Abciximab's page

I ran the Warpriest and the Brawler.

I thought the Brawler was a decent class overall. I liked picking up a Combat Feat when needed. It came in handy.

The Warpriest... well, she was not very good at the war part and she was not very good at the priest part. She was a priestess of Gorum and her feat chain gave her the chance to deal some decent damage if she could hit. She couldn't. It would take far too long (in combat terms) to get to a place where she was a decent melee fighter. She was far more useful healing and buffing the party and would have been more useful with access to 3rd level spells. The 20 point buy made it difficult to make her good at any one thing. She should have at least a decent Str if she wants to deal damage, but needs Wis and Cha if she wants to cast spells and channel energy. I did like War Mind as an ability, though.

Overall, if I wanted a weak healer who could fight, I would have preferred playing a Paladin. With the role she wound up filling within the party (I can't hit, maybe I should help someone else) I would have been better off playing a Cleric. Being able to use Fighter feats like the Brawler might help this class. As is, there doesn't seem to be a niche for it.

I like the Warpriest concept, but it doesn't live up to its name.

We have played through 3 Adventure Paths (1 Levels 1-20 (3.5) and 2 Levels 1-17 (Pathfinder)) without ever experiencing any of the balance issues often discussed on the boards.

Lord Snow wrote:

Hey JJ,

about the bard: with all honesty, can you (or anyone you know) take the theme of this class seriously? That is, a bard performing mid-combat. That just sounds so absurd to me (never matter how cool the performance could be on it's own) that as a GM I disallowed the class in my games.

But many people seem to really like the bard, so maybe I'm missing something.

Would anyone enjoy seeing a movie where, during combat, while people and monsters are killing each other, someone starts to sing a dramatic representaion of the event? and that's supposed to make his companions more confidant or something? that will ruin the entire scene.

So how exactly does the bard's ability make sense to you in your games? don't you feel like you not only have to suspense your disbelief, but that the entire battle is less cool because someone is busy being a performer instead of fighting?

Not to mention, combat bards exist(ed) in the real world. What do you think a drumline would be?

...And music is Still used to demoralize the enemy. I suspect the Heavy Metal, Rock, Rap, Etc, used to Demoralize our enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan may have also boosted the moral of our soldiers (assuming the individual soldiers liked that type of music).

I ran this on Free RPG Day at Jetpack Comics in Rochester, NH and luckily I had my own Kickstarter copy because I had a full table of 6 (there were 3 copies per kit ordered and Jetpack had ordered 2 kits so we had just enough to give out to the players afterwards). I had mostly inexperienced players and even a person who had never played before but everyone had a good time and the last encounter was pleasantly challenging.

My Rogue was doing great against the BBEG until I was hit with...

Definitely a great day with two great adventures back to back (Scarlet Sun and this one).

blackbloodtroll wrote:

Actually, the adopted trait only gives you one racial trait, and does nothing else. Though a human can count as whatever they want with the Racial Heritage feat.

Read the PRD:

"Adopted: You were adopted and raised by someone not of your actual race, and raised in a society not your own. As a result, you picked up a race trait from your adoptive parents and family, and may immediately select a race trait from your adoptive parents' race."

A Race Trait is a category of traits, Faith, Magic, Social, Race, etc. That's what you get with the adopted trait, not racial abilities and feats.

Traits

Let's see if we can get some of the staff in here to comment. ;)

Assertation to follow ;)

I've always used splash weapons (ranged touch attack) like any other thrown weapon attack (a Standard Action). Splash weapons are treated just like thrown weapons and the reference to a full round action to prepare a flask of oil (and the use of the word "except") makes me think those that are "ready to go" (Acid, Alchemists Fire) need no prep time.

From PRD:

THROW SPLASH WEAPON
A splash weapon is a ranged weapon that breaks on impact, splashing or scattering its contents over its target and nearby creatures or objects. To attack with a splash weapon, make a ranged touch attack against the target.

Thrown Weapons: Daggers, clubs, shortspears, spears, darts, javelins, throwing axes, light hammers, tridents, shuriken, and nets are thrown weapons. The wielder applies his Strength modifier to damage dealt by thrown weapons (except for splash weapons). It is possible to throw a weapon that isn't designed to be thrown (that is, a melee weapon that doesn't have a numeric entry in the Range column on Table: Weapons), and a character who does so takes a –4 penalty on the attack roll. Throwing a light or one-handed weapon is a standard action, while throwing a two-handed weapon is a full-round action. Regardless of the type of weapon, such an attack scores a threat only on a natural roll of 20 and deals double damage on a critical hit. Such a weapon has a range increment of 10 feet.

Oil: A pint of oil burns for 6 hours in a lantern or lamp. You can also use a flask of oil as a splash weapon. Use the rules for alchemist's fire (see Special Substances and Items on Table: Goods and Services), except that it takes a full-round action to prepare a flask with a fuse. Once it is thrown, there is a 50% chance of the flask igniting successfully.

What I’m saying is the chart is mislabeled and contains the typo mentioned above. The Perception column is a modifier to the DC not the Skill Check result.

In combat or speaking > 40 DC to pinpoint –20 = DC20
Moving at half speed > 40 DC to pinpoint - 5 = DC35
Moving at full speed > 40 DC to pinpoint -10 = = DC30
Running or charging > 40 DC to pinpoint -20 = DC20
Not moving > 40 DC to pinpoint -40 = DC80

Then the Positives are applied to increase the DC (Again, not as modifiers on the Skill Check as the label on the chart implies) –

Using Stealth = Stealth check + 20
Some distance away = +1 per 10 feet
Behind an obstacle (door) = + 5
Behind an obstacle (stone wall) = +15