Muninn's page

Agree with ending the overloading of the term "level". This has been an issue for new players nearly 100% of the time in my experience. "Tiers", "ranks", "pages", whatever term is used doesn't matter to me, but to avoid overloading words with a technical meaning, that's just good writing!

Congrats, Steve!

Had the opportunity to play in both Melbourne and Sydney while I was on travel for work. Great people, great games!

Is there any consensus on whether a rider with a reach weapon can attack when charging with a mount who does not have reach? Can the mount attack as well?

Hi everyone, I just found out that I'll be in Melbourne for work-related travel from mid-June to mid-July. Naturally, I think it would be a ton of fun to play Pathfinder with people thousands of miles from home! I'll be staying within walking distance of U of Melbourne, so I'm wondering which gaming store(s) are closest? Is the warhorn site the best place to get up-to-date info? Thanks!

Filth fever as well as any other disease that causes ability drain or Con damage have to be resolved be it by saving throws, Healing skill checks or magic at the end of the scenario.

Letting filth fever run its course can result in the PC's Contitution being reduced to 0 thereby resulting in death.

If a character is under bed rest, he or she will naturally heal 2 points of ability damage per day of rest. With an attendant making a successful heal check, this increases to 4 per day of rest. Since Filth Fever can only deal 1d3 damage, a player could not fail to recover with long-term care given an infinite amount of time. Whether you can assume a character has long-term care between scenarios isn't clear to me, but it seems reasonable to assume. If nothing else they can pay the small fee for a trained NPC expert to help.

Edit: never mind! I just learned that ability score recovery doesn't work while under an affliction, probably for this exact reason.

Actually, the description says "you must be able to clearly see the spell as it is being cast," so casting while invisible would mean no spellcraft check is even allowed.

Using spellcraft to identify a spell being cast has the same penalties for distance, darkness, cover, etc, that the perception skill has. So one could think of a variety of ways to up the DC, such as going invisible.

I completed the Quest for Perfection series, in order, with my Inquisitor of Pharasma. Got the "axebeak as a mount" boon. Chose cavalier class for next level. Can i purchase 'horseshoes of speed' for an axebeak?

Whoa there - could I ask you to spoiler that next time, or give us a warning in the title? Thanks!

Link to the errata, for those who were unaware (like me)

So, is there a way to challenge him?

(assuming he dumped Str) Ask to see his encumbrance.

I left out an important detail in my OP - I'm intending to make a character for PFS play. Either way, though, I'm more interested in character concepts, not necessarily game mechanics (although if there is a trait, feat, or PrC that reflects the concept, that's always a big bonus).

But Exocrat, thanks for the suggestions. Even if the options aren't all "optimal," I think they would make it more fun to play a wizard.

Martial characters could be Eagle Knights, Hellknights, Risen Guard, Lion Blades, or a number of other thematically interesting options. Clerics, paladins, and sorcerers also have cool in-world themes they can play off of, but the thematic options for wizards have always seemed a bit bland to me.

You can pick a school to specialize in, but that has always seemed a pretty abstract thing to me. There are a number of different arcane universities in Golarion that your character could hail from, but I don't have a good sense of how a wizard from Absalom, for instance, would seem different than a wizard from Quantium. Are arcane universities common enough in the world that I could safely make one up and be consistent with canon?

I'm looking for ideas for interesting wizard character concepts, whether that involves actual game mechanics (local traits, feats, etc) or not. Anyone have some ideas that could be interesting?

To add to what was said, remember that handling an animal is a move action Handle animal check, and pushing an animal is a full round action handle animal check. Only Druids/Rangers/Cavaliers can handle as a free action with their class feature.

It's that unknown element for people who can't spellcraft that makes me think that common people would be a bit more perturbed by spellcasting in public, even in Absalom. If I'm a regular guy on the street, how do I know if that guy spouting incomprehensible words just used prestidigitation to clean his shoes, or cast magic weapon on his dagger? Or maybe, as you said, he's just waving his hands around and saying nonsense...

I'd like to know what kind of reaction a character should expect when casting a spell in a public place, specifically the streets of Absalom. In my understanding, casting any spell with a V component should draw attention at least from the people immediately around you:

To provide a verbal component, you must be able to speak in a strong voice

I can't find it now, but I remember reading that the rules intend that there is no way to cast inconspicuously or quietly (without using metamagic). Maybe this is a memory from 3.5, but that's still how I interpret spellcasting.

Even if the spell has no immediate flashy or harmful effect, would people around the caster still be spooked? Enough to clear the street? Enough to call guards?

Again here, I'm surprised by how many people seem really eager to deny certain classes their class features. How is it 'gaming the system' for a small paladin or cavalier, who is playing with significant penalties to strength and damage, to use their size to their advantage?

Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide

All playtest versions of the six new base classes from this book are no longer legal for play as of 8/3/10. Anyone playing the playtest version of one of the six new base classes must have updated his or her character as of 8/3/10. Updating your character means adjusting only the things that have changed, but not rebuilding the character.

The following parts of the Advanced Player's Guide are NOT legal for play: Craftsman alternate Dwarven racial trait, Practicality alternate Halfling racial trait, Heart of the Fields alternate Human racial trait, Alchemist's Brew Potion class ability (he receives Extra Bombs instead as a bonus feat), Cavalier's Expert Trainer class ability (he receives Skill Focus [Handle Animal] instead as a bonus feat), Witch's Cauldron hex, Antipaladin alternate class, Cooperative Crafting feat, all cursed magic items and artifacts, the Hero Point new rule and associated feats, spells, and magic items, the Hedge Magician, Magical Knack, Natural Born Leader, and Rich Parents traits, and all of the Campaign Traits. The Master Alchemist feat may only be selected by Alchemists and Poisoners.

Permanent bonuses from equipment, feats, racial bonuses, and traits effect your Day Job check as they would any check for the rolled skill, but temporary bonuses such as those granted by spell effects do not contribute

It doesn't look like it is forbidden, but it certainly seems like the kind of ability that would be disallowed in PFS.

I'm still searching for ways to make an interesting Lore Warden that isn't maximally cheesed out with whip trip or Dervish dance (and on the other end of the spectrum, isn't just a fighter who can't wear heavy armor)... I'll be keeping an eye on this thread

More race-specific exotic weapons, so the racial trait "treats any weapon with X in the name as a martial weapon" can be more interesting (particularly for elves...)

That actually makes perfect sense to me. If you're a member of the Pathfinder Society, and your only motivation is to follow orders and bring things back, then that makes for a pretty one-dimensional character and personality. Especially given some of the revelations that come about the Decemvirate and the reason for the decisions they make - following blindly can get you into a lot of trouble with an organization that can be as shady as the Pathfinders can.

I see your point - in the Golarion lore, is it supposed to be that most Pathfinders have these ulterior motives? Or is that sort of left open? I'm just saying the faction composition of the players should somewhat reflect the campaign setting, if it really is only around 10% Grand Lodge loyalists, then so be it :)

Perhaps one way to reduce the intensity of the faction war while still keeping it interesting for those who like it would be to give big incentives for players to pick the 'neutral' faction of Grand Lodge.

That way if you wanted to actively participate in the faction war you'd be giving up some significant boon (something very significant game-mechanics-wise, like a gold bonus or access to certain traits or items) that Grand Lodge gives you in exchange for the chance to bump up the prestige of your favorite faction and influence the story arc for them in some way. It also never made sense to me that some 90% of Pathfinders are secretly loyal to some other faction outside of the Grand Lodge.

How can we make factions, their missions, and the competition between them matter? Should we even try?

Personally, I'd like to see the faction system as a way of putting in some sort of low-stakes PvP dynamic. Obviously players should be forbidden from actually entering combat with one another, but these factions are supposed to be competing with one another for influence over the Decemvirate, so faction missions should reflect that somewhat. Maybe there could also be different relations between the factions that are spelled out for the players. For instance the Silver Crusade is interested in stopping Cheliax from becoming too powerful but isn't quite as concerned about Qadira's missions, for instance.

Maybe these suggestions are too hard to practically implement, but that's just my two cents.

I'll add that I'm also considering a level or two of Duelist. I'm guessing that the precise strike ability doesn't work with the Elven curve blade, since it technically isn't a light weapon (it just says in the description that it works with weapon finesse if you are proficient).

I just got the PFS Field guide, and I'm really interested in making a Lore Warden character for PFS play. Most of the builds I've looked at seem to be strength-based LWs, but I would be worried about having poor AC with that kind of build, considering you have to wear light armor with this archetype. Elf seemed like the natural choice here, having +Dex will help in combat and +Int is helpful when you get every Int skill as class skill.

This character will be a member of the Grand Lodge faction, I wanted the Magical Talent (detect magic) feat so I could have another use for the spellcraft skill (which is a class skill for LW, very cool, IMO, and I like how it fits the Pathfinder character concept).

At low levels, damage won't be that great until I can save up for an agile weapon, so I will probably focus more on tripping and other situational combat maneuvers (taking an opp. attack for not having the feat isn't so bad sometimes). Once I have the agile weapon, I'll start going down the Whirlwind attack path and focus more on damage output.

Do you think this build can work well? Is the Whirlwind attack chain worthwhile for me, or should I spend feats on getting more maneuvers to use my class bonus on? Any items I should definitely pick up?

I really like having the glory cleric domain 1st level ability for faction missions.

Would you like my god's help convincing that guard to help you? Just as long as you return the favor later...

Not to be facetious, but what confusion and arguements do people get in regarding mounted combat and/or related feats other than regarding pounce and/or flying mounts?

Well, here are a couple I was just reading:

here and here

It seems to center around two things - the economy of actions with a character and mount being treated in some ways as a single actor (i.e. acting on the same initiative) and how ride-by-attack works (which will be an issue once I hit 3rd level) in regards to a mount making attacks and charging past an enemy.

I'm contemplating making a new halfling cavalier character to play in PFS. I'm trying to read through the rules and figure out how mounted combat and mounted combat feats work, but from the rules forum posts there seems to be enough ambiguity to cause a lot of confusion and argument over how they work. My question for this board is how can I handle these issues at the PFS table - I'd like to be able to present a clear and consistent case to each DM I play with so that the way I play my character doesn't have to vary from session to session, but I don't want to be "that guy" who spends 10 minutes rules lawyering in the middle of combat. Maybe there is a concise summary of how charging on a mount works somewhere that I could print and discuss with the DM before play? There doesn't seem to be a lot about this on the official FAQ (other than something about pounce, which certainly won't be an issue for a 1st level character).

Thanks for your help - I don't want the discussion here to be about the rules themselves (there are enough posts on this on the rules forum) but a meta-rules discussion about how to have things handled consistently when I'm playing!