DM Evil's page

In PFS.
See, I've got this oozemorph shifter, & I'm ultimately looking for means to engulf and consume foes.

Hail, Pathfinders.

I'm wondering if there's any way to get a PC the Swallow Whole ability... Spell casting's ok, but ideally I'd prefer to do so without. Any ideas?

OK, so, I've played exactly one PFS session with my L1 Oozemorph, and had a great deal of fun. Here are some thoughts & observations about the archetype:

First off, NOBODY has mentioned what I took to be the Oozemorph's main functional inspiration, the T-1000 of Terminator 2; Which is a construct, yes, fine, it's an inspiration not a carbon copy. If you think about the T-1000, its "natural" form is that of a liquid metal blob. In this form, as in all its forms, it's perfectly combat capable. And that's essential since at first level you have an hour (MAYBE two or three if you're lucky) to converse & cast & write letters & so on. When that hour starts becomes paramount since it can be *ANY* humanoid making the Oozemorph a master of disguise (for a while) also the spell effectively grants the Oozemorph a +2 to either strength or dex added to the list of incentives for taking humanoid form for battle (after magic item slots & spell casting). But in ooze-form they can also infiltrate almost *ANYWHERE* because air-tight seals are rather rare in a medieval fantasy setting.. making them master scouts/spies in many respects at first level. Kinda cool.

Morphic Weapon does not appear to change with the Uzi's Form of the Moment- a morphic weapon from a gnome shape does the same damage as a morphic weapon from a half-orc shape, which is both a blessing and a curse, but more a blessing at low level & more a curse at high level.
2 melee attacks from a small-size creature with full str & BAB at level 1 is pretty neat, as is immunity to sneak attack and crits, etc. and there aren't a lot of characters who get access to that starting out. And sure, you can pick up a stick and thump a guy with it to maintain your disguise, or morph to a human shape to fire a crossbow... but remember how the T-1000 operated; "there's John Conner at range, so I take pot shots at him with the pistol as I rush him to get into melee & kill him with knives & stabbing weapons."

Nowhere does it say that the Uzi looses their carrying capacity in the natural form, they just can't *hold* objects. So they can't pick stuff up, but they can be handed objects, & anything they had in the backpack before reverting ("EEEEeeeeeewwww!") is still on their person. He can open or close a door, manipulate a lever, push a button, or scratch words into the dirt with a morphic weapon to communicate with others. Communication is essential for the class because of its obstacles. Magic tattoos are also something i clearly need to look into.

Coordinating with an allied spell caster for buffs is vital for combat effectiveness even at low level, and I have to say I really *really* wish the base form had some ranged capability;perhaps acid splash at-will would balance out that aspect of the class. But the class isn't about "balance" or "optimization", though I believe it *can* be optimized to whatever goal the player wants to aim for; maybe not as efficiently as other core classes, but enough to remain practical in PFS play. Time will tell if i'm right.

Ultimately the class is about *FUN*. The base form creates unique problems and opportunities for the character that are hi lighted neatly when a session takes place over weeks in-game...
My character, Luckless Lem, has no recollection of exactly what happened to change him, but he left a promising legal career to become an adventurer since his new abilities lend themselves to that. He does, indeed, find his new condition to be a problem that he's making the best of, and while he can explain his issues to the party at The Briefing, there's no preparing them for the moment when the dice fail and so does the character's molecular structure and he melts.

VERY embarrassing.
Delightful to play tho.

So you're saying that the unequivocal lack of a specific clause is the specific clause that denies the general rules from applying?

AKA the Ancient Aliens argument?

A little late to the party, but it's quite a sticky thread-! I love playing Semantics & Cite-your-Source.

I'm still working through this lengthy thread so i'll hold my observations & questions & comments for later.... :-D

Played this scenario recently at low tier & must ask, (for Silver Crusade reward) is Shinri a divine caster-? If so, was she worshipping an evil DIETY, who dispatched a fiend to her, or was she serving the fiend itself?
Would thwarting her efforts qualify as "defeating" an evil outsider (since that's what was calling the shots), do you think?

And Flurry of Snowballs is 2nd level ^_^

Tallow, Nefreet, most excellent! Thanks for the tip!

Would someone clue me in on where to download the Faction Goal sheets for the Silver Crusade (for either 2012 or 2018, whichever's better,) ?

So what's the most effective way (or, for a start, A way-) to change acid arrows to ice arrows, fireballs to iceballs, lightning bolts into bolts of cold, etc in society play? Feats, items, boons?

My dragon blooded sorcerer gets a damage bonus on cold but the only spell it will apply to for a long, long time is Ray of Frost-- which is ok, since it never runs out, but in the meantime does anyone have any suggestions on how to expand on it?

because it was highly necessary

Balancing gameplay for characters above level 10 does seem worthwhile....

But "streamlining" best not take the fun out of the character builds...

5E often produces Gauntlet-style supercharacters with too little distinction & powers that are short on subtlety. I don't want to play Society to have the same character everyone else has- I want to be able to put my own spin on it!

But i've only played 5e under 1 DM so perhaps I lack perspective.

I'm a noob at Pathfinder (my only RPG I play) and got involved 2,5 years ago. Friends got me infected and soon after I bought my own core rule book. And a lot of books followed as well as the Hero Lab extensions. It was quite an investment, but looking throughout the paizo site I was sure that it would be good for many years to come. There was just pathfinder, no editions (my main reason not to play D&D) and now you just bomb-shelled me with the announcement of SE!

And yes, I know I can keep playing FE for a while, but the extra hassle of finding people who are playing FE, the experienced players and GM who played most of FE will leave and new PFS player will start with SE. And all friend I got involved in PFS with the promise that there is just one system... I feel guilty toward them. This is a weird way to punch me on the nose for getting involved as a GM and PC. I feel really bummed and betrayed by this. Sorry, I'm way of being enthusiastic or as hyped as others look...

Ya I too fear change.

I just don't want to spend the money on a new book & have it suck. Especially since I like first edition as much as I do.

Society Play transition needs to be smoother than an airplane wing. It's not allowed to fall apart.

I understand the want to have everyone start with a new PF2 PC, and I agree that we shouldn't be able to transfer all our PCs to PF2 builds -- but for mercy's sake, please let us keep at least ONE PC!

I dunno, maybe everyone is allowed to convert one PC, plus one for each GM Star, and follow strict procedures on how to adapt that PC to PF2.

So a 5-Star GM can choose six PCs and rebuild them using the procedure for converting current PCs to PF2. A 2-Star GM can choose, IF he or she wishes, to select up to three PCs to convert to PF2.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE consider this.

We all know that PF1 and options to play our PCs will sooner rather than later dwindle to nothing

THE MOTION IS SECONDED!!!

Re: Boon security...I think the only way to truly accomplish this would be to make them untradeable. This would probably be less popular than the alternative and still wouldn’t be foolproof...especially with boons earned via PbP.

Game's based in the honor system. Cheating's not allowed.

Unless we want to start having sheets notarized the low tech bookkeeping backed up online is as good as I see it getting... though the integration could be streamlined a bit.

My feeling is the same - above level 10-12, the game starts to fall apart.

Case in point: in our two most recent Jade Regent games, where PCs are all level 11-12, we spent the evening doing *one* fight. We were up against tough opponents, so it was far from a sure thing, but it took all night just to slog through the battle.

But that can happen in any D20 system as more complex and advanced abilities become available... Sounds like Epic Level Syndrome just sets in a bit faster with Pathfinder, especially if characters are built by powergaming munchkins like some of my dearest friends.

Lastly, (since it's in the news,) any thoughts on how second edition will restructure the matter?

The capture of Starships strikes me as being like the collecting of weapons and armor:

It's just CONVENIENT.
But I agree, they should be sellable.

To be clear, I've not experienced this issue at all myself, I've not had a Paizo character climb that high yet- I just want to be ready with some graceful solutions when the time comes.

Shiny. I'll have to scoop that tattoo up.

90. a series of poorly worded wishes, and others poorly worded to undo the previous,

and a trip to the Djinni homeland and then an escalation into something like the Butterfly Effect on PCP.

That's... actually right on point.

"Oh Hell.... There goes the planet...."
"I... I just wished Golarion were free from alien influence....!"
"Nono- it's ok! The last thing we should do is panic! We can make this work- We can... We can figure this out..."
**4 hours of planning later**
"I wish that the solar system's configuration wasn't disrupted by the previous wish made on this device! ....Is...is it back?"
"It's a space station."
"It's too big to be a space station. Let's focus: How many more charges does that thing have?"
"Six."
"My Gods."
"My turn-!"
"NOOOOO!"

Usually, I'm told, between levels 8 and 12.
I've been gaming a long time and am a big fan of 3.5, and I'm starting to appreciate some of the differences between that system and Pathfinder. Society play is great stuff- BUT-!

I heard a rumor that between 8 and 12 the mechanics start to collapse as insane to-hit bonuses become commonplace and the delightful chess-like game becomes checkersish, and combat becomes a question of simply who can dish out the most damage the fastest. I'd like to hear more about the problem...

...Because I bet there are some resourceful types out there who have found solutions on the elegant side. And I'd love to hear some of those, as well.

This thing glow-in-the-dark?