President Kodos's page

First of all, let me say, I LOVE this game. Best CRPG since Planescape: Torment, as far as I'm concerned. But...

Every now and then there's a moment that... oof.

In one playthrough, I decided I'd make Greybor a little more interesting and add some levels of Cavalier so he could have a smilodon pet.

CUT TO:

Greybor ambushes the party telling me that he's been hired to kill me unless I pay him more money. I love money so I cordially tell him to get bent. Initiative starts.

ROUND ONE: His animal companion full attacks. Him. And kills him.

There is no round two.

*hysterical laughter*

But wait! It gets better!

Later on, I stop by the Drezen tavern for some reasons. At Greybor's table I spot his smilodon, apparently just enjoying a drink in his ill-built edgelord boss's old haunt.

In my new head canon, the smilodon spends the rest of the campaign at that table, picking dwarf out of his teeth and drinking a White Russian.

How about the rest of you? Any hilarious WotR stories?

My latest novel The Witch & The City is not coming out till Oct. 24, but I've got my grubby hands on an author copy and I'm doing a Goodreads Giveaway! I'll even sign it! Heck, I'll even sign it with your favorite author's name if you want, I'm not proud*.

*Not an actual admission of intent to commit forgery. Stay in school, kids.

This is a thread for my campaign journal for Return of the Runelords, written in-character by Siofra.

Description

Siofra is tall for a Varisian, standing 5’10”. Despite a lanky build, she is deceptively strong, a fact revealed when she works aboard fishing ships as an extra hand. Perhaps the most striking thing about her is her heterochromatic eyes—one is green as a poison swamp snake and the other a red as a smoldering coal under a witch’s brewpot. Despite an occasionally absent manner, her eyes always seem intensely focused (even if not always on what is right in front of her).

Background

Siofra is relatively new to Roderic's Cove. She arrived from the south three months ago, having worked her way north along the Varisian Gulf coast. She works day labor on-board the Cove’s many fishing ships, filling in wherever there is a need. It is hard work and not lucrative, but it provides her with enough to eat and rent a shed to sleep in from Audrahni, the town’s reclusive gravedigger.

The standoffishness of Roderic’s Cove locals doesn’t seem to bother her much. When there is not work to be had, she keeps mostly to herself. She wanders the town, staring closely at things people don’t usually stare at. In social situations, she is prone to asking odd, awkward questions—often sounding as if she is continuing a conversation that hasn’t actually started yet. She also seems fascinated by Roderic’s Wreck, standing for hours near the ruined house as if considering entering. She has yet to work up the courage, however.

With the exception of the other PCs and Audrahni, Siofra has mostly given up on efforts to socialize with the Roderic’s Cove community, beyond the bare minimum necessary to conduct business.

NOTE: Since I hope to be a player in whatever Path our group chooses, please avoid spoilers in your replies.

I'm the long-time regular GM for our group. One of the players has expressed interest in taking the Throne of Power & Anguish when we're done with our current AP. He's played for years now but never GM'd.

What would people recommend as a good First Edition AP (we have no plans to update) for a first-time GM? Bonus points for why.

EDIT: We have played the following:

Carrion Crown
Hell's Rebels
Reign of Winter
Hell's Vengeance (just book 1)
War for the Crown
Emerald Spire (not an AP, I know, but we played the whole superdungeon)

Either my search-fu is failing me or this hasn't come up. Question:

What happens if a PC wants to keep Baraket the entire campaign? I can see a character being prideful enough to take the -4/-8 penalty just to wield a Runelord's sword...

Have any GMs run across this and if so, how did you handle it?

Amazon has decided to discount my novel The Dream and the Muse 64%, down to $4.70 for the paperback. I don't know why, they didn't tell me about it, but praise be the Algorithm, the book can be yours for what is an amazeballs low price!

School Library Journal compared it to A Wrinkle in Time, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and The Wizard of Oz. That last one is particularly hilarious, because I pitched it as "Wizard of Oz meets Ocean's Eleven"...

Kirkus Reviews called it a "bonkers fantasy that retains a sweetly human center."

And now, as I said, for an indeterminate time, it's the object of ridonkulous discountery.

Here endeth the self-promotion.

Hi all!

I’m giving away a signed copy of my novel The Dream and the Muse. It’s a wild cosmic adventure that reviewers have compared to Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, A Wrinkle in Time, and “Neil Gaiman in the best possible way.”

The giveaway runs now through August 8 on Goodreads.

I'm really interested in the Sworn of the Eldest inquisitor archetype, but as written it requires being gathlain.

Does anyone know of a PF 1.0 mechanic that would allow a PC to count as fey for the purposes of taking this archetype? I'm thinking something like the way Racial Heritage allows human PCs to count as another humanoid race for mechanical purposes.

Hey all! My second novel, THE DREAM AND THE MUSE, is now out everywhere! I'm so excited to share this cosmic adventure. You can find it on Amazon, IndieBound, or anywhere books are sold!

SOME ADVANCED REVIEW FEEDBACK

"A bonkers fantasy that retains a sweetly human center." (Kirkus Reviews)

"A delightful and original portal fantasy with a heroine who is not in any way conventional..." (The Book Curmudgeon)

"Nothing makes any sense, but somehow it works... reminded me of something Neil Gaiman might write in the best possible way." (Catch These Words)

"This was a wild and joyous read." (A Wonderful Book)

DESCRIPTION

When Madarena first meets the old rogue Apophax, she assumes she's dreaming. After all, he wears a coat made of hedgehog quills, changes size at will, and treats the laws of physics as merely suggested guidelines. Very quickly, she learns she's stepped into a world where dreams and reality intersect. Dangerously.

Now, she's an accomplice in the wily thief's master plan to rescue a Muse from one of the most powerful beings in existence. The unlikely duo schemes their way from a town made of moonbeams to the fog-shrouded land of the dead. They fence with nightmares and bargain with witches amid the asteroid remains of a shattered planet. Along the way, Madarena learns that potential is more than a word. Rescuing the Muse-and Madarena's own survival-depend on harnessing all the women she can be.

FROM THE BACK COVER

Apophax adjusted his pince-nez. "Do you possess any special abilities?"

Madarena thought a moment. "Nothing springs to mind."

"Wizardry? Either via a credentialed institution or autodidactically?"

"No to either."

"Part of a special cadre of genetic mutants trained in secret by a shadowy organization called The Institute, Agency, or Collective?"

"Is that a thing?"

"Please just answer yes or no."

"No."

"No, 'you aren't going to answer in the binary' or no, 'you are not part of a mutant group'?"

She shrugged.

"I'm a woman with a bad attitude and disreputable hoodie, who reads the dictionary for fun and has a deep fear of ennui. Take it or leave it."

Hi all!

I'm giving away a signed copy of my novel The Chaos Court over on Goodreads. The Extra Chaos Edition*!

*Actual amount of chaos is the same in every edition. A lot. So much chaos. Side effects of chaos may include trash being thrown by invisible men, broom-vs-fairy combat, and banishment to some weird place called The Who-Knows-Where.

Title says it all. What Starfinder race (no 3rd party, please) comes closest to classic githzerai in feel/attitude?

I mentioned this on another thread, but I figure with 2 days left, it probably merits its own space.

I'm giving away an autographed copy of my novel The Chaos Court over on Goodreads. It's got town-wrecking fairies and a madwoman in the attic and more broom-wielding combat than you can shake a swiffer at!

Anyone have a favorite local indie bookstore that is still taking online orders & shipping? I'm doing a series of social media shout-outs to indies for my new book, to encourage people to support those businesses by ordering The Chaos Court from them instead of the now-overwhelmed default option.

Hive Mind GO!

Any groups out there looking for a Pathfinder Original Recipe player in the Raleigh-Durham area? I've got a few dozen characters queued up to try out...

GM here. I'm customizing some of the treasure in this adventure path, to better reflect the particulars of my players' characters. For instance:

I'd like to substitute a +1 something bane temple sword (the rogue and occultist already have nice magic weapons). For GM who have run this, what do you think the most useful bane target would be?

Also, are there other magic items that you might recommend substituting for treasure at various points?

(I'm dissuading the PCs from doing a lot of shopping or crafting, especially in the first two books. I find it kind of diffuses the atmosphere of horror. "Oh no! Shoggoths everywhere!" "Well, we killed them, at great cost to our sanity. Now let's go buy some rings of protection, potions of cure, and cloaks of resistance down at the local WalMage.")

I'm sure this has been answered somewhere, but my search fu is failing.

SITUATION: My character has two "thrown" (descriptor) weapons out (say, two daggers). They throw one of them as a ranged attack. They keep the other one in hand and do not use it. Later that same round, an opponent provokes an AoO.

Can my character:

1. Take an attack of opportunity with normal BAB?
2. Take an attack with a retroactively applied penalty for two-weapon fighting?
3. Not take an attack of opportunity, since I had not declare that round that I was fighting with two weapons?

SIMILAR SITUATION: My character has a throwing weapon and throws it. They then draw a second weapon as their move action (or Quick Draw it). Functionally, at the end of their turn, they are in the same situation as above.

Can my character now:

1. Take an attack of opportunity with normal BAB?
2. Take an attack with a retroactively applied penalty for two-weapon fighting?
3. Not take an attack of opportunity, since I had not declare that round that I was fighting with two weapons?

Is there a feat or spell that lets you take one magic item (worth X gp), reduce it to its components (X/2 gp) and use those to build a new magic item?

Pathfinder 1.0 only. No third party materials, please, or D&D 3.0/3.5 or homebrew stuff.

EDIT: Or "ask your GM." That isn't helpful, since the GM would prefer I find the solution within the rules rather than make him spend GM prep time going to the messageboards and asking this question himself and tracking the answers.

For a variety of reasons, my character wants to convert inevitables to the worship of Asmodeus and (thereby) to a lawful evil alignment. Are there ways within the rules, either magical or otherwise, to compel/convince outsiders to serve a different deity/alignment/goal than they normally do?

Assume I won't be able to spend years talking them into it. I need something quick and rules-legal. Also assume my GM isn't open to 3rd party or homebrew solutions.

And note that atonement doesn't work on outsiders, even if I could convince them to go along.

As a counterpart to the "Something Weird That Annoys You" thread, I'd like to hear some of the weird things that you all really like. Some of mine include:

-The smell of oil paint.
-Pacing a gaming session perfectly as GM, so that all the critical points line up with snack breaks and the cliffhanger/conclusion ends at exactly the time we are scheduled to end.
-Etymology and making up new words from fragments of very old ones.
-The feeling I had during my one brush with the law when the traffic court prosecutor said "Since you corrected the registration problem, I'm dropping the charges against you." What a rush! I felt like I'd pulled off a Danny-Ocean-style heist.

What are some weird things that bring you joy?

So the other day we were fighting an antipaladin and we had to make saves against his cruelties when he channeled negative energy. I was under the impression that the cruelties only came into play with the touch of corruption--not the channeled energy.

SOURCE: "Whenever the antipaladin uses touch of corruption to deal damage to one target, the target also receives the additional effect from one of the cruelties possessed by the antipaladin."

Is there a feat or archetype that allows an antipaladin to apply cruelties to channeled energy?

So every table I've been at accepts the common idea that whenever you cast a spell there is a non-specified, but observable (unhideable, except w/certain feats) manifestation that reveals you have cast a spell.

Where is the source for that? I'll take either a CRB page number or PRD link.

NOTE: I'm not questioning this or looking to start a thing, I just realized I had been going with the flow on this and never actually seen a written rule about it.

Is there a vigilante archetype where the social and the vigilante identities are two different personalities, with each one not knowing about the other? Bonus points if it's magical.

Glorious. Simply glorious.

(╯°□°）╯︵ ㄥƖ0ᄅ

I'm noodling with a campaign idea set in the Land of the Linnorm Kings (or at least, beginning there). I always like to give out a pretty extensive Player's Guide (one of the reasons I love the AP line is the awesome Player's Guides). One of my goals is to guide character creation towards characters who will fit the campaign.

Here's the suggestions I've got so far, but I want to make sure I didn't overlook anything that might be fitting/cool. Any archetypes or feats or traits or recommendations would be welcome.

BACKGROUND: The PCs will start as residents of a tiny, tiny hamlet in the wilds of the LotLK. They'll rise to be Vikingish raiders/conquerers/kings even maybe.

RACES:
Human (Ulfen)
Dwarf
Half-orc (Ulfen)
Gnome
Changeling (Snow May)

CLASSES
Barbarian (unchained)
Bloodrager
Brawler
Cleric (gods?)
Druid
Fighter (esp. Viking)
Hunter
Oracle
Ranger
Rogue (unchained)
Shaman
Skald
Sorcerer
Witch

Thoughts?

This is an offshoot of a different thread.

Let's say you had some sovereign glue. What could you glue people to?

My suggestions so far:

1. A feather token (tree)
2. Immovable rod

Add any bonuses you currently have on attack rolls due to spells, feats, and other effects. These bonuses must be applicable to the weapon or attack used to perform the maneuver.

QUESTION: If I have a changeling with the Mother's Gift (Hag Claws) feat (+1 racial bonus to attack/damage with claws) and Cruel Child trait (+1 to attack with claws during a full attack), do I add those to CMB rolls for maneuvers made as part of a full attack?

More generally: Which maneuvers can I add those bonuses to, if any?

EXAMPLE 1: A trip combat maneuver can be attempted in place of a regular attack. So I could do a full-round attack with her claws, declaring that the first claw will be a trip attempt (assume Improved Trip), adding +2 to the CMB roll from the trait & feat combo, right?

EXAMPLE 2: A grapple, on the other hand, is a standard action that isn't weapon specific. Therefore, her CMB for a grapple check (assume Improved Grapple) would not add the +2, since those bonuses are claw-specific, right?

QUESTION: If you have two X-type save bonuses against two different effects, do those bonuses stack?

EXAMPLE: The deathtouched trait gives you a +2 trait bonus against mind-affecting effects. The courageous trait gives you a +2 trait bonus against fear effects. If you are the target of a mind-affecting fear effect, is the total bonus to the Will save +2 or +4?

MY THOUGHT: At first glance, I'd say the bonus is +2, the rule against same-type bonuses superseding the fact that they are trait bonuses against different effects that happen to come from the same source. But I'm not completely sure.

Thoughts?

I think I know how I'd rule on this, but I can't for the life of me find a clear rules statement:

EXAMPLE: If a creature has 2 natural attacks of the same kind (e.g., 2 claws) and levels in a class that grants the ability to imbue weapons with special abilities (like the paladin's holy bond), how does that interact?

THE WAY I THINK IT WORKS: The ability could be added to a single natural attack (i.e., one claw would become flaming or whatever).

THE WAY IT COULD WORK: The ability is added to both natural attacks of the same type (i.e., both claws but not a bite, if the creature also had a bite).

THE WAY IT MIGHT NOT WORK AT ALL: But there could be a statement somewhere that these types of enhancements only apply to manufactured weapons (or a monk's unarmed strikes). I haven't found one, but hey, big rule set...

Thoughts?

From page 322: "Push actions... are difficult to perform but can yield greater results."

What does that mean, "difficult to perform"? The only difference I can find is that the system used to perform the action can't be malfunctioning or wrecked. Is that all? Why wouldn't you always do the push action then?

(I assume I'm missing something).

It's a big lake. Are there any known settlements of gillmen in/on/around Lake Encarthan? If there aren't any in official products, I'll make something up, but just curious if any published reference exists.

Suppose I cast a touch spell and then use a spell-like or supernatural polymorph ability to change shape. Am I still holding the charge?

EXAMPLE:

Round 1: Druid casts cure moderate wounds, but doesn't touch anyone.
Round 2: Druid wildshapes into a bat.
Round 3: Druid flies up to ally and touches them to discharge the spell.

So.

Anybody as stoked as I am about the upcoming Starfinder release? Anybody looking to put together a new sci-fantasy game sometime after August?

Ok, Hive Mind, time for some research! Can anyone find an example of a fear effect that is not mind-affecting?

May everyone's 2017 be like finding a bag of Skittles in your car when you thought you were all out of Skittles.

Does anyone know if there are canonical clerics dedicated to the Monad, Condition of All in Golarion? I've done a cursory search of the products I have, but don't see that as an option...

I was just thinking about occult-style adventures, and the Monad would be an interesting esoteric "deity."

In heady anticipation of Starfinder, I'm setting my traditional post-Thanksgiving one-shot in space (the PCs are going to be typical Golarionites, kidnapped by aliens).

To that end, I'd like to find a square-gridded map of a space station or enormous starship, preferably with a 5-foot scale.

Any suggestions?

Go go hive mind go!

Is the etheric tether required when the spiritualist fully manifests the phantom? Or is it an option that the spiritualist can choose at the time of full manifestation?

The reason I ask is it seems a bit powerful for a 1st level character to be able to call an incorporeal ally to search an entire dungeon for them. But the way the ability is written, it sounds like etheric tether is an additional option available for the phantom, when fully manifested, rather than being an inherent quality of the full manifestation.

Some clarification would be appreciated.

Does anyone know of a way to search for spells based on the criteria of being on more than one class list?

E.g., If I wanted to find all the spells that are on BOTH the alchemist and cleric list, is there a resource that provides an easy way to do that?

I've been reading a lot of Raymond Chandler recently, and that's given me some ideas for the next thing I want to GM. However, aside from Deadlands Noir (which doesn't have the feel I'm looking for), I don't know of any game systems or settings that fit that idiom.

I'd like to find something fairly low-magic, where the fantasy parts can be slowly worked in and aren't something the characters (or typical person-on-the-street) would know about.

Can anyone recommend anything for this?

Pardon what I am sure is redundancy, but my search-fu is failing me.

If a character has Spell Focus (or other similar feat that increases the save DC or caster level) and Craft Wand, do the wands she crafts benefit from that feat?

Citations, if they exist, please.

While the GM's role in Session Zero has been discussed, I think the players also bear some responsibility for figuring out how the party functions prior to the first encounter. True, part of the fun of a campaign (at least for me) is watching those dynamics develop session after session. But I find that so many of the (tiresome) at-table arguments and in-game disasters could be avoided if players took some time to make some preliminary decisions about the kind of game they are going to play.

NOTE: I don't think any given playstyle is "wrong". It's a freakin game. But I don't find it much fun if one person comes to the table with an "FPS/hack-slash" approach and another wants a "stagecraft/deep immersion improv" and still another is big into "collective lore-building on the shared Golarion canon."

To that end, I've thought of a few questions (with options that are by no means the ONLY answers), but would appreciate any suggestions. Go go Galton's Ox Weighers!

*****

1. How are we going to treat NPCs? By this, I don't mean an in-game attitude (that will vary, obviously). What I mean is, are we going to treat NPCs as devices/pretexts/lootbags or are we going to treat them as actual people?

EXAMPLE: The Mayor starts talking. Do we wave our hands and say "just give us the quest highlights"? Or do we spend time on talking with her about things other than where the goblins are?

2. Are we going to treat our characters as the unalterable centerpoints of the fictional world, around which every story bends, or are we going to see them as protagonist in one story, that intersects with other stories whose protagonists may not share our sense of self importance?

EXAMPLE: A player dies. Do we find the nearest sufficiently high level priest and deduct the money from our character sheets and go back to work? Or do we accept that maybe a priest who can cast raise dead might have other things on his agenda than commerce?

3. How are we going to treat one another's characters? Are we going to tally up the various numbers and try to keep them in balance? Or are we going to interact as individuals with wants/needs that are not necessarily numerated?

EXAMPLE: We found an ancient trove! One character is obsessed with Thassilon and there is a ring of force shield that manifests as a glowing Rune of Greed. Do we check the spreadsheet and realize he has too much wealth comparatively and therefore sell it and balance the gold? Or do we let him have it, regardless of the fact that this means another character is functionally more poor?

4. On a related note, how are we going to treat the items we find in campaign? Will they be numbers? Or narrative devices?

EXAMPLE: We find a rope of climbing. Do we sell it for 1,500 gp, which could buy us two wands that might achieve the same mechanical goal? Or do we say "Neat!" and incorporate it into our character's idiom?

5. What is our attitude as players to the campaign world? Is it a source of mechanical advantages and challenges? Or is it a place to interact with?

EXAMPLE: Do we play a Mwangi witch with the winter witch archetype, because who would see that coming and the save DCs get pretty sick, especially against jungle creatures with no defenses against cold? Or do we accept that a Mwangi witch might face things that are adapted to fighting Mwangi witches, because that's where they live?

6. What is our goal as players, in one word?

My group is starting a new Iron Gods campaign that could use one or two more players in Raleigh, NC. We'll meet Sunday afternoons. PM me if interested.

Does anyone know of a feat/ability that would allow a cleric (possibly with the Iron Priest archetype) to command/turn constructs the way the Command/Turn Undead feat works for regular clerics?

Anyone in Raleigh NC (or w/in reasonable drive time) looking for players? I've done some PFS stuff, but prefer a home game. An AP would be great - there are so many good ones, I don't really care which I play, though I've gone through Serpent's Skull, the first book of Rise of the Runelords, and run Reign of Winter.