Kazim

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Organized Play Member. 16 posts. 1 review. No lists. No wishlists. 10 Organized Play characters.




So, my regular group is into the final stretch of Skulls & Shackles, and I'm looking at what I want to run next. After some discussion with the group, several of them are quite interested in Jade Regent, but after some consideration, I've had an idea that I'd like some input on.

So, to preface: Most of my group are... not especially familiar with Golarion or related lore. they play a lot of different games, and are good roleplayers, but the Skulls & Shackles campaign was basically this group's introduction to Pathfinder (as a system) and Golarion (as a setting).

Now, having played part of Jade Regent myself, I admit I wasn't overly impressed with the first portion of The Brinewall Legacy; while Brinewall Castle itself is awesome, the section poking around in the swamp just didn't catch me. Furthermore, it doesn't do a very good job of actually introducing any of the NPCs or giving the players reason to be invested in them.

So, what I'd kind of like to do would be cut out the swamp section of the book, and replace it with Burnt Offerings (book 1 of Rise of the Runelords), edited somewhat to remove the RotR-related plot stuff and add in Jade Regent-related plot stuff.

At its most basic, here's the changes that I think would need to be made to Burnt Offerings:

1) The Catacombs of Wrath are irrelevant and distracting, so cut them entirely.

2) Similarly, the lower level of Thistletop (where the barghest is) is also irrelevant. However, in this case, I think it would be workable to replace it with a passage into a cave sequence where the Kaijitsu's Blossom ran aground, and where the party can encounter Tutsamu and related plot hooks.

I don't think Nualia or her plans really need to change: on their own, they're not really directly linked to the overarching plot of RotR, and stand pretty well on their own. Tweak Orik to use Tien equipment (scavenged from the Kaijitsu Star) and have Lyrie be studying records and objects taken from the wreck of the Blossom (below Thistletop), things should be pretty straightforward.

After Thistletop, the PCs would then get the letter from Rokuro and the plot hook to proceed to Brinewall, and the adventure path would continue as normal. This would probably involve boosting the CR of Brinewall Castle and book 2 to account for the extra content early on, but I'm fine with that.

I'd like some input, though: How well do folks think this would work? Would more changes need to be made? If so, where would be good places to tweak in additional foreshadowing/plot hooks for Jade Regent-related stuff?


OK. I know it's a horrible idea, but I find the idea entertaining, and my inner optimizer is tickled by the challenge.

So, I want to create a Kitsune build that meets the following criteria:

1) Is PFS legal
2) Remains in Fox Shape almost all the time
3) Is capable of contributing meaningfully in melee combat

I've got a couple different ideas mostly-formed, not entirely sure which one will prove most practical in the long run, though.

So, without further adieu:

Build 1:
Kitsune Slayer
Str: 10 Dex: 18 Con: 12 Int: 12 Wis: 12 Cha: 14

Level 1: Weapon Finesse
Level 2: Slayer talent: Rogue Talent: Fast Stealth
Level 3: Fox Shape, Sneak Attack +1d6
Level 4: Slayer Talent: Ranger Combat Style: Natural Weapon: Aspect of the Beast (2x Claws)
Level 5: Shadow Strike
Level 6: Slayer Talent: RCS: Natural Weapon: Eldritch Claws, Sneak Attack +2d6
Level 7: Lunge
Level 8: Slayer Talent: Rogue Talent: Combat Trick: Multiattack
Level 9: Swift Kitsune Shapechanger, Sneak Attack +3d6
Level 10: Slayer Talent: Rogue Talent: Combat Trick: Vulpine Pounce
Level 11: (???)
Level 12: Slayer Talent: Either Evasion or Assassinate. *shrug* Also Sneak Attack +4d6

Thoughts: Focuses more on multiattack and getting several hits in per turn with less damage per hit. Needs an Amulet of Mighty Fists with Agile ASAP (~level 4 at the earliest, probably).

Prior to level 7, sneak attacks rely heavily on stealth. Stealth rules state that when fighting an enemy two sizes larger than you are and sharing a space with them, you can hide from them using their own body as cover, taking only a -20 penalty; with the size bonus for being tiny, dex 22+, full ranks, and a cloak of elvenkind, that's nominally possible.

That said, I'm not entirely clear on whether restealthing under those circumstances requires an action or not - if it follows the same rules as sniping, then it's a move action, and I can only make one attack per round (which is why the feat progression puts Multiattack after Lunge; since I'll only be using my Bite up until I can benefit from flanks). If it's a free action or not an action, then I can full attack and restealth, in which case I would move Multiattack up to level 5 and drop Shadow Strike and Lunge down to 7 and 8, respectively.

Build 2:
Kitsune Unchained Rogue
Str: 10 Dex: 18 Con: 12 Int: 12 Wis: 12 Cha: 14

Level 1: Finesse Training, (???), Sneak Attack +1d6
Level 2: Rogue Talent: Fast Stealth
Level 3: Finesse Training: Bite, (???), Sneak Attack +2d6
Level 4: Rogue Talent: Surprise Attack
Level 5: Fox Shape, Sneak Attack +3d6
Level 6: Rogue Talent: Slow Reactions

Thoughts: Not entirely sure if there's much more to this one; obviously, continuing to boost Sneak Attack damage is good, but unlike the Slayer build, this one is mostly just one attack per round, hitting as hard as possible. With Finesse Training, I don't need to rely on an Agile Amulet of Mighty Fists to get Dex to damage - downside though is I can't get it on more than one attack type until level 11+. I'm unsure about Piranha Strike; the damage bonus would help, but the attack penalty might be problematic, since I won't have much in the way of enhancement bonuses on my attacks. Of course, I also get a size bonus to hit, so that will balance it somewhat.

Tactics for this are the same "Attack from stealth, hide in enemy's square using them for cover with -20 penalty" as outlined above, except with only one attack per round, I don't have to worry about balancing multiattack and lunge.

Featwise... I'm tempted to throw a whole bunch of feats in this build at Magic Tail, because the actual combat end of things can mostly be covered by unchained rogue class abilities, so getting a whole bunch of SLAs could be fun. As an Unchained Rogue, I don't need Shadow Strike. I'm unsure about going for Vulpine Pounce - it would come online shortly after I'd be getting iterative attacks, but I'm not sure a two feat investment for one extra attack on a charge (and only on a charge) is really worth it in this case.

Could theoretically splash 2 levels of ranger at 11 and 12 to pick up Aspect of the Beast just in time to take Claws as my second Finesse Training weapon (and Multiattack) at 13, but that's getting high enough that it's out of PFS play range. In this case, Vulpine Pounce would be more worthwhile, but not sure it would really see play.

Possible further builds that I haven't thoroughly examined yet:

Ninja; unsure if there's any way to get dex to damage other than the Agile AoMF, but I'm given to understand there's easy invisibility and some other useful stuff here. Something to consider.

Mesmerist, maybe? Could fit well with the whole trickster & illusionist role of kitsune without needing Tail feats, and could probably get decent damage leveraging Painful Stare.

Other things? Maybe?


So, I'm running this for a group, and the players just left Rickety's Squibs, but they've managed to pick up an... ally of sorts that was quite unexpected - Selissa the water naga.

During the attack, the party oracle hit her with an Admonishing Ray (his only real damaging spell) for a pile of nonlethal damage... so at the end of the fight, she was quite unconscious but in no danger of actually dying. The summoner rolled really high on her knowledge check to know about water nagas, so the party determined that she was intelligent and not fully grown, and also that water nagas generally aren't evil.

So they hauled her up out of the water, carried her over to a small shed, restrained her, then healed her to she was conscious again and started talking. In the ensuing conversation, both the Captain (a sea singer bard) and the oracle pulled off back to back 30+ diplomacy rolls.

So now they've managed to get Selissa on board their ship, at least temporarily, with the promise of helping her find a new nesting ground. When I gave them the feeder for Tidewater Rock, they immediately latched onto the protected harbor there as a possibility. And the first mate is debating the possibility of snagging the Leadership feat and taking her as his cohort.

So my questions here would be:

1) What effects will Selissa's presence have on upcoming events? I'm expecting that she will not participate in boarding actions or raids that the party executes, but she will defend herself and her home, so if they get her moved into the harbor at Tidewater Rock, then she'd probably help defend against the attack later in the module. Any other notable affects that her presence would have?

2) As far as the Leadership/cohort thing goes... my gut instinct is to put her (young) as level 9 equivalent, so available when the party hits 11. Then have her grow up to her adult stats when the party is around 14? And possibly advance from there. I admit, those are complete guesses, though, so if others have a better handle on where those breakpoints should fall, I'd appreciate the advice.