex): Rogues can be frustrating opponents and one of the reasons for this is their ability to hinder an opponents best efforts of defenses with their attacks. At 3rd level, the rogue chooses an target ability to affect with his sapping attacks. Therafter, as a standard action the rogue can make a melee or ranged attack and if successful that ability takes a circumstance penalty of -2. The target can spend a move action to rid himself of the penalty but otherwise it lasts until the end of the rogue’s next turn. Every three levels thereafter, a Rogue can select one additional area that the rogue’s sapping affects and can increase the penalty of any sapping by an additional -1 (even the one just selected). A rogue can only affect one ability with each attack and use of sapping though. Sapping can be combined with Sneak attack or Deft Strike. - At 3rd level, the rogue can select from the following abilitites: Armor class, Attack rolls, Speed (in feet, round down new speed to increments of 5.) - At 6th level, the rogue can select from the following abilitites: Ability checks, Dexterity, Intelligence, Skill checks, Strength, Wisdom. - At 9th level, the rogue can select from the following abilitites: Caster Level Checks, Charisma, Constitution, Damage reduction, Saving Throws, Spell resistance. The main concerns I have is with the sapping ability in the order that additional sapping targets are gained. I feel this could be a little more elegant but I'm not sure.
GeraintElberion wrote:
Not trying to sound arrogant, just trying to offer a suggestion on how to approach the pdf download. Sorry if it came off as a bit abrasive.
This idea is way overdue and I like a lot of the implementation but the product is limited in a few ways. First, it does not have every single monster from the main book. No gargantuan or colossal monsters? Unacceptable. Next, I'm limited in my numbers of monsters. What if I need two manticores or 20 orc warriors? I'm not going to buy multiple boxes. Paizo needs to make a PDF that has all the monsters from the Bestiary books at the right sizes and perhaps even available as separate downloadable jpg images so they can be printed individually. You could even sell a CD of all the images. Fiery Dragon is a company that has done just this for 3rd and 4th edition. They made it so you could get all the files in JPG format or custom build a sheet from the images and print it out. When I started playing pathfinder, my major gripe was that a lot of the monsters if PF were not in their product so I had to scan them from the Bestiaries and I did to the best of my ability. However, if Paizo makes this product with all of the monsters in jpg or pdf format I will buy them right now. That way I would have Paizo's awesome artwork at my fingertips and I could print the encounters as needed. Wouldn't that be grand?
loaba wrote:
D'OH! I was wondering if he was serious or not.
My one gripe right now is that the rogue needs some help. Especially if you look at the Ninja from ultimate combat where the description basically says "yeah, this is a better version of the rogue" We need more classes that get by without any inherent magic and the rogue should be that class. Lots of situations shut down the rogue's class features and it is no longer the super skill class as bards honestly do most of its jobs better. That's really my only gripe. I just feel bad for the rogue.
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