Where are people most likely to encounter Astomoi (either individually or in communities) on Golarion?
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The Church of Asmodeus is the state religion of Cheliax and generally regarded as the most tolerated Evil religion in the Inner Sea region, but just how common is the worship of Asmodeus outside of Cheliax? Would the religion be confined to hidden cults like those of other Evil Gods, accepted enough to have at least a shrine in most communities, or would you only find a temple of Asmodeus in a large urban center?
Undead are always Evil in Pathfinder (except ghosts, but they don't really count). So would it be possible for a sentient undead to change its alignment? For example, I've always wondered what would happen if you put a Helm of Opposite Alignment on a lich or vampire. Would it die? Come back to life? Explode?
1) Ice Age marsupial megafauna. 2) The last remnants of serpentfolk civilization on the surface. 3) A portal to Abaddon that spews out daemons.
I usually don't play casters, but I decided to do something a bit different. I want to make a Divination specialist Human Wizard. The concept is a mystical seer type of character who can do all the iconic Divination stuff: gather intelligence magically, scry through a crystal ball, and see into the future to a limited extent. I want to avoid being the "blast it with fireballs" caster, and fulfill more of an intelligence and support roll. I'm starting out at level 4 and would love some suggestions for spells and feats.
Can anyone recommend an RPG with very lethal combat? In the real world, getting stabbed with a dagger, hit with an axe, or shot with an arrow are all very bad, should be avoided, and can sometimes just kill a person outright, no matter if you're a famous knight or great scholar. I want to try my group on a new rpg and would love to run a game that treats injuries this way. Anyone have suggestions?
This is kind of a part two to a previous question. How would one travel with or otherwise transport an ooze animal companion? This didn't seem like a problem until a player I'm working with asked me, and I'm kind of stumped. Most oozes are fairly slow and digest whatever they touch. So letting it follow you like a dog would mean going slowly, and carrying it or even wearing it like a cloak would do damage to the character. Odds are it would also damage any kind of item that was used to carry it fairly quickly too. Any ideas for how to safely transport an ooze?
One of my players wants an ooze, slime, or pudding to replace a deceased animal companion. The player has taken feats to make this work, but I can't find any stats for ooze type companions. If anyone knows where I could find such a thing or has suggestions for creating it, I would greatly appreciate the help.
I've been wanting to give my group an encounter that turns their usually black/white view of alignment on its head, and the idea of a Neutral Cleric of Charon came to mind. Charon is the Horseman of Death, the embodiment of death by old age. He ferries people across the River Styx along with his Thanadaemons, even working with mortals as long as the price asked is paid. He is content to wait, knowing those destined to be his will come to him one way or the other given enough time. Death by old age is perfectly natural, and ferrying people to where they need to be is a practical and useful job. Even Daemon hating Hanspur makes an exception for Thanadaemons. So would a True Neutral Cleric who goes about assisting those about to die of old age, ferrying the elderly across rivers, and providing last rites to the dying who are unable to obtain proper services fit him thematically? Or does that seem too close to Good behavior for a Daemon Cleric?
Let's say a Devil goes from Lawful Evil to Lawful Neutral. What happens? Does it remain a Devil even with it's altered alignment? Or does it automatically become some other type of being?
Because according to my group, it's time for a barbecue. They managed to kill a neothelid at the end of our last session, and just to prove I will never be able to predict what they're going to try to do next, the party wants to cook and eat the thing during our next session. I have no idea how to handle this development. On one hand, I don't want to just say no and keep them from enjoying their victory in the way they want, but on the other, eating giant psychic worm meat screams 'bad idea'. I even read through everything I can find on neothelids to see if I could find anything about whether their flesh is poisonous or not, but apparently nobody ever thought someone would be insane enough to try to eat one. So what should I do? Just let them cook and eat it? Have it melt away before they get the chance? Have everyone roll Fortitude saves to see if they get poisoned from eating neothelid meat? Any and all suggestions are welcome.
Do they immediately engage in combat? Glare at each other as they pass? Hurl insults and crude gestures? Have a drink and shoot the breeze with each other about how hard it is being being a Divine Champion?
You can't have an ability score over 18 at level one. But why? I've played in a few groups where a character started with a 20 (or even 22 in the case of an Orc character whose lucky player rolled an 18) ability score right out of the gate. It wasn't game breaking, and the other characters weren't left in the dust thanks to the fact we were all limited by level one hit points and equipment. With the measures PF2 is putting in place to make the game more balanced, capping ability scores at level one seems less like a way to ensure a balanced game, and more like a way to enforce the new character creation method. As a big fan of rolling for stats and opponent of capping ability scores at any level, if this stays in the finished product of PF2 (which I'm sure it will) it's going to be one the first things I houserule out of the game, if I bother switching to PF2 at all. Anyone else have thoughts, comments, enraged outbursts, or vehement objections they would like to share on the subject?
There are no more Neutral Clerics of Evil Gods in Pathfinder, and I for one am extremely disappointed. Now I have to retire the character I've been playing for nearly ten years, or find a group that's okay with houseruling Chaotic Neutral Clerics of Lamashtu back into the game. Maybe I'm overreacting, maybe people won't find this fact a big deal, but for me, unless Neutral Clerics of Evil make it back in by the time the official Second Edition comes out, I'm done with Pathfinder.
This question popped into my head the other day, and I thought I would share it here. What do Orcs think about Tieflings? Since many Orc tribes worship demon lords, would a Tiefling born into an Orc tribe be revered as a sign from their patron? Or feared as some kind of curse? I could equally imagine an Orc tribe being lead by a red skinned, horned chieftain who made his way to the top through 'unholy favor', and a mob of fearful Orcs tossing the 'cursed' baby and mother off a cliff to avoid the disfavor of their angered patron. But I can't really decide which would be more likely. Anyone care to share their thoughts?
Pathfinder is the major successor to D&D 3.5, but are there any other popular games or systems that are based on, a continuation of, or compatible with D&D 3.5?
Pathfinder is the major successor to D&D 3.5, but are there any other popular games or systems that are based on, or continuation of, or compatible with D&D 3.5?
"Roll three of these D6 six times, add them together, arrange the results however you want, then add or subtract your modifiers. Simple." That was the first thing the first DM I ever played with told me about building my character. I've used other ways to generate ability scores since, but have always preferred rolling to any other method. It's simple, random, and far more enjoyable than just being given a Standard Array. In newer editions of tabletop games however, rolling for ability scores is seemingly frowned upon, being shoved into the back of the book with the optional rules. But not everyone prefers using the same method, and in my group we usually have a mix of characters created via rolling, point buy, and a Standard Set, and we all end up at roughly the same power level. I know rolling for ability scores will be optional in the new edition, but will it be a viable option with its own set of modifiers? Or will it be just a scrap tossed to those who still want to do things, as one much younger player put it, "the old people way."
I've been playing the same CN Appeaser Cleric of Lamashtu in my home games for years. Since I haven't been able to play with my regular group lately and miss playing the character, I'm thinking about building him in PFS. However, since Lamashtu isn't exactly a socially acceptable Goddess and even Her nicer worshipers get up to things that could generously be described as 'icky', I'm wondering if this is a good idea even if it's PFS legal. The last thing I want to do is inadvertently upset someone or make things unnecessarily hard on the GM running the game. Has anyone else played a follower of Lamashtu in PFS? How did it go? Am I overthinking this or should I consider something else as a new PFS character?
I've heard a ton of arguments for and against Paladin alignment restriction staying the same or changing, and thought I would add my two cents to the issue. What about leaving Paladins LG to keep the old school players happy, and then creating classes that function similarly to the Paladin, but have different alignments to satisfy those who want a change? We already have CE Antipaladins, and Hellknight is begging to be made into a full class. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to create maybe two more classes that fill similar roles but have different alignments.
In Pathfinder we have Sorcerers, who are charisma based arcane casters. We have Oracles, who are charisma based divine casters. But we don't have a charisma based version of the Druid. Nature-oriented Oracles can come close, but still don't exactly hit the mark. Why are there no instinctive magic-users who cast Druid spells?
I want to build a character who really makes the most of an underrated weapon, and I decided on picking the sling. It's such a simple, basic, unassuming weapon. Literally just a step up from throwing rocks, what you would expect someone who rolled poorly for his starting gold to pick. But in history it was used to devastating effect on the battlefield and could even out perform early firearms. I want to create a character who brings that to the table. I'm probably going to pick a human fighter as my race and class to make use of all those extra feats, but I need some help selecting feats and any other items that would increase the deadliness of the sling. I want to avoid things like explosive bullets, but anything else I'm open to the idea of using. Thanks in advance for the advice!
The one country I've been hoping to see more information about or better yet, to get its own adventure path, is Razmiran. The cult of the 'Living God' just sets my imagination running, and I love using them as villains in my games. From the moment I started using Golarion as my setting of choice, I have wanted to see more about Razmir and his kingdom. And I've met a lot of other people who feel the same way. But so far we haven't gotten much. I'm hoping this changes in PF2. So please Paizo, give us more Razmir! Bring him down or raise him up, just let the Living God have his moment in the spotlight. Who else wants to see this?
The main question I want answered is just how much is Paizo willing to listen to its fan community? If, for example, enough people have a huge problem with goblins being a core race, NPCs and monsters working differently than player characters, or some other aspect of the playtest rules that is supposedly hardwired into PF2, will they be willing to listen to what the players want and change it?
I'm looking for more information on the Rakshasa Immortals. So far all I've been able to find on them is a name, title, and possible cleric alignments for their worshipers. I want to know more about their various cults, what domains they grant, and just more about them in general. Can anyone point me toward a good source of information?
The party was going through a rural village on the way to Mendev, and our paladin of Erastil ended up rescuing an old man who was about to be lynched by an angry mob for being a devil-worshiper. After getting him out of town and patched up from his beating by the villagers, the old fellow admitted he really was a devil worshiper. He was a LE cleric of Asmodeus who had stopped in the village for supplies. Even though he was just passing through, the locals didn't take kindly to a self-avowed Asmodean being in their town and decided to burn him. On one hand, the paladin prevented the murder of an old man by an angry mob of religious zealots. On the other, the paladin saved the life of an evil person and even went out of his way to heal him. Should the paladin have fallen?
I'm wanting to run a few sessions set in an area reminiscent of the Crusader States in the Eastern Mediterranean. Would Lastwall be a good fit for this? It seems to work (constantly needing new recruits, besieged by multiple enemies, always on the edge of collapse), but I'm not 100% sure there isn't a better option somewhere else.
I'm running a campaign based around the First World with lots of fey based encounters, and I want my players to have a few very creepy, disturbing encounters with redcaps. I need some suggestions for encounters that really play up just how creepy and sadistic these little maniacs are. Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.
I have an idea for a magic sword that I want to introduce in my campaign, but I'm not sure if it's overpowered or underwhelming. It's a +2 semi-sentient longsword that gets sharper and more eager to cause harm the more it gets used. I'm thinking about representing this as it starts out doing 1D4 damage, but it's damage would go up by one die step every round that the wielder made a successful attack with it (1D4 to 1D6 and so on). If more than three rounds go by without the wielder making a successful attack, or if the wielder fails their attack roll, the sword goes back to doing it's original damage, and they have to start all over again. Is this item a good idea, a bad idea, or does it just need some work?
Can a character obtain the Demoniac prestige class while worshiping a Nascent Demon Lord, or does it have to be an actual Demon Lord that grants the new abilities?
I'm looking for more information on Nagaji in Golarion for my campaign. So far I haven't found much information on them other than what's in the ARG, the few paragraphs in Inner Sea Races, and some general information about the country Nagajor in Tian Xia. Sadly that doesn't tell me much about their culture, religion, history, or how they feel about other races. Does anyone know other sources of information on Nagaji, or even suggestions for improvising?
In their twisted attempts to resume lives of debauchery, totenmaskes sometimes produce cursed, half-living offspring from their couplings with various mortals. These offspring are the half-totenmaskes. Cursed with appetites that can never be truly satisfied, and instinctive manipulators, half-totenmaskes weave their way through society, taking what they want and when boredom strikes or money runs out, they assume a new identity and move on. Physical Description: Half-totenmaskes look mostly human, although their unaltered features are somewhat off. Many have trouble remembering the exact appearance of a half-totenmaske, even if they have been a friend for years.
Half-totenmaske Racial Traits +2 charisma +2 intelligence -2 wisdom: half-totenmaskes are charismatic and clever, but impulsive and hedonistic. Half-undead: Half-totenmakes are humanoids with the half-undead subtype. Medium: Half-totenmaskes are medium creatures, with no bonuses or penalties for size. Normal speed: Half-totenmaskes have a base speed of 30 feet. Manipulative: +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Perception. Negative Energy Affinity: Though a living creature, a half-totenmaske reacts to positive and negative energy as if it were undead—positive energy harms it, while negative energy heals it. Skills: Disguise and bluff are always class skills for half-totenmakes. Spell-like ability: Once per day, by spending 1 minute in contact with a helpless or willing creature, a half-totenmaske can mimic features of the target's face. The target may attempt a DC 15 Fortitude save to resist. A half-totenmaske can use this ability on up to four different features per use: ears, eyes, mouth, or nose. The target loses the use of all features mimicked by this ability for 1d8 rounds.
One of my players got a magic sword that talks from a dragon's hoard, and I'm treating it as an npc in non-combat situations, but I have no idea how to role-play an object with a mind of it's own. It's Lawful Neutral, if that helps at all, and it can see and hear as well as a person can. It also can glow like a torch on command, and paralyze a target that gets damaged by it. Anyone have suggestions for how to role-play this?
Or Lawful Stupid? Or Stupid Evil?
My players are in a city that is about to be attacked by an ancient red dragon. I want this encounter to bring home just how bad an angry dragon is for everyone. I've decided to treat the dragon attack like a natural disaster, and emphasize citizens fleeing (thread of being trampled/angry mobs/looters), buildings burning (fire damage/blocked escape routes/rescue attempts), government officials trying to maintain order (roleplay opportunity), and guards running about frantically trying to muster a defense (possible conscription to the local militia). Does anyone have any other suggestions for how to bring home just how big a disaster is happening?
What is the strangest non-combat encounter you've ever had? Mine has to be: Coming upon the site of what at first appeared to be a slaughtered goblin tribe. There was a wide ring of bear traps laying on the ground, and a pile of dozens of dead goblins more or less making a bridge to the middle of the circle. Apparently, they had ran INTO the circle of bear traps, most of them dying in the process. In the middle of the circle, there was one dead goblin which, upon further investigation, had an unbroken jar of pickles lodged in it's throat. Our wizard pried it out and determined it was magically sealed and enchanted to be nearly unbreakable. As far as we could figure out, someone had set the jar of pickles in the ring of bear traps and just let the goblins kill themselves, and the one who made it to the pickles, upon realizing he couldn't open it or break it, tried to swallow it whole, and choked to death on it.
If you don't like just talking about the fluff, you should probably stop reading now. Don't say I didn't warn you. I've noticed a trend in most of the background lore and fiction. In the rare instances when a character actually gets an orc to genuinely like or trust them, said orc generally turns out to be fanatically, almost homicidally loyal to said person. This is also true of goblinoids and kobolds. This kind of boggles my mind since the standard depiction of orc tribes is a pack of backstabbing, dung-smeared, cannibalistic hate monkeys. So why do they suddenly become fanatically loyal to the rare outsider who befriends them? Are they capable of loyalty and friendship, but their brutal culture beats it out of them? Or do they secretly want some kind of stability other than getting stabbed by the chieftain when they step out of line? Or maybe they just enjoy having someone watch their back without getting an axe to the kidneys for trusting them? What do you think?
One of my players suggested running a game in the old Birthright campaign setting, and while I love the idea, I'm at a loss for how to convert so much material from AD&D over to Pathfinder. Anyone have suggestions?
Is there any information on the Scions of Dou-Bral outside of the Agents of Evil book? I would LOVE to play one of these guys, and the campaign I'm in right now is perfect for a cleric of Zon-Kuthon/Dou-Bral, but the information given on them is minimal. Anyone who knows where I could find out more or even just has suggestions please let me know.
Since my first character was killed by Orcs (and his soul consumed by Szuriel like he wanted) it's time for me to roll up a new one, and I'm thinking about making a cleric of Dou-Bral, the previous form of Zon-Kuthon. My question is, does Dou-Bral still have worshipers on Golarion, and if so, what are they like?
Am I the only one who absolutely loves the Gillmen? The lore for them is fascinating and they're a good fit for almost any class.
My friend is starting up a new campaign and specifically asked for the group to make non-evil worshipers of evil gods and I would like some suggestions both for character build and roleplay. I'm going with a Neutral worshiper of Szuriel the Horseman of War. Her favored weapon is the greatsword, so I'm thinking of using the two-handed fighter archetype. Daemons generally just eat their worshipers' souls after death, and I know I'll be making a fighter, so as far as characterization goes maybe do something like a grizzled old veteran who has seen too much and just wants the pain to end even if it means oblivion. Does this sound appropriate for the lore surrounding Szuriel and daemons in general?
This is my first post, so if it's in the wrong spot, I apologize in advance. I'm interested in getting involved with organized play, and am wondering how I would go about making a Razmiran character? My idea is for a Lawful Neutral fighter who was raised in Razmiran as a devout worshiper of the "Living God", but since he isn't really a god is that a legal option? |