With Occult Adventures recently released and there being so much buzz about it, I was excited to get my hands on the book and start reading through. Overall, it's seemed decent, though still with a fair number of issues.
But one thing, at least that I've seen so far, stood out. One feat that's so mind-bogglingly bad that I just don't understand how it came about. I can't see any conceivable purpose for it at all, even for a Kineticist NPC to throw against your PCs.
Parting Blast
When you die, your body explodes in one final, destructive
kinetic blast.
Prerequisite: Kinetic blast class feature.
Benefit: You can accept 1 point of burn to prepare a
kinetic blast that automatically triggers upon your death.
If you are killed at any point before your burn is removed,
your body instantly erupts in an explosion that deals an
amount of damage equal to that of your simple blast to
all creatures in a 5-foot radius. A parting blast destroys
your body, which might prevent any magic that requires
an intact corpse.
You need to die to use it. You need to accept burn to activate it, on the off chance that you die. It deals damage in a 5ft radius of your body, only the damage of your Simple Blast so it's barely even the equivalent of a single attack from any other character, and it won't hit anything not in direct melee with you. And if that wasn't bad enough, it completely destroys your corpse so that you have to use high-level magic to resurrect yourself.
Why was this feat printed? Why did this absolute waste of page-space get through editing?
Overall, the class seems like it's actually fairly handy. It's flavorful and generally looks to be relatively well made, though it does still have it's share of issues that are going to pull it down a lot.
The issues that I've noted so far are:
Mono-element problems. The only real way that you're doing respectable damage is either Sand or Metal, and only then if you soak regular burn damage. I suspect there will end up being feats or abilities to reduce this, and there already are to some extent, but as it stands this ends up putting the Kineticist fairly far behind other similar damage dealers.
As an example: Take a level 9 Kineticist and level 9 Archer Fighter. Assuming statblocks of Kineticist having 20 Dex, 22 Con, and any other stat for it being irrelevant for this purpose, and the Archer having a 22 Str, 20 Dex and others being irrelevant for this, you'll come out roughly as follows. Archer gets 5 attacks per round (2 base +1 Rapid Shot +1 Manyshot +1 Haste) at a bonus of +15/+15/+15/+15/+10(+9 BaB, +1 Weapon Focus, +2 Gloves of Dueling, +1 Enhancement, +2 Weapon Training, +5 Dex as a baseline), and will do roughly 1d8+(+1 Enhancement, +4 Weapon Training/Gloves, +6 Str, +2 Weapon Spec) for a total of 1d8+13. That's fairly low-end, and if you really try and optimize for it at all you can decently easily beat that hard. Deadly Aim alone would up your damage by 4 points for only -2 hit. Average damage, assuming 4 hits and Deadly Aim, will be roughly ~80 damage. Clustered shots will help with DR, and arrows can be made of various materials to help bypass any material based DR.
A Kineticist can get, barring Whip or Blade shapes, one attack per round for 2d6+2+7(Con)+8d6+16 for a total of 10d6+25, at normal AC. You'll be looking at roughly +6 BaB, +1 Weapon Focus, and not really terribly much else barring you pumping your Dex up via items. You can't get Gloves of Dueling, you can't Enchant your blast, and the only other real option you have is buffing via spells or having the party caster buff you. For the sake of argument, say you hit. You'll do roughly an average of about 60 damage.
Barring some alternate way to boost your to-hit and damage, you're falling behind the Fighter in terms of damage even. Even if you go for a Touch blast, you're still doing fairly poor damage, or you're dealing with Fire damage and the associated immunities and resistance which are the single most common in the game. Against any class like a Ranger, Paladin, or even a Gunslinger, the Kineticist only falls behind further in terms of damage. This isn't taking into account that in order to put out even this much burst, the Kineticist needs to soak Burn damage with no way to resist it, and only has a d8 hit die to do so with.
The class appears to be based around blasts and combat, yet it's surprisingly lackluster at it. It's got a medium HP pool which it uses as it's resource, a medium BaB when it needs all the To-Hit bonuses it can get due to not being able to access a good half of them like any other Striker type can, and yet again falls into the trap of having 2+Int skills on a class that doesn't prioritize Int. It ends up coming together in a class that, even when optimized (At least as it currently stands), manages to fall behind the Fighter, which is commonly recognized as sub-par at best.
It's a class that basically screams for needing Full BaB, d10 HD, and 4+Int skills at minimum, and unless it ends up able to use blasts as part of a full-attack or attack action by default, yet still keeping them as SLAs for purposes of anti-magic, it's going to rarely if ever see play at many tables simply due to it not being able to hold it's own. At low levels, it can be a reasonably competent blaster and do okayish, but past somewhere around level 4-6 or so, it tapers off extremely hard and never really picks up again.
Once we end up seeing the feats given in the book, Extra Wild Talent get revised to work like all the other Extra X feats and let you select any talent available to you, and where it ends up going through playtest, it might be good. But unless it gets some changes, it's going to end up relegated, at least mechanics wise, down with the Rogue and Monk in terms of being thematically cool but still fairly sub-par or even outright bad in terms of ability.
I had an idea recently thanks to a couple sources of inspiration, and I was thinking about how I might be able to use it in a game a friend would be running soon. However, I'm not quite sure how to go about statting it up with the ARG.
The basic idea is a soldier that fell in battle, and has managed to make a pact to be returned to life to avenge himself and his comrades. I was thinking some sort of either soul bonded to a suit of armor might work, but I'm not quite sure how to go about statting that. What would be a good way to represent this using the ARG?
Actual campaign, not play-by-post. 20-25 Point Buy preferably. I'll play just about anything you can come up with. Skype or IRC would be the prefered thing to use for the campaign for me. Skype: Grom2.0 I'll be on most days.
Does Pathfinder Channel Energy count for 3.5 feats like Divine Metamagic, or would you need to actually take Turn/Command Undead as a feat for it to count as?
As the title says, I am currently building a rogue for the Legacy of Fire campaign, and I have no idea what I am doing really. So far all I have is that I want to be a halfling, and will likely be trying to be as sneaky as possible, and be able to steal things easily. The basic idea is something along the lines of a halfling that goes around posing as a human child, and robs people blind.
Potion of Cure Serious Wounds
Potion of Protection from Evil
Assess the Damage: You notice that the largest holes appear around six of the regions that Pathfinder agents visited in the past few years and that the Tapestry is radiating warmth. Despite this warmth, those six sites are chill as the grave. Bonus: once during the adventure, when the group encounters one or more undead opponents, the group can activate this reward to grant the PCs a +4 on their initiative checks for that encounter.
Interrogate the Snakes: You believe the Consortium agents. They reveal that the Aspis Consortium recently tried to re-infiltrate the tapestry, but it was too unstable and they could not gain entry. You also gain information about the Consortium's past dealings with groups in the tapestry. Bonus: once during the adventure, one PC can roll twice with a +2 bonus to a Charisma-based skill check made when interacting with a creature in the tapestry.
Knowledge of the Weave: You recall or learn that many regions in the tapestry are pulled directly from Golarion. However, most of its denizens have lived in the tapestry for their entire lives, and some can trace back many generations to ancestors who lived on the tapestry as well. Bonus: once during the adventure, one PC can reroll any one d20 roll.
Someone is Watching: You feel suddenly anxious and sense a malicious supernatural presence trying to enter your minds. Before fighting it off, you sense its intentions: to feed on the chaos and death in the tapestry. Bonus: once during the adventure before attempting a Will save, one PC can roll twice and choose the better result.
Tales from the Tapestry: You are able to recall several stories of Pathfinder agents adventuring in the tapestry and dealing with all manner of different peoples and creatures, from rat-folk to lizard-folk to ancient mummies and manipulative demons. Bonus: Each time you attempt a Knowledge check to identify a creature in the tapestry, one PC can choose to gain a +2 bonus on the check. Once during the scenario, one PC can instead treat their result as though they had rolled a 20 or gain the benefits of an Average DC result while treating the Knowledge skill as trained.
Travel Tips: You recall various terrain types from the Pathfinder Society's previous adventures in the tapestry: buildings, caves and tunnels, ancient ruins, mountains and deserts. Many more are known to exist within the tapestry as well. You share advice for dealing with different terrains. Bonus: Once during the adventure, one PC can choose to re-roll a failed skill check made as part of their movement (examples: Acrobatics, Climb, Fly, Swim).
Conlaoch McCullagh
NG Male Human Two Handed Fighter 2 / Invulnerable Rager Urban Barbarian 2
Languages Common, Tien, Gnoll, Orc
Faction Silver Crusade
STATISTICS
Abilities Str 20 (+5), Dex 12 (+1), Con 14 (+2), Int 12 (+1), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 10 (+0)
HP 41 (12 +2 Con +1 FC / 6 +2 Con / 7 +2 Con +1 FC/ 6 +2 Con)
Init +3
DR 1/- @
CMD 20 (+4 BAB +5 Str +1 Dex)
Fort +9 (+3 Barbarian +3 Fighter +2 Con +1 cloak)
Ref +2 (+0 Barbarian +0 Fighter +1 Dex +1 cloak)
Will +3 (+0 Barbarian +0 Fighter +1 Wis +1 Trait +1 cloak)
Defensive Abilities
*+1 dodge bonus to AC when adjacent to two or more enemies
@DR equal to half her barbarian level. This damage reduction is doubled against nonlethal damage
OFFENSE Base Attack +4; Melee Touch +9; Ranged Touch +5
CMB +9 (+4 BAB +5 Str)
+1 to Sunder or to destroy objects
Speed 30 ft
Melee
+1 Nodachi Attack: +11* (+4 BAB +5 Str +1 WF +1 Enhancement)
(Power Attack +7 except first in round) Crit: 18-20/x2
Damage: 1d10+8 (+5+2 Str 2H +1 Enhancement)
(Power Attack 1d10+14 = Str 5+2, Power 4+2, +1 Enhancement)
* +1 Attack when adjacent to two or more enemies
* Cleave allows second attack vs adjacent target
Apply a +4 morale bonus to her Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution. May apply the full bonus to one ability score or may split the bonus between several scores in increments of +2. After, fatigued for 2 x rounds used.
Skills (20 = 4 barbarian +1 Int +1 Human / 2 fighter +1 Int +1 Human / 6 / 4)
Acrobatics* +5 (1 rank +1 Dex +3 class)
Appraise +1 (+1 Int)
Bluff +0 (+0 Cha)
Climb* +8 (1 rank +4 Str +3 class)
Diplomacy* +5 (2 rank +0 Cha +3 class)
Disguise +0 (+0 Cha)
Escape Artist +1 (+1 Dex)
Fly +1 (+1 Dex)
Handle Animal -- (+0 Cha)
Heal +1 (+1 Wis)
Intimidate* +11 / +12 (4 rank +0 Cha +4 Str +3 class) (+1 Crowds) +4 bonus if larger than your target and a –4 if smaller
Knowledge (dungeoneering)* +5 (1 rank +1 Int +3 class)
Knowledge (engineering)* +5 (1 rank +1 Int +3 class)
Knowledge (local)* +5 (1 rank +1 Int +3 class)
Knowledge (nobility)* +5 (1 rank +1 Int +3 class)
Linguistics* +5 (1 rank +1 Int +3 class)
Perception* +8 (4 rank +1 Wis +3 class)
Profession (Builder)* +5 (1 rank +1 Wis +3 class) (Day Job)
Ride* +1 (+1 Dex)
Sense Motive +0 (+1 Wis)
Stealth +1 (+1 Dex)
Survival* +5 (1 rank +1 Wis +3 class)
Swim* +8 (1 rank +4 Str +3 class)
COINS
PP – 0
GP – 1143
SP – 9
CP – 0
EQUIPMENT
+1 Nodachi
Javelin
Dagger
+1 Leather Lamellar Armor
Backpack
Bedroll
Wand of Cure Light Wounds (21 charges)
Cloak of Resistance +1 (1000)
Belt of Giant Strength +2 (4000)
Feats:
Power Attack (Human Bonus)
Furious Focus (Level 1)
Cleave (Fighter Level 1 Bonus)
Intimidating Prowess (Level 3) - Add your Strength modifier to Intimidate skill checks in addition to your Charisma modifier.
Weapon Focus: Nodachi (Fighter Level 2 bonus)
Rage Powers:
Intimidating Glare - The barbarian can make an Intimidate check against one adjacent foe as a move action. If the barbarian successfully demoralizes her opponent, the foe is shaken for 1d4 rounds + 1 round for every 5 points by which the barbarian's check exceeds the DC.
Demoralize:
You can use this skill to cause an opponent to become shaken for a number of rounds. The DC of this check is equal to 10 + the target's Hit Dice + the target's Wisdom modifier. If you are successful, the target is shaken for 1 round. This duration increases by 1 round for every 5 by which you beat the DC. You can only threaten an opponent in this way if they are within 30 feet and can clearly see and hear you. Using demoralize on the same creature only extends the duration; it does not create a stronger fear condition.
Traits:
Indominable Faith: +1 Will Saves
Reactionary: +2 Initiative
DESCRIPTION
A strapping young man with dark red hair. He wears strange (unless you are familiar with Tien fashions) armor and weapons.
BACKGROUND
Half-brother to Inira McCullagh, son to Seamus McCullagh who was an adventurer/explorer of the Tien provinces, trying to help those in need and bridging the gap between cultures. Becoming a monk himself, he taught his children the language, culture and skills he had learned, both Tien and from his homeland and heritage, the lost world of Sarkoris. Conloach learned the skills of fighting from the local soldiers who admired his strength and kind heart.
BOONS Ragdya's Blessing (01-2) Cross off to gain climb speed of 20 feet for 1d4 rounds. 1 round after expiration, if you would fall due to failing a Climb check, fall as with feather fall so long as you remian adjacent to wall or solid surface.
Djinni's Admiration: See 03-3
Force of Good: Once only. Grant a weapon you wield the holy weapon enhancement for 3 rounds. See 03-3 for more details.
Gnoll Tactics: See 03-3
Mendevian Commendation: You have received a medal for your service to Mendev and the Fifth Crusade. For every Mendevian Commendation you have, you gain a cumulative +1 bonus on Charisma based skill and ability checks made to influence crusaders of Mendev (maximum +3).
Special Abilities:
+2 to One Ability Score: Human characters get a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
Medium: Humans are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Humans have a base speed of 30 feet.
Bonus Feat: Humans select one extra feat at 1st level.
Skilled: Humans gain an additional skill rank at first level and one additional rank whenever they gain a level.
Languages: Humans begin play speaking Common. Humans with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic).
The barbarian's class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Perception (Wis), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Urban Barbarian Class Skills: Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nobility) (Int), Linguistics (Int), and Profession (Wis) from urban barbarian.
The fighter's class skills are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (engineering) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A barbarian is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields).
Fast Movement (Ex): A barbarian's land speed is faster than the norm for her race by +10 feet. This benefit applies only when she is wearing no armor, light armor, or medium armor, and not carrying a heavy load. Apply this bonus before modifying the barbarian's speed because of any load carried or armor worn. This bonus stacks with any other bonuses to the barbarian's land speed. Replaced by crowd control.
Rage (Ex): A barbarian can call upon inner reserves of strength and ferocity, granting her additional combat prowess. Starting at 1st level, a barbarian can rage for a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + her Constitution modifier. At each level after 1st, she can rage for 2 additional rounds. Temporary increases to Constitution, such as those gained from rage and spells like bear's endurance, do not increase the total number of rounds that a barbarian can rage per day. A barbarian can enter rage as a free action. The total number of rounds of rage per day is renewed after resting for 8 hours, although these hours do not need to be consecutive.
While in rage, a barbarian gains a +4 morale bonus to her Strength and Constitution, as well as a +2 morale bonus on Will saves. In addition, she takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class. The increase to Constitution grants the barbarian 2 hit points per Hit Dice, but these disappear when the rage ends and are not lost first like temporary hit points. While in rage, a barbarian cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except Acrobatics, Fly, Intimidate, and Ride) or any ability that requires patience or concentration.
A barbarian can end her rage as a free action and is fatigued after rage for a number of rounds equal to 2 times the number of rounds spent in the rage. A barbarian cannot enter a new rage while fatigued or exhausted but can otherwise enter rage multiple times during a single encounter or combat. If a barbarian falls unconscious, her rage immediately ends, placing her in peril of death.
Invulnerable Rager
Some barbarians learn to take whatever comes their way, shrugging off mortal wounds with ease. These barbarians invite their enemies to attack them, and use pain to fuel their rage. An invulnerable rager has the following class features.
Invulnerability (Ex): At 2nd level, the invulnerable rager gains DR/— equal to half her barbarian level. This damage reduction is doubled against nonlethal damage. This ability replaces uncanny dodge, improved uncanny dodge, and damage reduction.
Extreme Endurance (Ex): At 3rd level, the invulnerable rager is inured to either hot or cold climate effects (choose one) as if using endure elements. In addition, the barbarian gains 1 point of fire or cold resistance for every three levels beyond 3rd. This ability replaces trap sense.
Rage Powers: The following rage powers complement the invulnerable rager archetype: come and get me, guarded life, increased damage reduction*, inspire ferocity, reckless abandon, and renewed vigor*.
Urban Barbarian (Archetype)
Every barbarian knows that city life can soften the spirit and the body, but some barbarians take on the trappings and ways of their adoptive homes and bend their savage powers to its challenges. While these urban barbarians' rough edges are smoothed into civility, they can use their primal nature and upbringing to move with the ebb and flow of civilization's natural rhythms.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: An urban barbarian is not proficient with medium armor. (Fighter gives this anyway)
Skills: An urban barbarian does not gain Handle Animal (Cha), Knowledge (nature) (Int), or Survival (Wis) as class skills; instead, she gains Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nobility) (Int), Linguistics (Int), and Profession (Wis) as class skills.
Crowd Control (Ex): At 1st level, an urban barbarian gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls and a +1 dodge bonus to AC when adjacent to two or more enemies. In addition, her movement is not impeded by crowds, and she gains a bonus equal to 1/2 her barbarian level on Intimidate checks to influence crowds. This ability replaces fast movement.
Controlled Rage (Ex): When an urban barbarian rages, instead of making a normal rage she may apply a +4 morale bonus to her Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution. This bonus increases to +6 when she gains greater rage and +8 when she gains mighty rage. She may apply the full bonus to one ability score or may split the bonus between several scores in increments of +2. When using a controlled rage, an urban barbarian gains no bonus on Will saves, takes no penalties to AC, and can still use Intelligence-, Dexterity-, and Charisma-based skills. This ability otherwise follows the normal rules for rage.
Rage Powers: The following rage powers complement the urban barbarian archetype: boasting taunt, clear mind, deadly accuracy, guarded stance, intimidating glare, lethal accuracy, no escape, quick reflexes, perfect clarity, sharpened accuracy, surprise accuracy, and unexpected strike.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A fighter is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, light, and medium) and shields (including tower shields).
Bonus Feats: At 1st level, and at every even level thereafter, a fighter gains a bonus feat in addition to those gained from normal advancement (meaning that the fighter gains a feat at every level). These bonus feats must be selected from those listed as combat feats, sometimes also called “fighter bonus feats.”
Two-Handed Fighter
Some fighters focus their efforts on finding the biggest, heaviest, most imposing weapon they can find and training to manage and harness the weight of their massive weapons for maximum impact. These fighting school benefits only apply when using two-handed weapons.
Shattering Strike (Ex): At 2nd level, a two-handed fighter gains a +1 bonus to CMB and CMD on sunder attempts and on damage rolls made against objects. These bonuses increase by +1 for every four levels beyond 2nd. This ability replaces bravery.
Overhand Chop (Ex): At 3rd level, when a two-handed fighter makes a single attack (with the attack action or a charge) with a two-handed weapon, he adds double his Strength bonus on damage rolls. This ability replaces armor training 1.
Future Planning:
Increased Damage Reduction (Ex) - Rage Power Barbarian 8
Reckless Abandon (Ex) - Take a penalty to AC for extra accuracy while raging (works with more DR)
Terrifying Howl (Ex) - Barbarian 8, intimidating glare Cause shaken enemies to become panicked
HISTORY
01-1. Mists of Mwangi #0-05 (+1XP/+2PP/+2FP/+509GP)
... Purchased MW Nodachi (330 gp - 60-30+300)
... Wand of Cure Light Wounds (2 PP)
01-2. The Segang Expedition #06-08. (+1XP/+2PP/+2FP/+529GP)
01-3. The Veteran's Vault (+1Xp/+2PP/+2FP/+539GP)
... -3 gp for group purchase of food
Reworked character and leveled up.
02-1. Scenario 29: The Devil We Know Part 1: Shipyard Rats (+1XP/+2PP/+2FP/+538GP+20GP)
... Used 1 charges of CLW
02-2. Scenario 30: The Devil We Know Part 2: Cassomir's Locker (+1XP/+2PP/+2FP/+515GP)
... Used 6 charges of CLW
02-3. Scenario 41: The Devil We Know Part 3: Crypt of Fools (+1XP/+2PP/+2FP/+893GP+10GP)
... Used CLW charges (5 - Amon, 4 - Conloach, 3 - Muriel)
03-1 The Devil We Know Part 4 (+1XP/-5PP/+0FP/+1050 GP) Start: 3244 gp End: 1214-473=741
... purchases: upgrade nodachi to +1 (2000gp), sell lamellar (-30gp), buy +1 lamellar (60+150+1000gp=1210 gp) - 3180 total
... Spent 473 GP on party consumables
... Used CLW (8 Conloach)
... Lost 5 Prestige on recovery, failed mission, 150gp to cure ghoul fever
03-2 The Paths We Choose #5-99 (+1XP/+2PP/+2FP/+2240GP+20GP) Start: 741 End: 3001
03-3 #6-11 The Slave Master's Mirror (+1XP/+2PP/+2FP/+1277GP+5GP) Start: 3001 End: 4283
... Used 2 charges CLW post hyena
Added: Level 2 fighter, +1 Chr
04-1 #5-22 Scars of the Third Crusade (+1XP/+2PP/+2FP/+1860GP) Start: 4283 End: 6143
04-2 Available
Start: 6143
Purchase Cloak of Resistance +1 (1000) and Belt of Giant Strength +2 (4000)