Saracenus's page

I posted this originally in the General Discussion section under The Paladin, Glaring Failures and Glinting Successes thread and then realized it should be posted here instead.

As I have posted in the past I really don't like how Paladins where handled in 3e (initially too front loaded, now trying to cover too many bases with too few resources).

I know one of the commandments of the Pathfinder RPG process is "keep compatibility." However, I believe this class needs a rethinking.

Since we are not going to use Green Ronin's Holy Warrior Handbook (3.5 updated from The Book of the Righteous) I would propose the following:

SMITE EVIL:
Smite should be a Paladin's signature move. At low levels you have to ration it and high levels it only does so much. Here is an example of what I would do with the ability:

Smite Evil (Su): Once per combat, a paladin may attempt to smite evil with one normal melee attack. She adds her Charisma bonus (if any) to her attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per paladin level. If the paladin accidentally smites a creature that is not evil, the smite has no effect, but the ability is still used up for that day.
At 4th level, and at every three levels thereafter, the paladin's smite evil gains additional powers:

4th level - Treat the weapon used during the smite as good aligned for that attack.

7th level - Holy burst, if a smite attack confirms a critical against an evil creature, it deals 1d10 of holy damage per critical modifier (e.g. x2 does 2d10, x3 does 3d10, etc).

10th level - Treat the weapon used during the smite as undead bane or evil outsider bane, chosen at the time this ability is gained, for that attack.

13th level - Gain an extra smite per combat.

16th level - Blinding smite, an evil creature is overwhelmed by divine power. A successful smite against an evil target blinds that target until the start of its next round. A critical blinds the creature for additional round equal to its critical modifier (e.g. x2 is 3 rounds, x3 is 4 rounds).

19th - Gain an extra smite per combat.

These are just examples of what smite could be, the order or the powers themselves are in play. If you don't like them or they need to be rebalanced then by all means fiddle with it.

Thanks,

Bryan Blumklotz
AKA Saracenus

I made a change to the feats to simplify them and make them a little more coherent.

Dodge [General]
You have mastered a defensive stance that allows to you easily react to your opponents.
Prerequisite: Dex 13.
Benefit: You gain a +1 dodge bonus to your AC in combat. You gain an additional +1 dodge bonus to your AC every 5 levels/HD. This benefit applies only when he is wearing no armor, light armor, or medium armor and not carrying a heavy load, nor move more than 5 feet. A condition that makes you lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) also makes you lose dodge bonuses.
Special: A fighter may select Dodge as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Mobility [General]
You have learned the art of dodging and weaving while seeking advantageous ground in combat.
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Dodge.
Benefit: You get a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class against attacks of opportunity caused when you move out of or within a threatened area. This benefit applies only when he is wearing no armor, light armor, or medium armor and not carrying a heavy load. A condition that makes you lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) also makes you lose dodge bonuses.
Special: A fighter may select Mobility as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Mobility Mastery [General]
You have mastered the art of dodging and weaving while seeking advantageous ground in combat.
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Dodge, Mobility.
Benefit: You do not provoke any attacks of opportunity caused when you move out of or within a threatened area. This benefit applies only when he is wearing no armor, light armor, or medium armor and not carrying a heavy load. A condition that makes you lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) also makes you lose this ability.
Special: A fighter may select Mobility as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Duck and Weave [Combat]
You are able to combine Dodge and Mobility into a potent combination that allows you to move and drop back into your defensive stance after it.
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Dodge, Mobility, Mobility Mastery.
Benefit: You do not provoke any attacks of opportunity due to movement and you retain your dodge bonus(es) to AC from the Dodge feat before and after moving more than 5 feet. This benefit applies only when he is wearing no armor, light armor, or medium armor and not carrying a heavy load. You still lose your dodge bonus if you lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any).
Normal: Normally you provoke any attacks of opportunity when moving into or out of threatened areas and moving more than 5 feet negates a dodge bonus to AC from Dodge and Dodge Mastery feats.

Spring Attack [Combat]
You can deftly move up to a foe, strike, and withdraw before he can react.
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Dodge, Mobility, base attack bonus +4.
Benefit: You pick a target and can move up to your speed and make a single melee attack without provoking any attacks of opportunity from your selected target. You can move both before and after the attack, but you must move at least 10 feet before the attack and the total distance that you move cannot be greater than your speed. You cannot use this ability to attack a foe that is adjacent to you at the start of your turn.
Special: If you have the Mobility Mastery feat you may move up to your speed and make a single melee attack without provoking any attacks of opportunity due to your movement. If you have the Duck and Weave feat you retain your dodge bonus to AC bonus from the Dodge feat before and after moving more than 5 feet.
Normal: You cannot move before and after an attack.

Devastating Spring Attack [Combat]
You can deftly move up to a foe, make a devastating series of strikes, and withdraw before he can react.
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, base attack bonus +9.
Benefit: You pick a target and can move up to your speed and make a full melee attack without provoking any attacks of opportunity from your selected target. You can move both before and after the attack, but you must move at least 10 feet before the attack and the total distance that you move cannot be greater than your speed. You cannot use this ability to attack a foe that is adjacent to you at the start of your turn.
Special: If you have the Mobility Mastery feat you may move up to your speed and make a single melee attack without provoking any attacks of opportunity due to your movement.
Normal: You cannot move before and after an attack, nor make a full attack.

Bounding Spring Attack [Combat]
You can deftly move a long distance up to a foe, make a strike, and withdraw before he can react.
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, base attack bonus +9.
Benefit: You pick a target and can move up to double your speed and make a single melee attack without provoking any attacks of opportunity from your selected target. You can move both before and after the attack, but you must move at least 10 feet before the attack and the total distance that you move cannot be greater than your speed. You cannot use this ability to attack a foe that is adjacent to you at the start of your turn.
Normal: You cannot move before and after an attack.

In Service,

Bryan Blumklotz
AKA Saracenus

Hello All,

[EDIT]: Site not down, but alt login page needed. See Lilith's post below.

Thanks,

Saracenus
AKA Bryan Blumklotz

Rodney Thompson's Live Journal blog (here) has an interesting essay that gives some insight on how non-combat is handled in 4e and how it puts the ball squarely in the corner of the players to get creative with their skills and abilities to solve non-combat problems.

Note: Rodney is also having some fun with a picture from Jason Bulmahn's blog (here)

I highly recommend reading the whole thing, but here are some highlights:

(1)
"I find it particularly interesting that the areas where I feel we've improved the game the most aren't the ones we're showing off. SRM and I had a conversation some weeks back where we both agreed that while I think 4E improves on the player's side of D&D by this much [------], in essence building on much of the foundation laid by the excellent design behind 3E, the improvements on the DM's side of the screen are up by this much [------------------------]. Bad part is, that's harder to show off in neat, pre-packaged articles."

(2)
"Shifting gears away from combat for a while, jediwiker had a discussion on his journal a few days ago about rewarding roleplaying mechanically, and how clearly 4E isn't going to do that (not his assertion, but an assertion that sparked the discussion). In this area, I disagree. We showed off skill challenges in the Escape from Sembia event at D&DXP. Basically, it boiled down to this: the heroes needed to escape from some Sembian guards, prompting a chase sequence. The heroes then had the option of using a variety of skills to escape from the guards, and the encounter was built using the non-combat encounters guidelines in the DMG. Basically, the players could use any skill they liked, so long as they had a good explanation for it, and the encounter gave rules on adjudicating those checks based on the likelihood that the attempt would be feasible. For example, one player I read about used his History skill to remember an old sewer grate from some ancient plans of the city, where he was able to had. Obvious skill choices allowed players to hide, climb on top of buildings, disguise themselves as passers-by, etc. Now, before I get jumped on, yes, these are all things you could do before. However, unless a skill check was specifically called out in the adventure, most adventures leaned back on the hard-coded skill DCs and results in the skills chapter. The difference isn't that you can do these things in 4th Edition, but that the default assumption in 4th Edition is that players should and will find creative solutions to problems, and the rules are designed not only to allow the DM to fairly adjudicate those assumptions but also to reward players for doing so."

(3)
"What 4E's noncombat encounter system does is it lets you make a choice that is consistent with your character AND lets you achieve victory with that (or, at least, some modicum of success). If I'm a fighter with no skills in disuise, bluffing, hiding, or other sneaky bits, my optimal victory condition in escaping the guards is to simply run away, and run away fast (or fight, but we're going to assume that we don't want combat to be the result here). But maybe I'm playing a student of military history, so I make that History check to recognize that in the last siege of the city invading forces used the sewers to get past the walls. Or maybe I'm a street tough who grew up in a rough part of town, so I make a Streetwise check to start a fight between some locals who I know are at odds with one another, providing a distraction so I can escape. Right there I've made a decision that simultaneously allows me to roleplay my character AND gives me the ability to be successful. Unless you believe Andrew Finch's assertion that roleplaying is just making sub-optimal choices (which I don't), victory and roleplaying should not be mutually exclusive."

Enjoy,

Bryan Blumklotz
AKA Saracenus

Of all places, Ain't It Cool News has the first part of a 3 part(?) play tester review of 4e.

link:AICN 4e Review Part 1

For all those 4e haters, be prepared for disappointment, this guy loves it and it shows.

It is rules lite because the author wants to give his impressions of the game and he figures a lot of crunch stuff will be out on the web anyway.

Enjoy,

~~Saracenus

Well, I can't believe this hasn't been posted up yet... evidently we are getting Journey Bread in 4e (think Elven Waybread, AKA Lembas, from Lord of the Rings). See the latest Confessions of a Full-Time Wizard...

"I might actually use some of this stuff. How about tucking a couple loaves of journeybread in your carry-on? You only need a few bites to fill you up, and it’s good for you! Beats a $15 tub of Pringles."

Full text of the article can be found here:

I have to say this started a deep chuckle that brought my wife in the room and when she read it, she just smacked her forehead... Lembas!

In Service,

Saracenus

Erik,

I see that you and Sean "McBastard" Prather are once again on the NorWesCon panel list. Have you got a list of panels that you are doing there? There doesn't seem to be one on the website, yet.

NorWesCon31 Panelists

I have to say, last years RPG panels were awesome, I especially enjoyed the one on evil campaigns and the other using real world life forms as inspirations for RPG monsters (some of the microorganism and disease examples where high on the ick factor).

Also, the wife says, if there is a "Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse" panel again, you need to go... just get there early, it was at capacity fast.

Also, is there going to be one on Pathfinder, Gamematery, and/or Planet Stories or will they be more general RPG topics like last year?

Thanks,

Bryan Blumklotz
AKA Saracenus

I have noticed that the adventures of the SCAP seems to be written like it is in a northern climate with the trappings of the tropical. The art reflects it, the choice of armor reflects it.

Has anyone worked up the heat and humidity effects for their campaign?

Thanks,

Bryan Blumklotz
AKA Saracenus

To The Sage,

You say that a creature with natural weapons gets all of its natural weapon attacks in a grapple (with a -4 to hit).

Does this mean that Rake listing in the the MM (page 313) is wrong? It says that creatures only get one natural weapon attack during a grapple.

So, which is it.

Thank you,

Bryan Blumklotz
AKA Saracenus
Lord of Grumpiness