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Outflank gives Attacks of Opportunity, but you don't have Combat Reflexes.

You have a lot of Teamwork Feats, but your Animal Companion doesn't. I am not familiar with Hunter, though: do you have some special ability that lets you grant Teamork Feats to others or lets you activate them some other way such as the Solo Tactics ability of Inquisitor or the Tactician Ability of Cavalier?

We got thisHunter Tactics (Ex)

At 3rd level, the hunter automatically grants her teamwork feats to her animal companion. The companion doesn’t need to meet the prerequisites of these teamwork feats.

So the thing is we are considered flanking when mounted if we both threatens the enemy. With outflank and precise strike, we get +4 attack and +1d6 precise strike damage.

By the way, i forgot to tell you that we only have one feat at lvl 1 because we take the alternate racial trait "Eye for talent" to give our tiger +2 STR.

The thing for the future i consider is going for:

- combat reflexes and improved critical (for outflank)

- Aoo feats (coordinateur manoeuvers, paired opportunists) and go for either feint (feint partner and improved feint partner) or trip (skrimisher trick, improved trip etc..).
It would be VERY feat intensive because we got already combat expertise but we'll need improved and greater feint/trip and pump up our bluff skill check (not a class skill for a hunter).

- Coordinated charge can be nice if i figure how it works here.

For the issue with the lance, obviously i was missing it. So no lance using with spirited charge i guess. Shenanigans with bull rush would be too much complicated. I just advise to change the lance for another weapon : a +1 impact greatsword.
More critical potential for outflank, and this is still doing 6d6+12 on a spirited charge (x2) or 8d6+12 with lead blades.

for more damage, let's make that AoMM +2 in a +1 corrosive amulet. +1d6 acid on all of our attacks (+2d6 with primal evolution). It should compensate the dice we lost on the lance problem.

@kemuri: Yeah, the cave/dungeon is a problem. Bringing some reduce animal scrolls can fix a part of it but no mounted combat in these. Indeed, outflank can combo very well with a rogue! Nice idea

@lady-J I guess being an android riding an artic tiger golem would definitely piss of my gm :)

(Sorry in advance for possible english mistakes since it's not my native language)

So i'm currently level 9, cutting through crimson throne with this build i wanted to share with you guys.
I was thinking a while back the usual evocation sorcerer (varisian tatoo/spell specialization/draconic bloodline) thing was the best to annihilate enemies. But this build is insane.

Hope in advance I didn't do mistakes :)

[u]The build: Hunter Killing Machine[/u]

Let's see the build straight away and i'll explain later

Human Hunter - Primal companion archetype
(20 pts buy)
STR 17 (+1 on lvl 4)
DEX 14
CON 12
INT 13
WIS 14 (+1 on lvl 8)
CHA 8

Feats:

1) - Combat expertise (it sux but it's needed)
3) - Spirit's Gift (usually going for Stone or Fire)
5) - Mounted combat
7) - Ride-by Attack
9) - Spirited Charge

Teamwork feats:
2) - Outflank
3) - Pack Flanking
6) - Precise strike
9) - Distracting charge

Animal companion (Big cat) feats:

1) - Power attack
2) - Weapon focus (claw)
5) - Light armor proficiency (take +1 INT at lvl 4 to qualify)
8) - Improved natural attack (claw)

Spells:
0)Light, Mending, Elemental Sample, Read Magic, Resistance to fear, Stabilize
1) Lead Blades, Alarm, Delay poison, Heightened Awareness, Windy escape
2) Barkskin, Shield companion, Vine strike, Bull's strength
3) Fickle winds, Strong jaw, Communal Protection from energy, Contingent moderate healing
4) Animal growth, Freedom of movement

Primal transformation:
2 pts: Bleed (claws), improved natural attack (claws)
4 pts: + Energy attacks (Acid)
Primale surge: Usually going for Flight (but good options can be immunity from energy, burrow, tremorsense...)

Skirmisher tricks:
Vengeance strike, upending strike, surprise shift, Sic'em, Deft Stand, Uncanny senses

Skills: What your group need. I went for Sense Motive, Survival, Perception, Ride(mandatory), Fly, Handle Animal, Heal

Stuff you might need:
For your hunter: Magic lance, Belt of strenth, Magic heavy wooden shield & breastpalte, amulet of natural armor, ring of protection, cloak of resistance, Equestrian belt
For your pet: Amulet of mighty fists, belt of strength, magic chain shirt

So for average wealth / level (46000 at lvl 9), it would be something like:
H: +1 impact lance (18k), +1 breastplate & +1 heavy wooden shield (2,5k), cloak of resistance +2 (4k), equestrian belt (3,2k), Ring of protection +1 (2k)
P: AoMM +2 (16k), Chain shirt +2 (4,5k)

Ok, so what's the point of the build?
The thing is it can be pretty hard to play for various reasons: a lot of buffs can be cast on your pet, you have a lot of situational modifiers, and a lot of your actions requires swift/immediate action tracking.

On the first levels, your hunter will tag along your tiger using a greatsword (melee), a horsechopper (reach trip) or a composite longbow.
After level 7, when your cat goes big, now's the real fun. Go mounted and classy.
Go spirited charge with your lance, using a shield in the other hand.

You have good Armor class on both your characters, incredible damage and attack bonuses, good saving throws, a really nice number of health points.

How does it work: Cast shield companion on your pet, barkskin when things can get hot & heightened awareness.
If you have time to buff, cast on your pet strong jaw, Bull's strength, vine strike. Buff your lance with lead blades. Don't forget to primal surge and use your spirit's gift.
Now you can pretty much one shot boss.

ONE charge will deal: (Power attack on pet, Combat expertise on Hunter)
bite: +21 3d6+16 + 1d6 (vine strike)+ +1d6 (acid) +1d6 (precision) + grab
x2 claws : +22 4d6+16+3d6 (various) + 1d6 bleed
x2 rake: +22 3d6+16+3d6(various)
Lance: +18 (using distracting charge) 9d6+15+1d6(precision)

for a theorical total of 42d6+95 if you touch with all your attacks
your AC will be nice with 31 (Pet) and Hunter (23).

Getting hit? use windy escape, mounted combat and transfer from shield companion. Dont forget to use vengeance strike to get one more attack

If you dont have time to buff, just use primal evolution and still deal a tremendous amount of damage. Your spells can make your group immune to poison, bolts/arrows, energy type, grapple...

Hope i didn't do too much errors and you guys will enjoy it!

Thunderrstar wrote:

No GM can cheat.

The GM is right the rules are wrong.

You obviously did not read my first post or could not comprehend it.

I will try again. There are game rules, and the rules of the social contract for that group. By stepping outside of the social contract the GM can cheat. Rule 0 does not cover the social contract, only the game rules.

+1

In my group for example, i told them i was playing by the rules. I never fudge rolls (always roll in front of them), respect my NPC abilities (i can "forget" to use some feats tho like power attack when the monster is scary enough) but when i start an encounter, my troll isn't going to hurt them less because one player is down.

I only hide scenario roll like random encounters etc (in Kingmakers right now, last week they roll trolls encounter in chapter 2. I was not going to throw them 2d4 trolls in the middle of the night, with fog and no visibility so i made it 3 trolls for APL 5). They survived it and told me this was to easy (good ol'masochist players).

I made this clear with my players, if they are going to have bad luck dices and i will crit so be it. S!%+ happens in life too and i try to keep my games close to real life.
And if my BBEG is gonna do horrible rolls and get caught in the first encounter, then i will adapt the scenario.

Same for Healing spells, one player is down and get healed? Boy you better not get down again or this will be for good this time.
Hard rules but it helps keep the tension bacause my players know that i will kill them with no regret if it comes to it. On the other hand you have to be very careful with what you confront your players with. And prepare for some post-TPK scenario eventually.

Having 3 AP going on right now (Kingmakers, Council Of thieves and RotR)mastered by 3 players of the group, the way we play it is to have the groups level up at the same time.
They don't know each other for sure, but they hear of events going on in other countries and we use some cross-campaign characters.
Like Cheliax wanting to create an Asmodeus temple in the Stolen Lands, or Thassilonian ruins found in the forest.
That's a nice way to give life to the setting and give post-adventure some background infos.

Kingmakers have boggards in it but it's a really long AP.

For a short campaign, i would take "We be goblins!" and change goblins to boggards. Fun and short adventure, you will enjoy it.

I think if you want your paladin to use the sword for the rest of the campaign, the sword could "evolve" during levels to enhance the powers of his bearer.

At level 12 a +6 longsword would already be really nice. Then every 2 levels, it would gain +1.
Like 12: +3 holy keen
14: +3 holy keen flaming
16: +4 holy keen flaming
20: +4 holy keen flaming impact
This way, the rest of the group wouldn't feel useless and would shine too. A +8 sword at level 12 is severely broken (wealth by lvl 12: 108000 and the sword is Worth 128000

Anyway, courageous is not that good for a paladin who is already immune to fear. Better go for keen or merciful for this +1.

Not that hard when you read this

For each step by which the alignment of the deity differs from the alignment of the settlement, apply a -1 penalty to the kingdom attributes the holy site affects. For example, a LN deity's temple in a NG kingdom, thus differing by 2 steps, would apply a +0 to economy and +0 to stability, instead of the normal +2 for a LN temple. A CE temple in the same kingdom would apply -1 to loyalty and stability for being three steps different.

Excellent ruling indeed. I was worried too that these temples would buff the kingdom stats too much. It will make the kingdom's alignment choice even more difficult for my PCs aha

how are your players going to enforce keeping track of these cults once they've been granted permission to worship in the kingdom? Spies? An inquisition? Consider starting the kingdom with a Cult Activity continuous event straight away, and increase the chance of that particular event occurring under the normal event...

Yup. So far, they are counting on the emissary of the half-light to manage the different cults for them (self-regulation, LE wouldn't want NE cults to mess it up).

I also think it would be interesting to allow at least one cult to become very popular among the people, because then you'd have a cult that felt more empowered to further their evil goals. It would be harder for the government or a rival church to wipe them out because they have the support of the people.

That was planned. Asmodeus seems to be the most legit choice here. Maybe some kind of Chelish help to develop the church. And once they got big, they would maybe grab more and more power until they provide a choice to the PCs: convert,leave or die.

Yeah, between this, Grigori and Hargulka's kingdom, they gonna have their hands full.

@andostre: Malgorzata is already re-designed to worship urgathoa (long story of hatred between this cult and the PCs. It explains why it's out of the list. They don't know Mister Vordakai is the head thou ^^)

@pennywit: Will think about that too

Thanks for the good advices guys!

Hi fellow GMs! We are about to enter chapter 2 with my group.
I didn't give them the 50 BP from the staglord death but instead organized some meetings in Restov with a lot of churches, noble families and other organizations/guilds.
They basically get BP or other advantages but must accept certain rules in return.

So my LN/CN/CG group basically met this emissary of evil cults who wanted to discuss an offer. They would offer 10 BP (didn't tell that to my players i only use description as small/medium/important offer) for the kingdom being not good, and for an authorization to establish temples/shrines and liberty to worship their gods.

I personnally think this is a bad idea but my players think they better know which cults are in their kingdom and where they are.

I provided them a list of LE/NE cults they would provide an authorization for:
- the 4 elemental lords: Ayrzul, Hshurha, Kelizandri et Ymeri. (LE)
- the 4 harbingers: Charon, Apollyon, Szuriel, Oinodaemon, Trelmarixian (NE)
- Droskar (NE)
- Lao Shu Po (NE)
- Zyphus (NE)
- The green mother (NE)
- Norgorber (NE)
- Asmodeus and other 8 archdevils
- Zon-Kuthon
- Ahriman (NE)
- Eiseth (LE)
- Achaekek.

Officially, these cults would have the liberty to practice, in the respect of the law of the kingdom. But i don't think NE cults would give a damn about laws anyway.

So my question is: How would react people to the obvious presence of these kind of churches? What would you create as interactions with others majors deities (abadar/erastil/Cayden Cailean/Nethys/Pharasma)? Is there actually a way to work it out or would it end in a civil war in a matter of months?

Thanks in advance for the ideas, and sorry for the bad english!

I've wanted to maybe attempt to play in an online game for awhile and was wondering how they are? Opinions on either side are welcome. I only have one game that I'm DMing as of now and would enjoy playing in one even online. Thanks guys!

I mastered 2 campaigns on roll20 yet and i'm mastering Kingmakers chapter 2 right now (french group irl).

-There is a lot of work to do before the campaign: your players need to have pictures of place and NPC to focus on the game. I suggest using a pinterest gallery for your NPCs, to tease your players and spend less time on it. Designing maps can be a bit challenging in the beginning but as you gain experience you'll be more efficient (takes me 3-10 minutes now to create a cool looking map on roll20)
Music is important for the atmosphere, spend time searching for the right theme.

-Get a webcam for your sessions. Roleplaying only with voice is difficult and you have to pratice accents to differentiate NPCs from one another. Having your face on cam can really help your players to get subtle things.

-Combats are great. Having maps precisely drawn helps A LOT. 5 foot step i a 5 foot step now, you can have the distance between two points or create aoe zones in a blinf an eye. These cool tokens help a lot to show how big that mighty dragon really is!

-Make sure your players are actually playing. Sometimes people get bored and just start some games on their computer. Make sure that everyone has a good microphone.

-Very flexible sessions. My group usually play 1 or 2 4hours session each week. A forum or a website is needed for players to speak between sessions: you dont wan't to waste time on buying/selling things in game (or solo speaking with a npc).

All i can think of right now!

Seems to me that your group isn't acting plain evil (definitely not murderhobos) but more in a tactical/efficient way. I could really see some LN character acting this way.
The only people they murdered yet were evil.
Killing helpless people may not be very honorable but it is an efficient way to take down enemies. And nothing tells us that your party had the resources to imprison the cultists and that these cultists would not represent a possible issue in the future.

If i was playing this kind of "things need to be done" character, i would indeed be upset that you rush into the bbeg room alone without commiting to the plan. You don't have to educate other party members here, they just see the world in a different way...

I would suggest roleplaying a nice descent into evil as Mykull suggested. Or talk to them about how this is a waste of ressources and how these enemies could be put to good use.
Your monk may be LG, he can be a diplomat too and find arguments that can make the party change its mind.

Trolls must consume vast amounts of food each day or face starvation.

Oh this troll is redeemed you say?
Have the gnome king imprison them in a jail for a few days and see how the troll will react.
Once the hunger kicks in, it should be fun to watch.

I once used a very fun character named Lord Saendithas Wolfsbane. The idea was a man travelling around cities defying heroes and gambling magical items (on a win vs PC he would gain a random magic item worth 2000gp<, same if the PC win).
The dude was walking around carrying 25 katanas strapped to his back. And throwing them (a lot of them)!

He was a mix of a lot of classes (13th lvl):
Wizard 1 universalist, for hand of the apprentice
Ninja for ki pool attack
Barbarian wild rager (for one more attack and rage powers to throw katanas)
and maybe more, i can't remember exactly.

I remember he was throwing around 6-8 katanas each round and just destroyed each of my PC one after another (although they were some pretty solid builds). Highly cinematic dude and a lot of fun to RP.

I could get the NPC's PDF from my HD if you want more infos.

I would go for dhampir as well.

Howler
Spider, dream
Madness shadow (variant)
Immortal Ichor
Kurobozu
Sentinel hut
Great Old One, Bokrug
Cursed King
Charnel Colossus
Shoggoth...

Just search though ogc with "wisdom damage" and you'll find the graal!

Actually you would gain the reach, according to this guideand this

Nope, if you play your wolves right you may just kill the entire party.
8 characters lvl 2 is imo APL 4 (maybe 5 is they are optimized).
so a CR8 encounter would be really really tough. Dont forget wolves trip on their attack, and prone is a real bad condition for your PC.
I would go for 6 wolves and an alpha male for a tough encounter, and maybe get the wolves to flee if 4 get killed.

First sorry for the bad english (not my native language)
Imho a cleric will never be a good melee fighter especially with your stats and the low Bab. Dont waste feats on power attacks, you won't be able to hit monsters in a few level.
Seems like your group could use a buffer/healer.

So my advice would be:
-increase wisdom to 18 at lvl 4. Find ways to increase this stat (wisdom headband)
-toughness and extra channel are ok (ancestral weapon sux for you). Depending of your gm, (big bad guy or a lot of minions) you could take selective channeling (12 char is a bit low but using channel to heal in combat is not spell-consuming and you need that).
Heavy armor proficiency is good, shield focus too, dodge, expertise, lightning reflexes for survavibility
extend spell is the only metamagic you need imo
-You need a big armor, a shield to pump up your AC. And thou need to stay behind, keeping your buddies alive.

Spells to survive: Sanctuary, protection from evil, obscuring mist, ironskin,
Spells to buff: Protection from evil communal, divine favor
Spells to debuff: Doom, Hold person, Murderous command, Silence, shatter

Gravity Elementals (3rd party)
My players had a hard time on Gelugonwith the right use of persistent image
and of course some good ol'Tucker's Kobolds.