The way it was explained when I played it was that the town was a trading center and even if they didn't normally have things that expensive, the merchants passing through or setting up a kiosk would have more stuff. Came in handy, as I got to buy and learn a scroll of Bestow Weapon Proficiency to cast on our Bull's Strength fighter for the final battle.
As for the headless king, as with most undead, I see the physical form as just a conduit for the spirit that inhabited it. Hence, the spirit has darkvision and can 'speak', just as a ghost or spectre or any number of other creepy non-corporal or "faceless" creatures.
I was quite unhappy with some of the mechanics in the scenario.
Spoiler:
It seemed like an awful lot of insta-kill for 1st level characters. My android scholar character was hit twice for 15 points (of its 6 stamina and 9 hit points) without any way of being healed, save for the serums that the pregen Vesk had, rendering it virtually useless for most of the scenario.
Point 1) Traps should never be "undetectable" and automatically hit every member of the party without at least a saving throw.
Point 2) Having the BG automatically aim for the most vulnerable character (without having ever seen the PCs before) is a real stretch. For all the BG knew that "random android scholar" was unrelated to the people she was sent to look for (bar scene). Even if she assumed that the strange new android was a PC, why shoot the one LEAST likely to be able to hurt her or fight back over, say, one of the heavily armed Vesk soldiers?
This scenario has me seriously questioning if I even want to play Starfinder.
Is there somewhere that spells out the "implied" meaning?
To me and everyone else but the gamemaster and the asst director (Venture Lieutenant for Pathfinder Society Organized Play), it was obvious that "ON" your next turn meant any time at all DURING your next turn up to and including the "end of your next turn". They were not able to justify it, but simply ruled against us as they said:
"that's how it's always been ruled. 'On your next turn' does not equal 'until the end of your next turn'."
PERIOD, end of discussion. I just want to know WHERE it was ruled thusly that they seemed to be quoting.
"Feinting is a standard action. To feint, make a Bluff skill check. The DC of this check is equal to 10 + your opponent's base attack bonus + your opponent's Wisdom modifier. If your opponent is trained in Sense Motive, the DC is instead equal to 10 + your opponent's Sense Motive bonus, if higher. If successful, the next melee attack you make against the target does not allow him to use his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). This attack must be made on or before your next turn."
During the session tonight, our rogue succeeded on a Feint check against his opponent thinking that he could get sneak damage during his next turn (denied his dex). However, the ruling at the table was that he could NOT do it DURING the next round, as the wording did not say "before the end of your next turn".
The wording says "on or before your next turn". Is there somewhere that clarifies that "ON your next turn" EQUALS or DOES NOT equal "before the end of your next turn"?
For $10/figure, I want to be able to buy just the ONE that I need, not that one and three that will sit in my mini box and rot. WAY too expensive for what you're getting and certainly way too much for the GM to buy the minis he/she needs for the campaign.
When the stat block has "gear", it's always been "combat gear" and any unusual items. Mundane gear is not listed or is only listed as it's monetary value.
In the rulebook, it says it actually takes 1 minute of remaining completely stationary to initiate the Drift drive. That means you're a sitting duck while preparing to "run away".
At the game last night, one of the VLs mentioned that the cost of cold iron weapons has changed, making them much more expensive. Does anyone know of this and where that change is posted?
Just space them out relatively evenly around the map. Most groups will be thorough and try to explore the whole map, just because it's there.
I'm also not quite sure what the "linked encounter" represents. Is it a stand-alone that is some time and place away from the main encounter? E.g. I'd like to use the orc scout as part of the orc sword encounter - the orc is searching for something when the party encounters him and after they defeat him or send him packing, they continue the search and find it. Or is he supposed to be a part of the main encounter?
I am prepping this to run next week, but don't understand how to place the encounters. The text says to place them ahead of time, but the dungeon has so many passageways, the players could skip them entirely. My thought was to just place them in each possible path, so that the players hit them as intended until all encounters were found. So, can I position the encounters so they can be found in any path or just let the players skip some or do them "out of order"?
So, is the consensus to allow the PCs to leave the numbered hexes or not? If they leave them (my group did when we played it), do you move the loot/plot yielding encounters that they would miss? Do you require that they must navigate hex 8, regardless of their path, which seems reasonable given the scenario instructions?
Aside from the spell requiring "sufficient space" (10'x10'), casting it "under" a door or wall, would simply have you look up from the bottom and see the area you came from, as it's not a physical pit, but extradimensional.
I don't follow your reasoning here. Looking up out of the pit ought to be much the same as looking up out of a normal pit. You can climb down one side of the pit and climb out the other. If you were able to cast it under a wall (which probably isn't allowed) - or someone cast 'wall of stone' to create a wall going over the middle of it - why shouldn't you be able to interact normally with anything above you?
Your idea of casting the pit on a table has intriguing possibilities. Apparently you can cast it on a moving ship (and there's no rule saying the ship can't keep moving). So could you cast it on a lightweight ten-by-ten wooden surface and then carry it around with you? Can you slide it under a gap? Turn it upside down to tip people out?
It's not an actual pit, though, it's extradimensional space, like a bag of holding. In any case, you can't cast it unless you have a 10'x10' clear area, so no casting under a door or wall. I suppose if someone casts a wall spell over the pit, it might be an issue, although in that case, the wall spell would probably fail, as there isn't a solid surface under it.
I don't think you can move the pit once it's cast, even if you cast it on a large table. The table would be essentially unmoveable relative to the ground it's on.
Also, I would rule that if they attempted to cast it on a non-floor surface, then it would simply fail. If you cast it on the ceiling, it would not have an opening that went "down". If you cast it on the wall, again, it has nowhere to go. The surface has to have at least a mostly level surface from which you can determine a "down towards gravity".
Our discussions and research into Create Pit last night led to the following realizations, but also led to some interesting questions (at the end):
The pit is extradimensional space and entire unto itself. It does not connect to anything. If you cast it on a 10'x10' table, you could look down 20-30' into the pit and see a bottom that far away, but if you looked under the table, you would see open space through to the other side of the table. I'm unclear what would happen if you moved the table, but I assume the pit would go with it, although that could end up with some silliness if you, say, pushed it off a cliff. My personal ruling would be that you could not move the table until the spell ended.
Also, since it's extradimensional, rather than physical, if you have 2 pits next to each other, you cannot go from one to the other. You cannot "dig" through the walls of the pit, use "merge into stone", "passwall", or anything like that to get out. Aside from the spell requiring "sufficient space" (10'x10'), casting it "under" a door or wall, would simply have you look up from the bottom and see the area you came from, as it's not a physical pit, but extradimensional. At the end of the spell, you simply end where you started, as if shunted out of a bag of holding.
However, the spell does not say if you need "line of sight" or "line of effect" to where you're casting it. So, can someone cast it from around the corner, through a wall or door, while blind, etc.? E.g. if the bad guy hears the PCs tinkering with the door or clanking up the hall, can he cast Create Pit on the other side of door or down the hall and around the corner? Does the caster simply need to know where the 10'x10' is in his mind to cast the pit or must he have line of sight/effect?
The pit is extradimensional space and entire unto itself. It does not connect to anything. E.g. if you have 2 pits next to each other, you cannot go from one to the other. You cannot "dig" through the walls of the pit, use "merge into stone", "passwall", or anything like that to get out. Aside from the spell requiring "sufficient space" (20'x20'), casting it "under" a door, would simply have you look up from the bottom and see the area you came from, as it's not a physical pit, but extradimensional.
If you cast it on a 20'x20' table, you could look down 20-30' into the pit and see a bottom that far away, but if you looked under the table, you would see open space through to the other side of the table.
It was unusual. I usually GM about once a month and it would have mattered this evening, as they needed a 4th player at a game that I had played before. Instead, I ended up going home. After 6 years, I'm only at 34 GM points, so I don't earn stars all that fast. Oh, well.
So, since I just just recently found out about this, but have already run 6 scenarios since Sep, can I get credit for those, or can I only get credit for FUTURE scenarios that I run?
OK, so I've now found the expanded narrative boon chronicle sheet, but I've ALREADY GMed 6 adventures in the past 3 weeks. Do those not count, even though the boon was available by then since I, personally, did not know of it? That seems kind of harsh, as I ran far more than my usual one scenario per month because they were so short of GMs this month.
I'm not sure I understand one line of the boon. "You can never use GM star replay to earn credit for an adventure more than once." Does this mean that you must use a GM star if you want credit for both playing AND GMing the same adventure. Would you please explain this a bit for me? I am used to the OLD system where GMing was not rewarded in any way (no chronicle sheet) and “eating” an adventure (GMing without having played it) meant you gave up any chance to play it for credit. As I have understood it since I restarted last year, you can now get TWO chronicle sheets for each scenario – one for playing and one for GMing. This is a great boon, already.
BUT, I still don't understand how to use GM stars to "replay" a scenario and this makes it even more confusing. I thought that we were now allowed to play and GM a scenario and get a chronicle sheet for both, but the above sounds like you can only do that if you spend GM stars. So, do I have to use GM stars to get chronicle sheets for both playing and GMing? If not, how is this boon any different?
On the bridge scene, the map wasn't very clear, so I explained that they entered through the statue's ear and exited through his mouth. That made it more obvious that the archers were above them and not easy to get to, as they'd basically have to climb up a rope to get to the nose and then up to the eyes.
Using the Paragon reward to grant the Soldier of Peace reward to allow an ally to deal nonlethal damage with a spell uses your once per adventure use of that ability.
So, what's your take on "activating" that boon? By a strict reading, you would "activate" it by starting to cast a spell, but then, instead of applying it to YOUR spell, you would let your companion make their spell non-lethal. This has several problems - 1) what happens to your spell? and 2) how do you time it, so that your spells are simultaneous?
To me it only makes sense if it says something like: "Instead of using the Soldier of Peace boon for casting a spell yourself, you may grant the benefit to one ally you can see." If that's what is meant, it makes sense, but as worded, it is confusing and ambiguous.
I recently finished 7 goals on my Silver Crusade faction card, but when I went to use the Paragon feature, I was terribly confused. Let me see if I can try to explain. Below is the text from both the year 6 and year 7 faction cards (you'll see why as I explain). (Note that I am using the year 7 version.)
SILVER CRUSADE YEAR 6
SOLDIER OF PEACE (2+ goals): You reduce the penalty on attack rolls to deal nonlethal damage with lethal weapons by 2; if you already suffer no penalty on such an attack, you instead deal 1 additional point of nonlethal damage. Once per adventure before casting a spell, you may choose to replace half the lethal damage dealt with an equal amount of nonlethal damage.
ANOINTED (4+ goals): You gain a +2 sacred bonus on Charisma-based checks made against good creatures and on saving throws against spells and effects with the evil descriptor. Once per adventure as a swift action, you may grant a weapon you wield the benefits of bless weapon for one round.
PARAGON (7+ goals): When you or an ally purchases the spellcasting service raise dead, resurrection, or true resurrection, reduce the Prestige Point cost by 25%. When you cast any of these spells, reduce the material component cost by 25%. When activating either the Soldier of Peace or Anointed boon, you may grant the benefit to one ally you can see instead of receiving it yourself.
SILVER CRUSADE YEAR 7
SOLDIER OF PEACE (2+ goals): You reduce the penalty on attack rolls to deal nonlethal damage with lethal weapons by 2; if you already suffer no penalty on such an attack, you instead deal 1 additional point of nonlethal damage. Once per adventure before casting a spell, you may choose to replace half the lethal damage dealt with an equal amount of nonlethal damage.
MIRACLE WORKER (4+ goals): Once per adventure, you can use the lay on hands class feature as though you were a paladin whose level equals the number of goals you have completed.
PARAGON (7+ goals): When you or an ally purchases the spellcasting service raise dead, resurrection, or true resurrection, reduce the Prestige Point cost by 25%. When you cast any of these spells, reduce the material component cost by 25%. When activating either the Soldier of Peace boon, you may grant the benefit to one ally you can see instead of receiving it yourself.
Notice that the second reward changed from year 6 to year 7. In year 6, it was the "Anointed" boon and you could use your Paragon reward on it. In the year 7 Paragon reward, it says "either the Soldier of Peace boon", but doesn't list the new "Miracle Worker" reward. Either the word "either" needs to be removed or "or Miracle Worker" needs to be added. Which should it be?
The wording of the Soldier of Peace reward to deal non-lethal damage sounds like it's an "always on" kind of thing. This is fine if you're using it yourself, as it only "activates" when you strike for non-lethal damage. How do you use the Paragon reward to activate Soldier of Peace to "grant the benefit (e.g. "reduce the penalty on attack rolls") to one ally"? If you only "activate" it when you use it, how do you grant that benefit to an ally who is attacking on their own initiative and may or may not be attacking for non-lethal?
If you wish to grant them the ability to do non-lethal with a spell, does it take your "once per adventure" ability or is it in addition to that? And, again, how do you both "activate" it (e.g. cast a spell) AND "grant" it? If you begin casting the spell, but grant the non-lethal ability to someone else, what happens to YOUR spell?
What kind of action is it to use one of these rewards (specifically in combat)? Do you have to activate it using a standard action? Move action? Free action? Swift? Immediate?
Finally, how many times can you use that last line of your Paragon reward per adventure or should it be removed entirely?
We talked about this at the table, but no one had any better answers than I did, so I finally just scrapped the idea of using the rewards, at all. After working so hard GMing mods and keeping up with all of the requirements I'd like to be able to actually USE them.
I recently finished 7 goals on my Silver Crusade faction card, but when I went to use the Paragon feature, I was terribly confused. Let me see if I can try to explain. Below is the text from both the year 6 and year 7 faction cards (you'll see why as I explain). (Note that I am using the year 7 version.)
SILVER CRUSADE YEAR 6
SOLDIER OF PEACE (2+ goals): You reduce the penalty on attack rolls to deal nonlethal damage with lethal weapons by 2; if you already suffer no penalty on such an attack, you instead deal 1 additional point of nonlethal damage. Once per adventure before casting a spell, you may choose to replace half the lethal damage dealt with an equal amount of nonlethal damage.
ANOINTED (4+ goals): You gain a +2 sacred bonus on Charisma-based checks made against good creatures and on saving throws against spells and effects with the evil descriptor. Once per adventure as a swift action, you may grant a weapon you wield the benefits of bless weapon for one round.
PARAGON (7+ goals): When you or an ally purchases the spellcasting service raise dead, resurrection, or true resurrection, reduce the Prestige Point cost by 25%. When you cast any of these spells, reduce the material component cost by 25%. When activating either the Soldier of Peace or Anointed boon, you may grant the benefit to one ally you can see instead of receiving it yourself.
SILVER CRUSADE YEAR 7
SOLDIER OF PEACE (2+ goals): You reduce the penalty on attack rolls to deal nonlethal damage with lethal weapons by 2; if you already suffer no penalty on such an attack, you instead deal 1 additional point of nonlethal damage. Once per adventure before casting a spell, you may choose to replace half the lethal damage dealt with an equal amount of nonlethal damage.
MIRACLE WORKER (4+ goals): Once per adventure, you can use the lay on hands class feature as though you were a paladin whose level equals the number of goals you have completed.
PARAGON (7+ goals): When you or an ally purchases the spellcasting service raise dead, resurrection, or true resurrection, reduce the Prestige Point cost by 25%. When you cast any of these spells, reduce the material component cost by 25%. When activating either the Soldier of Peace boon, you may grant the benefit to one ally you can see instead of receiving it yourself.
Notice that the second reward changed from year 6 to year 7. In year 6, it was the "Anointed" boon and you could use your Paragon reward on it. In the year 7 Paragon reward, it says "either the Soldier of Peace boon", but doesn't list the new "Miracle Worker" reward. Either the work "either" needs to be removed or "or Miracle Worker" needs to be added. Which should it be?
The wording of the Soldier of Peace reward to deal non-lethal damage sounds like it's an "always on" kind of thing. This is fine if you're using it yourself, as it only "activates" when you strike for non-lethal damage. How do you use the Paragon reward to activate Soldier of Peace to "grant the benefit (e.g. "reduce the penalty on attack rolls") to one ally"? If you only "activate" it when you use it, how do you grant that benefit to an ally who is attacking on their own initiative and may or may not be attacking for non-lethal?
If you wish to grant them the ability to do non-lethal with a spell, does it take your "once per adventure" ability or is it in addition to that? And, again, how do you both "activate" it (e.g. cast a spell) AND "grant" it? If you begin casting the spell, but grant the non-lethal ability to someone else, what happens to YOUR spell?
What kind of action is it to use one of these rewards (specifically in combat)? Do you have to activate it using a standard action? Move action? Free action? Swift? Immediate?
Finally, how many times can you use that last line of your Paragon reward per adventure or should it be removed entirely?
We talked about this at the table, but no one had any better answers than I did, so I finally just scrapped the idea of using the rewards, at all. It seems kind of pointless to work so hard GMing mods and keeping up with all of the requirements if you can't actually USE them.
Good feats for starting half-orcs are Power Attack, Cleave, and Step Up. I play a half-orc fighter and those are game changers, especially starting out. Since you're a barbarian, armor is an issue anyway, so skip the shield and get a two-handed great axe or sword. That increases your damage a lot, especially if using Power Attack.
In the case of blind NPCs walking past a PC, do they get to stop and make an attack at 50% miss chance just because they have entered the PCs square? (Note that no perception check occured.) When we objected, the GM countered (and one of the players adamantly agreed) that the PC couldn't move out of his initiative order, therefore he couldn't willingly avoid the NPC. However, other GMs have allowed this same kind of thing to protect their invisible NPCs and no amount of thrashing about in the room would yield the location of the invisible caster. I'm going to go with the allowing through and force a perception check if they want to "notice" the invisible person.
There is some disagreement about moving through enemy squares when you can't see the enemy due to your blindness or the enemy's invisibility. If you cannot see the enemy as you go through their square, do you automatically run into them or can they simply move aside and let you pass? I've seen it run both ways and each GM insisted that their's was the only correct way. Since I frequently GM, I want to get it right.
