Well, I'd been meaning to post so, we're kind of on the same wavelength. Wouldn't be the first time.
I wonder what wavelength-chucks would look like...
Gehuil Sandstream wrote:
As the prime bachelor for crafting, I'd been considering Brew Potion pretty strongly. I can even take it as a Hex to save the feat. But my issue is that I also really want to pick up a bunch of other Hexes too. Flight is on top of my priority list, Sleep would be a consistent way to help out in combat early on, but I have mixed feelings about save or suck effects in general. So I need to figure out which hexes I want and when.
Gehuils feats are kind of in the air too. There's a lot I want, and crafting feats are somewhat on that list already.
Yeah, witches have feats and hexes like I have skill points for every character I've ever played: never enough!
That said, it may well behoove us if you went the Sleep Hex route... so long as the GM is okay with it. Basically, if we tend to face multiple opponents - especially if they have acid or fire a lot, or even every once in a while - it would go from being "OP" to being "necessary" to let me tank stuff while Vuram tears it apart.
Maybe tangent? Only click if you care about what I think of mechanical stuff:
It isn't quite as straightforward as Sleep being too good (though it can be). If I use the sleep hex in a round, either the target's out of the fight, or they pass and I may as well have retroactively twiddled my thumbs that round. No in-between. Consistency is the key to what bugs me about SoS spells. Normally you want consistency, but with these consistency is bad on either end to one degree or another. If your enemies consistently pass the save, you're not contributing to the fight, which is doody (technical term, try to keep up). Or, they fail those saves a lot and you risk the GM pulling their hair out in frustration. Or the SoS caster is being played by someone like me, who enjoys a good challenge in a game now and then, the player is as bored as the GM. A lot of potential downsides to it basically, and I as a player really gravitate to the beatstick role myself.
Of course saying all that makes one question really obvious: Why play the save-or-suckiest class that Paizo ever released? It’s because my opinion on the mechanics isn’t a first hand one, and I’d like to give things a fair chance before I judge too strongly. Or in this case, much at all. It’s why I like my little melee kobold. Plus, cackling hyena is fun to RP at least.
[neener neener]Oh poor Lio. Look everybody! Stuff can kill the troll too, ooh.[/neener neener]
But really, Lio is still super bulky without regeneration. I don't know if you’re under the impression that trolls take extra damage from fire/acid, but it just means Lio loses his regen that round. Like us! Mortality buddies!
Edit: Suggestions maybe.
Vuram: If you aren't sure what feats you want for your reach build, I'd suggest adding Pushing Assault and Lunge to your candidates. Dirty Fighting would be great to get around a bunch of prereqs nobody has time for. Which also lets you use your reach to trip whoever you want penalty free without Improved Trip. Or you can take Improved Trip too. To be honest, I'm just recommending a bunch of feats I plan on taking on my bloodrager.
Lettu: I seem to have noticed a minor flaw in our composition. Namely our effective engagement range of ten-fifteen feet. If you're feeling it, you could work towards ranged combat. Maybe a level of Gunslinger/Slayer would be to your liking?
Well, I'd been meaning to post so, we're kind of on the same wavelength. Wouldn't be the first time.
As the prime bachelor for crafting, I'd been considering Brew Potion pretty strongly. I can even take it as a Hex to save the feat. But my issue is that I also really want to pick up a bunch of other Hexes too. Flight is on top of my priority list, Sleep would be a consistent way to help out in combat early on, but I have mixed feelings about save or suck effects in general. So I need to figure out which hexes I want and when.
Gehuils feats are kind of in the air too. There's a lot I want, and crafting feats are somewhat on that list already.
Side note: GM, can I take the Ability Focus feat for my hexes eventually?
As the group continues, Einde slips out from behind his master, before Greeter turns around if possible. The scorpion makes himself scarce, following the directions to the room laid out in the map without being spotted.
Scorp Stealth:10 + 15 = 25
Gehuil leaves himself in his thoughts, following the group for the while. This group likes to talk more than the people back home. Except one. Interesting. He has that particular look about him. A killer. Isn't he? I hope the troll turns out more reliable than this during delicate moments. We clearly need an excuse to get rid of the kobold. Perhaps "Wings" would be willing to oblige. "Leo" as it were, well, I'd hate to waste good labor.
Sure, let us continue. We should prove ourselves worth keeping around. I have already seen how dead weight is responded to. I would never want to get in someone's way. Do you agree? Gehuil walks closely behind Greeter, pick ax at rest.
sense motive:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14Gonna take ten on Greeters check, this one's to get an inkling from Vuram.
Gehuil quietly growls at the commotion growing in the tent. He rolls himself out of whatever passes for a bed here and shuffles over to a pick ax on his own way out.
Third left... second right... Are you ready Einde?
Gehuil hears all too familiar sounds into the night. Maybe he had the good side of the deal in the end. In hindsight the offer to join the melee was ill advised as Vuram said. In fact he felt the slightest hint of guilt seeing the two reemerge from the tower.
I...
Perception:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Upon seeing the humans mutilation Gehuil laughs his wicked laugh, it isn't clear if he notices the same thing Sithiliss has. Either way, he obliges the lizard.
Heal:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21 The gnoll tries to identify the injuries. How deep they are, etc.
What kind of whip was this? He mutters to himself.
And for the record, though he hasn't revealed it yet, Volnar can cast cure light wounds. So it seems like we're pretty set on the healing arena.
Ya know come to think of it, Gehuil hasnt really mentioned what he can bring to the table at all. That might just stem from my personal preference for "Show Don't Tell."
I feel like the back-up bully that follows around the main bully in the 80's movie who just pop's up with "yeah!" Or "you tell 'im!" and contributes nothing else to the plot. Not just in this game, but in general. Hopefully we can get to a point where I'm useful soon enough. Maybe if we get garbage-y enough weapons, picking up mending will pay off at least. Such is the lot of the first-level spellcaster. Le sigh.
I have spent a lot of time on the outside of the lash, if my prior experience is anything to go by, the guards are more likely to start making bets than anything else. They don't care what we do to each other. The gnoll speaks in an experienced tone. The scorpion disappears under a nearby rock, ready to go if needed.
The scorpion reappears on Gehuils shoulder with a claw raised and legs skittering in place.
Shush Einde. You are a scorpion, you can't get through a lock, now go get under a rock before someone sees you. If the troll doesn't feel up to it, I'll help with the distraction. I can talk a big game at least.
I assume Volnar and I dont find Greeter being suspicious? If so, my action would be different obviously.
The last time some one tried exploring, he had a leg broken. Trips in these caves are fraught with danger as an-
Gehuil checks the outside of the tent without warning, holding one hand out to try to indicate to someone else to follow suit at the other side before exiting.
The gnoll makes a disgusted sound following Sithiliss' plea.
Bleeding hearts. Perspective. You can die here, in this camp and alone, or you can risk death fighting. You warrior types like that right? This fight comes with the grandest prize of all at the end of the tunnel.
Sense Motive from earlier:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18
Gehuil addresses Sithiliss calmly. Dirty little secrets, shock keeping it from setting in, simply not caring that much for a stranger, choose your favorite. But if you really want an answer, I just assumed he broke remarkably quickly, and tried to kill himself as a way out. It's a gruesome fact... but it happens. The ragged creature looks to the distance mentioning this, evidently slightly lost in thought.
That is, until his wound began to heal. "Trolls" seem like a curious group, is this behavior normal? To dismember yourself for a mere divination? This seems to be addressed to Lio as the gnoll looks away.
I thought about it, and Lio is in all likelihood Gehuils introduction to trolls. I don't imagine many of them go to blistering deserts. So, feel free to play with that.
Gehuil just stares at the sight for a moment. He doesn't speak, but his eyes shrink briefly as he stares at the sight to his side. The gnoll shakes it off soon.
Truly there are rituals I have yet to learn of. In part because he wants to put the imagery in the back of his mind, and partly because he needs to know And his player was ninja'd He asks Corrin a question.
Do we get to pick what royal family we bring our hobgoblin buddy to?
Eh. Cut it out. Get yourself hidden my friend. He urges the scorpion to get out of sight before heading back to the tent where the hobgoblin from before was talking.
Gehuil listens intently to Corrin as he speaks. That plan didn't sound so far fetched really. Gehuil knew from observation that the occasional slave could very well slip out with no one in charge any the wiser until it was too late. He'd even caught one before. That being said, this talk of informants has given the gnoll reason enough for pause.
A sudden ear-piercing shriek of a laugh erupts loudly from Gehuil. The pitch and volume of this hysterical outburst comes in stark contrast to his speaking pattern, but given his previous behavior, maybe not entirely unexpected. It’s as if the force of the staccato cackle ripped his his mouth open to burst forth, his teeth out for display, and his maw as far as it can open. This goes on for just a hair too long for comfort as he lists slightly in place.
AH HAH HAH HE HAH HAH HE HAH HAH HE HAH HAH HE ...
*ahem* Apologies. I enjoy irony. This one before you, er- I am Gehuil. I came from a tribe named after the sandstream of the desert. I wonder if they’ve been found yet. The gnoll walks past the others on his way out of the tent. He seems a slight bit embarrassed at his outburst.
Now Einde, have you survived? Or do I need a new pet? He heads back to the body of water he’d been dumped into and scans from the shore in search of his familiar.
Gehuil is going to try to take 20 on perception if he can, I’ll roll anyway just in case. Course, I'm willing to assume he just put a wrinkle in his "don't draw attention" plan, but nervous a tic's a nervous tic. If he does find the scorpion, he’ll try to usher it to hide somewhere. Int 6 can manage that right?
A sigh of relief can be heard from the gnoll after the troll is ushered away.
I was wrong about who would first break. "Troll," they said that was? If that was the first time he's been threatened with death, he could be a liability to us. I've seen how slaves are worked. Lived around it. My advice? Keep your eyes down and open. They'll get lazy. Always do. Nagaji. Crow. Do you follow?
I'm not dying here. I've seen enough of this. But what about the cities? I wont get a real answer here. This is where they put the fear into us. If the troll and lizard want to draw attention and die, it is their problem.
Ahh, the loud one. They're always the first to break. If he really wants out, he should know we need a plan. It is a he, right? Lizards confuse me.
The gnoll shushes the rabble-rousing cleric, he hasn't really taken stock of the other creatures he was dumped with, though he does hear lumbering footsteps from the larger two at the moment. Shh. Do you want to help people, or do you wish to be added to the carrion? Openly defiant slaves have this way of being fed upon by the end of the day by vultures. No, no. We think.
But he hears the question from Volnar, and his overly wide smile returns with a slight giggle even. A bit out of place considering his situation. All things considered, the ragged and robed creature had seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation, quieting down after being told so.
You really think we need to worry about even our own?
He saw the fires rage in their wakes. Still there must be something missing here.
One of the bodies that rises is a gnoll, scrawny for one of his ilk, yet still about the same size all around as a normal human. But even then, these humans were not normal sized. Not in their large metal armor.
Carrion is the kind of thing people expect a Gnoll to be used to, a short glance over the bodies and he looks up to the speaker with a smile. A yellow-toothed smile it is, too.
Hi. Why not just kill me? Us? The creatures Common is pretty functional all things considered. He speaks in a quiet gravelly voice. In spite of the smile, he does sound genuinely curious.
Edit: I'm glad my scorpion Einde is good at stealth. Cause, you know, scorpion. Even people actually from deserts don't like them. Can he just keep himself in a corner out of the way in the camp? A corner Gehuil happens to visit semi-frequently.
So, can we have a third trait with a drawback? I want to have diplomacy or bluff in case I can't work with intimidate, but I don't want to give up the opportunity to scare dudes away by laughing madly.
You have the skills to be a face, too?
EDIT: to be clear, that could be handy. Let me know if you figure it out.
Well, I need to know if I can pick up a third trait before I can say yes to that. But my idea for Gehuil involves him presenting a different face to "the enemy" than others. Intimidate is for them, but diplomacy or bluff would be for those few people who prove him right, and potential allies. He's nearly convinced himself Nexorus can't possibly be that bad. But diplomacy is on my list if things line up. I wouldn't count on it though.
I have settled on the Healing Patron though. I'm still tempted by Elements, because it seems like we're missing an early magic damage source. But, I figured less dying would be more helpful overall.
I'm also trying to figure out some way to make use of intimidate, but beyond the regular standard action, I'm coming up blank for ways a witch can use that particular skill. Maybe I ought to respec for diplomacy. It would also work, I think.
Alrighty then, Green Smashomancer, reporting with a witch.
I felt like it would be appropriate for a Gnoll to come from a desert area originally, but I also don't want to intrude by adding a location in a setting that isn't mine, so I kept things ambiguous.
I'm gonna keep doing some tweaking (Most obviously, I don't have a patron selected), but Gehuil Sandstream is ready for inspection. I assumed starting HP was average.
What would be some reasonably common languages to choose from?
***OODLES OF SPOILERS BELOW FOR WHITE GLOVE AFFAIR***
I do not get it. I think the implementation makes for interesting rolls and strategies, but it seems so... like, not related to any human psychology I know. The book opens: "heist of the century!" As players get excited for some Fireflyesque let's be bad guys action, instead they wind up having to... bid on a ship full of loot? Like it's an episode of Storage Wars for rich people? Except all the rich people are this close to backing down from the whole process? Except then once they do bid successfully then they have to steal it anyway? Except it's not a cool heist but rather a frantic smash and grab? And the ultimate prize is some BP and 6200 credits? (Which at level 9 gets one players an extremely under-leveled item?) WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE
I don't get it. This feels like it would drive players berserk confounding their expectations time and again, dangling nifty stuff in front of them and snatching it away to offer up something else, and when they resign themselves to that, repeat. Plus the whole concept seems so... weird. Like, I've never worked in shipping, but is this how it works? Someone cobbles together a trailer full of gold and auctions it off? Ugh, I'm back in questioning my sanity mode again. Really feel like the wheels are coming off on this one.
Wow. After Fly Free or Die 2 came out guns blazing with that awesome map pack add-on, FFoD 3 not only ditches that but doesn't even show up in My Downloads as downloadable as a single file. And all this after the debacle, which looks to never be getting resolution, in which the Devastation Ark pdfs were over 10x the size of the usual.
I don't know whose job it is over at Paizo to make the pdfs or if they just toss the responsibility to whoever's working on a project, but somebody needs to make a procedure/standards guide for pdf creation and somebody else in quality control needs to make sure it's followed. This is bizarre and disappointing as hell.
For a while, I've been thinking about unsubscribing from the SF APs and just buying them piecemeal when/if they looked really good, but man. The new map pack set for Fly Free or Die is SO FREAKING GOOD. Man, here's hoping they keep doing those. The resolution, being able to switch the grid off... it's a night and day difference in quality and usability for the virtual tabletop. So. FREAKING. Happy.
I subscribe to the SF APs and keep a copy of each book's PDF on my hard drive. Probably pretty common. They eat up some space, but it's not *so* bad.
Or at least it wasn't until the Devastation Ark series came along, each PDF over 20 times the usual size, a full Gb for the trio. Absolutely nothing different in them in terms of quality; I'm given to understand they just formatted the files differently.
Now we have Fly Free or Die, slashed to a mere 5x the usual size, BUT WITHOUT HIGHLIGHTABLE TEXT. Goodbye copy/pasting, hello tedious recopying manually.
What on earth is going on over at Paizo that something they seemed to have handled so easily is suddenly completely fubar?
I just downloaded my copy of Waking the Worldseed. Very very excited that Paizo has finally created a high level AP. That said, the book, while around the usual length (68 pages), is a whopping 340 Mb. That's larger than the pdf of every book in Dead Suns, Attack of the Swarm and Dawn of Flame COMBINED. While it's not breaking my machine or anything, I don't have the biggest hard drive, so it's not great for me.
Anyone have any insights on why the thing is soooooooooo much bigger than its predecessors?
So at the onset, the PCs are given leave to investigate the front runners for the Directorate. The rules give guidance on treating this as a Diplomacy check to gather information. I'm sort of baffled. In a sci fi universe, and one in which the PCs are wanted criminals, AND one of them is a CLONE of one of the people they're asking about, it seems unthinkable that for basic information, they would ask around instead of exclusively using the infosphere. Like, if I wanted to know more about my Congressional candidate, who in the world would go to the pub and ask people instead of going to google?
It's not a big deal, but it seems really weird that they framed this in such a way, even put in a small rule system for conducting the research. Do not get it, and now I have to rewrite it all so it makes sense. Bleh.
Anyone else feel like the Biohacker is rather underwhelming? Most of their abilities are so weak I feel like I'd only bother to use them because I could. Remove/add dazzling? +1/-2 to attacks or ACs? Like, it's not nothing, but it feels like you could do an entire adventure path and only actually derive any benefit from these abilities a few times. Even the presentation - you get Minor and Basic Biohacks, but there's no Improved/Greater (etc.). I feel like they hit the nail on the head - the abilities are basic, and minor, and they basically never get upgraded to anything better.
The class isn't god-awful, but I feel like they're not The Best at literally anything. The envoy, for instance, as another class with lackluster raw offense/defense, actually gets some pretty significant combat abilities, with healing, extra actions, debuff removal, etc. This feels like that, only all those capabilities are lesser, with seemingly nothing out of combat to make up for it.
Am I missing something?
Just read through Firestarters, and I gotta say... what? This AP looks SO. BORING. It's just bubble after bubble, half of it with no concept of the real villain, who you don't even get to face in the end. (At least, it sounds like Malikah never actually makes an appearance.)
Exploring the sun is neat, but it hardly merits 6 entire adventures. Probably not 2. The plane of shadow got 1 in Signal of Screams, which seemed about right. But now we're locked in to five more months of finding and thwarting the BBEG's top minion. In sun bubbles, over and over.
Not impressed.
In Escape from the Prison Moon's alien archives, I noticed the radiation drake's atomic bolt dealt 3d10+3 (plus radiation exposure). For a CR 9 creature, I'd have expected a +9 modifier. Is that an error, a deliberate decision...? I even wondered if the damage from the radiation exposure would add up to 9 on a failed save, but medium radiation (DC 17) would be 7 damage, for a total of +10, so that doesn't seem quite it either. Wondering!
