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Yes; Warp is going to be coming out very soon, and it will be included as well.
The kickstarter for Ultimate Spheres of Power has gone live! This is the culimation of over 3 years of working on the Spheres system, and compiles info from the original volume and over 20 handbooks into a single, 400+ page volume. Come check us out!
Skills are the sorts of things martials should already be able to do. The idea of a fighter who can 'only' fight is a terrible thing; the iconic medieval fighter, the knight errant, was expected to know horsemanship, heraldry, how to repair his equipment, athletics, diplomacy, intimidation, etc., etc.. However, there's only so much we can give out with a single talent and retain some semblance of balance. We are already giving out some talents that are the equivalent of 2 or more core feats, and things like Fencing are giving out full ranks in Bluff AND half-level sneak attack. I honestly agree with most of the complaints in this thread; they went through my head as well when we discussed this change. At the end of the day, though, conscripts with SoM are better skill monkeys AND better fighters than either the core skill monkeys or core fighters, and we can't claim to be able to play next to core if we didn't cap that advantage at least a little. I hate to introduce an extra layer of bookkeeping with this change, but at the end of the day we thought there were few builds it would even effect; so long as you've spent 4 talents in a skill sphere by level 20, nothing changes in your build. If you have, say, 2 skill spheres you only plan to spend 2 talents in each by level 20, you can spend 1 of your class's skill ranks per level filling in the gaps and still end up with them at max rank by level 20.
I missed this! Thanks for the shout out to Spheres of Might!
And, after talking about it with the community, is now called Spheres of Might!
Spheres of Might (previously Spheres of Combat), the martial counterpart to the Spheres of Power system, has just gone live on kickstarter! This book expands martial options using the same Sphere-based approach of Spheres of Power: concept-based, available right from 1st level, and filled with all sorts of awesome techniques to make each round of combat visceral and intriguing. Come take a look and help us bring you Spheres of Might!
The time has come to announce our next big project, which comes to kickstarter this Saturday! Spheres of Combat rebuilds martial characters in a similar fashion to how Spheres of Power handles magic; it lets you build by concept and opens up those concepts from 1st level. However, rather than focusing on effects, SoC deals in combos, letting you turn each round into a symphony of techniques. We've got a team of writers on this one and it's shaping into something awesome, so come take a look!
Thanks, Endz; always great to get your thoughts!
We tried to make the rules as seamless as possible going from creatures to vehicles, but the 'object' nature of vehicles made that hard (when making a creature larger, you can just throw on natural AC. Objects don't get that benefit in core Pathfinder, they just get more hp). Keeping Strength at '10' was a means of adjusting for that discrepancy; size penalties to attack and ac would scale at the same rate, so two Large mechs fighting would have the same hit/miss chance as two Colossal mechs fighting. However, while this makes attack values more correct, other things are thrown off as well with mech/creature interactions, as you've pointed out. When dealing with mech/creature interactions, I would recommend adjusting the mech's base strength according to its size as if you were advancing a monster: Large 18, Huge 26, Gargantuan 34, Colossal 42. If you want to keep these values all the time that's also valid; when fighting mech to mech in melee combat you'll never miss, but everything else will be more seamless, and it will certainly speed up vehicle combat and make melee attractive compared to other vehicle combat options.
I feel terrible I actually missed this shout out when it happened; thanks for passing it along.
Just so you all know, we are definitely playing around with both a new martial system and a new skills system. We've batted a few ideas back and forth for combat already, and I like the way it's looking.
I understand the intent of using improvised weapons, but the rest of the feat doesn't seem to actually make sense in an at-the-table sort of way.
We just wanted to announce that we've decided to split our upcoming vigilante book into two products. Before we publish 'Vigilantes of Skybourne', we'll be bringing you the Luchador, a new monk/vigilante hybrid class! We'll post more information here as it becomes available.
Excluding the old "I had a feat to burn" option, I can only think of two reasons to use Combat Reflexes: You're building a controller (the snap shot tree or the lunge feat to threaten a large area and keep people from moving) and/or you and your teammates have a lot of Greater combat maneuver feats and you're all about group-stunlock-killing the enemy (trip him, disarm him, push him, and provoke an AoO from your allies with each success). Am I missing some other build idea?
Everyone wants something different from a campaign setting, and we are trying to meet all of those needs. The first two Skybourne books are out and they're both very heavy on crunch: The Player's Guide to Skybourne is almost exclusively dedicated to airship crew rules, new skills, new races, new class options, and all of that, while Ships of Skybourne is practically pure vehicle-creation crunch and sample vehicles, including land, sea, and air vessels. Our next two books are a city guide and a GM's guide for running the world, but after that...? I'm wondering what people want to see from us for this line, not just from people who've already bought the first two books, but just generally what sort of things interest people about a new world. We could keep expanding player options, we could do lore and history for all the different peoples and adventuring regions, we could do a book dedicated to space and planar travel that we'll do our best to make Starfinder compatible, or we could even do another expansion of the vehicle rules (we already introduced mecha/powered armor piloting in Ships of SKybourne, after all, so why not run with it?)
How easy is it to merge Spheres of Power into an existing campaign? They're designed to merge, and there's a guideline in the "Player's Guide to Skybourne" book about how to mix traditions for the various classes and things like that, as well as feats to allow a spherecaster to use a few spells per day, if that's what you're looking for.
The Kickstarter has 3 days left in it, and we're still shy by about 1,600. It won't take much of a final push to get us over that amount. The update will make it compatible with the unchained rogue as well as the core rogue, yes.
Through a bizarre sequence of events including our layout lady wishing to redo her work, freelancers popping up at the exact right time, and other factors coming together, we're getting the chance to do something I hadn't though we'd get to do for years: Expand and update our first book, Rogue Glory. We're running an 11-day kickstarter dedicated to raising funds quickly, after which we send freelancers to work updating and expanding the book get some artists to do some original pieces, and get it out to everyone by Christmas. Rogue Glory was a book all about the Pathfinder Rogue, including new abilities, rewrites of the Stealth and trap rules, new archetyes, new magic items, new feats and rogue talents, and everything else possible, all related to the rogue. While the mechanics are great, the book itself is black and white and riddled with first-time publisher mistakes. The mechanics are also a few years out of date with everything that's been happening in the Pathfinder world. This isn't an update to Rogue Glory; we're going to be discontinuing that product and replacing it with this one, which will have a higher price point to reflect its expanded status. If you already own Rogue Glory you can get the upgrade for only $5 with a special tier. Otherwise, please come and check it out.
Just so you all know, we've started the process for writing the next big series of Spheres of Power expansions, and it's the sort of thing we need your help with. We have hired a lot of freelancers to do a series of Handbooks expanding each of the 20 spheres, which at a rate of one handbook per month, is a project we're fully-intending to take almost two years to finish. To get this off the ground and to help us pay for such a elongated investment, we've also started a Patreon. Backers will get playtesting documents, input on the artwork and potential chapter-starting stories, and of course copies of everything before anyone else. I have loved the support Spheres of Power has been getting, and with this I hope to be able to bring more content to people at a much, much faster rate. Thanks to everyone who checks it out.
There have been a lot of people asking about when the next expansion for Spheres of Power will be published, but all my time is currently being spent on Skybourne. Clearly the answer is to bring other people in. We have hired a lot of freelancers to do a series of Handbooks expanding each of the 20 spheres, which at a rate of one handbook per month, is a project we're fully-intending to take almost two years to finish. To get this off the ground and to help us pay for such a elongated investment, we've also started a Patreon. Backers will get playtesting documents, input on the artwork and potential chapter-starting stories, and of course copies of everything before anyone else. I have loved the support Spheres of Power has been getting, and with this I hope to be able to bring more content to people at a much, much faster rate. Thanks to everyone who checks it out. And now, back to writing...
I agree with others here; I think the Vigilante should be the 'base-class version' of the Master Spy, the way the Magus is the 'base-class version' of the Eldritch Knight. I know the class is heavily-based on Batman, but I shouldn't feel limited to only BEING Batman; I really want to be able to feel like any number of superheroes, or something else of my own making that isn't a superhero but still works off of the mechanical concept. There's a character in my head; a man who must hide his identity and so has crafted 3 new ones; the noble making political alliances, the bard singing the praises of the noble, and the mild-mannered scribe who sees how both the others are received. So far, the best way I've found to represent this character mechanically is to be a Street Performer Bard, and severely handicap myself (weapons only in noble form, magic only in bard form, neither in scribe form). I really, really want the vigilante to be the class that lets me finally make this guy, if it could.
Yeah; we're in the middle of pre-Gen Con rush, but we'll be shipping big boxes of books out to Paizo and the D20pfsrd store soon, and we're in the middle of sending books to backers.
The first Spheres of Power supplement has just been released! More conversion archetypes, favored class bonuses, and several archetypes per SoP class, for everyone who wants something new to help them play with the Spheres!
Official Announcement: The Spheres of Power worldbuilding semi-contest has begun! One of the goals of Spheres of Power was to let GMs and players step out of the pre-determined molds and make something new. We have an entire chapter in SoP about this full of sample worlds, sample organizations, and sample characters built with the system. Now that the system has been out for a while, we want to see what you've made with it! From now until June 6th we invite everyone who wants to enter to post a link to their creations to our facebook page. On June 6th we'll hold a general vote, and the one who posted the best work wins one book of their choice (Spheres of Power, Wizard's Academy, a Skybourne book, etc.). Entries should be complete worlds: descriptions, casting traditions, NPCs, incantations, spellcraftings, and anything else they want to include (see SoP chapter 7 for examples, longer is not necessarily better, and no entry over 10,000 words will be considered). While they won't be part of the official contest, we also invite anyone who wants to to post up any awesome creation they've made to the facebook page, even if it isn't a complete world: favorite NPCs, their character's spellcrafting repertoire, casting traditions, organizations, or whatever else they want to show off. Even if it doesn't enter them into the contest, their work will still be considered for the PDF (see below). I'm calling this a semi-contest because while it is a contest with a prize and everything, we're also planning to paying you. The winner and any runner's up judged to be of sufficient quality (although honestly page-count will be more of a deciding factor than anything else) will get the offer to have their creation written up and included in a PDF titled "Worlds of Power". We pay 2.5 cents per word for anything used, and will be considering worlds and any independent creations we want to include. As always, we reserve the right to disqualify and delete any entry, such as if it involves plagiarism or anything that would make it too inappropriate for the Pathfinder Compatibility License. Artwork is fine and can certainly enhance an entry, but unless you own the rights to the artwork in question it cannot be considered for use in the final PDF itself.
I've seen some publishers set up contests before to see how people are using their books. Hypothetically speaking, what would you think about a contest where you got to submit your favorite character or world builds done with SoP? Prizes could be something like a free hardcover copy of SoP, or a free copy of any of the other books we currently have in the works (Wizard's Academy, Skybourne, etc.)
As if things weren't good enough: Mike Myler joins Skybourne as a last-minute stretch goal!
We've passed another stretch goal! Skybourne now gets Hero Lab support! Now we just need to get Jim Groves and the additional 4th book!
I just wanted to let people know that we're planning to do the final big update to this PDF this month, which includes the last two chapters and makes several updates in both editing and content. If all goes well it should happen within the week.
I have a tendency to be demanding as a developer, and I reserve the right to send things back multiple times with edits until everyone involved is happy with the quality of the product. Therefore, those who apply will be sent a small assignment first, followed by longer assignments when the first is finished depending on quality and how we all felt about the process. Those who work out particularly well will find more work at higher rates coming their way in the future.
We're playing with upping the cost of summoning a creature (1 spell point to summon, 1 to tie it off, and possibly 1 more for the daily permanency); we've found summoners universally love the Conjuration sphere, but it is quite a bit of power to throw around at-will. As for destruction, We've heard the concerns and are addressing it, our current thought being along the lines as Greylurker's comment above; make the base magic form physical, with the elements and/or force available as talents.
We unlocked full-color a few days ago. There are few things as exhilarating as watching stretch goals be met, and watching a campaign become all it can be.
The $35 reward level gets a PDF of everything, and the new $100 level gets a printed copy of everything (including the canvas map).
Jim Groves joins the Skybourne team as a stretch goal; when unlocked, he'll be writing an introductory adventure for Andrus: The City of Men. We've also added a stretch goal for Hero Lab files, and a 4th book expanding airship designs, customization, and combat.
We've unlocked the map: hand-drawn, printed on 27x18 inch canvas, and pretty awesome. We've also posted a survey in the latest update for which new races people would like to see in the book.
We've posted initial stretch goals, which include a canvas map, interior color, and the two most-requested items: Ship customization and more SoP options.
So far, the number one requested stretch goal for Skybourne is more support for Spheres of Power. We'll be posting the official update with stretch goal information later today, but yeah, further support for the SoP is definitely on the way.
Funded!
We just posted an update that outlines the player's guide, and we're asking for comments on what options they'd like to see expanded in the book. I don't know how many of the backers also backed Spheres of Power, but personally I'd love an excuse to flood the new book with new SoP archetypes and options. "The backers MADE me do it!"
Because the chapter on Using the Book is missing (to be added in a final update in February) I thought I'd expand on some ideas that have been mentioned in the product discussion: The idea behind Spheres of Power was to give players and GMs the power to change magic to fit their needs. Thus, houseruling that all casters get Cantrips or that all Destruction sphere users must add the Energy Focus drawback to their characters isn't altering the system, as much as it is using the system how it was intended. We made sure to include every option we could from classic Pathfinder, but in such a way that a GM could easily rule what would or wouldn't be included in their campaign. The last chapter will include several sample worlds that show some quick and easy ways SoP can be converted to fit a setting concept or plot requirement.
Spheres of Power is approaching its end (the final PDF update will come mid-February, and then the book heads off to print) and we're making progression on the Wizard's Academy bestiary and adventure. And now we're launching our next kickstarter: Skybourne! The great forest consumed the world, scattering the races to the underground, to the ocean, across the planes, to the frozen wastes, and to floating isles in the sky. Now teams of adventurers have a world's worth of ruins to plunder, provided they can keep their airship running long enough to make the journey. This kickstarter is to fund the first three books in an upcoming line, each of which can be re-purposed and dropped into any home campaign, or can be used together to explore the Skybourne Campaign setting: Andrus: The City of Men, Woodfaring Adventures, and The Player’s Guide to Skybourne. Andrus: The City of Men: Andrus is the last great city of the planet's surface. Founded in a crater not even the forest could claim, creatures the world over travel to Andrus to discuss their discoveries and seek their fortunes. Demon lords, dragon riders, merfolk traders, sentient plant creatures; anything and everything finds its way to Andrus eventually, and a thousand clans, cultures, and factions are constantly locked in battle for control over this last, great holdout of a bygone world. Woodfaring Adventures: This book details the dangers of the forest and the treasures lurking within. From the relative safety of the treetops, to the dangers of the forest floor, to the inexpressible horror of the cryptwoods, this book details monsters, dungeons, and everything else a team of adventurers might encounter as they explore a dangerous new world. The Player’s Guide to Skybourne: The Player’s Guide to Skybourne details airships and vehicles, new skill uses and player options, adventuring equipment, and everything else an adventurer needs to make their way through the world of Skybourne. With both completely new options and expanded and updated versions of some of our previous content, The Player's Guide to Skybourne details a host of player options for spicing up any campaign. Skybourne runs from now until Feb. 14th!
Yeah, OP builds rarely work as planned in game, I've seen. Sometimes they do, but I'd much rather have a straight fighter who can switch out weapons at will than a theorycrafted trip/pounce/flurry monstrocity that does phenomenal damage in one situation. That being said, I love building my characters to a theme, I just like to make sure that in the pursuit of what they do well, I don't make them virtually worthless in any other situation.
So why do either of those require Rogue specifically? Because he does both better than anyone; only the rogue gets archetypes that double their trapsense bonuses and allow them to not trip traps unless they fail the check by 10 or more, and only the rogue gets an archetype that lets him use a Bluff check to cover a failed Stealth check, and only the rogue and (one alchemist archetype) get enough sneak attack dice that a maximized (with the underhanded talent) top level sap with Sap Master would deal 160 in precision damage alone. There are a lot of things the rogue does better than virtually anyone else, the problem is the rogue's playstyle is actually set at odds with the other classes; generally speaking, the rogue only shines when the rest of the party is sitting on their haunches waiting for him to finish his roguey-thing. The real reason the slayer, investigator, etc., excel over the rogue is they can do those things without sacrificing combat potential, while the rogue does such things better than anyone at the cost of his combat potential, meaning for a rogue to truly shine he usually must split the party. Give me a city game full of intrigue, breaking and entering, and avoiding combats with clever tricks and I'll show you how a rogue shines, but give me nothing but smash and grab combats and I'll wish I'd picked another class.
I agree the whole situation smacks of a lot of people not quite understanding Paladonic behaviors: the paladin shouldn't have gotten angry, but the GM looks like he was really gunning for the Pally so I don't know what could have been done to avoid it. But to answer your actual question: If I were the Pally in question, and there was literally no other option than killing Peter, I would have done it as well, but without the pomp and circumstance; explain to him as best I can why he needs to die (in case the real him is in there somewhere,) snap his neck, then retire for a few hours of dedicated prayer for his soul. I would have accepted help to dig the grave, and I would have searched through the Alter boy's stuff myself to see if he had anything on him that might help explain what happened to him, or to see if he was carrying any personal effects that should be delivered to next of kin. If there is no next of kin, I would have kept the personal effects myself to make sure he wasn't forgotten, and delivered them to the first temple of my god we passed. And if he actually had something useful on him I would have taken it because when he was in his right mind I bet he'd want me to have it as I go avenging him and his town; I don't know who decided a Paladin's code meant burying people with their money, but it makes no sense, adventuring world or no. The point of the Paladin is that the world IS full of horrible grey and no-win situations, and someone has to make the hard decisions. I'd say the only real place the Paladin fell short was making life even more dramatic than it needed to be (the self-torture sounds quite literally like its right out of a medieval chivalric romance novel) and letting his temper get the better of him when this sort of this is what being a Paladin means he signed up for in the first place. Does that make sense?
Hero Lab files and updates to D20pfsrd are forthcoming, we've just got a lot on our plate and can't promise at date quite yet.
We just hit double our funding goal. Commence happy dance.
It would free him up a skill point per level, but you could make it a caster-level-ish check: Class level + Wisdom bonus. That's initially how we were going to do it, but with Snake Style making is Sense Motive, allowing bonuses like class skill and magic items that increase the skill, and a +2 to the skill just for having Snake Style, we thought we should keep it uniform with what was already printed in paizo's products.
It's not just being or not being at the appropriate WBL, it's about disconnecting money from character advancement. That way, money can become a fun thing used for down-time storytelling rather than a resource that needs to be saved and spent on getting better stuff. If I give them a dragon horde it's a fun part of the story as they figure out what to do with it, rather than something tied to mechanical benefits ("Add a +1 to all of our equipment, of course!") Also, I'd be at liberty to play with it, having things gets stolen or taxed, etc., without it being a direct blow to their character build and power level.
No, Mythic Adventures is more or less a series of templates you add to levels 1-20. It's a game-changer to the way you approach play itself, rather than an add-on for post 20.
The War Dancer's primary mechanic is, of course, his dances. Dancing is measured in rounds similar to a barbarian's rage or bard's performance, and each dance could confer a bonus or ability to the war dancer, a penalty to all enemies within reach, or some other manipulation of the battlefield. As the war dancer levels, he gains the ability to unlock more advanced versions of his dances, or perform multiple dances at once, although he must activate his dances in order over several rounds. This means that the war dancer is a very tactical fighter, similar to a controlling wizard: the wizard may boost allies one round, then drop a wall the next, then use a confusion spell, while the war dancer could prevent enemy movement, then drop their ac, then make them flat-footed to his allies. Like the wizard, the fun of the war dancer is creating synergies between his various abilities and the abilities of his allies. Here's two example dances, just to illustrate: Disruption (Ex): You disrupt the rhythm of enemies around you, stopping their effectiveness in combat. Basic Step: Any opponent you threaten suffers a -2 penalty to their attack rolls. This penalty increases by 1 for every 5 war dancer levels you possess. Advanced Step: Any attempt to move into or through the area you threaten costs twice as much movement as normal. Enemies cannot voluntarily take 5-foot steps into or through the area you threaten, although they may still take a 5-foot step to leave the area you threaten. Expert Step: Any opponent you threaten suffers a -1 penalty to saving throws and AC. This penalty increases by 1 for every 5 war dancer levels you possess. Harrowing (Ex): You turn your opponents expectations on their heads, using your movements to throw them off-balance. Basic Step: When you successfully attack a creature with a melee weapon, you may forgo dealing damage to instead cause that creature to become flat-footed against one target of your choosing until the beginning of your next turn. Advanced Step: When you successfully attack a creature with a melee weapon, you may forgo dealing damage to instead make the target sickened, deafened, or blinded for 1 round. Expert Step: When a creature attacks you in melee and misses, you may redirect his attack against another target within that creature’s reach. If the attack roll would have been enough to overcome that target’s AC, the attack deals damage as normal to its new target.
Can you put it on a floating disk? I don't know if that would fly with Pathfinder Society, but it certainly would at my table. But then, I don't believe in CRs and balanced, 4 encounters-per-day combats. You pull out your big guns, I pull out mine, and we have fun blowing each other up.
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