Looking at the backgrounds I’m noticing some of the Lore skills granted are essentially covered by a broader skill also granted by the same background. For example, Herbalist gives the Nature skill and the Herbalism Lore skill, Detective gives the Society skill and the Underworld Lore skill, and Animal Whisperer gives you the Nature skill and a terrain Lore skill.
Other than being keyed to a different stat, what benefit does having a lore skill already covered by a more general skill provide? Do you potentially get more in depth knowledge than you otherwise would? Thoughts?
My sidecart currently lists #144 as my starting issue, but I want to start with #145 that is the beginning of 2E content. Could this change please be made?
Perhaps I missed this but was the policy for delivering subscription PDFs changed? I know it used to be on shipment date, but my August shipment date is on the 22nd but I received all of my PDFs including the Advanced Class Guide and Iron Gods 1.
FYI, I did have some payment method glitches due to moving and a couple months got lumped together. Maybe something happened there. I love getting stuff early, but wanted to point out a potential glitch in the system.
So, I'm considering bringing in an Antipaladin into my game as a villian. However, I'm trying to make one that is less of raving psychopath and more philosophical regards to their alignment of Chaotic Evil. Below, I've cut and paste a quote from Nietzsche's The Antichrist that I am considering modeling him after. Do you think that this philosophy is consistent with the Pathfinder definition of CE?
"What is good?—Whatever augments the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself, in man.
What is evil?—Whatever springs from weakness.
What is happiness?—The feeling that power increases—that resistance is overcome.
Not contentment, but more power; not peace at any price, but war; not virtue, but efficiency (virtue in the Renaissance sense, virtu, virtue free of moral acid).
The weak and the botched shall perish: first principle of our charity. And one should help them to it."
Supreme Stealth (Ex): Choose one of the following senses: blindsight, scent, or tremorsense. A creature using the chosen sense can’t automatically detect you, and must succeed at Perception checks as normal to do so. If you choose blindsight, this ability also affects blindsense. You can select this ability up to three times, each time choosing a different sense.
How does this ability interact with invisibility or other forms of concealment (say darkness or fog)?
Stealth requires cover/concealment and that you are not being observed. Let's say there is a monster with blindsight and a PC with supreme stealth. What now counts as concealment against blindsight? Blindsight normally ignores concealment, but does supreme stealth defeat that? Or would an invis supremely stealthy person still need to find cover to maintain stealth? Let's say the PC is not using stealth. Does the monster still automatically detect the invisible PC?
I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around this one.
Would anyone else like to a see a simple small size PDF of the AP maps? I love the interactive pdfs but they have a couple of problems:
1. I don't know what causes this but the existing PDFs can overwhelm tablets and PCs. They open very slowly and have caused freezes for me. This even happens on my gaming PC which should have more than enough resources to open a 5 page pdf.
2. Printing issues. Printing these are a pain in the butt. Often what comes out of the printer is not the same as what is on screen. I find it difficult to predict when the printouts will be missing gridlines/secret areas/room rumbers etc.
I like the interactive pdfs but I wish that Paizo would adopt a small is beautiful approach to all of their pdf documents. There are a lot of times I'd like to open an AP or rules document on my iPad but it so slow and clunky it isn't worth my time. I see a similar problem on older laptops too.
One of my players picked up the Guardian ability Call Arrows, and we had some head scratching when trying to figure out exactly how this works.
Call Arrows:
Call Arrows (Su): As an immediate action you can cause
all ranged attacks targeted at allies within 30 feet to
redirect to you (even if you’re out of the attack’s range).
This causes the attack rolls to be made against your
Armor Class. This effect persists until the end of your
next turn, automatically retargeting any ranged attacks
away from allies and onto you.
Some questions:
1. Does the attacker need LoS to the Guardian?
2. Does the guardian need LoS to their allies?
3. How does cover/concealment/firing into melee play into this? Do you get the modifiers based on the original target, on the guardian, or none at all?
4. How would a spell like Wind Wall on the Guardian play out when using this ability? Would the Call Arrows override the wall or would the wall still stop ranged attacks?
It just occurred to me that the current lesser trial system has a lot in common with the campaign trait system from Legacy of Fire AP path. Both of them are essentially individual PC mini-missions/tasks that can be completed for extra game perks.
I'd really be curious to hear from someone who has run Legacy of Fire, and how the campaign traits affected game play. Was it fun? Did it encourage metagaming? Anyone out there?
I'm currently wrapping up a RotTL campaign with my gaming group, and for my next game I am planning on running the Shattered Star as a sequel. However, as part of this I will incorporate the Mythic Adventure rules as an alternate advancement system. As part of this playtest I will periodically update this thread to give my thoughts as events unfold.
Some preliminary thoughts:
Advancement: As written the Shattered Star takes the PCs from Level 1-17 over six chapters. I typically advance PCs by GM fiat according to progress according the plot and will continue to do in this AP. My advancement plan is as follows-
Ch 1. Gain 2 levels and 2 MR to end at 3rd Level/2 MR
Ch 2. Gain 2 levels and 1 MR to end at 5th Level/3 MR
Ch 3. Gain 2 levels and 1 MR to end at 7th Level/4 MR
Ch 4. Gain 2 levels and 1 MR to end at 9th Level/5 MR
Ch 5. Gain 1 level and 1 MR to end at 10th Level/6 MR
Ch 6. Gain 1 levels and 0 MR to end the campaign at 11th Level/6 MR
Trials: I really don't like the current trials system as written. As others have noted, I agree that they seem to encourage meta-gaming and bizarre character behavior than heroic deeds that align with the campaign plot.
The basic plot of the Shattered Star is to find six pieces of an artifact to fight the BBEG. The "lesser trials" in this campaign will be the significant accomplishments and heroic deeds of the group as they overcome the obstacles before in pursuit of the pieces of the artifact. They will accomplish the "greater trial" in actually finding a piece of the artifact and in the process absorbing a portion of it's power. Notice that there are six pieces of the artifact in the campaign which matches up with the six MR they will gain as noted above.
Mythic Flaw: Since the artifact pieces are aligned with a particular sin and school of magic, I am kicking around ideas on how to make these interesting. I'll probably have the PCs identify a particular sin or sins in their character background and customize the flaw around that. Given the oppositional nature of Thassilonian magic the School Aversion flaw might play a big role here too.
Concerns: I'm really interested to see how the regular levels and MRs stack and if the CR system will hold true. If not I will have to do a lot of adjusting to keep the encounters appropriate. In any case I'll probably rework most of the boss encounters so that they have MRs and the fights will be appropriately epic!
So just a few initial thoughts there. I'm hoping to kick this off in the next month or so, but the holidays make this tricky so it really will depend on how the group's schedules align.
First, thanks to Paizo for making this playtest public. I'm really excited to part of this process and making Mythic Adventures great!
I just started reading the document and was looking at the Mythic Flaws, and the dependency flaw stands out to me as an odd duck. All of the other flaws rely on something external to the mythic being happening to them (crit hit, certain type of damage or spell, etc.) and as such is largely outside of their locus of control. It happens to them when it happens to them and there is not much they can do about it.
Dependency, on the other hand, is internal to the mythic being and therefore they have much more control when they would suffer its effects. This to me makes it seem less like a true weakness and more like an inconvenience. Why wouldn't the character just stock up to a ridiculous degree before setting out on an adventure? In addition, through the use of magic this can be mitigated in a number of ways. Bags of holding could hold a lifetime supply. What about just magically creating the food? When teleport becomes available whats to stop you from going back to town to get more whenever you need it? Sure, the GM can conspire to steal the spinach from Popeye but even then it takes 24 hours before the effects kick in and this seems contrived to me anyway.
IMO, this flaw needs more teeth in it otherwise it will be the top pick as a non-weakness weakness. Off the top of my head how about something like the Popeye effect, where the food/drink needs to be consumed shortly before or during battle for the mythic abilities to work? This would cost them a full round action to pull it out and consume it, which would be a real weakness if they are surprised or caught sleeping.
At first glance this might be seem like a steep penalty but remember that the character has a large degree of control over this weakness. Compare this to someone who has a weakness to fire or silver, for example. Once the BBEG figures out your vulnerability you can expect them to exploit it, and there is not much a PC can do to prevent this. This is just one idea, but this type of internal weakness needs to be carefully designed or it will be too easy to mitigate.
Do you need to touch an item in order to identify it? For example, would attempting to identify an intelligent artifact give it a chance to dominate you? Thanks!
At 1st level, a sacred shield can call upon the powers of good to defend her and her allies against evil. This ability functions as smite evil, except that the paladin gains no benefit on attack or damage rolls against her target. Instead, any attacks the target makes against allies within 10 feet of the paladin deal half damage. Attacks against the paladin deal full damage, but the paladin gains a deflection bonus to her AC equal to her Charisma bonus (if any) against attacks made by the target of the smite. This bonus increases by +1 for every four paladin levels (to a maximum of +6 at 20th level). As with smite evil, if the paladin targets a creature that is not evil, her bastion of good ability is wasted with no effect. Feats, abilities, and the like that increase a paladin’s number of uses of smite evil per day increase a sacred shield’s uses of bastion of good per day.
This ability replaces smite evil.
The description says you gain an extra +1 to AC for every 4 levels to a max of +6. However, every 4 levels only gets you to +5.
So...is the +6 a typo or do you get an extra +1 at level 1 similar to power attack? Thanks!
Let's assume that a dragon is grappling a PC in its mouth taking the -20 penalty to avoid taking the grappled condition.
What type of action does it take to maintain the grapple? Normally it takes a standard action but I am not certain this case. If it still takes a standard action the dragon could not use its breath weapon (which the Snatch description mentions) or make any other attacks. Not really sure how this one plays out.
What do you all think about using an evil version of The Old Man (from the Tide of Honor Bestiary) as a boss encounter for a group of five level 11 characters? I'm actually thinking of substituting him for a certain stone giant wizard in another AP (who is too similar to the previous module's boss imo), but thought this would be the best place to ask.
The group consists of a Paladin, Barbarian, Cleric, Wizard, and Sorcerer/Dragon Disciple. All of them are 20 pts builds that are soft optimized with reasonable gear for the level except for the Dragon Disciple who is relatively weaker. I can pretty much assume that the entire group will be hasted and be granted the Paladin's smite from Aura of Justice in addition to numerous other buffs.
The Old Man's are defenses are pretty darn good, but my group has been chewing through APL+1 and APL+2 encounters without breaking a sweat and I want this fight to be tough. Tough enough so that there is an actual possibility of a defeat if they don't play well or are unlucky. I'll have both outcomes planned out ahead of time so things would flow whether they win or lose.
I'm asking this question from the perspective of observers who don't have Spellcraft/Knowledge:Arcana. I know people without those skills can't specifically identify spells, but can they deduce the general effects from observable stimuli? I know a fireball is pretty obvious, but what about other spells?
For example, what if someone has a spell like mage armor or shield up? Is there an obvious visual effect to this? When you attack do you notice something is protecting the enemy?
What about something like charm person? When the spell is cast can the charmed person's buddies notice that some sort of spell was cast on the target? Is there any kind of visual effect at all?
I've known some people to gloss over describing these effects and treat the spells like they were not discernible. Is this a GM call or are there specific rules for this? Thanks!
This will be an artifact hunting AP set in Magnimar. PCs will be searching for the original Sihedron of Emperor Zin as anti-runelord mojo. Just announced at Gencon!
Also Rise of the Runelords is due to be re-released in hardbound!
Can a witch hex themselves with Forced Reincarnation as means of changing their form or achieving eternal youth? I'm thinking of including a witch that is thousands of years old in my campaign and am curious if this is a legit way to explain this.
While I understand that attempting to initiate a grapple with an invisible opponent would have a 50% miss chance due to total concealment, what about subsequent checks to maintain the grapple?
Also, more generally, after a successful grapple check do you need a separate attack roll to inflict damage? Would that have the total concealment penalty?
Do special abilities of a magic weapon (keen, flaming, etc.) count towards the total modifier for purposes of overcoming DR? For example, would a +2 Keen Scimitar bypass cold iron/silver DR or would you need the straight +3 enhancement bonus?
You bring into being a mobile, hemispherical energy field that prevents the entrance of most types of living creatures.
The effect hedges out animals, aberrations, dragons, fey, giants, humanoids, magical beasts, monstrous humanoids, oozes, plants, and vermin, but not constructs, elementals, outsiders, or undead.
This spell may be used only defensively, not aggressively. Forcing an abjuration barrier against creatures that the spell keeps at bay collapses the barrier.
My question is at which point in practical terms does forcing the barrier against a creature cause it to collapse? Is it only against "monsters"?
The reason I am asking is because in strict terms there is always going to be some sort of "life" that will be in your way. Does a single blade of grass stop you? What about some inanimate bushes or trees? A mosquito? Airborne bacteria? A mouse? Where do you draw the line?
A Paladin in my group recently required an atonement and was complaining a bit how it was unfair so I wanted to get some feedback.
Scenario: A powerful demon was safely sealed away in a magical vault in the dungeon. The group had been given the name of said demon and knew that it was somewhere in this dungeon. The door to the vault was huge and glowing with decipherable magical runes which would have provided clear hints of what was inside.
The party when encountering the door slaps in a key without bothering investigate anything at all. No reading the runes. No checking for traps. I tried to pause and make opening the door seem really dramatic to see if someone would say stop, but no one did anything.
The doors open and the demon offers a deal in gratitude to the party. It only wanted out of this prison so it offered to not kill them but they need to get out of its way. So demon would only attack those that attacked it or got in its way. The party initially tried to fight the demon but they were clearly outmatched.
After the downing a couple party members the demon, amused by their feeble antics, repeated its offer. The party fled, the paladin dragging one downed member away. The demon, semi-true to its word, declined opportunity attacks as they fled although it did take a swipe at a party member who was blocking its way as an 'encouragement' to move.
The demon walks out of the dungeon and proceeds to terrify the countryside.
Pally's Opinion: Shouldn't have lost powers because they were trying to save others (dragging away the downed party member).
GM Opinion: Pally lost powers and required atonement because:
A. They freed a powerful fiend into the world through carelessness.
B. Once doing so the pally did not do her utmost to stop it (ie didn't go down swinging). Note that this wouldn't have resulted in her death. The demon most likely would of just knocked the pally to negative HPs and leave her to live with the guilt knowing what she had done.
C. The saving others argument doesn't really hold up since the demon had shown no interest in attacking unconscious party members so the pally really didn't save anyone. The thing just wanted out so it could be free to slaughter villages as it pleases.
Does this feat allow you to use spells like charm animal and such on vermin? Normally vermin are immune to mind affecting effects but was wondering if the feat made a difference.
