Martin Misthawk's page

So, once pruchased, how does the badge get us unlocked to actually register for games on Warhorn?

Mental effects and how they are totally ignored by so many creatures. Immunity to mind effects is to Pathfinder as sneak attack/precision damage was to 3.5. Remember the days when Rogues were never played, because they could not contribute and were totally, arbitrarily shut down in so many confrontations?

Now that is the fate of the Mesmerist, Enchanter, and some others. Undead, Vermin, Plants, Constructs, Swarms, Oozes, Partridges in Pear Trees... you name it, they ignore it. Even creatures with obvious self awareness, thoughts, and minds such as vampires and intelligent plants just outright ignore things that should clearly affect them.

I recently ran "Crypt of the Everflame" for some new players. One was a Thassilonian Enchanter and another a Mesmerist. They were utterly useless and the table of six was really effectively a table of four. I had to take them aside and apologize to them afterwards.

Another related issue is the inability to feint many of these creatures. Which of course makes no sense.

A feint is a physical attack meant to make the target react as it would to a real attack, when in fact you mean to attack elsewhere. There is really nothing mental about it. However, due to the mechanic involving Bluff, mindless creatures are immune.

This is ridiculous, of course. These creatures DO react to physical threats, as they still get their dexterity bonus to AC and still have penalties when they cannot react to threats (i.e.: are flatfooted).

Yet, they instantly know when an attack is not an attack. They are not mindless; they are infallibly hyperaware! Mindless should mean "easy to trick" not "impossible to trick".

Mindlessness and mental immunities seriously need to be looked at again for rebalancing.

Well, this has a small (actually large) problem associated with it...

Sanguine is a Wildblooded bloodline. And that is an archetype. So, the character would not even be able to switch to the next closest parent bloodline (undead). Instead we would wind up with another wildblooded bloodline, since it is not technically "necessary" to switch archetype.

So we would have a sylvan sorcerer (or some such) with a bite attack, spell focus: necromancy, and greater spell focus: necromancy. And the character would lose access to all the Necromancy spells that came with the bloodline.

I'm not sure that is draconian and destructive enough... can I also kick him in the crotch and hit on his wife while I'm at it to round things off? That would be super.

(Edit: this post was in reply to Andreas, not Dylos)

OK, the Sanguine Bloodline is apparently no longer PFS legal as of the 28th.

I see some entries in the legal/not legal list that indicate grandfathering of newly illegal options, but no such specificity on that bloodline.

I also see an entry referring to rebuilds when rules change... but they are not being changed, they remain the same but are banned...

So... what happens here?

Character removed from play forever, lose all access to record sheets, do not pass go, immediately rage quit, yadda yadda yadda...

or

Free rebuild of character...

or

Grandfathered if played before the release of that errata (like our Aasimar and Tiefling friends)?

I'm struggling to understand why you care?

There is no mechanical benefit to doing anything but saying "I'm doing an unarmed strike with a valid part of my body" vs "I'm kicking as an unarmed strike".

Because saying "The Ustalavian BITES you" has a great deal more connotation with regards to what the players are dealing with as opposed to "For some bizarre reason, this Dracula reject karate chops you..."

It is not mere roleplay (though that is important enough), but the type of unarmed attack may actually convey information that the players need in order to piece things together.

I am considering giving a character improved unarmed strike and want to know if there is any official ruling on how much variety there is in such attacks apart from just punching someone.

Can it represent all sorts of unarmed attacks that we see in the real world?
Punching, knees, kicks, scratching, gouging, head-butts, elbows, or even bites (a la Luis Suarez or Mike Tyson)?

I am not asking for opinions here... is there anything OFFICIAL out there about how much lee-way there is in how such an attack is delivered?

I really should have put down that this is in the interest of using optimization to work out how to make them effective.

Not in creating home brew rules.

My daughter's rogue has gone quite far on Improved Feint.

Add Weapon Finesse if you are building a Dex-centric Rogue.
Add the various debuffing effects, stat damage, and bleed options to their sneak attack via Rogue talents.

Even within that combination for inflicting damage and debuffs, she has had room to add in flavorful extras like Wall Climber and remain a very welcome addition at any table.

So, that is one method of optimization within the current class' rules.

I dont think you are an idiot but you do seem oblivious to 13 years of experience people have had playing this game.

Also most monsters dont have access to the means of protecting themselves from a high level pc group as most high level monsters dont have wide ranging spell access. The solar and planetar and some of the dragons are limited exceptions. Most demons and devils have only a limited range of spell likes.
Some casters can compete but they aee severely hampered by the rules for npc wealth. Non casters may as well not exist after about level 12 as actual opposition.

The enemy is public opinion and prejudice.

The enemy is a natural disaster (eruption, meteor shower, raging wildfires, etc.).
The enemy is a acephalous cult of staggering numbers and range (rendering leaders, plans, and casualties meaningless in the conventional sense).
The enemy is equally numerous and is hiding amongst a population the players can't casually kill (perhaps by possessions, or infiltration).
The enemy is human corruption and the very system itself.
The enemy is nature itself (droughts, salinization, famine, plague, etc.)
The enemy is on the offense and after the players, knocking them back on their heels before they know they should start prepping for anything at all, leaving no time for ""plan, scry, and fry".
The enemy is the ignorance of the population itself and there is no time to just "school people".
The enemy wants and plans for you to defeat him; it will make him a martyr and/or more powerful.
The enemy is poverty itself and giving out fish only feeds a man for a day...
The enemy is the conflict between nations and a war so far-ranging that no mere man's presence on the field will change its course (no matter how personally powerful).
The enemy is an economic catastrophe so profound no one's personal wealth will alter things with mere generosity.
The enemy simply attacks in a place that will put the players at a distinct disadvantage no matter what preparations might be taken.
The enemy's defeat will only make things horribly worse.
The enemy is slander and disgrace.
The enemy is just as capable and insightful as any player characters, making it a true match of equals.
The enemy is one of happenstance; a deadly immediate crisis you wandered into while tackling another problem.
The enemy's defeat is not enough; the populace must learn the truth about the villain and they must be convinced to believe it.
The enemy is dispersed and after things the characters care about, everywhere at once.
The enemy is a curse laid on the entire population, making them all speak in different languages. Chaos ensues...
The characters have gone mad... the enemy they face is themselves.
The enemy is a political movement steering a nation down the road to disaster.
These and many, many more. The enemies are limitless. If you players are having to easy a time of it, you must broaden you definition of what a challenge is... it is not an entry in any bestiary. Those are mere building blocks.

And no, I have not been oblivious to the last 13 years. I have weighed the objections and found them wanting; ginned up frustrations without enough creative thinking behind solutions. I could say the same of every set going back to basic D+D in 1979, when I stared playing... this "problem" is neither new nor real.

Re: Death or Glory...

Crane Style, Crane Wing, Crane Riposte, Power Attack, and Death or Glory allows you to do this:

I am fighting defensively with only a -1 to hit and an additional +1 to my AC and, what the hell, I'm Power Attacking too. I spend a full round action to Death or Glory with its +4/+4/+4. The opponent attacks back. Their attack is ignored because it is auto deflected by Crane Wing. I immediately get another attack via Crane Riposte because they attacked me after my Death or Glory attack.

So they accept repeated Death or Glories from me, or they attack without effect and get a retaliatory kick in the face. And, hey, if they decide not to attack back I still get my Crane Wing and Riposte to use if they attack in their turn... so no loss there.