Smug Narcissist's page

You wouldnt have to be a halfling although it certainly would be a good choice.

You would need more feats than as an archer ,but yes you can make a mean slinger.
Juggle Load is one more feat tax that you would have to swallow.

I have a Dyson vacuum cleaner,it harvests dust particles.....same thing.

Smug Narcissist wrote:

kyrt-ryder wrote:

Looks like Ashiel won't be able to do it. (And yes, if you were using Maptools you would have to download it and then direct-link with the other participants over the net.)

Can I take your participation as a sign of interest in GM'ing this for us?

What exactly is the clallenge?

perhaps you need more than one DM, just to make sure the ghins is as fairest as posible.

It's about running this module for ssalarns Ranger and my Fighter.One GM will do I think.

Looks like Ashiel won't be able to do it. (And yes, if you were using Maptools you would have to download it and then direct-link with the other participants over the net.)

Can I take your participation as a sign of interest in GM'ing this for us?

Ssalarn wrote:

Ashiel wrote:

Possibly, but I'd rather do it on MapTools because it would take less time than a PBP, supports maps, dice rolling, etc. Logs can be saved after the session and posted, etc. Might require participants to use Hamachi to connect.

However I'm kind of swamped with stuff already so I don't think I could GM anything until next Tuesday at the earliest. I still need to finish working on a major encounter for my party, make a character for my friend's Rise of the Runelord's Anniversary Edition game this Saturday, possibly helping my sister with catering on Thursdays for a few weeks, I'm playing in my friend's Reign of Winter game on Fridays, and my game is usually ran on Mondays but I've had to do a lot of side-sessions lately due to the party being split up with stuff so...phew. (o-o);

I will admit, I specifically singled you out because after the last couple years of reading your posts I've really wanted a chance to play in one of your games :)

Awww, thank you! Q.Q

So where do we stand? Do I need Map Tools as well or does it work like Roll 20?

Ssalarn, if nobody steps up we could just play it out in the open as well. I am assuming you want each character to solo the module so this method might even be preferable.

Or anyone else?

Smug Narcissist wrote:

Now your talking lets do this and I will show you that you are massively exaggerating the Rangers advantages out of combat and are underestimating the Fighters in combat advantages.

Do you have your scenario already written? If not I'm sure we can come up with something.

Almost missed this in all the other posts.

How about giving the Fighter homefield advantage and plunking them down in a level appropriate PFS scenario with solid reviews?

20 point buy, standard WBL, stick to options you can find in the Paizo PRD? If you want we can get the characters drawn up and I'll buy each of us a copy of the scenario (I've never played it).

Excellent, no need to buy it for me as I already own it. Should I open a PbP thread? Who do you want to GM this.

When did the Fighter make his Perception check? You know, your guy with 2+Int skills who needs high STR and Con to be in the thick of things, and high Dex to make one of his primary class features function (see: Armor Training)?

And here's the thing; I'm not saying the Fighter can't be a little bit better in combat, I'm saying that he fails hard at everything else and that can bleed into combat easily. I'm rebutting the absolutely ridiculous and unsupported assertion that the Fighter is somehow doing 50% more damage than a Ranger ever.

The situation I put out there is the situation that the rules actually support. If you want, we can do the full 10th level builds on a 20 point buy (PFS and modern AP standard) and run them both through that exact scenario, or any other variety of scenarios that don't assume the enemy is standing in the middle of a 10 ft by 10ft room singing war songs so you know where to find him. I promise you, the Fighter fails before he ever even finds his targets unless he dumps major resources into things the Ranger gets for free, at which point he can't compete with the Ranger in combat, and still isn't as good at non-combat challenges.

Now your talking lets do this and I will show you that you are massively exaggerating the Rangers advantages out of combat and are underestimating the Fighters in combat advantages.

Do you have your scenario already written? If not I'm sure we can come up with something.

Smug Narcissist wrote:

Because I have bad experiences with Animal Companions and I have heard bad things from others too especially from organized play.(Along the lines of players never getting to take them with them.)

Fighters are like a clockwork, they tick away their damage come rain or snow.Rangers? Not so much.

Then players should be reporting the incidents to their local Venture Captains. PFS GM's should not be arbitrarily denying players access to their class features. Particularly a class like the Ranger whose animal companions are almost exlusively his size or smaller.

I have seen one or two legitimate situations where a horse was not going to make it through a small-sized entry. Since PFS allows effectively unlimited time between scenarios, I typically recommend keeping a "back up" animal companion on hand (they can be switched out with 24 hours of prayer). Then, if you're showing up for a scenario entitled "The Tiny Twisting Tunnels of the Terrible Troglodytes" you want to bust out the Badger and leave the horse to run free.

Yah well.

My point is that "situational" is everything that is not always on your character.Saying stuff like "a fighter can be hosed if he chooses the wrong weapon" is nonsense.

I can conjure up scenarios and just make it so that one character magicaly knows everything and suceeds on every roll as well.

Pre-combat: Ranger knows enemy is somewhere close and casts Gravity Bow, which will last for the next 70 rounds.

Surprise Round: Ranger makes Perception to detect enemy ambush and makes one attack during surprise round with enhanced bow. Fighter fails Perception check, does not act in surprise round.

Round 1: Ranger and Fighter recognize that the enemy they are confronted with are the half-dragon killers they've been tracking. Ranger swift action casts Instant Enemy (I would assume a ranger who hunts people for a living probably already has them as an enemy, but we can pretend this is necessary), and then full attacks with enhanced bow.

By round 1 the Ranger is already an attack action ahead of the Fighter with a bow dealing 2d6 to the Fighter's 1d8. Not only is the ranger tromping the Fighter in combat, he's also the one who (presumably) tracked the enemy up to this point and detected them. Yes, it's a "created" scenario, but it's the one I see most often played out in APs, modules, and home games.

You have to be joking with this. Why exactly did the fighter fail his Perception check?And why did the Ranger know that there are enemies?This is what you "see most often"? I have seen it go very differently.

Because I have bad experiences with Animal Companions and I have heard bad things from others too especially from organized play.(Along the lines of players never getting to take them with them.)

Fighters are like a clockwork, they tick away their damage come rain or snow.Rangers? Not so much.

Smug Narcissist wrote:

I think this thread makes Rangers out to be more than they really are.In 3.5 Rangers where the class that never panned out, and they haven't gotten much since the transition,their casterlevel is improved and..... well thats all that comes to mind really.

Instant Enemy is a huge boost and with a little GM help you can surely pick favoured enemies that come up often but its nothing like the reliability of a fighter.

Also Lead Blades and Gravity Bow are like a 5% increase in DPR when the difference between Fighter and Ranger who doesn't fight his favoured enemy is more like 50%.

Lead Blades and Gravity Bow take an average dice roll of 4.5 on 1d8 and increase it to an average dice roll of 7. So the spell is already better than Weapon Specialization, but goes a step further in that it applies to any weapon. The Fighters feats have to be all chained to a single weapon. If you're running an AP or module with a GM who doesn't have the skills to go off book and wing it, the Fighter can end up screwed by picking the wrong weapon. Player's Guides always have suggestions for what favored enemies a Ranger should consider, but they almost never have recommendations for what weapon Fighters should pick.

The Fighter has no advantage at all until 5th level. At 5th level, the Ranger is picking up his 2nd Favored Enemy to the Fighter's first instance of Weapon Training, and the Ranger has Hunter's Bond, which either allows him to share his Favored abilities with his teammates or gives him an animal companion. A flanking buddy with its own set of actions kicks the tar out of +1/+1 with a single weapon group.

The Fighter never has a 50% lead over the Ranger at any point in direct damage. Never. Not even close, and not even beforeyou start calculating in the Ranger's situational or expendable abilities.

Oh yes he does, at mid levels a Fighter Archer will lead a Ranger by about 50% DPR(but probably much more) FE and Animal Companions not included.

Wanna make a bet? I'll give you gravity Bow for free.:)

I think this thread makes Rangers out to be more than they really are.In 3.5 Rangers where the class that never panned out, and they haven't gotten much since the transition,their casterlevel is improved and..... well thats all that comes to mind really.

Instant Enemy is a huge boost and with a little GM help you can surely pick favoured enemies that come up often but its nothing like the reliability of a fighter.

Also Lead Blades and Gravity Bow are like a 5% increase in DPR when the difference between a Fighter and a Ranger who doesn't fight his favoured enemy is more like 50%.

True Seeing doesn't work against Mind Blank, and casting a quickened true strike isn't really a problem at 20th level.

Yes but he could heighten suffocation to level 8(Spell picked up with Improved Eldritch Heritage)for a DC 47, 50 when buffed with Divine Vessel.

It does get higher but not with a wizard and not with necromancy.

A Gnome Vampiric Sorcerer could get a DC44 for suffocation.Rage Prophets could get up to DC 50 or better.

Jehova's Mass Suffocation Diviner, Vacuum, kills One without taking a point of damage unless One rolls a 20 on his Fort save. (DC 47 Mass Suffocation)

Vacuum was able to complete the first Beastmass in a single day, without re-memorizing spells or taking a single point of damage. No other Beastmass contestant really comes close.

DC 47? With a Wizard? I'm afraid thats not possible. Best legit Wizard DC with necromancy would be 39 for a venerable Wizard with 20 starting Int.If you allow Spell Perfection to double the DC bonus from Greater Arcane Eldritch Heritage a 41 would be possible but I wouldn't allow that.

Maybe you can find a +1 racial bonus somewhere that I don't know about and maybe there's a trait somewhere that adds another +1 but 47 is most definetely wrong.

Also none of the builds presented here are anywhere near unbeatable. Not nagging but that Zen Archer isnt even that good haven't checked te full build but below +40 to-hit will need natural 20's to hit some 20thlevel charcters.

Here is something that I would love to see,not really an alchemical item but...:

Splash Weapon Dispenser
This tubular container has airtight compartments and is equipped with hydraulics.A dispenser can be filled with up to 10 splash weapons of any kind.Loading a single splash weapon into the dispenser is a full round action.Once filled the contained splash weapons can be retrieved one by one as a free action by pulling the lever at the bottom of the container.

Price:2500gp

That way you could finally make full attacks with splash weapons.

Its low level stuff.

A 1st level alchemist does 1d6+ his int modifier in damage with his bombs,and 1+int splash damage with a reflex save for half.

That same alchemist throwing an acid flask would do 1d6+int + 1d6 next round,and 1+int splash damage with no save.

So Acid Flasks and Alchemists Fire actually do more damage than bombs for the first two levels.

For the first 4 or 5 levels the DC's and damage of alchemical weapons are perfectly reasonable.They are not supposed to be primary weapons, you wont kill an ancient red dragon with itching powder. They are little gimmicks and problem solvers.

Some of the stuff is really good BTW.

Underpowered compared to what?

Found it!

Wikipedia wrote:

New Atheism is the name given to the ideas promoted by a collection of modern atheist writers who have advocated the view that "religion should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticized, and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises."

What is distinctive about New Atheism (compared to the old kind) is that instead of choosing to ignore religion, they assert that religions make scientific claims (miracles, origin of the universe, virgin birth/resurrection, etc.) that can be tested.

And when tested, found wanting.

That Wikipedia quote doesn't characterize this movement in the way I see it.

That should ring all the alarm bells.

Invisible sky faries are stupid,but so are those among us that spend their days shaking their fists at them.

There is a beliefsystem that uses the name atheism or more specifically New Atheism for its purposes.

Thats a religion!!

Their followers spend their time and money to further the goals of some superordinated organizations, they have their prophets (Dawkins,Hitchens) that are revered like some sort of messiahs and they do have a dogma.

I don't have a religion but I'm weary of calling myself an atheist nowadays since that term has been hijacked by some fools that make the very same mistakes they accuse their religious counterparts of.

Ahahah...awesome topic.There was a public hearing once about DnD where avid defenders and religous nutcases came togheter to discuss the impact of the game. Magic was a major topic.

Heres a little excerpt:

========================================================================

Crazy Jesus Lady:"Isn't it true that you perform magic rituals and cast spells while "playing" this "game"."

DnD Guy:"Well its nothing so serious, some characters cast spells yes, all the player does is saying what spell he casts and then usually rolls a dice to see if he succeeds.*gets his dice out* So look I could say I cast a spell at you now.*rolls dice*
Thats a two ,so my spell didn't succeed."

Crazy Jesus Lady:" Of course it didn't. Jesus was protecting me."

True Story:)

Its not about it being better.You can't have a small mount with a small character, your mount must be at least medium. Hence dogs at level 4,they can't be choosen as a mount before that.

Smug Narcissist wrote:

Sex and violence has nothing to do with maturity.Including it in your games and then calling it mature is just silly.

Your reply betrays a lack of thought and foresight. In other words, you sound really immature yourself.

Sex and violence by themselves are not mature nor immature. They are just facts of biology and society. Good writers, however, can craft them into something that goes beyond disturbing, and enters the realm of scarring. Because of that, we relegate them to an audience better equipped to deal with what they are seeing and experiencing: the mature.

Yes, we understand your game of semantics and how clever you are. Congratulations, you bothered the folks at the grown up table and got a bit of attention. Now sit down before you hurt yourself.

Sweet man,

Deliberately trying to piss me off is an excellent way of validating your points.Your halfwitted attempt at sounding smart really hit home for me.
I bet the explicit picturing of rape and murder at your table would really scar my innocent soul forever.

Sex and violence has nothing to do with maturity.Including it in your games and then calling it mature is just silly.

Game of Thrones isn't exactly a mature show.Typical hollywood crap mix of everything in every episode. Don't say I don't watch it but its fantasy tailored to people who don't like fantasy.

Lord of the Rings meets Desperate Housewives.

I mean seriously I'm not prude at all , but the theres a completely not story related sex scene every 20 minutes in every f$++ing episode.

They should call it F&*+ing Game of f+!@ing Thrones.

Lamesville

The cohort is an intern:)

Is your menthol cigarette tasting flat?

Come up to pure menthol KOOL and enjoy the taste of extra coolness.

Some people are just born optimizers.

When I was a kid and somebody asked me what animal I would like to be,I said a black Panther with wings and claws made of diamond.

Why?

Because its clearly better than a regular black Panther. THATS WHY!!!

And I pity you for not seeing it....

Man....vestigial arms are good for nothing.You can't get extra attacks ,you can't use it for spell combat ,......is there anything this arms can do besides picking your nose?

You are the one who does not seem to understand so heres the deal:

Wildlooded Bloodlines are exactly like other Bloodlines this "archetype"
effectively creates new Bloodlines wich are not stronger than the regular ones.There is not more "change" involved if you make a Wildlooded/Bloodline Sorcerer than when making a Bloodline/Bloodline Sorcerer so why even bother insisting on this ruling?

I understand that following a set of rules saves you from having to make decisions but,in this case,it might just be helpful to think about in in a less dogmatic way and not tell other people "youre doing it wrong".

<Not meant as an attack against you, just food for thought.

I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. Discipline is the key to conformity and it is important that we learn not to question authority at an early age.

Impressive, I just looked it up and....... I'll be damned but you are right.But still,I stated elsewhere that it looks to me that this is just the devs being too lazy to write up completely new bloodlines and instead calling it an archetype and I think I will stick with that assesment.

I don't see a reason why they should not work together.Even if a player wants "those two abilities that work really well togheter" whats the problem?Isn't that the motivation for most optimization and leads to some unconventional builds?

Wildblooded are just bloodlines one can call it an archetype but it clearly isn't.

Looks to me like needless persistence on some "less than stellar" rulings.Archetype or not ,Wildblooded Bloodlines are supposed to be perfectly balanced against the regular Bloodlines since there is nothing that changes besides some arcanas and bloodline powers. If they werent then the "archetype" would need to give some additional penalties like wildblooded does or would by definition be unbalanced.

That leaves the question:Whats the point in enforcing such a ruling?

But for the OP this is mostly irrelevant since RD's example still works with Orc/Draconic.

EPIC TROLL VICTORY

I agree. They are completely different, but please, don't call me a dumb f~+!. It hurts my feelings.

Anyway, from fighting games, I learned something very interesting. Something that is consistently true to pretty much every game ever, from DnD to Mortal Kombat, passing by Magic The Gathering and Super Mario Bros. And quite possibly, to many aspects of real life as well:

Options are the most valuable resource you can have.

Read it again, it's important. It's the whole point of this post.

In fighting fames, just like in PF, we have the concept of "tiers". These tiers are based on character effectiveness. While there is never 100% consensus, there are many points where the players of any given game will agree. e.g.: In Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, people might disagree about who's better, Vergil, Zero or Dr.Doom, but they'll tell you that all 3 of them are incredibly effective.

Bad Example with the fighting games here if you ask me.I'm not so on top with the fighting games nowadays but I know my classics, and one thing I can say for sure:The complex fighters where always the weak choice

Again I'm speaking about the classics here,and there can be no debate that the top tiers where all the 1-2-3 kind of guys.

Paul in Tekken(Yoshimitsu or Lei had way more options in almost all incarnations but they where simply sucky pros choose Paul over all others although he always was one of the most limited chars but those stonefist where the best move in the game)

Sagat in Street Fighter( I don't have to elaborate on him right?)

Mitsurugi in Soul Edge(again less moves than most others but better ones)

So what did we learn? Simple and effective is the way to go.

Sorry for the nerdrage but you brought this on yourself

So this is where everybody went:)

Care if I join in?

If you are going for german, the correct name would be "Halbgeist".

Ja ja da vergewaltigen sie mal wieder unsere schöne Sprache:)

What constitutes a gish option for you?Do you want combat feats?

Weapon Qualities are completely useless you add Weapon Focus and your Weapons enhancement Modifier to maneuvers anyway so its meaningless.

They are reprinted in Varisia Birthplace of Legends.

Available are:

Avaria: When used to cast bear’s endurance, bull’s strength, cat’s
grace, eagle’s splendor, fox’s cunning, or owl’s wisdom, the spell
grants a +5 enhancement bonus to the affected ability score.
Avidais: When used to cast a spell that allows you to make
a dispel check (such as dispel magic or mage’s disjunction),
you gain a +2 bonus on that check.
Carnasia: When used to cast any spell of the charm
subschool, a threatened target does not gain the usual +5
bonus on its saving throw to resist the effect.
Idolis: When used to cast summon monster or summon nature’s
ally, the summoned creature’s maximum hit points increase
by +2 for every Hit Die it possesses.
Ragario: When used to cast a spell that deals energy
damage, you gain a +2 bonus on caster level checks made
to overcome spell resistance.
Vangloris: When used to cast a spell of the glamer
subschool with a duration measured in minutes or less
(such as displacement or invisibility), the effects of that spell
persist for 1 round longer than normal.
Voratalo: When used to cast a spell of the necromancy
school that deals hit point damage, you also deal a number
of points of bleed damage equal to the spell level. This
bleed effect lasts for 5 rounds.

Price 75gp

Why dragons in ten different colors? Variety

bump

Be a shadow sorcerer and its 100% real.

Combo,Knockout and Gut Punch are all OP. Hands Up is also problematic especially as the Class gets plenty of AC bonuses already.Black Eye and and Wide Open are also OP as at will abilities.Brute Force can be used too often with a high Strenght Mod.

I would suggest you make a Pool for Combat Tricks(like Ki Pool) and make all the abilities dependent on that.So for instance the Boxer gets uses of Combat Tricks for a number of times equal too his Level+Stat Mod. I also think the class gets a bit too much stuff.I count 4 abilities that Scale with level in the first four levels alone. The class is like a Barbarian that gets all Rage Powers.

That said, I think you have some grat ideas there.

true