...and doesn't making them full casters reduce their distinctiveness from the sorcerer?
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This is the most uncomfortable I have been about any of the changes so far. I really liked playing bards as competent melee fighters after they spent some time buffing the team. Won't making them full casters necessitate balancing them in a way that makes them less effective in hand-to-hand?
*Giving this a bump now that PaizoCon is over.* Gen Con tickets went live three weeks ago, but there are still no Paizo seminars listed.
Phantoms can deliver touch spells, but with a unique limitation: "The Phantom can't hold the charge of the touch spell cast by the spiritualist using this ability. If the spell is delivered to the phantom, it must touch the target or the spell is lost." But what if the Phantom is given a spell that is designed to have multiple attacks over multiple rounds, like Frostbite (which does not have a specific duration, just "up to one time per level") or Calcific Touch (which does have a specific duration in rounds)? Is the spell still only deliverable for one immediate action? Does the spell keep functioning until the Phantom misses? (I know these spells are not on the Spiritualist list, but a Death Druid could have his Phantom deliver Frostbite.)
I made a Duelist coming off of a Lore Warden Fighter and have been very happy with the character. He effectively got doubly compensated for giving up shields.
My thought for my second Suli is almost the opposite in personality, but still very grounded in the setting: an Iroran Paladin (Inner Sea Combat) from Jalmeray. This makes use of the Strength and Charisma, and gives me the chance to play a Paladin and Monk at the same time, neither of which I've done before.
I tried to look at what we have been told about Suli personalities and culture. We know that humans find them very charming and, according to Inner Seas Races, they have a culture of bragging. So, I went with a Constable (Cavalier), Order of the Cockatrice, for mine. He is still just 2nd level, but I'm going to have a blast roleplaying his bragging powers. The mechanics of the Constable actually lend themselves to being a "Gaston"-or-Frat-House-President-type that everyone is inspired to be around, even though he is a bit of the self-centered jerk. edit: Of course it is important to play his self-obsession for laughs for the enjoyment of the whole table, like Gaston, and not actually be an annoying jerk as a player.
I think Pathfinders would make more use of Zohls, archon of investigation and truth, if she was supported a bit more.Her alignment restrictions are annoying. I wish she were NG. Lawful is the worst alignment. You can almost always take a step away for your character, even for Mystery Cultist.
I think Pathfinders would make more use of Zohls, archon of investigation and truth, if she was supported a bit more.
Alex has spoken before about how he is not a fan of feats that are race specific without a really good rational for being so limited. In view of that, I would like to suggest that interesting race traits be remembered this time around, because they can be easily flavor-based. I do hope for interesting feats also. (I'm still in mourning that Wayangs didn't get more new race-specific options in Blood of Shadows.)
Will at least one of them support Empyreal Lords? The Mystery Cultist is only worthwhile for full casters.
I'm hoping there are some new offensive touch attack spells. There really aren't very many of them, and several of them are more-damage-over-time effects. It would be nice to see more strong immediate effects for the wizard/sorcerer who is willing to live dangerously.
I don't mean to come off as snarky. We are truly, truly appreciative of the answers we do receive, and the authors/developers that take the time to provide them. We just wish the question forums felt as focused and responsive as these threads have been. For several months now, these threads have been the best reading on the whole website. But I understand the "slippery-slope" concern and will try to ask questions in the suggested forum, and will hope it proves let futile going forward than past experience would suggest.
I was just listening to the audiobook for "Liar's Island", and it mentioned the Eagle Knights' ships that try to intercept slave ships in transit on the Obari Ocean. I could easily imagine having a CG Liberty's Edge character that worships Besmara with this kind of background.
Folks, please post rules questions in the appropriate forum. Unfortunately, we have found that they have a much greater chance of being answered by the author/editor if they are posted here.
For Upsetting Strike (which is the second feat in the style) the Dex prerequisite becomes Dex 15, but for Upsetting Vengeance (the third feat) the prerequisite goes back down to Dex 13. Which is the typo? Was Upsetting Strike supposed to go up to Dex 15 and Upsetting Vengeance is wrong to just have Dex 13, or was the whole tree supposed to be Dex 13?
...They require shield focus or armor training. That doesn't help a cavalier, but you could retrain into the Knight of Arnisant archetype that gains Shield Focus as a bonus feat. I could, but that would meaning giving up the Constable's near-constant access to Precise Strike, and having to take back the darn horse I was so happy to get rid of. Was it really necessary to add another prerequisite just to provide an alternative to Shield Slam? It's not like sword-and-board doesn't already have its share of prerequisites, to only yield a mediocre result.
Are there any new alternatives to Shield Slam for making shield bashing more desirable (especially for those whose GMs rule that the bull rush is not optional in Shield Slam)? I finally got my PDF tonight and I see that the feats you were referring to where Stumbling Bash and Toppling Bash. They are the type of thing I was hoping to see. Unfortunately they require Shield Focus, making them more expensive to get to than Shield Slam for someone trying to make a Two Weapon Fighter. Alas, I think the cost will be too high for my Cavalier. :(
Are there any new alternatives to Shield Slam for making shield bashing more desirable (especially for those whose GMs rule that the bull rush is not optional in Shield Slam)?
Shoot. It still has its mount. All my dreams are dead.
Poor John has to endure enough grief without the religious zealots being on his case too. (Thanks for the fast Additional Resources update on this one, John!)
For months I had been looking forward to finding out what the Kurgess Obedience boon would be, only to find out that it is a sad spoiler: That's worse than the Athletic Feat that doesn't have any prereqs.
+2 to Acrobatics and Climb. It's too bad Gorum already had the cool Strength check boosting mechanic, because that seems like it would have matched Kurgess much better.
It occurs to me that if the ruling is that certain Combat feats are "always on", then that makes the Brawler even more powerful, because he can forget them at will when they are not convenient, while the poor fighter is stuck with them.
This question was debated on the Know Direction Podcast tonight. It would be great to get a FAQ on it. (I'm not disagreeing with you, My Self)It's not going to happen. Not when doing so would require looking at feats on a case-by-case basis. But this is a basic general concept, that reasonable people can strongly disagree on. The priority should be given to defining the basics so that people can make their own conclusions on the specific cases.
This question was debated on the Know Direction Podcast tonight. It would be great to get a FAQ on it. (I'm not disagreeing with you, My Self)
Can feats be turned off if they do not have "may" or similar conditional language in the text? Or are there feats that are always on, even if there are circumstances when you may want to have them deactivated? Example: Moonlight Summons
spoiler:
Creatures you summon shed light as a light spell. They are immune to confusion and sleep effects, and their natural weapons are treated as silver for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. If you don't want your animal to glow, can you turn off the feat? Example: Shield Slam
spoiler:
Benefit: Any opponents hit by your shield bash are also hit with a free bull rush attack, substituting your attack roll for the combat maneuver check (see Combat). This bull rush does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Opponents who cannot move back due to a wall or other surface are knocked prone after moving the maximum possible distance. You may choose to move with your target if you are able to take a 5-foot step or to spend an action to move this turn. If you hit an opponent with your shield, can you choose not to make the Bull Rush?
And those Dragon Bloodlines grant the Standard Fire/Lightning/Cold/Acid Cones/Lines.A time dragon bloodline would be nice. They are tweaked a bit. For example, Time lets you do a cone of electricity.
A time dragon bloodline would be nice. For those asking for alternate dragon bloodlines, remember that there was a trait in "People of the Stars" called Outer Dragon Blood that opened up Lunar, Solar, Time, Void and Vortex Draconic Bloodlines for sorcerers. It would be great if they were available without spending a trait on them. And it certainly would be nice if they were available as Bloodrager bloodlines as well.
stuff about wayangs...It was way more fun to write about that then to cram a few more lines in about a deity that isn't even Wayang specific or depicted as a wayang. Thanks, Alex, for commenting. I can understand that perspective. I guess my wayang animal speaker bard is about as ratty as a wayang is going to get for the foreseeable future. Maybe it will still be possible to petition John Compten to make an updated Mounted Tradition boon allowing wayangs access to riding rats as mounts. It just seems strange to me that their goddess gives them nothing. The alternate racial traits you came up with are fine additions. It's hard to understand why the wayangs are not native outsiders, given their origin story, so making it an option was good. I do like the mechanics of the Shadow Speaker alternate racial trait spoiler: as it is very flexible, and making it additionally accessible by a feat was nice. I can see people picking it up for PFS play, where flexibility is a virtue.
gives 3/day +2 incite bonus on most d20 rolls I can't imagine too many people taking the other wayang feat spoiler: unless they are negative-channelers/necromancers themselves and plan on long battles.
to extend the Light and Dark ability for a minute I really like the Shadow mystery. I also like the alternate racial traits at the beginning that can be picked up by several core races; that is a very refreshing design idea.
Just got mine, and have only skimmed for what I was looking for. My first question is why does the Shadow Oracle Mystery have Lao Shu Po as a related diety but the Shadow Subdomain does not? Since this is a Golarion specific product, I was hoping for at least a little support for the fact that previous publications had stated that Lao Shu Po was the favorite deity of the Wayangs. Was there a deliberate decision to try to downplay the rat-Wayang connection? We only ended up with two Wayang specific feats, one of which is based off of an alternate racial trait.
Great. I'm looking forward to it.
I have to admit that the fact that Alex has announced that he will release a third party book covering Wayangs has me a bit worried that I will be disappointed with the Wayang section of this book. I know we only get one shot at getting some good PFS legal options.
So what do the Wayang's get? Do they get anything related to their goddess of darkness and rats, Lao Shu Po?
I'm very happy to hear there will be a cavalier archetype, and I'm hoping it will be mount-less. The Constable still doesn't quite capture a Sword and Board Cavalier well enough.
Wow, this may inspire me to buy my first set. These look great. And the wolf is a super useful mimi for any GM to have.
I was a bit surprised to see no arcane discoveries for wizards, as that was something that was strongly encouraged above. If I had to guess on something that will get the PFS ban, it is the trait that gives...
spoiler: proficiency with longswords. I like it, but it is as strong as a feat (Martial Weapon Proficiency).
Wayangs have suddenly become quite popular in my area and there are a bunch of us really looking forward to this book. I'm definitely surprised to see the addition of drow relative to the previous description and hope they don't steal too much room from the PFS legal race. I really hope the worshippers of the Old Rat Woman get some neat religion related feats or traits.
Just to clarify to avoid table variation...If one is equiped with a buckler they simultaneously qualify for both the "One-Handed Weapon Tricks" and the "Weapon and Shield Tricks", because their off-hand is empty and they are wielding a shield? Weapon and Shield specifically mentions rondelero fighters, so bucklers must count as shields for that set of tricks. I presume any buckler shield bonus would be lost if one were to use the Free Hand Maneuver or Strike and Seize tricks, since the empty off-hand would be used.
I already got my PDF via subscription and this is a fantastic product. Thanks for the excellent work Owen and team!
Yep, I saw them, I just hadn't envisioned my Cavalier being a feinter before. That's why I said I wasn't sure. They are certainly interesting options.
Is there anything in this book that will help me make an effective "martial scholar" type, who utilizes high int and knowledge checks? Have you considered Lore Warden Fighter going into Duelist? It gives you a very smart fighter with extra skill points who gets an AC bonus from his intelligence later on.
Wow, there is so much to digest in here. The bland, gritty feeling I had in my mouth after reading "Black Markets" has been replaced by savory, mouth-watering pleasure. I'm not sure I'm seeing the sword-and-shield support I was hoping for, but there are so many things that I would have never expected. I recently started a Bloodrager/Lore-Warden and I can't wait to recalculate what I might be capable of with that character now.
Perhaps a way for Cavaliers and Fighters to effectively use shield bash without having to make the Dex 15 perquisite for Two-Weapon Fighting.
I agree completely. I don't think I would have picked this one up if I had just flipped through it at the store, but I'm a subscriber. This is very style specific and much of it is dependent on your GM choosing to use the subsystem. I can't imagine myself using any of it.
A certain podcast critiqued the lack of a color boarder on many of the pages, but I have to say that I really like the cleaner look. Also, I sometimes like to print out individual pages of the PDFs to keep with my PFS characters, and this style will use less ink and definitely look better when printed in black and white.
No, it was in the box yesterday. I just didn't post about it until I saw it again this morning, still drying out in my living room.
My physical book finally arrived, but it was completely rain soaked from being left sticking out of an open mailbox during a thunderstorm. :(
The Urbana Skald chooses how the bonus is allocated and the choice is applied to all effected allies.
I have to admit that I'll mainly be getting this one for the information on Kurgess. I've always wanted to see more about him and his worshipers; at the very least I'd like to find out just where he's primarily worshiped in Avistan. Mr. Hinkle, I regret to inform you that the only mention of Kurgess in the book is in the list of Associated Deities in one Subdomain description. Unfortunately the best write-up on Kurgess is still the one in Inner Sea Gods, though many of us would love to see a more complete one.
stuff about trait and subdomainsI don't think that's what it was. It looked to me like "These are available to the listed deities. If you have the feat, they're open to any deity with the associated Domain" I certainly like that interpretation better. The section is kind of missing a sentence giving the standard introduction to subdomains. So under that interpretation, a cleric of Irori could take the Competition subdomain without the trait, because Irori is explicitly listed in that subdomain as an Associated Deity. If the same cleric takes the trait, he could take the Espionage subdomain , because it is a Knowledge subdomain, even though Irori isn't listed. This interpretation makes the trait really nice, because you can apply it to all kinds of interesting gods, like the Empyreal Lords. It also isn't bad as a prerequisite since it gives Knowledge(local) as a class skill, and that one comes up a lot in PFS. [More than it should, relative to Knowledge(history), in my humble opinion.]
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