Orgavin's page

I really like the idea. I can't see an issue. I'll probably add it to the list of things I offer to rogues.

When I offered my little sister (16) a chance to play, I tried to make it all contractual. "Ya gotta promise that if you play, you'll understand the rules, know what your character can do, make an effort, be self-motivated, yaddayadda." I said this many times in many variations, and there were "yes"'s all around. A few days ago I was riding her like a horse trying to get her to finish. quizzing her on various things like range increments, feats, class abilities, etc. I couldn't imagine why there was all this resistance to finishing a task, expected weeks in advance, that ought to take at most an hour, tops. It wasn't even a spellcaster.

How did you accomplish this? When I rode my sister like a horse, all I got was placed on this registry that keeps me from getting jobs.

In all seriousness, if you are playing on line. Be ready for SLOW play.

For a tank, I would take at first level the following.

Combat Reflexes
Toughness
Shield Focus

Dodge as a feat is kinda meh. You gotta think, by the time you are at level 3 or so you should have enough resources to put on full plate. This means by level 3, with Armor Expertise you will have a 21 AC, without a shield equipped. If you decide to go Tower Shield (and I feel any TANK should) you're looking at a 26 AC (due to Shield Focus). I would also look at feats that gave me bonuses to my CMB, and the feat Stand Still.

Also, Step Up is a great feat for annoying casters. As a tank in Pathfinder, your job is to make it a chore to go past you and attack your allies.

LVL 2- WF Longsword
LVL 3- Stand Still
Lvl 4- Step Up

For the tank I have built (with much worse stats mind you) I am able to hinder most any creature. I like to stand a few feet in front of the ranged casters and damagers, and any creatures that pass me get wacked a few times due to Combat Reflexes. My Dex is only a 14, so I get 3 extra swings a turn. Not only this, when I get into melee range with a caster or ranger, I can constantly annoy the piss out of them using Step up. It's actually quite a fun build, and a great way to annoy the piss out of your DM and his battle plans.

However, Take Iron will early. Eventually you become an easily controlled Tin Can, and Iron Will/Improved Iron Will will save your ass many times.

So, if a touch attack is a free action, would the following scenario work.

Say I am playing a magus. I have prepared Shocking grasp twice in a day. My group is walking into an ambush, and I make the perception check to perform an action during the surprise round.

Could I cast Shocking Grasp during the surprise round, hold the charge, make a touch attack on the first round AND recast and use Shocking grasp on the same target twice. The way I see it, if a touch attack is a free action, this should work.

I am having some issues in my brain about casting a spell with the range of touch (not ranged touch).

Here is how I understand touch spells (not ranged ones), and I wanted to get clarification for each of these points. Some players have brought up some issues with my logic, and I wanted to have an answer by next session.

1. Do spells with the range of touch provoke attacks of opportunity?
2. Can the spell be cast, and used as part of a touch attack within the same standard action?
3. Should I miss my touch attack, is the spell used up?
4. Should I decide to store the spell, will touching anyone trigger the spell? Or do I have the option of using it only when I decide to release the power? For example, could I shake hands with a local merchant with a stored spell, only to use it right after to blindside a thief?

I thank everyone in advance for any help.

"While that feat can work out well enough, think about the fact that your party was getting by just fine without a cleric before.

There's no need for her to channel mid-battle, she can just kick ass with bow or spell mid-battle, and then channel afterwards."

Well, it really wasn't working out that well before. They were completing the challenges I was setting up for them, but it was almost always down to the final roll of the die. There were 3 situations in three 5 games where all that was left standing was the rogue, at less than 5 health, and a creature, at less than five health.

I like the quick channel feat, I think I may end up using that instead.

Quicken channel is something else I really like. i will have to create that one. I think I might just make Quick Channel the prerequisite for Quicken Channel (which I may have to rename to not confuse anyone). That will give her a bit of versatility she is lacking right now, and at least let her deal a little bit of damage.

Thanks for the input all.

So, my wife decided to create a cleric and put her orc barbarian away. In the game I am running, there seems to be an instance in almost every session where the players are low on health, low on supplies, and looking to sleep for 3 weeks in a dungeon to heal up. So, she has built her cleric, and our first session was last night.

My wife did not enjoy playing a cleric...

Every time she had an turn, she was forced to channel energy instead of firing her bow. While the group fared much better, I could tell she was quickly losing interest. So, what I am trying to do is create some sort of feat or something that will allow her to still attack when she heals.

She played a cleric in 4th edition, and I think she was thinking that healing would be something that she could do to supplement an attack.

So, my idea for a feat is as follows.

Battle Cleric
Prerequisite Channel Positive Energy 2D6 class feature
A cleric with this feat may choose to use her channel positive energy class feature as a move action by rolling one less D6 for the heal.

Weasels are related to honey badgers.

Honey badger don't give a shit

I have a few rules when awarding XP.

Full XP is only rewarded when the challenge has been conquered completely. I will, however, hand any xp out to a surviving group for every part of the encounter they did defeat. So, if there is a Lich, 9 zombies, and 4 skeletal ogres and they run from the Lich, leaving 2 zombies and 1 ogre alive. They would receive the XP from what they defeated. However, the Lich (if possible) will refill his ranks if they can make another attempt at him again.

In your example, it seemed they were in a very tough spot. They not only had enemies to fight, but had some tough terrain. In this situation, I would award them some "ad hoc" experience awards. I wouldn't take from the encounter for anything they didn't drop, but I would reward the cool things that they did. The party obviously did some awesome stuff there.

Here is what I do in these situations.

I take each awesome action that succeeded, and award 300 group XP. I then take the total amount of xp, multiply that by the EPL (in my current parties case, 3) and get a total amount handed out to the group. I then split it between the number of party members, and you have yourself some ad hoc awards. As a DM I hate screwing my players over when things just don't go their way, especially when they made an encounter especially bad ass.

I don't know much about #2 and honestly don't care, but #1 has me thinking a bit.

I have a general rule, and did in 3.5 for "spells". Magic missile is whatever color the caster wants it to be. Often times instead of saying "The Orc casts Magic Missile" I will say "Angry, red, jagged streaks arc from the orcs fingertips and hit you in the chest, you take 2D4 damage". This is obviously MM when the players really think about it, but I just set it apart from what they do. I made it "Sound" evil. The same goes for everything else. Burning hands I make like a fire breath or something similar. So while 4e had some neat things for each creature (and I really think had better stat blocks for monsters), there is no reason you can't flavor your things in any way.

Hell, it doesn't really change the game, so my necromancer has Magic Missiles that look like flaming hell skulls and a Ray of Enfeeblement that looks like a wraith ripping into someones very soul. I have found that when you do this sort of thing, other players follow suit with their abilities and it adds a lot of spice to a gaming session.

Sorry for bumping this, but I wanted to run some stuff by you guys see what you thought.

1) As I was saying before, don't necessarily like tying characters to mounts unless they want to. So what I have done is made some home rules for Samurai, taking away shield Prof and forcing Lawful status upon them. I am keeping the UC Samurai in tact, other than those changes and calling them Yabusame style.

2) Daisho will be an archetype for them. They will now, instead of a mount, recieve the Two weapon fighting feat for free at first level (even if they don't meet requirements), and a masterwork Katana. I figure since this is pretty much similar in gold cost to a mount I wasn't changing much. They now receive at level 5, instead of mounted Archery, a bonus feat from the two weapon fighting tree.

3) Jo will be another archetype. This is a 2h weapon focus. So they will receive Power attack and a masterwork 2h weapon (Konobo, Nodachi, Naginata, Yari). Instead of the mount and relevent special abilities. At level 5 they will receive a bonus feat from the Power Attack Tree instead of Mounted Archery.

Wanted to get an idea what people thought about this. It seems to balance out ok from what I am looking at. I just had a player that really wanted to play Samurai, but didn't like the idea of being mounted (especially since my campaign will take some early emphasis on Naval Combat situations, and others that won't necessarily involve overland travel).

In my home game Samurai are part of the Edo Elemental Clans far to the west. They often trade with the Freelands (where my game takes place). After giving the overview, low and behold I had a player go "I wanna be a samurai". Cool, so we look up samurai, and it made my face hurt. I don't like the Samurai class as done in Ultimate Combat as a template for Cavalier. So I decided to rework an Elemental Samurai of my own into things. This will be my first time making my own class.

I'm not sure if I should just make a template to overlap over fighter, with forced prerequisites like Lawful only, No shield proficiency, etc, or just use my own class ideas.

I'd like to hear feedback on the little bit I have had time to flesh out these last two days and see if there is an issue.

Alignment: Any Lawful

Hit Die: D10

Weap and Armor Proficiency: Samurai are proficient with all Light and Medium Armor, but not with shields. Samurai are also proficient with All simple and martial weapons, as well as Katana, Wakizashi,Tanto, Nodachi, Yari , Naginata, Jute and kanabo. (Where not a rule for a weapon, I will make any of these Samurai weapons a Masterwork counterpart of a similar ruled weapon. Such as Kanabo being a MW Great Club)

BAB Progression +1 per level (as fighter)

Saves +1 all at level 1. They will then increase by +1 every odd level.

I have two different versions of Samurai, much the same way that Ranger has two styles. Yabusame and Daisho. Yabusame begin play with a Heavy Warhorse and all barding needed. Including a MW Yumi (Longbow). Daisho begin play with a MW Katana and MW Tanto or Wakizashi.

This is what i have now, I have just started working out feats and progression to level 20. Feedback would be greatly appreciated (I am not giving the samurai much more than the choice of Yabusame or Daisho at level one to reflect the amount they are being given here. Either style also begins play with either Mounted Combat or Two Weapon Fighting, depending).

No pun intended but I have a big problem with this spell.

A player casted it on an ally. Problem is, there isn't enough space. But it's not from objects or room size --- it's because of creatures being in the way for him to take up a 10 foot space. The spell says make a Strength check if objects were in the way, but nothing for creatures.

So what happens? I doubt he stops growing, I doubt he's constrained, also. I don't think it allows a free bull rush or knocking everyone prone. There's gotta be some ruling on this somewhere?

It would be an opposed strength roll against the creatures. If the character wins, he pushes them out of the way (moving them back until he fits). If he does not win, they still move back, but instead of being knocked back one square, they may move without provoking, and reposition themselves as they please.

This is not in the RAW, it's just what I did when I had a guy surrounded by skeletons. It was simple, efficient, and kept play going.

AH, magic enhancement, never thought of that. I should have though...

I suppose that the higher crit multiplier overrules the monk unarmed? Or does the crit multiplier of the monk override the punching weapon?

As for the bard, my wife wanted to make a bawdy tavern singer, and wanted to use a fiddle. I have considered allowing her to just pluck a few in sing (she took sing too), but it seems crazy to me to hamstring a character for wanting a real performing instrument. I think I'll just let her play inbetween turns and so long as she does once per turn as a free, she maintains.

Thanks. I have not used CAD software in years, and I never photoshop. But I assume I can pick it up eventually. Any other suggestions?

QUOTE="bugleyman"] 1. The concise and clear action types, and the ability to "downgrade" any action for the next, "lesser" type. So clean in play.

2. Fixed hit point progression. Just way too important to be random.

3. Consistency between spell levels and caster levels. A 4th level wizard should cast 4th level wizard spells.

4. Pared-down list of actions which provoke.

5. "Warlordish" leader of men in the core.

6. Point-buy as the default stat generation method.

7. Concise yet specific wording (at least in theory).

8. Some sort of mook or minion rules.

9. Bloodied.

1- I see no real reason for this with the rules for Pathfinder. You can already make a double move as a standard action, and there aren't a lot of "minor" abilities. Plus, this would absolutely break quickened spell, allowing someone to conceivably cast 3 spells in a single turn by "downgrading" their standard and move actions to swift. You would have to account for that sort of thing.

2- This is half the reason I left 4e. I enjoyed it at first, but the more I played the more I said to myself "Wow, i've done this all before".

3- No, I can't condone this. I don't like the idea of having to make 20 levels of spells. You'd have to separate everything again and rework all your spells.

4- I think the list right now is fine. Most of them can be gotten around by a feat/class ability.

5-Yes, the Warlord was awesome. I also have an issue with the only type of healing being divine, or a Bard that takes cure spells. I've always seen HP as a more "fatigue" type thing. The ability to bolster your allies so they shrug off attacks is awesome imo.

6-I don't see how they need to define a "base" stat generation tactic. IF you wanna point buy, point by with GM allowance. IF GM wants randomized characters, the GM gets it.

7-I don't have a problem reading the book, but I will agree with an earlier post, defining the monster abilities in the stat block helps with game prep.

8-I love mooks and minions. I'd love to see a decent homebrew of this. It makes fights a bit more epic with 4 or more enemies for the XP amount of one. It also makes a level 1 wizard with Burning hands feel like a boss.

9-At first I was like ooohhh yeah bloodied, then I was hmm.. wait... now I'm like.. no bloodied. It basically has players sit around a table and go, we did 98 damage when he bloodied, he had 84 before. That means his total hp is somewhere between 170 and 196. Dailies now.

I will add one though, one thing I really thought made the game simpler for DMs.

Passive Skills. Passiver perception and "insight" (which would be sense motive). Instead of me rolling twice, having a non active player take 10 and making a defense makes stealth situations a lot faster. Also, it makes lying a lot easier. If they actively wanna Sense motive or percept, I can THEN roll it and say yay or nay.

I am a terrible map maker. By terrible map maker, I mean that I have a map for the world building I am doing in my head, but beyond that I'm about as artistic as a meth addled orangutan. So I was wondering if anyone could suggest a decent piece of map building software (not dungeons, overland type maps). Perhaps some Cartography software that could be used for fantasy world buiilding?

The problem is it would really, really break monks. So you would have to make the feat unusable by monks as the very least.

1: The bard- My wife is playing a Bard in our home game. She has decided to play the fiddle as her instrument. Now, according to the game rules she is able to maintain her spell song ability by using a free action each round. However flavor wise she would be playing a fiddle the entire time. How does she go about playing the fiddle, and stabbing someone with her dirk in the same round? Is all the has to do is pluck a string or two to keep the magic going?

2: The Monk- weapons like Brass Knuckles are "monk weapons". Wtf is the point of a Monk getting these? BK are still bludgeoning damage, do less then the Monk's unarmed strike, and cost money. I'm just curious why make such weapons Monk Weapons when they are entirely useless, at least in my estimation.

Good day,

I received the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game as a gift, but it seems like I'm missing a large number of cards. It was purchased through Amazon, however. Should I contact Amazon, or will they just redirect me to you folks? Thanks for your help.

As a pretty hardcore worldbuilding homebrewer who is nearly obsessive-compulsive in my quest for creativity, (I am even averse to stealing names from other settings) I was wondering what you fellow homebrewers used for your home campaign pantheons. In two of my past campaigns I ran a monotheistic setting. Now I'm crafting another campaign and looking to incorporate deities from an existing setting, mostly to avoid the intense amount of work involved in even fleshing out a single deity.

For you homebrewers out there, do you borrow a pantheon from another setting like Golarion, or do you create your own? I used to exclusively use the Greyhawk deities in my games and I still have a soft spot for them. I think the Pathfinder deities would work, but it just makes me think of Golarion, and like Forgotten Realms, it just reminds me too much of that setting and distracts me from the game.

I don't know, maybe I'm just being too OC about it. In any event, what do you folks use for your home settings? For those who flesh out their own deities, how much work to you put into it?

The sun has begun to set along the western horizon and you are now fatigued from running and resting in cycles since you left the village. Your adrenaline has finally begun to wane and you have slowed down to a walk. You have made your way into the hills which has slowed you down even further, and so now you must decide whether to shrug off your fatigue and keep moving or to stop and rest for the night.

The bells atop the Temple of Erastil toll their midday song, echoing throughout the quiet town of Kassen. As the peals begin to fade, the first of the townsfolk make their way into the square, dressed in black, as if attending a funeral. They slowly fill the square, moving quietly across the cold, hard ground, their eyes downcast and mournful. After a few moments, a murmur passes through the crowd as it slowly parts to let Mayor Uptal through. He leads the way with a tarnished silver lantern. Behind him, an old pony drags a cart laden with backpacks and supplies.

Once he reaches the center of the crowd, Mayor Uptal stops and calls out to the assembled townsfolk.

The Crypt of the Everflame

4th Neth, 4709

Adventure Background

One-hundred and seventy four years ago, Ekat Kassen, a traveler and treasure hunter of renown came to settle within the Fangwood forest after having accumulated great wealth while fighting with the Lastwall military. He used his fortune to create a small trading community along the Tourondel River within the forest which eventually became known as Kassen’s Hold. The town became a boon to those traveling up and down the river to Skelt, and because of this it prospered greatly. This changed, however, when the mercenary Asar Vergas and his men arrived. While Asar was an old companion of Ekat, Asar suspected that Ekat cheated him out of some treasure during their last adventure. Asar led his men to plunder and raid Kassen’s Hold relentlessly for 2 months. The townsfolk eventually located Asar’s camp within an ancient crypt deep within the forest, and Ekat himself set out to deal with his former companion personally. It was a bloody battle and few returned. Ekat himself suffered a mortal wound and died 2 days later on 11th Neth 4535. In honor of their founder, the townsfolk buried Kassen in the ancient crypt, interring his bones in a place of honor above the simple sarcophagi used to inter Asar and his mercenaries. Above Kassen’s final resting place, they placed an eternal flame, so that all who visited may find warmth in the wilderness.

Throughout the years, the Crypt of the Everflame has become an important part of the history of the town, now simply called Kassen. Every autumn, a few of the townsfolk make the pilgrimage to the crypt to light a lantern from the flame and bring it back to the town where it’s preserved throughout the winter. Most years, the Mayor and a group of dignitaries perform this quest, however, occasionally, when there are enough to fill the ranks, the Mayor selects a group of youngsters to journey to the Crypt and retrieve the Flame. Many see this as a passage to adulthood; a taste of adventure before settling down and establishing a family.

This year marks the first time in four years that a group of eligible young townsfolk will be venturing out to the Crypt to retrieve the Everflame. You are one of those young heroes. The Mayor has spoken with you and expressed his desire that you join with other young people of the town to retrieve the Everflame and you have agreed. This afternoon in the traditional solemn ceremony, the town will be asked who will venture out to the Crypt to retrieve the Flame in order to keep the town safe for another winter. It is then that you will be asked to step forward and be recognized.

The bells atop the Temple of Erastil toll their midday song, echoing throughout the quiet town of Kassen. As the peals begin to fade, the first of the townsfolk make their way into the square, dressed in black, as if attending a funeral. They slowly fill the square, moving quietly across the cold, hard ground, their eyes downcast and mournful. After a few moments, a murmur passes through the crowd as it slowly parts to let Mayor Uptal through. He leads the way with a tarnished silver lantern. Behind him, an old pony drags a cart laden with backpacks and supplies.

Once he reaches the center of the crowd, Mayor Uptal stops and calls out to the assembled townsfolk.

The Crypt of the Everflame

4th of Neth, 4709

Adventure Background

One-hundred and seventy four years ago, Ekat Kassen, a traveler and treasure hunter of renown came to settle within the Fangwood forest after having accumulated great wealth while fighting with the Lastwall military. He used his fortune to create a small trading community along the Tourondel River within the forest which eventually became known as Kassen’s Hold. The town became a boon to those traveling up and down the river to Skelt, and because of this it prospered greatly. This changed, however, when the mercenary Asar Vergas and his men arrived. While Asar was an old companion of Ekat, Asar suspected that Ekat cheated him out of some treasure during their last adventure. Asar led his men to plunder and raid Kassen’s Hold relentlessly for 2 months. The townsfolk eventually located Asar’s camp within an ancient crypt deep within the forest, and Ekat himself set out to deal with his former companion personally. It was a bloody battle and few returned. Ekat himself suffered a mortal wound and died 2 days later on 11th Neth 4535. In honor of their founder, the townsfolk buried Kassen in the ancient crypt, interring his bones in a place of honor above the simple sarcophagi used to inter Asar and his mercenaries. Above Kassen’s final resting place, they placed an eternal flame, so that all who visited may find warmth in the wilderness.

Throughout the years, the Crypt of the Everflame has become an important part of the history of the town, now simply called Kassen. Every autumn, a few of the townsfolk make the pilgrimage to the crypt to light a lantern from the flame and bring it back to the town where it’s preserved throughout the winter. Most years, the Mayor and a group of dignitaries perform this quest, however, occasionally, when there are enough to fill the ranks, the Mayor selects a group of youngsters to journey to the Crypt and retrieve the Flame. Many see this as a passage to adulthood; a taste of adventure before settling down and establishing a family.

This year marks the first time in four years that a group of eligible young townsfolk will be venturing out to the Crypt to retrieve the Everlame. You are one of those young heroes. The Mayor has spoken with you and expressed his desire that you join with other young people of the town to retrieve the Everflame and you have agreed. This afternoon in the traditional solemn ceremony, the town will be asked who will venture out to the Crypt to retrieve the Flame in order to keep the town safe for another winter. It is then that you will be asked to step forward and be recognized.

Perched at the edge of civilized lands, the small town of Falcon’s Hollow has always had to rely on itself to solve its problems. Meanwhile, the uncaring lumber barons squeeze the common folk for every last copper, deaf to their pleas. Now the hacking coughs of the sick are heard throughout town. The plague has come to Falcon’s Hollow and the town’s leaders can’t be bothered to stop it.

Omen

"Hey! You there! You might as well turn back 'round and depart this place. A wretched disease has struck the town, and that line of folks over there are looking to seek cures from plants rather than prayers."

She points over to the crowd lined up outside the building down the dirt road.

"Then again, it appears that you are woodsmen so perhaps you are more knowledgeable about the use of plant medicine than I. You might want to speak with Laurel, the owner of the shop whose business is booming ever since the taint arrived."
"My name is Lady Cirthana, cleric of Iomedae. If you have need of prayer or blessing, I will be at the church down the road."

She begins to depart and as she does so, she looks toward the small crowd down the road and slowly shakes her head.

Omen strides into town slowly and purposefully, his eyes taking in the town and its folk with long, slow gazes as he takes several deep breaths through his nose, smelling a staleness in the air. He turns his yellow eyes to Lady Cirthana, a low, rumbling, rolling "Hrmmmm" escaping his lips before he speaks.

"This place, hrmmm, there is a Rot in this place. How long, Lady, has this Rot been killing you and the people here?"

Lady Cirthana stops and turns towards you. Her eyes delay for a moment on the crowd and then are directed to you.

"It has been about a week since the plague hit. I have been doing all I can to try and assist. From prayers to using my healing magic, I have done what I can to no avail. This is a disease that requires advanced clerical healing to treat."

"The desperate are now turning to folk remedies and I'm afraid many of them are losing hope."

Perched at the edge of civilized lands, the small town of Falcon’s Hollow has always had to rely on itself to solve its problems. Meanwhile, the uncaring lumber barons squeeze the common folk for every last copper, deaf to their pleas. Now the hacking coughs of the sick are heard throughout town. The plague has come to Falcon’s Hollow and the town’s leaders can’t be bothered to stop it.

Omen

As you arrive in town, you see a line of townsfolk pouring out of a building down the street. The violent sound of hacking and coughing can be heard coming directly from the small crowd of about twenty people. A woman dressed in clerical robes spots you at the corner of her eye as she steps out of the tavern on your left.

"Hey! You there! You might as well turn back 'round and depart this place. A wretched disease has struck the town, and that line of folks over there are looking to seek cures from plants rather than prayers."

She points over to the crowd lined up outside the building down the dirt road.

"Then again, it appears that you are woodsmen so perhaps you are more knowledgeable about the use of plant medicine than I. You might want to speak with Laurel, the owner of the shop whose business is booming ever since the taint arrived."

"My name is Lady Cirthana, cleric of Iomedae. If you have need of prayer or blessing, I will be at the church down the road."

She begins to depart and as she does so, she looks toward the small crowd down the road and slowly shakes her head.

When will the pdf be available? Do you get to download the pdf immediately if you purchase the print copy? I have a camping trip coming up with my friends next weekend and would love to run this but need time to prep.