GypsyMischief's page

Let's just skip 2 and go straight to 3.

You want to "Respect tradition"? Alright, so, play a fighter until 9th level, then, at 10th level if you're lawful good and have 17 charisma, 12 wisdom, and 14 constitution, you can be a paladin. Congrats, you now can now cast spells as a cleric 1/3 your level, and cast "Detect Evil" at will.

Paizo are aware of the cultural fad RPGs currently are, and they know that their game has a reputation for being complex and mechanically heavy. They already have your money, now they want some of that Crit-Role fan money.

Great updates to some ancient D20 sacred cows.

The Princess of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs

I can't believe that archetype actually exists.

Sounds super cool, I'm so in love with rolling randomly for occupation, not to mention spooky westerns.

Perhaps an alternative system? Such as Savage Worlds or FATE? I'd be happy to share my d20 Modern pdfs if it'd help the cause.

This is the best ^^^

So I've settled on a Dwarven mechanic for my concept. I'm imagining him as a boozed up Metalhead that spends most of his time in a garage surrounded by rusted out ratrods and a few bongs. Haven't quite decided on a class, but I'll probably end up going with Barbarian.

Super cool, sleeping on a character concept.

Extremely interested in the Modern Fantasy angle, I'm immediately getting visions of a Dwarven Mechanic who simply passes as a stout barfly. I always have a sort of block when I try to apply the Pathfinder classes to a modern setting, but I'm heartily excited. The episodic nature of the game is also alluring. Have you considered using D20 Modern and the Urban Arcana setting? They're a bit dated, but designed for this purpose.

So for the first setting you suggest, is the world at large mostly the same? Just a bit darker in the dark places? Perhaps the academics, mystics and occult theists of the world know that there are things crawling in the shadows, but not average Joe Blow? I'm pretty stoked, not to be overwhelming.

Highly interested, always loved 4th edition but it seems somewhat difficult to play via PBP. If we can get a bit of a conversation going there might be something here.

New GM's should never allow 3rd party classes, let alone homebrews from the depths of the 3.5 wiki. This is a manipulative move on the player's part, and I'm a little grossed out. Looking over the class it seems like it replicates a good handful of useful and devastating arcane spells on top of being an extremely accurate ranged combatant. I'm not figuring out how you determine what cards you draw. I'm sure the intention is that in person you would draw from a real deck of cards, but I got the impression that your game was online? Anyway, this class seems like a load of hogwash to me, I'd never allow it. If the player simply wants to play as Gambit I'd allow a Shuriken build to be re-flavored as a card thrower, otherwise the above poster linked some useful material. I have a sneaking feeling that the player in question simply found a broken class with a flavor they enjoy and is puling the wool over the GM's eyes.

Edit: Realized about halfway through writing that you didn't mean that your GM is new to GMing, but new to your group.

Interested in participating as a Ranger, raised as a guard and escort for a small riverbound merchant family. Is there a player's guide to refer to?

I'm curious what races are permitted as well, the Polynesian flavor sounds interesting.

Does anyone have any media recommendations to get the right feel for the atmosphere of the setting?

There's a forum lingo thread somewhere around here.

I once did a similar set up with a 2nd level party and an Allosaurus. The PC's were supposed to gawk and flee in terror, but they didn't. Instead, the Samurai drew his sword and told the rest of them to run. He died extremely unceremoniously in an instance of "It's what my character would've done", so, in short, watch out for this kind of behavior.

If you want to incite fear into your players, especially when using a humanoid creature, you really have to play up the power of it. Describe the Erlking as projecting an aura of light befitting of a sunset, it's eyes burning with an alien glow. Their eyes cannot truly make out it's features, as it's mere presence warps the space around it, making ripples in reality all around it. They feel the heat of the summer sun under it's gaze and the icy hand of winter in it's voice. It is a creature too beautiful to behold, with an inhuman grace.

Any member of the party educated in fey or monster lore simply know this foe is beyond them. Erlkings are quite literally the vengeance of nature incarnate, and fey royalty. It wouldn't even take them seriously as foes, instead most likely animating a mob of treants to teach the troublesome mortals a thing or two about respect.

TL;DR - Humiliate the party, the Erlking is so far beyond them that it would treat their tenacity as a curiosity, lile a cat playing with a mouse.

I would reccomend against using CR 20 or higher creatures, since your players are going to be getting dropped into a level 20 character without having taken the time to learn the nuances that come with that particular build, and therefore won't be playing these characters to their full potential. Also, remember that you can always slap class levels and templates on any creature to try and bring it up to snuff. It's much easier to make weak monsters buff than the other way around.

Throw some iconic high level creatures at them, Treants, Giants, Demons, maybe a dragon even. Just make sure they are creatures you can effectively run without the game tirning into a sloggy borefest.

+1 to the idea that you should make more pregens than the number of players you expect to have. Honestly I think you should let the players build their own characters of whatever class you decide (or you all decide together, as a group, since you're all playing the game) As a player I can't stand pregens, but love the idea of a single class party.

Why?

Of all the classes that can break a game, Alchemist tends to rank lower on the list, Your GM is lucky none of you are playing a real threat build. He obviously lacks imagination if he can't think of any pther ways to challenge you and your...three mightyish rounds of bomb throwing per day. Also, a lot of creatures resist fire, pro tip.

Kill the NPC. Unforseen complications caused the illness to accelerate and claim their beloved NPC. There's nothing wrong with them failing, it's not really your responsibility to constantly remind them of their motivation. However, in this case I would turn it into a murder mystery, strongly implying to the players that upon autopsy (or whatever) the death seems fishy.

I tend to use demons more, they're easier to fit into the shadowy places of the world that your players might stumble into. I've never actually used a dragon in combat, they've always been more of a set piece. A symbol of power that humbles the players and reminds them of their place in the gameworld, and their potential for growth.

Demon, on the other hand, to me just means "Being from another plane who is either objectively evil, or whose intentions are so alien that they can only be perceived as evil." and as such are a much more versatile creature. But I can see how they seem stale to those who stick to the Pathfinder lore and cosmology.

So, they're arguing rules with zero grey area and challenging the authority of the GM? They simply need to understand that the RAW doesn't care how they think something should work, the game plays the way it does. I find it's very rare that you come across a player who throws legitimate child-like tantrums, but it does happen. Some folk simply can't handle things not going their way, it's a core personality flaw that's extremely difficult to make them aware of.

Do you have any specific examples? Are they just unaware of their character's capabilities and feel as though the GM is ruling against them? Or, and I say this purely in the spirit of the Devil's advocate, perhaps y'all are a bit harder on rulings than you think you are.

To answer your question, here's what I'd say: The Game Master is the final arbiter of the game. They are the storyteller, the worldbuilder, and the referee all wrapped into one. The constant rules disputes bring the game to a grinding halt and make it less enjoyable for everyone else involved. If you feel as though you are being personally ruled against feel free to approach me outside of the game and we can discuss it. However, sometimes the dice turn against you, and there is nothing you can do about it. You're always welcome to run your own game.

Cue the flood of applications

They're also THE most developed class in the practice of arcane magic. It stands the reason that they have the least time to devote to weapon practise.

And if you think you have rough now? In the old days you were proficient in ONE weapon, your choice of staff OR dagger, and you had ONE count it.. ONE first level spell per day when you were first level.

Don't talk to me like I wasn't there, rolling 1 on a d4 for hit die, rolling protection from evil, hold portal and affect normal fires as the only spells in my spellbook. I did my time.

Trading the Orc for the children is a pretty brutal move. I mean, she might be down, seeing as how the BBEG is slain and the children she came to save/avenge were turned to undead who've now been murdered twice, it might make sense for her to submit to being turned over to the Efreeti so that no more children suffer, although that would make her the most noble orc that has ever been. The morality of that situation really depends on how the sacrifice feels about it.

Personally, if I was this Efreeti I would just go home, I can come to the prime material and snatch slaves whenever I want, no need to tangle with these ratcatchers just to kidnap some brats, hell, I didn't even want to be there today, I was busy on the plane of fire, living my own life.

I think the players forfeited their opportunity to gain some sort of boon from this genie when they freed him, he really should've just planeshifted immediately, unless it explicitly vowed to assist them if they broke the circle.

Cleric can choose from some awesome ones like the Luck Domain which gives you double d20s on every roll(easy hits and crits especially on full attacks).

Luck domain does not do that, for the record. It allows you to touch a target as a standard action, for the following round the target may roll 2d20 and take the better result. 3+Wis mod/per day. Then, at 8th level, you may reroll a d20 roll as an immediate action before the results are found out for every six levels of cleric you have.

Not to derail, but I'd rather clarify this for anyone keeping score.

Allow me to consult my d100 port town occurences chart...

-The PCs see a group of folk gathered around a cauldron of butter, cracking 4ft wide crab shells open with maces and sledgehammers, laughing and gorging themselves.

-A dock worker shouts in warning as cargo being removed from a nearby ship breaks it's restraints and tumbles violently to the ground (Reflex to dodge or be cast through the dock into the shark infested waters below?)

Not exactly combat, but certainly favorful

You're not gonna find much in the way of a ranged battlefield controller that uses a mundane weapon. What elements of the class are you looking to replicate?

Off topic, but I'm personally tired of the trope that mages are completely inept in non magical combat. Also, has anyone else noticed that the Wizard is limited to 5 weapon proficiencies while the other 3 full casting arcane classes have full proficiency with simple weapons? That's bullshit.

Interested, moving in the direction of a Half-Orc or Vishkanya Sorcerer, lately Ive found the serpent bloodline interesting.

Lots of people play lots of different systems, you're not wasting time by getting invested in Pathfinder, your books won't fade away if you don't find a table right away. There are niche communities for every game, if you're new to the hobby it will probably blow your mind how many different games are out there. Honestly I'm jealous that you have a local shop with a 12 player gaming community, regardless of the system they're playing.

I recommend introducing yourself and getting involved anyway, maybe after you make friends you can wrangle a few of them into a private Pathfinder game. Offer to run it, that always helps.

Look into Savage Worlds, it has a mechanic for having hinderances that cover all these various disabilities. The system isn't quite convertible to Pathfinder, but it gives an idea as to what sort of penalty a hinderance like that can bring. Personally I would let most of these character traits just be fluff unless it needs to be brought up. The fat wizard's body weight may only come into question when the party is squeezing through a tunnel, or cramming onto a canoe with the rest of the party, but may not need to be a constant hinderance.

In my opinion it's not that the later classes and options are too powerful for new players, they just dont need that many options. Unless a player is specifically asking to play a character that you know could be easily represented by a Magus or Slayer just have them use core. However, if they're already accustomed to RPG's and are just new to Pathfinder you could probably get away with opening a few more books.

So there's a Beast Riding Cavalier, Aerokineticist and a Barbarian?

To my extreme frustration my PDF viewer is acting up, I'll try to find the readable versions online, but I may have to withdraw due to technical difficulties, which would make me cry.

Edit: I've found the Pokedex, it's coming together

I was gonna ask for a Gastly! As a Ninja Boy though, no matter, you asked first, haha

I've run across PTA before, but never PTU, regardless I'm extremely interested and currently perusing the PDF. That character sheet is mind boggling gigantic, the seeming weight of this game is a bit daunting, but I'm excited to give it a try.

I thought it was super odd that a player was choosing the other players.

Interest Check

Why vinegar?

I'd be interested, but not if everyone's going to cherry pick the best iconics statistically, I just don't have the energy for that.

So can I have your books if you're not using them?

In all seriousness though quite a few of the hardbacks are just chock full of player options, so outside of creating NPC's a GM has little use for most of the material. Don't get down because you don't seem to be using Ultimate Magic or whatever else, if you ever get to play you very well may. I haven't been able to sit down with a copy of occult adventures so I don't yet allow those classes or spells at my table, not that I suspect they're unbalanced or something, but there's already more than enough to choose from.

Interested, thinking Half-Orc Paladin.

Took the word right out of my mouth.

I'd argue that she has one level in Commoner and one level in Aristocrat. The first level gained being a housemaid and the second level gained watching her deplorable family act courtly and posh. She never really does anything when you think about it, making me think that she's extremely mundane and low level as a character.

Dot, very interested. Probably leaning towards a Human conjuror or transmutationist, but you know.

This would hilarious.

Make a magic circle around the perimeter of the mansion perhaps? Consecrated by a dozen priests of various faiths, marking additional holy symbols on each door and window. Gargoyles were intended to scare off evil spirits back in the day, plus they're beautiful. Keep a stable and a pack of guard dogs, goblins hate both of these critters in Pathfinder lore. A garlic patch will warn vampires that you mean business. There are various herbs in real druidic, hoodoo, and western ceremonial magic that are sprinkled over doorframes and windowsills to ward off negative spirits. The English fey were repulsed by salt...it goes on.