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Back in the day (before lots of other options came along) just about every paladin I saw in PFS (including mine) had been raised by gnomes so that they could use the perfect paladin weapon, the gnome flick mace. And Tengus with some falcatas are also pretty popular. But yeah, ancestral weapons are pretty much niche items. They can be incredibly useful on a few builds, pretty useful on a larger but still fairly small set of builds, and pretty much of no value most of the time.
Racial Weapon feats should be automatic for the race for free.They are one of the few impactful Ancestry feats. If you remove them, you're very close to remove Ancestry feats entirely. All my characters who can speak with animals, have a familiar, are great at sneaking, gain a multiclass dedication, turn into bottles and roll around combat etc etc etc disagree with you. There are a LOT of ancestry feats that fall into at least one of useful, character defining flavour, build defining. There are also, admittedly, lots that fall into the category of "kinda cool flavour, very rarely of any actual use"
Hmm. And here I was thinking we'd might be old friends. Both in service of goddesses (I'm not an Egyptian mythology expert, but I'm not aware of Sekhmet and Isis being at odds, and Sekhmet hunts down the monsters of Apep, which the Bride is more or less also doing) Ok, that all works with me. We have definitely wound up being friends and allies. You're quite right, our goals align and once I knew your back history I'd see you as originally a victim and now a friend and ally, an ally who actually understands how things SHOULD be done :-). But my first reaction on seeing a mummy would have been "Foul undead beast. Kill!!!!!" I love your thought that you let me tear you apart and then came back the next day to talk. That is very much in tune with Sehkmet. She loses her temper, strikes out, then later calms down and can be talked to/reasoned with. If you're ok with that lets make that our official back story.
Session zero. My character is going to initially react badly to The Mummys Bride. I think it would be more fun if that happens on screen. So if possible could one of us be new to the group? I'll let Mummy's Bride decide which of us is new (either works fine for my concept). Also, I'm assuming that working for Monsters Inc is NOT a full time job, it's more like Justice League in that we get called together for missions and have a life outside the group. If the plan is more for us to be living together that's fine, I can tweak things
You got it right elsewhere but I thought that I'd point out that they have to add up to 20, NOT 30. It's very, very doable. To take a simple brick as the easiest example. Str and Stamina both 10 for 40 points. Punch for 5 points. Other 3 defences at 10 for 30 points. 75 points for a fully functional (if very bland) super. I won't have time today but if anybody wants me to take a quick pass at their character to make suggestions just let me know
Go to the character menu at the top of the screen. In there is a configure hero entry (the last one in the drop down) Scroll down about 1/2 way there is a House Rules section. Click the 4 skill points per PP box
I think all you need is to see John Scalzi as the author to know it will be quirky :-). I like almost everything he has written (including Starter Villain) but he is definitely quirky
First, and most importantly, if SuperTumbler has ruled differently then never mind. He obviously wins :-). And I think I get to save a point or two on my Sehkmet character (need to check). So I approve :-) :-) But just so you know that I wasn't just making stuff up to be difficult :-) From the Heros Handbook under the Close Combat skill (pg 116) "Unarmed is an option, meaning skill with unarmed strikes
Note - I'm NOT saying that I think this was the right ruling, especially when Arrays can be (with GM permission) a single Close Combat skill (or Ranged Combat skill). Just saying that is what the book says.
Just bring along your little innocent pet cat if you're going into a potentially dangerous situation :-). You get to do all the talking, I'll just purr and look pretty.
One thing about character creation that I’d add. For me at least it is all but essential to have a fairly clear character concept in mind fairly early in the process. That way I can instantly dismiss lots of powers, I will likely have thematic limitations, etc. Basically reduce the problem down to something a bit more manageable. And remember that you have to concentrate on what the power does mechanically, not how it appears. For example, I had a character who had a multi attack power arrayed with a homing blast. But in world he was summoning animals from peoples nightmares. So the separate limbs thing might just be a ranged blast arrayed with a move object power
Sorry, I should have put in more descriptors. It is basically taken from the myths and is just disease (well, divinely inflicted disease). Sehkmet was a goddess you did NOT want pissed at you :-). expecting more martial artist and I fee like this is sort of half martial artist and half brick, but I think it will work. Yeah, the more I read about her the more she seemed to need to be a bit of a brick.
I disregarded Patrin and focused on Panas. Can you explain how they are in Nivkata's Crossing? Likely the backstory will be slightly different than the usual Kingmaker ones, since the story has advanced some since start up. Panas has come to Nivkata's Crossing actively hoping to join up with one of the various groups trying to establish a new kingdom in the Stolen Lands. Unfortunately, he has no links with any groups that recently started their work so that is the best approach that he can think of to participate. He has been in the Crossing for a couple of weeks without luck. But at least the locals know why he is there :-)
Having seen the groups needs I'd like to change my submission. I am withdrawing Patrin and submitting instead Panas, a human Twisting Tree Magus. As before, I'll create an alias if selected. Panas Can be seen here
Definitely interested. Here is my submission. Patrin Lodovka, a human kineticist (Earth/Wood) who, having been virtually rejected by his family, wants to make good in the world and show the family how much of a mistake they made. I use the android version of herolab so a pdf is the easiest way to show you my character sheet. I'll create an alias if I'm accepted into the game. My character sheet (together with a brief background) can be seen here
I'm pretty sure that I would NOT take a second blasting class. Too much overlap. Unless you're going to have VERY long adventuring days you just won't be able to get through all your spells. Playing in Strength of Thousands this became an issue very quickly for my caster. But if I WAS going to double down then probably psychic. Lets me use the same stat (Cha or Int) for both sides.
And here is Tawnystripe. If I'm accepted I'll create an alias for him. Background:
Tawnystripe is a cat that was found as an abandoned kitten by a pair of rabbits (Sunstrip and Germaine). They raised him up as their own kit,
He has grown into a personable young cat, friendly and good natured. He mostly eats a vegetarian diet although he has been known to have a little bit of meat now and then and definitely loves fish. He is a bit of a trickster and a rogue. He is foolishly quite proud of his abilities with the rapier since, while he CAN hit, he does very little damage. But he loves to entertain others and to inspire them to greater things.Despite being biologically a cat he sees himself largely as a rabbit.
Stats: tawnystripe Male cat bard 1 NG Medium animal (cat) Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +4 -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +3 Dex) hp 9 (1d8+1) Fort +0, Ref +5, Will +2 -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft. Melee rapier +4 (1d6-1/18-20) or . . whip +3 (1d3-1 nonlethal) Ranged shortbow +3 (1d6-1/×3) Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (15 ft. with whip) Special Attacks bardic performance 8 rounds/day (countersong, distraction, fascinate [DC 14], inspire courage +1) Bard Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +5) . . 1st (2/day)—cause fear (DC 15), cure light wounds . . 0 (at will)—daze (DC 14), ghost sound (DC 14), light, prestidigitation -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 8, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 18 Base Atk +0; CMB -1; CMD 12 Feats Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (rapier) Skills Bluff +10, Climb +10, Diplomacy +10, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (arcana) +3, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +3, Knowledge (engineering) +3, Knowledge (geography) +7, Knowledge (history) +3, Knowledge (local) +7, Knowledge (nature) +3, Knowledge (nobility) +3, Knowledge (planes) +3, Knowledge (religion) +3, Perception +4, Perform (sing) +8, Sense Motive +6, Stealth +6; Racial Modifiers +2 Bluff, +2 Diplomacy, +2 Sense Motive Languages Catfolk, Common SQ bardic knowledge +1, cat's luck Other Gear studded leather, rapier, shortbow, whip, 14 gp -------------------- Special Abilities -------------------- Bardic Knowledge +1 (Ex) Add +1 to all knowledge skill checks. Bardic Performance (standard action, 8 rounds/day) Your performances can create magical effects. Cat's Luck (1/day) (Ex) Can roll 2d20 for a Reflex save and take better result. Climb (20 feet) You have a Climb speed. Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Well, he was a kitten raised by bunny rabbits Ok, Creating my bard cat inspired by a cross between Bugs, Puss N Boots, and my fevered imagination :-)
Thank you. And an excellent example of why White Room calculations can be so different from actual experience. And of why actual experience can differ so much from table to table :-)
I'm curious, what was it about the Swashbuckler that made it perform so much better? Party had no flank buddies? One for All was even better than usual? Note - not questioning your conclusion at all. It just surprised me a little and raised my curiousity.
Here is my submission for Sehkmet, Lady of Slaughter. If accepted I'll create an Avatar for her. Brief overview - Lioness headed woman with powers related to those attributed to Sehkmet in myth. Quite strong (12). Can also turn into any feline of her size or smaller although doing so does NOT affect her defences. I'd appreciate it if you told me if I got the power level and flexibility about right. I'm pretty sure she is too powerful for some campaigns and too weak for others :-). Definitely a Monster, but one who tries to do good and largely succeeds. Mostly. Abilities:
Sekhmet - Lady of Slaughter - PL 10 Strength 12, Stamina 11, Agility 2, Dexterity 0, Fighting 8, Intellect 0, Awareness 0, Presence 0 Advantages
Skills
Powers
Equipment:
Binoculars, Cell Phone (Smartphone), Holy Symbol Offense:
Initiative +2 Affliction: Burst Area Affliction 10 (DC Fort 20) Become very ill and die: Weaken 10, +8 (DC Fort 20) Grab, +8 (DC Spec 22) Intimidating Roar: Perception Area Affliction 10 (DC Will 20) Throw, +0 (DC 27) Unarmed, +8 (DC 27) Complications:
Cannot See felines mistreated : She absolutely will not abide seeing felnes mistreated in any signficant way. She is generally sufficiently under control to be kind of a bit proportional in her responses. Mostly. Lady of Slaughter: She can lose control of herself and basically go berserk, attacking anything in sight. She has just about enough control that she MAY prioritize foes over bystanders over allies. Will NOT attack felines while in this state. Monstrous: For some reason people seem to react strangely to a bad-tempered lioness headed woman who can bench press trucks. Not at all sure why.. She can sort of kind of disguise herself with a large hat, sunglasses, and a face mask (at least Covid made the latter more common). Enough to pass on the street much of the time. But if she really wants to go unnoticed she pretty much has to change into a cat. Motivation - Healer and Protector: When she is not living up to her name of Lady of Slaughter she is a healer and protector, especially of children and the helpless Relationship - Fiancee: She is still madly in love with her fiancee Alex Ranstamble and he with her. He knows who she is and accepts her (mostly) for who she has become. He tries to act as her moral guidance when she gets a bit Ancient Egyptian in outlook, Secret identity: She is still trying to maintain her identity of Evelyn Carnahan, She still does digs, writes up her notes in an Archaeological Journal, etc. Her cover story is that she suffered a disfiguring disease so she mostly stays a recluse and, when seen, bundles herself up and wears a face mask.
Languages
Defense
Power Points
Ignore the previous post (too late for me to delete it). I realized that I'm creating a character who is far more a normal super hero than an actual monster with redeeming values. And its too flexible. And a bit too complicated. I'm going to lose the morph. Will still be able to change into a normal cat, though :-).
I've got a version of the character almost ready but I thought I'd make sure that I'm not going too far before finalizing it. It uses metamorph which I know some people see as a huge Red Flag. Background:
Evelyn Carnahan was an Archaeologist specializing in the study of Bastet and Sehkmet in their various (especially mutual) incarnations.
She was on a dig in Egypt when she uncovered a door lined with Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Her long study of ancient Egyptian magics enabled her to realize that this was a spell, a spell that she perhaps foolishly decided to cast (What Could Possibly Go Wrong?) The door opened and inside was an ancient necklace and torc. She felt compelled by some strange force to put them on. When she woke up several hours later she found that she had been transformed both physically and mentally. She now had the head of a Lioness and some of the memories and personality ot something. She isn't quite sure if it was an Avatar of Bastet/Sehkmet, the spirits of ancient temple guardians, or what. But she is now forever more a lioness headed woman with strange feline urges and instincts. In her base form she is a formidable fighter with some magical abilities but she can also transform into two different forms. One is a large, somewhat bestial form that is incredibly strong and nearly immune to most damage, a form that is very quick to anger and that will blindly attack when angered. She can also change into the form of an Egyptian cat. In all 3 of her forms she can change into any feline or feline headed person with her body (Note, Morph so this is purely cosmetic). To her regret she discovered that when sufficiently hurt or angered she will manifest in the form that she calls The Lady of Slaughter I ended up creating a character with morph and 2 metamorph forms. She can morph into any female feline or feline headed person with her old body. She has 3 forms
One important thing to note - while in general she can choose to change form she has complications that mean that she can get stuck. Especially likely to become basically a berserk killing machine as The Lady of Slaughter. She most certainly IS a monster at least some of the time. I'd started with a character with Alternate Form and it costed out about the same. The metamorph mostly made it a lot simpler to make sure all 3 forms were legal, point balanced, etc. And at a cost of 12 points I think I'm not getting too much. But I AM both a brick and an agile martial artist with considerable stealth ability, at least while I have control of myself.
Can I please get some guidance as to how broad and, well, point optimized I should make my character? Unfortunately in M&M it is often the case that one persons twinked out monstrosity is another persons underpowered character :-). I can easily build a character based on a Lion fighting power. Melee sort, maybe +12 or so to hit for +8 damage, 12 or so active defences with 8 stamina, some superleap and lots of senses. A bit of regeneration and healing and some appropriate skills. Is a fairly simple character like that both viable and what you're looking for in this campaign? Or should I embrace the "mythological cat" theme and give the kinds of powers attributed to cats in fiction and fable? Things like teleportation, ability to walk through walls, vanish from sight perhaps leaving a smile behind and the like.
This is my application for Sandu Kaijitsu, the human younger brother of Ameiko. Sandu is a benefactor Shaman who worships Desna and is a good friend to his spirit animal the Raven Vralk (who will have his own alias and make his own posts :-)) Concept:
Sandu is a Benefactor Shaman who worships Desna. He wishes to travel the world and to help people while doing so. His spirit animal is the raven Vralk. While Vralk likes Sandu very much he feels that it is only right that the superior race (Raven) be in charge.
Sandu has very much grown up in the shadow of his older sister and wants to change their relationship to one of friends and peers. While he deeply loves his sister he doesn't always like her and knows that the same holds for her. In character he has no particular interest in long lasting romance at this point (he is fine with more casual relationships). As a player, I'm quite open to the possibility of romance if it arrives more or less organically from events Background:
Sandu has always wanted to become an adventurer and have adventures and exploits like his big sister. He tried to become a fighter and caravan guard but he isn't burly enough and failed at that. He tried to become a rogue but he isn't dextrous nor sneaky enough for that and failed. Although he greatly respects and reveres Desna he just felt no calling to become a cleric ministering to peoples spiritual needs. He is personable but not sufficiently so to be a bard and, besides, he doesn't want to just follow in his sisters footsteps. He had almost despaired of becoming an adventurer when fate intervened. One day he came across an old lady being bullied by some local toughs. He intervened, trying to talk them down and convince them to leave the poor woman alone. He failed and the bullies set upon him. It turns out that Celestina (the old lady) wasn't nearly as helpless as she appeared and she rapidly drove the thugs off with some magics, But the bravery of Sandu had impressed her and she decided to take him under her wing and teach him the way of the Shaman. Sandu has only recently graduated from his apprenticeship with Celestina and is once more looking for adventure, for the opportunity to travel About Me: I live up here in the Frozen North (Toronto, EST) although I was born in the UK. I'm even more of an Old Fart than the GM (I started with the original White Box D&D) and have played and GMed a huge range of games over the years. Retired computer programmer if that matters. So we can talk techie talk if the game lags :-). I've played a fair amount of PBP in the past (here on Paizo and elsewhere) but haven't played any for about a decade or so and am trying to get back into it. I enjoy most facets of RPGs. Definitely like roleplaying, I also like puzzles and intellectual challenges and sometimes its just fun to kick axx and take names. I love more or less balanced parties where everybody contributes but admit that it irks me more if I'm way on the weak side than if I'm way on the strong side.
Do you have any issues with a Hunter as a character? Definitely a local largely traumatized by the whole Sundering. If you're ok with a hunter, I'm thinking of Big Cat or Small Cat as most likely animal companion. Are both (either) available locally? Or maybe some dinosaur (dinosaurs are always cool :-)) ?
Is the following acceptable? Details to be determined, of course. The character is an archaeologist who was uncovering an ancient temple. The temple was most recently (still thousands of years ago) a temple to Bastet but it actually dated back before that and was originally a temple to Sekhmet. She uncovered a hidden compartment in the temple that led to a shrine to Sekhmet within which was an amulet that contained the essence of a priestess of Sekhmet. Touching the amulet released the spirit which partly merged with her. Not quite sure how I'll build her but she'll be mostly a Lion/Human martial type with some lion/cat themed powers (maybe able to change into a cat, talk to cats, that kind of stuff). Healer as well as a warrior. She has some of the mythological weaknesses of Sehkmet. Great anger when roused, susceptability to alcohol (especially beer), etc.
If you mean "Use some App provided by some person to track things" then there are already apps that do at least some of the tracking for you (can't be more specific as I personally use a spreadsheet that I've created). If you mean "When will Paizo provide such an app that gets all its information from reports" then probably never
DPR is a meaningless statistic, a distraction from what the team should be doing, That is overstating things. DPR has meaning, just nowhere as much meaning as some people think. But I'm pretty sure that you'd agree that if you had two characters in your party, both of whom stated that their primary combat role was to deal damage to individuals, and one had a DPR of 100 and the other of 10 then the one (DPR 100) was doing their job much better than the other (DPR 10).
I think just about everybody agrees that damage output is a very large part of the game. For some characters it is the main contribution (and nearly the only contribution) that they make to combat. But as Norr says party Synergies are also very important. And ACTUAL damage output as it occurs in your campaign is the number that matters, not theory crafted damage numbers. But, unfortunately, when we're comparing options then theorycrafting is pretty much necessarily a PART of the evaluation. Actual experience also matters but it is much harder to compare experiences at different tables since so many factors differ. And some options can be pretty much shown to be really good or really bad just by theory crafting. It doesn't, for example, take actual experience to show that the damage numbers attainable by an Exemplar Archetype are higher than those attainable by other archetypes.
Yes, it turned out to be a major problem. I started with a glaive wielder planning on using EoB but I found that I frequently just didn't have the actions to either cast or sustain EoB. Sometimes I just REALLY needed to move and throw a regular spell, I wanted to move and hit twice, etc. So I ended up switching to a longspear. Slightly worse than a glaive in a white room but much better in practice. Note, this particular character played below L9. Might have been different with a L9+ Liturgist
Liturgist absolutely rocks at L9+. Before that it is still about on a par with the other practices. For me its close to not being a choice. *I feel the character would deeply resent characterising a people by their lifespan and hate the word Aiuvarin.
Spells like Tailwind make gaining a casting proficiency a VERY attractive option. This specific spell is probably the reason that so many of my characters have an archetype or, at the least, trick magic item as a skill feat. And its nice (especially in something like PFS) to have a heal scroll or 2 in your pocket for emergencies. And not having to Trick it can be very important.
Is Tel himself available as a PC? And if he is, would it be reasonable for him to be a warrior poet Samurai?
One thing to be a little wary of. At least one AP (Quest for the Frozen Flame) is notorious for how bad it is in giving out the "basic" magic (+1 runes, striking runes, armor runes, etc). In that AP having ABP would be a huge boost to that particular character.I think that's a good AP to just use ABP for everyone. I did the same in 1E with Iron Gods because half the loot was technological items like a 18,000gp life raft that didn't inflate half the time because it was 9000 years old. I mean, that's thematic and cool, but not as good as a +3 shield. Moving to ABP meant that I had less work as a GM worrying about whether the PCs were on the right track with gear. Totally agreed. I'm playing in a campaign without ABP and running a campaign with it and I MUCH prefer the campaign I'm running in that respect.
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Pathfinder Society GM. Starfinder Society GM. 5,565 posts (9,607 including aliases). 63 reviews. 1 list. No wishlists. 87 Organized Play characters. 37 aliases. 
