Espy Lacopa's page

So, is this Monster Classes book just kinda dead in the water now? It's been more than two years since any kind of update, and the Harpy/Imp/Medusa section came out nearly 4 years ago.

I feel part of the problem with all of this? Magic isn't actually that hard to learn in Pathfinder. Literally half of the entire human population of Golarion is fully capable of learning magic, and even some of the smallest hamlets and thorps with maybe 50 people likely has at least one Adept who provides simple spellcasting, along with an apprentice or two for the future. Remember, you only need 11 in a casting stat to cast Level 1 Spells.

Been looking at the Berserker sphere, and in particular Advancing Carnage, when a thought occured to me.

If I activate the Advancing Carnage on a Brutal Strike, are all the following attacks also brutal strikes, or just that initial attack?

Edit: And tossing in another question that occured to me. If you strike the ground via Shatter Earth and have Shrapnel, what size category does the ground count as for the Shrapnel's area of effect?

If Paizo is ok with losing a customer... Well that's fine. There are plenty of other games for me to play.

And Paizo has plenty of people interested in becoming a new customer for them. So. . . .sounds like everyone's happy.

So, due to my own personal annoyance with the lack of a good Martial Tradition for a Ki Blasting Sage, I cobbled together this:

Ki Blaster martial tradition
Bonus Talents:
Equipment: Unarmed Training.
Equipment: Critical Genius (Ki Blast).
Sniper sphere.
Variable: Ki blasters gain one additional talent of their choice from the Sniper sphere.

I'm now wondering if this would be too specialized, or if you can even take Critical Genius with the Ki Blast.

So, was looking at the Street Fighter monk archetype, and I noticed a sort of oddity and was wondering if it should be changed:

In the Ki Pool monk feature, it mentions that they can spend a Ki Point to gain an extra attack during a Flurry of Blows. Street Fighters traded out the Flurry of Blows for Flurry Strike

Can the Street Fighter still spend a ki point to get an extra attack, but now during Flurry Strike instead of Flurry of Blows?

And the most dangerous of gnolls is the grassy gnoll.

And if you actually checked the rules a level 15 fighter without any gear, who deliberately handicaps his CMB is going to have major problems with a rhino, which has size and four-footed advantages and other things going for it.

Having four legs doesn't actually confer any advantage in a grapple. A Rhino only has a CMD of 20. Extra legs is a defense against trip, against which a Rhino would have a CMD of 24.

A low-balling Fighter, with 15 base strength and putting his level up points into that strength, would have 18. BAB +15 + 4 Str -4 One-Handed Grapple would have a CMB of +15. Thus, he'd successfully grapple that Rhino on a roll of 5 or higher. He'd then be able to Pin on subsequent rounds on a roll of 2 or higher.

Meanwhile, the Rhino's only got a CMB of +10, versus that same fighter's CMD of 25 (if you also include the -4 to CMD because of the one-handed method), so the Rhino would need to roll at least a 15 to break free.

That Fighter isn't going to have THAT much trouble pinning that Rhino. and this isn't even a fighter designed for grappling.

In fact, I looked up the grappling rules, curious as to where that bit with the -4 penalty came from. You could do all of that. . .with BOTH arms tied behind your back. And still only have a -4 penalty.

There are many possibilities in this setting if you use your imagination.

And that imagination is being used by things like the Advanced Bestiary. Because Paizo has OTHER ideas that they want to use and its clear that they have neither the time nor space to deal with every single idea that players could want in their games.

Espy Lacopa wrote:

Dragon78 wrote:

Not interested in the Advanced Bestiary, I do not buy third party products.

But isn't Pathfinder a 3pp of 3.5 D&D?

Originally yes, but 3.5 DnD isn't in production anymore so now Pathfinder is 1pp for it and compatible products.

Except. . .Pathfinder isn't made by the first party (Wizards of the Coast). So it can't be 1pp.

Not interested in the Advanced Bestiary, I do not buy third party products.

But isn't Pathfinder a 3pp of 3.5 D&D?

Espy Lacopa wrote:

CryntheCrow wrote:

D: Again, discrepancy between file and what I wrote. Its actually Str 10, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 7. At level 12, I simply pump that cha +1 and leave wis at 20. Mechanically, its the same.

>_> How'd you get 7 charisma on a Halfling with point buy? They have a +2 Racial Bonus to it.

Even if that's a 7 before racial, that'd be a 17 pt buy (12/12/10/10/18/7 = 2+2+17-4). If you mixed it up, then yeah 20 pt buy would fit.

No, no, I'm saying I BOUGHT the 7, which gets upgraded to a 9, which then goes to a 10 at 12 when I'm not going to see benefit from raising wisdom to 21. Moot point anyways, trying something new.

But that's then an 18 pt buy (5+17-4). I do find the build intriguing, So I'm nitpicking to figure out how to actually do it while still being mechanically sound.

D: Again, discrepancy between file and what I wrote. Its actually Str 10, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 7. At level 12, I simply pump that cha +1 and leave wis at 20. Mechanically, its the same.

>_> How'd you get 7 charisma on a Halfling with point buy? They have a +2 Racial Bonus to it.

Even if that's a 7 before racial, that'd be a 17 pt buy (12/12/10/10/18/7 = 2+2+17-4). If you mixed it up, then yeah 20 pt buy would fit.

Found another minor error: You need lv5 Monk or BAB +5 to get Crane Wing; Since you only have 2 levels of Monk, you'd need BAB +5 which you don't get with this build until that third Hunter Level (Character Level 7)

So, swap Dirty Fighting (which has no prereqs) and Crane Wing, and that's fine. As for the Combat Reflexes? I'd say drop Lookout and at lv11 get Paired Opportunists as the Hunter Bonus and Combat Reflexes as the level 11 feat.

I'm also rather curious as to how you reached the base saves you have listed, I came out to just +13/+8/+5, or +14/+9/+6 with the Halfling Luck racial bonus.

That HP total seems. . .off. 9d8+3d10, using PFS would be 66, plus maybe 7 for Hunter favored class for 73 total. Not sure where the last 5 points are from.

Be aware: "Fools for Friends" isn't a normal trait, it's a Campaign Trait from the Second Darkness AP.

And lastly. . .what point buy is that using? The array of 10/14/10/10/18/10 looks like a 22 point buy. . .which is really odd.

I'm curious as to how you're getting Combat Reflexes at level 2. The Sensei Archetype removes the monk bonus feat at that level, and you don't get a normal leveling feat until Character Level 3.

Espy Lacopa wrote:

johnlocke90 wrote:

Qaianna wrote:

johnlocke90 wrote:

I make wizards take concentration checks to cast if they don't have their robes and pointy hat on. Its harder for them to think if they aren't dressed properly for magic.

Hopefully that's in jest. 'Properly' is, as this thread is showing, pretty subjective -- you're opening yourself to 'Well, of course MY wizard learned to cast in something else!'.

Well then their character learned how to do magic wrong and will take penalties for that.

That's why Sorcerers are superior. They can just do magic instictually, and thus can still wear fashionable clothes instead of frumpy robes and pointy hat.

Yep, sorcerers are different. Which is fitting as sorcerers are the more charismatic and sociable of the two classes.

So, what kind of outfits are your Magi, Bards, and Witches required to wear?

Qaianna wrote:

johnlocke90 wrote:

I make wizards take concentration checks to cast if they don't have their robes and pointy hat on. Its harder for them to think if they aren't dressed properly for magic.

Hopefully that's in jest. 'Properly' is, as this thread is showing, pretty subjective -- you're opening yourself to 'Well, of course MY wizard learned to cast in something else!'.

Well then their character learned how to do magic wrong and will take penalties for that.

That's why Sorcerers are superior. They can just do magic instictually, and thus can still wear fashionable clothes instead of frumpy robes and pointy hat.

Milo v3 wrote:

Irthos wrote:

The issue isn't "martials have nice things." It's that the mechanic letting them do those things is stepping all over the toes of a similar mechanic, while abstracting itself in a manner that breaks verisimilitude.

I'm fine with issues like you discuss in your post. I just find it rather strange that people want grappling limited to "guy at the gym" when everything else is mythic in PoW.

Perhaps eventually going a LITTLE bigger, but certainly no more than two sizes larger.

I dunno. Those higher level characters can just casually do some pretty absurd things.

Like falling from a mile-high airship and walking it off with nothing more than a few scrapes and bruises that'll heal in a week's time. (20d6 damage isn't that much, really.) Same fall in reality would end up with a person broken and bleeding on the ground. If not dead.

I just want to point out something in regard to the Telekineticist:

From the playtest -- "Telekineticists use strands of aether to move objects with their minds"

The Telekineticist is a master of Aether, just like the Pyrokinetic is a master of Fire, and the Hydrokinetic is a master of Water.

If you want your Aether to rip open portals for teleportation and such. . .why not?

I like Free Books.

Sorcerer Bloodlines for me, I think. Because I like Sorcerers.

So, was perusing the Psychic spell list, and I noticed something odd.

Is Permanency a lv5 Psychic spell, or a Lv6 Psychic spell? Because it shows up on both.

Bestest Party ever:

All Barbarians, All The Time.

Need healing? Just let one of them pick up UMD and some healing wands.

Damage? Oh yes, plenty of that ^_^

Overcome obstacles? Obstacles are for killing.

My Personal favorate secondary class to gestalt with a primarly martial class (like the Bloodrager) is the Rogue.

The martial class fixes up a number of aspects that can make it painful to play a rogue, and all the rogue tricks and the extra skill points make it much more enjoyable to play as a character outside of combat. Not to mention the sizable boost to overall damage due to gaining all that Sneak Attack damage.

I always enjoyed the Warforged Juggernaut. Alas, can't see that one making a come back without Warforged. Maybe a version of it for those Androids.

I'd love to see how she'd interact with someone like Valeros or Alain (especially since they're both Taldan nobility).

Wait wait wait. Since when was Valeros nobility?! I thought he was a farmboy who left for adventure to dodge marriage!

Man, I remember a time when a bad roll at character generation meant you had to suck it up and play that character with 6 or so in an ability score.

And now, for some reason, wanting to play with that same kind of handicap is seen as powergaming and other such "awful" things.

And yes, a statdump IS a handicap. That low wisdom of course means low will-saves (both from enemies AND players), that low intelligence means only a single skill point per level, and the low charisma is likely going to end up meaning that orc will be boned in most any social environment.

Gee, It would suck to have to play such a character in a vacuum with no support from other characters, right? And that's of course the only way you'd be playing such a character, without any backup ever!

The superhero MMO tangent reminds me how in City of Heroes, the 'Defender' class included a primary healer option (Empathy) and some other options, like the Storm Defender (who made foes have so much trouble hitting his allies, due to debuffs from the weather and getting flung all over the place by the extreme weather, that they didn't need a dedicated healer) or the Force Field Defender (who, as the name suggests, just put force bubbles around his allies, and used other effects, like knockback blasts or repulsion fields, to also prevent / mitigate damage).

The concept was sometimes effective, sometimes not so much, but I did appreciate that there were *options* to having a 'hit point healer,' either people who prevented damage with defensive shields, or stopped foes from hitting, or did other things, than just mop up the blood and stitch the wounds *after* the damage was done. I kinda wish it was a more do-able concept in tabletop gaming.

City of Heroes. . .I remember the sheer power of teams composed entirely of Defenders.

The multiplicative way that all the buffs/debuffs they had mixed just made them so ridiculously powerful that they'd just curb stomp -everything-

It was actually fun, because in a very real way in CoH, Empathy (the pure healing one) was actually one of the weakest defender primaries. . .

To stake, I imagine you would need a mallet and a prone vamp, or a really fine grapple and shiv check.

Eh. My take would be. . .Staking is a Coup de Grace. Keeps it nice, simple, and uses existing rules in a fashion that makes sense.

This...may be off topic, in that it's only related to the time dilation effect of certain abilities being discussed here, but it is related, so here we go.

A little while back, I came up with a half-baked mechanic for dealing with this sort of thing. I've run into many, many instances of players taking way too long planning out every nuance of their actions and slowing play to a crawl - and yes, I'm guilty of this myself.

To combat this, I instituted a timer lasting about a minute per person, as suggested above.

And with the players having 60 rounds of stuff. . .that say half a minute per person becomes Half an Hour.

Just going to toss this in there:

Yeti's aren't humanoids, and thus are safe to skin. They're -Monstrous Humanoids-

You might consider this metagamey and it doesn't necessarily speak to your particular situation, but if I may... The problem here isn't a matter of tactics as it is the inclusion of instant gratification "I win" spells like greater invisibility. Awesome advantages, very few drawbacks.

I try to limit these types of spells in my campaigns, usually with houserules. For example, there is no greater invisibility (or I make it a higher level than 4, maybe 7 or 8). Fly can be speed-limited to the character's base speed (usually 30') and/or duration limited to rounds/level. Teleport is another one I dislike. The 100 mile range/level is far, far too much (I remember the affect it had on my STAP campaign once the PCs could just teleport back to Sasserine on a whim).

Just some thoughts.

-Skeld

Greater Invisibility isn't an "I Win" button.

Downsides to it? First off, it only lasts a round per caster level (11 in this case, with the lv11 sorc). By the time he casts it on the fourth person on the party, the first person is down to 8 rounds left on his Invisibility.

Second, casting it on the entire party used up more than half of that caster's allotted 4th level spells.

And then there's all the counters that have already been mentioned, from the mundane (bag of powder stuff like flour) to the magical (see invisibility, glitterdust, and such).

Lastly? Unless the party has a way to see invisibility themselves, this means they can't even see each other and thus have just as much idea of where the rest of the party is as your foes do.

The main problem that the original poster, Sebastian, ran into was that the party only had the one encounter. The moment you start adding more encounters you'll find that tactics like casting Greater Invis on everyone start to fall apart because it just doesn't last long enough for multiple fights.

Stratagemini wrote:

I ran a Brief One on One Combat between a Level 16/Tier 8 Polearm Master Fighter/Dual Path Champion Guardian and a Tarrasque. The Player rendered the Tarrasque Unconscious in 2 Rounds, taking only 9 Damage in the process (and that from a Crit hit on the Bite/Grab of the Tarrasque) assuming that the Tarrasque cannot ignore Epic DR. If it can ignore such DR, then The Player only Took 29 Damage in the Process due to judicious Use of Mythic Power.

How many points of Power did he have left? Per day resources generally assume you'll be having more than a single one vs. one fight. If he really blew his load, he'll be in trouble when the mythic dragon comes after him minutes later.

Don't forget when the Tarrasque gets back up in the next few rounds.

From my perspective. . .(the stonelord dwarf), The combat essentially felt like a regular nonmythic fight. The only really noticeable aspect would be the fact that the winter wolf acted twice in the round. Other than that though, combat went smoothly even with the lack of real cooperation due to the one-shot nature of the session and characters.

My best guess as to why it's so popular is that unlike previous MLP shows (and a great many girl shows), is that instead of being written for just the kids of female persuasion, it was written for the entire family.

Hence, all the more adult-minded jokes and references that will go straight over the heads of the kiddies, but cause the parents to bust a gut laughing.

Fireball CL5 (avg 17) vs 10 Ftr4 with Con14 (avg 34 hp) sounds bad, but if all fail the save you just did 50% enemy hp in one round, which is likely a better outcome than putting 2 to sleep or slightly weakening them with a stinking cloud (since they will likely make those fort saves) or casting Haste so your allied can hit them more.

You know. . .10 lv4 Fighters is a CR 9 or so encounter. It's in that annoying gap between 9 and 10, due to the number of creatures.

Now, if this were a lv6 Sorcerer, that suddenly becomes 6d6 damage. Add another 6 for the proper bloodline, and now you're doing an average of 27 damage. Huh. That's only 7 less than those monsters' HP.

But a Large Bat (3rd level summon) can. It has an INT of only 2, so I don't know if that's enough for it to understand the order to keep you within 30' of your buffees. (You are the buffer, your comrades are the buffees.) Also, he doesn't speak any languages, so you need Speak With Animals, etc. and perhaps a Handle Animal check. The Hound Archon avoids all that. You really need an intelligent summoned monster for this tactic to work.

Feral Speech hex perhaps?

The thing that really bugs me about this thread is that it wouldn't even exist if the 7 was in Strength. It also wouldn't exist if the character was a sorcerer and the 7 was in, well, any other stat. I've seen barbarians with 3 Intelligence, and nobody even bats an eye, but as soon as you dump Charisma, somebody wants to complain about it like it's some sort of game breaking social disease. I'll really never understand the phenomena.

Oh, that's just because it's frequently agreed upon that Charisma is the least useful of the 6 abilities unless you're playing a class that is heavily dependent on it.

For flavor, how about a Rogue(Spy) mixed with Inquisitor(Infiltrator)?

Super secret Secret Agent type character. Plenty of skill points thanks to rogue, all good saves, Improved Evasion + Stalwart. Only really need at most 16 wisdom for Inquisitor spellcasting, and it can be done in light armor without issue due to being divine. Would probably drop a feat or rogue talent into Weapon Finesse, and then pick up a Dueling Weapon so that you can add your Dex Mod to your damage dealt.

And just for the contradiction, Truth Inquisition. Just for the idea of routing out the truth through lies and deceit.

Espy Lacopa wrote:

But doesn't that mean, since you have more nonlethal than hp, that you immediately fall unconcious?

Which would thus mean, rage ends. ..and you lose at least 40 hp at your stated level 20. And then you're at negative, and bleeding. . .

Which means the raging vitality feat is even more attractive to a barbarian than before.

Still means you'd be unconscious though. Thus, any time Guarded Life can be used, you're going to be unconscious. Raging Vitality just makes it so that you aren't bleeding and dying in the process.

Personally, I prefer the mix of Guarded Life and Diehard.

Then you just don't fall unconscious ^_^ Becomes mighty difficult to kill the barbarian then!

Hunterofthedusk wrote:

I would say that it is not subject to DR as you aren't actually taking any more damage, you are converting damage you have already taken into a different kind of damage.

OK, so guarded life just delays dropping by 1 round. It doesn't leave you at 0 though does it? I interperet a 10th level Barb with 7 hp left who is hit and after DR is taken into account there was 14 points of lethal damage left. This was sufficient to leave the barbarian at -7 HP. Does Guarded stance convert ten points of that remaining 13 points that dropped him to non-lethal- leaving him with 3hp. Or does it merely convert the -2HP to non lethal- leaving him stable at 0?

But doesn't that mean, since you have more nonlethal than hp, that you immediately fall unconcious?

Which would thus mean, rage ends. ..and you lose at least 40 hp at your stated level 20. And then you're at negative, and bleeding. . .