How willingly do all of you spend your PP?
I’m 3rd level (7 EXP) and currently have 8 PP and have spent three so far (11 Fame), where a friend of mine has 17 Fame and hasn’t spend any PP.
Do you think it’s better to hoard them, spend them sparingly, or are there those of you who is 10th level and have spent a majority of your PP?
What is your recommendation on saving PP?
That’s a good point. Although don’t you need the 5 PP as well to have your body carted off? Or is that normally when you are in a situation where it’s irretrievable? (i.e. party members can’t carry your body)
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What Fromper said, except recently I have been spending quite a bit more up front before "saving up" the 16 for raise dead. For casters I'll get some wands of mage armor and a healing wand, maybe a scroll or two. Melee I try to get a potion of fly as well as the healing wand.
Potion of fly at low levels will get you out of most trouble you can get in for only 2pp instead of 16. Also, I am now into my -8 and -9 characters. If they die and I don't have the PP, oh well. Moving on to next character.
I actually have a character (my -6) who is a suicidal gnome sorceress (abusing the detonate spell). I have spent her PP in vanities, scrolls, potions and wands or purpose, because if she dies why would she want to come back?!
That’s a good point. Although don’t you need the 5 PP as well to have your body carted off? Or is that normally when you are in a situation where it’s irretrievable? (i.e. party members can’t carry your body)
Normally only when irretrievable.
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My recommendation:
Spend 2 PP as soon as possible on a wand of cure light wounds (or, if you can activate it yourself, consider infernal healing instead).
Maybe spend 2 PP on some other essential item, such as another wand (shield, etc.) or a masterwork composite bow.
By 3rd level, spend another 2 PP on an oil of daylight (or spend gold if you'd rather, but definitely get one somehow if you can't cast it yourself).
After that, save up for the raise dead, unless you want a vanity or follower for RP purposes.
As I said, right now I have 8 PP at 3.1. I’ve spent PP three times to give me a bonus to my rolls (I know, a waste now while I think about it, but I was new to PFS).
I do have a Wand of CLW, but only 22 charges left. I bought it as a partial wand (24 charges at the time) through one of my chronicle sheets, it was 380 gold.
May I ask why Oil of Daylight? I mean I know what it does, but I haven't really heard it recommended until now.
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PFS scenarios are notorious for having darkness and deeper darkness show up regularly.
I never thought to get a potion of fly at low level. I make sure my PCs have ranged weapons in case of flying enemies, so I've only ever bothered with potions of fly for a mid-high level barbarian, so he could use his melee combat abilities against flyers.
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I never thought to get a potion of fly at low level. I make sure my PCs have ranged weapons in case of flying enemies, so I've only ever bothered with potions of fly for a mid-high level barbarian, so he could use his melee combat abilities against flyers.
Yea, it's expensive (2pp) at low levels, but between levels 1-4 where flying is not "expected" it can be an easy escape and difference between life or death.
Plus, lets you skip most of a chase scene. That will teach them! (chase scenes can go DIAF)
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I am in the minority on this, but I would rather spend the 750 gp for a wand of CLW than prestige. I was really conservative until I got the 16 for a backup plan. But now I can freely spend pp on things that I cannae spend the gold on (diamond/bone wayfinder, jewelry shop, etc. and island who doesn't want to own an island? :)
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I must just be paranoid, as I tend to "bank" enough PP for what I call the "TPK Special": 5PP for a body recovery, 16PP for a raise, and 8PP for a pair of restoration spells, for a total of 29PP banked. (Though I always get a healing wand first, and sometimes a second item; but after that, I bank until 29PP and then start getting other things.)
Come to think of it though, my cleric is high enough level now that he could cast his own restoration spells (though at 1,000gp of components each), so maybe I don't need to keep as much banked for him...
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Yeah, I tend to think that by the time I could bank enough for restoration spells, I'll be high enough level that the money will be easier to cover it, instead of needing the prestige. I really should bank enough for body recovery, though. It's not like I go on a spending spree once I have 16 banked, though, so I usually end up sitting on more than 21, even when I'm spending the prestige on some stuff.
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For me it varies by the character. I have one character that is a two handed heavy hitter but I wanted her to be able to do stuff out of combat. So I pumped her UMD and have spent a lot of prestige on wands and scrolls. Characters that don't need the wands or who I am more worried about losing permanently I bank up the prestige. It really just depends...
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I am in the minority on this, but I would rather spend the 750 gp for a wand of CLW than prestige. I was really conservative until I got the 16 for a backup plan. But now I can freely spend pp on things that I cannae spend the gold on (diamond/bone wayfinder, jewelry shop, etc. and island who doesn't want to own an island? :)
The problem with this is that you're looking at about 5 or 6 scenarios before you have the Fame to buy a wand a CLW (unless you're lucky enough to find it on a chronicle). When an experienced player shows up with a second level barbarian and no wand of CLW, demanding everyone else heal him because he's "saving for raise dead" . . . players are unhappy.
PFS scenarios are notorious for having darkness and deeper darkness show up regularly.
I never thought to get a potion of fly at low level. I make sure my PCs have ranged weapons in case of flying enemies, so I've only ever bothered with potions of fly for a mid-high level barbarian, so he could use his melee combat abilities against flyers.
Ok, I may get that Oil of Daylight, then. Although I do like the idea of a Fly potion.
As for spending the PP on a Raise Dead, does it work in PFS just like out of the CRB in that you lose two levels?
So if you are at 5.2, you would go down to 3.2?
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As for spending the PP on a Raise Dead, does it work in PFS just like out of the CRB in that you lose two levels?
So if you are at 5.2, you would go down to 3.2?
No. Take a look at page 562 of the CRB. When you take a negative level you are essentially treated as if you have a -1 penalty to just about everything (and lose 5 HP/negative level). Your experience level does not change. A restoration spell can remove one permanent negative level per casting (no more than one per week).
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I play risky and spend it all. Of course I shredded a character because there was no possibility of corpse retrieval (and then resurrection) at level 3, but my grand total of 12pp wouldn't have made a difference.
But it gets a little sweaty when you're facing the wrong place at the wrong time and you spent 15pp on a nice island retreat. Live dangerously and shred characters with pride.
No. Take a look at page 562 of the CRB. When you take a negative level you are essentially treated as if you have a -1 penalty to just about everything (and lose 5 HP/negative level). Your experience level does not change. A restoration spell can remove one permanent negative level per casting (no more than one per week).As for spending the PP on a Raise Dead, does it work in PFS just like out of the CRB in that you lose two levels?
So if you are at 5.2, you would go down to 3.2?
Ahhh, I like that much better.
Now I assume the 'once per week' pretty much equates to two scenarios? I can't recall a scenario yet where it has taken two weeks.
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Nope, since there is an indeterminate amount of time between scenarios, if you are raised at the end of a scenario you can just get both restorations.
The only time it really comes into play is if you are raised mid-scenario or (more likely) mid module. Then you can only have one of the two negative levels removed and have to play the rest of the scenario or module with one negative level.
Ouch! Is there any other way to get Restoration cast on you than using 4 PP a shot?
It would be 1700 GP(with component). I'm guessing a PC could cast it on you (off the scroll), but would an NPC do so? Or does PFS not allow that?
I'm just asking so you would be able to save some PP.
Oh right, having it cast through the service, had forgotten about that.
Even if you don't want to pay (gold) for both, you can split it. Pay one in gold and the other in PP.
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There are a couple low-level mods with wands of cure light wounds on the chronicle sheet. Usually I spend the first level either playing a module or GM crediting up, so if I get one of those chronicle sheets, I won't bother with the 2PP on the wand since I can just buy it. Of course, I usually play casters, so I don't spend a ton of money right away anyway.
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There are a couple low-level mods with wands of cure light wounds on the chronicle sheet. Usually I spend the first level either playing a module or GM crediting up, so if I get one of those chronicle sheets, I won't bother with the 2PP on the wand since I can just buy it. Of course, I usually play casters, so I don't spend a ton of money right away anyway.
Ya, for martials a mw weapon and a decent suit of armor start singing that sirens call REAAALY quick: both are forms of proactive healing.
The point is the trade off between spending and saving PP is that if you spend the PP you can buy consumables and other resources that in the end might save you from death
Yes, I understand that. But I’m just saying with the mandatory 16 (and possibly needed 5), it can already get very expensive with PPs. And if you have the extra money, it may be better to pay for one of the restorations to help alleviate the cost on your PPs.
Besides, at least you have the option to use gold or PP with Restoration, you are forced in using PP for the Raise Dead and rescue (if needed).
I know while playing with my friends at our home campaign, my GM would allow it. They would just take the cash off my character.
But I was not sure on the rules for PFS, whether you needed to pay for the service yourself.
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Another thing that is pretty common is if one person dies on a mission, everyone on the table chips in to pay for the raise dead. In this scenario, it can only be done with money, as you are not allowed to spend PP on someone else. Spellcasting services is the only allowed "wealth sharing" from players.
Whether people chip in or not varies by regions and from table to table, but it somewhat common. Here is pretty common to split the raise dead but let the player himself pay for the restorations. Also depends on the situation though. If a player chooses to bring a lvl 5 into a subtier 8-9 game just to play up and he dies, well, we are probably not chipping in.
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I spend away early levels. For any given character, I get a wand of CLW (it's polite to carry your own) and a cracked Dusty Rose Ioun Stone (+1 circumstantial bonus on Initiative Checks; nice to go fast :)).
I usually pick up the "2 skill +1" cracked ioun stones for any relevant skillsets, assuming I use both skills for the character.
There are a few others (Armbands of the grappler), and wands for mages (or wand of mage armor for monks) that I always pick up. Then a potion of fly just in case for any martial. Around level 5 I start saving for raise dead; which should be "online" by about 7 or 8 (when you'll probably start having more potential to need it).
But yes, cash on hand works fine for raises. I have yet to run into a table where people won't chip in money / items found (I've never needed that, my one death I had the PP; but I have given up some of my money from a module when someone else died and didn't have the PP or money for raise). It works as long as you can get them to a city in the context of the module (or they can get you).
I’m curious CRobledo, you said it is pretty common for the people at the table to chip in for a Raise Dead if someone dies, are your experiences at tables where everyone knows each other well/are friends? Or have you seen it happen a lot between strangers?
I’ve played with a friend of mine in all of my scenarios as we both head off to GenCon each year, but other than that, no one I know well.
Now, I have made some repeating and friendly acquaintances that I see each year, but I wouldn’t expect any of them to pay towards a Raise Dead for me.
I think it’s great that it’s something you’ve run into often.
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Like I said, I do think it varies by region. Here in GA the PFS community is quite large (dozens to hundreds of players), and we play a LOT. We have PFS every single Saturday, about every other Sunday, and twice more on two weekdays a month somewhere in the city. That is only PFS content; a bunch of people have homegames and play APs on the "off" days. So the community picks up common trends and "mannerisms", and they get spread around.
We all have a "common" way we fill chronicle sheets. Chronicle audits happen rarely, as we play with each other quite frequently. Most tables will split the cost of raise dead, especially at higher levels or if we were playing up (the extra gold is usually worth more than one death). We are usually fine spending a charge or two of our wands on other people (Like, mage armor on someone's animal companion or mount). I have personally blown a scroll of word of recall on someone ELSE dying so that we can go back to Absalom, revive him, and pay for a teleport back into the adventure so the player didn't have to sit out the whole game.
So "strangers" in GA is a bit different than other places. I certainly know quite a few by name, but I know others only by their characters. Still, since we all play "the same way", we feel less like strangers.
Plus, it never hurts to ask. Even at conventions when a player dies I will speak up and say "How does everyone feel bout splitting his raise? He died because he was the frontline for us, we probably would have had a TPK without him." And people warm up to the idea. Split 6-ways it's only just over 900gp per person to chip in.
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First 6 PP is usually for relevant wands for my character (CLW, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, etc).
Stock up to 16 PP for Raise Dead.
Then spend PP for 'necessary' adventuring supplies (Oil of Daylight, Potion of Fly, Potion of CSW, etc) to develop a robust set of situational solutions.
Along the way, pick up PP for a vanity if it fits character backstory or build.
I'm a huge advocate of spending 2PP on items that will keep you from spending 16 (or 24) PP.
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My current Prestige/Fame count is different on all my characters. Some are only down 2-5 points, and others are perpetually at less than 10. My support cleric spent over 20 prestige on wands and scrolls for her imp to use, and my rogue has spent 2 pp almost every game on a potion of fly. In the higher levels, more often than not, if your team doesn't TPK but you go down, you'll be able to get a raise dead without much trouble.
CRobledo,
That’s great players in your area have that camaraderie with one another. I’ve finally found a local store that I hopefully will be playing PFS more often (instead of just conventions) and I hope I can build up the same thing with them.
Also, to anyone, but as I believe I said above, my Ranger is 3rd level and I do have a CLW. Can I use that now (I do have a 12 Wis), or do I have to wait until I have access to spells?
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Also, to anyone, but as I believe I said above, my Ranger is 3rd level and I do have a CLW. Can I use that now (I do have a 12 Wis), or do I have to wait until I have access to spells?
Spell trigger items can be used by anyone whose class can cast the corresponding spell. This is the case even for a character who can't actually cast spells, such as a 3rd-level paladin.
Also, to anyone, but as I believe I said above, my Ranger is 3rd level and I do have a CLW. Can I use that now (I do have a 12 Wis), or do I have to wait until I have access to spells?
Spell trigger items can be used by anyone whose class can cast the corresponding spell. This is the case even for a character who can't actually cast spells, such as a 3rd-level paladin.
Awesome.
I thought I maybe had to wait until I actually had a caster level.
Thank you!
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In my experience, sharing the cost of a raise dead is pretty common, even among strangers.
Now that I think about it, I'm wondering how useful saving the 16 prestige for that really is. By the time you have 16 PP saved up, you'll be high enough level that the table should be able to afford a raise dead for any single player who died. In the case of massive casualties (TPK) in one adventure, each person will have to take care of their own.
But people are mentioning consumables here that I wouldn't have considered, which are probably worth spending the PP to get early. I had no idea there were cracked ioun stones to boost any skill! I have a couple of skill dependent PCs who need to get some of those (acrobatics for a rogue, UMD for a sorcerer who carries wands outside his spell list, etc).
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In my experience, sharing the cost of a raise dead is pretty common, even among strangers.
Now that I think about it, I'm wondering how useful saving the 16 prestige for that really is. By the time you have 16 PP saved up, you'll be high enough level that the table should be able to afford a raise dead for any single player who died. In the case of massive casualties (TPK) in one adventure, each person will have to take care of their own
Yep, and because of this, my usual buffer is 8pp and 1,000gp instead of 16 pp. That way I have enough for 2 restorations, and my share of raise dead.
I don’t know, maybe it’s because I am too low level, have only played in the convention circuit and haven’t experienced it myself, I am just leery on not saving enough PP for Raise Dead and relying on other people (I don’t really know) to pool together and raise me.
But like I said, it’s probably because it is something I have not really experienced, hopefully if I play at a store where I get to know the other players, it might be like you said (in helping others).