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Hey all!

So, my group only recently switched over to 2E, and we're building characters for a new campaign this weekend. I might be playing a leshy, and I decided to try my hand at creating a custom heritage for this ancestry, along with a feat chain to complement it. This is my first ever attempt at homebrewing for 2E, though I did a bunch of it for 1E. Anyway, here's the google drive link:

Root Leshy Heritage

Any and all comments are welcome, and very much appreciated!

Cheers,
- Gears


Hello folks! I'm not sure if anyone remembers me, but I used to frequent these boards years ago posting homemade classes and stuff. Took a pretty long break from RPGs, but I've recently gotten back into messing around with PF stuff, and I thought I'd share an old class I built before my hiatus, but which I never got around to publishing.

Link to the Google Drive folder: Congeries Files
EDIT: The folder also includes a handful of weirdo archetypes I created for the class

I'm going to dive straight into looking at other people's stuff here, but I thought I'd just throw this up in the meantime. Basically, this is a pretty weird idea I had, of making a playable "swarm template" class. It's a class that allows you to play a swarm, either one that's gained sentience via a hive mind, or one represented by the swarm's "leader" which is played and represented by the player. It's a pretty out-there class/character concept and certainly won't fit every campaign, but I think I've managed to create a playable swarm that isn't too OP or impervious. You don't actually gain the true swarm template, though it is included in an appendix for reference. Anyway, any thoughts or criticisms welcome!

Cheers,
- Gears


Sorry if this has already been brought up, but I couldn't find it. Is there any info on how much homebrewing (if any) one will have to do in order to file off the default campaign setting of Starfinder?

A lot of the time, my group really likes creating our own campaign worlds, campaigns and adventures. We just want the rules and don't like using prefab fluff. Does this game seem like it's gonna work for a group like ours?

Cheers,
- Gear


Hi everyone.
So, this is something I've always been unclear regarding. I know that, for instance, flying creatures are immune to trip maneuvers, but does this also render them immune to the prone condition? What's the case with climbing and swimming creatures? Let's say some effect requires making a Reflex save, and upon failing this save the target becomes prone. What effect will this have on a climbing, flying and swimming critter, respectively?

Cheers,
- Gears


The rules for combat in aquatic terrain state:

Quote:
Characters swimming, floating, or treading water on the surface, or wading in water at least chest deep, have improved cover (+8 bonus to AC, +4 bonus on Reflex saves) from opponents on land. Land-bound opponents who have freedom of movement effects ignore this cover when making melee attacks against targets in the water. A completely submerged creature has total cover against opponents on land unless those opponents have freedom of movement effects. Magical effects are unaffected except for those that require attack rolls (which are treated like any other effects) and fire effects.

Does this mean that, unless I am benefiting from freedom of movement, if I am standing on the shoreline, I cannot jab a spear down to strike a fish swimming in the water, because it is "completely submerged" and thus has total cover?


I love weirdo monster-like races, especially things akin to constructs, undead, oozes, aberrations and swarms. Eldritch stuff.

Wyrwood are super-neat. Weird little magical wooden puppet people. Creepy and cool. But, obviously, with their construct immunities they seem absolutely broken. I know constructs have weaknesses and drawbacks as well, as a creature type, but these don't seem in any way, shape or form to be properly balanced against the boons.

Is there some class or...thing or something, some means by which one could include a wyrwood PC in a campaign with other, normal PCs without wrecking utter havoc? Has anyone ever had any good experiences with wyrwood PCs?


Let's say your GM told you before a campaign that each PC is going to gain immunity to one type of energy damage and vulnerability to another one, as chosen by the PC from the following list: acid, cold, electricity and fire. If you did not know anything else about the campaign, nor about your fellow PCs' choices, which immunity/vulnerability combo would you choose, any why?


I am very sorry if this has already been asked and properly answered, but my Google Fu did not manage to come up with anything definitive. The question, though, is pretty simple...I think?

The Regeneration entry of the Universal Monster Rules reads:

Quote:

A creature with this ability is difficult to kill. Creatures with regeneration heal damage at a fixed rate, as with fast healing, but they cannot die as long as their regeneration is still functioning (although creatures with regeneration still fall unconscious when their hit points are below 0). Certain attack forms, typically fire and acid, cause a creature’s regeneration to stop functioning on the round following the attack. During this round, the creature does not heal any damage and can die normally. The creature's descriptive text describes the types of damage that cause the regeneration to cease functioning.

Attack forms that don’t deal hit point damage are not healed by regeneration. Regeneration also does not restore hit points lost from starvation, thirst, or suffocation. Regenerating creatures can regrow lost portions of their bodies and can reattach severed limbs or body parts if they are brought together within 1 hour of severing. Severed parts that are not reattached wither and die normally.

A creature must have a Constitution score to have the regeneration ability.

It seems pretty clear that as long as a creature's regeneration is still functioning, it is not possible for the creature to die. Is this correct?

For example, would this mean that a death effect, or any ability that just instantly kills a creature, has no effect on, say, a troll, unless that troll has already been dealt acid or fire damage in the same round, thus cancelling its regeneration?


Considering that both animals and giants tend primarily to feature in combat roles in PF when the adventurers encounter them, isn't it weird that they, by dint of their respective creature types, don't have d10 HD and full BAB? It seems strange to me that, like, a medusa has a higher BAB than a giant of equivalent HD. Maybe I'm missing something or just not looking at it the right way, but it strikes me as ever so slightly wonky.

Cheers,
- Gears


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This is something I've always been struggling with how to frame when translating crunch into fluff. Some creatures are only immune to critical hits, but not to precision damage. Take, for instance, a swarm. You cannot crit against a swarm, but you can totally sneak attack it (although only when it's flat-footed, because it's immune to flanking for obvious reasons). How would one conceptualize that, from a storytelling perspective?


Okay, so say I'm like a Huge elephant or whatever. And this Great White Hunter is trying to shoot me, but there's a Fine-sized insect in the way. Does the bug provide me (the elephant) with soft cover, just like a Medium-sized creature would? That seems wrong, man, but I can't find it in the rules text where it clarifies that at a certain point the size disparity between you and another creature precludes you from granting soft cover. Like, in a fight between Cthulhu and your average kaiju, would an intervening halfling grant soft cover?

I'm sure there's something really obvious I'm missing here, but this has just gotten me downright stumped!


Let's say I have a swarm. It takes 50% additional damage from area effects. Let's say this swarm is also vulnerable to fire. Takes 50% additional damage from effects that deal fire damage. These stack, right, meaning if I hit that sucker with a fireball it takes double (100% additional) damage?


Can anyone help out with this? The Universal Monster Rules says that the trample monster ability works like an overrun maneuver minus the need for a CMB check, but then it says a bunch of wacky other stuff that makes this previous statement very hard to parse.

Overrun is done as a standard action as part of moving, or as part of a charge (one assumes without needing to spend a standard action, since this would be impossible). Trample says it takes a full-round action to use. What does this mean? It doesn't say how far you can move via this full-round action or anything. Since the trample ability doesn't involve a CMB check, is it not possible for a trampling creature to render the creature it tramples prone, or does this happen automatically or what? Can a trampling creature trample any number of creatures in the way of its movement (however long this movement turns out to be allowed to be)?

Any insight into any of these issues would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
- Gears


I have a question about swarms!

Maybe this is just me being dense, but I never feel entirely sure about this one. Is it correct that a swarm only deals damage to creatures whose space it is sharing at the end of its own turn? If I move through a swarm's space, for instance, it won't damage me if I am out of said space before the swarm's turn?


Kind of a simple question, hopefully. Is a swarm's swarm attack considered an area effect, so that if two swarms occupy the same area, they each take 50% additional damage from the other swarm's swarm attack?


Hi y'all.
Quick question. If I use Shadow Conjuration to mimic Acid Arrow, or if I use Shadow Evocation to mimic Fireball, do the shadow versions of these spell retain the [acid] and [fire] descriptors, or do they simply have the [shadow] descriptor? Are any descriptors retained when using shadow magic to mimic other spells?


I'm sleep-deprived and trying to figure this out. I basically want to figure out which Paizo classes don't get selectable abilities? Abilities you only get to pick one or two of don't count, nor do spells and bonus feats, because they're too general. I want things specific and integral to the class, like rogue talents, alchemist discoveries, et cetera. Cavalier orders are out (you only get one), domains are out (you get two, at most) and so are deeds (you get a whole bunch, but they ain't selectable). Any input warmly welcome. :)

Cheers,
- Gears


I had this notion for a swarm-based house rule. Swarms made of Diminutive or smaller creatures take double damage from area effects, rather than just 50% extra damage. I was thinking this would balance them against Tiny-sized swarms, since the latter are not immune to weapon damage, whereas Diminutive and smaller swarms are. Also, greater surface area = more damage from area effects?


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"PEW-PEW!"

...I'll show myself out.


8 people marked this as a favorite.

What ho, esteemed Paizonians!
So, this is a base class for Pathfinder I built a while back, called the wyrmer. Although I've never played D&D 3.5 myself (only PF), I have looked through some old source books, and this class is very much indebted to the 3.5 base class called the Dragonfire Adept as well as, to a lesser extent, the Dragon Shaman base class.

This is no mere conversion, however. The idea was to create a sort of Dragon Discipline-like class, except focused on a breath weapon (with natural attacks as back-up weaponry) and some at-will powers (extraordinary, spell-like and supernatural both). I created this class before either Occult Adventures or Pathfinder Unchained had been released, but have since made a few tweaks to it. I'm not sure yet how this stacks up as an at-will blaster in comparison to the kineticist, but hopefully you guys can tell me. :)

So, without further ado, here's the Google Drive folder containing all the wyrmer stuff:

The Wyrmer Files

The folder contains the main Wyrmer document, as well as the Dragon Arts document, the latter being the class' list of selectable abilities. If changes are made to any wyrmer documents, that will be reflected in the contents of the folder available via the above link. The folder also contains a handful of archetypes, primarily based around non-chromatic/metallic types of dragons. Here's a brief description of each one:

Breathwright - An archetype focused around shaping one's breath weapon in new and exciting ways.
Draconic Scion - An archetype that lets you play an actual dragon, albeit one that hastens its growth at the cost of gaining lesser powers than a regular true dragon.
Dragon Warrior- Samurai-ish archetype focused around imperial dragons.
Primeval Wyrmer - Barbarian-ish archetype focused around primal dragons.
Starscale Adept- Alien-ish archetype focused around outer dragons.
Werewyrm- A shapechanger archetype that essentially lets you become a sort of were-dragon.
Wyrmkeeper - Gives up breath weapon and other draconic powers, but instead gains a faerie dragon or a pseudodragon as an animal companion, that gains various powers as you level up.

I'm currently planning on making an archetype based around the esoteric dragons, as well as some kind of undead-ish archetype focused around raveners and wyrmwraiths. I'm also thinking of creating a wacky jabberwock-themed archetype. So if people like the class, those things will probably be in the pipeline soon.

Anyway, hope y'all enjoy!

Cheers,
- Gears


I'm considering implementing a house rule whereby swarms and troops, when they deal automatic damage, also allow you a Reflex save (DC = 10 + 1/2 HD + Dex mod) to halve the damage. I like swarms and troops quite a bit as enemies, and tend to use them more often than I think is common in your average AP or campaign. With that in mind, I've never really liked the idea of automatic damage with no means of mitigating or avoiding it. Also, I'm figuring this would give a small boost to classes that possess evasion and improved evasion, which I think could be nice, since those rarely tend to be the most powerful classes.

Does this sound reasonable? I realize that in the average campaign, swarms and troops will figure as enemies so rarely that it probably would not be worth the bother, but since I am planning on utilizing these two subtypes more frequently, even at higher levels where especially swarms tend to be quite rare?

Cheers,
- Gears


When you take damage from a swarm or from a troop, what damage type is that? Is it bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, what?


Alright, so I want to create a simple fighter archetype that's basically a regular warrior/soldier/whatever who's been stricken by a mysterious curse which grants access to a few supernatural powers.

Here's my current setup:

1. Oracle curse (fighter level = effective oracle level) replaces 1st-level bonus feat.

2. Save bonus against hexes and curses replaces bravery.

3. Witch hexes (fighter level = effective witch level) replaces bonus feats from 2nd level and onwards. Can select major hexes starting at 12th and grand hexes starting at 20th level.

4. Ability to cast bestow curse once per day as SLA (fighter level = caster level, Int-based DC) replaces weapon training 1. WP 2, 3 and 4 replaced by additional daily use of this ability.

Leave armor training as is.

Does this seem balanced? I realize it's more powerful than most other fighter archetypes, but I'm thinking more in comparison to like a paladin, ranger or barbarian/bloodrager?

Alternate way of going about it, which might be more in line with existing archetypes, would be to still have the oracle curse replace the 1st-level bonus feat, but then leave the rest of the bonus feats in. Instead, armor training is replaced by witch hexes at 3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th and 19th. Major hexes at 11th and grand hexes at 19th.

Cheers,
- Gears


I cobbled this together. What do y'all think?

Spoiler:
Holy Allies

You are able to more effectively share your blessed powers with your good-aligned allies.

Prerequisite: Divine bond class feature, lay on hands class feature.

Benefit: Once per day, you can invite a number of good-aligned allies equal to your Charisma modifier to pray or meditate with you, designating them as your holy allies for the next 24 hours. This takes 1 hour, but can be done as part of preparing your spells, if you so choose. You can use your lay on hands ability to heal a holy ally as a swift action instead of a standard action. In addition, if you chose to gain the ability to enhance a weapon as your divine bond, you can now use this ability to enhance a weapon belonging to one of your holy allies. This can be done out to a range of 30 feet, although do note that enhancing a new weapon with a celestial spirit immediately causes it to leave any weapon it was already enhancing.

Any and all comments welcome.

Cheers,
- Gears


If I were to create a custom weapon that had a critical hit multiplier of 1-1/2, i.e., one that increased damage by only 50% on a critical hit, what kind of crit range might suitable if I wanted it to remain an attractive martial weapon? Would 16-20 be workable as a base rate?

Any views welcome.

Cheers,
- Gears


Hello, everyone. For a campaign I'm currently GM-ing I'm looking into creating some interesting NPCs that the PCs may come into conflict and/or form alliances with. One type of character I want to create is a sort of occult warrior. It struck me that combining the battle host archetype for the occultist base class with the Magus' variant multiclassing options might fill that role quite admirably, essentially creating a sort of occultist/magus hybrid. Does anyone have any interesting build ideas or thoughts around this combo? I'm sort of just fishing for inspiration at the moment. The character will probably be introduced around 5th level, but could well end up leveling alongside the party all the way up to level 15th or even higher. Far more likely to be a recurring villain than any sort of GMNPC or ally or such, this particular character. Anyway, any input welcome!

Cheers,
- Gears


So, swarms (and also troops) whose space exceeds 10-by-10 feet are stated as having completely shapeable spaces. But how does this work in practice? Can a swarm reshape its space at will? Does it require an action, and if so, what kind? Does reshaping itself in any way count as movement for the swarm, and if so, does it detract from the swarm's available movement per round, and does it provoke attacks of opportunity? If a large swarm breaks up into non-contiguous segments, how does that work? Is there a limit on how far apart such segments can move?

Any kind of clarification on this point would be très, très boss. :)

Cheers,
- Gears


So, this is how my table has always run splash weapons as they pertain to swarms. You can target a swarm with a splash weapon, since it's a weapon. I know that swarms consisting of Diminutive or smaller creatures are immune to weapon damage, but that's not the same as being immune to being targeted by weapon attacks. I can make an attack roll with my greatsword against a swarm composed of Fine creatures; I'm just not going to deal any damage to it.

What we've further houseruled is that even though technically a Diminutive- or Fine-creatured swarm should be immune to a splash weapon's main damage, and thus only take the splash damage, it instead takes full damage from a splash weapon, as well as splash damage, and this combined damage is increased by 50%.

This seems, to me at least, the comport more closely with the RAI of how swarms function vis-a-vis area effects, and I think it seems like a balanced way of allowing non-spellcasters to be able to handle swarms at least somewhat more competently.

Thoughts?

Cheers,
- Gears


Hi folks.

So, I have a conundrum I am trying to solve. It appears that swarms do not add their (usually negative) Strength modifier to the damage done by their swarm attacks. For instance, have a gander at this spider swarm with a Strength score of 1, whose swarm attack is not incurring a -5 penalty to its damage. By contrast, the sample troop described here does indeed seem to be adding the troop's +8 Strength modifier to the damage done by its troop attack.

As far as I can tell, there is no text in either the swarm or troop subtype clarifying how swarm attacks and troop attacks are supposed to work in this regard. I mean, it seems reasonable to assume that swarms don't add Strength, while troops appear to do so, but it's never spelled out. Any ideas? Has this ever been explained?

Cheers,
- Gears


This is just something I threw together a couple of months back and I thought I'd share it in case anyone might find it fun or useful. It's a very simple idea: a divine summoner archetype. I did also have a slight sub-motive of nerfing the summoner a bit power-level-wise, which I think this archetype achieves, as well as making it more focused on the eidolon and less focused on summoning other critters. The latter I think is also evinced by the sacral summoner's alternate class features. Anyway, here it is:

The Sacral Summoner

Hope y'all enjoy!

Cheers,
- Gears


Hi gang. I was just wondering if anyone's got any ideas regarding how to do this. What I mean is, I don't like how the blade adept works mechanically. I would love blending the arcanist with the magus, but would prefer doing it via a magus archetype that somehow gets access to exploits (and maybe some sort of arcane pool/reservoir hybrid thingie), kind of like an arcanist version of the hexcrafter. Ideally it would change the magus to arcanist casting too. So does anyone have any suggestions for how this could be balanced? It seems like it could be a neat sort of archetype to put together, although perhaps a lot harder to balance than I'm imagining when it's just a nebulous concept in my head. Anyway, I'd love to hear any ideas or views on the matter.

Cheers,
- Gears


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The quote in the thread title is attributed to H.P. Lovecraft, whose bleak "cosmicist" philosophy inspired the creation of the nihilurge, a new PF base class I've created. Those familiar with my shadewright class will recognize the nihilurge as partly an expansion of the world deformer archetype I created for that class. To a lesser extent, it also vaguely works as a reimagining of my now-defunct alienist base class. The nihilurge has no ties to the Shadow Plane, drawing instead on the powers of the void to warp reality, birth abominations from inanimate matter and mutate the flesh of both her allies and foes. Deity-defying, madness-courting and quite vile, the nihilurge is my idea of a proper cosmic horror-themed base class! I hope y'all enjoy.

The Nihilurge Files

The link above contains a Google Drive folder, wherein can be found the main nihilurge document and the document containing the class' selectable abilities, called anomalies. If changes and expansions are made to the class, these will be reflected in the contents of the above URL, which I will continuously update.

Cheers,
- Gears


Alright, so this is for a homebrew thing I am working on, and I would just like to get any feedback at all. It's rather a strange question, but here goes:

Let's say you had one of the classic 3/4 BAB 6-level caster classes, i.e. alchemist, bard, occultist, inquisitor, etc..

Roughly speaking, if you could trade out the spellcasting for a steadily increasing amount of extra gold at each new class level, roughly how much gold do you think you would need to be offered (levels 1-20) in order for the trade to feel attractive, but neither clearly OP nor worse when compared to the lost casting? I realize the answer will differ based on which class is being considered, and classes more heavily focused on casting will by definition feel they need a lot more gold in order for the trade to be worth it. To make things easier, perhaps don't consider classes like magus where a lot of the class' other class features would become useless if magic was taken away. Bard, inquisitor or alchemist would probably be the ideal candidates to consider.

Anyway, I realize this is quite an odd thing to ask about, but I'd really appreciate any sort of response.

Cheers,
- Gears


Hiya folks.
So, for an upcoming campaign I am GM-ing I require (for reasons we need not go into here) an NPC that is a level 20 commoner. I want to make this character as versatile and powerful as possible within the confines of the commoner class. The NPC can be of any PC race; she cannot have templates or racial HD. She gains 2 traits at character creation like a PC and has PC WBL. I'm basically soliciting suggestions from people for optimized level 20 commoner builds. If the build also functions somewhat at levels 5, 10 and 15, that would be a great bonus, but the focus is on level 20. Any and all ideas welcome, with the one caveat that I am sadly not going to be able to utilize any suggestions involving this character possessing levels in any class except commoner. This is the one utterly non-negotiable aspect of this concept, so I feel it's just as well to clarify this firmly at the onset. Otherwise, I'll be utterly thrilled with any advice I get!

Cheers,
- Gears


Hey gang.
So I cobbled this class together a few months ago. The idea was basically to create a mage/witch-hunter type class that gains access to just enough magical tricks to mess with spellcasters on their own terms. In that sense, it's not a "mage killer" class in the oft-popular sense I've seen in other homebrew where you create this completely non-magical (usually d10 HD/full BAB) class that's just really good at killing casters. These guys were more envisioned as anti-magic agents, tracking and hunting down casters and dispelling their spells, et cetera. Kind of a high-magic concept from a flavor standpoint, I suppose.

Anyway, here's a link to the Google Drive Folder containing the class:

Unmage Files

There's only two documents in there, one for the main class, and then one containing a list of its "selectable talents" class features, which I've dubbed "abarcanas".

So, I hope people enjoy. The class hasn't gone through playtesting yet, so I'm sure there are potentially plenty of kinks both big and small that need ironing out. Any and all comments welcome!

Cheers,
- Gears


So, I cobbled these together a while back, and I rather like them. Their mechanics are rather simple but strike me as fun, playable and at least moderately balanced. The hexenmeister is a witch who eschews traditional spellcasting to focus solely on hexes and curses, while the fire witch is my idea for a blaster witch/warlock archetype. The latter has some built-in fluff related to witch burnings and such, but that can easily be ignored for campaign settings where that sort of stuff isn't appropriate.

Both archetypes can be found here:

Base Class Archetype Files

This folder I will from here on out start filling up with archetypes for Paizo's classes, so if I ever make more aside from these two, that link is where they'll end up.

Here's also a couple of direct links to the two witch archetypes:

Fire Witch Archetype

Hexenmeister Archetype

Hope y'all enjoy!

Cheers,
- Gears


So I dun a class. It's called the battlecaster. You can detonate eldritch munitions, summon spell soldiers and cause all manner of arcane battlefield mischief. Enjoy!

The Battlecaster

Cheers,
- Gears


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I have this idea for creating a fairly simple alchemist archetype that essentially only grants a single class feature. I don't have the class feature written out in proper rules language, but the idea I think is rather simple to explain and grasp:

The alchemist gains a "wretch" that functions like a summoner's eidolon, using their class level as their summoner level. This is a standard eidolon, not the unchained version. However, unlike a regular eidolon, the wretch is not an outsider, but can instead have one of the following creature types: aberration, magical beast, construct or undead. The wretch's type will affect its HD size and how its BAB, saves, et cetera function, and it will gain all the traits of its type. Aberrations would gain extra evolution points like a wild caller's eidolon to make up for their creature type being rather weak. Furthermore, unlike a regular eidolon, a wretch responds normally to magical healing and, since it's not an outsider, is not subject to banishment or similar effects. Replacing a slain or lost wretch functions like replacing a familiar. A new wretch can have a different base form and completely new evolutions from the ones of the creature it is replacing. The wretch's share spells ability treats extracts like spells.

Now, obviously, one would probably exchange a few minor alchemist class features to do things like grant this archetype access to evolution surge via an extract, et cetera, and also create a few custom discoveries that mesh well with the Frankenstein theme of the archetype. But aside from this, what would be the most logical and balanced things to trade out in order to grant this? Should it replace both bombs and mutagens, or should mutagens be replaced by getting evolution surge infusions to inject the wretch with? I would just love to hear if anyone has an idea for how to do this in a balanced way. Obviously, it is a very cohesive and powerful ability, and thus might need to replace a whole slew of class features. I'm thinking that things like bond senses, maker's call, et cetera, could be made available via discoveries.

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas, please let me know. I think this would be a very neat archetype to have, for those who want a more visceral monster creator and don't like the planar flavor of the summoner.

Cheers,
- Gears


I know that Sense Motive can be used to notice if a creature is charmed, dominated or otherwise affected by an enchantment effect, but is it also possible to similarly notice whether a creature has been possessed, such as via magic jar or the new possession line of spells from Occult Adventures? It doesn't seem to be part of the new occult skill unlocks presented in OA, so I don't know where else to look. Any help would be appreciated!

Cheers,
- Gears


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Hello, folks!
So, this is a new class I've been working on called the shadewright. It's a gish-type class that, while lacking spellcasting, gets access to shadow conjuration as a spell-like ability and also gets to create weapons (and armor via an archetype) out of pure shadow-stuff. The class itself is fairly simple, but I created a whole slew of selectable abilities (called gloamings) as well as a whooping 9 archetypes to make the class more customizable.

This is a link to the Google Drive folder containing all the documents pertaining to the shadewright:

Shadewright Files

If changes are made in response to critiques of the class, all documents in that folder will be updated, so that link will perennially be the place to go to find the most up-to-date versions of everything regarding the shadewright.

That being said, I would obviously advice people who find this class interesting to start with the Shadewright document, moving on to the Shadewright Gloamings document, before taking a gander at the archetypes. I would love any feedback on both the main class and the archetypes, however, as the latter feel rather integral to the class as a whole. I have toyed with the idea of dissolving some or all of them into separate "disciplines" within the class that shadewrights can select, although as of right now I think they're fine being reviewed as merely archetypes. Here is a small description of each archetype to give people an overview:

Bleak Clerk - Based around the idea of having a magical bag full of "lost items" that replaces the call shadows ability. Also gets sneak attack and some weird bureaucrat/gentleman spy abilities.

Deceiver - Based around feinting and creating debilitating effects through the Bluff skill. Gains abilities based on lies, deceit and rumors.

Dusk Mage - A casting-focused version of the class that reduces its HD and BAB as well as nixing the shade blade ability to focus solely on shadow conjuring.

Horrorist - Fear- and intimidate-focused archetype that creates a fear aura, can smite people stricken with fear conditions and gains some terror-themed powers.

Mimeomancer - Gains a shadowy copy of themselves that they can control, replacing the shadow conjuring powers of a normal shadewright. Also gains access to various gloamings based on mimicry and copycat behavior.

Night Gardener - Shadow druid-esque archetype, uses umbral vines and thorns and similar to attack people, gaining an at-will damage-over-time ability by embedding shadow splinters in enemies. Can build hedge mazes.

Shadow Warrior - A more martial-focused archetype. Gains full bab with its shade blade attacks, can make shade armor, reduced shadow conjuring and a few martial-themed unique gloamings.

Tragedian - A sort of shadowy anti-bard that debuffs with its bardic performance and gains access to various sonic- and performance-based new gloamings.

Umbramorph - Based around donning an umbral costume to gain evolutions, as well as becoming more adept at shadow summoning than a regular shadewright. Can make shade strike attacks with semi-incorporeal "shadow limbs".

So that's it. I hope that might give people an idea of which archetypes they might want to explore. As I said, I appreciate any and all commentary. Hope you enjoy!
Cheers,
- Gears


So I saw there was a thread out about the general power level of the various classes that get 9-level spellcasting, but I am curious about people's opinions regarding a more specialized area: how would you rank the different 9-level spell lists? I'd definitely be interested to see lists including all arcane and divine casters plus the psychic. Heck, throw in the pre-Unchained summoner spell list if you think it qualifies. I'd have a crack at it myself, but I am almost exclusively only familiar with the 6-level lists. Aside from placing sorcerer/wizard at no. 1 and (possibly) cleric/oracle at no. 2 I would feel pretty lost. Anyway, any input would be very welcome!

Cheers,
- Gears


I've seen plenty of templates for all sorts of cone-shaped area effects, from the more common 15- and 30-foot cones up to more extravagant sizes like 60-foot cones. I've never seen a template for a 45-foot cone, though. This might be a silly question, but is this shape somehow not achieve-able on a square grid?

Cheers,
- Gears


In the sorcerer class, under Spells, it says:

"A sorcerer's selection of spells is extremely limited. A sorcerer begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells of her choice. At each new sorcerer level, she gains one or more new spells, as indicated on Table: Sorcerer Spells Known. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a sorcerer knows is not affected by her Charisma score; the numbers on Table: Sorcerer Spells Known are fixed.) These new spells can be common spells chosen from the sorcerer/wizard spell list, or they can be unusual spells that the sorcerer has gained some understanding of through study."

I haven't been able to find a clarification for what this means. What spells aside from sorcerer/wizard ones is a sorcerer allowed to learn when she gains new spells known? I.e., what are these "unusual spells"?


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Hi everyone. This is a repost of a thread I started on the OOTS-forums, but I figured I'd share it with you cool Paizo people too.

So I kinda got this idea after reading the Advanced Class Guide and both digging the bloodrager class and utterly despising the eldritch scion archetype for the magus. The concept is sort of simple: a magus-style class that's a Charisma-based spontaneous caster who gets bloodline powers and stuff. I really like how mysteries and revelations function for the oracle class, so I decided to make the bloodlines contain selectable powers (like revelations) rather than a set progression like the bloodrager and sorcerer get. The class also has some other class features, partially inspired by trying to fix the eldritch scion's "mystical focus" ability and partially focused on making the blood scion able to dominate creatures related to his bloodline.

Lastly, I went a bit overboard and created a ton of bloodlines (55 in all!), so I realize most people won't be able to read through them all. I uploaded it all to a folder on Google Drive for ease of access, and I'd appreciate any comments or impressions. I haven't playtested the class thoroughly yet, so anyone wanting to give one of the bloodlines a go would be super-cool.

I would advice people to read both the Blood Scion file and the 1-page Blood Scion Bloodline Rules file before reading any of the bloodlines, as especially the latter helps to clarify how some of the abilities work. The bloodlines themselves are in the sub-folder named "Bloodlines Files". There are also two archetypes, the Crossblooded Scion and the Blood Master, included in the main folder. These are rather simple, as I've preferred creating additional bloodlines rather than archetypes.

So, without further ado, here's the link to the Blood Scion folder:

The Blood Scion

And a direct link to the included Bloodline Files folder:

The Bloodlines

Here is also a list of all the bloodlines with a brief description:

Aberrant - same theme as Paizo's aberrant bloodline
Absolute - an inevitable- and lawful outsider-themed bloodline
Abyssal - same theme as Paizo's abyssla bloodline
Alchemical - alchemy-themed bloodline (with some construct and ooze flavor)
Ancient - a bloodline based around having an antediluvian heritage
Arcane - same theme as Paizo's arcane bloodline
Bewitched - hag- and witch-themed bloodline
Bizarre - a protean- and chaotic outsider-themed bloodline
Black Powder - a firearms and explosives-themed bloodline
Brute - orc- and giant-themed bloodline
Caliginous - darkness-themed bloodline
Cataclysmic - apocalyptic and doomsday-themed bloodline
Celestial - same theme as Paizo's celestial bloodline
Chthonic - "Underdark"- and subterranean-themed bloodline
Destined - same theme as Paizo's destined bloodline
Draconic - same theme as Paizo's draconic bloodline
Elemental - same theme as Paizo's elemental bloodline
Elysian - azata-themed bloodline
Enlightened - monk- and ki-themed bloodline (plus a bit of Street Fighter)
Feral - animal and lycanthrope-themed bloodline
Fey - same theme as Paizo's fey bloodline
Genie - Genie-themed bloodline (less elemental and more classic folktale genie style)
Goblin - goblinoid-themed bloodline
Heavenly - archon-themed bloodline
Heroic - for blood scions with the "blood of heroes"
Infernal - same theme as Paizo's infernal bloodline
Lamyros - lamia and lamia-kin-themed bloodline
Lyrical - bard- and music-themed bloodline
Machine - construct-themed bloodline
Mako - An FF7-inspired bloodline, kinda wacky but rather fun abilities (get a chocobo animal companion!)
Malignant - plague and pestilence-themed bloodline
Martial - for blood scions with the "blood of soldiers"
Metaphysical - vaguely aeon-themed and philosophically inspired bloodline
Modern - a bloodline that gains weird "present day"-themed powers
Nirvanic - agathion-themed bloodline
Oneiric - dream-themed bloodline with illusion flavor
Phthisic - Bloodline inspired by the Phyrexians of Magic: the Gathering, H.R. Giger, Dead Space, et cetera.
Radiant - light-themed bloodline
Sallow - Bloodline inspired by the King in Yellow and Hastur
Sidereal - stars- and outer space-themed bloodline
Slithering - snakes and poison and serpentfolk
Sovereign - for blood scions with the "blood of kings"
Spellscarred - anti-magic, dispelling, magic-warping bloodline
Stygian - daemon-themed bloodline
Swarming - swarm- and vermin-themed bloodline
Tempestuous - storms and lightning and wind
Thalassic - ocean-themed bloodline
Thanatotic - ghost- psychopomp- and haunt-themed bloodline
Umbral - Shadow Plane-themed bloodline
Undead- same theme as Paizo's undead bloodline
Unseelie - evil fey-themed bloodline
Viridian - plant-themed bloodline
Wandering - for blood scions with the "blood of explorers"
Warded - An abjuration-themed bloodline based around wards and defending
Wintry - a winter-themed bloodline with snow and ice powers

Hope people enjoy the read!
Cheers,
- Gears


Hey gang. So I had this idea for a feat to let people basically use the sunder maneuver to sunder natural weapons just like manufactured weapons, and I threw this together:

Sunder Natural Weapon

I'd appreciate any comments or views. Does this seem balanced at all? If not, what changes would you suggest to make it so? Is the whole idea of sundering natural weapons a non-starter? If so, why? Hope people find this interesting.
Cheers,
- Gears

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