Bober's page

Thank you, that's very interesting. If you find anymore please keep sharing! I'll do the same, I'm going through a few more manuals as we speak

With SF2 coming out, I'm trying to compile a detailed timeline in order to help my players understand the universe a little bit better (especially players new to SF lore).

I'm having a real hard time finding data, with Core Rulebook and Near Space being pretty much the only source of data. I haven't played most AP, so I don't know much about those events and when they happened. Same goes for the Drift Crisis, which is stated lasted 1 year but not which year exactly (315? 316? 317?).

If some other nerd has already done this, or if any of you has more knowledge about this, I'd love to get some help.

Here's what I got so far:
0 AG - The Gap Ends
3 AG - Triune reveals itself and gifts the Drift technology to the universe
7 AG - Bone Sages attack Absalom
10 AG - Veskarium completes its reconquest of Ghavaniska system
12 AG - First contact between Golarion system and Veskarium
13 AG - A colony of vesk renunciants is established on Gaskar III
36 AG to 291 AG - War between Golarion system and Veskarium breaks out (Battle of Aledra)
41 AG - The Absalom Pact is signed
47 AG - The first Conqueror's Forge is completed (Veskarium)
67 AG - Stardust Plague (any clue how long this lasts?)
83 AG - First contact with Shirren
- [big lack of information]-
154 AG - Androids gain citizen rights
- [big lack of information]-
223 AG - Burning Archipelago discovered
240 AG - First contact with Kasathas
259 AG - First contact between Vesk and Azlanti Star Empire, Najin-Korozayas is destroyed
269 AG - First contact between Pact Worlds and Azlanti Star Empire
287 AG - Lashuntas and Formians sign peace deal
291 AG to 296 AG - The Swarm attacks (Swarm War), Conqueror's Forge is destroyed by the Swarm
296 AG - Dreadnaught Emperor Dmarangor I abdicates at the end of the Swarm War
301 AG - Morilux is founded
- [big lack of information]-
316 AG - First Seeker elected, Scoured Stars incident
317 AG - SFS launched a rescue mission after the Scoured Stars incident
318 AG - SFS fights the Jinsul menace unleashed after the rescue mission
319 AG - Smear campaign against the First Seeker
320 AG - New First Seeker election
321 AG - Digital attack across the Pact Worlds (SFS gets involved)

Hello!
Me and two other friends got invited to play a new campaign, and we're looking to make three characters with strong ties to one another.
We want them to be both linked through background and through actual in game mechanics (meaning built to work best together in all situations, rather than being 3 random characters that found themselves in the same party).

So here I am looking for your input. It can be anything: concepts for a trio (eg. a medieval "rockband"), references to movies/games (eg. Olaf, Baleog and Eric from The Lost Vikings), builds ideas, or anything else that comes to mind. The more the better!

Even if you can't figure out how to translate the concept to an in game character, that's ok! Our Master is more than willing to work with us on it, maybe porting some stuff from PF 1st ed or looking for 3PP races.

Didn't put a hard limit like CRB-only, but he wants everything to be run by him, even if it comes from official releases (3pp and home-brew is completely banned, but I'm ok with it).

At this point, I just want to make the character. If he puts too many limits, I'll keep it in storage and look for another game.

Sorry for the late reply, but I got some news.

The DM now only wants us to use classes from the Core Rulebook, so Vanguard / Biohacker / Witchwarper are no longer an option :(
It's a shame cause Witchwarper seemed cool too!

We're still unsure about races, but if he's going to allow it I'm set on playing Spathinae. It's not the strongest pick, but I love the idea of a swarm spy.

I decided to go with the Technomancer. My friend is going Envoy, but the rest of the party seems to be already pretty well built for combat, so Soldier seems a bit too much.

Here's what I got so far:

- Race: Spathinae (+2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Con)
- Class: Technomancer (Computer, Engineering, Life Science, Mysticism, Physical Science, Piloting, Profession, Sleight of Hands CS)
- Theme: Street Rat (+1 Dex, Stealth CS)
- Point Buy: +3 Dex, +6 Int, +1 Con
- Level 5 Ability increase: Dex, Int, Wis, Cha.
- Total Ability Scores: 10, 18, 9, 18, 14, 12
- I'll be taking the Espionage Specialist archetype after all. The only thing I lost which I really care about is "Cache capacitor 2", but I get some other cool stuff, so that's ok.

Now comes the choices part...
- Magic Hacks (lvl 2): for a spy, Quick Scan sounds very fitting, but I'm afraid it's not going to be very helpful, unless the DM really decides to focus on it (doubt it). Both Fabricate Tech and Countertech seem also fitting for a spy (to get tools they don't have, or to defend themselves if caught).
- Magic Hacks (lvl 5): I'm 99% sure I'll take Fabricate Arms. With my racial abilities, I might be able to squeeze in places where I can't bring my weapon with me. This solves the problem.
- Spells and Feats: still no clue what to pick, I'm looking into those. Any tips?
- Equip and stuff: haven't even started looking... any must have for a spy?

The source manual is the Alien Archive 3. Here's a few info that might come in handy:

Damage can disrupt a Spathinae colony's network, or even cause the colony to "die", their connection failing and sapience fading away. Hundreds of constituents might survive, but the colony dissipates [...] Remnants of "dead" colonies might join other constituents to form a new colony [...] A given colony can endure for more than a century, but colonies also disperse and re-form, surrendering individuality for greater good.

This should mean that single insects have the ability to unlink and relink to colonies, if necessary.

Shapable (Ex) Given 1 minute, a Spathinae colony can alter their shape. The colony can form and control up to four limbs. IF the colony loses a limb, they can use this ability to "regrow" the limb. [...]

Considering you can shape hands and such, it's safe to assume the width of a finger is enough to keep the link intact.

Also I don't know how (or even if possible) to upload images here, but looking at the two images of Spathinae on the alien archive page, it shows as some of these insects are just flying close to the "body", probably to signal that the whole colony constantly shuffles around. Which makes me think in order to be connected they don't need to touch all the time (might be anything form being a apart for a few seconds, to possibly more). That of course doesn't take into account equip anymore.

I'm considering a Technomancer actually, but that's another topic in the Advice section :)

The Spathinae is described as "an insectile species [...] Each inch-long Spathinae is much like the insect it resembles, but thousands organise themselves to form a biological and neural network [...]"

They have an ability called "Swarm Flexibility" which, among other things, says "A Spathinae colony has compression".

Compression is defined in the same manual (Alien Archive 3) as: "The creature can move through an area as small as one-quarter of its space without squeezing or one-eighth its space when squeezing."

Given the Spathinae has two monster templates examples (Guard and Explorer), both with equipment including weapons, and both with the Swarm Flexibility ability, it's safe to assume that they can use such ability while carrying that equipment.

So here's my question. If they were to drop their equipment, which is the single biggest part they need to fit through something, would they be able to go through even smaller spaces?
Could they go under a door, or inside a vent, given they are swarms of "inch-long" creatures?

I'm interested in both RAW and RAI replies.

All great suggestions, I'm looking into those!

I'm a bit confused about the Soldier. While Special Ops seems nice, I'm not sure what to do with all those feats, considering they are supposed to be Combat feats, not any feat.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mean I can't really takes feats that would help with skills and rp, but only stuff for combat situations, right?

I completely forgot about the Technomancer! I'll start looking into their spells, there's a ton of it from what I can see. Any must-pick you'd suggest?

The Street Rat theme looks perfect actually. Good bonuses, and works great with the rebel thingy.

I'll wait to hear from my friend before picking a race. I've played Astrazoans once before, and it was a lot of fun. But since I've never tried the Spathinae, I'm more inclined towards it, especially if I end up having some disguise spell.

Any other suggestion is welcome :)

Hello!
It has been a long time since I've played Starfinder, and plenty of new manuals have come out. I'm thrilled to try some new things, and I just found a new group to play with. So here I am again, asking for some tips for my new character.

My idea is to build a character which works as some kind of spy, but with a twist: I don't want to play neither Operative nor Envoy classes.

A few details that might interest you:
- We will start at level 5. [so please don't suggest high-lvl-only builds that I will probably never achieve]
- We already have at least a Mystic and a Mechanic, so I'd rather skip those classes too.
- We are part of some rebel group, freedom fighters stuff, meaning most sessions are likely to be set in towns and space stations, rather than wilderness.

Also, I'm building this character together with another player (merging our backgrounds). His character is going to be another spy (likely Envoy), whose cover identity is being a somewhat famous streamer. She will use her computer skills, alongside her fame and charms, to get us invites and give us access to lots of places and targets. I'll be playing the part of her assistant (or some other staff), and I'd like to find a way to complement their build.

Right now I'm considering Astrazoans or Spathinae as races. The first is great for a spy, changing shape and getting through very tight spaces; the second gives me a fly speed, and I could move through vents and stuff just as easily (with the downside of taking 1 minute to change shape). I would assume Spathinae have the huge downside of being somewhat rare and recognisable though. But I'm open to other suggestions!

I'm really lost on classes. I'm looking into Vanguard right now, since it would fit well with the rebel thing, and having a tank as a spy sounds kinda fun (if we get caught, we can try to flee and I can protect my friends, without necessarily having to murder everyone). Biohacker also has a nice ring to it, I've never seen one being played. But I'm really not set onto it yet, so please give some suggestions!

Themes: Outlaw would of course work, but it's kinda boring. Sensate seems kinda cool. Themeless always works. Any tips?

Archetype: optional, but could be fun. Commando or Espionage Specialist would work well. Thoughts?

I know it's usually one person, but since we are 3 players we liked the idea of being a "travelling courthouse" or something like that. We will find criminals (allegedly), give them a fair trial, and execute them if found guilty.

In our mind, the jury (or juror in this case) has to be impartial, but also able to determine (within reason) if the person being judged is innocent or not. Mechanically, that involves mostly the Sense Motive skill, and any other skill that allows them to figure it out.

While today there is no need for a juror to investigate further, since there are lawyers that will already give you all the facts, in our idea of an ancient trial, the juror has to investigate a bit (mostly by listening to the answers to the judge's question or asking of his own) to reach a conclusion.

In other words, the jury will have to work to make reach a verdict, the judge will decide the sentence, and the executioner will carry it out.

I'll look into the Arbiter bard, it's not an archetype I'm familiar with.

I'm looking at the Inheritor's Crusader, and I have to admit the 'Sword against injustice' really has the right vibe!
I like the idea of having a familiar to get a second opinion. For that, I was actually thinking about the Leadership feat, to gain a cohort to

I don't know much about the Medium, but doesn't he let spirits control him? Not sure how that would fit into the whole picture. A Spiritualist could be another option there, having a second juror as his ghost...

Thanks for your inputs, I'll pass it down the line and see what the others think.

Hello.
Me and a couple of friends are trying to build 3 characters around the concept of being Judge, Jury, and Executioner in a town.
We will be starting at level 11, and we already have a few ideas, but we are stuck on the Jury part. We would also like to hear from you guys if you have any tips about what we have so far.

Let's begin with Judge: There is a great PC called Justiciar, which sounds perfect for it. In order to meet the requirements, we are thinking about going Cavalier (Archetype Circuit Judge) for the other levels. That would mean Circuit Judge 8 | 3 Justiciar.
We are not 100% sure about the Cavalier part, but it gives us a bonus to Intimidate, Knowledge (local) and Sense Motive, and the ability to gain some inquisitor judgments, which isn't bad. We are considering other classes, but haven't found anything more fitting yet.

As for the Executioner, pretty much anything that can kill you would work.
We looked again at prestige classes, and found the Gray Warden, which actually requires you to have publicly executed someone; that's just perfect.
Gray Warden requires 5 skill ranks and ability to cast 2nd level divine spells. We are considering a few base classes, but we haven't found anything that great yet. We are currently evaluating the Warpriest, to gain the spell ability and a bit of flavour. We avoided the Paladin mostly because it takes spells very late, and is bound to being good (not great).
That would bring us to Warpriest 5 | Gray Warden 7

And here comes the hard part: the Jury.
WE HAVE NO IDEAS.
Ok we do have a few, but nothing definitive yet. Investigator seems like a good start, since you can get some good bonuses on Sense Motive, Diplomacy, and Knowledges (all things I think would benefit a Jury). Anyone able to cast some divination spells, would also be good probably. We are looking for suggestions on this topic in particular.

Any other tip you feel like sharing, it's appreciated.

I'd do as follow:
- Step 1: Confront the GM privately. It's important to you and the other players to understand why he's allowing it.
- Step 2. Confront the Operative AT THE TABLE with everyone else. Tell him what you think is going on, and that he needs to stop it.
- Step 3. Give him a chance to explain. If he pretends nothing is going on, have him prove it: the guy next to him will double check his rolls (they can lean in to see it better, or get larger dice) for at least the next 2-3 sessions. If he pulls the dice, have him roll again. If he protests against it, take him out of a couple of sessions. He'll decide if he wants to play fair, or not play at all.

You're giving him a chance to change and play fair. If he doesn't take it, lose him immediately.

Or you know, if it's someone you don't care about, just kick him plain and simple.

A player cheating is never good. And if he cheats on those stupid rolls, who knows what else is he cheating on? Is he scaling down his SP/HP correctly? Is he adding the right amount of credits, or double it? And so on.

If you keep him, I'd suggest your GM to check his entire character sheet, to make sure he doesn't have additional ranks or other bonuses he shouldn't have.

The game should be fun for everyone, including the GM. He shouldn't have to worry about how to counter a cheater. He already has enough work to do to make things challenging for such a large team.

Thanks for the replies. I know it will get worse as you level up, it was just weird to me that at level 5 it's still stronger than most weapons.

Remember that even with Improved Unarmed Strike, the attack is with an Archaic weapon. It will do 5 less damage unless the race gives a special exception (Vesk, Nuar, a few others) or the target is wearing no armor.

I forgot about this! Thanks!

Now considering the lack of enchantments and the arctic type, it makes it a lot less valuable.

Hi,
one of my players is building up a soldier, and we noticed his unarmed strikes are way stronger than any appropriate melee weapon he can use.

He's level 5, and he has a powered armor. That gives him:
1d10 basic damage, +5 dmg (equal to his soldier level, given by weapon specialisation), +4 dmg (STR modifier, given by the 18 STR of his powered armor), +2 dmg (additional half STR mod, given by Hammer Fist).

That adds up to 1d10+11. Given the best level 5 2H melee weapon he can get (Swoop Hammer, tactical), he would do the same. Any other weapon he could get would do a lot less damage.

Am I missing something? Or is it just that powered armor pretty much make melee weapons useless?

Hello.
My players have asked me to run a new campaign, and they would like to play a group of Grey in it. Given the particular lore, I don’t feel like the usual campaign would fit in well. They are a mysterious race and have little to no contact with other races (other than kidnapping and probing).
I was wondering if anyone has run a similar campaign already, and if you guys have any tips on what I could have them do to make it fun.

If it was a one-shot it would have been much easier, but they don’t enjoy short adventures, which is why they asked me for a campaign.

I could really use your help on this. Ideas?

The race doesn't make the character interesting, the player does.

That's true, but humans will always be humans. The lore, the history, and even what they can and can't do has all been seen over and over. Different races open up new options, both mechanically (like the 6 armed skittermander, or the Khizards senses) and lore-wise (think Maraquoi traditionalists or Gray's secret history).

Sure a human can be a well thought character, with a rich background and everything. But I feel that, at least in the official setting, the "old world races" (especially humans) get lost in the landscape and have little new to offer in RP.

Anyway, that's another topic that would require his own thread. If you wanna start one, I'll be happy to contribute.

Short version: My point is, combat maneuvers are much harder in SF than in PF, and I wanted to make sure you were aware of that.

Oh yeah I got that, which is also why I thought of the "diplomacy first", instead of a more direct "non-lethal / CMB" build. I'd love a character that can easily disarm the opponent, but I've seen a few builds that work on CMB and they are still pretty hard to pull off, which lead me to find a more peaceful approach.

I don't want to rain on your parade, but a non-full BAB character is going to have a hard time specializing in combat maneuvers.

I know, but since the plan is to negotiate first, restrain if that doesn't work, Operative gives me more tools to do so. It's not just diplomacy, it's sense motive, bluff, even knowledges can come in handy.

That's what the Taclash and Merciful weapons are for. You may not succeed at maneuvers, but you will be able to subdue enemies without lasting harm.

I'll make sure to check them, when I got the credits for it.

Be really careful of archetypes - make sure you understand the tradeoffs. I would map out what the character will look like without one all the way to whatever level you expect to make it to, then overlay what changes the archetype will make. Then, see which one you like better. It seems to me most of the archetypes are aimed less at battlefield utility and more at roleplaying/out of combat play. Which means unless you're very careful, you'll feel very underwhelmed with any given archetype until you hit higher levels (13 or so) unless your group happens to spend more type on the story/rp rather than doing combats.

Your backgrounds seems very well thought! I know archetypes are not the best for combat, but I don't know which level we are gonna get to (new master, we could last months or days depending on how we like each others). The only thing I know is that he will tailor the campaign to our characters (I asked what kind of adventures he plans on doing, he said not to worry, to show him what characters we make and he will make it from there), so I assume that if I have a less-combat oriented character, it won't be a "kill-kill-kill" campaign.

You get more feats in Starfinder then you do in Pathfinder. If I were you I would go soldier and just get skill focus for diplomacy.

If I keep the archetype, I wouldn't get the combat feats from the soldier anyway. The Operative doesn't just give me Diplomacy, it gives plenty of social tools to handle various situations.

Are you sure about human?

I'm not. I've always thought humans were boring, but with so many races it's hard to choose. And it would make "less" sense to me having a cop that can't really see (as the new plant-race) or that looks like a huge monster when his main focus is trying to convince you to trust he doesn't want to hurt you. I could see the SROs being a good fit for the concept; I assume as robots they like codes of conducts and to follow a specific set of actions.

I like the idea of Spacefarer theme. Priest feels more like a paladin than a cop to me. Outlaw is cool for the dirty cop concept, but this isn't the case.

I see the Operative is popular, and as Claxon pointed out diplomacy should be my main focus.

So this is what we got so far:
- Class Operative
- Race probably Human
- Theme Spacefarer
- Archetype: Steward Officer

Now it comes down to feats. Having 0 BAB doesn't let me take improved combat manoeuvres yet, so what should I go with?

One possibility would be a Skill Synergy, to get maybe physical and life science (knowledges are good for a detective). Improv initiative is another option, making it easier for me to go first means more chances of ending the fight before it starts... Any other tip?

I don't have a real background yet, the idea came to me only yesterday. Beat cop would be good to begin with. Since we are low level, I don't want him to be already a "super hero special strongest guy who ever lived in the entire galaxy" kind of character... He will be a regular cop, who ended up with the party by chance while travelling from his home planet to his new job.

From what the GM told me about the campaign, that's how we are gonna meet: party members don't know each others, they'll group up to deal with a major issue on the spaceship they are travelling on, which will lead to the first adventure.

So the idea is just a regular young guy, with little field experience and great respect for the rules, who believes he can solve anything if he applies what he learnt in the academy.

Hello!
I'm building my second character ever for Starfinder, and I could use some help. The character is going to start at 1st level. Ability Scores will probably be rolled, but the exact numbers are not important right now.

I'd like my character to behave (ideally) as a policeman would do. When confronted, he should be able in diplomatic skills in order to de-escalate the situation if possible. If talking isn't an option, his objective will be disarming / incapacitating the target. Lethal force should be a last resort for life-threatening situations only.

I just bought "Pact Worlds", and I found the archetype "Steward Officer", described as:

The Stewards are as much diplomats are they are police, though violence is always a last resort for them.

That's perfect, but it makes choosing a class a bit harder. It replaces abilities at 2nd, 4th, and 9th levels.

Operative and Soldier were the two classes I was thinking about, but losing the exploits or the feats makes a big difference.
The Operative (Detective probably) would give me an advantage in social encounters, and a lot of skills. The Soldier would give me better proficiencies, making combat a bit "safer" (allowing me to waste more turns trying to disarm or pin down someone instead of straight killing him).
What would you do?

Next comes the Theme. I HAVE NO CLUE.
Bounty Hunter or Corporate Agent seem good for social, Ace Pilot or Cyberborn would fit almost any concept, and a bunch of others could work as well.
There isn't really a theme that enhances how my concept feels like, so any suggestion on the topic would be appreciated.

And then we get to Races. Having access to all manuals, I counted a total of 41 possible races. Here's what I got so far:
- Strix: fly is good, dark-vision too.
- SROs: our Mechanic could have built me, dark-vision.
- Borais: undead is cool, good AS (Ability Scores), Old Talents seem nice.
- Astrazoans: great to get in and out of places, between compression and change form. Decent AS
- Skittermander: good grappler, LOTS of hands for tools and weapons, good AS
- Humans: boring, but that feat is always amazing to have.
- Dragonkin: good AS, "Partner Bond" is cool for the cop-buddy, flight and dark-vision

I might have overlooked some races, but those are the main ones that seem to give useful stuff. There are a few that I like lore-wise, but I'm not making the same mistake twice by taking "useless" features just for the sake of lore.

As you can see I'm really undecided and I could use your help. Any thoughts?

I forgot to say, the tokens I'm looking for are the "top view" kind, so the NPC looks like as seen from above. Not the coin-portrait kind.

First I look here on the forums. If I can't find what I'm looking for, I do a google or pinterest search, then crop to fit 90x90 pixels at 72dpi.

Why not use a TMNT?

Which forums do you use? TMNT would be ok, but I couldn't find tokens for it either.

You could probably find a few pics of kappa that would work.

Not sure who or what kappa is, but searching "kappa tokens" gives me my little pony. Weird.

I do a google image search:

turtle humanoid

I tried that, it gives you a lot of great images, but the only token I could find (from roll20 marketplace actually) looks more like a frog wearing a shell on his back, rather than a turtle. Also has a very creepy smile.

I’m looking for suggestions on where to find good tokens for my roll20 campaign. Specifically, I’m having a very hard time finding any turtle-humanoid token, which I need for a character inspired by the 5e tortle race.
Where do you usually look for hard to find tokens?

Those are some great tips, thank you guys! It gave me a prospective of what should I focus on to begin with.

I'll keep working on it, and eventually come back here for more advice on more specific scenarios.

Thanks!

3 - that's how thing usually work if you have several experts on things (people with same knowledge checks). If the wizard doesn't recognize the demon, he asks the cleric if he knows any better. Your problem is with your critical failures with skills which skew the normal procedure in the game. We don't find fun in failing mundane tasks.

You misunderstood me. I don't have a problem if two characters roll the same knowledge because they both are "experts" on that kind of thing. It bothers me when people with 1 lonely rank decide to roll after seeing the experts failing their rolls, only because they can't re-roll and you could get lucky with a high roll.

The critical failures are something all my players enjoy and expect, but while laughing at the results most of they time they are incapable of not letting them affect their future actions.

In the example, if the Wizard mistakes a Tar Jelly for a Black Pudding, people wouldn't act on the information they got from the wizard, because they (players, not characters) know it's wrong due to the low roll. The wizard himself wouldn't ask anyone else if they knew what they are facing, and would probably be on the defensive if someone tries to tell him wrong (him being, usually, the one with the highest INT and knowledges).
If he rolled a 5, everything is fine. He doesn't recognise the creature, and anyone is up for trying. But if he rolls a 1, he does believe it's another similar creature (or the same, but with wrong abilities or such).

I think some of them really depend on how descriptive of a GM you have. For example, with a STR check, seeing that the hinge on the door is starting to buckle when you try to break it would give a sense of how close your STR check came without necessarily needing a roll. It may even prompt another try or cause a player to give up when they see the door isn't budging at all.

This is exactly my point for rolling it in secret. If he rolls a 14 but needed a 15, my description will give away that something is happening, but it's not enough. But if he rolls a 2, the item won't seem to be affected by his attempt to break it. Without knowing the dice roll, he might give up, or decide to give it another try anyway.

As for taking 20, it's not always an option. Taking 20 requires time, and u don't always have it.

I also let good in-character role-playing substitute entirely for some rolls. For example, if the PCs happen to describe that they're looking for something in exactly the place that it's hidden, OR the PCs really need that clue to continue their investigation, then I don't bother making them roll a Perception check: They just find it. Or, if they spin a convincing story to get past the guards, I just let it work. It depends on the story needs of the scene.

I do allow role-playing substitute rolls only on social skills, but it's not a must. Some players would like to play a very charismatic character, but can't role-play it well enough, so I leave them the choice of rolling it. This goes mostly for diplomacy and intimidate.

Firstly: I use "Passive Perception." [...] This ends up making sneakier types a little stronger, but if people are on watch or are looking for something, I allow them to roll it. If they're just walking around, passive.

Secondly: I don't tend to ask for rolls when people don't prompt me for them. [...]

Thirdly: The only times I've seen DMs really want to roll for their players is if their players have a history of fudging rolls. [...]

Fourthly: I think taking away dice rolling from the players and conducting it behind your own screen in any substantial fashion does nothing but harm the game environment. It might add suspense to the game, but it also adds paranoia, and it sows distrust. Especially in some of your listed examples, like Knowledge checks. Why should someone not know the result of their knowledge check? A certain amount of meta-knowledge is expected in these games, so if someone rolls a 24, and the result necessary was a 25, they understand that this was some very difficult to obtain knowledge. Rolling low on a stealth, most stealthy types should be cognizant of their own failures. And I can't even fathom a world where hiding a str check to break something benefits the game in any way.

1. That could be a good solution, but I don't get why they would have to roll while on watch. If they roll a 1, they shouldn't be more alert just because they know they missed something.

2. Me neither.

3. That's not the issue, since we play mostly online. My main issues are two:
-A: Other players acting on someone's failure: for example, when the bard fails the Knowledge Dungeoneering check, any character with even just 1 rank will try it. Which they wouldn't have if he rolled a good score.
-B: Player knowing their information is wrong: such as knowing the ranger failed the Survival check, and they are gonna get lost, so even the guy with no ranks will roll it and be like "Who cares if you are the tracker and wilderness expert, I know this is the wrong way".

I tried solving it by asking before hand who would try it, like if someone goes "I roll sense motive", before he does I ask if anyone else wants to. But it usually ends up with the entire party rolling, just because they can.

4. Back to answer 3, this prevents me from giving them false information. If you roll a 24 on a 25 check to identify a monster weakness, I might give you a piece of information quite accurate but with a little error. But if you rolled a natural 1 (yes, we fumble on skills usually), I might give you completely wrong informations because you got confused and that monster was not resistant to cold, he was vulnerable to it maybe.
As for STR checks to break objects, it's a way to prevent rolls spam. If you are trying to bend those iron bars and you fail without knowing by how much, you might start thinking at another way to get out. But if you see you rolled a 5, be sure that even the guy with 10 STR is gonna try in case he gets a 20... Of course this depends on the object; sometimes you can see the damage you are doing to it, so that's another story.

I like that idea! Keeping the real objective from them until they are ready to face it. That would allow me to give them other missions to follow, and dropping little hints for the future main quest to look back at when the time comes!

As far as Perception rolls, I often ask for Perception rolls when they are not combat or plot related just to keep players guessing. As far as things like Disguise, I allow players to roll and know what they got, because as someone that actually is a hobbyist with special effects makeup, I think they should be able to tell if their attempt looks decent or not.

I'm still in doubt about stuff like Disguise. While it's true that you might notice you have done a bad job, most people see themselves (and what they make) better than it actually is. I could allow a perception check from the rest of the group to notice how it's done tho.

The problem comes from abilities that might allow for a reroll the player doesn't know you rolled a 2 for them or that the roll you just marked off was a 4 so they don't know if they should have used an ability that allows a reroll on that check.

If you mean things like Disable Device or Escape Artist, they can roll it. If they get a bad result, it's up to them to decide if they want to spend more time to try again.

If you mean other kinds of rerolls, such as from traits or feats, that's more problematic. I would probably ask them to give me a guideline for it. For example, "I want to use it for any check below 5" or "I only want to use it for saving throws below 10" or "I want to use it for any roll below 10 with Spellcraft". It might get complicated, and I'll have to see what the players thing about it, but it might be a solution.

I'm just starting to prepare it, we are supposed to play it next summer.

So you're suggesting that if I give them 3 possible causes, I shouldn't allow them to follow a wrong route and play it as if they chose the right one? Or just completely avoid giving them wrong-intel?

The idea of multiple theories was mostly to make it more realistic. If the NPCs new what was the real source, someone else would have taken the task to fix it by now. Of course any "wrong" route they would follow would still lead to great treasures, XP, and possibly clues on the real source.

Since solving the issue should be the end-game objective, I can't just constantly give them clues or it would end too soon. I could give them side quests, but they could just ignore them.

Any tips?

Learning an opponent AC is not that important, and you won't learn his total HP until he's dead. It's not like you are gonna change much your combat style if he has 15 AC vs 25 AC.

Knowing that you missed something because you all rolled a low perception, or that the "perfectly safe to eat" berry is not so because your roll was a natural 1, changes a lot the way you are gonna play. Even knowing that the tracks you are following can't be the right one, because that 12 is clearly not enough to track such a stealthy creature in the jungle, will have you give up sooner and go another way.

You would still have the drama since all rolls that have an immediate effect would still be rolled by the players. Reflex saves, skills involving physical abilities (acrobatics, climb, swim and so on) or anything that gives you a "success or failure" result (no false information) such as intimidate or heal to stop a character from bleeding out. All combat checks, including saves against spell effects or damage, would still be rolled by them.

I think removing some of the dice-rolling from their hands can improve their role-play. Nobody would lose any sleep over a character hearing something in the bushes if you see he rolled a 4, since it's probably just him being afraid, or hearing a rabbit. But if he hears something and nobody knows the roll result, chances are they will investigate or double the guard for the night. Don't you think?

Players do indeed like to roll their dice. I think this sort of thing is ok, but less is more.

For skills, I wont have a player roll for disguise, forgery, profession, etc, until they are applying the roll. So if a player wants to forge documents, I wont have them roll until the moment those documents are being used. Its also relies on context of the situation. If the player's level of skill is outmatched by the task ill give them a wisdom roll to know that.

That's a good idea, rolling only when you can't go back on it anymore.

At the beginning of each gaming session, I ask for 15 d20 rolls from each character (including animal companions and familiars).

If I need to make a "secret" roll, I cross off the next number on that character's pre-roll list.

Everyone is still rolling their own dice, but they don't get any meta information from being asked to roll at a particular spot in the adventure.

This is a great idea. That way nobody can say I'm making up rolls either!

"A creature that successfully saves against a spell that has no obvious physical effects feels a hostile force or a tingle, but cannot deduce the exact nature of the attack." (Under Magic.)

That's the thing, they know only if they successfully save against it. If they fail, they might not realise their thoughts were read or they were the subject of a scrying spell.

But you do have a point saying there are many abilities that let you re-roll failed saves. I would probably have to discuss about it with my players.

I tend to just have my players roll and trust them not to metagame. On the other hand there are times where its fun for the players to not know if something happened. Example im running book 3 of Carrion Crown which has werewolves and i told the party that i would be rolling their saves against lycanthropy for them in order to increase their sense of paranoia and they are really liking that.

I wish I could trust them, but I can't. As a player I realise that knowing something (out of character) makes it hard to make the wrong choice with the character.

The only way to avoid any kind of meta game, is for a player to have no interest in surviving at all costs. If you realise that your characters are supposed to die in some situations, then you act in character even if you know it's a bad choice. The example I gave you happened to me, (with different spells tho); I knew it was going to end badly, but my character didn't have that knowledge, so he did what he would do in any other fight: use his strongest spell. Unluckly for him it was lighting, which made the Ooze burst into flames and he got KOed instantly due to intense damage and low HPs. He died soon after.

In the end, I can see most of you agree on using secret rolls. I'm glad to hear that!
I'll make sure to talk to my players about it, but you having my back is a good start.

Lately I've been wondering if it wouldn't be better for players if the GM rolled some stuff for them, for example:

1. Saves against effects they are unaware of: if a creature is using detect thoughts on them, they shouldn't know. If they risk contracting a disease, or being poisoned, they shouldn't know until the effects show. This mostly goes for Fortitude saves and some Will saves.

2. Skill checks: knowing how much you rolled, or even that you had to roll, can lead to changes of strategy and meta gaming. Asking them to roll Perception puts them on the defensive even if they all fail. Rolling low on a Stealth or Disguise makes you think twice about what you wanted to do. A bad Sense Motive or Knowledge check most of the times ends with other players trying to roll it even if they wouldn't have initially (because maybe they had a lot less ranks in it). And even knowing a Bluff was bad can prevent the DM from having the guards faking to believe it to act upon it later.
Any roll that shouldn't be a clear success/failure (such as climb, escape artist, intimidate, sleight of hands...), would be better if rolled secretly by the DM.

3. Ability Checks: a STR check to break something, or a CON to withstand something. Knowing you rolled a low STR will just have you try again, and knowing that CON check will give you a good idea of how many rounds you have to act before you have to face the consequences.

On one side, I know people like to roll their dices. If the DM rolls everything, what's the point of even having character sheet? On the other hand, having the DM roll can help focusing more on the role-play side, and less on the math behind it, avoiding any kind of meta game (let's face it, few players act on bad info if they know it's bad) on their side.

What do you guys think? Have you ever tried something like that?

Anyone ?

Spiderclimb is a 2nd level spell, so it's either 300gp (Clerics, Druid, Wizards) or 400gp (Sorcerers, Bards, Paladins, Rangers) depending on who's making it. I don't think you can brew one with CL 1 or 2. A wizard has to be level 3 to know such a spell, so CL3 should be the minimum you can get.

As for the chatter ring, it's a cursed item; that's why it doesn't have a cost. It says it's similar to a Ring of Eloquence, so if I were to sell it I would try to charge the same as that item. Maybe a little less, to make it easier to sell.
Since a Ring of Eloquence costs 1750 to make and has a base price of 3500, I would probably try to sell it at around 3250, going no lower than 2750 if the person interested wants to fight me on the price. Going lower would be suspicious, and not worth the risk of getting caught.

I'm starting to build a new campaign for my players, and I could use some tips.

It's going to be a Good campaign, where the main objective will be finding a way to stop what's killing a ton of innocent people: could be a natural disease, a secret guild poisoning people, a curse placed by a strong wizard, or even the punishment from an angry god.

That being said, I'm trying to lay down which steps the campaign should follow:
1. The characters, simple people, face the disease for the first time in their home village.
2. An NPC important to them will be affected by it, giving them the first quest to look for help in a nearby town.
3. No matter where they go, they end up discovering the disease is spread everywhere. Every temple, alchemist lab, or magical shop will tell them the same thing: if they can find a cure, they will be greatly rewarded (by the king or whatever...). Most NPCs will also have their theories about what's going on and how to fix it.
4. They will have to investigate those theories, or for one of their own, and chase after informations on what could fix the problem.
5. Once they have a theory, they will have to act upon it. It's a disease? Find a creature able to heal it (maybe an old hermit druid, or a legendary fey lost in the woods). It's a curse? Find a way to break it. God's action? Find a way to please him for forgiveness, or to get to him and force his hand. And so on...

Given their humble beginnings, they will most likely start at level 1, but they will level up pretty fast in order face harder challenges the closer they get to a solution.

And here comes your input. I've never run a campaign focused on such an event; I usually go for the classic BBEG they know from the beginning, or shorter adventures with a dungeon and such.
If you know of any published adventure I should check that revolves heavy around a curse or a disease, let me know!

Also, if you think about anything I should consider beforehand, I'm all hears. Both players and DMs, if you would have to play such a campaign, what would you do / what would you expect to get out of it?

Hello!
I'm building a character focused on crafting all kinds of stuff, and I quickly realised that most lists are not updated or lack some content.

Let's start with the classics:
- Scribe Scroll
- Brew Potions
- Craft Magic Arms and armor
- Craft Wondrous Items
- Craft Constructs
- Craft Wands
- Craft Rods
- Craft Staff
- Forge Rings

To those, d20pfsrd adds a few other item creation feats:
- Brew Fleshcrafting Poison (mimics monster abilities)
- Craft Ooze (create Oozes)
- Craft Poppet (sort-of craft constructs for dolls)
- Cultivate Magic Plants (grows magical plants)
- Fleshwarper (modify your body to gain new abilities)
- Grow Plant Creatures (craft constructs for plants)
- Inscribe Magical Tattoo (sort-of craft Wondrous Items which don't take your item slots)
- Haunt Scavenger (gather materials from ghosts to use in place of other mats or spells)
- Inscribe Rune (craft only 1 rune that works like a magic item without taking a slot)

Then there are item creation feats that are under "General Feats", mostly for the Technologist, such as:
- Craft Cybernetics
- Craft Pharmaceutical
- Craft Shoddy Item
- Craft Technological Arms and Armor
- Craft Technological Item
- Create Sanguine Elixir (for Sorcerers)

And those that make your crafts better in some way:
- Reinforce Crafting
- Aligned Crafting
- Create Enhanced Firearm
- Create Reliquary Arms and Shields

Then while looking around a few manuals from my friends, I've found there are more item creation feats that are not included in either list. A few a couple:
- Dragoncrafting (create various items from dragon remains)
- Craft Shadow Piercing (works similar to Tattoos, with limited number)
You can find those on D20, but only if you look specifically for it through search. They are not in any list from what I could see.

I'm sure there are more hidden in other manuals, but me and my friends have only a few...

Does anyone have a list of all possible crafting related feats (feats that either allow you to craft new stuff or modify your crafting, not just a mere +X to your Craft skill)? Or do you know any other feat like those that I didn't mention?

Thanks

Hello! For reasons I won’t bother you with, my character has all craft skills possible (with a flat 47 check), plus many item creation feats.

I was wondering what are the most absurd and yet effective ways you have used or seen for the craft skills?

Anything from mundane items to wondrous or constructs is fair game to me. Surprise me!

Perfect, thanks!

Hello!
I'm working on my Animal Companion and I'm a bit confused. My companion is a 9th level "Mokele-Mbembe". It just unlocked the Trample special ability, but I'm having a hard time understanding hot it works exactly.

1. First of all, I'm confused about the damage:

Targets of a trample take an amount of damage equal to the trampling creature’s slam damage + 1-1/2 times its Str modifier.

My animal companion doesn't have a slam attack, it only has bite and tail slap.

2. How can I move? And how far?
Do I have to move in a straight line, or can I zig-zag as much as I want (within my speed limit) in order to trample more targets? Can I move at double my speed if I stay in a straight line?

3. How does it interact with Overrun feats?
Does Improved Overrun grant me immunity from AoO during a Trample action? Does it also prevent the enemies from trying to move away? Do other feats such as Charge Through work with it?
In other words, is Trample a sort of extension of an Overrun CMB (making it full-round), or does it have nothing to do with it and gain no benefit from Overrun feats?

4. How would it interact with a creature that has a brace weapon readied against me?

Ehm, you're right :| Both me and the DM didn't notice it...

Hello!
I’ll be starting a new campaign soon, and I’m intrigued by the mystic theurge. We start at lvl 10, custom races (advanced 11-20 RP) and with rolled stats.

I’m thinking a wizard 3 / Druid 3 / MT 4. This should allow me at lvl 20 to be cast as a wizard 17 and Druid 17, gaining access to 9th lvl spells for both.

I wanted to go for a crafter build. I know it’s not perfect for the MT, but it helps having all those spells... what I’m not sure about are feats and spells.

Feats I have: brew potions, craft wondrous items, craft magic arms and armor, craft constructs, grow plants (and the prerequisite for it), craft oozes and improved familiar (IMP)

Oozes and plants sound cool, but I’ve never seen it used, so I’m not sure how helpful they are. Constructs are awesome but I could only find a few on d20.

As for spells, is there a guide I couldn’t find to pick the most useful ones for crafting?

Another thing I’m conflicted about is the animal companion. My character is gonna be tiny, so I can mount anything. Since the companion won’t level up (only 3 Druid levels) its kinda pointless to have it for combat: it would get smashed at lvl 10. So the options I’m thinking are: something with a lot of str to carry all our loots, something that flies for easy travel (which would go against the construct army following me) or something with both land and either swim or climb speeds for special environments.
Before you ask, I know very little of the setting of our campaign. I mostly know we are all evil

So yeah, any tip is greatly appreciated!

Plenty of good tips here!

I have to say I do not agree with those who say lawful good is the average person. In my experience, lawful and chaotic, just like good and evil, push the limits of the average.

A lawful character doesn't just follow a set of laws; he tries to enforce it. Not all the time, of course, but in some major cases he should.
Likewise, a chaotic character should not just ignore laws. He should, in some situations, try to literally break the rules, and for no reason he should work for those who make the rules (such as guards, kings, and so on).

On the good/evil side, you wouldn't say a "normal" person is good. Everyone does what's more convenient to them or what makes them feel better. They won't risk their lives for a stranger, nor they will kill an innocent just for fun. The "not killing someone who gave you trouble" often doesn't fall under not being evil, but rather under not breaking the law.

As for the paladin, writing his own code goes great lengths in RP and will help him decide in each situation what's the right call.

If the master doesn't allow for skill checks between players (I usually don't), bluff. Tell him it's for a greater good. You're stealing? Tell him the object was stolen from you in the first place, or that the owner is an evil man and deserves punishment for his greed, or whatever. You want to beat someone up? Tell him he started it, or that he hits kids, or make him the bad guy in some other way.

It's not always easy, and he should give you a hard time for some stuff. But if he trusts you (and he can't make a sense motive check), he should believe you are doing the right thing too.

If you're fishing for some build ideas, here's a few:
- Angry Mom: from rolling pins to shoes, anything is a weapon!
- Indiana Jones: the professor with a whip!
- Batman: because everyone's dream is to say "I'm BATMAN!" whenever they are asked who they are!

I was looking deeper into Vow of Poverty, and I stumbled upon the item creation feat "Inscribe Magical Tattoo". I didn't even know it was a thing.

Does it allow you to have the same effect as a wondrous item, but by getting a tattoo?

I think it's intended as personal value, but I was wondering if there is a price limit. A heirloom item could be a +5 full enchanted weapon, or a simple walking stick.
I guess a MW cost is a fair price.

While I agree Intimidate is pretty easy to imagine without speech, I'm not sure about bluff and diplomacy. I guess Diplomacy could work as flirting or having friendly manners. But I hardly see Bluff working. It's true that you can simply not talk, so technically you are not lying if someone asks you "Did you see who killed..." or stuff like that, so it would be pretty limited.

It's a shame VoP is so bad :( It would make for a nice RP. Never heard of the Automatic Bonus Progression you speak of. I'll look for it, thanks!

I guess I'll ask my future DM what he thinks are appropriate actions you can take in the first two rounds then. I'd still like to hear from more players and DM alike about their experiences eventually.

Hi,
I'm looking into vows for my monk, and there are a few things I'm not sure i'm getting right:

1. Vow of Poverty:
"[...] Five of these items must be of plain and simple make, though one can be of some value [...]"
What's the value of that last item? What's considered "some" value?

Also, without magic items (or with only one at best), how do you keep up with the rest of the party, in order not to become useless?

2. Vow of Silence:
How do skills like Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate work with it? Would you make up some rule, forbid it, or just let it go like for any other character?

3. Vow of Truth:
Would a monk stay silent if someone else around him is lying (and he knows it)? Or would he intervene by telling the truth, even if not asked directly (assuming he doesn't have the vow of silence too)

4. Vow of Peace:
"The monk must strive to attain peace and may only use violence as a last resort. [...] If attacked, he must use the fight defensively action or the total defense action for the first 2 rounds."
Are you limited to those two actions, or can you do other non-damaging actions?
Could you throw a tanglefoot bag? Could you do a combat manoeuvre that doesn't do any damage (such as reposition, steal, trip, or a simple grapple)? Could you roll an intimidate check?

I'd like to hear your opinions about it, and any advice on how play it better (both build and RP wise)

Instead of going with the point buy, use the classic rolls (4d6) to determine the scores. Since they technically have 1 body but two minds, they would roll 9 scores instead of 6, and then apply them to a shared STR, DEX, CON and to each of their mental abilities. That way they would have to decide together which score goes where, and balance it on their own.

This would solve the problem with WILL saves, each would have his own. As for Fortitude, the highest score would be picked, while Reflex would probably be an average.

How about a special Drawback? Something like that if one wants to do something that the other would never do, they have to succeed a Will save of some sort, to see if they can force themselves to do it, or if the other manages to take over and stop them. Or roll at the beginning of each day, to see who actually controls the body, allowing MIND to take over sometimes.

The main issue about the body is:
- If each has the control of one arm, FIST is gonna have huge issues in combat. He would be forced to having a 1H weapon, and couldn't do some stuff like grapple, ever.
- If FIST has control of both, MIND can't cast any spell with somatic components, and could hardly cast something with material ones.

The solution can be a caster class that doesn't use somatic components. The Psion 3.5 is like that if I remember correctly.

Or add a third arm, creating a specific race for them with the race creation tool, but it would go far from the original idea.

Oh, ok!

Another suggestion I received is to build around the Warder class from Path of War. Until 10 minutes ago I didn't even know it existed, but it seems a class MADE FOR tank builds.
Is it any good? Are there some huge drawbacks I haven't noticed?