Since they're regular horses, you don't have to worry about the horses trampling, because in Pathfinder creatures need to have the ability Trample to do so. Normally a horse COULD try to overrun somebody, but Overrunning is a standard action that targets somebody, which cannot be done if you're panicked. If you're panicked, all you can do is basically run / move away from the source of your panic. So the horses would either be trying to get out of the pen and away from the party, or just backed all the way to the other side of the pen as far as they can go, then cower. Panicked doesn't mean you're trampling everything in sight, it means you're scared and you're trying to get away as fast as possible. If the PCs are trying to panic the horses tactically, it may distract other NPCs nearby (or draw their attention). Otherwise it will just mean a bunch of horses running randomly everywhere. If a PC wants to actually try and make one of the horses do something, it would be a Handle Animal check as a move action.
1 = critical fail, 20 = critical success for skill checks is NOT a bad idea... unless you're a TERRIBLE DM. It doesn't have to take away from taking 10 or taking 20, nor should it always be autowin/autofail.
I implement it in my games, and it's always worked swimmingly. If someone wants to take 20 tying someone up with a rope, then they take the time to tie that victim up as best as they possibly can with that rope. If someone wants to take 10 to balance across a narrow ledge they're crossing with no nearby danger, then they can by all means do so. BUT when a check is called for, such as being under pressure or UMD, 1 = critical fail and something bad happens (similarly to the default UMD rules), and 20 USUALLY means auto success, and possibly an added benefit / boon. For example, if it would normally take you several rounds to use Escape Artist to get out of some ropes but you roll a 20, it may instead only take you 1 or 2 rounds to get out. Or if you get a 20 on a Stealth check, as a boon for getting a 20 you may be able to keep that roll for the next 1 or 2 Stealth checks you would be required to make (in the next few moments). On the other hand, if someone rolls a 1 on their Stealth check (and the enemy does not roll a 1), the enemy automatically finds you, regardless of the math. Or if you roll a 1 on that Escape Artist check, it may take you even LONGER now to get out, since you just made it even worse.
By the way... if anyone tried to "jump to the moon" or something ridiculous to exploit the system, I would smack them in the head with the core rulebook. It's about making the game more exciting, not exploiting the system. It's a houserule to begin with... and you're afraid of someone trying to exploit a houserule??? Come on now.
Sorry Sinatar, you're still wrong. I get to make all of my iteratives with my main hand while I've got a free off-hand, then switch up so the other hand is free and I've got gun in the other.
I was wrong about the max of 4 in the main hand and 2 in the off-hand... for whatever reason I was thinking that you needed to use the weapon cord each time you want to reload... no idea why I was thinking this. -_-
There are still 2 minor issues with this method, though with all the given information it is still legal RAW.
1.) During the next round with your weapon cord tactic, you start with 1 gun in your hand with the other dangling. Oops. You must have 2 weapons equipped to use two-weapon fighting, and a weapon dangling from a weapon cord is not equipped.
2.) The weapon cord rules state that your cord-hand is free, but you are limited with "finer actions". This is extremely vague and is mostly negligible, but it would be reasonable to rule that loading a firearm is a "finer action".
*shrugs* Again, I'm only looking at RAW. My own personal opinion on the matter? You should not be able to use two-weapon fighting unless you have both weapons equipped throughout the entire attack sequence. Things like Prehensile Tail/Hair should let you do simple tasks like hold a pistol temporarily. I think 2-weapon fighting with pistols and hand crossbows should be viable with the right build, but I DON'T think you should get extra attacks from having a double barrel. It's a stupid mechanic. You're still only shooting once, just with more than 1 round of ammo. It's much like shooting 2 arrows from a longbow - you're still only firing once, just using more than 1 arrow. My suggestion? Instead of granting an entire extra attack, using a double barrel should simply add more damage at the cost of a penalty to attack and increasing your misfire chance by +1. This would cut down on the cheese.
First, assume a 16th level character or onwards. This would mean they get 4 attacks[...]
Next, add Rapid Shot. This means as a full attack you get one MORE attack. Also, add either the Haste spell or the Speed enchantment, which adds another attack. Now we have the 6 attacks[...]
You're legit up to this point.
Theomniadept wrote:
Now let's take things a step further. Two Weapon fighting has three feats: Two Weapon Fighting, and its Improved and Greater versions that altogether add 3 more attacks. Factor in Haste/Speed enchantment on this off hand and you get another attack with the weapon, for 4 more attacks. We are up to ten[...]
Now look at the Pistolero: with TWO double-barreled pistols he can fire -both- barrels as an attack. At the same time. If, referring to my first post, he is completely able to reload these with free actions (requiring Quick Draw, just like using two hand crossbows) then his ten attacks are each using two bullets. That's double the attacks on a higher damaging weapon.
Hold on there, cowboy. You're breaking the rules in 3 areas.
1.) You must have a free hand to reload a firearm. Two-weapon fighting means you don't have a free hand. Therefore you can't reload to make a full attack with 2 double-barrel pistols.
2.) Quick Draw has no effect on how quickly you can sheathe a weapon. Sheathing a weapon is still a move action. Therefore, you still can't reload while holding 2 double-barrel pistols.
3.) You cannot benefit from multiple Haste/Speed effects. The rules state this clearly in both descriptions. Therefore you can only use the effect of 1 Speed weapon at a time; there's no point in wielding 2 Speed weapons.
Do many firearm mechanics need cleaning up? Yes. Can you make 24 attacks in around with them? Not without houseruling.
EDIT: Using a Weapon Cord is a swift action, so you could only use it once, meaning you still wouldn't be able to get all of your attacks. You can't wield a weapon in the same hand as a glove of storing, so that won't work either.
EDIT #2: Prehensile Tail is a swift action, not a free action, meaning that just like the Weapon Cord, you could only use it once during a full attack.
Is Red Mantis Assasin the only thing set in stone, or is it also still in the air?
Because honestly straight ninja the whole way would fit your stipulations perfectly.
1.) The ninja's capstone ability is amazing; definitely worth the long haul.
2.) Plug in the good tricks / feats / items, and the character is quite simple to play. Nothing complicated and minimal book keeping, yet the character is still very capable and efficient.
3.) Ninjas need a high CHA, and all social skills are class skills for them. This is great synergy for this gifted female character with social graces. ^_^
4.) This is about as "fluid and acrobatic" as it gets! The ninja is one of the best classes at taking advantage of the Acrobatics skill, using their Ki. Many ninja tricks build onto this concept as well.
5.) You wouldn't need to worry about houseruling weapon finesse working with mithral weapons, or using 3rd party material. This point is moot, however, if you aren't hesitant about 3rd party material in the first place. ^_^
Umm, no, you can also go behind cover or anything else that blocks line of sight, and become concealed again. And there’s all sort of “practical benefits” the ONLY “practical benefit” you DON’T get is no auto sneak attack ..which you’d only get for one hit anyway. The loss is small, and JJ sez it’s fine to houserule it.
But yes, of course you need HiPS or it’s equivalent to go back into being hidden after revealed, do you think a sneaky guy can really just Hide in Plain Sight without some sort of special ability?
Read the Stealth blogs. They are well aware of the issue. It is an issue that can NOT be solved without a great deal of rules re-writing which will have to wait until another edition. They have said that. So, what’s the problem? The devs know about it, acknowledge it, suggested a houserule, and will fix it next Ed.
NORMAL cover should not completely block line of sight and line of effect, but TOTAL Cover should. This is yet ANOTHER confusion in the rules because of 3.5 SRD text copied directly into Pathfinder. It's a confusing mechanic that causes a ripple effect for the whole game. It affects Stealth and Perception, as well as ANYTHING that has to do with line of effect (or line of sight). Normal cover should provide +4 AC, +2 Reflex, prevent AoOs from those you have cover against, allow you to use stealth, but NOT block line of sight/effect (unless you are hidden from stealth). If cover completely blocks line of effect, what's the point of the bonus to AC? Only total cover should block line of effect. These mechanics need clearing up, and this is how you do it.
You don't need anyone, game designer or not, to tell you what's "fine" to house rule. My suggested changes come DIRECTLY from the Stealth blogs you are referring to. Check them out.
It doesn't need to say that in the stealth section. It says that in the section about enemies being unable to see you (blind).
Oh, you mean the rules for being blinded? Yes, the rules specify that a blinded creature is denied its DEX to AC. But where in the rules is the blinded condition linked to enemies who cannot see a stealthed crature? I'm not trying to be difficult. If you say that it just does because that makes sense to you, then wonderful! I am not bashing any house ruling. I too house rule that enemies who don't notice a stealther are denied their DEX bonus against them. My point is that nowhere in the core do the rules mention this. However, I have missed things before. If you can find anywhere where it says that unaware enemies are denied their DEX or are blind to stealthers, I would be happy to see it!
If you've successfully stealthed, they are blind to you, so they are not flat-footed (that's a specific game term), but they are denied dexterity to AC.
I wholeheartedly agree that this is how Stealth SHOULD work. But please, show me here in the rules for stealth where it mentions that they are blind to you? (HINT: it's not there)
The unfortunate truth is that technically this is a house rule. Again I say, it's absurd that it has to be.
3 & 5 are good points, and James Jacobs admits as much. BUT read the two Stealth blogs and the replies. They found out that fixing them required[...]
A complete re-write of the rules, which will have to wait for another edition.
This is PRECISELY what I'm suggesting, and what I think needs to happen. All because much of Pathfinder's core is copied and pasted 3.5 SRD text. As I explained, a re-write wouldn't be THAT big of a deal (a revision). Even a Joe-Shmoe like me could do it with a bit of time. And again, this WOULD NOT be a change in mechanics - but rather FIXING the existing mechanics by doing a clean rewrite.
[...] Now the thread doesn't have to focus on just those, there are others out there so post them here.
I love Pathfinder as a whole, but my biggest problem is that somewhere around 70% of the core text is directly copied and pasted from the 3.5 SRD. A bold accusation, but I can provide countless examples as proof. However, my problem is not with the copy and pasting of text itself, but the fact that it creates inconsistent, repetitive, and "bloat" wording (not to be confused with "fluff"). We have new, innovative mechanics interwoven with an outdated core language, which can sometimes be unintentionally unclear and confusing.
This is why I (like the majority of posters in this thread) agree with the OP in that this needs to be fixed. I sincerely hope that the Pathfinder designers don't take this complaint lightly. Here are a few noteworthy examples:
1.) RAW, line of effect only applies to SPELLS, even though many other non-spell related mechanics - such as total cover - use line of effect.
2.) The rules for line of sight and line of effect BOTH refer to each other. Furthermore, the rules for line of effect imply that line of sight is specifically used for ranged attacks, although the rules for line of sight don't mention ranged attacks at all. Could this be ANY more convoluted?
3.) The rules mention several stipulations about concealment, but they don't even hint as to what concealment actually is. RAW, sources of concealment are specified case-by-case (namely dim light and darkness).
4.) The current rules for invisibility have twice as much text as the rules for stealth. I realize most people don't care about this, but my point is that it's absurd for invisibility (and other mechanics) to be so wordy.
5.) There is NO ACTUAL GAME MECHANIC BENEFIT for using stealth. It's absolutely absurd! An iconic skill that RAW doesn't even cause unaware enemies to be denied their DEX? Why has it been 4 years since this game's release and this issue is STILL yet to be resolved? Don't tell me that "it's by design, stealth is meant for out of combat" either, because some time ago Paizo discussed this VERY ISSUE in a blog, planning for a fix, but then the whole thing just got dropped. My question is: Why?
Just to list a few examples of how copying and pasting 3.5 text into the Pathfinder core causes trouble. The core mechanics need a rewrite. I'm not talking about changing the mechanics - just rewriting them. Make them work the way they are SUPPOSED to work. Tie up these loose ends and make the wording clearer. It's a simple thing would VASTLY improve the game.
And no, a lawyer would NOT be required for such a thing. Why do I keep seeing this? I'm no lawyer, and even I can do it. Check out this thread that I made a while back (that sadly got very little response) for a few good example re-writes.
As a GM, the Hero Point system is my favorite mechanic in Pathfinder! I absolutely love it, and always implement it into my games. I pretty much use the rules as written, except:
* I don't normally allow the feats/spells/magic items that grant extra Hero Points. That stuff deflates the value and significance of Hero Points! They aren't meant to be flung around willy nilly... in my opinion, they work best when used sort of as a "get out of jail free card".
* I omit the "Bonus" and "Reroll" rules of the Using Hero Points section and simply rule that you can use a Hero Point to take 10 on ANY d20 roll with the added +8 luck bonus. I do this because Hero Points are meant to be exciting and to give the player an edge! How deflating would it be to use a Hero Point only to roll a 1? To me this significantly cuts the intended value of Hero Points. With my change using them is always guaranteed to help, just like all the other listed uses.
* I rule that if a character uses 2 to Cheat Death, they automatically have 0 HP and stabilize, regardless of how deep they currently are in the negatives (as long as their corpse is mainly intact)
* I broaden the spectrum a bit by ruling an "allow" or "disallow" use of Hero Points on a case-by-case basis. For example, my players have asked before if they could spend a Hero Point to move without provoking an attack of opportunity from the big bad boss, and I allow it.
I don't mind my players having the extra Ace up their sleeve because I tend to make challenging encounters anyway. :) It's a fantastic way to add excitement and heroic moments to the game (and it generally makes your players happy). At the same time, since they're such a limited and precious resource, it adds an element of strategy by encouraging players to manage them carefully. The mechanic is GENIUS, especially the 3 point limit rule. It makes 4E's Action Point system look like the Hero Point system's younger, weaker, lazier brother.
I love Pathfinder, but you can add me to the list of those who want to see a revision of the core rules. And by revision, I don't mean a complete overhaul. I'm talking about a good house cleaning. A fresh re-write of the core text. Not to change the mechanics in a big way, but to make them work better. Even with the current errata, FAQs, and helpful developer posts that have been made over the years, much of the game still needs improvement. If the system can be made better without causing any problems or significant changes, isn't it worth a shot?
My #1 complaint is that the majority of the core text is directly copied and pasted from the 3.5 core system. That may seem harmless at first glance because Pathfinder is only meant to fix what was wrong with 3.5. Right? Wrong. It's unintentionally detrimental to the game to leave the old language alone as it is. Much of the 3.5 core text was directly copy-and-pasted from 3.0, and so on. Therefore, with Pathfinder we have new innovative mechanics interwoven with an old, outdated core language.
If you want proof/examples of this, I can provide some, but that's not why I made this thread. I have some suggestions that I believe would tie up loose ends, fix many inconsistencies, eliminate repetitive and unnecessary language, and bring clarity to the mechanics that need it.
Specifically, I think that stealth, perception, cover, concealment, and a few other related mechanics need some critical attention. Did you realize that in its current form, using stealth grants you no benefit? It's true! Go ahead, look it up. It lists a few stipulations, but that's it! You might say that "it allows you to hide" or "sneak past somebody without being seen" or "it makes your foe flat footed"... but technically it would be a house rule! I find it hard to believe that after all this time, the stealth mechanic is still in this sad state. There was an impending change that was presented a couple of years ago by Paizo which introduced the "hidden" condition, which acted as the benefit of using stealth, but for whatever reason Paizo dropped it (at least from what I've seen. If someone has more info, please share!).
I liked the concept, but not the execution. In fact, I like it so much that I thought invisibility should be a condition, too. Not only that, but I thought that invisibility could be greatly condensed, utilizing other game mechanics, without really changing its mechanics. Branching out from there, I decided to do my own rules cleaning to to several of the related rules to try and make them all harmonize well together.
What do you think of these proposed changes? What do you like or not like about them? Would you be interested in seeing any more suggested changes like these, or should I just forget the whole thing? Any feedback on these suggestions would be appreciated.
Line of Sight and Line of Effect:
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Line of sight means that you have a direct line of vision to a target. You don’t need to see all of your target to have line of sight, but you must be able to see at least a portion of your target. For example, you might have line of sight to someone with cover or concealment, but you wouldn't have line of sight to someone who has total cover or total concealment.
Line of effect means that a direct line from you to your target can be drawn without passing through a solid barrier. Even if there is only a small direct path, it still counts as line of effect. You can have line of effect to someone with cover, but not if they have total cover.
Normally you can’t attack or affect a creature you don’t have line of effect to. You can try to attack, cast a spell, or use an ability in an area without line of sight (by taking the appropriate penalties) unless noted otherwise.
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Light and Darkness:
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Whether you’re outside during the day or down in a cave at night, you are typically in one of the forms of light or darkness presented below. Unless you have an ability that lets you see in darkness (such as blindsight or darkvision), you need light to see. If an attack, spell or ability passes through squares with multiple forms of light and darkness, use the darkest form. For example, if you are in an area of normal light and shoot an arrow past dim light into an area of darkness, use darkness for determining the outcome of the shot.
Bright Light: Unless you have light sensitivity or light blindness (or your vision is hindered in some way), you can see clearly in bright light. Areas of direct sunlight with nothing overhead and inside the area of a Daylight spell are examples of bright light.
Normal Light: This works exactly like bright light except creatures with light sensitivity and light blindness are not hindered. Areas of normal light include underneath a forest canopy during the day, within 20 feet of a torch, and the area of a Light spell.
Dim Light: It is slightly difficult to see in areas of dim light. Vision-based perception checks made through areas of dim light take a -4 penalty. Being in an area of dim light grants you concealment. Areas of dim light include outside at night with a moon in the sky, and the area between 20 and 40 feet from a torch.
Darkness: If you need light to see, you gain the blindness condition for any action that passes through an area of darkness that requires line of sight. Being in an area of darkness grants you total concealment. Areas of darkness include outside on a cloudy, moonless night, and inside an unlit dungeon chamber.
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Concealment:
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Anything used to obscure clear vision of you is concealment. Attacks, hostile spells, and hostile abilities that require a target have a 20% chance of missing someone with concealment. You can also use concealment to hide (see “Stealth”). Examples of concealment include foliage, dim light, normal fog, and being submerged in water relative to someone not in water.
Your source of concealment must cover all of you to be fully effective (see “Partial Concealment”, below). Concealment does not apply to spells or abilities that don’t specify a target (such as the Fireball spell). Creatures that don’t rely on vision to see, such as those with blindsight, ignore the concealment of others. Multiple forms of concealment don’t stack and you only gain the most powerful version available to you. For example, if you share the same space as a bush in an area of darkness, you have total concealment (not regular and total concealment).
Partial Concealment: If a source of concealment doesn't cover all of you (but does cover at least half of you), you have partial concealment. It works exactly like regular concealment except that attacks, hostile spells, and hostile abilities have a 10% chance of missing, and partial concealment cannot be used to hide. If less than half of your body is covered by a source of concealment, you have no concealment at all. Examples of partial concealment include swimming at the surface of water, a large creature occupying two squares of dim light and two squares of normal light, and standing in the same space as a bush that is half your size. If being prone or stooping in the same space as partial concealment causes it to cover all of you, you can use it as regular concealment instead (stooping inside a small bush or low fog is beneficial, but lying down in an area with both dim light and normal light is not).
Total Concealment: Total Concealment is anything that completely shrouds you from view. It works exactly like regular concealment except that attacks, hostile spells, and hostile abilities have a 50% chance of missing someone with it. Those with total concealment do not provoke attacks of opportunity. Creatures do not have line of sight to anyone with total concealment. Unless you are hidden due to stealth or invisibility, nearby creatures know where you are, even without line of sight (thanks to other senses). Examples of total concealment include darkness, invisibility, and being more than 5 feet away from someone in heavy fog.
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Cover:
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Any solid object between you and a creature that covers at least half of you grants cover. Having cover makes you harder to hit, and you can use it to hide (see “Stealth”). Doors, typical trees, tables, barrels, crates, and statues are examples of objects that can be used as cover. An ally who is not grappled or otherwise being manipulated unwillfully cannot be used as cover by an enemy.
You have cover from a creature if a line from any corner of his space to any corner of your space passes through a source of cover. However, if this cover is within his natural reach but not yours, he has cover from you while you gain no benefit from it. On the other hand, if the cover is within reach of both of you (or neither of you), you have cover from each other.
Cover provides a +4 bonus to AC and a +2 bonus to reflex saves against anything that originates on the other side of the cover (except spread effects). You do not provoke attacks of opportunity from those you have cover against. Multiple forms of cover don’t stack and you only gain the most powerful version available to you. For example, if a typical tree and a broken knee-high wall stand between you and someone else, you have cover (not partial and regular cover). If an attack misses you by 4 or less due to cover and it would have been enough to hit the cover itself, the object (or ally, see below) is hit by the attack instead.
Allied Cover: You can use a willing ally as cover. Losing this cover due to movement by either of you takes effect immediately. When using allied cover, you do not gain the bonus to reflex saves normally granted by cover and you provoke attacks of opportunity normally. An ally smaller or bigger than you might provide partial or total cover (see below).
Partial Cover: If a source of cover is less than half your size but is still significant enough to provide some protection, it is partial cover. It works exactly like regular cover except the bonus to AC is +2, the bonus to reflex saves is +1, you still provoke attacks of opportunity normally, and you cannot use it to hide. A tree stump as tall as your knees, a chair, and jail bars are all examples of partial cover. If you are prone or stooping behind a source of partial cover, you can use it as regular cover.
Total Cover: A source of cover that completely blocks line of effect is total cover. Normally you can’t attack or affect a creature that has total cover unless you can do so without the need of line of effect. Being on the other side of a wall larger than you or on different floors of the same building are examples of total cover. Creatures behind walls with arrow slits or peep holes are considered to have total cover.
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Perception (WIS):
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Description: Use your senses to interact with your surroundings. Some are served well by their ability to see and hear, whether it be through natural talent or training. Any good adventurer knows that it’s better to be aware of your surroundings than to be surprised by them.
Check: Perception checks are most commonly used to determine whether or not you notice something (see below). Otherwise, use one of the other methods presented below to determine success. You can actively make perception checks for a wide variety of purposes, from feeling the ground to determine if something is burrowing beneath you to reading a shady man’s lips from across the tavern. Tell your GM what kind of perception check you want to make and for what purpose (such as looking around the area for hidden doors and traps). Perception checks are opposed by a wide range of possible DCs. Use the tables below as a guideline.
Notice something: Sometimes you might happen to notice something that you weren't actively trying to find. This can apply to any of your senses. Use this method to notice a particular smell, a minor vibration or shift in the ground, faint voices in the distance, something out of place, a nearby creature using stealth or sleight of hand, a minor movement that you might see from the corner of your eye, etc. The GM usually rolls secretly to determine whether a PC notices something or not. Traps, hidden doors, and other well hidden stationary objects cannot be noticed by chance and must be actively looked for (see below) to be found unless otherwise noted. Invisible creatures must also be actively looked for. Normally a perception check isn't necessary to notice something obvious (such as a lever on the wall beside you or a box on a dresser 10 feet from you) unless your GM says otherwise.
Look around: You can take time to look around an area for hidden creatures, objects, and anything else of note. It generally takes 1 minute to search a 30x30 ft. area (or longer if you have to take time sifting through boxes, etc). If multiple things are hidden in the same area, it usually takes multiple searches to find everything. Use this method of perception when you want to actively search around an area for anything that might be hidden (such as a key under a rug, a hidden trap, or an invisible enemy biding his time).
Quick look: Alternatively, you can try to scan an area quickly. This works the same as looking for something (see above) except that you don’t move from your current space and you only take a brief moment to look around. Use this when you only want to take a few seconds to look around for hidden enemies, check the immediate area for noteworthy details (such hidden traps and hidden doors), search a small (or smaller) container, or inspect an object to learn important details.
Taking a quick look is a move action. It’s more difficult to find something (except for hidden creatures) using this method because you’re doing it hastily. Alternatively you can use a full-round action to reduce the DC (except for hidden creatures) or to skim through a large container, medium container, or several smaller containers within reach (as allowed by the GM). You can’t use this method of perception to find anything you don’t have line of sight to, such as gems inside a closed box out of reach or a magical weapon hanging on the other side of a wall.
Scout from a bird’s eye view: You have a much better view of your surroundings when it’s from a high vantage point. When you use look around or quick look (see above) from a high point looking down, your scanning range increases by 5 ft. for every 5 ft. you are above ground level. For example, if you fly 40 ft. in the air and look around (or if you’re looking down from a 40 ft. tower), you can search a 70x70 area in 1 minute. This also allows you to potentially see more areas with your line of sight that would otherwise be out of view on the ground, such as around walls or boulders. The normal range penalty on perception checks still applies. Scouting from a bird’s eye view doesn't allow you to see anything you don’t have line of sight to, such as weapons inside a sealed crate on the ground or an ally underneath a large canopy.
Listen: You can try to actively listen for sounds in the immediate area, in the distance, behind a door, through the floor, etc. This method of perception simply takes a move action to use; you either hear something during that particular moment or you don’t (though you could continuously listen for longer by taking 20). You can also use this method to listen for a hidden creature that may be within 30 ft. of you. Creatures using stealth can be found through sound or sight, so this is as viable as using the quick look method (see above).
Read Lips: If someone is talking (or whispering) and you can’t hear them, you can try to read their lips to understand what they’re saying. You must have line of sight to their lips and be able to understand the language they’re speaking. The base DC to read lips is 10 with the following modifiers:
Action: If a perception check doesn't specify an action, it’s considered to be a move action (except for checks made to notice something, which don’t require an action).
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Stealth (DEX, ACP):
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Description: You can avoid detection, allowing you to slip past foes or strike from the shadows with a surprise attack.
Check: You use stealth when you want to hide or sneak by someone unnoticed. You must have some kind of concealment or cover to make a stealth check (except partial. See “Partial Concealment” and “Partial Cover”). Your stealth check is opposed by the perception check of anyone who might notice you. Anyone who beats your stealth check knows where you are and can see you (if they have line of sight to you). If you beat their perception check, you gain the hidden condition in relation to them (see “Hidden”). If you are using stealth against multiple creatures, anyone who wins his perception check can alert his allies of your location on his or his ally’s next turn, whichever comes first (no action). Any creature with a size other than Medium has a size bonus or penalty on his Stealth checks: Fine +16, Diminutive +12, Tiny +8, Small +4, Large –4, Huge –8, Gargantuan –12, Colossal –16.
Staying hidden: If you are hidden from another creature, the condition lasts until the creature wins his perception check against you, he is alerted of your location, or you do something that automatically reveals your location. This includes attacking a creature you are hidden from (except for sniping, see below), casting a spell or using an ability that affects a creature you are hidden from, losing your source of cover or concealment, and doing anything loud or attention-grabbing (as determined by the GM). You don’t lose the hidden condition until immediately after the revealing action.
Attacking or using an ability that doesn't directly affect creatures you are hidden from doesn't automatically reveal your location to them, but it does require you to make a new stealth check afterward to remain hidden. Anyone who notices you can alert his allies of your location normally (as described in the “Check” section, see above). Moving any distance while hidden also requires you to make a new stealth check to remain hidden (see the “Movement and Stealth” section, below). Making subtle noises or motions that could be noticed by someone nearby, such as whispering, unsheathing a weapon, and retrieving an item each requires you to make a new stealth check to remain hidden. A subtle motion or noise is easy to muffle because you are already hidden, so you receive a +8 circumstance bonus on such checks. An action that requires no movement or sound, such as casting a spell without verbal or somatic components, does not require a new stealth check.
Movement and stealth: You can make a stealth check as part of your movement to either get to a new hiding spot or sneak up to someone. If you’re moving to a new hiding spot, you must be hidden before starting the movement and must have appropriate cover or concealment at the end of the movement. This method of stealth is also used if you are moving into an area where someone would normally notice you. Sneaking up to someone works the same way, except you don’t need cover or concealment at the end of the movement. If you don’t attack or do anything to reveal yourself when sneaking up to someone, you remain hidden until the end of the current turn.
If you move too quickly while trying to be stealthy, creatures are more likely to notice you. You take a -4 penalty on stealth checks when moving more than half your speed. You can’t use stealth with an action that lets you move more than your speed, such as charging or running (though you could make two move actions during your turn and use stealth during each movement).
Using stealth while being observed: If someone notices you, it’s difficult to hide from them. You must move at least 10 feet from the space you begin your turn on and must have total concealment or total cover. Regular concealment and regular cover can’t completely hide you from someone who has noticed you unless you first create a diversion. You can make a bluff check as a swift action opposed by the sense motive check of anyone who notices you. If your bluff check succeeds, you can then move at least 10 feet away and use regular cover or concealment to make a stealth check against those who fell for the diversion. Other distractions can also act as diversions, such as an observer taking damage before you move on your turn (dealing damage yourself does not count as a diversion, and the diversion must happen on your turn). The GM determines what other distractions count as diversions. If at least one creature sees through your diversion, he can alert his allies of your location normally (as described in the “Check” section, see above). Regardless of whether you use total cover, total concealment or a diversion, stealth checks against creatures who have noticed you are made at a -8 penalty.
Sniping: As a standard action you can make a single ranged attack against a target you are hidden from who is at least 10 feet away and try to remain hidden after the shot (normally attacking automatically reveals your location). After attacking from your hiding spot, make a stealth check to remain hidden where you are. This check is made at a -20 penalty.
Action: Usually stealth is part of another action (such as moving to sneak up on someone or quietly unsheathing a weapon). If you can use stealth without moving from your current location, it’s a swift action. This instance is usually rare because if you’re already hidden, you don’t need to make another stealth check unless you do something potentially revealing (see the “Staying Hidden” section, above).
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Conditions:
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Hidden: You become hidden from those you successfully use stealth against (see “Stealth”). Nearby creatures you are hidden from do not know where you are (though they might know of your presence in the area if they have reason to). You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls against those you are hidden from and ignore their DEX bonus to AC (if any). Creatures you are hidden from do not have line of sight to you and cannot make attacks of opportunity against you.
Invisibility: Your presence is completely removed from view. You gain the hidden condition and total concealment. You do not need to use stealth while invisible (because you are automatically hidden) except when someone is actively trying to find you (see “Look around”). In that case, you gain a +20 bonus to your stealth check.
Blindness: You are suddenly unable to see. You take a -2 penalty to AC and lose your DEX bonus (if any) to AC. You take a -4 penalty to all checks that rely on vision (such as climbing a wall or untying a rope). All vision-based perception checks automatically fail. All enemies gain total concealment against you. You can navigate where you want to go by moving at half speed, but attempting to move more than that is reckless and causes you to fall prone at the start of your movement unless you make a DC 10 acrobatics check. Creatures that don’t rely on vision to see, such as those with blindsight, are immune to blindness.
Stooping: You can squat, kneel, or bend down. Stooping out in the open doesn't grant any benefits, but it can be useful in some situations. Stooping in the same space as partial concealment gives you normal concealment, and stopping behind partial cover gives you normal cover. Stooping and standing up from stooping are free actions. You move at half speed while stooping.
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Universal Monster Rules:
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Blindsense (Ex): Your nonvisual senses (usually hearing or smelling) have developed drastically to compensate for a lack of vision (though it’s not as powerful as Blindsight). You can “see” creatures, objects, and the surrounding environment normally without the need of vision. You are immune to blindness and gaze attacks but are still subject to other effects that rely on vision such as darkness, fog, and invisibility. You still must make Perception checks normally because you are subject to other senses (such as sound and smell), but since you are more attuned to them than those who rely on vision, you gain a +4 insight bonus to all perception checks. You treat line of sight normally as if you had vision. This ability doesn't allow you to discern colors.
Blindsight (Ex): Using nonvisual senses such as acute smelling or hearing, you can “see” creatures, objects, and the surrounding environment normally without the need of vision. You are not affected by visual hindrances such as darkness, fog, or blindness. You ignore visual benefits that other creatures have, such as concealment and invisibility. You still must make perception checks normally because you are subject to other senses (such as sound and smell), but since you are more attuned to them than those who rely on vision, you gain a +6 insight bonus to all perception checks. You are treated as having line of sight to your target if you have line of effect. This ability doesn't allow you to discern colors.
Darkvision (Ex): You can see clearly in dim light and darkness (as if they were normal light) out to the indicated distance and are not hindered by their effects. Other creatures cannot use dim light or darkness to gain concealment or total concealment from you. In areas of darkness, you discern colors as black and white only.
Light Sensitivity (Ex): You gain the dazzled condition for any action that passes through an area of bright light.
Light Blindness (Ex): You gain the blindness condition for any action that passes through an area of bright light.
Low-Light Vision (Ex): You can see clearly in dim light (as if it was normal light) and are not hindered by its effects. Other creatures cannot use dim light to gain concealment from you.
Scent (Ex): Your sense of smell is extremely sensitive and can be used to identify familiar odors, track scents, and sniff out hidden enemies.
You can immediately identify anyone (or anything) with an odor that you’ve smelled before within 30 ft. of you. You immediately know the location of the odor’s source, regardless of any visual obstructions present (such as food hidden in a drawer, an ally in disguise, or even someone familiar trapped behind a locked door). If wind more than 10 mph is blowing in the direction from the source toward you, this range increases to 60 ft. If the wind is blowing away, the range decreases to 15 ft. In addition, you gain a +8 bonus to all smell-based perception checks.
You can also track a specific scent that has moved far away, as long as you have smelled the odor at least once (using a criminal’s hat, smelling their footsteps on the ground, etc). This works exactly like following tracks (see “Survival”) except that ground conditions and visibility don’t affect your ability to track the scent, and you can only track one scent at a time. The base survival DC to track a scent is 10, and each hour that goes by since the odor’s source passed through the area increases the DC by 2. Because your sense of smell is so sensitive, overwhelming odors cripple your ability to focus on any other scent. If a strong odor interrupts your tracking, such as a skunk spraying the area, your survival DC increases by 10. Aside from the differences mentioned here, all other modifiers to following tracks are applied normally.
You can also use Scent to sniff out hidden enemies, even if you've never smelled them before, unlike other creatures who must rely on vision or hearing (see “Perception”). This works the same way except that you get a +8 bonus (as mentioned above), the range increases to 60 ft. if wind more than 10 mph is blowing in the direction from the hidden creature toward you (it decreases to 15 ft. if the wind is blowing away), and you are not restricted by visual obstructions (meaning that you can pinpoint a creature’s location even if the creature has total concealment or total cover). Once you find a creature this way, you can treat his odor as a familiar scent (see above). You can only use this form of scent to actively look for a hidden creature and can’t use it in reaction to a creature using stealth (see “Perception”). This form of scent doesn't allow you to ignore total concealment or grant you any benefit other than being able to use your sense of smell to find hidden creatures.
Agreed 100%: a "Deities and Demigods"-esque source would be a welcome addition to Pathfinder. Not only creating stats for the Pathfinder deities, but also going more in-depth on their lore, backgrounds, and relationships with each other. I can't tell you HOW many times I've referred to Deities and Demigods over the years for my 3.5 campaign... I just recently made an adventure based on the rivalry between Obad-Hai and Ehlonna (which is only exclusively talked about in that book), where a druid and some lycanthropes seized a temple of Ehlonna in the forest, killed its elven worshipers, and modified it into a tribute to Obad-Hai, using it as their new sanctuary. I would never even have gotten the inspiration for this if it weren't for Deities and Demigods.
My point is, there really should be something like this for Pathfinder. Yes, stress the fact that they aren't presented as a way for players to kill them, and even give GMs the option to make the deities invulnerable to PCs. That's all fine and great. But as Evil Lincoln has pointed out, don't insult us by dismissing the idea altogether "because it might break the game." Only if you assume that every GM is the worst GM ever...
I feel similarly about demigods. If GMs don't want players to hurt demigods, then present this optionally too. But still give them a stat block and talk about who they are, what it means to be a demigod, and what their relationship is to the deities and other demigods. This is potentially GOLDEN STUFF that is being dismissed as "not possible". That's BS! FYI 3rd edition broke 3rd edition, not Deities and Demigods. That was one of 3rd edition's best sellers... surprise surprise.
In my opinion, even a battle oracle type character needs to have CHA as the primary stat, mainly to keep up with spell casting. You will have to rely on spells to keep you strong in melee, and that's okay. The Battle Revelations will definitely help you too. I would recommend making CHA your highest stat, then CON and STR as your secondary stats. Here are some spells you should probably utilize as a melee oracle:
1st level spells: Divine Favor, Enlarge Person (mystery), Magic Weapon (great at low levels), Shield of Faith
2nd level spells: Bear's Endurance, Bull's STR (also great at low levels)
3rd level spells: Channel Vigor, Magic Vestment
4th level spells: Blessing of Fervor, Divine Power (replaces Divine Favor), Greater Magic Weapon (maybe)
EDIT: Okay, so you COULD make STR your primary stat instead of CHA if you don't take any Revelations that rely on CHA, and if you only use spells that are buffs and heals (spells that don't rely on CHA). Do keep in mind that you need the minimum CHA to at least be ABLE to cast spells, however. Fortunately this can be supplemented by +CHA boosting items, so you could even start with only 13 CHA and STILL be able to cast 9th level spells by the time you get them. If you make it a point to avoid CHA-based Revelations and spells, this is a viable option.
Generally speaking, you and your character get into a group with other characters and a GM, and the GM tells you what is happening in the game world and you respond with how your character reacts. For example, when your group is formed and the game starts, your GM might say:
"You have all gathered in in this town for your own various reasons. It is around noon. What are you all doing in town?"
At which point you and the other players would respond with... whatever you wish. Perhaps you're aimlessly wandering around, bored. Perhaps you're browsing at the Weaponsmith. Or perhaps you're having lunch at the tavern. You can basically do whatever the GM allows. It's definitely an imaginative game.
"You hear a woman scream for help at the edge of town. What do you do?"
Perhaps you rush as fast as you can to the woman's aid. Perhaps you ignore it and continue your lunch. Or perhaps you try and gather some of the townspeople to come and help. How you respond is completely up to you. Your responses (and the other plyayers') to the GM's commentary progresses the game.
Along the way you may end up trying to climb on top of a building, swimming across a river, or trying to make sense of some strange writing on a stone tablet you pick up. Things like these call for skill checks, which is part of your character. When your GM tells you, you roll a skill check to see if you succeed or fail in your task. Every character is good at different things, and it's always good for characters in a party to have varied skill investments.
When you get into a fight, it's called an encounter. That's where your attack, Armor Class, Saving throws, and other class abilities come into play. At the beginning of an encounter, everyone involved rolls Initiative. Each participant takes a turn from highest to lowest on the initiative results. When it's your turn, you decide what you want to do during your turn. You have a standard action, a move action, a swift action, and unlimited free actions you can do. You might choose to move up to an enemy (as a move action) and attack it (as a standard action), and then simply end your turn. Or perhaps you take a 5-foot step (a free action) and make a full-attack action as a full-round action. Full-round actions use up both your standard and move actions during your turn.
After everyone has had their turn, the end of Round 1 is complete, and Round 2 begins, starting with the highest Initiative again. An encounter usually lasts until one side defeats the other (usually the party defeats the enemies). However, since the game is dynamic, everything isn't always straight forward... 2 of your enemies may decide to run away from you. Some of your own party members may fall in battle, and YOU may decide to try and run away. Or perhaps some DIFFERENT creatures join in the middle of the battle to try and break it up. In this game, anything can happen. Each time you join the other characters to experience a completely new, unique experience.
Instead of thinking in terms of "what can my character do?" It's usually best to think "what would my character do in this situation?" Tell you GM what you want your character to do, and he/she will tell you how to do it. Climbing on the roof of the house may call for a Climb check, and not getting caught may call for a Stealth check. Your GM will tell you. Then jumping to another roof might be an Acrobatics check. Just remember that if your dice roll is bad, you may end up falling off the roof and taking some damage.
In short, you play a game with other characters, using your own character, to do things (usually whatever you want) and to accomplish goals, based on what your GM tells you about your surroundings.
The REAL purpose of playing any tabletop RPG game, whether it's Pathfinder or D&D, varies from table to table. When you get right down to it, everyone has their own reasons for playing the game. For most people, however, the whole "purpose" is to get together with other players, bring characters together, and enjoy a unique RPG experience together directed by the GM. At the game's core, that's the whole point... for most of us. Some people want to see how quickly they can kill their friends. Some want to see how much damage they can deal in one swing from a greataxe. Some play because they have the hots for the person sitting across the table. The purpose of playing is going to differ from table to table - no, even from person to person. But it's safe to say that for the most part, we just want to play.
In that respect, I'd say that most people play for the setting (and by that I mean enjoying a unique RPG experience), and the rules are tools used to make it happen.
I hate randomly rolling for HP... it diminishes class HD and the value of CON. Having fixed increases based on class HD is the way to go, in my experience.
I'll keep you're point in mind MythrilDragon, i haven't tougth about it that way, thanks!
The next step for them is proving their innocence, they've been set-up.
Funny, I actually ran a situation similar to this recently with my players. What I did is assign an Advisor to the party who sort of acts as their lawyer. Give the players a week or so in game to build their case. During this time, the Advisor can answer any questions they might have and can provide suggestions to them. Also during the week that they have to build their case, they should still be under arrest so they're not completely free to just wander the world and simply hide from the authorities. Have their hands and feet in chains and have them be escorted by city guardsman while they work on building their case. This is some great opportunity for role-playing.
Make the Advisor someone powerful, like a Wizard several levels above the PCs (and maybe even put his power on quick display if the opportunity presents itself so that the party knows he's not to be messed with). In building the case, have the Advisor present several areas for the PCs to pursue to help prove their innocence, such as where they were and what they were actually doing at the time of the king's death, and perhaps seek out any potential witnesses who might also know of the PCs' innocence. It might also be fun to have the PCs solve who is ACTUALLY responsible for killing the king as part of the case building. Again, it's a great opportunity for out-of combat utility and skill checks, as well as role-playing. If you use an Advisor NPC, don't have him solve any of the party's problems, but instead act as a bare-bones guide who is representing the PCs.
I would even say that during the trial, make the party choose one of THEM to be the party spokesman - NOT the advisor. Some diplomacy/bluff checks may be in order toward the judge/jury. You can even allow the spokesman to call up witnesses, ask questions, and basically try the party's case. The whole thing is a nice, fun deviation from fighting and dungeon crawling.
Honestly for the most part, I think the classes are fine (mechanically) and most need little to no change.
What does need a revision (and by revision, I mean a polishing, NOT an overhaul) are the core rules/mechanics. Re-organize the material so that things that should be in the same section ARE in the same section, codify all of the FAQs and new rules that have been introduced in supplements since the core rulebook was released, and stop copying and pasting 3.5 language into the Pathfinder rules. That is the #1 thing I'd like to see. It has caused countless problems... I know it saves time and it's easy to do, but a very large portion of the Pathfinder core is taken directly from the 3.5 core, word for word. STOP IT! It may seem harmless at first glance, but I can't tell you how much disjunction and confusion it has caused in the rules. I'm looking at you, Stealth and Soft Cover... but there's a ton of other stuff.
This is off subject, but what's with the bard hate? Bards are awesome in Pathfinder. Do people just dislike them in general? Because I think they're mechanically fine (and by that I mean awesome) in Pathfinder. This "those damn bards..." attitude seems to be fairly common, and it baffles me. I'll agree that the core bard was pretty bad in 3.5, but in Pathfinder... they're awesome.
If a Shadow Dancer (or ANYONE for that matter) uses natural darkness (or dim light) to hide via a Stealth check, it wouldn't matter to creatures with Darkvision because the darkness doesn't affect them. Even with Hide in Plain Sight, you still need cover or concealment to hide, and essentially to creatures with Darkvision you're using "nothing" to hide from them... therefore darkness wouldn't work. You can still use Hide In Plain Sight to hide from creatures with Darkvision though, as long as your hiding source is not darkness.
Blindsense just means that a creature doesn't rely on vision to perceive things, so things like darkness and fog doesn't affect them. They STILL have to make Perception checks, however, to find something/someone in hiding... blindsense doesn't mean that a creature always knows where everything around them is (I've seen DMs make this mistake). Therefore, you can still use Hide in Plain Sight / concealment or cover / Stealth to hide from something that has Blindsense.
My favorite Two Weapon Fighting build is Barbarian 1 / Fighter x with the Two-Weapon Warrior archetype. There are several things that come together with this build that just make it a beautiful thing.
The barbarian dip is for fast movement and rage. While rage will be limited with just a 1 level dip, it's still nice to have the option for a few rounds per day. Plus, the theme of a dual-wielding berserking warrior is a nice flavor boost to the standard two-weapon fighter.
Don't worry about the medium armor or less requirement of the fast movement... when you can afford it, just buy a set of Mithral Full Plate, which allows for fast movement while granting the AC of full plate, and it makes up the deficit for losing out on the benefits of Armor Training. The max DEX bonus being bumped to +3 is particularly nice because you want to be shooting for 17 DEX anyway with this build (mainly for the good feats).
Every single one of the Two-Weapon Warrior's abilities are VERY nice, but my favorite is Doublestrike. There are MANY situations when you won't be able to make a full attack (e.g. when you have to take more than a 5-foot step), and Doublestrike is one of the only abilities in the game that allows you to make more than 1 attack as a standard action. What makes this even MORE attractive is the Two-Weapon Rend feat, which is the main reason you want 17 DEX with this build. You can put up some big numbers this way, even with just a standard action. What now, casters! :p
Also Combat Reflexes is a VERY good feat to have with this build because of the Two-Weapon Warrior ability, Equal Opportunity. If you have 17 DEX with this combo, you get to attack with BOTH weapons for each attack of opportunity you make, you have the potential of using two-weapon rend with the attack of opportunity, and you can do that 4 times per round! Take the Lunge feat to add even more opportunities for an AoO, and you're just being ridiculous at that point.
Maybe in 3.5, but Paizo did a FANTASTIC job of balancing the classes in Pathfinder. I think you'll find that no 1 class is superbly stronger than another. There is still much variation and each class feels different than the others, but by themselves the classes are pretty even as far as potential power goes.
Also keep in mind that "archetypes" are basically class variants in Pathfinder. They're basically ways to change certain things about 1 class to make it something else. Combined with unrestricted multiclassing, no 2 characters in Pathfinder will ever be the same.
Think of the classes as being themes for characters - not just toolboxes of power that vary from one to the next. In my opinion, none of the classes are "bad" and none of them are the "best". You can honestly play what you want and MAKE whatever it is good. Again, Paizo did a great job of doing that in class design. I never thought I'd see the day where there was a balanced 3.5 system until I was introduced to Pathfinder.
If you want to know the specifics of the classes, take a look here:
www.d20pfsrd.com
Taking a look at their abilities will give you a much better idea about their powers than I could in trying to explain each one. Bottom line: all of them are different, and every one is good in its own unique way.
Haunts can only be dealt with in 2 ways... the first being Positive Energy, which is only a temporary solution. There is no other way to "damage" a haunt. If the DM is doing things correctly and a player uses positive energy to "kill" a haunt, the haunt resets in the room after a certain amount of time. As Wraithstrike has said, the only way to permanently get rid of a haunt is by doing something determined by the DM. Usually you will get some sort of clue as to what exactly that is.
I'd like to share an example of a haunt that I have planned for my players in the near future (but don't tell them! Shh!). There is an ancient "city of the dead" they will soon need to track down and investigate to progress the story. The long lost city is mainly in ruins now, and it is filled with haunts of its denizens from centuries past. The people of the city were wiped out by a plague of flesh-eating beetles, but the twist is that a traitor in their midst actually RELEASED the swarm on purpose. The people found out before they died, and made sure the traitor went down with them.
Now when the players find the place, they will need to deal with the haunts before they can even take a look around properly. In every room of the fallen city is one of these (shrieking ghost-like visages of past citizens causing the players to vomit swarms of the flesh-eating beetles, who then attack the players). Every time a swarm (or one of the haunts) is defeated, the violent shrieks will turn into subtle whispers, each giving the players small hints as to how to "free" them.
To stop them, the players will need to find the throne room, and someone has to sit on the decayed, broken throne. As it turns out, the traitor who did this got mad because he had learned that he would never be eligible to be king, so he released the plague into the city out of spite. Sitting on the throne will stir up his past emotions, make him jealous, cause him to manifest, and he will attack the party. If the party defeats him and puts his soul to rest forever, the rest of the city (the haunts) will be permanently put to rest as well.
Using haunts like this not only serves as presenting a challenge to players, but it's also a creative way of filling them in on some story lore that current living NPCs may not even know about. :)
The thing about a swarm of undead is the same principle in zombie movies. One zombie is easy, but a wave of undead will crash over you no matter how fast you swing your sword.
Let's say you have 80 skeletal raccoons attacking a standard adventuring party, they run through everyone's square provoking so many attacks of opportunity, and you lose (with combat reflexes and high dex) 15 raccoons. They enter the square and crawl up the wizard, covering him and grappling him. 64 raccoons hit AC 10 (aid another) 75% of the time = the last raccoon is making a grapple check at ~+98. Now 65 skeletal raccoons are crawling and biting and snarling all over the wizard, an Area-blast will take them out but also harm the wizard, the other party members can only pick off 1 raccoon per attack, and there is nothing actually stopping the skeletons from tying him up.
And you can split them up, and/or use squirrels (much lower to-hit, but twice as many) to hit more than one target at a time.
They are fragile and can be taken out with one well-placed boom spell, but if they make the ambush they become a serious threat and unlike the dragon or the purple worm or even the human they are REALLY easy to find replacements for.
After the horror and blasphemy of a walking corpse, undead are most useful for their expendability. There are always more dead to animate, and there are so many woodland critters.
It's a great thought, except that swarms count as 1 creature, so they're easily dispatched in Pathfinder. A CR 3 swarm of raccoons stands no chance against a CR 6... anything, really. That 1 attack of opportunity would likely squash the whole swarm. Even ten CR 3 swarms wouldn't pose much of a threat. And since a swarm is considered 1 creature, they all contribute with each attack roll, so they can't "aid another" with each other.
On the other hand, you could animate 80 individual raccoons and have them act together as you describe, but there are still problems with this...
1.) The DM will probably slap you for building a raccoon army that has to roll 80 times each turn. Most of the rolls will be for nothing, and you're taking up valuable play time because you wanted an undead raccoon army. In short, you sully the table by being a jerk.
2.) Your 80 raccons will die pretty much every fight, maybe in 1 turn, by a well placed AoE. While yes, you can always go into the woods and find more, that's a lot of down time dedicated to hunting raccoons. Not to mention, it costs onyx to animate dead... essentially you'd be wasting all of your downtime and gold making an army of dead raccoons.
This is why most people just suggest making a small handful of elite brutes instead. Less headache, longer survivability, and uh... they're actually useful. Your party will actually like you for adding some heavy artillery instead of hate you for taking up the whole game session rolling for 80 raccoons that you spent all your gold / downtime on...
Add me to the list of DMs who have experience with Gunslinger and find that it is NOT broken. I DM'd a level 15 Gunslinger, so if you consider that to be "high level", I still don't think they're overpowered... even when combining Rapid Reload, Alchemical Cartridges, and/or Lightning Reload to be able to always reload as a free action.
Reason being, Gunslingers have to invest so many feats and gold into being able to shoot well, that they're hardly good at anything else. The Gunslinger I DM'd was easily doing ~40 damage per shot or more, but that's all she could really do. If her gun was disarmed or she got grappled or something, she might as well have been a sitting log.
Not to mention, she was completely useless at long range. I think she had to be within 20 feet or something for her shots to even be worthwhile. Gunslingers CAN shoot things well, but that's the only thing they're good at... they hugely lack versatility. They're not overpowered.
Get the players to make you a wish list. Even get them to include "Party" items, such as Carpet of Flying or a Bag of Holding. Let them tell you what they want. In the future, sprinkle those items around in your loot tables. Remember to include useful magical tools in addition to equipable gear.
It's tempting to just cut out valuable goods altogether, and just have magic items and GP as your loot. This cuts out a lot of the work, but it makes loot a little less interesting. It's more exciting to find a "large crimson ruby" or a "5-foot tall golden statue" than it is to find "1400 GP". So personally, I try to include magic items, valuables, AND GP in my loot tables if at all possible. Placing items that the players will actually use is the best way to cut down on liquidating sold goods. If the players don't make you a wish list, then it's their own fault if they don't find anything useful in their loot... but tailoring your loot tables to the party's wants is a viable way to cut down on selling/calculation work.
Rage, just like ANY OTHER class ability, is not 100% "I win". I can't believe that, after reading through all 100+ of these posts, that some people are STILL asking the community to "sell me on rage".
You want us to explain to you how the CON bonus from Rage is heroic? What kind of BS is that? Why don't you explain to me how getting -1 to ACP from fighters' Armor Training is heroic? Or how the +1 morale bonus to saves against charm effects from Inspire Courage is heroic? Ridiculous. This thread has gotten to a point beyond reasonable discussion. But a few final points:
* If you don't like the risk of dying outright from going unconscious during a Rage, then use one of the many counter-tactics presented in this thread. If you don't want to do that, then simply don't play Barbarian. Like it or lump it, this is the INTENDED mechanic for Rage in Pathfinder.
* Rage is an awesome, powerful class feature if used wisely. It has its flaws (as INTENDED), but no class feature in Pathfinder is perfect and all of them have flaws. Also just like the flaws of other class features, the ones related to Rage can be managed. To say "flaws shouldn't have to be managed" is like saying "Rage shouldn't have any drawbacks", or "I don't agree with Rage's mechanics". In that case, you should either avoid it altogether or make a house rule. Simple. Paizo is not at fault because you "don't like" their class mechanic.
* The image of a bellowing madman charging and power attacking everything in sight, even while getting shot and stabbed in the process, is the epitome of a heroic fantasy barbarian. What more do you want us to say? Stop nitpicking when it comes to flavor and roleplay. Class flavor and class rules/mechanics are not one in the same. Arguing that rage management and a CON bonus go against the flavor of the class is retarded.
