I see lots of folks asking for very high level content. Keep in mind that encounters at those high levels are very long and complex. It would be almost impossible to scale an encounter at high levels that can be completed in a 4 to 5 hour slot, let alone 3 encounters plus an optional.
Jason mentioned in the announcement that part of the rework is to make the game fair and balanced at all levels of play. If PF 2e can fix the higher levels of play, we would be fine getting high level content.
Amen. I don't want to assume that everyone affected was using the "cookie cutter" uses for the FCB. I'm sure there are plenty of people who were using this for a myriad of things that I never thought of (I was using it on erosion touch on Apocalypse oracle. Not even that OP).
We don't know what level of attachment other people had to their nerfed character. Some people will retire characters over this rather than rebuild, ESPECIALLY if not allowed a full rebuild of those class levels and only allowed to swap out their FCB. And yes, some people will quit the campaign because errata.
It happens.
But I don't want to assume how big a deal or not this changes are for other people.
As I read "We are adding the Signature Skill feat for exclusive use by the unchained rogue" are you saying that signature skills are not 'unlocked' for rogues, rather rogues can take the feat to unlock one skill?
My reading is that Rogues get it at level 5 as normal, and noone else may take the feat to unclock it.
I'm running all of them in PFS mode for my local GMs at my house so they can play them before running them. Here is our experience thus far (5 player table).
I rate them how we would schedule them in GA, either a scenario-length adventure (<5 hours) or a double slot (5-10 hours)
I would say combo levels 3 and 4 into the same slot, but there is a chance player actions may cause them to go over the 5 hours timeframe. Yes, there is a chance Level 4 will end in 1 hour, but there is a chance it will not.
I'm quite on board with all that of course. If I worked in Hero Lab (which I do for some complex templates, or for homegames) I would definitely not post JUST the .por file.
I think "requests" are 100% ok, as long as it doesn't approach a "demand".
The point is that guns are so rare (only available in Alkenstar), that a character must essentially know how to craft one themselves in order to have one.
Basically this. It abstracts the fact that a gun is not available for purchase anywhere, so your character basically crafted it instead.
I have started to upload my blocks in both MS Word and PDF for that purpose, so we can all use them as needed. Use away! Nothing makes me happier than hearing these are useful to people.
Silbeg, I never even expect gratitude from my blocks, but I am happy to report my "free beers" count is now up to 4 between GenCon and now DragonCon. You are a trendsetter, man!
<SUPER TEASER INCOMING>
I have some new ideas I will be incorporating into my stat blocks for the upcoming Season 6 scenarios. Keep an eye out for more (hopefully) good stuff coming!
Ok I think we have all established that maturity is more important than age.
Now to the more pressing issue, which is a disruptive player at your table, especially a minor.
I am assuming this may be the same table (or the same player) as my GenCon's roommate Trial by Machine table. He reported to me that a parent basically "dumped" his young kid at the table and was being disruptive. Sadly, the parent just left after leaving the kid there, effectively using the PFS room as "free daycare". I did see the kid alone again at other tables, so my guess is that it was not just that one slot.
So maybe the question here is: what is the correct procedure to handle this (both by the players and/or the gm)?
I'm sure this is my most favorite Gencon to date! It was amazing, to say the least. Not a single mediocre, let alone bad, experience in the PFS room this year; every single table was amazing.
Highlights
GMing for Jiggy, RainyDayninja, Silbeg and friends for Legacy of the Stonelords. Quite an excellent table and group of individuals. My only regrets is that the scenario had little chance to roleplay.
Not having my voice destroyed by Monday! Wheeee.
One of the few tables I got to play, my Bonekeep 3 table with Kyle Baird, Auke, Dan, Derek and Tim. We had been waiting a whole year for this, to do BK3 with the same characters. We are truly sad that there will not be a Bonekeep 4, but this was still an amazing capstone. Thanks to our GM for putting up with all our shenanigans.
Noodle & Company downstairs. Best 4 days of gaming deserved 5 trips to this fantabulous establishment of deliciousness.
Scotty's on Wednesday is always a blast and this year was no exception. Thanks again to Mark for putting it together, and it ran SMOOTH. Thanks to all the players that sat with me and my GM! It was a blast! WPWA (would pathfind with again)
NOT winning a charity auction boon this year. Money money to be had for the dealer hall \o/
Meeting more Paizo employees than previous years. Getting my ACG signed by a lot of them.
Some of my Weapon in the Rift tables didnt make, but every single table that did make was a freaking blast. Thanks to all my players for some awesome times. Still disappointed in some of you (you know who you are) for not encouraging your grappler to attempt to grapple the BBEG. Fun-sponges.
VO dinner/get together at Rock Bottom. Nice beer, good company. Getting to know Andrew Christian and wife. Getting a pick-up table together with some fantabulous people. Getting to meet Netopalis in that game. Playing and demolishing Vengeance at Sundered Crag in "record time" while kinda tipsy.
Sounds like an interesting group. How does the paladin feel about infernal healing?
HAH! Our paladin is not the brightest in the bunch. I think she will not even know what you are casting! You can probably say it's cure light wounds and she will believe you. I once convinced her that our summoned Babau was the muffin man!
[int 5 nagaji, roleplays her as dumb and gullible]
This is something I did when Season 5 came out, as easy handouts to give to those players who are not always reading forums and 100% on top of what happens in PFS, as well as new or infrequent players.
I do have a question however, will we see new Pre-Gens come out that mixes in the new races and the new advanced classes come out any time in the near future?
Pregens have always been the iconics. The new ACG classes also have their own iconics, but they are all the core races. So if ACG pregens come to exist, I would expect them to follow suit and use those iconic's races as they are.
Well, Carlos, there ARE other tables that could use the services of your most excellent GM talents!
No pressure, just stating a fact. :-D
I'll think about it as we get closer to the date. Already running plenty of slots at gencon proper, so like I'm sure many others I'm looking for a chance to play too.
But I will never let a table NOT make because they lack a GM. I'll keep an eye out and switch if needed.
I also believe that we actually have a lot of more potential 12+ play ready to go as new content is released (NOT APs!). Ever since Wardens of the Reborn Forge was launched, we have at least 1 GM and group of players basically just waiting for it to be sanctioned to play.
On reflection, though - there may be other ways to solve the issue that I'm seeing...
Also, remember that keeping or axing may not be the only options for factions. Maybe a faction gets a new faction head instead, that starts to shift a faction away from their current goal and mindset. Maybe we get someone more liberal as head of Cheliax. I mean, I didnt dig Taldor before Lady Gloriana as much as I do now.
I actually skipped cloak of resistance with my paladin, as he has very high charisma. Gave me the option of a utility cloak, which is quite rare in Pathfinder where EVERYONE just buys cloaks of resistance and is honestly quite boring. I ended up with a cape of the mountebank.
Also, look at the Paladin specific bracers:
bracers of the avenging knight - attack heavy paladin (UE)
silver smite bracelet - attack heavy paladin (APG)
bracers of the merciful knight - support paladin (UE)
Stand-alone promotes playing the whole thing with different PCs, rather than running a single PC through it. It also allows playing it "out of order", if indeed there is an order to it.
Which is how PFS scenarios work anyway, and I think that for a lot of people that play PFS that is what they want.
I'm going to take a wild guess that you can split people that play PFS into two main groups:
A) Players who can't/don't want to play in home campaigns so they play PFS instead
B) Players who play PFS in addition to home games with regular groups
The thing right now is that campaign mode helps a lot of players in group B, but end up hurting players in group A because usually there aren't enough players in group A by themselves that can make tables for a campaign mode run.
When a module doesn't have campaign mode, both groups A and B want to and get to play it. We fill tables, and game days make. We have been clamoring for more content (i.e. more than 2 scenarios a month) for quite some time. Older players (myself included) ARE running out of scenarios to play, even more now than older scenarios are not being run because of the advantage of reporting fresh scenarios. Yes, this is a very small percent of players, but they are there, and they tend to be highly loyal.
This is a great chance to get an influx of 16 new pieces of content in one swoop. That's like 2/3 of a season right there, bonus, for the low low cost of writing up the chronicles.
I anticipate handling this in a manner similar to Thornkeep, in which "campaign mode" was not an option. I'm willing to hear out reasons for why Emerald Spire should be playable in "campaign mode."
I also don't see why it's needed. Every level was designed (to my knowledge) to be like a Thornkeep level, and Thornkeep worked great as a module-only playstyle.
My biggest reason for not allowing campaign mode is that honestly, it has been VERY hard to sell any of the multi-part modules and APs here for playing at a game day. For all the modules and APs that have sanctioned content, nobody wants to do it. Everyone would just rather do it in campaign mode (for both the freedom and the extra rewards...) so getting things like Dragon's Demand or AP books in the PFS schedule has been nigh impossible.
Conversely, Thornkeep modules have been immensely popular. We run them at game days, and we run them at conventions. It would be great to have a direct replacement for these, as TK is getting quite stale and less and less people can play in them anymore.
I think Carlos GM'ed a game for me at the Pre-Gen Con session on Wednesday at Scotty's last year (Way of the Ki-Rin as I recall.) Not only was he a great GM, he printed the chronicle sheets on a parchment style resume paper, so we would know we got then at a "special event."
He was exceptionally well-prepared, and honestly, more GMs could learn some good tips from him.
(I think Carlos was the GM - if it wasn't just ignore. :) )
Yeah, that was our table, glad you liked it! I have done special paper in the past (parchment for gencon, metal gold foil for EOTT) as a special touch. Just depends what I can get on sale at stationery stores over here. Little things can make it memorable to players!
Scotty's is one of the things I look the most forward to about Gencon, and I hope to do it again this year. I really, really tried to make Paizocon this year too, but I think it's not in the cards.
Everyone else, if you are playing a table of Weapon in the Rift this coming gencon, I may be your GM! I will ALWAYS be glad to run it on Hard Mode for ya'll >=)
All characters gain Common as a free language. You gain free languages granted by your race, ethnicity (for humans), and class (e.g., Druidic for druids). If you have a high Intelligence modifier, you may select bonus languages from those listed in your race’s entry in the Core Rulebook and the Modern Human Languages list (The Inner Sea World Guide 251). Certain classes grant access to additional bonus languages (e.g., Draconic for wizards). Humans and half-elves with high Intelligence scores may learn all the above languages as bonus languages as well as any other language except Druidic and the languages listed under Ancient Languages on page 251 of The Inner Sea World Guide.
Sorry, Nefreet, but, RAW, determining the abilities of any PoP would be DC 32, since that is the only CL listed.
And that does get ugly.
Besides, wouldn't a PoP 1 require a minimum CL of whatever the Craft Wondrous Items feat is, if it isn't the static, listed, CL17?
Nosig posted above that there was a FAQ on creation of POPs:
FAQ:
Pearl of Power: What is the caster level required to create this item?
Though the listed Caster Level for a pearl of power is 17th, that caster level is not part of the Requirements listing for that item. Therefore, the only caster level requirement for a pearl of power is the character has to be able to cast spells of the desired level.
However, it makes sense that the minimum caster level of the pearl is the minimum caster level necessary to cast spells of that level--it would be strange for a 2nd-level pearl to be CL 1st.
For example, a 3rd-level wizard with Craft Wondrous Item can create a 1st-level pearl, with a minimum caster level of 1. He can set the caster level to whatever he wants (assuming he can meet the crafting DC), though the pearl's caster level has no effect on its powers (other than its ability to resist dispel magic). If he wants to make a 2nd-level pearl, the caster level has to be at least 3, as wizards can't cast 2nd-level spells until they reach character level 3. He can even try to make a 3rd-level pearl, though the minimum caster level is 5, and he adds +5 to the DC because he doesn't meet the "able to cast 3rd-level spells" requirement.
I think it is more than reasonable to assume that for ID purposes, just like for creation:
1st level Pearl = CL 1
2nd level Pearl = CL 3
3rd level Pearl = CL 5
...
9th level Pearl = CL 17
It stops domination, charm, magic jar, and command from evil creatures, so it is well worth the price of admission. It's pretty much a must-have for low will save characters.
It's not perfect, but you still pretty much have to have one.
Would it be possible that we could get a decision one way or the other in a PFS FAQ? I think that would help out with this debate substantially.
There currently should be no debate. The most recent guide is very clear that they are lifetime. Whether that stays the same or changes later, we will see. But NOW you should plan with the knowledge that they are lifetime.
but scrolls of obscuring mist are a good choice - because it also takes care of getting sneak attacked (with a few exceptions). I can remember being trapped in a deeper darkness at 1st level and using an obscuring mist to prevent the sneak attacker from ganking the party)
Wait, how did you read a scroll in deeper darkness? :P
And remember Dan, you don't have to look for rules that say that PreGens can't grant dayjob rolls to granted characters, you have to look for rules that say they CAN. Not finding any such rules, I'd say that's a negatory on the question.
I did found a rule that characters playing in a PFS scenario get Day Job rolls if they have ranks in Craft, Perform, Profession or a special vanity.
I also found a rule that Pregens are characters playing in a PFS scenario.
Both of these are true, therefore I see no rule preventing the day job or making an exception for pregens. They are characters. Some have ranks in the stated skills. They get day jobs.
No, it doesn't. Control implies the caster can give commands or somehow directly affect your actions. Fear is simply a condition that says you either take -2 to rolls (shaken), run away (frightened), or REALLY run away (panicked). The caster of cause fear has no control over you. The PLAYER still makes the decision of where to run to, for example.
Both books contain rules for resonant powers. However, only the stones contained in each of the books have their resonant powers listed, so you need the books that include the stones you want.
What it really comes down to is one player wanting to use a <legal> option that other players and also their characters by all rights might have an issue with, and also whose characters might easily be required to act against said character in order to not both break their concept and mechanically take a massive penalty (and a costly one), just so that the one player can force their character on everyone else.
Because, one option completely invalidates a character, while the other can be resolved with roleplaying.
Let's take some extreme examples. Player 1 wants to play a necromancer wizard who animates the dead. Player 2 wants to play an inquisitor of Pharasma who hates undead.
In my opinion, Player 2 should be the one who compromises and comes up with a reason why his inquisitor would work with such a wizard. Even if that reason is only "the PFS made me". If you ask Player 1 to come along but don't use any of his abilities, then you are gimping that player in pretty much all ways: both crunch and fluff basically.
Regardless of my opinion above, I still don't see why we can't all just be adults about this. If P1 has a character with a problem against undead, and P2 wants to bring a necro wizard, then those two players SHOULD talk it out before hand and figure out how that is solved. Maybe the solution is that the undead hater gets to let the wizard create his undead for the duration of the scenario, and then he gets to destroy them at the end. How hard is that?
And if any GM deems that such a compromise is "violating a code" and wants to make you loose powers, they need to go re-read rule #1
I am running Crypt next week and also see the advantage of leveling up before the final level. However, leveling up during a game, I agree, is too involved. Maybe something simple, like adding the simple advanced template til the end of the module, or even just +1 to all rolls and some temp HPs.
Maybe a "positive level" instead of a negative level? +5hp, +1 to all d20 die rolls, +1 CL?
I would suggest, since we are taking the time to compile them, that we also include the **OFFICIAL UPDATES** as well, so that PFS players dont have to go hunting some now crazy hard to find boards:
Arcanist
* In Table 1–1, in the Spells per Day columns, the 4th and 5th level spell tags are swapped. The spells on the table are correct, but their titles at the top of the table should be reversed.
* In that same table, at 14th level, all of the spells per day should be moved to the right one position, and a new "4" should be added at 1st level. This level should read 1st-4, 2nd-4, 3rd-4, 4th-4, 5th-4, 6th-4, 7th-2.
Bloodrager
None
Brawler
* Brawler counts as having Int 13 for the purpose of meeting combat feat prerequisites.
* Brawler strike is Ex instead of Su.
Hunter
* Instead of precise companion, just give Precise Shot as a bonus feat.
* Snake focus should be a typeless attack bonus.
Investigator
* Studied Combat: the insight bonus to attack rolls against the target of your studied strike lasts for a number of rounds equal to the investigator's Intelligence modifier, or until he chooses to make a studied strike, whichever happens first.
Shaman
None
Skald
* I'll clarify when you can accept raging song: you played it as intended, that you can accept when the skald starts, then get the free yes/no on your turn as well.
Slayer
* Ranger combat style talent should say you can ignore the selected feat's prereqs, just as a ranger can.
* Add a couple more appropriate rogue talents to the list, like powerful sneak and unwitting ally.
* Replace Cha-based ninja assassinate talent with Int-based talent that does the same thing.
Swashbuckler
None
Warpriest
* The warpriest gains proficiency with his deity's favored weapon
Did people pay that money to play "the only" changeling? Or did they pay that money to play "a" changeling? Was there any guarantee at the time that the boon would never be offered again? (That's a serious question; I wasn't there and consequently wouldn't know.)
If the boon was sold as an exclusive, then it should remain an exclusive, I agree. If it wasn't sold as an exclusive, then caveat emptor: It has already been demonstrated that an auctioned boon might someday be opened up for others to use.
Actually, the opposite. It was clear there was NO guarantee that the races and classes auctioned off at Gencon would be exclusive at all. Any of them could be opened up later either for free or with another boon from any source.
As a winner of one of the PrC ones, I would not feel slighted at all if they decided to open up my PrC to everyone else. It was for charity guys.
