Mistah J's page

Mistah J wrote:

blahpers wrote:

Any alignment can be played Stupid. No sense singling out Chaotic Stupid.

Very true.

..but you don't see many threads about the issues with "Neutral Stupid"

Neutral stupid is ...

"Well, I helped save this orphanage from burning down, now I have to go find another one to burn down so I stay neutral"

ha ha.. a good one!

Another classic:

"Well, there are 6 of us and 4 of them now so I have to switch sides!"

I'm not saying it is not possible.. just that it doesn't come up as often as the other two.

I think one of the important things to remember is the disconnect between PC and player.

Horror is harder to pupll off because while the PCs are facing the worst possible nightmares, the players are sitting comfortably around a table. It's not impossible of course, but that schism makes it an uphill battle.

So, I think the thing to do is aim to creep out the players and not the PCs. Mood and description sure help, but it really is a long con. You have to take the time.. stuff like describe passing the 4 statues in the hallway each time they go by until one time there are only 3. As a quick example.

I guess the big thing I'm trying to say is aim at the players themselves.

oh, and since folks are sharing their best moments:

During one campaign, at the beginning few sessions, I prepared 5 questions that I gave to each player - background building stuff to get them thinking about their character's lives and motivations.

One question was "What did you get for your 5th brithday?"
Over 20 sessions later, they were trying to escape a haunted house. Sure enough, when they entered the nursery.. guess what was waiting for them?

freaked them right out.

Man,

I used to be a big Ravenloft aficionado.. and now I can't remember much of it at all.

Divine magic is hinky.. I believe.. so watch out for that.

The big thing I remember is this: evil begets evil. If you do bad things in Ravenloft it starts to affect your character both physically and mentally. It is also a slippery slope: the more you do, the more you get.
Part of the changes are beneficial in an attempt to lure you to do more but it is a downward spiral.

But what is most important about this system is that it can be very subjective. There are checks involved to see if your actions have these kinds of consequences but there is some DM fiat involved as well.

So, I guess what I am saying there is, make sure you and your DM are on the same page when it comes to what counts as evil and what not.

My understanding is that Ravenloft is supposed to be about heroes facing off against not overwhelming evil but.. oppressive evil. It is everywhere and fighting it is a slow, hard process where even victories leave scars. It is supposed to be gothic and gloomy.. like candles lighting the void.. that kind of thing.

Well, at least I think so. But yeah.. pretty sure divine magic has actual, quantifiable changes to it.

Hey all, I need a wee bit of help here for my campaign,

An island from the Plane of Shadow has appeared in the ocean of the Material Plane.

It is not a big island (takes almost a day to walk across) but it is infused with darkness/negative energy/anti-magic.

The players are no where near it, but they ARE in the same ocean, on a ship.

I'm looking for something 'odd' they can see/encounter/interact with that will be a puzzling mystery for a while, then make sense when they encounter the island itself (or at least learn about it) later on.

Thanks for the help

Any alignment can be played Stupid. No sense singling out Chaotic Stupid.

Very true.

..but you don't see many threads about the issues with "Neutral Stupid"

You know the ones I mean - hot or cold weather that require increasingly difficult Fortitude saves.

The most basic one requires 1 check per hour. Given an 8 hour day for adventurers, that can turn into a lot of checks - which can really bog down play. Especially so if the party is just travelling between point A and point B.

Is there anything that can be done to help streamline this process? By that I mean, take the core concept and make it work better. I don't mean ignore it/assume someone has endure elements/handwave travel time etc.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Does gaining a temporary hit point count as magical healing? Can virtue be used to end bleed effects on the cheap and easy?

Ross Byers wrote:

This is a way to recognize that pulling a trigger is faster than pulling and releasing a bow.

You sure about that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zGnxeSbb3g

Bows can be VERY quick. (IRL). However, crossbows can strike with more force than a shortbow (already reflected by the rules in the damage amounts) and easier to shoot accurately than bows (reflected by their being simple weapons instead of martial ones).

But they are generally MUCH slower. A heavy crossbow would often have a turn-handle to winch the string back to the trigger, instead of having to pull it. I think reloading being a full-round activity is, at best, already generous. The difference between light crossbows (hand-drawn) and heavy crossbows (winch drawn) is a useful one.

(I like weapons to reflect the reality of usage, rather than be warped to satisfy the idea of game balance).

yes.. reloading a crossbow can be a long drawn out process with winches and whatnot.. sure.

but firing a crossbow is just a slight squeeze of the trigger with your finger.

which is what you quoted from Ross Byers
..

oh!

I misread!!

no.. you don't have to enchant both ends. You can certainly power-up just one end of a double weapon.

THAT is what I am so sure about. That they need to be enchanted separately

Pretty sure that is true. Like 99.99% sure.

That being said. There is no obligation to go down the TWF road just because you are using a weapon that CAN be used as a double weapon.

Consider the fact that, as a staff magus, you will be using your quarterstaff as a one-handed weapon so as to benefit from spell combat.

You can't use the quarterstaff as a double weapon when wielding it with one hand via the Quarterstaff Master feat.

So why bother enchant both ends? Just enchant one and go to town with that.

On the other hand, you may want to be a TWF staff magus who just switches from round to round between extra attacks and spell combat.

In that case, use things like magic weapon, greater magic weapon, or even your Arcane Pool to give temporary boosts. Maybe you spend the gold to enchant one end and then boost the other when you need it. Maybe you boost both ends while saving to enchant them at the same time later.

I hope this helps - I know it is unsolicited advice - that is why I wrote it after the actual answer to your question

I use the very same rule! Except for the sake of simplicity, I apply it to all weapons, ranged and melee alike.

I also add a confirmation roll, just like its critical hit counterpart. A 'fumble' only occurs if the confirmation misses as well.

We like it, it adds some symmetry.

But, you gotta look out when designing fumbles - it doesn't take much searching on this message board to find a LOT of threads talking about the hidden dangers of the various mechanics people use. Fumbles can be a pretty polarizing subject too, so far warning!

But as always, if it works for your group then more power to ya!

Do the 'Improved/Greater maneuvers' feats work?

Also, check out this thread

It is about force spells in general but it had some good stuff about telekinesis in it. The second post is particularly helpful.

Hey all,

Just looking for some input really, but remember those skill tricks that were introduced in the Complete Scoundrel? I'm wondering what is the best way to bring them into Pathfinder.

They could be:
a) Straight Conversion: Anyone can spend 2 skill points to pick one up, just as described (barring any other conversion required due to rules/skill changes, etc)
b) New Skill Uses: Each trick is simply given a particular DC and anyone trained in that skill can attempt them.
c) Feats: Turn them all into feats
d) Rogue Only: Any of the above choices but state that only Rogues can get them (instead of feats, they'd be turned into talents). This option is really more of a flavour thing, or maybe if you agree that rogues need a bit of a boost these days... but I don't want to turn the thread into that.

Once I get a few opinions on this fact, I may use this thread to start converting them (and welcome others who are interested to do the same).

Thanks!

Dotting for interest.

If your worried about power, maybe start with having Wisdom replace Strength on attacks and work your way up to adding it.

I can't believe I'm going to contribute to another one of these rogue threads, but my only change to the rogue atm is: A rogue may have 1 1/2 ranks (rounded down) in any rogue class skill.

This puts them a cut above other classes (or should) in skills.

I am intrigued but don't quite follow - could you elaborate please?

If you decide to look elsewhere for such a class - Cheapy has worked hard to put together a huge list of all the various artificer/machinist classes out there.

He may provide a link if asked nicely! :D

also.. shameless plug for MY Tinker alternate class (which is on said list)

here are some that I forgot the 1st time around:

- Specialist wizards choose only one opposed school and can't cast anything from it (old school!)
- Specialists also get Spell Focus in their chosen school for free and Universalists get the ability to retrain their bonus feats (like a fighter can).
- DR/magic uses a system of 5/+1. So a creature with DR 5/magic can be bypassed with a +1 weapon. Something with DR 15/magic needs a +3 weapon, but a +2 weapon treats it as DR 5 and a +1 weapon treats it as DR 10
- Higher enhancements bonuses on weapons do NOT count as special materials or alignments.

folding boat

love that thing.

ok... before this thread goes off the rails, lemme add my two cents:

this seems similar, rules-wise, to if a character knows whether the target failed the save against their spells (barring obvious signs like damage, effects, etc).

Remember that a paladin can waste smites by trying it on non-evil creatures, so I would say that they would know if it worked or not AFTER the attempt was used - when they went to attack, the bonuses wouldn't be there.

How that is described in-game is up to you: it doesn't feel right, or there are no divine sparks when you hit, or whatever

My initial thoughts are that it's an interesting concept, but that it would be too powerful.

That was my thought too

The idea grabbed me but essentially what you would be doing is making one PC mythic, instead of having gear like his or her team mates.

I'm not sure if mythic = gear. I don't think so?

I miss that chart. It was kinda neat - I wonder if it can be found somewhere?

Perfect!

Thank-you.

Why wouldn't his attacks be as effective against the dragon? The simulacrum is an evil dragon, just like the original.

The best way to tell if it's a simulacrum is to kill it and wait for it to melt.

Because the simulacrum is not the target of the smite evil.

EDIT: It is not. Just checked and simulacrum is too high a level.

One year, for April Fool's day, at the start of the session I had everyone pass their character sheet to the player on their left.

For that session, they all played each others characters. It was a laugh riot watching everyone basically play overblown caricature's of each others characters.

at the end, I revealed it was all a dream.. just so there was no lasting consequences

Hey!

So, I think there are a lot of builds out there looking to wield a polearm one-handed. I want to facilitate this in a balanced way - I'm not looking to create any kind of dual-wielding monster with lances, or fauchards, or what not.

Here is what I have so far:

Take the Quarterstaff Master feat and use the same prerequisites - substituting Weapon Focus: Quarterstaff for Weapon Focus: the one polearm you want to use this feat with.

Then, where Quarterstaff Master says you cannot use one as a double weapon in one hand, this feat would say you cannot wield a polearm in your off hand. A polearm in one hand would also lose its brace ability (if it had that).

If that weren't enough, it could also not be able to be used with reach polearms.

Thoughts? I fully understand that polearms get some big damage dice plus usually one, two or even three special qualities so using one with one hand is a big deal but I think there are enough thematic/flavourful builds out there that arrant an attempt at making it possible.

Thanks

I am leading a wild west style campaign, complete with cheap advanced firearms right now. One of the PCs is exactly what you describe: a sniper rogue with a rifle.

There have been no issues. In fact, if anything, he kind of lags behind the others.

Mistah J wrote:

I had a fighter who named his sword "Miss Caroline"

"Good times never seemed so good," I'll wager.

as a joke, I started singing "Ba Ba Baaaa" every time I threatened a crit.

In game, my character had a bit of a southern drawl and manner of speaking. The sword was an adamantine greatsword he picked up when he was young. He named it then too, when he thought that was cool and as he got older, he didn't regret it per se.. but you can't unname something so.. it stuck.

I had a fighter who named his sword "Miss Caroline"

Great suggestions so far, thanks!

A little more info is that this is an outdoor lair. I'm thinking a sea of teepees and campfires in an enclosed canyon.

One thing I am toying with is a system of 'areas'. It is a little abstract - there are a number of 'areas' within the camp to which the PCs can travel. The idea here is that these are the smaller, most important parts of a much larger camp.

Travelling between areas can require checks to do so unseen. Mainly Stealth but maybe, like a chase, there are alternate routes that can be found and travelled with different skills.

Thoughts?

Man.. I can't remember who said it.. or when, but I am reminded of the old RPG saying:

"Physics is a houserule."

I play with the same group of players pretty much constantly. We have been together for years now.

That means that we know each other well enough to make the 'strangers come together' opening a workable option.

Some starters I've used are:

- I 'borrowed' the pressganged by pirates starter from Skulls and Shackles.
- I had the train the 2nd lvl PCs were on (all for their own reasons) hijacked by bandits. Then in the middle of that combat, they were all attacked by an Ancient Blue Dragon. Everyone fled due to Dragon Fear and when they returned, the train was destroyed - they met and became friends while surviving the desert on the trek back.
- In a thieve's guild game, I gave the PCs a list of 4 guilds. They decided as a group which one they wanted to join and then when the game started they all met at their initiation job.

I've always wanted to start a war-themed campaign by having the PCs each start on their own, minding their own business when suddenly they get word they have been drafted.

I also kind of want to start a campaign WITH the "mysterious stranger at the tavern" cliche... simply for fun.

How much time to do you have to prepare this encounter?

That's a very good question!

Truth is, I'm not sure - I would guess I would have a few evenings to plug away at it. Say, 12 hours? maybe..?

Let's just say I'm not pressed for time and so I can entertain any ideas.

Hey folks,

So I am leading a game that has 6 4th level PCs. The style of the game is steampunk west - everyone has advanced firearms, no armour, lots of 'old west' themes/style. They are on their way to rescue an important NPC from a band of wild goblins that make their home in some nearby canyons. The goblins are primitive (no guns) and are semi-famous for using coyotes as mounts/companions.

The party has the following:
A paladin (holy gun archetype)
A rogue (sniper archetype)
A cleric (luck and charm domain)
A wizard (spellslinger archetype)
A bard (daredevil archetype)
An alchemist (homebrew tinker alternate class)

They are just about to reach the main lair of the goblins. The NPC is inside it, somewhere.

Here is where I could use some assistance. I want this tribe to be so large that it becomes readily apparent that a "kick in the door" style attack is not the best option. I would like it to be more "sneak in, find the NPC, sneak out" but I have two main problems:

1. Not every PC is a stealthy type, in fact some are quite poor at it. If they get left behind, I need to work out how they can contribute to the encounter, I don't want anyone getting bored or left out.

2. I'm a little unsure how to run the encounter. I don't want to work out the entire camp and the location of EVERY goblin - especially because I want to keep the idea of huge numbers. I also don't want it to end up being nothing but Stealth check roll after Stealth check roll.

So, I guess I am asking for suggestions on how to keep this thing dynamic, inclusive, and most important: entertaining. This has the potential to be one of the highlights of the campaign.. or the incident we will never speak of again.. please help me make it the former!

Thanks!

P.S: I should mention, this encounter SHOULD be a hard one. I don't want to make it easy, just easy to run. I will also mention that I DO have an idea of what happens if they get caught red-handed; rather than simply attacking outright, the goblins will force the PCs into a 'game' they play - if you can imagine what kind of physical sport Goblins would come up with.. but that is a contingency if the above encounter falls apart.

I've been leading games with that method of spell DCs for a few years now and in my experience, it isn't a problem.

I know a lot of casters out there, once they go through their top..3? levels of spells consider themselves done for the day since their lower level stuff normally wouldn't be worth the action to cast. This extends their staying power, in addition to all the other benefits you listed.

I say go for it. Though in fairness, I've yet to come up with a suitable change for Heighten Spell under this system.

No clue about the 2nd thing though.. I have no problem with metamagic feats the way they are.

Magic Aura does not work on artifacts.

you could use a glove of storing maybe?

Blowguns could fall under an "exotic: ranged" group. One that includes a few of the other strange/rare exotic ranged weapons that exist.

You could also go with a weapon groups based on geography or culture and include it that way.
That way you can keep racial familiarities.. Weapon Group: Elf would include the standard bows, longsword, and rapier.. for example.

Let me jump in on this, this is one of my favourite places explore houserules/tweaking.

One thing I really like about some Exotic Weapon Proficiencies (EWP) is that they are essentially "Martial Weapon Proficiency" plus more!

The Bastard Sword is the prime example. It is a MWP to use as a two-handed weapon but with EWP you can use it with one.

There is some kind of boarding axe weapon that is a battle axe with MWP but with the EWP, it gets the trip special quality.

So, you could set up a system like that. I dunno if EVERY Exotic Weapon could be set up that way but..maybe?

In a similar vein, the Weapon Group proficiencies worked the same way. Taking MWP: Heavy Blades got you the bastard sword, but then you could take EWP: Heavy Blades to get it one-handed. I think that is how UA did it but I'm only going of memory here.

3.5 had an alternate class feature where the Paladin got a bonus feat at every level they normally reached a new level of spells.
So, 1st one at 4th level and so on..

I think the feat had to be a combat feat, or maybe combat or some other type.

It is a pretty simple fix

Any reflex save that involves electricity uses the fort save instead. No, you cannot dodge electricity.

What do you do about evasion in this instance? I am intrigued by the idea but it seems unfair to just cut out one of the rogue's or monk's best defenses.

Also, for me:

Magic item crafting is done at 1,000 gp/hour not day. Even then, there is a high level feat that bumps it to 10,000 gp/hour.
Of course, my players never focus on crafting - it is just to speed up gear upgrading.

SCORCH
Aura strong evocation; CL 12th; Weight 2 lbs.;Price 32,310 gp

DESCRIPTION
This +2 flaming short sword has a second command word that, when activated, intensifies the flames so that it deals +2d6 fire damage to the target and 2 points of fire damage to the wielder. This damage ignores all fire resistance and creatures immune to fire still take half damage. The intense flames can only be activated while the regular flaming property is active but a single command word extinguishes the blade completely.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Craft Magic Arms and Armor, flame blade, flame strike, or fireball, creator must have the Empower Spell metamagic feat; Cost16,155 gp

Don't forget the rule of three!

If there is a crucial piece of information the party MUST discover, make sure to put in at least 3 different ways they can learn it.

Mistah J wrote:

- Spell DCs are 10 +1/2 caster level + stat modifier.

I've thought about doing this. How's it working out for your group? I suppose it determines how powerful your group is compared to someone else's, though.

Well, we really like it!

Mainly, for 3 reasons:

1) Marginally less bookkeeping: all a caster's spells have the same DC rather than 10 + spell level + stat modifier. It is a tiny benefit, but having one DC is a lot simpler.

2) It keeps low-level spells alive: Since the DC scales with level, those 1st and 2nd level spells keep being useful, which means they actually get used at higher levels instead of forgotten, or considered useless.

3) We found that, under the original system, the saving throws of monsters/npcs scaled much faster than spell DCs. Casters had a hard time actually getting the full effect of their spells. The houserule fixes that without going way overboard - spell DCs actually pace pretty evenly with saves now.

Of course, that last one is the most likely to vary. I'm sure there are lots of ways to trick out a spell DC, just as there are ways to boost saves, plus choice of monsters/magic items and everything else.

But I highly recommend it!

The only reason I'm truly considering it is because right now, not many people multiclass* so really, it is just "choose an extra skill point or hp per level" rather than anything to do with a 'favoured class'.

I guess I'm just trying to think of a way to make it more.. thematic? fitting with the concept of a favoured class?

*YMMV...of course.

Let's see...

- Stats are 4d6, re-roll all 1s, re-roll the lowest, take your best 3. Do that 7 times and take your best 6. If your very first roll comes up four 6s, that counts as a 19 (but it can only work on your VERY FIRST)
- I use the 'Trailblazer' iterative attack system. This changes a few things like the Two-Weapon Fighting feat chain and monk's flurry of blows, etc.
- Spell DCs are 10 +1/2 caster level + stat modifier.
- Magic Item DCs are based on the stat and level of the wearer/user. I find it puts more 'oomph' into things like a dagger of venom and the like.
- Natural 20s on skill checks are treated as 30. Natural 1s are -10.
- Natural 1 on attack roll threatens a fumble. You have to confirm the miss and if you do - it provokes an AoO. If you don't, it is just a miss.
- Forgery is not under Linguistics, it is under Appraise. Also, detecting forgeries is under Appraise as well.
- The Steal combat maneuver is done using Sleight of Hand. If your check beats their CMD, you get the item. If their Perception beats your check, they notice you do it.
- cure spells and their ilk are necromancy.
- half-elves +2 racial modifier has to be to a mental stat. half-orcs, to a physical one.
- specialist wizards choose one school to be their opposed school. They can't memorize/cast those spells - no 2 for 1 stuff. They get Spell Focus in their chosen school as a bonus feat.
- classes are proficient in weapon groups
- languages are not based on race but nation/geography. You only get half your Int modifier in bonus languages and it takes 5 ranks in Linguistics to get a new one. Languages are also grouped into 'families' and you can attempt to communicate using Linguistics across language barriers - the closer the relation, the easier the check.
- Initiative ties are decided with a coin toss, but only after checking Initiative modifier, then Dex modifier, then Dex score.

.. I'm sure I've got more that I just can't think of right now.
One thing I may try and do is put back the specific favoured class per race thing.. I dunno why I like the flavour of that.. but I do.

one thing about bows vs. crossbows is that for crossbows - loading and shooting are two separate actions but only one for bows.

To that end, I am thinking of houseruling that firing a crossbow does NOT provoke an AoO.. your just pulling a trigger after all, there is none of the rigamarole of drawing an arrow, nocking it, and drawing it back before firing.

helpful?

Hey folks,
Check out this feat I built for a friend:

KI HEALING
You can channel your ki into others, sharing your ability to heal.
Prerequisites: Wis 15, wholeness of body class feature.
Benefit: As a full-round action, you may touch a living creature and heal them using your wholeness of body ability. Using wholeness of body in this way provokes an attack of opportunity.

My question is simple - is the wording clear? I know what I mean (the monk spends the ki to activate his wholeness of body ability but the other person gets the benefit), but I want to make sure strangers get it without the context.

Did I succeed?
Thanks!

My advice is this:

Determine what kind of investigative resources the party has/could get access to and, rather than find ways to counter them all, actively plan for their use. Have a few clues that can only be found that way for instance. Then, think of blocking one or two of these methods, depending on the intelligence of your murderer and how challenging you want this scenario to be.

Expect the party to use the tools they have. If they don't, then think of alternate ways to deliver the crucial info - remember the rule of 3: there should be 3 different places for the PCs to pick up the same information.

Also remember: you, as the DM know all the pieces to the puzzle. This means when you are designing clues, the tendency is going to be to make them too vague. You'll think it is enough information but only because you know the whole story. Your players will need more than you think in order to reach the conclusions you want.

Hope that helps

Yo,

So the players in my game are about to find themselves on one side of a small village with a desperate need to get to the other without being seen by the general populace (think lynch mob).

What I would like is a quick, easy and fun way to adjudicate this and not by mapping out the whole village, with multiple Stealth checks against the Perception checks of countless villagers, and all that.

How would you go about it? I don't want to make it a Chase (even though I love them because a)did one already and it's too soon. and b)they aren't being chased by the mob - they are running around, trying to avoid them.

My first instinct is to model it after Chases though as it is similar. Something like, the village is 9 cards (3x3 grid) and as the PCs move from card to card, there is a chance of being seen.. that grows as the mob spreads over more squares?

The other factor in this scenario is the PCs are against the clock. There is another group in the same situation but there is only one escape and once a group uses it, it is gone. Thus, the party has to beat the NPCs to it.

So, maybe going from square to square can be done fast, but obvious or slow but hidden?

Give me your thoughts please.. I'd love to cement this

Dragons are one of the topics I started a small convo about in the sheet, regarding how to handle their information. Current thought is to base the initial DC off the youngest CR, and just include information about the more advanced/older ones with the higher DCs as appropriate.

first blush makes me think a player rolls twice for dragons - once for age and once for colour.

so: one roll to know all the common factors shared by dragons, then a 2nd to fill in colour specific detail

but that's just my gut reaction to the issue

Most creatures/races with SR get a value that equals x + their HD. Sometimes x is 11, some have 13.

I just took that and applied it to the enhancement.

lesser = 11 + wearer's HD
regular = 13 + HD
greater = 15 + HD