Curse of the Crimson Throne (complete) (Inactive)

Game Master Whack-a-Rogue

So I'm starting to put together a build plan for Yhrrilka, mostly centering on stuff like what Grumbaki was trying to tell me last week (I was just a bit too early in my introduction to Sphere material for that to coalesce in my brain). Something like Energy Strike, I mean, that's still a spell, it's gonna provoke, right? I should probably be looking at feats like Combat Casting & Melee Caster.

The Spheres of Might stuff all heavily implies that you really ought to be using Vital Strike to up your damage, but I'm thinking 1) I'm already getting the sugar from Sneak Attack, Fencing's Fatal Thrust stuff, and the aforementioned Energy Strike, 2) The light blades Ril's using don't bring a lot of Vital Strike goodness (honestly, I'm gonna VS my kerambit, get another 1d3?). Does that sound reasonable, or is there an angle to this I'm missing?

No, it doesn't provoke, it's stated in the talent. At least the casting - it will if you do a ranged attack as it provokes by itself.

Spheres of Might is designed to give you options for when Full Attack is not possible and yes, Vital Strike is part of what they had on mind when they did it. However, as you point out, not all weapons work well with Vital Strike. If you had the feats to spend, that would be okay, but who has them? xD

For Full Attack builds, however, there's the Mystic Assault feat.

There are many options in this system, and I only know a tiny part of them. Feel free to expose any doubts or whatever crossed your mind, there's always room for everyone to learn new combos and tactics.

Ah, okay, I missed the part where it doesn't provoke on my last read. Good to know, thanks for pointing it out!

Mystic Assault looks interesting (as does the Improved version), but I'll need to roll that around a bit, see if it would be helpful in practice.

(Ril goes back to diving into the feat section of AON)

If I start getting annoying with "Hey how about this one" style questions, please LMK! :)

Next stupid question!

The category is, favored class bonuses. For an "original recipe" human sorcerer, the bonus is additional spells known. That doesn't really apply to spherecasters.

So, two part question. First, is something like 1/6 of a magic talent an equivalent favored class bonus? Second, if it is, can I replace the +1 HP that I gave Ril as I was stumbling through making a skeleton of her build in HL last week?

Ah, I had the same problem - the Human Soul Weaver FCB is something that my archetype loses in the exchange. In your case, well, the homebrew Sorcerer is supposed to be the main one, so maybe a general FCB would be in order.

Of course, you could always argue that there are already general FCBs (hit points or skill ranks) or that you can choose the other class as favoured class.

And just so I'm clear, if the answer to either part is no, that's perfectly fine. But the way I figured it, not much harm in asking.

(It is super important to note at this point, that if I'm wrong and there is harm in asking, you just have to tell me to ease back, okay? I really, really, really don't want to be, "That guy who won't stop asking the dumb questions, who's driving you crazy one little slice at a time.")

Regarding actions, right now I have standard attack, free flurry, and move trip. Any advice on how to use swift action effectively?

Dunno, still figuring that stuff out for Ril. :)

What I'd do is, head to the Spheres Wiki's page for your relevant spheres, do a Find on "swift", and start reading. Is that a great strategy? (shrug) Dunno but I figure it's a start.

Good advice, I should have thought of that. :P

The best I can find right now would require dipping into gladiator sphere. This would decrease my unarmed damage (ouch) but would allow me to use this:

"Cow Enemy (demoralization)
When you deal damage or succeed on a combat maneuver check against a creature while using the attack or standard action, you may make an Intimidate check to demoralize that creature as a swift action."

Or...and I'll probably just do this. Stay with open hand for as much unarmed damage as possible, and take this:

"Waving Hand
You may spend a swift action to cause a creature damaged by your unarmed strike to gain the battered condition until the end of your next turn. Also as long as you have martial focus, your unarmed strikes gain the distracting and performance weapon special properties."

"Battered (condition): Heavy blows have left a creature with this condition vulnerable to further attacks, imposing a -2 penalty to the creature’s CMD and preventing them from taking attacks of opportunity provoked by a creature performing a combat maneuver. Some talents have different effects or activation times against battered creatures. The battered condition can be removed by taking the total defense action, or through the restore ability of the Life sphere, the lesser restoration spell, or similar effects. When inflicting the battered condition on a target that is already battered, the rounds stack when determining duration."

For a trip build, this could be really useful. Stacking -2 CMD makes tripping easier and easier. And it would readily represent knocking someone down, getting on top of them and punching away.

Okay, so this conversation reminded me that I have to put Psychological Maneuver Bonus and PMD onto Ril's sheet.

Also, does the Battered condition lower the PMD for feints, or is is strictly CMD? (I'd figure the latter, but hey, that's why I ask) There's a Fencing talent that makes the target Battered, but even if that doesn't help me, maybe I can help set you up, Torsten.

You're also an Incanter, maybe you could have a look at some Spheres of Power for ways to use your swift action. Life, for example, had a talent that lets you apply effects as a swift if you target yourself. Pick any Vitality talent and you'll be autobuffing as a swift.

Yup I have self renewal. :)

Was just looking for a use when I’m not burning spell points. And Ril, please don’t feel a need to stack battered if it isn’t in your build plan.

Torsten, Mac,

In the interest of expediency, should we just pick a spot on the map, say the nearest door by A2, and unless something happens to interrupt, head for it?

Good plan, I agree. Let’s go for it

Sorry about the delay. My internet's been down all day, and phone posting doesn't work well for me. Hopefully Comcast gets their stuff together soon.

Oh, that's the worst. Comcast, the one company with, from what I've heard, worse customer service than Verizon. :-/

Good luck!

Yeah, it's terrible. Internet's great - when it works. Been down for 7hrs and counting. Unfortunately, it's literally the only option for my area. :-(

Okay, it's back up now, so let's tackle a few Discussion things before I throw up a Gameplay post. XD

Favored Class Bonuses
@Ril: Take a look at the Incanter FCBs. I'll let you take either the Half-Orc of Human one.

@Macaria: I'll let you take the Dwarf, Gnome, or Merfolk Favored Class Bonus.

The battered condition only applies to CMD. Even though it won't lower the target's PSD, it's still useful if you don't have Improved Feint so you can avoid AoOs. And, of course, it synergizes well with a bunch of other spheres.

Another option for swift actions is Quicken Spell. In SoP, metamagic costs spell points, so it's a viable (if expensive) option.

Grats on getting back in business!

Thanks. The human Incanter FCB was where I got the idea earlier, I'll start working that from level 2.

You know, funny you mention Quicken Spell, because earlier today, I'd been window-shopping metamagic. I know that in "normal" Pathfinder, blasting away with damage spells isn't considered best practices unless you can juice them with metamagic feats. Does this hold true in Spherecasting as well? I figured Empower Spell would be great for giving some extra oomph when I really need to say "Shut up and burn."

Blasting is typically a bit easier with SoP because there's no caster level cap. An unmodified fireball stops at 10d6, for example, while a destructive blast will keep scaling. Plus, you can use the Admixture talent to add multiple rider effects. Metamagic is nice but not as necessary.

Thank you, GM, I'll throw a gaze at these.

Re: Self Renewal: It doesn't really have to be a point sink. Vitality talents add some nice bonuses to you for 0 SP other than the cost of the base effect you're using. As you already know, Life Sphere has 3 basic effects: Cure, Invigorate and Restore. Cure and Restore both cost SP, but Invigortae is free (though you need to be wounded). So for an Invigorate swift action you're adding your Vitality talent (+2 to AC and saves, or +2 to hit and damage, are two nice examples).

Also, Immediate actions take your next swift, so they may be worth looking at.

The available districts are Old Korvosa, North Point, The Heights, Midland, Southern Korvosa, East Shore, The Shingles, and The Vaults.

Torsten, where was your shop? That will probably be a strong front-runner for my first favored neighborhood.

And Ril, please don’t feel a need to stack battered if it isn’t in your build plan.

Right now my build plan only goes up to level 6. I've got some room to work with here. :)

Torsten's shop was located in Old Korvosa. His family lives in Midland, and much of their business comes from selling custom made enchanted items to the nobility, though they have been known to sell to the Sable Company from time to time as well.

And there we go! The Runeforger family. I now that I didn't need to stat anything out, but rolling the dice helped make them "come to life." I think that their skills helps explain where Torsten came from, how he got his abilities, and why he ended up in Old Korvosa.

And for their stats, I figured that 3d6 for each stat would be what a regular NPC would have. And as I wanted them to be at the pinnacle of their professions, I decided that 1d4 expert and 1d3 cleric was appropriate. For Alaric, he is a dwarf who has dedicated himself to making arms and armor. Having +14 (+16 with masterwork tools) means that by taking 10 he can reliably work with substances like mithral. Truly, someone who would be commissioned by nobility.

And for Brundrika, she can take what Alaric makes and enchant them. I tried to focus her cleric spells around the forge. I think that it worked out well, both showing where Torsten comes from and why he left.

They sound very nice as written. It's a shame Ril probably can't meet them without them reaching for their weapons. :)

Spheres Feat question:

Let's say I already have the Energy Strike talent. I'm not 100% sure what the feat Spell Attack provides. Is it that Energy Strike is not considered an "Attack action," and thus cannot benefit from things that call for such (like, for instance, the Fencing Sphere's Fatal Thrust ability ("Whenever you make an attack action or an attack of opportunity..."))?

Normally, using the Destruction Sphere is not an attack action, since what you're really doing is casting - delivering through a (touch) attack is just circumstantial. Energy Strike is a standard action, as written, but it doesn't specify it's an attack action - it's a standard action that lets you attack and cast. So, yes, anything that requires specifically an attack action (as opposed to just an attack) wouldn't work.

Spell Strike lets you change that into a (special) attack action, and thus all these things now can be applied (always respecting the rules, of course). It's more or less the same that in vanilla PF happens with Spring Attack or Cleave.

Okay, that all tracks, thanks. I think the main interaction that enables is allowing those Energy Strike attacks to use my Fencing sphere abilities, which I definitely want to do. So hey, there's a feat choice for Level 3, only took me a week to decide! :D

(This is why I plan, otherwise I'd be left there at each level-up umming and uhhing like I was guest hosting the Chris Farley Show.)

Sounds about right. :)

With gestalt spheres there are so many options!

Indeed there are! My head is spinning, but it's really in the "good way!" :D

Hey, a general Forum-related question: up in the right hand corner, there's buttons for subscribing to Atom/RSS for this thread. Any of you know if there's a way to turn that into push-notification on my phone?

This is a late moment to realize I could have tried Wild Empathy with the dog. :-\

Ah well, still a long way to go until we get used to all our characters' shenanigans.

It's funny...but I come to realize that I probably made a big mistake in character creation. I traded stability for +2 diplomacy and +2 sense motive. Usually a pretty fair trade, as bull rush and trip are really rare in vanilla pathinder. But in spheres? I think that both will come up alot more. Totally on me, but it goes to show how different the two systems can be. All that said, I'm really happy to see combat maneuvers being a major part of being martial in this campaign. It makes fighting a much more interesting affair.

Also...would it be too forward for me to ask for the CMD of enemies when they are introduced? Tripping and the like (possibly disarming too) will be pretty common for Torsten. It is hard to write up what the actions are if I don't know if the trip/bull rush/disarm/whatever worked or not.

Most definitely. Just like all of you, I'm still getting to know your characters and the things they can do. XD I'll start putting some relevant stats on the battlemap.

the Halforc

As stupid as this might sound, when I read this I thought hey, my next character is gonna be a Half Orc named Rob. Rob Halforc xD

Hey now, that's bad luck. Especially at lvl1 when you have 8HP!

Macaria's simply chosen the strategy of using up all her low rolls at the beginning of the campaign so she'll roll nothing but crits when it really matters. XD

I have 7 HP actually, I just didn't have the chance to change it in the alias.

Torsten wrote:

the Halforc

As stupid as this might sound, when I read this I thought hey, my next character is gonna be a Half Orc named Rob. Rob Halforc xD

Something-something the one on the floor could use a painkiller something.

Torsten, assuming Yhrrilka hasn't been nosy on the matter, would she know you're on the outs with your family, and why?

I’d say so. Makes sense that he’d share his story after Ril shared hers. Especially as he doesn’t see any shame in what he is doing or where he is, so why hide it?

All very sensible, but sometimes folks can be stubborn and inconsistent.

No, I wasn't just looking in the mirror... :)

Just checking, wanted to make sure something I might say later acted on character knowledge and not mine as the player. Thanks! :)

No, thank you. I appreciate you asking

So, a little thought process here. Because why not.

(1) Deliquescent Gloves (4000 gold with lvl 3 craft wonderous items)
(2) Tattoo Gloves Demonic Smith (8000 gold with lvl 5 craft wonderous items and magic tattoo)
(3) Shocking Enchantment (Dragon Tattoos to enchant self, 3000 gold with lvl 9 craft magic arms and armor)
(4) Frost Enchantment (Dragon Tattoos to enchant self, 4000 gold with lvl 9 craft magic arms and armor)

Total: 19,000 gold. +1d6 acid, fire, cold and electricity damage when punching people.

Takes almost all of my feats. And given that we are doing ABP, at lvl9 our gold total should be about 23k, so this would take just about all of my gold too. But I think that it might be worth it, just for the ultimate elemental fist.

Oh sure, after that fight we just had, my first thought was that you need to hit harder. :D

Kidding aside, deliquescent gloves are CL7, how do you get around that?

By...never having a PC craft before and forgetting about that rule, of course!

Slightly off-topic. I just recently discovered HeroForge. It doesn't quite capture all the details of Ril (no tats, can't quite get the hair right), but it can make a pretty compelling facsimile!

Quick reminder that crafting costs time as well as money. 19,000gp crafting cost means almost three weeks of not adventuring. There's ways around it, but that's more investment. On a completely unrelated note, I hope everyone likes the random flavor item they received during character creation. XD

Does anyone else get a chuckle from looking at the Spheres wiki and seeing things there tagged [3PP]? Like, the whole Spheres system is 3PP in the first place! :)

And to answer the question posed in the previous post, yes I do. I'm still trying to work out the story of how Zohruk got it, and when he gave it to Ril. ;)

I know it's intended to mean non-DDS content, but it's still amusing. XD

In case anyone wasn't sure, this guy isn't Gaedren. You're meant to carve a bloody swath through his lieutenants first.

And a bloody swathe we are! Used my only Ki point for the day on this, but figured it was worth it.