Master_Crafter's page

Note: It's long, but I am posting this for constructive criticism: please let me know if you feel any part of this can be improved.

The thing I dislike about most level-based systems is the eventual number bloat and how that affects late game. While I love the feeling of powerful characters and rarely see an issue with the unique effects of late game spells/feats/abilities (especially as presented in PF2E), the number bloat annoys me to no end, particularly when a 20th lvl character can sit back and laugh at the negligible dmg which can be dealt by a hoard of 1st lvl NPC's until they finally decide to exterminate them all with one AOE action. What makes this even worse is the fact that many of those same lvl-1 NPC's can literally trip themselves to death by rolling max dmg twice on a d6, which is not that hard to do.

That stated, PF2E seems to do a wonderful job of keeping the static bonuses granted to characters of similar level pretty much even across the board through a system of proficiency and stat bonuses. As such, I'd like to design a variant for an E10 setting which narrows this gap by taking advantage of some of those features without limiting the unique effects available by completely subtracting higher level feats and spells.

This system comes in two parts, one to make the "common" NPC a bit sturdier, and the second to cap the number bloat.

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~~~~ Part One: Sturdier commoners ~~~~

Essentially, this is a level chart for common NPCs. While (for the most part) this should be a meta-game consideration that the players are simply familiar with, it serves to make the common NPC a bit sturdier, more useful, and more of a threat if you happen to piss them off by giving them either hit-point/hit-die or class levels based upon their relative age and/or experience. the basics are as follows:

Infant -> HP = 1 + Con
Child -> HP = 1d6 + Con
Teenager -> 1st lvl NPC
Young adult/adolescent -> 2nd lvl NPC
Full-grown adult -> 3rd lvl NPC

Infants can have a specific heritage, but cannot select a background until they have become children, and must wait until they are a teenager before they may take any Ancestry Feats. Once a character becomes a teenager, they replace the 1d6 + Con hit points with their class hit points instead, gaining all the benefits of a 1st lvl character of their selected class. (This represents their exploration into the class they wish to pursue into adulthood, but could theoretically be retrained.) Young and full-grown adults are simply more experienced and/or hardier individuals.

Ideally, we would have a couple basic NPC classes to choose from in addition to the classic character classes to further highlight the differences between NPCs and PCs, but even without that this creates a usable medium-fantasy setting for your characters to start exploring. It also reduces accidental fatalities and gives both monsters and PCs a reason not to piss off a mob, even if they could still take on a few villagers by themselves without too much trouble.

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~~~~ Part Two: Capping Number Bloat ~~~~

While most E6/E8/etc systems seem to completely cap all character progression after the denoted level, I specifically want to target number bloat while leaving character progression in place. Therefore, I need a system which will accomplish this while still permitting characters to gain spells, feats, ability boosts, etc.

To this end, I propose the following modifications:

1 - At 10th lvl characters stop gaining additional HP or resistances based upon numeric character lvl. This does not prohibit them from gaining or improving these benefits based upon feats or class abilities.

2 - Characters continue to gain class abilities (including spell slots and spells known), feats, skill increases, and ability boosts past 10th lvl, per normal advancement.

3 - Spells up to 6th lvl function normally, as do lower-level spells heightened up to 6th level. (I selected 6th as opposed to 5th lvl spells as one extra die does not seem to make too much difference at this point, but there seem to be more Heightened effects at even-numbered levels than there are at odd-numbered levels.)

5 - Spells of 7th lvl or higher which have scaling numeric effects (particularly healing/damaging effects and resistances) are reduced to match those of 6th lvl spells. (This can be accomplished by reversing the effects of heightening such a spell for most 7th and 8th lvl spells, or reducing such effects by 1/3 or 30% for most 9th and 10th lvl spells.) Effects which are non-numeric or which fall into the category of special conditions (such as Stunned, Sickened, Clumsy, etc) are not affected.

6 - Creatures with more than 10 class levels experience the same modifications to those levels as stated above. Alternately, the GM may elect to grant additional levels (class or monster) to creatures with a CR of 3 or less to make them appropriately threatening to a common NPC.

7 - Monsters with a CR above 10 should have their lvl-based proficiency bonuses reduced accordingly. However, their resistances should not be reduced by more than 5 points and their HP should not be reduced at all. It is up to the GM if spell-like effects innate to the creature are reduced or not.

Point #7 serves a dual purpose: it reduces the amount of work required by the GM to set up an encounter; it reinforces the powerful nature of truly monstrous creatures. This helps preserve the GM's high-level toolbox while granting PCs a heightened level of immersion as they will need to employ more advanced strategies when dealing with such powerful entities. After all, while they might still be able to take on such a creature head on, the risk would be much greater, incentivising them to take a more cautious approach, whether that should mean opting for parley or calling in the reinforcements!

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Further Thoughts

In reference to the relatively static scaling bonuses past lvl 10 (particularly the Ability Boost and Skill Increase proficiency bonuses), I do not believe these to be too powerful, but I do think that they (along with other special effects granted by spells, class features, and feats) help highlight the differences between 10th and 20th lvl characters. As these bonuses are relatively narrow in range (+0 to +8 for Proficiency bonuses and -1 to +6 in Ability bonuses), and as the majority of these bonuses are assigned in in the earlier levels of character development, I do not think that they would adversely affect game play across the spectrum when factored into the system described above.

Ultimately, the difference these bonuses might make on the outcome of a fight between a small group of commoners and a character of 10th lvl or higher seems negligible (10th-lvl PC vs ~10 commoners being an even match or a 20th-lvl PC vs ~12 commoners). However, when considering a confrontation between 10th and 20th lvl characters, a not-unreasonable +4 to +6 bonus difference can drastically affect the outcome. I feel that this (alongside the special affects granted by higher level class features, unique spell effects, and feats) would help PC's at those higher levels feel more powerful without necessarily making the outcome a foregone conclusion, especially if the higher-level characters were slightly outnumbered.

I have often been aggravated with the inflexibility and unrealistic nature of item creation in DND and continuing onto PF. I am a crafter in real life and find some of the crafting times, as well as the sheer number of feats, unnecessarily burdensome.

As such, I present here for your perusal my updated and hopefully streamlined version of magic (and mundane) item creation. This will be posted in multiple parts with spoiler tabs for ease of reading.

I am wanting to make a character that can create "elemental" creatures by animating objects. However, even if you consider the signature abilities of the various elementals to be 1CP traits, this means that I can never animate a small or medium object with all of these traits (all elementals have at least 2 signature traits, some up to 4).

As such, I'm wanting advice on a possible house rule that might allow the use of extra caster levels to increase the available CP for these animated creatures. I charted things out, and it appears to me that the bonuses these creatures get from size (Atk/Dmg/HD/etc.) account for about 3/4 of their overall power, if not possibly more once you enter the area of constructs of Huge size and larger, but I realize that the adaptability of the CP traits can also be quite potent.

(please forgive the table format)

Given this breakdown, would you consider it reasonable to permit a CP point buy-esque system in which a character may buy a single extra CP for 1 effective CL, with each additional CP costing one more than the previous? This extra CL cost would not increase the size, HD or other related properties of the animated object, but would allow an animated object of any size to potentially exceed the current posted limit of CP if the caster has the CLs to spare. Or would this be too weak/powerful?

Ultimately, I want this to represent the potency of these extra abilities, especially relative to the cost of animating smaller objects, but I don't want it so expensive that it can never be practically used. Any insight would be appreciated.

OK, so I am attempting to create an intelligent item set based on an old warforged druid character of mine. Basic concept is that when he was destroyed several of his components were made into magic items (a headband, shirt, boots, and gloves) which each maintained a portion of his consciousness.

I am designing the individual items to be intelligent (empathic only), each functioning as an individual magic item with one intelligent power. However, as the items are collected the intelligent powers and properties of the set are enhanced.

For example, each item starts out with one charge/day of a spell that is part of a spell tree specific to that item (beast shape for the shirt, plant shape for the boots, etc). When a new item is acquired both items advance that effect by one spell level (BSI becomes BSII, PSI becomes PSII, etc), and the set gains 2 charges/day that can be used for either effect (instead of the static 1/day of each).

The set itself gains greater awareness as more pieces are collected as well, increasing it's ability scores, perception and communication, and gaining special purpose powers.

The problem I'm having is that, before collection benefits the individual items only cost 75k, but once the value of the collection benefits is added in this multiplies to a staggering 433k.

75k feels too low when divided between the items, given their scaling benefits, but 433k seems too high as when divided out that makes the individual items (before collection benefits) to expensive to be worth gathering in the first place.

So, does anyone have an idea on what could be done to alleviate this conundrum?

OK, so litany of defense clearly states that it doubles all enhancement bonuses to armor.

AC granted by shields are listed as shield bonuses (presumably so that they stack with worn armor), but shields are clearly listed under armor in the CRB. (Note the categories listed are light armor, medium armor, heavy armor, and shields, but they are all listed under armor.)

Furthermore, the dictionary defines armor as "a defensive covering... worn to protect the body against weapons," and shields are defined as "a broad piece of armor... strapped to the arm or carried apart from the body." (Summations, to be sure, but feel free to fact check me.)

So, would litany of defense apply to shield enhancement bonuses too, or is that too nitpicky for Pathfinder?

I know many people think Wild Shape is OP as is, but frankly I disagree & miss the old MoMF from 3.5. Furthermore, while I agree that polymorph effects in 3.5 were broken, I think that the massive overhaul of those effects in PF make the revision of that PrC as Druid archetype feasible, so here's my effort.

Feel free to share your opinions on this archetype or to use it in your campaigns.

Master of Many Forms Druid Archetype

The knock back rage power allows a raging barbarian to perform a bull rush without provoking attacks of opportunity, similar to the improved bull rush feat. However, unlike the feat, the rage power allows the barbarian to deal dmg equal to his str modifier instead of granting a +2 to that combat maneuver.

Would you allow the rage power to stand in for improved bull rush as a virtual feat when being used to qualify for greater bull rush and similar feats?

This will rely on the grandfathering of 3.5.
In 3.5 if I recall, an incorporeal creature was explained as one existing partially in both the material and ethereal planes simultaneously.

That said, if a blinking creature attacked an incorporeal one, how would that be resolved?

A - incorporeal creature gets full effect (as they only partially exist on the ethereal plane).
B - blinking creature attacks normally (as they can make their attacks while on the ethereal plane).

Assuming a melee attack without ghost touch or a similar effect.

A scarab of protection protects against 12 negative energy effects.
A shadows Str dmg atk is a negative energy effect.
A mob deals automatic dmg due to so many attackers against one defender.

So, if a mob of shadows attacks a bearer of a scarab of protection, does it drain one use from the scarab, or multiple? & if multiple, how many; 1charge per d6 dmg?

While I doubt that anyone would argue that a sensei could use mystic wisdom to grant abilities such as high jump or fast movement, could they grant an ally abundant step?

I am considering using mobs to represent semi-organized troops and am wondering how to adjudicate damage for special attacks the creatures may be able to make. These attacks include everything from ranged archery to spells, which is why I'm asking.

It seems from the entry I'm basing this off of that a mob of humans (assumingly equipped with basic clubs {or maybe using an improvised slam?}) deals 5d6 dmg, roughly equal to being hit 5 times with the weapon in question, but requiring no attack roll against creatures in their area.

That said, my questions are as follows:

1 - Could the same mob equipped with, say, longbows target a similarly shaped area, or just a single target?
2 - Would they have to target a single creature in that area, each creature in that area separately, just the area itself, or would it be an auto-hit?
3 - If they have to target the creature(s), would they target normal AC, flatfooted AC, or touch AC?
4 - Would the damage change to 5d8, as though the target(s) had just been hit by 5 longbows, or would it remain 5d6, just altering the damage type to piercing?
5 - If the mob consisted of trained 1st lvl spellcasters, using say, ear-piercing scream, could they do any of the above, substituting with damage equal to 5x the spells effect (in this case totaling 5d6 sonic with possibly an increased save DC to halve dmg & negate the dazed effect)?

You alter an item's aura so that it registers to detect spells (and spells with similar capabilities) as though it were...

Spells like Imbue With Aura specifically call out that targeting spells (such as smite evil) function on the target as though they naturally posessed the aura placed upon them. Given the wording of Magic Aura, specifically the part in parenthesis, is this also the case for this spell?

OK, so if a large weapon, such as a large spear, had an analogous medium weapon, in this case a medium long spear, which granted reach, could a medium character reasonably wield that weapon in such a way as to gain reach, taking the -2 penalty for wielding an inappropriately sized weapon?

Note that a medium long spear is quoted as being 8 ft long, and a medium spear is 5 ft long. This means that the large spear should be about 8 to 10 ft long, roughly the same length as the medium long spear.

I place this in the house rules section because similar threads in the rules questions section apparently lack any core material to cite.

Are Bracers of Armor normal +0 armor that are enhanced to provide a +n bonus (like robes , e.g. robe of the archmagi), or are they actually the equivalent of wearing mundane chainmail or a breastplate.

The reason this comes into question is that a friend of mine wants to enchant his Bracers of armor, but if this is already an enchantment bonus to armor then this is not possible.

The entry for Bracers of Armor reads:

Bracers of armor cannot have a modified armor bonus (armor bonus plus armor special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +8. Bracers of armor must have at least a +1 armor bonus to grant an armor special ability.

Furthermore, when looking at the cost of bracers of armor they follow the same formula as armor enhancement (enhancement squared *1000).

ergo, +2 bracers of armor cost the same as giving a piece of armor a +2 enhancement bonus, +5 bracers of armor cost the same as giving a piece of armor a +5 enhancement bonus, etc.

And if this is indeed an enhancement bonus on a +0 armor item, it has the further reprocushion of limiting the actual armor bonus on Bracers of Armor to +5, the extra +3 having to go towards special qualities, as per normal armor enhancement rules.

So what is it? Are Bracers of Armor +0 armor items given an enhancement bonus (as per robes), or are they actually the equivalent of wearing mundane armor and subject to further enhancement?

The name should say it all, but the crux of the matter comes down to this:

Wish always has a 25k gp cost, but lists a greater range of abilities with more restrictions on each one.

Miracle only has a cost for certain uses, but can conceivably do the same things as Wish given the broader range of spells available.

So which is more powerful, Wish or Miracle?

OK, so someone mentioned in another post (I forget where) that the competence bonuses from abilities like bardic performance effectively increase BAB which may therefore boost your number of iterative attacks.

While this sounds plausible due to the wording of "competence" which implies general bad-4$$ery in the related field, it flies in the face of all the other bonus types (sacred, morale, enhancement, etc.) and I've found no support for this whatsoever. In fact, I find no definition of what most bonus types are or might normally affect (save for enhancement).

Could anyone either confirm that I'm not crazy and that competence bonuses do not affect your number of iterative attacks, or prove that I am losing it and point out where the definitions are that would support this theory.

I've found the basic Equipment Trick feat in Adventurer's Armory, but that only gives tricks for scabbards and shields. Where are all the other equipment tricks located?

I am especially interested in the ones for ropes and cloaks, but curious to see any others that may have come out too.

Even just the names of books would be a great help, though a link would be nice too if anyone has one.

I want to make a kukri that can, several times per day, increase it's size and damage but not it's weight, effectively working like a sun blade but without the additional special effects.

Statistically, the Collision property (from the Magic Item Compendium) more than meets this requirement, but is an expensive +2 enhancement which can't be turned off and lacks the flavor I'm seeking.

The spell Lead Blades (Ranger 1) accomplishes this almost perfectly (minus the actual size increase, though that could be a thematic add-on), though I would like to have the option to sacrifice duration to increase the effective size (& thus damage).

The other options I see would be to use an effect similar to the Flame Blade (Druid 2) spell or the Ice Axe spell (Cleric 3, Spell Compendium), which would take away the strength bonus from the attacks and make attacks with the weapon touch attacks (nice touch, but not sure about the thematics).

I'm specifically looking to have 2-3 uses per day (about 10-20 rounds, though I won't complain if it's longer), a thematic increase in weapon size with the option of making the kukri into a scimitar or falchion for damage purposes, but still as light as a kukri for the purposes of wielding it (the character has Weapon Focus (kukri)). I also wouldn't mind the option to sacrifice spells to gain additional uses/enhanced effect, as the character in question does have a small number but they aren't the focus of his build.

What is the most cost effective way to obtain these qualities?

Can I apply Vital Strike when making a Grapple attempt to damage an enemy? It seems that I should, as grappling is a special attack that requires a standard action but targets CMD instead of AC, thus making this a standard attack action, but is that really how this works?

And while we're on the topic, what about other special attack options such as the Two Weapon Warrior's Double Strike ability (APG)? With Double Strike you can attack with both weapons as a single standard action. Effectively two standard attacks for the cost of one standard action.

Can Vital Strike be applied to these special attacks or not?

Here is my version of a new base class, the Eldritch Inheritor. This class has an avg BAB, limited castings of SLAs equivalent to up to 6th level spells, and benefits from enhanced access to bloodline powers, some with unlimited uses per day and stacking effects.

Unfortunately, google docs did some funky overlay with the Invocations
Known and Invocations Per Day charts so I suggest downloading the original, but here's the link:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwLp6JarXBJ7MjFlMmIwN2ItZDA1Ni00NDdjLTk2OD EtNzNkYzM3ZmQ2YzJm

Please look this over and tell me what you think.

For instance, when a Ranger with the Warden archetype (UC) gains Rage, does he also gain Greater Rage, Tireless Rage, and (eventually at epic levels) Mighty Rage, or does he just get vanilla Rage?

Or when a Bard with the Sound Striker archetype (UM) replaces the Suggestion performance, does he also replace the Mass Suggestion performance, or does he gain this as normal when he reaches 18th level?

While this is plain for those class features which state in a single entry how those abilities progress, or with those archetypes which specify the replacement of one or more level-dependent acquisitions or advancements of a class feature (such as is the case with some of the fighter's archetypes concerning the Weapon and Armor Training features), for others is is considerably more vague as they are listed as separate class features which seem to enhance or progress one another.

Where is the fine line?

The Spider Step feat uses Slow Fall in it's wording, and there is some debate in my group as to whether or not Slow Fall is required to use this feat.

I am of the opinion that the wording implies that you must have a Slow Fall speed in order to benefit from the feat, but a friend of mine disagrees and is of the opinion that even an archetyped Monk without Slow Fall may use the distance he would have possessed if he has not sacrificed that ability. His argument is that the feat is based on the character's Acrobatics and Climb Skills and the wording was used to avoid having to insert a new progression chart.

For reference, I have included the feat below

Spider Step

Your physical mastery grants you an impossible stride.
Prerequisites: Acrobatics 6 ranks, Climb 6 ranks, monk level 6th.
Benefit: As a move action, you can move up to half your slow fall
distance across a wall or ceiling or across ropes, branches, or even
water or other surfaces that cannot support your weight. You must
reach a solid, level surface by the end of your turn or you will fall.

OK, so I'm running a campaign where I am allowing each player a set number of character turnovers. My question specifically regards a player who has designed a character with 4 or 5 classes for the sole purpose of stacking the 1st level +2 to the respective saves from each one. The only classes remember of are Paladin, Rogue, and Monk, though I know that there were at least a couple more.

Now, I know that there was a sidebar in one of the 3.5 books limiting this, but cannot remember where and don't know if there is an equivalent rule clarification in PF.

& on a sidenote, my player has a record for breaking characters and hasn't actually used this character yet, so my questions here are more preemptive than anything.

Any advice/clarifications I can use?

Well, I have been looking for a good update to the Warlock for PF but have so far been underwhelmed. I even looked at the version provided by Tome of Secrets and was frankly not impressed. While their version at least provided a playable class, it lacked the flavor I was looking for (it essentially just used powered up wizard school powers that would be hard to modify well from existing resources).

Still, that version combined with the release of the Eldritch Heritage feats in Ultimate Magic lead me to create this homebrew for an Eldritch Inheritor, a replacement for warlock that taps into the power of mixed bloodlines (similar to a Sorcerer, but without spells and with a little of my own flavor added).

I'd like you to review it for me. & bear with me as it's a bit lengthy and I don't know how to post the file with a link to it so it will be included in (current) completeness in my next posting on this thread.

Thanks, and fire away. :)