The Flaxseed Pathfinder Lodge: Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Game Master Redelia

@Tita: If the alias has made less than 10 posts, you can change its name--hopefully freeing up said name for the actual character.

Anyone able to help a newbie out? I recently created my character as an alias, not as a Pathfinder Society Character. I'd like to make them PFS, but I can't remake them as the name is taken, and I don't want to delete them as they have posted in potential PbP Campaigns to join.

Is there a way to convert an alias to PFS?

Short answer: no. In your case, though, you have an option (I think): since Tita has less than ten posts, you can change the name of the alias, freeing up the name for your PFS character.

You can rename an alias as long as they haven't made 10 posts.

Rename this alias, then make your actual PFS alias with the desired name. ;)

Edit: Wha....i got ninja'd twice. O_o

Sadly, I had already posted with my alias for far too long before making him as a Pathfinder. I solved it by adding Pathfinder to the end of his name.

If your name is taken by someone ELSE, then I recommend adding an epithet, like this character

"That's what I had to do. Apparently, there's another Celia out there somewhere, so I added 'the Sylph' to the end of my name to be unique."

Would the powers that be mark table 204 closed?

Fuzzfoot's classic 5 - 6 table for Solstice Scar session 2 was looking anemic so I switched to it. That means there is now a spot open at Cwethan's classic 7 - 8 table.

Link is found here.

How do I formally "close" a recruitment thread?

I'd imagine mentioning you've made your selection / are full, like usual.

Pointing them to a fellow GM's game could work. ;)

If it's for a gameday table, let Hmm know that it's full and the table number.

Then they can mark it closed on the gameday site.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Okay, I'm still a bit new to this part of it; where do I find the table number?

On pbpgameday.com I see your name on table 215, so I think that's you.

Okay, then: *inscribes the sigil of Hmm, lights the candles, opens the book, and rings the bell*

Hmm, please mark table 215 as closed to further applicants.

Oh goodness! You forgot to sprinkle the mixture of crushed rose petals and silver in a circle on the floor!

In a puff of smoke, the woman in red appears. "You dared to summon me, Minion?" She's about to smite down the creature from the closet when she notices the silver and rose petals.

"Oh, my favorite!"

A silver and rose petal whirlwind arises. She disappears again, wish granted, in another puff of smoke. It smells like chai.

Here's a random question -

I've seen and played a psychic, seen a mesmerist, and played 2 occultists.

I just saw a spiritualist NPC in the latest scenario but never seen one played. I've also never seen a medium or kineticist.

Has anyone ever played one of these 3 classes or are they the type that are hard to get into PFS play?

Kineticists aren't hard. I haven't played mine to even medium levels, but it appears to stack up OK, and I've seen comments from people with mid- to high-level kineticists. Haven't seen a medium yet, though.

I see a fair share of kineticists, not really that often but enough that I would not consider them rare.

I don't think I have seen a medium, I have seen one or two spiritualists.

I actually play a spiritualist and a kineticist. Nothing out of the ordinary except that I find the kineticist powers hard to understand and poorly written.

I played a spiritualist for a session. He had the geist channeler archetype, so his phantom was always incorporeal. It was fun-- until an enemy cleric cast spiritual weapon, rolled high, and killed it. For the rest of the scenario I was a bard with no performance.

I rebuilt the character after that.

On a related note, are there retrain rules for the occult classes? It turns out there's an errata for the battle host occultist that renders it essentially useless to one of my characters.

That's odd. From what I've seen, kineticist is the most popular of the occult classes, by a long shot.

I have an occultist and two mediums in PFS, though they're all only level 2 so far.

The occultist and grippli Fiend Keeper medium are both going to stick to single class. I'm a little concerned about whether a casting/skill focused occultist who doesn't use weapons can keep up in usefulness, but I think I've got it worked out ok. And the Fiend Keeper is a melee medium who always channels the Champion spirit, which is pretty much the only way to play a medium that's actually useful, unless you take an archetype that completely redefines the class.

The other medium is just a single level dip on an unchained rogue. She's also melee focused and always takes the Champion spirit. That +3 on every damage roll from one level of medium is pretty nice on a two weapon fighter. I'd actually say that's the most optimal use for the medium class - single level dip on any martial PC.

My kineticist is the most ridiculously beefy and hard to kill tank I've figured how to make, and just loads of fun to charge at things with.

This is my medium, she's a lot of fun for how I play her, but that's more the concept then the mechanics. I agree with Fromper that you really need to play primarily as a champion spirit to make the medium work. The class was suppose to be a jack of all trades, master of none. They got the master of none right, but you can't really jump between roles easily so it fails at the first part. There are a few archetypes like the spirit dancer that help with that, but you lose a ton of staying power. Seren gets 24 rounds of her abilities a day instead of having them the whole day. But I can use a different spirit every combat.

If you like the feel of the class, do it, but realize it had limits. It really needs a way to change spirits once or twice a day, and something similar for the archetypes.

I have a tele-kineticist.

Kineticists are fun and can be versatile, they're not difficult to play, imo.

Heck, they can pull off some neat stunts.

My local area has a TON of kineticists. Like, a lot. Also have seen a ton online.

Medium, I've only seen one and it's the that posted two posts above. :)

I played a Spiritualist but didn't like to so switched it out at 2. It's OK, and roleplaying-wise it's fantastic, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I've also seen 2 other spiritualists that were higher level. I have to emphasize... if you love roleplaying on PbP, spiritualist is such a blast. Being able to play a character as well as a ghostly character is totally awesome. I just didn't like the mechanics of it so much.

I see quite a lot of Kineticists, we have one online player who is famous for playing nothing but them.

I have seen a couple of Occultists and Pyschics.

I have seen maybe one Medium and a Mesmerist. I don't think I have seen a Spiritualist yet.

I have a Psychic and Occultist and a GM blob character I am thinking of making a Vanaran Hydrokineticist.

One player in my local group has both a Kineticist and a Medium. I've got a Psychic and an Occultist, another player in my group has a Spiritualist. Nobody in my group has a Mesmerist though, however it has been considered by a few of us... Grippli Mesmerist? ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!

Hydris smiles "Nice to meet ya! I channel the spirit of the great Pathfinder Durvin Gest!"

Hydris is a medium (champion), he's currently level 6. In combat he mostly just fires his bow a lot taking advantage of the halfling FCB to increase his damage.

Longbow +10/+10+/10 1d6+8

The Medium is a piss-poor knockoff of the genius that was the 3.5 Binder. I almost don't want to play one out of protest alone.

I've played a Kineticist a bit. It's not a class I care too much for, for a variety of reasons. We'll see if I keep the character or not.

I'm seriously considering making a Mesmerist that I play as a "psychic warrior" rather than your typical mind-manipulator.

I have a Spiritualist, Psychic, and Occultist, and adore them all.

Don't let fond memories of an outdated game system steer you wrong, Medium is pretty excellent. Mine's a level 4 with the Marshal spirit (usually). Being able to add 1d6+3 on failed rolls by anyone within 30 feet (after you know they failed)? Yes please! And to boot, you get to pick which seance bonus each member of the party gets (most will still take the Champion, but you can pass off Archmage or Guardian to spellcasters).

Maybe it's *okay* if viewed as its own thing, but it's obviously supposed to be a knockoff of Pact Magic, so for those of us who adore that system (but never got a good chance to play with it, so don't give me that belittling "fond memories" nonsense), it fails so badly to be the same thing on any level that it just feels like an insult.

Despite some easily-fixed imperfections (most of which applied to Shadow and Truename, not Pact), the 3.5 Tome of Magic felt like...MAGIC. This doesn't.

Also, if the class really only works with one or two of the (already paltry) 6 Spirits in its repertoire, then I do not call that a well-made class.

"It is an honor to meet you all. I am Flavias Gulianus, 3rd son of the Mandator of Star Bay of Taldor and if all goes well, soon to be a Pathfinder Society Field Agent."

Pirate Rob here again. After having avoided building an archer in PFS for ~8 years I finally gave in last year and made 3 separate archers.

The first, a halfling Medium as listed above.

The second is a Mesmerist (daredevil) named Flavias. He's a taldan fop, and a skilled archer as a follower of Erastil.

Unlike most archers he's going to be making single shots while using ranged feint to make foes flat-footed to himself and eventually allies.

His presence just happens to be a bit dazzling, must be his noble standing, his father, the Mandator of Star Bay of Taldor, is a very important man you know.

(The 3rd archer is a boltace)

Having played with both the 3.5 Binder and the Occult Adventures Medium, I never even associated the two classes with each other except MAYBE thematically. Functionally, I'm quite happy with the Medium as is. Sounds like you're just looking for something that isn't there (yet).

"Pleased to meet you Flavias! I am Marcus Vulpares Fantailler, son of Marcus Vultulus Fantailler, heir to the Fantailler family estate."

He says this like it should mean something.

"Wonderful to meet another son of Taldor, I do hope we can work together to bring some... hrmm... class to the society.... myess..."

After refusing to make a Smashy McFaceSmash barbarian for years, I made this guy... a Taldan fop and 'skilled' duelist. When his foes inevitably refuse to honor the rules of engagement, they quite quickly find sand in their eyes, their bootlaces staked to the ground, and their belt removed.

I think Marcus and Flavias need to go on an adventure together...

Marcus and Flavias need to go on an adventure together...

ID FACITE STATIM!

-Posted with Wayfinder

Quick reminder that in the Flaxseed Lodge we keep it civil, give others the benefit of the doubt, and obey the Golden Rule. Just a friendly reminder.

Marcus Vulpares Fantailler wrote:

Marcus and Flavias need to go on an adventure together...

ID FACITE STATIM!

-Posted with Wayfinder

Oversubscribed right now... Including one game that PirateRob is GMing.

One player in my local group has both a Kineticist and a Medium. I've got a Psychic and an Occultist, another player in my group has a Spiritualist. Nobody in my group has a Mesmerist though, however it has been considered by a few of us... Grippli Mesmerist? ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!

"Hypnotoad is already a member of the Society. I traveled with him once."

I on the other hand am slightly under subscribed. Since I was travelling when the Game Day started I wasn't able to commit to a full load then.

I imagine as the month goes on some of the games will finish up and I'll get into some more good stuff though.

Just finished my table of MotFF! It's table 67. When I reported it, though, it said my session ID was 5. o: Is that something I should be suspicious of?

So far the only Occult class I have a character for is the Spiritualist, which I'm enjoying. I primarily play here on the forums and I've ran across several Kineticists, a Spiritualist or two, and the occasional Occultist. Currently I've got a Mesmerist in the Portent's Peril game that I'm running but I don't think I've ever personally played with or GMed for a Medium or a Psychic.

And I tried not to over-subscribe to Gameday games this time around (Gameday V was nuts) and had...moderate success?

I've come to love my Uda Wendo Medium. I have several other types of Mediums in the works. I've played with two other mediums. I have one kineticist and played with one other kineticist. I've played a couple Spiritualists and played with several.

I've got a an occultist who's now level 6. He's really a buff machine and quite fun to play, but if I could re-do I would likely have built him differently. As a melee tank, the 3/4 BAB does have an impact, while he has very strong support capabilities. The last few games he has primarily gone around laying bane on other characters' weapons. In fact, a one-level dip for any int-based class just to be able to lay enchantments on people's weapons is really quite useful.

My other occult class is my aerokineticist, still level 4 even though he started before my occultist. He's really a one-trick pony, firing kinetic blast every round, so it does get a bit boring. However, I imagine I would get quite excited at level 6 when he gets permanent fly. :)

I found the same thing with my occultist. He began as an archer but I found that I enjoyed using him as a buff/support character much more at later levels. He's an awful lot of fun to play.

On a related note, are there retrain rules for the occult classes? It turns out there's an errata for the battle host occultist that renders it essentially useless to one of my characters.

You cannot use the retraining rules to retrain a specific Class Feature of an Occult class, such as occultist focus powers, psychic phrenic amplifications, mesmerist tricks, etc. The section on retraining Class Features states: "Class features you can retrain are as follows" and then only lists the classes that existed at the time Ultimate Campaign was printed.

This also applies to the ACG hybrid classes, the Vigilante, and the forthcoming Shifter class.

You can use the retraining rules generically to retrain whole class levels, archetypes, feats, etc. There are also no class synergies for these new classes.

And just curious, but what errata are you referring to and how did it affect your occultist? I'd hate to find out I missed something important.

Just finished my table of MotFF! It's table 67. When I reported it, though, it said my session ID was 5. o: Is that something I should be suspicious of?

Nope. Jesse recently put through three test tables making sure the reporting tool worked. Then Batpony finished Session 4. So you're the second game to finish at Session 5.

Hmm

"DID I HEAR TALK OF TALDANE BRILLIANCE, SKILL AND MODESTY??? HERE, HERE, LET US ALL REJOICE IN OUR TALDANESS AND PITY THE LITTLE PEOPLE WHO AREN'T."

Oh, snap! I'll take that as a bit of awesome and go my way. /shotdead That also makes me feel better about the goofy ID. c:

Thank ya kindly~

And just curious, but what errata are you referring to and how did it affect your occultist? I'd hate to find out I missed something important.

First off, thanks for answering-- I was starting to think my question would get buried. Was specifically looking for class synergies; they released some for the hybrid classes later, but I've never seen any for the occult classes.

The errata I'm referring to concerns the line in Panoply Bond that says "The bonded item is immune to the broken condition for as long as the battle host lives." The errata says the item isn't immune in the traditional sense, it just doesn't take any penalties for being broken. I have a gunslinger who dipped a level of occultist so her musket would never misfire; turns out that doesn't work and a battle host occultist's firearms are still destroyed if you misfire twice.

-Posted with Wayfinder

On the subject of occult classes, (a little late, now I know) I have a medium here who hasn't been using the champion spirit all that much but she is a secondary melee character. I also have a firetruck level keneticist who needs to be reworked as the one game I've played him in he had hard times hitting the broadside of a barn door and I really didn't enjoy the character concept I'd given him. I've played with a mesmerist and have an idea for a multi-class monstrosity that might use a few levels of that as well. As for a psychic, I haven't seen one but I do have an idea for an Amnesiac Psychic I'd like to play at some point. Finally I haven't seen a spiritualist or occultist at all minus an NPC. Now mind you I haven't seen a vigilante either so I might not be the best reference.