FelwynGD's page

Burst of Radiance
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/b/burst-of-radiance

@Faelyn- Thank you for the build. That looks pretty solid to me and would fill the role of a ranged blaster pretty well. What is great about aether?

@Philo- That is a good idea. Luckily, the players shouldn't be dealing with guns that much being the druid conclave is adherents to the old ways, but that would be a good idea for some baddies I am looking to have them face.

@Bloodrealm- That is a good amount of versatility, I wonder why the guide I read said they are DPS

So how would a Air/Aether function in play, do you not "full attack" with blasts, just empower them?

@ Chaos Ticket: Race is open to whatever. I am just looking for builds, I thought air was good but if there is some other awesome kinecticst build out there I am not aware of then I would love to hear about it (i don't know anything about this class.) I think the only must have I gave that is covered the best by air is the flight, so any cool builds I am open to. I am very new to this class.

The character will be played as a magical ability user, magic is still used in the SP nation, it is just starting to fall away to technology.

@ Possible Cabbage: Aether looks cool, I just want to make sure it is a competent DPS that can support the PC's in some way. I will definitely look at this build to see what all the abilities actually are. I would love to see a air build also. I also heard water/earth was a good combo apparently and fire is a solid DPS machine but not much else.

Anyone else with some builds/feedback?

Hello All,
I am trying to make a GM PC for a game I plan to run here pretty soon. The theme of the game is a steampunk confederation going to war with a Druid like conclave (think cowboys versus Indians) Technology is advancing, guns are abundant and the PCs are loyalist to the steampunk nation

I would like to make a solid Ranged DPS Air kineticist (open to suggestions on elements, air ha flight and celerity) to travel with them and maybe at some point the party will find out that the GMPC is a deserter from the Druid nation.

Kineticist are hard for me, so I need some help. 25 pt buy. 7th level HELP!

Must haves
- Flight( Would be really nice)
- Good ranged ability
- Party support
- Relatively easy to run

Mooncursed Barbarian- Use crocodile as main rage form (Gives you swim speed and a bite attack). Take rage powers : Beast totem line, Breathtaker,other thematic rage powers.

FelwynGD wrote:

Cool Build. I like the social talents and you are right those vigilante talents are nice. It seems to me thought the damage is a little low, given there are no class mechanics to give you a boost when need (Bane, Challenge, Smite Evil, ect.)

True, the Avenger Vigilante doesn't have the inbuilt damage boosting that other classes get (unless you're using fists or fineness). However, you're still a Full BAB class who can get pounce. You still lose out to the Barbarian in that regard, but you get social abilities that she doesn't.

Under ideal circumstances a Paladin or Cavalier or even a Fighter will out damage you, but you still do respectable damage. And once you hit level 12 you can deal with non-ideal circumstances much better than they can.

you are right, the Vigilante does get more social skills and some cool stuff at later levels. I just wonder if i want to wait that long ;-)

You could play him as an Aasimar with the Scion of Humanity racial alternative who didn't/doesn't know that he has angelic blood until some powers start to manifest. Maybe as a Daring Champion Cavalier wielding bastard sword and buckler ~

Oracular Champion
Dual-Cursed Oracle of Lore 1, Daring Champion Cavalier of the Dragon
Aasimar (Deathless Spirit, Scion of Humanity): 16STR+, 10DEX, 12CON, 12INT, 7/9WIS, 16/18CHA
Traits: Irrepressible, Reactionary

1C. Noble Scion (of War)
2O. *Revelation: Sidestep Secret* / *Curses: Tongues(Celestial) and Haunted*
3C. Extra Revelation: Misfortune
4C.
5C. *Panache, Deeds: Precise Strike, Dodging Panache, Swashbuckler Initiative* / Slashing Grace: Bastard Sword
6C.
7C. Heavenly Radiance: Wandering Star Motes / +F: Power Attack
8C.
9C. Heavenly Radiance: Sunbeam

That is a cool build. I didn't even know of the heavenly radiance feat. Sadly it seems my DM would rather me shy away from tiefling/Aasimar for his setting. I will remember this build though bc it is very interesting

Cool Build. I like the social talents and you are right those vigilante talents are nice. It seems to me thought the damage is a little low, given there are no class mechanics to give you a boost when need (Bane, Challenge, Smite Evil, ect.)

Four key questions:

1. How much magic do you see the character using? None/Minor/Medium/Lots?
2. What sources are available?
3. What race?
4. How complex do you want this to go?

For a 'knight' with just a touch of magic, I would probably look at either a Cavalier with 1 level of Oracle or some kind of Fighter using 4 levels of Warpriest. But there's a billion ways to go with it; you can make an effective 'knight' out of a Barbarian/Wizard type character with major spellcasting power if you want to.

One build concept I've been looking at for a frontline melee character lately is combining a one-handed weapon with unarmed strike and claw attack; doing it with a bastard sword that switched between two handed single attacks and one-handed for two-weapon full attack would work nicely, but I have no idea if that's a bit more exotic that your concept.

1. Background of character is he was a squire, his lord died defending a village that was in front of a tactical point that the government abandoned in favor in protecting the point. He was given a field commission as Knight because of his service defending the village and his sway with the people he was given a very minor knighthood. He is called by many "The Peasant Knight". So maybe some magic (like my first inquisitor incarnation) but I dont know if a full caster really fits. Also we need a little front line.

2. Everything but 3rd party (maybe the Path of War Stuff if I could convince my GM)

3. Not real picky, i usually go to human bc of the versatility

4. I am all about complex, so fire away

Avenger Vigilante. Great skill set, full bab, vigilante talents give you powerful combat options, social talents that let you have some narrative power, and there is literately nothing stopping you from ignoring the dual identity thing. You can use all of your vigilante talents and abilities in your social identity. Or you could pull a Richard I from Ivanhoe and create a "black knight" persona (as in a knight with a black or blank shield and heraldry, not a villain) to pall go places incognito.

I haven't looked at the Vigilante, good catch. I will investigate further, any build advice?

Well, you said skilled knight type, what type of skills? If you mean social, I would suggest a daring champion cavalier, if you will want high cha anyhow, the get some pay off from the swash feature added to the DC cabalier, and your horse won't be lonely in the stable.

Or if you think knights can sing, bard or skald would be great for skills, more Rhaegyar than Jaimie though...

Looking at the group you lay out, I see stealth/ infiltration skills covered, social skills, and some knowkedge type stuff. Do you think you will need wilderness skills? If so a steel blooded celestial or destined bloodrager maybe? Just think of the bloodrage as a sort of "combat focus" rather than berserk, and voila! You have wilderness skills on your list, 4 points a level base, and the utility of a few spells. And you can seriously kick butt.

Skills wise I am looking to be able to participate in skill like challenges. The game is going to have a decent amount of political intrigue, minor exploration. Bloodrager is an interesting idea, and you suggested a cavalier which others in the thread have already. Lots to ponder that is for sure. I am not sure How I feel about the rage mechanic for flavor reasons, but re-flavoring is always an option.

Paladins, orcales, and slayer also work pretty much fine. It really depends on what you like more.

I have never gotten into oracles, any suggested build? Paladins dont really have the skills that I would like and slayers just dont blow my skirt up. Any build suggestions that make the interesting?

Any one handed weapon other than the rapier can be used either one or two handed. One point of average damage over the longsword is not worth a feat by any stretch of the imagination. Not even a half-elf's skill focus. I suppose a tengu may as well go for it.

The most knight-ish class is cavalier. That gives 4+int skill points with all social skills as class skills. A human using the favored class bonus for skills gets another 2.

Another option is the samurai alternate class. They lose no occidental weapon proficiencies and the only other oriental reference is in Weapon Expertise. If you take weapon expertise in longbow and use normal CRB equipment there's nothing to mark out that you're using a nominally oriental class. If you like resolve more than tactician there's no reason you can't use the samurai class for a knight.

I was considering a Cavalier, I have never really made one ( I did have a samurai a while back). I agree with you about the feat cost of bastard sword, luckily my DM just let me be proficient with it, but I definitely see your point!

Hello,
I need some help form the infinite wisdom of this board. I am going to be playing in a homebrew games coming up soon and the DM has stressed that it is going to be a 40/60 split between social/ skill stuff and combat. I really want to make a knight like character. Here are the specifics

+ Decent Skills
+ Medium- Heavy Armor
+ I will be using a bastard sword for the versatility for 2-hand or 1 hand and shield- or something similar (DM GAVE FREE PROFICENCY IN BASTARD SWORD)
+ 25 pt buy
+ Level 5
+ Using Inherent bonus system
+ Party consists of an unchained summoner (social skills, big azazta edilon), A Unchained rogue going into crimson assassin, A unchained rogue that is focusing in alchemical stuff, A ranged inquisitor using guns, and a Divine bloodline sorcerer.

What would you guys do if you were in this game and wanted to make a knight? As of right now I made a Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer) with the conversion domain, but with the addition of the other inquisitor I wanted to explore some other options.

Tl;DR- I want a knight like character with decent skills and good combat contribution. Think Jaimie Lannister

Unchained rogue 1/ Wizard (admixture) 3/ Arcane Trickster x VMC Magus is real nice. Pick up the Prescient attack Arcana and destroy someone with fiery shuriken.

Regarding your original build. I think you can dirty trick without an issue. Gauntlets of peerless maneuver and Wayfinder should get you all you need, especially if you are flanking with dirty fighting

Another way to get sneak attack reliably is the Circling Mongoose +Canny Tumble Combo. It is feat intensive but really good at getting those sneak attacks! It also would combo really well with your precise strike+Outflank teamwork feats.

H Dodge
1- Mobility
3- WF Longsword
3T- Precise Strike
5- Disciple of the Sword
6T- Outflank
7- Spring Attack
8- Slayer Talent- Rogue Talent- Combat trick- Canny Tumble
9- Circling Mongoose
9T- Intercept Charge

No power attack on this build but if you want power attack, remove WF and grab it and replace the Disciple of the sword with Extra bane or Accomplished Sneak attacker for an extra D6. Now you can dance around someone and count as flanking (with yourself, hello outflank and precise strike). Damage will be good because of Sneak Attack+ Studied Target+ Bane+ Weapon Spec (From DotS)

You Are looking at 1d8 (LongSword)+2d6 (Bane) +2d6 (Sneak) +1d6 (Precise) +9 (STR +Bane+Dots+Studied Target)= 1d8+5d6+9

Attack Bonus
6(BAB)+ 3(STR)+1(WF)+2(BANE)+2(STUDIED TARGET)+4(OUTFLANK)+2(CANNY TUMBLE) = +20/+15

This is not including the bumps you will get from Divine Favor, inherent bonuses or higher stats.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/sacred-geometry
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/calculating-mind
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/arithmancy

Fates Favored, Threatening Defender
Conversion Domain
H- Combat Expertise
1- WF Longsword
3 Improved Feint
3T- Precise Strike
5- Disciple of the Sword
6T- Outflank
7- Swordplay Style
8 Slayer Talent- Rogue Talent- Combat Trick- Power Attack
9- Swordplay upset
9T- Intercept Charge

Utilizing sword play style, this build will let you get sneaks in because you can feint them when the miss you with a melee attack. You should have good ac due to the combat expertise bonus (penalty reduced by threatening defender) and the swordplay style feat. You are still getting a shield bonus to AC but you can also use you long sword 2 handed for 1.5 STR and the PA boost. With the accuracy boosts from Divine Favor, Studied Target you should be able to hit ok. Conversion domain has a pretty cool 8th level power but also lets you use your wisdom for bluff so you can feint with ease.

Are there any fun warpriest blessings that help archers?

Air, Destruction, any of the alignment blessing (+quicken blessing) for a meat shield

My skald uses preform oratory and utilizes the spirit totem line of rage powers. To RP this I would like him to read transcriptions from the "Wall of Names", a wall to commemorate fallen pathfinders, the essence of those spirits protects the pathfinders still alive today.

To add to this I would like to use real fallen PCs. If anyone has a few moments to spare a quick blurb for any fallen pathfinder would be awesome.

Soand-So died protecting his allies while exploring the old dwarven runes of such and such. He will never be forgotten.

Hookra Stumpthumper, noted alchemist and business dwarf, died when he detonated his bombs to destroy his body when a demon was about to posses him and kill his allies.

Well Secret Wizard has a great guide that has a really neat ranged fighter with fun ticks like ranged trip and disarm. Take a look!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p2sDGtlDJcz5z47LwXGKV7bQGNAUmFxFBupBCJO orxo/edit

Also, have you take a look at the new weapon training options for fighter and the weapon mastery feats? They could help spice things up for you.

Take a look at that guide though, great ranged fighter build in there.

Devilkiller wrote:

@thejeff - Back in 3.5 I made firearms Simple weapons. This seems appropriate to me since one of the advantages of muskets seems to have been that it was easier to train people to use them effectively than it was to train skilled archers. I still think that lowering the rate of fire for PCs to less than once per round would probably create a lack of fun though. There's also the fact that a higher level PC with enough wealth could just go with the "Blackbeard" option and carry multiple loaded pistols for use with Quick Draw, so using load times as the primary balancing factor on firearms could be difficult to pull off well.

That's pretty much my thought. You could carry multiple pistols, but by the time you can afford that, you're going to be wanting magic ones, which is still going to be hard to afford. Especially if you're trying to lay down the huge rates of fire current pistoleros get.

Less than once per round means you use them at the start of the fight then switch to a melee weapon. You know, like flintlocks were really used.
You just don't play gun specialists.

If using multiple pistols, you could cast Greater Magic Weapon on a bunch of ammo, then you have a bunch of +x pistols.

You really don't need to scrap the build. You still have WIS to initiative, so at the very least you will be able to sneak attack at the beginning of combat while foes are flatfooted. Sneak Attack is not a core component of the damage for a Sanctified Slayer, it's just a nice bonus. Your main damage is coming from archery feats, studied target, deadly aim, and bane.

That is true. I guess I need to take a step back and not be so concerned with the SA damage..... just wish it wasn't so hard. lol

FelwynGD wrote:

My bad, teachs me not to read closely. I have decided to go a different direction and grab the gunslinger feat and snap shot to be able to flank and sneak that way.

I'm not sure what Gunslinger feat you're specifically referring to, but regardless you can't flank with ranged weapons. It's melee only.

Snapshot will allow you to threaten, and make attacks of opportunity. It will allow you to provide flanking to others, but you do not benefit from flanking. Sorry, this will not get you ranged sneak attack.

please see edit above, yes I am now aware it doesn't work. Reading the whole post does help ;-) But you are totally right.... bummer

Gunslinger
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +4, Weapon Focus (any firearm), proficiency with any firearm.

Benefit: When you attack with a firearm, you do not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Normal: Attacking with any kind of ranged weapon in a threatened square provokes attacks of opportunity.

My bad, teachs me not to read closely. I have decided to go a different direction and grab the gunslinger feat and snap shot to be able to flank and sneak that way.

Edit: that doesn't work either, I might just need to scrap the build. Dear Lord this is more work than necessary.

Ranged sneak attack usually comes down to 'you can see them, but they cannot see you'. That means invisibility, various means of obscuring vision (e.g. smoke/fog/snow/darkness) AND seeing through those, or sniping.

The obscure vision abilities are usually the most reliable because very few enemies will have 'snow sight'. If you can manage multiple forms of obstruction and vision you'll almost never have problems (e.g. Dark Stalker with fog vision is just mean).

Failing that I'd recommend sniping. Get a pair of greater sniping goggles and you can sneak attack from so far away that many enemies won't be able to overcome the distance penalties on their perception checks even if you aren't hiding. If you do the 'hide and shoot' bit you want the 'Master Sniper' feat to get off two shots before hiding again and various means to offset the -20 hide penalty (halfling swift as shadows, Expert Sniper feat, rogue stealthy sniper talent, greater sniping weapon property, et cetera).

I like the idea of dropping smoke and firing , sadly that would hurt my party, I guess for now I will stick with 1 turn gun twirling and hoping I drop something to get the grit back. Maybe take next 2 levels in fighter and grab dirty fighting, improved feint and greater feint?

Feint is still a standard action without heavy feat investment, no? So this build is only getting one sneak attack off every other round and on the off rounds you are not making any attacks?

The feat allows you to spend a grit to feint, so you are not having to use the Standard action to feint.

Ok so the gist is I am not getting ranged sneak attack easily..... How can I improve the build.... ?

This is what I was afraid of. Would going straight inquistor be better for judgements and trade out dazzling for deadly aim?

Hello all,
I need some help with a build. I have an sanctified slayer 8 that I am using pistols with and trying to use Gun twirling. The issue I am finding is a way to get consistent sneak attack.

Human Sanctified Slayer 8 (traits Fortune Favored,
H Point Blank Shot BPI: Exotic Weapon proficiency (Firearms), Gun smithing
1 Rapid Reload
3 Rapid Shot
5 WF Pistol
7 Dazzling Display

Slayer Talent
8- Grit- Amateur Gunslinger, Gun Twirling

Teamwork Feats
3- Coordinated Shot
6- Target of Opportunity

So the original idea was to use Gun twirling to get sneak attacks off, kill someone and regain the grit, rinse repeat.Any ideas to improve the build? How can I get SA more often?? 25 pt buy btw.

http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm#v5748eaic9t3f

Relevant Faq showing that with new five stacking rules bashing and spikes don't stack

Question concerning the Minotaur Double Xbow:

From what I am understanding when I fire this weapon once, I fire 2 bolts and if I hit i get to add the extra dice, not my stat twice

So Fire xbow- bolt base damage d10- hit so I do 2d10+bonus , not 1d10+bonus,1d10+bonus like a double barrel pistol?

Honestly, it's a better option to take one level of swashbuckler (preferably inspired blade) followed by everything else sleuth investigator if you want to combine pools. While the Investigator is 3/4th BAB, Studied combat makes up for that, especially with a huge panache/luck pool and an inspired rapier.

I could see that being a good option. I just have a hard time giving up precise strike =-).

You'd gain limited inspiration, a +2 will save, a lot of class skills. You'd miss out on 1 BAB, a lower hit die, slower progression of swashbuckler abilities. Luck abilities are no damage on a successful reflex save, and maybe a stacking initiative bonus.

That is not a horrible trade to be honest. The BAB is a little rough, but the class skills alone is awesome, adding in more will save as a Swashbuckler is good, and inspiration makes all those skill ranks even better, along with a conditional way of getting better to hit. The pseudo evasion is also pretty nice. Combine this with the Inspired Blade Swashbuckler, could be a great way of getting a lot of points to use and lots of cool abilities that are not specifically combat oriented. Might look into this.

Would taking a level in sleuth investigator and then going straight swashbuckler be worth it for the double CHA mod to their pool and the added versatility of the pool?

Sleuth archetype of Investigator is the only one I know of off-hand.

That is what I thought also, the only other thing I could think of was the Archaeologist Bard, but I don't thin that is a luck pool.

From the Swashbuckler class:
"Grit, luck, and panache represent three different means by which heroes can gain access to the same heroic pool, using it to accomplish fantastic feats. For characters with a mix of grit, luck, and panache, they pool the resources together into a combined pool. (Those who use panache and luck gain twice their Charisma bonus in their pool.) For feats, magic items, and other effects, a panache user can spend and gain luck points in place of grit or panache points, and vice versa.

A luck user does not count as a grit or panache user to satisfy feat prerequisites."

So what classes get a luck pool that would stack with a panache pool?

FelwynGD wrote:

Looking at your Sacred Fist build, you have it taking pummeling style at level 1 warpriest. The requirements for that feat are BAB +6. So I am wondering if I am missing something or is this a mistake?

Quote:

Prerequisite(s): Improved Unarmed Strike; base attack bonus +6, brawler's flurry class feature, or flurry of blows class feature.

You pick 1.

Quote:

Is multiclassing with the Warpriest really worth it?

The base WP should never multiclass. However the sacred fist (Especially the MoMS) benefits HUGELY both in the short (Levels 2 to 11) and long term (12-20) because fuse style with pummeling dragon or pummeling snake are INCREDIBLY strong. Especially pummeling dragon at mid levels (9 ish).

Oh that makes sense. Nice!

Looking at your Sacred Fist build, you have it taking pummeling style at level 1 warpriest. The requirements for that feat are BAB +6. So I am wondering if I am missing something or is this a mistake?

Ok so I am making a character based loosely on Alister from Dragon Age, He uses a Sword and Shield as many characters do.

But I do not know much about that play style.
I want to make a build focusing on the Sword and Board style of combat, I know its not the best but it can be fun and useful. I was thinking of either Paladin, Warpriest, Brawler (Shield Champion and picking up a Weapon Prof with a Flaw feat (House Rule))

Sword and Board works best in my opinion as a TWF build. Shield slam is a great feat and lets you control the battlefield a little bit. Do some search on the forum ad i bt you will find some fleshed out builds.Out of your list i like the paladin most bc it could really capitalize on TWF with Smite Evil, also gives me more of a Grey Warden feel. Another thing I see on the boards quite often are people who use a quick draw shield and on their turn stow the shield to 2 hand a weapon then quick draw the shield out at the end of their turn so they can have the defensive bonus form the shield. Don't forget about the bashing enhancement and for some extra punch with your shield and of course a shield spike. Good Luck!

Shave his wings with a rusty razor,

shave his wings with a rusty razor,
shave his wings with a rusty razor,
early in the mor-ning!

What do you do with a Half-Celestial,
what do you do with a Half-Celestial,
what do you do with a Half-Celestial,
early in the mor-ning?

Torment him until he's Fallen,
Torment him until he's Fallen,
Torment him until he's Fallen,
early in the mor-ning!

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.....

LOL very clever.

Changing the format from template to race, to start, will get you somewhere, and then you can decide whether you like it how it is, or to add or take away things.

Whether is refluffing the template or making a new race, you could get the aasimar into the workbench. The "celestial" thing, also considering that a half celestial's celestialness is much more than an aasimar's, should take the form of:
-The celestial subtype in the bestiary (type, immunities, senses, etc)
-More Wisdom, more Charisma. Maybe +4 instead of +2. (I think that wisdom is a celestialish ability, the other could be Con, maybe)
-Consider very much whether to put DR or SR. DR should be /evil, and SR may be only for evil spells. Look the aasimar-only feats to get an idea.
-Take ideas from the paladin, or some spells from the cleric. Maybe it has a "sacrifice" ability, in which loses some hit points and cures a mortal the same amount, or half.

Just to name a few. Always have the fluff present, and ask yourself "does this have the celestial thematic?" Maybe it has more CL when casting good spells, or cure, or summoning good monsters.

Thanks fr the great advice! I was more thinking what class to make the character. I plan on just taking the template and applying it to a human chassy or something. I was just wondering what the board would do with all the tasty bits you get from the template and get from the 30 pt buy. I was thinking maybe warpriest, or an oracle or something that feel flavorful for a celestial. What would you do?

I am playing in a game where the GM wants to get CRAZY. So because of this we are playing a 30 pt buy game starting at level 5 with standard WBL and we can choose crazy races and such. I chose to take the Half celestial template and make it into a race. Problem is I have no idea what to make. What would you guys do??

Alternatively, we have the option to make a 28 RP race and use it.

I do not know what advice to give you without changing the things you want staple.

If you are going after maneuvers, the maneuver master is your best bet. In this case, dirty trick is the best maneuver to focus.

But, if you want to invest in trip, then the flowing monk does it best. With Vicious Stomp and greater trip, yiu will be able to provoke two AoOs when you trip someone and make him save twice or get flat-footed. As a result, it is probably better to continue with a class that grants sneak attack like the Ninja, that also progresses your ki pool. A 3-4 lvl dip in lore warden will also be useful for the CMB boost.

Ki mystic is not a particularly good archetype, if what you want is more ki, drunken master does it better.

Than being said, ki mystic stacks with weapon adept, and if you rule that you can use perfect strike with a temple sword it is a good choice. You can take back stunning fist with a feat and take the cornugon stun feat so that you can use it through your weapon.

I would avoid specializing in grappling, unless you take the Tetori archetype. That being said, having improved grapple as a bonus feat is not a bad move, it is just very situational (mainly useful against casters). Trip is great when it works, but it does not work universally enough IMO. Also, unless you are a maneuver master (or a tetori for grappling), you will not have enough bonus to CMB so that your maneuvers can be regularly effective against the BBEGs, unless you are satisfied with a 50/50 chance at best. So the investment that you have already done in maneuvers is enough and you should not focus more on them, unless you run out of options.

Stunning Fist is definately better than Elemental fist for a high Wisdom build.

Actually my best proposal is to take advantage of your high point buy and the easy wisdom-to-attack/damage and multiclass with Paladin into the Champion of Irori PrC.

I guess I wasn't clear. I am not married to the ideas but I just like the idea of unarmed fighting. I like monk weapons but the idea of not ever having to worry about weapons is cool to me. I have never really made a monk and I know the changes are different but have been tested to show not a huge but positive effect on play style. Mainly what I want to know is what is a better investment- elemental fist and monk of 4 winds or stunning fist (and as mentioned) Druken ki. I did grab grapple for the caster situation bc our dm likes casters. I am not sure about my trip feats I took. Any other suggestions for that maybe?

No advice at all??

Bump

I am making a character for a homebrew game. We are 30 Pt buy and we are using the following amendments to monk proposed and tested by Dabbler

1) Zen Warrior: A monk may choose to use their Wisdom bonus rather than their strength or dexterity bonus for attacks made with special monk weapons, combat maneuvers, and with the monk’s unarmed strike. Regardless of which ability modifier is used, the monk adds his AC bonus to his number to hit with unarmed strikes and special monk weapons.
2) Amending the Ki-Pool entry as follows:
“As long as he has at least 1 point in his ki pool, he can make a ki strike. At 4th level, ki strike allows his unarmed attacks to gain a +1 enhancement bonus. At 7th level this increases to +2, at 10th level, his unarmed attacks are +3, at 13th level +4, and at 16th level his unarmed attacks gain a +5 bonus. In addition the monk may bypass the hardness of objects with his ki strike. At 4th level he bypasses 5 pts of hardness (wood), at 7th level 8 pts of hardness (stone), at 10th level 10 pts of hardness (iron and steel), at 13th level 15 pts of hardness (mithral) and at 16th level 20 pts of hardness (adamantine).By spending 1 point from his ki pool, a monk can make one additional attack a round at his highest attack bonus when making an attack. In addition, he can spend 1 point to move 20 feet in a swift action.”

3) Monks are proficient with all monk weapons

This is the build I have come up with (Currently 6 level)
HumaN Monk (Qigong monk/ Ki Mystic) 6
Str 13
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 12
Wis 20
Cha 8

Feats
H- Power Attack
M1- Deflect Arrows
1- Mantis Style
M2- Improved Grapple
3-Combat Reflexes
5- Vicious Stomp
6- Improved Trip

My question I have is is going into 2 maneuvers viable? Should I focus on one? I kinda want to stick with the archetypes I chose. What is good feat progression? Also is stunning better (getting Medusa wrath at 10 level) than elemental fist ( Monk of the 4 winds, Djinni Style). Here is the feat advancement I would use for MO4W

Feats (If Monk of 4 winds)
H- Power Attack
M1- Deflect Arrows
1- Combat Reflexes
M2- Improved Grapple
3-Vicious Stomp
5- Djinni Style
6- Improved Trip

TLDr- I need help making an effective monk with changes listed above. Is stunning (with Medusa Wrath) or elemental fist(MO4W and Djinni Stlye) better? What is a good feat advancement? 2 maneuvers or 1 (I would rather grapple to shut down casters, DM is kinda focusing on them a little)

Thanks for all the help

XMorsX wrote:

master_marshmallow wrote:

XMorsX wrote:

A bashing spiked heavy shield deals 2d6 damage. You will never need the scimitar. You will deal more damage with two-handed shield attacks. For sword and board you need Shieldmaster in order to be effective, which is too feat intensive for a Paladin to be worth it.

Now if you want the Scimitar just to show of, you can certainly do it.

This is incorrect, a bashing heavy shield deals 1 d8 damage, the spike is considered a different weapon all together, and it does 1 d6.

There is not a way to get 2d6 out of an appropriately sized shield.

Actually there is not a clear definition about how exactly they are working. I has been suggested to make it work like you say, but you can definately ignore this suggestion. Bashing enchantment is magic anyway, who needs a logical explaination. In 3.5 edition the combination was used fine anyway.

Whatever the ruling you may follow though (I find it a bit lame to pay for shield spikes only to find out that you cannot enchant your shield the way you could an ordinary shield), still the way to go is a heavy shield wielded with two hands.

Two things:

One: If they stacked (which the link you has JJ clearly stating that the shield spike and the shield bash are two different weapons) the damage would be 1d10, not 2d6.
Two: What kind of damage would this do? You shield bash is what the bashing enchantment improves, making it 1d8 bludgeoning damage, and the shield spike is 1d6 piercing. It is clear that they are two separate weapons.

Did you even read your own link?

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/npc-s/npc-19/scarred-wanderer

This NPC has a spiked heavy bashing shield and does 2d6 base

I also don't see half those options given on this page
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/summon-natures-ally
is there some place i can go to see all the things I can summon at each level?

so how about from 1 untill summon monster 4?

Tom Hiddleston is 6'2", Christian Kane is 5'9", Tom Cruise is 5'7". Which last gave rise to "Tom Cruise ain't no Jack Reacher" (Reacher is 6'5"). Having said that, I have to admit I liked both "Reacher" movies.

I'd been led to believe Kane is also 5'7" and that Hiddleston was closer to 6'1", but even then I was fudging because I've always thought of Varian as around 6', but I tend to visualize him as Hiddleston.

What´s up with "Tales of the far West" & "A Knight in the Silk Purse"?

Greetings from Germany.

FAR WEST is a crazy mashup of wuxia (kung fu), westerns, and a little bit of steampunk. My story in that anthology pits a group of misfits against the rail baron who injured them.

A Knight in the Silk Purse is the second in an anthology of Mesoamerican fantasy stories. My story in that one is a little dark.

In both of them, you'll recognize at least one other Pathfinder Tales author among the contributors.

And return greetings from Canada.

I checked out this "The Devil's Pay" stuff, but it seems to be only available as kindle or audible, which is just not my thing. ;-(
Is the new stuff digital only or will there also be an actual book?
I will buy every actual physical product written by you (like the Black Wolf & Stormweather books).
So, the february release won't be Pathfinder or Iron Kingdoms but something all-new?
I hope you will write a Pathfinder Tale again in the future, but i will buy other books too and wish you the best of luck for the future! :-)

The new novella's something all-new, and it'll be in print with a gorgeous cover. It's in a setting for which I've long wanted to write, and

I once heard that the Iron Kingdoms books might one day see print, but that was a while ago, and I've had no concrete info on that front.

If you're looking for something to tide you over, I've stories in Champions of Aetaltis, Shattered Shields, and Gods, Memes, and Monsters--the latter of which got a nice nod from Ellen Datlow in the annual summary to her Best Horror of the Year.

Of those, the Champions story is the one closest to a Pathfinder Tale, and the one in Shields is the darkest--and the one I'm most likely to revisit one day. Both anthologies also include terrific stories by other Pathfinder Tales authors.

Dave Gross wrote:

Thanks, Valantrix1.

Dragnmoon, I've found myself wishing I could see the spellings when I only listen to the audiobook.

Dave, when can we expect a new text by you?

You have become my favorite writer and i need something new.
The Egorian Gazetteer in AP #106 was great by the way.

Congratulations to "Master of Devils" selling out.
Lord of Runes will follow soon with less than 25 copies left. :-)

Thanks for the kind words and for the effusive review you left for Lord of Runes. I'm glad you liked the Egorian Gazetteer, too. That was a lot of fun.

There are no new Radovan & the Count novels in the works, but my next novella will be unleashed in February 2017. If you like "the boys," I bet you'll also like "the girls" in the new piece. As with Prince of Wolves and "The Devil's Pay," it launches a new line, and I can't wait to read the stories that follow. You may recognize a few familiar names on the covers.

That's all the detail I can offer now, but if you follow my web site or twitter feed, you'll be among the first to see the title and description once it's ready for mortal eyes.

They do! My wife just reread Prince of Wolves and said it was even better the second time around. :-)

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I like your wife.

@Dave Gross:

Can we expect a new Tale from you in 2017?

Your novels are my favorite ones, not only from Pathfinder, but from all of them.
The only ones i have read more often (6 times each), are the "War of the Spider Queen" ones.
Prince of Wolves 5 times, i read it every year or so.

There's none in the works, but I appreciate your kind words. I hope some of those books stand up to re-reading.

If you guys were to see your novels turned into a movie who would you like to see play your main characters? Really interested in seeing Chris's response to this but its for anyone/everyone.

My graphic response.

Question for everyone:

How did you get started? Fan-fic, open submissions, etc? What was your first foray into the field?

My first pro sale was for an open call for Forgotten Realms short fiction. That was "Every Dog His Day" for Realms of Magic. The editor liked that one well enough to invite me to submit for Realms of Mystery. I did a few more stories and a short novel (novella, really) for the Realms.

Later I pitched to an open call for Forgotten Realms and Ravenloft novels. The editors liked both of my pitches, but since there were so many Realms pitches, they asked me to do the Ravenloft one.

I should have heard the sinister organ music.

What they didn't tell me was that the Ravenloft line was doomed, and they cancelled it when I was only halfway through my manuscript. Fortunately, rather than a kill fee and a clumsy translation of my unfinished novel to the Realms, I asked for a clean shot. That got me invited to pitch for the Sembia series, for which I wrote "Thirty Days" for The Halls of Stormweather followed by Black Wolf, my first full-length novel.

How do you folks outline your novels? Bullet points? Mindmapping? Sticky-notes with push pins and string and low-res pictures on a cork board a la conspiracy theorist?

One of my many flaws is that I go overboard on outlines. I try to keep them below 5,000 words, but I've slipped and ended up with a 15k outline once or twice.

Mine are big word documents with a page or two on each chapter, sometimes including reminders to myself about foreshadowing and subplots, running jokes, setting-specific references and how they matter to the boys, and so on.

I also include a list of important characters with descriptions ranging from a few sentences to a page, and copious footnotes and appendices.

It's a sickness.

To All the authors: What was the biggest/coolest thing you bought with the money from your first novel?

With the money from my first novel, I bought the original cover art to The Halls of Stormweather and, later, Black Wolf.

With the money from my Pathfinder novels, the coolest purchase I made was a diorama featuring a couple of obscure characters.

I’m delighted you liked the conclusion of Winter Witch. I encouraged Elaine to pop in on this thread, but she suggested that I leave a comment.

As some already know, Elaine couldn't complete the book because of a year of family emergencies. To ensure that Pathfinder Tales launched on time, Paizo moved Prince of Wolves up to the August slot and consulted Elaine about enlisting a co-author for Winter Witch. She agreed that I'd finish the manuscript.

Elaine created most of the characters and plot of the novel. She wrote that fantastic prologue and the first nine chapters. I revised those chapters to address editorial feedback and to get a feeling for her style. (I like to tell her I did the job to absorb her powers.) Rather than try to mimic her exactly, I tried “leaning” toward her style. I'm delighted that no one has ever noticed the change point and many don't realize there were two writers.

Chapters 10 and beyond are my work based on Elaine's outline, which I altered in response to editorial feedback. My changes began with matching the book to the setting, but I also combined a few characters into one (Mareshka), added a few more monstrous adversaries, and kept Olenka in the story longer. There were lots of other changes, but those stand out in memory.

A couple of my changes were choices Elaine wouldn’t have made. She still teases me about making it more of a “kissing book,” and I’m sorry to have made one of her favorite characters more brutal than she’d envisioned her. (Elaine usually has the darker imagination, but I have my moments.)

A while after she recovered from the very bad horrible year, Elaine and I often chatted about continuing the story of Declan and Ellasif with an “on-purpose” collaboration, perhaps one in which Radovan and the Count played supporting roles. We even sketched out a few outlines. Unfortunately, we did this simultaneously and took the characters in different directions.

In the end we realized we both like to lead too much to collaborate. There were never any quarrels, just a gradual realization that we’re better off supporting each other with manuscript critiques, gossip, and awful puns.

So while some of the character issues you've mentioned have indeed swirled in my imagination and Elaine's, I'm doubtful we'll ever get to explore them beyond our occasional "what if?" chats. If a continuance of Winter Witch ever appears, it’ll be by Elaine alone, and I’ll be the first to read it.

Dave Gross wrote:

2. I would love to see a couple or three large statues of Golarion's major gods in each future set, preferably not simply painted stone gray but in interesting variations (maybe a jade, maybe a painted statue, maybe one in mosaic tiles, and so on), but all of a similar size so we could construct things like the Sandpoint Cathedral, with the uniform size of the statues working to advantage.

The Idea is incredible! I wanted to use the large Lamashtu mini in a temple but the good/neutral gods as statues/golems/avatars are actually even better.

It's because I was putting away the Lamashtu mini after running Thistletop for the second time that I thought, "I want all the gods about this size. As statues."

I have a couple extra Karzoug figures which I'm likely to strip and repaint as statues. It would be nice (but maybe not practical) to have statue versions of famous figures who'd likely have statues as chase minis or convention specials, but really it's not too hard to strip and repaint, especially as stone.

Looking forward to the next set, and generally very happy with the current one. Two requests, one of which you've surely heard from me before.

1. More contrast on the paint design, please! Figures that are mostly dark colors lose so much detail. I can't count how many otherwise good figures pre-painted black & brown have been a huge disappointment until I peered closely and saw that the figure itself was pretty good; there was just no way to see that.

When in doubt, default to much lighter shades. The paint should enhance rather than obscure the sculpture.

Also, just more color in general. There are too many black, gray, and brown figures that would really pop with a brighter color scheme.

2. I would love to see a couple or three large statues of Golarion's major gods in each future set, preferably not simply painted stone gray but in interesting variations (maybe a jade, maybe a painted statue, maybe one in mosaic tiles, and so on), but all of a similar size so we could construct things like the Sandpoint Cathedral, with the uniform size of the statues working to advantage.

Most of these figures would still be useful to non-Golarion players, since the gods make for pretty great general (if not generic) statue subjects.

I like to think of Arni as a Mythic dog.

One of my key references for this book was the Magic of Thassilon web supplement, in which you'll find all the mysteries of the Gluttonous Tome.

I've purposefully not statted out Radovan and the count.

Radovan is not only a rogue (and perhaps another class, which I've left vague because readers have statted him out so much better than I ever could) but also a special entity (as revealed a little at a time in "Hell's Pawns" and the first four novels).

Varian began as a (magically disabled) wizard/aristocrat/fighter but retrains almost every novel as he learns more about his unusual affliction. After Chapter 17 of Lord of Runes, I think it's safe to say that Varian has achieved his "final form." I'll leave the game experts to say just what class that is.

The Shadowless Sword has not been statted out (to my knowledge), but that's partly because Varian has not yet discovered all of its abilities. After reading Lord of Runes, you know its main attributes: speed, revealing illusions, and the ability to cut damned near anything.

Janneke is a ranger/fighter. Kazyah is indeed a druid and one of the two highest-level allies the boys have met. (The other, incidentally, is also a druid.)

Illyria is a necromancer.

The Oracle I never statted out, but it's safe to say he too was a high-level divine caster.

If I do say so myself, Master of Devils, Queen of Thorns, and King of Chaos all include adversaries (and some allies) operating at a very high-fantasy level. Prince of Wolves much less so.

Glad you enjoyed the book!

HI Dave, why did you tease of Varian's return to Cheiliax through out the whole book and not have him go home?

How will Radovan's pettion to be made a Barron go over at Court with the feelings of Chelish Nobility on Hell Spawn?

Is Varian's bachelorhood about to end?

On Varian's martial status, I think that given his families status in Chelish nobility that the Queen might try to play match maker to tie Varian closer to the throne. What do you think of that?

Is Varian going to give his third of Goutiness Tome to the Queen in place of the other Book that he was supposed to give her?

The answer is "foreshadowing" and "maybe one day you'll see." I always seed these books with hints of what might happen next. You've just gotten too good and spotting those hints.

James, In Lord of Runes it talks about some sort of upheaval in the political structure of Korovosa. Could you comment on was is going on in Korovosa.

It is indeed a purposefully vague reference to the events of Curse of the Crimson Throne. Players should be able to read it without being substantially spoiled.

I'm surprised we haven't had a chance to have this answered in a story yet, but what does Count Jeggare have to say about Andoran?

For that matter, what exactly is he Count of? Jeggare would appear to be a family name, not the name of his County.

I have considered both of these questions in past and decided they'd be more interesting to answer in the context of a future story.

Say, what's this?

Come on by. I will answer spoiler questions, but I'll use the cloaking device. You won't have to see them if you don't want to.

Already half way through and having difficulty putting it down! You do this to me every time Dave!!!!

I hope it provides some textual healing.

This hotel is a much better venue. It's wonderful to have a hall of single- or double-game rooms upstairs.

Barcon is, as ever, the highlight. And, as you know, what happens in Barcon stays in Barcon.

So here are some questions about Golarion and Pathfinder in general...

1) What are some of your favorite classes?

It's tough to choose favorites, because I like so many different classes. As a player, I like having skills and a wide variety of abilities. As a writer, I'm usually less interested in class than in personality, but I also like exceptions and multi-classed characters.

I'm going to say fighter/magic-user/thief!

2) What are some of your favorite races?

For a long time, humans were my default choice, and I still think of most fictional fantasy characters as essentially human "on the inside."

That said, gnomes are awesome. I think that one just ate a bug.

3) Any class or race you don't like?

I have a love/hate relationship with drow. I hate the racist paradigm that dark-skinned versions of traditionally lighter-skinned races are inherently evil. I love the idea of creepy subterranean elves.

In past campaigns, I've made drow albinos who used dark paint to protect their skin from sunlight when they made surface raids, or else I've declared that they aren't black, exactly, but rather a dark iridescent color because of a magical transformation that lends them the chitinous skin of their Spider Queen.

Also, I pronounce "drow" to rhyme with "crow," even though I know that's officially wrong. I just think crows are scarier than cows, and so should drow be.

4) What is your favorite regions?

Varisia, Tian Xia, Ustalav, and Kyonin are high on my list of favorites. There are several more that appeal to me a great deal, but I haven't plumbed their depths.

5) What are your least favorite regions?

Those nations that seem to have one overriding theme can turn me off, at least until I see the diversity within the region. For instance, the Worldwound did nothing for me until I read about ancient Sarkoris (and its modern remains) in Lost Kingdoms and Lost Cities, and then I loved it.

6) Top 5 favorite gods?

Desna, Lamashtu, Norgorber, Iomedae, Pharasma.

7) Bottom 5 least favorite gods?

I can't really think of any I dislike. I'd probably be least interested in writing about worshipers of Abadar, Gorum, or Torag.

Several of us Pathfinder Tales writers are part of Marc Tassin's Champions of Aetaltis anthology. You can ask us anything at today's Reddit AMA.

The Kickstarter launched a few days ago, and you can find that here.

Something I just noticed from earlier --

Liane Merciel wrote:

Subparhiggins wrote:

what is your favorite monster or monster type (such as devils/dragons/etc) in Golarion? And what about them appeals to you, and why?

{. . .}

Animals: Fun! You get to Show Your Research and talk about ecosystems and natural behaviors and how that grounds your setting in realism and shapes the people who live there (or don't).
{. . .}

D&D and Pathfinder don't give enough credit to Animals. Intelligence <=2 and Charisma in the single digits? Not if you've had a dog that was like part of the family, or met a dog who knew how to open doors and also knew how to make you feel REALLY BAD after you followed his owners' explicit orders not to let him into the guest room . . . .

Clearly, you haven't read the Radovan & the Count novels, which some argue should be called the Radovan & the Count & Arnisant novels. :)

This question goes more to Dave Gross but i welcome anyone with a good theory.

What is Burning Cloud Devil? The only thing i can definitely tell about him is that he's human.

While I never finished his character sheet except for spells and ability scores, I sketched out BCD as a ridiculously high-level monk/sorcerer. If the mythic rules had existed at the time, I'd have made him mythic for sure. He's one of several antagonists way above the boys' pay grade.

Neither Dungeon nor Dragon were ever anywhere close to 50% ads. We should have been so lucky.

How do you all approach the Christmas tree effect?

It seems to me that PFTales protagonists don't continually "upgrade" equipment, nor are they festooned with trinkets - rather they each have one or two significant items. This is very much to my tastes, however it doesn't really seem true to Pathfinder's spirit. Are the minor items all there in the background, just not emphasised perhaps?

Kitting out anybody with the full panoply of gear game characters usually have would be pretty overwhelming. If nothing else, you'd have to navigate "laundry list" descriptions if you geared every fiction character the way you do in the game. I've tried to keep it lean without just introducing items I know will be useful to the plot. Sometimes I imply magic items rather than spelling out their abilities, as with Oparal's arms and armor.

There are more magic items in play in the next novel, partly because there are more characters who fit the "adventurer" paradigm and partly because there're some powerful magical forces in play. Still, I'm sure most PT characters are woefully under-geared by PFS standards.

On the other hand, I feel that paucity of magical gear gives me plenty of wiggle room for unusual or powerful items like the Red Carriage or the Shadowless Sword or the unique crossbow one of the new characters wields. What Pathfinder Tales characters lack in quantity of magic items, they often make up in quality.

Do any of you have a favorite class in the RPG you like to portray in your writing?

Rogues and their cousins are a lot of fun, as are fighter types. Feats and combat maneuvers translate well into scenes of high action.

Or do you find yourselves making a lot of characters of one class more than others?

When I first started writing tie-in fiction, I avoided spellcasters. Most of my heroes were warriors and rogues. The main villain was often a monster or a spellcaster, shoving the magic over onto the evil side of the conflict. I also tended to favor human characters, seldom including a demihuman, and then usually because another author in the series had written one, and I needed to include her in the narrative.

That began to change when I wrote one of the D&D (as opposed to Forgotten Realms, where I got my start) short novels under the house name T.H. Lain. In The Sundered Arms, I decided that all of my protagonists would be non-humans, and two would be casters. I meant it as a challenge to myself, but it turned out that writing casters--especially divine casters, who come with a hard-wired set of beliefs and prejudices--was much more fun than it was difficult. Since then, I've never looked back. Spellcasting semi-humans for the win!

How much do you keep a characters class in mind while writing, if at all? Do you ever find this constraining?

When conceiving the character and outlining the story, I keep it in mind a lot. When I start writing, my thoughts shift heavily toward the character's personality and desires, but by then I've made the connections between who the character is and what the character can do. Thus, I rarely need to go back and add more game-mechanic events to the story. The character's ability and personality are already "baked in."

But I also like to keep a character's class a little foggy. Other characters in the setting won't say, for instance, "Oh, she's a mute oracle." Instead, some might call her a witch, others a priestess, and so on. For example, the character in this example is Azra from Prince of Wolves, whom I'd originally conceived as having a cleric/cleric multiclass. Soon afterward, Paizo invented the oracle, a class that fit her even better.

Other characters, like Varian Jeggare, I've always intended to transform during their journey. The twin justifications of retraining and a world of high magic are my defense, but I limit it to Varian. Radovan is a unique being for reasons gradually unfolding in his continuing story. Everybody else just "gains levels," a phrase that still sounds weird to me, since the moment I put words into their mouths or set them in motion, the characters don't feel like sets of rules to me. It's only during initial creation and revision that I think hard about class, skills, feats, and so on.

In a perfect world, I think exact game mechanics remain invisible in fiction, but perceptive gamers can work them out. That's why I try to keep them mostly accurate to the Pathfinder RPG. And if there's more than one good answer for the question, "What's that character's build?" that's a good thing. It lets gamer-readers take on a more active imaginative role with the stories, and some have more interesting game interpretations of my characters than I ever did.

If you aren't sick of authors answering questions about their work, check out my latest Creative Colleagues interview with Josh Vogt, author of Forge of Ashes. You can see dozens more such interviews right here.

What are some of your favorite authors?

As with so many boys of my generation, Zelazny was the galvanizing figure for me. Tolkien, Howard, Bradbury, Stewart, Leiber, LeGuin, and McKillip were also instrumental in shifting my primary affections from SF to fantasy. They aren't exactly fantasies, but the historical novels of Mary Renault tickle the same spot for me.

For contemporary fantasy, there's no one I admire or enjoy more than George R.R. Martin. I finally caught up on Joe Abercrombie's trilogy and love his writing, although I wish he'd given us a more conclusive conclusion.

The single book I'd most recommend to lovers of near-fantasy is Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

My "guilty pleasures" outside of fantasy include Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Alan Furst, and Michael Connolly. Not that I feel the least bit guilty.

I'm woefully behind on current fantasy, but I've recently begun Max Gladstone's series on audio. It's outstanding.

And just to stay on topic, a question: Semi-colons, how do you feel about them?

Elsewhere this morning, I was reminded of my favorite brief reference on semicolon usage.

Create the story, and then choose the best location for that story?

Or choose a region, and then write the story?

Region first, mostly.

But sometimes it happens simultaneously, as when I wanted to write a story about Varian's elven heritage, and Kyonin was the logical place to explore that history. Then more ideas about where the old man had been came up while researching the setting.

With the other books, it was definitely, "I want to write a story in Ustalav, Tian Xia, or the Worldwound"--the latter because timing was perfect for the Wrath of the Rightous Campaign, and it was also the logical destination for Oparal at the end of Queen of Thorns.

John Kretzer wrote:

These question is for everyone....

So in your opinion who is the most powerful character in the PF tales Novels?

Interesting question, John... Radovan in master of Devils advanced as a monk and could use quivering palm. That is a very high level trick. Making characters uber powerful, IMHO, tends to make writing uber difficult.

Because this comes up now and then, I'll mention that close readers will notice that it isn't exactly Radovan who gains this ability. Ultimately, Radovan is neither a monk nor that high-level a character.

With regard to ongoing series - one of the reasons I don't enjoy them as a reader is that I "know" they're going to survive for the next book. So when they get into dire straits, I don't really wonder if they're going to get through - just how. (The Worldwound Gambit was the only one I remember where I genuinely entertained the idea that the bad guys might win).

Do any of you ever find that as a constraint? (Like "I'd really like to kill Radovan off here, but that's unacceptable") Or are such considerations purely, 100% driven by the needs of the particular story in question?

In a world of resurrection magic, killing a character is seldom the most interesting pain you can inflict on him.

If you could write any one story in Pathfinder/Golarion of your choosing, no restraints, no inhibitions, no limitations except those of the setting itself, what would it be?

I would write a 10-part epic following 20 heroes through an age of war in Tian Xia.

To the delight of dozens.

Ahem. A big thank you to all the writers who's answered so far, as well as to any who will answer questions in the future, and to everyone feeding them questions too, for that matter.

And just to stay on topic, a question: Semi-colons, how do you feel about them?

Semicolons are an elegant mark for a more civilized age, not as clumsy or as random as a comma.

And only a Jedi can use one without cutting her fool arm off.

Oh a follow up question...again for any author

How much do you work with your fellow PF Tales authors?

Elaine Cunningham and I worked on Winter Witch, although circumstances didn't allow us to collaborate as much as pass the baton. We've been each other's sounding board since Pathfinder Tales was a twinkle in Paizo's eye. Elaine's also one of the first people I'll show an outline or a first draft.

Robin D. Laws and Liane Merciel both "loaned" me secondary characters from their tales for King of Chaos. Liane is another frequent sounding board. We often talk about how our Chelaxian characters' lives have overlapped and once outlined a story pitting Varian and Velenne against each other and their own secrets.

Chris A. Jackson, Amber E. Scott, Josh Vogt, Kevin Andrew Murphy, and Howard Andrew Jones have all exchanged manuscripts, outlines, or both with me. While it's sometimes invisible, they've all been a good influence on my final work.

James Sutter and several other Pathfinder designers and authors have loaned me a supporting character and a cameo character in the upcoming Lord of Runes. (That's plenty enough of a clue for some of you to figure out which ones they are.)

Outside of Pathfinder Tales, we tend to keep each other apprised of other writing opportunities, whether it's tie-in novels or calls for short-story anthologies. It's no coincidence that you often see our names pop up in the same places.

As a general question to any author interested in answering it:

How many of the other PF Tales books do you read?
How much of the campaign setting stuff? Just the ones covering the area your novel is set in? The whole kit and kaboodle? Something else?

For the first couple of years, I read all of the other Pathfinder Tales novels. I fell behind and never caught up, but I still read some. A few of the other authors and I exchange manuscripts for critique, so sometimes I’ve read early drafts but not (yet) the finals.

While I haven’t read all of the campaign material, I browse a lot. When I think I might write a story in a particular region, I read everything I can find on it. The Adventure Paths are the products I most often read just for fun, although I’ve tried to resist reading all of them in hopes I can play instead of GM one some day.

Short version:

While I was aware that my old colleagues at Paizo had created an Adventure Path line after the end of the Wizards of the Coast magazine license, I hadn't really looked at them until a local friend brought them to our monthly geek pub night. Somewhere around Crimson Throne or Second Darkness, I started subscribing to the APs via a local comic shop. Later I ran the first two books of Rise of the Runelords with the 4e rules. (I've recently started running it again with Pathfinder rules.)

At the 2008 World Fantasy Convention, I ran into Pierce Watters and Erik Mona. During the banquet, Erik told me Paizo was considering starting a fiction line and asked whether I'd be interested in contributing. I was, and later that weekend I took him to one of the world's great game shops, The Sentry Box, where I picked up a few more Pathfinder sourcebooks and really started studying the larger setting.

Soon after, James Sutter dropped me an email to say it'd be a while before they were ready to move forward with the novel line. In the meantime, he asked whether I'd be interested in writing the Pathfinder Journal for their first Pathfinder-rules AP, Council of Thieves. I pitched four or five ideas. The one he liked was a revised version of an old novel pitch for another setting. He asked me to change a few more elements, like eliminating a vampire antagonist and changing the half-orc to something else--maybe a tiefling, he suggested.

The result was "Hell's Pawns." By the time that was finished, James liked the characters well enough that he wanted novel pitches featuring one or both of them. The result that time was Prince of Wolves.

While you shouldn't steal the name "Sage Advice," you should absolutely make this a weekly feature that performs a similar function. With beginners entering the game and old-timers returning to a new rules system, some essential tactical essays like this one would benefit many readers.

Or so I think.

I didn't realize the book match was such a deep discount. I might start taking advantage of that when I buy audiobooks. The one I'm listening to now has many names I wish I could see spelled.

Maybe Audible will still let me have the discount since it remembers my purchases. To the Batcafe!*

* That was a typo, but then I fell a little bit in love with it.

After extricating myself from a local conflict, I'll be back for the first time since 2010. Or was it 2011? Either way, it feels like a long time.

Is there a pathfinder tales set in Sandpoint or Varisia? I'm just trying to get more context and set it in my mind better. Or, something that would help me with the culture of the chelexians, varisians, or shoanti? I Am looking for the stories, but any recommendations of source books or rule books are welcome too.

Also, this short story is set in Korvosa. It makes for good pre-reading of Lord of Runes, too.

About half of Winter Witch and most of the upcoming Lord of Runes are set in Varisia (both begin in Korvosa), as is Blood of the City (set in Magnimar).

Lord of Runes includes Chelaxian, Varisian, and Shoanti characters and the differences among them. It's very much influenced by the settings of the Rise of the Runelords and Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Paths.

Allow me to suggest a great way to kick off PaizoCon (whether or not you're attending) and to score one of the earliest-available copies of Lord of Runes.

Lord of Runes signing at University Book Store on May 21 @ 7:00 pm

Since the perpetrator seems too shy to post it on these boards, I'll leave Gnomatsu's latest creation here.

If you like Easter Eggs to APs, check out King of Chaos.

And for the reverse, an AP with Easter Eggs for a novel, check out Carrion Crown, which expands on elements from Prince of Wolves.

For a bleachling character, check out Queen of Thorns.

I'm just going to leave this here.

A famous Pathfinder Tales character created by another author joins the team in Lord of Runes. Another (in)famous character associated with Count Jeggare makes a substantial appearance, and a character from Winter Witch enjoys a cameo that heralds a new relationship for one of the boys. The rest of the supporting cast are new to the book, but those who know the setting can expect a substantial Easter Egg hunt if not some major revelations.

While none of the supporting cast of Queen of Thorns shows up for this one, one of the important new characters has a few key similarities to an important resident of Kyonin.

And that's enough teasing after a long, fun Marvel Phase One marathon in honor of my wife's birthday. Time to collapse.