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Two things I'd like to know: 1.) The mind blade can take any melee weapon's form. Does it have to be a weapon you're naturally proficient with, or can it be any type of melee weapon? if it takes the form of a weapon you aren't usually proficient with, do you take the penalties as normal? 2.) Mithril breastplate: do you still have the arcane spell failure chance, even though it is technically medium armor for proficiency purposes?
As my friends know, I loved playing Psionic classes in DnD 3.5. My absolute most memorable was my human telekinetic, who ended up becoming a full-grown red dragon at the end of the campaign we were in. However, I admit to harboring an absolutely dreadful secret. I played a Soulknife, and I loved it. The Soulknife was an interesting psionic class. It had the base attack bonus progression of a cleric, but fought much like a ranger. Dual wielding was common. It was a martial class, not really having psionic abilities to use. It gained the Wild Talent feat as a bonus feat, to allow it to summon its blade (so, really just more of flavor, I guess). It had low skill gain, and was proficient only with light armor and shields. This made it more of a skirmisher, and with search, Listen, and Move Silently as class skills it made a decent scout, albeit with usually 10 Wisdom and 12 Dexterity this made him less effective in this manner. The soulknife didn't really excel in much, and in fact I think was a relatively weak class overall, as many classes in 3.5 were, but it was arguably a very interesting an unique class overall. Now, what made this class so cool was it's weapon choice: it could create an immaterial weapon of psionic energy with the stats of a shortsword, and later on with the stats of a longsword or a bastard sword. Alternatively, it could shape it into two shortsword-stated weapons suitable for two-weapon fighting. The weapon also gained an natural enhancement bonus as it leveld, and could even get some weapon enchantments as well to improve it. I'd like to see it come back. When I made mine, I treated mine similar to a Protoss Zealot from Starcraft, and I believe he was an Elans, which was as close as one could get to the Protoss race. Be that as it may, Pathfinder has a habit of really improving on and, in fact, balancing classes substantially well. I've had many ideas for improving on it over the years, and I think a class like this is something that would be a great addition to Pathfinder for it's unique flavor. With the addition of psionics, I think it is valid to consider for flavor and the unique combat style.
Swordtrained: Tengus are trained from birth in swordplay, and as a result are automatically proficient with swordlike weapons (including bastard swords, daggers, elven curve blades, falchions, greatswords, kukris, longswords, punching daggers, rapiers, scimitars, short swords, and two-bladed swords).
Something I would have loved to see (because this has been huge) is to see characters able to cast spells that protect them from the opposing alignment at +1 caster level. So a level 1 (for instructional purposes only)Lwful Good character might be able to cast a "Protection from Chaos" or "Protection fro Evil" spell as if they were level 2.
Anyone else kind of find it amusing that a thread like this pops up and everyone is aghast that someone would say these things? I promise you, were it a female making disparaging comments against men it would be smiled upon, probably because most of the people white-knighting in this fashion are only praying the woman would look at them.
It took three tries, five blood points, and all the charges on a regular Persistent Spell Metamagic Rod, but the bloatmage managed to turn the final boss of The Elven Entanglement into a fluffy bunny rabbit. The rabbit managed to get off one last unholy blight before it got turned into a smear, but it was still a sadly ignoble death.Killer bunny! JESUS CHRIST!
So I'm getting tired of this issue popping up, and I've decided to ask about it and what I need to do in order to make it happen. I am trying to figure out how to port the maps form the PDFs so that I an print out the maps themselves for my players to use. Some of the maps are geometric messes and I'm tired of having to do the algebra to draw them out properly (I swear to God I have OCD or something). How does one go about doing this? I can't provide printer statistics, snce the printer doesn't belong to me. Not sure if that matters.
Attacks with firearms are not true touch attacks. They are regular attacks that are resolved against touch AC, so long as the attack is made with=in their first range increment or if other conditions apply (such as a Deed that allows the gunslinger to resolve it further). There is a difference there, for feats such as Deadly Aim (which can't affect ranged touch attacks, but can affect guns).
Mistmail costs 2,250 GP. It's a standard masterwork chain shirt (250 GP), with 2,000 GP tacked on for the enchantments. If that is the case, is it possible instead to make Mistmail mithral, bringing the total to 3,100 GP, or does it count as an original item at that point? If this is allowed, can one make specific magical items in Ultimate Equipment using various materials to change the statistics and price?
Except if people actually read Deadly Aim, the bonus damage does not apply to Touch attacks, which if you are in the first range increment as a gunslinger you will be doing. I have seen and had to correct quite a few gunslingers over that point recently. Firearms are treated as ranged touch attacks only in the sense of resolving them against Touch AC. They are, for all other intents and purposes, normal attacks. As such, Deadly Aim still works for them. Also, the following is provided by Paizo concerning Firearms: When firing an early firearm, the attack resolves against the target's touch AC when the target is within the first range increment of the weapon, but this type of attack is not considered a touch attack for the purposes of feats and abilities such as Deadly Aim. At higher range increments, the attack resolves normally, including taking the normal cumulative –2 penalty for each full range increment. Unlike other projectile weapons, early firearms have a maximum range of five range increments.
Hey, it's Australia. If there were unicorns, that's one place I'd look for them. =)Honestly, I keep reading that as Unicron.I read it Unicorn the first time. I was wondering were in the world there was a Unicorn Day… But they'd have venom, or fangs, or claws that will disembowel you, or all three! It's Australia!
The event is a go! Medieval Starship will hold its first Pathfinder Society weekend event starting the evening of Friday 15 November 2013 and running until 17 November 2013! Friday will have limited tables, considering Friday Night Magic will be happening. Saturday will be the biggest day for us, since it will be open-to-close and roughly ten hours total! Sunday will be open-to-close as well, though the hours are reduced because of the mall hours being an issue (this may change, if we can get the mall to agree to it!) Sign-ups will be done on Warhorn for the Boston PFS lodge. More information will be forthcoming! Patrick Fahey
I have been denied playtime at a table because all the Chronicle sheets for my character were GM credit, and it was assumed that it wasn't legit. However, the rules do not state that this is legal, and rather than argue the semantics involved, I decided to bow out. As far as I'm concerned, online Chronicle sheets are as legitimate as a character with only GM chronicles applied. I'll tell you that I have opted to begin transferring all my chronicle sheets to an online format, storing them on both my laptop and my Google Docs account for ease of use. People have pointed out that they carry quite a bit, and I have six books I carry with me, plus my Magic: the Gathering cards (hey, it's a hobby!). My character sheets are on Excel spreadsheets on my tablet, which I carry with me. In essence, if the GM wants to see something, I can have it in ten seconds or less because I know where it is. Simply put, ease of use. I won't allow dice-rolling programs or HeroLabs sheets (as I said before), but almost anything else is acceptable to me. I think that should be fine either way.
The problem with this comes down to one thing: peer pressure. What happens when one player really doesn't want to play up and the other 3-5 are pressuring and even bullying that player? What happens when you have the GM that doesn't follow the "unanimous consent" is needed and instead imposes a "majority rules" methodology? These aren't hypotheticals, I've seen both happen and that's why I'm in full support of the season 5 system. Then it is up to that player who is being bullied to inform his local VL or VO about the incident.
Gotta' be careful, you might be turning into one of those old men who tell people their generation was the best and new kids are all lazy, or one of those guys who lumps everyone who does one thing into a single negative stereotype. You have no idea. Last week there was a Marine PFC doing recruiter assistance in the mall. I found myself talking to him like I was some grizzled old Gunny. :(
Then you have failed, as both a GM and as a player. I am 28. I started playing DnD during 3.0, roughly twelve years ago for me. My sheets were done by hand. I had to learn to do the math myself and come up with my figures. I didn't have HeroLab, I didn't have access to a generator other than stat-rolling generators as provided by Wizards of the Coast. I learned how to create my character. Nowadays, people are quick to jump to a character generator, such as HeroLabs. I have had two new players who have never played before come in and provide character sheets from HeroLab. I tell them up front I won't accept them--not to be a jerk, but to see if they have figured out the fundamentals of character creation first. I'm sorry, but I simply cannot take someone to my table who has just bought the book a week before and their first character is not hand-done. Not going to happen, and I will not do so. There have been threads of HeroLabs being broken, both in a general sense and especially with regards to Pathfinder Society (things not 'meshing' in terms of additional resources, or what-have-you). It is because of that reason--as well as my own run-ins with the program--that has led me to say that it is not valid at my tables. I have banned the program from my tables. If you say you will not allow players to bring sheets they have done themselves, then you are banning the player. That is a fundamental flaw. People can be wrong, but so can programs try as they might to be perfect. It simply will not happen. When the program is better, I will allow it. Until that time, they need to have something showing me they have done the math. I will look it over if they would like me to.
Location: Medieval Starship, Independence Mall, Kingston, MA
Let me preface this: I still need to talk to Jay LaRosse, the owner of Medieval Starship, and I will not be able to do that until this coming Tuesday when he returns from vacation. However, I did want to get this up as soon as possible, and for something like this even a missed week can be disastrous. However, I have been in contact with David Montgomery for this idea, and he supports it and is going to do what he can to make this a success. The basics are that Medieval Starship has had a consistent group of players for pathfinder Society every week. However, I have been looking to get more people involved, and I feel part of it might be the dates I have chosen to run on--Wednesday, after all, is not the best day of th week to run for most people. With that being said, I am working to host a weekend of Pathfinder Society for the Massachusetts area. Depending on the number of people we get will determine the GMs who will come, and what support we will get from Paizo. With enough notice, I hope to be able to get interest going early on, and to make sure that we can update Paizo as needed for what we might require. Sign-ups will be done on the Boston PFS Warhorn site as well as our store forums: http://medievalstarship.proboards.com/index.cgi I am still working out the details of what is going to happen: more than likely it will be an "open to close event" both Saturday and Sunday. I will update more as information is presented.
1.) Unfortunately, the Barbarian had 18 STR before Rage, and this was his BASE attack, not "If I am raging" attachment. This was what he came in with as his basic attack with a Falchion, so he thought that was his "to hit" all the time. 4 +2 +1 = 7 - 1 = 6 with Power Attack. Unless I am mistaken. 2.) The Archer at level 5 had +11 to attack before anything was calculated (5 BAB, +5 DEX, and +1 from MW). So even assuming Point-Blank Shot being factored in and Deadly Aim, it would be +10 total. In both instances, +1 may not seem like a lot, but it can be especially at level 1. Normally this wouldn't be a huge issue, but I have been seeing bad math all over the place and as I said, this is from one month alone. As for the rogue: what got me is I assumed it was calculating some massive armor check penalty from someplace, but it wasn't saying there was an encumbrance penalty or armor check penalty anywhere. What's more, it applied it literally to only Stealth, and no other penalties to Climb, Swim, Ride, or other skills that have penalties from armor calculated in as well.
So, your mind's made regardless of the facts . . . interesting. Hopefully I don't live in your area so I'm not subjected to your close mindedness. I Will allow them to use the character sheet they make up on, say, Excel, in order to play. Generally I go over everything beforehand to make sure they do the math correctly (I know when I make my Excel sheets I have varying amounts for Power Attack, Rapid Shot, etc. listed, including necessary penalties. My sheets are easy as heck to read, too). I generally trust someone who makes their own sheets and doesn't let a program do all the work because they have taken the time and energy to put their characters together. However, considering the amount of problems I have seen concerning HeroLab in general--and the myriad of complaints that HAVE been on these forums about it--no, I will not allow HeroLab sheets, or people to use the HeroLab viewer (though I can't actively police this part, since I won't be looking over your shoulder constantly).
STOP GIVING THEM IDEAS DAMMIT
I had a Barbarian come to my table with +7 to hit and +12 to damage, at level 1. It factored in his Rage modifiers on top of STR and BAB, and didn't remove the penalty to hit from Power Attack despite adding the damage. I had an archer who had, at level 5, +11 to attacks with Rapid Shot and Deadly Aim, damage bonuses, but no penalties for either attack. I have had a rogue show up with +1 to Stealth, despite max ranks, +5 Dexterity modifier, and no armor check penalty at level 4. This is what I Can think of off the top of my head from just the pats month. Yes, there have been more.
Why wouldn't it? Its a type of leather and that's the kind of thing darkleaf was meant to be used for. That would be because HeroLab is bad, and as much as it pains me I routinely tell people at my table to step out if they are using the HeroLab sheet but do not have another sheet with them from another program. I don't know the number of times where Power Attack, among other things, isn't calculated into the attack, but the damage is.
Alternatively, players will complain about the "GM is being a dick about the rules" because you begin enforcing such rules. It's not all the GM's fault.
I'm not denying that martial characters roll a lot of dice. Then again, so do wizards and sorcerers. They may not roll as often as us, but the quantity gets up there later in levels. Just as it does for us. However, if you don't know total bonuses against favored enemies off the top of your head, I Don't know what to say. Sure, prone or enemies in cover, or other effects on you can be a pain, but that should not make such a large time commitment. Yesterday my Ranger was routinely rolling four times per turn: shield bash, off-hand shortsword, wolf attack and trip if successful. Attack and damage roll per, and my turns rarely went longer than fifteen seconds. In truth, I think the Barbarian with one attack per round had longer turns then I did.
I think our group was pretty good about that last night, Don, though our Archer rolled Rapid Shot at the same time. Both of them tend to normally, so...yeah. I actually started rolling the attack and damage for the attack at the same time last night with Don, on the auspices of, "If it hits, it rakes X damage". It did make things easier.
Absolutely the archer takes that final shot. If he wanted to not take a shot after the target went down, he should have prefaced his action, or said something like: "I am going to take my full-attack, but if the target should go down in the middle of any attacks, I will stop or switch targets." Not that hard to think a bit.
"Man, that cleric fifteen feet from me is a definite pain in the butt and keeps healing the guys I try to kill...but I just took down this barbarian who killed four of my comrades and I have an attack left...if he dies, he can't get back up!" You're dead. Someone who has been doing damage--even if there is an immediate threat in the area that is up--is still an immediate threat. In the military we might move on after one of the guys we shoot crumples, but at the same time you'll have that one guy who keeps shooting until he's dead.
Will you flip a table? The only proper response at that point is to show that table whose boss.
I allow people to bring online character sheets with them. Use your tablet to make your character and bring it. I'm a GM, I'm not going ot demand a paper sheet from you, and i know a DM who does that in his home game. A dice-rolling app, however, is not okay. There are confirmed apps designed specifically to be gamed and allow you to have the best rolls possible. I've seen them happen. Physical dice are necessary, though I will make exceptions in the case of 50d8+10d6, where I really don't want to worry about math.
Here's a question: how do you know the ITS is legitimate? We just initial, right? We don't put down what they bought, because it's all on the ITS. What prevents me from having multiple ITS's ready to be used for different sessions where I have used a few charges on a wand, but don't record anything else I used on it that session? That's my point, actually. This is all based on, form what I have read from multiple sources, the need for GMs to have a more concise way to see what was bought and expended. The problem, though, is that it /is/ more paperwork, though maybe not in the paper-pushing sense: I still have to, as a GM, go over their ITS and make sure it syncs up. But how do I do that? I have to go through individual Chronicle Sheets and check out the numbers. Do they match? Well, I don't know any more. Things bought before 14 August aren't required to be recorded on the ITS, though some players like myself will record them, if not from exactly where we got it from/what scenario we purchased the item. I know I'm sounding like an entitled little crap right now, but at the end of the day, if I am responsible for all of this then I'd rather be told, "The onus is on you, the GM, to babysit your players." Not have people beat around the bush.
Here's a question: how do you know the ITS is legitimate? We just initial, right? We don't put down what they bought, because it's all on the ITS. What prevents me from having multiple ITS's ready to be used for different sessions where I have used a few charges on a wand, but don't record anything else I used on it that session?
Or heck, buy your ammunition in single increments. Congratulations, you are now an MMO ranger who doesn't run out of ammunition, and can have living steel, flame-forged, frost-forged, Elysium Bronze, alchemical silver, and cold iron arrows as much as you want!
It takes half an hour because they all roll up day jobs, I have to input the information manually, and I don't have a chance to print them out prior to the game day. However, starting today-ish, I will be printing them out and then filling out the appropriate information on my end to substantially minimize this information.
I get that in practice, it should be the same amount of paperwork. I'll also admit that I have not kept track of their purchases, because generally they come to me asking about prices and the like. I really just do not bother, because my players are trustworthy. I know one of them has his own version of the ITS, much like I do,and has had it for some time. He's not the one I'm worried about. The ones I'm worried about are the ones who come to play and have had borderline interest for over a week now, for the last three sessions they've been in with me. When I tell them this Wednesday, "You now must have all purchases recorded on the ITS or your character cannot be played," they are going to leave. Whether you or I see it as more paperwork or not doesn't matter:in their eyes, that is paperwork for them. That is work. This isn't like a home campaign, I agree. But once again, they did not come to do paperwork, and they already wait half an hour after the game ends to get their Chronicle sheets. I intend to minimize the time with a change or two I'm initiating, but I can't guarantee it will assuage their fears. Another thing: it definitely seems like the players will need a new ITS for each session. Looking it over, the Chronicle Sheets appear to have space for one--maybe two--Chronicles numbers. Those not paying attention might be led to believe that they need one every session, or maybe every other.
Patrick Harris has a legitimate point. I have friends and acquaintances alike that are so befuddled by the ITS that they refuse to use them, and see no point or incentive to doing so. If GMs don't have to sign off on them, I can't say I disagree with them. I'm doing it because I'm OCD, but this is seriously a contentious issue for many, and mentioning the ITS as an afterthought in this blog did not help. And that's going ot be another problem for my group, sadly. They come to play. I've made posts already that as far as they are concerned, the paperwork is on the GM....hence why /they/ won't GM and it kind of gets under my skin. Now, I have to tell them tomorrow, "You guys need an ITS beginning right now, or your characters are no longer valid for PFS play." They have spent months playing characters that they can no longer play because, quite frankly, it's becoming pen-and-paper EvE Online. I'm waiting for the damn spreadsheets. I know I've complained previously--and probably more than I should--over the amount of paperwork coming down the path. I understand the need for bookkeeping with regards to a living campaign such as Pathfinder Society. But as I have stated before, I do not like the amount that is being foisted upon us, as well as the need for players now to get involved. People have also pointed out the fact that bookkeeping errors will happen, with poor tabulation and results.
Weren't we told by Mike Brock that GMs did not have to initial items on the ITS, and that initialing the Chronicle Sheet was enough? Now this is saying that GMs /should/ initial the ITS. Adding paperwork. Just as many people have complained about.Nope, that's just one clarification that I missed while compiling the list. Let's see if I can't modify the above text to make sure it falls into line with an earlier statement.Although a GM should initial purchases on the ITSJohn, there was quite a bit of back and forth on this last month, and the end result was that GMs would not have to sign off on the ITS. Here is a link to one of many places where Mike says that explicitly. Does your statement in this blog post constitute a reversal of policy, or it is a misunderstanding? That is my point: Mike stated multiple times previously that the GMs would not have to sign off in any way, shape, or form on the ITS. However, this post--which is most recent--now says GMs /should/, which is only one step from "will", and will most likely be followed soon by, "just do it".
I'm going with a character who can effectively "tank" for the group, which is predominantly spellcasters or ranged characters. Since my first time actually playing him will be this coming Sunday (Don Walker's running 4EX: Day of the Demon for us!), it'll be nice to have the Monk and myself helping to move the fights in a direction we want. As someone else said: the AC will be nice (right now I have 21 AC with just a +1 breastplate and +1 shield), and while I may not have the DPS potential of the TWF characters, I trade it in for surviveability.
As a new DM don't try to run before you can walk. Using a published adventure path is a good idea even if there are some complications. There is usually a lot of discussion and advice on the messageboards. Read through the adventure, making notes as you go to help you (either pencil things in the margins, highlight sections, use labels to bookmark pages or put post-its on your GMs screen(another useful purchase if you haven't got one). Look up any rules you're not sure of in advance. Being an experienced player will help you with the rules and the pacing. You probably know what you and your group like so can tailor your style to fit. Don't second-guess yourself or look to the players for guidance too much. You're in charge. Ask for help once in a while if you need it, take time-out to double-check an important rule or piece of information, but don't let the game bog down. Cut the players some slack but expect the same from them. Give a sucker an even break if the dice aren't rolling their way and be generous when you can. If things start taking a turn for the worse, take a break at an opportune moment and review your options. Most importantly, have fun! |
