Red Mantis Magic tells us You have learned limited divine magic from your Red Mantis training. You gain the Cast a Spell activity. You’re a prepared spellcaster, able to prepare two cantrips and one 1st-level spell each day. You prepare these spells from a Red Mantis assassin spellbook, similar to a wizard’s, containing three cantrips and two 1st-level spells. All the spells in your Red Mantis assassin spellbook, from this and later feats, must be either transmutation or illusion spells from the arcane spell list or a spell from the following list: clairaudience, clairvoyance, darkness, dimension door, modify memory, obscuring mist, paralyze, see invisibility, true strike. Regardless of their usual magical tradition, your Red Mantis assassin spells are divine spells, as are any Red Mantis focus spells you gain.
So can they use any arcane spell wand, or just any wand that has their specific spells or arcane illusion/transmutation? Or no wands? Or Divine wands?
So this is something my group struggled with, because the rules are pretty spread out. Hopefully we got it right, and this can help others.
The section on radiation begins on p. 403, and continues into p. 404.
Each round you are exposed to radiation, you are exposed to it as a poison, and make a Fort saving throw based on the level of radiation you are in, lest you progress down the Constitution Poison track on p. 415.
Also on p. 415, note that upon initial exposure to radiation (or any type of poison), whether you make the save or not, you lose HP equal to the DC - 10. As written this bypasses Stamina.
If you have failed 2 saves against Radiation (poison) and are Impaired in the Con Poison track, not only do you have -4 to Fort saves and some other stuff, but you also risk getting Radiation Sickness (DC 18), per p. 404. I believe each time your state deteriorates due to the poison effect, you risk catching Radiation Sickness again.
We were confused for a while because all it said for Effect was that "Radiation sickness isn't contagious", but it's a Physical track Disease, which means p. 414 details the effects.
Also very relevant and at least for us, easily missed, armor provides protection against radiation (poison). On p. 198, you'll see that all armor grants immunity against low levels of radiation, and offers a +4 bonus against higher levels. Level 7 and higher armor protects fully against medium radiation as well, and offers a +6 bonus against higher levels.
So those nukes you launch in starship combat, just by virtue of dealing hit point damage by exposing those within to poison, might kill unarmored folks. Probably just the civilians though.
I'm not sure if this is the right section for this, but I wanted to make some games players could run if they choose to equip their ship with an HAC.
General
One of the benefits of having a Holographic Amusement Chamber (HAC) on deck is the ability to run simulations of challenging situations and either compete with your crew mates for high scores, or to try out equipment you don’t actually own. Most modules expect only one player at a time, but they will run for teams as well (and show how many points each team member earned for the group in that run).
When you select a module, the HAC scans your current gear. If you elect to use it, you can play for points. If you elect to edit your gear, the HAC will equip you with the items of your choosing for the sim, but your score will not be counted.
HAC Module: Extraction I
The sim places the character onto the grassy clearing of a forest planet. At the center of the clearing is a set of 10ft tall standing stones (10ft diameter, do not impede movement but can be used for cover), and in the middle of the standing stones is a Flare Gun, Survival (CRB, p. 173) and 5 flares. 30ft from the standing stones is a dense tree line. Creatures in the wooded area have concealment against creatures more than 5ft away from them.
The mission proper begins when a character fires the flare gun into the sky, signaling for extraction. This begins a 1 minute (10 round) countdown.
At the start of the 2nd round, spawn 2 space goblins (First Contact, p. 8) in the wooded area and roll for initiative. At the start of the 4th round, add 4 space goblins to initiative. At the start of the 6th round, add 6 space goblins to initiative. At the start of the 8th round, add 2 space goblins to initiative.
At the start of the 9th round, the rescue ship arrives and drops a ladder in the center of the standing stones, however the ladder is 20 ft. off the ground (characters may still be able to reach it, perhaps by climbing a standing stone and leaping to grab it). On the 10th round, the ladder reaches the ground and can be grabbed without issue.
The sim ends when all participants have grabbed onto the ladder (which does not require an action once they’ve reached it).
Challenge Mode: Load into the sim with no equipment.
Scoring
+100 per Goblin Kill
+100 per Respite (round that ends with 0 goblins alive after flare is fired)
+3,000 Elusive (Participant killed no Goblins during the sim)
+2,000 Early Escape (Completed extraction on the 9th round)
+500 Timely Escape (Completed extraction on the 10th round)
-1,000 Late Escape (Completed extraction on the 11th round or later)
+3,000 Challenge Mode Completion
I haven't tested this scenario, though hopefully I'll get a chance to this weekend. I have ideas for more sims (Corporate Espionage I, a more skill slanted module in which you need to sneak past some security guards to hack and download some valuable data.)
Let me know if this seems like a good idea, if the descriptions are enough or if you want maps, and any other feedback.
And if you make an HAC module, post it! Would love to build a library.
Backgrounds: Initiate, Vizier, and Dissenter is an alternate feature for both.
Races: Human (PHB Variant), Aven (Bird People), Khenra (Jackal People), Minotaurs (Ram People), Naga (Snake People)
Cleric Domains: Solidarity (Oketra), Knowledge (Kefnet), Strength (Rhonas), Ambition (Bontu), Zeal (Hazoret)
Aven can fly, and hawk-headed ones make compelling monks. They make good casters either way.
Khenra actually have a mechanic for their twin (which is very interesting to explore in a game I think, though I'm surprised it's actually coded in as a mechanic). They are Lucky together, and have nothing left to lose without each other.
Minotaurs are pretty much horned half-orcs.
Naga have their racial capital mostly spent on both a Bite and a Constrict. I could see Constrict being a potent option, since it restrains the target rather than just grapples. If you don't plan to use either of those moves, probably skip the Naga.
This one also discusses being Planeswalkers without any special extra powers aside from traversing planes as if overland traveling. I guess that means Gideon's invulnerability is a cheat, not a feature.
This was a very good Plane Shift IMO, aside from a few quibbles I have.
I've taken the feedback you provided a few months ago, made some revisions and additions, a little polishing here and there and some commissioned art (and a cool new logo), and now here it is!
This title is Pay-What-You-Want, so I hope you enjoy the released version of the Poisoner.
I would also really appreciate it if you left a review, whatever your impression of it turns out to be!
Hello folks, here's a homebrew I've made for a popular theme that's traditionally hard to pull off in DnD:
The Poisoner.
It is an archetype for the Rogue, in the style of the Battlemaster Fighter.
If you've looked it over, I would appreciate all feedback (I might polish this, get some art, and put it up as a Pay What You Want), and I'm especially curious on a few points:
Feedback questions:
1: Is using the Battlemaster level structure for new poisons weird? Fighters get their maneuvers at 7,10,15, so I did the same here. If I went by Rogue archetype levels, they would get more poisons at 9,13,17 instead.
2: Should "Deadly Neurotoxin" be renamed, since it's a reference to a popular game?
When I looked at the Magus adaptations, I realized that I miss the Iron Magi from Legend.
The Iron Magi was a martial type character that used magical techniques to create a combo "chain", then topped it off with impressive finishing moves.
I've lifted the Chain mechanic almost entirely from that system, but thereafter brewed the rest of the class.
Balancing it is certainly going to be difficult work, but I can present the 1.0 version now.
Also sounds like bountiful times for UA going forward, as in, higher frequency.
"We have a bunch of D&D content for you to playtest, discuss, and mull over. We have enough material, in fact, that we will be releasing Unearthed Arcana multiple times a month for the next few months. Look for the material on Mondays, and get ready to answer surveys about what you see here."
My group usually accepts UA stuff, we've found it fairly balanced overall.
My group is working on a homebrew setting, and one of the races I've made prominent in the world is Grippli.
They were created by the deity of Community, Artifice, and Psychopomp, and for the most part, created to assist with the latter aspect.
The world has the aquatic niche filled by Merfolk and a variant of Lizardfolk, so that's not a focus for these Grippli. Their race is best known for spirit magic and martial arts.
They are for the most part using Kor stats (from the WotC Zendikar document). I've crossed out the abilities Kor have that they don't (also of note, they are 5ft slower than Kor due to their size), and listed the differences in this document.
My group has yet to review it, so I thought I might get some feedback on the crunch here first, and refine it to a more balanced version.
Here it is folks. A full 20 levels from the mothership. I thought the Ranger was fine, but I'm interested to dive into this.
Edit for Initial Impressions:
Favored Enemy returns, I'm not a fan.
Natural Explorer at lvl1 is nuts.
The new animal companion will again provide action economy advantage, not a fan but a lot of people wanted this. The traits listed are kinda humorous in how noble they are. The ranger doesn't get Extra Attack, but they can get the beast to attack twice (in addition to their own attack).
Hunter Conclave is the OG ranger, which I liked. Looks unchanged, though I haven't done a side-by-side check.
Deep Stalker is a UA archetype, also brought back.
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I think Ranger may be a tempting dip now. Additionally, classes that get Extra Attack and want to multiclass into Ranger for 5 or more levels are served well by the new Companion, since they won't end up with Extra Attack redundancy (unless I'm missing some clause).
I'm pretty excited about this, as a fan of both MtG and 5e. Zendikar isn't my favorite plane, but it's nonetheless an exciting prospect. The document contains some player races shifted to match Zendikar (like elves) and some new races (vampires, merfolk, goblins, kor).
I'm not sure what it is, but it feels more like 5e than the first iteration. No longer does it have two good saves, though it can flex Wis into another save.
Mind Thrust does not look like it sits well next to Thought Spear.
I'm a fan of jesters (particularly from Stormlight), so it's cool to see. They get the most powerful bonus action dash (though Rogues and Monks have more versatile uses for their bonus action if it's not to dash). The level 14 feature seems pretty weak for its level however.
Swords is the selfish bard.
The Fighter archetypes seem alright (yay skills Fighter), and can benefit strongly from taking the Martial Adept feat to pick up a couple of the Battle Master's tricks.
I like the Tiefling subrace, but the Conjure spells will probably go unused. Flavorful with the risk of summoning fiends, but also pricey. Maybe useful for a DM that wants rules for how the villain's summons work, but most DMs probably have their own ideas there.
Blind-Fight is a pretty underrated feat, but if one of my martials has a spare feat slot, I definitely like picking it up (especially as it has no prereqs).
I used to overlook the feat because of its name. It felt like it's meant for fighting in total darkness, and how often does that come up? But really, it combats all concealment, invisibility, and being blinded yourself.
Rolling twice on miss percentile because of concealment is great against staple spells such as blur, displacement, invisibility, and mirror image.
Mirror Images doesn't grant concealment? True. But instead of going with 1/7, 1/6, 1/5 odds to hit on your attack routine, you could just close your eyes and treat them as having total concealment, ignoring their images entirely, for 3/4, 3/4, 3/4 odds. It won't wear down images, but you might be able to put down that slippery mage/ninja without even needing to worry about the images at all.
The ideal setup would be connecting with Idiot Strike (either as part of a charge, or on the first attack of a full attack) to soften a bruiser monster's odds of saving against Stunning Fist, to open up a full attack of 5 hits + 2 Medusa's Wrath (+1 Haste probably). Jabbing Master adds +2d6 on the 2nd hit, and +4d6 on 3rd-7th.
Of course, maybe that's redundant/optimistic.
What other style feats would work well for a Harrow Warden (preferably ones that can take advantage of their decreased chances to save)?
Nothing revolutionary, just a couple of fighting styles and archetypes (Deep Stalker Ranger), Shadow Sorcerer, and Pact of Undying Light (Positive Energy Plane) for Warlock.
Overall I like it, seems like a lot of competitive (perhaps too competitive?) options. Not many ribbons here.
I'm not a big fan of the Peplock's recommended flavor, but that can be mostly ignored.
Inspired by Zed (from League of Legends) and Blake (RWBY season 3 hype). The Dimensional feats were also an inspiration, though I've got the route of branches than just one tall tree.
These feats intended for Ninjas (originally planned as an archetype), though most may be accessed by most any arcane caster (though the Magus and Bloodrager will get better mileage), or a rogue that chooses to pick up a ki pool.
Finally, the feats have not been playtested. I welcome feedback regarding balance points.
After Image (General) You can leave behind images as distractions. Prerequisites: Ability to use the shadow clone ninja trick or cast mirror image.
Benefit: When using shadow clone or casting mirror image, you create one additional image. You can also leave an image behind in any square you move through as a free action. This image can continue to mimic your actions or remain still but cannot leave the square, and can be destroyed by any attack targeting it (treat it as having your AC with only size modifiers).
Special: This feat can be selected in place of a ninja trick.
Distracting Image (Combat) You can turn your images into harmful shadows. Prerequisites: Ability to use the shadow clone ninja trick or cast mirror image, After Image.
Benefit: When using shadow clone or casting mirror image, you create one additional image. You can flank with your images.
Special: This feat can be selected in place of a ninja trick.
Sharp Image (Combat) You can turn your images into harmful shadows. Prerequisites: Ability to use the shadow clone ninja trick or cast mirror image, Sneak attack +3d6, After Image.
Benefit: When using shadow clone or casting mirror image, you create one additional image. Whenever one of your images is destroyed by a melee attack, you can spend an immediate action to cause the image to turn quasi-real and strike the attacker, dealing slashing damage equal to your sneak attack dice.
Special: This feat can be selected in place of a ninja trick.
Ensnaring Image (Combat) You can turn your images into entangling shadows. Prerequisites: Ability to use the shadow clone ninja trick or cast mirror image, Sneak attack +5d6, After Image.
Benefit: When using shadow clone or casting mirror image, you create one additional image. Whenever one of your images deals damage to a creature or a creature enters its square, that creature gains the entangled condition for 1 minute. Entangled creatures can attempt to break free as a move action, making a Strength or Escape Artist check. The DC for this check is equal to 10 + 1/2 your HD + your number of sneak attack dice.
Special: This feat can be selected in place of a ninja trick.
Reverse Image (Combat) You can return to an image to surprise your foes. Prerequisites: Ability to use the shadow clone ninja trick or cast mirror image, After Image, base attack bonus +5.
Benefit: When using shadow clone or casting mirror image, you create one additional image. You can as a move action instantly transport yourself to any square you have an image in (this destroys that image). Opponents are flat-footed against any attacks you make until the end of your turn.
Special: This feat can be selected in place of a ninja trick.
Threatening Image (Combat) You can swiftly punish anyone that lowers their guard around your images Prerequisites: Ability to use the shadow clone ninja trick or cast mirror image, After Image, Reverse Image, base attack bonus +9.
Benefit: When using shadow clone or casting mirror image, you create one additional image. If an opponent adjacent to one of your images tries to leave the square without taking a 5-foot-step or withdraw action, or tries to cast a spell without casting defensively, you can transport yourself to that image as a free action to make an attack of opportunity. The provoking opponent is flat-footed against your attack of opportunity.
Special: This feat can be selected in place of a ninja trick.
Isaac Volynskiy
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16
,
Dedicated Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9 aka Petty Alchemy
Still not sure if this belongs in Recruitment, or maybe Paizo plans to make a subforum for the playtest. Either way, I'm sure they'll scoot this to where it needs to be. I'm just giddy with excitement though.
Perhaps we could have this as a central topic for all the playtest recruitment/interest checks, so as not to cover the board with such threads (unless there's a subforum made for it).
---
Played on: VTT (Maptools b89)
Time Slot/Zone: 7pm-9pm PST (should be enough for 1-2 encounters an evening I suspect) weekdays, hopefully starting on the evening after the reveal.
Voice?: Nope, using the text chat.
CharGen: TBD, but probably PFS style as I figure that's the expectation.
# of Players: Will take 4-5.
Other: Along with making sure the time slot works for you, let me know which days work for you.
Some sacred cows being broken. I don't see the point of going 2d6 hp/lvl instead of 1d12.
Switch to two common saves (Dex/Wis).
Ambuscade is so good as well. I could see Ranger 1 being a viable opening for any non-caster.
I do like that they're reworking the companion though, as that was a weak option before. It feels like they may be giving too much right now (though I haven't playtested).
Isaac Volynskiy
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16
,
Dedicated Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9 aka Petty Alchemy
1 person marked this as a favorite.
This transparent floating sphere’s surface shimmers iridescently as it exudes a sweet, woody aroma. It thins and elongates to flow lazily through the air, before reforming into a perfect orb.
Tranquility Ooze CR 8 XP 4,800
N Large ooze
Init +0; Senses blindsight 60 ft.; Perception –5
Aura tranquility (60ft., DC 16)
----- Defense ----- AC 17, touch 17, flat-footed 17 (+8 deflection, –1 size)
hp 138 (12d8+84)
Fort +11, Ref +4, Will –1
Immune ooze traits;
Weaknesses vulnerability to emotion magic
----- Offense ----- Speed 20 ft., fly 30 ft. (perfect)
Melee slam +9 (2d10 plus 1d6 Cha drain)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks center of emotions, engulf (DC 16, 2d10 bludgeoning damage plus 1d6 Cha drain)
----- Statistics ----- Str 10, Dex 10, Con 25, Int -, Wis 1, Cha 1
Base Atk +9; CMB +10; CMD 28 (can't be tripped)
----- Ecology ----- Environment any
Organization solitary, pair, or order (3-5)
Treasure none
----- Special Abilities ----- Aura of Tranquility (Su) A tranquility ooze’s aura acts like a calm emotions spell with a radius of 60 feet. Any creature entering this area must make a Will save (DC 16) to resist the effect. A creature that makes its save is immune to that tranquility ooze’s aura for 24 hours. A creature that fails its save gains a fly speed of 10 ft. (perfect) while within the ooze’s aura of tranquility. The save DC is Strength-based.
Center of Emotions (Su) A tranquility ooze can make itself the center of gravity for creatures that are not calmed as a full-round action. Creatures within 30 feet that are not calmed must make a Will save (DC 16) or be pulled into the ooze’s space and engulfed. The save DC is Strength-based.
Charisma Drain (Su) A tranquility ooze feeds off the personality and emotions of other creatures. A creature hit by an ooze’s melee or engulf attack must succeed on a DC 16 Fortitude save or take 1d6 points of Charisma drain. The save DC is Strength-based.
Engulf (Ex) Creatures that do not have a fly speed do not get a Reflex save to avoid being engulfed by a tranquility ooze. A tranquility ooze’s movement ends after engulfing a creature.
Vulnerable to Emotion Magic (Ex) When a tranquility ooze is targeted by a spell with the emotion descriptor it releases all engulfed creatures as a free action to gorge on the spell, and cannot engulf creatures until after the end of its next turn.
These oozes passively feed on the emotions of nearby creatures, muting their intensity. If resisted they advance to feed directly by enveloping their quarry, preferring creatures which are feeling stronger emotions.
Their hunting grounds are often densely populated areas, such as watering holes where they can eat away fear from prey and hunger from predators. Sometimes these oozes are captured and put to use facilities such as prisons, pacifying the population.
The tranquility ooze’s name comes from Jalmeray, where it has become a distinguishing mark for monasteries to house and form a symbiotic relationship with the ooze. There are legends of Vudrani monks that are able to transcend the self through meditation while engulfed, mastering the tranquility ooze.
Isaac Volynskiy
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32
,
Dedicated Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9 aka Petty Alchemy
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Cape Kraken offers more than invigorating salt air, as the discovery of an aboleth fossil may draw archaeologists, treasure hunters, and necromancers alike to the dig site by a collapsed lighthouse. The remains of a veiled master have steeped here for millennia, potentially polluting the surrounding area with foul magic.
Isaac Volynskiy
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16
,
Dedicated Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9 aka Petty Alchemy
17 people marked this as a favorite.
As it was in Season 8, so it shall be in Season 9.
First, please note:
1: Be sure to respect the submitted items. Don't sacrifice reading them to speed-add them to the list.
2: Don't self-identify by putting your item on the list ASAP. Add only the items you've seen in voting
3: Alphabetical order, please.
Bonus note: The first two items I saw were from Season 8. Don't add the first two items you see to the list.
Description
This +2 huntsman bastard sword has a leather-bound grip which is covered in coarse grey fur, and the notched blade sharpens the wielder’s instincts when drawn.
Once per round when the wielder successfully strikes a target with the sword he may allow an ally of his choice to make a trip combat maneuver against the target as an immediate action. This trip attack does not provoke attacks of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the wielder’s ally is not tripped in return.
On command three times per day, the wielder can unleash a spine-chilling howl. When he does so, he makes a single Intimidate check to demoralize all opponents within 30 feet that can hear the howl. Allies within 30 feet can join the howl as an immediate action to aid another the wielder’s Intimidate check. Allies that howl may also immediately take a 5-foot step, this movement does not count against their ability to move or take a 5-foot step earlier or later in the round.
Construction Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, aspect of the wolf, detect animals or plants; Cost 30,335 gp
Isaac Volynskiy
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16
,
Dedicated Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9 aka Petty Alchemy
There's a difference in what gets the italics between the PRD and the PFSRD. I was partial to the latter, but should we do it in the style of the former?
A good way to add flavor to a character is to believe in some things that others don't, without it being a pillar of his identity.
I'll open with a couple real life ones my family brought with us from Eastern Europe that may not be commonly known.
I encourage you to share ones from real life, or invent new superstitions!
1: Spiders are harbingers of good news, killing one will make it bad news.
2: If you step over someone, they will stop growing unless you step back over them to undo it.
So, I've never run an adventure path. I've joined a couple of PbPs for APs, but they didn't last too long (or more accurately, get too far).
I'm a big fan of homebrewing settings and coming up with your own adventure, and when the inspiration strikes, I do just that. But I also find that it can be somewhat stressful when you don't have inspiration/lots of prep time and need something for the regularly scheduled meeting.
Thus APs seem to be worth a shot. Have a grand over-arching path, then add some gaps for any stuff that I was inspired to prepare, whenever that happens.
---
However, APs are pretty expensive (going to some ~$100) and it's hard to know what you're going to get, besides trusting the reviews.
I'm pretty used to Steam when it comes to my gaming expenditures, there's either a demo or I can wait a year or two and pick up the game on a 75% off sale. At the very least, someone is probably streaming it so I can look at how it plays. (Or if it's a game I've been looking forward to from a dev I trust, so I pick it up right away at full price).
Not quite how it works for APs (Paizo or 3rd party), unless I'm looking in the wrong places?
So is there a good way for me to get into APs? Or do I just have to swallow these concerns and take a risk on one?
So, my players saved a powerful NPC (something I did not expect). Now they're storming a dungeon and have asked for his help, which he has agreed to provide.
So I'm puzzled with how I can have him participate without stealing the spotlight. On one side, they earned his aid, and it can be cool seeing someone demolish enemies for you. On the other hand...that gets old quick.
If you were a player in this situation, what would you want?
If you've DMed a circumstance like this, what have you done/how was it received by the players?
The party is level 5, their ally is a lvl 8 archer.
1: Players roll everything (ex. their defense against attacks, rather than DM rolling monster attacks).
Don't see the appeal here, players take long enough to take their turns as is, I wouldn't want them to take over rolls which the DM makes.
2: Vitality.
Looks like a way for players to die when they otherwise wouldn't by adding some silly math. Not for me.
3: Custom Alignments.
Instead of Good and Evil, you can have Herbivore and Carnivore as an axis, and replace Law and Chaos with Optimist and Pessimist. I generally ignore alignment, so I have no need for variant rules for it.
Spoilered since I don't want to bias anyone else's first impressions.
Where have you visited, where do you want to visit, and why?
I just got back from a vacation in Ashland, Oregon. I go there for the Shakespeare Festival, and to relax at the parks/eat good foods (blue cheese creme brulee).
I'd like to go to Germany, Prague, and Japan at some point.
A lot of the music I listen to is from those places (except Prague), so I'm interested in experiencing those countries. Plus, lotta beautiful sights to see there.
Couldn't quite come up with a properly descriptive topic title.
In my years of gaming, I've found that the saddest way for a campaign to die is by having a few sessions in a row be canceled, or taking an extended break.
In that time, players (including myself) will slowly disconnect from their characters, and start dreaming up new PCs.
Usually when the campaign restarts, it's hard to have the same investment as you did before. A lot of important details may be forgotten.
It's hard to re-ignite the campaign, and often we end up starting a new one.
As a GM currently, I'm afraid of the same thing happening. I need a break to plan out new petals, but I think skipping more than a week or two would prove fatal.
Do other people have a similar experience? Have you figured out a way past it?
Perhaps some mini-engagement for the players to keep them in touch with their characters would help, that's at the same time low-effort for the DM...
One of the things I notice in most games I play in (and sometimes the ones I run) is that sometimes there'll be a thieves guild (usually to antagonize the PCs), a church (for the divine PCs to have meaningful interactions, provide restorative spells), often times a mage's guild (for the arcane PCs to have meaningful interactions, copy spells from). But it's hard to write in some sort of martial guild.
You can put in a mercenary group, but the PCs usually aren't looking to hire, they're the heroes of the story after all.
So what kind of organization would you like to encounter when you're playing a martial character (or have enjoyed encountering in games)? What quests could this guild/dojo offer?
What if you could broaden your skill at this organization, like Wizards can copy spells, a character with all martial weapons could spend some time (and gold) to learn an exotic weapon, or expand Weapon Focus to another weapon?
After reading the Promise of Blood, I was inspired by the magic of harming enemies by proxy.
As far as I'm aware, it's not well represented in Pathfinder. There's a Major Hex (Waxen Image), and the Gravewalker archetype which gives you a poppet you can cast touch spells into, but that doesn't fulfill my fantasy for the magic.
Instead, this archetype's doll magic leans on the hex philosophy (something you can do all day, as an alternative to casting). By trading out access to Slumber, Misfortune,and such (but not Flight, Cauldron), you get the ability to deal damage and inflict lesser (but hopefully still relevant) control on the enemies.
It's still WIP, but it would be good to start getting feedback now before I go too deep into creating new Torments.
