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I've played Borderlands and I bought Borderlands 2, but haven't found the time to play it. I also haven't done the DLC on Borderlands yet, though I own that too.
Ah, steam sales and backlogs.
Anyway, I've been keeping my eyes open for a fun game to jump into that isn't just plain first-level, gobs-of-custom-rules crap. I have this fighter/monk concept in mind, but I'm curious: will melee characters be at a serious disadvantage (given that it's Borderlands 2 based)? And will this game spoil Borderlands 2 for me?
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I have finalized my character (here). Let me know if I have made any mistakes in creating him. I just have to do up a short backstory and then, I am ready to go.
Finalized my character (click on my name!) Now it may look unorganized but it is how my brain functions...
@D-Kal it might spoil the DLC if anything. I am not sure how Nameless is gonna run it though since he did steal the idea from me to run the game and I was gonna cut out the spoilers that are in the DLC. I can ask him and confirm when he gets off work tonight or when he calls me.
Equipment bought so I just need to fill in the weapon stats, Don't worry about spoiling anything for me at least.
Time to see if you really do need to marinate orcs for 2 days or just 1.
Finalized my character. Just let me know if I need to change anything (void dragon).
@Sindra - Thanks for the fyi! It will probably be a long time before I get to the DLC anyway. And since it sounds like our host won't be making that an issue in the first place, so much the better! Though frankly I take so long to play through games that I'm used to learning the ending before I play.
@Nameless - Here is my submission, Anhur the Untouchable. At 26 AC he specializes in, you guessed it, never getting hit. He's also a pretty good Two-Weapon Fighter and of course has a strong bow. I didn't know if Professions would have any role in this setting, so I threw a rank in there. If they're going to be useless, I'll probably swap that out for a Knowledge skill or something random like that.
my submission is here, although i wont have him finished for a few more hours.
going to go with crossbow, Psions are similar to wizards in their extremely limited weapon proficiencies. Later i may take exotic weapon proficiency, but until then, crossbow it is.
he will specialize in mobility and will be as good at ranged combat as 1/2 BAB will let him be. i will likely pick his powers more with an eye towards utility, with a damaging power here or there.
I've never played with a psionic before. I don't even really know what they are. It would be cool to see that in action.
Ready to rumble
yeah, 3.5 made people afraid of them, but i think Dreamscarred Press did a fantastic job closing the loopholes that people used to abuse and updating the system from 3.5 to Pathfinder.
Think of a Psion like a Wizard. low HP, casts spells (called powers for Psions), 1/2 BAB, good will saves, bad other saves.
the main reason i prefer psionics to casters is that the system is slightly different for casting that keeps lower level powers more relevant than regular casting. you have power points which are what limits your casting (rather than X number of slots at certain spell levels) and each level of power costs a base number of points, but if you spend more points on them, you can augment them so they are more powerful or slightly different in some way, maybe adding targets or increasing range, etc. the downside is that as a psion, you have a limited number of powers known (in line with what a sorceror would get) but you get power points that more closely mimics the number of spells per day a wizard would get (as opposed to how many a sorceror would get). but that also kinda depends, you could cast a lot of low level spells or you could cast a few high level ones.
So as a wizard is to a sorcerer, a psionic is to a wizard? In the sense the psionic is an even more versatile toolbox, but even lower powered?
well there are different kinda of psionic classes. some, like psychic warrior, are more like a magus. still other classes have their parallels to different psionic classes.
i wouldnt call a psion lower powered than a wizard or sorceror. i just meant that they have the limited spells known of a sorceror and the approximate spells per day of a wizard. however, on the "spells per day" front, because of the versatility of a psionic power, you dont have to know as many powers as you would spells.
for an example, compare an Evoker Wizard to a Kineticist Psion. Both have the same role, "blasting". But where an Evoker would have a Fireball, Sheet Lightning, Ice Storm, Acid Fog, etc. memorized, the Kineticist would only need the Energy Ball power known. They would choose the energy type when they cast it, as opposed to needing to know 5 spells when 1 would do.
if you're a wizard who goes and learns every single spell, youre going to be more versatile than a Psion. But a Psion using Energy Ball can spend more Power Points on the power to make it more effective, and that spell particularly doesn't have a 10d6 cap on it like Fireball. So a lv20 Psion could spend 20 PP (same energy as 20 1st lv spells, or 4 3rd lv spells, or a 5th level spell plus a 6th level spell) and do 20d6. The 20th level wizard would only be spending a 3rd level slot (1/4th the energy) to do 10d6 (half the damage). In this example, the wizard comes out on top (having done more damage per resource spent), but it is nice having the ability to pump up that fireball even more when you need it, even if it costs you a lot more energy.
That seems very flexible and potentially very powerful. I hope I get to see it in action!
But in that same example the Psion is better off if they meet a creature that is resistant to one type of damage, and vulnerable to another. While that wizard could pop out a fireball what if you are going against a fire elemental? If he didn't have Ice Storm prepared he would be almost worthless, and would be wasting those slots. On the other hand the Psion picks his energy type each time he casts, so that would allow them to do whatever damage was appropriate for the current battle. A wizard is like a Swiss knife, but a Psion is like a Swiss knife with all of the tools serving 2 or more purposes.
IMO the Psion is the better choice for the ability to blast bigger (for more energy), and for the ability to adapt to a changing field. Something he wizard has to do ahead of time, and if he gets his spells wrong then he is SOL.
EDIT: Not saying I dislike the Psion. In fact I think it is a better choice than the wizard or the sorcerer. Hoping to seeing it in action.
Yes, i am inclined to agree. Most Psions (the blaster psion in my previous example expluded) do have to choose in advance (a full round action that provokes aoos for most) the type of energy type they are going to use. They spend that action to change their "active energy type", and their blasty powers are all that type until they spend the action to change type. the specialized blasters (which my character will not be) can pick as they do the power without having to change their active energy type.
my character on the other hand, is akin to a Conjurer wizard of the Teleportation subschool. He gets a mini-dimension-door-like ability similar to a Conjurer (Teleportation) Wizard. My character's ability starts as a standard action as opposed to the wizard getting to do his ability as a swift action, but the wizard has a limit per day, the Psion does not.
I feel like that power should double in range when you have a running start. Like Scott Bakula.
And Tenro, do note that psionic Powers do not have somatic components so feel free to load up on full plate.
And Tenro, do note that psionic Powers do not have somatic components so feel free to load up on full plate.
Wat.
A few slightly cheesy parts of Psionics remain, this is a significant one- no somatic components for any powers.
Hmmm.. 7 characters is quite the group. It really depends on how on board everyone is in regards to making sure things go smoothly. I think if we go with a large group, people should be willing to not go off the rails so much on little plots that force the DM to split attention and slow things down.
Rolling things like Perception and attack/damage rolls all at once can help speed thing sup. If the rogue wants to locate a trap, roll perception and disable device regardless what is there.
And Tenro, do note that psionic Powers do not have somatic components so feel free to load up on full plate.
right, i would do that except since i am not proficient in the full plate, i take the armor check penalty on all attack rolls and movement-based skill checks. my character already has a lower to-hit than i would like, and i want him to be able to move pretty smoothly.
i think the no somatic components thing remains because psionics are supposed to come only from the mind, hence no books, no gestures, etc. It IS a nice bonus if my character were proficient in full plate, but i didn't want to pay three feats to get proficiency, and i felt taking a level of a class that gives proficiency was too cheesy.
@NamelessGM, i am going to build the character up now, i got sidetracked making dinner.
Armor Expert + mithral breastplate?
wow that would actually work. i have never considered that combo hahaha. I may do that, although that would be quite expensive. But better than dying, heh.
decided to go with mithral chain shirt instead. sure, i lose two points of AC, but it frees up a trait for something more interesting, and saves me enough money that i can buy a belt of Dex +2 (which means a net loss of only 1 AC, and a net gain of 1 to hit)
plus using that trait seemed odd for the character and felt a little cheesy.
Ok, Floid, my submission is mechanically complete. All that remains is for me to write up a bit about his personality and appearance. I will do that tomorrow. I plan on him being an affable sort (no sense making enemies when everyone's got guns) who is curious and adventurous.
Woop woop! Can you open up discussion for chatting? Maybe we could help with the sorting.
Good luck everyone!
Be careful with two groups. There have been a few multi group games going on that have either shut down or slowed down to a crawl due to the DM getting swamped.
Quinn if you don't mind me making one suggestion, but if you drop enough magic equipment to get 1000 GP you could make your composite longbow Adaptive. It would then add your strength mod to all damage rolls.
If it is to hectic I could help Nameless and run the one I am not in. I am already doing that with one of his other games, which is almost done.
Check the Discussion tab.