Ford Benett's page

So, I've been kicking around ideas of a unique campaign idea, and one idea that struck me was "What about a game like Wrath of the Righteous, but all the PCs were redeemed demons? Re-demon-tion? Redeem-ons?" And while at first, I was thinking folks could just grab demons and add class templates as appropriate, but that leaves a lot of differences in powers, even with class levels, and probably would trample through initial scenarios.

And then I recalled that unchained eidolons get a demon subtype, so I thought "Oh! Maybe everyone just plays an eidolon with that and builds from there!" And because I can't turn my brain off like a normal person, it branched off into other campaigns where everyone is eidolons and what they would be like.

But to bring it back to my original idea... does that pique anyone else's interest? An all eidolon campaign, like "Wrath of the Righteous, but everyone is a demon"? Do any other campaigns stick out as possible themes for a group of PCs who all decide to be eidolons for some reason? This isn't a recruitment or anything, I know I lack the skill to be a DM of any capacity, but I liked this idea, so I thought I would toss it out and see if anyone else even shared an interest in the idea.

For the longest time, I've loved the setting of Falcon's Hollow. A very adventure friendly patch of land with plenty of danger, mystery, monsters, and even a jackasses lumber boss who crushes the poor people under his boot.

...someone really ought to do something about that, you know?

It occurred to me that the Lumber Consortium kinda has Falcon's Hollow practically under tyranny and slave rule... and being inside Andoran's border, you kinda expect the Eagle Knights or the People's Council or SOMEONE to notice that and go "Oh hell no". But to my knowledge, none of the material ever really addresses that. Yeah, there are good folks trying to make the place better, but... that's all? No up and coming contingent of Cayden faithful or members of Iomedae's church (which has a temple in town!) or some other band of ambitious merchants or anybody eager not to see that crap eradicated coming along to save the day? The possibilities seem pretty wide open! Faith warfare, financial competition, tricky and corporate espionage, street Russel's with Kreed's thugs and cronies? Sounds like a solid campaign to me!

Now I am by no means a good GM nor would I try to trick myself into attempting this. I might could organize and Co-GM, but when it comes to this... I make failure look like an art. :( But I'm curious to see if any other board folks would be interested in a game like this. A mix of sandbox and adventure all in one... Kinda!

So, for the longest time, I have been trying to snag a spot in a CotCT game with little luck. For an equally long time, I've been reluctant to look too much at the Vigilante class, since I initially wrote it off as a way to push superheroes into Pathfinder. Having taken the time to finally look through it, I am sorely disappointed with myself for not giving it a proper chance, and it has sparked my creative juices in a way I haven't had in quite some time.

So, my request is simple: are there any GMs around these parts willing to take a stab at a solo Curse of the Crimson Throne game for a lone vigilante? I've got a few character concepts in mind to keep things flexible, and I've grown fond of the idea of a "comic book" sort of fantasy, but I like to keep things loose to accommodate any willing GMs. If it helps, I'll be happy to post a few of them to allow GMs a springboard for any ideas they might be interested in trying out themselves!

Dream Weaver: A former drug maker bitten by a divinely blessed dream spider, Dream Weaver has seen a vision of what Korvosa could be like without crime and drugs, and has vowed to use his alchemical abilities to rid the city of the shiver he has produced and sold, using the image of his dream spiders to inspire the poor and meek. And his first target is Gaedren Lame!

The Hydra: An amateur anthropologist and archaeologist, Hydra has a fascination with his Shoanti culture. When his father's criminal connections place the blame of a murder on his uncle, Hydra dons a pair of Shoanti klar and takes to the streets as the The Hydra, three headed champion of the innocent, out to find proof of his uncle's innocence and bring the one responsible to Justice!

Wyrmclaw: With two older brothers ahead of his potential inheritance and a little sister to dote on, Wyrmclaw has never wanted to complicate things by yelling his family he's got dragon blood in him. But when his little sister is kidnapped during a trip to the market, he's brought his Draconic heritage to bear and aim it squarely at the man who took his sister: Gaedren Lamm.

I have a few more in mind, but I thought I would toss a few out in case interested GMs would like an idea of what they have to work with!

Thanks in advance for any interest! I certainly hope I can entertain a willing GM as much as I would be entertained with a solo game!

As my friend and I have been short on other party members in our RL group, he decided to run a solo campaign and so far, it's been going thoroughly well. So I thought I would give it a try on the boards and see if I can't land an interested DM, now that the holidays are over and I have a steady schedule to work with.

For those DMs who would be willing (and stunningly awesome enough) to give it a chance, I've been wanting to give the Falcon's Hollow modules a try as a full fledged campaign (most likely starting at Hollow's Last Hope, then heading right into Crown (and Revenge) of the Kobold King, possibly the Hungry Dead and eventually Carnival of Tears). Falcon's Hollow feels like a really good chance to have a Robin Hood-esque campaign, given how it's a very downtrodden village ruled by a petty kingpin. Beyond just going through the modules solo... I really leave any other details up to the GM. I'm not horribly picky about how campaigns are run. (This may also be a good chance for new GMs to have a simple campaign to play around it and test run. Like I said, I'm not picky and pretty easy going about rules, so there's no pressure on my end.)

Any potentially interested GMs, feel free to respond down below or message my account. I'll try to answer anything I can or clarify. And for all interested GMs, thanks in advance!

This is something I've been molding and rebuilding fairly often for a while now, but I've been looking at how to make a decent kobold paladin of Apsu. For a while, I thought perhaps going with a quarterstaff (Apsu's favored weapon) and two weapon fighting with it might work best. But it occurred to be me that I might have been going at this the wrong way. Rather than try to keep up with bigger races in melee... why not fight smarter, not harder, as kobolds are apt to do.

So I'm working on a kobold paladin with the Divine Hunter archetype to grab Precise Shot and play up my Dex bonus as much as possible, using a crossbow to ignore the strength penalty. But I figured why stop there and just go all the way with the kobold traditions of setting up traps and repelling foes with superior tactics? So I thought it might be a benefit to shoot for Eldritch Heritage (play up the charisma I'd be using anyways), take the Kobold bloodline for the Trap Rune ability, as well as grab Draconic Aspect, Draconic Magic, and Draconic Paragon to play up the dragon themes. Problem is, I also don't want to ignore my crossbow either. I'd like to at least grab rapid reload for the light crossbow so I can fire multiple times per round at higher levels...

But, this also leads into a quandary I've had with a few folks over paladin codes: would trapmaking be considered too "evil" for a paladin to engage in? I personally would argue no, especially for a kobold, since Apsu is a god of creating, and traps are technically creations, so... I'd think kobolds would see it as a holy art (especially given one of the Artifice subdomains is the kobold exclusive Trap subdomain... and Artifice is an area of concern for Apsu).

Suggestions?

I've been tinkering around with sorcerer builds and come to realize that their are dragons that are actually tied to the elemental planes (cloud, crystal, magma, brine and umbral).

I'd actually like to pursue this line of thinking and make a sorcerer who descends from a primal dragon over a chromatic or metallic one. Problem is, I'm not sure what the best way to do that is, and I can't seem to find guides specific to that... so I thought I'd start something of a think tank for it.

This is mostly a flavor dilemma, but it will probably require a bit of optimization to reach the desired function. Obviously, magma dragon sorcs will like the typical draconic bloodline flavors, but for something like a crystal or cloud or umbral dragon... what spells should I pick? Do I go crossblooded with draconic and elemental bloodlines? Should I consider going Dragon Disciple to emphasize the dragon flavor?

Some thoughts would be appreciated.

I've been wanting to tackle the Jade Regent AP for a while, but I couldn't muster up the time to apply for the most recent game like I wanted. Now that I have more time, I'm eager to give it a try with a concept I've had kicking around for a while.

I wanted to see if there were any GMs out there willing to run a solo Jade Regent game with me. I'm flexible on how the rules set you might be willing to go with, but I'm guessing gestalt might ease the need to alter difficulty. (My concept is an unchained rogue/summoner mix, so I guess technically it would be two PCs in one, but... anyways!)

Any GMs willing to tackle something like that?

So, I've been tinkering around with Concepts That Should Not Be Considered(tm) and one of my thoughts is that I wanted to make a ninja who has an imperial dragon-esque eidolon as a special "summoning jutsu". I know that most folks would go "Uh, no" at the thought of a multiclass summoner concept, but... for kicks, I'd like to see if folks can come up with something (and if they can, I will steal it shamelessly and use it for a kickass character).

For my part, I'll say that I start off with 2 levels in Ninja, grabbing Weapon Finesse, Sneak Attack and using a Combat Trick to take Two-weapon Fighting and get the most out of my attacks. By level 3, grab a level in Summoner and introduce my imperial dragon to the fray (Serpentine base, claws and extra limbs (legs) as my primary evolutions). Probably take another level in Summoner and then grab another level in Ninja to up my Sneak Attack damage. After that, I'm thinking that I should take 2 Summoner levels, a level in ninja, and repeat until level 20 (that should give me 12 Summoner levels and 8 Ninja levels, if I've done my math right).

Any other suggestions? I know it's not optimal, but some concepts are entirely too awesome to not at least try and make work.

I've been looking at the Dragon Style feats and rereading the Dragon Ferocity feat, I have a question that needs a bit of clarification.

"Taking this feat allows you to qualify for the Elemental Fist feat even if you do not meet that feat’s prerequisites. If you do not meet that feat’s prerequisites, you must choose one of the damage types that feat offers, and you can use only that damage type with your Elemental Fist attacks until you meet the feat’s normal prerequisites. A monk with this feat can use Elemental Fist as if he were a monk of the four winds."

Reading that, I initially thought that this meant that a monk could qualify for Elemental Fist without the prerequisite, but looking at it again, I noticed at the end is said that a monk with THIS feat (ie. Dragon Ferocity) can use Elemental Fist as if he were a Monk of the Four Winds. One could argue it's talking about Elemental Fist, but it does something similar at the beginning. It refers to Dragon Ferocity as THIS feat and Elemental Fist as THAT feat.

So, my question is, does this mean that a monk who takes the Dragon Ferocity feat also gets Elemental Fist as well? That may have not been intentional, but it does make sense given that you're mimicking a dragon's powers. (Not to mention it would be a huge boon to a monk I'm working on.)

Edit: While I'm at it, does this also mean that the Monk's Stunning Fist gets replaced by Elemental Fist, since that is also part of the Monk of the Four Winds archetype, or does he retain Stunning Fist and add Elemental Fist to his list?

I've been toying around with making a kobold monk for a bit now, and while I've come up with some hilarious concepts (not the least of which is a kobold luchador and pressure point striker), I've been wanting to build one that utilizes the Dragon Style feat tree, sort of as a way of demonstrating that his martial training . My problem is making one that can qualify for the feats (STR 15 is a bit hard for a kobold to achieve).

I think I may have found a build that works. Not optimal, but it works... kinda. I'm being a bit cheap and using Master of Many Styles to get the feats for free without having to qualify for them. I've also come to realize that this also lets him grab Elemental Fist in addition, which is very flavorful to let him use his dragonic element in battle like a Monk of the Four Winds, without losing Stunning Fist.

My biggest concern is that, naturally, it means I'm not utilizing a big piece of the archetype, Fuse Styles. Will not taking advantage of Fuse Styles hurt more than it helps in being able to make him work flavor-wise? Should I hold off on picking up Dragon Roar until level 10 to grab something like Jabbing Style at 6th? I'm also wondering if I should take Qinggong monk to nab a few extra tricks for supplementing his abilities.

Arnnak the Blue
LN Male Kobold Monk (Master of Many Styles)
STR 10 (14)
DEX 18 (16)
CON 10 (12)
INT 10 (10)
WIS 14 (14)
CHA 8 (8)

Feats
1st - Weapon Finesse
Bonus - Dragon Style
2nd Bonus - Dragon Ferocity
3rd - Elemental Fist
5th - Draconic Asepect (Blue)
6th Bonus - Dragon Roar
7th - Draconic Glide
9th - Draconic Breath
10th Bonus - Jabbing Style
11th - Draconic Paragon

I haven't figured out much more beyond 11th, but my key question is will only having 1 set of style feats limit me more than if I took some other styles at earlier levels?

I'm not ashamed to admit that I love me some kobolds. And for a while, I've been trying to conjure up a kobold cleric of Dahak that would be a decent contribution to battles. Essentially, using a whip and Weapon Finesse, he provides support by disarming foes, tripping them and healing where he can. For the most part, I have the mechanics settled (though I'm still debating his domain choices, specifically, Ambush subdomain vs. vanilla Trickery domain).

My real problem is the flavor - Dahak is a considered a kobold deity (he was supposed to have created the first dragons, even if he hunted them for sport afterword), but he's chaotic evil. Most campaigns don't like that alignment very much. He's also known for being the first god to start destroying things (see above: making dragons to hunt them for sport) and most kobolds who worship him probably have the same proclivity for such behavior. The friendliest I could make him would be chaotic neutral... which is still not an alignment most campaigns/parties like.

So, I've come up with something of a work-around/reasoning for why a kobold worshiping a god of destruction would not be out to wreck absolutely everything he touches to make him more campaign-friendly. He believes Dahak is about destruction, but also, unofficially, about creation as well. After all, he had to make dragons before he could hunt them down and destroy them. He believes Dahak is not evil: merely... very misunderstood. Dahak was the only divine child of Apsu who chose to focus on destruction, which brought Apsu himself to the material plane to battle him. However, Tiamat intervened, arguing that Dahak was still his son. This piece is critical to his argument: Dahak is not a problem child, but a perfect child. He is the embodiment of both parents, the maker, Apsu, and the destroyer, Tiamat. Thanks to Tiamat, Dahak defeated Apsu, who retreated to Golarion, but for the first and only time, Dahak shed tears at his father's anger and misunderstanding: these tears burst into a rainbow of colors, creating the first kobolds, hence why kobolds should worship him - he made the first dragons, and then made them, so how could they NOT be dragons? This is also why Dahak fought alongside the other gods to defeat Rovagug: yes, he's about destruction, but of his own creations. Apsu is still Dahak's father, and does not wish to see his father's work destroyed. Dahak is not about destruction, but balance: one cannot create infinitely without destroying things to remake them.

Essentially, Epmerk would be about wrecking things, yes, but something must be made to fill the void. He tries to emulate his deity by breaking things, only to make new stuff. For him, Dahak is not about senseless destruction (that's Rovagug's deal), but doing so in careful measures; Dahak's just a child trying to make both his parents proud by emulating them both. And Epmerk would be trying to run a massive PR campaign to try and rectify this poor image.

I'd like to know, would other players, and more importantly, GMs, be okay with letting something like this little guy loose in their games, given the reasoning above?

So, I've been working on a draconic sorcerer with the white scale bloodline. I was trying to find spells that deal cold damage, and the spell Icicle Dagger does do that... but does that damage count as part of the spell?

To quote:

You create a masterwork dagger out of ice. The dagger deals 1 point of cold damage in addition to normal dagger damage. If the dagger leaves your hand for more than 1 round, it melts and the spell ends. At 6th level, the dagger functions as a +1 frost dagger. At 11th level, it gains the returning property when thrown, melting away and reforming in your hand just before your next turn.

My question is this: the draconic bloodline arcana says you deal +1 damage for each die of matching elemental damage you deal, so would the cold damage dealt by the ice dagger count as spell damage? Does that also apply to the extra frost damage it deals at 6th level? So, would you deal 1d4+2 damage and 1d4+1d6+3 damage at level 6, or would both simply do 1d4+1 and 1d4+1d6+1?

I think this ultimately comes down to whether you count weapons made via spells and the damage they do as part of the spell itself, or as a separate entity. I personally would count it, but I'd like an official ruling, if possible.

As I'm not nearly good or experienced enough to call this a guide, I'll simply say this is more of an in-depth look at the much bemoaned Magus archetype, the Spellblade. I think this archetype is arguably one of the least liked in the Magus line-up, and it's not hard to see why. However, the folks at Paizo put time and effort into making the archetype, and I think it's time we look at it with a bit of love. But first, let's just backup and examine what the archetype is and what we give up to get its abilities.

***The Spellblade***

With perhaps just a tint of inspiration from the Soulknife psionics class, the Spellblade is a magus who can conjure up a blade of force by giving up his/her prepared spells. The force dagger, or Force Athame, gets a bonus to attack and damage, dishes out Force damage (which means very little is going to be able to withstand what you deal them), and can still be enhanced with your Arcane Pool class feature. You also get some extra arcana to select that let you fuel your athame with your arcane pool and do some other tricks with it. Actually a pretty sweet ability, if I may say so. Unfortunately, it comes with a price that many people just can't seem to work past.

In exchange for this Force Athame ability, you give up Spellstrike, AKA, how most magus builds dish out their damage using their spells. It's the only thing you give up, but for many magi, it's the bread and butter of their character, as well as how most of them augment their attacks. And this is where most folks have trouble reconciling the archetype's abilities. They just can't fathom the idea of a magus not using spellstrike, and considering how good of an ability it can be, it's hard to argue with them.

Hard. Not impossible.

***Sans Spellstrike***

The Spellblade gives up such a key piece of the iconic magus build that trying to build it around the archetype is like trying to build a house around an RV - everything is going to fall apart once things start moving. But rather than shore up what we lose, let's focus on what we get and how to make the best out of it.

Firstly, we're without Spellstrike. Yes, it hurts. But it also means we have to chuck out everything we take as conventional wisdom when creating a magus. It just won't work. You'll notice this means the only thing we touch is our usual ability to do damage through our weapon. That's it, really. And that changes the fundamental core of everything we think about when making a magus. We still get Spell Combat, Spell Recall and all our other lovely abilities. Take note that Spell Combat says we can fight with it with one hand free and the other holding a light or one-handed weapon - it doesn't say which hand has to have which. Meanwhile, we KNOW that the athame has to be in our off-hand due to the ability's wording. Which means we can still spell combat, but now, our primary hand carries our spell and our off-hand carries our weapon, in this case, our athame.

I believe this changes EVERYTHING in terms of how a Spellblade magus should work. This implies that our focus in battle should be our spells, not our weaponry.

NOW we have a fundamental angle to approach from. The common trap would be to take two-weapon fighting so that we can wield both our main weapon and our athame at once. But remember, we already HAVE TWF, it's just that our main weapon is spell-casting now. The Spellblade is something of an antithesis of the Soul Forger (another underloved archetype of the magus - maybe I'll tackle that some other time): rather than channel our magic through our weapon, we use magic AS a weapon. This leads us to a very simple conclusion: the Spellblade is a caster first, and a fighter second, and with that in mind, we can now begin to approach the archetype in what I believe is the "correct" way.

***Mind IS Matter***

Everything about the Spellblade assumes you'll have magical power to spare, since your force athame is powered by your sacrificed spell (or arcane pool used, but we'll get there in due time). This leads us to a simple rule: our INT should be ripped, toned, and jacked. Your brain should be hung like a horse, because it is what is going to fuel EVERYTHING that you do. Which means, above all else, your INT should be your highest thing when making your magus. If you can get it to 18, do so, but don't neglect your other stats. You could probably get away with 16 INT, but I wouldn't go any lower.

Secondly, your Arcane Pool should always be stocked. Grab the Extra Arcane Pool feat whenever you can, because it will be the primary workhorse in making you a threat. Pool Sourced Athame should be the first arcana you get as well. It can create your athame, but also enhance it to deal extra damage, along with any other weapons you wield.

Third, you are no longer a one trick pony. Which means you no longer get - or rather, need - to focus on just touch spells. Instead, expand into buffing, debuffing, and other spells to augment battles in your favor. Think of yourself as a wizard who can also rock a greatsword. And you can still use touch, but try to have some more variety. Think about how to break through enemy defenses rather than charge in and hit them with your Shocking Grasp sword.

Lastly, you're going to have to accept that you won't be dealing out huge amounts of damage. Think more like an arrow than a cannonball: a cannonball is a big, round, blunt sphere of metal, which you use to smash your target's defenses to pieces. An arrow, however, can't do that... and frankly shouldn't. An arrow's job is to pierce through defenses, not wreck the defenses themselves. You are no longer the cannonball of magi, but the arrow. You don't need to go through the shield, but around it.

You have a high INT score, I'm sure you can find a way to put it to good use.

***The New and Improved Spellblade***

So that's all well and good, but if you're like me, you learn better through example than going it alone. If you still need help figuring out what a solid Spellblade looks like, I'll try and give you a springboard below.

This is Mike the Magus. Pretty humble fellow, very smart, loves swords (who doesn't), standard stuff. He's opted to go the Spellblade route, so let's try and give a general outline of what he can do at different points in his career.

At level 1, Mike's got a typical 20 point build and arranged his scores as such.

STR 14 DEX 14, CON 14, INT 18, WIS 12 CHA 8

Not a min-max approach, but still pretty handy in a scrap. Probably better to leave negotiations to someone else, but he's not interested in that anyways. He's got himself a set of studded leather and a brand new longsword, giving him a decent AC 15, about 10 HP and a typical 1d8+2 19-20/x2 melee attack. He could likely afford the chain shirt, but we'll cut him some slack for now. He's got the predictable Gifted Adept trait, but instead of Shocking Grasp, he's chosen Chill Touch. Interesting choice, still a touch attack, but interesting. We're also going to give him the River Rat regional trait because... I dunno, he used to go diving for crabs by moonlight. Everyone needs a hobby.

Level 1 Mike the Magus is going to look an awful lot like your standard magus. Perhaps not quite as efficient, but a contender nonetheless. He enters the fray with sword in his main hand and acid splash in the other, augmented by his arcane pool. But let's take a look at his spellbook: instead of shocking grasp and frostbite or corrosive touch, we've got other spells. Chill touch, magic missile, vanish, enlarge person, infernal healing, longarm and more. Looks like Mike is pretty prepared for the most part. A bit more on the buff and debuff side, but still pretty equipped.

After a few outings, Mike has leveled up, and NOW we start to see him heading in a very different direction with his tactics. Level 2 Mike is still using his longsword and acid splash combo, but he's starting to mix it up. When entering the fray against incorporeal and lower AC targets, he's armed with his new force athame in his off-hand and Chill Touch in the other. He still suffers penalties for using both at the same time, but with a +1 BAB and the resolution to touch AC instead of full AC, he's holding his own pretty well. In both cases, he's improving his skill with his arcane pool, giving him an easier time in striking enemies where it hurts. We also take note that because the athame counts as a dagger, he gains a +1 to all attack and damage rolls using it, thanks to his River Rat trait. Most attacks with the athame are going to made with a +5 bonus (assuming he only uses the athame) and do about 1d4+4 force damage each time he hits. Pretty respectable, if you ask me.

Some more questing later, Mike has reached level 3, and he's beginning to look more and more like a true Spellblade. He's picked up Pool Sourced Athame as his first Arcana, and also grabbed Extra Arcane Pool, bringing his total to 7 and allowing him to fuel his athame with his arcane pool, letting him retain his spells for battle. It's around this point that he's started choosing his spell/athame combo over his longsword/acid splash set-up. Not ditching the latter entirely, but definitely using the athame more than the longsword. Take note that it's harder to catch Mike offguard now; without the need to draw his sword, he is pretty much always ready to counter nasty surprises, and if he's forced to part with his longsword and spellbook, he still has his arcane pool and athame at the ready. Breaking out of a cell becomes much easier when you can conjure weapons from your mind itself (not that Mike would do anything to get locked up, I'm sure).

From here on out, how Mike grows as a Spellblade is up to him... or, more accurately, you. You can still use touch spells if you like, but I chose Chill Touch for Mike because he can use it multiple times alongside his athame and it comes with a debuff aspect, giving Mike a better fighting chance when it comes to taking a hit. Odds are, he'll like to cast Shield at lower levels to up his AC in battle, which is a bit lower than I'd prefer, or use Chill Touch to reduce STR damage, OR cast Infernal Healing to keep himself going during a fight. All three are valid strategies and a Spellblade should take all of them into consideration when entering battle. Have a good look through the magus spell list and see what jumps out at you: who knows, you might find a pretty broken combo to pair with your athame!

You'll also notice I didn't mention Mike's first level feat or bonus human feat. This was intentional: it's entirely dependent on the type of Spellblade you like to make and what attack stat you'll want to utilize. For a human, I'd probably go with Power Attack and Toughness. For an elf, however, I'd likely pick up Weapon Finesse or Dodge to take advantage of the higher DEX. It all depends on the type of magus you prefer, so experiment and see which one you think you might like.

***Closing Thoughts***

The Spellblade is a pretty unique archetype that certainly isn't for everyone. It gives up a fairly iconic piece of the standard magus, like a barbarian being forced to trade out his rage ability for something else. But it's certainly not without it's advantages, and it's compatible with every other archetype that I can think of, since it only alters Spellstrike. Perhaps you want a bladebound spellblade who has a dagger for his chosen blade and uses his athame in an attempt to duplicate it (in which case, you might want to actually bite the bullet, pump DEX and pick up TWF by level 3). Maybe a kensai spellblade who favors daggers, in which case, you've already got one when you so desire, and can take full advantage of the class abilities. Or a hexcrafter who debuffs with hexes, then skewers withered foes with the power of his/her mind!

In short, the Spellblade takes away a big chunk of the standard magus, which requires you to start thinking a bit more about how to tackle obstacles. A lot of people aren't fans of that, and it's understandable. But I personally love that about the Spellblade - it effectively wipes away the well-worn path and demands you chart new territories... which is scary, but also exciting! I offer Mike the Magus purely as an example: you can use him as a springboard for your own character, or ditch him entirely for another concept.

Please let me know what you guys think of this assessment, if you have other questions, or simply want to challenge it: I welcome any critiques, since it helps to evolve the analysis even further! I hesitate to call it a guide due to my lack of skill and experience, but I suppose that's sort of what it grew into... kinda... sorta... not really...

And let me know if you think this was helpful - perhaps I'll delve a bit into other underloved archetypes.

-CaptainFord

I've been tinkering with a new character and I stumbled across a question as I was trying to get him somewhat optimized. The short version: he's a kobold who descends from imperial dragons rather than chromatic or metallic dragons, and focuses on water- and cold-based spells. Essentially, a water bending kobold with antlers.

My question is this: can you use a spell like Hydraulic Push to make a bull rush attempt on foes and push them into the air? And if so, what is the result? Do they flop to the ground on their backs, do they make a Reflex save to land on their feet, do they drop what they're carrying, etc?

I've combed the rules and I can't find anything that says you can... but I also can't see anything that says you technically can't either. And from a fluff perspective, it makes some sense... I guess...

So, I recently found my old GBA cart of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones and once again ventured across the land in a deep and engaging story of a small band of elite heroes triumphing over hordes of enemies and leveling up while collecting fabulous treasures and trying to balance a team of well-rounded, but very capable individuals.

And then I stopped and thought "...that sounds an awful lot like Pathfinder."

And the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. And it got me thinking of how well the two might mesh, and so I figured, why not see if anyone else would be in on this.

So... yeah, would you be interested in a Pathfinder/Fire Emblem crossover mash-up thing? Odds are, if I ran something like this, it would probably be set in the Sacred Stones world (it is the one I'm most familiar with), but I'm debating whether I would actually have the characters be FROM Magvel (or wherever I decide to set it). More along the lines of washing ashore after a mysterious storm or being summoned to this world from Golarion itself.

I dunno. None of those musing will mean anything if nobody else is interested.

So would you be?

In my ongoing obsession with making fun kobolds, I was tinkering with the concept of a kobold paladin and thought to write up an archetype specifically for the little guys. Before I knew what I'd done, I wrote the whole thing out.

So, I thought I'd toss it out and see what others think of it. (Constructive criticism always helps!) Without further ado, here it is...

Scaled Scion

Most kobolds, while favoring order, typically look after their own interests over those of their allies. But rarely, a stray kobold chooses to exemplify what can be done in the name of Apsu. These unique kobolds pledge their lives, skill and magic to upholding the values favored by metallic dragons over their chromatic cousins.

Draconic Paragon
Scaled Scions are not quite as skilled at arms as other paladins, preferring to supplement their martial skills with magical prowess and the attacks of dragonkind, such as sharp claws and fangs. Scaled Scions are treated as having the Draconic Sorcerer bloodline, gaining the bloodline powers of the bloodline (but not the arcana or bonus spells) and learn spells at the same rate as a sorcerer of the same level. Scaled Scions have a limited selection of spells, treat them as divine, and select them from the Paladin spell list. Scaled Scions can only learn spells up to level 4 and do not learn any spells from the Sorcerer/Wizard spell list.

This ability replaces the Martial Proficiency and modifies the Spellcasting feature of the Paladin class.

Strength of Apsu
Scaled Scions gain the Small, But Deadly trait as a bonus feat at first level.

This ability replaces the Heavy Armor Proficiency feature.

Aura of Law
Kobold paladins are mostly concerned with orderly behavior to counter their race's more brutal instincts. As such, they radiate an aura of Lawful alignment over Good. This ability otherwise functions as the Aura of Good class feature.

Breath of Dragons
At 2nd level, a Scaled Scion may, as a standard action, select a type of breath energy to exhale (fire, cold, electricity or acid) in a 15 foot cone or 30 foot line. This breath weapon does 1d6 damage. Whenever the Scaled Scion would choose a Mercy to apply to her Lay on Hands ability, increase the damage of Breath of Dragons by 1d6. The Scaled Scion may use this ability a number of times per day equal to her Charisma modifier + 1/2 her paladin level (minimum 1).

This ability replaces the Lay on Hands and Mercy class features.

Metallic Scales
At 3rd level, the scales of the Scaled Scion begin to shine with divine protection. These shimmering scales grant the Scaled Scion DR/5 protection from one type of energy of her choice (fire, cold, electricity or acid). Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed.

At 8th level and every three levels after, the Scaled Scion may choose to increase her current energy protection by 5, or choose a new type of energy to be protected from, adding that resistance to their current type resistance. (For example, a Scaled Scion may choose to gain DR/fire 10, or DR/Fire & Cold 5.)

This ability replaces the Aura of Courage, Aura of Resolve, Aura of Faith, Aura of Justice and Aura of Righteousness class feature.

I Shall Become Apsu
At 20th level, a Scaled Scion becomes a paragon of dragonkind. Her Breath of Dragons ability does the maximum possible damage. In addition, the Scaled Scion becomes a champion against destruction, granting her total immunity to all death effects from spells or similar abilities.

This ability replaces the Holy Champion class feature.

We need more games about kobolds! Anybody willing to take up that task? I've got a few ideas for some kobolds I'd love to see happen, and there just aren't enough games for them.

Any other takers?

Welp, like the title says.

I would just like to find a GM willing to run Rise of the Runelords for a team of kobolds. I don't know how effective it would be, but it would certainly be fun to have a band of the little buggers running around saving the world (or trying to, anyways).

Sooo... yeah!

For those who don't know me, I love me some kobolds. Something about them is just a delight to play, and let's be honest, they are true underdogs in Pathfinder. Kobolds demand more thought and creativity from a player (in my opinion) in order to overcome challenges, and it's a gratifying experience to see them come out on top.

If you're reading this, odds are, you like kobolds as well, and if you really like them, I wager you've read (and probably own) Kobolds of Golarion, which gives the little guys a great host of options. You've probably also seen this web enhancement from WotC that gives them more options.

And I thought, you know? Pathfinder could use something a bit similar.

So, I've started this thread as my own little construction bench/display box, to show off some of the ideas I've conjured up and think would make for good enhancements to the little guys. They won't be in any particular order (yet), it'll just be stuff that I think would be great to add on to the little guys.

Extra Racial Features

Strong Stomach - From the dingy tunnels of their warrens to the foul odor of the slurks they herd, kobolds live with a lot of awful smells, and have learned to supress their gag reflex with ease. Kobolds have a +2 bonus to Fortitude saves against foul odors.

All Together! - Kobolds place great value on teamwork and community, and know how to pick up the slack for others to keep a task going. When a kobold makes an Aid Another check to assist an ally, add +1 to the roll, as well as +1 to the bonus that ally recieves from a successful check.

Innate Navigation - Kobolds seem to have a keen sense of direction and spacial awareness, which helps them keep from getting lost in their tunnels. Kobolds gain a +2 on Survival checks made to keep from becoming lost. This bonus increases to +4 when underground.

Draconic Knowledge - Ask any kobold and she can list off numerous facts regarding their relationship to their draconic cousins... or at least enough to fake a vast knowledge on the topic. Kobolds gain a +2 on Knowledge checks concerning dragons, and a +4 to Bluff checks with subjects concerning dragons.

Bad Biology - Kobolds taste terrible, a fact best taken at someone's word. There is a reason they are not a regular part of the diets of larger underground creatures. Whenever a kobold is grabbed or attacked by a non-construct creature using its mouth, that creature makes a DC 10 Fortitude save, or is sickened for 1 round. This save must be made for every round the kobold is in the creature's mouth.

Extra Feats

Slurk Herder - (Pre-req: Kobold) You've spent a great deal of time tending to your tribes slurks, in spite of their foul order. You gain a +4 on Fortitude saves against foul odors instead of the usual +2.

Kobold Fervor - (Pre-req: Kobold) In spite of their size and weaknesses, kobolds seem capable of thriving just about anywhere. A combination of spirit, hard work, and some luck can let kobolds live to see another day. If you have any racial abilities granted by a racial trait or feat that have a daily number of uses, you may use that ability 1 extra time per day.

Out Of Reach - (Pre-req: Kobold, BAB +1) Kobolds know that the best strategy to keeping out of harm's reach is to do just that - keep out of reach. When you attack using a polearm or any weapon with "spear" in it's name and your target is not adjacent to you, you gain a +1 to your attack rolls with that weapon.

Master Miner - (Pre-req: Kobold, 1 rank Kn. Engineering) Some kobolds are so in tune with their surroundings, they can detect just how thick a tunnel wall is with a few simple tests. As a full-round action, you may make a Knowledge (Engineering) against a wall or door, using the object's thickness + 10 as it's DC. If successful, you are able to determine the durability of the wall or door you target, including HP, thickness and so on.

I just would like to see an AP or adventure dedicated to these yappy little underdogs. (Although, depending on how you build them, they can come out pretty hardcore!) I'm not sure how you'd modify it to fit the little guys, but it doesn't matter much to me (maybe, for an example, RotR starts with the kobolds sending out a warband to strike the nearby goblin tribes, and happen to save Sandpoint during it's attack?) because just about every adventure gets scaled up quite a lot when you're entire group is little over 3 feet tall. Just a good romp with our favorite little weakling race tackling a task that seems entirely too big for them, but they do anyways, is all I'd like.

Because that is how a kobold do.

Anyone else?

So, I've been digging around for a proper answer to this question and can't find it, so I thought I'd ask:

If a Magus expends a point from his Arcane Pool to empower his weapon, and then uses Arcane Strike (not in the same turn, since both take a swift action), do the bonuses stack?

For example, if, on the first turn, a Magus uses his Arcane Pool on his longsword, he gains a +1 attack and damage enhancement. On the next turn, if he uses Arcane Strike, does he also get the +1 damage bonus on top of that?

I've been trying to gauge whether these two bonuses conflict, and from what I can tell, they don't seem to. It might seem a bit cheese-happy, but for a class who wants to be in melee, but still squishy, every bonus helps.

This is not exactly a recruitment thread, nor is it quite an interest check. I have no clue if I would ever actually run this campaign, but it's an idea that I had with an inspiration streak a mile long, so I thought I would share it and see what it generates. It's a custom campaign still under a working title, currently under "Machinations of The Bard" for the moment.

Here's the general intro...

Good friend for Jesus’ sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here:
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.

Were the truth of The Bard to get out, the world may have a decidedly less favorable opinion of the man. In reality, the man we know as William Shakespeare was skilled in ways that could only be imagined, with powers so incredible, mortal man would have stood no chance in its wake. And were it not for a twist of fortune so inconceivable that The Bard himself would scoff at it, the known world may look quite different. If one looks deep enough, they will find a remarkably different and hard-to-believe tale; of individuals who wielded strength untold, soaked London in witchcraft and, ultimately, were responsible for the safety of two worlds - both ours and their own.

Yes, you read that right. I'm currently working on a custom AP (lightly inspired from the Reign of Winter AP) in which you discover magic plays in Golarion, travel into prison worlds penned by The Bard himself, fight your way through the works of William Shakespeare, come out the other end, and kill English's most prolific author, poet, playwright and actor. If that sounded insane to you, good, because it sounded insane to me when I just wrote all that out.

This is still heavily in the works (I'm barely past the first couple of encounters), so whether I actually end up writing this all the way, GM it, or what, I don't even know yet (I don't consider myself a very good GM, so I don't want to make more commitments than I can keep). I haven't seen that far ahead to give a definitive answer.

However, for those of you (hopefully) intrigued by this idea, I gladly welcome your input, and for any aspiring GMs who'd want to give this a run through, I'll be glad to submit the materials if you'd like to give it a shot, and make it as pain-free as possible. Otherwise, I'd enjoy some feedback/thoughts - this is something that's got me inspired and the more I work on it, the more I like it.

The tribe has gathered together above ground from the den, getting together the child, a makeshift cart to carry her in, and a hardy dire weasel to pull her along, as well as the rest of the group's supplies. Kobolds yip and yap in Draconic as they debate, argue and collude on the wisdom of this venture. None dare speak out against it though; Athraaz has yet to be wrong, and to question him would be borderline treasonous.

Speaking of the wrinkled old kobold, Athraaz calls the group together on the side of the main congregation. Pulling them in, he taps at the ground with his staff, speaking in raspy Draconic. "I can't stress how crucial this child's survival is; it's not just her future that's important, it's her very blood." Athraaz pointed at the infant calmly being loaded into the little wagon, seemingly calmed down and more interested in taking in all the sights of the kobolds around her.

"She's got our blood in her; dragon's blood." he said grimly, emphasizing her importance. "I can't say how, but she does, and it's potent. She needs to be delivered to the bigger races; they should know what to do with her. Follow the river north through the forest until you reach the fork in the waters. From there, head to the west, through Argithul's territory; it's not ideal, but it's the fastest way to the human village. Oh, and one last thing..."

Athraaz reaches into his cloaks and pulls out a set of red kobold scales, pierced through with leather loop. "Take these; they're scale tokens. I've tried to replicate the 'feather tokens' those bigger races make... and I've succeeded! (...mostly.) They're magic! I made them to try and help us with digging tunnels, but they're only able to move a little earth at a time. Still, they should be useful. Keep them handy, you never know when they'll help." Handing them to each kobold, Athraaz stands back, pulling his wrinkly scales into a smile.

The discussion/OOC thread for The Brave and the 'bolds campaign.

So... I've been conjuring up some more ideas involving an all-kobold adventure. And I think I've conjured up something that might be really interesting. The short version is as follows:

The Longclaw tribe of kobolds is in an uproar; found floating along the nearby river was a very loud basket. And inside that basket is the source of the noise: a human baby! With no clue of what to do with the little creature, they bring it down below to the central chamber and bring it before the chieftains. The tribe elders debate in endless yaps about what to do with it, and the decision slowly leans to killing and cooking the poor infant.

The Scalesage raises his arms and speaks to the whole tribe. "It is not our way to venture from our home, nor is it to seek out humans. But this child must survive: who among you would become it's guardians and take it to safety?"

I don't know if I'll run this; it depends entirely on how much interest there is in an adventure of this type. The focus will be chiefly on ensuring the baby reaches it's new home safely, overcoming obstacles, evading capture, and a host of other problems. Don't worry, child care will not be a big feature (unless you WANT to RP out a little band of kobolds trying to change a diaper or burping an infant).

I suppose the best way to think of it as Yoshi's Island on the SNES meets the movie Willow. If there is enough interested, I might give this a go. Otherwise... it's a cool idea?

South of Osirian, in the small frontier town of Gauthos, a murder has rocked the tiny population. Local baron and financial wizard James Jaspar died in a house fire, and the finger is being pointed squarely at the local smithy, Paul Maron.

Now, Maron is locked up in the jailhouse, under lock and key by Sheriff Sark and his two deputies. At the end of the small westernly town's main center road stands an unprepped gallows, with a couple folks working on getting it ready.

You four are new arrivals to town, not unwelcome, but certainly a sight among the locals. You know the basics of the story, you know the official story, suspect, clues and motive. In 48 hours, Paul Maron swings from those gallows. The question now is simple: what do you plan to do?

Locations (Time):
-The Cemetary (30 minutes)
-Pastor Grayson's Parish (1 hour)
-School House (30 minutes)
-Charred Remains of the Jaspar Home (2 hours)
-Boarding House (1 hour)
-Bergeson's General Store (1 hour)
-Doctor Hershell's Clinic (1.5 hours)
-Gauthos Hotel & Saloon (2.5 hours)
-Markin's Banking Services (1 hour)
-Stage Couch Station (30 minutes)
-Jaspar Lumber (1 hour)
-Gabb & Garman Undertaking (1 hour)
-Stables & Corral (1 hour)
-Sheriff Sark's Jailhouse (2 hours)
-Maron's Blacksmithing (1.5 hours)
-Worworth's Curio Case (1 hour)

As an avid fan of kobolds, I am kinda saddened at how low a PC race they are. And while they are fun, it's readily apparent how hard they can be to incorporate in a versatile manner.

That being said, I have a suggestion that I'm hoping Paizo will take into serious consideration: a +2 to a mental stat, or alternatively, a floating +2 to any mental stat.

Initially, I had considered just giving kobolds a simple -2 to STR and CON with their +2 to DEX, but the more I thought about it, the more it made better sense to give them a +2 to a mental ability. However, I am at a bit of a loss as to which one to give them, because each one can be made into a suitable argument.

A +2 to INT would make sense because, frankly, with a lack of physical prowess, it's only logical to assume that you would resort to brainpower to make up for your deficiency. In addition, Kobolds treat trapmaking as a racial pastime, and truly good trap creators are held as artists of their kind. That's not even factoring in their ability to manage and organize large numbers of tunnels and digging operations without havoc breaking out.

A +2 to WIS makes sense because, when you're as small as a kobold, you need to be a little more alert than other races; a lack of such could result in getting stepped on or squashed. Plus, some racial traits for kobolds indicate that they are a remarkably alert race, able to perceive and mimic sounds they hear in tunnels, and remain silently aware that something BIG is on the other side of that tunnel wall.

A +2 to CHA would make sense more for kobold sorcerers and other casters because, as mentioned in Kobolds of Golarion, caster kobolds tend to rise to positions of power and leadership among their tribes. Being influential would help them sway the rest of the tribe to their will.

My initial personal preference was a +2 to INT, since it made the most sense to me that kobolds would use their brains a little more than their muscles, violent though they may be. However, a floating +2 to any mental stat would certainly make them more versatile. I know goblins are Paizo's favorite monster race, but I think kobolds could use a bit more love too. It's my sincerest hope that Paizo would take this bit of info into serious consideration, but until then, this would certainly make them more handy in a homebrew scenario.

When you're ready, just dot here to let me know. This is also where I'll be keeping your Clues Log, List of Suspects, and Locations.

Here's how gameplay will (hopefully) function: starting off, you four have arrived in the town and have learned the basics of the story. Paul Maron's in jail, for the murder of Mr. James Jaspar. You'll have a list of locations you can visit, each with their own clues, hints and in most cases, NPCs to chat up. It will also take a certain amount of time - you've got around 48 hours to either prove or convict Mr. Maron of his alleged crime. I'll try and list how long will take to fully investigate an area.

On Clues and Suspects:
-I'll have little clues scattered around for you all to find or pick up. When something important pops up (say, after you've searched an area or interrogated someone), I'll change the text to denote that it's a clue. Example: Digging through the drawers, you notice that most of the shirts have a hole under the armpit sleeves.
-You can choose to add a suspect to the list in the discussion thread at any time. Just put your selection in OOC tags and I'll put them on the list here. Keep in mind, if you end up leveling an accusation at someone by the time of the hanging, you'll need clues to back it up.
-One last thing: "You will not find all the clues to be found within the allotted 48 hours!" This is done on purpose, and partly why I'm highlighting clues for you. The key is, you don't need them all; just enough to get your man. However, the number of clues available is proportional to who actually did it. Some clues are total red herrings, others are actual evidence. Just keep that in mind.

Now then, let's solve a murder!

Gauthos is a small town in the dunes of southern Osirion. Made on the backs of hard working men of the soil, the easy-going folks don't have much to worry about from day to day.

This is where you come in. Explore the town of Gauthos, speak with it's inhabitants, and try to uncover the truth. But you'd better hurry: the clock is ticking.

This is going to be a moderately short, but fairly involved murder mystery style adventure, inspired off the one page dungeon made by Leslie Furlong. I'm going to try to balance out the need between skill monkeys, socialites, and good fighters; you'll be needing all three to get the best ending. (Yes, this adventure has multiple endings.)

I'm looking for players who like roleplay as much as roll-play. I think both are key to a good story, and a good time for all. That said, if you can RP out something well enough, I'll let it pass. And you will be able to do that, because this game is going to be slightly differently played.

1) As you play, you'll uncover clues to help make a case to the town before the hanging. That being said, not all clues are created equal: some have more weight than others, some need each other to make sense, not all point to the same person, and the odds are, you won't find them all by the end of the adventure. Perhaps Paul Maron is guilty, but you'll need to find the clues before reaching that conclusion.

2) That last line isn't just for dramatic effect - you are on the clock, and every action you take will cost some time. If you can't find enough clues to make a solid case, Paul Maron will hang as planned.

I'm pretty loose about character creation standards, but those who need some guidance, here is what you need for a statblock:
-Starting lvl 4
-20 point buy
-All core, featured and uncommon races accetable (keep in mind, the town is not keen on outsiders - if you look exotic, you'll be treated as such)
-No class restrictions, but no psionics
-Advanced firearms allowed. You're close enough to Alkenstar that getting them isn't that strange.
-Average starting wealth

If this goes well enough, I might conjure more "PFI" scenarios and run those. That depends entirely on how this one turns out. If it does, I might make more short mystery games and make it somewhat like a Society style kind of thing. We'll see.

Give it about a week from today before apps close. Say June 25th EST. Sound good?

My recent readings of witches and the class rules has infatuated me, and made me want to consider taking up the role. And I thought to combine it with kobolds since, while not optimal mechanics wise, provides a great deal of flavor to go with it (and really, who doesn't love them some flavor?)

So I've opted to create a little kobold "witch doctor" with an affinity for bringing diseases and plagues wherever he goes. Not intentionally, it just seems to be a sad side effect of his powers (he wanted to be a tribal healer, but that fell through badly...)

So, without further a-do, here's the basic build:

CN Kobold Witch
STR 8 DEX 14 CON 12 INT 17 WIS 10 CHA 8
Feats - Extra Hex
Hexes - Evil Eye, Cackle
Spells - Read Magic, Detect Magic, Spark, Unseen Servant
Plague Patron
Familiar - Crinkle (Greensting Scorpion) +4 Init to master

The general idea is he starts off a battle casting Unseen Servant and having it carry Crinkle over his target quietly. Then, next turn, use Evil Eye to lower the target's Fort save and Cackle to extend it. Then, Crinkle drops on the foe, stings and sickens them, before Unseen Servant carries him to safety.

My chief concern is Crinkle is effectively my witch spellbook, and while he is tiny (and hard to hit), he's tiny (and easy to squash). Is there a way to beef up Crinkle to ensure he gets in, does his job and get out safely, or should I abandon the plan altogether and just make him another Sleep-focused witch?

This idea came to me when I was looking through skills for a new character, and noticed something... who the heck ever really uses Linguistics? Yeah, it's handy for learning languages, but... do you really use it that often?

That's when an idea sprung into my mind; why not have a class or character build designed around making Linguistics functional!

Now, I already had a look at the 3.5 class Truenamer, and people seem to be either of the opinion that it's broken in a good way, or broken in a bad one. Having never used it, I can't say. But it does open up the gate for some intriguing ideas for this class.

The general concept of an Incantionist is they harness the spoken word to call on magical powers. I suppose this would fit a bit more into Wizard than Sorcerer, but I can see it working for both. Sort of like a Bard, but less musical and more arcane. The idea is when you utter certain phrases (possibly of some ancient language of the gods), things around you change. You can use it for offense, defense, or support.

Spells would have a DC of 10 + 1/2 your Linguistics skill, learning a new spell demands rolls using Lingusitics, and uttering a phrase using a language already known by your target ups the DC, or gives you some sort of bonus.

I dunno. Just something to give Linguistics a bit more use. Because I like to think outside the box obsessively.

In a small rural village, in a barn belonging to a farming family, a young man stands with his pitchfork, chucking hay into the loft as the sun starts to sink over the far mountain range. Chickens cluck, horses whinny and the day seems to be about over... Dan just needed to finish hauling all this hay up and he'd be finished.

And that's my input... what happens to our brave hero next?

Yes, I said DMs. Plural. Multiple. Because this is gonna be a slight twist on the PbP format, hopefully for the better, but prooooobably for the worse. We'll see.

The idea is rather than have a bunch of players and one DM, this game will have multiple DMs and one player. A simple little guy, nothing terribly special, who gets swept up into a whirlwind of chaos and insanity. That's where you all come in!

This is going to be muuuuuch more different from normal PbP campaigns, in that there really isn't going to be a great deal of rules to hold you all back. It starts out simply with our little friend living his life on a farm, and from there... well, that's up to you to decide. I'm not even going to prevent others from randomly joining in: if you need to take a break, you have other GMs to stand in for you and cause chaos. If you're totally new and want to jump in, by all means! The story is up to you guys.

That being said, I do have a couple of requests:
-Try to be respectful of the other DMs. The idea is to watch a little monkey dance to your insane song, not drive each other crazy. It's effectively a story written by multiple people, so there may be one or more toes stepped on. It's probably inevitable... just be good sports!
-As fun as it may be to toss a level 1 character into a room with an elder dragon, that's probably going to grind things to a halt. Unless of course, you fashion a method of escape for him, in which case, sure.
-Try to stick to one element of the world at a time. If you decide to introduce an NPC, try to keep it to that one NPC, at least in the first post. If, in the next post, you'd like to say he/she explodes in a shower of confetti, it will freak our hero out, but otherwise, it's acceptable.
-Act on the hero, try to avoid posting for him. Rest assured, I will ensure he reacts quite accordingly (arguably by running away in cowardice), but act on him, and he will act back.
-Keep it loose, keep it friendly, chug right along.
-A good grasp on how to write properly would be helpful.

Not too hard, right? It's meant to be a fun little experiment. So if you'd like to get started, just check out the campaign tab, and we'll see how long it takes for a monkey made of mayonnaise to leap out of a cauldron make with brambles and attack our little hero.

So, I love me some PbP, but I had a thought recently (Gaston warned me it was a dangerous pastime!) and I wanted to get some perspective/thoughts on the matter before even attempting something like this...

THE IDEA: Inverted Pathfinder!

The premise is simple: rather than have several players and 1 DM, why not switch roles, and have several DMs with 1 player... DM... person.

This would probably only work on PbP, but the idea is that the DM makes a player for themselves, and then everyone else acts out the world around him, within certain guidelines set by the DM beforehand. I haven't hammered out the structure on this works quite yet, but the general concept is thus:

The DMPC is an adventurer, seeking out a quest for fame, fortune, or he's bored with nothing to do that afternoon. The players take up the job of playing out the world around him, from NPCs, to monsters, to traps, to sorting out how the dungeon works or the adventure will play out. The DM hands the players a randomly generated map and a loose version of the plot (which can be as simple as 'Get the hero to destination A'). From there, the players are in complete controls of how the story plays out... mostly. Obviously, CR restrictions must be in place, the DMPC might be a slightly higher level than most, and perhaps a pregenerated list of loot is handed to the players to be placed out as they see fit. Beyond that? They can go nuts. The NPCs might be trying to send him out as a sacrifice to their god, or after the hero defeats a group of kobolds in one room, the next has a bronze bull. Lord only knows...

...okay, so it needs a bit more work. That's why I'm throwing this out instead of willy nilly starting it up. A tiny bit of structure for players would be helpful, but the idea is the roles are reversed.

So... anybody?

Wizards are probably my least confident class; for some reason, they make my brain sad trying to work them out. Still, I know completely ignoring a class because it's harder to understand takes away from my ability to enjoy Pathfinder to it's fullest.

All that being said, wizards seem like really good support classes, if not outright monster group killers. Combine that with my love of little kobolds and it makes sense to have a little guy running about tossing spells out.

Now, everything I've read says if I want to go a-blasting, a Sorcerer would be the way to go. But digging deeper into arcane schools, it seems like the Admixture Evocation school would be the more versatile and handier option (I hope you have immunity to EVERYTHING!!!) The goal of this little guy is NOT to dish out huge bowls of whoop-ass to the BBEG; the martial classes can do that far better then anything magical that I can conjure. No no no, his job is to clear a path through the mooks for the heavy hitters to move in and finish the job. And it seems to suit a kobold quite well, being little sidekick types.

Without further ado...

Ikkep
Male Kobold Wizard/1
LN Small Humanoid (Reptilian)
Deity: Nethys Faction: None Homeland: Taldor

Init +3; Senses Perception +4
--------------------
[1B]Defense[/B]
--------------------
AC 15 Touch 14 Flat-footed 12
HP 6/6
Fort -1 Ref +4 Will +3
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Ranged MWK Heavy Crossbow +3 (1d8/19-20)
Wizard Spells Prepared

1st - Burning Hands x3 (DC 16), Mage Armor (Bonded Crossbow)
0th - Ray of Frost x3
--------------------
Statistics
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Str 6, Dex 16, Con 8, Int 18, Wis 14, Cha 7
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats Spell Focus (Evocation)
Traits Magical Lineage (Burning Hands), Deft Dodger (+1 Ref save)
Skills Knowledge (Arcana, History, Planes) +8, Perception +4, Spellcraft +8, Stealth +11
Languages Draconic, Common, Undercommon, Dwarven, Gnome
Combat Gear Heavy Crossbow w/ 20 bolts
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Equipment
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Spellbook
Heavy Crossbow (Bonded Object)
Crossbow bolts x20
Wizard's Kit
-Backpack
-Bedroll
-Belt pouch
-Flint & steel
-Ink
-Inkpen
-Iron pot
-Mess kit
-Rope, hempen (50 ft)
-Soap
-Spell component pouch
-Torches (10)
-Trail rations (5 days)
-Waterskin
47 gp

I've batted this idea around, toyed with builds that already exist and found none of them really fit the idea of what I'm shooting for, or what does hit the mark, isn't particularly good at a whole lot. So, I decided to work around the issue: make a new custom class!

So the Merchant would be a bit of an odd duck, but at the same time, be highly useful. They are the organizers, the money handlers, the craft masters and, probably more often than not, the party face. Much like a bard or rogue, but with a hint of sorcerer mixed in. Keep in mind, this is just my thoughts, and not all of it will be balanced. However, I think it's a worthwhile idea that deserves a little bit more exploration!

So, all that being said, here's what I envision the Merchant class to be:

Merchant
Alignment: Any
Starting Wealth: 6d6 x 10 gp (215 gp average)
Hit Die: d6
Skills: Appraise, Bluff, Craft (any), Diplomacy, Intimidate, Knowledge (all), Linguistics, Perception, Profession, Sense Motive, Use Magic Device
Skill Ranks per Level: 6 + Int modifier

Class Features:

Mercantile Knowledge/Through The Grapevine - Much like a Bard, a Merchant is a wanderer, and as they go, they pick up rumors, knowledge and make connections as they travel. This means that a Merchant is often up to date on a lot of recent information. The Merchant may make any Knowledge check untrained, and if in a city where they have an especially good reputation, gain a +2 bonus on that check.

Always Prepared - A Merchant knows there is always a potential for danger at every destination. As such, they've learned to defend themselves with whatever they have on hand. A Merchant is proficient in light armors, simple weapons, and gains the Catch Off Guard and Throw Anything feats at 1st level, even if they do not meet the requirements.

Barter Master - Merchants have a knack for finances, and can negotiate even with the trickiest customer. At 1st level, the merchant receives a 5% discount on any purchase. This bonus increases at 4th level, and every 4 levels after (eg. 8, 12, 16, 20) by 5% more. However, items purchased cannot be sold for more than they were bought (to prevent gaining infinite money).

Efficient Packing - Merchants know how to get the most out of their available space. For the purposes of determining carrying weight, a Merchant is considered to have +1 Strength at 1st level. This bonus increase every 5 levels by +1. (Max +4)

Trade Secrets - Starting at 3rd level and every 3 levels after, the Merchant learns 1 Trade Secret, a special ability unique to Merchants to aid in navigating the world and plying their goods. The Merchant can use a Trade Secret 3 + your Charisma modifier times a day (unless otherwise noted).
*Discernment - You've seen enough con artists and trickery to know when you're being duped. As a spell-like ability, you can cast Zone of Truth for 1 min/Merchant level, automatically succeeding in any Sense Motive check you make.
*Shortcut - A Merchant must be fast, able to get to the next city safely and on time. When moving, you gain a +10 bonus to your base land speed, and your overland speed is reduced to 3/4 of it's original time (the overland bonus applies to your whole party). This ability lasts for 1 hr./Merchant level you have.
*Secret Stash - As a standard action, you may reach into your bag or cart and produce an item of your choosing (provided you can afford the cost). The item must be able to fit into your carrying object, and must not exceed your current carrying weight.
*Hand Gestures - Any good merchant has to be able to speak with a variety of people in a variety of ways, and sometimes, it's best to let your hands do the talking. Make a DC 15 Linguistics check; if you succeed, you can communicate with others and understand them as if you had cast the Comprehend Languages spell. This ability lasts for 1 hr./Merchant level.
*Adept Repairs - Once per day, you may fully a repair a broken or damaged item, armor or weapon using a Knowledge (Engineering) for common, non-magical objects, Knowledge (Arcana) for non-religious magical items, or Knowledge (Religion) religious objects. Alternatively, you may upgrade a weapon or armor to Masterwork condition at no charge. This process takes 24 hours - your Merchant level.
*Perfect Pitch - Your oratory skills are fantastic, and you can gain the attention of anything you direct your ability at. You may immediately make a Diplomacy check on any creature and succeed, improving their demeanor towards you and your allies by 1 level. Additionally, if you succeed on a normal Diplomacy check, instead of improving your target's attitude by 1 level, you may improve it by 2 using this ability.
*Observational Proficiency - Your work as a merchant has brought you in contact with many different professionals, and many of them have passed on information about their work. You may make a Profession check on a task or job you are not trained in, adding your Merchant level to the total.

Artisan - At 4th level and every 4 levels after, the Merchant becomes skilled enough to craft magical items. Pick one type of magical item to craft (wondrous items, wands, rods, etc.); the Merchant is now capable of crafting that type of item. Additionally, the Merchant becomes skilled at disassembling magical items to understand their true inner workings. The Merchant may destroy any magical item in their possession to gain the ability to craft that specific item, after succeeding in an Appraise check against the item's Craft DC. (Normal crating costs still apply.) The Merchant may do this 1 + their Int modifier per day.

Again, this is just my basic, off the cuff ideas for what this class should be like. There is certainly plenty of potential, imho.
Anybody else?

The gameplay thread

Yes, kobolds make fantastic little rangers, rogues, sorcerer's and sneaks. Maximize on their Dex and put them out of harm's reach, you should be good to go.

But what about the front-line barabarian? The monk? Ever seen a kobold paladin or cavalier?
Or how about a kobold who is exceptionally good with his little sling? Yes, just a sling. Or wrangles big beasts and hogties them with just a length of rope? (Cowbold? Kolboy?)

I love kobolds and I adore oddball character choices. It only makes sense that the two combined would be unbelievably lovable!
Using the standard build rules (20 pt buy, 2 traits, 3 with a drawback, 7 min 18 max for any individual stat) and no limits on sources, what would you conjure to make a character that fills a role that you wouldn't expect a kobold to fill?

Kobolds have long claimed to be descended from dragons; in spite of their differences in size, general demeanor and power, it's a difficult boast to accept. But when a tribe of kobolds are called on by their dragon ruler to guard a priceless artifact in his possession, they will have the chance to prove they are no less fearsome, stoic and capable than their mighty cousins.

You are various members of the Wyrmsnout tribe, and are tasked with protecting the golden dragon Au'Thiik's lair until his return. The majority of the adventure will take place in and around the warren moving up into the mouth of the cave that leads into Au'Thiik's treasure horde, and the Orb of Linnorms.

This will be a generally short campaign made for 4 lvl 1 kobold PCs. In addition to the character creation rules below, you may also pick from any of the custom kobold-exclusive traits and feats below!

Let's set the cut-off date for apps... oh, say, May 16th. That gives people a good solid week to conjure up an idea and submit it. Sound fair?

Okay, let there be kobolds!

I don't know if this would be the proper place to post this, but here goes...

I'm not sure how many other people are of a similar mind, but... I adore kobolds. I really do: something about their design is kinda cute. Something about their yipping and yapping is lovable. Something about the fact that they're such a weak race draws me to them (both thematically and mechanically in the game).

So, it got me thinking; would any GM be interested in running an all kobold campaign? And I mean a legitimate one; they're adorable and funny and not necessarily the brightest creatures, but the enjoyment comes from the fact they're oddities in an otherwise normal world (to me, anyways). The opportunity for hilarity would be present, but the story and scenarios would have to be done straight faced (initially, anyways). And truthfully, a group of kobolds taking up the hero mantle requires some good thought and strangely interesting characters; why would a race of small, craven, weak little lizards put their fragile necks on the line for a town, or city, or even an empire? What makes them tick?

And don't hold back simply because the group is kobolds. I don't know about other players, but to me, it seems the player who willingly takes up the role of a kobold do it because they're weak. It requires thinking, it requires strategy, and they have to be clever if they want to survive. It's part of the charm; don't tell me you don't love seeing an underdog (underlizard?) rail against the odds and not only survive, but thrive.

Anyways... that's all I've got to say. Anybody willing to run something like that?