Yay.
slow clap
Hey GM, I'm wondering if we can implement a house rule that I've had in a couple games and that I think works nicely without being too powerful. The rule is that disarm, sunder, and trip maneuvers (and maybe more, but usually those at least) only provoke AoO's if they fail. Just wondering, because disarming is something I'd like Variziel to be able to do at lower levels, and I'd hate to have to eat an AoO every time I try.
Why not just take Improved Maneuver feats? Seems like a pretty arbitrary change to the rules.
Ok crunch finished and background expanded a bit.
Heads up: I've redone my stats because I came to the conclusion that even staying off the front line, dumping Constitution was a death sentence.
Edit: Oof! Janus, Lawful Evil? This Chaotic Neutral with a Good streak gets the impression that our characters will not get along very well.
Charlotte, by dint of there being a Ventriloquism spell, I would assume that Ghost Sound doesn't replicate speech. I could go with it replicating whimpers or screams though, since those are not exactly speech in the most advanced definition.
Variziel, I see your point, as I have wondered what is so risky about CMs, because as a fencer, combat maneuver-like moves have never really seemed to open someone to attacks any more than basic ones, as long as the moves are done skillfully. I grant your request and rule that CMs do not provoke AoOs unless they miss.
Charlotte and Jesal, thank you for the applause! *Does a snobbish actor bow that borders on ridiculousness*
Janus, good to hear. I will review shortly.
Broodsiblings, more on BEfS!
Speaking of alignments: Variziel, I'm not sure I understand how a chaotic good alignment is compatible with the kind of pilfering we'll probably be doing over the course of the campaign. (Would love to hear your explanation because I wanted to make Charlotte CG too but couldn't rationalize it.)
Re: House Rule, I expect our enemies will be making good use of this as well? :P
Thanks on the house rule! I also fence and that factors into it--it's not like you really leave yourself wide open if you go for, say, a beat attack rather than a straight lunge. Makes sense.
Speaking of alignments: Variziel, I'm not sure I understand how a chaotic good alignment is compatible with the kind of pilfering we'll probably be doing over the course of the campaign. (Would love to hear your explanation because I wanted to make Charlotte CG too but couldn't rationalize it.)
Re: House Rule, I expect our enemies will be making good use of this as well? :P
Variziel is almost DEFINITELY going to wind up Chaotic Neutral, probably quite early on. Right now, he's a Chaotic Good character because he's a free spirit who's cut his ties to the noble house where he was raised to set out and discover the legacy of his ancestry and make a name for himself, while also being generally kind, compassionate, and helpful toward others.
Life on a pirate ship will probably change that very quickly. I don't expect him to retain CG status for too long once things get going; he's going to have a bit of a struggle adapting and then join into what piracy is "really" like.
Charlotte, Variziel said he's starting out as CG, but is likely going to slide morally to CN. Same way my character started WotW as a LN fallen Paladin and turned into a LE Antipaladin. IC development is interesting when alignment evolves as well.
Ah, that explains it.
Charlotte's main code of beliefs: "Don't attack noncombatants. At least, don't attack noncombatants unless there's a very good risk they'll turn into combatants. We're pirates, not monsters."
Post ninja'd!
Curiosity, Variziel: Why Quick Draw? You can already draw a weapon as a free action as part of a movement. I'm curious to know when the need for Quick Draw would come up.
Am I going crazy or did ShadowyFox have his character up a second ago? :0
Got that Inquisitor done yet, good sir?
explain the 25 point thing to me and my 2+ went to my cha so its actully a sixteen.
Basically, Temerith:
You start with all your stats at 10, and then you add 25 points wherever you like, though no stat can be above 18 before racial modifiers.
For example, I have:
Strength 13 (10+3)
Dexterity 14 (10+4)
Constitution 16 (10+8-2 Racial)
Intelligence 12 (10+2)
Wisdom 12 (10+2 Racial)
Charisma 20 (18+2 Racial)
3+4+8+2+8 = 25.
To be bluntly honest, it's a prerequisite for... uhm....
Huh. I thought it was a prerequisite. Odd.
Time to change that over to Combat Expertise!
ShadowyFox will have him up in just a moment! :)
my stats should be safe then
str 13 (3 points)
dex 10
con 14 (4 points)
int 16 (6 points)
wis 16 (6 points)
cha 18 (6 points, its 16+2)
Oh, yep. Miscounted when I was checking earlier.
By the way, I'd like to recommend updating your stat block to a more formal form. It's a bit hard to read right now, and anyone who'd want to figure out, say, your HP, would have to calculate it every time.
My mistake Temerith! It looks fine to me. Don't know why I thought otherwise.
Maybe you were looking at Janus' stats?
BTW, Chaotic Good is a fine alignment for thieves and even raiders. Probably not for murderers or wanton vandals, but you could easily make a lawbreaker with a conscience.
Janus, you went 2 points over on your stat buy, if I calculated correctly.
Jesal, yes and yes.
Sorry for the short post. On the way home.
Nah, Janus has 25. He picked the "Dual Talent" human variant trait that trades the bonus feat and skill for a second +2 in a stat.
Otherwise he'd be breaking the "nothing over 18 before racial stats" rule. :P
I REALIZE NOW IT WASN'T EVEN ON THIS THREAD!
*Facepalms*
I'm getting decent sleep tonight ! :D
Just traded in my not-so-useful feat for Skilled Driver(Water Vehicles) just because I can. Wheeee, piloting a ship. (Unless someone else is particularly invested in the role of future ship driver? I have no aspirations to being captain, but I'd love this one role when it becomes relevant.)
I really can't see a CG doing the kind of pillage that's expected from pirates.
Not even of that village was a bunch of marauding psychopaths?
How many villages of marauding psychopaths do you know? :P
Its the Shackles. Probably every other one.
*snerk*
Okay, point taken. Still, rather limiting.
Ignatius Hank, also known as Black Spot Iggy, to those that get on me wrong side!
Hm... rethinking Skilled Driver. Not much profit there when other members of the crew are just insignificantly below without the feat.
Hm... What feat to take, what feat to take...
Skill Focus?
Hm. Always found that a bit underwhelming, and my MVP skills are all pretty high already. I'm looking for something flashier and funner, rather than more optimal.
(Going for optimal, I'd take Improved Initiative)
I know my level 3 feat will be Extra Revelation, at any rate.
Well, time for me to pull up the feats list. :)
Edit: What about Mother's Gift?
I could take Eschew Materials. Would probably save me a bunch of trouble in the long run, but... it's kind of underwhelming, at the same time.
Mother's Gift (Surprisingly Tough) is the feat I phased out to take Skilled Driver in the first place. I'm unlikely to be targeted much already, with the shenanigans I'm planning to pull, so +1 natural armor didn't feel worth it.
That being said, the Spell Resistance one might be good. 25% to have a caster of my level fail a spellcasting at me? Not bad... I'll keep it in the running in case I find nothing else.
Dazing Spell, maybe?
Won't get much use out of that for a looooong time. Also I'm going for debuff over damage, so it wouldn't come out a lot.
I'm probably taking Extend Spell some time down the line, though.
Edit: *facepalm* Duuuuh. Spell focus. Now to figure out which school I'm likely to use more...
Edit 2: Not specialiseable enough efficiently. Back to searchign for feat.
Silent or Still Spell? Maybe Sickening Spell? Craft Wand could be a godsend, later down the line.
Edit: A good choice there, as well. Spell Focus is so obvious. Double d'oh.
One thing worth pointing out as that, as a player, I'm not a big metamagic fan. Rather, I love using Metamagic Rods, but I don't like spending higher level slots on lower level spells, most of the time. I'm more likely to splurge more loot than feats and spell levels. I will probably take Craft Wand around level 5 when it starts being really relevant.
I'll say this. I've loved having wands in a group, without a single doubt. Better than communal grog.
I'd take Skill Focus (Use Magic Device) if not for Little Sister (Haunted curse) making the "panoply of magic items" strategy troublesome.
I think I'll go with Skill Focus(Bluff), bringing my Bluff to a ridiculous +13.
That'll make for some fun trickery.
Nice! You'll have as high a bonus there, as Ignatius has in Intimidate.
Pft. It just dawned on me:
This party has at least four characters with social skills. We're sure to leave one heck of an impression.
Temerith, question: Are you going for a more blast-y Sorcerer, or more of a control-based one? Or something else entirely?
Would be handy if you went into blasting, so we'd have a bit less overlap.
Hey, with this one, having A LOT of social skills is not a bad thing at all. Besides, Iggy is only good at being intimidating.
Edit: I hope this character is built proper and there are no issues.
Good pirate, bad pirate is what we'll do, I'm guessing.
So... We've got...
Variziel and Ignatius on the front line
Jesal on summoning and support spellcasting
Janus on ranged damage (?)
Charlotte on control/debuff/small side of buffs
Temerith on either blasting or control/debuff (?)
If I'm not mistaken.
Hm. It doesn't seem like we have anyone who knows their way around a trap. Anyone capable of taking Disable Device? Janus, maybe? Would be a real boon for the party.
As far as alignments go...
CN, CN, CN, CG bound for CN, N, LE. Something tells me Janus won't get his Lawful way often.
Edit: Also I see now that between a few members of the party, my Profession(Sailor) is pretty irrelevant. Time to trade that in for something else, then.
Edit: I'm not sure Capn's point buy allows to lower a stat, but otherwise, seems legit to me with a quick read through.
I can't take Disable Device, and I'd likely be a little bit back from the front line. I could have sworn we had a 2nd front-liner.
Likely Janus would be our best bet for Disable Device.
Edit: A good point about point buy, and I'll make sure to ask. Profession (sailor) is definitely one that you might want to keep. Either that or Craft (carpenter) or something ship appropriate. We'll definitely have a good deal of use with those skills for a bit of time.
For what it's worth, I swapped my Profession(Sailor) for Acrobatics. Between you, Jesal and Janus, my +6 in it was getting pretty irrelevant. As a result, I'm also swapping my background to Barroom Talespinner.
Edit: Hm... I figure with half the party having Profession(Sailor), though, we should be more than covered. Hm... I'll pick Craft(Sails) over Acrobatics.
Wow, this thread exploded!
Iggy, welcome!
Great discussions, guys and gals!
All players, would you like me to post any information gained on important things like major NPCs, 'sidequests', leads discovered, ect., in spoiler tabs under Campaign Information as you discover them? It would be much more convenient for all of you than having to look back over several pages, memorize every detail, or take notes. Thoughts, opinions, singing rainbow trouts?