Muad'Dib's page

I've not seen any threads dedicated to Scyfi's two new (ish) shows. Is anyone watching them? Is anyone enjoying them?

Feels like they could inhabit the same universe that was build from the leftover scraps from Firefly.

My 30 minute daily drawing took a bit longer. I ended up driving down the block to the art supply store and picked up fresh prismatic markers. My old ones have dried up an died on me.

My take on Feyd Harkonen from the dune series.

The year was 2009 and I was constantly amused by the crazy media revolving around our new president. I came up with a comic strip called Politics and Gaming do not Mix.

The idea was high school D&D club with Obama as a mysterious kid who transfers from another school. None of the students know what school he was transferred from but he has a mysterious K on his letterman's jacket and no one has seen his transcripts.

Now young Barry is stepping in as GM after the previous GM left the game in shambles.

At the table sits Sarah Palin, Glen Beck and Keith Olbermann.

I drew out pages and pages of material and wrote scripts for them but never matched the two an lost most of it during a move.

It some point I'd like to start up a new Politics and gaming strip but I can't imagine a cast of characters as strong and what we had in 2009. Sarah, Keith and Glenn were a treasure trove of comedic material and while they are not gone they are not as prevalent as they were.

Anyway I posted what few of the unfinished pages I had left on my deviant art page. I have more unfinished projects that finished and that is the story of my life.

Has anyone tried gaming without or limiting the use of perception checks? I'd very much like to hear from you and how you handle it.

Rather than players interacting with the rooms description I notice more and more GM's and players relying on perception as a shortcut. (example below)

GM: <box text detailed description of room>
Player: I look around (rolls perception)
GM: You find hidden under the rug a map...

GM and Players, how do you handle or use the perception skill? GM's, if you don't use the perception skill how do you handle the necessary details you expect players to find but for whatever reason they are unable to find?

Parkour build

I’m working on a Urban based Parkour themed character and would appreciate feedback and suggestions.

So he can take no damage from up to 30 feet of falling, treats long jump distances at 5 feet shorter and Jumps at +24.

Climbs at +25, with a climb speed of 20 and can take 10 on climb checks while under duress.

All at level 5

Any suggestions that could make the build even better?

Thank you to our vets both young and old for serving. /cheers

Twin Peaks fans’ quarter-century wait is over. One of the top cult series of all time is coming back with a new limited series on Showtime from its original creators, David Lynch and Mark Frost. The nine-episode series will go into production in 2015 for a premiere in 2016 to mark the 25th anniversary of when the series finished its run on ABC. In a fact that will delight Twin Peaks devotees, Lynch and Frost will write and produce all nine episodes, with Lynch set to direct every episode.

I'm pretty geeked up about this. Twin Peak was one of those shows I watched each week with rapt attention. Maybe my mad crush on Audrey Horn had something to do with it.

-MD

M1 global is a mixed martial arts promotion out of Russia. They have always been a bit on the weird side but they took the cake by having men in Full armor step into the ring and fight with longswords.

The gifs are pretty sweet. Mixing in some Sambo with a shield strike.

also here is a link with a decent breakdown on what longsword fighting traditionally looked like.

Crazy Russians! :D

-MD

Post your favorite boxed text or even better, wow us with you own boxed text.

Below is one of my fav's.

This simple room is strewn with “toys,” some of carved wood or bone, while others appear to be little more than partial animal carcasses. Old bloodstains mark the walls, some in patterns that resemble crude child-like paintings featuring images of dismembered horses, a ridiculous grinning horned devil tossing children off a cliff, and a big lake with a black reptilian monster sprouting tentacles from its back. Bookshelves rest on the wall, but instead of tomes they hold skulls of all shapes and sizes.

-MD

I have a question about some items, traits, and abilities and if they do or do not stack.

.

The rogue ability Expert leaper states they may negates the first 20 feet of a deliberate fall.

Benefit: When making jump checks, the rogue is always considered to have a running start. Also, when the rogue deliberately falls, a DC 15 Acrobatics check allows her to ignore the first 20 feet fallen, instead of the first 10 feet.

The Shingle runner feat say when you fall, you automatically reduce the damage taken by the fall by one die, as if you had fallen 10 less feet.

Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Climb and Acrobatics check, and may take 10 on Climb checks even when distracted. If you fall, you automatically reduce the damage taken by the fall by one die, as if you had fallen 10 less feet. This reduction in damage stacks with the Acrobatics check to further reduce falling damage.

Mushroom vest states you treat any fall as if it were 20 feet less when calculating damage.

A mushroom vest protects you from impact trauma. When wearing the vest, you treat any fall as if it were 20 feet less when calculating damage.

My question is this: Combined with a successful acrobatics check could a player feasibly make a deliberate * 50 foot fall and take no damage?

Or am I stacking these items in an incorrect way?

* edit, 50 foot fall not 60.

The Paizo Community is greyed out for me. I can see it but when I click there is nothing to see. I assume this is a technical error or perhaps I have been banned from that particular forum.

If I log out I can see Paizo Community, but not when I am logged in.

Your help is appreciated.

-MD

Sage advice is needed.

When making a leap attack are you considered flat footed?

Last night our superstar monk made a leap 10 feet out to grapple a hovering opponent. As the player attempted the grapple they provoked an attack of opportunity. And we digressed with an interesting rules debate.

The official ruling was that there was no penalty to attack or AC as leaping is a move action, but it did not seem to sit well in our minds.

Our table generally assumed that when a characters feet are not on the ground they are unable to use a dex bonus to AC. The reasoning is a person needs some means of mobility to dodge.

Could someone please clear this up for me?

Thanks in advance

-MD

* PS - I am not referencing the leap attack feat. This is just a person using acrobatics to jump and grapple.

Seattle International Film Festival is playing the Knights of Badassdom on Tuesday Jan 21st at the SIFF Cinema Uptown.

Peter Dinklage and Summer Glau...yeah, sign me up!

Tickets Knights of Badassdom.

KNIGHTS OF BADASSDOM follows three best friends (Peter Dinklage, Steve Zahn and Ryan Kwanten) and dedicated LARPers (Live Action Role Players) as they take to the woods to reenact a dungeons and dragons-like scenario fresh out of the mythical Middle Ages. Trouble arises after they unwittingly conjure up some serious evil in the form of a blood-lusting Succubus, from the pits of hell. Fantasy and reality collide on the Fields of Evermore in an all-out epic battle of make-believe wizards, demons and assorted mythical creatures. Their courage and friendship is put to the test as they attempt to vanquish the evil they have summoned. Will the group prove to simply be foam sword-wielding LARPers, or true “Knights of Badassdom?”

It is just wishful thinking that Phase 3 includes a Captain Marvel Carol Danvers) movie? I hope I am not alone in this.

So who would you cast?

-MD

PS: Also on a side note I would love to see a poster for this hypothetical movie be done in the style of the Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 movies. Only with a man playing the part of the damsel and holding onto Captain Marvel in the same way Gwyneth Paltrow and Natalie Portman do.

I know it would never happen, but it would be funny.

-MD

Sometimes you do not want to invest in an entire book series. (Yes, I'm looking at you Wheel of Time). You just want one good book to carry you through a weekend. Please give me your best suggestion. I don’t mind if it is part of a series as long as that single book can stand on its own without any other reading required.

I’ll give you two of my Favorite quick reads:

The Descent by Jeff Long – This book took me by surprise and would make an awesome summer blockbuster. Tom Hardy as Elias Branch anyone?

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell – A sci-fi philosophy book about Pilgrims in space, first contact and god. Unbelievable read that will have you head spinning once finished.

Boom bang done. One book, one weekend. I need suggestions

-MD

I was raised to say Ma'am and Sir. I also do a lot of martial arts and and if I fail to use Ma'am or sir when addressing my master I end up doing push-ups. I don't like push-ups. So it is hard-wired in my brain to say Ma'am and sir.

Enter my co-worker, a single lady in her 50's. gets really upset when people use the term "Ma'am". She will go so far as to correct the offendor saying something along the lines of "I am not that old, I am not a Ma'am". A lot of our clients are military and these young men and women call in daily and end up getting lectured each and every time.

I gather Ma'am and Sir is used more commonly in the south, we do not hear it that much in the Pacific Northwest unless you live near a military base.

Is Ma'am and Sir antiquidated?

I recently finished a 40+ page home-brew realm book covering custom deities and planes of existence. It has many illustrations taken from all manner of online sources including CG hub, Deviant art, the Paizo blog and a few that I drew myself. This book is not for sale!

My concern is the artwork used.

Question: Am I allowed to share this book with the community or does that breach some copy write issues?

-MD

I do not see a Paizo presence listed on the Emerald City Comic-Con site.

http://www.emeraldcitycomicon.com/

With the new Pathfinder comic out and a Wayne Reynolds art book looming I'm a bit surprised because you are located in Seattle. It's a great opportunity to hook some new people into the product.

What gives?

-MD

I have a question about the trait Fools for Friends from the Second Darkness Andventure Path.

Whenever you take the aid another action to help an ally, or whenever an ally aids you in this manner, a successful check grants an additional +1 trait bonus to the check for which aid was being rendered. Additionally, as long as one of your friends is within 30 feet, you gain a +1 trait bonus on all saving throws against charm and compulsion effects.

If my character uses Aid another to grant an ally a bonus to his armor class and I made my check would the recipient of my aid be granted a +3 instead of a +2?

Or would my character get a +1 in his attempt at aiding that friend thanks in part to the trait?

Or is in not relevant to defending an ally at all.

The wording on this trait is odd.

Thanks

I'm a bit disappointed looking at the meager print offerings from Paizo. I would love to buy some unfolded high quality prints of various book covers without the “coming soon” printing all over them.

The Beginners Box cover, Advance Players Guide, Ultimate Magic & Combat are just a few prints I would love to have on the walls of my Den.

Come on Paizo, make it happen! Wayne Reynolds has bills to pay.

-M

We had a player leave our Rise of the Runelords for work reasons and now our group is left with only four players. the player leaving was playing a meat-shield type character. So we figured it might be best to shuffle the party a bit and now I will be stepping in at 3rd level with a Paladin.

The GM has some concerns over my characters power and AC both present and future.

We are fairly new to PF so my question is... does he have a legitimate concern or doth he protest too much?

Keep in mind the abilities of the Sacred Shield as he levels.
Sacred Shield Link at d20pfsrd.

He is going to be tougher and tougher to hit but these are for only short spurts.

Aasimar Paladin (Sacred Shield)

Str: 15
Dex: 10
Con: 14
Int: 12
Wis: 9
Cha: 20

HP: 34
AC: 23 (8 armor, 4 shield)

Fort: 10
Ref: 6
Will: 7

CMB: 5
CMD: 15

Traits
Imperial Soldier: + 1 trait bonus to Intimidate and it becomes a class skill
Shield Bearer: Provide adjacent ally a +2 trait bonus for 1 round once per day

Special Abilities/Features
Immune to Fear
Immunity to Desease
Detect Evil
Aura of Courage
Bastion of Good: - creature smited does half damage to all allies within 10 feet and the Paladin gains a Defection bonus equal to Chr
Exalted Resistance: SR 5+level vs spells with the evil descriptor and spells cast by evil outsiders.
Halo: +2 bonus on intimidate vs evil creatures and on saving throws vs blinded or dazzled
Lay of Hands
Mercy: Sickened
Scion of Humanity:
Truespeaker: +2 bonus on Linguistics and learn two languages each time they gain a rank in linguistics.

Feats
Tower Shield Proficiency
Weapon Focus Scimitar

Equipment
Masterwork half Plate, Masterwork Tower Shield, masterwork scimitar, Amulet of natural Armor +1

A grease spell covers a solid surface with a layer of slippery grease. Any creature in the area when the spell is cast must make a successful Reflex save or fall. A creature can walk within or through the area of grease at half normal speed with a DC 10 Acrobatics check. Failure means it can't move that round (and must then make a Reflex save or fall), while failure by 5 or more means it falls (see the Acrobatics skill for details). Creatures that do not move on their turn do not need to make this check and are not considered flat-footed.

We had some conversation last night at our game table and I looked for some rules clarification/discussions on the Grease spell on the paizo forum. The clarification I got is listed below in more text than is needed....please let me know if you see any points of contention.

1. Moving through the area of a grease spell requires a person to move at half speed and a acrobatics check. Failure by 5 or more indicates they fall to the floor. Ok, that much we know...

2. A person who has fallen in the area of effect of a grease spell may stand as a move action. Standing provokes the standard attack of opportunity. Now this is a point of debate on the forums and never seemed to get settled. Does standing require an acrobatics check?

Ok...take a breath. Ready for the next part? let's go.

3. To move through the area you must make an acrobatics check and in doing so you are making yourself flat footed as per the acrobatics skill description.

You can use Acrobatics to move on narrow surfaces and uneven ground without falling. A successful check allows you to move at half speed across such surfaces—only one check is needed per round. Use the following table to determine the base DC, which is then modified by the Acrobatics skill modifiers noted below. While you are using Acrobatics in this way, you are considered flat-footed and lose your Dexterity bonus to your AC (if any). If you take damage while using Acrobatics, you must immediately make another Acrobatics check at the same DC to avoid falling or being knocked prone.

So do not do this if you are engaged in fighting a rogue!!

4. Crawling

Crawling: You can crawl 5 feet as a move action.

Crawling incurs attacks of opportunity from any attackers
who threaten you at any point of your crawl. A crawling
character is considered prone and must take a move action
to stand up, provoking an attack of opportunity.

The rules are not crystal clear here but let's look at the Rogue Talent Rogue Crawl (PFRPG pg 68)

Rogue Crawl (Ex): While prone, a rogue with this ability can move at half speed. This movement provokes attacks of opportunity as normal. A rogue with this talent can take a 5-foot step while crawling.

This implies that a rogue without this talent cannot take a 5-foot step while crawling. This runing would apply to everyone.

There are no rules (that i can find) written about if crawling helps you get out of a grease spell. I would use common sense and apply a +4 bonus for having all limbs on the ground in the effort to escape the area of effect of grease.

If you have anything to add please let me know. Feel free to discuss.

A player and a range of 10 feet casts a grease spell on a target and that target fails his save and falls to the ground and is prone. The following round the player shoots a scorching ray at the prone opponent.

My questions:

1. Would that prone target get a +4 bonus vs ranged attacks as per the prone condition?

2. Would the target of a failed grease save be flatfooted?

My rather large group of players is starting up Pathfinder for the first time. Most of us are older gamers with families and work obligations so we all do not have time to pour over every spell, feat, or obscure rule to min max our characters. We just make a character that looks like fun, and fumbling forward we just go with what we think works to best describe our character. However a few players at the table do have the time to go over every single rule and run the numbers so to speak.

Mind you this is our first Pathfinder experience GM included and right out the gate we have a 2 cheese builds that will (in a few levels) tip the balance of power. All sorts of cheese dipping and archtyping to squeeze out every + that can be found.

I'm not buying the argument that it's the nature of 3.5 and Pathfinder to cheese build. By level 7 I expect the party will be the Pathfinder equivalent of Aquaman, the Wonder Twins, Robin and then Superman. That's no fun for anyone but Superman.

Any thoughts or suggestions on how to fix the situation before it turns into this?

http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz4x3v?What-to-do-about-an-unbalancing-PC

I don't want that to happen.

My weekly group plays and has played D&D 2nd edition for over 15 years. I've tried several times over the years to get them to try something new. The average age of our group is 42 so getting them to try anything new is a tall order. I think I might have broken them down enough to where they might give Pathfinder a shot.

I’ve played a bit of 3.5 with another game group so I’m familiar as a player to the system.

What I’d like is a little advice about what aspects of running a long term Pathfinder game tend to be the most troublesome. I know from my limited 3.5 experience that power creep was an issue. By 8th level the GM had a tough time challenging us.

Anyway, if any other GM’s have gone from 2nd edition D&D to PF I’d love to hear your experiences, mistakes, and successes so that I can go in with some wisdom.

Thanks

-MD