paizo.com Recent Posts by Snowblindpaizo.com Recent Posts by Snowblind2023-09-29T09:40:31Z2023-09-29T09:40:31ZRe: Forums: Magic Items: Magic and Economics: Please pick either supply or demandSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42g06?Magic-and-Economics-Please-pick-either-supply#62019-01-25T10:32:15Z2019-01-25T10:32:15Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Malk_Content wrote:</div><blockquote> There is also the fact that producing many of these items requires a powerful person to them. Mundane technologies can spread and be reproduced without needing someone capable of punching an elephant to death. That isn't the case here so it makes sense that rarity persists for longer. Those powerful people have better things to do, a rare themselves within the world. have a vested interest in keeping things to themselves and are more capable of protecting their interests. </blockquote><p>The problem is that this line of thinking opens the massive can of worms that is why there are any common rarity higher level things at all.Malk_Content wrote:There is also the fact that producing many of these items requires a powerful person to them. Mundane technologies can spread and be reproduced without needing someone capable of punching an elephant to death. That isn't the case here so it makes sense that rarity persists for longer. Those powerful people have better things to do, a rare themselves within the world. have a vested interest in keeping things to themselves and are more capable of protecting their interests.
...Snowblind2019-01-25T10:32:15ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Status of Golarion in New Edition?Snowblind, Pedantry Drake (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs42eia&page=3?Status-of-Golarion-in-New-Edition#1052019-01-09T18:24:38Z2019-01-07T03:25:23Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Gorbacz wrote:</div><blockquote><br />
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James Jacobs won't barge through your door and pulverize you for altering Golarion or for not following Paizo's books to the letter. No, seriously, he won't. </blockquote><p>Don't be ridiculous.
<p>Have you <b>seen</b> how big a T-Rex is. JJ ain't fitting through no door that can't receive "Largest Vehicles on Earth" short-listers.</p>Gorbacz wrote:James Jacobs won't barge through your door and pulverize you for altering Golarion or for not following Paizo's books to the letter. No, seriously, he won't.
Don't be ridiculous. Have you seen how big a T-Rex is. JJ ain't fitting through no door that can't receive "Largest Vehicles on Earth" short-listers.Snowblind, Pedantry Drake (alias of Snowblind)2019-01-07T03:25:23ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Remove +Level Number inflationSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42f18&page=2?Remove-Level-Number-inflation#702019-01-05T21:20:04Z2019-01-05T21:20:04Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">thflame wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Snowblind wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Deadmanwalking wrote:</div><blockquote><p> A good GM familiar with the rules can fix almost any system enough to be playable...but it's a job of work. Good systems minimize this work to the extent they can manage, and allow GMs who are inexperienced or only mediocre at the rules to run good games. That's sort of what makes them good, well-designed, games. </p>
<p>The attitude that because a GM can theoretically fix something the system should not do so is incorrect, unpleasant, and detrimental to good game design. Which is why I'm very glad the folks at Paizo clearly do not share it. </blockquote><p>I cannot favorite this enough. I despise the dismissive argument of "well, the GM can fix it" for this very reason.
<p>Remember kids, any time a GM spends making their game not dysfunctional is time they aren't spending making their game great. </blockquote>"Dysfunctional" is subjective. I'm sure most of the people complaining about +level to everything find it more "dysfunctional" than 3.Ps issues, that have likely already been solved via houserules 10+ years in the making. </blockquote><p>Maybe. Maybe not. But that isn't the point Deadmanwalking was trying to make. The point is that burdening the GM with fixing system bugs is actively making that GM's life harder and their game worse, which is literally the exact opposite of what good game design is meant to achieve. Thus, little nuggets like "the gm should git gud" have <i>absolutely</i> no place in a discussion about game design.thflame wrote:Snowblind wrote: Deadmanwalking wrote:A good GM familiar with the rules can fix almost any system enough to be playable...but it's a job of work. Good systems minimize this work to the extent they can manage, and allow GMs who are inexperienced or only mediocre at the rules to run good games. That's sort of what makes them good, well-designed, games.
The attitude that because a GM can theoretically fix something the system should not do so is incorrect, unpleasant, and...Snowblind2019-01-05T21:20:04ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Remove +Level Number inflationSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42f18&page=2?Remove-Level-Number-inflation#672019-01-06T02:04:04Z2019-01-05T19:03:47Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Deadmanwalking wrote:</div><blockquote><p> A good GM familiar with the rules can fix almost any system enough to be playable...but it's a job of work. Good systems minimize this work to the extent they can manage, and allow GMs who are inexperienced or only mediocre at the rules to run good games. That's sort of what makes them good, well-designed, games. </p>
<p>The attitude that because a GM can theoretically fix something the system should not do so is incorrect, unpleasant, and detrimental to good game design. Which is why I'm very glad the folks at Paizo clearly do not share it. </blockquote><p>I cannot favorite this enough. I despise the dismissive argument of "well, the GM can fix it" for this very reason.
<p>Remember kids, any time a GM spends making their game not dysfunctional is time they aren't spending making their game great.</p>Deadmanwalking wrote:A good GM familiar with the rules can fix almost any system enough to be playable...but it's a job of work. Good systems minimize this work to the extent they can manage, and allow GMs who are inexperienced or only mediocre at the rules to run good games. That's sort of what makes them good, well-designed, games.
The attitude that because a GM can theoretically fix something the system should not do so is incorrect, unpleasant, and detrimental to good game design. Which...Snowblind2019-01-05T19:03:47ZRe: Forums: Ancestries & Backgrounds: Anyone else feel that this is moving in a direction that’s actually more restrictive instead of less soSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs42c81?Anyone-else-feel-that-this-is-moving-in-a#132018-12-20T08:54:53Z2018-12-18T02:24:39Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Ludovicus wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Cantriped wrote:</div><blockquote>Everything in PF2's Playtest is pretty underwhelming individually; it's an inevitable result of combining tight-math with choice-glut.</blockquote>This is one of the sharpest one-sentence diagnoses I've seen. </blockquote><a href="https://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bkb?There-needs-to-be-less-rampant-access-to-Heal#14" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">I don't know, I am a big fan of...</a><div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote>I never feel more powerful than when I'm casting Heal in 2e, precisely because I actually accomplish what I'm trying to do. </blockquote><p>Ludovicus wrote:Cantriped wrote:Everything in PF2's Playtest is pretty underwhelming individually; it's an inevitable result of combining tight-math with choice-glut.
This is one of the sharpest one-sentence diagnoses I've seen. I don't know, I am a big fan of...Quote:I never feel more powerful than when I'm casting Heal in 2e, precisely because I actually accomplish what I'm trying to do.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2018-12-18T02:24:39ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: 1.3 - Treat Wounds - Stamina is still betterSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42ahs&page=3?13-Treat-Wounds-Stamina-is-still-better#1412018-11-30T18:14:33Z2018-11-30T10:17:56Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Dracomicron wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
It's fine if a GM wants to house rule that healing works on Stamina, but, frankly, we're better off just getting out of the psychological mindset that every little boo-boo needs to get healed over. </blockquote><p>For that to happen, we would have to have a system where PC combatants don't go from full to almost dead every other fight. PF2E is currently not that system.Dracomicron wrote:...
It's fine if a GM wants to house rule that healing works on Stamina, but, frankly, we're better off just getting out of the psychological mindset that every little boo-boo needs to get healed over.
For that to happen, we would have to have a system where PC combatants don't go from full to almost dead every other fight. PF2E is currently not that system.Snowblind2018-11-30T10:17:56ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Permanent negative status effects are awfulSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42dsv?Permanent-negative-status-effects-are-awful#92018-12-03T19:33:50Z2018-11-28T11:18:43Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Starfox wrote:</div><blockquote><p> People are insisting on harsh rules for death from damage. I don't see this as any different. For gamist play, it make sense that hazards be "real" and therefore punishing, up to and including permanent loss of the character.
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...</blockquote><p>It is fairly simple. Death and serious long term penalties are supposed to be punishments. That is to say, they should be a consequence of the PCs screwing up. Those sorts of consequences should not be handed out for simply showing up to a fight and allowing an enemy to get off a single round of actions. That isn't punishment. That is getting randomly blown out through sheer chance with little you can reasonably do to avoid it•. This is why "roll to not be screwed" type abilities are <i>very</i> ungamist.
<p>Similarly, this is why the death and dying rules are a point of contention. From the same gamist point of view, reaching the dying state should be a consequence of either extremely bad luck for a single PC or <i>repeated</i> bad decisions on the part of the PCs. A single PC should be saveable by their companions if it was just straight up bad rolls (since the chances of all the PCs having bad luck is virtually zero under normal circumstances through the magic of iterative probability), or the PC should have a very real chance of dying as a punishment for the PCs' collective failure. However, PF2E screws this up by making combat so swingy. Multiple PCs are going to get downed every now and again due to simple probability, so the dying rules are going to struggle to find a middle ground between making bad luck excessively punitive and failing to make bad decisions sufficiently punitive (hence why we have had several iterations of the dying rules). </p>
<p>•last time I checked, "don't go adventuring" isn't a reasonable option, and "aggressively cheese the encounter so that the opposition doesn't even get a chance to interact with you before getting locked down or dying" is exactly the sort of degenerate gameplay that PF2E was supposed to prevent.</p>Starfox wrote:People are insisting on harsh rules for death from damage. I don't see this as any different. For gamist play, it make sense that hazards be "real" and therefore punishing, up to and including permanent loss of the character.
...
It is fairly simple. Death and serious long term penalties are supposed to be punishments. That is to say, they should be a consequence of the PCs screwing up. Those sorts of consequences should not be handed out for simply showing up to a fight and...Snowblind2018-11-28T11:18:43ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: 1.3 - Treat Wounds - Stamina is still betterSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42ahs&page=3?13-Treat-Wounds-Stamina-is-still-better#1172018-11-27T11:24:28Z2018-11-27T11:24:28Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Rysky wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">BPorter wrote:</div><blockquote>Stamina/HP/<b>Resolve</b> is just freaking elegant in play.</blockquote>It's really not, mainly because of how Resolve is used for everything, and therefore gets used for barely anything. </blockquote><p>Ah, the old paradox of "useful, therefore never use".Rysky wrote:BPorter wrote:Stamina/HP/Resolve is just freaking elegant in play.
It's really not, mainly because of how Resolve is used for everything, and therefore gets used for barely anything. Ah, the old paradox of "useful, therefore never use".Snowblind2018-11-27T11:24:28ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Cannot React to Reactions: The Problem with Martial ReactionsSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42deo?Cannot-React-to-Reactions-The-Problem-with#142018-11-20T10:44:01Z2018-11-20T10:44:01Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Edge93 wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
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And similarly it makes for a good moment when a player finds out the hard way that a foe has AoO. At my table my players have always had a reaction to it that enhances the experience rather than detracting. Kind of an "Oh, he has AoO, we'd best mind him!" It gives the players a flash of respect or regard for the monster, adds to the feel of taking it down. It wouldn't be nearly as strong if they just knew at a glance.
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...</blockquote><p>I almost guarantee that these feelings of surprise and novelty will go away with time. See a <a href="https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2vbba?Ongoing-Feedback-Home-Campaign-Not-Doomsday#44" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">quick and dirty analysis</a> I did a little while back.
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<div class="messageboard-quotee">Snowblind wrote:</div><blockquote><div class="messageboard-quotee">Ryvin wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
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By comparison, every melee enemy tougher than a goblin dog has had AOO, at least in this game.
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...</blockquote><p>This caught my eye, so I thought I would go check the bestiary and see how true that is.
<p>I couldn't be bothered counting the number of creatures in the bestiary, so I did a quick estimate - the left column of the first page of the creature list is 53 creatures, so going off that the book has about 250 creature total. Of those 250, 44 creatures had attack of opportunity. Some of those were only a subset of that particular creature (Orc Warrior, for example). Creatures with attack of opportunity tended to be one of the following:
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1. Monster equivalents of the PC Fighter class
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2. Scary boss fight type monsters that are dangerous in melee (hydra, dragon etc)
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3. Horrible things that are martially capable and intelligent e.g. a lot of outsiders</p>
<p>That would mean that Attacks of Opportunity are common enough that you have to assume they are a risk on anything that really wants to get into melee and is capable of eating your face.</p>
<p>I hear this is called progress, apparently?</blockquote><p>As it turns out, once you play a few games or skim through the bestiary, you can make a fairly educated guess at which creatures have AoOs or AoO like abilities.Edge93 wrote:...
And similarly it makes for a good moment when a player finds out the hard way that a foe has AoO. At my table my players have always had a reaction to it that enhances the experience rather than detracting. Kind of an "Oh, he has AoO, we'd best mind him!" It gives the players a flash of respect or regard for the monster, adds to the feel of taking it down. It wouldn't be nearly as strong if they just knew at a glance.
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I almost guarantee that these feelings of surprise...Snowblind2018-11-20T10:44:01ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Paizo Blog: Shining Lights and Dark StarsSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6sgd2&page=7?Shining-Lights-and-Dark-Stars#3362018-12-13T01:07:55Z2018-11-15T22:40:10Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Gorbacz wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">thistledown wrote:</div><blockquote><p> The primary function of a Paladin needs to be Smite Evil, not reactive strikes.
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</blockquote>For all you whippersnappers who started playing the game in 2000, maybe. </blockquote><p>Are we about to get some story time about the days when elves were a class and alignments had a language?Gorbacz wrote:thistledown wrote:The primary function of a Paladin needs to be Smite Evil, not reactive strikes.
For all you whippersnappers who started playing the game in 2000, maybe. Are we about to get some story time about the days when elves were a class and alignments had a language?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2018-11-15T22:40:10ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Twitch Stream (Nov 9th)Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42d1t&page=3?Twitch-Stream#1112022-03-26T18:55:18Z2018-11-12T19:45:47Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Gorbacz wrote:</div><blockquote><p> ...
</p>
But they will always be special snowflakes. They always face level-appropriate over-coma-able challenges (unless they're purposefully suicidal or the GM is a dick or the GM is interested less in a game where everybody has fun and more in a Fantasy Reality Simulator 2018), because APL+6 challenges aren't really fun for anybody unless you're a Colette Brunel. The PCs, for sake of game balance and their own enjoyment, accumulate wealth on rate no equal-level NPC does. Come PF2 they have Hero Points which literally make them the most snow-flakey of snowflakes in existence.</blockquote><p>Here's the thing. While you are correct, unless the GM/adventure writer is bad at their job, it isn't immediately obvious that the game is structured this way from how it is played at a table, especially if the GM preps situations that can resolve dynamically instead of fixed encounters, and hands out wealth in a sane way. The PCs are special, but it isn't constantly rubbed in their faces.
<p>I agree that with the way hero points get spammed in PF2E, they also aren't doing any good for immersion. Fortunately, they tend to get hoarded for get-out-of-death-free cards so that mitigates the problem <i>somewhat</i>, but they are an issue the way they are used. That said, if the swingy lethality of PF2E combat was dialed down, I would not be sad to see them go.
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<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote>So you're already playing a bunch of superheroes who work on a different set of parameters and rules than the rest of the universe. Your entire immersion rests upon assumptions such as "nobody looks closely at economy", "we're fine with falling and suffocation rules being what they are" and "we're not even considering what a medium level caster could do to a city full of innocent people before she could be stopped".</blockquote><p>You have to think about it a fair bit to notice just how broken the economy is. Rocking up to a dedicated magic shop in a major city as a bunch of differently-moral persons-of-no-fixed-abode and hawking all the crap you found at half price isn't unreasonable at a first glance.
<p>Falling rules are only ridiculous in extreme cases that virtually never come up in normal gameplay. </p>
<p>I just looked up the PF2E suffocation rules and holy christ are they terrible and they should be changed, so I agree with you that they are bad but that isn't actually helping your case. </p>
<p>Nihilistic murderous full casters rampaging through a city aiming for maximum casualties is also something that virtually never comes up, so you only notice if you dive through the caster spell lists and really think about it.
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<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote> If you're fine with all of the above, you should have no problem with the fact that the goblin Archmage doesn't work word by word like your Wizard does. </blockquote><p>Please go back and read the post you literally just responded to. Here, let me help you...
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<div class="messageboard-quotee">Snowblind wrote:</div><blockquote><p>On the micro level, no, it doesn't. On the macro level, it can make an enormous difference.
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Now, if NPCs are designed carefully so that they don't look much different to the sort of hypothetical class they would have if they were built like PCs, then this macro problem won't come up.
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...
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This is definitely a real problem that PF2E has not made large efforts to avoid. While building NPCs like PCs or having dedicated PC-like or PC-lite rules for NPCs isn't without it's downsides, it at least guarantees that the GM's players won't be constantly be reminded that their PCs will never ever be like anyone else for meta-game reasons that have absolutely no basis in the setting.</blockquote><p>Notice the bit where I explicitly said that your ••insert race here•• archmage <i>in and of itself</i> isn't a problem. It is when the archmage <i>and virtually every other NPC in the campaign</i> work by their own rules in ways that are reasonably obvious, even ones which you would expect in setting to function fairly similarly to PCs, that causes the game's immersion to suffer. And no, every NPC being obviously different to the PCs in fundamental ways is not equivalent to a bunch of extreme edge cases, subtle emergent worldbuilding problems, and #$&^y rules that <i>also</i> should be changed.
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<div class="messageboard-quotee">The Once and Future Kai wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">PossibleCabbage wrote:</div><blockquote>I guess the question is "how do we make PCesque antagonists credible threats at high levels without making the party absurdly wealthy from scavenging all those magic items?". </blockquote><p>Tying bonus weapon damage die to proficiency for PCs and NPCs resolves the issue, in my opinion. NPCs don't need a magic weapon to be threatening currently...it's just strange that PCs need one to be threatening.
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...</blockquote><p>The problem is that proficiency is all over the map for PC classes. I mean, Monks get master weapon proficiency at 13th, and Paladins at 15th. Meanwhile, Fighters get it at <i>3rd</i>. You would basically have to redo weapon proficiencies for all classes and rearrange class features to suit. Which is <i>doable</i>, but decidedly nontrivial.Gorbacz wrote:...
But they will always be special snowflakes. They always face level-appropriate over-coma-able challenges (unless they're purposefully suicidal or the GM is a dick or the GM is interested less in a game where everybody has fun and more in a Fantasy Reality Simulator 2018), because APL+6 challenges aren't really fun for anybody unless you're a Colette Brunel. The PCs, for sake of game balance and their own enjoyment, accumulate wealth on rate no equal-level NPC does. Come PF2...Snowblind2018-11-12T19:45:47ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Twitch Stream (Nov 9th)Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42d1t&page=2?Twitch-Stream#942018-11-17T17:03:52Z2018-11-12T16:50:22Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Gorbacz wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">MMCJawa wrote:</div><blockquote><p> If you don't consider the new action economy a "new thing for the edition", than I don't think anything in the game is actually new, given that I am sure some variation of every system in the game has popped up somewhere else.</p>
<p>Also, regarding monsters, I am with some of the folks here. Most of the time I don't care if the monsters have different stats, but it does feel weird when things like goblins or other NPCs are playing by different rules. At the very least, design them around the equivalent level of a player character of that race, and don't give them extra bonuses not available to those characters. </blockquote>Is there anything gained by them playing by different rules, apart from not feeling weird? I mean, practically, what difference does it make if my Centaur Wizard is build over an hour-long process of making choices for every class levels, noting down every ability they get from class levels (heavens have mercy if my brain is wired so that I need to include and analyze EVERY ability, including stuff that doesn't really matter for an NPC who is going to last 18 seconds of combat) and making sure he has all the headbands and belts necessary to keep up with rocket tag champions the PCs are over just eyeballing the target numbers, giving him enough spells to properly challenge the PCs at the level I want to, one fun reaction ability and maybe one fun action ability to mix things up? </blockquote><p>On the micro level, no, it doesn't. On the macro level, it <i>can</i> make an enormous difference.
<p>Here's the thing. After using them in play, players don't look at the aspects of their PCs in a vacuum. They measure them against the rest of the game world. What that means is that if the mechanics that the rest of the game world runs off operates radically differently to the PCs, then the players will be constantly reminded that they are their own special little snowflakes with their own special little rules and their characters will never be a normal part of the game world (for better or worse). This is <i>absolutely horrible</i> for immersion.</p>
<p>Now, if NPCs are designed carefully so that they don't look much different to the sort of hypothetical class they would have if they were built like PCs, then this macro problem won't come up. The bad news is that we have multiple threads on things like random students having vastly better skills than highly trained and skilled PCs, or PCs being stuck with an obnoxious requirement for magic weapons so they can do level relevant damage, or non-spell DCs being broken due to the lack of proficiency boosts, or all creatures (including NPCs that shouldn't look that different to PCs) having better stats across the board for no in game reason, all of which would have been avoided by a decent NPC builder and a system that was robust enough that the designers didn't feel the need to just fiat their way around dogfooding their own game•. This is definitely a real problem that PF2E has <i>not</i> made large efforts to avoid. While building NPCs like PCs or having dedicated PC-like or PC-lite rules for NPCs isn't without it's downsides, it at least guarantees that the GM's players won't be constantly be reminded that their PCs will never ever be like anyone else for meta-game reasons that have absolutely no basis in the setting.</p>Gorbacz wrote:MMCJawa wrote:If you don't consider the new action economy a "new thing for the edition", than I don't think anything in the game is actually new, given that I am sure some variation of every system in the game has popped up somewhere else.
Also, regarding monsters, I am with some of the folks here. Most of the time I don't care if the monsters have different stats, but it does feel weird when things like goblins or other NPCs are playing by different rules. At the very least,...Snowblind2018-11-12T16:50:22ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: I do not see the rhyme or reason behind 2e's rarity system.Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cff&page=5?I-do-not-see-the-rhyme-or-reason-behind-2es#2222018-11-12T17:31:05Z2018-11-12T16:22:43Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Barnabas Eckleworth III wrote:</div><blockquote><p> I have always hate hate hated playing in the sort of game where players act as if their characters have a copy of the Core Rulebook or Equipment Guide in their backpack, and use it as a shopping catalog.
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"Have you guys seen this Awesome Magic Item on page 144? It's only 50k and I'm buying it when we get to town."
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Because as soon as the player bought the book, the character instantly knew about all the items in it, and obviously the magic walmart vendor in town has it for the listed rulebook price.
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Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.</p>
<p>I'm not sure what my point is. But I like the rarity system. </blockquote><p>You are play(test)ing a game where an entire suite of magical items is treated as nigh mandatory. From there, the question becomes do you want PCs trying to number up their numbers as much as possible, or do you want them to diversify with some more interesting magical bits and bobs? Because easy access to magic items is basically mandated by the system math. Restricting the interesting stuff just means moar numbers, because you <i>have</i> to hand those out unless you like comically party tailored loot drops, or you feel like reverse engineering the system math to remove the item treadmill and coming up with an alternate system for extra damage dice.Barnabas Eckleworth III wrote:I have always hate hate hated playing in the sort of game where players act as if their characters have a copy of the Core Rulebook or Equipment Guide in their backpack, and use it as a shopping catalog.
"Have you guys seen this Awesome Magic Item on page 144? It's only 50k and I'm buying it when we get to town."
Because as soon as the player bought the book, the character instantly knew about all the items in it, and obviously the magic walmart vendor in town...Snowblind2018-11-12T16:22:43ZRe: Forums: Classes: Barbarians - Round 2 is too soon for a lullaby Black Widow!Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cuu&page=2?Barbarians-Round-2-is-too-soon-for-a-lullaby#772018-11-12T15:09:16Z2018-11-12T15:09:16Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Loreguard wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Vidmaster7 wrote:</div><blockquote> I as a DM don't want to have to keep track of my players rage. </blockquote>Then delegate it to the player in question. If you're not worried about them abusing it, it is a perfectly good plan. Is that not what you are doing for the spellcasters, or do you not care to keep track of their primary class abilities either? Or if you do, why is a barbarian not worth your attention, but a spellcaster is? </blockquote><p>ArchangelAzrael specified a secret GM roll. A player can't roll a secret GM roll for themselves. That's why it is worth the GM's attention over spellcaster abilities which the spellcaster has total knowledge about the status of.
<p>Seriously, this isn't hard to figure out.</p>Loreguard wrote:Vidmaster7 wrote: I as a DM don't want to have to keep track of my players rage.
Then delegate it to the player in question. If you're not worried about them abusing it, it is a perfectly good plan. Is that not what you are doing for the spellcasters, or do you not care to keep track of their primary class abilities either? Or if you do, why is a barbarian not worth your attention, but a spellcaster is? ArchangelAzrael specified a secret GM roll. A player can't roll a secret...Snowblind2018-11-12T15:09:16ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Feedback and concerns on the math of Pathfinder 2Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cyi&page=2?Feedback-and-concerns-on-the-math-of#522018-11-15T19:44:49Z2018-11-12T14:42:33Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Captain Morgan wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
Hopefully we see this fixed in the final product.
<br />
...</blockquote><p>Don't keep your hopes up.
<p>I say this for the simple reasons that a) skills have combat uses now so massive unrestricted jacking up of numbers is a no-no, b) one of the aims of this edition is to make sure that PCs don't routinely fall off the RNG in either direction, and there isn't much room left to expand the range of PC skill check numbers without falling off in either direction, and c) the things we have seen like low CR students with extremely high skill bonuses (relative to the PCs) with no mechanical justification suggest that the PF2E team have already considered the "problem" of narrow and relatively low PC skill ranges and have rejected attempting to solve them, instead opting to designer fiat away the problem for NPCs.</p>Captain Morgan wrote:...
Hopefully we see this fixed in the final product.
...
Don't keep your hopes up. I say this for the simple reasons that a) skills have combat uses now so massive unrestricted jacking up of numbers is a no-no, b) one of the aims of this edition is to make sure that PCs don't routinely fall off the RNG in either direction, and there isn't much room left to expand the range of PC skill check numbers without falling off in either direction, and c) the things we have seen...Snowblind2018-11-12T14:42:33ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Feedback and concerns on the math of Pathfinder 2Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cyi?Feedback-and-concerns-on-the-math-of#502018-11-16T08:41:34Z2018-11-12T13:37:22Z<p>Not to be a complete debbie downer by pointing out the hard facts, but can we try and restrict ourselves to suggestions that are...oh, I don't know...remotely realistic?</p>
<p>The PF2E team has maybe a few months at most to implement changes, bulk out the rules with all the stuff they left out of the playtest, and have a finished product ready to go to layout/copyfitting (or whatever the procedure is). They don't have time to run a playtest, and they don't have a very good track record of throwing out revolutionary new systems on a time crunch that work well right off the bat (see: this playtest). Any fixes need to be reasonably straight forward, they need to be very easy to test or simple enough that their effects can be checked by number crunching alone, and they need to slide into the existing system with minimal changes to any surrounding rules components.</p>
<p>Stuff like "leave +level modifier off skills, except when defending against combat actions by other creatures" is within the bounds of reason. Stuff like "reengineer the game to be 10 levels with a partial levelling system" or "totally strip out level scaling and then reengineer entire swarthes of the bestiary so that PCs aren't blown out by the high level special abilities of things that they should be able to otherwise take" is not.</p>Not to be a complete debbie downer by pointing out the hard facts, but can we try and restrict ourselves to suggestions that are...oh, I don't know...remotely realistic?
The PF2E team has maybe a few months at most to implement changes, bulk out the rules with all the stuff they left out of the playtest, and have a finished product ready to go to layout/copyfitting (or whatever the procedure is). They don't have time to run a playtest, and they don't have a very good track record of throwing...Snowblind2018-11-12T13:37:22ZRe: Forums: Running the Game: Speed up combat with less HP?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cux?Speed-up-combat-with-less-HP#272018-11-12T13:21:25Z2018-11-12T13:21:25Z<p>But the flailing is what makes it suspenseful and drama.</p>But the flailing is what makes it suspenseful and drama.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2018-11-12T13:21:25ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: The Customization BottleneckSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42ct3?The-Customization-Bottleneck#92018-11-07T23:33:54Z2018-11-06T08:39:07Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Aashua wrote:</div><blockquote> Honestly can't tell but I really feel like that remark was sarcastic guys... </blockquote><p>I doubt it. Cryptic sarcastic quipping isn't really Jason's style.Aashua wrote:Honestly can't tell but I really feel like that remark was sarcastic guys...
I doubt it. Cryptic sarcastic quipping isn't really Jason's style.Snowblind2018-11-06T08:39:07ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Feedback: Why our group has decided to stop playtestingSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cs6?Feedback-Why-our-group-has-decided-to-stop#192018-11-06T04:31:17Z2018-11-06T00:20:25Z<p>Do I really have to explain the concept of "confounding factors", and why one might want to try to eliminate them in a playtest by removing unwanted variance where reasonably possible.</p>Do I really have to explain the concept of "confounding factors", and why one might want to try to eliminate them in a playtest by removing unwanted variance where reasonably possible.Snowblind2018-11-06T00:20:25ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Paizo Blog: Shining Lights and Dark StarsSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6sgd2?Shining-Lights-and-Dark-Stars#462018-11-13T11:28:26Z2018-11-05T23:12:24Z<p>So...the barbarian has gone from 3 rounds of raging to 2-5 rounds of raging (average 3.4) and we have thrown in some randomness and extra dice rolling to boot.</p>
<p>Ok, serious question guys. Did <i>literally anyone</i> say the following: "Y'know, I am not a fan of my class features switching off every 4th round. You know what would make it better. Lots of flat checks and unpredictability"?</p>So...the barbarian has gone from 3 rounds of raging to 2-5 rounds of raging (average 3.4) and we have thrown in some randomness and extra dice rolling to boot.
Ok, serious question guys. Did literally anyone say the following: "Y'know, I am not a fan of my class features switching off every 4th round. You know what would make it better. Lots of flat checks and unpredictability"?Snowblind2018-11-05T23:12:24ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Paizo Blog: Shining Lights and Dark StarsSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6sgd2?Shining-Lights-and-Dark-Stars#122018-11-05T22:11:48Z2018-11-05T22:11:48Z<p>Ditto, access denied here.</p>Ditto, access denied here.Snowblind2018-11-05T22:11:48ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Another playtest?Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42csm?Another-playtest#42018-11-05T22:08:05Z2018-11-05T22:08:05Z<p>There literally isn't enough time to run a playtest. There are about 8 months from the end of the playtest until the release date, and they will probably need 3 months or so for printing and distribution. Throw in another month during which the game's ruleset is frozen while finishing touches, formatting and error checking happen, and you end up with 4 months from the end of the playtest until they have to have every rule in the book written up and in a state where it is releasable. <i>They literally do not have enough time to run another playtest</i>.</p>There literally isn't enough time to run a playtest. There are about 8 months from the end of the playtest until the release date, and they will probably need 3 months or so for printing and distribution. Throw in another month during which the game's ruleset is frozen while finishing touches, formatting and error checking happen, and you end up with 4 months from the end of the playtest until they have to have every rule in the book written up and in a state where it is releasable. They...Snowblind2018-11-05T22:08:05ZRe: Forums: Doomsday Dawn Game Master Feedback: The vault in Red Flags [spoilers]Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bjs&page=2?The-vault-in-Red-Flags-spoilers#932018-11-06T00:48:43Z2018-11-05T21:34:14Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Tamago wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
The PCs didn't move, but if they are being grappled by a thing, then surely it's close enough to attack! The idea that a character wouldn't be close enough to swing their sword at the giant tentacle that is literally touching them seems frankly ludicrous and didn't even cross my mind.
<br />
</blockquote><p>It is also ludicrous that you can't hit a creature with reach as they are trying to bite you, but that was <i>explicitly</i> how it worked in PF1 unless you had a certain feat. I would have also assumed that that is how it would have worked in PF2E, given that the lack of rules permitting attacking creatures using reach is almost the same situation as PF1E, and we know how the team ruled back then. It might be ludicrous, but that is the sort of thing we are supposed to be identifying and reporting on, not ignoring. In any case, you threw your PCs a <i>massive</i> bone there. Be aware of that.
<p>On the "is Seek spamming reasonable for a bound guardian" issue, is there any guidance <i>anywhere</i> on how to run monsters in exploration mode? It seems to be completely ad-hoc and up to GM.</p>Tamago wrote:...
The PCs didn't move, but if they are being grappled by a thing, then surely it's close enough to attack! The idea that a character wouldn't be close enough to swing their sword at the giant tentacle that is literally touching them seems frankly ludicrous and didn't even cross my mind.
It is also ludicrous that you can't hit a creature with reach as they are trying to bite you, but that was explicitly how it worked in PF1 unless you had a certain feat. I would have also...Snowblind2018-11-05T21:34:14ZRe: Forums: Doomsday Dawn Game Master Feedback: A sober campaign journal of Doomsday Dawn: Doom, gloom, and TPKsSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs2vamz&page=8?A-sober-campaign-journal-of-Doomsday-Dawn#3802018-11-07T06:34:58Z2018-11-05T11:14:59Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Lyee wrote:</div><blockquote>...</blockquote><p>I have four questions:
<p>1. How much are you focusing fire on individual PCs?</p>
<p>2. How much are you giving metagame hints to the players?</p>
<p>3. When rules are ambiguous, are you ruling in favor of the PCs or in favor of the monsters?</p>
<p>4. How aggressively are your NPCs exploiting the rules system when you run them?</p>
<p>I have skimmed through Colette's writeups, and I think I can answer for them.</p>
<p>1. Constantly as much as possible unless the situation or written behavior rule it out or make it tactically inadvisable.</p>
<p>2. Absolutely never.</p>
<p>3. Colette leans towards ruling against the PCs.</p>
<p>4. Unless there is a good reason to do otherwise, Colette has the NPCs exploit the rules to the best of their abilities. In other words, Colette runs them like Colette is a player and each NPC is a PC.</p>
<p>None of these are unreasonable in a playtest when you are trying to find flaws in the system rather than run a fun campaign for the PCs. However, they do dramatically raise the difficulty of each adventure, which would explain why Colette can get so many TPKs.</p>Lyee wrote:...
I have four questions: 1. How much are you focusing fire on individual PCs?
2. How much are you giving metagame hints to the players?
3. When rules are ambiguous, are you ruling in favor of the PCs or in favor of the monsters?
4. How aggressively are your NPCs exploiting the rules system when you run them?
I have skimmed through Colette's writeups, and I think I can answer for them.
1. Constantly as much as possible unless the situation or written behavior rule it out or...Snowblind2018-11-05T11:14:59ZRe: Forums: Doomsday Dawn Game Master Feedback: A sober campaign journal of Doomsday Dawn: Doom, gloom, and TPKsSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs2vamz&page=8?A-sober-campaign-journal-of-Doomsday-Dawn#3782019-01-28T10:20:47Z2018-11-05T11:02:16Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Vidmaster7 wrote:</div><blockquote> And yet your the only one who I've seen whom has reported the level of TPK that you have. That makes you the extreme outlier. </blockquote><p>For the record, from my limited experience GMing the first part of the playtest and the experience of my group's other GM who ran it with a different group, I can say that Colette's experience isn't particularly out of whack with our own. In my game, I asked the players if I should play the goblins stupid or go hardball, because their tactics were ambiguous. They said $•&% it, go hardball. The result of this was that, despite a player severely misunderstanding dancing lights in a way massively favoring the PCs (which I didn't pick up on until afterwards), the PCs came within a hairs breadth of TPKing. The only reason they didn't was because the last remaining enemy couldn't hit enough to overcome their hero point revive spam.
<p>The other GM in my group, who isn't that far away from me in terms of GMing philosophy, had a TPK at the second fight, pretended it didn't happen, and then had another later on.
<br />
<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote><br />
<br />
If you playing an extreme game and your group likes it and you like it then that's fine but if you are doing it and you hate it and your group hates it then I think that is a very clear sign that your doing something wrong. </blockquote><p>You aren't playtesting to have fun. You are playtesting to playtest. Fun is a bonus, not the primary objective. If he is running the system by RAW in a reasonable way and his group isn't having fun as a result, then that is the fault of the system, and it should be changed.
<p>Lets talk about this a little more broadly. Here's the thing. The GM doesn't have one job. They have several independent jobs that they should be working towards.</p>
<p>This is a little complicated to explain, so I will pick a "real" life example that follows the same logic. A small business owner has different legal responsibilities as the sole shareholder of the company that they put their business under, as the person filling out the tax paperwork, and as the CEO of that company. Each of these is a distinct role, and there isn't bleed over of responsibilities just because a single person is filling multiple roles e.g. if the person breaches some law while running their company (as the CEO), then their company may be fined, but unless the law they broke was serious enough that they are personally fined for being the CEO responsible for a breach of law, then they themselves will suffer no consequences because in general the shareholder is not held personally liable for the actions of a company they hold shares in. The fact that the shareholder and CEO are the same person is completely irrelevant.</p>
<p>Similarly, the GM has several distinct roles. Usually, these include (but are not limited to) the designer of the adventure the PCs play, the designer of whatever personal variation of the RPG you are using (because virtually no GMs run a long term campaign without •some• houserules), the arbiter of the rules, the "ship's captain" at the table, the person ultimately responsible for making sure the table has fun, the players' sole gateway into the game world, and the meat computer that each NPC's AI runs on. </p>
<p>Sometimes these roles conflict, and conflicts of interest are always fun, but that isn't relevant here. Because this is a playtest. Colette isn't the designer of the adventure. Paizo is, because this is a playtest. Colette is not supposed to put his own spin on PF2E, because this is a playtest. Colette's job is not to make sure the table has fun when it comes into conflict with running the adventure as written using the rules as written, because fun is not an objective <i>because this is a playtest</i>. Colette's job as the GM in this playtest is to communicate the adventure and setting as written to the players, run the rules as written, run the monsters as is reasonable for their written tactics and expressed behavior and motives, and do whatever administrative functions are necessary to facilitate the above, because this is a playtest. Criticisms of Colette's GMing are only fair when it comes to the parts of the playtest that are actually his responsibility.</p>
<p>Now, remember how I went on about roles and businesses and CEOs above. Here is where it is relevant. You said this:
<br />
<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote>Also No I don't know any games where when the GM tries to kill the party he doesn't succeed.</blockquote><p>Part of the GM's role is to act as the intelligence for NPCs. If those NPCs are committed to killing the PCs then yes, it is <i>100%</i> the GM's job to kill every single PC then and there using the resources available to the NPCs the GM is running, by whatever means necessary. The GM shouldn't be unfair about it by screwing the players over with bad rulings (because the arbiter's job isn't to kill the PCs), and they shouldn't design the encounter to kill the PCs (because the adventure designer's job isn't to kill the PCs), but they as the NPC AI should take every resource given to them by the adventure designer and use them according to the rules set by the arbiter to accomplish the goals of each NPC, and if that goal is to kill the PCs then they should do their best to <i>kill the PCs dead</i>. If Colette does his job as the NPC's brain correctly and this results in the players having a miserable time, then the takeaway from this is that a GM acting reasonably and in good faith can take the PF2E system plus an adventure made in the Doomsday Dawn style and make their players <i>completely miserable</i>. If you want to debate whether or not Colette is running the NPCs in a reasonable way then we can have that debate, but unless Colette is running their NPCs in an unreasonable way, don't hate on them for being the bearer of bad news about the PF2E playtest adventure and ruleset.Vidmaster7 wrote:And yet your the only one who I've seen whom has reported the level of TPK that you have. That makes you the extreme outlier.
For the record, from my limited experience GMing the first part of the playtest and the experience of my group's other GM who ran it with a different group, I can say that Colette's experience isn't particularly out of whack with our own. In my game, I asked the players if I should play the goblins stupid or go hardball, because their tactics were...Snowblind2018-11-05T11:02:16ZRe: Forums: Skills, Feats, Equipment & Spells: Multiple Items in the Same 'Slot'Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cqv?Multiple-Items-in-the-Same-Slot#82018-11-04T23:17:47Z2018-11-04T23:17:47Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Starfox wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">PossibleCabbage wrote:</div><blockquote> It seems like there's no value in balancing items against each other via if you equip a [foo] you can't also equip a [bar] and "the mental image of that is ridiculous" is probably enough of a cap on any one kind of item. </blockquote><p><widley off topic>Were you by any chance a student of KTH, Stockolm? Or is the use of the terms Foo and BAr much more widely used than I supposed?
</p>
</widley off topic> </blockquote><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foobar" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">•ahem•</a>
<p>They are <i>very</i> commonly used words. Almost anyone with a programming background would have heard of them.</p>Starfox wrote:PossibleCabbage wrote: It seems like there's no value in balancing items against each other via if you equip a [foo] you can't also equip a [bar] and "the mental image of that is ridiculous" is probably enough of a cap on any one kind of item.
Were you by any chance a student of KTH, Stockolm? Or is the use of the terms Foo and BAr much more widely used than I supposed?
*ahem* They are very commonly used words. Almost anyone with a programming background would have heard of...Snowblind2018-11-04T23:17:47ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: How should bulk be used in the system?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs42ciu&page=2?How-should-bulk-be-used-in-the-system#802018-11-02T21:04:22Z2018-11-02T21:04:22Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Tectorman wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">DM_Blake wrote:</div><blockquote>...</blockquote>I was only able to fav this once, and that's a travesty. </blockquote><p>Here, take mine.Tectorman wrote:DM_Blake wrote:...
I was only able to fav this once, and that's a travesty. Here, take mine.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2018-11-02T21:04:22ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: How should bulk be used in the system?Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42ciu&page=2?How-should-bulk-be-used-in-the-system#542018-11-03T22:58:12Z2018-11-02T03:26:14Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
Bulk is not the same thing as weight. </p>
<p>I have no problem with the Bulk values of various items being revised, I don't completely agree with the values in the table myself. </p>
<p>However, people got to get it out of their heads that if something is a Greater Bulk it's "heavier" than an item of lower bulk. It's just more difficult to carry practically.
<br />
... </blockquote><p>Bulk is explicitly 5-10 pounds per unit. If we assume that longbows are some of the hardest things to carry ever and that bed rolls are some of the easiest, longbows are 10 times heavier. If we assume the reverse, longbows are 40 times heavier. All of these are nonsense, so we are just quibbling about irrelevant details at this point.
<p>The problem isn't just that a few particular bulk values are off. It is that the entire system is completely incoherent as written. It is as if every single bulk value was assigned by a different person with different ideas about what makes something bulky and how much a person can carry, and not a single one of them compared notes. Throw in the fact that the listed bulk values outright contradict the guidelines to a jarring extent, and we are left with a system that you cannot apply logic to to derive the bulk values of new items, because the system is <i>totally nonsensical</i>.</p>DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:...
Bulk is not the same thing as weight. I have no problem with the Bulk values of various items being revised, I don't completely agree with the values in the table myself.
However, people got to get it out of their heads that if something is a Greater Bulk it's "heavier" than an item of lower bulk. It's just more difficult to carry practically.
...
Bulk is explicitly 5-10 pounds per unit. If we assume that longbows are some of the hardest things to carry ever...Snowblind2018-11-02T03:26:14ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: I Invented A Treat Wounds SystemSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cn0?I-Invented-A-Treat-Wounds-System#62018-11-01T23:58:49Z2018-11-01T22:11:10Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">DM_Blake wrote:</div><blockquote><p> I thought the devs invented a Treat Wounds system?</p>
<p>I can invent one too: Wait 10 minutes and you recover half of your maximum HP. Do it twice and you're fully healed. No fuss, no mess, no rolling. </p>
<p>It's not too far off from the current system, it eliminates the CLW wand spam, and best of all, it doesn't bog down with tracking a mandatory skill and rolling dice each time you use it after every fight. </blockquote><p>Simple, easy, no moving parts, and I didn't have to look up a table of DCs even once.
<p>1 Star, thumbs down, would not recommend. #NotMyPathfinder</p>DM_Blake wrote:I thought the devs invented a Treat Wounds system?
I can invent one too: Wait 10 minutes and you recover half of your maximum HP. Do it twice and you're fully healed. No fuss, no mess, no rolling.
It's not too far off from the current system, it eliminates the CLW wand spam, and best of all, it doesn't bog down with tracking a mandatory skill and rolling dice each time you use it after every fight.
Simple, easy, no moving parts, and I didn't have to look up a table of DCs...Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2018-11-01T22:11:10ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: I do not see the rhyme or reason behind 2e's rarity system.Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cff&page=3?I-do-not-see-the-rhyme-or-reason-behind-2es#1162018-11-02T14:35:08Z2018-11-01T20:39:30Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">MerlinCross wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
How's that a difference? Uncommon, you have to have the GM give it to you. Rare..., you have to have the GM give it to you. Rare's just maybe at the bottom of a dungeon but you still need the GM to give you BOTH of them.</p>
<p>I ask again, what's the point of showing players Rares if the GM is the one making the call on if they get it or not? You don't print Artifacts in Player manuals.</blockquote><p>The difference is that, as per Jason's post above, in theory players can almost always get uncommon items if they put a bit of time and effort in, while with rare items all bets are off.
<p>I don't believe for a second that this is how it will work out in practice, but that appears to be the model they are operating under.</p>MerlinCross wrote:...
How's that a difference? Uncommon, you have to have the GM give it to you. Rare..., you have to have the GM give it to you. Rare's just maybe at the bottom of a dungeon but you still need the GM to give you BOTH of them.I ask again, what's the point of showing players Rares if the GM is the one making the call on if they get it or not? You don't print Artifacts in Player manuals.
The difference is that, as per Jason's post above, in theory players can almost always get...Snowblind2018-11-01T20:39:30ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: What about having "remove +1/level" as an optional rule, at least?Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cel&page=5?What-about-having-remove-1level-as-an#2042018-10-29T23:34:18Z2018-10-29T23:27:46Z<p>Here is a fun question. Lets say that instead of a fantasy game, Pathfinder 2E was a superhero game, and high level heroes are basically on par with Superman or Thor or •insert favorite walking battleship here•.</p>
<p>Would the +level to everything thing still be inappropriate? If yes, then what would you replace it with, because 30 goons with handguns should <i>not</i> be a mortal threat to Clark Kent, God of Thunder.</p>Here is a fun question. Lets say that instead of a fantasy game, Pathfinder 2E was a superhero game, and high level heroes are basically on par with Superman or Thor or *insert favorite walking battleship here*.
Would the +level to everything thing still be inappropriate? If yes, then what would you replace it with, because 30 goons with handguns should not be a mortal threat to Clark Kent, God of Thunder.Snowblind2018-10-29T23:27:46ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Sanity check timeSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42chn?Sanity-check-time#32018-10-31T12:24:34Z2018-10-29T23:11:11Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">DM_Blake wrote:</div><blockquote><p> ...
</p>
Any thoughts? Hopefully, any thoughts that could help the developers at this point? </blockquote><p>My thoughts are that I also do not have particularly good feelings about PF2E.
<p>If I could, through some improbable chain of events, get the designers to sit down in a room and talk with me, I would want to forget the actual system for a moment and ask a whole bunch of basic game design questions that are vaguely related to PF2E, go over the answers with a fine tooth comb, and work my way up from there. Questions like: what is the point of classes, what is the point of levels, what is the point of skills, what is a good rate of success for players, and so forth (I could write a page on basic stuff alone, lets not even get into follow ups). This system feels like it was hammered out by cobbling together a core mechanical engine from some stuff that looked good on paper, and then turned into the playtest by roughly converting a lot of PF1 stuff and then making a bunch of broad sweeping changes that aim to fix problems that the designers perceived were present in PF1 regardless of how much or how little those lessons apply to PF2E (assuming all of those perceived problems were real in the first place). </p>
<p>I don't get a sense that there was a strong vision for how PF2E would turn out. I don't get a sense that there was a strong theoretical foundation for the design of PF2E beyond "make the maths tight this time". I don't get a sense that their internal processes are capable of identifying problems with the game given how many serious problems ended up in the playtest and some of the stuff I've seen said by Paizo's staff. I don't get a sense that there is a lot hope for a PF2E that I want to run or play. And I say this as someone who would <i>love</i> to have a system that fixes the enormous pile of problems that the 3.X system is shackled to, and doesn't care how many sacred cows get slaughtered in the process.</p>DM_Blake wrote:...
Any thoughts? Hopefully, any thoughts that could help the developers at this point?
My thoughts are that I also do not have particularly good feelings about PF2E. If I could, through some improbable chain of events, get the designers to sit down in a room and talk with me, I would want to forget the actual system for a moment and ask a whole bunch of basic game design questions that are vaguely related to PF2E, go over the answers with a fine tooth comb, and work my way...Snowblind2018-10-29T23:11:11ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: I do not see the rhyme or reason behind 2e's rarity system.Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cff&page=2?I-do-not-see-the-rhyme-or-reason-behind-2es#702018-10-29T22:36:08Z2018-10-29T22:36:08Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Xenocrat wrote:</div><blockquote><p> ...</p>
<p>That's not how I see this working. Instead, I expect to see many things labeled uncommon/rare because they are from fringe cultures/sources, are extremely obscure because of specialized use, or are protected trade secrets of an organization.
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</blockquote>Some of it will work like that. Some of it will be broad use "plot breaker" abilities. Some of it will be narrow utility effects that undermine very specific kinds of campaigns but are totally fine in most others. Some of it will be slightly more powerful stuff that is meant to get handed out via class abilities, backgrounds etc. Some of it will be broken good stuff. Some of it will be problematic for reasons other than game balance. Some of it will be other things. Rarity is <i>all of these things all at once</i>.<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote><br />
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Take every single option in the "Anthology" magic books. They should ALL be uncommon or rare as a default because they originate from single source books that in-world have few or no copies. It's up the GM to grant access to that source or decide that in his campaign those secrets have been more widely disseminated and therefore are now common. </blockquote><p>I will say this again. Writing books that actively tell the reader not to use them is not something Paizo will be doing, because it is bad business.
<p>Oh yeah, and if you aren't using the Golarion setting then who cares what the source is in the Golarion setting. Labeling everything uncommon or rare like that just makes the label meaningless beyond something that could be accomplished by a three sentence blurb at the front of that particular book. Not to mention how annoying it is if you are referencing it through d20pfsrd or archives of nethys and have to take careful note of what the source is and what the basis for rarity is <i>for that particular source</i>.</p>Xenocrat wrote:...
That's not how I see this working. Instead, I expect to see many things labeled uncommon/rare because they are from fringe cultures/sources, are extremely obscure because of specialized use, or are protected trade secrets of an organization.
Some of it will work like that. Some of it will be broad use "plot breaker" abilities. Some of it will be narrow utility effects that undermine very specific kinds of campaigns but are totally fine in most others. Some of it will be...Snowblind2018-10-29T22:36:08ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: I do not see the rhyme or reason behind 2e's rarity system.Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cff&page=2?I-do-not-see-the-rhyme-or-reason-behind-2es#682018-11-09T13:12:21Z2018-10-29T21:29:58Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">PossibleCabbage wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Dasrak wrote:</div><blockquote>To be fair, the player companion line has always been like that. Do I even need to bring up such gems as Sacred Geometry or the Pact Wizard? </blockquote>I feel like having the rarity system coded into the game mechanics (i.e. there's a tag for "only if the GM says ok") is insurance against the various excesses of splatbooks. Since you can just mark anything that's potentially borderline (or just everything) in a player companion as "uncommon" so GMs have a built-in solution to sacred geometry instead of having to know what it is before you ban it. </blockquote><p>Let me pose a question for you.
<p>What fraction of unbalanced splatbook rules elements do you think the writers <i>knew</i> was unbalanced or potentially problematic at many tables. Because take that, subtract it from 100, and you get what percentage of broken options will be labeled common and thus carry an implicit Paizo certified a-ok seal of approval because supposedly only the uncommon or rare stuff is imbalanced (stop laughing, this is serious).</p>
<p>I sincerely doubt that the splatbook writers were <i>trying</i> to make imbalanced options in PF1E. Stuff like that happens because Paizo has never been particularly amazing at consistent quality control. Rarity won't help with that in the slightest.</p>
<p>Throw in little things like the fact that most of the uncommon/rare stuff will be fine anyway, because rarity is doing over a half a dozen things at once and most individual GMs may only care about one or two of them, and the fact that some of the writers are going to use the rare tag as justification to write <i>deliberately</i> imbalanced options which are pretty much unusable at most tables, and you end up with a situation where the usefulness of rarity as a mechanic is diminished to very little. A lot of broken stuff will slip though the cracks, a lot of it will be implicitly labelled "completely fine to use in your campaign", and a lot of the stuff that is labelled "possible questionable" is totally fine for the overwhelming majority of tables, so you can't <i>really</i> take it as a reliable baseline for allowed options. Like I said, 2 steps forward, one step sideways onto a rake.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, and PF2E's design subtly encourages imbalance from splatbook options, just to throw some gasoline on this raging inferno. This probably isn't the appropriate place for a detailed explanation, but the short of it is...well...you know how the conventional wisdom is that small bonuses matter a whole lot now, so the designers have to be careful with handing out numbers. How much do you trust the people who brought you hilariously imbalanced splatbook crunch to be as careful as this system needs them to be. PF1E was at least partially tolerant of extreme number swings. </p>
<p>By the way, slapping an uncommon symbol on everything from a splatbook isn't happening, because then Paizo's own ruleset is telling GMs to disallow the majority of Paizo products that players purchase unless the GM goes out of their way to read the book options and make case by case rulings on everything. Disincentivizing the purchase of their products like that is crazy.</p>PossibleCabbage wrote:Dasrak wrote:To be fair, the player companion line has always been like that. Do I even need to bring up such gems as Sacred Geometry or the Pact Wizard?
I feel like having the rarity system coded into the game mechanics (i.e. there's a tag for "only if the GM says ok") is insurance against the various excesses of splatbooks. Since you can just mark anything that's potentially borderline (or just everything) in a player companion as "uncommon" so GMs have a built-in...Snowblind2018-10-29T21:29:58ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: I do not see the rhyme or reason behind 2e's rarity system.Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cff&page=2?I-do-not-see-the-rhyme-or-reason-behind-2es#612018-10-30T06:40:20Z2018-10-29T18:50:09Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">O. N. wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Snowblind wrote:</div><blockquote><p>As an aside, while double checking that the above example was correct, I couldn't help but notice that a sorcerer bloodline and a cleric god pick (nethys) both grant access to Teleport, which is the go-to choice for "plot wrecker" spells.</p>
<p>I am sorry, did I say 1 forward, 2 back. I meant 2 steps back, and then one sideways onto a rake. Because what the hell is the point of restricting general access to this stuff if PCs are explicitly allowed to pick it anyway through slightly roundabout means if they really want to.</blockquote>I didn't bother searching for the sorcerer part, but as of at least 1.4 Nethys doesn't give that spell anymore. </blockquote><p>The Sorcerer bloodline still has it.
<p>I feel like reminding people that this is in the core rule book (or the playtest version of it, at least). This is Paizo attempting to put their best foot forward. It only goes downhill from here when we get to the splat-books.</p>O. N. wrote:Snowblind wrote:As an aside, while double checking that the above example was correct, I couldn't help but notice that a sorcerer bloodline and a cleric god pick (nethys) both grant access to Teleport, which is the go-to choice for "plot wrecker" spells.
I am sorry, did I say 1 forward, 2 back. I meant 2 steps back, and then one sideways onto a rake. Because what the hell is the point of restricting general access to this stuff if PCs are explicitly allowed to pick it anyway...Snowblind2018-10-29T18:50:09ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: I do not see the rhyme or reason behind 2e's rarity system.Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cff&page=2?I-do-not-see-the-rhyme-or-reason-behind-2es#522018-10-31T02:05:19Z2018-10-29T17:34:34Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Albatoonoe wrote:</div><blockquote> It's another tool for GMs to use, that is all. Even if you are gonna make your own lists, this will save you a lot of work by have a default for every item, as well as having an official framework to limit options in the game.</blockquote><p>I <i>virtually guarentee</i> that the people designing content for Paizo are going to uses it as an excuse for dubiously designed content with the rationale of "the GM will vet it so it doesn't matter if it is OP or broken". Oh, and it means that non-common stuff is going to be designed with the assumption that if it causes problems then it is the GM's problem because they allowed it, instead of designing content that meshes with the rest of the system from the start. To pick an example, we <i>still</i> don't have a good way of warding large areas from teleportation, but hey teleport is uncommon so it is the GM's problem. We are taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back.
<p>As an aside, while double checking that the above example was correct, I couldn't help but notice that a sorcerer bloodline and a cleric god pick (nethys) both grant access to Teleport, which is the go-to choice for "plot wrecker" spells.</p>
<p>I am sorry, did I say 1 forward, 2 back. I meant 2 steps back, and then one sideways onto a rake. Because what the hell is the point of restricting general access to this stuff if PCs are explicitly allowed to pick it anyway through slightly roundabout means if they really want to.
<br />
<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote>Also, from a setting standpoint, it is really helpful for establishing certain elements of the setting. One example is Blood Money, mentioned up thread. This was supposed to be a spell unique to Karzoug. It was never meant to be a common spell, but rather a unique bit of flavor for the main bad guy and possibly a reward for beating him. We all saw how that played out. Now we have a framework for this. </blockquote><p>You know what would be nice. If this wasn't mixed in with the frameworks for setting flavor restrictions and house rule enabling conveniences, among other things. Oh, and if it wasn't half assed (see the aside above). That would also be nice.Albatoonoe wrote:It's another tool for GMs to use, that is all. Even if you are gonna make your own lists, this will save you a lot of work by have a default for every item, as well as having an official framework to limit options in the game.
I virtually guarentee that the people designing content for Paizo are going to uses it as an excuse for dubiously designed content with the rationale of "the GM will vet it so it doesn't matter if it is OP or broken". Oh, and it means that non-common...Snowblind2018-10-29T17:34:34ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: I do not see the rhyme or reason behind 2e's rarity system.Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cff?I-do-not-see-the-rhyme-or-reason-behind-2es#152018-11-02T19:03:03Z2018-10-29T00:55:56Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">PossibleCabbage wrote:</div><blockquote> Why isn't "If you want something which is not common, ask me first" a reasonable way to handle rarity as a GM, but everything common requires no preclearance. Even if I'm not going to say "yes, you can have that" right away, I'll probably make a note to put one in that's acquirable somewhere. </blockquote><p>Because with the sheer breadth of options that are restricted and the amount of moving parts a mid level PF2 character has, it is entirely possible for a single player to have <i>a couple of dozen</i> restricted options that they consider at some point. Most players aren't going to ask every time they momentarily consider picking something restricted because that becomes really damn obnoxious when you do it a dozen times and the GM has to either stop whatever else they are doing and find whatever rules element you are looking at every 3 minutes, or sit beside you and give you their undivided attention for half an hour as you level up your character (while having to make decisions on the fly about what may or may not be a problem down the line). Oh, and most of this stuff you are annoying the GM about is stuff you probably won't end up actually taking. I am not being hyperbolic when I say a couple of dozen options, by the way. Spells for a mid to high level character are an area where this is a pretty straight estimate, for example.
<p>If there was only a sprinkling of restricted rules elements that were clearly restricted for a particular reason then "just ask" would be a reasonable approach, but the sheer breadth of restrictions and the complete opacity of <i>why</i> those restrictions are in place torpedoes that in practice as a general approach.</p>PossibleCabbage wrote:Why isn't "If you want something which is not common, ask me first" a reasonable way to handle rarity as a GM, but everything common requires no preclearance. Even if I'm not going to say "yes, you can have that" right away, I'll probably make a note to put one in that's acquirable somewhere.
Because with the sheer breadth of options that are restricted and the amount of moving parts a mid level PF2 character has, it is entirely possible for a single player to have a...Snowblind2018-10-29T00:55:56ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: I do not see the rhyme or reason behind 2e's rarity system.Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42cff?I-do-not-see-the-rhyme-or-reason-behind-2es#132018-11-02T18:59:25Z2018-10-29T00:09:50Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">PossibleCabbage wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
But rarity, as something codified into the system says "no, you can't take blood money even though it exists". Sometimes you want to give the PCs powerful toys without having to make those things common in the setting. Plus what's A-OK in one game might cause a serious problem in a different one with the same group (e.g. "create food and water" style spells are a problem in a survival oriented game.) </blockquote><p>Here's the thing though. If rarity was for one thing specifically, then that would be at least somewhat reasonable. For example, using rarity as an indicator of broken spells that get handed out as rewards is...well, I am not convinced it is fine• but it is probably better than nothing. But that isn't just what it does. It also restricts access to high powered setting warping game changers (teleport), minor utility effects that can break a very narrow catagory of campaigns but otherwise don't matter one iota (tongues, create food and water), things the GM may want to restrict themselves for reasons that are otherwise beyond the scope of the core rule book e.g. removing alignment (Protection from Evil), setting based restrictions (the Wayfinder magic item) and probably a few other things I am missing. Oh, and it makes no effort to distinguish between rules elements restricted for one reason or another.
<p>What you end up with is a mess of different elements at different rarities, with no way to tell quickly <i>why</i> anything is restricted. This leaves the GM with roughly four approaches:</p>
<p>- Hard ban everything, and remove 20% of the book's selectable content, even though most of it is <i>fine</i>, and even though a lot of it is the more interesting stuff.</p>
<p>- Allow everything, and deal with the consequences of the fact that Paizo decided to hand themselves a justification for making whatever broken imbalanced nonsense they want, which comes in the form of "if our non-common rules elements are problematic then it is the GM's problem, not ours, because they allowed it".</p>
<p>- Go through <i>every</i> non-common rules element that their players might consider, and vet that rules element's appropriateness for their campaign. Then write up a honkingly huge list saying what is or isn't allowed. Since restricted rules elements tend to be some of the more "interesting" ones, this is arguably worse than just writing all the rules under the assumption that players can pick whatever the hell they want.</p>
<p>- Sit beside they player every time they select rules elements for their character, and make go/no-go calls on the spot about that rules element. Oh, and as mentioned, 90% of the stuff is fine, but between the complexity of a lot of the stuff in PF2E and the option paralysis some people are reporting while making higher level characters, this is likely to take up a lot of the GM's precious face to face gaming time</p>
<p><i>None</i> of these are good options for the GM or their players. In fact, now that I think about it, I am beginning to dread trying to run a campaign, because I will have to go though the entire damn rules list and vet every single damn thing, because I refuse to run a campaign where basic staples like Protection/Evil aren't around because Paizo couldn't be bothered putting in a sidebar about removing alignment instead of mixing houserules into the rarity system.</p>
<p>•the reason being that decoupling spell power from the skill/capabilities of the caster doing it has nasty implications for your setting, regardless of how rare it is, so it is probably best to not open that can of worms.</p>PossibleCabbage wrote:...
But rarity, as something codified into the system says "no, you can't take blood money even though it exists". Sometimes you want to give the PCs powerful toys without having to make those things common in the setting. Plus what's A-OK in one game might cause a serious problem in a different one with the same group (e.g. "create food and water" style spells are a problem in a survival oriented game.)
Here's the thing though. If rarity was for one thing...Snowblind2018-10-29T00:09:50ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: More thinking, fewer changes. A 25 year GM weighs in.Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42c0o?More-thinking-fewer-changes-A-25-year-GM#42018-10-22T20:37:38Z2018-10-20T00:45:51Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Turkeycubes wrote:</div><blockquote><p> ...
</p>
Some of the changes are solid, and mostly I'm surprised that they didn't get picked up before going to print. Its not cool to sell a hardcopy that you never intended to be accurate for more than a month.</blockquote>Didn't everyone know this going in? I mean, if you know that literally the whole point of the process behind the book is to obsolete the book in short order, <i>and</i> you don't need to buy the book to participate in the process, then there really isn't much to complain about if you do go ahead and buy it.<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote><p>At a minimum most of us would like a single unified PDF of the book to download whenever you change things.
</p>
Putting in the work of editing your book for each change might help you slow things down long enough to get things right.
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...</blockquote>I would <i>like</i> this, but I am aware that fussing about with the PDF is a lot more time consuming than releasing separate erratas. I wish they would integrate it into the books, but I can cut them some slack on it given the time crunch they have.<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote><br />
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...
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The problem with RPG's is that player and GM experience is the biggest factor in playability. Rules as written are the beginning of learning the game, not the end. There need to be more debate and understanding about why things have been changed.</blockquote>It doesn't help that the PF2E team does a lot of podcasts for random shows all over the place, and it is hard to consolidate all that info. There might be a bunch of comments by the design team that explain why they are doing things a certain way, but because they are buried 2/3rds of the way into an audio file, most of us will never know.<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote>I like resonance! A high magic world can still have fewer magic items and less usable versions. I agree that spending resonance for potions is too much, same for scrolls, and maybe consumables should have a longer duration so players can buff up before heading into danger.</blockquote>That is funny. I am the opposite. One of my major complaints about PF2E boils down to "too many moving parts". Cut most the 1/day+Focus nonsense, link it solely to Focus instead, tweak how wands work, and then cut item limits entirely, because they are basically superfluous at that point.<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote>There's clearly room for some change, but what I'm seeing is that this version of the game is heading into the same crowd-sourced hot mess that first edition became.</blockquote><p>First edition's problems were a convoluted mix of a dubious quality chassis (the 3.x engine), a bunch of piecemeal fixes to said chassis, general option bloat and accumulated quality slip from publishing a honkingly large amount of mechanical options (eventually, you are going to get stupid, OP and/or broken things slipping through the cracks).
<p>Now, in fairness, they are <i>trying</i> to fix some of these problems. They are trying to build a sounder chassis so those piecemeal fixes shouldn't be necessary. I do have concerns, however, that the tight math and lack of in-built expandability creates a problem. If you want overly pressured developers and freelancers to produce acceptable quality work, then it is a good idea to informally hand half their job to them and ask them to fill in the gaps. PF2E doesn't really do this. There are no design patterns for developers to follow, and everything beyond the basic game mechanics is pretty much ad-hoc. Throw in the fact that there is a lot of illusion of choice in the playtest and that the tight math makes designing overpowered options surprisingly easy and I suspect that PF2 proper is likely to become unbalanced in short order, with a sea of narrow garbage broken up by totally OP gems.</p>
<p>As for the dangers of "crowd-sourcing" your designs...eh, its complicated. You know the old bit about if Henry Ford asked people what they wanted, they would have wanted a faster horse. Well, on the other hand, if Henry Ford gave some people a car and asked people what they wanted, and most of them replied "less obnoxious transmission changes because holy crap how do you even change gears on a Model T", then that is <i>genuinely useful feedback</i>. "Moar flame decals" from a couple of them, not so much. A reply of "better color choices" might be worth investigating, but if you can sell Model Ts at 10% off by making them all black and people will buy them despite being black, then you can seriously consider ignoring that feedback. </p>
<p>Designing a game is, in its own way, a form of engineering, and like all engineering there are tradeoffs and cost-benefit analyses to be done. Most playtesters aren't approaching the game like an engineer designing a product, and even for those that are, they are usually focused on a couple of particular parts of the game and any feedback they give won't factor in <i>other</i> changes the designers are going to make to the game. Dealing with a piece of feedback is a complicated process of trying to guestimate how many of your potential customers feel that way, trying to figure out how much they will care if you <i>don't</i> factor in this particular piece of feedback, guestimate how many of them will actually dislike the changes you will have to make to address this feedback, and guestimate what the opportunity cost is to address this feedback instead of dealing with something else. Oh, and if you are a smart •insert preferred noun here• and noticed that I didn't mention what happens when you have several different ways to address a particular piece of feedback (which you usually will) or what happens when your changes have ripple effects in other parts of the system (which they usually will), then congratulations, you are in the fractal hell called being an engineer. Have fun. The sloppy approach of "throw it all in and end up with an unfocused mess because we are no longer designing a game but crowd-sourcing a fairy floss, muffin and scallop stew" is a terrible idea, but so is "90% of our playtesters despise X with a passion, but we keeping X because of •weak rationalizations•". You really do need to handle feedback on an individual basis, and try to guestimate what bits of the feedback will make a better product, and what bits will make an unfun product or a convoluted, unfocused mess. TLDR designing be hard, yo.<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote>There should be a cost to getting a character to do what you want, but that cost is better served by teaching GM's to be open, flexible and able to handle unbalanced parties.</blockquote><p>No RPG teaches GMs well as far as I know. While I would love to see an RPG that instills good GMing practices in those who use it, I am not holding my breath. I would rather the designers hand the GM something basically functional on the plate than go around with the toxic attitude of "we can put out any crap and it is the GM's problem to deal, because the GM can just fix any problems".
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<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote>The best adventures of literature never include a balanced party. </blockquote>Yeah, and the best adventures of literature are backed by author fiat. A big part of the attraction of RPGs is player agency, and that means agency to fail, or agency to breese effortlessly through the story, or agency to be a useless fifth wheel while other people do the work. Compromises will have to be made if you don't want those happening unintentionally all the time.<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote>Paizo, please stick to your guns a little longer. Spend more time publishing explanations and contextual suggestions for your rules rather than just changing them. Help new players and especially GM's understand how they might find roleplaying solutions to their complaints.</blockquote>I though Paizo has been pretty conservative with their changes so far. I don't particularly blame them for that, because feedback like "spells are miserable and unfun - fix them" isn't something that can be addressed quickly, but they haven't exactly been gutting their system in a quest to seek approval from playtesters.<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote>Just dropping more rules as written to give the people what they want will just make for more of a mess.</blockquote>Maybe, maybe not. Designing be hard, yo.<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote><br />
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And maybe some of you remember how many 2nd edition ad&d books were sold that were mostly about flavour, and not loaded with new classes and feats? There's a market for RPG books that are actually about roleplaying!</blockquote><p>IIRC, one of the owners of Paizo (Lisa, I think) looked through TSR's financial data (which would include the 2nd edition period) on behalf of WoTC to see where they screwed up. The conclusion they came to was something along the lines of "TSR split up the base by publishing a bunch of books that sold well but inhibited further sales". I suspect that throwing out a lot of products that focus excessively on individual parts of their setting (or even worse, create other settings) <i>may</i> create a similar problem. In any case, the owners probably know a lot more about this than you from sources you don't have access to. You might be able to ask them, though. I would certainly be curious to see what they say.
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<div class="messageboard-quotee">Quote:</div><blockquote>I hope you agree, and thanks for the great times paizo! </blockquote><p>For the record, despite how incredibly cynical and snarky I can be, I do appreciate what Paizo is trying to do with PF2E, and I do actually want PF2E to be something I want to play. My cynicism stems from the fact that there are quite a few obvious and not-so-obvious problems in the playtest which I struggle to explain in ways that don't justify my cynicism. Combine that with my general worldview which boils down to "If I assume everything is terrible then I will either be proven right or pleasantly surprised", and you are not going to see a font of positivity in my general direction.Turkeycubes wrote:...
Some of the changes are solid, and mostly I'm surprised that they didn't get picked up before going to print. Its not cool to sell a hardcopy that you never intended to be accurate for more than a month.
Didn't everyone know this going in? I mean, if you know that literally the whole point of the process behind the book is to obsolete the book in short order, and you don't need to buy the book to participate in the process, then there really isn't much to complain...Snowblind2018-10-20T00:45:51ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Paizo Blog: The Resonance TestSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6sgbn&page=8?The-Resonance-Test#3512018-11-05T02:14:58Z2018-10-17T19:13:12Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">graystone wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">ChibiNyan wrote:</div><blockquote>Part of the design goals seem to be "Nerf Magic Items"</blockquote>All magic in general IMO. </blockquote><p>Don't be ridiculous.
<p>Magic Swords aren't nerfed. In fact, you could say that Magic Swords are so great that they are the <i>real</i> protagonists of PF2E, and high level characters are just taxis for the godlike power of the +5 potency rune and it's herald, the legendary quality bastard sword.</p>
<p>Unless that high level character is a cleric. Because editions may come and go, but CZilla never dies, apparently.</p>graystone wrote:ChibiNyan wrote:Part of the design goals seem to be "Nerf Magic Items"
All magic in general IMO. Don't be ridiculous. Magic Swords aren't nerfed. In fact, you could say that Magic Swords are so great that they are the real protagonists of PF2E, and high level characters are just taxis for the godlike power of the +5 potency rune and it's herald, the legendary quality bastard sword.
Unless that high level character is a cleric. Because editions may come and go, but CZilla...Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2018-10-17T19:13:12ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Our group is also bowing out of the playtest - and reasons whySnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bhy&page=7?Our-group-is-also-bowing-out-of-the-playtest#3332018-10-15T13:02:23Z2018-10-15T08:36:08Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Bluenose wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Vidmaster7 wrote:</div><blockquote> That's the funny thing to me the two drastic camps. For like 10+ years constant complaints that magic was to strong and it made other classes useless but soon as they go to change that all you hear is MAKE MAGIC GREAT AGAIN! •eye roll• </blockquote>There were always three camps on the C/MD threads. The people who wanted more equality of usefulness or outcome between casters and martials; the people who wanted magic to be more powerful than !magic; and the people who insisted that it didn't matter how powerful characters were relative to each other. The last groups is of course absent from this sort of discussion, as it doesn't matter to them how powerful a particular class is, but they're hardly non-existent. </blockquote><p>And the people who want more equality are themselves a spectrum between "nerf casters to oblivion" and "buff martials to infinity".Bluenose wrote:Vidmaster7 wrote: That's the funny thing to me the two drastic camps. For like 10+ years constant complaints that magic was to strong and it made other classes useless but soon as they go to change that all you hear is MAKE MAGIC GREAT AGAIN! *eye roll*
There were always three camps on the C/MD threads. The people who wanted more equality of usefulness or outcome between casters and martials; the people who wanted magic to be more powerful than !magic; and the people who...Snowblind2018-10-15T08:36:08ZRe: Forums: Skills, Feats, Equipment & Spells: Idea: Have proficiencies for spell schools.Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bq1?Idea-Have-proficiencies-for-spell-schools#52018-11-27T16:48:12Z2018-10-15T02:39:48Z<p>How do the different schools compare as far as a balanced spread of options to? I haven't checked, but I suspect the answer is "pretty unevenly". We don't want a situation where two thirds of the schools don't benefit much from increased proficiency or aren't competitive with those schools that do.</p>How do the different schools compare as far as a balanced spread of options to? I haven't checked, but I suspect the answer is "pretty unevenly". We don't want a situation where two thirds of the schools don't benefit much from increased proficiency or aren't competitive with those schools that do.Snowblind2018-10-15T02:39:48ZRe: Forums: Skills, Feats, Equipment & Spells: The 'problem' with CLW wand spamSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bo1?The-problem-with-CLW-wand-spam#282018-11-26T23:40:23Z2018-10-15T02:34:06Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Greylurker wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
If you have a problem with that then fudge it. Roll behind your screen and "nope you didn't find one"
<br />
...</blockquote><p>That is a great idea. Then when your players figure out what you are doing (which they probably will because you aren't as smart as you think you are), you are likely to have a lot more free time on your hands with the lack of burdensome things like a gaming group and friends.
<p>Or, to put it more bluntly, if you indicate that the game's item availability works a certain way under normal circumstances, then I damn well expect the game's item availability to work that way, and I am going to trust that you aren't just flat out lying to me. If you then decide to betray my trust and change the item availability to "whatever the GM feels like" while still acting as if we are playing by the rules <i>you</i> communicated to us, then I am going to think long and hard about whether or not I want anything to do with you.</p>Greylurker wrote:...
If you have a problem with that then fudge it. Roll behind your screen and "nope you didn't find one"
...
That is a great idea. Then when your players figure out what you are doing (which they probably will because you aren't as smart as you think you are), you are likely to have a lot more free time on your hands with the lack of burdensome things like a gaming group and friends. Or, to put it more bluntly, if you indicate that the game's item availability works a...Snowblind2018-10-15T02:34:06ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: What I'm Looking For in 2eSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bkh&page=2?What-Im-Looking-For-in-2e#592018-10-19T15:53:33Z2018-10-15T00:32:57Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">breithauptclan wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
I'm actually thinking more along the lines of freeing up the content creators rather than limiting the players.
<br />
...</blockquote><p>It feels like 80% of PF2E's problems boil down to a mentality of "Ease for Designers>>>Fun for Players".breithauptclan wrote:...
I'm actually thinking more along the lines of freeing up the content creators rather than limiting the players.
...
It feels like 80% of PF2E's problems boil down to a mentality of "Ease for Designers>>>Fun for Players".Snowblind2018-10-15T00:32:57ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Being a Healer is DANGEROUSSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bo2?Being-a-Healer-is-DANGEROUS#32018-10-17T13:49:00Z2018-10-13T20:51:41Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Requielle wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
Why would any NPC 'kill' a downed opponent? How would they know that these folks are the 4-6 beings in the entire universe who can be brought back from 'death' with normal healing spells? Obviously, in your playthrough, •they saw it happen•. So, duh. Kill the thrice-cursed-freaks-who-defy-the-will-of-Pharasma and all that.
<br />
... </blockquote><p>I can't be bothered finding the rules text right now, but the "0hp=dead" thing is basically a GM shortcut that they are encouraged to <i>not</i> use for things like major NPCs, or for any creatures that have healing backup. Going off this, any intelligent NPC would have to be aware that stabbing things until they fall over <i>may</i> not finish them off permanently.Requielle wrote:...
Why would any NPC 'kill' a downed opponent? How would they know that these folks are the 4-6 beings in the entire universe who can be brought back from 'death' with normal healing spells? Obviously, in your playthrough, *they saw it happen*. So, duh. Kill the thrice-cursed-freaks-who-defy-the-will-of-Pharasma and all that.
...
I can't be bothered finding the rules text right now, but the "0hp=dead" thing is basically a GM shortcut that they are encouraged to not use for...Snowblind2018-10-13T20:51:41ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Untrained; Trained; Expert; Master; Legendary problems?Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bn5?Untrained-Trained-Expert-Master-Legendary#142018-10-13T18:37:17Z2018-10-13T18:37:17Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">PossibleCabbage wrote:</div><blockquote> I feel like a big benefit of PF2 though is that "you don't have to learn 3 different sets of rules for weapons, armor, and skills" though. </blockquote><p>You sort of do though. You might not have different rules when it comes to the particular bonuses you get, but you gain/increase proficiency in weapons, armor and skills in different ways.
<p>Anyway, you don't need to break the symmetry of UTEML. You would "just" have to change how classes get armor/weapon proficiency, and probably shuffle a whole bunch of other things around to avoid dead levels and such.</p>PossibleCabbage wrote:I feel like a big benefit of PF2 though is that "you don't have to learn 3 different sets of rules for weapons, armor, and skills" though.
You sort of do though. You might not have different rules when it comes to the particular bonuses you get, but you gain/increase proficiency in weapons, armor and skills in different ways. Anyway, you don't need to break the symmetry of UTEML. You would "just" have to change how classes get armor/weapon proficiency, and probably...Snowblind2018-10-13T18:37:17ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Untrained; Trained; Expert; Master; Legendary problems?Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bn5?Untrained-Trained-Expert-Master-Legendary#122018-10-13T19:57:42Z2018-10-13T16:53:56Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">PossibleCabbage wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
Under the OP's schema the fighter will add +9 to hit from proficiency and the Barbarian will add +3. How on earth do you set monster armor class so that the Barbarian •can hit• while the Fighter isn't critting every round (sometimes twice)?
<br />
...</blockquote><p>You don't. You would need to completely revamp weapon and armor proficiency for this to be viable.PossibleCabbage wrote:...
Under the OP's schema the fighter will add +9 to hit from proficiency and the Barbarian will add +3. How on earth do you set monster armor class so that the Barbarian *can hit* while the Fighter isn't critting every round (sometimes twice)?
...
You don't. You would need to completely revamp weapon and armor proficiency for this to be viable.Snowblind2018-10-13T16:53:56ZRe: Forums: Classes: Wizard and his school spellSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bl8?Wizard-and-his-school-spell#72018-10-14T01:06:47Z2018-10-13T02:30:40Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Ediwir wrote:</div><blockquote><p> ...
</p>
How about gaining access to Uncommon arcane spells of that school? That would allow devs to write Uncommon arcane spells that are intended to (mostly) be Specialist-only. </blockquote><p>Uncommon spells aren't uncommon just because they are slightly more powerful than common spells. To pick an example, Mark said in another thread that Protection from Evil is uncommon so that it makes it easier for GMs to deemphasize or remove alignment from their games. You can't just hand out higher rarity stuff willy nilly, because the rarity system does several different things and granting blanket access undermines some (but not all) of those things.
<p>On an unrelated note, this is why I hate the rarity system with the burning fury of a thousand suns.</p>Ediwir wrote:...
How about gaining access to Uncommon arcane spells of that school? That would allow devs to write Uncommon arcane spells that are intended to (mostly) be Specialist-only.
Uncommon spells aren't uncommon just because they are slightly more powerful than common spells. To pick an example, Mark said in another thread that Protection from Evil is uncommon so that it makes it easier for GMs to deemphasize or remove alignment from their games. You can't just hand out higher...Snowblind2018-10-13T02:30:40ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Open up class ability boostsSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bmd?Open-up-class-ability-boosts#102018-10-13T03:16:42Z2018-10-13T02:10:16Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">dragonhunterq wrote:</div><blockquote> This seems to mostly impact casters and I kind of don't want casters starting out as good as martials, they have their spells they don't need to be as good with a blade as a rogue or paladin. </blockquote><p>If letting a caster start with an 18 in strength makes them as good starting out as martials, then we have far bigger concerns than tweaks to the ability score generation system.dragonhunterq wrote:This seems to mostly impact casters and I kind of don't want casters starting out as good as martials, they have their spells they don't need to be as good with a blade as a rogue or paladin.
If letting a caster start with an 18 in strength makes them as good starting out as martials, then we have far bigger concerns than tweaks to the ability score generation system.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2018-10-13T02:10:16ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Untrained; Trained; Expert; Master; Legendary problems?Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bn5?Untrained-Trained-Expert-Master-Legendary#42018-10-13T02:01:43Z2018-10-13T02:01:43Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Slit518 wrote:</div><blockquote><p> ...
</p>
<b>Untrained:</b> -1, and you can not add your ability score modifier to the roll.
<br />
<b>Trained:</b> +1 to your skill; tool; weapon; saves; spell casting proficiency at levels 1, 5, 9, 13, and 17.
<br />
<b>Expert:</b> +1 to your skill; tool; weapon; saves; spell casting proficiency at levels 2, 6, 10, 14, and 18.
<br />
<b>Master:</b> +1 to your skill; tool; weapon; saves; spell casting proficiency at levels 3, 7, 11, 15, and 19.
<br />
<b>Legendary:</b> +1 to your skill; tool; weapon; saves; spell casting proficiency at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20.
<br />
When you're trained in higher level training you also benefit from the lower level training. The amount of training isn't about having the higher level bonus right away, it is about gaining bonuses and learning faster.
<br />
...</blockquote><p>Can I suggest the following reformulation:
</p>
Untrained: same as yours
<br />
Trained: +1/4 x Level to skill, tool etc, rounded up
<br />
Expert: +1/2 x Level to skill, tool etc, rounded up
<br />
Master: +3/4 x Level to skill, tool etc, rounded up
<br />
Legendary: +Level to skill, tool etc</p>
<p>This saves you from having to look up a table or sum up a dozen numbers just to work out your proficiency bonus. The only numerical difference is that under mine an Expert gets their increments at 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, while yours gives it at 2,6,10,14, 18. Your total bonus at expert increments rapidly from 1-2, 5-6 etc and then leaves a gap from 3-4, 7-8 etc while mine increments every 2 levels, which is a much smoother progression and therefore probably better.</p>Slit518 wrote:...
Untrained: -1, and you can not add your ability score modifier to the roll.
Trained: +1 to your skill; tool; weapon; saves; spell casting proficiency at levels 1, 5, 9, 13, and 17.
Expert: +1 to your skill; tool; weapon; saves; spell casting proficiency at levels 2, 6, 10, 14, and 18.
Master: +1 to your skill; tool; weapon; saves; spell casting proficiency at levels 3, 7, 11, 15, and 19.
Legendary: +1 to your skill; tool; weapon; saves; spell casting proficiency at levels...Snowblind2018-10-13T02:01:43ZRe: Forums: Running the Game: Ongoing Feedback - Home Campaign - Not Doomsday DawnSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs2vbba?Ongoing-Feedback-Home-Campaign-Not-Doomsday#462018-10-12T22:35:42Z2018-10-12T22:35:42Z<p>So...Barghest and Skeletal Champion have Attack of Opportunity. Goblin Warriors are the Goblin's fighter equivalent, and those often have Attack of Opportunity, but not always (in this case they don't). The only way to find out that they don't is to take an action that triggers it and see if they try to stab you, which is may or may not be something a PC is willing to risk in the middle of a pitched battle.</p>
<p>Yeah, that is only slightly on the high side given the bestiary numbers. Two actual AoO users and one reasonably suspected AoO user out of 8 creature types. Your group's campaign seems pretty typical. Heck, if your players were fighting Gnolls or Orcs or something instead of Goblins, they would be even more paranoid about AoOs.</p>So...Barghest and Skeletal Champion have Attack of Opportunity. Goblin Warriors are the Goblin's fighter equivalent, and those often have Attack of Opportunity, but not always (in this case they don't). The only way to find out that they don't is to take an action that triggers it and see if they try to stab you, which is may or may not be something a PC is willing to risk in the middle of a pitched battle.
Yeah, that is only slightly on the high side given the bestiary numbers. Two actual...Snowblind2018-10-12T22:35:42ZRe: Forums: Running the Game: Ongoing Feedback - Home Campaign - Not Doomsday DawnSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs2vbba?Ongoing-Feedback-Home-Campaign-Not-Doomsday#442018-10-13T03:46:10Z2018-10-12T20:35:33Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Ryvin wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
By comparison, every melee enemy tougher than a goblin dog has had AOO, at least in this game.
<br />
...</blockquote><p>This caught my eye, so I thought I would go check the bestiary and see how true that is.
<p>I couldn't be bothered counting the number of creatures in the bestiary, so I did a quick estimate - the left column of the first page of the creature list is 53 creatures, so going off that the book has about 250 creature total. Of those 250, 44 creatures had attack of opportunity. Some of those were only a subset of that particular creature (Orc Warrior, for example). Creatures with attack of opportunity tended to be one of the following:
<br />
1. Monster equivalents of the PC Fighter class
<br />
2. Scary boss fight type monsters that are dangerous in melee (hydra, dragon etc)
<br />
3. Horrible things that are martially capable and intelligent e.g. a lot of outsiders</p>
<p>That would mean that Attacks of Opportunity are common enough that you have to assume they are a risk on anything that really wants to get into melee and is capable of eating your face.</p>
<p>I hear this is called progress, apparently?</p>Ryvin wrote:...
By comparison, every melee enemy tougher than a goblin dog has had AOO, at least in this game.
...
This caught my eye, so I thought I would go check the bestiary and see how true that is. I couldn't be bothered counting the number of creatures in the bestiary, so I did a quick estimate - the left column of the first page of the creature list is 53 creatures, so going off that the book has about 250 creature total. Of those 250, 44 creatures had attack of opportunity. Some of...Snowblind2018-10-12T20:35:33ZRe: Forums: Classes: Ya know, if they ever actually get rid of "Paladins are LG only", I would prefer...Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42ba6&page=2?Ya-know-if-they-ever-actually-get-rid-of#692018-10-12T14:51:37Z2018-10-12T03:04:24Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">HWalsh wrote:</div><blockquote><p> ...</p>
<p>4. You must use subterfuge, deception, and misdirection whenever possible. Never face an opponent honorably unless there is no other way.</p>
<p>5. You must never work with members of the lawful authority of the legitimate ruler or leadership in whatever land you may be, you will not follow their laws, in fact you must actively break them unless doing so would violate a higher tenet. </blockquote><p>Ah, this makes total sense. It is an inevitability that with Chaotic Paladins comes Chaotic Stupid, and this is pretty Chaotic Stupid. Glad to see the cycle of Paladin Stupidity continuing.
<p>On a more serious note, a hypothetical "Chaosodin" might not be Lawful, but they are still Good. Subterfuge, deception and misdirection aren't inherently chaotic (see Devils, who are literally made of Law but are oh so very manipulative). The Paladin's Stalwart honesty embodies both Law <i>and</i> Good together. Hence a simple code flip is <i>not</i> appropriate. That is the sort of thing that is more appropriate for the Anti-Paladin (who <i>should be</i> a mirror of the Paladin). Deadmanwalking's code is a much better approach. Just as the conventional Lawadin's code is Good viewed through the lens of Law, Deadmanwalking's code is Good viewed through the lens of Chaos.</p>HWalsh wrote:...
4. You must use subterfuge, deception, and misdirection whenever possible. Never face an opponent honorably unless there is no other way.
5. You must never work with members of the lawful authority of the legitimate ruler or leadership in whatever land you may be, you will not follow their laws, in fact you must actively break them unless doing so would violate a higher tenet.
Ah, this makes total sense. It is an inevitability that with Chaotic Paladins comes Chaotic...Snowblind2018-10-12T03:04:24ZRe: Forums: Skills, Feats, Equipment & Spells: Reason why damage on magic items bothers meSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bjt?Reason-why-damage-on-magic-items-bothers-me#372018-11-27T16:42:53Z2018-10-12T02:28:21Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Fuzzypaws wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">DM_Blake wrote:</div><blockquote><p> OK, suppose we put the extra damage dice on proficiency instead of on the weapon.</p>
<p>Then what do magic weapons do?</p>
<p>A potency rune that only adds to hit feels weak. Do the potency runes also add to damage while proficiency adds dice? Is that too much? </blockquote><p>Properties are what actually make a magic weapon feel magical. Flaming, ghost touch, dancing, these are the things that feel special. +X is boring.
<p>That said, +X has too much legacy and I know Paizo won't kill it. That's why I keep recommending that they instead change what +X means. Maybe +3 means that 3 times per day, you reroll an attack roll and keep the better result. (Or reroll saves for magic armor, or reroll checks for a skill item.) There's various options for making a plus a useful and desirable option without it being mandatory.</p>
<p></blockquote><p>You could always tie the +X to the quality. We already have the 3.X precedent of Masterwork quality weapons being +1 in some ways but not others, so why not go all the way? +1 gear means expert quality gear, +2 is master, +3 is legendary.Fuzzypaws wrote:DM_Blake wrote:OK, suppose we put the extra damage dice on proficiency instead of on the weapon.
Then what do magic weapons do?
A potency rune that only adds to hit feels weak. Do the potency runes also add to damage while proficiency adds dice? Is that too much?
Properties are what actually make a magic weapon feel magical. Flaming, ghost touch, dancing, these are the things that feel special. +X is boring. That said, +X has too much legacy and I know Paizo won't kill it....Snowblind2018-10-12T02:28:21ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: There needs to be less rampant access to Heal poolsSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bkb?There-needs-to-be-less-rampant-access-to-Heal#312018-10-12T18:31:23Z2018-10-12T02:20:11Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Tridus wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
I never feel more powerful than when I'm casting Heal in 2e, precisely because I actually accomplish what I'm trying to do.
<br />
...</blockquote><p>Can I just say something?
<p>Wow.</p>
<p>I know it wasn't your intention, but that is the biggest gut punch I have seen delivered to the PF2E playtest to date.</p>Tridus wrote:...
I never feel more powerful than when I'm casting Heal in 2e, precisely because I actually accomplish what I'm trying to do.
...
Can I just say something? Wow.
I know it wasn't your intention, but that is the biggest gut punch I have seen delivered to the PF2E playtest to date.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2018-10-12T02:20:11ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Hero Points FixSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bka?Hero-Points-Fix#42018-10-12T13:51:53Z2018-10-11T17:52:30Z<p>I agree that the whack-a-mole hero point use is as wonky as all hell. I <i>don't</i> agree that points should carry over. I much prefer the WH40K RPG fate point style "X points per session" approach, since it means that hero points actually get used instead of being stockpiled for a crisis that may never come (the <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TooAwesomeToUse" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">"too awesome to use"</a>• problem).</p>
<p>•Warning, TVTropes link. View at your own risk.</p>I agree that the whack-a-mole hero point use is as wonky as all hell. I don't agree that points should carry over. I much prefer the WH40K RPG fate point style "X points per session" approach, since it means that hero points actually get used instead of being stockpiled for a crisis that may never come (the "too awesome to use"* problem).
*Warning, TVTropes link. View at your own risk.Snowblind2018-10-11T17:52:30ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Another group outSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bi9&page=2?Another-group-out#722018-10-11T17:38:19Z2018-10-11T17:38:19Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">pogie wrote:</div><blockquote><p> ...
</p>
If it crashes again at the 2E launch are you going to argue its a good thing that so many people want the download? Every minute that website is down is a loss for Paizo and they are accountable for it. If you don’t see that as being 100% crystal clear, you don’t have a very good idea of how businesses work. </blockquote><p>Hey, if it works for EA...pogie wrote:...
If it crashes again at the 2E launch are you going to argue its a good thing that so many people want the download? Every minute that website is down is a loss for Paizo and they are accountable for it. If you don’t see that as being 100% crystal clear, you don’t have a very good idea of how businesses work.
Hey, if it works for EA...Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2018-10-11T17:38:19ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: Our group is also bowing out of the playtest - and reasons whySnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42bhy?Our-group-is-also-bowing-out-of-the-playtest#452018-10-20T04:36:43Z2018-10-11T00:43:37Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Tridus wrote:</div><blockquote><p> ...
</p>
5e's playtest had a lot of issues early on, too. It worked out pretty well in the end.
<br />
...</blockquote><p>Yeah, and 5e had something like two years and two months between initial playtest release and final release. PF2E is getting what, like a year or so? And everything has to be sent to the printers well before then <b>and</b> non-game-design stuff has to be done like getting art assets together and doing typesetting which adds a constant time overhead.
<p>The reality is that in terms of time that the PF2E team can spend tinkering with new mechanics before locking it in, they have maybe a quarter of the time the 5e team did. Throwing in the fact that the PF2E playtest is oh so very rough around the edges, I just flat out think that they don't have the time to sort out all it's myriad issues.</p>
<p>I think this is a major part of why some people are so disheartened. If PF2E was coming out in 2020 and we had over a year of constant tinkering before everything was locked in, playtesters could at least comfort themselves with the knowledge that there is enough time between playtest and release that the entire game could be gutted and rewritten if necessary, so any problems they have now <i>could</i> reasonably be fixed. Contrast to PF2E, where we have a long list of untested subsystems that are tightly coupled to each other. <i>All</i> of them feel wonky in one way or another, some more wonky than others, and there is a real possibility that there <i>just isn't enough time to fix everything</i>. At that stage, it is tempting to write off 2E as a lost cause and abandon the playtest.</p>Tridus wrote:...
5e's playtest had a lot of issues early on, too. It worked out pretty well in the end.
...
Yeah, and 5e had something like two years and two months between initial playtest release and final release. PF2E is getting what, like a year or so? And everything has to be sent to the printers well before then and non-game-design stuff has to be done like getting art assets together and doing typesetting which adds a constant time overhead. The reality is that in terms of time that...Snowblind2018-10-11T00:43:37ZRe: Forums: Monsters and Hazards: The stone/iron/adamantine golem's Inexorable March: a TPK machineSnowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42b9a?The-stoneironadamantine-golems-Inexorable#192018-10-09T07:58:03Z2018-10-09T07:58:03Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Mark Seifter wrote:</div><blockquote> If I recall correctly from the last time we played against a stone golem before the final beta, the golem is supposed to only damage those who try to block its way; everyone else accepts the push but avoids the damage. I agree that's not how that first line is worded any more though. </blockquote><p>Ok, now that is a little more sane.Mark Seifter wrote:If I recall correctly from the last time we played against a stone golem before the final beta, the golem is supposed to only damage those who try to block its way; everyone else accepts the push but avoids the damage. I agree that's not how that first line is worded any more though.
Ok, now that is a little more sane.Snowblind2018-10-09T07:58:03ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Playtest General Discussion: How important is balance?Snowblindhttps://paizo.com/threads/rzs42axg&page=4?How-important-is-balance#1652018-10-14T21:39:04Z2018-10-07T06:40:54Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Vidmaster7 wrote:</div><blockquote> True Snowblind but also keep in mind some people will be happy about that too. </blockquote><p>Here's the thing though. Pathfinder 1E also had severe balance issues, but it also had several design features that mitigated those issues. Skills could be ramped into the stratosphere, but skills did very little in combat so that wasn't a huge deal. In PF2 skills are much more combat relevant. Attack bonuses did nothing beyond improve chance to hit, so even slapping a +10 modifier onto your attacks wasn't going to do <i>that</i> much to a lot of classes - attacks tended to hit a lot more by default and there wasn't any of this +/-10 malarkey, so all it would be doing most of the time is increasing the reliability of iteratives. Something like a Barbarian is going to land most of them anyway, while 3/4 BAB characters don't get many of those so it isn't that big an issue. In contrast, giving a +10 boost to a PF2 character boosts their DPR to something like 340% of it's normal amount.
<p>Spells have a similar issue - so long as they are carefully curated then they will probably be fine, but throw in a couple of badly balanced buffs/debuffs/battlefield control effects (easy to do since any numerical buffs/penalties <i>matter</i>) and casters will become the encounter ending monsters we have all come to know and love/hate, while still being fairly bad on fronts like "shape shift for more than a minute and have fun walking around town as a dinosaur". Y'know, the fun but harmless stuff.</p>
<p>Basically, instead of making a system that mitigates imbalance, they made a system that amplifies it and are relying on keeping extremely tight control over any sources of imbalance to mitigate this. It might work in the short term, but I don't think it will work in the long term after a few things slip through the cracks.</p>Vidmaster7 wrote:True Snowblind but also keep in mind some people will be happy about that too.
Here's the thing though. Pathfinder 1E also had severe balance issues, but it also had several design features that mitigated those issues. Skills could be ramped into the stratosphere, but skills did very little in combat so that wasn't a huge deal. In PF2 skills are much more combat relevant. Attack bonuses did nothing beyond improve chance to hit, so even slapping a +10 modifier onto your...Snowblind2018-10-07T06:40:54ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: Experience with caster/martial disparity?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2uu4n&page=3?Experience-with-castermartial-disparity#1342018-01-26T03:29:12Z2018-01-26T03:29:12Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Volkard Abendroth wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...mythic...
</p>
...Vital Strike [M]...</blockquote><p>Now 'ere's yer problem.
<p>Seriously, mythic is horribly unbalanced, and mythic vital strike is one of the reasons why. Shockingly enough, throwing on a crit with a 4x weapon does <i>not</i> improve things.</p>Volkard Abendroth wrote:...mythic...
...Vital Strike [M]...
Now 'ere's yer problem. Seriously, mythic is horribly unbalanced, and mythic vital strike is one of the reasons why. Shockingly enough, throwing on a crit with a 4x weapon does not improve things.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2018-01-26T03:29:12ZRe: Forums: Movies: Star Wars The Last JediSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u4y3&page=11?Star-Wars-The-Last-Jedi#5382017-12-23T03:55:44Z2017-12-23T03:55:44Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Mahorfeus wrote:</div><blockquote>The idea that they would have dumped <i>all</i> of those bombs on it is just plain overkill though. </blockquote><p>To quote <a href="https://youtu.be/L9hwGZFPSmw?t=1424" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Red Letter Media on this:</a>
<p>"So 1 bomber did the job. Did they have to send in 30 of them?"</p>
<p>"Well 29 of them got blowed up." </p>
<p>"They were smart, they knew all of these people were going to #&^$ing die."</p>Mahorfeus wrote:The idea that they would have dumped all of those bombs on it is just plain overkill though.
To quote Red Letter Media on this: "So 1 bomber did the job. Did they have to send in 30 of them?"
"Well 29 of them got blowed up."
"They were smart, they knew all of these people were going to #&^$ing die."Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-12-23T03:55:44ZRe: Forums: Advice: Dealing with bad Will Saves, without save boostersSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ullt?Dealing-with-bad-Will-Saves-without-save#282017-09-14T21:12:27Z2017-09-14T12:47:54Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">VRMH wrote:</div><blockquote> Keeping <i>you</i> from accidentally killing <i>them</i> is not your, but their problem to solve. Let the Wizard put some protection on you - he now knows why he should. </blockquote><p>Hay Guys, I found the wisdom dumped fighter.VRMH wrote:Keeping you from accidentally killing them is not your, but their problem to solve. Let the Wizard put some protection on you - he now knows why he should.
Hay Guys, I found the wisdom dumped fighter.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-09-14T12:47:54ZRe: Forums: Starfinder General Discussion: Gun control in the Pact WorldsSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2uj0j&page=5?Gun-control-in-the-Pact-Worlds#2212017-09-13T09:34:14Z2017-09-13T09:34:14Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Deadmanwalking wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Ikiry0 wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">2 Coppers Worth wrote:</div><blockquote>low levels of public shootings by legal gun owners </blockquote>Have you SEEN a Player Character? </blockquote>PCs aren't exactly typical. </blockquote><p>You can say that again.Deadmanwalking wrote:Ikiry0 wrote: 2 Coppers Worth wrote:low levels of public shootings by legal gun owners
Have you SEEN a Player Character? PCs aren't exactly typical. You can say that again.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-09-13T09:34:14ZRe: Forums: Rules Questions: Confusion and Protection from EvilSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ug3d?Confusion-and-Protection-from-Evil#42019-12-14T01:08:58Z2017-07-08T04:59:57Z<p>Hay Guys, I Can Haz FAQ
<br />
<div class="messageboard-quotee">CRB FAQ wrote:</div><blockquote><p> Protection From Evil: Does this work against all charm and compulsion effects? Or just against charm and compulsion effects where the caster is able to exercise control over the target, such as charm person, command, and dominate person (and thus not effects like sleep or confusion, as the caster does not have ongoing influence or puppet-like control of the target)?</p>
<p>The latter interpretation is correct: protection from evil only works on charm and compulsion effects where the caster is able to exercise control over the target, such as command, charm person, and dominate person; <b>it doesn't work on sleep or confusion.</b> (Sleep is a border case for this issue, but the designers feel that "this spell overrides your brain's sleep centers" is different enough than "this spell overrides your resistance to commands from others.")</blockquote><p>Hay Guys, I Can Haz FAQ
CRB FAQ wrote: Protection From Evil: Does this work against all charm and compulsion effects? Or just against charm and compulsion effects where the caster is able to exercise control over the target, such as charm person, command, and dominate person (and thus not effects like sleep or confusion, as the caster does not have ongoing influence or puppet-like control of the target)?
The latter interpretation is correct: protection from evil only works on charm and...Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-07-08T04:59:57ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: Not another Alignment Thread: "Lawful is not "Follow the law."Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ufb0?Not-another-Alignment-Thread-Lawful-is-not#82017-06-26T14:52:38Z2017-06-25T11:37:34Z<p>I feel like I should beat TOZ to the punch here.</p>
<p>Say it with me, guys.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Tome_of_Fiends_(3.5e_Sourcebook)/Morality_and_Fiends#Law_and_Chaos:_Your_Rules_or_Mine.3F" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Law and Chaos do not have any meaning under the standard D&D rules.</a></p>I feel like I should beat TOZ to the punch here.
Say it with me, guys.
Law and Chaos do not have any meaning under the standard D&D rules.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-06-25T11:37:34ZRe: Forums: Rules Questions: Opportune parry and riposte block multiple AoO?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2uf1q?Opportune-parry-and-riposte-block-multiple-AoO#102017-06-22T09:54:19Z2017-06-22T09:54:19Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Cavall wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">JoeElf wrote:</div><blockquote><p><b> You can block exactly 0 attacks with Opportune Parry and Riposte using the feat Amateur Swashbuckler.
</p>
"Choose a 1st-level deed from the swashbuckler’s deeds class feature <span class=messageboard-bigger><i>(you can’t select opportune parry and riposte)</i></span>. "</b> </blockquote><p><b>
</p>
Just going to quote this again so it's not skipped over by the OP.</p>
<p>It's kind of important.</b> </blockquote><p><span class=messageboard-bigger><b><i>BOLD ALL THE THINGS</i></b></span>
<p><span class=tiny><span class=messageboard-ooc>im helping</span></span></p>Cavall wrote:JoeElf wrote: You can block exactly 0 attacks with Opportune Parry and Riposte using the feat Amateur Swashbuckler.
"Choose a 1st-level deed from the swashbuckler’s deeds class feature (you can’t select opportune parry and riposte). "
Just going to quote this again so it's not skipped over by the OP.It's kind of important. BOLD ALL THE THINGS im helpingSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-06-22T09:54:19ZRe: Forums: Rules Questions: Agile Tongue and Flurry of BlowsSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2uel4?Agile-Tongue-and-Flurry-of-Blows#462017-06-19T22:04:12Z2017-06-19T22:04:12Z<p>Maybe a Wizard diddit?</p>Maybe a Wizard diddit?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-06-19T22:04:12ZRe: Forums: Advice: What would be a good fourth character for this party?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ucl0?What-would-be-a-good-fourth-character-for#382017-05-15T08:40:55Z2017-05-15T08:40:55Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Trinam wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Snowblind, Snarkwyrm wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Trinam wrote:</div><blockquote><p> Just prior to this post I was talking about how nobody was trying to say there was badwrongfun, and then immediately I pause to say THERE IS BADWRONGFUN.</p>
<p>I don't know how to explain the joke beyond that. </blockquote>Maybe that is because you were making a BADWRONGJOKE? </blockquote><p>Well played, snarkwyrm.
<p>Well played. </blockquote><p>Damn Straight.Trinam wrote:Snowblind, Snarkwyrm wrote: Trinam wrote:Just prior to this post I was talking about how nobody was trying to say there was badwrongfun, and then immediately I pause to say THERE IS BADWRONGFUN.
I don't know how to explain the joke beyond that.
Maybe that is because you were making a BADWRONGJOKE? Well played, snarkwyrm. Well played. Damn Straight.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-05-15T08:40:55ZRe: Forums: Advice: What would be a good fourth character for this party?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ucl0?What-would-be-a-good-fourth-character-for#362017-05-15T08:38:49Z2017-05-15T08:38:02Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Trinam wrote:</div><blockquote><p> Just prior to this post I was talking about how nobody was trying to say there was badwrongfun, and then immediately I pause to say THERE IS BADWRONGFUN.</p>
<p>I don't know how to explain the joke beyond that. </blockquote><p>Maybe that is because you were making a BADWRONGJOKE?Trinam wrote:Just prior to this post I was talking about how nobody was trying to say there was badwrongfun, and then immediately I pause to say THERE IS BADWRONGFUN.
I don't know how to explain the joke beyond that.
Maybe that is because you were making a BADWRONGJOKE?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-05-15T08:38:02ZRe: Forums: Pathfinder Society: Is it Evil to serve up defeated enemies?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ubtm&page=3?Is-it-Evil-to-serve-up-defeated-enemies#1262017-05-11T09:29:09Z2017-05-11T09:29:09Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Rysky wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Lorewalker wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Rysky wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
And to preempt a quip, hitting someone with feeblemind and then trying to eat them is still cannibalism. </blockquote>•Researches spell <i>Unawaken</i> which converts sentient creatures into non-sentient creatures. Opens restaurant• </blockquote><p>No.
<p>•bops with newspaper•</p>
<p>No. </blockquote><p>Eh, hydra-burgers are still a better restaurant idea.Rysky wrote:Lorewalker wrote: Rysky wrote:...
And to preempt a quip, hitting someone with feeblemind and then trying to eat them is still cannibalism.
*Researches spell Unawaken which converts sentient creatures into non-sentient creatures. Opens restaurant* No. *bops with newspaper*
No. Eh, hydra-burgers are still a better restaurant idea.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-05-11T09:29:09ZRe: Forums: Off-Topic Discussions: Future of the Democratic PartySnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u5ka&page=61?Future-of-the-Democratic-Party#30452017-04-26T11:50:09Z2017-04-26T11:50:09Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Irontruth wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Guy Humual wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Captain Battletoad wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Guy Humual wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">BigNorseWolf wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Guy Humual wrote:</div><blockquote>Strange then that <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/8/14848636/hillary-clinton-tv-ads" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Hillary Clinton's TV ads were almost entirely policy-free</a> </blockquote>Because people don't respond to rational policy considerations they respond to rhetoric? </blockquote>Well that would appear to be the Clinton campaign manager's position. </blockquote>I mean, he's not wrong. It's a time-honored tradition (for good reason) to appeal to the lowest common denominator when trying to attract a following. If you're not part of that group, you're not likely to be a primary target for the candidate's courtship, unless said candidate isn't serious about winning. </blockquote>Except of course this article suggests that Clinton historically had the lowest policy content in her ads. Less then any other candidate. So, it would seem that people what a little substance, but again, let's get back to what we need to talk about going forward. </blockquote>Then stop bringing up the last election. </blockquote><p>something something history something something doomed to repeat it something something nothing has changed something something bernie would have won.
<p>am i doing it right?</p>Irontruth wrote:Guy Humual wrote: Captain Battletoad wrote: Guy Humual wrote: BigNorseWolf wrote: Guy Humual wrote:Strange then that Hillary Clinton's TV ads were almost entirely policy-free
Because people don't respond to rational policy considerations they respond to rhetoric? Well that would appear to be the Clinton campaign manager's position. I mean, he's not wrong. It's a time-honored tradition (for good reason) to appeal to the lowest common denominator when trying to attract a...Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-04-26T11:50:09ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: Paladins and TortureSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2pezp&page=4?Paladins-and-Torture#1912017-04-27T05:30:36Z2017-04-26T08:00:37Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Kileanna wrote:</div><blockquote><p> ...
</p>
And as you said that torture is not the easy path, I must ask: which option here is easier than torturing the prisoner? Because I cannot think of an easier way of getting the information you want. </blockquote><p>Does torture count as the hard path if basically everything else works better?
<p>Torture <i>isn't</i> an easy and pragmatic act of cruelty. It is <i>hard</i> to get information out of torture. Almost impossible, in fact. You could almost call it a pointless and ineffective act of cruelty. Easy to get information from, it is not.</p>Kileanna wrote:...
And as you said that torture is not the easy path, I must ask: which option here is easier than torturing the prisoner? Because I cannot think of an easier way of getting the information you want.
Does torture count as the hard path if basically everything else works better? Torture isn't an easy and pragmatic act of cruelty. It is hard to get information out of torture. Almost impossible, in fact. You could almost call it a pointless and ineffective act of cruelty. Easy...Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-04-26T08:00:37ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: Does the popularity of Cthulhu defeat the purpose of Cthulhu?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u4d6&page=2?Does-the-popularity-of-Cthulhu-defeat-the#752017-04-05T09:32:13Z2017-04-05T08:17:56Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Matthew Downie wrote:</div><blockquote><p> ...
</p>
"In other news, US military spending has risen by 5% over the past year to cover the cost of the artillery shells used to repeatedly blow up Cthulhu every time he reforms. This has led to the creation of thousands of jobs in the munitions industry." </blockquote><p>Build a wall, and make R'lyeh pay for it?
<p><i>Tremendous.</i></p>Matthew Downie wrote:...
"In other news, US military spending has risen by 5% over the past year to cover the cost of the artillery shells used to repeatedly blow up Cthulhu every time he reforms. This has led to the creation of thousands of jobs in the munitions industry."
Build a wall, and make R'lyeh pay for it? Tremendous.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-04-05T08:17:56ZRe: Forums: Advice: Class weaknesses?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u755?Class-weaknesses#92017-02-23T18:25:57Z2017-02-23T02:38:14Z<p>Spellcasters are weak to GM fiat.</p>Spellcasters are weak to GM fiat.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-02-23T02:38:14ZRe: Forums: Off-Topic Discussions: People on These Boards Tend to be a Little ContrarianSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u4x5?People-on-These-Boards-Tend-to-be-a-Little#52017-06-11T19:33:09Z2017-01-23T10:53:17Z<p>You are right, we do tend to be a little contrarian.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Your move, KC.</p>You are right, we do tend to be a little contrarian.
...
Your move, KC.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-01-23T10:53:17ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: Can we ditch the nonsense with infernal healing yet?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u41o&page=3?Can-we-ditch-the-nonsense-with-infernal#1402019-12-11T00:42:58Z2017-01-12T15:04:06Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Rysky wrote:</div><blockquote><p> ...
</p>
If you spam aligned spells in quick succession it would shift your alignment, and thus your mindset as well.
<br />
... </blockquote><p>Got an <i>unambigous</i> citation which says that aligned acts change your personality beyond what would be expected for the acts themselves?
<p>Besides, Good people don't have to have a totally Good outlook. They just have to have a Good enough (rimshot) mindset, and our Holy Word using hero definitely has a Good enough mindset, because they are using Good spells and that makes them Good because the rules say so. What more do you want, besides aligned casting rules that aren't so mindbogglingly stupid that no GM should <i>ever</i> pay heed to them.
<br />
<div class="messageboard-quotee">Rysky wrote:</div><blockquote><p> "So nuking the entire orphanage is irredeemably evil, right? What fraction of the orphanage is not irredeemably evil? Where does the line lie between "horrible monster" and "lessening the heroic act of casting a Grand Spell of Pure, Orphan Annihilating Good"?"</p>
<p>Nuking an orphanage? Evil.</p>
<p>Nuking a town? Evil.</p>
<p>Nuking bandits that jumped you? Nuetral, so a net good act form the casting of the Good spell. </blockquote><p>You didn't answer my question. What fraction of the orphanage is <i>not</i> an irredeemably evil body count? Or is killing anyone grounds for getting sent to hell for ever and ever because redemption is not just rare and special, but only for those who do things like swear too much in church since real heavy hitters are disqualified from the heavenly choir?
<p>But it is OK, just cast Blinding ray (yes, it's Good) at some random dude and you will be right as rain for not answering my question. In fact, steal a few wallets before casting that spell. You might as well counter as much of the Good spell as you can get away with by doing petty evil things, because hey, why not? It is not as if context matters much when you blind some random bystander as part of your "Good for the Good God(s)" routine.</p>Rysky wrote:...
If you spam aligned spells in quick succession it would shift your alignment, and thus your mindset as well.
...
Got an unambigous citation which says that aligned acts change your personality beyond what would be expected for the acts themselves? Besides, Good people don't have to have a totally Good outlook. They just have to have a Good enough (rimshot) mindset, and our Holy Word using hero definitely has a Good enough mindset, because they are using Good spells and that...Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-01-12T15:04:06ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: Can we ditch the nonsense with infernal healing yet?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u41o&page=3?Can-we-ditch-the-nonsense-with-infernal#1372018-11-01T23:38:44Z2017-01-12T14:39:00Z<p>So would healing a Solar or something on the brink of death so it can save an orphanage be irredeemably good no matter what spell you used? Can that spell, or any spell cast afterwards that is also aligned not shift your alignment towards evil because you did "irredeemable" good? Or does casting 5 more infernal healings shift you to NE (you monster), like casting 5 Protection/Evil spells would make up for a mammoth monster orphanage rampage (0 to hero in 5 rounds, now I'd buy that for 125gp). Remember - Horror Adventures explicitly says that aligned spells work both ways.</p>
<p>God, this aligned casting rule is so gloriously stupid.</p>
<p>EDIT: I just noticed something.</p>
<p>So nuking the <b>entire</b> orphanage is irredeemably evil, right? What fraction of the orphanage is <i>not</i> irredeemably evil? Where does the line lie between "horrible monster" and "lessening the heroic act of casting a Grand Spell of Pure, Orphan Annihilating Good"?</p>So would healing a Solar or something on the brink of death so it can save an orphanage be irredeemably good no matter what spell you used? Can that spell, or any spell cast afterwards that is also aligned not shift your alignment towards evil because you did "irredeemable" good? Or does casting 5 more infernal healings shift you to NE (you monster), like casting 5 Protection/Evil spells would make up for a mammoth monster orphanage rampage (0 to hero in 5 rounds, now I'd buy that for 125gp)....Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-01-12T14:39:00ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: Can we ditch the nonsense with infernal healing yet?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u41o&page=3?Can-we-ditch-the-nonsense-with-infernal#1352023-12-28T04:09:10Z2017-01-12T14:22:02Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Snowlilly wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Snowblind, Snarkwyrm wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Rysky wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
Depends, everything isn't just one whole single Alignment Act after you do something, so casting Infernal Healing (Evil) to save someone who is dying (Good) would go a ways to counter the Evil from casting Infernal Heaing but it wouldn't equal out. That's why aligned magic is dangerous, especially very tempting aligned magic. </blockquote>Likewise, using Holy Word (Good) to nuke an entire orphanage filled with little children would go a ways to counter the Good from casting Holy Word but it wouldn't equal out. That's why aligned magic is dangerous, especially very tempting orphan nuking aligned magic, because alignment is mostly a label and having the wrong label is Bad(TM) because it is dangerous because it is bad(TM). </blockquote>What if they were orphaned goblin children? </blockquote><p>Then it is just a Good act, because goblins are evil because the bestiary says so. Yes, even children. <i>Especially</i> Children.
<p>I do have to warn you though, for every goblin <i>baby</i> orphan that you hit, somewhere in the world a Paladin falls.</p>Snowlilly wrote:Snowblind, Snarkwyrm wrote: Rysky wrote:...
Depends, everything isn't just one whole single Alignment Act after you do something, so casting Infernal Healing (Evil) to save someone who is dying (Good) would go a ways to counter the Evil from casting Infernal Heaing but it wouldn't equal out. That's why aligned magic is dangerous, especially very tempting aligned magic.
Likewise, using Holy Word (Good) to nuke an entire orphanage filled with little children would go a ways to...Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-01-12T14:22:02ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: Can we ditch the nonsense with infernal healing yet?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u41o&page=3?Can-we-ditch-the-nonsense-with-infernal#1332018-11-01T23:37:06Z2017-01-12T14:12:53Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Rysky wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
Depends, everything isn't just one whole single Alignment Act after you do something, so casting Infernal Healing (Evil) to save someone who is dying (Good) would go a ways to counter the Evil from casting Infernal Heaing but it wouldn't equal out. That's why aligned magic is dangerous, especially very tempting aligned magic. </blockquote><p>Likewise, using Holy Word (Good) to nuke an entire orphanage filled with little children would go a ways to counter the Good from casting Holy Word but it wouldn't equal out. That's why aligned magic is dangerous, especially very tempting orphan nuking aligned magic, because alignment is mostly a label and having the wrong label is Bad(TM) because it is dangerous because it is bad(TM).Rysky wrote:...
Depends, everything isn't just one whole single Alignment Act after you do something, so casting Infernal Healing (Evil) to save someone who is dying (Good) would go a ways to counter the Evil from casting Infernal Heaing but it wouldn't equal out. That's why aligned magic is dangerous, especially very tempting aligned magic.
Likewise, using Holy Word (Good) to nuke an entire orphanage filled with little children would go a ways to counter the Good from casting Holy Word but...Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-01-12T14:12:53ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: Anything you feel 3.x did better than Pathfinder?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u403&page=2?Anything-you-feel-3x-did-better-than-Pathfinder#742017-06-11T19:34:29Z2017-01-10T02:21:06Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Threeshades wrote:</div><blockquote><p> I've heard a complaint before that thanks to feats being every uneven level in pathfinder, the game is much more open to minmaxing and powergaming than 3rd. Any thoughts?
</p>
... </blockquote><p>Oh, definitely. All the Polymorph, PrC hopping and Gate Chaining shenanigans in the world cannot compare to having Toughness, Power Attack <i>and</i> Weapon focus before level 6.Threeshades wrote:I've heard a complaint before that thanks to feats being every uneven level in pathfinder, the game is much more open to minmaxing and powergaming than 3rd. Any thoughts?
...
Oh, definitely. All the Polymorph, PrC hopping and Gate Chaining shenanigans in the world cannot compare to having Toughness, Power Attack and Weapon focus before level 6.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-01-10T02:21:06ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: What's wrong with the fighterSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u00s&page=17?Whats-wrong-with-the-fighter#8482017-06-11T19:34:36Z2017-01-06T23:57:35Z<p>My eyes. My poor, bleeding eyes.</p>My eyes. My poor, bleeding eyes.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-01-06T23:57:35ZRe: Forums: Rules Questions: can a witch's Forced Reincarnation hex be used on herself?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u3ve?can-a-witchs-Forced-Reincarnation-hex-be-used#42017-06-11T19:34:42Z2017-01-06T08:26:01Z<p>•opens mouth•</p>
<p>•closes it•</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>That is <i>glorious</i>.</p>*opens mouth*
*closes it*
...
...
That is glorious.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2017-01-06T08:26:01ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: I'm starting to think pathfinder 2.0 should happenSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u1uj&page=6?Im-starting-to-think-pathfinder-20-should-happen#2622017-01-21T15:08:50Z2016-12-07T15:57:31Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Milo v3 wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Kthanid wrote:</div><blockquote><br />
<br />
Which concept is there that you couldn't use the base classes for?
<br />
Keeping it to "standard" fantasy, of course, because "Star Wars Stormtrooper" is obviously a different field (though still...).
<br />
The base classes are even redundant within themselves (Sorcerer/Wizard, Cleric/Paladin, Cleric/Druid, Barbarian/Fighter/Ranger, Bard/Rogue), the only difference is in rules, but rules only affect character concept so far. The Alchemist, Summoner and Witch are still Sorcerers/Wizards, from an archetypal and conceptual perspective, the Cavalier is still a Fighter, and so on. What do you want to bring in? A Kineticist who could be an elemental-focused Sorcerer/Wizard?
<br />
Just because they made different rules for something, it doesn't mean you weren't already able to play it. Unless you're the least imaginative person on the planet, etc., etc. </blockquote>Any mage who doesn't use vancian casting? A warrior who is a living conduit to the plane of negative energy which tears apart their body as they use their power is just a wizard to you? Warriors who can destroy spells through pure skill? Heracles? A young man is accompanied by the ghost of his dead twin? Dragon riders? The warrior who can summon hundreds of weapons and launch them at their enemies? Anyone from celtic myth? A person who died and is possessing their own body by exploiting the fact they were destined for greatness? A warrior who get's supernatural power from her mother's bow? A mage who get's knowledge by literally eating books? A mage who get's his magical power from just having genies who bring the magic to him? A mage which battles foes in a thought-space rather than the realworld? The warrior who can feast on creatures and take their powers? A gunslinger who shoots spells? A nature mage who can use ritual sacrifice to help plants grow? A warrior who is merged with a freaking cosmic-soulstuff-mecha-cop? Undead powered by positive energy? A person who turns takes their soul and shapes it into armour and weaponry? The boy who literally has an angel and a devil on his shoulder? </blockquote><p>I'm pretty sure a wizard could do that.Milo v3 wrote:Kthanid wrote:
Which concept is there that you couldn't use the base classes for?
Keeping it to "standard" fantasy, of course, because "Star Wars Stormtrooper" is obviously a different field (though still...).
The base classes are even redundant within themselves (Sorcerer/Wizard, Cleric/Paladin, Cleric/Druid, Barbarian/Fighter/Ranger, Bard/Rogue), the only difference is in rules, but rules only affect character concept so far. The Alchemist, Summoner and Witch are still...Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-12-07T15:57:31ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: Where has all the magic goneSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u08e?Where-has-all-the-magic-gone#482016-12-20T22:02:34Z2016-11-27T22:45:54Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">DrDeth wrote:</div><blockquote><p> 5E is no more a solution than houserules are. </p>
<p>You're the DM, you can control the magic. You can do that in a OD&D game and in a 5E game. </blockquote><p>Yeah, you can hammer in that nail with a hammer, or you can hammer it in with a soap bubble. You are the GM-Hammer-Man. You control your tools. Don't let your tools control you. Use whichever tool you want to, because it makes literally no difference to you in any way if you are <b>in charge</b> of your game-tool-thing.
<p>...</p>
<p>Wait, what?</p>DrDeth wrote:5E is no more a solution than houserules are.
You're the DM, you can control the magic. You can do that in a OD&D game and in a 5E game.
Yeah, you can hammer in that nail with a hammer, or you can hammer it in with a soap bubble. You are the GM-Hammer-Man. You control your tools. Don't let your tools control you. Use whichever tool you want to, because it makes literally no difference to you in any way if you are in charge of your game-tool-thing. ...
Wait, what?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-11-27T22:45:54ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: Anyone else paranoid when it comes to martial characters and weapons?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u14w&page=2?Anyone-else-paranoid-when-it-comes-to-martial#672016-12-20T22:02:41Z2016-11-24T12:00:59Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Mark Thomas 66 wrote:</div><blockquote><p> Play a ...dun dun DUUUNNN....Fighter. You can kill people with a stick.
</p>
Even better a fighter with disarm.</p>
<p>Oh you broke my weapon? Let me kill you with yours. </blockquote><p>Oh yeah, its not like the class design of fighters pushes them towards heavy specialization in one category of weapons, or even worse, one extremely specific kind of weapon. Fighters can just pick up and use any weapon without a care in the world, because they won't take Weapon Training, (Greater) Weapon Specialization or (Greater) Weapon Focus. Barbarians, Paladins, Rangers, Druids, Clerics, etc are all screwed, though. But not a fighter. Nope, Nope, Not at allMark Thomas 66 wrote:Play a ...dun dun DUUUNNN....Fighter. You can kill people with a stick.
Even better a fighter with disarm.Oh you broke my weapon? Let me kill you with yours.
Oh yeah, its not like the class design of fighters pushes them towards heavy specialization in one category of weapons, or even worse, one extremely specific kind of weapon. Fighters can just pick up and use any weapon without a care in the world, because they won't take Weapon Training, (Greater) Weapon...Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-11-24T12:00:59ZRe: Forums: Off-Topic Discussions: To the RepublicSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u0bp&page=2?To-the-Republic#692016-11-10T21:26:44Z2016-11-10T21:26:44Z<p>Clever...</p>Clever...Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-11-10T21:26:44ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: What's wrong with the fighterSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2u00s&page=4?Whats-wrong-with-the-fighter#1762016-12-20T22:02:45Z2016-11-08T20:57:04Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">jeremiah dodson 812 wrote:</div><blockquote> The Fighter was fixed successfully awhile ago, it's called Path of War. </blockquote><p>But what if you don't want weeaboo fihtan magic?
<p>And before you respond...yes, I know damn well exactly how "weeaboo" PoW is. But <i>I</i> am not the one you need to convince.</p>jeremiah dodson 812 wrote:The Fighter was fixed successfully awhile ago, it's called Path of War.
But what if you don't want weeaboo fihtan magic? And before you respond...yes, I know damn well exactly how "weeaboo" PoW is. But I am not the one you need to convince.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-11-08T20:57:04ZRe: Forums: Off-Topic Discussions: 2016 US ElectionSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2tt8r&page=129?2016-US-Election#64102016-11-05T23:48:55Z2016-11-05T23:48:55Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Kobold Cleaver wrote:</div><blockquote> I don't know why, but I keep reading that as, "With the exception of SWAT, police strippers and similar..." </blockquote><p>Get your head out of the gutter, KC.
<p>Unless you fell there after passing out from a drinking binge induced by the phrase "President Trump". In that case, I think I might join you.</p>Kobold Cleaver wrote:I don't know why, but I keep reading that as, "With the exception of SWAT, police strippers and similar..."
Get your head out of the gutter, KC. Unless you fell there after passing out from a drinking binge induced by the phrase "President Trump". In that case, I think I might join you.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-11-05T23:48:55ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: Start to doubt alignment system.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2tzas&page=2?Start-to-doubt-alignment-system#922016-11-02T01:58:06Z2016-11-02T01:58:06Z<p>By the power of wishful thinking?</p>By the power of wishful thinking?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-11-02T01:58:06ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: Cheating gm?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2tz10&page=6?Cheating-gm#2992016-10-29T09:10:01Z2016-10-29T09:10:01Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">RDM42 wrote:</div><blockquote><p>...
</p>
.</p>
<p>Except for - what makes you think the particular statistical sequence you 'detected' is invalid? Flipping heads twenty times in a row, for example, is a void statistical outcome. And not rolling twenty for two sessions straight has happened even rolling out in the open. </blockquote><p>Right, so lets say that the GM apparently rolled three very low numbers in a row that just happen to save a PC from nigh-certain death.
<p>And they hesitated before declaring the results of the rolls, which isn't something they normally do.</p>
<p>And their body language and tone was abnormal, in a way that would typically suggest intent to deceive.</p>
<p>Naturally, a reasonable person would think that the PC just got lucky and the GM is a totally honest, upstanding Game Master.</p>
<p>No, wait, that's completely stupid. The reasonable thing to think is that the GM <i>probably</i> fudged the rolls, and that they are reasonably likely to also fudge other rolls in future when the PCs are in vaguely similar circumstances.</p>
<p>On a more general note, you can fool some players some of the time, but you can't fool all players all of the time, and it only takes one misstep before a player (or the entire table, if they reveal their suspicions) will operate under the default assumption that any lucky break may actually be the GM screwing with the numbers. They wouldn't know for sure that the GM is fudging, but they would know that the GM probably <i>would</i> fudge if they felt they needed to, and that is enough for most purposes.</p>RDM42 wrote:...
.Except for - what makes you think the particular statistical sequence you 'detected' is invalid? Flipping heads twenty times in a row, for example, is a void statistical outcome. And not rolling twenty for two sessions straight has happened even rolling out in the open.
Right, so lets say that the GM apparently rolled three very low numbers in a row that just happen to save a PC from nigh-certain death. And they hesitated before declaring the results of the rolls, which...Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-10-29T09:10:01ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: My GM being fair?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2klcb?My-GM-being-fair#342016-10-23T22:51:05Z2016-10-23T22:51:05Z<p>•••confused face•••</p>***confused face***Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-10-23T22:51:05ZRe: Forums: Off-Topic Discussions: 2016 US ElectionSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2tt8r&page=112?2016-US-Election#55692016-10-23T05:29:08Z2016-10-23T05:29:08Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">CrystalSeas wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">Knight who says Meh wrote:</div><blockquote> I have to say I'm getting really tired of Trump supporters complaining about "the elite." </blockquote>Get used to it. Bernie supporters complain about them too. </blockquote><p>I thought the Bernie bros complained about the top one tenth of the one percent?CrystalSeas wrote:Knight who says Meh wrote: I have to say I'm getting really tired of Trump supporters complaining about "the elite."
Get used to it. Bernie supporters complain about them too. I thought the Bernie bros complained about the top one tenth of the one percent?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-10-23T05:29:08ZRe: Forums: Rules Questions: We are forced to use a feat if it lack the text "you can choose to"?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2tyky&page=4?We-are-forced-to-use-a-feat-if-it-lack-the#1682016-10-22T20:57:33Z2016-10-22T05:38:42Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Buri Reborn wrote:</div><blockquote> Trouble with that is, doesn't it give credence for a PFS GM to say "no take 10, period"? </blockquote><p>Yes. It can be used to justify literally any behavior by the GM so long as they can say that they were doing it because of "mah dramah and pacing".
<p>That is exactly why it is a widely despised "non-FAQ". It is as if part of the player base asked "This is too vague, can you be more specific?", and the PDT responded "Too vague you say? 'k then, to be more specific, it can be anything your GM wants it to be because they know how to write their story better than you, you poor stupid player...why are we giving this non-answer, you ask? &$•% you, that's why."</p>Buri Reborn wrote:Trouble with that is, doesn't it give credence for a PFS GM to say "no take 10, period"?
Yes. It can be used to justify literally any behavior by the GM so long as they can say that they were doing it because of "mah dramah and pacing". That is exactly why it is a widely despised "non-FAQ". It is as if part of the player base asked "This is too vague, can you be more specific?", and the PDT responded "Too vague you say? 'k then, to be more specific, it can be anything your...Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-10-22T05:38:42ZRe: Forums: Advice: How do you think some of these situations should be handled?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2tykv?How-do-you-think-some-of-these-situations#342016-10-22T04:36:47Z2016-10-22T04:36:47Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Bloodrealm wrote:</div><blockquote> ...{evil} deity ...right mind ...</blockquote><p>Heh, funny. You're a funny guy.Bloodrealm wrote:...{evil} deity ...right mind ...
Heh, funny. You're a funny guy.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-10-22T04:36:47ZRe: Forums: Rules Questions: We are forced to use a feat if it lack the text "you can choose to"?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2tyky&page=4?We-are-forced-to-use-a-feat-if-it-lack-the#1632016-10-22T02:39:58Z2016-10-22T02:39:58Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Buri Reborn wrote:</div><blockquote><p> I was until you popped up, guy.</p>
<p><span class=messageboard-ooc>Is guy too soon? "Pal" and "buddy" seemed too antagonistic even though it goes along with the meme.</span></p>
<p>But, really, even when I pointed out your error you persisted trying to act oblivious. So, yeah... </blockquote><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvYfRiJQIX8" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">You should probably just fold.</a>Buri Reborn wrote:I was until you popped up, guy.
Is guy too soon? "Pal" and "buddy" seemed too antagonistic even though it goes along with the meme.
But, really, even when I pointed out your error you persisted trying to act oblivious. So, yeah...
You should probably just fold.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-10-22T02:39:58ZRe: Forums: Rules Questions: We are forced to use a feat if it lack the text "you can choose to"?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2tyky&page=4?We-are-forced-to-use-a-feat-if-it-lack-the#1512016-11-05T09:52:44Z2016-10-21T23:46:45Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">TriOmegaZero wrote:</div><blockquote> Yeah, but you can't market a product that doesn't do what it says it does. </blockquote><p>Well, yeah.
<p>Now, I have this snake oil here that will cure all your woes. Plenty of people buy it, so it <i>must</i> work. Want some?</p>TriOmegaZero wrote:Yeah, but you can't market a product that doesn't do what it says it does.
Well, yeah. Now, I have this snake oil here that will cure all your woes. Plenty of people buy it, so it must work. Want some?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-10-21T23:46:45ZRe: Forums: Rules Questions: Reflex save while paralyzedSnowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2txza&page=3?Reflex-save-while-paralyzed#1182016-10-21T21:27:49Z2016-10-21T21:15:03Z<p>I wonder how this will be taken...</p>
<p><span class=messageboard-ooc>•••munches popcorn•••</span></p>I wonder how this will be taken...
***munches popcorn***Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-10-21T21:15:03ZRe: Forums: Advice and Rules Questions: Warlord OP?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2tz0b?Warlord-OP#132016-11-05T09:52:48Z2016-10-21T01:23:46Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Wraithguard wrote:</div><blockquote> ... I then started equating {literally anything else} to spells and nothing seemed overpowered anymore. </blockquote><p>Funny, that.Wraithguard wrote:... I then started equating {literally anything else} to spells and nothing seemed overpowered anymore.
Funny, that.Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-10-21T01:23:46ZRe: Forums: Off-Topic Discussions: Is it tacky to favorite your own posts?Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2tymd?Is-it-tacky-to-favorite-your-own-posts#252016-11-05T09:52:56Z2016-10-16T03:35:32Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Tacticslion wrote:</div><blockquote> <div class="messageboard-quotee">MageHunter wrote:</div><blockquote><p> Wait, so I don't need to repent anymore?</p>
<p>Hurrah! </blockquote><p>Hah! Ninja'd and didn't notice.
<p>Well, it's important to note that I'm not exactly Iomedae... </blockquote><p>So you •don't• torture people for not being your fawning, docile adorers?
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6JHaBVySTA" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">•••zoidbergs•••</a></p>Tacticslion wrote:MageHunter wrote:Wait, so I don't need to repent anymore?
Hurrah!
Hah! Ninja'd and didn't notice. Well, it's important to note that I'm not exactly Iomedae... So you *don't* torture people for not being your fawning, docile adorers? ***zoidbergs***Snowblind, Snarkwyrm (alias of Snowblind)2016-10-16T03:35:32ZRe: Forums/Pathfinder First Edition: General Discussion: Template Hit Die oddity, Am I missing something?Snowblind, Pedantry Drake (alias of Snowblind)https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ty1i?Template-Hit-Die-oddity-Am-I-missing-something#82016-10-07T14:24:27Z2016-10-07T14:24:27Z<div class="messageboard-quotee">Orfamay Quest wrote:</div><blockquote><p> ...
</p>
I've been wondering. What religion is the Pope? </blockquote><p>Garden variety or Space Lizard Pope?Orfamay Quest wrote:...
I've been wondering. What religion is the Pope?
Garden variety or Space Lizard Pope?Snowblind, Pedantry Drake (alias of Snowblind)2016-10-07T14:24:27Z