Harkevich's page

It's like the undead. Followers of Pharasma do what they can, but can't be everywhere at once. Even the popular gods have trouble enforcing their will on 10% of the population.

I really, really want to do a wizard in plate armor. Not sensible plate armor either - I should be like a thick tank that shoots fireballs and scoots through the explosion at 2mph

Lawful Neutral paladin who's sole concern is whether or not the law is being followed wherever he is - regardless of his personal beliefs. "I consult with the Druid to see if murder is against the law of the wilds" - "I'm sorry, but Dark Lord Evildoom clearly is in his rights to sacrifice virgins according to the Bylaws of EvilKeep". I'm not enough of an arse to play such a character but I secretly want to.

Disaffected Teenager was Happy Teenager until this brutal gravy-less world got to him.

A Museum of Zodar
A _____ of Half-Drow

297. Authoritative Film cannot deny this rule

299. Excessive Elvish Nationality and Racism will no longer be tolerated

300. A person cannot play the Imperial March upon entering their gateroom without at least 12 Anti-Paladin levels

301. Muppets are no longer a valid companion type

302. Mentioning either of the US Presidential primaries forces an immediate damage roll of 1d20 against their character

303. Repeated mentions of the current political situation will summon a Terrasque

304. 'Trump' is not a valid word in any Golarian language

305. 'Drumpf' is an acceptable Drow surname

306. Bringing real armor and weapons to the table will incur a +1 base attack bonus (Badass)

One of the reasons most people's arguments are ineffective is that they don't provide a path for those they talk to travel from their current opinion to the new one.

Some opinion can be foolish or insane, in either reality or in our own view. Noone likes the idea of seeming to provide grounds for a irrational person and many are truly unlikely to give us the same curtesy. Plato and his mentor Socrates were masters of enduring some pretty (to us) silly opinions and then leading people to thier own point of view. After all, if a person can't be lead to your oint of view, what is the point in responding to them in the first place?

As an example, assume you come across someone how believes something unreasonable - like that Mountain Dew is better for growing plants than normal water:

You start with stating their case in good faith. PepsiCo states that Mountain Dew is what plants crave. I can see that some liquids would be beneficial when used in addition to/or in place of water.This is so they will be able to start at their current position - if they feel you haven't listened to their opinion or have misunderstood it they will tune it out instead of considering your arguments.

You then provide them a path to consider towards your opinion. But isn't Mountain Dew acidic? Are plants evolved to absorb water? Since they are already started from their argument they are mentally forced to make the connection to your questions and consider them.

You can then make your case - answering your own questions and have the best chance of getting them to consider your point of view.

Pharasma probably. Life/Death and its proper sequence is the ultimate law and one that makes sense both for my personality and frankly my ancestors (Clan MacDhuibh).

I would be really, really tempted to be monothestic. In Galorian it would be the ultimate rebellion, the utmost heresy. To believe that the gods are mortal and that they too have a god that they wouldn't tell us about.

Or better yet - a super-panthesist. A belief that the gods have multiple gods above them. Mind-bending.

Super-Panthesist-Elder God Cultist...

Ok, Imma stop now...

The GM is holding a deck of Pokemon cards excitedly ...

The phrase 'Cantrip based character' is used ...

At least 3 of the players have Lawful marked down, but aren't sharing the same good/nuetral/evil axis ...

The guy to your right is wearing a 'Feel the Bern' pin and the guy to your left is wearing a Trup #MakeAmericaGreatAgain pin...

The GM has been on a three day trip and he hasn't left his room...

Your buddy sits down, stares the GM in the eye, and says 'Bring it wuss' ...

The GM has replaced all the miniatures with Warhammer 40k figures

So a lawful good atheist (for example) could potentially turn into an archon, just not one aligned with any particular god? I'd be curious to know more specifics on how that works and how that archon performs their afterlife since I was under the impression that the aligned planes were generally divided between one god or another.

I don't know how Canon Death's Heretic is, but it appears that the Lawful afterlife has creatures not dedicated to any god, but just to order itself.

Presumably your lawful good atheist could be sent by Pharasma to this part of the afterlife, provided their version of atheism allowed for it. Rhadadom's refuse to participate in anything God-related and so are given their particular destination. I thought it was a particularly interesting idea that Pharasma doesn't send anyone to a destination not in alignment with their belief system unless there's some kind of unholy contract involved.

What I really want to know is where the pan-religionists go.

"You put C#, F# and Javascript down for languages? Do people actually speak those?"

"Why is Java listed under 'Known but Forbidden arts?'"

"What the hell does a programmer need 3 levels in swordfighter for?"

"GAWDAHMNIT TIM. 'EXTRA LARGE HEAD AND HANDS' IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE FEAT CHOICE"

"You charge the Ford Pickup headfirst at 50 miles per hour. Roll for damage - no Tim you need more dice than that IT'S A GAWDHAM PICKUP INTO YOUR FACE AT 50 MILES PER HOUR"

I'm probably more than 45 lbs :) Especially given all the stuff I'm carrying.

I have an Acrobatics of 8, so I just leapt it.

...of course, technically you could just show up and say you already created it a while ago, and that it was grandfathered in. I mean, nobody is forcing you to actually keep everything tracked online, official-like, if all you want to do is occasionally play in a pick-up game when you can't find a group.

Fair point - although I'm doing the online thing so it's always new GMs. We have a tiefling in the party come to think of it and I doubt anyone demanded a scan of the boon sheet before they played (at least I hope not). It was just the thing that's made me Nerd-Rage inside as I get into the game - at least classes are wide open. I can play an occultist once I figure out what the hell the rules are saying about the class :p

Harkevich wrote:

Can't we just errata some of these? Did Paizo really screw up generating the rules for that many races?

You sound like the guy who complains about GMs banning races. Because that's all this really is.

Also, two of the three races you have mentioned have been allowed in PFS. So organized play is more open than the aforementioned GM.

Not to mince points, but what are the odds of a new player having GM'd a convention game in order to earn the rare races boon to earn access to the two races mentioned? I don't want to get on too huge of a tangent, but it does create a negative experience when you generate characters using the Races Guide or the SRD only to find out you need a special 'boon' or aren't allowed at all. I mean compare it to D&D's adventurer's league - there's nowhere near that level of restriction. Also, why races and not classes? Why are occultists more common than tieflings, which the primer I received with my humble bundle states is the 4-5th most common race in Cheliax?

I wouldn't mind finding out that one or two of the characters I generated was illegal, but it got silly until someone pointed me to the Additional Resources page. It didn't run me off the game, but it was a frustrating part of the game experience, which as I've talked to other people that have done/do PFS have told me was a pain point for them too.

The thread was about weird things that made us rage a little inside and the expansiveness of the race restrictions are mine. I'm certain not everyone found it terrible or that it necessarily demands fixing, but that's not what the thread is about.

Can I take a moment and state how frustrating rolling your first Pathfinder Society character is?

Aha! A Tiefling rogue
*SMACK* no Tieflings!
Aha! A Fetchling Ranger!
*SMACK* No Fetchlings!
Aha! A Ratfolk Fighter!
*SMACK* No Ratfolk!
Before I get smacked again..what classes are allowed?
All of them.
And how many races?
About a third
*HEADDESK*

Can't we just errata some of these? Did Paizo really screw up generating the rules for that many races?

Indeed, the end of the "Bronze Age" was mostly caused by the increased scarcity of metals required to make bronze, rather than the superiority of primitive iron weaponry.

Still, most monasteries are hubs of local trade and commerce, so it's quite possible a monastery would have a skilled blacksmith, often as a "lay brother" - a person associated with the monastery but not actually under religious vows.

Given it's a fantasy temple I think we can just assume that there is an awesome guy who just punches everything in shape :)

Not just swords. I collect ancient weapons, and research said weapons for fun. One weapon I find fascinating is the Italian lantern shield. It was designed for dualing. Picture the following:

First you have a buckler style shield. Attach a metal gauntlet with spikes on the knuckles to protect the hand and forearm. These spikes have ridges on them and are intended to entrap your opponent's weapon. Now add a long sword style blade. The back end is dull and extends back to the elbow to protect the arm. The business end extends a foot or so past the edge of the shield closest to your hand and is sharpened on both edges. Add a spike to the center of the shield. Now place the hardware needed to mount a small lantern to the back of the shield.

The lantern was intended to be used for dazzling your foe. It's historically unclear just how bright the lantern was.

Italian City States - the Mad Scientists of the medival world.

"If one sword is good, what if I wield one in each hand?"

"And you could put an armor piercing spike on your codpiece!"

"IMMA GONNA BE SO METAL"

I think what Harkevich wielded was a dao, not a jian.

Wielded one of those too :), although I openly admit I have a preference for European blades since my training is for the western stuff. It's entirely possible I was using it wrong, but that was my experience.

Having wielded both in real life they both handle pretty differently. A European Longsword has a much finer balance - usually only a couple inches from the hilt. It swings similarly to a two handed sword and thrusts much more easily. The Jian handles more like a large knife but swings easily laterlly - it a beautiful blade if you have experience with knives, but I don't like how it handles.