Balsin's page

Thank you very much for the reply.

Now after reading that, I am even more concerned about the gated population ramp up.

Those who get in first have a HUGE advantage in that they are basically able to form up and lay claim to what will basically be uncontested or minimally contested territory and resources, all just there for the taking. They also get a jump start on building up skills and diversification.

Every single player who comes into the game afterwards (and not by choice) will be at a disadvantage. You don't think that many potential players will be turned completely off at the idea of entering a game centered around non-consensual PvP at a severe disadvantage?

This is not exactly true. People who start early also have built in disadvantages in that a low population can lead to a depressed economy. How much economic activity can you have with a small population?

There's no reason why the game designers can't build a system where a more populated world provides its own advantages and opportunities to the newly minted player.

Furthermore, the release of the game is constrained to the River Kingdoms. At time progresses and the game world expands, there can be plenty of chances for new players to claim their own glory.

I'm participating in a Jade Regent campaign soon and I don't have a lot of experience. I could use some help with the human cleric I will be playing.

While I don't yet know the full make-up of the group in which I am playing, we look to be balanced. So I'm not looking to plug a specific hole or to try out a flavorful build. I'm just looking to be a general run-of-the-mill cleric--buffs, heals, some debuffs, swing weapon.

Here are some of my Q's:

1. I'm going for a Cleric of Shelyn. Desna is a popular deity for Clerics it seems due to the domains available, and doubly so for Jade Regent (Varisia, going on a big journey). But I wanted to try something else.

With Shelyn, I get domains I think work well: Protection and Luck. The benefits seem substantial and straightforward enough for the inexperienced to use.

Furthermore the bardic flavor of Shelyn seems to work in the more nomadic loose life of Varisia.

So the questions... How does Shelyn fair in a JR campaign? Shelyn's preferred weapon is a glaive. Should I avoid this to use a shield?

2. Do I need to train Use Magic Device in order to use scrolls and wands?

3. Feat Selection: I'll start with Selective Channel and Combat Casting. From there I don't know. Should I get Item Creation feats like Scribe Scroll and Brew Potions? They are based off of INT which I will not have very high.

4. Stats OK?

(20 point build):

STR 14
CON 10
DEX 13
INT 10
WIS 17 (Start 15. +2 for Human)
CHA 14

Thanks for the advice.

Wow I was really thinking in the wrong direction. I have an old view of clerics as characters that fight in melee more (I've been out of gaming for awhile). I've clearly overlooked CHA.

I hate losing two squares to heavy armor but even if I didn't take something like heavy armor proficiency, I can't stay in a chain shirt forever.

I guess I'll go with this:

STR 13, DEX 10, CON 12, INT 10, WIS 18, CHA 14

FEATS: Selective Channeling, Heavy Armor Prof.

DOMAINS (Desna): Liberation, Luck (Could maybe go with Travel but I don't know if that is a better trade off for one of the other two. Liberation and Luck are better for the group.)

Should I try to take Longspear as my weapon--it's a simple weapon but has reach? The plan is to follow the melee PC around and work with him in such a way that keeps me in touch range for a heal while avoiding an AoO (or taking a 5ft step), and allows me reach attacks on his target. I get AoO for enemies coming within 5ft, and chances are the melee might as well if the enemy passes into his threatened area to attack me. I defend him, he defends me.

I lose a +2 to AC I could have with a shield though since the Longspear is a 2H weapon (+4 if I pick up Tower Prof sometime). Perhaps I'm just a cleric and should let Fighters/Paladins/Barbarians play around with reach.

I'm working on a cleric build and not sure how I should handle charisma.

I think I'm going to pick up Liberation and Luck (Desna cleric) as my domains. The object is to go for very defensive cleric. Rather then trying to have some offensive spells which face saves and resistances, I'm going to buff my group and remove unwanted conditions.

My main issue is what to do with Charisma. I want to use channel positive energy primarily for healing not for attacking undead. I'll buff the group and we'll go to work that way. So I really don't need CHA to increase the DC for the channel. Since I'm not looking to have a smite heavy CHA build perhaps I should just ignore CHA instead of trying to go middle road. Based on a 20-point build, this is what I'm thinking for a Human cleric:

STR 13, DEX 14, CON 12, INT 10, WIS 18, CHA 10

The problem with a CHA 10 is that I don't get any bonus channels. But I don't see me needing CHA for anything else given the build I'm looking at. I could pick up the Extra Channels feat. Since clerics only get medium armor I went with a DEX 14.

What do you think of these stats?

On the topic of feats, I'm not sure where to go. Iron Will? Is even getting Weapon Focus worthy? I'll ignore the other channel feats. What about item creating feats like Scribe Scroll at 1st level and Brew potion at 3rd?

Can anyone address the skill ranks issue I brought up at the end of my first post? Ezren seems to be missing a rank. I don't know why I'm off one rank.

I appreciate the advice. I don't have a great feel yet for how all these spells will play out. I think I'll specialize in Conjuration and have Enchantment and Evocation in opposition.

Well I'm be playing Pathfinder for the first time this weekend via Pathfinder Society play! I'm going to play a specialist Wizard. While the generalist is very tempting for not having any school restrictions, I can't get past having an extra spell at each level to cast.

I'm uncertain which school I'll specialize in but I'm really having a hard time deciding the two opposition schools, and I could use some advice. I have decided to drop enchantment for sure (but it's hard to lose Heroism). I just need to figure out the last one.

Let me add some points to consider:

1. I'm more concerned right now with lower level play. This is a Pathfinder Society PC and obviously won't get up to level 15. It will probably be awhile before I see 4th level spells anyway so perhaps it's best to constrain the analysis to 3rd level and lower.

2. I'm aiming not to be a nuker so I don't want to take the obvious evocation specialist. I fashion myself as making others in group better and debuffing my foes. But it seems to me that sometimes a fireball is what is needed, so I don't want to have evocation as an opposition school. Does that seem like a sound idea? I do plan on having Arcane Bond with a staff and maybe evocation is best used with AB. I can use it when I need it but prepare spells that fit the concept of a Wizard I'm aiming for.

There's great spells in all the schools. I don't know what other opposition school to take. I was thinking necromancy (I really love the debuffs though) or Illusion (hurts to lose displacement though).

I guess I could ask for Feat advice as well. I'll get Spell Focus for free at first level in exchange for scribe scoll (not allowed in Society play). I'll also play human. That leaves me with two other feats. My inclination is to load up on "wizardy" type feats but is it a mistake to overlook improving my saving throws?

One other question... sorry. I keep thinking of something else to ask. If you look at the level 1 pregens for Pathfinder Society play, we find our Iconic Wizard Ezren--Human with an 18 INT. For skills, the Wiz gets 2 + INT bonus. So Ezren gets 6 skills ranks. Here are the listed skills for Ezren:

Knowledge (arcana) + 8
Knowledge (geo) + 8
Knowledge (hist) + 8
Knowledge (local) + 8
Spellcraft + 8
Perception + 3

That's 6 skills for the 6 skill ranks. However, as a human, doesn't Ezren get an extra skill rank at level 1 (and every level after)?

Thanks for the advice.

Does anyone know if there are any podcasts of live Pathfinder gaming sessions similar to Icosahedrophilia, Return to Northmoore, ect?

I'm thinking about getting into Pathfinder. Unfortunately I can't find a gaming group in my area so I'm up a creek. I'll probably be relocating in a few months anyway so I guess it's not such a big issue to be game-less at the moment.

Since I'm not going to be playing for awhile I'm almost more interested in purchasing the Campaign Setting book instead of the Core Rulebook. I have some familiarity with D&D 3.5 so I can see how characters will generally look even without knowing Pathfinder's changes. It's the world I'm interested in.

Would anyone advise against this? Is there something vital I wouldn't know from not having the Core Rulebook that would diminish my understanding of Golarion?