Mapleswitch's page

So if we are exclusively looking at Fighter v. Ranger, rangers get a pet and that is neat. Boon Companion helps make that pet your level +1. Humans get a human only feat that gives your pet an additional +1. I cannot remember the name of it because I rarely play Humans.

Ranger specific items include Boots of friendly terrain, Hunter's band, Hunter's cloak, Efficient quiver, Enmity Fetish, Horn of the huntmaster, Comfort's cloak, and Wayfinder* Method 2, #10 = an additional favored enemy (costs 525 gold). There are a couple additional, terrible Ranger items like Horn of antagonism that I have intentionally left out.

Fighters = more feats, no pets. Some of their items include Sash of the war champion, Gloves of dueling, Band of the stalwart warrior, and Manual of war.

I got really tired, I'll try to pick this up tomorrow.

Sarrah wrote:

I'm currently mulling over Zen Archer 1-2, Feral Hunter 1-2, Dragoon 1 (Mounted Archery feat - Level 5), Cavalier (any archetype that does not remove expert trainer) 1-4 (Horse Master feat - Level 9), Spire Defender/Eldritch Archer 1-2, then not sure. (Mounted Archer build)

Ranger and Fighter are about play styles and what you want your character to do. The more specific you want, the more mutliclassing you'll likely have to do. No one class by itself can make a decent mounted archer for example.

I'm going to beg to differ on a couple points.

1) If your going to dip Zen Archer, I personally recommend doing so with something that has wisdom synergy. Ranger or Inquisitor are both great (especially Sanctified Slayer). And then you do a 3 level dip into Zen Archer to use wisdom for AC and to hit with bows. You ignore dex, and focus on wisdom, then strength, then con.

1a) I will admit though that you seem to have something else in mind, I'm just not sure what exactly

2) If your purely going for a mounted archer build you really don't need to invest much to have it be incredibly effective. I'm not sure what your trying to work towards exactly, but Ranger or Inquisitor again both do this incredibly well. For Ranger you need Boon Companion to bring the animal companion up to level. For Inquisitor you need to pick the right Domain or Inquisition that grants an animal companion or mount (and possibly boon companion). For instance Chivalry Inquisition grants you a full progression mount (per cavalier mount), but Animal Domain (and it's subdomains) grant you an animal companion at -3. But that's really all you need. Getting the animal is the hardest part. You don't really need any feats or anything beyond that, unless you want your animal to participate in combat or something (which is silly IMO). The mount is the movement based part of your duo that allows the archer to full attack and decimate everything. You never spend a move action and can always full attack. You don't take...

Over the years, Claton has proven time and time again that s/he's a really smart cookie. Claxon's suggestions are almost always really good :D Thank you for suggesting Inquisitor and a relook at Ranger (my new character starts next Tuesday -- my GM is very cruel and loves to kill player characters; 20 point buy)

Guide to Traits:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dVQA-uI740Hh8vq-zsnbHV6UwJg-4QKlpmkxBEm CdhA/edit?pli=1#

All cleric archetypes are worse than the base stat. Divine Vessel is the only one worth looking at if both a) the campaign is evil and b) you are allowed to play a tiefling.

Monk has three amazing archetypes, instead of saying X is the best - here is a question: Do you want to play a mounted character, an archer, or a melee specialist? (the archery role can be done in melee w/o aoos)

Are you allowed to stack archetypes? My table only allows 1 archetype per class.

When I think of stealth charges, I think of the velosa rapters from Jurassic Park - how they charged through the brush without poking their heads above the flora.

Every class can be a tank. I think your GM will realize this if he saw my wizard tank.

fretgod99 wrote:

What happens if your DM is Captain Tantrum?

Exactly!

This is not a 'DM vs. Player' thing! We would all benefit from knowing what 'wield' means in each context.

Sometimes it's obvious, but sometimes (illustrated by the divide over Courageous) it just isn't.

The only thing we can say for certain is that it sometimes means one thing, sometimes another and other times yet another.

One universal definition would simply make nonsense out of half of the sentences in the rules which use the word.

I totally agree with Malachi Silverclaw.

The dictionary definition of wield (which I will spoiler below) supports all 3 of these definitions.

Wield:

1.) to hold (something, such as a tool or weapon) in your hands so that you are ready to use it

2.) to have and use (power, influence, etc.)

3.) to have at one's command or disposal

I agree with Rynjin that there are 3 definitions to the word wield.

What constitutes "wielding" in the Pathfinder ruleset?

All three definitions are examples of what "wielding" means in Pathfinders.

On the players turn, they may reroll perception with the assist other (+2) bonus. They do not know which square and they do not autosucceed.

A horse with an int of 6 can take ranks in climb. I always do this because I think horses climbing vertical cliffs and overhangs are funny to think about.

VS isn't for everyone. There are some builds that can crack out damage with Vital Strike. Siege Mage is a perfect example of where VS is amazing. A Heavy Catapult goes from 6d6 to 12d6 with Vital Strike. Large (and larger) sized characters and monks are also good choices when thinking about taking vital strike.

Reach weapons cannot attack adjacent targets: done.
Pathfinders is not a game of logic. Pathfinders is a game with magic and unicorns and talking ducks.

If you don't allow rich parents, please keep in mind that a wizard *cough fighter in disguise cough* choosing arcane bonded object: weapon: Masterwork, Mighty +strength Composite Longbow (or any other masterwork weapon they want) is totally legal by core rules.

Don't do what my current GM did: allow a completely green player play a summoner. His turns literally take 5+ minutes.

My Table has the following rules/rule clarifications. They are printed out and passed around, so no one is confused. You may disagree with some of these rulings and that is okay.

1. Synthesist Summoners must choose 1 single attack as its primary attack (1 claws evolution count as 1 primary attack). Having more than 1 attack of this type does not grant additional primary attacks.

2. Players may choose a maximum of one archetype per class they play. For example, if a Level 7 character has chosen to take 7 different classes, they are allowed the maximum of 1 archetype for each of the 7 different classes.

3. Blood Money: “Even valuable components worth more than 1 gp can be created, but creating such material components requires an additional cost of 1 point of Strength damage, plus a further point of damage for every full 500 gp” The additional damage is strength damage.

4. Characters get 1 swift action or 1 immediate action per round. They may not substitute move or standard actions to grant them additional swift or immediate actions per round.

5. Scent has two shapes. It is either a 30 foot circle or in the shape of a tear drop (10 foot where the wind is coming from to 30 foot where the wind is going, with the sides being 15 foot from the center).

6. Players must have BOTH written up the statistics of their animal companions, familiars, mounts, pets, summoned creatures, etc. and given me a copy to use them in the gaming session.

7. If a player has Spell Resistance, they must tell me the number they have before each gaming session.

8. I will roll all spellcraft and perception rolls. Tell me your bonuses.

9. I will run cohorts as npcs. They will not be magical item crafters that sit in town making your gear while you adventure.

10. Wizard/Alchemist levels stack for familiars only when the Alchemist chooses the tumor familiar discovery. Wizard/Alchemists with the tumor familiar may only have one familiar at a time – either a tumor familiar or a regular familiar.

11. Rules are to be argued after combat, not during it. If a rule is done wrong that directly results in a character’s death, the character miraculously appears in the party later (with all their gear).

12. Creating Magical Items: Reduction in creation costs directly causes a reduction in sale costs of the same %.

13. Creating Magical Items: Players cannot add +5 to the DC if they do not meet the level prerequisite for 3x caster level per +1 enhancement bonus to a magical weapon/armor/shield.

14. Every character needs an alignment. Characters will have their alignments shifted as to how you play your character. Alignment shifts of certain classes may require atonement.

15. Perception: people can see beyond their perception bonus + 200 feet. They cannot make out keen details of something beyond their perception bonus + 200 feet (like a hidden monster waiting to ambush the party).

16. Mounted Charges and Ride-by Attack. The rules say charges happen in a straight line directly towards the target and ride-by attack allows for passage beyond a creature, possibly implying the need for overrun or trample. I believe ride-by attack feat grants charging not directly towards a creature.

17. Standing on a table is sufficient for the +1 attack bonus from ‘higher ground’ even if the table is only 2 feet tall.

18. Multiarmed Freaks: How much strength damage does my attack get? The offhand damage gets 50% of whatever the main hand gets. If a 4 armed character wields two two-handed swords, then the main hand would be maximum for the main attack and 50% higher for using a two-handed sword. Thus, the main hand would do 150% strength and the offhand would do 75% strength. There are various feats and spells to increase damage by additional 50% increments. If the main hand is increased again by 50%, then the main hand does 200% strength and the offhand does 100% strength. If the main hand is increased again by 50%, then the main hand does 250% strength and the offhand does 125% strength. I do not know of a way to get more than 3 -> 50% increases to strength damage at once.

19. Vestigial arms do not grant extra attacks per round, but they can be used to help out another hand wield a 2-handed weapon.

20. Alchemists do not cast spells. They are not arcane spell casters.

21. Sneak Attack from Multiple Sources: When you add the two+ classes that grant you sneak attack damage together, you gain an additional dice of sneak attack every time the classes add to an odd number. (1dX at 1, 2dX at 3, 3dX at 5)

22. Intelligent Items (such as those found with certain Magus Archetypes) can be upgraded by the intelligence bonuses as described on page 532 in the Core Rules. As to whether this item can be enhanced by other means will be decided later and apply to all future characters.

23. Magic Spells can be copied from magic scroll or spell book. See page 219 of the Core Rule Book. Spells learned from scrolls vanish leaving a sheet of paper behind. Scrolls are 25 x spell level x caster level.

24. Masterwork Skeleton Keys are made by 1 person in each city. A player must travel to multiple cities to gain multiple masterwork skeleton keys. A metropolis will have key makers in each districts. Skeleton Key makers are not publicized, as they are not the most legal craft in the world.

Sarrah wrote:

Rogues, when built correctly, are the 2nd highest damaging class in the game. It is just that most people do not know how to build rogues.

I built a L11 rogue not too long ago that could do 300+ DPR.

Can you post that here please?

Halfling Scout (Rogue Archetype) L10 / Sohei (Monk Archetype) 1 (25 Point build)

Sohei:
Devoted Guardian: Always act in surprise round; Flurry of Blows; Improved Unarmed Attack;

Scout:
Scouts Charge, Skirmisher, (explained below right before attack)

Halfling Alternate Racial:
Swift as Shadows Halflings possess incredible stealth even while moving through obstructed areas. Halflings with this racial trait reduce the penalty for using Stealth while moving by 5, and reduce the Stealth check penalty for sniping by 10. This racial trait replaces sure-footed. (move 5 feet less than full movement at no penalty)

Skills:
Stealth (11+3+3+4-1)
Perception (11+wis+5+2)
Survival (11+wis+3): (+5 tracking)
Climb (positioning)
Handle Animal (11+wis+3)
Acrobatics (jump – tight rope walking – balance: positioning, at least 3 ranks)
Bluff (11+cha+3) (+2 feint)
Escape Artist (11+dex+3)
Ride (11+dex+3)

Feats:
TWF (reduce penalty, extra offhand attack)
Improved TWF (extra offhand attack)
Sap Adept (+20 D)
Sap Master (+5d6 sneak attack)
Mounted Skirmisher (mount moves up to full speed, you get all attacks) (Sohei bonus feat)
Mounted Combat (negate 1 hit against mount by rolling ride check above attack roll) (Rogue Talent feat)
Knockout Artist (+1 damage per sneak attack dice rolled)
Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike) (+1 to hit)

Rogue Talents:
Powerful Sneak (-2 to hit, all 1s on sneak attack becomes 2s)
Bleeding Attack (10 bleed damage)
(UC) Ninja Trick (Pressure Point) (+1 Dex damage per hit, no save)
Fast Stealth (move at full speed w/o stealth penalty)
Combat Trick (Mounted Combat)

Advanced Rogue Talent:
Deadly Sneak (all 1s and 2s on sneak attack become 3s)

Equipment:
Belt of Giant Strength (+6)
Vest of Vengeful Tracker (+2 damage per attack that has been successfully tracked)
Lens of Detection (+5 perception and +5 tracking (survival))
Sandals of Quick Reaction (both move and attack in surprise round)
Stalker’s Mask (+1 A/D against a single target / day)
Dead Man’s Headband (+5 CMD vs sunder and steal, +2 intimidate, some other stuff)
Magical +1 Mithral Breastplate (agile)
Magical +1 Composite Longbow (adaptative: +6 Strength)
Quickchange Cloak (take nat 20s making a disguise, use those rolls later)
Bag of Holding 1
Deliquescent Gloves
Amulet of Mighty Fist 2 (+1 Magical and Corrosive)
13,000 g – the cost of a mount
A Mount

*Mount has to move at least 10 feet or charge for the enemy to be treated as if they were flat footed,
OR you move at least 10 feet or charge for the enemy to be treated as if they were flat footed,
OR the rogue has to be flanking to get sneak attack;

4 attacks with sneak attack
Melee to Hit: 7 BAB + 6 Strength +1 size + 1 Magical +1 weapon focus – 2 rogue talent -2 TWF = +12/+12/+7/+7 (+1 vs. a single target / day)
4 attacks: 1d4 elbow + 10d6 sneak attack +37 (20 sap adept + 6 strength +1 magical +10 when opponent denied dex / flat footed)) +10 bleed+d6 acid +d6 cold +1 DEX ((nonlethal) minimum: 280 +10 bleed +4 DEX/average: 326 + 10 bleed + 4 DEX/maximum: 452 + 10 bleed + 4 DEX) (+8 Damage against creatures that have been tracked) (+4 Damage against a single target /day)

1 attack
Moving 10 feet to get 1 sneak attack is more damage than full attack not sneak attacking – not to mention hitting flat footed AC is easier, +14 to hit (+1 to hit against a single target / day), ((nonlethal) Minimum 70 + 10 bleed + 1 DEX, Average 81.5 + 10 bleed + 1 DEX, Maximum 113 + 10 Bleed + 1 DEX) (+2 Damage against creatures that have been tracked) (+1 Damage against a single target / day)

Do we have any military personnel Pathfinder players that can comment on what happens during the 'heat of the moment' in combat when the enemy throws up their arm and says "I surrender"?

Family always takes priority to gaming :)

I really like the link. The goblins become an actual threat. The bands become more realistic. I already did a slight increase to my shadow beasts to make them more scary - I like how you did yours also. Your ideas are creative. If the party keeps ignoring problems in town, the goblins are going make a push for power - the party returns to see smoke over the town. Love it.

I personally believe we GMs should maximize freedom of our players, so while the plot device would work in most game - it would feel wrong in mine. I feel bad that you spent so much time coming up with that intelligent item :(. I've never heard the term GMPC, but it sounds right. Cohorts are also GMPCs - because one of my players *cough* Nick *cough* used cohorts as magic item creators and would sit them in town to create his gear, while everyone else adventured.

I put the Children of Westcrown's hideout in a shrine to Sarenrae. A lot of the children are dressed as followers sitting in the shrine listening to the sermons (Fiosa is preaching) (a convincing lie for anyone who enters), while the leaders are through a door and down a set of stairs in the back to plan and plot future actions. The paladin is a follower of Pharasma and, purely through roleplaying, believes he will be struck down with lightning if he enters the shrine. The leaders do not discuss their plots anywhere other than the basement, because the guards are always listening and looking for people who would betray the kingdom. The guards have arrested people on the streets for speaking ill towards the government in front of the party. Due to events like this, the leaders of the resistance are way more cautious about saving face in public.

Those are some really good ideas about tying the ruins back in with the adventure. You've given me lots of ideas about how to incorporate the ruins back into the story. Thank you.

I couldn't fathom how they could learn it otherwise, and the way you To help your crew get back on track, I've got a few questions:

1) have they been made "indispensable" or are your PCs "killable"?
2) if they are able to be killed, do you have pre-existing mechanisms to introduce new characters**?
3) if you do not, do you have any method by which characters can be beaten but not killed?***
4) are the PCs introduced to the Children of Westcrown? Are they part of that organization?
5) has Arael been kidnapped yet?
6) what is the motivation for your PCs?
7) are you going by XP or "necessary level" - if by XP, how much are these ruins worth, and how is this going to alter their level? Are you okay with that if it does? (I usually am, in our games.)
8) regardless, what are you doing about treasure? Are the ruins empty/looted (likely, if the other adventurers came here first), or will the PCs have "too much" loot? (This is fine with me in our games, but it's up to you what you feel is comfortable - your players may behave differently than mine.)

Hehe. One of my players is a paladin. A few sessions ago, the paladin did the *shakes head* annoying tactic of 'lets go through town and detect evil'. Needless to say, they found the hidden base described on page 58 (The Bastards of Erebus), because Sevarn is evil and above Level 4. After clearing the bottom floor, they found Paralictor Gonville Chard and friends upstairs. He wiped the floor with the party. One player ended up dying before they retreated. When players do stupid things, like fighting encounters above ECL+3, I don't tone down fights.

If you are asking if players suddenly warp into the party as if they were always there - no. I get their race/class/general background and try to figure out where they would be and try to subtly lead the party in that direction. It is up to the party to recruit other members. They can recruit NPCs also.

In my campaigns, I try to have many factions all with different intents and objectives. Sometimes these objectives are mugging the players (nonlethal damage), stealing (sleight of hand), players being taken prisoners (player commits crime, guards after them), various roleplay, highway men, spying, various combat, traps, environmental hazards, hiring the party to do their dirty work under the guise of helping the community, etc. In this campaign specifically, the thieves guild robs people on occasion. There are three specific highway men group with their own agendas and various smaller bands that just rob people. The guards are always on the lookout for people speaking poorly of the kingdom / people breaking the laws. The gnomish population has been persecuted against and lives in the poor side of town. The children of westcrown are playing their part. Various wooden token have been showing up at various locations (thefts/murders: but the player's haven't figured out where or why yet). A local adventuring guild with various bounties and sometimes party members after they've made new characters. etc. I'm a big fan of writing out letters to hand to the players, and some organizations sending their letters in codes.

The party has been introduced a couple times and have never joined up with the Children of Westcrown. I made a map of the sewers before the first session, leaving the far edges blank. In the sewers, they went a wildly different direction from Janiven to the point that I had to roll on the random sewers chart for about an hour until they found an exit. The party helped with the release of Arael at the bridge by destroying the bridge. They ended up killing the other two prisoners riding in Arael's prisoner carriage. The paladin has something against the group and is unwilling to go into their base of operations / talk to any member. With the exception of the paladin, the main motivation of the group is greed of magical items.

The party is currently several levels higher than the adventure and would likely wipe the floor with the bastards if they ever find them. As for party wealth, I am not concerned. They will not pick up masterwork full plate off dead enemies. They will not pick up coin sacks with 100 plat off dead enemies. If it is not magical and on a dead body, they will not take it. They will search rooms for treasure though.

Is there a way to account for infamy points in addition to fame points?

Wizards --> L1 Scribe Scroll
Alchemists --> L1 Brew Potion
Clerics + Rune Domain --> L1 Scribe Scroll
Oracle + Juju Mystery + Craft Juju Fetishes --> L1 Craft Wonderous Items (Juju's only)

In my campaign, I make all random ages. The master wizard in my town is a 13 year old girl. Imagine roleplaying the craziness of an extremely powerful child with no understanding of consequences, politics, etc.

The Emei Piercer would work well with a person who is great at roleplaying. Someone who is trying to play a diplomat/spy/assassin (who also has poison use) could easily hide the poisoned 'thumb tac on a ring' by flipping the back side up on their hand, walk right in, shake some poor saps hand, and poison them.

Have you ever heard the term Paladar? Without facing, the paladin can use that thing as a radar until something pings.

Example 1. There is an evil creature inside a house made out of wood roughly 40 feet from Paladar. When Paladar focuses in that direction, s/he will get a ping. It doesn't matter that there is 4 inches of wood, some furniture, and a table between Paladar and the evil thing.

Example 2. An illusion itself is of no alignment. However, if there is an evil target behind the illusion - it will ping the Paladar.

Example 3. A Paladar roams a town of common folk killing the statistical 1/3rd of the population that is evil. The town contract out work to the capital's elite guard to come to this town and save it from the Evil Paladar who is slaughtering the innocent townsfolk.

Yes, the Paladar will see the evil. However, if the illusion is of an innocent townsfolk and the Paladar attacks it, then there may soon be a bounty on Paladar's head.

Laws change from town to town, from country to country. How to play a lawful character really depends on where the character was born.

There are some sites where you can buy around 1000 random dice for like $15.00.

I have created a broken character that needed 84d6 per round (if every attack hit).

Reach Weapons, Combat Patrol, Lunge, and Enlarge Person are the only ways I know to increase reach - to melee sneak attack at a distance.

Roll Needed To hit------1 attack-------- TWF or RS -2/-2
2-----------------------0.95------------1.7
3-----------------------0.90------------1.6
4-----------------------0.85------------1.5
5-----------------------0.80------------1.4
------------------6-----------------------0.75------------1.3
------------------7-----------------------0.70------------1.2
------------------8-----------------------0.65------------1.1
------------------9-----------------------0.60------------1.0
-----------------10----------------------0.55------------0.9
-----------------11----------------------0.50------------0.8
-----------------12----------------------0.45------------0.7
-----------------13----------------------0.40------------0.6
-----------------14----------------------0.35------------0.5
-----------------15----------------------0.30------------0.4
-----------------16----------------------0.25------------0.3
-----------------17----------------------0.20------------0.2
-----------------18----------------------0.15------------0.1
-----------------19----------------------0.10------------0.1
-----------------20----------------------0.05------------0.1

I'm terribly confused - are you looking for data more like this? Where it shows in 10 rounds of combat if you need to roll a 5 to hit with a single attack, the rogue with 1 attack statistically hits 8 times and the average rogue with Two Weapon Fighting or Rapid Shot statistically hits 14 times?

Heretic: Judgement (Escape): melee or shoot someone in the face to rehide during combat with no penalty to stealth (so the next attack you can sneak attack). There are two other bonus features at L1.

Rogues who throw daggers do amazing amounts of damage.

You are a barrel merchant. When you need to move undead, stuff them into a barrel, roll them onto your cart and go.

Would any good person kill any other humanoid for any reason? Self-defense maybe and accidents - can you think of any other reason? Would these good people stand by idly and watch others get slaughtered by their teammates and friends?

I believe the alignment "Good" in pathfinders does not mean "good", but rather a lesser form of evil than some of the other alignments.

I know this post is really old, but I see an error in the spreadsheet. The B side of the chart is slightly higher than it should be over the course of the entire chart. Doing quick math, the only time rolling a single shot is better than rapid shooting is when the target requires rolling an 18 (exact) to hit (0.15 | 0.10)

Be the wizard, always have a run away spell ready, and be selfish when combat looks like it is going poorly.

If the party member jumped off the cliff 0.1 seconds after the bbeg, the bbeg would be out of range after 1.6 seconds.

In this time, the bbeg would have fallen 46.26 feet and the party member would have fallen 41.01 feet.
46.26 - 41.01 = 5.15
5.15 > 5 feet reach

Bard
L0
Flare
Light
Spark (choose whether to speak or move)
L1
Abstemiousness
Feather Fall
Flare Burst
Haze of Dreams
Invigorate
Jury-Rig
Lighten Object
Liberating Command
Solid Note
Tap Inner Beauty
Timely Inspiration
Ventriloquism
L2
Allegro
Bladed Dash
Blindness/Deafness
Blur
Buoyancy
Darkness
Gallant Inspiration
Honeyed Tongue
Piercing Shriek
Steal Voice
Suggestion
Tongues
L3
Displacement
Geas, Lesser
Invigorate, Mass
Lover’s Vengeance
Tongues, Communal
Vision of Hell
L4
Dance of a Hundred Cuts
Denounce
Dimension Door
Echolocation
Primal Scream
Shout
Virtuoso Performance
L5
Bladed Dash, Greater
Frozen Note
Resonating Word
Suggestion
L6
Brilliant Inspiration
Dance of a Thousand Cuts
Geas/Quest
Irresistible Dance
Pied Piping
Unconscious Agenda

Catskin Leather

Aura strong transmutation; CL 13th Weight 15 lbs.; Price 18,910 gp
DESCRIPTION

Rather than the hide of a cat, this extremely supple suit of jet-black +1 shadow leather armor grants a portion of the grace and fortune of a feline. It has no armor check penalty or maximum Dexterity bonus. The wearer receives a +5 competence bonus on Acrobatics checks and takes only half normal damage from falling. When the wearer's hit points would be reduced to a negative amount equal to her Constitution score from an attack or spell, the armor falls to pieces and is destroyed, and the wearer takes only half damage from the attack or spell.

No ACP, No Max Dex, +2 AC for being leather, +1 for enhancement bonus, various other benefits.

Something fun and something with consequence but not game breaking.

I used to go with that set of rolling as a critical miss and have something zany happen but rolling with a grp of dms

The original poster is not asking for the standard rules of rolling 1 one makes the critical attempt fail. S/he's asking for ways to make the game more interesting and fun for the players.

Something fun? Something different would be that it confirms the critical, but the weapon gets stuck in the critters body and requires a standard action (provoking attacks of opportunity) to pull it out.

or

The critical is confirmed, but the character loses grip of the weapon (breaking any existing weapon cords) and it flies in a random direction XX feet from the character.

Are you thinking of ideas along this line of thinking?

So, at higher levels there is this ultra cheesy thing you can do called create your own greater demiplane and set its time so it goes really, really fast. 1 round in the real world is a year in the cheesy demiplane.

"Time: By default, time passes at the normal rate in your demiplane. By selecting this feature, you may make your plane have the erratic time, flowing time (half or double normal time), or timeless trait (see Time, GameMastery Guide 185)." - requires 2 castings, suggested permanency afterwards.

Your DM will roll his or her eyes when you pull this one out.

Secure shelter should make a fine place for crafting. Rope Trick also works.

campgrounds at night (if you have watches and a ring of sustenance).

My understanding of the 4 hours of work is it takes place throughout the day when your character has time. It just happens. Like during meals, during short breaks, riding on a wagon, waiting in the inn, leaning against a stone wall in a dungeon, etc.

All archers should totally dip 1 level into heretic (inquisitor):

"Escape (Su): Each time the inquisitor using this judgment hits an opponent with a melee or ranged attack, she can use a move action attempt to create a diversion to hide (see the Stealth skill)."

No -20 penalty to re-hide after shooting someone in the face!

To refer back to the original post:

From my experience as a DM, there will always be certain players who will try to break the game - to take the rules to the extreme for their desire to be more powerful than the rest of the party. These people typically use 99% of their money to make magical items. Some people will steal from the party to make more magical items for themselves, effectively using greater than 100% of their own wealth.

There are a few ways for DMs to alleviate this problem that the rest of the group faces. One way is to keep the game going - to prevent down time for crafting. Back in 3.x, having no down time literally meant that the feats were a waste of a feat. In Pathfinders, people can work 4 hours a day and get 2 hours worth of credit towards the magical item. (There are a whole host of ways to get more crafting hours in which I'm sure other people can be more specific about). This 4 hours of work for 2 hours of crafting - while adventuring - is one of the ideas that makes Pathfinders better than 3.x. The player should not feel "cheated" for having the ability to make magical items while adventuring.

If there is ample time to craft from L1-13, that is fine. When characters get higher levels (14+), they have the ability to acquire more ways of increasing the amount of time they can spend crafting each day. The demiplane example, refer to above, is one of the stupidest, most broken ways to achieve this end. Clearly at L17, they no longer need any free time to craft :p

***Non-Mythic***

AC 132 Base, 97 Touch, 125 Flat-footed (+2 vs. AoO, +7 vs ranged/thrown weapons)

This hypothetical character was a (Asura-Spawn) tiefling with a starting Wisdom/Dexterity of 20. She took 20 levels in Monk and put all extra ability points (L4/8/12/16/20) into Dexterity.

Beast Shape 4/Undead Anatomy 4: +8 dex (size)
Tiny = +2 AC for size
Wish - +5 inherent bonus to dex and wisdom
L4/8/12/16/20 +5 dex
Monk L20 = 5 AC + Wisdom + Dexterity
At L20, the modified Wisdom = 42 and the modified Dexterity = 52

Age Resistance, Greater + Venerable Age Category
Tree Shape: +10 to natural armor
Barkskin +5 enhancement bonus to natural armor
Dance of a Hundred Cuts: +5 morale bonus to AC
Tactical Acumen +4 insight bonus to cover AC
Interposing Hand +4 cover AC
Bullet Shield +8 deflection bonus to AC from ranged and thrown weapons
Cloak of Winds (-4 to enemy ranged attack, just like a +4 non-specific bonus to AC from ranged attacks)
Aspect of the Stag +2 dodge bonus to AC vs AoO
Blessing of Fervor +2 dodge bonus to AC

Dodge Feat: +1 dodge bonus to AC
Crane Style/Crane Wing/Crane Riposte - fighting defensively (with 3 ranks in acrobatics)
+3 AC for fighting defensively, +1 extra dodge bonus to AC
Combat Expertise (-3 A, +3 dodge bonus to AC)

Magic Item
+5 AC bonus to luck, profane, sacred,
Bracers of Armor 8
Belt of Dexterity +14 (196kg)
Headband of Wisdom +14 (196kg)
Ring of Protection +5 deflection

Did I miss anything?

Theurgy: If you were going to take advantage of this feat you'd plan be a Mystic Theurge (which gains much the same ability) (Is Mystic theurge the worst class?)

MT is a good class if you know how to make it. That feat is not for Mystic Theurges. I've been working on a MT guide including archetypes for each class option.

Perception = hearing AND vision AND touch. Invisibility gives a +20 stealth to VISION. The caster does not get a +20 stealth to silent walking. A simple perception would detect the square the mage is in (unless s/he is flying, levitating, has silence going, or something similar). Beating the +stealth bonus with a perception would indicate seeing and following feet prints on the ground/body shapes moving low lying fog in the air, an insect flying into an invisible object, and would allow the zen archer to hit the mage without the 50% miss chance.

Most players and dungeon masters forget to calculate the distance factor into perception checks. (-1 perception per 10 feet you are away from the target), so the zen archer from 150 feet away would have to roll 35 (15 from 150 feet and 20 from stealth) above your stealth check roll to see you.

Int Based fighter....

Easy.
Unarmed Figher 1 Level, then Master of Many Styles 2 levels, then either fighter or ranger til the cows come home.

Level 1 Unarmed Fighter Feat - Kirin Style, Level 2 MoMS - Kirin Strike, Level 3 MoMs - Kirin Path

+2 to knowledge checks. After identifying the type of monster (as a swift action) you are fighting - you get + int bonusx2 to damage (swift action), moving to potentially flank a hostile creature without need for combat maneuvers, acrobatics checks, or threats of aoos, and +2 to saves. Great!