Serpentfolk Wizard

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No posts. Organized Play character for Kurald Galain (RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32).



Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

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I've been looking at some monsters with massive strength scores, and was wondering how high you can get as a character. So I've come up with this weightlifting champion. This is meant as theory-op but it doesn't use any big loopholes, so it's actually playable (if a bit silly). Also, feel free to post your own high-strength characters!

So I present: Bloodrager 4 / Alchemist 2 / Dragon Disciple 7 / Bloodrager +7.

Take the following feats and class options:


  • For the bloodrager, the bloody-knuckled rowdy archetype (for bonus feats) and crossblooded. Bloodlines are draconic (required for dragon disciple) and abyssal (which enlarges for free when raging, and at levels 12+ provides another strength boost).
  • The bonus feat is Blood Frenzy Style, which adds +2 to strength when you take damage. At bloodrager level 5, this activates at the start of each combat.
  • Bloodrager can also get a familiar. Let's go with a figment, which is imaginary and returns for free when killed.
  • Blood Vengeance feat. If anyone kicks your imaginary puppy, your strength goes up!
  • Finally, bloodrager can get the Blood Piercing mutation, which adds your strength bonus to SR checks a couple times per day.
  • For the alchemist, the ragechemist archetype gives +2 more strength while using mutagen. Also, vivisectionist replaces our low-damage bomb by +1d6 sneak attack.
  • Alchemist gets one discovery, so let's take a Tentacle for another attack and pretend it's a draconic tail.
  • Deific Obedience feat. Gorum is a fitting god for a hulk-like character, and it adds +4 to all our strength checks and skills (not attacks). At level 16 it gets the ability from the Strength domain to add up to +10 (!) more. If you qualify for a divine gift (under the GM's control, so not included below) then Gorum's is a permanent +1 to strength.
  • A scroll of Visualization of the Body adds another +5 to strength skills and checks, for a day.
  • Trap Wrecker feat, which lets you disable devices by hitting them really hard.
  • Skill Focus, Eldritch Heritage (orc), Improved Eldritch Heritage feats. Yes, our orc is descended from a long bloodline of... orcs. At high level, this adds +6 to our strength. Unfortunately this doesn't stack with tomes.
  • Fun traits are Wrecking Wrath (1/d double your str mod to an attack) and Balanced Education (1/d add str to an int check), because we're so strong that we can punch knowledge checks.

At level 10, our strength score ends up as follows:


  • 18 point buy
  • +4 race (orc)
  • +2 levelup
  • +4 belt
  • +4 rage
  • +6 mutagen
  • +4 dragon disciple
  • +2 enlarge
  • +2 improved eldritch heritage
  • +2 Blood Vengeance
  • +2 blood frenzy style

...for a total of 50 strength. This tops the tarrasque (41 str) as well as great wyrm dragons (43 str).

But wait, we're not done yet. At level 14 and up, the bonuses from abyssal and orc bloodline kick in, and at level 18 the spell Form of the Dragon kicks in whenever we rage.
Also, we can add the Blood Rage spell (from a potion or ally). It lasts only 1 round per level, but if we can manage to take 25 damage, our rage bonus increases to +10.
Then, the spell Pesh Vigor (which is on the bloodrager list) lets us deal damage to ourself as a free action, to increase the enhancement bonus to strength to +10. Doing this for two rounds will most likely max out Blood Rage, as well as trigger Blood Frenzy Style if that was still needed.
There's also the Biting Words spell (also on the bloodrager list) which deals ranged damage based on strength, basically by shouting at people. Not amazing but very fitting.
Finally, the Ant Haul spell (on the alchemist list) flat-out triples our carrying capacity.

At level 20, it looks like this:


  • 18 point buy
  • +4 race (orc)
  • +5 levelup
  • +6 belt
  • +6 rage
  • +4 abyssal bloodline
  • +6 mutagen
  • +4 dragon disciple
  • +6 form of the dragon
  • +6 improved eldritch heritage
  • +2 Blood Vengeance
  • +2 blood frenzy style
  • +2 blood rage spell
  • +4 pesh vigor spell

...total Strength of 75! Now we outclass Chthulhu himself (who has 56 str).

Regarding weightlifting, our heavy load is 7,3 million pounds, or 3300 metric tonnes. This makes it trivial to pick up an elephant, blue whale, or dragon; we’re at the level where moving buildings and landmarks around is very doable. The Apollo 11 rocket weighs about 3300 tonnes, so we can carry that around. How's that for making the olympics blush?

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

The spell Mage Armor was basically designed to improve a wizard's AC from "terrible" to "below average"; and in that, it functions well.

However, in the past decade of gameplay, I note that any and all shapeshifter druids, animal companions, and high-dex classes use it to very cheaply add +4 to AC, with no check penalty or max dexterity, all the time. Given that a +4 bracer of armor costs 16000 gp (AC-boosting ring or amulet is even more expensive) and a 1st-level pearl of power costs only 1000, I'd say the Mage Armor spell (or a wand thereof) is undercosted.

Imho it does make the game less fun if PCs are unhittable or near-unhittable. And pretty much all the "unhittable" builds I've seen at mid level use Mage Armor.

I'm curious what other people think of this, and how to deal with it? Making it self-only doesn't help because characters can just UMD it. I'm tempted to give it a max dex of +4 and make it block any class abilities that require you to be unarmored; that way arcane casters can still use it as intended, but everybody else it's more in line with other options.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

The warpriest can use his fervor ability to cast as a swift action, but "the spell can target only the warpriest, even if it could normally affect other or multiple targets."

So if I swift-cast Magic Circle vs Evil or Archon's Aura and target just myself, do I still get the spell's aura that affects other creatures?

If I swift-cast Contagious Zeal targeting myself, can I still (as the spell says) pick one ally per round to share its effect with?

I get the impression that this technically works (the rule says I can only target myself with the spell, and I am doing that) but it's not the intent of the rule (because the spell could "normally affect other" creatures), so I'm curious if there's official word or FAQ on this, or how people would rule this. Thanks!

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

So, the feat Chakra Initiate grants a "pool that holds 3 points of serpentfire ki"; and there's a monk archetype that gives that as a bonus feat. So you get a "serpentfire ki pool" which is kind of like a "ki pool".

Does either of these count as prerequisite for anything requiring a "ki pool"? I'm leaning towards no, but I'd like to know if there's a consensus or official answer on this.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

So on turn one, I move and cast any spell, let's say burning hands.

On turn two, I use Bespell Weapon then attack three times with a damage boost. Because my most recent action (i.e. on turn one) was to cast a spell.

Does that work or is there something I'm missing?

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

I wonder if somebody has compiled a list of all single-action (or single-reaction) spells like Endure or Feather Fall? I can't seem to search for this option on Archives Of Nethys. I'm looking for preparable spells, not focus spells, and primarily of levels 1 through 3. Thank you for your help!

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

I've met several GMs who claim that any effect that works like Enlarge Person (such as the Growth subdomain, the Abyssal bloodrager bloodline, and possibly a potion of Enlarge) takes effect one turn after activating it, because the Enlarge Person spell takes effect one turn after you start casting it.

Is this stated in the rules or FAQs anywhere? Or is perhaps the opposite stated in rules or FAQ? Is this perhaps a reaction to a particular cheese build that I'm unaware of?

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

Does anyone else find it annoying how inconsistent the Heal spell is?

If you're level three, depending on how many actions you spend, you can
Heal for three dice
OR heal for one die
OR damage for two dice with an attack roll
OR damage for two dice with a saving throw
OR damage for one die with a saving throw

I understand that this all comes from distinct legacy abilities/spells from PF1, but for the sake of playing speed and accessibility to new players, can this be streamlined? For instance, it would be much clearer if all variations (at the same spell level) use the same amount of dice, and all damage options use the same saving throw (and not an attack roll).

Sovereign Court 2/5 RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

I'm looking for a PFS scenario where the goal is to get inside a castle (or mansion or similar structure) to get a McGuffin, where the PCs have several ways of actually getting in, and a full frontal murderhobo assault is not the way to do it. So depending on their skillset they could sneak, or bluff their way in, or disguise as servants, or whatever else they come up with. Combat in the scenario is fine, of course, just not charging the gate and killing everybody.

Can anyone give suggestions please? I'm not looking for one particular scenario that I've played but forgot, but searching for something to run. Mid-level preferred but not required. Thank you!

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

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So, looking over the classes and their proficiences, I see that a few of them get very cool abilities with their saving throws. For instance, the rogue's evasion and barbarian's juggernaut let them treat crit-fail as regular failure, and eventually failure as success.

This is great. But for the classes that don't have them, there is just not enough difference here. Most of them are "trained" in one saving throw and "expert" in two others, and this doesn't change. This means that by the end of the game, one class will have +20 to a save and the other will have... +21. And that's it. I wouldn't even notice this difference in gameplay.

The same applies to perception and weapons. Most classes are either fixed at +0 or fixed at +1 at level one, and this doesn't change and is barely discernible as different. The scale from +0 to +3 is small enough already, and now most classes are locked in a scale from +0 to +1.

So do more with this. I'd say that more classes should gain expert/mastery in various things, just not all at the same level - and then expert/mastery should just DO more, which either means doubling the bonus (come on, a +6 over 20 levels is not going to break the game) or having more feats that scale with it (like Assurance and Slow Fall do).

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

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I've just read the new article on proficiency, and it sounds really good that there are different levels of proficiency and that you can learn special tricks (or feats or whatnot) at higher level, such as evasion or immunity to poison and so forth.

But.

Then there is the associated dice mechanic, and the issue here is that proficiency uses the same modifiers for everything, even when that wouldn't be appropriate.

Consider: in P1, Weapon Focus and Spell Focus give you a +1, and are pretty good feats that are commonly used. Lightning Reflexes and Iron Will give a bigger bonus, +2, and despite that are fairly average feats; they're just not as good as Weapon Focus. And then, Skill Focus gives you a +3 (or +6 at high levels) and this is a mediocre feat that's rarely seen in play. Basically, a +1 on attack rolls is a good deal since you roll several of these per round. A +2 on saving throws is ok but not great for a feat, since saving throws are pretty common but less common than attack rolls. A +3 on skills for a feat is just not a good deal.

Under the proposed proficiency system, these bonuses are all the same, and I don't see this as a good thing. In combat, it works fine that a sword master gets +1 to hit over a regular trained person, comparable to weapon focus. But out of combat, an expert performer with only +1 over a trained singer, well, that's way too small a difference. You roll a perform check once or twice per session if you're lucky, and at that point the amateur has about a 45% chance of beating the expert at his expertise. Because usually, the learned wizard should beat a same-level barbarian on knowledge checks, and right now he doesn't.

Yes, I get that they're the prerequisite of all kinds of cool stuff, and I like that. But the expert/master/legend modifiers for skills at least, and arguably for saving throws, should make a bigger difference than this, like +2 or +3 per 'rank'. Because in P1 that modifier is at least +3, and THAT is so weak that almost nobody wants to spend a feat on it.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

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So the original eleven classes do not include a magic warrior, spelldancer, or Gish; and only allow you to play one through kludges like multiclassing fighter and wizard and some hybrid prestige class. Imho, one of the great inventions Paizo did in later books is making this actually work, and have a class that can reliably cast-and-fight in the same turn.

The prime example of this is the Magus, but the Bloodrager and Warpriest are other good examples, and numerous other classes have an archetype or two that let you play a magical warrior.

I would really like to be able to play one in the New Pathfinder as well. Ideally I'd love to see the Magus class in 2.0, but what could also work is have an archetype (or whatever the equivalent is) focused on playing this traditional character. If any of the playtesters can tell me how this could be accomplished, I'd appreciate it if you could share that.

Sovereign Court 2/5 RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

The PFS scenarios #35 Voice in the Void and #3-07 Echoes of the Overwatched concern a certain gate within the Blakros museum. Is there a sequel to this plotline that explores this gate further?

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

I've noticed that several forum users have "<name> aka <alias>" shown at the top of their posts, whereas I've just got "<name>". So is it possible for me to get the aka part and if so, how?

Thanks!

Sovereign Court 2/5 RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

Does anyone have a list of scenarios in which Drandle Dreng makes an appearance?

Are there any scenarios in which you can actually meet and interact with Zarta (not just getting a letter or faction mission from her)?

Thanks!

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

I've only just realized that this site doesn't allow people to edit their own post. Is there perhaps a thread where one can request edits from a mod? Or should I use the flag function or something?

The reason that I'm asking is because I made a discussion thread for a PF Class Guide that I wrote, and I would like to update the link to this guide.

Thanks for your help!

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

30 people marked this as a favorite.

The Magus: a hybrid warrior/spellcaster who wields a sword in one hand while weaving magic with the other. A class which can temporarily enchant any weapon just by holding it, gets excellent mobility due to spell support, and is a contender for the highest spike/nova damage in the game. It won't be as good at combat as the fighter, nor as good a caster as the wizard, but gets some of the best parts of both.

A Magus isn't the easiest class to build or to play well, and the original guidebook, Walter's, is several years old and doesn't cover newer spells, feats, and archetypes. So this inspired me to write a new class guide on the Magus to compile a list of good choices and strategies. This guide covers skill unlocks and variant multiclassing from Unchained, str/dex/cha/int primaries, and a variety of weapons including thrown and unarmed. It covers all material up to the Occult Adventures Handbook released in August 2015.

The Guide on Google docs.

Although a lot of material has been written for this guide, it should still be considered under construction. Feedback is welcome, and my thanks go to Walter for writing the earlier guide.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32 aka Kurald Galain

Fashym Goldmane, gnoll orator

Male gnoll, ranger 2 / bard 5

Description: Fashym looks very different from your typical gnoll. His mane is well-combed, he wears clothing fit for an aristocrat, usually goes unarmed, and even wears boots. He tries very hard to be civilized and look the part. His feral nature is mainly apparent in his passionate, rousing speeches. When taking up a cause, he fights for it with ceaseless fury, and doesn't let go no matter what.

Background: At an early age, Fashym was abandoned by his pack. Although he likes to describe at length how his packmates were mercilessly slaughtered by a group of so-called heroes, the truth is less poetic: he was wounded during a hunt, and couldn't keep up as the pack traveled far through the country. After fending on his own for a brief period, he made his way to the outskirts of a human city. Among the many other humanoids traveling or living there, people didn't raise an eyebrow at a gnoll taking up residence.

Feeling the need for a pack around him, Fashym joined up with a group of thugs and lowlifes. Although his instincts drove him to fight to prove his worth, several confrontations with the city guard made him realized that violence was not condoned in the city. Laying low to observe the city folk, instead of simple might-makes-right, he saw a complex and multi-layered social order. Behavior in the city was just as nasty and ruthless as that in the wilderness, except that the battles were fought with words, not claws.

So he adapted.

It took time, it took changes, and it took a few knives in the proper backs. But now, Fashym wields considerable esteem and influence, particularly with the lower classes. Because of his race, he is barred from true political power, but he has the ear of the city.

Motivation: Fashym naturally craves status. He strives to the highest ranks, not so much for the power as for the esteem it brings him over the people below him. He frowns upon people that disrupt the social order, such as adventurers barging into "his" city. As a non-human, he feels kinship towards other feral races, such as orcs, lizardfolk, or trolls. He uses his rhetoric to argue for good trade relations and to oppose militaristic action those orcs, even if they out to be bloodthirsty marauders. He's quick to point how civilization treats the "outcasts" wrongly, and how a troll should be forgiven for killing humans since he was "obviously" provoked.

In other words, he is perfectly capable of making a party of orc-slaying heroes look like vile murderers throughout the city, using his connections and evocative speeches. He has enough allies in low places who will want to teach that party a lesson, while Fashym remains a respectable citizen. While his manner and dress might suggest he is not much of a combatant himself, that mistake could prove fatal.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32 aka Kurald Galain

WITHERING HOURGLASS

Aura moderate transmutation; CL 9th
Slot --; Price 8,000 gp; Weight --

-------------------
DESCRIPTION
-------------------
This small hourglass is crafted of the finest silver filigree. Inside, sand always seems to flow from the smaller chamber into the larger, even if the hourglass is turned upside down.

Touching the larger end to an object causes it to age and decay rapidly. This deals 1d10 damage each round, ignoring hardness. It spoils food in one round, rots hide in two, and crumbles wood in three.

Touching the smaller end to an object rejuvenates it, restoring 1d10 hit points per round to a damaged object. This can restore spoiled food, remove rust from metal, or render faded parchment legible. If a substantial part of the object is missing, it is not replaced.

Stone, enchanted items, and constructs are unaffected. Living creatures resist both effects, instead taking 1d6 points of constitution damage when hit with a touch attack. An ignorant adventurer handling the hourglass takes this damage each round, until he figures out how to safely hold it by making a DC 20 Knowledge (Arcana) check.

----------------------
CONSTRUCTION
----------------------
Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, Fabricate; Cost 4,000 gp

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

Hello!

First off, I really appreciate what you're doing here. I think it's an excellent idea to make fixes for the apparent flaws in 3E, and it's good that people are continuing to support an old-ish system that many people are familiar with and enjoy playing.

Second, well, I have some experience as a game designer and rules lawyer, so I'm going to give you my unsolicited feedback on the alpha version. Perhaps this can be of some use to you. I'd be happy to add more feedback if people like it, I'd also be happy to STFU if they don't.
-- KG

The chapter on races is concise and easy to read. It's well to the point, and I appreciate how it doesn't presuppose any particular setting. One thing that might be nice is a table comparing e.g. racial ability adjustments. Overall, it's a solid text.

* It would be nice if there was a "new" race on the list, that would be iconic for the Pathfinder setting. I'm not sure what it would be, of course; perhaps a centaur, or some avian creature to take advantage of the new flying skill.
* Races quickly become irrelevant at higher levels, which they really shouldn't be. One way of alleviating this is creating racial feats that can be taken at, say, 6th and 12th level. Writing down some random musings,
- Dwarven resilience [6]: once per day per every four levels, you may re-roll a failed fortitude saving throw.
- Dwarven toughness [12]: you regenerate one hit point per round.
- Elven marksmanship [6]: the range of all your ranged weapons and spells is increased by 50%
- Elven stealth [12]: you automatically gain concealment while standing still in natural surroundings that contain some plants/trees to hide behind.
- Half-orc fury [6]: you can rage once per day as a 1st-level barbarian. If you have a level in barbarian, instead your bonuses to Str and Con when raging increase by +2 each.
- Half-orc brutality [12]: once per day, you can add your level to the damage done by a single melee attack. If the attack misses, this power is not used up.

And for some more specific comments,
Dwarves:
* I think there's too many little circumstantial bonuses in here, that add more to bookkeeping than to gameplay (I'm aware that D&D has the same issue). I know the bonuses against goblins and giants are traditional, but they're also easy to lose track of, and would not fit in every character's background (or, indeed, in every campaign). I think this should instead be a feat.
* "Treat any craft/profession skills related to stone as class skills" is unnecessary since practically every single class has craft/profession as class skills to begin with.
* Rather than the somewhat convoluted bonuses to perception, it would be easier to simply give dwarves a flat +2 to perception while underground.
* Rather than the "make appraise checks as if trained", I'd suggest simply giving all dwarves Appraising skill for free. It seems fitting.

Elves:
* As with dwarves, I'm not convinced that splitting perception checks by the sense you're using is such a practical idea. Besides, 95% of all perception checks are sight- or sound-based. So the elves could simply get a +2 bonus to all perception checks.
* As written, their "unnatural beauty" improves the reaction of dwarves, orcs and trolls. This is probably not the intent.
* The bonus to appraisal is too situational, as this only works in conjuction with detect magic, and people who have access to detect magic tend to also have access other divination spells like identify.
* Weapon familiarity: it strikes me that (nearly) every class that would actually use weapons with some regularity is already proficient with those weapons listed, from its class abilities. I'd suggest making it a meaningful bonus, or dropping it.

Gnome:
* Given how infrequently craft and profession come up for player characters, I think it'd be easier to give gnomes a flat +2 to all craft checks instead.
* See the dwarves for the remark about racial enmity.
* Gnomes would be more worthwhile to play if those magical abilities they got weren't so nearly worthless. Something like Mage Hand would be a better cantrip. Or, for that matter, light, mending, or daze; there's even some 1st-level spells that wouldn't be overwhelming.

Half-elf:
* I'm glad you dropped the weird skill bonuses there, but at present I don't really see any reason to play a half-elf instead of a human.

Half-orc:
* As with half-elf, I have trouble finding a mechanical reason to play a half-orc rather than a human. They were mechanically weak in 3E, and they still are. I like the ferocity, but I think it should be more effective - e.g. if halforcs simply never fell unconscious due to lack of hit points (but bled to death normally), it would not be unbalanced.

Favored class:
* While this rule is more practical than the 3E one, it strikes me as somewhat pointless. Perhaps it's better to simply make "favored classes" a suggestion to players, that points out that e.g. elves make good wizards because they get an int bonus, but has no mechanical benefit otherwise.

That's all for now. Regardless, I'm looking forward to the next alpha.