Shambling Mound

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Icyshadow wrote:
Manplant. Only the DM can houserule stuff, sadly. Even more sad is the fact that one of the better ones that I know is too lazy to houserule much of ANYTHING, and doesn't let me play my homebrew races

That makes me sad! Maybe bribe him/her with food? I am aware that it's typically the DM's job to create/approve house rules, but hopefully PCs should be able to contribute to the process. PC submits the house rule, DM approves (or doesn't approve, haha.) I feel like that's how a lot of houseruling goes down anyways.

Sorry if wording provoked "dude doesn't know what houseruling is, better help him out" post.


Isn't the whole point of roleplay games (and most games of any sort) to have fun?

It's more important to be right if it's about whether it's safe to drink the milk in the fridge or when i'm balancing my checkbook. When i'm playing PF, whether I be DM or PC, my primary goal is to have fun. I'd blatantly disregard rules and balance if it makes the game more fun (though usually it doesn't).

Unfortunately some people can only have fun when they're being right.


Enchanter Tom wrote:
Every feat that requires CE is junk, prove me wrong.

Can't tell if troll, or really and truly angry...?

Combat Expertise has been a source of player rage since its first printing, hahaha. It's definitely more of a "romantic" feat than a "practical" feat.

Also, I have a hard time believing that the Trip line feats are junk. A very hard time.

Enchanter Tom wrote:

The hell do I care? It's not like they're going to suddenly learn how to do math or care to produce a quality product.

Also, their forum interface is terrible.

Bashing on designers/developers in their own forum is uncouth, though. If you don’t like the way they do things then maybe you should try DnD 4.0 or GURPS? And post on their forums?

Lastly, if you don't like it because it's useless (many feats seem that way a la Prone Shooter), you can always houserule it into something you like, although it looks like a difficult feat to balance.


You have just entered...

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

That's really exciting though! Plane shift to that plane, TS, CAST ALL YOUR BUFFS in the forever effect, plane shift out!

...unless timeless means there is no time? Then TS wouldn't work at all, since there's no time to stop, right?


Peter J wrote:
I've tried playing fighters before, and while they do great melee damage, they're kinda boring to play in practice. Stand there and swing, every turn. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but what do you do to make fighters exciting to play, beyond watching the big damage pop up?

It's confusing to me because when you say, "boring to play," I don't know if it's the combat that's boring, the noncombat that's boring, or both!

if it's noncombat that's boring to you, maybe write up some quirks, personality traits, catch phrases, phobias, philias, etc., until you feel like you can get into your character?

if it's combat that's boring to you (and I think that it is), maybe go more "general" in your feat selection than specialized? Each level a fighter can basically open up an entirely new area of combat, so if you're bored with power attacking, you could get a bull rush/sunder feat, or get combat expertise to prepare for a different maneuver line, or get some ranged weapon feats so you can respond from a distance, or teamwork feats like Broken Wing Gambit for some team-attack type deals, oryou could go with any of the other fine build suggestions in this thread.

If it's combat flavor you're missing, I agree with what some of the other people are saying here: Ask the DM to make your battle actions more epic, or ask him/her if you can narrate your own battle actions to be a little more exciting.

...or...multiclass...? dun dun dun


I prefer the massive damage to the SoD just because of how it translates when a SoD spell moves from the hands of a PC to an NPC/monster. After all, a PC death affects the game a lot more than a monster death, usually, and for me, it's far more exasperating to have a PC get 1HK'd than it is exciting to 1HK a monster. It is totally depressing that you usually can't kill a tough monster in one hit with a spell called "Finger of Death," I agree on that.

Then again, i'm probably more likely to use a spell like that on mid-boss, or other right-hand-man/lackey creatures since his saves and hp are usually crappy enough to kill right off the bat and I don't want him giving the boss flanking or haste or whatever anyways.


The monk's always been my favorite class!

Since Pathfinder came out, I like playing a sunder-monk. It's satisfying to punch >insert enemy here's< wands, rods, cloaks, rings, weapons and/or armor to death and then get to wail on something naked. And with style feats and diverse class options it's hard not to be able to find a suitable build to fit your character.

My favorite archetypes are, in order:
Weapon Adept (just for the three attack rolls, sorry!)
Tetori (duuuuh luchador character)
Sensei (in real life i'm a karate instructor! whoa! also, I get to yell at party members for a mechanical reason)


Gunn wrote:
Seems like a flaw in the pathfinder mechanic to me

Ehhh isn't a metalworked item supposed to be more expensive than rope? Even if it wasn't, I feel like the 14gp difference shouldn't have a backbreaking effect on any party past level 1, and even for a bunch of baby chars, manacles seem a little more proof against more abstract escape attempts (such as using open flame to burn ropes or, idk, dipping bonds in milk to entice rats to chew through? Well, maybe not that last one, hahaha).

Anyways, I don't think it's a flaw in the pf mechanic, or at least not a really serious one.


Ravingdork wrote:
Do you have someone in you games who just doesn't understand optimization? Describe your experiences.

To answer OP's question, yes, yes I have.

I kind of enjoy those players though, because I have a harder time dealing with hardcore power gamers who focus maybe too much on optimization and not so much on roleplaying, which in my opinion, is more important.

With a lot of optimizers out there, sometimes I feel like those players are competing against me, trying to "beat" me, rather than roleplaying with me. Whereas a player who chooses a weaker spell because it fits their play style or character better is usually more fun to play with, as long as they don't TPK by preparing Charm Person in every slot in the middle of a forest or something like that.


Heaven's Agent wrote:

Doesn't matter, because in the case of those other items the spell is included as a prerequisite within the item's description, making it applicable to waive at a +5 increase to the DC.

As I said, currently we can't look at other items for clarification in such matters; there are too many different and conflicting variables. You instead have to look at the logic of the item on an individual basis:

  • Prerequisites to create items can be waived
  • Prerequisites are specified as appearing within an item's description
  • Potions do not have item descriptions
  • Therefore potions do not have prerequisites
  • Therefore the spell to be placed in the potion is not considered a prerequisite
  • Therefore the spell to be placed within the potion cannot be waived.

    Additionally:

  • In order to create a potion, the crafter must have prepared or know the spell to be placed within a potion
  • That makes sense to me! I don't think it can get any clearer than that.

    In regards to the alchemist specifically, alchemists don't know "spells,' they know formulae, which can get converted from spells, but aren't spells, even though they are referred to as extracts from spells. Does this mean that formulae still count as spells?


    boy I screwed up the BBCode on that last post, sorry!

    Anyways if the developers have a cited precedence then that's the rule.


    "For potions, scrolls, and wands, the creator can set the
    caster level of an item at any number high enough to cast
    the stored spell but not higher than her own caster level."

    Since the spell isn't on his list, why would we assume it would have to be based on the alchemist's caster level? So the minimum caster level of whoever can cast it most efficiently I would assume be sufficient.

    The default check to create items is 5+CL of the item as far as I understand it.

    Wouldn't adding +5 for insufficient caster level, and +5 for a caster level higher than your own be double jeopardy?

    Well, I'd assume we'd use the alchemist's CL for the spell because he's the one creating the potion using his magical telent, but you could use the a wizard's instead, I guess-- if the alchemist is considered as good as potion making as a wizard is at casting spells, then perhaps you could translate the CL using the wizard's CL, which makes sense, especially if you use a wizard's spellbook to learn the inflict spell (though that would lower the DC by 5 anyways!).

    I know it sounds circular, but, raw, you can't set your own CL to 7, of course, so there's the first +5, but you must set it at CL 7 anyways, so there's the other +5. You could rule that it's not fair to charge a character twice for similar prereqs, and I feel the same way, although it makes crafting items uncomfortably easy for me!


    I'd think that, raw, there are too many undefinable terms to conclusively agree on what prereqs can be converted to DC and which ones can't, at least in terms of spell knowledge, since potions don't require a spellcraft check to use, yet they do require the spell to be known, like a spell completion/trigger item.

    i'd think that, rai, an element of experimentation in the creative process of alchemy and potion making would allow for an alchemist to create a potion of a spell he or she did not know, and that this experimentation would be difficult and unreliable until he or she had developed an appropriate formula at the correct character level.


    In regards to the correctness of the method used to create the potion, there is no raw violation of the item creation rules in your nefarious plot. I think.

    In regards to the correctness of the DC to create, 5 + (min caster level) + (unmet prereq)*(5) is also correct, but the min. caster level of a 3rd level spell for an alchemist is 7, so in conclusion,

    5+7+ 5(unknown spell)+ 5(insufficient caster level for spell) +5(caster level higher than your own level)=27

    The last two prereq additions are somewhat circular, since you must set the caster level at 1st because it cannot be higher than your own level, but because the caster level for that spell must be higher than your own level, it does not meet either prerequisite. On the plus side, i don't think you have to add a +5 to the DC just because you're crafting it (unless "+5 crafting" is in regards to another prereq I didn't catch, bringing the total to 32).

    OR, a conscientious DM might rule an additional +5 because that spell is not even a class spell for an alchemist, but this is not a raw ruling. Besides an alchemist can learn any "potionable" spell from a wizard's spellbook.

    I believe, however, that the nefarious plot can still be executed as planned with a few more modifiers anyways, such as mwk tools, or traits, or maybe feat selection. I think the item creation DC settings are a little vague and complex anyways.


    One of the largest issues of postepic play for me is providing a reasonable growth base for my characters.

    I often wonder if epic characters could stop gaining experience points de jure but continue to gain experience points that award feats or skill points or new/existing class abilities/spells. I feel that horizontal growth is appropriate for epic pcs because it fills the basic desire to improve.

    My question is, then, is epic vertical growth (BAB, saves, spells per day etc) a significant source of unbalance in the pathfinder setting? Is horizontal growth (spells known, feats, skill points, etc?)


    wraithstrike wrote:
    Cleric of Caffeine wrote:
    I'm curious if the additional damage given to the paladin using his smite evil ability would apply to sunder attempts of the items carried by the target of his smite, or would the item ITSELF have to be evil in order to receive the additional 1 per paladin level?

    The sword would have to be evil.

    edit:RAW it works against the an evil weapon, but a DM may still not allow it.

    As an interesting side effect, using Greater Sunder transfers excess damage to the wielder, which would gain the benefit of smite evil.

    if the evil character's weapons are aligned due to a class ability or magic property (meaning they overcome damage reduction of that alignment type), then they are considered evil, and smite evil applies to the weapon, since successful sundering precedes a weapon damage roll.


    Hobbun wrote:

    Ok, I stand corrected.

    Although to be fair, I was not making any arguments RAW about a Still+Silent not provoking AoO’s. I agree with that. My question was on RAI in regards to using Bluff and casting a spell. Selgard explained it well enough, though.

    With Improved Feint, it's possible to feint and cast a spell in one round. It is not possible to use the bluff skill in any other manner in conjunction with casting a spell unless a) the spell is cast as a free, swift, or immediate action, b) you have a special ability from a class or similar sort that modifies this rule, or c) you are delivering a secret message that is ruled to take less than a standard action (this rule is RAI since it is difficult to gauge how long a given message may take to relay. a hidden message takes twice as long to relay as normal, but the metagame application does not specify a numerical time frame for a free, swift, or immediate action, which spoken messages often are ruled to represent)


    Dear Paizo Community,

    This is my homebrew base class thread. The purpose of it is to post base classes I have created. Feel free to critique, comment, or modify these classes, or post any other relevant opinions or even your own material (just don't take my classes and say they're your own!)

    I will answer any questions regarding the applications of the rules for using any aspect of this class, or any discrepancies between how this class is used and the official Pathfinder gameplay rules. I will probably not answer any questions or comments about the aethestics, roleplaying, or "balancing" aspects of the classes I submit, because I invested enough time in them so that they are balanced for my campaigns and play style. I try not to submit untested or unbalanced work to my peers! Yet there's always someone who thinks an idea is underpowered or overpowered or needs to otherwise be modified, and I don't like to explain or justify my opinions for roleplay devices I've already perfected (for my purposes).

    Because of the format settings of this forum, I cannot provide the class summary tables that I am so fond of. I have used an annotated
    system instead.

    Sincerely,

    Manplant

    POSSESSED ARM

    Level: base (1-20)
    BAB: High (as fighter)
    Fort: Good
    Ref: Poor
    Will: Good
    Possession Abilities: A possessed arm has a number of possession abilities equal to 1/2 her class level, rounded down.

    One minute I’m telling her the temple is closed to the public, and the next I’m being slammed into a wall by this freakish shining arm. It looked like it didn’t...belong to her

    --Risham, watch lieutenant 3rd rank, Kerzhen Town Guard

    Possessed arms are a mystery even to themselves. Some historians think they are the holy or unholy results of a union between celestial, demonic, or devilish patrons and the common races. Others believe that possessed arms are simply unwilling hosts for beings that have found a living instrument with which to do their bidding. Others still contend that these hosts are not unwilling at all, but have signed some sort of contract to follow the agenda of their symbiote beings, often known as patron beings, in order to become living weapons. There is definitely some truth in this theory, for possessed arms are known far and wide for the devastation they cause to their enemies. What little is known about them, is that they definitely share the nature and disposition of the extraplanar outsiders that they draw their powers from. Their conviction, and their willingness to use force to further their goals, is legendary. As a result, possessed arms are distrusted, feared, and ostracized in most societies. They are often mercenaries, guardians, or wandering crusaders, working for the cause of the forces that grant them their strength. Possessed arms are never referred individually as possessed arms, but rather for the type of patron being they serve. They may be known as either a demon arm, devil arm, angel arm, or azata arm.
    Role: A possessed arm can fly into a state of furious strength, called a possession, that works much like a barbarian’s rage. A possessed arm’s alignment has a serious bearing on her battle style; an evil possessed arm reflects demonic or devilish tendencies, becoming a dark, malevolent creature that harnesses fire and darkness to obliterate opponents, while good possessed arms have angelic or azatic mannerisms and become a symbol of might for the righteous and a symbol of fear for the evil. Thus, the possessed arm makes an excellent frontline fighter, demolishing foes before they can effectively fight back.
    Alignment: Cannot be neutral (must be lawful good, lawful evil, chaotic good, or chaotic evil).
    Hit Die: 1d10

    CLASS SKILLS
    The class skills for a possessed arm are Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Fly (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str).

    Skill Ranks per Level: 2+Int modifier

    CLASS FEATURES
    All of the following are class features of the possessed arm.
    Weapon And Armor Proficiencies: Possessed arms are proficient with simple weapons, light and medium armor, and light shields.
    Aura (Su): Much like a cleric, a possessed arm radiates an aura
    corresponding to her alignment. A demon or devil arm has a chaotic/lawful evil aura respectively, while an azata arm or angel arm has a chaotic/lawful good aura respectively. See the detect evil spell for details.
    Manifest Arm (Ex): This ability gave rise to the possessed arm’s title. A possessed arm can cause her primary arm to transform into a weapon bestowed to her by supernatural forces. At first level, she chooses a type: demon, devil, angel, or azata. This choice is irreversible. A demon arm is often black, pulsating, and oversized; a devil arm is often scaled, red, and spined; an angel arm is a large, shining arm, sometimes accompanies by a small feathered wing at the shoulder, and an azatic arm usually looks like a pale, muscular arm with blue tattoo-like designs, that sheds light like a torch. Manifesting an arm is a move action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
    This arm does 1d8 damage at level one (assuming Medium sized character). At fifth level, and every five levels after, its damage increases one step (1d10, 2d6, 2d8). A demon arm does slashing damage, a devil arm piercing, and angel or azata arms do bludgeoning damage. All of the types of arms threaten critical on a 19 or 20. A possessed arm may wield weapons or items normally while the arm is manifested. The arm is very noticeable and incurs a -10 penalty to any Disguise check to hide it while manifested. When not manifested the possessed arm’s primary arm twitches or clenches occasionally. This makes it very hard for a possessed arm to conceal her nature.
    Possession (Ex): A possessed arm can willingly sacrifice some control over herself to allow a surge of power to overcome her, filling her with the strength and conviction of the extraplanar beings that take refuge in her body. For a number of rounds equal to 4+her Charisma modifier per day, a possessed arm can enter possession. Every level she gains gives her another 2 rounds of possession daily. While in this state, she gains a +4 bonus to Strength and Charisma (but not Constitution), and a +2 bonus to Will saves. She takes a -2 penalty to AC, as her fighting style is furious and powerful but leaves her open to attacks. Unlike a barbarian, a possession is lucid for whatever force takes control of the possessed arm, and as a result a possessed arm can use Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma-based checks as normally, and can even cast spells normally, if she could cast spells from another class, for example.
    A possessed arm can end a possession as a free action. Afterwards she is fatigued for a number of rounds equal to 2 times the number of rounds she was possessed. She cannot enter a possession while fatigued or exhausted but otherwise may enter a possession at any time she is conscious, even multiple times in an encounter.
    Fast Movement (Su): A possessed arm moves at a chilling speed. Her base land speed increases by 10 feet when she is wearing medium or lighter armor and is carrying no more than a medium load.
    Possession Abilities (Su): A possessed arm’s possession becomes more versatile and more powerful as the possessed arm does. She gains a new possession ability at 2nd level and every even level thereafter. Unless otherwise noted, a possessed arm can only take each ability once, and each is ability is considered a supernatural ability that does not provoke and attack of opportunity unless otherwise noted.
    Armored Arm: The possessed arm can use heavy armor and heavy shields and still gain all class bonuses, including fast movement and uncanny dodge abilities. The possessed arm is not considered proficient with any type of armor or shield because of this ability (she must still take the correct proficiency feats to avoid penalties for using such armor or shields).
    Furious Dash: When possessed, the possessed arm gains a 5-foot bonus to her base speeds. This ability can be taken twice.
    Power Arm: When possessed, the possessed arm’s affected limb grows more muscular. She applies 1.5 times her Strength modifier to attacks made with the arm while possessed, and its damage is increased by one step, as though it was one size larger. The possessed arm must be of 6th level or higher before selecting this ability.
    Ferocity: The possessed arm becomes a raging fury during possession. She gains an extra attack when she uses the full attack option, at her full base attack bonus with a -5 penalty, while possessed.
    Oversized Arm: While possessed, a possessed arm with this ability increases the reach with the arm by 5 feet, as is grows so large it almost dominates the rest of its wielder’s body. This increases the reach of any weapons so wielded by the arm by 5 feet.
    Damage Reduction: The possessed arm becomes more aligned with her patron being, giving her damage reduction 1/ the opposing aspect of her alignment on the good/evil axis (for a lawful good angel arm, she would gain DR 1/ evil). This DR increases by 1 for every 4 levels the possessed arm has, to a max of DR 5 at 20th level. A possessed arm must be of at least 4th level to select this ability.
    Fearsome Possession: With this ability, a possessed arm becomes a ziggurat of good or evil when possessed, striking fear into the hearts of all who oppose her. Every creature not immune to fear effects must make a Will save (DC 10+1/2 class level+Charisma mod) or be shaken if they are within 30 feet of her when she enters possession. There must be a clear line of sight for this ability to work, and a creature cannot be affected more than once by this ability in a 24-hour period.
    Extended Possession: The fury of a possessed arm with this ability seems endless to her foes. She gains an extra 3 rounds of possession daily. This ability can be taken multiple times; its effects stack.
    Unstoppable: The possessed arm smashes through opponents when possessed. She gets a +2 bonus to bull rush and overrun checks while possessed, which increases to +4 at 13th level.
    Power Grasp: A possessed arm with this ability enjoys crushing the life out of her foes. She gets a +2 bonus to grapple checks while possessed, which increases to +4 at 13th level.
    Protection: A possessed arm with ability gains the benefit of protection from good or protection from evil spells while possessed, depending on her alignment (a good possessed arm gains protection from evil; an evil one gains protection from good). Her caster level equals her class level for this ability, but this ability automatically ends whenever her possession does and only begins if she enters possession. A possessed arm must be at least 12th level before selecting this ability.
    Flight: While possessed, the possessed arm gains the ability to fly, as leathery, batlike wings, or shining, feathered ones erupt from her shoulders. Her fly speed equals her land speed, and she has good maneuverability. She must be at least 10th level to select this ability. At 18th level, she can use this ability whenever her arm is manifested (not just when she is possessed).
    Destructive Possession: This kind of possessed arm snaps weapons like twigs and crashes through walls and other obstacles to get to her foes. She gains a +2 bonus to sunder checks while possessed, and ignores hardness equal to one-half her class level (maximum 10).
    Erratic Possession: A possessed arm with this ability moves unpredictably, granting her a +1 dodge bonus to AC while possessed. This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level.
    Reactive Strike: A possessed arm with this ability is allowed an attack of opportunity to an opponent that enters or leaves a square she threatens, even if that action normally wouldn’t provoke an attack of opportunity. This counts as her attack of opportunity for the round and can be used only once per possession.
    Resist Control: A possessed arm with this possession ability gains powerful resistance to attempts to control her mind or body, as her patron being defends its weapon. When possessed, She gains a +2 morale bonus to resist all compulsion effects, which increases to +4 at 7th level and +6 at 14th level.
    Morphous Arm: With this ability a possessed arm can alter the shape of her arm to devastating ends. She can choose to do bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage with her arm attack while it is manifested. She may only do one type of damage at a time.
    Rage Summon: A possessed arm with this ability enlists aid from an extraplanar realm when she is possessed. She can cast summon monster I as the spell, as standard action, when she is possessed. Her caster level equals her class level for this ability. She can only summon creatures that share the same alignment with her. At 6th level, she can use this ability as summon monster II, at 13th level, summon monster III; at 19th level, summon monster IV. This ability is usable once per day, and is considered a spell-like ability.
    Piercing Sight: A possessed arm with this ability gets darkvision out to 60 feet and can see that far even in magical darkness.
    Darkness/Daylight: With this ability, an angel or azata arm can cast "daylight", as the spell, as a spell-like ability once per day while possessed. A demon or devil arm casts "darkness" in the same manner. She can use this ability twice per day at 7th level, and three times per day at 13th level. The possessed arm’s caster level equals her class level for this ability. A possessed arm must be 4th level to select this ability. This ability is considered a spell-like ability.
    Arm Ray (Su): A possessed arm of 2nd level gains the ability to channel the energy of her patron being into a powerful force to be used against her foes. Once per day, she can fire a ray of untyped energy at a foe up to 60 feet away, as a ranged touch attack. The ray deals 1d6 damage per two class levels of the possessed arm. An angel arm may choose to have this damage be typed as positive energy damage (which hurts undead and heals living creatures); an azata arm can choose to have this damage do electricity damage; a demon arm can deal negative energy damage; and a devil arm can deal flaming damage. The possessed arm can deal only one type of damage with this attack.
    Vendetta (Ex): A possessed arm has a particular hatred (or rather, her patron being does) against creatures of the opposing alignment. At 3rd level, a demon or devil arm gains a +2 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls, against good creatures; and can cast detect good as the spell at will an angel or azata arm gains these bonuses against evil creatures, and can cast detect evil. These bonuses only occur when the arm is manifested.
    Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 2nd level, a possessed arm’s unnatural senses and reflexes make her difficult to box in. She gains the uncanny dodge special ability, which functions as a barbarian’s does.
    Enhancements (Su): As a possessed arm grows in level, her arm grows more powerful and more aligned with the being it came from. At 5th level, the arm is considered a +1 weapon. Every five levels after, the possessed arm gains access to different enhancements, which act like regular weapon enhancements and are active whenever the arm is manifested. At 10th level, a possessed arm can choose one of the following enhancements:
    bane (evil outsider) for angel arms or azata arms;
    bane (good outsider) for demon arms or devil arms;
    flaming for devil arms;
    shocking for azata arms;
    vicious for demon arms;
    thundering for angel arms.
    At 15th level, the possessed arm gains another +1 enhancement bonus (causing the possessed arm’s arm weapon to be a +2 weapon). At 20th level, the possessed arm may choose one of the following enhancements to add to her arm:
    holy for angel or azata arms
    unholy for demon or devil arms
    disruption for angel arms
    shocking burst for azata arms
    wounding for demon arms
    flaming burst for devil arms.
    Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 5th level, a possessed arm’s uncanny dodge ability improves. She gains the improved uncanny dodge extraordinary ability.
    One Of Them (Su): At 9th level a possessed arm shows signs of becoming something different--she shows signs of demonic or fiendish, angelic or azatic personality traits, mannerisms, and minor physical alterations. Her voice may change, or she may speak primarily in a language other than Common. She gains a +4 bonus to all Charisma based checks against outsiders that share her alignment.
    Greater Possession (Su): At 11th level a possessed arm is overcome with infernal, fiendish, or celestial power. Her bonuses to Strength and Charisma increase to +6 while she is possessed and she gains a +3 morale bonus to Will saves rather than a +2 bonus.
    Indomitable Will (Su): The will of the patron being augments the will of the possessed arm it shares control with. A possessed arm of 14 levels gains a +4 bonus on Will saves to resist enchantments while possessed. This bonus stacks with any bonuses she already receives from possession.
    Tireless Possession (Su): At 17th level, a possessed arm and the body of the creature that grants her power are almost indistinguishable. She can manifest her arm as a free action. She is no longer fatigued after a possession.
    True Possession (Su): At 20th level a possessed arm is no longer separate from the being or bloodline that has so dominated her life and fused with her spirit. She gains the same subtype as the type of arm she has (an angel arm gains the angel subtype, a demon arm the demon subtype, etc). Her possession stat bonuses to Strength and Charisma increase to +8, and her morale bonus to Will saves increases to +4.

    Author’s Notes:
    The possessed arm was a pet project of mine. I’ve been fascinated with the prospect of a “possessed” frontline fighter, like to the barbarian, but with a flavor of alignment and magical ability rather than brutal, but mortal, strength. Unfortunately, my efforts at creating a melee class with such a non-melee theme was always hindered by the lack of a theme that unified strength and the symbiotic relationship that the possessed, well, possess. Until I saw an old picture of Nightmare from the Soul Calibur video game series--what a terrifying arm! This inspiration was enough to piece together framework for a class that originally failed (it was based on copying abilities from demons, devils, and angels from the Bestiary). Slowly I replaced abilities of my design with abilities modified from the Pathfinder barbarian until, soon, I had created the possessed arm.
    I realize the class is too much like the barbarian to ever warrant a place in the published Pathfinder world, except perhaps as a barbarian variant class (or a copyright infringement case!). It is intended to be a base class for those who enjoy the idea of polarized alignments as a focus of somewhat natural ability. For cleric-players who wanted to do more damage or barb-lovers that wanted a supernatural edge. The abilities of the possessed arm reflect a melee fighter who still depends on an otherworldly source; a fighter who can be ferocious and loquacious. A paragon of any given mentality, specializing in besting those of opposing alignments in straight battle.
    Tactically, the possessed arm is less a tank and more a devastating opportunist. More like a monk with a higher attack bonus and enough hit points to survive a blunder or tough encounter. It is nothing special to play as until in possession, I’m afraid. PCs could make up for this by roleplaying the class with great depth. That’s how my PC’s demon arm does it-- he has a bad attitude and a cat-and-mouse mentality befitting someone who kills for fun and profit.


    This is a rough essay regarding the Oracle base class. Please critique it. I know I’m not the only member on the board; if you are critiquing this essay on a thread, please address your response to me or quote a part of the essay you are using as reference so I know that you are responding to me.

    Letter to Paizo, 2

    In regards to the new Oracle base class.

    Dear Paizo,

    I have recently been devoting a great deal of my GM time to the study of your two new base classes, the Cavalier and the Oracle. This essay includes some of my playtest data on the Oracle class. As with most of my in-game studies, I awarded the class to a beginning player to observe its effects on the PC with less bias and a more frank view of how well the game or aspect thereof is working for them. Having only recently converted to Pathfinder, I had my player shelve his druid and make an oracle of the same level (fringe fifth level). He recognized early on that the foci of the oracles were akin to domains of the cleric. He liked them much more than cleric domains because they created more (and more powerful) options available to his PC. He had settled on the Stone focus after an hour of debate and discussion with the play group. Ironically, he had chosen his curse to be Clouded Sight, but then elected to acquire the Crystal Sight revelation. I told him this was counterproductive and he decided to be Haunted. For the sake of expediency let’s us his character name, Shorm (from Shorm the Coniferous as a druid to Shorm the Stoneclad as an oracle) to describe his reactions and play strategy during a campaign.

    Upon the completion of character sheet, I noticed that his sheet was less cluttered than any other spellcasting class I had ever made a character sheet for (I’ve made most of them). The straightforwardness of the oracle’s abilities make a fine base class for beginners and perhaps would have made a feasible core class. Shorm’s spell selection process was a little confusing for him, because he did not know which spells from the cleric spell list would be useful to him. I told him to look for any spells with the [acid] and [earth] descriptors. he couldn’t find very many, I’m afraid. I suggested using the druid spell list instead, but he, knowing that I was studying a playtest class, elected to stick to the rules.

    My first suggestion, therefore, is creating an oracle spell list. I know it is a hard, tedious process, but it will give a vast majority of players more viable spell selections if they choose foci based on elements. I feel a new spell list would also balance the nonelemental foci such as the Bones focus, since they often have a much, perhaps unfairly, larger selection of foci-related spells.

    Shorm led the party in terms of tactical superiority almost wire to wire. He almost drowned crossing a river because he had no ranks in Swim, but used his ranks in Climb to get elevation and simply leapt across it. He asked me if I would nullify the first 1d6 points of falling damage regardless of his Tumble check because his bones were stone-like. Shorm had quickly become an avatar of stone and earth, and roleplayed as such.

    Shorm’s player is a spell hoarder, if you are familiar with the term. He saves every spell for what he perceives to be an important or final incident, except spells with a specific purpose, such as omen of peril or spider climb. I often punish his tendency (just to show that meta-game planning doesn’t always work, not to punish his roleplay strategy) by putting a large but weak opponent in the path of the party, in this case, a Huge monstrous spider blocking their path through the forest. Facing no alignment restrictions, he cast inflict moderate wounds, used his acid arrow focus spell, and it was dead (the spider had 49 hp). The party assisted, or course. He then cast cure moderate wounds on himself, since I had the spider attack him on one of its two turns of combat. In short, he had become a very versatile spellcaster. His small number of spells turned his hoarding tendency into a deadly boss-beater. unfortunately for Shorm the real boss was yet to come; it was a 7th level Bones oracle, in this case (I wanted to play a nonelemental oracle and see how much more powerful, if at all, they were). With four first level spells left, he used his Exploding Shard revelation to ruin the skeleton minions of the oracle (even though I ruled that the shards did piercing damage). He cast shield, magic stones, and cure light wounds to heal and damage the opponents. His Steelbreaker Skin revelation did not work this time, but Shorm is determined to use it until it does.

    The Bones oracle I used was hard to hit with his Armor of Bones revelation, but his Resist Life revelation did more harm than help. The higher level Oracles I generated for test play showed a more noticeable difference in abilities; the Clouded Vision Battle oracle is a terrifying blind swordsman, and is now a favored PC template of mine.

    As a result of these encounters, he ran out of both revelations and spells fairly quickly.

    I had difficulty finding any other technical discrepancies with this class. I have observed complaints from the online community about the class being weak, especially at lower levels; most of their suggestion go into reworking the spell system to provide for more spells a day or a different spell list. I feel that such changes might be unnecessary if the oracle simply gained more revelations over the course of his level progression. Or perhaps make several minor revelations that can be used more often, or are always active. I personally do not see any need to change the spells known or the spells per day of the oracle. An oracle becomes, in combat, an opportunity combatant, but primarily serves as a supporting character. I am in the process of choosing special druid spells to add to the oracle’s class list so at least the selection process will make up for the lack of versatility and the relatively finite casting power. I might go so far as to allow oracles to choose spells from the cleric and druid spell lists, or allow them to choose which spell list of the two they would like to pick their spells from. That is also my suggestion to the design team. I would expect an oracle in my party to use their revelations and spells only when standard attack options aren’t working or the party looks to be losing ground. I suspect that they are much the spellcaster’s answer to the monk class; actually, a multiclass monk/oracle could be a very lethal combination. At higher levels, the oracle has both an effective set of melee abilities and an effective set of spellcasting abilities, making them seem underpowered at first but overpowered at last (again, much like the monk class). A 15th level oracle, with appropriate gear, that I played against a CR 11 barbed devil singlehandedly slew it in six rounds. Alone, against a CR 15 neothelid, she was slain in eight rounds, bringing the beast down to nearly half hp.

    As a roleplaying character, the oracle is a treasure for the PC and GM alike. The manifestation of the oracle’s curse is a useful tool for adding intrigue and interesting situations for the GM, and the thematic fixation of the oracle on his or her focus makes for a dedicated PC who has a clear idea of the oracle’s personality and lifestyle. Shorm will remain an oracle because his player enjoys the class so much. The image of a haunted, stoic, dwarven stone-mage is clear and compelling for Shorm’s player, skin slightly gray like rock, eyes glowing like gemstones as he summons earthly spires to crush his enemies and crystal sight to seek out a cavernous place to start a new clan.

    In conclusion, the oracle has been an explosive offensive force in my campaign testing. I feel that although it is a class for advanced players primarily, its limited casting ability is offset by powerful revelations and effective spells. A beginning player would often spend too many spells and revelations in one place; if you wish to design the class for beginners, I would suggest making a wider spell selection and more always-active abilities to make it easier to manage the expenditure of their power. My prediction is that the oracle will be the closest answer to the spellblade (otherwise known as the gish) that Paizo offers in the near future and that the oracle will carve out its niche as a multiclass option for characters of all classes.

    I realize that my solutions may have already been considered, and that similar observations are being made by the Pathfinder community. I understand that the design team may have different feeling on the power of the class and the balance of power as the oracle progresses, and I defer to their experience in any case. I plan to fully utilize the oracle class in future campaigns.

    I can send the stat blocks of any and all created characters upon request. This can be said for any character created in any of my essays unless otherwise noted.

    This is the unabridged version of the Oracle essay.

    -Manplant


    This is a rough essay regarding the cavalier class. Please critique it.
    Any material here that is quoted from the Advanced Player's Handbook playtest is quoted from the playtest. I briefly describe a class from the Player's Handbook 2, copyrighted to Wizards, but do not quote directly from text. In short, I have not plagiarized.

    Letter to Paizo, 1

    In regards to the new Cavalier base class

    Dear Paizo,

    As a player of eight years and a dungeon master of six, at only twenty years old, I’m afraid I don’t have the experience to properly address all or even any of the technical advantages or disadvantages of the cavalier base class. I have, however, made some observations through gameplay that I would like to share with the designers of the class, since that is, after all, what the class packet was intended to be used for. It should be noted that these observations take place in a homebrew campaign with beginner players (I feel that new ideas should always be tested on those unfamiliar with the system so that the reactions to the class are felt rather than thought out, if you understand my meaning).

    I adapted a 3.5 character (a gnome knight 3) with the player’s permission. The player was drawn to the knight base class (from which many of the cavalier concepts seem to be drawn) primarily because of the particular role in party play that it often fills--the alignment-driven combat tank/party leader. Her character (Lady Heldeguard by character name; let’s be informal and refer to her by it as Lady Helly) was tailored for this role, and fit well once converted, with primary abilities being Strength, Charisma, and Constitution. She was very excited about choosing an order to affiliate with, as most players are when given many options.

    The problem with Lady Helly as a knight was that the plethora of level-dependant abilities made it difficult for her player to keep track of them all. The knight’s challenge can be used in many situations, a certain number of times, for different effects, while the bonuses given to her in terms of armor, shields, and mounted combat left her character sheet a mess of my footnotes so she wouldn’t forget any viable options during combat. This variety put a great burden of complexity on the player’s memory to fully utilize Lady Helly’s abilities. And this is at 3rd level.

    Once converted, I can’t say I expected these problems to go away, after all, the class is to appear in the Advanced Player’s Handbook, not the beginner’s player handbook. I groaned inwardly as I realized I would have to rewrite her riding dog mount stat block & annotate it for her use. Thankfully the core rulebook has such an annotated block. Since the companion functioned exactly as a simplified druid companion, this was easy to run and maintain during combat. Since the bonuses to mounted combat were permanent and uniconditional (mounted charge only), it was easily used to run down foes (I had several orc rangers that were brutally murdered this way) in open areas, but was unavailable in strange or constrained terrain (which happened once the rangers were chased into wooded area). We can’t wait until level 11 to get Mighty Charge.

    When I told the player that Lady Helly could choose any of the given oaths for any of the given effects, she actually told me she would only use one oath (the oath of protection) and asked if she could always have the effect of the oath active as long as the conditions were met (in this case, she wanted the AC bonus as long as she was in combat adjacent to her ward, which, to her, was more like protecting than hoping that the warded character took no damage after she had spent a whole day waiting to gain its benefit). I agreed. In short, I would suggest making only a few oaths available to a given cavalier, and simplifying the effect conditions to be active until broken. It might also be better to exclude bonuses based on HD and rather use character level for all oath bonuses, since the former punishes players and DMs for using a certain play strategy. I created and tested my own 10th and 15th level cavaliers and found their oath powers to be equivalent of a medium magic item (max +5 bonuses on saves, checks, or rolls), a significant but not unbalanced boost, save in the instance where a 20th level character has four active oaths in four separate fields (+5 AC, +5 saves, +10 saves that include the previous general +5 and the specific +5 offered for some effects, and +5 attack rolls is a little much). I feel it would be much better to have two active oaths by 20th level and no more, doubly so since a player character does not want to feel her rolepalying choices must be oppressed in order to fight effectively. Here is my revised version of the cavalier’s oath ability.

    Oath: A cavalier can swear an oath at 1st level to do something particularly honorable. As long as the cavalier fulfills the conditions of this oath, he gains a bonus. If he breaks his oath, he loses this bonus for 24 hours, after which his oath is restored once the conditions are met (if he breaks this oath during this 24 hour period the time resets from the most recent violation). Once chosen an oath can be revoked only through a week’s worth of time rededicating oneself to a new cause. At 9th level a cavalier may take a second oath, so long as it does not conflict with the first. Although the DM and the PC set which oaths the cavalier is going to take, here are some examples of cavalier oath options:
    Oath of Loyalty: The cavalier swears to remain loyal to his allies and friends. When the cavalier makes this oath, he selects any number of allies that are within his line of sight. As long as the cavalier uses the aid another action on one of these allies once every 24 hours, he receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against enchantment (compulsion) spells and effects. If he goes for more than 24 hours without aiding another, and he is not present during combat or there is no combat or skill checks made on that day, he is not in violation of his oath (he does not have to create an opportunity to aid another to keep his oath). This bonus increases by +1 for every five levels the cavalier possesses.
    Oath of Protection: The cavalier vows to protect one individual and keep him from harm. When the cavalier makes this oath, he nominates one creature. If he remains adjacent to that creature at the end of his turn, the cavalier receives a +1 morale bonus to his AC. This bonus lasts as long as the target is adjacent to him. It is only violated if the cavalier refused to enter combat with his target or saves himself at his target’s expense (GM’s discretion) This bonus increases by +1 for every five levels the cavalier possesses.
    Oath of Purity: The cavalier swears to remain pure in both body and soul. The cavalier must remain free of alcohol, curses, diseases, drugs, and poisons to complete this oath (failing a saving throw against any one of these effects causes the duration to reset). Upon completion, he receives a +1morale bonus on saving throws against curses, diseases, and poisons as long as he keeps this oath and remains free from the listed impurities. This bonus increases by +1 for every five levels the cavalier possesses.
    Oath of Vengeance: The cavalier swears to slay all creatures of a specific kind, such as goblins, mummies, or bone devils. As long as the cavalier kills a creature of the selected type once a week, he receives a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls made against the specific kind of creature.This bonus increases by +1 for every 5 class levels of the cavalier. A cavalier can swear this oath more than once.
    Oath of Justice: The cavalier swears to bring a specific individual or creature to justice, be it through capturing individual or slaying him. Upon completing this oath, the cavalier receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws for 1 week. This bonus increases by +1 for every 5 class levels of the
    cavalier.
    Oath of Greed: The cavalier vows to garner as much wealth as possible. As long as a cavalier does not relinquish possession of any item without receiving at least equal payment, he receives a +1 morale bonus on Appraise, Bluff, and Sense Motive skill checks. He loses this bonus if he willing gives away wealth or an object of value without receiving proper compensation. This bonus increases by +1 for every five levels the cavalier possesses.

    These oaths provide more of a hindrance to the PC but are simpler in their scope and usage. I realize that they may not be simple enough, and that some conditional issues have not been solved.

    The next area of the cavalier I looked at was the order system. In short, I think it is beautiful. I am absolutely happy with all aspects of it (as are my players) save one. Lady Helly often forgets to challenge. When I remind her, she just as often tells me it’s not worth the effort to keep up with! We both had similar issues with the knight’s challenge ability, because 1) it had to be renewed for each new enemy and 2) the effects, although useful, were often not useful enough. The restrictions and variables of the challenge ability for either knight or cavalier class has proven too much for PCs to keep up with. Although the cavalier’s challenge is a powerful tool in combat, I feel it might be better with less rules regarding its application. Especially since the cavalier already has an oath system, and an order system that works well without the challenge ability, I would suggest removing it entirely. If not that, I would suggest making it resemble the smite ability, usable once per day, against any one opponent, making cavalier a viable choice for former paladins who want to avoid alignment restrictions of that smite ability. OR, it is feasible to make it like a ranger’s favored enemy ability, but usable only against a specific foe, only a certain number of times per day. OR, since I have seen multiple complaints online about such use of similar (“pirated”) class features, you could engineer a (somewhat) new method for challenges, like the one below:

    Challenge!: A cavalier can challenge an opponent, calling on the force of his will and the strength of his sword to overwhelm his foes. He can make an attempt to demoralize a foe in combat, adding 1/2 his class level to the roll, and any other modifiers that normally apply to it. If he succeeds, he gains an advantage against that opponent, depending on the order he is a part of. He may only challenge once during an encounter. At first level, he may challenge only one opponent, but at 5th level, and every three levels after, he may challenge one more opponent at a time (using the same demoralize roll).

    From there I suppose your design team could create some advantages in the form of foe penalties or player bonuses. I used this method with Lady Helly, who, needing only to make one challenge per encounter (usually on her first turn) to utilize its function (as an Order of the Shield cavalier I thought it fitting for her to gain a +2 morale bonus to AC against her mark), shouted a variation of a phrase and title from her favorite death metal song: “Come Forth And Die!!”

    I realize that this may not be simple or original enough for your purposes, but the purpose of this essay is to provide suggestions for a remodel structure, not to provide a remodel structure.

    Unlike some forum members, I do not see any unbalancing issues with specific class abilities, except perhaps the Move As One order ability, which should be made daily rather than...encounter-ly. That aside, such abilities, though powerful, only shape one battle and a good GM can always recover from a fast-won battle with an insidious design or cunning twist. Some of these abilities may need to change according to the changes to other class abilities I have suggested, if they are adopted.

    I also read several complaints about the role-playing element of the class, which I found to be totally irrelevant on the basis that a player character’s roleplaying potential is never hurt by having more options. Many members of the online forums thought the class was unnecessary or pirated from other classes. I do not share this view because I cannot see the harm of having to choose between a few more classes, regardless of how specific their function or occupational role. A good PC makes a personality and backstory for her character, and a good GM rewards her with challenging decisions and recurring themes that either show her worth or expose her weaknesses. I don’t care about what niche the cavalier was meant to cover, be it mounted-unaligned-fighter-druid-knight or nonspellcasting-tank-mounted-combat-specialist blah blah blah. A PC thst wishes to play as a knight from her first level is well served with this class. The point of Pathfinder is to find paths, not follow predetermined ones.

    This is the unabridged version of my essay on the Cavalier base class.

    -Manplant