Garedel the Traveller's page

Hi:

I have an ability called Destructive Smite. It says you need to announce it before making an attack. Does this waste a use of the power if you do not hit, or do you retain it to try again.

Thank you

Can you move diagonally when making a 5-foot step?

I last played in 2009. I had been through three adventures. Only one was reported by my GM. I can't find the sheets at all. Do I need to restart as a 1st level character?

Actually, can we somehow start higher, because the group I am going to be playing with are all 3rd through 5th. Being first is going to suck.

Since i am doing this for fun, can I just play a higher character and not receive any rewards for it.

Rally, I just want to have some fun tomorrow, and bing level 1 with this group I would rather just not do it.

Thanks.

Last night I ran PFS 17- Peril of the Pirate Pact. Four players were in the party. Two were new, the two others had one PFS adventure under their belts. The party was Ranger/1, Bard/1, Fighter/1, and a Sorcerer/1. Not ideal, with no rogue or cleric, but that is what they brought to the table.

What Happened
Act I went well. They easily handled it, with the bard going down. They healed up (the Ranger had some potions of Cure Light Wounds she bought after her first PFS adventure) and they were ready for Act II.

Then it went down hill. I realized after Act III the group was in trouble. They were injured, potions gone.

I, as a GM, reminded them that they could turn back if they felt they had to. It would cost them their XP, but they would ensure survival.

Against the Ettercap some got webbed, the Fighter was almost dead, so he gave his Greatsword to the Ranger who then critted against the Ettercap and took it down on round three. But the Bard was heavily injured, with Dex damage. The sorcerer was out of spells for the day.

Then they go out to meet Riverbane. TPK. Total party kill.

Was it Fair?
Now, the party itself made some bad choices, however I can't help but think the adventure was way too hard for a group of 4 level ones without a Cleric. We were supposed to have 5 players, but one didn't show.

PFS does not require certain character classes to be present, so this is liable to happen. Face it, most people playing under the current rule set doesn't like playing Clerics (though in August that should change, as the Pathfinder Cleric is way cooler). Having no Cleric is such a negative on the group on terms of healing resources, it almost is unfair. However, there is no scaling for such an eventuality.

As a GM I think the last encounter was out of line, maybe not for an APL of 2-3, but at APL 1. As it is, 3.5 characters are so low on HP at level 1 (they were being taken down with one blow at times), that facing a Wand of Magic Missiles was certain death. She is guaranteed an average of 3.5 points of damage on any character, no chance to miss. Two missiles could be enough to take down everyone except the Fighter. Even at full HP I think this group would have had a chance at TPK there. Even with a Cleric. This adventure in the end seemed to be aimed more at a level 2-3 party, not 1.

One of the player's complained at the end that the power level of these later adventures seems to have risen (he has GM'ed several PFS adventures), he thinks it is because by now you would expect everyone to be at least level two or more from having played since the season began. However, we have been promoting it and had two new players. Not the best experience for them.

Any thoughts?

Please help. Pathfinder Society Scenario 17: The Perils of the Pirate Pact.

I am running tomorrow night (Monday April 27). I have a question about a scene in the scenario. In Act 4, on page 11, it describes that "giant webbings obstruct some areas." It goes on to decsribe how they work mechanically.

However, I need to know if the Ettercap produced these using its Web ability to (from the SRD) "create sheets of sticky webbing from 5 to 60 feet square. They usually position these to snare flying creatures but can also try to trap prey on the ground. Approaching creatures must succeed on a DC 20 Spot check to notice a web, or they stumble into it and become trapped as though by a successful web attack."

1. Are the webs on the map a product of the web attack?

2. Are the webs on the map visible, or does it require a DC 20 spot to see them?

3. If question 1 is a "yes," are any of the daily uses of the web ability used up?

Thanks for the help!! I want to do a primo job tomorrow.

Is there a way to get high res versions of a scenario's maps to print out for use with minis?

Thanks

I am about to run a Greyhawk adventure. In order to keep the CR's in line, should I up the monsters HP as well? And do the NPC classes get it as well?

Thoughts on the Monk Class
I’ve been looking at the Monk class. I guess since I saw an episode of Doctor Who with some Akashic type monks in it (and an awesome werewolf), and I got to think about why I’ve been cold on the 3E Monk. Not simply from "how good a combatant is he," but also "what makes this archetype better in flavor?"

First, the less radical ideas:

1. A monk is a close combat fighter and should have the Fighter’s Base Attack Bonus. I justify this by pointing out that a fighter can have a better damage at level 1 than a monk, which unarmed strikes can only match by 12th level (Buy a Greatsword at 1st level and your damage is 2d6 with a better critical range. One adventure and you can get armor at 2nd level that offers protection equal to or better than a Monk the same level. But even longswords are slightly better than hands at low levels, and you rarely find a +1 Hand to give the Monk [LOL]).
To match the higher damage available to other fighters you could argue they have Flurry of Blows, but I would say “blows” is the right term. You are already have a poorer BAB, now lets give a -2 to that! At 1st level a Fighter is +3 to hit better than a Monk doing Flurry of Blows with each having equal strength. By 10th level the different becomes a difference of five.

2. I think the Monk should have some more supernatural talents. Look at other classes in Pathfinder, with Sorcerers growing wings and so on. A monk is honing his sprit and philosophy as well as combat skills, and that should be reflected. This could be things like a Danger Sense that allows a Monk to make a (hidden by DM) Perception Check. If successful his “spider sense” tingles: imminent danger is near. I just dug out old Player’s Handbook, and lo and behold Gary Gygax presented a Monk for AD&D-1 with the same idea, but lost in subsequent editions. The Monk actually gets Psionic powers, including Mind Blast at 11th level. In addition they were kind of Jedi like, with Charm as an ability to do the old “Jedi Mind Trick (a few years before anyone heard of Star Wars), and the ability to heal himself, kind of a psychic healing. What he was doing was showing how the mind develops in a Monk as well as combat. However, I do not think the Monk should become psionic or need a psionics book to run. But psi-like powers would be in line with the class.

3. Here is a suggestion for making the movement bonus be more fun. Change it to +5’/2 levels starting at level 2. This doesn’t change it much, but gives the player the joy of going up in something when he levels up. In addition, I propose a power that when he hits level 12 (+30 ft), he gains the ability to take an Extended Step: He can step 10’ instead of 5’.

Now- here is a more radical idea:

4. In 3e Charisma has become more than just personality, it has become the force of ego. It powers Sorcerers. I contend that Sorcerers inner power that drives their spells is the same as the Ki power of Monks, making them kind of kin. Rewrite the Monk to use Cha as his prime power ability, for mental powers, etc. (Not combat or perception, though I’d contend AC should add Cha instead of Wis).
Remember: This is all IMHO, it is an opinion and is neither right or wrong, just something to think about.

Long long ago in Dragon there was a contest for readers to submit an AD&D adventure. I'd love to find out what issue it was in. However, all i remember is:

* It was in the Mid-80s, before Dungeon ever appeared.
* It was the contest winner.
* It involved a lot of water. I think it might have been around islands.

I know it ain't a lot to go on. Any ideas?

Here is my question:

If I have a Wizard/Fighter using a Greatsword, can I stll cast spells with Somatic components in a round I don't do combat? Logically I think you can let go an hold a two-hand sword in one hand, then grasp it the next round to fight (these rounds are six-seconds).

In GURPS (one-second round) I would have to let go of the sword with one hand (free action), cast (1-second), ready my sword (1 second) then i can fight. But d20 don't go into that detail, so how do I handle it?

It looks like the Pathfinder Monk is no longer has the special restriction that if you multiclass from Monk to another class you can never take Monk again.

Is this correct. Because I see some serious Monk/Sorcerer multi-class action on the way for me!

Love how the new edition is coming. Keep it up guys!

Just want to chime in that I don't think Fly should be a skill. Here is my thought:

* You don't need a Walk skill to walk. If you have wings to fly, it should be like nature, and rolls should be standard Reflex rolls for maneuverability.

* Ride represents commanding a mount, not yourself, and fly is kind of like buying Ride to move yourself. Again, we don't have a skill for walking. It is Reflex.

Thanks for listening.

Just want to say i am very happy with the new Half Elf. Seems on par with the rest of the races. My wife loves Half Elfs, and we redid her Pathfinder Society Ranger as a Pathfinder RPG Ranger. Seems to be a lot of fun. I don't mind the rise in power of the classes, it just make them more fun if the rest is balanced.

Keep it up guys! Seems to be the 3.5 successor we wanted!

Here is some food for thought:

Just for comparison, I wanted to see how Channel Energy affects overall healing, comparing a 3.5 SRD 10th level Cleric vs. a 10th level Pathfinder Cleric.

Assumptions: The Clerics have a Wis 16 (+3); and no feats or anything that adjusts healing or Channel Energy are used.

Here are the results. All are expressed as points healed per character, assuming a 4-member party, with Cure ____ Wounds spells split evenly between the four party members, and Mass Cure Light Wounds and Channel Energy always performed on all four characters simultaneously. Average dice means we assume each die roll is the median roll for the die. For d8 this is 4.5 points, for d6 it is 3.5 points.

3.5 Cleric (all spell slots traded for healing): 103 points healed per character.

3.5 Cleric (half of the spell slots traded for healing): 52 points healed per character.

Pathfinder Cleric (all spell slots traded for healing and all CE's used): 208 points healed per character.

Pathfinder Cleric (half of the spell slots traded for healing and all CE's used): 157 points healed per character.

Pathfinder Cleric (no spell slots traded for healing and all CE's used): 105 points healed per character.

So, as you can see, expending all the Channel Energy towards healing the party, a Pathfinder Cleric on average, can heal 2 points more damage than trading all the spell slots for healing without CE.

Is this good or bad, I dunno. Certainly your mileage will vary, as you may use less or more spells to trade, or not fully use CE to heal (until you get selective channeling which makes it way easier). However, it does seem like overall, there will be more points healed in a game day than in 3.5, and this may have an effect on Challenge Ratings.

Here was my attempt to write an adventure. Not done. Maybe someone could use it for something.

Introduction

Two unicorns appear before the group, telling them they are going to “an adventure” to Candy Mountain. They will annoy everyone with their high pitched begging for the group to go to Candy Mountain. When asked why they want to go, they reveal Candy Mountain is made out of sweets.
Any Knowlegde checks (DC 15) will come back with no knowledge of any Candy Mountain in the region, history or legends. However, the more the group resists the more the unicorns beg, and won’t give up until the group goes.

If the group tries to kill the unicorns, everyone around will attack them until they relent and agree to accompany the unicorns to Candy Mountain, because, hey, they are unicorns. Come on guys, who would stand by while people kill unicorns.

Encounters

The Liopleurodon:
The party and follow the unicorns and encounter a Liopleurodon, a prehistoric creature. The unicorns ask it for the way, and it makes some kind of sound. The unicorns reveal it has told them the way to Candy Mountain. Anyone who can speak with animals may make a Knowledge (Nature) check to reveal the sound was more like a groan than speech. If anyone can speak to the Liopleurodon, he reveals only he hates those damn unicorns. In any case the unicorns beg the party to push on.

If the party turns back the townspeople attack them for being evil, because only evil beings would not offer to help a creature like a unicorn. They will continue to attack until the party is dead, or they relent and continue on helping the unicorns. (This encounter should be used at every encounter in case the party turns back. If any of the players complain they are being railroaded, kill their character and make sure nothing is left for resurrection).

The Bridge:
The unicorns lead the party across a rickety hanging footbridge, suspended high above a ravine. It will take five turns to cross. Each turn the wind gusts. Each character must make a Reflex save vs. a DC of 10 + d10. If they fail they fall off and die. The unicorns, being magical, do not need to make these rolls. Instead they keep insisting they move forward because they are near Candy Mountain.

Candy Mountain:
Amazingly, they make it. Candy Mountain is a very small mountain, about 10 feet high at its peak. It appears to be made of a pink canvas around some kind of frame. It is decorated with candy, and a sign saying “Candy Mountain” is over the entrance, a hole into darkness. The unicorns insists the character go in and get their candy treasure. If they are not sure the letters on the sign come alive, and sing a song about Candy Mountain:

Oh, when you're down and looking for some cheering up,
Then just head right on up to the candy mountain cave.
When you get inside you'll find yourself a cheery land,
Such a happy and joyful and perky merryland.
They've got lollypops and gummy drop and candy things,
Oh so many things that will brighten up your day.
It's impossible to wear a frown in Candy Town,
It's the mecca of love the candy cave.

They've got jelly beans, and coconuts with little hats,
Candy rats, choco bats, it's a wonderland of sweets.
Ride the candy train to town and hear the candy band,
Candy bells, it's a treat as they march across the land.
Cheery ribbons stream across the sky into the ground,
Turn around, it astounds, it's the dancing candy tree.
In the candy cave imagination runs so free,
So now, adventurers, please will you go into the cave.

After the song, each player makes a Will save vs. DC 30 (it was a damn good song). If they fail they walk into the opening. If they make it and refuse to go in, send in the townsfolk to kill them unless they relent.

Inside Candy Mountain:
The opening shuts. There is no light. Six Shades come out and subdue the group. Fudge the fight. They can't win. You are the DM. Have some guts.

Conclusion:
When they wake up Candy Mountain has disappeared. They are all in the road. Their backs hurt. A quick look reveals stitches on their backs. A Heal check (DC 15) reveals their kidneys are gone.

Thoughts?

1. Can you have more than one character?

2. I see a listing for an event near me, but all it says is, "I'm hoping to get a slot running on Monday night, February 9th,
which will be PSS-09, Eye of the Crocodile King ... Players
are welcome, if they have a Pathfinder Society number and a Pathfinder
Society character."

What about level information? What if everyone shows up with everyone the same class?

I guess my question is how to know what to bring or what is allowed when most ads for games are without much info?

Thank you.

I think the new Channel Energy needs a rewrite. Turn undead needed to be redone because it was a labor to deal with. But in the new rules, say six undead and four players are in the channel energy zone… it is a ton of rolls. First, each undead makes a save roll (six of them), then takes either full or half damage (six more rolls), and the four heroes each heal (another 4 rolls). That is 16 dice rolls, which I find excessive. (Though, it isn’t much different than the outcome of a Mass Harm spell, is it?).

This is a situation where I wish saves worked backwards, you roll to see the effectiveness of the power, then compare it to a set DC for each undead making the save, like an attack is a roll vs. the AC. It would be faster because you roll once then see who makes/fails the save. But you can’t change those rules.

I suggest one damage roll that applies to all creatures, either as damage or healing. As for the saving throw, don’t know.
BTW: As a GM who writes many of his own adventures, I find I stay away from undead as it has become kind of a cliché. Certainly, it is not scary anymore to encounter undead, especially since everyone knows what a skeleton, zombie, etc. have, ability and statwise after all these years. Instead, I prefer to come up with new threats with alien abilities, and kind of stay away from undead.

This leads me to the cleric’s Channel Energy/Turn Undead. Why even have this as a class feature. In my games it is mainly useless, except under rare circumstance. I’d replace with Detect Evil, Good, Law, Chaos (clerics choice at creation), much like Paladins have Detect Evil. Then I’d make Turn Undead (or channel energy) a Spell. Really, in most repects, it is a spell. Then you can simply prepare it more or less as you need it, and get rid of all those feats for gaining more turnings and so on.

There has been a lot of discussion on this board about why playing a low-level Wizard or Sorcerer is not fun, usually dealing with low hit points and easy death. My contention is that it is not fun because they expend themselves too fast in adventures then become a kind of liability.

I mean, Wizards and Sorcerers are tons of fun starting at about level 5 and up. Before that though, especially at levels 1-3, you blow all your cool spells in one or two encounters then its protection mode, where the rest of the team needs to protect him.

Other examples: having Mage Armor be 1 hour/level has never been cool, as it is too short to save a low level Wizard in a later battle. And Summon Monster, 1 round/level, is a joke at low levels. Casting these spells just depletes you way too fast. So in the end, after one good fight you are the gimp hiding at the back of the group.

when this happens, pretty much everyone else has a very active role in an adventure, and the low level spell caster's player gets bored, and heads for the kitchen looking for Mountain Dew. It is the main reason why I try not to be the spellcaster. Even a Cleric is more fun, as when the spells deplete he is still a good fighter.

Solutions? More castings at low level? More low level bonus castings based on ability? Maybe less spell slots, but they can be refreshed after a short rest (one hour?).

More castings at low level might be best, as it could even out as it goes up. I don’t think keeping the mathematical relationship as in the rules as written is important, as it breaks down at Wiz 19-20. In the end, low levels are more hardy but mid to higher levels are mostly the same. Here is an example of the altered Spells Per Day table:

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 4 3
2 4 4
3 4 4 1
4 4 4 2
5 4 4 2 1
6 4 4 3 2
7 4 4 3 2 1
8 4 4 3 3 2
9 4 4 4 3 2 1
10 4 4 4 3 3 2
11 4 4 4 4 3 2 1
12 4 4 4 4 3 3 2
13 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 1
14 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2
15 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 1
16 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2
17 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 1
18 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2
19 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3
20 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Don't get me wrong, I think Pathfinder has taken the right approach to making the two classes more livable. Having an at will attack like the Sorcerer I just made up, with an Elemental (Fire) Ray is far better than pulling out the sling I usually would be stuck with. (Of course, human Wizards and Sorcerers can adopt a Crossbow as his martial weapon and do like 1d10!) Also, the cantrips are reusable is good, as things like Daze and Flare can make a real difference to a low level fight; also the ability to at will Detect Magic takes away my contention that Wizards and Sorcerers should do that as a class ability, like a Paladin detects evil. I have used a d6 for Wiz and Sor for years now, and that is a good improvement.

One thing I would like is to have a rule that you do not have to prepare all your spell slots at one time, that you can leave some open then prepare for an hour later to fill some. This would allow a Wizard, Cleric, Druid, etc. to later in the day select spells beneficial to a situation they may have not been aware of, without having to rest overnight.

I mean, there are spells I never prepare unless I know I need it.

Another option would be to allow spell casters to to re-prepare prepared (but not expended) spell slots. It would not unbalance the game, as unlike Sorcerers who can do this on the fly, it would still waste an hour.

Husband and my wife looking for two openings for Pathfinder Society games. She likes to play only, but I can DM as well. I am in Garden Grove.

Write me at eric@ericphillips.info and let's play!

Well, I do agree the Skill system is improved over OGL 3.5. However, it breaks down at multiclassing. Jason Buhlman writes in the introduction, “too many of the basic classes lose their luster after just a few levels, leading most players to take a host of other classes or a number of prestige classes. … I wanted to give every class a reason to be followed up through 20th level.”

Here is where the design goal breaks: If you multiclass you get to add all the class skills of the new class to your list of “class skills” that gain +3. This would encourage me to multiclass.

I may want to be a fighter, but as a human character I can easily add a couple of levels of Rogue, get way improved perception, add on stealth, seach, disable device, and even if I end up as a Ftr 19/Rogue 1 I can have these skills equal to a Rogue 20. Not that a fighter has all that many points, but a high Perception Fighter, or a high Acrobatics fighter, is a real possibility.

I am loving me some Pathfinder so far. However, I have a different take on handling skillz, which I would like you to consider.

First, the way I buy skills is to see how many points I have, them put them into the class skills I think are the most useful, making sure as many as I can are at Level + 3. I then keep raising them by +1 per level. This ensures that my character is the best at the skills his class uses. Skills I am not good at are made up for by other characters who have maxed out his class skills. I don’t think I have ever had a player take a cross class skill. It’s like throwing away a point. That is fixed in Pathfinder, but looking at other games handling skills, I think it can be easier than Pathfinder’s solution.

Here is the system I have used in the past in my game.

1. Each character chooses a race. Each race has a list of 2 to 4 “Racial Skills.” The player chooses two of these skills at time of character creation. From now on they are considered “class skills” at all times, no matter if the class chosen lists it or not. These usually will be the races’ skill bonus, such as +2 to Stealth for Halflings instead becomes Racial Skill: Stealth.

2. At character level 1, a player chooses his first class. All of the Class Skills listed are given 4 ranks, as well as the two Racial Skills. All should now be Level + 3 ranks. Humans can choose ANY TWO SKILLS as racial skills.

3. At each additional level, all Class and Racial skills improve by 1 rank. In case of multiclassing, the +3 ranks are only given at Character Level 1, not Class Level 1. So if a person was a fighter 1 and takes a level of Rogue 1, all the rogue class skills get only 1 rank, not 4. This makes the first choice of multiclass that much more important!

What this accomplishes is:
* Each class is best at what he does.

* There is some customization of skills, so you can end up with a Fighter with good Perception without multiclassing. This can help to keep people in one class only, one of the goals of Pathfinder.

* A racial skill used as a class skill is way better than a racial bonus to a non-class skill. My 15th level Halfling Fighter could care less about having a Stealth of +4 (Dex mod +2, Skill bonus +2) vs. a 15th level rogue with a perception of +20, even before I take add my Armor Check penalty. However, it is not quite as good as having the bonus is to a class skill. Oh well, que sera, sera.

I do like the racial skill thing a lot, as it adds that level of making a character the way I want it to be without breaking a lot of the game. Even if you do not change the way skills are purchased, please consider adding racial skills anyway.

Thanks all!!!!