Rombard

Gavin Steadyhooves's page

1 post. Alias of VikingIrishman.




The town of Longacre sits just outside the fringes of the Whisperwood. A few lights shine in the streets and windows, and the occasional snippet of conversation or laughter issues from open doors, but here on the outskirts of town, the night is quiet and dark. Sparse clouds scud across the sky, momentarily obscuring the dim light from the moon overhead. Across a scrubby field, barely distinguishable under the starry sky, a darkened, fortlike compound hunches in the distance.


Everybody dot in.

CHARACTER CREATION

Starfinder is awesome and I'm infatuated currently, so we're going to be using the stat generation and increase rules from there, modified for the system, of course.

BUYING ABILITY SCORES:
Step 1: Start with a score of 10 in each ability.

Step 2: Add and subtract points for race.

Step 3: Spend 10 points customizing your scores. You apply these to your existing ability scores on a 1-for-1 basis—if you have a Dexterity score of 12 and you add a point from your pool, you now have a Dexterity score of 13. You can divide these points up however you want, but you can’t make any individual score higher than 18.

LEVELING UP AND ABILITY SCORES:
Every 5 levels (at 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th levels), you get to increase and customize your ability scores. Each time you reach one of these level thresholds, choose four of your ability scores to increase. If that ability score is 17 or higher (excluding any ability increases from personal equipment, inherent bonuses, and the like), it increases permanently by 1. If it’s 16 or lower, it increases permanently by 2. You can’t apply more than one of these increases to the same ability score at a given level, but unlike at 1st level, these increases can make your ability scores go higher than 18.

For example, let’s say you’re leveling up your character with the following scores:
STR 10, DEX 16, CON 10, INT 18, WIS 11, CHA 10

You might decide to increase your Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, and Wisdom. Because your Intelligence is 17 or higher, it would increase by 1 to a score of 19. The other three scores would increase by 2, giving you these final scores:
STR 10, DEX 18, CON 12, INT 19, WIS 13, CHA 10

The next time you can increase your ability scores, you could decide to increase those same abilities again, or you could pick a different subset.

SKILLS:
I have a standing house rule that any class that gets 2 + Int mod skill points per level and isn't an Int-based class gets 4 + Int mod instead. Conversely (and much less common), any class that gets more than 2 + Int mod and is an Int based class gets 2 + Int mod instead. Typically, this only affects Alchemists and a small handful of archetypes that fiddle with main casting stats like the variant bloodlines for Sorcerer.

Additionally, I use the Background Skills optional rules.

STARTING EQUIPMENT:
At level 1, you'll start with Basic NPC Wealth By Level, which is 260g, and the usual free outfit less than 10g. Additionally, you get a single mundane non-masterwork item from the Adventuring Gear category worth no more than 50g. It has sentimental value to your character. Figure out why.

MISCELLANEOUS:
I know that I'm going to have forgotten something, but as far as other rules I typically use...

Max HP at first level, average (round up) thereafter
2 traits, 1 drawback (for a total of 3 traits, 1 drawback). The drawback is optional, but I'd prefer you to take one
I prefer the Unchained classes to their standard versions, but if you're dead-set on one of the standard ones we can figure something out
Any Paizo published race/class/archetype/etc is allowed
Third party stuff is subject to my approval


For dotting.


For dotting.

Liberty's Edge

So, I'm working on a handful of traits to represent loss for a campaign I'm working on. The campaign centers on an organization that helps people. Similar to an Adventurer's Guild, but with a more noble aim? At any rate, in order to join the Brotherhood, you must pass a one question interview. Here's what I have written:

"You may know why we call ourselves the Crimson Brotherhood? It is because every one of us had bled. Every one of us has lost something that cannot be replaced. We all understand what loss feels like and we all have a desire to help others who may not be as well equipped to deal with loss as we are. That desire to help others is key. At this point, there is no war to fight. No figurehead to unite against. Our foe is the world we live in. Misery and despair surround us on all fronts, but we must attempt to beat it back, not only for the sake of those incapable of fighting for themselves, but for the sake of our own souls. So tell me, if you still truly wish to join the Brotherhood, what is it that you have lost? What is it that drives your desire to help others?"

So far, the answers I've gotten for loss have been fairly generic. A mother, a brother, a father, and a dog. I feel like these could all be summed up as a single "Lost a Loved One" trait.

What I am at a loss for, amusingly, is a good cross-section of losses to build traits off of. Realistically, I only need about half a dozen or so. Any ideas?

Liberty's Edge

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One of my players is looking for more solid Final Fantasy style Red Mage vibe than the Magus currently provides. I did a quick pass to get an archetype in the right area. What I'm looking for are thoughts, questions, and concerns from those of you more well-versed in the awkward intricacies of Pathfinder.

RED MAGUS:
Red magi have the following class features.

Spell Casting

A red magus casts arcane spells drawn from the magus spell list. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, a red magus must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell's level. The DC for a saving throw against a red magus's spell is 10 + the spell's level + the red magus's Charisma modifier. A red magus can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is the same as a bard of the same level. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Charisma score.

A red magus's selection of spells is limited. He has the same number of spells known as a bard of the same level, and can choose new spells to replace old ones at 5th level and every 3 class levels after that, just as a bard does. See the bard for more information on swapping spells known.

This ability replaces the magus's spells class feature.

Black and White (Ex)

In addition to the spells gained by red magi as they gain levels, each red magus also adds bleed, stabilize, all of the cure spells, and all of the inflict spells to his list of spells known (cure spells include all spells with “cure” in the name, inflict spells include all spells with “inflict” in the name). These spells are added as soon as the red magus is capable of casting them.

This ability replaces greater spell access.

Chainspell (Su)

At 4th level, the red magus learns to use his arcane pool to cast two spells in quick succession. With a full-round action he can cast two spells by expending a number of points from his arcane pool equal to the highest spell level of the two spells being cast (minimum 1) and expending both spell slots as normal.

This ability replaces spell recall.

Evasion (Ex)

At 7th level, the red magus gains evasion, as the rogue class feature.

This ability replaces medium armor proficiency.

Improved Chainspell (Su)

At 11th level, the red magus’s ability to cast multiple spells using his arcane pool becomes more efficient. Whenever he casts two spells with chainspell, he expends a number of points from his arcane pool equal to 1/2 the highest spell level of the two spells being cast (minimum 1) and expending both spell slots as normal.

This ability replaces improved spell recall.

Improved Evasion (Ex)

At 13th level, the red magus gains improved evasion, as the advanced rogue talent of the same name.

This ability replaces heavy armor proficiency.

Liberty's Edge

There are a lot of real world analogs for places in Golarion. Minkai is Japan, Ustalav is Romania, the Mwangi Expanse is the Congo, etc.

I've looked around a bit and I wasn't able to find an Australia analog. Sargava has a lot in common with Australia, historically speaking. Alkenstar has a lot in common with Australia, geographically speaking. Am I missing it, or does it not exist?

Liberty's Edge

1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

How exactly does Butterfly' Sting interact with the various Strike feats (Bull Rush Strike, Disarming Strike, Repositioning Strike, Sundering Strike, or Tripping Strike)?

The feats clearly state "If your confirmation roll exceeds your opponent’s CMD, [effect]", but in this case, there was no confirmation roll on the attack that triggers the feat. Do you simply use the attack roll? Do you use the confirmation roll of person who passed the crit with Butterfly's Sting? Something else even less intuitive?

Liberty's Edge

Maybe my search-fu is off today, as I just can't find anything on this, but has anyone done any work toward a Bard archetype that cuts the spells and replaces them with something comparable?

Liberty's Edge

I tried searching the forums for this, but I couldn't find it.

Do the Rogue talents Minor/Major Magic allow the Rogue to qualify as having a caster level for the purposes of qualifying for Magic Item Creation feats?

My other GM buddies and I are at an impasse regarding the ruling on this.

Liberty's Edge

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Have you ever been statting up a character and thought to yourself "What weapon could possibly dish out the most damage?"

Well, I mathed (a lot) and came up with a weapon categorization system.

HERE are the results.

Let me know what you think.

Liberty's Edge

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There was a strange lack of Witch guides here on the boards, so I took it upon myself to write my own.

Keep in mind this is my first guide, so any feedback here would be greatly appreciated. Also, I will eventually add pictures and do the Spells/Builds section, but right now my brain is mush.

THE VIKING IRISHMAN'S WITCH GUIDE

Liberty's Edge

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Just a couple short archetypes that I've had brewing in my head for awhile. Finally decided to get them down in words and see how well balanced they are.

As always, any help is greatly appreciated.

Holy Templar
Some paladins put more stock in their combat abilty than in their ability to manipulate positive energy and heal harmful conditions. The maxim that a dead enemy cannot hurt you is bread and butter for holy templars.

Bonus Feat
At 3rd level, and every 3 levels thereafter, a holy templar gains a bonus feat in addition to those gained from normal advancement. These bonus feats must be selected from those listed as Combat Feats, or any feat that has smite evil or lay on hands as a prerequisite.

This ability replaces mercy.

Fighter Training (Ex)
At 4th level, a holy templar counts his paladin level as his fighter level -3 for the purpose of qualifying for feats (if he has levels in fighter, these levels stack).

This ability replaces channel positive energy.

Devout Agent
Sometimes a paladin is not blessed with the capability to weave divine magic, but instead is granted the ability to be an inspiration to those around her. These devout agents spend their time traveling from place to place, spreading the words and wisdom of their deity.

Class Skills
Add Perform (oratory) to the devout agent's list of class skills.

Holy Scripture
At 1st level, a devout agent gains the ability to deliver a select number of supernatural and spell-like performances through the force and power of her divinely inspired preaching and exhortation. This ability is similar in all respects to bardic performance as used by a bard of the same level (including interactions with feats, spells, and prestige classes), using Perform (oratory) as the devout agent’s performance skill. However, a devout agent gains only the following types of bardic performance: inspire courage at 1st level; inspire competence at 3rd level; inspire greatness at 9th level; and inspire heroics at 15th level.

Holy scripture replaces the paladin’s spells class feature. A devout agent does not gain any spells or spellcasting abilities, does not have a caster level, and cannot use spell trigger or spell completion magic items.

Liberty's Edge

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Many years ago in the days before Pathfinder (What I like to refer to as the Broken Age) I came across a resource (who's author I have either forgotten or never knew) on a forum explaining how to fill out a character sheet. Now, I didn't need the resource myself, but I did need to teach new people how to do it, and it was written in such an amusing tone that I printed it out and handed it to each new person in my group. It honestly served me well for many years.

Going through some old files on my computer, I came across it and decided that it was time to update it for Pathfinder use. I present to you:

HOW TO FILL OUT A PATHFINDER CHARACTER SHEET
or Why yes, as a matter of fact, I am that bored.

Everything you are about to read is in the Core Rulebook. I'm only really writing it out as practice for when I have to explain it to new players in person.

Step 1: Take a sheet.
If you look in the back of your Core Rulebook, they give you a character sheet. Obviously you don't wanna tear this out or write directly on it, so what you do is take it to an Office Max or a Staples or a Kinko’s or a public library and photocopy that sheet. If you look around online, you can find PDFs and HTML pages of character sheets that you can print directly from your computer so you don't have to go through all the trouble of making copies, but those sheets are usually a little different from the one I am about to describe; the one sheet you are guaranteed to have access to. All my descriptions for locations on the sheet are written with the CRB sheet in mind.

We'll start at the top of the first page of your sheet and go through every item, explain what it is, and figure out what to put in all those neat little spaces. This is going to be so much fun.

Step 2: Who are you!?
At the top of your shiny new character sheet is a bunch of lines. The lines are all labeled. You're going to write some stuff on top of those lines:
• Character Name: Make up a fake name for your character. You can name your character anything at all. Volrath the destroyer, Bob the fighter, I am Jack's Primary Spellcaster, whatever. Be creative.
• Alignment: This is where you write your character's moral and ethical alignment. Alignments are explained on CRB p. 166 through 168. You can write it out, "lawful good" or you can shorten it to just "LG".
• Player: That's you. Write your real name.
• Character Level: The basic way to note this is write down the name of your class followed by the number of levels you have in that class, followed by your total character level in parenthesis. If you are a multiclass character, separate your classes with slashes. So if you were a 1st-level human fighter, you'd write "FIGHTER 1 (1st)". If you were a drow 3rd-level ranger/4th-level fighter, you'd write "RANGER 3/FIGHTER 4 (9th)".
• Deity: This is where you write the name of the god your character worships. For clerics, this is essential. For druids, rangers, and paladins, it's kind of important. For most other characters, it doesn't really matter. Ask your GM about this one.
• Homeland: Where your character is from (not you). Again, ask your GM about this.
• Race: Your character's race (not yours). Write "human" or "drow" or "half-dragon rakshasa" or whatever type of creature your character happens to be.
• Size: Your character's size category. Most of the races in the CRB are Medium. Gnomes and halflings are Small. You can just write "M" or "S" if you want, most people will know what you mean.
• Gender: The type of junk in your character's trunk. (M, F, or ? will do.)
• Age: Your character's age. Age ranges and random starting ages are found on CRB p. 169.
• Height: Character's tallness from head to toe.
• Weight: Character's fatness from all those mutton chops. Randomly generated heights and weights can be found on CRB 170, right after the age tables.
• Hair: Character's hair color. Please do not write "YES," "UH-HUH" or "ALL OF IT".
• Eyes: Character's eye color. Please do not write "YES" or "NO".
Congratulations. You now have what passes at most tables for a character description.

Step 3: What can you do?
Directly below and all the way to the left of the row of lines we just filled is a neat little matrix of boxes for your Ability Scores :fanfare:.
I'm assuming you know about the ability scores and how to generate them. There's a row of boxes for your ability scores with labels: STR (strength), DEX (dexterity) CON (constitution). These are easy to understand. But next to that is a row of boxes for Ability Modifiers. Well what the hell is an ability modifier?

The formula for an ability modifier is...
(ability score - 10) ÷ 2, rounded down.

See, when you do something that is based on an ability score, you roll a d20 and add the relevant modifier. So if you've got an 18 Strength, 18 minus 10 is 8, divided by 2 is 4. An 18 gives you a +4. If you were to try to break down a door, you would roll 1d20 (say you got a 9) and add your Strength modifier (+4) for a total of 13. This is just enough to break down a simple wooden door. Go you.
On the other hand if you had a 7, 7 minus 10 is -3, divided by 2 is -1.5, which is rounded to -2. A 7 gives you a -2. Say you were trying to break down the same door as the last guy. You'd roll 1d20 (say you got a 12), add your -2 penalty for a total of 10. Your skinny body bounces off the door ineffectually, injuring both your shoulder and your pride.

So you write down "18" (or whatever) for your Strength score and "+4" (or whatever) for your Strength modifier. Do this for all your stats. There is a table on CRB p. 17 with all this math done for you. Make use of it.

Step 4: Can you be killed by conventional weapons?
Next to the Ability Score Matrix™ is a row of boxes for your HP, your AC, your DR, and your speed. ...well what the crap is that?

"HP" stands for hit points (or "health points" if you like). When people want to end your life, they will often beat you with things that deal hit point damage (reducing your current hit points). The little box next to HP is where you write your total hit points when you're fully healed and fully rested. The number of hit points you get is based on your Hit Die which determined by your class and your Constitution modifier which I just told you how to figure out. You get max hit points at 1st level and then roll a hit die each level thereafter. So a fighter, for example has a d10 hit die. Let's say Bob the fighter has a Constitution score of 16, giving him a +3 modifier. At 1st level he gets the max roll on a d10 (10) plus his Con modifier (3) for a total of 13 hit points. When he gains his 2nd level of fighter, he will roll a d10 (let's say he rolled a 5), add his Con modifier to that roll (makes it 8) and add the result to his total hit points (giving him a new total of 21 hit points).

"AC" stands for Armor Class. It represents how hard it is for people to do nasty, nasty things to you. It is also very much dependent on the kind of armor you're wearing, so we'll leave that go for right now and come back to it in about four steps.

Moving to the right, we see a long bar that says SPEED right above it. This is your character's base move speed. For most of the races in the CRB, your base speed is 30 ft. For dwarves, gnomes, and halflings, its 20 ft. Barbarians move 10 ft. faster than normal. Anyone in medium or heavy armor moves 10 ft. slower than normal. I trust you to be able to figure out which value applies to your character and write it in that little box neatly so adults can read it.

Right below the AC boxes are two boxes labeled "TOUCH" and "FLATFOOTED". These refer to different versions of your AC. See, AC bonuses (most other bonuses, too) usually have a type. There's armor bonuses, shield bonuses, dodge bonuses, luck bonuses, insight bonuses, yadda yadda yadda. If you have two bonuses with the same type, they don't "stack", only the bigger bonus applies. The only exception to this is dodge bonuses, and bonuses that don't have a type ("unnamed" bonuses).
Your Touch AC is your AC without your armor bonus or shield bonus. Your Flatfooted AC is your AC without your Dexterity bonus or any dodge bonuses (a negative Dex modifier still applies though). Your GM will tell you which AC applies in a given situation.

Initiative! Right below HP. Initiative checks are used to determine the turn order in combat. For most characters, their initiative modifier is just their Dexterity modifier. There is a feat called Improved Initiative that gives you a +4 to initiative checks. There might be some weird crazy good magic items that give you bonuses to Initiative, but we won't worry about those right now. Just write down your Dexterity modifier in the box labeled "Dex modifier" and leave the "Total" and "misc modifier" boxes empty for now.

Step 5: Can you be killed by unconventional weapons?
Moving down the left side of the page, we arrive at the boxes where you write down your Saving Throws. Saving throws are what you roll to not die when strange-smelling weirdoes in purple robes point a finger at you and set everything you love on fire. You may also use a saving throw to avoid getting drunk. You may also deliberately fail a saving throw to get drunk.

There are three saving throws: Fortitude, Reflex, and Will (on some sheets they call it "Willpower." Shiny.). Fort saves are for things that affect your physical health like poisons, diseases, and monks punching your pressure points. Reflex saves are for getting out of the way of stuff like fireballs, lightning bolts, and giant stone Indiana Jones references. Will saves are for things that affect your mental health like confusion spells, mind control, and your fellow party members.
Each saving throw entry has one of the following boxes:
• Total: Should be obvious by now. Leave that blank for just a moment.
• Base Save: This part is determined by your class and gets better as you gain levels. There are two saving throw progressions: Good (base save equals 2 plus one-half your level) and Poor (base save equals one third of your level). Different classes have different good and bad saves. Fighters have good Fortitude, wizards have good Will, and monks have good Fortitude, Reflex, and Will. Isn't that just lovely?
If you look at the table for you class in Chapter 3 of the CRB, it should just tell you what your base save is. If you have more than one class, add the base saves from all your classes together.
• Ability Modifier: Ah, remember those? Each save is modified by a different ability. Fortitude is modified by Constitution, Reflex is modified by Dexterity, and Will is modified by Wisdom. Find the modifiers for those three ability scores and write them in the appropriate box.
• Magic Modifier: This is for bonuses from magic items like a cloak of resistance. You won't have one at 1st level, so just leave this box blank.
• Misc Modifier: This is where you put any other weird save bonuses like a paladin's divine grace, or a halfling's "I'M SHORT!" bonus (I know that's not really what it's called but... c'mon. They're little). Abilities that grant bonuses like this are pretty specific so you should be able to figure out what to put here (probably nothing).
• Temporary Modifier: This is for when you get poisoned or partially frozen, don't get enough sleep, get cursed, or anything else that isn't permanent and changes your saves in any way. You can probably leave this blank too.
That last box of conditional modifiers is for save bonuses that only apply in certain situations. For example, half-elves get a +2 bonus on Will saves versus enchantment-type spells like charm person. Check the descriptions of your race and class if you're not sure if you have a bonus like that.
Once you have found all of your regular save bonuses, you can add up the totals and write them in the Total boxes. Bob, the fighter we mentioned earlier, has a Constitution of 16. Fighters have a good Fort save, so at 1st level he has a base save of 2 plus half his level (half of 1 is .5, rounds down to 0) for a total base fort save of +2. Add in his +3 Con modifier and he has a Total Fortitude save bonus of +5. Huzzah!

Step 6: Can you kick my ass?
Now we get to the good stuff. Continuing down the left side of the sheet, below your save bonuses are your basic combat abilities. This is where you write down how good you are at beating men to death with swords, axes, heavy sticks, or your feet.

Base Attack Bonus: Exactly what it sounds like. This is the basic bonus that applies to any attack rolls you might make. It's determined by your class, just like base save bonuses. There are three BAB progressions: Good (bab equals level), Average (bab equals three-quarters of level), and Poor (bab equals one-half of level). BAB is listed on the same class tables where you can find your base saves.
BAB determines whether you get multiple attacks. If your BAB is greater than +5, you get a second attack at BAB - 5. If your second attack is greater than +5, you get a third attack at bab - 10. If your third attack is greater than +5, you get a fourth attack at bab - 15, but that's it. You never get more than four attacks from high BAB alone. So if your BAB was say +12, you would gain a second attack at +7, and a third at +2. You would write down for your base attack bonus "+12/+7/+2".
You can get more than four attacks with certain class features and feats, but there's no need to go into that right now.

To the right of this is a place for you to list Spell Resistance. Spell Resistance represents how hard it is for mages to make fire explode in your face or make you make fire explode in someone else’s face. Chances are you aren’t going to have this for quite awhile. Let’s skip this for now.

Right below BAB is CMB (Combat Maneuver Bonus. How good you are at performing special maneuvers in combat.). Your CMB modifier is equal to your Base Attack Bonus, plus your Strength modifier, plus your size modifier (if any). Medium creatures have no size modifier; Small creatures have a -1. Large creatures have a +1, but you probably aren't playing a Large creature. Size modifiers for other sizes are listed on CRB p. 179.
There are boxes for your BAB, Str mod, size mod, and total CMB mod, so why doncha write all those in now.

Below this is another set of boxes for CMD (Combat Maneuver Defense. Guess what this represents.) Your CMD is calculated the same way as your CMB, but this time you get to add your Dexterity modifier. Yay! Also, you don’t roll a die for your CMD, so you get to add an extra 10 to the total. Nifty, huh?

Below the combat maneuver section is a thing for Attacks. Each little Attack entry is to be used for a different type of weapon or mode of attack, like "longsword," "unarmed strike," "holy avenger," or whatever it is your character uses to hurt people. We didn't buy your equipment yet, but if you already know what you're going to use, we can do this section. Each Attack entry has one of the following boxes:
• Weapon: The name of whatever you're using, i.e. "longsword," "unarmed strike," "holy avenger" or what have you.
• Attack Bonus: Your total attack bonus with the weapon. For most characters this is just your base attack bonus plus either your Strength mod (for a melee weapon like a sword) or your Dexterity mod (for a ranged weapon like a longbow). Certain feats like Weapon Focus add to your attack bonus, and magical swords always have some kind of bonus associated with them that adds to attack rolls. Say Bob the fighter has a Strength of 15 and Weapon Focus (longsword). At 1st-level his BAB is +1, with a 15 his Strength mod is +2, and Weapon Focus gives you a +1, so his total Attack bonus with his trusty longsword is +4.
• Critical: When you roll a 20 on an attack roll, this is called a Critical Threat. You reroll the same attack with the same bonus and if the reroll hits, you have just scored a critical hit and deal double damage. Some weapons threaten a critical hit on rolls of 19 or even 18 instead of just 20. Some weapons deal triple or quadruple damage on a crit instead of double. The way you note a weapon's critical value is usually list the values which threaten a crit, slash, the multiplier. If it doesn't have a range of numbers, it only threatens on a 20. So you might write "x2" or "x3" or "18-20/x2". Bob the fighter is wielding a longsword, which threatens on a 19 and deals double damage, so he'll write "19-20/x2" for his critical.
• Type: This is the type of damage the weapon deals; bludgeoning (clubs and hammers), slashing (swords and axes) or piercing (lances, rapiers, and picks). If you look through pages 142 and 143 of the CRB, you can find all of the damage types for all the basic fantasy weapons.
• Range: For projectile and thrown weapons like longbows and daggers, this is where you write the weapon's range increment. This is also listed on pages 142 and 143. Weapons that can't normally be thrown have a range increment of "—", but I usually write "melee" in that box.
• Ammunition: This is a little space for tracking the weapon's ammunition if any. If you had a bow, you'd write down "arrows" as the type of ammo, and cross out an arrow every time you attacked with your bow.
• Damage: The amount of damage a weapon deals is based on a die roll dependent on the weapon and usually modified by Strength. This is yet another property found on pages 142 and 143. Bob the fighter's weapon of choice is a longsword which deals 1d8 damage, and as we mentioned he has a Strength mod of +2, so we write in his damage box "1d8+2". Feats like Weapon Specialization give bonuses to your damage, and magic weapons usually add their bonus to damage rolls.

Addendum: Fighting with two weapons.
Characters that fight with two weapons are cool, there's no question about it. The only thing cooler than a dual wielder is a dual wielding member of a typically evil subterranean race who's inexplicably Chaotic Good and riven with emotional turmoil best handled by White Wolf. Right? *cough*

If your character fights with two weapons, then you have to manage your attack entries a little differently. Many people are tempted to just throw all their attack bonuses in the same entry like "17/17/12/12/7/7". This is obnoxious, hard to read, and makes baby Jesus cry. You make your character sheet infinitely easier to read if you keep your main and off-hand weapons separate.
Fill out one attack entry for your primary weapon with your bonus from a single attack in parenthesis, followed by your full attack sequence, like "(+19) +17/+12/+7". Then fill out a similar attack entry for your secondary weapon, like "+17/+12". You might even want to have that single attack bonus on the off-hand weapon too, just in case you decide you want to lead with your shortsword one day.
When you have an attack entry for both of your weapons, make a little note in the margin to note that you use both of them in a full attack, say the abbrev. "TWF" with a giant { brace connecting them, or a little chibi ranger pointing a sword at each entry. As long as it's clear that you use them both.

The reason you separate your weapons like that is because it clears up a lot of questions before they even get asked. If you have all your attack bonuses in a line like "17/17/12/12/7/7" and something happens to your arm ("Sprained wrist! -2 to off-hand attacks! Haha, I'm the GM.") then you have to entirely dismantle your little row of numbers to change the bonuses.
The damage from your weapons is usually different, too. You get half your Strength bonus to damage with off-hand attacks. So unless you've got a Strength of 11 or less and are wielding identical weapons, you're going to need two damage entries.
Also, if your weapons have magical enhancements, it's nice to have two separate Special Properties spaces in which to make note of everything.
If, however, you are one of those special cases whose primary and secondary weapons are alike in every way, then you can probably get away with putting them both in the same attack entry. But please, separate your attack bonuses like "+8/+3 and +8".

Step 7: We Gotz Mad Skillz.
Alrighty, the last section of character sheet page one that has yet to be explored is the bigass column on the right labeled "SKILLS". Holy crap, there's like three times as many boxes in this one section as all the boxes we just filled out. What do we do? Don't panic. We know where our towels are. Let's just take it slow.

Each character has different skills. Some people are good at running, jumping, climbing trees, some are "booksmart," some are good at persuading people to not call the town guard because they've got nine children to feed and you don't want them to starve, do you?

Each class has a list of class skills. Each class gets a certain number of skill points per level, modified by Intelligence, and four times this number at 1st-level. Bob the fighter for example gets 2 skill points, plus his Intelligence modifier of +1, plus 1 because he's human, and that's just how he rolls, for a total of 4 skill points per level. At 1st level he will have 16 skill points.
You use your skill points to buy "skill ranks" in whatever skills you please. A rank in a class skill costs 1 point. You can have a maximum of 1 rank per character level in any class skill. If you have a rank in a class skill, you get a +3 bonus to that skill (Kind of like a gift for doing what you’re supposed to. You’re welcome.).

Whenever you try to do something that relies on a certain skill and has some chance for failure, you roll 1d20, plus your ranks in that skill, plus an ability modifier tied to that skill (Dexterity for Acrobatics, Intelligence for Knowledge, etc.), plus any other modifiers you might have, and compare the total to the DC.

So for each skill on that table, you are going to fill in the appropriate ability modifier, the number of ranks you have in that skill (if you have 0 ranks, you can just leave it blank), and any other modifiers you have to that skill, and then write the total under the "Skill Modifier" for that particular skill.

Check the Skills chapter of the CRB for more detailed information.

Below all of that we have a space for conditional modifiers, similar to the one near your Saving Throws (remember that?). Same deal here.

Languages. Every character in Pathfinder speaks at least one language (Common, i.e. English). Characters with an Intelligence modifier of +1 or higher speak a number of additional languages equal to that modifier. Bob the fighter's Int modifier is only +1, so he speaks Common and Elven. Languages are listed in the Skills chapter under Linguistics, CRB p. 101 to 102. Each race has a certain set of bonus languages listed in the race descriptions of chapter 2.

Intermission:
We're done with the first page of your character sheet. You can go get a sandwich or something if you want. I'll wait.
...
Back? Rawk.

Step 8a: Buy Me Somethin'!!!
Ah, Commerce. This is where you finally get to buy some clothes. Idunno if you were aware of this, but all people are born completely naked. So we've got to buy you some clothes. Preferably clothes at least partially made out of metal to keep the claws, claws, and bites of the world away from your precious organs.

Each character starts with a certain amount of "wealth." This includes actual cash, gems or jewelry of a certain value and of course your equipment, magical or otherwise. 1st-level characters start with a random amount of wealth depending on what class they are. The random starting gold table is on CRB p. 140, and the wealth by level table is on CRB page 399. Get a piece of scrap paper and write down your total wealth at the top. Pick items out of the equipment guide as if you're shopping and subtract the price of each item from your wealth. Try not to spend all of your money; you want to have at least a little bit of coin on you, if only for realism. You should get:
• Clothing. I'm always amazed how many new players just forget to cover their characters' shame.
• A backpack, a bedroll, and a winter blanket. You don't necessarily need to buy a tent, because two characters can sleep in a single tent, but there should be at least one tent for every two characters.
• A melee weapon. Could be a bigass greatsword, could be a dagger. Every adventurer should own something that can be used to kill people.
• A ranged weapon. Could be a masterwork composite longbow, could be a second dagger. Every adventurer should own something that can be used to kill people that are way over there.
• Protection. No, not that kind of protection. Part of being an adventurer means going places where people will just come up and stab you. You need something to prevent that from happening. You might wear armor; maybe you'll carry a shield. Maybe you're a wizard or monk who doesn't really need it. But most characters will wear some kind of armor.
• Sustenance. Your character should have a waterskin (a leather sack of mostly water) and trail rations for at least a week.
Anything else you buy is completely up to you. A lot of players get rope and a grappling hook, some players like having a crowbar or a shovel, some classes need certain equipment like a set of lockpicks or a holy symbol or a healer's kit. Your fellow players and your GM can help you with this, or in many cases just do it for you.

Step 8b: Buy me somethin' shiny!
Now that you've purchased armor we can fill in your Armor Class. Huzzah! Go back to the first page to the AC boxes. Armor bonus is obviously the bonus granted by your armor. Shield bonus, granted by a shield. Dex modifier is tricky. Armor and shields have what's called a Max Dex Bonus. See, real armor is heavy and kind of restricts your motion, so Pathfinder armor restricts your Dex bonus to AC. Compare the Max Dex bonus of your armor or shield (whichever's lower) to your actual Dex bonus. Write whichever one is lower in the space for Dexterity modifier. Bob the fighter has a Dex of 16, which gives him a +3 Dex bonus. But he's wearing full plate mail which has a Max Dex Bonus of +1 (don't ask me how he was able to afford full plate at 1st-level). So Bob the fighter writes down "+1" for his Dex modifier to AC. Small creatures get a +1 size bonus to AC, Medium creatures do not. None of the races in the CRB have natural armor, so don't worry about that. The only way to get a deflection bonus to AC at 1st level is the shield of faith spell, so don't worry about that. If you're playing a monk, you get your Wisdom bonus to AC in addition to your Dexterity modifier. The best place to write this bonus is under Misc modifiers.
Once you've got all your AC bonuses in place, add across the line and write down the total. Don't forget that base of 10.

Since you bought weapons, you might want to take a moment and fill out attack entries for each weapon you own. Scroll back up to Step 6 if you're not sure how. It's best to put your favored weapon at the top of the list and put the rest of the weapons in the order you think you're most likely to use them.

Step 9: Wendy, I can fly!
I'm lumping everything else on the sheet into the last step. This has gone on long enough, ya know?

Money is how much actual cash you have on you. Write down what's left over after buying your equipment. 10 copper pieces is 1 silver piece, 10 silver pieces is 1 gold piece, and 10 gold pieces is 1 platinum piece.

Feats don't fail me now. Feats are special abilities, extra bonuses, or other neat things you can do that you select at every odd level (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, etc.). They have prerequisites; things you have to have before you can take the feat, but you can take any feat for which you meet all the prerequisites (it's kinda like setting up a college schedule, "I can't take Cleave until next semester 'cause I waited to take Power Attack. Sigh.").
Most 1st- and 2nd-level characters only have one. Bob the human fighter has three (one bonus feat from fighter, one bonus feat from being human, one regular feat because everybody gets one). Chapter 5 of the CRB is entirely devoted to feats. The feat descriptions tell you what they do. Many feats grant bonuses to attacks, saves, skills, or whatever. If you take a feat that grants you a bonus to something we already did, you have to go back to page 1 and include that bonus. Bob the fighter's feats are Weapon Focus (longsword), Iron Will, and Power Attack. He has to go back to page one and add the +2 from Iron Will as a "misc modifier" to his will save. This bumps his total Will save bonus from +1 to +3. Ya we be jammin'. Once you've selected your feats, make absolutely sure you've included any bonuses from them into your character sheet.

Special abilities are things you get from your classes like the barbarian's ability to rage or the ranger's favored enemy bonus, the monk's unarmed strike or the rogue's trapfinding ability. Use those class tables in Chapter 3 to find the names of whatever special abilities you have. Bob the fighter doesn't really have any special abilities; just bonus feats. So this section of his character sheet is blank.

There's not much room for it on this particular sheet, but it's usually a good idea to include a short little note next to each ability that sort of explains it like the little parentheticals I included above.

Spells! Clerics, Druids, Sorcerers, and Wizards can all cast spells. Bards cast somewhat fewer spells. Rangers and Paladins cast even fewer spells starting at 4th level. If you are playing a sorcerer or bard, you can write down your list of known spells on the spells section of your sheet. If you are playing a wizard, cleric, druid, paladin, or ranger, you prepare a list of spells every day, so you'll want scrap paper to do it on. Writing down and erasing your spell list every game day will wear out your shiny new sheet right quick.

Spell Save DC Mod is equal to 10 plus your spellcasting ability modifier; Intelligence for wizards, Charisma for sorcerers and bards, Wisdom for everybody else.

Arcane Spell Failure chance is for sorcerers and wizards who wear armor, and bards who wear medium or heavy armor. Wearing heavy metal clothing tends to restrict your movements and arcane spells rely on weird arcane hand gestures for their spells to go right, so when arcane spellcasters wear armor, there is a chance that their armor will interfere with their magic and screw up their spell. An armor's spell failure chance is listed in the Equipment chapter of the CRB.

The boxes at the right of the sheet are where you write down how many spells of a given spell level your character knows, the save DC of your spells (DC mod above + spell level), and how many times per day he can use them. This information is all indicated on the class tables for the bard, cleric, druid, paladin, ranger, sorcerer, and wizard. Additionally, if you have a particularly high casting stat, you gain bonus spells of certain levels. There is a formula to calculate this, but it's a great deal easier to just turn to CRB page 17 and check the table there.

Bob the fighter has no magic spells of any kind. His spells, spell save, and spells known sections are empty and lonely. Aww...
However, his best friend Alabaster is a pasty white 3rd-level wizard.

Addendum: Magic spells.
Alabaster is an elf with an Intelligence score of 20. 10 plus his Intelligence mod is 15, so he writes down "15" in the Spell Save DC Mod box on his sheet.
A third level wizard gets four 0-level spells, two 1st-level spells, one 2nd-level spell, and his exceedingly high intelligence gives our friend Alie two bonus 1st-level spells and one bonus 2nd-level spell. It also grants him bonus spells of higher levels, but he can't actually use them yet; if you have — spells per day, you can't cast spells of that level, but if you have 0 spells per day, you get bonus spells of that level. Bards do that. Bards are weird.
Anyways, on Alabaster's sheet under spell save DC, we write down his DC mod (15) plus the spell level for each level of spells he can cast; 15 for 0-levels, 16 for 1st-levels, and 17 for 2nd-levels. We write down his spells per day granted from his class under spells per day (4, 2, and 1 respectively), and we write down his bonus spells under, naturally enough, Bonus Spells (2 1st-level and 1 2nd-level).
Being a wizard, alabaster has to keep a spell book that contains all of his known spells. Character sheets rarely present an elegant way to do this, so Alabaster's player has attached a sheet of loose leaf to his sheet labeled "SPELLBOOK", with all of Alabaster's known spells listed by level. I won't go into how a wizard adds spells to his spellbook, but I will tell you our friend Alabaster's spellbook contains 19 0-level spells, 10 1st-level spells, and 4 2nd-level spells. At the beginning of a game day when Alabaster prepares his spells, he refers to his one-page loose leaf spellbook and picks out an appropriate number of spells of each level to write, in pencil and very lightly, in the Spells area of his sheet. It obviously has to be legible, but you want to write it lightly so it's easier to erase when a new day brings a new spell list.

Step 10: Play the damn game!
You're done. You have a completed character sheet. Go find some other people that are as nerdy as you are, get some dice, and have some fun. Go on. Get out of here. Go play. Scoot. Get off the computer and go pretend to be an elf. It'll be great.

Don't come back until you've slain an orc.

Liberty's Edge

So, this is an awkward bit of rules, but let's see if we can get an answer.

Can anybody perceive any kind of pattern to how much damage Swallow Whole does? It seems to me to be arbitrarily assigned, regardless of Size, CR, or HD.

Some beasts do only bludgeoning damage, while others do bludgeoning and acid.

What about a creature with multiple heads? Can it swallow multiple creatures in a single round?

In regards to attacking the inside of a creature, the rules state that the interior's AC is calculated without Dex mod. Is this simply an empty spot in the calculation, or is the interior treated as flat-footed?

If treated as flat-footed, that means that sneak attacks are possible, but there's generally ni light inside a stomach, which would grant total concealment.

Do all attacks have a 50% miss chance due to concealment, regardless of the fact that you are entirely surrounded by the interior?

What if somebody casts Rope Trick inside a creature?

What happens if a creature that has swallowed another creature uses Polymorph or other shapeshifting qualities to become much smaller?

Bloody swallowing creatures are giving me a headache.

Liberty's Edge

I'm looking for a class/prestige class/homebrew/whatever for an elementalist class that doesn't focus on a single element, but instead spreads his focus across all of them. My searches have thus far been unsuccessful, so I was hoping one of you fine people would have an answer for me.

Liberty's Edge

I'm looking to make a decent Shaman class for one of my players. He's a big World of Warcraft player, and we're attempting to make a reasonable facsimile of the Shaman class in that game. Reasonable, as in, validity of concept.

For those of you who don't know, Shaman in WoW are essentially Divine casters who petition the five elements (Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and Life) for their spells and abilities. They're healers, spellcasters, and melee combatants.

What I'm looking at as of now is to essentially make the Shaman be to Druid what the Sorcerer is to Wizard, or the Oracle is to Cleric. A spontaneous divine caster with the same spell list as the Druid, 3/4 BAB, and Simple Weapon and Medium Armor and Shield (excluding tower) proficiency.

I'm looking to the Oracle for inspiration, but anything I've done so far has just been too similar.

Anybody out there with ideas?

Liberty's Edge

After scouring the message boards for a mind-numbing too much time, I am unable to find an answer to my query. Thus, i turn to you, loyal Rules Questions Board!

The table for Leadership in the Core Rulebook only supports Leadership score of 25 or less. I have a character whose Leadership score is 31. I want more followers.

Has anybody presented a logical progression for Leadership scores above 25?

Liberty's Edge

I hate Vancian magic. Always have. So I'm setting out to make a workable system for my home games. This what I have so far, let me know what you think.

Alternate Casting System
In this casting variant, there are no spells per day. Spellcasting is skill-based and thus, having a chance of failure, casters can cast infinitely.

In order to cast a spell, the caster must succeed on a caster level check (DC 15 + double spell level). Success indicates that the caster has successfully cast the spell. Failure indicates that the caster has botched some part of casting the spell. Upon failing a casting check, you have a choice to go ahead and cast the spell for which you rolled anyway. This is known as overcasting and can range from strenuous to lethal, depending on the scope of what you are trying to do, as shown on the table below. All effects
stack with those of lower level effects.

Failed By Effect
1-4 1 Constitution Damage, Fatigue
5-9 1 Constitution Damage (2 total), Exhaustion
10-14 2 Constitution Damage (4 total)
15-19 4 Constitution Damage (8 total), Unconsciousness
+5 x2 Constitution Damage

You can only overcast a number of points equal to your caster level. If you are rendered unconscious by overcasting, you may make a DC 20 Will save to wake up after four hours, with an additional attempt every hour thereafter. After eight hours, you automatically wake up, but are exhausted.
Creatures immune to fatigue, exhaustion or Constitution damage cannot overcast. If this immunity is granted by a dismissable, harmless effect, they may dismiss this immunity as a free action in order to overcast.

Spontaneous Casters

Spontaneous casters work much as they do normally. They have a list of spells known, and can cast them in any combination any number of times per day. Bonus spell slots that would be granted by a high ability score instead become bonus spells known. Bonus spells that would be granted that are of a higher level than the caster gets from his class suffer a -5 to the casting check for each level above what the caster gets from his class.

Prepared Casters

Prepared casters have a more significant change to the way they work. They continue to gain spells known in whatever fashion they did previously. They continue to get bonus spells per day from a high ability score. Prepared casters can prepare a number of spells per day as indicated on their respective class tables. Any spell that has been prepared gets a +5 bonus to the caster level check to cast the spell.

A prepared caster can also cast any spell he knows but does not have prepared. Doing so takes a number of full-round actions equal to the level of the spell. In the case of spells that normally take a full-round action or more to cast, it instead takes an additional full-round action per spell level. Spells cast in this manner do not receive the +5 bonus to caster levels checks that prepared spells receive.

Prepared casters have a specific source for their spells. Arcane caster keep a spellbook in which they scribe new spells as they learn them. Divine casters who draw their power from religion keep a prayerbook containing all of the spells on their spell list. Divine casters who draw their power from nature must (commune with nature spirits/craft totems and fetishes) in order to cast their spells.

Any feedback? What sounds good for natural divine casters? Is the casting DC too high? Too low?

Do your best to break the system in both ways. How is it too powerful? How is it too weak?

Liberty's Edge

Didn't know whether to post this under Conversions or Homebrew. Admins, feel free to remove the one that's in the wrong forum.

At any rate, I've been working on some stuff, and I just whipped up what I think is a passable first go at a Tonberry.

Stats can be found HERE.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Liberty's Edge

Didn't know whether to post this under Conversions or Homebrew. Admins, feel free to remove the one that's in the wrong forum.

At any rate, I've been working on some stuff, and I just whipped up what I think is a passable first go at a Tonberry.

Stats can be found HERE.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Liberty's Edge

I have a tendency to cameo characters and items from other games, and I was having a hard time figuring out what I should cameo in my Kingmaker game: I pushed around the idea of Plants Vs Zombies for awhile, and I considered making the First World even more Carroll-esque, but I decided that somewhere, somehow, I want Kratos to pop up and possibly demolish the party.

I figure the Blades of Agony would be best statted as Short Swords with reach like a Whip, and the Disarm and Trip qualities.

The roadblock I'm running into is exactly what class and feats to give this monster of a demigod. Fighter of the Two-Weapon persuasion seems to be the best so far, but what about his magic? Should I even use that facet?

Any help would be appreciated.

Liberty's Edge

My players never cease to challenge my knowledge of the rules. Bags of Holding, for example.

Pathfinder Reference Document wrote:
If a bag of holding is placed within a portable hole, a rift to the Astral Plane is torn in the space: bag and hole alike are sucked into the void and forever lost. If a portable hole is placed within a bag of holding, it opens a gate to the Astral Plane: the hole, the bag, and any creatures within a 10-foot radius are drawn there, destroying the portable hole and bag of holding in the process.

We all know these rules. But what's to stop one from putting a Bag of Holding inside a Bag of Holding? A Type I weighs 15 pounds and can hold up to 250 pounds. That means you could stuff 16 Type I Bags of Holding into a Type I Bag of Holding (with an extra 10 pounds of room for snacks), meaning that one 15 pound bag could be holding up to 4010 pounds.

Has this been addressed or answered already? Is this actually legal?

EDIT: Actually, that Type I could hold seven Type IIIs, for a total of 7005 pounds.

Liberty's Edge

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I looked around and didn't find an answer, but in what order do AC bonuses apply? I was thinking it would be something like:

Dexterity Mod
Dodge Bonus
Shield Bonus
Deflection Bonus
Armor Bonus
Natural Armor

It's largely unimportant except that I have a player who constantly wants to know what it was that stopped the blow.

Any opinions? Or an official answer?

Liberty's Edge

Is this intentional? I can see the justification for the other classes (Fighter, Paladin, Wizard, and to a lesser extent Sorcerer) having that low amount of skill points, but I always saw Cleric as a 4+Int class, especially since Druids are a 4+Int class. Was it the same way in 3.5?

Liberty's Edge

Greetings, all. Our Saturday group is in dire need of an Arcane Caster, and my character recently died, so I thought I'd roll up a Stormborn Sorcerer. I've already gone through the spells and selected ones that I feel are thematically appropriate, and I've selected the feats that I'd like to get as well.

What I need is an opinion on which spells/feats are more important/useful than the others, so I can decide at what level to select them. I don't often play casters, so my spell familiarity is limited.

I'll be taking the Human favored class variant starting at level 4. 1-3 will take the extra hit point. Also, I haven't included the bloodline bonus feats, and I've only selected 10 of the 11 feats that I'll have by 20th level.

Stats are thus:

Human Stormborn Sorcerer
Str 10
Dex 17
Con 16
Int 16
Wis 16
Cha 17
(Can't decide whether to put my +2 in Dex or Cha)

Feats I want are thus:

Arcane Blast
Combat Casting
Elemental Focus (Electricity)
- Greater Elemental Focus (Electricity)
Point Blank Shot (I can pick this up with a bloodline feat)
- Precise Shot
Spell Focus (Evocation)
- Greater Spell Focus (Evocation)
Spell Penetration
- Greater Spell Penetration

Spells I want are thus: (Those marked with an * are bonus bloodline spells)

Cantrips

Detect Magic
Flare
Light
Mage Hand
Mending
Open/Close
Prestidigitation
Ray of Frost
Read Magic

1st

Alter Winds
Color Spray
Feather Fall
Mage Armor
Magic Missile
Shield
Shocking Grasp*
True Strike

2nd

Elemental Speech
Elemental Touch
Glide
Glitterdust
Gust of Wind*
Levitate
Shatter
Whispering Wind

3rd

Cloak of Winds
Elemental Aura
Fly
Lightning Bolt*
Protection from Energy
Sleet Storm
Wind Wall

4th

Ball Lightning
Detonate
Dimension Door
Elemental Body I
Ice Storm
River of Wind
Shout*

5th

Cone of Cold
Elemental Body II
Overland Flight*
Planar Binding, Lesser
Suffocation
Telekinesis
Teleport

6th

Chain Lightning*
Elemental Body III
Enemy Hammer
Freezing Sphere
Planar Binding
Sirocco

7th

Control Weather*
Elemental Body IV
Fly, Mass
Forcecage
Teleport, Greater
Teleport Object

8th

Planar Binding, Greater
Polar Ray
Shout, Greater
Stormbolts
Sunburst
Telekinetic Sphere
Whirlwind*

9th

Suffocation, Mass
Storm of Vengeance*
Teleportation Circle
Winds of Vengeance

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Liberty's Edge

So, my players have reached a point in my game where they will soon be under siege and controlling large numbers of soldiers to ward off the attackers. I know there are quite a few different systems out there for mass combat, but I've never personally used any of the, and I've never seen siege rules.

So what I'd like from you good people is your suggestions on effective and simple mass combat rules and siege rules that you've used to good effect.

Thanks in advance.

Liberty's Edge

It seems to me that a lot of great spells never get used by the players in either of my two groups (or at least very rarely), so I decided I'd poll the boards for your opinions on the most under-appreciated spells. Here's my list:

0 - Mending: Repairing old, broken loot to sell as shiny functional loot at will? Yes, please.

1 - Color Spray: Sure, it may lose a lot of its bang as you get to enemies with higher HD, but at low levels, this spell can be the difference between "hard fought battle" and "coup de grace fest."

2 - Glitterdust: Not only is this a great early alternative to See Invisibility, it can blind people! It's See Invisibility and Invisibility rolled into a sparkly package.

3 - Blindness/Deafness: I think a lot of people overlook the fact that this spell's duration is permanent.

4 - Rusting Grasp: Just think back to all those times you fought enemies with metal equipment.

5 - Feeblemind: If you ever wanted to absolutely cripple an arcane caster, this is the spell for you.

6 - Geas/Quest: This level of control over someone without a saving throw is just sexy. Granted, it has a 10 minute cast time, but that's what manacles are for. ^_^

7 - Insanity: The fact that this spell makes someone permanently have a chance to just stand around doing nothing is great.

8 - Sunburst: Damage and a chance to blind your enemies. :D

9 - Shades: The versatility of this spell is second-to-none. And it's 80% real IF they disbelieve.

So how about you guys? What's YOUR list?

Liberty's Edge

I'm once again looking at the APG archetypes and seeing little bits that need to be clarified.

Advanced Player's Guide, Page 80 wrote:
Bladethirst (Su): An arcane duelist of 6th level or higher may use performance to grant one weapon, one natural weapon, one end of a double weapon, or 50 items of ammunition of the same type within 30 feet a +1 enhancement bonus. This enhancement bonus increases by +1 for every three levels after 6th (maximum +5 at 18th level). These bonuses stack with existing bonuses and may be used to increase the item's enhancement bonus up to +5 or to add any of the following weapon properties: defending, distance, ghost touch, keen, mighty cleaving, returning, shock, shocking burst, seeking, speed, or wounding (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook page 469). If the weapon is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before adding special abilities. This performance replaces suggestion.

Now, nowhere in the ability's description does it reference a duration for this ability, nor does the description for the suggestion ability.

Is this supposed to be a permanent ability? And if so, since the bonus granted stacks with all existing bonuses, what's to stop an arcane duelist from pumping out and selling (taking weapon properties into consideration) +10 weapons and having, for all intents and purposes, infinite cash? If not, what kind of duration is it supposed to have?

Liberty's Edge

So last session, my Orc Ranger died due to a combination of paralysis and coup de grace. The GM does his stats a little differently than I'm used to, as he uses what he calls "dice pool." Essentially, you allot 4 dice to each stat and then have 12 extra dice to allot as you see fit. roll the dice take highest 3. I just went with 6 dice for each stat and came up with:

Str 10
Dex 17
Con 16
Int 16
Wis 16
Cha 17

Now, our party is pretty seriously lacking a ranged character, and the low Str/high Dex combo just screams archer to me, and the high Wis made me think of Monk for AC purposes.

That being said, does anyone have any advice as for which feats to pick up and when?

I'm considering being an elf, as that would bump my Dex to 19 and my Int to 18, so I could pick up Focused Shot and be getting a +4 to my damage with my bow. I'm also considering picking up the Vital Strike feats to make to most of Focused Shot each round at higher levels.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Liberty's Edge

10 people marked this as FAQ candidate.

While browsing the APG for fun new stuff, I came across the Zen Archer. I love it. I really do. However, there is one ability that they get that I'm not quite sure what to think.

Advanced Player's Guide, Page 115 wrote:
Reflexive Shot (Ex): At 9th level, a zen archer can make attacks of opportunity with arrows from his bow. The monk still threatens squares he could reach with unarmed strikes, and can still only make one attack of opportunity per round (unless he has Combat Reflexes). This ability replaces Improved Evasion.

Now, I'm confused on how this works. Does it allow you to threaten all adjacent squares with your bow? Or do you now threaten all squares within your bow's range?

If the former, this ability is useless, as by the time you get it your unarmed damage is greater than your bow damage and you already threatened those squares with unarmed strikes. If the latter, this ability is far more powerful than it should be.

What do you guys think? Has there been an official clarification on this yet?

Liberty's Edge

Posting this in multiple forums.

I'm trying to come up with a way for a Summoner to have two Eidolons and I need some advice. I'm thinking there should be a feat that allows you to do so, but I can't decide whether it should be two base forms with less Evo points or two lesser forms with full Evo points.

Example with arbitrary numbers:

Let's say at some point a Summoner gets to summon an Eidolon with 10HD and 20 EP. Should Split Eidolon give him 2 10 HD Eidolons with 10-15 EP each, or two 5-8 HD Eidolons with 20 EP each?

Liberty's Edge

Posting this in multiple forums.

I'm trying to come up with a way for a Summoner to have two Eidolons and I need some advice. I'm thinking there should be a feat that allows you to do so, but I can't decide whether it should be two base forms with less Evo points or two lesser forms with full Evo points.

Example with arbitrary numbers:

Let's say at some point a Summoner gets to summon an Eidolon with 10HD and 20 EP. Should Split Eidolon give him 2 10 HD Eidolons with 10-15 EP each, or two 5-8 HD Eidolons with 20 EP each?

Liberty's Edge

One of my players is not going to make it tonight, so I figured I'd run a mini-tourney to keep the other players interested while not advancing the plot.

I just need 4 more well-built "Player-Killer" characters to make this challenging. So I come to you, lovely Paizo boards! Assist me in making deathtraps for my players.

Level 10, 30 Point Buy, 100,000 GP, MAX HP.

Thanks in advance, and I look forward to your hideous creations. ^_^

Liberty's Edge

So I'm guessing the answer is "Not Yet." This space will now become a workspace for stuff we may want to convert. List incoming.

RACES
Protoss (Maybe subraces for Khalai and the Void?)
Terran (Standard Humans seems the way to go here)
Zerg (Template? Individual creatures?)

TECHNOLOGY
All of this is going to probably take the longest, given the obscene amount of, and varying levels of, technology presented in the games.

CLASSES
Yet another thing that we may or may not want to do. Do we want to present things like Ghosts and Templars/Dark Templars as classes, or just write up stat blocks? A Soulknife conversion would do well for Templars/Dark Templars.

All in all I just want to use these for NPCs, but I could see many people wanting actual classes to play, and a Starcraft campaign would be a lot of fun to run.

Liberty's Edge

I've been toying with Rogues a lot lately, and it has occured to me that there is really no logical reason to have to spend two feats on something that is honestly a core concept of combat.

My proposition is this: When calculating CMD or Attack bonuses while using a weapon that is "Finesseable" you use the higher of your Strength or Dexterity.

Feats are a precious commodity, and to essentially force certain classes into giving up two of them to what are pretty close to neccessary feats seems like a poor design flaw to me.

Liberty's Edge

This is largely inspired by Warcraft lore, and is my first attempt at customizing a Pathfinder class. It's essentially an inversion of the Paladin, but there are a few unique things tossed in. Please let me know what you think, and don't be afraid to tell me that something is off as long as you're ready to offer up some alternative. Anyone that simply says my class sucks and I should die without offering a way to improve my class will be hung over hot coals and eaten for the enjoyment of all. ^_^

NOTE: I've not figured out how to effectively format a class table on these forums, so I'll just list progressions.

Death Knight

Alignment

Lawful Good

Hit Die

d10

Starting Wealth

5d6 × 10 gp (average 175 gp)

Class Skills

The death knight's class skills are Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (nobility) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int),

Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier.

BAB: Full
Fort: Good
Ref: Poor
Will: Good

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the death knight.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Death Knights are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with

shields (except tower shields).

Aura of Evil (Ex)

The power of a death knight's aura of evil (see the detect evil spell) is equal to her death knight level.

Detect Good (Sp)

At will, a death knight can use detect good, as the spell. A death knight can, as a move action, concentrate on a single item or individual within 60 feet

and determine if it is good, learning the strength of its aura as if having studied it for 3 rounds. While focusing on one individual or object, the death

knight does not detect good in any other object or individual within range.

Smite Good (Su)

Once per day, a death knight can call out to the powers of evil to aid her in her struggle against good. As a swift action, the death knight chooses one

target within sight to smite. If this target is good, the death knight adds her Cha bonus (if any) to her attack rolls and adds her death knight level to all

damage rolls made against the target of her smite. If the target of smite good is an outsider with the good subtype, an good-aligned dragon, or a good

aligned divine caster, the bonus to damage increases to 2 points of damage per level the death knight possesses. Regardless of the target, smite good attacks

automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess.

In addition, while smite good is in effect, the death knight gains a deflection bonus equal to her Charisma modifier (if any) to her AC against attacks made

by the target of the smite. If the death knight targets a creature that is not good, the smite is wasted with no effect.

The smite good effect remains until the target of the smite is dead or the next time the death knight rests and regains her uses of this ability. At 4th

level, and at every three levels thereafter, the death knight may smite good one additional time per day, as indicated on Table: Death Knight, to a maximum

of seven times per day at 19th level.

Vile Grace (Su)

At 2nd level, a death knight gains a bonus equal to her Charisma bonus (if any) on all Saving Throws.

Pestilence (Su)

Beginning at 2nd level, a death knight can cause oozing pustules to appear on an enemy by touch. Each day she can use this ability a number of times equal to

1/2 her death knight level plus her Charisma modifier. With one use of this ability, a death knight can deal 1d6 hit points of damage for every two death

knight levels she possesses. Using this ability is a standard action.

Frightful Presence (Su)

At 3rd level, a death knight becomes a force of terror. Whenever the death knight attacks or charges, opponents within 30 feet with fewer hit dice than the

death knight must make a Will save equal to 10 + 1/2 the death knight's level + the death knight's Charisma modifier or be shaken for 5d6 rounds. An

opponent that succeeds on the saving throw is immune to the death knight's frightful presence for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.

Vile Adaptation (Ex)

At 3rd level, a death knight is immune to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases.

Disease (Su)

At 3rd level, and every three levels thereafter, a death knight can select one disease. Each disease adds an effect to the death knight's pestilence ability.

Whenever the death knight uses pestilence to deal damage to one target, the target also must make a save or be afflicted by the selected disease. The DC of

this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 the death knight's level + the death knight's Charisma modifier. All diseases inflicted by pestilence take effect immediately,

with no onset period. The frequency of all death knight diseases is 1/round.

At 3rd level, the death knight can select from the following initial diseases.

Filth Fever: Effect 1d3 Dex damage and 1d3 Con damage; Cure 2 consecutive saves

Leprosy: Effect 1d2 Cha damage; Cure 2 consecutive saves

Mindfire: Effect 1d4 Int damage; Cure 2 consecutive saves

At 6th level, a death knight adds the following diseases to the list of those that can be selected.

Devil Chills: Effect 1d4 Str damage; Cure 3 consecutive saves

Shakes: Effect 1d8 Dex damage; Cure 2 consecutive saves

Slimy Doom: Effect 1d4 Con damage, target must make a second Fort save or 1 point of the damage is drain instead; Cure 2 consecutive saves

At 9th level, a death knight adds the following diseases to the list of those that can be selected.

Blinding Sickness: Effect 1d4 Str damage, if more than 2 Str damage, target must make an additional Fort save or be permanently blinded; Cure 2 consecutive

saves

Cackle Fever: Effect 1d6 Wis damage; Cure 2 consecutive saves

Red Ache: Effect 1d6 Str damage; Cure 2 consecutive saves

At 12th level, a death knight adds the following diseases to the list of those that can be selected.

Bubonic Plague: Effect 1d4 Con damage and 1 Cha damage and target is fatigued; Cure 2 consecutive saves

Demon Fever: Effect 1d6 Con damage, target must make a second Fort save or 1 point of the damage is drain instead; Cure 2 consecutive saves

These abilities are cumulative. For example, a 12th-level death knight's pestilence ability heals 6d6 points of damage and might also inflict Filth Fever,

Shakes, Red Ache, and Bubonic Plague simultaneously. Once a disease is chosen, it can't be changed.

Channel Negative Energy (Su)

When a death knight reaches 4th level, she gains the supernatural ability to channel negative energy like a cleric. Using this ability consumes two uses of

her pestilence ability. A death knight uses her level as her effective cleric level when channeling negative energy. This is a Charisma-based ability.

Spells

Beginning at 4th level, a death knight gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells which are drawn from the death knight spell list. A death

knight must choose and prepare her spells in advance.

To prepare or cast a spell, a death knight must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against

a death knight's spell is 10 + the spell level + the death knight's Charisma modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a death knight can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on

Table: Death Knight. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Charisma score (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells). When

Table: Death Knight indicates that the death knight gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, she gains only the bonus spells she would be entitled to

based on her Charisma score for that spell level.

A death knight must spend 1 hour each day in quiet prayer and meditation to regain her daily allotment of spells. A death knight may prepare and cast any

spell on the death knight spell list, provided that she can cast spells of that level, but she must choose which spells to prepare during her daily

meditation.

Through 3rd level, a death knight has no caster level. At 4th level and higher, her caster level is equal to her death knight level – 3.

Vile Bond (Sp)

Upon reaching 5th level, a death knight forms a vile bond with the forces of evil. This bond can take one of two forms. Once the form is chosen, it cannot be

changed.

The first type of bond allows the death knight to enhance her weapon as a standard action by calling upon the aid of an unholy spirit for 1 minute per death

knight level. When called, the spirit causes the weapon to shed light as a torch. At 5th level, this spirit grants the weapon a +1 enhancement bonus. For

every three levels beyond 5th, the weapon gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +6 at 20th level. These bonuses can be added to the weapon,

stacking with existing weapon bonuses to a maximum of +5, or they can be used to add any of the following weapon properties: axiomatic, brilliant energy,

defending, wounding, frost, icy burst, unholy, keen, vicious, and speed. Adding these properties consumes an amount of bonus equal to the property's cost

(see Table: Melee Weapon Special Abilities). These bonuses are added to any properties the weapon already has, but duplicate abilities do not stack. If the

weapon is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before any other properties can be added. The bonus and properties granted by the spirit

are determined when the spirit is called and cannot be changed until the spirit is called again. The unholy spirit imparts no bonuses if the weapon is held

by anyone other than the death knight but resumes giving bonuses if returned to the death knight. These bonuses apply to only one end of a double weapon. A

death knight can use this ability once per day at 5th level, and one additional time per day for every four levels beyond 5th, to a total of four times per

day at 17th level.

If a weapon bonded with an unholy spirit is destroyed, the death knight loses the use of this ability for 30 days, or until she gains a level, whichever

comes first. During this 30-day period, the death knight takes a –1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.

The second type of bond allows a death knight to gain the service of an unusually intelligent, strong, and loyal undead to serve her in her crusade against

good. This undeadt is usually a skeleton or zombie, although more exotic undead may also suitable. This undead functions as a druid's animal companion, using

the death knight's level as her effective druid level. Bonded undead have an Intelligence of at least 6.

Once per day, as a full-round action, a death knight may magically call her undead to her side. This ability is the equivalent of a spell of a level equal to

one-third the death knight's level. The undead immediately appears adjacent to the death knight. A death knight can use this ability once per day at 5th

level, and one additional time per day for every 4 levels thereafter, for a total of four times per day at 17th level.

At 11th level, the undead gains the fiendish creature advanced simple template.

At 15th level, a death knight's undead gains spell resistance equal to the death knight's level + 11.

Should the death knight's undead die, the death knight may not summon another undead for 30 days or until she gains a death knight level, whichever comes

first. During this 30-day period, the death knight takes a –1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.

Command Undead (Su)

At 8th level, a death knight gains Command Undead as a Bonus Feat. If she already possesses that feat, she instead gains a +4 bonus to the DC for undead to

resist her control.

Aura of Vengeance(Su)

At 11th level, a death knight can expend two uses of her smite good ability to grant the ability to smite good to all allies within 10 feet, using her

bonuses. Allies must use this smite good ability by the start of the death knight's next turn and the bonuses last for 1 minute. Using this ability is a free

action. Good creatures gain no benefit from this ability.

Vile Presence (Su)

At 14th level, a death knight's weapons are treated as evil-aligned for the purposes of overcoming Damage Reduction. Any attack made against an enemy within

10 feet of her is treated as evil-aligned for the purposes of overcoming Damage Reduction.

This ability functions only while the death knight is conscious, not if she is unconscious or dead.

One of Us (Ex): At 17th level, the death knight's form begins to rot (the appearance of this decay is up to the death knight) and undead see the death knight

as one of them. the death knight gains immunity to cold, nonlethal damage, paralysis, and sleep. the death knight also gains DR 5/—. Unintelligent undead do

not notice the death knight unless the death knight attack them. the death knight receive a +4 morale bonus on saving throws made against spells and spell-

like abilities cast by undead.

Unholy Scion (Su)

At 20th level, a death knight becomes a conduit for the power of evil. Her DR increases to 10/good. Whenever she uses smite good and successfully strikes a

good outsider, the outsider is also subject to a banishment, using her death knight level as the caster level (her weapon automatically counts as an object

that the subject hates). After the banishment effect and the damage from the attack is resolved, the smite immediately ends. In addition, whenever she

channels negative energy or uses pestilence, she deals the maximum possible amount of damage.