Theomniadept's page

Crafting items seriously just isn't a viable option for the players. I thought Pathfinder would make it actually viable when taking it in from 3.5 but let's face it crafting still takes forever.

First of all, in any realistic sense the players would probably need to craft their own equipment given their class. Example: The quintessential Adamantine Full Plate Armor. Unless you're dexterity based or a spellcaster, this is the armor the character in question would eventually wear.

Except that the crafting rules require you to craft 1500 gp worth of the armor, with 9000 gp worth of the masterwork component (adamantine). Your crappy littLe craft check is in silver pieces. Per week.

Now to buy this from an NPC? Ignoring the fact that full plate must be made to a certain person, this is way too expensive to make in any sensible time. Unless your NPCs just live in the realm of DM fiat (a terrible tool), the average Expert at level 10 would have a craft check of:
10 ranks
3 from trained class skill
3 from skill focus (armorsmithing)
2 from Master Craftsman (armorsmithing)
4 from Intelligence of 18 (generous for an NPC)
totalling 22.

On a take-10 of 32, those DCs are easily boostable by 10 as per the "fast craft" rule (hah fast crafting), meaning that going off the DC 30 adamantine this expert crafts 960 silver, or 96 gp per week.

WOW. That means it will take him 93 weeks just to make the adamantine component. That's over two years to make a suit for one person.

This is clearly just an NPC, right? Now let's take a maximized character. I had this Dwarven Defender character I liked to play who crafted his own armor (had a large backstory based around dwarven shenanigans relating to this). So I looked at how I could max the crap out of this. Ready?
3 from trained class skill
3 from skill focus (armorsmithing)
2 from Master Craftsman (armorsmithing)
2 for the dwarven alternate trait relating to crafting with metal
2 for a reasonable Aid Another every day assuming there are forge hands and apprentices helping
10 for having a Synaptic Mask with a +10 Shard in it corresponding to Craft (armorsmithing) [Only available if Psionics Unleashed is allowed]
2 for having masterwork tools
10 ranks assuming a level 10 character.

Now, this characters armor had AAAAALLLL the stuff. All 3 optional modifications making the full plate part cost 4050 and the adamantine part cost 9000.

On a take 10 check of 44 (WOW), that's crafting:
44 x 39 = 171.6 gp per week, 23.6 (rounded to 24) weeks for mundane part
44 x 40 = 176 gp per week, 51.1 (rounded to 52) weeks for adamantine

Yikes. That's 66 weeks for the armor. No adventuring party is just going to take over a year off. This needs changing.

Not convinced? Okay, so your archer wants a composite bow. There's a freaking enchantment that mitigates the strength modifer problem. For a measly 1000 gold (500 for those with someone in the party with Craft Arms and Armor) you just need to make a Masterwork Composite longbow without the strength modifier. That's 300 for the masterwork component, 100 for the bow itself. A simple character at 5th level can have a craft of 10, enough to make the take-10 DC 20 masterwork check.
That's 20 x 20 = 40 gold per week, 8 weeks for masterwork
20 x 15 = 30 gold per week, 4 weeks for the composite bow

This is with only Aid Another and 5 ranks in a class skill. Minimal investment but it still takes 12 weeks!

What sickens me the most?

"You can craft any early firearm for a cost in raw materials equal to half the price of the firearm. At your GM’s discretion, you can craft advanced firearms for a cost in raw materials equal to half the price of the firearm. Crafting a firearm in this way takes 1 day of work for every 1,000 gp of the firearm’s price (minimum 1 day)."

Guns are made like magic items. Seriously? In a few days one guy can go through the complicated process of treating metal, forging it into a perfect cylinder, cutting a wooden stock, treating the stock, and making intricate mechanisms for firing.

Rule number 1 of any tabletop game: if a player wants to specialize in something it should bring benefit. This is some 3.5 garbage here. It actually discourages players from doing this just through time cost.

Now I know the converse problem: if a player can craft something in a short amount of time he can make a lot of money, right? Crafting at 1/3 and selling at 1/2. I've done the math and it roughly works out to where selling something you craft repeatedly and simply using Craft as a Profession check (which it does say can be done) makes about the same amount of money, give or take depending on your ranks, what you can craft, the most optimal way to use time, etc.

Paizo, please. Gunslingers tick me off to no end and then you give them the ability to work for a couple days and come out with a revolutionary double barreled gun. Archers take weeks to carve wood. Armorsmiths can't even risk taking a holiday else it interrupts their crafting. This system clearly needs a revision.

I mean seriously, even with outside sourcebooks it STILL takes over a year to make adamantine armor on a craft-optimized character.

Simple question, does channel energy affect the cleric using it? The reaosn I ask is that if it does, good clerics heal themselves or harm undead, and evil clerics heal undead or -hurt- themselves, and it seems a little counterproductive for evil clerics to be a little gimped by an ability with a drawback compared to good clerics. If it doesn't affect the cleric using it then it equally benefits both. So which is it?

Okay, first you must understand the situation.

If you have a musket it takes a full round to reload it. Knock it down to a standard for Rapid Reload, a move with Lightning Reload on top, and a free action using alchemical cartridges.

This is 100% viable. My problem? The rules say it takes a full-round action to load each barrel of a gun. Thus, if you have a double barrel musket, there's a problem.

Rule possibility #1: It is a free action to load each barrel, then fire. This is broken to me. I mean you can bring all you want up this plainly means that a Gunslinger is in fact going to shoot literally twice as much as an archer of any build. Just Rapid Shot + level 16 says you get 10 attacks a round and I'm pretty sure Pathfinder wanted some of the 3.5 cheese to stay there and age (read: rot). Furthermore this ruling means that even if there was a 57 barrel gun you could reload and shoot it as if it were a single barrel gun. Logically that doesn't make sense but mechanically under this ruling it is sound.

Rule possibility #2: The reloading of both barrels must be done simultaneously to use both and this it is 2 full round actions to reload the whole thing, which through Rapid Reload + Lightning Reload + Alchemical Cartridge knocks it from 2 full round to 1 full round to 1 standard to 1 move action. This seems more feasible, but my only problem is that this makes double barreled weapons really only useful for an extra shot the first round of combat (unless I am missing something). But, is this technically a sound ruling?

It may sound a bit lazy but I feel it may not only help myself but potentially other people looking to run a game, I'm looking for different possible conflicts that may be going on between areas and within themselves. Not a random d100 that gives a random quest, but actual possible conflicts that would exist in certain areas.

To give an example of what I am looking for:

I have a country that is heavily invested in magic; for now, we'll call this the Magocracy. It's run by mages, but it isn't so magic heavy that it has ridiculous stuff like magical trains and elevators and whatnot. One conflict idea I have is between the commoners and the magocracy; while all wizards would know using a summoning spell (summoning, not calling) to summon a demon to fight for you is possible regardless of alignment and thus isn't evil, the average townsfolk have a hard time swallowing these stories and believe the mages are putting power above all. Additionally, the capital and major cities are heavily diverse, seeing as how every race's mages and alchemists and whatnot (yes, even the orcs due to their alchemist favored class option) it can be seen by the natives that the mages are selling out the land to foreigners. Additionally, the barbaric land of warriors, for now called the Kingdom, despises and fears magic, so the two have never gotten along.

Another example: The Theocracy, called so because the nation is theocratical and heavily Lawful Good, has had a problem in that many of the paladins, holy warriors of justice, are not able to be sent out into combat, namely due to having lost powers over abuse and abridging of their gods' codes and due to the fact that paladins are both staunch warriors and celebrities revered by the townsfolk. This is partly inspired by the ideal of the paladin being a chivalrous holy knight and the problem of players overanalyzing their codes, trying to get around them, and trying to force parties into playing their alignment as well and possibly being domineering. Just a small idea I had since it would be feasible that, given the amount of perks that come with paladinhood in such a country that corruption would become an increasing problem. Additionally, the Theocracy has some growing conflict with the Magocracy's wanton use of magic, even necromancy, and they are also not fond of some other races, namely the freedom-loving elves who prefer not to get involved in crusades and the halfling caravans that seem to invite theft.

These are just a couple ideas of what I am toying with. Obviously I'm also looking at how monsters would play a role in all of this. Pleas,e feel free to toss any suggestions my way, I'd love to hear other people's ideas, especially if they've been played in a campaign.

I'm looking for something online that can help me. I'm looking to sorta streamline a bit of the DMing process. Where can I find a Pathfinder random loot generator?

I saw the Zonegamma one and I gotta say....I don't like it. All it does is give me percentages. I'm looking for something that will literally tell me what random weapons with what enchantments and such come up. If possible I'd like a generator that includes all pathfinder sources, but I know that would be a good bit of effort.

Still, to me it seems like Pathfinder should have something like that. I never liked that random loot generators made things faster but only counted a couple sources. It was like 3.5 and the Magic Item Compendium which held everything....except the other sources outside itself and the core books. No Stormwrack, Libris Mortis, etc.

So I'm playing my second pathfinder game, first that has plans of being long running. I'm a summoner and I looked at the Craft Staff feat. It would be amazing for my companions to have staves with more spells, as well as myself, but I don't have the spells known to make ANY staves. At all. And I mean summoner spells, not that I don't know them, but that summoner cannot learn them.

Normally this wouldn't be a problem. Summoner can't cast Arcane Lock, so he can't make the Staff of Obstacles. Summoner can't cast Greater Magic Weapon (but CAN cast Greater Magic Fang - go figure) so he can't make the Staff of Bolstering. If these were use-activated or something I could make them by just upping the Spellcraft DC by 5 and still have a reasonable abiliy to make it. But the rules explicitly state that I must be able to cast the spell to make spell trigger or spell completion items.

Now here's my question: since I can substitute not having the spell by having someone else help me make the item by casting it, could I substitute not having the spell. And I quote, "These prerequisites must be met for the item to be created. Most of the time, they take the form of spells that must be known by the item's creator (although access through another magic item or spellcaster is allowed)."

Now, this does mean I can make technically ANY magic item as long as I have someone or something there to cast the spell.

"A creator can create an item at a lower caster level than her own, but never lower than the minimum level needed to cast the needed spell. Using metamagic feats, a caster can place spells in items at a higher level than normal."

"The caster level of all spells in a staff must be the same, and no staff can have a caster level of less than 8th, even if all the spells in the staff are low-level spells."

"The creator must have prepared the spells to be stored (or must know the spells, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) and must provide any focus the spells require as well as material component costs sufficient to activate the spell 50 times (divide this amount by the number of charges one use of the spell expends). Material components are consumed when he begins working, but focuses are not. (A focus used in creating a staff can be reused.) The act of working on the staff triggers the prepared spells, making them unavailable for casting during each day of the staff 's creation. (That is, those spell slots are expended from the caster's currently prepared spells, just as if they had been cast.)"

Does this mean that, technically, I COULD make the Staff of Obstacles? According to my logic, I would need 26 days, each day using my own spell slots AND using 26 scrolls of 8th caster level Arcane Lock. Thus adding a cost of 25 x Spell level 1 x Caster Level 8 x 26, or rather 5,200 gp. So the 25,800 gp staff would cost me 12,900 + 5,200 gp, for a total cost of 18,100 gp, 70% of the market price as opposed to the normal 50%.

Is this a viable method to make items like these using this method of substituting higher-leveled scrolls in place of knowing the spell? It simply states that I must be able to use the spell via an item, but the entry under creating staves says I must have the material components to activate each spell 50 times - do I need to thus have 50 scrolls or is it sufficient to have 1 per day of crafting?

And yes, this is my first post, nice to meet everyone, and as you can tell I do tend to make large posts just to make sure I've encompassed all I can.