I'm about to start running a Serpent's Skull game, and one of my PCs pointed out that Pezzack, one of the listed ports of origin, is described in the Inner Sea World Guide with "Strict naval blockades and a years-long siege have cut off Pezzack from the rest of the world."
So, did this blockade get dealt with in an adventure that I haven't heard of? Or is the Jenivere actually a blockade runner?
I'm going to be starting a game soon of mixed nautical adventure and kingdom-building, and I need a little help finishing up the design of the encounter that will provide one of the PCs with his kingdom.
What I have so far: there's a tribe of Lirgen refugees (the game is starting about 60 years ago in the standard Golarion timeline) who swore after the death of all their previous rulers that no one of Lirgen blood was fit to be their ruler. So they acquired a king from outside, and through various events that title is now in the possession of a conman. Said conman is trying to ditch the contract before they realize he stole a significant portion of the royal treasury.
What I need is the fake reason the conman is trying to sell off the kingdom, that he will present to the PC. The PC in question is a Wis 10 Gnome, so the con doesn't have to be airtight, it just has to look good. The best idea I've been able to come up with so far is the conman claims he has a family curse that will activate if he can't get rid of the kingdom, but it seems to me that there should be a more elegant option. So I figured I'd ask for advice here.
Also, the established maximum level of silliness for this campaign is that one of the other PCs was raised by awakened Dire Parrots, so try not to cross that line.
I've been wondering about the distinction between different types of magical items. I can understand why wands, staffs, scrolls, and potions are all distinct types with their own crafting feat. I can also understand why arms and armor might need to be separate from other magic items, although that's more of a stretch. But what makes a ring or a rod so different from a wondrous item? Is it some kind of obscure balance thing I've overlooked? A holdover from a previous edition when it actually mattered?
I have a villain I'm designing who did the whole Diabloist thing of selling his soul for arcane power. The catch is: sometime after that, he goes and becomes a lich. Technically, there's no conflict, as the lich's soul is still in his possession, just removed from his body and stored elsewhere. But it seems like the kind of thing that could cause complications.
Now, I'm running the game in my own heavily tweaked setting, so I already know how this particular case will play out, but it got me thinking. What would happen in a similar situation in Golarion?
The following selection of houserules is designed to allow characters to have a more epic feel. The intent is to give characters more flexibility and less need to conserve their powers, but to not increase the the upper level of what they can do by much. The basic premise is that each class has three possible additions that either allow them to use their current powers more often or give them an additional set of powers. I'm interested in feedback and suggestions, both on the conceptual level and on ways to word things better.
class additions:
Barbarian
*Berserker: Rage powers can be used outside of rage. Powers that have a limited number of uses per rage cause the Barbarian to become fatigued for ten minutes if used more than once in the same minute.
*Wildman: The Barbarian gains Track, Wild Empathy, Woodland Stride, Swift Tracker, Quarry, Camouflage, Hide in Plain Sight, and Improved Quarry as if he was a Ranger. These abilities are not limited by favored enemy requirements, and favored terrain requirements are treated as if the Barbarian had all terrain except Urban and Planes favored.
*Paragon: The Barbarian chooses one attribute - the modifier of that attribute is added to the Barbarian's AC, CMD, CMB, and all attack rolls and saves. In addition, whenever the Barbarian is affected by a spell with a duration longer than instantaneous that allows a save, he may continue to make a new save each round until the effect ends.
Bard
*Spellmaster: The Bard gains spells at the same rate as a Sorceror. He may choose spells from either the Bard list or the Sorceror list, using the Bard list if a spell appears on both.
*Duelist: The Bard gains the Canny Defense and Precise Strike abilities. He also gains the Parry ability at level 5, the Riposte ability at level 10, the No Retreat ability at level 12, and at 16th level he gains the Crippling Critical ability. His levels in Bard also count as levels of Fighter for the purpose of qualifying for feats.
*Soloist: The Bard can use his Bardic Music ability an unlimited number of rounds per day. The rounds per day he would normally have gotten may be expended to apply a second performance to one already in progress.
Cleric
*Heirophant: The Cleric can cast spells provided by class levels (but not those provided by a high Wisdom modifier, domains, or other effects) without expending them, in the same matter as Orisons, so long as they are at least two levels lower than the highest level of spell the Cleric can cast. If the spell is cast within one minute of a previous casting, it is expended as normal unless the Cleric makes a knowledge (religion) check at a DC of 20 + 5 per each casting within the last minute. The Cleric may not use these slots to prepare a spell that allows him to prepare additional spells or recall a spell that has been cast.
*Polytheist: The Cleric worships multiple deities, no two of which can be further than one alignment step apart. This gives the Cleric two additional domains and a second domain spell slot at each level.
*Theurge: The Cleric gains access to Arcane spells using the Medium Spellcasting progression detailed below. The Cleric's save DCs and bonus spells for his arcane progression are based on Intelligence, and he draws spells from the Wizard spell list. He prepares and learns new arcane spells in the same manner as a Wizard, including requiring a spellbook.
Druid
*Shifter: All Wild Shape abilities are gained two levels earlier. The Druid may also change into magical beast shapes when allowed by the spells Wild Shape mimics, and Wild Shape functions as beast shape IV at level 8. At level 14 it functions as form of the dragon I, and this increases to form of the dragon II and level 16 and form of the dragon III at level 18.
*Elder: The Druid can cast spells provided by class levels (but not those provided by a high Wisdom modifier, domains, or other effects) without expending them, in the same matter as Orisons, so long as they are at least two levels lower than the highest level of spell the Druid can cast. If the spell is cast within one minute of a previous casting, it is expended as normal unless the Druid makes a knowledge (nature) check at a DC of 20 + 5 per each casting within the last minute. The Druid may not use these slots to prepare a spell that allows him to prepare additional spells or recall a spell that has been cast.
*Theurge: The Druid gains access to Arcane spells using the Medium Spellcasting progression detailed below. The Druid's save DCs and bonus spells for his arcane progression are based on Intelligence, and he draws spells from the Wizard spell list. He prepares and learns new arcane spells in the same manner as a Wizard, including requiring a spellbook.
Fighter
*Paragon: The Fighter chooses one attribute - the modifier of that attribute is added to the Fighter's AC, CMD, CMB, and all attack rolls and saves. In addition, whenever the Fighter is affected by a spell with a duration longer than instantaneous that allows a save, he may continue to make a new save each round until the effect ends.
Combat Master: The Fighter gains two bonus combat feats instead of one at each even-numbered class level.
*Thug: The Fighter gains Sneak Attack +1d6 at first level, this ability improves by +1d6 at fifth level and every five levels after that. He may choose the following Rogue talents instead of Bonus Combat Feats: Bleeding Attack, Rogue Crawl, Slow Reactions, Stand Up, and Surprise Attack. At level 10, the list expands to include Crippling Strike, Opportunist, and the No Retreat class feature of the Duelist.
Monk
*Ki Master: The Monk regains one Ki point per minute.
*Ritualist: The Monk gains access to divine spellcasting using the same spell progression as a Ranger, plus 3 Orisons. The Monk's save DCs and bonus spells are based on Wisdom. The Monk prepares these spells through one hour of meditation, and has access to all spells on his spell list.
*Mentalist: The Monk gains access to arcane spellcasting using the same spell progression as a Ranger, plus 3 Cantrips. The Monk's save DCs and bonus spells are based on Intelligence. The Monk prepares these spells through one hour of meditation and has access to all spells on his spell list. The Monk's spells never have verbal or somatic components, as if they were affected by the Still Spell and Silent Spell feats.
Paladin
*Saint: The Paladin gains all available Mercies. At 15th level, his Mercy ability also functions as break enchantment, and at 18th level it functions as restoration.
*Crusader: The Paladin can activate his Smite Evil ability at will.
*Devout: The Paladin's spellcasting abilities improve to use the Medium Spellcasting progression detailed below, and his spell list expands.
Ranger
*Beastman: The Ranger gains the Wild Shape ability as if he was a Druid of the same level, but is limited to animal and plant forms. He also gains an additional feat option at each level of Combat Style, regardless of which path he chose: 2nd - Improved Unarmed Strike, 6th - Multiattack, 10th - Improved Grapple, 14th - Greater Grapple, 18th - Improved Natural Attack.
*Wanderer: The Ranger's Favored Enemy and Favored Terrain bonuses are each equal to the highest bonus he possesses in each. The Ranger also starts with an additional Favored Terrain and Favored Enemy at first level.
*Shaman: The Ranger's spellcasting abilities improve to use the Medium Spellcasting progression detailed below, and his spell list expands.
Rogue
*Trickster: The Rogue gains access to Arcane spells using the same spell progression as a Ranger, plus 3 Cantrips. His save DCs and bonus spells are based on Intelligence. All spells the Rogue casts this way require a minimum of one full round casting time and require verbal and somatic components. However, the Rogue may delay the final completion of the spell until a later time, at which point he can complete the spell as a free action with no verbal or somatic components. The Rogue may have only one spell held in this way at a time. The Rogue prepares his spells from a spellbook just like a Wizard. His spellbook begins all 0-level spells, and he may add one spell to it for free at each level.
*Duelist: The Rogue gains the Canny Defense and Precise Strike abilities. He also gains the Parry ability at level 5, the Riposte ability at level 10, the No Retreat ability at level 12, and at 16th level he gains the Crippling Critical ability. His levels in Rogue also count as levels of Fighter for the purpose of qualifying for feats. The Rogue may select Deflect Arrows (as the Duelist class ability) and Acrobatic Charge as rogue talents.
*Exemplar: The Rogue adds half his class level to all skills. This bonus does not stack with the +3 class skill bonus.
Sorceror
*Font of Power: The Sorceror regains one spell per day of each level every hour. Starting at level 15, for one minute per day the Sorceror may cast all his known spells at will.
*Battlecaster: The Sorceror gains medium BAB progression and his hit die increases to a d8. He also gains proficiency with all martial weapons and light and medium armor. He ignores up to 30% of the arcane spell failure chance from his armor. If he casts a spell with a range of touch and holds the charge, he may discharge the spell with any successful weapon attack, including ranged weapons.
*Bloodline Disciple: The Sorceror gains an additional 2 spells per day of every level, these can only be used to cast spells granted by his bloodline. Additionally, some of the abilities granted by his bloodline improve:
---Aberrant - Acidic Ray ray can be used at will, Long Limbs applies to all melee attacks and affects the Sorceror's threatened area.
---Abyssal - Claws have unlimited duration, Strength of the Abyss applies to Constitution in addition to Strength
---Arcane - The Sorceror gains the ability to prepare additional Arcane spells using the same spell progression as a Ranger and the same preparation rules as a Wizard, including the need for a spellbook. The save DC for these spells is still determined by Charisma, and the Sorceror does not gain bonus spell slots for having a high ability score.
---Celestial - Heavenly Fire can be used at will, Conviction becomes available at level 10 (level 15 grants an additional use per day)
---Destined - Touch of Destiny can be used at will, Fated applies constantly.
---Draconic - Claws have unlimited duration, the Sorceror gains +2 to an attribute every third level. This bonus goes to Strength at 3rd, Constitution at 6th, Intelligence at 9th, Charisma at 12th, Strength at 15th, and Dexterity at 18th.
---Elemental - Elemental Ray can be used at will, Elemental Burst can be used an additional time at 6th, 12th, and 15th levels.
---Fey - Laughing Touch can be used at will, Fleeting Glance is measured in minutes per level.
---Infernal - Corrupting Touch can be used at will, Hellfire can be used an additional time at 6th, 12th, and 15th levels.
---Undead - Grave Touch can be used at will, Incorporeal Form is available at 10th level and the duration can be divided up in increments of one round.
Wizard
*Archmage: The Wizard can cast spells provided by class levels (but not those provided by a high Intelligence modifier, specialization, or other effects) without expending them, in the same matter as cantrips, so long as they are at least two levels lower than the highest level of spell the Wizard can cast. If the spell is cast within one minute of a previous casting, it is expended as normal unless the Wizard makes a knowledge (arcana) check at a DC of 20 + 5 per each casting within the last minute. The Wizard may not use these slots to prepare a spell that allows him to prepare additional spells or recall a spell that has been cast.
*Specialty Scholar: The Wizard may sacrifice prepared spells to spontaneously cast spells from his chosen school of specialization (not available to Universalist Wizards). Additionally, when casting a spell of his chosen school the Wizard gains +2 to his caster level and increases the save DC by 2.
*Open Minded: The Wizard gains an additional two skill points per level and gains access to divine spells using the Medium Spellcasting progression detailed below. The Wizard's save DCs and bonus spells for his divine progression are based on Wisdom, and he may choose to use either the Druid or Cleric spell list. He prepares divine spells in the same way as the class whose spell list he chose. If he chose the Druid spell list, he may learn the Druidic language by spending a skill point on Linguistics.
spell lists:
Medium Spellcasting
Level 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
1---- 3 0
2---- 3 1
3---- 4 2
4---- 4 2 0
5---- 4 3 1
6---- 4 3 2
7---- 4 4 2 0
8---- 4 4 3 1
9---- 4 4 3 2
10--- 4 4 4 2 0
11--- 4 4 4 3 1
12--- 4 4 4 3 2
13--- 4 4 4 4 2 0
14--- 4 4 4 4 3 1
15--- 4 4 4 4 3 2
16--- 4 4 4 4 4 2 0
17--- 4 4 4 4 4 3 1
18--- 4 4 4 4 4 3 2
19--- 4 4 4 4 4 4 2
20--- 4 4 4 4 4 4 3
Spell Lists:
*Ritualist
0 Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Guidance, Light, Mending, Purify Food and Drink, Resistance, Stabilize, Virtue
1 Bane, Bless, Bless Water, Cure Light Wounds, Curse Water, Detect Chaos/Evil/Good/Law, Doom, Endure Elements, Hide from Undead, Inflict Light Wounds, Magic Stone, Protection from Chaos/Evil/Good, Remove Fear, Sanctuary, Shield of Faith
2 Aid, Align Weapon, Augury, Calm Emotions, Consecrate, Cure Moderate Wounds, Darkness, Death Knell, Delay Poison, Desecrate, Find Traps, Gentle Repose, Inflict Moderate Wounds, Make Whole, Remove Paralysis, Resist Energy, Lesser Restoration, Status, Undetectable Alignment, Zone of Truth
3 Bestow Curse, Contagion, Continual Flame, Create Food and Water, Cure Serious Wounds, Daylight, Deeper Darkness, Dispel Magic, Glyph of Warding, Inflict Serious Wounds, Magic Circle against Chaos/Evil/Good, Magic Vestment, Prayer, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Remove Curse, Remove Disease, Speak with Dead, Water Breathing, Water Walk
4 Animate Dead, Break Enchantment, Breath of Life, Death Ward, Dimensional Anchor, Dismissal, Divination, Holy Smite, Inflict Critical Wounds, Neutralize Poison, Order's Wrath, Lesser Planar Ally, Poison, Restoration, Sending, Unholy Blight, Atonement, Hallow, Unhallow, Mark of Justice, Scrying
*Mentalist
0 Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Mending, Message, Prestidigitation.
1 Protection from Good/Evil/Chaos, Endure Elements, Shield, Grease, Obscuring Mist, Comprehend Languages, Identify, True Strike, Charm Person, Hypnotism, Sleep, Burning Hands, Shocking Grasp, Color Spray, Disguise Self, Magic Aura, Silent Image, Ventriloquism, Chill Touch, Ray of Enfeeblement, Animate Rope, Enlarge Person, Expeditious Retreat, Feather Fall, Reduce Person
2 Arcane Lock, Protection from Arrows, Resist Energy, Fog Cloud, Glitterdust, Detect Thoughts, See Invisibility, Hideous Laughter, Touch of Idiocy, Continual Flame, Darkness, Flaming Sphere, Gust of Wind, Shatter, Blur, Invisibility, Minor Image, Mirror Image, Ghoul Touch, Spectral Hand, Blindness/Deafness, Alter Self, Darkvision, Knock, Levitate, Make Whole, Pyrotechnics, Rope Trick, Spider Climb
3 Dispel Magic, Explosive Runes, Magic Circle against Good/Evil/Chaos, Nondetection, Protection from Energy, Sleet Storm, Stinking Cloud, Arcane Sight, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Tongues, Deep Slumber, Hold Person, Suggestion, Daylight, Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Wind Wall, Displacement, Invisibility Sphere, Major Image, Gentle Repose, Vampiric Touch, Blink, Fly, Gaseous Form, Haste, Shrink Item, Slow, Water Breathing
4 Dimensional Anchor, Lesser Globe of Invulnerability, Remove Curse, Stoneskin, Black Tentacles, Dimension Door, Minor Creation, Secure Shelter, Solid Fog, Arcane Eye, Detect Scrying, Charm Monster, Confusion, Crushing Despair, Fire Shield, Ice Storm, Resilient Sphere, Shout, Wall of Fire, Wall of Ice, Greater Invisibility, Phantasmal Killer, Rainbow Pattern, Bestow Curse, Enervation, Telekinesis
*Devout (In addition to the normal Paladin and Cleric spell lists)
6 Dictum, Holy Word
*Shaman (In addition to the normal Ranger and Druid spell lists)
6 Control Weather, Heal
*Trickster (In addition to the normal Wizard spell list)
1 Arcane Lock, Locate Object, Darkness, Invisibility, Phantom Trap, Knock, Rope Trick, Spider Climb
2 Dispel Magic, Explosive Runes, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Deep Slumber, Keen Edge, Shrink Item
3 Remove Curse, Dimension Door, Greater Invisibility
4 Break Enchantment, Secret Chest, Symbol of Sleep, Seeming, Fabricate, Telekinesis
Notes:
-This is not a final product. I'm still tweaking things, but before I fine-tune I'd like feedback on the larger idea.
-I already know the bloodline disciple ability for the Sorcerer needs work, but I was running out of ideas and I didn't want to hold up feedback on the entire project.
-These are not intended for use with multiclassing or prestige classes.
-In CR terms, I'm aiming for something in about the 2-3 level, with the idea that characters using these rules could theoretically play alongside Vampires and similar creatures who used the normal rules.
I recently included a Cavalier and an Alchemist in an online game I run every week. The PCs are level 8 and are a Kobold Fighter who uses crossbows, an Elven Abjurant Champion, and a Halfling Rogue/Bard/Pathfinder Chronicler.
Opponent number 1 was the Cavalier, an elite goblin guard who was at level 8. The main thing learned from this combat is that mounted combat is REALLY good. The party got in a stealth attack and a free full round of combat while the Cavalier called his mount over and got on, and yet he still nearly killed the Kobold in just two attacks. Spirited Charge + Lance led to some devastatingly huge amounts of damage, and the Cavalier's Charge ability made this an even better choice.
Conclusion: The Cavalier works well for what it is, which is a single-target combatant and a team-supporter. I didn't get to try out the latter (although I have a multi-Cavalier encounter planned for the future) but it excels at the former. That Kobold was built to tank and I still nearly wiped him out with what should have been an average encounter by CR.
Changes: The mounted combat stuff is nice, and the team-support stuff is nice, but the two don't really go together well. Mounted combat puts you moving around the battlefield a lot trying to end your turns out of range, which keeps all of the team-based stuff from helping anyone. I think the Cavalier's Charge and the Mount special abilities would be better designed as feats (so the Fighter can get them too) and the Expert Trainer ability should be one half of an option that could also get you Diplomacy bonuses. In short, mounted knights are cool, but the class has a lot of varied potential beyond that and I'd like to see them be less shoe-horned. Really, the problem is less that Cavalier's have to be mounted, because with only three abilities that's certainly not true, and more that if you want to play mounted combat there's no reason to play anything else.
Opponent number 2 was a Goblin Alchemist at level 10. The party employed very good tactics (closing in quickly so he could use bombs effectively, which he was built for, and surrounding him so he couldn't avoid attacks of opportunity) so this wasn't quite the challenging encounter I had expected, but it was still fairly tough. He started out with Greater Invisibility, which meant only the Abjurant Champion could see him, and a mutagen, which put him on par with the Abjurant Champion for combat. The Rogue had taken Blind Fight, which was what kept this fight from going on a lot longer.
Conclusion: Attacks of Opportunity are the Alchemist's bane. Unlike spellcasters, he has no defensive casting equivalent (although similarly, no failure chance). Bombs are really good, but also easily circumvented. So it's a situational class - really good with the right setup but really screwed with the wrong setup. The Alchemist seems a lot like an attempt at a warrior-mage hybrid. My one HUGE complaint is outlined below:
Changes: The Alchemist plays just like a spellcaster who uses different rules to do the same thing, and it brings back bad memories of everything that was wrong about psionics but with none of the benefits. What's more, he can't actually do much of anything different with the actual rules for alchemy except do it faster. Basically bombs, mutagens, and extracts all feel wrong, while all the other abilities feel perfect. My suggestion: Extracts should just be a normal spell list (I could see it being retweaked a bit to make an arcane 4-spell-level class, but that's a different project). Make the potion-based discoveries into class features, and let Alchemists make potions out of spells up to fourth level. Finally, make a part of the book be about better alchemical items (including mutagens and bombs) and give the Alchemist a discount on making them, maybe making the more expensive items require a certain Alchemist level to create.
I'm about to start running a Pathfinder game on Google Wave and I find myself looking for two additional players.
It looks like the game will be happening on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday evenings, and I have extra invites for Wave so that won't be a requirement.
If you're interested, a brief character concept would be nice.
More detailed stuff:
-Characters will be starting at level 8, with epic build points (25) and 33,000gp worth of equipment.
-I'm using a houserule that is still being finalized that will result in you having built-in bonuses to replace magic items that just give you bonuses (Belt of Giant Strength, Boots of Elvenkind, Pearl of Power, +2 Armor, etc.). Those items still exist, they just don't stack with the bonuses you'll be getting naturally and loot will be significantly rarer than normal once the game starts.
-I try to run games with a fairly even balance of combat and non-combat.
-The setting is a fairly generic homebrew that has no major kingdoms - just several hundred small ones.
-You will be starting and spending the first several sessions in the kingdom of Thornvale, a northern mountainous kingdom that has experienced a run of bad luck and found itself beset on all sides by a multitude of threats, including goblins, undead, a haunted forest, a dragon, and a castle swarming with demons.
-The two current characters are a rogue skill specialist and a currently undefined character who, based on my knowledge of the player, will probably be at least a partial caster of some sort with considerable combat capability.
-Should you be selected for the game and not want to leave your wave address (or email address if you need me to send you a wave invite) in a post, you can email it to me at pfgame(at)rotania.com
-I have fairly extensive GM experience, but this will be my first online text-based game.
-Classes from the APG playtest are allowed, but must be cleared by me first (that means the entire concept cleared, not just "can I use this?")
-I'm in the Central time zone, so that will be our standard.
