Simcha's page

I would like to discontinue my subscription after issue Skull & Shackles 6/6. The APs are really great, but I need to cut back a bit.
Thankyou in advance!

Cheers
Simcha

Assume there is a rogue with a base attack of +6.
The rogue has Two Weapon Fighting and the talent

Surprise Attack (Ex): During the surprise round, opponents are always considered flat-footed to a rogue with this ability, even if they have already acted.

My question is this:

The rogue gets a surprise round against an enemy: he can attack once for weapon damage + sneak damage.

What happens in the first round of combat?

When the rogue does a full attack (mainhand/mainhand/offhand) does he add sneak damage to all three attacks?

I have never been the greatest adherent to D20 systems.

Maybe that has to do with my RPG origins, Rulemaster and Vampire.
Maybe it has to do with my latest parties, all 3.5e devotees.
Maybe it has to do with me reading the boards and getting fed up with people telling other people how to play the game.

Whatever it is, lately I feel a rising estrangement from all things D20.

I know the game is what you make of it.
I know that the rules don't make the play style.
I know there is no perfect system.
I know that PF APs are well written.

Still, I am so fed up with edition wars, optimization, drop stats, void classes, balancing, brokeness, monster PCs, and whatnot.

I really liked what Paizo did with 3.5e, it made so much sense when it was announced. I thought to myself, finally I can make a character in D20 and not just an elaborate combat sheet.

Maybe it IS the people I am playing with. Maybe it is me. I find myself starting to think in optimizing terms, and I hate it. Because from a game theoretical point of view, I see the benefits of optimization for combat effectiveness. But that is not the point of the game, is it?
Or is it?

My PF days are over, for now, I guess. I want to tell stories, and for me, personally, D20 is not the means to do that. It may well be for others, and the APs tell great stories in their own right. But in the end, not for me.

Cheers all! Game on!

I am not sure this is exactly the right place, I try anyway.

The party encountered Rolth yesterday...

My trouble is, am I too thick to offer them a challenge?
I don't think the ranger is over powered, but she always seems to win the day. Precise shot + rapid shot + many shot + fav. enemy (humans)
at level 7:
Attack +7base +3Dex +1w.focus +1weapon +4fav.enemy -2rapid shot =
+14/+14/+8 4x 1d8 +6 (42) points of damage

Is that correct even?

I am at a loss how I could have made this encounter more challenging without killing them all outright.

The sorcerer of the party went down after being hit by a hold person from a cleric and then took 2 alchemists bombs. it is not like nothing happened.

The cavalier is a little unhappy because the ranger (in his view) always takes out the boss and leaves the dross for the party.

Here's the thing:

A friend of mine plays a monk in a RotRL campaign.
Facing the fact that we don't really have a meat shield, he is thinking about finding a niche for his Monk.

That niche is grappling a foe, thereby removing that foe (and himself) from combat.

My question is about grappling, as I cannot really draw a satisfactory answer from RAW.

When grappling a foe, can the monk still deflect arrows?

Deflect Arrows states that you need a free hand and must be aware of the attack.
Grappled states you cannot do anything that requires two hands.
Still I think grappling someone who to all intents and purposes doe not want to be grappled should make you unaware of ranged attacks.

Is there a ruling I am missing?

I am running CotC with PF rules and a party of four. I allowed them 25 point-buy and disallowed any exotic 3.5 classes or feats.

Now they barely made it through EoA, mainly due to the problem that they were chasing wild geese and red herrings and ignoring the adventure blatantly.
Metagaming aside, they were hot on the Arkonas' trail and even wanted to confront the Queen in person at third level. Even after sending top-notch assassins and a demon after them they could not be dissuaded.

They even accosted the Chelian Ambassador in person and gave him the impression they wanted to blackmail him.

Now we entered 7DttG and I seriously hope they will soon get "the drift".

Maybe I am strewing to few clues or they only pick up the wrong ones, but I cannot shake the feeling they are trying to force their heads through the wall. The main problem is, they sometimes ask the right questions, but the AP as written does not provide the answers yet.

I am tired of trying to lead them away from doing stupid things, but when I let them confront the Arkonas out of step, i.e. at 6th level, I can start to prepare a new AP as well.

How do I handle a group that does not "see" the red thread?