Browsing through the Core rulebook, I stumbled upon Craft Construct again. I was then reminded of the Homunculus that one of my Wizard PCs created many years ago and decided to look at the Pathfinder version. I was pleased to see it was much the same, including the purchase of additional Hit Dice for 2,000gp each. I'm bored, let's break this.
A 20th level character gets 880,000 gp. Let's spend it all on the Homunculus, just to see how ridiculous we can make it:
50 gp for body
200 gp for Alchemist lab
1000 gp for the lab furnishings
2050 standard cost
5350 gp
= 874,650/2000 = +437 hit dice
So, our little buddy has 439 total hit dice. That gives him:
+109 ability score points
(Base: Str 8, Dex 15, Con - , Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 7)
2414 HP
BAB +439 (is there a cap in PF?)
Base Saving Throws 146 + modifications
His Poison attack: Fortitude DC 229 or sleep for 1 minute
And 219 feats
Spend them all on Fleet and you have a speed of 1115!
In the end, it's definitely not worth blowing all of your cash on this little mud god, but it's pretty funny that you can do this with just the Core book.
Does this rule apply to the Craft Construct feat when creating a Homunculus?
From the PRD:
Basic Modifications
Hit Dice Modification: Hit Dice represent the overall strength and power of a construct. They affect a number of subsequent abilities, including hit points, saving throws, and base attacks. Determine the effects of a Hit Dice modification using the rules for adding creature Hit Dice using the information in Monster Creation. Because a construct's size is limited, a Hit Dice modification cannot increase its size. Therefore Hit Dice modification can never increase the base construct's Hit Dice beyond 50% of its total HD. Some constructs have a defined cost for increasing Hit Dice. To calculate the cost per Hit Die of other constructs, divide the construct's construction cost by its existing Hit Dice.
If so, one could only ever create a 2HD or 3HD Homunculus, correct?
Or, is this sited rule only applicable to modifying existing constructs?
This spell has some pretty cool flavor to it. The Big Bad Evil Guy sacrificing helpless creatures to gain power is pretty iconic.
My question is on the mechanical effect. I have a player that memorizes this spell 2-3 times a day to make sure his enemies are for sure passed-on to the other side. This last session, he used it twice in a row at the end of an encounter.
This led to a debate as to whether or not he gains an additional +1 to his Caster Level for the second casting of the spell.
The enhancement bonus to strength doesn't stack for sure, the temporary hit points you only get the highest amount rolled, but the caster level doesn't have a bonus type associated with it, so I'm confused.
Would this player get +2 caster level from two separate castings?
I'll be playing in a one-shot adventure next Wednesday, and the DM informed me that it would be especially deadly. Challenge accepted.
Additionally, one of the other players and I have an awesome background story linking our characters. This background necessitates that I play a Synthesist Summoner that is skilled at the Grapple Combat Maneuver and has max ranks in the Heal skill.
Easy enough, however, I'm not sure I'm doing it quite well enough to be survivable in this supposedly "highly-dangerous" environment. So, I turn to the community for suggestions.
Here's the skinny:
-All official Pathfinder material allowed (he's also allowing anything from 3.5, but I prefer to stay pure Pathfinder unless something is just absolutely ridiculously awesome)
-3rd level
-3,000 gp spent however you want
-25 pt buy
-No Pun Pun (lol)
Here's what I have so far:
Lennie Smallz
-Neutral (Old) Human Synthesist 3
Str 8 base - 3 age = 5
Dex 10 base - 3 age = 7
Con 10 base - 3 age = 7
Int 14 base +2 age = 16
Wis 14 base +2 age = 16
Cha 18 base +2 Human + 2 age = 22
-While wearing George:
Str 19
Dex 13
Con 13
Int 16
Wis 16
Cha 22
-Heart of the Wilderness ART
-Favored class bonus to HP
CMB for grapple = +3 BAB +4 Str +4 Grab evolution +2 Improved Grapple = +13 (vs average CMD of CR 3 creatures of 17 is not too shabby.)
What suggestions to you have to improve this?
Is it survivable enough for "tough" adventures?
What items should I buy?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Kickass backstory:
Lennie and George were born siamese twins. Lennie was brilliant while George was physically powerful, if a bit slow. Lennie believed that their being connected truly held both of them back from reaching each other's full potential, so he began studying anatomy at an early age in the hopes that one day he could find a way to separate them without one of them dying. George was scared of losing Lennie, and didn't want to be separated, but Lennie convinced him it was for the best. Many years passed unsuccessfully and Lennie nearly gave up; which made George very happy.
Until one day they met a whisper gnome with a seemingly unmatched knowledge of humanoid anatomy. Lennie began exchanging letters with the small man until they were convinced they could separate the twins without harming them. The big day finally came and Lennie tricked George into drinking some Drow poison to knock him out. The procedure began and everything was going well until it came time to make the final cut. It was then that the gnomish doctor noticed, the two shared a vital organ that he had never seen before. With his patients losing lots of blood very quickly, he had to make a decision. He cut the strange organ in half and immediately cauterized it, patched them up and called it a success.
Moments later, the room grew dark and George started shaking violently. Lennie awoke to see darkness pouring out of his brother's eyes and mouth, the wailing of souls pierced his ears and he nearly lost consciousness. George quickly began dissipating and Lennie sat there in shock. The gnome stood with his head cocked to the side and mouth open staring in wide-eyed wonder at the amazing scene before him. Then, the barely substantial form of George rose, an amorphous mass of shadow and plunged into Lennies side where they had been connected. Lennie fell unconscious and everything returned to normal...until he woke up. The shadow form of his brother enveloped him and wrested control of his limbs from him: one body-two minds now!
The only time George leaves Lennie alone is when he falls asleep, this will prevent him from ever separating them again...
Now the vivisectionist doctor and the cursed summoner roam the countryside together in search of a cure for this hideous atrocity created in the name of science!
I could write so much more, but I have an exam now... :(
lets us qualify for Eldritch Knight early using a few different sources; specifically, anything that grants a spell-like ability that duplicates a spell of level 3 or higher. We also need martial weapon proficiency first though and there are a few ways to do that. Here is my proposed build:
LN Heart of the Wilderness Human
Traits: Magical Knack (wizard), Reactionary
Heart of the Wilderness is a good sub for the +1 skill point as our Int is high so we'll get plenty and it helps us not die when we're unconscious.
Scryer Wizard gives us clairaudience/clairvoyance 3+int mod times a day and my favorite ability in the game: Forewarned.
Freebooter lets us grant ourselves and our allies +1 to hit and damage against one foe as a move action unlimited times/day.
Trapper gives us Disable Device and Trapfinding so we can also fill that role if we want to.
Eldritch Knight nets us a few combat feats (including Fighter-only ones) and Spell Critical.
Hell Knight Enforcer has a bunch of mediocre things, but the one that stands out the most are: Arcane Armor Expert and Signifer Armor Training. This lets us reduce our ASF by 20% as an immediate/swift action (with a 10% reduction all the time). Definitely get your hands on some Mithral ASAP.
I'm having the most trouble with the feats though. Here are my ideas:
I'm definitely taking suggestions on these. I may be stretching this build too thin, but I like the idea of some decent melee damage options, different options for dealing with ASF, and a hard-to-resist save-or-suck spell as a last resort (using Spell Perfection to add Persistent Spell to a spell in my Spell Focus school).
The HUGE OMG-THIS-SERIOUSLY-SUCKS DOWNSIDE:
You have to buy all of your spells after first level Wizard. I hope your DM is generous!
Any suggestions for feat choices? Comments/thoughts?
What's up world? My gaming group has been recording our 3.P sessions for about two months now. We have edited them and uploaded them as podcasts to a couple websites under the title Addicted to Fireball. We are totally non-profit and never seek to benefit monetarily from this. We just want to share our awesome experiences with the world.
I wanted to share these with the Paizo community as we're always interested in sharing our passion for role-playing games with like-minded people. The episodes may spark inspiration for your own games, be a useful tool for teaching others about the game, or be nothing more than something funny to listen to on your way to work and back.
However you decide to use it, we are always interested in feedback. How can we improve the experience for the listeners? What kinds of things will make it better and draw in more people? Where else can we upload these to reach more people?
Any comments or suggestions (positive or negative) are helpful.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you get a chance to give them a listen. Happy gaming!
G'day lads and lasses. I'm looking for both mechanical and fluff suggestions for the character I'm going to play in the next campaign I'm in. The rule set is "3.P", but I would like to build it entirely using Pathfinder rules, unless there is something that fits absolutely perfectly from 3.5.
Guidelines:
25 pt buy
1st level
Max starting wealth
Two traits
Pathfinder rules with anything not updated from 3.5
No third-party material
The character will be Yasmirra Vanrook, a tiefling paladin, and will serve as the party's primary front-line fighter. Needless to say, I want her to be as survivable as possible. That is why her first-level feat is Fey Foundling and her favored class bonus goes into increasing self-used Lay on Hands. This will allow her to be relatively self-sufficient in the healing department, as we are unlikely to have a Cleric, Oracle, or Druid in the party that focuses on healing.
Here is the bare-bones build I've put together:
Demon-spawn Tiefling Oath of Vengeance Paladin 20
Favored Class bonus: +1 pt/lvl when Lay on Hands self
Alternate Racial Traits: Scaled Skin (+1 Nat armor, Fire resist 5)
Fiendish Sprinter: +10 speed when charging, running or withdrawing
Maw or Claw: two 1d4 primary claw attacks
Prehensile Tail: draw and hold items as a swift action
Feats:
1. Fey Foundling
3. Power Attack
5. Greater Mercy
7. Step Up
9. Following Step
11.Step up and Strike
13.Dazing Assault
15.Improved Critical: Greatsword
17.Critical Focus
19.Blinding Critical
Background:
Spoiler:
Yasmirra is the daughter spawned from the carnal union of a Succubus and a human Paladin of Iomedae. Her mother, known only as Vesper, seduced the righteous man and forced him to impregnate her. When the child was born, she ripped out the father's throat and raised the corpse as a zombie to prevent him from meddling in her affairs.
Vesper plans to ascend the ranks of demons using her god-touched child as a tool and a distraction. She hopes to have Yasmirra become powerful enough to destroy the demons Vesper cannot subvert herself by tricking Yasmirra into believing they are responsible for her father's death.
Yasmirra constantly fights an internal battle attempting to stave off the wicked, instinctual desires to perform horrific, evil deeds. She leans on Iomedae for guidance and strength and uses her teachings to boost her own moral. "I'm not evil, I'm more than my heritage!" She tells herself often...but will she be able to control the ever-growing desires of wanton slaughter and destruction...?
Any thoughts and suggestions for build advice or for cool ideas on how to play this character are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
With all Paizo sources available, how would you rate these feat choices and what are your suggestions for the final two feats?
The concept is a "generalist" druid evenly split between wildshaping, summoning and general casting. We rolled stats so I'm sittin' pretty with:
Str: 18 (17 base +1 lvl)
Dex: 13
Con: 18 (16 base +2 dwarf)
Int: 12
Wis: 19 (17 base +2 dwarf)
Cha: 10 (12 base -2 dwarf)
I am currently level 5 with the Menhir Savant archetype and the feats I have are likely set in stone, but the rest are ideas of projected feat choices and are open to consideration:
1) Spell Focus: Conjuration
3) Augment Summoning
5) Natural Spell
7) Superior Summoning
9) Powerful Shape
11) Divine Interference
13) Quicken Spell
15) Planar Wild Shape
17) OPEN
19) OPEN
I stumbled upon a pretty desvastating combo and was thinking about trying it out should my main PC ever bite the dust, but the more I look at it, the more I think it may be too focused. Let me know what you think:
Human Rogue (scout) 6
Favored class bonus: Extra rogue talent 6/6
Traits:
Unnatural presence: (so I can intimidate animals and vermin at no penalty)
Reactive: 'cuz initiative is awesome
Feats/Talents:
1) Enforcer
Human) Bludgeoner
2) Rogue talent: Weapon Training = Weapon Focus: morning star
3) Sap Adept
4) Rogue talent: Combat Trick = Dazzling Display
5) Sap Master
6) Power Attack
6) Rogue talent: Offensive defense
At level 8 Strong Impression talent for Intimidating Prowess and level 9 is Shatter Defenses.
What this combination of abilities allows:
Sneak attack any opponent I charge as if he were flat-footed.
Because I'm weilding a morning star, I deal bludgeoning damage which allows me to use my Enforcer feat to Intimidate my opponents as a Free action.
Because I have dealt nonlethal sneak attack damage (at no penalty thanks to Bludgeoner) my Sap Master feat deals an additional 3d6 points of sneak attack damage and my Sap Adept feat adds 12 points on top of that.
I could Power Attack for -2/+6 to damage, which would offset the bonus to hit from charging.
Finally, Offensive Defense adds +6 to my AC (-2 for charging) for one round.
Once I hit 8th level I don't have to charge and can just move 10 ft. to gain sneak attack (or flank/surprise as normal). Shatter Defenses will make the target flat-footed against my iterative attack and Intimidating Prowess will all but guarantee successful Intimidation.
I envision this guy being just a brutish badass that doesn't run from anyone. He knocks the crap out of people with his wicked morning star and then while they're lying there unconscious, he draws his punching dagger and coup de graces.
tl;dr Need epic dragon battle feat, spell, and tactic suggestions.
I am currently running a Pathfinder game (with some 3.X content allowed) and the PCs have just reached 10th level by defeating my Fire Giant Jarl and his gnoll minions. The battle took place in one of the previously-floating castles that crashed to the ground on Faerun many years ago to create the Stonelands. It was unbearably hot in the keep without protective magics and once the giant was dead, the party sought the source of said heat. Through divinations and some lucky knowledge history rolls they were able ascertain that taking residence in the lowest level of the keep is an adult red dragon trying to unearth the Heartstone that made the castle float.
Now, I don't know if they're high or what, but they seem convinced that they have to go fight it. So we spent last session with them selling and buying loot and preparing for the battle. This next session will be them delving into the scorching hot dungeon level to confront the beast.
The party's composition is as follows:
Gnome Archivist Bard 10 (weilds a Dragon Staff and makes judicious use of Illusions and Pilfering Hand)
Half-Elf Archer Ranger 10 (with a Boon companion tiger and a frost bow)
Human Invulnerable Rager Barbarian 10 (supersition and other magic-hating rage powers)
Dhampir Summoner 10 (uses a defense-optimized biped eidolon with AC32)
Gnome Teleportation School Conjurer 6/Paragnostic Scholar 4 (makes average use of summons, very teleporty)
Aasimar (afflicted Werewolf) Cleric 6/Moon Guardian 4
With 6 PCs that puts their average party level to 11. An "Epic" encounter is equal to APL+3, or CR 14. An adult Red Dragon happens to be CR14!
So, my goal? Make this fight EPIC!
To do so, I have adjusted Seryndalar's feats (that's the dragon's name, FYI) and I would like your opinions and suggestions.
Original Feats:
Cleave, Greater Vital Strike, Improved Initiative, Improved Iron Will, Improved Vital Strike, Iron Will, Multiattack, Power Attack, Vital Strike
New Feats:
1. Iron Will
3. Power Attack
5. Hover
7. Improved Iron Will
9. Snatch
11. Multiattack
13. Flyby Attack
15. Quicken Spell-like ability: Pyrotechnics
17. Dazing Assault
I also have a few ideas about his lair. First of all, his goal is to excavate the lowest dungeon level in an attempt to find an artifact and the easiest way he knows how is to melt the floor away. This has caused pools of magma to form all over the place. He has been digging for some time now and the floor-to-ceiling height is about 200 ft. which should allow him to maneuver effectively aerially. He has dug ledges out of the walls for him to lounge upon and has treasure on each one.
The PCs will be entering through a tunnel at ground-level and have the vast lair before them with pocks in the ground spewing magma about and choking smoke impairing vision in multiple locations.
My idea is to use Quickened Pyrotechnics to blind the party and then Flyby Attack with Snatch to bite and grab one PC per round and drop them into lava. With Dazing Assault they will be Dazed and unable to get out of the lava for one round dealing 20D6 and then 10D6 for 1d3 rounds. This should remove their Protection from Energy spells and allow the Breath Weapon to actually do some damage. Then, Seryndalar will hide in the pools of lava and pop out and breath on them. Finally, he will Haste himself and fly 10 ft. above the party and full-attack them to death with Dazing Assault.
One final point: this battle has nothing to do with the story so I feel no remorse killing them. I am not a vindictive DM and never purposefully kill PCs, but they are walking into a dragon lair and hope to kill a dragon for its loot. IT'S GONNA BE HARD!
To be honest, I hate Vital Strike. I think it sucks, but a buddy of mine wanted to make some 6th level brutes and duke it out so I thought I'd play devil's advocate and see what I could get Vital Strike to do at the earliest possible level. Here's what I came up with:
Any Race/alignment
Guide/Shapeshifter Ranger 6
STATS (15 pt buy) no racial mods included
STR 17+1 lvl+2 enlarge person = 20
DEX 12 -2 enlarge person = 10
CON 12
INT 10
WIS 12
CHA 7
The Guide Archetype nets us the awesome Ranger’s Focus ability 2/day to get +4 to hit and damage against one target (swift action to activate).
The Shapeshifter Archetype grants form of the Bear for +4 enhancement bonus to Strength usable for 7 rounds/day (swift action to activate). It also requires us to select the Natural Weapon Combat Style which gets us Weapon focus at 2 and Vital Strike at 6.
Wealth by level dictates 16,000 gp which we only need a fraction of--enough to even fit in the NPC wealth guidelines for a CR 6:
Large-sized Masterwork Bastard sword (-2 to attack rolls, 2d8 base damage, two-handed weapon) (335 gp)
Permanent Enlarge Person (2500 gp)
This increases the base damage of the bastard sword to 3d8
Lead Blades spell (memorized twice in this build) increases the damage of your melee weapons by one step for 1 min/lvl (4d8 for bastard sword)
Sequence:
Round one) Standard action: cast Lead blades, Swift Action: activate Form of the Bear, Move action: move toward target and draw bastard sword
Round two) Swift Action: activate Ranger’s Focus, Move Action: move next to target, Standard Action: Vital Strike activating Power Attack
Damage: +10 strength +4 ranger’s focus +6 power attack = 8d8+20 (average 56, max 84)
Average Fighter’s HP at level 6 assuming 14 Con and all favored class bonuses to HP: 55.5
Now, this build is far from optimal as it has many things unused (race, traits, magic items, potentially one feat slot, etc), but you get the gist. In general, Vital Strike is not that great. You're sacrificing lots of potential damage from multiple attacks, especially if you miss, and there are quite a few ways of negating one attack/round. If Vital Strike is ever good, it's at 6th level and this is a great example of how.
I've scoured the web for a thread dedicated to this, but have been unable to find one so I thought I'd start my own. My hopes are that people will share their interesting combat experiences that extend beyond, "I hit the dude with my sword and he died.". Don't get me wrong, sometimes that can be epic and awesome too, but I'm looking more for really unique, extraordinary experiences that were fun and flavorful. Ya know, like stuff out of movies (reflecting the Medusa's gaze with a shield, dropping a chandelier on a group of goblins, etc)
As a DM, I reward my players' out-of-the-box thinking and unconventional approach to combat and I find that as time goes on as a player, I do more of it as well. Here's a recent example:
The burly fighter grappled the half-ogre shaman and held him long enough for the Druid to cast his "make a 10ft deep hole" spell. Then the Cleric created enough water to fill the hole and as the fighter plunged the giant into the pit, the magus attacked with his Shocking Grasp-channeled-sword attack to fry the beast and send him to his watery grave!
What kind of awesome things have you and your players done?
I've scoured the web for a thread dedicated to this, but have been unable to find one so I thought I'd start my own. My hopes are that people will share their interesting combat experiences that extend beyond, "I hit the dude with my sword and he died.". Don't get me wrong, sometimes that can be epic and awesome too, but I'm looking more for really unique, extraordinary experiences that were fun and flavorful. Ya know, like stuff out of movies (reflecting the Medusa's gaze with a shield, dropping a chandelier on a group of goblins, etc)
As a DM, I reward my players' out-of-the-box thinking and unconventional approach to combat and I find that as time goes on as a player, I do more of it as well. Here's a recent example:
The burly fighter grappled the half-ogre shaman and held him long enough for the Druid to cast his "make a 10ft deep hole" spell. Then the Cleric created enough water to fill the hole and as the fighter plunged the giant into the pit, the magus attacked with his Shocking Grasp-channeled-sword attack to fry the beast and send him to his watery grave!
What kind of awesome things have you and your players done?
has this awesome ability called Commanding Presence that grants all allies that can see her a +1 bonus to attack and weapon damage rolls. Note that it's an untyped bonus.
So, what if two party members both take one level in Warlord. Would their allies get +2 to attack and damage rolls since its different characters with the ability and it's untyped? If not, please provide a reference for the rule in question so I can show my players.
