Simon Dragonar's page

Like the biggest issue I have with "eliminating unconscious PCs" is - barring the monster having any special kind of senses, is it really going to stop in the middle of a life or death combat to determine whether the one who isn't moving anymore is dead or just incapacitated when it really does not make a difference in the near-term? I would say "telling the difference takes actions" and why would a baddie waste actions on this?

Like I'm not about to give every antagonist always-on "deathwatch" for free. Whether a PC is dead or simply dying is information I, as the GM, have but it's not information that NPCs should have.

Agreed. The difference between intentionally killing a downed PC and focusing on incapacitating active PCs has metagame considerations as well. It's awful for a player to sit out the remainder of the game even if their fellow players go on to defeat the encounter. TPKs, while still not ideal, apply to the whole table.

In this case a Wizard can choose to use Strength OR Dexterity* for melee spell attack rolls, but only Dexterity for ranged spell attack rolls. Intelligence would still be your Spellcasting Ability Modifier.

*Due to melee spell touch attacks' inherent Finesse trait.

Yes. And some that aren’t.

Well... noted? Is it fine for players to TPK at:

Well, if you want to play a game where every rules element is spelled out so explicitly that there's no need for interpretation or a leeway for some people to interpret in way A and for others the way B, video games and board games are ----> that way.

This is an example of where breakdown in communication happens. How does it serve the game well for this kind of language to be unclear? What are you arguing for, exactly? The rules language staying this way is EXACTLY where Collette's exaggerated and IMO ludicrous rulings slip through. But they're ludicrous for a purpose: helping to tighten up the game's language. You are faulting the people who look for bugs, while calling for the bugs themselves to remain.

Ones that are vicious. It’s very clear.

Doomsday Dawn has a wealth of those.

It’s not really that nebulous.

How so? What are the most vicious creatures? What are examples of vicious creatures who are not most vicious? If someone did this to me outside of a playtest I would raise the BS flag. This is a playtest.

What are the "most vicious" creatures? The language is not clear.

That clause should absolutely be removed.

And that tactic is explicitly discouraged in the Core Rulebook (p. 328)

"Adversaries typically stop attacking someone who’s knocked out. Even if a creature knows a fallen character might come back into the fight, only the most vicious creatures focus on helpless foes rather than the more immediate threats around them."

It's no wonder all your games are TPKs if you're going all out to kill PCs at every opportunity.

This is a good point. I would suggest going further and removing the nebulous "most vicious creatures" clause to fully stamp this tactic out of RAW. Any non-mindless creature acting in this manner breaks verisimilitude; it only serves to inconvenience PCs with party member death over the more sound tactic of dealing with active threats.

hostility is unwarranted.

but ** spoiler omitted **

I can work with that. Glad you think so too.

I don't see how you can admit such interpretations or readings are valid and in the same breath advocate for ignoring the accompanying results. It happened at certain tables which have already been admitted to abide by RAW. It didn't happen at others. So what is the issue? What is with the hostility?

Nobody's arguing that it isn't RAW, the rules are pretty clear that running initiative individually or in groups is up to the GM. However, that variation may also affect combat results, so perhaps including an option in the GM playtest surveys for "Did you group similar creatures in initiative or use separate rolls for each?" might be a good idea.

I agree, I believe it would help immensely.

One interesting thing I noticed when reviewing one of Collette's reports is that they have all the enemies move on the same initiative, and I believe that they said that they do focus fire as well. If the only healer goes down on round 1 to that, then I suspect it's likely to snowball into a TPK as people go down one by one, and no one gets back up.

I'm wondering if initiative variation needs to be a question on the surveys, because I'm pretty sure that could heavily affect results.

From Page 304 of the Playtest Rulebook:

"The GM rolls initiative for any potential adversaries
in the encounter. If the potential adversaries include a
number of identical creatures, she could roll once for the
group as a whole and have them take their turns within
the group in any order she wishes. She could even change
the initiative order within the group from round to round."

Certainly not mixed groups of enemies, but identical creatures are allowed by RAW. Particularly deadly with archers.

As the topic of TPK has been declared to no longer be germane to this thread, I won't argue about it further. My original issue was not even the veracity or lack thereof of the TPK reports, but the mean-spirited calls to disregard certain posters. Again, feedback is the entire point of this playtest. Yours, mine, Collette's, John Lynch 106's, et cetera. This forum should not be a toxic place. I appreciate the playtest information you have collected. Events play out differently from table to table. Transparent play-by-plays and stated methodology are helpful in analyzing the results. That's just how it is.

So, you're saying that the game is deadlier if you follow RAW? If yes, how so? Are you saying "well if everybody was playing like Colette you'd have the same results as s_he, and if you don't, it means you're handwaving things and ignoring rules"?

I'm saying it can be, particularly with the common aversion to closely examining and dissecting RAW here. You wouldn't have the exact same results, as there are other factors present. Luck of the dice. Player actions. More people than Collette run strict RAW, but I've noticed Collette is usually the one treated with the most hostility for it.

In 13 playtest games I ran/played in while ya'll been busy arguing about treadmills, camel speeds and wrought of drought, I've seen 3 PC deaths (two of which were *cough* a result of everybody at the table forgetting about Hero Points) and 1 near wipe. So I'm kind of going to say that 11 TPKs out of 11 games is a statistical outlier.

Have you written play reports of your own? How did you resolve factors such as exploration, or combat, or camel speeds? I'd like to know.

I think at some point you have to wonder, though, given the average number of deaths is 5%. 11/11 TPKs is a bit of a significant outlier, and arguing it's because everyone else is handwaving or Rule 0 seems questionable.

The majority of responses to awkward RAW wording are "just RAI" or "just use common sense." It's how I would personally rule them as well, but still irrelevant to ensuring RAW is written clearly and specifically. That too is important feedback. Being overly literal and acting as something of a lawyer is not necessarily ideal in play, but IS invaluable to work out problems in a playtest.

I find the responses to it are unfair, same with the personal attacks which are apparent as soon as the second page of this thread. Same with personal attacks towards John Lynch 106. I do not think "stop attacking other posters" should be a controversial comment.

Statistical outliers are not relevant. There's no indication whatsoever that 11/11 TPK is anywhere remotely close to results others are getting, so there's either something very wrong with how rules are being interpreted or applied with that group OR/AND that's the 0.0000001% percentile. In any case, that's an anomaly, and if your data goes into five or six digit samples and you've already stated that the result indicate that the ruleset isn't deadly enough, well, go figure.

Collette's reports are detailed and transparent. The events in those sessions are still valid. There's a difference between considering collected data as an outlier and advocating for completely ignoring someone's feedback while personally calling them out.

This thread should really stop being about "forum posters I dislike" especially in regards to sniping at Collette, who has gathered a lot of relevant, RAW feedback. Yes rules are easier when you handwave them, so what? Modules are easier when you Rule 0 things you don't like, so what? The TPKs based in RAW play are relevant information made in good-faith testing.

(This is Raven)

Hello everyone, my apologies; I am still here. I lost my dog last week and I've been having a really rough time. I'm sorry for my late post. I had to bow out of further applications, but I am still committed to the PbPs I have already joined, such as this great game. I enjoy playing with all of you, and I hope I can bring more into it going forward.

(This is Sorin)

My dear friends, I must regretfully bow out of the game at this time. There are certain real life issues that have come up since my initial application that weigh down on me greatly; including the loss of my dog. It is all I can do right now to keep up with my existing Play by Posts, and I was greatly relieved when one them ended recently. I feel obligated to be able to focus and give 100% to my games, and I think it would be unfair to play if I am unable to do so. I wanted to let everyone know well before Hard Close. It has been so much fun coming up with Sorin's concept, and linking him to everyone else. You have all made amazing characters, and I would have loved to join you. Please accept my deepest apologies.

I'm glad to hear it, GM_Beernorg. I started playing just about three years ago, and mainly PFS at that. In some ways, that meant I jumped in without a full understanding of the Pathfinder lore. I've since read as much as I can about it; I enjoy it greatly. The "Old" Erastil seems to have been an anomaly, and I'm not surprised he was rewritten. Different writers have different views; things change, attitudes change, people change. What came out of it is an eventual positive change, so that's not such a bad thing. In general I feel very much at home with Paizo's inclusive world and commitment to diverse heroes and greater representation. It brings me a lot of peace when I feel troubled about certain things in real life.

Looking forward to it.

I love the poster! Super cool, Buddy. I hope Simon Dragonar becomes iconic (the character, not my forum alias). At least in San Diego. :)

Hi DM Alistair! This is Simon AKA Raven from our Rise of the Runelords game! It is nice to see you again! The game is super fun so far. I will roll first if it's ok, then propose a character hopefully after lunch. :)

2d6 + 6 ⇒ (3, 4) + 6 = 13
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (2, 4) + 6 = 12
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (5, 2) + 6 = 13
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (5, 5) + 6 = 16
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (5, 1) + 6 = 12
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (3, 5) + 6 = 14

Think of it this way, despite open carry laws, people still get freaked out when someone walks down the street carrying an AR-15, bandoleers of ammo, and other implements of destruction.

Imagine the same person walking down the street carrying the gun in ready to fire position.

Yes, I know. I wasn't disagreeing with it. :)

I'm looking at a number of possibilities for my next character, Simon Chase/Magical Boy Rat Chaser. I've looked at Magical Child, Warlock (works well, pick up Familiar at Level 2), Unchained Summoner, even Carnivalist. My current experiment is Wizard Necromancer of Norgorber. All of these with a Rat Familiar or Eidolon, of course. There are some cool options.

I hope you get your wish though, and the options get expanded. :) Edit: Autocorrect...

Thank you so much Vic Wertz! I really appreciate it. They will be able to play in Society then. :)

Hello everyone. I hope I am posting in the right subforum. I'm hoping to gift PDFs in the future, but I had one question:

If I gift someone a PDF, does it use their own account Watermark?

I'm asking mostly because I know having your own Watermark is important for playing in Society. I of course want the recipients to be able to play Society if they so choose. If it uses the Watermark of the person it's gifted to, rather than the person who gifted it (hope that makes sense) then it's all good! I'm like 99% certain that's how it would work, but just wanted to confirm. Thank you very much! :)

Ok, I've been formulating a backstory. I will be taking advantage of some of the cool random background results. There are a lot of noble houses in the Player's Guide; I have some ideas.

If it's ok, I would like to take the True Love feat. My character is from a disgraced family, but his talent elevated his status with his Liege Lord (any noble house is fine). He fell in love with his Liege Lord's daughter, and she with him. Her father isn't especially offended by this and cares for them both, but all the same he cannot have her marrying someone with his family name. Instead, the Liege Lord is looking to marry her to a proper suitor. Part of my character's goal is to become worthy of her hand. I didn't want to over-step and create those characters on my own, if they can be better linked to existing NPCs. :)

I will also change his surname from Spellmason. This will help emphasize that his branch family is not in favor, and that people disassociate it with the actual Spellmasons.

EDIT: Whoa, Holy Cow! Taking cover! I'm innocent!

They do stay the same if you preview. It's just when you add in other dice rolls between the current rolls that they can change.

For future people rolling, I'm perfectly fine with the way Simon did this with two (or more)posts, or with people rolling and editing things in via preview.

Simon, I'm just available and having fun with the way my concept for the game is congealing and coalescing. It's been awhile since I've had a real day off, and I'm having fun tooling around.

Thanks! I will keep that in mind for my future rolls. I'm glad you are having fun on your day off, GM Reckless. :) Me too. It's fun to make characters! Your concept is really cool. I've never seen Gestalt but I am reading all the rules for it. Shackled City seems like it was before I even played my first adventure, of any RPG. I am playing in GM Rutseg's other PbP game, Fires of Karamoss, and it's great! I enjoy meeting all the great people on the boards, as until just recently I only played at my local game store.

Homeland: Town or Village
Parents: Both Alive (Yay!)
Siblings: 1d2 ⇒ 2
Age of Sibling 1: 1d100 ⇒ 92
Age of Sibling 2: 1d100 ⇒ 83 (If Applicable)
Circumstance of Birth: Dishonored Family (Holy Cow!)
Parents' Profession: Tradespeople
Major Childhood Event: Academy Training

Bard/Rogue Background: Bard - The Gift (Rogue version is very bad)
Influential Associate: Liege Lord
Romantic Relationships: Current Lover (Nice!)

Everything seems to fall into place with my original concept except Circumstance of Birth. Would it make sense for there to be an extended descendant family of Surabar's that is not as prestigious as the main family? I'd like to think of it as an opportunity. It might make his story more interesting, not less. :)

Edit: Oh, thank you for also listing them GM Reckless! I wasn't sure if I need to post the raw format first, or if the rolls are kept from preview. If you preview your dice rolls, do they stay the same? Next time that may help me update rolls in real-time. :)

Simon: Nice to meet you as well. Sorry to hear that people have made fun of you in voip, that can be difficult to deal with. I'm the guy who came up with the Sibilant Sistrum as a submission for RPG superstar, so I'm not one to knock alliteration. I have played games with Brother Fen and Lokiel before and I can attest to their niceness.

Thank you very much GM Reckless! I've been told it's "high-pitched" and "squeaky." But I promise to do my super duper best! I'm glad everyone is nice.

My apologies for missing the Campaign info at first. I will attempt to roll for Background now.

Step One - Homeland, Family, Childhood
Human Homeland: 1d100 ⇒ 33
Human Parents: 1d100 ⇒ 43
Human Siblings: 1d100 ⇒ 38
Circumstance of Birth: 1d100 ⇒ 90
Parents' Profession: 1d100 ⇒ 59
Major Childhood Event: 1d100 ⇒ 5

Step Two - Adolescence and Training
Bard/Rogue Background: 1d100 ⇒ 50
Influential Associate: 1d100 ⇒ 38
Romantic Relationships: 1d20 ⇒ 12

Hello GM Ahayzo! My name is Simon. It's nice to meet you! I'm currently waiting on two of my applications, which are ending soon. Just hoping to dot my interest (am I using that right?) in your campaign for now.

Since the deadline is April 18th, is it ok to apply after the 15th, if I'm not in the final pool for the other two games? Thank you. :)

Pfft I usually get to exclude 3 people. If there are more than 3 in the radius then they deserve to go. =)

¡Ay, caramba! Fair enough. :) As I mentioned though, I'd probably get Channel Ray if I made my own Negative Channeler. Or Channel Force, if I was lucky enough to have an Aasimar Chronicle on hand.

Thank you ever so much - it even came with the interactive maps too!

I've advised Joseph, so he can prepare for Saturday!

I'm so glad! I didn't know it came with interactive maps; that's really cool. I'd love to hear how their adventures go. You're doing a wonderful thing, Ben Parkinson.

Along with any animal companions and/or familiars.

Thank you. I knew I was forgetting something.

Negative Channel would work well with Selective Channel if it was not Charisma-capped. Wisdom is still your primary as a Cleric, and you would need a bare minimum of 16 Charisma to select out your party if they're within 30'. The PFS group cap is 6, sometimes 7. That is 20 or 22 Charisma to guarantee you don't hit someone on your team. There's also little Timmy the innocent bystander... :(

Joseph just happened to be right here this afternoon, as he has been getting some new characters organised for the weekend. We have quite a few new players unfamiliar with the rules at the moment who are keen to start and so they need pregens.

He says that a PDF would be perfectly fine and help him keep going with that adventure path (which was really going well), while we can all DM the PFS scenarios. I can link you up through Facebook, or if you send to me, then I can pass it across to him directly. He doesn't currently have a Paizo account, just Patrick. Just checked - yes it is Bloodmarch Hill.

That's great! Should be sent to your Paizo account now (in your downloads). I've never gifted before, so I hope I did it right. Please let me know if you receive it. I hope everyone enjoys Giantslayer! :)

I'm hesitant on Bite because of the "wield one-handed" language, but the FAQ allowing Natural Weapons may supersede that.

As for 1.5 Dex Damage, here is another relevant FAQ:
Replacing Strength Modifiers with Dexterity

All told, I would say yes, but I'm not a GM.

Edit: Wow, nevermind, read that wrong. It's probably no. I'm really confused now. It would depend on whether a Bite's damage multiplier is more akin to two-handing, or as "any other effect." Sorry for not being super helpful, but I hope adding that FAQ into the mix contributes at least a little. If nothing else, it's one precedent for 1.5x Dexterity Damage. :(

Hi David. I hope you can get your request approved.

In the meantime, my friend had a similar problem when he was making his Asmodean Advocate. His solution was to take Channel Force (he had an Aasimar boon). Without a race boon, Channel Ray is the alternative. A bit worse; can miss, but can crit. Now this is more of a band-aid than a real cure. Still, it makes Negative Channel not-useless/less-useless and you can actually make use of it without killing your party.

Ben Parkinson, I just saw this and I think it's wonderful. I know roleplaying, Pathfinder in particular, has been a very positive change in my own life. It's really great to see children in other countries have a fun time with table top!

I'm sorry Joseph cannot find the first book in Giantslayer. Is it "Battle of Bloodmarch Hill"? I don't have much right now after setting aside my budget for Kingdom Con this month. However, I have some store credit left on Paizo store and I was wondering if it would help if I gifted you the PDF? Or does it need to be a Physical Copy?

Hello Selvaxri, I hope you enjoy your Magus. I've been looking at Mindblade as well, and I just wanted to share two potential issues I've noticed with the archetype.

1. Many GMs discourage drawn weapons in social situations. Your psychic weapon can stay out indefinitely, but it must be held. It's possible you will have to dismiss it while negotiating, or walking around town, etc. Before Level 8 turns it into a Swift Action, the action economy for Manifestation is dire. Standard Action on every first round of combat. It's actually Level 13 if you're using TWF. Thankfully for dungeon crawl scenarios, you can just turn them on at the entrance to the cave (or whatever).

2. Thought Components are terrible for Spell Combat. Basically, every Concentration Check DC is increased by 10 unless you use a Move Action to focus. Of course, you cannot do that if you're using a Full Round to Spell Combat. The DCs are not impossible, but they are much more difficult for a Mindblade than an arcane Magus.

All that said, it's a very interesting archetype.

Hello GM Reckless! My name is Simon. It is very nice to meet you. I set a limit to myself for only 3 PbPs to maintain good posting quantity and quality, and because I just started. But as I understand, this will be a scheduled weekend game? That sounds super fun and time-manageable. :)

I try to put my all into every character, and I love working as a team! I have read as much as I can of GM Rutseg's Player Guide, and I currently have a character concept I would like to share with you.

Sorin Spellmason (Neutral Good Archivist Bard)
Sorin Spellmason is a proud descendant of the hero Surabar. As a scion, he has been pressured to succeed from a young age. Rather than lamenting or rebelling against such a burden, he strives to excel and meet everyone's expectations of him. His talents mainly lie in intellectual pursuits rather than combat, though he approaches strategy and tactics as important subjects for study. He is a star student at Bluecrater Academy, and his favorite areas to relax are Lakeside Pavilion and The Coy Nixie.

My apologies for the alliteration. Ah, that is, sorry for all the S's!I hope I did ok. I can go into more detail once the guidelines are up, if you'd like. My character would focus on helping the party with Knowledges, Trapfinding, general skills, and combat buffs.

I'll try to research Fantasy Grounds as much as I can. I've used Roll20 a little bit before. I'm also available for voice, though I have been made fun of in the past. I'm sure everyone here will be nice though, if I'm able to join.

As they level warlock get additional energy types for free. They are limited to the standard four, but I can't think of anything non-epic that is immune to all of them. You just need to change types on the fly, and invest in knowledge skills to know what energy type will work.

Hello Imbicatus. Movanic and Monadic Devas are both non-epic and immune to all energy types. Fortunately they are good creatures, but I was actually forced into combat with one in a PFS scenario of all things*. Won't name which.

*Technically, my group did. But I could either fight it with them or let them all die. Not a good situation.

Not to mention Deliquescent gloves wont work because that is a separate and additional energy, which is applied to resistance just the same.

I have asked around on these boards, local VOs, etc. Possible Table Variation. Corrosive weapon property states that it is "extra" damage, same language as Sneak Attack for example. Sneak Attack, for instance, is not calculated separately for DR but is totaled. Argument is that Elemental Weapon Properties, assuming they deal the exact same damage type, would be totaled. It has never come up before because the Warlock is mostly unique in its ability to deal elemental damage as a weapon. YMMV. I generally agree that Mystic Bolt is not so great.

As an aside, I would like to mention that I consider Warlock to be a great archetype in most respects. Like swoosh, Prince Yyrkoon, and deadmanwalking mentioned, having 3/4 Spellcasting in the full Wizard spell list is incredible compared to what they trade it for. To be frank, I personally find it superior to base Vigilante even if I never use Mystic Bolt at all; though I have a massive Caster bias. That said, I'm hoping Mystic Bolt gets more support now or in the future. :)

I am looking at Herolab right now, and it most assuredly is programmed as a Familiar and not an Animal Companion. Additionally, Improved Familiar states that it can be within one step "on each axis," this is different language from the Cleric deity selection (for example). Back to Herolab, it allows my Chaotic Good Magical Child to choose Mephit (N, one step on Law/Chaos, one step on Good/Evil), but not Imp (LE, two steps each on Law/Chaos and Good/Evil). RAW, I believe this to be correct. Do you have a local Venture Captain to consult with for rules questions, thaX?

It mandates arcane strike as a feat, if not the talent. The talent let's you add more damage by giving you a list of weapon abilities.

With arcane strike and the scaling damage added, you do 1d6 plus about half level. These function as touch attacks after level5, and you can take rapid shot and two weapon fighting allowing you to shoot three mystic bolts at 1d6+3 each, for 3d6+9 total.

It requires the right build, but you end up doing okay damage.

Hello master_marshmallow. I love your username. Those things are what I was referring to in my post; my apologies, I should have been more specific. Multiple, tiny shots can run into problems with Resistances though. A large number of creatures have at least 10 Resist to every element.

It's not all hopeless; just take Acid and use Deliquescent Gloves. By the time it's relevant, 2d6+6 (for example) has a good chance of punching through Resist 10. Like you said, the massive number of attacks will then add up. Getting at least 1 point past Resist is just the important part. On the bright side, anything without energy resist will turn to goo.

Just add three levels of unchained rogue with Finesse Training (Mystic Bolts) to a high Dex warlock vigilante... What other details are needed?

Unfortunately, Mystic Bolt never adds Strength in the first place. Thus, Dexterity cannot be substituted for the non-existent Strength Bonus.

I will definitely take your advice to heart, Unbegreiflich! He's well behaved, just a bit silly. I'd love to get him a number and play PFS with him, but he has a very busy schedule. If I had to guess his favorite class, it would be Unchained Dogue.

(Sorry)

James Anderson, I'm not entirely sure Slashing Strike properly exists anymore. I definitely remember its previous existence, and I still see it in Herolab, but I can't find it in my copy of Advanced Class Guide. Was it playtest-only? It may be the elusive Schrodinger's Feat.

Thank you Joanna!

My cat steals dice and plays with them.

I'm pretty sure he gets all the natural 20's I don't.

Although we've only ever adopted dogs, I think all animals are wonderful. I did take care of my neighbor's cat one time while they were on vacation. It was super cool. Would have done it for free, but I got $20. Put it towards buying Persona 4 IIRC!

This is what happens when you don't give your animal companions their treats...

He gets scooby snacks, I swear! We just don't give him a lot because we don't want him to get a tummyache. Also he is naturally a very big dog, so we watch his weight to prevent health problems. In his case it's working out well. He's 6 but still energetic like a puppy. :)