So yeah, just recently found a PFS group in my area and due to the giant pile of restrictions it kind of killed several of my build ideas I had when looking for a Home group.
That said I'm hoping I can work something related to hurling massive two-handed weapons (or objects could work to i guess...are barrels, etc. enchantable?) around.
So far I've found a couple options but I'm not really sure how to make an actual build out of it...so I'm hoping you guys have some ideas...and can help me nix anything PFS has deemed "wrong"
- Two-Handed Thrower Feat+Quick Draw: This is pretty straight forward, throw melee weapons two-handed. Than take Quick draw for iterative attacks...but i assume this would require multiple weapons which would get wicked expensive...also unless im wrong myh to-hit would still be dex based
- Universalist Wizards "Hand of the Apprentice" or Warpriest's "Magic Blessing" These are pretty cool cause I like the idea of an Smart Brute type (Int or Wis to-hit than Str for damage) but both abilities have the problem of limited uses per day.
- Barbarian's Charging Hurler/Hurling: This one is a bit oddly worded but seems like it could still throw weapons but oddly they would do falling damage...not really sure how that would work.
- Extra Arms: Through alchemist or other means gaining extra arms might not give me extra attacks alone but it would allow me to hold more swords to throw. (This is assuming i don't take quick draw)
So uh yeah thats what I've found so far...hopefully you guys can point me where to go from here.
You could get around the multiple weapons problem with a returning weapon. There's a few ways to do this:
The Throwing/Returning weapon abilities.
Shield Champions get to eventually have their thrown shields return to them.
Greater Belt of Hurling or Blinkback Belt will bring back your weapons in a similar manner. The former will also let you use Strength for the attack roll, reducing the number of attributes you depend on.
Martial Focus > Ricochet Shot feats will return the weapon to you, and do it immediately after each attack so you get your full iteratives.
-j
There's also the first-or-second-level spell Returning Weapon on most spell lists which gives your weapon the returning weapon ability for minutes/level. (Which I may have just added to my living grimoire's spellbook so he can throw a book at people.)
I tried hard to put something like this together and failed. It's not impossible but very hard to make work before level 6 or so and even then isn't great.
I really like the Heavy blade combat scabbard trick which allows you to throw your combat scabard as a swift action when you draw a weapon.
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So yeah, just recently found a PFS group in my area and due to the giant pile of restrictions it kind of killed several of my build ideas I had when looking for a Home group.
Can you elaborate on this "giant pile of restrictions"?
It may just be a perception thing, but I find PFS to be rather permissive. More options are allowed, rather than banned.
If you find something that is questionably banned, it can always be re-reviewed.
For new players it's rather tedious to find out what is allowed and what isn't for every single trait, spell and item...
Also tbh for most source books put out recently the mechanically strongest options tend to be banned on the spot or "FAQed" to uselessness. Horror Adventures was a notable exception, but it was definitely the case for most of the recent soft cover releases. I don't see this as an issue of PFS as I agree with most of the bannings (except Eldritch Scoundrel...). It does highlight that there seem to be diverging opinions within Paizo as to how to balance content, however.
Thanks for all the help so far guys, sorry for the slow response but here goes
- Shield Champion is cool but of course only effects shield, totally noted down if i can ever manage to make a viable Dual shield wielder
- The blinkback belt unfortunately specifies "Up to two one-handed melee weapons or up to four light melee weapons" so no 2-handers :( (At a home game i could ask the DM to allow 1 2-hander to work but there's no "wiggle-room" in PFS)
- Returning unfortunately seems to only return at the start of the turn so doesn't solve the multi weapon issue
- Ricochet sounds pretty cool but it states "projectile" not "thrown" and as mentioned earlier PFS doesn't have "Wiggle-room" so probably would be nixed.
- As for the restrictions one of my main complaints is the fact that ONLY the core races are allowed regardless of whether you have the requisite books or not (which I fully support they need to encourage buying their books), I mean I can understand banning a few of the more OP races like Drow Noble but an across the board ban is just stupid, and no it's not because I'm a "power gamer" and "Cheesy" it's just that I've been playing for 20 odd years (on and off) I'm just tired of the Tolkien races but I still love playing this game...and besides it's a fantasy game, the less "Human" a race is the more I get to "roleplay"
The other thing that really rubs me the wrong way is that yeah having to double check every single ability to see if its banned is a PITA and there always seems to be something that's banned and obviously your books don't "update" to state PFS decisions and only rarely is it pointed out in the PFSRD. The only real way t find out is to either spend hours trawling through the HUGE FAQ list or get your character nixed at the table...it's really discouraging.
TL:DR: The PFS restrictions really limits options and it's not convenient to find those ever-expanding limitations often leading to errors causing you to lose use of a character.
Anyways despite my responses I am still motivated to try this out so I'm going to try building a Lvl 11 Barb/Alchemist to see how it comes out, ill do my best to trawl the forums and the faq list for obscure rules that may or may not relate to my build than post it here for the forums (and hopefully you guys, thanks again) to evaluate and Proof-read for PFS no-nos.
Oh and sidenote which may or may not work it's not quite "giant two-hander" but does fit in the "thrown melee weapon" I was thinking of a Scrollmaster Wizard1/Blade Adept Arcanist7/EK or similar X that uses his scrollblade as his "Sentient Sword" (slash "Energy Saber") with Magical Knack and the eldritch blade exploit to keep it leveling, than the spell strike exploit to get some magus-esque shenanigans and uses "Hand of the apprentice" to throw it, beyond that mage armor, mage hand, prestidigitation and other spells to give him a "Force user" feel. Totally not the same thing but at least it would be fun.
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Shield Champion is cool but...
The blinkback belt unfortunately...
Returning unfortunately...
Those aren't PFS restrictions. That's just how the game works.
PFS doesn't have "Wiggle-room" so probably would be nixed
One of the biggest misconceptions about PFS is that it's strictly "RAW" (to paraphrase the responses I read most often). But there is no such thing as "RAW", and you will find zero mention of it in any PFS document. Quite the opposite. It's the position of Campaign Leadership to empower GMs to make common sense rulings that are fair for all parties so that the game can move on.
Next time you encounter your PFS group, ask if you can sit down with one of their Venture Officers to go over your build. Explain your concern and ask them if it's warranted. Worst case scenario, your beliefs are confirmed. Best case scenario, you've found a new hobby ^_^
one of my main complaints is the fact that ONLY the core races are allowed
This is simply untrue. Non-Core races have been openly allowed since Season 4 (and were allowed via Boons for years before that).
Currently you are free to play Core races plus Tengu, Kitsune, Nagaji, Wayang, Ifrit, Oread, Sylph and Undine. If you attended a Convention this Summer you'd have access to Grippli. If you attend a Convention right now you'll have access to Dhampir.
The other thing that really rubs me the wrong way is that yeah having to double check every single ability to see if its banned
A tool that can help you wade through the text is archivesofnethys. It's a third party site created by a PFS player for PFS players. You can check the box while searching for PFS legal content, and you'll see a little white "Glyph of the Open Road" in front of and to the left of everything that's PFS legal.
Naturally, as Pathfinder has grown, PFS has had to keep up. I don't view that as a failing of PFS, but if you're just coming into it now I can understand that perception.
Good luck and happy gaming =)
Just need to clarify that anything that I didn't specifically mention PFS was not a complaint about PFS just a statement of fact. That said I'll look into the Archive of Nethys, thanks for the suggestion.
Oh and thanks for pointing out those few allowed races, that will help me...seems a bit random but w/e :D (sad no kobold or goblin...i love them :D)
projectile is ranged and thrown weapons. Thus in PFS you have complete safety
Oh I was thinkig projectile as in launched by a device...Ill check with the local pfs rep to see but I'm glad to hear that I'm likely wrong
As for a vital strike thrower that might be a good idea I'll check that out but isn't it near impossible to get sneak attack as a ranged character.
there's a new feat to allow ranged feinting. If you're using vital strike you could feint as a move action and throw with your standard.
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Oh and thanks for pointing out those few allowed races, that will help me...seems a bit random but w/e :D (sad no kobold or goblin...i love them :D)
It seems random, but there's history behind why.
For Seasons 4 & 5, Aasimars and Tieflings were openly allowed, because Season 5 was largely set in the Worldwound, and Leadership thought it'd be thematic to include the most prominent Planetouched races.
Tengu represented our first foray into Tian Xia. Come Season 6, the other three Tian races became available.
This Season, the elemental races became available, because the Society has recently made friends and enemies beyond Golarion.
Who knows what Season 9 or beyond will bring?
oooo...ranged feinting...ill look into that.
Thanks for the breakdown Nefreet, it's seems they removed Aasimar and Tiefling though :( Too bad Aasimar have the workaround that they can be any race fluff wise (no mechanical changes)
In PFS they have to be human based.
Still sucks, love the fluff but sucks less without that option :D