RPG Superstar 7 Season Dedicated Voter, 8 Season Star Voter. Pathfinder Society GM. 269 posts (5,696 including aliases). 5 reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 26 Organized Play characters. 16 aliases.
I tend to be very, very forgiving about PFS and the direction of the story, even when it ends up that I can't complete a story on a character for reasons beyond my control. However, my wife and I had been holding off on our Silver Crusade characters since we first met Valais in Traitor's Lodge years ago. The scenario was still new and we fell in love with the character. Last season, we managed to play Thralls...and now we have been sitting, ignoring other plots that those two characters would enjoy because we were enjoying THAT story, with those characters. Two characters that seek redemption. A tiefling that fights all urges at being bad, and an aasimar who is filled with so much guilt for almost killing an innocent, that he refuses to speak unless he is certain of it's undeniable truth. Both seeking to find the good in all situations...and we came across Valais. Now, a pair (clearly not the only such characters) who would gain such insight from going into Heaven and having that experience...will be robbed of it...
In the past...in a rare few situations...there have been instances where players were allowed to get credit as GMs to run a scenario out of their character's tier. IF this is the end of Valais's story, I beg that we be allowed a way to enjoy this story for our characters (The past situation was with Rivalry's End and Way of the Kirin, but still involved a character seeing a story to it's end)
I don't know about everyone, but I know that I would be willing to play a reskinning pregen as my character and take a 4-5 cert on a higher level character just to get a chance to enjoy seeing the end of a story arc on the character that has earned that journey. Maybe we can find someway that the players don't feel as if the campaign has kicked those characters to the curb?
I agree, the Elemental Races would be a nice group. Also...where my Wayang at? As simple as it to point out: there are a lot of PC races that are under/unrepresented in Battles. I know it's not all about PFS, but I'm sure a male and female of each would not be hated by much of anyone:
Suli
Ifrit
Sylph
Undine
Oread
Kitsune
Wayang
Tengu
Nagaji
I believe that last year, it was implied that we might see the return of First Steps 2 & 3. With an (the?) Evergreen this year being a 3-7, is there any chance we could see one of those two return? Perhaps 2. I think it would be very, very easy to rewrite the little bits of 2 to make it pertinent to the current factions and tweak a few words on the cert (I'm game to doing it if you need someone)
Indeed! I am finally starting to feel human again AND I am off next week, so I will endeavor to get things moving to the final reckoning. I promise it will move VERY quickly from here on! In the meantime, I realized that I don't have your PFS numbers, so if you could message to them, I can actually get the sheets made and the results reported ;)
Trotting up with bow in hand, Venture Captain Darren Varkon nods to the boys. "Looks like you fellas have been busy. Based on what the Master of Swords said, you have three places you can head...The archives for information about the tapestry, the Sky Key's chamber, or you can go to the tapestry itself...though if you are going to bother with that, I would suggest finding the notes first! Me...I am going to go and deal with some of the menagerie creatures getting loose...I hear there is a giant two headed bird...and a t-rex. I haven't had to deal with those...in a long, long time. Good Luck!"
I was at a con this weekend, GMing...ran into -41. Guy has played all scenarios and modules, and most APs up through Season 6 and most of Season 7 already...and he has GM'd most of the scenarios, as well. Also has 8 core characters in there...And I thought my 17 was a lot....
I love how NO ONE mentioned Sgt. Slaughter. Sheesh... Isn't he ridiculously nice? I used to work in a restaurant between his hometown and the nearest airport, so he would stop in about once every couple of months when traveling. Always super nice. Gave out autographs and took pictures. He would call someone maggot at the drop of a hat or yell, "Yo JOE!"
He really is just an awesome guy. Now I may have to start playing a certain Master of Swords as a jovial form of Sgt. Slaughter.
Twenty-five years ago, a young halfling girl was born to a slave family within a Chelaxian household.
At a very young age it was very, very apparent that she would never grow to be strong, even for a halfling. She was incredibly weak, so she found ways to keep herself out of trouble as much as possible. She was well-spoken and bright. It did not hurt that she also managed to look like a young human child almost all the time. There were several moments in her youth where she had to talk her way out of major troubles...and she did so very, very well. Because of this, she managed to learn quite a bit more than the average slave. Picking up the languages of the very Devils that her Masters bargained with. It was also her keen intellect and glib tongue that allowed her to learn about the nobles around her...making her more valuable to her Masters, though she had to be careful about revealing how much she had picked up, as to not become troubling, as well. She always knew just what to say and how to say it, in order to get the information she needed... Affable Trait
After her fourteenth birthday, she realized there was no hope of her finding a happy life in her current situation. Even if she could talk her way out of trouble, there was little hope that she could live a good life as a slave. It did not help that she was troubled with dreams. Dreams of a beautiful warrior who would stand by her side and protect her. Those dreams wavered between being a winged champion and or a stoic earthbound guardian. Either way, there was something otherworldly about the creature she dreamed of.
She took this to mean she must escape, so she found herself in league with another slave, a young human boy, who had friends within a halfling freedom group, the Bellflower Network. She got what she wanted rather quickly...however, in the end, it was near the edge of her Master's estate that it all happened. She thought she was free, when a whip cracked and wrapped around her wrist. With a scream of fear and pain, she turned and as she did, he was there. Her guardian seemed to appear out of nowhere, right out of her dreams...and into the reality. The guardian quickly slashed through the whip's cord and glared at her owner. The man cowed before the radiance of the creature and stepped back, and as he did, the guardian spirit stepped between them, and Annabelle took that as her moment to leave. What she did not expect was her guardian to follow her. Freed Slave
Somehow or another, a creature from another plane had come to save her. And she knew him from her dreams. Once they were outside the estate, he scooped her up and began to carry her to freedom.
For the next year, Annabelle and Marius (her guardian, whom she named after the boy who had initially rescued her) spent their time helping the Bellflower network to free other slaves.
It was then that the dreams began again. She was plagued, night after night with several different images. The most disturbing was the bug-shaped demon lord. She couldn't get past the fear she felt just from seeing the creature. She would wake up in a cold sweat, and because he vanished when she slept, Marius was never there to comfort her. She would see things in those dreams that she could not explain. The visions filled her dreams night after night, but occasionally there would be something good. A beautiful black butterfly bursting through the night to protect her from the evils that she dreamed of. It was later, while talking to Marius, that she found out that the butterfly was actually a deific being...The Black Butterfly, a creature of Desna. And that he was there with her because she was chosen by The Black Butterfly to help people find freedom. The freedom that she was chosen for, was the freedom from the expansion of evil near Mendev. She was to help fight off the demonic forces, and he was going to be there with her every step of the way....
The specifics:
Annabelle the Unbroken is a Halfling Summoner, with an Azata Eidolon. She is a Chaotic Good follower of Black Butterfly, who is actually a chosen of the Empyreal Lord and that is the root of her power. She will follow the Archmage path, if she survives long enough to reach mythic status.
She has long been touched by her benefactor and her magic, her guardian, and her visions are all results from the touch of Black Butterfly. It is due to these visions that she and Marius have found their way to Mendev.
Annabelle is a talker. She is great with people and getting people to accept her and her views. She is not one to take control of others, just convince them that she is right. Her words, her life, her experiences, and her visions are all ways that she talks people into seeing things from her side of things. However, she is very much willing to stand near a battle and help turn the tide as much as she can with her spells.
It should be noted that Annabelle is weak (5 Str) and often times, it is her companion, Marius, that carries a bulk of her weight (sometimes, including her) and that without him, she will have a hard time getting her gear from place to place. Thankfully, her magic comes from within. She will help in combat largely through her Eidolon and later through spells (Early on, Summoner spells are pretty rough), but importantly enough, she is also a great party face.
As I said before, you always have a place here. I might bot you in the interim, but you are a part of this crew. So don't worry, your place is here when things get more manageable. Don't stress or worry, we got you and we understand it's a tough time and as such, don't ever worry 'how long since I posted...' Diabolito, Aramis, and Amos have stuck with me through all the slowness and distraction, I will not abandon any of you (That goes for Cassius and Indrana, now as well, you are part of the team, but those three stuck through Maera and I's tough new baby time).
Gonna chime in, only because I feel like it's worth noting.
I have NO problems with my players using electronic character sheets, however, I have seen too many times that players don't actually know where the numbers/calculations come from because they use HeroLab (Or whatever) as a crutch and don't actually KNOW how to make their characters work. That being said, if I ask them a question about their character, they should be able to answer it pretty easily, and many times can't. Further, I have had, more than once, a player's device drain the battery way faster than they had expected and leading into the last encounter, they are scrambling to write down as much of their character as they can because they don't have a hard copy of their character and only a car charger for their device...or no outlet available... To the point I actually have started bringing my own portable charger with me. Just have the sheet as a JIC, it might never come up, but if it does, you will be thankful. And if the GM is curious about something, you can just hand them the sheet and they can read over it without stopping the game or planning or whatever. It's helpful and convenient. And now the rules.
Concentrating mostly on the lock, she says firmly, one of her fine picks in her teeth, her thrush sitting on her shoulder, "Unless Sellana checks anything and everything we find here, I won't wear a bit of it. Not going to happen. This place is tainted and as far as I'm concerned, all the items are, too."
Shaking her head. "That won't do." With a moment and a word, Oronia pulls out a torch and then it lights...with magic.
Spellcraft DC11:
Light on the torch.
Spellcraft on previous:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
I can't fail on take 10s or even on a roll for the perception, so I'll just roll with having made those checks
"This place is full of so much history...it's amazing! Could someone hold my torch, I can't take enough notes!" Excitement fills her voice as she looks at the murals. "Topaz...Emerald...Ruby...Definitely sages located here, though I wonder why Sapphire isn't represented...And we have heard of a Diamond...Odd..."
Yeah, but otherwise YES PLEASE. Unfortunately, I went to sign up for subscription to start with this book because so many of the next several are books I want and it is already not one you can start with. This makes me sad.
Very excited about both of this month's campaign setting books.
Save Auto:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 Save Bird:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
The bird seems to be hovering in the air, looking very singed, while several of the parts of the automaton have melted and seem to continuing to melt due to the flames of the oracle.
Feora:
In the future, if you want to ready an action, a good way to roll the dice yourself to keep things moving is to put the actually spell/action in a spoiler with the spoiler tag being the trigger. It's a good trick to help expedite things in a pbp. Just trying to bequeath the tools of the trade.
So my daughter has been asking to play "the dice game" for about six months now and I was considering it's almost time to do so. She is almost reading fluidly, has a basic grasp of math, and loves to tell stories, so I feel like if I can tune the rules down to something she can easily understand, she will really, really enjoy it.
I've decided that creating a half-dozen characters that are based off of her favorite Disney movies would be a good way to start, so I came up with a list:
Flynn Rider: Human Rogue (he was easy, honestly)
Rapunzel: I'm thinking White Haired Witch with lots of healing.
Mulan: Fighter seems obvious, but Swashbuckler (Far more complicated) seems like a better skill set for her.
Hercules: Brawler/Fighter(Brawler)/Monk?
Pocahontas: Druid?
Merida: Ranger or Fighter(Archer)
Elsa: Oracle of Winter
Kristoff: Cavalier?
Help or suggestions or other ideas would be a great boon!
The young woman shakes her head again, as if the fog is being cleared from it and nods to Bear, Tarin, and Fernus. "I believe it would be best if I help you where I can. I am capable... They are fortunate that they came upon us in our sleep and kept me under. I suspect they might have recognized the family emblem...even goblins can see the value in a captive from time to time." She says as she touches the crest on her cloak pin, the symbol of one of Sandpoint's founding families, the Valdemars.
"Let me see if I still have some potions in here,"she says as she begins digging in a pouch that seems rather empty, but considering she had been in light clothing before she seemed to concentrate on it and now is wearing very light mail and has a bow strapped on her back along with a very nasty curved dagger on her hip...There is certainly more there than can be seen.
I just wish that any mention of preferred weapon pro/con would stop until the update. Focus on the mechanics, like Squirrel did. His post was awesome and I greatly appreciate it, as I'm sure the devs do, since it is exactly what they are wanting to see (as they have stated a few times in other threads). Playtest > Theorycrafting, not saying the latter isn't helpful, but playtest trumps it.
In our playtest, each time we went into combat, the Warpriest would get 1-2 rounds of combat, as it took him a round to move and buff and usually a round to move and attack, though at 1st level it meant it took him 3 rounds, since he didn't have the +1 bab, he had to spend a round drawing his weapon (after that, he kept it out).
That said, when our dwarf warpriest did hit, he did decent damage, but the bigger thing he did was make himself hard to hit. He had a sickening AC at 1st level, without having heavy armor (1st level money) he was at a 20 unbuffed and would pop up to a 22 or 23 (he took dodge due to lack of options).
The higher level scenario we ran, the warpriest had moved up to a 28 unbuffed, I believe, and was hitting for about the same damage, while making himself harder and harder to hit in combat. If he had ways to ensure aggro (which he did not) then it would have been a great build, but not fulfilling for most.
Essentially, our decisions were simple: While the warpriest can become a defensive powerhouse, he has a hard time dishing out damage, and when he does, it isn't for much, even when buffing. This is of course assuming you build for all of their abilities. The class is MAD as all heck, but we all knew that.
The blog post yesterday specifically stated they would receive bonuses for using their favored weapon and it would depend on the quality of said weapon as to what they would get. They are going to stick to requiring favored weapon, but giving a reasonable buff to it.
I think 3/4 bab and 6 spell levels is perfectly fine IF the character has a better action economy. I'm still firmly of the opinion that self-buffs that are either prepared buffs or blessings (prevents spontaneous heals from being unbalanced since this would be a negative for evil warpriests) should be able to be cast as part of a full round action a la spell combat.
I have said it a few times, it's been implied by others, but honestly, I want to see this class get somewhere, not a back and forth about the weapons it is using.
Until we hear from the devs about the weapon, can we please table this part of the discussion? I would like to see people suggest ways to improve the class.
Actually, at this point, I think there have been a lot of GREAT ideas and no comments made by the devs to give us a clue if we are having any weight here or if we aren't in the right realm. Even if it is simply to say: "We know this class needs love, these are the things we are looking at...."
Trogdar, that is fair, but we don't know how much that is actually costing it and it is also allowing people to have a good ranged/melee weapon depending on their deities favored weapon (if I worship Erastil, I would really like to have a longsword when an enemy closes), but I do agree that it isn't necessarily needed.
MrSin, while I understand what you are meaning, I think that as of right now, the ONLY thing making this class unique is it's focus on the preferred weapon. While I understand where you are coming from, I think thematically, it isn't likely that some gods have Warpriests, and as such, why cave on this then? Should every Desnian out there be a warpriest? No. If they are, should they use a starblade? Yeah, that's kind of what the Devs have gotten at with the inherent design of the class and the quick response to change the class to having weapon prof in whatever the deity's weapon is. Can the class do more to make weapons better? Absolutely. So let's address that, not try and change aspects that the devs seem to want.
In building our first War Priest, we have come across a couple of small issues:
1) Weapon Proficiency: If you are going to be given Weapon Focus, you should really have the proficiency, as well. Easy to address and fits the class. (EDIT: Updated in the sticky post.—SKR)
2) Combat Feat at first level: MOST of the combat feats you want require +1 BAB. If the class counted it's hit dice as it's BaB that would be very fitting and would make it feel a little more fighter.
I think something people are missing is this: Brawler makes no mention of Flurry, ONLY the unarmed damage. Flurry will always set them apart. I think they will be distinctly different and both have useful roles. I'm excited, but my monk will remain a monk.
Having not seen the book, and the fact that he just said that there was a rule preventing people from doing so, I suspect there is a line at the beginning just as John just stated, with a chart listing all the classes and what they are hybrids of. Magus was made as a test and thus before the rule existed and sadly, as such, there are already things in place that help it to multiclass with fighter or wizard. That said, I think that they took what worked from Magus, what they learned didn't from magus, and rolled with it to make these. It is what they do.
I would say, from my experience, Paizo is a company that learns from it's past and improves. Maybe you disagree, and that is your prerogative, but they do good by me and I can't wait to see these rules.
To those that aren't excited about the classes, that's great, you don't have to play with them. That is your prerogative, but deciding they are a bad idea sight unseen isn't fair to a company you obviously care about...being you are on their website, commenting on their playtest product weeks/week before it is released.
Arcanist - Been waiting for this since the end of 3.5 (Ultimate Magus)
Bloodrager - Dragon Disciple anyone?
Hunter - Get those wow players pulled in by the name and steal them from D&D 4
Investigator - I'm Batman!
Shaman - My wife has been begging for this, so yay for me!
Slayer - Clearly an assassin and glad of it
Swashbuckler - I love what I hear, and I played one in 3.5
Warpriest - Not sure how I feel about this, I think it is probably the weakest of the group, unseen, since there are already two classes that sort of fit this role (I realize it is likely a way to make a paladin of other alignments).
Brawler - Just curious about armor now. That's the only thing I'm concerned of. Once that concern is gone...I'm game.
Skald - I really can't wait to see the mechanics, because Savage Skald is really cool, so this may end up being a great bridge for someone who loves martial, but wants to try something new. Good potential here.
Nope, you are doing fine, Nissa. Gonna give Doc a couple more hours, then I'll move forward a little.
Diabolito and Nissa both connect with their quick attacks, while Malak swings wildly. Thankfully, none of these pirates seem any better trained in unarmed combat than those three, or it could have gone very poorly.
As it appears the other Skull & Shackles game is about to be done with recruiting, I'm going to post my attempt at one.
Pros: I have a ton of experience in writing, I hit the computer several times a day, and I have been roleplaying for over 20 years.
Cons: This is the first time I have GM'ed play by post, but you can check, I've been consistently playing in two for several months now, posting daily, and hungry for more.
The Fine Print
Skull & Shackles is not for the faint of heart or the pure of heart for that matter. If being a pirate is going to not work for a character...probably shouldn't submit it. There is plenty of info in the player's guide that you can snag.
Oh, I bet you want to know about Character Creation, don't you? Yeah, it's going to be pretty simple:
Stats: We are going to go with PFS stats here. 20 pt buy and nothing lower than a 7 before racials.
Races: Speaking of Races...I'm going to go with let's be rational. If you want to play one of the more rare ARG races, I'll consider it, but you had better have a story for it. If there is a cert to play it in PFS, I will almost certainly allow it, but make me buy into it.
Classes: See the race section. The only class/archetype I'm not a big fan of is Vivasectionist because I think it belittles the rogue and ninja. Beyond that, I'll look at anything.
Backstory: This is where you will wow me. Anyone can crunch a character, but it takes something special to transform an idea into something other people care about. Make me want to have your character on the Wormwood. I am prone to giving away odd bonuses for people who give me good backgrounds (I gave away a trait to each player in one game based off their backgrounds, who knows).
I am not a huge fan of powergamers, especially in a situation like this. Let your characters grow into their strengths and it is more enjoyable, in my mind. If that is not the case for you, maybe not a good place to apply. Not keen on character interactions? Probably not the best place to apply. Looking for a GM that wants to have fun and ensure his group is having fun? Ok, maybe the place to apply.
I will say, I am looking for 3-4 players, as I have two. Neither of the two have made characters, but one is almost certainly going to fill an "other" roll with their character and the other will build whatever is left with a hole in the needs category.
As of right now, I'm planning to end recruiting on October 4th and hopefully start by the 7th.
This was a decision made because with 8 factions and with the detail they are shooting for in the scenarios, adding the faction missions was often tedious and at times did not reflect the nature of the faction. Also, if you have done some of the faction missions from season 4, you may find yourself hating your faction leader and not wishing to deal with him/her anymore. Now they can make missions that have missions for specific factions by design, not by force.
I don't view it as a bribe to give a GM food or beverage. They are doing a brunt of the work when they are preparing a session or running a campaign. If it wasn't for the GM, we would have no game. I buy a drink for every GM that runs for me in PFS, because they are talking a lot and deserve to have their thirst quenched. Do I expect anything for it other than the fun of playing a good game? Nope.
But Paizo does have bribery built into the system: Rerolls. You buy this product, we give you a reroll. However, it's not arbitrary and it's consistent, so I have no complaints about it, just don't look at it for anything that it isn't.
I think in a pbp format, 3 should be fairly short. In a standard format it takes the longest, I think. But 2, which is pretty long pbp is really short at a tabletop.
I know someone suggested it on the first page, but I think if you are going to get an idea of what to give people:
1 Star: Common boon sheet, either the Trio Kitsune/Wayang/Nagaji (seems like this goes out a fair bit) or just ONE of the three.
2 Star: Elemental Races (ifrit, slyph, so forth)
3 Star: Dhampir (Or something equally odd and rare)
4 Star: Suli or Vishkanya
5 Star: A very, rare boon sheet, like Grippli or a new one that is ONLY available to 5 stars (Android has been mentioned a couple of times by people, but really just something special)
