Kalindlara's page

So you either wanted to play a frail Human for purely roleplaying reasons with no mechanical representation, which means you're not affected at all, you're good to go with telling everybody how sickly and tired you are every half an hour, or you were trying to minmax/shoot yourself in the foot, in which case I'm glad you can't.

Today I learned that these are the only three possible motivations I could have for doing something like this!

Thank you for this useful revelation. I can't believe I trusted my perception of my own motivations.

I'm also disappointed in the Voluntary Flaws change. One of the things I've often experienced, particularly in Organized Play, is an intense stigma against "making your character worse for no reason", with the implication that your character is ruining other people's fun. The old system neatly sidestepped that to an extent by offering a small, but still relevant, benefit.

Ah well. I look forward to having to rebuild half my characters to comply. :|

Well, I'm definitely interested, though I've still got to refine my character concepts before I start pestering you with questions. ^_^;

Raven is correct. ^_^

I'm only a few pages in, and I already love the book...

Knights of Lastwall:

Whoever decided to name the squires after Cassisian angels, deserves a packet of cookies, because now I am inadvertantly a Knight of Lastwall by virtue of my nickname. Thank you whomever did that bit

My developers—Eleanor Ferron and Luis Loza, who both deserve a ton of credit for the great ideas here!—asked me to provide a place for more "classical" squire-youths in the order. It seemed like an obvious step to name them after 'little angels', particularly with the easy and pleasant-sounding shortening. ^_^

As a big fan of Planescape's idiosyncratic cant, bless whoever wrote the "Knightly slang" section.

I'm glad you like it! They asked me to come up with a bunch of slang terms the Knights might use, and I had a lot of fun with it. :D

(My philosophy of slang, particularly for combat groups, is that it should be quick, snappy, easily belted out under pressure. Hence a lot of one- or two-syllable words. The exceptions are stuff like curses or battle cries, like "wrath and woe".)

A few times the book refers to a 'Flame', presumably as some kind of knightly unit, akin to the established Lights (the small individual squads) and Blazes (rarely-formed out of several Lights for special missions), but it's never elaborated upon. An editing slip-up, perhaps?

That's... probably my fault. ^_^; My initial draft had the Sentinels calling the squads "Lights" and the Reclaimers using "Flames", but somewhere that ended up being left behind. But here and there I probably messed it up or misremembered. (This was a lot of words, y'all!)

I had the pleasure of playtesting this scenario, and I can't say enough good things about it! Definitely keep your eyes on this one, because it is an absolute delight. ^_^

Also, since a few people have asked what I contributed to this particular tome... it was quite a bit! (Though still only a drop in the bucket compared to my fellow contributors' total work, of course!)

It might not look like much here, but at over twenty thousand words, it was a ton of work! (My second largest, after only Planar Adventures.) I'm incredibly proud of how it all came out, though, and very excited to see it in peoples' hands. ^_^

My concern with burn as an externally applied mechanic is that it risks feeling "tacked on", rather than like an organic and well-integrated part of the class. Trying to glue it on without making it foundational... seems like it will only result in clumsiness.

On instinct, I think the best way to approach it might be as a sort of "kineticist's interface", the way alchemists choose a research field and oracles choose a mystery. This kineticist chooses burn, fueling their elemental power with their health and using Constitution. That kineticist chooses mysticism, using Focus Points to empower their attacks and using Wisdom. And who knows what other intriguing power sources could be devised?

This also avoids the archetype lockout that graystone mentioned upthread, which is a definite concern for a class with such a concentious core mechanic. Not being able to multiclass at all is a serious price. Of course, it does mean the class has two major choices instead of one, making it notably more complex. But I think that doesn't have to be a bad thing, especially as the system matures. (I had to have Mr. Seifter himself explain the PF1 version before I fully grasped its intricacies.)

Speaking of armored skirts: did you also do the lore for Falayna in Knights of Lastwall?

I did! Among many other sections. ^_^

I'm a wee bit late to the mention of it, but honestly, I'm just glad the armored skirt made it to print usefully. I wrote it with only the playtest rules to go on (these books have a pretty long lead time) and mostly aimed for "something that will let people have the pretty armored gown aesthetic while not being embarrassingly bad". I think it did well enough under the circumstances. ^_^

For those interested in the nitty-gritty of design choices, it also has a sort of special design intent. Let's say you get a really cool and unique armor you want to wear, like Mr. Sayre's Iomedae's Armor, but your stats don't quite match up; you don't have enough Dexterity for this chain shirt, or enough Strength for that platemail. The skirt, as a sort of proto-adjustment, lets you sort of massage those stats to fit your own.

(I also did the armor and shield adjustments for Grand Bazaar, and I think we're just scratching the surface of concepts there! Hopefully we get the chance to really dig into what those can offer.)

Hmmmmm.

So I've been playing a PF1 kineticist in Reign of Winter for a while now (just hit 12th level), in addition to my original bona fides. I love the class in its 1e iteration. So what would I like to see come forward?

Thematically:
I love the feel of the class as a sort of wellspring/conduit for overwhelming power, not unlike the PF2 oracle. I am particularly fond of the feeling of pushing your limits, something most classes just didn't have. As a sorcerer, you either have spell slots left or you don't; there's no mechanic to squeeze out just one more spell, or to go all Tellah, convert your HP to MP, and unleash your ultimate power at great cost. Kineticist brought that feel and that flavor to the game.

Mechanically:
The go-all-day nature of the class is important, though it's less unique in a system with scaling cantrips. The gather power and infusion specialization elements of the original were integral to this, letting you feel like you were doing more than just a basic attack every round because you had to save your resources for the big fight; I'm not sure how the present system and its emphasis on limited resources will handle this, though. I'm also a huge fan of the burn mechanic, since it so perfectly supports the thematic elements mentioned above; so, speaking for myself, I'd like to see that element as a cornerstone of the class again.

The mix of utility and blasting is important too. My fire/water kineticist in RoW can not only blast with eruptions and ranged attacks, but can also heal via kinetic healer and even provide restoration effects via kinetic restoration and (the admittedly officially story-limited) purging flame. I'd really like to see that come forward in some way, though again, given the new edition's emphasis on limited resources, I'm not sure what form that'd take. (In this edition, perhaps something akin to the champion's Mercy feats would be appropriate?)

Anyway, just my random thoughts during my annual visit to the forums. ^_^

Yeah, you weren’t kidding! Here’s hoping we get to meet Princess Misovyel someday and her alien servants someday.

There are a lot of things in here that I think have Infinite potential for a follow-up, if you take my meaning. ^_^

keftiu wrote:

Can we hear the chapter titles?

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Among the Knights
Chapter 3: Knights of Lastwall Options
Chapter 4: Knights of Lastwall Efforts

That's kind of boring though, so why not the headers for each of the sections, too!

** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **

Oh hey, I recognize some of those chapter titles!

New Marshal toys is an unexpected treat! If we can't get a full Warlord class, I'm very happy with this.

Trust me, I would go kill Tar-Baphon by myself for an actual honest-to-Artemis Warlord Class. Especially if I got to design it. ^_^ Until then, though, I hope what you find here will be to your liking!

So, as one of those freelancers who does all that writing...

I support this move unconditionally, both in support of my Black colleagues and in line with my own experiences and beliefs. And I'm really glad Mr. Mona went all-in on committing to this. Very quickly, too. It's a good sign that at least some folks at the top are actually listening now, and ready to take the necessary steps to improve.

As for the thing itself. You can still put the thing in your games, with the consent of your group. You can still read between the lines and choose to interpret parts of the setting as involving it, again, with that consent. But it's now opt-in, instead of opt-out, and that makes all the difference.

The thing about this is, for folks who aren't Black, it's all too easy to treat it as a toy, a rhetorical object. A sticker we can put on our villains to say "these are Bad People and you have to save their victims!" We say we're "taking it seriously" and "want to be able to confront real evils"... but at the end of the session, we laugh and chat and talk about what a great time we had fighting the Bad People. It is, as they say, Just A Game. And we don't think about the people for whom it's not Just A Game.

To speak to my own experiences... I am glad that transphobia is omitted from Golarion. And that's as someone who has, once or twice, thought about writing in Gender Oppressors for punching purposes. It'd be cathartic for me, and probably for some other trans folks (I think KC mentioned similar feelings upthread)... but it'd also catch others unpleasantly off-guard and ruin a perfectly good reading or gaming experience. With frequent occurrences, it might put them off the game entirely. And given the choice, I'd rather do the punching myself and spend my words writing something everyone can enjoy. Except bigots, who I hope will read my beautiful trans NPCs and weep delicious tears.

I'm heartened to see such a strong statement. Thank you. ^_^

So if anyone's been wondering why I haven't been on the forums much in months... the stuff coming up in this thread is an excellent example of why. So long as bigotry and hate are permitted to flourish, whether blatantly and openly or in the guise of "just asking questions" and "devil's advocate", this place is simply unwelcoming to marginalized people and those who have empathy for them.

To those who fit that qualification and remain, I applaud your strength and wish you the very best of luck. I might peek in when I have the energy, but... I don't have a lot to say these days.

All right, let's see here...

Reactions
Reflexive Riposte Fiorré gains an additional reaction each round which she can use only for Opportune Riposte.
Opportune Riposte (modified by Impossible Riposte and Felicitous Riposte)
Trigger A foe within your reach critically fails a Strike against you, or a foe outside of your reach critically fails an attack roll against you.
Effect You take advantage of an opening from your enemy's fumbled attack. You either make a melee Strike against the triggering foe or attempt to Disarm it of the weapon it used for the Strike. When you make an Opportune Riposte, roll twice on the attack roll and take the better result. When you use Opportune Riposte with the secondary trigger against a ranged attack, your Strike deflects some of the triggering effect back toward its source. Compare the result of your attack roll to the AC of the triggering foe. On a hit, you deal the normal amount of damage for your Strike, but the damage type changes to that of the triggering attack. (For instance, if you used Opportune Riposte to deflect a ray of frost, your Strike would deal cold damage instead of its normal damage type.)

Charmed Life
Trigger You attempt a saving throw, but you haven't rolled yet.
Effect When danger calls, you have a strange knack for coming out on top. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the triggering save.

Sidestep
Trigger The attack roll for a Strike targeting you fails or critically fails.
Effect You deftly step out of the way of an attack, letting the blow continue to the creature next to you. You redirect the attack to a creature of your choice that is adjacent to you and within the reach of the triggering attack. The attacker rerolls the Strike’s attack roll against the new target.

Passives
Animal Senses
Fiorré has scent (imprecise, 30 feet) and low-light vision.

Cat Fall
Effect [...] If you’re legendary in Acrobatics, you always land on your feet and don’t take damage, regardless of the distance of the fall.

Steady Balance
Effect [...] You’re not flat-footed while attempting to Balance on narrow surfaces and uneven ground. [...]

Legendary Performer
Fiorré is particularly known as a sword dancer duelist.
Effect Your fame has spread throughout the lands. NPCs who succeed at a DC 10 Society check to Recall Knowledge have heard of you and usually have an attitude toward you one step better than normal, depending on your reputation and the NPC’s disposition. For instance, if you’re well-known for cruel and demanding behavior, creatures might be intimidated by you, rather than be friendly toward you. When you Earn Income with Performance, you attract higher-level audiences than your location would allow, as audiences flock to see you. For instance, rulers and angels might travel to your small tower in the woods to hear you perform. Typically, this increases the audiences available by 2 levels or more, determined by the GM.

cloak of feline rest
Effect While wearing this cloak you can comfortably rest in any space, so long as it's not wet or particularly hazardous. While sleeping in this cloak you only take a –2 status penalty to auditory Perception checks, rather than a –4 status penalty.

choker of elocution
Effect [...] Your excellent elocution reduces the DC of the flat check to perform an auditory action while deafened from 5 to 3.

shapespeak mask
Effect While wearing this mask, you can speak even when polymorphed into an animal. The shapespeak mask does not otherwise remove any limitations, such as the inability to cast spells when transformed.

This is one of my favorite projects in a while, and I do hope folks like what they see! ^_^

I've been quiet for a while, but I have to say: I stand in solidarity with all the wonderful people I've worked with at Paizo, and with all the people I've never had a chance to work with (yet!) who deserve rights and representation all the same.

I hope management recognizes the union swiftly, so that we can get back to making a world we can be proud of, secure in the knowledge that the people who make it happen are able to get by.

I'm still working on finalizing Fiorré's character sheet, but I'll definitely let you know when I've got things fully figured out, which will hopefully be soon. I think I did manage to bring things down to three reactions, at least...

Here, or elsewhere?

That's good to know, Crystal, and a very good thought.

It's just... I'm used to Society players being very hostile about "players choosing to be worse for no benefit". And I don't really expect to be able to play such a character in Society without getting harassed over it, or being told to knock it off when it could make a difference. "Just get out of the chair and come heal me, your character's not really disabled."

Is that something I have official clearance to push back on?

Also, uh... really excited about all the disability representation in the art. Can we actually play a character who's wheelchair-bound, or missing a limb, or deaf or blind in Organized Play yet?

This isn't facetious or whatever, I'm actually asking.

Grankless wrote:

Lord of the Rings had gunpowder in it.

For fireworks, yes. Not guns.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone go on a furious rant about fireworks.

That was a pretty big firework the Uruk-Hai used on the Deeping Wall, then. :D

Looks good! And thank you! ^_^

Where do we get Chronicle sheets for games like this? I'm still kinda new to play-by-post Society... ^_^;

Thank you, everyone, for the awesome game! ^_^

# 105748 - 2001
Envoy's Alliance
Day Job - Performance: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Hm. Don't think there's anything else needs noting, but this is only my second SFS character, so...

I did update Rally's faction... she doesn't feel nearly as much like an Acquisitive as she did when I first conceived her. (If that sort of change can't be made midscenario like this, that's fine! I'm still learning the ropes here in SFS.)

Other'n that, all my data looks correct. Thanks again. ^_^

^///^

Forward! No sense waiting around, right? ^_^

Sorry, I missed all of this discussion going on! I'll try to have Rally take a more exuberant, face-forward role... I'm just, as a person, very used to being shouted down for being "too pushy". So I kinda overcompensate. -_-;

This sounds amazing!!

Talking to a friend about a boon exchange. By the time she's next played, Rally might have a custom relaxation suite for her starship adventures. ^_^

No worries! I know how the first week of the autumn semester is. (My mother works IT at a local university. Most stressful week of the year.)

Okay, sounds like a plan. ^_^

Can we include an explanatory note telling the editor/reviewer where to find the canon upon which our submissions build, without that note counting towards the word count?

The comments feature in Word is an excellent way to do this, and such comments have never counted against wordcount in my time as a contributor. ^_^

Thank you! ^_^

Sorry for not keeping up! Yesterday was my birthday and I got kinda caught up in stuff, and forgot to check in before bed.

Probably going to get some of these. (Putting it here mostly so I don't have to hang onto the tab for two months!) There's not much in the way of weapons or armor she'll be wanting, at least for level 1/level 2 Core items, and I do love armor upgrades.

Awesome! I will do that thing which you describe. Thank you! ^_^

How does one go about boosting an Aid Token? Rally Rose could boost the token's Provide Knowledge check with Engineering or Culture...

Okay, took a break and worked on my resume and cover letters a little, then came back to this. Sorry about all that... it's been a really stressful few days.

Rally's sheet should be all done, though. If I missed anything, please let me know! ^_^

I can't right now. I'm sorry. I just can't. I can't handle this right now. If you need it, I can send you a picture.

Aggggh. I spent an hour trying to write in my sheet and the site ate it. I hate this so much.

This is really demoralizing and upsetting. I should be working right now. And this happens.

As will quickly become clear, I'm kind of a newbie at SFS. I've actually written more Starfinder than I've played. But let's see...

Boons: None. This is Rally's first time.

Player Name: Isabelle Thorne
Character Name: Ralliadlara "Rally Rose"
Character Number: 105748-702
Slotted Faction: Uh... I'm new to this faction-slotting business. No idea. Her primary is Acquisitives, but I'm not sure about the effects of shuffling factions... can one just flip from faction to faction as the scenario of the day demands?
Do you want a bonus rep with Second Seekers: Ehu or Luwazi? I'm guessing this has something to do with the previous question.
Day Job: Profession (vidgamer) +14

Preferred Starship Role(s): No idea. Rally's got good Computers, Engineering, and Piloting, though, so I figure that should help folks make recommendations.

I can't fill in the Handouts form until I'm given access, I'm afraid. ^_^' Let me know when we should start doing introductions, having our characters enter the briefing, and so on.

I am very happy for the 2 PCs + 2 pregens option. Now maybe my friends and I can get involved in Society again. ^_^

Noted!

Ink doesn't know anything about Groetus besides the basic imagery and the barest general idea of the faith. But she apparently knows how to lie to people.

Isabelle Is Constitutionally Incapable Of Playing A Nongood Character, exhibit 535631.

quietly adds a "good" to Ink's alignment

*chokes

*boat

Dang autocorrect!

I feel this post gains so much in the absence of context.

Sure sure! ^_^

Perception +5 (expert)
Deception +7 (plus Charming Liar)
Occultism +4
Performance +7
Acrobatics +6
Diplomacy +7
Intimidation +7
Stealth +6
Thievery +6
Undead Lore +4
Library Lore +4