Nathan Morse's page

There's a bit of information on the prices for RPG's from Sean K Reynolds on his website here.

I would probably derive a formula for availability based on several things, most of which were mentioned above: the CR of the creature, the environment it was from, and the creature type and subtype.

For instance, say I'm running a campaign in Calimport, City of Slaves right now. It's a desert city bordering the ocean with heavy sea trade. The local population is mostly humans and halflings. The city is a metropolis. Now to evaluate the slave population: I'll assume that because of the difficulty in taking higher level slaves that the highest level of slave available in the entire city is based on a city population three levels smaller than metropolis, which is a large town. That means that rolling for the highest level character that's a slave will have a +3 modifier (this is all on pages 138 and 139 in the DMG).

So, the NPC class most likely to be a high level slave is probably the fighter as they are more easily controlled. So, that's 1d8+3, or an average of a level 7 fighter. But wait, the slave population changes constantly, so we can probably assume that given a set amount of time the buyer can locate a slave of the maximum level possible, or 11 in this case (for NPC classes, the highest level commoner is 4d4+3, an average of 13 (CR 6.5), a maximum of 19, for a maximum CR of 9.5). Let's go ahead and set the bar for highest monster CR at 11 as well, with the average highest that's always available at 7.

Sweet, now to go on and derive the actual formula for availability. This should be a 1/day check. Let's set up a percentage roll to decide. We'll set the base chance of availability at 50% for the average CR, in this case 7. That way you're almost guaranteed to locate one within 2 days. Now we set modifiers.

CR Modifiers: +1 CR is -10%
-1 CR is +10%

Environment modifiers:
Local environment: +10% (in Calimport both warm desert and ocean)
Nearby environment: no modifier (in Calimport warm plains and warm forests)
Somewhat distant: -20% (in Calimport warm swamps and warm mountains)
Truly distant: -50% (in Calimport artic, jungle, etc.)

Type and Subtype Modifiers:
These will have to done per location. For instance, while humanoids are likely more common everywhere, giants would be available more in hills and mountains and practically nonexistent underground.

For instance, in Calimport humanoids, monstrous humanoids and giants could all have no modifier. The air and fire subtypes would have a positive modifier, while the cold subtype would have a very negative modifier.

So, for instance if one of my players wanted to buy an elite minotaur ranger 6 (CR 11) it would have a base chance of 50%, modified down by 40% to 10%, with no environment modifier or type modifier. If they didn't want to physically roll it every day I'd let them have it after 10 days, if they paid a broker to keep an eye out for one.

On the other hand, let's say all they want is a dwarf to act as a pack mule for the party treasure haul. So, we just need a dwarf commoner really, let's spring for level 5 though, so he has some hp. That's a CR 2(.5). So base chance of 50%, plus 50% for being 5 below average CR, with no environment or type modifier, means they can have a dwarf commoner 5 as soon as they can be bothered to pick a specific one out.

For my last example, let's look at the wyrmling white dragon mentioned above. Let's set the base at 50%. Then add 50% for only being a CR 2, putting us at 100%. Then knock that down 50% for being in cold mountains. Tack on a -30% or so for being a dragon and another -20% or so for being of the cold subtype (yes, double dipping here) and you arrive at a 0% chance. Well, there goes that plan for defeating that pesky salamander in the basement.

Allow me to join the chorus of people that think you are awesome, Clark. Seriously, you must be a glutton for punishment to do this, but I definitely appreciate it. Anyway, feel free to let me know exactly what you thought of my item with no sugar-coating, I can handle it.

That goes to everyone else too, if you have any thoughts on this item.

Also, this version may be slightly different from the version submitted as I did a bit of last-minute editing on the submit form that I'm not sure I saved, but this version should get everything across the way it was (just some wording changed I think).

VESTMENTS OF THE UNSEEN PRIESTHOOD
Aura none; CL 1
Slot body; Weight 7 lb.; Price 2,000 gp

DESCRIPTION

The vestments of the unseen priesthood appear to be a simple set of clerical robes with a holy symbol, even to detect magic. In reality, these robes allow the wearer to masquerade as a priest of any deity. Simply by donning the robes and speaking the command word followed by the name of a god the vestments transform into those of that god's priests. In addition, the wearer's alignment is completely hidden. Instead, he gains an aura as per a cleric of the chosen deity and of the wearer's class level (see the cleric class feature, p. 20).

These robes were originally created by cultists of Asmodeus to allow them to walk unmolested amongst the normal population, simply posing as followers of other deities. The command word to affect the change is usually in Infernal and worked into the ritual opening of the congregation's meetings, such as "Hail Asmodeus, He Who Binds Us".

CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, undetectable alignment, disguise self, magic aura; Cost 1,000 gp

What does psionics mean to me? It means that instead of using a formula (albeit one you studied or know inherently) or the intervention of another being (a god or demon, etc.) you are doing your work with your own mind at the speed of thought.

Really, I think 3.5 psionics are fairly well-balanced. I hated psionics in previous editions and would never have read the XPH if a stubborn friend hadn't brought it up repeatedly. Now I really like some of it, though the classes are in serious need of work. First of all, they really need to be defined. Attempts at such definitions shall begin - now:

The Soulknife and the Psychic Warrior. These should probably be one class in all fairness. It should be a warrior with a powerful mind who practices biofeedback and other techniques for making himself stronger or who practices manifesting the ultimate weapon - one that is truly an extension of himself. Make these separate disciplines or just a limited and mixed power list and you're in business.

The Wilder - Do we really need a wilder? It's just a sorcerer to the psion's wizard, and one that really doesn't even do that niche well as a psion is still based on internal power. I vote we just update it to PFRPG rules and move on (I'd say scrap it but there's the looming specter of backwards compatability).

The Psion - At last, the quintessential psionic character, one who has delved the secrets of his own mind and how it interacts with the world, one who has truly discovered and dwells in the one world where both are equally real. The psion should absolutely not simply be a wizard or sorcerer with a bizarre spell list that runs on points. The points system should stay but the powers should be scrapped. Seriously, hear me out: We should replace these powers with a handful of base abilities and templates to shape them, such as creating a ball of fire. Some of these templates should be more than the run-of-the-mill ball, burst, ray, and cone though. For instance, why should a telepath need line of sight dominate a creature? He simply has to locate its mind in the aether. A telekineticist should simply cause an enemy to spontaneously combust, not produce a scorching ray. Make him like the archmage, a master at manifesting his will exactly the way he wanted it, down to the micron.

Picture this if you will: A 10th-level telekineticist uses 5 pp to do 5d6 fire damage using his first level fire power. He then can use no pp to make a burst such as a fireball filling an area (if he learned the burst template), or he can selectively use 1 pp per target to fry them without ever having to risk injuring his comrades. He elects to cook each one of the individually, so instead of the usual reflex saves, they make will saves to keep their body from rebelling. If he had five targets he's used 10 pp (his normal max) to do less damage than he could have, but to do it in a way that is literally impossible with another class. This cuts down on the nova effect and makes them unique at the same time (and replaces some of the cooler functions of the warlock to boot). Plus he can still crisp that group of goblins or kobolds just as readily as the party wizard if he really had to.

Think about it: you could have a wizard open a gateway to move a group of people to another area, or you could have a nomad simply yank them from the physical here and now and deposit them where they belong. A telepath could make everyone in a throne room ignore him but the king, who freaks out as the telepath approaches, using another power to mask himself as the Grim Reaper. A seer could literally move his mind to a new location to scout it out as though he were physically there, using the information that would be passed to his senses from the true world to the mundane, far more than most mere scrying spells. The shaper and egoist should probably be rolled into the psychic warrior/soulknife though, unless someone else can think of some sweet unique things to do with them.

What do you guys think? It seems like a pretty neat, unique and elegant solution to the problems some people have with psionics, while preserving its flavor and making it stand out even more as something different. It has the added benefit of retaining the power point system on which the 3.5 material is dependent.

Feedback would be greatly appreciated as I will probably begin working on designing this shortly as it seems ridiculously cool in my head.

I'm interested in a few specific types of books:

The aforementioned book regarding vehicles (and mounts preferably) is a necessity. Mounted and vehicular combat are simply ignored in most rulebooks. TThese also dovetail neatly into the idea of mass combat rules. There should definitely be mass combat rules as well as a set of 3.5 style tactical feats so your NPC warriors can be properly vetted for formation work. Also, rules for sieges and ways to defend a castle when your enemy can fly, etc. Basically, I want a better version of Heroes of Battle. While you're at it, replace the style of army listing they had in the back with a more generic version of different types of troops, regular and irregular. For instance, what kind of equipment, feats, and skills would a regular pikemen have? What about a combat engineer? What about different types of cavalry? For inspiration I direct you towards the 2e DMG. Seriously, I would buy this book so fast you'd look down and wonder where the book went and why your hands are full of cash.

You know, it would also be nice to cover some of the more bizarre circumstances that can arise in the game, such as combat at multiple heights (for, say, a straight down mine shaft where the fighting is occuring up and down the shaft, or for a flying encounter). I realize these are probably going to be mere explanations of existing rules, but I think it could be really useful anyway.

While I'm at it, I'll shoot for the moon and look for books on low-magic campaigns (I love Iron Heroes, but it simply doesn't provide enough character classes, and some overlap already, and they ignored mounted combat as well), or for making alchemy more useful.

In addition, I'd love to see books of class variants (I really loved substitution levels) for all kinds of things, like elemental variants (for your Arabian style campaigns).

I'll be greedy and ask for rules on organizations, a la the Affiliations system in the PHB II (come on, you guys used it in Dungeon, you must know how lovely it was).

I don't suppose you can work in a book on the more mundane things in life, like how to provide a workable economy, with steady food and water supplies for cities, and a list of all the ridiculous mundane goods your local town likely has. Preferably this would include crafting rules that make sense and would include a useful guide to incorporating your PC's profession into his adventuring career.

Hmm, let's see how many books that could be consolidated into: One book (The Definitive Guide to Combat) to cover the mass combat rules, combat in odd situations, etc. One book to cover low-magic conditions, including such things as a more useful system of alchemy. Heck, let's add all the mundane things to that book as you'll need a better crafting system for the low-magic setting anyway (and Alchemy uses Craft too).

Sweet, that's only about one year's worth of books if you include a bestiary too. That means you can put variant class abilities in books devoted to classes. Considering that the PFPRG Core is filled with lots of stuff you might be able to cover every class in-depth in one book if you aren't hellbent on filling it with feats and PrC's no one will ever use. Heck, you could do a single volume covering all the core races plus new ones and monster PC's (which are a must) like this too.

If you included stuff like this I'd subscribe even though I'd likely never use the Epic or Psionics stuff that a lot of people want to see.

I think I'll quit talking now and try to remember what I was doing before I saw this thread more than an hour ago.

Hmm, maybe I should have looked at that a little closer. The target 13 encounters of the party's EL to a level is what the fast track is set at. Apparently I had assumed the middle road was what the 3.5 one was. In other words, disregard my above post completely.

I admittedly fell into the trap of #4. I did it for a couple of reasons, though: one was that I wanted to show the potential uses of the item. The other was admittedly more to help justify some of the decisions I made in the creation guidelines (particularly regarding cleric domains and spells, by utilising one of the Pathfinder deities listed in the cleric section of PRPG).

Admittedly, I added a tiny bit to the flavor beyond that by setting up what I thought was a cool mental image involving the item, but was probably way more than was needed for this submission (on the other hand, part of it was that I had a lot of words left before the 200 word limit).

Another vote for higher levels.

I like higher levels. There might be some problems, but a decent adventure can counter many of them. Which means that high level adventures are quite useful for this!

Plus, I think adventure paths should comprise a whole campaign, and ideally, that one goes from 1-20. While there are people who don't like the APs going that high, there are also those who don't like them to stay too low.

Runelords had a decent spread: Players reached level 16, maybe even level 17, by the end of that path.

I think an AP should at least go to 15. For those who want the other 5 levels, there could be adventures that make good "sequels" to the APs.

Well, PRPG Beta has three different rates for gaining experience. Why not just run this with the fast rate (should level you up about 33% faster) and simply upgrade the monsters and traps to the higher CR's you need?

I know it would be preferable to have Paizo update these villains to the higher CR's you'd need, but they've already said they aren't interested in web enhancements or in wasting the space in the Pathfinder issues themselves. Perhaps with the community use license that is forthcoming you could get a whole group of DM's together to provide updated stats for this and spread the work around?

James Jacobs wrote:

Which branches nicely into my standing rant that we have effectively 8 stat blocks for "Horses" (light, heavy, light war, heavy war, pony, war pony, mule, donkey) but not a single one for goat (or cow, or hippo, or alligator, or any number of other more interesting animals).

I want stats for a goat! And a dire goat! And a war goat! One a dwarf can ride! Something inspiring! like this: Dwarven Paladin

(yes, I know its a big horned sheep but work with me people.)

Death to all demonic horses everywhere (they steal your souls I say)

Not to ruin a good joke, but there are stats for a dire goat (and dire ram) in the Tome of Horrors (Revised).

EDIT: Working backwards from the Dire Goat there, I present you with the goat itself.

Small Animal

Hit Dice: 1d8+1 (5 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 40 ft (8 squares)
Armor Class: 12 (+1 Dex, +1 size), touch 12, flat-footed 11
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-1 (Using PRPG rules, -4 in 3.5)
Attack: Headbutt +0 melee (1d4)
Full Attack: Headbutt +0 melee (1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Trample 1d4
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +1
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +3, Spot +3
Feats: Alertness
Environment: Temperate Plains
Organization: Solitary, pack (2-5), or herd (6-11)
Challenge Rating: 1/4
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always Neutral
Advancement: None
Level Adjustment: -

Trample (Ex): Reflex DC 10 half. The save DC is Strength-based.

Note: I've been looking into this for a while anyway as orcs and half-orcs are nomadic herdsmen in the campaign setting I've been developing.

Additional Note: The Tome of Horrors is definitely one of the greatest third party books for 3rd edition. Go buy it if you don't have it.

Definitely a #1. I looked around for an item to enter and thought of one I'd wished there was when I was playing a cleric a few years ago. After that it was just a matter of getting the flavor and mechanics right (not that I haven't thought of several revisions to those since I submitted it).

In general, however, I'm always very much against the "I use giant humongous anime weapons because it's much cooler than using normal weapons" feats. Monkey Grip, plus all of these oversized lance feats and oversize polearm feats, just don't sit well with me. Yes, I know all the art shows people wielding Huge weapons... but I don't care for that, either.

Actually, this wasn't inspired in my mind by anime, but rather by the effective tactics of the Polish Hussars, who proved cavalry was still an effective unit type long after the rest of Europe had given up on it. They used lances up to 5 meters in length or more to overreach pikemen.

It seems like mounted combat is still not getting the attention it deserves. It's a huge part of the history that modern fantasy is based on and everyone loved the knight charging with a lance as a kid, so where is he in 3.x and PFRPG?

It definitely seems like there need to be more feats for mounted combat, so here are a few ideas.

UNSEAT (Combat)

You are skilled at unseating your mounted opponents.
Prerequisites: Mounted Combat, Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush
Benefits: When charging an opponent while mounted and wielding a lance, resolve the attack as normal. If it hits the character may immediately make a bull rush attempt in addition to the normal damage. Resolve the bull rush as normal, with two exceptions: the enemy may only be pushed back to the first square behind his mount, and the enemy always falls prone in this space.

SHOVE THAT IN YOUR PIKE AND SMOKE IT (Combat) (Yes, it needs a better name)

You are skilled at wielding a larger lance than normal.
Prerequisites: Mounted Combat, Martial Weapon Proficiency (lance), STR 13
Benefits: You may wield a lance one size category larger than normal. You take a -2 penalty to attack with this weapon. In addition, you gain reach as though of a creature of that size category while wielding this oversized lance. (For example, a Medium human with a Large lance will have a 15 ft. reach)

On the other hand, to combat this new menace you'll need a fair amount of flexibility with polearms (and they need a lot of work as it is). So I propose the following feats:

POINTY END GOES IN OTHER GUY (Combat) (Please give me a better name)

You are more skilled at dealing with charging opponents than most.
Prerequisites: -
Benefits: When you set a weapon against a charge, you deal triple damage instead of double.

UNHORSE (Combat)

You know how to drag a man from the saddle.
Prerequisites: Combat Expertise, Improved Trip
Benefits: When you ready an action to set against a charge, if that attack hits and the opponent is mounted you may make a free trip attack against him.

NO, THIS IS A PIKE (Combat) (Names, please, I'm dying up here)

You are skilled in the use of oversized polearms.
Prerequisites: STR 13
Benefits: You may wield a polearm with reach up to one size category larger than you normally could. You take a -2 to attack with this weapon. In addition, you gain reach with this weapon as though you were one size category larger than you are. (For example, a Medium human with a longspear has a 15 ft. reach)

If anyone else has any ideas about mounted feats or critiques about the feats above, please let me know.

Early in the new year, we expect to announce the details of our free Pathfinder RPG Compatibility License, by which publishers can create OGL products using the Pathfinder RPG rules and promote their compatibility with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

May I officially say that is freaking awesome?!

I've been contemplating compiling a campaign setting and a bunch of adventures for it and putting them in PDF format (I have a bit of pre-press experience and a great artist so I think I can do the whole PDF creation myself) but I was wondering if I'd be able to publish them as Pathfinder RPG compatible. Now I know.

Hmm, I'm running out of excuses not to get this done now.

taig wrote:

I'm from the not so exotic land of North Carolina.

Exotic? Not really. But we have the best damn college basketball and best barbecue in the world. :)

I'm from rural Oklahoma, but I grew up in South Carolina, which clearly has the best barbecue in the world. Nothing beats mustard-based sauce.

I just submitted my item. I think I finally made it as perfect as I could and I look forward to seeing what the judges think. Best of luck to everybody.