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Ahhh! I see. Thanks!
So reading the Connections Section of the Mystic class I see that for the Healer Connection it reads: "Spells: 1st—6th mystic cure; replaced by 1st—lesser remove condition, 2nd—remove condition, 3rd—remove affliction, 4th— restoration, 5th—greater remove condition" "REPLACE" Am I understanding this correctly that Mystic Healers lose Mystic Cure and that it's replaced by Remove Spells?
While I like Aethera and consider it to be money well spent, I personally found the character class options, skills, and gear/equipment to be not what I was hoping for in a Sci-Fi setting. I love the meta story line though so I'll probably just overlay that on to the classes, skills, and gear/equipment from Starfinder. Just curious on how will the rest of you be adding Starfinder (if at all) to your Aethera campaigns?
Exactly!
In answer to the original post. I personally don't plan for much "hard sci-fi" in my Starfinder game. In my opinion, everything we know about Starfinder, tells me it's not really the setting for what we think of when we say hard sci-fi. Frankly if I want that there are other systems/settings that I would use instead.
Agreed! Modular, 2-D tiles (like the dungeon tiles they put out for D&D near the end of 3.5) are prefect. I have hundreds of $$$ Dwarven Forge sets sitting in my closet which I never use as they are a huge pain in the butt to bring out and set up let alone take anywhere (and I even game at home). So yeah never ever gonna buy those kinds again. Those D&D tiles, on the other hand, were great. I invested in at least two of each set and I still use those all the time. Besides that most of the stuff that Bluenose lists should be represented:
If it's just three I'm gonna have to break it down to at least two types. Ships
Snubfighters
An impressive list and thanks to my founding fathers/mothers of genre binges I've read most of those authors and works listed under literature inspirations. However, I'm surprised that Andre Norton isn't there. I mean many of the writers on that list often site Norton as one of their own inspirations.
Only a few days left to help us make this a reality! Please support the Kickstarter. Indeed. I backed this as soon as I found out about it. Anyone who loves Sci-Fi/Sci-Fy and Pathfinder should want this. If the preview isn't enough to convince you then check out their website Aetherarpg
Yeah, I have been posting the link and a link to the kickstarter page on every RPG facebook page/group and RPG forum that I'm a member of.
Hopefully that will help to generate more buzz, but frankly Robert I'm very impressed by how open and honest you've been in answering people's questions (even the hard ones) on this thread. It really shows your passion and that alone should make people interested in this project. Honestly everything I've read so far has got me supper excited. I've long been trying to cobble together my own Sci-Fi or Sci-FY setting for Pathfinder. But with a 3 year old, health issues, working on my own start up business, athletic pursuits and my other hobbies/pastimes, I barely have the time to GM my group's games as it is, let alone having the time to create a campaign setting from the ground up that incorporates various 3rd party supplements, my own rules and conceptual elements and established Pathfinder rules in any sort of usable format. I've tried it before, creating my own 300+ page 3.0 setting. It's was a huge undertaking which, when I finished, I had no urge to run as all my creative energy had gone into creating the setting in the first place....derp! lol Pregenerated campaign settings (that I can tweak and add my own crap to, rather then create from the ground up) are all that adult life have left me the time for. Aethera sounds like an awesome place, one that I want to read and learn more about. I am hoping for a successful KS campaign as I can't wait to start reading and writing up a new campaign and new adventures for my group.
True this would could have happened even if it wasn't my niece, but that did make a big difference in how things turned. I guess you'll never know how people will act (close friends or not) in a given situation until they are actually in that situation. Thanks for the well wishes the game, it's going great so far. I'm very happy to be able to put this campaign on the table. Golarion is a really rich setting!
28. Naming a new weapon that has yet to see combat is deadly to the owner. 29. If your horse throws a shoe while you are tracking someone they mean to ambush you. 30. Goblins are afraid of rabbits, tie a rabbit foot to anything you want goblins to leave alone. 31. It is ill fortune to seek a Harrow reading while pregnant.
If you can find it, there is a great article in Dragon Magazine #225 called "I'm Okay, You're One-Dimensional" by David Clark. I always recommended it to both new players and old time players, who haven't read it and who are uninspired when making a new character. Also Jim Holloway did the artwork for the article!
I guess I should explain. I used to baby sit my niece when she was a kid. Often my group and I would let her play D&D with us, since sometimes the night's I'd watch her were also game nights and she was curious. Flash forward to the present and my nicece, now in her mid-20s has become your modern geek/gamer girl. Her boyfriend, whom I honestly don't remember how she met was a nerd as well and completely flipped out when he found out she used to game. He begged her to game with him. I guess they couldn't find a group or she knew that I still gamed, regardless, my niece asked if they could sit in on a few games. My group was just starting up a new Pathfinder campaign, our first in the Pathfinder campaign setting (running Curse of the Crimson Throne while I worked on my own campaign) so I said sure (I had run for eight player before so seven wasn't to hard). Before that we had been using Pathfinder for homebrew Dragonlance and Dark Sun games. Things were fine for the first few game session. I wasn't sure when I noticed but I did eventually notice that one the other players (whom I had been playing with on and off for over ten years.. not ten years straight) was acting a little too flirty with my niece. Now my opinion is probably skewed 'cause she is my niece, but I think she's a pretty girl and she is a nerd so I guess I should have seen this coming. So I talk with my player and tell him he needs to tone it back a bit he was like, "Well my Bard is a ladies man so I'm just playing my character". I told him "fine flit with characters and npcs, not with my niece." To be fair he did tone it back a little, at first, but as I got more distracted by the campaign, raising a three year and work and so on and so on, I didn't notice he started it up again. All the while my niece's boyfriend turns out to be a super jealous, insecure tw*t and they actually had a few arguments about the other guy, my niece didn't tell me cause she didn't want to bring their drama to our game (in her opinion they were guests in our campaign). Finally the whole thing boils over one night with her boyfriend interrupting the game and accusing the guy of trying to seduce and steal her away from him. Things went insane from that point and there was shouting, name calling and her boyfriend and the other guy almost get into a fight. I wish I was making this all up, I mean it sounds made up when I read it all here, but sadly it's not. In the end my niece and her boyfriend split up, my old time player and his brother (whom I had also been playing with, on and off, for over ten years) both decide to leave the group. So with two player left I was had no option but to put gaming on hiatus. I don't blame my niece and actually it turns out she has helped me to reform my group. Which is now composed of my wife, my other player from the disbanded group, a friend from high school who's moved back in town and my niece and a girlfriend of hers from college. Also I was able to finish writing my campaign and several adventures for it during the off time. So despite the drama things have worked out in the end and I'm looking forward to finally getting a chance to explore Golarion.
My Paladin lost 4 points of INT to a Deck of Many Things, I said, "My brain hurts!" then changed his name to Mr. R.H. Gumby, Paladin and hilarity ensured for the rest of the campaign. I know it's not quite what you're asking about but I've found that when you're uninspired, finding a real world character to base a PC on is often all you need to do and the character often builds themselves from that point. Wasn't sure I was gonna play a 8 Int Paladin but thanks to Python he became the star of the campaign.
Collecting RPGs is a hobby of mine. I don't have the whole print Pathfinder yet (though I have all the core books). But in print I have virtually all D&D 3.0/3.5 books (save for the 3.5 FR reprints). About half of the D&D Gazetteers, 1st ed D&D core books All 2nd ed D&D Core and Ravenloft, Dragonlance and Dark Sun supplements. All d20 Ravenloft supplements, All 7th Sea (even the d20 books) all L5R (every edition and the d20 books), 90% of Werewolf, all Kindred of the East, all Blue Planet, all Fading Suns, all Tales from the Floating Vagabond, 90% of Gary Gayax's Dangerous Journeys, all 1st ed Exalted, all FASA Star Trek, all d20 Star Wars, 2nd ed Paranoia, Transhuman Space, Mechwarrior, 1ed Rune Quest and CoC .... I'm going stop here as this is starting to sound like bragging. Let's just say I'm like collecting, my wife worked at a gaming shop when we were dating (employee discount helped with late 90s and early 2000 game collections and first pick when folks came into sell their old games with others) and I have been gaming for 30 years (ugh feel old. I still have my D&D Red Box, my first d6, d10 and d20 (don't know where the d4,d8 and d12 went) and the handful of Endless Quest books that got me into gaming in the first place.
Both the above are great answers and are pretty much what I was going to say. Also if you decide to get printed books and your FLGS doesn't carry them (which mine doesn't as they are 90% wargames and 9% CCGs) then Amazon is a good place to go if you're looking to save a little cash when buying new books. Nice Bubble Gum Crisis reference by the way! You a classic fan or a 2040 fan?
"A single melee attack" is not throwing a weapon To be honest I think I've gotten off the point of my statement, Claxon you're right in that it's only the feat that allows him to elect to throw a weapon as a ranged attack. I totally hyper focused AoO part of the feat and on what constitutes a "single melee attack" action that I confused my own statement by saying that he could throw a sword as part of a AoO thinking it was part on the standard AoO response of the feat. Rather it is that, yes he can throw a sword as a response to the ranged attack option of that feat. What an embarrassing mix up! Derp! This is what happens when you post at work, while answering the phone and dealing with people coming into your office and talking to you while type. That of course totally negates my statements my response post. But Blackstorm's comments got me to think about to what type of action is a "single melee attack" there are some interesting things I've found in the PRD. There are several entrees that describe a "single melee attack" as a standard action. "Piledriver (Ex): At 11th level, as a standard action, a foehammer may make a single melee attack with a weapon from the hammer weapon training group" "Devastating Blow (Ex): At 19th level, as a standard action, a foehammer may make a single melee attack with a weapon from the hammer weapon training" "Gorgon's Fist (Combat)
The PRD also has several entrees which lists a "single melee attack" as an immediate action and as a swift action in addition to it being listed as a standard action. I could not find any specific definition of the term in the rules (unless I missed it) and based on it's appearance in several entrees it seems that the term counts as several types of actions, one of which is a standard action.
"Any action that ruins the game experience for either players and DMs/GMs" In my opinion this is really the only cardinal sin of any DM/GM either old school or new school. Honestly both are there to have fun and should both should work together to ensure that everyone, not just the players or not just the DM/GM, is having a good time.
"A single melee attack" is not throwing a weapon Yes I know. I was stating that to show that an AoO is "single melee attack". A single melee attack is usually considered a standard action and so in regards to the feat in question the player could throw a light or one handed weapon as that is a standard attack and fits within the concept of the time frame indicated by the "a single melee attack" description of an AoO. They could not, however, throw a two-handed weapon as that would be a a full round action and exceeds that time frame.
I say yes you can. In regards to using a Sword as a thrown weapon as the PRD states
The nature of an "attack of opportunity" is as a quick interrupt action or as the PRD states "a single melee attack". So I would say you could at least throw a light or one handed weapon as an AoO.
From your post it sounds like you're talking about an already staked vampire. Mechanically speaking Ambrosia should work fine, it affects as holy water so snicker snack with it head and anoint away. The running water is up to the GM. For me (as a GM), while clever, method one kinda comes across as a cop out to actually finding a real source of running water. So I probably wouldn't let it fly. I mean with that logic you could argue that standing on a ledge and peeing on a Vampire could count a running water. Ok Pee might not count as "Water" so substitute "peeing" with "emptying your waterskin". If the Vampire is already staked then just drag his butt to the nearest river. Or if the river is too far away then wait until sunrise. In regards to the Coffin... as others have said, no Vampire worth his/her salt is only going to have one. Also since they can assume Gaseous Form at will why would they ever keep one where you could get to it in the first place. The worse Vampire I have faced kept several back up coffins buried behind or beneath barriers that only a gas could pass through. And all these barriers were of sufficient thickness that by the time you tunneled through them he would have completely regenerated.
Thanks guys. Really appreciate the advice. I think my main thing is I am just getting sick of needing to make the character that has to go along with the party and everything that isn't done with a full OOC vote and doesn't comply to the majority is wrong. Compliance with the majority is a part of playing in a group. If you don't like that then RPGs, at least group based RGPs (which are what virtually all pen and paper RPGs are) might not be the game for you. Now your group should try to reach decisions that accommodate every player. But let's face it there will be many times when one or two players won't agree with the rest of the group, that's just they way it is. When you're that one or two player, rather then be purposefully disruptive in your play, an alternate would be to say, "Okay I don't agree with your idea, however I'll go along with it, but next time I'd like to try things my way." Also if you feel the to make these kind of characters as a response to the group's play style (you mention," everything that isn't done with a full OOC vote and doesn't comply to the majority is wrong") you may want to voice your grievances with the other players in the group. You'd be surprised at how often and quickly that can fix things.
Short answer: Don't make selfish quirks. Both excellent advice. On paper and during PC development there are a lot of cool personality traits and quirks you can give your PC. But in practice you'll find that many will not work. The most important thing to remember in a RPG is that you're part of a group. It's usually not a good idea to give a PC traits that are detrimental to party unity. What might be fun or innovative to you might be a huge irritation to everyone. Riuken said it best, "Don't make selfish quirks." The point of the game is for everyone to have fun not just you. For example your Alchemist. Why would anyone travel with a with a bomb nut who doesn't care if he blows up his friends or traveling companions or use them as bait without telling them? How is this fun for anyone but you? You don't want to play quirks that negatively effect the other player's characters. Especially ones that do so without the other player's knowledge or make your PC act antagonistically towards the party. That's the fast track to not having a group to play with.
I guess I assumed you would round down each die individually. So both of the 3.5's would become 3's making it a 6.Actually it's not. A greataxe has an average damage of 6.5, rounded down to 6. A greatsword has an average damage of (3.5+3.5) or 7. You always round down, so the great sword or earthbreaker come out on top. I think a lot of people look at it as... the average of a d6 is 3.5, rounded down it's 3. so 2d6 is = (3 + 3) or 6. But if you take it as the average of the combined roll then yes it is 7 (like 3% above a six).
The Companion Book on Taldor states that only Taldor’s royalty and senatorial classes are known as “the bearded.” The Senatorial Class is described as "hereditary members of Taldor’s senate, the governors of Taldor’s prefectures, and various heads of the bureaucracy." The section on the Unbearded closes with "Taldor’s military offers such an avenue to advancement, and because of that the Taldan Horse, Taldan Phalanx, and Imperial Navy are loyal and strong, and fight hard for the empire—if only to gain the notice of their commanders and receive a promotion to the ranks of the bearded." In the following section on the Military, The Taldan Horse section states that, "The horse legions are comprised entirely of heavily armed and armored knights, led by a knight-captain" Ergo a Knight is not a commander but rather a specialized solider. I would go so far to say that even a Knight-Captain isn't a commander, rather they are a mid-level field officer. All this leads one to infer that in Taldor the word "Knight" is a military rank and not a social rank. Becoming a knight can set a person on the path to becoming one of the "breaded" but does not make them one in and of itself. That's just my 2cp and my interpretation of what's written.
I remember that book, I also liked the Dragonlance one. I totally see the use for a book like that. I mean the Chronicles: NPC Guide was nice but I'd loved to see more localized versions. Our first non-adventure path campaign is taking place in and around Katapesh. I'd love to see a regional NPC book. Like a Garund NPC guide, which would offer several NPCs from each country.
Trying to come up with an Evil patron for a major NPC Changeling Witch in my campaign. I'm having trouble with the Patron Spell list as almost all of the appropriate spells are already in the Witch Spell List. Also the NPC isn't supposed to aware that their patron is Evil. They knows it's dark, sinister and certainly not LG but not that it's evil. Besides Protection Spells, which could be cast as Protection from Evil until the NPC succumbs to corruption and starts to turn evil, I'm kinda at a lost. Any suggestions? Has anyone one done this?
I like the journal idea as well. I used to do all my GW battle reports on my war gaming club's forum from an "in game", or in those cases, an "in battle" perspective. I might need to incorporate that.
These are excellent suggestions and I actually try do many of these in regards to rewarding RP. I'm not the hugest fan of using hard XP as a reward for RPing but our group's founding DM did (probably should have stated that earlier) and many of the old players (i.e. two of the current group) are use to it and expect it. I'm trying to pull them out of that mindset but I don't want to do it cold turkey. Hence my question here to see of there was something, mechanics wise, I could use as I wean them off of it.
Thanks for the comments all.
This usually what I do. It's only recently I've played with the precursor idea. I know what many of you are saying in regards to the difficulty of awarding XP for RP. Where people think that running their gob is role playing. Thankfully I've played with the same group for over ten years now, our size fluctuates and we're currently a small group of 4 players and a DM, but everyone knows that gabbing isn't role playing. Our RP rewards aren't willy nilly either they usually go to Players who stick to their PC concept regardless of the metagame or do an outstanding in character performance. Our system works for us (probably because we've played together for so long). When switching systems, I'm always curious what others do as far as in game rewards go, hence my question. Although it just occurred to me that Pathfinder wouldn't be that different then what we did for 3.5 considering it's 3.75 lol.
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