If it's possible to later switch factions, it's The Brotherhood for a while then maybe The Q. If there's no switching it'll be The Q now and much time spent with the peaceful Druids.
Your initial choice cannot be changed due to the nature of the resultant buffs. I'm almost finished with the last two factions' buffs. Have you checked out Kale's buffs recently?
Buffs... yeah, I said it...
Btw, Erasmus Kale is a Druid/Monk so he may be all nature loving and jazz but he's pretty hardcore in a fight.
I don't doubt that all the faction leaders could hold their own if forced to fight. Yeah I'll go with the Brotherhood, given the faction bonuses
They are all gestalt level 20. We wouldn't be able to beat one of them together.
I finished them all. If you've read them in the last hour I'd suggest you go over them again, I made some minor tweaks based on later buffs.
Alright, I'm beginning work on exhaustive inventories for each faction while I await everyone's final decision. I'll be hyperlinking them to Nethys.
I like everything so far, Miskatonic. It's all very flavorful. I have a few questions:
1) Can we add the faction bonuses to our characters now?
2) Do we have access to divine spells/abilities yet? If not, would you let us know whenever we get those powers back?
3) The Brotherhood's passive bonus "Duality Incarnate" gives "+11 faction bonus to your Resistance vs. Positive or Negative Energy." That's straight 11 resistance to positive/negative energy (that stacks with existing resistance vs the same), correct, not +11 to saves vs positive/negative energy?
4) The "Power Infusion" ability uses "a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom or Charisma Score, whichever is higher" for a duration. Is this supposed to be Wisdom or Charisma Modifier? As written, when Khazia uses this ability, it will last for 21 rounds, just over 2 minutes.
If she immediately uses the second portion of this ability (as written), it would be 189 healing/damage, & 95 nonlethal to herself (CL 9th x 21 rounds remaining). That's channel neg; it's 126 healing/damage & 63 nonlethal to herself for channel pos.
Also, would all of the damage/healing apply to each person affected by the channel? (189 damage to all living beings in 30ft burst, taking 95 nonlethal damage in return?)
Finally, I think you should put a clause in for saves per the Negative/Positive ability's normal save DC, unless there is no save for the damage from this ability.
I like everything so far, Miskatonic. It's all very flavorful. I have a few questions:
1) Can we add the faction bonuses to our characters now?
2) Do we have access to divine spells/abilities yet? If not, would you let us know whenever we get those powers back?
3) The Brotherhood's passive bonus "Duality Incarnate" gives "+11 faction bonus to your Resistance vs. Positive or Negative Energy." That's straight 11 resistance to positive/negative energy (that stacks with existing resistance vs the same), correct, not +11 to saves vs positive/negative energy?
4) The "Power Infusion" ability uses "a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom or Charisma Score, whichever is higher" for a duration. Is this supposed to be Wisdom or Charisma Modifier? As written, when Khazia uses this ability, it will last for 21 rounds, just over 2 minutes.
If she immediately uses the second portion of this ability (as written), it would be 189 healing/damage, & 95 nonlethal to herself (CL 9th x 21 rounds remaining). That's channel neg; it's 126 healing/damage & 63 nonlethal to herself for channel pos.
Also, would all of the damage/healing apply to each person affected by the channel? (189 damage to all living beings in 30ft burst, taking 95 nonlethal damage in return?)
Finally, I think you should put a clause in for saves per the Negative/Positive ability's normal save DC, unless there is no save for the damage from this ability.
1)Yes, be sure to include all the pertinent references. I still have to do a short snippet involving chosen factions and their players. I'll be grouping each faction together so we can move a bit faster.
2)Soon. Not just yet.
3)It's a resistance like energy resistance for say fire or cold damage. Not at all for saves.
4)I implied some super-powered abilities, you should check out the more melee-oriented jazz. It applies to all targets, yep. More healing/damage and more nonlethal(a mitigating factor needing to be abused more in my opinion), yep. Trust me, the first fight I have planned for you guys is gonna be pretty rough, even with all of your super-powered awesomeness.
ADDENDUM: The save functions just like your enhanced ability's would.
I'm a little confused. Where does it tell us what buffs there are? And how does Flint know that the faction leaders are level 20? I didn't see any stats for either of those.
I'm a little confused. Where does it tell us what buffs there are? And how does Flint know that the faction leaders are level 20? I didn't see any stats for either of those.
Check my profile aliases. Working on faction inventories as we speak.
What is "a bonus rank to all class skills"?
A bonus rank to all class skills... I find that boosting skills passively is a lame way to go. A 'bonus rank' functions as a skill point does.
What's the difference?
Sounds good, thank you. Couple last things to clarify, although they might seem a bit nit-picky:
1) How does the Power Infusion ability function? Is it a weaker burst that triggers each round, originating from the Channeler, applying 1/4 the normal affect to everyone in range or is it persistent from the first channeling power used to trigger the ability, applying 1/4 the normal affect each round only to the original creatures affected by the triggering channel?
I figure it's the latter, since this question only applies to channeling, while the ability works with all spells/abilities dealing with positive/negative energy, but I like explicit rules (and the two versions have slightly different tactical applications).
Rereading the ability makes this clear you're modifying one instance of a spell or ability that uses positive/negative energy, allowing it to deal additional damage/round.
2) The 1/4 affect applied each round, is that a factor of the original number result, or a factor of the numbers used to get that result?
(Rounding down)
x.25 for 6 damage/round
or
(.25 of the original power) Applied each round?
The former is easier to calculate, but I believe the latter would be more technically accurate (applying damage as a factor of the range rather than a factor of the specific number in that range - and with 6.75 as 25% of 27, that proves true in my example here, though it would average out to be lower).
2.a) Also, just occurred to me: Does the damage/round allow a save?
2.a.I) If a creature makes it's save vs the pos/neg damage from the triggering ability, does it then only take 1/8 damage/round (half of the 1/4 specified)?
I would request the additional damage not allow a save (I believe this is common with persistent effects), and not be affected by the save against the original damage (this has less precedent - usually a successful save vs an ability negates persistent effects).
What's the difference?
This essentially gives you +4 in any class skill you don't put a point in (+1 rank from the faction-less bonus, & +3 from having a rank in the class skill).
Also qualifies you for feats/abilities that require a certain number of ranks in a skill (or grant bonuses based on number of ranks such as Skill Focus etc).
Otherwise it's the same as any +1 to skills.
Edit: Essentially gives you bonus skill points equal to the number of class skills you have (scaling up by level), but they are automatically applied to your class skills. For any class without an abundance of skill points (me!), this could help with diversification of skills a lot.
I'm assuming this is more stuff from the aliases?
Oh, by the way. I'm considering a recruitment for The Jihad To Destroy Barney, if I can find the time for it. I thought I'd alert the players I'm already familiar with in case anybody finds the idea interesting.
Sounds good, thank you. Couple last things to clarify, although they might seem a bit nit-picky:
1) How does the Power Infusion ability function? Is it a weaker burst that triggers each round, originating from the Channeler, applying 1/4 the normal affect to everyone in range or is it persistent from the first channeling power used to trigger the ability, applying 1/4 the normal affect each round only to the original creatures affected by the triggering channel?I figure it's the latter, since this question only applies to channeling, while the ability works with all spells/abilities dealing with positive/negative energy, but I like explicit rules (and the two versions have slightly different tactical applications).
Rereading the ability makes this clear you're modifying one instance of a spell or ability that uses positive/negative energy, allowing it to deal additional damage/round.
2) The 1/4 affect applied each round, is that a factor of the original number result, or a factor of the numbers used to get that result?
(Rounding down)
[dice=Channel Negative Energy]5d6 +9 x.25 for 6 damage/round
or
[dice=Channel Negative Energy]d6 + 2 (.25 of the original power) Applied each round?The former is easier to calculate, but I believe the latter would be more technically accurate (applying damage as a factor of the range rather than a factor of the specific number in that range - and with 6.75 as 25% of 27, that proves true in my example here, though it would average out to be lower).
2.a) Also, just occurred to me: Does the damage/round allow a save?
2.a.I) If a creature makes it's save vs the pos/neg damage from the triggering ability, does it then only take 1/8 damage/round (half of the 1/4 specified)?
I would request the additional damage not allow a save (I believe this is common with persistent effects), and not be affected by the save against the original damage (this has less precedent - usually a successful save vs an ability...
1) Glad it makes sense.
2) Given the nature of the ability, being derived from what I'll call 'pure magic', for lack of a more 'story-friendly' term at the moment, these variables will round up and use the former equation, for flavor, speed, and because I hate rounding down.
2.a) The initial save determines whether or not using Power Infusion is even worth using. Say, for instance, 'Super Lich Awesome Dude' takes a channel positive to the face and wipes it off like some ichor from a popped undead acne zit, overclocking the channel doesn't do anything but piss him off at this point. That is if its a save negates, if a save halves then that is up to you if he passes. Is it worth the piddly boost to the damage or no? Tis your decision :)
What's the difference?This essentially gives you +4 in any class skill you don't put a point in (+1 rank from the faction-less bonus, & +3 from having a rank in the class skill).
Also qualifies you for feats/abilities that require a certain number of ranks in a skill (or grant bonuses based on number of ranks such as Skill Focus etc).
Otherwise it's the same as any +1 to skills.
Edit: Essentially gives you bonus skill points equal to the number of class skills you have (scaling up by level), but they are automatically applied to your class skills. For any class without an abundance of skill points (me!), this could help with diversification of skills a lot.
Hit the nail on the head.
Can that go over the rank cap? Doesn't help on those currently maxed out.
What's the difference?This essentially gives you +4 in any class skill you don't put a point in (+1 rank from the faction-less bonus, & +3 from having a rank in the class skill).
Also qualifies you for feats/abilities that require a certain number of ranks in a skill (or grant bonuses based on number of ranks such as Skill Focus etc).
Otherwise it's the same as any +1 to skills.
Edit: Essentially gives you bonus skill points equal to the number of class skills you have (scaling up by level), but they are automatically applied to your class skills. For any class without an abundance of skill points (me!), this could help with diversification of skills a lot.
Ah. Shiny.
Can that go over the rank cap? Doesn't help on those currently maxed out.
Nope, it does not.
Where are we getting the bonus rank from, anyway? I seem to be missing a lot of information, somehow.
The Kasathan Emporium buff, Platinum Tongue(Su).
Professor, click Miskatonic's name to go to his Profile. Then click over the the aliases tab to view all his aliases. He has aliases for the faction leaders there. Each of those aliases has spoilers with that character's background and their faction's bonuses in the profile.
Bonuses for unaffiliated are in the profile for Solivagus the Wise.
Ooooooohhh... I've been looking at the Campaign Info tab, and wondering what I'm missing. Thanks.
Ugh... added all the faction stuff to my profile, but apparently took too long, and Paizo didn't let me save it. I'll be back a bit later tonight to update it.
You're telling me, Khazia, I'm just getting to Slotted Wondrous Items for The Quintessential Collaborative's inventory, lol. ALL of it is hyperlinked o.O
Khazia Nyrazim: The Brotherhood
Flint Blackwood & Professor Brooks and Ham: Unaffiliated
William Grove: The Enclave
Our choices so far. Keeping you all in the loop as best I can.
That's...going to be hard to track.
Incredibly.
I will definitely be picking PAN as my faction. Right up my alleyway with the Evocation stuff.
Also, my apologies once more for delays, especially to you Flint. Trust me, I really wanna try this character out in a fight.
Added the faction stuff to the alias. It'd probably be easier to just designate certain types or sections of equipment, with just a link or two, if that's possible.
Not that I'm particularly bothered, but Skarlm Bitterborn's background doesn't seem to match his alignment. Raziel's cruel methods are murky for his & the Conclave's LG mission, and Belisarius might be tipping the edge on the good/evil axis (I'd call him CN, actually closer to evil than good given his history)* but that's all more interesting than necessarily "wrong." The First Harbinger seems less ambiguous.
When Bitterborn turns from the Hellknights for a life in the wild, he is embracing chaos as the governing factor in his life over the lawful order of the Hellknights he'd known for so long. That's cool, but such a shift in ideology would indicate a change to a chaotic alignment at that point. He also never seems to return to the lawfulness of his old life. Although Solivagus may have reined him in, it appears as if his entire bid against Asmodeus & the Hellknights is due to a hatred of their lawful order, born after his thirst for "CHAOS."
It's not gonna detract from my gaming experience, but I wanted to point out what appears to be a small discrepancy.
I also was thinking about The Choosing as a good time to request Khazia's alignment to shift from LG to NG, but she's going straight Paladin, and I'm coming to embrace the challenge of playing a morally-driven & morally-restricted character.
When you are done with the lists, one of those dudes better have Engineer's Work-gloves. I promise Flint will be awkwardly touching a lot of things in the days to come.
To clarify, each of the leaders and their factions behave, for the most part, as their listed alignment. Only under certain circumstances do they shift in behavior greatly. Bitterborn loses his s#&# in the presence of Asmodeus-aligned Hellknights(he transforms and starts eating people), Belisarius is torn between two worlds and embodies Chaotic Good at his furthest extreme(bordering on Chaotic Evil in the right conditions). I've always found that the alignment system never really brought characters into a genuinely 'human' response paradigm. What I mean is that players find it too easy to blame their alignment for their actions rather than make a real decision based on what someone in the instigated situation would actually do.
This all being said, it is a fantasy game, yes, but I want real reactions. If a giant dragon sporting the looks of an ancient red wyrm, big horns and aged scales and all, I don't want a player going "Have at thee!" just because they recognize the dragon, for whatever reason, and their 'alignment' bids them attack an evil creature. Think tactically, be passionate, and if you believe your character has had a change of heart, even if it's only for a single decision, that is what it is to be 'human' in Pathfinder.(Hence the race limitations being of human descent.)
Alright, to assuage all of our divine casters I have crafted the Campaign Feat that explains how you regain your powers. Please reference the Cmpaign Info section and check the Echoes of Genesis spoiler for further information. Everyone gains this feat as a bonus feat once you leave for your first adventure from Hideaway, which will be shortly.
Still waiting on Cthanos right?
I'm assuming that the damage reduction from Denser Skeletal Structure doesn't stack with any other forms of DR. Theoretically I could grab +1 NA then DR 7/-, but that would totally negate my class feature of DR and the rage power I took.
I'm surprised there is no limit to the amount of DR you can get like there is Natural Armor. I think DR is much more powerful than NA, but that's just my opinion.
@ Flint: I'll be pushing you guys along without him for now. He may rejoin you if I think he can.
ADDENDUM: Expect a more progressive story post this evening. Around 11pm EST or later. It'll include everyone's faction/leader interaction and your first step towards your first combat scenario.
@ William: Natural Armor is pretty strong if you consider the fact that negating an entire attack is like the ultimate DR, lol. These bonuses are supernatural, they will stack with other like effects. There will be factors in play like gravity or toxic environments when you visit different worlds or places. Only on Hideaway to all of the Supremacy bonuses function as 'written'.
ADDENDUM: Dense Musculature and Dense Skeletal Structure have been tweaked to be more 'reasonable'.
@ William: Natural Armor is pretty strong if you consider the fact that negating an entire attack is like the ultimate DR, lol. These bonuses are supernatural, they will stack with other like effects. There will be factors in play like gravity or toxic environments when you visit different worlds or places. Only on Hideaway to all of the Supremacy bonuses function as 'written'.
ADDENDUM: Dense Musculature and Dense Skeletal Structure have been tweaked to be more 'reasonable'.
Currently we're looking at a max of +4 NA. That would be a max increase of 20% in getting hit. Which is a decent miss change. There comes a point in this game where AC isn't how you avoid damage, it's just too easy for creatures of a certain CR to hit you no matter your ac, so I'm lead to believe. You are right though, 0 damage is better than any damage no matter how low.
I don't suppose this is a feat we could take again at some point? There's a lot on the list I want and I could think of a few things to add to the list as well.
Here is what I am considering taking currently:
Enhanced Eyesight- Lowlight Vision(Must be able to see normally.)
Preysight- Darkvision 60ft(Must have Lowlight Vision and a Wisdom Score of 12 or higher.)
Dermal Enhancement- Natural Armor +1*(Must have a Constitution Score equal to 5 x the Natural Armor bonus gained in this way.)
Antivenin Lymph Glands- Immunity to Poisons(Must have a racial bonus to Constitution or a racial bonus vs. poisons.)
Antiviral Marrow Cores- Immunity to Diseases(Must have a racial bonus to Constitution or a racial bonus vs. diseases.)
Cardiopulmonary Enhancement- Immunity to Exhaustion & Fatigue(Must have a Constitution Score of 12 or higher.)
Denser Skeletal Structure- Damage Reduction 1/-*(Must have at least a +1 Natural Armor bonus. Must have 25 Hit Points per DR1/- gained in this way.).
Denser Skeletal Structure- Damage Reduction 1/-*(Must have at least a +1 Natural Armor bonus. Must have 25 Hit Points per DR1/- gained in this way.).
If anyone has any comments I'm open to hearing them.
I got you Miskatonic. Alignment is definitely a nebulous thing to try & pin down. Those are some crazy options in the campaign feat. Obviously pick up the divine casting, then probably split bonuses between Nat AC & DR.
William, Those are definitely good choices, overall. I'd pick up Poison Immunity myself if I met the requirements, & might grab immunity to fatigue/exhaustion. The only thing I'd advise is taking another look at all your options for acquiring low-light/darkvision.
The low-light vision benefit from the campaign feat is required to gain darkvision through the feat as well, but you do already have low-light vision from your goggles. I'd say put those choices toward more Nat AC or DR/- which are both more powerful abilities, and (significantly) harder to come by. Scent would also be a better option than sinking 2 choices into vision, giving you an entirely new sensory means of locating enemies for half the "cost." For now, I say accept the limitations of human eyes, & pick up some goggles that give darkvision when you can.
William, Those are definitely good choices, overall. I'd pick up Poison Immunity myself if I met the requirements, & might grab immunity to fatigue/exhaustion. The only thing I'd advise is taking another look at all your options for acquiring low-light/darkvision.
The low-light vision benefit from the campaign feat is required to gain darkvision through the feat as well, but you do already have low-light vision from your goggles. I'd say put those choices toward more Nat AC or DR/- which are both more powerful abilities, and (significantly) harder to come by. Scent would also be a better option than sinking 2 choices into vision, giving you an entirely new sensory means of locating enemies for half the "cost." For now, I say accept the limitations of human eyes, & pick up some goggles that give darkvision when you can.
I have been considering exactly that myself. I know there is magic that can give me the darkvision that I'm after. I'm also debating dropping disease immunity. I really like the more movement and the new movement modes (swim/climb). Of course I'm currently at 50' movement as it is. Maybe drop the vision and add a NA and a DR.
The immunity to fatigue is a must I think as it enables me to rage cycle.
I have been considering exactly that myself. I know there is magic that can give me the darkvision that I'm after. I'm also debating dropping disease immunity. I really like the more movement and the new movement modes (swim/climb). Of course I'm currently at 50' movement as it is. Maybe drop the vision and add a NA and a DR.
The immunity to fatigue is a must I think as it enables me to rage cycle.
I agree with the Fatigue immunity; I forgot about the application for rage until you mentioned it. Almost a necessity at that point. In a standard game, diseases are almost a non-issue at our current level. That said, there's plenty of ways Miskatonic can modify diseases to make them a concern for us, so it's up to you (I have immunity to disease through Paladin).
Gaining a 50' swim or climb speed (which would also give you bonuses to the related skills just for having the related movement speed) is better than a 5' increase to your land speed, especially when you already have a high base land speed.
Compared to the DR or AC, it just depends on your preference. I might actually consider those to give Khazia a little more mobility.
There will be factors in play like gravity or toxic environments when you visit different worlds or places. Only on Hideaway to all of the Supremacy bonuses function as 'written'.
At the risk of sounding like that guy, I would really like some clarification here. How/when would these bonuses not function as written?
I understand that Scent can't work in a vacuum, & there are likely similar environments that don't allow smells to travel, but the ability itself would still function as written; there's just nothing for it to apply to in those cases (the character isn't unable to locate things by scent, there's just no scents to use in the locating of things).
On another tack, "immunity to fatigue & exhaustion" would function regardless of the gravity of a planet or its atmosphere. Such an ability (as it's used in Pathfinder) is not predicated on certain conditions. It isn't "immunity to fatigue on planets with normal gravity," it is an internal ability whereby the character has learned to struggle onward without suffering from fatigue or exhaustion, regardless of the conditions they face.
Similarly, DR/- reduces the damage of all physical attacks regardless of the source. If such damage reduction can be mitigated by a physical material or condition, it wouldn't be DR/-
Last example, just to cover all our bases. Looking at the bonus swim or climb speed, they would also still function in any environment (again, an ability the character has, not something they can only do in certain conditions, even though certain conditions may be necessary to use the ability). Without adequate protection from heat, swimming in lava will certainly kill you, but that isn't to say you can't swim around on a lava planet (or climb a cliff made of arsenic or what have you).
As I said, I just need some clarification. Significantly adjusting things that are normally held as constants in the game will break the system. That's fine, but I'd just like to understand the extent to which that's happening, since we still need to operate within that modified system.
If there are specific aspects to our first campaign feat that only function in Hideway, I feel those should be identified as such (unless it's a plot point that we don't know that the abilities are tied to Hideaway). And I'd just like to know if we're going to encounter environments where you plan to disregard certain immunities or resistances we may have (meaning such features are not actually "immunities" or "resistances" as defined in Pathfinder).
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::CACKLES MANIACALLY!!!::
I'm not sure if I've ever been so pleased & so frustrated by a response at the same time....
Are alchemists considered spellcasters? My understanding is that, according to the rules, they aren't, but I thought I'd ask. Especially since the arcane caster bonus is more or less useless for us.
@ Professor Brooks: I believe you have answered your question, man.
As far as the possibility of gaining more Supremacy effects over time? Probably, humans are incredibly mutable and adapt very easily to all sorts of environs. It will be a while before you gain such benefits but it will happen, yep. Good question. Was mulling that idea around in the ol' noggin.
@ Professor Brooks: I believe you have answered your question, man.
As far as the possibility of gaining more Supremacy effects over time? Probably, humans are incredibly mutable and adapt very easily to all sorts of environs. It will be a while before you gain such benefits but it will happen, yep. Good question. Was mulling that idea around in the ol' noggin.
Yeah, I tend to do that. Is the second part an answer to Khazia's question?