SlamEvil's page

Improvised Weapons have always been a problem for me, so a little clarification from the community would be welcomed.

Improvised Weapons (melee):

What can and cannot be used an improvised weapon (melee)? Can an actual weapon be an Improvised Weapon (melee)? Or is it restricted to non weapon objects?

I'd say this is a house decision. If you want to use a large greatsword as an improvised weapon, I'd say you wouldn't necessarily be able to use it at its full damage. Other wise taking Catch Off-Guard basically gives you free proficiency with every weapon.

If melee weapons can be improvised melee weapons, do weapon features/enchantments apply? What is the damage type for an improvised weapon (melee)?

Here's an example:
Let's assume a sample character is not proficient with a longsword. This character attempts to use it as an improvised weapon (without the Catch Off Guard feat) do they take -8 on their attack roll? Or is impossible for a character to be doubly non-proficient with a weapon?

I'd say no, the weapon either counts as an improvised weapon, a simple weapon, a martial weapon, or an exotic weapon. I don't think those categories overlap.

I'm glad your cleric supports you, and seriously, for all you loot hungry meta-gamers posting, I say this: PSJFOKLFNBS:KABNDPIQRBDNQOF{NAOPBNFDROIW#BFDANBOFNQOW!!!!

I can agree with you on the sword cane as long as the character using it isn't someone who is supposed to do crazy amounts of damage (fighters, rangers, paladins etc.)

But the vow of poverty of monk isn't a challenge, it's suicide. Although i wouldn't (personally) have a problem with one particular player (from my table) play a VoP monk but then again this particular player almost always creates nigh useless characters anyway and i and someone else (the usual DM) in the table always have him in our minds when we create characters and/or encounters.

I've played in campaigns where half the party had vow of poverty, and everything was fine. I'v also played an apostle of peace. It pissed off the guy who always played evil characters, so I considered myself successful. If anyone in my group ever called one of my characters useless and implied that I needed special treatment I'd probably stop playing with them.

I don't like telling anyone else that they're playing the game wrong, but calling out another player like that is not in the game's spirit of cooperation. Although I'm sure they appreciate the accommodation you make.

I played a real heartless NE drug lord character last year with a real foul mouth, and here's a list of some of the group's favorite curses
Oh and this was in 3.5 using those deities.
These are vulgar, and in the spirit of my character I offer no apologies.

"Son of Succubus!"
"Holy Hextor's seventh testicle!"
"Night hag's twat dirt!"
"Steaming dragon s#*@!"
"Poor disgusted mother of a half-troll"
"Lich's Prick!"
"Dwarven piss water!"

Quantum Steve wrote:

(I'm not hating on WOTC's 4e, it's a perfectly fine game, it's just not D&D anymore.)

Yes it is. Can we please stop mentioning 4E in a thread that has nothing to do with it?

Bwahahahahaha! It wasn't until AFTER you posted this that people really started bashing 4th ed.

But yes. I call pathfinder D&D, just like I often call d20 modern D&D if Im lazy

The campaign I played in last year kind of dissolved one night due to a combo of poor DMing and nasty powergaming.

It was a homebrew world my friend made. The details of how exactly all this connected remains foggy to this day, but the basic arc was that two kingdoms ruled by rival twin brothers edge closer to war, while a council of Ur-Priests plot to destroy the gods and end existence. Oh yeah, this was gestalt, with very few restrictions.

It was actually really fun for a while. My character admittedly hogged the spotlight for a while as a half-orc drunken master/rogue who took over an orc tribe and became a notorious drug lord. We had a good time for a few weeks playing Thug Life and running drugs across the border, but when it got time to introduce the Ur-Priest arc, it became apparent that Gurgle Gutbuster (my guy) would not be particularly interested. I rolled another character and Gurgle was assassinated in a really cool way that made sense in the story and introduced the next part of the campaign.

This is where it gets crappy.
The first encounter we had with my new character (Who was an awesome caster guy with levels in mystic theruge and master of the unseen hand) I get killed by this Ur-Priest's house-ruled Save or Die ability. To this day I am sure that if we had had a battle-mat I would've survived, because I was still trying to learn more about the situation (in character) when all the other PCs rushed into attack. All of them saved, but I rolled a 2 :(
The DM agreed that I probably wouldn't have been in range, but that it was too late to ret-con, even though all the other players also agreed I shouldn't have died.

So I continued play as a reincarnated version of Gurgle Gutbuster, who having seen the outerplanes in death was now inspired to save them.

But wait a second, one of the players (The DM's roommate) was suddenly doing 200+ damage a turn and I couldn't even hit when I rolled a 19. I told them that to call me when the campaign was over, because I didn't feel like playing with power gamers anymore.
There was a heated argument, where the obvious power game claimed he wasn't power gaming (just doing all the best things to make my character the best) and the campaign ended that night.

We're all still friends, but we swore never to play gestalt again.

p.s. Next campaign is gonna be gestalt. DOH!

AC and CMD are basically taking 10 on a check.

Personally, I'd rather always take 10 on those checks!

I always thought of the base 10 AC system as being, okay, you're standing perfectly still and perfectly naked and a guy takes a swing at you. He's either gonna hit, or he's gonna miss. It's 50/50

I'm also using the Vitality/Wound point system, so taking Vitality Damage (as from your average hit from a monster or NPC class foe) isn't as big a deal as taking regular hit-point damage in other forms of the game.

I'd like to run a very martially oriented game in the near future. It'll be low-magic, low-wealth, fast leveling, with a lot of role-playing to balance out the combat.
I'm wondering about making AC and Combat Maneuver Defense more like saving throws, where you actually roll. I feel like it would really crank up the intensity of combat.
I'm aware there is some precedent for this kind of thing, but I'm not sure where. First and foremost, a link please.

Also, what do people about this idea in general?
Will it bog down combat way too much?
Would it succeed in making combat feel more intense?

I'm aware of the Dodge/Block/Parry thread, and was partially inspired by it, but I didn't want to derail it with this other question.

How's this?

The Doctor
Level 18 Time Lord Expert ECL 20
Neutral Good
Initiative +2 Perception+2

Defense
AC-14
HP-129
Fort-8
Ref-8
Will-12

Offense
Speed-30 feet

Statistics
Str-12
Dex-16
Con-14
Int-22
Wis-14
Cha-16
Base Attack +13/+8/+3
CMB+17
CMD 14
Racial Features
Jack of All Trades
Perfect Recall
Reincarnation
Feats
Run
Quick Draw
Dodge
Mobility
Wind Stance
Endurance
Die Hard
Fast Healer
Side Step
Improved Side Step
Skills
Appraise+27
Bluff+24
Craft(Mechanical)+27
Craft(Electrical)+27
Diplomacy+24
Disable Device+27
Escape Artist +24
Intimidate+24
Knowledge(Aracana)+33
Knowledge(Engineering)+33
Knowledge(History)+33
Knowledge(The Planes)+33
Knowledge(Religion)+33
Perception+22
Sense Motive+22
Sleight of Hand +24
Languages: Gallifreyan, Jidoon,
Equipment: Sonic Screw Driver (See Above)
Funky Outfit with extra-dimensional pockets
TARDIS

Now all we need to do is stat out the TARDIS. hehe, easy peasy right?

Zurai wrote:

Asgetrion wrote:

Quote:

and unless I'm completely misremembering you can't take 10 on an opposed check (even if it were more convenient and smoother that way).

This is also not in the rules.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/skills#TOC-Taking-10

Pathfinder SRD wrote:

Taking 10 and Taking 20

A skill check represents an attempt to accomplish some goal, usually while under some sort of time pressure or distraction. Sometimes, though, a character can use a skill under more favorable conditions, increasing the odds of success.
Taking 10

When your character is not in immediate danger or distracted, you may choose to take 10. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check, calculate your result as if you had rolled a 10. For many routine tasks, taking 10 makes them automatically successful. Distractions or threats (such as combat) make it impossible for a character to take 10. In most cases, taking 10 is purely a safety measure—you know (or expect) that an average roll will succeed but fear that a poor roll might fail, so you elect to settle for the average roll (a 10). Taking 10 is especially useful in situations where a particularly high roll wouldn't help.

Knowing that Farmer John could notice you and shoot you, or his dog smell you and maul you constitutes an immediate danger in my book. As a matter of fact, I cannot off the top my head think of a time I'd ever let a player take 10 on a stealth check. Though I also dislike the concept of taking 10 (and 20 for that matter) and so I admit that I may be interpreting that in a bias manner. YMMV.

I'm pretty sure being asleep counts as a distraction.

I remember reading in a dragon magazine article a while ago, that the author suggested if you were doing a Wu Xia type game, to give everyone the "improved unarmed strike feat" . He also suggested to give every character the spell like ability to fly 1/ round a level per day.

my memory may be fuzzy about the aritcle
I hope this helps

I was going to just encourage everyone to take at least one level of monk. Also, not everyone is going to have improved unarmed strike necessarily, although most will.

As for flying...hmmmm. Maybe there could be a slow fall variant where you get slow fall distance as a fly speed?

Also, how would it affect the game if monetary were fairly uncommon? I'd like to be able to emphasize that wealth is not something that one acquires easily in this world

I understand this may not be what you're looking for, but I heavily encourage checking out the RPG Weapons of the Gods for all your crazy kung-fu needs.

Intriguing....

The campaign Im starting next month starts at a metal show.

I really really really really really reallyx100000 wanna play in a kung fu campaign.
Or any campaign with lots of martial arts.
The Wandering Ascetics
The Zen Swordsman
The Peasant Hero
its all just so cool!!!

I'm thinking there would definitely have to be some class restrictions, or at least some serious re-flavoring.

Obviously people would be heavily encouraged to take at least a couple monk levels.
I think I'd use the vitality/wound point variant from 3.5 Unearthed Arcana

Is this something anyone else has fantasized about? Has anyone actually done it?
What else would it need/how would you set this up?

Its Bear Grylls!
I feel like a good survivor would know when its better to NOT fight. Maybe replace intimidate with diplomacy.
Along those lines, maybe replace the sickening and staggering strikes with more of a non-combat ability.
Also, having only DR for some levels (even with the standard feat) seems a little weak. Maybe give the class limited spell casting. Stuff like endure elements, healing spells, create food and water, etc etc
and in terms of the Bear Grylls stuff, maybe some abilities that let him use Survival to great effect. Like being able to find food or drinkable water in places where it would normally be impossible. Or the ability to eat things you've killed as if the corpse was a potion of cure light wounds or something.

It looks okay to me. In terms of balance.
Otherwise, it looks mad bad-butt

Prestigation to clean stuff up, cool or heat small objects, the small things that other 0 spells don't cover up.

As for doctor...hmm

Alchemist with Mind Chymist could work. As for regeneration. I can only think of implanted ioun stone. Pearly White Spindle. Or houserule a reincarnate class ability or implanted stone.

Ah, of course. Still, I think that detect magic and read magic are musts.

The alchemist almost seems too combat oriented for The Doctor. I was thinking wizard using this awesome Item for his arcane bond

I apologize for my inflammatory remarks.

I just made a sonic screwdriver I think.

Select base object, such as a wandlike rod, or wayfinder.
Add open/close, mending, prestigation as use-activated magic item.

Voila, Sonic Screwdriver.

Any other fun ideas you can suggest for lvl 0 - 1 spells?

I just got to read the magic item creation rules, before I only thought it was possible to make only the items in the magic item section. Cantrips as items are fun.

This is amazing! Except, prestidigitation? I'd replace that with Detect Magic and Read Magic.

This is funny, because when I found pathfinder I was like "It's everything 4th Edition should've been!"

In 4th Edition all the races got +2 to two ability scores with no penalties, except humans. In Pathfinder all races get a +2 to two abilities and -2 to one, except humans,and half-humans. I prefer the pathfinder race rules.

In 4th edition all the classes have these ridiculous powers, the amount of paper work required is absurd, and every character you build feels like it could've been built by a noob who just watched Lord of the Rings for the first time. In pathfinder, the class abilities are significantly better than in 3.5 but there are enough options and versatility that the choices you make actually help to define the character.

All this being said, I appreciate what 4th edition is trying to do (and Dark Sun is the bee's knees) but, it's not the mechanics of 4th edition that make it good.

I think this wouldn't work simply because there are times in combat where you wouldn't have the time to necessarily swing that precisely at a certain area. Also, I can see that leading to a lot of obnoxious "BOOM! Headshot!" jokes

Very much don't buy into the 'trap the evil path' concepts. You don't want someone who will try to be more sneaky and careful in doing evil. If your goal is to test their evilness, the system should constantly reward and encourage them for doing evil things while good becomes more and more difficult to pursue.

When they crawl out ragged on their hands and knees, having been offered the possibility of physical perfection and wealth, you know you're dealing with someone with some serious moral determination.

I agree.

the really capital "G" Good people in history and mythology have been tempted more than tested. Jesus in the desert, Bhuddah under his tree, uh...I actually can't think of any more examples. Luke Skywalker maybe?

But yeah, don't make it an obvious alignment test where the options are to feed a kitten or behead it.

On an interesting side note, the group I play with almost always plays Evil characters, and my characters have a damn hard time getting xp when the entire adventure revolves around invading a forest, murdering a bunch of elves, and selling the women and children as slaves to the drow. ( very profitable endeavor for the party btw)

This sounds really awesome. I almost want to fly to cincinati and play with all of you.

I really agree with what Nimon said about really letting the kids create the world. You sound like an experienced GM, and anyone who is good with children is necessarily creative, so it probably won't be a problem.

I will say again that you should be ready for some pretty weird requests. A lot of the time however, these requests are purely fluff, and shouldnt be too much of a problem. If the kid says he wants to play a werewolf, maybe you can just let him play a re-skinned half-orc Barbarian with huge tusks.

I like to think of it as very 'Doctor Who-ish' EXTREMELY intelligent... Knows just about everything... Doesn't always put the pieces together to quickly. Misses the 'big picture' pretty easily.

Looking at the AMAZING scenery and not recognizing the actual 'danger' that they're in :)

The kind of guy that will get the BBEG monologing and then be genuinely suprised whenhe draws a weapon...

mmmmmm. I've never known The Doctor to miss "the big picture". He's so big picture, that he seems to not notice anything. Also, a lot of what he does is an act, to make people underestimate him. Matt Smith's version of the character is incredibly alien, and has perhaps a lower charisma than some of the previous incarnations, but he's capable of picking out minute details on an object he looked at for maybe a split second from memory. That to me implies an absurdly high perception check.

Nimon wrote:

SlamEvil wrote:

That guide is awesome. I swapped out Plant for Luck, and while I'm mildly disappointed that I'm losing my ability to get big real quick, the usefulness of my new spells makes up for it. I love True Strike!

In UC there is a new feat that lets you release a domain power with a successful unarmed attack, you might want to take a domain that has a damaging power(like earth), or a status effect(like darkness).

Then you get to take Crusader's Flurry which lets you flurry with your deities favored weapon.

I don't have Ultimate Combat unfortunately. I'm a poor poor student who makes his characters using the SRD. Even if I did though, I wouldn't need Crusader's Flurry because my deity's favored weapon is an unarmed strike!

That guide is awesome. I swapped out Plant for Luck, and while I'm mildly disappointed that I'm losing my ability to get big real quick, the usefulness of my new spells makes up for it. I love True Strike!

In the upcoming campaign I'll be playing a gestalt Drunken Master of the Four Winds/Cleric of Community and Plant, with the sub-domains Family and Growth. I also took that channel energy variant associated with the Ale/Wine portfolio, making my character less effective at healing, but everyone's friend at a good party.

I've never really played a caster before, and I understand that Cleric Spells aren't really for combat, but I'm wondering what kind of spells I should be preparing.
Obviously if I know I'll be going into a haunted crypt, Hide from Undead, Remove Fear, and Cure Light Wounds are great options, but for day to day stuff, what would you all suggest?

btw, I'm level 3

I ran a game with my 8 year old nephew and his friend one time, and I was shocked. You think older players ask for weird things? Kids have the best imaginations in the world. My nephew wanted to do everything. Play a half-orc with a machine gun who rode a dragon and could shoot missiles from his hands. His friend wanted to be Neo, complete with suit, sunglasses, super kung fu, and flying.
Okay, after all its all about having fun.
I made it work. It wasn't always balanced, but it was awesome, for everyone.

With 50 kids, it would necessarily become exclusive since there's no way to run a game with that many kids. However, not all of these kids would be interested. There are some no dice games that are kind of fantasy-esq, like Super Slow-Mo Poison Arm Samurai, where the kids line up in battle formation, and then charge forward in super slow-mo, trying to get the other guy with their "Poison Arms". The Samurai part come from role-playing. The last guy standing has to commit brutal sepuku with his or her own poison arms. Give prizes for best Kia Scream and most creative death.

Or just throw a fantasy spin on a game of shambattle or something.

Also, make sure that the kids who do eventually decide to roll dice don't get mocked by the others for being "nerdy".

Conan never went shopping and the closer to that your PCs get the more fun the game is.

No...but The Fellowship did have quite a bit of gear.

I think this kind of thing is not usually important, because so often the characters stay in taverns anyway. But for any section of the campaign where their traveling overland, I think it can make for an interesting change of pace

SlamEvil wrote:

Aaron Elsaesser wrote:

So why would any culture, primitive or not, use that?

Probably because it's the only thing available to them. My understanding of these variant rules when I read them in the 3.5 DMG was that it was for low-tech campaigns. Games where all the characters had more primitive weapons so it ended up evening out. If you wanted to use it in other settings maybe you could throw your party against a big stupid giant whose standard damage output would risk a total party wipe-out, except, haha! his great club is made of bone, so it does less damage and balances the encounter somewhat.

All they did was make these technologically inferior weapons, well, inferior. If you wanted to actually play as a character who started out with primitive weapons, the character themself would probably just as quickly want to upgrade to a steel sword as you the player would. It makes for interesting role playig.

He's pointing out that if you modify studded leather with bone, you have a worse version of leather armor. It is inferior in all ways to leather armor, but requires more effort to create. Why would a primitive culture invent a worse type of armor to something that is already available? It's like adding "speed holes" to your car.

The idea behind these rules is not that a primitive culture intentionally makes everything worse, its that they don't have access to the good versions in the first place. They're not taking all the metal studs out of metal armor and replacing them with bone, they're making it with bone from the start because thats what they have. Its not like "making speed holes" for your car, its like using an old timey crank engine because your society only recently entered the industrial era.

Lady Gaga got really famous after the LGBTQ community got behind her, so maybe this Gaga (I think her in-game name should be "The Fame Monster") rose to prominence with the support of a similarly marginalized community, namely, lycanthropes. Not all lycanthropes are evil of course, so maybe the revolutionary bent comes from the Duke boppressing all shape changers. Oh! Oh! I've got it!

Years ago, The Duke and The Fame Monster were lovers, were betrothed even. However, she was attacked by a werewolf on the day of their wedding, and The Duke couldn't bear to be with such a monster. He began exterminating lycanthropes throughout the land in an attempt to avenge her, but she has begun to feel a kinship to these outcasts and is trying to put a stop to it.

Its a terribly tragic story, and while the PCs could certainly simply kill one or the other, or both, they could also try to resolve the estranged relationship between the two, and try to save their "bad romance"

40ft speed is too strong for a race IMHO, especially combined with natural attacks.

My suggestion:
- +2 dex, +2 wis, -2 int
- Low-light vision
- Graceful: Catfolk gain a +2 bonus on Acrobatics and Stealth checks. Catfolk may take 10 on acrobatics checks to reduce falling damage.
- Claws: Catfolk have sharp claws on their hands, though they're more familiar with weapons in their hands. Their unarmed attacks deal 1d4 piercing damage and do not provoke attacks of opportunity, if performed with their hands.
- Land on their Feet: When calculating fall and jump damage, treat the fall as 10 ft. shorter.
- Nine Lives: When taking enough damage from an attack to kill the catfolk, may make a reflex save (DC equal to damage dealt). If it succeeds, the catfolk is instead reduced to -8 hit points and dying. The catfolk must be conscious for this ability to work.

I think that having both the Claws and the Nine Lives thing is too much. Also, "Land on their Feet" seems to overlap a bit with Graceful. So I guess in practice a Catfolk could fall 20 feet no problem every time. Mmmm, it'd be interesting to make a catfolk monk.

I say keep the claws, and make Nine Lives a racial feat.

Trying to run a "Native American" campaign would be difficult without lots of thorough research into the different tribes. I myself probably would not be comfortable playing in such a campaign unless I had some concrete assurance from the DM that they had done this research. The people today known as Native Americans, or American Indians were not a unified group of people with a unified belief system, practices, or ways of living, nor were many of the tribes we associate with native archetypes in existence at the same time. Trying to create a unified pantheon of Gods encompassing the complex beliefs systems of these incredibly varied people would prove.. difficult.
Without turning this thread into a conversation about political correctness and cultural appropriation let me suggest that clerics in this game be devote to spirits, or ideas, as was suggested by Swordsmasher. Also, think of a few tribes you'd like to use as inspiration, and research these tribes to see what you come up with. .

SlamEvil wrote:

WHO FREAKIN CARES IF CASTERS ARE BETTER THAN MARTIAL CHARACTERS?

NOT EVERYONE WANTS TO PLAY CASTERS!!!

Your second sentence answers the first.

In that people who want to play casters care that their characters are "better" than the martial characters in the party?

I just think that discussions and comparisons like this put the game at risk. This was one of the biggest complaints in 3.5, and in trying to fix it Wizards gave us the monstrosity known as 4th Edition.

I'm sooooooo tired of this discussion. If the game was about which class could beat which other class at level 20 it would be a perverse combination of WoW and Soul Calibur. But it's not. It's about working together as a team to overcome obstacles, telling an awesome story, and hanging out with your friends.

WHO FREAKIN CARES IF CASTERS ARE BETTER THAN MARTIAL CHARACTERS? NOT EVERYONE WANTS TO PLAY CASTERS!!!
I see threads like this and I just weep for the gaming community.

So why would any culture, primitive or not, use that?

Probably because it's the only thing available to them. My understanding of these variant rules when I read them in the 3.5 DMG was that it was for low-tech campaigns. Games where all the characters had more primitive weapons so it ended up evening out. If you wanted to use it in other settings maybe you could throw your party against a big stupid giant whose standard damage output would risk a total party wipe-out, except, haha! his great club is made of bone, so it does less damage and balances the encounter somewhat.

All they did was make these technologically inferior weapons, well, inferior. If you wanted to actually play as a character who started out with primitive weapons, the character themself would probably just as quickly want to upgrade to a steel sword as you the player would. It makes for interesting role playig.

All you've really given the Panda are skill bonuses, which might be kind of weak compared to the other races, which all get cool abilities that are useful in combat encounters.
Maybe give them a +1 Natural Armor Bonus to represent their bouncy bellies instead of that Well-Versed ability.

Also, do I have your permission to play as a Kung-Fu Panda in my next campaign??

Alchemist: The boy, from The Alchemist
Barbarian: The Hulk
Bard: Lady Gaga
Cavalier:Sir Lancelot
Cleric:Mohammad
Druid: Beorn
Fighter: Achilles
Inquisitor: Oliver Cromwell
Magus: Squall
Monk: Neo
Paladin: Joan of Arc
Oracle: Nostradamus
Ranger: Ashitaka from princess Mononoke
Rogue: Zoro
Sorcerer: Harry Potter
Witch: ??
Wizard: Ged from Earthsea books

I freaking love this thread, cuz I freaking love the hulk.

I played weird Hulk/Hellboy/Spawn character recently in 3.5, and the way I did it there was Barbarian 1/Werebear 8/Warshaper 5
Of course this was 3.5, and to make up for the lack of raging I took every Rage related feat I could. The way I played was that I couldnt "Hulk Out" into Bear Form unless I was raging, and whenever I was attack I had to succeed on a will save to avoid raging unwillingly.

If you really want to get a hulk kind of flavor, I'd suggest doing something like this. True, in World War Hulk and all those Red Hulk storylines (and even before to a certain extent) The Hulk is basically a super strong version of ol' BB, but what I really loved about the character is how Bruce couldn't control the Hulk. He's a physicist, a scientist seeking ultimate power, and he has it, he just can't control it.

Oh Conan. Oh Conan, Oh Conan oh Conan!
Hyper-Heroic, I-can-do-whatever-I-need-to-do-for-the-sake-of-the-story, kind of characters are best created using 3.5 gestalt rules. Or in this case by applying those rules to pathfinder. Conan is a lone hero, he rarely teams up with others (There's that guy in Beyond the Black River, the Red-Head in Red Nails, and then Robert Jordan wrote some with this one-eyed fella name Hodar or something) and so converting him into a character class that necessarily relies on team-work to get through the day is intensely challenging.
That being said, I agree that he needs at least one level of Barbarian. The Barbarian seems to have been modeled after the guy after all. He has raged, just not often. He's tough as all heck, and for sure is rocking a couple d12s for HD.
On the other hand, he's definitely not straight Barb. I like where the ranger thing is going, and after reading the different arguments I'm inclined to veto rogue in favor of ranger. Here's a NEW reason why. Rogue's don't get full BAB, and Conan never misses a strike. If he is a rogue of any kind, he's a wilderness rogue, because he's never accustomed himself to the city. Perhaps "accustomed" is the wrong word, but he's never been urbanized. He lives in cities for a time, but eventually he just takes off again, and is definitely in his element in places "civilized men" dare to tread.
So back to my point about Conan being gestalt....
{Barbarian 7/Ranger 3][Fighter 10}
Ranger 3 because he's really formed a hunter's bond with anything except his sword.
Straight Fighter on the other side for obvious reasons.
I liked the suggestion that Conan has the Superstitious Archetype for Barbarian, and perhaps the Infiltrator Archetype for Ranger. That would pretty well let him do all the Slightly Roguish things, and Piratey Things, etc etc that have been tearing up the boards

Sweeeeeeeeet.

on that last note, what's the precedent for enchanting Portable Rams?

If it can be used as a normal melee weapon, it can be enchanted as a normal melee weapon. I don't think there's really any precedent for that, though. You'd have to give it weapon stats, which would probably be as a great club.

Well, I was using it with Catch Off-Guard, so its still an improvised weapon.

EDIT: I recommend an 18-20 critical weapon (such as scimitar or falchion) because of the "frightened 1 round on critical" part.

The only problem there is that as a monk, I have a limited selection of weapons I'm proficient in. I'm thinking I might just grab some masterwork Brass Knuckles in the meantime.

The Enforcer feat on the SRD reads

"Enforcer (Combat)
You are skilled at causing fear in those you brutalize.

Prerequisite: Intimidate 1 rank.

Benefit: Whenever you deal nonlethal damage with a melee weapon, you can make an Intimidate check to demoralize your target as a free action. If you are successful, the target is shaken for a number of rounds equal to the damage dealt. If your attack was a critical hit, your target is frightened for 1 round with a successful Intimidate check, as well as being shaken for a number of rounds equal to the damage dealt."

Do unarmed strikes count as melee weapons?
What about for a monk? who is always considered armed?
Would I want to invest in a merciful weapon to really make use of this?
on that last note, what's the precedent for enchanting Portable Rams?

Killaaaaah. Very cool folks. thanks

Im wondering if the different monk variants presented in the Advanced Core Clases section of the SRD can feasibly stack, specifically the Drunken Master variant and the Monk of the Four Winds variant.

I reasoned to myself, that since none of the abilities for these two variants conflict with each other, there's no reason that I can't have both. As long as I can justify it through role-playing.

So what's the verdict? Am I being a total tool, trying to eat my neighbor's cake and the pie? Or does an alcoholic pugilist with an intensely spiritual appreciation for the the mysteries of the natural world sound like a really interesting character to play?

I haven't rolled dice in a while. I used to play almost every week at school, but I'm in Jordan for 3 months and a lack of dice and a language barrier have prevented me from playing at all this summer. To sate my thirst I find myself crawling through forum after forum, website after website, trying to enjoy the thrill of RP vicariously through them interwebs. And then I found it.
PATHFINDER!!!!
It's like what 4th edition shouldve been! But its an SRD so its free!! yippee!

I immediately got to converting my character for this year's new campaign into pathfinder, and I'm still working on getting all the other guys to do the same (its harder when youre on the other side of the world)

anyway, I'm wondering what you guys think. I'm wondering how sound you think the basic build is, and maybe to help me flesh out the back story a bit.

Oh and to give all of this a little context, the character I played in last year's campaign (3.5) was a ridiks gestalt character half orc drunken master, the PrC class that is. His actual build was something like Barbarian 1/Monk 5/Drunken Master 10/Uncanny Trickster 3}{Fighter 2/Rogue 3/Monk 6-19. Like I said, ridiks. Anyway, in game he became a Drug Lord, and started an organization known as The Rainbow Tribe. It was basically like the Orc Mafia. Part Yakuza, part Rastafari. Well at the end of that campaign we succesfully defeated a bunch of Ur-Priests, but not before they had destroyed most of the multiverse and murdered most of the Gods. The surviving deities then granted our ridiculously broken gestalt characters divine status and allowed us to remake the world in our image. The Rainbow Tribe lives on!!! And so here it is, Bam Bam the Rainbow Warrior

Bam Bam and Tusker were both enforcerers for the Rainbow Tribe by the time they were 16. Brothers and drinking buddies they made an effective team, despite their radically different outlook and approach to the job. Bam Bam’s menacing demeanor, stoicism, and willingness to whatever it took to get a debtor to pay up brought him a fearsome reputation as a ruthless legbreaker, while Tusker’s unpredictable nature and keen sense kept The Tribe’s rivals from ever getting the jump on the brothers. Tusker eventually proved too unpredictable however, and after one paticularly lucrative shake-down, Tusker tried to break and run with the money. Stealing from The Tribe is a serious offense, and Bam Bam was ordered to pursue his brother and return with the stolen money. Bam Bam chased Tusker to the edge off a cliff, and after a fierce duel, Bam Bam broke Tusker’s chain. Bam Bam pleaded with his brother to return to the hangout and apologize for stealing the money, but Tusker refused to be taken alive and continued attacking Bam Bam in a reckless rage. Becoming desperate, Bam Bam threw his best friend off the cliff into the chasm below. Bam Bam hasn’t been the same since then. He’s declined any further asignments and has volunteered for bouncer duty in on of The Tribe’s fronts. There he leans against the door, night after night, his head swimming in pipe smoke and nightmares.

Name Bam Bam Race Half-Orc Class Drunken Master Monk 3 ECL 3
Alignment Lawful Neutral Age 24 Height 6’10” Weight 300 lbs
Speed 40 ft Vision Darkvision 60ft Languages Common, Orcish, Abyssal
Initiative +2 Perception +9

Str 20
Dex 14
Con 16
Int 13
Wis 17
Cha 14

Hp- 33

Ac- 18 =10+ 2+ 3+ 1+ 2+
ff- 16 tch- 18
cmd- 17=10+ 5+ 2+ + +

fort- 6
ref- 5
will- 5

bab+ 2 CMB+ 8
attack options
Orc Knucks+7…1d6+5…x2
Flurious Knucks+5/+5…1d6+5/1d6+5…x2/x2
Ram Rod +7…1d0+7..x2
Sunder+12
Javelin +3…1d6+5..x2..30 ft

racial features
Orc Blood
Darkvision 60 ft
Intimidating +2 on Intimidate
Gate Crasher +2 on Sunder & Str Checks to Break Objects
Weapon Familiarity

class features
Stunning Fist 3/day DC 14 Fort
Flurry of Blows
Evasion
Maneuver Training
Drunken Ki I

character traits/flaws
Abrasive +1 Intimidate/-1 Bluff & Diplomacy
Muscle Bound +1 on Str Checks & Str Skills/-2 on Dex checks & Dex Skills
Murky-Eyed Roll for Miss Chance Twice
Shakey -2 on Ranged Attacks

feats
Iron Hide +1 Nat Armor (FL)
Smash Ignore 5 points of Hardness for Unattended Items, +5 to Break Down Doors (FL)
Power Attack (1st)
Catch Off-Guard (M)
Dodge (M)
Improved Sunder (3rd)

Skills 5 Ranks per Level
Acrobatics+6
Climb+12
Intimidate +11
Perception +9
Sense Motive +9

equipment
carrying capacity
light load> 133 medium load 134 - 266 heavy load 267 - 400
Rainbow Monk Outfit –
Amulet of Natural Armor +1
Portable Ram 20lbs +5 to Break Down a Door
Masterwork Javelin 2lbs
Dagger 1lb
Flask
Backpack 2lbs
Bedroll 5lbs
Tinder Twigx10 1lb
Wooden Pipe -
Tobacco 1lb
Potion of Mage Armor x2
Potion of Cure Light Wounds -
Jump Potion -
Belt Pouch ½ lb
Potion of Mage Armor-
Belt Pouch ½ lb
Potion of Cure Light Wounds-
Total weight 40 lbs

Wealth
Pp Gp 10 sp 7 cp 9