Jukkaimaru's page

*cough* NG Tian-Min Inquisitor who follows Tsukiyo. Moon subdomain. Flavored as a miko, primarily fighting with a longbow.

...Punishes enemies in the name of the Moon. >_>

*FLEES*

You could save a feat by taking Heirloom weapon as a trait and being prof. with your granddaddy's old cowhide. LOL Or in the Indiana Jones style your father passes you the torch(whip).

Heirloom Weapon, sadly, does not work that way any more. You can't take an Exotic weapon with it.

Also, while I have not tested the archetype to see how useful or not useful it is...bards DID get an Archaeologist archetype in Ultimate Combat. ;)

This is true. It is basically overkill, and those that can't hit regularly won't benefit from it anyway.

Nothing wrong with overkill, though. Doubly so if you've already gotten your other good feats like Vital Strike and whatnot and need something to round out the selection. It's not perfectly optimized, but it's certainly nothing to turn up one's nose at.

Fun fact (and one that Deadliest Warrior actually got right for once): "Urumi" is the Malay term for the weapon. In India, it's called the "Aara".

Also, effective on the battlefield in real life or not, that video *really* makes me want to make a Vudrani or Tian-Sing fighter who uses an urumi+buckler. :D

Well, there is this:

Quote:

Additional mounts might be

available with GM approval.

Flying mounts are not appropriate for all campaigns. While a little guidance might have been nice, by doing things this way, the GM is allowed to say, "Yes," instead of being forced to say, "No."

This. I've got at least one player who plans on basically taking a Pegasus Knight from Fire Emblem, and since GM approval holds, I can let her do so.

No i also see this as a problem, but i really think that it's an oversight.

Same here, though I do find it amusing that if you play in a setting with a higher level of firearms ubiquity than Golarion has, Trophy Hunter no longer requires that feat tax.

The general rule for most double weapons, is that they are two-handed weapons, most characters therefore need to wield Them in two hands though they might elect to forfelt the double aspect and choose to use Them as a normal twohanded weapon.

that is also why staff mastery is a useful feat.

Eeeeeexcellent. :)

I think this was clarified in the FAQ that it was only small double weapons can be used one handed by a medium creature.

Was it, now? That'd be great. :o

What does obsidian do? I'm curious, since I don't have UC and obsidian weapons are relevant to part of my home setting that's still under development.

Cannot be used for armor, normal weapon damage, has the same fragile quality as bone and other stone.

Incidentally the terbutje/macuahuitl is probably my second favorite of the primitive weapons in the book (it loses out to the taiaha for me).

Staff fighters don't need a feat to use the quarterstaff one handed. They are clearly marked as double weapons. A double weapon can be wielded as a one-handed weapon, but it cannot be used as a double weapon when wielded in this way—only one end of the weapon can be used in any given round. However, this being said, all double weapons open the magus nicely for two weapon fighting. Simply use only one hand to wield your weapon on rounds that you use spell combat.

Yeah, that whole part of the feat is kind of invalidated by that (though it does also let you take Weapon Specialization: Quarterstaff without fighter levels).

I nominate the country of Isger as a good choice. It's a vassal state of Cheliax, formerly of Taldor, was originally inhabited by more savage human tribesmen, and is VERY much seen as a backwater and a place to go through rather than to by the Chelish at large.

Yes, if you get it for free, use it. If you can take any weapon (kensai or half elf), however, a falcata is probably a better choice. The multiplier restriction only applies to spellstrike (and even than, only to the spell damage), while the higher average damage of the falcata applies to every attack you make.

If you want to use critical feats, the katana is okay, but till then, the falcata is better.

I dunno, generally a wider crit range is better for your average damage than a smaller range with a higher multiplier.

I went against traditional build lines for my first kensai attempt and instead took a nine-ring broadsword as his weapon. Wanted to try something with a bit of wuxia flavor instead of the typical wandering ronin swordsman stereotype. XD

It seems pretty pointless. My players prefer to take prisoners, so they heal their opponents once the fight is over.

When would you want to use such a feat?

When you finally find somebody you want six feet under. ;) But as has been stated many times, nearly every group I've ever had has always assumed that HP < 0 is as good as dead for everything that isn't a critical enemy NPC or something with a ferocity or regen effect. So this really is a redundant feat save for those who truly play precisely by the book for every last thing.

Samurai and Ninja archetypes would be nice, also the aforementioned Hound Master archetype. Something along the lines of a Gunkata Gunslinger (which I think was brought up back during the playtest) might be amusing, too.

Jason Ellis 350 wrote:

If you truly want to mimic Deadliest Warrior you have to decide who you want to win, then rig the tests.

Heh, yeah.. the show has very little merit when it comes to any of the conclusions. I couldn't even finish watching the first season before this aspect really irked me. A lot of the "values" felt kind of arbitrary to me.

It was fun to see the stuff they find out during empirical testing though (the little that does happen, like the damage a weapon does in slow-mo, etc).

This, basically. You don't watch Deadliest Warrior for accurate assessments and historical fidelity, you watch it to enjoy people using really cool weapons to slaughter pig carcasses, gel torsos, and foam targets.

I will not explicitly deny that, but specifically iaijutsu applies to katanas. The techniques are designed for the shape of the weapon. Quick-drawing attack techniques for longswords, rapiers, etc are going to be different because they are straight blades. Scimitars I can see sharing some similarities, but it really depends on what you see as a scimitar. I can't help but think of Azeem from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, or old Sinbad cartoons (those swords are ugly, IMO, and they look awkward to use).

The gentle curve of a katana lends itself better to being drawn swiftly. And as far as I can tell from Google searching your claims, there are no Western sword-drawing arts. Europe had a lot of multi-cultural involvement that allowed them to develop a vast array of specialized weapons and armors, while Japan perfected a handful of options and drove off outsiders. All that aside, the fact of the matter is that Iaijutsu shouldn't have been relegated solely to the Magus.

Again, perhaps this will be fixed in Tian Xia splats.

I've been beaten to the mention of Wave Strike + Quick Draw, but I do believe such images of Western draw attack techniques exist as part of some German fechtbuchen. I rather wish I had pictures on hand for proof, but alas I do not, I simply remember seeing such.

I honestly want to know your opinion on who would win between an urban ranger and a sniper rogue. For those of you familiar with the show Deadliest Warrior, use that criteria. For those of you who arent, each opponent has a considerable edge in 4 categories: Close range combat, mid range combat, long range combat, and special (rangers spells, sniper stealth, etc.) Begin debate....NOW!

Extra Information:
The Ranger is a switch hitter, with a falchion (improved crit) and a wolf mount/companion of equal level (boon companion)
The Rogue has a level in gunslinger, allowing him the use of guns. He also owns sniper goggles, and has a rifle.

We also need a few dozen "X-Factors", don't forget that. Alas, I don't have Microsoft Excel on this machine. ;)

Would you also say that an oni with a tetsubo who readied to strike the mount -- and turned it into hamburger -- also had braced his weapon, would you be more inclined to infer he succeeded in getting a crit? Or just did 30hp with a typical swing?

<shrug>

It doesn't take much to drop a horse in this game, whether you cave in its skull or cut its legs off.

Quite true. If it's an actual oni, he'd probably do enough just on his swing alone, never mind that quad crit. XD Still, I think the intent is fair enough.

I personally use rapier stats for the jian (including proficiencies), and longsword stats for common dao (indeed UC even mentions a Korean variant and suggests longsword stats for it).

*snip!*

I just want to say, I'm *well aware* of what bracing a polearm usually entails, thank you. However, as much of the system is based on abstraction, I feel that the mechanics for bracing (which indeed does involve taking a ready action to recieve a charge and then attacking when you are charged for double damage) are a perfectly acceptable solution to a weapon that is fabled to be able to remove all four of a horse's legs in a single well-made stroke.

Yeah, the Samurai was the biggest disappointment of the whole book for me. Followed closely by 90% of the feats seemingly useless unless you are a monk. :P

I could be wrong, but from what I gathered the largest complaint of the Samurai from the playtests was that it was another class that was FORCED into having a mount, rather than focusing on weapons or some other cool abilities. This makes it so much less useful in PFS where more adventures seem to happen on boats, indoors, or underground. The Cav and Samurai kind of seem to get the shaft.

Yeah but the Samurai's abilities aren't as focused around his mount as the Cavalier's are. A Samurai gets exactly ONE ability (Mounted Archery) that refers to the mount. Everything else is either personal or his banner abilities (and I believe even those count because I could've sworn I heard about a ruling that you count as your own ally).

Incidentally the main complaint I hear about the Samurai is just that it's an Asian-flavored cavalier, which I can understand for some, but for me? It's actually the biggest draw of the class, because I'm a sucker for the Asian flavoring. XDD

Samurai also make damn good mage killers (in terms of resisting spells), particularly Order of the Warrior.

Saves
* A lords banner of Victory carried on the mount adds +2 to all attacks AND saves.
* Banner+ Human Alt Cav Favored Bonus offers + 7 to will saves vs Mind Effecting. Trait makes it +9 to Charms/Compulsions and Gtr Banner makes it +11.
* Honor in all things allows 5 saves a day to be made with a +4 bonus. Can stack with Resolute.
*Resolute- can roll twice for Fort or Will Saves
* Way of the samurai lets you roll 3 times for a save

Resolve –usable 10/day
Determined- removes fatigued, shaken, sickened, exhausted, frightened, nauseated, staggered.
Resolute- can roll twice for Fort or Will Saves

THANK you. I hear so many people claiming that Last Stand is so useless because it is ignored by spells, but in the process forgetting all the other anti-spell effect tools that a Samurai can bring to bear.

I didn't understand the magus getting Iaijutsu stuff either. That was just weird. Honestly, that should have been in the vein of the style feats, as the technique can be adapted to just about any other style of sword combat. As far as I know, the katana is the only sword you can use iaijutsu with, though. Wakizashi too, I guess...? I dunno. Seems like a really odd place to put it none-the-less.

Maybe we'll get to see some more material like Samurai and Ninja archetypes in future stuff, since Tian Xia books are in the works.

Quick-drawing attack techniques are actually a part of a lot of swordsmanship traditions, even Western ones. :)

WEAPONS needing ERRATA: Nodachi and Naginata....

* The Nodachi is not a weapon whose design permits the brace property; nor does its design or combat usage facilitate piercing damage. It is a large curved sword of the same evolutionary lineage and dimensions (save larger ratio of blade to hilt) as its smaller cousin the katana. It was a slashing weapon mainly used from horseback.

Two things here.

One: The lore surrounding the nodachi (setting history aside for a moment, as IIRC they were rarely used on the battlefield if at all) involves it being used in a distinctly anti-cavalry fashion; chopping down riders or even completely cutting down charging horses. Brace seems appropriate based on that. :)

Two: More humorously...judging by the weapon's description in Ultimate Combat, and its artwork? Somebody on the team appears to have partially confused the nodachi for another Japanese weapon, the nagamaki. Take a look at the weapon on that page and compare it to the picture in Ultimate Combat. XD

If an archetype gets a class ability at a different level than normal, the ability stipulates the level that they DO get it. It does not then go on to state "oh, and they also don't get this same ability at the regular level" because that would be a redundant waste of word count.

For example, it seems the language the posters are asking for would read like this:

"Fighter Training (Ex): At 7th level a kensai blah blah blah... This improved version of the normal fighter training ability replaces fighter training and knowledge pool"

Stating that an ability replaces itself seems kind of silly and superfluous, especially in the case of an ability that would be wholly mooted if it still existed, since it would be an unimproved version of an ability that you already get sooner and better.

But, that's just me. If you still think the matter is unclear, flag it for the FAQ and wait for an official response.

That'd be a fine ruling too, really. Apologies, too--it's just that hard-to-shake habit of reading into the text a little too hard that some folks have. XD

This may sound terribly unhelpful of me (and I apologize), but for my two cents, I rather feel the Samurai DOES have plenty of flavor on its own and is nicely distinguished from the Cavalier to a sufficient degree. It possesses a mount but is less tied to it than the base Cavalier, and has abilities focused around one's own prowess rather than a slant towards team tactics.

This is just my opinion though. We'll just have to keep our eyes peeled in the future--Antipaladins got an archetype to call their own in UC, perhaps the Tian Xia World Guide might have a few new archetypes for Samurai?

AH, I though the same thing till I found that the Myrmidarch gets the Fighter Training at 7th level to and has the same -3 class level rule, but doesn't have the stipulation of only applying to on one item. Then keeps the Fighter Training at 10th level with half class level.
Kind of redundant.

That's still how I'd rule it for the Kensai 'til official errata is forthcoming. Until then, let's see that myrmidarch...hm, yeah, that looks a little more FUBARed there. Will await the official ruling on that, but I think the Kensai has a much easier fix at least.

Yes, but you can easily notice that the ability a Kensai gets by level 7 gives him a Fighter level -3, while the other unchanged and still present at level 10 gives the kensai a fighter level/2. So, by level 9 he will be fighter 6, then leveling up he still gets fighter training (the normal one) and his fighter level drops to 5. The real thing it bugs me, it's that in an imaginary Kensai class table, you are going to see by level 7 'Fighter Training' and then again by level 10 (not counting, that as I said before they work differently).

I think I know what the intended deal is, here. The level 7 Fighter Training for a Kensai, counting as Magus Level - 3 only applies to his favored weapon. The Fighter Training at level 10 lets him count as Magus/2, for all OTHER weapons.

Very interested! I like using good giants as NPCs. One idea I had as a test-drive for Ultimate Combat involved the PCs being hired by a storm giantess to help clear out a creature infestation on her private plot that goes too deep for her esteemed self to reach personally.

-Samurais with shields, there goes all the flavor. Furthermore not really any good reason to wield the katana two-handed, a greatsword deals more damage and you can use katana+shield.
-No good options for samurais and cavaliers without special mounts :( , some people don't want to have another stat block for a special creature.

Samurais don't get Weapon Expertise with greatswords, they do get them with katanas. I'd never use a shield with a katana as a Samurai, but I *might* with a shortspear if Minkai has an Okinawa-like place. Tinbe-rochin is an awesome martial art.

I'm not too rankled about the mounts, either. Samurai are sufficiently mount-independent for my tastes and I can always just look up the basic stats.

Page 49, Unarmed Fighter archetype: The unarmed fighter's weapon training ability does NOT grant its bonus to unarmed strikes. Shouldn't it seeing as that's their primary attack form?

This wasn't addressed but I just had a look myself and wanted to say--you get the training bonus to the monk weapon group (which DOES include unarmed strikes), and the natural weapon group (which goes without saying) as an Unarmed Fighter.

Heh, use the Eastern armors along with this and you're pretty much Benkei from the Tale of Genji.

Spanky the Leprechaun wrote:

I'm guessing that a "stone coat" is some kind of made up thing, and so there won't be a picture of it unless it is in Ultimate Combat; I could be wrong though.

Wow. Really neato armor assortment there though.
Heathy likee!!!

http://www3.uakron.edu/worldciv/china/ch-armor.html

Top of the page. Obviously not for actual use.

Oh, history, may you never stop being so interesting in your insanity.

Damn...no platemail bikini armor eh?

(looks at the other starring at him strangely)...WWWHHHAAATTT?

Yeah, sorry, I don't think Pathfinder has Glammered Armor. XD

In the Elric RPG (yes Elric was made into a pen and paper RPG) it was a bastard sword, so that's i went with.

I haven't read any of the comics (too young for that) but only the books so i will say that in the books Elric* could weild the stormbringer in two hands just fine but when infused with power it could be used one handed. Also the images on the books kinda have it like a bastard sword (a somewhat short one but still).

*** spoiler omitted **

Ahhh, I was unaware! :)

I personally intend to use the tatami-do stats to represent any type of tosei-gusoku armor style the player wants. Sendai-do, Okegawa-do, the works.

Bladebound magus for me.

It's the best way i found in any of the RPGs i have played to make Elric into a character.

It's a great archetype, it is. Though one thing that's always amused me is that, IIRC, Stormbringer was this huge two-handed blade that Elric couldn't wield without its magical enhancement to his prowess. Which would make such a weapon illegal for the archetype, as the Black Blade cannot be a two-handed weapon. XD

Back on topic, I like the Gendarme Cavalier. A fightier cavalier that might actually exceed the Samurai in raw combattiness? Yes please.

I also like what I've heard about performance combat. Fighting clubs and stuff like that would be an awesome campaign element. Or, for those of a more serious bent...playing a campaign more along the lines of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. XD

I can't wait til the PDF is available but just from the talk so far I am already getting ideas.

I am picturing an Oracle(Metal mystery)/ Barbarian (Titan Mauler) I think that is the name of the archetype, well the one that lets you use oversize weapons.

Imagine this character using an oversized elven curved blade +1 Keen and then lead blades is cast. It's just plain evil. The weapon would be doing 3d8 points of damage with a threat range of 15 to 20.

Then get really silly and gain at least 6 levels of fighter with the Two-handed Weapon fighter archetype for back swings that added double the strength score to every attack after the first.

Edit: Oh and then someone in your party casts the enlarge person spell on you.

Yeah, I've got a few concepts coming to mind hardcore too from the previews. In addition to Crab Clan style Armored Hulk Barbarian, I've got...

Runaway Ashigaru-themed Fighter (not sure if straight Fighter or Polearm Master Fighter)
Ma Chao-themed Dragoon Fighter
Knifemaster Rogue wielding two Kukri, Gurka-style
Cold damage-focused Black Blade magus using a katana

And that's just for right now. XD

Are you familiar with the concept of weapons like the main gauche? You don't use certain enhancements on your main weapon. Some enhancements are situational, or better served as a backup or secondary option. There is no reason you would want to lower your hit and damage on your main weapon to improve your AC, because then you aren't gaining anything (you are spending money to just take less and deal less).

The defending weapon property already requires you to have spent the equivalent of a +6 weapon to get the full benefits, which means as a backup weapon it is amazingly expensive (72,000 gp is pretty expensive no matter what your level, especially since WBL for 20th is 880,000 gp; making it almost 1/11th of your entire wealth, and it's not even your favorite weapon). The only thing that needed to be adjusted on it was noting that multiple defending weapons do not stack.

Complaining because it wasn't a "main offense" weapon enhancement is like complaining that you don't use a main gauche as your primary weapon. It's kind of missing the point.

Now if defending let you apply the enhancement bonus to your AC without losing the +hit/dmg aspect? Then yeah, it would be way worth it. As it is, now it's just another trap option.

EDIT: Likewise, it's already hard to get a truly safe AC at high levels. If you simply went by the HD to CR chart in creating monsters, a CR 20 magical beast is expected to have about 31 HD, which is a +31 base attack alone before ability scores, feats, or buffs. That hits between an AC 33 and 50 on a 2-19.

In a game where people already say that spanking is better than tanking, it's...

Actually, if it WERE something like a main gauche, or a sai, or something like that, I'd have no problem with it. It's still a weapon, that you have out and are using. The gauntlet trick annoyed me because it wasn't even that. It was basically treating it not as a weapon but rather just an extra +AC item slot, and something about that just bugged the everloving hell out of me for some reason. XD Rational? Maybe not. But that's just how I feel about it. And I think maybe I need to talk to my DMs about the amount of gold we tend to get, because it often exceeded 880k by leaps and bounds o_O;

I'm also not so sure about it being a flat-out trap option, either. If you're fighting something with powerful attacks but relatively poor AC, it's a perfectly useful enchantment even WITH the gimped to-hit. It's saved my sorry ass on a few occasions, anyway. *shrugs* There's better enchantments to have, certainly, but I wouldn't call it a trap option.

Gonna agree with Irulesmost here. Doable, but probably best reserved for a campaign where you're starting out at level 3 at least.

Cheap!?
Last I time I checked it was neither quick nor cheap. A +5 defending item costs at least 72,300 gp, minimum. As far as magic items that enhance AC goes, that is an exceptionally pricey premium. It's more expensive than a +5 deflection, or a +5 natural armor bonus, and it is even more expensive than a +8 armor bonus (bracers) or a +14 AC bonus (+5 full-plate, valued at about 26,500 gp or so).

A Defending weapon was there for the guy who wanted to pay a premium to squeeze an extra +25% avoidance onto his AC, instead of having a weapon that is just for killing. With a nerf like this, the weapon is no longer useful for defending, as you will essentially be wasting money on a bad weapon (it doesn't really matter if you're a bit harder to hit if your opponent is also harder to hit).

However, I suppose this is more of a reason to get a lesser cloak of displacement for a 24/7 +20% avoidance and immunity to sneak attack, allows you to use Stealth, and is also priced at about 1/3rd the cost of a +5 defending weapon (20,500 gp, IIRC).

I still didn't really like it back in 3.5, though. And while you pay half cost for crafting it and 73k gold isn't THAT big a hit to the pocket anyway at really high levels? I meant more cheap in the sense of "really sneaky way to tag on an extra boost to AC". It just always rubbed me the wrong way for some reason, rather than putting it on your primary weapon.

ItoSaithWebb wrote:

What level does the immunity to Fatigue set in? I am suddenly picturing Barbarian/Monks who never get tired from raging since alignment restrictions are gone.

5th level, and yeah, had the same thought.

Same, though Immunity to Death Effects gave me a "SHUT UP AND TAKE ALL MY MONEY" reaction.

My houserule would be that even though you don't get tired after raging, you can't rage again for the same amount of time you normally would have to wait.

It takes the concept of WoW's Titan Grip and makes it a million times cooler. Not only can the Titan Mauler use Two-Handed weapons in one hand, but as they level up, the penalties for using oversized weapons go down. The feature replaces Trap Sense, so by 18th level you're looking at reduction to the weapon penalties by up to 6 (minimum 0).

This is awesome because, if you didn't know, you take a -2 penalty to attack rolls with an oversized weapon per category larger than you it is. Here is a nice little comparison.

Rog'nark the Barbarian is a Half-Orc. This means he is Medium-sized. Immediately, he takes no penalties for using Medium-sized weapons. He is a Titan Mauler. At 6th level, he takes no penalties for using Large weapons. At 12th level, he takes no penalties for using Huge weapons. At 18th level, he takes no penalties for using Gargantuan weapons. Fun factoid, he'd only take a -2 penalty for using colossal weapons at 18th level. So yes, this archetype can and will get nasty very quickly. The only real question is "how does the effect work with spells that improve your size?" :-P

Large -2
Huge -4
Gargantuan -6
Colossol -8.

I could kind of see this getting just plain out of control if the player isn't monitored carefully, at least in higher level games. XD Still, it seems to advance slower than previous versions of similar concepts.

Ashiel wrote:

If dual-wielding isn't for you, then perhaps consider making one shield a +5 defending weapon, and your other shield a +5 weapon which you actually fight with.

Lucky for all of us the FAQ on defending has clarified you must attack with the defending weapon to gain it's defensive boost.

Hah, the days of guys slapping on a +whatever defending gauntlet for a quick and cheap AC boost are gone, eh?

Scimitars can be built with variable thickness, not just long and slender.

If you're asking for larger damage dice, then use any 1d8 weapon you feel to be correct.

I meant the scimitar's game statline, actually, which suggests something slimmer and less flat-out choppy than your average longsword or, indeed, thicker-bladed scimitar types like the kilij.

Dao = scimitar for our group. Agree totally with the jian though.

Scimitars would work for those more slender dao types like the piandao, yes indeed. Things like willow leaf dao or goose quill dao (more common military dao, basically) need a slightly harder raw punch, IMO. :)

Jukkaimaru wrote:

New question: What's the Armored Hulk give up for what I assume must be proficiency in Heavy Armor?

Nothing directly, but the class does take away a lot of the Barbarian class's existing defenses, most notably fast movement (don't need it while wearing heavy armor), uncanny dodge, trap sense, and improved uncanny dodge.

They trade this for the ability to increase their armor's maximum movement speed and a bonus to AC vs. critical hit confirmation, among other things.

That's pretty much what I expected, and very nice besides. :D I sort of had an idea from that come to me. >_> Armored Hulk Barbarian + O-Yoroi + Exotic Weapon Prof (Tetsubo) + Katana = BEHOLD THE GLORY OF THE CRAB CLAN!

Thanks for the response!

New question: What's the Armored Hulk give up for what I assume must be proficiency in Heavy Armor?