Stubs McKenzie's page

Have a lvl 7 Human Archer Paladin, Oath of Vengeance, Oath Against Fiends ~

The group has a Life Oracle, A multiclassed psion (-3/4 BAB), and a rogue. Down the line I would like to get the paladin into the thick of things but realized I couldn't take Point Blank Master w/o 4 levels of Fighter or 6 Ranger (ranger doesn't fit the character)... so I guess I am asking if anyone has gone this route, how did it work out, is there a better build?

Lvls
1-8 Paladin (to get the Dimensional Anchor ability from OAF)
9-12 Fighter for weapon spec + other feats (combat reflexes, improved snap shot for 15' AoOs)
13 Fighter? Paladin? (Fighter gives weapon training at 5th, so +1, +1... seems a good trade off instead of Pal?)
14+ Pal

Is the 5th level of fighter a good idea? Is there another way to wade into melee range with a bow other than PBM? Am I missing out on some big draw of the paladin class that I didn't notice?

Would love to say Life Oracle covers all the healing needs, but even with the group hovering around mid 20s for AC we get throttled constantly... Against the BBEG we just fought the psion got thwacked 2x in 1 round @ 26 ac, 42 points of damage only because the BBEG DIDN'T confirm the crit. We probably need about 60-75 points of healing a day (didn't have access to a CLW wand through lvl 6), and that is with funneling mobs into tight spaces, tactical silence use on casters, etc etc... so am a bit concerned about losing some uses of LoH. What do you think? Thanks!

EDIT: lose 3 DC from dimensional anchor to take 5 lvls fighter, 2 DC if 4... saves would go up a bit more with 4 lvls fighter as well, but doesn't seem quite as necessary with CHA to saves

EDIT 2: thought about weapon master, but really like gaining the ability to move full speed in medium armor, Mithril Full plate, or Celestial Plate to give the room for max dex bonus while still mobile.

Before i get into this, i want to say that the group of players are all cool with one another, there are no hurt feelings and no one is upset or "wrong" for their actions in or out of character, we are all adults and are all happy to be playing pathfinder together. This is 99% in game, in character strife that is being discussed, and don't want anyone to be put down or told they are jerks etc for any in character decisions they made. At least one other person whom i play with visits these boards, and if he reads this, i think it would be pretty cool to have him tell his characters side of the story too.

Also, this takes place in an AP i won't mention, so I will be attempting to give away as little info as possible, some things may not come across quite right, but it is because i am making everything into vanilla yogurt so it won't spoil anything. On to it.

Background:
My character is a lvl 4 gnome life oracle with the deaf curse. He has been a blast to play, and i am very pleased with him. I built him from the ground up as a protector of friends and innocents, and made him CG. The whole time i have been playing him i feel as if i have harped about his protective side, and how he will often go out of his way to put himself in danger if he feels it will help others... he takes extra time to bury bodies when he feels it is right to do, and does everything he can (make the dm come up with non-lethal coup de gras rules on the spot!) to not kill unless he feels threatened, or feels others are being threatened. He definitely ~does~ kill, he has actually been pretty darn good at it, so don't get the wrong idea, he is not some pansy who always whines when something dies... anyways... this leads us to ~~

Situation:
We have been fighting through an area where everything is hostile... not a single creature has been even slightly willing to negotiate. Suddenly, a winged creature (WNPC) appears and gives the "don't kill me i just want to talk" sign. Others don't want to talk, but my character approaches, and WNPC asks for help. I say to the group we should do it, but another PC wants nothing to do with WNPC, and thinks WNPC is going to try and kill us ("nothing in this area hadn't up to this point", he says), lets call him Bob. We go along with it because it leads us to another NPC whom we would very much like to put down. Fast forward to the fight, we have killed the 2nd NPC, but during the fight, there was some confusion and WNPC fired upon a PC (rogue) who popped out of combat and approached WNPC mid fight (the fight was occurring a distance from WNPC). The Winged NPC went back and forth from doing nothing but moving 5-10 ft(very confusing), and firing at this PC who immediately began to attack it (as an aside, the rogue had also said ~OOC~ that he was "going to come back and kill this *****" the round he moved towards WNPC, which was the round before WNPC first fired at him, but it shouldn't... persay... matter because it was OOC, and it is still unclear if he would have actually done anything). When the 2nd NPC fell, Bob joined the frey as well as a barbarian on our side and went to town on WNPC, with WNPC firing back at Bob, or once again moving slightly without doing anything else. I motioned for WNPC to give up (threw hands in air in WNPC's direction and pleaded) but WNPC did not... so WNPC was cut down... here comes the issue.

WPNC fell to the ground, obviously down for the count (below 0 for sure, not sure if - con). Myself, and the ranger who did not participate in WNPCs demise b/c we both thought there was a misunderstanding ran to WNPC and attempted to stabilize. When this happened, Bob attempted to coup de gras WNPC while the ranger and i were over WNPCs body. I tried to stop him, rules did not allow, and there was much discussion over how to handle it. In the end, the DM did not allow a coup de gras, but did allow a normal attack, saying there wasn't a way for me to get in the way of the blow (which i stated i wanted to do if he was to swing), which was tantamount to a coup de gras at this point anyways, an effective 100% chance of death (could have rolled a 1)....

My character was shocked. As a protector, and having taken on that role for WNPC, he was devastated that he could not protect WNPC from his own party members, people whom he had previously, even in this current encounter, done so much for (healed Bob and the rogue for ... 40+? hps, much through life link, taking the gnome down to 20% health at one point), and whom he had trusted to have his back. He attempted in vain to hold her wounds together, even though she was certainly dead. After the party pretty much immediately stripped WNPC of items, my oracle dropped most of his worldly possessions, picked up WNPCs body, and walked away. The ranger protested to the rest of the party, but due to his "if it's alive i care, dead i don't" general attitude, he quickly abandoned such and went on with the rest of the group.

Spoilering the rest as they are my characters possible decisions, and if a group member does read this post, they can skip this part.

Please, what do you guys think my character should do? It is a character decision, i know, there is no right or wrong answers, but would love some feedback. Thanks!

Am about to start playing a Deaf Oracle (life) in a new campaign, and thought it would be pretty cool to have a pseudodragon cohort at 7 (saw the suggestion on these boards), but was wondering what yall thought about having him gain levels in summoner? At party level 7 he would be a summoner lvl 1 (ECL of 4 for purposes of being a cohort), and im not sure if he can gain class levels up to a maximum of -2 my character's level or if the ECL from picking him as a cohort counts as effective levels for the maximum as well.

If he can gain class levels up to a max of -2 of my own, it would seem a powerful ally to have, especially since his Summon Monster SLA doesn't require a casting stat, and a +6 cha headband would allow him to cast all lvls of summoner spells. Even if I didn't have him summon his Eidolon most of the time, it would still be pretty great.

If he is still limited by his initial ECL, then he will always be 5 class levels below me. If that's the case, is going summoner worth it? Is there a better option (rogue is never an option :P)? Considering Fighter for the survivability, and the extra feats, but would rather not have him in combat directly. Paladin is another possibility if i can weasel out a LG alignment from the DM, as far as survivability and such goes.

Anyway, what do ya'll think?

EDIT: yes, leadership is easily open to abuse, and i usually stay away from it, but as a life oracle i probably won't have a big impact on fights most of the time, will be a buffer and healer, so would like something to do every once in a while :)

All special mounts use the Druid's animal companion rules, so does that mean a paladin/cav/samurai/etc can no longer aquire a magical beast instead of an animal? I saw that a paladin's mount ~acts~ as if it is a magical beast at 11th, but it doesn't make them into a magical beast, or allow a magical beast to be then chosen. Am I forgetting a feat or something, or are pegasus/unicorn/griffons no longer mount options?

Didn't come up with an answer via a quick search

Samurai are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, plus the katana, naginata, and wakizashi.

If Samurai are proficient with all martial weapons, why is the naginata listed as a specific proficiency? As far as i can tell it is a normal martial weapon that doesn't have any special properties like a katana. Was it supposed to be some other exotic weapon like the tetsubo or meteor hammer, or just omitted/ignored?

Are there any, and if so, where might a person find them? My search-fu fails me.

When either an NPC or a PC is blinded, through any means, it seems like folks act like its pretty much difficult terrain at worst as far as movement. Every time a spell is cast that would cause an AoE "blindness" effect (stinking cloud, deeper darkness, etc) both DMs and PCs tend to move out of the area of effect via the shortest route (how do they determine that route from inside the aoe?), or through it to their previously decided on destination without issue, especially when there is battle going on all around, so a simple "follow the sound of my voice" won't do anything but confuse matters. I don't really like the idea of having a completely random roll determine which direction they will travel, especially if they are familiar with the area, but I don't like leaving it up to PCs (or the DM) when they don't treat it like the characters are actually blind. Thoughts?

I searched through archived threads for different folks homebrew'd ideas on how it should function, but didn't find a single concise set of home brewed rules to tear the "crafting traps" page out of the book and replace with a really big sticky note. I would like to try and achieve that here, with the communities help. I know there are going to be differing opinions on just ~how~ it should work, and i am more than happy to try and bring together either: multiple views into one framework, or, multiple views into options 1,2,3 etc on how you would like to run it in your game.

Personally, I like the idea that it stays as a craft, but functions something more like a profession check with special rules. I like it as a craft because you would get paid for your work by the trap, not by the weeks worth of work accomplished, and therefore could not also walk into a town and sell your time, only your product. What i don't like, however, is the idea that you would actually have to pay for each trap made, by the CR of the trap. If, instead, you had a specific list of items needed for each trap (like a recipe book), or a specific (short) list of items that could be used for traps, it would make the cost of traps much simpler. For instance, any trap that includes a spike pit of any sort would have material

Both:
"sharpened sticks" = 0gp (environment) d4 damage
OR
"spears" = 3gp per 5 ft area d6 damage.
And:
"Hole" = 0gp (environment) d6 per 10 ft fall (listed time given to dig a 5x5 hole).
Optional:
If trying to also conceal the hole
"Net" = 4gp per 10x10 sq ft of hole covered, minimum 4gp (Sleight of Hand or Survival roll to conceal the net, whichever is better).

The time it takes to craft any trap would be based on the trap components themselves, and the amount they cost would = double component cost if one was selling their product. The check to successfully complete the trap would still be a Craft:Trap check based on CR.
Another example of a simple trap:

Bolt trap
"Crossbow" = purchase cost, see crossbow damage on pg 143 of the core rulebook
OR
"Sinew" = 1 gp per 2 ft span, minimum 2 ft, d6 + (str mod of creature setting it) (3 rounds)
ALSO
"Piton(trigger)" = 1 sp (1 round to set)
And
"Rope(tripwire)" = 5gp per 100 ft of tripwire (connects trigger to trap location) (movement speed in ft of wire per round, single move action per round only)

The list of items would look something like this:
"Piton(Trigger)" : Bolt, Arrow, Javelin, Poison Dart, Wyvern Arrow, etc

It's not that it wouldn't work this way, but could get confusing/tough to find components... so the more i think about it, the better it would be to make a recipe style book of traps.

What do you guys think? Does anyone have a set of house rules they have created to replace existing rules? I like the idea of being limited to a set of traps based on material you have with you. It does make for some semi-decent note keeping, but could also be hand-waved with a quick "pay x for y uses of general materials" if the DM wanted to move things along.

EDIT:

At the moment I think the list would also be limited to combat traps, or traps that don't take an excessively long time to produce. If you wanted to make a pit trap that had a hinged iron floor covered in a thin sheet of attached stone to conceal its presence that would also be resettable (geared), or a true boulder trap like those in an Egyptian pyramid (which weren't usually meant to be traps, but ways to permanently close a passageway ~ 5-30 ton rock(s) hung above a tunnel and set to drop when triggered) They would be in a different "recipe" book. This would cover simple mechanical and magical traps, including "cave in" traps dealing with explosives or material (often rocks) hung and hidden within a passageway via netting, in-wall traps such as scythe and swinging axe traps (border on limits between short and long), and thrown/slung/ranged traps, as well as most animal traps, net traps, and other simple survival based traps.

With the dwarven alternate favored class ability, you can gain proficiency in any weapon you want by lvl 4 without a feat spent... with that in mind, what weapon/weapon combo would be the best/most interesting in an oracles hands? I was thinking Falcata/kukri, or maybe orc double axe, just to take advantage of the movement + full attack, if even once a day (at 20th, which i wouldn't per say expect to play the character at, but build towards anyways, Falcata/Kukri seems pretty cool/interesting), and would take 2 weapon mastery revelations.

Removing the idea that stats would get in the way, is TWF a horribly bad choice due to 3/4 BAB and the lack of bonus feats? Would swinging a Halberd (don't want to use a reach weapon, have a pole arm master) be a better choice?

What do ya'll think?

As an aside, in UM, Divine Interference at 10th lvl seems to be a must grab for any divine spell caster, right when you get it your first lvl spells wont be that important for much else, so might as well blow them to auto negate criticals all day on you or your teammates.

Is there any in-game way to tell the difference between being say shot by a longbow that crits, and shot by a longbow from a rogue with SA dice if you don't know it was a rogue who shot you? Both would be considered to hit a vital area.

In clearer terms, can you tell that a rogue shot you just by the damage done?

What follows is what i sent to my group via email, and something i cooked up at 5 am, yes they exist on d20pfsrd, but i didn't like them very much, so let me know what you think of these, and any suggestions are really appreciated!!

There are both the black bear and the polar bear on d20pfsrd.com website, but they sort of suck, especially the polar bear... not because they are worse (the black bear is much better), but because they are just like the other bears, and don't suggest any realism to their stats compared to the real life equivalents/game differentiation. My stat blocks follow... The black bear is weaker, as 3.5, and the polar bear is a bit stronger than the grizzly bear, more hps, better attack, and hes white... !(I kid, I kid) But really, polar bear has a strong bite attack with grab linked to it instead of claws, as it most often hunts for seals and such under water. Still iffy on the improved grab, though didn't want to give him improved nat attack claw, as that would probably be too powerful. If you have thoughts, let me know.

Black Bear: CR2

Defense
AC 15, Touch 13, Flat-Footed 12 (+3 dex, +2 natural)
HP 19 (3d8+6)
Fort +5, Reflex +6, Will +2

Offense
Speed: 40 ft
Melee: 2 claws +5 (1d4+3 plus Grab), Bite +5 (1d4+3)
Space: 5 ft, Reach 5 ft

Statistics
Str 17 Dex 17 Con 15 Int 2 Wis 12 Cha 6
BAB +2 CMB: 5 (+9 grapple) CMD: 18 (22 v trip)
Feats: Endurance, Run, Skill Focus (survival)
Skills: Perception +5, Survival +5, Swim +11 (+4 racial)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Polar Bear: CR5
N Large Animal
Init +2, Senses: Low Light Vision, Scent; Perception +7

Defense
AC 17, Touch 11, Flat-Footed 15 (+2 dex, +6 Natural, -1 size)
HP 59 (7d8+28)
Fort 9 Reflex 7 Will 3
Offense
Speed: 40, Swim 30
Melee: 2 claws +12 (1d8+7), Bite +12 (2d6+7 plus grab)
Space 10 ft, Reach 5 ft
Statistics
Str 25 Dex 15 Con 19 Int 2 Wis 12 Cha 6
BAB +5 CMB +13 (+19 grapple) CMD 25 (27 vs grapple, 29 vs trp)
Feats: Endurance, Run, Skill Focus (survival), Improved Grapple, Improved Natural Attack (bite)
Skills: Perception +7, Survival +8, Swim +20 (+8 racial)