Kristal Moonhand's page

(Crossposted from the reply on DTRPG) Hi Vladimir, thanks so much for the review! The Huay book is a bit unpolished, I'll admit, being my first book. Most things you couldn't find (including the Helmsman) can be found on the Library of Metzofitz, but here's the rundown. Mineralite is a race found in The Crystal Planet Player's Guide from Golden Glyph, a fun little race I really enjoy that definitely has no connection to an animated television show about polymorphic sentient rocks (please don't sue). False Veil is a power from April Augmented 2017 by Dreamscarred Press, a free book.

My process for the Huay was not to make a traditional wild shaping Druid, but use that as a base for something else, in this case the Huay-Chivo, a mythical shapeshifting mage who could take the forms of beasts, demons, and all manner of monsters. This is why you'll find demonic veils that you wouldn't normally expect to find associated with a "Druid" on the Huay's list. I have gotten some feedback recently regarding its... eclectic choices, but what's done is done. I do have some plans for the future of making archetypes that focus on a single skin form line, but that's a while away. Some of the oddness, like calling out the Akashic Rules page or getting all the binds, harkens back to when the Huay was just a google doc I shared among friends (it used to literally just have the Nexus list instead of its own list, lord almighty). No one really said anything about it, so it kinda just stuck.

A small correction to your bit on Veil of Balance, you're not actually restricted from taking a veil with an alignment descriptor counter to your own alignment. You can shape and use a [good] veil as an evil creature, it'll likely just be less useful to you unless you're fighting other evil creatures. My idea for it was to reward characters who were dedicated to neutrality, like an old-school Druid kind of thing, but I can admit I may have gone a bit overboard on it. When I finally get around to another book for Huay, it'll likely be erratacated. In the meantime, consider your proposed changes to have my stamp of approval!

For the Arcadian's daeva, they do still get essence, as the akashic subtype grants essence equal to your racial hit dice, which is what things like animal companions and phantoms use. I definitely should have put in some reminder text for that instead of assuming everyone would have weird little rules like that memorized, so that's my fault. And for veils, they share the Arcadian's veils like a normal Helmsman's mech would, and can select things like Shape Veil with their feats, if they so choose. I wish I could have made it a bit more elegant, but Natural Veilweaver just had to go due to the "shape and bind literally any veil from any list" thing.

Again, thanks so much for your thoughts, criticism, and enjoyment of the book! I don't know if you like Path of War, but if so, keep an eye out for my next book~ (It'll actually be notated properly, I swear)

I'd recommend Fool's Errand over Broken Blade, personally. But that's me.

Look at this line from the Vitalist's level 2 ability, Spirit of Many:

Whenever a vitalist manifests a power with the Network descriptor targeting only members of his collective, the power loses the mind-affecting descriptor (if it had it) and bypasses any power resistance, although it still provokes an attack of opportunity to manifest as normal.

Why would you need to be able to remove the mind-affecting descriptor if you can't put creatures immune to mind-affecting effects into the collective in the first place? Therefor, the collective is not a mind-affecting ability.

Some advice for DMs, stealing the PCs' stuff is a great way to get them to go where you want. I had some goblins steal the PCs' boots while they slept and they spent three sessions (about an in-game week) tracking them down as I led them to an ancient jungle temple. They weren't even magical boots, they were just so pissed at the goblins' audacity.

I like the shadow effects from Gloomblade, but there really aren't enough of them. You've got 2 melee, 1 thrown, and 1 generic. And the generic one isn't all that good unless you're a sunder build. There should have been at least 5 or 6 more, if you ask me. It'd be nice if you could add the same one multiple times, like having a thrown weapon with 80 foot range.

Now that my complaining is done, this is really the best Fighter archetype I've seen since Lore Warden (the good one, not the shitty reprint version). Also, thank you so much for giving us a Fighter AT with Acrobatics and Perception as class skills! I hate so much how it doesn't get those by default...

As for the main question of the thread, I'm really liking Diabolic Style. It's so flavorful and I'm gonna take it on my AoO-focused Master of Many Styles, probably replacing Monkey Style. And Apocalyptic Spell is awesome. My group allows Kineticists to take almost all Metamagic feats with Expanded Metakinesis, so our explosion-themed Pyrokineticist is very excited about that.

Or should I say, Unchained Shifter? We asked for Shifter to be better and so it is. This archetype is great~

Alright, serious question here. What kind of monks have y'all been playing? I keep seeing people saying "well, monks have always had bad AC" and I'm like... no? Monks have bad damage, sure, but bad AC? I've never had a monk with less than 17 AC at 1st level.

From what we've seen of this iteration of monk, I can say that there's no way I'm going to get PF2. Even 5e D&D didn't get rid of Wis AC and ki. And the whole "the more times you hit, the bigger your dice" sounds good in theory, but actually doing it looks like a pain, especially if you play online like I do. Hell, even playing IRL means you've gotta have a bunch of different dice and be like "okay, I hit twice, where's my d8... wait, not I forget to add the +1, does that third attack hit? Shit, okay, need the d10." It's a hassle. Just make the dice bigger or give more as you level, none of this conditional stuff.

I know it's, like, Paizo's unofficial mission statement to nerf monks into the ground, but this is ridiculous.

It's a spell-like ability that doesn't give an action use, so it should default to being a standard.

You don't count as your own ally for Teamwork Feats. The whole point is that you're teaming up with someone. If you want to provoke yourself with BWG, you need to have Solo Tactics and Paired Opportunists.

EDIT: Also, take a look at the Combat Trick for BWG:

When an opponent with the +2 bonus on attack rolls granted by this feat attacks you, you can spend 5 stamina points to have that attack provoke an attack of opportunity from you also.

Now why would that Combat Trick exist if you counted as your own ally for this feat?

Or an Android. beep boop

To give a specific example, say you've got a light source that gives off 40 feet of normal light followed by 40 feet of dim light. A creature with normal vision sees just that, while a creature with low-light sees 80 feet of normal light and 80 feet of dim light.

Thanks for the earlier answer, Mark! I do have another one, though. The Human's Paladin FCB says "Add +1 to the paladin’s energy resistance to one kind of energy (maximum +10)."

Now, normally when something gives you energy resistance, it talks about the main four, fire, acid, cold, and electricity. Occasionally sonic, as well. But there are other forms of energy, like positive and negative. And force damage is somewhat unclear on whether it's energy or not (I think there's only a single creature that has force resistance). So with an open-ended power like that, what kind of energy can you pick?

You can flurry with your slam if you have that feat, yes. You can also just use your unarmed strike, since you don't lose it while wildshaped.

That's how my group runs it. I've got a Vigilante who uses it and it's pretty okay. You can get two attacks if you start your turn right next to someone, which is pretty much what you'd be getting if you were a regular TWF rogue.

What if a telekineticist used Telekinetic Maneuvers to grapple her with her brain? Or a Tetori Monk was the one doing the grappling, and used their ability to count as not being grappled while grappling? Could the succubus still drain them?

1.) I'm fairly certain yes.

2.) I'm not sure, I will leave this to others.

3.) Yes, you can shoot a two handed firearm sized for you in one hand with a -4 penalty. It's in the firearm rules.

4.) Yes, since it would count as that kind of weapon for proficiency and such, you should be able to Quick Clear it.

Besmara is a CN deity of pirates, ja? I'd have a holy symbol that's two-sided. One side is a normal-looking symbol, the other is a skull and crossbones (for the evil stuff). When it's pirate time, you just flip it around. Might need to pay double the normal price, however. Since, you know, it's two-in-one.

Read it again:

The exact same restrictions would apply if your race had claws or you had some other ability to add claws to your limbs: the text of both discoveries says they do not give you any extra attacks per round, whether used as natural weapons, wielding manufactured weapons, or adding natural weapons to a limb that didn't originally have natural weapons.

Even if you replaced the limb with a Monstrous Graft, the only reason you were able to do so is because of the Vestigial Arm. And you may NEVER gain an extra attack because of a Vestigial Arm.

Here's the official Paizo FAQ on this. To summarize: "No. Hell no. Hell to the f@+# no. You think you've found a loophole? Nope, there are no holes, loopy or otherwise. Don't even think about it. NO."

You can replace the Vestigial Arm with something else, but you still can't use it to get extra attacks.

Not sure if you're the right person to ask, but why do some races detailed in books have Race Point values when others don't? Is it up to the person making the race to do it and some people just don't want to?

They did errata the Titan Mauler.

She can use two-handed weapons meant for creatures one size category larger, but the penalty for doing so is increased by 4. However, the attack roll penalty for using weapons too large for her size is reduced by 1, and this reduction increases by 1 for every three levels beyond 3rd (to a minimum of 0).

EDIT: I don't know why I bother, y'all are some rules-quoting ninjas.

Oh damn, you're right. I was reading it wrong this whole time. I thought it said you used caster level in place of base attack bonus, but it totally doesn't. That actually completely clears everything up, thank you so much!

Deities give these Paladins Divine Grace. With it they are to use it to resist evil. If the Paladin fails a save maybe they don't deserve to have it if failed attempt caused them to brake their code

This is the worst thing to ever come out of a Paladin thread. There is always ALWAYS a chance to fail a save because a nat 1 ALWAYS fails. It doesn't matter if it's a DC 15 Will save and you've got a +27 to Will. If you roll a nat 1, you fail. That isn't the Paladin's will being weak, it's getting a bad die roll.

No, your familiar is not a valid target for Secluded Grimoire.

You, my friend, are too clever by half~

While I wouldn't say it's the worst archetype ever, or even the worst Kineticist archetype, (that dubious honor goes to Elemental Annihilator) Kinetic Chirurgeon is pretty bad. Take the poorly executed idea of balancing out burn by gathering power inherent to Kineticist, give them a healing ability that costs burn, then give them no way to mitigate it.

Yes, I know they get a double buffer at level 6, but that's still only 2 charges of buffer (that you have to charge up the day before, if you didn't use all your burn healing) and it still takes 6 levels before you can even get it. I've knocked myself out healing before, and usually come within a handful of HP of getting knocked out before I even come close to half health. I'm looking at taking a level of Oracle or Cleric just so I can use wands without breaking them.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, since you lose Infusions, Gather Power is useless until 7th level when you get a Composite Blast. Good times~

If I were playing a Shifter, which I'm not, I'd dip into Monk for Menhir Guardian's Wild Flurry. Or just ask my DM to let me use Wild Flurry. Or possibly ask my DM why they're not letting me play a Feral Hunter, but I digress. Seriously, look at this.

Wild Flurry (Ex): A menhir guardian gains flurry of blows. He can use this ability with the natural attacks provided by his shifter claws ability or the weapons specified above under weapon and armor proficiency.

Why didn't they just give that to the regular Shifter? It solves... I dunno, about one-fourth(?) of the problems with this class.

Someone was trying to make a Mouse Shifter a while back. I believe they gave up in despair.

Sure, it's sensible, but it's not how it's actually written. If they wanted it to work like that, they should have made it something like "A mysterious stranger uses Charisma instead of Wisdom when determining how much grit she gains at the start of each day and her maximum amount of grit points."

You are missing the fundamental reason the shifter is bad. It is not modular.

The shifter does not have CHOICES to make during its creation. They all use the same weapon style (natural), cannot choose their forms freely, and have no choices to make throughout their levels.

Pathfinder is at its best when you can make choices throughout your career that differentiate you from another build. The shifter just does not have enough of that.

Give it something like Rage Powers, Rogue Talents, Magus Arcana, and etc...and that will be a fun class. Otherwise its a dumpster fire that will get homebrewed into efficiency (my current project).

Exactly. There's a reason that you don't see many Swashbucklers, and that's because Deeds are completely static. Every Swashbuckler is the same, and it's boring for people who like making a class their own. (You see a bit more Gunslingers, but that's because people like guns.)

For Shifter, people have been saying "Well, you gotta pick Tiger first so you can be decent in combat when you finally get your Wild Shape." Nobody is talking about picking Lizard or Stag or Frog. They're choices that aren't actually choices, like the Zen Archer's bonus feats. "Huh, should I get Rapid Shot or Manyshot, feats that don't work with my primary combat mechanic? Choices, choices..."

Also, I have a lot of issues with the art In the book; they are supposed to inspire me to try that archetype or else am I Wrong?

If so; Stormcaller, Famelic orc who eats tofu and insects (or Rot Warden), and that guy walking over pee (p. 88).

Are you talking about the picture of the Floodwalker? He's walking on water, why would you think that's urine?

Is this guy a troll? It's so hard to tell these days...

Your allies have to carry you around in a bucket.

Wow, sounds a lot like a playtest...

As an aside, we might view the "Guardian of nature class isn't very good" as a metacommentary on how civilization's encroaching on wild spaces appears to continue largely unabated. If the Shifter were really good, there might have been less of that.

When did I step into a Captain Planet episode?

I put off making a shapeshifting character for months just so I could see if the Shifter would be better than Druid for it. (Spoilers, it isn't.) Not just because Shifter is mediocre at best, but also because the Shifter can turn into a a small pool out of a dozen creatures. I wanted to have a hippo-themed character, and can the Shifter turn into a hippo? No, it cannot. Can it turn into a moose? No, it cannot. Can it turn into anything that isn't listed on the Shifter page? No, it cannot.

I ended up making a Feral Hunter, because the Feral Hunter is literally the Shifter without being garbage. I got this book for the Shifter, and it is severely disappointing that it's not better than existing options. Hell, it's not better than the combo ATs that steal parts of it for other classes. Menhir Guardian is better at fighting with claws because it gets a flurry with them. Feral Champion is better because its claws scale properly and its wild shape isn't garbage. Sure, it's Druid -3, no plants or elementals, but it's DRUID wild shape, not the inferior Shifter one.

Now, I liked several of the things in this. As a lot of people have said, the archetypes are good. I especially like the Monk and Kineticist ones, as they're my favorite classes. Some of the feats are pretty neat as well. But the Shifter is just sad and when I got the book for that, well...

It's actually there because the group that I play in allows undead PCs. So I specifically made a Cha-based archetype that is incompatible with undead. There's nothing besides pure spite holding a Blitzer to Charisma focus. Maybe I'll put in a thing about using Int with DM fiat.

When I use them against players, I generally have one or two Blitzers by themselves. When I have them supported by a party, it takes longer for them to go down, but they still get focused hard. I'll have to try out a higher level Blitzer, possibly high enough to get the Blessing, and see how that goes.

I'd like to get some wider feedback on my archetype for the Alchemist. It's gone over pretty well with the group I play with, but I'd like to know what the community at large thinks. For reference, the AT is supposed to play kind of like the Psycho class from Borderlands 2.

Linky

What I don't understand is why the Shifter got full BAB but no kind of way to utilize it for attacks. Nat attacks don't benefit from high BAB, at least as far as iteratives are concerned. Why didn't Shifter get a kind of Wild Flurry like the Menhir Guardian got?

From the new Elemental Masters Handbook, there's a Kineticist Form Infusion called Energize Weapon that lets you light your sword on fire (or whatever element you have). However, it doesn't allow you to use Gather Power with your hands full. Was that intentional? Am I really supposed to spend burn every turn I want to attack? At least with Kinetic Fist your hands are already free...

I also feel like this should be backwards compatible with Kinetic Knight, like how the healing stuff from Phytokinesis let you qualify for Kinetic Chirurgeon.

I cast Raise Thread!

Why is it so hard to conceal stabbing in Pathfinder?

I mean... first you've got to sneak up without anyone seeing, smelling, hearing, tremorsensing, lifesensing, and whatever other wacky sensing they might have.

Then you've got to actually HIT the person... and they've got all that armor and deflective magic and what not.

And then... when you get through all that there is this ridiculous rule that they AUTOMATICALLY detect the stab. Oooh they feel 'pain'. I mean, how unfair is that? No matter WHAT you do to conceal it they just KNOW they've been stabbed!

Even OTHER people get perception checks because there are supposedly tell tale signs of the stabbing like 'blood' and 'screaming'. It's so obviously set up to just make it impossible to stab someone without anyone noticing!

This is hilarious, but only because you're so full of it. Mind control isn't stabbing someone. If anything, it's more like pickpocketing, which has very simple rules for going undetected. And you know what's most damning of all? There IS a way to conceal stabbing in Pathfinder, and all it requires is the ability to get a rogue talent. That talent isn't even magic, you just somehow convince the person that you stabbed (without them seeing you to convince them, mind) that someone else stabbed them, even if there's no one else in the room. But you know, it'd be impossible to do that kind of thing with magic...

The Pack Rager Barbarian archetype gives this ability:

At 2nd level and every 4 levels thereafter, the pack rager can take a bonus teamwork feat. This teamwork feat must also be a combat feat.

This ability replaces the rage powers gained at 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level.

I have two questions about that. First, do you need to meet the prerequisites for these feats? Most things that give bonus feats say one way or the other and besides a comment from JJ I can't find anything concrete on which is the default.

Second, do you have to take the feats? It says you "can take" one, which is permissive, unlike most archetypes that give bonus feats. Holy Tactician, for instance, says you "gain" them. It also says you need to meet the prerequisites, which contributes to my confusion.

Thanks in advance~

I've found something in Betrayal Feats that doesn't make sense and was hoping someone could explain it to me.

Characters with class abilities granting allies access to teamwork feats (such as cavaliers or inquisitors) can select these teamwork feats normally, but allies who are granted these feats can use the feats only as initiators, not as abettors. An inquisitor could not grant an ally the Ally Shield feat and then use the ally as a shield, for example, but he could allow that ally to use him as a shield.

Which is all well and good... If you're a Cavalier. However, that's not how the Inquisitor ability Solo Tactics even works!

At 3rd level, all of the inquisitor’s allies are treated as if they possessed the same teamwork feats as the inquisitor for the purpose of determining whether the inquisitor receives a bonus from her teamwork feats. Her allies do not receive any bonuses from these feats unless they actually possess the feats themselves. The allies’ positioning and actions must still meet the prerequisites listed in the teamwork feat for the inquisitor to receive the listed bonus.

(emphasis mine)

So do betrayal feats just do nothing if you're an Inquisitor, or does the Inquisitor ability override the rule meant to keep you from using your allies as human shields whenever you want in the first place? Remember, it calls out class abilities that involve "granting allies access to teamwork feats", which Inquisitor specifically does not.