At the minute I'm in the camp that thinks that the skald is too close to bard.
A few people have mentioned the skald is a little light on skill points compared to the bard. The standard suggestion, and perhaps the obvious one has been to give the skald the 6 + int skills of the bard.
Whilst I can certainly see the merit in this suggestion, I think it unfortunately pushes the skald even closer to being an archetype of bard, rather than a new class synthesising bard and barbarian.
One potential way to address this might be to change the skald's casting stat from charisma. I'm aware that this would break from the current broad pattern, whereby prepared divine casters use wisdom to cast, prepared arcane casters use intelligence and spontaneous casters (of either stripe) use charisma.
This would not be without precedent: paladins are a prepared caster using charisma and inquisitors are spontaneous casters using wisdom.
I think that thematically there could be an argument for the skald casting off wisdom, possibly with raging song coming off wisdom as well.
However, as casting off wisdom appears to be a principally divine magic trait I suggest a move to intelligence, it seems to tie in with the knowledge focus of the class and would tend to provide the additional skill points in synergistic manner rather.
I'm certain that there are aspects of this suggestion that I've not considered that will cause problems, but I offer it up for debate as an alternative to extra skill points.
I am going to throw myself on the received wisdom of the internet as I have managed to confuse myself.
How does multiclassing work in pfs if you have an animal companion/familiar? I don't mean a multiclass druid/fighter, I understand that.
I'm confused by cases where multiple classes give an animal companion or familiar:
How would a multiclassed Cavalier/Paladin work once the paladin has his divine bond?
I assume 2 classes that give animal companions stack for the purposes of the animal companions abilities so a druid 2/cavalier 1 would have a third level animal companion (but would they have to be able to ride it?).
Can you multiclass a black-blade magus with a witch? Would the witch have to take the archetype that changes her familiar to a poppet (assuming that it is pfs legal)? If the magus can't multiclass as a witch could they go druid?
Cernunnos. He is a Celtic deity who some how became an empyreal lord on Golarion.
Cernunnos is a viable god for PFS? Why am I only learning this now? Can someone give me a steer to where I can find him? I feel a new character coming on.
I've not played much PFS, but I have played a reasonable amount of Pathfinder. I've got some questions on interpretations of some rules.
1) Does a Tengu's Swordtrained ability include sawtoothed sabres and the like?
2) Whilst I know the Variant Tiefling Heritages are not alowed in organised play, are the racial traits (Blood Stalker etc.) for them allowed? The additional resources document seems to imply that they are, but I wasn't certain.
3) What are the basic assumptions made about Society members characters? Beyond non-evil. IE do they have to be literate?
4) Do society clerics have to follow a god, or can they follow a concept? If so who approves Domain selections?
We're all familiar with eidolon natural attacks, and how you can shape them to look like natural weapons. But does an eidolon have the abiloty to put these implements away to use their hands?
On one hand, weapon traits like Grapple and Shove suggest this is the case and they need it to make up for having their digits merged to the hilt.
On the other hand, I'd love to play with concepts like an anger phantom dwarf ancestor who wields her favored hammer and clan dagger, or a demon clown who fights with a juggling club and an evil puppet, without being locked out of everything with the manipulate trait. Having your very humanoid-shaped eidolon balking at the prospect of a closed door sort of undercuts my character concept.
So. Many PF monsters made it into space, and that can potentially change their interactions with everyone else.
With that in mind, is there any ruling on how a monster like the Medusa would interact with a world where streaming and comm units exist? Does their stoney gaze travel through screens? Does an instagram filter cover it up?
Are there any examples in game? I'd love to include Medusa tech gurus and streamer divas in my games but I'm not sure how to handle the logistics.
So I've got this skill focused eidolon, with claws on her hands and feet. Been thinking of giving her the evolution and/or necklace enchantment to add acid damage to these attacks.
If she automatically deals acid damage with her hand claws and foot claws, does that damage any object she's holding? Will it damage floors? Will it make Disable Device/Sleight of Hand harder to use, or in some cases even impossible?
Exhaustive Power
You are capable of pushing beyond your limits at a heavy cost
Prerequisites: Kineticist level 3rd, burn class feature, elemental overflow class feature
Benefit: When you are incapable of accepting any more burn, you may sacrifice your own life force to empower your attacks. Instead of accepting a point burn when using infusions or metakinesis, you may convert nonlethal damage from burn equal to twice your character level to lethal damage. Lethal damage from this feat can't be healed, prevented, or redirected, but it still counts as burn for the purpose of abilities such as elemental overflow. This damage is removed by a full night's rest.
This feat cannot be used if the kineticist does not have nonlethal damage from burn equal to twice their character level.
Work in Progress. I wanted to add some flavor text along the lines of "Kineticists who overuse this feat develop horrific scars" or "elemental overflow manifests as deep wounds that bleed elemental matter" but the feat is already pretty wordy.
You ever get an idea in your head that sounds fun, and you play it for a while, but you realize all too late that you might have made something that's a little weak?
So I've got this dex based unarmed Vigilante, makes use of Two Weapon Fighting and Enforcer and a Cruel enchant on her amulet of mighty fists to disable enemies. All the while, I use Snake Style for both theme and defense against touch attacks. With the Vigilante talents making up for damage, I thought it was gonna be great! But after playing for a while in the mid levels, I've realized my accuracy is pretty awful.
My options for attack routines are as follows.
Unarmed Strike: +15/10, 1d3+10
Unarmed Strike, Power Attack: +12/8, 1d3+16
Unarmed Strike, Two Weapon Fighting: +13/13/8/8, 1d3+10 and 1d3+9
Unarmed Strike, TWF and PA: +10/10/5/5, 1d3+16 and 1d3+12
Here's the general statblock:
Lisena the Serpent
Vishkanya Avenger Vigilante 8 (FCB: Skill Points)
NG Medium Humanoid
Init +6
AC 26, touch 17, flat-footed 21 (+9 Armor, +5 Dex, +2 deflection)
hp 59 (8d8+16)
Fort +6, Ref+14, Will +7, +8 vs Poison
Str 12, Dex 22, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 9, Cha 14
BAB +8, CMB +9, CMD 25
Feats: (b)Weapon Finesse, (b) Improved Unarmed Strike, Two Weapon Fighting, Snake Style, Enforcer, (b)Power Attack, Improved Two Weapon Fighting, (b) Weapon Focus: Unarmed Strike, (b) Weapon Specialization: Unarmed Strike
Notable skills: Bluff +12, Disguise +16 (+20 in Social Identity), Fly +14, Intimidcate +18, Perception +15, Sense Motive +16 (+20 in Social Identity), Stealth +17, Use Magic Device +9
Here's the list of Vigilante Talents as well as her relevant magic items:
Vigilante Talents
Fist of the Avenger: Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat, add half level to unarmed strike damage
Lethal Grace: Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat, add half level to finessed attacks that still use Strength for damage
Shield of Blades: Power Attack as a bonus feat, add Power Attack penalty as a shield bonus to AC for one round when using Power Attack.
Signature Weapon (Unarmed Strike): Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization as bonus feats.
Social Talent
Social Grace: +4 to Disguise and Sense Motive while in Social Identity
Renown
Quick Change
Mocking Bird
Magical Items:
+3 Mithral Breastplate
+2 Ring of Deflection
+2 Belt of Incredible Dexterity
Amulet of Mighty Fists, Cruel enhancement (Striking Demoralized enemies Sickens them for one round)
Circlet of Persuasion
Cloak of Resistance +2
Headband of Intelligence (ranks of Fly)
Several potions of Fly
Several potions of Blessed Fist (+1 enhancement to unarmed strikes, unarmed counts as Good for beating DR)
Handy Haversack
Two Mithral Kukris, one of which has a level 4 Heightened Continual Flame cast on it
Faction Boon that increases nonlethal damage by +1
Masterwork Tool for Stealth
TWF makes the best use of the free damage from Fist of the Avenger and Deadly Grace, while Power Attack gives me some good AC as well as more base damage. But when I use both, I can barely hit for squat, and I spend a lot of time looking silly.
I just hit level 9 without allocating anything yet, I have 9k gold to spare, and enough Prestige points to retrain as many feats as I need to. Shame I can't retrain Vigilante Talents. What sorts of PFS-legal options do you think I can take to try and salvage this poor thing? Items? Feats? Talents? Should I just give up on the TWF? Pretend Power Attack doesn't exist?
In this thread, we shall look at rules abstractions and imagine what it would be like if they were a central part of he ingame world. I'll start.
Hit Points: Levels are represented by extra layers of skin that gradually grow over a person's body. Each layer's thickness is determined by things like Constitution and their general physical capabilities (class).
Fun fact! If you bisect an adventurer with a clean horizontal cut, you can determine their Hid Die by counting the rings.
So, the Dagger Pistol. It's an amusing double weapon that let's you stay armed for melee when you focus on ranged. The language describing the blade is a little vague, but I want to know if the blade end carries the stat profile of a Dagger.
This is mostly because I want to use it as a thrown weapon, and I'm not sure if it would count as Improvised in that case.
Pistol, Dagger:
A combination of a coat pistol and a blade, the dagger pistol can be used as both weapons. The awkwardness of the configuration means you do not gain the bonus on Sleight of Hand checks that either of those stand-alone weapons grants. The dagger pistol is considered a double weapon for the purpose of creating masterwork or magical versions of this weapon. If this firearm gains the broken condition, both the firearm component and the dagger component are considered broken. A dagger pistol uses either a bullet and a single dose of black powder or an alchemical cartridge as ammunition.
Of course, it's also good to know if the stabby end has some kind of seperage crit range/modifier.
So I've got a 3rd level Kitsune Unchained Rogue in PFS. Had some fun, but Vigilante was released and it fits the character better. My plan is to take my 4th level in Vigilante, then retrain my Rogue levels over time.
But then I found something strange when I was planning the new path. It all centers around the Lethat Grace talent.
Lethal Grace (Ex):
The vigilante combines strength and speed into incredibly deadly attacks. He gains Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat, and if he already has the Weapon Finesse feat, he can immediately swap it for another feat for which he qualified at the level he chose Weapon Finesse. When using Weapon Finesse to make a melee attack using his Dexterity bonus on attack rolls and his Strength bonus on damage rolls, he also adds half his vigilante level on damage rolls. This bonus damage is not reduced or increased if the vigilante is wielding a weapon two-handed or in an off-hand.
So first level Unchained Rogues get Weapon Finesse for free. At Vigilante 2/Unchained Rogue X, I will likely take Lethal Grace, along with taking a free feat thanks to replacing the Bonus Rogue feat. For simplicity's sake, let's say I take Great Fortitude. I will eventually replace my last Rogue level with Vigilanty, removing the bonus Weapon Finesse feat entirely.
So what happens to Great Fortitude? Does it go away? Do I get it as a freebie? I'm assuming the former, but I just wanted to double check as LG does not go into detail about what happens in this kind of situation.
So, it was nearly one year ago to the day that I originally asked you all for advice on making a time themed character, and after letting the idea stew for a while, I've finally decided to make a Time Oracle!
....then I wondered what the heck to do with him. After toying with some ideas and borrowing more than a little from one of my favorite games, I've strongly considered using Dervish Dance in order to cut down on MADness and still have something to do when I'm not supporting with the very buff-focused Cleric spell list.
Rough outline as follows:
the build:
Human Time Oracle, level 2 GM Baby
FCB: Extra Skill Point through level 3, then Extra Spell Known
Curse: Tongues (Aklo)
Mystery: Time
Gear Goals: Adamantine Scimitar, Mithril Breastplate, usual Big 6 stuff
Str 13 Dex 15+2 Con 14 Int 12 Cha 14 Wis 8
Traits: Reactionary, Fate's Favored
1) Weapon Finesse, (Bonus) Weapon Proficiency: Scimitar, Revelation: Knowledge of the Ages
2)
3) Dervish Dance, Revelation: Temporal Celerity
4) Dex +1
5) Power Attack
6)
7) Extra Revelation: Time Hop, Revelation: Speed or Slow Time
8+) Unsure...
Does this look like the solid foundation of a functional build? What might be a good way to round out the later levels? Or is blowing early feats not worth the fighting style? If I do go this way, any suggestions for Cleric spells besides the obvious ones (Divine Favor, etc) that combo with Fate's Favored?
EDIT: Messed up the point buy. Should be up to snuff, now.
So a funny little quirk cropped up when I was crafting my B-ball themed Kineticist. I took a rank in Profession: Merchant to order to represent the sponsorship deals baked into his backstory. All the better to name drop his masterwork shoe brand! His other tanks went into a mix of useful and flavorful things,like Perception and Acrobatics.
The problem is that he's kind of a terrible merchant. He has no way to woo a client (Diplomacy/Bluff), avoid being ripped off (Appraise/Sense Motive), and he has no market know-how (Knowledge Local, Nobility, etc) at all. And yet, according to the rules, he can make a decent merchant during downtime.
I presume that other professions like Detective, Doctor and other complicated fields might raise similar questions.
So what do you guys think? Ever struggle to justify a profession or craft on a character that lacks related skills? Have you rewritten a concept to cover your grounds? Or do you have an "unskilled" character who can somehow wing it in the field?
So I've got a little project I'm saving for after my Summoner finishes Eyes of the Ten, a 'legacy' character fluffed up as his Eidolon becoming human and doing her own thing in the Society. Going with the Blood archetype for thematic reasons (and because awesome) but I'm stuck as to what I want to do at level 7.
Here's the general direction for the first 6 levels.
Navia Grace:
Human (Dual Talent) Blood Kineticist Favored Class Bonus: 1/6 Extra Wild Talent)
Str 8, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10
Traits: Scholar of the Great Beyond, Reactionary
Skills: Knowledge (Planes), Perception, Acrobatics, Knowledge (Nature)
(Archetype-Mandatory Wild Talents marked in italics.)
1:Wrack, Point Blank Shot
2: Slick
3: Extended Range, Precise Shot
4: Kinetic Healing
5:Bleeding Infusion, Iron Will
6:Blood Biography, FCB: Kinetic Cover
What would you suggest? Add in Air for flight and an awesome composite blast? Stay water to patch up the Utility Wild Talent drought from levels 6 to 9? Heck, any suggestions about the build leading up to this?
So I've been meaning to make a PFS character who has an in character reason for playing scenarios out of order: they've been hopping back and forth through time. Be it through their own design or someth8ng beyond their control, I just love the idea of a character who meets strangers and starts telling them inside jokes that don't exist yet, or continually asking how their old chums in the Shadow Lodge are doing.
Anyway, I'm looking for suggestions for ways to represent this the mechanics. Naturally my first idea was a Time oracle and the rest was easy to figure out, but the lack of Haste and Slow really rubs me the wrong way.
So I'm working on my first ever melee focused character for Soci3ties, and I've taken much inspiration from the OrkNobz and Warbosses from Warhammer 40k. To that end, I'm trying to make a big shouty guy with a big weapon and and an even bigger banner who gives tactical advantages while "leading by example" and smashing faces on the front line.
So far I know that I want to start with Order of the Cockatrice for at least two levels for the quick Dazzling Display and I'll likely take Arcane Stiker Bard levels to further increased shoutiness while downplaying the magical and skillmonkey aspects. This slips into the Battle Herald prestige class.
What I'm looking for is advice on filling in the details of the build. Any suggestions on feats, teamwork feats, or any other fun tricks? I'm also somewhat open to single classing Cavalier; the boost to Challenge seems delicious, even if the mount is too asymmetrical with usual PFS teams/dungeons and I have no interest in Lance Supercharges.