Curious if, for the purposes of Break Guard, does the Magus' Spell Combat ability function as a second weapon so long as you use a spell that requires an attack roll?
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Another Feat worth thinking about would be Voice of the Sibyl, especially if you think this baddie could get into mythic levels. This gets doubly fun if he goes down Eldrich Heritage (Maestro) for more bonuses to his language-dependant spells, though both of these options are only strong further down the line. Flavor it how you will, but it might be interesting to give him a few Words of Power Friendship or Complex Order items, should they be available.
A friend's father, who played 1st Ed., ran into the same problem. He microwaved the worst offenders and forced the other dice to "watch". Since then, he's had pretty good rolls. (Wish I had done that the one time I played with him, I'll admit.)
I'm assuming you're referencing the creation requirements. I honestly don't know. Part of me wants to feel the inclusion of Gentle Repose was a lazy attempt at a work-around (if the remains don't rot, they still count as a target, even if the soul is missing?) It seems a bit backwards if the only way to create them is to use a feature of the finished product, specifically this line from the second paragraph: "Alternatively, casting magic jar on an Spirit jar containing a spirit, rather than an individual creature, allows that spirit to swap bodies as if it were the target of the spell."
That's a strong possibility. And a good reason to try and not rely on these alone, as a party member or BBEG if you can help it. Or, you could hide/bury the jars, since Magic Jar doesn't need traditional line of sight--"lifesense" out to 100+10*CL is a nice line of effect range with some pre-planning. Now that I think about it, Magic Aura would be really nice to have permanently cast on these. Add in a traditional crypt dungeon crawl and these could hide in plain sight as simple funerary urns.
Looks like a relatively cheap way to extend the reach of Magic Jar. You just move your soul between jars, taking care you know which jar(s) are near your body. Or, you could set them up in a triangle in much the same fashion, except to extend your coverage over a large (set of) room(s). By the description, you could permanently jar someone with these, except your spirit would be trapped with them ("If his spell expires while he is within a Spirit jar, his soul and those in the other jars are trapped.")
The Blinkback Belt might be worth considering, at least as a stopgap until you can get a +4 or +2/+2 Dex/Str belt. You can sheathe two one-handed melee weapons, or four light melee weapons, in the belt; after your throwing attack is resolved, the weapon reappears in it's belt sheath. Since thrown weapons have a pretty short range, Far Shot and Opening Volley should be considered as well as far as Feats go; the former makes longer-ranged caber tosses less painful, while the latter from Ultimate Combat gives you +4 to-hit someone in melee if you hit them with a thrown axe the turn before. Sliding Axe Toss from Dwarves of Golarion lets you make trip attacks with throwing axes. You might be able to sucker the GM into allowing a version of Bounding Hammer (also from DoG) that works with more than hammers, but that requires even more feats and doesn't do much for you besides looking cool. Of all the classes, I'd have to recommend Fighter for the access to the Weapon Spec feats, full BAB, and Armor Training. The Gladiator archetype may be an interesting option if you can find a way to squeeze in the Dazzling Display/Shatter Defenses line of feats.
Why not buy some adventurers? 250k (or even 200k if you can find 50k worth of items) ought to be enough to get a few high-level helpers...
Ironskin Monk seems pretty potent; glad you mentioned it. I hadn't looked at any racial archetypes for the concept, will keep this one in mind if the GM mentions constructs. Enlightened also seems like a good choice. GM has a bit of a prejudice against high-RP choices from ARG, but Racial traits shouldn't be a problem if I can work them into my backstory. Would 8 Monk/12 Barb really be worth it? Worried I'd lose a lot of damage output, seeing how expensive an AoMF gets.
We'll assume starting Lv 1 with a 20 PB for simplicity's sake. Unarmed strikes are mandatory, unless you can point me in a direction that shows people using JKD with monk weapons or the like, in which case I'd reconsider. Feint is a trap, I know, but I'd like to keep a few suboptimal options on the table in case I get a "character too strong, bring it in line or boulders fall" reaction from the GM. Big thing for Brawler seems to be the inability to 5-ft away at Lv 9, but the bonuses to hit and damage would be the reason to stay longer. Maybe I don't see the synergy, since both are always 1 Lv away from getting their next new ability/damage die increase. Style feats would take some flavoring, but I could see them working well in this build. I'll give a closer look to the ones you mentioned.
This may well be a "flavor of the month" deal, but I'm kicking around the idea of a character who features a style of combat based on Jeet Kune Do, which is effectively the antithesis to other martial arts due to it's prioritization of personalization and customization. And it's boiled down to whether to go Barbarian or Monk. Since it's an unarmed combat style, Monk, and especially Martial Artist, "feels" thematically and mechanically like the best choice. Any abilities that don't seem immediately compatible could always get a fluff treatment. By the same token, the style features methods of attack that rely on feinting and appearing weak, which screams "Come and Get Me" circa Barbarian. If Brawler and Improved Brawler weren't such traps as far as Rage Powers go, there wouldn't be a contest; just start off as an Urban Barbarian and go to town. If I go down the Feint maneuver route, then maybe even Vivisectionist or Rogue might be worth considering, in order to make that flat-footed condition really hurt. Inquisitor with Broken Wing Gambit would fit the same vein without actually making them flat-footed, now that I think about it. What I really need, is for someone to talk me into one set path. It doesn't need to be the cheesiest game-breaking thing you can think of, just something you can snapshot every few levels and get a gauge of how long it takes to get up to steam. Oh, and this isn't PFS or 3rd-party friendly, just as a heads-up.
I second calagnar's motion to consider Ranger with the sword & shield combat style. It may not be in your flavor, but it will grant you early access to feats such as Shield Mastery and Bashing Finish, while archtypes such as Deep Walker will swap out the flighty nature bits for some additional power while underground, Freebooter grants a suite of solid team-oriented buffs (although it comes with a less than notable 7th level ability), Guide is a more selfish version of Freebooter that trades in Evasion for the ability to rereoll an attack with a bonus, or Urban Ranger which gives a smattering of rogue talents and community-oriented bonuses. Skirmisher is another option, if spells are the big turn-off for the class, which replaces them with some weaker, non-magical Ranger Tricks. If you are set on Two-Weapon Warrior, keep in mind that you're still taking -1 to-hit from TWF until TWW LvL 15's ability. Granted, that ability doesn't do much else, so I can understand why you'd want to swap out prior. You'll also be very reliant on getting a full attack option, since your bonus to-hit and dodge won't apply otherwise--your normal attack-after-move at 13 (your last level of TWW) will be missing out on +3 to-hit (+4 if you use Doublestrike) and you'll be missing out on +3 to your AC. Whatever your other class choice is, I would highly recommend something that grants you extra move speed so you can get into TWF position sooner. Also, for some reason, I keep thinking there's a Feat along the liens of Oversized Two Weapon Fighting, which lets you treat your off-hand weapon as light even if it's normally one-handed for the purposes of TWF, but I can't find it anywhere. Oh well. EDIT: Gadzooks, ninja'd by the OP. EDIT^2: It's also worth noting that TWW gives up Armor and Weapon Training: So by taking the archetype, you miss out on -3 ACP and +3 Max Dex for whatever armor you wear (which, as a Dwarf, your high Dex would be the only real limiting factor for heavy armor). As far as Weapon Training, your first weapon group (likely Axes) would be at +3, your second group (likely Close for your shield) would be at +2, and you still have another weapon group to gain +1 to (likely Bow, Crossbow, Firearms [if applicable] or Thrown).
Seeing how Tattooed Sorcerers gain Varisian Tattoo for free even if they don't have Spell Focus, do they still need to take Spell Focus in order to get Greater Focus? Or do they need to take Spell Focus first in order to take Greater Focus? If this is the case, do they have to choose the same school for Spell Focus as they picked for Varisian Tattoo?
What if there was a single feat that let you not provoke when you attempted a (any) maneuver? Doesn't give a bonus like the 'improved' feats just took out the AoO. Tack it onto Combat Expertise seeing most players don't use it or flat-out forget about it except as a pre-req. The alternative would be to move the non-provoke statements into a new feat, Improved Combat Expertise mayhaps?
A Bard specialized into extending the duration of their performances would be a good start. Their spells could be geared toward illusion and enchantment, assuming "avoiding combat" = "defending followers". Otherwise, they can still buff your followers--hopefully buying you enough time to arrive and save the day?
101. A frontier town has recently installed a Decanter of Endless Water as a public service. A local druid (or perhaps a cluster of such) who was already annoyed by the imperialistic behavior of the settlers views this as the last straw, and intends to use their new fountain to drive out the people and return the land to nature's domain. Whether the druid(s) use a proxy to do their dirty work or crash the event in grand style is up to the DM, but if the players intend to stay for any length of time, they'll need to find a way to stop the slowly regenerating vines from ruining the city.
Bumping before heading off to bed.
oynaz, not to be an arse or anything, but I think you TL;DR'd. So a 1st LvL Fighter with a 14 Constitution has 10 (his max result for his Hit Die) + 2 (his constitution modifier) + additional modifiers. For our example we'll say he does not have Toughness and took the bonus Hit Point for his favored class bonus instead of an extra skill rank, so he's up to a total HP of 13. I listed where every number came from, although perhaps the labels weren't very clear.
First, welcome to Pathfinder! Character Creation in a nutshell, is getting your ability scores (using the pt buy system or rolling for them), picking race/class, and filling in the rest of the blanks with those two key factors. Though, to your question in specific: Hit Points in every campaign I've played were the maximum roll (so a fighter would start at 1st level with 10 hit points before modifiers) + your Constitution modifier + any applicable bonuses (I.E. Favored Class, Toughness Feat). So a 1st LvL Fighter with a 14 Constitution has 10 (his max result for his Hit Die) + 2 (his constitution modifier) + additional modifiers. For our example we'll say he does not have Toughness and took the bonus Hit Point for his favored class bonus instead of an extra skill rank, so he's up to a total HP of 13. Barring temporary hit points (from Spells such as Aid) he cannot be brought above 13 HP without leveling up. He can take damage, at which point he subtracts the damage from however many Hit Points he has. I.E. Our fighter gets stabbed by a dagger for 2 points of damage. He goes from 13 HP to 11, and he won't get any HP back until he rests for the night (at which point he'll heal 1 point of damage, bringing him up to 12) or gets hit by a Cure Spell (such as a Cleric casting Cure Light Wounds on the Fighter for 4 points, bringing him back up to 13, his maximum). When you level up, you roll your Hit Die (1d10), add Constitution modifier, add other bonuses, and add that sum to your max HP. So + 2 + 1 (again, we'll assume you took HP over skill point) + 13 = new total HP. Hope this clarifies things for you instead of mucking them up even more.
I was toying around with the idea of making a switch-hitting cavalier who dabbles in Ranger (maybe Freebooter/Skirmisher or somesuch so I can reduce bookkeeping on favored foes and terrains) but I'm having some trouble visualizing the final concept. At the end of the day, I'm learning toward spreading my Feats out so I can do melee alongside my mount, atop it, or without it--archery is a secondary concern for Feats (thus going back to the Ranger dip). 15pt buy Human for the skill points and feat, with the Rich Parents (so I can arm myself and my mount adequately) and Civilized traits (backstory reasons due to character's societal caste). All Paizo material, with DM discretion, is allowed but I'd prefer to shy away from anything too cheesy since I'm playing with a new DM. FirstSister the LN Human Cavalier (Order of the Sword) 1
It's not optimized, but the hell with it, that's why she has a fraternal twin sister with near similar conditions (15 pt Human w/ Rich Parents, other trait could be negotiable and she could specialize much more into whatever style of combat I preferred while at the table). Main issue is with Feats: trying to find that balance of mounted/unmounted isn't too rough, but it gets a bit more challenging when you have to fit a couple of archery feats (and probably Quick Draw for any switches you'd have to do). Bonus points if you manage to fit sword-and-board in there somewhere via Ranger, seeing they get early access.
You can just pretend you rage nonstop and ignore that you ever stopped if you wanted. That's... actually a really good point. As far as rage goes, even when not raging, you can act like you are. Or otherwise make the window between rages so small that it needs nothing more than "He seems discouraged that you didn't fall to the ground, but the fire in his eyes relights and he takes another swing". Even though the mechanic says 1/rage... well, who really knows besides yourself when you're raging? (Unless you ascribe to the "Fighter with drain bramage while raging" camp, in which case we just go back to every other suggestion made thus far.)
Those work, barring a <br\> tag in Verngundur which leads to a 404 error. I'll edit once I calc out how much gold he has to spare and what he'd spare it on.
69. A plume of black smoke leads the PCs to a burning building. While the town guard and a few able-bodied civilians try to douse the flames bucket-by-bucket, other people simply form a crowd to stare at their efforts. Any inquiries as to what happened will be answered by a beggar who claims to have seen what happened. (The report may not be entirely accurate, however.) The beggar will then follow the PCs for three blocks in hopes of alms or another form of payment for the information; he will go back to the crowd after being paid, the PCs walk more than three blocks away (at which point they get the hint and return to the crowd), or is threatened (at which point they may report to the city guard, making them wary of the PCs as possible arsonists).
The simplest way I can see someone pulling it off if a "burst of strength". You overextend yourself one turn, in hopes that one hit is all you need, and you become off balance the next (as you cycle). For rage cycling powers, you're just focusing your normal long-winded rage into a single action/attack/whatever. After which you need a moment to process everything due to the adrenalin/blood rush.
That'll allow him to be a much more effective officer, especially when leading boarding parties. At the moment, I'm looking for useful extra items for him that could help him in his tasks. You can never go wrong with Tangleburn Bags and Thunderstones... In all seriousness though, I'm getting Server Not Found errors on Emrany and Verngundur, so I don't know what price range to look at.
For one of the officers, look at the Freebooter Ranger archetype. They could double as a hook to get the PCs interested in the entire pirate crew (maybe they want to usurp the captain for the fine fine print on their contract). Due to the confines of the ship, consider adding a few 1st level Clerics for battle-channeling. Gunslingers I don't see being hyper-effective unless you intend to give them blunderbusts, or perhaps an axe pistol with a brace of "backup" pistols. Otherwise, they're a round or two of dedicated acrobatics away from being combat ineffective. You could fluff that the gunslingers on the ship taught the rest of the crew how to load and fire rifles for ship-to-ship enfilading fire, allowing you to spend more crewmen on Corsairs, Pirates, and the ilk.
If he wants you to devote sessions on end to talking with the same NPCs who will arguably make as much as you by not risking their lives with any number of creatures, traps, magic, environmental hazards, etc. encountered through dungeon delving, it's his game. It'll be a lonely game, but it'll be his. My counterargument for your DM:
If he says that's right, I'd just leave. If you can talk him into realizing how stupidly large this low-class operation would have to be, then there may yet be hope.
To follow up on bbt's line of questioning: How long will this game be going to? (I am assuming since this is a new character and you've mentioned your point buy, you're starting at 1. Correct me if I am wrong.) How much crunch are you willing to sacrifice for fluff?
Wait, so it costs 154 gp per month to be homeless or what is that in the bottom right of the sheet? That's what it sounds like. And that's the homeless cost for just being an adventuring monk. I'd love to see the costs for a magus, seeing they'd have to maintain their armor, weapon(s), spellbook, component pouch, and clothing minimum. Not to mention nonperishable items cost half their purchase value in "maintenance". (5sp to maintain 10lbs of rope. Per month. Minimum.) Looks like it's time to storm the Bastille and break out everyone who couldn't afford the cost of breathing. I also imagine the popularity of Bachelor Snuff couldn't be higher.
Dazing is the one that denies them all actions. There aren't many conditions that are better.The best perfected spell is probably fireball with dazing and heighten or persistent, and -- if not an admixture evoker -- elemental spell.I respect your two cents, but politely disagree with the emboldened portion. I'd swap that out for Quicken or Bouncing personally, seeing dazed is a really unimpressive condition to throw at someone. However, we've really gotten off topic. Looked it up--you're right. I was thinking dazzled. I'll... uhh, I'll just leave, now.
The best perfected spell is probably fireball with dazing and heighten or persistent, and -- if not an admixture evoker -- elemental spell. I respect your two cents, but politely disagree with the emboldened portion. I'd swap that out for Quicken or Bouncing personally, seeing dazed is a really unimpressive condition to throw at someone. However, we've really gotten off topic. To the OP: It would be a nice trick with the Quickened/Silent/Still suite of metamagics, even though most will say to buy rods of them instead so you can personalize your wizard a bit more. But, I really wouldn't try to push for Perfected Lucubration with a Conjuration-based build. You won't be swapping high-level summons out for lower-leveled ones unless you need a specific SLA (and are willing to get it a reduced caster level to boot). Most of your other spells just aren't worth swapping out 9 times out of 10 (the exceptions that jump out to me being Cloudkill, Teleport, and Wall of Stone for while you still have few 5th Level slots). As a Conjuration-Teleporter, you've got everything on your side to make your opponents walk into a lose-lose situation. Lay traps, cut off their escape routes, buff your party, and disappear if they start harassing you: just so you can summon some creatures to attack them from the rear. You'll get the most mileage through a bit of foresight, planning, and creativity.
An idea I had: is it possible it's a generation gap? Is it possible that many games nowadays have more handholding? Take Metroid for example. The original Metroid was hard if you didn't manually map out where all the powerups were, because a large part of the game mechanic was having to do a lot of backtracking. Metroid Prime, on the other hand, has the built in map which makes things leaps and bounds easier. Also, it seems lots of games have automatic health regeneration as opposed to having to find health pick-ups and having to come up with health conservation solutions. As a part of the younger generation, I'd agree with you on this point. Developers seem to mistake "immersion" for "lacking critical thinking" when pumping out games--hell, some of the most popular ones are glorified murder simulators. The same goes with most fantasy games: at the end of the day, be it Elder Scrolls, Dragon's Dogma, or any other title you could name off the top of you head, the player gets railroaded. So when we sit in at a game of Pathfinder, we expect to be able to shut the old cranium down instead of kicking it into high gear, where it should rightfully be--we expect the DM/GM to throw us some bones and let us know where to go or how to get there. Because at the end of the day, it's all fun and games. It really shouldn't be the prevailing mentality, but sadly it is. As to how to fix it... well, I don't quite know being part of the problem. The few times our DM plopped us down in a campaign with no more knowledge than current events and our location, one person would always step up and just lead the rest by the nose, often into boredom or a TPK. Maybe that's what they need--to realize that esprit alone gets people killed? Postmortum, you could offer to rerun the encounter (with a few new tricks if need be) if their failure was due to lack of thought rather than bad luck.
Bards, even the Arcane Duelist, are going to be hard pressed to keep up as far as damage and to-hit goes. Barbarian gets a number of rage powers and even a dedicated archetype toward throwing weapons, so in lieu of trying to force the "one true way", you should compare anything else to that first. (Or see if any of the Barbarian levels are lackluster and worth multiclassing). On a related note, a Blinkback Belt might be worth looking into, in addition to things such as an Efficient Quiver for your ammunition storing needs.
Ahh, but factor in alchemical ammo, and it might be worth it, especially for PFS, to save serious coin. Buy 5 Adamantine, 5 Silver, etc arrows, and any fight that requires these, you're golden. (also, if someone is kind enough to cast magic boosts on ammo, AFTER abundant ammo is cast, it restocks boosted ammo). Better than it appears... This. At lower levels with normal ammo (no fancy materials, or else you have a quiver or two full) it's better to just wait until combat ends and ask a party member to Mend. For just about everything else, this might be useful. Especially if you're the low man on the Initiative pole. My only qualm is a YMMV with how many encounters you get a day, since this could easily suck them up if you need it for every encounter.
If you're going into Duelist, your weapon is basically chosen for you: the rapier. Their entire kit revolves around light or one-handed piercing weapons, and the only piercing weapons that qualify for being a black blade are the sword cane and the rapier. Sword cane can't benefit from Weapon Finesse, so that's right out. A Dueling Sword could qualify for being a black blade, but only does slashing damage (which makes the Duelist prestige just not worth it). Unless there's some supplement I'm missing which lets Duelists use a dueling sword as if it were a piercing weapon for the purpose of class abilities.
A black blade is always a one-handed slashing weapon, a rapier, or a sword cane. The magus chooses the blade’s type upon gaining the blade, and once chosen, it can’t be changed. As a bladebound magus increases in level, his black blade gains power. There you go. EDIT: Keep in mind the black blade is intelligent and has a rapid ego progression. Even better, as DM you get to decide what its endgame goals are and can even use the player's personality against them. Something tells me this person doesn't really know what they're getting into...
Level 2 Room 8 of Jacob's Tower:
Furthermore, the rune is not active and will not register as magical. Thus, this “healing” rune does nothing, and anybody stepping on it will instead be greeted with a javelin to the face. It might just be sleep deprivation, but I simply cannot stop laughing at this. Very well done, Zenith. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the Tower. If nothing else it will see a limited reincarnation once I start DMing. Oh, I nearly forgot: Constructs. We never once mentioned constructs in this thread. It could be a nice primer on effective use of alchemy (acid and weapon blanches immediately come to mind) to tackle problems they wouldn't be able to with brute force alone.
You're truly free to jump in anywhere--be it a Pathfinder Society game, play by post, or an online game available via a good number of tabletop gaming websites. Most players will understand you don't know every rule, bylaw and FAQ and they'll be adult enough to help you learn (or at least let you learn yourself, if you're the kind that needs a corpse before chalking it up to experience and moving on). And the Forum is your friend: be it with building your character, getting clarification on rules, or if you just need to vent a lil' because that guy did that one thing. Know that most groups will expect you to have a basic knowledge of what's going on, though. Reading the Combat and Magic sections a few times in the Core Rulebook won't hurt you, same with the Classes. (Note: If you don't own a Core Rulebook, consider investing in one or bringing your computer with you so you can reference the PRD). Otherwise, just have fun, pay attention, and roll with it. You won't be a hindrance unless you actively refuse to learn. I concur with Nimblewit that, if all else fails, you can run the Beginner Box (maybe even as GM) to get the basics down. Who knows, might even find a group worth sticking with.
While I'm sure there are some more creative uses for these, I can't think of any at this time that a (un)willing person or summon couldn't do as well or better.
And so is a furious, courageous adamantine (sword type here). Bah to your sword; make that puny caster come over to you by impaling him with a spiked chain. Bonus points if you get Phase Locking, so you can deal with that wizard as you see fit without worrying about cop-out spells like Dimension Door.
A set of scales maybe? That'd be the go-to. The best part of Merchant is that it's incredibly open-ended: you could use the Anytool for anything from a winch to load/unload heavy crates, a ruler to measure out lengths of fabric or other goods per yard, scissors, even a cup for you to test the density of "supposedly" gold items. You are limited only by the goods you trade in, your imagination, and the maximum complexity of whatever you need to emulate.
I honestly thought this was a thread about the KQ White Necro class upon just reading the topic, but hey, the more you know... Ask your DM if you can use the old Oracle Juju mystery. It lets you create intelligent undead with the same alignment as you, or unintelligent ones at NN. If that's out of the question... well, it's a shame that "good" Necromancy is such a hot-button topic. Depending on how you word your arguments, you might be able to get away with it (but be wary of the Paladin, Inquisitor, and other Pharasmians. You already know they won't be comfortable with the path you walk.)
Let's face it: if you don't have Rich Parents (or Traits in your game at all), you're going to try and make every copper stretch when gearing up. By a train of Alchemic thought along the lines of, "Wow, longbows are expensive. I haven't taken Weapon Focus on anything, so let's see what alternatives I have until I get Explosive Missile. Oh, slings shoot stuff. I don't think a bomb will be able to fit, though... why not just make a larger sling?" we get to this thread. So, let's start by looking at the sling, as sized appropriately:
d20pfsrd's take on the Sling:
A sling is little more than a leather cup attached to a pair of strings.
Description: Your Strength modifier applies to damage rolls when you use a sling, just as it does for thrown weapons. You can fire, but not load, a sling with one hand. Action: Loading a sling is a move action that requires two hands and provokes attacks of opportunity. You can hurl ordinary stones with a sling, but stones are not as dense or as round as bullets. Thus, such an attack deals damage as if the weapon were designed for a creature one size category smaller than you and you take a –1 penalty on attack rolls. With a small leap of faith, we can say a sling is a one-handed weapon but requires two hands to load, akin to a hand crossbow. The rest of what I say operates upon this fact: that even though it is under the ranged weapon category, the description given would allow one to call it a one-handed ranged weapon. With that out of the way, let's continue with the PRD's weapon size rules:
PRD's CRB Equipment:
A weapon's size category isn't the same as its size as an object. Instead, a weapon's size category is keyed to the size of the intended wielder. In general, a light weapon is an object two size categories smaller than the wielder, a one-handed weapon is an object one size category smaller than the wielder, and a two-handed weapon is an object of the same size category as the wielder.
Inappropriately Sized Weapons: A creature can't make optimum use of a weapon that isn't properly sized for it. A cumulative –2 penalty applies on attack rolls for each size category of difference between the size of its intended wielder and the size of its actual wielder. If the creature isn't proficient with the weapon, a –4 nonproficiency penalty also applies. The measure of how much effort it takes to use a weapon (whether the weapon is designated as a light, one-handed, or two-handed weapon for a particular wielder) is altered by one step for each size category of difference between the wielder's size and the size of the creature for which the weapon was designed. For example, a Small creature would wield a Medium one-handed weapon as a two-handed weapon. If a weapon's designation would be changed to something other than light, one-handed, or two-handed by this alteration, the creature can't wield the weapon at all. So we get to a sling being a two-handed weapon if we increased it's size category. Except the action of loading an appropriately sized sling is already a two-handed action: so would you be able to load a large sling by yourself at all? If it follows the same rules as the rest of the weapon I would imagine not. Sadly, it only gets into more grey area from here-on out: would a large sling give you one and a half your Strength mod for projectiles since it requires two hands to use? Would it be large enough to use with potions, alchemical weapons, or the like? (I'm assuming the typical flask is larger than a common stone, which prompted this idea in the first place.) Even better, would a large sling be a two-handed melee weapon for those characters that took the appropriate feats? TL;DR:
I'm looking for how everyone would interpret this, with evidence if possible. (And because I know someone is going to bring it up eventually, the Bomb Launcher just doesn't fit the same vein since it only augments your bombs, where a large sling is much more versatile)
Should you ever get to the point where you can maintain your performance as a move action, Allegro is another option to consider. Thanks for catching that. I tend to trade in for Archaeologist so often that my BP knowledge must be getting rusty. My only worry with Blind/Deaf is getting it to stick without trying to pump the DC up via feats, but it's a nice debuff all the same and if you're not worrying about it, I probably shouldn't either. Best of luck in your campaign.
Heroism is your friend at 10min/lvl--more than enough time for you to get into your half-plate even without help. Gallant Inspiration's 2d4 means you'll be using it more than the measly +1 of Timely Inspiration, Should you ever get to the point where you can maintain your performance as a move action, Allegro is another option to consider. Darkness lacks a somatic component and might be worth considering. And finally, the minute/level suite of buffs might be worth nabbing depending on the length of your combats. Assuming you don't use a scroll and have help getting into your armor, you'll still get 20 rounds (-1 per each additional cast) of its effect.
Honest? There's already a class that mixes wizard and fighter. It's called Magus. Otherwise, I can't give much input without knowing his build.
I'm not sure I'm familiar with these, could you explain them briefly to give me a better idea? Not to ninja the conversation, but think RotRL, where the obviously expensive, easily seen set of full plate has a number of swarms within it that only attack once someone has physically touched the armor. Swarms which are just plain nasty for the unprepared group. A more benevolent way to approach this would be to have the illusion trigger a trap once it is interacted with. EDIT: Looks like I got ninja'd instead, and with the wrong idea. Goes to show I should keep my nose out of concepts I'm not familiar with. :)
It would be as much what equipment they have as what they're fighting against. Remember that the Mongols were supposedly immortal because they wore a simple silk shirt underneath their armor--arrows would be caught in the shirt and thus not severely injure the rider. Given your city-state's level of technology, it's plausible they "invented" a substance similar to modern Kevlar (either a covering, tech-spell, etc) for use in their standing army. Another vein would be improving their weaponry, be this by output of ammunition, improvements in accuracy, or just plain old-fashioned reliability. You could lump consumables under this umbrella as well, such as grenades.
Depending on your playstyle, things such as cover, concealment, etc. will need to be covered as well. It also never hurts to have an encounter your players are better off finding, running from, and finding an alternate way to proceed (this screams "Intro to Secret Doors" to me). Oh, lighting rules as well. A low CR creature with darkness (drow?) should give your PCs a challenge.
As a fair warning, it would be a very wise move to make sure other teachers are on board with the idea, especially if students want to start their own campaigns/groups and you're worried about keeping tabs on them. I went to a public high school, a few students there during my stay started a Pathfinder group (with teacher administration and sponsorship) only for it to get shut down within a week for "religious persecution"--simply because one PC chose a cleric as his class. Not sure if you're in the public sector or not, but this is something to be considered (perhaps moreso if it's a private school with Catho-Christian backing). Otherwise, I can't add too much to the conversation, other than my well-wishes and luck.
Seems an odd trade-off in addition to the loss of sneak attack, but RAW is RAW I suppose. Thanks for the clarification and work-arounds. |