Milani

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Got mine in! Excited to see what people come up with. And I'm always excited for more cleric options


Alchemic_Genius wrote:
As someone who LOVES the idea of an alchemist wizard, I was wondering if you had advice on specific combos. Atm, I can't really find a whole heck of a lot of synergy and neat plays, but I'll admit I'm a little newer to 2e wizards. I keep really wanting to yeet bombs with tk projectile, but I know I'm probs gonna be disappointed by how that actually plays mechanically
Quote:
You hurl a loose, unattended object that is within range and that has 1 Bulk or less at the target. Make a spell attack against the target. If you hit, you deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage—as appropriate for the object you hurled—equal to 1d6 plus your spellcasting ability modifier. No specific traits or magic properties of the hurled item affect the attack or the damage.

You bet. What you wanna do is get a familiar with fly and manipulate and make yourself the fantasy equivalent of a drone


Ssalarn wrote:
The-Magic-Sword wrote:
This book feels *packed* full of content in a way the World Guide and Character Guide didn't, maybe it's because Gods feel easy to port?

I actually think there's some interesting psychology to that. Gods and Magic, not including the charts in the back, has about 126 original mechanical elements in it. 20 of those are divine intercessions, which are solely GM tools, and 20 of those are the stat blocks for the avatar spell for the 20 additional deities that get bigger spreads. So even if you throw in the roughly 100 deities in the chart in the back and count all of the avatar variants, you've got about 206 (plus or minus a handful) new character options available to players in Gods and Magic. Lost Omens Character Guide had 271 original mechanical elements (not including the 15 page NPC section) without needing a chart of 100 thingamajigs in the back and 20 variants on a core spell to "pad" the numbers.

It's kind of interesting to ponder why it is that the book that has significantly more mechanical content is the one that doesn't feel as content packed.

I want to say it's just about the amount of content it's the type that matters since certain things are gonna ping new character ideas or builds buuuuut the Character guide was 3 new ancestries and a bunch of feats which are way more important now so I'm at a loss. Maybe the religious stuff is just more inspiring.


I'm also looking for any updates on the price of the Blade of the Open Road!!


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(Obviously) Milani for me. No religion like her's exists on earth so I couldn't claim it but the general outlook of Milanites (change, overthrowing tyranny, hope, etc.) very much fits in with mine. I have to imagine the church services are not unlike activist meetings. If not her, Cayden Cailiean or Desna; beer, dreams, and traveling are all things I like.


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http://www.mapsofgolarion.com/

Unofficial and Internet based but may be of use for you, depending on what you need it for.


You can get some goodies around tripping people and some extra damage if you have Inner Sea Gods by worshiping Zon-Kuthon and going the Sentinel route. That's probably the best route with the spiked chain, and you could probably fanangle a working build, but as others have said it's not the strongest build around


The Sun Rises in the East wrote:
Mikaze wrote:

There are a number of Empyreal Lords on the good side of things. Jalaijatali is probably the most well known at the moment. Most of the rest don't have much info, though they're based on RW African deities(Oro for example).

Hopefully, if Shimye-Magalla gets fleshed out more, she'll lean good.

Isn't she just a Mwangi-ized version of that Elven goddess? (her name escapes me at the moment)

And it would have been nice to see something based on the Yoruba pantheon with its many many gods and demigods.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Yoruba_deities

And a kingdom based on Songhai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songhai_Empire

While I agree having the Orishas as Gods would be interesting, and I do enjoy Paizo giving us the options to add already existing mythical concepts in Pathfinder (Archdevils, some Demon & Empyeral Lords, a whole host of creatures, etc), I think that it would not be wise for them to try and add those Gods into the list of "official" deities. Unlike some of the existing pantheons that have been added to Pathfinder (Egyptian Gods, Great Old Ones, etc), there are living adherents to the Orishas today, in the form of Santeria, Voodoo, Candomble, etc. I haven't asked any followers of those religions personally, but my inkling is that they wouldn't much appreciate their gods being used to make money for a bunch of non-followers here in the States. I suppose I could be wrong though. On a tangential note, I also want to see La Santa Muerte be a psychopomp for Pharasma (and given that the religion is about as close a CN religion as I've ever I doubt many adherents would see it as a point of pride or otherwise not care).


The way I've always seen a Campaign go through is that the "Cold War" (to borrow the phrase) between Molthune/Nirmathas is heating up, so players would need to choose a side and follow a series of quests a result of their choices, with possible double-crossings, etc. Basically, adventures who wander into some town and then, via the tension, get drafted into one side or the other, depending on their actions, and rise through the ranks of their faction's army, culminating in some big heroic showdown (battle, a small party storming a castle, etc). If you need to bring in the Pathfinder Society in some way, I'm sure there's a hook you can find via powerful artifacts in the Fangwood or something. Still I think the area is very interesting and there's lots to be done down that line of storytelling.


Undone wrote:

The problem is the WP is more or less balanced around the assumption that the WP bonus feats will either be Weapon focus/GWF/Weapon Specialization/GWS or feats which do something very powerful.

TWF is not very powerful. You can definitely make the character but he'll likely be fairly weak due to TWF not being a strong style.

TWF would be done better by a sacred fist wielding deities favored weapons with crusaders flurry. Same mechanics but with different abilities.

Not to necessarily disagree with you, but I find it interesting that many people seem to think that Archery is viable for Warpriest but TWF less so, even though they have much of the same problems (Long Feat Chains, Multiple Penalties for more/stronger attacks, DEX to hit vs. STR for damage). Is this simply because of the range (which also presents Cover issues), feats like Clustered Shots, relative ease of finshing the archey feat chain, or is there something I'm missing, or have I misread the general opinion on Archer Warpriests?


Aasiamars have a FCB that's +1/2 to determinig a revelation bonus for Oracles, which means you can have a level 15 Animal Companion at level 10 with the Lunar or Nature mysteries

Tieflings have one that's +1 healing to Lay on Hands for Paladins, which is usually better than the flat +1HP. They can make effective tanks as a result. Aasmiars are also good Paladins, with +2 STR/+CHA with no penalties for Angelkin.

Tieflings get the Half-Orc bonuses for Alchemists and Inquisitors, which make them pretty good choices for being a bomber or intimidate-based inquisitor.

Plumekith make good zen archers/archer inquisitors, and +2 DEX/+2 WIS isn't always available. Likewise, several Tieflings are +2 STR/+2 WIS, which I think is even rarer (Although as you said Dual talented humans can always do this, too).


Mountain volcanic druids can work for Asmodean druids; ie they want to preserve the places that are "Hell on Earth". Blight druid works for the fire and brimstone environments and has a lot of features that feel "evil". If this is taking place on Golarion, an urban druid for Egorian, Westcrown, etc. works as well. Finally, you could go with some animal route and take the animal shaman archetypes for something sacred to Hell.


Lingering Performance is a good feat overall, and since iirc ending bardic performance is a free action I believe it interacts with commands the way you want it to. Battle Herald specifically states that in general, you can use a command and Inspire Courage via lingering performance or similar effects. It saves up on rounds either way.

Wpn Focus is handy but not my first choice. Even with a 4-level dip in bard you're mostly going to be going mostly-full BaB with to hit buffs always on hand, so I wouldn't think it to be too much of a problem. I would consider it after other feats. If you want Dazzling Display and didn't take 2 levels of Order of the Cockatrice, I might consider this feat more highly.

Power Attack is always a must have, especially with a 2H weapon.

Furious Focus & Pushing Assault are also fine, again not my first choice.

Cornugon Smash is good because you need Intimidate ranks for entry anyway. Combine it with a cruel weapon and you can sicken, making you a more effective striker.

Instead of Toughness I would get a belt of CON, a +CON Ioun Stone, or Physical Might STR/CON.

Dodge and Blindfight are not terribly useful; you're probably not gonna go into the feat chain for Dodge and Blindfight is circumstantial.

Other feats to look into instead:

Flagbearer -- Doesn't stack with Heroism but can provide a static and constant Morale bonus. Goes up with the item Banner of the Ancient Kings, a must have for this kind of build.

Improved Initiative -- Your party probably wants you to lay down the buffs ASAP. This helps with that.

Discordant Voice -- You need 11 ranks in Perform but +1d6 on top of inspire courage is great.

Critical Focus -- Prereq for some of the other Critical feats that can stack even more debuffs.

Arcane Strike -- If you have a spare feat, it can help for more damage. Note that the Arcane Duelist Bard Archetype gives it to you for free. (EDIT: I just notice you took the archetype. I'll leave this here for anyone else who would like the advice :))

Hope this helps!


Cr500cricket wrote:
Is Empyreal Knight any good?

Long story short: No, especially if go Aasmiar

First, you lose Divine Grace for the ability to speak...Celestial. Losing a great feature for something a skill point can take care of if you're Tiefling, literally nothing for you if your Aasimar.

Next, you gain resistances. Handy (although less potential utility than Mercy) for a human, useless again for Empyreal Knights.

You lost lay on hands and Channel energy, again two great ways of keeping yourself/others alive, to Summon Monster 3-4 times/day. Summon Monster is a good spell, but if that's your plan you can play a cleric or wizard or something, rather than a largely martial class.

The bond can be nice if you want to use a mount, but you can take the Celestial servant feat and similar stats.

The capstone ability is nice I guess, but I've never played at 20.

There are a lot of good archtypes to further get to sub roles for paladins (tank, support, damage dealer, etc.). Empyreal Knight helps you with none of those.


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Set wrote:

I like to go with the assumption that the world exists as it does not in spite of the presence of magic, but because of the presence of magic, and that some of the desert climes, for instance, would be completely uninhabitable without the existence of people able to magically create water.

Instead of asking the question, 'why is the world the way it is despite X,' the built in solution is to take it a step further back and assume that the world is the way it is *because* of X. Create water doesn't invalidate the existence of water-scarce desert cultures, it allows them to exist in areas so water-scarce that they wouldn't even exist without those magical resources, which also provides built in plot hooks, as village Y depends on their few adepts to keep the well topped off, and when a few of them are kidnapped in a gnoll raid, suddenly the entire village's survival hangs in the balance, as the town cistern keeps getting lower every day, and there is nobody to top it off (or not enough remaining adepts/clerics/whatever to keep up with demand)...

[I picked create water out of a hat, since it's been brought up before, but any of the other questions, like how plagues could exist in a world with remove disease, or how kings can die in a world where every kingdom has X people capable of raising the dead, can be dealt with similarly. Raise dead, in fact, is a *great* way to showcase how the world would develop / advance / progress much more slowly, since it's a sad scientific truism that for there to be any progress, the old generation, and their death-grip on their own theories, have to die off and make room for new thinking. In a world where the 'old generation' keeps coming back to hold onto the reins of power, and at the forefront of thought and philosophy, where the church doctrines are handed down from outsiders who *never change their minds,* no matter what their followers think of birth control or lady bishops, the world would be wildly more stagnant and traditionalist and resistant to change than our...

Additionally, I kinda of want to challenege that magic isn't saturated in society. I mean, I can think of several PFS scenarios where magic is used in the ways that people are saying it isn't (i.e. Hallways with Continual Flame cast on them, walls that clean themselves with permanent prestidigation spells, basins of unclean water with a wand of purify food and drink next to it). It seems to me like there is plenty of magic in society. I mean, would a ray of frost actually be a more cost effective solution than just getting a block of ice?


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Axial wrote:
Nog64 wrote:

Well, I believe that all of Malebranche come from the Inferno by Dante, and the Archdevils are from the bible or texts like the Ars Goeta. Many of the names came from the 15th century, if not earlier, then were handed down in many occult texts. Of course, it's worth noting Asmodeus was also the name of the devil in DnD.

As for Demons, there's a difference in that it draws from other cultures the world over, as opposed to simply medieval Europe. Many come from classical Mediterranean or Celtic cultures, i.e. Orcus, while others come from the near East, like Lamashtu (who, I believe, was also a deity in DnD lore along with Pazazu). A similar theme run in the Empyreal Lords, although I believe a lot of more of them are made up.

The daemonic harbingers, on the other hand, I believe are mostly creations of Paizo. I don't know of any divine beings by names of the harbingers; by contrast, the names of the Horsemen are generally borrowed again from the bible or classical Greek/Roman sources. Additionally, while Szuriel (and Ragathiel) are not directly borrowed from biblical or Christian references, their names suggest that they are angels (as Michael, Raphael, etc).

Maybe Ragathiel is based on Raguel.

My guess is that he based largely on Michael, not due to similarities in backstory but to their militant dedication to destroying Satan/Asmodeus/Hell/etc.'s forces.


Major_Blackhart wrote:

Well, part of the reasoning behind his choosing Uruskreil is because his weapon familiarity is going the route of Chain Fighter.

His background is that he was a slave for a time, and a pit fighter, before he was sold to a religious order to act as a bodyguard and enforcer. Eventually, he earned his freedom through his actions.

That's another part of his choosing Uruskreil as his deity over others. Uruskreil is merciless, violent, and "cuts down the weak with his great sword. His terrible armor holds a vision of the Divine."

Normally I'd choose Gorum without hesitation, but Gorum isn't a lawful deity who would really care so much about tracking down lawbreakers unless they were deserters or soldiers who cowardly betrayed information to the enemy, etc.

Then again, maybe I just solved my problem...

Edit: Plus, Gorum might make sense because the character was a pit fighter.

Yeah I've thought about a similar build and I always liked Gorum flavor wise because there are specific edicts against cowardice, running away, etc., which could lead to a different style of "bounty hunter". Poison users, people who kill those who cannot fight (different than innocents who choose not to fight, mind you) and others can all fall under the purview of holy/unholy retribution from Gorum.


You'll probably want to consider Dazzling Display if you're going to be in melee, since you will definitely be able to out intimidate just about any one.

Beyond that, I would take Power Attack (obviously), Cornugon Smash for more free intimidates, Perhaps Improved Critical later on if you want that feat chain.


Well, I believe that all of Malebranche come from the Inferno by Dante, and the Archdevils are from the bible or texts like the Ars Goeta. Many of the names came from the 15th century, if not earlier, then were handed down in many occult texts. Of course, it's worth noting Asmodeus was also the name of the devil in DnD.

As for Demons, there's a difference in that it draws from other cultures the world over, as opposed to simply medieval Europe. Many come from classical Mediterranean or Celtic cultures, i.e. Orcus, while others come from the near East, like Lamashtu (who, I believe, was also a deity in DnD lore along with Pazazu). A similar theme run in the Empyreal Lords, although I believe a lot of more of them are made up.

The daemonic harbingers, on the other hand, I believe are mostly creations of Paizo. I don't know of any divine beings by names of the harbingers; by contrast, the names of the Horsemen are generally borrowed again from the bible or classical Greek/Roman sources. Additionally, while Szuriel (and Ragathiel) are not directly borrowed from biblical or Christian references, their names suggest that they are angels (as Michael, Raphael, etc).


Yohan Smith wrote:
Corvino wrote:

If you're playing PFS then Calistria can grant the important Trickery domain. Given her portfolio and other Domains you could RP this a number of ways. Combining the Trickery and Luck domains (powerful choices in themselves) you could focus on the gossip and thrill-seeking aspects of the goddess. It could mesh with the Mystic Theurge in that your character is a curious and carefree individual, hungry for knowledge as well as new experiences.

This character actually gives a roleplaying gloss to what I would consider to be a pretty powerful Mystic Theurge build - Conjuration(teleportation) Wizard 3/Cleric of Calistria 1/Mystic Theurge X. You delay your Arcane casting by only 1 level for a good amount of Cleric spells. It's not as early-entry as some builds but is viable for any race.

Yeah, Calistra does sound like a nice deity. Only thing is, I don't really want to give up my deity as Nethys. I already built my flavor around him [including why he is entering early], and don't particularly want to change it, I like the flavor Nethys as a deity [for those of you who don't know, he basically learned so much about magic that he managed to ascend to godhood without need of the starstone, and he learned so much that it drove him to an insane paradox of himself, where half of him seeks to destroy and the other to create], and I also don't see what the problem with being a separatist is anyhow. If someone could explain why it is a "gimped" archetype, I might be flexible, but as is I don't see any issue with Separatist as a dip archetype.

It's "gimped" because you're giving up a weapon proficiency and 2 "stuff" (DCs and caster level) on a domain for basically no trade off. IF it were the case that there were only a few gods, the archetype might have some value, but as it stands, I would wager than literally any combination of two domains or subdomains you wanted you could get without having to resort to the archetype; outside of PFS, you can worship an ideal and pick any two domains, rendering the archetype completely obsolete. As I said before, from an RP perspective, I think it's good to have a challenge on making a character idea fit a certain god, and if you're coming at it from a build first, choosing the right god can conversely help set up a good back story.

Of course, you're the guy with the Nethys avatar, and, as you say, the drawbacks are minimized if it's only a one level dip. It's your choice to choose that path, and it's perfectly legitimate: it's just not "optimal", and the fix to make it so is relatively simple.


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There is a group of worshippers of Nethys who go around ensuring people are using magic correctly and helping those harmed by it...in order to ensure spellcasters continue to have a good name and that magic continue to be used on Golarion. I always thought that was a good backstory for an inquisitor who hated magic.


LN Human Cleric of Erastil

Son of Isgeri immigrants to Andoran, settled in the Darkmoon Vale and led a comfortable (relatively speaking, for the region) life. Loves Andoran and free trade, small government, and yeoman farmers. Rides on the back of a Roc (Giant Eagle) and uses a longbow to take down people. Thinks that the laws of Andoran are the best and should be applied to all other countries, without any nuance. Thinks a Constitutional Democracy is the best course of action, always, without exception.

I have a mental image when I play this character, but I wanna how other people feel about him.


If I were your GM, I would argue that using a Hat of Disguise would almost always violate your Vow of Truth. You're using an item to deliberately deceive people about your identity! Check with your GM beforehand to ensure this doesn't cause a problem.


Let me ask you this question: Is it harder for you to RP a Theruge of a god who has the trickery domain, or a play a Seperatist with all its drawbacks? The Seperatist isn't a great archetype because there are so many gods that it is easier (and, in my opinion, more rewarding) to find a god that completely matches your build rather than using Seperatist to screw around with it.
Here is a list of all the deities with Trickery. Let it inspire you! You'll have better crunch and perhaps even better fluff. Of course, you don't have do it; just IMO Seperatist is a bad archetype because it always gimps your character and can close people off to an even more enriching RP experience. Just my two cents.

Beyond that, the build is a good idea. The early access is especially key in PFS, so I understand the desire for Trickery.


I think it's just a rules thing. However, you could probably interpret it in that someone who embodies that alignment in the way a cleric would just wouldn't follow Nethys. There's too much room for good/evil/chaos/law for them to truly dedicate themselves, and so they either seek another god, or slide into one of the neutral alignments naturally. Worship is a two way street, in a sense.


I was a huge fan of a lot of the books delving into lesser powers (ie the Infernal Dukes, Empyreal Lords, etc), but I noticed there wasn't anything for a neutral character. Sometimes the good/evil character building can be a bit restrictive so it would be cool to have some of the Proteans, Inevitables, and Psychopomps as something to be worshipped. The latter is cool because it allows for some completely neutral, life/death characters to be made outside of Pharasma. I'd hazard a guess this may be something you guys will do in the future but I think it would cool.


I think to think that Cayden has the ability to wear all the magic belts he wants as part of his godhood.