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RPG Superstar 7 Season Dedicated Voter, 8 Season Dedicated Voter, 9 Season Star Voter. Organized Play Member. 729 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 2 aliases.



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What are your favorite/most memorable/most iconic monster and location combinations? I might run a one- or two- session medium level 5E game soon, and I'm trying to think of the most iconic combinations. Here's a few I thought of:

Red Dragon in a volcano lair
Mind Flayer or Beholder in an underground lair
Orcs guarding a treasure chest in a dungeon
Dinosaurs on a tropical island

What are some other favorites?


I'm thinking of a dragon mesa with ceremonies tied to the site as a sacred site for dragons. The mesa will be large enough for a couple dozen dragons to stretch out and sun themselves on. There will be birds who groom the dragons' scale native to the mesa, somewhat like the birds the clean hippo teech. The dragons treat the mesa as neutral ground, and have powerful magic to keep non-dragons (except for the birds and vegetation) away from the mesa, and have religious ceremonies on the mesa.

Dragons will prohibit dragon use of the mesa during parts of the year, and hire PCs to visit the mesa and tend to the plants the birds feed on. There will be totems/amulets that allow non-dragons to go on the mesa.

The idea seems promising to me, I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions for adventure ideas or improvements on the idea.


Are there any feats or archetypes that let a neutral cleric channel both positive and negative energy?


I'm making a group of bad guy NPC adventurers for the players to fight. One of them will either be a (halfling) unchained rogue 3/antipaladin 2/shadowdancer 5 or an unchained rogue 3/antipaladin 7.

The setup is a one-shot I'll be running for my old gaming group on a trip to Seattle. It will be half-reverse dungeon, the players will run the monsters trying to stop a group of NPC adventurers for half the encounters and playing PCs for half the encounters. The rival group is taking a different route to the same BBEG. The antipaladin 7 route makes for a much stronger combatant but the shadow dancer route makes it possible for the halfling to sneak to the final room if the players kill most of the NPC group.

So I'm asking for advice on both builds. The shadowdancer route has a few fun options but the antipaladin would be much stronger in combat. Thoughts?


I'm playing around with ideas for a group of rival NPC adventurers. One idea is gnome synthesist summoners with eidolons that join, like a Voltron. Any suggestions?

I'm thinking there could be magic items or a minor artifact that make it possible. I started by working on a magic item that functions as a bag of holding inside a flying eidolon, letting a summoner transport cargo or people. If I go with cargo holding bag items for the eidolons I could make the NPCs half-elves to get extra evolution points. But I've never played a summoner as a player and I've never run a summoner as a GM, so I'm looking for advice and suggestions.


I'm working on an encounter with a five-headed chromatic dragon fighting PCs underwater. It's a large or huge size dragon (young adult or adult) and will trigger a switch that will flood the cavern with water. I'm thinking she can breath by keeping one head above water (providing a big advantage, there will be a pocket of air directly above her). But I wanted to hear others' thoughts on how that would work, and if there's anything I haven't thought of that I should include. I'm thinking only the lightning and cold breath weapons will work underwater, and I'll have the head surface for air the round before breathing the weapon and add a round to the cooldown.


One of my players asked where monsters go when they die (in terms of afterlife). I had never given it much thought, but might write a session around a trip to a monster afterlife. Has anyone written up a monster afterlife or have any ideas?


I picked up some of my favorite 1E adventures, and I'm debating converting them to PF or just hybridizing 1E and PF. Has anyone run a hybrid campaign with PF skills on a 1E chassis?

Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9

I'd like to thank Paizo and the RPG Superstar staff for another great first round and another year's contest. A few things I like in particular:

The weapon, armor, staff, ring or rod choice this year was really cool. A lot of neat items, and a lot of creative and fun designs.

I don't have time to game as much as I'd like, and it's fun to take part in a gaming community event like this.

The RPG Superstar event re-energizes the fan base each year. This is my second year of submitting an item and voting, but I've noticed that Paizo supports the fan base more than most gaming companies.

The process of voting on items makes me a little better at designing items. Deciding what makes a good item hundreds or thousands of times helps me understand what I consider 'good' and 'bad' design.

Seeing the top 32 helps me see what the fans and customers look for. I think of it as comparing Superman Returns to the Avengers for superhero movies: Superman Returns has a lot of details that only a diehard Superman fan will appreciate, but wasn't commercially successful while Avengers was a very good movie both for comic book fans and moviegoers in general. In terms of game design, Avengers is a better goal than Superman Returns. An rpg example might be Talislanta, one of my favorite all-time rpgs. A great concept and setting but not commercially successful. The first round helps show what the combination of good design and commercial success should look like (at least for items).


There is a discussion on a facebook group I'm a member of that includes the question of grappling dragons. The consensus is that internally consistent rules for magic and physics are more important than realism. But I got to thinking about judo-throwing a dragon, which can happen in some games. A dragon would be too heavy to fly according to real-world physics, so what if dragons have magic that make them lighter? Not as light as a helium balloon, but maybe closer to the weight of similarly sized nerf football while they're flying. A successful grapple against a dragon could represent catching the dragon at a moment when their magical lightening effect was active.

The issue of real-world physics is important for martial characters. Most games, including PF, detail how magic can break real-world physics within the rules but generally limit martial characters to something much closer to real world limitations. As an undergrad, friends who were physics majors were very adamant about applying real world limitations to martial characters. I think the game is more fun if martial characters can do cool things too, and magic affecting physics could be a part of a system. Any thoughts using magic to affect physics in ways that could add to the game?


I'm looking for advice and suggestions on four NPC bad guy builds. They're a rival party to the PCs. They are made with 20 pt buy and are equipped with 95000 gp (in between 11th and 12th level PC gear).

Here is the first:

Wozak Skullbearer
LE Half-Orc Urban Ranger 12

Str 22 (16 +2 racial +2 belt +2 levels)
Dex 12 (10 +2 belt)
Con 16 (14 +2 belt)
Int 15 (14 +1 levels)
Wis 10
Cha 10

Feats-
1st Imp. Initiative
2nd Power Attack
3rd Cleave
5th Skill Focus- disable device
6th Great Cleave
7th Death or Glory
9th Vital Strike
10th Furious Focus
11th Imp. Vital Strike

Skills-
Climb 6 +15
Disable Device 12 ranks +20
Intimidate 12 ranks +17
Knowledge (dungeoneering) 10 ranks +15
(geography) 6 ranks +11
(local) 6 ranks +11
Perception 12 ranks +15
Ride 6 ranks +10
Survival 12 ranks +15
Swim ranks 2 ranks +11

Languages- Orc, Common, Abyssal, Draconic

Equipment: Adamantine Breastplate +3 (DR 2/-), Belt of Physical Perfection +2, Handy Haversack, Greataxe of Life Stealing (as Sword of Life Stealing), Cloak of Resistance +4, Ring of Protection +3, Ring of Sustenance, Wand of cure light wounds, Wand of lesser restoration


I'm working on an Inquisitor/Gunslinger around level for an NPC bad guy. The Inquisitor's bane ability combined with a Gunslinger should make a fairly dangerous combo. Any suggestions on how to make it effective?


I'm going to run an encounter where the players play a five-headed half-chromatic dragon hydra as part of a reverse-dungeon style adventure. They will be fighting four NPCs, which will be run by the GM. Any advice on four easy to run but effective one trick pony style characters at level 10? I'm thinking of sword-and-board antipaladin, an archaeologist bard (neither is a one-trick pony but I'm familiar enough with both to run at level 10), sorcerer focusing on evocation, and oracle. But none are set in stone, I'm hoping others have suggestions for easy-to-run but effective concepts or improvements on the ones I've listed.


Any thoughts on spells or spell lists for a Samsaran Mystic Theurge with Mystic Past Life? I'm thinking of an NPC support caster mystic theurge for a one-shot, to make sure the group has access to spells they may need. I let the players run NPCs in combat, which sometimes results in dead NPCs because the players assume the NPC won't get killed (let's put the caster right next to the BBEG to provide flanking, the GM won't kill the NPC he made).

There are a couple spell lists I'm partial to for such a build: summoner provides early access to some nice arcane spells (I'm thinking wizard 3/cleric one with a domain SLA to qualify), druid has nice spells, paladin has some cool spells, and witch provides some arcane healing spells the mystic theurge could cast through his familiar. What do you guys suggest?


I'm going to be running an adventure with a 'Reverse Dungeon' half, there will be a rival bad guy party taking a different route to get the artifact at the end. The players will play characters in their half, and run monsters trying to stop the other party. The last encounter the players will run will be a five-headed chromatic hydra (red, blue, green, black, white) with individually intelligent heads, each with an appropriate breath weapon.

I need advice on mechanics and logistics. I'm thinking of giving each head a feat only that head can use, chosen by the player. I'm assuming four players, the red head controls movement of the body and the players will roll a d20 each round, whoever rolls highest runs the red that round. Each head will have different initiative, and players can choose improved initiative for their head (they could each choose the same feat, only one head benefits from the individual feat).

I'm looking for advice on mechanics- will the usual hydra mechanics work, or do they need tweaking? If the mechanics are tweaked the GM-run rival party will assume standard hydra tactics apply for at least a few rounds. Each head will be immune to the breath weapon damage they do, should all heads and the hydra have resistance to fire, cold, acid, and electricity? Are there any logistical considerations I've missed?


I'm thinking of making a Demon Queller type character (from Rifts). The class is from the Rifts: Japan sourcebook, an honorable warrior with some mystic abilities to fight demons. Is there a paladin or ranger archetype that is similar to this? (The Oath against Demons isn't exactly what I'm looking for, but that archetype with the Evangelist prestige class might work.)


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I'm working on an adventure partly in the style of the Reverse Dungeon. The Reverse Dungeon was an old-school adventure where the players played monsters defending a dungeon from adventurers (I've never played the Reverse Dungeon though). There was an adventure in Dungeon magazine in the 3E days where the PCs clear out a dungeon, then have to rebuild the defenses and defend it against a group of adventurers seeking the artifact within for evil purposes. I'm going to split the difference- two routes into the volcano lair of a red dragon guarding an artifact. The PCs are taking one route, while evil adventurers take the other. The players play the monsters on the other route and play their PCs (alternating encounters). The better the players play the monsters, the weaker the opponent adventurers will be for the final battle (after defeating the dragon, the PCs will be low on resources). Any thoughts or suggestions?


Let's discuss things that might be cool to see in Pathfinder Unchained:

Since hit points and skills points have a roughly equal value (from a FCB standpoint), I think it would be cool to have a pool of hit points and skills points at each level. Instead of getting d10+Con bonus hit points and 2+Int bonus skills points at each level, a Paladin or Fighter would get a pool of (d10+Con bonus hit + 2+Int bonus) at each level and would allocate some to hit points and some to skill points. This would give some flexibility. A martial with a high Con and a lot of hit points could add more to skill points at medium levels, and a spellcaster with excess skill points could shore up hit points a bit.

I think it would be cool if acrobatics, swim, and other physical skills were based on BAB. Use rope was a skill in 3E, and now it is based on BAB. This would make martials good at things they should be good at but usually don't have enough skill points for, and would make it make sense to make the rogue full BAB.

I'm assuming Pathfinder Unchained will be really cool. I'm sure the devs have better ideas than mine, but I think these would make nice options for the game. Monte Cook wrote an article about Sacred Cows (needs citations to RavingDorks Bovine Protection joke) that the 3E devs felt they had to include. PF moved a little further away from the sacred cows than 3E, but I think PF Unchained will have optional rules for non-Vancian casting and reworking sacred cow spells. But I'm sure there are other ideas for cool options we'd like to see in PF Unchained, maybe as a pdf downloand if page count is already allocated.


Should there be a divine caster with Arcanist-style spellcasting? I think it would be cool. Divine spell lists are less powerful than the sorcerer/wizard spell list, so I think there would be less concern over breaking the game. And the ability to swap out a spell would produce less of a silver-bullet mage effect.


I just got the old AD&D module City Beyond the Gate. Anyone have advice for converting it for low-level PF?


Should there be a skill point equivalent of the Toughness feat? With the favored class bonus you can select a bonus skill point or bonus hit point at each level, which suggests hit points and skill points should have comparable mechanical value. And if there was a Toughness feat for skills, which classes would benefit the most from it?


Here's my attempt at Rocket:

Rocket
Advanced Awakened Cybernetic Raccoon
Techslinger Gunslinger 11

Str 12
Dex 24 (18 +2 levels +4 advanced)
Con 15
Int 22
Wis 20
Cha 12

Gear: Hadron Enforcer (artifact-level rail gun), Arc Rifle

The Hadron Enforcer deals (1d3+1) times the targets hit points on a successful touch attack, ignoring hardness and dr. It can hold three charges, consumes three charges per shot, and can only be recharged with grit points at a one to one ratio.

Feats- Technologist, Improved Initiative, Point Blank Shot, Craft Technological Arms and Armor, Precise Shot, Deadly Aim, Exotic Weapon Prof.- heavy weapons, Rapid Shot

Technic Training- Arc Rifle, Hadron Enforcer

Special Defense- "There ain't nothin' like me except me": Rocket has SR 40 against any effects that target either animals or humanoids (including benefifical spells and spell-like abilities). He can voluntarily lower this as a full-round action, and reactivating it requires a full-round action.

"I'm not as drink as you thunk I am": Rocket suffers no combat penalties for intoxication, but doubles non-combat penalties.


ACG has rings that add creatures of a certain type to your summon monster lists (Archon, Azata, Psychopomp, and others). Which do you think adds the best monsters to the summon monster list?


Let's try to break the ACG and Technology Guide (either/or or both). The first one that comes to mind is Samsaran Witch with Mystic Past Life and spells from the Summoner list, and then Technomancer. This gives a lot of spells that are not on the list. Another, similar option is Human/Half-Elf/Half-Orc Shaman with spells from the cleric list and a summoning focus (Spell Focus-Conjuration, Augment Summoning, etc.). This makes for a very good zookeeper build with summoned monsters, a spirit animal, and buff spells. At higher level cleric direct damage and battlefield control spells become available through the FCB.

Any other ideas?


I have a subplot in a a campaign involving different versions of the Devil. Sometimes there are only three players, so there is an Aasimar cleric NPC. The group has been hired by Samael and Michael (based on the Vertigo Lucifer comic series), the good guys. They are exploring ruins, and I've included side quests to accomplish tasks and retrieve items.

I'm hoping for suggestions on versions of the Devil, each from a different universe. The ruins are occasionally a nexus connecting to other realities. The first 'bad guy' version of the Devil will be based on Count Iblis from the original BSG. I'm also hoping for suggestions on tasks and side quests, things different versions of the Devil will be competing to acquire for their plans in their home realities.

It started out as a plot device to have the NPC cleric disappear when four or more players can make it, but the players enjoy the side quests so far. With some players who can only make it every other weekend, I like have self-contained quests that can be resolved in one session.

Suggestions?


Let's have a crazy build thread:

40 pt buy
Level 12 +1 mythic level
Any Paizo products allowed
Templates allowed, using Bestiary guidelines (+1 CR = 1 class level, at level 8 +1 CR = no level adjustment or +2 CR = 1 class level)
Young template allowed for -1 (only one time) to offset a +1 CR (such as from Drow Noble)
Starting equipment set at GP halfway between level 12 and 13, the first sample doesn't have gear yet.

Here's a sample

Solstice King
NG Male Advanced Samsaran Wizard (Diviner) 1/ Cleric 2/ Mystic Theurge 9/Archmage (Mythic path) 1
Domain- Trickery Inquisition- Fate (to use SLAs to qualify for Mystic Theurge)
Prohibited Schools- Illusion, Necromancy
Mystic Past Life racial quality

Str 14
Dex 18 (14 +4 advanced template)
Con 16 (11 +4 advanced template +1 at level 4)
Int 26 (18 +2 racial +4 advanced template +2 levels)
Wis 24(18 +2 racial +4 advanced template)
Cha 14

Feats-
1 Scribe Scroll, Combat Casting
3 Spell Focus(conjuration)
5 Craft Wand
7 Augment Summoning
9 Sacred Summons
11 Summon Good Creature

Archmage Arcana- Arcane Surge
Path Ability- Flash of Omniscience
Mythic Feat- Augment Summoning (Mythic)


Does the reduced size category from the young template reduce movement? I don't believe changing size category changes movement unless there is a specific mention of size and movement (like dragons).


Occasionally when I run, I'll provide a party NPC (often a cleric). Sometimes it is because no one wants to play the cleric (clerics are awesome starting in 3E and in PF, but there is some remaining lack of enthusiasm for playing a cleric with some players). Sometimes there are only three players.

I've noticed players get a little bit unnerved when a party NPC dies or nearly dies. A party NPC cleric can be counted on for healing and if need be to have vital equipment ("the NPC cleric has a lot of extra climbing equipment, and a lot of flammable oil- should we be concerned?"). So it makes sense that players expect the NPC cleric to not die. But I let the players run the NPC cleric in combat to prevent it from becoming a GMPC, which means the NPC will take damage and risks death.

Anyone have observations on players being unnerved by a party NPC death?


Anyone have recommendations for a low-level urban investigation?


What are some archetypes you'd like to see? I'm hoping we'll get a few archetypes in the ACG. Here are some I'd like to see:

Archetypes for specialist wizards
Gun-focused Magus (something you occasionally see in anime)
Wildshape focused Druid
Fighter with grit-like abilities

What are some archetypes you'd like to see?


Can anyone suggest ideas for a First Worlder Summoner character? Thinking of having one as an NPC, and I have no experience playing summoners.


What are some opinions on the best spells to add to your spell list with Samsaran Mystic Past Life? We could break it down by class- I suspect some of the best arcane spells will be summoner spells and divine spells on arcane spell lists, and some of the best divine spells will be druid spells and some of the litanies from the paladin spell list.


I'm playing around with the idea of a disease that is made stronger by divine magic. It could be used for a zombie apocalypse campaign, or as part of a demon invasion. The disease gestates indefinitely, and is activated when a host is affected by a divine spell. There is a daily Fort save that must be made every day against DC 15+level of spell that activated it, with a +1 for each day the disease has been active. Success means resisting the disease and becoming immune to it. Failure means it worsens. Worsening either means -1 to SR and Will saves (minimum 0 for each) for a demon invasion campaign, or -1 Con if it is an undead apocalypse campaign. At Con 0 the victim becomes an undead, or the GM might have undead or demons transforming weakened disease victims.

Thoughts?


I'm considering allowing players to use a 40 point buy the next time I run PF (which will probably be The Emerald Spire). 20 point seems to really favor SAD classes. With 40 point buy, a PC could have two 18s with points to spare, or an 18 and two 16s with points to spare, or four 16s. Encounters would have to be adjusted to keep them challenging, but I think it gives different classes and races more equal footing.

I'm sure there are downsides I'm not thinking of, if anyone has suggestions I'd love to hear them.


I usually run monsters with an Int of 8 or higher like a PC of equal Int in terms of strategy and tactics. So the monster will assume heavily armored PCs have good fort, unarmored PCs have good will saves, and lightly armored PCs have good reflex. Around Int 14 I assumed monsters will target heavily armored characters lacking a holy symbol with will and all heavily armored with reflex, and will tend to target PCs not in heavy armor with fort save effects.

That said, anyone have thoughts or comments on letting monsters use a knowledge check to figure out good and bad saves for PCs? Knowledge-dungeoneering for most martials and rogues, knowledge-wilderness for rangers, barbarians, and druids, knowledge-arcana for divine spellcasters and knowledge-religion for paladins and divine spellcasters.


My experience is some classes get either more or less interesting to play, and some top off at certain levels. For example, fighters are lot of fun to play for the first four levels- almost any build can be effective, and fighters do a lot of damage. Spellcasters start out interesting and get more interesting. My observation is that d20 and PF design combat around miniatures and grids (and combat works very well using minis and a grid), but the downside is that combat-focused classes tend to get abilities that are confined to grid-based combat, and spellcasters get spells that have effects outside of the confines of grid-based combat as well as spells that work in grid-based combat.

I usually play a cleric, wizard, or paladin- my old gaming group that I played with for 17 years had default roles we played, so I enjoy these classes and play them effectively. Mixing things up sometimes didn't work out in that group, I played a rogue in Savage Tide end became the front-line melee combatant because the player trying out front-line melee combatant wasn't very effective. My experience is that paladins can be fun at low levels and can really shine at medium levels, I haven't played a paladin past level 12. Clerics are fun at all levels, a druid generally has more options at a given level. The difference between druids and clerics increases at high levels, druids have a great spell list and wildshape and an animal companion (I've never played a druid with the domain option). Clerics have a lot of customization with domains. Sorcerers are great at medium levels, I've never played a sorcerer past level 8 though (campaigns end kind of randomly, we took turns GMing and the GM picked the game to run). Spell selection affects sorcerers a lot, but bloodlines grant a lot of customization. Fighters fall behind both full and partial casters fairly quickly after level 6 or so, the ability to affect both combat and non-combat situations with spells adds a lot of versatility to casters.

Does anyone else have thoughts or experience they'd like to share? The Extraordinary and Supernatural ability thread has a great discussion on how to make the game work better for martial classes, I don't want to risk derailing that thread. Ideally all classes should get more interesting as the game goes on, but some classes become less versatile. Since moving I haven't gamed much, I should be able to game a bit over the summer so I should have more observations by the end of summer.


There are a lot of threads on caster vs. martial disparity. I'd like to discuss one aspect of class balance: SAD vs. MAD. Full casters are single attribute dependent, they do damage, prevent damage, buff, travel, summon, scry, and do pretty much everything through spells. A wizard or druid in a point buy game can max Int or Wis, adding a few points to Dex and Con, and get by with penalties in Str and Cha. A multiple attribute dependent class like the ranger needs bonuses in Str, Dex, Con, and Wis and benefits from bonuses in Int and Cha. It is tougher to max out one stat and a penalty in any stat hurts more. The ranger needs Str and Dex (if ranged) for dealing damage, Dex for AC and initiative, Con for hit points, Wis for spells, Int for skills, and Cha for wild empathy.

I used wizard, druid, and ranger as examples because they are all strong classes. They have different strengths and weaknesses, and I'm arguing it is more difficult from a build and point buy perspective to make use of a ranger's strengths. I'm not trying to create another caster vs. martial thread, but rather to discuss SAD vs. MAD.

What if there were a mechanic to make MAD class more SAD? What if a martial could use their highest stat bonus for damage, to hit, AC, initiative, reflex, and fort saves? How would that change the game?


I have some thoughts on fighters and rogues in Pathfinder, specifically the "fighters and rogues are mechanically weak" discussion:

The improvements Pathfinder made to the d20 mechanics benefit other classes more than fighter and rogues. I've posted this observation before, and there appear to be two main schools of thoughts on the matter. Some gamers point to the fact that players both play and enjoy playing both classes. Other gamers point out that the fighter isn't the best at combat and has little out of combat utility, and the rogue is generally weaker in combat than other classes and no longer plays a vital role.

The mechanical improvements PF made to d20 include more feats, improving skills by an order of magnitude, more class features and more frequent class features, and making WBL and magic item acquisition more consistent. The skills are one of the bigger improvements. In 3E you got skills x4 at first level and there were many redundant skills (hide and move silently instead of stealth, spot and listen instead of perception). Pathfinder replaced skills x4 at first level with the +3 bonus for class skills and added traits to make any skill a class skill. Now any class can be good at stealth and perception and any other skill, so the rogue is no longer needed to be the skill guy. The fighter loses out in the skills department with only two skill points per level and a greater incentive to spend traits on combat bonuses.

The rogue was the best at skills, stealth, and dealt considerable damage with sneak attack in 3E. Now any class can be good at skills and stealth, and the rogue got fewer new class features and options compared to the barbarian or ranger. In 3E a rogue could tumble to get flanking and pair up with a martial to take out a BBEG, then fight defensively until the party cleared out the BBEG's henchmen. Now, those henchmen barbarians and rangers are a lot tougher and other classes can deal more damage than the rogue, so the rogue no longer shines in dealing damage.

The fighter loses out a little because of the increased feats in comparison with other classes. In 3E a fighter got a lot more feats than other classes, so if you wanted to build an archer or THF whirlwind attack character fighter was the best option. Now a ranger can be a better archer and any class has the feats for any of the combat feat trees.

WBL and Ye Olde Magick Shoppe also benefit other classes more than the fighter and rogue. Now it is easier to customize magic gear to fit a particular build. This tends to benefit other classes more, a bad touch cleric or wildshaping druid can be better in melee and have full spellcasting. In 3E there was less customization of magic gear, so the fighter could be the best tank/front line fighter. Now several classes can outshine the fighter on the front line and have a lot of out of combat utility. And any class can be good as the party face or at any number of skills, so the versatiliy of the rogue no longer stands out.

My observation is there is a bit of a generational gap in viewing the fighter and rogue. Gamers who played 1E, 2E, and 3E before PF seem more likely to focus on how the fighter and rogue can still fill the roles they've always filled, and focus less on how other classes can outshine them in those roles. Younger gamers are (subjectively) more objective, and seem more likely to focus on how other classes can do those things as well or better and also do other things.


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I'm creating a Solo Dungeon on google docs for solo Pathfinder play. Please feel free to use and contribute:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/174sUR4IwotNE_ZvsI1ZU4N9-IKKYGX0tI_p8LB2 fda0/pub


Here's something I posted in http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2qwu6?Sell-me-why-is-your-build-the-BEST-at-Sla ying#30

There was a thread a few weeks ago asking for advice on making an epic Great Wyrm Red Dragon encounter. I assume a great wyrm red dragon will have a lot of defenses to use up supplies of PCs before they reach the dragon, and might (in one of my campaigns definitely) have a network of spies, and agents who hire adventurers. The PCs in question may have procured items and artifacts for the dragon through an intermediary, the dragon probably knows their strengths and weaknesses. If I were running the encounter, the dragon would have a lernean cryohydra or similar encounter two or three encounters before the dragon's lair, to use up protection from element supplies (and maybe catch the PCs off guard if they only have protection from fire). One or two encounters before the lair are a pair of advanced iron golems, the fight will make a lot of noise and give the dragon time to cast buff spells.

Once in the lair, the dragon has levers on the ceiling, disguised as stalactites:

Lever 1: pours steak sauce on PCs
Lever 2: Activates anti-magic field starting at height ten feet above floor level
The dragon then uses his/her breath weapon to melt piles of gold at a higher level, turning them into molten gold (combo lava/quicksand rules)
Lever 3: Pours molten gold into anti-magic field area where some or all PCs are
Lever 4: Opens trap door to 40'x40'x80' deep pit, and gravity drops molten gold into pit
Lever 5: Pours water into pit (which has an anti-magic field, of course)
Lever 6: Release the kraken

With the network of spies, the dragon will have countermeasures prepared for PCs who can fly.

I'd like to have a thread on dragon encounters and world building without derailing a fun and informative thread on dragonslayer builds.

"Ye Olde Magicke Shoppe" is fun for players and changes the game- players can sell and buy magic items to customize their gear to match a build. Which is great for players, and a change from AD&D where you made the best of whatever magic items you the magic item tables produced. But the magic shop could be used for world building and encounter design- imagine a world where every potential BBEG and major potentially allied NPC has arrangements with magic shops to be alerted of major purchases and specific kinds of purposes. A lich in a castle full of undead might want to know if a group of PCs is stocking up on undead bane and holy weapons. All the dragons in the region would be interested if PCs buy dragon bane weapons, arrows of dragonslaying, and elemental/energy resistance items. Powerful NPCs might want to have the option of finding out whenever expensive magic items are bought or sold (think gun registration and tracking except for magic items instead of guns, and major NPCs instead of the gub'mint). The major NPCs and major monsters pay a small retainer to magic shops and buy and sell magic items, so are also valuable customers. And a magic shop not taking part in the registration/tracking arrangement might fall victim to tragedy, either deliberate or from lack of protection. And a kingdom might raise taxes on a magic shop not informing them of major purchases. Long story short, magic shops could be an important part of the behind-the-scenes stuff in world- and campaign- building.

A second world-building element that can be used in dragon encounters is the role they play in the world. A red or blue dragon might create a buffer zone between monsters territories or kingdoms, and removing that dragon could lead to warfare that spills over to friendly kingdoms and nations. Good-aligned NPCs, nations, and organizations could have a vested interested in not letting a powerful dragon be killed.

A third element could be a council of dragons or alliances between dragons. Dragons live a long time, so metallic and chromatic dragons could be on friendly terms. Forgotten Realms had a council of dragons (either in 1E or 2E) that I thought was a cool concept. Imagine PCs hacking or sneaking their way through a red dragon's lair to kill the dragon and take the loot, only to run into a metallic dragon halfway through. The metallic dragon could have a mutual defense agreement with the red dragon while staying at the lair, and the PCs would either have to talk their way out of it or fight the metallic dragon.

Those are some thoughts, I'd love to hear others' thoughts.


Hypothetical- a group of PCs is fighting a red dragon. When the red dragon drops below 40% hp he flies away, casts Simulacrum from a scroll, and then casts heal spells and buff spells on himself while the simulacrum keeps the PCs occupied. If a paladin is using Smite Evil against the red dragon will that let him be able to tell the simulacrum is not the real red dragon?


I'm part of the school of thought that believes fighters needs an upgrade for combat and upgrades out of combat. In 2E a fighter with weapon specialization gained extra attacks per round faster than other martial classes. What if fighters had a fighter-only feat that added a bonus to BAB? Max attacks per round would cap out at four, but a fighter could increase BAB every four levels (for +5 at fourth level, +6/+1 at fifth level, +11/+6/+1 at ninth level if the feat is taken again at level eight). This would give fighters a bonus in combat unavailable to other martial classes, and the bonus would be useful with all attacks. One of the downsides of fighters is that they end up doing a lot of damage with one weapon and a limited array of attack maneuvers. Fighters become more specialized/more limited while spellcasters gain a lot of combat power and a lot of out of combat utility every time a new spell level is gained without having to specialize.

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