HedwickTheWorldly's page

I find it odd and unsatisfying that a class that is theoretically about making cool things has very few options or abilities that lend themselves to that class fantasy.

There is a bit of flavor text in a couple of class feature descriptions that mention "gadgets" in a vague way, but the class gets exactly one skill feat as a bonus (Inventor, because it would be criminal for that not to be the case.)

Even the Swashbuckler, a non-Int Martial class, gets three bonus skill feats, and Crafting (the inventor's forte) gets only one, especially since Crafting is the skill with the largest feat list (16 currently, Religion and Society both have 15, Athletics and Medicine have 14 IIRC).

I would love to see some utility out of the Inventor, either in the form of increased skill increase/feat progression, or class feats that let them make and use interesting magic/scientific items.

Okay, now that all of you mention it, the Dex of 8 really is a major limiting factor. If I had a higher Dex, I could attempt a shot on another enemy for lower damage, or pull out a Bola for a ranged trip using Dex, etc.

All of this has led to me retooling my ability scores, so I end up at:
Str 8
Dex 16/14
Con 12
Int 18
Wis 12/14
Cha 10

I'm not really using that Charisma anyway, so I could do either a 16/12 or 14/14 Dex/Wis split.

I think I'm going to jump into Pathfinder Agent Dedication at 2, pick up Thorough Reports at 4, and play with that because it seems super fun, possibly taking Scrollmaster Dedication for Bestiary Scholar later.

I learned/realized in this thread that Quick Tincture is effectively 2 actions, and not 3. I'd been playing with it as a 3-action activity (1 to draw the vial, 1 to make it, 1 to drink), but having a bandolier or something to draw as part of Quick Tincture was a *game changer,* and last night I had a lot of success using my vials on the turns with bad rolls.

I appreciate all of the advice a bunch! The last thing I'm really kicking around now is whether I want to stick with Alchemical Sciences Investigator, or switch over to Mastermind Rogue, and use my Recall Knowledges to get sneak attack. Anyone have any thoughts or experiences about Mastermind and/or how they compare to an Investigator? Losing the Alchemy stuff would sting, but doing even more with Recall Knowledge could be fun.

Hey folks,

I'm running the Banquet in Vyre tomorrow night. I've gotten 9 of my friends (some of the players and the GM from when we ran Hell's Rebels, among others) to play all of the NPCs, given them all cue cards, and even unpacked the plastic Halloween decoration skeleton to use for the King of Delights at the dinner table! It should be a pretty stellar event, but I wanted to ask - do people have any recommendations on music to play during the affair? I don't have any Syrinscape stuff, so that's out, but a long youtube thing or something on Spotify or something like that would be wonderful.

This banquet was the highlight of the AP when I played it with my veteran group, so taking my new players through it is getting us all pretty excited!

Just to clarify, this is for RETURN of the Runelords. Not Rise. Giants are not a thing.

But, that sounds like a super cool adventure for your party!

Any word on the release of a Player's Guide? Or is that not happening for this AP?

Is there an explanation of Spell Points anywhere in the book? I see class feats that give an ability that costs Spell Points and increase the pool (Bard - Lingering Composition, for example), but no mention of a baseline pool size, or entry for the term in the glossary/index.

Clerics get a pool size equal to Wisdom modifier, so are they the only ones? Would love some clarification on this.

Would precise treatment give int as bonus to heal?

According to the trait it just allows wisdom to be replaced by int for the check. Where does it say it would give intelligence for the bonus if the check goes over a certain amount?

My GM often rules that if a thing allows a stat to replace another stat, it does so for all applicable instances. Treat Deadly Wounds allows +(Wis Mod) additional healing when you hit DC 25, in addition to Healer's Hands allowing +(Ranks in Knowledge Planes) at DC 30. Since Int is being used instead of Wisdom for the check, Int is being allowed for the additional healing as well.

I put together an Empiricist Investigator with Precise Treatment trait for use in Return of the Runelords, and it looks like it'll be *crazy* fun.

At level 1 TDW heals for 1, which is fine. But at 5 he'll be have a +14ish (5 ranks, 4 Int, 3 Class, 2 Healer's Kit) without trying or really investing any additional resources, plus free inspiration (+1d6), so taking 10 will yield a DC 25 no matter what, which gets 10 HP + Int Mod + 1 Ability Damage per score, 5x per day.

At 10 he'll hit DC 30 without failure, yielding 50+Int HP + 4 Ability Damage per score, 10 times per day.

It's bonkers, and I love that it costs so little up-front to yield huge dividends from level 10 onward. At 20 it's 260 HP reliably, which is better than even Mass Heal can give someone, albeit at a full-round action. But that's 20 times per day.

This Brawler Archetype deals specifically with improvised weapons as a thing. If you choose to multiclass Barbarian (or Primalist Bloodrager), Body Bludgeon is a no-brainer choice, allowing you to grab enemies and use them as improvised weapons. If you do Primalist Bloodrager, you can snag one of the bloodlines that lets you enlarge when you rage.

These are just a start, but I'll be following this to see what you come up with, friend :D

The relevant text differs from my original turnover, so I don't have much input to offer here. Allowing ganzi to ignore other prerequisites certainly wouldn't have been my intention (and I doubt it was the intention of the developer); however, I'm afraid I don't have any insight into the subject.

I recommend keeping an eye on PFS Campaign Clarifications to see how they handle it, if at all. ^_^

Thank you for writing a SUPER COOL race! I’m going with your reading, and I appreciate you contributing :D

The Grab Edge reaction mentioned, I'm assuming it must be a fixed/default DC? since the hazard doesn't mention one?

Much like the Fighter getting "Attack of Opportunity" or a shield-wielding person getting "Shield Block" as one of their available reactions, I would assume that "Grab Edge" is an option for a character with the requisite skill training/class/skill feat, so it wouldn't likely require a DC or check.

For example, as a purely hypothetical, Grab Edge could be a reaction made available as a Skill Feat for someone who is an Expert in Acrobatics, or it could be a Class Feat for Rogues. It precludes you from using any of your other reaction options, though, so in some cases the 10 damage may be a better choice.

ChibiNyan wrote:

Varun Creed wrote:

Overall nice!

Immediate feedback though:

• Orichalcium has two different rules, better to use one, and use a different metal for the selfhealing effect.
  
• INVISIBILITY armor property has nothing in it's description saying that you need to spend 1 RP per cast. Your blogtext seem to say that..?

If it says "something something Activation" it uses 1 resonance. It's not very clear though, but it seems consistent with what they write.

Yea I re-read that, and it seems to be that any [[A]] costs 1RP.. But that seems weird because that's just the Action symbol, since [[R]] is the Resolve symbol.

Maybe there's a rule that any "Activation"-descriptor means that it costs 1 Resolve Point?

It's my understanding from reading these blogs that [[A]] is the symbol for "Action," while [[R]] is the symbol for "Reaction."

Activations are a subset of actions, which cost Resonance. Therefore,
[[A]] Operate Action = 1 action, no Resonance
[[R]] on Vorpal = Uses your Reaction for the turn (and the "Trigger" text next to it indicates what sets off a Reaction. That seems to be consistent formatting.)
[[A]] Operate Activation Action = 1 action, 1 Resonance

So, as a player in this campaign (my Paizo alias should make it clear which character), I can say that this was one of the most interesting, compelling, and fun Adventure Paths I've ever played. Astrapi's journals were often the highlight of my week, because of their fun blend of in-jokes, pop-culture references, art, and honest-to-God recaps of things that I'd forgotten.

I'm really glad to know that these are posted publicly for people to enjoy.

Sorala, it sounds like your mind is made up, but for what it's worth, I think your character's realism and gritty determination make her the most interesting one of us, by a long shot. I was really looking forward to spending the next (hopefully) years playing alongside her, and watching her grow.

It'll be sad to see you go, although I hope you reconsider, and stick around as things seem to be picking up a little bit, I hope?

As far as downtime activities, Yosiah's more than happy to help harvest lumber and forage as necessary. He's not exactly great at the latter, but also has some spells that he can burn on Abstemiousness, etc.

HedwickTheWorldly wrote:

I'm bumping this only because my party is about to hit Sheskadrann next week, and will likely be heading toward part 2 the same night. They've already handled Joskadalr, the sunken lab, and the Chuuls at the waterfall cave, so they're closing in on the Ancient Observatory.

yep. It looks to me as if the Ancient Observatory Carver talks about on page 7 should be Area L. Nal-Shakar, not Area K. Is that was you concluded, Hedwick? How'd the game session go after the players visited Sheshkadrann? What other areas did they explore?

I came to the same conclusion, Ted - Area L is the one Carver mentioned. Sheshkadrann was great! They enjoyed the Akkiti-Shah Strix, and one of them is planning on learning Syrinx from them. They've talked to the Locathah about reinstating a trade agreement after the old bad blood.

I've decided that I really like the Bleeding Forest, Bonetown, Charnel Island, and the altar area, and want to use them, so I've simply put them on the road to Nal-Shakar.

The PCs handled the Bleeding Forest after Sheshkadrann, and also sorted out some domestic issues - specifically, they're now through the Hunger Strike event. We didn't make as much forward progress as I think we could have because they found the tunnel leading to the Darklands under the burned-out lab, and captured a Duergar while they were there. So of course, a retinue of Duergar came to the surface looking for them at night, tracked them back to Talmandor's Bounty, and negotiated for their guy back.

Tomorrow night they'll head through Bonetown and the altar, and probably head back to town to find Alba's closed up shop. I might start having a couple of events happen at once, since I don't think they'll make it through all 9 unless I double up.

Yosiah sneers at Breddaric's question, curling his lip in disgust. He is covered in dirt, soot, and sweat, and has no patience for the crass, bloodthirsty man. "No. We did not keel her, crétin." His Arcadian accent becomes more pronounced as his words accelerate from his mouth. "She had good reason to be scared. She wants to protect this forest, and now we have Mngwa! Go away, we will handle this without keeling her, because we are not sauvages" He brushes past Breddaric without another word, to sit near the cooking fire and stew.

Welp, now it has a name. Karl the ankheg.

I have the best players.

That's excellent!

My PCs befriended the one of the Monkey Goblins from the smith's forge, and have nominated Harcourt Carrolby as Ambassador to Goblins™.

They were considering taming the Ankheg, but one of them decided they couldn't do it after it took a healthy bite out of him. :(

XD

His name is ALEXANDER HAMI-, er, ALEXORI HOMYLLDEM*~!

* Or whatever, really! XD

HE IS THE A-L, E-X, O-R, I. He's here! No fear! Taldor thrives/a colony that's run independently/Run by Boun-tiful Venture Company/Essentially, they'll learn ancient Azlanti/Then come back with a bunch of ioun treasures, see?/They'll cause a mess with their newfound technology/So there will be a revolution in this next AP/Enter me!

(He says, in parentheses)

I guess what I'm saying is I want this to be related to Ruins of Azlant somehow, mostly because I'm running it right now.

How 'bout a bastard, orphan son of a whore and a Galtsman, dropped in the middle of a spot in the Inner Sea by providence impoverished, in squalor, grown up to be a hero and a scholar?

I'm game, that seems like a reasonable plan. Far more reasonable than spending another 6 weeks casting Acid Splash.

I'm running this campaign right now, and my players are right about to start Part 3 of the adventure.

Silas has been the most memorable part of this adventure by far. First, the way the adventure is written, he is tied to the *body*, rather than the location, as is typical for a Poltergeist. I hadn't GMed in awhile, and didn't read the standard Poltergeist entry prior to running the encounter, so I took it at its word. The players spotted the body while being battered by candlesticks and church pews, and snatched it out of the altar to run away with it. Poor invisible Silas chased after them, tethered to his corpse, and used his Telekinesis to disarm them of their shovels every time they tried to put him to rest. Eventually, they got fed up with him and just threw him into the ocean, to be claimed by the sea.

The next day, the Rapping Spirit returned to the church, and tapped out "Why, Rayland my friend, why?" in morse code, but I didn't give them any of the breaks between words, so it took them a while to get it, and they loved the puzzle.

The Poltergeist came back a couple of days later, and the PCs didn't even know at first - I had Kurvis and Eamon just blast it down with a couple of channels apiece, as a way to demonstrate how much stronger some of the colonists are. They were completely unfazed by the whole thing, just rearranging church pews and chuckling about it, and the PCs were sort of in awe.

This solved the problem of the PCs just taking over the colony, because they're scared of Kurvis, Eamon, and the others by extension. It also gave the PCs some indication of the betrayal that occurred, without giving away too much, and adding to the general mystery of the disappearance.

As an aside, I think the NPCs are the highlight of this book. I've had a ton of fun making all of the characters interesting, and finding ways to make the PCs care about them.

Anya enlisted the help of the party's wizard, specifically, for the boar hunt. Because she wanted to "make him hard, and not soft like a baby." When they dropped the boars, she seemed...amused, and still unimpressed. Now he's personally out to prove her wrong, which is hilarious.

Luetin has made friends with the Gorumite Druid because the PC helped him get the house during "First Among Equals." He feels indebted, but also admire's the Druid's rugged, no-nonsense attitude.

Harcourt Carrolby has been nominated as Ambassador to the Goblins - they captured one of the Monkey Goblins and want to start trading with the creatures, and Harcourt considers it part of his personal mission to civilize the beasties.

Kurvis has a terrible lisp, and Eamon refers to him as "Papa Grouse" rather than father. The party refers to Eamon as "Easy E," after overhearing Kurvis call him "Father Easy." They love that the two are in a rad bromance, and that Eamon is obsessed with marrying people and playing matchmaker with the PCs and other colonists (he's an old school Erastil-worshipper).

The possibilities for the rest are endless.

They also love Carver Hastings because the description mentions that he "shaves every couple of days" while his picture has an enormous beard. So they're convinced that he has some kind of condition, and want to be his friend on the off-chance he's a werewolf. :D

Korum sighs in relief at the healing touch of the newcomer.

"Thank you, sweet woman. Now, to tend to these creatures."

The half-orc lifts his arms once more, the incantation as familiar as breathing, and flings acid upward at the nearest Pugwampi.

Ranged Touch Attack: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16
Ranged Touch Attack: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16

Damage: 1d3 ⇒ 1

Yosiah catches snippets of what is being said - the language is difficult, but not impossible - and asks Breddaric in broken Common, "Pardon moi, monsieur. Seems like many troubles, but also we are very...fatiguè?" He asks the word, rather than saying it confidently, as if unsure of how to say it in the common tongue. "Etre sleep first, and then we make the plan, no?"

He looks at each of his allies, hopeful they'll agree with him.

"Outre, I need to go ask for these words I do not know. 'Dru-eed' and 'resentful' and the other words are too big."

16 Characters in 420 posts.

Primary class breakdown (because I'm curious):

Full BAB/Martials:
Agarwaen Umarth (Ranger//Bloodrager/Inquisitor)
Elion Talaviir (Marksman//UnRogue)
Breach (Fighter//Rogue))
Marco T. Cain (Unclear full BAB Psychic-thing)

3/4 BAB Skill/Utility-Types:
Ma'am (Hydrokineticist//UnMonk)
Kayla Black Scorpion (Ninja//Slayer)
Roggee (UnRogue//Aegis)

6-Level Divine-Types:
Catarya Utanbe (Warpriest//UnRogue)
Simon Blue-Eye (Hunter//UnRogue)

9-Level Divine-Types:
Vuzi Ognok (Oracle//Sorcerer)
Pharom Melisander (Cleric//Swashbuckler/Monk)

6-Level Arcane-types:
Wilson Krane (UnSummoner//UnMonk)

9-Level Psychic/Arcane-Types:
Tihn Tremako (Wizard//Investigator)
Maglin (Wizard//Alchemist)
Ignatzia Thrune (Psion//Mesmerist)
Zadira (Sorcerer//Ranger)

That's a pretty decent spread! No noticeable gaps, which is good news.

Weird frog-man (Agile Tongue) with webbed (read: Ogrekin deformed) feet would love to team up with the hypnotist. He'll definitely be quite the capable pick-pocket, and could split his winnings if someone were able to distract their mark...

So question. For my concept I'm running with a Green arrow style Ranger. A vigilante style (not Vigilante class). To be able to have an array of trick arrows I went with the Rich Parents trait. Are you okay with that?

It's your inheritance, you can spend it how you please. :) That's fine by me.