Still on book two of Rise of the Runelords. I've changed the plot considerably from the main book. I've been working on introducing the main plot of the AP earlier. To better establish Leng as a threat within the setting the party is currently trying to rescue the daughter of the mayor of magnimar from the mines of Leng - her dream self having been trapped there for weeks by a Nightmare Dragon.
The party is level 8 but fairly large; 6 players and 2 GMNPC followers. As a result; and to better display the powers they are facing, anyone serving the big bad has mythic tiers. This week is their fight with an M1 Adult Nightmare Dragon with mythic initiative to take 2 turns each round of combat.
I've altered the leveling curve a bit to account for my divergence from the AP, so they'll be level 20 with maybe M2 or 3 by the time they hit the end of book 6.
I have no really kept up with this thread, so pardon me if I'm repeating points or not entirely relevant.
As far as a Reach Magus goes its uh...difficult to say the least. You can get there eventually with improved Whip Mastery but thats level 9 at the earliest. The Flying Talon is a 1h reach weapon but it doesn't threaten, so you don't get AoOs ever.
Long Arm seems like the best option, so you wield whatever one handed weapon you want. Turn 1 you can Long Arm and move up to position, turn 2 you can spell-combat Frostbite and start smacking people with frost bite AoOs (I believe this works). Another option to Long Arm is Enlarge Person (but you can't spell combat Enlarge Person due to its casting time AND it lowers your Dex so fewer AoOs)
Sure you're eating 2 spells each combat this way, but you'll hit Spell Recall by level 4 (at level 4 you're looking at 2+Int Arcane Points) and you'll have 4 first level spells each day. You can burn an arcane point to recover your spent resources. Assuming you have 5 arcane points, that gives you exactly 3 fights during the day at "full power" at level 4:
Fight 1: Arcane Pool Enhance (1), First Level Spells (2)
Fight 2: Arcane Pool Enhance (2), First Level Spells (4)
In-between Fights: Arcane Pool Spell Recall (4)
Fight 3: Arcane Pool Enhance (5), First Level Spells (6)
And that still leaves you with both your 2nd level spells for the day in case things don't go as planned.
This all works with either strength or dexterity, so you can go Level 1: Weapon Finesse, Level 3 (or 1 if Human): Combat Reflexes. That leaves you with a lot of resources, every feat from level 5+ to do your thing. Once you've got 4th level spells in your pocket you can start using Monstrous Physique 2 instead to get up to Large Size as part of Spell Combat. Plus at that level you'll have Lunge so you'll have 15ft of reach during your turn, 10ft of reach otherwise meaning you can force enemies into your reach. Foes with more reach than you will still be an issue, but unless you're constantly fighting huge "tall" creatures you'll not be seeing too many things with 15ft of reach.
Group's working our way through Rise of the Runelords Book 2...I am gonna have them fight a Black Dragon (Fungal Creature) instead
The party handily beat down the Fungal Dragon (Fungal Creature Black Dragon with a mix of the Juvenile and Young Adult stat lines) and has reached level 7. They will soon be off to Magnimar, which means I have a lot of prep-work to do. Probably a whole new google doc of references, but thats the GM's life. The story is mostly the same, but the Mayor's Daughter has been kidnapped by the cult to force him into marrying Xanesha. We'll see what direction the party goes once they get to the city and I'll adapt as I go. Instead of a confrontation at the Shadow Clock, I plan for a heck of a wedding.
Group's working our way through Rise of the Runelords, I've been doing some pretty serious rewrites as we've gone to flesh out the world and keep things interesting. Currently they are about half way through book 2, about to head off to Magnimar. Before they go though, I've made a stat block for Vorel and they're going to confront him. Should be in a week or two.
The party discovered Ghost Powder and so I've had to rework the Vorel fight, again. Originally he was going to possess the Skinsaw man during that confrontation and show up as a Lich but they ganked TSM during one of his murder attempts so thats out of the window. Looking at all my options, I've decided to let them invalidate the fight with Vorel's ghost and have taken some inspiration from Monster Hunter World (Iceborn) and am gonna have them fight a Black Dragon (Fungal Creature) instead...maybe with a few adjustments if the stats don't line up right.
Group's working our way through Rise of the Runelords, I've been doing some pretty serious rewrites as we've gone to flesh out the world and keep things interesting. Currently they are about half way through book 2, about to head off to Magnimar. Before they go though, I've made a stat block for Vorel and they're going to confront him. Should be in a week or two.
--I have rage as a mechanic that gives me more decisions. I like making decisions.
I concur with everything in this post. But especially with this line in particular. If your class doesn't let you say "I use/cast/activate X" with a class feature its not a good class. Phrases like "I rage", "I sneak attack", "I flurry of blows", "I smite evil", "I cast fireball" are all iconic player moments that feel really good. They're decision points and making decisions is fun. The core fighter does not have a single class feature that you as the player interact with on a moment to moment basis. Its all static numeric increases.
WMH and AMH both helped out with this a little bit, but without advanced weapon/armor training (and even with most of them, honestly nearly all of them are just more numeric bonuses) you don't ever decide to use a class feature as a fighter. They're just all on all the time. Sure big numbers are fun, but you can get bigger numbers by raging or smiting or sneak attacking. So all core Fighter has going for it is extremely consistent above average statistics which is...not especially exciting.
Active/Reactive class abilities >>>>>> Passive Numeric Bonuses
PS: Yeah, Bloodrager is a great martial class, especially for beginners. Rage + Bloodline + Spells + Actual Class Skills is a wonderful combination to make your player feel impactful.
I’ve toyed with a homebrew class inspired by the Red Mage from final fantasy, the idea would be that they’re a 4th level spellcaster but they get a ton of spells per day and scaling cantrips. Their main gimmick was going to be doublecast, where instead of gaining access to 5th, 6th, and etc spell slots they could instead cast two spells with a total level up to 5th as a full round action. So even with increased spells per day you could nova through your spellcasts if you weren’t careful.
Any class that doesn't let you make meaningful decisions or have impactful class features. So...
Bard: Just to make Masterpieces cooler and built into the class without having to sacrifice feats or spells.
Brawler: Needs talents/powers like a Rogue/Barbarian.
Cavalier: Throw out Orders, add in talents, make their horse better. Its the only pet class that doesn't have spell slots to keep their Pet up to snuff.
Fighter: Give them actual class features: feats don't count. Also talents.
Gunslinger: So like, Wizard Schools/Cleric Domains are kinda the least adaptable thing that I accept as something similar to a Talent. Deeds are somehow even worse than Domains or Schools because you always get the same deeds. Also, guns in Pathfinder in general are badly written and should be reworked.
Ninja: Should have been its own class, like Monk meets Rogue. Lots of fun you could do here.
Ranger: Favored Enemy/Favored Terrain is a holdover from 3.5 and is bad because its too narrow for most campaigns.
Rogue (Unchained): Honestly still needs full BAB progression and maybe something else cool, like Sneak Attack working on Vital Strike or something. No idea how this is still the only .75 BAB class without spell slots.
Samurai: Should be merged into the cavalier rework, there isn't as much potential here as there is for Ninja.
Shifter: Everything about this class is bad. It doesn't just need an unchained version it needs to be unmade and reborn as something entirely different.
Swashbuckler: Deeds again, they're bad. If you've played one swashbuckler you've played every swashbuckler.
Vigilante: Just make him full BAB you cowards (exception is for the archetypes that grant spellcasting, those should remain .75 BAB).
Since we got four Unchained classes from the original Unchained book, there is room here for at least 3 whole books of Unchained content! Or just one if you don't release additional rules (aside from an update on Firearms because the rules for them are terrible). Anyway, for all of these I suggest buffing the class or making the class smoother and easier to play like the Monk, Rogue, or Barbarian Unchained. None of the classes need the nerf-bat like Summoner Unchained.
Hey Folks, I've been working on doing a rework for the Gunslinger. I've never liked playing classes that did not let you select abilities or spells every few levels, so I ditched the deed system entirely and came up with a new core mechanic other than just "can shoot gun". I have one of my players testing it now, but I'm interested in more feedback.
As Gunslingers are precise and daring fighters, I gave them a real risk vs reward theme. They gamble their HP by provoking additional attacks in order to increase their DPR, and can risk Grit when making saving throws, combat maneuver checks, or skill/ability checks in order to recover it. Lastly they get to craft a special pool of ammunition they can use each day much like Alchemist Bombs.
The following document is a complete redesign of the Gunslinger. It also optionally includes a new set of rules for firearms and ranged weapons in order to make Guns more balanced and Crossbows more useful: giving each a specific role to play as compared to bows. You can probably run the Gunslinger without these new rules, or by only grabbing a select handful of them. If you do not want to use all of the new rules, I highly suggest allowing for Paizo Guns and Crossbows to be made "Heavy Frame" aka Composite.
Hunter and Barbarian is probably one of my favorite Gestalts. You grab Combat Expertise at level 1, Ferocious Mount as your Level 2 Rage Power, and for level 3 you grab Amplified Rage and Pack Flanking at the same time.
At this point both you and your Mount are raging for +8 Strength and +8 Constitution and anything both of you are threatening suffers from being flanked with another +4 bonus to your attack rolls. As soon as you can get yourself Power Attack you are ready to swing like a damn monster.
Hunter and Rogue can kinda do something similar with just Pack Flanking and Sneak Attacks to deliver hefty hits while gaining permanent flanking from being mounted.
I am also quite fond of Sorcerer/Scaled Fist Unchained Monk into Dragon Disciple/Scaled Fist.
I have a house rule where the minimum a character can roll on HP is Con Mod +1. So if you have 14 Con you’re getting at least a 3 on your HP roll.
This applies to monsters and doesn’t give a damn about the dice cap. If the monster has a 30 Con but only D6 on their HD they’re still “rolling” a 10. This helps late game monsters not get one shot.
Does mean if you’re a Con based class you will be huge: and that’s okay.
I wanna nominate the Elven Branch Spear. Out of the box its a martial weapon for Elves and Half Elves, it is a finessable reach weapon that requires zero feat investment [Unlike Whip or Spiked Chain], and has a +2 to AoOs based on movement (you know, the whole reason you use a reach weapon?). Sure its only got a 3x crit mod and only does 1d8 which is sub-par for most Martial Weapons (basically a Lance without the mounted bonus) but like; its a finesseable reach weapon with zero feat investment for elves. Thats literally unique in Pathfinder.
Love it on Unchained Rogues, Dex to damage on a reach weapon by level three. Beautiful.
Just because you can tell a meaningful story with your players only have 14 as their highest stat doesn't mean the game system was DESIGNED to accommodate that. The lower average stats a character has the more hyper-focused they need to be to be effective. Its why there are a hundred or more threads here in GD and Advice about "My highest Stat is a 12 what should I play" and the answer always comes back to pet-classes and spellcasters. I personally have more fun when my players come to me and go "So I wanna be a monk who fights with a Broom" and I can go "Sure, sounds good" instead of "Well, you don't really have the stat points to be a monk. How about a Spiritualist?"
I personally level my players up at narratively important points rather than track XP. Right now I’m running a Rise of the Runelords game and I have the points where people will level up pre-planned. Doesn’t matter what extra fights they pick or avoid: levels happen when they happen. This both encourages them to follow the story and prevents the weird mid-dungeon level up that might force extra rests.
That does force me to occasionally shuffle loot around to keep them on track for wealth by level, which can lead to enemies having more or less loot than “they should” per CR. Most enemies can be brought in line with a few minor stat changes, +2 strength is a fine alternative to a +1 weapon and etc.
Of course, my game group has largely done away with the filler fights. So I have fewer things to adjust numerically. No sense going to initiative and dragging the game to a halt because some bandits showed up alongside the road. Just narrate how you handle them and track the resources spent in narrative time.
Only issue with this for me is you need to put the stat in a racial + if you want 10 human average. Personally I'd prefer to drop one of the 14's to 12 and raise the 8 to another 10. Still to each their own.
I like my PCs to have at least one low stat both for balance and for roleplaying. My group is excellent in this regard, so its not a party of Charisma dumped goons or min-maxed god wizards. But I totally get what you're saying and you could even the mix out a little bit, this is just the one I've found works for my group. It also encourages people to not be human, there are way too many humans and half-elves in the modules and campaigns I run so I like my party to be looking through all the other fun races with multiple +2s.
As far as tracking ammunition and carry weight: I don't actively but I will audit people as necessary if I think something is up. The only thing you're cheating is yourself after all, again my group is amazing. I can trust them to keep track of their own ammunition and everyone quickly buys haversacks to let them ignore most mundane carrying issues.
As far as making a 15-point buy work, its doable. Casters are stronger, summons are stronger, and for sure pet classes are stronger. You'll have a hard time going for most physical classes unless the class is single attribute dependent.
I always give stat spreads. Rolled dice are too random and I got sick of players min-maxing point buys.
Everyone gets 16, 14, 14, 13, 10, 8 and can assign them wherever. Sure, its like a 21 point buy or w/e but it also gives people clear strengths and weaknesses. I like player characters to have at least one stat with a 10 or lower, makes for more interesting RP. Players can get to 18 in a stat if its really necessary, or have three different 16s if they wanna go MAD.
Incredibly Minor Rise of the Runelords Book 1 Spoilers:
The party was exploring Thistlestop and found a large gold and bronze helmet, one of them is a Telekineticist with Telekinetic Haul so I let them lift it up.
When the giant crab poked its head out I then allowed them to throw it out into the ocean despite not having Foe Throw. The party felt very smart for removing the threat, the Crab and its helm are now happily living on the bottom of the ocean instead of the tidal pool at the bottom of Thistletop.
I've also just ruled that my party's Mesmerist can trigger painful stare off the Burning Gaze spell. I can't wait to see what they can pull off with this.
I’m working on some Fighter changes for my campaign, the exact details are in flux but I’d be happy to share them in Homebrew when I’m done. Meanwhile, I’d like to tap on the communities collective consciousness to find feat chains that just take too long to fire off, or when they do fire off they end up being extremely lack luster. I know about stuff like Cleave, Vital Strike, anything to do with the Aldori Dueling Sword, and that there are a few style feats that are just silly. There are however a lot of feats out there, and so I’d welcome being pointed in the right direction.
So this is tricky because you have to tell your story to appeal to your audience, which first means learning about your audience and to whom you are catering.
Some people like having unambiguous evil to target, it makes their lives simple. They hate when things get complicated or morally grey. Its easy to fight something whose only goal is to harm others.
Other people like the ambiguity of the situation. Two rival kingdoms at war, a misguided father trying to bring their child back to life through eldritch ritual, and etc. The idea of a relatable or tragic villain appeals to some groups because it gives them opportunities to be introspective about their own path through life, or a chance to turn the misguided villain back towards the light.
Personally, I attempt to write my villains as characters. They have motivations and desires, and the PCs can investigate (or not) the villains to the degree of their choice before confronting them. Enough investigation could allow them to turn foes into friends, or at least persuade someone towards a less destructive path.
However there are forces within the classical pathfinder/dnd world which are not easily disuaded from their path. Or forces whose paths are darker or violent because of their nature, like extraplanar evil creatures or abberations who have entirely different views on morality. Once again I try to write these enemies as characters, however understanding their desires (and how to subvert them) is a much larger challenge for the player characters. Can you convince a Vampire that it is in their best interest to protect their flock from other threats and to trade that protection for tribute in blood rather than simply ravaging the country side? Depends on the GM and the players, their expectations and desires.
I really like Aura Flare feat but I'm deeply upset it is once per day and not like once per combat/once per hour or something. High level cleric being able to stagger everything within 30ft for doing their big cleric thing is good and fun.
I mean, I'd be fine with my player benefitting from Blinded Blade Style all the time and then just ruling that their first Swift Action of every combat is spent on Blinded Blade Style.
Like, this person is role playing being a blind person and not just using this to see in darkness or w/e. That seems like a reasonable concession.
If we're making sneak attack easier to perform, there are two methods I've thought about:
1: Adding additional conditions - For example allowing Sneak Attacks to be performed against creatures that are Shaken or Dazzled
2: Changing Flat Footed to be any AC penalty - This adds the Prone condition alongside other methods of triggering sneak attack, including the Rogue's built in debilitating injury.
But even then, what fixes the Rogue is giving them +5 over their career to hit through some manner. Improvements to Flanking bonuses, the ability to flank with their own shadow or some such, some kind of conditional attack bonus against enemies suffering from certain conditions, etc etc etc
If you close all those gaps you don’t have a rogue anymore you have a fighter/wizard hybrid. The solution is to give rogue abilities that are thematically consistent with being a rogue and that other classes don’t have.
So it seems folks are misreading that sentence, its not a laundry list of the things Rogues need to be a functional class. It's a list of flaws that other "skillful" classes have that the Rogue does not. Bard has the Rogue's skill points and spellcasting. Alchemist has the Rogue's skill points and spellcasting. Investigator is the king of skill checks and has spellcasting. Slayer has full BAB, sneak attack, and solid skill points. Swashbuckler is the king of finesse and has full BAB (though Swashbuckler has its own problems I won't get into here).
While I agree that a full rework of the Rogue, giving it some kind of fun new class feature would be advantageous. I also fully think that any kind of Rogue rework should either keep the current stats and give it spellcasting of some sort OR make it a full BAB class. Its actively absurd that the Rogue (and by extension Ninja and Vigilante) doesn't have one of those two features.
Mr. Charisma wrote:
You don't "make up for that", making up for that would just make them a Fighter, that's the point. Rogues aren't meant to be as good at combat as a Fighter. If you want a class that plays like a Fighter, play a Fighter (in fact I think for about half the people who have a problem with the Rogue this is the actual problem).
(and just because I feel like being pedantic, Fighters only have 1 good save, and they also can't cast spells.)
If your argument for the Rogue having decent stats is that would make them a fighter, its pretty clear then Fighters are A: a better class. Which is insane because B: Fighters suck too. I've gone into the ways that the Fighter lacks any kind of unique identity in other topics, so I won't get into that. Instead I'll talk about about the things the Fighter gets that would still differentiate them from a Full BAB Rogue.
Namely: Not being locked into Finesse fighting. The Ability to wear non-light armor. Ranged combat that can take advantage of the Fighter's limited class features. +5 to Hit through Greater Weapon Focus and Weapon Training. Advanced Weapon Training that allows for: improved saving throws, ANOTHER +5 to his attack rolls with Warrior Spirit, the ability to dual wield one handed weapons, teamwork feat abuse, more skill points (up to a value of +4 total which is 6 skill points a level effectively), and he can stack up all of the Advanced Weapon Training Bonuses he wants because he can take it a total of 7 times.
I could go on, but I won't. But I could.
Nudging the Rogue's numbers up enough doesn't remove his limited selection of proficient weapons. It doesn't make him able to use heavier armor. It doesn't let him sneak attack from ranged (one of the hardest things to do in the entire game past the surprise round) so he's still stuck in melee. It doesn't make him able to one man army his way through a fight the way a Fighter could. He still would be reliant on sneak attack and his allies to position themselves intelligently.
I honestly don't understand why some people are so vehemently opposed to this change. Giving the Rogue full BAB doesn't make it a fighter any more than the Fighter having full BAB makes it a Paladin. Multiple classes have this chassis and they differentiate themselves by way of their actual class features and gameplay.
Look, I'll be honest in my games a lot of classes are house ruled to be better. Rogue is one of them, Fighter is another. Every class has 2 good saves and one bad save. Rogue's have full BAB progression and d10 HP. Sneak Attack is multiplied on Vital Strike. It all feels really good to play, especially because this applies across the board. So all the Rogues in APs also get these buffs. They go from jokes to actual threats.
I would rather make rogues better at what they are supposed to excel in rather than make them more like fighters.
And how does one make up for -10 to attack rolls over the career, only 1 good saving throw, low maximum HP, a complete lack of spellcasting, and 1 fewer attack each turn?
Like the Rogue can't afford to spend their resources on doing Rogue things because every ounce of energy needs to be directed into "Not being an Expert NPC" in combat. It is entirely possible to play the Rogue and succeed at combat, you can build nearly anything to be effective with enough game knowledge.
Would +5 to attack rolls, +1 HP per level on average, an extra attack late game, and a better saving throw really be harmful to the fantasy of playing the rogue? I argue not. With those kind of buffs the Rogue could spend some talents on things that aren't a desperate attempt to keep up with everyone else.
Right now the Shifter is a better put together class than the Rogue and it makes me very grumpy.
So like, the Fighter's got a couple of problems. As Andostre mentions, they don't really have a useful unique mechanic. They get access to more feats, but so do all the martial classes. They get higher attack and damage rolls under certain conditions, but so do other classes.
The only really unique thing they had going for them are the Fighter only feats (which are okay but aren't really interesting until the book that adds the Advanced Weapon and Advanced Armor training) and faster movement in medium and heavy armor. Its only "recently" in PF1 terms anyway that Fighter got unique selectable mechanics in the advanced training options and most of the Fighter archetypes don't let you play with them because they swap out Weapon or Armor training.
So thats on the mechanics side. On the flavor side, the Fighter is in a whole other jam.
Wanna be a master of a specific fighting style? Ranger or Slayer.
Wanna be a knight in shining armor? Cavalier or Paladin
Wanna be a knight in black armor? Cavalier or Anti-paladin
Wanna be a close range ball of death? Monk or Brawler
Wanna be a finesse master? Swashbuckler or Unchained Rogue
Wanna hit things really hard? Barbarian or Bloodrager
It doesn't fulfill any of those fantasies better than the other options you have available.
Back over to mechanics, the Fighter is a generalist who will do a decent job at whatever you design it to do. However, at the end of the day, it still needs to focus down a single path. The Fighter doesn't have any class features that allow it to be an actual generalist.
Honestly, what I would want to see out of a Fighter rework is if the Fighter could pick up any weapon and know how to use it. Give the Fighter free feats based on the weapon they're currently wielding, just the basics at first and then talents that expand on those.
For instance, a Fighter should be able to pick up any exotic weapon and just wield it. A Fighter should be able to grab a bow and shoot into melee without worrying about spending two feats on making Bows viable, then swap over to a Greatsword or a Sword and Shield when needed. Give them free Two Weapon Fighting when they wield two weapons, or Combat Reflexes when they have a polearm.
So, my complaints with those classes (and the Shifter) aren't all that complicated and are more about overall Design philosophy than about how good they are/are not at their job.
Design Talk:
So, I feel like all classes should have some modular element about them. I want to be able to play the same class over the course of five-ten different campaigns and still feel like I'm doing something new each time. I also want my players to be able to field multiple of the same class without feeling like they're all mechanically identical.
For some classes their spellcasting does this for them. You can play 8 different Wizards each specialized around making the most of their specific school and not feel like you've played the same character each time. Sure you'll want to default to the "best" spells in each case, but its entirely doable to focus down on specific schools of magic.
For classes with more restrictive Spellcasting, you end up needing more modular class features. Stuff like Oracle Mysteries, Witch Hexes/Patrons, Arcanist Exploits, Evolution Points for Eidolons, and etc that allow for replay/differentiation.
The most interesting Martial Classes also have this modular nature to their abilities, Barbarian Rage Powers. Vigilante Talents. Fighter's long, long, long overdue Advanced Weapon/Armor Training Options. There are even a few interesting Rogue Talents thanks to Unchained, though most are still hot garbage. The classes I mention are guilty of being too similar to each other when played either sequentially or together in a group, or too narrow in some manner.
Its not about whether or not its possible to do something fun or overpowered with the class. Its really about ensuring that you have enough options to make the character unique and interesting.
Ranger: Favored Enemy and Terrain are ass unless you get the GM to give you prior knowledge to what you're facing, the Slayer does this so much better. Its also awkward because the Hunter exists and largely does the nature-y aspect of the Ranger so much better. It suffers from being a 3.5 conversion, 2e does a better job but I don't know the math there yet so I'm still running 1e.
Fighter isn't bad, but is exceptionally boring. Advanced Weapon and Armor Training come too late to the party to really make the Fighter stand out as different or unique. It needs to follow a chassis more similar to the Slayer or Monk with talents at even levels instead of Feats. Again, this suffers from the 3.5e conversion.
Ninja is okay but it suffers from its nature as a throw away class designed to be an alternate to the Rogue. That gives it two problems, one of them being a lack of material and the other being that it was tied to Core Rogue, yuck. I do have ideas on how I'm going to homebrew this. I'm taking aspects from Monk, Alchemist, and Rogue and mixing them all together, make it something other than just Eastern Themed Rogue TM.
Cavalier and Samurai are my current project, I just have to design 30 odd talents and they'll be good to go. Design wise the lack of talents and the reliance upon the extremely limited stuff they get from their Order is just silly in comparison to over classes who get to pick fun things every level. Plus they're a class without spellcasting who has an animal companion, when animal companions are largely balanced around the idea that they have a buddy casting spells on them. Extremely silly.
Swashbuckler has no modular abilities at all, Deeds are exceptionally stupid and make every swashbuckler feel identical. Gunslinger is like swashbuckler but even worse because it is tied to the awful rules associated with Guns. So glad I've finished my homebrew on these folks, playtesting is currently on going and nothing seems to have broken yet.
Shifter needs to actually be able to shift, make its Wild Shape just dramatically better than the Druids and hopefully expand the options for transformations. Shifters should be going Dragon Shape 3 at late game, again, with actual choices throughout the class in the form of talents on even levels.
Brawler honestly is another dishonorable mention, Martial Flexibility does a lot to save them from my general ire at the lack of modular talents. However, they really don't have much else going for them. They're also in a weird spot between Fighter and Monk without the advantage of Ki Powers and Style Strikes to really make themselves stand out.
In terms of the remaining classes that don't have modular talents of some kind: Paladin/Antipaladin could have a bunch of class features turned into talents and then allow them to pick those up as they level up. Same goes for Warpriest, Bard, Inquisitor, Druid, Summoner, Spiritualist and Hunter. These folks just have spellcasting to fall back on and usually at least some modularity to their chassis.
Basically, strip off some abilities from the chassis of any of the above classes and give these folks a modular ability on even levels and a much larger modular ability every 5-7 levels and I'd be happy. It'll take me forever to homebrew everything, but that's the plan.
These guys are a favorite of mine, easily boosted with any amount of armor, weapons, or feat choices. A group of faceless stalkers are quite hard to track down among a populace while able to go about whatever plan they have unhindered.
Add class levels for extra spice, you don't even need to give them the class advancement stat adjustment (4, 4, 2, 2, 0, -2) though you can if you want.
They make excellent Vigilantes, Mesmerists, Ninjas, or even Kineticists. Round up their Wisdom and Dexterity for extra fun and options.
Uh, the spell ends when you use Shadow Gambit. So even if the Illusion were permanent, you only get one "shot" per illusion and each shot is a standard action.
The main spell that your plan would even work with is Permanent Image, which is a 6th level spell. Each image requires a separate move action to command into position and the target needs to be adjacent to an Image to activate. Additionally, you need line of sight.
This is basically an NPC only tactic that is vaguely useful for defending a location/setting an ambush. Its...fine, but I really dislike that it provides rules for something that could have been left to GM discretion.
Your foes not getting within your reach (Or not gambling that you have the Reflexes and moving around your reach) is still not zero value. Having a larger zone of control is quite strong and can protect your allies.
Sure, a GM can get around that too, but a GM being a dick can make any feat suck. Thats part of why having a good GM is worth irl gold.
Anyway, I'd like to nominate Shadow Gambit as another feat that just blows massive chunks. You can end your Illusion spells early to deal damage and provide a save/attack roll as normal. However, the damage is only 1d6 per SPELL LEVEL, so you can at most spend 2 rounds to set up a 9th level illusion and then end it early with a bonus saving throw for 9d6 points of damage.
It also pretty much prevents any really creative "Well, Major Images can create thermal illusions so I have my dragon breath fire for damage" as you now have rules for doing something like that, but it costs a feat and sucks both in the action economy and damage department.
Yes, as a house rule Vital Strike multiplies sneak by a similar amount to the rest of the rolled damage. You still lose out on total damage dealt compared to a full attack, because the static damage from Enhancement/Ability Modifier isn't multiplied, but it ends up being a worthwhile action and eases up on the "Get Pounce or Fall X Tiers" problem martials have.
To be clear though, UnRogues in my campaigns are also d10 full BAB characters with "good" growth on Will saves. So they're better off than normal already. PC Classes without spellcasting should have full BAB growth, its absurd that some don't.
I had some plans to rework Swashbuckler entirely and make them especially adept at Vital Striking, but they're stalled behind Cavalier and Ninja who are next on my rework list after I recently finished Gunslinger.
I double that too. It's not going to make a huge difference, after all: typically 10% extra. Or 30% for a keen scimitar, I guess. But I double precision damage like Sneak Attack too; martials are entitled to nice things as well.
This is one of my house rules as well, Vital Strike is multiplied on crits and works with Sneak Attack. Additionally, Un-Rogues get Vital Strike at level 6 for free without needing to meet the pre-reqs, and the upgrades at the appropriate level as well.
Sneak Attack doesn't multiply on crit because that would be a bit much, especially with the number of Rogues that show up in adventure paths, but Rogues being able to acrobatics into position for a flank and still get off their big stab feels really good.
1: The Flying Talon
This thing is basically a whip without all the fuss. Sure you can't ever threaten with the weapon but it doesn't take 9 feats to be usable and its a light reach weapon for the Magus' out there.
2: Waveblade
You gain proficiency with this as a monk and it crits on an 18-20. Nearly every monk I've ever made tries to grab a Keen Waveblade asap. We make all these extra attacks per turn, might as well use them to fish for crits!
3: The Blade Boot
This is an awful weapon, it has nearly no redeeming qualities. I still love it to pieces, its just so flavorful. That this isn't a Monk weapon is criminal.
4: Elven Branched Spear
Its a finessable reach weapon that doesn't require worshipping Shelyn. Whoo! It also gives bonuses on AoOs because its just a damn good weapon. If you're a finesse character and don't need a free hand or a shield you should buy into this whenever you can afford the Ioun Stone (Elves get it for free!)
5: Switchscythe
Who even thought of this thing? Its a scythe that folds? Why, what purpose does this serve, other than being awesome?
6: Orc Hornbow
Ever thought, "you know, archery isn't strong enough" in Pathfinder? Well, what about a dice step over the regular Composite Bow. Sure thats only a little extra damage by default but if we use Gravity Bow suddenly we are throwing 3d6 arrows instead of 2d6 arrows and thats worth 3.5 damage. Hehehehehe
7: Traveling Kettle
There is something about beating people up with kitchen equipment that is extremely satisfying. This is one of those moments.
Knowing your group is very important. Establishing from session zero what is and isn't okay is a good way to do that. That way if stealing from each other is what you consider fun then you can go for it. Its about making sure everyone in the party feels accepted.
But its worth noting folks can have trauma about theft, a different group from the one I was talking about earlier, that I know of through the grapevine, lost two players because of it. GM thought the rogue was funny, the player who had their stuff stolen had recently gone through a bad break-up. The party didn't know about this at the time, but their ex pawned all their jewelry for booze.
She left the group, and when the Rogue's player learned about why she left they felt awful enough they took a break from gaming for a few months. Campaign died without the two of them, I think the players made up later but I don't think she games with that party anymore.
Keeping details about your character's alignment or past secret can be very fun for a story. However, the line exists when those secrets bleed into and effect another character. Your alignment affects nothing but your own perceptions of the character and the effects of certain abilities/spells, it doesn't directly harm your allies. Because the effect is limited to your character and people's interactions with them, this is a perfectly fine secret to keep. Even if your backstory did cause the party some kind of trouble further down the road, that is still something for the party to face as a team. It affects them, but is still ultimately the world acting upon your party. Not individual members of the party acting against the interest of the group at large.
Stealing, harming, or purposefully bringing up triggering topics directly harms your allies and violates the social contract set up at the table. There is no winner in a Pathfinder session, you are there to work as a team to tell a story.
Now, when a PC flips to an NPC, the rules change because the GM is given limited authority over everyone's characters. That is also part of the contract. Theft can be a form of hardship imposed upon the party the same as a dangerous storm, or a monster encounter. I could talk for days about proper GMing for this sort of situation, but its an entirely different topic.
If you're going to harm another party member, get their permission first. This can literally end friendships.
So uh, I have literally seen a gaming group explode from this. Like full disintegrate, no save, no future sessions. Just dead. Mostly because the GM was on the Rogue's side, refused to let us kill or exile the Rogue for stealing from the party and then trying to murder a fellow party member for personal gain, and so every single other player got up and walked out.
If any type of this is planned or seems like a good idea, hit yourself in the head with the core book a few times. If it still seems like a good idea, clear it with everyone in the group. Not just the DM, if you are going to interact with another character in a potentially negative manner you clear it with them. You don't have to say that you're going to steal from them, but let them know that you're thinking it would be fun pull something traitorous. Ask if this is okay, if the answer ISN'T YES then its not okay. Basic rules of consent apply to gaming.
If you're worried the people in your group can't separate their in game knowledge from out of game knowledge, or it would affect their roleplaying and you wouldn't enjoy it...A: Screw yourself and B you probably shouldn't be trying to dick them over in the first place.
The game world exists to be interacted with, if you're going to be a clepto keep it to the NPCs.
I wish the rules for adding classes to monsters were based off gestalt rules rather than the absurd boosts that come from adding class levels.
Like 4/4/2/2/0/-2 is such a huge stat boost and then you start adding additional hit dice? A Succubus with 12 levels of Sorcerer is a 20 HD monster and that just seems unreasonable when it would have been easier to use gestalt rules and make it a 12 HD monster.
I know its only like, parallel to class discussion but it was on my mind the other day.
Christmas transcends the boundaries of many worlds, with one form or another of Santa Claus popping up in everything from Discworld to Harry Dresden. Around this time of year, I like to surprise any campaign I've been running for a few months with a secret visit from the jolly red gentleman and drop off some magical adventuring gifts.
Its a fun tradition that has led to a whole host of homebrewed magical items ranging from toy to terror. So I thought I'd share it with you. Lets come up with all sorts of fun seasonal magical gifts.
I'll start us off with one from late into a game:
Icecrown Tophat:
CL18 Conjuration/Transmutation
Slot: Head
This slightly beat-up black hat's brim is constantly laced with a combination of ice and snowflakes. This hat provides the wearer with the effects of the spell Ice Body at will, except as noted below. This version of the spell has a duration of permanent, but may be temporarily dispelled upon suffering fire damage. When struck with fire damage while under the effects of Ice Body, make a DC 22 fortitude save. Failure immediately dispels the effects of Ice Body, and this ability may not be reactived for 1d4 rounds. If you are burrowing through snow or ice, you immediately ejected from the ice to the nearest unobstructed space and are stunned for one round. In addition to the spells usual effects, a target struck by the unarmed strikes of the user must make a fortitude save (DC 22) or be staggered for one round.
Additionally, once per week the user may throw the hat upon the ground and speak a command word. An Elder Ice Elemental with the Advanced Template and HP equal to its rolled maximum will appear and agrees to serve you for seven days, provided it retains possession of the Icecrown Tophat throughout. As long as the Elemental is in possession of the Icecrown Tophat, it gains additional spell like abilities.
At Will: Snowball
5/day: Frosty Aura, Icicle Spears, Winter's Grasp
3/day: Icy Prison, Cold Ice Strike, Wall of Ice
1/Day: Polar Midnight, Mythic Control Weather (Augmented, but cast at Tier 0)
Exotic weapons also just, aren't worth the feat for the most part. Most of them don't pass the Weapon Specialization bar of +2 damage in comparison to their martial equivielent. Or they only add a single new damage type (there is a feat that lets you change damage types freely, forget what its called if thats a big deal for your campaign). The end result is that you've spent a feat and gotten less than a feat in return, so folks really only obtain them once they can buy proficiency with an Ioun stone or if they get the proficiency for free from their race/class.
The only ones that are really worth it are ones that expand the critical hit multiplier and even then only if you can easily apply Keen to them (Falcata and Tongi). The one handed non-whip reach weapons (Gnome Flick Mace and Flying Talon), and finally the Waveblade for being a Monk weapon with 18-20 innate threat range. Otherwise, its just not worth a feat slot.
A lot of them are cool and flavorable, but just not really mechanically interesting enough to eat up one of your customizable options.
I give all classes with full BAB 1 Exotic Weapon Proficiency at level 1 and again at 5, 10, 15, and 20. Lets folks get stuff like nets, lassos, slaver's crossbows, and other weird but cool weapons alongside the normal exotics that just do on average +1 damage.
Also boosts the fact that you're playing a class that likely has near zero spell access.
On that note, would have loved nets, bolas, and the like to be catagorized as equipment instead of exotics. Makes them almost never see play without house rules.
My current party has a cure light wounds wand that they've spent...like, 8 charges of over 3-4 levels. Between the Paladin, Oracle, Investigator, and the nightly heal checks (Paladin has a Ring of Sustenance) they almost never run out of HP until their adventuring day is over.
I think they all have "Elixir Syndrome," after all, what if they need their consumable items later! (Hint: Later never happens, they will end this game with that Cure Light Wounds wand on like, 22 charges).
So it really depends on your party composition and your players. In some groups, wands of CLW are the classic. People pitch in to buy them together under the understanding that its group healing and no one knows when they're the one who is gonna run around on 1 HP if they decide to skip on chipping in for the wand. In other groups, its bring your own healing, or players will fall back on their party casters.
Druid wants Wis, VMC magus wants Int, flame blade dervish wants Cha; then you want to fight in melee? Can you say MAD?
Its less mad than you think, but just as MAD as any druid that wants to melee fight. I wouldn't play this build without a 20 point buy, 14, 14, 14, 10, 14, 10 before race bonuses. Pick a race that gives +Str without a stat negative (Human, Aasimar subvariant, Half-X, etc) and you're good for melee combat at low levels with Lamellar Horn + a Heavy Wooden Shield.
Since you don't need to spend money on weapons with the build, you can put all your money into better armor, shields, and stat up belts. Especially if your GM allows crafting (9th level spell caster woot woot).
VMC magus only wants INT for Arcane Pool (since our Discoveries are gonna focus either on improving the pool or Spellstrike, we don't care about our Int mod too much) and Flame Blade Dervish still gives +10ft movement speed and lets you ignore 10-30 fire resistance with flame blade even with +0 cha. But we can use Skinshifting to boost our Flame Blade's damage (since its a touch attack we really don't care about its accuracy) by boosting our Cha by +4. Oh, and when we're spell striking with our Flame Blade we're doing so at Touch AC, so thats nice.
At the end of the day, our lowish starting wisdom hampers our DCs when casting but if we only focus on buff and utlity spells it ends up working out okay at the end of the day. Plus, 2 free potions to hand out daily. Its a fun build, MAD as any combat druid, but fun.
Also worth noting, Skinshaping can be used to buff Flame Blade's Damage Output by +2 with the feat Flame Blade Dervish that lets you put your Cha Modifier to Flame Blade's damage. Combined with enhancement bonuses and the Vicious enchantment and you can do some silly things at Touch AC.
Plus all the other goodies on Flame Blade Dervish, +10ft land speed, ignoring Fire Resistance on enemies (and you still have the Green Scourge option of subbing in for Ice or Lightning against stuff immune to fire).
And you literally don't need to spend any other combat feats at that point. Maybe power attack for your Shillelagh, but otherwise you're free to put your feats to Metamagic, skill boosts, VMCs, all sorts of stuff.
EDIT: VMC Magus gets silly almost immediately, since you can use the Arcane Pool to enchant your conjured weapons/hand wraps. Later on, once you get access to Spellstrike by default there are only so many spells you can use with Spellstrike since they need to be shared across the druid and magus spell list but if you take the Broad Study Magus Arcana most GMs should read that as allowing you to Spellstrike with any druid touch spell. Which is fun. You might lack Spell Combat, but you've got 9th level spellcasting so Quickened Spells are a lot easier. The Close Range Magus Arcana also helps expand the spells you can cast via Flame Blade. Round that off with Bane Blade and you've got a deadly weapon in your hands at all times.
Gonna also jump in here on Green Scourge, but specifically a Green Scourge/SkinShaper Druid with the Herbalism Nature Bond.
So, you've given up nearly every druid class feature at this point. In exchange you get:
1: Spellbased magic weapons that scale with your level at 0 gold cost
2: Wisdom Mod free potions each day
3: Bonuses to your Human form from Skinshaper to a total of +10 spread across your stats (Max +4 to any one catagory except Dex/Str, +2 must be assigned to either Dex or Str based on your chosen form using Alter Self)
4: 9th level spell casting
5: Monk unarmed scaling for when you're too lazy to conjure a +5 Vicious Flameblade
it's like getting the full Opportune Parry and Riposte swashbuckler class feature on every single attack without any Panache Cost or Immediate Action expenditure.
Its better than one deed off one of the worst classes in the game so its waaaay stronger than my example of...Come and Get Me, one of the cornerstones of high level barbarian shenanigans (the best martial class)?
I'm sorry that very specifically Monkey Style Monks got a nice thing and you're grumpy about it?
The main issue with VMC is that they are horribly imbalanced...among themselves. Some of the VMC options are really quite good and a fair trade for half your feats. Others are uh, awful. I try not to get on writers and developers backs but VMC is one of the things where I wanna shake whoever they farmed this out to vigorously.
Just to make the point clear here...
Barbarian: Gives you Rage for your 3rd level feat, a Rage Power at 11, and Greater Rage at 19...plus some smaller benefits at 7 and 15. Honestly fantastic, well worth the feat loss. Uncanny Dodge is whatever but everything else is worth a feat. VMC barbarians rule.
Gunslinger: Exotic Weapon Proficiency, Gunsmithing, and three deeds...what the hell is this garbage? You literally take ONE level of Gunslinger and get 3/5ths of the abilities here. Who wrote this? Why doesn't this offer Dex to Damage at 11th level? Who thought giving you a 7th level deed at level 19 was anywhere close to gaining GREATER RAGE at the same level?
And yes, I took the best and worst to make the point but come the hell on. Who proofread that and thought, "Hmm, that seems legit"
PS: The Fighter Mutation Warrior archetype makes for a hysterical VMC barbarian. Starting at level 3 you drink your Mutagen and then rage on the next round for uh, +8 Strength. Can you say, Hulk Smash?
