MarcFrey's page

Btw Jolly.. the Archetype page hasn't been loading on my phone since Tuesday :(

All other pages appear fine though.

Quick question; if you pre-order do you get it sooner (or pdf?) Or is that only got subscribers?

Already preordered; but curious to know :)

to me it seems something like this:

elemental overflow:
as you gain burn, more and more elemental matter starts swirling around you, seeping through your pores, emanating from you, CHANGES YOU.
According to the classification fo the size bonus you just gave us, it CHANGES us enough that it actually gives us "size" bonuses (akin to having let's say a thick layer of earth around you giving you "size" bonus to constitution p.e.)

Kinetic form:
But when you actually gather so much elemental matter around that you actually change size, which should be a ton more than what you get from elemental overflow, you get... nothing?

i just can't visualize how the elements that change you a little (at least not enough to change size), when you actually gather enough to do so, they do nothing of that sort.

The way I see it is like you said; you've gathered the energy already.. That's your size bonus. Kinetic form isn't gathering so much energy you change size as much as forcing that energy you already built up inside you to come out and form an elemental body around you.

Man... I REALLY want the Aether / Earth ultimate defence combo at level 7...

But at the same time I don't think it's worth losing my composite blast and DR bypass D:

Level 15 is so far...

Just out of curiosity, what would be the visual effect for Elemental Overload on an Aether kineticist? There is generally no visible effect for TK. Maybe random pebbles orbiting you like ioun stones? You hair floating on strands of aether? Your force ward becomes a visible sphere like a droideka?

When I was thinking of making my telekinetist I imagined that overflow would likely have an effect similar to Air without gust of winds; so objects near you shaking, objects on you seeming to almost float as if an invisible current of air. Small objects in your path simply forced to the side.

It makes sense to avoid Guardian switching etc.. but at same time disappointing as you can't go in as trickster on first round and then switch to something else following the surprise attack.

Yea sorry, I should have clarified as to not mix anyone else reading this.

Thanks Markov

Slight change in subject; Can anyone clarify if a Spirit Dancer takes 1 point of influence every time he enters a Spirit dance?

And can you switch spirit midway through a dance (I assumed you could, but it's not actually mentioned anywhere... And if it's a free action wouldn't you simply switch from attack to Guardian at the end of your turn for extra AC all the time?)

I'm wanting to make a Spirit Dancer so the lack of spells isn't a big deal since I can switch spirit on the spot..

But I can see how it would basically remove the Archmage from being as useful until higher level for a straight forward Medium.

Thanks for the quick answers! :)

Hey all,

Quick question about the Archmage spirit. When picking the Archmage spirit during the first three levels; do you only have one 1st level spell known total from the wizard/sorcerer spell list?

Or did I miss a mention of you gaining a certain amounts of spell known from elsewhere?

Thanks in advance!

Average good save is 15, so they save on a 10. So .45 * 2 + .55 *.5 = 1.175. So you are either spending burn or using most of your free infusion to do slightly more than normal damage on average. And force doesn't work with elemental focus, which is the most accessible DC booster to kineticists.

Strangely enough, it is good against creatures that are normally immune to fort saves: Constructs and Undead, especially constructs.

Thanks Calth and Someweirdguy for the quick answers :)

Hmm. Hopefully they'll bring a way to increase that DC a bit.

Quick question for you lovely people.

How good are monster's fort saves?
I was looking a Disintegrate Infusion, and see a lot of people saying it's horrible due to the save and high burn cost.

But at the same time, by level 12 it cost only 1 burn to use and by 14 it becomes free to use (This excludes Gathering Power as well, leaving 2 free burn for another infusion). Meanwhile a composite blast cost 2 burns until level 16.

By level 12 the DC for Disintegrate should be 10 + 1/2 CL + Con, assuming starting con of 18, belt of Con +4 this brings us to ~DC 22.

If the player also put 2 points to the ability mod and assuming the players burn of 5 activates elemental overflow for +4 to Con it's now a DC 25 at 12.

Anyone have monster fort save stats average to give me success percentage? (DC 25 sounds pretty decent to me, but I haven't looked into monster saves much before.)

MarcFrey wrote:

Hey Jolly,

I'm loving the discussion happening on this thread so far and happy to see someone making a guide.

I agree with the majority of what you have so far. My only surprise is the rating for internal buffer.

I feel like it should be given more credit. Internal Buffer is pretty much a freebie. Free extra 1-3 burn over your daily max.
If you prep it up the night before...
It can give you 1-3 free burns per day (which don't count against your maximum burn limit).
It also works on utility talents (which you mention).
It allows you to cheat the maximum burn per round 1-3 times a day.

Meanwhile, if you can't prep it up the night before:
It allows you to activate your Defence power in the morning without losing that burn (for those who don't like putting a burn into Kinetic Defence in the mornings)
At higher level it allows you to reach elemental overflow and keep all those burns for the offensive.

Wow, you've even got me thinking it's worth more than listed... good job. :) My only real problem with internal buffer is, I pretty much never have left over burn at the end of a day. Unlike people who are worried about spending burn too early, I use burn regularly and oft run out before I should. :P

Haha!

Hmm. I can see how that would be troublesome. Depending what type of campaign you play just make sure to fill it whenever there's 'downtime'. Otherwise just start off your day filling it up to get your Elemental overload in right away to maximize your damage :D

Hey Jolly,

I'm loving the discussion happening on this thread so far and happy to see someone making a guide.

I agree with the majority of what you have so far. My only surprise is the rating for internal buffer.

I feel like it should be given more credit. Internal Buffer is pretty much a freebie. Free extra 1-3 burn over your daily max.
If you prep it up the night before...
It can give you 1-3 free burns per day (which don't count against your maximum burn limit).
It also works on utility talents (which you mention).
It allows you to cheat the maximum burn per round 1-3 times a day.

Meanwhile, if you can't prep it up the night before:
It allows you to activate your Defence power in the morning without losing that burn (for those who don't like putting a burn into Kinetic Defence in the mornings)
At higher level it allows you to reach elemental overflow and keep all those burns for the offensive.

Hi Mark,

Quick question; Would the Dwarven alt racial "Stonesinger" (and all other racial of the sort) affect the damage die of the Earth Kineticist the same as Gnomes Pyromaniac racial affect alchemists bombs?

Yea that's unfortunate.

Looks to me like aether is a better secondary pick to boost your main element than it is primary. :(

Oh well still loving the class, but I'll consider rolling geokinesis primary... Hmm...

Awh... Is Aether really the only element to not get a 2d6*level composite blast? :(

Did I miss something else that counters that? or does it really not keep up in damage compare to the other blasts?

MarcFrey wrote:

Are there any new Kineticist feat? (Other than the Extra Talents?)

Thanks!
(3 more days...)

Yes! And they are very classy.

- Delay your blast for a few rounds. I really like that you can do it as often as you like with no burn cost.
- Teamwork feat to combine your basic blast with another Kineticist to form a composite blast! This one is really cool and lets you get up to some fun shenanigans. It's a great way for earth/water/air blast kineticists to team up to stomp all over DR, fire a line effect down a hallway without exposing yourself, and play around with composite blasts without actually getting them.
- Counter opposite elemental abilities (Fire vs water/ice and vice versa only) like breath weapons or other blasts.
- Get a big bonus on your jumps once per day by doing a kinetic rocket jump. One point of burn, and it's at-will for the whole day.
- Rig your body to explode violently if you die. Pros: no-save no-miss damage on anybody who makes the mistake of murdering you in melee, great way to go out with a bang. Cons: You're going to be a lot harder to resurrect now.

omg those all sound amazing hah! That last one though... Omg. I may just HAVE to do that...

I really like the sound of the teamwork one as well! Makes having multiple kineticist really cool!

Are there any new Kineticist feat? (Other than the Extra Talents?)

Thanks!
(3 more days...)

Oh here's another question...

Is there any new items specialized for the Kineticist?

Thanks again :)

MarcFrey wrote:

Hey all!

For anyone with the book; for the kineticists - is there additional reasons for Aether to take the Expended element Aether?
In the playtest there was only one simple blast for aether and only 1 or 2 composite blast for it.

Thanks all! :D
(Special thanks to Mark who I see answering people's questions constantly on the boards! I can feel your love for Pathfinder through all of your posts!)

I just looked through the composite blasts and there is force blast, and there is an ability that you can pick up called force hook which acts like the spell Force Hook Charge. I did not see anything else that required expanded element (aether). I could be missing something

Oh that's great news! Thanks for replying :D

Hey all!
For anyone with the book; for the kineticists - is there additional reasons for Aether to take the Expended element Aether?
In the playtest there was only one simple blast for aether and only 1 or 2 composite blast for it.

Thanks all! :D
(Special thanks to Mark who I see answering people's questions constantly on the boards! I can feel your love for Pathfinder through all of your posts!)

The only thing I can say would help is to slow down your damage game for some defence. Switch out Slashing Grace for Dodge or you can go Tiefling and take Armor of the Pit for a +2 Natural Armor (This will make you lose both WF and Slashing Grace though. =/ )

Currently playing a Tiefling Kensai with 1 level dip in swashbuckling for finesse.

Slow start due to lack of slashing Grace, but AC is currently 18.

Good luck! I'm feeling your pain here too! Crit twice in my first game... Went down to 0 first time, was healed and now sitting at -2 waiting to be healed :(

399
1 more after me to reach 400 ;)

I own a Microsoft Surface (1st gen) and use that instead of a. character sheet.

I create personalized character sheets via excel for each of my characters as I find the current online ones restrictive.

All my stats and bonus are linked to one another and will update themselves if I add or remove an item.

Additionally I have a temporary stat block which will automatically update all stats when someone temporarily buffs me.

My next character will be a Magi and I've already have my sheet ready including checkbox for current personal magus weapon enchants.

If I need extra info for anything I just use d20psfrd site.

Interesting sidenote: I will CONSIDER (no guarantee) 3pp stuff IF the players buys me the book (other GMs I know have the same policy). I've yet to hear of anybody taking up the offer.

Actually, I've bought my DM UM and UC simply for having been such a great DM all year long and constantly hosting our group :)

(Funny thing: Once I gave him the books his first question was "What's in there that you want... =.="

@jimmibone83

As it's been previously mentioned at your table, feel free to house rule this how you would like.

My only advice to you is to warn your players of the rule beforehand so they're aware of it during character creation as it affects a lot of class features.

Ex. Magus archetype Kensai, gets bonus damage only when enemies are flat footed (which is very rare other than at beginning of combat).

It also lowers the usefulness of the class feature to never get caught flat footed.

And gimps sneak attackers into having to trick/sneak their first sneak attack in.

Cheers,
Marc

I feel like you get gimped a lot...
It's good as a quick burst damage, but I like the idea of enchanting my weapon for a minute AND still having left over points for my Magus Arcana better.

It's a nice and different archetype for the magus though, for anyone wanting to go a sort of magic using rogue :)

And that's why you should always carry a range weapon on you. =D

If you're wanting to go more melee the Kensai archetype is basically a light armor, melee oriented magus that can cast spells (but with a reduction).

The good side of the Kensai is that his build is based on Speed and reflex. Which works well with your concept of assassin.

Spell combat allows you to as a full round action, cast a spell and attack on the same round. So you can do tricks such as attacking, 5ft step back and using vanish in a very assassin like manner.

For more info on Magus, I suggest looking at the guides posted on the stickied forum, it's very complete.

As for assassin's, I've yet to play one... So I can't help you there sorry!

It depends what you want to do, if you''re into optimizing your character, then everyone will tell you that the SpellBlade archetype is horrible, mostly because what you trade in for the spellblade isn't worth it.

If you just like the RP aspect of spawning a dagger etc. Then go for it, it will definitely make your character look awesome :)

The way I always saw it, is the Kensai is just like a gunslinger. Quick at drawing.
So the second you sense something, ex the bandit jumping out of the trees, you've already got your weapon out and are ready to act.

As for the "Is never surprised" I understood it as you always act in the surprise round as the round still happens. If its only you and the bandit, I guess you can skip it... but if you have any companions then you'd attack, bandit would attack/move and then the first round would occur for everyone.

Dexterity already gives your character more AC, is used for lots of skills, is used for ranged weapons and for Reflex saves.

If you could remove Str from the equation with no loss there would be no point in ever using Str, which is only used for Attack rolls and dmg, a few skills and your carrying capacity (which is often ignored or you get a dimension bag by lvl 3).

The tax is there to even out the odds a bit and give reasons for Str build characters.

That's the way I see it.

Edit:

Not to forget that it basically allows you to dump Str overall boosting your dex even higher than it usually would be. While Str characters usually want to keep some dex as to not lose reflex saves and AC.

Good stuff so far! Good job!

Thanks =]

Makes the Arcana that much nicer for a Kansai with little spells early level.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

This Arcana has way too little detail. Anyone know if you could possibly use it with spell combat? So far it would appear as a no.. hoping to have missed something.

Where did you get 12.5? I thought scrolls were 25gp x caster lvl x spell level?

Has anyone here looked at the new arcana from Blood of the Moon? They are posted on d20pfsrd.com.

Here is one that I am curious to hear opinions on.

Spell-Scars (Ex)

Benefit: The magus can use special scar-based tattoos called spell-scars on his skin to cast or prepare spells, much like scrolls. He can cast a spell from a spell-scar exactly like casting from a scroll; the ink and scars vanish when the spell is cast. The magus can also prepare spells from his spell-scars without expending them, similar to a wizard using the Spell Mastery feat.

The magus does not need to be able to see his spell-scar to use it. A magus has room on his skin for 18 total spell levels of spell-scars, which he can create using the rules for scribing scrolls (although they do not require the Scribe Scroll feat).

It appears to be a useful option, much like having scrolls readily available but without needing the Scribe Scroll feat. I think I would take this over Arcane Accuracy as a third level arcana. Arcane Accuracy strikes me as an expensive for a one-round bonus.

However, if other have contradictory views, I would love to hear them.

Just wanting to bring this back up... First up I think this is an amazing way to acquire additional spells at low level while playing the Kensai archetype.

While this can become pretty cost heavy...
25gp per lower level 1 spells can be an easy access to True Strike cast or Shield without having to worry about wasting your level 1 spells slots that you're using for Shocking grasps.

So then... my question is... Is casting using the scars compatible with Spell Strike / Spell combat?