Etob> prismatic sphere + maze +cloukill sounds brutal. Could you exaplin a bit more about how that interaction works? Are people affected by cloukill while inside the maze? As before, I plan to put boots of teleport on Fluffy to negate some of the means of trapping him. As for saves/invis, as long as he has rage uses left, natural ones and invis shouldn't be an issue thanks to the eater of magic and ultimate clarity (reroll failed saves vs magic and see invis/blur/darkness/ etc) rage powers. Could you talk me through the astral deva? If the idea is to use the stun ability, it's only going to live one round if it closes to engage in melee ;)
Boots of teleport would negate the Prismatic Sphere strategy. The idea with Cloudkill is to set it up so it's there when Fluffy returns from the Maze, it wouldn't affect him while he's in the Maze. Astral Deva was just a random example of a summoned creature, not much thought was put into it. I didn't even think of that readied Gate strategy someone else suggested, not many ways around that. Mage's Disjunction would theoretically deal with the teleport boots (as well as any other magic items Fluffy has), so be prepared for that. You probably want to work a Mantle of Spell Resistance or some such thing into your build, you're incredibly vulnerable to anything that doesn't require a save or attack roll (hence spells like Maze and Prismatic Sphere).
I'm not gonna write a full build, but the basic part is Tiefling Wizard, Foresight specialization. We'll assume the wizard wins initiative, due to having a +24 initiative before any items (Improved Initiative, Reactionary, +4 DEX, Greensting Scorpion, Forewarned). Wiz leads with Time Stop to do whatever he wants, in this case, a Prismatic Sphere around Fluffy, Maze, Cloudkill inside the sphere, Haste himself (Quickened via Spell Perfection, if necessary). And that's just off the top of my head. Wiz then casts Greater Invisibility and Fly while Fluffy is stuck in the Maze, ready to wreck his day with Intensified Dazing Fireballs (Sacred Geometry) and other such nasties. Regardless of how high your saves are, a natural 1 is still a failure, so Wiz can likely make something stick eventually, like Baleful Polymorph. Or he can summon an Astral Deva if he feels like it.
The moral of the story: don't screw with wizards. They're the most powerful class in the game for a reason.
The only way to gain an actual full bloodline (that I'm aware of, at least) is to dip a level in Sorcerer or Bloodrager. What part of the Abyssal bloodline exactly do you want? The arcana isn't really anything to write home about. My recommendation would be to simply take Occultist and Eldritch Heritage (maybe Sorcerer VMC, if you like), completely foregoing Bloodline Development. Also, if you could clarify what you mean by "awesome combination." I'm not seeing the synergy.
Unfortunately, Drunken Master and UnMonk are incompatible. You'll have to go regular Monk. As far as actually helpful information, you actually don't want to be drinking in combat (Potion Glutton is still pretty good, though). Drunken ki points last for an hour, so do it just before combat instead. If your party doesn't have a scout, just have a drink every hour regardless of whether or not you expect combat. It's also generally a good idea to not spend that extra point, as you get more benefits for not using it than you would using it. Otherwise, what's good for other Monks is good for you.
In general terms I would say your party is light on condition removal, so some decisions in gear, spell selection and what not to shore that up as you get further along would be handy. Scouting and knowledge seem to be well covered, I would exploit that.
As to skills, there will be times when wilderness, social and investigation challenges arise, as well as typical dungeon crawl stuff.
Between the Druid and myself, we should be able to handle status removal, at least out of combat. I'm definitely planning to exploit scouting, especially with Heightened Awareness. Skill-wise, the rest of the party should be capable of dealing with anything I can't handle myself. We may not have a devoted arcane caster, but I think we'll be alright.
I've never run a one-player adventure, so take my advice with a grain of salt. The NPCs are pretty prevalent throughout the adventure, so adding them to the party isn't a huge stretch. Maybe avoid bringing Arueshalae into direct combat for a while though, she's pretty powerful, not to mention mythic in her own right. Otherwise, any of the other 7 should be pretty easily integrated as the show up, although you will want to keep them on par with the player, and not just level them when the AP tells you to. As for the player, if you want something practically built for a one-player game, Master Summoner with Dual Path Archmage/Hierophant. Augment Summoning as a bonus feat, path abilities like Mighty Summons, and even a note specifically saying "hey, this could be useful for a solo adventure." Otherwise, having the NPCs tag along should be fine. Early on though, don't blind Aravashnial and cripple Anevia. Horgus could maybe use some PC class levels as well.
DISCLAIMER: I know what happens here isn't legal, but I allowed it because it was a smart idea and I wanted to reward creative thinking and strategizing.
The party:
Zaigan, Aasimar Synthesist/Hierophant/Archmage
Riddik, Human Cavalier/Marshal
Varren, Human Two-Handed Fighter/Champion
Orion Ocrian Perceval Sullivan (OOPS), Elf Alchemist/Trickster
So this is early in SoV. They've just made it past the lost chapel, and are marching onwards. It doesn't take them long to see and identify the Vescavor swarm ahead. After some brainstorming, they realize they do, in fact, have to go after the queen. So they find the opening. Nobody wants to go in first, so Zaigan calls up an earth elemental to go map the place out. It's a simple map, so I allow it. Here's where things get crazy. They climb down into the caves, and OOPS presents his plan: He'll drink the Spider Climb potion they found a while back, and an Invisibility extract, climb along the ceiling, and drop every last bomb he can make on the queen at once. Knowing the thing has fire resistance 10, I tell him to go ahead and start making stealth checks. He succeeds every last one. He reaches the queen, and starts rolling damage. If the thing didn't have resistance, it would have died three times over. But it did, so it hung on at about 25% HP. Hearing the massive explosion on the other side of the cave, everyone leaps into action. Zaigan casts Haste and teleports the next round, Varren and his Impossible Speed sprint halfway across the cavern, and poor Riddik is just chugging along behind everyone else. Meanwhile, OOPS is running away and trying not to die. He's not doing great at it, and loses about a third of his HP to an AoO. Things carry on, and Varren eventually hits the queen for just under its remaining HP. OOPS is up next, just barely manages to hit it, and it goes down. Swarms disperse, and everyone gets out fine. By far the coolest player strategy I've seen thus far.
- which player's guide? The one that came with the original edition had more information in it than the one with Anniversary edition. You may want to check both out.
I've been looking at the Anniversary Edition. I'll be sure to check out the original as well, especially if it's got info on Sandpoint itself (kinda sad there wasn't a gazetteer or anything in the AE).
Latrecis wrote:
- that said, your party is short on arcane casting ability. It's called Rise of the Runelords. Might be a hint there.
Duly noted. The Bard and I should both have decent UMD and Knowledges, and Bard should have at least a fair bit of casting ability. Wizard or Arcanist was what I was thinking for a reserve character, so if it comes to that, I'll drag him out.
To everyone else, I don't intend to be going behind my GM's back on anything, and he's usually fine with players doing stuff like this. I was very careful avoiding spoilers on the way here, and didn't see anything I wasn't supposed to.
Finally getting around to playing this thing! However, the Player's Guide seems sparse on information compared to other APs I've seen, and I thought you guys might be able to lend a hand. The party:
Human Empiricist (me)
Human Fighter (polearm build)
Gnome Bard (face/archery/buffs)
Some kind of Druid (player hasn't given us much info)
So, without spoilers, what are some general tips for the campaign that aren't in the Player's Guide? Skills to invest in, strategies to remember, etc. We're playing the anniversary edition.
This will likely be for War for the Crown, and if the Player's Guide is to be trusted, it's mostly humanoids. At the higher levels, you get additional damage types to help with resistances, as well as the Arcane Striker talent. TWF tree + Rapid Shot is indeed the plan, basically turning me into a magical machine gun. I'm looking at generally buff spells, preferably long duration to compensate for small number of slots. I'm aware it's not a great choice, but I do like the idea of an all-day blasting superhero. If it's really, truly, monk-level awful, then I'll just go do a Kineticist or something.
For what it's worth, I'd like to point out that while the Warlock casts with Magus progression, it uses the Wizard spell list, making it arguably a better spellcaster than the Magus.
Building a Warlock for an upcoming game, but I'm unsure of what spells to give him. 16 INT, 1st level. I do plan to make use of Mystic Bolts. So what are the best four or so spells of each level for a Warlock?
The problem is, you are trying to force the most versatile class in the game into one defined niche. The point of the Wizard is that you can do almost everything. If you want to have a niche as an arcane caster, go Sorcerer.
So much this. The few things a wizard can't really do are healing, consistent damage output, and tanking. Outside of those, the wizard is king.
Even then, once you get to 4th/5th level versions of the spell, various applications of the Summon Monster spell can perform most of those functions. Given, they won't be on par with a character that is focused on that type of strategy, but its at the cost of a spell slot.
Plenty of Summons, especially later on, have healing SLAs and there is no shortage of monsters with decent damage output (damage) and combat maneuvers (effective tanking). If they enemy uses resources to get rid of the summons then they have still performed effective tanking by absorbing enemy action economy.
Bearing in mind that most of the best ones are evil, so you'll have to talk with your GM about whether or not summoning evil monsters is an evil act. If you don't care, go nuts. Otherwise, Bralani Azata can make the wizard half decent at healing.
The problem is, you are trying to force the most versatile class in the game into one defined niche. The point of the Wizard is that you can do almost everything. If you want to have a niche as an arcane caster, go Sorcerer.
So much this. The few things a wizard can't really do are healing, consistent damage output, and tanking. Outside of those, the wizard is king.
@voodist monk
Let's rephrase it because you don't seem to get it.
Assume a party lacks an arcane caster, what can't can't it do without special effort?
As in, a party without a cleric/divine caster can't handle Condition removal, such as removing blindness or restoring negative levels.
In most combats, it is the party Wizard or Sorcerer that inflicts the most damage. Classically, it it the role of the rest of the party to keep the Wizard alive long enough for him to kill everybody. So a Party with no Wizards is like an army with no cannons.
It is usually the Wizard that Identifies Magic Items. A party that has no Wizard traditionally has to pay someone they hope they can trust to figure out what any given magic item can do.
There are lots of other utilities that a Wizard might serve, and a Wizard might play other roles in combat: buffing other party members, summoning/animating more cannon fodder, and many other things. Wizards have a very diverse portfolio.
But generally, I'd say the things they bring that most other characters don't is magic item identification and heavy artillery--blasting.
I'd have to disagree with you on the blasting for a couple of reasons.
1. Unless the enemy has very poor defenses (saves and resistances), the fighter will be pumping out more damage. Let's take a 5th level wizard and a 5th level fighter. By this point, the wizard has Fireball and the fighter has Weapon Training. The fighter should have at least a +10 to hit, assuming 18 STR, and likely more. On a hit, he'll deal 2d6+7 minimum, assuming a regular greatsword. That's 13 average damage. The wizard, on the other hand, uses Fireball for 5d6 fire damage. Assuming 18 INT, that's a DC 17 reflex save for half damage. On a failed save, that's an average of 15 damage, 7 if he succeeds. Oh, and that's before applying any resistances. With the same resource (a 3rd level slot), you could instead cast Haste on the fighter, doubling his damage output, buffing his AC and reflex saves, and allowing him to get to his target faster, and unlike Fireball, it lasts for 5 rounds.
2. Even if you're dead-set on blasting, the sorcerer blasts better than the wizard because spontaneous casters are better at it, and there's several bloodline arcanas that make blasting much better, such as Draconic, Elemental, or even both if you're feeling bold. Blasters rely on fewer spells that they need more times a day, and that's the sorcerer to a "T."
More importantly, when I talk about a "god" Wizard, I'm talking about style not power. (like writing that will get me out of trouble.)
What god comes down and finishes off all his mortal enemies personally? No, instead he provides his followers the tools required to do it themselves.
The above is from one of the most famous Pathfinder guides of all time. The first segment is all about a wizard's role in the party, both in and out of combat. I highly recommend you check it out here.
I would add Occultist Arcanist to the list of good summoners as well. However, summoning is complicated, and known to cause battle to drag on if you're inexperienced. Be warned.
Note that these are generalizations, and are just off the top of my head. Just because one class has more categories than another doesn't make it better. If you're a new player, I would suggest a spontaneous caster like Sorcerer or Oracle. If you can narrow down what you're looking for, I can make a better recommendation.
I'm aware of the PFS ruling, but this is more concerned with general use. The consensus seems to be that Pseudodragons can use wands, but what about their more brutish cousins? They can speak Draconic, and they *seem* to be capable of holding wands. Does this mean they can use them? Does that apply to any familiar capable of holding a wand and speaking?
Avr, fair point. My GM isn't particularly good at communicating with the players (i.e. me), so I generally try to find official rulings. The PFS one was the only one I was able to find, but if you know of a ruling outside of PFS, by all means, let me know. Good catch on the Tidepool Dragon as well.
Which evolution? I'm not familiar with any that would allow for wand use. It's not just a matter of being able to grasp a wand, a Pseudowyvern can do that. There's a very specific list of familiars that can use items like wands: http://paizo.com/organizedplay/faq#v5748eaic9whc
"The following familiars can use spell trigger and spell completion magic items, including wands and scrolls, as well as magic items with a command word: arbiter, brownie, cassisian (in small humanoid form), calligraphy wyrm, faerie dragon, homunculus (if it can speak), imp, leshy (any), liminal sprite, lyrakien, mephit (any type), nosoi, nuglub, pooka, pyrausta, quasit, shikigami, soulbound doll, sprite, and zhyen."
That aside, I don't even qualify for Evolved Familiar, so it's a moot point.
I'm the party crafter, so making wands shouldn't be a problem. Perhaps Calligraphy Wyrm? The thing's diminutive, so it can easily hide in my robe, and it's got decent CHA for UMD. Pseudowyvern is still my favorite, though, but I just don't see any reason to take it over a wand-user.
Perhaps Life Oracle? Charisma based, so you'll have people with each mental state, full caster with channel energy. Not great on the offense side of things, but with that many martials, you should be fine. Ranged attackers aren't THAT necessary.
I'll second Sorry on this one. GMing takes more work than you'd think, and even experienced players usually aren't comfortable making new creatures. Go easy on yourself.
If his goal is massive amounts of spike damage, Magus is the king of that realm. It's not terribly complex at 1st, just need to figure out spellbooks and spell combat. Antipaladin or Bloodrager are good runner-ups, just make sure he knows he won't be getting magic for a few levels, and IIRC, won't be getting it in that adventure. If you're not planning to play beyond Crypt of the Everflame, definitely Magus.
So I'm building a Kobold Witch. Right now, he's level 5 with a scorpion familiar. I'm planning to take Improved Familiar at 7th, with one caveat: the new familiar must be a dragon (because kobolds). Initially, I was going to choose the Pseudodragon, but it seems they can't use wands. So, here's all the available dragon familiars I'm aware of and whether or not they can use wands:
Can use wands: Calligraphy Wyrm, Faerie Dragon, Pyrausta
Cannot use wands: Pseudodragon, Pseudowyvern
I'm aware the Pseudodragon is likely the best of these, but I don't particularly like it. Pseudowyvern is my favorite fluff-wise, but it can't use wands. Is that a large enough drawback that it shouldn't be taken? Is Faerie Dragon so powerful that you're crippling yourself if you don't take it?
Seems a little sketchy to me. By that logic, hexes would advance as well: "At 1st level, a witch gains one hex of her choice. She gains an additional hex at 2nd level and for every 2 levels attained after 2nd level." Since Stargazer doesn't specifically call out patron spells, I'm doubtful that they get included, but hopeful. Look at other similar things, like bloodline spells. General consensus there is that they don't advance in other classes.
I recently discovered the trait "Demonbane Summoner" from the Monster Summoner's Handbook: "Your line is derived directly from the god callers of Sarkoris. You adamantly oppose the demonic forces of the Worldwound in hopes of reclaiming your lost lands. The attacks of creatures you summon are treated as cold iron for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction." A Summoner's Eidolon is definitely a summoned creature, and this would work RAW, but is that the intent, and does this apply to the manufactured weapons of the Eidolon? What about weapons of things like a Hound Archon?
Yeah, I've ditched Crane Style at this point. Better left to the monks, I guess. I could consider a cloak, as well as the +1 armor, but other items of high priority include Pearls of Power and an INT headband.
On the note of Phantom Blade, they can get Crane Style much easier thanks to Weapon of the Mind (my group's rule is that if you can meet the requirements for a feat indefinitely, you can qualify for that feat). I might tinker with a Samsaran Phantom Blade, even though I don't really like the Occult classes in general.
Gisher, so it is, my bad. Still largely in favor of an actual sword.
Ryze, one step ahead of you on that one. Debating Scaled Skin and Vestigial Wings as well.
Moonheart, while I am a huge fan of spontaneous casters, I really don't like the Phantom Blade. Its spell list doesn't seem to complement well with a magus-like playstyle, a DEX magus tends to have better total saves (my current build has 7, 6, and 4), it doesn't get arcana (so no spell blending to fix their spell list, among other things), and it's a far cry from the build I was initially going for. If I wanted a bulky, armored tank, I'd bust out my Sacred Shield/Phalanx Soldier. I may attempt to build one for use in a different game, though.
See, I keep coming back to the idea that Paizo just hates dex to damage. It's definitely better, and I could get an AC as high as 23 before any buffs, but I just really hate having to spend two feats on it. If I had some way to get an Agile Black Blade, that would all change. Otherwise, just getting the build online requires all four feats, no room for anything else.
Equipment: +2 Black Blade Katana, +2 Headband of Vast Intelligence,Pearl of Power x4, +1 Silken Ceremonial Robes, Wand of Shield
FCB to pool points at every level. The idea would be to simply not use Spell Combat when fighting defensively, for a total of -4 to hit and +4 to AC. May as well throw Fiend Flayer on there as well, doesn't cost anything.
Bonus question: does Intimidating Prowess work with Bruising Intellect?
That was the plan. Also trying to see if a STR build is at all viable, since weapons like the katana (which is thematically perfect for the Kensai), rhoka sword, and urumi. There aren't any STR/INT classes though, so Tiefling still works just fine.
Was already looking into the Frostbite build. Bladed Brush doesn't help much, as it doesn't give me DEX to damage, nor does it allow me to use it one-handed, so no Spell Combat. At this point, I'm considering ditching fighting defensively completely, and just going for Frostbite build, Crane Style is just too expensive.
Arcane Accuracy and Spell Shield were definitely in the running, as was Elf. Tiefling is the other major consideration. Better stat bonuses, and extra pool points to fuel AA and SS, not to mention weapon enchantments for that sweet 30% critical chance. I suppose the larger question has arisen: is Bladebound worth it for this build?
I'm mostly concerned with making an effective build NOW, I'll be fine with further level ups. My largest problems are deciding on a race and trying to decide if Crane Style is worth it, or even if I should just scrap the defensive fighting concept altogether. A +2 weapon costs 8,000 and I only get 10,500 to play around with. Pearls of Power are practically a must for me, as I'm a little over-cautious when it comes to resources.
Using a whip would mean dropping Bladebound (which I'm not adamantly against, if anything, it could save me a feat for an Agile weapon), and I like using a crit-fishing Scimitar anyway. Spellstrike Gloves are lower priority for me, especially if I drop Bladebound. Already grabbed Mirror Image, and debating using an Arcana for Mage Armor. Got Long Arm as well.
On most magi, yes. However, the Kensai gets Canny Defense, among other things. The trade-off is that they have diminished spellcasting, so even a 20 Int (which they will have anyway) only offsets the penalty and gives you one extra 1st level slot, so regularly having spells like Mirror Image, Blur, and the like running just isn't going to happen at 5th level. I have a few Pearls of Power for my 1st levels, but that's about all I can do at this level. Fighting defensively doesn't have any additional action cost, can be used as much as you want, and can be pushed to pretty ridiculous levels, if you want to do some serious multiclassing. Such builds, unfortunately, are not for the Kensai. However, it's still relatively easy to get the bonus to +5 and the penalty to -2, for the cost of a trait, 3 ranks in acrobatics, and Crane Style.
Playing one of these soon, and need some help/advice on the build. Here's what I've got to work with:
25 point buy, starting at 5th level, and could very well go all the way to 20.
Trying to build around fighting defensively, so looking to get high AC, and reduced penalties from fighting defensively, especially as Spell Combat is already a -2.
DEX build, obviously, unless you can make an EXTREMELY good argument.
Specifically looking for help with race and feat selection. We are using traits. Bonus points for dex-to-damage without costing two feats. I'm well aware of Crane Style, but unsure if multiclassing or just taking it as a feat is a better option.
First off, let me just say that this guide is great. I've rarely seen this level of dedication in a guide, so thank you, and well done. The Magus has become one of my favorite classes to play. Anyway, I'd like to request a couple of additions to the guide, namely words of power and mythic. Both are really cool subsystems, and I think a Magus in particular could benefit from WoP, especially Eldritch Scion.
I'm currently running WotR for a group of four, and we've just begun SoV (cleared the Gibbering Swarm last session). After consulting the players, I've decided to replace several minor bosses (Barrid, Jestak, etc.) with an anti-party of my own design. My problem is balancing them, especially in the face of mythic PCs. Given the party below, what level and/or tier should the antis be at? What about at higher levels? (1 encounter per module, alternating solo fights and all at once). I've got the antis pretty much built, with each being an evil version of one PC, and a direct counter to another. They're currently built at level 10, with no tiers. Any other general suggestions are welcome, and more information can be provided upon request.
