Roonfizzle's page

I uh .... have a soft spot for Dragons, particularly if one can PLAY them, and can have my arm twisted to whip up a divine caster of some kind, if one ends up being needed to round out a group. I have not had the best luck with pbp, but am familiar with how it works, and a reasonable amount of time available to commit.

(Forever DM, and I occasionally sift through the recruitment lists while bored at work, and this caught my eye. I've been known to devour FR novels, but have been a couple decades since my last deep delve)

Wait...This is talking about the adventure Malevolence, right???

Or am I reading it wrong?
Either way. Absolutely wonderful.

Well, looking over here ... and from there to here I'd say you are spot on.

This write up, and the other gentle writing, make stark, that things are going bump in the night. Some people like that sort of thing, and they will love this adventure.

I ran it mostly as written.... barring the fact that I amped up the Giants a fair amount. My party still zoomed through things at high speed, making it to each point within a round or so of each event, including hosing down Longtooth before he attacked more than two points. His death from flight DID cause some collateral damage as he crashed through the Mill on the east side of town.

All parties are different. Judge yourself if you need to slow down or even speed up the time table! You know if your party does or does not have an archer on a flying carpet, routine use of haste or blessing of fervor, dimension door, teleport effects, horses, etc. (Mine had ALL of those)

Match your playstyle, with where you are vs expectations (I'm running way above baseline, as in, we're nearing the end of book 5, and are 19th level).

My party had a blast, as do most that recount how their raid went. Play it up! I managed to print up a map of Sandpoint over 6 pieces of paper, and ran that as my battlemap. The scale was rough, but it enhanced the experience.

I've used roll20 (GM and Player, historical, some light player current), Astral (GM x2, actively, both 1e), and very briefly Foundry (Game may have died due to scheduling. I was a pf2e player)

Every system has it's pro's and cons.

For PF2, I recommend Foundry IF you can push the learning curve to get a game running as mentioned, for one reason, and one reason alone.

I use the Pathbuilder app frequently for both 1e and 2e, and Foundry has an import tool that will take something you built on your phone, and have it imported into Foundry in a usable format, in under 30s.

Considering that it can take me half an hour or more to input a single prebuilt L18 critter into Astral, that is a big deal to me. (Roll20 was previously about the same.) Considering the sheer number of improvements Astral has made in the last 8 months that I've been running on their platform, I have high hopes for something like this being implemented in the future, but I acknowledge that they're a dev team of ... three, and 5e is a very popular system.

Zonk arrives back at the Grand Lodge, still exhausted from the arduous journey across the mountains between Chelaix and Isger, walks into the room he'd called home for many moons longing for the pillow waiting there.

Alas, before his head could bounce off it's smooth soft surface, it bounced off the invitation resting there.

"Huh, hmm, what's this? Oh Fire and Ash, they want me around People. Huh, they really are pushing to have more of us Goblins in the public view. Oh no, it's in ... 3 hours. Please Holy Fire Lady, give me strength. Wait, 3 hours? I can get a least a little bit of a nap in, my feet still ache."

_______________

15 minutes before the time listed on the invitation, and clean, simply dressed in a blue and gold robe adorned with a heavy wooden winged Ankh, apparently unarmed Goblin presents himself and his invitation to the reception.

"Excuse me please, I'm supposed to attend some sort of celebration? Through there? Thank you."

___

A few minutes later when he is nearly pounced upon by a familiar figure. "Janira! It feels like it's been forever! I made it! And I didn't let anyone die! I'm sure you get former students coming up and rambling incoherently about adventures they've had all the time, but if you're willing I'd like to regale someone about the one I just had! Maybe you could give me a couple pointers about how to frame it better for my report? Please? ... Wait, there's food? Excuse me please, I must, ensure it's safe for the important people who are here."

While not Morrigan, I DO have this saved for my own game, and it's massively useful as weather, moon phase and calendar generation.

Super lite weight Summary for everyone concerned about spoilers (Kudos on how minimal that was Joana!)

For those who want to know more, Joana did include some extra details, that could be spoilery.

3 Trivial
14 Low
13 Mod
5 Severe.

Disclaimer: Alchemist is not a rabbit hole I've pursued. All numbers suggested are for the sake of discussion, and not to be treated as anything else.

____

But: It sounds like a potential optional 'fix' is something on the order of:

Gain Focus Pool: 1

Replace: Each day during your daily preparations, you gain a number of batches of infused reagents equal to your level + your Intelligence modifier.

With: gain a number of batches of infused reagents equal to 5 + your Intelligence modifier.

Spend 1 Focus over 1 minute to refill your Infused Reagent Pool.

Refocus as per normal 10 minute refocus options.

When a class feat gives you more Reagents, increase your pool by the listed amount, in case of rounding, round up.

__________

Would something like this help? It seems like the issue is the quantity of reagents available at any given level, particularly the low end of things, and Focus pools have gone a long way to 'fix' that issue. This may have wide sweeping ripple effects that I'm not familiar enough with the class to see.

a year and a bit ago, I built a widget to help my homebrew game for the playtest, that would create a rough estimate of what a higher level version of a creature would look like.

Today, I have created a widget that CURRENTLY will allow you use the handy dandy rules to build your own Monster of any given level.

This requires you to have read and understand the preview presented in the Paizo Blog.

In the future, I have a (pipedream), where it will allow you to pull up a monster, look at it's stats, and then use that to advance it to a new level of your choice. I have started that dream by entering a few -1 monsters into a new tab based on what's available on 2e.aonprd.com, and plan on continuing to do so. Note: Some things are my best guesses, as they don't match perfectly. (When the options are +0 or +2, a +1 doesn't quite fit either.)

The in progress Pathfinder Monster Builder can be found here.

I welcome comments, feedback, and/or suggestions that I look at someone else's work.

To Use:

Please make a copy! This may require that you are signed into any google account.

Then, items in green are drop downs. Select as you see fit, and items in Aqua, will update based on your choices.

Enjoy!

A Duration House Rule I have implemented is as follows:

Duration = Listed Duration + (Duration/10*Level).

So, a Level 5 caster, using a spell that lasts 1 minute, would get 15 rounds of effect. (1 Minute + (10 rds/ 10)*5)

Is it a GOOD houserule? Jury is still out, and will be for months. But, it gives a mild compromise as we find out how the system works for us.

Will it break the game expectations? I ... don't ... think so. The increase is slight enough, even on the longer duration effects, that all it really does, is help discourage the 'rush rush rush' mentality imo.

Time will tell.

Sidenote/reminder: Flanking is a Debuff on the Enemy, NOT a bonus to the attacker.

This will likely take time to remember, especially if you mix 1e and 2e games.

After ... several IRL years, my party has FINALLY, started making their own deals.

First, a MASSIVE thank you to EVERYONE that's participated in this, and numerous other threads here on the Kingmaker specific boards, and those who chimed in over here when I asked a generic magic item cost question.

One of the first offers I threw at the party, was the Church of Erastil, as I was working in a new player as their requested Council member.

This brings the PC allotment

So, the PC's traveled to Restov, met with Lady Jamandi, and quickly made both the normal deal (25 BP), and the extra (30 BP total), met with the major Churches, and made deals with Abadar, Gorum, Erastil and Pharasma (47 total), including a pair of 1 point counter-offers, which iirc, were extensions for the highest city stat terms to be 'priorities' but not "Highest". They have also 'filled' 8 of their Council slots, including themselves.

Then they mingled with the Nobles in residence for the Wedding. While several of the PC's independently managed to find out certain ... facts about Nadya, the entire PC party knows about Uthred, and are well on their way to destroying the wedding.

Until next game, I'm presenting an offer every other irl day from someone AT the Festivities, (Swordlords, Nobles of the Realm) starting with Lord Vadim Rost-Aldori's, who's offer has caused much confusion) to allow the Players to talk to each other and strategize, and then see if they can make a counter offer on game day, and not bury them in details. The next three I intend to dangle are the Ladies Jerribeth, Vellara and Nina Kitalla.

I worked up close to 60 groups and individuals that are willing to make
offers, expecting that the PC's will end up with a very comfortable 100-130, but since I have plans (Thanks Dudemeister!) to increase consumption I'm not worried. Once my party is through this stretch, I'll post my lists, though many are up-thread. I DO intend to make the PC's actually LOOK for many of the Church groups, instead of having them just send their offers and/or stretch offers out over the first year.

But

to pull off weird builds.

I am ... personally on the fence on the discussion of ease of entry. I'm primarily a GM, and unlikely to run anything in the short term future that hinges on this, so I am NOT the immediate targeted audience.

But, I have one question for those of you that ARE the immediate target audience.

If it was easy ... would it be a weird build?
If it was easy ... would it be as fun for you?
Is the draw the fact that it's a lore based, prestigious, cool, nifty, odd, etc, organization?

I keep hearing "Half the fun, is jumping through many hoops to make this 'cool' (insert other adjective of choice) build."

Is this a bug? Or is it a feature? Is it something you can work with your local GM to make work for YOU? Or is it something that will be forever for someone else's game, because it just doesn't fit YOUR game style/etc?

From what I read from their last update a couple months ago for the Starfinder Psionics KS it's seemingly down to just one person right now and he's dealing with some health issues.

Thank you for the clarification. I'm also in the camp of fans of their work, and it's popular at my tables, so each time I've gone and peeked for 'new things™' I've been sad.

This makes lots of sense, but is still sad. Here's hoping for good news from all of their fans.

Don't have time to edit nicely, but SUPER Relevant text to Armor/trained/etc.

this thread over here

Kerobelis wrote:

rooneg wrote:

Yes, but in 5e you don't get into this position where you have multiple possible armor types for a given character that end up with the same AC/Stealth Disadvantage result. If you're a character with DEX 14 who wants to wear medium armor you either pick a Breastplate if you care about Stealth or Half Plate if you don't. There's no reason (other than money) to ever wear Scale or a Chain Shirt. If you're a heavy armor character you never have a reason to prefer Splint to Plate. If you have a flavor preference for Splint you will always end up with a lower AC.

I don't have the 2e PF book yet, so you are saying every armor choice could be an optimal choice?

Not who you're responding to, but yes, that's very much the case. Any of the classes that get armor proficiency upgrades will see those upgrades apply to all the lower armor categories; for example, the champion's Legendary Armor upgrade applies to heavy, medium, light, and even unarmored defense, so if your champion multiclassed e.g. monk or rogue and went Dex heavy, then light or unarmored can be just as optimal for them as heavy armor would be on a low-Dex, high-STR build. Since armors all have a Strength rating that eliminates armor check penalties, there's even some interesting middle ground where one Champion with a 14 STR who prioritized CHA over DEX might choose to wear chainmail because the flexible quality means that the check penalty doesn't apply to Acrobatics or Athletics and thus isn't a concern, while another champion with a 14 STR who prioritized DEX over CHA and multiclassed rogue will probably want to stick with scale mail so that their Strength bonus eliminates the check penalty entirely and allows them to make Thievery checks in armor unhindered.

There will probably always be an optimal armor choice for your character, but there will never be one armor that is universally the best for a given class or category.

To tie into the AMAZING response from Firebug, and to enhance your review of the Ioun Gauntlet (Somewhat) and the Wayfinder of Hidden Strength (Primarily) mentioned above. I've grabbed all the ioun stones from AoN, and sorted them by type of stone, least expensive to most, and have included the types that the WoHS can use below.

I don't know to better format this into a prettier chart but... It serves a purpose.

Captain,

While I'm quite certain you've run across this information at least once ... Xanesha's got more than a couple TPK's to her name. You know your party best, but ... in most scenario's, skipping the Mill to fast track to the big finish, is a recipe for a wipe.

You may want to play up the red flags on the Murderous Death Lady if your party is leaning towards bee-lining to their deaths. Something perhaps like:

"Our Lady has unleashed the murderous Seven upon Magnimar, expanding their horizons of death, to do the Great Work. Those full of Sin will reap what has been sown." ... "What Sin do you cleave to? I smell Wrath, and yes more than a little Greed. My Lady would love to harvest you lot. She waits at Noon under the Darkened Sky, unless she's hosting a party here in the Overworld, fattening up the idle rich for their own culling."

I agree with ... pretty much all of aiglos's statements, but more importantly, I wanted to point out the one I was slightly less in favor of

16. This might be heresy but make this anniversary edition of Kingmaker for Pathfinder 2nd edition.

Aiglos, you will be happy to hear, this IS a 2nd ed product.

Personally, I will not be switching any games mid stream, so I'd MUCH prefer, a 1st ed copy be made available along side the 2nd ed product, even if it's just a pdf copy.

While it may be just a guess on my part, based partly on the way I built the Paladin PC for my playtest game, that she has Second Ally to have the Shield Spirit as well as the afore mentioned Sword, and has (L10) Shield of Reckoning and (L6) Shield Warden. As to my eyes, that's a Reaction to reduce the damage to an Ally AND a triggered Retributive Strike.

Loved the story, as well as many others!

I like what I see! (ok, I didn't get a chance to read EVERY item but ...)

I've promised my PF2.0 playtest group a free rebuild after they finally finish the intro quest (we play ... infrequently).

Barring an official update in the next couple weeks (fingers crossed), I'm now planning on offering yours!

While the Playtest was quite brisk, (ok, Frantic), I'm impressed with the sheer number of people, like yourself, who have stepped up to

"put my money where my mouse is"

and created something to help the burgeoning PF2.0 community, and better the inevitable final product.

However I would much rather see a solve for the problem from a design standpoint.

I hear your pain on this subject, and as you've found elsewhere, it's been a hotly debated topic for the last several months, with passionate pleas from both sides of the argument.

I look forward to seeing how they resolve it in the final product, particularly if there's an easy way to remove +L, so EVERYONE can have Cake.

I also look forward to seeing a full set of Monster Creation Rules, that would obliviate the need for what I've built above. It's good to want things. Christmas is coming.

In the meantime, I hope you and yours enjoy your gaming!

And Alternative, is to explore the vibrant community here on the boards for PbP. Heck, there is at least one game recruiting RIGHT NOW, that your concept might actually be a BOON. (I took 10s to look at several of the recruitments open, and at least 3 MIGHT work.)

YES, it would require GM Buy in, but....

Secret Agent Man is MUCH easier to pull off, on a PbP format.

Disclaimers.
Not all games applied to would accept the concept.
Not all games that would accept such a concept, will survive more than 1d4 weeks.
Not all games that accept such a PC, will not have the same issues mentioned above, once you are inevitably outed, resulting in PC death.
Not all gamers have the personality traits that work well with the PbP format.
Your Mileage May Vary.

May the Dice Gods find fortune for you.

The next time a game starts, as part of session 0, ask if it would be possible to play in or around Geb.

Then. Work things out with the other Players. (I think this point has been made fairly clearly by many.) Compromises may need to be made, but, even on Golarion, SOMETHING could work out. It just requires OOC Diplomacy with the rest of the group. ;)

There are ways to get the story you want told, even as a player, it just requires cooperation, even if it's just a tacit buy in.

Perhaps, find out WHY the anti-necromancer Player is so anti-necromancy. There might be an interesting story there, in and of itself.

Digging into it, Baelnorn appear to be specifically Forgotten Realms Lore.

Here's a decent write up

I tripped over them, most likely in the 2001 Monsters of Faerûn that I have on my shelf. And well, I had an Elvish settlement that I'd written up for a game a couple years prior that was suited to have an undying protector, and had that player be a native to that culture.

I ran a game once (8? 10 years ago?) with a Necromancer that made it to Neutral Lich, and the party was successful for several reasons, most importantly: everyone worked together to have fun.

When we sat down, we had 2 Veterans, 1 person who hadn't gamed in 5~10 years, 1 person who had "played a little WoW" and 1 person who had zero experience, not even a MMO to draw on, and it was interesting to find a frame of reference to explain things to them.

The 2nd ed returnee, asked to play a undead raising necromancer, with a side of blaster wizard. One of the newbies played a Cavalier, and the other a Gnome Barbarian.

The Vet's settled on a Rogue, and a Cleric. (They knew I like traps....)

Setting was Homebrew, with a set of homebrew Deities. (this being before I started running AP's set in Golarion). The Cleric player, spent time going through my portfolio before settling on the Goddess of Healing, and since I didn't have a favored weapon written down at the time, asked if it could be a Battle Axe. I was fine with this, and wrote it down.

If the cleric had NOT known that there was going to be an undead raiser in the party, there would have been some very different decisions made, as the player had been looking at several anti-undead domains before settling on Healing and Glory.

During play, the rogue ended up with extra flanking buddies on many occasions, and there was a memorable low level encounter where the necromancer controlled some wild undead, and set them up so our Cavalier (one of the new players), could go "Bowling for Zombies", and overrun 4~5 kobold zombies in a line. This increased the fun all around the table.

Many levels later, the necromancer tried several different arrangements for what undead to bring around, and we found it slowed things down, even when EVERYONE had an undead sheet in front of them, and ran that in addition to their own character.

Late game, he kept 1, and at most 2, despite having the ability to raise 4+ of the same weight class. This made things more fun for everyone. He got his undead on, and the Players enjoyment didn't suffer.

Fun was had by all, and there are MANY stories from that game that still come up from time to time.

One of those funny stories, was LATE game, where the undead raising wizard, who had been quicken/maximizing Fireballs for 5+ levels, looked over at the rogue and said with a straight face.
"Man, you are BROKEN."

The rogue smiled, and kept counting out D6's to roll for one combat round. (If I recall correctly, it was like 10~12d6/swing, with 8 attacks/round, and most of those hit that round... 8? Sneak attack dice, 2 Elemental dice, and some alignment dice?)

We ended with up to 20 levels of base class, and then 4 levels of something else, and the Necromancer, ended up going through Agent of the Grave, to Lich. Baelnorn specifically, and he was riding the Neutral to NE line pretty hard, but managed to JUST squeak by on the upper edge of the line.

Thank you both!

Captain,

I'll ... see what I can work up, my first thought is to add something like this:

Increase any other skill by: S, and from a calculation standpoint, base it off changes in Stealth / Perception.

Otherwise, I'd have to add EVERY skill, and ... I think that would become unwieldy.

My understanding, is that MOST skills should increase at about the same rate.

Thank you for your in-depth summary!

I guess, the only real question I have that lingers, is how do things like Treat Wounds, that have a Crit-Fail/Bolster mechanic, interact with using the proposed streamlined rolling, and using the others as assists?

I'll admit to allowing the above in home games for 1E on more than a couple occasions, and knowing that all it does was make things less ... tedious at times, is a relief.

If worst case, running things with Bolster/Crit Fail options as RAW, and everything else this way, is still a compromise that I think is for the better, math permitting.

I for one, have actually started to appreciate them.

Assuming the signal to noise content of the thread > 0, it means that someone HAS seen the topic, taken the time to at least look it over, determine if the thread is still generating useful content, and then stated clearly, in an unmissable fashion, that they saw it.

Otherwise, you have valid threads, with a response on page say, 4, that goes 15~20 more pages, with the bulk of the back half of the thread NOT knowing that it was seen, and responded to.

At first, I was saddened, but, I thought about it, and appreciate them.

For those in a (potentially) panic, trying to see if this changes a specific build/class they already are working on, or who are concerned about the narrow scope of this particular test. I'd like to point at a particular couple points near the bottom. I think it's worth re-reading. Bolding for emphasis:

We can say with confidence that the printed rules in the Playtest Rulebook won't be in the final version of the book as is. The Resonance Test is an experiment to see whether there's still an interesting idea in there. The most extreme case we might end up with looks more like Pathfinder First Edition, with something like the items you see in the Resonance Test, but with no extra benefits for spending Focus Points.

The Goal, is to see, in a limited fashion: "Is this a good start?" Before going all in, and rebuilding Monk/Druid/Wizard/Whathaveyou.

They acknowledged it's limited scope, intentionally, with the intent to build from here, IF, it's liked.

_____

My first take, is that it has promise. I would personally prefer to go from 1/day to 'Baseline, always on ability' or Baseline consumable AND Focus bonus abilities. That most likely would require some fancy tight-rope walking on balancing amount of available Focus.

___

One of the major gripes that I've seen over the past couple weeks has been: "I get the math, but XYZ just doesn't feel ... FUN". A limited test like this SHOULD be enough to get the answer to: "Is this change ... Fun?" without having to spend more than the 30-40(More?) man hours needed to write up the 28 page Test document, the Blog post, and however many pages of changes the Scenario itself has to rebuild EVERYTHING.

Huh, did anyone notice the change to staves? They only cost a Focus point if you don't spend a spell slot...

Which effectively means that until you run out of charges, staves now let you spontaneously cast the spells they contain.

That's pretty cool.

EDIT: Actually, question - how many charges do staves have, now? The general rules for staves mention charges once, but not how many charges it takes to cast a spell, and the item descriptions don't mention charges.

Honestly I would be cool if staves don't have limited charges, but I can't tell if that's the intent or not.

In the first printing, Charges varied by Staff level, check each specifically.

You might want to take a look at SPELLSTRIKE AMMUNITION, it ... mostly does what you are looking for in a granular "Add Spell to Arrow" kind of way. It IS more expensive on several levels than the sleep arrow example.

SPELLSTRIKE AMMUNITION ITEM 3+
Consumable
Magical
Transmutation
Ammunition any
Activation Cast a Spell (1 RP)
You activate spellstrike ammunition by casting a spell into the ammunition. The spell must be of a spell level the ammunition can hold and must affect one or more targets. If the attack roll with the ammunition is a success, that target is affected as if it were the target of the spell in addition to taking damage from the attack as normal. If the creature isn’t a valid target for the spell, it still takes damage from the attack, but the spell fails. The ammunition affects only the target hit, even if the spell would normally affect more than one target. The spell uses your spell roll and spell DC. The maximum level of spell the ammunition can hold determines its item level and Price.

Level 3; Price 7 gp; Maximum Spell Level 1st
Level 5; Price 16 gp; Maximum Spell Level 2nd
Level 7; Price 38 gp; Maximum Spell Level 3rd
Level 9; Price 75 gp; Maximum Spell Level 4th
Level 11; Price 150 gp; Maximum Spell Level 5th
Level 13; Price 325 gp; Maximum Spell Level 6th
Level 15; Price 700 gp; Maximum Spell Level 7th
Level 17; Price 1,600 gp; Maximum Spell Level 8th
Level 19; Price 4,000 gp; Maximum Spell Level 9th

While most people are focused on the prebuilt Doomsday Dawn, I thought I'd take a crack at running a homebrew game using the available rules. I had ideas, I had players and then I took a look at the Bestiary. I didn't have enough different monsters for a Level 10 adventure.

So, I made a thing.

Credit where it's due: Mostly to LuniasM and his amazing work collating all the bestiary values into a coherent whole, as well as a few other things, as well as being inspired by more than a few others who have been happily creating content here on the boards.

Now: Due to the nature of the limited data, there are points where my tool is a little rough. Namely things like extra attack types and L0 monsters. If the base creature didn't HAVE something, the resulting output is a little ... odd.

How To Use:
Step 0. Make a copy.

Step 1. On the left, in green, is a list of levels, and a single monster next to them. Find your "base creature" level, then select your "Base Creature" from the drop down menu for it's given level.

Step 2. Also in green is Source Level. Enter the level that your "base creature" is.

Step 3: Below Source Level is "Add Level". Enter the value that brings your "Base Creature" up to where you need it.

Step 4: Review the results in Orange. There are 3 output fields, as I created 3 ways to calculate the new values. Each has their strengths.

Step 5: Select the output value to use based on your understanding of the "Base Creatures" usage, and what the party can handle. NOTE: Anything +/- 4 from the average result level is marked in a different color automatically. This is to draw your attention, and ask: Is this actually a good idea to use?

Roonie is not responsible for any accidental TPK's as a result of selecting the wrong value to use.

Example!

I need Level 10 Kobolds!

Step1Example: Kobold Warriors are L0. <Finds L0, selects Kobold Warrior in the Drop Down menu.>

Step2Example: <Enters 0 in the Source Level field>

STep3Example: <Enters 10 in the Add Level Field>

Step4Example: <Review the results>

Step5Example: I'll use the HP from Option 2, and the Save's/Skills from Option 1. That's safest for my party. I'll ignore Option 3, because well, my base creature is Level 0, and that results in some /0 moments.

Now that you've sat through all of that babble and exposition, without further ado! The Adjuster!

It's not a trap. I promise. This promise does not extend to any party on the other side of the table.

I will be encouraging my party to fill out the survey midway through the playtest, and again near the end.

dotting to keep reading! I also appreciate the work you're putting into these! (and well, it gives me lots of useful information for the game that I'm gently plotting...)

Wave 2 package received! ...

Steve? Sending out your old books is exceptionally generous, but ... turning down shipping reimbursement from those that offered it is ... startling.

Your suggestion to pay it forward, is noted, and will be done!

I've been reading the Dreamthief, and overall, find it AMAZING.

My desire to roll up a Helpful Halfling Unchained Rogue [Dreamthief], with Kindness, Healer's Hands, the Heal skill unlock, and the helpful trait is ... massive. Too bad I don't get to play often.

I did notice that despite serious efforts to make things smooth, there are a number of abilities that are ... awkward, due to the sheer nature of the fact that there is no Phantom to work with. Major props for how cleanly and concisely you did that!

Example of something that I wasn't sure on, but would be willing to go either way on:
If the Dreamthief is both the phantom and spiritualist, does that mean they always get the Skill Focus feats referenced in Skills?

Examples that seem logically not useful:
the Suffering L12 ability, and other similar effects. Suffering in Stead. One can not both prevent oneself from being affected, by making oneself be affected.

Hatred gives Weapon Finesse, which combines awkwardly with an Unchained Rogue. (That said, this is still an Solid emotion to take, in my opinion, ymmv)

There are a couple things like that, but most of those for a home brew game, could be easily replaced with a Rogue Talent ... or something. Nothing gained is totally an option that I'd be [u]willing[/u] to work with for several of the options, it's that smooth an archetype.

If a Phantom Ability granted at a given level is physically impossible, the Dreamthief gains 1 Rogue Talent (Or Weapon Focus, or 1d6 Sneak Attack, other small boon here) instead.

Despair, Hatred, and Kindness Dreamthief options make me happy, in ways I have difficulty putting into words. (I DM more than I play, by the player's choice, so that says quite a bit.)

You asked for thoughts, and there's mine! (Yes, I did really like the other archetypes you did too! ... but not quite as much.)

Wait... I just thought of an NPC for a Mummy's Mask game I'm running that's a halfling.... ZAP! Class change!

@Fuzzypaws. I just wanted to say that I like the amount of effort that clearly went into designing this system AND the amount of effort that went into clearly explaining things while keeping things simple and short.

I am willing to give Resonance a shot once the Playtest actually launches, and the full rules are visible.

I would be equally willing to give your system a shot.

I am on the fence over the official system at this time. Having the full rules will help push me in either direction.

I like that you made items above your level more expensive. I like that you made using diametrically opposed items more expensive. These things add flavor, and make the choices more interesting. A CG PC might legitimately have qualms about using a LE item, and this helps demonstrate that.

On the flip side, I would be also OK without either.

Disclosure: I haven't read a good ~75-80 posts, but where I stopped, there was some discussion about Hard Work, and Determination, and it not being a sufficient justification for some of the (admittedly) amazing feats for Legendary.

As someone who was literally looking at wheelchairs, as a permanent option for the rest of my life, I ask this: Do NOT outright dismiss the benefits of hard work and determination.

Go to a serious martial arts competition, go and (with permission) WATCH someone going through a physical therapy rehab, and talk to them about their experiences. Heck, google speed runs of your favorite video-game watch a couple, and then sit down, and see how you stack up, then check the amount of hours the people stated they spent getting that good. Yes, some speed runs rely on glitches within the programming, but there's still a significant element of skill involved.

Hard work, serious amounts of hours of practice, and determination? THAT, is more than magic enough for me.

Alan nods in agreement with Mr. Stillwater's assessment of the interesting facts.

"Law Firms are notoriously protective of their clients information, but, there are ways of asking, that result in some useful information being acquired. Besides, not everyone who carries such a card, IS a client of the firm mentioned."

Alan spends time writing up his report for the files, trying to include every splinter of information he'd managed to gather. He also makes a copy for himself, one for Lt. Callahan, and one for the files he'd spent some time reviewing.

Our initial investigations of the recent string of murders led us to a known associate of the deceased, one Ludius Fagan. Fagan is a suspect in a number of cases going back several years, and has been accorded near mythical status. Can confirm suspect answered to the name, with the following description: an "enormous looking man, built like a sumo wrestler if a sumo wrestler was dressed like an impoverished Victorian". See Watch Files numbered F2879ab3 through F2882de9 and CC a copy of this report to those files. Our interview with Fagan was held on his turf, surrounded by members of his gang, who displayed a willingness to resist arrest.

Currently open lines of inquiry: Tea Shop, First and Basil, revisiting Murder Scenes, using Ace as bait near the crime scenes.

When I look at the above, I think about the amount that Alan was completely oblivious of... and what that implication would be for his reports if he caught more of the subtleties.

After filing his report, Alan asks around to see if he can find Amelia, wishing to ask a few careful questions before pursuing that lead any further. If he finds her doing an Interview, he waits patiently in the observation room.

My company's 'standard' is a 40 hour work week. I hit 40 hours before lunch today ... with some days being more intense than others. Hopefully it's about to be your weekend! Hang in there!

Well... we were followed on the way in, so I'm sure that they knew you were there before hand, but, the Dice Gods are a fickle lot.

Allow me to tell you a tale,

I know the feeling, I married an Attorney, with a fondness for similar shows.

And work is FINALLY, starting to slow down for the day.

Amelia, no WONDER your dancing was ... off. Luck on the save!

Excellent. Further suggestion, that we send at least a couple guard cadets with either an Officer Track Cadet, or Commander Callahan with the noncombatants, just in case there's someone with the group that causes trouble/gang member infiltrator.

"full of the confidence only possessed by a dwarf in full plate. "

Nice phrasing!

Were it I planning this attack, I'd have Wheeler come in via a balcony from below, and Pyre from above, either through a skylight, or a different balcony.

Spindleshank and Jade either as drops from Pyre to the roof, on multiple trips, or more likely up via the stairs, OR already mingling as a guest. Depending on how large their gang is, I'd have several mixed in as staff, a couple as guests, and the rest via the stairs, with several tasked on securing an exit.

Tangent 1:

Would Spellcraft be appropriate in this instance to know to ask if Spindleshank has been known to use Darkness and/or Levitate more than once each in an escape? My Kn Local is untrained, and I presume that they're (along with the other fun races from the Crew chiefs) ... less than common.

Tangent 2:

As for an Officer to try and organize our troupe, we have Callahan, but she's busy fielding public inquiries. We haven't been told about the other cadets, and out of Fluff and I, Alan is super 1 track minded, and as oblivious as anticipated, and I'm getting the impression that Fluff is a bit more all over the place, and hampered by his talking via Song Lyrics. (Which I'm impressed with by the by, that's NOT easy.)

Tangent 3:

I'd love to see a map of the place, and get some rough numbers (guests, staff, etc), and I expect that will come in time.

Related: JUST In case it was lost in the shuffle,

Between the briefing and the party start, Alan spends a few hours making discrete inquires about the host, likely guests, the company providing security, the company providing waitstaff, and hotel personnel.

My reading of the spell would match toastedamphibian, two castings, would allow you to channel in a crowded room, and only hit your party.

It eats an Immediate action, so it's not prone to being abused, it eats THEIR standard, and has a reasonably short duration, AND costs spell slots?

Were it a game I was running, I'd have zero issues with the spell, and in fact, I just forwarded it to one of my players, just so that he would have it as an option, should he choose to use it.

That said, as with all things, check with your DM pregame, as YMMV. What I'm totally OK with for a home game, may not be the same as everyone else. (I don't PFS much, and what little I did, was as a pbp player, so not going to even guess on if it's on the Approved list.)

From your post, I'm not sure how much Psionic experience you have, as you said you were only gently familiar with Dark Sun as a setting, and I haven't touched Dark Sun since a brief touch in 2nd Ed .. but, I have a decent grasp on what Dreamscarred has done with Psionics. (Spoiler, I'm overall a fan)

Assuming you are looking for something sturdy, with reasonable access to dpr, and something that the foes might consider a serious threat,

So, my suggestions are to take a look at both Aegis and Psionic Warrior.

Aegis is a d10 full BAB chasis, that has some AMAZING level of customization. Martial with flight? check. Martial with the ability to get set a scaling buff spell of choice? +5 AC and Saves? Check. +5 insight to attack? Check. (For GM's out there starting to panic, there are some serious costs associated with the buffs listed.)

Psionic Warrior, is a d8 3/4 BAB martial type, that is the equivalent of a 6th level spellcaster, that mostly focuses on self buffs. They also have a choice of ability sets that focus how they act/react in combat. Two that stick out are Gladiator (Trip, Disarm, Etc) or Interceptor (Tankier in a more traditional sense) Both give (limited) bonus's to Perception. Add in the self buffs to the martial kit, it's worth looking at (ones referenced above are on the PsiWar list.)

A Suggested build: Half-Giant Psi War (or Aegis with customizations to be able to manifest a few powers), with a LARGE, reach weapon and imp trip, expansion (think Enlarge) and precognition, tactical (bonus to CMB).

(I'm actively running two games with 1/2 giant's with large weapons, and expansion, and while it makes me wince occasionally, it's not the most startling that the parties thrown my way. It's not every day that the party intimidates a dragon for more rounds than the combat lasts... )

Good luck with your game!

(Also, if you have any link issues with d0pfsrd, there's a random " style=" that shows up periodically.)

Craft, Inspiration, Crafter's Fortune: 1d20 + 19 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 19 + (1) = 24
Prof, Insp: 1d20 + 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (6) + (3) + 8 = 17
Diplo, Insp: 1d20 + 5 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 5 + (6) = 15
Perc: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Man, tell me about it. Dinte's about to hang up his apron in shame. That's worse the last week. Makes me wish I could have taken 12 instead. Patience. Calm.

Dinte accepts the spotlight for the presentation with grace bowing to the crowd for his team, yet inwardly fuming at his mechanical creation, despite the exquisite results.

Once the awarding of the purses and the Lord Schmultzfeather has left, he turns to his group before cleaning up his area.

"I feel like I must apologize for not performing at my best tonight, I'm afraid it may have cost us that edge we needed. I will do better."

Dinte spends several hours of each day of 'rest' carefully cutting and stuffing pears in preparation for the upcoming dessert, trying to get JUST the right set of angles, and density of the stuffing, so that his next performance will have a bit more flair to it.

Apologies, on late posting, my primary hard drive fried (actual char/smoke) last night. Took a bit to repair everything....

Glad to hear it!