Matt2VK's page

Want to give you two things to watch -

(1) Anything that takes any type of action, you need to be very careful with.

Warpriests have a lot of nice abilities which takes up different actions types. Planning a build around certain feats/spells/abilities can trip you up if they use the same action.

(2) Spells and gear that give bonuses. Keep track of what gives what.

There's a lot of standard gear a warpriest can skip just due to getting the same, if not better, effect with his spells. Prime example of this is Ring of Protection vs Shield of Faith spell. Both give a deflection bonus, Ring is on all the time but Shield's is usually better and takes a spell slot.

I'd probably go -
Rogue vs Slayer
Slayer has that more evil anti-rogue feel you can build into.

Everything else sounds like it's heading in the correct direction.

Every intelligent adventurer should have some type of emergency consumable healing on them. Even the bad guys.

Keen enhancement on the Greatsword.

Depending on your Will save, I would be tempted to shore this up as starting around that level, nothing shuts you down faster then a failed will save.

If you're looking at debuffing, About the nastiest debuffing I've found is going with -

Exploit: School Understanding (Advanced Class Guide)
The arcanist can select one arcane school from any of the schools available to a character with the arcane school wizard class feature, but does not have to select any opposition schools. The arcanist gains one ability of that arcane school as though she were a 1st-level wizard, using her Charisma modifier in place of her Intelligence modifier for this ability. The ability must be one gained at 1st level and is limited in its use per day to 3 + the arcanist’s Charisma modifier. As a swift action, the arcanist can expend 1 point from her arcane reservoir to bolster her understanding, allowing her to treat her arcanist level as her wizard level for the purpose of using this ability for a number of rounds equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum 1). During this time, she also gains use of the other ability gained at 1st level for her selected school. She does not gain any other abilities when using this exploit in this way, such as those gained at 8th level.

Arane School: Void (Elemental School - Dragon Empires Primer)
Void Awareness (Su): Your ability to recognize the void allows your body to react to magical manifestations before you’re even aware of them. You gain a +2 insight bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities. This bonus increases by +1 for every five wizard levels you possess. At 20th level, whenever you would be affected by a spell or spell-like ability that allows a saving throw, you can roll twice to save against the effect and take the better result.

Reveal Weakness (Su): When you activate this school power as a standard action, you select a foe within 30 feet. That creature takes a penalty to its AC and on saving throws equal to 1/2 your caster level (minimum –1) for 1 round. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence bonus.

Aura of Prescience (Su): At 8th level, you can emit a 30-foot aura of void energy for a number of rounds per day equal to your wizard level. Allies within this aura gain a +2 insight bonus on ability checks, attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and skill checks. These rounds do not need to be consecutive.

Using Reveal Weakness and 1 Arcane Point you can apply a debuff of half your level to both AC and Saves.
...or if you're worried about your saves, pick up the Void Awareness.

Something to think about as I've heard it's really good and that's going with the Brown-Fur Transmuter Archetype for the Arcanist. From my understanding, it plays very similar to a transforming druid but with arcane spells to back you up.
Have no idea on how those play or what type of build to suggest (or gear).

Here's how I'd do it - Explain to the players that they're in a chase scene and that they need to break LOS from the chasers for 2+ rounds before a certain amount of rounds pass (Thinking 12 is a good number) otherwise they'll be *caught* as the guards get reinforcements and close in on them.

This means it could be over as quick as the 3rd round (good die roles on players / lousy rolls for GM) or lead to a climatic battle on the 12 round.

Questions you need to ask -
1) Is this chase scene going to be a group check or a individual check?
Group checks are a lot more easier to balance around as a GM but doesn't have the tension of individual checks. Individual checks are also more influenced by the randomness of die rolls.

2) Success and failure checks.
I'm a firm believer on giving bonuses and penalties for succeeding or failing, by a lot, on a skill check.

3) What actions can be taken during a scene, ie how much time in this scene the players have?
This can be something as simple as a full round action to get pass a check point or as complicated as a 15 minute run through a maze of sewers under the city.

4) Spell effects on the chase.
There's a number of spells that can completely break a chase. If you have some idea what spells your party already has, you need to have some prep for them to come up with clever ways to completely wreck your chase.

UG! I hate these type of spells. Completely open to interpretation and the answer is subject to change depending on what type of action the players do.

Not a big fan of any of those questions. They're either to open ended or very limited.

Here's the question I came up with as it gives a specific goal (Protect the people) while asking for a useful piece of advice.

What activity can be done to protect the people of Willowford, the village, and the territory surrounding it?

Just need to remind your players. No plan survives contact with the enemy. There's a reason why most empires don't rely of the Divination spell. They get advice and act on it. Others see there action and change there plans accordingly. Advice that was giving, while maybe preventing that situation, has now changed the situation to something else.

So asking what prep can be done for a more favorable future instead of trying to get detail knowledge that is subject to change would work better for you & your players.

My view of Divination is it plots out the trends of the future, not the actual future.

BLAH, rambling here. Hopefully I've helped some what.

Variant Channeling. Sad to say but those are the only official options. I believe there's some 3rd party stuff out there or you can try making your own with your GM.

They are restricted to your blessings but if the variant channeling falls under a subdomain of that blessing or a area of concern that is very similar to your blessing, your GM might allow it.

Desna
Areas of Concern Dreams, luck, stars, travelers
Domains Chaos, Good, Liberation, Luck, Travel
Subdomains Azata (Chaos), Azata (Good), Curse, Exploration, Fate, Freedom, Revolution

Something I just remembered - Check to see if your GM will allow but it is legal by RAW.

When the Warpriest picks up the ability to channel energy. Take a look at the Variant Channeling. Your healing by channeling is halved but you get to apply a rider effect depending on what blessing effect you have for that channeling.
Warpriest will rarely channel energy to heal so loosing half your healing from channeling while getting some ability that can be very useful in certain situations that effects everyone can be helpful.
Just need to remember, it'll probably help the bad guys too without selective channeling.

Piercing the Heavens: N. Jolly's Guide to the Pathfinder Warpriest
Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-nEbro_tLQ0ILxUd4vmht46-d6nbLk0RUbSRO5x Ugvo/edit

Pretty good guide on warpriests. Bit dated but can give you some ideas.

Suggest you grab Vital Strike if you can get the feat in. Almost a requirement for melee builds for when you have just a standard action to attack with.

While Warpriests do start with a BAB +0. Every 3 levels they gain a bonus feat. That Bonus Feat counts the Warpriests level as there BAB for feat requirements.

So with some planning, you can grab those feats then.

Retraining - See if your GM allows.
Will let you retrain Feats & give you more hitpoints at the cost of gold & time.

Who taught him?
Maybe he had a teacher, family member of the same bloodline and brought him back somehow?

This way you can bring him back and add to the story line.

On Liberation Blessing - Have seen a lot of people forget that it also works vs difficult terrain. Which does come up fairly often. Question here is do you want to spend that swift action for 1 round of normal movement?

PS. I played a Dwarven Reach Warpriest that used a Dorn-dergar, dwarven. A exotic 2handed weapon (martial for Dwarfs) that's Reach but with a move action can be changed to melee.

Liberation Blessing, can be super powerful if it's effect is as Freedom of Movement in getting free. As it can be used even if under a effect, like paralysis.

If it works vs the grappled condition, then it's pretty much one of the more powerful Blessing just due to how nasty some of the grappling monsters are out there.
While I believe this Blessing negates the grappled condition it's just one of those abilities you run by your GM first to let him know about it in advance.

That is so true -

True tanking in pathfinder is standing in your opponents face and dealing a bucket-load of damage. It also depends on how the GM plays the opponents. Opponents with a high Int should be played intelligently, while those with low Int usually will go after those right in front of them.

I wouldn't worry about being the main tank as you'll also have a Swashbuckler in your party. Swashbucklers can make a good avoidance tank and if they do get hit, they have the HP (should be more then you) to soak it up.

Which Blessing are you planning on going with?
Desna has some very nice blessings to choose from. My favorites are Liberation & Luck.

Feat: Quicken Blessing
Very nice feat which runs into the problem of it's a swift action. You already have too many swift actions you'll be trying to do.
I've got a warpriest where I planned on getting Quicken Blessing but never picked it up because I never had the actions available to get a use out of this feat. If you're spending all your swift actions casting spells there's no reason to get Quicken Blessing.

If you're planning on tanking, I feel that going Full Plate AC 9 with a 12 DEX is plenty. As that'll put you at AC 20. If you need a bit more AC, swift cast Shield of Faith for that +2 deflection bonus (+1 more every 6 levels) for a AC 22.

That's before even factoring in a shield and usually a shield is overkill in most situations.
***You also might not want to get your AC super high over the rest of the party as your GM wants to make it challenging for everyone.

CHA of 7. One of the main reasons most Warpriests have dumped this stat is because of the very limited skill points they get per level. They're never going be good at CHA base skills so why try?

TWF: Question you need to ask yourself -
How often do you get your Full attacks in? Most combats I've seen is everyone runs up (move & standard) to beat on something. It dies, and then move onto the next. With maybe one round of full attacking, which would be the only time your TWF happens.
This is one of the reasons I'm a fan of Vital Strike.

Random Points

As a Human, Humans can gain 1/6 of a new bonus combat feat as the warpriest favored class ability. Suggestion is Toughness at level 6 and at level 12 can go with something else.

If you're using a point buy system, I've seen a lot of Warpriest that end up dropping their CHA score to a 7. Giving you a extra 4 points to spend stuff on your other, much needed stats.

Are you going with the Molthuni Arsenal Chaplain Archetype?
If yes, you can get Difficult Swings as you will have the Weapon Training Class Feature.

When picking out Feats, be sure you stay away from feats that take a immediate or swift action to use. As almost always, the first couple of rounds of combat you'll be using those actions to buff (swift cast) yourself. *So wish you can convert a move action into a swift action*.

Some things to look at -

If you're planning on going heavy into melee, have you taken a look at the Molthuni Arsenal Chaplain Archetype? While you're giving up some goodies, you're gaining some nice fighter abilities. Just be sure to pick up some Gloves of Dueling.

TWF build: I'd take a look at the deity Pharasma and grabbing her Obedience Feat. A +2 Sacred Bonus to hit with daggers is huge. Her domains are only 'meh' for a warpriest though. So maybe combine it with the Molthuni Arsenal Chaplain Archetype *shrug*.

Magic items:
Belts of **** I would probably go with CON. You don't really need Strength belts due to all the wonderful cleric spells that can and will buff you're strength.
Ring of Protection - Don't get. You have cleric spells that have a higher deflection bonus then most rings of protection you'll find.
Vestments of War (+2 Fervor& Holy Symbol) expensive but it's extra Fervor + holy symbol

Wonder if Broken Rock is not the "official" name of the port?

Place might have another, official name that is known to the public but just a small part is Broken Rock...

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I see nothing stopping Bounty Hunters from hunting pirates at this location. Except maybe surviving the attempt.

I image there's a decent amount of traffic to and from Broken Rock (at least a ship a day) with the size of the population, being a smuggler warehouse, and all the casinos it probably has.

Kind of reminds me of the early days of Las Vegas. Everyone knew it was mob central but the government just made token efforts to clean it up.

*I would not be surprised if the Hellknights didn't have a spy or three on Broken Rock keeping track of the Pirate Ships as they come in and out. Its being able to do something with that info that's always been a problem. Space is big and finding those pirate ships when they don't want to be found isn't easy.

From the Starfinder Wiki - Broken Rock

Inhabitants & Infrastructure
Broken Rock is the haven of the Free Captains, as well as smugglers purchasing their goods, mechanics repairing their starships, and casinos where they could gamble. Has a population of 45,600. Kind of makes you doubt they're all pirates...making it sound more like Broken Rock is a free port where anything can go.

Who knows where Broken Rock is
...the Free Captains and their allies know the exact location of the Broken Rock.

So more then just the Free Captains know where it is.

What I take away from this -
Broken Rock is located in a semi-secret location that might have some divine protection to keep it hidden. It's a location where governments and corporations can meet out of the public view. While a haven for pirates, about the only time pirates gather at Broken Rock is during the election of a new Free Captain.

So even if someone wanted to risk attacking Broken Rock, they'd be lucky to get just a small amount of the pirates while racking up a huge death toll from everyone else living there.

PS. I pulled this info off the Wiki site. I'm assuming it matches the paizo published stuff.

Have you tried a Vanguard?

I feel they are very similar to Solarians but are completely different thematically.

Wonder what kind of havoc a GM can cause with High Winds on a Slippery Mountain Trail in Low Gravity...

sounds like PF2 when asking mentioning a Ancestry Feat.

Been reading the rules of Flyby and have gotten slightly confused.

Flyby
The ship moves as normal, but it can move through 1 hex occupied by an enemy starship without provoking a free attack (as described in Moving through Other Starships). During the following gunnery phase, you can select one arc of your starship’s weapons to fire at the enemy vessel as if the vessel were in close range (treat the range as 1 hex), against any quadrant of the enemy starship...you follow the normal rules for attacking...
BUT... If you fail this check,...[bthe movement provokes a free attack[/b] from that starship..

So if I'm reading the rules correctly now. A successful Flyby just gives you a attack with any weapon on your starship with one weapon at a range of 1 Hex during the gunnery phase.

A failed Flyby attack gives the opposing starship a free attack.

Just want to get this clarified as every Starfinder game I've played and seen played Flyby was always a free attack for one of the starships.

Don't think this has ever been answered. There's a number of place in the rules where it can be argued either way.

Know there was a similar thread which had a number of FAQ stickered to it and never got a answer.

Found the grafts I need to apply to the creature templates but where and what templates do I use for the other creatures (looking for something like the elemental have).

Was thinking a Air Elemental could, sort of work for Swarms if I'm reading the rules right.

Air Elemental, Whirlwind The base of a creature in whirlwind form occupies a 5-foot square. The whirlwind is twice as wide at its top as its base and has a height equal to four times the width of its base; this doesn’t change the size category of the creature.
Duration: the creature can remain in whirlwind form for a number of rounds equal to half its CR. using the universal rule of can never be less then 1, would have a 1 round duration.

That's if I'm reading the rules right.

Seeking advice on what creatures to pick for the Summon Creature spell.

Out of the four able to pick figure I need one for flying fights, one for water fights, and one that's able to handle swarms.

Have no idea what to suggest -

Would like to know as I have a Vesk Solarian who is 'lacking' in skills for skill checks. After playing in a scenario that required lots of skill checks, have started looking for ways to buff those numbers.

Question: What's the game mechanics for the +4 to any one skill check for the cost of 1 Fame?

Where and When can I use this 'purchased' skill check?

Could it be purchased in the middle of a session and be applied to a Society 'Hireling' that's with a player?

How has it been used in other people's tables?

There's a Boon that can grant a Starship Nuclear Missiles.

These can irradiate a ship causing low levels of radiation poisoning. How would the GM handle the scenario's NPC ship crews?

So far, we've just been ignoring the irradiate effect of these missile just to avoid bogging down starship combat trying to figure this out/rolling all the saves it would require. So this is more for curiosity sake then anything else.

Thanks Belafon -

It does say STARFINDER BACKPACK (WORN) in the armory. Had to go double check that as the web searches for Starfinder Backpack do not show the (Worn) status.

PS. I do have the books, it's just easier doing the web searches as everything is in one place.

Does the Starfinder Backpack count as one of the two "worn" magic items you're limited to?

Magic Items
Worn magic items are things like rings, cloaks, amulets, and gloves....you can only wear up to two magic items at once and have both function normally...This limitation applies specifically to worn magic items, and does not apply to armor upgrades, held items, weapon fusions, augmentations, magic armor, consumables, or other forms of magic, all of which function normally.

Can see it argued either way but at moment, leaning towards does not count as one of the two.

Is there a way for Technomancer to learn more magical Hacks (such as by a feat)?

I'd disagree on you there, sort of. It doesn't really become good till level 10+ and only when making a single attack.

Here's some feats I like.

Deadly Aim: -2 to attack rolls, add half level to damage.

Shot on the Run: Make a ranged attack while moving.

Unfriendly Fire (Only if you put ranks into Bluff): Attempt a bluff check vs a ranged attacker that missed you. Forcing that attack onto another target, rerolling attack roll.

Combat maneuvers by themselves are weak. It's when you start stacking all the possible modifiers where they can start working, except for grappling. Grappling becomes way too powerful in my opinion.

I think Paizo has a problem balancing Grapple. While it is powerful and a requirement for certain monsters. It's when players start adding up all those different modifiers that it starts to become a broken system.

If you're also looking at gear, I put up a thread for gear that can effect skill modifiers. While not really that helpful for combat, can be useful for those non-combat checks.

https://paizo.com/threads/rzs42xpu?Gear-with-Skill-modifiers

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All that speed can be nice in certain, limited, encounters. Most of those types of encounters are 'limited' and usually don't come up that often.

Two questions you need to think about -
1) Do you want to spend all those resources on something that is only effective during a limited amount of time?

2) With all that speed, where's the rest of the party going to be at?
Asking as you'll be out of support range for the rest of the party for most situations where you want all that speed.

Not sure I'd pick up the Feat: Fleet. As you can grab Cybernetics that allow the same thing.

Speed Suspension, Minimal. Tech Level 4, 1,900 cr.
You increase your land speed by replacing joints and tendons in your legs with high-performance cybernetics. A minimal speed suspension replaces only a few parts, increasing your land speed by 10 feet. A standard suspension is more invasive and increases your land speed by 20 feet. Replacing all your leg joints and tendons with a complete speed suspension increases your land speed by 30 feet.

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Something to think about (RAW) -
The Revelations that give bonuses to skills mostly only give those bonuses when attuned or fully attuned. From my understanding of Stellar Mode & Attunement, you only can become attuned at the start of your turn in combat. Which means you don't get those bonuses except in combat.

Think this part -

...non-damaging fluid with no other game effects...

kind of prevents that type of abuse.

Here's a list of the gear (and some spells) that I've found that modify skill checks. What have I missed?

Acrobatics
Balance checks (out of combat); Personal Gravitational Redistributor (Tool Kit, Starfinder) +4 circumstance

Athletics
Climbing; Climbing Kit (Tool Kit, Xhinti Holdings) +4 circumstance
Clothing, Athletic, type of Athletics +1 circumstance

Bluff
Clothing, Formal; prevents the -4 penalty at formal events.
Clothing, Party; prevents the -4 penalty at party events.

Computers
Need access to the Computers Interface or a Hacking Kit to use.
Breaking in doors/windows computer controlled; Thieves Tools (Tool Kit, Starfinder) +4 circumstance

Culture
Knowledge, Culture checks; Library Chip & Tier-0 Computer; Standard Action to access; +4 circumstance
Written Languages; Linguists Kit (Tool Kit, Xhinti Holdings) +4 circumstance

Diplomacy
Clothing, Formal; prevents the -4 penalty at formal events.
Clothing, Party; prevents the -4 penalty at party events.

Disguise
Spells, Disguise Self +10 circumstance
Clothing, Formal; prevents the -4 penalty at formal events.
Clothing, Party; prevents the -4 penalty at party events.
Clothing, Uniform, +1 circumstance to disguise for group/organization of uniform.

Engineering
No Tool Kit -2 on all checks but knowledge.
Knowledge, Engineering checks; Library Chip & Tier-0 Computer; Standard Action to access; +4 circumstance
Armor, anything dealing with; Armorcraft Kit, +2 circumstance
Breaking in mechanical doors/windows; Thieves Tools (Tool Kit, Starfinder), counts as Engineering kit for this purpose, +4 circumstance
Explosives, Arming/Disarming; Demolitionist's Kit (Tool Kit, Xhinti Holdings) +4 circumstance
Starship Hull Repair; Starship Repair Kit (Tool Kit, Xhinti Holdings) +4 circumstance
Traps, Arm/Disarm; Engineering Trapsmiths Tool Kit, +4 circumstance, -2 without
Weapons, Repair; Weaponsmithing Kit, +2 circumstance

Intimidate

Life Science
Knowledge, Life Science checks; Library Chip & Tier-0 Computer; Standard Action to access; +4 circumstance

Medicine
Heal HP, requires Med Kit, 1 minute
Treat Disease, requires Med Kit, 10 minutes
Treat Drugs or Poison, Med Kit, standard Action, +4 saving throw bonus.

Mysticism
Knowledge, Mysticism checks; Library Chip & Tier-0 Computer; Standard Action to access; +4 circumstance
Arm/Disarm Traps, Mysticism Trapsmiths Tool Kit, +4 circumstance, -2 without
ID Magic Item, Spell Identify +10 insight; Aura-Translation Kit (Tool Kit, Starfinder) +4 circumstance

Perception
Searching; Broad-Spectrum Scanning Kit (Tool Kit, Starfinder) +4 circumstance

Physical Science
Knowledge, Physical Science checks; Library Chip & Tier-0 Computer; Standard Action to access; +4 circumstance

Piloting
Navigation & Astrogate, Astrogator's Kit (Tool Kit, Starfinder) +4 circumstance

Profession
Clothing, Profession +1 circumstance
Profession Tool Kit; Profession +4 circumstance

Sense Motive
Detect secret Message (out of combat); Mental Interpretation Kit (Tool Kit, Starfinder) +4 circumstance

Sleight of Hand

Stealth
Spell, Invisible +20, +40 if not moving
Sniping; Light-Scattering Sniper's Blind (Tool Kit, Starfinder) +4 circumstance

Survival
Handle Animal/ Raise Animal, Animal Trainer Kit (Tool Kit, Starfinder) +4 circumstance
Living off Land; Survival Kit (Tool Kit, Xhinti Holdings) +4 circumstance
Orienteering; Navigator's Tool Kit, +4 circumstance
Severe Weather, Enduring; Survival Kit (Tool Kit, Xhinti Holdings) +4 circumstance
Ride Creatures; Rider's Kit (tool), +4 circumstance
Weather Prediction; Portable Weather Station (Tool Kit, Xhinti Holdings) +4 circumstance
Clothing, Environmental, Cold/Dust Storms/ Extreme Gravity / Heat / Radiation / Zero-G - All have different effects.

Other
Clothing, Travel; Forced Marches, +1 circumstance to CON checks

Aeon Stone, Purple Sphere: This aeon stone creates an invisible force field around you that functions as a purple force field. The stone has a daily capacity of 10 charges and fully recharges itself every 24 hours.

Does it take a action to turn on/off the properties of Aeon Stones?
Only info I can find is about Aeon Stone's light function.
As a standard action, you can activate or deactivate the illumination of an aeon stone

Thanks.
(1) Was what we figured and how we played but the question did come up.

(2) There was some question on if the skill check was a Attack Roll since it was part of a attack. So could not Take 10 for it. We could go either way on the answer.

Trip Attack: You can trick or startle a foe and then attack when she drops her guard. As a full action, you can move up to your speed. Whether or not you moved, you can then make an attack with a melee weapon with the operative special property or with any small arm. Just before making your attack, attempt a Bluff, Intimidate, or Stealth check (or a check associated with your specialization; see page 94) with a DC equal to 20 + your target’s CR...

Question -
1) If the Operative fails in their skill check (attempt a Bluff, Intimidate, or Stealth check (or a check associated with your specialization) can they still make a normal attack roll and deal damage?

2) At 7th level can the Operative take 10 on the skill check for the Trick Attack?
You become so confident in certain skills that you can use them reliably even under adverse conditions. When attempting a skill check with a skill in which you have the Skill Focus feat, you can take 10 even if stress or distractions would normally prevent you from doing so.

Question: Vanguard spends 1 Entropy Point for the +10-foot enhancement bonus to his speed.

1) Does that +10' enhancement bonus last his full turn or just that one move action?

2) What if that Vanguard runs?

Do you need to purchase the Hireling Boons in order?

Example: Can I go from a Basic to Professional without hiring the others?

Thought I read somewhere I needed to buy them in order to get the next highest but not finding that rule.

Only reason I can see is if the player traded out the Vesk Unarmed racial for the Prehensile Tail and wants the feat for roleplaying.

I'm also kind of curious on how you'd handle a character that has a "famous" theme?