Curse of the Crimson Throne

Game Master Whack-a-Rogue

Is there a sphere magic which summons a mount? Not that I'd use it for this character, but I'm curious as towards whether it is an option.

That sounds like something the Conjuration sphere could do.

I just looked, and there's a talent literally called "Mount." If that isn't it, that's some serious false advertising BS right there.

That talent literally lets you summon a mount underneath you. XD Comes with a saddle and acts on your initiative. Combine with a scaling bonus to Ride, and I don't think you'll find a better option for mount creation. XD

As funny as THIS MOMENT would be, I think the "miss every possible clue regarding Blackjack's identity" game is about to end. XD

So quick question, I'm hoping one of you two can help me with.

I bought the PDF of the first module of QFTFF Adventure Path, I want to try GMing for my sons. Is there a way to take the maps in the module and print them out to full size?

I don’t know…but what we did is have dry erase film. Put it on some tables and cut to fit. We r let’s our kids draw on the table, and when I have the chance to run something for them I can draw the maps directly on the table and erase as we go. Can even draw enemy markers on. It works great for us.

Cool, I'll look into that as an option.

A few weeks ago the older boy said he wanted to "try D&D," so time for me to step up, regardless of the fact that I haven't GMed anything since (checks watch), maybe 1997?

I generally draw out maps when I GM in-person (or use premade battlemaps), but back in the day, I tried something like THIS and it worked fairly well.

I generally draw out maps when I GM in-person (or use premade battlemaps), but back in the day, I tried something like THIS and it worked fairly well.

I just tried that out for one of the maps. That might be the trick, thanks a ton!

Torsten: before I put up a recruitment post, do you have any gaming friends who might be interested? I have a feeling that it might be a bit difficult to find someone willing to play a 10th-level Shoanti using an extremely homebrewed system.

@Robert Henry: Howdy! Glad to have you aboard. Your character will be a Shoanti - either from the Skull or Sun Clan. Skull Clan starts out relatively indifferent to Torsten and will enter scene after the current bit in the Acropolis of the Thrallkeepers. Sun Clan starts out relatively unfriendly to Torsten and will enter scene as soon as you're ready.

As it turns out, being completely unfamiliar with the CotCT campaign is a benefit. Outside of a single sidequest in Book One, the Shoanti haven't played a role in the campaign until now. It's probable that all your character knows is that Korvosa had a leadership change pretty recently and all kinds of bad things have been happening there ever since. Most notably: fires, riots, and sickness. Honestly, though, it's not your problem. Korvosa was originally built by Chelish colonizers on land stolen from the Shoanti, so it's about time it got what was coming to it.

Hopefully you'll have a change of heart at some point, but that's a pretty good place to start. Campaign themes include repairing past hurts and unlearning harmful stereotypes, after all. XD

Welcome! Glad to have you here.

First of all thanks for the invite.

I'd read a little about CotCT years ago, just knew it was mostly in the city except where there was one trip out of town to hang with the Shoanti.

I've played Usawoti as a shoanti before so the character will stay pretty much the same, he was a ranger/oracle then. Now he'll be something else. I'm still working on the particulars. For the melee class looking at ranger or fighter or possibly armorist. For the caster bouncing between Soul Weaver (it seems thematic) and Fey Adept, I really like the shadow stuff. Both focus on charisma, so that may help with some of the influence stuff.

Torsten, can you think of anything that Needs covered. I'm fairly flexible, but haven't read much of the game, so, if there something that would synergize well with you let me know.

YBD, if that other group picks a traditional kingmaker game, who would I have to kill to get in it? It's about the last of the AP's I've started and really wanted to get back into.

From what I've observed, Torsten's excellent at locking down (and then defeating) enemies one-at-a-time. His defenses are very strong, so he has a lot of survivability - practically unkillable, in fact. He also has surprisingly strong social skills. He is, however, essentially useless against enemies at range and is short on skills. His familiar helps a bit with Knowledge, but that's definitely an area of improvement.

Based on that, I'd suggest someone focused on utility, skills, and ranged damage. Magical capabilities are also a plus. Torsten's Incanter side is focused on self-buffing and self-healing flavored as magical tattoos. A Ranger//Oracle isn't a bad idea, to be honest. That would cover quite a few gaps.

Very interested to see Torsten's thoughts. I'll keep my ideas very general (like above) to avoid letting my knowledge of the plot slip any spoilers. XD

So my previous iteration of Usawoti, was an aasimar with the Scion of Humanity, I liked the way the Oracle 'tongues curse' worked with the race. So with Usawoti now as a human that is less interesting. And I really like the High-Caster 'Sphere of Power' Talents :)

Torsten I would really like to here if you think the 'special traits' of the 'Fey Adept' or the 'Soul Weaver' will fit better with your character needs. Both seem to fit the scary undead theme the 'skull tribe' have going on. At least I think 'shadows' fit the theme as well as 'walks the line between life and death.'

With YBD's recommendation I will have Usawoti major in ranged attacks. will try adding something for up close and personal too :)

May also see if he can put together enough talents to make the classes 'shadowmarked/channel negative energy (whichever I select) more ranged as well. As for skills Ranger seems the route to go, but I need to figure out weapons, since ranger "is proficient with simple weapons, as well as light armor and bucklers ...a martial tradition" so I need to figure that out. Was hoping to go with Earth breaker and Klar again, but may not have enough 'sphere's' to do that well and mix with ranged. Would probably just use the earth breaker two handed, if I can figure out how to add one and a bow to the ranger's weapons easy enough.

Going to go look at martial traditions, traits and optional race traits. Figure out if I need to build a 'martial tradition' or not.

YBD, were building to level 10, I'm assuming it's the same build as Elek, Is there a spending amount for mundane and magical items? Are there any 'theme appropriate' magical items that Usawati may have had access to out here in the 'Cinderlands'?

Only plans for the day is to take my wife lunch and head to the grocery store, so hopefully will get Usawoti mostly build by this evening.

So…anything works, really. Torsten is “selfish” in the way that he’s very much a personal buffer. He doesn’t need anything, really. He punches hard, throws people around, heals himself and provides his own buffs. He just can’t do anything outside of grabbing distance.

Ranger is a great martial side. Studied target and sneak attack give it everything great from slayers, and low casting is good to have. Its amazing. You can’t go wrong with it.

Casting side…soul weaver is awesome for the channels. It’s a great AOE. And it is a high caster. Range is really easy to handle with a high caster and it can easily move into melee as well. Death and Destruction spheres give easy ranged options. No bows necessary and only requires a few casting talents to be amazing by themselves as they scale with levels. The only reason I never grabbed them was because it doesn’t fit Torsten’s theme, and I find characters with a weakness to be more interesting.

Really, you can’t go wrong. The amount of options is staggering. Build whatever you see Usawoti as. Both of us are happy to give advice or suggestions as you need.

As rangers get a free Martial Tradition:

“Creating New Martial Traditions

Martial traditions are not simply collections of talents, but are designed to enable character concepts. The martial traditions listed below cover a great many concepts, but there are many more possibilities then are presented below. If a game master (or a player with game master permission) wishes to create a unique martial tradition, they should use the following guidelines.

1. Each martial tradition should include two Equipment talents, typically with at least one discipline, Armor Training, or Shield Training. These determine the weapons, armor, and other equipment a character has available to them (if any).

2. Each martial tradition should include either an appropriate base sphere, or the option to choose between 2 base spheres. The exact appropriateness of any given base sphere depends on the concept.

3. Each tradition should also include one additional thematic talent. This could be a bonus talent in the sphere you gained as part of step 2, an additional base sphere, or perhaps an Equipment talent that is not a discipline but works with the character concept in some way.“

Example Klar Master Tradition
1. Equipment Talents
* Custom Training (discipline) Select 5 weapons; you gain proficiency with the selected weapons. Exotic weapons count as two weapons against your total (so you could gain 1 exotic weapon proficiency and proficiency in 3 martial or simple weapons, or proficiency in 2 exotic weapons and 1 martial or simple weapon). You may take this talent multiple times, selecting new weapons each time. (Earthbreaker and Klar proficiency)
* Shield Expert: You increase the shield bonus to AC of any shield you wield by +1. When your base attack bonus reaches +8 you lower the armor check penalty of any shield you wield by 1. For every 8 points of base attack bonus you gain thereafter, you reduce the armor check penalty of your wielded shields by a further 1 (this cannot reduce your armor check penalty below 0).

2. Combat Sphere of your choice. Gives base power and option to take more choices within. (Example for Thunder and Fang, take Dual Wielding sphere which gives Dual Attack)
3. Bonus Talent (Example: Balanced Blows. Reduce the penalties for attacking with your dual attack ability by 1/2 (minimum -1).)

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So at lvl 1 he can use Earthbreaker and Klar, with extra AC for Klar. The Dual Wield sphere counts as having two weapon fighting for Thunder and Fang. As a human you can have weapon focus Earthbreaker and Klar at lvl 1 and Thunder and Fang at lvl 3. That leaves 3 more combat feats and 5 even level campaign feats to work with.

hmmmm. a quick question for YBD, were using the 'feat tax rules' so if a character takes weapons focus, he gains weapons focus on all the weapons in the group. Thus giving them access to even the 'exotic weapons' The same should be true for 'weapons focus' "Hammer" so once taken Usawoti would be able to use any items listed under the hammer weapons group, right?

I like Torsten's Idea for 'Klar Master' tradition, might call it Shoanti instead. The Custom Training should be: Earthbreaker (martial) Klar (martial) Bolo (exotic) and gonna have to go longbow...or do we just say bows in general? Might have to take weapons focus 'bows' and acquire a hornbow.

Rangers are adept with light armor and bucklers, so we may need to change the 'defensive' tradition to something else, unless being proficient with the Klar will make him able to use it as a defensive item.

Once we get a little feedback I'll post the "Tradition"

Numbers are coming together, looks like character class will be Ranger archetype Dungeon rover since he moves through the crypts and catacombs and Soul Weaver archetype Dual channeler. Background is going to be Descendent of Hero's, I'm going to use the previous Usawoti as an 'ancestor' and have him 'earn' the name as an adult for killing a giant. That way I can take advantage of the extra traits.

Some good discussion happening, I see. XD Let's get into it....

Build guidelines should be pretty much the same as what you've done with Elek. You'd be looking at a +3 deflection bonus to AC/CMD, a +3 resistance bonus to all saves, and a +2 enhancement bonus to attack/damage/AC/etc. Plus the Background Feats and whatnot. I'll need to math out an appropriate budget. I'll be basing it off of what Torsten has to keep things fair, though, if you want to use that as a rough estimate. I do know that you'll be significantly poorer than Elek. CotCT doesn't have any ships to sell. XD

Torsten's got the right idea regarding acquiring proficiencies. Making a custom tradition is very easy. Once we get your combat style fleshed out a little more, I can even write up one for you like we did with Elek. Preferred weapon/s, armor, and fighting style is pretty much all we'll need. XD

Weapon Focus applies to all weapons in the group but doesn't necessarily grant proficiency. That's generally gained through a martial tradition. Easiest option in that regard would replacing one of the weapons from Tribal Training with the earthbreaker. Maybe get rid of battle poi? The hornbow is probably going to be a veto by me. It's a traditional Orc weapon, and Shoanti and Orcs generally don't get along.

Dungeon Rover Ranger//Dual Channeler Soul Weaver sounds pretty good. As you're putting everything together, make sure to check out the Channel Feats on my website. There are a couple specifically for Soul Weavers....

Weapon Focus applies to all weapons in the group but doesn't necessarily grant proficiency.

That is a variation on how the 'feat taxes' are usually understood. Normally with a weapons focus on a 'group' you become proficient with all the weapons, generally it's an easy way to get access to exotic weapons.

I'm just struggling with the idea that a shoanti ranger isn't going to be proficient with common martial weapons: swords, axes, lances etc. Anything that would be a common 'western' weapon of war.

So 'Hornbow'? No chance he picks up one from an orc he killed? I'm ok with it either way, if you don't think a shoanti would use one that's fine. I was just thinking that he'd use the best of whatever he could find. But I'm ok if not.

My original idea was a switch hitter, hoping I could pull enough feats/spheres to do ranged attack and two weapon both. The original Usawoti used the earthbreaker and Klar two weapon, but not a lot of ranged. if we can't pull that off, then he'd just use the earthbreaker two handed. Still like the idea of having a sword as a backup weapon :(

Armor wise, would the shoanti have medium armor? I know hide shirts were shoanti, do they wear medium armor? I would think a shoanti ranger could wear whatever armor they made.

Sorry, let's get back to the question what I intend for him to use: a compound shortbow when mounted, a compound longbow when not (historical president for mounted cultures) A klar for defense and two weapon fighting paired with an earthbreaker. I would like to be able to carry a sword and or an axe as a backup weapon and Bolo as a cultural weapon. Armor, might just stick with the light armor and use "Force Redirection Technique" with it. But once he's in the big city he may go with something heavier?

I thought there was a "Weapon Proficiency" feat that granted proficiency with a weapon group. It's been a while since I looked through EitR, and I know it's had a few revisions. Maybe I got things mixed up.
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I've done enough mock jousting and Ren Faires to know that lances aren't a common martial weapon, but further discussion isn't actually necessary. I found a TRAIT that solves the issue entirely. XD This frees up your martial tradition for other proficiencies.
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That's a fair point concerning the Hornbow. I hadn't been sure if a Shoanti would be comfortable using Orcish weaponry, but if your character's the pragmatic sort, scavenged items are perfectly fine. XD
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I think you'll be able to pull off the switch hitter thing right out the gate since we're making a custom martial tradition. Here's what I'm seeing.

Spheres Needed
2-3 talents in Barrage or Sniper ('machine gun arrows' vs 'one shot one kill')
2-3 talents in Dual-Wielding (earthbreaker + klar offense)
Beastmastery [ride] + Beastmastery:Animal Companion (can be gained for free from Ranger levels)

That's what I'd consider the minimum requirements to fit the picture you've given. Easily doable at your current level. XD
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Potential Martial Tradition
Huntsman Training or Outrider Training (can tweak the granted proficiencies a bit if desired)
Shield Expert
Dual-Wielding
1 more talent of your choice

I was looking for an 'equipment' talent that would help with weapons proficiency, but I hadn't found one yet. True, enough on 'lances,' in actuality 'spears on horseback' is probably more appropriate and regular spears are available. Great call on the trait, I thought I had seen it before and I was looking for it but hadn't found it. Will definitely be one of the three traits.

Usawoti will be nothing if not pragmatic. And if he keeps 'Trophies' a supped up hornbow would make sense. I figure anything 'magical' he would of either taken in combat with orcs/chelish colonialists or purchased. Not sure I can picture extremely valuable commodities being carted out to the Storval Plateau

Potential Martial Tradition
Huntsman Training or Outrider Training (can tweak the granted proficiencies a bit if desired)
Shield Expert
Dual-Wielding
1 more talent of your choice

That's perfect! Can we call it Shoanti Warrior? The last talent, can it come from just Dual-wielding, or can it come from 'equipment'? I don't have anything in particular in mind, so just asking.

That's a good tradition name. XD The last talent can come from Dual-Wielding, Equipment, Beastmastery (ride), or Shield. I think those are the most thematic for your character. You'll get two Beastmastery talents for free from your Ranger levels, but unlocking the sphere early via tradition frees up a talent slot for Skirmish Rider or giving the mount full progression. Unlocking the Shield sphere gives the 'active defense' ability - which is a fun use of your AoOs each round. Depends on how much you want to buff the klar itself. XD

Potential Martial Tradition

Huntsman Training or Outrider Training (can tweak the granted proficiencies a bit if desired)
Shield Expert
Dual-Wielding
1 more talent of your choice

It might be that I just didn't get enough sleep, but let me double check Huntsman training and outrider training are traits from 'equipment' I can pick from but I do not necessarily have the 'equipment' sphere. Where Dual-wielding and shield expert are the spheres themselves. no shield expert is an 'equipment' talent as well.

So I've got caught up in seeing if I can do disable device without taking the Dungeon Rover archetype, I don't want to give up 'ride' or 'wild empathy' if I don't have to.

Hopefully I can get Usawoti done sooner than later. Still need to look at Casting tradition, I'd like to earn + 1 per casting level, but I know that will cost me 5 'drawbacks' plan on looking at that next.

@ Torsten, I explained to YBD in Elek's discussion that my mom fell last night, had to take her to the ER. She fractured her Humeral head, the bone where her arm joins her shoulder. She's going to need surgery, so I've added a little more than usual to my plate. I don't think it will interfere with regular posting, but it's slowing down how quickly I can get research done.

Edit: HMMM

You gain proficiency with the bola, lance, lasso, longbow, musket, pistol, scimitar, and shortbow. In addition, whenever you make a ranged attack from atop a mount, you take only half the usual attack penalty. Associated Feat: Mounted Archery.

Any chance we can trade Firearms for heavy blades or Axes?

Quick post during lunch: take all the time you need in regards to your mom. That's infinitely more important that this game.

Equipment isn't a "true" sphere. It's more of a catch-all for all equipment-focused things that don't fit into a specific sphere. Each time you gain the Equipment sphere, it really just means "gain a new Equipment talent."

Trading musket/pistol proficiencies for a few other weapons (not weapon groups) is exactly what I'd figured we'd do. XD

Remember you can always put skill points into Disable Device even if it isn't a class skill. The free passive checks from the archetype are nice, but there's definitely a trade-off.

Back from the doctor, break was clean and will not need surgery, so two months to heal then physical rehab.

So let me know what weapons, your good with. Would like to add longsword and battle axe. Since he's taking weapons focus in earth breaker and Klar, and they are both part of a weapons group, does he get to pick up any of the other weapons from those groups? Maybe the martial ones but not the exotic? If that's too much what about a couple martial from each group?

Still mulling over Disable Device, I've got a couple of traits left, so I could use one of them. Would you mind if I used 'Trap finder' from the Mummy's Mask' AP? Usawoti's people do live near the tombs.

A couple martial weapons from the associated weapon groups is fine. Just make sure you have a way to carry the "golf bag" of weapons you're planning to bring. XD

I generally don't allow traits associated with an unaffiliated campaign, unfortunately.

As far as the traits go, I don't blame you, they feel too specific to go anywhere but the AP usually. Figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

golf bag of weapons. So our characters don't look like all the pathfinder images? I guess it's just that I like the option to pick up stuff and use it. And the idea that if someone is swinging a sledgehammer effectively, he could probably swing an axe... oh, and I was planning on hanging the weapons on a saddle...

Speaking of saddles, Usawoti originally traveled with a horse and hawk, neither were really combat oriented, just traveling companions. Used the trait 'blood steed' for the horse originally, he got turned into a tattoo that could be summoned by the end of the game. Was trying to figure out how to do something similar, either with tattoos or figurines.

I've been looking at the conjuration sphere trying to use Object Bound and possibly Divided soul to break up some of the cost. They both would be more like animal companions any way to combine the conjuration with the beastmastery sphere? A couple of animal companions to be called when wanted, and kept in a pocket when not? And no, I'm not playing a drow with scimitars... Ok also looking at 'drawbacks' for a 'casting tradition' considering Substantial Magic along with a couple more traditional ones.
hmmm, Sadly it's the kellids who carved stuff not the shoanti. I like magical signs too. Wonder how they would work together.

So sifting through the channeling aspect of soul weaver, is there a talent or a feat that lets the channeler remove individuals from being effected by the channel?

Wayne Reynolds can get a bit ridiculous sometimes when it comes to buckles and straps. Having a bunch of options is perfectly fine; I just want to make sure you've considered the logistics of carrying multiple bulky weapons. Saddle straps and an efficient quiver will pretty much cover that. XD
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The easiest way to do it is the Carry Companion talent. Since you're a 10th-level Ranger, I don't mind if you have a noncombatant animal buddy or two. The linked talent will allow you to keep them safe. If you want something stronger, I also allow companion-granting classes to split their effective levels among all companions. My wife's 3rd-level Druid currently has a 2nd-level Hippo and a 1st-level Shark, for example.
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Before thinking about drawbacks, I'd suggest figuring out what spheres/talents you're interested in. Like martial focus, not everything requires spending spell points, so I'd hate for you to give yourself drawbacks that aren't actually needed. XD 10+casting stat is potentially a very solid number since you won't be needing to buff a bunch of party members.
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Haven't seen Substantial Magic before. It's certainly interesting.

EDIT: You're looking for the Selective Channeling feat. It lets you exclude a number of creatures up to your Charisma modifier.

hmmmm the list...Sphere's I'm presently interested in:
Conjuration
Dark
Life
Death
I've been focusing on Ghost stike Death talents I think Gravetongue is the only one not related to ghost strike.:
Bleeding Wounds (ghost strike)
Drain (ghost strike)
Vampiric Strike (ghost strike)
Cryptic Strike [strike]
Gravetongue
Killing Curse
Ranged Death [range]
Mass Death Magic [mass] [Gravecaller's HB]

I'm thinking if he has five drawbacks he can have an extra spell point every level, which would give him 20 + Thinking most of his magical range would be ghost strike

Drawbacks:
General: Substantial Magic, magic signs. Somatic Casting, Verbal Casting, and Focus Casting
Sphere specific:
Life: Regenerate
Cojuration: Divided Soul, Object Bound
death: Necromantic Limit: lose reanimate keep ghost strike

Ghost Strike talents are quite fun. Iryani has a few of them, actually - as well as Gravetongue. The drawbacks you're considering will make your magic incredibly obvious. You'd be chanting something while waving your focus, and that would create some sort of object where you want the effect to happen. Very interesting and potentially spooky....

What's the plan for the Conjuration sphere? Horse + Hawk + 'pokemon summoning' can be done with your two free Beastmastery talents + at most two feats/extra talents. Or were you wanting to conjure up a larger variety of creatures?

I will trim the ghost strike talents back a little, try to use talents that don't cost spell points. But with a skull tattooed on his face, I was sort of going for scary. I was wondering if the Tattoo could be the focus, but it couldn't be 'lost' so probably not.

How obvious would the focus be? A ring wouldn't be obvious, maybe a necklace? I was thinking of making his Klar the focus, if he makes the Klar his focus can me do the somatic casting with it and keep the Klar in hand? Anyway, I will probably drop one or two of them, and just go with three drawbacks and every odd level, that would still give him 15+ charisma bonus.

AS for the animals, a horse and Hawk are it. Might change the hawk to a Raven, a little more thematic. If we could do them so the hawk/raven was similar to a familiar and the horse to an animal companion would be perfect, with as few as talents used as possible. I'm happy for both of them to be summoned, either figurines or tattoos. The one thing I don't like about the trait 'Shoanti Steed' is the horse doesn't scale, so even just riding around your putting it in real danger. So divided soul would make one of them 6th level and the other 4th lvl.

I'm thinking for backstory sake, they are all that are left of when he was a happy go lucky ranger type. Then something really bad happened, probably to wife and kids and he became the person we have now.

Hopefully you'll have a change of heart at some point, but that's a pretty good place to start. Campaign themes include repairing past hurts and unlearning harmful stereotypes, after all. XD

maybe his family were killed by chelish and he's learning to deal with it. (sort of like the Outlaw Josey Wales)

If I focus on his magic being ranged as well, is here any sphere I should consider? I assume destruction would be the most obvious.

Loving following along the build talk. But most importantly, I’m glad to hear that the break was not a bad as it could have been.

Based on what you're saying, the most fitting option is actually the Galvanized drawback. It's basically Focus Casting but specifically for weapons. Galvanized + Substantial Magic + Verbal Casting could be flavored as pointing your Klar at an enemy, uttering a curse, and making a tattoo appear on their body. XD
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Horse + Hawk with as few talents used as possible. How about using your 4th-level free Ranger talents on the Beastmastery sphere (companionship drawback) + Pet talent? That gets you an animal companion at character level-4 (just like a standard Ranger) and a full progression familiar. If you want to turn your animals into little carvings, that's the Carry Companion talent. If you want to have a full progression companion, that's the Boon Companion feat.

The downside is you won't get free ranks in Ride or the equivalent of the Mounted Combat feat, but that can be fixed by buying off the drawback if desired. The point is that you can get a summonable Hawk and Horse very cheaply - which frees up room for more magic talents. XD
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I'm noticing a theme regarding Cheliax and your family members. XD That works out nicely for this AP, though. Korvosa hasn't been considered a Chelish colony for a very long time, but the current ruler is from there. And as Torsten will tell you, she appears to have devil powers....
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For ranged magic, Ghost Strikes are good for debuffs, and Destruction's perfect for damage. If you take the Channel Ray feat, you can also turn your channels into ranged attacks.

@Torsten: feel free to chime in on the build talk if you get any ideas. Your system mastery's quite strong, and you'll have a better idea than I will about what holes need to be filled. XD

Loving following along the build talk. But most importantly, I’m glad to hear that the break was not a bad as it could have been.

Horse + Hawk with as few talents used as possible. How about using your 4th-level free Ranger talents on the Beastmastery sphere (companionship drawback) + Pet talent? That gets you an animal companion at character level-4 (just like a standard Ranger) and a full progression familiar. If you want to turn your animals into little carvings, that's the Carry Companion talent. If you want to have a full progression companion, that's the Boon Companion feat.

The downside is you won't get free ranks in Ride or the equivalent of the Mounted Combat feat, but that can be fixed by buying off the drawback if desired. The point is that you can get a summonable Hawk and Horse very cheaply - which frees up room for more magic talents. XD

This sounds good, since the horse would be for transportation only, not really combat, don't need to worry about more ranks is ride than a high dex will provide, If I combine him with the Shoanti steed trait, it will simplify the process even more. I was heading to bed and just checked this real quick. I'll digest the rest in the morning. Have a good evening gentlemen.

As you're putting everything together, make sure to check out the Channel Feats on my website. There are a couple specifically for Soul Weavers....

Hmmm looking at this page now, nice. Will make sure I have 'feat' space to work some in.

Will put together the things we talked about and present the casting tradition, hopefully soon. Do you mind if the Focus Casting is a bone ring instead of the klar? That way he can cast whether holding the hammer or the bow.

Give me a couple ideas on what magical items he could have. Still think he may want a bow of some kind. Is three magical weapons too much? Maybe a 'ghost touched' klar, a human bane earth-breaker, What sort of magical bow would be impressive enough for him to keep? (I plan on using the 'barrage' talent 'Ceaseless Ammo' so don't make it 'endless ammo) How about armor 'Deathless hide shirt'? Wow just looked at Torsten's sheet, not a lot of magical items. I think I'll stop asking now...

Kept thinking about weapons. Along with the Shoanti weapons ( earth breakers, klars, and Shoanti bolas) from the trait and the outrider training "bola, lance, lasso, longbow, musket, pistol, scimitar, and shortbow." Can we make it a little more shoanti? Lose: musket, pistol and Scimitar. Replace them with a shortsword (the same blade that's in the klar, but not) an 'old school' broad sword (basically a wider shorter bladed longsword used more like an axe) 12 gp. 1d8, x3, 5 lbs. S and a hornbow. If the hornbow is a stretch I'm happy to drop it. I just liked the idea of him using the enemy's weapon against them. Once he makes it to town, we may add a couple more Equipment spheres :)

@ Torsten, How important has it been to have someone who can deal with traps, magical or otherwise?

EDIT: So far the two traits I've selected conflict with each other, in the fact there both 'Race' triats, Shoanti Tattoo and Shoanti Steed, I would use the 'steed' trait in conjunction with the beastmaster companion talent. Is it ok if I use both shoanti traits? I mean you did want him as a shoanti :)

Alright, some thoughts!

(1) Trapfinding. It could be an issue if we can't deal with that. Fortunately, that is really easy for you to do as a ranger. You get ranger talents at lvls 4, 7 and 10. Trapfinding is one of them. Problem solved! Other great ones are Scent (fits the Shoanti tribal warrior quite well, I think) and...well, take a look. There are some really good talents there, and worst comes to worst, you can get a bonus combat feat!

(2) You get 5 combat talents. Use them wisely. I find that being focused is the best way to stay sane and to be effective. For example, going with Dual Wielding, balanced blows gives bonuses to hit, paired proficiency means that whatever feats apply to one weapon apply to both, and strategic set up is just *chef's kiss*. Strategic setup lets you attack with your earthbreaker, and then replace the Klar attack with a combat maneuver, where you count as 1 size larger per 5 BaB. Or, if you aren't in to that, there is Asynchronous Swing. Which is amazing. Because it means that your klar will have the same damage die as your earthbreaker, and both weapons can do slashing or bludgeoning damage.

As a ranger, you get Beastmastery for free. So save a few combat talents for there. Also remember that you can use a feat to buy more combat talents.

(3) I like your plan for magic spheres. Having a solid theme of what you want the character to do with the magic and sticking to it really makes them feel unique.

(4) I'd recommend on not having an actual bow, or just fluffing your magic attacks to being shooting magic arrows from a mundane bow. Ghost strike is medium range touch. 100 feet + 10 feet per caster level. That is more than enough range. Why spend finite combat talents and combat feats for a weapon when you already have ranged capabilities?

My honest advice? You can have up to 10 sphere talents for your magic side.

Sphere Talent 1: Destruction Sphere (5d6 damage, can spend a damage die to make it 10d6!)
Sphere Talent 2: Gloom Blast (Your destructive blast deals negative energy damage. Any creature struck by the attack or that failed their Reflex saving throw if one was required must succeed at a Fortitude save or be sickened for 1 round. Undead creatures take no damage, but are instead blinded for 1 round on a failed Fortitude save. This bypasses the immunities of the undead type.)

Then you can focus on life + death spheres for all of the other fun stuff. But basically, this lets you blast the hell out of people.

And if you *really* want to use a bow...

Sphere Talent 3: Energy Strike (blast shape) [strike]
As a standard action, you may make a single weapon attack in conjunction with making a destructive blast. This casting cannot be reduced below a standard action, and does not provoke attacks of opportunity, unless as usual if making a ranged attack. If the target is struck by the attack, it is also struck by the destructive blast. If using a scatter weapon, the blast only applies to a single target, chosen at the time of attack.

You can thus literally shoot your blast from your bow. Assuming a Hornbow, that is 2d6+mundane modifiers+5d6 negative energy. I personally don't think it is worth it, as it changes the attack from touch to a regular attack. Assuming that you have a +2 bow from attunement, Str20 and deadly aim...

2d6 (base) + 2 (enchantment) + 6 (deadly aim) + 5 (strength) + 5d6 (negative energy) for 7d6+13 damage. While that's good, it isn't as good as full attack rapid shot manyshot. But it has the benefit of not taking up your combat feats.

So yeah...in short. Life sphere lets you nuke undead at range with positive energy. Destruction sphere lets you send out a strong negative energy nuke. Death sphere lets you debuff at range, or to fill yourself up on the enemy's HP. With up to 10 sphere talents, this is more than enough to be the master of life and death.

I'd settle for that rather than spreading yourself too thin (earthbreaker, klar, dual wielding, animal companion...that alot of feats right there. Ranged feats might stretch it too thin).

Anyways, that's my take on all of this.

Very cool, I was leaning towards not putting any feats, sphere's or Talents into the bow, but wasn't sure. Also, animal companions are fluff, not going to do any fighting with them. The horse will be transportation and the raven a scout.

Looking forward to seeing what he can do with 'darkness' when we melee, I'll post what I have already On Usawoti's page. But I think 'spell' range attacks and two weapon fighting melee, is the direction I'm going. Question is if I can work Feint' into the mix, it's talents heavy but it would synergize well with the 'sneak attack' I'll see what I can do.

One of my other S&S players has a tongue ring that's tied to the Focus Casting drawback, so Usawoti having a ring is equally fine. XD Swapping out the weapons as you mentioned works, too. Hornbow's a stretch, but if you aren't planning on doing much of anything with it, I don't think it'll be a problem.
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If you want both of those Shoanti traits, I'll allow it. I personally don't think the "Shoanti Steed" trait is necessary unless the "can whistle for your horse and ride it bareback" part is of vital importance. The two Beastmastery talents will get you a free horse and hawk, after all.
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Torsten makes a good point about avoiding spreading yourself too thin in regards to Combat Talents. For specializing in a large number of weapons, you're looking at Fighters and my revised Armorist unless you want to spend a bunch of feats.
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I'm interested in seeing what you'll be doing with the Dark sphere as well. Don't forget to use your Darkvision [meld] before turning out the lights. XD
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As you've seen, feinting is very fun. It'll be a little different for this game (check Yhrrilka's sheet for details), though. I'll also mention that Torsten's able to reposition people, so flanking should be relatively easy. XD

Ok, so a ring on one hand, the shoanti steed trait lets me start with the horse @ 1st level and upgrade at 4. Also I can ride him to town and let him go until I want to leave town again. It's almost like putting him in a pocket. The raven will play scout for us and help Usawoti look scary. Planning on painting a white skull on the horse and raven too...

weapons he will carry, afore mentioned sword (backup weapon), shortsword (a big knife) earthbreaker, Klar and sling (for rabbits and such) forget the hornbow, I do like the idea of him being able to pick up a generic sword, axe or hammer without penalty, but I doubt if it will come into play.

I'm going to see if I can work Feint into the equation, but with the limited talents and feats, I need to determine how many feats I'm going to spend on the channeling stuff. Then I'll back into the rest of combat.

Also not happy with the limits on Disable device still, so may need to go with the earlier mentioned archetype.

Alright, going to go spend a couple hours watching tv with my wife,

Speaking of which, this is a possibility

No feinting needed. If there is a way to get pounce you can have a huge charge, leap off and use the horse to flank. No feinting needed. As per Gif it looks really cool for a dual wielder.

Then make the horse have the bully archetype for trip/reposition. The Shoanti does the damage while the horse sets the enemy until to take full sneak attack damages

Just an idea that I got from watching that clip (see link)

It is way too close to my bedtime to even think about that...

So when we get back to Korvosa is there going to be a lot of places Usawoti and Mope would be able to do something like that? I thought more urban tools would be needed.

Aside from Book Four (which we're partly through), CotCT is a very urban AP. In no particular order, there's a castle to fight through, a few underground areas, some street scenes, and a bunch of things that happen inside buildings. Do with that what you will. XD

Ok, I think Usawoti's crunch is done.

I'll confess, due to the RL stress, I leaned on a few talents that I'm familiar with. I did go with the Dungeon Rover, I'll work it into his backstory.

I figure he's about thirty. He was a fairly normal Shoanti warrior when he was younger, but his family being killed by 'southerners' (Chelish of some kind, not quite sure but happy to work it out) put him off the deep end. he started using dark bone magic of the Skoan-Quah, killed the people who killed his wife and child, then hid in the catacombs he buried them in. His horse, Mope, was his wifes. Now the beast basically runs free. His Raven Inyoni stays nearer, but they don't always see eye to eye.

As a visual, he'll paint white skulls on the animals as well.

Does the 'sphere's' familiars get some of the same properties as the regular familiar? I really just want to know if it can talk :)

Is Grave Tongue a language?

I have him picking up five languages and I want talking to the dead as one of them, might be what he and the raven speak to each other in..

I'll look over the crunch tomorrow, but I'm sure it'll be fine. XD
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I looked over Yhrrilka's sheet, and it looks like she has approximately 20,000gp worth of equipment once we add in the cost of making a tattoo shop. Most of that's in consumables. Most of wealth Torsten's is in the form of self-crafted tattoos, but should be somewhere in that ballpark. As such, I'd say shoot for 17-20k worth of gear and magic items.

@Torsten: If you'd like to doublecheck those numbers, please do. I'd hate for one of you to have a massive wealth discrepancy.
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A sphere familiar is exactly the same as a regular familiar. It gets all the same abilities and can take a familiar archetype as usual. In that regard, you might be interested in the Shadow Familiar or Willing Martyr archetypes on the Spheres wiki.
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Gravetongue isn't a language. That talent is essentially the Spheres version of speak with dead. What I think you're looking for is Necril.

An eyeball of mine looks like about 23k with crafting feats, not looking at the various potions we found. Regardless it sounds about right.

Might be a dumb question, how would one go about carrying what is essentially a sledge hammer? A sling over the shoulder? Tuck it in his belt? A lanyard hanging from a harness? Maybe a special back scabbard with a box-like pouch for the hammerhead and loop on the top, so reach over the shoulder, unloop it and pull the head out of the box-like pouch?

May just have to buy a handy haversack to carry the hammer and Klar in...

According to a quick search on a reenactment forum, there are two possibilities: hold it in your shield hand or stick it horizontally in your belt as in the first picture HERE. Alternately, you could just get an efficient quiver, as that's specifically made for carrying long weapons. XD