Played this last weekend after not playing the other sessions at this academy, not knowing what to expect- playing low with my monk. The other players [a cleric, a fighter, a war priest, and a psychic] were glad to have me around for reasons to avoid spoilers. There were some encounters and a "trivial hazard" that made the scenario. As we were wrapping up, apparently the artist of the final map was at the store, he was happy we were playing on his map. I'd be cautiously curious to see this scenario at the high teir
Glad you had as much fun as we did. @Kwinten- sounds like a module i ran a couple weeks back.
Spoiler: Doom Comes to Dustpawn
So, in other threads people are discussing how to fight dragons and how to overcome the massive DPR of their min/max'd PC's. That got me thinking... about how to be antithesis to what's the norm... Forget the "Big Bad Evil Guy" what about a Tiny Evil Villain? Something with Natural Invisibility, preferably. My plan- the PC's are doing the usual stint of stopping a "bad man" from doing "bad things" while his true boss- this Tiny Evil Villain there, checking in on his lackey. Curious to see if these interlopers will go on a quest to stop his machinations, he follows them. Why not? Tiny and Invisible; using Greater Image/Ventriloquism, et all to distract the PC's and "Undetectable Alignment/Vigilante levels" in case the PC's become suspicious and Clairvoyance/Clair-auidence and Scrying to keep track of the party when he has to be away. I haven't designed a campaign for him... this is more of a theory crafting.
Well, my middle school volunteering gig is winding down, as the students prepare for the "standardized" end of the year testings.
I've ran them through the Beginner Box, ran them through the introduction to Strange Aeons for halloween, i gave them lvl 7 pregens and threw them against some dragons for the holidays. I tried to get them to build characters themselves, but they just seem to want to play more than learn how to play... so I began running them through Silverhex Chronicles. with one last session looming, I've decided their final encounter- THEMSELVES. it will be a mirror match. Here's to hoping the teacher next year calls for my assistance and we do an afterschool session, rather than half-hour lunches.
The Guild Guide is the guide that introduces players to society play- AND IT'S FREE.
All players, GM's included, should have a copy of the Guild Guide when they come to play. it has information on the various factions and their goals, how Day job checks work and how much you get, what happens to treat diseases and permanent effects [like curses], and other pertinent information. Hope that helps and welcome to the societies of gracious murderhobo's.
Greetings all, I've been contemplating a Lunar Oracle build for PFS- Primary casting with Animal companion support.
He just hit level 2, so i have to commit to a build direction before his next game. Backstory: Palix is an worshiper of Ashava, and was afflicted by lycanthropy during one of his pilgrimages. During his convalescence, he was befriended by a lone wolf and he took it as a sign that this is a test. But he is still hesitant to expose himself to society, so he is somewhat reclusive. Palix, Aasimar Oracle
10 Str/14 Dex/14 Con/13 Int/12 Wis/17 Cha 1> Extra Revelation: Primal Companion (wolf), Recluse's Stride*
Castur, Wolf
since Cleric spell list doesn't have good druid companion buffs, i do plan on taking Improved Spell Sharing to try to buff up my companion.
So, right now- i'm still pondering a direction to take this build. I'm half tempted to give the animal companion the Totem Guide archetype to more fit the theme of this build. Suggestions and advice welcome; i don't care for "This is the build i did!" posts or advice that aren't in line with the theme i'm trying to go with build.
Playing The Commencement in lieu letting our coordinator and regular GM a chance to play, and anticipation of some new players coming... We have one new player show up to try the game.
Spoiler:
To begin, immediately goes to the Acquisitive faction leader to get the Junk Race out of the way.
He tries to sabotage Ratrod's racer- fails his stealth roll, and doesn't get a chance to sabotage the ship. The GM fails to read the part where they're escorted from the raceway. so, after a few rounds of trying to get allies and buffing our ship- the same player tries to sabotage another racer's ship and wants to plant a sample of Ratrod's fur. Fails his stealth roll again; this time ejected from the race way. Player 2 tries to sabotage Ratrod's racer- and fails his stealth roll. The GM reading, goes "oh... well... that's a way to deal with race." and collects the racer cards. "Yea, you're all ejected from the race way and <NPC> is disqualified. You've failed." First time, anyone can remember failing the Race objective before we even begin the race. Let's not mention the debacle that involved dressing up a corpse and attempting to falsify a death certificate for Historia 7. Guess that happens with a Myrakoi Soldier/Mystic, two Elf Operatives, and an Android soldier do gopher-errands for faction leaders. Oh, and Zigg did get a copy of SSHL.
Improved Natural Attack is legal, only if another source grants it as an available feat. >>highlighted of emphasis<< From the Additional Resources
Animal companions [and rangers with natural attack combat style] may select Improved Natural Attack as it is one of the feats it has access to. But you have to select which natural attack to apply it to. A PC with natural attacks cannot select INA as a Normal Progression Feat, as they don't have an alternative source that provides them with access to the feat.Another magic item to consider: Dire Collar. Enlarge Person on your animal companion for a minute, once per day may be worth while. Save a spell slot.
So, the group of kids i've been teaching how to play PAthfinder? well, they've grown quite attached to specific pregens. so, with Halloween looming the day after my last session- i decided to take them from toddlers learning to crawl- straight to learning to ride a bike: BY RUNNING THEM THROUGH THE INTRODUCTION OF STRANGE AEONS. Kids came, asked where the pregens were, I simply smiled and said "Today's special."
After they chose, i ran them through an abandoned town [courtesy of the Slum Quarters map pack] and hunted them down with the Tatter man. A Cleric was strangled, a barbarian who tried to punch the tatter man had her arm cleanly cut off, and a monk who didn't stay for tea was thrown down a well. A nice adventure for halloween week. Best yet- i told the office workers i was going to 'traumatize' the students with today's session and one replied "good- do it, my kid is in your club." The librarian hopes to try to make this an "After school" session, but it would be hard managing two dozen students trying to learn the game. Unless the students don't mind alternating weeks to keep a managable party.
I have five characters in SFS, when building them, i tried to create an interesting backstory for each of them, and tried to emphasize their races-
Second character was from the alien archive boon- a Wrickreechee Technomancer, who wants to help his species advance to not be tech-dependent to interact with other species. I know i could have gone mechanic, but felt like playing this as a technomancer.
third sat for a while, but an Android "defender" Soldier was created.
Fourth was another race boon from a convention- a Verthani Mechanic. the idea of the Caste system the Verthani had, helped me create a "pure one" that wants to augment himself but if restricted to, so he aims to create a robot army to supplement his forced beliefs. The other race on that boon, were the Kalo. where as "space mantas" would have been interesting- but I couldn't come up with a good backstory for a possible character, or how to make the class selection make sense. so i went with the Verthani. Fifth is a race boon from a certain scenario- a Sarcesian Operative. no real backstory with this guy- his name is literally "lackey" - a mercenary commanded by his superiors for a "secret stealth" mission- to observe the Starfinder society. I have a Skittermander Solarian/Soldier running through the Dead Suns AP... i liked that Starfinder introduced a plethora of alien races; though i wasn't much of a fan of rapidly introducing some of the legacy races through scenario boons.
I don't think Paizo ever intended on players being mounts. if you think about the various mounts Cavaliers and Paladins, and other archetypes can get- are mostly quadrupeds with basic intelligence- beasts of burden that aren't hindered by it's handler, when ridden into combat. Ask yourself- If you're a vine, are you really "riding" an ally, or are you just wrapped around their waist or arm? More over, what's your dexterity/flexibility/cognisense while in your vine form? As a vine, wrapped around an ally, i'd say you were more engaged in a "friendly/allowed" grapple- but even then, comes the hindrance of being grappled Also, if you claim to "ride" an ally, i wouldn't be surprised if a GM starts making you do RIDE check when you try to do what you want to do. As NorseWolf said, this is a possible cheesing situation: allowing a race with slower movement a "Free ride" on an ally to get full-attacks at no consequence of positioning.
I've taken a volunteer gig to teach some middle schoolers in my area how to play Pathfinder [and other table tops] during their lunch break. Downside- it's half an hour to teach them; upside- it's three full tables. I'm running them through the beginner box stuff first, then through the quests. i'll see about teaching them how to build characters, if i can find a quick guide.
I had my Inquisitor of Zon-Kuthon once attend a Sarenrite holiday as part of a mission. during a social event, she botched her K. Religion roll, and just played it off as "don't question my ethics, and i won't blaspheme your goddess. I am not here to repent, nor am i hear to enlighten others."
Venerating an Evil god doesn't make the character evil; but the player should know how to reign in their religious zeal.
What kind of monster are we talking about? what level is the party? also, implementing rules from another system could feel like cheating. Discuss this strategy with the players and see if they agree with it. more than likely, they'll argue "why can't we do that?" The easiest course for players to understand what's going on- is "readying a move action when approached by a hero"
Depending on the party level, you can add templates or use abilities from other monsters that punish heroes from being too close to it, or actively engage it. Lead Golems have a "miasmic dust" ability that triggers whenever it's hit; Caryatid Columns have that Shatter Weapons defense. numerous monsters have auras that require checks vs penalties. Flying + Reach + Flyby Attack + Natural Invisibility is always a good combination
So, I ran Duskmire Accords over the weekend, and giddly exclaimed to the party "best encounter ever" and when they deduced there was possibly a unicorn in the area they were curious.
Props to Graey, and i want to see Sparklemane as a Venture-Agent.
So, I volunteered to run a table for my group's weekly SFS game, and the Venture-Captain wanted me to run #1-20 Duskmire Accords. This is my first foray into GM'ing Starfinder. Doing a quick skim, i ran into a picture of one of the possible encounters.
I have so many questions- most being how the unicorn managed to mount the grenade launcher on her head, others being where she found said grenade launcher. Over all, the scenario looks quite easy to run and can be completed without any fights at all. If i could post pictures, i would- as Sparklemane's artwork is gosh darn pretty. I want to know how the artist reacted when he was told to draw a "a unicorn with a grenade launcher on her head" I want everyone to give the scenario writer, Brian Duckwitz, a hand for possibly creating the most unique encounter ever in Starfinder. Only in homegames would i expect something as resplendent- as a unicorn with a grenade launcher on her head raining down justice on all she sees as enemies to her realm. I've already dug out an old GI-Joe gun, some double-sided tape, and a unicorn mini to fully embellish Sparklemane. Good job Brian, I'd love to see Sparklemane join the society and become a Venture-Agent.
Why the 16 Con? You shouldn't worry about being in combat, you could drop that down a few points [to like 14] and put points back into Intelligence, and put some ranks into Escape Artist, Perception, or some relevant knowledge skills. *Being a small creature with low strength, a good Escape Artist would be pivotal in your survival, unless you invest in Liberating Command spell. You could potentially drop wisdom down a few points, and eventally invest in Steadfast Personality to add your Charisma to Will saves. Other magic items to consider- Pages & Ring of Spell Knowledge to increase your spell list.
One thing i should mention- I actually got to say hi to HMM at PaizoCon this year. She truly is a gnome. From my vantage point [i'm 6'6"] i'm surprised i saw her name badge and greeted her. It was monday morning, after i had played in Ashes of Discovery at 1am and my Wrickreeshee Technomancer fell down a crevasse and John Compton wandered by in his jammies, surprised to see someone playing his alien race. I had gotten at most 6 hours sleep during the convention, due to running two 1AM slots and playing a 1AM slot... w00t to bed at 5am and awake at 7am... coffee
i GM'd a table at PaizoCon where i encountered my first [and probably ONLY] PFS GOBLIN. I'd love to go to Free RPG Day- as my venue is offering both Skitter Shot and We Be 5uper Goblins... but i'm stuck working. :( In one of more recent Funniest PFS Moments posts: playing Perils and Plunder module, the party of mostly martials were about the give up a fight and run away from a boss we couldn't fight [with aquakinesis, DR 10/Cold Iron, AND Fast Healing 10]... My character was praying to his new god, Gozreh- just to he could get away from the boss [he nearly drowned due to the boss's aura causing turbulent water immediately around her], the GM took a couple d6 from everyone, looked me in the eye and said "Your prayers have been answered!" when dropping all the dice on the boss's pawn. Max level Flamestrike, from my new god Gozreh.
Playing Plunder and Perils with currently and all martial team, my grapple-happy Grippli [Strangler 2/Constable 2] made his presence felt- especially when the gm rolled a Cyclops in the Random Encounter table. The "oh, i can take a hit! i have 20+ AC" Two-weapon Fighter moves up and gets Crit and taken out in one hit. The other fighter [a Mutation Warrior] drinks his mutagen and moves into flanking position for the swashbuckler. The Monk uses Spring Attack to get hits in.
Spoiler:
My Grippli grappled the Cyclops' ball sack. Yay for vague grapple rulings. The Cyclops, irked by a Grippli "restraining" him, grabs him. >Monk = spring attack; fighter = attack; swashbuckler = tries to stabilize the other fighter, being the only player with a UMD< What does a Grappling Grippli do when he's grappled? HE REVERSES THE DAMNED GRAPPLE! He challenged the Cyclops to a Thumb War! Cyclops reverses the grapple, other characters get hits in, downed fighter manages to stabilize himself- now it's my grippli's turn! :( and fails to reverse the grapple. Cyclops, wanting to be rid of the monk and my grippli- tries to throw my grippli at the monk. GM allows my grippli an Escape artist to squeeze out before the throw- success. Grippli is now back on the ground. Turns proceed as usual- my turn comes around: MY GRIPPLI GOES TO GRAPPLE THE CYCLOPS, as he did at the start. This time the cyclops falls soon after... I know that my small creature can't pin creatures larger than him, but the rules on grappling larger creatures is vague at best. When my build works, it's hilarious.
Sniper in the Deep:
A very hilarious end to an otherwise mundane fight.
I have a "lawful" neutral inquisitor of Zon-Kuthon. She's part of the Sovereign Court to ensure that those who evoke Zon-Kuthon's name in any part of a ritual is done properly, and not just for sadism's sake. In her first mission as a Pathfinder, she was assigned to investigate an emerging cult during a Sarenrite holiday. She kept telling everyone "I'm not here to piss you off with my practices, nor am I looking for converts or to convert." regardless of topic of conversation.
"Pssst... Shouldn't we tell them that's a bull's-eye for a "we need another table" volunteer GM target?"
Hello all, the Pathfinder: Worldscape comic series came out over a year ago; and with printed material for Pathfinder v.1 being halted, is there are a chance for the three archetypes- Warlord (fighter), Sword Devil (ranger), & Jungle Lord (ranger) finally getting legalized for the last year of PFS? I've a Sword Devil in an Ironfang Invasion game that may be discontinued because the venue hosting our game is closing. :( I would really like to see this archetype legalized for play, maybe with some slight modifications?
so, i had a crazy idea for a possible build- a Brawler Barmaid of Cayden Cailen using his Divine Fighting Technique. But not just any brawler, i'm thinking an Exemplar; a pseudo-support oriented martial build. 15 St/13* Dex/15 Con/10 Int/12 Wis/13 Cha/ human I see this character being very mobile combat, grappling foes, using Inspire Courage when able. And also using Knockout's as often as possible I was also considering dipping first into a left of Fighter to get three feats and the Divine Fighting Style as a replacement for Shield proficiency. Any build directions i should consider? i was looking at Dirty Fighting and Improved Grapple, for purpose of the build idea. My main problem comes with "how can i upgrade her tankard, as a weapon?"
@Kalindlara- Sadly, not Hembad either.
In my local playgroup, there's a father/son who's characters compliment each other, but aren't build around a teamwork. My friend has a Ratfolk Gulchgunner who's looking for another Ratfolk to get swarming with, and has convinced me to make a Barbarian to get benefit of the Ratfolk's FCB with the Barbarian.
That said, he and his wife have a couple of Kineticists who do the whole combined fusion blast thing.
Nhusd just stares at his brutish brethren... then, according to Ssathtai- "disappeared". Then a voice speaks out from the nothing "If you see my comrade, Mekur, in the Spire, give his pet a treat." Nhusd is currently a Nagaji Slayer-2/Mesmerist-1 with 10 Int. He's using the Enigma archetype, hence the "invisibility"
Look at some of the Quests-Silverhex Chronicles, Phantom Phenomena, & Honour's Echo has several missions that are near large settlement.
I'll go the Pathfinder comic series, as they're printed with mini-scenarios. I'll try to find one that has a more urban location.
I agree with the a change to applying high-tier pregen credits to a lvl 2 character.
likewise, i'd like to see Organized expand the rebuild buffer. At lvl 2, the character isn't much different at lvl 1- a few extra hit points, slightly better saves, not much else- and they're still confined to t1-5 missions.
Well- The Lead Golem wasn't as big as a threat as i originally thought it would; namely with the Shaman slapping a Flame Curse on it (and the following characters tosses Alchemist Fires at the Golem) and the two Grippli's both had Adamantine weapons. We also had a seventh player, playing the Warpriest pregen. [I told them afterwards, that they could have lured the Lead Golem onto the weakened bring and just drop him into the river.] The Nyogoth fight went interesting, as it had the encounter in the smaller room of B8, and as per it's tactics filled the room with Acid Fog, then dimension door'd out of the room- just outside the room to B7 to bottle neck the party and whittle them down. it didn't count on the grippli's climb to get around the Nyogoth.
The Shoggti was in the other room, watching... The casters of the group tried to sneak around while the melee went back through the once-fogged engulfed room- a "sneak attack" fireball from the arcanist only dealt 5 damage.
I did, as a bit of roleplay, as Horus, inquire how much it would be to acquire the grippli's corpses. :)
#9-01 Cost of Enlightenment
Greetings, so in all my PFS career- of 16 characters, including a Core Cleric and an Emerald Spire Fighter, I only have one dedicated caster class- my gnome sorcerer. I have a druid, but he mostly uses his magic to support himself and his dino companion.
So, my plan is to make an Arcanist. Spell selection of a wizard, versatility of a sorcerer, and some nifty tricks themselves.
Statwise- i'm not a fan of dumping stats, unless it's necessary- so:
I may pick up a few shadow spells, but i want to focus on being more a blaster type with a few support spells. So, what feats should i consider taking aside from the typical Spell Focus/Spell Penetration; likewise with Exploits. The Shadow Veil exploit isn't necessary, but would add to a bit of flavor.
1-05 First Mandate
Spoiler:
My team- Human Envoy (outlaw), Android Technomancer (Icon), an Android Mechanic, and NPC Kesk are deal with the mission set before us, when he get the news an assassin is looking to ruin a party.
Thanks to our previous actions, some party-goers help us. My Envoy (based off Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly NOT Hans Solo) and the Technomancer (who thinks he's Dr. Indian Jones) enter into the room where the Assassin is waiting to spring the trap. Rolls bluff: 26 with a crazy story of putting on a show for the party-goers. Long story short- My Envoy was going to throw the Technomancer through the window. In truth- going to throw the Technomancer at the Assassin. We get the all clear from the Mechanic, and I "throw" the Technomancer. He rolls to grapple... rolls a natural 20. :D Assassin fails her concentration check to cast a spell, my Envoy draws his pistol and levels it at her, "Surrender." Intimidate: 23. End of scenario, and we reap the rewards of proving ourselves competent Starfinders. namely my Envoy, who needs the Fame to pay off his infamy, get a boost from his faction- the Acquisitives. Fun scenario, my GM was surprised we finished early.
With my latest build idea- a Samsaran Paladin/Bard getting no feedback or assistance, I've decided to look into another possible build that may be easier to manage- a Hexenhammer Inquisitor. Hexes for laughs, and access to witch spells. I could play a Witch, but nah- i feel a lot of the Horror Adventures PFS legal archetypes don't get enough attention. Hexenhammer looks like one that doesn't give up too much of the parent class, for something i could use as roleplay fodder. Samsaran Inquisitor
ART: Mystic Past Life (Spells: Path of Glory, others TBD)
I'm seeing this character as a support melee build, possibly with a reach weapon and possibly using the Hexenhammer's Evil Eye demoralize often, so possibly a Dazzling Display build- playing with the Samsaran's int bonus into Bruising Intellect for "Int to Intimidate". I could put the points into Charisma and leave a trait open for something else. Looking for suggestions of feat progression, or alternate build ideas that play to the Samsaran and Inquisitor's strengths. I'd like to keep with the Hexenhammer archetype.
Greetings,
Best I can think of- is Vangaurd [Slayer] for Tactician and Studied Target; or Inquisitor [possibly Infiltrator or Umbral Stalker] for Solo Tactics.
For the Barbarian aspect, i was thinking either Dreadnaught or Titan Mauler, mostly for the "oversized" weapons. Str 16 (-2)
Unless someone can make a case for Dex-to-Dmg via Slashing Grace or something, a strength build is the way to go methinks. So, would it be worthwhile to level dip for Tactician/Solo Tactics; or should my friend just suffer a dead feat. What direction should i take this barbarian?
Emerald Spire Floor X
>The GM also commented that the Bard player failed to capitalize on a prime roleplay opportunity- he can open doors with his head.< *fights statues that are covered in Brown Mold*
*proceeds through the dungeon, come to an open pit. Dwarf begins to scurry around the sit of the pit to the other side- and gets ambushed by a huge bug that thrashes him.
102. Now, once you hit level 10- we're going to convert your characters to StarFinder! 102. You walk into the inky darkness of the room... Oh, wait. That's a Black Pudding covering the door way. Roll Initiative! Black Pudding has surprise round, and engulfs everyone! 102. I've decided to run Giant Slayer! And you are all playing Tiny player races! It's going to be awesome! 102. That Bag of Holding you've had since Day 1, has absorbed so much Negative Energy- it's become a Bag of Devouring. 102. You know that group of thugs you beat up? Yea, they had a hunting party out, and one of them was a cleric. To escape- you have to fight 15 of them, and they're all prepared this time. 102. Guess what? New house rule! Leprosy! Whenever you take enough damage to hit 10 hp or less of your total HP, you lose a body part! Good news! Grafting! You want a dragon claw to replace your malformed hand? Go convince a dragon to give you his claw.
--The Halfling cleric of Desna's Str score so low that when he attacks he can only do 1 point of damage with his starknife. Oh, and that damage is nonlethal. (This is my brother's PFS character) My Gnome Sorcerer's damage is so low that his Maximum damage is 1 Non-lethal. [5 Str = 1d3-3 with cestus]
"PFS is a coordinated DnD campaign, that allows you to play many a character through multiple adventures. Many adventures, up to 12th level. There are a few restrictions as to what you can play, fyi. Go to Paizo.com for more information."
Where we play, we often get onlookers who watch. We mention "Pathfinder" and get a confused "... okay" as a response. People react to the mention of DnD.
102> "Okay folks, here's your NPC tagalong for this adventure. She's an alchemist."
Promethian Preservationist ftw!
App. 4a-XVIII
App. 4b-XIV
App. 4x-IX
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