Asima Hayat Khalida's page

Is Bestiary 2 now considered a core product? I ask because I noticed a creature used in the first Jade Regent Adventure Path references a creature out of the Bestiary 2.

To me, this isn't a big deal now but it does bother me a bit that the material needed for the adventure isn't right there or in the Bestiary 1. The main element of my concern being that I need to have or find something for the product I purchased that isn't just right there or in one of the original core products.

I do understand that most of this information can be found free on the internet under psrd or whatever but being a physical book guy first and a internet guy second doesn't help me much.

Am I the only one that is bothered by this? Not looking for an argument. Just wanted to express my concern.

The faction listed for my character Ithilethiel is incorrect. It should be Osirion. Is there a way to fix this?

I just reported this module with several 1st level characters and noticed that as the GM I only received 2 Prestige vs the players reward of 4. Is that correct?

Ok, I am a bit confused and I've spent enough time searching threads to find the answer that I feel like I am going in circles so if someone can answer this question or point me to some form of official answer, I would be happy.

1. Can a player with an existing character use an archetype if none of the abilities that affect him apply yet.

My assumption here is no but wanted to verify.

2. I have a registered character that has no statistics or race or class or anything. He has never been played and is literally nothing more than a name. Can I build him using an archtype? I am basically wondering if the date of creation is how question number one is determined.

There are a ton of pen and paper game systems out there and different folks have different opinions about those that they like best or what have you. My question isn't about whats best though, its about how many of the games out there tackle different aspects of the game. My main area of knowledge has been around 3.x systems and how they handle combat and skills and traps etc. I have experimented with 4e and I had a good time with it as well. So, skipping past all that to my point. I have and continue to enjoy different games takes at how to do things. There have been some such as the Pathfinder skill system that hit me smack in the face and I thought to my self "Why on earth didn't I think of that years ago, its just so much simpler?"

Recently a podcast from the Tome Show opened my eyes to how the 4e skill challenge system works and I have already taken aspects of that game into one of my games.

This got my mental juices into digging into a few other d20 systems and I was intrigued by how Spycraft changed the combat mechanic to 2 half action or 1 full action. This is a cool idea. It isn't one that I currently use, but it was cool to know about and something I filed away in my alternate rules ideas folder.

Continuing my quest, I came across the new warhammer 3e line. I had played the 2nd edition in the past so I didn't know about the new image that the game had taken. Regardless, the dice pool mechanic was one that I had not really seen before and I found it odd, yet intriguing. It is a cool mechanic that I never would have thought of though it is not a very viable option when playing a messageboard game. In person though, I can see how it creates a story with each roll.

The Dark Heresy line uses the percentile dice to both determine a hit as well as location (the reverse of the dice in the roll). This may have been used before but this is the first instance of it that I remember.

Traveller has a very cool character creation system that has you basically playing out the decisions of your characters preadventuring life and using random tables to determine the outcome of those situations. Granted, I can't just use this system in any other game, but the system is cool nontheless.

The new kingmaker adventure path has a system mechanic for exploration and kingdom building. I haven't dug deep into them, but they also hold some cool mechanical rules for certain aspects of a game.

Ramble ramble ramble.....oh yes....my point. What other cool system mechanics are out there that have either created something new and innovative, fixed something that may have been broke, created an alternate system to an existing system, revived a mechanic that may have been forgotten, addressed some other campaign need, etc.

In short, what else should I take a look at?

This is probably a dumb question or just my mind messing with me but can these two feats be used together?

Ok, I am looking to run a science fiction game and am looking for some decent science fiction music to help set the tone. I figure many of you are likely to have far more knowledge on this than me. What is some great science fiction music that meets these two requirements. Also, I am unsure of the exact tone that I am going to go for with the game yet so just post for all styles.

1. No lyrics
2. I'm not looking for easily identifiable music such as Star Wars or Star Trek.

Suggestions?

I asked this roughly once before but I still am unsure as to the answer so I thought I might bring it up here.

It is my understanding that a basic Pathfinder Society character is allowed to have two traits. These traits are pulled from the Character Traits Web Enhancement as well as various other Companion Books. These two traits that are taken must be from two distinct categories of traits. From what I have been able to gather, Faith Traits are a generic non-deity specific trait. Religious Traits are specific to a deity or two.

In Qadira there is a trait called Flame of the Dawnflower that is listed as a Faith trait according to the text but also calls for a specific deity (Sarenrae).

Should this be considered a religious trait?

I tried to see if this question was asked before but couldn't find anything. Are religious traits and faith traits one and the same or are they considered separate categories?

I have been toying with systems from several sources but none of them truly seems to be what I am looking for. The grim'n'gritty 4.0 rules are decent but I would like to keep the d20 roll. I have also been looking over monte cooks experimental might rules in regards to grace and toughness and like the idea of some portion of your hp coming back quickly and other portions not coming back quickly. I also like the idea that critical hits apply directly to the toughness portion similar to the method used in the Star Wars RPG. I have seen and even used the reserve hp system but it just isn't what I am looking for either. As this is going to be an online game, I would like to reduce the number of critical hits but keep them more deadly without going to far. So, I have attempted to combine some of the rules I have seen including a modification of the Green Ronin set critical damage rules. Here is my first draft and was hoping to get some feedback from the excellent community here.

Use the hit point rules from pathfinder society as the base meaning max at first level + set number based on hit die each level.

Hit Points are broken down into two parts:
1. Vitality = [Constitution Score + (Level x Con Modifier) + Toughness (if applicable)]
Vitality is your actual life force or physical condition. Damage to vitality causes the character to be fatigued immediately.
Reduced to 0 vitality = disabled
Less than 0 vitality = dying
Reduced to negative con score = dead

2. Stamina = Total - Vitality
Stamina returns at an accelerated rate outside of combat / physically straining situations.

Critical Hit rules are adjusted as follows:
1. Reduce base threat range by half.
2. Reduce multiplier by 1.
3. Confirmed critical hits apply directly to Vitality
4. A x2 multiplier does not double damage but instead adds half the weapons base damage to the damage roll. A x3 multiplier does not triple damage but instead doubles the base weapon damage to the damage roll.

Additional Concept Rules
1. Stamina can be spent to perform additional maneuvers. (not defined at this point)
2. Vitality can be spent to power additional spells (not completely defined at this point)

Thoughts?

Is there any restrictions on which animal companions in the Bestiary are available to Rangers?

The art previewed in today's blog is awesome. Is there any way we can get a higher resolution? As it is, it is a bit too small for desktop background.

From a game mechanics perspective, is there any reason for any character not to use Spiked Gauntlets? As far as I can tell you can have them on while wielding other weapons, they (the gauntlet) cannot be disarmed, and they allow the character to count as armed.

Monks have no need for them, I understand that.
Wizards likely have no use for them.
Druids though nonproficient, would still gain the above advantages.

I understand the flavor argument behind not using them, I am speaking strictly from a game mechanics perspective. Thoughts?

OK, first, between 3.0, 3.5, Pathfinder Beta and now Pathfinder Core Rulebook I can't keep track of rules changes but I have a question about Spiked Armor in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook.

1. Can it be used as an offhand weapon with a two-handed weapon?
2. Can you use your offhand to carry something (such as a potion) while wielding a weapon in your primary hand (like a battle axe) and using the armor spikes as an offhand weapon.

I try to keep up with a lot of the discussion around the Beta playtesting but I just don't have the time. I come across posts from Jason and friends that seem to indicate significant changes to the beta, such as the new feats or the Paladin revision. I am currently running one playtest and playing in another but I have trouble keeping up with this kind of information. If there are changes that should be playtested, I would love to implement them but I don't have the time or patience to find them all. Is there a download somewhere that details some of these changes? Has anyone compiled them for easy reference? I would love to just point my players to a wiki or something similar.

bump

I am curious as to what others thought would be the pricing of a magic item, a rod for instance, would be priced that replicated the effects of one of the "extra" feats. For instance, how would you price an item such as Rod of Extra Turning, Rod of Extra Rage, or Rod of Extra Lay on Hands. Perhaps this has already been done, but I haven't been able to find a solid argument for pricing. Thoughts?

I tried, I really did. I tried to adjust to the new en world site. And after about a month, I hate it. I hate that I can no longer check the site occasionally and just scroll down to see all the latest news. You get a few bits of info and then 30 clicks later you can get some past news bites. Sucks. I really wanted to like it, but I give up. And then, being a subscriber to the War of the Burning Sky campaign, I really feel like I was screwed. I liked the campaign. I enjoyed using the material. I enjoyed the battlemaps, and extra downloads that the War of the Burning Sky page held. Now, it appears to all be gone. No notice. No email to let me know whats going on. Just nothing. I feel a bit betrayed. If there is an alternate site somewhere else, I can't seem to find it. ARGH.

I hope that maybe some links just aren't switched over to the new site but is anyone else having issues with the enworld site.

I can't seem to find reviews anymore.
Where is the War of the Burning Sky info located now?
This is probably by design but the old news page that you could scroll down to see older news items with about a line given to each. More news was available on that page.

The new site looks nice and all, but I find it a bit frustrating.

Now that alpha 3 has been released we have finally sat down and ran our own test of the Pathfinder ruleset. Overall, I would call the session a success. Play was slowed a bit as we referred to the ruleset to remember how something changed but nothing drastic. For the session we have the following 5th to 6th level characters.

Dracha (from Montes Arcana Evolved) Fighter
Human Bard
Halfelf Druid
Elf Ranger
Human Cleric

The adventure that was being used is the third in the War of the Burning Sky series Shelter from the Storm. I chose this campaign of the two that I run because it was still early in the series and offered me a chance to playtest the backwards compatibility of the system. I spent a bit of time with each player before the session to work out some details of conversion and the rest was taken care of right before we played. Following are some of the issues that I ran into over the course of the conversion and playtest.

Creation - My group has been using point buy for many years and I asked that they redo their attribute points using the new system. This was the biggest disaster of the system for the day. It seems the system works fine for characters with only one or two high stats but those that tend to have a more even distribution with only slightly higher and slightly lower stats find that the Pathfinder system left the players feeling disappointed. After trying to make it work we finally gave up and went back to standard 3.5 point buy.

Race - The racial changes were well received and though probably not necessary, I allowed the dracha to gain the attribute bonuses like a dwarf. I never felt the dracha was more powerful in the 3.5 to the new races so I saw no reason they couldn't have the +2,+2,-2. I used the dwarf just because it was simple at the time. We also opted for the racial bonus to hit points.

Classes – All of the class conversions were generally well received with just a few issues around the druid. The issue was that I allowed a variant on the druid in its previous version. The player was using the Shapeshifter variant from the PHB II. With the increase in power of the Pathfinder Druid, the player was a bit dissatisfied with the cost of the Shapeshift if it was applied to the new system. Basically, the animal companion and domain access became more powerful, but his shapeshift didn't yet he still had to give up the animal companion to get it. I addressed the issue with the following:
In place of spontaneous natures ally spells, the Shapeshifter variant could spontaneously cast beast shape, elemental form, and plant form spells.

Skills – No issues so far. Rules generally well received. There was some discussion about the dracha racial levels and how fly worked but the rules already addressed the concerns so this wasn't an issue.

Feats – The only issue brought up was around Manyshot. The one combat feat per round means you can't use rapid shot and manyshot in the same round. And since manyshot is a full round action, it appears to be the same as rapid shot except without the shot penalty. With rapid shot you can use sneak attack with each shot. With manyshot you can't. The old version was a standard action. Ultimately, trying to understand what it's primary purpose as a feat is. It seems like it would be better named Improved Rapid Shot as is. The Ranger in the group wasn't interested in the feat as written. Personally, the idea of combat feats goes a long way to simplifying combat by restricting what is in use at once but there may need to be some adjustments to the system. Also, the separate listing of combat and regular feats was annoying but mostly because not all of the srd feats were included. Players would sometimes flip to the feats section and not see a feat immediately because of the separation. Thinking the feat not in the book at all the player assumed the srd version was still valid. I would prefer one list of feats alphabetized in the beta even if some are combat feats and some are not.

Adventure – The majority of the problems came about from cover bonuses. Although we used the rules as written, they just seemed to make the process a bit more clunky than the version we were using before pathfinder. For the record, we never cared for the 3.5 method of cover either. Our old method is the table from Arcana Evolved, which I believe is the same as 1st edition D&D but I don't have my old book handy so I can't say for sure. Here is the table for anyone interested:

¼ cover = +2 AC bonus
½ cover = +4 AC bonus
¾ cover = +7 AC bonus
9/10 cover = +10 AC bonus

We will probably try using the pathfinder cover rules for one or two more sessions, but if it remains clunky, we will be returning to our old method.

The other issue around cover that came up is in regards to the web spell. How much cover does the web provide? It states that 5 feet provides cover and 20 feet provides total cover, but how much cover does 5 feet of web provide?

Closing: Other than the things mentioned above, Shelter from the Storm ran as close to as written as is typical for characters in a purchased adventure. As you can see from the stuff mentioned that the adventure pretty much ran without too many problems. Matter of fact, if you take out all the items that were not part of the Pathfinder book, the list is even smaller. But, for me, having all of the options that I would have included in my game, such as the Dracha race and Shapeshifter variant, is important to show compatibility. Now, I would of been even happier if some sort of shapeshifting variant had been a part of the core but as I am not sure if my earlier post about that was going anywhere, I am preparing for the worst. If what is listed above is the extent of the problems that we have, I will be very happy. I know more will come up as we continue playing but I can say we are still liking what we've seen so far.

Am I the only person that feels that sneak attack should be limited to once per round when using multiple attacks? Or at the least, once per creature per round?