Drizzt1080's page

Could more items be written as modifiers to base items. instead of unique items. For example the holy avenger. In 1e its only available as a cold iron longsword, but why not make it a set of powers that could be applied to any weapon like a battleaxe or a starknife, based on diety.

This format change could also be applied to specific magical ammunition and alchemical weapons like the tangleshot arrow to allow for all types of ammunition to be used. Some abilities could still list restrictions on the types of weapon/armor that they can be applied to.

In a homegame you could make whatever alterations you wanted to any given items, but in PFS items tend to be more by the book. Which means that by formatting all items as modifiers to be applied to a category of items would create a lot more options for players.

I wouldn't mind seeing all the factions being removed, and the PCs are all simply Pathfinders. Instead allow the completion of certain tasks to grant rep with certain NPCs or Organizations, and then allow PCs with a certain amount of rep unlock special rewards from those benefactors.

This would allow for story lines to support certain groups, and avoid the pvp mess that existed with factions in the early years of PFS.

The easiest way to find a campaign with everything you want is to run it yourself. Anything else will result in you having to compromise with what the campaign is offering.

Hit shuffle on the Zune you got from your daddy.

There are Pathfinders running around Golarion without their wayfinders?

Can Oreads take the Dwarf Blooded (Oread) feat and be considered members of the Dwarf race for purposes or racial specific archetypes? Specifically, can a Dwarf Blooded (Oread) use the Stone Lord archetype?

Most material from the ARG is restricted to the members of that race only, so you can't take the stonelord archetype as an Oread.

It would probably be best to offer ideas that wouldn't require a complete overhaul of the reporting system. The more resources Paizo has to use to implement an idea. The less likely they are to use it.

The only changes made to Specials that I recall occurred between Paizocon and Gencon. Those changes were made because of issues that showed up while running it at Paizocon, so that the Special would run smoother at Gencon.

Using a 1-5 scenario as an example. First you calculate the groups APL.

If the group's APL puts them in the 1-2 subtier. Any characters level 3-5 will get out of tier rewards.

If the group's APL puts them in the 4-5 subtier. Any characters level 1-3 will get out of tier rewards.

Rewards for GM credit depends on level of character getting it. A level 1 or 2 character will get subtier 1-2 rewards. A level 3 character will get out of subtier, and a level 4 or 5 character will get subtier 4-5 rewards.

If you bought a +1 adamantine light mace and wanted to call it a tankard, I'd say "sure".

Doing with would go against the campaign's no reskinning rules.

The campaign has been written as a PG-13 rated campaign since the beginning. which means at times you'll run across situations that will stop and make you think about some questionable topics. Look how many scenarios force PCs to steal property, murder or commit other crimes in order to achieve their mission goal, and the victims aren't always evil. There are so many that campaign management had to issue a special rule allowing PCs to ignore these alignment infractions, forcing them to become evil themselves, as long as they didn't violate a class code.

Questionable topics don't need to be graphically described during a game, but they can be used in moderation to drive a story. Look how often PCs free slaves while on a mission without going into fine detail about the horrors of slavery.

I just find it strange that there are so many people complaining that real world morally heinous acts pop up in a magical land of make-believe. When they spend most of their time, in the same world of make-believe, killing anything that moves until they can get their mcguffin. Why haven't people cryed out that Geb is allowed to exist when it has farms full of humans being raised as a food source for it's undead citizens? I have a friend who has a severe fear of spiders that has no problem reading a book about drow and lolth where spiders are mentioned in every other sentence, or having their PC face off against a giant spider or a swarm. Because there isn't a real spider sitting in front of them, and they can tell the difference between the real world and a work of fiction.

Perhaps the campaign should change PFS to a G rated game, and we can go around making deliveries for local businesses or saving cats from trees.

Many nations of the Inner Sea allow slavery and are not considered evil. This means that within Golarion canon there are ways to participate in slavery that are not automatically evil, or any nation that allowed slavery would have to be labeled as evil.

Applying real world morality to fictional cultures will create some incompatibilities. Look at the number of courtesans/prostitutes that PFS seems to house, or pirates for that matter. Many older faction missions basically told members to murder NPCs or commit other evil crimes in order to achieve mission objectives.

A player could have slaver as a dayjob and still manage to be respectful of everyone else at the table by managing the level of details they include in their roleplaying. However it would be far simpler to avoid any potential arguments by finding something less divisive.

While PFS does eliminate the use of some subsystems like Leadership and crafting to maintain balance in an Organized Play setting. It is unlikely that there will ever be a point where PFS starts picking and choosing which updates to the Pathfinder rules they will use.Since PFS is run and managed by Paizo. It is easier to decide to allow or ban a particular item then to rewrite entire sourcebooks just for PFS.

I believe wand use still counts as casting a spell. Even though it does not provoke.

Wands can't be used to place spells in a spell-storing items. It's one of the differences between spell completion and spell activation items.

Opposed to all

Obviously, .57% Tar is the missing ingredient.

You couldn't just leave it unknown?

No, my argument is "The rule for everyone is 'we are here to have fun' and 'do not be a dick'."

If the OP's concept doesn't work as a Core character he can simply make it a Standard PFS character. If he can't make it work as a Standard PFS character he can save the concept to use in a campaign mode AP for PFS credit or a home game. Telling someone what the rules are is not being a jerk.

The concept of GMs and players ignoring a whole bunch of rules to make a round peg fit in a square hole, for the sake of fun, does not fit into Organized Play. By choosing to play in PFS you agree to play by PFS rules. You do not have to play PFS in order to play Pathfinder.

If you find that you have to drastically change how Pathfinder works, or ignore rules, in order for you and your group to have fun. You're better off finding a different rpg that fits your play style. There are dozens of different ones available.

Not everyone plans out their purchases in such detail, and other things can change the plan. Personally, I like to read through sources, search the advice board, and look over past chronicles for just a few examples. And I like to do that in response to how my character did in the last scenario. If I feel like I'm weak on saves, I might go out and look for the most efficient way to boost saves. Maybe it's a cloak, or maybe I want to find something else.

And, maybe I use consumables or decide that I might need additional consumables in response to a situation that came up in play. Maybe I don't even know what those are yet. For example, what's a non personal spell I can get as a potion/oil to boost my natural attacks? Maybe I don't know Strong Jaw is a legal potion until I go scouring the message boards and find Mike's post making it so. Having the time to sit with the character and all my sources to decide on the right mix of things to purchase is helpful. Being rushed at the end of the game to make a decision is not.

But you're not performing all of this research at the table during a game. You can always buy things at the start of the next game, and log the gold spent on that game's chronicle sheet. Just because you have a gear wishlist doesn't mean you can't change the priority of each item on the list as you go, or add new items to it.

I still firmly believe that we should open up those options for characters with that feat.

It would be far easier to just ban racial heritage. There are too many rulings that would have to be made if the restrictions were lifted.

Necro again.

Anyone know the minimum GM-stars and minimum tables needed to run the specials and exclusives? As far as I know, Bonekeep 1 and Serpent's Rise are the only 1-table scenarios a non-5-star GM can run that qualify toward their 5th star. And I think Year of the Shadow Lodge has the next-lowest table minimum with 3. Does everything else require 4+ tables or 5-stars?

All Bonekeeps are 4+ Star GMs or VOs of any star rating

True Dragons of Absalom is 5 Star GMs only
Serpents Rise is 4+ Star GMs only
(For True Dragons and Serpent's Rise VOs can't ignore star requirement. VCs count as +2stars higher, VLs count as +1 star higher, VAs do not get an adjustment to their Star rating.)

Multi Table Specials can be GMed by anyone, and the only requirement is being able to run the minimum number of tables simultaneously.
Year of the Shadow Lodge - 3 tables
Blood Under Absalom - 5 tables
Race for the Runecarved Key - 4 tables
Siege of the Diamond City - 5 tables
Legacy of the Stone Lords - 5 tables
Siege of Serpents - 5 tables
The Sky Key Solution - 5 tables.

Bakutaku wrote:

MY question is If I reduced the 5th chronicle sheet do I get access to the boon.

I believe you get the boon when you reach the tier of the scenario or module, which you should note on the chronicle.

Yeah, if the chronicle is normally for levels 13-15, and you reduce it in order to apply it at level 1. The boons do not become available until your character reaches level 13.

7-20: Grand Master Torch's Hot Tub Time Machine

It's still on the to do list. Don't expect campaign leadership to give a release date, but they have been clearing up the backlog of work that Mike's departure caused.

Finlanderboy wrote:

Cross out any treasure items the party didn’t find

in the scenario

They didn't find the item in question. All they found was an empty vial or blank scroll.

You don't cross off used consumables or destroyed(sundered) items from the chronicle sheet at the end of the game.

Here are the basic looting rules for PFS:
*If you walk into a room and kill the (hopefully bad) NPCs you get all the loot listed for that room. Whatever the PCs find unused or undamaged at the end of the fight they can use it until the end of the adventure when they hand in everything they found to the Society loot mart. If items were used or destroyed during the battle. The PCs don't get to use it for the rest of the game, and still get credit for finding it all when they hand in the remains to the society. Basically you could nuke a castle completely leveling it, and spend a week shifting through the rubble, and still find enough left of all the treasure to get full rewards. Although this tactic might negatively impact your team's ability to complete primary or secondary mission objectives.

*If an item is in a secret compartment that the PCs do not find. It is crossed off the chronicle sheet.

*If the PCs walk into the room and bribe or make friends with the NPCs they find all the loot from that fight somewhere else they explore in the adventure.

*If the PCs skip a room and completely walk by it. They don't get any rewards that are inside the room that was skipped, and they are crossed off the chronicle sheet.

*If a NPC carrying stuff is engaged and then escapes. The PCs do not get access to anything this NPC was carrying, and it is crossed off the chronicle sheet.

It helps that the Big bad of the series has access to a lot of personal details about the PCs, so their minions will be warned to expect a lot of the PCs common tactics.

Have the martial NPCs ignore the impossible to hit Eidolon and attack other PCs. If the summoner dies it won't matter what the Eidolon's AC was.

Once you pick a class, class feature or feat after leveling up, it is set in stone once you play that character until you spend the prescribed resources to rebuild/retrain it. Having multiple versions of a character to pick from goes against this campaign rule.

If there is an ambiguous Pathfinder RPG rule debate that the GM and player can't resolve at the table. The player should play with the questionable items inert for the session, or until an official ruling can be found during play.

Compton AND Thursty? Now my thread's really a party!

Awaits the inevitable announcement of kitsune genocide in terror.

That's the theme of Monday's Blog. When they announce the focus of season 8 will be the PCs spearheading the extermination of all kitsune.

We had our chance to stop him, but now he's spread himself online like Skynet. The world is doomed!!!

Once you start EotT the character is locked into the series until you're finished with the entire series. Which means that you can't apply any chronicle sheets to them until they have finished all 4 parts of Eyes.

Talk to the owner of the store, and tell him about the cause of the fall in attendance, and mention that you might need to take corrective action against the players harming the community. Most store owners will be very interested in anything that could harm their business.

Then talk to the players in private and tell them that you have had complaints that they aren't being team players, and if they don't start working on contributing more to the games that you'll need to ask them find a new group to play with.

Clearly tell them the problem, how they can improve, and the consequences. The important thing is to be clear about what they need to do, so it will be up to them to comply. If they choose not to comply with the warnings to improve their attitude. Then you shouldn't feel bad about having to ask them to leave.

If they end up getting banned from that location they can always try running a game of their own.

If you use a level 7 pregen you have to assign it to a character who is level 6 or lower, but you do not apply the chronicle sheet to the character until they hit level 7.

Now for example if the character is 6.2 and plays a mod worth 3xp. You would then jump to 7.2, add then add the waiting pregen credit. Which would bump you to level 8.

If a character hits 7 and they have a pile of 7-11 pregen credits assigned to a character. The pregen credits are applied chronologically in the order that they were played/assigned, and the character is leveled as appropriate. This leveling can affect if they get in-subtier or out-of-subtier rewards for certain chronicle sheets.

I think you can put it on Bracers of Armor...I think. And there may be other ways...

Later you might get a Pearl of Power (or the thing like it for Sorcerers)... So that it lasts all day

While you can normally add most magical armor special abilities to Bracers of Armor. Brawling can only be added to light armor, and Bracers of Armor are not classified as light armor.

Provoking AoOs do not by themselves allow sneak attack. You would either need to be flanking, or the target would need to be denied its Dex to grant you sneak attack. Unless you have a class feature, feat or a magic weapon that allows more situations for sneak attack to be applied.

There is also the chance the target has Uncanny Dodge class feature, and you weren't high enough level to ignore it.

If the boons are faction specific you can only earn them on a character that is a part of that faction.

Ever since the Society messed with the Sky Key, all Pathfinders are jumping back and forth in time. Like in the show Quantum Leap.

This theory also explains why all the factions leaders knew exactly what was going to happen, when deciding on faction missions in the early seasons.

grandpoobah wrote:

You should totally get her a Mithril Shovel! When I think of a shiny silver shovel, I think of the ones they use to ceremoniously break ground on a major project. That would be the "special occasions" shovel!

This isn't actually legal in PFS. The special materials rules specifically talk about weapons and armor. There is no way to make anything other than a weapon, shield or armor with special materials in PFS. It's not explicitly costed out anywhere, so it doesn't exist.

The best improvised weapons of DR-bypassing I've found are the Trusty Buddy*, Mithral Manacles and a Hex Nail.

* Available on a specific chronicle.

Mithral is priced by the pound for anything that isn't armor.

If the group playing at the store has grown enough. Maybe it is time to adjust how you do scheduling and sign-ups, with something like Warhorn.

Make sure to schedule at least one low level game in addition to any higher level games.

Then make sure to post the schedule well enough in advance for everyone to sign up. If you need to limit the signups to 5-6 to leave room for walk ins.

Doing advanced signups is the easiest way to make sure everyone gets to play their own character instead of a pregen.

As a tiefling you wouldn't get Osiriani for free, but the PFS Campaign Guide adds all modern languages, in the Inner Sea World Guide, to the list of bonus languages that you can choose because of a high starting INT score.

If your intelligence score isn't high enough to get Osiriani as a bonus language just wait until the next time you level to put a point into linguistics.

If it isn't listed in the additional resources it isn't PFS legal.

Players deciding to build roleplaying off other characters isn't that big of an issue until it starts to interfere with the mechanical rules of the game.

The difference between Masterwork Transformation and the Wayfinder is that the spell is only referenced in the Guide, but you still need a copy of UM to use it. While the Wayfinder has the full item description in the Guide, so you don't need any other sourcebooks for rule access.

If you look in the Guide. PFS table sizes are suppose to range from 4-6, but it does allow you to stretch to 3 or 7 if no other options are available.

The reason why tables of 3 get a pregen to boost them up to 4 is because the CR system in Pathfinder is based off a group of 4.

Early PFS adventures were balanced around a group of 4. After several years worth of reporting data. The campaign leadership noticed that a large percentage of PFS tables were reported with 6 players.

In response to this data Paizo reformatted the combats in PFS scenarios to account for 6 party members, but also included a method to adjust the encounters for a smaller group of 4.

As long as you have at least 4 players you don't need an extra character to help in combat. Actually a table of 5 is the only size that puts you at a disadvantage.

If you feel that the majority of the tables mustered in your area are missing important skills or are unbalanced in some other way. Then as a community you should try to create a wider variety of characters to resolve that issue.

Encounters is just a free copy of the first three Episodes(Chapters) of the hardback Hoard of the Dragon Queen adventure, that includes tips on how to break it down into 2 hour weekly increments.

You could offer any of the APs in a similar format while running it in home game mode.

At the moment WotC's AL has the equivalent of
6 scenarios with 2 more coming out 11/1/14 only available for Con or store play with no home games allowed
1 module - the Lost Mines adventure in the starter box
the first half of 1 AP Hoard of the Dragon Queen with the second half of the AP coming out the end of October.

Paizo has product options to match all of these.

Summoned creatures have never counted against the one combat pet limit in PFS.

Bonekeep 1 as the current exclusive is available to VOs and 4-5 star GMs to run anytime.

Bonekeep 2 can only be offered at approved events, and can only be run by VOs or 4-5 star GMs.

Bonekeep 3 can only be offered at approved events, and no GM restrictions have been posted at this time.

There has never been any events limited to just VOs. Limitations have always been set to 4-5 star GMs, while VOs can ignore star rating requirements.

I recall there being a discussion of Paths We Choose counting towards the Exclusive/Specials requirement for 5th Star, but I couldn't find a post with a definitive answer. Without the post confirming it counting, I decided to not include it on the list.