I don't know about in your case, Jubal, but I'm guessing my editing of the one post let him miss the fact that I tired to provide everything he asked for in that post.
If I've missed something, I, too, would like to know so that I can ammend the error.
I like the idea, and am inspired to build a character based on one I played in an old RPGA Classic module back in the day. He was a simple farm-hand who was chosen by his god to be a Paladin, and notified of it in his dreams. He, of course, doesn't really think he's a Paladin. He's just a farm hand.
So, should I submit this character concept starting as a Paladin, or can I stretch your generous NPC class rules and go from Commoner to Paladin? {edit} Ah, I reread the section and now understand this is not an issue. The character simply won't receive a Favored Class bonus while advancing as a Commoner.
Just thinking out loud, I guess.
EDIT: Heh. I see that Corvus Red has already submitted basically this idea! Oops.
Character concept:
Human Commoner who becomes a Paladin (Warrior of the Holy Light, probably) It is kinda important for the character not to think about using magic, but for the magic to be more innate . . .. Party role? Simple-minded, helpful grunt and moral compass. He'll be a little handicapped as a Commoner for a bit, but it will work.
Larry grew up on his family's assigned patch of dirt, caring for the animals, the crops, and what equipment his family had managed to accumulate over the generations. He built a reputation for being honest, hard-working, and willing to help. When Mayor Hucrele called for help finding out what had happened to her children, no one was surprised that Larry offered his services. That is simply who he has proven himself to be through the years.
Larry's desires are pretty simple. Makes sense, given that he is, too. He wants to make life easier for his family. He wants everyone to have the opportunity to live together in reasonable peace and quiet. If he knew about singing Kum-ba-ya, he might want everybody to gather in a circle and do that, but only if it would really make them happier and help them get along together better. The character concept gets drug into adventures and danger because somebody needs to do something, not because he goes looking for things.
Writing Sample:
Barry and his boys were up and out, starting the day's chores just after dawn. Larry, the 4th child and 3rd son, had already let their couple of cows out of the barn and mucked their stalls before the world started shaking. Larry's eyes went as wide as the cows' did. Once the shaking stopped the family gathered back at the house by instinct. Tom and Jim were trying to make light of it, and laughing about how hard the chickens were trying to hide. Fran just sat down, looking out towards the field their father, Barry, had left for that morning. Cora, their mother, was trying to get them all to drink a little ale to calm their nerves.
When Barry came running up, he was obviously more agitated than his children had been while waiting for him. He was glowing red from the exertion of running back in from the field and sweating far more than the weather made reasonable. He downed a mug of ale without slowing to breathe, and then turned to Fran. "Go tell Kerowyn there's something moving down in the gorge! I don't know what it is, but I heard metal on stone, I think! Go on, now! Git!"
Barry's sons took turns watching at the edge of the gorge, waiting to see if there was something to raise an alarm about. They had seen the community's heroes walk down into the gorge. They knew that there had been no tell-tale noise, nor any opportunity for these heroes to sneak out, really. When Kerowyn asked for volunteers to go find out what had happened, Cora's response was immediate. "Larry, NO! You can't follow them and vanish too! Stay here, safe, and help make sure we get a good crop this year." Barry didn't say anything. He just nodded and pointed at the barn before holding his wife.
Larry walked into the barn and looked around for a few minutes. "Down into the gorge. Probably into the walls somehow. Pick and shovel seem most likely." With that bit of deep thought behind him, Larry picked up the tools that he thought were probably going to be the most useful, and headed into town to volunteer.
Obviously, I edited things in after you responded. Actually, I was doing it when you responded, but I can't prove that.
The better the other submissions, the less likely I feel that I am to get picked, but the more interested I become in trying! The goal, as always, is shared entertainment. We'll see what happens.
mechanics for Rick:
Rick starts as (mutt) human Rogue, no Advanced Race Guide modifications or Alternate Class Features.
Class Features
Sneak Attack +1D6
Trapfinding +1
Simple Weapons, hand crossbow, rapier, sap, short bow, short sword
Light armor
Feats
Dodge
Mobility
Traits
Brigand: +1 trait on Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, & Sense Motive when dealing with brigands, thieves, bandits, etc.; +100 starting GP
Reactionary: +2 trait on Initiative
78# non-mule gear - 34.5# on mule for 101.5# on mule
43.5# Carried (Armor, Weapons [readied], MW backpack, belt pouch, caltrops [stowed], chalk (10) [stowed], flint & steel [stowed], mirror [secured], soap [stowed], thieves' tools [secured], waterskin [stowed], Tanglefoot Bag [secured]) for Light Load (50# with MW backpack)
Please note that the Brigand Trait provides an extra 100 GP in starting gear. I'm figuring given the draftee nature of the intro (and character write-up) that everything is in gear, no coin at all. Thus no change despite spending short of the 140 GP Rogue average + the 100 GP bonus.
Description
Standing a little shorter than average (5' 6"). Rick's auburn, slightly curly locks frame a fairly soft, youthful face. His square jaw is offset by a slight bulge of fat visible in his cheeks. The green eyes appear dark and moody, until you take the time to actually examine them, and then you're not sure how you saw them that way. His nose is out of line with the rest of his face, obviously having been broken previously. Despite the flush of fat on his face, Rick has the typical late teenager thin body.
Background reposted (without editing) for convenience:
Born and raised on a simple farm, Rick decided early that he needed to find something else to do with himself besides become another peasant farmer helping his Lord get richer. During the Spring planting of his 12th year, Rick made his break for greater fortune. He took nothing more than the clothes he was wearing and the lunch he had carried out into the fields. By morning, he wasn't so certain he had made the right choice, but he was a stubborn lad, so he pressed on. Young Rick managed to reach Silverhall, begging for food or stealing it as he traveled. He felt some guilt about the thefts, but not enough to quiet his belly, so he took what he needed. After a few days of this, Rick no longer felt any guilt about taking what he thought he needed.
Things were more complicated in Silverhall. He was adopted by a street gang when he helped one of them escape from the local constabulary. Rick had thought the boy was actually innocent, but he was wrong. Sometimes mistakes make big differences in your life!
The next several years had Rick learning and working with "Tom's Terrors". He grew into the role well enough, losing his niavate along with his expectation that good people would see that those around them got what they might need. Eventually, though, Tom started seeing Rick as a potential challenge for leadership of the group, as he did all the eldest boys, and he started working out how to remove this potential threat to his livelihood without telling the younger boys that their day would eventually come. One of the schticks used by Tom's Terrors was the misdirection of a cargo vehicle through a concentrated application of mischief. They had a couple of constabulary tabards the elder members could wear to provide "assistance" at the right moment.
Rick was outfit as a Constabulary agent, and was holed up well back in the alley he was supposed to direct the target to take, waiting for the ruckus to start before he showed his face. When he heard things well under way, he came tromping out of the alley only to see himself run by. He stopped, looked at himself running deeper into the alley, and then moved on to do what he was supposed to do, though more slowly. As he reached the opening, a full squad was moving away from the fallen men who had been hauling the wagon, and towards the alley Rick was "hiding" within. They cried out and gave chase. Rick started running after himself, but the Constabulary managed to catch him.
There were many witnesses, including some of the Constabulary members and several of the younger members of Tom's Terrors, to the three cold-blooded murders. All of the witnesses were adamant that Rick was the killer. As a known criminal, Rick's pleas that he had been set up were laughed away. King Surtova's need for truly expendable men gave Rick an option that he wouldn't have had even a week earlier. The farm-boy who had become a thief trying not to be a peasant, was about to become something else again.
Looking (long term) at a Duelist build. An Elven Magus (Spelldancer)/Duelist is REAL appealing (mechanically), but I have trouble fitting it into the draftee mold Ryuko's set up, here.
Human Rogue/Fighter (Free Hand)/Duelist is the path instead, I think. Given the backstory I've written, he'll start Rogue. Not even close to having the mechanics done, just the outline I just described, actually.
Backstory that I'm looking at using:
Born and raised on a simple farm, Rick decided early that he needed to find something else to do with himself besides become another peasant farmer helping his Lord get richer. During the Spring planting of his 12th year, Rick made his break for greater fortune. He took nothing more than the clothes he was wearing and the lunch he had carried out into the fields. By morning, he wasn't so certain he had made the right choice, but he was a stubborn lad, so he pressed on. Young Rick managed to reach Silverhall, begging for food or stealing it as he traveled. He felt some guilt about the thefts, but not enough to quiet his belly, so he took what he needed. After a few days of this, Rick no longer felt any guilt about taking what he thought he needed.
Things were more complicated in Silverhall. He was adopted by a street gang when he helped one of them escape from the local constabulary. Rick had thought the boy was actually innocent, but he was wrong. Sometimes mistakes make big differences in your life!
The next several years had Rick learning and working with "Tom's Terrors". He grew into the role well enough, losing his niavate along with his expectation that good people would see that those around them got what they might need. Eventually, though, Tom started seeing Rick as a potential challenge for leadership of the group, as he did all the eldest boys, and he started working out how to remove this potential threat to his livelihood without telling the younger boys that their day would eventually come. One of the schticks used by Tom's Terrors was the misdirection of a cargo vehicle through a concentrated application of mischief. They had a couple of constabulary tabards the elder members could wear to provide "assistance" at the right moment.
Rick was outfit as a Constabulary agent, and was holed up well back in the alley he was supposed to direct the target to take, waiting for the ruckus to start before he showed his face. When he heard things well under way, he came tromping out of the alley only to see himself run by. He stopped, looked at himself running deeper into the alley, and then moved on to do what he was supposed to do, though more slowly. As he reached the opening, a full squad was moving away from the fallen men who had been hauling the wagon, and towards the alley Rick was "hiding" within. They cried out and gave chase. Rick started running after himself, but the Constabulary managed to catch him.
There were many witnesses, including some of the Constabulary members and several of the younger members of Tom's Terrors, to the three cold-blooded murders. All of the witnesses were adamant that Rick was the killer. As a known criminal, Rick's pleas that he had been set up were laughed away. King Surtova's need for truly expendable men gave Rick an option that he wouldn't have had even a week earlier. The farm-boy who had become a thief trying not to be a peasant, was about to become something else again.
So, what's anyone think? I'm not sold on the name Rick. Very likely to change it. I need to worry about the mechanics of the character next, though.
You don't have to check additional resources online to build a legal character. Just like you don't have to use resources beyond the core rule book to build a character. The same rules that tell you you can use othe rresources tell you how to find out which part of those other resources you can use.
You are happy to have online refermces telling you that some of these other resources are available for use, but not to idemtify the limits?
You are happy to take longer to type a message on a forum hosted through the same url front end than it would have taken you to check whether or not things were legal?
When I am running a table, I try to make sure everybody knows my base rule.
I'm gonna get things wrong. It WILL happen. Unless it is causing the death of a PC, get over it. I am happy to discuss the rules and learn more about them, but not during play.
Most of the time that I am judging, it is publicly and/or at a convention. When there are 5+ other people sitting at the table who have paid money to have me help them tell the story of their characters, out of character arguments that won't chane whther thse characters luve or die is you stealing the time from them.
The rules are a tool. The story is the goal that the tool is supposed to support.
If the character is going to make running the AP not fun for you, and the player is a high-quality player and a good friend, then you shouldn't need to do any more than tell the player exactly that.
Then request the player change to something that will help everyone at the table have fun.
If that doesn't work, then the player does not deserve the praise you already provided.
Again, back to my original post that the anti-fighters soundly ignored.
The problem is NOT the Fighter class.
The problem is the ever-increasing power creep love being provided for everyone else.
So the problem is not that the fighter is worse, but that everyone else is better?
O.o
ALMOST, but not quite.
The problem is that in all of the ongoing, continued publications, other classes have continued to receive multiple power-ups of increasing capability, while the Fighter has gone largely ignored by those same authors, and (even worse) some of the authors have REDUCED a Fighter's capabilities by adding rules which water-down the abilities the Fighter has (Additional CMB-based maneuvers in the Advanced Player's Guide is a quick example).
Quote:
Quote:
All the anti-fighter crowd keeps doing is pointing at the results of the ongoing power creep and demanding that the failure for one of the foundation bedrocks of the system to "keep up" is inherent in the construction of the foundation stone. Zark's "Great post" helps display this point pretty well. Even more so when you remember that Pathifinder STARTED as power creep from D&D 3.x.
The problem is NOT in the foundation stone.
The problem is in all the cruft that keeps getting tacked onto the system.
This comes up in EVERY game engine where there has been enough expansion publishing. There's been a lot of expansion publishing for Pathfinder.
Using CRB alone, Zark's Great Post shows that the Fighter has 9 fighter feats, vs 28 rage powers alone.
Even without expansion publishing, the fighter falls short in options to the barbarian. We don't include here classes with spells, just to give the fighter a small chance.
Again, you start by DEMANDING that Pathfinder's core book is the baseline. It isn't. It is pretty far down the power creep line.
They guys saying they don't care about the 3.x comparisons are refusing to recognize that Pathfinder STARTED with most of the 3.x power creep internalized! The game Paizo publishes STARTED with cruft that the customers wanted included. Claiming that the previous history of the system is irrelevant is identical to claiming that, say, Greek history is irrelevant in discussing what a Republic is today. If you don't know where the things came from, how can you expect to know how they've changed?
The power creep and authors who continue to choose to ignore including Fighter specific power creep options are the problem. The class itself is a perfect foundation stone for the game engine.
Again, back to my original post that the anti-fighters soundly ignored.
The problem is NOT the Fighter class.
The problem is the ever-increasing power creep love being provided for everyone else.
All the anti-fighter crowd keeps doing is pointing at the results of the ongoing power creep and demanding that the failure for one of the foundation bedrocks of the system to "keep up" is inherent in the construction of the foundation stone. Zark's "Great post" helps display this point pretty well. Even more so when you remember that Pathifinder STARTED as power creep from D&D 3.x.
The problem is NOT in the foundation stone.
The problem is in all the cruft that keeps getting tacked onto the system.
This comes up in EVERY game engine where there has been enough expansion publishing. There's been a lot of expansion publishing for Pathfinder.
I imagine I'll be saying this after the game is released, too, but if you find you don't like the game, try a different character before giving up on it. They all play very differently.
This needs to be emphasized.
The Bard is best at helping other people do things.
The Ranger is okay at clearing locations by himself, but he is GREAT at providing combat assistance to other characters who MUST BE at a different location than the Ranger.
The Rogue HATES having company.
The Fighter not only handles combat with ease, but having him at your location makes YOUR combats easier!
The group I was part of played the entire set. We had the Rogue, Bard, Ranger, and Cleric. The Bard & Cleric would stay together while the Rogue and Ranger worked at clearing different locations. We made it through the vast majority of scenarios in one try, though a couple were pretty close. We had to take 3 tries at only one scenario. Our Cleric DIED, once. That player chose to return with a "new" (no growth) version of the Cleric again.
Other groups kept everybody together. I'm thinking a Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Wizard group would be likely to perform REAL WELL if they stay together. Many groups were reporting less success than our group had, though. Given the random nature of the opposition deck construction, I truly have no way of knowing if the difference was deck-based, player-based, dice-based, etc.
1) The ability to search muliple times per player turn is very, very important for scenario completion. Some significant character abilities cost the single base character search per turn. That's how significant those abilities are considered within the game.
2) Heavy character specialization can get in the way of success, depending on random luck and group dynamics. This is one of the ways the card game varies from table-top RPG resolutions.
I can say with complete abandon that I signed nothing approaching an NDA about this card game, and that my name wasn't submitted to Paizo until AFTER I was involved, so it isn't like there COULD HAVE BEEN a legal restriction placed upon me.
There is a common sense one, though.
I don't have the cards in front of me to discuss specifics. If I did, I don't KNOW that all of the play test-driven updates were applied to all of them. Even if they were, I know that there were more changes made post play test that I have had no reason to see or internalize through use.
My lack of specifics is tied directly to an inability to be confident that the specifics would be correct. I hate finding out that I gave out bad information, so I tried to avoid doing so.
I would like to note that there are other rules systems out there. Some of them are designed so that the character's training and abilities are supplemented by the gear, other systems have the characters much more dependent upon their gear.
Pathfinder/D&D3.x are systems where the characters become dependent upon their equipment. D&D always has been that way, at leat partially.
Some people want what other developers provide. That's why Paizo sells stuff that'snot Pathfinde based.
If you want the characters' training and innate talent to be the driving force behind their sucess, with advanced gear playing a supporting role instead of being rquired, I recomend Paradigm Concepts, Inc's Arcanis system.
There are others out there just as likely to provide that kind of character-centric focus.
When the group includes two people who have been local reps for shared campaigns (an ex-Venture Captain and a current Harvester for Paradigm Concepts) and who have also been management for shared campaigns (the first has been selected to run Paradigm Concept's next Witch Hunter campign which starts at Origins this Summer, and the second was a Living Greyhawk Triad member) AND everyone involved regularly plays shared campaigns using 4 different game engines, the group tends to use generic terms and not game engine specific ones.
I'm sorry that seems to be so far outside what you consider reasonable behavior.
Oh, BTW, the former Venture Captain was the judge for our group.
No, Manguskn. 4 PCs with no NPC support. 2 of the 4 were multi-classed. The punctuation I used should have made that pretty clear, I thought. The fact that there were only 4 of us is why he allowed the 20 point buy.
Also, I remembered that the Archer couldn't see the Kenku (Greater Invis), but the Synthesist and Witch both could (one with See Invis, the other True Seeing). Since the Synthesist was still "behind" the big Oni, I'm going to have to say the Witch must have taken the Kenku out himself.
Part of the reason our judge hand-waved some encounters last night was because this was our last regularly scheduled opportunity to meet before I move out of town. He wanted to make sure we reached the finale last night instead of us needing to schedule another session while I'm trying to finish packing up and leave.
We finished last night. Very anti-climactic, sadly.
We were Level 15 (Two-Weapon Warrior, Ranger[traps archetype]/Wizard?/Arcane Archer, Witch, Synthesist/Paladin, all at 20 point builds). I played the two-weapon warrior.
We started the evening entering the 2nd floor, in the performance room with the stage and Geisha. Our stealth Archer killed two of the Oni before any of them got to act. We were down to the "boss" for the room (and invisibility purged him) before he got more than one of his buffs up. He was dead the round he was visible.
Then we moved to the area with the spider-legged women. We stomped them.
Everything else on the floor got hand-waved by our judge as being less threatening to us than what we had already destroyed. He assigned us some random damage to consume some expendable resources in order ot try to keep the tension higher than simply hand-waving the fights would let it get.
Then we moved on towards the throne room (not that we knew we were there, yet, of course). Our Stealth monkey spied that we had found the throne room without getting noticed, so he backed out and we got to buff up. They, of course, were already buffed up, because we had been making plenty of noise as we advanced through the castle.
I ran in and stopped in a spot where I threatened the regent. The Regent scratched me. The final major Oni hit me for 102 damage AFTER my Stoneskin protection. Then the Kenku moved into flank on me and managed to hit once, for enough damage to drop me without killing me. I stabilized immediately.
Meanwhile, our Witch disintegrated and chain-lightninged their Witch and had it move to the Regent, where the spell died. Our Archer obliterated what was left of their Witch. Our Synthesist Dim Doored behind the big guy. I snacked while they went through the next two rounds. At the end of that period our Witch Healed me and our Synthesist (going last, like normal) finished off the big Oni.
I didn't notice who took out the Kenku, or how. Like I said, I was snacking. I'm guessing it was the archer.
The Regent had decided that our Witch was the big threat, and based on the damage each of us had managed to deal in this fight, he wasn't really that far off. The Archer might have been doing slightly more damage over-all, but the Witch was between the Regent and Archer, so . . ..
After the Witch Healed me, the Regent challenged and charged him. Witch took the damage, stepped back, and healed himself. I stood up between those points.
The Synthesist couldn't charge, but he moved up and got a single attack in against the Regent, tripping him. The archer complained about knocking the Regent over. I charged up and hit the bad man while he was down. He stood up, and the two of us took our AoOs on him. Then the Synthesist unloaded on the regent. 3 iterative attacks with Suishen, bite, claw, claw, (rend), wing buffet, wing buffet, plus the Haste bonus attack with Suishen. I think he missed once.
We were done.
The personal achievement? I had the only PC who never died during the adventure. I was also, however, the only PC who ever fell down in a fight without dying. I did that something like 4 or 5 times during the AP. The Synthesist lost his Eidolon without dying, once, but he himself never fell over.
One of the things that our judge said he learned from running this AP is that he won't let a group use more than a 15 point build again. He might also be far less cooperative with the ability to make/find the "right" item as we go along. The items mattered. If I had spent less money on weapons (because I couldn't get what I wanted), I would have spent more on defense. Oh, yeah, and we were under expected wealth per character by level as we went into that last fight. In that final fight, after all of our buffs, I had an AC of 34, 38 after a full attack series, in addition to my share of the Communal Stoneskin. The Synthesist was even harder to hit. Yeah, we were pretty easy for the big guy to hit, but not so much for anyone else.
I most certainly enjoyed the AP, but, as is the nature of higher level play, the final combat was too quick to have the desired epic feel. This reinforced my preference for low-level play, honestly.
At the end, connecting with every attack in a full attack series against an Oni, my character's damage dealt would range from 126~246, with each confirmed critical hit doing another 17+1d6+2d6 (cumulative) bleed + Staggering the target for at least a single round (with cumulative duration). I never saw the final version of the Synthesist's character sheet. I think he was still doing more damage than I could. The Amulet of Mighty Fists with Holy Weapon on it had a lot to do with that, of course, as did the Eidolon's ungodly strength.
I'm suspicious that a Pathfinder 'port of the setting will destroy much of the setting flavor through elimination of the core mechanics that developed/reinforced that flavor.
Matrices, certainly.
Thread magic as a whole, though, including binding Threads to Named items and learning the History of a Named item in order to be ABLE to bind Threads to it at all.
The inherent magical nature of class abilities. Almost all class abilities were magical in nature, while Pathfinder most certainly details otherwise.
I'm good with either group, but prefer role-play focus over roll-play focus. More mature themes and expectations don't bother me, but I'm not especially interested in soft porn or detailed, graphic descriptions of the evisceration of each enemy, either. <shrug> The term mature gets used to mean so many things.
3 martial and 3 casters, hunh? I'm guessing a "pure" rogue gets counted as martial in that formula. 'Dada's not really built to focus on combat, though, so that kinda scares me.
My back story has Gudada present in Sandpoint for several weeks to a few months, not a full year.
'Dada was passed over in the RoRL run I applied to prior to this one, so I can adapt his alias for your character generation, now. It should wait until after work, though. It should. It probably won't.
Am I missing something by your standards from having a compete character?
Is there a different kind of character that you think one of the two groups needs that you would LIKE for me to submit instead?
How kid-friendly is this game? How complicated is it, and how much tactical acumen is called for?
One of the play test leads had an all child group he was running through the game. I know they were young to pre-teens, but I don't remember HOW young.
Nothing prevents everybody getting involved and helping everybody else out during their turn. Heck, a couple of the characters seem most powerful when helping others.
Tactics aren't as important as strategy, IMO. It is a deck-building game. Using the cards that you draw seemed pretty simple. Picking the right cards to add to/keep in the deck as you go along is harder.
Many of the scenarios use very different goals and serious rule modifications to enhance the feel of the scenario. Some of them require more intelligent play. Which is almost as much about the random opposition deck builds as it is the modified rules.
Now I will recognize some names, expect certain types of opponents during the AP (which the player guide should provide, anyway), have a pretty good idea of some of the location concepts, and some clue about how nasty the boss fights might be.
And I probably won't remember any of them in great detail a year form now.
The first one he listed provides the same benefits as Weapon Focus, half of the benefit of Improved Disarm, half the benefit of Weapon Specialization, AND it increases the Weapon Focus/Specialization based bonuses as the character advances, with no further Feat slot expenditures. Oh, AND it stacks with all the feats it duplicates.
If that's the power level you're after, I've applied to the wrong game.
I was also fortunate enough to spend time s a play tester for this product.
The game instances are really pretty variable by the core rules. This variability was perceived by many of the play testers as reducing how much each scenario FELT like the corresponding portion of RotRL.
It is relatively easy (if you want to spend a little time on it) to pick and choose things instead of have them determined by random selection from a larger deck to FORCE each scenario to FEEL like the corresponding portion of RotRL. This basically throws out the mechanic that keeps replayability high, though. If you do this once, and then return to the core mechanic for later attempts at the scenario, you can duplicate the FEEL of RotRL once, and then simply enjoy the unique game play other times.
Masterwork ammo is destroyed on a miss for some reason (this encompasses special materials).
Where is this stated?
Items made of this special material count as masterwork.
That's in the rules section of all the special materials under discussion.
If an adamantium arrow automatically counts as masterwork, and all non-magical masterwork ammunition is destroyed upon use, whether it hits the target or not, then all non-magical adamantium arrows are automatically destroyed upon use.
"May perform non-interfering actions necessary for survival."
So, nothing prevents him for calling for "room service" AFTER entering his room, as long as he doesn't leave. Yeah, he has to use his lungs, probably, to get somebody to check on him, but that doesn't interfere with the spell.
Do you make straw-men full time, or contract the work out?
I was fortunate enough to get to spend time as one of the play testers for this game.
1) The double-sided cards are double-sided for a reason. You'll be far happier they are double sided than if they tried to put all the relevant text on one side. Seriously.
2) The color borders NEED to be clearly and easily distinguishable. You're going to spend a little time (for every scenario you play) sorting cards based on those colors.
3) The game play is simpler than the description of game play in the draft rules was. I really don't know if the Paizo team figured out how to get the rules to read as easily as the game plays, but, I think you will enjoy how it plays.
4) The opportunity for replay and customization of the play experience is really VERY GOOD. Actually, I was surprised how good.
Buri: But if you read the OP, it says that the judge had him begging people for help with the external control during the walk to his room, not talking to people while he was staying in his room.
The distinction is very significant, given your stated position.
Well, okay, then! Again, this is an existing character concept that hasn't managed to get into a RotRL game that made it through the first day of the festival. I have simply adapted it for your generous character creation rules.
point buy:
16 10
14 5
14 5
12 2
12 2
11 1
Attributes:
S 11 +0
D 18 +4
C 12 +1
I 14 +2
W 14 +2
H 12 +1
About Gudada Purrun:
The most striking thing about the young human before you is color. His pants are a bright orange and his burgundy brocade vest is trimmed with yellow and orange ribbon. The scarf tied over his hair is a swirl of oranges, reds and yellows. Even the otherwise simple peasant shirt is trimmed with the same ribbon.
His hair and eyes are both dark, and his skin tone matches a lighter stained wood shade. If he didn’t smile so readily, dark might be the best descriptor. As it is, exotic might be a better choice. All-in-all, a typical young male Varisian appearance.
Varisians dressed in this fashion tend to be part of a caravan instead of having settled into a more mundane community, though pockets of traditional Varisian culture do exist in such settlements.
Personal story:
Gudada Purrun was almost a native son of Sandpoint, born on the trail still two days travel outside of town. Such is the traditional life of a Varisian, though. Nadya, his mother, had little trouble with the birthing of this, her fourth child. Djordji, his father, was preparing to forsake the traditional nomadic lifestyle and find a more permanent home where he could raise his family. Sandpoint was large enough to offer protection and small enough to ensure that he could prove useful. Much to his disappointment, Djordji found himself settling into an environment where he was more valuable as a craftsman than as a freelancer. In order to better serve his wife and children, at least in his own mind, Djordji settled into life as a blacksmith, hating the mundane existence the position forced upon him.
This led, eventually, to Djordji becoming more bitter and frustrated. He expressed this violently upon his wife and children. Typically, the Varisians are violent to their children as a teaching tool. They are teaching their children not to get caught, instead of trying to funnel their energies into mundane pursuits. Djordji was not quite blatant enough to make other Varisians suspicious of abuse, but he was teaching his children to spend their time somewhere else.
Gudada found himself running with a typical pack of Varisian children. They learned to distract and relieve visitors to Sandpoint of anything Petsha, the young man in charge of their group, desired. Gudada had developed quite the skill, and had been promoted to a primary filcher role, as opposed to the distraction and runner roles he had been filling earlier. During the Late Unpleasantness the pack stayed close together, depending upon their numbers and speed to protect each other should things go badly. When Petsha examined a bag Gudada had taken from a random man on the street, the pack disbanded and everyone was left to figure out how to proceed on their own. The bag contained a pair of bloody knives wrapped in a shirt. Gudada's choice of opportunities meant that he missed the fire which consumed the old chapel.
Gudada managed to impress Shandor, the leader of a Varisian caravan, by returning items that Shandor didn't realize were missing. This got him a place in the caravan, and began Gudada's true education in being Varisian. An aspect that grew to mean more to Gudada than most of the "settled" people of Golarion would prefer is that property rights belong to those who can keep the property, not to those who claim them.
After a few years, the caravan returned to Sandpoint, again. This time, though, unlike all of the earlier visits, Jubrayl Vhiski, a business associate of Petsha, and thus the entire pack of street children, came looking for Gudada. Djordji had died as a result of an accident in the forge, none of the other children were in Sandpoint, and Nadya was ill. Gudada needed to care for his mother. Shandor refused to burden the caravan with a seriously ill woman, and so Gudada found himself needing to settle, at least temporarily, in Sandpoint as his father had chosen to do before him. Nadya lasted for weeks after Shandor's caravan moved on, leaving Gudada alone in the place where he grew up, needing to bury his mother while the crowds grew to celebrate the opening of the new cathedral. Celebrations are never timed well for everyone.
Personality Notes:
'Dada has learned many things from his dysfunctional history. Probably the most important is that you really can NOT survive alone, but you need group, a family, a clan, or whatever you want to call it, working together for the betterment of their shared community in order to have the best life possible.
Having spent most of his life helping support his immediate group through pick-pocketing efforts, he has a decided lack of concern with the whole concept of personal property. He sees his job similar to that of a hunter: He is supposed to seek out the best targets that he can, and take from the ready supply what his family needs. Over hunting leads to hunger that could have been avoided. The same is true of picking pockets.
His lack of concern with personal property extends to the few items that he himself has. The family group has property, not the individuals. Some items are always kept by specific people, but this is reflection of their ability to use those items better than others, or the items themselves are symbols of position within the family. He understands that most of society has this false concept of personal property, but it is beneath consideration within the family group.
'Dada's story ends with him needing to find a new family in order to see to his own survival.
Varisian Human:
25 Point Build
+2 to Dex
Medium Size
30' Base Speed
Focused Study {Skill Focus (Sleight of Hand)}
Skilled
Languages: Common, Varisian, Shoanti, Goblin
Favored Class (Rogue)
Rogue 1:
BAB +0
Fort +0
Ref +2
Will +0
Sneak Attack +1D6
Trapfinding
Simple Weapons, Hand Crossbow, Rapier, Sap, Short Bow, Short Sword
Light Armor
Deft Hands(Character level 1)
Skill Focus (Sleight of Hand) (Focused Study Lvl 1)
Traits:
Family Ties (modified for actually being Varisian and detailing the connection to Jubrayl)
Varisian Wanderer (Inner Sea Primer - http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/regional-traits/varisian-wanderer-regional-v arisia - Sleight of Hand)
Conspiracy Hunter (Council of Thieves - https://sites.google.com/site/pathfinderogc/traits/campaign-traits/council- of-thieves/conspiracy-hunter - Perception)
Yes, I know. Two campaign traits. Different campaigns, though? I can and will find something else if you prefer (other than the Looking for Work Campaign Trait), but pulled this to make a quicker submission.
Equipment:
240 GP is Rogue Max
100 GP Thieves' Tools, Masterwork (2#)
15 GP Juggler's Kit (+1 on juggling checks, 10#)
50 GP Backpack, Masterwork (4#)
6 SP Bedroll & Blanket (8#)
5 GP Gear Maintenance Kit (2#)
free Traveler's Outfit (bright Varisian colors)
1 GP Sap (+0, D6, x2, 2#, B, nonlethal)
30 GP Short Bow (+3, D6, x3, 60', 2#, P)
1 GP 20 Arrows (3#)
37 GP 4 SP On Hand
33# for listed gear (Light Encumbrance)
Will probably want more gear before becoming an active adventurer (armor, real melee weapon) as opposed to a traveling performer.
Combat Statistics:
Init +4
AC 14, Touch 14, Flat-footed 10
HP 9
Fort +1
Ref +6
Will +2
Sap +0 for D6 nonlethal x2
Short Bow +4 for D6 x3
CMB = 0
CMD = 14
Advancement Thoughts:
Stay pure Rogue
Keep Favored Class bonus in skills.
Keep skill points in SAME skills.
Feats:Skill Focus (Perception) (Lvl 3)
Wary (Lvl 5)
Skill Focus (Disable Device) (Lvl 7)
Skill Focus (Acrobatics) (Focused Study Lvl 8)
Acrobatic (Lvl 9)
Rogue Talents:
Combat Swipe?
Finesse Rogue?
Trap Spotter?
Weapon Training?
Advanced Talents:
Fast Tumble?
Hunter's Surprise?
Redirect Attack?
Weapon Snatcher?
Normally, for RotRL games, I submit a Varisian "Entertainer". I can happily still do that, especially because of how much I like the back story I came up with, but that build is a 15 point build. A 56 point build lets me completely reconsider many of the planned aspects of the character . . ..
Huh...thanks for the input, but I was under the assumption that if you had several PCs at the high end, then the effective level of the party could be calculated with the inclusion of a PC just below, like Filios at Level 2.
While that calculation of APL DOES work out like that, he's referencing a campaign rule which requires that a PC be of a level in the advertised range for the module in order to play the module.
You were apparently ignorant of the existence of said rule (not a big deal, as we all learn things all the time), and were looking to play based on understanding AP calculation without that limit in place.
The judge isn't allowed to ignore that rule, however, and thus the offer to have you run a pre-gen of a module appropriate level. The campaign is restrictive about which characters can be involved, but it TRIES to be inclusive about which PLAYERS can be involved. Make sense?
You mean like the Armor and Weapon Training that are exclusive to Fighters and allow them to do things that nobody else gets to do? The things you are asking for are already part of the class. They just aren't as easily swapped for tricks outside the core scope of the class as you seem to be demanding that they should be.
Come again?
What does Weapon Training allow the Fighter to do that nobody else can exactly?
Okay, who else gets increasing bonuses to attack and damage {edit}that stack with EVERYTHING ELSE{/edit} with entire categories of weapons as a class feature? What other ability out there provides that kind of bonus in such a flexible fashion?
Quote:
master_marshmallow wrote:
does there exist an archetype that gives fighters an extra bonus to their CMB and CMD?
buffing that could set them apart from everyone else... kinda
The Brawler archetype adds some to Graple/Drag/Reposition, but also gets rid of Armor Training and limits him to Close Weapons for weapon training.
See, here's evidence of fallout from the over-simplified base explanation of how to calculate CMB/CMD. The Weapon Training Bonus ALSO applies to all CMB/CMD checks involving a weapon from the selected category. As do the bonuses from both Weapon Focus and Greater Weapon Focus.
In other words, the basic Fighter Class ability, Weapon Training, provides a bonus like the one he was asking about. Most archetypes trade Weapon Training away for far less useful, let alone versatile, abilities.
The fighter gets a feat at every level. That's cool. But it is not "wow! I've been waiting for that for X levels." And if there is a feat like that everyone and their brother can take the exact same feat, too.
Strange. When I play a Fighter I feel that way about a couple of Feats, which vary based on the build focus, but which almost always includes Bleeding Critical, Critical Focus, Greater Penetrating Strike and Penetrating Strike.
No, they aren't ALL Fighter exclusive. If you think Penetrating Strike and Greater Penetrating Strike are underwhelming then you are working with a vastly different gaming engine than I am. Heck, PS and GPS STACK with Clustered Shots for Archery builds.
Now, you may want something different when you game, and that's MARVELOUS, but assuming that the entire set of people who play the game want the same things you do is not only short-sighted, but just sad.
Quote:
What the fighters really needs is something else that feats every few levels.
You mean like the Armor and Weapon Training that are exclusive to Fighters and allow them to do things that nobody else gets to do? The things you are asking for are already part of the class. They just aren't as easily swapped for tricks outside the core scope of the class as you seem to be demanding that they should be.
The main problem with the core class Fighter has very little to do with the Fighter class.
It lies instead in variations of a single external issue: power creep through continued publication.
First, the ongoing and ever-expanding list of Base Classes (and, yes, I'm old school enough that I consider everything beyond the core 4 class concepts to be part of this expansion), and the on-going failure to actually balance out the effectiveness of the new classes compared to the 4 core class concepts.
Second, the ongoing and ever-expanding list of Feats that can be selected. In order to have Feats to include in the next book (to help sell it), Feats are being reduced in scope and effectiveness. The Whip Mastery Feats, for example. There was already a Feat to allow you to take Ranged attacks without provoking AoOs. Noting that this feat applies to Whip Attacks would have been simple, kept the system more concise and consistent, and completely failed to provide something new and shiny to help sell that next book. Improved Whip Mastery, Snap Shot, and Improved Snap Shot are all basically the same Feat, broken into different pieces and over-specialized in order to be able to create different Feat chains that can be marketed directly to different groups of players. Such similar Feats in the core of the system don't explicitly require specific weapons, they apply to any weapon which could benefit that the character has Weapon Focus for (and you may note that Weapon Focus IS a requisite for all 3 of those Feats).
Third, the ongoing and ever-expanding CMB option list, that the rules require independent and explicit specialization in each option, even as more are created again and again. This is an area where the Fighter class should REALLY shine, but the attempt to simplify the rules to CMB and CMD was effectively destroyed by the inconsistent definitions and action types required for different types of CMB activation, let alone the grossly mis-leading, overly-simplified representation of how to calculate the CMB and CMD scores for a given character.
Fourth, the ongoing and ever-expanding spell lists for the spell casting classes. Every book which contains spells needs to have at least a few spells in it which those players will want to use more than the spells they already have access to, in order to help drive the sale of books. This means that every book which has spells in it, has a few which power creep the capability of the spell casting classes at multiple points in the power progression.
Now, that is NOT an all inclusive list, not by any means. But the Fighter Class, as one of the truly core 4 classes, has no inherent problems. The Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard each have good strengths and weaknesses which are best balanced by having the full set of core classes represented. Declaring one of the foundation stones of the player part of the system declared unworkable says more about player perceptions than it does about the system depending on the existence of that stone.
I've found that most Faires talk a much bigger game about anachronisms than they actually put work into preventing. The goal is to entertain paying customers well enough that they will choose to not only spend more while there but also pay to come back. This means working hard to keep their actors in character whenever they are garbed, but it does not mean preventing every possible anachronism (just the obvious ones, like watches or sunglasses, but not prescription eyewear).
Very, very few (if any) of the "big name" acts are "pure", and there is a wide enough variety in the declared time frame for various Faires that those acts couldn't stay profitable while maintaining a wardrobe accurate across the 300~400 years of dates and wide variety of locations that the Faires are theoretically set at.
Historical accuracy is honestly pretty far down the list of concerns for Faires. Among the many details that I have NEVER seen implemented at a Faire, the nobility tended to wear wooden platforms under/around their cloth footwear so that they didn't soil their shoes in the mud and dung which filled the streets.
The Faires in Omaha, Des Moines, and the surrounding area all regularly have vendors dedicated to American Indian crafts, Mountain Man accessories, and, yes, even gaming products and modern jigsaw puzzles. Now, these Faires are all very small by comparison to places like Bristol, KC, St Louis, Scarborough, & Texas (let alone the big names form the coasts), but the odds are much greater that he's talking about a small Faire rather than a large one. Just because of how many more small ones there are.
The KC Ren Faire has (for the past few years) had one of their weekends where the local gaming community (a large club) hosts gaming demonstrations (multiple tables with rotating judge responsibility through the entire weekend) in the special events area of the Faire Grounds.
The demos MUST be free to the (already) paying public, and, honestly, NEED to be open to any and all comers to try and experiment with the idea of these games that they may have never actually looked at before. The point of running demonstration tables at a public event like this is to attract new blood to existing gaming opportunities, not to replace those existing gaming opportunities.
Many Faires have a LARP that they run in order to increase patron involvement (and increase repeat gate sales during a single season). If any of the Faires that you are thinking of trying to work with has one of these, you should consider trying to get permission to set up near the LARP HQ.
Demos are a lot more work than running a module, BTW. You have far less variety in what you do, you repeatedly explain the basic rules to people who have never heard them before, and there will always be people judging you harshly because of their prejudices. That's just how life goes.
Full disclosure: I did not participate in judging demos at the KC Ren Faire. The same club was also asked to help make the LARP happen for the first few years, and I was out barking for the LARP, gathering players for what the Faire was trying to make a major, recurring event, instead. I have run dealer room floor demos for WotC at both Gen Con and Origins several years running. Even within our own community, some people provide negative feedback based on their prejudice against a company or system, not caring about your effort. This is simply life.
Saying yes to the idea is EASY. You've already done that.
Changing the idea and trying to justify those changes in order to increase the likelihood of success is a very different thing.
If the idea appears to you to best be implemented mechanically with a CMB/CMD opposed check, then that is the best way to implement the idea. The fact that this method leaves the character unlikely to succeed is underwhelming, but there is a HUGE difference between saying yes to the idea and rewriting the mechanics in order to increase the odds of success.
For table-top RPGs like Pathfinder, the difference between Strategy and Tactics is really pretty simple.
Strategy is long-term, and involves major decisions that create/limit the opportunities available to your character throughout the existence of that character.
Tactics are short-term, and tend to be limited to a single "scene". If you are dealing with a dungeon crawl style event (or other timeline constrained series of events), then choosing when to use limited resources (this "scene" or later) is also tactical.
Feat selection, spell selection (into spell book/witch's familiar or onto spell's known list), item and enhancement purchases, etc. are all strategic decisions.
Spell preparation (as appropriate) can be either strategic or tactical, based on whether you have your "generic load" or have tailored for a situation.
Simplistically, any decision made while using a battle-mat is a tactical decision.
You need to be willing to alter strategic decisions based on what you see/experience/learn, but you need to have a strategic plan in order to maximize your character's contribution to the group.
BTW, a strategic decision to be less useful on the battle-mat in order to be far more capable as a diplomat or B&E specialist is completely valid. Some people tend to forget that strength off the battle-mat can be as important as strength on it.
Easy. The PFS Guide says that you have to own the book in question, whether hardback or pdf. Which version does purchasing HL get you? Neither? Than it doesn't meet the requirements in the PFS Guide.
This is not rocket science. It IS about protecting copyright and profits, though. You do not need any of the alternate resource material to play and enjoy the PFS campaign. If you choose to use any of the alternate resource material in the PFS campaign, the cost of entry is DESERVED profit for Paizo.
As an old guy, well-known in my local community, I keep all my dead trees in an old book bag in my car. When we're playing in a store or other constrained space I ask the judge which (if any) of the alternate sources that I am using he would like me to bring to the table. At public sessions with plenty of space, I tend to just drag the entire bag along in the first place.
At conventions, I just assume I need to bring everything.
I play a trip/disarm/reposition flails family build as a PFS character.
There have been a couple of mods where he was simply kinda present. There have been far more mods where he was the party hero. Enemy group includes rogues who flank and gank? Strip their weapons, move them out of position, keep them on the ground where they are easier to hit, etc. I had one player complain that my fighter was dealing zero damage. When I asked how much damage he had taken during the same fight, he stopped complaining.
Greater Disarm is far superior to Sunder for dealing with enemy weapons. It is faster, keeps the loot intact, and puts distance between the opponent and their weapon.
Reposition is best if used by a player with tactical sense/knowledge. If you don'thave a reason to move the oponent, don't reveal the ability until you DO see a reason to use it!
Well, we sold most stuff off, had PC crafting going on, and as we entered Book 6, my character was RIGHT AT recommended wealth (which, as a two-weapon warrior, means both weapons were less powerful than expected for a single weapon warrior at the same level), the Paladin/Synthesist wielding Suishen WITH Suishen's value was only a little past recommended wealth, our Archery Ranger (Yes, he's using THAT bow, now) was under wealth and our Witch was WELL under wealth.
We're in the final stages (4 floors to go, I'm told) now, Level 15, and the group is under recommended wealth fairly significantly at this point. No more upgrades for my weapons, as an example.
If we had the gear we want for the final fight, though, I don't think we would be anywhere near as afraid of the potential conclusion as we are, though. The shortage from recommended wealth just ups the challenge a bit. That's not always bad in a story-first game.
