Cronatos's page

"There are several races of giants in the land of Hinnom. The Rephaim are the sons of the Nephilim and the rulers of the land. They are huge of stature and deathly pale. Horns grow from their foreheads and their hands have six fingers. They have been taught all kinds of secrets by their fathers and are born with magical powers. A Melqart is a king and ruler of a city and a descendant of Azazel. Azazel revealed the secrets of war, weapons and cosmetics to the Avvim, and his legacy runs strong in the blood of the Melqarts. The Melqarts have gruesome appetites and many of them feast on the flesh of their smaller kin. Some cities have actually been destroyed in horrible blood feasts at the whim of a Melqart. With the Nephilim-worship, the Melqarts became sons of gods and they have deluded themselves that they are strengthened by the sacrifice of blood. They have started to demand blood sacrifices to keep their hideous banquets overflowing with fresh flesh."

(Referenced elephants/mammoths as a comparison in putting this together, as it looked like the nearest thing that exists in both settings. There are some sticky points with that though; elephants are listed as huge at a height of about 10ft. Large creatures are 8-16ft. Melqarts are slightly smaller than elephants. However, I believe that is overall dimensions, not height; Melqarts would be taller? And they're rather thin. They're much larger than a mounted horseman. They're either very large Large creatures or very small Huge creatures. Probably the former. Created a nerfed version of Phoenix Pyre as the level 4 spell for Fire Melqarts)

CR 12 XP 19.2k
NE Large Humanoid(Giant)
Init +7; Perception +16
Aura Frightful Presence (60ft, DC 19)

AC 27; touch 12; flat-footed 24 (+9 Armor, +2 Shield, +3 Dex, +4 Natural, -1 Size)
HP 138 (12d8+72)
Fort +10, Ref +7, Will +11
Resist Fire 15, SR 23

Speed 50ft (armored 40ft)
Melee +1 Longsword +22/+17 (2d6+14, 17/x2), Gore +16 (2d6+6, 20/x2)
Space 10ft; Reach 10ft

Str 37, Dex 16, Con 22, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 17
BAB +9, CMB +23, CMD 36
Feats: Iron Will, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Combat Reflexes, Eschew Materials, Imp.Crit.(Longsword)
Skills: Perception +16, Acrobatics +12, Climb +25, Sense Motive +16
Languages: Common, Giant, Draconic

Cursed Gluttony: The Melqarts are cursed with a great hunger for humanoid flesh, and will usually eat eighty humans (or equivalent) per month to satisfy this hunger. This compulsion can be resisted, and they are capable of living without any food at all, but Melqarts are rarely inclined to do so.

CL 9, spontaneous casting, cha-based, Blood + One other category
1:7/day 2:7/day 3:7/day 4:4/day
Spells/Blood
0: Bleed, Detect Poison
1: Protection from Good, Infernal Healing
2: Blood Armor, Blood Blaze
3: Waves of Blood
4: Summon Monster IV
Spells/Fire
0: Light, Flare
1: Burning Hands, Snapdragon Fireworks
2: Burning Arc, Molten Orb
3: Fireball
4: Lesser Phoenix Pyre
Spells/Earth
0: Mending, Mage Hand
1: Stone Shield, Stone Fist
2: Stone Call, Tremor Blast
3: Blast Barrier
4: Stoneskin
Spells/Astral
0: Message, Detect Magic
1: Magic Missile, Disguise Self
2: Mirror Image, Darkvision
3: Dispel Magic
4: Greater Invisibility

Lesser Phoenis Pyre: Standard action, range Self, lasts one minute per level or until triggered. The next time the caster would die, they instead explode for 1d6 fire damage per 2 caster levels in a 15ft radius, then regain half their hit points, teleport to a location 30ft away in a random direction and become fatigued. If they are already fatigued, they become exhausted. If they are already exhausted, they fall unconscious. This spell is cancelled if the caster falls unconscious for one full round.

Human
Tiefling
Halfling

So many choices, but...

1. Alchemist. Buff everyone with extracts, blast everything with bombs and if that's not enough, bash heads with a mutagen. Stealth Suite (Slippery trait, Skill Focus(Stealth), Dampen Presence and Hellcat Stealth feats) and familiar for shenanigans, Use Magic Device for the spells he can't cast and we have a winner.

2. Oracle. Specifically of the Battle variety. Nine levels of divine magic on a solid martial chassis.

3. Vitalist (from Dreamscarred Press' Psionics), for the telepathy/healing/buffing network. This class makes the list for that alone. Its neat.

Honorable mentions for Shifter and Symbiat(Hekatonkheires archetype) from Spheres of Power.

I'm in agreement with some of the things already mentioned, and rather than covering old ground, I'm gonna mention some other changes I've been fiddling with - mostly for specific classes of spells.

First, teleportation. I think long-distance teleportation has a place, narratively and mechanically. But as it stands, it is way too easy, too hard to counter, too flexible in application, to the point that it negates a lot of other things that could be interesting (any kind of overland travel, for example). So.

Long-distance teleportation requires three things. A structure, called a waystone; a handheld item, called a keystone; and a teleportation spell.
Waystones are immobile structures. Keystones are attuned to one or more waystones. Holders of keystones can use them to teleport - with a spell/scroll - to any of the attuned waystones over almost any distance. Most major cities have a waystone, and there are other waystones - abandoned or otherwise - scattered throughout the world. Keystones can be attuned to new waystones with a ritual that costs a fair bit in magical materials. Keystones have a limit on how many waystones they can be attuned to, which is determined when they keystone is crafted, and connections can be overwritten. Needless to say, better ones are more expensive.
There are also items called black keystones, that can be used to teleport to any waystone in range. The range on black keystones is usually measured in tens of miles.

Planar travel requires locations where the planes are 'closer'. These locations only allow travel to specific planes, and specific places on those planes. You still need a spell or item for planar travel.
This requirement can be bypassed in two ways. The first is through magical gate structures. Each of these gates is connected to one other gate, and their connections can cross between planes.
The second way is an expensive, time-consuming, inaccurate and one-way ritual. It is ill-advised to use one of these rituals without a way back (usual way is to bring the materials to set up a new gate on the other side, and have the gate it will connect to fully built and ready to go).

Short distance teleportation (Dimension Door) mostly works as-is, but it is medium range (100ft + 10ft/lv) and somewhat inaccurate without line-of-sight.

Edit: forgot a final point: ammunition with the Anchoring enchantment. Anchoring ammunition, when it hits and does damage to a target, binds itself to the target, requiring a high strength check (18ish?) as a standard action to remove. So long as the ammunition adheres to the target (and it's magic is not suppressed), they cannot teleport by any means.

- - - - -

Second subject: shapechanging. I think shapechanging is cool. Some time ago I spent a lot of time thinking about it, and trying to put together a class that can shapechange into anything. Ultimately I decided that would simply be too much. But there are three things that shapechanging can be nice for - espionage, environmental adaptation, combat - and only the last one is really well-represented in class abilities in pathfinder, and I didn't like that. And some classes - notably wizards - had way more flexibility in shapechanging than I thought they really ought to, especially compared to everyone else. Story-time over, now my answer.

Shapechanging is mostly (maybe exclusively) the purview of magical tattoos. Characters can generally have 2 magic tattoos, or spend feats for more. Each tattoo is for a specific form - including appearance stuff like hair color and facial structure. So a character can have a Bear tattoo, which he can activate to turn into a Bear, and activate again to turn back (side-affect of this is that, if the tattoo is suppressed, they can't switch). There is no limit to how long a character can stay in a form granted by a tattoo; they are strictly mode-switch in nature. Druids and other classes with shapechanging abilities get free tattoos and maybe free tattoo slots, rather than their usual abilities (side affect is their number of forms is more limited). Possibly also better ability in tattoo-crafting.
Also note that these may not be literal, actual tattoos - as in, ink under the skin. They are, at the very least, magical, inseparable items that look kinda like tattoos.
Some shape-tattoos are more expensive than others, depending on both how different the given form is from your baseline, as well as how powerful it is in general. Human -> Elf is cheap. Human -> Halfling not quite so cheap. Human -> Bear, bit more expensive. Human -> Fire Giant, possible, but very expensive. You can also get tattoos for the same race/species, but different characteristics. The tattoos can be nearly invisible - almost the same color as the skin it's on - but never entirely invisible.
Tattoos usually cover a small region of the body - forearm or chest, for example. They can be made smaller at greater expense.

Hmm... I like dubstep. How's that work? Not Skrillex-type stuff though. More Vexare.

Don't like dealing with animals IRL. Flat out, no exceptions, don't like. So long as I don't have to deal with them, though, all's good. Brazilian Harvestmen are cool.

I like building characters and make a lot that I never use (yeah, I doubt that counts)

I like building and playing tanky gishes.

I don't care for superhero stories. DC, Marvel or whatever. If there's an exception, I don't know it.

I'll throw my chip in with not liking alcohol.

I want a shapeshifting-focused class that is balanced with the 2/3rds casting classes and isn't a treehugger.

I mostly don't like the characters, stories, settings or humor of most anime, yet find most anime to be entertaining. I dunno.

I have a low tolerance for sausage. Continued exposure in small amounts seems to be helping, albeit slowly.

I've never played Risk and have no interest in doing so.

My favorite emoticon is :|

I don't like zombie-focused media.

I like stealth. I don't like sneak attack in both concept and mechanic.

358. Practicing his dance moves

359. Contact Juggling

360. Testing his reverse gravity trap.

361. Constantly freefalling via a pair of linked portals

Monk|Inquisitor could be effective. Both Evasion and Stalwart combined with high saves and touch AC, plus spell resistance, makes a character that is hard to touch by mages. CMD and standard AC can also be pumped quite high, making for good all-around defenses. Judgement can give flat bonuses to both AC and saves - further increasing durability - and damage, which scales nicely with the Monk's many attacks. And then there's Greater Bane...
And in addition to all this there's 6 levels of spellcasting and 6+Int skill points, among other things.

((Also, a class build format that I've been using and liking is -
[Archetype/Archetype]Class(School/Bloodline/etc)Level+MythicTier|[Archetype/Archetype]GestaltClass(School/Bloodline/e tc)Level+MythicTier

For example: [Grenadier]Alchemist20+Trickster10|Psion(Generalist)20+Archmage10))

And there's a lot who agree with the official ruling and a lot who don't. Regardless of that... Draconic/Sylvan into Dragon Disciple. Massive penalties to your spellcasting (lost casting levels, lost spells known, lost favored class bonus), but you get a strong pet, you're pretty tough to kill, you more-or-less have martial power and you can still get full spell levels (at level 20, if you stop at dragon disciple 8, and only your bloodline spell if you don't use pages of spell knowledge, but still).

My google-fu brought me no relevant results, so I'm assuming this hasn't been brought up.

Divine Source (Su) - You can grant divine spells to those who follow your cause, allowing them to select you as their deity for the purposes of determining their spells and domains. Select two domains upon taking this ability. These domains must be alignment domains matching your alignment if possible, unless your alignment is neutral. You grant access to these domains as if you were a deity. Creatures that gain spells from you don't receive any spells per day of levels higher than your tier; they lose those spell slots. In addition, you can cast spells from domains you grant as long as their level is equal to or less than your tier. Each day as a spell-like ability, you can cast one spell of each level equal to or less than your tier (selecting from those available to you from your divine source domains). If you're a cleric or you venerate a deity, you may change your spell domains to those you grant others. At 6th tier and 9th tier, you can select this ability again, adding one domain and two subdomains to your list each time and adding their spells to the list of those that you can cast.

So

The 25,000gp cost for powerful miracles is (as I understand it) a material component.

Also, I'm assuming the first bolded paragraph is meant as a qualifier (or whatever you call it) for the second, and all it does is allow you to cast your granted domain spells as spell-like abilities. However, the way it is worded, it seems possible to interpret it as adding those spells to your list of spells known ("you can cast spells from those domains").

I'm specifically interested in regards to Alchemists and Doppelganger Simulacra, but it matters for all Simulacra.

The text for the Simulacrum spell states it creates a creature with half the levels or HD of the creature the Simulacrum is made from, with the feats/abilities/etc appropriate for their HD. By RAW, this does not affect Mythic Tiers or Ranks, and they would keep all their mythic powers. Yes, I'm not arguing RAW, but this spell was not designed with Mythic in mind. This still seems fitting to me as a rules question, if not to ask what the rule is, then to ask what the rule should be (and to Paizo, that a ruling be made).

If mythic power is supposed to be rare and difficult to obtain, one could argue that a copy of a mythic creature should have no mythic power, if you can copy it at all. Or maybe the Simulacrum spell can get around that, because its not actually creating a mythic creature, just creating a shadow copy of one. Even then, though, it doesn't seem to me like it should have all the mythic power, just half. Could be a mythic version of the simulacrum spell that can copy mythic creatures, too.

If it doesn't copy mythic power, though, what of the Alchemist's Doppelganger Simulacrums? Would they all be completely lacking the Alchemist's mythic power?

So, I guess there are two questions.
1. How should the Simulacrum spells interact with mythic creatures?
2. Should it work differently for Alchemist's Doppelgangers?

Most things can be pretty cool when combined with Elocater. Some notable examples, with very brief descriptions:

Psion/Elocater|Kensai - Int is king. You get access to several arcane-only spells in addition to all the psionic goodies and excessive mobility.

Psion/Elocater|Gunslinger - Add in the Dimensional Agility line of feats (with a houserule that they work with the psionic stuff). Xigbar wishes he was this awesome.

[Gifted Blade]Soulknife/Elocater|Psion/Metamorph - A flying, teleporting, rapidly shapeshifting monster right out of some kind of horror movie.

And a few other psionic combos:

Aegis|Soulknife - Kind of like Wizard/Cleric, there's a theurge option for this, but going straight to level 20 in both makes it even more awesome. Your mind is your weapons and armor.

Tactician|Vitalist - Action economy and various redundancies put a bit of a damper on this combo. Still, if the team needs it, you have it.

Somehow I hadn't considered the meat side of things. Yes, they'd hunt. I'm not sure what they'd hunt, exactly, since I've tried to keep the location of this tower from being any more specific than it already is, and some things in one mountain range may not be in another.

The domesticated animals I'm not sure of, and it seems unlikely. The idea is these guys had persistent problems with established authorities, but wanted some land of their own to work with. Instead of dealing with those authorities, they went where their eyes don't follow. It may be that nobody in the area has ever had need of domesticated mountain animals, and you can't exactly get them with just a half a decade or so of work. They might be working on that, though.

Despite their proximity to the sea, it's not very accessible, but there's at least one mid/high level arcane caster among them, so fishing trips via fly and feather fall are possible. That's another project they may be working on, actually: some kind of lift.

As for farming, Incan terrace farms were very effective. As to how they got that technology is another question. But if they have at least one person around with 20+ int, maybe they figured it out, at least well enough to be lived with.

As for trading, the distance is fairly prohibitive, so trips are made rarely. However, they brought quite a lot with them, and again, spells like overland flight and magical holding items make things easier. They would likely visit mining settlements most often.

I'll also note that things are kept rather vague as a part of this exercise, to leave room for other's imaginations.

402. Some kind of spirit wandered in and possessed you. Instead of doing anything interesting, however, it just took a nap in your head. Now a paladin's come to town and, apparently, that spirit is making you detect as evil...

Some time ago, a band of adventurers led by a half-elf named Tasha traveled the land, exploring remote regions and destroying enemies. Their travels brought them far away in search of a potent necromancer. They tracked him through a mountain range, to a cliff by the sea. They found a modest stone tower there, one connected to an underground lake, and surrounded by undead.

They successfully destroyed the necromancer and his undead and continued their adventures. Over the following years, they encountered a number of castaways, outlaws and others without homes. The adventurers themselves had a few disputes with national authorities, and most of them found their way to the tower in the mountains by the sea, now dubbed 'the Lonely Tower'.

Some time later, they retired and called the Lonely Tower their permanent home, along with dozens of others who had been brought there for one reason or another. They have made a few improvements since they found the place, and now it's a cozy little home.

The underground lake has been used to cultivate a farm for underground flora. Soil has been gathered on the surface for a few terrace farms. A new building has been constructed through both magical and mundane means that serves as a living quarters, storehouse and stables. A number of tents have also been set up. The tower itself holds an alchemical lab and crafting tools for several other professions.

Tasha himself spends most of his time studying, planning and teaching and training the other folk. As a powerful magus, he teaches anyone interested in the martial or arcane arts.

The is no real government to speak of, and there are not enough people for that to be a problem. A meeting is held every week to discuss changes, or play games if there's nothing to discuss that week. Any major changes - such as new construction - are required to be mentioned at this meeting so that everyone is aware of it and objections can be raised.

It has been four years since they retired, and under Tasha's influence, most of the population has some level of martial and/or arcane expertise.

Several plans for improvement have been put forward, and some of them have been started. Among these plans are: a platform with railing on the cliffside, a wall or palisade (because, hey, walls, why not?), personal homes, a smithy, general underground expansion and a few other things.

The Tower is also used as a hideout, occasional base of operations and home away from home by a few still-active adventurers.

88. You never knew your parents. Your guardians told you they were impressive, but never said more than that. Some time after they passed away, a messenger arrived, telling you that your father has passed away and you have inherited his land.
You journey there and find it a large keep, overrun with undead... who don't mind you one bit. A skeleton dressed in robes approaches you and welcomes you as the new lord of the keep.

Umm...sorry to be such a loser, but what's a GESTALT character?

mmh... maybe I should let someone else answer... but I'll give it a shot anyway.

I don't know if there's been anything written for pathfinder gestalts, but here's a link for 3.5:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/gestaltCharacters.htm

Here is an idea I've been messing around with. Roleplay-wise, he could be an absurdly talented jack-of-all-trades with a great desire for knowledge and/or power. Or any number of other things.

Psion/Elocater|Wizard
or
Psion/Elocater|Wizard/Fighter/Eldritch Knight
or
Psion/Elocater|[Kensai]Magus

In any of these, he's a double caster, with Elocater giving him lots of mobility (and the ability to really weird people out- "yeah, ima sleep on the ceiling tonight" he says as he floats upside-down).
Wizard is more focused on casting, Kensai more on physical combat, with the EK being a switch-hitter between the two.