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So my group wants to do something that they never do: be sneaky. We're hoping to do this as a 1-2 game session as a small break from our main campaign. They want to do a full party of rogues (or similar) and basically pull off an "Ocean's 11" type robbery or bank heist. So, looking for some help:

--What types of classes would be good at this, and what level should we start at to make this fun, but without requiring too much learning of the class (some players aren't super familiar with the game). Also looking for possible pre-made characters for this.

--Are there any pre-written scenarios, adventures, OR parts of a campaign that I could take a part from?

--Has anyone done this before, and what type of advise can you offer?

We're probably about 3 gaming sessions away from this side-track, so I have a couple months to get set up, but not too long. Thanks in advance!

Background: Our group has been together for three years now, and one of our members is moving to a new state and will be leaving the group. I've decided to put together an "end" to their story (the rest of the party wants to reform w/new characters in the same world/story, so it will be a big ending) and I've been having a hard time of making this interesting.

Advice needed:

So, my party is all level 9 (Oracle, Magus, Investigator, Inquisitor, Summoner), yet due to some early power creep from pre-written materials, they can handle a CR14 fight pretty easily. The story has led them to make a contract with Pharasma who has them hunting down a Lich (which happened to be the same enemy that's been menacing them for the past year or more). They know what the phylactery is, and I will have Pharasma deliver it in an epic style after the fight (which will actually create a major change in the world after this happens, but they don't know that yet).

I need this lich fight to be AMAZING. I'm not sure what to do to make it more exciting though... The player who is leaving has requested that he is either killed, or sent to a demonic plane, and I need to figure out a way to have that happen through the lich (or something the lich summons). What are some ways to make this happen?

I also do *not* want this fight to be a Party vs 1-lich fight. I was thinking about making the lich also a necromancer (as this would piss off Phrasma even more), but not sure how to make this happen and also have the lich himself be exciting in combat?

Also, I'm looking for advice on what to make as a target CR for these combatants? This should be a VERY dangerous fight, and they know it, and are prepared. (very prepared)

I've built a couple of ideas for this lich... but ultimately end up not creating a great enemy, so I'm looking for all the help I can get! Thank you so much for the advice :D

So, I’ve been the GM for an amazing group for almost 2 years now. We finished up Dragon’s Demand late last year, and they really hooked onto the extra-planar themes in it (sorry not going to spoil things, so I’ll just leave it at that). Long story short: I originally wanted to tie that story into The Slumbering Tsar Saga, since I’ve had that book sitting on a shelf for a long time. While we were in down time between campaigns the Druid switched characters over to an Investigator because no one had the ability to find traps… and decided to focus on finding Demons and Evil Outsiders.

So, this resulted in the campaign turning into Demonbusters for Hire in Oppara. I’ve since done a bunch of research on Oppara, and surrounding towns, and they keep finding everything I’m not prepping (they told me they wanted political intrigue so I made a sub-plot about that with a whole confrontation related to the “rebel lords” on the outskirts and a Phallanx [I adopted it from a Season 0 PF Scenario], they told me they wanted to dungeon crawl so I prepared a subterranean dungeon crawl. I’ve poured hints and clues about these things all over the game… yet they intentionally go after the demon story line I haven’t prepared). So I’m about ready to embrace the demon story line.

I’m looking for help with tips on story line ideas, and demons that will fit my story needs. So far the party has picked up the Secrets of the Dreaming Dark. They have found out that all traces of the god Orcus have been erased from history. They have uncovered a hive of Viduus Psychopomps, which the PCs know have probably been sent to remove the memories from certain people. I feel like I have the start of a great story line wherein Orcus comes back to rise in power, and I can take elements of Rappan Athuk or Slumbering Tsar piece-meal out of those books to use to save on prep time… but I’m honestly drawing a little bit of a blank on how to connect these threads together, have a good reason that they’re happening (since the reasoning that I had has since become moot), and how to unravel these secrets in layers.

I also am not sure much about demons! I’m looking for spidery, memory altering, or other things that would work well for this setting. What are some reasons that Demons/Planar creatures would want to cross over for? Why would Orcus want to erase memories? Who would try to enforce this? What would a good mid-boss be who’s been put in charge of this memory wipe? I think that this will also involve politics, what sort of political advantages could someone get to be involved in this (possibly use it to tie into the removal of rogue lords)?

As a new-ish GM to running mid/high level adventures (haven't done it since the early 2000's with D&D 3.0), and I’m doing an OK job of balancing encounters for a group of 4 level seven PCs, but the encounters are all very straight-forward. I am hoping to snag some good dungeons/encounters/sub-plots that I can take and re-purpose easily (i.e. I’m already using the level 7 Thornkeep dungeon, and I’ve used that one PFS Scenario) that are either from other Modules, Adventure Paths, or PFS Scenarios that I would have to only make minor (superficial) modifications to drop wholly into my campaign. Also, anything that can easily be taken from Rappan Athuk or Slumbering Tsar.

Thank you so much for anything that you can come up with. I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that I need to prepare for this as I allowed the cam

TLDR: I need help with demon-y planar creature recommendations that are either spidery, or memory altering related. Also, tips on story lines that involve rewriting massive amounts of history by demons. And finally a list of pre-written demon based modules/adventures/dungeons for level 7+ that I can piece out and drop into my campaign.

So, I'm thinking of rolling up a Magus as I'm very intrigued by them. However it seems like they have too many drawbacks before level 3-ish. I'm not exactly sure how combat would work with them either. Do you still draw attacks of opportunities when casting within AOO range? Are you always attacking with a -2 penalty? Basically I'm thinking of making one starting at level 1 and they just seem as though they'd be somewhat useless for a few levels. Please tell me that I am, and how I am, wrong.

If anyone is willing to, could you walk me through what a couple rounds of combat would look like playing as a magus at level 1 using them to their strongest potential?

Also, what is the consensus on the archetypes for a Magus?

Thanks in advance.

So, I did the research and searched the forums and came up with no official answers to my question, just what seems to be a lot of people saying it's not legal.

I'm looking for where this is explicitly stated (hopefully with a link).

It is stated that a Ranger, in the core rule book, can pick a bird companion. It is stated in the Bestiary that a Roc is a valid Ranger companion. It is stated in the additional rules that the Roc is a legal companion... Yet the popular consensus is that a Roc is not a PFS legal Ranger companion. Where is this explicitly stated?

Thanks :)

I find that starting a game at level 1 encourages most players to pick humans for the bonus feat. I'm looking for recommendations for how to add a bonus feat to all other core classes and still keep the bonuses balanced so that I can get some diversity in my low level games.
Does anyone have input/ideas for how to balance this for each class? I'm not great with balance of this level.
Has anyone done this before?

I'm starting up a campaign that I'm debating on leading into the Slumbering Tsar Saga (this will mostly depend on if I can read enough of it by then). I was looking to see if anyone had any experience or ideas for laying lots of hints or perhaps even a potential reoccurring NPC to help foreshadow/build anticipation for getting to TSTS?

I've currently only skimmed/browsed the gigantic book, but didn't see any potential hooks for doing this. The first 6/7 levels will be on Golarion, so I guess I'm also looking for a good location to wedge Tsar into on Golarion.

I'm going to be GMing some games for PFS locally, and also I'm practicing this weekend with some friends who are new to PF/S. I told them I'd have everything ready for them, including PFS # Cards as I'd seen other GMs with them. I looked all over the site here and can't find them, I'd like to have them for this weekend as well as for the future at larger organized events... where do I find them?

I posted this in the wrong forum before and didn't get a good response so I'm hoping to get some better advice here.

Ok, so I am going for a concept here and am trying to determine if I can use both the Destructive Smite and Ferocious Strike (Destruction Domain and Ferocity Sub-domain) in combat for a single attack. I don't see any reason I can't as one is a moral bonus and the other doesn't state what bonus type it is. Basically what I'm asking is can I:

Declare an attack
Declare it a Destructive Smite & Ferocious Strike
Roll for hit
(If hit) Apply STR + Destructive Smite/Ferocious Strike damage

?

This is also for PFS so I'm trying to be very specific on this.

Also, can I use these while raged (As per the Rage sub-domain, and/or under the influence of the Rage spell)?

Ok, so I am going for a concept here and am trying to determine if I can use both the Destructive Smite and Ferocious Strike (Destruction Domain and Ferocity Sub-domain) in combat for a single attack. I don't see any reason I can't as one is a moral bonus and the other doesn't state what bonus type it is. Basically what I'm asking is can I:

Declare an attack
Declare it a Destructive Smite & Ferocious Strike
Roll for hit
(If hit) Apply STR + Destructive Smite/Ferocious Strike damage

?

This is also for PFS so I'm trying to be very specific on this.

Also, can I use these while raged (As per the Rage sub-domain, and under the influence of the Rage spell)?

I am trying to write a module that takes place in Numeria that will be for four level 4 Androids waking up in a crashed skyship... Or rather being woken up. It will be set in current time Golarion, and I want the lore to be as accurate as possible.

So I'm looking for more info on the Technic League, and the civilization that fell from the sky. I know I've read it in something before, and I even bought Lost Cities of Golarion thinking it was in there (I was wrong), but I can't find the info (ISWG doesn't have enough info from what I've run across). Also I'm looking for more info on skymetal (at some point I'll need to break through some and need to know good ways to do this).

Bonus round: looking for recommended robots to activate as challenges adequate for this level/party size. I have most of the bestiary supplements and all hardcover bestiaries. I am drawing heavily from the ISB, but a point in the right direction would be awesome.

Thanks in advance!

OK, so I'm making my second PFS character to play with my partner, and I really like the idea of a witch as an enemy debuffing machine. Someone who can just take out the enemies so they turn into ragdolls for my party to cut up. I am also planning on being a knowledge whore for knowing everything I can. I'm looking at two different ideas for builds, both dump stats. I'm curious if it is worth the dump on STR specifically, and which Witch is better (I am dumping CHR as I want to both get the points and play up the ugly hag).

OPTION 1: Teifling
STR: 7
DEX: 18 (16+2)
CON: 14
INT: 18 (16+2)
WIS: 10
CHR: 7 (9-2)

Lvl 1 Feat: EX Hex (Cackle)
Starting Hex Evil Eye

Traits:
Exile (+2 Init)
Second Trait (Still debating, but one that gives an extra Knowledge as a class skill)

Init: +10 (+4 DEX, +4 Familiar Compy, +2 Trait)

PROS: 2x18 starting ability Score, Higher Dex than human option, Unique stuff from Theifling (i.e. tail)
CONS: Much longer to get a 20 INT, less skills than human, no bonus starting feat, no good favored class options

OPTION 2: HUMAN
STR: 7
DEX: 16
CON: 14
INT: 19 (17+2)
WIS: 10
CHR: 7

Lvl 1 Feat: EX Hex (Cackle)
Human Feat: EX Hex (Misfortune)
Starting Hex Evil Eye

Traits:
Exile (+2 Init)
Second Trait (Still debating, but one that gives an extra Knowledge as a class skill)

Init: +10 (+4 DEX, +4 Familiar Compy, +2 Trait)

PROS: 20 Int at level 4, Lots of skills for good knowledge, good favored class option, bonus feat for strong early levels with lots of hexes.
CONS: Lower DEX, less flavor... No tail?

~~~~~~~~

So, I'm strongly leaning towards Human (OPTION 2) if it's PFS legal. I feel very min/max-y with dumping two stats, but I really have no desire to CHR for personal flavor, and I decided if I'm going go play some extremes I may as well dump my STR too.

Is there any larger drawbacks besides carry capacity that I'm ignoring that are strong reasons not to dump STR? Are these builds legal? Any other advice? Recommendation for second trait for getting good Knowledge skills (I'm thinking Missionary or Scholar of Ruins)? Thanks!

I'm still pretty new to PFS, and I did a search for this question but didn't see it so I'm just going to ask:

I was in a game about a month ago and there was a hiccup where there weren't enough Chronicle sheets and they couldn't print one up at the shop. The GM later made one and scanned it for me and emailed it to me stating it had been entered. I never checked and played a second game last week, then checked my page to see that only one game had been entered, and it was only the most recent. I emailed that GM back and still haven't heard back. I play my next game tomorrow and I'm looking forward to lvl 2, but since that will only be the second session entered... What do I need to do? I'm sure there's an easy answer for this but I can't find it.

As a bonus question: I remember reading that I can change things on my character when I hit lvl 2 but then it's set, is there a limit to this? I. E. Can I rearrange my ability scores or feats? I feel like I may have dumped a score a little too low, and I'm not feeling confident with my feat selection. Also, will I need to do this before I hit lvl 2,or is between my 3rd and 4th game the right time?

I know this is long, if you want to skip the fluff jump down to where it says "The main problem:"

So, I'm coming off a many year hiatus from games, but for the last 6 months I've been playing in a home game bi-monthly Pathfinder game, and the occasional PFS game at a local shop. I used to mainly GM games and played lots of d20 (3rd ED) games (D&D, M&M, CoC) but haven't touched anything until I started preparing for this home game about 8 months ago.

Note: I am very rules oriented. I like the nitty-gritty details of all the books and so since I started playing this campaign I've picked up almost all the core books (GM guide excluded) many of the player companions, and setting books over time. I also plan on running my first 1-shot game next weekend. After all this research I think my knowledge of PF has surpassed my GM, and I am pretty sure this is where the conflict is originating from.

Background: The campaign has had some bumpy points. We started with 5 people, one person dropped quickly but it was just a bard so no worries, then after about 4 months we lost our barbarian due to medical issues and the game took a break as the rest of the group couldn't do anything (we finished a side mission that we were doing w/o the barbarian and then had to stop and look for a 4th). This also coincided with winter holidays, so the break worked nicely for timing.

We just found the 4th member and have been going again for about 6 weeks (3 sessions), he's a fun guy who's new to Tabletop, but familiar with MMO/videogames so he's taking to it well. The thing is the only person who knew him is the GM and I think that our GM is going out of his way to let the new guy shine at the expense of both the group and the campaign. Examples of this would include a 45 minute (real time) "role play" with the GM and the New Guy, and one other person. This left me and one other person sitting at the table watching a conversation happen for 45 minutes with little knowledge gained about the circumstance and a failed attempt to convince an NPC of a lie.

When that was over the GM turned to us (the two not involved in the convo) and asked "ok what would you like to do," at which point I got a little bit curt and essentially said I'd like to just roll for some info to get the group back together as quickly as possible. This was one of the last things we did for the evening as the time was winding down, but I did get a little snappy about the situation.

The other part of why I got snappy was that this was our second game night in a row that was "roleplay heavy". The previous session had 2 combat encounters lasting in total 4-6 rounds of combat (the first encounter lasted 1 round and I'm not sure about the second, but it was also very quick). That night we only had one random encounter that lasted 3 rounds of combat and then after a successful casting of fear we didn't even get to finish the encounter as the beast never returned. I'm ok with the occasional roleplay heavy session, but I've been noticing a pattern for a while that the game is extremely combat light. We were initially informed by the GM that it would be a steady balance between the two, and I'm fine with that. I have in the past mentioned to the GM that I would appreciate more combat as my character (Cleric w/channel emphasis) is not designed to roll for skills, and neither is the Fighter (working for a Cleave/crit build). In fact the fighter only made perception and sense motive rolls the entire night (outside of the 3 rounds of combat), and was only involved in one conversation. Note that we had to approve our character with the GM, and all skill/feat/upgrades to our characters must be approved at level up too.

Backing up a little: As I stated I think I've learned more about the PF setting/game than my GM, which for a while bothered him that I was questioning his use of Golarion. He decided to just take a map of Varisia and add a few towns here and there. I was not informed initially that this was a homebrew world that just borrowed the maps. So I would start asking about Setting based questions, or inferring thing (mostly religious things as I'm a cleric and put lots of points into Knowledge Religion). After a game he pulled me aside and said that he didn't appreciate me doing that as his world was different from the Paizo setting. I explained that I didn't realize it, and explained how I came to the conclusion that I did. We came to an understanding on this, and apparently I've been doing fine (mostly as a result of communication).

As I also stated at one point, I like the nitty-gritty rules of things. I ask a lot of questions like "How'd that happen?" when something takes two move actions in one round. Or "Wait, don't you roll XXX against roll type YYY?" I do this quite frequently as I like to understand the rules so that I can play within them as strongly as possible, and with my upcoming GMing I want to make sure that I understand the rules so that I don't make any mistakes there. This has led to the most recent problem.

The main problem: After my last game session I got a text the next day from the GM saying "I know you don't mean anything by it, but you need to stop challenging my calls in game." and "You seemed agitated as the night went on, did you even have fun?" (These are shortened versions of the questions.) If you've read this far you'd remember the frustration I had with waiting to the side for 45 minutes (which has happen frequently in the campaign as the GM is prone to splitting up the party to the extent that we've been split into two groups for entire sessions), which is why I was getting agitated as the night went on, but also that there's just weeks of no combat, and little combat seems to be common in our campaign (which I explained as a response to the fun question). The challenging his calls, I can see why it looked that way (and I did taunt him playfully a little about it): a monster (water drake) flew out of the water, attacked our rogue, then flew back into the water (covering a total of about 150ft). I asked "Wait, a creature can take a move action, attack, then take another move action in one round?" When the GM said "yes" I didn't argue the point I just smiled and said something to the extent of "well I call shenanagins!" and ribbed him a little. I wasn't worried about the encounter being too deadly, nor that he was necessarily cheating, I was really just looking to clarify the rules and figure out how to get the water drake on land to fight him.

Perception was the key and I can understand why it frustrated him, but even still I feel that asking questions should be allowed. I apologized for the situation and said that we should hang out for lunch and discuss what issues he had specifically and how I can correct the behavior so that I get to ask questions and he doesn't feel like I'm challenging him. We are trying to figure out a time for this still... so ...

The Question: What should I do about this? I'm getting pretty frustrated at the game's lack of combat in general at this point, and on top of that I've really listened to him about "challenging him" (which we previously talked about related to Golarion Lore), and feel like I may have just hit a nerve and he's lashing out a little about the last night. Am I just being a huge PITA and should just apologize, back off, and shut up? I know it will be very difficult for me to not ask questions as it is part of my nature, but I'm not sure why it bothers my GM so much since I'm basically the exact same way at PFS games and those GMs seem to either not mind or even like my questions.

I am planning to find out what it is about my attitude that bothers him and adjust it in related to my questioning him in game, but was I doing anything explicitly wrong? Should I just never questions a GM? How do I breach the topic of "we need more combat, the Fighter does nothing most night and I'm just a buff machine for Chrisma rolls those nights, it's not balanced." ?