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Admittedly, I am curious about this for the sake of goblin champions that can only select a horse as a mount option and, well, doesn't make sense by any game world standards. Downside is that there isn't goblin dog animal companion stats. I dare say this may be one of the first campaign clarifications!
@Art: Sorry, your post made it sound like you weren't going to do anything for the round instead of delaying. It will survive the magic missiles. And given its strange amorphous gaseous build, it is hard to make out exactly how damaged it is, but it has taken a lot of punishment. @Nilfyr: Sorry I missed your question: I will take a look later, phone is almost dead and will be on my PC in a couple of hours. @Thunderstealer, will post our update then, too.
You use the claws alternate trait and get free unarmed strike and two claw natural attacks. Combined with the natural bite, that's 3 attacks at full BAB when you full attack. I have a tengu barbarian that switch hits between polearms and natural attacks as necessary. He's only level 3, but he does rip things apart.
How about a warpriest? Could be a warpriest of Asmodeus or some strict LN god. I think there's even an archetype that eventually grants smiting if he wishes it (Champion of the Faith). Depending on the spell, you could perhaps make a concession on allowing an antipaladin spell or two as a warpriest spell, although it may be a bit of a balancing act, particularly for the higher level spells. Johnnycat93's suggestion is also a fair idea (at least LE can/should be reasoned with).
Unfortunately, no. Lyncanthropy is one of the conditions that must be resolved before the end of the scenario or your character is marked as dead. As an alternative idea, instead of having a PC that would eventually be a true lycanthrope, perhaps have the PC striving for it... but never actually gets there. A skinwalker PC or a totem druid of the desired animal are my first two thoughts.
I agree with the others that asking before the issue comes up goes a long way. Before the monk flurry was FAQ'ed, at GenCon 12 I used a monk that flurried with 2H weapon and wanted to know if I'd get 1.5 my Str mod in damage when flurrying with it. During sign-ins, I asked the GMs: 2 GM's said ok, 1 said no. I played it accordingly and moved on. All of the GM's were polite about it whether ruling for or against the 1.5 Str and the issue didn't waste any time during the game itself.
What? I can't be involved with 4 PbP with you JAF0? :P Hmm... debating, could double magus (staff/card caster with a dip into lore warden for some much needed combat feats), but I'll probably play my Envoy of Balance cleric of Pharasma for heals and support. Also have a switch hitter hunter with an owl bear and a tengu elemental ascetic of fire for more durable bodies.
Hello and welcome back! To answer your questions (which are in the new guide) 1. If the character has not been played as level 2, then you can rebuild it any way you wish, including changing out items and gear. The exception is anything purchased with prestige points cannot be refunded. 2. If the PC has been played as level 2 or higher, then if you own Ultimate Campaign, you can spend PP and some gold to retrain levels, feats, archetypes, etc. 3 (Extra). Lastly, just to make sure it is noted, you must own a legal source for the new features you are interested in. Legal sources are watermarked PDFs from Paizo with your name on them or the physical book.
I think I'll make my decision based on what the rest of the party have, but all of the PCs I have are melee combatants. Bargus Highbrew: Qinggong Sensei Drunken Master Ouat monk 4. A constantly half-drunk dwarf ouat who knows that a little alcohol is what is needed to release the body's natural limiters to reach perfection and carries around his own keg to make sure that he can do so whenever it is needed. He can inspire courage and comptenence; he will eventually share his qinggong and monk powers, too. Finally, he has great knowledge skills thanks to his obedience to Irori to hone his mind as well as his liver. The Scratcher: Snakebite Striker brawler 2/ Warpriest of Milani 1. A street fighter turned to a higher calling, the man known as the Scratcher uses exotic weapons to defend himself and strike at his opponents, disarm them, and strike them again. Simple-minded and direct, he sees himself as working towards becoming the ultimate bodyguard as part of his devotion to Milani. Iron Feathers: Unbreakable figther 1/Invulnerable Rager unchained barbarian 3. A tengu raised in a shoanti tribe, Iron Feathers explores to show the prowess of his tribal upbringing. He is smart enough to know when to be silent, but doesn't cower to idiots.
Even then it wouldn't work since you have to be able to add your Strength modifier to the damage to allow you to replace it with your Dex mod. Same reason why you can't use Slashing Grace or Finesse Training with an elemental annihilator's devastating infusion attacks. But otherwise, I am still pro-Unchained Eldritch Scoundrel :)
If you don't care about crit threat, the Esoteric magus uses unarmed strikes and 4K for an Agile amulet is cheaper than a weapon initially (and the fact you can use your Arcane Pool to give it enhancement bonuses and can wear light armor with the Brawling propery) really helps offset the lack of making those unarmed strikes magical).
My table managed to avoid the final combat and had a very short combat in the Nail. They managed to poison the stew and every guard who ate the stew except 1 succumbed to the poison. That guard screamed and was quickly knocked unconscious, but the remaining guard (the one at the entrance since he got the short straw to wait on lunch) happened to roll low enough and missed his Perception... After spending some time to stage the barracks, the party wasted little time clearing out the majority of the compound, getting the good stuff out the vault, office, and prison successfully, thanks to the party rogue having hot dice and the party expertly solving the puzzle (with compliments on it). The chase was fun as the party was quite creative causing distractions, including Ferris Bueller'ing the parade, tackling mimes, and summoning a holy octopus. Despite avoiding massive beatdowns, the players enjoyed themselves. A+, would run again.
The pugwampi/vexgit room is basically interact traps. The pugwampis should make sure that the PCs have bad luck so they will almost certainly fail their Reflex save when the vexgits collapse a column in their direction. I nearly dropped 2 PC's from a pair of those. But they do no real damage outside of that for the reasons you stated. The terrain can hide enemies in some situations, like in the jungle, but otherwise it's just flavor. For the elemental room, I have used the lightning spark ability of the lightning elemental to bring them down where the mud elementals are. They have to move up the stairs since those are not soft earth. The adaro, I don't penalize piercing weapons and gave partial cover from slashing/bludgeoning weapons. A slight variation from the underwater rules. For the Mouther, I have it ooze from underside the walkway about 20' from the players, so at least it isn't too far away and may be able to charge something. The walkway acts as something of a chokepoint which is arguably its best defense. One idea that someone gave me that I've used is to make the helmet a speaking tourguide provided by Melabdara. That way, someone can describe the rooms and gives the PCs a chance to interact with the sphinx before actually engaging it. Because of Nhur Athemon's choice of languages, Azlanti, Elven, and Infernal would make sense for the sphinx to know as being learned from its master.
Favorite raise dead story (spoilered for the scenario). From Rivalry's End:
I had a PC at the table I GM'ed die from a halberd crit while tanking three of clockwork guardians, giving the party enough time to defeat them. Since the PC went from full health to death in a single hit, I declared that she was decapitated. The party, realizing that they need her back, found a way to smuggle her body upstairs without anyone knowing. The head was placed in a handy haversack, and they used the dust of illusion they found to drape the body over one of the other PCs and make it look like a bearskin cape. They managed to schmooze their way upstairs, although not without one of the people at the gambling den commenting on the 'lovely cloak'. From there, they went to the Publican House and contacted Guaril to find a priest there who would discretely raise the slain PC back. The dead PC had enough prestige for the raise dead and one of the restorations, and the party was back with nearly full strength. The now-returned PC decided to wear a choker to cover her new scar.
And that's how I had a good in-game raise dead. The party did a great job RP'ing it and it is truly one of my most memorable tables I ever GM'ed.
Honestly, I don't know how it could be written for core rogues only. As I noted above, a core rogue is incredibly underpowered as an Eldritch Scoundrel. In fact, a core rogue Eldritch Scoundrel is only a couple steps above the adept NPC class for the first 2 levels. As far as dipping: three level is a heavy dip for most classes/builds. Compared to dipping three into a base unchained rogue, the trade-offs would be around 4 level 1 spells per day, the cantrips, and trap spotter for magical traps versus 1d6 sneak attack, a rogue talent of your choosing, and 12 skill ranks. While the magical potential should be noted, it's comparable to a 2 level dip into fighter to get the bonus feats for Dervish Dance and a single level dip into wizard.
I would like to request that the unchained rogue be legally allowed to use the Eldritch Scoundrel archetype from Arcane Anthologies in PFS play. Caveat: If the allowing the archetype for the unchained rogue is being reserved as a chronicle or boon reward, then see this a post of love for a cool, flavorful archetype. Using Jiggy's excellent post that got Magical Knack legalized as the basis of the post and noting the copied premises below. Premise: An option is banned only if it conflicts with the nature or goals of the campaign (unless it is reserved as a boon reward for later).
------------------------------- Reasoning:
Premise #1:
Note, this is almost exactly what Jiggy posted nearly 3 years ago and noting that I am using his words here. As I see it, there are two ways of looking at content legality in PFS. One method is that nothing outside the Core Assumption is allowed, unless it appears to specifically benefit the campaign. That is, when a new book comes out, we "start" with everything banned, and then Mike looks through it and sees something and says "Hey, X would make the campaign better" and makes an exception for it (i.e., legalize it). The other method is that new content is generally legal, unless it appears to specifically hurt the campaign. That is, when a new book comes out, we "start" with an assumption that its content will be legal, and then the OPC/PFS developers looks through it and sees something and says "Hey, X would cause problems with the campaign" and makes an exception for it (i.e., ban it). It is my understanding that the latter is the stance of PFS leadership, hence Premise #1.
Premise #2:
This section is also nearly word from word of Jiggy's argument, but repeating it as I believe this to be true for the Deep Marshall. I am not aware of any aspect of the campaign with which an unchained rogue Eldritch Scoundrel conflicts. It does not directly affect wealth. It does not invite unregulated customization. It does not skirt alignment restrictions. It does not slow down gameplay. It does not have canon issues. It does not skirt PvP rules. I contend that this is not the case. In fact, it cannot be this case because the Eldritch Scoundrel is legal for core rogues, and unchained rogues are legal, too, which means that both of the base parts do not conflict with the campaign system. Thus, I contend that an unchained rogue Eldritch Scoundrel does not conflict with any aspect of the campaign.
Premise #3:
If the unchained rogue Eldritch Scoundrel is to be considered overpowered over a core rogue Eldritch Scoundrel, then the comparison must be made across other archetypes using an unchained rogue vs core rogue. Note: I am not good at number theory crafting, so this will be a bit more subjective than I prefer. What an unchained rogue offers
Listed here, there are three brand new abilities unchained rogues have over core rogues. As of the time of this post, there are not any rogue archetypes that replace these abilities. That means every single unchained rogue with an archetype will have those abilities over a core rogue with the same archetype. Since the unchained rogue is legal for those other archetypes, then it must be assumed that those abilities are not overpowered. Which means that if the unchained rogue Eldritch Scoundrel is to be considered too overpowered compared to a core rogue Eldritch Scoundrel, it must be one of the three remaining ability updates: sneak attack, rogue talents, and danger sense. However, the Eldritch Scoundrel archetype affects all three of those abilities! The sneak attack and rogue talents are effectively cut in half and don't come online until level 3 and 4 respectively. If the unchained rogue's sneak attack and talents are deemed superior to the core rogues, the archetype actually affects the unchained rogue more negatively than the core rogue by restricting the more powerful abilities! Meanwhile, danger sense is replaced by a special magic only version of trap spotter. Again, replacing the (slightly) superior danger sense for the unchained rogue technically affects the unchained rogue more than the core rogue. Thus, I conclude that the unchained rogue Eldritch Scoundrel is not vastly overpowered to the core rogue Eldritch Scoundrel as compared to other rogue archetypes that are legal for both the unchained rogue and core rogue.
Premise #4:
The only other reason why the unchained rogue would be banned is if it was considered overpowered to other classes. As the comparison to rogues has already been made, I'll go with two other classes that will be most similar to it: wizard and magus. Unchained Rogue Eldritch Scoundrel vs base wizard (no archetypes)
Meanwhile, the wizard has over the Eldritch Scoundrel:
Same between the two classes:
Comparing the two classes, the eldritch scoundrel will have more melee options thanks to finesse training, while the wizard can get more magical abilities and potentially more spellcasting. Jumping to level 3, both classes begin to diverge greatly. The unchained Eldritch Scoundrel will get a far greater melee ability with another BAB increase, sneak attack, dexerity modifier to damage for a weapon of her choice, and effectively trap spotting for magical traps and 1 more level 1 spell/day over the base wizard spellcasting. Meanwhile, the wizard will hit level 2 spellcasting. It doesn't seem like much as a single line, but the wizard will add 1-3 spells per day he can cast, at a minimum equaling the total number of spells per day as the Eldritch Scoundrel and more than likely being superior and that is not even counting the new spell options granted to the wizard. At this point, trade off between the two is melee options for the Eldritch Scoundrel for more powerful spells. Level 4 is where the Eldritch Scoundrel arguably sees a power increase over a wizard. The Scoundrel now gets his level 2 spells, albeit wizard base spellcasting will have at least 1 more level 2 spell over the Eldritch Scoundrel. The Scoundrel, though, will get Debilitating Injury for a nice melee debuff and now get her first rogue talent for more supporting options. But at level 5, the wizard takes the reigns once more and holds onto them for the rest of their career. The unchained rogue Eldritch Scoundrel will still have 1 more BAB over the wizard, more HP, and now gain a Skill Unlock, but the wizard gets 3rd level magic while the rogue will have to wait another 2 levels for such power wherein the wizard will be touting 4th level magic. And as a bit of extra icing on the cake, the wizard also gets a bonus feat, too (which could arguably be seen as equal to the Skill Unlock the unchained Eldritch Scoundrel gets). Thus, I believe that the two classes are somewhat equal at low levels before the wizard's greater spellcasting ability will significantly overshadow what the unchained rogue Eldritch Scoundrel can do. The Eldritch Scoundrel will have better melee abilities than the wizard to make up for the weaker spellcasting. Unchained Rogue Eldritch Scoundrel vs base magus
unchained rogue Eldritch Scoundrel over base magus
Base magus over unchained rogue Eldritch Scoundrel
Comparable between the two classes:
In this case, at level 1, the magus is more melee suitable with better weapon and armor choices as well as the ability to buff the weapon right at the get go. The magus will have spell combat, but the accuracy hit at level 1 is noteworthy. The Eldritch Scoundrel has more skill options and gets a bonus feat effectively. At level 1, I call it a wash between the two classes. At level 2, the magus is superior offensively with spellstrike being added. The Eldritch Scoundrel only gets evasion. Magus is superior at this point. Level 3, it balances out with the unchained rogue Eldritch Scoundrel now having Dex to Damage and sneak attack while the magus gets his first magus arcana to enhance his abilities. These vary, but effectively, I see the two classes as closer to equal at level 3. Level 4 is similar as the unchained rogue Eldritch Scoundrel gets Debilitating Injury as a debuff and her first rogue talent while the magus gets Spell Recall to improve his spellcasting potential. From this point on, the magus slowly gets more unique abilities while the unchained rogue only gets a skill unlock for something unique. The magus offensive power goes up with the arcane pool becoming more powerful, heavier armor potential, and bonus feats while the unchained rogue Eldritch Scoundrel will just add to the sneak attack dice and rogue talents. Overall, while I see the magus as somewhat superior offensively due to spellstrike and better defenses, the Eldritch Scoundrel has more passive abilities that will remain useful if spellcasting is not an option. The Eldritch Scoundrel will also have a better choice of spells to choose from as well. Note: It should be mentioned that in fact a core rogue eldritch scoundrel would be incredibly underpowered compared to a core rogue without an archetype at levels 1 and 2. It would be an inferior wizard or magus without any other class abilities excepts casting 1-2 level 1 spells and some cantrips. Even at level 2, the only thing gained would be evasion (a passive, defensive abilitiy) and another level 1 spell, making it far weaker than the wizard in spell potential, having the same BAB as the wizard, the lack of school powers, and the lack of an arcane bond. Compared to the magus, the magus is better armored, and will have spellstrike and spell combat come online at that point as well as the arcane pool ability to enhance his weapons. And without the unchained rogue abilities that keep the Eldritch Scoundrel capable compared to those two classes, the core rogue Eldritch Scoundrel is markedly inferior. Thus, comparing the unchained rogue Eldritch Scoundrel to a base wizard and base magus, I contend that it is not overpowered compared to the other two classes.
With all those premises made, I conclude that the Eldritch Scoundrel should be a legal archetype for the unchained rogue to take.
I would like to request that the Deep Marshal magus archetype from Arcane Anthologies become legal for PFS play. Caveat: If the archetype is being reserved as a chronicle or boon reward, then see this a post of love for a cool, flavorful archetype.
Premise: An option is banned only if it conflicts with the nature or goals of the campaign (unless it is reserved as a boon reward for later).
------------------------------- Reasoning:
One method is that nothing outside the Core Assumption is allowed, unless it appears to specifically benefit the campaign. That is, when a new book comes out, we "start" with everything banned, and then Mike looks through it and sees something and says "Hey, X would make the campaign better" and makes an exception for it (i.e., legalize it). The other method is that new content is generally legal, unless it appears to specifically hurt the campaign. That is, when a new book comes out, we "start" with an assumption that its content will be legal, and then the OPC/PFS developers looks through it and sees something and says "Hey, X would cause problems with the campaign" and makes an exception for it (i.e., ban it). It is my understanding that the latter is the stance of PFS leadership, hence Premise #1. Premise #2:
I contend that this is not the case. The one point that the Deep Marshal affects wealth is that at level 3, it grants free ranks in Profession: Miner which can be used for Day Job checks. However, even with good boons, this doesn't add up to a lot of gold over the standard PFS career. Assuming a solid 25 for the Day Job check for 50 gold a session, playing normal progression, and only playing 1XP scenarios or modules, that is only about 1,350 gold between the beginning of 3rd level to level 12. Thus, I contend that Deep Marshal does not conflict with any aspect of the campaign. Premise #3:
Deep Marshal vs base magus Pros over base magus
Cons under base magus
Even comapred with base magus
To me, it seems somewhat even. The deep marshal has more defensive options between better armor earlier than the base magus and gets abjuration spells for other options Offensively, the weapon selection is more restricted, but this is balanced by the potential caster level increase and bonus to spell resistance checks. The base magus, meanwhile, can use any weapon he/she feels like using and can more often get spellstrike crits using the higher crit range weapons that the Deep Marshall cannot use. One thing that should be noted is that the caster level increase can never exceed +2 as the caster level increase is 1/2 the weapon's enhancement bonus and weapon enhancements cannot exceed +5. This also means that the weapon needs to have a +4 modifier to get the +2 CL boost. The absolute earliest this could occur would be level 5 as it would require using a +2 enhancement bonus via arcane pool and having a +2 weapon which requires 27 fame, with level 5 being the earliest that can occur. That will eat up about half a PC's wealth in most cases. The most obvious benefit will come from spells enhanced by Intensify Spell or those few spells that provide additional rounds/effects based on level (acid arrow and scorching ray come to mind). Thus, I conclude that the Deep Marshall should be made for PFS play. The archetype trade-offs are fairly even and it does not disrupt the campaign setting or organized play rules.
One cool thing is that an Unchained Eldritch Scoundrel can get into Arcane Trickster at 5th level; just need to make your 3rd level feat "Accomplished Sneak Attacker" at 4th level, if you put in the skill points correctly, you can start 5th level as a Trickster, the earliest legal way to get into any prestige class. Spellcasting-wise, yes. Getting those wizard spells is powerful. However, there is a bit of novelty being able to get into a prestige class like that without multiclassing. There's also the fact that for Arcane Tricksters who want more melee options, getting Dex to Damage and Debilitating Strike for the sneak attacks is pretty cool. I know the power play would be to not do that and go with the route you suggested, but I still believe you could be quiet effective with a sole Unchained Eldritch Scoundrel to Arcane Trickster.
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