I wanted to post here and let you know that Golarion is my favorite campaign setting bar none. Pathfinder has been a huge part of my life for many years now, and I've had the privelege to share my joy of this game both mechanically and narratively with many of my friends over the years, leading to incredible memories I will cherish for my life. I offer all the support I can in these times, and hope Paizo can recover and come out the better on the other end of things.
As for a question, I love the Aldori Swordlords and their dueling swords. Early in the setting's publication, there were a few early images that seem to represent the Swordlords and their infamous weapons. The one I can think of off the top of my head is the splash image for Mivon in 'Guide to the River Kingdoms' (published back when that was still the Pathfinder Chronicles line!).
In that image, they're... Pretty different from how we see them today. They have big, elaborate armor, stylized helmets in the image of beasts, and the swords themselves are ridiculously huge and wide slabs of overdesigned iron on long poles.
I guess I'm just curious if you have any insight into the original inception of the Swordlords and their dueling swords, and how it evolved over time into the modern saber/katana it is now.
Certainly a necro (at least it's the same year?), but I noticed some of the same issues ZanThrax did with Vencarlo as written. I decided to rebuild him, and he's a bit more combat effective this way. For anyone interested, his rebuilt stats are below. This rebuild utilizes a 20-point buy.
Blackjack:
Vencarlo Orisini / Blackjack CR 10 XP 9,600
Male middle-aged human duelist 2 / swashbuckler (inspired blade) 1 / vigilante 7
CG / CG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +7; Senses Perception +12
DEFENSE
AC 22, touch 18, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +5 Dex, +3 dodge)
hp 69 (3d10+7d8+17)
Fort +4, Ref +13, Will +8
Defensive Abilities parry, unshakable (+7)
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., climb 15 ft.
Melee +2 defending rapier +17/+11 (1d6+9/15-20) or mwk dagger +15/+10 (1d4+7/19-20)
Ranged mwk dagger +15/+10 (1d4+7/19-20)
Special Attacks precise strike +2, startling appearance
TACTICS
Before Combat If confronted with peril in his social guise, Vencarlo does his best to retreat to a place of privacy and safety to assume his vigilante guise.
During Combat In his social guise, Vencarlo fights defensively and attempts to escape to a place of hiding so he can become Blackjack. In his vigilante guise, he is much more dangerous and aggressive. He begins fights with attempts to disarm his foes. If reduced to fewer than 30 hit points, he uses Combat Expertise and allocates bonuses from his +2 defending rapier to his AC, and focuses on simple attacks to defeat enemies.
Morale Vencarlo flees any battle where he's outnumbered more than three to one (unless he's attempting to right a great injustice). He also flees combat if reduced to fewer than 10 hit points, taking advantage of his climb speed to create quick distance.
STATISTICS
Str 11, Dex 20, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 15
Base Atk +10; CMB +10 (+12 disarm); CMD 26 (28 vs. disarm)
Feats Dodge, Combat Expertise, Fencing Grace (rapier), Improved Critical (rapier), Improved Disarm, Iron Will, Weapon Focus (rapier)
Skills Acrobatics +23, Bluff +15, Climb +12, Craft (blades) +6, Diplomacy +6 (+10 in social identity), Disguise +10, Escape Artist +18, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (local, nobility) +10, Perception +12, Perform (dance) +7, Sense Motive +13 (+17 in social identity), Sleight of Hand +12, Stealth +18, Swim +12
Languages Common, Elven, Varisian
SQ deeds (derring-do, dodging panache, opportune parry and riposte), inspired panache (4), dual identity, exceptional wealth, improved reaction, inspired finesse, seamless guise, social talents (great renown, renown, safe house [Vencarlo's home], social grace [Diplomacy, Sense Motive]), vigilante specialization (avenger), vigilante talents (cunning feint, rooftop infiltrator, sure-footed)
Gear +2 slick leather armor, +2 defending rapier, +1 rapier, mwk daggers (12), belt of incredible dexterity +2, amulet of proof against detection and location, bag of holding (type 1), boots of elvenkind, cloak of elvenkind, gloves of swimming and climbing, noble's outfit, gold signet ring (worth 250 gp), 34 pp, 29 gp
Special Abilities:
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Canny Defense (Ex) When wearing light or no armor and not using a shield, Vencarlo adds 2 points of Intelligence bonus as a dodge bonus to his AC while wielding a melee weapon. If caught flat-footed or otherwise denied his Dexterity bonus, he also loses this bonus.
Deeds Derring-do (Ex) Vencarlo can spend 1 panache point after rolling an Acrobatics, Climb, Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, or Swim check to add 1d6 to his result. On a 6, he can roll another d6 and addthat result too. This process continues as long as he continues to roll 6 up to a total of 4d6.
Dodging Panache (Ex) When an opponent attempts a melee attack against Vencarlo, he can spend an immediate action and 1 panache to move 5 feet, gaining a +2 dodge bonus against that attack (though not negating it). All other enemies who threaten Vencarlo can make attacks of opportunity.
Opportune Parry and Riposte (Ex) When an enemy attempts a melee attack against Vencarlo (but before it rolls its attack roll), he can spend an attack of opportunity and 1 panache to make an attack roll as if he was making an attack of opportunity with a -2 penalty for every size larger than Vencarlo the enemy is. If Vencarlo's result is higher than the enemy's, the attack misses, and he can spend an immediate action to make a counterattack against that enemy, as long as he can reach it.
Dual Identity (Ex) Vencarlo has a secondary identity as the fearless hero Blackjack. He can spend 1 minute to change identity. Any attempts to scry or otherwise locate Vencarlo only work if he is currently in the identity the creature is attempting to locate.
Parry (Ex) When Vencarlo takes a full attack action with a light or one-handed piercing weapon, he can elect not to take one of his attacks. At any time before his next turn, he can attempt to parry an attack against himself or an adjacent ally as an immediate action. To parry the attack, Vencarlo makes an attack roll, using the same bonuses as the attack he chose to forego during his previous action. If his attack roll is greater than the roll of the attacking creature, the attack automatically misses. For each size category that the attacking creature is larger than Vencarlo, he takes a -4 penalty on the attack roll. He also takes a -4 penalty when attempting to parry an attack made against an adjacent ally.
Precise Strike (Ex) When wielding a light or one-handed piercing weapon, Vencarlo adds his duelist level to the damage roll. He cannot attack with a weapon in his other hand or use a shield. This only works against living creatures with discernable anatomies. Any creature that is immune to critical hits is also immune to a precise strike.
Seamless Guise (Ex) Should anyone suspect Vencarlo of being anything other than what he appears to be in either his social or vigilante identity, he can attempt a Disguise check with a +20 circumstance bonus to appear as his current identity.
Social Talents Great Renown (Ex) Vencarlo gains a +6 circumstance bonus on Intimidate checks whenever he is in his vigilante identity of Blackjack while in the city of Korvosa.
Startling Appearance (Ex) Whenever Vencarlo attacks a foe that is completely unaware of his presence, the foe is treated as flat-footed for the rest of the vigilante's turn (uncanny dodge or a similar ability prevents this effect unless Vencarlo's vigilante level is at least 4 levels higher than the foe with uncanny dodge). The foe also takes a -4 penalty on attacks made against Vencarlo until the start of Vencarlo's next turn.
Unshakable (Ex) Vencarlo adds his vigilante class level to the DC of any attempts to Intimidate him.
Vigilante Talents Cunning Feint (Ex) Vencarlo can feint as a move action or in place of his first attack during a full attack.
Sure-Footed (Ex) Vencarlo can move at full speed while using the Stealth and Acrobatics skills without penalty.
An incredibly fast monk sort, someone who is so quick they can barely follow the movements with their guns, negating the powerful advantage firearms has against a typical soldier.
I believe one of the things they are trying to do is unify the term usage throughout the ruleset, so classes have Class Feats instead of Exploits, Talents, Powers and so on. Spell Points (which I believe needs renamed, myself) are used for all casters to represent the various class abilities that are beyond the known/prepared spells in their reserves. This is on top of getting their own class feats.
So is Mana Pool completely out of the question for some? It has a nice ring to it for me.
I'm a big fan of mana pool too. Mana's real world etymology/connotations was mentioned somewhere up thread, and I can't think of anything more appropriate then ""power", "effectiveness", and "prestige". In most cases... understood to be supernatural" to define a broad pool of points to keep track of powers that aren't spells but aren't extraordinary (but mundane) abilities.
It's also really recognizable in modern gaming vernacular, unlikely to confuse as easily as a more uncommon term might be
Definitely keeping tabs on your changes to Iron Gods, Mathmuse. I particulayl love your gazetteer to better explain Scrapwall's presence - the 'town' always seemed sort of out of place to me, but your write up helps keep it making sense and allows for some awesome backstory. Hopefully I can convince some players to run this campaign with me sometime!
Have you had a chance to look through the article on Besmara in Inner Sea Faiths? A big part of Besmara's faith is how unstructured and unorganized it is. Another priest of Besmara could be your best friend or worst enemy - the only thing which unites most worshipers is a free spirit and a lust for treasure (however such a person might define 'treasure').
The fact you're press-ganged to start doesn't mean you need to start out as a slave, though if you want to take your character that way that's certainly up to you (though I'd think it would sour you to Besmara's faith more than anything else).
As far as "Does a cleric or inquisitor of Besmara work well in this campaign?". Absolutely. Especially if no one else is bringing a divine class to the mix, both classes are a fantastic idea, and both can work really well as in the thick of the fray swashbuckling priests.
Calistria is also a good fit for the campaign as someone to worship, and helps if you don't want to be so devoted to purely piracy for piracy's sake.
<> The PC should have one level as a fighter or even NPC aristocrat, if I understand his story correctly. (From when his father was training him.) It's a bite on getting class abilities, yes, but... there's value to rp. Is there a great class to represent a young nobleman, while providing a good dip?
A great choice to make the thematic fighting and dueling style of the book come out in the character while not breaking him down too much through multiclassing could be the virtuous bravo paladin. It's a paladin with swashbuckler features tacked on, and could well represent the fighting style he learned in his youth married to the ideals he's come to fight for.
There's also the actual Shadowcaster from Inner Sea Magic. I don't know how it compares to the 3.5 Shadowcaster, but there it is thematically. A number of other options exist too, of course.
For creating Sans and Papyrus, you're probably in the realm of house rules. RaW, Skeletons are evil, but if you're doing something Undertale related, then you can really sort of mix things up and do your own thing.
It should really come down to GM fiat. In a park, or somewhere where things are very overgrown with lots of plants and gardens with grasses seeping up through cobblestones? Sure, that should be fine. But if they're in a new construction where all the earth is churned up dirt or in the mayor's office, then that would be a no. You'll have to figure it on a case-by-case basis. Just make sure you're clear with your player when he goes to use it whether the area will work with the spell or not. Nothing will sour them more than casting it just to have you go "ah well, didn't work!"
How do followers of gods in the Pathfinder setting reconcile their reverence for a single deity over the multitudes of other deities that exist? Ostensibly most devout folk in Golarion practice Henotheism (the belief in and worship of a single god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other deities) or Monolatrism (the belief in the existence of many gods but with the consistent worship of only one deity).
How does this work in practice? Would a typical cleric, devoted to their god, understand that a different cleric dedicated to a separate deity has found their place or calling in that faith? Would one view the other as misguided, placing their specific deity's teachings above all else, and viewing that deities' as the only 'true' path in life, making them the 'one true god'? Some time ago in the thread I recall you clarifying that someone as devout as a cleric would not pray to other gods, even among situations not directly under their deities' purview (the example given was, I believe, would a cleric of a different deity offer praise or prayer to Gozreh on a sea-crossing likely to be fraught with storms).
Obviously this would differ greatly among the various faiths, particularly between clergies which pay homage to gods of alignments on opposite ends of the spectrum. I imagine evil deities would encourage their status as the 'one true god', while good ones would be more open to have their clergy accept other good gods as perfectly acceptable figures of worship.
If I could give a specific example of what I'm asking, let's say Kyra and Seelah were travelling together in an adventuring party. Would Kyra view Seelah as misguided, and vice-versa for Seelah viewing Kyra? Would they be likely to proselytize their faith to each other, hoping for conversion? Would they consider each other's deity "real"? Ignoring the specific tenets of the faiths of Sarenrae and Iomedae and just going on the idea that they're both good deities, how might this sort of thing play out?
Again, I understand that things would differ greatly on a person to person basis, but I'd love to hear your take on the situation.
I think guides are very useful, and use them when I need to make a quick NPC for a game I'm running so I can pick 'good' options that will make them an effective character without too much thought, or even helping me to remember a specific feat whose name I just can't quite remember. They've also helped me gain a better appreciation for mechanics and balance in Pathfinder, and of course they're a great place to point a new player if they want to better learn how to use their class.
That said...
I can understand the sentiment of homogenization, and there are some feat, trait and class combinations that are so ubiquitous it makes me want to scream (sacred tattoo fate's favored half-orc warpriests or fey foundling paladins anyone?). Of course it's to be understood that if something is so powerful it would be foolish to be passed over that it needs to be included, but I do sometimes worry that players see these as the 'only' options when going certain character routes.
I know you said you don't want the ranger to be actually undead, but if you made them a ghoul you have the option of giving them the corpse companion feat.
They could act any way, really. It's not the class or the god they worship that makes a person, so much as how you decide they aught to behave.
However, looking at the Black Butterfly's information, there are a few good places to take some inspiration from.
A big part of her worship is anonymous donation and charity, to the point that if a worshiper is caught performing the act, they're expected to pray blindfolded for an hour then tithe to a local good-aligned temple (likely with preference to Desna).
There's of course her anti Dark Tapestry angle, so a worshiper of hers would probably be well schooled in identifying agents and aberrations belonging to the Dark Tapestry, and would probably seek to eradicate them wherever they're found.
There's also a large aspect of freedom and liberation associated with her worship, as well as travel and exploration, very similar to Desna.
It's pretty likely a worshiper of the Black Butterfly would even be mistaken for an offshoot Desnan priest to the typical yokel.
Ultimately if I were to run an inquisitor of the Black Butterfly, I'd probably have them behave very similarly to a Desnan priest, but up the mysteriousness and enigmatic nature. They would go out of their way to do good, but never seek praise for it - that seems pretty anathema to how the Black Butterfly would expect a worshiper to act.
I was wondering if you'd maybe ruminate on the nature of divine magic versus arcane magic, specifically in concern to healing magic. "Back in the day", so to speak, healing was almost strictly the purview of divine spellcasters, while arcane had no such luck (with the exception of bards being a strange odd-man out sort of case). As the game's developed and classes have been added, more and more arcane classes have found the ability to heal, such as the witch, an arcanist with the white mage archetype, and even wizards and sorcerers utilizing infernal healing.
I suppose if I had to phrase things as a question, it would be, "What is the in-world justification a wizard might give to a 'common man' as to why he cannot cure his wounds, but the cleric in the temple down the street can, as well as that funny fellow who performs in the bar?".
I ask this because I'm planning on switching my group to the Spheres of Power magic system (I won't assume you know anything about it). Long story short, it makes magic much more customizable and thematic while bringing high end spellcasters more in line with their equivalent level martials in terms of raw combat power. However, the archetypes presented to convert wizards, clerics, etc into 'Sphere casters' don't put any restriction on what spheres a class may choose. Thus, a Wizard can choose the 'Life' sphere and start handing out cures, restorations, etc.
There's a lot more to it than that, but it mostly comes down to "Should I allow Wizards to heal?".
Of course I understand I should do whatever feels best for my own home group, but I'd love to hear whatever opinion you might have on this subject, being that Golarion is a world I really enjoy and respect, and I know you had a massive hand in forging it.
I think this takes some out-of-character discussion before anything else.
First, it isn't too much of a stretch that the city/church of Sarenrae would be willing to spring for some castings of raise dead on the fallen party members. This is even a great device to further incentivize them to travel to Turtleback Ferry in the next book to aid the Black Arrows in order to pay back the 'generous' Lord Mayor.
Next, I think you should speak with Tarimm's actual player. As it is, it seems like a stretch to have his character rejoin the group. In fact, with what's happened, he could make a great recurring villain / hindrance to the party, one that has a deep personal connection to the party. If they're willing, see if Tarimm's player is willing to roll a new PC (who will be more inclined to actually work together with everyone), and use Tarimm instead as a new antagonist, lured to the side of the rising Runelord and his minions. It wouldn't be a stretch for him to succumb to promises of power from the opposition, seeing as how it's happened once before, and they're big on Lamashtu on the other side.
Well, if it helps at all for thematic purposes, if I remember correctly the inspiration for the Slayer was the assassins such as Altair, Ezio, Connor, etc from Assassin's Creed as a single class.
And as far as weapon and armor proficiencies go, you certainly aren't limited to big armor / bigger weapons, they're just an extra option you have. Nothing stops you from going light weapons and light armor slayer.
I hate the be the squeaky wheel or seem impatient, but I haven't received any messages either through Paizo.com or my e-mail address from Chris Lambertz yet. Is there anything I need to do or am missing? I'll continue to be patient until I hear more :)
Great work to everyone else who entered, and I want to give a special shout-out to negative_energy, I loved your custom made Occult Skill unlock, I thought it was really unique and worked well to simulate what we see happen in the show.
Big congratulations to Jon Cary and Jeffery Swank too!
I suppose your choices ultimately come down to how you plan to build in the future. Do you want this kobold to be very blasty? If so, a crossblooded sorcerer with the fire bloodline might be a good idea, and focusing on increasing your save DCs with Dragon Affinity might be the right choice. Alternately, granting yourself a bite attack will help with doing a natural attack build if you decide to multiclass into either dragon disciple or maybe eldritch knight. The Draconic aspect feats, while not particularly incredible from a power perspective, are certainly thematic. By strategically taking certain racial traits now and certain draconic aspect feats later, you can essentially gain all of the traits listed above. Of course, by the time you can afford every feat, you just may be able to cast form of the dragon, which might make the feats/traits sort of redundant.
Another option could be building a red bloodline bloodrager. Rage will shore up the kobold's weak strength, and it is essentially a dragon disciple built as a single class, if you're into that kind of thing.
So yeah, the biggest question is... How do you plan to build moving forward?
I am currently GMing a campaign using Automatic Bonus Progression. If I had a player who wanted to choose Unarmed Strike for their weapon attunement, I would allow ALL of their unarmed strikes to be considered attuned in such a way. I'm not 100% certain if I'd allow a non-monk or non-brawler to use all of their limbs, as I believe that's a stipulation in their specific classes, but otherwise, yeah.
As for armor attunement on non-armored characters, I allow normal clothing to also be enchanted by armor attunement, starting effectively at +0 armor before the attunement.
Currently, I believe the players think the efreeti is a large fire elemental, since I deliberately used a token for one and described it as a "burning giant humanoid figure" when they saw it. Nobody has attempted a Knowledge: The Planes check to figure out what it was, though savvy players might note that it spoke in Common, which elementals don't know.
As a GM, I allow my players automatic knowledge checks when they encounter something. I don't think it should depend on player agency to identify something.
As for the rest of your question, assuming the party can get back on it's feet, taking down the Efreeti shouldn't be too difficult. A CR 8 encounter vs a party of level 6 characters should get 1 or 2 rounded, depending on circumstances. There should be no real way, barring incredibly bad luck or calls, the efreeti escapes this alive if it chooses to take the children.
Really interested in seeing what's done with these organizations to bring them more up-to-date with modern Pathfinder. Many of the prestige classes linked to them show their age these days - I look forward to seeing what innovations are shown!
I believe there's an entire bio-dome inside of the Divinity which contains dinosaurs and Lashunta. I suppose it wouldn't be a stretch that some of these prehistoric beasts escaped those thousands of years ago and have bred in some of the more removed locations, such as the Felldales of the Scar of the Spider.
it's not mentioned in the campaign setting book, but if iirc, the Dinosaur Cavern in Orv is pretty close to being under Numeria.
No reason why a spaceship crash couldn't have opened up a fissure to the darklands, allowing dinosaurs (cyber and otherwise) to emerge from the earth to rampage.
It's not mentioned in the campaign setting, but it features pretty heavily in the 6th book of the Adventure. It wouldn't be a stretch that if the GM wanted to include dinosaurs in Numeria, they'd have come from there.
I imagine the best way to describe this would be your character making incredible leaps in and out of reach, moving faster than they can respond with. Lunge is simply a physical effect, while the blue scarf is a magic item. In keeping with the swashbuckler theme, I don't imagine the scarf would make the attacks for you, but rather allow you to move so quickly and precisely there's no chance for response.
I believe there's an entire bio-dome inside of the Divinity which contains dinosaurs and Lashunta. I suppose it wouldn't be a stretch that some of these prehistoric beasts escaped those thousands of years ago and have bred in some of the more removed locations, such as the Felldales of the Scar of the Spider.
Mr Reynolds, have you seen the art produced by the creator of this thread?.
If not, you owe it to yourself to check it out. They sculpted the scene from the cover of the Core Rulebook in a 3-D digital format. It's absolutely incredible, especially given that it's seeing your artwork really come to life.
For me, I enjoy 15 point buy because of what it represents in the game. A 15 point buy represents someone who is above average, and really capable. Someone who can BE a hero, but still has flaws. After all, an elite array for an NPC is based on a 15 point buy (15,14,13,12,10,9) while the 'average joe' array used for anyone who started with NPC classes is only a 3-point buy (13,12,11,10,9,8). A 15 point buy helps to ground the game in it's surrounding reality, and I think the best heroes start from the ground up, at least for me. Starting out a little humble makes getting really strong later on all the more rewarding. It's been stated that the best-of-the-best here on earth (marines, olympic athletes, etc) who are the people that would have PC classes, only ever reach level 6, and would be statted with the elite array. This means an olympic athlete, for example (say, human rogue 6) might have a Dex or Strength of 16 and the other at 12, or maybe for a better balance, a Strength/Dex of 15 and the other at 13.
The point is, a lower point buy feels like it helps ground things in reality, which is what I look for in my fantasy. It's nice to be able to quantify what is seen in game with realism, so that the heroic deeds, like shooting a fireball thanks to your sheer mental strength, or carving through several people thanks to incredible martial skill, really feels amazing. Personally, the game gets boring when the norm is extreme skill, at least at first. I don't want to start out as a hero, I want to BECOME one.
Of course, everyone is entitled to their point of view, but this is simply my view. 20 point buys are fine too, especially for a higher power game featuring even more extraordinary individuals. I don't think I'd ever want to play a serious game set to a 25-point buy.
Well, not everyone can necessarily gain Mythic. Such high levels of power are the purview of particularly powerful and rare individuals. Your average wizard with dreams of immortality is MUCH more likely and capable of becoming a Lich than being lucky enough to gain mythic power in some way (which is far more ill defined than lichdom).
I was under the impression that the unchained barbarian was able to take any normal barbarian archetypes? I don't play PFS and don't have a link to this information, but I could have sworn that was a stated feature when Unchained rolled out.
A strange girl with a stranger past, Eleven, also known as 'El', is gifted with a host of psychokinetic powers even she doesn't fully understand. Mike Wheeler believes she is the best clue to help find his missing friend Will Byers, who disappeared mysteriously the night before Mike and his friends found Eleven wandering the same woods he vanished in.
Eleven:
Eleven CR 11 XP 12,800
Female young human telekineticist 13
NG Small humanoid (human)
Init +4; Senses Perception +19
----- Defense ----- AC 19, touch 17, flat-footed 15 (+2 armor, +2 deflection, +4 Dex, +1 size)
hp 153 (13d8+78 plus 13)
Fort +17, Ref +16, Will +11; +2 vs. emotion spells and effects
----- Tactics ----- Before Combat At the beginning of each day Eleven allocates her armor attunement +2 to her clothing, and her weapon attunement +2 to her fists. Not one for fighting, Eleven flees or hides from any confrontation to the best of her ability. If backed into a corner, she ultimately is not afraid to unleash the full force of her psychokinetic abilities against her foes.
During Combat Eleven prefers to keep her enemies away from herself and her friends, using bowling infusion, foe throw, pushing infusion, and telekinetic haul to maintain a healthy distance from foes. She is not afraid to rack up burn, sometimes to her own detriment, especially if her friends are in severe danger. When under the effects of elemental overflow, she prioritizes Constitution, followed by Dexterity and Strength.
Morale Although she will flee if hurt and alone, Eleven will stand tall in the face of incredible danger to protect her friends. She will unleash her most potent abilities even at the cost of her own life, continuing to accrue burn even when staggered due to nonlethal damage.
----- Statistics ----- Str 8, Dex 18, Con 20, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 12
Base Atk +9; CMB +7; CMD 21
Feats Diehard, Endurance, Go Unnoticed, Psychic Adept (detect psychic significance), Psychic Disciple (detect thoughts), Psychic Sensitivity, Telepathy Tap, Weapon Focus (kinetic blast)
Skills Bluff +7, Diplomacy +7, Disguise +7, Escape Artist +17, Knowledge (planes) +4, Perception +19, Sense Motive +20, Stealth +24, Swim +4
Traits grief-filled*, suspicious*
Languages English, Russian
SQ basic telekinesis, burn (4 points/round, maximum 8), expanded element* (aether), gather power, infusion specialization 3, internal buffer 2
Other Gear blonde wig, stolen dress
*The effects of these abilities have already been calculated into Eleven's statistics.
Special Abilities:
----- Special Abilities ----- Burn (Ex) Eleven can choose to accept 1 point of burn to use her infusion wild talents, which can modify her kinetic blasts. She can accept only 4 points of burn per round and a maximum of 8 points of burn total. For each point of burn she accepts, Eleven takes 13 points of nonlethal damage. This damage can be healed only by a full night's rest, and cannot be reduced or redirected.
Elemental Overflow (Ex) When Eleven accepts burn, she will begin to slowly bleed from her nose, ears, and eyes depending on how much nonlethal damage she receives. She receives a bonus on attack rolls equal to the amount of burn she has accepted (maximum +4). She also receives double that bonus on her kinetic blast's damage rolls.
Whenever she has at least 3 points of burn, she gains a +2 size bonus to two physical ability scores of her choice. Whenever she has at least 5 points of burn, she gains a +4 size bonus to one physical ability score of her choice and a +2 size bonus to each of her other two physical ability scores. She also gains a chance to ignore the effects of a critical hit or sneak attack equal to 5% x her current number of points of burn.
Force Ward (Su) Eleven is constantly surrounded by a wall of force. She gains a number of temporary hit points equal to her kineticist level. She always loses these temporary hit points first, even before other temporary hit points. If an attack deals less damage than you still have as temporary hit points from force ward, it still reduces those temporary hit points but otherwise counts as a miss for the purpose of abilities that trigger on a hit or miss. These temporary hit points regenerate at a rate of 1 per minute. By accepting 1 point of burn as a standard action, she can increase the maximum number of temporary hit points provided by the force ward by half her kineticist level until the next time her burn is removed.
If she uses this ability multiple times, the increases stack. For every 2 points of burn she accepts this way, her force ward's rate of regeneration increases by 1 hit point per minute. Whenever she accepts burn while using an aether wild talent, she siphons some of the energy from the aether flowing through her and her force ward recovers a number of temporary hit points equal to her character level, up to its current maximum. She may dismiss or restore her force ward as an immediate action, but doing so doesn't change the number of temporary hit points available, and the temporary hit points don't recover while this ability is inactive.
Gather Power (Su) If she has both hands free, Eleven can gather power as a move action. This creates a loud, visible display in a 20-foot radius centered on Eleven, and it allows her to reduce the burn cost of her infusion wild talents by 1 point (as long as she uses the talent in the same round). If she gathers power for a full round, she can reduce the cost by 2 points (minimum 0). If she does this, she can also gather power as a move action during her next turn to reduce the cost by 3.
If Eleven takes damage during or after gathering power but before she releases her infused blasts, she must succeed at a concentration check (DC = 10+damage taken+effective spell level of her kinetic blast) or lose the energy in a wild surge that forces her to accept a number of points of burn equal to the number of points by which her gathered power would have reduced the burn cost. This ability can never reduce the burn cost of a wild talent below 0 points.
Grief-Filled Eleven is no stranger to loss and intense emotions, and gains a +2 trait bonus on all saving throws against emotion spells and effects.
Infusion Specialization Whenever Eleven uses one or more infusions with her kinetic blasts, she reduces the combined cost of the infusions by 3. This cannot reduce the total cost of the infusions used below 0.
Infusions The following infusions alter Eleven's kinetic blasts. She can apply at most 1 form infusion and 1 substance infusion to her blasts.
Bowling Infusion (substance): If Eleven accepts 2 points of burn, her kinetic blast can bowl her foes over. She may attempt a trip combat maneuver check against each target damaged by her infused blast, using her Constitution modifier instead of her Strength modifier to determine her Combat Maneuver Bonus.
Disintegrating Infusion (substance): If Eleven accepts 4 points of burn, she can use force to rip her targets apart. Against creatures, her kinetic blast deals double its normal amount of damage, but targets receive a saving throw to reduce the damage to half the blast's normal amount (for a total of ¼ of the blast's increased damage). Any creature reduced to 0 or fewer hit points by the blast is disintegrated, as the spell disintegrate. She can use the infused blast to destroy force effects or objects, but for each force effect or 10-foot cube of nonliving matter she destroys in this way, she must accept 1 point of burn, which can't be reduced by effects such as infusion specialization or gather power.
Extended Range (form infusion): If Eleven accepts 1 point of burn, her kinetic blast can strike any target within 120 feet.
Flurry of Blasts (form infusion): If Eleven accepts 2 points of burn, she may shoot multiple kinetic blasts in a single standard action. She may shoot up to three blasts, each of which deals damage as though her kineticist level were 1st (effects or abilities that increase her kinetic blast's damage don't apply). No two targets can be more than 30 feet apart. She must assign the targets of her blasts before rolling any of the attacks. Any blast beyond the first that hits the same target adds 1d6 points of damage; bonuses and penalties to damage don't apply. If she is using a substance infusion that requires a saving throw, a target attempts its save only once (even if it was hit multiple times), but it takes a penalty on the save equal to the number of times it was hit beyond the first. If she is using a substance infusion that requires a caster level check or combat maneuver check, she rolls the check only once against each target, but gains a bonus on the check equal to the number of times that target was hit beyond the first. If she is using the pushing substance infusion, the maximum distance of the push increases by 5 feet for each time the target was hit beyond the first.
Foe Throw (form infusion): If Eleven accepts 2 points of burn, she can throw a Large or smaller creature instead of an unattended object; she can increase the burn cost by 1 to affect a creature of a larger size. If the creature she attempts to throw succeeds at a Fortitude save, it negates the blast entirely. Otherwise, if her blast hits, both the thrown creature and the target take the full amount of damage from your telekinetic blast, and the thrown creature falls prone in the last unoccupied space along its path. If her blast misses, the thrown creature can choose to occupy any space within 30 feet of the target, it doesn't fall prone, and it takes half the normal amount of damage from her blast. The movement doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity.
Pushing Infusion (substance infusion): If Eleven accepts 1 point of burn, the momentum of her kinetic blast knocks foes back. She may attempt a bull rush combat maneuver check against each target damaged by her infused blast, using her Constitution modifier instead of her Strength modifier to determine her bonus. This infusion can push a foe back by a maximum of 5 feet. Eleven can increase the burn cost of this infusion to increase the maximum distance pushed by 5 feet per additional point of burn accepted. She can't use this infusion with a form infusion such as cloud that causes her kinetic blast to lack a clear direction to push.
Internal Buffer (Su) As a full-round action, Eleven can accept 2 points of burn to add 2 points to her buffer. When she would otherwise accept burn, she can spend these points to avoid accepting 1 point of burn. She cannot spend more than 1 point from her buffer in this way for a single wild talent. Points spent from Yoon’s buffer do not activate or augment her elemental overflow. Once points are added to this buffer, they remain indefinitely until she spends them.
Kinetic Blast (Sp) Eleven can throw a nearby unattended object at a single foe as a ranged attack. The object must weigh no more than 5 pounds per kineticist level you possess. If the attack hits, the target and the thrown object each take the blast's damage. Since the object is enfolded in strands of aether, even if she uses this power on a magic weapon or other unusual object, the attack doesn't use any of the magic weapon's bonuses or effects; it simply deals her blast damage. Alternatively, she can loosen the strands of aether in order to deal damage to both the object and the target as though she had thrown the object yourself (instead of dealing your normal blast damage). She substitutes her Constitution modifier for her Strength modifier if throwing the object would have added her Strength modifier on the damage roll, and she doesn't take the –4 penalty on the attack roll for throwing an object that wasn't designed to be thrown. In this case, the object's special effects apply (including effects from its materials), and if the object is a weapon, she must be proficient with it and able to wield it with one hand; otherwise, the item deals damage as a one-handed improvised weapon for a creature of her size.
Alternately, Eleven may accept 2 points of burn to use a Force Blast, which is resolved as a ranged touch attack and deals damage as a simple energy blast.
If Eleven accepts 2 points of burn, she may apply Aetheric Boost to her Telekinetic Blast, causing it to deal 1 additional point of damage of the same type for each of its damage dice; it otherwise acts as a simple blast.
Eleven may also attach a strand of aether to a target, which requires a successful ranged touch attack. If her target is under the effect of her touchsight, she may use the strands from that ability instead. One she has activated spying touchsight, she may concentrated on it to spy on the target with any of her five senses (though her own body no longer benefits from the senses she projects). The strand lasts as long as she concentrates, though she can switch which senses she is projecting each round. A creature using see invisibility or a similar effect can notice the trailing strand of aether and follow it back to Eleven. A creature can break Eleven's spying touchsight by dispelling it, but otherwise, the only way to break the strand is if Eleven or her target uses a teleportation effect, moves more than 1 mile from the other, or is completely blocked from the other in all directions.
Metakinesis (Su) Eleven may empower her kinetic blasts. By accepting 1 point of burn, she can empower her kinetic blast as if using the Empower Spell feat. By accepting 2 points of burn, she can maximize her kinetic blast as if using the Maximize Spell feat. By accepting 3 points of burn, she can quicken her kinetic blast as if using the Quicken Spell feat.
Psychic Adept Eleven has the ability to cast detect psychic significance three times per day as a spell-like ability.
Psychic Disciple Eleven has the ability to cast detect thoughts two times per day as a spell-like ability.
Psychic Sensitivity Eleven has access to the occult skill unlocks for any skills in which she has ranks. If she has no ranks in the appropriate skill, she can't use the occult skill unlock, even if that skill can be used untrained.
Small Because of Eleven's age, she is Small, and her statistics reflect the appropriate size and ability score adjustments.
Suspicious Discovering that the people who raised her never had her best intentions at heart, Eleven has become suspicious of others, and gains a +1 trait bonus on Sense Motive checks, and Sense Motive is always a class skill for her.
Telepathy Tap When a creature within range of Eleven's detect thoughts uses telepathy to communicate, including when that creature sends or receives a magical message such as dream or sending, she may notice the attempt with a successful DC 30 Sense Motive check. At this point, she may spend a use of detect thoughts as an immediate action. If she does so, for every 5 points by which her check exceeds the DC, she gleans one fragment of information about the communication, such as the identity of its sources; its general nature; the emotional state of the sender or recipient, or a specific person, place, or thing mentioned in the message. In addition, the creature must attempt a saving throw (with a DC equal to that of detect thoughts). If the target fails its save, Eleven can listen to both sides of the telepathic or magical communication as long as she continues to concentrate each round as a standard action.
Utility (Su) Eleven has the following utility wild talents.
Basic Telekinesis: This ability is similar to mage hand,
except Eleven can move an object that weighs up to 5 pounds per 2 kineticist levels she possesses (minimum 5 pounds), and she can move magical objects. Additionally, she can create a container of entwined strands of aether in order to hold liquids or piles of small objects of the same weight. Eleven can dip the container to pick up or drop a liquid as a move action. If she possess the extended range wild talent, you can increase the range of basic telekinesis to medium range and increase the rate of movement to 30 feet per round, and if she possess the extreme range wild talent, she can increase the range of basic telekinesis to long range and increase the rate of movement to 60 feet per round. She can also use your basic telekinesis to duplicate the effects of the open/close cantrip.
Kinetic Cover: Eleven can call up elemental matter to defend herself and her allies from attacks. As a standard action, she can select one face of a square within 30 feet of you and move elemental matter to block that face, providing total cover from that direction. The face she selects must be supported by the ground, and the kinetic cover cannot support more than 5 pounds of weight. Telekinetic force is translucent. A creature who strikes the cover can easily destroy it. The cover has hardness 0, AC 5, and 2 hit points per kineticist level she possesses. She can have a number of kinetic covers in existence equal to her Constitution modifier + 1/2 her kineticist level.
Reactive Touchsight: Strands of aether surround Eleven, making it virtually impossible for a violent motion to catch her off guard so long as the motion originates within their range. Eleven is never denied her dexterity bonus to AC against attacks within 30 feet because of being flat-footed or because her assailant is unseen or invisible. She always succeeds on any Perception check to act in the surprise round against opponents within 30 feet.
Suffocate: Eleven can use aether to choke a creature within 120 feet. If her target needs to breathe, it must hold its breath for as long as she concentrates. On each of its turns, it can attempt a Fortitude save in order to speak, but it can breathe only if your concentration breaks, she leaves the 120-foot range, or she breaks line of effect. Eleven can accept 1 point of burn when activating this wild talent in order to expel the air from her target's lungs. If she does so and the target fails its first Fortitude save, it becomes disabled and is reduced to 0 hit points, and on its second failed Fortitude save, it falls unconscious and is reduced to –1 hit points.
Touchsight: Eleven attaches strands of aether to everything her telekinesis touches. Any time she damages a creature using her telekenetic blast, as long as that creature doesn't use a teleportation effect, she can see that creature at any distance as if using blindsight until the end of her next turn. Immediately after damaging a creature, she may accept 1 point of burn to strengthen the strands of aether attached to that creature, increasing the duration of the touchsight on that creature to 1 round per kineticist level.
Telekinetic Finesse: Eleven can perform any sort of fine manipulation she chooses within close range, including Sleight of Hand and Disable Device checks.
Telekinetic Haul: When using basic telekinesis, Eleven can move an object that weighs up to 100 pounds per kineticist level she possesses. When using her telekinetic blast, she can throw an object weighing up to 100 pounds per kineticist level she possesses, but this doesn't increase the damage. If Eleven accepts 1 point of burn, the maximum weight increases to 1,000 pounds per kineticist level she possesses and the duration increases to 1 minute per kineticist level she possesses.
Telekinetic Maneuvers: Eleven can perform combat maneuvers as telekinesis, but she uses her Constitution modifier to determine her Combat Maneuver Bonus rather than her Intelligence or Charisma modifier. Eleven may also use the dirty trick and steal combat maneuvers in this way; when performing these maneuvers, Eleven determines her Combat Maneuver Bonus using her Dexterity modifier instead of her Constitution modifier.
I feel that the kineticist (specifically telekineticist) best fits Eleven, as it can well represent most of the abilities she demonstrated in the show, in particular the abilities which she needed no outside help to perform (the sensory deprivation tank/pool, and the mental amplification headgear being examples). For a while I debated making her a psychic, as telekinetic abilities can obviously be represented by a number of psychic spells, telekinises not least among them. However, what bothered me about psychic was that not only did she not really seem to be casting 'spells' (and even with the psychic components, spells still supposedly give off a good deal of visual effects), but she never displayed, to my knowledge, any overt telepathic capabilities such as mind reading. Of course it's possible in the next season that if Eleven returns she may grow in power and gain such abilities, but that's not what this contest focused on.
Ultimately Eleven can duplicate everything she does 'on her own' with the powers presented above. Telekinetic Haul can save Mike Wheeler and flip the government car (assuming we allow both to be considered 'unattended objects'. Some game rules DO clash, sadly). Telekinetic maneuvers works to hold both Troy the bully in place and helps to detain the 'Demagorgon' against the wall in the science lab in the final episode. A combination of bowling infusion, pushing infusion, and foe throw added on top of force blasts work for the blunt-force impact of Eleven's various battles against government agents, culminating in the combined use of a quickened flurry of blasts and a normal flurry of blasts when they're surrounded in the school. Die Hard allows her to remain standing if she chooses, which is just what she does when she goes against the Demagorgon. I like to think when she destroys the Demagorgon, she uses the disintegrating infusion to destroy it, all the while burning through the last of her hp in her final sacrificial act.
Thanks to the Psychic Sensitivity/Disciple/Adept chain, followed by Telepathy Tap, her ability to 'listen in' to conversations becomes feasible even as a kineticist. I don't think it's a stretch that the telepathic and magical communication covered by the feat could stretched to include telecommunications, especially when the sensory deprivation tank is thrown into the mix. Further abilities allowing her to make contact with other planes all took place when under the effects of an 'outside' influence, so I consider this version of her to be as accurate as I can get her.
Anywho, here's my entry! It was a lot of fun and frustration making it, as I was essentially learning the kineticist class, along with other occult fun, for the first time. Good luck to everyone who entered!
While at the moment I don't have the time to answer your questions, I do want to recommend that if you and your players are willing to wait a few weeks, the Curse of the Crimson Throne Hardcover Remake is coming out. This is a redone version of the Adventure Path with all six adventures contained in one source, in addition to a gazetteer of Korvosa, a bestiary of the creatures encounters, and more. Not to mention that it updates the entire adventure path to Pathfinder rules (the originals were written using the 3.5 ruleset).
Again, it would be a good idea to wait if your group is willing to shell out a bit of money for what will be an amazing updated version of Curse.
Looking at the Inner Sea Poster Map, it appears that the two closest forests to Belkzen are the Shudderwood of northern Ustalav, and the Fangwood of Nirmathas and Lastwall. There are also a few smaller spots of trees that are unnamed along the Belkzen/Ustalav border. All of these forests match the description of temperate forests, so you shouldn't have any problem convincing your GM that your character (assuming they live in/around Belkzen) might be able to find their way to the Giant Mantis' habitat.
Your party doesn't sound neutral, whether LN, N, or CN, but evil, at least from what you've described. I'm sure they'd argue tooth and nail that they're just neutral, but what they've done goes beyond simple self preservation into actual evil territory.
As for breaking down and crying, that's not going to do much. If you're actually having fun with this group, then I'd recommend quietly preparing spells that will keep you and you alive alone. Otherwise, your character WILL die at some point thanks to these guys. Maybe you could even join the villain.
If you're not liking this group though (I surely wouldn't), I'd honestly say you should break away from them.
1. 2 claws and a bite are three attacks, all of which are primary natural attacks. Primary natural attacks are made at normal BaB+Strength and add full Strength on damage rolls. If they use a martial weapon along with their natural attacks (a ranseur in this case), all natural attacks in that round are considered secondary, which imparts a -5 penalty on the attack roll and they only add half Strength bonus on damage rolls. In addition, since the sinspawn's claws are it's hands, and it requires it's hands to hold the ransuer, it cannot make claw attacks on the same round it uses the ransuer. If it had a one-handed weapon like a longsword, a sequence such as longsword+bite+claw is possible.
2. It's initiative bonus seems fine on this stat block, so there shouldn't be a problem. The one you're referencing may be misprinted? Or maybe there's another factor affecting it I'm uncertain of.
EDIT: Ninja'd by Kalindlara. Nice new avatar! Seoni in armor will be missed.
Alrighty, let's see if I can take a stab at this. What follows is if the PCs succeed at the AP as it's written out. Some of these I have more experience with than others, so this is in no way exhaustive.
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!:
Rise of the Runelords
One of the ancient Runelords of Thassilon, Karzoug, has been slain. A number of expeditions representing several different factions including the Pathfinders, the Aspis Consortium, Riddleport and Magnimar vye for control of Xin-Shalast, which still contains its own populations of giants, lamia, and other horrors. Thassilonian knowledge in general increases throughout the inner sea, and Magnimar in particular gains an increased presence from the Pathfinder Society which is headed by Sheila Heidmarch.
Curse of the Crimson Throne
After suffering under the short reign of Queen Illeosa, Korvosa is likely leaderless (or at least lacks a monarch) though remains a substantial power in the region. The mantle of Blackjack is likely passed on to a newer generation, who remains a hero committed to the common folk of the city state.
Second Darkness
The existence of the drow is revealed to the world at large, and the political landscape of Kyonin faces some upheaval, in particular the possibility that the secretive Winter Council is dissolved as an entity.
Legacy of Fire
The once small town of Kelmarane thrives following the events of an invasion lead by a powerful Efreeti noble. A group of heroes successfully stop the Efreeti from awakening a spawn of Rovagug said to be buried within the confines of Pale Mountain, and reform the group known as the Templars of the Four Winds lead by the Djinn Nefeshti.
Council of Thieves
The shadow curse afflicting the Chelaxian city of Westcrown is put to an end, and the people of the city no longer need to fear the rampaging shadow beasts which once stalked their city at night. The eponymous council of thieves which ruled Westcrown from the shadows is put down. The city flourishes without the malign influences of the council, and due to House Thrune's general disinterest in the city, it regains some of its former splendour from before the Chelish civil war.
Kingmaker
A new nation known as Narland (this is the default name for the kingdom if you run the AP without having the PCs do the kingdom building) prospers in the previously untamed wilderness of the Greenbelt of the River Kingdoms. As it grows it faces many struggles and conflicts, including rampaging undead, canny fey and wildlife, and even a war launched by their southern neighbor of Pitax. Even after putting down their mortal foe's advances, a surge of fey activity pits the kingdom against a previously unseen threat of the nymph sorcerer Nyrissa. Attempting to join her realm within the first world with the Greenbelt, she is ultimately defeated by the kingdom's rulers, and finally Narland finds the peace and prosperity it sought.
(Kingmaker is a very long adventure path spanning years of in-game time, so it could very well be going on well beyond the scope of the current AP's. It's really up to you.)
Serpent's Skull
A group of intrepid heroes are caught up in the politics and tensions of Sargava after surviving a horrific shipwreck. As they explore ancient ruins of the Mwangi expanse they learn of a missing ex-pathfinder agent with information crucial to the survival of the world. Delving into the ruins of an ancient civilization they come up against creatures that would see all of humanity cast down and made slaves: the serpentfolk. Battling the serpents and their aberrant allies, the heroes eventually come face to face with the avatar of the serpentfolk's dead god, Ydersius, and ultimately defeat it and stave off the subjugation of all humanity.
Carrion Crown
After attending the funeral of their departed friend and colleague Professor Lorrimor, a group of heroes uncover a dastardly plot to resurrect the depraved Whispering Tyrant. Braving hordes of the living dead, ghosts, werewolves, vampires and horrors from beyond the stars, the heroes manage to disrupt the plot at the shattered castle of Gallowspire and save the world from a Whispering Tyrant born anew.
Jade Regent
Following the tumultuous events of the Rise of the Runelords, the Tavernkeeper Ameiko Kaijitsu uncovers a scroll revealing secrets of her past. Journeying north with a group of friends and allies, she realizes her destiny as the true heir to the throne of the distant kingdom of Minkai. Travelling over the roof of the world while fighting off dark spirits and assassins, she eventually arrives at her long lost homeland. Rallying the common folk and throwing down their oni overlords, she leads her friends in defeating the Jade Regent of Minkai and taking her rightful place on the throne.
Skull & Shackles
Press ganged into service by virtue of poisoned ale, a cast of pirates unite together to take over the ship and take hold of their own destiny. Along the way to gaining recognition as true Free Captains of the Shackles, they uncover a plot that could spell the end of the Shackles as they know it. Defeating their old captain and gaining a base of operations, they rally their fellow free captains against an imminent invasion from the Chelish armada. After successfully defending their lands from the diabolical threat, they head for Port Peril and depose the reigning Hurricane King, crowning themselves the new rulers of the Shackles.
Shattered Star
A group of new Pathfinders set off on a journey to gather the lost shards of the Shattered Star, said to each represent a sin of lost Thassilon. Their journey leads them throughout the lands of Varisia, battling mites and boggards, succubi and death knights. Under the direction of venture captain Sheila Heidmarch, they manage to recover every piece of the shattered star and rejoin the artifact. Just as they are ready to revel in their victory, the ancient remains of Xin, once-ruler of all seven nations of Thassilon, arises to carry out a long awaited vengeance against the living world. The Pathfinders successfully defend the city of Magnimar from his wrath, and are able to forever record their names in the annals of Pathfinder history.
Reign of Winter
When it begins snowing during the height of Taldor's summer, a band of investigators are sent to find out what the cause of such a strange event could be. Uncovering a plot by the winter witches of Irrisen, the investigators are ultimately placed under a geas to aid the deposed Baba Yaga, who was betrayed by her very own daughter. They set off on a journey taking them across the lands of Golarion and the stars beyond, even finding their way to a place known as 'Earth'. There they slay one of the primary conspirators of the plot, a man known as 'Rasputin'. Successfully saving another of Baba Yaga's descendants, Anastasia, they descend into the depths of the cursed dolls the witch queen is trapped within. Defeating her treacherous daughter Elvanna, the heroes free Baba Yaga, who ends the coming eternal winter on Golarion, and place Anastasia on the throne of Irrisen.
Wrath of the Righteous
When the crusader city of Kenabres is sacked during one of it's greatest days of celebration, a group of heroes rises from the ashes and takes it back from the foul demons of the Worldwound. Imbued with a mythic power, they take the battle to the demons, successfully invading the worldwound and gaining ground in a new crusade. Stopping demon plots at every turn, they eventually gain a strange ally in a redeemed succubus who reveres Desna, and even ally with the demon queen Nocticula against her fellow demon lords Deskari and Baphomet. Utilizing a recovered artifact known as the Lexicon of Paradox, the heroes manage to slay the architect of the worldwound Areelu Vorlesh, and seal the abyssal rift once and for all.
Mummy's Mask
Victors of a lottery to delve into the tombs of the Osiriani city of Wati, a band of adventurers find themselves in the middle of a city gone mad when all of the dead rise at once. Putting down a mad necromancer is only the beginning of their worries when they recover a strange mask from his corpse. Suddenly on all sides they find themselves hunted by a mysterious cult, hellbent on recovering the mask. Studying history they find out that the mask belonged to the mad pharaoh Hakotep, and contains a piece of his soul. Battling the cult and the desolate sands themselves, the adventurers manage to pull the pharaoh's flying pyramid from the skies just as he launches an invasion of all of Osirian with a fleet of flying pyramids. In his own tomb they put down the mad pharaoh once and for all, reuniting the lost pieces of his soul so he might finally find the rest he was so long denied.
Iron Gods
Exploring a series of strange ruins beneath the town of Torch in Numeria, a group of adventurers are successful in not only saving their friend Khonnir Baine, but in stopping a plot to reactivate the ruins which could potentially destroy the town above. Tracking the perpetrators to the junkyard city of scrapwall, they ally with suffering factions as they depose the overlords there known as the Lords of Rust. Headed by a nefarious robot with sentience known as an 'A.I.', the adventurers manage to stop it's dark plans to ascend to godhood, but at the same time the heroes learn that other A.I.s exist with their own potential schemes. Allying with the memory core of one A.I. known as Casandalee, the heroes find their way to the capital of Numeria, where they depose the Black Sovereign and the Technic League. Discovering they too were under the thrall of an A.I. known as divinity from within the Silver Mount itself, the adventurers set out to halt Divinity's ascension to godhood while exploring the wondrous wreckage. Defeating Divinity once and for all, the adventurers instead gain the choice to boost Casandalee to godhood instead.
Giantslayer
Surviving an orcish attack on the city of Trunau, the heroes learn of a plot by local hill giants to gain favor with a Cloud Giant overlord. Setting out to stop the hill giants, the heroes learn that the Cloud Giant Volstus, naming himself the Storm Tyrant, has come into the possession of not only a flying castle, but also an orb of Red Dragons. With plans to take back the world from the smaller races with an army of giants and dragons, the heroes set out to defeat him in his own lair and stop the invasion before it can begin. Fighting through armies of stone, fire, and frost giants, the heroes eventually meet Volstus in battle in his flying keep, hovering above a massive volcano. Successfully defeating the Storm Tyrant, the heroes end his threat to the world.
Hell's Rebels
A band of natives of the Chelish city of Kintargo grow weary of Thrune rule when the devious Barzillai Thrune takes control of the city. Given legal justification due to the invasion of the Glorious Reclamation, the city is placed under strict martial law, and many leaders of the people are quickly assassinated or imprisoned. Rising up from the common folk, the heroes recreate the fabled rebel group of old, the Silver Ravens, and take the fight to Barzillai. Nearly too late they learn that his actions hid more devious purpose, for his plans were to ultimately become one with the land of Cheliax itself through a complex ritual which would give him absolute power. Stopping him on the mortal plane, the heroes also track him into Hell itself and destroy him there so he might never again trouble Cheliax. The heroes also manage to legally secede from Cheliax through infernal contract, making Kintargo the capital of a now free country of Ravounel.
Hell's Vengeance
Due to the Glorious Reclamation's bold victories over Chelish forces, a band of devious villains join together to bring vengeance upon the holy usurpers. Under direction of first a duke, then Queen Abrogail herself, the villains managed to halt the Reclamation's efforts at every turn across Cheliax, eventually bringing the fight to their home base at the fallen Hell Knight citadel of the Godclaw. Creating a weapon from the head of a slain gold dragon and ally of the Reclamation, the villains invade the recently conquered city of Westcrown and bring an end to the leader of the Reclamation herself.
Whoo! That was a LOT, and those are only brief summaries, really. I hope they were something like what you were looking for. I noticed that I sort of veered away from the results of the AP to just summarizing the AP, but I still hope it helps. Your best bet to learn more would be to read through the APs themselves, or at the very least the 'after the AP' sections in the 6th book of each installment. Good luck!
I found a Slayer with the Sniper archetype works well, especially if you grab Expert Sniper and Master Sniper feats later on. If you went halfling you could also grab the alternate racial trait Swift as Shadows which replaces Sure-Footed. It reduces the penalty for moving while using Stealth by 5 and the penalty when sniping by an additional 10 (which combined with Expert Sniper equals out to 0). As Bob Bob Bob said above, taking rapid reload will be very important so you can not only move and shoot or make multiple attacks, but also to utilize the Master Sniper feat's ability to fire two shots as a full-round action and still be considered sniping.
I have been considering the Furious Guardian / Ulfen Guard PrC for a slightly more social barbarian. For a barbarian, it slightly delays greater rage, but offers you a few extra class skills, a boost to your will save, and some nice options to your rage powers (and it counts to your barbarian levels for selecting rage powers). You also get a few other tricks, including the option to follow your ward, moving as an immediate action, or using AoOs to attack anyone who moves near or attacks your ward.
It may be also interesting for fighters who can thus get rage and greater rage. Actually, I think the wording of formal training means that the guardian levels count as fighter levels for extra Advanced Weapon/Armor training.
Try comboing it with the Viking fighter archetype. It combines really well on both a thematic and mechanical level.
Don't forget that alchemists can use wands, so you don't need to depend on your extracts or even necessarily your bombs for healing - you can just grab a wand of cure light wounds.
If you were only looking for an alchemist build dedicated to trapfinding, the trap breaker does a phenomenal job, and someone in the Mummy's Mask campaign I'm currently running is using one to excellent effect.
Otherwise I think you're trying to do too broad a focus - healing, sneak attacks on bombs, and trapfinding. Not that it can't be done, but I think it can be done more efficiently. Losing Throw Anything hurts, as well as 2 levels of Alchemist to gain Chemical Weapons from Underground Chemist.
My recommendation would be to put aside the Rogue levels and take the trap finder campaign trait from, what do you know, Mummy's Mask! Taking out bombs leaves something of a void, of course, but a good way to make up for that would be taking the vivisectionist archetype as well, which appears that it SHOULD stack with both chirurgeon and internal alchemist. Of course in the flavor text it states how different the outlooks of a chirurgeon are versus a vivisectionist, however I think it's perfectly logical to have a master of the surgical arts (which your character seems to be aspiring to) not only be perfectly aware of how to heal people, but to also hurt them. After all, medicine in a big enough dose is poison.
Those are my thoughts on the build, anyway, and I hope it helps.
As for Thistletop itself, you should make your players aware that their initial intrusion is very unlikely to go unnoticed. Not only does Tsuto know a bit about them after his escape, but Nualia and co should understand the PCs are not to be underestimated since they managed to slaughter most of their primary 'fighting force'. I absolutely would have the goblins from the tunnels moved into the main fort, and maybe Nualia has even named one to be the new chief.
As for the Catacombs of Wrath, while it's unfortunate they skipped them, this is a great opportunity to put them to further use. If your PCs successfully save Thistletop and revel in the glory of victory for a time, you could have the sinspawn below break down their barriers and begin harassing the town above. You could have this occur around the same time the murders are happening in the Skinsaw Murders, and have the havoc and attacks by the sinspawn act as a red herring.
Obviously your PCs will be a bit tougher by that time, assuming they've taken out Thistletop, so a level or two of barbarian on the sinspawn will help to make them stronger as well as fits the theme well (look here, at the bottom covers adding class levels for monsters). You can also give Erylium another class level or two of witch to further beef her up (but be careful, her ability to constantly go invisible will still be a tough problem for a low level party).
As for the consequences to the story for missing the Catacombs of Wrath, it's not only another great chance for the PCs to see some more Thassilonian architecture, they get to see an actual runewell and the danger it represents. This area also foreshadows that there are more catacombs even deeper below, which is a critical part of book 5.
It's a difficult situation. Thematically it would be appropriate for the Summoner not to be able to call their Eidolon due to the properties of Kakishon as I remember them. It even fits a story narrative very well. However, it really kills the summoner class to not be able to summon their eidolon, being that it's so important. Perhaps you, as the GM, could allow them greater power or influence over Kakishon due to their inherent powers over extraplanar sources?
