As a GM I hate page-flipping. I hate the systemic distractions and delays that come with PNP RPGs. I have found a distinct correlation between the sheer labor that comes with playing RPGs, and my players becoming distracted and disengaged (followed by the tippy-tappy of texting).
Experienced players and dedicated GMs can stream-line these problems by memorizing dozens of pages of rules and tables, but this takes hundreds of hours of preperation and play time. That is a lot of work just to play a game fairly and efficiently. Worse, many players will carve out comfort zones--a personal bubble of rules knowledge--that they will rarely stray from because to do so would mean more memorization. More notes. More work. This limits experimentation and creativity.
I love VTTs and other digital aids for gaming. The point of roleplaying is not to crunch numbers, memorize tables and spells, or look up rules. The point is to have fun. I have found that using digital aids actually helps my players stay engaged. Less time spent digesting rules and numbers means more time for role-playing, tactics, and experimentation.
Digital character sheets, automated dice rolls for NPCs and monsters (and some times PCs), automated loot, quick and easy shopping, beautiful high resolation maps with fog of war, etc. All of these features can free up precious time and brain power.
If we want the hobby to grow we must adapt and improve.
As some one who was skeptical of the OWS movement when it began, I'm impressed by how it has shifted the economic narrative in the US from national debt to income equality. The movement has its problems (the attraction of "professional activists," hipsters, anarchists, and other social piranha), but raising awareness about our country's third-world income disparity is a great achievement.
Israel spends a greater percentage of its GDP on its military than the US does.
I fully believe in peace through military superiority. There hasn't been a period in history where a military power vacuum has gone unfilled. The choice then is between a military hegemony administered by a sometimes malevolent, sometimes benevolent constitutional republic where "we" (American citizens) can still influence policy--or we can choose to end the US military status quo, and leave the void to be filled by totalitarian regional powers with their own bloody track records.
If there is a third alternative, I'd love to hear it.
Certainly, there are a handful of poor "professional" reviewers out there, but by and large they do their jobs.
The reviewers aren't the problem. The major game publishers (like EA) provide the advertising revenue that keeps the gaming magazines and websites afloat. There is an obvious conflict of interest when a gaming journalist submits a review on a website that is covered in ads for the game he just reviewed. As a result, review scores for heavily marketed games (like DA 2) are artificially inflated. If you don't believe me read this.
The Escapist website was dominated by Dragon Age 2 ads leading up to the game's launch. No surprise that they gave the game a perfect 5/5.
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On the other hand, an aggregate fan review system just tends to cause the score to settle near a 50/5.0. As the hundreds of laughably low reviews are balanced out by the hundreds of laughably high reviews, it becomes the actually decent fan reviews that get smoothed over, because those are the outliers.
This is simply not true. Mass Effect 2's aggregate user review score is 88 compared to an average critic review of 94. When a game is genuinely good the user score will also be good. When a game fails to live up to its own hype it gets hammered. This is a good thing.
This is the first time I felt like I've been in Athkatla since Baldur's Gate II.
Oh, c'mon now. It's one thing to like the game, but DA 2 is nothing like BG II. They are very different animals. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, though. I wish I could say the same.
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In any case, the action is there to keep the rhythm between brilliant dialogue and meaningful choices.
I agree that DA 2 is best viewed as an interactive novel, rather than as a game that you play and explore.
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Besides how could I hate a game that lets me sarcastic and snarky in EVERY conversation? I am GIDDY - finally a PC that gets to be the funny one.
Yes, but even here they failed to import the best feature of Mass Effect 2:
Maybe you didn't get my reply to your first post...read up, the thread is not too long, I will not post it again. There is a list of important information revealed by the leaks, a list which is only a small subset of valuable information which should be public.
I replied to your post. The link you provided did not specify what ground breaking information--if any--came from Manning's documents. What exactly did this man accomplish?
Or (the more parsimonious alternative) people with primed expectations are unable to reasonably judge something on its own merits.
I've clearly stated every major problem I have with the game. Repetitive combat, an over-abundance of fetch quests, launch day DLC, and bland environments are generally regarded as negative points for a game.
Scott Betts wrote:
User reviews are terrible.
If you ignore the raving lunatics (on both sides) then user reviews are the best source for unbiased info on a game. If the major publications give a game 90% reviews, and the average user review is 50-60%, that's a good indication something is wrong. Personally I'd rate the game a 7/10.
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Don't I feel like a complete goober. Here I was, having an absolute BLAST playing the game and enjoying it greatly.
I enjoyed the first 10 hours or so, and then it slowly dawned on me how shallow the combat is, how bland and repetitive the environments are, and how some of the best aspects of the first game have been completely abandoned for no apparent reason.
If you're getting your $60 worth, then more power to you.
DA2 has received favorable reviews. I'm pretty sure it's going to be far from the most disappointing game of the year. Most nerdrage-inducing game? Perhaps.
What constitutes disappointing? Expecting greatness and getting much less? Because all those favorable reviews are what contributed to my disappointment.
Check user reviews for DA 2 on Metacritic and you will find they are much less favorable. Gaming journalism is nothing but a hype machine for the big publishers.
I said it wasn't a bad game. It just doesn't measure up to Bioware's standards and it certainly doesn't measure up to the $60 dollar price tag. Also who ever came up with this "day 0 premium DLC" crap needs to die in a fire. There is no way to justify charging players more money for something that should be included in the full game (in this case an "extra" character). It's pure f~$#ing greed.
Here's my beef with the game itself:
Spoiler:
--Character creation is a direct transplant from Mass Effect. Gone is the first game's incredibly diverse character creation system. Instead, you are Shepard--er, I mean Hawke--the human refuge from Lothering. period. You can be nothing else.
--The environments are nothing but dull, copy-pasted corridors. I can't think of a single interesting set piece in the entire game. As a result exploration is non-existent as your party is rail-roaded from one bland corridor to the next. You spend 80% of the game in the same city with the same beige and off-white textures, the same boring architecture, and the same generic NPCs.
--Combat is visually impressive but ultimately unsatisfying and repetitive. The game throws wave after wave of trash mobs at you with no regard for tactics. Enemies will literally materialize out of thin air behind your party. This renders tactics even more redundant because no matter how carefully you position your party its all for nothing if enemies can just spawn from out of a SOLID WALL next to your casters. And they will.
--The story arc lacks focus, or any real purpose for that matter. Most of the missions are nothing but simplistic fetch quests padded for time by repetitive combats with a very limited range of enemies. One quest has you fighting an entire dungeon full of nothing but dragon whelps whose only tactic is to charge in and melee. This is the sort of poorly planned tripe you'd get from a novice GM.
--The soundtrack is a forgettable rehash of the first game.
This is a terrible film. It could have been a decent popcorn action flick if the f!%!ing camera WOULD HOLD STILL FOR 2 GOD DAMNED SECONDS! The editing is so fast and choppy the audience never has a clue what exactly is going on. Who's shooting at who? Where are the bad dudes in relation to the good dudes? Who just died? Don't ask me, man, I'm just watching the bloody thing.
The only entertaining part in the whole movie is when Michelle Rodriguez gets blasted in the face with alien fluids and the locker-room joke that follows. Yeah, they went there.
This will go down as the most disappointing game of 2011. Bioware intentionally set the bar low for themselves, and then put forth just enough time and effort to make their chin-up. This was done so that the game could be finished within a ridiculously short development cycle (12 months between the release of Awakening and Dragon Age 2). The game is such a blatant, cynical cash-grab on the part of Bioware and EA that I actually feel betrayed. I will never purchase another Bioware product on launch day.
The game itself isn't bad, but it's not good enough or long enough to warrant the premium price ($60 on PC). It should have been a full-blown expansion to the original Dragon Age like Throne of Bhaal was to Baldur's Gate II.
The only possible answer I can think of is Catti-brie, and I don't remember her fainting.
It's been well over a decade since I read the Crystal Shard (and I skimmed it) but I'm pretty sure that's the character. I recall a BBEG took her prisoner and kept using some sort of fear ability to get her to shutup.
I often found myself rooting for the villains when reading Salvatore.
I remember Salvatore emphasizing in an interview that his novels were NOT in accordance with the game system. He said that this approach would not make for a good novel. He cited, as an example, a high-level character that got felled in one blow in one of his novels, which he said would be quite impossible in a game.
This may be true of his later novels, but his earlier work is obviously transcribed from gaming sessions. I remember a scene in the Crystal Shard that went something like:
[strong-willed, brave female protagonist]: Who are you? Watch yourself or I'll blah blah blah typical 80s empowered female character posturing.
[BBEG with a really scary looking face]: OOGA-BOOGA!
[strong-willed, brave female protagonist]: *fails will save and faints*
later...
[strong-willed, brave female protagonist]: You'll never get away with this! I'm not afraid of you. The forces of G will always triumph over E!
[BBEG with a really scary looking face]: OOGA-BOOGA!
[strong-willed, brave female protagonist]: *fails will save and faints*
Yeah...nothing at all of importance. A bigger list with links to the articles is on
Unless I missed something, none of what you listed there came from Manning. I didn't attack Wikileaks. I said that Manning got himself thrown in jail for nothing (assuming he is found guilty).
The novels did not start getting good until they made the decision to scrap the game system when it got in the way, which they did to the point where they virtually ditched it entirely for the Twins novels.
Too bad Salvitore never got this. You can practically see the characters rolling for saves and skill checks in his novels. Awful.
Manning leaked thousands of classified documents that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that in war civilians often die.
His leak exposed nothing. We expect collateral damage in Afghanistan because that is an integral part of the Taliban's tactics. If you fight in or near populated centres you will have civilian casualties. period.
We're supposed to be shocked that war is terrible? Manning got himself life in prison for nothing.
Spells in my home game are very powerful -- but they're so hard to get off reliably in combat that martial characters end up doing all the heavy lifting.
That kind of game suits me and my players, but I'll be the first to acknowledge that it isn't for everyone.
Fair enough, but why would anyone actually play a spell-casting class in this system?
All the non-combat spells. ;)
See, this aspect of magic is much harder to plan for and balance than combat spells. I can usually balance combat for high power casters without punishing the rest of the party. On the other hand, to have a caster PC actively working to bypass story, RP, and puzzle sections with "spells" can be very frustrating.
I hope so. Our very strong opinion is that 3.X is so drastically imbalanced in favor of casters that only an equally large tilt in the playing field could right it.
Wait, I'm sorry, is this a thread about 3.X or Pathfinder? Honest question.
Kirth Gersen wrote:
And, seriously, skill rolls are no match for find the path and wind walk.
I agree. Spells like those present real balance problems to the GM (at least for me). In combat I can easily shatter the glass cannon, especially if he is assigning slots to non-combat spells. Out of combat, dealing with all the wizard's built-in game breakers is a real head-ache. Though it can be fun. Some times. Rarely.
You could ask my players. The thing is to keep a large mix of combat, exploration, and investigation going on. Casters are indispensable for the latter two. In combat, they can turn the tide if and only if the martials buy them some breathing room.
A player accustomed to playing a caster because they dominate everything in combat and out of it would certainly be very unhappy playing my game.
If your players enjoy themselves then more power to you, but I get the feeling that at higher levels your system will become increasingly imbalanced as fighters gain additional iterative attacks and feats.
Exploration and investigation are things which almost any class can be good at with a combination of good RP, skill rolls, and items.
Spells in my home game are very powerful -- but they're so hard to get off reliably in combat that martial characters end up doing all the heavy lifting.
That kind of game suits me and my players, but I'll be the first to acknowledge that it isn't for everyone.
Fair enough, but why would anyone actually play a spell-casting class in this system?
@Gnome- If you read some of cranewings other threads, you may notice a pattern. Don't think of it as class balance. Think more in the lines of a low magic/martial class encouraged game. Like alot of fantasy fiction, casters will be rare, and a fighter can often shrug off their mind effects if he just wills it. Casters will be greatly dependent on martial classes for protection, but can offer versatile noncombat or buffing uses and the occasional situational lucky blast vs bad guys.
This can all be handled from the GM side without making potentially imbalanced house rules for every contingency. If cranewings wants a low magic campaign then he can lower the number and level of NPC wizards and build their spell lists with fewer save or suck spells. Problem solved.
If, however, he has beef with PC wizards then he should just ban them from his game, or ban the most abused save or suck spells. No player likes having their character nerfed. In cranewings case I can imagine some poor schmuck taking the time to roll a wizard before being handed a laundry list of nerfs and do-nots and can-nots.
So you make the wizard into a low AC, low BAB, low HP buff-bot that gets an occasional, situational lucky blast vs. bad guys while the super-powered fighters charge in killing everything. That's supposed to be fun?
It won't be. Not for the wizard, and ironically not for the Fighters either.
Don't fall into the trap of giving your wife a support class to play. I've seen this mistake repeated again and again with a new female player. The group hands her the support class because she's the woman and as we all know women are naturally inclined to tracking complex spell, religious, and alignment systems why channeling holy energy to turn or dominate the undead--all with no prior experience.
Make sure she gets a simple class with a simple build so that she can learn the basics and still feel like she's contributing.
I've sparred with someone using a spear in my kung-fu class. Geeting near enough to strike at my parter wasn't easy.
Keep in mind that to close the distance with you an opponent must take an attack of opportunity from your spear. Once he is adjacent to your square he can stay inside your reach with a 5-foot step, but actually penetrating your 10-foot bubble will provoke an AoO.
Ah, it's been a while since this issue came up in one of my games, so I just scanned a SRD real quick and misinterpreted any movement as move action. My bad.
To clarify: the SRD I'm reading classifies standing up as a move-equivalent action.
Trip them at 10 feet. Standing up is a move action that provokes an attack of opportunity. If they stand up they can't take a 5 foot step that round. Their best option (assuming this is high level play with iterative attacks) is to take another move action to get inside your reach. This provokes another AoO. You have combat reflexes, right? ;)
The point, yes Japanese men are generally short so I have to agree that the majority were 2-handed katana wielders.
That isn't why they held the Katana with both hands. Wielding a cutting weapon with both hands gives more power, more speed, and more control no matter how tall or short you are.
Giving the Katana the stats of a curved blade is OP assuming the Samurai gets Exotic Prof: Katana for free. Add Keen or Improved Critical and the DPR is better than a Greatsword on top of a bonus CMD against Sunder and it's finesse-able. Why should a Katana be finesse-able?
She got her start as a standard Aguilera pop mimic, realized that wouldn't get her very far (not pretty enough), so she tried the batshit crazy approach and it paid off.
The video is gross by mass media standards. I wonder what the casual fans think of it?
If you'd like an extra bit of realism, allow players to treat the Buckler as a 1d3 light martial bludgeoning weapon if wielded (held) in the off-hand. If you attack with the Buckler you lose the AC bonus for that round.
Really? there is no other way the katana can be used?
I didn't say that. I said that a cutting weapon with a handle long enough to be gripped with both hands is probably intended to be used with both hands.
If samurai don't use shields, what is the point of wielding a Katana with only one hand?
Katana not so much, alot of the older paintings and pictures depicting the samurai using a sword two handed, were probably from (the art looks it) an earlier age and so was not likely the katana but a bigger weapon (the tachi) but for us to look at a picture, it just looks like the popular katana.
Considering the Katana is designed to deliver powerful cuts using a torquing technique that requires both hands, it's safe to assume the weapon was normally wielded with two hands and OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE?
Using the argument "well people will still crack it" in this case is pretty much meaningless. They aren't trying to STOP it, as I've said thats impossible, they are trying to slow it and discourage it as much as possible. Which certainly IS possible.
If they can't stop it then what exactly are they "slowing and discouraging" with the security locks?
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Wanting to get rid of this because it means some extra work to organize your personal documents is a fairly weak argument. I can and do everything the OP is wanting to do with one note and the snipping tool in Win7.
There are PC game companies that sell their products DRM-free. Again, I don't think its a relevant comparison because the needs and expectations of a PC gamer are different from those of a PnP GM trying to build an easy reference guide for his campaign.
Buying a ticket to see a movie does not give you the right to take the movie and recut it from the master tapes/files "for your own use."
Purchasing an airline ticket does not endenture the airline to furnish you with your own plane to customize "for your own use."
If you buy an orange the super market doesn't have to give you free oranges for life.
The problem with using analogies to make an argument is that they usually fail when put in context. Buying an orange doesn't grant me free oranges for life (no one demanded free stuff in this thread, btw). However, if I pay for an orange I am free to do what ever I want with that orange. I can cut it up, juice it, smash it, use it to satisfy some devious fruit fetish, plant an orchard--whatever, it's my orange.
If Vic sells his house with the locks in place, the buyer would expect to be handed the keys.
See the problem?
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There comes a point at which the customer is not entitled to further service/product than that which is rendered.
No one here is arguing against that.
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Paizo providing PDF content of all of their material is already atypically accommodating of them. Just go out and purchase a WotC pdf..oh wait.
It's safe to say Paizo provides PDF content because its good for business.
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Take that alongside their nod to print a copy of the pdf legitimately, or extract images for handouts, player maps, etc "for your own use." To then get all red faced and "omg gaiz omg" because retooling, recombining, re-editing and reworking their content is "too time consuming?" Seems a tad wankish.
First, no one in this thread is being unreasonable or wankish. Second, for a hobby company to thrive in the age of competing media it had better take customer feedback seriously. Paizo does this, which is why we love them and give them money (mostly it's about the money). Finally, DRM doesn't make things "hard" for pirates. As soon as the DRM is broken the files will be uploaded to the internet. When that happens your DRM officially becomes good for nothing except annoying the honest customers that are paying for your product.
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It's also a bit exasperating to rehash the "yeah but pirates do it so it shouldn't matter" debate. Step 1: Don't be a D word. Step 2: Remember step 1.
If this is a serious question, I will give you one scenario that I have actually seen happen more than once in LG.
It's a very serious question. I hear stories like this coming out of conventions all the time. It doesn't matter if its Pathfinder or Pokemon. A player should never put themselves in a position to squander several days and several hundred dollars if they lose a game.
-- You should begin play with the expectation that you will lose
-- If your character is killed, you should have a back-up plan of things to do in the local area
-- Attending a CON should never be a self-imposed financial hardship; stay home
With that said, I find it shocking that any GM would boast about killing off a player character considering how much money is involved. That sort of behavior should get the GM banned.
If you manage to write a complete, unsolicited novel based on D&D that's actually good, then the first thing you'll want to do is edit out any reference or likeness to D&D.
For those of us not familiar with PFS (or CON gaming in general), what are the consequences of a PK besides putting away your character sheet? Fresh air and sunshine?
Why not simply rule that any character that is too decrepit or physically unfit to move quickly is denied the 5-foot step? This would be a situational ruling by the GM, not a blanket set of numbers to drape over an already complicated rules set.
I mean it's already your job as GM to do things like that.
Thanks for you work, Perram! The idea of using index cards to print the spells on is interesting, but I've never done something like that before. Would I need to go to a Kinkos to get this done?
The door of the tavern swings inwards, allowing precious rays of light to dance in the otherwise windowless room. The pleasant light is followed by the protruding chest and wide-brimmed hat of a portly man by the name of Mr. Samuel. Aside from his rooster-like strut and confident swagger, the only other distinguishing mark is his collection of tattered clothes that seem too tidy and clean to have been ever worn before. He steps out of the doorway and removes his hat to greet the bartender, revealing a bald spot hidden in his ruffled brown hair.
The door swings closed and the festive atmosphere returns. The drunkards, momentarily distracted by the outside world, return to drowning their sorrows or what-have-you in liters of concentrated alcohols. The sounds of festivity: the clinking of glasses, the rattling of dice on the wooden tables, the hearty chuckles of dwarven miners,
DC 15 Perception:
and the distinct noise of glass breaking against wood outside the tavern
Mr. Samuel steps up to the bar, orders a beer, and only then begins to look for the new recruits.
This thread is open so that the players can meet each other, even if your characters haven't met. I will open up the gameplay thread shortly. The official overarching plot starts on the 10th of November, so it should give us some ample time for introductions to get going.
My children, we've lost the faith of the ruling party, and that is a very dangerous thing. Without their support nor the support of the lowly classes, we cannot rely on our resources to save ourselves. Gather your best followers; we cannot fail in this mission.
Adventure Background
This will be a PbP adventure set in the city of Magnimar, part of a multi-GM and multi-faction extravaganza known as the Loom of Fate. I'll be DMing for a group of the House Caedmon's trusted yet obscure followers, who may not even know that they are in the house's employ.
About House Caedmon:
House Caedmon straddles the gap between the past and the future. Originally from Cheliax, the House is the junior branch of a greater noble house that has since died out. Now, only the house Caedmon remains to continue their mission. The leader, the reclusive Lord Caedmon, is known to be pragmatic in his search for greater power and employs all manners of creatures and people, so long as they are useful.
Application
1. Give a general description of your crunch. You don't need to build it right away, but it would be nice for you to give me a brief summary so I can balance the party
2. The biggest thing that I'm looking for is roleplaying. You can show this in your background, and I wouldn't mind if you even roleplayed a bit on this thread with the other applicants if you prefer to show that way.
3. In your background, explain how you got to Magnimar and who you worked for before you are recruited by House Caedmon. The game starts with your employer handing you a letter from the House itself. Perhaps your employer is the local temple and they've chosen you as a dutiful acolyte, or perhaps you saved the life of someone one day and they've come back to thank you. You can really go anywhere with this, and I look forward to your creativity!
Character Creation
1. Level One
2. 20-point buy
3. All alignments are accepted, with the caveat that they need to be able to work together. Keep in mind that you will have been recruited by some contact of the House Caedmon for the mission, so you would not have been chosen if you were a murder-hobo.
4. Most Paizo-races accepted (not monstrous, you know what I'm talking about)
5. Emerging guns, all Paizo-classes and archetypes and accepted. I also accept the psionics rules from Dreamscarred Press, as they are very balanced.
6. Two traits. Drawback is allowed. Flavor tweaks are permitted.
7. Max Gold for your class
8. Max HP for first level, then half HD + 1 afterwards
Recruitment will be open until November 8th.
Little Note About Me:
I am back from a year-long hiatus from these boards with much more experience than my last attempt to DM, and I'm looking forward to playing with all of you. :D
I noticed that the advanced firearm rules do not state that the firearms are not treated as touch attacks in regards to "abilities" like early firearms do. Now it seems to me that the intention of firearms is that they are affected by abilities such as DR, but is that also the case with advanced firearms?
Do you think that is the way it works in regards to a strict rules reading and would you allow that in your games? I am not sure that that is one of the advantages that were intentionally given to advanced firearms.
Simple question: Can you stealth against scrying? I assumed not, since scrying "observes" stealth, and therefore you cannot stealth, but I am not so sure anymore.
If you can stealth, are there any bonuses/penalties or is it the same as a regular opposed perception/stealth check?
Now I understand that you cannot stealth while attacking, but what about during a flyby attack. Assuming you have concealment, does this mean that you can fly somewhere, use a standard action in the middle, and then complete the move action (restealthing in the process)?
What are some ways to communicate over long distances, relatively cheaply? I was thinking a series of beacons, but that also comes with being unable to convey detailed messages.
So I've been recently interested in Vampires as of late (OOTS may or may not be a factor), and my character might have a chance sometime soon to become one.
So I'm not especially paranoid about the vampire weaknesses, but I would rather not get fried randomly while walking around. Do you guys have any suggestions on any items or such to pick up that fit well with a vampire thematically, or help with the sunlight vulnerability?
She's a level 7 witch, and has a good chunk of change to spend if needed. She's also a sentient cat, so grappling opponents that are not already down is probably not an option.
1. Does it take two spell slots for a witch to prepare a spell if that spell is from one of her opposition schools (from the wizard dip)?
2. Does the witch gain bonus wizard spell slots/ use bonded item to cast more spells of the same level as her witch spells, but from the wizard list? Like if the witch can cast up to level 5 witch spells, does the witch also get level 1, level 2, level 3, level 4, level 5 school slots from the wizard list?
I imagine the answers to those are related, but I don't see any text that limits the opposition/bonded item/spell slot to the wizard list, while I found some text in the cleric that does prohibit getting domain slots in the same way.
Hi guys, quick question about the disruptive spell feat. Maybe I am missing some text, but it says that
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Targets affected by a disruptive spell must make concentration checks when using spells or spell-like abilities
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Does this mean that if you cast a disruptive spell that has an effect even when they succeed on their original save (say, fireball), then they will still be affected by the disruptive aspect of the feat? That seems like it would be very useful.
Long time since I've been around here. Glad to be back, at least for a bit.
So a friend was talking to me about an interesting gunslinger build, and it seems to have promise, but I'm not sure about a few things that seemed a bit iffy. I usually play spellcasters so I've come to the great font of knowledge for your opinions.
1. Does the Fire Bombardier ability of the Fire Bomber Archetype for the alchemist give +int bonus damage to the dragon breath alchemical cartridge? The question mainly being, are alchemical cartridges a type of alchemical substance?
2. Is there any way to affect the misfire chance on using dragon breath cartridges?
3. Can you apply deadly aim and point blank shot to the damage dealt by the dragon breath alchemical cartridge (which does not use attack rolls, but rather allows a reflex save for half)?
4. Does the Gunslinger gun training ability provide bonus damage while using the dragon breath cartridges?
If you have answers to any of these questions, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Basically very simple. I believe it to be the case that a Sohei can flurry with his bow and use rapid shot + many shot. Is this a correct assumption?
I notice that Zen Archer specifically says it cannot flurry + rapid shot, but Sohei doesn't seem to have such a restriction. In addition, rapid shot is used "when making a full-attack action" and flurry is a full-attack action.
Are there any feats or resources that enable one to trip creatures larger than one size category? Currently I am playing a tiny character with a CMB that is well capable of tripping, but its size is preventing me from doing so.
The winter patron for the witch grants Ice storm at level 6. Does that mean that it is cast as a level 3 spell or does it mean that you can't even use it until you level?
These are supposed to be extremely easy to land, so I need to bring my boost up a bit more to make them extremely consistent (say, +8 or more).
My current is +6 (+4 from BAB, +2 from dexterity). There isn't really a way for me to rearrange my attributes for a higher dexterity. I only have 9000 gp to try and increase this further. Any suggestions?
Lots of the spells that Vengeance gives are fire descriptor spells, which is an issue, because winter witches cannot learn or cast spells with the fire descriptor. Does this mean that they get no benefit from the spells with fire descriptors on the patron?
And related question, does that mean that a witch cannot get a cold descriptor scorching ray, since the main spell is copied before metamagic can be applied?
I'm trying to build a winter witch and I need one of the bloodline arcanas (changing energy types to [cold] without using a metamagic), and I was wondering if there was a way for me to get that bloodline arcana (it's from Marid) without losing witch casting levels.
So I noticed that Winter Witches have a lot of nice things going with [cold] spells. Aside from rime spell though, are there good cold spells, feats, bloodline powers that work well with this?
I distinctly recall the requirement of having a caster level three times the bonus of a wondrous item in order to craft it. Is there something of this sort on the books and if so, where the relevant rules quote is?
Am I correct in thinking that all of these can work together? Stunning fist gives you a chance to stun on every unarmed hit that round and Ki diversity makes all of the hits target touch attack?
Or does stunning fist only affect the first unarmed attack and therefore ki diversity only affects one?
It says "you can spend a swift action to make a retaliatory unarmed strike attack against that opponent."
What kind of attack is this? Full attack, standard atttack, attack of oppertunity?
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And second, semi-related question. Do natural attacks count as unarmed strikes and if not, does the feral combat training feat make them count as unarmed strikes?
I was thinking. Would a one level dip of Synthesiest and then straight monk contribute to the monk at all? The Synthesiest quadraped form combined with an eye for talent, ability score increase, and an ability boosting belt would give you 18+ Strength and 14 dexterity. In addition, pounce, allowing you to flurry of blows stuff and actually use your class feature.
Then you can focus your point buy on giving yourself reasonable physical to get access to feats (incase of ambush, persay) and a high (20+) wisdom. Solves the problem of MAD? Also, take some natural attacks as an Eidolon (Grab a set of claws) so that you get extra attacks that are boosted by an amulet of mighty fists, since you're getting that anyways.
This would boost the chance of a crit as well, since you'd be getting:
+1/2/3 attacks from flurry, +1 attack from TWF, +3 from natural attacks, and then whatever iteratives that you happen to have.
I think that unarmed attacks are natural attacks or vice versa, so maybe use improved natural attack (not sure if this works in Pathfinder) or natural attacks count as unarmed strikes and get full strength bonus (since monks get full strength bonus on all attacks made unarmed).
Also, I was thinking of going Qinggong-Hungry Ghost Archetypes. Any Ki powers that are especially good?
How far can something fall in a round? Like say I shoot a griffon and it is temporarily stunned. Can I expect it to fall to the ground and get injured?
Is there something explicit that says something or are we just left with using common sense or calculus to figure it out?
A tanglefoot bag is a small sack filled with tar, resin, and other sticky substances. When you throw a tanglefoot bag at a creature (as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 10 feet), the bag comes apart and goo bursts out, entangling the target and then becoming tough and resilient upon exposure to air. An entangled creature takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls and a –4 penalty to Dexterity and must make a DC 15 Reflex save or be glued to the floor, unable to move. Even on a successful save, it can move only at half speed. Huge or larger creatures are unaffected by a tanglefoot bag. A flying creature is not stuck to the floor, but it must make a DC 15 Reflex save or be unable to fly (assuming it uses its wings to fly) and fall to the ground. A tanglefoot bag does not function underwater.
A creature that is glued to the floor (or unable to fly) can break free by making a DC 17 Strength check or by dealing 15 points of damage to the goo with a slashing weapon. A creature trying to scrape goo off itself, or another creature assisting, does not need to make an attack roll; hitting the goo is automatic, after which the creature that hit makes a damage roll to see how much of the goo was scraped off. Once free, the creature can move (including flying) at half speed. If the entangled creature attempts to cast a spell, it must make concentration check with a DC of 15 + the spell's level or be unable to cast the spell. The goo becomes brittle and fragile after 2d4 rounds, cracking apart and losing its effectiveness. An application of universal solvent to a stuck creature dissolves the alchemical goo immediately.
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Am I correct in thinking that even if the opponent makes their save, if they are struck, they take -2 to attack and -4 to dexterity? Similarly, this penalty lasts until the goo cracks apart, regardless if they use a weapon to scrape the goo off so that they can move again?
Similarly, can multiple tanglefoot bags stack? I remember the line that bonuses of the same type do not stack, but penalties do. So could say a mob of level 1 commoners throw them at a dragon to make it paralyzed?
So any questions and such can be asked here. Also, to help remember recurring characters, I will ask everyone their impressions of a character and what comes to mind when they think about them, so I will just write a few notes and put them in the campaign info to help people (and myself) remember them.
The travellers walked, staggered along the thin, paved road. It was one of many roads that led to Winchester, where the King was holding his royal court. It was certainly a strange choice of road, for there were many others that led in the same direction that were larger and well-traveled, but bandits were not the concern today.
The conflict between the "Righteous King" and his usurper has simmered for quite a while, and the end is not in sight. Most tried to avoid the larger roads when possible, because they were the logical choice for transporting large armies. This was simply such a winding and thin road that no military leader in their right mind would move soldiers this way.
And of course, there was fear of the witches. Rumors abounded that they had nearly overtaken Scotland with their black magic and now, they were filtering over the border into green and pleasant England. Most sightings occured in a fairly predictable way. First, the wind begins to howl and the clouds move in, pouring water and firing thunder. And then a fog rolls in, and any survivors have already found shelter indoors by this point.
Then the rain begins fall and the wind begins to howl. Thunder and lightning seem to rend open the sky itself. On the road behind the travellers, a fog seems to be rolling in. Up ahead, they see the house of a Verderer, one of the king's forest wardens in charge of communal hunting grounds. The travellers rush ahead towards it, not wanting to find out what happens to the people that are still outdoors when the fog begins to roll in.
The travellers are you! Run! The witches might be behind you!
The pitter patter of footsteps on paved roads soon turns into the sound of the mud trying to suck off the shoes of weary travellers. They were staggered along one of the long and winding dirt roads through the highlands that led to the castle at Edinburgh, the seat of royal power and strength in Scotland. Of course, now it was a symbol of royal ineptitude and weakness.
There were many other roads that led in the same direction, but mysteriously, they have been knocked out one by one. Some have been buried by avalanches, others washed away by flash flooding, and the primarily paved road...well, no one dared to go on that anymore, after witches had been supposedly sighted prowling the forests nearby. Most sightings occured in a fairly predictable way. First, the wind begins to howl and the clouds move in, pouring water and firing thunder. And then a fog rolls in, and any survivors have already found shelter indoors by this point.
Except, now it is happening to the group of weary travellers. They spot a small monastery up ahead, clearly the home to Benedictine monks by the architecture of the place. The travellers rush towards it, not wanting to find out what happens to the people that are still outdoors when the fog begins to roll in.
Travellers are you, go! By the way, if it's not clear, you make it to the monastery. I look forward to your fear.
"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red."-Macbeth
Plot:
Chaos has certainly beset itself upon the British Isles. Soon after the Scots repel the Norwegians, the hero of the battle, Macbeth, is supposedly driven insane by witchcraft and murders King Duncan, perhaps the only force capable of holding the realm together. In the ensuing events, Scotland is greatly weakened as it collapses into civil war. Only recently has Malcolm, the oldest son of the old king, retaken the throne. His rule is not yet secure, his thanes (nobility) are restless, and rumors abound that the Norwegians are planning another invasion to restore their honor.
In England, the death of the entire royal family as a result of a murder-suicide fiasco left two contenders for the throne, Duke Albany and Earl Kent. While most entitled to the throne, Duke Albany was plodding and slow to move, allowing Earl Kent to make a beeline for Winchester to seize the throne for himself. The Earl is an intelligent man and has begun to consolidate his rule, but the threat of the Duke still remains on the horizon.
So I've thought about this for a month, and I've decided to run a PbP. At first I planned an adventure path, but I read through a few and they had too much railroading for my taste, so this is my very own. The setting is based on medieval Scotland + England following the events of Shakespeare's Macbeth, except with a lot more fantasy. As such, all classes and such are allowed (although might want to be careful if you want to play as a witch).
I'm looking for 4-6 players that are able to post at least once a day. However, I enjoy having an interactive enviroment, so I will be posting frequently to respond to your actions, but important plot events and party decisions will get at least a day so that everyone has a chance to post. You can always chat up with one of the NPCs to search for information or snoop around for clues, but if you're going to try and assualt the king or something, that'll probably require a discussion.
I am a first time PbP GM, but I've GMed with tabletop for a while and have played in PbP before, so suggestions and criticisms welcome. As for your characters, they need an important motivation for why they are going to see the king, as that is how they are going to meet. The death of a king is always a scary event for all that were once ruled by him, because of the uncertainty. Perhaps you are a peasant chosen by your village to ask the king to give them rights to hold a market, or you are a spellcaster going to offer your services, or anything plausible. The only restriction is that the highest social status that you can start with is country gentry.
Sources:
-All Paizo Sourcebooks (if you can show me a reference online, as I don't necessarily own all of them)
-Dreamscarred Press Psionics (Both books)
Character Creation Guidelines:
-Level 1 (I would start higher, but some things are trivial at higher levels)
-25 Point Buy
-Human-like races (For the sake of this game, everything will look more human. Half Orc's teeth won't be so pronounced, they won't be so green, etc. Aside from Drow Noble and Svirfneblin, anything that can reasonably look like a human. So nothing like Mermaids or flying creatures)
-All Classes allowed from sources (Just keep in mind that danger of being a witch. If you prefer the mechanics of a Samurai but the flavor of a Cavalier, we can work with that.)
-Two Traits
-Max hitpoints on first level for both PCs, Animal Companions, and Summoners, Half + 1 for every level afterwards. This is to balance out the fact that some of the more powerful ones don't fit the setting and shouldn't be used (Rhino, Elephants, Apes, probably not a good idea)
Just remember the setting: dark, gloomy, depressed, everyone's suffering. Then you'll be fine.
Right now, I only need a general character outline and backstory, what race and class, and your motivation for going to see the king. Right now, I am thinking of running the game in Scotland, but if there is enough interest, I will run two groups, one in Scotland and one in England. Unlike other threads, I will not forcefully keep them at the same pace as each other, but if it is clear that both groups are racing to one place and one group is ahead in time, but the other group should get there first, I might add a few side-events to distract the faster group.
I'm not sure how long these recruitment things last, so I will probably leave this up for a few days or up to a week before I decide. In the meantime, I will ask questions to let me get to know your characters.
Can you still use these feats when you're in a real combat, as opposed to performing for a crowd? Like take mocking dance. It seems to be excellent, because it increases mobility and gives you another move action at the cost of a swift action.
However, it requires that you spend a swift action to make a performance check. Would it be allowed to spend a swift action to make a performance check to impress a non-existent crowd (or maybe the gods or some vermin that happens to be watching) to use the feat?
I was thinking about using the synergy of the Kensai dealing maximum damage, which grants a swift action check, to do something like:
Round 1: Charge at the enemy and use performance check to flee 30 ft
Round 2: Let the enemy charge, use the psionic feat sidestep charge to get off an AoO
Round 3: Full attack spell combat and then performance check to flee 30 ft
So I was wondering what the forumites would do if they were going to build Yoda in the fantasy setting. I was personally thinking magus or soulknife ontop of using a Blue or a Goblin.
And with that, what kind of things would you add to be thematically appropriate? How would you add insane jumping ability, using high dex effectively in combat, etc?
1. I was looking at the jump DCs, and it seems that it gives DCs for a long jump and a high jump. But are there any rules on doing both, like jumping high enough to go over an opponent and far enough to land on the other side (compared to on top of them)?
2. What kind of action does a jump take? Does it take a standard action or move action, or could it even be part of a move?
So it's my understanding that Rangers only get a small list of animal companion choices, especially compared to the druid.
1. Is there any way to obtain the animal companion choices of the druid as a ranger, aside from dipping druid?
2. From a balance perspective, do you think that it would be reasonable to allow the ranger access to the entire druidic list of animal companions? How much would this change its power level?
So I was recently looking at the witch archetypes when I saw the "beastbonded" archetype. It basically gives you the ability to have your familliar learn feats instead of you and at 8th level, to shapechange into something of your familliar's "type" (not sure if it's actually type, or thematic type, cat > big cat).
I am not an expert on this, so I was wondering if this could be used in any way to develop an infinite loop to give infinite feats or even the level of power that Pun-Pun has.
Related question: Is there already a Pun-Pun in Pathfinder?
So I think that with the requirements for knowledge, the earliest you can get into mystic theurge is level 4. I was wondering if this would work, since I am not exactly a rules lawyer and am just trying to find a way to have a mystic theurge keep up in a low-op game (that will be low level, hence why I want to kick it off with early-entry):
1. Take two levels of sorcerer and one of cleric
1. Find level one spell on both cleric and wizard list
2. Get the trait "Magical Lineage", applying to that spell
3. Heighten the spell to make it a level two spell
4. Magical Lineage makes it only take up a level 1 spot, which you have
5. Now you can haz ability to cast level 2 arcane and divine spells
6. Take Mystic Theurge
7. ???
8. Profit
If this doesn't work, are there any rules-legal shenanigans that could get me into mystic theurge by level 4? (Reason I chose Sorcerer is because with the Empyreal variation of celestial bloodline, its casting is wisdom, same as cleric, giving SAD.
So I am making a level 4 pouncing charger with access to two feats and roughly 1000 gp (though 4000 gp could be used if the option is important). It will gain feats as it levels up, and it is already pretty useful, so no rush.
What kind of feats, weapons, and items are good for a non-mounted charger? Since it doesn't even start with a proficiency, any weapon is allowed.
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Also, during a charge, can both you and your mount attack?
Does shooting while stealthed (using sniping rules to immediately re-stealth after shooting) deny the enemy bonus to dexterity? Is it equivilant to shooting while invisible?
I've created a character that basically can't fail at stealthing (+46 at level 4), and I was curious if I could basically sit in my house and basically destroy an entire town square.
Does anyone know of some sort of equivilant or something like it in Pathfinder for these 3.5 items/feats. Even if it's not exact, suggestions would be appreciated:
Healing Belt - 6d8 healing once per day
Tomb Tainted Soul - Heal from negative energy
So last time I posted on the wrong board, so here's the question:
The core rulebook has the grab special attack under the base form, but the constrictor after advancement has special attacks being constrict. Does the constrictor snake keep its grab special attack after it advances?
It seems that it would make sense, but is it just implicit, or is there anything like an errata that clarifies this?
So I'm looking around for a crocodile or Constrictor Snake animal companion, and I'm looking at their attacks. It's strange, but their base form seems to have bite [d6+grab] or [d3+grab], but their advancement form only says bite[d8] and bite [d4].
Now I think the intent was that since they are also going up in size, their damage dice goes up accordingly. However, my GM really sticks to the rules and says, if it doesn't say explicitly, go with it.
Is there an errata or someone that knows how it actually is? Is there some sneaking line in the handbook that says that it actually keeps the grab?
