Kaliel Windstorm's page

Derring-Do (Ex): At 1st level, a swashbuckler can spend 1 panache point when she makes an Acrobatics, Climb, Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, or Swim check to roll 1d6 and add the result to the check. She can do this after she makes the check but before the result is revealed. If the result of the d6 roll is a natural 6, she rolls another 1d6 and adds it to the check. She can continue to do this as long as she rolls natural 6s, up to a number of times equal to her Dexterity modifier (minimum 1).

Acrobatics:
In addition, you can move through a threatened square without provoking an attack of opportunity from an enemy by using Acrobatics. When moving in this way, you move at half speed. You can move at full speed by increasing the DC of the check by 10. You cannot use Acrobatics to move past foes if your speed is reduced due to carrying a medium or heavy load or wearing medium or heavy armor. If an ability allows you to move at full speed under such conditions, you can use Acrobatics to move past foes. You can use Acrobatics in this way while prone, but doing so requires a full-round action to move 5 feet, and the DC is increased by 5. If you attempt to move through an enemy's space and fail the check, you lose the move action and provoke an attack of opportunity.

Am I the only one who since the creation of the Swashbuckler class has to deal with things like this? (True actions my Swashbucker player has asked me to adjudicate):

Player: "Okay so I'd like to jump on that body, use it like a surfboard across the pool, flip off the body, somersault and stab the ghoul with my rapier. What's the difficulty for that?

Me: Uhhhhhhh.

(Several sessions later)
Player: "So this is what I want to do. I grab two empty barrells, I jump and flip over the two Kuru, drop the barrells onto their heads, grab the rafters and keep my feet on the barrells like I'm walking on the Kuru's heads. What's the difficulty for that?"

Me: You want to what? Did I say there were barrells?

It's always really funny, but sitting around determining diffuculty for these things off the top of my head is crazy. Am I the only one that has a Swashbuckler like this?

The Occultist class states the following –
Under Class Features:
“Focus Powers (Su): “
“Implements (Su):“
These would seem to indicate that Occultist Focus powers should be treated as a supernatural ability.
However on the website when listing individual focus powers it states things such as:
“Base Focus Power: All occultists who learn to use evocation implements gain the following focus power.
Energy Ray (Sp):
This would seem to indicate that Energy Ray and many other focus powers are in fact NOT Supernatural abilities, but rather Spell like abilities.

Under Spell Like Ability:
Spell-Like Abilities: Usually, a spell-like ability works just like the spell of that name. A spell-like ability has no verbal, somatic, or material component, nor does it require a focus. The user activates it mentally. Armor never affects a spell-like ability's use, even if the ability resembles an arcane spell with a somatic component.
A spell-like ability has a casting time of 1 standard action unless noted otherwise in the ability or spell description. In all other ways, a spell-like ability functions just like a spell.
Spell-like abilities are subject to spell resistance and dispel magic. They do not function in areas where magic is suppressed or negated. Spell-like abilities cannot be used to counterspell, nor can they be counterspelled.
If a character class grants a spell-like ability that is not based on an actual spell, the ability's effective spell level is equal to the highest-level class spell the character can cast, and is cast at the class level the ability is granted.

So Spell-Like Abilities seem not to require a focus, yet an Occultist’s focus power does.
So there are many questions that stem from this. If an Occultist acquires energy ray at a later level, does he only get an energy ray equivalent of the highest level spell he can cast? Does spell resistance and dispel magic work on these sort of occultist powers?

One of my players is currently a 3rd level Hunter with an animal companion. I think she has a great character, however, she recently seems to have realized that unlike a Druid, she does not get the wild-shape ability as a standard hunter. (I think she just assumed she did when making a character, her first hunter).

She has been quite bummed since and we've been looking at options to get her a wild-shape ability of some sort, but each has issues.

Option #1. Multi-class with Druid. This makes 2 abilities redundant. Orisons and Wild Empathy. She may be willing to endure this however. My issue is how her spells would work drawing divine spells from essentially the same source (Gozreh).

So as an example: She becomes 4th level hunter/ 1st level druid she gets:

Hunter - Unlimited 0 level spells a day from the 6 she knows. 3 1st level spells a day from 4 she knows. 1 2nd level spell a day from 2 she knows. No studying needed.

Druid - 3 0 level spells that must be prepared ahead of time (which does not need to include only the 6 she knows as a hunter). 1 1st level spell prepared in advance. (which does not need to include just the 4 she knows as a hunter).

Just seems damn inefficient. Like if I was a deity and this was my worshiper I'd make this easier.

Option #2. Multi-class with a totemic skald.
Disadvatage: Only wild shape to 1 critter, not get wild shape for another 5 levels as opposed to another 4 with druid.

Option #3. Convert her to a Feral Hunter. Disadvantage: She would lose the animal companion she likes quite a bit.

Option #4. I'm thinking of homebrewing her an archetype that would just give her wild-shape at 4th level

Looking at Feral Hunter they say wild shape replaces bonus tricks, improved empathic link, greater empathic link, master of the wild, and raise animal companion class abilities.

Option #5 ? Anything I hadn't considered?

Right now I'm thinking Option 4 may be my best choice. She technically has a bonus trick at the moment, but I'm pretty sure she'd give it up.

Anyone have thoughts? Would this homebrew be overpowered? If there another option I haven't thought of?

So I'm planning this ambush on the party I'm currently DMing through Rise of the Runelords (fortunately none of them are here so I can freely talk about it).

Background:
One of the characters has made herself quite wanted (outside of the Sandpoint area). I had a team of bounty-hunters arrive in town and I had them plan a stake out. They determined that the party was staying at the Rusty Dragon and the bounty-hunters set up at the White deer inn.

The bounty-hunters sent a rogue in disguise to the Rusty Dragon to gather information. The rogue...failed his disguise roll. (problem 1 for the DM). (He was trying not to look like an elf...long story). But while the party wasn't present when he was there, Ameiko (who knows the party well and is friends with them) was. Ameiko noticed this strange guy attempting to look not-like-an-elf asking questions about the party. So later, she notified the party.

In a completely separate incident out of the blue three of the party members decide to go to the White Deer. (one of those random "what you never go there!" incidents that made problem #2 for the DM). The wanted character walks right in with the huge half-orc barbarian and the party's Cleric. As I wasn't anticipating this I had the bounty-hunters not anticipating this and they were caught at the bar without weapons having lunch. I had the wanted character make a perception roll and she noticed them staring and then PROCEEDED TO PICK A FIGHT WITH THEM. So to make a long story short the bounty hunters thought their cover was blown, they backed down and packed up and left town. (but did not say why they were there).

So now some time later my bounty hunters (all of whom the party knows what they look like - excepting the rogue) are planning to ambush the party.

They know the party frequents the Hagfish, and that when in the Hagfish they spend an inordinate amount of time drinking the stuff that makes you vomit from the fish-tank and generally causing trouble.

So the bounty hunters plan to ambush the party at the Hagfish. Their idea is to incapacitate the characters (they don't want unnecessary murder charges) and make off with the wanted character in a boat from the Hagfish's dock thus preventing any pursuit.

The scheme will involve most of the bounty hunters staying out of sight. They will be awaiting a signal from the rouge before they appear. (They will be hidden around and about the Hagfish, having taken the owner and the few mid-afternoon customers prisoner in the kitchen area).
The rogue will be in disguise again tending bar. He will serve the characters poisoned drinks.

One of the bounty hunters will be playing the part of a customer in the back drinking.

So there are two NPC's in disguise.
The rogue will serve them a save vs unconciousness poison saying that it's a new brew "Deep Gnome Draught. Too hardy for the average human!" (This should have the characters stumbling all over themselves to drink it).

The plan is once served the characters knock out (or dont') and everyone descends on the remainder of the party after the rogue yells "HEY YOUS GUYS OKAY?"

Now, finally the rules questions:

#1. The bartender will be under direct observation. However the rule for disguise states: "If you don’t draw any attention to yourself, others do not get to make Perception checks." does this require a perception check? I would think yes, since the bartender is interacting with them and attempting to impersonate another race.

#2. The bounty hunter in the back acting like a customer will not be most likley drawing any attention to himself. However the characters HAVE seen him before. Does this require a perception check?

#3. The Poison. Should there be any check for this? The characters know it's supposed to be potent, and know it's nothing they ever had before.

#4. Should there be any checks to notice people hidden around the establishment if they are all well out of sight?

Thanks for the input, sorry if it's too many details.

So, I got an idea that I want to make a character (who will be an NPC that occasionally shows up) based on a native Australian out of his element.

The loosely formed idea is that he's human, from a far away land, lives in a culture similar to native Australians, and kind of arrives in Varisia by accident.

My intent is that he uses a war boomerang and spears in combat, does not wear armor, and possibly has a Thylacine as a companion.

I've toyed around with several ideas:
Barbarian
Shaman
Hunter
Ranger

But I'm curious what you guys can come up with.

I'm not entirely happy with any of the ideas I've had so far. Barbarian...well I want him to be a more witty guy, not so ragey.
Hunter and ranger....his armor and weapon scheme don't seem to match so well.
Shaman is probably my best best, but I'm worried that might be too stereotypical.

Thanks for the ideas.