Drillboss D's page

Not the usual analysis.

I've sitting at work (doing stats research) and occasionally peaking at my PDF of Ultimate Combat and it made me want to find a way to plot all the classes nicely in 2d and see if I could learn anything new about them.

I didn't, but I DID make this fun little image.

http://s1.postimage.org/uv4bxyh0/PFClasses_PCA.jpg

I made a matrix to represent the 19 classes and their alternate classes, then trimmed off the Ninja and Antipaladin because, under the variables I used, they are exactly the same as the Rogue and Paladin, respectively.

The plot is a scatter diagram of a principal component analysis of the classes. Essentially, you can think of each arrow as it's own axis, with positive in the direction of the arrow, and with that axis scaled according to how big the arrow is. So, for example, BAB is a plays a large role in how the points are organized, and the Fighter is very far in the direction of the BAB arrow, while the Wizard is basically opposite.

Magic.Type is Arcane vs. Divine casting (positive toward Arcane), and Spell.Casting is prepared vs. spontaneous casting (positive toward prepared).

The Alchemist has covered up the Magus, the Cavalier the Fighter, and the Spell.Casting arrow the Cleric, so they're not missing, just sort of blocked.

If anyone wants to see the scheme I had for enumerating each trait let me know; otherwise, just enjoy the graphic.

Also, if anyone out there has a big chart comparing the classes made of (mostly) continuous variables, I'd enjoy messing around with it.

The plot was made with the ade4 package in R.

-Drillboss

Quick question about the class feature:

Is it meant to be like Versatile Performance and allow Dirge Bards to make Intimidate checks with Perform Bonuses (no instrument), or does the bard actually make perform check to demoralize (instrument required)?

Either way, can this check used with the Enforcer feat?

Best.
Drillboss

I don't care, at all. But it sprung up on the UM product discussion and I'd rather it have it's own thread if people care to move.

Go to town.

-Drillboss

Hi Paizo,

I believe I have now ordered two copies of the Ultimate Magic Hardcover, in orders #1676248 and #1688904. While attempting to switch the first order to being a subscription copy I accidentally ordered a second one.

The order has already been placed but neither has shipped, and I'm wondering if there is any way to either cancel the first order or change it to an order of Ultimate Combat, since I was planning on ordering that/getting it via the subscription anyway.

If not it'll be a gift to friends, but I would really prefer that there be something I can do to change the order.

Best,
Dustin Janatpour

Hey all,

The Cave Druid archetype from APG has the ability to wild shape into oozes as though using Beast Shape III.

Now, pretty much all of the oozes have blindsight, which beast shape clearly doesn't grant. Since blindsense is listed as almost a lesser version of blindsight, would it be reasonable to ask that a druid receive blindsense as though the ooze had blindsense out to the same distance as it's actual blindsight? Is there some sort of ruling about this? Because if not it seems like turning into an ooze is pretty hampering.

Thanks,
Drillboss

To me it looks that by RAI it would be, but by RAW it's not. Nowhere does it mention explicitly that it doesn't get multiplied on a crit, like it does for Sneak Attack. On the other hand, the critical section mentions that extra damage dice and also sneak attack/precision damage never get multiplied. Since sneak attack IS extra damage dice, it seems that saying so would be redundant unless there is other precision damage SOMEWHERE that doesn't crit either.

So I guess the question is... it looks like Precise Strike DOES get multiplied on crits. Is that the intent?

-Drillboss

Hey all,

Thinking about maybe rolling a sorcerer for a few games before college starts up again, and I was wondering what kind of "tells" people have had their sorcerer chars have to indicate their bloodlines.

I'm thinking for a serpentine sorcerer snake eyes and a forked tongue would be cool. For a starsoul gnome, jet black hair but with patches of bright purple, red and blue would be cool, along with the appearance of stars in his eyes. For an aberrant guy, maybe a not-quite natural set of whiskers.

So you what have you guys had?

-Drillboss

I'm going to DM for a party consisting of a Sorcerer, a Rogue, and a Fighter. Given what I have seen about rogues on the forums, I'm thinking of adding the following feature to the rogue class:

Rogue Precision: Whenever a rogue is able to apply sneak attack dice to an attack, he may his rogue level in place of his base attack bonus.

The rationale is that rogues aren't just better at injuring those they catch off guard, but that they are particularly good at hitting them as well. I think that while it makes sense for fighters to outdamage rogues in general, rogues should have an edge when both the fighter and the rogue are attacking an unwary opponent. My hope is that this fix meshes well with both the flavor of rogues and the Pathfinder mechanics, given that the alternate BAB has some precedence with Flurry of Blows. I don't think this will make rogues catch up to fighters in damage, but I think it will help.

I also considered allowing sneak attack to crit, but I thought that might be going too far. Instead, I'll see how the fighter and the rogue do with this minor fix (both TWF builds, I should mention), and then decide if it was enough.

Opinions?

What conversions, if any, are needed to make most of the monster classes work with PFRPG? I know its late 3.0, but I'd like to use some of them if possible.

Also, is it viable to use monster races like svirfneblin, or should I just wait for the bestiary?

Thanks,
-Drillboss