Fenzl's page

Am I missing something?

I see only one 13th level ancestry feat, and no 17th level ancestry feats at all. Are these set to come in future books or...?

Subject pretty much says it all. Looking for builds and some rough idea on damage output. Thanks :)

Our gaming group has decided to give this system a try, but I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around one specific section of it pertaining to natural armor.

According to the variant rule:

A creature that has both DR from a source other than armor and a natural armor bonus gains the effects of an enhanced form of DR, similar to how the composition of the armor grants special DR/armor defenses (see Table: Armor Composition and DR). If a creature has magical armor, natural armor, and DR, it takes the best form of the special protection provided by both its armor and its mix of DR and natural armor to its DR/armor. For instance, if a creature has natural armor and DR/magic and is wearing adamantine armor, that creature’s DR/armor functions as DR/—, and can be bypassed by Gargantuan or larger creatures, since the adamantine armor provides the best of the two damage reductions.

How is it determined what the 'best form' of damage reduction is? I understand that DR/- is the best (excepting DR/epic if running a mythic game), but the example doesn't address other forms, like DR/Bludgeoning, or DR/Chaotic, or DR/Silver. What is the hierarchy involved? Which of those is better than the other?

So, I'm starting an all dwarven campaign, and I've decided to add a few traits of my own to add some additional dwarfy flavor.

I could use some suggestions on what sort of trait bonus to give a food-based trait.

Red Meat off the Bone
You have a love of food that surpasses that of most dwarves. There is nothing more fortifying and enjoyable to you than a hearty meal.
Benefit: Gain a +? trait bonus to ????? after consuming a full course meal.

Thanks!

My group and I have decided it would be fun to run an all Dwarf campaign. What I'm looking for is an adventure path or modules that could easily be modified or already thematically appropriate for a group of all Dwarves.

Note that we had originally attempted to play Rise of the Runelords, but that path focused too heavily on the town and its people, so I'm hoping to find something that doesn't involve so many NPCs.

Thank you in advance for you suggestions!

I have a question with regards to the Frightful Presence monster rule. You'll notice that there are three distinct conditions mentioned in the ability description, which I show listed in bold below:

Frightful Presence (Ex)

This special quality makes a creature’s very presence unsettling to foes. Activating this ability is a free action that is usually part of an attack or charge. Opponents within range who witness the action may become frightened or shaken. The range is usually 30 feet, and the duration is usually 5d6 rounds. This ability affects only opponents with fewer Hit Dice than the creature has. An opponent can resist the effects with a successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the frightful creature’s racial HD + the frightful creature’s Cha modifier; the exact DC is given in the creature’s descriptive text). On a failed save, the opponent is shaken, or panicked if it has 4 Hit Dice or fewer. An opponent that succeeds on the saving throw is immune to that same creature’s frightful presence for 24 hours. Frightful presence is a mind-affecting fear effect.

Format: frightful presence (60 ft., DC 21); Location: Aura.

Source: http://www.d20pfsrd.com

So which is it? Does the creature become frightened or panicked if he fails and is 4 Hit Dice of fewer?

Conditions
>Frightened
>Shaken
>Panicked

Is it possible to multiclass the same class?

For example, 3rd level character.

2 Levels of Monk (Sensei Archtype)
1 Level of Monk (No Archtype)

Ultimately, I'm attempting to replace Strength and Dexterity with my Wisdom modifier for use with attacking, as per the Sensie ability:

Insightful Strike (Ex)

This ability replaces evasion and the bonus feat gained at 2nd level.

The only other way I could do it is through the Guiding Hand feat - which would mean I'd have to get Channel Energy from somewhere (In the campaign setting we're playing in, there are no clerics or paladins, so I'd have to go with priest or oracle with the life mystery).

The story so far:

The players were hired by the lord of a city to escort him to a "secret meeting" being held atop the land's highest mountain. There have been assassination attempts, some political intrigue and unseen enemies attempting to thwart their journey.

The center of dwarven society, and greatest dwarven city, is build into the mountain the PCs are traveling to. When the PCs reached the dwarven city, they learned of plans to kill the current king (the believed end of the royal line) and seat a noble being controlled by the BBEG.

The reason for this, is that only the king or someone of the royal bloodline has access to the ancient vault, wherein an artifact is kept - an artifact of elven make we will call "The Key". The PCs discovered this plan, and also learned that dwarf in their party is a lost heir to the throne. They prevented the King's assassination, acquired "The Key" but don't yet know what it does.

They PCs were also tipped off that the Lord they have been escorting isn't what he appears to be. When we resume game, they will likely attempt to ascertain his true identity.

Is it possible for this to truly be a viable PC? I love the idea of a Gnome Illusionist, I'm just not sure I can really contribute much of value to a party with this concept.

Thoughts? Suggestion?

No 18-20 crit range monk weapons? Was this done on purpose?

Per the pathfinder rules:

Breaking Items

When a character tries to break or burst something with sudden force rather than by dealing damage, use a Strength check (rather than an attack roll and damage roll, as with the sunder special attack) to determine whether he succeeds.

Personally, I've always had a bit of an issue with this - with ability checks in general. Let's use, for example, a burly warrior and a frail wizard. The warrior has a strength of 18(+4) and the wizard has a strength of 10(+0). The two of them come across a simple door and decide to break it down.

The DC to break down a simple door is 13.

The warrior rolls poorly (he rolls an 8, which gives him a final check of 12) so he fails to break down the door even though he's broken much stronger doors in the past.

The wizard smugly steps up and tells the warrior to move aside. He rolls a 16. Bam. The door breaks open and the wizard scoffs at the clearly inept warrior.

Okay, so. I realize the following: I know that something like bashing open a door with a strength check is something that can be repeated, and the chance for the warrior to break the door is ultimately higher due to his strength score. Additionally, I can appreciate the humor that comes from the scenario I depicted.

It bothers me a little though. I haven't actually run the math, but I think the warrior with an 18 strength, and thus a +4 modifier, only has a 20% advantage over the wizard. It just does not feel right.

An idea I had that might work as a possible fix for it, is to allow characters to spend skill point ranks increasing the modifier on ability based checks. So, one would have Strength listed as a skill (I haven't decided yet if I'd make certain abilities class or cross-class) and it would go like this:

Level 4 Fighter with 18 Strength

Skills
Strength - Ranks: 4 - Mod: 4 - Total 8

This now reflects that the fighter has learned how to bash down doors well, or how to control his strength better. In essence... strength training like those that compete in strength competitions.

Anyhow, I'm not sure how or if the idea will fly. I figured I'd toss it to the wolves and see if it survives.

Recently one of my DMs decided to make a medieval/fantasy Japanese themed campaign. In an effort to create a character with an interesting roleplaying twist, I decided on making (or attempting to make) a blind Samurai with the Sword Saint archetype.

As we've seen versions of this type of character in various films (Ichi and Ninja Scroll for example), the DM has already expressed approval and has asked me to look into the feasibility, including any homebrew rules we'd need to come up with to make it possible.

Blindness has severe penalties associated with it, as follows:

* –2 penalty to Armor Class
* Loss of Dexterity bonus to AC
* –4 penalty on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks and on opposed Perception skill checks.
* All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Perception checks based on sight) automatically fail.
* All opponents are considered to have total concealment (50% miss chance) against the blinded character.
* Blind creatures must make a DC 10 Acrobatics skill check to move faster than half speed. Creatures that fail this check fall prone.

It also states the following: "Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them." - however it does not go into detail about what precisely happens.

Additionally, there is a 3rd level spell that cures blindness completely, whether natural or caused by a spell or effect - which quickly invalidates the character's theme. It would be like Geordi La Forge getting his true vision back in the first season of Next Generation.

Now, as my DM pointed out, people that have been blind their entire lives could plausibly have improved hearing.

I've looked into the Blind Fighting feats, and they do make sense to take for this character, and the DM is prepared to give me bonus feats to offset the blindness a bit.

Anyhow, I wanted to get some community feedback and suggestions on this, see where things go!

I'll start:

Your turn!

These are the healer feats I'm considering adding to my games:

Cure Focus
Prerequisite: Ability to cast Cure Light Wounds.
Benefit: You may add +2 points of healing per level of the cure spell being cast. (This is pretty much just a remake of the 3.5 feat "Augmented Healing")

Cure Specialization
Prerequisite: Cure Focus, ability to cast level 3 divine spells.
Benefit: Add your Wisdom bonus to cure spells.

Cure Mastery
Prerequisite: Cure Focus, Cure Specialization, ability to cast level 5 divine spells.
Cure spells now use a d10 instead of a d8.

I realize the names are a bit cheesy/overused so those are open for suggestion. I just really feel that healer feats are severely lacking and this is my attempt at filling that gap.

Thoughts?

Here's my idea:

New Feat: Metachannel

Prerequisite: Channel energy class feature, any metamagic feat.

Benefit: You may apply a metamagic feat to your channel energy. Doing so uses a number of channel energy uses equal to 1 + the metamagic feat level increase. For example, a quickened channel would use up 5 channeling uses.

Thoughts?

Is it just me, or does there appear to be a distinct lack of feats that improve healing?

I realize you can increase healing effectiveness with metamagic feats, but I'm looking for passive bonuses.

So far, the only one I could find is the 3rd Party Mystical Healer feat (which is rather nice).

It would be great to see some more. Perhaps a feat that increases the die step of your cure spells from d8 to d10, or adding your Wisdom modifier to your cure spells, etc.