Mistwalker's page

I wonder if my GM stars are travelling with Fromper's stars?

You are not the only one who worries about things like this HMM.
And I also tend to have characters who are linguists, knowing multiple languages.

I keep expecting to see this thread marked as closed.

For irony reasons only.
:)

Not to mention the fact that Whirlwind Attack was a poster example of a trap option.

Why do you say that?

I have seen it used effectively at high level as well as at low level.

It is especially effective if the character doing the whirlwind can do both reach attacks and close attacks.

pauljathome wrote:

MrAptronym wrote:

2. I think they have a different picture of what healing should be like than I do.

My biggest head/desk moment was when Jason said something like "I think there may be a healing problem but we need more data to be sure". The one thing that is screamingly obvious if you listen to just about ANY feedback is that YES, THERE IS A HEALING problem. The fact that Jason doesn't recognize this is more than a little alarming.

The fact that they are ignoring the complaints about vancian casting still being in the game as well as resonance and other things shows that they really are not informed about what their base wants in a new edition....

Those of us who hang around the forums do not represent most of their customers. Paizo gets feedback from multiple sources, and I suspect that not all of it is in agreement as to what the problem is.

My read is that Universalists get a Wizard class feat at 1st level

PossibleCabbage wrote:

Plus "the magic stick solves our problems, the magic stick is life" is aesthetically irritating in a way "let's take a breather" is not.

If Paizo doesn't want to power up mundane healing to that extent they should just create a magical ritual ala healing circle. It wouldn't use up spell slots and would take long enough to cast that it could be disrupted if used in an hostile situation, but would provide reliable out of combat healing that isn't mundane, item based, or class locked.

I too find this rather elegant

I too would go with Standard rather than Basic

Folks are missing a key point when they compare ICV2 or Amazon sales when looking at market share.

Paizo has direct sales from their website, as well as subscriptions.
Hasbro/Wizkids do not sell books from their sites, instead direct folks to local stores or online retailers like Amazon.

Changing out the gods will invalidate a lot of material about Golarion, including source books, APs, modules, etc.

I do not believe that the gods need to updated. Nor do I wish to see an update on the gods.

Maybe make the feat something like "Nondescript" or "Doppelganger descended" and just expand it. Say something like, "Your features are so androgynous and/or nondescript that you have far greater ease disguising yourself as others." then just give the bonus to all other ones in the same size category. So like, a human with the feat could be really good at making themselves look convincingly male, female, orc, elf, maybe dwarf when they squat, black, SE Asian.

I like the suggested name for the feat.

Nondescript: Your features are so androgynous and/or nondescript that you have far greater ease disguising yourself as others, of either gender.

To me Paizo has always been gamers making games for gamers.

They are not folks in business suits, looking over spreadsheet, cancelling the bottom 10% of products to try a different 10% to see if it brings in more revenue.

It is my understanding that when Hasbro acquired several RPG games and licenses, they did just that, closing down games that were making a profit (even is only a small one) to "focus" the resources on other games. To me this is a net loss to the gaming industry and players, even if it is a completely rational business decision.

And I am not sure what your complaint or goal is in this thread.
Are you looking for Paizo to produce more short APs, that stop at level 10, and less that go to levels 17-20?
Are you trying to understand their business model and decisions?
Are you trying to influence their business decisions?

Ah, got it.

I am a dice nerd and have way more dice that I will ever need, and will still buy more. So I have never had the problem of having to re-roll dice because I am short of them.

You might also want to look at how you normally do the math for lots of dice rolled.

I count by 10s.

What I mean by that is:
A crit on longsword with sneak attack dice added could be:
2d8+7d6+6

If you roll:
3, 1, 6, 6, 4, 4, 2, 5, 6 +6

Take the 4, add it to the +6 for the first 10.
Next group the 3, the 2 and the 5 for the 2nd group of 10.
Next group add a 6 and the other 4 for the 3rd group of 10.
Leaving 6, 6 and the 1 - for the odd group of 13.
Makes it easy to get to the total of 43.

I have had 6 and 7 year olds do this quickly, with less difficulty than teens trying to do it all in their heads.

This is starting to look like a kickstarter

Wayfinder

Dasrak wrote:

Malthraz wrote:

What is stopping a level 15 evil wizard from using scrying and teleport to kill any good aligned adventuring parties from level 5-10?

If a 15th level foe wants to kill 5th level PC's badly enough that he's willing to do it himself, protection from scry-and-die isn't going to save them. A 15th level Rogue could quietly ask around town to find out where the PC's are staying, then kill them in their sleep. A 15th level Ranger could track them while they're traveling, then pick them off with stealthy sniping.

Um, I don't mean kill one party of 5-10s. I mean kill every good party on the planet. Based on spells available, you can probably kill 3-4 parties per day.

You would need a very good intelligence network to do that, but with permanency and telepathy you might be able to pull it off. You also have mind blank, so counter strikes are much harder.

One of the questions that I had about your premise that a high level wizard could/would kill all of the good parties while they were low level, is how would that wizard even know about the good party?

To scry on someone, you have to know something about them - you can't scry on "good adventurers".

How would this "very good intelligence network" work?
While Telepathic Bond can be made permanent, it can only do so between 2 creatures per casting of Permanency. Would this wizard have thousands of creatures telepathically bonded to him/her/it? If so, then sleep/rest to recover spells may be difficult, with all those people talking to them pretty much 24/7.
How does the wizard choose and control all of those thousands of telepathically bonded in the intelligence network?
How does the wizard remember the names of all of those thousands of bonded folks, to know where to teleport to?
The telepathic bonded folks - what level are they? How do they explain to others about the magic aura that they have all the time?

Hmm, what about the gods in all of this? You don't think that some of the good gods might point their champions at this wizard?

How is the wizard getting 300,000 gp per day? You example was an exploded and destroyed inn, with the wizard leaving immediately. Searching the ruins of that inn will likely leave witnesses and take time. Then you have to find buyers for all the gear - which is another way that others might locate/identify the murderer.

Teleport has a range of 100 miles per caster level - so not world spanning at all. If the wizard uses Greater Teleport (which will likely be 3 per day), then the range limit is gone, but all of those 7th level spell slots are used up for movement.

So, in short, your premise that a 15th level wizard could kill all of the low level good parties (before they became high level) seems to not be workable, or even really possible by the current rules.

Have you looked at npc wealth my dude? you can do scry and fry at level 9 if you feel like it.

let's say the bad guy is level 11, So his total wealth is 16350 gp. I don't think 43% of your wealth is pocket change.

Also, yeah scry can fail, but then you can just try again until it works, that's not a big deal

The NPC wealth is the gear that they are wearing/carrying.

Can you point me to an adventure/AP where the full value in a base is covered off by NPC wealth? Including the cost of building the base?
:)

And for the failed scrying, well, some buffs spells have expensive components (thinking of stoneskin).

The Problem (Scry & Fry): This exploit works once the players get access to teleport and powerful divination magic. They buff up as wella s they can, the wizard scries the location of the BBEG and then teleports himself and the rest of the party into the final encounter avoiding all story progression and inevitable attrition. Obviously a GM has ways against this, chief among them stating that every dungeon/castle/cavern/war-camp/what-have-you is magically protected against scry and teleport magic (or just have the BBEG use said tactic himself... which usually ends in a TPK). This is an inelegant solution that often breaks suspension of disbelief and causes players who want to employ such tactics to "win" to feel cheated out of their "just reward" for their "cleverness".
Suggested solution: Make divination magic useful on smaller scale endeavours but not so much it easily breaks chronicle plots and easily revelas secrets supposed to be discovered during play. Make teleportation magic, slower to cast, riskier and more unreliable. Portals can bring you from point A to point B in space with little to no risks. Teleporting into an enemy lair and then out of it with pinpoint accuracy (unless you are really unlucky) is too much and risks trivializing encounters.

I am wondering how often this actually happens - I hear about it from time to time, but haven't yet really run across it.

A few questions:
Scrying:
You have to have a connections to the individual being scryied, other wise the spell does not work.
A vague name, like the Storm Tyrant is insufficient to locate said being (especially if the PCs are unsure of the race or name of that individual).
The target get's a saving throw. How many GMs make that roll (and including modifiers like +10 for no real knowledge of the subject)?

Does the GM give the bad guy a perception check to spot the scrying (DC = 20 + spell level)? Or anyone else in the room?

If the bad guy is a wizard, is there any reason why they don't cast Detect Scrying every day (24 hour duration)? Or have a spell caster minion cast it?

Teleport:
Does the GM roll the percentile dice to see if they actually teleport to the right place?

Is there any reason why the big bad hasn't invested a few thousand gold in teleportation protection for key areas? Teleport Trap can be made permanent for 7000 gp - pocket change for a big bad at those levels. If the big bad is a cleric, then the spell Forbiddance would be the spell to use - it is permanent. And both of these spells have the option to have some individuals (or items) bypass the teleport inhibition, so that the big bad can teleport away.

There is a translator in the Starfinder Society RPG Guild guide, page 31.

TETRAD CERTIFIED TRANSLATOR LEVEL 2
ITEM PRICE BULK
TECHNOLOGICAL 500 L

This elaborate datapad has several additional audio receptors
to capture nearby sounds. If you don’t share a language with
creatures you encounter, you can activate this device to collect
basic linguistic information. The device requires 10 minutes of
observed conversation to gain enough information to operate.
The device then acts as a rudimentary translator. It does not
allow you to converse with creatures with whom you don’t share
a language, but it can relate very basic information. Examples
of statements the device could interpret would be: “come with
us,” “lower your weapons,” or “leave immediately.” The device
cannot parse proper names, including personal designations or
the names of items and places. Some extraordinary complex or
obscure languages might not translate clearly with this device.
A Tetrad certified translator has 10 capacity and 1/hour usage.

One big difference between Pathfinder and Starfinder in selling used weapons and armor is serial numbers.

Big Bad Evil Guy get's a report that one of his low level operations was eradicated. Calls around, and asks to be notified if anyone dumps 30 or so sets of xxx armor, yyy pistols and zzz rifles.

BBEG gets a call two days later, provided images of the those that sold the gear to a fence - confirms the serial numbers.

Puts hit out on the PCs.

Or turn it around: Police are investigating the brazen robbery and murder fest at XXXX corps. All the staff were left naked where they fell, obviously stripped of everything.

A round to the fences, and bingo, PC images and names (or handles) provided to the police.

I am one who follows most of the rules in regards to filling out chronicle sheets.

To save time at the end of the session, I ask for chronicle sheets at the beginning of the game, as soon as players sit down.

If the chronicles sheets are not up-to-date, I hand them back and ask that they bring them up-to-date before the end of the session.

For those that do have properly filled out chronicles, while the players introduce themselves, fill out the reporting page, decide who is going to be "face", etc... I start filling out the chronicle sheets, filling in their current XP, Fame, PP and gold. This way, at the end of the night, it is fast to fill in the last couple of bits, ask for day job and if they are spending prestige, and sign.

Where I vary, is that I do not fill in the gold spent or the new total, as it can take some players a while to total up what they spent in the session - I rely on their honesty for that part.

In my area, I am not the only GM who does this, but not all do. However, the players now know to make sure that their chronicles are up-to-date, as they do not always know who will be the GM.

I have even asked players to show me (hold up) their ITS. But I haven't audited any of them yet - haven't felt the need to (because I have asked to see them, players have been more diligent in filling them out).

I have done the above at GenCon, gotten a few strange looks, but all the players went along with it.

I try to be reasonable in my approach, if someone has forgotten their chronicles (this seems to happen more to those who have their character on Hero Lab) at home, but am less lenient after the first couple of times.

I have no issue with how other GMs fill out their chronicles, I simply fill them out to the best of my abilities, following the rules.

I too am interested in this.

I was thinking of having a polo made, with the open rune logo on the chest, upper left side (basically the old Grand Lodge logo, as it is easier for the embroidery machines than the new one).

I wanted something that I could wear that would be recognisable by gamers, but discreet enough that non-gamers wouldn't notice.

Now the question is of course the color.
The colors that are available are maroon, dark blue (navy?) and dark green. All different from the colors currently in use.

I might get one of each and bring them to GenCon.

Jean-Marc Comeau wrote:

Polymorph.

PRD wrote:

While under the effects of a polymorph spell, you lose all extraordinary and supernatural abilities that depend on your original form

So, wouldn't the above reduce the songbird to a single attack a round for a regular or an unchained monk, that of the bite, with no increase in damage dice?

No. A class ability by definition does not depend on your original form. If it did, it would be a species ability. Class skills are a restult or practice and training, not your shape.

Do you have a reference for that? I am not seeing that from the bolded part of the entry.

Also, by that interpretation, a half-orc of any class would lose their darkvision due to the polymorph (I agree).
But a character with 2 levels in Shadowdancer, who get's darkvision (EX) as a class ability, would not lose it (I disagree).

Jean-Marc Comeau wrote:

Fly skill.

No one has mentioned this at all in this thread. I have the impression that no one has been requiring the "songbird of doom" to make fly checks.

To hover, you need to hit a DC of 15.
Fly is not a class skill of the monk or rogue, so no +3 class skill bonus.

The Fly skill says:

Fly skill wrote:

Creatures with a fly speed treat the Fly skill as a class skill.

So if you have ranks in Fly (which you should be able to take since the ring of seven lovely colors gives you a "reliable means of flying every day") then while you have a fly speed you treat the Fly skill as a class skill and gain the +3 class skill bonus.

I always took that to mean that creatures with a permanent fly skill, not a fly speed granted by a spell or other such temporary effect. Otherwise you have strange effect that it is a class skill only when you are polymorphed - as once you are back to your normal form, you no longer have a fly speed, so no longer qualify for having the skill as a class skill.

I do acknowledge that someone with this ring could put points into the fly skill - but the examples that I have seen have not done so.

Polymorph.

While under the effects of a polymorph spell, you lose all extraordinary and supernatural abilities that depend on your original form (such as keen senses, scent, and darkvision), as well as any natural attacks and movement types possessed by your original form. You also lose any class features that depend upon form, but those that allow you to add features (such as sorcerers that can grow claws) still function.

Bolding to emphasize a point that I think has been missed in a lot of the arguments.

To me, that means that there are several abilities of the monk that are not available to the "songbird of doom".

Core:
Flurry of Blows (Ex)
Stunning Fist (Ex)
Fast Movement (Ex)
Unarmed Strike: ....A monk's attacks can be with fists, elbows, knees, and feet....
Purity of Body (Ex)
Wholeness of Body (Su)

Unchained:
Flurry of Blows (Ex)
Stunning Fist (Ex)
Fast Movement (Ex)
Unarmed Strike (Ex): ....A monk's attacks can be with fists, elbows, knees, and feet....

So, wouldn't the above reduce the songbird to a single attack a round for a regular or an unchained monk, that of the bite, with no increase in damage dice?

Fly skill.

No one has mentioned this at all in this thread. I have the impression that no one has been requiring the "songbird of doom" to make fly checks.

To hover, you need to hit a DC of 15.
Fly is not a class skill of the monk or rogue, so no +3 class skill bonus.
If you fail the fly check by 5 or more, you fall to the ground.
The maneuverability for the raven is average (+0).

So, for any fight where the songbird wants to keep attacking the same target, they have to make that fly check - if they fail, they have to move at least half movement, provoking when leaving and when coming back on their next turn.

In the example on page 1, the Halfling in bird form had a dex of 26, to +8 to dex skills, they would need to roll a 7 or better on a d20. Failing 30% of the time.
If they roll a 1 or 2, they fall to the ground and are prone. Failing 10% of the time.

Last night on PFU comms I had noted that the community (as a whole) wasn't interested in PvP.

People started giving me advice on how we might attract the community to PvP.

I was one of those people.

I have PvPed in PFO and enjoyed a lot of those fights.

But some were less enjoyable, and would likely have turned off a reluctant PvPer.

One of Golgotha's claims is that they are the best PvPers in the game right now - yet rarely do I see Golgothans fight with even odds - most fights they outnumber their opponents - so is it numbers or ability that is coming into play?

In one fight, when I suggested even odds, the response I received was that even odds were for suckers/losers.

When it was suggested that tournaments be held, the response that I remember is that Golgotha wasn't interested in that kind of fight.

The perception is that Golgothan's aren't interested in skilled PvP, but in gang ganking smaller groups.

That perception also colours the perception of PvP in general.

So how do you get people to engage in PvP? To get them wanting to engage in PvP?

I am willing to put up a T2+3 Captain's Chainmail as the prize for a tournament next weekend (have to make the armour first :)), say 8 Golgothans vs 8 non-golgothans (likely Coal Road folks) with eliminations so that the winner of the last fight get's the prize (with everyone else taking a single hit to durability). Would that be sufficiently attractive to get you to participate?

Disclaimer: I was killed by Tink the other day when out gathering (I have no issue with that, it is a danger of gathering alone). After the fight I had a conversation with him about how he had managed to catch me, then kill me - he explained what he had done and when asked, provided some possible counters. That type of interaction raises my interest (and skills) in PvP.

I also think that these node dungeons should expire at server down, regardless of whether they have been fully explored or emptied.

This will help avoid camping of the exits or other choice spots.

One issue that would need to be resolved would be what happens to players who log out (or don't manage to get out of the node dungeon) before server down? Where do they respawn? Do they take a durability hit, but keep all loot?

Repeat of what I said/reported in the GW forums:

One other thing that a group of us in the Ustalav Home Hex noticed is that when you clear an area, and are still there a few minutes later, you often get a spawn drop on you, seemingly appearing around you.

This is deadly when you are already in a tough fight, getting one, or sometimes two other spawn appear and aggro on you is usually deadly.

Another thing that was noticed was that if a PC hadn't been in the area, it was still fairly clear, but once a PC went through the area, the high spawn rate started and covered the area.

Thank you guys, for answering my questions. That makes it abundantly clear that, unfortunately, PFO is not a game for me then. Forced non-solo play is just not for me, and neither is PVP you can't opt out. Forced PVP is something I, personally, would never want to see in a game I play.

I saw that coming, but I wanted to see if it might be different, as it is Pathfinder, but, OK, so it goes.

You can do a lot solo in PFO. I gather, hunt, clear escalations often by myself. It is faster and can be fun to do that in a group.

Where you need the group is for refining and crafting. You do not have the time to learn all of the refining and crafting skills yourself - you need to trade with refiners and/or crafters to get the gear that makes your life easier. Same as in the Table Top game - your character can't learn all of the making skills or all of the magic item making feats - you trade with team mates or buy them.

The other group related activity in PFO is that settlements limit how high your skills can go - you have to be part of a settlement to gain access to higher level trainers. However, there are some companies that have stated that they are or will be mostly for solo players, so that they can benefit from the higher level skills.

I have had some success adventuring with a staff.

I am adjusting my tactics since the changes in EE 3 (cooldown for cantrips).

But with a T1 +2 Charged Staff, I am able to take down Ogre Louts and Runts and even large groups of broken men/bandits with multiple yellows. Admittedly, I have had to run on occasion.

I also have a battle focus as my alternate weapon to be able to use both variant of minor cure, to speed up the recovery process.

Perhaps put it on the patcher for a bit - this way everyone should see it when they log into the game.

I do have a couple of odd questions about husks.

When you log out, your avatar stays logged in for a bit before disappearing.

If someone knows you are about to log out (like when you say goodnight to folks at the bank and someone overhears), and kills your avatar after you have "quit", does the husk disappear at the same time and re-appear when you log back in? Does it stay around for the full 30 minutes, even if you are not logged in?

Glad to see that I am not the only one who is unsure of what the symbols mean. :)

Perhaps a dev could provide an explanation (and images to Dazyk for his reference sheet).

Mistwalker wrote:

Nihimon wrote:

Mistwalker wrote:

But the question remains, what will the new player use to pay for the T1+1 armor?

Harvested Resources.

How is that going to be done at an Auction House?

New Players gather Resources and sell them, along with any Recipes or Expendables they're lucky enough to loot, on the Auction House to get Coin to buy better Gear.

This is the exact system Ryan described in Adventure in the River Kingdoms.

Don't the Auction Houses need to work a wee bit more smoothly before that will work (and the experienced players will actually put items in the AH)?

I think that the AH needs to work better before they completely cancel the drops on the starter goblins.

Suggestion would be to keep weapons and armor on the starter goblins until the AH is working sufficiently well that it is being used by both new and experienced players.

I will be working on the mage side of things, including Sage and Artificer.

And will likely be doing a lot of gathering as well.

Seems like the 5 drop outs are violating the "don't be a jerk rule".

How so?

They did not want their character to die because someone else deliberately brought in a very weak character. How is stepping away from the table in that situation being a jerk?

Congratulations

I think the age shouldn't/isn't an issue here.

My 10 year old is a 2 star GM, who ran games at GenCon this year -one table of PFS GMs. She did well and impressed people. But she puts in the prep-time that the scenario needed.

She also creates text documents with all of the stat blocks (including the information from abilities that are not fully described in the stat block - like grab, swallow hole, distract, etc..). Spells are fleshed out (range, damage, effect, etc) if there are spells or spell-like abilities.

She has a good systems mastery. I suspect that she wouldn't make the error of having a creature attack with both weapon and two claw attacks, nor would she focus all on one PC if there are multiple targets - especially for low or no intelleigence creatures.

She has stated in person and on the forums here that the most important thing about playing Pathfinder is to have fun - players and GMS.

If this GM is not presenting the scenarios properly, and does not have good grasp of the NPC abilities, then the VO or organizer needs to have a talk with them - perhaps emphasize more preparation is needed. Perhaps have the next few tables be ones with experienced players/GMs who are willing to help a new GM learn not only the system, but how to run a fun table.

There is a minor error in the Advanced Race Guide

To create an aasimar, dhampir, fetchling, grippli, goblin, ifrit, kitsune, nagaji, oread, suli, sylph, tiefling, undine, vishkanya or wayang character, you must have a Chronicle sheet that opens the race as a legal option at character creation.

Kitsune, Nagaji and Wayang should be removes as they are now available without a chronicle sheet.

Mistwalker wrote:

I use paint to chop up the maps into nice sized pieces that I can print myself on either 11x17 or 8.5x11 pages, and laminate those (I have a small laminator at home).

To size the image, I simply select either 10x16 squares or 8x10 squares - this makes the squares 1 inch sized when printed. A bit of tape hold the maps together on the table.

One additional trick that I use is that I "fix" the images with copy and paste to hide the secret doors and rooms. I print a copy with the rooms and doors in place, cut out the small area needed for the door or room and laminate those small areas too. This way when the PCs find a secret door/room, I drop the small laminated piece on the map (bit of tape to hold in place) and the adventure continues.

Before I laminate the maps, I write on the back of the maps the name and number of the scenario, along with the pertinent room info.

I have a fair number of scenarios mapped out this way, and the local PFS GMs are using the maps on game days - makes life easier for everyone.

Can you do this with the maps found in the scenarios themselves? I seem to recall hearing somewhere that that wasn't allowed, but it seems like it would be useful.

You can definitely do it with the maps in the scenarios - it is what I do.

You can't post the images online (like on the GM shared prep site). That is a violation of the Community Use policy. You can print and share the maps all you want as long as you aren't selling them.

I have dozens of scenario maps printed and laminated that get used at the game days and local conventions. The only thing that the other local PFS GMs need to bring for maps is some tape (and clean off the tape after the game).

The one at the regular tables is the world's youngest 2 star GM, she is 10.

It's less of an age thing that it is one of maturity.

My story, if it had come up at GenCon was/is:

Stig normally doesn't run his auctions this way, but with the large influx of pathfinders with Andoran sympathies, his business has been taking a hit recently, so he is grumpier than normal, and seeking to recoup some of his loses. The auction are normally run in the usual manner.

The PCs could find out the above through knowledge (local) or diplomacy.

I was kind of hoping for a phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range.

Just what you see on the wall.

When I played it, I asked if there were 3 dots and a triangle on the door? no, keep going.

Shadow Stalker has now obtained her second star, at the age of 10!

I am both elated and concerned over this event.

Elated because she has put a lot of work into it (and will be running 5 slots of We be Goblins at GenCon in a week's time). She wanted to be a 2 star GM before going to GenCon (in part to see people's expression when she says that she is a 2 star) and put in a lot of work to get it.

Concerned because she has managed to coopt my Thursday night gaming group to get enough games in to get that second star.

She is now trying/racing me to the next star, as she want's to be a 3 star GM before I get to my fourth star! And my gaming group is more than willing to help her do it!

Congratulations Shadow Stalker.

Mistwalker wrote:

You never seem to address the question about spending PP to get that wand of CLW (or any other wand).

I have addressed the question and so hasTriOz, you've just ignored the answers.

and other responses.

I think that I am going to let any kind of discussion on this topic with you drop, as you seem to be refusing to answer questions and insult those that don't agree with you.

Congratulations

You took that drink in the bar, didn't you?

shakes his head

Glad to see some new officers joining the crew.