Phosphorus's page

Save up for a Bane Baldric, Bracers of the Avenging Knight, or a Silver Smite Bracelet.

The Bane Baldric would be a useful item for dealing with non-evil enemies.

There is even a cleric archetype for this:Separatist.

You could worship another Sun God, such as Ra, and claim that he is also known as Pelor.

You could have a background that you were from a different plane, time or reality in which Ra was known as Pelor.

Maybe the character has a goal of finding his way back to Greyhawk where he is from, but now due to a magical mishap finds himself in Golarion, an alien land.

I have been slowly building this concept with GM credit already. Obvious problems are the fact that you need two 4,000 gp purchases to make your build. I have been thinking about using Helpful Halfling and Bodyguard and making the build grant huge bonuses to the AC of my allies - the combination of Mouser Underfoot Assault & Bodyguard alone would give your allies + 8 AC potentially. I have been considering using a flurry of blows build as opposed to the natural weapon version, or maybe an Urban Barbarian version. An Urban Barbarian could get Spell Sunder to smash a wind wall!

Wand of Ant Haul lasts for 2 hours per use :-)

I am sad that you can't buy vanities in Core. :(

How about using the old faction missions to check off goals. When I run the Season 0-4 scenarios I usually give the players the faction missions for Roleplay reasons. It would be nice if they meant something again.

I believe they Investigators can use wands, on the basis that they are a hybrid class partially based on the Alchemist which has a virtually identical class feature. Both the Investigator and the Alchemist have an class feature named 'Alchemy'. They both use the same 'spell' list.

It would make little sense that one could use wands and the other not.

In a thread entitled "Can a Life Oracle with Channeling take channel energy feats?" there is a discussion about game design by Sean K Reynolds. Although he no longer is a Pathfinder developer, he was one of the authors of the ACG.

SKR stated that a "if for some reason two things that seem almost the same (like "channel energy" vs. "channel" vs. "channel positive energy") shouldn't act exactly the same, count on us to tell you how it is different." He summarized his post with "Things should be the same, or they should be different".

Link to post.

Following his logic and example, Investigator Alchemy is the same as Alchemist Alchemy, and Investigators can use wands.

However, it would be nice to get clarification on the issue.

PS Currently our local PFS group is allowing Investigators to use wands.

I would think a masterwork dagger would be fine for the ruby-edged dagger.

For the skull, I would buy a masterwork tool, and give it a suitable obscure +2 bonus, for example, +2 diplomacy when attempting to persuade Asmodeus that your sacrifice is sufficient... (I am sure you can think of something better)

For the sacrifice, you can buy slaves from the Adventurer's Armory - they cost 50-500 gp.

It is my understanding that the goofy appearance is what balances out the power of the item. Wearing one makes it apparent that you're a Pathfinder and not, you know, a normal person.

-Matt

Since when have Pathfinders managed to look like normal people?

I'm fine with a PC having a Mask of the Fortunate Soldier.

But there are two important points in my opinion:

The Jingasa is described as being made of iron. As this can have game effects, you can't reskin that part; the Mask would have to be made of iron.

If a PC wants to wear it to a social event, I would give wearing the Mask the same penalties as wearing a Jingasa.

Combine Alchemical Allocation with Seishinru, Spirit Elixir :)

True Strike is very useful with Parry & Riposte - a parry counts as an attack roll!

The Romans had hamburgers.

In Golarion, the Taldan Empire is an analogue of the Roman Empire.

All the places which speak Common,(ie Taldane), could have similar cuisine to ancient Romans.

I'm hoping not to retrain Sleepless Detective, as it gives me a nice boost to a few skills and Detect Magic as an at will SLA.

You could just buy a wand of Detect Magic.

Also if you change to rapier based, a Bane Baldric is very useful. It would provide "additional burst damage" for 5 rounds a day. In PFS scenarios, that is usually more than enough.

With your physical stats, it would be hard to become incredibly combat effective, but I would retrain your level of Sleepless Detective to Inspired Blade, retrain Weapon Finesse to Fencing Grace, and take another level of Investigator. For your level 7 feat, pick up Extra Investigator Talent for mutagen, and use it for dexterity. With IUS you will have problems against DR. Consider using a heavy crossbow for the first round of combat before people close. The alchemical bolts are good. Get a hybridisation funnel.

I am running an Inspired Blade / Empiricist in PFS, and it has been reasonably effective so far.

Parry & Riposte from Inspired Blade is a great boost to both offence & defence.

I am playing an Empiricist in PFS with a one level dip in Inspired Blade. I am using a dexerity build with Fencing Grace, and fight with a rapier or a crossbow. So far the character has been moderately useful in combat, but most importantly fun to play.

My character has 18 (16+2) dexterity & 17 intelligence.

Half-elf is an excellent race due to its favoured class bonus.

Hi,

I have a Bones Oracle who worships 'Anubis' in PFS. Hes a Pahmet Dwarf who has effectively been ostracized from his people due to his tendencies and his false beliefs.

Whilst he follows Anubis, Im not certain.. well Im pretty certain he is not following the core beliefs and employs the use of undead (something Anubis is pretty much opposed to). Is there another God in the Pantheon that is PFS legal which would more likely be the source of the characters powers. Im still trying to keep to the Osirion Pantheon if possible.

Thanks

Here is the blog post:

A possible solution would be to make your character a heretic. Your Oracle may not even be aware that his beliefs are heretical, or this may be part of why he was ostracized.

As he does not get a mechanical advantage from Anubis I think this would be fine.

There are even several archetypes that allow your character to have heretical beliefs - Separatist (Cleric) and, appropriately, Heretic (Inquisitor). Both these archetypes continue to keep their spellcasting abilities whilst straying from their deity's orthodoxy.

I issued a challenge to the thread to give me any Full-BAB class, any Fighting Style, and at any Level and I will make builds that demonstrate that Power Attacking is ALWAYS a good idea.

I must say that the challenge was serious.

OK, where is the Level 1 Halfling Inspired Blade Swashbuckler that demonstrates that "Power Attacking is ALWAYS a good idea"?

Also, a gold-plated club is free! (0 gp x 3 = 0)

:-D

I am now tempted to create an encounter with an ogre who wields a solid gold club, just to watch my players' characters get beaten with their own loot.

Maybe the club would be treated as a fragile improvised weapon with a -2 to damage.

From Ultimate Equipment:

"Magically strengthened gold is the equivalent of steel and can be made into any armor or weapon that can be made of steel."

It also states that Gold can be magically hardened to steel-like consistency but no price is listed.

From Ultimate Equipment:

"The following section presents general rules for armor and weapons made of bone, bronze, gold, obsidian, and stone. Most of these materials aren't as strong as steel and refer to the fragile quality for weapons and armor.

Items made from these materials can be magically strengthened at an additional cost of 100 gp per pound. See the individual material descriptions for the effect this has on the material's properties."

Imbicatus wrote:

BigDTBone wrote:

A 5% reduction in accuracy for +2 damage is always beneficial to DPR

But a 15% reduction in accuracy for +6 to damage is not always beneficial to DPR. And this becomes even more true against higher AC.

If you had the option of setting your penalty and bonus as in 3.x, then power attack would be more useful. However since you are forced to use your maximum benefit, that -3 means your iteratives don't hit.

You iteratives hitting will do more damage than the bonus that power attack provides.

You choose, and make the choice as painful as possible. Level, Fighting Style, and Full-BAB class. I will build the character with and without PA, DA, or PS and will demonstrate DPR is better with than without.

Level 1 Halfling Inspired Blade!

The sentence "An alchemist can draw and drink an extract as a standard action" also appears to missing from the Investigator. Does this mean an Investigator has to draw an extract as a move action before drinking it as a standard?

Or is this and the wand use issue covered by the words in the Investigator Alchemy description "Like an alchemist..."?

Also Quinn at 7th level has two wands - one of Scorching Ray, which has text to say he needs to make a UMD check, and one of See Invisibility, which has no mention of a UMD check. Granted, Pregens contain mistakes.

Given the general poor editing of the ACG I think the RAW and RAI of Investigator wand use is currently unclear.

I feel like there's some text in the Alchemist that accidentally got cut in the transition to the Investigator.

Alchemist wrote:

Extracts are the most varied of the three. In many ways, they behave like spells in potion form, and as such their effects can be dispelled by effects like dispel magic using the alchemist's level as the caster level. Unlike potions, though, extracts can have powerful effects and duplicate spells that a potion normally could not.

Investigator wrote:

Like an alchemist, an investigator prepares his spells by mixing ingredients and a tiny fraction of his own magical power into a number of extracts, and then effectively casts the spell by drinking the extract. These extracts have powerful effects, but they are also bound to their creator. Extracts behave like spells in potion form, and as such their effects can be dispelled by dispel magic and similar effects, using the investigator's level as the caster level.

Notice that some text got added to the Investigator in comparison to the Alchemist. Where did it come from?

Alchemist wrote:

Although the alchemist doesn't actually cast spells, he does have a formulae list that determines what extracts he can create. An alchemist can utilize spell-trigger items if the spell appears on his formulae list, but not spell-completion items (unless he uses Use Magic Device to do so). An extract is “cast” by drinking it, as if imbibing a potion—the effects of an extract exactly duplicate the spell upon which its formula is based, save that the spell always affects only the drinking alchemist. An alchemist can draw and drink an extract as a standard action. The alchemist uses his level as the caster level to determine any effect based on caster level.

This entry is missing from the Investigator. My theory is that the last sentence was copied to the Investigator paragraph above. However, some important bits (the blue ones) got lost in the process....

*Raise Thread*
I would also like to know if Investigators can use wands. I thought they couldn't, but the PFS Investigator Pregen implies that they can.

Phosphorus wrote:

N N 959 wrote:

@John, MIke,

Just thought I'd check in and see if there was any news on this. I realize that it's not a high priority, but all eight of us (with me accounting for two of those) have been waiting since the play test if crafting would be reinstated.

John gave us hope with this:

John Compton wrote:

***

Investigator Crafting
Typically Mike and I discuss these decisions before ruling, so having not had an opportunity to confirm my inclination, I can't give a 100% certified answer; it's just something we didn't cover while going through all of the book's other options during our Additional Resources meeting. That said, I strongly suspect investigators will be able to craft in the same way that alchemists craft.

Thanks for any reply.

*Casts Raise Thread*

Has the question about Investigators crafting been resolved?

Yup, they can craft using the same rules as Alchemists.

Thanks :-) My search-fu was weak.

@John, MIke,

Just thought I'd check in and see if there was any news on this. I realize that it's not a high priority, but all eight of us (with me accounting for two of those) have been waiting since the play test if crafting would be reinstated.

John gave us hope with this:

John Compton wrote:

***

Investigator Crafting
Typically Mike and I discuss these decisions before ruling, so having not had an opportunity to confirm my inclination, I can't give a 100% certified answer; it's just something we didn't cover while going through all of the book's other options during our Additional Resources meeting. That said, I strongly suspect investigators will be able to craft in the same way that alchemists craft.

Thanks for any reply.

*Casts Raise Thread*

Has the question about Investigators crafting been resolved?

I do not think I agree with that, Andy and John.

In Attack:

PRD Melee Attack wrote:

Melee Attacks: With a normal melee weapon, you can strike any opponent within 5 feet. (Opponents within 5 feet are considered adjacent to you.) Some melee weapons have reach, as indicated in their descriptions. With a typical reach weapon, you can strike opponents 10 feet away, but you can't strike adjacent foes (those within 5 feet).

This talks about striking targets, not threatening them.

Please quote and/or link the appropriate rules section that proves that threatening a square, and being able to strike a target in a square, are the same thing.

I am not trying to be difficult, but I am trying to read exactly what is being said.

Thank you.

Technically, you are correct. If you are to play the game by strict RAW, there has been no change in the squares you are allowed to hit with a Melee Attack.

However, I believe that the intent is clear that the FAQ should be read as "a creature with 10 feet of reach threatens [and can attack] the second diagonal".

This will be how I will rule in any games I GM.

PS You may like to mention this in the FAQ thread.

I would be tempted to take a level of Inspired Blade for the increase in combat ability, and free feats.

What happens when you put the Boarding Pike of Repelling into the mix?

You're forgetting that the guide will be changed before the ACG is legalized and those rebuild rules may change.

Additionally, we might not even get to use those rebuild rules.

This part of the guide has remained the same. You can find the same text as I quoted above on p. 27-28 of Guide to Pathfinder Society Organised Play, Version 6.0.

However, there is also this information from additional resources:

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Class Guide

All playtest versions of the ten new base classes from this book are no longer legal for play as of 8/14/14. Anyone playing the playtest version of one of the ten new base classes must have updated his or her character as of 8/14/14. Updating your character means adjusting only the things that have changed, but not rebuilding the character.

The biggest change I know of is that the warpriest no longer uses Charisma for any class features. I would certainly be disappointed if we were not able to adjust abilities accordingly when finalizing our characters. But John said that they would be taking such changes into account when determining rebuild guidelines.

If a class, prestige class, or a class feature-dependent ability score is altered: You may rebuild your character to its current XP, maintaining the same equipment.

According to this rule, Warpriests get a rebuild.

Well, I know that my swashbuckler will no longer qualify for Slashing Grace now that the prerequisites changed.

First, you may either switch the old feat for an updated feat of the same name in another legal source (if available), ignoring any prerequisites of the new feat you do not meet. Alternatively, you may replace the feat entirely with another feat for which you meet all the prerequisites.

You can keep your feat.

Playtests and Errata

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is a living game, and whether in the form of a playtest that varies from its final incarnation, conversion from the 3.5 rules set to the Pathfinder RPG, or an errata or FAQ to the Core Rules, sometimes game elements change in the course of a PC’s career. The following guidelines allow players to update or convert existing characters to use the most current rules. Further explanation of conversions or updates may appear in the Additional Resources list to clarify rules available through non-Core Assumption material.

When rebuilding your character in any way, you must describe all changes on your next Chronicle sheet in the Equipment Sold/Conditions Gained section, and your GM must initial that section.

If a feat or trait changes or is removed from the Additional Resources list: You have two options. First, you may either switch the old feat for an updated feat of the same name in another legal source (if available), ignoring any prerequisites of the new feat you do not meet. Alternatively, you may replace the feat entirely with another feat for which you meet all the prerequisites.

If a class, prestige class, or a class feature-dependent ability score is altered: You may rebuild your character to its current XP, maintaining the same equipment.

If a class or prestige class changes in such a way that you no longer have proficiency with a given weapon or armor type: You may sell back the affected equipment and only the affected equipment at full market value.

Can Sleeves of Many Garments produce Authoritative vestments?

As far as I know Discordant Voice works with Battle Dance.

If you want to intimidate, how about Blade of Mercy trait combined with Enforcer feat?

Blistering Invective is a good spell to intimidate with.

I would presume that the FAQ was only taking into account the Core animals. Those from the Animal Archive have a specific calling out for combq\at trained costs.

So the additional resources take precedence over the FAQ?

...some riding horses and riding dogs have training, but they only come trained to bear a rider into combat. All other animals are subject to Handle Animal to learn additional tricks.

I thought a tiger would come under "All other animals" and hence are not combat trained and are "subject to Handle Animal to learn additional tricks".

Sounds like the FAQ needs updating (if it hasn't been already?).

That is the current FAQ, but maybe an update would be nice :-)

It just strikes me that some of the animals available for purchase are quite overpowered and having to combat-train them yourself would be a balancing factor.

(I am looking at you, combat-trained Tiger & combat-trained Bison).

FAQ:

Do purchased animals come fully trained or do I have to train them myself?

The entry for Handle Animal on pages 97–98 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook details which animals come trained—namely, some riding horses and riding dogs have training, but they only come trained to bear a rider into combat. All other animals are subject to Handle Animal to learn additional tricks. See the “Mounts and Related Gear” table on page 159 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook for additional details.

Animals on pages 14-15 are legal for purchase except dinosaurs and megafauna (unless already allowed in this document in Bestiary 1, Bestiary 2, Bestiary 3, or Ultimate Equipment) and dire animals. Additionally, only creatures of the animal type of size Large and smaller may be purchased.

Does this mean if somebody purchases an animal from Animal Archive which is not a riding horse or a riding dog they have to train it themselves using Handle Animal?

Can people purchase a combat-trained tiger for 500 gp (or whatever) and it is good to go?

Or does the FAQ take precedence over Additional Resources? Meaning that if you purchase a 500 gp combat-trained tiger, it nonetheless is not combat-trained according to the FAQ, and you have to use Handle Animal to train it?

Thanks for your time, apologies if it has been answered elsewhere.

Having seen four White Haired Witches played, they've all been incredibly powerful characters from first level on....

Were they dwarven?

My Gnome, Gadzooks Ballyhoo was separated at birth from his sibling Dinwim and brought up underground by goblins. He has now escaped, and heard that his family joined the Pathfinder Society. He has made his way to Absalom and joined the Pathfinder Society in the hope he may be reunited with his family. He is mentally scarred by his upbringing though, and has serious anger issues and refuses to read or write. (True Primitive Barbarian).

Gadzooks Ballyhoo
Gnome Barbarian (True Primitive) 1
NG Small humanoid (gnome)
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +6
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+5 armor, +2 Dex, +1 size)
hp 16 (1d12+4)
Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +0; +2 vs. illusions
Defensive Abilities defensive training (+4 dodge bonus to AC vs. giants)
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 15 ft.
Melee bronze longspear +4 (1d6+3/×3) and
club +4 (1d4+2)
Ranged sling +4 (1d3+2)
Special Attacks +1 on attack rolls against goblinoid and reptilian humanoids, rage (7 rounds/day)
Gnome Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +2)
1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound (DC 12), prestidigitation (DC 11), speak with animals
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 14, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk +1; CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats Raging Vitality
Skills Bluff +2, Handle Animal +5, Perception +6, Ride +2; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Gnome, Sylvan
SQ favored terrain (underground +2), illiteracy, tireless rage
Other Gear bone breastplate, bronze longspear, club, sling, ram herd animal (combat-trained), weasel, 98 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Defensive Training +4 Gain a dodge bonus to AC vs monsters of the Giant subtype.
Favored Terrain (Underground +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls vs Favored Terrain (Underground).
Hatred +1 Gain a bonus to attack vs goblinoid/reptilian humanoids.
Illiteracy May never learn to read or write any language.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Rage (7 rounds/day) (Ex) +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
Raging Vitality +2 CON while raging, Rage does not end if you become unconscious.

He is Varisian, maybe he got tangled up with the Sczarni, and has to work for them to repay a debt he or his loved ones owe.

Otherwise Silver Crusade if good aligned. I don't think Osirion is a good fit.

I look forward to killing, er, meeting him!

I rolled the Halfling Rogue (Filcher) archetype to Bellflower Tiller.

I don't like playing halflings. I have never played a halfling. I'm still not sure what's wrong with the filcher archetype.

1. It is a rogue.

Besides it doesn't really need to be that bad... The Bellflower Tiller makes up for it.

PS Small races are great! We need more halflings at Auckland PFS. My halfling is lonely...

PPS Giggle, snigger

PPPS If you want to feel better look at how bad a True Primitive Barbarian Gnome is...

How about something like this:

Beginning 8/14/2014 aasimar, teifling, or tengu races will no longer be considered available PFS content and you may no longer create characters of these races without a boon. If you have an existing aasimar, tiefling, or tengu character whose first Adventure Chronicle is dated prior to 8/14/2014 you may continue playing that character as if you had a boon for it.

This would allow people who have already invested in these characters to continue playing them, and over time would cut down on their abundance (some would say over abundance) and increase the number of races available as boons. Sure we would see a mad rush for people trying to get their aasimar, tiefling or tengu character concept played so they can grandfather in, but it will eventually have an impact.

Do this and I will make 10 level 1 Tieflings and Aasimars, this is a bad idea...

My suggestion for race boons is to tie it into a reward system. It could be linked to the GM star system, or simply be a reward for playing multiple games. For example, play 50 games and get one race unlocked.

OK, the results are in and the draw has been made!

Thanks to everyone who helped for this thread.
Every class has a race, archetype and prestige class they must enter!
No dump stats allowed, every stat must be a minimum of 10 after racial adjustments!

We have the following characters:

Gnome, Barbarian (Titan Mauler, must dual wield two handed Gnome Weapons), Low Templar.

Gnome, Barbarian (True Primitive), Knight of Ozem.

Gnome, Monk (Core rulebook and Gnomes of Golarion only), Brother of the Seal.

Tengu, Cavalier (Strategist, Order of the Tome), Battle Herald.

Elf, Cleric (Cloistered, Variant Channel), Balanced Scale of Abadar.

Halfling, Fighter (Crossbowman), Halfling Opportunist.

Halfling, Rogue (Filcher), Bellflower Tiller.

Dwarf, Witch (White Haired Witch), Riftwarden.

Dwarf, Wizard (Scrollmaster), Prophet of Kallistrade.

Dwarf, Wizard, class each level determined randomly... no two levels allowed to be the same... first random level was Wizard...

The gnomes and dwarves are triplets, the halflings are twins.

Bring on the Dalsine Affair! :-)

Updates will follow...

Thanks for all the replies so far, keep them coming!

Preferably, it would be good for the characters to have a bad prestige class to have to waste skills & feats on to qualify.

Tieflings and Aasimars are also banned.

Ironically, we had to reject Skald because people actually wanted an excuse to play one!

All characters will be Grand Lodge due to their loyalty to the Pathfinder Society, so we probably should have all of the unused Pathfinder Prestige Classes. They are: Pathfinder Chronicler, Pathfinder Delver, Pathfinder Field Agent, Pathfinder Savant. What would be some bad archetypes and races for entry into these classes?

Chris Sharpe, Venture Captain of New Zealand, has thrown down the gauntlet!

We need to make characters using the worst archetypes and classes possible.

No dump stats are allowed, and every character must enter a class appropriate Prestige Class. All characters must be races from the Core Rulebook only.

So far suggestions include a Mystic Theurge sorcerer / oracle without early entry, and a rogue / bellflower tiller. Any monks will be required to have a vow of poverty. There will be a Crossbowman Fighter.

Can you help us? The best entries will go into a hat for us to draw out a character we will have to build.

Their first scenario will be the Dalsine Affair. Can you suggest other hard scenarios for us to play these characters in?

Thanks for your help :-)

We will keep you updated about their glorious exploits (and horrible deaths)....

Whoa untangle us from New Zealand! :)

Agreed, we Kiwis won't win any rerolls entangled with Australia :-)

Congratulations Mexico!

Just got and read through the new scenario 5-19 The Horn of Aroden. There's something that's confusing, though:

- In the Conclusion section, first paragraph on page 19, the last line says that "Each PC earn the Horn of Aroden boon on his or her Chronicle sheet."
- Under the Faction Notes section on that same page, though, it says, "If Taldor faction PCs accomplish both goals, they each receive the Horn of Aroden boon on their Chronicle sheets."

Which is correct? The Chronicle Sheet itself doesn't offer any further clarification.

I asked Mike Brock about who got the boon, and he confirmed that the boon was for Taldor PCs only.