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Hello there everyone, Looking for some advice or character build ideas to fit with the concept of “Lu Bu” from the Dynasty Warriors franchise for Pathfinder. I have multiple ideas, a human halberd user with a special mount (I was considering Marshal to get the mount) of giant size (easy enough to get “Enlarge Person” permanenced or through an item) Character Level is 12th at this point. Wondering what ideas people have for such a character. Any tips or input is appreciated.
Hi there! So I have a bit of a conundrum (well not quite), it’s understood that party members do not get XP for vanquishing beings summoned by Summon Monster/Animated Objects/Summon Nature’s Ally, etc. That XP is factored into the CR of the caster/user of said ability, it is their defeat that nets the experience points. That being said. Here is the scenario and I want to know what people would do in a similar situation. The party is going through a clutter filled of room filled with clutter and junk that is being “Animated” as per “Animate Objects” of a creature known as a Ravid (a 3.5 beast, medium serpentine dragon creature that has the ability at will), here is the being in question. //////
A ravid is about 7 feet long and weighs about 75 pounds. Combat
Positive Energy Lash (Su)
Animate Objects (Su)
Flight (Su)
Feats
///// So here is the scenario, the Ravid is hidden in something akin to a false wall behind in the room, using “peep” holes to view the party. The room is also quite dark. Random objects begin animating once per round, and begin annoying the party (bumping into them, following them around, etc) and the party then fights them. Assuming they don’t notice the eyes in the painting and so on, assume that the party literally fight their way through dozens of Animated Objects before there is nothing left to animate literally. Because the fight was ongoing every round they didn’t have time to take 10 on Perception and they didn’t think to even make Perception tests, given they had their hands full at the time. So they uncover the Ravid once all the objects are gone and they search the room - it has nowhere left to hide once the secret wall panel is discovered, and whatever reason they don’t see the funny side of it’s prank and kill it. They only earn a CR 5 since the creature was using its innate ability and is factored into its challenge rating. The players understandably are very upset that they wasted resources fighting all manner of Animated Objects and resources and get no XP for these. So do you A) give no experience and have upset players, B) give some experience but not full value for the Animated Objects or do you C) give full experience but then have to deal with this expectation for getting XP every time a summoned monster pops up. What option would you go with and why? Just curious
Hi there everyone, I have a question I want to pose to the community (I’m sure it’s been asked many times before) about spells having “visual effects” when cast and spells that are active or ongoing. Spellcraft allows a character to identify a spell being cast or to identify a spell they can see in effect before them, and this is where my question lies. “Detect” spells in particular, produce a cone like “emination” that needs to be aimed at a particular area. To aim properly it needs to be seen, the edges and range to know you are casting it in the right spot. If someone saw someone with a “Detect” spell (Secret Doors, Undead, Evil, etc.) waving their hand (and moving this cone of magical energy) around they by the RAW are entitled to a Spellcraft roll, which implies it does have some sort of “visual” aspect that can be actively seen by anyone looking at it being used. A spellcaster in my group argues this makes “Detect” spells useless if anyone can see them, arguing that spells (“Detect Thoughts” in particular) like this are pointless if anyone can see them as they are designed to be subtle. “I would punch a mage in the face if they walked around shining a magical flashlight “Detect (whatever)” at me on the street” he says. He argues it makes the spells useless or pointless if they can be seen. But due to the way Spellcraft works, it implies that a mage can identify magic that’s active in their line of sight, unlike someone subtly shapechanged via Alter Self, waving ones hands around directing a magical “Detect” spell should produce some kind of visual element in my opinion, not necessarily a flashlight perse but something that can be seen and thusly identified (otherwise there’s no way for the spellcaster to use Spellcraft if they can’t see what’s going on). I want to know what people think. Please and thank you.
Hi there everyone, So to elaborate on the topic title. Actions and consequences, specifically player actions and consequences upon the world around them, what’s appropriate and differing opinions on the matter, I wanted to canvass yourselves and pose to you a situation that in my opinion as a DM, merited a severe and near instantaneous response from a powerful entity. So here is the “situation” that arose, my response to it and I’m curious what people would have done in similar circumstances - my player believes I am being “heavy handed” and that they would be vindicated by replies found on here, though I would hope to find that others in fact agree with me. So the player in question, the same CE Teifling Bard/Cleric mentioned in another topic (Catch Free Efreeti Wishes?) had in this situation decided to wander into a major temple to Orcus (his diety) and decides to then and there, desecrate it by beheading the statue. Literally in front of his congregation and priests gathered there. He had an adamantine longsword to do the job and had the statues head off in a few rounds. He was chased by a bloodthirsty mob of followers and priests but had an escape plan to avoid that. When I explained the sheer gravity of his choice to him, he felt Orcus should not be able to send anything more than “some low level plebs” at him, touting that since we were in the middle of an adventure for Lv 12 characters that Orcus be restricted in what CR of threats he could send against him. I explained that this isn’t for instance, some local lord whose best champion and instrument of revenge is his CR 14 fighter or something to that effect. Orcus has a near limitless arsenal of undead and demons both, and he being a demon would not tolerate a sleight of this magnitude. I explained a Marilith or some other demon death squad should should up and murder him cold and dead and have his body strung up for all to see as a warning to others. Compounding this was the other players who all heard about what his character had done (he boasted about it), they decided should a death squad show up they would literally have the character handed over OR they would stand aside and let the demons have him. They didn’t want to be added to Orcus’ hitlist. He continued to protest that the best he should be dealing with is a steady influx of Dretches, Babau’s and other low CR demons or some undead, that it is my job as a “good DM” to ensure he doesn’t just get slaughtered. I said again, this isn’t like annoying or attacking some local goblin tribe or some evil wizard of a certain level, both of which have limited tools and resources to “retaliate” with. Orcus is almost a diety in his own right, I even argued that I should have literally struck him down with divine wrath in Orcus’ temple then and there but I decided to make a better example out of him in game that would essentially became another warning of how one does not attack or insult their god in their own temples. So to put this to bed, and end the continuing argument (my players agree with me on what they think Orcus would do) between players, I want to know what you think.
Hi there, Wanted to seek the community’s advice on a rather divisive subject in our game that has reared its ugly head, pertaining to one players devised methods to “get around” the normal bad consequences that come with being granted wishes by an Efreeti. So the situation is thus, the player happens to be playing a CE Tiefling Bard/Cleric with a rather high Use Magic Device. His “plan” is to get his hands on a Scroll Of Planar Binding and another of Greater Planar Binding, written by some LE spellcaster to summon both one Efreeti and one Contract Devil both. He figures this method would only cost him 4.5 thousand gold for three catch free wishes, thinking he doesn’t have to offer the outsiders anything to get them to agree and “beat them down” with charisma tests to make them comply. Now assuming that saves are failed and so on, he is presented with two bound outsiders, his plan is to use the Contract Devil as a “lawyer” of sorts to draft a massive contract of conditions on said wishes to essentially in his opinion make them “catch free”. I argued that the Efreeti has likely faced “legal” issues of this nature before, and the Baatezu’s best efforts will see at most, the most obvious and inevitable consequences being avoided but there WILL always be a catch, maybe just not an obvious one. He wanted to use three wishes thusly - one to grant his cohort (a Dark Elf Vampire) the “Fey Creature” template so she could turn a Nymph and have another thrall that way, he also wanted to emulate the Rogue’s “Trapfinding” class feature via a magic item (to make him the official party Rogue), and lastly he wanted a “Portable Hole” for his Vampire Cohort to hide inside during the day. When I explained all three wishes would have some kind of catch or consequence the player threw a huge fit. 4.5 thousand for 3 catch wishes (this was all hypothetical, he hadn’t actually tried this yet or made any rolls we discussed it OOC before he would attempt it) and he planned to abuse this mechanic again and again, to get +5 to every stat eventually and so on. For the price of 2 x +1 weapons I said this was never going to fly, I want to know what others think. I argued also that Efreeti have been around a loooooong time, they’ve seen every scheme there is to wriggle out of consequences of their wishes, the Baatezu can’t possibly cover every possible catch that could exist (they make great lawyers to be sure but hardly undefeatable). There’s also something to be said for the fact he was offering nothing in the way of compensation to either outsider and planned to make them do it for free with his very high social skills. He is to give you some context, a power gamer in the truest sense of the word. Always looking for every loophole or exploit to get ahead of the party. He is also the only evil player in a party of good aligned characters, who (no Paladins thankfully in this equation) don’t particularly like him but he’s refrained from doing anything particularly evil in front of them to get bad attention. So as a result of this “impasse” as he called it, saying I am not allowing him to get away with this he wants to quit and I have allowed him, the rest of the party isn’t sad to see him go. I just want to know what other players and GM’s think.
Hi everyone, our group is canvassing for more players for our games. Currently we are invested in playing Pathfinder, Shadowrun 5th Edition, Call Of Cthulhu. We game every other Saturday, average of 4-5 hours per session (usually starting 5pm eastern time). Primarily we use Skype but we will be transitioning to Roll20 at some point. Our current game is Pathfinder, the Reign Of Winter campaign with some changes/alterations and other materials added to it. Backstories are encouraged and rewarded, character options are anything/everything is open but please be cogniscent of the party makeup (it's mostly Good aligned characters including one Paladin). Race options are always open for discussion (such as monstrous or more powerful races) with some tweaking if that is desired. I also plan to incorporate Mythic content into the campaign. The group is currently sitting around Level 6-8 range at the moment. We have 2 very committed players and 1-2 more who play as often as they are able, but we are always on the look out for 1-2 more players who want to join us. We also have other full campaigns which are also options, Strange Aeons, Curse Of The Crimson Throne, Iron Gods, Rise Of The Runelords also. We also use an Overwatchesque "Play Of The Game" style feature where after every session players can vote other players actions 1st, 2nd or 3rd place except their own, and winners usually get a little bonus as an incentive for cinematic or dramatic moments that really give the session something memorable.
Hi everyone, I have some scenarios to present that have come up with a problem player in our group - he believes he's getting the short end of the stick every time. Campaign is Reign Of Winter, albeit I've modified it substantially and personalized it. The characters in the group could not be any more different from each other. Aasimar Paladin, Tiefling Priestess of Arazani (formerly Orcus) (this is the problem player), Halfling Witch and Half Elf Inquisitor. The group is heavily good except for the Tiefling player who regardless of any game has to play the most evil characters around (they will not play even neutral characters) So...to give some background. The group works well together but the Tiefling persistently does the whole "I'm chaotic evil" bit and frequently opens their mouth without thinking, threatens NPC's or other player characters, puts their own preservation before others (frequently runs away in the first round of combat), charges for healing, makes magic items for the party members (who if they refuse them they get all pissed off, if they take them they "owe" them). Our group is fairly small and we are all great friends in real life, but where games are concerned we consistently butt heads. I'm the DM in this game, and I've allowed the Tiefling to "mulligan" some of its more stupid decisions that impact the party but I've stopped pulling my punches after the 8th incident just now. Without cataloging all the events individually I'll touch on the major (party conflict causing ones). In each and every instance the player takes the other players reactions personally and fights ensue. Examples are... 1) Wanting to raise the Halfling characters dead wife as a rotting undead Mummy without consulting them. The party doesn't tolerate undead in the group but they felt this was a stellar idea - when the Halfling found out and the party by extension it caused a fight. (They believed the Halfling never loved his wife as he should "want her back no matter what" and was ungrateful after giving him a magic item earlier which was now being leveraged in the arguement) 2) His character has a murderous insane demon spawn daughter the party wanted no part of or even be around. They made a deal that she could come only if she's adequately controlled (Geas' and the like) so to not bring trouble down on the group. Everything was fine until the time came the daughter got the spells cast on her by an NPC, this became a "lobotomy" in their eyes, more fights ensued. 3) He cast a Charm spell on an important NPC Inquisitor who hates enslavement and compulsions with every fibre of their being. All in front of the other party members too and for no reason. The Inquisitor identified the source and confronted the Tiefling, locking her up. She was put on trial (heavy handed they believed) and released with strict conditions back to her party. 4) Numerous instances of opening their mouth without thinking, "involuntary outbursts" as they called it. Their character makes fun of NPCs and other individuals they meet which sours negotiations and diplomacy rolls and suchlike which complicates the party's efforts further. 5) Insulted Orcus (who they formerly worshipped) inside one of his temples and caused the party to be harassed by numerous demons. When the party found out why they were constantly being attacked this led to the Tiefling being near booted out of the group. They originally cut Orcus' statues head off its shoulders during this before I let them mulligan that part. They genuinely believed they could "handle" anything Orcus threw at them and his resources would be too thin to come after them full force. I explained that was a stupid assumption to make, he would dead sooner or later. 6) Again with the undead raising of family members. This time a very powerful NPCs elderly mother (I could turn her into a Vampire and she can live forever) as well as wanting to summon a Contract Devil to give the old woman a wish for her soul. She expected this to be taken well by the powerful NPC who the group needed to acquire a ship and safe passage from. She then threatened the NPC with alerting Orcus to her presence and having a demon horde descend on the city to kill everyone and her once she disagreed. Now it's gotten to the point other party members literally want to kick her out of the group and despite trying to talk to the player out of character they feel everyone is overreacting to what they are doing "I'm just playing my character" is a common excuse. Other players have talked to them too and while we get along fine out of character it's always competition in charvter (he's a Power Gamer/Rules Lawyer/Diva kind of player who loves show value to get attention. If he can't play an evil demon loving CE priestess then he won't play at all and with our small group size we don't want to lose a player and a friend) Does anyone have any other suggestions for how to deal with this player? Am I being too heavy handed by not pulling punches and having people not just shrug or laugh off his antics? (He believes he should have slapstick consequences like slaps upside the head and such but nothing more serious. Anyone who actually hurts his character he plots to murder and kill their loved ones). Thanks
I am playing around with the idea of creating a monster much like the "Phlanax" from Demon Souls (a huge size ooze, a mass of hundreds of dead soldiers who formed together - the exterior is covered in these tortured souls who use a mass of shields to protect its interior from harm and wield spears to attack intruders). A few design questions however, definitely trying to keep with the undead/ooze theme, but since oozes rely heavily on CON for HP and undead have none I am at an impass to figure out how to optimize its design. It needs to be intelligent as well since it wields weapons and shields, but giving it a mind also has the complication of the feats that oozes typically don't get (but this one would as oozes have alot of hit dice typically). Trying to balance these conflicting elements. How would you my fellow players/dm's go about this?
Hello friends, this thread is purely one posted out of curiosity. I own almost every core rule book for the game and with the exception of half-elves there are players in my group who feel the elves portrayed in the books look distinctly Asian in appearance (none of my players have issue with the fact, they purely pointed it out and how visually its too close to WoW elves or they look distinctly Asian). Just curious what everyone's thoughts are, purely cosmetic elements of course - my players have no problem with the fact, its just a disagreement about how the elves appearance compares to the description of Elves. Thanks in advance.
Hey peeps, have a scenario to lay out and wonder what everyone's thoughts are on it. There are two players in my group who play unusual characters who are locked in a in game/out of game conflict that relates to how Perception works against Disguise if sexual orientation is involved (which it's not based on the rules as written). One plays a female human rogue/bard who dresses and acts like a man (in our current setting its a male dominated society so women aren't treated equally), her backstory is extensive in that she's masqueraded as a man for years and in fact created/established this 'persona' so precisely that no one knows her real identity. (The character has exceptional Charisma, high Disguise, Bluff, Diplomacy, Sense Motive and Intimidate as well as Perform (Acting)) The other plays a male assimar ranger who's backstory is in summary that he's a homosexual, which makes for great role playing material in the group. An exceptional hunter of undead and rogue mages, his design is focused on taking down necromancers and their undead minions. NOW THE QUESTION... The party has just discovered that the Rogue/Bard is in fact a female (by virtue of the party cleric saving her from near death and by examining her) but the Ranger feels this shouldn't be a 'shock' to him as he didn't feel attracted to the handsome Rogue (so he says). Citing the 'lack of pheromones' as his defense, there are no rules of course for this. If 'Scent' (the ability) was something the Ranger had that might be possible (but certainly never mentioned in the rules as written) but he doesn't even have that. He just feels incensed that his character couldn't have told the difference between a woman dressed/acting like a man and a real man when he feels he should because of his sexual orientation. I am correct for thinking based on the RAW that anyone can Disguise themselves as the other gender and theoretically flirt with their own gender using Bluff if they're not genuine and leave the target none the wiser (assuming of course they fail their opposed Sense Motive test). I appreciate any feedback or input on this touchy subject so I can stifle this quarrel between both players.
If a character possessing Sneak Attack used a Cantrip (requiring a ranged touch attack such as Ray Of Frost) and dealt damage (the target recieved no saving throw and had no Spell Resistance), would the additional Sneak Attack damage be of the same type? (eg, in this case 'Cold' damage) If a character using a shortsword damaged foe with Damage Reduction that negated the base attacks damage to 0, then does Sneak Attack take place or not?
The players in my group feel if the base attack dealt no damage then no sneak attack took place based on this theory that if someone had Resistance 5 (Cold), they cant be Sneak Attacked by a Ray Of Frost unless the base attack dealt a Critical Hit and rolled maximum damage (D3 x 2, rolling 3 would net 6 damage - 5 resistance = 1 plus Sneak Attack (possibly?))
Here is the situation, there are two players in the group who have played Dungeons & Dragons way back since Advanced 2nd Edition and both are seasoned Rules Lawyers as well, they have read every convieveable book that was ever published. Now we've graduated to Pathfinder as opposed to 4th Edition, which preserves the spirit of what D&D is really about, a new situation as arisen. For simplicitys sake, I only allowed the players to use the Pathfinder published books and certain third party materials, trying to keep away from the 3.5 books (both players would immediately delve into the Book Of Exalted Deeds and Book Of Vile Darkness as an example). Thinking this would retain some measure of balance, and we could gradually work in our extensive back library of 3.5 books as we go. Problem is this, both players dont really 'create' characters, they min/max and level dip into a bunch of classes to make them in their own words 'self sufficient' that they dont need to rely on anyone for anything, since both players tend to play Chaotic Evil characters and feel they should be able to do as they please. The rest of the group handle these guys reasonably well, they stick to the plotlines and dont try to murder or rob every NPC they think they can take, as both of these other players are trying to 'one up' the other. Now I have taught them time and again not to attack and rob NPC's every chance they can get when they attack something they sorely underestimate or they rob someone who sends merc's to track them down and bring them back screaming for punishment. They have for the most part toned down the whole killing/looting NPC angle, but the competition for the 'spotlight' hasnt dimmed at all. Both tend to have their characters 'wander off' in a direction the rest of the party isnt heading in, just so they get some 'alone time' to do whatever they want, which is usually get up to no good. Then comes the main issue, which I simply refer to as 'The Pecking Order'. The two power gamers frequently feel they could 'take' their fellow party members and help themselves to the lions share of the treasure, and feel that the 'strongest' should help themselves first and then everyone else gets the leftovers. The attitude of these players DOES follow the alignment of Chaotic Evil as its pretty much what the characters should be like, but short of forcing them to change their characters and/or alignments, what would be other peoples suggestions for bringing harmony back to the group? These two players are more or less cornerstones of the group, and the other three players drop in and out casually, and they both have had this competitive style ever since they first played with one another (yet they are great friends in real life), and in most other games its not such a big deal, but I'm just wondering if theres any other advice out there to help harmonise things without alienating these key players. Thanks in advance for any suggestions/ideas. |
