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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.

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.

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?

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.

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?

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’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?

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?

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!

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?

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!

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)

I'm trying to build a gestalt character for a rappan athuk campaign, but I have no experience at doing so (this is my second attempt, the first didn't go too well).
Due to the composition of my party (or what I could catch at least), I'm thinking to go with something melee, focused on tanking damage.

I was suggested by a fellow player to begin my build around the Sacred Shield Paladin archetype, and I do like the idea.

The character will be level 7, with 25 point buy ability scores. I'm not sure how much starting gold we have, but it should be the standard 23k.

Assuming to go 7 Sacred Shield Paladin on one side, what should I get on the other? I got told 1 level oracle, to get CHA to AC instead of DEX, but what about the other 6 levels? (also, if i'm in full plate wouldn't I lose that bonus anyway, due to max DEX to AC?)

One of my issues is the low reflex save, which is why I'm not sure going fighter on the other side is a great idea.. maybe I should get something that boosts that save, while giving me more defensive capabilities.

What would you do ?

Hello!
We constantly use alchemical creations and magic items to get out of sticky situations, or to solve problems, but often common items can come in handy in surprising ways.
Which are the most creative ways you or your players have used common objects in a game? Or even less common non-magical ones?

We all know the classic use of flour or chalk powder to find invisibles, but I'd like to hear more of your stories! Tell me all about them :)

Here's the deal: our party of 5 has only one melee character, a Paladin. He has a good build for tanking damage, but doesn't have anything to actually prevent enemies from rushing past him to his buddies. We don't want to force him to go down that road, but since we now lost our "off tank", we are looking for alternative ways to make our ranged safer. The only other melee help we have is a ghost from our Spiritualist, while the rest of us are two Gunslingers and a witch.

So we are looking for any idea on how to make it harder for melee enemies to come close to us.

The first ideas that came to mind are caltrops and marbles, to prevent charges and slow them down, or larger obstacles to make some sort of barrier. The issue with it is the time required to put them down: we can do it IF we know the fight is gonna happen. But while in a dungeon, we don't always know when and from where we will be attacked, and we can't always lure the enemies to our "prepared spot". Tanglefoot bags are also on the table...

Another idea is buying animals or hiring mercenaries, to build a better front line. It can work, and it's not too expensive, but animals require Handle Animals checks (which we are not great at), and mercenaries are not cheap in the long run (and since we are not Evil, we can't just get "cheap ones" to have them slaughtered after one fight...)

Any other idea? How do you defend your ranged characters from melee enemies or from ambushes from the back?

Hello!
I'm building my first gestalt character for Rappan Athuk. I'll be the 6th player, and from what I've been told we have plenty of damage deals but little support behind them.

So I'm thinking to go for a full support character, to boost my allies whichever way possible.

One one side, I will probably go full Bard. Not sure if I should take an archetype, but as of now I don't think I will.

On the other side, I have NO CLUE. I was suggested 1 Paladin, 2 Monk, 1 Oracle, for some bonuses, but after that I'm not sure where to go. I'm thinking maybe Chavalier, to give teamwork feats to everyone, or Sorcerer to expand my casting capabilities further, but I'm not sure yet... Mostly I don't want to risk to run out of stuff to do, forcing the team to stop too often to recharge my spells, or spending rounds doing nothing other than being a liability...

I've never played Rappan Athuk, but I know it's VERY unforgiving, nor have I ever built a gestalt character., so I could really use your help.

So, what would you get on a 7h level gestalt character, assuming on one side I'll go full bard?

Hello, I'm working on a new build for a possible campaign, but I'm not sure about a few things. I'm building it around the concept of Yosemite Sam. I know dual wielding pistols is REALLY feat intensive, but I'm not going for a power-play build. I would still like to optimise what I have, though.
Here's what I have so far:

[The character begins at level 7, so the order of feats below 7 is not optimised]
[For 3PP stuff, I'll have to ask the DM]

Race:
- Human, for the obvious bonus feat
- with Permanent Reduce Person, for the small size (and bonuses)

STATS: 20 points buy, +2 DEX for human, +2 DEX -2 STR from reduce person permanent, +1 DEX at level 4. Not sure what to increase at 8th.
I would have 10, 22, 12, 12, 14, 7
I know 22 is a lot of DEX, and could go with more WIS to get grit, but my reason for such a high DEX is that TWF gives me a -4 / -4 (once I have the feat) already, so I really need to increase my hit chances, especially if I go with a DB pistol (another -4) and/or with improved/greater TWF (-5 second attack, -10 third attack)

Classes:
- Gunslinger 5, Pistolero Archetype
- Fighter 3, Trench Fighter Archetype + Drill Sergeant Archetype (should be able to pick both, since they don't touch the same skills)

After level 8, I'm considering 2 more levels in Fighter, to get the Weapon Training (Firearms) and to be able to pick Weapon Specialisation as a feat. That brings me at 10th level.

I'm not much interested in increasing my Fighter or Gunslinger level anymore, so I'm thinking what can I get?
- Ranger: fav. enemy and terrain can be useful, bond useless. Maybe an archetype like corpse hunter, if the campaign is heavy on undead (dunno yet)
- Rogue: love the rogue talents, they add a lot of interesting options. Not so much sneak attack, I don't see it coming up that often (unless my DM agrees that u can flank without a bonus even with ranged attacks)
- PrC: I haven't found anything interesting, but I'm up for suggestions
What would you do?

Feats:
01. Quick Draw
01. (Human) Weapon Focus (Pistol or Double-Barrel Pistol)
01. (Gunslinger) Gunsmithing
03. Dazzling Display
04. (Gunslinger) Gun Twirling
05. Point Blank Shot
06. (1st Fighter) Rapid Reload (at this point, I can reload alchemical ammo as a free action, without dropping the guns)
07. Precise Shot
07. (2nd Fighter) Two-Weapon Fighting

After that I'm not sure which way to go. Feats I am considering are:
- Weapon Specialisation
- Improved Two Weapon Fighting
- Greater Two Weapon Fighting
- Improved Critical (not sure about it)
- Clustered Shot
I'm also not sure because it really depends on what I want to get after level 10. Depending on it, I might go for different feats

As for Traits, I don't have any idea yet. Probably something that gives me Initiative, but I might look for something related to poison use, since I like the idea of poisonous bullets.

Another thing I'm considering, since I'm small after all, is taking a medium mount to move around. I'm not sure how it works yet, but it would be neat to shoot while riding a wolf or something... Not sure if I need feats for that, or if they are just for melee/ride-by combat

One more thing. Other than buying my pistols and the permanent reduce person, I have like 6-7k to spend. Any suggestion what I shouldn't live without?

I'm thinking about a character that values life more than anything else.
With that in mind, I want him to be a melee class that focuses on incapacitating his opponents with stuff like sunder, disarm, bullrush and trip (or any other manoeuvre that doesn't do damage or does non-lethal ones).

Now, my first idea was a Monk, due to his advantage on unarmed combat. But unarmed is not the only way to do non-lethal damage... For the same reason, I was thinking a Brawler, but I never played one, so I'm not sure of his capabilities.

A fighter would be good due to the great number of feats available, which would help a lot to get Improved-feats and other stuff to help me out in combat.

A rogue could also be an idea; great skill points for social skills, some cool tricks, and would make a little bit more sense than a fighter.

In other words, someone who would try to stop a fight, rather than end one in blood.

What would you build, for such a concept? The idea is for a 5th-6th level character, or around there...

Hello!
My friend is building a new character, and he wanted some advice on what to play.

He rolled the stats directly (first roll STR, second DEX, and so on), and he is allowed to switch only 1 score with another. Fortunately for him, he got AMAZING rolls, so here's what he has:

- STR: 13
- DEX: 16
- CON: 16
- INT: 14
- WIS: 10
- CHA: 18

Remember, he is able to switch only one score with another one.

He was thinking Skald, but he's open to suggestions.

As for the rest of the party, they are 4 players, will begin at level 1 (after a short level 0 session), and so far they only know they have a rogue in their team. The other two players have not picked a role yet.

Hello! I'll be quick: my wizard died, along with our fighter, and it's time for a cute bear to take his place!

I'm building a level 6 druid, that will be the front line of our group. Needless to say, he will focus on wild shape, and have a companion to go with him.

Stats: 20 point buy
Race: I'm thinking Oread (nice ability bonuses), but I'm willing to consider others if u can sell it to me
Starting Gold: 12.000 (9k probably will go in a Wild armor...)

I've looked online, and I couldn't find that much material about melee druids, not for pathfinder at least... So here I am looking for suggestions!

How would you build it? Which feats are a "must have", and which are overrated? Which traits would you pick to improve it?

I'm starting a solo campaign with a friend, and I plan on playing a fighter.

Before you say it, I know it's not the best class to play solo, but it's not really up for discussion.

What I'm here for, is tips and advices on how to improve the standard Fighter (no archetypes) to be better suited for solo adventuring.

The race is custom made by the DM, and has the following racial traits:
- Large
- Strong: +2 STR
- Weapon Familiarity: Sabre, Pistol

Here's what you need to know about my character:
- Level 1, Fighter.
- Ability Scores: 18, 13, 13 ,12 ,12, 8, rolled. (The 18 includes already the +2 STR)
- AC: 17, due to the shield and armor given to me upon creation
- Weapons: Sabre and Pistol, of course
- Feats: Improved Initiative, Power Attack
- Traits: Bruising Intellect (Intimidate is my only social skill), Paragon of Speed (+2 Init), Bloody-Minded (+1 INIT +1 Intimidate)
- Drawback: Warded Against Nature
- Useful Items: a rope, and 3 potions of cure light wounds.

That's pretty much my character. Now being new to the solo-campaign thing, I'd like to hear what you suggest if you were to play a game with my character. That includes strategies, items to buy in the future, eventually multi classing (maybe a level dip) and so on.

I'm thinking to start a new campaign as a Master. I have little experience in that field, with a bunch of adventures started, but none finished so far.

Here I am looking for tips, home-rules, and any advice on how to make the game more interesting.

I'm interested in everything, from alternative XP systems, to magic use, to simple improvements to mundane stuff (like hunger, stress, pain, and so on), to the wildest ideas you had!

What are the most fun settings you played in? Or the hardest?

Which things make you want to come back the next session? What makes a session great for you?

Any suggestion is appreciated!

Hello. Since my last concept has been shut down by major forces, here I am with something less inappropriate.

The character I want to build is something similar to Rumpelstiltskin/Mr.Gold, the character from Once Upon a Time.

First things first. His main ability score is clearly CHA, followed by INT and WIS. He is charismatic, but also has great knowledges.

He is described as a sorcerer, but his ability with words makes me thing more of a bard, and of course he's a skilled alchemist, making it another viable class (maybe for multiclassing). What really makes him different from any other "magic user", is that he mostly works with contracts.
He manages to make magic deals with others, from which of course he gains something. What would be the closest thing to this kind of "contracts" you can think of in PF?

Now his other side. He is, thanks to his magic, very wealthy. As Mr.Gold he is a businessman, someone who doesn't just own a shop, he owns the town. He has enough money to be pretty much the most powerful man around. Since I can't just tell my GM "Give me tons of money because my character is supposed to be rich", I have to actually build it to be come a successful businessman.
Any suggestion for that? I've seen a bunch of nice feats that allow you to invest money into markets, or exchange junk for valuables...

I was creating a simple character, a Bard 4 / Investigator 1, when it hit me. What if I try to make a character that looks and acts like the new POTUS?

You can like it, you can dislike it, it doesn't matter to me. I want your input on things you believe such a character should have.

Here's a few things I thought:
- Skills: Perform (Oratory) because of all the speeches, Appraise because of his business background, Bluff and Intimidate for obvious reasons, knowledge (Nobility) since millionaires are pretty much the current day nobles...
- Profession / Craft. Any suggestion? Profession I was thinking something that has to do with investing money around... as for Craft, I have no idea...
- Equipment: Cane Sword has a nice touch to it. A gold dagger, not really for combat, more for other uses and to show off he has something gold (I don't think I can a afford a gold armor), I was thinking a pistol or something (because he's a NRA supporter, so I'm guessing he owns at least one). Armour is probably going to be a Chain Shirt because I still have to think about AC, but I'm open to suggestions.
- Traits and drawbacks: any suggestion?
- Feats: So far I'm looking mostly at useful feats other than just flavourful ones, because at the end I still have to be useful... but if you can sell me a feat that you think would make sense and be useful, I'm open to listening.
- Spells: as for feats, I'm mostly going for useful ones, especially supporting ones other than damage (he is the Commander in Chief, but he's not the one doing the fighting [meaning the damage in my logic])

Also, I could give up the Investigator level to go for a full bard (or another level dip if someone has an idea that I think would work well with the concept), but I really like the inspiration ability...

I look forward at reading your suggestions!

Hello!
I'll say it simple: a character that doesn't fight.

The idea came to me while playing a large party. Every role is covered, there is always someone else able to do what you do, and that makes it the perfect place to try out the weirdest concepts you can come up with. Worst case scenario, you commit suicide and roll in with a new character.

I want to build something that makes talking its primary focus. Someone that avoids fighting at all costs: it could be for any reason, from something simple like fear of blood, to a higher reason like a religious call. As for why he goes on adventures, there could be a million reasons: maybe he's a book-writer, or he's a relic hunter, or whatever...

I want to build a character, from lvl 1 to 10, that doesn't just fit the role of "party face", but goes above and beyond when it comes to talking his way through (or out) anything. So I'm here to gather suggestions and tips.

I'm thinking multi-classing for sure. Focus will be on CHA and INT, of course. I could even go with a custom race, but nothing too far from the core races as for race points. My only limit is no 3p material.
While I'm all for mind-reading and maybe even charm when in "social" situations, I don't plan on using anything like that in combat. Most likely the character would hide, or just freeze in fear, or keep trying to talk people out of combat..

So let's hear what you suggest, and then we can begin laying out a character more in details.

Hello!
I've been looking at ranged weapons for a while, and I don't really like what I'm seeing.

Longbows seem to have huge advantages over crossbows. Let's do some comparisons...

Longbows are always martial weapons, including the top of the line composite longbows.
Crossbows are simple weapons, but the stronger models are exotic weapons, requiring a specific proficiency that no class will give you for free.

Longbows deal 1d8, but can get up to +5 bonus dmg with if composite.
Crossbows can get to 1d10 (or 2d8 in case of a double crossbow), but have no bonus dmg.

Longbows can shoot every round, no matter what.
Crossbows are a bit different. A repeating one can do as a bow for 5 rounds, after which you need a full-round action to reload. A double crossbow requires a standard action for a single bolt, which goes down to move action if you have Rapid Reload (but you still have to load 2 bolts to use it at its best, meaning 2 standard or a full round with RR).

Until you can get Crossbow Mastery (which requires 3 other feats), you will be a lot worse with a crossbow than you would be with a longbow.

On top of that, if you get "Exceptional Pull" you get a "free" +2 to your composite bow, without needing the strength to pull it (meaning a +5 becomes a +7, or a simple +3 becomes a +5).

That means that you will always do more dmg than a double crossbow, even if they have crossbow mastery. (and you won't have the -4 penalty on attack roll that you get with the proficient double crossbow).

Am I missing something? Is there some trick that I forgot that makes crossbow better or at least as good as a composite longbow? Or are they just there for those who don't have enough STR to fire a composite longbow?

Hello!
I'm starting a new campaign (Level 1), and our Master gave each of us a specific class to play. I got the Ranger, specifically the Corpse Hunter archetype. I don't know the campaign setting, but I'm assuming it has undead in it xD

I'm allowed to build an Advanced race (12 RP) to go with it. These are some of the things I could pick, but I could use suggestions:

- Advanced (Ability Score Modifier Quality) [4 RP], which gives me +4 -2 to one kind of stats, and +2 +2 +2 to the other kind. This would allow me to boost my DEX, and to reduce those bad negative modifiers..

- Advanced Dexterity [4 RP]. This would give me a +2 on DEX, always nice, but I'm not sure it's really worth the 4RP. I already have good scores, so I could use those RP to get something else.

- Static Bonus Feat [2 RP]. A free feat with no prerequisite, could be useful. Not sure which feat to pick though.

- Quick Reaction [2 RP]. Improved Initiative for free!

- Poison Use [1 RP]. Not really a must, but would be nice to be able to poison my arrows, without risking to poison myself in the process. Pretty cheap.

- Flee Footed [3 RP]. Gives me Run as bonus feat, and +2 to Initiative. Initiative it's what got my attention, but 3RP for it sounds expensive..

- Darkvision 60ft. [2 RP]. Having Darkvision can help while scouting, but is it really necessary?

All of those would make 18 RP, I can only have 12. What would you pick?

As for my scores, I already rolled them, and these are the final scores: 16-16-16-13-8-7.
I still have to decide how to assign them, especially if I pick the "Advanced Ability Score Quality".
I'm pretty sure two out of three 16s will go to STR and DEX, while 7 will most likely go to CHA.

I don't really know how to put them. Assuming to take the Advanced trait, without the additional Advanced DEX, I could have the following scores:

A. 16-20-11-10-18-9
B. 16-20-14-10-15-9
C. 18-18-10-17-16-7

There of course are just some of the possibilities, but the ones I thought could work better.

I don't really like the A option, because I don't think having 18 WIS will ever be useful to me.
The C option is probably the one I like the most. I lose a bit of DEX, but gain in both dmg (STR) and a ton of skill points (plus bonus languages, always nice to have on a scout), and of course would let me have a stronger composite longbow as soon as I can afford it!

I'd like your feedback. With those scores, and those 12RP, how would you build a lvl1 Ranger? Feats included..

Lately I've been thinking about a bunch of character concepts for future adventures. Every time I begin building a new character, a major issue comes to mind:

"Should I give up power and usefulness to play something funny and memorable, or should I go for a more classic build at the risk of being forgotten?"

This question comes to me mostly when I'm building for a small group. In a large group, roles are always filled and you can afford to concentrate on a smaller role.. if you don't max your damage, it's not going to be a big issue; if you picked some spells just to joke around, giving up more useful ones, the party will manage anyway.
When it comes to small parties, things change. Playing with a party of 3, you can easily fall short on stuff..

Let's take a fighter as an example:
- You could go for a 2HW build, or a 1H+S build. The classic builds, strong and reliable, but you will be just like any other fighter you'll ever encounter in your campaign.
- You could go for a 2WF build. It's a little bit different than the old boring 2HW fighter, but when you look at things you notice it also does it doesn't work as well as 2HW.
- Even worse, you could go for an epic ImprovW build. Grab things around, smash them on your enemies, and then use their corpses as weapons too! Sounds fun, right? Too bad that as you level up, everyone will do a ton of dmg and have magic weapons, while you'll be stuck with your random items with nearly no critical chance and basic dmg. (Of course you could enchant an improv weapon and even get weapon focus for it, but then you are not building to use objects as weapons, you are building around one specific object..)

And I'm not talking just about builds. Choosing or creating a race works the same: should I pick the best race-class combo, or go for what sounds fun even if it makes little sense (or it's even works against a good build)?

In my short experience, a character built around a concept, ignoring it's strength and weaknesses, it's fun, but can get frustrating; when the combat begins, you are going to be a lot less useful than your friends, and probably either force them to avoid bigger dangers, or die trying. On the other hand, going for a strong/optimised build makes combat more interesting, allowing you to face stronger enemies and feeling useful to your party when danger comes by.

In other words, it comes to "Remember when I smashed that goblin with a table?" vs "Remember when we saved the village by slaying that red dragon?"

How do you mix those two things? What do you value the most? How do you build your character?

Hello!
Soon (hopefully) I should begin a new campaign, and I want to surprise my master with a very weird character. I'm allowed to use the pathfinder race creation rules to make a race.. I should have 12 RP, maybe I can get a couple more..

I like the idea of a large character, because I never played one. I usually go with small or tiny character, sneaky ones; this time I want something big, something mean, that will most likely go unarmed or, even better, with improv weapons. Nobody will be able to not-notice me when I walk in a room.. Intimidation will be my currency!

To make everything more interesting, I'd like to make this were-platypus an undead. A partially rotten giant (large) were-platypus running your way wielding a horse leg sounds like great! But undead is pretty expensive, so I'll need some negative RP to get everything.. I could dump some stats, all I'll need is STR and CON probably..

Another idea, again Large, would be a plant-type monster. Made of vines and roots, able to stand on two legs, but walking on all 4 most of the time.. I imagine it slow, angry, feeding off his victims, hanging their bodies on his back, to slowly absorb their energy while they decompose... could be unable to wield normal weapons, needing someone else to mount the weapons on his arms...
I have two possible roads.. going for a brutal wild creature, multi-classing druid-barbarian (or fighter for feats), or going towards magic, maybe necromancy...

One more concept could be something with wings, maybe with 4 arms.. Could be some kind of ranger, shooting arrows from the air.. but I can't see it yet in my mind.. a large flying ranger? Meh...

What do you guys think? Any suggestion on how to build/improve them?

Hello,
I'm interested in creating a character with 4 arms (or something similar... 4 tentacles? 3 arms and a prensile tail? etc..). The only limit I have, is starting at level 4.

Which classes do you think would work well with a 4 armed character? I'm assuming melee-oriented classes, since mages don't really need more than 2 arms to cast their spells (if they need them at all)...

I'm not looking for power-playing, I'm mostly interested in ideas for a fun build that would let me do something unusual... Any suggestion?

Hello!
I'm building a level 4 character, being a Rogue of Tiny size. While on the role-play side is awesome, I'm concerned about combat utility.
I have a great score of Dexterity but low Strength (10), and using Tiny weapons would mean having a small dice for dmg.

While I'm not interested in becoming a war machine, dealing tons of dmg, it would still be nice to do SOME dmg, especially when our enemies will become stronger (and eventually get some DR).

Any suggestion on how to boost a bit my dmg output without multi classing?

I'm open to weird ideas, my master is pretty openminded. So far I only thought about getting some kind of animal companion (just trained animals), or working with traps (which would only work in a controlled environment, where I could set the traps before engaging)..

Hello!
I'm looking into making a Technomancer character, but I have no idea where to begin with.

We would start at lvl 9, the group so far is well covered on melee damage and magic buffs, but it lacks ranged damage and some strong magic damage, for a total of 6 players. The campaign setting is Golarion.

The Technomancer has the following requirements:
- Feats: Skill Focus (Knowledge [engineering]), Technologist.
- Skills: Disable Device 6 ranks, Knowledge (engineering) 6 ranks, Spellcraft 6 ranks.
- Special: Ability to cast 3rd-level arcane spells.

How would you suggest to build a character to meet those requirements? Which class (or classes) would you think work best to meet those requirements?

I was thinking about the Investigator, but it doesn't seem to cast arcane spells :(

Hello! I'm making a new character and I'd like your advice!

The character is going to start at lvl 7. It's race is a custom made Plant (12 RP) with Dreamspeaker (+1 DC divination spells, Dream spell 1/day), Treespeech (ability to speak with plants), Slow (Speed 20 ft.), and Negative Energy Affinity (healed by negative, damaged by positive).

I'm interested in becoming a Loremaster (Prestige Class), so I have a few requirements to fulfil:
- Skills: Knowledge (any two) 7 ranks in each.
- Feats: Any three metamagic or item creation feats, plus Skill Focus (Knowledge [any]).
-Spells: Able to cast seven different divination spells, one of which must be 3rd level or higher.

Now, from what I've understood, my best (and maybe only) chances are getting levels in either Wizard (divination) or Oracle. I'm not a great fan of Clerics, so I ruled that out.

The wizard seems stronger, but the Oracle has a nice ring to it (I believe it works better for RP).

And here I'm stuck. Which one would you suggest? And how many levels should I put in it?

So I was looking at a barding for our new "serpent-like" creature; the barding stitches seems to be the only kind of armor we can put on it, but I'm not sure it's worth taking it.

You get -2 STR and DEX based skills, and -2 to Fortitude and Reflex saves, plus saves against effects wit the pain descriptor. But what do you get in return? I couldn't find anywhere if you can add any kind of armor (even heavy ones) with it, or if you are bound to light stuff.. What do you guys think?

For those who don't know what it is, here's the description:

"This thin, specially treated wire can be used to attach barding to creatures whose body types cannot normally accommodate armor, such as piscine, serpentine, and verminous animals, by delicately and thoroughly sewing the equipment directly to the creature's flesh. Equipping a creature with barding using barding stitches takes 10 times as long as normal barding, and a successful DC 25 Heal check is required to attach or remove the stitches. The creature must be helpless or willing to be equipped with barding stitches, and must have at least a +1 natural armor bonus to AC. An armored creature with barding stitches takes a -2 penalty on Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks (in addition to any penalties from the barding itself), Fortitude and Reflex saves, and saves against effects with the pain descriptor (these penalties stack). These penalties persist for as long as the creature is equipped with barding stitches."

Hello! The party I'm playing with owns a Medium-Wagon, and is doing some improvements on it. One of them is reinforcing its sides, with the help of a blacksmith to add some metal bars and maybe some thicker wood.
I noticed the Wagon by default has 9 AC (10 - 1 Large Size), but I couldn't find anywhere how much you can improve it by reinforcing it.

Is there any rule that explains how much AC you would gain by reinforcing it (or any other large object, like a gate for example)??? At first we thought to use the "animal armor" rules, but it wouldn't make much sense since the kind of armor is very different from what you could put on a horse or a humanoid (you wouldn't put a chainmail on the sides..)

Thanks for the help!

Here I am again in need for your advice. This time it's about a wagon and how to make it even better.

I'll give you some information about it's current setting, and I hope you'll be able to give me more great ideas!

The wagon has been built by our characters, with the help of local carpenter and blacksmith, by fixing up an old "fortune-teller wagon" (medium size).

Inside, it features:
- A cage (taken from a prison wagon and fixed up to our need) taking about 1/3 of the area, currently used to store our most precious possession (treasure chest, some other container with our valuables), but eventually able to hold a medium-sized humanoid.
- A workbench, with some basic tools
- A barrel of water
- A couple of bedrolls
- A collapsable bathtub
- A secret compartment, to eventually store valuables and/or illegal stuff. Currently holding some "disguise items" for the wagon, such as banners, small signs, a camouflage net and outfits for us, in case we need to disguise.
- A Heatstone protects us from the cold winter

Outside, it features:
- A lamp, on the front, next to the "driver" seat
- A stick with a small mirror on it, in case we want to check the sides and/or see if someone is following us, without the need to climb or jump down
- A stair, to get on top of the wagon (flat top, with a small wooden wall that helps keep the stuff in place and could be used as half-cover if seated/crouched
- A chest on the back, with the animal feed
- A couple of small cages, for our chickens (yes, we carry live chickens)
- A spare wheel is tied to the bottom of the cart, in case we break one.
- A bell to use as alarm if at night we get attacked and need to wake everyone fast
- Thinking about some kind of firework or other mean of long-distance signal visible both day and night

The door has been built on the front, so that it stands right behind the driver. Outside can be locked with an average lock, from the inside can be closed with lock and/or with a metal bar or wooden plank.

There is another exit, a hidden trapdoor, on the bottom of the cart. It probably won't ever be used, since it's not a great way to get out, but it's there just in case we need it.

Now, our defence systems:
- On the back of the wagon, just a couple of feet from the ground, there is a wooden log, tied with some ropes. If needed, we can cut the rope from inside the wagon, to let the log fall and block the road.
- On the sides, we can mount a 3-bladed (daggers) cover to each wheel. Of course it's something that has to be placed before we need it, but we made it so that we could remove it if we travel in safe lands. The reason for the blades is merely defensive, to make it harder for someone to get close to our sides without getting hurt, especially if riding a horse..
- On both sides, we have 2 horizontal loopholes, with loaded-crossbows placed right next to them. Loopholes can be closed with a simple plank, so that nobody can look inside if we are not using it.
- On both sides, a small chest filled with caltrops can be opened from the inside. It can be useful if chased by someone, or while standing still to make it harder for anyone to assault the wagon.
- On the front, we added a quick release mechanism to separate the wagon from the beasts (currently horses, might go for a more aggressive animal able to fend for himself)
- We added two small wooden "flaps", that normally rest on the sides, but can be pulled towards to cover the sides of the driver. It grants cover from both sides to the driver, in case we can't stop if attacked, and it's also covered in nails from the outside, meaning it's harder for someone to climb on it to jump aboard.
- Inside, we have a keg filled with oil, which can be opened to pour it on the ground below/behind us. With a decent throw, we can light it on fire with a torch or flaming-arrow. A good way to make it harder to be followed, and way cheaper than alchemical fire.
- We have reinforced the sides with some metal, to avoid arrows piercing in.
- We also hired two guards, to travel with us so that it can be guarded if we have to leave it to get into a dungeon or something.

I believe we did a pretty good job to make it easily defensible from both attackers and thieves.

If there is anything else you would add (useful tools, forniture, more defensive mechanism, decorations..), let us know!

ps. We decided NOT to place a balista on the roof, because its purpose is to be a storage area for large items. We also didn't place any enchantment on it, because we can't afford it. Most of those modifications has been made by spending our few money and building a lot ourselves / taking from broken stuff..

Hello! My character is currently getting ready for a new big adventure, and that means buying stuff!

To give you some context, we are lvl 5, but we are poor as hell (about 200g). We have no clue what our enemies will be like, all we know is that there will be a lot of exploration and fighting, less puzzles and town-stuff.

I already bought my basic equipment, and now I'm thinking about monster-specific weapons. Some holy water, some poisons and acids, alchemical fire, and silver weapons.

I would like for you to suggest more items I could buy (not magic weapons, since we can't afford it) that would help me in different situations or against a specific enemy. Even if it's something you can't find on manuals, I could talk with the GM to see if he lets me buy it..

Hello! I need a little suggestion about something regarding my background. Here's what you need to know:

- He's a Minotaur with both Barbarian and Fighter classes.
- He has a split personality: one docile and nice, and one aggressive and kinda crazy
- He used to work with Dwarves in the mines. The reason is still to be decided [SUGGESTIONS APPRECIATED]
- An accident occurred in the mines, and because of him someone died. It has something to do with his second (aggressive) personality; it's the first time he experience this side of himself (which is where his barbarian's Rage comes from). The accident details are still to be decided.[SUGGESTIONS APPRECIATED]

The rest is not important right now.

The concept is the following:
- While working, something triggered his second personality. That same thing is what is going to trigger it in the rest of the campaign.

I would love some suggestion or advices regarding WHAT COULD BE THE TRIGGER.[SUGGESTIONS NEEDED]
I thought about a word; it would be common enough so that he/it could be trigger in any moment, but I couldn't think of any good one; if it was a common "mining" word, it would have happened during his first week there, and if it's something too sophisticated, it would never happen again. Also, it would be way too easy for a party member to understand what the trigger word is, after just a couple of times.. meaning they could use it all the time, and that's not something we want.

NOTE: The party members do know about this split personality, but do not know what triggers it.

Then I thought about an object maybe.. Something another Dwarf had, or was doing..

So the point is, the trigger has to be common enough for the GM to be able to use it without having to go out of his way, but hard enough to notice so that other players can't use it (or at least not without putting a lot of work into figuring it out) at their advantage.

If you have any idea, please share!

Hello, I have a question about the barbarian's archetype "Breaker".

At lvl 3 you get "Battle Scavenger (Ex)" which says:

"At 3rd level, the breaker barbarian suffers no penalty on attack rolls when using an improvised weapon or a weapon with the broken condition. In addition, she gains a +1 bonus on damage rolls with improvised or broken weapons for every three levels beyond 3rd.

This ability replaces trap sense."

It doesn't specify melee or ranged improvised weapons. Does it mean it removes the penalty from both? Kinda like "Catch off guard" and "Throw anything" together, without the +1 with splash weapons?

Hello!
I'm looking into some weird character ideas, and one of them is a four armed fighter.

If you are wielding four weapons (1 main - 3 off), would you be able to attack with all of them in one round? What if one wanted to wield a 2-handed weapons, plus two one-handed ones? Would they pick which one is the main?

What about shields? If you were to hold 2 or even 3 shields at the same time, would you get the AC bonus from all of them?

What if you were holding 2 shields and a bow? Could you still use the bow while keeping the shield protection? Or would you have some kind of penalty, since the shields would probably be in the way of your actions?

I'm a bit confused about which are the limits of having three or four arms..

Hello!
I have a few different ideas for a character, and I'd like your opinion and advices on it.

I was talking with my DM, and we would like to try and create a character similar to "Cho'Gall" from Warcraft (or HotS).
The character would consist in two character living in the same body, with the only exception of their head (meaning they have 2 heads). We could say one of them would be the mind, the other would be the arm.

Before I go on, does anyone know if it has been done before? If so, where can I find an example?

Said so, here's a list of "problems" we thought about, and how we are thinking about solving it (if we have had an idea already):

1 - Classes: Each head would have its own class. As the example mentioned before (Cho'Gall), the idea would be to have some sort of Fighter/Sorcerer. Treating them as two different characters, they would have their own xp and levels, so that wouldn't be a big issue.

2 - Ability Scores: being one single body, the physical attributes should be the same for both, but the mental one could vary. One head could be dumber, or more charismatic, but neither could be stronger than the other.

3 - Skill points: again, it should vary. One head could have a better hearing, but both would have the same balance or ride capabilities.

4 - Hit Points: would you keep them separated? Or merge them? Should we add both HP and split it in half?

5 - Equipment: having the same body, means having the same equipment. This can be a HUGE problem, if we want to have very different classes (as mentioned above). If you were to multiclass a normal character, wanting a melee-combat class and a spell-caster one, which ones would you put together? I was thinking Monk would be a good choice for the melee-oriented, since it doesn't wear armor (ergo, no penalties for spells).

6 - Combat: we were thinking that each round could have only one of the two fighting.. kinda like if a single head took control of the body. Switching to the other could be a full round action, meaning losing a round if you want to switch mid-combat.

I think that's it for now. If you can think of any other thing to consider, please share :D

Now, regardless the outcome of this attempt to create a "double character", I would like for my character to fight mostly with improvised weapons or unarmed. From my understanding the Monk is fine with it, but at low levels you still get a lot of penalties for using unarmed weapons. What do you think about improv weapons? Is it worth it? Don't they become kinda useless at higher levels (when you finally don't have penalties, but your friends will have magic weapons probably)?

I know it's a lot of text, but I had a lot to ask :P Thanks in advance for your help!