Character Build
Brawler 1
Human
Str 16
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 13
Wis 10
Cha 12
Traits:
Threatening Defender (Cheliax, Empire of Devils 19)
Affable (Champions of Purity 13)
Feats:
Toughness
Combat Expertise
Attack Line:
Unarmed Strike +4 (1d6+3)
Defenses:
AC: 15 (3 armor, 2 dex), 16 AC with combat expertise
Background:
Dax was orphaned during the Goblinblood Wars and spent her youth as a rough and tumble street fighter in Elidir. She turned to the worship of Kurgess as an escape from the oppressive environs. Inspired by the courage of her hero, she made her way south to Andoran, largely relying on a ready smile and the kindness of strangers to help her on her way.
Build Philosophy:
It seems like Martial Maneuvers is the cornerstone of the class, lending instantaneous in combat flexibility. I'm building the character as a generalist, with base feats that will allow for maximum feat chaining: Combat Expertise, Power Attack (which I almost took at first level instead), and weapon focus. I've got my eye on using Martial Maneuvers for the Improved [CMD] feats, as well as a few styles such as Dragon Style.
Confirmation PFS Playtest
Warning: SPOILERS
Party Composition and Marching Order:
Fighter (2-handed)
Warpriest
Brawler
Sorcerer (burning hands, color spray)
Alchemist
Druid
1st Encounter: Swarm
The brawler performed about as well as a 1st level melee character can be expected to do versus a swarm. She benefitted from her high fort save, and threw an acid flask (and missed, haha).
2nd Encounter: Undead
My character benefitted from her high hit points and bludgeoning damage. The high hit points (and reasonably good AC) allowed me to get into position to defend casters with impunity while taking some AoOs. I had acrobatics as a skill, but simply moved because of distance.
3rd Encounter: Young Gelatinous Cube
Moving up in single file, the fighter runs straight into the cube and promptly becomes paralyzed. At this point, I wish I had taken power attack so I could use Martial Maneuvers for Improved Bull Rush. I decided to go for broke, and bull rushed the gelatinous cube anyway down the narrow hallway and into an open space. From a purely qualitative point of view, I felt like this was the moment that was built for the Brawler. There was a niche combat situation, and had I selected my feats differently, I could have really taken advantage of it. I was going to grapple the fighter out of the cube in the next round, but it choose to abandon the fighter and try to engulf me instead, which I managed to escape.
4th Encounter: Minotaur
Combat setup: We emerged from a cave and saw the baddie about 120 feet away, across a stream. The brawler benefitted from the 30 foot movement speed and skills. After a round of positioning, in the second round I managed a running leap over the stream and charged into combat. Already injured from my companions' spells and bombs, the Minotaur attempted to escape, and I landed a dramatic AoO crit and downed the creature.
Overall Feedback:
First of all, I did not built an overly min-maxed Brawler, and I'm very well aware that I could have had a lot more strength or dex. But I built a character that is very much in line with my personal preference and play style. While not crippling, I feel like the character is a bit on the weak side mechanically. Compared to a regular monk with flurry of blows and a regular fighter with higher weapon damage (and a bonus feat), the 1d6+3 per round is a bit underwhelming. If you count Martial Maneuvers as roughly equivalent to a bonus feat, the Brawler still might benefit from getting Brawler's flurry at 1st level.
Additionally, after reading the blog post last week, I looked at the close weapons list. But quite frankly, the close weapons list still contains a bunch of Asian weapons, and is really weak compared to the monk list. Most of them are 1d3 or 1d4 damage, and I'd rather not use them at all. The only exception is using a spiked shield with the bashing property, but even then brawlers aren't proficient with shields as armor :) Perhaps the brawler can use his own unarmed damage when using a close weapon...but then again, I foresee a lot of unintended consequences (read: game-breaking) with that option.
I suggest using close, monk AND light blades as options for the Brawler.
From what I have seen, I wonder if the niche for Arcanist wouldn't be the idea of spell flexibility. The idea of "I can have a spell for that!". I'm thinking along the lines of the feat from Pathfinder Society Primer, Planned spontaneity.
Planned Spontaneity:
You have a measure of f lexibility when preparing spells. Prerequisites: Knowledge (arcana) 9 ranks, ability to prepare and cast 4th-level spells. Benefit: Once per day when you prepare spells, you can designate one spell slot from each of up to three different spell levels that are lower than the highest-level spell that you can cast. In each designated slot you can memorize two different spells of the respective level. You can cast either spell as normal, but when you do, the spell consumes both of the spells prepared in that spell slot. Special: A wizard can select this feat as one of his bonus feats.
Perhaps adding the ability for the Arcanist to switch out spells prepared by using blood focus or some other x/day. The weakness of the class is that if you have the wrong spells prepared, then you're in trouble. Well, maybe the best route is to fix that. Wizards can prepare empty spells slots in 15 minutes (5 minutes if you have the discovery). Perhaps the Arcanist can prepare spells in even less time. You could make it a minute, or even less. This would allow the Arcanist to leave spell slots open and prepare on the fly as he learns throughout the day what spells he needs.
I apologize if this has been brought up before, but consider adding the Aura ability to the warpriest. Additionally, it might be helpful if warpriest levels counted as fighter (or fighter -3) for the purposes of Greater Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization.
Hrm...I guess I didn't make it clear. Kyle and I are indeed retiring from the Venture-Officer ranks, but we're still going to be a part of the PFS community!
Thank you all for an amazing two years. Kyle Pratt and I have had a great time with all of you, both virtually here on these boards and in person at Gencon, Paizocon, and Dragon*con. We are excited to announce the new Venture-Captain of Atlanta, Dan Cornett! He's been an awesome VL for us, and we know he's going to do an amazing job carrying on Georgia Pathfinder Society.
I'm also pleased to announce the new Venture-Lieutenants of Atlanta: Carlos Robledo, Andrew Roberts, and Bart Bailey. Congratulations to all!
Congratulations David!!! Davis has been an exemplary VL, from his amazing attitude to his willingness to organize special events for modules and on holidays. Under his care, the Athens lodge has grown immensely over the past two years. He is truly a wonderful asset to our community!!!
Spoiler:
Now who gets the Cat of Ascension? Toby has passed from Mike Brock to the Pratts and to David Shaw...who wants to give him a home next?
Just this week, I was playing in a game where I needed to roll a will save versus a baddie. I had a character with a low will save, and I knew the DCs were pretty high...because that's the thing that the bad guy specialized in. That's not metagaming.
I rolled a single digit number, and before I announced my result, I said, "wait a sec" to the GM, stared at the dice for a second, and then I rerolled the dice. Unfortunately, I still didn't make it :-P
You can always pause your GM before he announces the result of your dice and consider if you want to use your reroll.
My second observation is that I can see why it would be very difficult to take issue with this situation when you are handed all PDFs for free. In no way do I intend to insinuate that things would be different if the shoe was on the other foot, or declare hypocrisy of any kind. But I do believe that is a truth that is relevant to consider.
Lormyr, thank you for your even-handed comment about the passions of everyone here. I completely agree, and that's why we are on here in this community :-)
I did want to add that while your comment that we receive PDFs for free is completely valid, many (if not the vast majority) of us continue to purchase physical books, minis, maps, and all number of Paizo goodies. Additionally, I would guess that most of us spend more net money as Venture-Officers in hotel rooms, travel, con planning, resources, etc after we became VO's, in order to ensure a vibrant PFS community around us. In no way do I intend to say that there are not other people (who do not have a title) who spend every bit as much of time and energy and money.
We all have different amounts of resources that we are willing to put into the game. And that's okay. The lovely nature of PFS is that anything beyond core is optional. But at the end of the day, we are giving Paizo (or Hero Lab) money to pay for the amazing genius and hard work that they do. And if we give them that money, they can do more with it, and use it to fuel even better and brighter things for the future.
Congratulations to Venture-Captain Kyle Pratt for earning his 5th star!
Kyle has been playing PFS since the Grand Convocation at Paizocon 2009. He is famous for creeping out players so much in a scenario that they ran away screaming, and in another scenario at Paizocon 2013 revealing a plot twist so effectively that players literally dropped their bags in shock and awe. Thanks for being a great GM!
Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to David Montgomery VL Boston, ran our level 15 Siege of the Diamond Gate table. This guy knows his Sh** and is a great roleplaying judge, took our crazy table and just ran with it.
Thanks man and many props!
"So what is it that Farene the Far Traveled does?" "I flip up these 3 cards."
Agreed. He ran our Bonekeep table and did a great job :-)
I finally have a chance to post now that I am back in Georgia.
I met a ton of awesome people, as always. However, what was yet more valuable was getting to know some folks better and find out what absolutely amazing people they are. It's impossible to name everyone, but I think everyone that I got to play with, GM for, or had great conversations.
Painlord is an exemplary human being and probably one of the most wonderful conversationalists that I have met in a long time.
Eric, thank you for running the fantastic and psychotic game! Playing under Eric could not have been a better experience. He managed to not only challenge us in combat but also bring personality and roleplay customized to our characters. I hope we see you at Dragon*con!
P.s. Lady Ophelia...how is it possible that we missed each other? Or did we meet and I was thwarted by real life names?
Whether this is an evil act is largely irrelevant.
Was this player being a jerk? If so, they should have been asked to remedy their behavior, as intentionally screwing over other players is not acceptable to an organized play community.
I am super excited about the Black Butterfly. After drifting between Desna and Calistria, my chaotic good shadowdancer finally has a patron that is perfect :-)
Upon mention of the aranea, V moves into the front hallway to check on their prisoner. She comes back with the rope in one hand and a grim expression. "I should have known better than to let the shapechanger out of my sight. Perhaps he'll think twice before tangling with us again though. Sakura, Momir, should we press onward, or head back into town? I am still in fighting shape, and I have no particular need for supplies...but I defer to your arcane energies."
V unfolds the hand-drawn map that the group had pieced together. "If I recall correctly, there is still some sort of...ghost north of us, and then some kind of tomb to the northwest of that."
There are a lot of things that have an impact on difficulty...it's way more than just builds and gold. It's impossible to account for them all, but I'll give it a vague stab:
The Scenario
Character Builds
Character Wealth
GM Skill Level and experience
GM prep/familiarity with the scenario
Individual Player Skill Level and experience
Player personalities
Table dynamics and moods (is it the last day of a con?)
Teamwork and tactics
Table makeup (do you have 4 clerics?)
Dice Rolls
Basically...there's an infinite amount of permutations. Some of them the campaign has control over. Most of them, they don't.
You say that playing up is too easy. If you're talking about seasons 0-3, then are you suggesting that the campaign go back and rewrite all of them? If you're talking about season 4, then I suggest that it's a plethora of other factors that is giving you that experience, as many others do not share that opinion.
I have a cleric of Urgathoa with the in death domain, so I completely get where you are coming from. Here's a couple tips that I have from my experience:
1) Some GMs or players will object. Just be sensitive to people for whom it's a problem. Lets just say making undead shouldn't be the only thing your character can do. However, having played my cleric for 12 levels, I have found that its much more important that you act nicely about it. Don't do stupid/jerking/bullying things because "that's what my character would do". I have found that by playing nicely, often a player will not object, even if their character does :)
2) Animate dead is actually not really worth it. Remember, it doesn't persist past the end of a scenario. It's expensive, plus your skeletons have a tendency to get munched in their first combat. I did it a few times for the novelty, but then really I went back to what my character is actually good at: negative channeling.
I totally get what you're saying. Sure, lore on Golarion is everywhere, but it can be kind of hard to figure out the "Pathfinder Society Storyline". Each season (well, okay, mostly starting with season 2) has a story arc, and many of the scenarios tie into it.
The problem with publishing some sort of "The Story So Far" for PFS is that it kind of spoils big points in the scenarios. And if you're a really avid PFS story fan, you would much rather play scenarios and get the story that way.
If you're interested, you can ask on these board for people to pick out the scenario highlights of the storyline, specifically on seasons 3 and 4. Then you can attempt to play those (Like The Disappeared and Fortress of the Nail).
However, the #1 way to get storyline for the season is to GM. There's all this lovely background information that is in the scenarios. Try as we might, sometimes it's just really hard to get it out during a game session. But GMing will give you a much better understanding of the plot. Barring that...find an active GM and pick their brain. :-)
Everyone is going to have a different play experience. A scenario that seems like a cakewalk to one group might be an absolutely devastating experience to another. There are so many different variables that it's difficult to make generalizations like, "Never play this scenario".
My suggestion to players is to build good, effective, and flexible characters; practice teamwork and sensible battle tactics; learn from good and bad experiences; and come to PFS with a positive attitude. Character deaths are never fun...but one of the reasons we play PFS is for the challenge and the risk. People don't quit playing basketball, Starcraft, or chess because they've lost one game :-) PFS is like anything else...it's something that YOU the player has a great deal of influence in. Of course sometimes it's due to a bad scenario, or a bad GM. But sometimes it just takes a little bit of change on the player's part to turn the tide.
Personally, I'm almost completely with Whiskey Jack. I think I've allowed some dude with a dice rolling program before at a con, but he asked me beforehand if I was cool with it and it just wasn't a big deal. But true randomness or no, I vastly prefer real dice.
Personally, I keep all my books on my tablet, but I tend to run all my characters from paper (with the exception of my level 15). I try and keep a word doc copy of my characters, however, as you never know when you might get into a pickup game.
My husband, on the other hand, religiously keeps everything on his tablet, including all his purchases and gold earned. He likes spreadsheets though. :-P
I'm going to say something that PFS will not like, but, all four person groups are not the same. A party of four Sorcs with Obscuring Mist and Endure Elements are not going to perform like one with a Paladin, Druid, Ranger (archery), and Cleric. Alternatively, give those Sorcs Color Spray and Sleep and you may be coup de grace'ing your way through every encounter.
Haha...why would "PFS" not like that?
That's the entire point, and the joy and risk of PFS...getting a different play experience everytime you sit down. Of COURSE every table is going to be different. Sometimes, you're going to have a laugh-out-loud buddy cop movie, complete with a blooper reel. Sometimes, you'll be at the edge of your seat, and everything between life and death comes down to the Hail Mary play. It comes down to who's in your party, who's your GM, what class combos you have, how the dice fall, and a million other unnamable factors.
Of course you don't know what the outcome is going to be. And there's going to be risk. Because if there wasn't risk, then the GM might as well hand you the chronicle sheet right after you sit down.
I'm sorry if you had a bad experience. Sometimes they just happen, for a whole lot of reasons. But please, don't think that one bad experience will mean all bad experiences. There's a lot of us who love the game and the community, and come back week after week. We can't all be wrong, can we? :-)
Well, Andy, first of all, remember that a diplomacy check can only move someone 2 degrees more friendly towards you. So it would never be as extreme as you describe :-)
Graypark, these are the factors I would personally consider:
1) Is the NPC of a type/subtype that would reasonably find the PC attractive? If the PC is a human, I would say it's unlikely that a goblin would find him/her attractive. Usually if it's a standard PC-race, then I would say yes. Note: just because a dwarf does not want a human to be their marriage partner, does not mean they couldn't find them attractive, and respond well to their diplomacy. See Lord of the Rings.
2) Would the NPC culturally be inclined to see the PC as sexually attractive? In general, if the NPC lives in a city and have reasonable exposure to other races, then probably yes. But if the NPC lives in some sort of culture of extreme xenophobia, it might exclude it. But as the previous example, I could see a situation in which the highly insular dwarf, having a culturally conditioned standard of sexual attraction, would NOT find the human PC to be attractive.
3) Does the NPC have some sort of lifestyle choice that would prevent them from finding the PC attractive? As mentioned above, do they have some sort of vow of celibacy?
4) Lastly, sexual orientation. I would actually categorize this into more of a "table reading" deal. What orientation does the PC making the diplomacy check seem to be? How well would your current players respond to this? I had actually not head of the "all npc's are bisexual" comment before, but I can certainly see Paizo saying as such. To be quite honest, that's not how I play my NPCs. They are mostly heterosexual, but not always, as the situation and table requires.
In the end, the vast majority of the time it comes down to what the first reply said. Is it an NPC of the opposite gender...or the gender that the PC seems to be attracted to?
I'm definitely going to go with Dragnmoon here. I know that there's probably no chance of persuading people who disagree, but I'll sum it up, thus:
1) Lissala has been called out by Mark as NOT LEGAL. He's even asked players to point out where it says it's legal, so he can excise it.
2) The Blog is legal, yes. The blog gives subdomains for deities, IF YOU HAVE ACCESS TO THAT DIETY.
Here's the converse of what you're arguing. If the Blog made everything therein legal...then does it make it it so you do not need the additional resource of a non-CRB god? Of course not.
Most likely, it was simply an oversight that they didn't say "except Lissala" in the additional resources.
In Georgia, we once had a Bard-o-rama table. Intentionally. It was advertised and people signed up to play in it. Everyone was a 1st level bard. It was such a hit that there was subsequently an all-rogue game.
Part of the joy and wonder of Pathfinder Society is encountering these kinds of tables, and coming up with creative solutions. Of course, if you have an alternate character, then by all means, consider it. But sometimes you should just play what you want to play.
I'll also gently remind you to have your additional resources ready to go, as most GMs will not know who Sun WuKong is. It sounds like you will need either Dragon Empires Primer or Dragon Empires Gazetteer, plus the APG if you use subdomains.
Undead, constructs, oozes, and vermin get it for free.
Knight, I do not mean to be silly, but obviously they looked at it just now. They don't need to come in and say "this item is okay" in forum post for every item that someone has a complaint about. That's what additional resources and the FAQ do. Which is what they just did.
Whoa dude. That's a pretty strong accusation*. I'm not sure you're really furthering your point by starting with something like that.
Lots of GMs have different styles. And that's okay. Some GMs prefer different levels of transparency, and it even varies depending on the table. That's not out of some sort of malicious intent.
Actually, it's kind of hard to find. It's actually in the Polymorph Subschool. I highlighted all the things you asked in the text:
Polymorph Subschool:
Polymorph: A polymorph spell transforms your physical body to take on the shape of another creature. While these spells make you appear to be the creature, granting you a +10 bonus on Disguise skill checks, they do not grant you all of the abilities and powers of the creature. Each polymorph spell allows you to assume the form of a creature of a specific type, granting you a number of bonuses to your ability scores and a bonus to your natural armor. In addition, each polymorph spell can grant you a number of other benefits, including movement types, resistances, and senses. If the form you choose grants these benefits, or a greater ability of the same type, you gain the listed benefit. If the form grants a lesser ability of the same type, you gain the lesser ability instead. Your base speed changes to match that of the form you assume.
If the form grants a swim or burrow speed, you maintain the ability to breathe if you are swimming or burrowing. The DC for any of these abilities equals your DC for the polymorph spell used to change you into that form.
In addition to these benefits, you gain any of the natural attacks of the base creature, including proficiency in those attacks. These attacks are based on your base attack bonus, modified by your Strength or Dexterity as appropriate, and use your Strength modifier for determining damage bonuses. If a polymorph spell causes you to change size, apply the size modifiers appropriately, changing your armor class, attack bonus, Combat Maneuver Bonus, and Stealth skill modifiers. Your ability scores are not modified by this change unless noted by the spell.
Unless otherwise noted, polymorph spells cannot be used to change into specific individuals. Although many of the fine details can be controlled, your appearance is always that of a generic member of that creature’s type. Polymorph spells cannot be used to assume the form of a creature with a template or an advanced version of a creature.
When you cast a polymorph spell that changes you into a creature of the animal, dragon, elemental, magical beast, plant, or vermin type, all of your gear melds into your body. Items that provide constant bonuses and do not need to be activated continue to function while melded in this way (with the exception of armor and shield bonuses, which cease to function). Items that require activation cannot be used while you maintain that form. While in such a form, you cannot cast any spells that require material components (unless you have the Eschew Materials or Natural Spell feat), and can only cast spells with somatic or verbal components if the form you choose has the capability to make such movements or speak, such as a dragon. Other polymorph spells might be subject to this restriction as well, if they change you into a form that is unlike your original form (subject to GM discretion). If your new form does not cause your equipment to meld into your form, the equipment resizes to match your new size.
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. While most of these should be obvious, the GM is the final arbiter of what abilities depend on form and are lost when a new form is assumed. Your new form might restore a number of these abilities if they are possessed by the new form.
Say, I'm a 4th level human druid with str 14 (+2) dex 14 (+2), and I turn into a medium cheetah. I have BAB +3. What do I get?
Stats: As per the spell Beast Shape 1, my stats are now str 16, dex 14.
AC 14 (+2 dex,+2 natural armor)
Attacks: I see that the cheetah has a bite at 1d6 and 2 claws at 1d3. I don't care about any of the attack or damage bonuses, as I have to recalculate them myself. I have +3 str now and +3 BAB, so my attack line is:
Melee bite +6 (1d6+3), 2 claws +6 (1d3+3)
Special Abilities: Okay, now I look at what is listed on Beast Shape 1
climb 30 feet, fly 30 feet (average maneuverability), swim 30 feet, darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, and scent
and I look at what the cheetah has: low light vision, scent, sprint, trip. I compare the two lists, and I see that I get scent and low light vision. I DO NOT get anything that is not on that Beast Shape 1 List. Looking at the Beast shape spells, I see that I can get trip at Beast Shape 2 (druid level 6) and I never get sprint.
Hope this helps!
EDIT: Darn, you mean I didn't have to type all that?
What I will point out, however, is that if a GM's fun relies solely upon how well his or her bbeg's perform against their players then they might consider sticking to playing for their fun, or simply GM a non pfs game.
If a GM's fun relies solely on crushing players' hopes and dreams, then they are probably being a jerk.
There would be a 5-hour roleplaying section that would require players to have an elaborate Golarion based backstory that is both compelling and feasible (adopted by anything gives you an auto-fail), pronounce and spell their Faction correctly, solve a murder mystery, and answer a series of cunningly devised riddles.
Then, there would be an incredible urban dungeon complex which starts with trap that disintegrates any character with more than 2 classes or that didn't participate in the roleplaying (no save). All of the enemies in the complex would be undead, aberrations, spell casters, or outsiders, with devilishly clever tactics and unfair advantages. The players would be required to display extraordinary teamwork, courage, and the ability to adapt under pressure. Then, finally, they would face the final boss, who has the epic sword and probably a fortune witch cackling from a mile away.
Still want to play? :-P
Spoiler:
Oh wait, I just described Cult of the Ebon Destroyers but without the triple gold. Darn. I guess I'll have to come up with something else.
Just to throw something out there...a great deal of thought, discussion, and effort goes into the Additional Resources list. Think about it...every time a resource comes out, someone, or a bunch of someones, comb through the book to figure out what might be appropriate or not appropriate. Mike, Mark, John, and the various VO's are human. Mistakes get made. Things change. People disagree.
We had synthesists, vivisectionists, and gravewalkers too.
Things get banned for a variety of reasons. You might not agree with those reasons, or know them all. But the line must be drawn somewhere.
Remember also that the lovely folks who write these books are NOT the ones who are in Pathfinder Society Campaign management. The rest of the books are written for anyone and everyone, for the wide world of people playing under some aspect of Pathfinder RPG or Golarion. It would be silly to ask them to restrict their books to PFSOP appropriate material, and it would be equally silly to ask PFSOP to accommodate everything published by Paizo.
And really, is it so hard to access an online, bookmarkable, downloadable, printable, constantly updated list?
