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Yeah, I'm back...

So I have decided to go with a greatsword wielding Paladin for my first PFS Character. I had thought about a TWF Paladin but based on the advice I got here and my own reflection it is sub-optimal and it is in my nature to optimize. So, I have what I think is a good start for a Two Handed build but I am looking for some advice on how to scale feats, stats, etc.

Here is what I have

Name: Domallius Veneloric
Class: Paladin - 1
Race: Human

STR 18
DEX 12
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 7
CHA 15

Feats: Toughness, Weapon Focus: Greatsword

Skills: Diplomacy, Craft (Armor) (for day job), Perception.

Thanks in advance!

Hello there everyone. Going to my first PFS event tomorrow night and planning on playing a TWF shield bashing Paladin build. I have played this at higher levels and really enjoyed it. He was practically indestructible with good saves, LoH, and a high Dex that contributed to his armor class without limiting his mobility. The problem that I am facing is that while the build works like gangbusters at higher levels it will be rather weak at lower levels since I will have to spread my stats out so much. I also have to wonder if I can afford to dump Int as well as Wis. Here are the two options that I have come up with.

Race: Human - for extra feat and skill point (both builds)

Str 12
Dex 16
Con 12
Int 10
Wis 7
Cha 18

or

Str 14
Dex 16
Con 13
Int 7
Wis 7
Cha 18

Feats: Improved Shield Bash (planning on using a light spiked shield so that I can still LoH as a swift action), Two Weapon Fighting.

A high Cha is important to me for the boost to saves and extra LoH, not to mention the sick bonus to Smite which will only get better as I level. I will have to boost Dex every four levels to get the minimum requirements for Greater Two Weapon fighting, but of course that is waaay down the road.

My big questions are:

1) I already know that the build is sick at higher levels but is it viable at lower levels? I don't want to get stuck playing a sucky character for years.

2) Is it worth it to go full dump on Int and Cha? The other paladin that I played did this and his major disadvantage was that he was skill poor. He couldn't ride anything, didn't know anything, and while he was a speedster in a chain shirt it was hard for him to jump and move through rough terrain.

Feedback is appreciated. Don't hold back give it to me straight doc!

So as it is written this ability seems pretty weak.

Any Palidin worth his/her salt is going to either wield a 2H weapon, sword and shield, or two weapons. No Paladin that I have ever heard of is going to walk around with a free hand.

This means that to use the ability while wielding a sword and shield a paladin must drop her sword and use it and then draw her sword. This kind of defeats the purpose of using LoH on herself as a swift action. Even with Quick Draw it seems kind of clunky. I have heard of Paladins who will use light shields to keep a hand "free," but my archetypical paladin carries a big ass shield.

What is the consensus on shield-wielding Paladins? Can you use LoH with a heavy shield or do you need an extra feat to make the concept work?

I had a Shadowdancer PC in my last session who would sneak up behind something, use the full attack action the next round (with all of his sneak attack damage on each attack), and then HiPS. My question is can you HiPS with a 5-foot adjustment after a full attack or do you need a move action to HiPS?

Thanks.

Greetings all.

I am planning on writing an adventure and I wanted to include a classic monster, the Umber Hulk, but I cannot find anything in the SRD. Maybe I am missing it. Has anyone done the legwork on this already?

Also I had an idea for a completely unique monster that has never been used before. It's called a Flind Mayer and it is a tentacled, psyonic, abberation that dominates and enslaves it's enemies. It eats brains too! I know it's an outside chance, but has anyone developed a creature like this for Pathfinder?

;)

Thanks in advance.

A buddy and I were going over what the ritual to become a lich might actually look like from a purely mechanical perspective. What we came up with was pretty close to what the Lich template actually does so with a little judicious house ruling whenever my party defeats a lich or someone trying to become a lich I can actually show them what they were researching in game terms.

Of course I don’t want to ruin the allure of the lich by saying that this process is the be all and end all of lichdom. It would likely require considerable modifications for a divine spellcaster, simply because they do not have access to certain spells (though miracles could be substituted for some). It might also be more ritualistic, i.e. less alchemical preparation and more prayers and rituals. The “everyone is different,” caveat can still be worked in since preparation of the body leaves a lot open to interpretation. Also, it us about four hours worth of rules lawyering to come up with the recipe with access to perfect information as well as the insights that we incorporated from second edition sourcebooks. In its present form the recipe would require thousands upon thousands of hours of research and preparation

Anyone seeking to become a Lich must have the following feats, spells, and features.

Magic Jar
Create Undead
Contingency
Teleport
Arcane Spellcaster
Craft Wondrous Item
An assistant, preferably willing
Caster Level 11

Step 1 – Create a phylactery

PHYLACTERY
Aura strong necromancy; CL 11th
Slot -; Price 240,000 gp; Weight at least 1 lb
DESCRIPTION The most common form of phylactery is a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases have been transcribed. The box is Tiny and has 40 hit points, hardness 20, and a break DC of 40. Other forms of phylacteries can exist, such as rings, amulets, or similar items.
When a lich is destroyed, its phylactery (which is generally hidden by the lich in a safe place far from where it chooses to dwell) immediately begins to rebuild the undead spellcaster's body nearby. This process takes 1d10 days—if the body is destroyed before that time passes, the phylactery merely starts the process anew. After this time passes, the lich wakens fully healed (albeit without any gear it left behind on its old body), usually with a burning need for revenge against those who previously destroyed it.

CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Magic Jar, Contingency, Teleport; Cost 120,000 gp

Step 2 – The switch

This step involves an assistant. The would be lich must cast Magic Jar on the phylactery then possess the body of the assistant. Once in the assistant’s body the spellcaster must Create Undead on his lifeless body and raise himself as a ghoul and then spend however many weeks/months it takes to prepare his body with alchemy checks, heal checks, spellcraft checks, etc. This is where the “everybody is different clause,” comes in. The research required to produce the process would likely require a lot of vile, painful and disgusting experimentation on unwilling subjects so there is no doubt that a lich is plenty evil except in the rarest of circumstances. After the body is prepared well enough to endure eternity the spellcaster can then transfer his soul back into his body. After his soul has been transferred the bond becomes permanent and the spellcaster becomes a lich.

Explanation of abilities

When compared the ghoul and the lich have a bit in common.

1)Naturally, they both have all of the undead traits
2)The Ghoul’s more powerful cousin the Ghast also has paralyzing touch.
3)Ghouls also have natural armor
4)As undead they are also immune to cold

Furthermore many of the lich’s abilities can be rationalized simply by considering its nature

1)The ability bonuses come over time naturally as the lich ages. It is usually assumed that even the weakest liches are very old.
2)The +4 channel resistance would only be natural since a lich is a highly intelligent undead that was once a humanoid spell-caster.
3)The spells cast on the phylactery allow the lich to reassemble himself in the event of his body’s destruction. When his body is destroyed it triggers a contingency that casts teleport. The location is always right next to the phylactery (considered familiar 4% chance of failure) so that the lich can begin to piece his body back together with the 0 level spells mend and mage hand.
4)Damage Reduction/bludgeoning and magic make sense. As the lich slowly rots his body becomes less tangible and he takes less damage.
5)Electricity immunity is not too far fetched since there is little liquid in the dried out husk of a body to conduct electricity and cause damage. Like casting lightning bold on a piece of beef jerky.
6)Fear aura - yeah...it's scary!

A couple of abilities are more of a stretch but are not completely out of the blue.

1)The negative energy touch attack is the hardest to rationalize but one can reason that plenty of powerful corporeal undead, like wights and vampires have energy drain abilities. Furthermore, frankly, this ability is really there for flavor since a lich is not likely to rely on this ability in combat. If he is pummeling people is probably out of spells and close to death. It is also highly likely that the lich is intimately familiar with spells like Enervation and has learned to cast them reflexively.

Please take a look and tell me what you think. Also open to suggestions insights. Thanks!

Need to generate some NPCs quick without all the legwork involved. Anyone know a good source?

Grappling with Multiple Creatures

Multiple Creatures: Multiple creatures can attempt to grapple one target. The creature that first initiates the grapple is the only one that makes a check, with a +2 bonus for each creature that assists in the grapple (using the Aid Another action). Multiple creatures can also assist another creature in breaking free from a grapple, with each creature that assists (using the Aid Another action) granting a +2 bonus on the grappled creature's combat maneuver check.

Once you are grappling an opponent, a successful check allows you to continue grappling the foe, and also allows you to perform one of the following actions (as part of the standard action spent to maintain the grapple)...

Damage: You can inflict damage to your target equal to your unarmed strike, a natural attack, or an attack made with armor spikes or a light or one-handed weapon. This damage can be either lethal or nonlethal.

Energy Drain

This attack saps a living opponent's vital energy and happens automatically when a melee or ranged attack hits. Each successful energy drain bestows one or more negative levels (the creature's description specifies how many). If an attack that includes an energy drain scores a critical hit, it bestows twice the listed number of negative levels. Unless otherwise specified in the creature's description, a draining creature gains 5 temporary hit points for each negative level it bestows on an opponent. These temporary hit points last for a maximum of 1 hour. Negative levels remain until 24 hours have passed or until they are removed with a spell, such as restoration. If a negative level is not removed before 24 hours have passed, the affected creature must attempt a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 draining creature's racial HD + draining creature's Cha modifier; the exact DC is given in the creature's descriptive text). On a success, the negative level goes away with no harm to the creature. On a failure, the negative levels becomes permanent. A separate saving throw is required for each negative level.

Ok, so I did a search but I could not find this specific situation addressed.

Last session I ran five Wights grappled one of my PCs. I added +2 for each wight and they successfully grappled making the adjusted CMB +12{+4 base + 8(+2 for each wight assisting the first)}. The next round I rolled another adjusted grapple check at +12 and it succeeded. Here is where it gets hazy for me. I had each wight do unarmed damage 1d3+1 and the PC had to roll five fortitude saves for "drain energy." I rationalized that each time the PC took damage that constituted a "melee attack." The questions that I have are.

1) When multiple opponents grapple does each one do grapple damage individually or do you only do grapple damage once?
2) When a creature with energy drain grapples someone do you apply energy drain to the damage? i.e. does grapple damage constitute a "melee attack?"

Been reading lots of threads of things players do to make you crazy. Thought I would add one of my own just to vent a bit. Please comment and add your own.

I absolutely hate it when players argue the laws of physics with me. Not rules-lawyering, which I can at least respect but it sends me into a murderous rage when I get into an argument with a player who is clearly trying to go outside of the rules to gain an advantage.

For instance...called shots (even though they do not exist in pathfinder). We have all had that player who says "I take steady aim and shoot him in the eye," and argues with you when you don't award him a critical for telling you where he aims. And does not understand that the rules compensate for called-shots by assuming that you are always aiming for the area that is most vulnerable.

Player: "But what about snipers in Iraq? They shoot people in the head all the time."

DM: "Apart from the fact that they are using high powered sniper rifles, the average level one warrior has about 10 hit points so, logically speaking they would usually die in the first hit."

Player: "But what about a dragon. It's so big. It's eye is like huge. You should be able to just shoot it's eye, the rules suck."

DM: "Well, by that rationale then the dragon could just land on you since it is faster than you and it is too big for you to run out from under it."

Player: "I could shoot it in the eye as it's coming down."

DM: "Ok here is a perfect example. See this golf ball? I am aiming at your head (throws) but I don't always hit it since you are shielding your face with your arms and moving your head around. Some hit (throws another) your sternum, or (throws another) your neck....

Hi all,

I have two interesting scenarios that are about to come up in my campaign.

I have a PC who has some very creative ideas about a special bladed suit of armor that he has constructed. He has basically built his character around the suit and has even gone so far as to take Master Craftsman Armorsmithing and Weaponsmithing to add magical abilities to his creation, he also has an insane craft(arms and armor) skill. I think it is something like +16 or 17 when using masterwork tools. He also has set up a business around producing masterwork weapons and armor and is going to move into producing magic items (mid-magic campaign)

Anyway, I have two questions I would like to put up for discussion.

1) Since he has sacrificed two feats would it be reasonable to think that I can up his wealth-by-level by 20% or so and tailor my treasure awards accordingly?

2) If he is going to start selling magic items how would you go about handling these high-value transactions. I, personally work in software sales and I know from experience that when someone is looking at a big ticket item like software for 2000PCs or 6 months worth of consulting that it takes a LONG time to work out the details. I am inclined to handle each transaction on a case-by-case basis. I.E. "So, Mr. Noble you want a sword that you can throw and have it return to your hand...that will cost you..."

Thoughts and opinions are appreciated. Thanks.

So, I need some opinions on an upcoming adventure.

I am planning an adventure this coming weekend that has a "classic horror," vibe. The party consists of three 9th level PCs and a 5th level cohort.

In a nutshell, An NPC is going to ask them to enter an abandoned keep and take out his brother who "disappeared," 30 years ago after he destroyed and cursed his family. He spent this time wandering the plane of shadow and has recently returned to reclaim his family's manor. There is a more detailed description on my EpicWords blog http://www.epicwords.com/campaigns/1005

Here is my dillema.

I have designed the manor and the catacombs and filled it with a bunch of undead critters like wights, skeletons, ghosts, spectres, and a devourer. I have also included a bunch of magical beasts like chimeras, and manticores. Originally I had envisioned the "brother," as an 11th level transmuter turned Lich, but lately I am thinking that I might have the devourer be the top dog. I.E. the "brother," retured from the plane of shadow as a devourer instead of a lich. This would fit with the description of the devourer in the SRD

"Devourers are the undead remnants of fiends and evil spellcasters who became lost beyond the farthest reaches of the multiverse."

Here are the pros and cons of switching the lich for a devourer.

Pro:

It will lead to less confusion among the players who are likely to assume that the devourer is in fact the lich since they are so simmilar, i.e. a humanoid, spellcasting, undead creature.

It will let me keep the lich card in my pocket for future adventures.

Cons:

The devourer has enough personality but not as much as the lich since it does not have class levels.

There are things in the dungeon that I wanted to include that the devourer cannot do like "magic mouths," mongrelmen created from experiments, magical runes, etc. Essentially the devourer is less of a spellcaster.

Finally, I wanted to include a trip to the plane of shadow to destroy the lich's phylactery as the endgame.

I know that there are no wrong answers but I would love to hear some feedback.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read and post!

Player problem.

So, I decided that loot distribution, expereince distribution, scheduling, etc. would be more efficient for my group if done online. I set up a website for my group of four players.

At the beginning of the last session two players had signed up for the website. At the end of the session I told everybody "I will post XP on the website tomorrow." After I had posted XP I sent everybody a text with instructions on how to sign up for the site. Another player signed up but a week later I am still missing my last player.

It is irritating to me since I spend 10+ hours a week preparing adventures, calculating XP, etc. Not to mention running the session. The website just makes my job easier by allowing me to consolidate information and collaborate with players onlie. I enjoy doing all this stuff, but it is time consuimng, and I dont think 5 minutes of a player's time is too much to ask to make my job a little easier.

My plan is that next session, in about a week, my problem player is going to show up and ask me "How much XP did I get?" (he is due to go up a level). To which I will reply "I don't know, check the website." I think I might just let him play that session at 8th level instead of 9th to get my point across. I mean, it has been a month! Thoughts and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

I had a player try to get one over on me the other night.

He cast "True Strike," on himself and then told me that he wanted to make a called shot against an NPC's neck. I responded that it was simply a standard attack roll since when you are attacking you are always trying to hit the most vital exposed area.

I do not remember reading anything in the SRD about called shots against a living target. Can anyone confirm this for me?

Thanks!

So. In an upcoming campaign I plan on putting one of my PCs in a moral connundrum.

This PC plays a warrior who is working as a double agent. He is a rank and file member of a brutal thieves guild that is causing havoc in the city that the campaign is set in. His real purpose however is to infiltrate the thieves guild and get close to the leader so that he can gather information about their true purpose.

He is being employed by a counter-terrorism group that wants to remove the thieves guild from the city at any cost and suspects (and rightfully so) that they may be up to something far more devious than just pickpocketing and drug trafficking.

So, here is the dillema. Next session the PC in question will be contactd by the leader of the thieves guild for a job. He and several other members will infiltrate a heavily guarded home. When they kill all the guards they will find a 16 year old girl sleeping in her bed and the guild leader will ask the PC to kill her to "prove his loyalty."

The PC is CN and I do not think that this would force an alignment shift since he will see the completeion of this act as a necessary step to advance further in the guild. Plus, the leader of the counter terrorism group specifically told him that he needs to do whatever is necessary "for the greater good." It will be interesting to see how it plays out though :)

One of my PCs and I are collaborating on a homebrew. I wont describe it ad nauseum but the working name for it so far is The Crossroads Campaign setting.

The gist of the setting is that I wanted to turn the clock back to a more traditional fantasy setting imagine the Hyborian age if you added just a little more technology and a smidge more magic. I am also mixing in a litte bit of a cyberpunk ideology. The world is brutal and cruel and the powers that be will make you their plaything if you are not careful.

There is more detailed information about some of the setting on my epicwords blog if anyone wants to check it out.

http://www.epicwords.com/campaigns/1005

Anyway, my player had a great idea that is a staple of sci-fi and fantasy fiction that I thought would work GREAT in my setting and I wanted to shamelessly farm these boards for ideas.

My player's idea is that there is a secret order of High Level NPCs (think 14-20th level) that have dedicated themselves to ensuring that the pendulum of fate does not swing out of balance. Think 2nd ed druid ideology. They are almost like the Q from Star Trek in that they are meddlers and do much of their work behind the scenes. Rarely getting directly involved in the affairs of "mortals," but influencing the course of history behind the scenes.

So far we have come up with one NPC who is a 17th level monk named Myth. I am going to start the convention that each NPC is known only by a simmilar pseudonym to protect their true identities. I.E. Myth, Rumor, Prophecy, Destiny, etc.

I am also assuming that each NPC has found a way to become ageless whether it be lichdom, a special magic item or "just because." Collectively they are even more powerful than gods.

I am thinking that my PCs will encounter one or two of them throughout the campaign sometimes as enemies and sometimes as friends.

If anyone has any sample NPCs or ideas that they think would be appropriate please let me know.

Thanks!

I wanted to post about some experiences that I have had and some things that I have noticed being discussed on these boards. I know that a lot of us DMs lament that games like WoW and even D&D online are affecting our players. This is nothing new, however, I am seeing these effects mainfest in specific and irritating ways. I would like to see if we, as a community, can share our experiences and give names to this specific behavior so that going forward we can gently remind players that they are not, in fact, plaing a game of WoW.

I will start with an interesting experience that I had while playing an MMO. When I was playing WoW some months ago I was describing how all MMOs evolved from D&D. When I described D&D to one of the gamers he didn't seem to understand the concept especially how loot was distributed. His exact words were "How do you roll to see who gets the drop."

Here are two effects that come to mind.

1) The Auto-Loot effect. I thought of this one while reading another thread. Some of my players seem to think that it only takes "one click," to loot something. I would estimate that to do a thorough search of a dead enemy it would take at least 30 seconds (5 rounds), if not more. In the last session I ran some hobgoblins that the PCs were fighting were using crates for cover. When they retreated to a more defensible position most of the PCs pursued them. The sorceror of the party, however, went and checked the crate for loot reasoning, as if he was playing WoW, that it would not take long to check the crate. I informed him that the crate was nailed shut (as crates often are). He sitll insisted on searcing it, wasting valuable time that he could have been using to pursue the hobgoblins. He went so far as to grow his demonic claws to try and pry the crate open.

2) The Static-Environment Effect. There are many video games where once you clear a certain area of a dungeon it becomes safe for all time. For instance. In the Baldur's Gate series you could clear out a castle and return there time after time and find that no enemies had moved in. One adventure I was running involved the party double crossing the thieves guild that they were working for by taking out one of their drug producing operations. It was a nice dungeon complex in a cave system that appealed to the dwarf in the party so he suggested that he could take up shop there immediately after it was cleared. I had to gently remind him that it was probably not a wise idea to do so since his former employers might search him out and find him there.

Has anyone else known players who have made simmilar leaps of video-game logic.

I thought it might be fun to assign alignments to famous fictitious villains and heroes.

Darth Vader - LE
Luke Skywalker - CG
Conan - CN
Sauron - NE or CE, cant decide.
Gandalf - LG
Frodo - NG
Samwise - NG

Feel free to discuss, disagree, and add your own.

Hi, I think that i have seen a thread addressing this before but I cant seem to dig it up.

I am looking to invest in some environment enhancing miniatures like treasure chests, barrels, tables, etc. The only mini's that I can find on ebay are individually sold and I am really looking for a good set. I am sure that there is one out there I just cant seem to find it. Can anyone recommend anything?

Thanks!

Can anyone recommend an easy-to-use online service that I can use to upload some of my homebrew content? I basically just want something that I can point my players to. It doesn't have to be fancy or pretty. In fact, the simple the better. Message boards would also be nice so that they can ask me rules questions between sessions.

Naturally, free is best but I dont mind paying a couple of bucks for a quality service.

Hey everybody!

One of my PCs created an AWESOME character. He is a Druid 4/ Barbarian 4 and I just love the character concept. Basically he is a crazy loner that roams the countryside as a wolf. He roleplays it well and he is a beast in combat.

I want to reward this PC's creativity by giving him magic items that are super cool without being overpowered and that do not break the game. The first one that came to mind was a collar that acts as Metamagic: Silent, Lesser rod http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/magic-items/rods---final/metamagi c-rods/metamagic-silent so that he can use it while in animal form.

I am looking for other ideas that will help enhance this character.

Thanks!

Incoming rant...

I have a problem PC that I kind of blew up at last session (in a jovial/joking kind of way). I love this guy and he is a great roleplayer but he tends to see all of the elements of the game outside of himself as a resource that he can exploit and he uses his CN alignement to justify all of it.

For instance, in our last adventure the party captured a hobgoblin and interrogated him. This guy insisted on trying to intimidate the hobgoblin into being his slave since he spared his life (which I think is a borderline evil act, just sayin). He also insists on trying to move into any dungeon that he clears and set up shop.

Now I know that as the GM I can impose consequences to deter such behavior (the hobgoblin can stab him while he is sleeping or a horde of destrachans can come up from the earth and destroy his stronghold) but I do not want to punish him for roleplaying his character. At the same time, I can't justify the unbalancing effects that his behavior has on my game.

So, last session I simply told him when he decided to subjugate the hobgoblin that under no circumstances would I let him do it and that he cant have the dungeon after the party is through with it. He seemed to take it pretty well but I dont want any friction in the future and I dont want to be seen as an ogre.

Thanks for reading my rant!