Dohnut King's page

Paladins, along with rogues (then thieves) are the fourth and fifth oldest character classes, coming out in the Greyhawk supplement in 1975. Only the fighter, magic user, and cleric are older. They are as old as Beholders or 7th, 8th, and 9th level spells. There was zero chance Paizo would not include them in the CRB.

As designed, they are mechanically sound, very strong against some of the most powerful enemies a party is likely to encounter, but still able to contribute in other situations as well. It does not really work as a prestige class.

I see the code of honor as a roleplaying opportunity that synergizes with the class' theme. The code does not make a paladin good. Rather, it is an extra duty the paladin willingly undertakes to show devotion to his/her faith, deity, or cause, and a prism by which to focus the paladin's efforts towards law, justice, and the greater good.

You aren't playing wrong if you don't want this in your game. Don't play it or ban it from the game. But paladins aren't going away from any game rooted in D&D.

Speaking of old school...

102) "I've decided to adopt the Arduin Grimoire critical hit tables for the rest of the campaign."

One of the two copyrighted monsters I miss the most, the Beholder.

They are iconic, on the cover of the Greyhawk supplement.

They are well supported, with one of the best splat books ever, I Tyrant, plus all of the variant Beholders.

They are incredibly versatile. Highly intelligent with charm person and charm monster at will, a Beholder is a great mastermind at the center of a city-wide or nation-wide conspiracy. The Beholder is also a great monster for combat, casting rays behind a horde of charmed chaff. You can also easily change the challenge level or frustrate meta gamers by adding/subtracting/swapping out eye stalks.

And, while they can interact with the PCs, they remain very alien.

104. "You find the dungeon entrance as described in the map. You see strange writing over the entrance. Roll a linguistics check. [Player rolls.]Success, it reads, 'Welcome to Alpha Complex.'"

I've always thought the Lovecraftian mythos is a poor fit for a high powered fantasy setting like Pathfinder. What made Lovecraft's mythos "work" was the inability of a mundane, materialist world to do anything to stop these incredibly powerful, incredibly alien entities.

In a universe with quippoths, demons, daemons, devils, undead, and pantheons of evil deities, dealing incredibly powerful, malevolent, and alien threats is just another Tuesday.

Cthulhu and company can be a real threat in a Pathfinder campaign, but they will not work in the campaign like they do in the stories.

+1 for Wrath of the Righteous. It wouldn't be merely good-aligned taking on the Abyssal invasion. It would be mythic good-aligned goblins.

There's even a plot hook to get the goblins in the Worldwound, a missing paladin who could be the goblins favorite caretaker at the orphanage.

You don't need to gimp the pc or tell the player to tone it down. As already mentioned, the Magus is great at nova damage, but doesn't have as much staying power for a prolonged series of combats. Don't be afraid of this, rather use it as an opportunity to make a better game for all your players.

Keep the players uncertain over how many combat encounters they will have in a day, and more importantly, which of the encountered creatures is the most dangerous. In particular, use homemade monsters rather than those from the bestiary, modules, or third party books, and/or have the more powerful enemies appear to be less powerful.

The unknown is a huge element in horror and the supernatural. By keeping the nature of the encounters unclear, you can challenge the magus without unfairly penalizing the other players. Allowing good roleplaying to uncover clues about the critters can reward the other players as they help your power gamer learn how best to employ his glass cannon magus.

There is a whole city near the surface of the sun according to the wiki, made by fire immune outsiders and such.

There is apparently just bubbles of magic that block out heat and radiation from the sun.

There, that is how.

And compensate for gravity, ehich, if it's like our sun, is 28 times that of earth.

Another welcome to tabletop rpgs.

If you are going to GM, I would recommend using a module, preferably the one in the Beginner Box since its written for those rules. I would also recommend that if you are going to GM, try to get a good grasp of the rules before you and your group play.

As to rules, there is one rule that must be followed in every Pathfinder session, without exception:

Everyone gets to have fun.

Every other rule, whether in the Core Rulebook or the many fine supplements sold by Paizo or other publishers is optional and/or subject to whatever modification is necessary to satisfy the having fun rule.

Now Paizo has done a good job with the rules and you probably won't need to modify or creatively interpret them much, if at all. Just remember they are guidelines designed to enable you and the people you are playing with to have fun together.

You do not need to have a comprehensive understanding of the rules before you start playing. Reading the rules is important, but the playing the game is the best (and most enjoyable) way to figure out what's happening.

Any questions you may have about the rules, how to play, or what to do can be answered here. The members of this message board are very knowledgeable and friendly, particularly to new players.

Good luck and good gaming.