Thri-kreen

Mellok's page

Organized Play Member. 180 posts (217 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 1 Organized Play character. 2 aliases.



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Question of the day:

Is there a way for a fighter to get a Mature Animal Companion either through general feats or druid/ranger multiclass?


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87
Name: Athallos Stonebinder
ABC: Gnome Nomad?(really want something with lore Engineering or architecture) Elemental Sorcerer
Weapon of Choice: His contract bidding skills
Catchphrase: No Project too big.

Ever wonder who builds the impressive stone circles, or houses that look like living trees . . . and still are. This guy that's who. He travels around the world taking contracts to sculpt and build major outdoor structures of rustic beauty.

Through a combination of Shape Wood, Shape Stone, Wall of Stone, Telekinetic Haul, and Flesh to Stone (how else do you get garden halflings?) he builds wonders in days that take normal craftsmen months if not years.

Not terrible as a backup healer either with a spontaneous heighten heal.


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@Saedar

I was not aware that the retraining was significantly changed into a core mechanic and not a "at GMs discretion". I thought changing spells, at least rules as written, was mostly done just at level and then in a restricted manor.


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@MusicAddict
I think you will find that 3 spells per level plus your bloodline is a really limited list of spells known especially when most bloodlines have a few bad spells in them. The sorcerer lost 7 spells known from PF1 to PF2 plus another 5 cantripts. Additionally all their scaling damage spells are locked at the lowest damage level possible without spontaneous heightening which is a huge hit to an evocation heavy spell list.

As far as your worry about changing with the game meta I have not had your experience. We have always been very restrictive about retraining spells outside of leveling and the leveling mechanic is very limiting as by the nature of the game you will want to release an old spell that you have attained their big brother in order to gain a lower level utility spell. If you have a gm letting sorcerers swap out their spells known easily that might be the source of the problem. In PFS it is really expensive to do a rebuild on even a low level spell much less anything level 5 and up.

The sorcerers of any spell list are going to naturally gravitate toward the most versatile and potent of the spells on the list, that’s just the way you build a successful sorcerer. Not overlapping spell lists is more important than not overlapping prepared casters vs spontaneous casters for keeping all party members relevant. The prepared spell caster will be able to respond to the game meta daily where a sorcerer will need to wait an entire level to make 1 adjustment.

In short signature spells and spontaneous heightening needs to make up at least 7 spells known and the loss of power from having spells stuck at their initial spell level of damage. A few spells like Heal and Harm are great to have as signature spells as they a level 1 spells with +1 heightening mechanics but most heightenable spells only have 2-3 other spells that they can effectively be heightened to rather than the 8 spells a level 1 spell with +1 heightening. This does not keep up with the losses from PF1 spells known at only 2 signature spells.


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Speaking of House rules I think I have come up with my solution.

1) Do away with signature spells entirely.
2) Any Heighten that only adds #Ds are considered magnitude heightens and can freely be upcast with a higher spell slot.
3) Spells that change in form can be freely downcast but you need to spend the spells known slot of the highest rank you can cast.


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Mark,

Thank you for posting in this thread even if you could not give us a preview of the Signature Spell rules.

I apologize if my game mechanic problem for page count reasons came across as harsh. I can see how that could easily fall under unintended consequences of the new spell spell level progression, streamlining the overall spell system to be more balanced with the melee action economy/DPR and a great way to add more content to the initial book without making the book too long.

I have been doing a lot of system level game mechanic design recently for a pet project Unity game so I was looking at it from a system design standpoint and not a hand crafted game standpoint. As I didn't send any feedback on the signature spell during the playtest phase I don't really have a leg to stand on, honestly didn't even come to the conclusion that spells should have been split into damage increases and form changes until I was writing the post earlier in this thread.

Overall I think PF2 is looking to be a good system and I think it will help ease the burden on the GMs to the point that a few in my group might be finally willing to run a game not directly out of a book.


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I keep hoping Mark will stick his head in here and throw us a slight spoiler.


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I feel you on the GM side of things. The longer a single players turn takes the more likely the other players will wonder off either physically or mentally into one device or another. I have both discouraged new and or disorganized players from playing casters and helped make cards for well meaning if forgetful players that I keep between sessions because said players are also likely to lose them.

For one group we actually introduced a shot clock. If your player doesn't come up with an action in 2 minutes after passing the turn then their character is skipped. Once we instituted the rule we never had to enforce it because the problem people got organized.

The real issue comes in in PFS where whatever rules are written is law with no house ruling and you cannot audit a player to play a class that they are actually competent at playing. Play test Sorcerers needed either more spells known so that you could afford to slot higher level spells or more than just two spell that can be spontaneously heightened. Even tying spontaneous heightening to bloodlines isn't great because most of the blood lines contain many single level spells and more than a few stinkers.

In my mind they choose to create a game mechanic problem for a print page count reason. They condensed spells under the same name that had vastly different effect that should have stayed unique spells to save print space then nerfed the damage on spells for all levels after the first level you gained access to it compared to PF1. If the damage was intentionally being balanced then those should have the only spells that could have been heightened.

Another option could have been that each spell has a level 0-10 version and reasonable modifications could have been made to classic spells to get them to join together into a single spell line. Then wizards only need to find one record to be able to add the line to their spell book and Sorcerers could only learn 3 spells at level 1 and one additional spell ever other level starting at level 3. A few of the spells would have been left as odd men out but those are usually the underpowered or over powered spells anyway.


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Not going to lie, was planning on having Architect or Engineer be the characters profession and role play it that he was a wandering mystic builder.

Elemental Shaper
Cant: Produce Flame, lvl1 Mending, lvl 2 shape wood, lvl 3 Wall of Thorns, Lvl 4 Shape stone, lvl 5 Wall of stone, lvl 6 Flesh to stone (the other way to get a garden gnome), lvl 7 Regenerate (not great but repairs living), lvl 8 earthquake (sometimes to build you must first destroy) (really want this to be polymorph any object), lvl9 ? Implosion (see lvl 8)

initial able to make some detail
advanced spend focus to double the area of granted spells
Greater spend focus to create high detail

Works really well as a gnome actually so maybe the garden gnome joke was in poor taste (maybe its a statuary graveyard?)


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I had been planning on making a Fey Sorc that took Stone and Wood Shape and all the Form spells with summon natures ally and heal as my spontaneous heighten spells. In the end I was going to ignore most of the Fey type spell so it would be nice if there was some form of primal shaper bloodline with supporting effects.


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If you are careful to enforce the maximum range of the skills you will see that unless they are already grappling the other ship or could be jumping from one to another its hard to use any of the powers in broken ways. The dangerous powers you are worried about you need to compare to 6th level spells available to wizards and druids. You will quickly see that on an encounter by encounter basis a 12th level druid or wizard is far more dangerous in ship to ship combat if they prepare for it.

On a physics meets magic logic you need to remember that compared to a 30 ft schooner 320 gallons is a joke but on a small row boat its bad news. Anything requiring continuous use of an at will power should be considered exhausting. Think if you were to swing a sword 10 times a minute all day. If you did that all day your arm would be a wet noodle for the next couple of days and consequently your kineticist could have a splitting headache that made it impossible to gather energy the next day, a huge penalty.

There is no denying that a kineticist of any flavor makes a good pirate, with the possible exception of earth/earth but I put forward the power of move earth and stone shape to make or destroy a harbor, and what they bring to the table should make for many non standard solutions that could make an old AP interesting.


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Wow, how have I never seen that feat before. You don't really need dex to damage. Compare 22 dex(lvl 8 if you start with 16) and 14 Strength with power attack to 24 Dex starting with an 18 dex. You only loose 1 dex worth of attack/ac/init/ref and do more damage as I don't think with slashing grace you would get 1.5x dex to damage for 2 handing it but you would get 1.5x strength and qualify for power attack on a 2 hand weapon.


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Al-Khen wrote:

Not looking for hate, but putting the numbers down for effective crafting of the object and then what it would look like for making something comparable through comparing the effect to what tier of item it should actually be:

Assumptions - he's a dwarf wizard with 3 traits and a drawback; the three positives being Eldritch Smith, Hedge Magician, And Spark of Creation.
Each of those traits decrease cost by 5%, and through restricting the item to class, alignment, and skill (spell craft or use magic device or sleight of hand, etc.), the discounts added in are 30%, 30%, and 10% respectively.

Magic missile stacking on an item would technically fall under similar abilities (cause what's not more similar to something than the exact same thing; apples to apples, oranges to oranges and such), however, that discount only applies to a slotless items.

We have our discounts now. The item described was a command word magic missile stacked 25 times.
Thats ({1800 × 1×1 × .95^(3) × .7^(2) × .9}/2)×25
Which is 8,507.3034375 rounded to 8,507.3 GP + Scroll cost to facilitate each additional casting (using 25 scrolls to make cost more cut, less eratic, and buying them) for each day (9 days×25scrolls×25gp=5625)
Total cost is 14,132.3 GP
.

Multiple Similar Abilities: For items with multiple similar abilities that don't take up space on a character's body, use the following formula: Calculate the price of the single most costly ability, then add 75% of the value of the next most costly ability, plus 1/2 the value of any other abilities.

Your equation is wrong for multiple similar is wrong if it were multiple similar, which it is not, it would be
1800+1800*0.75+1800*0.5*23 = 23850 gp base

“Other Considerations: Once you have a cost figure, reduce that number if either of the following conditions applies:”

You can apply the highest reduction the item qualifies for not each one for a maximum of -30% so
23850*0.7 = 16,695

All three traits you listed are Magic Traits and while I am having trouble finding the source, it may be PFS, you are only supposed to have 1 trait from each category. So only one of the 5% discounts can be used. So

16,695 * 0.95 = 15,860.25 if your PFS rules but homebrew table
16,695*0.95*0.95*0.95 = 14,313.88

"The multiple similar abilities rule is specifically for items that don't use a magic item slot (such as staves), and can't be used for items that do use a magic item slot."

So its multiple different, not multiple similar so
1800+1800*1.5*24 = 66,600
66,600*0.95*0.70 = 44,289

Its being crafted as an equipment slot item that breaks the rules for staff creation and uses the easiest to get and most versatile crafting feat. Its is most certainly multiple different enchantments and by no means meets the test for similar enchantments. Each enchantment adds to the intended effect and multiplies the action economy value, saying anything else is miss leading to people who don't understand magic item creation.


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Matthew Downie wrote:

There are practical advantages to the civilized way of doing things.

"Snip"

If you try to apply Dracovar's logic to real life, it would sound pretty... extreme:

"I think the police officer did the right thing, shooting the suspect after he threw down his gun and surrendered. "Snip"

Of course, in a gameworld where bad guys are Evil with a capital E and the law is weak/corrupt, that type of reasoning makes a lot of sense.

In this case it would be more like you cornered a serial killer that was notorious for finding a way to get out of any situation given enough time, in this case waiting a day for new spells, and you didn't have any backup to bring him in.


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Male Human Paladin 5 HP: 49/49 Sanity: 65/65 AC:25 FF:24 TC:12 | F +11 R +7 W +10 | init +1 Perc +10 | L O H 5/6 | Smite Fallen 2/2
Mystery:
HP: 41/41 | Sanity: 60/60 | AC 22 FF 20 TC 12 | F +8 R +7 W +3| init +2| Perc +5

Ice age like giant elk. . . . I think.


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I in vision the horses are the norm for beasts of burden and travel ware as any metara mount is a valued companion and significantly rare as to be considered a special gift.

Paladin mounts having an int of 6 or more might very well be an ancestor reborn.


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Id rather have base inquisitor over preacher myself but I prefer both Sanctified Slayer and Sacred huntmaster over the base inquisitor, I hate 1 or 2 times per day abilities.

The huntmaster works better for Melee but still can be very strong at ranged. The Sanctified Slayer can still take the feather domain and will have a lot of offensive power.


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I recently service myself the challenge of building a Medium that was effective, fun to play, and true to the class concept.  To find a single build that will work for all spirits requires limiting the focus of each.  As I dislike both the location requirements and prepared spell casting I have chosen to use the Relic Channeler.  This character should do well as the party face, minor buffer, support damage.

 

The Build

Halfling 20 point buy Fleet Footed

Str:10 Con:14 Dex:16 Int:13 (14 at 4th) Wis:10 Char:16

 

1st Weapon Finesse FCB skill point

Skills: Diplomacy 1, Sense Motive 1, Perception 1, Spellcraft 1, Umd 1, Linguistics 1

Spells

Medium 0:Prestidigitation, Detect Magic

Arch mage 0: Acid splash, Mending 1:Magic Missle, Magic Weapon

Hierophant 0: Create water, Mending 1: Shield of Faith, Divine Favor, Cure light after 6th

Champion EWP Whip, EWP Scorpion Whip

Tricksters edge: Disable Device, Acrobatics, Stealth

 

2nd FCB 1/3 seance bonus

Skills: Arcana 1, Religion 1, Planes, Heal 1, Bluff 1

Spells

Medium 0: Guidance

 

3rd Exotic Weapon Proficiency Scorpion Whip FCB 1/3 seance bonus

Skills: Sense Motive 2, Sense Motive 3, Diplomacy 2, Diplomacy 3, Linguistics 2

Spells

Medium 0: Stabilize

 

4th +1 int FCB 1/3 seance bonus

Skills: Sense Motive 4, Diplomacy 4, Linguistics 3, Linguistics 4, Perception 2, Perception 3

Spells:

Medium 1: Long Arm, Silent Image

Arch Mage 2: Scorching Ray, Alter Self

Hierophant 2: Lesser Restoration, Resist Energy, Cure Moderate

 

5th TWF FCB 1/3 seance bonus

Skills: Diplomacy 5, Sense Motive 5, Linguistics 5, Perception 4, Perception 5, Bluff 2

Spells

Medium 0: Fey Aspect 1: Unseen Servent

 

6th FCB 1/3 seance bonus

Skills: Diplomacy 6, Sense Motive 6, Linguistics 6, Perception 6, Bluff 3, Bluff 4

Spells

Medium 1: Expetious Retreat

 

7th Piranha Strike FCB 1/3 seance bonus

Skills: Diplomacy 7, Sense Motive 7, Linguistics 7, Perception 7, Bluff 5, Bluff 6

Spells

Medium 0: Grave Words 2: Haste, Invisibility

Arch Mage 3: Fireball, Dispelled Magic

Hierophant 3: Stone Shape, ?, Cure Serious

 

8th +1 dex FCB 1/3 seance bonus

Skills: Diplomacy 8, Sense Motive 8, Linguistics 8, Perception 8, Bluff 7, Bluff 8

Spells

Medium 2: Mirror Image

 

9th ITWF FCB 1/3 seance bonus

Skills: Diplomacy 9, Sense Motive 9, Linguistics 9, Perception 9 Bluff 9, UMD 2

Spells

Medium 1: ? 2: ?

 

There are still some holes to fill but using mithril BP and 2 agile Scorpion whips should make for a build with lots of options.  The questions I have are, does arch mage suffer arcane spell failure and does relic Channeler get to pick a different skill for the trickster seance bonus or is that set too?


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LoL I just looked up Emma Frost, definitely looks more like a straight psion with all the memory spells or a mesmerist.

What I had envisioned was a bit more like Elsa from Frozen'TM(no one lets it go), speaking of which that would be an absolutely hilarious character to troll random PFS groups with or just the next time my wife DMs.


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Its been mentioned already but the Mindblade really appears to be more of a buff then fight or reach build in order to spell combat. In my mind Enlarge person should pretty much be your go to spell to get reach with a 1 hand weapon then spell strike using the close arcana to hit once and acid splash spell strike once, maybe with frostbite active.


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For one thing rapid reload is weapon specific not general. Maybe there is a good way to get what you are after with 5 levels of Bolt Ace and a heavy xbow.

If its a home game you should be able to get your GM to approve the bolt is acceptable to replace the Arrow in the AA abilities. Remember too that you will need +6 BAB for the AA prereq.


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I would like to throw out there that there is very high rate of suicide in the trans community. Abruptly removing a primary support mechanism can be devastating to someone who already feels troubled and alone.

If you and your group care at all for Player T then I would suggest those of you who do speak with her in a more personal setting to ease into the idea that you would like downplay personal issues during game time. You are not trying to remove the support group but rather trying to preserve an environment where everyone at the table can release their current cares at least for a few hours and deal with problems that can be solved with dice and clever misuse of illusion spells.

You can also take Player A aside and tell them not to antagonize Player T as it also hurts the carefree environment.