I've been going about reworking the Pathfinder skill list, expanding and consolidating some here and there, while keeping things grounded in verisimilitude and internal consistency, and I wanted to share and get some outside opinions on it. I will go over my thoughts on each skill removed and added. First the list:
Now I'll go into each skill that got removed or changed and my thoughts behind the process.
Appraise: Folded into a new skill called Mercantile so as to widen its value, Mercantile covers appraising as well as all aspects of running a business and the practices therein.
Bluff and Disguise: Rolled into a single Deception skill.
Climb and Swim: Rolled into a single Athletics skill along with taking jumping from Acrobatics.
Diplomacy: Renamed to Persuasion.
Disable Device: Renamed Device Handling so that it doesn't seem so fixated on only breaking things, but is clear that it can also be used to fix thing or alter things.
Escape Artist: Folded into Acrobatics. Can attempt either an Acrobatics or Athletics check to escape bonds, depending on whether you are trying to slip free or brute force it.
Fly: Folded into Acrobatics (to be honest, this skill doesn't come up very often in our games, we lean somewhat old school and generally handle flying as it was in 3E and earlier, with occasional exceptions).
Knowledge Dungeoneering: This is described as covering "aberrations, caverns, oozes, and spelunking". Aberrations and oozes are moved to Arcane Lore, caverns to Natural Lore, and spelunking to Survival.
Knowledge Geography: Covers "lands, terrain, climate, people", this is divided between Natural Lore and Survival, expect for "people" which goes to Cultural Lore.
Knowledge Local: Renamed Cultural Lore with the intention of broadening its aspects and uses.
Knowledge Nobility: Folded into Cultural Lore.
Knowledge Planes: Renamed Planar Lore, I have pondered on folding this into Religious Lore though (possibly then renaming it to Divine Lore), but I think its probably distinct enough to merit its own skill.
Sense Motive: Renamed to Insight.
Use Magic Device: Folded into Spellcraft, with the exception that if you have the Trapfinding class feature you may use Device Handling to use magical devices (this lets the Rogue keep its classical niche and has the beneficial byproduct of somewhat buffing trapfinding, a feature that some have found lacking).
Other notes:
Crafting, Profession, and Performance are all list as "Var" which means it Varies on which is its governing stat. Each one will be based on the individual chosen subskill. For example smithing will be Str based, painting and other forms of artistry will be Dex based, alchemy will be Int based, etc. Same goes for profession, sage will be Int based, farmer will be Wis based, courtesan will be Cha based, etc. As for Performance, singing, acting, comedy, and oratory will all be Cha based, whereas the instrument ones will be Dex based.
At one point I had Riding folded into Animal Handling but ultimately decided to reseparate the two as they have different primary purposes and are distinct enough to merit it.
Do you like "Natural Lore", "Nature Lore", or "Wilderness Lore" better? I've gone kinda back and forth on this.
Hit me with any feedback or suggestions you may have.
I'm not advocating for the complete remove of multiple attacks, but diminishing iterative attacks have always been one of my least liked features of the d20 system, going all the way back to the release of 3E in 2000.
I propose using Starfinder as a chance to remove them from the system, instead making multiple attacks where they all operate at your full attack bonus, but there are less of them overall, which also thusly makes them more valuable. Lets say high BAB classes eventually get a total of 3 attacks, with additional ones coming in around levels 7 and 15, and medium BAB get 2, the 2nd of which they get around level 11. Low BAB classes only ever get the 1 attack. Also, TWF only ever gives 1 additional attack.
This seems like it would be a cleaner system, and makes it where each extra attack is a huge boon and truly matters.
We have had classical adventures, dungeon crawls, fairy tales, pirates, kingmaking, gothic horror, cosmic horror, sci-fi, and more. Given the new Vigilante class, and a few other newer ones that fit the theme, it stands to reason that a superhero themed Adventure Path isn't completely outside the realm of possibility. Which bears the question, where? What do you all feel would be the ideal region or nation for a superhero AP to take place in?
As a side question, what do you think the ideal party for said AP would be? Personally I think a Vigilante (Batman, Daredevil, etc), Brawler (Captain America, Wolverine, She-hulk, too many to name), Kineticist (Human Torch, Iceman, etc), and Psychic (Professor X, Jean Grey, etc) would probably be the four most thematically fitting as far as iconic superhero literary archetypes go, though a case could be made for several other classes also.
I am surprised this hasn't been posted here by now, it was put up on Enworld the other day that the new 5E adventure book will be the Curse of Strahd. Here is link and the info blurb.
Unravel the mysteries of Ravenloft® in this dread adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game
Under raging storm clouds, the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of Castle Ravenloft. Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires. The wind’s howling increases as he turns his gaze down toward the village of Barovia. Far below, yet not beyond his keen eyesight, a party of adventurers has just entered his domain. Strahd’s face forms the barest hint of a smile as his dark plan unfolds. He knew they were coming, and he knows why they came — all according to his plan. A lightning flash rips through the darkness, but Strahd is gone. Only the howling of the wind fills the midnight air. The master of Castle Ravenloft is having guests for dinner. And you are invited.
No confirmation one way or another whether this will be set on the actual Demiplane of Dread or if they intend to plop Barovia down somewhere in Faerun. I know I for one will be extremely disappointed if they go with the latter. Probably wont happen, but I would absolutely love for a Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft sourcebook in the vein of the SCAG to go along with this.
I'm looking for stats for a bear animal companion that starts medium and then improves to large at level 7 in the same vein of a tiger, wolf, elk, dino, etc. This could be from some obscure Paizo book, a 3rd party source, or somebodies homebrew. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Lets face it, two handed fighting rules the roost in Pathfinder. I was always a fan of the different weapon style proficiencies back in 2E, so here is my attempt to make single weapon style viable in PF.
Single Weapon Style
Benefit: When attacking with a single weapon in your main hand and not using a shield or a second weapon in your off hand, you add a +2 dodge bonus to your AC, as well as increasing the damage die of your weapon by one step. Utilizing any other weapon (including natural attacks or unarmed strikes) other than the single weapon in your main hand will cause you to lose the benefit of this feat.
Improved Single Weapon Style
Requirements: Power Attack, Single Weapon Style
Benefit: While utilizing the Single Weapon Style feat, you count as wielding a 2 handed weapon for the purposes of bonus damage from your strength score and calculating the bonus damage from using the Power Attack feat.
So a 1st level human fighter with an 18 Str using a longsword that had all 3 of these feats would do 1d10+6 damage, or 1d10+9 when using power attack. This is vs a 1st level fighter using a greatsword with just power attack who is doing 2d6+9, our single weapon fighter has a +2 AC over the greatsword fighter, but is still doing less damage per swing and spent 2 feats to do so.
Our main DM has a homebrew world that he has meticulously crafted over the past 10+ years. It comes complete with fully fleshed out cities, nations, races, ethnicities, cosmology, gods, lore, and ancient history. He even used a map program to create a pretty detailed map of the main continent.
One of the other features of this setting is a (continually growing) number of NPC's which were former PC's that are in retirement following the completion of a campaign. PC's actions have lasting effects and those characters become permanent fixtures within the setting after retirement. Events can be referenced in a new campaign that took place in a campaign over a decade ago, and the reverberations of those events can lead to new potentials for adventure. Basically PC's are literally the driving force behind any change in the world.
So I am curious, is this relatively common? Do you/your DM, whether using a published campaign setting or a homebrew of personal design, have the actions of the PC's carry over from one campaign to the next as part of the greater world? Or are your groups adventures usually more self contained?
Pretty much out of no where, BG:EE 1 and 2 both just released on GOG today, and its 50% off for the next 3 days. If you haven't picked these gems up from Beamdog or Steam before this, now is an excellent time to grab them.
Been pondering on implementing a skill revision, thought I would post it to see what you guys have to say.
Strength
Athletics (Climb, Jump, Swim, and all other strength based tests of athleticism, including many sports)
Smithing (Weapons and Armor)
Craft
Profession
Dexterity
Acrobatics (includes Escape Artist)
Disable Device
Sleight of Hand
Stealth
Craft
Profession
Constitution
Concentration
Endurance
Profession
Intelligence
Arcana (Spellcraft, Arcane Lore, Magical Beings, Planes)
Engineering (clever players can get a lot of use out of this, and my players can be pretty clever)
Heraldry (Nobility, Courtly Etiquette, Military Knowledge)
History (Local and Ancient, must spend one month in a new area or in study of a new source of ancient history to gain bonuses)
Linguistics
Nature (Geography, Animal and Plant Lore, Wilderness and Subterranean Knowledge)
Religion (Spellcraft, Divine Lore, Planes, Undead)
Craft
Profession
Wisdom
Animal Handling (includes Ride)
Healing (Herbalism and Treatment)
Insight (Sense Motive and Intuition)
Mercantile (Appraise, Business Practices and Etiquette)
Perception
Survival
Craft
Profession
Charisma
Deception (Bluff and Disguise)
Intimidate
Persuasion
Perform
Profession
As you can see, I combined a few skills and expanded on the uses of others. All Craft and Profession skills will be handled on a case by case basis and assigned to the skill that makes the most sense, Art/Painting/Calligraphy will be a Dex based craft for example, and as you probably noticed Smithing gets its own entry under Str. There is no Use Magic Device skill, instead Rogues, Bards, and Alchemists get it as a class ability. 4+Int becomes the minimum skill points per level, all classes that get 2 are bumped up to 4.
I dont have the ACG yet, I was wondering if someone can kindly give me a small rundown on all 8 of the Slayer archetypes? I know the Slayer class spotlight from a couple of weeks ago gave like a sentence on 4-5 of them, but I was hoping to get a little more info on all of them.
As a friend of mine and I were watching a recent episode of Game of Thrones, we got into a discussion on for all of the praise GoT gets, for as dark and gritty as it is, almost all of its characters fall squarely into one of the nine alignments.
Lets take a look on where several characters fall on the mythical alignment chart shall we.
Ned Stark - LG
Tywin Lannister - LE
Daenerys Targaryen - CG
Robert Baratheon - CN
Cercei Lannister - NE
Jon Snow - NG
Joffrey - CE
Littlefinger - NE
Arya Stark - N
The Hound - CN
The Mountain - CE
Stannis Baratheon - LN
Davos Seaworth - NG
Khal Drogo - CN
Lord Bolton - LE
Ramsey Snow - CE
Walder Frey - NE
Brienne - LG
Those are all pretty straightforward, some of the character are less so however
Tyrion Lannister - Tyrion is either NG or N with good tendencies, really I would say that tv show Tyrion is the former whilst book Tyrion is the latter, although either way he teeters on the line between these two.
Varys - Varys is an interesting one, he keeps you guessing for a long time, but knowing what I know from the books about his motives (which I wont spoil here), I would say overall he is N with good tendencies.
Jamie F'in Lannister - This is the hardest one of all, here is a man who slays his king, screws his own sister, and the first thing you really see him do in the series is push an innocent little boy off a tower. He is snarky and kind of an ass. Then he has something of a redemption path where he saves Brienne from several horrors, sends her off to find and protect Sansa, and the way he handles the siege of Riverrun (and the other small keep that I cant remember right now) all point to someone who is not a bad person. Jamie is by far the most complex character in the series, I think he is either N or CN.
Have fond memories of your travels through Norrath? Long for a time of more classic, less hand-holding MMO's? Missed this gem back in the day and want a chance to experience for the first time? Come join Project 1999, a free emulation server, and experience EQ in its classic form, where the game is as it was from 1999-2001. Currently the server is set to the first expansion, Kunark, with Velious somewhere on the horizon, the developers have said it wont go past the Velious expansion.
For my own experiences I can say this nostalgia trip down memory lane has been everything I'd hoped it would be, when I started I worried that it couldn't live up to my memories of the game, thankfully that was absolutely not the case. From orc groups in EC and Crushbone, croc groups in Oasis, undead in Befallan and Unrest, giants in Kunark, dark elves in Mistmoore, and of coarse trading and hanging out in the EC tunnel, I've been having a blast. The server has a healthy population and regularly has 1200-1300 people logged on at peak times. There are groups to be found at all levels and people tend to be friendly and helpful (for the most part).
The purpose of this thread is twofold, one was to share the knowledge of its existence on here, while the other was to see if any other Pathfinders are currently playing, if so, feel free to share your experiences too.
Hello all potential Knights, Wizards, Priestesses, Kender, and more...gather round as we take a trip to the classical world of Krynn. See the sights, breathe in the atmosphere, play with gnomish contraptions, search a kenders pouches, complement that knight on his huge shiny lance, die to..err...attempt the Test of High Sorcery. All this and more can be yours!
Just wanted to do an interest check on a Dragonlance campaign. The timeline will be slightly altered from the canonical timeline, the basics of which is that at the end of Dragons of Summer Flame (spoiler alert) Takhisis doesn't steal the world, which means the gods don't disappear for a 2nd time, the alien dragon overlords never come to Krynn and destroy/terraform half of Ansalon, the War of Souls never happens, Paladine doesn't give up his godhood and become mortal, and Takhisis doesn't die. For those wanting a more detailed look at the alternate timeline the campaign will use can follow this link and read my work on the expanded Age of Dragons timeline (originally from the Legends of the Twins sourcebook).
The campaign would start in 423 AC, 40 years after the Chaos War. The game will be Pathfinder, with the 3.5 Dragonlance material available for use, such as the Knights of Solamnia PrC's, Wizard of High Sorcery PrC, etc (no other 3.5 material is allowed).
Available races: Human (civilized or nomadic), Elf (Qualinesti, Silvanesti, or Kagonesti), Dwarf (hill or mountain), Gnome, Kender, Half-Elf, and Minotaur (will incur distrust and have roleplaying negatives).
Available classes: Barbarian, Bard (no healing spells), Cavalier, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Mariner, Monk, Mystic (use Oracle class, remove the curse feature), Noble, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Wizard, and Alchemist (gnome only).
Available alignments: Any non-evil
Stats: everyone will use 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11 placed however you desire then apply racial adjustments.
There are just over 2 days left in the Veronica Mars movie kickstarter and it just passed $5 million. The project is 10k backers away from being the most backed project in kickstarter history. Help us reach this goal.
And in case you happen to be unfamiliar with Veronica Mars, it was a smart, witty, all around awesome TV show that was unjustly canceled 6 years ago. The first season of Veronica Mars is (IMO) probably one of the top 5 greatest seasons of a TV show ever.
And remember, others will be using this project as the guinea pig to set the benchmark and see if this method is viable, so the more successful this project is, the more likely other cult classics will get the kickstarter movie treatment (like Firefly, Freaks and Geeks, and others).
Gog.com has a weekend sale going on for all D&D games right now, 10 games for $21. This includes Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, Icewind Dale 1 and 2, Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2, Planescape: Torment, and others, including all expansions for said games.
Who else is watching this show? I think season 1 was better than the first half of season 2 so far, but last nights mid season finale was fulfilling and set up what I think will be a better and more interesting second half, I wasn't really a fan of the split current timeline stories.
The subject of the characters alignments got brought up recently when discussing the show with my buddy and his wife, and just for fun we assigned an alignment to some of the characters.
Prince Charming: Lawful Good
Snow White: Neutral Good
Graham/The Huntsman: Chaotic Good
Mulan: Lawful Neutral
Dr Whale/Frankenstein: True Neutral
Jefferson/Mad Hatter: Chaotic Neutral
Rumpelstiltskin: Lawful Evil (pretty much the epitome of lawful evil)
Queen Regina: Neutral Evil
Cora: Chaotic Evil
Personally I have never been a big fan of non consensual PVP, I have seen the topic discussed on here before and will not go into the pros/cons of such a system in this thread. I am not here to decry and denounce those who enjoy non consensual PVP as bad or evil or anything of that nature, we all have preferred play styles, mine just happens to one which eschews such gameplay.
I dont believe that being a "sandbox" game requires said game to feature FFA PVP either with or without full or partial looting. A sandbox is a virtual world in which you can play and interact with the environment as you desire, build or destroy. I am not saying no PVP, for as an example, a player made settlement is being attacked by a rival guild or faction of players, the attackers by means of being the aggressors automatically "flag" themselves for PVP and are open to being attacked by the defenders, who by attacking the interlopers will "flag" themselves for PVP also. What I am saying is that I personally dont want to be in the forest, minding my own business, collecting mistletoe on my Druid when a stealthed Rogue sneak attack ambushes and kills me out of nowhere.
I dont know what the plan is for servers in this game, whether it will include multiple servers like most MMO's or one giant server that everyone shares like EVE. What I do want to know is will there be at least one server that has non consensual PVP turned off? If so I can pretty much guarantee this game will get my $15 a month, if not I will keep waiting patiently for a good PVE sandbox fantasy MMO.
In case the good people here hadn't heard of this I wanted to give the heads up. Project Eternity is a computer RPG being developed in the vein of the epic infinity engine games like the Baldur's Gate saga, Icewind Dale, and Planescape Torment, some of the finest RPG's ever produced (including my all time favorite, BG2), and I know there has to be several people around here who loved those games. There are only 4 days left in the kickstarter and they have smashed their original goal of 1.1 million and are currently at past 2.7 million in pledges with over 57,000 backers. Check it out and see if you want to get in early on this. Here is the link.
Also in their latest update they said they are releasing an almanac of their game world that could be used possibly for pen and paper roleplaying games, which I am sure would be useful for someones Pathfinder campaign.
Our DM is combining his two groups into one giant 10 person group for a single campaign, which has been dubbed "The Megaparty". The setup is we all are part of a military special forces group of a nation in his homebrew world. I am pondering characters ideas for such a game.
First the rules, everyone must be human, no evil alignments, everyone starts with the same set of stats, placed however you desire, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, plus racial bonus. Also no summoners, gunslingers, or firearms in general. Right now the party consists of (as stated, all human):
Cavalier
Ranger (Archery focused)
Rogue (Social focused)
Wizard (Universalist)
Cleric (Follows CG Goddess of Luck, Destiny, Foresight, etc...Luck and Travel domains)
Barbarian
Barbarian (the 2 Barbarian players are playing twin brothers, both of which wield earthbreakers)
2 Undecided (one leaning towards either Inquisitor or a combat focused Rogue, the other, no idea)
I am thinking possibly a Arcane Duelist Bard, a greatsword wielding Battle Oracle, a Magus, or a Sorcerer, possibly Stormborn (probably not the best bloodline, but I like lightning). I think the Bard would be good for this group, having inspire courage up would be beastly, and just imagine a Haste spell dropped on that group. I dont know how to build him otherwise, fighting style wise and whatnot, I am playing an archer character in my main campaign and dont want to repeat that, also I am not keen on the Dazzling Display approach, ideas? I think the battle oracle would be fun, especially since there is a cleric in the party for healing purposes (when needed), leaving me to just concentrate on buffing and fighting. Any suggestions or overall campaign advice?
Obviously this archetype was Paizo's official, unofficial homage to the 2E Kit/3E PrC, the Bladesinger (a term that cant be used due to WotC copyrights). I read it and I was met with some indifference, and most of it stems from the spelldance ability itself.
Giving up the ability to enhance your weapon is huge, and a big part of the magus class. In return you get an enhancement bonus to speed (which is nice) and a rising incremental bonus that gives a very conditional +2 to AC vs movement based attacks of opportunity. I believe to justify giving up weapon enhancement it should instead be a base plus to AC, albeit at half the rate (starts at +1 dodge bonus and rises +1 at each increment). This is also more in line with the original bladesinger kit.
I may end up changing it for my games, but what do you all think, do you like the archetype as is, or do you think it needs to be tweaked?
We are starting a new campaign and I have come up with a new character concept, fleshed out his backstory and gotten a feel for his personality and roleplay aspects...now comes the other fun part: the build.
He is a CG Freedom Paladin of Cayden Cailean.
For those of you who dont know what the paladin of freedom is, this is the exceprt from the SRD:
Paladin of Freedom Class Features
The paladin of freedom has all the standard paladin class features, except as noted below.
Class Skills
Replace Diplomacy with Bluff on the class skill list.
Aura of Resolve (Su)
Beginning at 3rd level, a paladin of freedom is immune to compulsion effects. Each ally within 10 feet of him gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against compulsion effects. This ability otherwise functions identically to the paladin's aura of courage class feature.
Spellcasting
Remove the following spells from the paladin's spell list: death ward, discern lies, dispel chaos, magic circle against chaos, protection from chaos.
Add the following spells to the paladin's spell list: 1st—protection from law; 3rd—magic circle against law; 4th—dispel law, freedom of movement.
Code of Conduct
A paladin of freedom must be of chaotic good alignment and loses all class abilities if he ever willingly commits an evil act. Additionally, a paladin of freedom's code requires that he respect individual liberty, help those in need (provided they do not use the help for lawful or evil ends), and punish those who threaten or curtail personal liberty.
Associates
While he may adventure with characters of any good or neutral alignment, a paladin of freedom will never knowingly associate with evil characters (except on some sort of undercover mission), nor will he continue an association with someone who consistently offends his moral code. A paladin of freedom may accept only henchmen, followers, or cohorts who are chaotic good.
My race will be Human and I rolled the following stats on him (not in this order): 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11
Now I was thinking of going with a two weapon smiting sword and board build, using a rapier (Caydens favorite weapon) and alloocating my stats as followed: Str 14, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 17. I will put my 4th level stat point into Dex giving me the 17 I need to take ITWF at 7, then put my level 8 point into Cha to give me the 18...does this sound like a good idea, or does anyone have an alternate suggestion?
I seem to recall a trait or feat that allows a half human race to appear human (as in naturally, without a disquise check). If I'm not imagining this and it does indeed exist, could someone kindly point me towards it.
This debate came up in play the other day, basically, the question is, does someone who uses the charge action have to move in a straight line?
Here is a scenario, using a square grid battle mat, an orc is 40 feet away and one square to the right at the end of that 40 feet, for a total of 45 feet movement, with no dificult terrain or other impediments, well below the 60 a human character is capable of charging. Can the human charge the orc, or is he unable to because the orc is technically not in a straight line from the human?
We are starting up a new campaign in my DM's homebrew world and one his deities is a CG God of Hunting, Tracking, Avenging, Exploration, and Independence. This deity has the Chaotic, Good, Animal, Liberation, and Travel domains with a favored weapon of Longbow. So I was thinking of playing a cleric archer of this god.
First off, as for domains, I am considering Animal (with the Feather subdomain) paired with either Liberation or Travel (possibly with the Exploarion subdomain, that just seems like it could be a useful ability). I will be taking a Tiger companion and taking the Boon Campanion feat at level 5 or 7. I really like both Travel and Liberation and did consider just taking those 2, but the added benefits of a full fledged Tiger companion seems to good to pass up.
My build up to level 10 is
1: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
3: Rapid Shot
5: Boon Companion
7: Deadly Aim
9: Manyshot (At this point, with all the archery feats and Divine Power cast, he should be pretty mean)
Any further input or advice from the community is welcome.
I have been working on creating Wood Elf racial abilities for our Forgotten Realms campaigns. The base Elf in Pathfinder does a great job of repersenting the Sun and Moon Elves, but its racials do not accurately portray the Wood and Wild Elves. I would appriciate any critiques you all may have to contribute.
Pathfinder Sylvan Elves
Racial Traits:
+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence
Medium size
Normal Speed: 30 feet
Low-Light Vision
Elven Immunities: Sylvan Elves are immune to magic sleep effects and get a +2 racial bonus against enchantment spells and effects.
Elven Naturalist: Sylvan Elves gain the wild empathy ability and can attempt to improve the initial attitude of an animal. A Sylvan Elf rolls a 1d20 and adds his Charisma bonus to determine the wild empathy check result. A Sylvan Elf who gains this ability from another source, such as levels in Druid or Ranger, gain a +2 racial bonus on wild empathy checks. Sylvan Elves also receive a +2 racial bonus on all Survival checks made to find or follow tracks.
Keen Senses: Sylvan Elves recieve a +2 racial bonus on all Perception skill checks.
Weapon Familiarity: Sylvan Elves are proficient with Longbows, Longswords, Scimitars, and Shortbows, including composite versions, and treat any weapon with "elven" in the name as a martial weapon.
Languages: Sylvan Elves begin play speaking Common, Elven, and Sylvan
I went with the name "Sylvan" so to distinguish from the Wood Elf subrace, as it will apply to both Wood and Wild Elves, the same way the High Elf (what I call the base Elf) applies to both Sun and Moon Elves.
Faiths and Avatars and its companions Demihuman Deities, and Powers and Pantheons, are among some of the best RPG products produced of all time. These books are overflowing with lore concerning every deity and their churches in Faerun and are still the foremost reference material on the subject 14 years later. Also included in these tomes are specialty priests for every deity (over 100 in total), for the uninformed these were basically the cleric class altered to suit each deities priesthood specifically, by providing a few new class abilites, altered weapon and armor proficiencies, and unique priest sphere access for each priest.
My hope is that Paizo will eventually produce a sourcebook which provides this quailty of product for all 20 deities in Golarion, including information on the churches of every god and about the gods themselves. Now I am aware Pathfinder has a unofficial semi anti-prestige class policy, however I would also love for a 10 level prestige class specific to each priesthood to be provided as well.
Am I alone in this, who else would love to see such a product?
Bards in every version of 3.X is a class that has been a little underwhelming, Pathfinder has helped them out somewhat but I still feel underwhelmed when I look at them. After their incarnations as the first ever prestige class in 1E, to there all around usefulness in 2E, this is what I am proposing. Bardic spellcasting remains the same in terms of being an arcane charisma based caster, spells known, and spells per day, however Bards can choose there spells known from any on the Cleric, Druid, and Wizard spell lists.
This change reinforces their "jacks of all trades" concept, with only the ability to cast up to 6th level spells they will never be as good as a full caster but gives them the versitility to become more useful and well rounded again. Now I am sure a barrage of "that is OP" comments is coming, but I ask you to take a step back and think if it doesnt fit, both thematically and mechanically, and give me your honest opinions.
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Under the desription for the heavy shield it says "A heavy shield is so heavy that you cant use your shield hand for anything else". This leads me to this question, if a cleric has his mace in one hand and a heavy shield in the other, can he successfully cast a spell that requires a somatic componant?
The Paladin can smite evil to gain his Paladin level to damage, and double level to damage vs evil outsiders, evil dragons, and undead. So this begs the question, why doesnt the Ranger get his level to damage vs his favored enemys?
I understand smite evil is only useable so many times per day and the Ranger gets 5 favored enemys (vs the virtual 3 that the Paladin gets, though Im not saying Rangers should get double there level), but I think this change would really bring the Ranger up to par in its niche, plus it would be even more incentive to stay in class.
Let me preface this by saying, I liked what Tome of Battle was trying to do, lets face it, melee has always been second fiddle to spellcasters and this book closes the gap a little bit. Now I dont like the way some of the details and rules were handled in the book, but overall, I'm a fan.
Now, I'm wanting to incoperate ToB into Pathfinder and here are my thoughts, first off the ToB base classes are thrown out, which leaves the feats Martial Study and Martial Stance, these may be taken as many times as the character likes, but the character must still meet all prerequisites of a specific maneuver. Also all classes initiate maneuvers at there full level, including maneuver levels for prereqs(i.e. a 5th level Fighter who takes the Martial Study feat can take any 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level manever he qualifies for). Due to this change there is no recovery mechanic for maneuvers, once it is expended for an encounter it is gone until you have spent one minute of uninterupted meditation outside of combat, upon which you regain all expended manuevers.
Furthermore, the martial disciplines have been divided up by class, only those specific classes can take maneuvers from their respective diciplines, they are as followed:
Desert Wind: Ranger
Devoted Spirit: Paladin
Diamond Mind: Bard
Iron Heart: Fighter
Setting Sun: Monk
Shadow Hand: Rogue
Stone Dragon: Fighter
Tiger Claw: Barbarian
White Raven: Fighter
As you can see, the Fighter has the most options available to him (and rightfullly so), but each matial minded class has options available to him should they choose to take them, something to break up the monotony and add versatility.
I have revised the list of deities that I will use for Pathfinder games, perhaps due to familiarity and my traditionalist ways or perhaps because I just enjoy tinkering with stuff. Anyway here it is, let me know if you think there are any gaps that need to be filled.
Torm LG God of Honor, Valor, Justice Longsword
Moradin LG God of the Forge, Protection, Strategy Warhammer
Ehlonna NG Goddess of Hunting, Farming, Family Longbow
Pelor NG God of the Sun, Healing, Redemption Scimitar
Corellon CG God of Freedom, Inspiration, Art, Music Rapier
Desna CG Goddess of Dreams, Stars, Travelers, Luck Kukri
Irori LN God of History, Knowledge, Self-Perfection Unarmed Strike
Waukeen LN Goddess of Wealth, Cities, Trade Light Crossbow
Chauntea N Goddess of Nature, Weather, the Sea Spear
Nethys N God of Magic Quarterstaff
Pharasma N Goddess of Fate, Prophecy, Birth, Death Sickle
Mask CN God of Intrigue, Shadows, Trickery Short Sword
Tempus CN God of War Greatsword
Bane LE God of Tyranny, Conquest, Vengeance Battleaxe
Bhaal LE God of Murder, Lies, Contracts, Poison Dagger
Myrkul NE God of Undeath, Corruption, Disease Scythe
Shar NE Goddess of Darkness, Loss, Pain Flail
Lamashtu CE Goddess of Madness, Nightmares, Monsters Falchion
Rovagug CE God of Wrath, Disaster, Destruction Greataxe
Corellon and Moradin are not considered the "heads" of the elves and dwarves respectfully, but are able to be equally worshipped by any race, though many elves do worship Corellon and likewise for dwarves and Moradin.
Here is the final version of the prestige class, several revisions have been made to balance the class, feedback and thoughts are welcome. I would have just edited my original post in the first thread but there appears to be a time limit to edit on these forums.
The Bladesinger
Hit Die: d10
Requirements
Race: Any Elf or Half-Elf
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Skills: Acrobatics 4 ranks, Knowledge (Arcana) 2 ranks, Perform (Dance) 2 ranks, Perform (Sing) 2 ranks, Spellcraft 2 ranks
Feats: Arcane Strike, Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Weapon Focus (Any light or one-handed melee weapon)
Spells: Ability to cast 2nd level arcane spells
Special: Must be proficient in light armor
Lvl BAB Fort Ref Will Special Spells
1 +1 +0 +1 +1 Bladesong, Chosen Weapon, Lesser Spellsong -
2 +2 +1 +1 +1 Song of Celerity (2nd) +1
3 +3 +1 +2 +2 +1
4 +4 +1 +2 +2 Bonus Feat +1
5 +5 +2 +3 +3 Greater Spellsong -
6 +6 +2 +3 +3 Song of Celerity (4th) +1
7 +7 +2 +4 +4 +1
8 +8 +3 +4 +4 Bonus Feat +1
9 +9 +3 +5 +5 -
10 +10 +3 +5 +5 Song of Celerity (6th), Bladesong Mastery +1
Class Skills: Acrobatics, Diplomacy, Knowledge (all), Perception, Perform, Sense Motive, Spellcraft
Skill Ranks at Each Level: 2+Int modifier
Spells per day: At every level except 1st, 5th, and 9th the bladesinger gains additional spellcasting level, spells per day, and spells known (if he is a spontaneous caster) as if he had also gained a level in one arcane spellcasting class he belonged to before adding levels in bladesinger. He does not gain any other benefits a character of that class would have gained upon reaching a new level.
Chosen Weapon: A Bladesinger chooses to use one weapon type (such as longsword, heavy mace, or battle axe) to the exclusion of all others, this must be a light or one-handed melee weapon (swords are most common, but any qualifying weapon type is allowed) in which he has the Weapon Focus feat. Once selected this cannot be changed, and from this point forward whenever he uses a weapon type other than that of his chosen weapon, he receives a -2 to attack rolls (spells are not affected).
Bladesong: Starting at 1st level the Bladesinger can initiate the graceful and deadly dance known as the bladesong. He gains the following benefits while bladesinging, a +1 to attack, damage, and CMB with any melee attack using his chosen weapon, a plus +1 bonus to concentration checks made to cast defensively, and his Intelligence modifier as a bonus to AC and CMD. At each odd level he gains an additional +1 to his attack, damage, CMB, and concentration checks made to cast defensively (to a maximum of +5 at 9th level). To initiate the bladesong, a move action, the bladesinger must have his chosen weapon in one hand and and nothing in the other and be wearing light or no armor. Starting at 1st level the bladesong can be used for a number of rounds per day equal to 10 + Dexterity modifier, each level after 1st he can use the bladesong for an additional 2 rounds per day. At the end of the bladesong he is fatigued for twice the number of rounds he spent bladesinging.
Lesser Spellsong: Due to his intensive training with both sword and magic, the bladesinger can wear light armor with no chance of arcane spell failure while in his bladesong.
Song of Celerity: At 2nd level, while in his bladesong and making an attack or full attack action, a bladesinger may cast one spell of up to 2nd level as a swift action without increasing its effective level. At 6th level he may use this ability to cast up to 4th level spells, and at 10th level he may cast up to 6th level spells. He can use this ability once per day at 2nd level and one additional time every even level he gains after 2nd, to a maximum of 5 times per day at 10th level.
Bonus Feat: At 4th level, and again at 8th, a bladesinger gains a bonus feat that must be chosen from the list of Combat Feats.
Greater Spellsong: At 5th level the bladesingers ability to cast in light armor improves, he may do so at any time, not just while in bladesong.
Bladesong Mastery: At 10th level the Bladesinger becomes a master of his deadly artform. He can now initiate his bladesong as a swift action and is no longer fatigued after his bladesong expires. Furthermore, while bladesinging he may choose to make one additional attack each round at his highest base attack bonus when using the full attack action, this attack and all others until the beginning of his next turn come at a -2 to the attack roll.
The Bladesinger, an iconic class, the epitome of Elven Figher/Mages, was a class that never reached its full potential in the 3.X version of D&D, IMHO of coarse. So I have attempted a proper way to Pathfinderize this gem. Feedback and constructive critism are welcome.
The Bladesinger d10 HD
Requirements:
Race: Any Elf or Half-Elf
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Skills: Acrobatics 3 ranks, Knowledge (Arcana) 2 ranks, Perform (Dance) 4 ranks, Perform (Sing) 2 ranks, Spellcraft 2 ranks
Feats: Arcane Strike, Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Weapon Focus (Any light or one-handed melee weapon)
Spells: Ability to cast 3rd level arcane spells
Special: Arcane Bond (Any light or one-handed melee weapon)
Lvl BAB Fort Ref Will Special Spells
1 +1 +0 +1 +1 Bladesong 1/day, Chosen Weapon, Spellsong -
2 +2 +1 +1 +1 Song of Celerity (3rd) +1
3 +3 +1 +2 +2 Bladesong 2/day +1
4 +4 +1 +2 +2 Bonus Feat +1
5 +5 +2 +3 +3 Bladesong 3/day +1
6 +6 +2 +3 +3 Song of Celerity (6th) -
7 +7 +2 +4 +4 Bladesong 4/day +1
8 +8 +3 +4 +4 Bonus Feat +1
9 +9 +3 +5 +5 Bladesong 5/day +1
10 +10 +3 +5 +5 Song of Celerity (9th), Bladesong Mastery +1
Class Skills: Acrobatics, Diplomacy, Knowledge (all), Perception, Perform, Sense Motive, Spellcraft
Skill Ranks at Each Level: 2+Int modifier
Spells per day: At every level except 1st and 6th the bladesinger gains additional spellcasting level, spells per day, and spells known(if he is a spontaneous caster) as if he had also gained a level in one arcane spellcasting class he belonged to before adding levels in bladesinger. He does not gain any other benefits a character of that class would have gained upon reaching a new level.
Chosen Weapon: A Bladesinger chooses to use one weapon type to the exclusion of all others, this must be a light or one-handed melee weapon(swords are most common, but any qualifying weapon is allowed) in which he has the Weapon Focus feat and Arcane Bond class feature. The character adds his levels in Bladesinger to any Fighter levels he has to determine feats he is eligible to select, but this only applies to weapon specific Fighter feats (such as Weapon Specilization), not any other Fighter specific feats that are not tied to a specific weapon (such as Spellbreaker), these may only be selected in his chosen weapon type. Once selected this cannot be changed, and from this point forward whenever he uses a weapon type other than that of his chosen weapon, he receives a -2 to attack rolls (spells are not affected).
Bladesong: Starting at 1st level the Bladesinger can initiate the graceful and deadly dance known as the bladesong. He gains the following benefits while bladesinging, a +1 to attack, damage, and CMB with any melee attack using his chosen weapon, a plus +1 bonus to concentration checks made to cast defensively, and his Intelligence modifier as a bonus to AC and CMD. He may use this ability one per day starting at 1st level and an additional time per day at every odd level after 1st, in addition at each odd level he gains an additional +1 to his attack, damage, CMB, and concentration checks made to cast defensively (to a maximum of +5 at 9th level). To initiate the bladesong, a move action, the bladesinger must have his chosen weapon in one hand and and nothing in the other and be wearing light or no armor. The bladesong last for a number of rounds equal to the bladesingers ranks in perform (dance), at the end of the bladesong he is fatigued for twice the number of rounds he spent bladesinging.
Spellsong: Due to his intensive training with both sword and magic, the bladesinger can wear light armor with no chance of arcane spell failure, he may also take 10 on all concentration checks to cast defensively.
Song of Celerity: At 2nd level, while in his bladesong and making an attack or full attack action, a bladesinger may cast one spell of up to 3rd level as a swift action without increasing its effective level. At 6th level he may use this ability to cast up to 6th level spells, and at 10 level he may cast up to 9th level spells. He can use this ability once per day at 2nd level and one additional time every even level he gains after 2nd, to a maximum of 5 times per day at 10th level.
Bonus Feat: At 4th level, and again at 8th, a bladesinger gains a bonus feat that must be chosen from the list of Combat Feats.
Bladesong Mastery: At 10th level the Bladesinger becomes a master of his deadly artform. He can now initiate his bladesong as a swift action and is no longer fatigued after his bladesong expires. Furthermore, while bladesinging he may choose to make one additional attack each round at his highest base attack bonus when using the full attack action, this attack and all others until the beginning of his next turn come at a -2 to attack.
Now as you may notice, this is a difficult prestige class to acquire, as no matter how you slice it, 10th level is the earliest anyone can enter the class. This was done intentionally because bladesingers are elite, and the stiff requirements show both the difficulty in training and dedication required to acheive the status of Bladesinger.
I am thinking of playing a Elven Ranger in an upcoming campaign and I will be just going straight Pathfinder Ranger 1-20, but I asked my DM if I could use the Ranger Substitution levels from Races of the Wild and he agreed. I was going to take the Elven Hound companion at 4th level and realized he needed to be slightly updated with the new way animal companions work. Here is my conversion, feedback is encouraged.
Elven Hound(Cooshee)
Starting Statistics: Size Medium; Speed 50ft; AC +4 Natural Armor; Attack Bite(1d6); Ability Scores Str 17, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 8; Special Qualities Immune to sleep, low-light vision, resist enchantment, scent, sprint
7th Level Advancement: Size Large; AC +2 Natural Armor; Attack Bite(1d8); Ability Scores Str +8, Dex -2, Con +4
The starting statistics are a straight transfer over from RotW, no conversion needed(excpet for their bite damage which was 1d8 with the Improved Natural Attack feat, so I just removed the feat for the base creature reducing the damage back down). The 7th level advancement pretty much follows suit with the rest of the medium sized creatures becoming large(Ape, Big Cat, Wolf) for its Stats, Damage, and AC increases.
Now I do have a couple questions, first one is if you increase your companions Int to 3 or higher, what affect does this have, does he learn to understand a language or gain any other special abilities now that he is no longer of "animal intellignece"? Second question is, being a magical beast, would my Elven Hound companion get a d10 HD and Full BAB as he progressed along the animal companion chart?
