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I use MCAs for villains and noteable NPCs. It always keeps the party guessing and adds some great lore and flavor to the setting.
Give me a bit to mull it over and I'll try to be more constructive and objective. Thanks for sharing in any case, you never know where this may lead or what it may unintentionally inspire.
Welcome back to AD&D, you've met XP by class, over there at the buffet table is class and race kits. And there is the skill% click arguing with the d20 posse. And that fellow sitting in the corner apparently talking to himself is THAC0 (no one really likes talking to him or even understands half of what he is saying)
If it's an NPC, then give him whatever you want and adjust fire during gameplay.
i have to ask byrdology whats the point of that, its not like the STR modifier stacks as my unarmed strikes are not 2 handed weapons. If you have to ask, then you are not ready, grasshopper. But when you get tired of trying to snatch pebbles out of your masters hand, then come see me... I will teach you how to take the pebble and the hand with it!
Shadowdancer PrC tweaks, still under construction as per the thread. Some Archetypes still under construction. I promise I will consolidate and clean up the mess and present all changes in a more comprehensible way as soon as I get the chance... For now consider this my work area.
I had an in game friend die, I took his armor that had is dietys holy symbol embroidered on it. I wore it in honor of his memory and buried him with his sword. Everything else was a free for all.
These are basic tweaks, not major overhauls, that I believe will add even more flavor and options to an already great class. Superstitious Guide: I'm going for an "old world" superstition kind of feel here. Be it throwing salt over ones shoulder to ward off bad luck, or giving an enemy the "evil eye", these rangers are rife with old remedies and cures, or hexes and curses.
Bount Hunter: the death nail in the coffin of rogues... Don't know if I should keep it at 5d6 SA or bump it up to full progression. The thought behind full progression is that you are losing the cullmative +2's to hit your favored target for almost a complete wash in damage, you just get it vs more targets if you can flank... You decide.
Any thoughts or concerns?
Paladin/ Ninja: the shadow hunter- combines smite with SA to devastating effect! The shadows are no longer a safe haven for evil. Ranger/ Grey Warden: the arbiter- medieval Judge Dredd. A skillfull well rounded brutalizer and stone cold excecutioner. Barbarian/ Cleric: the paragon of destruction- rage + enlarge + channel smite! DR and high will saves thrown in for good measure. Rogue/ Magus/ Duelist: the combat trickster- a deadly skirmisher with a plethora of combat boosting tools. Bard/ Paladin: the dervish tank- high dmg, high AC, high adventure awaits Fighter/ Monk: the dragon fury- a TWFer with x2 str on main weapon, and 1.5 on his "off hand"... Need I say more? See anything you are interested in then let me know and I will expound upon it for you.
Nice guide. Very helpful.
Plant bane axe on a ranger with FE: plants. His name is Forester. He whittles the trees that he fells into likenesses of small woodland creatures, when he gets a sizable collection he uses them as kindling for his camp fires... Then starts all over again.
16, 14, 13, 12, 10, 10... or... 16, 14, 13, 12, 12, 8
there is some stuff in there that's not on the PRD/SRD.Like what? Support for the company that brought us such a great game when we all thought 4e was the death of system we all love...
Poe
Blow up some grid paper and use m&m s and skittles as monsters. We only have one rule among us, "you keep what you kill!"
Better.
2hw fighter/ MoMS. Use a nodachi and unarmed strike as your two weapons and get x2 str with you nodachi, and 1.5 str (dragon style and dragon ferocity) with your unarmed strike. When you get enough iterations, pick up boar style and boar rend to do bleed dmg when you hit with 2 UAS' and take two weapon rend to just be silly with it. Use light armor with the brawling property to get an untyped +2 to hit and dmg, and an AoMF to kick it up even higher, and use weapon training to up your nodachi to hit and dmg and enchant that as you see fit. Then enter beast mode and laugh at all other TWFers who try to keep up with you. You want an 18 str and pump your dex after that, make sure you get a good con to stay alive. Your HP, saves, skills, skill selection, and dmg will be better than all other fighter builds, and you will have evasion... Have fun, and make people stare with their jaws dropped.
What I was thinking about, was making a med BaB class with full access to all 0 lvl spells and maybe the ability to buff them a bit. Like add int to dmg spells and the like. The concept is a character who is a failed Mage, has the spark, but not the capacity to develope it further than 0lvl spells. so he pours his focus into them, increasing their potency. How would you suggest I go about building this class? Think of the movie Dragon Slayer...
Have them fight a group of BSF's and show THEM who is stupider-er
Ok, I have been carefully combing over the base class and 2 existing archetypes to find a good balance for the VG archetype. As I have it now, it can stack with either the force blaster OR bonded scion for maximum customizability. Combat mastery: at 4th lvl the VG can choose to specialize in offensive or defensive training. combat mastery:
@ lvl 4 the VG gains weapon training as the fighter class feature. Her VG levels count as -3 for determining what feats she meets pre reqs for. @ lvl 9 the VG adds her int bonus to confirm critical threats. @ lvl 14 the VG adds x1 to her bonus crit dmg, and gains a second weapon training group. defensive mastery:
@ lvl 4 the VG gains DR 2/-, and gains proficiency with tower shields. @ lvl 9the VG gains an additional DR 2/-, and lessens her penalty from tower shields by 2. @ lvl 14 the VG gains an additional DR 2/-, and no longer incurs a penalty while wielding a tower shield *combat mastery replaces fighter training at lvl 4, spell tactician at lvl 9, and the bonus feat at lvl 14. Force Strike: at lvl 7 and 9, the VG can choose to modify her force blast into one of the following effects. force strike:
Force charge- the VG can make a charge attack against a target up to 60ft away that she can see. The VG bolts in a straight line, ignoring difficult terrain, hazardous terrain, and pits and does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Any enemies caught in the path of the charge receive half this dmg (save for none).
Concussive Burst- the VG can strike the ground causing a 10ft burst (centered on the VG) of force dmg to all creatures in the radius (except the VG herself) Shockwave- the VG slashes her weapon in the air, and a blast of force emminates from her and travels in a 30ft line or 15ft cone damaging all creatures in its path. This ability replaces the spell tactician ability at lvl 7 and 13. What do you think? Maybe a little OP? Does it preserve the flavor of the class and while augmenting the other two archetypes? Let me know how you think I should proceed from here and I will adjust fire accordingly.
GM Tools: Minions! These enemies are of = or > cr to the party and have compare able feats and class abilities, but they only have 1 HP effectively and 1/4- 16 CR value. Great way to litter a battlefield with threatening yet balanced encounter. This is the third thing that 4th Ed got right IMO. "Hits" system- similar to the minion, these enemies can take anywhere from 2-5 hits before they fall. Effective CR = 1/4 - 1/2. Fumble chart- on an attack roll of a natural 1, roll 1d6 to determine effect. *note: this table does not apply if the PCs decide to roll their AC (see above)*
Variant casting- after expending daily spell slots, casters can chose to have their spell deals non- leathal dmg to the caster = to the spell lvl + meta magic adjustment.
It would be a strange find in even a strange library... Just saying...
188- the complete, unabridged works of Michael Moore with running commentary by Glen Beck...
Ok... Full BaB, d10, and and bravery go to the rogue. Braver + trap sense = a competence bonus to fort and will saves. Weapon training goes to the monk, it scales, but only applies to monk weapons. Both can apply for fighter only feats at a -3. And done!
I wanted to compile a list of tweaks and changes I use for my Homebrew games so I can give my players easy access to it. I wanted to run it by you guys to check for balance and see if I missed anything obvious. Give it a gander and see what you think. Race Tweaks:
Dwarves- are now small, but can weild medium sized weapons, and count as medium sized creatures for cmd and cmb purposes. They are also now encumbered by armor and lose their hatred racial feature. Elves- can choose to receive a bonus to Wis instead of Int Gnomes- can choose to receive a bonus to Int instead of Cha Halflings- speed is 30ft Class Tweaks:
Alchemist- nadda Barbarian- 10 hp, 6 skills/ lvl. trap sense become danger sense, a competence bonus to all saves Bard- 8 skills/ lvl. versatil performance becomes versatile study. The bard can add any wiz/sorc spell of a level she can cast to her list of spells known. Cavalier- 6skills/ lvl Cleric- 4 skills/ lvl and heavy armor prof + tower shields. Druid- nadda Fighter- 4 skills/ lvl. Bravery becomes a flat bonus to all will saves. Gunslinger- nadda Inquisitor- 8skills/ lvl Magus- 4 skills/ lvl Monk- 6 skills/ lvl. Can burn a ki point to get a +1/4 bonus to hit for 1 round. Oracle- nadda Paladin- 4skills/ lvl. Ranger- nadda Rogue- rogues gain the ninja's ki pool, tricks, and this: this . Trap sense becomes danger sense, see barbarian. Sorcerer- 6 skills/ lvl Summoner- 6 skills/ lvl Witch- 4 skills/ lvl Wizard- 4 skills/ lvl. More to come...
Only if he dressed like a pimp and you called him "Huggy Bear"
Paladin of vengeance/ ninja is the ultimate melee tank. It checks all the boxes of the gestalt, and is damn nigh unkillable. Cleric 6 to Holy Vindicator x/ pared with a ninja or rogue x would be my back up for alot of the same reasons. At lvl 20, both builds can do over 20d6 when combining SA and channel smite. The paladins can add an additional 40 dmg from a smite against the right type of enemy. AC goes through the roof for both, the cleric has better spells, but the paladin has better melee. It is a trade off to be sure, but depending on the party either one of these builds becomes the corner stone of the party. I would put either of these two against any other build out there
Sepia snake sigil. If anyone asks you what you are doing, tell them you have written permission... Ask if they would like to see your papers.
So if I am going loosely off of the paladin, the charge works as smite for times/ day, 1,4, 7, 10, 13, 16, and 19th . We will also give him 1/2 lvl to spellcraft and knowledge arcana, and detect and read magic. At lvl 2, Lay on hands becomes a conclusive burst. It's useable 3/day + int, the VG punches the ground releasing a concussive bust of force dmg that does 1d6/2 lvls to all creatures (including allies, excluding the VG) in a 10ft radius centered on the VG. Characters that fail a fort vs are deafened for 1 round, and the VG becomes flat footed till the start of his next turn. Divine grace becomes cunning defense: the VG uses his int mod in place of dex for AC, ref, ini, and cmd. Any condition that would cause a VG to lose his dex bonus to AC causes him to loose his int mod instead. At lvl 3, 7, 11, 15, and 19, the VG gains a bonus feat (combat or meta magic). At 5th lvl arcane bond/ familiar. After that, I don't know.
Ok, this is kinda home brew also, but I want to design a vanguard-esque PF class that is centered around the biotic charge. Barbarians with their pounce ability springs to mind, as does charge/ bull rush/ trample/ overrun... But I want a 1/4 casting full BaB class like the ranger and paladin that has a biotic charge ability. High init, is probly a must, and maybe some self-centered aoe dmg auras as well. What can be done about this?
Ok, so here is an idea for a home brew base class buff to the rogue class. The purpose behind it is to address some of the main issues that people are having with the class, ie: MADness, poor combat performance (to hit, and dmg), saves, lower comparative power lvl, and so forth. Admittantly, MADness is still a bit of an issue, but I keyed most of these abilities off of int so that each individual rogue can keep individual flavor like str vs dex, ranged vs melee, and the like. So without further ado, and please forgive some of the wording and phrasing... Style Paths: at lvl 3, a rogue can choose a style path to pursue. Each style has 3 tries of abilities that progress at lvl 3, 7, and 11. At lvl 11 the rogue can choose an additional style path that progresses at lvl 11, 15, and 19. The style paths are as follows: the Arcanist:
@3: 4 0lvl spells at will and arcane bond/ familiar = to 1/2 lvl.
@7: 2 1st lvl spell likes usable = to int mod/day @11: spell strike as the magus class feature the Blade:
@3: int mod to AC.
@7: add 1/2 lvl to dmg with light weapons and 1h piercing weapons @11: telling blow- when a rogue confirms a crit, she adds SA dmg. If she already would get SA, she adds 1d6 on that crit. the Bruiser:
@3: focused rage as urban barbarian class feature. Rage rounds = con +3 + 1/2 lvl min 1.
@7: rage power @11: rage power the Fortunate:
@3: reroll any d20 roll as a swift action = to int mod/day
@7: add 1d6 to any roll as a swift action = to int mod/day @11: you automatically crit on a successful attack roll 1/ day. the Infiltrator:
@3: cunning defense- the rogue adds her int mod to all saving throws
@7: alter self at will @11: vexing flanker- the rogue is considered to be flanking any target she threatens that is threatened by at least 1 other ally the Poisoner:
@3: poison use, poison resist = to int mod
@7: poison expert- reduce the time to apply poison to a weapon down to a swift action @11: poison bomb as alchemist class feature useable = to int mod/day the Scourge:
@3: add int mod to hit
@7: monster lore as inquisitor class feature keyed off of int @11: inquisitors bane- as inquisitor class feature useable = to 1/2 lvl the Scoundrel:
@3: agile combatant- the rogue can use dex to dmg instead of str with any finessable weapon
@7: the rogue gains the imp feint feat even if she doesn't meet the pre reqs @11: glibness spell like = to int mod/day the Shadow:
@3: HiPS useable = to int mod/day
@7: shadow jump (40ft) as the shadowdancer class feature @11: shadow jump (80ft), summon shadow as the shadowdancer class feature the Superstitious:
@3: +2 luck bonus to fort and will
@7: mettle- like evasion, but for fort and will saves @11: an additional +2 luck bonus to fort and will I welcome all feedback, tweak ideas, and additions. Please let me know if anything needs clarification. Thanks in advance!
I want your biggest, baddest, nastiest divine themed builds. For sake of standardization, assume PFS legal. I want to populate a temple that has a twist. In my setting, all the faiths comprise a council of sorts. There are good, neutral and evil deities in this council who convene and make sure that a balance is maintained between faiths and their operatives. Individual agents are sanctioned, and if an agent goes rogue, then the council appoints a team to retrieve/ neutralize them. Druids have their own council, but do have emissaries that act as liaisons between the two councils and vice versa. The pcs are about to do alot of work in and out of the council hall, and I am looking for champions, leaders, laymen, and agents to populate it. It doesn't need to be deity specific because my gods are not your gods. Let her rip and let's have fun!
Get familiar with the snake style feat. Gives a better chance to buff you touch AC.
Here is a sample build: + Azata-blooded Aasimar Bard (song striker/ dervish of dawn). Azata are naturally inclined towards music and sword play so this is a no-brainer! Favored class bonus goes to boost inspire courage which will be maxed by lvl 12 for a +8 to hit and dmg, crane style is added for the blade master dervish feel. After that all favored class bonuses go to HP. And 10d8 + cha mod x10 on ranged touch attacks with weird words give a pretty great ranged option that is ultra thematic. Str: 13
1) dodge
You can be the ship entertainment. At lvl 12 with an 18 str/ cha and no magic items (which you should be doing far better), you will be doing 1d6 + 14 dmg with a crit on 18+, and 10d8 + 40 on a ranged touch with weird words. You have skills, saves, magic, and flair!
Didn't we do this already? Dwarven barbarian/ rogue (scout). Battle rager! See here for all flavor issues. http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Thibbledorf_Pwent Thibbledorf Pwent FTW! Or you can go this route. The Dwarven Battle Rager (fighter/barbarian):
Str- 16
1) Barbarian (Invunerable Rager)- Power Attack
Gear- Dwarven Waraxe, Hvy Spiked Shield, and a Dwarven Boulder Helmet allow the Battle Rager to deliver slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning types of damage as needed. Add in the full plate he is wearing you can enchant as you see fit. Notes- All ability increases will go into Con after 4th lvl. After completing the Stalwart Defender PrC, The Battle Rager will take his final lvl in the Fighter class.
I think the most rewarding easy character is a switch hitting ranger. You are decent at melee and ranged combat, you have alot of skills to contribute so you don't feel useless, and at lvl 4 you can play around with some spells that aren't too taxing or game breaking either way. You don't have to be too feat intense to be viable. I would stay away from animal companions at first though.
I wasn't trying to be mean, just asking a question based off of a casual conversational observation. It's fine if it is his character, but if it is his, then I could offer better solutions to help balance his playing experience. If its not his character, then I can offer the appropriate amount of sympathy/ empathy for his then obvious rant.
I want to build one of these guys as recurring villain using PFS guidelines. I want to focus on only 1 dog, 2 at most. I was wondering if I could use riding dog stats, as they are a bit more impressive. I am aiming for that lvl 11 ability where if you are adjacent with your pack and an enemy, then you are flanking. First thing that springs to mi d is the teamwork feat that gives you 1d6 while flanking. Other than that, I am open to suggestion. Please show me what you got.
The cast of the hit series "Bones": Vivisectionist mind chemist = Bones
Angel- blooded rage prophet with the 15s in str and cha and side step secret. There are too many ways to make these stats playable. You may not be a star all the time, but when you are it will mean more. I relish the challenges and chances to break out of my comfort zone. If I auto win at everything then I am losing interest.
@ Brad: lol! No, that concept is being reserved for optimal optimized show-stealing bad-assery! @ Morgan: that is awesome RP in its own right. @ Shalafi: it's a shame when great RPing affects rl RPers :(
The old NPC was a valuable asset who provided much needed services for the group while they were out and about, and filled in whenever the bard couldn't make it. They asked for another NPC so I decided to do it differently this time. So now they are stuck with a Fargin Isole'...
A goblin arcane trickster who has a crazy dragon BBQ fetish, stands in charge lanes and blast radi, refuses to communicate with the party (when not talking about BBQ recipes), and treats the other PCs like servants... I think we are getting somewhere.
I have an infrequent player. When she doesn't show, I run an NPC hireling- esque character. The NPC died and I have the opportunity to bring in a new one. What I need is some ideas for a terrible character. Not sub-optimal, just thoroughly trained in the arts of douche- baggery. Please regale me with your worst experiences of players or classes that have caused inter party grief. The characters name shall be Fargin Isole'... The party consists of a barbarian, cleric, wizard, and infrequent bard.
This! Demon was originally a word that meant a protector or care taker, not nescisarily good. The word has since been demonized (like what I just did there?). In fact. The word demon never appears in the original text of the bible.
Wow, I have a degree in theology, and I am afraid to touch that one...
They just released the show on Netflix, so I wanted to see how people would build this character. I had originally thought the straight samurai class would work, but I am thinking that more is needed.
It's role playing, not roll playing... Maybe you signed up for the wrong game after all.
Nodachi Easily the best close melee weapon in the game.... Accept to substitutions
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