So the wand should cost about 250 gold? I think I can only scrape like 50gp... IF I buy the composite long bow.
[b]BUY that bow![\b]
DONE :D
Its 750gp for 50 charges. I bought only 10 charges which should be 150gp prior to the discount; 112.5 gp after. If we pool 225gp we can buy 20 charges.
That could be good for now. Meg's also got better healing, now, spontaneous and channelling, even. No time to cram spells yet, and never going to get ahead of Brenton, but with two real healers, we might be good.
Meg was a healer before... but not like Brenton was.
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I have updated all PDFs with leveling and purchasing choices. If you haven't done so, you need to get your choices in or I basically continue to use your level 2 stats until I get another chance to sit down and update PDFs. No pressure. :P
I got confused about wand discussions and stuff, so I sold you all a discounted wand with 50 charges with everyone but zen archer paying about 140gp each . If you're off by a few GPs or so, just deal with it. If you're missing like 100ish, we can look at it...but I'm pretty sure everyone is about right.
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New House Rules.
I've been doing Pathfinder Society in Utah now for about six months. Playing with such a wide diversity of players really opened my eyes to a few things I had no experienced in playing my first four or five non-PFS campaigns. Just like my experiences with 4e, I like to take a few things I like and bring them over to my campaigns, while addressing a thing to or that I might not like nearly as much :)
In my games, groups now have the ability to ‘play up.’ Much like how Pathfinder Society sometimes allows groups to play higher level content for higher reward (at higher risk), this system allows players to do the same. Players, as a group, may decide at the beginning of each session how they want to play, and tell the GM how much they want to increase the challenge rating of encounters, from one to four.
Note that increasing the challenge rating of encounters affects not only the strength of monster groups, but the lethality of traps, the difficulty of skill challenges, etc. Whenever a group “plays up,” they not only increase the risks, but the rewards as well. By increasing the CR by 1, the treasure increases 12.5% (one-eighth). For example, if the party plays up to CR+3, and the scenario says that the treasure in the room has 1,000gp, it will have 1375gp. If it calls for a +1 sword, the party will roll a d8 and have a 3/8 chance of finding a +2 sword instead. If it says there’s a scroll with a spell on it, they will have a 3/8 chance to find a scroll with two spells. (etc., etc).
Parties should be careful about their choice, and base it on factors such as party composition / balance, overall level of experience with combat by the players, etc. Increasing the risk too much may result in party death.
A secondary concern for me, as a person who just likes good RP, is that more often than not, the classes dipped into rarely make good RP sense. My favorite is the gunslinger who takes a level or two of alchemist to have an extra arm (for reloading guns). While mechanically this is a huge benefit, a three armed gunslinger doesn’t quite fit a typical fantasy or even steampunk fantasy feel.
Therefore, I do not generally allow level dipping and/or mixing archtypes. I do allow exceptions for those who wish to go into a prestige class where dipping is a requirement. (Mystic theurge, for example). If you desire to do something like this, you will need to discuss with me during character creation and receive my approval.
For those who are already level dipped, your characters are grandfathered in. However, I will not all further dipping into different classes you have not already dipped into. As far as I know, none of my players were planning on dipping into other classes they have not already dipped into. If this, however, causes concerns about impacting the overall effectiveness of your character in the long term, I will allow a one time complete rebuild of your character into an entirely different class and/or archtype, including 100% refund of current possessions to outfit your character properly for his/her new choice. Under this one time option, your new choice needs to be somewhat related to your old class (A fighter/Cleric/Monk combo can become a straight cleric or magus, but not a wizard or gunslinger). This will allow you to keep your character's personality and in game persona intact while mechanically rebuilding him/her.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Minor errors in PDF: Megekki has no 'a' in it. And the listed languages omit Orcish and Goblin (from 2 points of Linguistics).
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Jc, what happened to Thedrid? Assuming he dropped out that leaves me really short of a meat sack to hide behind.
EDIT: the party lacks front line offence :)
DOUBLE EDIT: just read the post where you mention he will no longer be playing. Would I then be ok to start summoning to bolster our front line or should we invite someone else or none of the above?
Zeriax can tank :D
What! You don't like the idea of the priest being the tank? Me neither.
Well, I DO like it :D
Gives me room for missile mayhem!!
If you give Meg a minute to prepare, he can tank pretty well. MAYBE even a touch better than Zeriax with a Mage Armor from Meg.
He's pretty strictly offense-gimped with weapons. I'm not sure how spellcasting will work out for him, long-term.
So for now, Meg is AC 16, intimidate and hope for AoO with a spear, or set if he figures a charge is comming, and hope for AoO. Domain SLAs buff defense or offense a bit, but just a bit.
Or with a shield, AC 18, Intimidate or spells, and SLAa as above.
And his Aid Another is +4, so if nothing else is working Brenton gets a much better AC. :)
That sounds quite tanky to me to be honest.
I did not, actually.
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Ayup.
In melee combat, you can help a friend attack or defend by distracting or interfering with an opponent. If you're in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat, you can attempt to aid your friend as a standard action. You make an attack roll against AC 10. If you succeed, your friend gains either a +2 bonus on his next attack roll against that opponent or a +2 bonus to AC against that opponent's next attack (your choice), as long as that attack comes before the beginning of your next turn. Multiple characters can aid the same friend, and similar bonuses stack.
You're basically distracting an enemy so he has a harder time hitting your friend. In aiding another, you don't have a great way of making him overall harder to hit against everyone that might be gunning for him...and it only works against the next attack...not all.
Clearly the AA maneuver does not level well. Well, except for skills. Well no, not there, either. You have to be able to _possibly_ succeed at the check to be able to AA the check. So it will eventually go out of style.
But he'll still be able to be helpful in the kitchens and such, and wander around babbling weird but strangely useful advice, right? :)
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Hmmm...can't say I agree with that ... I've played a few campaigns to higher level, and AA never seems to go out of style.
For most groups, AA is used the vast majority of time for skill checks. Since AA is always vs. 10, you usually get to a point that most AA's are automatic. And, since the DCs of skill checks tend to rise as players gain levels, a +2 to +4 is just as useful at level 1 as it is at level 18. I see players use it all the time for everything from disable device to diplomacy. And I think having that doubled is pretty big since not all skills allow for the entire group to aid another (I generally only allow one or two to help with disable device, for example).
In combat, I can see it being less useful if you're using it often to add to hit or AC...since in lower levels there are less attacks per round than higher levels. But, in all honesty, I can't remember the last time I saw a player use it to boost AC vs. an attack or add to melee hit.
Usually, in combat, I see players using aid another with saving throws, grapple/escape artist checks, etc. So, I've never felt that it scaled poorly, par se. For most combat, it's a handy, yet useful option that remains effective in the right situations very much like defensive actions. Players and teams who completely forget about it are usually at a noticable disadvantage.
We seem to be doing alright. I would vote to play up. I would wait my vote, though, to be sure we were unanimous. I don't have the right to call more threat on anyone who's already worried.
Lets play up slowly at first. How about we go to +2?
I would vote +1 for starters - but sure, lets try out +2 if all agree :D
Please do all recall that we are only nominally 2nd level, the three casters have not had their spells filled.
Hey, I voted +1 :D
I am perfectly cool with not playing up at all - I am a spartan monk, not an ounce of greed in me...
GM-JCS is drawing us into it!! He wants to kill us!!
We better start landing hits, guys.
I just miss and miss.... Can't wait for level 3 :D
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You know...I used to do this with my other groups...but I forgot ALL about it...ALL about...the Special 48 Hour Sale!!
Blue Light Special!
For the next 48 hours, spend 2 power points to earn skill points*, and get an extra maximum hit point absolutely free!!
* (Read house rules file to see how many skill points you get for your class per power point!)
Small Print: Email must be sent by you and receive by GM-JCS no later than 8am EST, Sunday March 11! You may earn up to 2 maximum hit points with this offer. Children under 2 years of age and boring at or near the North Pole are excluded from this offer. Maximum HPs are non-transferable and non-refundable. Neither are the skill points, so don't ask. Offer good while supplies last. Don't mock me. I saw that! Stop it! I'm going to tell! I...ahem. GM-JCS and his affiliates are not responsible for any side effects resulting from skill point overdose. Use skill points responsibly.
Um... (fishes in pockets and backpack, and that one little odd coinpurse with the two little sticky-up clasp thingies and the scales motif and one floppy googly-eye).
Where do I find my count of such things? The PDF?
I am actually considering this... The tradeoff for monks in terms of skill points is not very good but... I would like to have some points in Knowledge (Religion) and or (History), though Brenton and Emrys kill in those areas.
Still could be put to good use in Climb and Swim - and the hp are nothing to snuff at.
I am pondering :D
Planning on taking you up on the offer GM-JC. Zeriax is missing a VERY important feat - Improved Initiative - but still I have a feeling that this character needs better expertise at Climb and Swim, at least as I see him.
This needs to be e-mailed to you right?
Standard attack, if it hits, reduces the maneuver check by the damage dealt. Trip gets you a prone attacker who can still attack, maybe.
re: Improved Intitiative: I've never understood how important that is to some people. I think that whatever value it may have in RAW-land, the simplified initiative and timing methods used in Zeriax' universe probably reduce the value of the feat. Something to ponder.
High initiative for Zeriax as a Zen Archer means a barrage as an opener, means being able to position himself before the others, but most of all, it means not being caught flat footed that often.
Since Zeriax's Dex is not what would usually be expected from an Archar, his init suffers a tad, but on the other hand the FF AC does not suffer that much :D
It is not a HUGE deal, but can make a difference - then again, I already took Toughness exactly for the purpose of being able to take a couple of blows, packing that extra hp that comes with the skills will just give him a slight more resilient build on top of what he has, so may be enough.
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You can't bull rush if you're prone....so I vote that a trip attempt is the best thing to do at a charging person unless you're thinking they will go down with one, solid hit. Sure, it's not technically written that way, I don't believe...but as a GM, I don't allow prone people to bull rush. Seems kinda silly. hahahahhaa.
I've never understood how important that is to some people. I think that whatever value it may have in RAW-land, the simplified initiative and timing methods used in Zeriax' universe probably reduce the value of the feat. Something to ponder.
Meg has a point here, Zeriak. While we can all discuss how valuable it is in normal RAW, here its impact is minimal, at best. I tried doing an initiative thing before, but I felt it slowed down things and added extra work on combat.
True.
I guess that actually totally settles my decision: e-mail will be forwarded accordingly :D
And one thing GM-JC, my character's name is ZeriaX. Nothing dramatic, just a detail I was hoping you would notice by yourself :'(
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LOLz. Me, notice details on names? Please. One of the things I despise about D&D/PF is how it inspires writers (and players) to create names that I can't remember, much less remember how to spell. Meg had to email me just to fix his name in my herolab file, LOL.
If I had it my way, everyone, including the elves and dwarves, would have names like...
Key
Meg
Zak
Susan
Rax
Luna
Selina
Regina
Roland
Etc. LOLz. Simple, easy to remember, etc.
I can't tell you how many times I forget NPC names because they are just so unintuitive....or how much time I waste looking up names in the book every post because I forgot how to spell the NPC's name. Evil. Waste of time. I'm going to start naming them all BOB.
LOL, lucky for you, we call that one guy 'Beppo'. :)
I thought it was great, when I wrote the 'palaveen' poem, and then saw you saying 'pavaleen', and I thought, "No way I'm changing 20-odd verses..." :)
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Ok...looking into it a little further...
You can bull rush and be bull rushed while prone.
RAW seems to indicate that you take a -4 vs melee attacks while prone (which would include, normally, CM's) and you also have a -4 penalty to any melee attacks (including CM's) that you do.
As I think this through, some of this makes sense to me. You could push someone away with your feet while prone, though it's not as easy to do...so a -4 makes sense. However, at the same time, it's harder to bull rush someone while prone. On the other hand, it's harder for them to maneuver around.
So, I'll add the following to the House rules.
When you bull rush a prone opponent, the defender receives no penalty to their AC. (This is a clear house rule since RAW indicates that normally, Any penalties to a creature's AC also apply to its CMD). The fact that they are grounded and therefore harder to move offsets their inherent inability to move around and block well.
I'm also adding the following house rule along those lines just for Emrys.
If an opponent fails a saving throw made for grease or similar spell, they receive a -4 circumstance penalty to their CMD against Bull Rush, Reposition and Drag.
Finally, I'm adding the following house rule made by another GM in discussing some of these mechanics.
If a character is bull rushed into a pit, over a cliff, etc, and the CM attack roll exceeded the roll needed to do so by 4 or less, that character may catch the ledge to prevent the fall using Climb with a DC of 10 (with appropriate modifiers to DC based on conditions per the Climb description). If you succeed, you are hanging on the ledge unti your next turn, and are officially, 'climbing.' While climbing, you can’t move to avoid a blow, so you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). You also can’t use a shield while climbing. Anytime you take damage while climbing, make a Climb check against the DC of the slope or wall. Failure means you fall from your current height and sustain the appropriate falling damage.
If the CM attack roll exceeds the roll needed to bull rush the character over the ledge by 5 or more, a climb check to catch the ledge is not possible.
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House rule change.
• Hero points may be used to grant a hero an extra swift, move or one attack (Used to say one standard action) action. Alternatively, a hero point may be used to cast a second spell. If a hero point is used to cast twice in a round, the second spell must be at 3 levels below the caster’s maximum casting level. This may only be used one per combat (Immediate Action, Once per battle).
Not sure how much of this can be communicated in-character, but I suspect between the pidgin orc-shaman, the hobbit coward, the Sczarni grifter, and Vic Ferrari, the other casters might be informed of much of this, since the grifter understands planning, and the hobbit, you know, is afraid.
Spells:
Witch 1: (all of these with 25-40% ASF with armor/shield)
Prepare: 3x0th, DC 13, and 2x1st, DC 14
Cast: -/2
0th: Detect Magic
0th: Detect Poison
0th: Message
1st: Unseen Servant
1st: Mage Armor
Cleric 1:
Spells:
Prepare: 3x0th, DC 11, and 2+1x1st, DC 12
Cast: -/2
0th: Enhanced Diplomacy, +2 one Dip or Intim check w/i 1 minute
0th: Guidance
0th: Resistance
1st: Bless 1SA, 1min/lvl
1st: Protection from Evil 1SA, 1min/lvl
1st Domain: Arcane Lock OR Disguise Self
This is for planning; if any changes are desired, they can be had. Meg's profile has his witch spells (in the mask). As a Cleric, the whole Cleric list is available.
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Guys, this devil business is bad juju.
I got myself into this partly by trying to be too clever and partly because I didn't realise we had rested and come back. Either way, my fault.
I'm convinced we are going to struggle without a true frontliner here and in the future - no offence Megekki, Brenton - you're both actually doing Stirling jobs. I still think you could do with a bag of meat to stand in front of you though.
Let's see how this plays out but I could change character if needbe.
We can't just let him take you, in any case.
And we can hire a bag of meat.
What we can't do is force hit rolls.
Part of your math on a re-spawn should be that I was told if Meg buys it, I keep the same stats, no re-roll, but I might be able to move them around. I'd expect the same applies, so measure more carefully your meatshield options. :)
We'll want a mage, too. Don't sign off yet, please.