Jason Stormblade's page

Dot

Somehow I'm picturing Handyman from In Living Color...way back in the day

Pretty interesting stuff! Thank you folks for sharing your hard work.

This is an excellent system I think I'll adopt this in my next game, as I've always been bothered by the "equipment making the man" issue.

Dot

This is some very interesting stuff. Great work Koloko

Dot

These boards always amaze me in that many non-issues are such problems for other groups.

My group has never had a problem with this. Gear from the fallen is redistributed to other players ala DrDeth's examples, and personal gear is buried/burned with the fallen. Either that or they are jammed in the bag of holding for later reviving.

Virtually every player we have tends to be an orphan (hah), but also I think that in most cases your party would be your truest friends. You spend all your time with them, trust your life and soul to them, so they likely mean more to you than family.

Just because a book is old does not mean it is a classic. Doesn't mean its bad either, as I clearly referenced checking out Vance's books in my above post. You might want to stop staring down your nose at others posts, it appears to be blocking your view of the text.

I might give it a try...I'm low on reading material now.

As far as Forgotten Realms goes, the books are on a level with toilet paper. Maybe used toilet paper. Tons of crap, with the occasional corn kernel of justice.

Dragonlance, the first two series (Chronicles I think & The Twins saga) are great. After that it rapidly delved into crap as well.

Jason Stormblade wrote:

And regarding your last comment, I actually believe they should keep their bloodline power if you change classes, unfortunately the mechanical advantages would cause a problem, but from a story perspective they absolutely should.

LOL, yeah, we both know where that would lead. Everyone would immediately whip out all the class optimization guides and rewrite them so that we all start as sorcerers, retrain but keep the bloodline, etc. Now even the guide for barbarians would list which sorcerer bloodlines work best with which rage powers...

Jason Stormblade wrote:

When I plot a campaign, I write them like a novel, with long term plots, goals, and agendas. Retraining is a much better option than musical chairs of characters which potentially damages your plotline.

Totally agree. I have players who do both. Some guys can can play the same character from level 1 to 20, other guys get bored and have their character retire, go home, leave the campaign, only to be replaced with something different - it's very hard to create long-term plots, goals, and stories specific to characters for these players.

My favorite was in Shackled City where a specific character gains a curse/benefit that gets used later on as a huge part of the plot- yep, that's the character who retired leaving nobody in the group with that plot device, and it was sooooo phony to whip up a way to get it on someone else.

Yup, the crunch would trash Pathfinder.

I've allowed some loose retraining for the last year and it has dramatically reduced the number of players changing characters. Trogdor decides he's tired of beating Saranrae's drum, so he spends some time apprenticed to Gargamel the Mighty and becomes a wizard.

@DRDeth - point to you sir, I am in the wrong on that point. From a flavor perspective, my dislike is more an issue with how Vancian casting does not really match up with how magic is portayed typically. Nowadays a mage is typically very versatile but gets tired/physically impacted from overextending. That is how SGG's system works. Almost every example of Vancian magic people raise are from old to very old books. Frankly, no one in my groups has ever read Vance's books (or even heard of them). I believe that a pool of magic with flexibility is what I see in most books now.

***
Managing spell point/mana is not difficult with 5 minutes of prep time (go down your list and write down the cost). I have 100 points, spell x costs 3. Spell y costs 5. If I hammer the spell repeately, the cost goes up by 1 each time. Save or get exhausted/fatigued.

The benefit of course, is that many of those spells that are virtually never cast can start to get some usage. I saw glitterdust for the first time just two weeks ago. The first time in 20+ years it was ever cast in a group at our table.

***
I will still stand by my opinion that I have never found a magic system anywhere that can even remotely approach Mage the Ascension (sans Paradox). You get to act like a real wizard and do anything within your imagination and magical strength.

***
@Luthorne,
I agree...Vancian works, but it it has had 30 years to get tweaked and shifted. Any game system that invested that timing in a mana system would be very stable and functional as well. S$%t, the Super Genius System is like 1-2 years old and it works flawlessly.

Given the info regarding Bloodlines not necessarily being blood, I'm not concerned with retraining it now. It makes sense.

@DM Blake
Let's be real...the entire mechanical game structure of this simulation is horribly unrealistic. Of course it doesn't really strive for realism, so we all have to pick and choose how "real" we want to hold things. With the original interpretation being that it was "blood", I think retraining the bloodline should not be possible. Given the expanded description however, I have no problem with it.

And regarding your last comment, I actually believe they should keep their bloodline power if you change classes, unfortunately the mechanical advantages would cause a problem, but from a story perspective they absolutely should.

@Cheapy
I am the GM for my group, and I entirely agree with what you said. When I plot a campaign, I write them like a novel, with long term plots, goals, and agendas. Retraining is a much better option than musical chairs of characters which potentially damages your plotline.

I'm in the anti-Vancian crowd, and veteran gamers are likely wearing rose-colored glasses to how quickly they picked up game aspects. I play in two groups that both find new rules / interpretations almost every session. Most of the group are 20+ year veterans of AD&D.

As one of the posters above said, new players have frequently had issues picking up how spells are memorized. Almost every time we had a new players, the comment "I'm 5th level, so I can cast 5th level spells right?" comes up.

The SGG spellpoint works brilliantly. I've had absolutely zero problems after using it for close to a year. We do use Eldritch Dissonance, which prevents casters from hammering the same spell over and over, so there are limitations.

Giving players options and flexibility opens up interesting responses on the fly.

Huh I always thought it was because you know...the name ; )

I don't doubt you at all though, you know your shat Cheapy.

@ Are - I totally agree.

Retraining feats and classes makes sense. Changing your blood does not.

Maybe I'll go home and come back tommorow as Black instead of White. /facepalm

@Kolokotroni - this is pretty similar to what we do and it works well.

A group member pointed out that if metamagic came free to casters (instead of using feats), magic could be vastly more customized and interesting. Obviously this would require some balancing for mechanical spell changes, but I like the idea that as a arcane caster leveled up they would learn to alter spells at will. One of the 3PP (I forget which) puts out several books like "7 Fireball Feats" and generally they are really entertaining and useful, but there just are not enough open feat slots for really customized magic.

True, this can be accomplished now, but a caster doesn't have many feats to do this with, thus limiting the customizing to maybe having no more than 3-5 metamagic feats ever.

I would once again take the time to promote this product. This is the most recent system my group has used to replace the Vancian system, and it works very well.

Some of the bigger issues like repeatedly using mana/points to hammer your "go to" spell are addressed rather well within.

Houserule Handbooks: Spell Points

I hate Vancian spellcasting and we always use 3pp or optional rules to dump it. We also convert casters to spontaneous as well.

I believe it seems unique and iconic to AD&D because every other game wanted to get away from it. Aside from the obvious AD&D based video games and books, you rarely see this concept of spell casting system in literature or games. Because IMO it sucks = )

In terms of modifying the power dynamic, it honestly has never been a problem for my group. I recognize how it could be, but we do not play PFS and we have a veteran group of players who have been together for years. No one gets worked up about stuff like this.

Personally it would make my day to see the Vancian system finally die off and get a more modern and flexible magic system. Mage the Ascension had the most amazing magic I've ever played, but it was overly powerful and would be hard to adapt in any real manner to PF.

These are my opinions of course, and your mileage may vary

This system has been working well for my group with a few small mods:

Houserule Handbooks: Spell Points

The eldritch dissonance prevents repetitive hammering of the spells pretty well. We have only been using this for a couple months but it has worked so far..

I had to log in just to say this:

@MTCityHunter-
Your argument has been probably the most adult and respectful side of a discussion I have ever witnessed on these boards. You acknowledge the counter-points despite not agreeing, and you do it without this thread descending into crap. I've grown disgusted with the Paizo boards in the last few months, but seeing your post was great. Very respectful and well represented.

Rock on man.

Dotting for greatness

I've never participated in activity like this, nor has my group of the last 20 years, but it seems like there is a legitimate player background and work with the GM that makes this kosher, as distastefully as some people at taking it.

I think it is better to find another way if possible, but if this is how your group plays and you (and everyone) are okay with the consequences, go for it.

Either the sleep/coup de grace, or the black tentacles/sleeping cloud combo is going to hurt them bad. Maybe poison the cheerios that morning as well. Waiting until they are hurt/depleted in a fight and then hitting them that night before they refresh is going to help. Hold yourself back in the fights and you can hit them in tip-top shape hopefully.

Spell Progression
Level 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
4 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
5 3 2 1 0 0 0 0
6 3 2 2 0 0 0 0
7 4 3 2 1 0 0 0
8 4 3 2 1 0 0 0
9 4 3 3 2 1 0 0
10 4 4 3 2 1 0 0
11 4 4 3 2 2 0 0
12 4 4 4 3 2 1 0
13 4 5 4 3 2 1 0
14 4 5 4 3 3 2 1
15 4 5 5 4 3 2 1
16 4 6 5 4 3 2 2
17 4 6 5 4 4 3 2
18 4 6 6 5 4 3 3
19 4 7 6 5 4 3 3
20 4 8 7 6 5 4 4

Level Special
1 Magic bolt 1d6, Magic Sheild 2, Spell Combat
2 Physical Perfection, Charge Item
3 Magic Bolt 2d6, Disruptive Bolt
4 Bolt focus, Phys Perfection, Magic Sheild 4
5 Magic bolt 3d6
6 Bolt Penetration, Phys Perfection, Charge Item
7 Magic item 4d6
8 Imp. Bolt Focus, Magic Sheild 6
9 Magic Bolt 5d6, Physical Perfection
10 Charge Item
11 Magic Bolt 6d6
12 Greater Bolt Focus, Phys Perf, Magic Sheild 8
13 Magic Bolt 7d6
14 Charge Item
15 Magic Bolt 8d6, Phys Perf,
16 Bolt Mastery, Magic Sheild 10
17 Magic Bolt 9d6
18 Phys Perf, Charge Item
19 Magic Bolt 10d6, Phys Perf
20 Magic Bolt 12d6, Magic Sheild 12

Level BaB Fort Reflex Will
1 0 2 0 2
2 1 3 0 3
3 2 3 1 3
4 3 4 1 4
5 4 4 1 4
6 5 5 2 5
7 6/1 5 2 5
8 6/1 6 2 6
9 7/2 6 3 6
10 8/3 7 3 7
11 9/4 7 3 7
12 9/4 8 4 8
13 10/5 8 4 8
14 11/6/1 9 4 9
15 12/7/2 9 5 9
16 12/7/2 10 5 10
17 13/8/3 10 5 10
18 14/9/4 11 6 11
19 15/10/5 11 6 11
20 16/11/6 12 6 12

One of my players wanted to make his own class. This is for a home game obviously. I'm interested to see what some community members feel about the balance/progression of the class. Apologies in advance for the crappy formating on some things below. He had tables in excel

Militant Mage (the Militard!)
The Militant mage is a magic user that excels at martial combat and the use of armor. As a result of the martial training the militant mage never refined the use of his magic and can only create a raw effect, which is usually enough however. The Militant mage can be of any race of alignment, but his most important ability scores are intelligence and constitution.

Weapons and Armor
The Militant Mage is familiar with the following weapons; light crossbow, short bow, short spear, war hammer, dagger, and long sword. The Militant Mage can wear light and medium armor, but not shields, without restriction as the raw magic he wields does not need the finesse of somatic components. However, the Mage does have to follow all rules of arcane failure when attempting to cast standard spells from his spell list.

Hit points: 1d8
Skills: 4+ Int modifiers
Class Skills: Climb, Intimidate, Knowledge (arcana), (Religion), (dungeoneering), and (history), Sense Motive, Survival, Swim, Ride, Perception, Use Magic Device, Spell craft.

Feats: The Militant Mage qualifies for fighter feats as long as she meets the prerequisites for the feat she picks.

Class Abilities
Spell Combat: the Militant Mage can make one attack with his primary weapon, and a second attack with his magic bolt ability. Both attacks are at the highest base attack bonus and suffer a -2 to attack rolls. When the Militant Mage gets additional attacks granted from class level, he still only gets one magic bolt in a round at the highest attack bonus, and that magic bolt attack goes second in the round unless the player specifically states that he is holding the bolt attack until the end of the round. As the mage increases in level he receives Improved Spell Combat at level 8 which reduces the penalty by 1 to -1. At level 16 he receives Greater Spell Combat and no longer suffers any penalty when using spell combat.

Magic Bolt: The Militant Mage can release a bolt of magic at his enemy. The bolt is considered a ranged touch attack that does 1d6 damage + the Mages intelligence modifier (this is applied once not per die of damage), has a range of 30ft +5 feet per level of the mage. And does not provoke an attack of opportunity. As the Militant Mage progresses the Magic Bolt does more damage based on his level, up to 12d6 at level 20. At level one and every upgrade (3,5,7,9,etc.) that the bolt increases in damage the mage can apply a new effect to the bolt; fire, cold, acid, force, law, chaos, positive, negative, holy, or tainted. When the mage casts the bolt he can, as a free action, choose the effect type the bolt is, if he does not choose one the bolt is just magic energy. The militant Mage can cast a bolt a number of times per day equal to his 3+ intelligence Modifier per day + level. Feats that grant extra channeling or an extra spell slot will increase the bolt limit by +2; this can be done a maximum of one time per character, per feat. Starting at level 5 the mage can release a burst of Magic energy that causes everyone in a 25 ft. radius to suffer the effects of his Magic Bolt. Those trapped inside the radius can make a reflex save for half damage. This attack does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The DC for the Magic Bolt effect is 10+1/2 the mages level (rounded down) + the mages Int. modifier.

Bolt Focus: as weapon focus, the mage receives a +1 on Bolt attacks. Improved Bolt Focus, Greater Bolt focus and Bolt Mastery grant additional +1 each to attack. Additionally the DC to avoid the effects of the Magic Bolt burst is increased by +1 for each of the previous feats.

Bolt Penetration: grants the mage a +2 when determining if the bolt can surpass the magic resistance of a creature.
Magic Shield: At level 1 the Mage can use the Magic Shield ability. Using the magic shield consumes one use of the Magic Bolt ability. At level 1 the Magic Shield grants the Mage DR 2/ Adamantine and last for two minutes per level, and can absorb up to 2 points of damage per caster level. At level 4 the effect increases to 4/4/4, at level 8 the effect increases to 6/6/6, at level 12 the effect increases to 8/8/8, at level 16 the effect increases to 10/10/10, and at level 20 the effect increases to 12/12/12.

Physical Perfection: The Mage can use this ability as a standard action to grant himself a magical bonus of +1 on any physical ability score, or temporary bonus hit points (5), or a Natural Armor bonus to AC, or an increase to movement rate of +5. Effects granted by this ability will last for one round per level of the mage. The effects can be only be used on the mage himself. The Militant Mage can use this ability 3+ con Modifier per day. At levels 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 20 the bonus increases by +1 and increments of 5 movement and Hit points to a maximum of +8 and 25 movement and hit points. Feats that increase rage uses per day grant a one-time bonus of +2 uses per day to this power.
Charge Item: The Militant Mage can give up one use of his Physical Perfection power to grant his weapons or armor an enhancement bonus equal to +1 (magical). This bonus last for as long as the Mage is awake and conscious is cancelled upon sleep or unconsciousness. At level 2 the mage can increase the magical properties of his weapon granting it a +1. This would cost the mage one use of his Physical Perfection ability until the next day. At level 6 the Mage can increase the effect to +2 and add an additional damage type of +1d4 (fire, cold, acid, positive, negative, lawful, etc.) the increase in magical bonus still only costs one use, however the extra damage costs one additional use of the

Physical Perfection ability. At level 10 the bonus increases to +3, +2d4
damage, and can be made into a burst weapon for an additional use of the Physical Perfection ability. At level 14 the bonus increases to +4 and +3d4 damage. At level 18 the bonus increases to +5 and +4d4 damage. The Mage can further increase the bonus of items that are already enhanced magically, but must follow all rules concerning magical items. While the additional effect is active the mage can, as a swift action, change the effect type, and can cancel all effects as a free action. If the item is removed from the mage, the effect ends. The mage can increase the magical properties in his armor the same way, following all the rules for magic armor and charging a weapon, however the cost is doubled for armor.

Disruptive Bolt: At level three the Mage can cast Dispel Magic as if he was two caster levels higher (up to level 20).

Magic Items: The nature of the Mage means that he is considered the opposite class when using any magic item, and must pass a successful “Use Magic Device” skill check to use any active magic item even scrolls. The Mage can use items such as protection, resistance, and deflection items. Also, items that grant the user bonus spells give the Mage additional uses of his Magic bolt or Magic Shield ability.
Mage and Spells: The mage can cast a hand full of spells from a selected list of spells. The Mage casts his spells as a spontaneous caster, and knows his spells instinctively. However, the Mage is imperfect at memorizing spells and putting them together correctly, that is why he uses the weave the way he does. When a Mage attempts to cast a spell he must succeed at a Spell craft check DC equal to 20 + double the level of the spell. Even if the check succeeds the mage is still susceptible to armor failure, and concentration checks. When possible the Mage can take 10, but not twenty. If the Mage fails the spell craft check, he cannot attempt again for one minute per level of the attempted spell and he loses the cost of the spell as if it went off. Spells cast this way cost the mage one use of his Magic Bolt ability.

Cantrips: The mage can cast cantrips as the Wizard only he does not have to memorize the cantrips in advance.

Magi Spells
Cantrips: Daze, Detect magic, Flare, Light, Mage Hand, Spark, Ray of Frost.

Level one: Air Bubble, Alarm, Alter Winds, Endure Elements, Flare Burst, Hydraulic push, Identify, Obscuring Mist, and Ray of Sickening.

Level two: Blindness/ Deafness, Blur, Continual Light, Darkness, Dark Vision, Delay Pain, False Life, Fiery Shuriken, Fog Cloud, Gust of Wind, Levitate, Pyrotechnics, Resist Energy, Whispering wind.

Level three: Ablative Barrier, Arcane Sight, Daylight, Displacement, Draconic reservoir, Fly, Force Punch, Gaseous Form, Haste, Ray of Exhaustion, Water Breathing, and Wind Wall.

Level four: Mass Daze, Dimension Door, Greater False Life, Fear, Lesser Globe of Invulnerability, Overwhelming Greif, Ride the Wave, Shadow Step, Shout, Solid Fog.

Level five: Absorb Toxicity, Dismissal, Geyser, Overland Flight, Sending, Teleport, Wall of Force, and Wall of Sound.

Level six: Anti Magic Field, Getaway, Globe of Invulnerability, Guards and Wards, Shadow Walk, Sirocco, Wall of Iron.
Bonus Spells: Bonus Spells granted from high intelligence work differently for the Magi. If the Magi receive bonus spells from high intelligence, he gets a “pool” of spell points that can be used to cast spells from his spell list only. These castings still require all checks that the Magi would normally have to overcome; the spells just don’t count against his daily use of his Magic Bolt ability. This also means the pool of Bonus Spells is useless until the Magi reaches third level and can begin casting spells above cantrips. The Magi does not receive bonus spells for a specific level until he would normally be able to cast that level of spell.

Items that Increase Spell slots: Items that increase spell slots for wizards or sorcerer’s, can be used by the Magi and don’t require a Use Magic Device check, they work the same as bonus spells from high intelligence.

Dot. Nice write-up Grick

@James,

I'm curious as to why you recommend that Crossblooded Sorcerer at level 12. Is there some bonus at that level that makes it extra spicy? My magus is hitting 12 this weekend so this jumped out at me.

I'm loving this. Dot Dot Dot

Dot

dot

I agree, the items sections needs some major love. I particularly like your black blade variant.

.

Great work so far Darth

... The glassworks becomes a wave of glass shurikens, hitting everything....

That had me cackling for a few minutes. Awesome mental picture.

Theos Imarion wrote:

38. You can move faster then light i.e. teleportation

Wrong you're traveling through the Astral Plane which touches everywhere on the material plane. Well actually maybe if you replace phase shift with that sentence...

I agree. I always saw teleportation magic similar to space folding or Event-Horizon (the movie) type movement.

Go to one of those 18+ stores, get one of those rubber forearms, and sovereign-glue that bad-boy on!

I often think the class is one of the least understood in the game for many folks. Pretty much every week someone comes to the boards and posts how overpowered the magus class is, and each time the same group of people come in, post the numbers, and show that it is not.

A few days later, and another post appears..

You could always try and sell / publish through an existing 3PP.

@Grick

Is that the way reflex saves are supposed to work? I have used fireball traps in small rooms so that only people next to the door get a reflex save to jump out.

It seems crazy that you can get a reflex save if you could not move, i.e. paralyzed.

This is pretty funny. Let's here the reasoning, it sounds very interesting.

I think several mini-bosses, though they may or may not all directly work for Mr. BBEG.

If the place is mostly human, you could have one area or level populated with orcs who have invaded. It changes up the adventure and creates the possibility of strange alliances.

Each Mini-boss should have some defined relationship with the others, as it would be unrealistic to have all these folks sharing a living space and not having any kind of relationship. It may not be friendly, but most should have something spelled out.

Several smaller enclaves within the dungeon, and one mega-overlord who runs it.

You can run it in several small sessions and than conclude with the BBEG. /Loot!

@ Chris-

Agree with you 100%

"I'm sorry, but a pickle killed my father." is different.

That's just awesome ; )

/agree

No cell phones, computers, tablets, at the table unless they are looking up rules. I find them to be a real immersion breaker.

And yet I said none of those things you just claimed.

I commented on how you equate someone with a different and yet complete arguable opinion with a fictional deviant pee-drinker. As if anyone who disagrees with you is nasty beyond reproach.

You have attacked this topic as an activist looking for an ax to grind, and have insulted posters repeatedly.

You should try acting the adult and check your attitude at the door.

This player did something along the lines of cutting down a tree cause it was in the way. There was no real point.

We don't know the circumstances surrounding the fight, but we can safely assume it was a fight to the death. That itself validates the point of him nuking the hellhound. Tactically he could have kept the AC out of the way if he was better, but he apparently was not. This appears to be a case of a dumb player - not a malicious or evil one.

As a GM if a druid, ranger or other character shows prolonged and repeated indifference to the suffering of their animal companion or familiar, they will discover upon seeking a new AC that their reputation precedes them.

AC's are of animal intelligence, and are not omniscient. The new animal does not know what and how your last animal died. They are unrelated and do not talk.

You could claim that your God (if you have one) warned them (if it cared), but than why would you need to make rolls for your AC to work with you - if your God fills it in on what is going on it should follow you willingly in all ways. Even the "goodest of the good" druids have to roll Handle Animal, even with pure intentions.

sunshadow21 wrote:

It's perfectly reasonable to ask, but if that is where the complaint stops, it's not reasonable to expect changes to occur, especially if you're the only one who is saying it. A good DM will try to have a conversation and ascertain specific reasons and whether the requested changes can be made and/or are acceptable to the group as a whole, but in and of itself, "I'm not having fun" is a bit too generic to expect the DM and the group to automatically change what they are doing and enjoying. If the player making that complaint can't clarify it or add to it, they are the ones who need to make changes, not anyone else.

"I'm not having fun because this game has rapists."

If you're saying that the player needs to make the accommodation here, and not the GM, then congratulations, you are the golden pissy forests GM. You're going to have problems with any players who aren't eager to have their characters pee into the troll's mouth.

Sweet way to trash any person whose opinions differ.

Madcap has good ideas. I have had party members recently who did not engage as much. I started engaging them as the GM during play - what are your goals, how will you work on them? Basically trying to find out what they liked and getting them to drive the adventure forward themselves.

It worked well and they pursued character goals, like finding enough mithril to build armor and weapons (we play low-magic).

Unless I know that nobody at the table has a problem with sexualized violence or weaponized sex, I steer clear of it in my games.

I like this - I won't avoid material, but I pay attention to the kids or other folks who are in the party, and we have set "setting" expectations for the game when our group formed.