Me too.
Don't see why the periapt ''wouldn't'' give a vampire boosted fast-healing though. Or a troll boosted regeneration.
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...I'm actually a svetocher dhampir with the black blood bloodline. Because I stupidly listened when the DM said, "Yeah, sure, play whatever you want." Shoulda specified that up top. Point being, I looked at fast healer, and I agree it would work... but my Con is only 12, and I dunno if I'll increase it. Stupid ten-point buy. ...And that aberrant tumor thing would definitely work, though I'druther not shaft my already-negative will-save even further by actually crossblooding it.
But the rules for fast healing specifically describe it as being "just like natural healing," while the healing from spelleating is not mentioned as being magical.
I'm playing a spelleater bloodrager in a campaign with a dearth of divine casters. We're doing... okay, though the odd challenge that we'd win real fast with a cleric on the party is getting old. Anyway. I'm, as you've probably gleaned from the title, playing a spelleater bloodrager, and while the DM was nice enough to let us actually buy a wand of Inflict light wounds in town, long-term I'd like to really capitalize on the archetype's self-healing abilities. Here are three tricks I've found so far for higher levels: Ablative Barrier: convert some damage to nonlethal, then double-dip on my healing. It's almost as good as DR! Periapt of Wound Closure: Unless I drastically misunderstand how this item works, I'd gain double my regeneration for both spelleating and fast healing. Ring of Regeneration: It's ''technically'' not fast-healing, and combos with the Periapt for another two hp. Are there any other ways to either convert lethal damage I'd take into non-lethal or to otherwise increase my fast healing? Pathfinder's a huge game, and I'm not sure I wouldn't miss something.
To be blunt, I hate that this item exists: http://www.pfsdb.com/magicitems/hex-nail What, the better spell list wasn't enough? You've got to make the witch even more inferior to the wizard by giving any modestly-prepared adventuring team and/or bad guy the ability to just roll into town and buy a dime bag of save boosters? So, I'm trying to homebrew similar items that counter other casters. I'm thinking of grouping them into categories. Wizard/Sorcerer/Magi (and assorted subclasses) could be countered by a Spell Blocks, little cubes of odd-colored lead of unusually light weight that contain tiny pieces of the null-magic that created the Mana Wastes. They are produced in Alkenstar, as one of its many unique exports, and work on dragons and other magical beasts as well as arcane casters. The lead blocks lose their odd color and become slightly heavier when they are consumed. Clerics/Oracles and other "religious" divine spellcasters can be countered with Lawstones, little tablets carved with excerpts of the Laws of Man. They were invented, naturally enough, in Rahadoum, where many are actually mass-produced using concrete-pressing technology, and carried by government agents while abroad, to protect them from the influence of so-called "divine" forces. The secret of their manufacture has spread, however, and they can be found in many far-flung areas of the continent. They work against the abilities of Good and Evil outsiders as well as "religious" divine casters. Each tablet crumbles, with an audible metallic ringing sound, when it is consumed. And, finally, druid/rangers and other "natural" divine spellcasters are countered with Firehobs, the remains of trees that have been rendered into charcoal while still living, then pierced with nails. These ancient, traditional counters to the influence of nature-worshippers are common across Golarion in any number of societies that have had conflicts with practitioners of the Green Faith, though not all are properly manufactured or made in the correct manner. They work on fey and plant creatures. When consumed, the nails pop out of the charcoal, which then crumbles into black dust.
Pathfinder has rules, however, for altering racial traits during play, as though retraining feats, class abilities, etc. I agree, it'd work very well under those circumstances, but... otherwise, again, he's still spending a feat for something that, in my opinion, hurts him as much as it helps him, mechanically.
I like the *idea* of the Empathy feat, but not in its current form. As it stands, you gain some nice stuff (can get morale bonuses, no Sense Motive penalty) and lose some nice stuff (no longer emotion-proof, no longer have mind-effecting resistance). But that kind of trade-off is not in line with a feat. That's an alternate racial trait. And giving it a 13 Charisma bar to entry is just punishing and unnecessary, especially in groups that prefer point buy. I'm going to run a game soon. If one player wants to play an android, would letting him take Empathy as an alternate racial trait instead of a feat really be that broken and damaging?
My point with the style feats is that you're essentially promising to burn at least one more feat to get full effectiveness (since you need at least one more style to get any use out of Style Master), and probably more, since the style feats work best upgraded. But, fair enough. Glad to see that you agree the rest mostly stands. I admit, I wasn't thinking of how touch-attack spells might interact with the bloodrager's unarmed strikes though. Not sure if it makes up for it.
As one might guess by my previous attempts to homebrew an unarmed barbarian archetype, I was initially quite excited for the Bloody-Knuckled Rowdy. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'm happy with what I got. To be blunt, it seems like the Rowdy gives up loads of useful things and gets something between very little and absolutely nothing in return. Fast movement gone for Improved Unarmed Strike rather than the weapon proficiencies an unarmed character isn't going to use anyway. Uncanny Dodge and its upgrade gone for two feats, one of which needs more feats burnt just to break even. And, most egregiously, damage reduction and spells-per-day both cut, one completely, one rather severely, for a weak, cut-down version of monk unarmed damage without the flurry of extra attacks that makes it work for the monk. So, help me to understand, as the title says. Why is the Rowdy so gimped as to be, essentially, a version of the 'Rager that is categorically worse in every way?
I think the negative reactions are less against the use of those subjects (most of which are, after all, just tools that can be used well or poorly), but by their most vocal proponents: the snobbish, old-guard grognards who can't look at the Armor Class column without busting out a "Back in my day, the AC went backwards, and you had to use charts and math and THAC0 to figure out if you'd even hit!" And so on. I doubt anyone would really tell you you're doing it wrong, though, if you do those things. The whole point of the game, after all, is to enjoy it, and if they make a more enjoyable game, then who's to complain? After all, the reason we get unhappy with the snobs is that they're convinced that their way of enjoying the game is the only "correct" way of doing it, and everyone else is *doing it wrong*. Be pretty hypocritical of use to say *you're* not doing it right.
I don't get why the game makes you *pay* for Quadruped when you're essentially *losing* all the advantages of your large size for a really corner-case benefit.
See, the problem there is that prepared casters generally get fewer spells per day than their spontaneous kin, and I don't quite know how the formula to balance it out works. Plus, bards generally only know a very small number of spells, and I'm not sure what kind of "ripple effect" giving them access to all of them at once might cause. But, at the same time, not giving them access to more spells than the spontaneous caster is more of a straight nerf than a twist on the playstyle. Hmmmm... maybe take the magus route and let them carry around a spell book, but still forcing them to only take spells off the bard spell list?
I found a Pathfinder conversion of the old AD&D rogue modron that I really liked, and I suddenly had the idea to try to build a modron bard. Because I am easily amused, and the thought of a modron monotonously claiming his intention to "utilize a sequence of pleasant sonic tones to improve morale and promote frivolity" amused me. But then... well, I realized that, RAW, that was completely impossible. Modrons, even rogues, must be Lawful, and bards can never be, plus they take a penalty to their primary stat. Yet... well, from there, I tried to think of ways to turn this thing around. I'm doing this as I go along, and I'm still not sure if this should be modron-restricted or not. I'm also worried about possible impact from replacing the bard's spontaneous casting with cleric-style "prepared casting from a larger list," so I dropped it despite the thematic use one might get out of it. I also feel like I outta cook something up to replace Jack of All Trades, but I admit that I'm blanking. Gotta start somewhere though. So, well, here... we... go. Progressive Musician:
Alignment Restriction: A progressive musician must be of Lawful alignment. This replaces the normal bardic alignment restrictions. Intelligence Dependent: A progressive musician creates music through rigorous intellectual craftsmanship rather than sudden creative bursts. She uses Intelligence instead of Charisma when determining the highest level of spells she can cast, her spell save DCs, the number of spells known at 1st level, and any effects of her performances normally determined by her Charisma. Additionally, the progressive musician who has at least one skill point in a Perform (instrument) skill may use Intelligence rather than Charisma on the the Perform skill checks she makes to use the instrument. This ability replaces the bardic knowledge (Ex) power. Forceful Artist (Ex): A progressive musician's rigorous, logical approach to his art begins to reflect itself in his spells and music. Once per round, a progressive musician may sacrifice his move action to increase the effective CL of the next spell he casts before the end of his next turn by 1, or to increase the bonuses or save DCs of his next bardic performance before the end of his next turn by the same amount. This ability replaces the Well-Versed (Ex) ability.
I guess I'm having a hard time seeing why such a comparatively limited magic item is so pricey.
God bless you, chbgraphicarts, that post is a thing of beauty. Thanks.
Gotcha. Also, whoa! That's... pretty pricey for the limitations on it. I wonder why? I guess the moral of the story is "Ask the GM?" Gotcha. Thanks.
So, I was building a monk and, for fun, wanted to give him magic gauntlets that grant reach. (He may or may not be inspired by a certain Samurai Warriors ninja, Koei can't prove anything and parody is protected speech.) Now, I know that there's a level 1 spell (Long Arm) that does exactly what I want, extending the caster's reach by five feet, and I can suppose that a level 1 spell is cheaper than a level 2 spell. (Brilliant, I know.) But when I try to read the chart to figure out exactly how expensive it would be to give the item a number of charges per day, it almost looks as though it would be *cheaper* than a plain item, which can't be right. And making the effect continuous looks like it would cost more money than I'd like to spend on what basically amounts to a novelty. Any help? And post your math, if you don't mind: I admit to being dumb enough to want some equations to go with it.
Again, I recommend an amplification of the subject's cruel, violent, selfish feelings as a result of a spell for a temporary time after it's cast. Hmmm... maybe a save negates, and a target aware it's being cast gets a situational bonus to try to resist it? Again, I feel it's a good reason for an otherwise-innocuous spell to have some side effects beyond having a big fat evil stamped on it just 'cause.
How about causing temporary but stark changes in personality, inclining the healee towards violent, cruel behavior? You know, a hero becomes a jerk, a jerk becomes an ''evil'' jerk, etc.? It'd be roleplay-dependent, but no worse I reckon than helms of alignment changing or the effects of a suggestion spell.
I was incredibly happy when I learned that Pathfinder let monks wear cesti to deal "unarmed" damage, and incredibly sad to learn that, no, it didn't work that way. But, after some thought, I came to agree with that assessment. After all, it's basically doubling the monk's crit range and offering an extra damage type with no downsides. So, instead, I offer this houserule. When a monk, brawler, or other class with natural bonuses to unarmed damage utilizes a cestus, he or she may choose to use his or her unarmed damage rather than the weapon's normal damage. However, when doing so, he or she loses all the normal advantages of ki strike, brawler's strike, or any other such class abilities that would normally bypass damage reduction. The way I see it, this gives the monk (or monk-equivalent) concrete incentives to go bare-handed rather than automatically stick to cesti no matter what. Thoughts? Just realized that this limitation is basically incompatible for my favorite monk archetype, the martial artist. Cuss.
...The problem I forsee with Gate is that infamous story about the guy who, with the help of a Time Stop and a couple scrolls, obliterated all psionics by opening a perma-Gate into the heart of the Negative Material Plane right in the middle of the Plane of Force. And, theoretically, could have done the same to just about ''any'' plane. Yowza.
Some homebrew races I do for a set purpose, like, "This game needs a 'half-ooze'!" or "Why exactly do centaurs have to *pay* to gain Quadruped when it basically takes away all the advantages of their Large size for a weak and highly situational benefit?" This one I did for myself. Really hope that Pathfinder gnomes are as fond of alchemy in the Inner Sea as they were in my friend's homebrew setting... Al'thar (al'thari, al'thari) and Ar'ketu (ar'keti, ar'keti) The races currently known as "the al'thari" and "the ar'keti" are the by-product of generations of exposure to alchemical run-off and unsafe dumping practices on the part of the mountain gnomes. Enthusiastic tinkers and inventors, the mountain gnomes frequently give little thought to the consequences of their actions, and they were as surprised as anyone when humanoid creatures began to climb out of the two rivers bordering the City of Green Smoke. The ancestors of the al'thari and ar'keti were two species of freshwater octopus, generally content to consume fish and pry open other river mollusks with their beaks. However, when the City of Green Smoke sprung up in the proverbial next door, their rivers were soon running every color of the rainbow with alchemical refuse and magically reactive by-products of the mountain gnomes' industry. Quite a few of the river creatures perished in the new environment, but the survivors quickly found themselves changing at an accelerated rate. The river octopi in particular, already blessed with an abundance of brain matter, found their wits quickening and new horizons of thought expanding before them. Many of them had begun to develop lungs and rudimentary limbs, and they climbed out of the rivers to investigate matters on shore. Careless the mountain gnomes might be, but the discovery that they had accidentally birthed a new race was, in a word, shocking. Many worried about the problems that sapient creatures would face as unstable mutants without the real ability to communicate with other sapient life forms. As gnomes, they felt at least rudimentary responsibility to their inadvertent creations, and their curiosity was piqued at the puzzle posed by modifying them to fit the pressures of civilized life. Quickly, they were separated into two distinct classifiable species, the larger, faster "alberta catharsa molluska," or "Albert's Pure Mollusks," and the smaller, more-intelligent "armena klepta molluska," or "Armen's Thieving Mollusks." The former was named for an infamous incident when one accidentally fell into a rendering tank and was brewed into a particularly delicious alcohol, the latter for a moment when it stole and ruined the well-decorated hat of a passing priest that happened to contain several raw oysters as part of an arrangement. Vast drag-net operations were conducted to strain all the various mutated octopi they could catch out of the river, and magic-users of all stripes, arcane and divine, alchemical and sorcerous, went to work on modifying them. After a few years of work and a couple truly disastrous missteps that the mountain gnomes prefer not to talk about, the modern al'thari and ar'ketu had each become a truly new humanoid race. The average al'thar stands nearly seven feet tall, but is not really built to match, with long, thin limbs and a narrow torso. Were it not for their internal mantles, they would have difficulty walking upright under their own weight. An ar'keti, by contrast, is generally quite small, only a little taller than a gnome, and has a much thicker build. Both have smooth, rubbery skin over most of their bodies, and physically resemble a octopus perched atop a humanoid torso. Their four-digit hands have weak suction cups lining their palms and long, thin fingers. Most al'thar have skin colors along a spectrum from deep purple to dark blue, while ar'keti skin runs from a softer blue to a cool, dark green. Both races have very earthy skin tones. Al'thari and ar'keti can be found in most mountain gnome settlements, having fully integrated into gnomish culture. Al'thari tend to be very polite and traditional, tending towards a lawful alignment, while ar'keti are louder and more creative, tending towards chaotic alignments. Both races are generally rather gregarious and good-natured, like their gnomish progenitors. ...I don't know how to post or scan pictures, so I can't show an al'thar wearing a suit, monocle, and top hat and an ar'ketu wearing street clothes and a cheap derby for reference. Just think really British octopus people. Both races have genders, but neither is visibly sexually dymorphic to mammalian onlookers, though part of the modifications the gnomes have made to them includes warm blood. Each race recieves a +15 circumstance bonus on all bluff checks made to pass as a member of the opposite sex to anyone but another al'thar or ar'ketu. Most tend to form mating pairs in a very gnomish fashion, though ar'keti tend to have more children at a time. Females gestate one to three eggs at a time, before they "hatch" and the young exit her body. The two races are somewhat interfertile, but the children they produce are always either al'thar or ar'ketu, not cross-bred hybrids. Neither can reproduce with other humanoid races without magical assistance. Al'thari tend to find in steady professional jobs, such as accounting, medicine, mercantile work, and legal professions. Ar'keti tend to work in very creative sectors, becoming artisans, smiths, chefs, and artists of all stripes. Al'thari adventurers are usually gunslingers or priests of the gnomish gods. Ar'keti adventures are often alchemists or wizards. Both races are frequently rogues, and find the excitement of an adventurer's life fulfilling, though for a wide spectrum of reasons. ...Whew. That's more roleplaying stuff than I expected to write. Moving on... Al'thar Type: Humanoid (mollusk) Size: Medium (0 RP) Despite their great height, the slim build of most al'thari ensures they don't take up much space. Speed: 30 ft. (0 RP) Ability Scores: Standard (0 RP)
While physically somewhat weak from their large size and aquatic origins, al'thari are a deft-handed and sensible people. Languages: Standard (0 RP) All al'thari can speak Common and Gnomish. Traits:
As mollusks, al'thari have a natural mantle within their bodies. Greater Spell Resistance (3 RP) The ancestors of the al'thari survived only because their bodies were better able to resist the surges of magically-reactive substances flooding their river home, and the al'thar have inherited that natural immunity. Amphibious (2 RP)
Most al'thari are quite comfortable in or out of water, so long as they can avoid soiling their clothes. Darkvision 60 ft. (2 RP) Most al'thari can see in the dark, a result of evolving from creatures that dwelt in murky river-bottoms. Prehensile Face Tentacles (2 RP) The long tendrils that ring the al'thari mouth can stretch to retrieve and hold a single item from their persons, exactly as if they had the Prehensile Tail racial trait. RP Total: 14 Ar'ketu Type: Humanoid (mollusk) Size: Small (0 RP) Speed: 20 ft. (-1 RP) As a result of their smaller size, ar'keti cannot always move as quickly as their larger cousins. Ability Scores: Standard (0 RP)
Though stronger than the al'thari due to their more compact size, the ar'keti are not nearly as tough. However, they are extremely intelligent and quick. Languages: Standard (0 RP) All al'thari can speak Common and Gnomish. Traits:
Though not as developed as their larger cousins, ar'keti have a natural mantle within their bodies. Greater Spell Resistance (3 RP) The ancestors of the ar'keti survived only because their bodies were better able to resist the surges of magically-reactive substances flooding their river home, and the ar'keti have inherited that natural immunity. Amphibious (2 RP)
Like their racial cousins, ar'keti can freely breath air or water and swim quite easily. Darkvision 60 ft. (2 RP) The ar'keti's mollusk eyes can see into other spectra of light, giving them good vision in the dark. Prehensile Face Tentacles (2 RP) The long tendrils that ring the ar'keti mouth can stretch to retrieve and hold a single item from their persons, exactly as if they had the Prehensile Tail racial trait. Skill Bonus: Stealth (2 RP) Former ambush predators, ar'keti possess a modest degree of natural cameoflage, and are quite adept at making themselves hidden when they wish to be. RP Total: 14 ...Whew. That was a doozy. Thoughts? My main worry is that, while conceptually different from one another, there's just not a big enough gameplay difference between the two. And I'm not sure what to do about that.
Got halfway through another post, but I realized I'm not doing anyone any good. You clearly honestly prefer Magic's color system to DnD's axis system. I will never understand that. I will never agree with that. I will never believe that forcing your players to pick, not merely their alignments, but their whole personalities from one of five "package deal" categories is less restrictive than asking them to come up with a broad outline of the sort of person their characters try to be and then letting them sketch in the details for themselves, piecemeal. But, you clearly do. And you don't seem like a bad person, nor does disagreeing with me make you one. So... go nuts. At the very least, though, you'll need to work with some of the spells to remove all the alignment stuff. Hmmm... I guess that "Detect/Smite Black/White" isn't that different from a paladin/antipaladin's usual abilities, respectively. And subbing in "White" for lawful at every stage will basically solve any issues that alignment-locked classes have, unless I'm forgetting one. Damage Reduction might be a little trickier. Maybe replace the various "alignment aura" enchantments with one. Chromatic: Insert Color Here? Heh. Be kinda cool if all the chromatic dragons suddenly change personalities to align with "evil" versions of their various chromatic alignments. Hmmm... Well, the cosmology of the planes would be pretty f@#$ed, but I guess you're probably homebrewing the cosmology of the multiverse extensively if you're swapping out the alignments. Maybe every two- or three-color mixture has its own afterlife and outsiders? Nah, that'd get unworkable in a hurry. Be easier to just assign color alignments to each of the existing factions and have them occupy particular segments of the afterlife planes, some for evil people and some for good. Of course, there's the fact that blue doesn't get a good afterlife, since being a good person is utterly incompatible with being smug a~$%#+* whose only goal in life is ruining everyone else's fun and making them all thoroughly miserable so you can feel cool about how much smarter you are than them, but that's a problem for another time. Guess I ended up enjoying this thought experiment more than I expected. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.
Got halfway through another post, but I realized I'm not doing anyone any good. You clearly honestly prefer Magic's color system to DnD's axis system. I will never understand that. I will never agree with that. I will never believe that forcing your players to pick, not merely their alignments, but their whole personalities from one of five "package deal" categories is less restrictive than asking them to come up with a broad outline of the sort of person their characters try to be and then letting them sketch in the details for themselves, piecemeal. But, you clearly do. And you don't seem like a bad person, nor does disagreeing with me make you one. So... go nuts. At the very least, though, you'll need to work with some of the spells to remove all the alignment stuff. Hmmm... I guess that "Detect/Smite Black/White" isn't that different from a paladin/antipaladin's usual abilities, respectively. And subbing in "White" for lawful at every stage will basically solve any issues that alignment-locked classes have, unless I'm forgetting one. Damage Reduction might be a little trickier. Maybe replace the various "alignment aura" enchantments with one. Chromatic: Insert Color Here? Heh. Be kinda cool if all the chromatic dragons suddenly change personalities to align with "evil" versions of their various chromatic alignments. Hmmm... Well, the cosmology of the planes would be pretty f@#$ed, but I guess you're probably homebrewing the cosmology of the multiverse extensively if you're swapping out the alignments. Maybe every two- or three-color mixture has its own afterlife and outsiders? Nah, that'd get unworkable in a hurry. Be easier to just assign color alignments to each of the existing factions and have them occupy particular segments of the afterlife planes, some for evil people and some for good. Of course, there's the fact that blue doesn't get a good afterlife, but that's a problem for another time. Guess I ended up enjoying this thought experiment more than I expected. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.
My point is, of ''course'' they're all living breathing people. But the color system is ''more'' restrictive in that sense, because each of the five colors glues together concepts in a way the alignment wheel doesn't. For instance, a lawful neutral character might be, say, an everyday hardscrabble peasant who just likes peace, quiet, and order more than his neighbors. He might be a stuffy guy who strictly obeys the code of conduct required to be a "gentleman," but does it out of deference to the code itself rather than because he believes that it's a part of being a good person. He might be a member of a desert cannibal tribe who respects traditions of hospitality even when he hates the person claiming it. He may be, if you are very unimaginative, Judge Dredd with a code of medieval paint. This is because the alignments of Dungeons and Dragons are fluid and shifting, best represented on a Euclidean plane rather than a nine-by-nine grid. In Dungeons and Dragons, your alignment is the beginning of your character, not the end of it. Colors in Magic: the Gathering, by contrast, are ultra limiting. Are you green? You now care about nature, no matter what. Are you white? You are now controlling and obsessed with the greater good. Are you blue? You are a weasely sewer-fink of a person who cares more about being right than actually doing anything helpful. They tie together more aspects of characterization into themselves than regular ol' alignment ever could, or ever intended to. All of these aspects are almost completely inextricable from the colors they represent. Mixing two of them together helps, if only because it forces one to cherry-pick which bits of any two colors are more important than the other bits, but it still hurts from the incredibly limiting nature of the original colors. Alignment in the Dungeons and Dragons axis-system is one aspect of your character. It is very simple and very granular, and it is completely possible to be "between" alignments. I could be "Chaotic Good leaning towards Neutral" or "Neutral Evil with some Lawful tendencies." It allows for lots of shades of characterization, and is a jumping off point rather than an end. Heck, one of the important parts of alignment is what is important enough to cause a character to act against his or her natural inclinations! Conversely, the color alignments are a constricting straightjacket that dictates huge chunks of who and what your character is and what they believe. They offer almost none of the "shading" that is such an important part of the Dungeons and Dragons system: how can one be "leaning" or "inclined" towards one or the other alignment when there are five points spilling into each other like paint? If you prefer it, I can understand that. But I don't honestly see how a much more-restrictive system can make you happier than a looser one if your problem is one of "realism" and making "realistic characters."
I honestly kinda find the M:tG color system even *more* restrictive than regular ol' DnD chaotic/lawful whatever. At least there, you're operating on a plane of opposed opposites; essentially, altruism/selfishness and orderly/free-spirited. In M:tG, things are just as restrictive, but with weird things welded together. White is essentially Lawful Good, and Black is essentially Neutral Evil (though I suppose in a very Nietchean "Make the best you can in a rotten world that can't be improved," sort of way), Red is Chaotic, and Blue and Green are, respectively, scholarly and druidic flavors of Neutral. All five unnecessarily blend very specific outlooks together into very specific outcomes. In short, traditional DnD alignments are less restrictive precisely because they are more granular. There are nine alignments to Magic's five colors. And saying that one can mix them together to produce different combinations that outnumber the DnD alignments doesn't really work for me. The whole point of having an "axis" system is that different people fall into different points on the spectrum. If your players feel that every Lawful Neutral character needs to be Judge Dredd, every Chaotic Evil character needs to be a cackling madman villain-type, well, bluntly, then that's their fault for being unimaginative rather than the alignment system's fault for being restrictive. Also, you're entirely too kind to blue, the backstabbing rat-bastard color, and I look forward to the day when all four of the other colors join forces to foul every sea, destroy every island, pollute every wellspring of blue mana in the plains before putting all of its adepts to the sword, finally and completely snuffing the color blue from the mana wheel once and for all and cleansing the multiverse of its smug, self-satisfied jerkfacery. *ahem* Sorry about that.
I've never had a DM ban anything for me, but I've also never had a DM run much of a "theme game." The closest I've ever come was a port-version of Eberron, and after the initial rush of "Ohmygod, can I be a warforged?!" (I was as guilty as everyone else), we all picked things that actually existed in-setting without really trying too hard to add things that weren't there. I was half-interested in looking over the "wandslinger" archetype someone put together to compensate for the obvious lack of in-setting firearms, but that ended up not happening. I guess, so long as it's a matter of "That wouldn't really fit in this setting. Would you like to try X and Y that might give you something similar?" rather than some attempt to impose orthodoxy from on high or breaking theme for theme-breaking's sake alone, I don't see any real problem here. Just so long as we treat one another as human effin' beings and not straw-stuffed stereotypes to vent at, things'd probably run just fine.
...I've half a mind to grab Rapid Reload and run. But, on second thought, maybe just replacing Gunsmithing with a bonus feat of the character's choice is the right move. Most of those alchemical arrows I found just weren't really wowing me, and none offered the kind of raw mechanical benefit that alchemical ammunition does. Bonus feats may not be the most exciting options in the world, but they seem to work well enough, and giving it the same limitations as the other bonus feats should keep 'em honest.
There's still a "Plane of Force," right? It's where the psionics come from! Maybe his ancestors were psions, or magical researchers that somehow ended up carrying a little of that power into the bloodline. I mean, there's a bunch of sorcerer bloodlines that are more the result of mutation from exposure to magical effects and fields than outright ancestry leading back to some sort of supernatural critter.
I love the concept of the bolt ace. If nothing else, it presents a way to port Gunslingers into campaigns and campaign worlds where the DM might be leery of letting in firearms and all they represent. However, I'm not sure it goes quite far enough. If guns are fully banned from the table (a move I don't agree with but understand), then the bolt ace will still have a few gun-related class features and traits that specifically refer to firearms and the use thereof. So, in light of this, I've decided to present a couple of alternate traits for the bolt ace. They will be boring, but it will hopefully make the archetype a fully "crossbow-gunslinger." If you've another idea, let me know. My other ideas were, respectively, to grant a bonus feat at level one to replace firearm training and to just remove Gunsmithing altogether, and give the bolt ace a few extra grit points instead, since he or she'll be burning through much more to get those sweet, sweet touch attacks. Anyway, short and boring: Exotic Crossbow Training: At 1st level, bolt ace gains proficiency in all crossbow weapons, even those which are normally considered exotic weapons, such as the hand crossbow and repeating crossbow. This ability replaces firearm proficiency. Master Fletcher: At 1st level, the bolt ace gains the ability to craft crossbows and bolts without requiring a crafting roll. He may manufacture any crossbow out of raw materials for half the normal weapon's cost, or bolts for 10% of their normal cost. If he has at least one rank in Craft (alchemy), he may manufacture alchemical bolts (described under Alchemical Archery in the Pathfinder Player Companion: Alchemy Manual) at half their normal cost. This ability replaces the Gunsmithing class feature.
So, general consensus is that unusual anatomy is too good, and Amorphous Body is too harsh. Hmmm... I agree about reducing the reduction chance, in that case (it was copied from the Denizen of Leng creature, and was an attempt to represent a "reduced" version of the ooze traits, as per the other parts of the template). Twenty-five percent it is. I wonder though... how many "slots" *should* an ooze race have? I ask because I feel it has to be a fairly *big* disadvantage, to cancel out, effectively, the benefits of both Unusual Anatomy and Slippery. How many items do *you* feel it should be? Speaking of Slippery, though the Squole wasn't as completely useful to me as I might've hoped, one thing I liked about it was the CMB/CMD bonus. I'd add it to the original, if this forum permitted editing. On the whole, I'm happy the reception's been so positive. If I get in another Pathfinder game, I'll see if the DM is okay with my playtesting it. EDIT: Oh my God, it's actually ''called'' an "amorph?" I spent like two hours trying to come up with something better than "gel-man" or "ooze-person," and now that I have I find I've been beaten to the punch!
The other day, I suddenly thought it might be cool to put together an ooze PC race. Unfortunately, turns out most of what I'd need to do it would be really hard to do in the established Race Builder. Sooo... I decided to climb this mountainous molehill, and try to make up appropriate stuff where it didn't exist yet. Here's what I've got so far, using appropriate Pathfinder rules: Amorph (amorphs, amorphic) Amorphs are the result of symbiosis between two distinct lifeforms so completely integrated that they have effectively become the same being. A brain and simple nervous system float within a mass of jelly-like slime that serves the combined functions of an immune system, digestive system, and circulatory system for it. Scholarly opinion is divided as to whether amorphs are of natural origin, or are the result of magical experimentation, a problem exacerbated by the lack of history or record-keeping on the part of the amorphs themselves. Unlike many intelligent oozes, amorphs do not naturally tend towards evil, and most are capable of living relatively normal lives. They can be found living in small communities in many large cities, or in small wandering caravan-communities in more sparsely-settled parts of the world, including the Underdark. Such communities are generally quite hospitable towards strangers, within reason. Amorphs are asexual creatures and reproduce via budding, with young amorphs raised in the community. The typical amorph has a personality that can best be described as cheerful, generous, curious, and dim. Those found in the Underdark are generally more suspicious than their surface counterparts. Most have difficulty remembering unimportant information, and while they are largely welcoming of strangers, it is generally regarded as a sensible precaution to remind an amorph of what substances, for instance, might be toxic to other humanoids. Amorphic adventures are generally drawn into their profession either by an insatiable sense of curiosity and wonder or by some great need or quest. With some basic roleplaying background that out of the way, here's the rules stuff already in the game: Base Speed: 20 ft. (-1 RP) Ability Scores: Mixed Weakness (-2 RP) -2 Dex, -4 Int, +2 Con, +2 Cha Traits: Defense:
Skill:
Senses:
Blindsight (30 ft.) (4 RP) With that in mind, here's the custom stuff. First, a new "Type": Half-ooze (12 RP): A large portion of this creature's body is composed of an ooze, either naturally or as the result of some sort of magical experiment. It gains the following traits: * All-Around Vision: Half-oozes gain a +4 racial bonus to their Perception skill checks and cannot be flanked.
Second, a new "Size": Variable (1+ RP): Choose two sizes within one size category of one another. This creature can shift its size from one category to the other as a move action. This is not a supernatural ability and does not magically adjust the size of the creature's equipment to fit it when it changes size, though armor and clothes can be modified to expand or contract with it via elastic internal bands between any two categories. (The cost of this modification is equal to the cost of resizing full plate to fit a particular wearer.)
So, using these custom traits and types: Amorph Type: Half-ooze (12 RP) Size: Variable (Small/Medium) (1 RP) Amorphs can compress and expand their gelatinous mass to shrink or grow in size while maintaining the same weight, but cannot either grow beyond their brains' and nerves' ability to maintain the ooze's cohesion (Large), nor shrink so that the organs are inadequately covered by gel (Tiny). Speed: Slow (-1 RP) Lacking legs, amorphs must scoot along on their pseudopodia. Ability Scores: Mixed Weakness (-2 RP) -2 Dex, +2 Con, -4 Int, +2 Cha Amorphs are durable and gregarious, but slow and sluggish both physically and mentally. Traits: Curious (4 RP) Perhaps because they find remembering so difficult, amorphs are always willing to ask and learn. Total: 14 RP Well, whaddaya think? Too strong? Too weak?
I don't think I'd outright ban anything unless I had it on good word from multiple people better with the system than I that it was flat-out broken. (A category in which I pretty much put the Synthesist and nothing else.) And I *do* try to wring a rudimentary backstory out of my players before we begin so I can make things personal. (Ex. In addition to the broader plot, one guy's hunting his father's murderer who made off with the family sword, one gal's carrying a dangerous artifact her master tried to have her deliver without being fully aware of what it does, one crazy person has hallucinations no one else can see that predict the plot, etc.) Are there things in Pathfinder I'm not fond of? Yes. (Wizards, and their armies of constructs casting wish spells for more wishes, for one. Humans in general for another.) But I'd let it pass unless they were literally overwhelming every other aspect of every encounter for everyone else. I had a player complain once about a gunslinger in the party, and I honestly tried to listen to his concerns. But then he actually used the phrase "disdaining the glory of close combat" in a real world conversation, and I both had trouble taking him seriously and began to feel content that he didn't have much of a point beyond "EVERYONE SHOULD PLAY THE GAME EXACTLY LIKE ME!" One nasty misfire in the session after that changed his tune a little. In terms of the Race Builder and such, I tell them to keep it around ten RP, with a couple extra "mulligan points" if they really want something but can't quite fit it in. If they want to build their own and are having trouble doing so (one guy likes playing weird creatures and wanted to have face-tentacles and snake legs respectively), I mostly just look for similar abilities in the book before assigning a points value. (Face-tentacles is about the same as prehensile tail, snake-legs involved trading in the foot slot for immunity to trips, etc.)
I kinda like the mechanical take on the dragonborn, their scaling breath weapon in particular. As it stands, there's not really an easy way I've found to do that in the Race Generator. Maybe take the 8 RP lizardfolk and use the usual breath weapon template, then give them an extra d6 on the damage roll every two character levels, then a save equal to level + Con modifier (as though they were spellcasters, according to my limited understanding)? Dunno if giving them full "draconic immunity" is a good idea. That's a lot of immunities. I found the "scalable spellcasting" in general not unanalogous to the "Words of Power" system, just with a little less complete customization. I suppose that something similar could be made to work in Pathfinder, though it'd take a lot of DM fiat and grunt work to scale everything up and down.
Oh, daggome it! It's *still* not working! What the cuss?! Thanks anyway, for the feedback and for the advice.
Two extra comments: I forgot to also drop Shield Proficiency, and that "Improved Fast Movement" improves TO twenty feet rather than BY twenty feet. Unfortunately, it looks like I can't edit.
That's about how I tried to think about it too: in terms of feats gained/lost. I wanted something more than just a couple bonus feats for those other two DR levels, but nothing was coming to mind. Thanks! Glad it seems okay.
The url appears to not work. I figured that out shortly after embarrasing myself by posting it. I just put the ugly version up. Sorry about that.
I put together a homemade barbarian archetype today, but my group canceled at the last minute so I haven't gotten to show anyone. Then I remembered, holy cow, there's a *forum* where I can put all this! Link here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17K3Or8Skl-dHLSdozkMkX3RiWUaT-rj1is_qy5a cu0c/pub Comments off the cuff: I might also restrict the class to light armor, just in case it's too good. I can't believe "Brutal Pugilist" was already taken. EDIT:
Pathfinder Barbarian Archetype Ferocious Fistfighter
A ferocious fistfighter has the following class features: Improved Unarmed Strike:
Rage (Ex):
Unarmed Strike (Ex):
A ferocious fistfighter may now choose to deal nonlethal rather than lethal damage with no penalty to his attack roll while using unarmed strikes or grappling, and his unarmed strikes count as both natural and manufactured weapons for the purposes of spells that enhance such weapons. This power will not function if the ferocious fistfighter is wearing a shield or heavy armor, even if he is proficient in their use. This ability replaces the rage powers gained at 4nd, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 18th level. Frenzied Flurry (Ex):
At 12th level, a ferocious fistfighter makes two additional attacks this round while making a frenzied flurry as if using the Improved Two-Weapon Fighting feat (even if she does not meet the prerequisites for the feat). At 18th level, a ferocious fistfighter makes three additional attacks this round while making a frenzied flurry, as if using the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feat (even if she does not meet the prerequisites for the feat). While making a frenzied flurry, a ferocious fistfighter applies her full strength bonus to all strikes. She cannot use any weapon but an unarmed strike to make a frenzied flurry. A ferocious fistfighter with natural weapons cannot use them to make a frenzied flurry, nor can she make natural attacks in addition to her frenzied flurry. This ability replaces the trap sense ability and increases gained at 3rd, 12th, and 18th levels. Wrathful Enlightenment (Ex):
This ability replaces the trap sense increase gained at 6th level. Primal Power (Ex):
At 10th level, primal power also treats his unarmed strikes as chaotic for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. At 16th level, primal power also treats his unarmed strikes as adamantine weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and hardness. This ability replaces the damage reduction ability and increases granted at 7th, 10th, and 16th level. Bonus Feats:
This ability replaces the damage reduction increases granted at 13th and 19th levels. Improved Fast Movement (Ex):
This ability replaces the trap sense improvement gained at 9th level. Brutal Force (Ex):
This ability replaces the trap sense improvement gained at 16th level. |