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This is one of the few APs I don't know spoilers about but given the general themes around it, I had an idea of playing a character who fell victim to a certain trap in Shattered Star and had the appearance of an Azlanti Human. Would that create any issues with anything?
So out of curiosity, has anyone ever written up what sort of Midnight Isle Baphomet would make if the party brought his body to Nocticula?
A friend of mine claims that he read somewhere once that Neshen was basically Ragathiel's panic button. That Ragathiel told Neshen that, should he fall into evil, Neshen was to immediately put him down. Now, given all we know about Ragathiel, I believe him, but I'm curious about where this information comes from and he can't for the life of him remember. I've scoured all the campaign settings and player companions but there's basically nothing on Neshen other than he exists and his domains. He thinks it might have been from a PFS module but he's not even sure which season so I wouldn't know where to begin. So, is he crazy, or can someone link me to information on Neshen?
Greetings! At this point I suspect most everyone here has at least heard of Drop Dead Studio's Spheres of Power system and that expansion handbooks for each of the individual Spheres are being created, and I've had the honor of working on the Creation Sphere Handbook (Working Title, names are hard). However, one neophyte writer working with just the helpful suggestions from other handbook authors isn't as effective an editing tool as crowd-sourcing, so in an effort to make sure the book is perfect before it's sent to print, I present to you an early look into the Creation Sphere Handbook, use it as you see fit, break games, make your GMs and players cry with awkwardly worded rules text, realize there's a missing size limit somewhere and create a new moon, or just point out that one of the abilities uses a comma when it needed a semi-colon, any feedback is helpful, and even if you don't see anything wrong to call out then have fun with it! The Creation Sphere Handbook Playtest Feel free to leave your comments on the google doc itself, here, or both. Content, rules mistakes, rules interaction, copy editing, and any other pertinent errors or issues are fair game. All replies will be read and considered, even if I don't respond to each in detail.
The Mythic Heroes Handbook has an option for taking Mythic Arcane Discovery as a Mythic Feat, and one of the options for that is allowing the player/GM to create their own version of a mythic arcane discovery in addition to the simple numerical bonus so how would these forums design a mythic Arcane Discovery? I'll get it started: Mythic Creative Destruction: When casting an evocation spell you gain temporary hit points equal to 1.5 times the number of dice used to determine damage. When casting a spell of another school that deals damage you gain temporary hit points equal to the number of dice used to determine the damage. These temporary hit points do not stack with themselves and last for 24 hours. Mythic True Name: You may add your tier to the maximum number of hit dice of the outsider whose True Name you discover. Alternatively, you may grant that outsider a mythic rank equal to 1/2 your tier.
OK, I almost never post to this particular board, so I'm a little fuzzy on the rules here. I'm assuming that since it's under the OGL I can copy/paste the rules text but if I'm mistaken someone let me know and I'll edit them out. Alright, so, I'm aware that the general consensus seems to be that casting a "sorcerer spell" means a spell from a sorcerer spell slot, and therefor Blood Havoc and the other bloodline mutations from the Magic Tactics Toolbox wouldn't work with the popular sorc 1/wiz x builds (which, as a note, I despise, but they serve as a good example). For reference, Blood Havoc:
Spoiler:
Blood Havoc: Whenever you cast a bloodrager or sorcerer
spell that deals damage, add 1 point of damage per die rolled. This benefit applies only to damaging spells that belong to schools you have selected with Spell Focus or that are bloodline spells for your bloodline. This ability replaces the sorcerer’s 1st-level bloodline power or the bloodrager’s 4th-level bloodline power. However, I've found something that contests that ruling. The Exploiter Wizard:
Spoiler:
Arcane Reservoir (Su): At 1st level, the exploiter wizard gains the arcanist’s arcane reservoir class feature. The exploiter wizard uses his wizard level as his arcanist level for determining how many arcane reservoir points he gains at each level. This ability replaces arcane bond. Arcanist's Arcane Reservoir:
Spoiler:
Arcane Reservoir (Su): An arcanist has an innate pool of magical energy that she can draw upon to fuel her arcanist exploits and enhance her spells. The arcanist’s arcane reservoir can hold a maximum amount of magical energy equal to 3 + the arcanist’s level. Each day, when preparing spells, the arcanist’s arcane reservoir fills with raw magical energy, gaining a number of points equal to 3 + 1/2 her arcanist level. Any points she had from the previous day are lost. She can also regain these points through the consume spells class feature and some arcanist exploits. The arcane reservoir can never hold more points than the maximum amount noted above; points gained in excess of this total are lost.
Points from the arcanist reservoir are used to fuel many of the arcanist’s powers. In addition, the arcanist can expend 1 point from her arcane reservoir as a free action whenever she casts an arcanist spell. If she does, she can choose to increase the caster level by 1 or increase the spell’s DC by 1. She can expend no more than 1 point from her reservoir on a given spell in this way. Looking at those abilities, it seems obvious to me that the Exploiter Wizard can use the default ability of the Arcane Reservoir to boost her CL or DC by +1 by spending a point of Arcane Reservoir despite not being an Arcanist even though it says "arcanist spell," otherwise the ability is practically worthless. So by the same logic, a multiclassed, or in my case variant multiclassed, sorcerer should also be able to apply the benefits of blood havoc, which has identical wording, to any sorc/wiz spell they cast regardless of what spell slot is being used, should they not? Or is the Exploiter Wizard significantly weaker than believed and loses access to one of the best benefits of Arcane Reservoir?
Now, I have some issues with the Demon Lords, namely I think they're far too weak outside of their realm, but recently someone read the rules text a little bit differently than I did. The line in question: A demon lord gains the following additional powers while in its realm: Mythic: A demon lord functions as a 10th Mythic Rank creature, including the Mythic Power ability (10/day, Surge +1d12). It may expend uses of Mythic Power to use the Mythic versions of any spell-like ability denoted with an asterisk (*) just as if the ability were a Mythic spell. Now, the way that I read that was just that they simply qualify as Mythic for targeting purposes while within their domain and gained Mythic Power for Surging and Mythic SLAs. The way the other person read it is that each Demon Lord becomes a fully functional mythic creature that must be statted up by the GM for their own realm, gaining 100 extra HP, 11 mythic abilities, 5 mythic feats, etc. All of which would *officially* raise each Demon Lord's CR by 5 when within their realm (which as I think we all know at this point, treating 2 mythic ranks/tiers as CR +1 is just laughable, but that's beside the point) So who's correct?
My GM has made a ruling and I've no intention of making a fuss in his game if he turns out to be mistaken, but the wording is vague enough that I'm curious and I'd like to know for future games. Is there an official answer on whether or not grasping tentacles deals damage? The spells Grasping Tentacles:
Black Tentacles:
The Confusion: So grasping tentacles functions as black tentacles, except doing dirty tricks. Black tentacles deal damage upon successful grapple checks. So does that mean Grasping deal damage upon successful dirty tricks? Black tentacles also says that targets can't move while grappled, but obviously that isn't the case with grasping tentacles preventing movement while dirty tricked (unless it's entangled) so it's obviously not a simple case of "replace all instances of 'grapple' with 'dirty trick' and I can personally see valid arguments for both sides.
Does anyone have any? I'm working on making "Assimilating" where the legendary item devours other magic items so you can get their bonuses with only one item (though it still takes up the relevant item slot) So you could have a bracelet that eats a headband of Int and a cloak of resistance, giving you the bonuses of both as long as you aren't wearing a headband of cloak. Has anyone else tried creating something suitably "Legendary"?
I'm playing a Heretic of Nocticula (a particularly devout wizard, not a divine caster, so she's actually CG and not neutral) and, after butting heads with a party member who realized something was up, convinced him to help consecrate the shrine to Nocticula and Sarenrae (a dual-consecration as a show of good faith). And while my PC is content with that, she doesn't want to just leave the place alone. Circumstances mean there wasn't any time to do more than hastily leave basic tenets behind, but after chapter 1 is over and there's some time she plans to return to the shrine and make spruce it up a bit, including leaving behind a shrine maiden to guide those who find it toward the Nocticulan Heresy rather than risk them stumbling into her demonic embrace. The problem is...what do I use? My first thought was a homunculus but I didn't notice the clause about how they refuse to be more than a mile away from their master because it shuts down their telepathic link. I could, in theory, pay extra for better reception, but what are my other options? It needs to be intelligent, effectively immortal, and willing to spend eternity in a room following a single command, which rules out...basically everything I could think of off the top of my head, ignoring GM fiat. Undead are either mindless or able to leave, outsiders don't stay bound for that long, most constructs with intelligence require someone to die and give up their soul, etc etc. So what would you all recommend?
Alright, so as some of you may know, the Lashunta are a pretty cool race native to Castrovel. The women are beautiful and charismatic, the men are short and powerful, all are intelligent. But their society isn't described in great detail. We know what they are, but not who they are. So why don't we talk about what sort of things they should do to give them a little more life? What do they prioritize in life? What do they seek to gain from adventuring? What sort of insults do they use? What category do their swears tend to draw from? What do they use as compliments? What does Lashunta flirting look like? What is an apology? A sign of aggression? A greeting? An act of friendship? Of brotherhood? What do they consider sexual or seductive? Repulsive? They don't wear much, is there no nudity taboo on Castrovel? Are they a polygamous people or do they have monogamous relationships? Do they even do relationships for more than procreation? What is the greatest honor to a Lashunta? The greatest shame?
Alright, so I've got a question. Can you use the Panache pool granted by the Amateur Swashbuckler feat to use Deeds gained by the Flamboyant Arcana and Arcane Deed Magus Arcana? Amateur Swashbuckler
Spoiler:
Though not a swashbuckler, you have and can use panache. Prerequisite(s): No levels in a class that has the panache class feature. Benefit: You gain a small amount of panache and the ability to perform a single 1st-level swashbuckler deed. Choose a 1st-level deed from the swashbuckler's deeds class feature; once chosen, this deed cannot be changed. At the start of each day, you gain 1 panache point. Throughout the day, you can gain a number of panache points up to a maximum of your Charisma modifier (minimum 1). You can regain panache points as the swashbuckler's panache class feature. You can spend these panache points to perform the 1st-level deed you chose upon taking this feat as well as any other deeds you have gained through feats or magic items.
Flamboyant Arcana
Spoiler:
A magus gains the derring-do and opportune parry and riposte deeds from the swashbuckler's list of deeds. The magus can spend points from his arcane pool as panache points to use these deeds and any other deeds he gains from the deed arcana, but he cannot use points from his arcane pool to use deeds from other classes or those gained by feats, nor can he regain points to his arcane pool as a swashbuckler would regain panache points. Effects that add to, reduce the cost of, or otherwise affect panache or grit don't affect the arcane pool of a magus with this arcana. Arcane Deed
Spoiler: Prerequisite(s) Flamboyant arcana Benefit(s) When a magus takes this arcana, he can pick any one deed from the swashbuckler class feature as long as that deed can be used by a swashbuckler of his magus level. The magus can use that deed by using points from his arcane pool as the panache points required for that deed. A magus can take this arcana multiple times, each time gaining a new deed.
Just came from the Ask James Jacobs' thread with this question and his response was to try again over here and flag it for an FAQ, so let's see what that gets me. Anyway, the question; At what point does an illusion allow a saving throw? What counts as "interacting" with an illusion? To clarify further, here's a few specific questions; Illusory Wall - Does seeing the wall count as interacting with it and allow a save? Or does touching it? If you need to touch it to interact with it, wouldn't your hand pass through it and negate the need for a save? Or if you touched it would you get a save and, if you failed, not pass through it because your subconscious prevented you from trying to go through the wall? Major Image - It's an upgrade from Silent Image because it produces heat and sound etc, but doesn't that make it easier to interact with? Wouldn't feeling the heat and hearing the sound of the illusion be interacting and force a save that wouldn't apply to Silent Image? Or would a Silent Image that doesn't give off heat or sound force a save in proximity due to the lack of those things, while Major Image wouldn't because the illusion is more complete and fools those senses?
So, it's the beginning of the AP, and the players see a rather large, dangerous mob forming up, shouts about hanging the queen etc, you know the drill. Realizing that this particular mob should probably be dispersed somehow, one of the players got up on the highground to get the mob's attention and made a short, dangerous speech. He told them that the queen was abandoning the city and trying to escape via ship at the docks, and is now leading the mob through the streets (2 nat 20s and a high natural Charisma/Bluff, I couldn't just say "it didn't work"). Problem is...what the hell do I do now? There's an angry mob out for blood and they've been rallied to violence. When they get to the docks and the queen isn't there, they aren't going to just go home. How do I convey the chaos and bloodshed that's probably about to happen?
I know about Blood Pig and Knivesies from Curse of the Crimson Throne, and I know that Second Darkness has several types of gambling games, but what else does Golarion have to offer in terms of games that require PC skill to play? I couldn't find any more in the other APs, but I admit I was only skimming at the time.
I'm currently debating whether or not I want to seriously try getting my GM to OK letting my current PC have a mythic ascension moment in a non-mythic campaign, but I'm not 100% on the balance of adding a single mythic PC to a non-mythic campaign and would like to get more opinions before making a decision. Character Plot related reasons are possibly going to end up leaving my PC 1 level lower than the rest of the party (it hasn't happened yet and probably won't until roughly level 8 or 9), but rather than just trying to do a side-quest to make up for lost XP, it's my character's goal to take the Test of the Starstone, and it could be more interesting to do that and get a Mythic Tier than a sub-quest to regain a lost level. So it wouldn't be 1 character with equal level in addition to mythic tiers, it'd be a character a level lower with 1 mythic tier (and in a non-mythic campaign, so Trials would be probably extremely limited. If I do talk the GM into it, I don't expect to get to, let alone beyond, Tier 3, and there's already a house rule in place that 8 hour sleep = full heal) Has anyone here run a game where a single character had 1-2 mythic tiers and a level deficit compared to the rest of the non-mythic party (or the reverse, a single higher level non-mythic character in a mythic party)? How did it go? Was the mythic character weaker on average? Stronger? I know that, officially, 1 tier = ~1/2 class level, but theory doesn't always translate to reality in game, as proven by CR at high levels. For those interested, the campaign and character in question is Rise of the Runelords (currently in chapter 2) and a kensai bladebound magus.
I'm playing a Kensai Tiefling magus at the moment, and naked it has 17 AC at level 4. I'm taking the Armor of the Pit feat at 5 to bump that up to 19, but I want to make it higher as fast as I can. Problem is, I'm running out of ideas beyond what I've already planned for. Mage Armor and Shield can get me +8 until I have enough spare gold to buy Bracers of Armor, but a Ring of Force Shield won't help me due to needing my off hand free. I'm sure I can come up with a shield bonus somewhere (if not, I'll just buy a wand of shield later). I already have a Ring of Protection, and I'm intending to make an Amulet of Natural Armor later. I also plan to make a belt of dexterity and headband of intellect to boost those bonuses, and later, a dusty rose ioun stone. I might take Dodge at a later level, but feats are expensive for a +1. I've also considered Combat Expertise, but for right now, the +4/+6 bonus from fighting defensively/total defense is just as good and using both would make hitting things very difficult. The problem is, that only covers:
There are still other bonuses though. What ways are there that I can get, for example, a sacred AC bonus? I'd rather avoid dipping into other classes, so magic items and feats are my preferred method of getting there. Other, unmentioned bonus types would also be helpful.
I'm getting ready to run the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition for 3 players with 4 PCs between them, and in my preparation I've noticed how deadly some areas can be (Thistletop and Xanesha especially). I've also noticed that Sandpoint's spellcasting is limited to 4th level and Magnimar's isn't much better at 8th. The problem is, the lowest level revival that I know of is Raise Dead, which requires a 9th level Cleric. Is there any way, without utilizing Rule Zero, that the PCs can obtain a Raise Dead or other form of revival in the first two chapters? Would Magnimar have scrolls for the spell since they fall well below the town's base value despite being above the city's spellcasting level? The PCs are starting at level 2 with 25pb, and they usually play well, but long, draining dungeons are a new concept for them and I half expect them to fight their way through the first level of Thistletop, realize they're exhausted, and then get themselves killed by camping out inside one of the rooms, assuming that they're safe from everything below them. For anyone who cares, the current party comp is a Witch (Healer), Druid, Barbarian (Titan Mauler), and Fighter/Wizard (Going EK). And on the opposite hand, if they are just dealing with a few fights a day they generally fight really well (or at least, can dish out huge amounts of damage), and I like our crazy little aasimar too much to let her go down without an epic struggle (and I'm hoping one of them attempts to redeem her). I'm considering reworking the Nualia encounter because of this. Would a restatted Nualia with levels of Anti-paladin instead of Fighter (losing Power Attack to gain Smite and better saves) and an additional level of Cleric (allowing her access to two 3rd level spells and domain spell, in this case I'd go with a modified version of Vision of Hell that ignores Demons rather than Devils, Animate Dead, and Rage), and a templated (two-headed) yeth hound be too much for the PCs to handle? Has anyone run Nualia as an Antipaladin 2/Cleric 5 here that can offer insight? (Reasoning for changes: For the Yeth Hound, I wanted the one that never left her side to be her child-by-Tsuto, but the Fiendish Template for a 4 HD creature is all but useless. Deformities are seen as blessings by the Lamashtu followers though, and two-headed makes the beastie a little tougher without making it overpowering I think. Also running the Sandpoint Devil as her child, its first appearance being at the old church at the Sandpoint Fire. As for the Anti-Paladin levels, well, I read James Jacobs' thing saying that she started out as a Fighter and he builds characters from personalities, not optimization standpoints, but the beautiful, sheltered Aasimar daughter of a priest starts out as a fighter? I don't buy it. Besides, retraining rules exist now.) |
