Qarxan Zebwen's page

Has the formatting on the interactive maps changed?

I ran Abomination Vaults and was able to extract the maps clean so I could use them on roll20, but nothing can seem to extract the maps from the Strength of Thousands Kindled Magic set.

If this was deliberate, I'd really like the decision reviewed, because it makes it really difficult to set up the adventure on roll20 myself, and that wasn't a complaint I had for AV.

Is anyone else able to extract just the map images? No text, no overlays?

Telekinetic Rend is a damaging cantrip, which to me is the design space of a spell that you want to cast often, especially as an amp-able psi-cantrip.

+2 heightening gives jagged scaling that means that "bread-and-butter" spell is not very good when even level spells are your highest spell slot. I have the same complaint about daze, but we can't fix that now.

I understand that it may get the math right on average, but that ignores the fact that some levels are awkward. I don't like the in-play experience of getting out the calculator to see if Telekinetic Rend is good this level or not.

Spell slot spells are different, but AFAIC damage cantrips should have smooth scaling. It's a better experience for the player.

Now, of course there is no d3 in Pf2e, so we can't just split the difference, but there are other levers to change the math so it could average out the same, but scale smoothly, and I argue that is a worthwhile endeavor.

Heightened (+1) The initial damage, as well as the additional damage for the 2-round casting time, each increase by 4d4, and the damage to adjacent creatures dealt while in your shining state increases by 1.

So Inner Radiance Torrent starts out with a good critical failure effect, arguably the best damage type, targets Reflex while on two spell lists that don't do that much. As a second level spell 4d4 is around 70% of the normal damage an AoE spell does. You can spend 6 actions to double the damage, but that all seems: good, and cool, and in the bounds of how I expect spells to work.

It heightens however much faster than I think it should. And I think it's a typo.

If it Heightened in jumps of 2d4 each part, or 4d4 total, it'd scale such that it keeps it's proportional power to other AoE spells. So still a great spell.

The above quote reads to me like you add 4d4 to both parts however.

So 3rd level 2/3-actions is 8d4 so 95% as effective as any AoE, it goes to 12d4 and 107%, then 115%, then 119%, and so on.

Tell me how I'm misreading this spell? Or is it actually too powerful when heightened?

Hello,

I subscribed for SoM really, and I do not want to continue my subsciption. Can it please be cancelled, please?

And thank you.

I've been thinking about this lately, and seen some related discussions especially with respect to Fist of the Ruby Phoenix.

For people who have played through or GMed games with characters 11th-15th level, what are some things that posed issues for your characters that they could have avoided with the right solutions from items/feats/spells?

What problems largely need to be solved by brining the right tool, as opposed to solving the issue in the encounter itself?

I'm thinking of something like a rough checklist, both for each character and at a party level, e.g. generally when starting a new group at low levels we might talk about skill coverage and having a person who is good at some kind of healing out of combat (as a party-type requirement), while each individual character ought to have actions they might meaningfully want to take in a combat encounter (most classes do this by default at lower levels, but this is just an example of an individual-type requirement).

Example:
[] A tool for dealing with enemies that are over 60ft way and likely to stay at distance, possibly flying.

Then maybe the monk takes flying kick, or the fighter makes sure they have a decent bow instead of just a sword and shield, etc, etc.

[] A tool for dealing silver damage.

You want to be able to bypass resistances or trigger weaknesses when this comes up, etc.

I'd love to hear from people's experiences about these kind of issues, so that we/I can create and share an easy to understand check-list and encourage and support players who might want to try out high level PF2 but be wary because the troubles other d20 games have had at these levels.

P.S. if this already exists, in form of a discussion during the playtests, or just that I missed, please let me know!

Lot so charts and numbers talking about what magus's good turn and DPR looks like, etc, etc. I think there are lot's of fair points in both ways, and that often the numbers are not SO far apart that they can't be tuned to right as it is.

However, I think a very real measurement that will impact player satisfaction is "What are the chances that I don't get anything done this turn?"

Fighters swinging twice against an on-level foe with High AC have only about a 16% chance of missing both attacks and have a "Wasted Turn".
Most martials have a 25% chance of having a bad turn in the same scenario. Regardless of class features and damage, just basic two attacks, second at -5.

If the Magus misses their Strike on the turn they use Striking Spell that's it. 39% chance that they don't get anything done.

Yes the spell persists, and that's not really the chance that they lose a spell slot, etc. And yes when they do hit both the damage spikes fairly high so the averages level out a bit, because spikey single target damage can be better than DPR calculations suggest situationally. But from the pure argument of FEEL, it feels much worse for a Magus to miss that Strike than bad luck in another martial class's turn.

I had this feeling in the Investigator playtest and I have it now. Lot's of suggestions are about boosting the accuracy of the first strike, or the spell attack roll. About guaranteeing the spell roll if the attack hits, but I still wonder if high chance of a wasted turn is a desirable trade-off for high burst turns.

TL;DR Making one d20 roll depend on another is a design space that creates extremes, and it is my opinion that the extreme lows feel too bad for it to be a satisfying mechanic.

d20 games are swingey. Are the high's of double critting the strike and spell worth the lows of doing nothing in a turn? What are alternatives that don't just make the magus the highest damage class? Is dependency a necessary price to pay in order to have a spell and Strike in the same turn as a class feature?

I wish to cancel Order 28791516 which is pending, and my Pathfinder Rulebook Subscription.

Please and Thank You.

I think you can make a passable "gish"-like character with a martial class, especially the twin-takedown ranger and monk(b/c of flurry).

I'm not sure the same is true of spellcaster classes. Age of Ages has a character with a spell-strike ability, that I suspect is the start of a magus. The way it is implemented suggests it would work well as an archetype, and that lets you do it with any spellcasting class.

So here is my first draft attempt:

MAGUS FEAT 2
|ARCHETYPE|UNCOMMON|
Prerequisites ability to cast spells from spell slots, Strength 14, one of Intillgence 14, Wisdom 14, or Charisma 14

You become trained one martial weapon. You become trained in Athletics; if you are already trained in this skills, you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.
Special You can't select another dedication feat until you have gained two other feats from the Magus archetype.

SPELL STRIKE [free-action] FEAT 4
|ARCHETYPE|
Prerequisites expert in skill associated with spellcasting tradition, Magus Archetype
Frequency once per round;
Trigger You begin to Cast a Spell that targets at least 1 creature; You have one hand free
You channel your spell through an attack. You make a melee Strike with a weapon or unarmed attack against a target within reach. If the Strike is successful, the target is automatically subject to the spell. If the spell required an attack roll, the target is hit. If the spell required a saving throw, the target takes a –4 status penalty to its saving throw instead. If the spell could target multiple creatures, it targets only the creature you hit with your Strike. This counts as a number of attacks equal to the number of actions spent casting the spell when calculating your multiple attack penalty.

MAGUS RESILIENCY FEAT 4
|ARCHETYPE|
Prerequisites Magus Archetype, class granting no more Hit Points per level than 6 + your Constitution modifier
You gain 3 additional Hit Points for each magus archetype class feat you have. As you continue selecting magus archetype class feats, you continue to gain additional Hit Points in this way.

BESPELL WEAPON [free-action] FEAT 6
|ARCHETYPE|
Prerequisites Magus Archetype
Frequency once per turn
Requirements Your most recent action was to cast a non-cantrip spell.
You siphon spell energy into one weapon you’re wielding. Until the end of your turn, the weapon deals an extra 1d6 damage of a type depending on the school of the spell you just cast.
• Abjuration force damage
• Conjuration or Transmutation the same type as the weapon
• Divination, Enchantment, or Illusion mental damage
• Evocation a type the spell dealt, or force damage if the spell didn’t deal damage
• Necromancy negative damage

STEADY SPELLCASTING FEAT 8
|ARCHETYPE|
Prerequisites Expert in a spellcasting tradition, Magus Archetype
Confident in your technique, you don’t easily lose your concentration when you Cast a Spell. If a reaction would disrupt your spellcasting action, attempt a DC 15 flat check. If you succeed, your action isn’t disrupted.

MASTER OF STEEL AND SPELL FEAT 10
|ARCHETYPE|
Prerequisites Expert in a spellcasting tradition, Magus Dedication
Whenever you gain a class feature that grants you expert or greater proficiency in certain weapons, you also gain that proficiency in your chosen martial weapon.

Characters:
Desert Elf Gambler Investigator(Empiricism)
Versatile Human Fortune-teller Oracle(Flames)
Versatile Human Emissary Swashbuckler(Braggart)
Versatile Human Hunter Witch(Fate)

Character Creation Notes: The classes seem fine at first glance, the have interesting themes, etc.

The Investigator's Methodologies don't seem to even, so we tried to see if Empiricism offered more in play. It is really odd that the investigator doesn't use Int that much. The Investigator had Int 16, Wis 16, but could probably get away with Int 14 or 12 to use it for skill checks only.

Oracle tried Oracle of Life first. The oracle of Life is really... flawed. The class seems to want to encourage people to use focus spells, but it doesn't have access to anything you could use regularly except the death domain spell, which is less effective because its hard to heal the oracle, and said oracle wants to avoid damage a lot. The curse is intense, but the real problem is that the focus spells you have access to are not good for someone who wants to use them often. They re-designed as a Flame Oracle, because at least Incendiary Aura and Fire Ray are useful and cool to cast one after the other, etc. No idea of power levels, but the Oracle of life needs focus spells that do something. Delay Affliction should be replaced with something like lay on hands or the witch's life boost, or something. Also felt weird to realize that the oracle wasn't so much about casting more focus spells than usual, but instead about more only the first time you use any, then no more after that.

Swashbuckler. Tried to use non-rapier weapon, shortsword, otherwise a fine creation. Everything made sense.

Witch. Similar to be honest. Some of the hexes 24 hour restrictions are weird and make the focus spells less good, like minor ward is on the weak end, but made really nebulous by that restriction, etc. Confused by cackle, as in, what was the situation you would use it in. Seemed strange that they didn't have Reach Spell or Cantrip Expansion like other 6 HP casters. I assumed that was so the new playtest stuff got tested.

Final thoughts:
Swashbuckler and Witch make sense during character creation, seems easy to make a perfectly fine version while making reasonable decisions and maxing stats. Options available work like they seem to, and are reasonably compelling.

Investigator choices seem okay, though the other methodologies need small buffs to make them enticing. It's extremely weird and IMO bad that Int is very close to trap for them. That's really not friendly for newer players, and requires reasonable knowledge to build. The Alchemist has this problem, and it's even worse in the case of the Investigator IMO. Study suspect should involve Int not Wis, somehow.

Oracle seems cool, but revelations don't neccesarily work in an obvious way. Oracle of life has really unappealing level 1 choices of focus spell.

Hello!

For anyone interested a new gaming store is opening in Maynooth, which is esaily accessed by train from Connolly station or on the 67 and 66 Dublin bus routes.

This new store which is called Gamer's Hub is opening within the next week and will be hosting all sorts of gaming, including Pathfinder Society games.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/pages/Gamers-Hub/17787940895635 9]Gamer's Hub Facebook

Please feel free to contact me at: pfsmaynooth@gmail.com

I would like to cancel my subscription to the hardcover rulebook line please, while maintaining my subscription to the adventure path line.

Thanks.

The blog post about upcoming changes to Pathfinder Society back before Gen Con mentioned that we would be getting new, revised pre-gens.

Is there any estimate on when that will be happening? Even the level 1 versions?

My freind is opening a game store, and I've offered to run PFS there, but I'd like to have the pre-gens so that I can run 3-player games, etc.

Cheers in advance!

Okay, so I decided to run a high level game (17th level to start). I'm well aware that alot of high level problems come when you skip to them, rather than earn it, so put that aside.

I wanted to run the game with a score of rules changes I've added, but I think I need some feedback on them first, for balance issues, etc.

Firstly I'm going to be using an expanded point but system instead of people getting an attribute increase every 4 levels. You can spend the points gained only when levelling up (or you can save them up to buy a more expensive score between a few levels), and pay the difference in the cost of two attributes to increase a score, e.g. going from a 17 Str to and 18 Str costs 4 points. Note: No character can start with an attribute score of higher than 17, and all initial points gained at first level must be spent.

You gain additional points at the following rate:
Lvl. Points
2 ..... 1
3 ..... 1
4 ..... 2
5 ..... 2
6 ..... 2
7 ..... 2
8 ..... 2
9 ..... 3
10 ... 3
11 ... 3
12 ... 3
13 ... 3
14 ... 4
15 ... 4
16 ... 4
17 ... 4
18 ... 4
19 ... 6
20 ... 8

This isn't my subsysytem in truth, just my take on the expanded point buy system that appeared on the boards here a while ago.

My next subsystem is a system which also appeared in the boards, that I then tailored and altered for my own use. The Heroic Distinctions system. Basically, you only gain half of typical wealth per level, and there are the following limitations on magic items.

At 3rd level and every level therafter a character may take a heroic distinction which they qualify for. (NPCs take distinctions only at odd levels.) Not that most distinctions increase automatically at levels 10 and 15. These increases stack with purchased increases, so that a character can have a +5 armor bonus from distinctions, etc.

This is the list of Heroic Distinctions.

Aggressive
A character can select the heroic distinction aggressive for one type of weapon, e.g. longsword. The character receives a +1 training bonus to attack and damage rolls with that weapon. They also gain half of this bonus to other types of weapons.
At tenth level this bonus increases by +1. At fifteenth level this increases by a further +1.
Ferocious: A character of at least 7th level, who already has the aggressive distinction, may take the ferocious distinction, which increases the bonus granted by aggressive by +1. This stacks with any bonuses gained automatically as the character levels up.
Destructive: A character of at least 13th level, who already has the ferocious distinction, may take the destructive distinction, which increases the bonus granted by ferocious by +1. This stacks with any bonuses gained automatically as the character levels up.

Defensive
A character can select the heroic distinction Defensive and receives a +1 training bonus to the effective armor bonus of any armor or bracer and shield worn.
At tenth level this bonus increases by +1. At fifteenth level this increases by a further +1.
Guarded: A character of at least 6th level, who already has the defensive distinction, may take the guarded distinction, which increases the bonus granted by defensive by +1. This stacks with any bonuses gained automatically as the character levels up.
Untouchable: A character of at least 12th level, who already has the guarded distinction, may take the untouchable distinction, which increases the bonus granted by guarded by +1. This stacks with any bonuses gained automatically as the character levels up.

Hardened
A character of at least 6th level can select the heroic distinction Hardened and receives a +1 enhancement bonus to his natural armor.
At tenth level this bonus increases by +1. At fifteenth level this increases by a further +1.
Grizzled: A character of at least 8th level, who already has the hardened distinction, may take the grizzled distinction, which increases the bonus granted by hardened by +1. This stacks with any bonuses gained automatically as the character levels up.
Iron-skinned: A character of at least 14th level, who already has the grizzled distinction, may take the iron-skinned distinction, which increases the bonus granted by grizzled by +1. This stacks with any bonuses gained automatically as the character levels up.

Heroic
A character of at least 5th level can select the heroic distinction Hero and gains an additional 8 points to spend on their attribute scores.
Legendary: A character of at least 10th level who already has the heroic distinction may take the legendary distinction. The character gains an additional 8 points to spend on their attribute scores.
Mythic: A character of at least 15th level who already has the legendary distinction may take the mythic distinction. The character gains an additional 8 points to spend on their attribute scores.

Lucky
A character can select the heroic distinction Lucky and receives a +1 luck bonus to all of his saves. At tenth level this bonus increases by +1. At fifteenth level this increases by a further +1.
Blessed: A character of at least 7th level, who already has the lucky distinction, may take the blessed distinction, which increases the bonus granted by lucky by +1. This stacks with any bonuses gained automatically as the character levels up.
Exalted: A character of at least 13th level, who already has the blessed distinction, may take the exalted distinction, which increases the bonus granted by blessed by +1. This stacks with any bonuses gained automatically as the character levels up.

Savant
A character can select the heroic distinction savant and receives the ability to recover a first level spell slot as a standard action. In addition the character gains a +3 bonus to Spellcraft checks. A prepared caster regains a prepared slot, while a spontaneous caster regains an unspent slot. As the character gains new levels of this distinction, they also retain all of the previous bonuses.
At tenth level this distinction grants a spell of one level higher. At fifteenth level this distinction grants a spell of one further level higher.
Enlightened: A character of at least 7th level, who already has the savant distinction, may take the enlightened distinction, which increases the spell level of the ability granted by savant by one. This stacks with any bonuses gained automatically as the character levels up.
Master Sage: A character of at least 13th level, who already has the enlightened distinction, may take the master sage distinction, which increases the spell level of the ability granted by enlightened by one. This stacks with any bonuses gained automatically as the character levels up.

Warded
A character of at least 8th level can select the heroic distinction warded and receives a +1 deflection bonus to his armor class.
At tenth level this bonus increases by +1. At fifteenth level this increases by a further +1.
Protected: A character of at least 13th level, who already has the warded distinction, may take the protected distinction, which increases the bonus granted by warded by +1. This stacks with any bonuses gained automatically as the character levels up.
Invincible: A character of at least 17th level, who already has the protected distinction, may take the invincible distinction, which increases the bonus granted by protected by +1. This stacks with any bonuses gained automatically as the character levels up.

I found Painlords map and was suprised to see that there was a Lodge in Ireland.

I was even more shocked to find its in bloody Rathfarnam!

Can anyone explain to me how this happened and who set it up?

P.S.: I sound more shocked and horrified than I am. I mostly just curious.

Okay, so from running the DPR math with a very handy calculating google doc (Courtesy of Ogre and a the boards), its obvious that as so many people say, two weapon fighting isn't as good as two-handed fighting, for more feats and no reason.

The MAD will always kill you, despite getting between level 1-12 about +1 AC, +2 Ref, +2 Init, +2 on ranged attack rolls, and +2 on CMD, and a few skills. However you do 75% as much damage as the two handed fighter if your lucky.

Also, I've seen it be a widely held opinion that Double Slice (and Two Weapon Defense) aren't gret feats. So how about:

• DOUBLE SLICE
  Your off-hand weapon while dual-wielding strikes with greater power.
  Prerequisite: Dex 15, Two-Weapon Fighting.
  Benefit: Add your Strength bonus to damage rolls made with your off-hand weapon. In addition, your off hand weapon counts as a one-handed weapon for the purposes of power attack, so you +2 damage per -1 to attack rolls.
  Normal: You normally add only half of your Strength modifier to damage rolls made with a weapon wielded in your off-hand and off-hand weapons only get half of the bonus from power attack.
  

I figure it increase full BAB classes power with TWF, but sneak attacking characters won't be using power attack anyway, so it shouldn't alter their damage.

So if you two weapon fight, you'll do about 80% damage, assuming you wield two identical light weapons, you shouldn't suffer as much in feats or damage. Maybe 90% damage would be a better goal, but I think all of the little side benefits from your higher Dex are quite nice.

Are there any problems I'm not seeing with this? Or more things that can be done to easily boost Two-Weapon Fighting?

These are some houserules I'm thinking of trying:

On Death
The game uses hero points, but instead of the traditional rule for cheat death, you can spend two hero points to earn a twist of fate at any time. This twist of faith is a saved cheat death for the future. A character can only ever buy two of these. This should stop hero point hoarding, and make them game less deadly. So should:
At 8th level you die at 1.5 times your Con score.
At 16th level you die at 2 times your Con score.
Why make it less deadly? Because there isn't any way back:
Raise dead, ressurection, true ressurection, reincarnation et al. are no longer in the game.
Breath of life still is and works as usual.

On Magic Items (Long! Bear wth me!)
The magic items known as the big six no longer exist in the game. These items are: magic weapons, magic armor, rings of protection, amulets of natural armor, cloaks of resistance and ability score boosting items. Character wealth per level is 1/3rd its usual amount. Instead:
[list]

I've been fiddling around with maps alot recently, especially big ones. Which require the understanding that the world isn't flat.

So for fun I thought it would be interesting to scale everything depending on its lattitude for the Inner Sea Region map.

Here is my effort: Map

NOTE: The upper parts are pretty much impossible to read, and this is far from perfect or smooth. It starts at about 15 degrees north and the bottom and goes up to 65 which is roughly the artctic circle. I broke into it 2.5 mile per degree longtitude decreases. So they're closer together the further north you go.

Anyway just a bit of fun! In eager anticipation of the world map coming in Feb/March!

Hi, I got my issue a while ago, but only recently started reading the physical copy in preparation for upcoming games.

Only to find that my copy is missing pages 17-32. There doesn't seem to be any torn out pages, or that their misplaced, their just not there.

Is there anything that can be done?

Kind Regards,
-Eoin

As the thread suggests.

I mean people are born gay, just as we are evolved from ape-like ancestors, just as some people are are born with various differences in their chemical and physiological make-up.

So is it like a part of original sin? Can you be born a sinner? Who does it hurt and why is it a sin?

You finally feel the heat and sweat and buzz of mosquitoes leave your body and mind after a few weeks, the Isle of Dread, and Southern Arcadia now months behind, your mission successfully concluded and your stipends collected.

You have arrived back in Avistan, at the open port of Magnimar, the City of Monuments.

However, the tales of your heroic exploits from facing down demon-posessed pirates to saving your ship from a mighty sea monster composed of Sargasso, have preceded you and you find yourself attending a small banquet held by Mayor Grobaras, a fat balding but well-dressed man, with a loud commanding voice. Around you the wealthy and influential of Magnimar make small talk and judge the worth of the heroes called to the Mayor's side. Make Diplomacy checks to see how well-regarded you become in the city.

After the meal, the Mayor invites you to a reading room, a giant library in it's own right. He offers you all pipes and smoking tabacco.

'Well, my lads. Now that the pleasantries are dispensed with, let us get down to business. I have lost contact with a fort under my city's control, near Turtleback Ferry, we don't know whether it is simply the oncoming winter, Korvosan interference or something more sinister. As old hands like yourself may have guessed, I want to you to investigate and will compensate you duly. What say you?'

You are location 8 on the map.

Varisia

Below is my estimate of what the magus will look like, and just a fun pre-playtest version of the magus to have fun with.

Please feel free to critique and discuss. I think its nice in that it's the only character that relies on Str and Int, and hopefully infused strike and talents (might rename them 'arcana') make it worth staying in the class rather than losing two levels to go into eldritch knight. (It only has one martial weapon, so will have to dip to take that prestige class.)

Note: No tabs on the boards, so the table is a formatting mess. This class is far from fully realised or finished, especially after level 10. I'll continue to update the spells known, though I need suggestions on talents in particular. and what the capstone ability will do.

MAGUS
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d8.
Class Skills
The magus’s class skills are Appraise (Int), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Fly (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Swim (Str) and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table X–XX: Magus
Base
Attack Fort Ref Will ---------------------------------- Spells per Day
Level Bonus Save Save Save Special 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
1st +0 +2 +0 +2 Arcane Strike, cantrips, infused strike 1/day 1 — — — — —
2nd +1 +3 +0 +3 Bonus feat, Magus talent 2 — — — — —
3rd +2 +3 +1 +3 3 — — — — —
4th +3 +4 +1 +4 magus talent 3 1 — — — —
5th +3 +4 +1 +4 infused strike 2/day 4 2 — — — —
6th +4 +5 +2 +5 Bonus feat, magus talent 4 3 — — — —
7th +5 +5 +2 +5 Improved Arcane strike 4 3 1 — — —
8th +6/+1 +6 +2 +6 magus talent 4 4 2 — — —
9th +6/+1 +6 +3 +6 infused strike 3/day 5 4 3 — — —
10th +7/+2 +7 +3 +7 Bonus Feat, magus talent, 5 4 3 1 — —
11th +8/+3 +7 +3 +7 Stalwart 5 4 4 2 — —
12th +9/+4 +8 +4 +8 magus talent 5 5 4 3 — —
13th +9/+4 +8 +4 +8 infused strike 4/day 5 5 4 3 1 —
14th +10/+5 +9 +4 +9 magus talent 5 5 4 4 2 —
15th +11/+6/+1 +9 +5 +9 Mastered Arcane strike 5 5 5 4 3 —
16th +12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +10 magus talent 5 5 5 4 3 1
17th +12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +10 infused strike 5/day 5 5 5 4 4 2
18th +13/+8/+3 +11 +6 +11 magus talent 5 5 5 5 4 3
19th +14/+9/+4 +11 +6 +11 5 5 5 5 5 4
20th +15/+10/+5 +12 +6 +12 Walker of Two Paths, magus talent 5 5 5 5 5 5

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the magus.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A magus is proficient with all simple weapons, and one martial weapon of his choice, this choice is made at character creation and cannot be changed. Maguses are also proficient with light armor, medium armor and shields (except tower shields). A magus can cast magus spells while wearing light or medium armor and use a shield without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. Like any other arcane spellcaster, a magus wearing heavy armor or using a tower shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has a somatic component. A multiclass magus still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.
Spells: A magus casts arcane spells drawn from the magus spell list presented in Chapter 10. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, a bard must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a magus’ spell is 10 + the spell level + the magus’ Intelligence modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a magus can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on Table x–xx. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Intelligence score (see Table 1–3 in the Core Rulebook).
The magus’ selection of spells is extremely limited. A magus begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st level spells of the magus’ choice. At each new magus level, he gains one or more new spells, as indicated on Table x–yy. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a magus knows is not affected by his Intelligence score. The numbers on Table x–yy are fixed.)
Upon reaching 5th level, and at every third magus level after that (8th, 11th, and so on), a magus can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the magus “loses” the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least one level lower than the highest-level magus spell the magus can cast. A magus may swap only a single spell at any given level and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that he gains new spells known for the level.
A magus need not prepare his spells in advance. He can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming he has not yet used up his allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level.
Arcane Strike: At first level the magus gains Arcane Strike as a bonus feat.

-Spells known as the bard/inquisitor-

Cantrips: Magus’ learn a number of cantrips, or 0-level spells, as noted on Table x–yy under “Spells Known.” These spells are cast like any other spell, but they do not consume any slots and may be used again.
Infused Strike (Su): The magus can, as a swift action cast a spell that requires a touch or ranged touch on an opponent he has hit with any weapon he his wielding once per day. This doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity, but does require one free hand to complete the somatic components of the spell. He must expend a spell slot to cast this spell, he need not make another attack roll to touch the creature, though the creature may still make all of it’s saves as usual. The magus can use this once per day at 1st level, twice per day at 5th level and one additional time every four levels thereafter (e.g. 9th, 13th, etc.)
Bonus Feat: At 2nd level, and every 4 levels thereafter, a magus may select a bonus feat. These feats must be taken from the following list: Blind-Fight, Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Eschew Materials, Magical Aptitude and Weapon Focus. At 6th level, the following feats are added to the list: Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Expanded Arcana, Improved Initiative, Intensified Spell and Spell Focus. At 10th level, the following feats are added to the list: Critical Focus, Greater Spell Focus, Vital Strike and Weapon Specialisation. A magus need not have any of the prerequisites normally required for these feats to select them.
Magus Talents: As a magus gains experience, she learns a number of talents that aid her and confound her foes. Starting at 2nd level, a magus gains one magus talent. She gains an additional magus talent for every 2 levels of magus attained after 2nd level. A magus cannot select an individual talent more than once.
Arcane ward (Su): The magus can apply up to ½ his Arcane strike bonus to his AC using Improved Arcane Strike, this is not affected by Mastered Arcane Strike. The magus must be a least 8th level before selecting this talent.
Blue Sparks (Su): A number of time per day equal to his Intelligence modifier the magus may hurl a fist-sized ball of blue flame at an enemy within 30 ft. this does 1d6 + 1 damage per two levels, which is half fire damage half raw arcane energy.
Creature Knowledge (Ex): Once per day per 6 magus levels possessed, minimum 1, the magus may reroll a knowledge check to indetify a creature and learn its weakness. This re-roll must be made before any information is given, and the second result must be taken, even if lower.
Disruptive: The magus gains Disruptive as a bonus feat. The magus must be at least 8th level to select this talent.
Ensorcelled Aid (Su): Tha magus expends his arcane power to empower an ally while lending aid. When using the aid another ability, the magus may as a swift action expend a spell slot to grant an additional bonus equal to the level of the spell expended.
Forceful Strike (Su): The magus adds +2 to the DC of spells cast through his infused strike ability.
Intuitive Magesmith (Ex): The magus does not take a penalty for not knowing spells required to craft a magic weapon or armor.
Mastered Counterspell (Ex): A magus with the Improved Counterspell ability can counterspell with a spell from the same school of one level lower, equal or a higher level. The magus must possess Improved Counterspell and be at least 12th level to select this ability.
Metamagic Strike (Su): You can apply metamagic to your imfused strike spell, this doesn’t increase the time, but still takes up a higher level spell slot. You must be at least 6th level to select this talent.
Practised Aide (Ex): As a standard action a magus with the Allied Spellcaster feat may double the bonus granted by that feat to one adjacent ally.
Pre-emptive Counterspell (Su): The magus may attempt to counterspell a spell even when he has not prepared an action to do so. He is dazed on his next turn however, whether he succeeds or fails. The magus must be at least 4th level before selecting this talent.
Spellbreaker: The magus gains Spellbreaker as a bonus feat. The magus must be at least 12th level to select this talent.
Trap Ward (Su): The magus gets a +1 bonus on saves and AC from magical traps for every four levels he possesses (minimum 1, maximum 4).

more to come

Improved Arcane Strike (Su): At 7th level, when using the Arcane strike feat the magus gains the bonus on his attack rolls aswell as damage. In addition, you can instead apply up to half (rounded down) you bonus to applying a special weapon property to your weapon, for example at 10th level the magus gains a +3 bonus to attack and damage with Arcane strike, he may choose instead to get a +2 bonus to attack and damage, and gain the flaming ability instead of the extra +1. Once this ability has been used to redistribute the bonus, it cannot be changed again for one minute.
Mastered Arcane Strike (Su): At 15th level the magus can apply his arcane strike bonus however he likes, and doesn’t even have to apply a single +1 bonus, in addition it only takes him a full-round action to change the bonus.
Walker of Two Paths (Su): At 20th level- uncompleted ability

MAGUS SPELLS
0—acid splash, arcane mark, detect magic, dancing lights, flare, light, mage hand, message, mending, open/close, read magic, resistance, spark*, touch of fatigue
1st—ant haul*, burning hands, chill touch, disguise self, enlarge person, expeditious retreat, feather fall, feather step*, flare burst*, identify, invigorate*, jump, magic aura, magic weapon, reduce person, shocking grasp, true strike, touch of gracelessness*, unseen servant, vanish*
2nd—alter self, bear’s endurance, bloodhound*, bull’s strength, darkvision, elemental touch*, fox’s cunning, ghoul touch, heroism, instant armor*, locate object, magic mouth, make whole, resist energy, scorching ray, shatter, see invisibility
3rd—arcane concordance*, arcane sight, blink, beast shape II, coordinated effort*, dispel magic, displacement, elemental body I, greater magic weapon, haste, invisibility purge, keen edge, pain strike*, sending, slow, vampiric touch, water breathing
4th+ more to come

Stereofm wrote:

vagrant-poet wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

Earthfall covered almost an entire hemishpere of the world;

I really can't wait to see that world map in the Inner Sea World Guide.

Will it be shown on the blog sometime?

There IS a World map ????? WOOOT !!!

Yup; as part of my work revising the Campaign Setting, I designed the rest of the continents. That version of the map is relatively detailed as far as coastlines are concerned; the version we'll be running in the book is a bit less detailed but more "in game" realistic so that folks can see the basic locations of everything. I might end up posting both in a side by side comparison here on the blog in a few months if folks are interested...

I know I'm interested! Who else wants to lend their voice to this cause!!!

Seagulls and parrots wheel overhead, squawking and screeching, ducking occassionally and rising with fish scraps or other more unidentifiable things. Before you on the wooden jetties of Sargava's busy port stands Captain Venkalie, she's currently roaring he loudest at the men loading the ship, her height and fair hair betraying some Ulfen heritage, she is a dressed well as a Sargavan ships captain in the old Chelaxian style.

A similiarly clad woman, whos clothes were of far better quality, heavily embroidered at the sleeves approaches up the docks, looking serene amidst all the chaos of the preparation for the Sea Wyvern's disembarkation.

When Captain Venkalie spots her she strides quickly over to where you were asked, or rather told to wait after arriving as promised on the jetty after signing on for the Vaneo Expedition to the Isle of Dread.

'That's the boss lady, look sharp now, you can be scruffy tomb-diggers all you like once your on board,' at this she turns sharply and bows her head to the approaching woman.

She is slim, pale and pretty featured with her starkly black hair tied high away from her face.

'Good evening Gentlemen, my name is Lavinia Vaneo, the primary funder of this expedition. I'm glad to see Captain Venkalie here has assembled such a competent looking group of individuals,' she smiles.

'Why don't you all introduce yourselves?'

@Deevor aka Percival: We're set on goalrion, if your not familiar with the setting, that's fine this adventure takes place over 2,000 miles from the settings detailed areas. You can be from the Nation of Taldor, and trained in the capital city of Oppara.
You seemed to hav bought these stats Str 8, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 17 + 2 Racial + 1 for 4th level, Wis 10, Cha 10.

This would cost you 5 for Con and 13 for Int, leaving you woth two unspent points for stats. Please spend away!

Finally, you can have a base of 9 1st levels, 4 2nd and 2 third with an addiitonal 4 1st, 3 2nd and 1 3rd level spells that you can scribe into your spellbook by paying the appropriate cost.

@Dennis aka Halstadt: Character looks good, like the Angradd worshipping twist. I made a mistake in the original thread, and how much gold you actually get is defined above. He looks solid and the fire domain is a nice oddity for a dwarf cleric!

@Nightflier: An interesting combination, especially if you take Abyssal bloodline as I suspect.

Any other questions, fire them up.
We'll try to have everyone's characters built by monday, so we can start the game next week. Sooner if everyone gets ready early, but there's no rush!

Yesterday a tall, fit looking woman with shoulder-length auburn hair and a sword at her hip approached you, introduced herself as Janiven and asked to talk with you privately, she then invited to you to a clandestine meeting in a tavern by the name of Vizio’s in Parego Spera. It was nearing nightfall, and she left quiet suddenly, but that night as monsters haunted the streets, curiosity stalked your mind, and after finishing breakfast and your morning routine, you made your way through Westcrown’s cobbled streets, the mid summer sun shining bright and hot in the sky.

You arrived at Vizio’s to find the window’s boarded, but the door is open and after you entered the cool shaded taproom you soon found yourself sharing it with Janiven, and two strangers. Once all three of you have arrived, Janiven smiles and says 'Great, you all made it!'

'I have some food prepared, so please pull some chairs off the stack in the corner and sit at the main table, introduce yourselves, we’ll get down to business after we eat,' she smiles again and stalks into the kitchen, sword bouncing on her hip.

Here we go, introduce your characters and Janiven will return with the food. Have fun!

As the title suggests, I'm starting up a PBP, an altered cutout of the mid-to-late Savage Tide AP to be precise.
I'm looking for 3-5 regular posters as players, and in particular I think it would be nice to run a game for people who mostly GM games, particularly PBPs on these boards.

I’m putting together some campaign traits, and I don't mind if you've played this campaign before, I just ask that you don't metagame.

I myself can and will post at around 10am, 4-6pm and 0-1am PST every weekday, and if everyone could post in between those times every weekday we should move along quite swiftly.

This will use the Core Rulebook, 20 point point buy, two traits in addition to your campaign trait, with 150 gp starting gold and full starting health. All of the APG classes may be used, and anything else can be run by me if you want to use it, though as a warning I'm not a big fan of other base classes or races.

Please post here with a race/class/alignment, any PBPs you running or even better GMing which you think exemplary of your frequent posting and/or eloquence, this does not disclude new players, though any example of writing is a boon and finally a short rundown of your character concept. The ideas behind the campaign traits are a noble seeking claim to land on the Isle of Dread, a hunter/scholar of exotic animals, a person escaping a dark past in the Inner Sea to travel 2,000+ miles across the ocean, a Pathfinder initiate, a person tasked by their church to investigate rumors of demonic activity on the Isle.

Thanks in advance to all applicants!

Player's Guide

My order of the Gamemastery Guide and Pathfinder #34 are shipping next week. Can you charge my store credit first, then take the balance from my credit card?

Frankenstein's Biological Ancestor

This is a mammoth of an article! Very interesting, as is the discussion of other scientists goals in the same field!

The intention here is to not increase the lethality of the game too much for the PCs, but for death to be a real and permanent thing. The main people that this should be killing are NPCs, the intention was so that kings could be assassinated meaningfully, etc. Nor did I want to nueter lethality, hence the negative levels gained. It's intended to incite the PCs to retreat for more or less how long it would take to travel to town and get an ally raised.

Oh, and the world I'm intending this for is more or less low level, 13th level NPCs would be among the most powerful in a multi-million poulation empire.

Comments? Suggestions?

Death and Dying:
You die at hp equal to minus (your constitution score +5 per four levels + con modifier per four levels).
For a number of round equal to your Con modifer after you die you can make a Fortitude save equal to 15 plus half your level to instead stabilize at one hp higher than your death hp. This gains you one negative level per four HD, and negative levels gained this way cannot be healed except by first casting wish or miracle spells; they heal naturally after a week.

You can be raised from dead a maximum number of times equal to 1/4 your HD. The total increases as you gain more. After this only a wish or miracle spell cast before the raising spell allows you to be raised. This means that a creature with less than 4 HD cannot be returned from the dead without a wish or miracle spell.

See! Kind of a happy ending! Sort of...

Basically what the thread title says, I have some Houserules, but I was wondering of any of you wonderful people can find any big problems that I haven't forseen with the changes, etc.

It's a bit big, so: Link

Note that I haven't entirely made up these things, etc. I just use them. Notably using some stripped down versions of Kirth's houserules, and Rezdave's split classing idea.

Has anyone seen the recent George Alan Rekers story?

There are lots of articles on the go, so it's easy to find out more about the story and the travel companion online.

Titled and opened to just have a place where it can be discussed. It's difficult to find anything impartial on it, so research it with that in mind.

Okay, in considering changing or removing alignment, one needs to know what rules this would effect.

What I can think of off the top of my head is:

I find having the players run away is mind-numbingly boring and dispiriting for them, as well as causing you to track where they have run in relation to the rest of the battle, and taking them ages to get back to the combat even when the effect has ended.

So I'm going to start using the following alternatives.

Frightened In addition to being shaken a frightened creature may not approach to within 10 ft. of the object of its fear, nor take any aggressive action, such as would end the spell invisbility, towards the object of their fear or affecting anything within 10 ft. of the object of fear without making a Will save against the initial DC. They can only make one Will save against each individual frightened condition per round. If a creature is within the 10 ft. radius, and fails this Will save they must move to 10 ft. away in anyway they have at their command.

Panicked In addition to be shaken and staggered a panicked creature must move away from it's object of fear at at least half its speed, or 10 ft. which ever is higher, per round. If cornered they must cower, and take the total defensive action. At the end of each round the panicked creature may make a Will save against the initial DC to become frightened instead of panicked.

As a side note, I've ruled that if you fail to control a mount not combat trained, it gains the frightened condition and moves 10 ft. from your enemy for that round. If it takes damaged, it becomes panicked for that round instead.

So what do you think?

I have store credit from a winning a PathfinderWikia raffle. When if ever does that expire? I just want it to last at least until the release of the Advanced Pleyer's Guide in late August. Will it?

What changes would I have to account for if I wanted to:

• Replace the 4e skill system with the pathfinder one?
  
• Replace the 4e alignment system with the pathfinder one or none at all?
  
• Remove Healing surges?
  
• Remove Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies?
  

I think the skills and alignments should be easy enough.

What if healing surges were gone, fewer encounter per day, etc?

How much weaker would characters be without Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies?

Wow, cool!

It's far more animation looking than what Andrew Hou usually does for you guys. I love it, but I wonder how many people will "not want cartoons in the their D&D, grumble, grumble, get off the danged lawn?" :p

I'd like to give the game a try, so if anyone is thinking of starting even a small game, or has a free space please let me know.

Link

I thought it was funny, obviously its pretty frivolous, but taking things to seriously is actually half the idea being mocked.

Hi, the hexes are supposed to be just under 150 miles in area.

I was trying to figure out exactly what they are and got around 90 square miles.

[(3)*(root3)*(L^2)]/(2) = A

But if they are 12 miles from corner to corner, then L = 6 and

A = ~90

What's the actual area and how was it gotten?

Awesome! So damn awesome! Centipede words! Wow!

And it makes Seltyiel seem gruffly bad-ass! Nice!

*my words turn into an assortment of fruit*!

This thread made me decide to draw,

James Jacobs Adventures; The Chinchilla Incident!

This lead to some momentary confusion and sudden amusement on my part!

Link!

I thought this might be interesting, considering so many of the board members here are big into iPhones.

Article: 5 Reasons you should be scared of Apple

P.S. Its a company, not your grandmother, nobody lose their mind in nerd-rage of this please!

Guess that answers what Radovan chooses!!!