DarthMask's page

Had a half-orc in my group. The player really liked the change to the way halfies are handled (as did I).

I was reading through your original post and I would like to respond to a few of the points you made. Note that I'm not fully disagreeing with the "knee-jerk" reaction as you make some good points but I would like to perhaps have some debate on the subject.

Everything feels VERY cookie cutter, like its actively promoting only the most generic fantasy tropes, and that it is actively punishing anyone who wants to play against type.

I dislike the entire idea of how default ability generation works, as you no longer get a choice in how your character is really built. Back to playing against type, you can't do a Dex fighter anymore because the classes force you into taking stats you don't want. And then its going to be a case of either everybody has identical cookie cutter backgrounds, or the entire concept of backgrounds are going to be ignored and it just becomes "Pick some more stat boosts".

I honestly don't get what you are saying here other than the last bit. It seems to me that you are getting the same amount of choice as you did in Pathfinder before? The only difference is that the system aids you in selecting ability boosts in places that make sense for your character concept. It was already stated elsewhere that a Dex fighter is possible, but you implied that there are concepts that can't be done with this system, can you provide a good example?

As to the point of backgrounds, they are pretty flexible IMHO as every one of them allows a "free" ability boost in addition to the one that you have to pick from a limited list. As to their flavor and the concept of "cookie cutter" backgrounds...I can't say I agree. They seem very wide open for interpretation and meshing with your character's backstory. So you can pick the background that most closely matches your character's upbringing (and I would assume that the full release will include rules or guidelines for creating your own backgrounds...).

Frankly, should have just ran with point buy and called it done (which is completely missing, I notice, yet that archaic sacred cow of rolling for stats is still there).

This is probably the only point in which I will straight up disagree. I actually like this system quite a lot as it maintains flexibility while being far simpler for new players. I do, however, agree that rolling stats is archaic and should be abandoned...

Speaking of ability scores, why do we even still have them? Monsters in the bestiary don't have them, they just list modifiers. Why do players still use them? If the idea was to streamline and simplify, getting rid of 3-18 format ability scores seems like an obvious place to do it, so why are we holding on to it if literally nothing uses it?

I actually don't have a good argument against this. Seems like it would have been a nice way to smooth out some pain points...

And I just cannot get over the "Everything is locked behind class walls".

You give a few examples here and I would like to address them individually, but here is my response to this general statement:

You are absolutely right that things are locked into class systems, but I honestly don't see a problem with that. Contrary to popular belief, having abilities locked to a particular class doesn't stifle creative character concepts, it merely aids in balancing systems. I can 100% assure you that (once we have the full set of multiclass feats) you can make any concept work within the limitations of the system.

Will you be able to make the concept work immediately? Potentially not (and that is another problem in and of itself...more on that later)

Will the concept be particularly well-balanced in comparison to others? Maybe, maybe not. That is exactly the sort of thing the playtest is for...that said, someone who is trained in fighting demons probably won't be all that great at summoning them...so maybe consider whether or not your concept is flawed before complaining that the demon-summoning Paladin of Iomedae concept is being quashed by the system. Note that this is intentional hyperbole to make a point, not imply you are overreacting...I think you are making good points.

Anyway, to demonstrate the point, let's look at the examples you give:

If I want to play a Paladin tank? Tough luck, only the Fighter gets shield feats.

So, you want a Paladin that is capable of taking a lot of hits and shrugging them off. OK, cool, here are some good options for that:

Righteous Ally: Shield Ally
Shield Warden (Paladin Feat 6)
Shield of Reckoning (Paladin Feat 10)
Fighter Dedication (Multiclass Dedication Feat 4)
Basic/Advanced Maneuver for any shield feat you could possibly want from the Fighter list.

Want to play a sorcerer with a certain bloodline, but don't want the spells the designers think are appropriate? Tough luck, you don't get to choose from a generic spell list anymore.

Ok, run that by me again? You want to play a Dragon sorcerer that doesn't cast arcane spells? Ummmm...why? That's the whole point of being a sorcerer, your spells aren't studied, you don't get to pick them, they are forced on you for better or worse. If you want to PICK your spells then you shouldn't be playing a sorcerer.

WITH THAT SAID I agree on this one within the limitations of the platest. Once we have the ability to multiclass sorcerer though, I think this concept becomes completely doable, just pick a base class that casts the spells you want, then gain a bloodline through the sorcerer multiclass dedication feat.

That said...you didn't get a "generic" spell list in PF1 any more than you do now, your bloodline chooses what spell list you get access to, but you still get to choose what spells you want at each level from within that list...so I really don't get the problem here?

And my god, having everything stretched out over so many levels just makes the entire idea of having to wait to play the character you want to play SO MUCH WORSE! Apparently the answer to "High level play is kinda broken" was to say "Hey, lets make the un-fun parts of low level last as long as humanly possible!".

I mostly agree with this sentiment. It really does take too long for a lot of what I'm seeing to come online. This may prove to be a problem...except for the fact that they seem to be making leveling considerably faster. That might be enough to mitigate it, but I won't know for sure until I start getting it onto the table.

Alright I think that mostly covers everything I wanted to touch on. Please do feel free to respond as the point of this was to have discussion. Or not, as you choose.

While I don't agree that it is overpowered I do agree that it is an ability that makes spontaneous casting seem far less valuable. However, it does seem like something that should be available for wizards in the form of a feat.

I think this might want to be looked at as a potential fix...maybe make it a higher-level feat? I think the feat is a good one as a general rule, but too powerful for level 4.

--Confusion p55: Draconic Rage says "When you are raging, you can make your conditional bonus to damage deal the type of damage of your chosen dragon’s breath weapon, rather than your weapon or unarmed attack’s usual damage type, which increases the damage by 1 (after halving for agile weapons, if applicable)."

Rage usually adds a +2 damage bonus to attack (halved for agile weapons). I haven't been able to figure out which of the following three possibilities is intended:

(1) it gives you a +1 damage bonus (halved if an agile weapon), of either the weapon's type or the breath weapon's type?

(2) it gives you a +3 damage bonus (halved if an agile weapon), of either the weapon's type or the breath weapon's type?

(3) it gives you a +3 damage bonus (halved if an agile weapon) of the weapon's type, or a +2 damage bonus of the breath weapon's type?

Actually, I think it's supposed to be that it changes your Rage damage bonus to be +3 damage (if you make the damage bonus match your breath weapon type) or +2 damage (if you don't).

I agree the wording here is not great should be something like:

"When you are raging, you can make your conditional bonus to damage deal the type of damage of your chosen dragon’s breath weapon, rather than your weapon or unarmed attack’s usual damage type. Doing so increases the damage bonus by 1 (after halving for agile weapons, if applicable)."

(my suggestions emphasized)

Corrik wrote:

With the Lv 15 Legendary stealth feat, you no longer have to tell your DM "Just assume I'm stealthing unless I say otherwise."

I think it's better than that. I believe it allows you a Stealth check even if circumstances wouldn't normally let you have one. It's still a little silly as you say, but if I can use a Stealth check even without actually meeting the requirements for a Stealth check, it has some use.

But it's not worthy of Legendary + Skill Feat. Maybe Master, tops, or Expert + Skill Feat, but certainly not that.

I disagree actually. This legendary skill feat they are talking about is focused on "Exploration" mode which is likely going to be considerably more codified than it was in PF1. Things that were previously taken for granted such as stealth, perception checks, and detection spells/abilities will probably take "tactics" and such now. From the sound of things this feat will mean that you don't have to explicitly use any of your "tactics" at all to sneak leaving those open for something else:

Upon becoming legendary, you further enhance your skill by no longer needing to specifically declare the sneaking exploration tactic when you are in exploration mode, allowing you to sneak everywhere.

Anything that messes with action economy (even pseudo-action-economies) is worthy of a high level ability...

Well, TBH I would rather archetypes be implemented like you have described them in Starfinder. I much prefer to have archetypes as what "prestige classes" were before (since those were almost never used which was a highly unfortunate fact).

Buuuut, if we are going this route, I would say the following are most important to me:

1. Grenadier Alchemist. Unless you are completely redesigning the concept of the alchemist as a switch-hitter there need to be archetypes that allow players to focus on just ranged options without missing out on half the class's features. This archetype did a fantastic job of that. (also, poison redux plz)

2. Vivisectionist Alchemist (or one of the various beastmorph archetypes). For the same reason as #1 except melee instead of ranged. (though I think that it could use some consideration for redesign as I can't say I really cared for its execution).

3. Something to allow Ranger/Druid to be balanced without animal companions. (Sorry this is a bit broad) I always want to play these classes, but I simply do not like the animal companion/mount concept and probably never will. Thus I don't know the archetypes for them off the top of my head.

4. Martial Artist Monk. While I personally love the mysticism of the Monk class and enjoy playing it (particularly in its Unchained form) having the option to play a monk that isn't all about the mystical aspect of the class is very flavorful. Could use some redesign though...

5. Divine Hunter Paladin. Honestly, just any archetype that allows Paladins to be something other than the cliched heavy armor, shiny Greatsword-wielding warlords or shield-brothers. I like the concept of a paladin that uses a bow, or focuses on healing those wounded on the battlefield.

I guess my overall point is: We need archetypes to maintain the ability to keep classes flexible. I would prefer them to be a bit more like the way Starfinder uses them but either way they should be focused on enabling classes to change the flavor around the class rather than just having a bunch of archetypes intended to make each class look just like another class (seriously...these need to stop...please...let each class have its own identity)

Just to let anyone looking at this thread know, the spot has been filled. Thanks to all who participated and I hope you find a game soon!

Thanks for the reply Meljinx!

If you would, please send a message to my account on Roll20.net (same name as here) and copy-paste those ideas to the message.

I should note for those that follow that any character concepts will be accepted, but changes may need to be made to fit the campaign limitations. Hopefully they will be very small since I try not to limit character creation any more than I absolutely have to.

Hello friends, my group has been playing Pathfinder for nearly a year now and we unfortunately just had a player need to step out due to work-related difficulties. We are running the Rise of the Runelords (Anniversary Edition) adventure path and are 1 session in, so you wouldn't be missing much.

No prior experience in the Pathfinder RPG system is required (we are more than happy to help teach, but you will be expected to learn as time goes by) and, while not necessarily required, prior roleplaying experience is preferred.

The party currently consists of:
Frontliner/Tank Bloodrager
Melee DD Kineticist
Ranged DD/Support Warpriest
Buffer/Healer Cleric

Suggested roles to fill: Arcane, Debuffer, Controller, Knowledges
(Note that these are just suggestions and are not required for a successful application, but may be considered in final decision-making)

It should be noted that, if you have played Rise of the Runelords before, it may be wise to consider whether or not you want to play through the adventure again. Regardless, spoiling the story for the others or attempting to metagame will not be tolerated.

Requirements:

• Availability Thursday nights (7:30pm EST - 11:30pm EST) on a regular basis (life happens and missing a session here and there is fine, just not all the time).
  
• A (free) account on Roll20.net.
  
• Mic, speakers, and the ability to download/use Discord (www.discordapp.com) for voice communications. We don't play in text chat since voice allows for a lot more interaction between players.
  
• A short character concept. Not looking for a fully fleshed-out backstory here, just need a proof of concept...physical description, interesting points about him/her, combat capabilities, personality, etc.
  
• Willingness to be a team player and enjoy team dynamics and roleplaying more than "being the best".

I will be looking for applications until Wednesday evening, June 15 so there is time to finish the building of the character before the game on Thursday night. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reply here or PM me. I'll do my best to answer them as quickly as possible.