For possible in character pre-game meetings:
I'm an 80 year resident of Korvosa, and haved resided in North Point district for about 30 of the past 40 years. I work at the Bank of Abadar as a Temple guard."Party" skills:
Anyone who happens to know me well, knows that I'm a bit self-absorbed with few skills useful to others. However I know a bit about Abadar and the other gods (Knowledge (Religion) +1), pretty good ears (Listen +6), and learned a bit about sailing from my father (Profession (Sailor) +4).Take care!
P.S. Guide to Korvosa is incredibly awesome! JJ said it's safe for players other than the "Secrets" chapter and "Appendix". From reading it I'd say it has fewer spoilers than the Player's Guide even. And it has a great map of the city! :)
Hmm I will have to come up with something similar for Haedrik; for the most part though he has recently been serving as a bartender at a local tavern for room and board.
So I got a question for you, Ross: ** spoiler omitted **
Upgrading a 'normal' weapon to masterwork means getting it reforged by a master artisan. So it'd be the same sword, made of the same metal, just heated to white hot and worked over with a smith's hammer for perfect balance and a keen edge.
Alternatively, I've never really liked the rule that a weapon MUST be masterwork to be enchanted, because it just doesn't matter except under an antimagic effect (it does matter for armor, because the armor check penalty isn't affected by enchanting), and the extra 300 gold doesn't matter much when its tacked on to a 2,000 gp price tag for even a +1. It also means that all these cool-looking magic swords you see in D&D art are somehow perfect swords, despite the fact that they are pretty clearly poorly balanced. So if you guys would prefer, I can drop the masterwork requirement from magic weapons and armor. This would just mean a bit more bookkeeping, since you'd have to keep track of which things were masterwork and which were not.
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I'm fine with omitting the masterwork requirement personally. The reforging bit wouldn't really work for what I'm trying to accomplish - I want her blade to be distinctively Tamiir-Quah. Kind of playing off the whole 'wind clan' thing (and the fact that Shoanti boals double as bullroarers) I was thinking that the falchion could have small holes bored through the flat of the blade so it makes a high pitched whistle when swung at full force. Bit of fluff, but I kinda like it. Not crucial at all, but you know how gamers are...
**edit** Also, are we restricted to SRD only for feats as well?
yes. SRD and Pathfinder products only, mostly for my ease of reference. Like prestige classes, however, I will entertain special requests.
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So I know we have a Thug running about, does that mean that alternate class features are a possibility? Specifically either the Whirling Frenzy Rage variant from Unearthed Arcana or the Berserker Strength from the PHBII? It's no big deal either way, I just have a sneaking suspicion that I'm not going to be playing in too many more 3.5 games and I'd like to take a couple of the mechanics for a spin.
This weekend's been pretty hectic, but I will have a backstory and the rest of the stat block up tonight, or in the wee hours of Monday morning at the latest.
So I know we have a Thug running about, does that mean that alternate class features are a possibility? Specifically either the Whirling Frenzy Rage variant from Unearthed Arcana or the Berserker Strength from the PHBII? It's no big deal either way, I just have a sneaking suspicion that I'm not going to be playing in too many more 3.5 games and I'd like to take a couple of the mechanics for a spin.
This weekend's been pretty hectic, but I will have a backstory and the rest of the stat block up tonight, or in the wee hours of Monday morning at the latest.
Whirling Frenzy - Yes.
Berserker Strength - No. I don't have the PHB II.
Shaping up to be an interesting group. Nice balance.
Jam needs his Size bonus for AC and attacks.
Also, he is entitled to a familiar if he wishes.Mage Armor does not grant DR. Enhancement bonuses on armor and armor bonuses from magic effects are not changed.
Haedrik should be set. Let me know if I erred. Looking forward to this bad boy!
Jam needs his Size bonus for AC and attacks.
Also, he is entitled to a familiar if he wishes.Mage Armor does not grant DR. Enhancement bonuses on armor and armor bonuses from magic effects are not changed.
Hey Ross! - your call of course, but I didn't see anything under the Armor as DR section that referred to armor bonuses from magic effects acting differently, only enhancement bonuses.
I think the limitation on enhancement bonuses is simply to limit the impact of the change - not too huge a DR (from +4 full plate giving DR 6/-) or too large a drop in AC (-6 ouch!).
Hey Ross! - your call of course, but I didn't see anything under the Armor as DR section that referred to armor bonuses from magic effects acting differently, only enhancement bonuses.
I think the limitation on enhancement bonuses is simply to limit the impact of the change - not too huge a DR (from +4 full plate giving DR 6/-) or too large a drop in AC (-6 ouch!).
Since the variant doesn't specify, I figured the easiest way to deal with the interaction of spells and the DR rules is to assume that outside effects behave as normally specified, and that the Armor as DR rules merely change the base equipment and monster stats. After all, it talks about armor the item, not armor bonuses. Interpreting it the other way might help distinguish Mage Armor from Shield, but complicate things like how Bracers of Armor are priced.
Trivia question: The math in the metagame analysis for Armor as DR is wrong. Can you tell me why?
Also, I'm going over the char sheets now, but it's getting late, so I may be a bit delayed getting the first post up tomorrow. (Note: The game will still start tomorrow. It just might be late evening by the time I get the post up.)
Interpreting it the other way might help distinguish Mage Armor from Shield, but complicate things like how Bracers of Armor are priced.
A bit of checking later, I've realized that Mage Armor and Bracers of Armor are the only magic items effected by this interpretation. This is your guys' game too, so I'm willing to go with crowd opinion on this one. Which way would you prefer?
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Jam needs his Size bonus for AC and attacks.
Also, he is entitled to a familiar if he wishes.Mage Armor does not grant DR. Enhancement bonuses on armor and armor bonuses from magic effects are not changed.
Adjusted attacks. AC seemed correct to me for size.
I'm not really sure how grapple works. It's -4 for size but then there's a +1 attack bonus for being small. I assume it's still a -4?I don't really care for the "stock" familiars. I have a corgi guard dog named Barney listed in my equipment. I wasn't really planning on having him be anything other than a pet for my house. If you want to convert that to a familiar (+2|+3 listen maybe?), I can. Otherwise, I'm don't really want a familiar. DnD is just not friendly to "dog people". :)
Re: mage armor, "For armors not covered on Table: Armor and Damage Reduction, you can determine the new armor values and damage reduction based on the standard armor bonus" from the armor as dr page on d20srd. Anyway, that is more a technical thing. However, I will just change the char sheet to ignore that since not having dr makes it easier for me.
Trivia question: The math in the metagame analysis for Armor as DR is wrong. Can you tell me why?
Hmm, yes I noticed that as well - the theoretical "20% more often" hit for full plate being only +4 AC is well off b/c a creature doesn't hit with every attack. If it hits on a 2, the 4 would make no difference; if it hit on 9 it would be a 33% increase in hits, and thus damage; and if it hit on 19 it would be a 200% increase in hits.
Which kinda says Armor as DR is pretty nasty for players except at extreme low level, or vs. low damage opponents... :)
A bit of checking later, I've realized that Mage Armor and Bracers of Armor are the only magic items effected by this interpretation. This is your guys' game too, so I'm willing to go with crowd opinion on this one. Which way would you prefer?
I'll follow janxious' preference of leaving it as you declared. He's the only one with the spell, and we're probably the only ones to use the Bracers.
I don't really care for the "stock" familiars. I have a corgi guard dog named Barney listed in my equipment. I wasn't really planning on having him be anything other than a pet for my house. If you want to convert that to a familiar (+2|+3 listen maybe?), I can. Otherwise, I'm don't really want a familiar. DnD is just not friendly to "dog people". :)
Unearthed Arcana/SRD has the "more durable companion" class feature exchange as follows:
A sorcerer or wizard might desire a more durable companion to accompany him on excursions into the wilderness.
Gain: Animal companion (as druid; treat sorcerer or wizard as a druid of half his class level).
Lose: Familiar.
Basically Ranger animal companion instead of familiar.
Adjusted attacks. AC seemed correct to me for size.
I'm not really sure how grapple works. It's -4 for size but then there's a +1 attack bonus for being small. I assume it's still a -4?I don't really care for the "stock" familiars. I have a corgi guard dog named Barney listed in my equipment. I wasn't really planning on having him be anything other than a pet for my house. If you want to convert that to a familiar (+2|+3 listen maybe?), I can. Otherwise, I'm don't really want a familiar. DnD is just not friendly to "dog people". :)
Re: mage armor, "For armors not covered on Table: Armor and Damage Reduction, you can determine the new armor values and damage reduction based on the standard armor bonus" from the armor as dr page on d20srd. Anyway, that is more a technical thing. However, I will just change the char sheet to ignore that since not having dr makes it easier for me.
The +1 size bonus to attacks doesn't apply to grapple checks. Grapple checks use your BaB, but otherwise isn't related to attack rolls. So, yeah, it's just a -4 size penalty on grapple checks.
The problem with dogs as familiars is that they are Small, but familiars are all tiny or smaller. Otherwise they can't share your space in combat. That said, not having a familiar is a perfectly valid choice.
Pretty sure I got all the mechanics ironed out, going to get a character background brief in before I go to sleep. Everyone, meet Karista. Karista, everyone.
Taerim is quite short for an elf. If this is desired, that's fine, but I wanted to make sure you had rolled on the right chart if you wanted to be more normal.
Jam needs to pick his weapon groups. His throwing knives should also do 1d3 damage, since he is small.
Verronax either needs set of clothes, or to wear his vestments.
I'm assuming Haedrik is of Chelaxian descent. (Also, he has a potion marked as weighing half a pound. Potions, like may small items, count has having negilible weight.)
If you don't have age, height, and weight on your char sheet, please add it.
I think that's everything.
Alright, folks, the game is now down two players and I'm looking to replace them. Ideally, one of the abandoned characters could be taken over, since the slow pace of PbP means it could take some time to introduce new party members, but I'm open to other suggestions.
Edit: After a little while at the DMTools.org chatroom, I have filled the spots.
I've been looking for a CotCT game here on Paizo. May I please take over a character? Thank you.