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Kingmaker- keeps it simple- has an old school feel that includes some human rulers as primary enemies in books 4 and 5. Players really seem to love it.

I've only read the encounter. It cracked me up that you randomly ally with an Egyptian army and Dwarf army- which felt a lot like the end of Age of Mythology!

I'm still a little confused:

* Regular Radiant Fire goes off: Baphy is destroyed but regenerates and still has his five or so remaining nukes. Players die but keep their souls.
* Modified (in Book 5) Radiant Fire goes off: Baphy is destroyed but regenerates and loses use of his five or so remaining nukes. Players die and also lose their souls for reasons I still don't understand.

5 nukes, especially with one placed in one of the world's biggest cities, is a pretty big deal, but so is an epic lich even without five nukes. A CR30 guy can probably do every bit as much damage without the nukes, IMO, it just might take a couple rounds.

I wish maybe he lost a couple mythic levels, or something, to signify a more significant reduction in power.

Direct damage: There are level ranges where the melee doesn't QUITE do enough damage to kill the mooks- but a direct damage spell + martial attacks is just enough to clear most of the board. I've seen direct damage spells put to good use multiple times.

Combat healing: My arguments have already been made- not optimal in general does not mean not used in many specific cases

Grease: Potential combat winner. Lots of things have low reflex saves and grease disarms.

Maybe it is a special ragequit avoidance house rule

Good module, btw, I've modified less than I've ever modified (toned down the weather just a tad, basically)

When did you guys let people buy more expensive items (plate armor, etc.) in the first two modules? Both towns have a 500 gp limit. I was thinking about Lady Argentina sending a runner to at least let them order some masterwork plate, etc., before they go through the portal. Or is the low shop availability part of the game's theme?

so roll a D6 then? lol thanks

running this tonight-
Does it snow the entire time they cross into the "snow line"? in Taldor? Or just now and then?

Vampire Touch just because it is often poorly used in Adventure Paths. There seems to be a tendency to give it to mid level BBEGs to use once they are losing in a combat. If a BBEG is vampire touching while outnumbered 4 to 1 he is prolonging the inevitable.

Wait, silent image and enlarge person are being listed as "worthless spells"?

It is opposite day already? Why not throw in haste for good measure?

stray goblin arrow :( he didn't get very far

Thanks- I guess that makes sense, since otherwise bards and rangers might count too for casting divine spells.

Specifically, does an antipaladin smiting a lawful good inquisitor get the double damage bonus for the first round?

They do not have "aura" so my thoughts are no.

The 2nd monster encounter of the entire Reign of Winter campaign has like a 50% chance of killing the party's arcane caster- so it gets my vote.

Oh yeah, and Vancian casting. In fact. That's the top one.

Alignment
Alignment restriction
Class rules and restrictions
Unbalanced classes
Unbalanced races
Experience cost for crafting items
Experience penalties for multi-classing
Squishy wizards
Feat taxes
2 skill points per level
The 3.5 skill system
Blasting
Healing in combat

Basically, anything in the opposite direction of the "everyone is great at everything" approach.

old school- yo

I'll follow the original instructions and not defend the alignment system, though I do like the alignment system (and even restrictions!)

Totally 100% agree on the natural armor thing. Natural armor seems to be based on level, not "how tough is your skin."

Armor class isn't really that important, so there's really no reason why armor has to match CR. You could have low AC stuff that is super powerful.

We tend to ignore encumbrance rules, keeping track of arrows rules, most material component rules. Lately we've been phoning in spellcraft/identify rules too. On, and we skip the -1 per five feet perception thing too, which does cause problems. I think we'll probably move into a houseruled -5 if kinda far, -10 if way far type rule.

But it is not a question of Good Act A and Evil Act B balancing each other out.

It's Good Result A being one byproduct of Evil Act B.

I'm going to triple down on the argument that it being "for the greater good" is a rationalization.

I'm still in the "it's evil" camp, but the argument that it is not significantly different than numerous other "not evil" actions such as charm person is a good one.

I also disagree with the statement that lots of little evil does not add up. In fact, lots of little evil implies a deliberate decision to do evil over a long period of time, which I believe to be very much as significant as one evil act of the moment.

Cool character concept, either way. I also don't fault the paladin for disliking it. Sounds like everyone is roleplaying well, and either an alignment switch or lack-of-alignment switch could be defended. (Though I still vote evil!)

Huge, huge fan of the inquisitor.

Not overpowered, but you always have something to do- be it a roleplay event, combat or skill/stealth event. You are not stuck to code like a paladin, but you can still make yourself fairly intense and memorable.

Judgments are kind of a fun dynamic that give you a little bit of versatility too- especially when you combine them with a decent spell set and bane.

Shrug, ghosts in Skyrim are constantly thanking me for freeing them from their corrupted mortal flesh, and Skyrim ain't exactly sparkly.

I like my damnation mythos to have some culpability, but I suppose in a world with true resurrection there needs to be some very high levels of bad stuff happens to you. Still, if a guy was mind-washed into evil, he isn't really evil.

Being a good god herald does seem like a poor job duty, however. You are just immortal enough to not be exempt from the "no direct messing with mortals" rule, but not immortal enough to be able to handle the big dudes. It's like beating up someone's baby brother.

I wonder if a fantasy world could have some sort of distinction between free-willed corruption and involuntary corruption.

I feel kind of bad for the herald. There he was, doing his herald thing, but being a good herald in Pathfinder means that you have a huge target on your back, since it is an apparently acceptable way you can snub a god w/o breaking the rules. So he gets kidnapped and tortured and finally, after his heart gets ripped out, he turns evil.

Circumstances are pretty unforgiving in the Pathfinder world. His turning evil was not really his fault, but more the fault of extreme trauma and some magical dark ritual. Yet if he dies, he still gets the evil punishment. This is pretty common- there are all kinds of formerly-good Whispering Tyrant playthings that are doomed for eternity. This is not the same as a free-willed being opting to take evil actions due to his or her own interests.

Is that somehow a requirement of fantasy, or could you have a world where beings, upon death, are more or less absolved of evil actions that were not realistically their fault?

Oh for crying out loud. Do you also inform people that it technically is not actually raining cats and dogs? And really, two brony posts is, by any definition that matters, a fest.

My inquisitor with a greataxe and enlarge person loves it.

A second attack would be at -7 (-5 + -2 due to furious focus) and we fight a lot of midlevel hitpoint guys I can just take out with one good vital strike (flanking and using bane helps too). I'm sure it is not optimal if I do the math, but it is working well enough for me as a skirmishing scout character.

It probably has something to do with our current GM's type of encounter selection too.

but don't you think that optimization can narrow the options of roleplaying?

If every single inquisitor has the exact same build and stat array (complete with a 7 dump stat)- that is pretty heavily restricting the variance of what type of inquisitor you will see.

You certainly can have two characters with identical builds roleplay differently, but there is a little bit of stat ignoring to it (behold! I am the personable 7 charisma character!)

I certainly agree with you that it is not a spectrum with roleplaying on one end and optimization on the other, but I disagree that they never, ever, overlap.
At the very least, relaxing on the optimization side of things frees up additional roleplaying options.

Nox Aeterna wrote:

Well , as long as the guy made himself useful , i dont mind.

But if someone comes up with some crazy concept that does not help and wants to be protected during fights ... well , he better pray , cause there is 0% chance im risking myself for him.

Better dead and making a more useful char next time.

Here is my take. I want you to play what is going to be most fun. If I had to pick between two new players.. One with a fighter that kills everything in one round. (Oh look you got him again, yea we beat the bad guy and get the foozle) or a player playing a gnome chef with no redeeming combat or social value, but has everyone laughing their buts off all night, then good bye fighter. I'm not in it for the win. There are video games for that. I here for the good time with friends or strangers, and the person that is best at that gets to be at my table, even if they can't make a character that manages to tie his shoes right.

If your your playing a drunken paladin that drops his sword at the climax of a battle, but starts the whole sweaty palm joke that has us all almost off our chairs by the end of the night your good. no optimization needed. if all 40 hours I put into my character are like that I'm having an awesome time. Even if I have to go through 20 characters cause they keep dying.

Posting again because I love this post. Bring on the gnome chefs and have fun.

As other people have noted, I see overoptimization online (here) a lot more than I see it in actual games, though I don't do Pathfinder Society play.

Should I be nervous that the thread discussing an invasion of the demon infested Worldwound turned into a big old Brony fest?

Because Asmodeus is a smart dude and having an order "just" a breath from LE is more likely to draw in people and be a bit more subtle than going flat out card carrying evil?

I think LE sort of subverting LN would probably be very likely in a world where alignments actually existed.

Another vote here for inquisitor: Always something to do- in social settings, skill challenges and combat

Not overpowered at high levels, but certainly not underpowered

This thread wound up being a good read, and it is also unintentionally hilarious.

It feels kind of like someone bringing up a family divorce over Thanksgiving. You can practically sense people tensing up and waiting to pounce if they believe a line is crossed.

Since we are focusing on the good- a deal maker for me is that I really, really like Paizo's customer service. I had a question about the first AP I purchased and the guy who wrote the darn thing answered it within 30 minutes. I can't compare to every other customer services, but I can say that I've been pleased enough with what I've received that I'm inclined to stick around.

I'd probably suggest an overall more neutral party than good party.

immortality via dying and going to heaven is actually not true in the Pathfinder world. You become a petitioner and some of the risks of mortality are gone, but there is always the chance of some evil adventuring party or daemonic invasion or whatever.

Even if only .001 percent of good petitioners chillin in the happy afterlives are killed each year, they are still effectively mortal over time. Sticking with the system immortality is overrated.

I've always wanted to actually read the tunnels and trolls material, I only remember one video game

good picks

I'm also a fan of calcific touch, but only if you can get reach.

lol, Order Of The Stick fan? Me too!

AD: I agree that the MMO comparison has been frequently used as a negative, but I don't think it needs to be. But if that comparison has been corrupted, then so be it. Point being, 4.0's attempt to draw a new audience while keeping the gaming system's core audience loyal had mixed results, to say the least. An actual market/business review of what went well and what backfired would be an interesting read.

Sebastian: My discussion is no more or less "edition skirmishish" than every other aspect of this thread.

um, someone asked me a question, which I answered, in a way, I might note, that specifically said I don't consider the difference to be a positive or negative

I don't see the assertion that it appears they were trying to reach a broader video game market to be at all a bad thing. In fact, it would be a very logical decision on their part.

I have no way of proving this assertion to be true. It was an opinion I formed after reviewing the game, based on the creation of things like elite monsters and minions, rechargeable powers, healing surges, set classes (and a focus on balancing those classes with matching mechanics) and so forth. It (the similarity between 4.0 and MMOs) IS a commonly expressed opinion held by people who fall on all points of the 3.X/4.0 spectrum (including those who love 4.0).

I disagree that such an assertion would even require evidence of a deliberate attempt (ex: a quote from publisher specifically saying to make the game more MMO friendly) but creativity does not take place in a void. Any new game system is going to consider what works and what does not work in previous game systems, so it is very likely (and, in fact, even probable) had some MMO concepts in their heads while creating the game.

Again, I'm not presenting this as an accusation. In fact, I would consider introducing a pen and paper game with elements that MMO players would find familiar to be a very reasonable design move on someone attempting to broaden their customer base.

I do think there is significant evidence to say that the style of 4.0 certainly feels (to most people) to be MMO inspired, without there being evidence as to whether that was a deliberate or simply a subconscious intent.

The introduction of 4.0 WOULD actually be an interesting topic for a paper about product marketing.

You have a niche hobby (gaming) and you want to expand that niche hobby by simplifying and introducing elements that might appeal to people associated with a broader (but associated) niche hobby (video gaming).

I'd love to sometime read a clinical, objective analysis of 4.0 related to balancing efforts to preserve your core customers while reaching out to new customers, and what variables are involved. (For example, you could argue that gaming customers are comparatively loyal/stubborn about certain elements).

I WANT to derail this thread into 4.0 bashing, but you guys have already said not to do that :(, so I won't

ahh thanks, had a group dispute that there was a difference between identifying something and knowing details about it.

It's not related to monster lore, but I could almost see a wizard not really knowing what X monster is by sight, but once you tell him it is X monster he could tell you all sorts of stuff about it.

Is the monster lore bonus included in the actual act of identifying a creature, or just in identifying the creature's strengths and weaknesses once you know what it is?

For example, a bearded devil pops up. Does an inquisitor get a monster lore bonus to a knowledge planes roll to actually figure out it is a bearded devil, or does he/she only get the bonus if the party knows it is a bearded devil and is trying to figure out that it is immune to fire, etc.?

I did a home brew monster called a "beerholder" once. Everyone correctly agreed that was a really lame idea.

when I rule the universe I'm going to say nuts to copyright law and let them have beholders and stuff

don't forget Djinn Mustard

First books of Kingmaker and Wrath probably ARE bad examples. Both of those modules have specific plot/mechanical motivations for making the first few levels easy.

I was not aware of Wrath being 20 point buy- thought it was still 15.

Serpent's Skull, Carrion Crown and the everything is cold APs are all not especially kind to low level guys.

The Denziens of Leng seem sort of Gith like as well.

this is clearly an issue of the crossbow industry needing better lobbyists

serpentfolk are so very yuan-ti-like that our group sometimes forgets to call them serpentfolk.

Hi. I’m creating a new SoP character and I just want to confirm something regarding Concentration checks, specifically regarding Combat Casting.
Do SoP Casting require Concentration checks if you cast while within someones threatened reach in battle? I’m going to be a Whitesmith who casts Enhance Equipment in the middle of a fight. Do I need the Combat Casting Feat?
The Drawbacks I have in my Casting Tradition doesn’t seem to say anything (I have Draining Casting, Painful Magic and Magical Signs).
Thanks. :)

So I think I just found a new favorite :3
In the Spheres of Power system they have added some extra feats. One of those feats, called the Treat Injury feat makes your Heal skill more powerful by letting you remove conditions while spending a Spell Point.

O.O! oh...
There is a loooot of conditions on that...
This one so far has been a favorite! ^_^
Don't worry!!! Squee the Gobblin is very good Doktor! I is going CURE you of yours invisibility with this rusty knife! PERFECTLY safe!!! Hey, don't Panic, I cures that too!!!!

Idiot using Heal with improvised tools? Check. :p

By far this is not the most broken thing in SoP but it did give me a good laugh :)
Any other cringe-worthy malpractices you can think of inflicting with this lovely ability? "Curing" a ghost of their Incorporeality with a scalpel sounds like a hoot!

Hello :)
Quick question that I think I can remember but I cannot verify.
Say I have 2 casters, a cleric and a wizard. The wizard has Craft Staff and wants to make a Staff of Blessed Relief.
The staff has bless, create water and stabilize as prerequisites, all of which are cleric spells.

Now the wizard could craft the staff by increasing the DC by 15, but the cleric has all those spells available.

Could the cleric provide the spell requirements while the wizard does the crafting?
If yes, can you please provide a link?
Thanks :)

Hello, I have had the thought recently about creating a nihilistic character, one who does not believe in the divine at all, who believes it is all some sort of hoax, or simply some form of natural magic, which is the only proper, "Real" magic.

So I want things that are anti-divine. I can use all/most piazo and Psionics from DSP (on the srd). Also note. I am starting at 1st level. so it has to be available early on.

I know of the God Scorn and the Disdainful Defender (defending Athesism) traits for extra saves vs divine.
Humans can get the Self-Made Fate racial trait instead of the bonus feat for +2 to saves vs the Divine.
I could probably also take the Superstitious drawback and have it only apply to divine spells, with GM allowance.

I could also simply be a dwarf with the Steel Soul feat and be resistant to all magic, divine included, if thats the best I can hope for.

But beyond that I don't know :(
Any ideas you can give me?

Hi guys :) I am trying to write a program for a world generator but I have quickly come to the realization that I have not thought of everything :p
So! I come here to loot the minds of all the excelent GMs and world builders here on these forums :)

My goal here is to write a list of as many different aspects of nature that we can think of, and then split them into rough catagories.
Note for this particular thread I am only searching for natural, non-animal objects/organisms. Rocks, plants, trees, clouds are ok. Rabbits are not. Neither are man-made objects, like statues.

I am going to split them into 3 general catagories, Earth, Sea and Sky.

For example;

You can also add in some extra detail or a short blurb if you wish, to give me more ideas. An example;
•An old oak tree, with the initials of me and my first love carved into them.
And then I would include a tree with a little carving engraved into it :)

Lets see how successful this is and Thankya Kindly everyone! ^_^

Welp. It almost happened, or at least as closest as I expect I'll ever see, but This Lucky Son-of-a-gun rolled as close to a perfect set as It gets.
The point generation was 3d6+6, drop the lowest.

Ok. Paizo has been crashing constantly over the last week or two. I have not seen it anywhere near this bad in the last 5 or 6 years at least.
Can someone point me to some threads where they are discussing this? I want to know whats going on.
Thanks!

Master Han Del of the Web wrote:

Hmm, set 2 looks very promising. I'm considering a Wyvaran Slayer or Ranger investing in the Natural Weapon combat style and eventually picking up Powerful Wings and other sundry flying related feats.

Looks interesting, and wyvaran is the kind of race I was intending. It's perhaps a little overpowered, but we can adjust that a little after you build a character.

Just looked at the Wyvaran for the first time, sweet! That looks awesome!

I was thinking of creating Wyvaran kobold-turned-dragon but with a catch. He is an earth/rock dragon who tries to fly through the air :p
Rather clumsily too >_>
As such I am going to give him a really durable class like an Aberrant Aegis or Invulnerable Barbarian and really play him up as a clumsy, flying boulder :P
The idea is to have a defensive build with high acrobatics to reduce falling damage and DR to cushion the falls. Oh ya, I'll also take the Bouncy trait if you will let me, giving me more leeway to be clumsy :)

Then I can go flying around like a rock with a clumsy speed and charge people from the sky. If something happens then I can just bail and crash into the ground.

Master Han Del of the Web wrote:

Hmm, set 2 looks very promising. I'm considering a Wyvaran Slayer or Ranger investing in the Natural Weapon combat style and eventually picking up Powerful Wings and other sundry flying related feats.

Looks interesting, and wyvaran is the kind of race I was intending. It's perhaps a little overpowered, but we can adjust that a little after you build a character.

Just looked at the Wyvaran for the first time, sweet! That looks awesome!

I was thinking of creating Wyvaran kobold-turned-dragon but with a catch. He is an earth/rock dragon who tries to fly through the air :p
Rather clumsily too >_>
As such I am going to give him a really durable class like an Aberrant Aegis or Invulnerable Barbarian and really play him up as a clumsy, flying boulder :P
The idea is to have a defensive build with high acrobatics to reduce falling damage and DR to cushion the falls. Oh ya, I'll also take the Bouncy trait if you will let me, giving me more leeway to be clumsy :)

Then I can go flying around like a rock with a clumsy speed and charge people from the sky. If something happens then I can just bail and crash into the ground.

Poor spelling aside (and in the right thread!), I am looking to try and create the most dragon-like Kobold I can :) (for a specific game, so within some limitations)
20pb, lvl 1, 2 traits, I also gain an additional racial trait for free (so 2 sets of Crafty for example), there are no drawbacks but I intend to take Power Hungry on principle alone.
I am also planning on going Draconic Sorcerer for his class, because, hey, thematic :)
If someone has a different idea on how to go about this, I would love to hear it! Kobolds have weak str and I will probably be in a party of Big Strong Monsters so a fighter build might be a good way to stay deep within a Trolls massive shadow...
Oh ya! Building a RED Dragon Kobold.

So what race traits?
The way I see it, I have 2 categories; Crafty and Armor (and what replaces them). Remember I get 1 freebe.
Crafty:
Ventriloquism shenanigans. Suitable for a cowardly and deceptive Kobold Dragon. and a personal favorite. (Echo Whistler)
Wings!! (Gliding Wings)
Horns? (Wyrmcrowned)

Armor:
Better Sorcerer Powers (Dragon Affinity)
Bite Attack (Dragon Maw)
Dragon Scales (Dragon Scaled)

But which ones do you guys think I should choose?
I also intend to go Red Dragon Sorcerer which would give me claws (albeit useless ones, but claws none the less!!)
And with the two spells, Burning Hands and Murderous Command I will have a basic fireball spell and domination spell :)

I am also not sure what feat to go. What do you guys think about the Draconic Aspect line of feats?
What traits?
Anything else you guys can think of?

Edit: I cant use Murderous Command like I intended :,( I didnt realize it was not on the Wizard spell list.

Poor spelling aside, I am looking to try and create the most dragon-like Kobold I can :) (for a specific game, so within some limitations)
20pb, lvl 1, 2 traits, I also gain an additional racial trait for free (so 2 sets of Crafty for example), there are no drawbacks but I intend to take Power Hungry on principle alone.
I am also planning on going Draconic Sorcerer for his class, because, hey, thematic :)
If someone has a different idea on how to go about this, I would love to hear it! Kobolds have weak str and I will probably be in a party of Big Strong Monsters so a fighter build might be a good way to stay deep within a Trolls massive shadow...
Oh ya! Building a RED Dragon Kobold.

So what race traits?
The way I see it, I have 2 categories; Crafty and Armor (and what replaces them). Remember I get 1 freebe.
Crafty:
Ventriloquism shenanigans. Suitable for a cowardly and deceptive Kobold Dragon. and a personal favorite. (Echo Whistler)
Wings!! (Gliding Wings)
Horns? (Wyrmcrowned)

Armor:
Better Sorcerer Powers (Dragon Affinity)
Bite Attack (Dragon Maw)
Dragon Scales (Dragon Scaled)

But which ones do you guys think I should choose?
I also intend to go Red Dragon Sorcerer which would give me claws (albeit useless ones, but claws none the less!!)
And with the two spells, Burning Hands and Murderous Command I will have a basic fireball spell and domination spell :)

I am also not sure what feat to go. What do you guys think about the Draconic Aspect line of feats?
What traits?
Anything else you guys can think of?

Edit: I cant use Murderous Command like I intended :,( I didnt realize it was not on the Wizard spell list.

If anyone stumbles appon this, this is just a place for me to throw down any ideas and such as i need them :)
Go Gobos!!!

So my stats are:
18
18
18
18
16
12
we are doing Gestalt characters, level 2, lots of 3.5 stuff allowed and lenient on races/classes ect.
Only stipulation, no synthesist :)
Given these amazing stats and gestalt what are some of your guys epic ideas? Zany, fun, uberpowered, or just weird. I want to hear them!
(btw yes I did roll those...)

Hey guys, Im about to start up an alchemist and I am looking for extracts.
Now most extracts are on the Formula List for alchemists, but some, like fire trail or vomit twin are not on the list D:
Your mission: Help me find other obscure spells that I can use!!
Bonus points if it can be used with eternal potion (aka 3d level or lower)

Here's the senario, an alchemist with the fast bombs and inferno bomb discoverys full attacks with 3 inferno bombs. How do the multiple incindiary clouds interact?
What happens when you add in different kinds of bombs (ex plague and stinking)?
Thanks!

I want to build this guy. Basically a massive orc with heavy armour and a tower shield.
Now I have done my homework.
The shield. I want to use a tower shield. This is non-negotiable. Tower shields got +2 max dex bonus, -2 to attack, cannot shield bash, cannot have spikes, cannot be thrown and can be turned into cover. So bashing is out, TWF is out and I probably only want a max dex of about 14. It is also made of wood. This is a problem.
Looking at special materials I could make it out of elysian bronze, fire-forged steel or living steel. I do not want to use adamantine (partly because of the cost and partly because I dont think that orcs would get their hands on something like that :P).
Bronze would give me a few bonuses against magical beasts but otherwise would essentially be steel armour. It costs a fair amount but I like it.
Fire-forged grants some nice minor fire resistance as well as the ability to inflict some extra fire damage. Just as expensive as bronze. Orcs like fire :)
Living steel can slowly self repair, which is good considering orcs are not known to keep their stuff in good condition as well as having a chance to damage weapons attacking them. They are also more durable than steel which is a nice plus. And they are green :) And cheap! I think I like this one the best, reminds me of skyrim orc weapons/armour.
A living steel tower shield would cost 130 gp, 52.5 hps (1 1/2in thick) and have hardness of 15. How much would it weigh? 45 lbs? 67.5 lbs? (1 1/2, the difference between heavy steel/wood shield)

Armour. I would want the armour to be the same material as the shield and I want it to be a heavy armour. My go to would be plate but what are your guys thoughts on this one? Also can I add an armoured kilt to a suit of full plate? Or would that not have any effect?

Weapon. I am quite maliable on this one. I havent decided yet on what kind of weapon I want to use or whatnot. Only real thing is I want it to be the same material as the armour/shield. I imaging an axe or hammer would be best but as long as a sword looks mean enough it should be fine :) It also doesnt have to be the absolute pinnacle of DPR, just close is good.

Race. I am defaulting to orc but if there is a good enough reason to go half-orc I am willing to listen. I dont want to be human, even if I have the racial heritage: orc but half-orc with racial heritage might be ok. Sell me on it.

Class. As for class I figured that fighter would be the way to go and I figured that armour mastery would be important. With that in mind I had the following 4 archetypes that I was thinking about.
Shielded fighter. Just didnt work. You replace armour training for a dodge bonus that only works when you fight defensively. That sucks. You replace weapon training with improved shield bash. You cant bash with a tower shield... This one is out.
Phalanx soldier. You replace armour training with the ability to wield a polearm 1 handed, some minor benefits to using a tower shield and you can protect allies. Not bad, but not great.
Armour master. You get improved touch AC, damage reduction and fortification. Actually pretty good. Pity I dont want to use adamantine armour.
Tower shield specialist. bonus to reflex saves, keeps armour training and even improves it. Nice! Does not take the -2 for using a tower shield and can even use it against touch attacks. I like this one and I think this one is the one I will go with. Name fits ^-^

Traits. I am unsure about traits, Armour expert or defender of the society would probably be good, I imagine defender is better. Steel skin sounds good as the issue of sleeping in armour or doning it. 4 minutes to put it on is brutal or the alternative is sleeping in it. I thought there was an enhancement called comfort or something that did this? Rich parents (re-flavoured as robbed someones rich parents) would be good as it would allow me to start with a good shield, weapon and heavy armour that otherwise would not be available. Bred for war is quite flavourful if not optimal. Friendless (via adopted) a good idea? I thought that there was a trait that gave you bonus damage when you were in the negatives, do you know what it was? Was it even a trait or am I out to lunch?

Feats. Rather, where am I going to go with this. I know that I will be using a one handed weapon and I should have a good AC but beyond that I am unsure where I should take this guy. I dont necessarily have to focus exclusively on AC and would rather a more rounded character. I would like to be at least somewhat resistant to spells (im perceiving that to be a weakness right now), I would like to be able to do something meaningful in combat beyond 'take damage, cant die', and I would like to have some use outside of combat.
So Im thinking vital strike? something I can do with that possibly? I understand that it is generally not a good feat.
Cleave? Orcs get some nice things with cleave, same with dwarves. This might be an instance of going half-orc for racial heritage: dwarf and turning into an efficient cleave master. Chances are I will be stuck fighting the mooks (at least until I actually GET to the BBEG)
Deathless Initiate? Orcs get a sweet favoured class bonus that works well with this. Not starting out as an unbreakable fighter will make this take longer to get. Your thoughts? Ferocious Action, Resilient Brute and Tenacious Survivor would all work to this end.
What do you guys think here? I am at a loss as to where to take this next.
Also, shield focus and the like, is trading 1 feat for +1 AC a good idea?
Any suggestions for this area would be great!

Out of Combat. I would like to be able to contribute out of combat where possible. I understand that orcs get -2 to all mental stats and that makes it quite a bit harder. I also understand that things like swimming or climbing or sneaking will be massively difficult with such a large ACP. Also being a fighter only gets 2 skills base and with the -2 to int, I am not going to have many...
Lots of cons! but lets focus on doing at least 1 thing out of combat!
Just.... What?

I think thats pretty much where I am at. Plenty of advice would be great ^-^
Recap.
1. Should I make my stuff out of elysian bronze, fire-forged steel or living steel? I am leaning towards living steel.
2. How much would a steel tower shield weigh? 45 lbs? 67 1/2 lbs? Something different?
3. What armour should I use? Can I add an armoured kilt to it?
4. What weapon should I use? I like axes and hammers :)
5. I figure I am going Orc tower shield specialist.
6. What traits would be good? I can take the extra traits feat if need be.
7. What path should I go? What feats would accommodate it?
8. Are shield focus or iron hide worth it? Aka is trading 1 feat for 1 AC good?
9. What can I do out of combat. I want to do at LEAST 1 thing ooc.

Thanks for any advice!

*Inappropriately Sized Firearms: You cannot make optimum use of a firearm that is not properly sized for you. A cumulative –2 penalty applies on attack rolls for each size category of difference between your size and the size of the firearm. If you are not proficient with the firearm, a –4 nonproficiency penalty also applies. The size of a firearm never affects how many hands you need to use to shoot it, the exception being siege firearms and Large or larger creatures. In most cases, a Large or larger creature can use a siege firearm as a two-handed firearm, but the creature takes a –4 penalty for using it this way because of its awkwardness.

So reading this, I want to make an enlarged human wielding a cannon. BUT I have some questions first...

Table: Ranged Siege Engines lists everything you need to know about cannons, but when you wield it in two hands, what rules apply? Enlarged, you count as 2 crew so that is easy.
(1) Aim, Do you use the standard rules for aiming or a full round action between shots as per the ranged siege engines table?
(2) Load, Quite simple untill you factor in the musket master Archetype. Do you take 3 full round actions to load or 1 standard action?
(3) How heavy is a cannon? The Srd does not say.
(4) Could you take your first level as wizard and have the cannon as your bonded item? I dont see why not but it would blow BWL out of the water so I am checking.

Below is the relevant information That I could find. I plan on refering to this later so thanks for the replys!

Alright I have been looking through the SRD for different ideas and I came across some problems with damage reduction. I know that DR does not stack unless it specifically says so and thrus I have a few questions.

First one is DR from multiple abilities from the same class. the three that I can think of off the top of my head are the stonelord paladin and the deep earth (bedrock) sorcerer and the armour master fighter.
the paladin gains DR 1/2 her level/adamantine and DR/evil 5 from her aura of righteousness. by the rules she gains the first DR only, unless that gets bypassed then she gets the second one.
The sorcerer gains Dr 10/adamantine as a swift action and gains dr 10/adamantine as her capstone. Is the intent of this that her DR becomes permanent at that level, thrus replacing it or were they intended to stack?
The fighter gains up to DR 12/- that stacks with armour but not other DR. He also gains DR 5/- when he hits level 19 as his 'mini capstone.' Was this an oversight or was this intended to not stack together (and thrus make the mini capstone useless)?

Basically Im wondering if there has been any FAQ about this or if they are working as intended.

Second one is DR that does stack together. Certain abilities do stack together and I am wondering about ones that do stack and how they integrate when you have multiple ones.
as an example, a 10th level armour master with adamantine heavy armour and the stalwart feat. Stalwart gives you DR 5/- that stacks with abilities but not armour, armoured defence gives you DR 3/- that stacks with armour but not other types, and adamantine armour grants DR 3/- with no special caveats. So do you have DR 11/-? If not what parts work together and what parts do not?

Third one is what bypasses DR? I know that magic can, same with the special material associated with it, and I think bleed does as well, I also remember that as an item gains a high enough enhancement it bypasses specific types, but I was wondering what else can get past it.

Forth and final one is that barbarians can gain the rage power guarded life and the invulnerable barbarian doubles his DR against non-lethal damage. How does this work exactly? Do you first convert damage from lethal to non-lethal then reduce it separately for each as each has its own DR? Or do you just double your DR and take half of the damage as lethal and half as non-lethal? I am really curious about this one as I want to build an unkillable barbarian using this soon.

EDIT: Just realized that Armoured Defence replaces Armour master, so that one is resolved and you can ignore that part :P

Alright so this could go in eather Advice or Rules, but Ill ask it here anyways;
Ive got some questions about our favorite anger management candidate.

1) In regards to the Wild Rager Archetype, the uncontrolled rage will save is 10+ barbarian level+ charisma modifier. Does this mean that a lvl 2 barbarian with 14 wis and car would have to roll a save of 14? If so wouldn't the saves start to get really hard the higher level you got? so the same barbarian at lvl 18 would have to save a Dc 30? Ive been trying to figure ways to boost will saves, but that seems to get alot harder rather than alot easier. On the other hand, charisma dump stat!

2) Does the wild fighting ability of the wild rager count as a haste effect so wont stack with haste and speed?

3) Does the greater beast totem pounce special ability work with Rino Hide? if so, do you get the bonus 2d6 damage on all the attacks? Seems worded that way to me. Same goes for the Asterion's vigorous charge.

4) By gaining touch of rage through eldritch heritage (orc), and you use it on yourself, does it stack with rage, as rage is a moral bonus to strength and TOR is a moral bonus to att and damage rolls. Strength affects them so I am unsure if they stack.

5) I have been reading about the Ragefull Hater I am unsure about the intent of this class, or how I would use it properly. Reduced rage seems to contradict your favored class bonuses so if you go with this archetype, you essentially lose your favored class bonus.
Due to the favored enemy, you only gain 2/3 of your rage powers, does amplified by hate actually have many uses?

Thanks, I dont actually get the chance to play all that often, so just creating characters seems to be the main game at this time. Maybe sometime soon but eh.