Bast Lorenti's page

Hi, everyone!
Long time, no chat.

At any rate, I have some things that I've written up for 5e that are conversions of older material (3.5 and back) and I need some help looking over them for balance, viability, etc.

Because I intend to put these things into a neat little PDF and put them on the DMGuild for a "pay what you want" fee.

And, if possible, that would include free. (But donations are always appreciated :3 )

So, without further rambling:
Sha'ir Warlock
Spellfire Feat
Tome of Magic (Simple)
Factotum

Each of these is set up so that you may comment directly on the document. Or you can leave your thoughts here and I will collect them.
Either way, help is appreciated :)

I just realized that everyone has been reading the vigilante class wrong!

It is required to be gestalted with other classes!

Think about it:
The class is (currently and will probably remain) a mish-mash of various things that are just weaker than other classes with a "social persona" tossed on so that you can play a superhero.

Now, play a gestalt character with the vigilante-

Your fighter now has some social capabilities and gains the added perk of being a warlock.
Your rogue becomes even better at blending into society and better at sneaking through shadows to hunt bad guys.
Even your cleric gets better because, not only do they help people by daylight, they also have divine firepower when defending the down-trod by moonlight.

So, I would like to thank Paizo for this contribution to what can be an awesome game play experience.

(P.S. This is not meant to be ironic in any capacity. Text doesn't convey meaning well. Don't start a flame war, unless you are a member of the Fire Nation.)

Ah. Been a long time since I've actually posted anything on here. Feels good.

Now, an idea:

Why not just hand out a progression of vigilante talents to all characters and let them choose which of the vigilante types they want to pick from?

For example, you have a PC running a barbarian who happens to have an avenger identity called Thundercrash.

The barbarian class is her "social identity" (which, I agree with almost everyone, is complete tripe), and Thundercrash is a very obvious "vigilante identity."

So, I guess my idea is to have vigilante types become sort of like mythic paths.

Maybe make this whole thing require a feat with little-to-no prereqs that grants the benefit of the social identity ability, plus a progression of talents.

This was probably longer and slightly more convoluted than needed, but there you have it.

If anyone would like to try this out just for kicks, please share your experiences. Slaanesh likes experience.

This is the official discussion thread for "The Tangle."

For episode 1, our players are:
Peanuts
Tanner Nielsen
LibraryRPGamer
JonGarrett

Our reserve list is:
Lord Foul II
SAMAS

It was a tough decision process, folks. These were excellent submissions. I chose based on accuracy of build and backstory, by the way.
Now, those edits that needed mentioning:
Peanuts - Nothing to note.

Tanner - My only problem with your character is that you are CE. Might not mesh well with the rest of the party.

Library - I believe your bonuses on History and Religion should be +13. It was kind of hard to follow with the way the Deductionist works lol

Jon - I ran the numbers, and there is no way that Khalaban could have 26 STR at this point. Base 16 + 4 Giant template + 2 Angel-kin = 22. Also, you have one too many traits - please drop one.

SAMAS - The only real problem with your character is that Suli are 16RP, not 15.

Lord Foul - Missing a backstory was a huge detriment for you. Additionally: with 200GP, you could not have a masterwork warhammer; you should have bard saves, not monk saves; you are missing Weapon Focus as a feat; the stat adjustments you have listed for half-giants are wrong (should be +2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Dex).

I'll post more on the setting and rules in a little while. Need to get back to work lol

Tales have existed on many worlds, for countless eons, of a world that somehow linked everything together. A place-between-places, a nexus. Scholars have long sought ways to prove such a place exists, but none have succeeded.
That is, until now.
Your world has found a way to reach this fabled realm.
Suddenly, all the myths are true. But what lies beyond the portals that lead to this infamous "Tangle?"
Many explorers have already entered the other world, bringing with them stories of a great, winding maze of immense proportions. But none have found any limits to the size of the world-that-lies-between.
A world without limits, where anything is possible...

"The Tangle" is intended to be an ongoing ENDLESS dungeon crawl. Essentially, it is a super-dungeon consisting of several smaller dungeons.
These "lesser" dungeons are going to be randomly generated via donjon and are going to be set at ECL+1 for some slightly added challenge.
This is going to be done as a PbP in an episodic style, so recurring characters are going to happen, and recruitment will be opening before each crawl begins. If you aren't involved with a run, check back to this thread every so often ;)

The exact building instructions are as follows:
0. BACKSTORY. I can't say this enough: I would greatly appreciate characters that have good backstory. You come from a world separate of The Tangle: fluff isn't just expected, it's virtually required.
1. We'll be using "Free Archetypes." This is kind of like Gestalt, but works as follows:

• Choose your base class. Anything in the PFSRD goes.
  
• You may choose one or two archetypes. (If your class doesn't have archetypes, you may use the Super Genius "Archetype Packages" responsibly.)
  
• If you choose one, you gain all of your base class features, plus the archetype's features.
  
• If you choose two archetypes, use the archetype that replaces the most class features as your base class, then add the other archetype for free. For example, a White Haired/Scarred Witch would gain no hexes (as white haired replaces that feature at each level it is gained)

2. Any race is fine as long as you adhere to the following:

• You may choose any race in the PFSRD or develop a custom one
  
• Either way, the race must be no greater than 15RP

3. You may trade your first level in a class (forgoing archetypes for that level) for a CR+1 template. You may only have a single template this way.
4. Use this array to generate abilities: 16 14 14 12 12 8
5. Traits: You get one for free, and a second one if you take a drawback. As long as it fits to your character's backstory, pretty much anything is golden.
6. HP is half max roll plus one after first level. First level is maxed.
7. 1st level characters start with 200gp plus a single 1st level potion (following all standard rules); all others start with WBL amount.
8. If you can craft things, no discount at first level. Sorry. This is just my way of being fair to all characters.

Something I'm considering to speed things up is using the Players Roll All The Dice variant. I would post the appropriate stats at the start of the combat. I would like thoughts on this, however, before I implement it for sure.

A variant that I will be using is SKR's "step" system for leveling up. I'll be calling them "milestones," though. Presented here for ease of reference.
Basically, instead of gaining all of your level-based features AT ONCE, this system (sanely) divides it into four sections. I'll be rewarding milestones four times per episode. That is, you will level during the episode :)

The first episode starts at 1st level. No mythic tiers. Recruitment for this episode ends next Saturday (the 25th). Spots open for four players (to start).
If I missed anything, feel free to ask and I'll respond as quickly as I can.

If you are selected, posting once per day (Tuesday through Saturday) would be greatly appreciated. I will be trying to post at least three times during those days.
If you strike out three days in a row, you will be GM'd for one session. Failure to reappear after that results in ejection from the current episode - YOU WILL NOT BE KILLED. Just sent to camp.

Just post a set of tough choices (as few or as many as you want) for the next poster to choose from.
The choices don't have to be negative, by the way :)

Now, choose:
bring peace to Israel/Palestine
-or-
cure cancer

Tales have existed on many worlds, for countless eons, of a world that somehow linked everything together. A place-between-places, a nexus. Scholars have long sought ways to prove such a place exists, but none have succeeded.
That is, until now.
Your world has found a way to reach this fabled realm.
Suddenly, all the myths are true. But what lies beyond the portals that lead to this infamous "Tangle?"
Many explorers have already entered the other world, bringing with them stories of a great, winding maze of immense proportions. But none have found any limits to the size of the world-that-lies-between.
A world without limits, where anything is possible...

"The Tangle" is intended to be an ongoing ENDLESS dungeon crawl. Essentially, it is a super-dungeon consisting of several smaller dungeons.
These "lesser" dungeons are going to be randomly generated via donjon and are going to be set at ECL+1 for some slightly added challenge.
This is going to be done as a PbP in an episodic style, so recurring characters are going to happen, and recruitment will be opening before each crawl begins. Hopefully that means anyone interested will get a chance at it!

As the bit at the start says, anything is possible here. What this means for players:
1. (most) Any class in the PFSRD is A-OK. I'm more than willing to consider balanced homebrew.
2. (most) Any race in the PFSRD is A-OK. I'm more than willing to consider balanced homebrew.
3. Mythic... will probably happen!

The exact building instructions are as follows:
1. Gestalt. Go nuts.
2. Use this array to generate abilities: 16 14 14 12 12 8
3. Traits: You get one for free, and a second one if you take a flaw/drawback/whatever-they're-called. As long as it fits to your character's backstory, pretty much anything is golden.
4. HP is half max roll plus one after first level. First level is maxed.
5. 1st level characters start with 200gp; all others start with WBL amount.
6. If you can craft things, no discount at first level. Sorry. This is just for fairness' sake.

Posting frequency: I'll be doing this from my work computer, so I'll be doing updates about three times daily from Tuesday to Saturday. Sunday and Monday we will be down. I expect players to be able to post at least once per day during the listed days.

I think that's everything. If I missed something, bother me about it.

This is just the interest check. If there's enough of a genuine interest, we'll be doing recruitment proper in its own thread.
Any takers?

Not sure if this is the proper category for this.

Anyway, I would like to know of my fellow adult gamer-sorts: how do you find time to game?

Some background on why I would ask this:
I work a job from 7:30a to 4p with about one hour of commute back and forth. I get home at 5 and immediately go into a routine of making dinner, working out, and going to bed.
My schedule is Tu-Sat. Yes: It's odd and very silly.
I am a father who actually enjoys spending time with my family.
Because of my silly schedule problems, I have not done any proper gaming in about three years.
EDIT: Something that should be mentioned - my wife is a stay-at-home mom and only gets "me time" when I'm home.

So... Like I said: how does everyone else manage it?

To be clear: I am aware of roll20, PbP/M/eM games and have participated in several. This is a check for sit-down, face-to-face gaming only.

I'm sure that questions like this have been asked before, but I couldn't see anything on my way here.

EDIT: I assure you all that I'm not trying to whine or anything. It's just kind of... depressing... is all :(

Greetings, fellow travellers of worlds!

Today, we will begin an experiment into the theory of "quantum immortality."

No need for a degree in physics, children! This is a
HANDS-ON EXPERIMENT!

What does that mean for you? Well, here's how this works:

1. I will create a single character that we will call Tobias the Cursed. This character has no distinguishing characteristics... at first.

2. If you decide to be involved, you will write a section (about a paragraph) of Tobias' story.

3. Your section of the story can branch off what any other person has written. For clarity on which timeline we're in, please quote the person whose story you divert from.
3a. If the quoting gets too confusing, drop it and just add "X's Avatar" at the top.

4. Every three days or so, I (or a suitable proxy) will appear and KILL A TOBIAS. That timeline ends - poof. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.
4a. If a timeline was in the midst of being written when I slew Tobias, that timeline can actually continue if the post happens before mine own.
4b. I may prune additional Tobiases as I see fit. Be prepared for heartache.

5. In your story, you have total control of Tobias, but may not kill the character. That's my job, you see.

6. Your objective? KEEP AT LEAST ONE TOBIAS ALIVE AT ALL TIMES.

Without further ado...

Tobias the Cursed awoke in a darkened room. The only source of light was a single torch on a nearby wall. The room smelled musty and generally disused. No other details could truly be seen from where Tobias lay.

Ahoy, mateys! Time for yet another forum game :)

This one is entitled "X is Underpowered," a game that allows you to rant about the things you don't like, but with structure and silliness!

Here's how it works:

The person before you will post something about this-that-or-the-other that they think is underpowered, for WHATEVER reason they want.
Then you, the person below them, can rant about something that you think is underpowered.
BUT! Here's the catch: the thing you complain about has to start with the last letter of the last person's post. For example, someone ends with an "m." Feel free to nag about monks, mooks, monkeys, moonrocks, or whatever!

So, to get thinks started:

Katanas are underpowered because they don't model how real katanas work.

For clarity, that means the next person complains about a thing starting with a "k."

I just read the post about "The Primal," and it reminded me of a project I've done along a similar vein.

This is clearly a WIP, but I just wanted to know what y'all think of it.

The concept behind the class is something akin to an arcane experiment that causes an abomination of features to arise.

Inspired by someone saying "I want to play a summoner-less eidolon," and using some design space I have yet to see used, I present to you:

The Chimeric.

Feel free to critique as needed :)

I believe I'm in the right section of the forums to post this. If not, slap me with the mod-hammer.

Anyway, I was recently reading a thread about worst backgrounds for PCs that had some major problems with being derailed about the Diplomacy skill.

This got me thinking.

So, what I would like to know is: what are some of your best and/or worst stories involving the Diplomacy/Bluff/Intimidate skills?

To start things off:
I was playing a dragon shaman (3.5) that venerated silver dragons and was a huge fan of cooperation, peace, and keeping things orderly. I believe that he was LG. But this isn't my story.

No, we focus our attention on another player. I can't remember for the life of me what he was playing, but this guy is renowned for things like this.

We had just escaped our own village which had been ruined by some evil spirits. We traveled for some time, coming to land in another small village.

But the troubles here were much worse.
Eventually, it came down to the town being sandwiched between demons and the undead.

My character was trying to organize the defenses, shelter/hide the women/children/infirm/etc., and keep things going.

The other player, in an attempt to help me keep things calm, decided to roll Diplomacy. Natural 1. This he followed with the phrase "If you believe in a god, start praying!"

The town broke out into total anarchy. My character actually simply fell to his knees, all faith in humanity/elfness/dwarfness/etc. shattered.

I really wish I could remember more of that scenario to share, but there you have it: one poor roll followed by bad phrasing leading to the complete collapse of western civilization.