JackDrake's page

The black blade is a magic weapon.

That you don't realize this given the write up for Bladebound Magus and the chart YOU REFERENCED boggles me. If they don't get a magic weapon, what is the point of this archetype?

The SRD says:

A black blade is bonded to a particular magus, much like a familiar, but in more of a partnership than a master-servant relationship.

If you look at the familiar rules, normally animal-intelligent creatures are given a higher level of intelligence due to the nature of the magical bond. No where does it say they gain any other property except those given on the familiars table. And, yes, every ability they are given is described under a corresponding entry. Following that line of reasoning, The black blade is effectively the equivalent of a hybrid of the Wizard's bonded object and familiar.

Shfish, to your point: the ego goes up according to the table. The ego progression is non-standard and therefore laid out accordingly. The ego of the black blade increases as the character gets more powerful. Since an intelligent weapon usually does not increase its stats after creation, unlike the black blade, the progression for stat advancement and corresponding ego development is shown on the table.

If you look under the Black Blade basics, it describes the intelligence, wisdom and charisma stats, both where they come from and why/how they progress. It does *not* specifically indicate where the enhancement bonus of the weapon comes from. The enhancement bonuses *do*, however, follow exactly the arcane pool progression for enhancement bonuses by level. This would seem to indicate the enhancement bonuses for the black blade are tied directly to the arcane pool progression for the purposes of calculating the non-standard ego progression and nothing else.

Finally, to Meatrace's point: The point of the archetype is to give you an unbreakable, intelligent weapon that can transform it's damage type from slashing to an energy form, can teleport directly to your hand from up to a mile away, acts as a back-up battery for when you run out of arcane pool points, and eventually gains the life-drinker special ability. Oh, and it can even help you stand watch since you gain the alertness feat while wielding it. If all those aren't enough and not have the enhancement bonus breaks the archetype for you... well, I don't know what to tell you.

The black blade is basically a bonded-object familiar. It gains intelligence as a familiar does and has special abilities like a familiar does, albeit a different set of abilities corresponding to its unique nature. It can be magically enhanced from the magus' arcane spell pool, just like any other non-magical weapon in the magus' hands. To ascribe anything further than that quickly causes the archetype to become overpowered.

--JD

This came up in our game Saturday so I'm going to resurrect this thread with the following observation: The Black Blade does not gain an enhancement bonus outside the spell pool. It shows it on the chart, yes, but you'll notice that the chart follows exactly the arcane pool progression. Under the Black Blade Basic section it shows a description and explanation of every ability on the chart *except* the enhancement bonus. With that specifically excluded, the black blade has no inherent enhancement bonus of its own. If the designers' intent was for the blade to have its own bonus, there would be a section describing it in the black blade write-up.

--JD

In Pirates 3 you see the guy from EITCo playing with a brand that is a stylized letter P (I believe it had an x through the bottom of the "stem"). Jack had that brand on his forearm, just above the wrist and below the tattoo of a sparrow.

The idea of a Kanji-type symbol indicating the exact crime you want it to be is a good one... unless you want it to be vague for story purposes.

i.e:
Guard 1: What's that mark?
Guard 2: It means "Killer".
Guard 1: Killer? What did he murder someone? Was it accidental?
Guard 2: I'm not taking any chances....

If the character is a dwarf or elf you can make it a dwarven rune or elven symbol.

1.) What if any is the limit of spells a prepared caster may acquire from any one location?

To clarify, is there a RAW ruling anywhere or is it only GM fiat that limits what spells a prepared caster may buy?

Thanks everyone.

There is no specific rule about how many spells can be acquired from a single source beyond your available resources. If you run out of money, you can't keep copying the spells until you make more.

That said, there are many reasons you may not be able to get everything from the copy-source, most of which relate to role playing. Things along the line of: the wizard has several custom spells and you [are just not cool enough, don't belong to the right guild, etc.] to get access to them.

If it's a captured spell book, you can take everything from it you don't already have limited only by your wealth and resources.

--JD

His touch AC should only be 13. Touch ignores both armor and shield bonuses including those granted by Mage Armor and Shield.

Since he is a Sorcerer 3 and only a fighter 1, and because he is an NPC baddy, his stats should probably be
Str: 14, Dex: 12, Con: 13, Int: 8, Wis: 10, and Cha: 15 based on the elite array. Add 2 to Str for a racial bonus since you're trying to make him a melee-type.

BTW, why is he a melee type again? He's a Sorcerer. Why isn't he sorcerering? If he's a water elemental lord, why is he using acid which is an earth element, the diametric opposition to chosen lordship? If he were water elementalling, he'd be using cold based attacks.

With the above stats, the save against sleep is a 13. The Alchemist and Fighter both have bad saves against Will and it will depend on how the other two are stat'd up as to whether or not they're going to stay awake. You're probably looking at a 40-60% chance of putting the entire party to sleep. Not good.

Normally you wouldn't be able to cast Summon Monster II -- required for a small water elemental -- until 4th level as a sorcerer. Part of whether or not this is too powerful is based on where they are fighting. If they are fighting in a foot or so of water, the elemental has the advantage and you've probably increased the CR of your encounter by a point, possibly two.

Since the Alchemist is usually throwing alchemists fire or acid vials at this level, if they are fighting in water it takes away one of his advantages; not to mention the Acid resist of the bad guy. This encounter may still be too difficult for 4 first-level adventurers of those classes.

--JD

If 99+% of the persons in the world are stated 10.5, 10.5, 10.5, 10.5, 10.5, 10.5, 10.5. Or if 99+% are built with a 3 point buy. Then there is no bell curve. Even a deviation of plus or minus 1, will fall well outside of the statistical normal.

99% of the people are not stat'd with 10.5s. The vast majority are stat'd with the basic PC array of 13/12/11/10/9/8. Yes, it averages to 10.5 but that does not make their stats 10.5. That is a very important distinction. Since Int and Wisdom are probably going to be the top 2 stats for any NPC -- they control Profession, all of the Crafts, Appraise, and most of the "useful" stats a Commoner would care about -- you have to make any comparisons based on a Wis 13/Int 12 or Wis 12/Int 13 for the vast majority of the population. Yes, variances will occur for NPCs specializing in certain skills such as diplomacy or in certain professions such as Warrior. However, 90%+ of the population of a City are Commoners to whom that gross generalization will apply.

IIRC, the original question was about a bell-curve in PF, a 3d6 comparison is irrelevant. The 3d6 system went out somewhere towards the end of AD&D. D&D 3.x and PF have taken "4d6 drop low" as the new standard from the start. Taking a sampling of 10M adventurers (60M stat rolls), here's the break down by percentage of their stats:

Stat [ 3]: 46,485 ( 0.077%)
Stat [ 4]: 185,344 ( 0.309%)
Stat [ 5]: 463,364 ( 0.772%)
Stat [ 6]: 971,594 ( 1.619%)
Stat [ 7]: 1,756,959 ( 2.928%)
Stat [ 8]: 2,871,243 ( 4.785%)
Stat [ 9]: 4,214,058 ( 7.023%)
Stat [10]: 5,648,371 ( 9.414%)
Stat [11]: 6,853,827 (11.423%)
Stat [12]: 7,730,203 (12.884%)
Stat [13]: 7,967,126 (13.279%)
Stat [14]: 7,405,345 (12.342%)
Stat [15]: 6,062,506 (10.104%)
Stat [16]: 4,349,867 ( 7.250%)
Stat [17]: 2,500,116 ( 4.167%)
Stat [18]: 973,592 ( 1.623%)

Because of the drop low variation, you are now as likely to have a 6 in a given stat as an 18 instead of a 3. The norm is around 13 which is a basic NPC's highest stat. Adventurer's start with a leg-up on life due to better genetics -- or whatever.

To do an actual statistical analysis, you'd have to come up with a baseline set of assumptions. One such set might be:
* First and second level Commoners as well as First Level characters with other NPC classes are all stat'd to the Basic NPC array
* Any other character with NPC classes is stat'd with the Elite NPC array
* There's no such thing as a multi-classed character for the purposes of this experiment
* The statistical break down of a city is that given in the D&D 3.5 DM's Guide
* Stats generated would have to be weighted in the direction of those most useful to a given class by percentage of the population

With those criteria in mind, you would be able to get a mean value for Int and then base IQ or other statistic from there. Otherwise there is no basis for comparison and we can keep trying to make points to no effect for a very long time.

--JD

JackDrake wrote:

Int no more corresponds to your IQ than Con does your immune system. They are only abstracts in d20. In fact, Con has more of a correlation because it directly affects one of your saves.

--JD

citation needed

Obviously I can't cite something the doesn't exist. However, I can provide an example: Take two characters, one a 15-point-buy Wizard with a starting Int of 16, the other a Basic NPC with an Int of 13, his highest stat.

Assuming no magical gear to augment their attribute, and placing all 5 stat increases in to Int since it controls all the knowledges and crafts, you get an Int of 21 for the wizard and an 18 for the NPC. The Wizard started with a modifier of 3 and ends with a modifier of 5, the NPC starts with a modifier of 1 and ends with a 4.

Placing 20 ranks in an Int-based class skill, the Wizard ends up with a total skill rank of 28, the NPC with a total of 27. Pretty close.

Now, make the NPC an idiot and place his lowest score, an 8, in Int. Now he ends with a 13 Int, a +1 modifier, and his total score in the skill is "only" 24. If that skill is a Craft, there is nothing on the crafting table the idiot can't make. The maximum DC on the table is for an alchemy roll, DC 25 which the sample idiot can now make without picking up the dice. In fact, by taking ten, he's been able to do so for the last nine levels. The wizard got there three levels sooner, but it was just a matter of time and training for the NPC.

As for Knowledge skills, if -- for some very strange reason like, I don't know, an illustrative example -- the idiot took Know (Arcana) as a skill, he'd be able to tell you exactly what 9th level spell was just cast at him by taking 10 on the check at 20th level: DC 25 + the Spell level. The Wizard, by way of contrast, has only been able to do that same take-ten trick since 16th level.

Yes, it's true that the idiot could not cast spells of even 0-level until 8th level and first level spells would have eluded him until 12th. However, that is not a function of IQ, it's a function of a magical aptitude game mechanic. It has nothing to do with his ability to learn any other Int based function in the game.

A clinically retarded person would not be able to do that.

--JD

The frame of reference I was taught (and how my group plays) is to use IQ as a reference to Intelligence scores.

A 70 IQ = a 7 intelligence. Anything less than 70 IQ is mentally retarded, however the normal range of IQ goes from 80 to 120. There is a difference between someone with an 80 and 120, but they all fall into the "normal" range.

This is a hold-over from 2nd Ed when your stats *were* your character. We used to play that way as well. However, When 3rd Ed jumped to a stat-and-skill-based system, stats became secondary and your total for a skill was the true measure of your ability. It's a function of being able to overcome a limitation.

So, you don't RP a stat anymore. If you have a 15 diplomacy, how you got there is irrelevant. You're still going to succeed at most situations by taking 10 and throwing that 25 out there unless the DM has a house-rules "Circumstance Modifier" for how well you RP an encounter. Unless the RP is relevant to the story line, you roll your die or take your ten and you're off.

Int no more corresponds to your IQ than Con does your immune system. They are only abstracts in d20. In fact, Con has more of a correlation because it directly affects one of your saves.

--JD

Hmmm... thinking about that further...

Strength has a direct roll option in the game: bursting bonds or breaking down a door is a straight strength-based roll.

Some other stats (I think) have direct correlation rolls. Which ones don't? As pointed out, any stat that has nothing but mechanical functions (skills, saves, etc.) tied to it can overcome it's shortcomings by proper application of more mechanics.

Do the stats even matter that much anymore except as the basis for other mechanics?

Ponders
--JD

The bell curve may or may not exist in the game world but since we are talking about PCs the things change, you are now looking at a probability of success.

Let's say one 1st level human fighter with CHA 10 puts one skill point in diplomacy, for a total of diplomacy 1.
And we have one 1st level dwarf cleric with CHA 5 that puts one skill point in diplomacy, for a total of diplomacy 1.
They both have an equal chance of succeding at any task that requires diplomacy.

While, mechanically, you are correct, from a "development" standpoint each character took a different path to get there. The human fighter learns diplomacy from sitting around in a bar trying not to initiate a bar fight. One rank, no special bonus from his personality, he's just trying to be invisible and enjoy his beer.

The dwarven cleric gets it drilled in to his head every waking hour of every day he's training to be a cleric that it's important not to alienate people who worship his deity. The people in charge see a certain level of potential in him so they work with him to overcome his obvious lack of tact and fear of public speaking to make him... well, less of a detriment to the church.

In the end, they both have a simple +1 to their roll in Diplomacy situations, but that is purely mechanical. If you or your group cares about it, how you get there is half the fun.

Or you could just give him a truly outstanding mustache.

--JD

Bell Curve stats:

4d6 drop low = ~14 in all stats as an average

25 pt buy = 15/14/14/13/13/12, ~13.5
20 pt buy = 14/13/13/13/13/13, ~13.2
15 pt buy = 13/13/13/12/12/12, ~12.5

Base NPC = 13/12/11/10/9/8, ~10.5
Elite NPC = 15/14/13/12/10/8, ~12

Base Monster = 11/11/11/10/10/10, ~10.5

Numbers are approximate because those are base stat arrays, averaging everything across all 6 stats. There are still the racial bonuses to add in which will skew things slightly.

To get the actual bell curve, I'd have to dig out my simulator again and get the statistical model. Yeah, I'm that big a geek.

--JD

Yeah, you would count as wielding 2 one handed ones. You could wield small ones though (then they would be light).

You'd be wielding them at a -4 penalty (-2 for inappropriate size and -2 for TWF) and you'd be down one die type for each (1d6 instead of 1d8).

Every weapon has a size category. This designation indicates the size of the creature for which the weapon was designed.

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.

--JD

I could not find anywhere whether a pistol is considered a light weapon for purposes of Two-weapon fighting, but judging from its weight (4lbs), i concluded it is.

This is a very generous house rule and, since you seem to be trying to make this as easy as possible for the player, that's fine. Generally speaking, you do not get the light weapon reductions to two weapon fighting. The only exception to this seems to be the Hand Crossbow which states:

You can shoot a hand crossbow with each hand, but you take a penalty on attack rolls as if attacking with two light weapons.

Firearms contain no such language.

Again, your house rule for your game, so YMM[will]V

--JD

So here are the stats for my new Wizard:

Mustache : Full, White, Well-combed
Beard : Long, White, Unkempt

Am I optimizing or is this at least a good Role Playing?

--JD

pg50-51Pistolero: Pistol Training does not say that it replaces firearm training (should be gun training) 1-4...

Seconding (or more) this one. Since Pistol Training does not say it replaces Gun Training, you can stack it with the Mysterious Stranger Archetype under the Multiple Archetypes rules. At fifth level, the Mysterious Pistolero can spend a Grit to add both Dex and Cha bonuses -- both of which are bound to be high by the nature of the Archetype combination -- to an attack.

--JD

If you have a character with a 20 strength and a 7 intelligence, then you must SURELY be a min-maxing scum who can't grasp the concept of honest role-play, simply because I don't agree with a set of numbers that appear on your character sheet.

This is only true if said character then begins a treatise on Magical Relativity and Its Effects on the Habitat of Chromatic Dragons and Their Counterparts. Unless that paper is written in crayon and uses no words with more than five letters, it's not an honest role-play of the stats you have chosen.

Unless you have a mustache... and, more to your point, toe-nail clippings.

--JD

Rogue 2: I hear lots o' wizards keep spares. And besides, he hangs out with a cleric. You want to upset a church? 'taint worth my hide robbin' a cleric. Robbin' a cleric's buddy is near as bad. They c'n find things.

By this logic, no thief would ever target a party for fear of upsetting some nameless entity or someone that may or may not have detection spells memorized. Consider, most PCs do not keep detection spells memorized or at most they have one or two. Based on that gross over-generalization, the rogue may believe he has several hours or a day to get rid of the book.

If the rogue thinks he can get away with it, and has a fence that is willing to liquidate the spell book, why wouldn't he do that? If he gets rid of it fast enough, the wizard doesn't catch him with it and the wizard cannot prove anything to the King's Justice. If the wizard goes medieval on the rogue to find out what happened to the spell book, the rogue has the wizard arrested for assault. If it goes too far, the wizard makes a move toward an evil alignment and the wizard is arrested for murder.

Again, it comes down to story v. whimsy. If the wizard is wandering around town, nose is his spell book, not paying attention to his surroundings, he may very well get jumped by a couple of thugs that can keep him from casting spells by constantly threatening with AoO and sneak attack damage. That's fine within the story concept. If the GM is doing it because he thinks the wizard is too powerful or some other whimsical reason, then the GM probably shouldn't be GM'ing.

--JD

No alternate planes needed my friend. The munchkins got your back. Behold -

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/advanced/spells/napStack.html#nap-stack-

With this spell you can get rid of the pesky sleeping habit and use the extra time for crafting!

Time constrant that GM! Muahahahaah.

Too bad the rules say "no":

The caster can work for up to 8 hours each day. He cannot rush the process by working longer each day, but the days need not be consecutive, and the caster can use the rest of his time as he sees fit.

Emphasis mine

Blame White Wolf.

Once upon a time, they said words to the effect of "choose your name, then choose your concepts, then choose everything else, and try to have everything else fit the concept."

I think a lot of us had already intuited this, but they said it early and well, formalising the concept first view of roleplaying.

For a concept first roleplayer, optimisation is a useful but distant tool. It is a way of making a concept work well, not the starting point from which to build the character. It is the way decide between two equally appropriate choices, not a way of selecting options from the raw list.

Optimisation can...

I'm going to respectfully disagree here, unless I'm reading your point wrong in which case I'm going to respectfully make myself look stupid.

With a Storyteller game, you chose your concept and built to it. That didn't mean you passed over things that enhanced your concept for things that were less important. You had to prioritize what made your concept and build top-down with what points you had. If your concept in a Werewolf game was Pack Alpha, you needed strength, combat prowess, and the ability to lead. You built to those aspects and, if you had points left over, you bought a point in the underwater basket weaving skill because that's what your werewolf did on weekends to relax.

The same applies in a PF or D&D-type game. If you're concept is party tank, you build to that concept and optimize the tanking aspects of your character. If you have points left over, you can spend them on skills or other aspects of the character that are less important. It's a matter of priority.

That said, I saw a *lot* of white wolf players that took it to the other end because their prioritizations were not to the point of the game. If your werewolf is a college student, that's fine. But if you know the game is going to be doing a lot of forays into the umbra (spirit realm) and you don't prioritize anything having to do with spirit combat or diplomacy or whatever and, instead, prioritize all of your college coursework skills that have nothing to do with the game, then you have done your concept a disservice unless your concept is "fish-out-of-water-that's-going-to-die-quickly".

To TreantMonk's point... I (the GM) am the only one at the table allowed to have a mustache. If anyone else attempts to grow one, I make them shave it off or dock them xp since they are trying to be too much like the GM at that point... that is to say, too God-like.

If they want to optimize the mechanical aspects of their characters to a given situation, that's great. In those specific situations they are going to shine. In any other situation, they may -- or may not -- be at a disadvantage. Two of my players -- neither or which have mustaches last time I checked, but we play over Skype since they're in Asia so I'm not sure -- have spent the last 6 weeks since I said I was starting this game tweaking and experimenting with concepts and combinations. These are probably some of the best optimized characters around.

One of the two has a ten-page back story for his character and works actively with me to set up plot hooks that revolve around his character's role playing aspect. The two have nothing to do with one another.

Optimzation != inability to roleplay != Mustachiocity

--JD

Stuff I agree with

Reasonable precautions are reasonable. NPCs should be smart and play to their strengths, just as the PCs should. If a PC does not take Reasonable (key word) precautions, he should not be exempt from the consequences of his inattention or inaction.

--JD

From the book

"He must choose and prepare his spells ahead of time by getting 8 hours of sleep and spending 1 hour studying his spellbook. While studying, the wizard decides which spells to prepare."

From "Spell Selection and Preparation" (p218 CRB): Until he prepares spells from his spellbook, the only spells a wizard has available to cast are the ones that he already had prepared from the previous day and has not yet used.

The wizard is good until run out of spells. However...

From "Preparation Environment" (same page, CRB): To prepare any spell, a wizard must have enough peace, quiet, and comfort to allow for proper concentration. The wizard’s surroundings need not be luxurious, but they must be free from distractions. Exposure to inclement weather prevents the necessary concentration, as does any injury or failed saving throw the character might experience while studying.

Emphasis mine... Rather than stealing the spell book, the GM can just have it be constantly raining during an over-land hike. The wizard can't prepare spells unless he can get out of the rain.

--JD

Adventuring party's that are worth stealing from will have at least one person with high perception scores, and if they notice you following them they're VERY likely to do something about it. Something involving large pointy sticks.

They may have high perception but a low sense motive:

Or, a spy worth his salt fakes being the victim of an attack where he knows the Party will run across him. After they "rescue" him, he begs them to let him travel with them until he can get "Some Place Safe". He plays to the Heroic aspects of the PCs. If he planned right and can travel with the party for several days, he can probably gauge their power level and many of their quirks by careful observation.

As to some of the previous points... Stealing the 9th level wizards spell book is very similar to stealing the 9th level fighter's +3 flaming sword or the 9th level rogue's +3 short sword. Yes, the fighter can pick up a stick and have a club. With Clerical support, it can even be a +2 club [Greater Magic Weapon cast by a 9th level cleric].

However, since it is unlikely that the fighter has Weapon Focus (Some stick I picked up by the side of the road) or Weapon Specializations along the same lines, or, really, any feats that that are useful in this situation, said fighter is now at a diminished capacity. His feats are his class abilities, those feats must be chosen in a given direction, and, once deprived of that direction, he has a similar problem to the wizard deprived of his class ability (the spell book). The fighter needs to get his weapon back or another of the same type so that he can raise his effectiveness again. Same as the wizard.

The rogue has a similar problem with sneak attacking. He, too, can pick up a stick as an improvised weapon and sneak attack with it so he's not totally useless. However, with his average BAB progression, that improvised weapon penalty is going to hurt him much more than it did the fighter. He can still sneak attack, but he's going to land it less often and therefore he, also, is at a diminished capacity. Again, same as the wizard.

The wizard, as the two previous examples, is diminished -- but not useless -- having lost his spell book. As was pointed out, he still has the spells he had memorized and not used from the day before. He must be more judicious in their use, but he is not a Commoner by any stretch of the imagination until he is run completely out of spells.

If you really want to hose a character out in the wilderness, steal the cleric's holy symbol. Suddenly, no castings with a DF are possible. You'd better hope that Wand of Cure Light is still there. It's not like the Cleric can improvise a holy symbol without a Trait or caveat.

The rogue and fighter have the option of much cheaper protections than the wizard. They just have to have their sword "peace-bound" in their scabbards and the scabbard belt looped over them while they sleep. However, if they don't take some precautions, they may find themselves sans weapons when morning rolls around. The cleric probably sleeps with his holy symbol grasped tightly as a matter of course. Still, it is possible to steal just about any of those items if the GM is really determined.

Now, having said that, I would probably call "zombie bs" on a GM that stole any of the party assets on a whim. If there's a solid story reason to deprive the paladin of his holy avenger, great, let's go get it back from the Mean Thing(tm) that stole it from him. If an improbable series of events led to the wizard's spell book disappearing with no way to trace the culprit because the GM was fed up with the wizard "ruining all his carefully planned encounters"? Yeah, I wouldn't play there anymore, either.

--JD

Once he was stoned, he's no longer alive or dead, he's an object, so the disintegrate would've obliterated him as an object, nothing left to inflict, so true res or reincarnate.

Assuming the beholder's ray is being treated as a Flesh to Stone spell:

The subject, along with all its carried gear, turns into a mindless, inert statue. If the statue resulting from this spell is broken or damaged, the subject (if ever returned to its original state) has similar damage or deformities. The creature is not dead, but it does not seem to be alive either when viewed with spells such as deathwatch.

When used against an object, the ray simply disintegrates as much as a 10-foot cube of nonliving matter. Thus, the spell disintegrates only part of any very large object or structure targeted. The ray affects even objects constructed entirely of force, such as forceful hand or a wall of force, but not magical effects such as a globe of invulnerability or an antimagic field.

Vorg is correct. Once turned to stone, the character and all his gear became one human-sized statue. The disintegrate spell turned the character and all of his equipment to dust. You will need a True Res or Reincarnate to raise the now naked character from the dead. Either way, his equipment is lost forever.

One of my players is looking for a two-weapon (sword and pistol) fighting character based around Errol Flynn or Burt Lancater from the old swashbuckling movies. There is not a particularly good archetype for this and, after basically re-working about half the ranger to try and make it work, I can understand why.

Please take a look at the following archetype and let me know if you have any suggestions. I'm open to changing just about anything including the name of the archetype... it was just the first thing that came to mind. Thank you in advance -- JD

Buccaneer, Ranger Archetype
1st - Sea Hunter, track, Pistolero
2nd - Combat style feat
3rd - Endurance, Born at Sea +2
4th - Familiar
5th - Grit +1
6th - Combat style feat
7th - Strong Swimmer
8th - Steady Hand, Born at Sea +3
9th - Evasion
10th - Grit +2, combat style feat
11th - Careful Targeting
12th - Gills
13th - Born at Sea +4
14th - Combat style feat
15th - Grit +3
16th - Improved evasion
17th - Bleeder
18th - Born at Sea +5, combat style feat
19th - Bonus Feat
20th - Grit +4, Bonus Feat

[Sea Hunter] At first level the Buccaneer gains the Amatuer Gunslinger feat.

At fifth level, and every five levels thereafter, the amount of Grit the Buccaneer starts with each day increases by +1 to a maximum of +4 at 20th level. Like the Gunslinger, the amount of Grit a character starts with each day cannot exceed the Buccaneer's Wisdom modifier. The Sea Hunter ability replaces Favored Enemy.

[Pistolero] At First Level, the Buccaneer gains Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Firearms), but only with pistols. He also gains the Gunsmithing feat. This ability replaces Wild Empathy.

[Combat Style Feats] The Buccaneer can only choose his combat style feats from the following list: At second level he may choose from Point-blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Reload, Quick Draw, and Two-Weapon Fighting. At 6th Level he adds Snap Shot, Improved Precise Shot and Improved Two-Weapon Fighting to the list. At 10th level, he adds Sword and Pistol, Pinpoint Targeting and Greater Two-Weapon Fighting to the list.

[Born at Sea] At third level the Buccaneer gains a +2 bonus on Initiative checks, Acrobatics, Climb, Knowledge(Geography), Knowledge(Nature), Perception, and Survival checks while aboard ship on the ocean or while below the surface.

At Eighth level and every 5 levels thereafter, the initiative and skill bonuses increase by +1 to a maximum of +5 at 18th level. The Born at Sea ability replaces Favored Terrain.

[Familiar] At fourth level, the Buccaneer acquires an exotic pet — a monkey or parrot (see: raven) — that gains abilities as a wizard’s familiar. Treat the Buccaneer's Wizard level as equal to his Ranger level -3. This ability replaces Hunter's Bond.

[Strong Swimmer] At seventh level the Buccaneer gains a swim speed equal to one-half his base land speed (rounded down to the nearest five foot increment) and the ability to hold his breath while underwater much longer than normal. Treat the Buccaneer's Constitution score as 10 higher when calculating the number of rounds he can hold his breath to avoid drowning.

[Steady Hand] At 8th level, the Buccaneer gains a bonus to damage with a pistol equal to one-half her Dex bonus rounded down (minimum 0). This ability replaces Swift Tracker.

[Careful Targeting] At 11th level the Buccaneer gains the Targeting Deed from the Gunslinger's Deed list. This ability replaces the Quarry ability.

[Gills] At 12th level, the Buccaneer's swim speed increases to his base land speed and he grow a pair of gills allowing him to breathe indefinitely underwater. This ability replaces Camoflage.

[Bleeder] At 17th level, the Buccaneer Gains the Bleeding Wound Deed from the Gunslinger's Deed list.

[Bonus Feat] At 19th and 20th level the Buccaneer gains a bonus feat. Yeah, I totally copped out on this one. I'm open to Suggestions.

Is taking 20 the same as rolling a 20 - i.e. does it incur an automatic success? For instance, if the DC of a lock is 30, and someone's DD modifier is +7, would taking 20 allow them to succeed? Seems a bit dubious to me, but I'm uncertain.

Taking 20 is effectively making twenty attempts, one at each result of the die. That's why you can't take 20 if there is the potential for Bad Things(tm) to happen; as examples: missing the DC of a roll by more than 5 results in catastrophic consequences, like during a crafting roll, or failing the roll means you cannot try again for 24 hours if at all. This is also why it takes 20 times longer than a standard check. Taking 20 on that perception check to find the trap is all well and good, but it means you're taking 2 minutes studying that 5' x 5' square. The rest of the party can take a nap while the rogue works a 10' x 50' hall.

If you don't have the required skill mod for a +20 to succeed, it doesn't matter if you take 20. You still fail (as noted above)

--JD

edit: Never mind... I just saw basically the same post by Omega999 lower on the list...

You may want to see if you can find the Gamemastery critical fumble and critical hit decks. Both have entries for spells. As an example:

Critical Hit: Splash Spell
Normal Damage to target and half damage to all adjacent targets

Critical Fumble: Spell Rift
Your spell is converted to a Summon Monster spell of the same level. That monster attacks you.

--JD

I would force that druid to get the Heavy Armor Profiency feat to actually use it or give him penalties anyway, but i'm kinda evil.

An interesting point. I was glossing over the fact that druids don't get heavy armor proficiency. Okay, I wasn't thinking about it at all when I used that example. But, as I say, an interesting point. So, while in humanoid form, the druid would take the non-proficient penalties, but they would also be subsumed with the armor. Hmmm... something else to ponder.

Thanks, All,
--JD

So an example druid wears Wild Dragon Hide Full Plate +1. Normally, the FP would have an AC of 10, a Max Dex of 1 and an ACP of -5 (-6 standard, down one for Masterwork).

The druid shifts to another form. He retains the +10 armor bonus to AC but the max Dex penalty and ACP both disappear. Correct? Is that the consensus?

I know I'm kind of repeating myself with a specific example, I just wanted to make sure I have this right. It seems like a pretty big bonus. Of course, many of the skills ACPs apply to are ones the druid simply shifts around. ACP to swim? Not a problem; shift to something with a swim speed. Same for Climb or Fly. Ride? Not happening, get off my back :P

Thanks,
--JD

First, According to the Polymorph description:

When you cast a polymorph spell that changes you into a creature of the animal, dragon, elemental, magical beast, plant, or vermin type, all of your gear melds into your body.

When your armor melds into your new form, do armor penalties like armor check and arcane spell failure go away? What about with the Wild property added to the armor so you continue to gain the armor class benefit?

Second, According to the Druid class ability for Wild Shape:

At 8th level, a druid can use wild shape to change into a Huge or Diminutive animal, a Medium elemental, or a Small or Medium plant creature. When taking the form of animals, a druid’s wild shape now functions as beast shape III. When taking the form of an elemental, the druid’s wild shape now functions as elemental body II. When taking the form of a plant creature, the druid’s wild shape functions as plant shape I.

Beast Shape III allows you to transform into a Small or Medium Magical Beast but the class ability does not specifically state Magic Beast as an option. Can a Druid transform into a Small or Medium Magical Beast at 8th Level?

Okay, so that was three questions. Thanks,
--JD

Way more information is needed to be of any serious help. For instance:
Why would the mother have her own daughter killed?
What would the cousin gain from killing the daughter?
Why were the PCs invited to dinner in the first place?
How does the Thieve's Guild know they *didn't* do it?
Why would the guild hire them to clear their names? Wouldn't they do that of their own volition?
How does the mother even know about the assassin's guild?
If she's that evil, why would the PCs accept her invitation in the first place?

It's a bit of a cliche, but don't start with the plot; start with character motivations and build the plot to suit. If you can answer some or all of the questions above, we might be able to help more.

--JD

To the OP's original question: If you include common firearms -- especially advanced weapons -- in your game, expect everyone to take them. Then expect a lot of people to take at least a one level dip (and usually more) in Gunslinger to maximize the potential of the pistol they're carrying.

IMO, the gunslinger is the single worst designed class in the entire PF system. Fort and Refl are both good saves and there's a bonus for making Wis a minimum secondary stat which bounces Will. A full BAB progression, a d10 Hit Die, the equivalent of two feats *and* a minimum 1000 gp (250 gp if guns are commonplace) item with a built in safety at first level. To me, that borders on obnoxious. What's the safety you ask? No one in their right minds would pick up a gunslinger's gun if he drops it. You don't have to worry about it getting stolen or used against you because it it likely to blow up if it is. Paizo might see that as a drawback, I see it as a benefit.

Your bad guys will have to take in to account the fact that armor is useless for the most part. Your treasure hauls will consist of a lot of things that add to touch AC like Rings of Protection. It doesn't take much for the one range increment to become all five; it's either a feat or a class ability, I forget which off the top of my head.

Also, you and the party have to completely re-think party roles. As I recently told one of my players, you can have your tank but tanks tend to be the focus of artillery. Someone is up front with a high AC? Cool, shoot him. Got an advanced revolver? Shoot him six times before reloading.

At mid-to-high levels, expect that crit multiplier to become a real issue. Take a look at this thread for some ideas on what you may see from a gunslinger then magnify it for the advanced firearms.

It's not all bad, though. Every sorcerer, wizard, druid and witch the party encounters will have a full load of the Damp Powder spell [level 1 for all]. Gunslingers are very unhappy at that point. However, I do not personally like having to design encounters that specifically target a single character's ability. YMMV

Hopefully this is of some help
--JD

Kensai's Perfect Strike is not the same as the feat from APG, unfortunately. It's a bit of namespace collision. The Kensai ability is limited by arcane pool points. As long as you have points in your arcane pool, you can maximize your damage (or increase your crit multiplier if you crit) as many times a round as you can hit something with your chosen weapon.

EDIT: If you're asking whether you can spend 4 points to increase the multiplier by 2, the answer is no. You are given the option to spend 2 points for +1 multiplier, but no more.

That was the question. If you had 6 points (somehow) could you raise the crit multiplier by 3. Is there some place that actually says no or is that the interpretation of intent? To be clear, I'm with you, Fozbek. I believe that is the intent, but, as we all know, there are more lawyers in gaming than in Washington DC.

Thanks

This comes from a discussion of the Kensai abilities (UC). Specifically:

Can the Kensai use Perfect Strike more than once in a round since it is a reactive ability. In other words, can the Kensai pump as many spell pool points into the crit multiplier as he has left. I've gone through all the books I have and I don't see a limit. The intent seems to be to limit the ability use to once per attack at best. I just wasn't sure.

Thanks in Advance