Mighty Glacier's page

Oh, yeah, I should also check in. I'm kinda doing the same thing as Watery Soup, trying to figure out who to send on which scenario. Right now I'm fairly sure I'm bringing a fresh 1st level summoner to this special. I don't have a profile set up for that character yet, but then again I have a bit of time, don't I?

150675-2005
Regular track

You're on!: 1d20 ⇒ 16

Hah! I'll go prepare my alias.

Player Name: Mighty Glacier
Character Name: Jack♢
Character Level: 2
Perception Modifier: +7
PFS ID Number: #150675-2001
Faction: Horizon Hunters
Day Job Roll: Earn Income, Games Lore: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

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Ah, you even provided BB codes for the pregens! Commendable.

My pick order for the pregens would be (from most to least-preferred): 1. Zerryd, 2. Jaithe, 3. Kellsti, and Takemiru for last.

Hi. Still gotta decide which character to bring. Right now I'm thinking either a divine sorcerer or a fighter.

If there's a faction that you want to identify as, then let's do that as part of the gameplay (or a private message to me). I'll be able to see it when I report the game at the end, so I don't need you to identify it.

Is the choice of faction something that one might want to keep a secret, in this scenario?

A novel method of recruiting, to be sure.

Virtual cookie recipe
1. Preheat CPU to 350ºF. In a large database, mix together butter and sugars, and add eggs and vanilla. Cover dough, and let it compile for 2 hours.
2. Divide dough into small data clusters. Wrap and encrypt each piece and refrigerate for another 1 hour. Roll them out into a 1/4 inch thick spreadsheet, and cut out shapes using cookie manager.
3. Bake cookies for 10 minutes. When prompted "By continuing using this website you agree to share your cookies", click OK.
4. Decorate with CSS frosting.

I'm sorry, who are the six? I only see four players in the Discussion tab.

I'm interested in joining as well. 1st level sorcerer, still have to make the profile.

The character has one (IRL-played) scenario from 2019 under his belt, but I'm just now noticing that it didn't get reported. Guess I have to sort that out at some point.

Challenge round:

Assuming you can convince your GM (which, if they're allowing you to take Aasimar/Tiefling and pick your personal preference for the granted SLA replacement, isn't too far of a stretch) to let you create your own custom 10-RP race, you can bump your level 1 INT even higher, by:

Greater Paragon statistics- 2 RP (+4 INT, -2 STR, -2 CHA)
Advanced Intelligence (twice)- 9 RP (+4 INT)
Slow speed- -1 RP

Can't take Advanced Intelligence, because it's an advanced trait, and by having 10 RP your race's power level is just standard. If it were a 11 RP race, it could take advanced traits.

Of course, if you had the GM's permission to build a race in the first place, they might let you ignore that restriction.

If Seren is coming, I think I'll play Kaspar (wizard 3).

I don't need to dot gameplay thread, I've subscribed to the RSS feed.

Interest. I have a variety of characters in the 1-5 range, so both subtiers are fine.

Lich + Vampire (both are corruption curses from Horror Realms).

The Lich curse makes it so that you're healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy... and the Vampire curse does the exact same thing. You just need to decide which spells you want added to your spells known.

Here's the closest ruling I could find.

I'm under the impression that the hard rule is that only the character may roll a dayjob, and only permanent effects (that are active 24 hours a day) affect the roll.

See this FAQ.

Psychic spells can be observed and identified. Even spell-like abilities — which have no components — can be identified. So it is possible to notice and counterspell and what have you.

If the proper prep work has not been done beforehand, the Summoner is the worst class to have at your table. Imagine the joy of having someone summon a creature, and then have to look up its stats in the bestiary, and then have to modify its statblock based on Augment Summoning, and then have to look up the universal monster rules for things like Trip and Earth Glide. Pregame your notes, friends.

And then they realize they should to apply the celestial or fiendish template.

A common wisdom is to just say no if a player tries to summon without having a complete stat block in front of them.

Sorry, Loopy. How old was she?

So how did you attack twice with a standard action?

Did anyone else notice that the lich curse gives control undead as a 2nd-level spell? Note, control undead is a 7th-level spell. I can only assume they meant command undead, which is a 2nd-level spell.

Mighty Glacier wrote:

If you're not fully invested in the idea of being Angel Summoner, that is. (Remember to call the group's unoptimized martial, "BMX Bandit")

While I love me some Mitchell & Webb, the reason I went with Angel (or Archon) is that I wanted a LN grubby, money-obsessed Summoner with a LG hammy, self-involved paladin of justice Eidolon. So the only other option I'm considering is Archon.

Completely understandable. Is his catchphrase, "Bah! Humbug!" ?

I was thinking that, but Multiattack gives me another attack to compensate for lack of iteratives, and I can use feats/evolution points for other cool stuff for my natural attack, namely Pull/Reach/Magic Attacks/Elemental Attack and stuff like that.

You do you, but let me point out that you're essentially choosing this:

Over this:
* Iterative attack(s) at 7th level (and 14th)
* Reach at the cost of a few hundred gp (e.g. masterwork longspear)
* Magic Attacks at the cost of a few thousand gp (+1 weapon)
* Elemental Attacks at the cost of enhancement bonus (flaming quality etc)
* All the evolution points unspent (things like Ability Increase (Str) and Skilled come to mind).

Don't get me wrong, natural attacks are great, even if only for the sole reason that you don't have to pick up any weapons when the eidolon is banished and it drops its gear. But just keep in mind that the other option has its perks as well. If you're not fully invested in the idea of being Angel Summoner, that is. (Remember to call the group's unoptimized martial, "BMX Bandit")

The Angel subtype gets the short end of the stick: they make poor natural attackers because they only have slam (and wing buffet), instead of all the claws and bites and whatever. So you're encouraged to use manufactured weapons (easier to get the magical enhancements, get iteratives, more base damage, etc.). Too bad angels don't have martial weapon proficiency, so you'll need to waste a feat (e.g. Martial Weapon Proficiency (Greatsword)) or 4 evolution points (2 for simple, 2 for martial).

If you're not committed to the Angel subtype, consider the Agathion or Azata subtypes. Agathions do natural attacks well, and Azatas rock with manufactured weapons. Archon is in the same boat with Angel, so no point considering that.

Haven't played it yet. Count me interested.

28. Some freelancer wrote stats for him. A party of munchkins jumped the opportunity to kill a god.

For the Spiritualist, Fractured Mind and Onmyoji stack, so you could have a CHA based divine spiritualist.

They don't stack, because they both alter spellcasting.

1) What spells would you recommend for an oracle who likes making life difficult for planar and undead creatures? (Level 14).

For starters:

7th: holy word
6th: banishment, heal, undead to death
5th: dispel evil, hallow

Reliquarian occultist from Occult Origins is also an Int-based divine caster.

Johnnycat93 wrote:

Nothing in the rules says that being Dead prevents me from acting.

Be careful! That's how the first undead was created! It found the exploit at the rules and acted upon it.

Zombies died after being exactly at zero hp, that's why they are permanently staggered.

As far as headcanons go, I've heard worse.

"Everyone, introduce your characters."

2 paladins, 1 cleric of Shelyn, 1 diabolist devil-summoner, 1 CN steelblood bloodrager who roleplays as what amounts to a downplayed antipaladin, and me: a necromancer."

Oh wow, sorry, I didn't realize I was the intruding sixth. Was there a spreadsheet recruitment? Sometimes it can be hard to tell how the recruitment processes go at Flaxseed. I apologize, but hey, glad it works out in the end.

So... should I tell him? Screw it.

Rycky, I'm sorry to say this but the sixth place got filled already.

What, you didn't get the memo? We've been playing this over at Mythweavers! Just kidding!

I imagine TOZ just wants to finish GM'ing Beyond Azlant Ridge before starting this one. Shouldn't take long, I imagine?

Skill points at level 1. While I like the changes to class skills and removing the cross-class ridiculousness, low level characters never seem to have sufficient skill points to adequately address their backgrounds, even classes like Occultist, who get 6+Int and have Int as a primary stat.

Occultists actually get 4+Int skills per level, but even so I must agree with you. Then again, the Background Skills from Unchained works pretty well to address this issue.

Player: Mighty Glacier
Character and level: Kaspar, 3rd-level wizard
# 150675-7
Faction: Dark Archives
Day Job: Craft (alchemy): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

This was replayable, right? I have played this once before.

Awenydd is already bringing a 3rd-level wizard, it'll be fun to see how this'll work. I'll put Kaspar's stats on the alias once I get from work.

It is pretty bad, yes. Haunts don't get a save against it, so at least there's that (though the caster level check is probably equally difficult to get through). Fractured Mind archetype fixes this issue by changing the SLAs, and by being Charisma-based.

What's really bad is the 11th-level ability. Now you can use calm spirit 2 times per day! Wowzers.

Thanks, I own RotR and the Inner Sea World Guide but had overlooked them when looking for stuff. Occult I haven't touched as I wasn't sure how well it meshed into non-occult games.

Mostly looking for monsters, although I enjoy reading lore/fluff about undead as well.

The Occult line of books was implemented to fit into to the other stuff, especially Occult Bestiary. It's just an added layer of depth into the game.

For lore and fluff, Undead Unleashed is an excellent read.

Are you looking for undead monsters, specifically? Or just undead-related things like necromancy-themed character options?

Anyway, I think there are some undead monsters scattered in the Adventure Paths. For example,

I think that's pretty much it.

Oh, to prevent double posting (or triple posting, or more)? Yeah, most likely, now that you mention it.

Wow, that's a weird bug. I wonder what kind of programming error can cause something like that.

Oh right, zombies (and fast zombies) add HD. Zombie Roc would have 22 HD (ie. requiring caster level 6th w/ desecrate, caster level 11 without). In 3.5e, you couldn't reanimate a creature of that much HD. In Pathfinder, that's not a problem, for a zombie at least. Skeletons are still limited to 20 HD, like in 3.5e.

If the creature has more than 20 Hit Dice, it can’t be made into a skeleton by the animate dead spell.

If the base creature has more than 10 Hit Dice (not counting those gained with experience), it can’t be made into a zombie with the animate dead spell.

If the creature has more than 20 Hit Dice, it can't be made into a skeleton by the animate dead spell.

The zombie template in Pathfinder makes no mention on maximum HD.

There is a hit die limit, but no creature size limit. If by Rocs being too large you meant their HD, no they're not. Roc has 16 HD, which means that a 4th level caster can reanimate it under the effects of desecrate. If desecrate isn't possible, you'll need caster level 8th.

Okay, I think I've managed to narrow my choices down to two: this kineticist and this occultist. The latter has some capacities of being a skill monkey. For early levels he'll summon skeletons and zombies, and assist in melee. For later levels I hope he has enough spellpower to throw save-or-sucks. He'd be kind of a jack-of-all-trades, I guess.

That reminds me for whatever reason, did TOZ say anything about traits?

There's been some discussion and varying opinions on what is acceptable reflavoring and what isn't. Most of the examples have been about reflavoring animal companions (on which the consensus seems to have been negative) or equipment (on which the consensus seems to have been more accepting). As always, reflavoring cannot give mechanical benefits, and the GM always has the veto right to say that the reflavor is nullified for their table. And, of course, Expect Table Variation (tm).

With that in mind, how would you feel about someone reflavoring their Alternate Racial Trait? Most of them have some in-game flavor attached to them. For example, the Darkvision for gnomes:

Some gnome strains have lived in the underground depths for so long they have given up on light entirely (...)

Can this flavor be hand-waived for my metropolitan gnome, whose backstory mentions nothing about living underground? Could it reflavored by explaining that he often stays awake into the wee hours?

Or the Heart of the Slums for humans:

Humans who eke out a life in a city's teeming slums must be quick and clever.

Can this flavor be hand-waived for my upper-class human, whose backstory mentions nothing about living in the slums? Could it be reflavored by explaining that he's otherwise clever and dealt with diseases?

Tell me about it.

Kineticists get on average: 35 = 35 gp
I would have gotten by rolling: 1d6 ⇒ 1 x 10 = 10 gp
PFS gives me: 150 = 150 gp

I'm still not convinced if I should play a kineticist, mostly because there's already a ranged combatant in the form of the archer magus. Hmm.

TOZ, how well would a necromancer fit the module? Asking from a "ranger's favored enemy" point of view: if it's nothing but outsiders and constructs or whatever, or if there's not a single undead enemy in the module, then it wouldn't be that much fun. Also asking from the in-character point of view: if there's like a some kind of Pharasman culture everywhere in the town then it'd be weird for my necromancer to show up adventuring.

Is gravewalker witch OK? Hex channeler?

So far bard, straight cleric, ranger, sorcerer, slayer and vigilante are on my shortlist. Which, to be fair isn't really a shortlist as much as a list.

Hey, narrowing it down to six is pretty good. My list is a maelstrom of countless ideas.

Sooner or later I want to play: every imaginable necromancer build, a teleportation specialist wizard or arcanist, a pyrokineticist as well as a telekineticist (I've heard things about shooting coins at foes!), a tower shield specialist fighter, a barbarian/brawler, a Cunning Caster-abusing mesmerist, a natural weapons user, a sea druid with some kind of octopus companion, a spell warrior skald, an abomination psychic that spams mind thrust, a knife master unchained rogue, a master summoner (which is pretty difficult to do because everyone bans it, ha!), a serial killer vigilante, some kind of vampire hunter like an inquisitor, an oradin, a magus that isn't a run-off-the-mill shocking scimitar-user, and a tyrant antipaladin.

And then Starfinder comes along, so I'll probably want to play that for a while, too. Geez, what a hobby this is.

Not a problem, I'm at Disneyland this weekend, so I won't be able to start until at least after that.

Disneyland Resort, in California? I have a friend who works there (in a snack bar, but still). Remember to take pictures.

(Link to the archetype)

Here's my review:

Necromantic Focus is basically a given.

Necropolitan is suboptimal, even for a focused necromancer. Diplomacy penalty means the evil-icky necromancer will struggle to convince undead haters to not kill him on sight. And when was the last time a necromancer has rolled Diplomacy to talk with undead creatures? Might be useful at mid-to-high levels where negotiating with potential undead allies (like ghouls, ghosts, and vampires). The knowledge thing is not a deal-maker nor a deal-breaker.

Corpse Bond basically means you can't have a familiar (goodbye all those benefits), and must choose between a bonded object and Undead Lord's corpse companion. Both of them are suboptimal to the basic familiar. Thematic, definitely, but this is a big minus in optimization.

They also get Improved Channel as a bonus feat, instead of Scribe Scroll. I'd take that deal. Scrolls can be bought with gold: Scribe Scroll just saves money.

Reanimator is amazing for a focused necromancer: you get animate dead (and lesser) the same time as a cleric would, thus removing a big downside of the necro-wizard. Undead Masters also have early access to create undead, getting them even faster than a cleric does. On top of that, there's the spontaneous casting of these spells. Amazing! The price to pay is the lost bonus feats, but I think this is a fair trade for a necromancer.

Lich-Loved is a capstone so whatever. It's nice I guess?

Conclusion: 3.5 out of 5
If you want an archetype for your focused (as in, "I want to command a lot of undead minions") necromancer, you can take this and not feel like you shot yourself in the leg too much. For any other wizard, even for the basic necromancer, this is pretty suboptimal because the loss of a familiar hurts badly. Moreover, the benefits of Reanimator can be duplicated by just preparing the appropriate scrolls: you can buy onyx and scrolls, but you can't buy Bonus Feats.

My unique snowflake-ish character will thank you for the the normalcy, too. By the way, TOZ, is it just us four players, or do you plan to recruit a fifth or two more? In other words will this be 4 players, or more?

I think I might play a hobgoblin kineticist. Maybe?

EDIT: What point-buy (or do we roll)? 2 traits?

Hm, I might take this as an opportunity to try out something that wouldn't be possible in PFS. Would it be okay to play a non-jerk Evil character? Though I don't have a class or anything in mind yet: I was thinking about LE Tyrant Antipaladin, but then I remembered that Smite Good is pretty much useless, at least in a pre-made module that assumes good/neutral PCs.

Is the hobgoblin race okay? What about dhampirs? Drow? VMC? Cunning Caster?

It might, actually. Sweet. Would we all start at 1st-level, then?

Right now, my preference is to run the whole thing with the option for players to opt out after a part of sanctioned content.

For Part 1, I have (in no particular order):
* Wizard 3
* Spiritualist 2
* UnSummoner 2
* or maybe someone 0XP? Probably not.

(...) the problem is that he needs to be the best in everything. Of course, he isn't and he frustates himself a lot for that. I tried many times to focus him in two or three things to do, but it's a useless thing to do:

If a player uses Improved Trip to great effect, he ditches his build and picks Combat Expertise to start the feat tree. If then another player uses Multishot, he thinks "Wow, that's cool" and starts the archery feat tree. When the Cleric heals a partner and saves his life, he thinks "I should be able to do that", picks Skill Focus: UMD and buys a wand. (...)

I play in the same group as him. (...) He feels constantly frustrated when he cannot solve a single issue specially if another character can. Also it's not fun to be playing the group's face and having this player trying to shut me up as he wants to roleplay diplomacy encounters all on his own and mostly by being disrespectful to NPCs. When Dalindra is the GM he knows how to deal with him without collateral damage but other GMs in our group just make negotiations to be ruined by his interventions. So no, it's not fun.

I'm running Way of the Wicked and I managed to guide him into picking another class so he finally chose an antipaladin. Dalindra already was playing one but I let him play it because I didn't want to have him playing another photocopy of the same Fighter. He seemed happy with the flavor of the class and I was happy that he was willing to try something new. But in the first season he was already complaining for having to be a follower of a god (even though he previously stated he liked the idea) and asking if there was a way he could betray his god and retain his powers. So I guess he just wants to stick to his fighter even though if he is constantly frustrated because he cannot make a lot of things that fighters cannot do and other classes can.

I'm not sure if you guys are looking for advice or not, but I reckon my advice (based on the tried-and-true methods) can't hurt:

Sounds like he needs to learn his lesson (which, after 8 years or so, is long overdue) and accept that this game is about teamwork and that his fighter can't be the best at everything (That's what wizards are for! Kidding!). If he wants to play a fighter, that's fine; if he wants to be a jack-of-all-trades, that's fine. But the way he is playing now just doesn't work and isn't fun for anyone, it seems.

One of you should take a moment and talk to him about this. Explain the situation. And, if possible, offer suggestions. If the problem behavior continues, kick the man out of the group.

I must say I've never heard of this kind of problem player. It could be that he's just used to different types of tabletop RPGs where one player can do everything. Or that he's a man-child with inferiority complex. Who knows. But it's always best to talk about the problem.