TheBlackPlague's page

I’ve had an honorable mention. Party has been fighting this flying snake woman at the top of a 180ft tall tower. Very tough fight, gunslinger is the only one that can regularly hit her.

This sounds suspiciously like a notoriously difficult boss fight in a certain AP...

Hey all!

Our group is sick to death of playing low level (1-5th-ish, though that's approximate - I think we could survive skipping 1-4th or MAYBE 1-3rd levels if necessary) characters. Due to the infrequency of our play sessions and several unfortunate TPKs, low-level play is pretty much the only arena we've a lot of experience in, and we're suuuuper done with it.

Are there any APs that would work to begin the story with the second book, or in some other way make characters starting at 4-5th+ level workable while maintaining the integrity of the story?

I really miss a dedicated necro-minionmancer class like the Dread Necromancer.

Hello, boards!

One of my players really wants to play the Warmage from 3.5, but it seems a bit... underpowered... even for 3.5, and especially so for Pathfinder. I tried my hand at a quick conversion - any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

There's a few things I'm definitely up in the air about (giving Heavy Armor Proficiency, and having both Warmage Edge and Spirit of War), but any and all input would be appreciated!

Edit: It would help if I added the link, eh?

Here!

TheBlackPlague wrote:

My least favorite thing, as both GM and player, is when people are on their phones or Facebook. It's annoying as a player but downright infuriating as a GM. I'm incredibly busy and have precious little time to prepare games for you, at least show me the respect of playing.

*grouse rabble grump*

a phone can be a really good resource if you need to look up game mechanics, a spell you want to use or how one of your feats/items work

I agree - if that's what they're being used for. In my groups, it generally isn't.

My least favorite thing, as both GM and player, is when people are on their phones or Facebook. It's annoying as a player but downright infuriating as a GM. I'm incredibly busy and have precious little time to prepare games for you, at least show me the respect of playing.

*grouse rabble grump*

Nah, you're not really missing anything. It's a system that isn't designed to make monster integration into parties easy, and it can be really frustrating.

House rules are your friend on this front.

In the panicked condition, it says:

A panicked creature must drop anything it holds and flee at top speed from the source of its fear, as well as any other dangers it encounters, along a random path. It can't take any other actions. In addition, the creature takes a –2 penalty on all saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. If cornered, a panicked creature cowers and does not attack, typically using the total defense action in combat. A panicked creature can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, the creature must use such means if they are the only way to escape.

Does the bolded "cowers" mean the cowering condition?

The character is frozen in fear and can take no actions. A cowering character takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class and loses his Dexterity bonus (if any).

If so, the two statements are contradictory - a cowering creature cannot use the Total Defense action (it's a standard), since they can take no actions. How does this work?

Rule of Cool. Would have been a waste to let an opportunity like that slip by.

As somebody who is currently playing a Master Summoner and GMing for a vanilla Summoner, I'd just like to say a couple things (keeping in mind that in both groups we allow the character to control his summons, the DMs prefer not to).

Two things regarding the length of turns. Thing the first: IF this was a problem, it is exactly the same kind of problem that comes with any other class that has summons, or cohorts, or animal companions, or... yeah. Thing the second: Preparation negates this issue completely. Know your summons. Have them in front of you, printed out, or just memorized. Of course it's gonna bog down the game if you toss out 1d3+2 small earth elementals and you haven't the foggiest idea what they can do or what their abilities are. If you aren't a prepared player, you shouldn't be playing a summoner. Your turn should be taking no longer than a minute or two, tops.

Also, Rhedyn is completely and totally correct. Yes, the class (particularly the Master Summoner!) absolutely relies on a meta throttle. A responsible player of a summoner, one who is playing for the enjoyment of the group in addition to his own funsies, isn't going to steal the fun from a game, because s/he won't spam a dozen summons per encounter despite having the ability to. A person playing a druid, a cleric, a wizard, a rogue, OR LITERALLY ANY OTHER CLASS OF ANY OTHER ALIGNMENT can suck the fun from a game just as easily. It's a team game, and while this is important to remember when playing any character of any class, it is PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT for summoners. We play this game to have fun. If you're vampire-ing the fun from the rest of the table, you're doing it wrong.

In summary, it is both the responsibility of YOU (the player) to know your limitations and what you have to do to be an efficient and enjoyable summoner, and YOU (the GM) to know enough if a player is capable of handling a summoner. If not, kindly point them to a class they'll enjoy that will ensure everyone else's fun.

This is my favorite topic of all time. A pity cockatice aren't allowed familiars - you could have a cock so withered and hideous, and yet it still makes others rock hard!

Aye. Shadenfreude has the right of it. Fun is all that matters with Pathfinder, or really any tabletop game.

Oh man, so many. This is just kind of a rough list I can remember off the top of my head.

In no particular order:

1. Knowledge skills are no longer “trained-only”.
2. Intimidate skill checks use your Str or Cha mod, whichever is higher.
3. Climb skill checks use your Dex or Str mod, whichever is higher.
4. Monks and rogues gain full BAB progression.
5. Monks use d10 hit dice and are automatically proficient with all monk weapons.
6. All classes that normally gain 2+Int mod skill points per level now gain 6+Int mod skill points per level. All other classes gain two additional skill points per level.
7. You may draw a weapon as either part of a move action or as part of an attack action using that weapon.
8. Characters do not need to select an alignment. (We don't use it.)
9. While paladins do not possess an alignment, all paladin characters must possess a code of conduct numbering a minimum of five items. Violation of this code still indicates the paladin falls.
10. Gestalt characters are welcome with GM approval.
11. Gestalt characters gain bonus feats at 1st level, 3rd level, and every three levels thereafter.
12. Use 25 point-buy for character stats.
13. For Reflex saves, use the greater of your Dex or Int; for Will saves, use the greater of your Cha or Wis. Fortitude saves still only use Con.
14. Touch attacks use Dex for attack rolls, not Str.
15. There are standard wands (50 charges over a lifetime) and eternal wands (3/day). These types of wands are the same price.
16. You may take your standard action at any point during your move action. This does not allow you to make more than a single 5-foot step per round.
17. Standing up from prone takes only half your movement.
19. Clerics use Wis for channeling, not Cha.
20. 3rd party content is welcome, but please run it past me first, and I reserve the right to ban it (or anything else, including Paizo material) at will.
21. Dispel magic and similar effects do not, in fact, negate a permanency effect. It only suppresses the effect for 24 hours.
22. Any weapon with the finesse special property uses Dex for attack and damage rolls.
23. The Combat Expertise feat no longer has an Int prerequisite.

I added a few more scoured from this thread, incidentally.

Also, I am curious as well about Bjorn's cantrip abuse.

When planning a campaign, keep The One Rule in mind at all times.

No matter how many plans you have in place to prepare for something your PCs are going to do, they will always, inevitably, do NONE OF THOSE THINGS. And you must be prepared to deal with that.

So many DMs don't learn that lesson until it is far too late, if ever.

Also, keeping your characters' backstories in mind for involvement in the story really brings people into the game. That's something I'm really trying hard to work on as a DM.

*nods* I know the feeling. It is incredibly fulfilling to be a DM. And also not good once you start noticing options to torment players with. *evil laughter*

For starters, here's what Servitor is:
"Servitor: Gillmen serve the dark, unfathomable schemes of the reclusive aboleths, but unless the gillmen go against the orders of their aboleth masters (which are often unknown to them, masked in the form of hidden memories triggered by key events), they are free to act as they wish. In a campaign, these orders are wholly up to the GM, meaning the player of a gillman character cedes some elements of self-control when it best serves the story of the campaign."
Which means you, as the GM, can certainly use this trait to keep him on the boat. As far as keeping him on the boat otherwise, though, a bit more information on his backstory might be helpful. Give him a reason to stay on the boat - a bond with someone else present, threats against things he loves, etc.

I don't think underwater darkvision is overdoing it. They're still a mediocre race, imo.

Personally, I'd drop out of the campaign. No gaming is better than bad gaming - and since you're already DMing another campaign, you still get some good gaming in. Also a pretty valid excuse for not playing in another campaign, especially with all the time and effort you put into your own.

I totally understand the uncomfortable political climate what with ruffling of feathers and whatnot. What does the rest of your party think about the situation?

Also, just imho, if a person doesn't have A) the motivation to or B) the time to properly plan their campaign - ESPECIALLY if it is a prewritten adventure they can't even be bothered to read through - then they shouldn't be DMing.

It does depend heavily on WHAT template it is and if there's a reason for it. I'm a pretty flexible DM, so probably a reasonable one, sure. CR is too static of a thing to base it on, imo... it would have to be done, as Pleiades said, case-by-case.

I would certainly support a Kickstarter for this and would likely buy at least two copies when it released. (Pity this won't be out next week when I start RotRL...)

Because I prefer my magic and don't much care for the technological aspect.

Because I prefer my tech and don't much care for the magical effects on the world.

Because I prefer the blend the two to the point where it's impossible to tell what is magic and what is technology.

Because I prefer two distinct lines of skills that prevent a tech-user from learning magic and vice versa.

Because I prefer that both exist, but only in certain areas or in a highly limited, controlled manner.

These are all valid answers, but the emphasis is on the word 'prefer'. Ultimately, it boils down to what you enjoy in your game (and effectively, what your DM enjoys in their game). If the two are mutually incompatible and people feel very strongly about it, everyone will be much happier playing in different groups.

It is much the same reason that some people love using dinosaurs in their worlds, and some people find the very idea to be silly and ridiculous. This is a genre of games that relies entirely upon what people enjoy. YMMV, of course, but everyone's idea of fun is completely different, which is why every group treats huge issues totally differently. This is one of them - and it's purely a preference.

This.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Yes, I have a thought.

This is a brilliant idea. Brilliant.

May I thieve it?

I've been tricked! I came here expecting a flame war, and now... *looks down sadly at bowl of popcorn*

That's why, once you have a handful of undead, you park them in an onyx mine with pickaxes in the middle of nowhere so you can have a ready supply of onyx.

Whatever makes your friends feel like they're being useless.

How much of your enjoyment of the game comes from fitting those puzzle pieces together with perfect synchronicity and how much of it comes from rping with friends?

I'm kind of in the same boat with my current group, and I've had to deliberately take sub-optimal choices to make sure everyone's having fun. The group fun of 100%, in my opinion, is worth lowering one's own personal level of fun to 80%.

I think you've got the right idea for sure. Killing his cohort is a terrible idea, and frankly the rest of the group should be admonished for insisting on such a thing. Especially since I have a tough time seeing an alchemist, magus, and wizard (all at level 13!) being outclassed by a paladin two levels below them unless there's some serious munchkinning going on by the cleric.

That being said, I completely understand where they're coming from if their BUFFER AND HEALER isn't willing to BUFF AND HEAL them. Ignoring another party member who is dying "just in case" is a baaaaaad policy for the party healer. Bad feelings all around, there. Sounds like y'all need to sit down for a chat about it - encourage and reward his (apparently exceptional) roleplaying of Leadership, but ask him to fill his party role more efficiently when it comes to other players. That should ease tensions somewhat.

*sigh* Can I please just have a PF version of the Warlock published officially? Pwease? Pwetty pwease?