Search Posts
Possibly a wand of blindness/deafness, as that is permanent and can be done at range, but you wouldn't be able to also attack in the same round compared to the quick dirty trick feat. There is also a smoke pellet, but it also only lasts 1 round and does no other ill effect. It at least has a ranged touch attack to it, and only encompasses the square the target is in, so it will not affect your allies. It's 5g more than a smokestick, incomprehensibly. There is also this: Flash Powder
If you take up some alchemy, that's pretty cheap per use, and you can target a square instead of a person. But the save DC is very low and it only lasts 1 round :(
Not sure if spring loaded wrist sheath was mentioned, but I believe it's in the ultimate equipment book. I played a shadowdancer, it was a lot of fun suddenly stealthing mid combat while being observed. Shadowstepping and having a strength draining shadow was pretty awesome. I'll warn you just about 1 thing, surprise rounds do not happen often. At least in the games I've played.
As near as I can tell, the half speed applies to moving across narrow surfaces only: "Check: You can use Acrobatics to move on narrow surfaces and uneven ground without falling. A successful check allows you to move at half speed across such surfaces—only one check is needed per round." There is no mention of moving at half speed for things like long jump, high jump or moving through threatened squares. But let's say the gap you are trying to cross is larger than a single move action, acrobatics reads: "No jump can allow you to exceed your maximum movement for the round." I would say that your maximum movement means a double move action in one round, but good luck with a long jump that long! Running along walls is more of a climb check, and there are actual ninja tricks for things like this. If you would like to give a longjump fluff by explaining it as a prince of persia move, I don't see why not though. Running along the heads and tables of everyone in the room also sounds more like a fluff thing, if you pass the acrobatics DC for moving so many threatened squares, you can leave it up to your DM to explain it as such. If you wanted to not use fluff, this I think would be more like moving along narrow surfaces, so the half movement would apply here. Sliding between someone's legs to get behind them is a legitimate way to pass through someone's square using acrobatics, the other is sliding right around them, or vaulting over them. Mostly fluff. Charging is a bit trickier. Check out the movement restrictions for charging: "You must have a clear path toward the opponent, and nothing can hinder your movement (such as difficult terrain or obstacles). You must move to the closest space from which you can attack the opponent. If this space is occupied or otherwise blocked, you can't charge. If any line from your starting space to the ending space passes through a square that blocks movement, slows movement, or contains a creature (even an ally), you can't charge. Helpless creatures don't stop a charge." A pit I would consider an obstacle that hinders your movement, charging is also a full round action. Personally I would say no, though some DMs might say otherwise, as a 5 foot gap doesn't technically slow you down or block your movement with a successful acrobatics check. The "You must have a clear path toward the opponent" intent behind the ruling is what makes me think you cannot charge over a pit. Now as for jumping down a 20 foot cliff during a charge. I'd say no for two reasons, first, that's definitely an obstacle that slows you down during your charge, second: "When you deliberately fall any distance, even as a result of a missed jump, a DC 15 Acrobatics skill check allows you to ignore the first 10 feet fallen, although you still end up prone if you take damage from a fall. See the falling rules for further details." Your charge, even with a successful acrobatics, would automatically fail because you fell prone from taking 1d6 points of damage. If it were a 10 foot fall and you successfully made the check, I'd say it is still impossible since you do not have a clear path to your target for the charge. Landing on a target doesn't count towards unarmed damage or for your charge. I would argue you'd have a +1 from higher ground bonus, possibly, but otherwise landing on a target inflicts the same falling damage you would incur onto them. There is also rules in the Environment section for falling objects, which states some things are left to GM discretion but it pretty clearly writes that any damage you would take from a falling object also happens to the object dropped. The intent behind this likely isn't a person either, so take what you will from that. Hope this helps, and as always, I could be mistaken.
They aren't a fifth wheel, they make your regular tires into winter ones, or racing tires. They just make the wheels you have, better. If you have fun playing a class, then you're already doing it right. Don't even bother listening to anyone else. If your GM thinks that low level spells and abilities are ruining his/her game, tell them to wait until a bit higher level, when everything doesn't depend on one die roll so much (Sorry jim, I critted your wizard, might as well roll a new one). There are MANY creatures that are mindless, or have high will saves. They also need to understand that a bard is practically useful in every situation, so your character WILL come up a lot. Hopefully your game goes well, Bhaene!
Long time ago we used to put braveheart soundtrack on... More recently, I had done papercraft to create an entire undead dungeon, and I played this song as they looked for a horn that was causing the undead. Very similar to the thief level. They did not enjoy being in there, so mission accomplished! :P A lot of the thief games have good non-vocals music that can be used for creepy/tense situations.
I believe this has been noted, but if you can use Ultimate Combat, you can pick up levels in the Fighter archetype, Brawler. Punch daggers qualify for close weapon group for fighter, and for your 1d8 dagger sneak attacks from knifemaster. Couple it with fighter feats, and you can pump up your to hit and base damage pretty well, making those flanking dual wielding attacks hurt quite a bit more. This is all supposing you want to be a combat rogue though, and it seems that you have a 10 strength, so other options may be more beneficial.
Looking for experiences people had with their homebrews, to aid mine. What I like to run in my homebrew games: I find that homebrew games allow a lot more in the way of storytelling for the PCs, most APs cannot reference a player specifically because there's no way to know what their backstory is. After a few sessions, a DM can get a good idea on a PC and develop an interactive story around them.
I try to find something engaging for every character in the party at every session, even if it involves some solo play for a short while. I prefer sandbox games, and try to implement them where it makes sense and not use it in every situation. I also like puzzles for my PCs to solve, but I've found most players do not like that, and have had to cut them out. I also go into a session with descriptions already done for things, but I do not have specific scripts or events written up. I let the players decide where they want to go, then start building the story in that direction. Sometimes it involves making a lot of stuff up on the spot, then once the session is over, fleshing that out more for next time. Encounters end thematically, not mathematically, most of the time. I like to, on occasion, give heroic descriptions during fights, of precisely what a character did that round (some groups much more than others). I like to give the same to how badly an enemy hurt them. Lastly, every NPC is a bad guy, until the PCs treat them nicely, then maybe they are a good guy :P
We ran into a similar scenario: After talking to a spirit guarding a vault, who was bound to the current evil bbeg, but not evil himself, we decided to do things the tougher way and not break into the vault. The paladin in the group was kinda iffy about killing a good person just to make killing an evil guy a bit easier. Turns out I was incinerated during that bbeg fight, dems the breaks.
A facet of chaotic characters would not stand for imprisonment, it was either let evil go, to possibly do more evil, or to put it out of its misery. I'd say the cleric made the right call, they freed the orc from continued evil and imprisonment (by killing them). What is the cleric's Faith? Their God's/Goddess' tenants likely would determine what to do as well.
So we are using an OR function to qualify... (as long as I can qualify for arcane spellcasting OR divine spellcasting). Then using an AND function for the benefits... (Since I qualify, both arcane AND divine spellcasting are improved). While ignoring thematic concerns, explicit arcane-only wording and the definition of a spellcasting class. ... It's like saying I can make a true neutral cleric/life oracle. I choose to channel negative energy as a cleric, but my life oracle gets to channel positive energy like a cleric. Now I am going to take selective channeling, then say that while I channel, I can use both negative and positive channeling at the same time (because thematic concerns and explicit wording be damned), and apply the selective channeling to heal all my friends with positive energy and hurt all my enemies with negative energy. (Because since I qualify, I can apply them to both!) ... That would be one awesome cleric/life oracle though.
I'd work with your players and ask them to stop metagaming if that's what the real issue is, but if that's not possible... It seems fine, though a bit of extra work. There are rules for disclosing information under the knowledges already, if you're curious. Personally I make up a lot of unique monsters based on other creatures, and have descriptions of them ready for when they see it. My descriptions will usually hint at 1 or 2 abilities it may have, but they can be misleading. If someone gives me a knowledge check though, I'll give them more information about it if that's what they roll. Just avoid giving the wrong descriptions, I've had a GM that made a balrog out of an imp, which led to the party trying to find another way around, which led the GM to penalizing us for going off-course, which led to total party kill by falling. False descriptions that aren't illusions can kill. Don't go down that slippery slope.
YMMV from group to group, but I'd think that too far is when someone at the table signals to you that the game is making them uncomfortable. Fantasy worlds are not nice, and I think that most people who play D&D know this, it's supposed to be set in a medieval setting with magic tacked on. The medieval times in our own history (and, arguably, current times) were horrible. Now we start adding in ripping souls out of people, or using magic to dominate peoples' minds. In my groups, we deal with slavery, murder and all manner of bad stuff, but we never deal with anything sexual, good or otherwise. Sometimes it is implied but never described, as I believe most of us would be uncomfortable with that. (None of us want to play FATAL :P) But I can see what you are getting at, without these topics there is often not a real conflict. Personally I like campaigns where everyone is grey, and nothing is black and white, it makes for interesting situations, and makes it challenging for the paladin/good players. In the example that you gave, that stuff happens. Many races in pathfinder use slaves, and slavery is accepted in a number of countries. Nothing feels better than freeing slaves when you're a good guy too. Even evil moustache guy, you're putting a face/painting a target for the group to exact vengeance, even if there might be implied rape/pedophilia. TL:DR Depends on your players, as long as everyone's having fun I think you're fine.
Create a magic item that applies any of the ranged weapon enhancements to thrown weapons, in glove form. Argue with your DM that since a starknife has multiple points, at least two of those will hit during melee/ranged attacks. Bump up the damage to 2d4! (I'm not being serious) There could be a thrown weapon magical enhancement or feat that allows you to hit multiple enemies with the same weapon. (akin to whirlwind attack, but for ranged thrown, and only uses 1 ammo) Limit to within first range increment for the weapon (scalable with distance enhancement). Limit to chakram, boomerangs and starknives. Have the item return to the user. Become Xena, Profit.
First off, you've built some lore into the temple being invisible to nonbelievers until they eat the golden wildflower. Evildoers could find out about this and the flowers need to be harvested/collected/guarded. Second, the powerful wards on the temple likely need to be maintained, some form of yearly ritual done by the priests of the temple, which may require reagents (golden wildflowers maybe? Something more remote?) Small villages (especially remote ones) tend to be self reliant in order to stay alive. They deal in goods and trade more than money. How do the people eat? Do they have farms/animals? Do they have a source of clean water nearby with fish? Do they use magic/magic items to fill in the gaps? Do they trade with caravans? Starting quests can be simple things to aid the town. If you are interested, read this over for ideas:
Good luck!
I have demanded a few things from a DM as a player before. Things like, allowing the use of saving throws vs spells that list that the target gets a saving throw. When that was ignored, and the DM argued that a level 1 spell his NPC had cast worked like a level 7 spell, and had to DM fiat it, I chose the highway. Good luck with 2 players and no healer!
Read over all the posts and thought I'd just add a few things, I shall try to remain super neutral. If I were the DM and someone wanted a golem as a cohort (which I have wanted for a long time too), I would look into having a modified summoner eidolon. Say that they had the traits of a golem to start at level 1, which seems quite overpowered, but you can counterbalance this with restrictions. It doesn't come back later when destroyed but needs to be rebuilt (which is time consuming and costs money), it can be upgraded with evolution points but you need the material (clay, metal, etc). Things like that. Something of this sort was done for me when I wanted an undead eidolon. I could only upgrade my eidolon with the dead parts I could find, so I couldn't take whatever evolutions I wanted. In turn, my eidolon was classified as undead, which also has it's benefits and drawbacks. I also had to keep that eidolon hidden practically at all times. If the player doesn't want to be a summoner and would rather have a cohort, they'll have to sacrifice in other areas to get it. (feats, money, etc). Personally, I don't think the encounters would need to be rewritten. If your enemies are intelligent, they would likely avoid the horrible golem thing and focus on the player commanding it. Change your tactics and focus instead of the encounter, s'all good. As for the philosophy of the thread: Why can a GM/Game designer get away with bending the rules that a player cannot? It is a good question, as a GM/DM can make a campaign challenging without resorting to rulebreaking abilities/combos, just as much as a player could. A GM has all the power though, a player doesn't, and as my friend always says, "%*#& the player". It can also be used as a curveball to make an encounter particularly more challenging, or for a GM to try something different. In this particular case with a golem cohort, which is being used in another campaign apparently, I'd be fine with it. I believe that a lot of players would be welcoming to the idea of working out something with their GM, if balance issues were a concern. Thematically, I was pleased with having to use dead parts to upgrade my undead eidolon, that was pretty awesome.
Thanks for the feedback! This project kind of got put on the back burner because I started working on a campaign setting. I can't really respond in depth right now because I'm on my phone, but I will when I get home. Thanks again :) Sounds like me, a million projects and no time to complete any of them :P I'd really like to make this into an RPG, but ideas are all I can ever really contribute these days I'm afraid.
If you are limited to being a rogue (or multiclassing with some rogue levels) I'd suggest focusing on range. If that's not your style, then make a burly rogue and flank with the fighter a lot. Either of these options would be useful in combat, and rogues always have plenty of use out of combat. There is always ninja as well, if thematic concerns aren't an issue. If you can stray from rogue, another type of utility/skillperson could be useful, it just means you are limited to disarming mundane traps. Things like ranger, bard, inquisitor. All of which can be both melee/ranged or even switchhitters, and all get 6+int skill ranks per level. Good luck!
I had also wanted to create an avatar RPG and was a little disappointed when I couldn't find any created yet. My thoughts... System:
Base your bending ability on an alotment of points per rest, but you can exceed this number but with fatigue and penalties to your rolls, etc. Setting:
Nationality:
Classes:
Sokka, Jet and his freedom fighters, Mai, etc, would be examples of warriors, though they specialized in different things. The Kyoshi warriors, Ty-Lee, etc, would be Martial Artists. June and Nyla, Aang and Momo/Appa, King Kuei and Bosco, Korra and Naga, etc, would be examples of beast tamers. Asami, Equalists would be engineers (and martial artists, but w/e) Multiclassing in this system should not be penalized like I feel it is in pathfinder. Other stuff:
The only healers in the game are water benders, and if they learned the healing techniques. There is ample usage of chinese home remedies in the shows to build a system to counterbalance the constant requirement for a waterbender with healing. Comets, full moons and other natural phenomenon would give benders temporary boosts to their abilities. (though there seems to lack one for earth and air) Playing the avatar might result in outshining your friends, but I believe most groups would like to run with that. Making it so that the avatar still only learns a few new abilities and must get lots of training, and requires him/her to master an element by meeting certain criteria before they can move on to the next element scales that back a bit. Having the same point pool for bending unless in the avatar state (which they learn at a certain level, or storywise at a certain time) would also help. Every element has some special technique (Fire: Lightning, Water: Healing & Bloodbending, Earth: Metalbending) except for air? Figure something out for them. Say a character starts off as a warrior but wants to multiclass as a bender, there is a precedent they set there, as most benders learn their abilities early on in their life it seems. There has been mention of an avatar test, where they have a table with the 4 elements on it (see the ATLA movie), you could use that to determine (likely via rolling a percentile) if they are a bender or not, and what element. The setting has alot of spiritual stuff in it as well, having another spiritual plane that the characters can eventually reach would be neat. Hope this gives you some new ideas.
Both. Roleplaying wise, I had the most fun when it was a night out in town of shopping for dresses with the girls, eating dinner and watching the theatre. Then ruining a jerk NPC's day and pretending not to notice. Rollplaying wise, everytime the outcome of the battle looks extremely grim and it comes down to an ingenius tactical idea, or a final roll to determine the victor. I have heard fellow players say that the best ending of their campaigns have been where they completed their ultimate goal (the world was saved), most of the party was dead, and the last one or two turned to face off against the last of some evil army with no escape, and they end it there.
I like the idea, but instead of flat bonuses to stats, I would rather alter the flow of combat (or out of combat). Things like extra attacks, bypass DR/AC, invoke AoO, reroll and take better result (lucky theme applied here)... This would be very similar to ki, grit, etc. I would base it off of intelligence myself.
- Spell cards for all the spellcasters. They would detail all the necessary information on a single playing card, so that casters can simply have a deck of cards to refer to instead of books/handmade notes/typed up sheets. - More Urban/Evil APs. - More official papercraft minis! - An official paizo multiplayer online tabletop tool (not an mmo), so I don't have to drive 45 minutes to game :3
Moist Towelette This handkerchief functions as a Universal Solvent or a Prestidigitate on whatever it rubs. After use, it takes 24 hours for the moist towelette to clean itself. Brawny Man's Sweat Absorber This handkerchief can absorb a 10' cube worth of non-acidic liquid. Once absorbed, the handkerchief is squishy and drips water over the next 24 hours before becoming dry again. The owner can squeeze the handkerchief to empty its contents as a standard action, then reuse it immediately. If the handkerchief comes into contact with a creature made of liquid, it does 2d6 points of damage and the handkerchief is destroyed.
I think you could be bolder on some of these changes. Sniper's Eye for example. Make it at least medium range, maybe auto scale into long range at lvl 10. That is a great idea, I had considered making some advanced talents that built off of these, but that's probably pretty safe. I would probably just make it medium range though, 300 feet sneak attacks at level 20 instead of 1200 feet sneak attacks seems more realistic to me. I was worried that I'd be making some talents far better than some feats. I disliked a lot of the "once per day you can roll twice" talents as it seemed to me like there could be a lot more flavor to these talents... I shall think of rewriting them too in a while. Thank you for the feedback PA.
Hello, I've been making a compilation of all things rogue, and at the same time, tweaking some things around. I just finished the 1-10 talents and I'd like some feedback. Combat Talents:
Assault Leader (Ex): A rogue with this talent can, on a successful Feint, forego denying the target's dexterity bonus to cause the target to provoke an attack of opportunity from any allies that threaten the target. She must declare she is using this ability before rolling their Bluff check. The rogue does not benefit from the Attack of Opportunity. This talent can be used a number of times per day equal to the Rogue's Charisma modifier (Minimum 1). A rogue can use this ability one additional time per day for every 5 rogue levels she possesses. Cunning Trigger (Ex): A rogue with this talent can use a swift action to set off any traps within 30 feet that she constructed. Clean Getaway (Ex): After successfully making a sneak attack or Sleight of Hand check, a rogue with this talent can spend a move action without provoking any attacks of opportunity until the end of their turn. She can move no more than her speed during this movement. Hidden Weapons (Ex): A rogue with this ability can easily conceal weapons on her body, even while being observed. The rogue adds her level on opposed Sleight of Hand checks made to conceal a weapon. In addition, she can draw hidden weapons as a move action, instead of as a standard action. If she also has the Quick Draw feat, she can draw hidden weapons as a free action, instead of as a move action. Lasting Poison (Ex): A rogue with this talent can apply poison to a weapon in such a way that it is effective for two successful attacks instead of one. The poison has a reduced effect, however, and saves made against the poison receive a +2 circumstance bonus. Applying poison in this way requires a full-round action, or a standard action if the rogue has the swift poison talent. Quick Trapsmith (Ex): As a full-round action, a rogue with this talent can set a simple trap with a CR no greater than 1/2 her rogue level. To do this, she must purchase the components, spend the required time constructing the trap in advance, and have its components at hand. The type of trap that can be constructed in this way is subject to GM discretion. Resiliency (Ex): Once per day, a rogue with this ability can gain a number of temporary hit points equal to the rogue's level. Activating this ability is an immediate action that can only be performed when she is brought to below 0 hit points. This ability can be used to prevent her from dying. These temporary hit points last for 1 minute. If the rogue's hit points drop below 0 due to the loss of these temporary hit points, she falls unconscious and is dying as normal. Prone Maneuvers (Ex): While prone, a rogue with this ability can move at half speed. This movement provokes attacks of opportunity as normal. A rogue with this talent can take a 5-foot step while crawling. She can also stand up from a prone position as a free action, but this still provokes attacks of opportunity for standing up while threatened by a foe. Sideswipe (Ex): When a rogue with this talent hits a creature with a melee attack, she can move up to 30 feet without provoking attacks of opportunity. The movement must end in a space adjacent to the creature hit with the melee attack. The rogue can use this ability a number of times per day equal to her Dexterity modifier (Minimum 1). A rogue can use this ability one additional time per day for every 5 rogue levels she possesses. Snap Shot (Ex): A rogue with this talent may treat her intitiative roll as a 20 for a surprise round, regardless of her initiative, but she may only take an attack action with a ranged weapon. Her normal initiative roll is used in subsequent rounds. If two or more rogues possess this talent, their initiative determines the order in which they act, but they all go before any other creature. If a rogue is prevented from acting in the surprise round, this talent has no effect. Sniper's Eye (Ex): A rogue with this talent can apply her sneak attack damage on ranged attacks at close range (25 feet + 5 feet per level), instead of 30 feet. Surprise Attack (Ex): During the surprise round, opponents are always considered flat-footed to a rogue with this ability, even if they have already acted. In addition, a rogue with this talent always acts in a surprise round. Swift Poison (Ex): A rogue with this talent can apply poison to a weapon as part of a move action, instead of a standard action.
Skill and Feat Talents:
Adept Pickpocket (Ex): A rogue with this talent gains two abilities: First, she can use her Sleight of Hand skill instead of the Profession skill to determine the gold piece value she can earn by pickpocketting. This check can be made after a single day's worth of work, instead of a week. Second, the difficulty to take something from a creature is reduce to DC 15, and she gains a +2 bonus to Sleight of Hand when used to steal. Athleticism (Ex): A rogue with this talent rolls twice when making Climb or Swim checks and takes the better result. If she already rolls twice while making a Climb or Swim check because of another ability or effect, she gains a +2 insight bonus on both of those rolls instead. If the rogue is under the effect of a spell or ability that forces her to roll two dice and take the worse result, she only needs to roll 1d20 while making Climb or Swim checks. Camouflage (Ex): Once per day, a rogue with this talent can craft simple but effective camouflage from the surrounding area. The rogue needs 1 minute to prepare the camouflage, but once she does, it is good for the rest of the day or until the rogue fails a saving throw against an area effect spell that deals fire, cold, or acid damage, whichever comes first. The rogue gains a +4 bonus on Stealth checks while within terrain that was used to make the camouflage. Canny Observer (Ex): When a rogue with this talent makes a Perception check to hear the details of a conversation or to find concealed or secret objects (including doors and traps), she gains a +4 bonus. Combat Trick: A rogue that selects this talent gains a bonus combat feat that she qualifies for (See feats). This trick can be taken multiple times. A rogue taking this talent can ignore Combat Expertise as a prerequisite for the purposes of selecting a feat. Esoteric Scholar (Ex): A rogue with this talent may attempt a Knowledge check, even when she is not trained in that Knowledge skill, a number of times per day equal to her Intelligence modifier (Minimum 1). She must choose to use this talent before making the Knowledge check. A rogue can use this ability one additional time per day for every 5 rogue levels she possesses Expert Leaper (Ex): When making jump checks, the rogue is always considered to have a running start. Also, when the rogue deliberately falls, a DC 15 Acrobatics check allows her to ignore the first 20 feet fallen, instead of the first 10 feet. Fast Fingers (Ex): A rogue with this talent can roll two dice while making a Sleight of Hand check, and take the better result, a number of times per day equal to her Dexterity modifier (Minimum 1). She must choose to use this talent before making the Sleight of Hand check. A rogue can use this ability one additional time per day for every 5 rogue levels she possesses. Fast Stealth (Ex): This ability allows a rogue to move at full speed using the Stealth skill without penalty. Follow Clues (Ex): A rogue with this talent can use Perception to follow tracks as per the Survival skill. Getaway Artist (Ex): A rogue with this talent adds Fly, Handle Animal, and Ride to her list of class skills, and gains a +2 bonus on all driving and escape artist checks. Grit (Ex): A rogue with this talent gains the Amateur Gunslinger feat and one grit feat of her choice. She must fulfill the prerequisites of the grit feat in order to choose it. A rogue must have the firearm training talent before choosing this one. Iron Guts (Ex): A rogue with this talent has a cast-iron stomach or has trained herself to withstand poisons, especially ingested ones. She gains a +1 bonus on all saves against ingested poisons as well as a +4 bonus on saves against all spells and effects that cause the rogue to be nauseated or sickened. Ki Pool (Ex): A rogue with this talent gains a small ki pool. This ki pool is similar to a ninja's ki pool, but the rogue's ki pool does not grant any extra attacks. The rogue gains a number of ki points equal to her Wisdom modifier (minimum 1). These ki points replenish at the start of each day. If she already has a ki pool, or gains a ki pool later, she gains half her Wisdom bonus (minimum 1) as bonus ki points to her ki pool. She can spend a ki point to gain a +10-foot bonus to movement until the end of her turn. Major Magic (Sp): A rogue with this talent gains the ability to cast two 1st-level spell from the sorcerer/wizard spell list two times a day each as a spell-like ability. The caster level for this ability is equal to the rogue's level. The save DC for these spells is 11 + the rogue's Intelligence modifier. The rogue must have an Intelligence of at least 11 to select this talent. A rogue must have the minor magic rogue talent before choosing this talent. Minor Magic (Sp): A rogue with this talent gains the ability to cast three 0-level spell from the sorcerer/wizard spell list. Each of these spells can be cast three times a day as a spell-like ability. The caster level for this ability is equal to the rogue's level. The save DC for these spells is 10 + the rogue's Intelligence modifier. The rogue must have an Intelligence of at least 10 to select this talent. Nimble Maneuver (Ex): This ability allows a rogue to move at normal speed along surfaces that would require an Acrobatics or Climb check, instead of half speed. In addition, a rogue with this talent is not flat-footed when using Acrobatics or Climb to move along these surfaces. Surfaces that are impossible to traverse through Acrobatics or Climb, remain impossible. This ability does not allow full movement in difficult terrain. Ninja Trick (Ex): A rogue with this talent can choose a trick from the ninja trick list. The rogue can choose but cannot use talents that require ki points, unless she has a ki pool. A rogue can pick this talent more than once. Peerless Maneuver (Ex): A rogue with this talent can roll two dice while making an Acrobatics check, and take the better result, a number of times per day equal to her Dexterity modifier (Minimum 1). She must choose to use this talent before making the Acrobatics check. A rogue can use this ability one additional time per day for every 5 rogue levels she possesses. Quick Disable (Ex): This ability allows a rogue to spend a full round action to use disable device, regardless of difficulty. In addition, the rogue may also spend a standard action using disable device at a penalty of -5. Quick Disguise (Ex): A rogue with this talent can spend a 30 minute period to design a disguise that is concealed under their normal clothing that is startlingly quick to change into. Only one disguise can be hidden on her person at a time in this manner, but changing back and forth between her regular self and her disguise is a full round action. The disguise roll is made during creation, and is only rerolled when the diguise is recreated (See the disguise skill for check modifiers). A rogue can have multiple disguises, and switching which one is currently on her person takes 10 minutes. Survivalist: A rogue with this talent adds Heal and Survival to her list of class skills, and gains a +2 to each. Terrain Mastery (Ex): A rogue with this talent gains a favored terrain as the ranger ability of the same name, though the favored terrain ability does not increase with her level as the ranger's ability does. A rogue can take this ability multiple times, each time applying it to a new terrain, and granting all other favored terrains a +2 increase to the favored terrain bonus. Trap Spotter (Ex): Whenever a rogue with this talent comes within 10 feet of a trap, she receives an immediate Perception skill check to notice the trap. This check should be made in secret by the GM.
Sneak Attack Talents:
Befuddling Strike* (Ex): When the rogue deals sneak attack damage against an opponent, that opponent takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls for 1 round. Bleeding Attack* (Ex): A rogue with this ability can cause living opponents to bleed by hitting them with a sneak attack. This attack causes the target to take 1 additional point of damage each round for each die of the rogue's sneak attack (e.g., 4d6 equals 4 points of bleed). Bleeding creatures take that amount of damage every round at the start of each of their turns, and it bypasses DR. The bleeding can be stopped by a DC 15 Heal check or the application of any effect that heals hit point damage. Bleeding damage from this ability does not stack with itself. Distracting Attack* (Ex): A rogue with this talent can make sneak attacks with subtle flourishes that disorient and distract her enemy. When she hits a creature with a melee attack that deals sneak attack damage, she can forgo the additional damage to cause the creature to become flat-footed to everyone but the rogue until the beginning of her next turn. Creatures with uncanny dodge are immune to distracting attack. Offensive Defense* (Ex): When a rogue with this talent hits a creature with a melee attack that deals sneak attack damage, the rogue gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC for each sneak attack die rolled for 1 round. Powerful Sneak* (Ex): Whenever a rogue with this talent takes a full attack action, she can elect to take a -2 penalty on all attack rolls until the start of her next turn. If an attack during this time is a sneak attack, she treats all 1s and 2s on the sneak attack damage dice as 3s. Slow Reactions* (Ex): Opponents damaged by the rogue's sneak attack can't make attacks of opportunity for 1d3 rounds. Underhanded* (Ex): A rogue with this talent gains a +4 circumstance bonus on all Sleight of Hand checks made to conceal a weapon. Furthermore, if she makes a sneak attack during the surprise round using a concealed weapon that her opponent didn't know about, she does not have to roll sneak attack damage, and the sneak attack deals maximum damage.
Social Talents: Adopt Personality (Ex): The rogue learns to study others and adopt a personality that compliments them, making them feel more at ease when the rogue speaks with them. When a rogue with this talent spends 3 rounds studying a target in conversation that speaks the same language as the rogue, they will receive a +2 to all diplomacy, bluff, sense motive and intimidate checks for the next 24 hours. These bonuses become penalties should the rogue not be able to adopt the personality when speaking with the target, but only after the bonuses have been in use. Black Market Connections (Ex): A rogue with this talent can spend an 8 hour period to discover the black market in any town (if one exists). During this period, she also develops a network of contacts and gains a +2 insight bonus on any gather information checks made in town. She also finds a fence, who will buy and sell her illicit goods that would otherwise draw attention at normal vendors. Should the rogue leave town for longer than a week, she has lost her connection and must spend another 8 hours to rediscover them. Charmer (Ex): The rogue can roll two dice while making a Diplomacy check, and take the better result, a number of times per day equal to her Charisma modifier (Minimum 1). She must choose to use this talent before making the Diplomacy check. A rogue can use this ability one additional time per day for every 5 rogue levels she possesses. Coax Information (Ex): A rogue with this talent can use Bluff or Diplomacy in place of Intimidate to force an opponent to act friendly toward her. Guileful Polyglot (Ex): A rogue with this talent who has at least one rank in Linguistics gains four additional languages. A rogue with this talent who does not have any ranks in Linguistics gains two additional languages. If the rogue later gains ranks in Linguistics, she gains two additional languages, to a total of four additional languages above those granted by the Linguistics skill itself. Hard to Fool (Ex): The rogue with this talent can roll two dice while making a Sense Motive check, and take the better result, a number of times per day equal to her Charisma modifier (Minimum 1). She must choose to use this talent before making the Sense Motive check. A rogue can use this ability one additional time per day for every 5 rogue levels she possesses. Honeyed Words (Ex): Once per day, the rogue can roll two dice while making a Bluff check, and take the better result, a number of times per day equal to her Charisma modifier (Minimum 1). She must choose to use this talent before making the Bluff check. A rogue can use this ability one additional time per day for every 5 rogue levels she possesses.
Going back to the OP, I am pretty sure I have run into a situation like that before. There are NPCs doing something at a short distance, I do not know exactly what is going on, we are called to roll initiative and let's say I go first. My first instinct would be to ask the GM if I notice anything at a quick glance, usually a free perception check to notice what's going on. Are the NPCs armed? or are they attacking each other? do they notice us? is someone attacking them? do I notice anyone sneaking in the area? (this last one might take up an action though, like a search) Are they saying anything? yelling? etc. If NONE of those things are occuring after my perception check is rolled, I roleplay as if my character is completely unaware of anything out of the ordinary. Maybe I hail them, maybe I check with my fellows to see what we should do, depends on the character. What I'm saying is that the GM offered a certain amount of information, then asked for initiative, he did not describe any hostility, he didn't mention whether they had even noticed the party yet. The initial response for a typical person would be to ask some probing questions to your GM and then base your actions with as much of the facts you can get. Now as a GM, I would NEVER EVER EVER have given so little information. If you spot something in the forest, you should at least give as much description as whatever anyone who isn't blind and deaf can see/hear. I remember a DM describing this horrendous creature, showing us a picture of it in the bestiary, which had us all freaked out and trying to find a way around it which later led to our deaths (GM fiat, did not want us going that way). Later we find out this thing is a foot tall and dies in 1 hit. Too little information from the GM is the GM's fault, but when not enough information is given to make any sound judgement at all and you act hostile toward it, is the player's fault. (Unless your character is a lunatic, then I'd say good show.)
I do not see how Gauss was being rude there... I played a cavalier up to level 14 in kingmaker. The way we took it as, was that when mounted, my character and horse acted as a single unit. We were both still constrained by the same movement and actions that a single unit would allow for. People seem to think that the two are completely separate in initiative, or that the rider is suddenly piggy backing on the horse's movement and can now full attack every single round, but this seems extremely overpowered and is likely not intended. We always took it as such: Though movement is increased, our movements are now tied together, if the horse spends a move action, the character has also now spent a move action. I cannot make my mount do a full move, then hop off my horse and take a move action after that. Logic follows that I spent the time in that round atop my horse as it was moving, thus my movement for that round was also used up. If I decide to charge an enemy with reach, my attack at reach goes first, I can then decide to stop my charge and negate my horse's attack, or I can charge directly up to the enemy and my horse can then also make a charge attack. We are both charging, and both gain the benefits and detriments. We also decided that I could not attack someone atop my mount, then make a move action beyond 5 feet and then my horse attack, as my horse had to spend its action waiting and doing nothing when I spent my attack action. What I'm getting at, is that a mount and its rider are one. *Queue disney music* As for pounce, I would not believe that a rider with iterative attacks qualifies for this, as the mount has multiple attacks usually through multiple limbs, whereas a rider typically is repeatedly attack with the same weapon. If you can get pounce as a feat through your class however, I do not see why both your mount and yourself could not pounce on something, though it may certainly look awkward. Mounts are still super awesome though, as often if your mount gains a feat, you reap the benefits of it too (in some cases), and you get awesome movement and beastly full attack actions.
Just read over this thread, I found it a bit amusing that people debating over the interpretations of a fictitious doctrine intentionally left vague parallels our own history very well. And we killed each other for that too. No God/Goddess can fault a Paladin for what they do not know, nor can they fault them for doing their best with truly good intentions. Personally, I think becoming a fallen paladin and taking the path of redemption or complete corruption would be sweet for the story. I can't imagine a high level paladin making it through the stuff they got to deal with without having gone through atonement a few times.
It seems rather counter-intuitive to tell a rogue that stealing won't do anything to help his WBL. It's like the GM saying "I don't like how you play your character, so I'm PENALIZING YOU." The rogue now has to risk his life adventuring AND then stealing on the side just to make the same amount of wealth his fellow party members do? That doesn't make any sense at all. A rogue can be a professional thief AND an adventurer at the same time. You don't necessarily need to go into nitty gritty time wasting details on every sojourn the rogue takes, that is what profession checks are for. It's like the healer going to temples and making a wage off of healing that week. If it is something worth considerable gp, then it becomes part of the story, or stealing comes with cause and effect. No rogue can go around every single town, stealing everything in sight without slipping up and landing himself in jail or worse, and then that becomes part of the story. Adjusting loot tables to deter good roleplay sounds like you as the DM are wasting your time because you're hung up on "fairness" in wealth. If the game was fair in terms of wealth then everyone would start with the same gold at character creation. Playing a rogue should mean your skill and wit garners you more access to blackmarket items, plus more money, etc. If that is the type of rogue the player wishes to play. Everything you're worried about getting out of hand can be fixed by roleplaying, adding awesome story elements to your campaign or simplifying it down to a skill check. The rogue doesn't need to be punished.
if you think the rogue needs to be fixed, you are doing it wrong. I don't think it's broken, I think the rogue is less effective at it's own core role in the group as other party members are at theirs, and thus needs some improvement. This could be partly due to the fact that a rogue's role can vary so much. The rework I had in mind after thinking about it for 1 afternoon was this: 1. empower the archtypes a little so they'd be more effective in the role they wanted to take (some don't need this), examples would be that ranged rogues can sneak attack at a range of 30ft + 5ft/lvl. 2. add low budget/low CR poisons, traps (especially recyclable traps) and alchemical items to give rogues more options at lower levels. (though other classes could use this) 3. IMO, rogues should be able to purchase items none of the other party members can, sometimes a far lower prices, due to their fence, their black market connections and the like. This depends heavily on the type of rogue you roll up, however. 4. write details on rogues by country in pathfinder, write about Honor among Thieves for the lawful rogues, etc.
In the few campaigns I've played with a particular GM and my friend who always plays a rogue, they would be spotted instantly by the first enemy standing guard, every single time, nearly die as we rush up to save them. It got to the point where they simply didn't want to play anymore. Other games I've been in and GMed, rogues going off on their own could gain valuable information of a situation, disarm some traps or unlock doors prior to the rest of the party being there. This makes me agree that it is player/GM dependent on how effective rogues can be in solo situations. It also irks me that a rogue cannot simply take an opponent unawares and instantly kill them without some extremely high level ability, but I can see how it would be game breaking, as the rogue could kill everyone out of combat if their stealth were maxed out. You can deal a considerable amount of non-lethal damage to knock an opponent out, but it is feat heavy. In combat, you can two weapon feint, have improved feint and boost your bluff skill, but again, also feat heavy. Using something like a garrote might be an option, as it would silence but also give the victim a chance to escape. I've also toyed around with the idea that dirty trick can be used to blind your opponent, and a blind opponent is flat footed. This assumes your opponent has eyes. I would agree that a ranged rogue is very difficult to make viable, sniping sucks. I've also come up with alchemical items and simple traps (and the combination of the two, traps that release alchemical items) that would make rogues a lot more fun to play as someone who infiltrates, traps everything ala spy vs spy, then runs home to the party snickering along the way. But yeah, even multiclassing with rogue on numerous occasions has left me wanting a change for the class. I think the only fun I had with a rogue was shadowdancer, because HIPS and shadowstep is just that awesome. Sorry my thoughts are so disjointed, touching a bit on a number of posts here.
VillageMaker is a low level campaign that puts the PCs in charge of starting their own village off the beaten path. Designed as a simplified KingMaker campaign that focuses on a weekly basis instead of monthly, it gives ample use for crafting and profession skills. Also, it focuses on sometimes rarely used portions of the Game Mastery Guide for settlements, NPCs and the like. It's not all about building, maintaining and defending a town, however. There are rules for exploring and dungeon crawling and claiming resources for your village. If you'd like to try it out or give it a read, please click here Comments, suggestions, critiques are welcome.
Stuff about cavaliers losing their mount. I played a cavalier up to level 14 in kingmaker. Even in such a heavily outdoorsy campaign, half the time it was impossible to bring my horse around. Cavaliers seem to be a bit of a mixed bag, though. On one hand you have great charge feats and challenges. But you also have teamwork feats and orders that help the team. Most of the time, the people in my campaign were too far away from me to benefit from my teamwork feats and such. Because I had charged in. I feel that if you are using 100% of your resources 100% of the time, the game is too easy and the DM isn't making it a challenge for you. If you lose your horse, you can always obtain a new one later when it works. A hard done by character, builds character, and teaches the player to diversify instead of making a one trick pony.
Ghost Touch allows an incorporeal creature to wield weapons and wear armor against corporeal foes. And that weapon or armor is considered both corporeal and incorporeal. A third level shadowdancer can summon a shadow under their control and equip them with ghost touch weapons and armor. How effective that will be? Still uncertain, as a shadow has no strength score.
I am playing a Cavalier in this campaign and it is working pretty well for me, but keep in mind that it isn't all outdoors, and there are places we've gone that I've had to leave my horse behind. Just a few things I'd like to let you know without spoiling anything, this campaign lets you have time between tasks to roleplay things out. Everyone having mounts as their cohorts is okay for combat and issues about movement, but you might get more with a noncombatant cohort that can scribe scrolls or make magical items or help run your kingdom. This assumes your group isn't gungho right when you hear about suchandsuch quest. Paladin of Erastil is good, we chose Erastil and Cayden as our patron gods, but don't think that you're forced. When it gets time for you to start Kingmaking, you might find politics particularly challenging as a Paladin :3 Good luck and have fun!
|
