Way of the Wicked by GM SnowHeart (Inactive)

Game Master SnowHeart

During the lull in combat, Affyria will dismiss the silence spell that was still going on Kiffex, so that he can turn himself invisible again.

I'm pretty sure that, as a SLA, he could turn invisible regardless of Silence, just saying.

Well, I am more or less back having successfully moved (though putting everything where it should be is another matter entirely).

First things first... leveling up.

Any thoughts on whether or not Raven should cover skill monkey and trap finder and disabler roles via massive redesign?

If Raven stays as he is, here be the level up:

Brawler (Snakebite Striker) 1/Fighter (Weapon Master) 3 -> Brawler (Snakebite Striker) 1/Fighter (Weapon Master) 4

Saves: +1 Fortitude
Hit Points: 1d10 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (6) - 2 + 1 = 5
Base Attack: +1
Feats: General - The Risen*, Fighter Bonus - Advanced Weapon Training (Versatile Training: Diplomacy, Intimidate)
Skills: +7 skill ranks - Acrobatics, Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Nobility), Linguistics (Infernal), Perception, Sense Motive, Stealth
Class Features: Fighter (Weapon Master) - Weapon Training +1
Ability Increase: +1 Strength

*The idea is that this takes effect after all the fighting when there is a chance for the guy to die in peace and rise a bit later. Or it could start during the battle if he dies or loses consciousness I suppose? Also, technically, if the redesign is allowed and all that, it can still happen as soon as the feat takes effect, since the fluff catalyst for his change would be his death and subsequent undead rebirth via the The Risen feat (as well as the Memories Beyond Death alternate racial trait, at least somewhat).

@Castor: In my opinion, I think you ought to stay with your current build, bud. Because that's a beating having to revamp(no pun intended) the whole thing. That is just no fun.

I do not really mind as I find both builds interesting I think (my only minor gripe with the investigator is the whole alchemy thing, which admitted is a pretty big part of the class, but I do believe there are a couple of archetypes that replace it). And it would happen once The Risen feat would take effect, so not in the middle of combat, but when we have the time to relax a little so to speak. Besides, Hero Lab thankfully makes such things quite a bit easier, otherwise I would certainly not have even thought of asking about it. ;-)

By the way, disregard the Class Features and Ability Increase sections of the level up in my previous post. I forgot to change them when I copy-pasted the whole thing.

Stick with what you've got if you like it. Come next level, I can probably get my imp to serve as a skill monkey of sorts should the need arise.

Of course, if you want to redesign, go ahead for that too. I know the itch that can arise when you see a cool new thing to try out.

So, really, do you want to rebuild or not? That's what it comes down to. In any case, I have a sneaking suspicion that this AP might have slightly less need for Disable Device user compared to the average one. If we're the ones building the traps, why would we need to disable them? I can always just pick up Knock if the need arises.

...I realize that likely didn't help at all.

Just for my own curiosity, what is "The Risen" feat. I can't find it anywhere.

It’s part of the Vampire feat chain from the AP. Specifically, it’s the one that changes you into undead. I know I found the feat chain somewhere, but for the life of me I can’t track it down again.

https://the-way-of-the-wicked.obsidianportal.com/wikis/vampire

So did anyone take the time to have a look at the PF2 playtest yet? If so, anyone have some thoughts on it?

I'm.... kind of disappointed, really. I'm reserving final judgement until I actually try it, but it seems the way they're moving PF is in the exact opposite direction of why I actually like it. They're making it more accessible, yes, but at the cost of making it so there's almost no room for growth as a player in terms of making characters (my favorite part), and it feels more like a puzzle (with one solution) than a problem (with multiple).
Not to mention just how nerfed to the ground it seems everything is, especially Casters. I know that it's technically balanced if everything is equally weak, but I like to do awesome stuff with spells and class abilities, not to just barely stay competent. Plus a million other little things that might actually be fixed playtesting (Remembering things now taking an Action, for example, and Counterspelling and identifying a spell being cast both taking your only Reaction for the round, plus having a feat tax).

But who knows? Maybe it actually works out in practice. I've got a PBP starting soon for it and hopefully a lot of my fears are unfounded.

I read through the character creation, skills and rules chapter, and skimmed the rest.

I don't like the standard rules for determining ability scores, with all the boosts you get from numerous sources, using those no one is ever going to have uneven ability scores before hitting 18-19.

I don't like the whole 'at 1st and every 2nd level you get a class feat, and 3rd and every 4th lvl you get a general feat' etc.

I don't like the fiddly way they did skills with the 4 or 5 levels (untrained, trained, skilled, etc, whatever they're called).

I don't like nor do I even yet properly understand the overcasting spells mechanic and the point pool to activate magical items.

I think I might like the new action mechanic with the three actions and the way it might fix the whole full-attack problem, but I'm not sure this single thing outweighs the rest. I was thinking of running the playtest adventure for my IRL group, but I just won't bother now.

It is WAY more customizing involved for sure. Feats of various kinds at various levels. Options galore.

And I don't really get what "fear 1" is or whatever it is. I saw something that read "enfeebled 2". And "poison(of some kind) 3". What the heck does all that mean?

And speaking of nerfing(as Daidalos mentioned) animal companions are totally nerfed down to nothing now. If you've seen their starting array, I mean, it's barely a 10 point buy if that. I've only played a few pc's with companions, but I've always enjoyed how awesome and useful they can get. Not anymore. Not really sure what the purpose is for them now. Except to get killed faster I guess.

Yeah I don't get the Spell pool either. Haven't read it thoroughly, mind you, but it seems odd.

Of course, this is practically a whole new game now so it's gonna take some learning.

Me and the family will be running through it so hopefully I can get a handle on all this stuff.

Pathfinder is all I play because I just don't have the time to learn a whole new game nor am I interested. But since it's Pathfinder I'll give it a shot. It tires me out just thinking about having to learn a whole new set of rules though. :P

Check this out: Diehard feat: It takes more to kill you than most. You die from the dying condition at dying 5, rather than dying 4.

HA! "Dying 5, rather than dying 4". What the heck?! I really don't get these numbers at all. We've been working on building pc's for about 3 hours now. It's insane. There's like 84 +2's you've got to add just in creation. We've just now gotten to weapons and they are even more involved. What a beating. :P

Edit: I had "Endurance" in there. It's actually the Diehard feat.

Yeah seems conditions have levels now too, came across that somewhere but I haven't looked at conditions either.

I do play and run a lot of other rpg's as well, I'm in a d&d 5E group, am running a Mouse Guard game, and regularly run Call of Cthulhu, will probably start running their new Masks campaign soon. I also picked up the new Vampire: The Masquerade, so I got enough stuff to keep my occupied.

Man, Daidalos, you weren't kidding. No more two weapon fighting. No more crit range or multiplier. Now it's multiple damage dice. Which is kinda cool but a bit confusing.

Iron will just takes you from "trained" to "expert". "Trained" is a bonus equal to your level. "Expert" is a bonus equal to level+1. So Iron Will is now a +1 to Will saves.

I like old school 2WF and Iron Will.

There's also no more +1 1/2 strength bonus for attacking with a Two handed weapon.

Seems like all the static damage is gone and it's more random bonuses with all the extra damage dice.

I guess in one sense I get it. You get high(ish) enough level(you figure 10 to 15) and if you hit you auto-damage, oh, I don't know, let's say 25 damage. Well if you hit twice that's 50 damage and you roll a couple of d8's for your longsword and maybe you roll a pathetic 3.

And if you crit once it's a minimum of 75 damage without even rolling. Heck you could still roll 3 damage on 3d8's.

Player: "78 damage, bay-bee! And that's with 3 rolled 1's!" But if you just roll average damage you're looking at near 90 damage or so just in one round. And this is probably a weak example too. I'm not the most prolific build guy so I'd be willing to bet that's probably weak sauce damage I'm throwing out there. Especially if you start throwing out multiple attacks with two weapons.

I guess that does seem a bit overkill and it does put it more in the hands of the dice.

I'm in this game with a Swashbuckler at 17th level and her minimum damage is +46. With a +35/30/25/20 attack line. She pretty much kills anything she hits as long as she can get to it. I guess looking at it that way that does seem a bit extreme.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Yeah. I think I like it better if I think of it as a completely different game than Pathfinder, because it really is. It serves a whole different genre of fantasy (that of a group of people working together and trying every trick in the book to pull out impossible victories) than P1e (just a bunch of hyper-competent individuals working together and taking down foes easily). It's the difference between the Defenders and the Avengers, for anyone who that makes sense to. There's definitely a few things that need to be reworked (I think the bonus should be a flat half level to everything, to allow for the minuscule bonuses and ability scores to actually mean anything, and Resonance as a whole needs a complete do-over) but overall I think the core is solid. Except for Goblins. I hate that change so much and it's the one thing I know I won't budge on.

Absolutely! It really is a whole different game. Man that says it all in a nutshell right there. That's what kinda blows me away. Really didn't see an entire redo coming. From 3.5 to Pathfinder was a really smooth transition(at least in my opinion). This one? Not even close.

So... we're waiting on Ordywyt and Raven, yeah?

Ah, sorry about that. Did not notice. Post incoming later today.

Hey all. Very sorry. Been slammed by a combination of work with back to back projects then childcare in the evening as the spouse is also slammed. Aiming very hard to have an update up tonight.

Alright, folks. Just to give y'all an update I'm going to switch Morthos out at some point with a rogue. Why? Well... we need one. That's pretty much it.

My initial plan is to go Swashbuckler/Unchained rogue mainly due to the fact I'll have a lot more options weapon wise. I don't want to waste a feat on weapon proficiency so that's the main reason I'm rolling with that. Although they do have some nice 1st level abilities that should prove useful. This is all going to be fairly new to me because I am a fighter type/cleric type kinda guy. IRL and pbp. I've only run 1 rogue ever. And he was a rogue/ranger. So this'll be different for me for sure. As far as the split I figure 1 level SB and the rest rogue. Although I do like that 2nd level SB Charmed Life ability. That's pretty cool. Especially considering their saves are garbage outside of Reflex.

Anyway, just thought I'd give y'all a heads up.

You sure you want to, Javell? Come next level, I'm getting an Imp companion, and I can build it (or one of them, at least. There's no penalty for switching between multiple besides losing a day of downtime, and is kind of thematically appropriate all told) as a rogue no problem. Basically, don't feel pressured to switching. If you want to try a new class, go for it. Just don't feel like you have to.

Okay, really? You can make your Imp companion be a rogue? As in, traps/disable device/all that other fun roguey stuff? And you can have more than one Imp? I ask because I really and truly don't know and have never heard of an Imp with the potential of possessing such capabilities. I mean that would be quite the handy and COOL by the way.

I mean, I can only have 1 Imp at a time (but "If the imp is slain or the diabolist releases it from her service, she may gain a new one by performing a ceremony requiring a 24-hour ritual to conjure and bind the new imp to herself.").
Beyond that, it's made like an animal companion, essentially (the old Diabolist was awesome, and I'm really happy Snowheart gave me the go-ahead to use it). In essence, it uses a lot of the AC rules, but with the Imp as a base instead. So, it can have any skills and feats it wants (it's humanoid in form and has an INT greater than 3), so by selecting Additional Traits (GM permitting), it can get DD as a Class Skill, followed by Skill Focus (Disable Device), for a grand total of +18 base Disable Device, which should be plenty. Since it's only a support character, after all, I don't have to make it combat-viable (though if we suspect a big battle is coming up, I can absolutely get a combat Imp- I got bored a while ago and drafted a ton of different stat blocks), just good at what it needs to be good at.

As an added bonus, it can have +21 stealth on top of at-will Invisibility.

The one thing I can't get, though, is magic trap disabling. (At least, not until level 12) But, like I said, there's no cost to getting a new imp. I just summon a new one the next day and we're all good ("I hope *you* don't fail me as pathetically as your predecessor"). So, free expendable Rogue! Literally the only thing lost is the time taken to replace it.

Heck, I could probably spin an imp that can make magic weapons/armor/wondrous items using Master Craftsman.

Beyond all that, it's incredibly thematic for the 'Devil Binder' character. And when my build finally gets going, I'll be able to command a veritable legion of devils. It'd be selfish of me to keep them all to myself.

Alright, folks. Just to give y'all an update I'm going to switch Morthos out at some point with a rogue. Why? Well... we need one. That's pretty much it.

My initial plan is to go Swashbuckler/Unchained rogue mainly due to the fact I'll have a lot more options weapon wise. I don't want to waste a feat on weapon proficiency so that's the main reason I'm rolling with that. Although they do have some nice 1st level abilities that should prove useful. This is all going to be fairly new to me because I am a fighter type/cleric type kinda guy. IRL and pbp. I've only run 1 rogue ever. And he was a rogue/ranger. So this'll be different for me for sure. As far as the split I figure 1 level SB and the rest rogue. Although I do like that 2nd level SB Charmed Life ability. That's pretty cool. Especially considering their saves are garbage outside of Reflex.

Anyway, just thought I'd give y'all a heads up.

Were you not just telling me what a bother it is to rebuild when I asked if it would be alright to change Raven's crunch? :-P

In any case, here is a redesigned Raven, provided he survives the current fight long enough to die on his own before I actually consider changing him. And the GM allows it of course. And Morthos remains an antipaladin. And we actually need a skill monkey (we do seem to have no lack of frontliners though).

The rebuild could be at least partially explained by death and then undeath changing him and resulting in his drifting even farther away from the elf he was and towards the vampire he becomes, a vampire with traits and memories and skills of whoever it was that sired him mixing with his own (in fact, I think he will on occasion use "we" rather than "I" when referring to himself, a side effect of his ordeal). Previous skills growing hazy, he chooses to instead embrace his vampiric nature and strength and focus on subterfuge and stealth even more. Perhaps even study under Daidalos to pick up some arcane knowledge and practical skill (mostly because I severely dislike alchemy...), even if his own much less potent spellcasting seems to have an almost instinctive nature to it and he is not quite learned enough to become a proper prepared caster.

Or even go with Rogue instead of Investigator to keep everything simpler.

Sigh... Decisions, decisions...

Wait... why do you have Bard spells?

Questioner archetype replaces alchemy with bard spells

Ah, gotcha. Cool.

Were you not just telling me what a bother it is to rebuild when I asked if it would be alright to change Raven's crunch? :-P

Lol! Okay okay, you got me. I got nothing. :P

And you're also right about the frontliners. We do have a ton of them and that's why I figured I could just replace Morthos with a rogue. Although the rogue I had going was going to be a melee type as well(because ranged takes too many feats and it annoys me). Mainly due to the fact I'd get Sneak attack while flanking and thought it would be awesome to take advantage of it. Because we all know Timo's going to be in the thick of things at all times and a greater threat so it would've been perfect. Especially with 2 weapons.

Timo also gets +1 damage when flanking .... If I ever remember to use that trait :P

F. Castor wrote:

Were you not just telling me what a bother it is to rebuild when I asked if it would be alright to change Raven's crunch? :-P

Lol! Okay okay, you got me. I got nothing. :P

And you're also right about the frontliners. We do have a ton of them and that's why I figured I could just replace Morthos with a rogue. Although the rogue I had going was going to be a melee type as well(because ranged takes too many feats and it annoys me). Mainly due to the fact I'd get Sneak attack while flanking and thought it would be awesome to take advantage of it. Because we all know Timo's going to be in the thick of things at all times and a greater threat so it would've been perfect. Especially with 2 weapons.

You can go ahead if you would prefer a rogue type to your current antipaladin. And as for Raven, even if I do end up rebuilding him into an unarmed combatant (I do not like ranged combat either), I am sure I can think of something more combat-y and less skill-y and trapfinding-y. ;-)

In fact, I think I will indeed rebuild Raven, that is if he survives long enough to die on his own first chance he gets and if GM Snowheart permits it of course.

Main reason would be because I think I am finding the fighter to be a little lackluster. Plus, since he is becoming a vampire, I think I would like him to use that vampiric strength a bit more, i.e. fighting unarmed, preferably while dressed rather snazzily and without armor cramping his style and all. :-P

You can go ahead if you would prefer a rogue type to your current antipaladin. And as for Raven, even if I do end up rebuilding him into an unarmed combatant (I do not like ranged combat either), I am sure I can think of something more combat-y and less skill-y and trapfinding-y. ;-)

It's not so much I prefer, to be honest with you, because Morthos is the only guy I've built for this AP and I love playing him.

It's more to the fact I don't mind bringing in a rogue because we're obviously gonna need one. It's something different(for me anyway) so what the hey. I just need to figure out how the heck he got here, what his story is and what kind of personality he's got. Oh, and what he looks like. Outside of that, it's gold! :P (Unfortunately, I'm not kidding. But it's funny because it's true). :)

So barring Daidalos making his Imp our resident trapfinder/trap disabler(?), I can work on getting Mr. Rogue done. It'll be a couple weeks or so but I'd eventually get there.

Methinks that if you prefer and like playing Morthos, then you should continue to do so. Since I am going to rebuild anyway if permitted, I think I can fit Disable Device and the Trapfinding feature in there (I will check a little later, but it should be possible). And even if I do not, Daidalos does seem to have a pretty neat backup solution as well. Amusing as well if I may say so myself.

Animal Companions are nicknamed Pocket Fighters for a reason. In this case, though, it seems an Imp Conpanion would be a Pocket Rogue.

So I believe we are just waiting on Ordywyt to act. Is he even still with us?

He hasn’t posted (anywhere, so far as I can tell) in three weeks or so, maybe not? I hope he’s okay.

Ordy might be lost to the ether.

I'm fine with either Morthos or Raven (or both) respeccing. Totally fine. I don't like to make a habit of it but given the circumstances of having lost the "skill monkey", some adaption seems called for.

Hey all. Apologies. As I tried to get updates up yesterday, the site kept crashing on me which was a pain with the rolls and spoiler boxes/formatting. Seems to be better now but I'll try to keep the post short.

If anyone is interested in playing a melee-type character in a Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign (GM'd by someone else, not me), let me know. We had a player drop out and the GM would like to recruit someone new.

How far along are you? I had a teisatsu (archetype of vigilante) that was in a CotCT game. The game died shortly after the fight with Gaedren

I have not been able to post anything, not even PMs, since Saturday I believe. I did try mind you. Quite a bit.

Anyway...

Starting yesterday I am on vacation that will last about ten days. Internet access is very limited as it depends on my data plan, my signal and my phone. So by all means, if and when necessary please DMPC away.

Yeah, it’s been down all weekend. It’s a pain. At least it’s finally working again!

Hello... hello....

I have been trying to get on Paizo's boards for a week now. This is the first time I can actually get something that isn't a ratling to show up

Hi all. Just saw a twitter update the site was back up. I’ve been traveling since Wednesday and every time I’ve tried to logon the site has been down. Will be home again on Wednesday and will try to update the next day or two while traveling if the site allows it. Hopefully things will stabilize soon and this is the end of it.

It is annoying how much the site has been down for the week. Hopefully it stays up this time.

Yeah they seem to have had a huge amount of problems with the website the past weeks.