Marshall Jansen's page

My Kineticist just hit 4th level and I'm confused by Elemental Bastion/Shroud of Water - this is exacerbated by the fact that HeroLab seems weird.

Here's the situation - I have the following AC:
+10 (+1 Full Plate)
+1 (Dexterity)
+3 (+1 Heavy Shield)

for an AC of 24.

I feel like if I spend one point of burn, I should be able to increase my AC to 25 by adding a +1 Shield *or* Armor enhancement to either of my items, taking them to a +2 equivalent. However, HeroLab doesn't seem to want this to be the case.

If I change my shield to a normal shield, however, I can then add a +1 Shield Bonus to it with a point of burn spent for Shroud of Water?

So, is there a reason that Shroud of Water at level 4 doesn't seem to boost me when I'm wearing a magic shield and armor, or is that a Hero Lab bug?

Also, does Shroud of Water need me to spend burn to power it, or does it only care about my current burn, like Elemental Overflow? And finally, how long does the boost to AC last? I assume it is until the burn is removed?

Sorry if this has been answered before, a search failed to help me with this specific area!

The game 'Dungeon Roll' just got Kickstarted. It's a press-your-luck dice game with a fantasy theme.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/michaelmindes/dungeon-roll-a-dicey-dung eon-delve

$15 for a copy in the US. Canada/Worldwide are a little pricier.

Hey everyone!

Just dropping a line that early-bird pricing for Geekway to the West is coming to a close in a couple of days. Geekway is a 4-day, 24-hour open boardgaming convention in St. Louis, MO.

Attendees who preregister get a free boardgame, and there's several big events... tons of game giveaways, a huge boardgame library to check out games from, and various tournaments and events.

If you love boardgames and are nearby, it's a great time. We expect there to be 500+ people there this year.

http://geekway2west.com

Hey all,

I'm thinking seriously about investing in an airbrush setup, but don't have any local resources to test equipment out.

I've tried testors propellant cans and a basic single-action. It was ok for doing some stuff, but in the end I hated dealing with propellant, a leaky crappy plastic brush, and etc and so forth.

I'm looking for a setup that is small, unobtrusive, not too loud, has a good beginner-quality brush (dual-action preferably). I need a compressor, regulator, brush, and all the assorted tubing, connectors, paint pots, thinner, etc. I want to use it inside, and I'd prefer to use water-based acrylics but I'm flexible on that.

If anyone has some advice on brands, or even better a good kit, I'd love to hear it. This will be primarily for painting larger models (dragons, terrain, Cthulhu), but if I get good enough, I'd love to use it on smaller things too.

Thanks!

Future (now Pledge! With Future Shine)

What is Future? It's basically a bottle of liquid acrylic. And it's wonderful. What do you use it for?

1. Sealing Miniatures - once a miniature is painted and completely dry, dip it in future (or brush it on). It will 'smooth out' all the colors, improve the look of drybrushed and washed areas as well as give it a super-tough coating to protect your paint job.

2. Create custom 'dip' colors that are easy to clean up - add a drop or two of ink or watered down paint to a cup of future to get a custom miniature dip. You can make it any color you have paint for and it gives very similar effects to MinWax Polyshades, but is easier to clean up and there are no limits to the colors.

3. Thin cheap craft paint to make it flow better on miniatures - buy bulk craft paints from Michael's... things like Americana or Apple Barrel paints. Mix Future 1/2 and 1/2 with distilled water, and add this to the craft paint at about 1/2 paint to 1/2 Future mix and your paints will still be bright but have MUCH better flow, coverage, and workability.

4. Create basic water effects - if you have a watertight area, you can fill it with Future and in a few days it will thicken and dry. It contracts a lot while doing this, but it's a good way to create very basic water effects in thinks like Hirst Arts fountains and small pools.

Any others?

I just wanted to let everyone know there is a 4-day boardgame convention coming up in St. Louis Missouri. It's called Geekway to the West, and is 4 days dedicated to playing boardgames of all types, with player-run tournaments, a trade table, a game library with a few hundred games in it, and tons of giveaways. It's a lot of fun!

If you're in the area, you should check it out. It's $35 for all four days.

http://geekway2west.com

Hope to see you there!

First, of course, is the fact that 4ed, while a radical departure from D&D (you can convert a 1ed character to 3.5 or Pathfinder- in 4th, that guy will be rebuilt), it retains the name.

I found this concept to be interesting. So, I pulled out my binder of AD&D characters that I still have from highschool.

I'd love to see this character easily converted to Pathfinder:

Gellor Rinknor, Fighter 11/Assassin 13

Now admittedly, you can take an elf, buy stats as close to that as possible, and multiclass him from fighter to assassin... but the character will be COMPLETELY different. That said, it would be interesting. I might try my hand at a conversion and see how similar the two are, but others are welcome to try, too. (As an FYI this character was played pretty much weekly, often twice weekly, for 4 years).

I recently leveled to level 8 in our Serpent's Skull campaign, which means it's time for a re-build of my Eidolon miniature.

Here it is (work in progress)

Construction:

Body: Games Workshop Tyrant Guard, with Tyrant guard legs. The mini's head has been snipped off.

Head: Games Workshop Carnifex head (the one with the giant tongue, naturally)

Arms: Games Workshop Carnifex Crushing Claws

Back Armor: Games Workshop Carnifex Spine Carapace

Wings: Games Workshop Manticore Wings, pinned to the Tyrant Guard Body

I still need to base the miniature, finalize the paint job, and build a 'saddle' for it so my Gnome can ride it when mounted.

(If you are interested in the game stats of the Eidolon, you can see them here.)

Just hit level 8, and here's where things start getting more complicated on the Eidolon front. I'd love a sanity check on my build.

First, some pictures:

Pictures of Mr. Snuggles (work in progress)

Secondly, the theory:
The eidolon build is designed to match the miniature I've used. Obviously, my desired build helped me create the mini, but at the end of the day the look of the miniature determines the evolutions. Also, I'm not trying to optimize the build.

For those curious about the miniature itself:

Body: Games Workshop Tyrant Guard, with Tyrant guard legs. The mini's head has been snipped off.

Head: Games Workshop Carnifex head (the one with the giant tongue, naturally)

Arms: Games Workshop Carnifex Crushing Claws

Back Armor: Games Workshop Carnifex Spine Carapace

Wings: Games Workshop Manticore Wings

Now, the stat block:

Ygothusan Tstac-Ygoigu (Mister Snuggles)
Large Quadruped Eidolon

Evolution Pool (11 points)
Limbs - Legs (free)
Limbs - Legs (free)
Bite (free)
Large (4 points)
Flight - Wings (2 points)
Limbs - Arms (2 points)
Tentacle (1 point)
Pincers (1 point)
Mount (1 point)

Feats
Dodge, Iron Will, Power Attack

Ability Scores
Strength: 25 (14 base, +3 for level, +8 large size)
Dexterity: 15 (14 Base, +3 for level, -2 large size)
Constitution: 18 (13 base, +1 level 5 ability increase, +4 large size)
Intelligence: 7 (7 base)
Wisdom: 10 (10 base)
Charisma: 11 (11 base)

Defenses
Defenses assume Mage Armor is cast.

HP: 61 (61.5) (10hp 1st HD, 5.5 hp each additional HD, +24 hp for con, 6HD total)
GM granted max HP for 1st HD despite the eidolon not being a PC

AC: 26 (10 base, +2 natural armor for quadruped, +2 dexterity, +1 dodge, -1 size, +6 natural armor for level 8 eidolon, +2 natural armor for large size, +4 armor for Mage Armor)
Touch AC: 12
Flat-footed AC: 23

Fort Save: +9 (+5 Base, +4 con)
Reflex Save: +7 (+5 Base, +2 dex)
Will Save: +4 (or +8) (+2 base, +2 Iron Will, +4 vs Enchantments)

CMD: 26 (10 base, +6 BAB, +2 Dex, +7 Str, +1 Size)

Attacks
All attacks assume Greater Magic Fang is cast.

Bite: +13 to hit, 1d8+8 damage (Power Attack: +11/1d8+12)
Pincers (2): +8 to hit, 1d8+4 damage (Power Attack: +6/1d8+8)
Tentacle: +8 to hit, 1d6+4 damage (Power Attack: +6/1d6+8)

CMB: +14 (or +16) (+6 BAB, +7 Strength, +1 Size, +2 Grapple - pincers)

Secondary attacks are -5 to hit, 1/2 Strength Bonus to damage.

Magic Items
None

Movement
Ground Speed: 40'
Flight Speed: 40', Average Maneuverability

Skills
24 ranks total

Acrobatics +9 (4 ranks, 2 dex, 3 class skill)
Climb +11 (1 rank, 7 str, 3 class skill)
Disable Device +6 (1 rank, 2 dex, 3 class skill)
Fly +9 (6 ranks, 2 dex, 3 class skill, -2 large)
Knowledge Planes +4 (3 ranks, -2 int, 3 class skill)
Perception +9 (6 ranks, 3 class skill)
Stealth +3 (2 ranks, 2 dex, 3 class skill, -4 large)
Swim +11 (1 rank, 7 str, 3 class skill)

I'm looking for a miniature (ideally in plate with a two-handed sword/falchion, but I'm not averse to doing a weapon swap). I'm hoping for tall... 7-8' tall scale, compared to a 'normal' 5-6' miniature.

Can be human or half-orc, but I'm not looking for bestial. I've found three or four options, but none of them really grab me. If anyone has some options, I'd love to see them.

Oh! And also, I'm looking for a non-pre-painted mini. I'd prefer pewter, but high quality (Games Workshop quality) plastic or resin also works.

Ok, After reading how many summoner/eidolons break the rules, I've decided to post mine at level 2, to verify that I've not done something mechanically incorrect. I'm not terribly interested in being told where I've failed to maximize my damage output but feel free to CharOp if you need to. I'm much more interested if the build is completely legal. So, here we go:

Professor Binkleberry Brinesnapple, Gnome Summoner 2
20-point buy
STR 9(11-2), DEX 12, CON 16(14+2), INT 14, WIS 10, CHA 17(15+2)
HP: 16 (Max HP 1st HD, rolled a 2 2nd HD)
Skills: (+2 from favored class): Handle Animal (2), Kn: Nature (2), Linguistics (2), Ride (2), Use Magic Device (2)
Racial: Gnome Magic, Eternal Hope, Illusion Resistance, Keen Senses, Academician.
Traits: Boarded in Mwangi Expanse, Dangerously Curious
Feats: Mounted Combat
Init: +1
AC: 16 (Chain Shirt, Small size, dex)
FORT +3, REF +1, WILL +3, CMB -1, CMD 10
Melee: Longspear (+1 to hit, 1d6-1 damage)
Ranged: Light Crossbow (+3 to hit, 1d6 damage)
Speed: 20 (carrying 20 lbs of a possible 23 for a light load)
Cantrips Known: Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Daze, Arcane Mark
1st Level spells known: Grease, Mage Armor, Reduce Person

Special (racials/traits): +1 DC on illusion spells, Cast gnome magic spells 1/day, +2 save vs illusion, +2 saves vs fear, once per day may reroll a d20 that comes up '1', +2 perception, low-light vision, +2 to any one knowledge, +1 to kn: nature, gain polyglot as bonus language, +1 to use magic device

Ygothusan Tstac-Ygoigu, Quadruped Eidolon 2
STR 15, DEX 15, CON 13, INT 7, WIS 10, CHA 11
HP:22 (GM granted max HP at 1 HD, rolled a 10 for 2nd HD)
Skills: Acrobatics (1), Climb (1), Disable Device (1), Kn: Planes (1), Perception (2), Stealth (1), Swim (1)
Free Evolutions: Bite, Legs, Legs
Evolution Pool (4 points): Mount, Climb, Claws, Pounce
Feats: Dodge
Init: Acts on same initiative as Summoner (GM ruling)
AC: 17 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 natural armor)
FORT +4, REF +5, WILL +0, CMB +4, CMD 16
Melee: Bite/Claw/Claw (+4/+4/+4, 1d6+2/1d4+2/1d4+2)
Ranged: None
Speed: 40/Climb: 40
Special: Darkvision

So, am I mechanically legal, or have I made some newbie mistake by trying to do this 'by hand' and not using a program?