Serpent Skull- Beer and Pretzels (Inactive)

Game Master drbuzzard

Campaign is currently at 6th level, but the front line barbarian had life come up, so he had to bail. The party needs a replacement who can do melee duty.

Rules are: (as initially set out)
20 point buy
Paizo only
level 6
2 traits, one campaign
No gunslingers except Bolt Ace
Only unchained summoners
Only unchained rogues
No sap adept and sap mastery
Core Spells only (barring approval- explicit approval, not implied)
I'm inclined to avoid the Occult classes since they are not terribly balanced IMO.
Force bomb does not trip people.
Mages Disjunction dispells anti-magic fields.
Background skills
Automatic Bonus progression (normal)
Core magic items only (unless otherwise noted)
Core spells only (unless otherwise noted)
1/2 WBL
max HP at first, 1/2 die size +1 past that
+2 skill points per level.

Campaign occurs in Garund. Picking a race which suits this is fine. No custom races, and to be quite honest the weirder you go, the less will be your chances of selection. The party needs a meat shield, so keep that in mind. Campaign tone, as always for me is tongue in cheek, beer and pretzel style. You can provide a paragraph of background if you like and I may even bother to read it.

How much gold? Will you give PFS credit?

as above: 1/2 WBL so 8000 GP and use advanced bonus progression

I have not been asked about PFS credit, as I'm not sure how many of the players do that (at least a few do, but none asked).

I have a Barbarian/Hunter character that I've been looking to play again for a while that would seemingly fit well since you just lost your barbarian. I'll throw stats together to your specifications but it'll end up looking a lot like the character in this profile.

Updated this profile with new stats to reflect your character creation guidelines. A couple things are still off like the pet stats and the characters skills, I'm still deciding on those. Let me know if you need any more info.

Do we have to take a campaign trait?

You have +2 Skill points, is that on top of Back Ground skills?

from above:

2 traits, one campaign

This means you get 2 traits, one of which must be a campaign trait.

It says +2 skill points and it says Background skills. That means both.

Here's my submission (qstor) I took a trait from SS. I gave him some ranks in profession sailor. Not sure if there's much time on a ship and some knowledge skills.

I will get my submission up tonight

Just fair warning, we already have a pet character in the party, and I don't much care for them (especially multiple ones in a party).

I have made a Samurai, back story I have so far is he is a Mwangi slave who is returned from the Far East to his home land.

That's plenty of backstory. I'm curious to see the build.

Alistus here, the no pet opinion is understandable. I'd like to offer forth another character. Nemris Silverclaw is a Monk 2/Druid 4 that focuses on Frontline fighting in wildshape while also offering spell support. The stats in this profile are for level 1 but I'll update it as soon as I can.

I dropped the pet.

Here's a brief rundown of Nemris' stats. Hes a Tiefling Monk 2/Druid 4 focused on being a wildshaped melee bruiser while also offering utility spell-casting. Obviously the combat stats shown aren't while wildshaped so he'll have additional AC and damage in Bear/Cat form.

I think I'm going to go with Rubani Ranger. He seems to fit with what I'm looking for .

Thank you all for the submissions.

Rubani, please go ahead and post into the gameplay thread.

Here's a brief rundown of Nemris' stats. Hes a Tiefling Monk 2/Druid 4 focused on being a wildshaped melee bruiser while also offering utility spell-casting. Obviously the combat stats shown aren't while wildshaped so he'll have additional AC and damage in Bear/Cat form.

** spoiler omitted **

So like a bear druid from WoW?

Nemris Silverclaw wrote:

Here's a brief rundown of Nemris' stats. Hes a Tiefling Monk 2/Druid 4 focused on being a wildshaped melee bruiser while also offering utility spell-casting. Obviously the combat stats shown aren't while wildshaped so he'll have additional AC and damage in Bear/Cat form.

** spoiler omitted **

So like a bear druid from WoW?

Yeah pretty much, loved my feral druid in Wrath, guess that might be why I love this concept so much! Congrats on the pick Rubani, if you guys ever need another replacement let me know! Have fun!

Lost another player, so I need one more. Still 6th level with the conditions listed above.

What do you need this time?

Well we have a healer, an arcane caster and a front liner. We lost a druid, which provided some spell casting and a frontline pet.

Mmmm... A Raven druid, master of thunder and lightning? Sounds cool... Working on it!

So, you need someone who can cast spells and put someone on the front line, right? I'm considering possibilities and stories.

Actually I think I'm going to ask for 3 people if possible. I started this with 6 people, and would just as soon go back to that. It makes someone dropping less jarring.

Keep in mind, a paragraph of background is quite sufficient. It is more for your sake than mine since I may glance at it, but won't make decisions based on it. This is, after all, a beer and pretzels game.

I would like to add my hat to the ring, bringing an Archer Warpriest.

Wow, I swear that's the first time being quick to answer plays against me xD

Well, I guess if you're going to recruit 3 people there's a bit more freedom in choosing what to play.

I'll reconsider and see what calls me.

I'd like to throw a candidate in here as well... Bahari a mwangi 'ghost warrior' (reskinned uMonk/uRogue). I still have a load of cash to spend but otherwise, he should be built to the requirements.

Also making a character for consideration, have an idea for a bard loosely based on Barney Stinson (less focus on getting laid, but more focus on being legen----wait for it---dary!)

A Half-Orc Shifter with both Tiger and Orca (Dolphin) forms?

I've been in games where the ruling was "monster feats" that a natural weapons ranger can select are available for Shifters, for basically the same reasons. Is that acceptable?

No is not insurmountable, but it will alter the build. Improved Natural Weapon (Claws) is just too big a deal to pass up, really.

Little frustrated looking at the gear purchase, as the online references all use the LAST PUBLISHED version, so all the core items republished in Ultimate Equipment are listed as from the newer book . . .. Just means it will take longer (or I can find my actual physical core book . . .).

With the way the ABP rules work, this character REALLY wants a suit of Wild armor. More so than the same build with standard magic items would, I think. After all, the Armor Attunement will only apply in arguably his weakest combat form, otherwise. <shrug> You makes your choices, you deal with the consequences.

The below should cover all the non-gear mechanics-based questions about the character concept, though.

A Half-Orc Shifter with both Tiger and Orca (Dolphin) forms?

I've been in games where the ruling was "monster feats" that a natural weapons ranger can select are available for Shifters, for basically the same reasons. Is that acceptable?

No is not insurmountable, but it will alter the build. Improved Natural Weapon (Claws) is just too big a deal to pass up, really.

A dolphin form isn't going to get you much use in this AP. You're pretty much past the part where swimming is important. I'll have to look into the feats.

hustonj wrote:

A Half-Orc Shifter with both Tiger and Orca (Dolphin) forms?

I've been in games where the ruling was "monster feats" that a natural weapons ranger can select are available for Shifters, for basically the same reasons. Is that acceptable?

No is not insurmountable, but it will alter the build. Improved Natural Weapon (Claws) is just too big a deal to pass up, really.

A dolphin form isn't going to get you much use in this AP. You're pretty much past the part where swimming is important. I'll have to look into the feats.

Big thing to remember on INA (Claws) is the ruling on size changes. Actual size changes and "as if" changes do NOT STACK, only the better applies. So, in the example provided with a Medium Shifter having 2 Large Aspects, he gets the better of the Aspect's normal "S@%*er Claws-based" damage (bite for the Orca, actual claws for the Tiger) or his adjusted Shifter Claws damage in base form. Were an Aspect medium, then there could be a discussion about improving claw damage inherent to that form if it starts better than the core Shifter Claw damage.

Not sure how the doesn't stack rule works with a Small (or less) aspect. I've always reduced the damage anyway, but now I'm wondering if he isn't supposed to keep the higher damage rating per applying his Shifter Claws directly. That's kinda scary, actually. Sorry, thinking out loud.

Edit: And thank you for the Dolphin aspect pointer. Seemed a good fit for a character from the Shackles, but no point in overly-limiting a character's utility to the group.

I'd like to present Ausk the Heathenbane. He's a Jungle Druid who's mother is a half orc from Cheliax and father is a Mwangi tribesman. Ausk is returning to Sargava after spending some time in Cheliax. He's a prototypical shamanistic druid.

Edit: Gonna be honest and say I'm really not digging the loss of 2 levels of wildshape and I might go back to just a normal druid.

Cooking up a frontliner 'wardancer' type character.

Reading through this again, you are limiting a lot of things to core, is the game really core only?

tentative dot. playing around with a few different ideas. Being a fighter/brawler, a Magus, and a cavalier.

Reading through this again, you are limiting a lot of things to core, is the game really core only?

It says core spells and core magic items. Given that we're doing ABP, the core magic items is a bit less important (and there will be little if any magic mart when you get to a suitable place).

I know some people are a bit focused on spell casters, but last I checked there's plenty of classes and feats outside of core. Also I should note, that if you pick a spellcasting class from a book later than core, you can pick spells from that book as well.

I was thinking of making an Unchained summoner

Is an Archer/Switch Hitter something the party could use? I'm currently looking at ways to get a double weapon of some kind to work with Weapon Finesse, and lv6 is plenty of build time to give me some flexibility. Leaning towards Fighter/UC Rogue mix and Spear Dancing Style/Spiral.

Edit: Also, what's your opinion on crafting? I know it's suboptimal but I like the idea of making a large chunk of my own gear. It's a fun character quirk. That said, it doesn't work for every campaign.

As there is ABP in the game, and the rules for crafting mundane stuff is fairly time consuming, you are welcome to craft your own toys, but the benefit will not be there.

@drbuzzard did you decide if you were willing to give PFS Credit? You just need a PFS # and to sign a sheet?

I could, but honestly who still cares? PFS for 1st ed has to be coming to a close soon.

I could, but honestly who still cares? PFS for 1st ed has to be coming to a close soon.

I know but I'm still "invested" in my characters :)

Ok, I'll be making selections on Wednesday, so if you're not done already, be done by then.

Sorry, I didn't post yesterday.

Looks like we have:

Lucian the bloodhound
Bahari
Ausk the Heathenbane

since they are all done.

Thanks for the submissions. Sorry if I didn't get back on some questions (I honestly didn't really know the answers without more digging).

The selected should report over to discussion, and I'll figure out how to get you into gameplay in at least a semi-reasonable fashion.

Woo! Thanks!