The Usual Suspects: Class Decks Preview

Awesome! Can't wait to see what gets announced Friday too!

I love how you represented poison. Very neat.

That Cleric is awesome looking. And the card isn't bad either. Probably going to pick that up first for me.

These look awesome. I love the poisons as well -- pass a check or you accidentally poison yourself!

Wahoo! Thanks, Paizo! More, more!

That Cleric is awesome looking. And the card isn't bad either. Probably going to pick that up first for me.

Yeah, I too am leaning towards the cleric deck.

Nice preview! Can't wazit to see more.

Chaos stone made me laugh. That would be an epic spell to drop late game!

Looks awesome, but hate to nitpick this late, but isn't there a problem with Main-Gauche's power description?

"If you played a weapon with the 2handed trait, you may not play this card."

It's classified as a weapon, so by default, it cannot be played with another weapon (1 card per type in a check). Am I missing something?

I mean I can tell what it is meant to do, but the powers don't read correctly. The only way to use it's armor ability (by the text) is if you didn't use a weapon for your combat check as reducing damage is still part of the check and could only use one weapon card at a time.

The trait of "off hand" may allow the use of two weapons with a future character.

Looks awesome, but hate to nitpick this late, but isn't there a problem with Main-Gauche's power description?

"If you played a weapon with the 2handed trait, you may not play this card."

It's classified as a weapon, so by default, it cannot be played with another weapon (1 card per type in a check). Am I missing something?

I mean I can tell what it is meant to do, but the powers don't read correctly. The only way to use it's armor ability (by the text) is if you didn't use a weapon for your combat check as reducing damage is still part of the check and could only use one weapon card at a time.

I agree, I think it is a mistake. But I can also see where that is suppose to come in as Main Gauche is suppose to be a dagger technically and usually used in Two-Weapon fighting. I think that is why it has the Offhand trait but the card does not have the normal dagger wording of being used along with another weapon.

Edit: Ninja'd by Thazar

The trait of "off hand" may allow the use of two weapons with a future character.

Perhaps, seems to be an odd 'power' for a weapon when you normally can only use one at a time.

Wait, maybe over thinking again.... armor power would be useful against precheck damage (like a barrier power or before/after you act) wouldn't it. That's probably it. I get mentally stuck sometimes on first impressions and takes a while to think of all the possibilities. Sorry for my confusion casting doubt, not my intention.

No worries and we shall see how they go with the new class decks. But I would think that they would have some rules for some form of "dual wielding" ranger in that class deck and since when you dual wield you have a main hand and an off hand that wording hints at it.

(But then again taking RPG thinking into the card game has gotten me in trouble before. I played many games before it clicked that Valeros could cast Cure when he picked up the card.)

Because this is a game in which there is no hair so fine it cannot be split again, there are many reasons you could play a weapon before the Main-Gauche, and we wanted to kill all the ones that involve 2-Handed weapons, but not any of the others.

Also, the Main Gauche is not a Dagger, so don't assume anything on the Dagger should be on the Main-Gauche.

The big reason for that rule --- it can be discarded to reduce damage. If you play a two handed weapon in combat, and fail, you can't discard it to reduce damage.

My options for S&S sure got a whole lot more complicated! (Right now, Rogue and Cleric are getting my vote!)

A shame I can't find anywhere in the UK at the moment where I can preorder these. I guess I just have to be patient and hope they become available in the next few weeks, around the time of the S&S base set.

EDIT: Hey, they're now showing on Book Depository at last! Better get my wallet out :)

Some interesting cards here- I'm now torn - Cleric Deck has just shot up the list, based on a decent attack spell. I'm guessing the character is a cleric of Nethys? The Bard is more interesting than I imagined too.

Still intrigued by the Rogue Deck, but worried about the idea of burying random cards.

Still intrigued by the Rogue Deck, but worried about the idea of burying random cards.

Perhaps certain rogues, like Wu Shen, don't have to bury cards when using poisons. Might be a power feat.

MightyJim wrote:

Still intrigued by the Rogue Deck, but worried about the idea of burying random cards.

Perhaps certain rogues, like Wu Shen, don't have to bury cards when using poisons. Might be a power feat.

Or choose to bury a different card? I feel like the Gunslinger has something along those lines...

What I like here is the synergy between these cards and different characters. Poison can be useful to both rogues and alchemists for instance. It's nice to see that these cards are not super specialized.

Also the art for that rogue is amazing.

The trait of "off hand" may allow the use of two weapons with a future character.

Traits in itself do nothing, but they can be referenced by other cards.

I suspect that it gets meaningfull with some 2-weapon wielding character's powers. For everybody else, you can't use it with another weapon in any way.

Or it's really a badly worded card, and needs the Magic Armor treatment for it's discard effect.

MightyJim wrote:

Still intrigued by the Rogue Deck, but worried about the idea of burying random cards.

Perhaps certain rogues, like Wu Shen, don't have to bury cards when using poisons. Might be a power feat.

Rogue characters most likely all have the Disable skill, and some Thieves Tools in their starting deck.

The trait of "off hand" may allow the use of two weapons with a future character.

I'd say Agna's description contains a pretty strong hint that she's such a character.

Ready to fight with a weapon in either hand...

So, the question I'm kind of surprised that no one has asked yet..

Why do the class deck cards have Acquire checks on them? Wouldn't they only be used to build your deck? Was it simply to adhere to the standard card image?

Plus you have the option of adding the cards to your base box.

The class decks can also be used to add extra content to an adventure path, in which case you shuffle them in with the rest of the boons and encounter them during the game. The Skull & Shackles rulebook mentions this on page 4.

There could also be effects that throw cards from your deck into location decks.

Yay! A non-evil Necromancer in Pathfinder, I hope this is a trend that continues/

+2 Poisons got me hype. Looking forward to what the other rogues will bring.

Are there any semi-official thoughts on the "right" number of Class Deck cards to add to S&S, if someone wanted to go that way? I'm just wondering if anyone's crunched the numbers about how many cards you can add before things really get skewed. I imagine we'll play vanilla our first time through and leave the class deck stuff for later playthroughs, I'm just curious.

But... I wouldn't mind the option to skew the odds a little in our favor. :D I still get a little bitter every time I draw a Basic card with a "C" in the top right. It's like... you shouldn't even be here, Wooden Shield!

The artwork for the Cleric (who I think of as a Wizard, normally) and the Ranger ('Agna' aka Torgra Stigardsdam) are two of my favorite Pathfinder character illustrations (Seeker of Secrets, in particular, had some incredible art, both the headshots of the Venture-Captains scattered throughout and the three PrC illustrations in the back).

This is nothing short of awesome. Can't wait to get my hands on these class decks and all the tasty characters + boons that come with them. I daresay I'm more excited about these than I might be about Skull & Shackles! Hope we see some more previews in the next week or two...and then we might have them in our hands!

Did anyone else get a Thanos vibe from the Rogue? I'm sure he's not the first to have a romantic obsession with death, but he's the first I thought of...

Yay! A non-evil Necromancer in Pathfinder, I hope this is a trend that continues/

I never said anything about Darago's alignment. All I'm saying is that he's willing to go adventuring with you and your currently living friends.

Because this is a game in which there is no hair so fine it cannot be split again, there are many reasons you could play a weapon before the Main-Gauche, and we wanted to kill all the ones that involve 2-Handed weapons, but not any of the others.

For example: Maybe one day we'll see a Two-Handed weapon endowed with a mystic ability to some how reduce the difficulty of a check by 3. And said power could also state "You may play another weapon on this check." Then the Main-Gauche's power would matter.

Or maybe there is a Super Two-Handed Main-Gauche that in its "reduce damage" power says "You may play another weapon on this check." Then the Main-Gauche's power would matter.

You never know what they will come up with.

Main-Gauche has a crazy number of traits! I think that's the most of any card I've seen so far.

ChrisLKimball wrote:

Yay! A non-evil Necromancer in Pathfinder, I hope this is a trend that continues/

I never said anything about Darago's alignment. All I'm saying is that he's willing to go adventuring with you and your currently living friends.

In the Pathfinder RPG, creating undead is always an evil act, and there are a lot of necromancy spells that create undead or do other things that are evil, but by and large necromancy itself is not aligned.

In the Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex, you'll find the art for Darago on page 193, the Grand Necromancer who is Neutral Evil.

There is no alignment in the PACG.

Also, make sure you check out Erik Mona's Publisher Preview on the Paizo blog this Friday.

I hope its a Ranzak mini :)

I hope they are putting together an Iconics box that also has the characters from the class deck. But don't thing it will be that just yet.

Tanis, Vik, and Mike,

Can't thank you guys enough for this wonderful game and all of the continued support you provide! These spoiler articles and your willingness to maintain an open dialogue with us fans make waiting just a little more bearable.

I wonder how different/original the boons in the class decks will be compared to the boons in the regular base games. For example, if there is a card that does the same thing as the chaos stone but has a different name and different artwork, I have no reason to get the class deck with the chaos stone. . .

I had already decided to play Wu Shen first when I get started with organized play, so it was super cool to see this. :)

Related question - my S&S base set and add-on deck have apparently been processed and are ready to ship, but the class deck (Rogue) that I put in the side cart is still listed as pending. Is this as it should be, that is, that I will likely get the base box and add-on deck before I get the class deck? Thanks!

Related question - my S&S base set and add-on deck have apparently been processed and are ready to ship, but the class deck (Rogue) that I put in the side cart is still listed as pending. Is this as it should be, that is, that I will likely get the base box and add-on deck before I get the class deck? Thanks!

You should contact customer service. If it hasn't shipped yet they can combine them.

Make a new thread here.

OR

Phone and email here.

You should contact customer service. If it hasn't shipped yet they can combine them.

Make a new thread here.

OR

Phone and email here.

Thanks, Hawkmoon, I sent them an e-mail. I wasn't sure if other subscribers who had preordered 1+ class decks were in the same holding pattern with them. From your suggestion, it sounds like it might just be an issue with my order, though.

I wonder how different/original the boons in the class decks will be compared to the boons in the regular base games. For example, if there is a card that does the same thing as the chaos stone but has a different name and different artwork, I have no reason to get the class deck with the chaos stone. . .

You won't currently find different cards that are the same in all but name and art. (I can't promise that some mook henchman from a future set won't be mechanically the same as some mook henchman from a previous set, but so far, we haven't done that, and I hope we can avoid it for a long time.)

The class decks each have lots of new cards.

Hawkmoon269 wrote:

You should contact customer service. If it hasn't shipped yet they can combine them.

Make a new thread here.

OR

Phone and email here.

Thanks, Hawkmoon, I sent them an e-mail. I wasn't sure if other subscribers who had preordered 1+ class decks were in the same holding pattern with them. From your suggestion, it sounds like it might just be an issue with my order, though.

It is not just you.

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. My subscription has been authorised, but no indication that my class decks have been combined with them yet.

I also have an e-mail in with customer service asking them to only send me the character add-on deck which I haven't had a reply to yet.

I figure they are just super busy at the moment, but will sort it out.

What I like here is the synergy between these cards and different characters. Poison can be useful to both rogues and alchemists for instance. It's nice to see that these cards are not super specialized.

Also the art for that rogue is amazing.

It's from the NPC Codex (I suspect all of these characters are, though the only other one I'm certain of is Siwar).

I know because I've been using that Pawn for my character for the last year or so...definitely did a double-take when I saw him in this blog.

I definitely hope that all of these characters have pawns, because I prefer using the pawns to represent the characters' locations in the card game.

Agradeleous wrote:

I wonder how different/original the boons in the class decks will be compared to the boons in the regular base games. For example, if there is a card that does the same thing as the chaos stone but has a different name and different artwork, I have no reason to get the class deck with the chaos stone. . .

You won't currently find different cards that are the same in all but name and art. (I can't promise that some mook henchman from a future set won't be mechanically the same as some mook henchman from a previous set, but so far, we haven't done that, and I hope we can avoid it for a long time.)

The class decks each have lots of new cards.

Thank you Vic. I think my wallet is going to be taking another hit here soon. LOL.

NjSoapdish wrote:

What I like here is the synergy between these cards and different characters. Poison can be useful to both rogues and alchemists for instance. It's nice to see that these cards are not super specialized.

Also the art for that rogue is amazing.

It's from the NPC Codex (I suspect all of these characters are, though the only other one I'm certain of is Siwar).

I know because I've been using that Pawn for my character for the last year or so...definitely did a double-take when I saw him in this blog.

I definitely hope that all of these characters have pawns, because I prefer using the pawns to represent the characters' locations in the card game.

Actually, I know the artwork for Zarlova is from Inner Sea Gods. I remember the look of the Nethys Worshiper, and she fits it to a T. Given the robes though, I had initially mistaken the character as an androgynous male. I blame the tattoos for that confusion.

Looks awesome, but hate to nitpick this late, but isn't there a problem with Main-Gauche's power description?

"If you played a weapon with the 2handed trait, you may not play this card."

It's classified as a weapon, so by default, it cannot be played with another weapon (1 card per type in a check). Am I missing something?

I mean I can tell what it is meant to do, but the powers don't read correctly. The only way to use it's armor ability (by the text) is if you didn't use a weapon for your combat check as reducing damage is still part of the check and could only use one weapon card at a time.

Because this is a game in which there is no hair so fine it cannot be split again, there are many reasons you could play a weapon before the Main-Gauche, and we wanted to kill all the ones that involve 2-Handed weapons, but not any of the others.

Also, the Main Gauche is not a Dagger, so don't assume anything on the Dagger should be on the Main-Gauche.

Main-Gauche has been updated in both S&S and the Class Decks. You can now play it to reduce damage, even when you have played another weapon on the check, as long as that other weapon did not have the 2-Handed trait.