Evilserran's page

I will be being as vague as possible so as to not cause spoilers or force sides.

We are playing a game using primarily pathfinder rules with a bunch of potential homebrew rules, but are looking for pathfinder guidelines on this bit. There is a huge creature that is full attacking a groups of pcs. It has multiple tentacles with grab and constrict. On one turn it hits, grabs and constricts all four players, ending its turn with all four grappled.

One of the players believes there is a rule stating it cannot do that without a -20 penalty to remain ungrappled itself to continue grappling and that it should need to hit, grab,constrict then drop to continue doing it to the next creature. As the rules for grappling are quite vague and rather spread out, we were hoping that you, the forum dwellers, could help us out with the rule set here. There are NO house rules currently modifying this creature. What if any penalties or limitations should be/have been in effect in that round, and if possible, can you cite the rule as well as your understanding. I have a funeral to go to as well as a wake before we meet again, and do not have the time to pour over my books, nethys and the pfsrd for guidance, and am hoping you can assist us.

There is a difference between "breaking" the door and destroying the door too. As a kineticist you have a scaling big damage attack, that can surpass the Hardness on most objects. Even Adamantine only has hardness 20 and only 40 hp per inch. Past low level, it's just a matter of time until you cut through any door.

As for the behavior, it's not unusual for GMs to work on a whim of what they want to fit the story they want to tell. The GM probably thought the keycards were so important that he didn't want you to just bypass them. And so he made up a flimsy not well thought out excuse of why the door breaking didn't work.

That is why for the keycard doors, i put up with it, but now the next area also has techn doors, he likens to the bulkhead doors in a submarine, and is saying the same thing, this will make almost 5 levels of my ability being useless despite the module having break dc's, ehich he already ruled how the ability worked, and is now going back on.

Just to be clear to people, i have broken one reinforced wooden door, that any barbarian could have broken. I ripped open one portcullis, again, a reasonable break dc that was in the module that any decent strength based character could have at least lifted open/broken. 2 metal doors in a wrecked space craft(they also had a mid 20'ish break dc (without sliding keycards, or they didnt work? I dont remember exactly) thats it. Over the span of 6 or 7 levels. Its not like i have been ripping every single door down. I have also had it brough to my attention that these doors HAVE a break dc, a friend of mine checked it out, and wouldnt tell me the break dc but did tell me i had more then a 20% chance to open them based on the ruling made by the DM.

Lots of fluffy bunnies.

You can do exactly what the talent says. The talent allows you to lift and throw items of a specific weight that is all. It does not have a STR score, and you cannot use it to break the chains. The only way you can use it to damage something is by throwing something at it.

So by your logic, if an apple, is attached to a tree by the stem, then i cannot throw the apple, because the ability does not say i can break the stem? Glad I don't play at your tables sir.

<y kineticist has chosen early on in his career to get telekinetic haul, specifically for doing things like ripping doors out and throwing them at people. My gm came up with a way for us to figure out how strong things would need to be. Essentially i take the max weight of my throw at the time and figure out the corressponding strength that would be if it were a heavy load. This means at level 8, it is 8000 pounds, or 4 tons. The first area we ran through i was easily able to use my ability and break wooden doors (didnt even need the haul honestly). Then we came to a portcullis, using this formula we determined i had to roll a 17 to break the portcullis out (it had actually split the party when it came down, so added bonus was to allow the other half of the party into the fight. I was successful. There was much rejoincing. My character even began to declare himself the "bane of doors."

Then we got to a new area. This new area had sliding metal doors (star trek style) with keycard swipes. I was told without being allowed to roll any checks, my ability could not rip these doors out. I was like... are you sure? I can lift 5k pounds now... Gm said nope, cant do it. And i said, okay cool, whatever, lets roll. We got in pretty far until we found some more doors exactly like the others, but the keycards didnt work. THIS time i was allowed to rip the doors down, only to find some sort of nanite/poison thing behind them. We eventually got through it and managed to get it retrapped by some other doors, whatever that was kind of cool... weird though right?

Then we hit a tower controlled by an evil wizard. Om the way we find one of the doors had been damaged by a hill giant (str 25) and they tore a part off. We kill the giants, take it back, our rogue fixes the door. We enter the tower. Now, we are level8, meaning i can do 8k pounds if i activate telekinetic haul, or equivalant to 44-45 strength. The gm still tells me I cannot haul open these doors because thats not how blst doors work. He cites they are adamantine and glaucite combinations but i simply cannot do it. Now its been going on 4-5 levels of him simply saying my ability doesnt work, so i decide i'm kind of fed up. I ask him if this is the way his things are going to work, and i am cool with it if they are, i feel like i should get a free reteain of the class ability i chose, since i am being told constantly it just wont work. He starts telling me he has worked with doors like this and hes not going to "just let me walk around ripping doors out" I reitr=erate, thats fine, but i should be able to swap this out. He says i can when we have time to retrain.

I find this assinine. Itd like he decided he just doesnt want my power to work, but that i also have ti be punished and pay for it and take the time to retrain it because of the way HE has changed the way things work. So, i have been pretty sick this last week, and it was kind of last straw. I disconnected from the game. I left a VERY long rant on our discord server about hos his behaviour seems more "whim based" adversarial, and that he seems to be doing things he things is fun at the cost of the players and are not consistant.

The most important part of this all is, I have been playing with group for over 8 years. I love all our current players, I have gm'ed for all of them, and have been gm'ed by all of them, including the current one. I have never had an issue that couldnt be resolved i njusta minute or two of talking before, so not really sure what to do going forward. Did i act too crazy? Who was in the wrong? thoughts on the matter?

ANY Constructive criticism, even polite finger pointing is welcome and encouraged!

What are you making STR checks for? The talents already specify what they do so the knowing the equivalent STR is meaningless. In the case of basic telekinesis, you can lift the stated amount and it can duplicate the cantrip open/close. Open/close has a weight limit of 30 pounds or less.

Using Telekinetic haul i can lift things one thousand times my kienticist level and throw them. This is why its relevant, Did you read the whole thread? For example if i want to throw a cannon that is anchored to a ship deck. It is an unattended object, but the break dc of the chains holding it down might be 25, i need to know, if i can break those, and throw the cannon at someone.

but the issue is i dont KNOW the strength score, thats kind of what i am trying to figure out. I only know the weight... although guess using that, i could make an excel spreadsheet... yea... that could work. thanks.

And thank you for the 8k answer :)

https://www.aonprd.com/KineticistTalentsDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Telekinetic%2 0Haul

PFS Legal Telekinetic Haul
Source Occult Adventures pg. 28
Element aether; Type utility (Sp); Level 2; Burn 0
Prerequisite basic telekinesis
When using basic telekinesis, you can move an object that weighs up to 100 pounds per kineticist level you possess. When using your telekinetic blast, you can throw an object weighing up to 100 pounds per kineticist level you possess, but this doesn’t increase the damage. If you accept 1 point of burn, the maximum weight increases to 1,000 pounds per kineticist level you possess and the duration increases to 1 minute per kineticist level you possess.

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/basics-ability-scores/ability-scores/

So i dont understand the final line. I'm trying to figure out the "strength bonus" of an aether kineticist that can lift 800 or 8k pounds. The 800 is clearly +9 (we treat as heavy load) but what would the 8000 pounds be? And going forth each level going up 1k at a time. My group is very weak, and i am often the one required to make strength checks and such. Can anyone explain that last step in a better formula for me? maybe an example?

40 is 0-2128 2129-4264 4263-6400 i think? but this still doesnt explain how to go higher... i could figure out 50 next following the formula, if that was right, but that would also be TOO high

Stick a plague doctors mask over it.

She wants to be able to cast spells that dramatically alter the battlefield. She recently got super psyched into using web and the pit spells. Anything that essentially reduces enemy combat efficiency if not completely removing a round or more of their actions.

What, exactly do you need help with?

Proving to your girlfriend that your definition of "controller" is the one she should be using, or finding a way for your girlfriend to play a character she will enjoy?

Advice Boards: We don't just do Pathfinder, we also provide relationship advice.

I know you think that statement is clever, but it really isn't. SHE WANTS to play a controller, she doesnt know enough spells, I am trying to give her more examples. Then she can choose if she wants to use them or not. For you to assume I am trying to make her do anything beyond wht she wants is quite a pedantic assumption of yours to make. The help, is in finding controlling spells, that are NOT mind control. So, you can either help me with some you use, or move onto another thread; rather than giving me your so called "relationship advice".

Most of these suggestions will not work bcause as mentioned above, most of the enemies here are just abberrants immune for whatever reasons, and there is no way around that. She feels there arent enough control spells if you remove mind control spells, because her spell knowledge is very limited. That is why i made this post to try and find other spells so i can show her a large seletion, and explain what makes them control spells. In our 4 player group we already have two huge damage dealers, which is why she want(s)ed to do a controller.

So my girlfriend and I are a playing a fairly homebrewed version of Strange Aeons. She went in wanting to play a controller. The gm told her a lot of stuff is going to be immune to mind control so she needs to be prepared. Her interpretation was the being a controller won't work. I have TRIED MANY MANY times to explaining controlling isn't just mind control but also things like web and pit traps, haste and slow, grease etc, and she's like yup, sure uh-huh, then preps nothing but blasting spells and tells me she can't control because they are immune. I have told her to go read her spells, and look around and I again get the same response. So I would like people to list a few of the favorite control spells for level 1-9 if they could and don't mind!

L1: Adhesive spiitle, burning disarm, grease, web bolt
L2:Blindness/deafness, create pit, web
L3:mad monkeys, slow,spiked pit

Usually if a familiar cant go somewhere I use the familiar pocket, but i have had characters refuse to enter a place that won't let their animal companions in, to the point where i once paid 10x the price just to use the window. I sat on my Axebeak as it drank from the table and ate some food, occassionally passing me some ale. Good times.

Hm... interesting, I'll check that one out as well. I usually do more crowd control and defensive-y things. My girlfriend wants to make a blaster despite my sugestions not to, so i am trying to find a good build for her to use. (recommend)

Thanks Taja I'll take a look at that. I'm not opposed to one level of sorc for stuffs, but i really dont want a "wizard" I really prefer the arcanist and all their crazy exploits.

Nine tailed scion kitsune sorcerer can get dominate by level 7....

So it needs to be an elf, looking to maximize damage potential of force spells. No 3rd party stuff. I know about the orc bloodline, jut not 100% sure how else to grab any more damage, planning on specializing in magic missile and battering blast. Thoughts? Suggestions? Magic neccessities?

I have fought constructs that were capable of disarming my swashbuckler, and part of their action includes locking the weapon inside their body afterwards, so it cannot be reacquired. There is the "your weapon sticks to X" effect some mimics have and a few other creatures, My cavalier kept charging a mimic door and leaving the lances in it, while pulling another out for the next charge. Several spells that can whisk your weapon away or destroy it outright. There is actually quite a few reasons to have a backup weapon. My backup weapons are rarely any different then the primary though. The swashbuckler mentioned earlier had has +1 ghost touch adamantine scimitar taken away, so i began fighting with my cold iron scimitar, when that got taken i switched to a silver scimitar. My aforementioned cavalier had a +1 ghost touch lance, with a +1 cold iron lance and 3 masterwork lances. Also, any character i have that doesnt wear gauntlets usually has a cestus JIC.

My jack of all trades crazy rogue/magus/cleric/bard/brawler/hunter/ranger uses a halfling sling staff with 2 others for backups, as they are melee and ranged.

I've aways loved earthbreakers, but i don't know why. Maybe the name? Maybe its more fun to imagine smashing someone with a massive hammer/club. Earthbreaker has always been my fave though.

Reduce animal is a level 2 druid spell 1/hr per cast. Easy peesy.

Here is a link to a post where i did some of this before.

https://paizo.com/threads/rzs43fg1?Hordes-of-enemies-Cr-equivalant#1

Rorek very interesting build, though the rounds of rage stuff isn't needed in our homebrew. Currently i have gone with superstitious already and intending witch hunter next, and focusing on sundering for spell sunder later, but curious on other builds for where to fill in gaps. I may consider some of your suggestions, thanks for your input!

I know expert wasn't THW choice, but we had to pick an npc class to gestalt into. Given its strange aeons, will save booster and a few class skills seemed more pertinent, as i dont think fighter would do anything, and i dont want spells.

I am just curious what some of you number crunchers can come up with.

The rules: Stats are 20str,14dex, 16 con,12 wis,10 inr, 8 cha

You are gestalting barbarian and expert. Gear is not being factored in but if there are any must haves feel free to include. Rage cycling is not allowed, and rounds of rage do not count. You get a bonus feat at every even level. You are half orc. What is the strongest build you can make? Offenseively and/or defensively. Level of barbarian can always be swapped with a different, but expert is frozen in place.

I have one currently built as a sundering unarmed user at level 3, superstitious and loving it but curious what others come up with.

My hatred only overwhelms me during combat, and i physically try to stay away from my "allies" I also have several abilities and traits that make it harder for them to cast around me, keeping in toe with my theme, but making sure to negatively effect them playing themselves as much as possible. Its not hard to play a theme like this without being a jerk. Much like i will use magic weapons to destroy magic, they are acceptable right up until they are they last...

I find it makes for more dynamic roleplay then a group that gets along all hunky dory, cause that aint real life. And in fact, everyone in my group but me casts spells lol.

As for the human FCB i will check into that.

our gm is giving us lots of bonus feats and thats somewhat close to my build but iam a half orc already so cant go human now :P

I have a level 7 blood kineticist in pfs play, and have also played about a dozen others. I have played in 5 different states, at 12 different conventions run by 7 different venture captains. This has never been an issue. Kinetic blasts always deal full damage to swarms. Wrack is an infusion to the blast. Ergo, wrack does full damage. Now, if you want to mess with your interpretation of targets/swarm/creatures etc, cool, thats on you. However, ALWAYS doesn't change. Swarms are always targeted as a single creature as well, whether or not the effect does anything. I.E. a Swarm of wolves (yes this can exist) would take damage from a single sword strike, meaning they can be targeted as a single entity, thus that entire arguement point is moot. Wrack=Infusion=Blast=Full damage to swarm barring the dc reduction against ability. Fin.

whoops sorry i was drunk! lol, my bad!

I think you guys are getting lost in the fact familiars dont have HD and thus you all overlooked the rule.

Familiar Basics
Use the basic statistics for a creature of the familiar’s kind, but with the following changes.

Hit Dice: For the purpose of effects related to number of Hit Dice, use the master’s character level or the familiar’s normal HD total, whichever is higher.

Therefore, dc = 10+ 1/2 Caster level+con mod

Sorry took me so long to find this, i had to go through almost all of my 80 some odd characters to find the notice i left on MY arcanists familiar DC but its a character i hadn't played in years, and took me forever to figure out the calculations because rules are like usual, 3 different places. For my arcanist I.E.

Level 14, Viper has 10 con, so viper dc is 17 for poison.

I am a barbarian playing strange aeons (no spoilers please!) what is a good/fastest way to get SR ? I am going full on Spell sunderer, and would love to have SR to go with it. My character hates magic and wants it to die in nearly all forms, though items he can use are acceptable, until all other magic is gone, then he will destroy them... Magic items, feats, barb powers etc. Help me out here you gurus!

For the feat
Ferocious Action
Source Advanced Race Guide pg. 141
You ferocity is quick but shorter lived.

Prerequisites: Ferocity racial trait, orc.

Benefit: When you fall to 0 hit points or fewer, you lose 2 hit points each round, but you are not staggered. If you are in a rage (such as that caused by the barbarian rage class feature), you instead only lose 1 hit point per round.

Do I need to both have the ferocity trait and be orc/half orc, or is simply being a half orc enough? Gate crasher is paramount to my build so i have traded the ferocity away and wondering if i can still take this or not.

Yea i forgot the 1/2 hd part, i was going off memory, but i seeyou got the answer, so yay!

con based save means start at dc 10 and add the skunks constitution modifier, so if it has a 10/11 =0 12/13=+1 14/15+2 etc

I am quite certain, unfortunately the answer is you cannot do that. Even though your class/feat allows you to treat the shield as a weapon, it is not a weapon, and as such cannot be enchanted with a weapon only property. Similar to how slashing grace allows a swashbuckler to use a scimitar as a 1hp weapon. It is still a slashing weapon.

I am unaware of them adding specific gods to kineticists, considering kineticists came so much later then most of the gods. I, as a LOVER of the kineticist, and at least 8 different ones i have played/am playing, I usually use deities based on the element in question. Ymeri for fire, Kelizandri for water, Hshura for air etc.

Evilserran wrote:

I feel alot of you are overlooking alternative channels as well. For example, a Cleric of the drunken god can NAUSEATE every enemy in their channel range, OR remove the nauseated and sickened condition of allies for a round. That can be immensely useful in either account, Yes the damage or healing is halved, but that effect is QUITE powerful, and there ARE other options as well.

Groooooannn!

If you are using Channel in this way, you are basically in competition vs casting a spell for your standard action (or even one of your domain powers if they're decent).

When you factor in the additional spell options provided by domains and in certain cases the worshipping of a specific deity, the cleric has an excellent spell list, only marginally behind that of the Wizard. That the Cleric always knows all of them raises it another notch higher.

A build that favours an offensive CHA based effect, in terms of DC is always going to be very subpar vs that of a WIS based one for a cleric. And that's without factoring in that WIS is an overall more useful ability to invest points in.

If for whatever reason you have a RP/thematic reason for prioritising Channel over spellcasting then OK fair enough, have a great time...... HOWEVER, as soon as mechanics enters the equation then I'm afraid things change rapidly....

I've seen many clerics at either PFS or regular tables with a CHA 5 - 10!!!

Even if you want to compare it to casting a spell, go for it. Clerics don't have a ton of spells, and this gives options. How many cleric spells can a cleric have that can immediately stop your entire parties bleed effect? Also stop your entire party from being nauseated or sickened? It's an entirely new tool you are chossing not to use. Now, I'm not saying its perfectly viable, and better than spells, but it's an option that should not be overlooked. If you want to be a perfect class, why are you a cleric anyway? Also, as for casring instead of a spell, thats what quicken channel works for too!

It sounds rather like the party aren't playing as a team if single use items are considered personal rather than party property. IRL platoons have one machine gunner but the entire platoon carry ammunition for it. The machine gun is used to suppress the enemy allowing other members of the platoon to move. The whole thing would unravel pretty quickly if the machine gunner only used the gun for self defence and the other platoon members refused to carry ammunition for it.

Um not sure where you served if at all, but as a medic for 14.5 years attached to infantry, your statement is entirely incorrect. The gunner carries a couple hundred rounds with his gun, and his spotter carries the rest. It's a two person team. Furthermore, in the platoon, there is one "gunner" squad usually consisiting of 5-6 persons, maybe as many as 10-12 but thats very rare. Each team consists of 2-3 people top, plus the squad leader The other 20-25 have nothing to do with the weapons team ammo supply. That all being said, party loot is for the party to use as needed and should not be hoarded. Individual loot, well, that depends on whom you have in your groups. I am very tightfisted on most my items unless i need them to return to combat effectiveness. A friend of mine however, spends around 80% of their stuff on consumables and throws em around all willy nilly because it amuses him. I have seem him stop cart with tree tokens, slide down a mountain on a swan boat, throw campfire pearls just to toast marshmellows, glue someone to a chair for a prank, and then even provide the universal solvent...

I feel alot of you are overlooking alternative channels as well. For example, a Cleric of the drunken god can NAUSEATE every enemy in their channel range, OR remove the nauseated and sickened condition of allies for a round. That can be immensely useful in either account, Yes the damage or healing is halved, but that effect is QUITE powerful, and there ARE other options as well.

Curently I use number 2. My gm and i came to this conclusion, and as part of my imagination it is part of my mind, or at least takes up residence in there, so i can use its skills and know what it knows, making it a good scout, becuse if it takes damage/dies it retreats to my mind.

Evilserran wrote:

I'm so tired of all these mounts suck because they are too big! nonsense comments. I ran my halfling cavalier through pfs just fine (hes level 11 currently) and ave only had to get off my mount twice... cause it died. Step 1 be a cavalier. Step 2 take 1 level of hunter before your mount becomes large. (make sure your mount is compatible with your animal companion so they stack) Step 3 wand of reduce animal. Thats one hour of a smaller animal, plus you should have a few yourself to cast. Problem solved. There is also undersized mount if you dont want to be small, that can allow you to do the same damn thing, Humans could ride medium mounts etc. My "cannonballer" never gets charge lanes blocked, has issues with difficult terrain or dismounts (unless its a quick dismount because for some reason i need a few more feet of movement.)

The thing is that it's not just "too big", it's also too impractical. Mounts cannot be used in caves, mountain passes, rope bridges and buildings.

Your halfling cavalier can pretty much get by unnoticed if your have a dog as a mount, which is Medium anyway.

As for Reduce Animal, this is what people kinda got with the Mauler Familiar, except taht it's stuck on Medium, not even going Large, which would have made the archetype much more interesting.

except my mount is an axebeak now, and prior to that was an ankylosaur at level 4, at level 1-3 yes it was a wolf because i didnt have any other choice. No issues with bridges, caves mountain passes, or anything else you can list (except maybe underwater?) Shrinking the mount to medium remove every one of those issues. Now the gm can make scenarios like dinners and such where the mount cannot enter because fancy people wont allow it in there, but that should also stop any other animal companion/familiar and not just the mounts. Mounts have no flaws when made correctly, and thats the point of my post. You are once again imagining difficulty where there could easily be none.

I'm so tired of all these mounts suck because they are too big! nonsense comments. I ran my halfling cavalier through pfs just fine (hes level 11 currently) and ave only had to get off my mount twice... cause it died. Step 1 be a cavalier. Step 2 take 1 level of hunter before your mount becomes large. (make sure your mount is compatible with your animal companion so they stack) Step 3 wand of reduce animal. Thats one hour of a smaller animal, plus you should have a few yourself to cast. Problem solved. There is also undersized mount if you dont want to be small, that can allow you to do the same damn thing, Humans could ride medium mounts etc. My "cannonballer" never gets charge lanes blocked, has issues with difficult terrain or dismounts (unless its a quick dismount because for some reason i need a few more feet of movement.)

Also you didnt mention halflings whcih are amazing cavaliers. Yes their str is a bit lower (cry me a river!) but they can with the right racial archtype, increase any stat oif their animal companion by +2(con or dex, a dead mount is a very heavy weight) as well as get a bonus to ride.

Archtypes= Emissary and beast rider bend together flawless to build a crazy charger. Yes you lose teamwork feats, but you also dont need them as you should be charging into then past most enemies anyway.

Its also a fairly well known but not mentioned in your guide, fighting fro ma mounts back that is the same size as your enemy gives you higher ground which is a +1 to hit, suck that annakin!

For gear, Rhino hide armor if you are charging, pad a bit more damage! I can give an example of all of this in my cannonballer build is someone wants it, just let me know!

Thanks for the answer, I should have specified I knew about those three (I am actually a 3* gm myself, but I thought there was some sort of fourth option now that they have ceased making any first edition stuff that allowed gms/players to refresh replays as well moving forward. I have heard many mention it, but no one could cite me anything concrete.

(there was also a survey quite a few years back where you could get replays based on how many characters you used to answer it)

Can anyone point me to the guidelines for replays in PFS for 1st edition? I have heard rumors and seen posts that nudge it, but nothing i can use as definitive answers for the new changes since i last played prior to covid.

I would say your post answers your own question. The Rhamph is not a common mount, so it ill apply a -5 ride check to ride it, however, exotic saddles exist to help with this, as do exotic military saddles. However, its still going to be a bit tricky as to when to have it saddled etc, but its totally legal, and can even be ridden without the saddle though it would apply all appropriate penalties. Beyond that "combat mount" is not ACTUALLY a thing at all. Any mount that has combat training would be a combat mount, but the rhamph being actually intelligent (should be a 6) means it actually van learn feats and such and as such does not need "tricks" to give it the normal mount tricks for combat, so yes. Its perfectly legal to ride into battle, with the ride penalty with or without saddles.

I once had a player playa plate armored ogre that carried a cannon and used it to shoot with. It was funny as hell, though not terribly op as it takes a while to reload the cannon.

He already told us we cn custom make stuff provided we have the feats ( we wouldhave to make it ourself, and since its kingmaker he said we can also add random skill caps and stuff to keep it lower)