Chris Donnangelo's page

I thought that the Taldan ban on Sarenrae worship gave the otherwise ill-defined and nebulous "fading decadent empire" an interesting facet.

Any details on the rogue options? Sczarni Swindler and Grig Jig?

The Tarrasque has never been a big threat in the d20 system. It still isn't. The fact it's set at CR 25 is pretty laughable. A party has more to fear from a pit fiend or solar, and so does the Tarrasque (the pit fiend can roflstomp a Tarrasque too).

My personal opinion has always been that if you compare a monster to similarly CRated monsters, and it seems weaker due to an ambiguous reading of one of their signature abilities, you're probably reading it wrong.

If you remove the assumption that the Tarrasque is actually dead for those 3 rounds and therefore vulnerable to animate dead, does it put him in line with other CR 25 creatures?

Donation link is broken!
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Remove the "http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/"

Two words: Action Economy
Use leadership to get a pair of spell casters to buff and heal the main combatants. An inquisitor or bard wouldn't have the sheer spellpower that a cleric or wizard would, but built right, could provide some useful buffs to the party when the shindig goes down. A summonner could flood the battlefield with celestial animals, all of them smiting the fiends.
Honestly if everyone in your party has leadership, you should have no problem mopping them off the floor, by virtue of having 2.5x their actions, before summons.

In my home games I tend to allow Profession check to be used in place of skills related to a specific job. For example:

Profession (jewler) could being used instead of Appraise for small gems and jewlery.
Profession (shepherd) could be used instead of Handle Animal for controlling herd animals and intimidating common predators of those animals.
Profession (gambler) could be used instead of Bluff, Sleight of Hand, or Intimidate when used on dice, cards, or roulette wheels.
Profession (librarian) would be able to give a bonus to Knowledge checks, based on what type of books are available.
Profession (sailor) could be used in place of craft(sails) with a penalty, or in place of Climb or Acrobatics checks on ships rigging.
I give PCs who put ranks in Profession (merchant) the potential to get better prices for items through haggling.

And so on... If the GM can give mechanical benefit to a 'dead skill' it gives it lots of roleplaying flavor, and I like rewarding that.

Does a camelrider gain a benefit from the Trample feat?
They don't have a hoof attack.

Seems clear to me what was told to him.

That he can't use the public site to advertise for a private game?

I would hope the OP would still coordinate with the VC, to prevent the same scenario from being run privately, after which not enough players show up for the public event.

Do you have a format you'd like us to use for a gazeteer entry?

I've done a lot of work on Remesiana for my home campaign, and I was going to submit a city write-up. That would be a 750 word count entry, yes?

Unfortunately, this is for PFS Organized Play.
Otherwise I'd work with the player to trade the feat in for something else thematically appropriate, or give them some other bonus.

But for PFS, we'd need a ruling.

I had a player ask me this question recently, and I wanted to get the community's feedback.

The player wants to take the feat Eldritch Heritage at 3rd level, so he can begin to use the Claws. Then, at 6th level take the Dragon Disciple prestige class.

Eldritch Heritage says you must choose a bloodline you don't have.

If you later take a level in a class that grants that bloodline (like Dragon Disciple), do you now have a dead feat?
Do you spontaneously switch bloodlines?
Are you prohibited from taking that class if there are no other bloodline options?

Do they have two 'pools' of 3+Cha Mod rounds/day of claws, at different power levels?
Do they gain an additional 3 rounds/day and use the higher powered feature (like a monk/ninja multiclass' ki pool)?
Do the Claws count as the same ability from different sources, meaning the more potent ability would override the other entirely?

My inclination is to the latter, but it feels odd to punish a player for trying to add flavor to his character concept earlier than 6th level.

I think statement near the end is what's giving people hope of a revisitation:

Concerning this feat, we came to agree that it was pushing a bit to high above the base line. We pulled it back. We are looking to see if we went too far. Its clear to us that many of you think we have. We will take that into consideration going forward.

I didn't even know there WAS a remake of LTTP. I might have to see about picking that up, that's my favorite Zelda game to this day and I just got a 2DS.

Anyway, as you were. =)

Technically, its a sequel. Same worldmap, similar dungeons, but with a 2D twist.

Had not been able to find it during the voting. Maybe it was disqualified?

Fury Powder
Aura moderate enchantment; CL 7th
Slot none; Price 1,400 gp; Weight - lbs.
Description
This powder was originally weaponized rageweed pollen. It can be thrown as a splash weapon with a range increment of 10 feet or loaded into a tube and blown in a 15 foot cone. Any creature caught in the dust must make a DC 16 Will save, or be subject to a mind-affecting compulsion to attack the nearest creature as the confusion spell. This effect lasts for 7 rounds or until the creature makes a Will save.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Items, confusion; Cost 700 gp

Check out the Upstate Pathfinder Lodge or the Facebook group for PFS near you. There used to be an event at Cooper's Cave in Glens Falls; Steven Pace was looking to start it up again.

The dates have been chosen!
Come down the 3rd Tuesday of every month to Play the Game, Read the Story on Clinton Street in Syracuse! New players welcomed!
I should be doing at least one character creation workshop before the event, keep your eyes on this thread, the Facebook event, or contact me for updates!

If you're interested in Pathfinder Society, I could always use a few good GMs... Getting started at PtG,RtS next month for a monthly gameday.

There's also a Meetup group based in Liverpool that you might be able to get some players from.

There's a Facebook group as well, called Roleplayers of Syracuse that you could post on.

Takhsis, just in case you missed my PM, we're looking to start the monthly game day the end of January; I'll have an official date next week.
That being said, what is the best day of the week (Monday-Friday) for you to game? We'll be playing from 5-9:30 pm.
Hope to hear from you soon!

Central/Upstate New York, you say?

I know Watertown area has a thriving community, but there's not much as far as Syracuse/Binghamton/Rochester goes. I'm looking to change that however, and get some PFS started at Syracuse's FLGS, Play the Game, Read the Story.
You can message me here, or e-mail chris.donnangelo@pathfindersociety.net or syracusepfs@gmail.com and I'll keep you updated!

Posting as Ryoshi Cho
A half-elf of Minkaian descent quietly enters the room, his black hair tied into a topknot. As he bows deeply, the sihedron brand on his forehead draws your attention.

"Haikei, Honorable Pathfinders of the Lantern Lodge." he speaks with a strong, but quiet voice.
"I am Ryoshi Cho, yojimbo of Hime Jadaran Tsukiyo, daughter of the honorable Utare daimyo Jadaran Hiroshi. When we left Sakakabe Province to seek our destiny, we floated aimlessly through Tian-Xia like cherry petals on an uncertain wind. Our destiny lead us to Goka, where recruiters for Taichou Amara Li pointed us towards the Inner Sea. We defeated a master in a fortress, sabotaged cultists, cleared out vaults and laboratories. Our path was clear, to bring honor and the light of the Lantern to the Pathfinder Society. Our efforts were rewarded when the Lantern Lodge was made the official Pathfinder lodge of the Land Across the Crown."

"However, to continue our adventures on this half of the world, as Hime wishes, we must align with one of the local interests of the Inner Sea. Brothers and Sisters of the Lantern Lodge, I ask your advice. To whom should we pledge our allegiance?"

Lets start PFS in the Central New York area, starting in Syracuse and working West and South!
I'm gathering interest for a monthly or bi-weekly event at Syracuse's only FLGS, Play the Game, Read the Story (formerly Altered States). This would likely take place on Wednesday evenings, to align with the store's gaming schedule, and depending on the interest, expand from there.
Please post here, message me, e-mail me at syracusepfs@gmail.com, or text or call 315-908-2696 if you're interested, and hopefully we can get this party started in Salt City!

I believe the intelligence modifier is resolved (and triggers the minimum of 1) before the human racial bonus, giving your hypothetical dumb fighter 2 skill points per level, one more than an equal statted fighter of any other race.

I can't find the rule, however, and this leads to the funny situation where a human fighter who wants to dump Int to 8 (-1) has no reason not to drop to 7 (-2), because their skill points/level will be exactly the same.

I'd say RAW, you retain the DR and lose armor bonuses until you were fully corporeal.

However, I'd be a lot of bookeeping, but as a GM, I'd reduce your DR by two every round, and increase the armor bonus by 20% each round.
Take a hypothetical party of a rogue with a chain shirt (+4), a druid with hide and +3 natural armor (+7) and a dwarven paladin with towershield and fullplate (+13)

Before Transformation -> Fully gaseous, DR 10/magic, No Armor bonuses
Round 1 ->DR 8, R+1, D+1, P+2
Round 2 ->DR 6, R+2, D+3, P+5
Round 3 ->DR 4, R+2, D+4, P+8
Round 4 ->DR 2, R+3, D+6, P+10
Round 5 ->Fully Corporeal, R+4, D+7, P+13

Alternatively, phase in different types of armor as you become more corporeal.

Before Transformation -> Fully gaseous, DR 10/magic, No Armor bonuses
Round 1 ->DR 8, Natural Armor effective
Round 2 ->DR 6, Shield Bonuses effective
Round 3 ->DR 4, Light Armor effective
Round 4 ->DR 2, Medium Armor effective
Round 5 ->Fully Corporeal, Heavy Armor effective

I don't know, I think its pretty darn epic to have a paladin implanted with demon parts, and through sheer faith and devotion, fight back the snaking tendrils of corruption and redeem them.

Especially if the paladin lost his arm or hand or something to a chainsaw demon, and utilized the appropriate part from his defeated foes. Groovy. ^_^

Myles, R2D2TS is Tristan: co-liaison at the Gamer's Grotto.
Though not officially part of the Green Mountain Lodge anymore, I'll probably be lurking. I, too, hope to attend Carnage next year, I should be settled and able to travel. ^_^

So I could not use the official art, but fan art is ok.

Anyone with artistic talent want to draw Valsin or another VC in the "We want YOU!" pose?

Greetings!
While brainstorming ways to generate interest for Pathfinder Society Play in Syracuse and Central NY, I had the fantastic idea to create a PFS poster in the style of the WWI recruitment posters, using photoshop wizardry to substitute a VCs head (likely Ambrus Valsin's) for Uncle Sam, and recoloring Uncle Sam's (public domain) clothes to match the Paizo art.
Essentially, I'd be editing another image to match it up with the unaltered headshot from the blog. For those of you who use image manipulation programs, the Paizo art would be on a separate, locked layer that would be laid atop the modified Uncle Sam layer)

Would this be a valid use of the artwork?

except there are things that let you do that intentionally (huntmaster feat).

that wouldn't help as much as cause more problems

You are forgetting the "specific trumps general" rule.

Revisiting the favored class options isn't the answer. A single clause in the druid Animal companion feature culled from the Boon Companion feat would fix this.

Your maximum effective druid level can never exceed your character level.

Don't forget you can ready a trip action for when a character comes within range. That's a sure way to ruin a melee character's day, and cause them to waste their standard action getting up.

That crossed my mind as well. However, from some of the inane ideas I've read on these boards, and how vociferously they've been fought for it can be hard to tell intent without follow up on the boards.

Fair enough. I've seen some very interesting points argued to death on these boards as well, and I sometimes have to squint and say "Can't tell if Trolling or just stupid..."

My serious voice rarely includes emoticons. ^_^

I've never heard of that...

A person's character sheet is personal property and can not be taken from someone w/out their consent. You're opening up a whole new can of worms if you try out something like that, along with probably escalating an already tense situation.

Someone failed their saving throw versus joke...

When a player character commits a grossly evil act that would get their character removed from the campaign/marked as dead(especially one the rest of the party is willing to throw down to prevent), isn't that player required to hand the character sheet to the GM?
And that character now an NPC?
And therefore PvP rules don't apply?
^_^

Ah! I just need more reading comprehension skills...
Many thanks!

Quick questions about the Defender of Nerosyan boon from the season 5 special, Siege of the Diamond City:

Yeah, I was going to suggest the Mordant Spire elves in the Steaming Sea.

::sings::Get 'cher pi-ckle, get 'cher juicy pi-ckle, get 'cher pi-ckle AND STAB IT WITH A STICK!::/sing::
One of my Lady's favorite parts of the Renfaire!

There should be four main characters. The traditional gaming group size is four people. There's the fantastic four, four musketeers, four elements, four humors, four teenage mutant ninja turtles, etc. It's all about four. ;)

Facinating discussion on that topic.

It's also much easier to start GMing if you have a stable base of characters so you can learn their classes as they develop. Then you learn what they can do gradually, and know what their common tactics are.
GMing at a convention can sometimes be a bit crazy, with players bringing obscure class features and spell options. It slows things down if those players don't have their resources ready.
Just keep playing, and don't be afraid to rely on your players for rules advice, or, if there is a disagreement, make a ruling based on your gut, and make a note to look up the rules after the scenario.
Good luck!

Captain Kirstov, I'm actually working on a fanmade globe... I got some cheap reject 12" diameter globes and am planning on overlaying it... just got to get it to print out right...

Anyone know any programs that can turn a flat map into a printable globe?
Anyone really good with geometry and can calculate the angle required to overlay said map onto a sphere?

Western NY is kind of sparse.
Hopefully we can get something going in that area so next year you'll be able to join a game! ^_^

Have you considered using the Aid Another action?

AID ANOTHER
In melee combat, you can help a friend attack or defend by distracting or interfering with an opponent. If you're in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat, you can attempt to aid your friend as a standard action. You make an attack roll against AC 10. If you succeed, your friend gains either a +2 bonus on his next attack roll against that opponent or a +2 bonus to AC against that opponent's next attack (your choice), as long as that attack comes before the beginning of your next turn. Multiple characters can aid the same friend, and similar bonuses stack.

That +2 to attack or AC stacks with everything. A whip will allow you to aid from 15' away, but a longspear trades 5' for the ability to make AoOs, if you go with combat reflexes build as in the posts above.

You'll never be a front-liner (who would expect you to be?) but you'll be excellent support, which is what I think you're going for.

I'm pretty sure all the rivers flow into Lake Encarthan, except the Glass River that runs north of Kyonin into Kallas Lake and down the Sellen River into the Inner Sea by Cassomir.

YESSSSSSS!
ALKENSTAR AT LAST!

Well, the PCs in Howard Phillips campaign over in Innsmouth just put out the sun, so I guess you'll have to make do without the sun in your campaign from now on, right? Oh, and watch the ocean...

Seriously, everything in Golarion is set up to make the PCs the center of the story. In YOUR campaign, your players are the world's only hope. What happens in Pathfinder Society is a different campaign, and doesn't happen in your world (unless you think it would make the story more fun!). I've had to develop cities and locations that are briefly mentioned in canon, only to be contradicted by future publications detailing it. But for this campaign, my way is the highway! If later publications say that the gods are suddenly mortal, I'm going to ignore it, because it wouldn't fit in my campaign.

As far as a Chelaxian rebellion campaign; you identified a problem (Devils shred peasant mobs), the campaign is all about you dropping hints on ways to overcome that problem.
Perhaps the PCs could enlist external aid to fight the devils. Andoran is right next door, your players could convince them to provide silver for arming the peasants, or training, or even assist with a full scale invasion. The PCs could summon celestial or demonic aid, from any number of patrons. Perhaps most likely, there is a sub-clause in the Treaty of Egorian where a simple blood ritual to Asmodeous prevents the devils from harming you. (Of course, this means you go straight to Hell upon death. Do not pass the Boneyard, do not collect Pharasma's Judgement...)
All of the above and more could be valid. Drop hints of the possibilities and run with whatever your players are most interested in!

Whose to say your Kellid wasn't abandoned at birth through whatever plot contrivance you wish, raised by Mendevian crusaders as a Paladin, and *THEN* discovered his heritage. Reconciling his barbaric roots with his newfound religious devotion is juicy character development right there.
A Paladin of Erastil would probably be your best bet for a Shoanti. Not all paladins are mounted, fullplate clad knights of the realm. Some are just regular men, imbued with strength of character and filled with holy purpose.

Wow... the statblocks for the NPC in question are totally boinked... the low tier has him with "Attacks: +2 greatsword +12 (2d6+8/19–20)", yet the gear lists a +1 greatsword. Similarly, the high tier version lists a +2 greatsword, but has a +4 sword in the statblock! Furthermore:

Keep in mind this NPC doesn't have his greatsword for the first round of combat, its hanging behind the bar; His first action is to pull it off the wall. He's quite obviously the leader, so I don't think your PCs will have too much trouble with him, even with the bumps to damage.

You should check the new Pathfinder Society Primer, they have feats and traits tailored for the two paths to membership.

(From a purely roleplay perspective, those trained are more likely to be Lawful, while those with a field commission tend towards Chaotic. You might think that's not mechanical, until you get hit with spell that does extra damage to you...)

I'll stick with the Inner Sea:

Pathfinder Society~ Your global adventurer's guild. Typically knowledge seekers, though YMMV given the shadowy nature of its leaders...
Aspis Consortium~ Global merchant guild/mercenary army with Illuminati influence, typically profit and power hungry foils to the Pathfinders
Red Mantis~ THE Assassin's guild. They won't assassinate rightful monarchs though.
Knights of Ozem~ Guardians tasked with watching over Tar-Baphon, perhaps the greatest non-Rovagug evil Golarion has ever seen.
Mendevian Crusaders~ Warriors holding back an invasion from the Abyss
Hellknights~ Chelaxian enforcers of Law, using the tiered nature of Hell as an example. Not necessarily evil. (think Judge Dredd)

As far as globally important people... There aren't many. Paizo specifically shied away from the Elminster method.
The most powerful people are likely wield Political Power, rather than class levels.
Lord Gyr of House Gixx is the Primarch of Absalom, and thus controls the City at the Center of the World.
Queen Abrogail II is the ruler of Cheliax, with a Pit Fiend as her advisor.
Codwin I is the Supreme Elect of Andoran.
Grand Prince Stavian III is the ruler of Taldor
Xerbystes II is the ruler of Quadira which is a Satrapy(territory) of the larger Empire of Kelish
Khemet III is the Pharaoh of Osirion

The Pathfinder Wiki is a great resource for new and experienced GMs alike!

Vudran deities! Meditation feats!
Are we finally going to Casmaron?

Perhaps after the Osiron AP?

Please?

Holy Sarenrae! What are these goshdarn sinspawn?