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Sadly in this industry things sometimes happen that prevent a writer or artist from being able to get started on time, and often it's not their fault. In my career there have been dozens of times when a company gave me a start date, but failed to give me everything ended to actually start. It's unfortunate, no one wants it to happen, but sometimes it does. And when it does, that almost never means the deadline end date is changing, but at the end of the day street dates and print windows and foreign holidays and shipping schedules just aren't that flexible. I work in an industry where this is, sadly, incredibly common. And as much as I desperately want it to be otherwise, we have to work with what we're given and I appreciate that Paizo is being forthright about the difficulties they've had rather than being silent.
The tension!
My priority list usually goes: 1. Formatting. It's provided and lends a lot to structure and readability. Plus, it's my first look into whether or not the designer can work within a set template (more generally, this can be seen as working within limitations) 2. Clarity. If I can't understand what you're saying, or I have to parse it out, I won't vote for you. 3. Effects. Mechanically SIAC, SAK or just plain uninspired effects won't get my vote because it lacks vision/MOJO. 4. Flavor. Make me want it. I'm hard to please and when you do, I'll remember you forever. EDIT: And items generally shoe-horned as "Good v Evil" or grotesque are harder for me to vote for, because it limits the type of person that can use it, and getting junk-loot is a peeve of mine. 5. Cost-to-power. I rarely vote for items 50k and up - they're almost too hard to acquire and don't fall within the scope of general play. Additionally, if I see that you give the world for no money, as amazing as that would be to have, you won't have my vote. 6. Minutae. Fine-tuned cost, caster level flubs, miswordings and the like are what I use when everything else is equivalent. That's just an attention to detail that I like to see - dat polish.
Test test. Have I hit Marathon?
Survived the 3rd cull! Congrats to everyone else who did too. (and voting progress check.)
Mine survived as well! Also saw the Sword of Leporine Luck, but I can't edit, so.
Sigh... Seems like there's a inordinate glut of SIAC items pretending they're not.
Guess Joke item gets it because I know it will die sooner or later.
I'm seeing a lot of posts come in with similar 2 options: -Add class levels (what OP did not want to do) and
An Advanced Kobold is not the Kobold the party fought, they are a fundamentally better creature. To maintain the same version of the creature, I agree with NOLA and Devilkiller - it gives the semblance of the same creature while still making them a threat. Alternatively, good old Tucker's Kobolds. The monsters are much weaker than the PCs, therefore, you can use them to the best of their power, no holds barred. Switch the roles, the PCs are the more powerful enemy that they must overcome. Tactics, trickery, evasiveness will make them the challenge. Yes, they will die, but the PCs will work for it. All without adding anything to the base creature.
Which would be quite interesting in it's own way. :)
I'm fairly sure I read somewhere in the lore that Nex in fact died during their war, but Geb couldn't accept that fact without solid proof. I'll have to do some hunting when I get home. Otherwise I'd assume the same as you.
My plot to kill Geb has always been to find some remains of Nex and just pop in on him one day, make him fully realize that Nex is well and truly dead. Thought about making it a plot point in an adventure where the PC's have to prevent the "BBEG" from doing that and entirely destabilizing the largest conglomeration of Undead in the world. And then make them decide if they want to destroy/hide or reveal the remains anyway, for their own reasons. I will agree though, that item would not be enough to kill either of them. Mainly focusing on keywords: "die" and "apparent injuries". As this does not include soul-destruction, it likely would do nothing to them.
Summary: "Survive the Gauntlet, Room #"
Thank you Sarrah. I am not a math/physics person at all (Social sciences here), so that illustrates my thoughts more precisely. Although I think, based on your information, it would drop more than .8...nevermind, I'm probably physicsing wrong again.
I like the idea that the PCs would have to deal with the dragons quietly to prevent others from knowing they were the ones killing them. I feel it adds a level of intrigue to the play. You might also want to limit how many dragons they fight. That's 16 in 20 levels right there. That's not hunting to me, that's outright massacre. I think you should make it a challenge to find the dragons and space out the combats more to make them feel more imposing. After the 4th dragon I'd start having the "same-old" feeling.
I would just dip a few levels in Fighter. Feats and some potentially useful stuff, and since you only need...11 levels in Druid to get the Crystal Ooze, I think you're fine.
Any number of effects, all of which could be assumed bad for the party. "Do it, send us all to Hell" can, yes, be any number of things: Opens rift to literal hell, explodes, binds everyone's soul to name a few. Case being, something bad will happen. The statement comes in the midst of combat, while being mauled on by a heavy melee attacker and this, assumedly, outnumbered, outmatched enemy pauses his combat to hold up an unidentified orb and say that. While being killed. It doesn't really matter if it was a bomb or not. It was an unknown variable that appeared on the battlefield, and was given enough telegraphing that the PCs should have gotten a feel that something was up. The archer chose to react as normal and shoot the guy to death. I'd call this a surprise if, as he was dying (not on his turn), he pulled a smile-and-wave before triggering the bomb. Nothing the players could do, and knew nothing of it.
I think many times players are upset by "surprise" rules. If a bomb was in hand someone should seen it. I don't feel it was really surprise. BBEG hold up a spherical object with an appropriately ominous statement when he's close to death. Something should have caught their attention. And the effect is really no different than a myriad of spell effects that deal damage, this one was just triggered by his death (similar to the death throes monster ability) instead of turn activated.
I just edited above, but I'll repeat here. I don't think he can use Focused Shot with Vital strike because of the wording on Vital Strike.
Is he using Focused Shot in a full attack? Because he can't. "As a standard action, you may make an attack with a bow or crossbow and add your Intelligence modifier on the damage roll. You must be within 30 feet of your target to deal this extra damage. Creatures immune to critical hits and sneak attacks are immune to this extra damage." And by Geb you're right Wasum, No rapid or many. I never thought I'd see the day. EDIT: Focused Shot also can't be combined with Vital Strike if I remember correctly.
Story trumps rules, IMO. You set callout that indicated what would happen if he died, the archer killed him anyway. Hence, they triggered the effect, ready action or not. Mechanically speaking, drops and falling occur instantly (for minor distances, which this is one of them). Considering that gravity pulls objects at ~9 m/s, that bomb would have dropped 27 feet in the first second of that guy's death (if we script turns as 6 seconds, each "Action" taking 2-3 seconds, there wouldn't be time to reasonably grab it). Assuming the guy is average height, the bomb would have to drop about 7 feet, so there's even less time to prevent it falling. I feel you did it right. If they wanted an action, I'd have let the closest PC try to reflex save and catch it (probably DC 30+ due to the prohibitive time restraint.) Though, even catching it wouldn't guarantee it didn't detonate. Most frontliners wear heavy armor and gauntlets, you know.
I'm really not seeing why anything is broken. The numbers (while vague) don't seem unreasonable. Fighters hit and do damage, that's (usually) their shtick. Warpriest I have no idea and that class might be experiencing some power creep, but as Davor said, no math. I'd also say the GM isn't challenging you the right way. You're roughly 4 melees, and two Casters. Now, I don't know what kind of bloody skeletons they were, but I'll assume they're just the generic template. Those are pathetically easy to deal with. And, no matter the power of the enemy barbarian, you still have 6:1 on his actions. Not to mention he's trying to overcome you as a heavy battler when you're all heavier. Again, don't know the situation. I'd drop a few debuff spells on you, maybe a dominate or confusion and let you duke it out yourselves.
That's what I assumed too. The whole aspect that you can have a BP and a Masterpiece up at the same time is making me question things. So, based on that, do you think Exquisite Accompaniment (causes you to not expend rounds of performance) would apply to Masterpieces?
Final bump attempt. What I'd really like to know is if 2 Masterpiece effects can be active at the same time.
Thanks for the link. It seems you had some similar questions to me. Hopefully we'll get some good traffic on this. ^_^
Can anyone link me to the post saying you can have a Masterpiece and Bardic Performance active at the same time? I've found the post where James Jacobs answers with "Yes" but that's not good enough for my GM. His logic is: "Of course you can, with something like Virtuoso Performance active". I think the "yes" is more encompassing than that, but I can't find the other post I saw.
Can Exquisite Accompaniment be used with a Masterpiece to have it not cost performance rounds? Can you have 2 different Masterpieces active at the same time? (ex: Vindictive Soliloquy and The Quickening Pulse simultaneously). I can't find anything that confirms either option, but I postulate: 1. Exquisite Accompaniment works with Masterpieces because they pull from the same resource as performances and "Talented bards can learn or create masterpieces, unusual applications of the bardic performance ability requiring special training even though you can use them while using a Bardic Performance. 2. You cannot maintain 2 because they are the same root ability. But they are different effects that do not mutually exclude using a second one at the same time/with a different one in effect. (Any support for either side would be appreciated.) Thoughts?
That thread was a lot to go through, but I think it answered a lot of my tertiary questions, thanks. ^_^
Thanks all for your advice. I really like the Lore Oracle dip, though Im having a hard time justifying losing 1 Bard level. Although Focused Trance, Sidestep Secret and Think On It are really useful... I'm still looking for items/feats/ect that expand on Knowledge checks. I have enough set to get as high a check as I really want. I just don't know if there are any items/feats that expand them in different ways like the Kirin Style path that I and Sarrah mentioned. I am curious Joe, why the Paladin levels and why Dual Cursed? (Paladin saves + rerolls?)
What Anguish said.
I'm making a Bard that I really want to be all about knowledge and knowing everything he can. I'm going vanilla Bard mostly because I don't like the Archivist's flavor for him. I was wondering if anyone could help me optimize those skills in terms of use and benefits. An example would be like the Kirin Style feat (only one I've found). Oh, and he's Human.
I want to take Orfamay Quest's statement to the logical extreme. Pathfinders mechanics for combat are largely about:
Every combat revolves around these criteria. Period. The end of combat happens when something runs out, barring GM choice. It doesn't matter if it's one Boss, 30 mooks or a Boss and their elites. Reduce one life-value to nothing, win combat. It's all the same whether it's a boss encounter or not. You want a unique, engaging combat? Killing the "Boss" should be a secondary or even tertiary objective. Unless the players are heavily invested in the death of their enemy, a "Boss Fight" as has been discussed is pointless. Other than hammed up anticipation, it's nothing more than another fight with a mook. WHY must the Boss die? Because they are trying to set something in motion and they are the one thing standing between you and stopping that. If the Boss dying stops everything that's in motion, they weren't a threat to begin with. In that case, having one Boss or 30 mobs doesn't matter: it hasn't been stopped yet. They're rift in the planar boundary is still going to open, their armies aren't going to stop moving with that momentum, that ritual is still ongoing. The Boss in an obstacle, not a goal. YMMV, as always.
I ended up submitting for the first time last year. But the item ended up being so complicated mechanically I barely had room for fluff. And it would make any GM's life incredibly hectic and difficult. And there'd probably be plenty of ways to abuse it. And the DC is based on scaling ranks. And it has a massive AoE... So, not surprised I didn't make it, but it was worth the try and I regret none of it!
Click Me: Amulet of the Herald Aura strong enchantment; CL 11th Slot throat; Price 10,000 gp; Weight 1 lb. Description This ornate gold and silver choker lays snug against the throat, resting squarely against the windpipe. When speaking, your words slip past the hearer's defenses and intentions, begging them to listen. Three times per day as an immediate action, the wearer can activate the Amulet of the Herald to treat all Hostile and Unfriendly sentient creatures in a 60 foot radius burst as Indifferent. The affected creatures cease all current actions and actively attempt to prevent hostility. This effect does not stop active combat. Under this effect, creatures are susceptible to negotiation and can understand each other as if they shared a language, even if they do not. The Diplomacy skill can only be used to make requests while under this effect. The DC for Diplomacy checks is based on the creature's original disposition. Any hostile action by either side, direct or indirect - including actions that place the other party at a disadvantage - negates the effect immediately. This includes allowing hostile actions to take place or fleeing. Once affected, creatures are no longer flat-footed. The effect lasts for up to 1 minute, at which point all dispositions return to normal. A Will save with a DC equal to the wearer's Diplomacy modifier negates the effect. This check is made once, against the creature with the highest Will save modifier of all the creatures in range. Creatures that cannot hear are unaffected.
I was so glad to see this and know for sure, only to see my item the next vote... I'll definitely be keeping an eye out to return the favor.
Bump for critique.
So, I was inspired by a friend's art project to create a monster. Below is my first attempt at the beast. Any comment or critique is welcome.
Spoiler: Shuffling inside of shelves and books, this long mass of old cover leather and pages writhes, continuously devouring the materials around it, old passages of words still visible on its body. Pagerend Worm | CR 6
ECOLOGY
The Pagerend Worm is roughly 3 feet long and 6 inches in diameter. Covering the soft, fragile core of the creature is a thick wreath of parchment and leather, hardened by the Worm’s digestive processes, many of the words and symbols still visible. Its maw is a mass of serrated teeth leading down into its throat, easily chewing through any soft material. Despite being quite intelligent, Pagerend Worms behave as mindless for all intents and purposes, the entirety of their mental ability reserved for memorizing and categorizing the information they consume. They react violently to any perceived danger, boring into the offending creature. An injured Worm will slap against the ground, alerting any Worms within tremorsense range to help it. All worms leap at their targets, guided by their blindsight, aiming for necks, stomachs and other soft areas to bore into their victims. Upon consuming enough materials, a Pagerend Worm will split apart, giving birth to a new Pagerend Worm. This causes the gathered materials composing the Worm to split in half. Should a Pagerend Worm be slain, the items it has consumes can be restored with a make whole spell, so long as all the pieces of the item are part of the Worm. If a Worm has split, all Worms with a part of the item must be slain and gathered to restore the item. This also works for any magic scrolls the Worm has consumed.
I'm thinking Wild Mystic, yes. Though I would advise against min-maxing, so you can deal some physical damage in a pinch and use your wild-shaping as utility.
@Ishmell: Master Summoner gets Augment Summoning free and Superior Summoning only has Augment Summoning as a pre-req., so he can bypass that. Though SF (conj) is a nice option for later.
@Third Mind: *Smacks head* I can't believe I forgot Improved Initiative and Extra Summons. I second both of those as well, though Extra Summons is only necessary if you have a loooong adventure-day, otherwise the 5+cha you get by default should cover you.
I would say go for a Slyph. You've got 3 Ifrits in the group already, and having a wind-based race in the desert sounds cooler than another hot-head. I notice there is no healer, so you could go Cleric/Oracle. Or possibly Desert Druid, they seem pretty good thematically and mechanically for Deserts. I think your character should have some form of healing to use, just to cover that base. Of the three above, I'd most likely pick a Sylph Desert Druid. Play up the survival of the fittest in the hostile wilds. That sort of thing. The Horizon Walker prestige might be neat too.
@Stream: Ah, didn't realize it was restricted to one class' spell list. Re-reading it, I see why they concluded what they did. My primary focus as this witch will be the debuffer. So, I'd be looking into that area. Although you bring a very good point about getting some reflex-based spells to supplement. Part of me wants to avoid the Dazing spell combo because another person I'm playing with (pretty knit group) is using/will be using the mechanic (and I abhor using a similar tactic to another group member, even if it's a different game...not sure why). Summoner though...that has strong potential for early very powerful spells... @wraithstrike: I tried that not too long ago actually. Ultimately, it wasn't much use because I couldn't exclude Witch spells, but it is a great way to search for something specific.
I chose the Cosmopolitan (Diplomacy/Bluff) for my Master Summoner (because if you're going to summon beings from beyond, you should be able to persuade them, or at least lie). 2 extra languages and 2 Wis/Cha/Int skills as class skills. I would also recommend against getting Quicken Spell as a feat. You can't make much use of it as a 6-level caster and a Rod of Quicken should more than cover your needs. Heighten is a good idea, but not great (as per the 6-level spells). I'm not sure Spell Perfection allows you to heighten to 9th level from 6-level casters, as that would allow a 9-level caster to cast 12th level effective spells, so you may want to check on that. As for the Sorc/Wiz spell, Contingency is always a nice one.
I'm working on making a Samsaran Witch for a friend's game and I want to use the variant racial ability that would let me grab some non-witch spells for her. My problem is, I can't find a way to scan for arcane spells that exclude witch. Does anyone have any non-witch arcane spells they'd recommend? Also, if I were to, say, take Bard spell overwhelming presence, would I get use of that spell at 6th level (as it was from the Bard list) or would it be 9th level (as for Wiz/Sorc).
this we will have to disagree on, as I fear anything more powerful runs real risk of destabilizing the game. I would love to hear your ideas though, I am sure they will be pretty awesome. I agree it runs the cost of destabilizing the game, but you should be able to counter the power/gift if they choose to abuse it. Of course, I'm much more in favor of flashy/potent low-use powers or basic passive ones. One of my ideas for it was giving a spell-like/supernatural ability usable 1/day at a spell level = to 1/3 their level (for something like 2 Boon Points). And they can improve that to 3/day or 5/day by spending 2 more Boon Points per upgrade, eventually leading to At Will (for 4 Boon Points). So, to get an At Will Ability, based on this, you'd have to spend 10 boon points. (Which would be hefty, especially because I'm a complete stinge with praise...I try to be better, I really do! >.< ). Other than that, I haven't thought much on what prizes. It came down to I was going to set Tier levels for the points. 1 would be say...+2 to a skill, 2 = A reroll chance, 3 = Bonus feat or +2 Ability score (so on). And if the player had something specific they wanted, they'd have to work with the GM to find the right tier and cost. To use one of your examples: The Contacts Boon. 1 gets you a common worker, 2 an expert, 3 a Master, 4 a grandmaster and 5 perhaps a figure of legend as a contact. Either way, I'd want it to be something that fills out the character, makes them truely unique and memorable. Might break the game a little, but we can always ramp up the challenges. The one worry I'd have is PC overshadowing. Anywho, I'm rambling somewhat. I'm glad you found my nonsense useful, means a lot. ^_^ If I come up with any cool ideas for rewards, or ever stabilize the Boon Tiers, I'll post it up and perhaps you can give it a once over.
First, I think this is a great idea. GM leveling seems much more reasonable than EXP based leveling for a few reasons (for me). 1. There is no penwork to keep track of EXP
However, I feel that connecting EXP awards to the system used for leveling just...replaces one thing with another. Instead of advancing with class abilities through straight EXP, you get "Boon" levels, effectively a free power-up. The awards should be separated from the traditional EXP Pathfinder uses, something that isn't based on how much you complete or kill so they are special, something worked for, not given. Extra awards should require more effort. I'm probably going to steal the core idea of this, but I'd run it that ingenuity, superb roleplay, handling situations well and cleverness would give you "EXP" (probably in the realm of 20 xp per at lowest). And each 100 xp gives you the equivalent of a "boon" point to spend. The rewards would probably be larger considering the effort that would have to go into getting the points as well. Of course, this is a lot less sure and variable, so there'd have to be a lot more player interaction and consideration of their actions for awards. Plus the whole "why're they getting more xp than me"... but that's a problem for later. I really like the idea, though I think it should go above and beyond the preset EXP structure. 2 cents given, again: great idea and thank you for posting it.
I was wondering if it would be possible to give a list of the anonymous item rankings based on what the community voted after the 32 are picked. I'm very curious to see where my item places in this, even if it isn't selected for the Top 32. I don't think it would be too difficult since the items are already being ranked in some manner by the people voting on them.
I don't think it's a variant. I think it's a Barbarian Rage Power (Reckless Abandon).
You could also change the qualifications of Regenerate Head to be negated with Positive Energy/Holy water (as appropriate for Undead.)
You could also pop open the ARG and tag on a few new abilities for a subspecies of Kobold that is just plain nastier, netting at 2/3 CR. Barring that, Advanced would bump it, maybe a Giant template or something similar. |