Deurn Ironbelly's page

I'm really late to this party, and just getting to see the playtest stuff...but I'm really liking the idea of the mine and turret Mechanics. My one desire with it though is some way to build spider mines...just little bombs that you can set running towards a target at 30ft a round or similar. So many fun character concepts that can run with that.

So...who has made a killer bunny with the Mauler archetype? Even though it stinks mechanically, I'm tempted to do that or go with a squirrel...

Edit: On a second read though, I can see that the battle bunny is a thing.

I'm very tempted to make a character with the Rabbit of Caerbannog as his familiar...

So does that mean my, say, arcane trickster can't have Bracers of Falcon's aim (giving him a bonus to ranged attacks, including ray attacks, as well as a bonus to perception to find traps) without being gimped because he 'needs' bracers of armor? I mean, I guess he could get a Haramaki, but the point I'm trying to make stands. There are some cool items out there, but apparently players are never expected to get them because they 'need' the main six. So while glamoured armor would be great for a rogue to do some infiltrating by posing as an enemy guard, nope, he can never have it because the +2 bonus is too precious to waste on non-plus-to-AC bonuses.

Honestly, buy what you want to make your character flavorful. It's your character, RP him the way you want. You don't have to optimize your build to have fun, just be aware of your limitations and try to avoid situations where you're disadvantaged.

Rocket & Groot

Rocket- Kitsune 1 Gunslinger/1+ Hunter
Groot- Sapling Treant as animal companion.

It's a long haul, but at Hunter 10 you get Raise Companion, which is as close as you'll get to a regenerating Groot...

Nope. Armor proficiencies for companions are feats only.

Of course, you can always get away with light armor untrained, since you can always give it barding with a negligible penalty...

One correction:

A battalion is a sub-unit of a brigade or regiment.

So, for a primarily infantry formation the order would be:

Army (2-4 corps)
Corps (2+ divisions)
Division (2+ brigades or regiments)
Brigade/Regiment (used almost interchangeably depending on country of origin; 2+ battalions)
Battalion (2+ companies)
Company (2+ platoons)
Platoon or Troop (2+ squads)
Squad, Section, or Patrol (depending on nationality; ~5-10 men)

There are a number of differences based on what type of equipment is in the organization. For example, Artillery units are organized into Batteries instead of Companies; Cavalry tends to use the term Squadron instead of Battalion; etc.
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If you're looking for an ancient force structure, Roman is a good standard:
Legion (10 cohorts, led by a Legatus, about 5,400 men total; equivalent to a brigade or regiment).
Cohort (6 Centuria, led by the senior Centurian, equivalent to a battalion).
Centuria (10 contubernia, led by a Centurian; equivalent to a company).
Contubernium (8 legionaries led by a Decanus; equivalent to a squad).
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There wasn't a lot of set-organization in the middle ages.
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One famous group of mercenaries in the 14th century had a structured organization: The White Company (or the Great Company).

It was organized into Lances of three men: A man-at-arms (i.e. a Knight), a squire, and a page. Only the Man-at-arms and Squire were armed.

A number of Lances would be organized into a Contingent. The size varied depending on how many men were available at the time. They had a number of bowmen that were organized into their own contingents as well. At it's weakest, the Company was made up of a single Contingent of about 250 men.

Anyway, hope that helps at least a little.

We've had some success bringing more women in at private/home games. I know for my wife, who has now played about 5 sessions, a big issue was whether other people were watching. She's new to all of this and isn't comfortable playing in public yet (except for at a Con- she played her first game at GenCon 2013).

Since she became interested she's convinced some of her friends to try playing in a PFS game, and and we've had some success with that.

If she's already into Star Trek/Star Wars/Star Gate/Dr. Who/Firefly or even GoT, then she may be a good candidate for a future gamer. Just treat her like you should treat any other new player who hasn't yet learned the ropes. The rule is don't be a dick...

Nevermind about the invisibility/confusion combo. Looks like that's definitely a no-go. Found the answer in another thread...

Thanks for all the suggestions.

@Dark Immortal: you've pegged exactly what I'm going for. Command, and related compulsions, are going to be his main focus. Fire was mostly just an attempt to have some capacity for offense... But I'm thinking I'll forgo that completely.

You've convinced me to look at the trickery domain a bit more. I was worried about survivability, so invisibility and the domain power might just be the ticket.

A related question - are Command and related compulsion spells considered to be attacks for the purposes of breaking invisibility? An invisible voice making evil suggestions sounds very Asmodean...

I think I'll stick with Human for his Race... That second feat is just too valuable.

Thanks again for the help, you've all given valuable suggestions.

OK...round two. This time as a dirty optimizer...
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At level two:
CLR 1(Evangelist ??? Domain)/Sorc 1 (Crossblooded Fey/Serpentine)
STR 7
DEX 12
CON 12
INT 14
WIS 18 <Racial>
CHA 14

Traits:
Domineering
Reactionary (total of +3 init)

Feats:
Spell Focus (Enchantment)
Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment)

I lose a caster level of Cleric by taking the Sorcerer level, but gain +2 DC on my enchantments to compensate, so it's a net gain. As an Evangelist Tarkus can spontaneously cast Command with a DC of 20, and his other 1st level compulsion spells are DC 19.

I was leaning towards the Fire Domain to give him a minor ranged attack that didn't require an equipped weapon. I know firebolt is a crap ability, but it's better than a light crossbow early on, and later Fireball isn't half bad. Taking the level of sorcerer also opens up the Sorc spell list, so I may just sub a wand of magic missile, although it burns two more prestige points. I'm not sold on Deception or Trickery...it just doesn't appeal to me.

Deurn Ironbelly wrote:

As to Maestro...I would have sworn that I read something saying that the class restrictions were changed on the "...of the society" traits, and now all you needed was the Bardic Performance ability...

Yes it was updated. However the updated version is not PFSP legal. So you will have to trade out that trait. And all the update did was remove the class restriction.

Ah, I missed that the update isn't society legal. He should otherwise qualify as the Evangelist gives the Bardic Performance class feature, and he qualifies for any other feats that rely upon it.

Lingering performance was next on my Feat list. My first priority was getting my DC's up for Command. Improved initiative will have to wait for level 5.

As to Maestro...I would have sworn that I read something saying that the class restrictions were changed on the "...of the society" traits, and now all you needed was the Bardic Performance ability...

If I absolutely can't take Maestro, I'll go for reactionary.

Evangelists don't get a channel until level 3. Plus it's negative energy.

For the stats I think you guys are right...I'll be dumping STR, it just feels so *wrong*.

I was avoiding Aasimar in favor of human for the extra skill points and feat...but If I'm going full-cheez wiz with the guy, I could do the Sorc splash with an Aasimar, and not worry about the spell focus as it gives me the +2 DC that I'm looking for.

Thanks for the advice...I'm going to play with the stats a little and come back.

I thought I had an amazing original idea...for a Lawful Neutral Cleric of Asmodeus. So I look on the boards...and it's been done a thousand times. lol. It's too good of a role-play opportunity to waste though.

I'm burning some GM credit to bring him in at Level 2.

Tarkus Ignatius Corbin Argentilla de Macini
Human Cleric of Asmodeus (Evangelist/Fire Domain)

Statistics
Str 12
Dex 12
Con 12
Int 12
Wis 18
Cha 12

Feats: Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment), Spell Focus (Enchantment)
Traits: Domineering (Command), Maestro of the Society

He's hyper-focused on compulsion spells. At 2nd level Command has a DC of 18; Murderous Command is DC 17. Pure caster.

My conundrum is stat allocation- I absolutely need an INT of 12+ for the skill points; I'm pumping skills into Profession: Barrister, and Knowledge skills for role-play purposes. A CHA of 12+ is needed for some of the Evangelist abilities, and face skills (he *is* an attorney).

Beyond that, I can't decide. Dumping CON is suicidal. What few attacks he'll be making will be ranged. And dumping strength just makes inventory management a pain in the ass.

I also had a temptation to be a Dirty Cheese Monkey Optimizer and take a level of cross-blooded Sorcerer (Fey/Serpentine) to pump my DCs up by +2 and allow mind-effecting & language dependent spells to work on animals, magical beasts, and monstrous humanoids...

Meh. I feel like I'm trying to run too many directions at once.

Anyway, some advice would be welcome. :)

Hi, I've only been with the society a short while- I really only learned about it GenCon 2013, and will be DM'ng my first PFS scenario next week (although I've been DM'ng D&D 3.5 for years), but wanted to throw my .02 in on this.

Let me say that a lot of people show up for our PFS games that won't ever see the forums, optimize their characters, and aren't 'tactically' the best players.

A 'Hard Mode' is great for those that want it, but I think for many people, PFS is their first real exposure to RPGs. I know our group has attracted quite a few that are:
1. Completely new to RPGs (actual first time players).
2. Casuals/Role Players (they just want to have fun, and don't try to make their characters uber-elite).
3. Not interested in buying all of the source materials necessary to go crazy optimizing their PCs.

For the above, the CR system is a great fit- and the PFS scenarios we've played together have been challenging enough to nearly kill off a player every other scenario or so.

Again, add 'Hard Mode' (or Nightmare- "replace all enemy human NPCs with Polymorphed Ancient Black Dragons, and all non-human NPCs with Balors"), as long as it's optional- but the core of the scenarios seems challenging enough as it is for new players, and those uninterested in optimization.

Thanks for the help. The chart in the GM resources was super helpful. :)

I think I'm still going to see if anyone wants to start an Alt character until some of the newer players catches up a bit. I'd like to keep everyone *somewhat* together, but still leave room for new players.

Much appreciated!

Hi everyone,

I'm a new PFS GM- first game is actually coming up shortly. I've been DM'ng my own games for years though, so I'm not inexperienced.

I'm running 04-18: The Veteran's Vault, and have 6 players RSVPd for our session, with a 7th new player (new guy) on the wait-list. Right now I've got two 3rd levels, two 2nd levels, and two 1st levels.

A similar level mix has been blowing through our regular sessions, and I thought about bumping the scenario up to the next Tier, but want to keep it noob friendly for now.

I've asked if any of the 3rds wants to start a new 1st level Alt, if so I'll just run it at the 1-2 Tier. (the best outcome, in my mind)

I was wondering if I should bump the Tier up and open the table to the wait-list player? He'll also be a level 1...so it doesn't seem like a good idea.

Or should I just run the Tier 1-2, and just expect the scenario to be a cake-walk for the group?

Last row of the feat benefit (at least how it appear in PFSRD)

"If you lose or dismiss an animal companion or familiar that has received this benefit, you may apply this feat to the replacement creature."

I would say you apply it to the class feature.

Doh! It's amazing how easily you can overlook something like that when reading...Thanks for pointing that out to me!

OK, I have a question regarding Boon Companion.

In the event that your animal companion/familiar is killed or dismissed, and you get a replacement companion/familiar (per the usual method for your class), does Boon Companion apply to the new companion/familiar?

I feel like you can read Boon Companion one of two ways:

1. Boon Companion applies to a specific animal- the companion/familiar you had when you took the feat. When he/she dies or is dismissed, that's it- you now have a wasted feat.

2. Boon Companion applies to the Animal Companion or Familiar class feature for one specific class; i.e. a dual class Ranger/Wizard can take Boon Companion once for the Ranger's Companion, and then again for the Wizard's Familiar. The feat would then apply to every companion or familiar that the character may have during their adventuring career.

So, which is it? I really hope option two...

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I'm leaning towards either a dip into barbarian or sticking with the original 2-levels-of-Ranger plan. It's not optimized, but it works with the original character concept better.

You guys have definitely given me some ideas for my next build though- the witch looks interesting, and I hadn't really explored the barbarian archetypes before.

Thanks!

I was just statting the build out in Hero Lab, and dipping two levels in anything hurts my Animal Companion progression too much. So, it's going to have to be a single level, if I do it at all. Now I'm not so sure that it's worth it. Hmm...

Well, I wanted a druid "feel" for the character, but actually dipping druid just duplicates most of my sorcerer bloodline abilities (plus wisdom is my dump stat, lol). 2 levels of Ranger gets me weapon & armor proficiencies, Wild Empathy, Tracking, and a Combat Style; as well as more skill points than a druid, sorc, or fighter. I plan on using a crossbow, and can take precise shot with my combat style, bypassing the prereq of Point Blank Shot.

I didn't notice the '1 companion per scenario' society rule before, so that certainly rules out taking the Falconer archetype. After looking back at the Eldritch Knight, it's not worth giving up my bloodline abilities at those levels. So that's right out as well.

Hi all,

I'm not sure what I want to do with my society character- I'm one XP from 2nd level, and need to make up my mind.

Fluff wise, my character was orphaned and raised by an old gnomish druid, but turned out to have a knack for Sorcery. So I'm playing a Human Sorcerer with the Fey/Sylvan Bloodline and a Tiger animal companion. He's focused on utility and buffing spells.

Stats/Feats/Traits
Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 16
Alternate Racial Trait: Eye for Talent (+2 to one stat for the companion, give up human bonus feat)
Feats: Boon Companion, Eschew Materials
Traits: adopted, animal friend, magical knack (sorc)

I had intended on multi-class to Ranger at 2nd level (above fluff reasons), and was considering the Falconer archetype. Is there a way to take the second (bird) animal companion? Or do I have to give up my Tiger to do so?

The intent is to dip two levels into Ranger for the archery training, then go back to sorcerer- so going straight Ranger may be the better choice?

I'm also considering the Eldritch Knight prestige class.

Advice?

Thank you!

Just so people know, we are organizing games through the Meetup group.

We've had two sessions so far, with full tables. It looks like we're going to need another GM soon to run a second table. :)

My wife and I are both new to PFS, and would love to play.

I just PM'd the Venture Captain in Fairbanks to see if he knew of any DMs in Anchorage...then saw this. lol.

So, yeah, definitely interested. I PM'd you. :)