SillyString's page

Wild Ryskys are primarily known for their aggression... and their love of Jubilex.

So... Demon worshipping barbarian archetype? (I'd play that)

New bloodrager bloodline? Sold. (Assuming it's not super niche)

This is one of the more anticipated books on my list. How about the rest of you guys?

Honestly, prior to seeing the description I was super-psyched about this one. After; I'm far less so. That's not to say that I'm assuming the things mentioned in the description will be boring/low quality, simply that they aren't the kind of things that I get excited about from new material.

But who knows, there might be planetouched stuff and/or unusual things in there too (Barbarian/bloodrager love *fingers crossed*). From what we know at the moment though, its not one i'll be picking up on release... but if I hear from others that it has some interesting things, i'll consider it for my "maybe" list.

Or to put it in the words of Gorbacz:

4/10.

We did it! (about two weeks ago @ level 15)
Turns out it was (kind-of) a hydra-dragon (called it) that smashed his way out from under a city (creating wonderful instant ruins - called it), but it was hunched and bi-pedal with a head for each dragon color and four arms. Something I didnt expect was that it would be wielding a trident as its main weapon.

Long story short*, my character played bait trying to intimidate him and got smacked around a little while the rogue rallied the cities wizards to topple a building on to him - the other barbarian was having some trouble navigating the terrain after some wonderful climb checks. After the building fell the dragon then got pissed and nuked the wizards, rogue's behind was lightly singed. Using the newly flattened area we fought the giant dragon, who kept burrowing underground and shooting divine lightning breath at us. Other barbarian struggled a bit but did some huge amounts of damage before being zapped. (the gm asked how much health they had and definitely fudged it so they wouldnt be 1-hit so soon into the fight.) Some time later my barbarian ended up getting impaled on the trident after he got stunned by some kind of aura that the dragon's blood created. Thankfully before the dragon could slam my barbarian into the ground and finish me off the rogue stabbed him up the ...er... and finished him off very ingloriously. Meaning we all technically survived!?

*There were also a few rounds where nothing much happened / we got hit by a few movement restricting spells, attempted mind control, fear effects or just whacked eachother, but they weren't as interesting.

Anyway, the rogue's deeds were cemented into history and they ascended to godhood at the moment of slaying the dragon, with the two barbarians growing to enormous size and becoming immortal heralds of the new rogue-god, one donning gleaming armor of the dead dragon-god and becoming an invincible warrior - and my barbarian taking up the trident and possibly gaining control of some kind of dragon-demon hybrid horde trapped under the earth. (Which the hydra dragon god was trying to unleash / use to control the world).

So, overall, rogue became a god of anything he chose to be, the other barbarian got to become a battle incarnate avatar and my barbarian got a trident and an evil invincible army. The other guy with the derp character didn't show up since I first posted, so we're told his character oversaw the evacuation of the city and became a lord or something for his troubles and efforts rebuilding the city. So ended the BBEG and the campaign.

SillyString wrote:

Chromantic Durgon <3 wrote:

Eldritch Knights like critting

Any companion build with outflank
Vital Strike builds.

Why vital strike builds?

Because they are one big hit builds so when you crit with them its equivalent to critting with all the attacks in a full attack for other builds.

"These extra weapon damage dice are not multiplied on a critical hit, but are added to the total."

Actually makes me think that Vital Strike builds benefit least from high critical ranges...

I don't know how much simpler 5 feats

He has to choose 5 feats out of the thousands available, or he choses one feat out of the 5 you've presented to him? (or just from phb, etc etc)

Has he actually been walked through how to point buy? Has he ever done it before? (I know it's hand-holdy, but honestly he doesnt sound like the brightest button in the box... Especially with what you said about the barbarian stuff.)

Dont get me wrong, not defending him, my gut tells me he's just lazy and/or uninterested, but I dont like to assume.

I'm ignoring this.

It was my understanding that flurry of blows doesnt stack with anything that grants additional attacks, but I keep stumbling across old threads stating the opposite so I thought I'd ask here for something more up-to-date and hopefully more accurate.

If I made an unchained monk 1 / Ninja 2 with "rapid shot" and "flurry of stars", how many ranged attacks could it make with a shuriken in 1 round?

Thinking of combining Slumber Hex with coup de grâce?

Actually no, I was thinking about the utility the hexes can bring and how much I like the non-uses per day, limited list, pseudo-spellcasting stuff hexes grant like Abominate, then I got to thinking about the lovely juicy flavor of a rogue-witch character* :)

*and how I wouldnt want to just multiclass the two because that would probably turn out pretty badly.

That would be a very rogue-ish thing to do though, sleep then steal or sleep then stab sounds pretty cool.

If the GM is planning to fudge things anyway, it doesn't matter what you do. Take two levels in commoner, the Spell Specialization feat, and buy a masterwork clothes pin or two.

It will still be a close fight, by design.

It'll be a close fight in that he will expect at least one of us to die / be close to death, i'd like my character to be one of the ones that survives, I mostly need to outlast my allies without painting a target on my forehead. (The gm picks on people attempting to be careful, we'll never forget the wizard that used invisibility in a previous fight, he will be missed. The player still fumes about the trolls having been enchanted by a warlock to have true seeing - The trolls apparently took exception to his "cowardice" and well, i'm sure you can imagine the result of four trolls charging an unprepared wizard.)

If you want to bet on minions, take Antagonize, and keep them off the other characters. How did the dragon become immune to fear? It's not innate, so you may be able to UMD a dispel scroll, and then use your normal MO.

The dragon will be naturally immune to fear because the GM says so, because he doesnt like my character being good at something *grumble grumble*.

So yeah, best ways to survive against a super-dragon without looking like you're being cowardly?

We don't know if the Weapon Focus Gauntlet in Spiked Gauntlet Style is an error.

I think you mean shield gauntlet style, which I doubt weapon focus gauntlet is an error given the fact the feat is specifically relating to gauntlets.

In regard to whether or not I have a specific question, no, I'm trying to get a full understanding of what exactly a gauntlet is in the rules and how it works so I'll know what feats to take and how to build a character around them.

This thread though, still going strong.

Best advice I can give you is to find a new group.

I figured that would be the primary suggestion, but where i've recently moved to doesnt seem to have much of a tabletop presence, and I'd rather not burn bridges with one of the only groups that i could find, never know, a second table/GM might pop up nearby, gamers do tend to congregate...

To clarify, i'm not saying the RP is inherently bad, or even that its more frustrating than enjoyable, just that the frustration sometimes creeps up on me a little due to the "quirks".

With my latest pathfinder group, the GM is a tabletop veteran of 30+ years, but he has some interesting quirks that i'd like your opinions and advice dealing with.

To start things off, he and one of the players has a habit of being a bit "stuck in the past" when it comes to material, and most of the character and NPC stuff he uses (and wants us to use) is old 3rd edition conversions and home brews which causes some confusion and inconsistencies with the abilities of the party as we're all odd hybridised 3rd/pf characters. Which I get the impression has lead to a few players deeming it too confusing/frustrating and leaving in the past, and i can understand why... (as someone that likes to know and adhere pretty strictly to the rules, this often melts my brain)

But the main issue I have is the GM's disregard for charisma, charisma skills, sense motive and intelligence, which is something I have noticed a couple of the players taking advantage of. Given that I decided to roll up a very high charisma rogue before I noticed these quirks, its meant that whenever we encounter a situation wherein persuasion in the form of diplomacy or bluffing is required, the power-gamed 7 intelligence 7 charisma half orc with 0 skill points played by a "chatty" player is running rings around my "clever" "charming" rogue because the GM keeps saying "just role-play it" and unfortunately, i'm not as witty as my character's stats would imply.

(For context, with previous GMS i'd be asked to make rolls, get some input as to the desired result and then the GM would summarise the reaction of the people with a few sentences.)

I've tried addressing this politely and asking if I should actually make a bluff-check, diplomacy-check or similar whenever it would be applicable, but i'm swiftly dismissed by the... more "assertive" (louder) player or the GM himself. Obviously it is not my intent to cause problems with the group, so i'm seeking advice on how best to deal with these issues without rerolling and being channeled into "playing myself" for every character I make.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm sure we all know about Ng, and for those that don't, i suggest you repent your wicked ways and look him up in the wiki, or preferably for the artwork: "pathfinder campaign setting: The first world, realm of the fey", so here's a character i'm working on that's trying to emulate that deity:

So that's a lot of explanation, but here's the barebones of what i have so far:
1) Weapon Focus (Gauntlet) (Obvious prerequisite tax)
2) Shield Gauntlet Style (Allows you to use your warrior panoply)
3) Shielded Attack Style (Treat your gauntlet weapon damage as equal to that of a warpriest -4 thanks to the fact your warrior panoply has boosted your BAB up to your occultist level. This really adds up as you get to higher levels. +The bonus AoO and free improved steal/disarm certainly doesnt hurt. But thats not all, it also qualifies you for...)
4) Shielded Gauntlet Master (Who likes AC? Who likes being able to hold a weapon and still keep all the above stuff? Suddenly you can hold that club you just stole off that ogre without losing any benefits, or pick up any other weapon you're proficient in and start swinging it, not bad.)

Getting to the elephant in the room, yes, you could technically just use any one-handed weapon as your transmutation implement in your main hand and have a heavy shield or klar in your off-hand as the abjuration implement, avoiding investing in these feats, but I'm quite fond of the interaction of Shielded attack style and the heightened BAB, and the other benefits are certainly usable, besides doing that wouldnt be for the glory of Ng, and we cant have that.

Keep in mind that this build is an experiment. It wont be winning any DPR races, you'll never be a fighter, you've had to sacrifice four feats to get to this point (which you cant start getting until level 3), and you'd probably be more effective if you'd stuck to a scimitar and heavy shield, but that's not really important. The main thing to note is that because your "weapon" and "shield" implements are gauntlets, you dont lose the benefits until you take your gauntlets off, which followers of Ng almost never do (see the description of Ng's followers, or read his fey obedience) meaning you can safely update your character sheet's BAB and stats without fear of having to constantly adjust it, oh, and you'll look cool too.

So assuming everything's in order, what would you recommend to add to this build? Obviously being an occultist you wont have many more feats to spare, but i'm interested in how to spend the few that are left, either to add to the concept or push up its effectiveness.

(The first thing i'd consider if fey obedience, because you automatically fulfil the obedience and gain some nice goodies as you level up, besides we do worship Ng, right?)

The wording used in psychic anthology is: "a single bearer must hold all the panoply's associated implements to gain the panoply's resonant power".

It then goes on to list the panoplies, one of which being "crystal ball, robe, wand", so it seems that "hold" doesnt mean "have in your hands" unless they expect the character to have three hands.

So what constitutes "holding" something?

Does the item need to merely be in your possession?
or
Does the item need to be in one of your equipment slots?

(The best interpretation I have so far is based on the fact that if someone is "holding something for someone" it doesnt mean they have it in their hands or are wearing it, just that they (as opposed to someone else) currently possess it, so this supports the former being correct, but being that the latter is more restrictive, I thought I'd double check people's opinions.)

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Example: Would a shield (abjuration implement) strapped to a character's back count toward the panoply? What about a buckler strapped to someone's wrist while they make two-handed attacks?

Well the obvious choice is Slayer (the most fitting archetype flavor-wise might be Deliverer, but there are more powerful archetypes).

If you actually think (for some reason) that slayer wont be good enough in combat, or you simply dont want to put any effort into setting up your damage (sneak attacks etc) then you're running out of options pretty fast. The only things I can recommend if that's what you want are avenger vigilante (which comes with a lot of social identity "stuff") or just being a straight up fighter and using your imagination. I'd recommend picking up a deific obedience or celestial obedience to pick up some divine flavor and eventually some pretty cool spell-like abilities. There's an advanced weapon training option to get some more skills if that's something you feel you need to fulfil the assassin vibe. Then theres the sheer number of fighter archetypes that can specialise your character even more.

If you want actual spells, expect them to come at the cost of your martial ability, which may not be want you want, so sanctified slayer inquisitor is probably not the best. Even the more martial spellcasters require buffing time to keep up with other classes.

If you want token spells just to show off the fact you're blessed by the divine and you're 12th+ level you cant go wrong with the deific obedience or celestial obedience feats, that goes for any martial class that wants a bit of divine "oomph".

Thanks Midian, thats my reading. (seems pretty beneficial, which is why i'm double checking.)

But, since two-handed fighters don't gain more than one weapon group,

Do they not? It says that it replaces weapon training 1, 2, 3 & 4 with an ability that functions: "As the fighter class feature, but the bonuses only apply when wielding two-handed melee weapons. " (Not getting weapon training in multiple groups is something i hadnt even considered)

Oh, and question 4: If i'm medium and using a large longsword, does it count as a two handed weapon for things like weapon training, or is it just an oversized one handed weapon?

Oh, i missed conductive, i shall consider that, though i am trying to reign in my power to everyone elses still.

I actually tentatively had the cloak of resistance down, but im not sure if my saves will really need the help, its essentially my back up plan if i cant find something cool and unusual.

Battle masks are cheap, will probably spend some change on that.

Oh, as far as being prevented from ressing goes, i'm ok with the idea that when my characters die, their story is over and theyre dead, ressing never sat well with me.

I am starting to think that it is a RAW vs RAI issue.

Well the only reason it could be a RAW towards claxon is if you assume the aura class feature grants a creature a secondary alignment aura (which is doesnt explicitly say it does, because it doesnt feature wording such as "additional" or "gains" etc. In fact both class features even refer you to detect evil to show you how they work). But if you assume that it does grant a special secondary alignment aura to the character then it runs afoul of the way detect evil mentions the class feature interacting with other factors in determining the strength of a single alignment aura.

But i'm not going to claim i'm 100% convinced either way, hence why i'm still here. I'm hoping that someone will provide something more definitive than what ive brought up regarding the wording of everything related to alignment, the fact these classes don't require a deity, the class features directing you to detect evil and the detect evil spell's inclusion of the cleric/antipaladin class feature as something that would otherwise cause a single aura to fall into more than one strength category on the table.

I'd quite like to be convinced though, are there any abilities or items that can be quoted that directly refer to the alignment aura of a divine character as being separate to the character's alignment aura?

A succubus has the alignment sub-types of chaotic and evil. It is embedded in her body. If she is redeemed into a paladin she is lawful good.

She will detect as Evil, Chaotic, Good, and Lawful.

This has actually happened by the way, in the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path.

As for my statements about essentially having two auras, it's because of the aura class feature that they get.

A neutral neutral cleric of a Lawful Neutral deity detects as lawful. The aura class feature makes you have an aura that matches your deity, but you can also have an aura that doesn't match your own alignment.

Another example, a LN cleric of neutral neutral deity doesn't have any aura until 5th level, when it's own lawfulness is finally enough to be detected by the detect spells.

That's what's happening. You have two separate auras.

Ah right, so the evil subtype is a special case that specifically mentions "Most creatures that have this subtype also have evil alignments; however, if their alignments change, they still retain the subtype. Any effect that depends on alignment affects a creature with this subtype as if the creature has an evil alignment, no matter what its alignment actually is." so I'll grant you, in this situation thats specifically called out by the subtype, its possible to have an alignment aura that detects as everything.

But the aura class feature doesnt give a cleric or antipaladin an extra alignment aura, it just changes their aura as per the detect evil text. Using the succubus paladin as an example, it has one alignment aura that is evil, chaotic, good and lawful. Creatures only have one alignment aura, otherwise the text under the evil subtype would be different, and the wording of the detect evil spell and the aura rules would also reflect that.

If the rules for detect evil state you use the higher progression if you fall into more than one category, then it lists such categories specifically (Aligned creature, cleric or paladin of aligned deity) then surely its saying that for your one alignment aura you use the higher progression. Why would it bother stating that you use the higher progression for the aura if they're actually two separate auras with separate progressions?...

But just to be clear, why do you think a creature with that class feature would gain an additional alignment aura?

If i'm a antipaladin with aura of evil and the rank 3 mask of virtue feat, do the two interact at all?

What are the ways people can figure out i'm evil?
Will my aura give me away regardless of the feat?
If I wasn't an antipaladin, would it be harder for people to discern my alignment?

Class Skills: A ??? gains Bluff and Stealth as class skills.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
The ??? is not proficient with medium armor or shields.

Focused Shot
At 1st level, the ??? gains focused shot as a bonus feat.

Occult Sneak Attack
At 3rd level, the ??? can deal sneak attack damage as a rogue equal to half her ??? level.
This ability replaces knacks and all spellcasting, and the ??? is not considered to have a caster level.

Improved Focused Shot
At 11th level, whenever the ??? spends a standard action to make an attack with the focused shot feat, she can make an additional attack at a -4 penalty on the attack roll, adding her intelligence modifier on the damage roll. In addition, when using focused shot, creatures normally immune to critical hits and sneak attacks lose this immunity against the ???’s attacks until the end of the ???’s turn.

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What do you think, is spellcasting a fair trade off? Do you think it's underpowered or overpowered? Anything you'd add/change?

And most importantly, is there anything about it that can be broken?

Is it really that hard/boring to RP LG?

Sometimes, yes. Depends on the party. (or GM)

As a separate question OP why do you want to use a one handed weapon two handed, as opposed to just using a two handed weapon?

For science!

I keep seeing the "murder them" posts and thinking you're suggesting it in real life.

Anyway, if you're going to kill their characters, make sure you do it without giving a word of explanation. when they die, it'll be in silence, it's what they would have wanted.

Was it ever established if Improved Familiars with just a template (i.e. celestial, fiendish, etc) retain all the normal familiar abilities (including speak with animals) or is that just a common house rule? If it's allowed, you could just stick a template on the familiar and be done with it.

The author of one of the resources popped up on a thread and said that he "never stated improved familiars could take archetypes", have a little google, you should be able to find it. Though that was regarding ordinary improved familiars, not the magical child complex familiar, I think the discussion here is that the magical child's familiar only takes the form, and it's an odd case because the familiar is multiple forms in one familiar. (some qualifying for archetypes, and the ones that dont might just be superficial "forms" and not actual improved familiars)

I'd have thought they would have included some text about archetypes in the magical child entry, given how the class seems to revolve around the familiars.

Once I rolled up a (not particularly selfish) rogue that REALLY conflicted with the party which consisted of a paladin, a LG sorcerer and a druid.

The issue was the paladin was a charismatic fellow and none of the other players except the paladin were particularly vocal or quick thinking, so they just agreed with everything he said and let him do the talking. (would you piss off a plate armored crusader with barely contained righteous fury?)

Basically the paladin stated that with my skillset I must clearly be a scoundrel and a theif, a menace to society that he's lucky he didnt smite down, and he would not associate with such villainy. The other players, fearing the retribution of the paladin (after an intimidate check, which this chaladin passed easily) were forced to agree with him. This was the first time our characters met, under the pretext of "just roleplaying a paladin correctly".

For the next two sessions my rogue would follow the party around in stealth (which i think my GM was fudging to help me), popping up every combat to help them out, only to be chased off by the paladin every time.

By the end of the second session, I took a step back and said, "would my rogue REALLY still be trying to help these as holes?" The answer was no. I put the rogue to one side, then I powergame rolled up a barbarian specifically designed to smash the paladin's face in if he pulled that bull again instead. (He didnt seem to have a problem with that barbarian though, shame really.)

So... you clearly take the risks... do you end up with the glory?

Not so much most of the time, but it's my thinking that a lot more rookie adventurers set off than return as heroes. And that's how I like it, I never know how far any of my characters will get in the quest.

Shhh Gulthor, just bask in the warm glow of satisfaction, for I have been converted.

(harps heard in background)

God it feels good to get some clarity thanks to those FAQ links you guys just posted.

I see the problem with him trying to find loopholes and abuse the rules to be the issue.

To be honest, if that's the player's issue, then he should probably rethink why he's playing the game in the first place. As anyone that has played the all powerful "because i'm batman" type in a game before will tell you, its hardly a rewarding experience.

Something that could keep him happy and alleviate problems for you:
Suggest to him playing a very bizarre, niche character, that would normally be horrendously bad. Then, let him optimize to his hearts content, by the end of it he should have a character that's roughly at the same level as everyone elses characters.

If I notice that a group i'm playing with is significantly less optimised, I also play significantly more recklessly, roleplaying my character as a think-before-he-acts sort of guy to a greater extreme, "fortgetting" to check for traps etc. (believe me, if he's dumped a stat to optimise, such as wis or int, this is very easy to explain away.)

That usually evens things out and makes it feel as though everyone is at equal power. OR it kills the character, in which case i roll up something that should really be suboptimal as per my first suggestion.

One final suggestion: you could even suggest that he's not allowed to go below 10 or 12 in any stat, but otherwise can play whatever he likes, generally forcing him to be a little MAD to even things out.

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+Edit for Summation+ (reply)

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I stand by that the cleric is acting in the best interests of the people, he's just buying time to save them later.

All he's doing is playing a part, it doesnt sound like he wants to be helping the slaver:

Even a saint could admit that religion is a good way of controlling people. Even if he would never act do so. The cleric is just being pragmatic and (sort of)honest.

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There is one thing as a GM I would expect you to do:
1) Force him to make bluff checks, he's concealing information, he's concealing the reason why he's "helping" the slaver, even if the cleric is stating facts.

2) (if he's the worrying sort) Mention that he could speak to his deity through his holy symbol or make a prayer, chances are, unless outright spitting in the face of his deity, sarenrae will trust her clerics without needing this, but many clerics might feel they ought to check in anyway.

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PS: Make sure everyone is up to date with the "edit for context" section of the original post. It completely turns the situation on its head.

+ Edit For Context +

The slaver is the "Night Peddler" character from the harrowed realm module. He'd offered the PC's refreshments / lodgings and been all together quite reasonable in a evil schemer kind of way. The PC's know that he has Evil alignment due to a detect evil spell cast by the pally. But he's portrayed as a business man, with no interest in bloodshed or enslaving the PC's. The PC's are trying to stage a revolt under his nose and are caught, red handed trying to lift a key from a guard, which, through some diplomacy agreed to bring them before the head honcho (the night peddler) rather than fighting. On the way the rogue decided to try to escape anyway, escalating the situation, as a result both the pally and cleric give up while out matched and are taken in - the rogue is loose. The PC's are brought before the Night Peddler and the discussion about slavery and religion ensued.

The cleric when pressed for clarification explained, out of character, that the rebellion takes place in two days and he's buying time. But maintains that he doesn't need to make any bluff checks because his character legitimately believes this hypothetical religion as a means to control a populous thing is a common practice and...

Ok, with this new information as context:

I'd say that cleric did nothing wrong, as he's working on a bigger plan for the greater good, though I would have definitely required a bluff check or something to conceal the fact he has something to hide. And maybe suggest to him that he makes a prayer or something to let his deity know what he's up to, asking forgiveness for risking helping a slaver.

So do ignore my previous post, with this context it seems he's actually playing his character pretty well.

I was exactly the same once, and stayed away from anything not-rogueish. Dabbling in oracle for a bit at low levels was horrible, and I kept coming back to rogue.

What helped me out? AM BARBARIAN. Specifically, a tiefling barbarian (this was long before the days of bloodragers, if i wanted demonic flavor, the race had to do the work.)

Now this may seem counter intuitive to a player that doesnt like to take risks, but throwing yourself into the bloodcrazed mindset of a raging barbarian is great, its very easy to roleplay, even if your character becomes a bit 2d, but it will allow him to experience the game from the other side of what he knows.

Ever since doing so, i've felt much more comfortable branching out and trying weird and wonderful classes and builds, and you do come to realise that you dont NEED to be so careful, and neither do you need to have skill points for every situation. There's plenty of classes and archetypes out there for any player to make any style of character.

He may always have an recurring itch to play roguish characters, and that's fine, most recently i took care of mine by rolling up a snakebite striker brawler, they arent as skilled, but they punch hard and still get sneak attacks.

This is another of those threads i'm sure many of us keep visiting just to watch the absolute wrecking of this GM's dickery.

If it was a bug, it would've been fixed by now. Lone Wolf (the company that makes hero labs) is usually pretty spot on, and prompt with fixes.

something that obvious wouldn't make it under the radar this long.

Well in that case I cant thank you enough for resolving this issue. +10 awesome points. (I'd have only given you +9 if it had proved me wrong.)

I would still like to know exactly why (and because of which parts exactly) the other's interpretation was incorrect, though.

"You are technically correct, the best kind of correct!"

I really, really want the other members of that group to read this thread and post their rationalization for the choices they've made with their characters.

I'd like them to show up and attempt to justify their characters, claiming they're in the right. Because man, that'd go down well at this point.

I agree with all the coup de grace during sleep suggestions. If you dont feel like you can pull it off yet, tailor your next level up towards the idea, grab a scythe and level of barbarian or something maybe for the extra oomph, from what i've heard this GM clearly isnt going to do anything about antisocial or outwardly hostile player interactions.

"Oh yeah, my barbarian sleep-rages..."

I normally wouldnt condone such actions, but if it means less whiney antisocial emos in the fantasy world then i'm all for it.

Nothing against keeping an element of mystery to characters, but the party should at least know eachothers names after saving eachothers butts. Keep pissing off even the most righteous man and he'll eventually snap, regardless of alignment.

If they're "only roleplaying their characters" then theres no reason you can't do the same, give them some new air holes..

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THE TRANCE BINDER
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(Occultist archetype with “rage”)

”A select few occultists eschew the more subtle arts of their craft to form a deeper connection to occult artifacts and their strange magic. By fusing his chosen implement into his body he is able to enter a trance like state that awakens the latent potential energies within his implement and enhances his own power at the cost of his versatility.”
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Trance

The trance binder’s unique bond with his implements grant him the ability to enter a trance.

At 1st level a trance binder can enter a trance for a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + his Intelligence modifier. At each level after 1st, he can sustain this trance for 2 additional rounds per day. Temporary increases to his intelligence don’t increase the total number of rounds that the trance binder can sustain this trance per day. The total number of rounds of trance per day is renewed after resting for 8 hours, although these hours need not be consecutive.

A trance binder can enter a trance as a free action. While in a trance, he treats one of his occultist implements as though he had invested twice the number of mental focus points into it at the start of the day. In addition, his effective occultist level is treated as twice his class level for the purpose of determining the effects of his resonant powers. For the duration of the trance, a trance binder gains no benefit from his other implement school’s resonant focus powers, focus powers or spells. Any resonant focus powers that grant enhancement bonuses instead grant morale bonuses for the duration of the trance. The temporary mental focus points granted at the start of the trance are lost when the trance ends and are not used first when spending the implement’s mental focus points on focus powers.

A trance binder can end his trance as a free action. When the trance ends, he’s fatigued for a number of rounds equal to twice the number of rounds spent in the trance. A trance binder cannot enter a new trance while fatigued or exhausted, but can otherwise enter a trance multiple times during a single encounter or combat. If a trance binder falls unconscious or is no longer in possession of the trance’s implement, his trance immediately ends.

-This ability replaces the magic item skill, object reading and shift focus class features.

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Agile Resonance

At 5th level, the trance binder gains a +2 bonus to reflex saves during a trance. At 10th level and every 5 levels thereafter, this bonus increases by 2.

-This ability replaces the aura sight class feature.

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Greater Trance

At 11th level, when a trance binder enters a trace, the he can apply the effects an occultist spell he knows of 3rd level or lower to himself. The spell must have a range of touch or personal and must be a spell from the trance’s selected implement school. If the spell's duration is greater than 1 round, it instead lasts for the duration of the trance. This use consumes an occultist spell slot, as if he had cast the spell; he must have the spell slot available to take advantage of this effect.

-This ability replaces the magic circles, outside contact, binding circles and fast circles class features.

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I've been playing around a lot lately with making legit bloodrager builds, then I started trying out the occult adventures material, and LOVED it, especially the Occultist. Then I found the Relic Hunter Inquisitor, and thought it was pretty damn cool way to jam the two classes together, even if it resulted in a "powerdull" archetype.

Anyway, because I have a lot of spare time on my hands, i thought "why not have a go at combining my two favorite classes as a homebrew archetype", and so, I present to you, the Bloodcrystal Rager (name is WiP, as is super literal flavor text.):

(Please give constructive advice on whether or not you think it'd be too powerful, too weaksauce, or anything else really.)

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-THE BLOODCRYSTAL RAGER-
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"This bloodrager stands out from other bloodragers due to his unique powers and the blood red crystal shards that emanate with arcane power during his rages."
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Spell Casting:
A Bloodcrystal Rager casts arcane spells drawn from the bloodrager spell list, but his chosen bloodcrystal schools (see Bloodcrystals below) limit him to schools he knows, similar in function to an occultist's implements. Any spell gained by the bloodcrystal rager has a bloodcrystal component (see Bloodcrystals below), and is not considered to be on the bloodcrystal rager's spell list until he selects its school though the bloodcrystals alternate class feature. Once he chooses a school, all spells of that school are considered to be on the bloodcrystal rager's class spell list, allowing him to use spell trigger and spell completion magic items of those spells. A bloodcrystal rager's spells per day, daily spell allotment, Difficulty Class, and minimum Charisma score requirements remain unchanged from the bloodrager's normal spellcasting class feature.

-This ability alters the bloodrager’s spellcasting.

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Bloodcrystals:
At 1st level, a bloodcrystal rager gains the occultist's implements class feature and learns to use two occultist implement schools as bloodcrystal schools. At 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter, a bloodcrystal rager can choose to take either his bloodline power or an additional bloodcrystal school, gaining access to that school’s resonant power and base focus power. A bloodcrystal rager can select the same school twice, each time gaining an additional bloodcrystal but otherwise gaining no benefit.

Whenever a bloodcrystal rager casts a spell or activates a focus power, he must have a bloodcrystal in his possession or within 30ft.

Bloodcrystals are small blood red crystals usually attached to lengths of string on the bloodcrystal rager’s possession. Although they can be made part of an item at the GMs approval (As an extra gem in a ring, weapon hilt or necklace for example).

-This ability alters the bloodline class feature and replaces the bloodline power gained at 1st level.

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Bloodied Focus:
At 1st level, a bloodcrystal rager learns to invest arcane power into his chosen bloodcrystals. This acts like the occultist's focus powers and mental focus class features, with the following adjustments.

Each day, a bloodcrystal rager has a number of points of bloodied focus equal to his bloodrager level + his Constitution modifier. At the start of each day he may reduce the number of bloodrage rounds he gains per day by any amount to refresh an equal amount of bloodied focus points.

At 1st level, the bloodcrystal rager learns the two base focus powers from his chosen bloodcrystal schools but he does not gain access to any additional focus powers beyond the base focus power, neither is he able to obtain them from other sources until 6th level. Whenever he gains a new bloodcrystal school, he gains the base focus power of that school. All the bloodcrystals in the bloodcrystal rager’s possession simultaneously serve as his implement component to cast bloodrager spells of all the schools he knows and are treated collectively as the same implement.

However, he must split his bloodied focus among the schools he knows for the purpose of determining resonant powers and using focus powers. For each bloodcrystal that is lost or destroyed he takes a -1 penalty to caster level and a -1 penalty to will saves, until it is replaced in a ceremony costing blah blah blah nitty gritty.

At 6th level and every 3 levels thereafter, he learns a new focus power selected from the powers granted by all of the bloodcrystal schools he knows.

He can use these focus powers only by expending points of bloodied focus. Unless otherwise noted, the DC for any saving throws against a focus power is equal to 10 + 1/2 the bloodrager’s class level + the bloodrager’s Constitution modifier. He cannot select a focus power more than once. He uses his bloodrager level in place of an occultist level to qualify for focus powers.

-This ability replaces all bonus feats and bonus spells gained as part of a bloodline

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Ninth Blood Resonance:
At 3rd level the bloodcrystal rager can invest arcane power into his own magical blood, treating it as a unique bloodcrystal school that he is proficient in. As long as the bloodcrystal rager stores at least 2 points of bloodied focus in this way he gains the following resonant power, gaining the benefits of this power until the bloodcrystal rager refreshes his focus.(:)

"The bloodcrystal rager’s base land speed increases by 10ft. In addition, the bloodcrystal rager is always aware of the exact location of any of his bloodcrystals within 30ft."

-This ability replaces blood sanctuary and fast movement.

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Ninth Blood Focus:
At 14th level, a bloodcrystal rager gains the following focus power, using the bloodied focus stored via the Ninth Blood Resonance class feature.(:)

"If a bloodcrystal is within 30ft of the bloodcrystal rager, even if it is not within sight, he can expend 1 point of bloodied focus to treat the square the bloodcrystal is in as the source of any one spell he casts this turn, although he is prohibited from casting spells that require a ranged touch attack in this way. If another creature is in possession of the bloodcrystal, any melee touch attack rolls made as part of a spell cast in this way automatically hit that creature regardless of the intended target."

-This ability replaces indomitable will.

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So... this is my first attempt at making a homebrew archetype, what do you guys think? Would you allow it in a casual game?

Feel free to generally chat about it too, whether or not it trades out too much, i spent a fair bit of time on this, figure i might aswell show it around.

Thanks for taking the time to read it too of course ;)

Yes, kind of, one of its schools, and thus the inquisitors relic schools are tailored toward controlling more zombies and stuff, but I can't find a way of actually getting any create undead spells... Even selecting the death domain doesn't grant you the bonus spells as an inquisitor.

Can anyone help? there HAS to be a better way than stockpiling items -.-

More oil! MORE OIL!! My gods man, we need more oil!!!

*waiting for an Occultist to show up with his "implements"...*

So i'm rolling up a battle-host occultist @ level one, but i'm not keen on sticking to just that class for all levels and i'd like to consolidate a clear flavor and identity for the character that is reflected in its classes.

So far this is what I have:

***The crux of it: What Multiclass/Prestige classes offer a BOOM of potential power and/or flavor? I know prestige is often a bit watery, but that makes finding synergy / the exceptions all the more satisfying.***
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I'll start us off:

So PLEASE feel free to post your own suggestions, you can follow the format of my spoiler tags, or express the mechanical / flavorful aspects of your suggestions in your own way. But do convince me that your suggestions will make the character really come alive, and / or be relatively optimised.

Thanks in advance.

Focused Study alternate racial isn't bad if you want your fighter to not suck at skills - you lose the bonus feat, but get Skill Focus for free at level 1, 8 and 16. Military tradition is a pretty cool one to get 2 exotic-weapon proficiencies, if they fit the concept :)

Was thinking of going for focused study for 2 more feats and i was thinking skill focus anyway for eldritch heritage to get a valet familiar that shares my teamwork feats. That way i'll get the benefits of quite a few of them at all times. I'm sure this isnt optimised, but with so many feats I figured WHY NOT?!

Whats the easiest way for my character to get whip proficiency without taking the exotic weapon proficiency feat? are there any traits or other feats or something?

He's a half-elf inquisitor. Do not suggest class dipping or race changing.

Edit: Alternatively, do you know if a whip has reach if you don't have proficiency with it?

What can work with the Ib Stone version? It gets 9/10 spellcasting, but loads of abilities which are otherwise very odd for a full caster. It might be good for an Oread (Wis bonus, made of stone) or Dwarf (Wis bonus, likes stone things) Cleric as it keeps you essentially a full Cleric, but with the power of Rock.

hmm hadnt considered going ib, bonuses for ka just seemed better...

Looking at Blood of Shadows, only Humans get Iron Will as a bonus Feat when taking Shadowhunter. Everyone else gives up less for it and thus doesn't receive that bonus.

Really? hmmm... i'll check it out when my copy arrives, I suppose the srd was inaccurate in regard to the wording so that could be wrong too. thanks for the heads up!

Im looking for ways of gaining horns, other than:

Tiefling
Barbarian Rage Power - Lesser Fiend Totem (Though if you know a way to gain the benefit of a rage power while not raging i'm all ears)
Feral Hunter - Feral Focus - bull
Items. No items. Items are dumb.
Synthesist - its banned

I'd preferably like it to be usable in conjunction with enlarge person, but beggars cant be picky.

Campaign starting at 6th level, I plan on making a level 5 <insert class name(s) here>, level 1 Living Monolith (LM), then continuing to level up LM until it's maxed.

Now i know that full prestige is rarely good for optimisation, and with that in mind i'd like to compensate for that with OP 5 levels in either one class, or a combination of classes that give either amazing bonuses or really make the most out of the LM skillset.

(An example of where to start being LM's swift action enlarge person, maybe for reach or combat maneuver shenanigans)

Here's what I have so far:

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Half-Orc

Sacred Tattoo: +1 Luck bonus to all saves. -replaces orc ferocity.
Shadowhunter: misc bonuses and Iron Will: +2 Will saves. -replaces weapon familiarity.
Shaman’s Apprentice: Endurance

Fate's Favored: +1 to all luck bonuses

(this immediately meets the feat preqs for LM, without feat investment)

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I'm looking for advice on how to proceed, concept builds etc
So, what do you think?

Note: Full BAB classes only to meet prestige preqs