Matrixryu's page

Desna is one of the oldest gods. She only relatively recently (AKA when she discovered humanoids) took a humanoid shape as her own. What her form was before that is unknown. How she gained her knowledge of the Dark Tapestry is also unknown, but has something to do with the fact that she prefers outer space as her home (even though she also has a domain on Elysium) and that place is where the Dark Tapestry is located, and so she comes into conflict now and then with Great Old Ones and Outer Gods and the Dominion of the Black and whatever else is in the Dark Tapestry.

Cool, thanks for the info! Heh, somehow I continue to find Desna to be one of the most interesting gods despite her butterfly theme. ;)

Matrixryu wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

Desna is the best deity for summoning things from beyond.

This reminds me if a question that I've had lingering in my head for quite a while... just how is Desna related to the Dark Tapestry?

I know that she tries to protect Golarion from Dark Tapestry monsters and that she is linked to the stars and such. However, I've felt that there's more to it than that, and I haven't been able to find any information on the subject.

Desna knows a lot about the Dark Tapestry... more than she typically reveals to her worshipers... but she is not HERSELF from the Dark Tapestry.

Good to know ;)

Hmmm, another question if you don't mind. How did she gain this knowledge? Is it because she has traveled through the Dark Tapestry (and somehow didn't get corrupted), or is it because she has had conflicts with Dark Tapestry creatures? Or is it just knowledge she gained because of her association with the stars?

The Kenny Method: Suggested by some other poster I have forgotten whom. Characters with absent players are killed by the first monster, trap or hazard encounter in the most gruesome manner imaginable. When they return for the next session, the character is alive again, and no other character can ever mention anything about it.

Lol! I want to use this on my players, but I really shouldn't XD

The City of Heroes shutdown stinks. I've been playing the game on and off for about two years. I pumped a lot of money into that game to support the company even after they went free-to-play, and now it turns out that it was all for nothing.

Unfortunately for me, I had already bought GW2 before the announcement involving the City of Heroes shutdown went out. They timed things pretty well, bah.

Now I'm stuck with a new game that I like, but can't help but wonder when/if it will be randomly shut down by corporate politics.

Matrixryu wrote:

The funny part is that I created this character before the Shadow Caller archetype came out...

That's not funny it's scary. You have premonition or clairvoyance. You might want to go on talk shows and help people connect with their dead ancestors or something. Spooky!

... you may have a point, because I also wanted to make an enchantment focused Kitsune Sorcerer before their crazy favored class bonus came out D:

I don't really like the idea of bribing my players with advancement just to show up!

It isn't that I'm bribing them... it is that some of them are new to tabletop rpgs and I'm using addiction techniques learned from MMOs fuel their interest! *evil laugh*

Seriously though, it is mostly I that feel that those who manage to make it to every game should have something to show for it ;)

Desna is the best deity for summoning things from beyond.

This reminds me if a question that I've had lingering in my head for quite a while... just how is Desna related to the Dark Tapestry?

I know that she tries to protect Golarion from Dark Tapestry monsters and that she is linked to the stars and such. However, I've felt that there's more to it than that, and I haven't been able to find any information on the subject.

I'm surprised at the number of people who don't use XP. Well, I can see it simplifying things if you all of your players make it to every game.

One of the games that I run has some inconsistent players. I like using XP as a way of rewarding people who consistently make it, though I don't let anyone fall more than 2 levels behind the highest level person in the party.

This all depends on the GM and the backstory. For example, one of my GMs decided that he wanted eidolons to actually be 'real creatures' that were being summoned.

One of my summoners was summoning an 'aspect' of an extremely powerful gold dragon when he summoned his eidolon. When the summoner became more powerful he was able to summon more and more powerful aspects of the dragon. In this case, the eidolon didn't really have a life of its own outside of when the summoner called it, because it was a small part of a larger creature.

In another case, I had a synthesist summoner who had a shadow creature bound into his own shadow when he was very young. Eventually he learned to summon it around himself. The shadow creature by itself was relatively weak, but my character was able to strengthen it and modify it with his magic as he grew in power as a synthesist. This eidolon was constantly aware of what was going on around the synthesist whether or not it was summoned, and would try to help and protect him (both benefited from the shadow creature 3.5 template). The funny part is that I created this character before the Shadow Caller archetype came out...

Ammunition is destroyed when it hits.

Core Rules page 141 wrote:

Generally speaking, ammunition that hits its target is destroyed or rendered useless, while ammunition that

misses has a 50% chance of being destroyed or lost.

Core Rules page 149 wrote:

Masterwork ammunition is damaged (effectively destroyed) when used.

Every DM I've ever had rules that this breaks whatever magic had been cast on it. Some would allow you to intentionally "miss" if you just wanted to get that arrow with light cast on it into a particular square, but even then you had a 50% chance of botching it.

There is a type of arrow called a 'Durable Arrow' which doesn't break when it hits, so unfortunately you still have to come up with a ruling just to account for those.

...Unless you rule that since enchantments on a Durable Arrow only last for one use, Silence spells and such also break when the arrow hits.

Though, keep in mind that the DC increases much faster than that of a base class since it is 10 + level rather than 10 + 1/2 level. The Death Attack Save DC of a level 5 rogue/ 10 assassin is the same as a level 20 ninja's assassinate (assuming Int and Cha mods are the same).

I remember a dm who threw three level 3 weretiger rogues with spring attack against a party of four level 8 pcs. The downside was, the weretigers combined spring attack with pounce. That was a devastating combination. Top it off with the fact that the weretigers could feint as a free action and had a bluff modifier so high that even the party cleric with maxed out wisdom and sense motive couldn't see through the feints and disaster strikes. Party was dead within 3 rounds. Dm congratulates himself on a job well done and then looks up to realise that everyone has left the game and his house.

Did anyone eventually tell the DM that you can't combine spring attack and pounce? Assuming the two abilities worked the same way in that game as PF at least, lol.

1) 20 point buy. This number seems to give a good balance between power and discouraging players from dumping stats. I dislike rolling stats because someone will always become upset that his stats are lower than someone else's.

2) Two starting traits.

3) Hero points. I find that my players can't survive my GMing style without hero points.

4) Medium XP progression.

5) All official Pathfinder rule books allowed, but I discourage my players from running anything 'weird' unless they really have their hearts set on it.

6) No Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil PCs. Lawful Evil PCs must have inclinations which would lead to them wanting to follow the plot.

Jiggy wrote:

So, do GMs in this thread remember to apply all this when a PC with a Haversack falls into the villain's create pit spell?

A haversac full of alchemists fire. ;-)

If you use this interpretation, make sure that your players' Bags of Holding which they store all their gold in also explodes. ;)

On the plus site, you don't have to worry as much about accidentally deactivating the ring by casting a random spell with a range of personal now that the list is a bit more limited.

This is true... I'm doing a search of my own and I'm having trouble finding spells that can be cast on the ring now. There are still a few good options like Shapechange and Disguise Self, but still. Maybe a 1 min/lvl duration would be more reasonable? Or is there some specific spell with that duration that you're worried about?

Edit: ninjaed and disproven ;)

Yay, I'm glad that you're going to errata the ring of continuation. I was dreading the moment that someone in one of my groups tried to abuse that thing.

So, do GMs in this thread remember to apply all this when a PC with a Haversack falls into the villain's create pit spell?

For the sake of sanity, I treat effects like Create Pit as still being in the same dimension (even if it makes no sense geometrically). Otherwise you have silly things happening like eidolons getting dismissed when they fall in.

As someone who's currently playing a Kitsune Fey Sorcerer/Heavens Oracle gestalt, I have to admit that it is hard to justify playing any other type of focused enchanter sorcerer. They're very powerful. In my defense, I wanted to play this character before the favored class bonus came out ;)

However, the existence of the undead and serpent bloodlines expand the options a bit in my opinion since they negate the immunities many creatures have against enchantment spells. Neither of them fit kitsunes very well thematically, so if you want these bloodlines you're probably going to choose another race unless you're either a powergamer or have an interesting character concept.

I do have one concern about the way spell enhancements will work with the mythic rules though. Will they be compatible with Words of Power? I've read in a few places that there will be enhanced versions of specific spells, but that doesn't work with the WoP system.

I currently have a WoP using sorcerer in one of my campaigns, and I was thinking of giving the players the option of continuing the campaign with mythic rules after the final book. Worse comes to worse I can just find some way to *get* it to work by matching up Mythic spells with similar effect words I guess...

Actually, I am fan of using lowest ability score for things that should affect character overall abilities.

Personally, I would hate it if they implemented this. This would lead to boring characters where everyone spreads their stats out evenly in point buy.

It also makes rolling states worse. What if you get really unlucky when you roll your stats and gets stuck with a 5 somewhere? You'll just be left out of the mythic party?

Is there a "Mythic Character" that has "Luck" as a mythic ability? Did you plan on someone like that? A friend was talking to me and suggested a character be done with that ability, so I am suggesting it to you.

This reminds me of the Wheel of Time series; there was a character who had the most absurd luck to the point that it was a superpower. ...we totally need that, lol. I guess it would fit best as a Trickster ability?

I'm going to have to try this stuff. I've been getting fed up with my current miniature sealant, lol.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a spear is not a "monk weapon" therefore they would not be able to flurry with it regardless.

There are actually a few ways to do flurry with a spear. The sohei archetype is one, and I believe there is a feat that can let you make your deity's favored weapon into a monk weapon.

And what about feet? it sounds fishy but can a monk keep his spear two-handed, strike once with his first flurry attack without any penalty for fighting with a two handed weapon with one hand and then hail kicks?

Quote from the flurry rules: "A monk applies his full Strength bonus to his damage rolls for all successful attacks made with flurry of blows, whether the attacks are made with an off-hand or with a weapon wielded in both hands."

Edit: This doesn't just mean that he won't get a penalty for his unarmed attack, but that he won't get a bonus for wielding the spear two-handed.

Assuming that he has the ability to flurry with a spear, yes I believe he can do this. Flurry basically works like two-weapon fighting, so just assign the spear attacks to one 'hand' and unarmed strikes to the other one.

Edit: I have to warn you though, flurry rules have gotten... confused lately, so you may run into a lot of differing opinions and interpretations on this.

Those podcast notes are really interesting! Gah, in a way I'm conflicted right now because one of my GMs is planning to start an 'epic' game soon. We were originally planning to use the Legendary Levels rules, but now I'm getting more interested in the Mythic rules. The problem of course is that the full mythic rules aren't coming out for like a year....we might be done by then.

The 'weaknesses' for mythic characters seems intriguing. I would just recommend caution on making the weaknesses too strong. It sounds like Mythic games *may* turn into a game of rocket tag at high levels (though the additional defenses they get may solve this), so you don't want a weakness to make a mythic character easier to kill than a non-mythic character. However, if done right, I think this could add an extra layer of depth to the rules.

There are all sorts of interesting weaknesses a character could have. One is dependance on a bonded item. I'm not even necessarily thinking of a even wizard bonded items... kitsune star balls from the legends come to mind. If a kistune's star ball was stolen, he could be forced into doing favors to get it back. There is also weakness near certain materials (kryptonite!), true names, and so on.

Anyway, I'm really hoping that there will be something in the 'legacy items' section that I can flavor as a Kitsune Star Ball. Assuming it comes out in time for that campaign I mentioned earlier ;)

Unless I'm mistaken, consuming wolfsbane at any stage of being a werewolf allows the character to make a new Fort save to recover. Another option is to simply chain the character down every time there is a full moon.... but they will probably have to be some really heavy chains just to be sure.

I'm building something similar (a Fey Bloodline Kitsune Sorcerer), and currently I'm thinking that I'm going to get Spell Perfection (Hold Monster). The potential to take an enemy out of combat every round with a swift action is pretty nasty, and it benefits from both the fey bloodline arcana and your spell focus feats.

Not sure if we really need to build weaknesses against mythic monsters. At least, even if they have weaknesses, these weaknesses shouldn't make them easier to kill than their non-mythic counterparts.

I find it interesting that Paizo is sticking with DR/epic even though they doesn't seem to intend to create official support for epic rules in Pathfinder. I guess they're just sticking with that DR name since it is already used on a few monsters.

I wonder if there will be something in the mythic rules that allows the attacks of mythic characters to bypass epic DR without a +6 weapon enhancement?

Ok, but...

Bestiary wrote:

Those who commonly battle with trolls know to locate and burn any pieces after a fight, for even the smallest scrap of flesh can regrow a full-size troll given enough time. Fortunately, only the largest part of a troll regrows in this way.

I think the idea is that the troll only has one 'soul', and that it moves to whatever the largest remaining piece of *living* flesh it has remaining is when it regenerates. A finger stuck in a jar probably would not still be alive when the troll dies, unless the finger was cut off very recently.

Well, all he stated was that Superman was mythic and Batman was not. However, it is still possible that Batman has more levels than Superman does, and theoretically that can even things out ;)

Maybe those other StarStones have less awesome/useful/desirable effects.?

That sounds like a Mythic storyline right there. Someone organization gets a hold of what they think is a lesser version of the Starstone and begins infusing their members with power (aka Mythic Tiers). However, they start (going mad)/(turning into monsters)/(falling under the control of the Great Old One who created the false stone)...

Heck, why not all three?

I can't help but take the GM's side. I'm running a smaller game with 1 or 2 players who have to be reminded of several basic rules of the game every single session. I wouldn't be able to stand that with an 'epically' complex game with 8 players.

However, instead of leaving the player out, I would do this: I would just just politely tell the player that she needs to be able to handle her turns without being told what dice to roll and what numbers to add, because the game would take faaaar too long otherwise. An honest person would be able to think about it and say whether or not she would be able to do this, and would leave of her own volition if necessary.

Sorry to keep peppering you with questions, but I'm curious about another thing involving heralds. Iomedae became Aroden's Herald *after* she had already ascended to godhood. Was she simply a rare example of a super-powerful herald, or is having another god or demigod as a herald common? Also, did her power mean that Aroden's followers simply weren't able to summon her through the 'normal' means, or would she have been able to manifest a 'weaker' CR 15 version of herself for them?

I know the Tarrasque is another example of a more powerful than normal Herald, but I'm going to assume that he wasn't designed for summoning in mind ;)

One option would be to replace his Favored Enemy bonus with the Ranger's Focus ability from the Guide Ranger archetype. That is basically a limited use ability that is similar to Smite.

Have to warn you though, the player might not be happy about this ;)

Want to know why, according to multiple Paizo staff including James Jacobs and Eric Mona, we have not gotten something like Pathfinder Modern, despite a fair amount of fans wanting it?

Pathfinder modern would pretty much be a completely different game. On the other hand, Mythic rules is simply on optional expansion of the current rules. There's a big difference. In order to be done properly, Pathfinder Modern would have to be its own separate product line in my opinion.

If you don't want to use mythic rules you'll just have to skip out on one book and one full adventure path next year. Maybe a few other things will come out in the following years, but Paizo will probably mostly go back to non-mythic Pathfinder. I'm not sure what the big deal is, lol.

In the end, heralds are servants of not just the gods, but of the most powerful of that god's minions.

Huh, I never thought of it that way. I'll have to keep that in mind in the future ;)

James Jacobs wrote:

They're only CR 15, after all!

Unless... you go and apply a mythic template to them, right?

Personally, I always felt that Heralds were a little weak for being, you know, Heralds of a god. I'm going to be pretty tempted to tack a few mythic levels onto the one that my players are going to be fighting near the end of their current AP.

I guess that heralds were set at CR 15 so they could be fought in an AP without being the final boss, but I think my players will be a little ahead of the power curve ;)

I would treat the cold iron arrow's damage as 'minimum damage dealt'. At least, that's the simple way to deal with it.

I haven't read the comments, but just from the basic description and sample rule I'm seeing a potential problem.

That sample tier 2 mythic ability is huge. Unless it's the 3.5 divine metamagic of the mythic rules that means going up in mythic tiers is a really absurdly big deal. Seriously, that's better than the Diviner Wizard capstone. (maximizing init instead of rolling 1d20 is equivalent to +9.5 and the +1/2 level is +10 at 20 for a total of +19.5 to initiative compared to a flat +20)

Keep in mind that Mythic tiers don't give you additional hit points, saves, or anything else that a normal level usually gives you. These abilities have to be *VERY* good in order to be roughly equivalent to a character gaining one level.

By the RAW rules, yes, Smite Evil bypasses epic DR.

Personally, I houseruled things in my games by saying that Smite Evil just makes a weapon count as Magic, Good and Lawful.

Matrixryu wrote:

Another Mythic question for you James. Thanks for answering all these :D

So, it has already been stated that Gods will not have stats and players will not be able to directly fight them. What about avatars of a god? I don't believe exactly what an 'avatar' is in Pathfinder has been stated, but unless I'm mistaken it is possible for an avatar to only represent a portion of a god's power. So, would it be possible for the players to fight something like say... an 'Avatar of Urgathoa', and if so will there be rules and stats for these sorts of things in the Mythic rules?

At this point, Pathfinder has not included the concept of an "avatar of a god" in the game at all. The closest analogy we have would be the various heralds of the gods, who aren't avatars as much as they are, well, messengers and favored agents specifically designed with the exact right amount of Hit Dice so that they're things clerics can conjure just barely with greater planar ally.

In fact, the REASON we've been holding off on doing avatars and having that actually mean something in the game is that we've not yet answered the questions of what mythic rules mean.

I suspect that having "avatar" be a new category of monster that's about as powerful as a demigod would be pretty cool, and something that we could do.

Hmmm, I came up with this question because the term 'Avatar' has been used in at least one of Pathfinder's adventure paths, but I guess that was just a choice of word on the part of the author and not a 'technical' pathfinder term. Anyway, while I think it would be cool if this sort of thing could be included in the Mythic rules, I'm aware that you guys already have a ton of more important things to worry about in that book. I guess we'll just see what happens ;)

I'm probably going to be using these miniatures mostly for enemies and such, and I'll keep on buying specific metal minis for my characters. Hopefully I won't have to buy paint for a long time though, I'm getting three of their sets, haha.

Another Mythic question for you James. Thanks for answering all these :D

So, it has already been stated that Gods will not have stats and players will not be able to directly fight them. What about avatars of a god? I don't believe exactly what an 'avatar' is in Pathfinder has been stated, but unless I'm mistaken it is possible for an avatar to only represent a portion of a god's power. So, would it be possible for the players to fight something like say... an 'Avatar of Urgathoa', and if so will there be rules and stats for these sorts of things in the Mythic rules?

Sorry to bring physics into this, but the only real use for throwing a Shrunken item would be to have it fall on someone. *In Theory*, if something suddenly gained several times its mass while in flight, it would slow to a halt because its kinetic energy wouldn't be enough for it to go at its original speed.

Of course, this is supposed to be a fantasy game, so if you want to say that the magic of un-shrinking an item ignores these inconvenient laws of physics feel free. I would use normal 'thrown improvised weapon' damage (assuming there is such a thing), but increase the size as if it had been affected by something like gravity bow.

Matrixryu wrote:

So James, what important figures in Golarion are you the most excited about having Mythic stat blocks for? At least, I'm guessing that at some point there will be a book that stats up some of the more powerful beings such as Tar-Baphon.

Pretty much all the demon lords. And then some Great Old Ones. And then some Runelords and Arazni.

Tar-Baphon eventually I guess... but not until those more important bad guys I just mentioned get their stats!

Ooo, there will be stats for the Great Old Ones? Nice! Makes sense considering I think you put them on the Demigod level of the power scale.

I have to ask this since one of my GMs wants to do a campaign involving the great old ones: any guesses as to when these stats would be published?

So James, what important figures in Golarion are you the most excited about having Mythic stat blocks for? At least, I'm guessing that at some point there will be a book that stats up some of the more powerful beings such as Tar-Baphon.

Now that I think about it, I like the idea of these mythic rules even more now that I realize this gives a way to make someone 'special' without having to deal with templates.