Doctadud's page

Defiantly a shady excuse to not allow it. As the description of Cantrip considering how many times Cantrips are described as spells in the Class Feature.

Thanks for the clarity on why I have not seen people using this before.

So I just realized that you can take Harmonic Spell at first level and then use your swift action every round to cast Vacuous Vessel every round to keep you bard/skald song up for free. You would not be able to changed performances because you already used your swift action but a level 10 Skald with Skald's Vigor, Greater would be able to heal the party to full health after every combat.

I strongly agree the rulebook is not pleasant to read. If I am looking up something after I understand the game, this organization is good, even great. However,while I'm trying to learn the game? It's complete suffering. Having to flip to the spells section and back to compare my wizard school powers or cleric domain powers is just unenjoyable. Is it more consistent to have them with the spells? Honestly, yes. But is it better for a first read? Hell no.

In general, the rulebook has a lot of things not-where-they're-relevant, but instead has them in a database of all the things of that kind, and you're constantly told to refer to that database. It's very logical but exceedingly dense and frustrating. On a first read, it violates the same design rules that make web designers try to make everything take as few clicks as possible. It's exhausting to read through even a single class, because you're sent to the far corners of the book -multiple times- to read even a single page. I do not like it very much.

Mustachioed wrote:

I think it is a good point being made here.

Essentially, why are we getting these lingo-esque words mixed into our abilities. It makes reading the book really confusing.

(Actually the poster above me said it better. The book isn't fun to read.)

Basically, clarity. When done properly, adding jargon makes intent clearer and helps close gaps between RAW and RAI. Unfortunately, when the jargon is unintuitive, the results are very offputting.

I don't feel the jargon is clear or intuitive right now. A lot of distinct keywords gloss as the same (unseen and concealed, deadly and fatal), and the keywords aren't even always identifiable as keywords because they're rarely capitalized or bolded. In fact, the first time you see a keyword, you might not even know it's a keyword -- and that's bad. Even if you don't know its meaning, it should be obvious a keyword is a keyword.

Keywords definitely need to be easy to identify as you said. Maybe even they could be links in the PDF or have a comment box pop up whenever you hover your mouse over them.

The first thing is see missing is a list of Ki powers. Monks can get Ki Powers but it is a pain to find what they are. the spell casters have a nice list of their spells and what level they are. The Monk Ki Powers are just all mixed in with the spell descriptions. If they don't have Ki in the name how do i know if they are Monk powers it isn't even stated in the description who can use it.

I guess it is kind of there in the Monk list of feats but in seems a list of powers before the spells/powers section would be nice

The first thing is see missing is a list of Ki powers. Monks can get Ki Powers but it is a pain to find what they are. the spell casters have a nice list of their spells and what level they are. The Monk Ki Powers are just all mixed in with the spell descriptions. If they don't have Ki in the name how do i know if they are Monk powers it isn't even stated in the description who can use it.

I like the idea of the RP to invest in an item at the start of the day. but do i then have to spend more RP to cast a spell from the staff and use a charge. seems like a lot of tracking. If you are going to activate things with RP just use RP, or better yet use RP to bind to the item for the day and then just have charges per day that you can use after that.

If i slay an bad guy and take his items that he invested in. it looks like i will not be able to use that item for 24 hours. I understand wanting to make items more personalized but this could minimize the usefulness of items in PFS where most of the adventures are very short one off adventures.

I just moved to the Vancouver area and was hoping to find a Pathfinder group that plays maybe ever other weekend. I have been playing RPGs for over 30 years and my wife would like to learn how to play.

sorry i have limited access to the internet at this time. and i wont be back in the states for at least a year. Doctadud

For the latest version please use the link in my profile.

Hmm the link doesn't go to a valid download now... is this dead?

go to my profile to find the most current versions.

Doctadud wrote:

Waruko wrote:

I'm really enjoying the sheet but I have a few things that seemed odd to me.

1. It seems cooks are lowering consumption by 3 not 2. Is there a rule somewhere that says they provide their own food like scouts? If so I'm missing it.

2. Spell Casters I assumed got the same bonuses if they worked as Scouts, they seem to be missing "Scouts provide their own food" trait.

3. Is there anyway to increase the hard limit set on Stores beyond 15?

1. cooks now eat.

2. Spellcasters provide there own food when working as scouts now.
3. Stores go into the hundreds now.

Kickass, thanks a lot!

I was still updating dropbox when you posted. if you didn't get the new version try again.

When I enter all of our info on our 6th level caravan the spreadsheet does not seem to add the +1 to the Offense number for each guard.

The caravan rules in the Jade regent players guide state "Each guard in a caravan grants a +1 circumstance bonus to the caravan's offense score...

You seem to be adding it to the Attack score which means that we wouldn't qualify for the increased damage feat that we had taken.

Other than that it looks like a great spreadsheet (although I'm hoping not to use it and dispense with the whole caravan thing completely, not my favourite piece of the AP)

It looks like i did misread the bonus for guards. they do add to Offense not Attack. but i am not sure if a circumstance bonus would make you eligible for a feet.

I'm really enjoying the sheet but I have a few things that seemed odd to me.

1. It seems cooks are lowering consumption by 3 not 2. Is there a rule somewhere that says they provide their own food like scouts? If so I'm missing it.

2. Spell Casters I assumed got the same bonuses if they worked as Scouts, they seem to be missing "Scouts provide their own food" trait.

3. Is there anyway to increase the hard limit set on Stores beyond 15?

1. cooks now eat.

I also have a few problems with Excel 2010. Don't have 2007 close.

1) Can't apply any feats either like Krell

2) Can't choose what Scout and Spellcaster will do

3) as Waruko mentioned, I think the cook also have to eat something.

4) Doesn't seems to add Scouts and Spellcasters PC correctly. Hirelings are added but still can't choose between hunting and scouting.

Think that's all for now, still trying it a little but since it doesn't really works in 2010, will look further if I can find a 2007 version somewhere.

-----------------
EDIT: Running the expanded one (Roots)
1) Feats are OK
2) Still can't choose for scout and spellcasters
3) Cook still not eating.
4) Still can't add spellcaster. Scout PC is counted but I can't choose what he is doing.

1. i am working on a fix for the feats.

Plus, you have the whole Internet at your disposal. I've used celebrity photos (often stills from SF/F movies), or borrowed art from online comics. Another great source for character art is Deviant Art, where amateur & pro artists post galleries of their works. There are a lot of fantasy artists there.

Google image search is also very helpful.

Just remember to cite your sources if you're using it at your table, and ALWAYS get permission from the artist and/or publisher if you're posting it online.

If you have the PDFs you can use the "Export all Images" function in Adobe Acrobat.

If you are looking for a MS Excel sheet to help run your Caravan I now have all the rules from the Trade Routes: Expanded Caravan Rules Sourcebook included. I also did a lot of work to help manage weather conditions and effects.

Just go to my profile and click on the link to download. Hope you all like it.

I am very excited to see what you do with the Ship Combat in Skull and Shackles.

My new Trade Routes Caravan Sheet is here for MS Excel. Hope you all like it. Trade Routes Caravan Sheet.

undated to v1.3 fixing a few things.

Added the Trade Routes: Expanded Caravan Sheet. Hope you like it.

just follow the link in my profile.

Question. Why did you set the ballista to do 1d8 damage? Is there some ruling not in the handbook about this?

Thank you for catching that. sometimes you get something stuck in your head and you just don't think to double check it. I will fix it for the next update.

DM wanted me to re-make our caravan since we stopped using it for a bit. This is going to make my life so much easier :D

Edit: I noticed the feats were either not finished or not working right for me. It lists Mobility and Morale in the first drop down, second one only has a single thing, everything else is empty/white space in the drop down.

what version of MS Office Excel do you have? The feats are finished. it is strange that Mobility and Morale would be listed in the feats drop down because they are not feats. I will look into it though. Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks so much for this! It might be what actually convinces my players to use the Caravan rules!

one thing i do to help keep all players involved in caravan combat, and to help keep it balanced at higher levels is to have one player act as the commander. he makes all the roles for the caravan during combat. the other PCs are able to attack but only do half damage. this goes for spells too. any ability like a bards song work like normal.

Doctadud wrote:

I took one of the caravan sheets someone started and fleshed it out. let me know what you think. or if you see any errors.

The Complete Caravan Sheet v1.1.

I am working on a version with the 3rd party Trade Roots Expanded Caravan rules also.

Very cool. I'm planning on using the expanded rules and that was the first question I had about the spreadsheet. That being said, could it be made flexible enough to accommodate additional items such as other wagon types, more feats, additional caravan jobs?

Thanks and look forward to the results of your work.

just working on getting all the bugs out now. :) I will try and add a page you can enter other bonuses on later.

I always keep a link to my most current version in my profile.

I know somebody already mentioned the difficulty of caravan combat, but I'm finding that even with the suggestions that have been given it's still ridiculous how difficult it is to survive.

My players just lost their caravan in 3 rounds after exactly 1 in-game day of travel into the outer rim. A random caravan encounter with frostfallen skeletons was rolled. It went horribly, essentially like this:

Round 1: Both sides hit. Skeletons lose about 1/4 of their total HP, caravan loses about 1/3 of theirs.

Round 2: Pretty much the same as round 1.

Round 3: Caravan attempts to flee, rolls a natural 1 (it would've taken 8 or higher to get away though, so it was still a 35% failure chance). Skeletons destroy them.

I'm considering rewinding back 1 in-game day at this point since they had no idea caravan encounters were going to go from being super-easy (As they were in the first two books) to essentially unwinnable. But if I did, I can't think of any advice to give them other than "Don't attempt to fight any caravan encounters, run away from everything or you'll die" which would probably just make things incredibly not-fun.

Not to mention some caravan encounters like the Yetis at the end of the book seem as though they'd probably be impossible to run from (assuming the caravan gets away, despite the fact that there's nowhere to get away to, then either the PCs go with them, abandoning their fight, or the PCs get mobbed by nearly 30 yetis).

And yes I was using the 1d6 x level of the caravan adjustment for damage. It really doesn't help that much.

What i do for my group. 1 pc is picked to run the caravan roles. He acts as the commander for the NPC's. other PCs are able to make attacks cast spells ect. but they only do half damage. this seems to help balance things out a bit. only one caravan wipe so far. :)

Updated the caravan sheet today. fixed some issues with Items and added a way to track what jobs travelers qualify for.

For updated version check my profile page.

Seems like a great spreadsheet overall. I was wondering if you had a printable page attached to it, basically one page that would summarize everything. The Jade Regent Players Guide has a Caravan Sheet, and something printable like that would be very helpful.

I will see what i can do. Would you like all black and white?

Most current link is always in my Profile Page.

1 fixed Spivey,
2 changed the spellcaster block so you can split up your casters how ever you like.
3 added a flag if you have to many scouts.
4 I took out the treasure block on the equipment section. it can be tracked better in the Trade Goods / treasure tracker.

Douglas

Great job on the spreadsheet! I was looking at writing a program to do all of this stuff, but now, I probably won't have to.

A few other things I've noticed, or questions I have:

1) I don't believe Spivey is supposed to count toward any traveler or consumption slots. She can fill a job roll, but doesn't use up any space or consumption resources. I assume this is why there is that checkbox to say if Spivey is with the group? My group has her as an NPC, not a PC. I'm not sure if you had something else intended for that checkbox.

2) What is your intention of the Spellcaster Job section on the Caravan Worksheet tab. It looks to assign all travelers of type Spellcaster to that specific job. Our crew has multiple spellcasters, but they do different things, 1 might be a guard, and 1 might be an entertainer. Would it be better to just assign them to that specific job instead of as a spellcaster? Another option is to list the job as Spellcaster - Guard, Spellcaster - Scout, Spellcaster - Entertainer, etc. and maybe just remove that section from the Caravan Worksheet section. I assume the Spellcaster chooses the job/role they are taking for a 24-hour period, and can't switch during the day.

Craig, Thanks for the questions.

3. because a spellcaster assumes the role of another job the limit to the Traveler bonus would still be 5. when describing the traveler bonus
on page 19 in the Jade Regent PG. they use some the the same language saying the bonus provided by travelers "stack" but never to exceed +5.
also as a house rule i let the number of scouts and spellcasters assigned to hunting be grater than the 3 max allowed by the 3 scout limit as this does not affect combat.

4. I will add a Red Flag if the number of Scouts are exceeded soon. :)

Thanks again for you input.

I took one of the caravan sheets someone started and fleshed it out. let me know what you think. or if you see any errors.

The Complete Caravan Sheet v1.1.

I am working on a version with the 3rd party Trade Roots Expanded Caravan rules also.

The Hero bonus is supposed to cap at +4 isn't it?

Great catch. fixed.

Updated the caravan Sheet.

Complete Caravan Sheet v1.1

Never mind just realized the computer I was using was set up with open office not Excel so its probably just program conflicts. Your reply however does show its almost definately a problem there and not with the sheet itself as things like chanign the caravan level doesn't effect the points to spend on things like offense and defense. Thanks for the help.

quick note: leveling the caravan only adds more feats. to get more points to spend on offense and defense you have to take the enhanced caravan feat.

I will try and get an updated version out soon. I am also working on a Trade Roots: Enhanced Caravan version.

It looks very impressive but is there instructions anywhere as I'm not sure if I'm clicking the wrong things or its just not working on my computer. Some things that I've noted so far . . .

1) On the caravan worksheet if I click any of the spell caster jobs such as guide it puts a little dot next to it but I can't remove the dot say if the spellcaster died or left the caravan.

2) I can't figure out how to use spells to reduce consumption. Similarly I can't figure out how to select the feats

4) I get an uknown scripting error whenever I click reckless tactics.

Don't get me wrong its really impressive you did all this its either just a little complicated for me to use or not working on my computer and I'm not sure which.

1. if a character leaves the caravan you will have to remove him from the travelers page.

2. If you want your cleric to cast Create Food one time per day. put a 1 under Create Food and Water. this will produce 3 provisions. and reduce the amount of Real Provisions you use per day. Hero's Feast will provide your CL in provisions for each time you cast the spell.

3. Selecting Feats: on the Feats tab. on the left hand side there is a gray box for each level your caravan is currently at. The gray box has a drop down that lets you pick from feats you currently qualify for. if your Offense is not at 5, you will not see Reckless Tactics. setting your Caravan stats and level is done on the first page.

4. are you getting a Excel unknown scripting error. or is the red box next to the spell caster job selection coming up. If it is the red box it is just telling you that you do not have the required feat.

I was thinking about your question about dead characters and i am going to add DEAD to the types of Characters you can pick from. This would let you keep a character on your Travelers worksheet and in stead of being a PC, NPC, Hireling. they could be dead. they would not add into the totals for any of the stats. but you don't have to take them off and then add them if you bring them back from the dead.

I think i have it all in here. I have never worked with Excel much before but i had a great time putting it together. Hope it helps everyone out.

Complete Caravan Sheet

Doctadud

Kor,

Shield Master is working fine with shields.

I was looking over my Errata on the core rule book and noticed that the Shield Master was updated from my version. I think you may have the same version as i do.

the update states that only the shields Enhancement bonus to AC is added to the attack and damage. so a +3 heavy shield would give a +3 to attack an damage.

The old version said that you add the shields, shield bonus to attack and damage. In the old version it would give you +5 to attack and damage.

Kor,

Shield Master is working fine with shields. any chance you can make it work with a spiked shield :) also when i have a Bashing shield it is adding the +1 weapon enchantment but is not increasing the damage as if it was 2 sizes larger. any way we could link this to the shield spikes also.

Maybe when you add the shield spikes to the shield you have equipped. and then equip that shield as a weapon it will add it all together.

Shield specialization is not adding the base non-magical shield bonus and bonus from Shield Focus to CMD.

I am also getting a #NA for damage on page 3 when i take a bite attack.

When calculating LB on page 1 it does not factor in Mithral equipment LB reduction. on page 4a it is listed correctly.

Kor. I was building a Barbarian/Fighter with all the shield feats. I noted that Shield Master is not calculating right. I did the tests with basic Heavy Steal Shield.

When if i pick dual wield primary or secondary I still see the negatives from two weapon fighting.

If i pick Dual Wield. it gives me a +7 Attack bonuse. putting my attack way high.

as i note to have Shield Master you must have two-weapon fighting. so this will already be figured into the stats.

Kor - Orc Scrollkeeper wrote:

Pendagast wrote:

also it wont let me pick toughness more than once as a feat.

Toughness cannot be selected multiple times. Only feats that can be selected multiple times are ones that contain a "Special" clause that specifically states that "you can gain this feat multiple times and its effects stack".

curious i see toughness being taken multiple times alot

It was something i would see in 3.5 but the Pathfinder Toughness gets better as you level unlike the one time bonus that 3.5 gave.

Alan Sinclair wrote:

Kor

I'm not sure if I have already pointed this out, but Detect Poison is missing from the o level lists in the Wizard's spell book section.

(Although I do wonder what it is doing in the list in the first place!)

Cheers

Alan

Thanks, I'll get this added in while I too ponder why it's on their list.

Perhaps do to the feeble nature of young wizards they have developed a paranoia for poisons. Instead of working out and building their tolerance for such an attack they have taken the easy way out, like they normally do, and added this spell to their list of tricks.

when taking the skill focus feet i noticed a miscalculation. it was fine at lower levels giving the +3 bonus, but once i had 10 ranks in the skill it jumped to a +9 bonus instead of the +6 it should be at.

I don't know much about excel but i would think it would be an easy fix for you.

I have been playing RPGs for years and just moved to Oak Harbor. I would like to keep travel time to the game under 1 hour. Weekends are best for me.

please feel free to email me at Farmerdjusn@gmail.com

I just moved to Oak Harbor myself and was wondering if you found a group to play with here.

If you did any chance you may have room for one more. :) you can email me at farmerdjusn@hotmail.com

I have about 25 years of gaming exp in way to many games to list. :)

I should have most nights and weekends free.