Aardvark's "Nothing Venture Captained, Nothing Gained" Shattered Star Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master Troy Malovich

I wouldn't be against just having 1 or 2, but six is a bit much. We seemed to function best at 5, really. That said, I have no one to recommend because most everybody is completely swamped. That said, 2 new people would be exceptional.

That aside, Burning Disarm is nice when I look at it, and the DC 18 save would be great given the circumstances and I think I could grab it and shocking grasp both to turn into molten grasp, but I'd rather make good on my saves because my touch to-hit is horrendous.

Given that, I can't really think of what I'd like to do spell wise. Touch of combustion looks nice, though. If I got it and Burning Disarm I'd be a hot mess, so to speak, but I'd be rocking a dramatic AC of 12.

I also prefer 5 over 6 in PbP. 16.67% faster gameplay.

Hello everyone! The DM was kind enough to send me an invite and I'd love to be a part of the game. What sort of characters are you lacking/what sort do you need or not need?

James

I'll be taking the roll of Psychopath Master Blaster. Tanj is our Milk jug of healing. Dareon is the type to get in front and buff himself while killing things.

We could use a skill monkey with an affinity for heights.

Or an Olympic diver.

I'm not the best person to ask, though. I'll be the Sorcerer, however.

Indeed. Strict melee character here, going for Knowledge-based utilities and general random Int-based skills.

I believe the archetypes/classes we could use are:

bard, druid, paladin, rogue, wizard, inquisitor, or witch. Utility spellcasting would be nice, additional (primarily physically-based) skills would be nice, a little bit of moral motivation/tankiness would be nice, some social/investigatory skills would be nice.

What we could use is a wide range indeed. Feel free to be largely unshackled.

To offer a little more,

Dareon is a Vivisectionist/Lore Warden. He tends to be filling the tanking role by both being hard to hit, and even harder to hit when he moves *shakes fist*

Faedrin is a Spelldancer Magus, possibly dipping Rogue soon for some skill synergies and accesses (prob mostly face-type)

Tanjvats is a Cleric, a little not all there, but still ready and willing to heal/help when needed.

and

Duboris, is planning on making a blaster sorcerer after his last PC made a valiant, albeit somewhat misguided, effort to jump 120' down to the water below to save a fallen comrade.

We have a fair amount of Arcane power, a full divine (our Oracle just left), and decent melee. They could probably use a little more melee.

How familiar are you with Shattered Star?

Indeed. I can't speak for the others, but feel free to check out my statblock. I'm going for Combat Reflexes, Combat Expertise, and Spring Attack for my next several feats. Maybe slot in Skill Focus (Knowledge: History) so that I can become a student of war.

Faedrin is similarly a mobile melee fighter, but doesn't bring much power and his AC isn't as rockin' as mine. Tanjvats brings the utility spellcasting, but the cleric spell list isn't as good as it could be.

Speaking of that character. Here's that guy.

Adiraq Scarnetti
Male Human Sorcerer 2
LE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +0
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Defense
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AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 11 (2d6+2)
Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +3
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +3 (1d4/19-20) and
. . unarmed strike +3 (1d3 nonlethal)
Special Attacks bloodline arcana: elemental
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 2nd; concentration +6)
. . 7/day—elemental ray
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 2nd; concentration +6):
. . 1st (5/day)—burning hands (DC 17), magic missile
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, light, prestidigitation, ray of frost, spark[APG] (DC 14)
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 11, Cha 19
Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMD 13
Feats Elemental Focus[APG], Eschew Materials, Greater Elemental Focus[APG], Weapon Finesse
Traits alabaster outcast, havoc of the society
Skills Appraise +7, Bluff +9, Craft (Fireworks) +7, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (planes) +7, Spellcraft +7
Languages Aklo, Common, Ignan
SQ bloodlines (elemental)
Combat Gear alchemist's fire (2); Other Gear dagger, sorcerer's kit, 19 gp, 9 sp, 4 cp
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Special Abilities
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Alabaster Outcast +1 Diplomacy & Intimidate within Magnimar.
Bloodline Arcana: Elemental (Ex) You may change any energy spell to use Fire energy.
Elemental (Fire) You may change any energy spell to use your bloodline's energy type.
Elemental Focus (Fire) +1 DC to spells that deal damage of the chosen energy.
Elemental Ray (7/day) (Sp) Ranged touch attack deals 1d6+1 Fire damage.
Eschew Materials Cast spells without materials, if component cost is 1 gp or less.
Greater Elemental Focus (Fire) +1 DC to spells that deal damage of the chosen energy.
Havoc of the Society Whenever you cast a spell that deals damage, you gain a +1 trait bonus to the total damage dealt.

I'm basically putting everything into the prospect of heavy explosive. The craft is unique, and is fireworks, as it happens to be his outlet.

Wait, don't take burning hands at this level. You get it for free at level 3, and you don't get a replacement if you already have it.

I kind of wanna grab something with a save, but I think I should just switch it out for Shield at the moment. Fortunately my rays of fire will do minimum 4 damage a turn, so I won't be completely useless.

Would Shield and Magic Missile be better?

Next level, which might be sooner than we think, I believe, I'll be able to grab Burning hands and something else, and for the live of me I can't be sure what that is.

Currently my weapons are:

Fire ray (Because he'll never use Frost) which does 2d3+2 if he uses one for both actions. The bonus comes from his trait.

Magic Missile Which does 1d4+2, and if he mixes it with Fire Ray for more potency, he'll do 1d4+2+1d3+1 which is a minimum 5 damage.

Burning Disarm Save 17 Which will do 2d4+1 followed by a fire Ray, making for 2d4+1+1d3+1 which is a minimum of 5 damage as well. This also forces them to drop their weapon, and for just 5 foot stepping, that's pretty great.

Weapon wise I might grab something with reach, but I doubt I can get something like a longspear without dedicating a feat. It'd be nice to AoO the person when they use a move action to grab their weapon.

I own the AP, though I've just mostly skimmed it and that was when it came out... Hmmm. Let me ponder and poke and see what I can come up with.

120' jump? Nice!

I'm a fan of snapdragon fireworks, myself. It's a great action-economy friendly spell if you plan to post-up and not take more than 5-foot steps. A little damage and a nice little debuff for a move action every round after it's first cast. Seems like it'd be a good thematic theme for him too, considering his ranks in craft. =)

How would you feel about a ninja? I've never played one and it sounds like some skills/combat would be useful, plus with the ki pool I can add some utility effects as well.

I agree entirely, Faed. Though I'll probably grab that next level. All the same the Dazzle effect is quite nice, and I may actually grab it instead of magic missile. It would still do 1d4+1 so it'd essentially be a magic missile that dazzles, and looks pretty cool, lol.

Plus it'd be neat to send it streaming down a hallway we couldn't see down. It'd make a wonderful distraction, as well.

Speaking of distractions, I do actually intend to make firework displays as they'll likely be really distracting to enemy camps if we have to deal with one. Timed fuses will be nice to invent ;U

So yeah.

Snapdragon Fireworks and Burning Disarm. Fire ray will be my staple humble damage until next level.

I don't wanna talk about what happens when I get fireball, though...

Did I really say "thematic theme" in my last post here? Ugh. I apologetically apologize. I could blame it on my not having had coffee yet, but that hardly excuses such repetative repetition. I shamefully hang my head in shame. D:

Department of Redundancy Department.

That aside, I believe those are my finalized spells. I'll post as his Alias in just a moment. His name isn't going to be Scarnetti, though.

This is the character I've created so far...

Basic backstory: Kascio was an orphan in Goka, and somewhat of an up and comer in the street gang called the Jade Serpents. Until he fell in love with the boss' daughter. Suddenly he found himself on the run from his old gang and turned to an old friend who had gone legit in the Lantern Lodge. Falsifying some documents got Kascio sent to Varisia, about as far from Goka as they could manage as a Pathfinder exchange agent. Except...

He knows nothing about the Pathfinders.

What he does know is breaking and entering and theft. He's good with tongues, which got him into this trouble to begin with, good with shadows and good with climbing. And he's really, really hoping no one notices his complete lack of "Pathfinder" knowledge or experience...

If you didn't roll your stats with Aard in a private message, I'd suggest rolling them here. There should be an explanation about that a ways up. One thing in particular that I can definitely say is that you should most definitely definitely redundantly not take half plus one.

Looking closer you used point buy, which is usual for shattered star sure, but Aard wants dice rolling.

That aside, this is Seymour's look. Was hoping for something with a bit more fire and brighter hair to reflect his personality, but I'm really still looking, I'd say. Regardless this is him for now.

I think it was roll 7 sets of 4d6, drop the lowest number from each one and drop the lowest of the 7 then place them accordingly, right? Average 1st level wealth, half hp or roll it, too.

Oh and if you're modifiers are in total below 8 or above 12, you re-roll everything.

You also need atleast 1 campaign trait but the other can be whichever you choose, I'd say.

Once again, don't quote me on that.

Rolling, rolling, rolling! Okay, let's see what we get here.

4d6 - 1 ⇒ (5, 1, 6, 5) - 1 = 16
4d6 - 1 ⇒ (2, 6, 2, 3) - 1 = 12
4d6 - 1 ⇒ (1, 1, 3, 1) - 1 = 5
4d6 - 1 ⇒ (4, 4, 1, 1) - 1 = 9
4d6 - 2 ⇒ (2, 2, 5, 5) - 2 = 12
4d6 - 1 ⇒ (1, 2, 2, 3) - 1 = 7

Well that's terrible. Let's try again.

4d6 - 1 ⇒ (1, 4, 6, 3) - 1 = 13
4d6 - 1 ⇒ (5, 3, 6, 1) - 1 = 14
4d6 - 1 ⇒ (5, 2, 4, 1) - 1 = 11
4d6 - 1 ⇒ (5, 3, 1, 3) - 1 = 11
4d6 - 1 ⇒ (4, 3, 1, 2) - 1 = 9
4d6 - 1 ⇒ (1, 6, 3, 1) - 1 = 10

That's not much better.

4d6 - 1 ⇒ (5, 3, 1, 2) - 1 = 10
4d6 - 2 ⇒ (4, 3, 2, 5) - 2 = 12
4d6 - 2 ⇒ (6, 6, 2, 3) - 2 = 15
4d6 - 1 ⇒ (1, 6, 5, 5) - 1 = 16
4d6 - 2 ⇒ (2, 5, 6, 5) - 2 = 16
4d6 - 3 ⇒ (6, 3, 4, 5) - 3 = 15

Will that work? Let me know.

Oh, I don't think Ninjas or Samurai are allowed in Aard's campaigns. He doesn't like them.

Also, Duboris, I'm pretty sure that the bloodline fire ray is a standard action, which means you can only use it once per round.

If ninja is disallowed, I can reskin Kascio to be a local lad.

In this case Kascio was raised among the Sczarni, but made the mistake of falling in love with some high up's daughter. Scandal ensues and he finds himself in with the Pathfinders to hide/protect him from the Sczarni.

The bloodline fire ray is a standard action that does 1d6+2 (The extra +1 is from Havoc) which is nice. What I was referring to, however, was Ray of Frost (A Cantrip) that I would make a fire spell with my elemental blood line, so I called it Ray of Fire instead.

That setup actually translates to 1d3+1+1d6+2 which also does 5 damage :D

I've got plenty of stuff to hold me over till I have to bust out Snapdragon Fireworks or Disarm, thankfully.

After casting Snapdragon as a standard, every round after it I can Do my Bloodline ray and it at the same time to do 2d6+3 and Dazzle, which is great for level 2.

Needless to say, when level 3 rolls around I'll likely grab Pyrotechnics. I'll potentially grab it and Spontaneous Combustion.

The only downside is how do I do all this without blinding you guys...

RAY OF FROST

School evocation [cold]; Level sorcerer/wizard 0
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect ray
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance yes

Also, you don't get level 2 spells at 3rd character level. You'll have to wait until 4th level.

I figured it was 4 since Sorcerers get only 6 levels of spells, but I wasn't sure. That said, I'm getting very upset with Hero lab's constant errors in the errata. It's got Ray of Frost and Jolt both listed as 1 action.

Any idea how I can do 2 little pricks of damage a round, then? I atleast know that Snapdragon fireworks and the Standard bloodline ray still work together, thankfully.

Duboris, sorcerer get 9 levels of spells. They're a full spellcasting class.

You really ought to actually look at the pages on the pathfinder srd.

Funny story. I've never played, played with, seen, made, or fought a sorcerer in any pathfinder game that I've ever played. I just assumed they didn't get full 9 because they get a spell level at a decently late level, but in retrospect it's just 1 after wizards do.

Other than the occasional tiny mishap, I think I'm doing pretty well. I'm gonna be double checking the spells as I get them to boot. Sorry.

Funny story. I've never played, played with, seen, made, or fought a sorcerer in any pathfinder game that I've ever played. I just assumed they didn't get full 9 because they get a spell level at a decently late level, but in retrospect it's just 1 after wizards do.

Other than the occasional tiny mishap, I think I'm doing pretty well. I'm gonna be double checking the spells as I get them to boot. Sorry.

I can guarantee you that you've fought a sorcerer. That fight that took us a month, in that s@%#ty house? The woman we were fighting was a rogue/sorcerer.

But yeah, I can understand your confusion.

If you're referring to that bit that came after learning stuff from Finster the blight, Oz had no part in fighting her, if I recall. I was too busy getting hit with magic missile, lol... and then gravity.

That said, You've a fair point. I still haven't fought a major sorcerer though, and I figure someone capable of casting fireball 3 times a day is a force to be reckoned with, wouldn't you say?

Welcome, James! Nice to be gaming with you again.

Yes, Welcome James.

To be clear you looked at the houserules fully, and do not mind? I feel I have to double-check after my last campaign began. I accepted a player and he realized afterward that he couldn't deal with the houserules that were advertised in the recruitment.

Specifically, the take 10/20 rules and the nat 1's or 20's on skill checks seem to be hot-button arguments on the forums.

Other than that, yes the others are right. It should be rolled stats, and you have that. Granted, it is roll 7 take the best 6, but if you roll another you risk going over the rolled parameters of no more than a +12 total modifier (minimum of +5). You are at +11.

I also abhor ninja and samurai as separate classes when they should just be just flavor text, or at the worst archetypes.

I'm fine with the character. You and Duboris' new PC (Adiraq) will be at the Pathfinder lodge until the group returns. Which may be shortly (but could take a little longer than expected), so there's no rush on you putting a profile together.

Character's name is Seymour Derexhi. Adiraq was the Cutlass fighter that got axed. Seymour is the fire guy. If You're okay with it Aard, after I post up his background and the like, I wouldn't mind roleplaying with James while we wait on the others in a spoiler?

Also this Alias is much better!

Preferably, only after you get everyhting else finished for the profile. To include the stat line at the top and all the numbers in the profile. Ideally just so you don't get distracted and forget them.

I have no problem with the house rules, including the critical fail/hits on skills and doing away with taking 10/20.

I still need to roll HP 1d8 ⇒ 7 and I think I'm ready or very close!

Quick question: how much starting gold do I have to spend?

Bump on the starting gold question, please!

Yes, sorry, I've been dealing with schedule change and have lapsed on following my games for quite a few days.

For now, just use max starting gold for a 1st level character. The group hasn't earned all that much yet, having not returned and cashed out what all they've found, so I'm not certain just yet about where they are in regards to WBL.

Okay, sounds good. Thanks!

Edit: Kascio is now equipped, statted and should be ready for action.

Umm, Aard, a question. I'm not much of an optimizer, (case and point, Dmitri) and you never ruled them out, so I was wondering. How do you feel about summoner? I've always wanted to play one, but they're frequently banned because people have the nasty habit of making their Eidolon an unstoppable, buffed killing machine. I've an idea, but would you allow me to create a summoner for this game?

I should clarify that in any game that I've ever allowed summoners, I strictly disallow the synthesist archetype, as whoever dreamed it up is both a madman, and obviously had a penchant for optimization, haha. It's almost impossible to even worry with some of that archetype's abilities.

Simply put, it'll be a no-archetype summoner.

I actually have no problem with summoners. I don't consider them broken or OP.

In fact I think Synthesist is less powerful because instead of having two beings worth of action you only have one.

Sometimes, when people consider things too OP, they can often also be forgetting or ignoring some of the rules that may get hand-waved away that are there to create balance.

Too often a class' power is based solely off its DPR combat potential, and too many of all the other factors of the game are not included in the evaluation.

Alright so, before I make this, I'm gonna mention two things. In light of a brilliant idea for a character, I actually am going to go with Synthesist, as the way the character looks and acts in my head is delightful and I love it.

I'm going on a trip for the next three or four days and I'm not bringing my computer, so I'll be AWOL. I'll be back with posts by Wednesday, I believe.

Aard before I get into this summoner building, I have to ask. Is there anything in particular I am most definitely not allowed to do? Making an Eidolon is a slippery slope when you consider how many buffs I'm going to have for it. Mage Armor and Shield are certainly on the list. If I remember correctly Enlarge person is also a first level spell.

So, if you have restrictions, I'd place them now. Mind you the Eidolon I've in mind isn't optimized, but, it's not the most simple thing, either.

You can't use enlarge person on your eidolon when you're fused with your eidolon. It only works on humanoid targets and your eidolon is an outsider.

Share Spells (Ex): The summoner may cast a spell with a target of “you” on his eidolon (as a spell with a range of touch) instead of on himself. A summoner may cast spells on his eidolon even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the eidolon's type (outsider). Spells cast in this way must come from the summoner spell list. This ability does not allow the eidolon to share abilities that are not spells, even if they function like spells.

http://paizo.com/prd/advanced/baseClasses/summoner.html (Source)

You actually are able to do just that, and it's a cornerstone of early level summoners, from the looks of it. As for whether you and the Eidolon both grow larger or not, well, I'm not so sure. I imagine if you were a synthesist you're the same thing, and both grow as a result.

That said, I'm not being a synthesist, as my idea has once again changed. Well. Not so much. I just decided it was safer to not be a synthesist.

Aard this is a bit of a stretch but would you allow me to apply the reach evolution to a manufactured weapon that the Eidolon wields? It's not going to be a "Ball of Attacks" Eidolon, and is going to be slugger.

Share spells just lets you cast spells with a target of 'You', on something else. That's it., Also it doesn't affect both of you. It still only has 1 target, you can just choose that target to be either you or the thing you share spells with. Enlarge Person doesn't have a target of 'You', so Share Spells is irrelevant.

What Lein is talking about is:

Fused Eidolon:

While fused, the synthesist loses the benefits of his armor. He counts both as his original type and as an outsider for any effect related to type, whichever is worse for the synthesist.
Spells such as banishment or dismissal work normally on the eidolon, but the synthesist is unaffected.

The spell Enlarge Person targets 'one humanoid creature' and outsiders are not humanoid.

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As for the reach evolution added to a weapon. The answer is quite simple. If the evolution doesn't say you can do it, then no you can't do it.

Bear in mind, unless otherwise noted, I rarely deviate from the rules as written.

Share Spells (Ex): The summoner may cast a spell with a target of “you” on his eidolon (as a spell with a range of touch) instead of on himself.

A summoner may cast spells on his eidolon even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the eidolon's type (outsider).

Spells cast in this way must come from the summoner spell list.

This ability does not allow the eidolon to share abilities that are not spells, even if they function like spells.

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The first sentence allows it to be affected with stuff that's normally caster only. The second allows him to be subject to ranged spells/buffs that normally dont effect him, including enlarge person, as well as a plethora of other buffs that normally only effect humanoids. I apologize, but normally I'm wrong, and I can attest to that, but I generously think I'm correct on this one. Synthesist i'm not sure of, but it doesn't neccesarily matter since I'm no longer making a synthesist.

As for why I ask about the reach for a manufactured weapon, well:

Reach (Ex)
One of an eidolon’s attacks is capable of striking at foes at a distance. Pick one attack. The eidolon’s reach with that attack increases by 5 feet.

That said, I don't really need to worry that much about it. It seems vague, but it only probably applies to natural attacks, which is useless since mine will be a slugger. That said, Instead of it I'm just going to grab the skilled ability, which'll give it a +8 perception.

I've never read it that way (maybe a change from 3.x), but looking at the wording it seems like it could go either way.

Looking at my 3.5 PHB, the original ability allowed a caster to cast a spell on himself and the familiar together as long as the familiar stayed within 5'.

It also allowed "you" spells to be cast on the familiar. It then said they can "Share Spells" (as the name of the ability), despite what the type of creature the familiar is.

It seems the intent of the original ability was applied to "you" spells or spells cast on the caster (to include the familiar if within 5').

They changed the ability and wording, though, and looking at it I would imagine not many "you" spells have a limit of "one Humanoid" or the like. Meaning, it is likely the way you say.

OH THANK GOD I thought you were gonna get upset, lol. Phew, well that's a bit off of my back at least. Were you reading the stuff about familiars? I took that source from the paizo site itself. I think the share spell for summoners is bit different from the usual familiar share spell.

I read both (for a point of reference), and looked at the familiar section in 3.5 because they didn't have summoners.

Why would I be upset? I may argue, and debate, but I rarely get angry about it unless someone is being obstinate (see: trying to change feats around because they didn't have the foresight to think ahead or take feats based on in character situations) ;)