I just started my Pathfinder 2e Kingmaker, and I have started adding plant/fey based actions to key NPC's. Right now, certain people have the ability to extend a vine from their arm to grapple the heroes at range. Visually, these villains will have green veins under their skin running from their face to a single limb, and maybe a patch of leaves replacing an eye.
Imagery could be hinted at, if one is trying to be subtle. Have the PCs notice a woman plant a tree, and the DM could describe how that she would tend to the tree until it was big enough to chop down. A few sessions later, a man could be tending a orchard, plucking ripe fruit, stripping the meat of the fruit away, and planting a seed. A farmer is fattening a hog to either butcher or gift to some one who will. There could be a tendency for merchants to building up a business, then sell everything off to a few dozen people (chopping it up for parts).
For a much darker tone, have a slave owner carefully train his slaves in certain skills, and then sell them as trained craftsmen instead of brute labor. But this is more evil than I would want to see most kingdoms.
Other analogies could be done with farmers. A lost sheep or tool could have been given up on by the actual owner, until some one else finds it. One of the local judgements that rules have to deal with as kingdom leaders could be such. Record their decision, and have the idea come up again with the PC find the...magical sword thing.
I hope some of this rambling is helpful.
Ultimate Psionics is what Expanded Psionics Handbook wants to be when it grows up.
Expanded Psionics Handbook's parent says "why can't you be more like Ultimate Psionics?"
If Chuck Norris was a book, he would be Ultimate Psionics and Path of War.
On a serious note: Everything was seriously play-tested. All the flak from the previous attempts (dating way back to AD&D) required it.
The classes are fairly balanced, well thought out, and interesting.
There are 10 new/updated races (Blues, Dromites, Duergars, Elans, Forgeborn, Half-giants, Maenands, Norals, Ophinuans, and Xephs), who have been beautifully crafted.
And there is a lot of support, from magic items to GM advise, for psionics.
The art is good (varying from 'neat' to 'awesome').
Can someone explain what Arcanuum/Akashtic Mysteries are mechanically...?
Magic of Incarnum is a book detailing a new magic, called Incarnum, that allows practitioners to create soulmelds, and infuse them with Essentia.
Soulmelds, to me, as best described as summoned magic items. They take up magic item slots on the character, and grants bonus and/or powers to the character, just like magic items, but can be dismissed, and new ones formed in their place (or other places) like summoned creatures and items.
Essentia is energy used to power the souldmelds, the more you invested, the more powerful the soul meld became.
Akashtic Mysteries is what Dreamscarred Press is creating to upgrade that idea into Pathfinder.
In Akashtic Mysteries, "Akasha" replaces Incarnum, "Veils" replace Soulmelds, and "Essence" replaces Essentia.
Malwing wrote:
...and why they are awesome/why I would potentially want them in my games?
Dreamscarred Press made it. That's why its awesome.
Its also another source of power, similar to arcane magic, divine magic, martial maneuvers, and psionic power. Back in D&D 3.5, it tried hard to fit between mages and martials in power level. It was also unique, like the Book of Nine Swords. It gives your players more options.
For the most part, its a constant magic, providing bonuses (and penalties) not limited to "times per day", like spells and psionics do. Instead, you get what you get all day. And provided your hit points hold out, you can adventure much longer than any other magic user...almost as long as the Fighter, even.
...but, you will know it is awesome because it has the words "Dreamscarred Press" on the cover.
2: "Well, I can do some similar things with mundane means."
Teleport hundreds of miles in a instant
Mage: "Teleport."
Martial: "I can storm a boat, an intimidate them to sail me where I need to go, and then get a wagon train and intimidate them!"
Fly without equipment or animal
Mage: "Fly"
Martial: "There is a catapult right over there!"
Fly using animals or monsters
Mage: "Summon monster, charm monster and/or dominate monster."
Martial: "I can go to the local Animals-R-Us store and pick up a flying mount!"
Gather creatures allies (not using the Leadership feat)
Mage: "Summon monster, Planar ally, Gate, charm/dominate monster."
Martial: "(whistles) Here, beholderbeholderbeholder! Here boy!"
Ignite a platoon in an explosion of fire, ice, or electricity
Mage: "Fireball, cone of cold, lighting bolt."
Martial: "Hang on, loading this catapult with a flaming pitch shot..."
Breath water and swim like a fish
Mage: "Water Breathing, Touch of the Sea, ploymorph spells."
Martial: "I gotta take my armor off for this one..."
Do lots of damage at at range or melee
Martial: "Ha ha! I got this one!"
Mage: "Summon monster, Gate, Planar ally. Ray spells, touch spells...
Martial: "...shut-up."
Mage: "Seriously, we both can do all the same mundane things. We both can use magical items, we both can use our skills (admittedly, since my primary attributes for spell casting affect a greater number of out-of-combat skills than you), and we both use role-played scenes to our advantages. Comparing these seems rather...pointless.
You do martial things well. Very well. I do martial things poorly (unless I am a 3/4 base attack class, or cast the right spells). I do spellcasting very well. You do spellcasting...wait, do fighters, barbarians, and cavaliers get spells now?"
Thread lightly down this path. Discussions similar to this one produce D&D 4e...
I play warriors because its fun. I love fighter, barbarians, gunslingers, and the like because I love having my character smash things. Yes, I can smash things with a wizard, sorcerer, and a other spell casters. But I don't have as much fun doing so.
Arachnofiend, narrative powers for martails is very hard to accomplish. I made a psychic warrior/aegis (from the Ultimate Psionics by Dreamscarred Press) and had a very minor ability to repair items 1 hit point a round, all day long. This became cool when we found a ship that was "too torn up to be worth sailing". Less than a day later, between me and the mage casting Mend, we had a brand new ship. And that was the last time my warrior had narrative powers.
When that character died (stupid dinosaurs), I made a druid. I was the party's transporter, help reinforce a town in ways the GM didn't expect (stone shape spikes under water, etc.), could heal, gain allies, and did wonders in combat. So, yeah. I feel your pain.
Dazz wrote:
Big tough barbarian chopping your party in half with his greatsword? Disarm him, now he's down to punching people for 1d3.
One of the party's warriors got hit by a fear spell, dropped that sheet of metal he called a sword, and ran away. Upon recovering, he moved back to the party when a handful of ghouls were summoned between him and the party. On his action, he drew a craftsmen hammer out of his bag, and kill all of them with a single cleave action.
Back in 3.5, I played a Feral Frenzied Berserker with the typical two handed sword. With a feat and magic set of gloves, I was just as dangerous unarmed (claws) as I was armed.
I'm not disagreeing with you. I just saw a moment to spout off a pair of awesome stories I saw when some one was disarmed.
So, to the OP, there are a few games where everyone is playing a caster, but invariably, there is going to be someone (usually me) who say "I like to hit things with my stick!" at character generation. That's why people play martial character in a game where casters are more powerful.
I am thinking of doing a practice scenario, of sorts. Something to mess around with so I can get specific advice on what to include and what to leave out. So, I'm going to detail out three political groups and try to set up some interesting interactions.
In Capital City, the seat of power for Kingdom, there are many noble houses and several powerful merchant guilds. The governing body is a council made up of the eight most powerful families (called "The Eight"). Right now, the Eight are separated into three camps, each headed by one of the three most powerful of the Eight, with all the other houses falling in under on of the three.
The First House is the oldest, with its influence coming from more from its history than its current tangible clot. Its holds strongly to the Capitals military and city watch, though those forces have strength in numbers only. They have strong ties to the various churches, especially the older, more stagnant religious leadership. They have many spies and eyes-and-ears through the Nation. Ancient treaties and 'understandings' with many of the lesser houses (including many no in the Eight) make up the bulk of its political strength. The lands controlled by the First used to be wealth and fertile, but more and more mines are going empty, its fields are suffering from over farming, and its population is declining.
The First want to the keep status quo the status quo, while getting more power/stronger/richer.
The Middle House has strong connections with the merchant guilds, and wield considerable economic might. Almost all of its wealth is liquid, tied up in trade, and they lack any sort of base resources (the deal with skilled labor, 'processed goods' and such, not the raw materials). They have few military assets, depending on mercenaries for any direct action. Their information network is mostly other merchants and bribes, with have proven great with economic intel, but lacking everything else. They are making strong inroads into the churches, with hefty donations, but only with the younger clergy, and run into stone walls with attempting to buy influence the older heads of the churches. Middle has little actual land, and thus few fixed resources, but has a swelling population of the youth.
The Middle want to complete control over the Eight, and the population, and want to remove the 'old and withered' First. And more wealth.
The Last House is a newcomer, relying not one ancient ties or even money, but with guile and magic. Their military forces are split between two small groups; the criminal element and the mages. They were the first house to actually control the various underground guilds, and have bought heavily into the Nation's magical strength, granting them substantial influence on all parts of the Nation. Their lands are moderate in size, and modest in wealth, but the magical aid they use makes them very profitable. As a new and not rich house, they lack the connections of the First and the bribes of the Middle, but they use their 'new age' tools well, using both sides of their power coin for spying, blackmail, force, and negotiation.
The Last, secretly controlled by demons, want to tear out the Eight, and plunge the Nation into anarchy.
If your PCs have saved the kingdom a few times, routed the approaching army, and looted the lost tomb and returned with riches, guess what? Most people will have heard of them. People will tell stories about them.
This can also lead to people pretending to be them. Good people, bad people, and so on. Lots of examples of this in film/comic/TV history, but the one that comes to mind is the movie Kick-A%%.
Organizations and orders can form based off the heroes. "The Order of the Red Dragon", for example, could draw inspiration from the dragon disciple PC. Which would be cool for the heroes, until one o two of these organizations start going down the wrong path, or applying their dirty tricks on a large scale. Things get even worse when the local population thinks that the PC's approve of the bloody tactics.
Countries could claim them. Some would call it "sponsoring", if them were adding gold to player coffers, but a cheaper method would to hire town criers, heralds, and bards to spread the word about the King's "newest band of heroes". Every wrong they right then get attributed to the king.
Minor Metamorphosis (or any other level of the power) allows me to "gain a natural slam/claw/bite (pick one) attack that deals 1d8 damage if Medium (1d10 if Large)."
Would that allow me to grow a tail to slap people with? And, if so, what would a combination of the tail attack combine with Claws of the Beast and Bite of the Wolf? Assuming I have, say, +5 BAB and a +6 strength.
If you feel the need to cheat at a roleplaying game...you have a serious problems.
On that note, I had a game where people were cheating like so. During a break a conversation came up about people cheating in sports. This lead to cheating during RPG's, and I voiced the above opinion. By the end of the night, almost all of the cheating had stopped.
I see fumbles as the thematic opposite to critical successes. Having one without the other states you can do great things, but not poor things. If its about being heroic...well, the heroes are already well above mundane at level one. But level 5, they are easily each worth a squad of lesser people. How much more heroic do you need?
Oh. Mythic. Right.
I use a "confirm roll" with Critical Fumbles, to represent the more experienced a character is, the less likely random bad things happen. If you roll a natural 1, roll again to beat DC 10 (or the original target number). If you succeed in the second roll, its a normal failure. Fail the second roll, and something bad happens.
The key is to make it so the character didn't do something bone headed, but that the he got unlucky. Don't have him hit himself, have his foot get stuck in a crack in the floor, a chandelier (knocked loose by a stray arrow) crashes down on him, or something like that. Leaving the bonehead actions to the player to choose.
DM characters are a warning sign. DM characters that dominate a scene is a break point. DM characters that take the spotlight away from the PC's (the actual heroes of this tale), are "stand up and walk away" points.
Another warning sign: Direct Divine Presence. Anytime a god comes down directly to speak to a character, instead of staying locked in the eternal struggle (good vs. evil, chaos vs. order, light vs. dark, taste great vs. less filling) annoys me. Anytime a hero can talk back to his deity, and the deity doesn't re-write reality minus one smart mouth annoys me greatly. Anyone responsible for rearranging the mountains, land masses and oceans shouldn't have to resort to attack rolls to get his point across. Or even have to get his point across.
Congratulations, you win the 'Hyperbolic non-argument of the day' award. That's such a ludicrous pile of gorgon droppings I can't even formulate a response. That's pure Insane Troll Logic.
Since the beginning of this thread, you have stated your opinion as unassailable fact, with very little to actually back it up, in ways meant to annoy those who disagree. And then you say I'm using "Insane Troll Logic".
However, you did start by saying "talk it over with your GM", and I agree with that. Its the cornerstone of what a GM does.
MrSin wrote:
I think its important that your mechanics fit your character, and I feel sometimes that your alignment restrictions can interfere with a character concept.
I can agree with you there. But for the most part, when I see some one who wishes to ignore a class restriction- be it alignment, feat, BAB, or what-have-you, its usually because that player wishes to have it all, right now, or setting up something sneaky in a level or two
For the record, I hate sneaky players. Intelligent players I love and reward (if you out smart me or do something I didn't think of you get bonus experience and a hero point). Sneaky characters I love. Sneaky players who try to twisted the game into their personal god-complex, I loathe.
MrSin wrote:
I don't think removing alignment restrictions turns players into sociopaths or encourages playing counter to the role either.
"...encourages playing counter to the role..." was my point, though it seems I inadvertently accused those supporting removing alignments of playing monsters.
Exceptions exist. That is the premise of player characters, after all. They are exceptional people who don't fall in line with the rest of the game world. If they did, they would be playing commoners. But it is hard to break from the mold if no mold exists. A paladin/barbarian isn't (as) special if everyone can be that.
This is a fantasy game, and includes absolute stances, in so far as good vs. evil, law vs. chaos. Its part of the game, different from hit points and levels, but still part of the game. Could alignment be removed and still be as fun? I think it can.
But I'm not about to say its unreasonable not to remove them. D&D was fun back in the red book days, and has only gotten better. Pathfinder is, so far, the absolute best version of it. Every edition has been fun, and every edition has had alignment. THac0 went away, as did save vs. death and demi-humans being a class, but alignment stayed. No, not everything old should be kept just because "we always did it that way", but if its made it 30 years, maybe a little extra thought should be put into why its still around before removing it.
Alignment restricts do have a mechanical effect. Like, can't be a raging, smiting paladin (barbarian/paladin). Or a barbarian martial artist (barbarian/monk). Or an anti-paladin who likes puppies and hands out healing to orphans and nuns.
Also, spells. Some one comes up to you, whipping a sai around and doing kicks? Protection from Law will help. His buddy frothing at the mouth? Nail 'em with dictum.
Yes, there are ways to get what you are looking for (smite is in a cleric domain among others, and rage has many sources). And going straight by description (frothing mouth, armored warrior with a holy symbol) will not always work. But just like you target the slender, dark clothed guy slipping into and out of the battlefield with a Fortitude save inducing spell (and not a reflex based one), chances are good that you picked the right one.
Removing alignment restrictions- really, the talk is about removing alignment, period- will allow, perhaps encourage, lawful good assassins, good dread necromancers, and anti-paladins of honor and justice. Pull out the Book of Vile Darkness, because casting those spells are no longer bad. That dark creature sacrificing babies to its tentacle god? He's got the saint template from the Book of Exalted Deeds.
Maybe its because I am of a different school of thought. I always figured that when you created your character, you came up with his personality first, and then choose the alignment that was the closest. And then, you figured out how to make the rules match your character. No, you don't get everything you want by third level- somethings you have to earn. A raging, smiting paladin isn't a first level character, just starting his career bringing the holy wrath to wicked. He has to wait until at least second level, when he picks up a level in cleric with the destruction domain.
Personally, I am with all those GM's out there who read this and went "Oh, that is such an awesome way for the party to screw themselves over! I will put that in my campaign!"
...and this is just the money:
Seriously, the number of ways your GM can make that mountain of gold become your worst nightmare is staggering. Without bringing in how you got it, that amount of money hitting the market would upset the economy of at least a single country, starting a downward spiral that would take another campaign to fix. If anyone heard that you, a repetitively unknown few, had 7 tons of gold (700,000 times .02 pounds), everyone and their sister would be after you. People who are just greedy, people who want to fund a revolution, who want to fund a war, who want to start their own country, who want to buy their daughter's freedom, and so on.
Where did the money come from? Say the dragon had been, primarily, been raiding the East Montgomery Mountains for the last 10 centuries, and the heroes live in Kilgor city-states, west of the Montgomery mountains. A dragon hoard might be enough to prompt an invasion, or at least some really tense negotiations. Meanwhile, the local dwarf community has dispatched its on envoy, with racks of proof, that this gold rightfully belongs to them. The elves don't want the gold; they want that stuff off their lands, and very far away. The local orc tribes, however, are offering some pretty reasonable terms to guard the gold, and the 'heroes' who collected it.
Speaking of matters of the state...the local baron, his duke, and the king would all like their appropriate portion of taxes and tithes on that chunk of change. Don't tell me you're going to short change your king; after all, you killed/looted the dragon on his land, after all. Rightfully, it all belongs to him; the dragon just stole it.
Oh, what about the people the gold came from? This stuff was stolen, raided, and killed for. I'm sure several local churches would let you know exactly how you are to distribute all that scratch to the widows, descendants, friends, and family to those who suffered it loss. While you're at it, how you donate to the local clergy? It never hurts to be on a god's good side, right?
Never-mind what the loss of the dragon will do to they local monster population.
Just touching on the local environment:
That white dragon? He was keeping the trolls to a manageable level; get you're fire brand ready because its about to get nasty. Oh yeah, the local hobgoblins, who wouldn't raid south because some dragon called that area its own. But now that its gone, Its time to move to all those softies that haven't seen what organized goblins can do.
The gnolls between home and the hobgoblins can see the writing written in the war drums and they are moving to somewhere more defensive. That human held castle looks great.
Momma dragon (or daddy, depending on the dying dragon's gender) might show up...well, you can see where that is going. Let's just hope its not an extended family.
Also be concerned if the dragon's turf bordered on another dragon's hunting grounds. If it did, be really concerned when that dragon extends its land to absorb its neighbors. If the white dragon's claimed territory was in the center of a cluster of dragon territory (considering the sized of the area they can claim, this is easily possible) be very, very concerned. If you think a gang war over a few city blocks can get nasty, imagine the damage a dozen dragons can do as they claw it out. And maybe the winner gets the dead/dying dragon's hoard...
As far as what yawl should do? My last few characters would heal the dragon enough that it would survive, leave the wyrmling, and take what gold they had. And hope for the best.
As a real person, however, I highly suggest killing the beast, and the wrymling, and then leaving as fast as your little, tasty legs can carry you.
The statue of Karzzoug in the Runeforge has far too few HP to be a serious threat. 209 HP against 15th-level adventurers, at least one of whom has a weapon that bypasses DR? He *would* have been a serious threat to the players, if he'd lasted more than two rounds.
Another idea is to replace it with a pair of beefed up stone golems of about CR 14 each (its still a CR 16 encounter). Using the Advanced Template twice and the Giant Template once would do it, but its hit points would still be fat below your suggested 400.
I think I did this right:
Golem, Stone Advanced x2 Giant Stone Golem CR 14 XP 38,400
N Huge construct
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +4
Defense AC 35, touch 10, flat-footed 33 (+2 Dex, +25 natural, –2 size)
hp 117 (14d10+40)
Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +8
DR 10/adamantine; Immune construct traits, magic
Offense Speed 20 ft.
Melee 2 slams +27 (4d8+15)
Melee, Power Attack 2 slams +23 (4d8+23)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks slow
Statistics Str 40 (+15), Dex 15 (+2), Con —, Int —, Wis 19 (+4), Cha 9 (-1)
Base Atk +14; CMB +31; CMD 43
Feats Power Attack
Ecology Environment any
Organization solitary or gang (2–4)
Treasure none
Special Abilities Immunity to Magic (Ex) A stone golem is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against the creature, as noted below.
• A transmute rock to mud spell slows a stone golem (as the slow spell) for 2d6 rounds, with no saving throw, while transmute mud to rock heals all of its lost hit points.
• A stone to flesh spell does not actually change the golem’s structure but negates its damage reduction and immunity to magic for 1 full round.
Slow (Su) A stone golem can use a slow effect, as the spell, as a free action once every 2 rounds. The effect has a range of 10 feet in a burst centered on the golem and a duration of 7 rounds, requiring a DC 17 Will save to negate. The save DC is Constitution-based.
The whole action economy issue would be handled by having two of them, they can flank with each other, and threaten more than person. Another idea if for their builders to outfit them as an NPC of their CR would have, with weapons and armor (a statue with armor built right on them would look kinda cool) instead of relying on their slams and natural armor. The golem is already a "variant", so adding armor and weapon proficiency should be too far out there.
Forthe wizard, I would have the party hear folks start to whisper to each other, where the wizard can't hear.
"If he can enslave a giant, what is to keep him from enslaving us?"
"He won't enslave simple townfolk...but the Sheriff, maybe. Or the mayor."
"Do...do you think that maybe he already did? I mean, they just came out of nowhere, and now they got the run of the town, and no one can stand against them. Maybe they showed up on night, enslaved the mayor, and now..."
And/or you can have a gruff old man look at the wizard and sneer. "Another tyrant in the making. How long are ya gonna keep the pretense up 'fore you'll be wanting us to be bowing and scrapping at yer boots?"
A room where the gravity pulls from the walls instead of the floor.
A room of animated chains. With hooks.
A flooded room with an air pocket on top, with the skeletons of some poor souls chained to the floor. When the heroes swim down to investigate the shiny reflections near the skeletons, they discover the skeletons are undead, and the undead try to grapple the swimmers.
A room of giant gears that must be "ridden" in the proper sequence to make it to the other side without being crushed.
A giant room of balconies, with two colored doors per balcony. Going in one door leads to another balcony with a different colored door. Go in the right sequence, and you move on. Go in the wrong sequence, and you might end up leaving out those two doors over there. Ya know, they one without the balcony?
A series of rooms that connect to form a small town. Which would just be interesting if the two thieves guilds in the town were not warring right at that moment.
The typical room of mirrors. Or a maze of mirrors.
The Room of You: A room where, at the same time you enter, twelve other versions of you- from parallel universes- enter from different doors. Some look glad to see you, others not. They all know you. It gets disturbing when one walks in as a mindless zombie, and later, another simply falls through the door as a smoking corpse.
More on the Room of You: Instead of other universes, the other people you meet might be the you of the past and future. None will talk about themselves (sorry, no hints to the future), not why you can't remember these talks. One will be you as a child, another you as a teenager, then yourself, an older you, and so on, until to reach the great old grandfatherly you. But when when younger and older versions of you start to turn up dead, things get creepy...
A room without sound, but any action to cause noise instead causes the word for that sound to appear on the wall.
A room with a glass box floating in the center. Inside the glass box is a 3-D maze where you have to navigate the ball into a cup. Only when you try to turn the box, the whole room rotates (gravity's relationship to what was the floor was a fleeting one).
A room where the heroes can watch a illusionary fight scene, and even bet on the winners. Most of the battles are between strange alien creatures. Then, one day, they see the fight they just had play out on the illusions.
How do you play an arrogant character who can be Lawful Good, and who has likable qualities instead of repulsing people immediately.
Dr Sheldon Cooper off "The Big Bang Theory"
Except he comes off more as a pompous so-and-so, and kinda defines arrogant.
Arrogant is a negative personality trait. It is pride taken too far. Yes, there are some people who are arrogant who are also likable, but it is not generally the trait people like. Playing arrogant with a lower than average charisma score is...well...it strikes me as playing exactly the kind of character you are trying not to.
On the other hand, a friend of mine started playing an orc for the first time, and had a terrible charisma. Instead of playing the shy type (another trait you are trying to avoid) he went a different route. Below area few of him more memorable quotes:
"Greetings! It pleases me to see you have not contracted any pus dripping diseases!"
"This is your wife? You have excellent taste in brood stock; she will bear many fine children before you have to replace her with a younger one."
"I will not hold your small stature and obvious feminine stature against you. Your parents are the ones who should have killed you at birth, and their sins should not be held- oh, you are a woman. In that case your face must be a great aid when frightening ogres."
....wonder why anyone would ever play a straight wizard up wizard. The only thing he is really missing out on is the 5th-level bonus feat and perhaps some familiar abilities.
If I am understanding this correctly, Marilyn the Mage, a 5th level wizard/third level fighter could take this...collage education, and and still have the spells and caster level as an 8th level wizard. She would still lose out on the Arcane School benefits and the Arcane Bond bonuses (along with any other class abilities specific to the class).
The net gain (8th level wizard vs. fighter 3rd/wizard 5th), an average of +6 hit points (average for a wizard would be 10.5 hp plus constitution, and 16.5 hp for fighter), full weapon and armor proficiency, +2 BAB, +2 Fortitude save, plus 2 fighter feats, bravery +1, and Armor training (not as cool with arcane spell failure, but still nice), and a loss of -1 Will save and lost of the 8th level arcane school ability.
Its...well, nice. The bonus of armor, weapons, and combat feats are limited because of Marilyn is a wizard, the boost to Fortitude is cool, and any BAB is good. For this little example, I would say its real nice- better than any single feat I know of, but not world shattering. It is certainty better than a straight wizard.
But this example is looking at it through a straw. Gish builds would get a very nice bonus, as would your Mystic Theuge. I would call it a more than a band-aid, but not ohmygodoverpoweredgetthebanhammer. Especially considering it is going to take a lot of effort if the guilds are not directly tied to the campaign arc. Meaning, if the campaign is focused on just doing missions for the guild, this would be easy to get. But if the the characters just happen to be nearby the guild, while doing other missions/quests, and have to squeeze in this training in between grave robbing and monster slaughtering, then its as bad.
Does my understanding match what everyone else gets?
I got curious and put together a bowl that turned a normal pint of water into a holy water. While the construction rules deemed it should cost 9,000 gp (2,000 for a continous item of 1st level spell & caster, 2,500 in material components, doubled for being not having a body slot), I made the thing be a metal bowl set into a 60 pound rock pedestal, and kept the price at 4,500 (construction cost is 3,500 gp). Also, it wasn't instantaneous; per the spell is takes minute to create a single 'dose'.
It's well over the limit on this thread, but I thought it would be a worthwhile investment for a church seeking to aid in undead hunting. And, if the church sold holy water at the base in the book, it would only take 140 to pay for the bowl.
And just like that, barrels of holy water as catapult ammunition become viable.
Well, this screams monk, for having no equipment. I like the Qinggong monk from the Ultimate Magic book for its magic abilities, but almost every type is useful.
Druid, especially Urban Druid archetype (you swap out a pet for a domain you spontaneously cast from). They make excellent spies, being able to wildshape into common animals (who really pays attention to the stray cats, stray dogs, and horses in the stable?). Of special note, you have no divine casters in the group, so some one who can heal would be prized.
Ranger, again with the Urban archetype, is good. Sneaking two small weapons (two-weapon fighting) into a place sure beats trying to haul a 6 foot hunk of steel.
Any spell caster you can find with Stealth as a class skill is a viable option. Low-level magic with the proper imagination can out preform an assassin's dagger.
With the group composition, it appears that you have front line fighting covered (inquisitor, ranger), as well as skills (ranger, rogue, ninja) and arcane magic (sorcerer). I belive their are cleric would have access to stealth as part of their domain, and clerics have great spell casting.
Had a rogue in the game buy good locks. Then in went to three (currently) empty houses/apartment style buildings, picked the locks, and replaced them with his own. He then proceeded to sell the houses far below market value, stating he was leaving town that day, and needed the funds to pay for his voyage (strangely, all true). He even opened up the house and let the prospective client wander around inside to get a good feel of the house.
He proceeded to sell four houses that day, on average three times each. Coin up front.
You could play up the feeling of the dungeon. Every chance you get, remind the heroes that they are going through an ancient, underground passages and monster filled rooms.
"Okay, this room is clear. Which direction are you going? North? Okay, who is leading? Alright, Zoth, the tunnel to the north is built of thick stone blocks, with dust trickling out of the cracks, half of which is caught in the spider webs that cling to the ceilings. Your footsteps seem to bring more dust from the roof."
"The door is old and warped, but the lock seems to have aged well. You're going to pick it? Okay. Roll it. A 32? Good. Good. Now, which hand to you open the door with?"
"The room is clear. The bodies of the orcs are collecting between the segmented floor, and the stink of the their blood is mixing with the old air, making you feel a little light headed."
Basically, have fun describing the dungeon, and creeping the players out.
I got one of these in my Kingmaker campaign. I used the "normal" changeling from Eberron, and didn't base the ability off alter self (no bonus ability stats, no vision changes, no natural weapons, etc). The only effect the shape change power had was the huge bonus to disguise (which, the way the player roleplays, requires little to no rolling, anyhow).
Yes, as Achilles pointed out, the character can get away with murder- literally- along with a host of other crimes. But so can any other character, at various levels and with various equipment (such as the hat of disguise). And since this is hardly a unique creature in the setting, people know they exist, and a few simple spells can reveal the culprit of most crimes.
If the local church is handing out healing spells like candy, the local sheriff can have a cleric or wizard on call.
And yes, my changeling player has an awesome storyline as well.
Just to be clear, the magic items that appear in the city are created, found, inherited, or obtained by various citizens of the city. The ruler's economy check represents the a buyer being found for that item, though advertising, word of mouth, auctioning it off, getting investors, etc.
The Build Points earned by the kingdom isn't the object's worth being shipped to the castle's treasury. It is the object's owner- Phil- finding a wealthy buyer, and selling it. Phil then takes his new funds and buys a new house from George. Phil hires Debby to do some extra construction and repairs on the house, buys some rich wine from Pete, then invites all his friends to come over for a house warming party. Betty, Susan, and Mike all show up at the party and, after several bottles of wine, talk Phil into giving them some money to back their new mill.
George, Debby, and Pete all take this extra income and buy their family gifts, have their roofs repaired, or (in Pete's case) use it as an excuse to file for divorce.
Betty and Sue buy their mill, and Mike uses his little chunk of change for a week long tour or the brothels.
And so on. Until, bit by bit, through taxes, donations, or simple commerce, the Kingdom benefits from it, and Build Points are collected.
My crew did things...a little differently. We had a full 4th level human crew. One rogue, a "kitchen-sink" fighter ("I feel like using a glaive this fight...or should I use the sword? A flail?), an NPC healer (from the D&D Miniatures book), a two-weapon fighter, an NPC expert/monk and really angry horse.
Spoiler:
The rogue slipped up the walls- somehow getting through the zombies without a scratch- a stealth'ed up the walls. This alerted a guard, who was then bluffed into helping the rogue the rest of the way up (the rogue was wearing Happ's cloak). This one was sapped, and tossed over the wall to feed the zombies. A second guard got approached, and after some clever roleplay, was also sapped, tied up, and stashed. The guard over the Stag Lord's quarters was bypassed, and the third bandit was bludgeoned into unconsciousness.
The rogue sprinted to the last guard- the one over the Stag Lord's quarters- but that's when the rogue rolled a 1. Now, I do fumbles a little different; if you roll a one, you 'confirm' it by not rolling over 10. Well, he got a 2, and plunged through the floor boards, and into the owlbear pen.
The rogue was not happy.
Initiative came, the rogue won, and rolled a 20 (I allow critical successes in skills, too) and left the pen the same way he got in. The noise woke the Stag Lord, and all the bandits rushed the cage. The poor sap who was over the Stag Lord's pen went to investigate, and was promptly grabbed, clawed, and shredded by the owl bear. The rogue added insult to injury by tossing alchemist fire onto the owlbear's head.
The Stag Lord ordered the bandits to put the fire out, and the bandits rushed to the buckets by the walls (by this time, the rest of the heroes have heard the noise and were rushing to gate). The rogue also grabbed a bucket and came to "help".
A quick bluff check allowed the rogue to open the owlbear cage up, and a heavy warhorse kicked the gate down. In the mass melee that followed, the Stag Lord dropped the healer (which happens a lot) and the monk, but was bull-rushed off his perch by the rogue. The fighters doubled teamed him, preventing him from getting any more sneak attack, and he went down grasping for a healing potion.
In the end, the owlbear killed more bandits then any member of the party.
Three months later, they came back for the Stag Lord body, and drug it to the river.
