David C Smith's page

Could someone explain how the spell Siege of Trees works? Because I'm pretty sure that the Druid in my party has been playing it very wrong. The way our GM has been letting the 15th level druid play it, he's literally making 5 Treants for 15 hours.

Yeah, their damage and to-hit are less than normal light catapults, but the fact that they're considered Treants means that they are
1) Sentient and get their own pool of actions, instead of him spending standard actions to aim each one.
2) Mobile; they literally follow us into the dungeon to smash the walls down for us
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but that seems way over the top for what a 7th level should be able to do. Could someone can give me a good rundown of how it's actually supposed to work?

No where in the description of the spell does it say they become "treants" or that they gain the ability to move at all. I see where they are getting this at, the word mobility in the first sentence does not refer to land movement but the ability to move its branches to grab rocks and toss them.

The spell description . . .

You imbue inanimate plants with limited mobility and a semblance of life. Each plant targeted acts as a light catapult until the end of the spell’s duration, though you must spend a standard action to aim each of these tree catapults before the first time they fire, and anytime thereafter when you want the trees to fire at a new target. The catapult uses your caster level as its targeting bonus. With a free action, you can command one or all of the trees under your command to stop firing. You do not need to supply ammunition to these tree catapults; they will automatically load themselves with rocks and boulders in the area, digging them deep from the ground if need be. You can supply the trees ammunition if you desire. The tree will not load flaming ammunition, and these catapult trees cannot be affected by energy siege shot if the energy selected is fire.

The SRD says for brace . . .

You can ready weapons with the brace feature, setting them to receive charges. A readied weapon of this type deals double damage if you score a hit with it against a charging character.

It refers to the weapon being braced to receive the charge. As long as the weapon can reach the charging character, it should be able to attack and deal damage as per the brace.

You DM might rule differently but I see no reason not to allow it.

Say I am beside my ally with a long spear, I should be able to angle the spear (especially with its reach) into line with the charger.

I did this real quick, so didn't maximize it. But it is kinda neat.

Dracula
Lawful Evil half-dragon human dread vampire
antipaladin (lord of darkness) 20
Strength: 24 (+7)
Dexterity: 18 (+4)
Constitution: - (+10)
Intelligence: 20 (+5)
Wisdom: 17 (+3)
Charisma: 30 (+10)
Acrobatics: +9
Appraise: +5
Bluff: +43
CL vs SR: +20
Climb: +15
Diplomacy: +10
Disable Device: +2
Disguise: +10
Escape Artist: +4
Fly: +25
Handle Animal: +18
Heal: +3
Intimidate: +33
Knowledge (religion): +28
Linguistics: +5
Perception: +33
Ride: +4
Sense Motive: +31
Sleight of Hand: +4
Spellcraft: +13
Stealth: +47
Survival: +3
Swim: +7
Use Magic Device: +30

Hit Points: 420 HP
Hit Dice: 20d10+220
Initiative: +4
Attack Bonus: +20/+15/+10/+5
(melee: +27/+22/+17/+12)
(ranged: +24/+19/+14/+9)
Fortitude Save: +32
Reflex Save: +20
Will Save: +25
Armor Class: 33
(touch: 10)
(flat-footed: 33)
CMB: +27
CMD: 41
(flat-footed: 37)
Feats & Traits: Armor Proficiency (Heavy), Armor Proficiency (Light), Armor Proficiency (Medium), Bolstered Resilience, Cleave, Command Undead (DC 30), Creature of Darkness, Great Cleave, Improved Grapple, Martial Weapon Proficiency - All, Multiattack, Power Attack -6/+12, Resistance to Positive Energy, Resistance to Positive Energy, Sacrificial Channel, Shield Proficiency, Simple Weapon Proficiency - All, Weapon Focus (Greatsword)
Special Abilities: Blindsight (20 feet) (Ex), Darkvision (120 feet), Low-Light Vision, Scent (Ex), Aura of Depravity -4 (10 ft.) (Su), Aura of Despair -2 (10 ft.) (Su), Aura of Obedience (1/day, DC 30) (Su), Aura of Sin (10 ft.) (Su), Fast Healing 5 (Ex), Dread Rejuvenation (Su), Damage Reduction (10/good), Damage Reduction (10/silver), Immunity to Ability Drain, Immunity to Acid, Immunity to Bleed, Immunity to Cold, Immunity to Death Effects, Immunity to Disease, Immunity to Energy Drain, Immunity to Exhausted, Immunity to Fatigue, Immunity to Mind-Affecting effects, Immunity to Nonlethal Damage, Immunity to Paralysis, Immunity to Physical Ability Damage, Immunity to Poison, Immunity to Sleep, Immunity to Stunning, Undead Traits, Energy Resistance, Electricity (10), Energy Resistance, Positive energy (10), Energy Resistance, Sonic (10), Blood Drain (1d6 Con) (Ex), Breath Weapon (1/day, DC 20) (Su), Children of the Night (3/day) (Su), Create Spawn (Su), Death Variant Channeling 10d6 plus 5 channel bonus (10/day, DC 30) (Su), Dominate (30 feet, DC 20) (Su), Domination (DC 30) (Su), Energy Drain (2 levels, DC 20) (Su), Smite Good (7/day) (Su), Darkness (3/day), Deeper Darkness (1/day), Detect Good (At will) (Sp), Fog Cloud (3/day), Aura of Evil (Ex), Change Shape (any animal, vermin or undead; polymorph) (Su), Cruelty (Charmed, DC 30) (6 rds) (Su), Cruelty (Commanded, DC 30) (Su), Cruelty (Cursed, DC 30) (Su), Cruelty (Paralyzed, DC 30) (1 round) (Su), Cruelty (Shaken, DC 30) (20 rounds) (Su), Cruelty (Staggered, DC 30) (10 rounds) (Su), Death Variant Channeling (±5 Profane), Fiendish Boon (Weapon +6, 20 mins, 4/day) (Sp), Gaseous Form (At will) (Su), Heartseeker, Swarm Shape (Su), Tongue of Lies (Ex), Touch of Corruption (10d6 hit points, 20/day) (Su), Uncanny Climber (Su), Unholy Champion (Su)
+3 heartseeker unholy cold iron greatsword (+31/+26/+21/+16, 2d6+13 plus 2d6 vs. good damage, crit 19-20/×2)
Bite (Half-Dragon) (+25, 1d6+3 damage, crit ×2)
Claw (Half-Dragon) (+25, 1d4+3 damage, crit ×2)
Gauntlet (from armor) (+27/+22/+17/+12, 1d3+7 damage, crit ×2)
Unarmed strike (+27/+22/+17/+12, 1d3+7 nonlethal damage, crit ×2)
Magic Items: +3 heartseeker unholy cold iron greatsword, +3 quickness shadow, improved half-plate
Other Gear:

Hero Lab(R) and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com/.
Pathfinder(R) and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC(R), and are used under license.

I know HeroLab should not be used to determine whether a rules question is official or not, but I thought I would give it a shot and see what happens.

I created a Bloody Skeletal Adult Gold Dragon using HeroLab. It removed the following abilities: Fly, Frightful Presence, Low Light Vision, Swim, Water Breathing, Blindsense, Breath Weapon, Change Shape, and Dragon Senses.

All spells and SLA were kept on the character sheet. I read through the changes that doing that skeleton and bloody added to the base character and neither are mentioned.

Like I said, HeroLab should not be used as official, but it is a good indicator that that might be the correct view.

"Battlemap, battlemap, roll it up or lay it flat. Battlemap."

Sorry, my players used to sing that.

I use a vinyl battlemap that I draw on with wet erase markers.

I looked up Samarit and it says it is Swedish for the word Samaritan.

I used Medician for the name of my prestige healing class.

Your friend is correct. The bonus from snake style to sense motive (+2) would stack with skill focus (+3) if the skill focus was used for sense motive. Both bonuses are untyped and stack with each other.

I am a big fan of quick reference cards, for both player and DM. This is just a little side note as I was thinking about it last night (not trying to hijack your thread Human Fighter just thought these would be useful).

I always tell players to keep quick notes on the following items.

Summoned monster - if you summon the same monster over and over, keep its stat handy.

Commonly used spells - if you cast, don't ask the DM to look up what your spell does, you should have that handy.

Combat maneuvers - I use a quick reference sheet for all of these.

Some skills - some skills require different DC's for different things so nice to have them handy.

As DM, quick monster cards or sheets.

I really wish that they had done a better job with the DM screen for pathfinder. I think they should take some items off and add other more often used items.

Sorry about the rant Human Fighter, just a few suggestions for players.

What's so hard to understand the simplicity of what this thread is trying to accomplish? I just want suggestions on how in the moment to grab someone's attention and make it sound convincing that you can use delay in that fashion by the rules, and in the quickest and time saving way.I understand lost causes can't be convinced, so I want to make quick and efficient attempt, then move on for everyone's sake. Understand now?

Like I said earlier, have the rules for Delay written down for quick reference (probably index cards would be the best thing) so that you can quote the rules quickly without the DM having to stop and dig out a Core Rulebook and look them up. Explain your action you want to take specifically "I want to let the first 3 goblins pass the dungeon intersection and then step into the hall to block the rest." Make sure you are not interrupting the DM by using words such as "wait" or "hold on". Use "excuse me" or "may I". Other than these suggestions, anything else would be highly situational.

Or sacrifice a goat to the rules lawyer gods before you go to the game and hope for the best. JUST KIDDING!

Copy the following text onto a few index cards and keep them hand during the game.
[quote=]
Delay

By choosing to delay, you take no action and then act normally on whatever initiative count you decide to act. When you delay, you voluntarily reduce your own initiative result for the rest of the combat. When your new, lower initiative count comes up later in the same round, you can act normally. You can specify this new initiative result or just wait until some time later in the round and act then, thus fixing your new initiative count at that point.

You never get back the time you spend waiting to see what's going to happen. You also can't interrupt anyone else's action (as you can with a readied action).

Initiative Consequences of Delaying

Your initiative result becomes the count on which you took the delayed action. If you come to your next action and have not yet performed an action, you don't get to take a delayed action (though you can delay again).

If you take a delayed action in the next round, before your regular turn comes up, your initiative count rises to that new point in the order of battle, and you do not get your regular action that round.

When you decide that you are going to use the delay action, make sure you ask the DM how he handles delay for group mobs. You can use the quoted material to quickly reference the rule for the DM. That way he doesn't have to stop the game and look them up if he is not 100% familiar with how Delay works.

I always find it difficult (not that I won't mind you) to talk to players about character actions that don't affect me "as DM". I prefer to handle those situations PC to PC. If you go to a player and say "look, YOU keep looting during combat, why?" the player will probably get defensive and take it personally even if you are just trying to address an issue for the rest of the group. "That is what my character would do" is the most common response, and I agree it is not the correct answer.

Now imagine if after the battle the paladin or barbarian goes up to you "Excuse me Magus" (well the barbarian wouldn't say excuse me) "Why did you leave Fred's back exposed during that fight to check that body of the fallen mummy?" Harder to say "that is what my character would do" during that conversation.

I am a fan of the "aid another" action. It makes the characters seem "in the virtual sense" that they are doing things together to help each other out.

You could ask say, if the fighter is trying to force open a door "does anyone want to help him?". Same thing for disabling devices or heal checks. Make them feel that by working together they are getting something, even if it is just the +2 bonus.

Have a ghost come to each player in the middle of the night and give each one of them one part of a riddle they need. They will have to talk to each other and share information.

Sorry missed that sentence. That is what I get for trying to read this early in the morning.

chavamana wrote:

Talk to him out of game. Explain that what he is doing is hurting the game. If he does love the campaign he will hopefully be willing to koderate his behavoir.

I'll be doing that this Monday.

I also want the game itself to encourage team play after that chat, with challenges the require multiple players or combine skillsets to overcome.

I'll make the next door require two people to hold down handles to open, and two people to run through and do the same on the other side, to let the first two through. The fifth guy can defend the first two while they are vulnerable.

What kind of character is he playing? Class, race, alignment?

G'day!

I've got five PC's, that are all well defined and making great use of their classes, unique items and the roleplay aspects. One of these players however, has a very err.. underdeveloped sense of teamwork.

I need to encourage him to do what is in the favour of the party, not just himself at every possible turn. Here is quick list of what's really s$$!ting me, and the party:

1) Breaks away from combat during the final round or two to loot everything first. Every. Single. Time.

2) Hordes scrolls, wands, potions and anything else. He won't sell them, and only very rarely uses this growing collection. *

3) Refuses to even try out a digital character sheet. Then "forgets" to apply the effects of complex negative effects, and must be reminded to compute his load whenever he stocks up on loot.

4) Has absurdly long turns, partly due to the paper sheet thing, but even in situations where there is only one choice, he will still spend 10 minutes deciding.

5) Whenever another PC asks for a party item he's carrying, it becomes a debate about how much they really need it.

6) Tried to take the The Wizard's Bonded Item., as it was introduced to the game, and everyone was told that item exists for the Wizard (since it was a PC dual classing)

* He was away for a session, and another player controlled his character. The inventory was split evenly between the party, and resulted in the party not being absolutely crushed at Thistletop the next session.

So now you've got an idea of this Nagaji Magus(5)/Bard(1) and the player controlling him, what are some good teamwork building activities I can put him and his party through?

I refuse to apply negative levels, fake rolls in combat or specific cursed items to him, as negative reinforcement is a s~&@ solution. This post is me trying to optimize my game, NOT some earth shattering mega b*#+$%@$ player at my table. The night would suffer if he quit (and he loves this campaign, so that's not at...

Once more with feeling . . . I typed this response once and right when I started to hit submit my power went out. So let me try this again.

1. Looting during combat IS not a DM problem, it is the problem of the other player characters. They need to address his character as their characters and explain why this is bad and should not be done. They will probably get the "this is what my character would do" response. That is fine, they then need to say what "their characters will do" if it continues.

2. Hording loot I also see as a character problem not a player problem (although they are both related). The other players need to address this in character, let the other character they do not find it acceptable. If you were adventuring in real life during a zombie apocalypse and they kept hording the food and ammo, would you in real life stay with them. Why should the other PC's?

3. Do you require a digital character sheet? If so, let him know that it is required to play in your game. I use Hero Lab to do character sheets for my players. They get a new one whenever they level, they get a significant number of new items or whenever they request one.

4. Set a time limit on initiatives. And if the time limit passes, tell him his character is taking the delay action (so he can still do something when he decides what to do) and move on to the next person on the initiative count.

5. Like #1 and #2 this should be done PC to PC, although I feel the "my character would do this" argument will ensue.

6. Can his character use the item in question? If not, this is probably a symptom of what is causing #1, #2, and #5. Have the players talk character to character with him and explain "what their characters will do".

You can try to talk this out DM to player but he may feel you are interfering with "his character." If the players do it as "their characters" he can't argue that as well.

Good luck and I hope these suggestions help.

I got time to read the entire thread, and again I will state for clarity. My issues are in PFS, and again, I understand the difference between PFS and a homegame. I expect to go to PFS and follow RAW.

I am asking advice in quickly resolving issues in regards to delay, and this isn't to be a jerk and make things take longer for everyone. There are actual situations that matter in my games where coming off delay in between is necessary, and typically I am already delaying and suddenly new things begin to happen in the game by introducing new combatants, and I would very much like to not continue being attacked, but rather get the hell out of dodge!

I have discussed that a GM can just delay the break back into a clump to "fix" things, but thank you for mentioning it in the thread @Berinor. I have spoken with my VC about many of my issues (actually still going on), but not much progress has been gained.

Again, this isn't a thread waging war against 1 roll initiative on my part, but don't let me stop others from voicing their opinions on the matter.

If you cannot get your VC to change your DM's mind, do you think he will? If he is adamant in his ruling, I see little recourse on your part other than moving on and accept the ruling or find another game with a different DM.

If it is PFS then why is the op doing multiple threads on the same topic (another poster has said this here somewhere). Surrley if he has a genuine gripe the he should be addressing it to the venture captain or who ever else is in charge of the PFS games in his area. If it PFS he might get a better response in the society setion of the forum rather than advice. I think I have seen venture captains answer specific gripes there.

I dont think the OP has acualy said one way or the other which is why hes getting me and maybe a few other posters confused. He has mentioned PFS but I think that is to do with other groups he has been in not the one he is in now but I could be wrong.

So if it is PFS, he does have an option besides arguing with the DM. That is good to know.

The OP stated it was for PFS.

You do not houserule in PFS.

Not at all.

I have never played PFS, so my knowledge of it is very limited. So please forgive if these questions are not related to it.

Is this game you are playing in run at a venue (a local game/hobby store) that is sponsoring the game?

If it is (for those of you that know for sure), does the player have an option for challenging a rule such as this in store? Is there some sort of judging system or requirement for a DM to follow and if he doesn't does that disqualify him from running?

If the game is run at home (a home game, hehe), what options does a player have if a DM uses house rules?

Other example:

Me: init 19
Goblin mob: init 17
rest of party: init 16 or less

Goblin mob is 10 strong. They have to cross a small bridge to get to the party. I want to let 3 goblins across the bridge before shutting it down so that the rest of the party can deal with the mob piecemeal. I should be able to delay or ready to act between goblins 3 and 4 to close the bridge by whatever means.

The house rule here prevents that. The house rule is not the same as simply grouping mooks together for convenience, it has other implications.

I believe that most people here are agreeing with you, we understand the effects and the situations that you would want to do. However, if this is a home game (Non PFS) and the DM has already stated this is his house rule, I see very little chance/hope of you changing his mind by what other DMs/players say on here.

Talk to your DM out of game about this, list your concerns and listen to his. If he rules it to stay like he has been doing it, either play or don't. That is pretty much your only options is this. I wouldn't keep bringing it up if he says this ruling is final, that can cause bad things in game.

Sidenote - I made these statements for a NON PFS game. Since I am not familiar enough with PFS rules to qualify to comment on those. Just saying. :)

David C Smith wrote:

This is an extremely common houserule. And while I see your point and would allow you to do it, your DM is well within his rights to houserule it, as long as you are aware of the houserule ahead of time.

Actually it's PFS, so misused houserules are objectively not within his rights.

If the game he refers to uses PFS, then I suppose that changes things. I have never played PFS so am unsure what the exact rules for the table are (although I have heard that PFS tries to make everything as uniform as possible).

If this game is non PFS however, I still believe the DM is within his rights to houserule that, even if I don't agree with it.

This is the problem scenario:

Hobgoblins all get initiative 17, GM is using "all as one uninterruptible clump" rule.

Player readies an action to interrupt the hobgoblin cleric if he tries to cast a spell.

Hobgoblin 1 goes.
Hobgoblin 2 goes.
Hobgoblin cleric goes... And the GM denies the readied action because "the hobgoblins' turn isn't interruptable, there's nowhere for your initiative to fit".
Hobgoblin 3 goes...

THAT is what this house rule does.

I agree that is an issue, and that is not how I would, or do, rule it. Plus I would have a separate initiative for the hobgoblin cleric. I am not in favor of the "all as one uninterruptible clump" rule, and just because you roll one initiative doesn't mean they have to be.

But again, that being said, a DM has the right to houserule it that way. Would I like it as a player? No. Would I rule that as a DM? No.

I have played in many many many a game with houserules and have not been a fan of some of them. But here is how I solve the problem if the DM is set on playing with a certain houserule: I either accept the rule and move on, or find another group.

David C Smith wrote:

Is this such a re-occurring issue in your DMs game?

Is it affecting combat that much?
Does your DM give you his reasoning behind it?

This is an extremely common houserule. And while I see your point and would allow you to do it, your DM is well within his rights to houserule it, as long as you are aware of the houserule ahead of time. If so, my advice would be to stop trying to find a way to change his mind and come up with other tactics and enjoy the game.

So, you are okay with all of the monsters being grouped and not being able to ready to interrupt the caster?

There is a huge difference between using a shortcut of having a group of monsters act on the same initiative number and treating them all as a single creature for initiative purposes.

Yes I am fine with rolling one initiative for grouped mobs. I have each creature in the mob complete their actions before I move onto the next. What is wrong with that?

As far as not being able to ready to interrupt the caster, not sure what you are referring too. If I want to declare one of the mobs (or a creature in the mob) as doing that, I do. Still not seeing the issue.

I do not see this coming up very often in game, or at least not causing many if any issues. As long as everyone is aware of how the DM is doing it at the start, I feel this falls in the realm of HOUSERULE and would move on.

Is this such a re-occurring issue in your DMs game?
Is it affecting combat that much?
Does your DM give you his reasoning behind it?

This is an extremely common houserule. And while I see your point and would allow you to do it, your DM is well within his rights to houserule it, as long as you are aware of the houserule ahead of time. If so, my advice would be to stop trying to find a way to change his mind and come up with other tactics and enjoy the game.

I have been running for the last 25+ years and my main group has always rolled group initiatives for "like" mobs, no matter who was GMing. We do this for simplicities sake, and it has never been an issue.

That being said, because of the delay, AOO, readied actions of pathfinder, I would have no issue with a player wanting to interrupt my group mob with an action (going in between the basically two initiatives of the grouped mob. I do not see why this has to be an issue, and it is easily done.

This might end up splitting the group mob into two groups but unless the player is doing this just to be annoying it shouldn't be an issue, as long as it has a legitimate combat advantage for them.

Hello all,

Just need a little advice. I have a player that is wanting to craft a candle that stays lit as long as his character is alive and that will extinguish if he dies. I decided that the candle should require the spells continual flame and status as its two prerequisite spells, as well as some of the blood of the person the candle is tied to. I set up the limitation that if the character dies on another plane the candle will not work. I set the CL at 5th level for craft wondrous item.

I was thinking of setting the price at 1,000 gp. Does that sound about right?

Thanks,

David

He doesn't even need to use Ready. Wolf moves, wolf delays, Ranger moves into position, Ranger delays, wolf attacks, ranger attacks.

At any rate, looks perfectly legal to me.

Unless I am mistaken, you cannot delay after a move, since delaying says you take no action, and moving would be an action. You have to use the ready action as a standard action with a move to pull this off, but that works just fine.

If I am incorrect on this, someone please chime in and correct me on it.

Delay Action: By choosing to delay, you take no action and then act normally on whatever initiative count you decide to act. When you delay, you voluntarily reduce your own initiative result for the rest of the combat. When your new, lower initiative count comes up later in the same round, you can act normally. You can specify this new initiative result or just wait until some time later in the round and act then, thus fixing your new initiative count at that point.

Perfectly legal tactic, you just have to make sure your readied action is stated for the wolves attack and not when the wolf moves.

I found this spell online and kinda like the flavor of it but it seems weak to me. Any thoughts on balancing it?

Glacial Cold
School conjuration [cold, elemental - ice]
Level druid 2, ranger 2, sorcerer/wizard 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect 20-ft. radius spread
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw Fortitude half
Spell Resistance no
You create a zone of icy cold within the spell's area, creatures that end their turn in the area of effect take 1d6 points of cold damage

Thanks,

David

Does anyone have the stats for a heavy warhammer? I know there is a weapon called the earthbreaker but I was looking for something else. Any ideas?

Thanks

David

Hello everyone,

I have a player that wants a set of gauntlets that will let him apply the axiomatic ability to a weapon a total of ten rounds a day, how much would that cost and what would the level be?? I am bad at trying to figure this stuff out so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

David Smith

Banning classes is alright, especially third party (although it's far more balanced than almost everything Paizo has put out themselves, especially by internal devs.) and "beta" classes, but banning Synthesist "because it is overpowered" even though it's dramatically less powerful than plain-old summoner (he has double the actions) all while leaving Wizard, Druid, Cleric, Sorcerer, Oracle and Witch alone, all of whom outclass it by a very huge margin is a bit absurd.

"Because it is badly written" would be perfectly fine, but "overpowered" is absurd.

I had kinda "requested" that players not play gnomes because of the actions of one player. I know that is harsh but it is a long (and funny) story. From then on it became known as the Great Gnome Plague, a running joke in my campaigns, even those that I had gnomes in. We turned a restriction into something unique and a background that added character to our games. Just depends on how you look at it. :)

When I am outlining a new campaign, I first try to outline what I am going to allow. For my normal home campaign, I have several restrictions, but I am always forward with the players about them up front (ask them about the great gnome plague).

When I ran the Worlds Largest Dungeon, I allows anything from the core rulebook plus a list of additional books.

There is nothing wrong with restrictions as long as you are up front about them at the beginning.

My gaming group argued this for an hour the other night before out normal sunday night game. It was interesting to see. As I expected the for's and the against's were exactly who I had thought they would be. I am not sure if that is a good or a bad thing. LOL. We did a little math and the groups main fighter (a level seven fighter) would only gain an additional 21 hit points from doing this.

The cleric would jump almost 25 hit points however.

Still have not made a decision yet. I do not I am going to be doing away with the dice rolls for hit points, just not sure on the method yet. :)

Thanks everyone for your input.

David

You might be right that my all "random" player would like it. I am just trying to find the best method to use without rolls. I was bouncing around the idea of just average +1 for all characters at each level but then a few of the players pointed out that that takes away from the chance of having higher hit points. 5 or 6 per level for a fighter instead of the chance of rolling 9 or 10.

It is a difficult decision to make, when trying to balance the game and the encounters. That is why I was hoping for input from anyone who does do the max hit points way to get their insight and how it changed their games.

I have two fighters in my game, very similar in builds, but the main difference in the two is hit points. I use the random roll method with 1/2 being the minimum you can get. This has worked fine but I have one fighter that has rolled really well and the other keeps rolling badly, getting him the 1/2 minimum every time. This has created two front line fighters where one can take a pounding and the other has to be more careful.

While I enjoy the different play styles, I can tell that the player that keeps rolling poorly feels "cheated" by the dice rolls. I have been discussing with the players the fact that all other aspects of the characters are builds and not random rolls (if you use a point buy or similar system), so why should hit points be the exception??

Recently my gaming group has been discussing the various methods for determining Hit Points. We have talked about the random rolls with no rerolls, random rolls with minimum of the average, just the minimum every level, and maximum hit points every level.

My question is, has anyone else done the maximum hit points for every level, and how has it changed (if any) your games?

One of my players (who is also a DM) hates the idea (of course he would prefer everything be random, right down to selection of class and race).

As I expected, most of the players like the idea, as long as I can balance out encounters with it.

Any thoughts,

Thanks

David C Smith

I am starting the new AP Way of the Wicked and I have a player that is wanting to play a wizard necromancer. He was having trouble selecting spells and had one left over so I told him I would work up a new 1st level necromancer spell for him (just to give him a little bit of flavor and uniqueness). Well I have drawn a blank so I thought I would see if anyone had any ideas for a new 1st level wizard necromancy spell?? Any help would be great.

Thanks,

David C Smith

I agree with big bad on that, in the updated Half-Dryad I did, the stat mods were +2 Dex, +2 Cha, and -2 Str.

Ulrich,

Thanks for the look at your design. May I ask one question though, why the +2 to wisdom instead of charisma. I was just curious.

Thanks,

David

Styxian Bloodline

The black sickness known as the River Styx flows through your veins, powering your magical sorcery. Whether from a curse or a long ago ancestor, this bloodline pulls you toward evil, although your fate is your own.

Class Skill: Survival

Bonus Spells: acid splash (1st), curse water (3rd), fester (5th), water breathing (7th), poison (9th), absorb toxicity (11th), flesh to ooze (13th), plague storm (15th), unholy aura (17th), suffocation, mass (19th)

Bonus Feats: Elemental Spell (Acid), Elemental Spell (Cold), Great Fortitude, Improved Great Fortitude, Sickening Spell, Skill Focus (Knowledge [planes]), Tenebrous Spell, Toughness

Bloodline Arcana: Whenever you cast a spell of the summoning subschool, the creatures summoned gain DR/silver equal to 1/2 your sorcerer level (minimum 1). This does not stack with any DR the creature might have.

Bloodline Powers: Always trying to corrupt you, your Styxian blood grows as you gain power.

Corrosive Ray (Sp): Starting at 1st level, you can unleash a corrosive ray as a standard action, targeting any foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. This ray deals 1d6 points of acid damage + 1 for every two sorcerer levels you possess. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.

Styxian Resistance (Ex): At 3rd level, you gain resist acid 5 and resist cold 5. At 9th level, your resistances increase to 10. At 15th level, your resistances increase to 20.

Styxian Hide (Ex): At 9th level, you gain a +2 bonus to your natural armor class. At 15th level, this bonus increases to +4.

Blood of the Vile (Su): At 15th level, you gain SR equal to 5 + your sorcerer level. You also gain a +4 bonus on saving throws made against disease and poison.

Styxian Ichor (Su): At 20th level, you become infused with the power of the River Styx. You gain immunity to acid, cold, disease and poison.

Already made a change, exchanging the class skill knowledge planes for survival.

I am working on a Styxian sorcerer bloodline for my campaign (the PC's have encountered a portal that leads them to the river). Here is what I have so far, not much but it is a start.

Styxian Bloodline

The black sickness known as the River Styx flows through your veins, powering your magical sorcery. Whether from a curse or a long ago ancestor, this bloodline pulls you toward evil, although your fate is your own.

Class Skill: Knowledge (planes)

Bonus Spells: acid splash (1st), curse water (3rd), fester (5th), water breathing (7th), poison (9th), absorb toxicity (11th), flesh to ooze (13th), plague storm (15th), unholy aura (17th), suffocation, mass (19th)

Bonus Feats: Elemental Spell (Acid), Elemental Spell (Cold), Great Fortitude, Improved Great Fortitude, Sickening Spell, Skill Focus (Knowledge [planes]), Tenebrous Spell, Toughness

Bloodline Arcana:

Bloodline Powers:

One of my players, a monk, sent me this question. I am not sure how to respond. How does this work??

"as i understand and can be altered by ruling can trip as part of a flurry if i fail i can free action drop weapon to not to be triped if so weapon cords let me recover weapon as swift if i do i get 2ed flurry trip atk if limited to one free action then i may be triped after that if not then drop weapon recover next round. or is that wrong"

Thank you Rainy Day, that is exactly what I was looking for.

Hello everyone,

I have been looking through various sourcebooks to find an answer to the following question:

What penalties does a character incur when loosing a hand?
Are the penalties worse if it is the character's main hand as opposed to his off-hand?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

David

As the OP, I have read with interest most of the discussions on here about monks and I believe a lot of what was said about my "reactions" was true.

I have never allowed monks in my campaigns, not because I thought they were broken but because I didn't think they fit the "feel" of the campaign. That being said, in this latest campaign I allowed them, I pretty much allowed anything in any of the core and official pathfinder books.

I will admit now that my knowledge of the monk is extremely limited because of this. I have taken a look at the actual build and believe my first impressions were exaggerated and that I need to evaluate my opinion on this character.

I thank everyone for the interesting discussions.

David

First, let me thanks everyone for all of the advice. I was away from the computer during most of the discussion so couldn't sound off on anything, but here is my take-away so far.

Maybe I am overreacting. I have DM'ed and played for almost 25 years now and am not sure what was bugging me about this situation the most, maybe I am getting old and grumpy.

This current group consists of players that have played under me for a long time as well as a few new ones. The player I was having the issue with was one of my older players (he was in my Worlds Largest Dungeon campaign as well as another campaign at the defunct Game Store).

Perhaps I was trying to adjust the encounters for his character and that was causing issues with the other players and I was taking that as his character was causing the problem.

I am doing audits on the characters, I have the paladin character in front of me at the moment and am going through it, not gotten the monk yet (LOL).

I do appreciate all the advice, I will take everything into consideration, and talk with my group before our next game to get everything out in the open.

Thanks,

David C Smith

David C Smith wrote:

2) I have asked that same question. But he swears it has something to do with buffs, fighting defensively, and some monk stuff. I have told everyone that I am going to audit all the characters, I just hate doing that.

If he is Qinggong, he should have Barkskin up. Fighting Defensive will boos his AC, but lower his to hit. Make sure he is accounting for that. Monk stuff at level 4 depends on having a high wisdom and using a Ki point to boost his AC for a round at the cost of a Swift action. Make sure that he is not using multiple swift actions per round, and make sure that his Ki Pool actually has enough points to cover everything he is doing. A level 4 monk has a very small ki pool.

David C Smith wrote:

3) True, he misses somewhat but he does some elemental fist thing that adds damage to his strikes.

Elemental Fist is useable once per day per monk level, and no more than once per round. Also it has to hit to work like stunning fist, if you miss, you lose the attempt.

Ahhh, That is one problem then. He is attacking, waiting to see if he hits, then saying if he is using the elemental first. I will watch that more closely.

David C Smith wrote:

We are on session 26 and about 10 games ago the min/maxer's character died. He did a new character, a monk, and has just gone nuts with munchkining it. I have tried to explain how I feel but it is going on deaf ears apparently.

I do not want to punish the rest of the group because of one character. I try very hard to balance the encounter for the group and CR, but when you have a 4th level character who can bump his AC to 32 during an encounter it makes it pretty hard.

1) What is your definition of munchkining?

2) How is his AC going up to 32?
3) he can't possibly be doing any worthwhile damage.
4) 4th level? Drop him with a colour spray or sleep.

1) It's kinda like what is obscene. I can't define it but I know it when I see it.

We are on session 26 and about 10 games ago the min/maxer's character died. He did a new character, a monk, and has just gone nuts with munchkining it. I have tried to explain how I feel but it is going on deaf ears apparently.

I do not want to punish the rest of the group because of one character. I try very hard to balance the encounter for the group and CR, but when you have a 4th level character who can bump his AC to 32 during an encounter it makes it pretty hard.