Karankwan's page

Thanks for the chronicles and once again sorry for the hold-up.

See you at another table!

Holy sh*t you folks!

I don't have a better excuse other than I lost track of that game during all the gameday X action that was going on on Discord. Iceman/Fortiva reached out to me on Discord yesterday.

From quickly glancing over here, it doesn't look like you ditched Shahbaz, which is highly appreciated. Thank you and massive apologies, I simply lost track :(

/Karankwan

It's nothing fancy, I simply copy paste this: ⬥ from previous posts.

Thanks for running this one Sedoriku!

I really, really liked the riddles in this adventure.

Thanks again and see you all at the next table :)

Cheers

Hello guys, I'm struggling with migraines the last couple of days, plus they closed daycare again due to Covid.

I'll try to get a post out today. Massive apologies.

Yanko: we've been trying to figure out recently if summoned creatures could trigger on death effects, like the Leaf Leshy

We tentatively came to the conclusion of no based on the Summoned trait rules.

"Summoned creatures can be banished by various spells and effects. They are automatically banished if reduced to 0 Hit Points or if the spell that called them ends."

Was wondering if you knew something we had missed?

Hm, I don't think I know more. It's ambiguous, at least the way I read it.

"Banished" and "Destroyed" aren't really terms coming up often in the CRB, but from my standpoint a banished zombie is a destroyed zombie.
In combination with Death's Call, I don't feel it is really game breaking, quite the opposite. 3 actions, multiple rounds and a focus point for a few temp HP, nothing that can be abused, though I agree I would much rather be in the situation where it's clear.

I don't think the Summoned trait changes much. Animate Dead explicitly says you summon a common creature with the Undead trait, which should suffice for the trigger of Death's Call.

Reading through the spell again, I did realize however that it has a 20 ft range on it that I always forget, so Yanko was out of range for the spell anyways.

Nice! Glad I could hop on last minute :) Really looking forward to this one.

As for the PFS credit that comes along with this one, here's my info:

Your Name: Karankwan
Character Name: Doc Doxa
PFS Number: 183249
Character Number:2006
Faction: Horizon Hunters
Downtime Task: Earn Income (Task Level 3) Crafting vs. DC 18: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11= Failure ==> 8 days @ 1 cp (Task Level 0) for Doc

Hey guys,

I signed up to play Jadren. He was still unclaimed in the google-sheet, I hope that's alright.

The concern (as was explained to me at one point) was that because the moderators do *not* have an expectation of a language other than English, it becomes impossible to moderate a different language where a nuance that is *perfectly fine* in one dialect is a dire insult and/or veiled threat/etc in another.

The policy may have changed/is being looked at/etc -- I do not have any 'inside' information on this.

Oh no sure, I get that point. And it's clearly stated in the community guidelines that 'Lengthy posts or threads in languages other than English are not something our team is able to moderate'. The thing is that PbP isn't necessarily a discussion that needs moderation.

I just want to know if that sort of play mode is exclusively available to English speakers or not (at least here on the boards). It's one thing to ask questions and exchange information in a language other than your mother tongue, but it's a whole different beast for some to roleplay in a foreign language. Writing it down makes the hurdle even greater.

Watery Soup wrote:

I don't know the forum rules or where to find them, but I were a moderator, I would want everything in a language I understand so I knew when content rules are being broken.

That being said, in PbP games, some people will post in foreign languages when their characters are speaking languages besides Common, so I don't know if that's allowed or just tolerated rulebreaking.

That is mainly just tolerated and usually includes a spoiler with what is being said.

So that means a 'no' for an entire game in any other language than English, right?

Are you asking if you need to A) run your game on the Paizo Boards or B) run them in English if you use the Paizo Boards?

The latter. Can I run them in another language here on the boards and still hand out chronicles to my players they could use in Organized Play?

I don't see any issue with that from the PFS-side, as I can run games at home or per VTT in my native language without any issues, as Tyranius pointed out as well. I'm just not certain if the boards need to be kept in English.

/K

Hi, so I think I know the answer to this, but I still like to make sure as PFS is the most regulated way to play Pathfinder. Do I need to run a PbP game on the Paizo Boards in English in order to get and give my players full PFS credit?

/K

Here's a signup sheet for Absalom Initiation Priority to those that asked above.

If you have room for a goblin chef, with a pretty big knife that makes pickles of dubious quality, I do have another character that seeks initiation at the Grand Lodge.

/K

It feels to me that (certainly at this point in the adventure when a lot of focus is on discovering the town and the people in it) that taking on people who have run the adventure wouldn't be good for your enjoyment.

Okay, no worries. Thanks for considering and enjoy the adventure everyone!

/K

Hi,

In case you're still looking for someone to join the investigation of Bort's murder (and the rest of the adventure of course), I'd be interested to join.

Similar to Matt, I've GMed this adventure before, so I don't want to take spots from players that would be completely new to the adventure. If by any chance there's a spot left, however, I'll gladly take that seat.

I'm playing on UTC+1, in case that's relevant.
/K

I see, that makes sense.

Thanks TwilightKnight!
/K

Are the rare Backgrounds from the APG Society-legal?

It just says:
"All options are of standard availability unless specifically noted otherwise."

Am I missing something here?

So yes it still references the feat text, but it is about what is granted from the effect region when you take it.

That's my whole argument, really. The special sections says you get a second domain spell, and to fall into line with Aratorin's arguments. What is a domain spell?

Domain spells are a type of focus spell. It costs 1 Focus Point to cast a focus spell, and you start with a focus pool of 1 Focus Point.

So a Domain spell would grant you a Focus Pool. Since you've already got one from the first Domain Initiate the Sidebar from p.302 with the multiple sources applies and you increase your pool by one.

Anyways I was just curious about some other opinions on that topic, as I found the feat a bit unclear as I was reading through Gods & Magic.

About the whole Herolab thing not being a rule source. Sure. But it's the closest thing we have to seeing live rules. It is heavily endorsed by Paizo, so it's not likely the guys from Lone Wolf Development just went on Archives of Nethys and plugged everything they could find in their software. There are teams on both sides working on it, trying to map the rules as good as possible. A question like mine, is just an e-mail away for the guys from Lone Wolf. In that regard they distinguish themselves from alternatives such as Pathbuilder or PCGen (if that's still at thing for 2E...), or just some random dude on the internet that just says I've read the rules really carefully; they all have no direct connection to Paizo. Sure there can be errors, I mean there are even errors in the CRB itself that get errata'd, but as I said, it's the closest thing we have to seeing applied rules.
So advantage or disadvantage, doesn't matter really. If a certain thing works differently in Herolab than it does in my head my hybris isn't big enough that I'm instantly thinking "that's a mistake".

Oh and if someone is interested. I tracked someone down that was willing to test my question in HeroLab :)
The answer there is: Second Domain Initiate gives an additional Foucs Point. Expanded Domain Initiate does not. Make of that what you want :)

/K

Focus spells don't give focus points or increase your pool, so the second selection doesn't give you an increase.

Domain spells do, though. To repeat myself: As long as the official pathfinder 2e character builder software gives me a second focus point for a second Domain Initiate, I don't see how this could be a debate really. The text in Domain initiate in combo with the well-cited sidebar on p.302 backs this up in my opinion as well.

I'd love to take this pragmatic approach to the Expanded Domain Initiate as well, but I'm not willing to spend 40$ on that experiment, just to prove a point or not.

The key here is what "different sources" are. Since most of the text is discussing multiclassing scenarios, I think what they mean is that if you have one feat from one class granting you a focus pool, and another one from another class granting a focus pool, then you have different sources.

If the most straightforward way to get more focus was to take two abilities in the same class that grant a focus pool, then surely it would have been mentioned at least once in this text. But instead it just keeps discussing different classes as being different sources.

I haven's seen a very well defined definition of what a "source" is in any of the 2E books yet. So I'm a also going with "If you have multiple abilities that give you a focus pool, each one adds 1 Focus Point to your pool."

I was just wondering since Domain Initiate and Expanded Domain Initiate are so so close in what they do, if it's a valid interpretation that you gain a Focus Point by getting access to a domain spell and not directly through the feat itself. Basically the whole two paragraphs about Domain Spells and Focus Spells could be copied to Expanded Domain Initiate without changing anything at all. I totally see how you could argue that it doesn't give an additional Focus Point, but for me it's not as clear cut as for some of you.

I guess we need a clear statement on Focus Points from someone official in the future. I'm hoping it's something along the lines what mrspaghetti said that every new focus spell grants a focus point until you have three. So far focus spells didn't strike me as massively overpowered and I don't see why you want to have them so restricted.

Thanks for your replies. I honestly don't have a strong opinion on that topic, I'm just genuinely curious.
So let me play devil's advocate for a second.

Feats that grant additional Focus Points say so.

I don't think that's necessarily true. Domain Initiate does not specifically state you get an additional Focus Point when you select the Feat a second time. It just says

Special You can select this feat multiple times, selecting a different domain each time and gaining its domain spell.

It's the domain spell bit that I quoted above, which makes it reasonable to think you would gain an additional Focus Point and Expanded Domain Initiate does state quite the same:

You gain access to [...] an initial domain spell for that domain.

Hello everyone,

So in the past there's been quite some back and forth discussing which sources grant focus points and such. Especially the cleric class seems to be discussed quite a bit.

It seems we have more or less reached a consensus that Domain Initiate grants a focus spell each time you select it, as you can read here and here

Which by the way is backed up by Herolab, as it grants the second focus point for the second Domain Initiate feat, and since it's something like the 'official' Pathfinder 2E character builder that you pay quite some money for to make rules compliant characters, I'm even more sold on the idea that each Domain Initiate grants a new Focus Point (up to a max of 3 of course).

Last week my copy of Lost Omens Gods & Magic arrived and I stumbled upon the Expanded Domain Initiate Feat, which got me thinking again. Apparently I'm not the only one, so I want to bring coriolis's question up in the Rules Discussion part of the forum as well.

So let me hear your thoughts on that.
I'm thinking it does add another Focus Point to your pool, based this bit from p. 302

"If you have multiple abilities that give
you a focus pool, each one adds 1 Focus Point to your pool."

And this bit on Domain Spells

"Domain spells are a type of focus spell. It costs 1 Focus Point to cast a focus spell, and you start with a focus pool of 1 Focus Point."

As I said, I'm curious what you're thinking.

/K

NEW CHARACTER!

Hagor, Exile and Firborn Mercenary (LN male smokeworker hobgbolin warrior sorcerer 7)

"Better they rise up as smoke than in rebellion!"

And you thought goblins liked fire! Hagor is a seriously potent blaster with several battlefield control options and a head for effective guerrilla warfare.

Hagor can dish out impressive amounts of damage either by sustaining two castings of flaming sphere (5d6 each round after round), or by simply casting his trademark 8d6+8 fireball or burning hands via blood magic and dangerous sorcery. :D

When he is well protected by his fellow soldiers, and doesn't have to stay on the bounce, he might begin combat with his heavy crossbow to soften up an enemy target before following up with a hard-hitting spell in the same round.

When using his flaming sphere spells to deal sustained damage, he tends to stay more mobile, getting to cover and concealment effectively while wearing down his foes with repeated attacks.

Whenever possible, he engages only when he has set up the battlefield conditions to his liking, using guerrilla ambush tactics and pumping himself up with elixirs and mutagens.

When facing a superior force he first begins by wearing them down indirectly (infiltrating their camp with his infiltrator's elixir and shadow breastplate to destroy weapons, cripple cavalry, and poison food stocks). When combat is finally joined, he divides their efforts with wall of fire, slows their advance with slow, and disrupts their ability to make ranged attacks with stinking cloud.

He also utilizes animal messenger, smoke signals (via colored smokesticks), or patterned lights in the sky (via dancing lights) to relay important battlefield information to his troops.

Whether hiring out his services directly as a military commander or indirectly as a battlefield strategy adviser,...

I really like this concept,however, I'm not sure how Hagor can take the Fighter Dedication with only 12 DEX.

Thanks a bunch!
/K

Hi guys, I came across a question yesterday when my group managed to claim Grenseldek's dowry.
It is mentioned that they find a map of Minderhal's Valley with Grenseldek's handwriting "My future with Volstus starts here!"

Did you give your players an actual map? If so which one did you use? Would the map from Book 3 (page 19) be too much of a help for them? (without the locations of course). Or would you go for some bigger map, like the one in the Mapfolio for the AP and just add a scribbled circle and her text on it?

/K

Thanks again avr!

I was reconsidering and came up with a Gun1/AlcX build now, meaning I'll get Fast Bombs on Level 9 together with TWF. I think I can get a bit of value out of the single level Gunslinger (namely +4 AC per Grit Point; and a fairly easy mechanic of regaining said points).

This is what I would end up with (just build it to the Fast Bomb discovery)

L1 Gun Rapid Reload
L2 Alc
L3 Alc Point-Blank Shot Precise Bombs, Tanglefoot Bomb
L4 Alc
L5 Alc Precise Shot Frost Bomb
L6 Alc
L7 Alc Two-Weapon Fighting Explosive Missile
L8 Alc
L9 Alc Rapid Shot Fast Bomb, Confusion Bomb

/K

Thanks for the reply!

I looked at your suggestions and realized that I should've mentioned that earlier, sorry :-/ My GM has limited the rule books to CRB, APG, ACG, UM, UC and UE. I needed quite a few evenings convincing him over a pint to allow me the Grenadier Archetype from the PFS Guide. I don't think he's making anymore exceptions.

That being said, I looked into Weapons Master Archetype and quite like the acceleration he brings to the table Feat wise.

But how about delaying the fast bomb discovery with a build like that? The more I think about the more I think it's an issue, especially for a bomb focused grenadier. No?

/K

Hello everyone,

I'm currently putting together a ratfolk grenadier/gulch gunner for one of my games. I just love the idea of a crazy maniac jumping into battle with bombs and guns blazing.

Here's what I got so far:

Abilities will be rolled, but priorities are DEX>INT>CON>WIS>STR>CHA.

Feats Discoveries

L1 Gun1: Rapid Reload
L2 Alc1:
L3 Alc2: Point-Blank Shot Precise Bombs, Explosive Bombs
L4 Alc3:
L5 Gun2: Precise Shot
L6 Gun3:
L7 Alc4: Two-Weapon Fighting Frost Bomb
L8 Alc5:
L9 Gun4: Rapid Shot, Deadly Aim
L10 Gun5:
L11 Alc6: Weapon Focus (Pistol) Explosive Missile, Tanglefoot Bomb(from FC bonus)
L12 Alc7:
L13 Alc8: Snap Shot Fast Bombs

That's where I stopped for now, but I guess you get the idea where I want to go with that build.
My biggest concerns are the 5 levels in Gunslinger, just to reach gun training to get the DEX modifier to damage. Not sure if that's still relevant by level 10. The misfire reduction is nice though. The other thing is, I'm a bit worried if reaching fast bombs at level 13 might be a bit too late. It is a massive power spike in the build.

I have neither played a gunslinger nor an alchemist so I can't really judge how this would play out. Possibly just a single level in Gunslinger could suffice and would allow me to focus more on the bomb? The 3rd level Gulch Gunner Deed is not amazing, plus I have better tools to light someone on fire. No big loss here. Not sure though, if I can miss out on the Gun Training.

Any advice or comments are welcome!
/K

Alchemist's fires would be out of the question if I stay true to the text, of course, since Tark would have forbidden the use of any fires being thrown too close to him.

You're absolutely right! Fire is out of the question, but maybe some acid or liquid ice would do the job.

In the encounter where Tark and his orcs attack the boat, are Tark's orcs meant to get onto the boat?

None of them have swim or climb and previous encounters have established its hard to climb up the side of the boat (DC15) and hard to swim in this river (DC15 - although maybe its easier here) - so is the intent ?

- only Tark boards and the others lob javelins from the bank
- the orcs get to cheat and no one sees their rolls (its only hazardous terrain for PCs... ;) )
- its really hard for them to get onboard and the party can laugh at their clumsy attems

Yes, I felt that their performance, was a bit underwhelming as well. They are pretty useless from the the shore, since the PCs have at least partial cover, depending on how high you imagine the river bank will be in regards to the boat. Luckily, Melira was joined the battle in my round to keep it somewhat challenging. I finally made them come on board, after not hitting a single target on ship for 8 rounds, but the group had finished Melira and Tark already, so those poor fellas were no more than target practice.

If I would re-run this, I would probably make them more annoying by throwing tanglefoot bags or smoke or some other sort of obstacle on the boat, rather than trying to hit one of the PCs, which required a natural 20 in almost all cases (in my group, that is). Option B would be to have them set up something bigger, like, load a whole bunch of Alchemist's fires into a improvised siege weapon, so the PCs have to act fast if they don't want to lose their only safe means of transportation in enemy territory.

While I'm writing I'm wondering about Ingrahild. My group encountered her yesterday and as most of them got annoyed with her, our lawful good shaman, being a dwarf herself took a pity in her and tried to cure her, which she successfully did. I'm running this adventure with 5 PCs, two of which have animal companions. They plan on taking Ingrahild with them, so I wonder how the balance would be effected by the addition of her? Should I downgrade her to level 4, so she won't steal the spot light from the PCs in battles? How did the whole Ingrahild plot turn out for you other guys?

/K

I made a player handout of Redlake Fort as well. Tried to give it a more hand drawn vibe, as well as fixing the damage that has been done to the walls and re-hydrating the moat. The map only shows the top levels of every building so Calrianne will have to inform them about the sewer tunnel verbally.

Redlake Fort Player Handout

I just recently started this AP with my group and so far I have to say, everybody is enjoying the gear switch from the assault on Trunau to the river journey. It's good to see that everybody is on their toes and trying to use their resources as efficient and sparse as possible, having learned from the marathon of encounters during the siege. They're all doing very poorly with their daily duties on board, but at least the gnome druid can use speak with animals so the horses can tell him face to face how useless he is. Him and Lucky the horse had some nice conversations so far and if they should acquire the magical saddle from Calrianne, I think they'll try to talk the captain into selling the horse to them.

Having browsed through the thread, I think I'm going to include Castle Everstand a bit more myself. Not sure yet if the group will pick up on it, but I might as well provide the possibility. We have a warpriest of Gorum after all.

I can't really say much else yet, other than I enjoyed what I was GMing so far, and I liked what I have been reading and prepping. I mainly wanted to share the map handout, so feel free to use it if you like it.

For anyone that ran the battle already, did anyone succeed at saving Sara?

I was just thinking through this... smoke inhalation (w/ a fairly high Fort DC for low level PCs) causes PCs to do nothing but choke for a round, but the rescue requires 2 PCs and Agrit to use full round actions for 2 consecutive rounds... if any fail that check, then wouldn't that require you to start again w/ the 2 consecutive rounds? The attacking Orcs make it likely that a party of 4 would have 2 hold off the Orcs, while 2 lift the wreckage... so you need 6 fairly lucky rolls, and one fail out of 4 would mean starting over.

Since the house collapses in 8 rounds, then basically they'd get 4 chances to hit 6 consecutive good rolls... seems a fairly unlikely situation, no?

I'm not trying to be a nay-sayer, I'm mostly just thinking through how I should handle the choking (like if they all pass one round, but then one passes and the others fail, can they "maintain" what they've done and only have to hit one more round?)

So did anyone have a different experience than this? My group grew quite frustrated about this encounter. Someone even did the math based on the groups saving throws and said it's below 2% that they can make it.

Any other experiences with this encounter? The only way I see to solve it, is having someone outside the building casting Create Water every round to create an infinity loop that would allow for 6 successful, consecutive Fortitude saves. Any thoughts on that?

/K

Yes, that makes perfect sense!

Thank you guys so much!

/K

Hi,

I'm sure someone has a very quick answer to my question, though I couldn't really find an answer myself. Thanks in advance!

I got stuck at the description in the Guide to Organized Play when it says +1 Weapons are always available and in brackets it lists the price (2000 GP + 300 GP + item cost)

My question now is, would a returning dagger for instance be considered "always available"?
From the text I'd say no, but since the item price is listed and the returning enhancement costs the same as the +1 enhancement I'm not so sure anymore.

As I said, I'm pretty sure I'm missing something here... Thanks for the help!

/K

Max Dex. Breastplate is +2. Lammy is +3.

Is it? I thought it's +6/+3/-4. Source: PRD - Equipment

Well I'd max out spirit totem if your going that route then.

If it won't be within PFS and the Rage Powers at L15 and L18 become relevant the other Spirit Totems definitely end up in the build. I'm not a huge fand of the regular Spirit Totem Rage Power and think Superstition and Witch Hunter are better options. Greater Spirit Totem is great though, so I think something like the following would be something I'd consider okay for an AP for instance.

L3 Lesser Spirit Totem
L6 Superstition
L9 With Hunter
L12 Spirit Totem
L15 Greater Spirit Totem
L18 Eater of Magic

If you go with 16 DEX, remember getting Steel Lamellar armor for the full 19 AC.

What makes the Steel Lamellar a better option than a Breastplate? Am I missing something here?

Nope, unfortunately not. Just a pool of people I will play with on Roll20, but the group composition will be varying pretty much from session to session.

Alright, the thought of an Ulfen swinging a two-handed Alphorn is pretty awesome :D
There aren't many bludgeoning weapon with reach, but I think a d12 for damage would be reasonable, maybe a d10 plus a combat maneuver. Definitely not PFS legal though, but it sounds like a lot of fun to play.

The Ulfen Guard Prestige Class was totally off my radar. It's worth considering, but I think it fits a full-grown barbarian a bit better than a Skald. I do agree though, some of the dedications sound pretty cool.

I'd rather keep the DEX and increase STR at L4 instead to qualify for Power Attack (instead of Dodge at L5).

Thanks for your comments! It's much appreciated.

/K

Hey there,

I'm currently working on an Ulfen Skald using the Herald of the Horn Archetype. I'm not entirely after a perfect min-max build, but would like to get some additional opinions on a few decisions I'm not 100% sure if there are better/other alternatives.

The group hasn't decided if we're playing withing PFS or not, so just in case it woulde be great if suggestions could come from CRB, APG, ARG, ACG, UCo, UM, UCa and UE only.

- Base statistics are:
12 STR, 16 DEX, 14 CON, 10 INT, 8 WIS, 16 CHA
He's fighting with one hand and a shield in the other (light shield, so he can still hold his arcane bound horn)

- Traits: Reactionary (+2 on Initative) + Frontier-Forged (+1 on Perception & Survival)[This is a flavor pick]

- Spells:
I haven't figured out entirely when to pick which spells exactly. I'd just like to mention that I plan to stay within a the theme of the character and primarily will pick things like "Ear-Piercing Scream" "Sound Burst" "Piercing Shriek" "Distressing Tone" and the like. Evocation and [Sonic] heavy spell-list.

- Rage Powers:

• L3: Lesser Spirit Totem - I don't think it's too far fetched that some feys and spirits from the Land of the Linnorm Kings will follow the call of a Raging Song

• L6: Superstition - Ulfen are not keen on magic and even though the character is an arcane spellcaster I think it's reasonable that his upbringing left him with a certain disgruntlement towards magic.

• L9: Witch Hunter

• L12: Eater of Magic / Spell Sunder [Leaning more towards Eater of Magic]

- this is also having a possible PFS-Play in mind, where the access to the 5th and 6th rage power is not very likely.

- Feats- That's were my headaches start. There are simply too many choices :D

• 1. Arcane Strike + Skald's Vigor

• 3. Spell Focus (Evocation)/Dodge

• 5. Dodge / Spell Focus (Evocation)

• 7. Battly Cry [Flavor Pick]

• 9. Greater Spell Focus (Evocation)

• 11. Discordant Voice [Flavor Pick]

I'm not sure if the Spell Focus feats are an optimal pick. Paired with the Horn Call (Su) I'd get a +3 for the majority of my spells on L9.
Why not Greater Skald's Vigor? Because of the Prerequ. of 10 Ranks Perform (Song). He's simply no singer, but more of a storyteller. Discordant Voice, makes more sense in that regard.

Some other feats that I was/am considering:

Dodge + Mobility + Improved Initiative to get to the enemies faster than most of the party members so they won't be in range for many of the bursts or cone effects.

Combat Reflexes + Riving Strike, seems like something that might be worth exploring. Probably needs Quicken Spell to work reliably.

Power Attack + Furious Focus have a certain appeal.
Having a shield, makes Shield Focus also an option to counter the -1 AC from the raging song.

I'm thankful for any comments and suggestions!