Stormfriend's page

Perhaps this is my fault, but I have so many characters and have played and run so many scenarios that keeping track of everything is becoming a bit of a nightmare. At times the planning aspect feels more like a tax return than a game. So if my local VC asks for GMs at a convention and I think it's a great opportunity to refresh or update my character stable with GM credit, I have to spend several hours working out what I can run and what I can't, and then face the prospect of reading and preparing several new scenarios all at the same time. In fact the effort required usually exceeds the desire to volunteer in the first place and I don't bother.

Now if I was an angel then doubtless the happy smiling faces of the players would be reward enough (until I TPK them in Dalsine Affair). But I'm not an angel and GM credit does influence my decision to run those extra games from time to time. I already GM for both of my local groups so this is just about mobilising GMs to run a few more.

So I'd like to make a request for a generic GM chronicle. It just needs to provide 1xp, 2pp and character-level appropriate gold (1-2,3-4,5-6 etc). I don't think boons or equipment are necessary for this chronicle and we could just use the white space in the middle to summarise what our characters were doing to get that xp (with some very concise fiction). Most importantly the chronicle should be useable any number of times for the same character (even if awarded for running the same scenario repeatedly).

I think that will provide two benefits:
1. Liberate the GMs that use GM credit from a lot of the paperwork and make it easier (and more likely) for them to just say yes when asked to run something.
2. Make it easier for coordinators to plan games at events as there'll be less resistance to running certain scenarios, or running the same scenario twice.

I don't want to replace the existing GM credit scheme, just to add this as a simpler opt-in alternative.

Is trhe Cyphermage PrC valid in PFS? In additional resources it says:

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Magic
Prestige Classes: A cyphermage replaces any Spell Focus feat for Scribe Scroll as a prerequisite, and may not choose the swift scrivener ability from the list of available cypher lore [etc]

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea World Guide
Feats: all feats on pages 284–289 except Cypher Magic [etc]

The PrC lists the Cypher Magic feat as a requirement, but the feat is banned and the PrC is valid. Is there some way to reconcile these that I've missed?

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the competition so far has been the chat and camaraderie in the Guildhall thread. Once voting opened for round 2 we all had to keep our mouths shut though, and a lot of the atmosphere was lost. I don't know what other people think but could we perhaps change the way future rounds or years are handled?

1. Create a private Guildhall thread so we can chat amongst ourselves without influencing the voting. I thought that thread was private initially, but a Google search indicated otherwise.

2. If that means we can't vote ourselves whilst competing then that's fine with me. I think it's a reasonable trade for the opportunity to discuss our submissions, complain about the judges :-) and talk about the next round.

3. Make it clear from the outset that all discussion in the Superstar forums is banned for competitors during the voting periods. The rules are a little unclear on that at the moment, although the advice given later wasn't.

The Grandbridge Squires
Alignment: NE
Headquarters: None
Leader: None
Structure: League of wealthy businessmen, operating via gentlemen’s agreement
Scope: Regional
Resources: Money, information, trade agreements, legitimate employees, lawyers and tame politicians.
In 4606 Aroden died, the Eye of Abendego formed, the Worldwound opened and storms wracked the Inner Sea for weeks. As the end times had clearly come, a group of businessmen dining in Oppara decided that they might as well enjoy it and play along. Using their combined wealth and influence they quietly spread as much chaos and conflict as possible, whilst profiteering almost by accident. But the apocalypse never came and what started out as a destructive and nihilistic endgame quickly turned into a highly profitable and successful venture. Cooperation on such a scale combined with their skills at intrigue allowed them to punch far above their individual weights and expand across the Inner Sea.
Structure and Leadership
Membership is by invitation only, with members treating each other strictly as equals and accepting majority decisions. Most of their employees are honest workers who have no idea what their masters are planning, although the group’s legal and political teams wield the law like a weapon and are far more clued up on their objectives. Secrecy is vital to effectively manipulate markets, provide each other with alibis, and offer apparently independent advice to their targets. Yet such advice always leads to conflict despite the supposed best intentions of all involved, resulting in bankruptcy, imprisonment, riots, death and any other opportunity to profit.
Goals
The Squires aren’t just interested in gaining wealth and power and having fun in the process, they’ve begun to see conflict as an art form. Plots can hatch over years or decades and the beauty of the plan is as important as the results. Until the apocalypse arrives every well executed feud should be savored like a fine wine. Indeed, the ultimate act of perfection would be to engineer a conflict so great and complex that it ushers in the end of days itself.
Public Perception
Every member takes care to be seen as a fine upstanding member of his community. Their businesses are well run, with good reputations and good people. The few who speak against them are either prosecuted for slander or accused of lunacy and locked away. Those who actively oppose them are crushed: financially, politically and personally.

Sticky Pugfoot
Aura faint necromancy; CL 5th
Slot -; Price 8,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
This tiny mummified foot is taken from a pugwampi gremlin and still twitches on occasion in a desperate bid for sympathy. It comes attached to a weighted leather cord that looks as though it has been inexpertly mended on numerous occasions.

The foot exudes a permanent aura of unluck to a radius of 5 feet. Any creature in this area must roll two d20s whenever the situation calls for a d20 roll (such as attacks, skill checks and saving throws) and take the lowest of the two rolls. This is a mind-affecting effect that doesn't work on animals, gremlins and gnolls. Any creature under the effects of a luck bonus is immune to this aura.

The cord allows the foot to be thrown as a ranged touch attack against another creature with a range increment of 20 feet. If the attack is successful the foot becomes stuck to the target creature, requiring a move action to pull it off. If the attack misses, or the foot was simply thrown away, the foot immediately ends up stuck to the last creature that possessed it, usually wedged somewhere unexpected. The foot can also be put down carefully (but not dropped), handed to someone, or placed in their possession without them knowing (using Sleight of Hand for example). Whenever a creature that is affected by the aura comes into contact with the foot (including having it in their backpack) they become the last creature to possess it. If the foot ever ends up more than 100 feet away from the last creature that possessed it, it mysteriously reappears on their person.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, animate dead, bestow curse; Cost 4,000 gp

Does the rage power Animal fury count as a primary attack when using only natural attacks? It's for a PFS character so I'm looking for an official answer, if it exists.

I've checked the message boards about this but found nothing formal. I couldn't see anything in the faqs or errata either.

I'm just looking at druid animal companions and I see the Giant Snapping Turtle is listed in Bestiary 2. The Giant version is a gargantuan, 35' long, 20,000lb CR9 creature. The standard version isn't... :-)

Bristol City Council have drawn up emergency procedures for dealing with a zombie outbreak:

When zombies attack

I like the comments:

Under health and safety the document urges staff to remember the correct zombie-killing procedure: "Fully disconnect the brain-stem from the body through either blunt force or full head removal."

In the procurement section the document claims "cuffs, stun guns, protection suits etc" are available on the staff intranet.

An annual training schedule for designated officers is in place, the document reveals. "To avoid public panic, this is billed as a gaming festival," the report says and adds that staff "fully qualified in zombie handling may qualify for partial exemption and accreditation in the training for handling pirate outbreaks and for spotting the difference between genuine hot air balloons and evil, giant, floaty space aliens."

I'm building a half elf barbarian ready for Paizocon UK and I'd like to max out her will saves so she doesn't kill half the party when commanded or confused. I have the following so far:

Dual Minded
Iron Will
Elven Immunities (racial)
Birthmark trait (trait)
Rage
Superstitious (rage power)

I think that gives her +4 base, +4 vs Charms & Compulsions that are also Enchantments, and +2 for Rage.

As far as I can tell Dual Minded, although a racial trait, is an untyped bonus and stacks with the Elven Immunities, but the Superstitious rage power doesn't stack with Rage (for Will saves) because both are morale bonuses. Is that right?

Is there anything else I've missed? She has a Wisdom of 10.

Can a Summoner with the feat Skeleton Summoner use his SLAs to summon those skeletons?

Does Augment Summoning work on Skeletons? I would assume that because they don't get a Con boost (having Con-) they don't get any bonus hit points, but it otherwise works.

I'm thinking of playing a Master Summoner with this combo in PFS, so house rules won't apply.

I’m putting together a PFS character who specialises in Overrun to mix up battlefield control and damage, rather than just power attacking all the time. The character will either be a human or a half-elf and will have stats of 18,14,14,10,10,10 for sake of argument.

I'm thinking of going with a fighter or barbarian at the moment, but any class that can overrun will do. The [human] builds I have so far are as follows:

Barbarian
1: Power Attack
1: Improved Overrun
2RP: Overbearing Advance
3: Combat Reflexes
4RP: Quick Reflexes
5: Charge Through
6RP: Overbearing Onslaught
7: Greater Overrun
8RP:
9:
10RP:
11:
12RP:

Fighter
1: Power Attack
1: Improved Overrun
1: Charge Through
2: Combat Reflexes
3: Step Up
4: Following Step
5: Improved Bullrush
6: Greater Overrun
7: Greater Bullrush
8: Step Up and Strike
9:
10:
11:
12:

Firstly, is there anything I’ve missed, such as feats, powers, traits or the like which will help this build (apart from the obvious such as Furious Focus, Weapon Focus etc)? By 6th or 7th level I’ll be forcing the enemies to grant me AoOs whilst performing manoeuvres due to the Greater feats, in case that suggests anything.

Secondly, have I figured out the following situation correctly for the barbarian at level 7:

Brb ABC Z

The barbarian is Brb, ABC are three mooks standing in the way, and Z is the caster I want to charge. Assume they're in a long 5' wide corridor.
I overrun A and if I succeed by 5 or more I knock him prone whilst moving through his square.
I deal Strength damage to A and get an AoO against A if he’s prone.
I then overrun B at -2, knocking him prone if I succeed by 5 or more.
I deal Strength damage to B and get an AoO against B if he’s prone.
Leaving B’s square to overrun C (or just complete the overrun against B if there is no C) provokes from A, who may be prone.
I then overrun C at -4, knocking him prone if I succeed by 5 or more.
I deal Strength damage to C and get an AoO against C if he’s prone.
Leaving C’s square to charge Z (or just complete the overrun against C if there’s no Z) provokes from B, who may be prone.
Leaving the next square whilst moving towards Z then provokes from C, who may be prone.
I hit Z at my normal charge bonus. If I can't charge through multiple opponents by combining Overbearing Onslaught and Charge Through then treat the details above as just overrunning multiple enemies and ignore Z at the end.

Think of it as a melee lightning bolt :-)

Questions:
1) Can I overrun Z, do strength damage and take an AoO against Z for the overrun if he's prone, and then make my charge attack against Z too from the right of Z? The description of Overrun in the Combat section makes me wonder this.
2) Where do I end up if I fail any of the overruns? If I knocked prone the previous target who’s square I’m now standing in? If I overran that target but didn’t knock him prone so we’re both standing in the same square?
3) If I replace mooks ABC with allies I’m assuming they can just stand aside (during the Overrun) and I charge Z normally. If my charge at Z is at penalties for doing the overruns earlier does this still apply if the overrun targets got out of the way? Or if I overrun Z during the charge is the overrun attack at -6 even if my allies stepped aside? Same question if I can't combine Overbearing Onslaught with Charge Through, just assume 1 ally or enemy in the way, with the Overrun attack on Z at -2 in that case.
4) If your brain hasn’t melted yet, can I build in Acrobatics checks during the movement that contains Overruns to avoid AoOs from ABC? Can I be using Acrobatics when leaving Bs square to avoid the AoO from A whilst simultaneously Overrunning C? If not, can I use Acrobatics whilst leaving the square to the right of C to avoid the AoO from C? Can I use Acrobatics whilst charging for that matter? The question still applies if not as I can do multiple Overruns even when not charging.
5) Do ABC provide cover against each other for purposes of preventing AoOs against me? What if they’re prone? Would that cover also affect my AoOs if I technically take them in the following square on completion of the Overrun rather than in the square they occupy whilst I’m Overrunning them?

At 6th level the fighter can do something similar, but only with a single target in the way so it’s a lot simpler. The fighter wouldn’t do strength damage on an Overrun but would still get the AoO if he knocks them prone. He makes up for it with the other tactical options such as Step Up and Bullrush. He lacks rage too, so his CMB will be lower.

Any other suggestions?

This is a suggested change to Society rules which I believe will reduce the administrative effort and eliminate many of the issues people have raised. It should also move the focus away from rapid character levelling and back onto adventuring. You may like it; you may hate it - I have no idea!

The change is simply this: remove the levelling mechanic from PFS and make all characters start [the pathfinder phase of their career] at 7th level. Reduce the experience progression to the point that it has no discernable effect on the campaign so characters will always be 7th level.

Adventure Paths would continue to use level progression; this suggestion is just for PFS.

Why 7th? Because it's in the 6-8 hotspot that d20 seems to have, and it enables 80-90% of existing mods to be played with no changes at all.

I would make the following suggestions:
1) Characters have 24,000gp, based roughly on p399. No more than 1000gp can be spent on consumables. Max value of any one item could be set at say 17,000, but that's purely subjective.

2) Characters gain no gp or items from adventures. They are funded by their factions and the pathfinders, and those organisations will always take any proceeds from a mission. Neither can characters obtain any permanent benefit from items or spell casting during or between scenarios, just as now.

3) However, factions would allow characters to swap out equipment between mods for no cost and they would replenish items lost or used. In effect the character is acting as an agent for that faction, and the mission is worth some expenditure. Think James Bond and what he does with the equipment he's given...

4) Factions would enable retraining. How much retraining is entirely up to the player and his willing sense of disbelief.

Points 3 and 4 are intended to remove the need to create a brand new character because you want to try a different weapon or technique, and ensures character wealth for level stays correct. Also, if I know my character is going to the desert, I can grab a load of desert related gear, and then swap it out for the arctic gear that I need for the next scenario.

5) Change the chronicles to list places visited, people met and monsters/bad guys killed or subdued. Use the monster tally for bragging rights; use the other records as a reminder of what the scenario was all about - useful for those of us who are getting old and who's memories are not what they once were!

All the other mechanics can stay pretty much as they are, unless I missed something. Characters will still have faction missions, but they'd be doing them for roleplaying reasons only, just like the main mission.

I think the benefits of this system are as follows:
a) Removes the needs for tiers and sub-tiers.
b) Reduces time and complexity in mod design.
c) Makes DMing easier with fewer stat blocks.
d) Provides a more consistent challenge level.
e) Prevents low level characters from being outclassed by high level characters.
f) Allows new players to join any game.
g) Allows new characters to join any game, removing much of the need for replay.
h) Removes the possibility of levelling out of tier before completing a mod series.
i) Removes the need for retirement; a character can play every mod.
j) Allows frequent players to use the same characters in home brew mods without issue (removing another reason for replay).
k) Allows for a wider choice of back stories - The Pathfinders recruit seasoned adventurers but at the moment every PFS Pathfinder started as a farmboy, or equivalent.
l) Let DMs sunder and burn without annoying the players...
m) Removes the need for a DM credit system.
n) Most importantly, gets rid of the whole treadmill effect and lets the adventure become the focus of the game.
o) New scenarios can deviate from the current wealth and combat requirements, opening up more creative possibilities.
p) Only one set of pregens would be required.
q) New mods would be playable by every character - no tier planning required by Paizo.
r) I would suggest getting rid of Raise Dead and similar spells. Let characters die heroically and be remembered. At the moment we have to raise characters in order to continue in a certain tier. Removing the Raise Dead spells would also make plotting easier for new mods.

The disadvantages I can think of are as follows:
A) People don't like change.
B) Characters may be seriously optimised for 7th level, although that happens to some extent now anyway.
C) No-one will be able to play an 8th level character (or any other level except 7th) in PFS, although that's already true of 13th+. They can play those levels in an AP though.
D) Some people may be playing PFS as they can't play an AP, and this may not be what they're looking for.
E) Some small amount of admin is required upfront, such as stat block changes to certain adventures, but I think the longer term savings outweigh them.
F) Chronicles would need to be redesigned, but finding items in mods has largely been superceded by the PA system anyway, so the current chronicles don't really matter.
G) Some people may not like creating 7th level characters, but the rules pretty much necessitate some degree of thinking ahead in development terms. Imagination can fill in the history, just as it does for childhood now.
H) Removing the treadmill and DM credit system may mean people run games less.
I) Some people may actually like the treadmill...

That's it. What do people think? Anything I've missed?

"Rough and Ready
Source Adventurer's Armory 31
Your intense familiarity with the tools of your trade allows you to use them in combat as if they were actual weapons and makes them more effective for that purpose than they would normally be. When you use a tool of your trade (requiring at least 1 rank in the appropriate Craft or Profession skill) as a weapon, you do not take the improvised weapon penalty and instead receive a +1 trait bonus on your attack. This trait is commonly used with shovels, picks, blacksmith hammers, and other sturdy tools — lutes and brooms make terribly fragile weapons."

I'm building a barbarian and getting bored of the Heirloom trait, which is seriously limited for classes that need to switch weapons to bypass DR. The Rough and Ready trait looks better, but for Society play what would be considered acceptable?

For example a woodsman/forester/lumberjack type could probably justify a Handaxe as a tool of his trade, but what about bigger two-handed axes? Would those be Battleaxes, Greataxes or something else?

Could a farmer justify taking the Scythe as a tool of his trade and gain a bonuses on all attacks with scythes?

The idea of the feat is for unconventional weapons, but some genuine weapons are based on tools already. Under the improvised weapons section on p144 it just says to find the closest match. The one downside is that you lose the crit multiplier when using it this way. +1 to attacks for a x2 instead of x3 or x4 crit multiplier is an interesting trade-off.

Do my suggestions above make sense, or have I missed something?

A situation came up in yesterday's game where my barbarian needed to channel energy whilst raging. We assumed you could do it as supernatural abilities don't provoke and therefore probably don't require concentration, but I can't find that written anywhere in the book.

Is there an official ruling on that combo, or reference to supernatural abilities [not] requiring concentration anywhere? A search on the messageboards just brought up an old question about the beta rules.

I'm assuming spell-like abilities (domain powers) can't be used whilst raging. Is that right?

The Heirloom Weapon trait in Adventurer's Armory states that it grants proficiency for a single weapon. If that weapon is exotic like a shotel then I assume it grants the exotic weapon proficiency for that item. If the weapon has two possible proficiencies such as a bastard sword, does it grant the martial or the exotic proficiency?

Two quick comments on the CMB as listed in Alpha 2:

1) Performing a combat maneuver refers to making an attack roll and then adding your CMB. As the CMB already includes your BAB and strength bonus, and my understanding of an attack roll does too, do these both get added twice in effect? Unless that was the intention it might be clearer to refer to a d20 roll + CMB

2) All the CMB maneuvers appear to list Strength as the key stat, when a case can be made to include Dexterity instead if it's higher (for all of them probably). For example avoiding grapples and bull rushes is as much about twisting away as it is about standing firm. Avoiding disarms and trips is about maneuvering around the opponent's attack. What's that quote about bending in the wind rather than standing firm and breaking?

It could even be argued that Dexterity works in offensive CMB maneuvers too - Ju-jitsu relies on holds and positioning more than brute strength, although an opponent may well use Strength to break the hold. Disarms are about where you strike as much as how hard. Overrun is little more than a basic acrobatic movement, which is Dex based anyway. Even Bullrush could be Dex based if you get under their feet to knock them off-balance and then force them to stagger backwards whilst they regain their footing.

Can we make CMB = BAB + (Str or Dex) + Size
Performing a Combat Maneuver would be d20 + CMB