Thank Dog's page

Is there any way for a magus to get a familiar? 'cause some of those teamwork feats with a magus would be, ahem, broken :D

I'm playing a conjurer wizard and once I hit 7th-level with him I'd like to use Improved Familiar to get a Lyrakien (Azata) as a familiar. I really like the idea of her helping me craft items and considered giving her the Valet archetype but I don't quite understand how it works or if I'd be losing too much and gaining too little.

Making it up through Hero Lab it would seem that whatever Craft skills I possess, the Azata gets automagically as well, qualifying it for the Valet benefits. This would seem to make it the perfect item crafting aide. My worry is that I don't understand item crafting in Pathfinder very well so I'm not sure if there's something I'm missing or haven't thought of that would make this a poor choice.

This question also pertains to other familiar archetypes although it would seem one gives up too much from those to make them worthwhile.

And to the OP. When you ask for a crit fishing build what is your criteria for best?

Having issues with a player playing a paladin who thinks like a terrorist, i.e. the end justifies the means. He's possibly going to dump the paladin because in his mind, he can't play one any other way.

What he enjoys is critting as a melee combatant. He'd probably like to be useful outside of combat as well but I'm not sure ranger is the type of skills he's after, more charisma-based which was why I came here because I was wondering about alternatives to the TWF fighter or ranger.

But critting in melee is probably the primary goal.

Can't be a paladin and can't be evil.

I'm guessing a fighter or a TWF ranger?

Any advice will be appreciated.

Let's play a game.

The rules are simple. First you consider that I did my level best to try and find a copy of Gamemastery Flip-Mat: City Streets and despite my best efforts couldn't find one for an even remotely reasonable price.

Then you consider that I only have an iPad 3 camera with which to take this terribly awful picture.

And then you spot the difference between my version and the real, completely, frustratingly unavailable and impossible to find, out-of-print (grumble) version.

Then you read this story and tell me how awesome I am.

After buying the PDF copy and spending half an hour with an Officeworks (Aussie office supply and printing chain like Staples) employee trying to figure out the best and cheapest way to make my fantasy a reality (unfortunately she was married), we opted for individual files over a cropped, $30 A1 laminated version.

With an X-acto knife, a metal ruler, a cutting pad, numerous Sticky Dots, my trusty Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Basic and much inappropriate swearing, I managed to make a Jerry-built version for my game tomorrow night. I think I did an admirable job all things considered. Probably not an original idea, mind you, but I was proud enough of my efforts to post here anyway.

Now what's the bet that the players completely circumvent the multiple encounters I have planned for this map and I never end up using it?

As was pointed out already, you need to have Ultimate Campaign enabled, your character must worship Iomedae, and it cannot already have a Religion trait.

-j

I don't mean to be rude but the reason I've ignored you, and others, who have mentioned this is that you've all missed the pertinent detail that Eric Clingenpeel cottoned on to and changes the entire context of the issue. In addition to that you've seemingly ignored my reply to him and the explanation which is clearly stated that references the issue at hand.

Dun, dun, dun, daaaah, better than all the rest!

Now that I've put that tune in your head, the only way you can get rid of it is to aid me in my quest to create the best iconics of all time.

The idea is simple in concept but complex in execution. Iconics are great and all but they're rarely optimised very well and tend not to take advantage of synergies or recent rules additions. So I'd like to create new iconics, fan-built iconics, iconics that live up to their namesake as iconics.

Now, being iconic means that they're not optimised or power-gamey but that they are min-maxed. In my not so humble opinion, min-maxed isn't a dirty word, it just means well-built and well-balanced. So no dumping every non-essential stat for cheese builds. If the character has a -5 Will save and a +24 damage bonus at level 2, then they're not iconic, they're just rubbish.

Here's my list so far but it's mostly based only on the guides in the sticky of the advice forum, some of which seem to be old or outdated:

Human Two-Handed Fighter

Human CAGM Barbarian with Superstitious

Elven Conjurer with familiar

Human Archer Ranger

I can't think of the others off the top of my head. Although I refuse to make an archer paladin no matter how powerful they are because that's just wrong, wrong, wrong and wronger. YMMV but an archer paladin is NOT iconic of the class.

What would be your suggestions for the best builds of each class that are well-balanced and could be termed "iconic" for that class and their role?

It sounds like you have the option selected to only allow traits based on the background selected.

Go to Configure Hero in Character Menu. Then scroll down to Ultimate Campaign. There's a subsection called Ultimate Campaign Character Backgrounds. Make sure that Unrestricted Traits & Drawbacks is selected.

Yeah, I checked that option because I thought PFS would restrict things like that. Does this mean it's not restricted by background?

And regardless, what is the background that is needed to make it valid?

I can't seem to get my PFS character to qualify for this trait in Hero Lab. I've looked everywhere for some sort of prerequisite but can't find one. It's saying I don't have the right background for it but I've tried every combination of background. Is there something I'm missing?

I think this has probably already been asked and answered but all the threads I can find on it are either old or don't address this particular issue. I was hoping for some concrete answers that I can point my group towards to resolve a current question.

Does a blocking weapon's defensive bonus apply when using Combat Expertise, i.e. does using Combat Expertise qualify as "Fighting Defensively"?

Trying to recreate a player's character for an upcoming session and having difficulty giving his animal companions their tricks. Hero Lab won't let me give some to certain companions as they're simply not listed, not even greyed out.

I can't give Bury or Watch or Sneak or Flee to a Dire Rat, for instance, or Heel, Flee, Get Help, Deliver, Sneak or Watch to a bat.

Are there restrictions on these that I don't know of or is there an add-on package that is needed or is it just an oversight in the program?

Are there any particular restrictions on teaching animals certain types of tricks? I've noticed that you can't teach an animal to track unless it has the scent ability but other than that, is there anything else?

I'm thinking of giving a party rogue a base rogue ability to compensate for him being a rogue.

The ability would be given to the rogue class as a core ability much like trapfinding or evasion. This ability would give the rogue a +1 dodge bonus to AC against any creature he's flanking, as well as a +1 bonus to hit. These would scale by +1 for every four levels beyond the 1st, so +2 at 5th, +3 at 9th, +4 at 13th, +5 at 17th.

In addition, I would be doubling the sneak attack damage dice.

OP or do you think it brings it up to par?

If you're talking about Flip-Mats and Map Packs, that should work.

Yeah.

The problem isn't just printing one though it's printing multiples from different sets. In particular the City Streets with the Shops lay-overs. If they don't match up size-wise, then it won't work to put them on top. Same with mixing any other ones. I need to know that all the Map Pack and Flip Mat files will print out at the same scale if I print them at 100%.

If I wanted to print out a GM map from one of the PDF's I've bought, can I just set it to 100% print size and that will print out accurate 1" square maps?

I fail at math.

I think I've evolved the concept a bit... primarily because of this picture:

Hawt!

Well, what level are you aiming for? I've begun looking a bit at a bard or bard/fighter, but there's quite a lot of difference between creating a level 10 and a level 15 character.

EDIT: Or rather, at what party level do you imagine they will have to fight her and with about how much support?

They'll first meet her at a fairly low level. Probably only 2nd, if that. At first she will actually be an ally, not an enemy. I don't even want the PC's to fight her at all. If all goes to plan, which it never does, the PC's will only realise what she's up to by the time she's gotten away.

After that, I'm not really sure when they'll face her. We're swapping DM'ing so I'll have to think about it when my turn comes around again. At a guess, I think she might pop up around 5th PC level, maybe 7th. Then I doubt she'll be around until about 12th or so. I won't be using her every time I DM either so it's hard to know in advance. My thoughts are that the PC's will have some sort of final confrontation with her at around 12th and until then, she'll be the slippery villain type.

At least that's the idea. But as they say, the best laid plans get FUBAR'd when you introduce players and their characters :)

Make it a a group of summoner ninja oni. Give the eidolons weapon proficiency in katana and wakizishi. Skilled in stealth,acrobats, climb, sleight of hand, disable device, perception. A+8 to those skills. Throw in some DR and fast healing. Make one of them size large.

I love that idea for one of her followers/lackeys but doesn't really suit my image of her. When I said that she's more of a behind the scenes person I may have given a false impression. Her evil activities are behind the scenes but she's very much a prominent and influential figure in Absalom and will be quite close to the PC's, possibly even working with them at times (at least initially).

Gives you an easy in too: Somebody hired her to kill the PCs. Mantis Assassins are tenacious buggers, and like to honor their contracts. She won't stop until they're dead or she is. Have her ambitions of godhood arise from there, perhaps. Or, hell, maybe she's the current Blood Mistress and thinks there's nowhere higher to go, except godhood. Never confronts them directly, but has an organization at her disposal, and is a highly trained killer in her own right.

She would definitely work with those types and possibly have them on retainer. I have the backstory for her pretty much worked out. She doesn't even want to kill the PC's initially. In fact, she's using them much like how she uses many others, without them even realising it.

I've been tinkering and so far this is what I have:

Female Human (Taldan) Fighter (Two-Weapon Fighter) 7
LE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +4; Senses Perception +2
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 26, touch 16, flat-footed 21 (+9 armor, +1 shield, +4 Dex, +1 deflection, +1 dodge)
hp 91 (7d10+21)
Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +6 (+2 vs. fear)
Defensive Abilities bravery +2, defensive flurry
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 20 ft.
Melee pyre +12/+7 (1d6+7/18-20/×2) and
. . thiz +11/+6 (1d6+5/18-20/×2)
Special Attacks twin blades
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 19, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 16
Base Atk +7; CMB +11; CMD 27 (34 vs. disarm, 31 vs. overrun, 34 vs. sunder, 31 vs. trip)
Feats Dodge, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (wakizashi), Improved Two-weapon Fighting, Iron Will, Toughness, Two-weapon Defense, Two-weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (wakizashi), Weapon Specialization (wakizashi)
Traits extremely fashionable, keeper of the veil, serpent runner (two weapons)
Skills Bluff +16, Climb +5, Diplomacy +11, Disguise +4, Handle Animal +7, Intimidate +13, Ride +5, Swim +5
Languages Common, Infernal
SQ balanced, countering, countering, paranoid, silver tongued
Combat Gear Oil of keen edge, Potion of barkskin +2, Potion of cure serious wounds, Potion of haste; Other Gear Tokaru's Sorrow, Pyre, Thiz, Ring of protection +1
--------------------
TRACKED RESOURCES
--------------------
Oil of keen edge - 0/1
Potion of barkskin +2 - 0/1
Potion of cure serious wounds - 0/1
Potion of haste - 0/1
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Balanced +4 on Acrobatics checks to maintain balance, dropping prone is a move action.
Bravery +2 (Ex) +2 to Will save vs. Fear
Countering +2 CMD vs disarm/sunder against this weapon, if foe fails free counter with same maneuver.
Countering +2 CMD vs disarm/sunder against this weapon, if foe fails free counter with same maneuver.
Defensive Flurry +2 (Ex) +2 AC vs. melee when making a full-attack with both weapons.
Paranoid Aid Another DC 15 for attempts to help you.
Silver Tongued You can shift a creature's attitude by three steps with Diplomacy.
Twin Blades +1 (Ex) +1 to hit and damage when making a full attack with both weapons.
Two-weapon Defense +1 to AC while wielding 2 weapons. +2 when doing so defensively.

7th-level was kinda arbitrary and I'm only messing around trying to figure out what works. Thanks for all the advice so far :)

At this point I'm not tied to her being one particular class, I'm more just trying to cement what will be an effective challenge to the party. She's definitely human and definitely Lawful Evil. She's no dummy but every other stat is pretty much up in the air and she certainly doesn't have to be a Machiavellian genius, just smart enough to play a chess game. In fact, she'd be smart enough to know who to use to best advantage, for instance if an advisor is highly intelligent and very creative at planning such things, she'd use that.

I imagine her as having a similar mentality to The Operative in Serenity. She knows she's evil but she considers it a necessity to do what needs to be done to bring about the new world order.

She wouldn't be above making a deal with a devil either, so Chelaxian and Asmodean ties are very definitely a possibility, making spell-casting also an option. However she is also very definitely a TWF, that's pretty much the very first thing about her I decided and began building the concept of the character around.

I was just going to ask what the "best" TWF build is but after considering the question, I thought I might open it up a little and mention some of the variables.

Essentially this will be a recurring villain for the PC's. The NPC won't come up very often and initially won't even seem like an enemy. I envisage the NPC as being Lawful Evil, female, and wielding two weapons. She's got a bit of a pirate vibe to her but ultimately her aims are to gain access to and control the Starstone so as to bring about a new order on Golarion. She's nowhere near the power level required to just waltz in and do something like that so she's working behind the scenes and gaining supporters and developing alliances and putting pawns into play in order to eventually work towards that ultimate goal.

I'd like her to be a dangerous foe for the party as a solo combatant however she'd never be dumb enough to go toe-to-toe with an entire party either so support, flanking, etc. would definitely be something she'd have if ever engaging the group. She would most likely command a bit of a posse of loyal comrades who would fight for her if she had no other options but to stand and trade blows.

Any suggestions on how to build something like or even if something is already available would be appreciated. My lack of familiarity with what's available and can be done in the system limits my options, hence why I'm asking here :)

Of the following list of PF packages, I was hoping to get some feedback on what people feel are the best ones. I can only afford $10, so either Mythic Adventures (Includes mythic paths, feats, magic items, spells, and general mythic rules from the Mythic Adventures supplement) or two of the packages below.

Player Companions:

7 - Includes material from: Faiths of Corruption, Dragon Empires Primer, and Pirates of the Inner Sea.

9 - Includes material from: Knights of the Inner Sea, Blood of the Night, and People of the North.

11 - Includes material from Quests & Campaigns, Kobolds of Golarion, and the Dragonslayer's Handbook.

12 - Includes material from the Pathfinder Society Primer, Faiths and Philosophies, and the Demon Hunter's Handbook.

13 - Includes material from Mythic Origins, Blood of the Moon, and 1+ other books (to be announced when they're released).

Player Companion Regions:

1 - Includes all material from the first three Player Companion Region supplements: Osirion, Taldor, and Qadira.

The game being played is standard Golarion with home-made modules by round robin DM's for the same characters/players as far as we can get them (hopefully 20th-level!).

I've done a search on Enforcer + Merciful, a combination that I just discovered (all by myself, even though I now recognise that it's already well known... I just wanted everyone to know how brilliant I am in discovering it myself), but couldn't find any mention of lethal weapons doing non-lethal damage and the rule about the penalty to those attacks.

So does the merciful power mean all your attacks are at -4? I'm guessing not but it's one of those things that I'd like to hear some consensus on from the powers that be, ie. forum members here, so that it doesn't become an issue later on in my group.

'cause let's face it, it's a pretty devastating combo that I just know people at my table are going to respond with, "Wtf?"

There seems to be no clarification on this from what I can find on the net and searching this site. Can anyone point me to a ruling or if it's just generally accepted not to work like that?

Aside from grapple and trip, what are other common CMD's I could put points towards? I'm thinking that by the time I've gotten a +5 bonus that I'm about as maxed as I need to be on those defences, unless I'm mistaken?

Are sunder or dirty tricks common? Overrun? Bull Rush?

yes there is a problem, the faq system isn't designed for pricing problems on other websites.

Ah, I only just noticed there's a FAQ recommendation button thingy or whatsit. I didn't even know that was a function here. Misclick maybe?

While those prices are ridiculous, if you think they're bad you should see how expensive photography can get as a hobby or even worse take up flying :)

I recently tried to get into photography. Just sold my camera and a few other things and bought an iPad instead. I've now taken more pictures with the iPad (yes, I'm one of those people) than I ever did with the camera. It might not be as pretty, but it's a helluva lot cheaper.

I'd like to see GameMastery Flip-Mat: City Streets reprinted so that I can buy it for less than $4,100.

It's because it's out of print. When something's out of print and unavailable, Amazon's pricing goes wonky.

Well after doing a bit of searching it seems Amazon is not the only place with wonky prices. The cheapest I've found for it is in the realm of $1,500 USD with one place asking for as much as $5,000.

Maybe Amazon trawls the internet with bots or vice-versa and each are setting prices off each other or something equally silly. Regardless, I wish I could find a print copy. I don't really want to buy a PDF of it and then print it out. Costs twice as much for half the result.

I'm starting to lose patience with whoever it is that thinks random crap like this is FAQ worthy.

I'm sorry but... huh?

Is there a problem or are you the only one?

...but really?

http://www.amazon.com/GameMastery-Flip-Mat-City-Streets-Pack/dp/160125282X

I really want one of these for a session I want to run in the future but apparently I'm going to have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it.

I think too much emphasis is put on the "law" in lawful. Lawful also means disciplined, organised, promotes the benefit of teamwork above individual pursuits, etc.

I'm playing a character at the moment who is LN. His lawful aspect isn't really from any sort of strict adherence to whatever lawful society he is in but rather in his devotion to his comrades, those that fight beside him and who he is charged to protect. He would follow orders against his own prejudices or bias and would never betray his friends or his country. The politics of law, however, are beyond his cares.

I want to build something around a high dexterity elf but so far the only good combination seems to be an elven wizard. At least that I can find with my limited experience and knowledge of Pathfinder.

Was hoping just for some recommendations. If I have some goal-posts to aim for I can find and figure out the rest :)

Keep in mind that Bards aren't great wordcasters, simply because there are so few effect-words for a bard to learn. They rapidly approach the point where there are fewer effect words available than there are on their effect-word class list. You'll be losing all those wonderful spells on the plain old Bard spell list.

At what level does that start happening?

Thank Dog wrote:

Does the human bard favoured class ability that adds a bonus spell, instead add a bonus word of power?

It should, but you have to pick a Meta or an Effect word.

Out of curiousity, why?

The skulking, sneaky part definitely sounds like him. Not because he's up to nefarious things, more because he's too afraid to be out in the open.

Does the human bard favoured class ability that adds a bonus spell, instead add a bonus word of power?

I would be curious if anyone has combined Words of Power with a core bard since the bard favors the use of words, knowledge and writing.

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2qe6e?Help-with-Creating-a-Words-of-Pow er-Bard

Let's work on it together!

Hi!

I'm trying to wrap my head around the words of power system and I think it would really suit a character concept a friend has but I'm really not sure how to implement it. I was hoping for some recommendations on what words to choose that would best represent the concept.

Essentially he sees himself as a failed wizard. The character doesn't consider himself a bard at all and instead the player uses Comedy and Oratory as simply a natural part of his roleplaying, it's simply that they manifest the bardic performance effects, possibly due to his knowledge of words of power.

When casting spells, he lacks confidence in his ability and therefore is constantly trying to remember basic aspects of casting, like the right inflections of words and phrases. This really suits the idea of words of power since he actively roleplays the spellcasting of words and they're often different whenever he attempts it.

He has said that in envisaging the character, I should picture Shaggy from Scooby Doo, only with a crossbow that he tends to rely on more than anything else.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Don't suppose you could arrange some kind of deal to make it better?

In order to make a character in Hero Lab with currently available material, you end up having to spend around $160. As convenient as Hero Lab might be, owning the books is already a massive investment and given that the material is all freely available online or through PCGen, that's a lot to pay for what amounts to a bit more convenience in character creation.

Not only that but without being able to split that cost between players in a group, that becomes prohibitively expensive for most people I would wager. It's very hard to justify that cost unless you don't buy the physical books or PDF's at all, in which case it would seem that most of that profit goes to Hero Lab.

Don't suppose you've ever considered making a character creator yourselves?

Remember that you do not need to max out skills. You can help your teamates witht he "aid anther option" and fot hat you do not need that much.

Admittedly I didn't think of that. That's very much in character for him to do, to.

Focused Study is actually pretty neat for skill intensive builds, and you can do Intimidate just fine if you grab Intimidating Prowess (add Str to Intimidate as well as Cha). With the +3-+6 from Skill Focus and Cornugon Smash you could be Intimidating everything up in hurr.

I'm not too keen on using a feat just for that though. It seems like there are so many better feats out there that take priority, or at the very least my attention.

You might consider taking Fast Study > Improvisation.

Focused study is pretty cool I think. You always have something you need to boost. If you plan to take skill focus even once its a really good trade.

Fast Learner? Then I have another skill point I don't know what to do with! :D And it'd also mean upping Int to 13 which is too painful to consider.

As rynij stated a fighter can benefit a lot from intimidate/corgungonsmash/intimidating prowess, when you reduce teh "to hit bonus" of your enemy you are improving the survivality of your entire group, for example.

Hmm, I suppose Cornugon could be taken later and I could use Focused Study at 8th-level to bump Intimidate, making Intimidating Prowess also possibly worthwhile. Three feats seems like a big cost for it all though.

Thanks all for giving me some things to consider.

I'm hoping to get into a long term PF game with my current group. If it all works out, then I think I'll probably end up playing a fighter concept I have. The idea behind the character is to be well rounded rather than focusing purely on combat damage. The only problem I'm having is in choosing skills past the first few levels.

Perception is going to be a set choice every level (Eyes and Ears of the City), leaving two other skill points to utilise every level. Past that I don't really know what to do with the skill points.

His build is a human two-handed weapon archetype. He's lawful neutral as the alignment suits the personality I have in mind for him so no barbarian multi-classing but I'm not averse to other classes or prestige classes to open up skills a bit more.

He has Heart of the Wilderness which gives him a small amount of Survival skill. I don't mind the idea of putting points into survival but at the same time, I'm not sure if doing that for twenty levels is such a great idea.

His feat build to 10th-level: Cleave, Critical Focus, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Combat Reflexes, Improved Critical (greatsword), Power Attack, Furious Focus, Weapon Focus (greatsword), Weapon Specialisation (greatsword). I'm open to changing that up a bit but I quite like him having the Improved Initiative, Iron Will and Lightning Reflexes so would prefer not to change them out.

Starting stats are: Str 18, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 7. Bump Dex at 4th and from then on everything to Strength. I'd prefer not to change that up either as it really suits the personality of the character I envisage playing. He's brash, rude, but at the same time very loyal to his friends. He's not afraid to take the lead but equally not afraid to submit to leadership. He's a team-player, first and foremost, with a military mindset that is deeply rooted in the camaraderie and strength of the brother beside you mentality.

Mainly I just don't know what to do with his skills because everything other than Perception seems kinda pointless or redundant. Dungeoneering and Survival whilst not bad, won't do much for him when considering the other party members will outpace him on both very quickly. And by the time swimming or climbing become remotely able to be of any benefit due to their bonus versus his armour penalty, they're made redundant by magic. Intimidate would be good but with the low Charisma, kinda blows.

I considered taking Focused Study and putting it into Perception at 1st-level but by 8th-level, what other use would there be for it? And I'm not sure it's worth sacrificing the feat at 1st either, especially when his Perception will be fairly decent without it.

Oh, and while I'm at it, is the human favoured class benefit, "Bonus CMD" really worth it above the extra hit point?

I actually quite like the core bard with no archetypes. With careful planning you can be skilled in almost every significant skill in the game by about tenth level. If you go a Dex-based build and focus on buffing instead of attacks, you make the entire party much more powerful and versatile.

As for the concept, I had a concept of a rough outdoors type who was simply quick-witted, sarcastic, and generally just good to have around. The type of guy who leads a group by example and getting everyone to work together. I saw him as more a Malcolm Reynolds than an Inara. Taking comedy, dance and oratory gives you excellent, wide-ranging skills and can be interpreted as quick wit, dexterous movement and good leadership speeches rather than dancing, prancing and fopping about.

Just curious.

Do you get these as spells separate to the paladin's spell casting ability or are they merely added to the paladin spell list?

In which case, if I take Oath of Vengeance and Warrior of the Holy Light, does that mean I lose that benefit of Oath of Vengeance?

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/paladin/archetypes/paizo---pal adin-archetypes/oathbound-paladin/oath-of-vengeance

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/paladin/archetypes/paizo---pal adin-archetypes/warrior-of-the-holy-light

That should be everything you need to do to make it work.

Cool, thanks, that makes a bit more sense.

I'm not sure exactly how they handle the license, but I can tell you I have one license on my PC and another on my laptop, and it works fine, whether my laptop is on my home network or not.

And that's from a single purchase of Hero Lab and additional Pathfinder add-ons?

MAC address? So the two computers have to be on the same network? That kinda defeats the point I'd want a second license for as I'd want one for the desktop and another for the laptop.

I tried asking this on the Lone Wolf forums but for some reason their forums aren't loading for me.

As I understand it, if you buy Hero Lab you get two licenses. What happens with the Pathfinder licenses? Say I bought the Classic Pack, does that give me two licenses to use on the same computers I used for the initial Hero Lab purchase? Or would I need to buy two separate licenses?

So I've read and heard from a few people that the bard ability Fascinate is really good. I don't get it. What am I missing about this ability that makes it anything other than situationally ordinary?

In fact, apply that to any aspect of the bard. I actually love the bard class in Pathfinder and am keen to play one, but there seem to be a number of abilities that are very meh. I don't particularly care but it would be good to know of things that they can be used for that I might not have considered, or would otherwise consider normally.

For the record, here's my build: Garesteth Amistil.

Important point of clarification here-

One adventure path is a series of 6 100 page books which covers a whole campaign's worth of content. Start at level 1, usually hit something in the mid to high teens by the end, and results vary by group, but they'll generally take quite a while to get through. I'm GMing a group that's racing through a whole path every 5 months, but we meet two nights a week and run long. The group where I'm a player only gets together for 3 or 4 hours a week, and we seem to be 2 for 2 on taking 4 and a half years to knock each out. Pretty sure the average is somewhere between the two.

Ah, I wasn't aware of that. Heh, kinda changes things.

Actually, Kingmaker sounds good. Railroads are easier to run but, IMO, less fun to play.