JCAB's page

0 - Prestidigitation (Great utility spell with lots of different useful effects. I specially like the ability to alter the flavor of food - suddenly it becomes much easier to stick to your diet.)
1 – Unseen Servant (You basically get a slave, but without any of the moral implications. You never have to clean, do the dishes or mow the lawn again.)
2 – Make Whole (Repair everything from torn clothes, to a broken down car. Depending on your reading of the spell, it might even be used to restored damaged antiquities or works of art. Imagine how much bank you could make, by touring various museums and restoring damaged paintings, without any risk for the artwork.)
3 – Heroism (Good, long lasting bonus to nearly any check you would actually have to make.)
4 – Imbue with Flight (You may not be able to fly yourself, but your car can.)
5 – Teleport (Instant travel. Nuff said.)
6 – Age Resistance (Seems like an obvious long-term investment.)
7 – Mage’s Magnificent Mansion (Magical, extra dimensional mansion, fully staffed and without the property taxes.)
8 – Polymorph Any Object (Self-explanatory.)
9 – Shapechange (Want to fly? Become a dragon. Want to kill your enemies? Become a dragon. Want to pick up hot chicks? become a dragon. Want to run for prisident? Why not do that, as a dragon.)

I am going to be GM'ing a game set in Irrisen and one of my players asked if I had any more details on religion in Irrisen, besides what little is written in Inner Sea Campaign Setting book, which only list Lamashtu and Zon-Kuthon as the primary deities.

I couldn't really find much, so I wrote up this small primer, but I am interrested if anyone else have some suggestions.

Folk Religion in Irrisen
The rural people of Irrisen, the Ulfen and Kellid underclass of serfs who populate the villages and hamlets scattered throughout the Land of Eternal Winter, largely worship according to ancient and bloody traditions, related to the rites of the Shadow-Druids of Uskwood.

They worship at ancient rough-hewn stone alters, within circles of standing stones, deep in forests or at the top of forsaken hills. Here they offer bloody sacrifices to the two primary deities od Irrisen: Lamashtu the Dark Mother and Zon-Kuthon the Lord of Scars.

In most cases, the altar is a plain stone block, worked as little as possible by human hands and stained with the frozen blood of previous sacrifices. The standing stones surrounding the altar is however frequently richly decorated. Some villages carve them into the likeness of the gods, ancient heroes or terrible monsters, while other drape them with garlands of colored rope, from which the hang gifts and offerings. In some areas the villagers tie condemned criminals to the stones, with rope or chains, and leave them out to die of exposure, while in other villages carve small alcoves into the stone, which are used to store the skulls or ashes of honored ancestors.

Irriseni folk religion assumes that gods are fickle, hungry and dangerous and must be appeased with bloody sacrifices. The small-folk of Irrisen almost never pray to their gods for good fortune or guidance, instead prayers and sacrifices are intended to appease their dark gods and bribe them to stay their wrath and leave the worshipper to his own devices.

Most villages gather at least once per season to offer sacrifice. In most cases this will take the form of an animal sacrifice. Tradition dictates that black animals are the most effective for appeasing the gods. Lamashtu is said to prefer the blood of roosters, crows and goats, while Zon-Kuthon favors the blood of wolves. In times of great need, the community may instead opt for a human sacrifice. Such a sacrifice will usually be acquired by kidnapping a traveler or a person of a neighboring village, but in truly dire situations the village may instead gang up on their own priest and sacrifice her or him to the gods, under the assumption that the priest has failed in his duties and is the cause of the god’s wrath.

Grand Offerings
Almost all rural people in Irrisen practice a variant of the two rituals known as “The Grand Offerings”.

On the shortest day of the year the people of the village gather at their alter to sacrifice at least a dozen animal to the Dark Mother. By tradition the first and last sacrifice must be one of her favored animals (or a human), but the rest of the offerings are usually domestic animals. Once all the blood has been spilled, the meat of the animals is brought back to the village and cooked and the villager then feast and drink until dawn. Children conceived on this night are said to carry the Dark Mother’s favor – especially girls, who are believed to born with the gift witchcraft.

At dusk of the summer solstice the men of the villages gather to honor the Lord of Scars and prove their bravery and endurance. This is usually done by engaging in ritual combat. The men are stripped naked to the wrist and then fight each other, armed with knives and whips, until one party is disabled from pain and blood loss or dies, the latter actually being a fairly rare occurrence. Once the duels have concluded and all the participants wounds have been dressed, the local priest gather all the bloodies bandages and burn them on a ritual pyre lit within the stone circle, offering up the blood and pain of the men to Zon-Kuthon.

Caster/Martial Disparity: I would grant all martial classes the option of selecting at least some (Su) abilities above level 10, to help them deal with the commonly recognized problems they have keeping up with casters. They may gain a 90 feet flight speed, permanent “see invisibility” or blanket immunities to some especially debilitating SoD/SoS effects (domination, petrification, death and such). At lower levels I would grant all Martial classes substantial boosts to saves. I would give Fighter all good saves for example. And no Martial class should less than 4+Int skill points per level. Fighter should have access to a way to gain Pounce at level 6. Other Martials should gain the same option at around level 12. Finally Martial should gain access to some downtime/utility effects to match the world-breaking power of high level spells. This could include the ability to attract especially powerful cohorts, the ability to create and improve some magic items without resorting to magic themselves and the ability to generate a substantial amount of passive income.
To tone down Casters I would make expensive spell components nearly universal for spells above level 6 and make Full Round casting times much more prevalent. Some especially problematic spells might also always require the Caster to succeed a fairly difficult Concentration check to cast.

Economy: I would LOVE to see an overhaul of the entire economy which the system assumes. Some items seem insanely expensive, when compared to other items in the system and similar items in the real world. If you use the rule of thumb that 1gp = 100 USD a lot of items seems reasonably prized (Clothing, basic weapons, horses, inn stays and such all seem to exist on roughly the same sane scale), but other items are off-the-rocks bonkers expensive (poison, firearms, many alchemical items, most recreational drugs).

Skills: I would rewrite several skills to make some of the more marginal skills more flavorful and useful. The most grievous offender is obviously the Profession skill, where I would write in a clause that the skill can be used in place of another skill, if such a skill seems integral to the profession, but with a +5 DC. So Profession (Merchant) can sub in for Appraise, Profession (Brewer) can sub in for some applications of Craft (Alchemy) and Profession(Courtier) may be used in place of Knowledge (Nobles).

Weather, wilderness, travel, encumbrance, disease and starvation: I would like a more robust and consolidates system of making dangerous non-combat challenges more interesting. Something along the lines of the Skill Challenge system from D&D4e, but with a better integration of non-skill abilities and some interesting conditions to impose in the case of failures.

Mythic Rules: A full replacement of the Mythic system, build around the feel of creating super heroes in a Fantasy setting. Instead of mythic paths and ranks I would create a system of point buy powers.

Assuming a temple of Nethys located in Thuvia has a fixed curriculum for what the teach their young acolytes and this curriculum includes at least one mystical/magical language (i.e. abyssal, draconic, terran etc.), which language do you think they are most likely to teach their acolytes first?

Also, on a related notes, is "The Book of Magic" (The Nethian holy text) more likely to be written in one specific language? Giving that Nethys himself was most likely Osiriani, is ancient (or modern) osiriani considered a "sacred" (or at least more traditional) language for Nethian religious texts?

Thuvian Noble (Investigator Archetype)

Ancient Foes: Once per day, a Thuvian Noble may spend a full-round action to coat a melee weapon he is weilding in alchemical oil and imbue it with mystical power. Doing so causes the weapon count as cold iron for the purpose of bypassing Damage Reduction for the next hour or until the weapon leaves the Thuvian Noble’s hand. If the weaopon is used against a Div, it counts as both cold iron and good. This ability replaces Trap Sense

Court Training: A Thuvian noble adds half his class level (minimum 1) to Craft (alchemy), Diplomacy, Knowledge (nobility) and Profession (courtier). He can make Knowledge (nobility) and Profession (courtier) skill checks untrained. This ability modifies Alchemy and replaces Keen Recollection.

Gift of Water and Life: The Thuvian noble gain the Infusion discovery. This ability replaces Trapfinding.

If a character uses Minor Creation (sorcerer/wizard 4) to create food (fx. a giant loaf of bread), does eating the created foodstuff provide actual nourishment to those who consume it?

Neutral Good; Human Male; Aristocrat 2

STR 14: I lift weights every other day and do so with fairly high loads.
DEX 8: I think I am a bit clumsy. I regularly drop my phone or bang into things.
CON 14: In can run a half marathon (21 km) in 2 hours.
INT 16: I clicked in at 136 IQ, when I was tested professionally. I speak 4 languages (Native: Danish; Learned: English, German, French)
WIS 10: Average I guess? I can’t think of anything that would indicate my Wisdom being especially high or low.
CHA 12: I have a lot of friends and acquaintances and really enjoy meeting and talking to new people.

SKILLS: Appraise 2 Ranks, Craft (Food) 2 Ranks, Diplomacy 2 Ranks, Knowledge (Geography) 2 Ranks, Knowledge (History) 2 Ranks, Profession (Administrator) 2 Ranks, Profession (Merchant) 2 Ranks, Swim 2 Ranks
FEATS: Fast Learner, Improvisation

GEAR: Courtier’s Outfit (Suit), Jewelry (Watch, Tie Pin)

Margrave (Ranger Archetype)
Margraves are nobles who have been granted lands on the fringes of civilization. In return they are expected to defend the settled lands from the treats which lurk within the wilderness.

Class Skills: A marcher adds Diplomacy and Knowledge (nobility) to his list of class skills, and removes Knowledge (dungeoneering) and Stealth from his list of class skills.

Blessing of Kings: At 12th level a marcher adds the following spells to his class spell list: Aid (1st), Heroism (2nd), Angelic Aspect (3rd), Death Ward (4th). This ability replaces Camouflage and Hide in Plain Sight.

Birthright (Ex): At 1st level a marcher gains the Noble Scion feat as a bonus feat. This ability replaces Wild Empathy.

Shield of the People (Ex): At 20th level the margrave has become a legendary hero of the civilized lands, a rock upon which the tides of savagery are broken. He gains DR 5/Adamantine. This increases to 10/Adamantine whenever he is within one of his Favored Terrains. Moreover, while he is with a Favored Terrain he adds his Favored Terrain bonus to all saving throws as a Morale bonus.

Vigilance (Ex): Marchers adds half his level (minimum 1) to Perception skill check. This ability replaces Track, Swift Tracker, Quarry and Improved Quarry.

Comments?

Version 4.

Some abilities have been moved around so that the dead levels now appear at 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th and 19th level (When you gain a new level of spells). Also, the class now grants Trap Sense, which increases at these levels as well.

The text for the “Increased Arcane Pool” class feature was missing. This has been remedied.

To address some of the other points made by you guys:

Spells: I wanted the class to be able to model characters who had stolen/won/copied from a number of sources, including the Fae, Devils, Angles, Old Ones and even stranger things. Since I would like to avoid having to write dozens of pages of Boons to model this variety, I tried to use spells to achieve this, by giving the class access to a plethora of diverse spells.

From a more mechanical standpoint, I wanted the class spells to give the options of doing at least four things:

1: Combat buffing.
2: Heal damage and remove status effects.
3: Debuff enemies.
4: Provide out-of-combat utility – especially information gathering.

I wanted the class to be able to do all these things well enough that a party with a warlock could “function”, even if no other character brought these elements to the mix.

MAD: I really would like the class to key of both Wisdom and Charisma. The reason for this is three-fold.

1: Personally, I really just like the combination of Wisdom and Charisma. I think characters with good scores in these two abilities are fun to play and I think it is a shame that so few classes reward you for investing in both.
2: I think there is room for an arcane-based class which utilizes Wisdom.
3: I would like to make a class which gives you a good reason to invest in any ability, but not unduly punish you for not focusing on any one specific stat. I think doing so is an interesting design space for a jack-of-all-trades class.
With my warlock class, if you want to utilize offensive spells you will have to focus on Charisma (to drive up the save DCs). However, in doing so the character would most likely have to limit his Wisdom score and therefore also try to select his boons from those which are least affected by his abilities.

Heavily revised 3rd version.

Google Docs PDF

Updated:
Class skills changed.
Familiar removed as a class feature and added as an option through a special hex.
Limited access to magus arcana added through a special hex.
Bastard Sword removed as a weapon proficiency.

Google Docs PDF

Hey, I have been tinkering with a new hybrid class and would like some feedback.

This class is intended as a hybrid of the bard, magus and witch classes. It is intended to be a “jack of all trades” class, capable of filling any role in a party, but not designed to excel at any of them. The broad competence of the class is intended to be balanced by a couple of facts:

1) Most of the important class features come online later, than with their parent classes and are either reduced in scope (number of hexes) or power (number of properties available through arcane pool).
2) Unlike a magus, the warlock lack access to the most effective/exploitative uses of spell combat and spellstrike (such as the scimitar + keen + shocking grasp build).
3) While the warlock can match the bard in number of skill ranks, the bard get more “bang for the buck”, because of Bardic Knowledge and Versatile Performance.
4) The class is designed to be fairly MAD (Multiple Ability Dependent). In most circumstances, a warlock will need god scores in Strength, constitution, Wisdom and Charisma, since his spells key off Charisma, while his hexes and arcane pool key of Wisdom. This will usually result in fair low DC to save against his spells and hexes, which is intended as a balance feature.

I don't really think it is particularly useful to talk about these sort of thing in the abstract. That is, what it takes to be recognized as a “sovereign state” is going to vary wildly across space and time. Moreover some power may very well recognize you as a sovereign state, while other at the same time staunchly refuse to treat you as anything but a warlord, criminal or terrorist (for a modern day example see: Transdniester, Somaliland, the Pakistani FATA regions).

In real terms I think what is important is that at least one, preferably several established powers see an advantage in recognizing the new sovereign as partner in the game of international politics. This may come about in one of several ways. Some states may wish to support the new nation on pure ideological grounds (Andoran supporting a newly formed democratic state). Others may do so out of a feeling of ethnic solidarity (The Land of the Linnorm Kings giving support to an Ulfen-lead breakaway region of Irrisen). In some cases the head of state of a major power may be personally bribed to use his influence to legitimize the newly created sovereign (Grand Prince of Taldor seems like a great candidate). Finally a number of states might be eager to support any power able to stabilize otherwise troublesome regions. If a human warlord was able to claim and hold large swaths of the Holf of Belkzen or the Stoval Plateau several counties might throw their support behind him, hoping to create a viable buffer state to shield themselves from the barbarians of the wilderness.

Do "Disguise Self" affect how a character smells? If I disguise myself as an orc, would a guard dog which had been trained to allow orcs to pass an area with fuss react to my scent, or is the spell enough to fool it?

When a scrying spell fails due to you being dead, is the “error message” the caster receives the same as if the target makes it save? Do the spell simply fail or do you know why it failed (i.e. target is dead, target made its save, target is warded?).

What happens if you try to scry (using a spell like scrying or greater scrying) on a person which isn't alive any more? Do the spell simply fail? Do you see their corpse? What about if they have been eaten or the body has been dismembered and scattered?

Moreover, imagine that you wanted to fake your death in the eyes of a high level (lvl 14) witch, how would you go about it? You can assume that she has access to spells like Greater Scrying, Vision/Legend Lore, Contact Other Plane and Find the Path; but also that once you have convinced her you are dead, she will stop looking for you.

My girlfriend and I will be joining a new campaign, starting at level 9. The campaign will be based in and around Varisia, and the GM said it would by 50% exploration (dungeon crawling/ wilderness) and 50% drama (power politics/ personal intrigue/ maybe kingdom building). There will be two other players. Neither any of the players nor the GM is even remotely optimizers.

The two other players plan to play:

Edrian Scarnetti (Male Human; CN; Cavalier of the Order of the Cockatrice): Edrian is one of the younger sons of the aristocratic Scarnetti family of Sandpoint. Several years ago he was disowned by his father Titus, after a truly epic bout of debauched drunkenness and womanizing, while he was supposed to be attending to family business in Magnimar. Have since made his way teaching swordplay, taking on mercenary work and engaging in the occasional bit of monster hunting. His latest contract was acting as hired back-up for the Black Arrow rangers of Fort Rannick, who are still short in man-power, after being almost wiped out by ogres five years ago.

Build: Straight forward charge-focused cavalier. GM had told us not to expect a lot of actual dungeons, so I think he will get to fight from his mount most of the time.

Balt the Green Mage (Male Halfling; CG; Verdant Sorcerer): Balt was raised in a halfling village, hidden deep within the Ashwood forest. When he was still a young child, he began to manifest his magical talent and was apprenticed to the village’s resident sorcerer, who taught him the magic of the forest. Balt quickly exceeded his tutor in arcane might and eventually felt he had to leave his home, to fully grow into his power.

Build: Will focus on battle-field control spells (entangle, glitterdust, stinking cloud and black tentacles have been mentioned). I think the GM might allow him to take some plant-themes spells from the druid list, to support his theme.

With that in mind, here is what my GF and I plan to play:

Wynnan and T'vanja

The GM is generally okay with custom content, especially when it is in order to support a setting-based concept. I just wanted to see if anyone here think that the stuff I have come up with is horribly unbalanced in some way, which I can’t see for myself.

bump

I am planning on playing a priest (oracle actually) of Cayden Cailean and was thinking about what kinds of sayings may be part of the Placards of Wisdom. I have a few good ones, or so I think at least, but I would like to hear if anyone on the boards have some more or better and if people think I am way off mark.

“It is good to be fair. It is better to be just. It is best to be a true fiend”.

“Evil is the absence of mercy and fairness and the courage to defend them”.

“Beware, sometime the lily shelter the wasp”.

“If you seek the favor of a maiden, be the kind of man whose favor maidens seek.”

“Everything has a price. Free drinks are paid by you head in the morning”.

“An honorable fight is one where the stronger man sets the rules. A fair fight is one where no-one is hobbled by the other man’s prejudices. Be fair, not honorable.”

“You should to fight for what is right, but greater glory is in fighting for those who are right by you.”

“Never borrow money you cannot repay and never demand repayment on debts the borrower cannot afford”.

“Be kind to children and dogs, they will repay a thousand fold in love. Cats and demons, not so much.”

“Gold in a chest may not BE dull, but it sure IS dull. Gold on a bosom is never either”.

This is f***ing awesome. Cool flavor and solid mechanics. I really love classes with supernatural abilities, but without spell and this seems to be an excellent alternative to the Investigator. Nice work.

Smuggler (Ranger Archetype)
Some rangers journey into the wilderness separating the civilized lands, not to revel in the grandeur of nature, but to smuggle contraband, people or information from one city or kingdom to another. Smugglers lack to average ranger's skills in tracking and hunting and his spiritual connection nature, but make up for this with increased talents at deception, larceny and with dirty tricks.

Smuggler At 1st level a smuggler adds Appraise, Bluff, Disguise, Linguistics and Sleight of Hand to his list of class skills and removes Heal, Knowledge (dungeoneering), Knowledge (nature) and Spellcraft from his list of class skills.

Sneak Attack (Ex) A smuggler gains the rogue Sneak Attack ability. The smuggler’s sneak attacks deal +1d6 points of damage at 1st level. This improves to +2d6 at level 3 and by an additional dice at every two levels thereafter, to a maximum of +10d6 at level 19. This replaces the Favored Enemy, Quarry and Improved Quarry ranger abilities.

Smuggling (Ex) A smuggler adds half his level (minimum 1) to Linguistics skill checks to create forged documents and to Sleight of Hand checks to hide small objects on his body. This ability replaces Track.

Hunter’s Bond (Ex) A smuggler must select an animal companion for his Hunter’s Bond. However his effective druid level for this ability is his smuggler level -2.

Rogue Talent (Ex, Sp or Su) At 4th level and every two levels thereafter the smuggler may select one rogue talent. From 12th level onwards, the smuggler may select advanced rogue talents as well. This ability replaces spell-casting.

Pack Rat (Ex) Starting at 7th level, a smuggler’s speed is no longer modified by encumbrance or wearing medium armor and he ignores all penalties to skill checks and attack rolls imposed by medium encumbrance and light or medium armor. This ability replaces Woodland Stride and Swift Tracker.

Prince of Scoundrels (Su) A smuggler of 20th level becomes a criminal legend. He may once per turn, as a swift action grant himself a +10 bonus to Bluff, Disguise or Stealth skill checks. He also becomes all but impossible to keep tabs on through magic. Treat this effect as a permanent mind blank spell. If dispelled, he may reactivate the ability as a swift action 24 hours later.

1) Thuvia, especially the intercity politics of the nations and something on the Water Lords.
2) More on the lost civilizations and empires of Golarion. Something describing the architectual styles evident in their ruins and the esthetics of their artifacts, as well as what is known or suspected about their culture and religious practices.
3) Trade and commerce. What products are produced where and what is exported and imported and by whom and by what means (caravan, ship, magic ect.).
4) The Padisha Empire of Kelesh
5) How (or even if) magic influence the daily lives of regular people and is utilized by states and other large orginizations to affect change on the larger world.

Dustin: ugh, thanks.

Shin: beside the slaughter of ogres, what in t hat mod says "evil" to you?

The systematic murder of infant girls by their mother, in order for her to monopolize her male children's sexual desires?

There are volumes written about the phenomena of homophobia. Which by the way is hardly "American". As awful as we are, and we are pretty puritanical and backward, we at least stopped making non-cis sexusal expression illegal and don't laws on the books that can literally condemm people to death and worse.

The answer to your question can't be summed up in a thread post. In the dimm possibility that you really want some answers, I suggest you use this wikipedia article on homophobia to get yourself started.

Don't expect any simple, quick, or easy answers. This is not a new problem, nor is it a simple one.

I was merely being rhetorical. I fully understand on an academic level how a person could be brought-up/conditioned to dislike people based on their sexuality, though it continues to frustrate me that people do so, because from my point of view doing so seems obviously to inflict harm on individuals, without providing society with any comparable utility. Also, doing so is just plain wrong (again, from my point of view).

What does actually elude my understanding is how merely being presented with a passage in an RPG book, which indirectly acknowledged the existence and normality of something you dislike, alienates you as the reader.

Take for example the Dark Elder from WH40K. If you read their codex or any novel involving them it becomes pretty obvious that they engage in some pretty epic-scale levels of sexual abuse and violence. The artwork hints at it. The text hints at it. Everything we know about them would tell us that they think “rape is fun”. Now reading such a book I may think that they are total and utter monsters and that I would hate to ever meet one in real life, but it does not make me dislike GW for writing the book or make me think anything less of people (like my girlfriend) who play them.

I could even see myself playing one. Not because I would like to torture, rape and murder other people, but because I recognize that they have an interesting dramatic potential – like Hannibal Lector or Gengis Khan.

Take a country which has dancing boys, now bring it into the sphere of your country, now have some media source or mouthpiece portray the practice of Bacha Bazi as normal, and NOT as something screwed up. You would not be surprised when some people had a problem with this, would you?

Transgender is not Bacha Bazi to you or me, but to an unfortunately large percentage of most countries (including, I suspect, your own) it is. These people are wrong, but there they are.

Okay, so I get that you think that transsexuality is a-priori “wrong”, but how does it follow from that, that including the rather small text-block of the Elixir of Sex Shift is somehow alienating you and people who share your beliefs? I don’t think the practice of slavery is morally defensible, but Golarion includes a large good-aligned religion (Sarenrae) who have found a way to contort their morals into allowing them to be a cornerstone of a society which engage in large-scale slavery (Qadira and the Padisha Empire). The inclusion of this fact in Golarion does not “alienate” me or place any noticeable degree of moral or mental stress on me. And it has a lot more text dedicated to it than the issue of transsexuality has.

By the way, I am from Denmark if my cultural frame of reference is pertinent to the discussion.

Not only is it hard for hetero sexual people to relate to homosexuals, but religious beliefs add to the idea that "homosexuality is wrong".

Okay, so again this may be my non-Americaness shining through, but I simply don’t understand this sentiment. How and why should it be difficult for hetero guys to relate to gay men? They are sexually attracted to men, in the same way as I am sexually attracted to women. Done. It’s that simple.

From my perspective, it is much easier to “relate” to how it must be being a gay man, than a 250-year old man (an elf) or a cold-blooded reptile-man (kobold) or the grandson of a litteral angle (aasimar).

Maybe it is because I am not an American and therefore do not pick up on some of the subtleties of the discussion, but I fail to see how Paizo inclusion of LBGTQ themes, subjects and characters is especially heavy handed. In fact, from my point of view acknowledge the existence of genderdymorphic individuals by including an elixir that would mostly be used by them seems to me to be one of the least heavy handed ways of addressing the issue. The Elixir of Sex Shift does not go into great depths on the issue, it does not present a moral argument for or against transsexual people, it simply provides a possible solution to their genderdymorphism, that some of them may choose to utilize.

So I guess I would like to know. Given that Paizo seem to be intent on including LGBTG issues in their products, if you think their current way of doing so is too heavy handed, how do you (Wiggz in particular) think they could address the issue, without alienating you?

Its for Golarion and the hardness thing is a typo - it should be 5, as for all wooden ships.

The Sunhawk (Sky Sloop)
Aura strong transmutation; CL 16th
Slot none; Price ?; Weight 36 tons

DESCRIPTION
The Sunhawk is a sleek 75 feet long and 15 feet wide ship, made from weathered hardwood. It does not have a mast, instead roughly two-thirds of the way down from the prow of the ship, a pair of wing-like contraptions of brass and silk and affixed to the hull. These can be unfurled to serve as sails, using a complex system of ropes and pulleys, when the ship is in flight.
On the deck, near the prow, a trapdoor allows for access to the cargo hull and a heavy ballista is located near the middle of the deck, while the rear fourth of the deck-level is given over to the captain’s cabin, the roof of which serves as the bridge, where the ship’s wheel is located.
Below deck, the cargo hull takes up most of the space, but the ship’s kitchen and three small cabins are also located here. Access to the cargo hull is possible through the deck trapdoor or through a pair of large sliding gates located on either side of the hull.
The enchantments used in the Sunhawk’s construction make the ship naturally buoyant, allowing it to levitate up to a distance of 500 yards above the ground, but never higher than 2.000 yards above sea level. The same magic also allow the ship to fly at speeds up to 25 mph, though with the sail-wing deployed it may sail even faster, if the wind allow it.
The ship’s hull can hold up to 25 tons of cargo or 50 passengers.

VEHICLE STATS
Colossal air vehicle
Squares 45 (15 ft. by 75 ft.)
DEFENSES
AC 2; Hardness 25
hp 1350
Base Save +10
Resistance acid 10, fire 10
Immunity electricity, cold
OFFENSE
Maximum Speed 180 ft. (current) or 120 ft. (magic); Acceleration 30 ft. (current) or 15 ft. (magic)
CMB +8; CMD 18
Ramming Damage 8d8
DESCRIPTION
Propulsion current (air; two sail wings, 30 squares of sail, hp 150) and magic
Driving Check Profession (sailor) or Profession (nature) +10 to the DC
Forward Facing the ship’s forward
Driving Device steering wheel
Driving Space the nine squares around the steering wheel
Crew 4
Decks 2
Weapons 1 heavy ballista on a swivel on the upper deck.
Heavy ballista (Direct-Fire Siege Engine)
Damage 4d8 Critical 19-20/x2 Range 180 ft. Type P Crew 3 Aim 2 Load 3

So would you say that this is a magic item, and in that case, what would be a fair prize, or it is a lesser (or major) artifact?

Messenger Cage
Aura faint enchantment; CL 3rd
Slot -; Price 500 gp; Weight 3 lb.
DESCRIPTION
A messenger cage is a golden cage, suitable for holding a tiny animal, such as a hamster or songbird. Once an animal has spent one week in the cage, the owner can speak a command word when opening the cage to have the animal serve as an animal messenger (as per the spell). The magic of the cage fails, if more than one animal is kept in the cage.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, animal messenger; Cost 250 gp

Pathfinder’s Outfit
Aura faint transmutation; CL 1nd
Slot body; Price 250 gp; Weight 8 lb.
DESCRIPTION
This rugged and worn, but high quality, explorer’s outfit carries a subtle enchantment which keeps it tolerably clean and slowly repairs it as it suffers from daily wear and tear.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, mending; Cost 125 gp

Winter Jar
Aura faint evocation; CL 1st
Slot -; Price 500 gp; Weight 2 lbs.
DESCRIPTION
This jar is made from blue-glazed ceramics and is decorated with cloud and ice motifs. Its outside is noticeably cold to the touch. Any liquid poured into the jar is chilled to 40° over a couple of minutes, depending on the initial temperature of the liquid.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, ray of frost; Cost 250 gp

Sorcerous Music Box
Aura faint illusion; CL 1st
Slot -; Price 500 gp; Weight 6 lbs.
DESCRIPTION
This elaborately decorated hardwood box is carved with scenes of frolicking nymphs and satyrs and is filled with a complex arrangement of brass gears and crystal cylinders.
Up to ten different tunes can be stored and played by the box’s enchantments. Erasing or recording a new tune requires a successful Spellcraft or Use Magic Device skill check DC 10. The magic of the box can only record instruments, not voices or any other incidental sounds, so any music recorded is purely instrumental. The sorcerous music box can be used to accompany a use of the Performance skill, granting a +1 circumstance bonus to the skill. Activating the box is a standard action.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, ghost sound; Cost 250 gp

Everlamp
Aura faint evocation; CL 3nd
Slot -; Price 120 gp; Weight 1 lb.
DESCRIPTION
An everlamp is simply a lantern or colored glass jar containing a pebble or other small item enchanted with the continual flames spell. It shred light as a torch, but is merely warm to the touch and cannot light objects on fire.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements continual flame; Cost 60 gp

Boiling Pebble
Aura faint evocation; CL 1st
Slot -; Price 250 gp; Weight -
DESCRIPTION
This small red ceramic bead is pleasantly warm to the touch, but if dropped into water the heat it radiates intensifies enough to boil one gallon per minute, or bring five gallons to a high enough temperature to serve as pleasantly warm bath water.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, burning hands or produce flame; Cost 125 gp

Reusable Journal
Aura faint transmutation; CL 1st
Slot -; Price 500 gp; Weight 1 lbs.
DESCRIPTION
A reusable journal contain 100 sheets (200 pages) of good quality paper, bound between tough leather covers. It resist water damage, dirt and pests with remarkable toughness and anyone holding book can erase the content of any of the paged within, simply by turning to the page, placing his hand on it and speaking the command word “clean slate”.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, erase, mending; Cost 250 gp

Rooster’s Hourglass
Aura faint abjuration; CL 1st
Slot -; Price 250 gp; Weight 1 lb.
DESCRIPTION
Rooster’s hourglasses appear to be well-made hourglasses, usually crafted from hardwood and filled with colored sand. The hourglass is activated by turning it over when all the sand is in the lower chamber and thinking on a specific time relative to the next sunrise. When that time arises the hourglass emits a loud noise, like a rooster greeting the morning sun.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, alarm; Cost 125 gp

So over the last week or so I have been working on a character for a game, which I just learned might end up not happen at all. Bummer. I really liked the character I ended up making and I spendt a lot of time tweaking the details to get everything just right. So since I may not get to use him after all, I thought to drop a link to the character here, so that somebody else might salvage something from him to use in their campaign.

Enjoy

PDF

JCAB, there's a difference between "certain players attempting to play certain characters could reduce other people's fun so let's address that" and "the only two possibilities are that you're fully able to act exactly like the character you're playing or else you just want to diplomacy people and punch faces and count loot".

The former seems to be what you're describing, while the latter is the very small world in which certain posters apparently live. The former is something that's just part of being a reasonable person (and is connected to every aspect of the game, not just the roleplaying), while the latter is very far from reasonable.

I was replying to the latter.

I agree. I think I just maybe might have a slightly more charitable way of reading some posts than you do.

the secret fire wrote:

Albatoonoe wrote:

This is a game about escapism (and fun). Why would you punish people for their real life faults? It seems like you are missing the point.

Bad roleplaying breaks the immersion and takes away from the fun of the other players, to the extent that they care. I gather that not everybody cares. Some folks just want to "diplomacy people", punch faces and count loot. Every table is different.

There are people who want to play a character that they themselves are not capable of representing completely, who nevertheless care a great deal about roleplaying, immersion, and the fun of the other players; and are interested in far, far more than just "diplomacy-ing people", punching faces and counting loot.

I don't understand why it is hard for you to accept that this category of people exists.

I think it is possible to understand the sentiment and just don't care about those people and their “fun” or simply value your own” fun” more. As a general rule I think that people should be allowed to play any character they want, that could reasonable exist within the setting and conforms to the general tone and theme of the campaign. However, sometimes that fact that you want to play a character, which you do not have the Out-of-Game abilities to portray can impact the other players’ enjoyment of the game negatively. And while I think that all players and GM should give each other the benefit of the doubt and go to great lengths to accommodate people who want to play, for example social characters without being so themselves, there is a limit to this principle. I used to play in a campaign where one of the other players was supposed to play this really smart mastermind-tactical-genius character, but the player was so bad at it that every plan or stratagem he came up with was either impossible or suicidal. His plans were so bad that the GM would have to fundamentally alter the campaign setting and its laws of physics and everybody else’s understanding of how reasonable people react, if he were to accommodate that player’s character concept.

In the end two of the other players quit the campaign, because they were so frustrated by the first player, who was totally unwilling to play any other character. His “right” to play a character he was unable to even remotely believable portray made them leave, which resulted in the campaign instantly imploding and no-body getting to play. Was that the best possible outcome? I don’t think so. Was it fair of them to demand that the first player should play something else? I don’t know. But I do know that the fact that he played that particular character meant that nobody else was really enjoying the game as much as they could, and two other players enjoyed it so little that they quit.

Just something that works really well for my group, but we have been doing it for a few years now:

Folks role-play their characters as best they can, but I gauge the NPCs reaction through a combination of what they said and their diplomacy check. The logic being that a *character* with a low Charisma would say the exact same thing in a much worse way than the player just did, while a *character* with a high charisma would say it much better.

The NPCs still react to what was said, but the positive/negative aspects are determined by the roll.

At first we were concerned that it would take out the role-playing aspect of the game, but it really has enhanced it. We're a fairly bookish lot, so it allows us to play those super-charismatic folks that we all dream of being without worrying that our lack of eloquence will haunt us in a fantasy world. And the members of our group who are better spoken have been very willing to accept that, if they used Charisma as their dump stat, then their characters just aren't as well spoken as they are.

That doesn't mean they never say it well, the dice aren't that fickle, but it does keep things on a more logical keel, the same way the dice do with physical and mental abilities.

I think this is rougly equivelent to the way I do it, excpet that I grant bonuses/impose penalties, instead of what you do which seem to be to modify the DC.

JCAB wrote:

Orthos wrote:

JCAB wrote:

I either impose a -8 to -2 penalty to their rolls, or grant a +2 or +4 circumstance bonus.

Any particular reason the penalty is so much lower than the bonus is high?

Yes, I personally think that granting too large bonuses tend to break the mechanics worse, than imposing large penalties do. YMMV. Also, my real life experiences tell me that people usually react more strongly to "dealbreakers" than to "perfect arguments". Again, YMMV. Regardless, such numbers are entirely arbitary and as long as penalties and bonuses are applied fairly, my experience is that players do not care overly about the exact size of the modifier. In actual play I will almost exclusively grant +2 or -2 to rolls and only pull out the +4 or -8 if a player either blows the entire table away with awesome RP or so utterly misreads the NPC that what they what their character to say only can be understood as a mortal insult.

I personally just don't consider it fair. If it was -4 vs +4 I wouldn't have an issue with it.

We obviously differ, no biggie. However I will say that plenty of mechanics are assymetrical, in that they only apply penalties or penalties are worse than bonuses. Take the rules for visibility, for example. Perfect clear weather is the standard assumption. This is as good as it gets. Any effect which modifies visibility does so by imposing penalties. Terrain is also vastly more likely to impose penalties than bonuses to characters and the penalties tend to be decidely worse than the boons.

JCAB wrote:

I either impose a -8 to -2 penalty to their rolls, or grant a +2 or +4 circumstance bonus.

Any particular reason the penalty is so much lower than the bonus is high?

Yes, I personally think that granting too large bonuses tend to break the mechanics worse, than imposing large penalties do. YMMV. Also, my real life experiences tell me that people usually react more strongly to "dealbreakers" than to "perfect arguments". Again, YMMV. Regardless, such numbers are entirely arbitary and as long as penalties and bonuses are applied fairly, my experience is that players do not care overly about the exact size of the modifier. In actual play I will almost exclusively grant +2 or -2 to rolls and only pull out the +4 or -8 if a player either blows the entire table away with awesome RP or so utterly misreads the NPC that what they what their character to say only can be understood as a mortal insult.

Here is how I look at it:

Combat and RP consist of both in and out of game elements. In combat, a character’s effectiveness is partly determined by the character’s stats and gear (in-game element) and the player’s tactical ability and rules mastery (out-of-game element). The same should go for RP. In that case the characters stats and the player’s ability to figure out how best to deploy them what is synthesized, to produce the final degree of effectiveness.

If I really don’t understand the rules and frequently make really bad choices in combat, my high level fighter is going to come across as an incompetent amateur. Likewise, if I have no real concept of what kind of arguments or suggestions are reasonable, my attempts at diplomacy should be less effective than if performed by a player, with similar in-game resources, but with a better grasp of how best to deploy them.

The way this usually plays out if I GM, is that I allow the players to either 1) present their argument as their character, speaking their character lines and talking directly with NPC or 2) have them describe in general terms what they are trying to accomplish, which kind or arguments and incentives they use and why they think that should be reasonable way to convince/seduce/intimidate/manipulate the NPC. Depending the quality of their arguments and how well their approach aligns with the NPC’s personality and goals I either impose a -8 to -2 penalty to their rolls, or grant a +2 or +4 circumstance bonus. We then roll as normal to determine if they are able to sway the NPC.

This way the character’s stat do have a major influence on the outcome of the RP encounter, but the player also have a real incentive to at least try an present a compelling case or argument – which I personally feel is a major positive addition to the RPG experience.

Rogue 20/ Horizon Walker 10/ Ranger 10: I have a plan, and it is gooing to end up looking a lot like Han Solo

Tie between Thuvia and Katapesh, by the gods I would love to get to play in a game which takes place in either (or both!) of those. Unfortunatly for me, everybody I know who play PF seems to only want to play in Varisia.

The wording of the feat is taken, more or less verbetum, from Versatile Performance. The difference being that VP subs in for two Skills, but this feat grant much greater flexibility, which I would think seems like a fair trade-off, though I may be wrong.

Professional Expertise
You have studied a profession and have learned to apply some of its trick of the trade to your adventuring career.
Prerequisite: Profession (Any) 1 rank
Benefit: Pick any one Profession you have at least one rank in. You can use your bonus in that Profession in place of a bonus in any one other skill, chosen at the time this feat is gained. When substitution in this way, the character uses his total Profession skill bonus, including class skill bonus, in place of the associated skill’s bonus, whether it not he has ranks in that skill or if it is a class skill.
You can gain this feat multiple times. Each time select a new Profession and a new other skill for that Profession to substitute.

So is this somehow overpowered or does it break anything? My intent was to make Professions chosen purely for RP intents slightly less of a chump-move. As far as I can tell this feat in essence do two things: 1 - make any one skill a class skill. 2 - change the Ability keyed for that one skill to Wisdom. Feedback appreciated.

The Horizon Walker prestige class special ability Terrain Dominance includes the following clause/sub-ability: "When dealing with creatures native to that terrain, the horizon walker treats his favored terrain bonus for that terrain as a favored enemy bonus (as the ranger class feature) against those creatures"

So in theory a level 10 horizon walker could pick the same favores terrain to upgrade every time he gains an additional favored terrain and end up with a single terrain where he has +14 favored terrain bonus, then done a pair of Boots of Friendly Terrain to increase this bonus to +16 and thus gain +16 to all attacks and damage rolls against all creatures with that terrain type listed under the "environment" heading, right?

Maybe I'm just a jerk, but I would say no. If you can't commit to make the same time as everyone else, it's not fair to those players who can.

Why not? Seriously, why not? Real life is a thing and living in another town/state country seems like a resonable reason for not showing up every time. Moreover, speaking from experience, if my GF only was in town one weekend out of four and she couldn't play in my weekly D&D game if she wanted, that game would quickly become 3/4th weekly for my part

Have her make a character where it makes sense she is only present some of the time - like a paladin who is often called away on business for her order or a rogue who need to leave to deal with "mysterious allies". If your player want to have his GF join the game and she really want to play as well, I think it would be a shame to disappoint either.

Maybe I should replace the Vial of Acid with Tanglefoot Bags, just to make movement-impairment even easier to get by looting the stalls?

What I am trying to do is to create an encounter which requires them to make intelligent use of the terrain and the special options – especially movement restrictions like difficult terrain, the caltrops and marbles or climbing up to high group to get out of reach of the dinosaurs. Of course the plan is to tell the players this from the outset – the idea is to try and get them in the habit of not simply “tank-and-spank” every encounter, but instead try to get more creative. Also, and this might be relevant, the characters are 20 pts. characters and they start with 4, instead of 2 traits.

Do you think this logic changes if the party is comparatively low-level, but more numerous - say five to seven level 2 characters?

Hi, I need a bit of help determining the EL of an encounter I am designing. Now according to the CR Equivalencies table on p. 398 of CRB four deinonychus dinosaurs would be a CR 7 encounter, but I am not sure how/if all the specific options and the "time constraint" I have built into the encounter significantly alters this. Feedback is appreciated.

A1: Terror at the Market (EL ?)

As you stroll through one of the many colorful open-air markets of Merab, wondrous sights, sounds and smells entice your sense. The desert sun shines from a cobalt blue sky warming your skin, while the fragrant scents of spices, herbs and incense fill your nose. Hundreds of stalls offer goods from every land in the known world: golden jewelry, fine silks, ancient Varisian idols, illuminated books and a thousand different curios fill the tables of the stalls. And the sea of people here is just as diverse. As you move through the crowd you see tall dark Mwangi, pale Chels, Kellid savages clad in leather and bone and Nexian sorcerers in shimmering silks.

Then sudden the loud sound of breaking wood, followed by a bestial cry cut through the din. For a moment the crowd goes eerily silent as everyone tries to figure out what is happening. Then a man scream and an arc of crimson blood leap across the sky. The crowd surges back. Fear turns to terror turns to panic. More sound of breaking wood as stall tables are overturned by the fleeing crowd. And then the crowd thins and you see what is responsible for the panic: Before you, among several mutilated bodies stand a trio of bipedal wing-less, but birdlike, creatures. Each is easily as large as a grown man. Their short stubby arms and long powerful legs both end in wicked long claws and their elongated heads jaws open to reveal rows of razor sharp teeth.

The creatures are a pack of four deinoncychus dinosaurs that were being kept in a cage. They somehow managed to shatter the cage and went on a rampage, first slaughtering their owner and then four nearby shoppers. Famished, they then stopped to feed on the corpses, allowing the crowd to flee. By now they have sated the worst of their hunger and have become aware of the PCs, which they view as a threat.

As pack animals they will try to gang up on a single prey, flank it and tear it to shreds before moving on to the next. They will also make good use of their high speed and pounce, striking at isolated weak-looking opponents.

Enemies: Deinonychus x4 (26 hp, 30 hp, 34 hp, 44 hp)

Terrain: The encounter takes place in a section of the South Bazaar 200 feet (40 squares) long and 40 feet (8 squares) wide. The first ten feet along either side of the “corridor” is filled with market stalls, tables and rugs covered with wares and are considered difficult terrain. At either “end” of the corridor the panicked crowd is packed in tightly. The crowd considers all other characters “enemies” and thus completely blocks movement, unless a character uses combat maneuvers to move them out of the way.

The actual “walls” of the corridor is the front of the buildings which line the bazaar street. No doors open up onto the street, but 15 feet off the ground various windows and balconies do offer a possible avenue of escape. The DC to climb the walls is 20.

While most of the shoppers and merchants have managed to escape, five innocent bystanders were knocked down and injured in the initial stamped. They have all been immobilized by their wounds or trapped under collapsed stalls. Frightened and hurt, they are currently crying out in pain. At the start of each round (including the first round), if a dinosaur is not currently engaged with an enemy which is fighting back, there is a 25% chance that it will move to one of the wounded civilians and use a standard action to finish him or her off.

Resources: If a PC stand in or next to a market stall, the PC may spend a move action to search the stall for a useful item to help fight the dinosaurs. Included in this action is retrieving and readying the item. The player makes a Perception check DC 12 and if successful roll on the table below.

d8 Effect
1: Improvised Weapon (Dmg d6)
2: Bag of Caltrops
3: Handful of Marbles
4: Flask of Oil
5: Vial of Acid
6: Haunch of Meat*
7: Handful of Pepper*
8: Fireworks*

*: A haunch of meat can be used to distract a deinoncychus. To do so the character must be adjacent to the dinosaur and must then spend a move action waving the meat in front of the beast and a swift action dropping or throwing it. The character makes a Bluff or Handle Animal check DC 11. If the character succeeds the dinosaur rendered flat-footed for 1 round.

A handful of pepper can be thrown into the eyes of a dinosaur as a melee touch attack. If the attack succeeds the sickened for 1d6+2 rounds. A successful fortitude save DC 22 reduce this to 2 rounds.

Fireworks can be lit as a swift action if the characters has a ready source of fire or otherwise as a movement action as he stops to light it on the coals in a nearby food stall or some other convenient source of fire. They can then be thrown as a ranged touch attack targeting a square (Range 15 feet. No increments). Anyone in a square when fireworks go off suffers 1d4 point of fire damage. If used against one of the dinosaurs it becomes frightened for 1d6 rounds, unless it makes a Will save DC 15. Firework automatically ignites a square or creature covered in oil. Such a creature suffers 1d6 points of fire damage each turn. Extinguishing the fire requires a full-round action and a successful Reflex save DC 14.

Development: The commotion has drawn the attention of the guards who patrol the bazaar, but the closely packed crowd is making it difficult for them to get to the scene. Six rounds after the fight breaks out 1d6+1 guards arrive and begin to fire their heavy crossbows at any still fighting dinosaurs. Three rounds after that, an additional 4 guards arrive and join the fight, also initially by firing heavy crossbows.

Resolution: If the PCs manage to kill or subdue the dinosaurs before the guards arrive, the local merchants hail them as heroes and offer them a 100 gp each as reward for their courage, plus an additional 25 gp each for each of the innocent bystanders caught in the skirmish, who survive. If the PCs require the guards help to finish the beasts off, the merchants are decidedly less impressed and only offer the PCs a flat 50 gp per character reward. In either case, a successful Appraise, Diplomacy or Profession (Merchant) skill check DC 16 increase the total reward by 10%.