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Designer

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MichaelCullen wrote:

Disclaimer, this may be best handled as a future blog post. If so can you give us your first impressions/how you would run it?

Manifestations of Spell Casting: what form do they take?

As has been made clear in Ultimate Intrigue, spell casting has inherent manifestations that make casting apparent even when a spell has no components. Part of this justification is that spell casting is always depicted visually in the awesome art we find in the books.

Spellcraft, states that

CRB wrote:
this incurs the same penalties as a Perception skill check due to distance, poor conditions, and other factors.

In order to determine what modifiers apply, we need to know what forms these manifestations take.

Are they visual (almost certainly), if so do they create light?

Do they have a scent (the smell of ozone, or sulfur)?

Do they make noise (a buzzing or the singing of angels)?

Do they raise the hairs on the arms of those nearby?

We need to know these in order to know when a spell craft check is possible.

For example, if spell casting manifestation is only visual, you could not make the check without line of sight.

If there is a sound component, you could make spell craft check through walls. (at a +10 to the DC per foot of thickness)

Besides any sound component to the manifestation, what else can go through total cover? Can a deaf wizard attempt a spell craft check through a wall, because he feels his hairs tingle?

What are the penalties to spell craft for missing inputs from certain senses? (are the checks even possible without certain senses?)

As one last aside, if the manifestations produce light, (as they appear to do in the art) does casting give away your location if you are invisible? Invisibility does not generally stop the emanation of light. (An invisible burning torch still gives off light, as does an invisible object with light or similar spell cast upon it).

I think this could make a really cool blog post, with general...

This could also be a fun way to distinguish between various magical traditions of different sorts of spellcasters (perhaps the cyphermages are known for manifesting weird glowing ciphers). However you did it, presumably there must be some common component to the manifestations that allows for Spellcraft to notice the similarities between various ways to cast the same spell.


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Azten wrote:

Would you consider Kineticists that gain abilities from other planes of existence, such as Mechanus, The First World, or the Maelstrom? A Kineticist that channels the Eye of Abendago?

A think a Kineticist with ties to the Boneyard or First World would be quite interesting.

I'm pretty sure Phytokineticists from Occult Origins are pretty close to what you're looking for in terms of a kineticist with ties to First World.

Thanks for the answer, Mark!

Designer

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Lou Diamond wrote:

Mark I have two questions on Warpriests.

DO you think a Mythic Path power 1st rank that would allow a warpriest to use his Fervor Healing power with a range of 30' is OK.

Is the War Priest Channel ability supposed to be different than the Cleric channel ability?

It seems like there should be a way to balance that as a low-tier mythic power, given that it's mythic we're talking about. Warpriest channel works mainly the same as cleric's does.


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Belltrap wrote:
Azten wrote:

Would you consider Kineticists that gain abilities from other planes of existence, such as Mechanus, The First World, or the Maelstrom? A Kineticist that channels the Eye of Abendago?

A think a Kineticist with ties to the Boneyard or First World would be quite interesting.

I'm pretty sure Phytokineticists from Occult Origins are pretty close to what you're looking for in terms of a kineticist with ties to First World.

Thanks for the answer, Mark!

While that's true, there's no Fey flavor or abilities in the elements options at all. It might as well be a Druid archetype.

Designer

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Rysky wrote:

Curious as to how exactly Anger Inquisition's Divine Anger works in regards to what it increases and stacking with Barbarian.

Divine Anger (Ex) wrote:
At 6th level, you gain the ability to rage like a barbarian. Your effective barbarian level for this ability is your inquisitor level – 3. If you have levels in barbarian, these levels stack when determining the effect of your rage. You do not gain any rage powers from this granted power, though if you have rage powers from another class, you may use them with these rages. You can rage a number of rounds per day equal to your Wisdom bonus, plus 1 round for every inquisitor level above 4th.

1)"Your effective barbarian level for this ability is your inquisitor level – 3. If you have levels in barbarian, these levels stack when determining the effect of your rage."

So would a Barbarian 1/Inquisitor 13 gain Greater Rage? Different ability than normal Rage I know but that's the only level dependent effect of "Rage" that I know of.

2)"You can rage a number of rounds per day equal to your Wisdom bonus, plus 1 round for every inquisitor level above 4th."

(I'm assuming that was supposed to say above 3rd)

What happens if you take a level of Barbarian? Do you get just one round of rage? 4 + Con?

I don't think it would give you new class features, but it's unclear what it means by determining the effects of your rage. Rage powers based on barbarian level?

@Rounds: It seems like it does mean above 4th, but it looks like, based on the reference to "these rages," that it's a separate pool, so Inquisitor 4 / Barbarian 1 would have 4 + Con + Wis.

Designer

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tivadar27 wrote:
Does a Vigilante still need a Strength of 13 to use the Power Attack granted from Shield of Blades, or does a class that grants you a specific bonus feat imply you don't need to meet the feat's prerequisites?

Generally you don't need to meet the prerequisites to gain a bonus feat granted by name. That said, the potential follow-up question pair of "Isn't this supposed to be the Strength option to act as a counterpoint to Lethal Grace, given you can't use half the ability otherwise, and wasn't the idea of Lethal Grace to let the vigilante support Dex builds that weren't critical Strength dump to 7? Also, isn't the name completely inaccurate for that case, since they can't even really use the shield?" is apropos. I was blind to that when I suggested the talent in the playtest, and neither any of the playtesters nor other designers noticed it either. Given the lack of prereqs as a thing for talents, the best way to handle this issue is probably to add that the vigilante can only use Power Attack when using Strength to hit.

Designer

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Talonhawke wrote:
Mark Seifter wrote:
Talonhawke wrote:
Well another week passes holding strong for Scorpion Whip clarification next week.
We are getting close to a FAQ on scorpion whip. It is fairly likely to be next week if I don't manage to sneak a super-deluxe FAQ blog in there (which is unlikely to happen, but surprisingly possible).
Been over a year and I just thought about this did we ever get that FAQ?

As mentioned, it did indeed! Also it hit the errata of all the affected hardcovers, if I recall, so it should finally be consistent.

Designer

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Joana wrote:
Quote:
[Tiny creatures] must enter an opponent's square to attack in melee. This provokes an attack of opportunity from the opponent. You can attack into your own square if you need to, so you can attack such creatures normally.

When Tiny or smaller creatures enter an opponent's square to attack, can that opponent provide soft cover to them from enemies in adjoining squares? Or, similar to facing, are the Tiny creatures presumed to be occupying all parts of the square for the purpose of attacking from different sides?

Tiny creatures have a space of 2-1/2 ft, and four can fit in a single square. I presume, from the attacking rules, that a Tiny creature can also fit in a Small or Medium enemy's square, despite the fact that the enemy has a space of 5 feet. Can two Tiny creatures simultaneously attack a Small enemy and occupy the same square? Is there any limit on how many creatures of various sizes can share the same square, i.e., one Medium and one Tiny, one Small and two Tinys, etc.?

A Tiny creature inside of a Large or larger creature's space definitely gets cover from the other squares, but probably doesn't by default in a Medium or Small creature's square for the reason you specified. For how many can fit in a square, as written the Medium or Small creature doesn't reduce the number of Tiny creatures that can fit in that square, but that seems like a situation where you might need to make a case-by-case adjudication or at least count the bigger creatures as if they were one Tiny creature each (if not more).


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Now pictures the stereotypical commencement speech about fitting the important things in, but instead of a bucket with big rocks, small rocks, water, and gas, its a giant, 16 cats, and a swarm of beetles...

Designer

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Chess Pwn wrote:
Hey Mark, a friend brought up an interesting question. The paladin's mount gains SR, and nothing in the paladin class says it can bypass the SR of it's mount. So by the rules does a paladin have to bypass SR to cast heal mount on their mount if they don't want to have the mount spend a standard action to lower it's SR?

That's right. Generally I'm not a big fan of gaining SR as a feature for my own PCs; it's usually more likely to make you miss a friendly spell than a BBEG's.

Designer

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WabbitHuntr wrote:
Mark Seifter wrote:


A corollary to this is why a "wielding" FAQ is going to be a massive headache; it was clearly used in more than one mutually-exclusive way in different places, so the FAQ would be massive and possibly could only be done as a one-by-one review of every "wielding" in the game.

I'd like to bring up another wielding question ;)

I want my Magus to wield a polearm and Spell Combat without resorting to a 2 level dip in Titan Mauler Barbarian. Can I do this with:

Weapon Trick Choke Up

Additional Prerequisite(s): Acrobatics 1 rank, Climb 1 rank

You can take a –2 penalty on attack rolls and damage rolls until the beginning of your next turn in order to choke up on and wield a two-handed polearm sized for you in one hand, as long as you do not make attacks with your other hand.

it seems like it may conflict with:

Spell Combat (Ex): At 1st level, a magus learns to cast spells and wield his weapons at the same time. This functions much like two-weapon fighting, but the off-hand weapon is a spell that is being cast. To use this ability, the magus must have one hand free (even if the spell being cast does not have somatic components), while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand. As a full-round action, he can make all of his attacks with his melee weapon at a –2 penalty and can also cast any spell from the magus spell list with a casting time of 1 standard action (any attack roll made as part of this spell also takes this penalty). If he casts this spell defensively, he can decide to take an additional penalty on his attack rolls, up to his Intelligence bonus, and add the same amount as a circumstance bonus on his concentration check. If the check fails, the spell is wasted, but the attacks still take the penalty. A magus can choose to cast the spell first or make the weapon attacks first, but if he has more than one attack, he cannot cast the spell between weapon attacks.

I know Spear Dancing Style and Quarterstaff...

Wielding is a sticky wicket, and it's basically not possible to have a uniform ruling for what it means because it's been used a few different ways. That said, as a rule of thumb for magi, you're unlikely to go wrong if you assume that restrictions against TWF or using the other hand in various ways always are meant to apply to spell combat, even if the wording is unclear.

Designer

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James Risner wrote:
Can a Living Grimoire modify his ironbound tome to be an admantine bound tome? Would it deal damage bypassing DR as an adamantine weapon?

The archetype allows you to swap around your bonded book to another ironbound tome, but it specifically calls it out as being ironbound and counting as cold iron, so it looks like no.

Designer

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Haldelar Baxter wrote:
Any rumours of kineticists getting a talent that opens crafting feats like Spell Knowledge for Alchemist?

I can't reveal details about unannounced stuff, and so I tend not to answer these whether they are a "yes" or "no" answer.

Designer

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Kalindlara wrote:

Is a mooncursed barbarian with the tiger animal supposed to be unable to shift until 11th level?

That seems weird. :/

No, the ability says to turn into a Medium version of your animal, so Medium tiger. It's on my list for establishing a Horror Adventures FAQ page, but we didn't do a FAQ last Friday because FAQs can sometimes add to drama (not that the new book FAQ pages usually do, but wasn't worth the risk).

Designer

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DrakeRoberts wrote:
Hey, Mark! I was just wondering if Elemental Whispers (Wild Talent) counts as a familiar for being able to apply archetypes to your elemental buddy. Also, can said buddy use skills (well, non-physical skills) or take mental actions when not manifested, or do you need to manifest it for it to actually be an entity capable of actions (such as making knowledge or perception checks)?

There's never going to be an official ruling due to the fact that the whole "familiar archetypes" concept only excepts in PComps, so RPG line books like Horror Adventures can't reference them. There's some weird things about trying to apply them to variant familiars overall (since they aren't classes so might have weird things that conflict with each other like hypothetical figment and elemental whispers), but if someone wanted to do so with elemental whispers in my game, as long as the two didn't alter the same familiar abilities (elemental whispers text, if we read through it, removes speak with animals of its kind and makes adjustments to Alertness) or introduce another conflict (like figment above, though it already doesn't work due to speak with animals of its kind), it should be OK.

Presumably it can take mental actions in your head, such as Knowledge checks, but it can only communicate empathically at first.

Designer

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tlotig wrote:
Mark Seifter wrote:
Rynjin wrote:
What's your top 5 books and/or series'?
More recently, my little brother convinced me to read the Dresden Files. It wasn't an easy sell because I'm not really a fan of most urban fantasy, but Butcher won me over with his sense of humor and his fun take on the fey.
While I love Dresden files I would never describe Mab as fun.

I find the take on the fey to be fun, even if I wouldn't call some of the individual fey "fun people," but then, I think David Xanatos from Gargoyles is extra-fun, so maybe it's just me. They're similar to the fey in one of my homebrew worlds, though, and that deserves an extra thumbs-up.

Contributor

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Mathematically, is worth it for my telekineticist to take an aether wysp familiar with the elemental whisper talents?


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Hi Mark!
As you have cleaned up your queue of questions, I am here to refill it!
Here are a couple random things I've been wondering about for a while. Everything is Kineticist-related of course :P

Just to make things simple (or perhaps more complicated), all of these questions are being asked using PFS as a frame of reference. Depending on how good your personal Bluff/Diplomacy skills are, you could probably convince a home-game GM of running it any way you wanted to, but that's a conversation for another day :P

Elemental Whispers
1) The first version of this ability states that you can create your familiar out of your element. I assume this means you need to have some of it nearby, so some water for a hydrokineticist or fire for a pyrokineticist. Is this meant to be a limiting factor on when you can manifest your familiar or is it just for flavor? Does the familiar keep the same consistency and appearance of the element, or look (at least for the most part) like a normal-ish animal of its type? Do telekineticists always have access to Aether in order to manifest their familiar? Can you use your blast/basic -kinesis abilities to create the materials necessary for summoning the familiar? (For example, filling a bucket with water to summon a hydrokineticist's familiar). What does a void kineticist use?

2) For the Greater version, what kind of elemental are you allowed to choose with each element? Was it intended to just use the basic types (Air, Earth, Fire, Water) and not their fancy versions (Lightning, Ice, Magma, etc.)? From a PFS perspective, would the Aether elemental even be legal, since it's not usually a monster you can have as a familiar or summon with Summon Monster? On the same subject, do Void/Wood kineticists get anything out of Greater Elemental Whispers or are they just sad? (Considering that there are no void or wood wysps and technically no void/wood elementals either). From a logical perspective, I imagine Void kineticists would get Negative Energy Elementals or something of the sort, but I wouldn't know how to make that fly in PFS, and I have absolutely no clue what you would give a phytokineticist.

Spark of Life
This is just a follow-up of the previous question: What elementals are allowed for use with this ability? Since it references Summon Monster, I assume you can only use the basic elemental types, ie: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air, which would make this ability unusable for aether, void, and wood kineticists. I can see Aether Puppet as a "replacement" ability for the telekineticist but that still leaves Void feeling sad and left out :(

Negative Admixture, Aetheric Boost, Gravitic Boost
1) This is a relatively simple question, but what do these blasts count as? Are they their own respective composite blasts? Or do they simply "improve" the other blast that they're mixing with? The main purpose of this question is to ask what infusions are usable with these blasts... since there is no reference to any of these blasts in the lists of associated blasts for various infusions, am I right in thinking that they're designed to be standalone blasts that are only usable with universal infusions? Or do they simply count as a composite version of the blast they modify? The biggest thing I can think of that this question would affect is whether or not you could Chain Infusion a Negative-Lightning blast, but I'm sure there are plenty of other strange and amusing combinations.

2) Also, can you Aetheric boost a Telekinetic Blast? I know that the wording for Gravitic Boost disallows it but I couldn't find anything that would imply the same for Aetheric Boost...

3) How does Gravitic/Aetheric boost (and Fire's Fury for that matter) interact with Kinetic fist? Do you lose the upgrades (since Kinetic Fist specifically calls out d6s) or does the damage get added on/damage die get improved?

Since it's almost lunch time and I suppose I should get work done at -some- point today, I'll leave it at this for now. Thanks as always Mark, I super appreciate it!!


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Mark Seifter wrote:
wraithstrike wrote:

Mark it seems as if we need an in depth blog on stealth. I know the rules were updated/clarified in Ultimate Intrigue, but there is still a lot of confusion.

How can the community specifically ask for a blog similar to the blog on poison, which has examples for people to go by?

I am opposed to asking specific questions, because it will lead to another question, which might take months or longer to get an answer, and it probably better to just handle it(as much as possible) all in one go.

I am overall enchanted by the idea of blogs that handle complex issues with many subquestions, but as the guy who got excited and drafted roughs for several different blog topics in March 2015, I can tell you that you might be more likely to get results, albeit incremental as you say, from specific questions. The trouble is that blogs are long and have a lot of decision/discussion points, so vetting them through the FAQ approval process is challenging, even when I provide a draft, since it takes so much time from everyone involved, and time that their schedules may not allow, even if I can shave off a half-hour for a single question FAQ.

All that said, for ease of reference and explanation, I prefer blogs as well when the situation calls for them.

Noted. :)


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Do we have an expected date for the next FAQ's? If that is today then feel free to skip this message. :)

If you don't want to tip your hand then also feel free to skip this message.

Designer

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wraithstrike wrote:

Do we have an expected date for the next FAQ's? If that is today then feel free to skip this message. :)

If you don't want to tip your hand then also feel free to skip this message.

It's a new page, so I've sent it to the community team, but I can't put them up on my own.

Silver Crusade Contributor

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A "new page"? Does that mean that the Horror Adventures FAQ is on the way? ^_^

Silver Crusade

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Mark this is a question on the Mounted combat line of feats. Would you think it would be ok to modify the Mounted combat line feats for Centaurs, Wemics or other quadraped races by removing the ride skill form the feat Preqeqs and having the feat tree work the same?


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Mysterious Avenger's Greater Charmed Life doesn't specify a duration. How long is the charisma to AC bonus is supposed to last?

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/hybrid-classes/swashbuckler/archetypes/paiz o---swashbuckler-archetypes/mysterious-avenger


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Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Probably a 'no answer needed' thing but just to be sure.

Regarding the recent FAQ on how damage modifiers are applied to spell effects:

A seventh level sorcerer with the draconic(fire) bloodline uses scorching ray. Per the FAQ, does that mean the full +8 damage gets applied to the first ray and nothing to the second? And consequently that if the first ray misses you don't get any damage from your bloodline arcana?


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I know, I know, Unchained is not all about the alternate classes published in there, and there a lot of interesting subsystems in there too...

But UnMonks, UnRogues and UnSummoners are very much the norm at this rate in most games that know of their existence, so I'm wondering what's the next step to go about this way.

Are you guys planning to keep the same editorial decision (i.e. keep making material that applies to both Core and Unchained versions) or will there eventually be some Unchained version exclusive material, such as new Ki Powers and Style Strikes for the UnMonk, more ways to interact with Debilitating Injury and Skill Unlocks for the UnRogue, more stances for the UnBarb?


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Also, how is Swashbuckler's Dizzying Defense supposed to work?

Can I use the swift action after I full round attack or do I have to do it before? Does the swift action include an attack of its own?


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Mark Seifter wrote:
Hayato Ken wrote:

The crit negation depends heavily on the game and type of enemies you meet. I can assure you that in Giantslayer, it´s one of the best defenses and blessings you can get, because once a giant crits you, you´re pulp.

Question to Mark:
The new PrC player companion is awesome, but i noticed one thing. Most/all DC´s of special abilities say 10+class level+stat mod. The way i read this class level refers to PrC class level here, because it´s not character level? Aren´t those DC´s a bit terribly low?
Considering most PrC´s come into play at level 7 and the special abilities some levels later often, DC´s are often likely to be 10+3+6 (assuming an invested optimized stat mod here)=19, while a good save on level 9 is supposed to be 12. This makes for a rough 60% to save.
Now, often the stat mods are from "secondary" stats for PrC´s though, which leads to lower mods and lower DC´s, say a 16. That´s close to a 25% chance on a good save.
Was that the purpose?

As Chemlak mentioned, the DC starts out quite low, but it quickly catches up to speed by 4th PrC level (assuming 5 levels before you qualified) and then becomes higher than expected (assuming the key ability score is your top one, not a safe assumption for assassin in particular but not related to PrC formula) all the way to 20th. This isn't great, but using 1/2 total HD or class level is more problematic (in that it doesn't reward levels in the PrC; you can dip 1 level in the PrC and have the same DC as the character who took all 10 levels in it). While an inelegant kluge, the cleanest houserule for smooth 1/2 level scaling would be DC 10 + 1/2 * (minimum level to qualify + PrC level + any class levels in other classes you take after maxing out the PrC) + stat modifier. Even then, though, perhaps it could just be something special for PrCs to have DCs normally reserved for level 20 characters at level 15 and be "ahead" for a few levels, like a mini-added capstone.

Thanks for the answer Mark! I knew there would be an angle i didn´t see^^

The mini capstone thing for PrC´s makes a lot of sense to me.
It´s probably also true that after level 4 things change for those DCs.
Between level 6 and 10 though there´s kind of a gap and that´s a bit sweet spot of gaming.
There´s also the thing that manytimes it´s not attractive to pick a PrC at level 6, because you might want to wait to level7/9/10 depending on class. Or you only want 3 levels.
It could be said that this kinda prevents powerfull dipping and it´s certainly right for level 1-2.
I´ll playtest one at the earliest convenience myself.

Designer

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Tacticslion wrote:
Cap'n Yesterday, Time Bandit wrote:

What are your favorite time travel movies.

And, what are your least favorite time travel movies.

Mark Seifter wrote:
I strongly dislike time travel movies with a closed time loop (example: the protagonist, who would have certainly died and not lived to go into the future, is saved by the protagonist from the future, then lives to repeat those same actions to fulfill the closed time loop, such as in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) because the tension and progression of the story are irrelevant, as the only thing saving the protagonist is the deus ex machina of the time loop being chosen by the author to inevitably include saving the character (also, in a world with that kind of causality-free closed time loop, it means free will is non-existent, as those timelines physically can't allow Harry to do things differently, down to the potential wording of any statements, even if he just wanted to see if he could be different). A version of that same situation without a closed time loop might have involved Harry dying, Hermione from Harry-is-dead-future saving him with a time turner, and then perhaps (depends on how the multiverse of altered time resolves) Hermione from Harry-is-alive future going back in time to match her other timeline's actions. I'm OK with almost any other take on it, though Legends of Tomorrow had a lot of annoying face-palming inexplicably dumb (I guess explicably with the end retcon-seeming revelation of "Hur hur we controlled you to be dumb") choices being made.
While I totally understand (and accept) that as a valid reason to dislike such things, I hedge my dislike by the following: I disagree with the fundamental notion that (in such works) free will is as free as we tend to think of it and I still maintain that an individual has as much unique value based on their own individualism of self.

Yeah, isn't satisfying to me. Granted, in the case study example, it's compounded with other issues.

Quote:

But that's just me.

:)

As an aside, what do you think about Chrono Trigger? What about Chrono Cross? Chrono Break? Red Alert 2? Ocarina of Time? The official Zelda Timeline?

I enjoyed Chrono Trigger. I didn't like Chrono Cross as much because of plot elements such as

Spoiler:
the main team from the first game killed offscreen by a fairly lame villain
and a few characters who came across as annoying, like Kid. I just looked up Chrono Break and from what I can find, it doesn't exist? I never played the Red Alert series. I enjoyed Ocarina of Time. I didn't know what the "official Zelda Timeline" was so looked it up. Some of the orderings seem a bit weird.
Designer

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Azten wrote:

Would you consider Kineticists that gain abilities from other planes of existence, such as Mechanus, The First World, or the Maelstrom? A Kineticist that channels the Eye of Abendago?

A think a Kineticist with ties to the Boneyard or First World would be quite interesting.

Theoretically, these could work! First World energies and Eye of Abendego in particular have some content in the PComp and CS lines.

Designer

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Kalindlara wrote:
Do you have to take a day off from work just to get caught up with questions? ^_^

Nope, just grab answers when I can!

Designer

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Alexander Augunas wrote:
Mathematically, is worth it for my telekineticist to take an aether wysp familiar with the elemental whisper talents?

Do you have a bard? If you don't, the auto competence bonus on attack and damage alone are a nice boost, though not worth two talents/Extra Wild Talent on their own. But then there's things like action economy, +4 aid another, Alertness, getting another roll on some skill checks using your ranks, etc that more than pay the deficit. The question isn't then whether it's worth it, but rather whether it's worth it to grab quickly, delaying other telekinetic options, rather than take via EWT feats, and that's going to vary from kineticist to kineticist. Clearly if you wait and take the two feats, you have gained an improved familiar faster by one feat than Eldritch Heritage (and without the -2 level), and EH improved familiars have seemed pretty popular.


Did you notice the theme with all of those questions at the end?

More on that Zelda thing:
Mark Seifter wrote:
I didn't know what the "official Zelda Timeline" was so looked it up. Some of the orderings seem a bit weird.

Yeah, the official ordering has a... lot of... hm... arguments? ... I suppose?... for and/or against it. It was very divisive in a number of ways - many people even outright rejected it as a kludge more than an actual timeline.

I find it more of an interesting thought exercise - akin to having a functioning timeline for Golarion, as-printed in Inner Sea Campaign: technically, the ISC shows off the start of all of the APs printed up through (I think?*) 2011*/4711... but, as stated multiple times, the APs don't actually follow that timeline: they follow the timeline that works best for you.

I suspect that the "Official Zelda Timeline" is rather similar... but it's still rather interesting, and creates a fascinating "unified" history, of sorts.

Wikipedia 'Zelda chronology

Zelda Wiki version.

Simple version: there are three timelines. Time is unified right up until Ocarina of Time, at which point, because of the time-traveling, it splits into a multiple worlds/multiple outcomes/multiple timelines thing.
- Link dies and is defeated by Ganon version; "Fallen Hero Timeline" (Ganon ravages stuff, but is eventually sealed); this leads to the majority of games, as Ganon just keeps coming back as strong as before (as he was never properly defeated the first time)

- Link wins version but is sent back: thus there is no hero, later, when Ganon eventually frees himself; a world without Link (where he as last seen as an adult) is called the "Adult timeline" (and leads to Wind Waker and the related games)

- Link is sent back and grows up from child to adult: thus there is a hero, but he's a kid; he warns the royal family of Ganon's treachery, and of what's going to happen and how to stop him, things are set up to do so, and Link is sent on his way to search for Navi (see Majora's Mask)... turns out that this didn't work out quite as well as everyone hoped, it seems, as Ganon ended up with the Triforce of power anyway (and prepares for Twilight Princess); because he's a child, this is the "Child Timeline"

Hope that helps!

* Correct me if I'm wrong. It's all the APs as of whatever year the book was printed.

EDIT:

And no, Chrono Break does not, by technicality, "exist" as a real game, however I didn't know how "into" such things you were, so you could have been aware of the whole thing (it seems you were not - also fine). :)

(Also, I added the Zelda chronology stuff, if it helps.)


Mark Seifter wrote:
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Mathematically, is worth it for my telekineticist to take an aether wysp familiar with the elemental whisper talents?
Do you have a bard? If you don't, the auto competence bonus on attack and damage alone are a nice boost, though not worth two talents/Extra Wild Talent on their own. But then there's things like action economy, +4 aid another, Alertness, getting another roll on some skill checks using your ranks, etc that more than pay the deficit.

Mark, did you know that, for some reason, whenever I read this segment of your post, the first thing that I read is, consistently, "Do you even bard, bro?"

(I really have no idea why.)


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Tacticslion wrote:
Mark Seifter wrote:
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Mathematically, is worth it for my telekineticist to take an aether wysp familiar with the elemental whisper talents?
Do you have a bard? If you don't, the auto competence bonus on attack and damage alone are a nice boost, though not worth two talents/Extra Wild Talent on their own. But then there's things like action economy, +4 aid another, Alertness, getting another roll on some skill checks using your ranks, etc that more than pay the deficit.

Mark, did you know that, for some reason, whenever I read this segment of your post, the first thing that I read is, consistently, "Do you even bard, bro?"

(I really have no idea why.)

Do you smell toast right now?

Designer

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Renkosuke wrote:

Hi Mark!

As you have cleaned up your queue of questions, I am here to refill it!
Here are a couple random things I've been wondering about for a while. Everything is Kineticist-related of course :P

Just to make things simple (or perhaps more complicated), all of these questions are being asked using PFS as a frame of reference. Depending on how good your personal Bluff/Diplomacy skills are, you could probably convince a home-game GM of running it any way you wanted to, but that's a conversation for another day :P

In PFS, if something's in a grey area, it's going to be up to the GM to make a ruling; whatever I say here, it's not binding in PFS, just my take on it.

Quote:

Elemental Whispers

1) The first version of this ability states that you can create your familiar out of your element. I assume this means you need to have some of it nearby, so some water for a hydrokineticist or fire for a pyrokineticist. Is this meant to be a limiting factor on when you can manifest your familiar or is it just for flavor? Does the familiar keep the same consistency and appearance of the element, or look (at least for the most part) like a normal-ish animal of its type? Do telekineticists always have access to Aether in order to manifest their familiar? Can you use your blast/basic -kinesis abilities to create the materials necessary for summoning the familiar? (For example, filling a bucket with water to summon a hydrokineticist's familiar). What does a void kineticist use?

Like a blast, you don't need material on hand, but it does mean that your familiar appears unusual and possibly fairly awesome due to being made out of your element. No mechanical effects of this flavor, though.

Quote:
2) For the Greater version, what kind of elemental are you allowed to choose with each element? Was it intended to just use the basic types (Air, Earth, Fire, Water) and not their fancy versions (Lightning, Ice, Magma, etc.)? From a PFS perspective, would the Aether elemental even be legal, since it's not usually a monster you can have as a familiar or summon with Summon Monster? On the same subject, do Void/Wood kineticists get anything out of Greater Elemental Whispers or are they just sad? (Considering that there are no void or wood wysps and technically no void/wood elementals either). From a logical perspective, I imagine Void kineticists would get Negative Energy Elementals or something of the sort, but I wouldn't know how to make that fly in PFS, and I have absolutely no clue what you would give a phytokineticist.

I'd say "of your primary element" means if your element is "X" you are looking for an "X elemental". There aren't elementals for void and wood.

Quote:

Spark of Life

This is just a follow-up of the previous question: What elementals are allowed for use with this ability? Since it references Summon Monster, I assume you can only use the basic elemental types, ie: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air, which would make this ability unusable for aether, void, and wood kineticists. I can see Aether Puppet as a "replacement" ability for the telekineticist but that still leaves Void feeling sad and left out :(

In most games, aether would get aether elemental from B5, but you specifically mentioned PFS, and PFS has some special PFS-specific rules on what you can summon that might preclude it. Void currently doesn't puppet anybody (but perhaps undead some time with more page count) and Wood can animate plants to attack in a few ways.

Quote:

Negative Admixture, Aetheric Boost, Gravitic Boost

1) This is a relatively simple question, but what do these blasts count as? Are they their own respective composite blasts? Or do they simply "improve" the other blast that they're mixing with? The main purpose of this question is to ask what infusions are usable with these blasts... since there is no reference to any of these blasts in the lists of associated blasts for various infusions, am I right in thinking that they're designed to be standalone blasts that are only usable with universal infusions? Or do they simply count as a composite version of the blast they modify? The biggest thing I can think of that this question would affect is whether or not you could Chain Infusion a Negative-Lightning blast, but I'm sure there are plenty of other strange and amusing combinations.

Boosts can use the infusions of the simple blast they enhance. So you could indeed chain a boosted lightning blast. Admixtures are different and have few infusions.

Quote:
2) Also, can you Aetheric boost a Telekinetic Blast? I know that the wording for Gravitic Boost disallows it but I couldn't find anything that would imply the same for Aetheric Boost...

I don't see why gravitic boost would disallow telekinetic; it's a simple physical blast. If you go Void/Aether/Void or Void/Void/Aether you can even aetheric boost + gravitic boost a void blast for high damage.

Quote:
3) How does Gravitic/Aetheric boost (and Fire's Fury for that matter) interact with Kinetic fist? Do you lose the upgrades (since Kinetic Fist specifically calls out d6s) or does the damage get added on/damage die get improved?

Kinetic fist does its own thing that is based on the number of dice in your blast (and thus aided by using a composite) but is mostly otherwise unaffected by things that alter blast damage.

Quote:
Since it's almost lunch time and I suppose I should get work done at -some- point today, I'll leave it at this for now. Thanks as always Mark, I super appreciate it!!

You're welcome!

Designer

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Tacticslion wrote:

Did you notice the theme with all of those questions at the end?

** spoiler omitted **...

Only time will tell.

Designer

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Tacticslion wrote:
Mark Seifter wrote:
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Mathematically, is worth it for my telekineticist to take an aether wysp familiar with the elemental whisper talents?
Do you have a bard? If you don't, the auto competence bonus on attack and damage alone are a nice boost, though not worth two talents/Extra Wild Talent on their own. But then there's things like action economy, +4 aid another, Alertness, getting another roll on some skill checks using your ranks, etc that more than pay the deficit.

Mark, did you know that, for some reason, whenever I read this segment of your post, the first thing that I read is, consistently, "Do you even bard, bro?"

(I really have no idea why.)

I heard you liked bards, so I got you a bard so you can bard while you bard.

Designer

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Gisher wrote:
Tacticslion wrote:
Mark Seifter wrote:
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Mathematically, is worth it for my telekineticist to take an aether wysp familiar with the elemental whisper talents?
Do you have a bard? If you don't, the auto competence bonus on attack and damage alone are a nice boost, though not worth two talents/Extra Wild Talent on their own. But then there's things like action economy, +4 aid another, Alertness, getting another roll on some skill checks using your ranks, etc that more than pay the deficit.

Mark, did you know that, for some reason, whenever I read this segment of your post, the first thing that I read is, consistently, "Do you even bard, bro?"

(I really have no idea why.)

Do you smell toast right now?

I don't smell any toast right now.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Hey Mark,

How would you balance things a player wants to create that are similar to some of the finds in ancient ruins?

For example, many of the devices and effects in APs aren't standard spell or trap effects. Many blend or wholly ignore the standard rules and make things up. They reflect the story and whimsy of the particular writer for that part.

Is there some Swiss Army Knife box of cool stuff only for AP and story reasons?

Thanks!


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Mark Seifter wrote:
Kudaku wrote:

Hi Mark, hope you're doing well!

I was wondering if I could get your take on a question - Phase Locking weapons affect their targets "as though" by the Dimensional Anchor spell. Does Phase Locking weapons check for Spell Resistance?

I can see this both ways, due to the use of "as though" but I would tend to run it like TOZ suggests simply because if you don't, the property's CL of 7 isn't going to be capable of doing its job by the time you buy the weapon against anything with SR (such as outsiders with at-will greater teleport, one of the #1 reasons you would buy the weapon).

I'm a bit late in responding, but thanks! Your answers are as always super helpful. :)

Designer

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Buri Reborn wrote:

Hey Mark,

How would you balance things a player wants to create that are similar to some of the finds in ancient ruins?

For example, many of the devices and effects in APs aren't standard spell or trap effects. Many blend or wholly ignore the standard rules and make things up. They reflect the story and whimsy of the particular writer for that part.

Is there some Swiss Army Knife box of cool stuff only for AP and story reasons?

Thanks!

It can be rather tricky to do for a home GM especially. Personally, I often wing it, but that's not going to be a feasible answer for everyone (improvisation is among my highest GM skills, plus I'm a designer). One trick you can use effectively that doesn't require you to be able to improvise new rules on the fly but instead just requires sorting pre-made rules into baskets is to categorize spells, magic items, and the like based on their in-world rarity (UE sort of does this a little bit with scrolls in the chart in the appendix) and then save the ones that make sense for weird stuff the PCs find in ruins (for instance, instead of just having the ancient Thassilonian spells presented in RotRL available to learn automatically on level up or at magic stores, perhaps you need to find a Thassilonian spellbook that contains them).


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Mark Seifter wrote:
Azten wrote:

Would you consider Kineticists that gain abilities from other planes of existence, such as Mechanus, The First World, or the Maelstrom? A Kineticist that channels the Eye of Abendago?

A think a Kineticist with ties to the Boneyard or First World would be quite interesting.

Theoretically, these could work! First World energies and Eye of Abendego in particular have some content in the PComp and CS lines.

Upcoming content...?

Designer

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Azten wrote:
Mark Seifter wrote:
Azten wrote:

Would you consider Kineticists that gain abilities from other planes of existence, such as Mechanus, The First World, or the Maelstrom? A Kineticist that channels the Eye of Abendago?

A think a Kineticist with ties to the Boneyard or First World would be quite interesting.

Theoretically, these could work! First World energies and Eye of Abendego in particular have some content in the PComp and CS lines.
Upcoming content...?

I was referring to the current content, but that doesn't preclude upcoming content either.

Designer

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And woo, I have traveled through the past and reached the present. All caught up!


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Could you be so kind as to point out those products?

Designer

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Azten wrote:
Could you be so kind as to point out those products?

Absolutely! The Eye is an air saturation in Occult Realms (allowing you to build up a 100% miss chance against ranged attacks and ignore all wind and weather unless it's helping you at the moment, which can combo nicely with controlling wind and weather). First World energies (tied in some ways to the FW's role as a sort of sieve for the Positive Energy Plane in the River of Souls) show up in Occult Origins.


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Mark Seifter wrote:
In PFS, if something's in a grey area, it's going to be up to the GM to make a ruling; whatever I say here, it's not binding in PFS, just my take on it.

That's perfectly okay, I just wanted a base to build my own interpretations of these abilities off of. Knowing the intent of the developer makes it a lot easier to interpret rules as intended. At least for me :P

Quote:
Like a blast, you don't need material on hand, but it does mean that your familiar appears unusual and possibly fairly awesome due to being made out of your element. No mechanical effects of this flavor, though.

Like using a Blood Kineticist to make a talking blood-thrush out of the blood of your enemies? :D

Quote:
I'd say "of your primary element" means if your element is "X" you are looking for an "X elemental". There aren't elementals for void and wood.

Would this mean that a Telekineticist can take a small Aether Elemental as an improved elemental, despite the fact that generally you're not allowed to summon or choose one as a familiar? (In PFS anyway, I'm sure most home-game GMs are lenient enough to allow it)

Quote:
Boosts can use the infusions of the simple blast they enhance. So you could indeed chain a boosted lightning blast. Admixtures are different and have few infusions.

Yikes. That is terrifying.

Quote:
I don't see why gravitic boost would disallow telekinetic; it's a simple physical blast. If you go Void/Aether/Void or Void/Void/Aether you can even aetheric boost + gravitic boost a void blast for high damage.

Oh, I actually meant Gravitic boosting a gravity blast, since the prerequisites ask for gravity blast and another physical blast. But should I take that as saying you can aetheric boost a telekinetic blast?

And one new question: Can you use Draining Infusion with the Wood, Void, or Aether elements or are you better off looking for something else? With wood and aether it doesn't matter as much since they're physical blasts and can theoretically deal with anything, but it matters for negative blast void kineticists and it also feels strange you can't drain an Aether Elemental, because they don't have the "Aether" subtype (since it doesn't exist as a subtype).

Thanks as always! :3


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What gave you the idea for void and phyto kineticists?

How did you envision them as characters in game?

Did you use any others sources when working on them?

Where in Golarion do you see either showing up?

If you could write additional material for both what would you expand on?

Would a void kineticist get along with followers on the Lady of Graves?

Designer

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Renkosuke wrote:
Mark Seifter wrote:
In PFS, if something's in a grey area, it's going to be up to the GM to make a ruling; whatever I say here, it's not binding in PFS, just my take on it.

That's perfectly okay, I just wanted a base to build my own interpretations of these abilities off of. Knowing the intent of the developer makes it a lot easier to interpret rules as intended. At least for me :P

Quote:
Like a blast, you don't need material on hand, but it does mean that your familiar appears unusual and possibly fairly awesome due to being made out of your element. No mechanical effects of this flavor, though.

Like using a Blood Kineticist to make a talking blood-thrush out of the blood of your enemies? :D

Quote:
I'd say "of your primary element" means if your element is "X" you are looking for an "X elemental". There aren't elementals for void and wood.

Would this mean that a Telekineticist can take a small Aether Elemental as an improved elemental, despite the fact that generally you're not allowed to summon or choose one as a familiar? (In PFS anyway, I'm sure most home-game GMs are lenient enough to allow it)

Quote:
Boosts can use the infusions of the simple blast they enhance. So you could indeed chain a boosted lightning blast. Admixtures are different and have few infusions.

Yikes. That is terrifying.

Quote:
I don't see why gravitic boost would disallow telekinetic; it's a simple physical blast. If you go Void/Aether/Void or Void/Void/Aether you can even aetheric boost + gravitic boost a void blast for high damage.

Oh, I actually meant Gravitic boosting a gravity blast, since the prerequisites ask for gravity blast and another physical blast. But should I take that as saying you can aetheric boost a telekinetic blast?

And one new question: Can you use Draining Infusion with the Wood, Void, or Aether elements or are you better off looking for something else? With wood and aether it doesn't matter as much since they're physical blasts and...

Ah, yes, you can't gravitic boost gravity; that's true. It's already gravity. PFS presumably would not allow aether elementals because they aren't on the list of allowed familiars (they'd have needed to appear on Additional Resources of B5). Aether is a subtype, and aether elementals have it.

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