Blzn's page

Quick Runner's Shirt and Mask of Stony Demeanor are probably two of the best magic items of the game. Very cheap and very useful.

Arcane Bloodline is still the best choice. Choose a familiar to receive +4 on initiative. I'm playing d20 (D&D3.x/Pathfinder) by the last 8 years (or more) and acting first increases the chance of victory on the combat. For the AT is almost mandatory to win the initiative.

I didn't see this get pointed out earlier, and if it did, I apologize, but:

You can't get SA to Fiery Shurikens more than once per turn, as per the "Volley spell and SAs" FAQ.

Unless I'm wrong. I could be. But I get the feeling that Fiery Shuriken (Fired as one action) falls under the Scorching Ray Volley FAQ.

To be fair, however, I do assume you can use SA on all your Swift Action uses of Fiery Shurikens up to once per round. So it might do more damage over several rounds than Scorching Ray. Also, it synergizes with Arcane Strike (Assuming it works?... are these attacks Rays?

Aside rule Q: If you target multiple enemies with one Standard Action use of Fiery Shuriken do you get SA to each one? Or just against one of the targets? God, I hate that FAQ so much. They should just retroactively get rid of all the weird rule nerfs of precision damage so we don't have rules induced headaches like this.

I think it just apply the Scorching Ray FAQ if you use more than one shuriken per round.

For armor I think a Haramaki (+1 AC; 0% AFC; 0 ACP) is a good choice. Even if you have Mage Armor. Use the Haramaki to get things like Improved Shadow (good stealth bonus).

You could add alchemical reagents to the guide. I used urea to increase my caster level when casting Snowball.

A nice feat is Twist Away from Advanced Class Guide. It has a drawback but you can easily fix this with a Ring of Ferocious Action. So now the AT can have 3 good saves.

I think you have a strong point. The problem is that the spell do not add a new ability and I agree with you. Maybe a wand would be the better choice.

I just got the 3rd level of Sorcerer and I'm still thinking what spell should I pick now.

I have Silent Image and Snowball and my character is ranged attack based. Maybe Vanish (better than Invisibility because there's more good 2nd level spells than 1st level spells), Magic Missile or Windy Escape (if the GM allows). Do you have any suggestion?

"if you end the spell you gain the bonus but initiative can change from round to round" -> But losing a initiative bonus after the check doesn't change the initiative order. If that was true the initiative would change every round a character have dexterity penalty or damage.

And the spell say very clearly you dismiss it, so it's duration doesn't count anymore. The competence bonus is not the point. It is the initiative bonus. Until you get something like +12 on initiative checks you can't say you have initiative bonus enough.

On the initiative section (link below) it says the order is the same every round just changing if a ready or delay action is performed.

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/combat.html

Blzn wrote:

There's 2 beginners on my grouping game and their great difficult is not building the character but some playing situations.

Some concepts like:

- how the group should "work" on combat (the positioning of each character on the battlefield and their "responsabilities").
- how to avoid AoOs.
- how to think ahead the combat.
- how to prepare to enter in a dungeon.
- tips for using spells in creative way.
- tips for using alchemical creations and reagents.
- when to run or fight.

product description wrote:

- A clear and user-friendly introduction to the basics of combat

- Advice for getting the most out of game sessions, collaborating with other players, and succeeding on the battlefield.

I know it's on the description but that's not on the "preview". Would be very nice if they post some pages of the other chapters.

There's 2 beginners on my grouping game and their great difficult is not building the character but some playing situations.

Some concepts like:

- how the group should "work" on combat (the positioning of each character on the battlefield and their "responsabilities").
- how to avoid AoOs.
- how to think ahead the combat.
- how to prepare to enter in a dungeon.
- tips for using spells in creative way.
- tips for using alchemical creations and reagents.
- when to run or fight.

What I'm saying is I don't see a point on that Strategy Guide if it's just for the very beginners because they are just very beginners for a short period of time. I think the great problem of d20 system is not the character creation but some situations I listed above and, in my opinion, even players with some experience still have would find very nice to have a guide covering that topics.

"grouping game" -> gaming group

On Advanced Class Guide there's a spell called Heightened Awareness. It gives +2 competence on Perception and all trained Knowledges for 10min/level. But you can dismiss the spell on a initiave check to receive a +4 bonus.

I think that spell is a must have for the AT. Especially it helps to find traps and can give initiative bonus.

There's 2 beginners on my grouping game and their great difficult is not building the character but some playing situations.

Some concepts like:

- how the group should "work" on combat (the positioning of each character on the battlefield and their "responsabilities").
- how to avoid AoOs.
- how to think ahead the combat.
- how to prepare to enter in a dungeon.
- tips for using spells in creative way.
- tips for using alchemical creations and reagents.
- when to run or fight.

What I'm saying is I don't see a point on that Strategy Guide if it's just for the very beginners because they are just very beginners for a short period of time. I think the great problem of d20 system is not the character creation but some situations I listed above and, in my opinion, even players with some experience still have would find very nice to have a guide covering that topics.

The tatics part (page 21) is nearly perfect. Amazing job.

Actually I have an AT character* and did not read this tatics part till 2 days ago but coincidentally I've been using the same tatics described on the guide and I'm having a lot of success. So I think that validates what is written on the guide or at least shows the guide is on the right path.

* I still haven't get a level on AT, but the character is Rogue3/Sorcerer3.

I really like the idea of a Strategy Guide.

By the preview (the link Vic posted on Wednesday) it looks a lot like a series of articles written by Skip Williams on D&D official site about 10 years ago. That articles helped me a lot to understand the mechanics and how to make a character.

The point is if this Strategy Guide is more than just a simple guide to understand the basic rules I think it will be a great book. But if it's just what was presented on the preview I think would be better to write some articles on Paizo Blog than to make a book.

OBS: English is not my native language so I'm sorry if I was too harsh on the text above.