Unfortunately, with an 8-month old at home, a wife that works 70 hours a week, and my own job, I don't have time to play an MMO let alone PFO. Looking for best offer.
The characters are currently:
Char 1: 120k+ XP remaining, Basic Mage build with no points wasted
Char 2: 90k+ XP remaining, Level 10 Tailor
I don't think many of you understand the problems with not being able to take on T2 Escalations. They grow more powerful and expand into adjoining hexes if you don't fight them.
They were hard enough keeping in check before the patch. Now, they will just expand to maximum capacity and make a bunch of hexes flooded with impossible mobs.
Now, if GW INTENDS for hexes to be in a permanently escalated state...well they will certainly get it lol. I've heard there is a cap on how many they can expand in, though, so it may not be too bad...
I've seem references to a goblinworks blog post that no longer exists, re: item decay. I've also seen references to "threading" which seem to only affect whether something is lootable or not. I've also seem mentioning of "item repair" but I'm not sure if that really exists, if there are diminishing returns, etc.
So, in essence...do all items eventually decay into nothing or do they exist indefinitely?
(I ask because, in my experience, a health player-driven economy requires that all items eventually decay to nothing.)
Also, bear in mind that PFO is not all about getting the "best" weapon or item, but finding the one that is best for YOU. You might see two swords on the market, one with three keywords and another with five. Which is better? Well, if the former has three keywords that your character knows and thus can actually benefit from, then it is a better fit than the latter with two keywords you know and three you don't.
Or you start building your character around that new item.
Again, using my previous experience with dozens of MMO's, there are plenty that allow for different combinations of "keywords", but it almost always boils down to only having 1-2 choices which aren't considered sub-standard.
I think crafters will still find enough complexity in the system to enjoy mastering the inputs. That complexity is less about finding extra-high-quality materials and using them to make the greatest items and more about balancing upgrade bonuses to create the best possible item with the least waste of materials.
Thanks for the explanation, Stephen. I guess we'll have to wait and see how scarce the high-end resources actually are and how different the best weapon is from the second best weapon.
I think the key is to have incremental increases in power requires LOTS more resources. Literally, 10x the resources for 1% power increase. Then you have the power-players working towards that 1% power increase, but the more casual players can still be competitive with less-than-the-best stuff.
tldr; High-end items should be HUGE resource sinks.
I'm actually somewhat disappointed to hear that weapons drop from monsters. Hopefully its just low-end items to get new players acquainted with the variety of weapons available.
If mobs end up dropping top-tier items, then, once again, crafting for profit will take a huge hit. A little less sand in the box.
Hopefully when I get access to PFO they will still be taking feedback from us...because I plan on testing the crafting portion a lot and hope my voice can still be heard!
Most items in Pathfinder Online are crafted by players, meaning all your
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Yup, I just read the document. Thanks.
I'm currently Alpha testing "The Repopulation" (wish I was alpha-testing this instead though, heh) and the economy is very player driven with a lot of different variety in quality. I just prefer fantasy to sci-fi.
It seems that PFO is closer to SWG than WoW, which is good. I'm a person that could play an MMO just for crafting, so I really hope it ends up being the case.
I could also see the economy being driven completely by maxed out items and the lesser stuff being worth a lot less.
Thanks for the explanation, Dario. I'll check that doc out.
DeciusBrutus wrote:
What are the crucial differences between what you think of as SWG and what you think of as WoW paradigms of crafting?
The WoW paradigm is:
- no variance in material locations
- no variance in recipe/material combination
- no variance in created item
The SWG paradigm is:
- different materials, with different qualities
- using different materials in different recipes produces different results
- created item varies, depending upon the quality and type of materials used
SWG had the best crafting of all time. Quality of materials mattered. Surveying for materials mattered. Supply-chain management was huge. Everything (at least when I played in the early days) was player created.
WoW crafting was a sideshow to the actual game. Forgot, for a moment, item drops being equal to or better...if that disappeared the crafting would still be terrible.
From the dev/CEO video I saw, there were different levels of material quality...but there were only, like, 3 tiers of 5 quality levels each or something.
This sounds like WoW-style Copper/Iron/next-tier-metal type components. I'm assuming different areas will have whack-a-node type mechanics, but I haven't seen any information.
I know this is supposed to be a player-driven sandbox but...are we actually going to have master-crafters that people will come to from all over the world to purchase things (SWG)? Or is it, once you hit master-crafter skill cap, then any decent guild will be able to make the best weapons and the best weapons all have the same stats (WoW)?
I pledged to the original kickstarter a year and a half ago and am just checking back in now that I've noticed Alpha has started. Couple questions:
- Where's the best place for me to "catch up" on what's going on?
- Are the alpha testers really all the people that pledged $1,000 to the game? Is there a way to gain Alpha any other way?
- Any educated guesses as to when Beta will be? (I'm guessing over a year from now)
Hi all. Couldn't find the answers to this on the boards.
When releasing an animal companion and getting a new one, do you get to re-apply the feats and ability scores granted from previous levels to the new companion? or even choose new abilities/feats?
I would assume so because, it seems likely that they would automatically get Link, Evasion, Devotion etc, even if they weren't around when I achieved those levels. Also, it would suck if your companion died and you had to get a new one, but it didn't get the abilities/feats of the former one.
Our DM is open to someone who knows the rules better than us to let us know how the "Rope of Climbing" is intended to work...so nothing is final, haha.
That's why I'm posting here...to get moar opinions.
According to the rules, a RoC can "[attach] itself securely wherever its owner desires". Does this mean that it could, for example, affix itself to a flat surface, without needing to knot itself to something?
I did a search and found some references to the fact that a Bard's "Inspire Courage" ability doesn't stack with "Heroism" because they are both 'morale bonuses'.
YET
According to the handbook, "Inspire Courage" is a 'morale bonus' w/r/t saving throws but a 'competence bonus' w/r/t attack and dmg rolls.
Also, according to Treantmonk's guide, they do stack.
Depends on the turn sequence and amount of movement. You make an Acrobatics check when you move into a Greased square. Depending on that Acro check, you can move at 1/2 speed while in its AoE on that turn. If your continued movement takes you beyond the spell's AoE during that turn, no further Acro checks are warranted. If you end your turn within the spell's AoE, you will have to make another Acro check to move within it on your next turn.
Hmm, but what about the turn they ENTER the grease. If they fail their saving throw, would they be stopped before they actually enter it (it says they cannot move if they fail their save) or is entering a special case where they are stopped from actually moving further?
I'd assume the latter, but I just wanna be really sure, heh.
This difference between grease and wall of fire is in the description. The grease fills a 10 foot square while the fire is a thin sheet. If a creature ends its move in a greased square it will be subject to the grease effect on the next turn, even if it is leaving the square with this movement. Since the fire effect is a sheet and not at least 5ft wide a creature would only pass through the fire not end in it. If the fire was at lest a square wide and a character ended its turn inside it then it would get burned the next round as well since it would be affected by it a second time.
My bad, the Wall of Fire analogy was bad, but it could be analogous to a room full of fire.
Which is basically what your example denotes.
So, if a creature both entres the grease and exits the grease in a single turn, then they wouldn't be effected by the greased effect upon leaving the grease, correct?
There simply is no reason why it wouldnt threaten the squares around it in the rules, ingame this probably is simulated by the 'defend' trick, it's one of the few that do not need a skillcheck for regular use.
Basically you can assume a combat trained mount it threatens squares just like it usually would.
The ride checks you make when you want to use both your hands in a particular round (guide with knees), if your ride check is high enough you might not have to make it because it succeeds automatically.
If your dog attacks, then you will need to make another ride check to be able to attack yourself, again it would be easier if your ride check is high enough to avoid making checks at all.
EDIT: the simple answer was YES
Well, this is the way we have been playing, so we'll continue to do so.
The logical explanation for grease would be that it would be too easy to escape the greased area otherwise a 10 foot square (almost) always allows for a small or medium creature to step out off it with a 5 foot step if that was the case, it actually makes sense to me in regard with slippery surfaces. For the rules there seems to be a distinction between difficult terrain and a greased surface.
I agree that its not considered terrain. But it is, in fact, and AOE spell.
Which, I fear, would follow the rules that the Wall of Fire does :( So, I'd reckon, you can't assume stepping out of it could cause a player to slip.
Remember...this is a 1st level spell. It's not meant to be super awesome!
The checks you make effectively are made to allow you to attack, not to turn the dog on or off. A dc 10 ride check as a free action allows you to act / attack freely.
Unless you are a ranger or druid you will need to make a DC 10 handle animal check to put it in attack mode as a move action, a combat trained animal will always be ready to defend you however.(I also assume this includes AoO). A good ride skill might clear you of making checks at all (at least +9)
Let's forget the animal attacking, for a second. My primary use of the mount is to ride around with it shooting my bow. In my interpretation, as long as I don't have the dog attacking anything, I can do this via a normal 'Guide with knees' check. After all, the 'Fight with a Combat-trained Mount' specifically states: "If you direct your wartrained mount to attack in battle, you can still make your own attack or attacks normally". Doesn't this imply that you only need to make this check if your mount is actually attacking??
After reading the riding dog's description it seems to me it is combat trained, as it should for that pricetag, I suggest you read up on handle animal and the ride skill thoroughly, for what you can command it to do and what kind of action if any it takes, I very much recommend you to put some points in both skills.
I have read both skills extensively. My brain hurts, haha. From my interpretation, I don't need Handle Animal @ all, if all I am doing is riding around on it, shooting my bow.
Sorry for the back-tracking, but I think it would be valuable to get a complete understanding of what can and cannot be done with a mount not attacking before I understand what can be done while attacking.
yes, though you will have to make a ride check to be able to attack yourself every round
Not quite sure how this would work though. 2 methods I can think of:
1) If the mount has an opportunity to threaten a square, then it automatically does but then the next time I want to make an attack, I have to roll the check
2) I have to decide, each turn, whether the mount is threatening or not. If I choose to do so, then I make the ride check right then and there to see if I can attack. This leads me to believe that I kind of have to have an on/off switch for it and make the decision to flip the switch @ the beginning of my turn.
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also it will need to have combat training otherwise you will need to make a DC 20 ride check as a move action every round to be able to do anything that round at all. There is nothing in the rules which says the mount can not act or threaten the area around it as normal.
Can I assume a riding dog is combat trained? If not, is there a "fee" that I can pay to make it so?
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Halfling warrior types on riding dogs are quite fun, I wish there was a pathfinder PrC to make full use of it, not just for rangers but also to make it a better choice for fighters.
Well, I'm basically only doing it so my bard can move 40' a round and still shoot-off full-round attacks ;)
I'm a halfling archer mounted on a riding dog. Was wondering if my dog is actually considered "threatening" the squares around it and, subsequently, whether they can flank an enemy and/or get AOO against them.
With any kind of terrain, the movement speed is calculated by the terrain being moved into, not the terrain being moved out of.
Why should 'greased' terrain be any different?
Because you have to be careful when moving subject to a 'greased area'. You are subject to the greased area whether you are moving into it or away from it.
You are using a subjectively worded sentence to describe what is happening...not a Pathfinder rule...at least, as much as I can tell!
Can someone point out, in the rulebook, where something like Grease should behave differently than any other kind of AoE spell?
For example, if there is a Wall of Fire that someone tries to pass through, the text says:
Quote:
the wall deals 2d6 points of fire damage + 1 point of fire damage per caster level (maximum +20) to any creature passing through it.
I don't think anyone would argue that they take this damage twice, once for entering a square in the wall and once for leaving the square with the wall.
We won't be replacing our messageboards with someone else's software. We will however be rolling out some improvements soon(ish). In particular, the new search feature is looking pretty good.
Can I ask why you wouldn't use someone else's freely available forum software? You guys aren't in the forum coding business...you're in the RPG business ;)
If there is one thing that I've learned long ago, as a computer programmer, is that if you ever start coding something from scratch, you sure as hell should check to make sure that there isn't something out there that already meets your needs...because chances are there is.
I'm not saying that you haven't, per se, but there would have to be a ton of value-add for someone to write their own forum software!
I love you Paizo. My group has bought 2 adventure paths, maps, and quite a few Pathfinder Core and Bestiary books. We will continue buying lots of your stuff. Keep up the good work.
Having said that, these boards are terrible.
- No easy way to view Message Board forum names and sub-forum names...everything, including posts, is on one page. Very hard to navigate.
- You cannot search both the archive nor the current boards @ the same time...why exactly is there a need for an archive section anyway?
- You cannot search on a multi-word string, like "halfling bard"
Any message board from after 1995 has these abilities. I know migration could be a bit of a pain but it would be well worth it, IMHO.
TBH, I don't post here as much as I'd like to, nor browse the forums as much, because of the terrible interface. Please consider doing something about this!
It took us a full year to complete Second Darkness. This occurred during the final installment.
Second Darkness Spoiler:
We had basically torn through the campaign and were in the final "building" or whatever. The chick holding the 6 weapons never got her turn in round one because we decimated her, including massive damage from my flurry of blows. Once again, we were tearing it up. Because we had an easy time throughout the year, however, the DM had a trick up his sleeve.
So, as we go up some steps we see a Ba'alor, wielding 2 magical swords, and raining fire upon us (of course, not in the actual adventure). Being the 'tank' of the group, I proceed to charge him to disrupt his casting ability and keep him away from the rest of the group.
On his next turn, he swings his sword @ me and crits with a 20. Funny thing about those vorpal swords...
Actually, after reading more about the Ranger's Animal Companion...I don't even think this will work because the companion levels as the Ranger levels...the companion itself doesn't level independently.
So it looks like the "Leadership" feat with monster addendum or continually purchasing upgrades is still the way to go.
A class with a companion is the easiest way to get what you want. Have you considered multiclassing?
We're doing Council of Thieves, which only goes up to lvl 13, so I would be worried that doing so would gimp my character. Dunno if 4 levels of ranger would be worth it (although I am a bard-archer, so it might not be TOO bad...)
I can see the advanced template being useful for filling in the gaps in between creature upgrades, but I still don't see a list of mounts per se.
For example, the only reason I know that a Giant Eagle can be used as a mount is because there is a picture of one being rode in the Bestiary. There is no attribute that says "Mountable" or anything. Not to mention I have no idea how much it would cost to buy a trained one.
Then we have a problem of finding a mount that is medium-sized for my char and can be used in dungeon. I'd hate to have to shrink a griffon ;)
Like I said, my DM is pretty busy so he prefers to stick with hard and fast rules that Paizo provides (as opposed to having to figure out the in's and out's of mount costs, including training and such, all on our own)
Well I would certainly get them barding and such. Since I'm ranged, I really don't feel the need to pimp him out too much. I just want to give him a big enough ass that he doesn't get instagibbed all the time.
Is there a reference to these "advanced template mounts" somewhere? My DM would certainly want some direction as to what to allow or not allow. Splat books are, so far, not allowed ;P
One concern my DM brought up was that Paladin's, Rangers, etc have class features that give them a levelable companion so to give me the same opportunity would be unbalanced.
You can use acrobatics to avoid an AoO while mounted but you only negate yours on a success.
Both you and your mount provoke and mounts use their own stats and skills for checks.
The same for saves.
Also there's the problem that when you level up, if you don't have a paladin's special mount or an animal companion your mount is so squishy that it becomes useless.
Mounted combat is better left to paladins, druids or maybe rangers. Oh, and cavaliers and possibly summoners?
Well, at least for these first couple levels, being able to move 40' and fire while moving is such a good thing...there has to be some other way of keeping this going while I level ;)
Perhaps there are some powerful magical item mounts? Or a way of leveling or pimping out my current mount (barding, etc) I know of the phantasmal steed spell, but that seems a bit squishy too.
I plan on being a halfling with a riding dog. The main purpose of the dog is for the 40' movement and full-round ranged attack awesomeness. I had some questions about this.
Let's assume the only thing he will do is carry me around. I also have a +4 to my ride check, which means any maneuver that requires a 5 (such as attacking while riding) are automatically made.
How would this be any different, than playing my char as if he had 40' movement and can do full-round attacks while I move? The only things I can think of are:
- My mount can get attacked
- I have to dismount when stealthing
Can anyone think of anything else? Perhaps I can't use my acrobatics check while mounted, for things like avoiding AOO? What about reflex saves?
I just want to figure out all of the drawbacks before I commit to this kind of play style.
Both, as the Composite Shortbow description states "For purposes of Weapon Proficiency, Weapon Focus, and similar feats, a composite shortbow is treated as if it were a shortbow."
They do--note that I've always considered Slings as "Thrown" (same for staff sling and atlatl, though I don't think the later is in PRPG as yet), and so use that setting. Are you setting them as "Ranged" perhaps?
Dump the Cha down to 12 and get your three points back for either Wis or Con, IMO...
By level 8 you'll have enough Cha to cast those level 6 spells you want anyways and there are plenty of good things to spend your spells known on that DON'T allow save throws that the lack on that side shouldn't hurt much.
You need a lvl 16 CHA to cast lvl 6 spells. I'm not too worried about that now, but 14 CHA is, imho, mininum so that you only need a +2 item, or a few levels of stat boosting, to beef it up.
Actually, the stats Jess posted are actually not legit 15 pt buys. My current build is now:
Goblin Squad Member
