Agrippa's page

Thanks for the response. Much appreciated. I was confusing racial qualities with racial traits and just lumping them both in together. When reading the ARG more carefully last night, it basically says pick "a" quality from each of the quality categories (type, ability modifiers, speed, etc), which I take to mean a single choice. The 4 choices per category for Advanced races, is, as you said, for traits. Once again, blahpers, thanks for helping to clarify that for me.

Not sure if this has already been covered, but I was wondering if someone would be able to clarify something for me regarding the ability score choices when creating a new race.

IIRC, when creating an "Advanced" race, you get to pick a maximum of 3 traits from a single category until x number of choices are used up. Even more for "Monstrous races." Does that mean that if I pick the advanced ability score modifier for 4 points, that I could theoretically pick from that area again 2 more times (like favoured for 2 points and/or human heritage if of the humanoid [human] subtype for 0 points)? Or are you only allowed to pick once from this particular category?

He gets weapon training 1 at 9th level.

Thanks for clarifying that for me, Cheapy. And thanks for pointing that paragraph out for me too (guess I missed that - my bad). It's nice to know that the Tactician just defers to the next opportunity and doesn't lose out altogether on Weapon Training.

Cheers

Hey All,

I don't know if this has already been addressed (my apologies if it has), but I couldn't find a definitive answer on the messageboards or in the SRD. I have a two-part question regarding the Tactican Archtype for the Fighter.

First, UC states that the Tactician ability gained at 5th level replaces Weapon Training 1, and the character can use this ability an additional time per day every 5 levels after 5th. No mention is made at all of the remaining Weapon Training levels or Weapon Mastery. Indeed, in the SRD's Fighter Archtype chart only Weapon Training 1 has an X in its respective box; all the others are untouched.

So my questions are: Does the Tactician get Weapon Training again at 9th level, or are the additional daily uses of the Tactician ability meant to replace them too? If he does get Weapon Training again, does he start at Weapon Training 2 (+1 to one weapon group, +2 to another weapon group) and carry on as per normal?

Any insight to help clarify this for me would be appreciated.

I have to agree that I think Fighters should get Perception as a class skill; Stealth, not really.

From the very first Assyrian regular soldier, to Greek hoplites, to Roman legionaries and Praetorian guardsmen, to Viking huscarls, to mediaevel men-at-arms & palace guardsmen, to renaissance musketeers & mercenaries, to modern (1700's to present) soldiers, all of these have stood guard as sentries and piquets over their fellows. These duties have been performed in defensive positions, forward staging areas, in the line of battle itself (during lulls in the fighting), and if they were really lucky, for their leaders in the capitals of their respective nations. So I think it is safe to say that for time immemorial, Fighters have stood watch as part of their regular duties.

Perception, to me, also includes situational awareness. This is also what troops have always strived for: to know what is going on around them in battle. It is for this purpose (as well as to improve airflow for easier breathing) that we have seen the evolution of the helmet. The great helm was eventually discarded in favour of visored helmets, salets, and basinets, all of which offered much better visibility.

Now, for those who say that Perception should be a class skill to only Rangers and Rogues, I would say that these were specialist troops (or auxiliaries) that were available in far fewer numbers than Fighters. Their other skills would dictate that they be given more specialized taskings, and therefore not be as readily available to use as sentries or guards as Fighters were. Such taskings might be to infiltrate a castle under siege, eliminate the sentries, lower the drawbridge, and hold it until relieved by assaulting troops, thus breaking the siege. Maybe to slip into an enemy camp/town and kidnap/assassinate someone or steal something in a completely covert manner. Or to locate and maintain contact with/observation of a mobile enemy force, and pass on the information to the command authority in a timely fashion.

Stealth is one of these "other" skills that I think requires much more specialized training. That leads me to believe it should not be a class skill for a Fighter. A Fighter can still take it and spend a feat (Skill Focus) to be able to do it as well as any of their class skills, and that is fine. It gives the player more choice for the direction that they can take their character. In all of the examples I gave in the previous paragraph, I can see Fighters accompanying the Rangers & Rogues on such missions to provide heavy combat support if needed. But the Fighter in question should have to make a conscious decision to train for these types of operations, represented in the game by spending a feat on Skill Focus (Stealth).

I must admit, though, that I think that all 2 + Int bonus skill point classes (the Fighter included) should be bumped up to 4 + Int bonus skill points. This is to allow such classes to be a little more versatile, and take some cross-class skills to better flesh out their character concepts.

I think it really depends on what race is being chosen. Those like the Planetouched (Aasimars & Tieflings) are alot closer now to the power level of the core PHB races under the Pathfinder Alpha 2 rules. I would almost say they didn't need a level adjustment at all to be player races now. If a DM felt they were still just a bit too powerful, they could always change their type from Outsiders to Native Outsiders, which I believe is an option given in one of the Forgotten Realms books, to make them an LA 0 race.

As for those with higher level adjustments, I also think that UA had the right idea with thier optional and gradual buying off of the LA. As the previous poster stated, alot of the abilities of these races make less and less of a difference the higher a character (and their party) gets. To always be "behind the curve" as it were starts becoming more problematic at higher levels, and could possibly make the LA character (in RAW) more of a liability than an asset to their party.

I believe KaeYoss and I had a brief exchange on something similar about a week ago, specifically regarding Half-Elves. My proposal for their weapon proficiency was that if they were raised among Humans, that they receive a martial weapon proficiency of choice (or a single exotic weapon if their class gives them proficiency with all martial weapons already). If they were raised by Elves, then they would treat all exotic weapons with the word Elven in their name (lightblade, thinblade, courtblade, and double bow) as martial weapons. This was to differentiate Half-Elves raised by Humans from those raised by Elves (nature vs nurture, sort of). As a side note, I've never particularly liked the Elven double bow. If they were to be given a special bow, I've always thought the great bow would be a better choice to bear the name "Elven." Reminicient of the ones that Haldir's Elves carried in LotR The Two Towers (even if they were products of pure artistic licence on Peter Jackson's part ;-) ).

I believe KaeYoss' opinion was favourable (please correct me if I'm wrong, KaeYoss), and thought that the same type of thing could be applied to Half-Orcs as well. I would further suggest that if the Half-Race in question is raised in an entire community of their own (a hamlet/village/town of Half-Elves or Half-Orcs), that the player and/or the DM would have to determine which benefit they received. This would help show which race was the dominant influence in that particular community.

With regards to Gnomes, I think they should get a special weapon proficiency of some type. For those who wish to play martial-type Gnomes, they are already at a disadvantage (vis-a-vis weapon damage) due to their size. Allowing them to use Gnomish exotic weapons as martial weapons wouldn't be particularly game-breaking, IMHO.

In addressing the skills, all that this was going to do was allow a character to focus on a single class, and pick a few additional skills to add to their class skill list (if they invested in a higher Intelligence). It eliminates the need to multi-class or blow feats on skill focus to be a little more versatile, and keep their focus on being X class. Unless one wants actual class abilities, in which case they would have to multi-class anyway. I believe they do a similar thing in the Conan RPG. But it rewards someone for being a "smart" fighter, cleric, or sorcerer (it's almost a given for wizards).

I hadn't thought about it at the time, but yeah, you could definitely apply the cultural differences to Half-Orcs as well. This idea came about from the whole nurture vs. nature argument. Most of the Half-Elf special abilities and racial features come from the biological or physiological side of their development. Humans might see the character as being overly cautious or slow to seize the initiative, while Elves would see the same person as being somewhat impetuous, or too quick to act. A Half-Orc could be seen as a brutal, dumb thug by Humans, yet as being weak or even craven by pure Orcish standards. Either race have tremendous story potential, and will probably be more popular with players if Paizo's final version of the game presents them as they have written them (more or less).

Hey there,

First, I'd just like to say thank you to Paizo for providing a 3.5ish alternative to 4e. I've liked what I've seen so far from the Pathfinder RPG Alphas. Keep up the good work guys.

With regard to skills, I have a suggestion to allow players to customize their classes a little more. Allow a player to pick a number of skills (player's choice) to always be treated as class skills, equal to their intelligence modifier. So, if their character has an Intelligence of 16, the player can pick 3 skills of their choice that are always treated as class skills. Even if the character multi-classes, these three skills will always be treated as class skills. This will have a couple of effects. First, Intelligence will no longer be thought of as a "dump stat" for the more martial classes. Secondly, it will help characters differentiate themselves from each other, even if they are from the same class. It won't give a character any more actual skill points, but it will give them more choice of what to put their points into if they invest in intelligence.

Half-Elves have now become a much more viable option for players, beyond just the fluff they added in standard 3.5. To tweak this a little further, I suggest that they give them two options, that must be determined during character generation, which reflects their upbringing. If the Half-Elf is raised in a Human community, they are proficient in a martial weapon of their choice (or an exotic weapon if they already have martial weapon proficiency). If raised in an Elven community, they Half-Elf treats all weapons with the word "Elven" in their name as martial weapons. Gives a little bit of crunch, but also distinguishes Half-Elves raised by Humans from those raised by Elves.

Just a couple of suggestions for the designers (and the community in general) to mull over and discuss.