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Polling the community for this one. What has been a more satisfying encounter? A dragon with Draconic Frenzy/Momentum, or a Dragon with spell-casting? I'm looking for input from players and GM's on this one, even if you haven't been through both as yet I'll still be happy to hear how your dragon encounter went.
What is the default duration of Clumsy, Enfeebled, and Stupefied? I know that some effects that inflict these conditions might list a duration (which always trumps the default duration) but unlike most of the other conditions listed in the core book I can't seem to find a default duration.
My group is going to do the Playtest this week (finally), and I have no idea what to put on my sorcerer. I figured a handful of scrolls at various levels would be alright for their item slots (we're starting at level 5) but it seems spells and class feats/features eliminate a lot of what else I would've thought to grab back in Pathfinder 1e.
As I've yet to see Paizo officially release a template graft for traditional vampires (yet they got Jiang-Shi!? Come on...) I thought I'd take a crack at making a template graft myself and... well I could use some feedback. On one hand it's accurate but still seems a bit... much for a Starfinder creature. I will probably throw this out once Paizo publishes a proper template graft, but until then may I present to you... VAMPIRE TEMPLATE GRAFT (CR 5+)
Spell-like abilities:
Shadowless: Vampires cast no shadow and show no reflection in the mirror. Vampire Weaknesses: Vampires are held at bay by garlic, mirrors, or strongly presented holy symbols. These things don’t harm the vampire—they merely keep it at bay. A recoiling vampire must stay at least 5 feet away from the object of its revulsion and cannot touch or make melee attacks against that creature. Holding a vampire at bay takes a standard action. After 1 round, a vampire can overcome its revulsion of the object and function normally each round it makes a DC 25 Will save. Vampires cannot enter a private home or dwelling unless invited in by someone with the authority to do so. A vampire is staggered on the first round when exposed to direct sunlight, and destroyed on the next consecutive round if it cannot escape. Immersion in running water deals damage to a vampire equal to one-third of its hit points (unless it has a natural swim speed). Driving a wooden stake into a helpless vampire's heart slays it, though it returns to normal once the stake is removed unless the head is severed and anointed with holy water. Gaseous Form: As a standard action a vampire can turn itself into mist, turning themselves incorporeal and gaining a fly speed of 20ft. (perfect). A vampire cannot attack, cast spells, or use its spell-like abilities in this state nor can can it pass through solid objects, though it can slip through miniscule cracks. A vampire reduced to 0 hit points, instead of being destroyed, automatically assumes a Gaseous Form on its next turn, but loses Fast Healing and must return to its coffin within two hours or be utterly destroyed. After 1 hour of rest in its coffin, during which it lays helpless, the vampire regains its fast healing as normal. Blood Drain: If a vampire successfully establishes or maintains a pin, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 CON damage and gaining 5 temporary hit points that last for up to 1 hour. Create Spawn: A creature slain by a vampire's blood drain or energy drain rises from death as a vampire in 1d4 days. This vampire is under the command of the vampire that created it, and remains enslaved until its master’s destruction. A vampire may have enslaved spawn whose total CR is no greater than its CR; any spawn it creates that would exceed this limit become free-willed undead. A vampire may free an enslaved spawn in order to enslave a new spawn, but once freed, a vampire or cannot be enslaved again. Change Shape: In addition to the ability's description in the Universal Monster Rules, the vampire has the option to gain a flight speed of 40ft. with good maneuverability, and trades its slam natural attack for a bite natural attack. Summon Creature: As the summon creature spell, except that the vampire may only know the flying swarm, vermin swarm, and nocturnal predator summoning graft equal to the highest level of the spell the vampire can cast as appropriate for the vampire's CR, as well as three creatures with the nocturnal predator graft from the next lower-level summoning list.
I understand the written rules for NPC's and spells but honestly I can't help but feel that NPC spellcasters are hamstrung compared to PC's of the same level. For the most part I can ignore this by telling myself the NPC only has the spells actually important to their role in the game listed and they presumably know a few others that aren't likely to come up, but that starts to strain a bit when we get NPC's with the mystic class graft who don't get their connection spell as a bonus spell known, but rather it eats one of their known spells. Now in fairness, I'm saying all of this before I've actually fielded any spell-casting NPC's in my game so my concerns can probably be taken with a grain of salt. Though the time to field them is approaching soon and I'd like to know if I'm right to be concerned? If I am right how have you GM's who've handled NPC spell-casters done it?
I'm going to be running Starfinder for the first time in a few weeks, I've no doubt I'll need clarification on more than a few things but for now I just have one question. One source or two I've seen suggested that spells don't use material components, though a number of spells seem to call this into question. Is this simply a case of specific trumps general? If so how do I know if the items outlined in the descriptions are consumed or not?
I know that the Starfinder core rulebook had some quick conversion rules for bringing Pathfinder creatures over to your Starfinder game, but with the Alien Archive released NPC creation rules have now been defined. Admittedly I'm still trying to make sure I understand the creation rules, so I'm curious to know if anyone with a better grasp of them tried remaking Pathfinder monsters under the creation rules? If so how's that worked out?
Are there any classes and/or archetypes with sneak attack and an animal companion without multi-classing? I'd prefer something with a more martial bend but I won't be picky. No 3rd party please.
I'm going to be running King Xeros of Old Azlant (NOT, repeat, NOT for official PFS), for a group of 4 or 5 level 7 players. 1.) Brawler
From what I'm reading the first and last encounters look to be a bit beyond what a team of this size and level could reasonably handle. I want them to be challenging for certain, but right now the odds for those fights seem heavily slanted against the PC's. 1st Fight: I was thinking of making the Defense Construct's stats based off of a Coral Golem instead, DR still high enough to lower the damage of unprepared PC's (and render the harbor guards still useless) with respectable damage without the cursed wounds. Plus it's AC better meshes to give my PC's even or slighter-better-than even chances to hit. 2nd Fight: No concrete idea here, but I think maybe something other than the Xill Cleric 4, statting it up by Pathfinder's rules on adding class levels to monsters seems to push it a little far into the danger zone with her three Xill henchwomen. So if anyone has some feedback or advice on making these fights manageable but still challenging I'd appreciate it.
I have a player who is doing a shifter 5/brawler 2. They grabbed Feral Combat Training and Multiattack and I already ruled that Feral Combat Training will let their natural attacks work with Brawler's Flurry. However I'm not certain it will let them make as many attacks as they think it does. Here's what they've got on their sheet: 1.) First attack (-2 from brawler's flurry)
Do they have the right of it? If not what is the most attacks they can do in a full-round action?
I'm toying with the idea of the BBEG, a high-level wizard or other spellcaster, disguising themselves for their machinations, and found myself wondering if it'd be possible for one to pretend to be an entirely different class to further distance themselves from their true identity? Any suggestions? Ideas?
I want to make a martial character with some bardic influence. I know there's the skald but the impression I got from my read of the class was that it was more support and less warrior when my goal is the other way around. Or is there a way to build the skald to be the other way around? Failing that any archetypes from other classes that might better fit?
I've slated my group to run into a Remorhaz next session and I want to make this the most dangerous encounter that session; ideally the group will be in real danger of losing a PC or two but barring exceptionally bad rolls/tactics on the party's part I don't think it can wipe them, nor do I want it to. The group are all level 5 and consists of
Lastly the PC's do get a chance to identify that a Remorhaz frequents the area. I believe that covers the important details but if there's anything else you need to know to get a better picture I can try to answer (within reason) So any advice?
I'm going to be running scale the dragon for my gaming group (not for official PFS) but at a glance the dog-sledding rules seem quite different from anything I've ever run, and the Taer don't seem to have Pathfinder statblocks, and the 3.5 statblocks historically haven't sat well with my gaming group. Any advice on those points or any advice period you can offer would be much appreciated.
Note that the following topic may or may not involve some spoilers for PFS Scenario 16 "To Scale the Dragon" I've been running old PFS scenarios for my gaming group (Note that these ARE NOT official PFS games, the scenarios just seem fun on the whole) and I was thinking of doing "To Scale the Dragon," problem is that at a glance a whole lot of things set to happen in this scenario this has aged... poorly. The stand-out issues I see in prepping this are... 1.) The dog-sledding, both on the climb up and the chase/combat near the end. Do the dog-sledding rules as written in the book really hold up well still? 2.) The frequently encountered Taer don't appear to be in any of the bestiaries, and the old 3.5 statblocks almost never hold up against modern PF players. Any advice would be appreciated.
One of my players is excited about the Green Knight archetype, and as always when I encounter something new I told them I'll review it and get back to them. I admit I do find this love letter to the Arthurian Mythos amusing, however as I've not shared a table with even a normal cavalier yet I'm on shaky ground to make a decision. My general read is that the Green Knight mostly trades out the Cavalier's offensive and support abilities for abilities to increase survivability, yes? I've not seen vorpal in action either, is this weapon quality much of a game-changer? More generally how does survivability change the flow of combat at higher levels? And lastly, the main ability that concerns me is the ability to completely ignore will and fortitude saves that normally impose a partial penalty even on a success; will this ability be problematic? Thank you.
One of the players in my game is quite eager to get to the point where they can toss buildings with their telekinetic haul. I just need to know, how easily accomplished is this? Could they potentially uproot a whole dungeon? Cave the ceiling in? I don't wish to be unreasonable since they've generally been a good player but Telekinetic Haul looks as though it could rather easily get out of hand.
I'm tossing around ideas for a vampire antagonist, one idea was one that actually interacts with the PC's regularly, hidden in plain sight and all that. However the fact that vampires do not cast shadows, and to a lesser extent the lack of reflection, worries me that it'd tip off the PC's too early. What tricks are there to hide these giveaways?
I remember reading in "Qadira: Gateway to the East" that there were Half-Janni, and then Suli descended from them. But I didn't read any such thing in "Blood of Elements," which was published later, and to my knowledge the other geniekin never had any mention of descending from "Half-Djinn/Efreet/Shaitan/Marid" to the best of my recollection. And yes I know 'canon' can be a pretty loose term from group-to-group, I was just wondering if anyone knew the official stance.
I'm going to be doing "You Have What you Hold," from PFS' year of the Demon as a short one-off adventure for my group and I noticed that one of the enemy characters' tactics says they rage and then make judicious use of power attack and Dramatic Display. Dramatic Display is activated by combat performance, and perform is a CHA based skill, but rage explicitly forbids the use of INT, DEX, and CHA based skills while raging, yet some sources also seem to hint that, at least in the context of performance combat, performing during a rage is still acceptable. Can someone please clarify? Please and thank you.
I'm taking this line of feats for story reasons in one game, I'm not questioning using a feat to unlock more animal companion options, I'm questioning Monstrous Mount Mastery's necessity. Unless I missed something, which is quite possible I admit, The base companions haven't required extra feats in order to use them as mounts or even flying mounts, so why do these companions you've already spent a feat to unlock seem to require it? |
