Gonturan's page

Perfect, thanks!

Hello all,

I'm a longtime PF player who is only just now signing up for the Society, in order to get the most of my visit to PaizoCon. In the Society rules, I note that one may only incorporate character options from books that they bring with them to the table. This makes sense for local games, but I have a long flight to get to Seattle, so I'm wondering how necessary it will be for PaizoCon.

For example, if I want to use a rule from Horror Adventures, do I need to the hardcover with me at all times? Or would it be sufficient to use the online srd, or a PF rules app? If I need to provide proof that I've purchased a book, I can show the copy in my account's downloads.

I get the impression that this won't be a big deal, but I also don't want to fly 5,000 km only to find myself banished from the tables! Thanks.

that would also be good, i've seen games work well with just having 4 stats

Or three? Body, Mind, Soul?

I know I'm way off base from anything that will ever make it into PF, but it seems so much more elegant, especially from a new player's perspective, than "Strength... Dexterity... Con...something? And some other ones?"

Retool the skill list to provide a few more combat-relevant entries, and you could design a very cool interlocking bonus system:

The barbarian strikes with Body+Intimidate...
The rogue attacks with Body+Stealth...
The illusionist uses Mind+Bluff to confuse her opponents...

And so on.

Same reason why Sorcerer has charisma as main stat. It means force of personality, and that's how you connect with magic at the most basic, intuitive level.

But doesn't "intuitive" imply Wisdom, not Charisma? From the CRB: "Wisdom describes a character’s willpower, common sense, awareness, and intuition."

Can anyone explain why Use Magic Device is a Charisma-based skill?

I'm all for a more balanced application of the base ability scores, and I agree that Charisma could use some love. But I'm hesitant about tying magic item use more closely to Charisma because the connection isn't intuitive to start with.

Maybe, if all magic items in Pathfinder were intelligent and had personalities, it would make more sense. "C'mon, wand, heal me. Pretty please?"

The Inquisitor archetype "Living Grimoire" from Horror Adventures says the following:

"A living grimoire must prepare his spells ahead of time, and can know any number of inquisitor spells. He uses Intelligence instead of Wisdom as his key spellcasting ability score (to determine his spell DCs, bonus spells per day, modifier on concentration checks, and so on), and to determine the effects and number of uses of his domain powers."

I'm stuck on the "and so on" part. For instance, if I choose the Magic domain, the Hand of the Acolyte ability reads:

"You can cause your melee weapon to fly from your grasp and strike a foe before instantly returning. As a standard action, you can make a single attack using a melee weapon at a range of 30 feet. This attack is treated as a ranged attack with a thrown weapon, except that you add your Wisdom modifier to the attack roll instead of your Dexterity modifier (damage still relies on Strength). This ability cannot be used to perform a combat maneuver. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier."

Would a Living Grimoire inquisitor add her Intelligence modifier instead of her Wisdom modifier (instead of her Dexterity modifier) to her attack roll?

The wording in the AP might be vague on this point, but I thought the hobgoblin emissary wasn't supposed to arrive until after the PCs had explored the troglodyte caves. Perhaps your GM decided to alter the order of events without thinking through the consequences it might have for your party.

You certainly did nothing wrong. You can keep searching for a place to settle your refugees -- if your GM knows their business, they can find ways to help with this -- or else you can take the fight directly to the hobgoblins.

(Maybe that emissary left a trail behind that one of your PCs can track? Surely that's not unlawful!)

Thanks for laying all that out, Thune. It's very clear.

I wasn't thinking of Spell Combat, though. What I'd imagined would look something like this:

Declare Spellstrike
Make free melee attack at full BAB against Target A while casting Blade Lash
Use Blade Lash to trip Target B at +10
End Round

If a GM accepted that action (based on the fact that Blade Lash has a range of touch, and should therefore be Spellstrikeable), then a player could incorporate that sequence of actions INTO a Spell Combat attack, thereby getting to cast another spell in the bargain.

But...as I'm explaining it all, I can imagine how I'd respond as a GM if a player tried that out on me. I don't think I'd buy it.

full text for reference

I would say it doesn't work with Spellstrike, since it has a target line of "your melee weapon"

Maybe, but as written the Magus's spellstrike ability includes any spell "with a range of 'touch' from the magus spell list."

Not trying to be pedantic. I've always had trouble distinguishing which spells are fair game for this ability.

Hello!

Blade Lash, from the Advanced Class Guide, works as follows:

Your weapon elongates and becomes whip-like. As part of casting this spell, you can use this weapon to attempt a trip combat maneuver against one creature within 20 feet, and you gain a +10 bonus on your roll, after which the weapon returns to its previous form.

Since the spell has a range of "touch," it would seem to qualify for the magus's spellstrike ability.

Can a magus make a melee attack against Target A using spellstrike, then redirect the trip attempt against Target B 20 feet away?\

Or should the trip attempt only be directed against Target A, since that's the target you've just hit?

Or should Blade Lash not function as a spellstrike spell at all, since the range of "touch" technically means you're touching your weapon, and not a target?

Maybe, since it is the middle of the Market Festival, demand has increased and Oreld's supplies have been somewhat depleted?

If you'd rather stock the shop up to the rafters, go for it. The PCs will still be limited in what they can carry, especially if they want to move swiftly.

Hello all,

What are your favourite fey creatures from Pathfinder's many sources?

Which ones do you think don't get used often enough by GMs, or tend to get used beneath their full potential (for example, a creature with plenty of RP or story-hook potential that, in your experience, tends to end up getting used for target practice)?

Thanks!

I have no source to back this up, but I vaguely remember reading (in 1st Edition D&D material) that the name implied a lich who had ascended to demigod status -- thus "demi[god] + lich."

But I also remember thinking, even as a kid, that it didn't make sense to use the prefix that way. The "half-lich" explanation is better.

I can't open the first link, but the others are fun.

This is a great idea, and helpful for building beyond the sidebar in "Trail of the Hunted" which lists hobgoblin hues and facial features. Thanks!

Haha, I replaced the mites in Kingmaker too, now that I think of it.

I won't start this till mid-January at the earliest, so I can't comment. Why don't you like the mites? Just curious.

I guess it's their unimaginative brand of cruelty. The Bestiary description calls them "pitiful and craven," and says even goblins make fun of them. So they get bullied a lot and then take it out on weaker creatures. The psychological realism of that motive is precisely why I find it so dull.

The fey appeal to me because their cruelty is inscrutable. Mites seem like fey wannabes: they can see the other fey having fun, but they're not in on the joke and it drives them nuts.

Hmm...now that I put it that way, I could see a few ways in which mites could work in conjunction with other fey. But in this AP, they appear only once, outside their usual environment (underground), and their sole purpose is to torture wolf cubs. Pass.

I am GMing Ironfang -- about 5 sessions in, which puts us halfway through Volume 1. I haven't made too many changes yet, except for shifting encounter locations around in the Fangwood so the refugees don't miss anything fun. But here's a change that paid off for me.

I love fey, and I want to drop some early hints to make Vol. 5's fey-focused plot feel earned. The first fey encounter listed in Vol. 1 is with a group of mites who are tormenting a wolf pack. Well, I love fey... but I can't abide mites. So I combed through the Bestiaries to find a suitable fey to replace them.

I settled on chaneques, from B4. And then their creepy stalking tactics and soul-stealing domination powers suggested a bunch of ways to build up this encounter over several sessions. Here's how it played out for me:

Session 3 (the first session after the PCs' escape from Phaendar) ended with a sort of cut-scene of the druid's animal companion wolf prowling through the woods and encountering another wolf pack. They are about to fight, but then the indigenous wolves panic and flee... not from the animal companion, but rather from a dark shape that swoops out of the trees and lobs a skull at the companion's head. End of session.

(Note: if you want to try something like this but you don't have an animal companion or familiar, just choose an NPC from among the refugees -- someone the PCs have already interacted with, so they know their personality a bit.)

Session 4 started with the wolf returning...changed. The druid found him listless and quiet, but he couldn't articulate what had happened to him (ie. the chaneque's soul-stealing effect). But I let the druid control his wolf as usual, and the chaneques didn't make another appearance until the very end of the session, when another cut-scene revealed they were just outside the camp.

(Another note: Most GMs don't do these sorts of cut-scenes, with information that characters don't have access to. With an inexperienced group, it can easily lead to metagaming. But I trust my group to use it as intended -- building atmosphere and suspense.)

Session 5 In the morning, several NPCs had the same malaise as the wolf, but none of the PCs put two and two together (and the couldn't have diagnosed the problem in any case). After foraging for a day, the camp bedded down again...and that's when all hell broke loose. The wolf and the NPCs who'd been struck the night before all attacked the rest of the camp. The PCs had to incapacitate them while trying to figure out what was controlling them (I let them spot the skulls glowing in the trees). They managed to defeat all the chaneques, and crush the skulls, save for one, which got away. That means one of the NPCs is still lacking a soul, and could go rogue at any time.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the PCs deal with this threat. Eventually, I'll have the chaneque return, so they can crush the skull and liberate the NPC. But it seems like a great way to raise tension and remind the players that the Fangwood is a really dangerous place.

Has anyone else made any substitutions in Vol. 1?

Hobgoblins shun arcane magic, so a skald would be rare. But it sounds like you're going for an outcast (and, presumably, a traitor).

There are a few rage powers that relate to Intimidate, so instead of "Unfit" I'd suggest taking the "Fearsome" alternate racial trait (in Advanced Race Guide), which grants +4 to Intimidate checks. "Authoritative" could work instead if you end up being the face of the party.

You might get more build advice by posting in the Advice thread. Good luck!

Maybe the prologue could feature different characters altogether? They might reappear later as NPCs -- scarred and traumatized survivors of the massacre who can provide the PCs with information -- or they could just be expendable, one-time PCs who are destined to die in a teaser sequence that sets up the stakes for the rest of the campaign.

I ran CotCT in its entirety, and I don't regret the investment of time (2 1/2 years!). But in the final analysis, it is an uneven, even scattered, AP, and I don't think adapting it to PFRPG rules will fix that.

I don't think anyone has talked about Book 5 yet. Along with Book 2, it stood out for me as an atmospheric, well-structured adventure -- but its placement in the AP made it feel like a numbing parade of nearly unbeatable horrors. I believe the phrase is "campaign fatigue"?

So, at the risk of derailing the OP's question, I'd go out on a limb and suggest that Paizo could please a lot of fans by adapting Books 2 and 5 into standalone adventures. This might involve borrowing a bit of introductory material from previous chapters, or crafting a new set of hooks (and outcomes). But the results would be far more flexible, and I suspect they'd reach more players intact.

Like many players, I find Perception overused. As a GM, I find it frustrating because it can so easily make or break an adventure.

If there are clues hidden in a room, then it's a safe assumption that the PCs are meant to find them. Botched Perception checks lead to missed clues, which can lead to a derailed or dull story. I will sometimes fudge events to hand PCs the info they need. (For example, "As you move across the room, Rodgar's boot quite accidentally flips back one corner of the rug, and he notices something beneath it...")

The best use for Perception comes when paired against Stealth, to determine surprise rounds. When I GM, I usually do these sorts of rolls behind the screen -- the app "Pathfinder Toolkit" speeds this process up a bit -- so the players do not have to keep saying "I'm keeping an eye out for trouble." The same applies to traps.

Has anyone tried using Plot Twist Cards as an in-game deck, for gambling or games of chance?

Anyone find any in-game use for other unconventional decks? I know the Harrow deck has some card game rules included, but Harrow doesn't quite suit my homebrew world. Never the less, I'd like something more flavourful than the traditional playing-card deck.

All suggestions are most appreciated!

Thanks, Vic!

No, not the card game. I must have posted to the wrong forum.

Hey all, I'm wondering if anyone can recommend any resources for (a) homebrew monster building and (b) cartography.

I'm specifically looking for published resources, either print or PDF. But a second best would be links to advice on podcasts, blog posts or forum threads.

I've dug around a bit but haven't found much that sparks my imagination yet. What are your favourites?

Thanks!

In my gut, I see it more as a function of trying to make the NPC's memorable.

That's an interesting point, Archmagi1, and I believe there's some truth to it, although Paizo's creative team members have also acknowledged they have a progressive social agenda in mind too.

The only problem with the approach you describe is diminishing returns. If every second NPC has a crippling stutter, then that trait fades into the background fairly quickly. So maybe the writers' ultimate goal involves making same-sex relationships seem typical, not "quirky."

It is fascinating to watch this thread wend its way around the original topic. I think that the tangents have been every bit as revealing as the direct replies.

Although some people might use the term "privilege" as a weapon, it is merely a tool, helping to measure how much we might tend to assume that "labels" (ie. differences of race, class, sex, gender, etc.) matter to us, at the gaming table or beyond.

The OP asked us to think about the composition of our gaming groups. Gamers with non-normative identities -- that is, LGBTQ, people of colour, etc. -- probably think about this issue a LOT. In life, they frequently have their differences used against them, and so when they sit down to have fun at the table, they are likely more sensitive to potential divisions or conflicts.

If you have never thought about these issues -- if, indeed, all gamers are just "people" to you no matter what -- then you are probably not in a position where you have to check in constantly, to see if you are surrounded by males, or straight males, or straight cis males.

In short, you are probably gaming from a position of privilege. It's not an insult; it just means you have now been measured, like everybody else.

Hello! One of my players is building an oracle, and wants to take the "lame" curse. During combat, he wants the character to focus on buffing and healing allies. However, he is concerned that he won't be able to move around the battlefield effectively. There are a few ranged buff spells, but it seems like a lot of divine spells are delivered by touch -- including, of course, all cure spells.

I wonder if there is any way for a divine caster to gain access to spectral hand, or an equivalent, so that he can deliver touch spells from a distance? Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Hi, when you get a chance, I'm curious to find out why Order #2911641 is still pending. It was placed on December 1st.

If there are one or two items in the order that have kept it held back, please let me know and I'll remove them, so the rest of the order can ship. Thanks very much!

Greetings! I'm in the process of collecting published materials that could be incorporated into a pirate-themed campaign. My goal is to make the campaign as pure a sandbox as possible, so I expect I'll need a lot of standalone encounters, but I'm not averse to offering mini storylines too. Only full railroaded APs are off the table.

The campaign will use PF rules, but will adopt an original setting. I figure I can adapt material from Paizo, 3rd party publishers, and potentially even products with non-PFRPG rules.

So far, I've got the following materials, but I'd love to get suggestions for more -- and/or feedback on how well you think these products would fit into a sandbox game.

Levels 1-3
AP 37: Souls for Smuggler's Shiv
(This open-form castaway adventure seems like the best way to start a sandbox campaign with some clear boundaries. I might alter the ending to reward PCs with their own ship.)

Levels 4+
AP 56: Raiders of the Fever Sea (A nice open-form sea-faring structure)
Episodes from Razor Coast and Heart of the Razor
Shadows in Freeport
Possibly encounters from Savage Tide AP?

Thanks!

Thanks, LazarX! I never heard of Continuum before reading your post, so I'm very intrigued to see how they handle it.

I agree with Goth Guru, multiple timelines are a headache, and I could see them leading to a lot of arguing at the table. Since one of the central themes of Allu is "the power to change fate," it makes a lot of sense that the time-stream would respond to changes as you describe.

We want time travel to be an active option for most players in Allu, so it won't just be a single artifact or site. But that raises questions about abuse. If characters have ready access to time travel, would they use it to go back and change every failed saving throw? I'd be curious to hear how other gamers have incorporated it into their games.

Terrific, thanks again!

Hello!

Order #2776488 was delayed due to an expired credit card. It has now been updated. Please send me goodies!!!

Thanks,
Scott Sharplin

Also, I think we've settled on the following "wheel" of elements:

Fire (fire) ->
Metal (electricity) ->
Earth (acid) ->
Aether (sonic) ->
Water (cold) ->
(and back to fire)

We chose "aether" instead of "air" to avoid confusion, since the element of air is normally associated with electrical damage in PFRPG.

I realize there are a hundred other permutations here, but do these pairings at least make sense?

Thanks for your continued input, folks!

In Orion's defense: He's got lots of RPG design experience under his belt, but I'm the PFRPG expert on the team. Right now, he's helping to solicit feedback while I'm lurking in the background, prepping a beta-test adventure.

Endzeitgeist's suggestion re: Concentration makes logical sense. I've never been fond of the rules governing concentration checks in PF, but I agree it's more appropriate for "pushing" elements during spellcasting.

And yeah, randomization is part of the flavor of the campaign setting. The elements are unstable in the world itself, so it's not inconceivable to get, say, a waterspout in a volcano.

To the Players of the World: does the idea of random and/or customizable damage types appeal to you?

Thanks ever so much, James!

Hi! Can anyone tell me if material from Mythic Adventures is (or will be) included in Paizo's OGL?

If one were publishing 3PP material which referred to MA by name or page number, or including new options for mythic tiers and abilities, would that be covered by the OGL or not?

Thanks!

I am curious, is there a reason you are not using the Kingmaker adventures to plug the gap? It can definitely help them to get more engaged with the area and have more motivation for the last part.

Don't get me wrong, I love Kingmaker -- indeed, have run it before. But we never got as far as Vol.6 with that campaign, so I'm making some changes to facilitate its inclusion in another game. The Greenbelt will be moved to another part of Golarion, where the characters have their hometown.

Also, Kingmaker Vols.1-5 are sandbox adventures, and these players prefer more linear adventures, with specific goals and confined timelines.

Hi, I'm seeking recommendations for material to fill a gap in my Pathfinder campaign. The party will soon be 11th level, and I don't have any firm plans until 15th level, when I plan to adapt the final chapter of the Kingmaker AP into a climactic storyline.

I've already done a lot of work adapting Pathfinder Modules, AP chapters, and Scenarios to suit the campaign. I'm also willing to consider 3rd party materials.

I'm primarily looking for adventures involving intrigue and/or infiltration... but mostly, I'm curious to hear everyone's favourite adventures for this (sometimes somewhat awkward) range of CRs. Thanks!

Hi, I'm seeking recommendations for material to fill a gap in my Pathfinder campaign. The party will soon be 11th level, and I don't have any firm plans until 15th level, when I plan to adapt the final chapter of the Kingmaker AP into a climactic storyline.

I've already done a lot of work adapting Pathfinder Modules, AP chapters, and Scenarios to suit the campaign. Now, I'm looking for adventures involving either intrigue and infiltration, or cosmic, planes-hopping conflict (or both).

But basically, I'm curious to hear everyone's favourite adventures for this (sometimes somewhat awkward) range of CRs. Thanks!

This seems like a cool project. I'm planning a KS project of my own shortly, so I have personal reasons to observe your progress; but more than that, I love a good horror campaign, so I'm excited to see what yours has to offer.

In the website description, you call The Unhallowed a "horror fantasy" setting, and later a "dark, classic fantasy setting." I'm curious to know more, since "horror" can connote a lot of different styles. Are you leaning towards gothic horror (ie. slow, menacing terrors that corrupt the mind and soul), or modern cinematic horror (ie. armies of zombies), or Lovecraftian horror, or something different?

What sorts of horrors lurk in the "otherwise-uninhabited, hostile lands"? That statement sort of implies undead (since, if the horrors were alive, the lands wouldn't be uninhabited), but I'm not sure. Can you flesh this out a bit?

Sorry if this is too harsh, but this sounds horrific to me. What happens to the displaced soul? At best, I'd guess it's the same thing as if they died. If so, the heroes are essentially killing someone else and taking their place. Even if it's not on purpose, and out of the heroes' control entirely ... I wouldn't like it.

Not harsh at all; I'm glad to get your honest feedback!

What if, instead of displacing another person, the heroes' souls merged somehow with them? The process could then be voluntary, although there might be some secondary effects resulting from the combined psyche.

Alternatively, the heroes' souls might transmigrate into a body just as its own soul is departing. That might be a different sort of creepy, though (inhabiting corpses), plus it doesn't address the problem of whatever caused the new body to die in the first place...

Hello! I’m developing a new Pathfinder-compatible campaign setting for third party publishing, and I’m eager to gather feedback and suggestions about some of the world’s foundational elements. The first of my query threads can be found here: http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2q1pn?New-3PP-Campaign-Setting-Questions-Five-E lements

This question concerns reincarnation. In the campaign world I'm designing, all souls transmigrate upon death. Different faiths have varying interpretations of the process -- some believe in karmic forces that affect what you come back as, while others preach that only appeasing the right deities will help you elevate your status.

Most souls are reborn in infant bodies, with only fleeting memories of their former selves. But some souls -- heroes' souls -- can sometimes displace the souls in fully-grown individuals, and retain their skills and memories.

Behind the screen: this significant change exists to give players a means to cheat death, which should hopefully encourage them to take greater risks, and to make heroic sacrifices a part of the narrative.

Questions, then:
1) How, if at all, would this cosmology affect the basic Pathfinder rules for dying and death?

2) Is it appealing to have a character "jump bodies" upon death?

3) How should spells like raise dead and resurrection be handled? What about reincarnation?

I hope these questions make sense; if not, I’m happy to elaborate upon them. Thanks in advance for your input!

What about using aether as the "5th element"?

Definitely worth considering. It's a variation of "air," but could be associated with organic energy and/or sonic damage. Plus any word starting with "ae" looks great in a fantasy context!

What do you think about Endzeitgeist's suggestion of elements in flux? Imagine that you have a fire-based spellcaster, and you're fighting an ice elemental (cold damage -- your weakness). You could alter your damage type to earth/acid (cold's weakness), which is three steps along the cycle past fire. What sort of cost do you think would be reasonable?

Like others, I'd be keen to hear the results of the survey. And let us know if you plan to post others.

That's a very intriguing idea, Endzeitgeist.

My hope is that whatever changes I make to the magic system could function as an optional template -- something that can be laid overtop of existing PF rules, but removed altogether if the GM prefers to use these campaign materials in a different context.

The elemental flux you describe would fit the bill; races get assigned a starting element, but can then expend points or make checks to alter that element, one stage at a time. Or maybe a spellcaster who needs to throw a lightningball (ie. fireball, but with the damage type shifted to the next element) casts burns a higher spell slot?

It is also a way to distinguish heroes in this world, since the average members of most races won't be able to change their element, even if they could cast spells.

Thanks again for the feedback! I'll be posting some more questions soon; I hope you'll stop by!

"Source" will, at least in my group, result in endless Highlander: The Source-references and face-palming. Not sure if I'm alone with it, but personally, I'd rename that one.

Thanks for your feedback, Endzeitgeist. It saddens me a bit that such a common word as "Source" can be made bankrupt by a direct-to-DVD sequel. But then, if the alternative is "Force," I guess another franchise has already scooped that. Any other suggestions?

1) Fire-> Fire, Earth -> Acid, Water -> Cold, Metal -> Electricity, Wood ->...sonic? Not fitting, but there's not another damage type on par with these apart from sonic. Force is too strong when compared to the others. If you go for the Wu Xing, have you checked out Heroes of teh JAde Oath by Rite Publishing?

That's the lineup I figured. Wood/sonic does feel like a stretch, but maybe it's some sort of organic, pulse-of-life, ki-style energy?

2) Elemental weaknesses can be boring. We've seen the "fire is good versus ice"-angle OFTEN by now. If you go that route, please don't make wood a boring con-bonus etc.

Perhaps, but in the Wu Xing, it is water/cold energy which overcomes fire. When I playtested this campaign setting, it took my players a while to get used to the new system of strengths and weaknesses, but I think they found it a refreshing change from the (Western) norm.

3) Too limiting. And boring. And redundant. Elemental specialists have their place - but honestly, they're no selling point. At least for me. More so if items and low level spells can make you immunity versus the elemental mage-one-trick-ponies.

Maybe it's just a matter of working an elemental component into the other schools and bloodlines. Any ideas how I might go about making elemental magic more appealing?

Hello! I’m developing a new Pathfinder-compatible campaign setting for third party publishing, and I’m eager to gather feedback and suggestions about some of the world’s foundational elements. I don’t want to reveal too much all at once, so I’m focusing these thread topics on specific, mechanical issues – but I’m happy to discuss other aspects of the setting, if they seem relevant to the discussions.

I’m interested in expanding upon the five-element system outlined in Ultimate Magic. In essence, this campaign world will be Godforged from five essential materials – Fire, Metal, Wood, Earth, and Water – with a sixth material (called Source) combining the five elements into one. Unlike the four-element system, which uses direct oppositions, the five-element system is designed to function as a cycle, with each element dominating the next one in the chain.

Some questions I’d love feedback on:

1) If the five elements were associated with Pathfinder’s energy types, which arrangement would make the most sense?

2) I plan to associate a specific element with each race in the campaign world. For example, dwarves might be earth-dominant, orcs fire-dominant, and so forth. What sorts of attributes (bonuses or weaknesses) do you think could arise from this system?

3) Assuming all spellcasters are aligned with a specific element, they might only be able to deal one specific type of energy damage (like sorcerers with the elemental bloodline). Is it too limiting to impose this system upon ALL casters? What mechanical provisions might help to make this system balanced and workable?

I hope these questions make sense; if not, I’m happy to elaborate upon them. Thanks in advance for your input!

I see, thanks. I suspected it might not be out yet, but I couldn't find a release date on the product page.

In 2017 I released Mechfinder, a mech supplement for Starfinder.

I just found out that Eldritch Osiris Games is releasing a mech supplement for PF2e called Mechfinder.

What can I do about this?

Does anyone still have their hands on any of these things distributed during the initial marketing push for 5E? I'm having trouble finding the old stuff they sent out telling people how to discuss the thing as retailers and spokespeople.

It'd ease things a lot around here. Too often we're left wondering if some bigot is still there, waiting to pounce.

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence since Rita Hester's death, and began an important tradition that has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

-Description from GLAAD

So now that it's out, who has had the opportunity to compare the systems?

Mechfinder reference

If one were to expand Mechfinder, what could you steal from Tech Revolution (or vice versa)?

I went to check on something I'd favourited as a bookmark and saw that every favourite since 2013 is gone.

All of them.

What happened?

:)

This is clearly a weak point. This has been admitted.

You say you can't hire any, but most RPG forums and communities use volunteer mods. Why couldn't that work here?

The reasons should be self-evident by now.

A thing came up in a discussion elsewhere and I'm curious about how much player groups differ over distances with regards to a particular rule.

How often do players in your experience:

1. Play a character that has ASF?
2. Roll it without the GM reminding them?

Or is this just a common houserule that people assume is somewhere in the rules and haven't actually checked?

I can't find it.

I have started a project with a few friends. Because I suffer from severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, I can't properly run full campaigns anymore. So instead, I built a framework for players to worldbuild and collaborate on a setting they want to play in. There's also room for prospective Gamemasters that might want to run one-shots.

Almost all of our players are queer, a high proportion trans and many are plural, too.

Evolving Wilds Discord Link

Intro blurb:

A hundred years ago, a dark power took hold of the BABEL STONE and used it to shatter the words of the STORY and eliminate existence forever. But those threads could only be scattered, not destroyed, and they have come back together. The world is now jumbled, chaotic, unknown. But people from across distant realms live together now, rebuilding and rediscovering the Evolving Wilds.

System: Pathfinder 1st, Spheres of Power replaces all magic, Spheres of Might and Champions of the Spheres allowed.

Ghost In The Shell/Alita style brain in a wholly artificial body.

How would you do it? Just rebuild the character from scratch as an SRO? Or something else?

Animal, aberration or magical beast?

What's the difference?

The Crest-Eater could easily just be an animal, since animal can now include alien wildlife. The same is true of the Caypin.

You are passengers on the starship Hope's Peak, a luxury civilian cruiser on a leisurely voyage between each of the Pact Worlds. Your trip has been pleasant so far, having begun at Aballon and stopped at each of the worlds thereafter and has just left the vast city-ship, the Idari. You retire to your cabins as the crew prepares the ship's Drift Drive to carry you safely on to Triaxus (nobody wants to go to Eox on a luxury cruise).

When you awaken, something feels different. Something feels wrong. You exit your cabin into silence. The ship should be full of the bustle of crewmembers serving passengers and readying the ship for dock. It is silent. It is empty.

You find others still present, all other passengers. Not a single crewmember can be found. You make your way to the bridge. All of the controls are unresponsive, and the ship's viewports reveal a dark vista. This is not the Golarion system. This is not any system. You are adrift in the vast emptiness between the stars.

Once you have all gathered on the bridge to discuss what to do, an image flicks onto the main viewscreen. A sinister figure, one eye empty and black as the void itself and the other blazing with the light of a dying red star.

She cackles, her voice sounding through every speaker on the ship. It is bone-chilling, supernatural in timbre.

"This is your captain speaking. Ah, now that you're all here, I can tell you about tonight's shipboard activities and amusements. I took the liberty of arranging a fun little diversion I call 'The Mutual Killing Game'."

She smiles, displaying wickedly sharp teeth.

"Oh, and I suppose you're wondering what happened to your previous captain and crew. Don't worry. They won't be experiencing nearly as much despair as all of you. In fact, they've found their unexpected spacewalks so peaceful that they decided never to return. How delightful!

Let me introduce myself. I am The One Unhued. Is that a bit too grandiose for our exciting entertainment? Well, then. You may call me Captain Umbra!"

She puts on a captain's cap. You recognise it as the one that your former captain wore. Umbra looms close in the viewscreen, her one red eye flaring with the somber plumes of an aged sun.

"I bet you're dying to know what the rules of the game are. It's very simple: Some amongst you are my friends! You've already helped me so much by disposing of the crew. Now you get to start murdering the passengers! But alas, you are dreadfully outnumbered and now they're on guard. You'll have to be sneaky about it.

The rest of you probably don't want to be slaughtered mercilessly, so it's up to you to figure out who the attackers are and kill them first! If you kill all of my friends, I'll graciously reactivate the ship's Drift Drive and you can go home! If you all die, well, at least you got to participate in all this fun. It's win-win!"

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This is the recruitment post for a game of Starfinder Mafia! Once enough players have signed up, I will randomly assign roles to each of you. The game is divided into the DAY PHASE and the NIGHT PHASE.

The game begins with the DAY PHASE, with all of you standing on the bridge right after the deadly announcement. You may spend this time roleplaying, getting to know each other, and making wild accusations and/or terrified gibbering.

A few of you will be DEVOURER CULTISTS. You know each other and must mingle with the other passengers to avoid being detected. Each night, you collude with each other and decide to murder one passenger. The cultists win if they are the only ones left on the ship. The game then passes to the DAY PHASE

The rest of you will be PASSENGERS. You don't know the true identities of anyone else on the ship and your goal is to eliminate the cultists. Each day you (and the cultists in their guise as passengers) will vote on who you think is a cultist. The one with the most votes will be killed.

Depending on how many players we end up with, some of you will be assigned SPECIAL ROLES. Which roles are present in the game and what their special abilities are will be announced when the game begins, but the identities of each role is secret.

-

You may start making characters and submitting them under this post. You don't need stats or a character sheet for this game, just an identity that you wish to roleplay as a passenger on the Hope's Peak.

Do not begin roleplay in this thread. It's just for recruitment!

Hello!

For the last month I have been working on what is currently called 'Mechfinder', a system for highly-detailed construction of mechs and their use in Starfinder.

It is integrated with both personal combat and space combat. Rules are included for the support, maintenance and transport of mechs with starships.

As of the time of writing, it sits at about 15k words and I expect I might hit 18-20k by the time it is finished.

This is a work in progress and I'd like to work with an interested publisher in bringing it to completion. I can provide a link to the WIP on Google docs. :)

Please get in touch if you want the best and most in-depth mech system Starfinder has seen so far!

You and your buddies fly your ship into a swarm of enemy craft and come out victorious. You clear the drifting ships of any remaining defenders.

So time comes to salvage.

Can you strip down captured ships for their BP?

Just tell me what you'd want to see in a Starfinder-compatible mech addon.

What do you want mechs to be capable of?

What cool stunts would you try to pull off in a mech?

What kind of magical additions would you want on a mech?

What class features would you like to be usable in a mech?

Note that they are not just big power armour. The mech system is fully realised and compatible with both personal and space combat, with mechs as customisable as SF starships (in fact, using a tier and BP system).

Especially relevant if the players decide to pick up a hangar expansion bay. Do they just spend their carrier's build points to buy the fighters and treat them as equal to the carrier's tier?

All calculated according to this post.

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.

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SIZE ............. LENGTH ............... WEIGHT
Tiny .............. 20-60 ft. .............. 2.5-65 tons
Small ............ 60-120 ft. ............ 65-530 tons
Medium ........ 120-300 ft. .......... 530-8,300 tons
Large ........... 300-800 ft. .......... 8,300-160,000 tons
Huge ............ 800-2,000 ft. ....... 160,000-2,500,000 tons
Gargantuan . 2,000-15,000 ft. ... 2,500,000-1,000,000,000 tons
Colossal ....... Over 15,000 ft. .... Over 1,000,000,000 tons

Weight is in US tons to two significant digits.

My Technomorph (cybernetic shapeshifter) class is nearing completion, pending only playtesting and tidying.

I'm also working on MECHFINDER, which I may call something else because it's about giant robot battles and to be honest, they are not very hard to find.

Mechs can be used in personal combat, mech to mech combat or starship combat (although their movement options are very limited there without added flight capabilities).

At the moment, encountering a mech while on foot has a CR equal to the mech's tier +5. A powerful party can take them down! A mech is a truly frightening opponent, with numerous combat options in a single turn.

It's not just about shooting, either. You can man advanced tactical consoles, coordinating and inspiring strike forces. Or install a cyberwarfare suite in your mech and hack your enemies into ejecting all their ammunition! Magical characters can channel their spells through techno-magical spell capacitors to power up arcane devices installed on their mechs, and solarions can employ the unique Solar Conduit to meld their energies with the mech's own weapons or defenses.

I don't have the book yet. How many of them could be reasonably well-approximated using the Starfinder classes and rules?

Let's say your average starship is about five times as long as it is tall and wide.

A starship's density should be about 0.25 metric tons per cubic metre. A jet airliner has an average density of 0.27, but 0.25 is a nicer number to work with for approximations.

So for the above starship with proportions of 5:1:1, to calculate its total mass in metric tons, all you need is:

m = l³ / 100

Where l is the ship's length in metres along its longest axis. If you start with the mass and want length, it's the same thing in reverse:

l = ∛(m * 100)

Say you summon a Lillend. They are cool friends from good realms that know a lot of stuff. Within the span of the summoning spell's duration, can you ask questions? Could you ask the Lillend the name of an outsider she knows that might be willing to pop over for a binding to help out these good guys in a desperate situation?

I imagine a book with a chapter for each major AP, detailing world-scale consequences of success or failure. Would that be interesting?

Stone Swap
School conjuration (teleportation); Level sorcerer/wizard 6
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
EFFECT
Range touch
Targets touched creature
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes

You swap a creature with a statue that takes on its appearance, making it look like it was petrified.

Before you can cast this spell, you must have at least one nonmagical stone statue affected by your arcane mark.

When you cast this spell on a creature, you may designate a marked statue that is the same size as the creature. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is teleported to the location of the statue and the statue is teleported to the creature's location simultaneously; they swap places and the arcane mark on the statue ends. If any effect would prevent either the creature or the statue's teleportation, or the statue has been destroyed, the spell fails without effect.

The statue arrives altered to appear as though the creature had just been petrified, regardless of the statue's original appearance. This effect leaves a lingering aura of the transmutation school of the same strength as the original spell, in addition to the normal aura of the conjuration school.

Hmm. Maybe the writing could do with some tidying. I think the idea is sound. :3

One complaint I often see is the ability of spellcasters to absolutely precisely land explosions in exactly the right place between a roiling melee of combatants such that it only hits enemies.

What if you could never be entirely certain of the precise radius of your effects? You could clip a nearby ally with that fireball.

How would this work?

Imprecise Areas
When determining which targets are affected by an instantaneous area effect, each target immediately adjacent to the edge of the area has a 50% chance to be affected as if it were inside the area.

Image

This board is dead and buried, huh?

Oh well. Here's a post. It's my first time trying out OSL and I think it turned out okay, even if I only had a potato with which to take the photo. The piece is still in progress. At this point I'd only done the blacks and greens.

I always feel somewhat uncomfortable when they come up. The prospect of seeing them as a core race gives me ill feelings. I remember the days of '-4 STR'. Is this edging on that?

I'm making a Soulfire Master/Devourer Thaumaturge and I'm being given the option of gestalting with a few restrictions:

If I gain another casting progression, I only gain the better of the two, not both. This progression can benefit from spell-modifying class abilities of both classes where appropriate.

Spherecasting is the only available type of spellcasting, although spell-likes work as normal.

The character is a creepy destruction/dark cultist weirdo that wants to wield the hideous powers of the enemy (not that we know exactly what the enemy is yet) against its own forces.

At the moment I'm thinking of taking Incanter as my other half, gaining an eventual +20 talents over what Thaumaturge would normally have. It does, however, leave two bad saves. :I

What do?

Millions, perhaps even billions of people must have been doing incredibly dangerous or life-saving work when their memory got blanked.

Also, what happened to culture and science? Since recorded information was erased as well, do people have to invent new cultures from scratch, pieced together by influence of what relics of their now-unknown civilisation surround them?

With vehicles becoming a more integral part of the game, what are we to do with spaceships (and creatures) that are above Colossal in size?

Both the Millennium Falcon and a Star Destroyer are bigger than Colossal, but one is clearly magnitudes larger than the other.

Do we need an extension of the size categories? Or something else?

Star Nymphs?
Cyberpixies?
Treeship Dryads?
Aerospace Gremlins?

A spinoff of the classic aliens thread:

What unusual features would you like to see in Starfinder aliens? What's new and unique or not well-explored that could make an encounter interesting?

Anyone know where to find such a thing?

Let's say you see an enemy behind a pane of glass and shoot at them with a ranged weapon. What happens?

Consider this:

What happens to the narrative if you describe failed will saves not as breached mental defenses, but as a failure of character, a submission to temptation or flaws? That the character chooses, of their own will (as determined by the roll of the die), to take the worse option?

In this case, the will save represents not just a psychic wall against effects, but strength of character. What kind of game would arise from this idea?

Aesthetically going for something very Tsutomu Nihei (Blame!) if possible.

Does anyone know of a miniature that resembles Pcell or the Dismantler (Netsphere Engineer)?

Try to be both original and faithful to the setting (as much as we know about it, at least)! Here's one to start us out:

Iomedae's Light
Iomedae's Light is a mobile strike craft built around a single powerful forward laser battery. What makes it distinctive is the 'Divinity Node', a device that allows a paladin to channel the power to smite evil through the ship and into its laser and shield emitters. The Iomedae's Light sacrifices some conventional firepower and protection, excelling primarily against interstellar abominations of evil, be they sinister void beasts or Infernal hellships fueled by the suffering of the lost.

So, I'm to make a level 1 character using Spheres of Power in place of the Vancian magic system. Conventional classes are allowed, albeit per the conversions that replace their casting.

This means gestalting two casting classes does not stack casting. I'm considering doing a healy, naturey, 'druid-themed' soul weaver, but I haven't a clue what I should use for my second class.

Any ideas?

And if not for that concept, just in general what are good gestalt SoP combos?

1. A wheel half in an area of reverse gravity, used as the ship's generator.

2. Everyone's favourite old point-portals to various planes for use as electricity generation or even materials sources for shipboard replicators.

3. A magical teleportation chamber that attempts to teleport bombs aboard the enemy ship.

Add more! Or countermeasures to previously posted devices.

I woke up with some ideas and I'm going to try to get them down here before I run out of energy or become to miserable to do so.

The role of cybernetics in a future society

Different societies may look on kinds of cybernetics very differently. In some, augmentation may be all-pervasive, seen as no more unnatural as you see your smartphone. Integrating technology into yourself to make life easier, healthier and all around more convenient may be utterly the norm. Such a society may have a highly-regulated and widespread cybernetics industry. The tradeoff of easy access to the technology is that you are wired into their global (or even interstellar) system. This might not be a Facebook you can opt out of; Those without all the latest augments may be locked out of modern conveniences like someone without email and a phone. For most, this is fine. Adventurers might prefer not to use commercial grade gear if they want to keep their activities under cover.

Another option is that cybernetics are available only to those that can afford them: The tools of the elite that elevate them even further above the unagumented populace. The rulers look out over the masses through digital eyes, augmented ubermenches defending their high stations with exclusive technology. Their militaries may be likewise heavily augmented, mechanical superiority the reward for (perhaps chip-enforced) loyalty. This kind of equipment would be quite superior and possibly even unethical in the R&D methods used to produce it. This kind of high-end cyberware would be ideal for adventurers, if difficult to obtain.

The reverse is a society that sees cybernetics as ugly, crude tools for keeping unskilled workers relevant in an age increasingly dominated by automation. Such devices may be very obvious, unfashionable and even grotesque. Still, an adventurer might find the capabilities of a living bulldozer quite applicable to his or her work.

Of course, these are just three of many possibilities. I don't expect the Starfinder universe to be uniform in its take on cybernetics in society.

Cybernetic installation limitations

I have been thinking about how to go about balancing cyberware for characters in a way that doesn't leave the unaugmented left out.

One option is that cyberware is simply the 'Big Six' of Starfinder. You don't go without it. A 20th level character is a synthetic god. Or that it simply competes with magic items for the same position, granting non-stacking bonuses. Is there room for someone that wants neither technology nor magic?

In the same way, it could simply be treated as equipment. How much difference is there between a suit of armour and dermal plating? Both do exactly the same job. That armour can be removed easily may be both an advantage or a disadvantage. It is hard to say which is better. Pay the price for whichever one you want and you aren't charged anything more than money and perhaps a proficiency feat for it (if those still exist); armour proficiency or cyberware proficiency. Such a cyberware proficiency could come in similar grades of 'none', 'light', 'medium' and 'heavy'. A technomancer might begin with heavy cyberware proficiency whereas a mystic might have light or none.

I certainly don't want cyberware to be limited by specific character stats, as that locks cyborgs into a very narrow range of characters. Look at the cast of Ghost in the Shell. Almost all of them are cybered to the nines and yet they each have their different way of operating and unique skillsets.

If it is limited by con, every cyborg must be the tough guy. If it is limited by int, every cyborg must be the smart guy. And so on.

Perhaps then, something abstract like level or hit dice might be required to limit it? That might feel weird.

Making room for more machine

I've also been thinking about the possibility of reducing function in some areas in order to make more space for cybernetics. For example, removing your entire digestive system to put in a powerplant and some fancy gadgets: You haven't removed your need for food, and must now subsist on a synthetic nutrition fluid produced externally.

Drawbacks in exchange for cybernetic 'slots' or whatever might lead to drastically more characterful cyborgs; they have the choice to become even more machine than ever if they are willing to sacrifice normality.

Gain vulnerability to hacking in exchange for more mental upgrade space. Gain vulnerability to a technomancer's 'control robot' spells to gain more motor systems. Etc.

After all, do we want cyborgs to simply have exactly the same requirements and lifestyle as ordinary sophonts?

General Susumu is Lawful Evil. His clerics can only channel negative energy.

He grants the glory domain. Its powers rely on channeling positive energy and includes good-aligned spells.

Wut?

Rubicante, Quindiovatos, Osolmyr and Uruskreil, all evil, have the same problem.