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549. WeSee Dead People: After a minor adventure into a long since looted crypt the adventures begin to hear and see ghosts, specters, and spirits. Some ask for help, some angrily attack. What did they do? How do they fix it? What did that damn rogue take?

I haven't logged in for nearly a year and a half and the very first post I see is one I was part of nearly 8 years ago. Crazy.

I love the idea of them getting fatigued or experiencing withdrawal if they don't get their fix.

I'm playing a level 12 bad touch cleric in Iron Fang invasion and it's actually not too bad. Clerics can get their AC pretty high and after a few well placed buffs/debuffs no one is hitting you anyway.

my normal approach to battle looks something like this:
Use vision of Madness cleric ability, walk up to opponent land touch attack. He is now at a -6 on attack and saves, but a +6 to skills. Then I quicken a Touch of idiocy some other debuff to really ruin his day. At this point his saves are, at best, -7 at worst -10. Next round If the wizard hasn't hit him with a save or suck I will. Then If things get hairy I cast grace and I walk away.

Popsicle sticks, paint, and hot glue get you a pretty decent door.

537. Old Boy: After a brief stint as an adventurer you wake up one morning in a room as a prisoner. Beaten, tortured, and constantly asked to think about what you've done, after 15 years you've finally been released and now are out for sweet sweet vengeance.

I'm in agreement with Rainzax. Heck a 50/50 pass/fail ration would be pretty tough.

520. Take Refuge Below: Deep below the surface the survivors of the mist struggle to rebuild their lives. Surface dwellers forced underground by the mist and the horror it brought.

Nearly 200 hundred years ago a dense mist settled over the island of Eganrack. In that mist lurked foul and murderous beasts who forced the inhabitants of the sleepy isle to flee into the caves and eventually underground.

I've always thought that RoE was more effective against casters that melee classes. I am playing a debuffer in one of my games. I dropped a 12th level wizard with this spell. 1st round I cast the spell, he fails the save losses 10 str.

This idea intrigues me, and I'd love to see how it develops. Will you be looking into doing this as a google docs?

This might be a good idea. We are only using the core and APG so not sure how comprehensive ti would be.

We played our first game with the 3 tiered feats and it worked out well. Nothing over powered or game breaking. Most of the players took out of combat feats in tier 3.

Pricing everything there would be very difficult. With the amount of feats first of all, then the fact that power attack is a lot more useful to the barbarian than the wizard. If this was to be done then the best way to balance the feats would be to make a list for each class, which would be incredibly time consuming.

I'm not too concerned about the value for each class. This is more of a way to encourage players to take some of the lesser feats and make characters a bit differently.

I suggest googling SKR's feat points.

Not sarcasm or meanness, the points were... off but might give you an idea of where to start.

Good luck.

Reading it now... It has its merits but I see what you mean.

Not a bad idea. I think one problem you'll run into is pricing everything. There's what...a thousand and a bit feats? It's a bit overwhelming. I'm also not the biggest fan because of the amount of bookkeeping it will require on the part of the player, gaining up to 3x the feats they'd normally posess. But it's likely one of the fastest ways to rebalance feats.

We are sticking with Core and APG. So the number of feats is greatly reduced. As for book keeping we are all using hero lab so that makes our lives much easier.

I've been playing with the idea of taking the various feats from the Core and APG and breaking them into 3 tiers.

Tier 1 feats would be high valued feats such as Spring attack. These feats would cost a feat slot and be treated as normal.

Tier 2 would be feats that are good but not great or always needed such as weapon focus. These feats would cost 1/2 a feat and two of these could be taken in a feat slot.

Tier 3 would be feats that often are not taken such as alert or athletic. These feats would cost 1/3 of a feat slot and 3 could be taken per feat slot. You could also take a tier 2 and a tier 3 in place of a feat slot.

I want to try this in order to encourage players to expand their feat selection. Has anyone tried anything like this?

If you are going to go all out and you think you may need to defend against a large force here are some mundane Ideas:
-Clear the forest for 100 ft in every direction
-Have a bolt hole or means of quickly escaping
-Have a stock of food
-Design areas in the fort to give terrain bonus to your players. (roughened terrain in the entrance, pits that trigger for large creatures, elevated firing positions, choke points in hallways where numbers mean nothing, ceiling drops, etc.)

Take a look at the star fort with several bridges to cross and numerous choke points it was able to hold off both Spanish and German invaders during the 80 year war.

I DM'd a large invasion of a mountain fort several years back and my players decimated an army of 85+ giants, orcs, and goblins. They dropped bridges as the enemy crossed, set up choke points for maximized fire balls and lighting bolts, started land slides, and used a stampede of large creatures (covers in burning pitch and carrying barrels of greek fire oil) to dishearten, destroy, and break the invading army.

53. Timtom: At home in the treetops of the jungles canopy. The timtom is the smallest species of feline known. Weighing in at just 12 oz. these tiny predators feed almost exclusively on Squints and are known for their raucous mating calls that can be heard for miles around. Legend states that timtom gallbladder can cure gout.

Mage Evolving wrote:

Or is Disarming strike considered a critical feat and thus unable to stack with Bleeding critical?

Disarming Strike isn't labeled as a critical feat so I don't see why there'd be a conflict.

Quote:

Also If you apply the 2d6 bleed do you also apply the 2x damage associated with a normal critical?

Bleeding Critical says its effects are 'in addition to the damage dealt by the critical hit' so yeah.

This was what many of the players were saying but I think the Dm just got overwhelmed by a slew of new feats and abilities. Thanks!

There is a lot of disagreement about how to properly handle this and we could use some insight.

The 2-handed weapon fighter rolled a natural 20 and confirmed the critical with a 18. He has critical focus, disarming strike, and bleeding critical.

His confirmation disarms the big bad (via disarming strike) but does the critical also confer 2d6 bleed (via bleeding critical) and the 2x damage (falchion)?

Or is Disarming strike considered a critical feat and thus unable to stack with Bleeding critical?

Also If you apply the 2d6 bleed do you also apply the 2x damage associated with a normal critical?

I've been playing this game and its many iterations for a very long time. You are going to run into players like this and my only advice is... Let them leave. Let them get up and leave and don't give it another thought. This is a game. If it's not fun for someone then they shouldn't be playing.

It's not unique but I'm playing the incredible hulk or more accurately Bruce Banner.

My DM only approved the Synthesist because I said I would rarely if ever use my Eidolon. 99% of the time I simply summon monsters, wield a slew of wands, and buff the party. In game, the eidolon is a manifestation of my worst nightmares and emerges only in times of great peril. As a matter of fact I actively try to suppress it (in game I have to fail a will save and then I can summon it via the summon Eidolon spell.) However, the creature is largely mindless and only attacks those things that are attacking me or my party. Once I turn I simply pounce and annihilate. No tactics, no spells, no playing it safe. Afterwards I am fatigued for 1 minute then shaken for 1 hour.

It severely handicaps my character but truth be told no one in the party is optimized and the 4 times I failed my will-save I utterly destroyed everything in the room. My party was convinced I was a poorly designed wizard until the first time I turned. Now they know I'm a poorly designed Synthesist. That said it's one of the funnest games and characters I've played in my 30+ years of gaming.

Absolutely, I have a 17th level barbarian dragon disciple created around this concept.

I'd love to see that character! Sounds terrifying.

I'm playing a level 12 half-orc (1 monk (master of many styles)/ 5 sorcerer (Gold dragon bloodline)/ 6 Dragon Disciple) in a long running campaign.

I am wondering if I could use Feral combat training along with Dragon style and Dragon Ferocity to deliver beefed up claw attacks? I know it's a huge investment (4 feats) for relatively little return but this is not a campaign that requires optimization.

Prerequisite: Improved Unarmed Strike, Weapon Focus with selected natural weapon.

Benefit: Choose one of your natural weapons. While using the selected natural weapon, you can apply the effects of feats that have Improved Unarmed Strike as a prerequisite.

Special: If you are a monk, you can use the selected natural weapon with your flurry of blows class feature.

If this isn't an option is there anyway to make this happen?

Single player or 2 player games... I can't tell you how many times people have said I only have a GM no other players what can we do?

So once I drop my concentration I don't add the +1 round/level?

The spell says Duration concentration + 1 round/level.

Does this mean that I need to maintain concentration in order to maintain the spell?
Or is it that My concentration Which is 16 is added to my level which is 10 so that the spell lasts 26 rounds?

If I am maintaining my concentration can I cast other spells?

Mage Evolving wrote:

Imbicatus wrote:

Disorienting Maneuver provides a circumstance bonus, flanking provides a flanking bonus, and outflank and menacing both increase the flanking bonus.

They all stack, for a +8 to hit. If you really want to get nasty, include circling mongoose.

What would circling mongoose do? I read it and don't understand it fully.

Circling Mongoose allows you to flank your enemy without a flank partner.

Ahhhh!

Disorienting Maneuver provides a circumstance bonus, flanking provides a flanking bonus, and outflank and menacing both increase the flanking bonus.

They all stack, for a +8 to hit. If you really want to get nasty, include circling mongoose.

What would circling mongoose do? I read it and don't understand it fully.

So then with the rogue's Dex of 21 and the Fighters Dex of 18 (both wielding Short swords with weapon finesse and combat reflexes) they could beat the living snot out of an enemy for 12 consecutive attacks at full Attack and 2 more at minuses?

1) fighter attacks and crits + 2) rogues aoo and crits + 3) fighter aoo and crits + 4) rogues aoo and crits + 5) fighter aoo and crits + 6) rogues aoo and crits + 7) fighter aoo and crits + 8) rogues aoo and crits + 9) fighter aoo and crits + 10) rogue aoo and crits + 11) figher has no more aoo nut finishes his second attack and crits + 12) rogue aoo + 13) rogue attacks at full + 14) Rogue takes second attack

I realize the chances of this happening are astronomically small but it's crazy to think about. I think we need to pick up a pair of keen rapiers.

Does a menacing weapon, outflank, and disorientating maneuver all stack? If a rogue used disorientation maneuver to move into flank, wielding a menacing weapon, and with the feat outflank (with a party member with who has outflank) what would his bonus be?

Is: +2 flanking, +2 menacing, + 2 outflank, +2 disorientation maneuver = +8 correct?

*Edited for words

563. Fun with Earwax and other Bodily Secretions by Globeth Fluurg. This beautifully bound leather book is gold embossed and expertly bound. Most of the pages are stuck together by various bodily secretions those that aren't stuck together are perpetually wet. If the book is opened the smell that the book gives off requires a fort check dc 16 to not be nauseated for 2d4 rounds.

Scenario:
-The rogue and the party's Fighter both have Outflank and Combat Reflexes.
-They are flanking the Big Bad.
-The fighter attacks and hits the big bad.
-It's now the rogue's turn.
-The Rogue rolls a natural 20 and confirms.
-The Fighter takes his Attack of Opportunity and rolls a natural 20 and he confirms.
-The fighter argues that because he has outflank this should trigger another attack of opportunity.
-The Dm amused by the situation says sure.
-The rogue takes his Attack of Opportunity and rolls a natural 20 and confirms.
-The rogue argues that the fighter now gets another attack of opportunity and the DM completely dumbfounded agrees.
-The fighter rolls a 19 and again confirms.
-The table erupts into chaos.
-The rogue takes another Attack of opportunity and rolls a three.

This happened earlier tonight and the DM just went along with it because it was the last fight of the night and several of us were packing up to go home. However, I would really like to get a ruling on this so that if it ever happens again we know what to do.

Is this an endless loop?
How many attacks should have been triggered?

I've played games were Monks, and only monks, were given the ability to flurry of blows (full attack-ish) as a standard at the cost of 1 ki point. It changed the game and made the monk, an amazingly fun character. If you gave this to a character class that could do significantly more damage, like a barbarian, I don't know that it would work as well.

*edit for spelling and things

We roll for initiative each round--makes combat less predictable and more fun.

Ruyan.

We jokingly call this Dynamic Initiative. It sound like something out of a self help book, but I completely agree with you about it being less predictable and more fun.

You just described recent seasons of Supernatural...

You mean every season beyond 5th...

An interesting way to measure what makes a good fight might be to create a list of ideas similar to sissyl's and have people rate their importance much like jiggy did.

Personally, a good fight is one that I care about. It should matter to me in one way or another. Beyond that I can't think of a universal element...

In the short term:

Talk to the player one-on-one, outside the game. Explain the issues. Be respectful, be specific. Explain that the gap in PC power is making it difficult to design encounters. Explain that most rules disputes can wait until after the game to resolve. (You could even ask him to help you by keeping a written record of topics that come up and helping you research them later; now he feels helpful instead of villainized.)

This is excellent advice.

I did something like this a few years ago. I used a Raktavarna that grew in power as it was used as the rogues primary weapon. It wasn't until 4th level that the Raktavarna revealed itself (it had just leveled and gained new abilities).

Rather than make the weapon more powerful in terms of static bonuses have you thought about giving it abilities such as scent, tree shape, dark vision, freedom of movement, etc?

483. A Humble Home: The smells of apple pie and fresh laundry waft from the small cabin nestled in the woods. Two small children sit on the porch. When they see the heroes they both run indoors closing the sky blue door behind them. Seconds later you hear a child scream and a blood curdling howl. Entering the house you quickly realize your mistake. The house is a shrine to your exploits.

484. Gnome's Tilted Tower Someone has taken up residence in the old gnomish alchemy tower. The furnaces are at full blast and thick billowing smoke wafts up into the sky resulting in multi-colored storm clouds raining volatile chemical concoctions down on the local populace.

It really is a shame that this isn't off the ground yet. I know so many people who were waiting for it to be realized and have since just moved on to roll20. The chances that they will ever come back to paizo for game space are slim to none. It just makes me sad...

471. Ready, set, go: Once every 25 years comes the Great Race to Freedom. It is a time when the city of Dantre allows 1,000 of its slave a chance to be free. The first 25 slaves to make it to the isle of Dryas are hailed as heroes, given a title, 10 acres, and slaves of their own. The rest are condemned to death and sacrificed to appease the gods.

All you need do is avoid being killed by your fellow slaves, defeat the creatures that are sent out to hunt you down, and get past the devious traps placed between you and your freedom.

You and your companions have been trained by your master, who has a great deal of money riding on your survival, in the various arts. Now all you have to do is survive. No problem right?

Stupid question does it cost anything extra to run an event?

It's an idea I really like. Please update further if you work it out.

So what is the down side of the mage?

The Berserker can go insane but the mage only has up sides...

I thought about different character types (The brute, the sneaky one, the pompous jerk, the dumb do gooder, the strategy minded, etc.), then I asked what would make them fun to play? What toy would enhance that experience? I came up with a list of things that would be both fun to role play and nice to have in combat and went with one I might enjoy.

Then I read it aloud to my wife. Made some changes then tried to use it in a game I was dming. I read it to my players and saw how they used it.

Too much voting makes wife angry... I've seen my submission 4x and I even voted for it 3x! The other item was just so damned awesome.

a weapon that kills things with a single blow no save. just die.

A ring that casts a single spell.

seasonal weapons and armors.

an item that require 3 different books, too much math, and dms approval. sigh

a lightsaber?