Goblin Squad Member. Pathfinder Society GM. 1,983 posts (2,001 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 18 Organized Play characters. 2 aliases.
So a disagreement about the Affinities rules seems to have popped up on the PFS Online Discord community.
Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide, pg 42 wrote:
Affinity (regional affinity): Some feats, traits, or other mechanical items require an affinity with a specific country or region of Golarion. Others require membership in a certain ethnic group of people (e.g. a Shoanti tribe or Mammoth Lord following). All of these are considered regional affinities. Your PC may acquire any affinity you wish during Downtime, but may have only one regional affinity at any given time. Note any affinities gained, lost, or changed on your next Chronicle sheet after making such a change.
It's being put forth that "ethnic groups" includes the human ethnicities listed in the Inner Sea World Guide pages 12-23, such as Shoanti or Varisians, instead of something like a Shoanti tribe (one of the listed examples) or a Sczarni crime family.
What needs clarifying here is what exactly does "ethnic groups" mean. Is it meant to be as expansive as is being claimed, or is it meant to only extend to groups, as the examples indicate?
Particularly this discussion stemmed from the Harrow Born trait; specifically, it was claimed an Elf could declare their Affinity as Varisian, thus meet the "Varisian" prerequisite.
As the thread subject suggests, I noticed this added to the end of the Always Available list in the latest version of the Guide:
Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide, pg 21 wrote:
• All items purchased with Prestige Points.
At first glance, this would seem to be simply codifying the fact that items purchased via prestige points aren't subject to the standard Fame limit. On a second review, I think it might do more than just that.
Previously, it had been agreed that while you could purchase dragonhide armor with prestige without having to meet any Fame requirement, but you could not then upgrade said armor to +1 dragonhide armor, as the final item wouldn't be considered Always Available (because dragonhide isn't), and you couldn't pay for the upgrade via prestige, thus standard Fame rules apply.
With this added to the Always Available list, it could be reasonable to say that the final item is Always Available, as the base item was purchased with prestige, which according to the new list makes it Always Available.
Starfinder Forerunner archetype, pg 129, Ready for Anything wrote:
When you are able to act in the surprise round of a combat, you gain a +2 bonus to your initiative check for that combat.
How does this work if there is no surprise round? Do you still get the bonus, because you are able to act in it, even though the fight doesn't have one? Or do you only get the bonus if at least one combatant is surprised? If so, should I drag along a sidekick who's blind and deaf, so that he can be surprised in every fight?
Looking over Occult Mysteries and its AR entry, it seems like most of the content from this book is allowed...
Additional Resources wrote:
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Occult Mysteries
Equipment: all equipment and magic items on page 55 are legal for play, Prestige Class: the pain taster prestige class is legal for play; Mystery: the occult mystery is legal for play; Spells: all spells on pages 50–51 and 54–55 are legal for play, except rapping spirit and possessive dead; Traits: all traits on page 37 are legal for play.
Of the character options and magic items in the book, this covers pretty much all of them, save for the feats (Arithmancy and Sacred Geometry, excluded for good reason) and a single spell on page 58.
However, it does not include the eastern and western star ioun stones, found on page 29 (with the description the Knights of the Ioun Star organization.
My question is, were these simply overlooked (as they're not with the other magic items in the book), or was this a conscious decision to not include them in the campaign (or at least, more than they currently are)?
Both appear in the Emerald Spire (although there they have CL 1 instead of the CL 12 of the Occult Mysteries versions, and the eastern star is priced at 6,000gp instead of 4,000gp), so they're already in the campaign, to an extent, but it'd be nice to have access to the western star, just so you don't look like you have a planetary system orbiting your head, without having to gain access to it via a specific high level (for PFS) module.
Neither provides a game-breaking benefit (eastern star gives a constant comprehend languages, western star gives an at-will disguise self that also renders your ioun stones invisible, both for 4,000gp), and their prices aren't noticeably off. The eastern star's price sits in the middle of other options for a constant comprehend languages, but those other options, both cheaper and more expensive, grant additional benefits, while the eastern star is limited to just that. The western star is priced at more than double that of a hat of disguise, placing it around the normal "double price for slotless" rule, with the extra cost accounting for the invisibility effect.
Basically, it seems odd to me that items that replicate first level spells that are priced in line with existing Core items would be considered unsuitable for access outside of level 9+ module chronicles.
So, TL;DR version: were the eastern and western star ioun stones intentionally not included in Occult Mysteries' AR entry, and if so, can we have that reconsidered?
I've been trying to play Tomb of the Iron Medusa ahead of 2TPK2on, and the GM that voluteered wants to run most of it tomorrow at noon US Central, and finish it up the following Wednesday. We still need a couple of players, so if you're interested, reply to the Google Groups thread to let the GM know.
Pages 20 and 21—You may purchase other types of ammunition with the properties of any of the arrows listed on these pages. The ammunition costs the same as the arrow, unless the base cost of one unit of the ammunition costs 1 gp or more—in that case, add the cost of one unit of ammunition to the listed cost for the arrow.
I wanted to get some clarification on whether this is supposed to override the restriction Alchemy Manual itself places on alchemical ammunition.
Alchemy Manual, page 20 wrote:
Other Types of Ammunition: While Kyonin archers prefer alchemical arrows to other missile weapons, characters can infuse other ammunition and thrown weapons that deal piercing damage (such as crossbow bolts, darts, and shuriken) with alchemical effects. Aside from differing base statistics, these alternative types of alchemical ammunition have effects identical to the alchemical arrows listed here. However, firearm ammunition can’t be imbued with alchemical ingredients, nor can ammunition types that don’t deal piercing damage.
As written the Campaign Clarification entry doesn't place any restriction as to what types of ammo can be purchased as alchemical ammo, whereas the Alchemy Manual itself only allows piercing ammo (and no firearm ammo), meaning no durable blunt arrows, for example.
I'm pretty sure that the CC entry was just supposed to codify how to handle the Alchemy Manual text, and should still obey the restrictions of the source material, but I think this could probably using some clearing up.
Pathfinder Society Replaying Guild Guide, pg 25 wrote:
Ranks assigned to Craft skills are used only to perform Day Job checks, not to craft mundane items, with the following exceptions.
• Alchemists can use Craft (alchemy).
• Gunslingers can use Craft (gunsmithing).
• Investigators can use Craft (gunsmithing).
What does THAT mean? I mean, it clearly says that gunslingers can use the Craft (gunsmithing) skill to craft mundane items, which logically would imply firearms and ammo. The thing is that crafting these are supposed to be the purview of the Gunsmithing feat, don't require skill checks, is done at a different price point than the Craft skill (half price for weapons and alchemical cartridges, tenth price for basic ammo and black powder, vs third price for Craft), and per the Campaign Clarifications document, PFS gunslingers don't craft, they buy at a discount.
This definitely needs some clarifications; can gunslingers actually craft mundane gear via Craft (gunsmithing) skill checks? If so, what can they craft, and what are the DCs?
Let's say a character has a discount on certain items; for the purposes of this question, let's say they have the Artisan's Shop vanity, and they've associated it with their Craft (alchemy) skill, which would give them a 5% discount on alchemical items, rounded to the nearest gold piece, while in the same city as said shop. That would mean that character could buy an alchemist's fire for 19gp.
If, during the course of play, another character wanted to purchase an alchemist fire, could they hand the 19gp over to character with the Artisan's Shop to purchase it for them? In other words, can you allow other characters to take advantage of discounts your character has, by acting as a middle-man?
I'm looking to start up a Jade Regent campaign, in campaign mode, every other Sunday at noon PST, starting no earlier than February 14th (date negotiable). I'm looking to keep the game down to four players, and there's only one seat left open. You can check out the character creation guideline and what optional/house rules we're using on the Obsidian Portal page I created for the campaign.
If you're interested, send me a PM, and I can invite you to the OP campaign site so you can join in on the character concept discussion going on on the campaign's forum.
A magical terrarium supplied with light, water, air, and nutrients from planar portals, this carefully constructed garden supports its own bizarre ecology. For centuries uncounted, this place has served as Nhur Athemon’s menagerie and laboratory.
Here the followers of Nhur Athemon established a forge and workshop to build terrible new constructs from the Emerald Spire’s potent material. The Azlanti are long gone, but their creations remain—and some have awoken to true sentience.
A bit last minute, but we have one slot that just opened up; sign-ups can be found here.
Close beneath the shrine of Kro’akoth lies a serpentfolk stronghold currently in the clutches of a mutant serpentfolk priest. A three-way struggle for dominance is developing between the rival sects in this level and the level above.
Seven years ago, Pathfinders entered Absalom’s shattered Precipice Quarter in pursuit of a ruby ring but also rescued a strange survivor. She has since grown to adulthood and exhibited a rebellious spirit connected to the ruined school where the Pathfinders found her. The woman’s family has contacted the Society, hoping that its agents can escort her back to the haunted site and unravel the Drownyard’s relentless mysteries.
A bit last minute, but I'm moving an in-person game online in order to hopefully round up some more players. Sign-ups can be found here.
An ancient shrine of the serpentfolk, this temple has now fallen into the hands of a heretical serpentfolk cultist who has reconsecrated it to a terrible demon lord.
The surface structure of the Spire consists of the ruins of the old Azlanti tower. A band of bloodthirsty goblins under the leadership of the bugbear chieftain Grulk lurks in the ruined tower.
Planar portals fed from the Elemental Plane of Water fill most of the chambers in this level with water. The heroes will have to find their way through surging currents and long, lightless swims to continue their exploration of the Spire.
This level is home to a peaceful tribe of troglodytes who worship a mysterious arcane device. The heroes must placate or deactivate the strange machine in order to pass.
I've been playing online a bit more frequently lately, and it's occurred to me that some players might find it useful if someone shared some tips and tricks to make working with Roll20 a little easier. So with that said, I'll run down what I know, starting with the basics, and work my way up to some more advanced stuff.
I encourage you all to create your own Roll20 "campaigns" for testing any or all of these tips; it's free, and it's always nice to see for yourself how things actually work ahead of game time.
Note: anything enclosed in quotes is just for me to denote what to enter: DO NOT INCLUDE THE QUOTES WHEN YOU USE THESE.
Chat commands:
Emotes: Starting off simple that most of you will probably be familiar with from online chat channels or MMOs, if you use the "/me" command, it will display whatever you have after the command as an action. For example, if "The Dude" were to type "/me saves the day!", it will show up in chat as "The Dude saves the day!"
Whispers: You can send private messages to specific players by using the "/w" (whisper) command; just type in "/w [name of player] [message]". If you use "gm" for the player name, it will send the message to the GM (or GMs).
Dice:
Basics
There are three ways you can roll dice in Roll20:
Dice Roller: If you click the d20 icon on the vertical toolbar on the upper-left side of the map, it will open the Dice Roller popup, which will all you to simply click on what you want to roll. The main drawback of this method is that you cannot use it with Macros (see below).
Chat commands: You can use commands like "/roll" to roll pretty much any dice expression you want; "/roll 2d6+3" will roll two six-sided dice, show you the individual die rolls, and total it all up. The main drawback of this style is that it takes up more space in the chat window than...
Inline rolling: Simply place your dice expression inside of two square brackets ("[[2d6+3}}"), and Roll20 will place the result in the line with whatever else you typed in. For example, enter "I get [[1d20+7]] to hit and deal [[2d6+3]] slashing damage" will result in something like "I get 15 to hit and deal 11 slashing damage" appearing in the chat log. The dice rolls will be highlighted to show that they are actually inline rolls, and hovering your mouse cursor over them will show you the dice expression used, as well as the individual dice rolls. This is the preferred method for using with Macros (again, see below).
Advanced Tricks Initiative: You can add a token to the initiative list with a die roll by adding "&{tracker}" to the dice expression ("[[1d20+6.06 &{tracker}]]"), which is particularly useful for Macros (below... again). Note that this adds the token you currently have selected to the list, so it won't work if you don't select a token, first. I have two tips for your initiative macros:
1. Like the example above, add your initiative modifier, divided by 100, to your roll. This way, when the GM sorts the list, it will properly break any ties that occurred. Some players will want to add it divided by 10, but that can cause problems when characters have a bonus of +10 or higher, so it's better to divide by 100.
2. Set your Macro (or Ability) as a Token Action instead of placing it in the macro quick bar. Since the Token Action bar only appears when you have a token selected, this prevents you from accidentally rolling without your token selected.
Critical threats and fumbles: By default, Roll20 will highlight any result that includes a die that rolled its maximum (such as rolling an 8 on a d8) in green, and any die that rolled minimum in red (for inline rolls, any dice expression that includes both will be highlighted in blue).
You can change this to highlight any range you want, which is helpful for expanded critical threat ranges and firearm misfire chances. You can increase the critical threat range by throwing "cs>##", where "##" is the lowest number in your threat range, after the dice (such as "1d20cs>18" for an 18-20 threat range). You expand the "critical failure" range by using "cf<##", where "##" is the highest number in the range (such as "1d20cf<3" for a 1-3 misfire chance on a firearm). You can combine these, in either order (so "1d20cs>18cf<4" and "1d20cf<4cs>18" do the same thing).
GM rolls: You can make a roll only you and the GM can see by using the "/gmroll" (also works with "/gr"). This works just like the "/roll" command, only it will be sent as a whisper to the GM.
Since you can put an inline roll in any chat message, you can send private rolls using the whisper command.
Math: You do not have to include an actual die roll in an inline roll; you can use this for doing basic math, as well. This is mostly useful when using Attributes (below), and can be used to do things like calculating DCs. As an example, last time I played my alchemist, I included the DCs of his bombs as an inline roll, so that if he increased his Intelligence by drinking his cognatogen, the save DC would automatically update.
There are also math-related functions you can use, for things like rounding, absolute values, etc; you can find them (and more) on the Roll20 wiki.
Macros:
Basics
Macros are, in essence, a pre-set series of chat messages and command that you can use on the fly to speed up your game. Common uses are to automate attacks (including damage rolls), saving throws, or skill checks, or even just a wall of text to remind people how one of your abilities works. Basically, anything you know you might have to do more than once, you might consider setting up a macro to take care of it.
Configuring Macros
You can create Macros under the "My Settings" tab (click the gear icon above the chat window). The very top of the tab will be the "Macros" section. You can create new macros by clicking the "+ Add" button to the right of the "Macros" header, and you can edit existing macros by clicking the name of the macro in the list. From the "Edit Macro" popup, you simply give it a name (any spaces will automatically be replaced by dashes), and enter the commands you want the macro to perform in the "Actions" section.
Using Macros
There are four ways of triggering macros:
Settings tab icon:[b] Next to each Macro on the "My Settings" tab is a d20 icon. Clicking it will use the Macro.
[b]Chat command: Type a hashtag (#) followed by the macro name ("#dagger") in the chat window. Bonus points: you can use this in a macro to have your macro use a macro, so you can macro while you macro!
Macro Quick Bar: Turn the Macro Quick bar on by click the checkbox next to "Show macro quick bar?" under the list of your macros, and then add the macro to the bar by checking the "In Bar" box to the right of the macro in the list. From there, just click the corresponding button at the bottom of the map any time you want to use the macro.
Token Actions: You can set a macro as a Token Action by checking the "Show as Token Action?" box in the Edit Macro popup. This is similar to the Macro Quick bar, except that it appears at the top of the map screen, and only if you have a token selected. This is useful for macros that need a token to be selected, such as an initiative macro.
Characters
A "Character" in Roll20 is basically an entry in the Journal (accessed by click the icon that looks like a stack of papers at the top of the chat window) that represents exactly that: a character. Only a GM can create a Character, but once created, they can assign them to players to be able to use and edit, and can by viewed and edited by click on their name in the Journal tab. You can use characters for several things.
Impersonating:
At the bottom of the chat window, next to the "Send" button, you may have noticed an "As:" drop-down window. This will list your display name (set in the "My Settings" tab), as well as any Character assigned to you. Any chat message you send will be displayed as being from that name.
For example, if a player playing a Vigilante known as "Lamont Cranston" in his social identity, and "The Shadow" in his vigilante identity, has both a "Lamont Cranston" and a "The Shadow" Character assigned to him, he can send messages as either "Lamont Cranston" or "The Shadow" (or as his display name).
Abilities:
Abilities are just Macros that are part of the Character, and can be viewed or edited under the "Attributes & Abilities" tab of the Character popup. You can use them as a GM or player to create attack or saving throw macros associated with specific creatures or PCs. Any Ability assigned to the Macro Quick bar will always show up in the bar, but Abilities assigned as Token Actions will only show up when tokens representing that Character are selected. If your Token Action Abilities aren't showing up when you select your token, ask your GM to ensure that your token is set to represent your Character.
A key difference to using Abilities as opposed to Macros: first, you use Abilities by using a percent sign (%) instead of a hashtag, and second, unless you are using an Ability from within another Ability, you need to specify the Character name, in the format of "%{Character Name|Ability Name}". If you were using an Ability from with another Ability on the same Character, you could use "%{Ability Name}", instead.
Attributes:
This is where the REAL magic happens!
Attributes are variables assigned to a Character, that you can then use as part of your Macros or Abilities. You can set them in the same "Attributes & Abilities" tab where you configure your Abilities. Once set, you can access them similarly to access Abilities: in the format of "@{Character Name|Attribute Name}" (or "%{Attribute Name}" from an Ability on the same Character). In addition, Attributes themselves can be set to pull from other Attributes, allowing you to do things like calculate an ability modifier from an ability score.
For example, if you wanted to make an attack roll for a ranged attack, you could set an Attribute named "bab", and another named "DEX-mod", and set your attack Ability to roll "[[1d20 + @{bab} + @{DEX-mod}]]". If you later had something like cat's grace cast on you, you could edit your "DEX-mod" Attribute accordingly, and all of your Abilities and Macros that use it will use the new value, without having to be edited individually.
Character Sheets:
This is the single best feature of Characters, when it comes to setting up new Characters.
Character Sheets are essentially pre-defined sets of Attributes and Macros, laid out like a real-life character sheet, allowing you to quickly and easily set up a Character's ability scores, set their saving throw bonuses, and even create attack macros. The Character Sheet even provides buttons for you to click on to quickly roll things (you'll see those little d20 icons all over; click any of them). If you want to use any of the Attributes they set, just hover your mouse cursor over them, and the tooltip will tell you their names (in fact, the "bab" and "DEX-mod" Attributes I mention in my Attribute example are actual Attributes provided by the "Pathfinder" Character Sheet).
The Character Sheet used is a per-campaign setting that the GM must set on the Campaign Settings page; if you do not see a "Character Sheet" tab inside your Character, that means the GM has not set one. Even in campaigns that are set with a Character Sheet format, they are entirely optional. Even if your GM doesn't want to use Character Sheets themselves, you can ask them to set it, and it won't interfere with anything they've set up.
Personally, I prefer the "Pathfinder" Character Sheet, but there are others available to choose from, including a "Pathfinder (simplified)".
Protip: You can drag-and-drop any of the roll icons from the Character Sheet into your Macro Quick bar (not your Token Action bar), but only if the Character popup isn't in a separate window, and you can't drag rolls from any "repeatable" section (anything you click an "Add" button to create).
Character Vault:
This is a feature only available if either you or the GM involved is a subscriber, but if you play the same character in multiple Roll20 games and this feature is available, USE IT USE IT USE IT!
In a nutshell, you can import any Character assigned to you in any campaign created by a Roll20 subscriber into your "Vault", and then export that Character into any other game you've joined where the GM is a subscriber. If you are a Roll20 subscriber, you can import/export characters from ANY game you've joined!
You access your Character Vault from the Roll20 homepage, under the "Tools" drop-down menu. From there, it's pretty self-explanatory. Click the "+ Import Existing Character" to import a Character from an existing game, or click "Export to Game" next to one of the Characters in your Vault to move them into a new game.
Any Attributes and Abilities that are a part of that Character will transfer over, but Character Sheet formats won't; the savvy amongst you will recognize that that's because Character Sheets are a per-campaign setting. Using this will obviously allow you to move a character from game to game, with minimal updating needed. Imagine: not having to set up your attack macros every time you join a new PFS game!
Heck, if you're a subscriber yourself, you could even create a "campaign" consisting of nothing but your own PFS characters, then transfer them over to any Roll20 tables you might play.
Two things to note:
1. GMs must enable character importing under the campaign settings page to allow you to do this; non-subscribers should still be able to enable this, but in that case only players who are subscribers will be able to import.
2. Imported Characters will not be assigned to any player, even if they were in the campaign they came from; make sure to ask the GM to assign the Character after you import it.
Templates
This is the feature that prompted me to write this post in the first place. Templates are essentially special formats (usually tables) you can use to make your Macros more readable. The Template formats available are determined by the Character Sheet the campaign uses (which can cause minor problems for Characters imported from campaigns that used a different Character Sheet, as the Template formats you used in your Abilities might not be available), but there is a "default" Template that is available for all campaigns. I'll go over the basic formatting needed to use a Template, and then go over some specifics of the "default" template, and some of the Templates provided by the "Pathfinder" Character Sheet.
Template Formatting:
First thing first: the ENTIRE Template must be on ONE line (not counting word-wrap)! If you put any part of it on a new line, Roll20 won't consider that part of the Template, and won't be displayed as part of that table.
First, you have to declare what Template format you're using, like this: "&{template:template name}"; so if you want to use the "default" template, that would be "&{template:default}".
Second, you can set any "property" like so: "{{property name:property value}}". A common property that all Template formats use is "name", which will display it's value in the header of the table. Usually, any unrecognised properties will be added as a row on the table, with the property name on the left, and the property value on the right.
That's it; all there is to setting up a Template is to declare the Template format you're using, and then define any properties you want.
Default Template:
The Default Template (template name: "default") is very basic, and has no properties that are handled in any special way, except for the "name" property, as pointed out above. That said, the default template is available in EVERY campaign, regardless of what Character Sheet is used, or even if one is used at all, so you can always rely on it being available. The header will have a purple background, and each row will alternate between a gray and a white background.
"Pathfinder" Templates
These templates are only available as part of the "Pathfinder" Character Sheet. Each will have a header with a black background, and each row will alternate between a gray and a white background.
Common Properties:
The following are properties common to all "Pathfinder" Templates. The colons are not part of the property names.
character_name: Optional; if used, will place the property before the name property in the header (displayed like "character_name : name").
character_id: Doubly optional, only use if you also use the character_name property: turns the character_name into a link to a Character page. Set this to the character_id Attribute of the appropriate character, or don't use it at all.
Unrecognised properties will be displayed on their own row, in the format of "Property name: property vaule".
Generic:
Other than the black header background and the properties common to all "Pathfinder" Templates, this isn't any different from the Default Template; template name "pf_generic".
Attack:
The Attack template (template name: "pf_attack") has a few specially handled properties that make it particularly awesome for all of your attack macros.
attack: This property should be your attack roll; don't forget to set your critical threat range (see Macros), because it's going to come into play!
damage: Obviously this will be the attack's non-critical damage, and will be displayed indented from the "attack" property.
crit_confirm: This is your critical hit confirmation roll; it will also be displayed indented from the attack roll, but will only be displayed if the attack roll is a critical threat! crit_damage: This is the additional damage done on a critical hit; add it to the base damage to get the full damage on a crit. Like crit_confirm, it will only appear if you score a critical threat.
description: This will be displayed as a line without any prefix at the bottom of the template, taking up the whole row by itself.
Finally, if you place additional properties, named after the first four properties above, but with a number from 2 to 8 at the end, they will add additional attacks to the Template; use these if you want a one-button full-attack macro (or just put them all on separate Templates in the same Macro, or have one Macro call Macros with each attack).
Defense:
Intended for saving throws; very basic, template name "pf_defense".
Save: The saving throw roll goes here.
Final Tips & Tricks
Here's a few final things:
1. You can set a token's bars to represent Attributes on the Character they represent. For example, you could set Bar 1 to represent the "HP" Attribute, which I find especially useful to sync the HP bars between my Vigilante's social and vigilante identity tokens.
2. In a Macro or Ability, you can access the selected token as if it were a character named "selected"; amongst other things, it has a "token_name" "Attribute" that returns the name of the token. I use this with my Vigilante to have the name of the token selected show up in my Templates, even though they're coming from Abilities on the same Character. You can also access any Attributes of the Character that token represents via the "selected" name.
3. You can find the Roll20 wiki here.
If anyone else has any tips or tricks they want to share, feel free to comment below!
Another kidnapping spree erupts in Cassomir and the Pathfinder Society sends you to the notorious Swift Prison to interrogate a captured cultist about the recent disappearances. With clues gathered there, you must explore Old Cassomir and find secret locations that lead you to the source of the spree: the long lost Crypt of Fools.
Crypt of Fools is part 3 of the The Devil We Know series.
The foundations of the tower are a confusing maze of vermin-infested chambers and clever pit traps. A dangerous undead spellcaster known as Gorloth, the Bone Priest, ambushes adventurers who blunder into the pits and spiderwebs.
31 people marked this as FAQ candidate. Answered in the FAQ.
1 person marked this as a favorite.
The new errata for the Advanced Class Guide adds the following text to Slashing Grace:
ACG Errata wrote:
You do not gain this benefit while fighting with two weapons or using f lurry of blows, or any time another hand is otherwise occupied.
My question is, what counts as "otherwise occupied"? Is this intended to be just related to attacks, or does a Swashbuckler lose the benefits while using a buckler?
The surface structure of the Spire consists of the ruins of the old Azlanti tower. A band of bloodthirsty goblins under the leadership of the bugbear chieftain Grulk lurks in the ruined tower.
More than 400 years have transpired since the Pathfinder Society began in a humble tavern that has quietly weathered the centuries without incident. When a routine errand there uncovers a clue left behind by one of the founding Pathfinders, it’s up to the PCs to solve a puzzle whose pieces are scattered across Absalom—and whose prize dates back to the Society’s darkest years.
"The Wounded Wisp" is an evergreen, replayable scenario designed to help introduce players to the history of the Pathfinder Society and Absalom’s greatest sites.
Written by Thurston Hillman
Sign-up can be found here. GM is hoping to fill in a couple more lines on his Vigilante chronicle before the July 20th cut-off (for the active playtest period), so feel free to bring your own masked crusaders!
The Pathfinder Society dispatches you to the catacombs called Cassomir's Locker to find the source of a rat cult breeding monstrous vermin. After clearing Cassomir's dank sewers and delving into the dirty dungeons below, will you find the artifact that powers Cassomir's Locker or bring about the destruction of Taldor's most important port?
Scenario: The Emerald Spire Superdungeon: The Tower Ruins
Date/Time: Saturday, August 30th, 2014 @ 6:00 PM EDT US [-4 UTC]
GM: James Wygle
Game Client: Google Plus Hangout and MapTool
Description:
A Pathfinder Society sanctioned Module designed for level 1-2.
As travelers emerge from the Echo Wood underbrush, they find themselves staring up at a ruined keep guarding a broken central tower, all made of smooth, green glass. It’s obvious that a grand battle took place here many years ago, and the clearing around the ruin lies barren, with sickly weeds struggling to rise from the magic-blasted earth. Melted chunks of twisted glass pepper the ground, lending a green hue to the clearing’s light. Despite the damage, however, the glass of the keep itself seems to have avoided the ravages of time, with those pieces that survived the initial cataclysm unmarred by pitting or cracking, clean of moss and other clinging debris.
At the top of a steep dirt path winding up through the rubble, a doorway opens onto darkness, its entrance seeming to
steal light into its inky depths.
Obviously, with everybody out of the office, this isn't the best time for this, but...
The Dungeoneer's Handbook introduces three "torchbearer archetypes", located on page 21, that are intended for use by "torchbearers", which are special cohorts granted by the Torchbearer feat (which is quite rightly not PFS-legal), but explicitly allowed to be taken by any character.
Dungeoneer's Handbook wrote:
The following archetypes can be taken by a character's torchbearer, as well as any other characters that qualify.
Unfortunately, since these archetypes are on page 21, they are not PFS-legal.
Additional Resources wrote:
Archetypes: all archetypes on pages 22-23 are legal for play
Now, seeing as the only ability that any of these archetypes possess that is anywhere near problematic for PFS is the Sapper archetype's Fence ability (which I'll talk about later, with suggestions), the only reason I can see as to why these archetypes are not allowed is that they may have been confused as only available to torchbearers, which themselves are (again, rightly so) not PFS-legal.
Proposal: Amend the Additional Resources entry for the Dungeoneer's Handbook to make the archetypes on page 21 legal for play, as they are not objectionable due to power (they tend towards the weak end of the spectrum, in particular the groom archetype), are fully in fitting with the Golarion setting, and do not cause any more problems within the PFS environment than other archetypes do. I would also like to see the Torch Handling feat, also on page 21, opened up for use, as well; all of the same arguments apply, and there is no logical reason to believe this feat should be Torchbearer-exclusive (I take the text prior to the feat to mean Torchbearers have to take it, but anyone can take it).
Fence:
The ability, for the record.
Sapper wrote:
Fence (Ex): At 4th level, a sapper loots a dungeon or other adventuring complex of its mundane goods and sells them to her various contacts. These mundane goods include things like brass fittings, stewpots, scrap metal, and so on. The sapper automatically loots this junk while in the dungeon, and must spend 24 uninterrupted hours selling the objects in town. She shares a portion of the proceeds with the adventurers; the amount typically equals 1d10 gp per sapper level per dungeon.
This ability replaces her 4th-level rogue talent.
Now, this is clearly something that is just hand-waved as having happened, and doesn't need to actively be dealt with during play.
The potential issue here is the money being earned; the way I see it, this can be handled three ways.
1. Simply state the ability allows the sapper to earn an extra 1d10 gp per sapper level per scenario (assuming locations that can be looted, expect table variance, but don't expect to use it if you spent the entire scenario in the woods or on boat you hired/own), which is the "typical" amount per dungeon; even at level 11, this tops out at 110gp, which is less than the street performer bard's gladhanding ability can grant (150gp, for doubling a maxed Day Job, not taking into account boons raising this maximum), and is fair more variable, giving as little as 11gp.
2. As above, but count it towards the "GP gained" for the scenario, and do not allow it to increase the total earned above the normal maximum for the scenario, by tier. Effectively this means the ability is only useful if the party misses something, at which point it can be used to reduce how much is lost.
3. Say that sappers do not gain the Fence ability (meaning they keep their fourth level rogue talent).
The first two would be most appropriate to put in the FAQ, as the ruling about gladhanding is, leaving the Additional Resources entry clean, whereas the third option adds a single sentence to Additional Resources and leaves the FAQ alone.
Personally, I'm interested in seeing this legal because I like the idea of a torch-wielding fighter, and the blazing torchbearer alchemist archetype lends itself to the idea remarkably well (makes the torch count as a magical light source, grants a spell-like ability that would qualify for Arcane Strike, for bypassing DR /magic, a 1/day ability to blind everything within 10 feet, no save, and a potentially back-firing ability to deal extra fire damage and light enemies on fire). Admittedly the damage is kinda weak (1d3 plus 1 fire, assuming medium size), but I still like the concept.
The new feat on page 21 of the Dungeoneer's Handbook is preceded by the following:
Dungeoneer's Handbook wrote:
The following new feat must be taken by torchbearers at 1st level.
Now, clearly this means that Torchbears, which are a special form of cohort granted by the Torchbearer feat, must take Torch Handling as their first level feat, but I can also see someone arguing that this means this feat is ONLY available to Torchbearers, which seems kinda silly to me.
So, officially speaking, can ALL characters take this feat, or was this actually intended as a restriction to make this feat Torchbearer-exclusive?
So, I got the message about the free mini available for Goblin Squad members at Gen Con.
My question is, if I am unable to attend Gen Con myself, can I trade this to someone who will be there? Specifically, I was considering seeing if someone was willing to trade a PFS race boon for it...
Alright, I've got two questions, the second of which is PFS-specific.
First question: Can a Carnivalist Rogue take the Improved Familiar feat?
From the Animal Archive:
Quote:
Familiar
At 1st level, a carnivalist gains a familiar as a wizard of equal level. Levels in a class that grants a familiar stack with carnivalist levels for determining the familiar's abilities.
So, my question here would be: does the "as a wizard of equal level" translate over to function as an "arcane spellcaster level" (note that it says "arcane spellcaster level", not "caster level", which implies, to me, that they are referring to class levels) for the purposes of the Improved Familiar feat?
-----
The second question, directly related (and dependent on the first) is:
Spoiler:
Can a seventh level carnivalist with Improved familiar take Riddlewipple as a familiar?
S4-05 The Sanos Abduction wrote:
Faerie Dragon Improved Familiar: A caster of at least 7th level with an alignment within one step of chaotic good may bond with the faerie dragon Riddywipple using the Improved Familiar feat. If you make this bond with the creature, you must provide a copy of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 as if the improved familiar were available as an Additional Resource.
Basically, this question is very similar to the question above: does the "as a wizard of equal level" count for the requirements here?
Essentially, I've been considering a carnivalist rogue with a pilferer familiar, and a certain Improved Familiar option amuses me too much to NOT go for.
Yes, the first one would probably be better in the Rules Questions forum, but it's the second one that actually matters, and I wouldn't mind some official clarification on it...
40 people marked this as FAQ candidate. Answered in the FAQ.
3 people marked this as a favorite.
I've been looking at using a klar for a two-shield fighter build, but of all the books it appears in, despite all having them listed as a martial one-handed 1d6 slashing weapon, there seems to be NO consistency between them.
"Rise of the Runelord's Player's Guide wrote:
Klar: Traditionally a Shoanti blade bound to the skull of a horned spirestalker (a breed of Storval Plateau giant gecko), in recent years the armorers of southern Varisia have started crafting these bladed shields from iron. You can attack an opponent with a klar, using it as an off-hand, martial slashing weapon. For the purpose of penalties on attack rolls, treat a klar as a light weapon. If you use a klar to make an attack, you lose its AC bonus until your next action (usually until the next round). Both the sword and shield segments of a klar can be enhanced separately. An enhancement bonus on the shield does not improve the effectiveness of the blade.
The Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign setting uses this exact wording, but the Adventurer's Armory has this update (actually in a section labelled "Converting Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting Items"):
Adventurer's Armory wrote:
Klar: This is traditionally a Shoanti blade bound to the skull of a horned spirestalker (a breed of Storval Plateau giant gecko). Recently the armorers of southern Varisia have started crafting these bladed shields from steel. The klar, like the madu (see page 4) is both a weapon and a shield. If you are proficient with the klar, you may treat it as a spiked light wooden shield (or light steel shield, if made entirely of metal); otherwise it is just a light shield.
But then the thing appears in the Inner Sea World Guide as:
Inner Sea World Guide wrote:
Klar: The klar is a traditional Shoanti weapon consisting of a short blade bound to the skull of a horned reptile. An attack with a klar is treated as an attack with shield spikes. See page 153 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook.
And then in Ultimate Equipment as:
Ultimate Equipment wrote:
The traditional form of this tribal weapon is a short blade bound to the skull of a large horned lizard, but a skilled smith can craft one entirely out of metal. A traditional klar counts as a light wooden shield with armor spikes; a metal klar counts as a light steel shield with armor spikes.
So, yeah, I'm a bit confused as to how to handle it in PFS.
Mainly, I have three questions:
1. Do I treat it as a light weapon when two-weapon fighting, like the text from earlier versions states, or does the newer version from Ultimate Equipment take priority, and remove the ability?
2. Does attacking with it count as a shield bash, as the text from the Inner Sea World Guide would suggest, despite that wording not appearing in any other source of the weapon?
3. Would Improved Shield Bash work with them, meaning you wouldn't lose the shield bonus when attacking with them?
After several hours of searching, this is the closest I've seen to addressing this question, but it's hardly an official ruling...
Anyways, my reading of Martial Versatility is that it simply applies the benefits of a feat to weapons in the same group, without you needing to be able to select that feat for those weapons (such as Dervish Dance, which normally CAN'T apply to weapons other than the scimitar).
The reason I bring this up is that I submitted a Hero Lab bug report, regarding my selecting Martial Versatility (Weapon Specialization) flagging all my weapons with a validation error, "Weapon Specialization without Weapon Focus". The response I received was:
Quote:
I disagree with your interpretation of the rules. I believe that Martial Versatility (Weapon Focus) is effectively a prerequisite for Martial Versatility (Weapon Specialization), even if it's not explicitly stated.
Core Rulebook, pg. 112: "A character can't use a feat if he loses a prerequisite, but does not lose the feat itself. If, at a later time, he regains the lost prerequisite, he immediately regains full use of the feat that prerequisite enables."
Because Martial Versatility does not remove the "Weapon Focus with selected weapon" portion of Weapon Specialization, if you use a weapon that you have weapon specialization for, but do not have weapon focus for, it as if you have lost the weapon focus prerequisite of weapon specialization, and therefore, weapon specialization does not function until you have restored the prerequisite.
To which I responded:
Quote:
My interpretation (and the only one I've seen when searching the official forums for several hours) indicates that this IS a valid use of the feat.
As an example, let's say we have a level 5 human Fighter with Weapon Focus/Specialization in Longswords, and takes Martial Versatility for Weapon Specialization. He still has the prerequisite for Weapon Specialization (Longsword), but Martial Versatility allows him to apply the benefit to all weapons in the same group (heavy blade, in this case).
Martial Versatility doesn't grant you the selected feat for all weapons in that group, it simply allows you to use the one you've already got (and still meet the prereqs for) with those weapons, without HAVING the feat for those weapons. The prerequisite in this example is still Weapon Focus (Longsword), even if he then applies the Weapon Specialization to greatswords or bastard swords.
...and now they're asking for any links to official rulings on this (entirely reasonable).
Seeing as I haven't found any such rulings, I figure I should either ask if anyone HAS seen one, or fish for one.
Recently, I've been prepping a character specializing in beating people to death with shields, which of course brings up the economics of enchanting a shield as both a weapon and as armor (which is explicitly allowed by RAW, as per the shield descriptions; I'm running under the assumption you'd have to pay for the shield to be a masterwork weapon separately from being a masterwork shield, for a total of 450gp to be masterwork as both).
Sure, Shield Master allows me to use the shield's enhancement bonus as a weapon enhancement bonus, but that requires BAB +11, putting it at the very end of the character's career. Once I give it the Bashing ability it counts as a +1 weapon when shield bashing, but just like with Shield Master, it's not actually a +1 weapon (just treated as one for the purposes of the attack), so I'd still need to pay for the +1 weapon enhancement bonus before I can add weapon abilities, such as Flaming or Holy.
Then, I came across this bit:
Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, page 26, Benefits of Fame wrote:
For double weapons, calculate the cost of each end separately when considering Fame purchasing limits.
So it appears there's some precedent for factoring two separate enchantments separately, for fame purposes.
So my question is: does this mean that, when enchanting a shield as both armor and a weapon, I would calculate the cost of the armor enchantment and the weapon enchantment separately for fame requirement purposes?
Strict reading says no, but a logical approach to that rule (separate enchantments, such as each end of a double weapon having to be enchanted on their own, are separate entities for fame requirements) would indicate yes, so the "common sense" rule may well over-ride the strict RAW reading.
Mechanically, there's no reason this shouldn't be allowed, because the shield would still be fame-gated as any other weapon would be; if it's NOT allowed, it's fame-gate in a MUCH more restrictive manner than normal.
As much as I'd like to think the logical approach is reasonable, this isn't something I'm comfortable actually doing without some form of official clarification...
In a standard home-campaign (that happens to include guns), a gunslinger can make his own ammo, including alchemical cartridges, and could logically apply the ghost salt weapon blanch to the bullet prior to putting together the cartridge, bypassing the mess that would happen should he try to apply the needed fire to the explosive ammunition. Considering this, and the fact that we have official confirmation that weapon blanches DO carry over between sessions, I see no reason we shouldn't be able to purchase ammo with the weapon blanch already applied, assuming we pay the full cost.
Oh great and powerful Michael Brock, I beseech thee, may we poor Wielders of the Sticks of Boom purchase lots of 10 alchemical cartridges with ghost salt weapon blanch already applied (for 200gp plus the cost of 10 cartridges, with the Gunsmithing discount applied to the cartridges but not the blanch) so that we may face incorporeal foes without either falling back to lesser ammunition or using a separate, and relatively expensive (9,040gp or more, depending on stick type), Stick of Ghost Booming?
And if it is within your infinite wisdom to grant that meager request, would we then be able to purchase sets of cartridges treated with other weapon blanches, so that we might fight enemies with the dreaded reduction of damage on similar economical footing as that damned elf and his feathered pointy sticks?
Currently, my gnomish alchemist has the Artisan's Shop vanity for use with his Craft (alchemy) Day Job, and I've been using it for the 5% discount on components for my alchemical items (since they would quite clearly fall under "nonmagical merchandise in [my] area of expertise".
That being said, as soon as he hits level five, I'm going to be giving him a level of gunslinger, so he can take advantage of Alchemical Weapon (Grenadier archetype) and Explosive Missile (discovery) without having to target normal AC. To help with reload times, I'm going to use a pistol, take Rapid Reload as my fifth level feat, and exclusively use alchemical cartridges for ammo, so I can reload as a free action.
So here's my question: since you need at least one rank of Craft (alchemy) in order to make them, would alchemical cartridges benefit from the discount from my Artisan's Shop? I'm thinking yes, but there's also the fact that the base components of the cartridge (black powder and a bullet) almost certainly wouldn't...
As a side question I don't really care about but suddenly find myself pondering, could an Alchemist with the Gunsmithing feat actually CRAFT alchemical cartridges in PFS? I don't see it really coming up in play much, but there IS the theoretical idea of using it to "upgrade" a dose of black powder and a bullet to a paper cartridge for 4.9gp (combine the powder and bullet with the miscellaneous materials (costing the difference in cost of the paper cartridge and the powder+bullet) as the materials to make the cartridge).
On this one I'd lean towards saying no, as the FAQ entry that allows Alchemists to craft says you follow the rules listed under the Craft skill in the Core Rulebook and the Alchemy class feature rules, which don't cover the creation of alchemical cartridges (which is part of the Gunsmithing feat, and doesn't actually require a skill check, meaning the Craft skill rules don't apply).
An Intelligence of 3 does not grant animals sentience, the ability to use weapons or tools, speak a language (though they may understand one with a rank in Linguistics; this does not grant literacy)
Bolded for emphasis. This seems to contradict an earlier official PF (non-Society) FAQ page.
Quote:
Once a creature's Int reaches 3, it also gains a language.
The page goes on to clarify that while it understands the language, it isn't necessarily physically capable of speaking.
The PFS FAQ seems to imply that the animal DOESN'T gain the free language (on account of the Linguistics skill reference), so I'm wondering if this is supposed to represent a change from the standard Pathfinder rules, or not...
