Has anyone gotten their copy yet?
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And this is a part of why monopolies suck: when they go down, EVERYONE suffers.
Just doing "Tiamat is associated with dragons in particular" was already too close to D&D for comfort- that was dropped part way through PF1, so it definitely doesn't pass the more rigorous standards of post-OGL. Tiamat was associated with dragons-as much as anything Mesopotamian can be called a dragon-in her original myths. Some of her offspring were dragons.
`Nine draconic deities` - I wonder if this is including Apsu and Dahak in the counts.I believe that the nine Draconic Deities will be Apsu and his mate, Sarshallatu. And their 7 children, Dahak and the 6 others. I still dont get why the decision was made to change it from Tiamat, they had a very mythologically-rooted take on her without any real influence from D&D's version. Feels weird to have Apsu without Tiamat, really.
I agree with all of that, but I'm not aware of any plans for folklorically-accurate golems in the game, which is why I'm disappointed. As it is the most prominent creature from Jewish sources in the game besides nephilim (which are reskinned wholecloth from tieflings and aasimar, and I don't have an issue with that but it doesn't represent our culture), are the Qlippoth, which aren't really connected to the actual folkloric creatures aside from being fiends, and Asmodeus who is also just the Christian Lucifer with a different name (and ironically opposed to the qlippoth).
Frankly I'm a little frustrated by that one. Why do other cultures get all sorts of creatures and stories represented in Golarion but not Jewish culture?* They could've just brought them more in line with the actual folklore rather than removing the name entirely. * Heck, it does feel weird to me that while there are parallels with all sorts of cultures and religions from real life there's no Jewish analogue at all on Golarion. Like we have religions loosely themed on Christianity and Islam, at least in aesthetics, so why not Judaism?
Honestly I hope there's some way the Ilee proper can make a comeback, now that the ancestry system is modular enough that it'd actually work to support them, similar to the Awakened Animal ancestry.
Reading through the Necromancer playtest really makes me think someone's recently mainlined the Locked Tomb series. Oh absolutely, especially the mention of growing skeleton thralls from bits of bone and calling one of the subclasses "flesh magician", which is the exact term used to describe Ianthe.
Exactly, especially since it's science fantasy and all the same stuff from PF still exists. In a setting where dragons rule a huge chunk of a whole planet, dragon bloodline sorcerers won't stop being born. Supernatural patrons won't stop making deals with witches. It all just feels much more natural and immersive than 1e in a way that has me really excited to run 2e so I think that's a feature that needs to be reckoned with and assessed at this stage.
The thing is, I fully intend to make most if not all PF classes and ancestries fully accessible in any future SF2e games I run as I think it makes the game much more open to different concepts and play styles plus making it feel much more like the same universe as PF2e. I suspect many GMs will do the same, potentially a majority of them. As such, playtesting with that scenario in mind is a smart thing to do.
Like, the 20th level ballistic missile in the 2e playtest is significantly less powerful than the 10th level tactical missile from 1e.
While I recognize the need for balance in general, I think that the most important thing is for the game to let people build the characters they want to build. As others have noted, when people see a four armed alien in a sci fi setting their immediate desire is gonna be "using tons of weapons at once". I think that if we're so scared of how someone might exploit anything that we take away stuff that will just be plain fun 95% of the time just to cut down on that 5% of times that someone's gonna do something broken with it, then we've kinda lost the plot. Maybe this is just me having been lucky with who I play with but basically all of the people I've encountered who try to make busted builds or otherwise exploit stuff to the point it gets unfun for everyone else have been literal children. I'm not convinced we should build the system around a hypothetical player who's never grown out of adolescence.
The Archaic property is listed for armor, shields, and weapons, but its description seems weirdly incomplete with no clarification later in the playtest document.
Nowhere are these bolded sections explained or given any rules significance. As far as I can tell, archaic weapons have no actual drawbacks. What's going on here?
Some weapons feel rather underwhelming for me in general, in large part because they ALL have a level 1 version that needs to scale from there. Missiles being a big one. I get wanting to balance them but why not just make them high level items? Are players really gonna be demanding access to missiles in low-level play? It feels to me like something that'd be very reasonable to lock to higher levels, rather than making the damage of their explosions so underwhelming. I mean a 20th level missile does FIVE damage to anyone who isn't the direct target, that feels really weird and if I gave my players a missile launcher I think they'd expect something much more destructive. Plasma swords are also pretty disappointing given the really cool crit stuff they had in 1e. That's another type of weapon I think most players would be fine with restricting to being "high level gear" if it meant they can be chopping off limbs instead of mildly shocking someone with what's basically a lightsaber.
The playtest PDF only has the first 15 pages, I feel like something's up
Are there any new dinosaurs that are based on real animals? Oh HELL YES
Are there any new dinosaurs that are based on real animals?
Hi,
Yeah ghouls have always been notorious low-level party-killers in my groups, so I'm not too sad to see that ability go.
Yeah I usually read Fascinated as something you want to do outside of combat in order to distract people.
The new hags RULE. I've never felt particularly inclined towards using hags before but now I NEED to include them in my campaign. The fairy tale/literary themes really make them fun.
Hm. No ghast in here. Looks like the ghoul soldier replaces it. Yes? No?All a ghast was was a level 2 ghoul. Only thing it had over a regular ghoul was stench, and now all ghouls get that. Yeah I bet ghasts will be reintroduced as the Lovecraft version at some point.
Have the algollthus been changed much?
Are there any animals? Dinosaurs/pterosaurs especially? (The pterosaurs from the Bestiary need a serious rework IMO)yes, no surprises. Pteranodon is essentially unchanged, 10 fewer hp. Still no swim speed and bad land speed? :/
Are there any animals? Dinosaurs/pterosaurs especially? (The pterosaurs from the Bestiary need a serious rework IMO)
Just got my PDF, willing to answer questions. What changes to the fiends and celestial lineups? Are there replacements for things like lillends, pit fiends, and solars?
Just got my PDF, willing to answer questions.Are there any changes to the giant lineup? I'm curious if they got hit by the OGL stuff like dragons and hags did. Do they have new art?
I wonder if they'll have to redo any of the Archfiends in this? Some Demon Lords are probably out the window as their probably exlusively WotC property but what about some Archdevils (aka Dispater, Geryon, and Mammon come to mind)? Would Charon be an issue?Mammon being a greed and money focused fiend is lifted straight from mythology. I don't know much about the rest, but since nothing is said about them, I presume they're safe. Yeah and Geryon's role and a lot of other aspects of Hell in D&D and prior PF products are lifted from the Divine Comedy. They might need to go with the mythical spelling of Dis Pater but I dont think anything else would need to be changed.
NGL I was kinda hoping for an antlered nature god of a dragon, but I am still very glad to see the classics return.
Why does the concept art mention fire breath?
I don't like this take, as I feel like it diminishes Shelyn as a character. Yes, it's easy to show her artwork with Sarenrae and Desna to a queer person and say "Poly Lesbians=Pathfinder Good" but if you presented me with the same characters with the same dynamic and told me nothing bad and permanent would ever happen to them under threat of being edgy or "burying the gays" I'd roll my eyes. If there are no stakes, there isn't really much of a conflict...Still worried about Shelyn, here.I’d be pretty pissed if they killed off Shelyn. She’s been used as a poster child of PF’s queer rep, and it’d be obnoxiously edgy to kill her off given her role in the pantheon. I'm not saying that queer characters should always be immune to death or other stakes. I'm saying that when a character is widely promoted as a queer character and embraced by queer fandom, it'd feel kinda gross if they were then killed off as what is, when it all comes down to it, a marketing gimmick. Because beyond what I'm sure are legitimate storytelling reasons for whatever death is coming, it is also very much being presented as a publicity stunt to hype up War of the Immortals. The concern about being overly edgy is not about queer rep either, it's a separate concern on my part that killing off a goddess whose role is basically to be kind to everyone and to promote the idea that anyone can be beautiful would feel like it's just trying too hard to be as dark and mean-spirited as possible.
Still worried about Shelyn, here. I’d be pretty pissed if they killed off Shelyn. She’s been used as a poster child of PF’s queer rep, and it’d be obnoxiously edgy to kill her off given her role in the pantheon. Plus it’d immediately make Zon Kuthon completely boring as a character. I’m against the move to kill off a deity in general, especially now that Asmodeus, the only one who felt like he’d contribute as much by his death as continuing to live, is marked as safe, but Shelyn would be the absolute worst choice for them to make imo.
Honestly, I find it confusing and a little frustrating that "nephilim" is used as a singular noun in this book when other 2e beings like the einherjar have been pretty good about fixing that error. -im is a plural suffix, and while religious texts always refer to the nephilim in plural it's easy to extrapolate "nephil" or something similar from it.
It should also be noted that while Arazni absolutely was a victim, she's now a GOD. That kinda shifts the power dynamic A LOT, and means that any actions she takes towards people who aren't at least demigods are not going to rationally be done for the sake of survival. While it's hard to say how a god's mind works, there's probably some level of trauma response there, but the actual danger has largely passed. It adds another layer of complexity to her situation. Obviously trauma doesn't make someone evil but if you are on a scale of power that massively outweighs 99% of beings in the multiverse, it can be trivially easy for that trauma to become something that is used as an excuse for abusing others. In some ways it could easily become a sort of supercharged version of real-world cycles of abuse if she doesn't acknowledge that power in her interactions with others.
Honestly killing off a core deity feels really lame to me and more like the gimmick of a comic book event than something I want to see in an RPG setting. It feels super limiting especially since Pathfinder's pantheon is one of its strong suits which draws me to the Lost Omens setting over many others. It also feels kinda mean to players who've built characters worshiping that deity or otherwise tied to them; while home games won't be directly affected and a GM can say that it didn't happen in their game it still doesn't feel great to people invested in that god and their faith as a part of the setting. Plus I assume for organized play it'll really mess up those whose characters are based on that god. I have a very hard time seeing how this could open up more opportunities for stories, characters, and adventures than it closes.
Really hoping that the changes to the starship combat will make it feel more integrated with the rest of the game. My biggest gripe was that it felt like it was an entirely different game that's only loosely connected to what characters are normally doing
All of my attempted purchases keep getting money put on hold and then rejected. I've tried multiple cards and it's still doing this. What can I do so I can actually buy the books I need?
Love having a disabled iconic for Starfinder, that's super rad
My players just finished up We're No Heroes, but they escaped from the rendezvous point without killing Deminda. The book says that Sinjin will kill her if she fails, but that feels like a waste given how much of an impression she made on my players. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to incorporate her into future adventures?
As an autistic person who owes much of his social life to this company's games, this means so much to me, thank you!
I for one would love to see more of the Ramiyel. Their origins fascinate me.
Wait... HOW THE HECK DIDN'T I NOTICE THAT THE TASHTARI ONLY HAVE THREE LEGS UNTIL NOW???
Very happy for Stheno, hopefully they adapt the Euryale from 1e in this so we can finally have monsters based on all three sisters!
Trying to put together a group to play this ASAP! I've read through the first two books and I really love the tone it sets for really making the players feel like a part of this universe! Honestly this is exactly the kind of thing I've wanted since the game was announced. That said, I do wish this AP was available for Roll20. I've noticed that Starfinder APs dont have much support in that regard, which is a shame.
That dragonkin is a dead ringer for my SFS character. He's a corporate agent always trying to hire people off of the society for his own organisation I dont think that's a dragonKIN
I'm fighting between the conflicting urges of "this seems really cool" and "I'm already way behind on like three actual play TTRPG podcasts"
As someone whose homebrew setting relies on guns, this is very exciting for me. That said, I'm quite sad to lose Lirianne even if the new gunslinger looks really cool.Considering that Dwarves who live in the Mana Wastes were the ones who invented black powder weapon in the Inner Sea Region, I like the idea that the new gunslinger iconic is a Dwarf. Oh, yeah, she looks really cool and it's a good idea to have a dongun dwarf. But I'm still attached to the old character
I'm quite sad to lose Lirianne even if the new gunslinger looks really cool.Has Paizo said that if they appoint a new iconic for a class the old one is no longer available? I must have missed it. Although, come to think of it, I don't know how easily certain PF1 class iconics (gunslinger, alchemist, magus, summoner for starters) can be ported to PF2. I'm just referring to seeing her in artwork.
TBH I never found goblins particularly intimidating but seeing one in life-size would probably change that! This is spectacular, though I'm sure it's way out of my price range
As someone whose homebrew setting relies on guns, this is very exciting for me. That said, I'm quite sad to lose Lirianne even if the new gunslinger looks really cool.
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The long range bolt form is the smallest of forms and deals 1d6 points of damage and has a 100 ft. range increment. The medium range bolt form deals 1d8 points of damage, with a 60 ft. range increment, and the short range bolt form is the largest and heaviest form and deals 1d10 points of damage with a 20 ft. range increment. A soulbolt adds her Strength modifier to damage rolls when using the mind bolt in the short range form. Emphasis mine. I did not find any reference to Strength modifier being used for long-range or medium-range forms of the soulbolt. My interpretation would be that it doesn't apply in those cases. However, in my Hero Lab installation, it appears to be applying the Strength modifier to long-range and medium-range forms and Strength-and-a-half to the short-range form. So my question is - am I reading this correctly? No Str modifier for long- or medium-range, only Str modifier (not 1.5 Str) to short-range? 
This is the discussion thread for Pixie Rogue's Shadowed Keep game.
A ruined monument to folly and ego, the Shadowed Keep stands atop an isolated bluff deep in a mist‐wreathed forest. Sacked by
The story begins with four newly-minted adventurers, two pairs of elven siblings, coming to investigate the decrepit tower that their elders have ordered them to avoid. Until now.
Can anyone shed some light on how this plays? Is it rules-agnostic or does it work better with a particular ruleset?
It seems unnecessarily difficult to locate lists of products that are officially in the pipeline. I can see what's coming up in the subscription list, but there are apparently products that have been officially announced - maybe at conventions - that are not showing in the subscription list yet. Obviously, theoretical products would not be appropriate, but a rough calendar with high-level descriptions of coming products would be useful for those of us trying to pretend to budget our gaming expenditures. I thought perhaps this was just something I could not find, but I have seen talk of a "Races of the Inner Seas" or "Inner Seas Races" that is expected to supercede the old "X of Golarion" racial books that were written pre-Pathfinder, and my attempts to search the site for it come up dry. Thanks for reading!
Just checking to see if this is another glitch or should I be worried I am going to be charged twice for the base set. When you look at my subscription it says Base set is shipping in August and September and I am due to be charged for both of them. I am also seeing this in my orders. I don't know if it is because someone is altering the subscriptions to help move the logjam or an error of some sort, but best to make sure you are aware.
I have the suspicion that this is a browser issue rather than a site issue, but I wanted to make you aware of it. I use Firefox with the NoScript addon. Both upgraded this morning (Now I'm on FF 31.0 and NoScript 2.6.8.36. I was prompted that I had to allow cookies, which is not unusual on other sites because of NoScript, but I don't recall seeing it here since I have NoScript set to give paizo.com carte blanche. That only came up initially and may have resolved itself once I logged in. Of more concern, every time I post something to the forums, I am logged out of the site. After I log back in, the login never completes. I have to kill the request and refresh the page to get back into the site. Post to a forum, get kicked out, rinse, repeat. I assume this is related to the upgrades and I know I can use a different browser. I wanted you to be aware of the strange interaction problem that the upgrades appear to have started. Thanks!
This session finds the party healed up and considering their next course of action after their battle with Redfang, the Gnawer in Darkness, and the subsequent visit to return the Bearded Anvil to the Midgard dwarves. In gratitude, the dwarves have awarded the heroes each an item of power according to their preference. Thinking back on their discussion with the Witch-queen, it appears that the next step in their assault on Demogorgon is to secure the aid of the Queen of Succubi, Malcanthet. Gavaeriel's considerable knowledge of planar knowledge comes in handy as she explains to her allies that Malcanthet rules over the 570th layer of the Abyss, a realm known as Shendilavri. She also points out that they can access the realm via the Styx on the Sea Wyvern with its protected status on the highly variable and mystical river or they can use the wakeportal on the ship to plane shift to the Abyssian Ocean and sail into the layer's placid Scarlet Sea. They agree that sailing on the guaranteed safety of the Styx is preferable despite the likely delay involved in sailing Charon's river. Arriving in Shendilavri, they find the waters of the bay of the city of Miomanta crowded with black barges filled with demonic overseers and souls, living and dead, destined for various types of slavery. A marilith demon tending to the docks sees the Sea Wyvern and assuming that it bears more slaves, waves the ship in. The captain looks at the heroes, a question in her eyes, and they all nod - it only makes sense. Once the ship is tied off, the crew all retreat, relying on the protection Charon has extended to the ship to keep the demons at bay. It does appear that the Boatman's edict will hold sway. The heroes tell the marilith that they wish to meet with Malcanthet. She smiles and tells them that all they need to do is get in line, then. It is obvious from watching that those that get in line are stripped of all possessions and then led off by their new taskmasters. With honeyed words and diplomacy, they suggest that this is not what they have in mind. After some hesitation, she relents and tells them that they are welcome to attempt to achieve an audience, but they will not be allowed in unless they are "properly clothed for an audience" - meaning naked. As they query her for the particulars, they determine that they can retain much of their gear as long as they go without shirts, trousers, - and armor. They (grudgingly, in at least one case) strip down as directed and leave their gear on the ship. The marilith points them to a glabrezu demon that sullenly leads them to the palace of Malcanthet that looks over the city. Leaving them at the door without so much as a word, he returns to the docks.
Our gaming group's live have changed to the point where we are rarely in the same place at the same time and we miss more gaming opportunities than we make. We are hoping to use the forums here to create a hybrid gaming experience. The forums lend themselves to background data (and archiving) and role-playing opportunities, but we still want to get together around a virtual table for the more active interactions like fights. As it is, we might meet once in a month to play - and lose the entire gathering to background sharing that is forgotten by the next time we meet. And I'm talking about the DM forgetting here, I won't presume to speak for the players. So, this is an experiment to combine those characteristics together. As a result, we will not be recruiting for this thread because the players are already involved in the game - it is a long-running and oft-delayed Savage Tide AP. That said, bystanders are welcome to make comments in the discussion thread if they so desire. We are far from the near-professional players that frequent these boards, so we might not use optimization advice that is offered, but we still appreciate suggestions. Peace!
It does not disappoint! But the dreaded mdashes escaped the editor again!
There appears to be some disagreement on the mechanics for weapons enchanted with the dancing property. Specifically, I'm curious about two things. They appear to be answered by James Jacobs here, but I want to make sure I am interpreting it correctly and not just how I want to. Question #1: Do the wielder's feats affect the dancing weapon as though the user was wielding it normally? Several people weighed in on various threads that they do not, but I read James' response to indicate that the weapon gains all of the benefits of being wielded by the user, even while dancing, so Power Attack, Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, etc., could all apply. The second is asked later in the thread above, but was not responded to officially. I have seen several unofficial negative responses. Question #2: Do the wielder's pertinent ability scores apply to the weapon's attacks as though the user was wielding it normally? James' response above could be taken as affirmative for this, as well, but again, I know how I want it to be interpreted and want to make sure I'm not seeing what I want to see. Thanks for your thoughts!
It seems that the "Online Campaigns" link at the top of the campaign threads is broken. If I'm on a page that displays Paizo / Messageboards / Paizo Community / Online Campaigns then everything works that I've tried. But if I'm in a gameplay or discussion thread, that breadcrumb string is replaced by just Online Campaigns And when I click on that link, the page redraws, but there's no content, just the headers and the left-side navigation. I hope that makes sense and is enough information for you to see what I'm talking about. Thanks for designing and maintaining such an awesome site. The content is why I'm here, but the site crew does a great job of providing a place for the content that doesn't get in the way. Well Done!
I spend most of my time in the game threads and don't know if they are different from the more general discussion threads, so this may only apply there. If it's been posted already, I apologize for the duplication - I didn't see it in a quick perusal. I've noticed over the last few days that when I'm looking at the first post on a page, the 'breadcrumbs' links at the bottom of the page are missing, along with the other things that I suspect are part of the same footer - the drop-down box to jump to other areas of the message boards, etc. When I'm looking at post #50 (for example), they are all there, when I page forward to #51 and it's the last on the page, that footer is nowhere to be seen. Thanks for all you do, the sight is amazing!
The latest changes seem to have taken away a relatively new feature - I'm hoping it's coming back. I'm referring to the number of posts that were visible when you respond to a thread. It recently changed to be the last x posts (I never counted, so I'm not sure how many) and was great because I could refer back to posts as I crafted my response without having to have the thread open twice. Now it appears that if I'm making the second post on a page, I'm only going to see the immediately-preceding post. If I'm making the fifth post, I'll see the four preceding posts, etc. I'm hoping we can get the expanded list of previous posts back - that was really a good thing, at least in PBP. Also, I think this was discussed and was listed as resolved, but I liked the new feature where the profile used in that thread would be at the top of the list of choices. That seems to have gone back to previous behavior of falling in alphabetical order - which isn't bad, but it was nice to have the page recognize what profile I was probably wanting to use; helps me show the right face in the game, you know? Thanks for all you do, the site rocks. I just wanted to toss some feedback in. I do like what you've done with the place. I just like some changes more than others.
When we rejoin our original group of heroes, Nox, Laucian, Glenna, and Aggo are leaving the meadow of the Forest Elder. Before we move on with this group, though, here's a little recap of the recent events -- at least in gametime. ------------------------
Walking over to the camp, Laucian starts to tell stories of faeries that he can make appear, and while giving the story, a stick from the woods appears to come on its own accord to Laucian's hand. Speaking about the faeries, "They come all times of the day, but they are best seen at night, or in the dark. Maybe sometime I can call them to our group, but they may be shy." He continues with this stories while eating up until everyone is ready to move out. He only then stops to pack up his gear, before he picks right back where he left off. Aggo is a bit gruff as he returns to his quickly-cooling breakfast. "If'n ye'd just waited a bit longer, we'd be done wit' breakin' 'r fast, 'n every'un 'ould 'ave been ready fer action when ye woke up th' tree's guardian." He quickly tucks away what remains of his meal. Listening to Laucian, he interrupts, "Lad, Ah know ye're as eager t' be tellin' tales as th' one who ran off, but Ah'm fer thinkin' Nox 'as somethin' specific in mind. What exactly can we be fer expectin' from ye in a fight? Ye can't always 'ope to talk a foe into runnin' away. If'n we 'r fightin' fer 'r lives, we need t' be fer knowin' what t' expect from ye, if anythin'." He get his bedroll and gear together, assisting the halfling with hers, and pretty soon both of them are ready to go. Glenna says, "Graymoon and I discussed the general path. We need to go this way next, but I think Nox is going to be a far better leader in his home forest than I am. I can point the way in a general sense, but that's about all..." With Aggo's interruption, Laucian stops and listens intently. No sooner had Aggo finished did Laucian start back up. "Well I don't have much experience in the fighting world. Most of my life has been as a performer with my tricks. I suppose some of these tricks could be used to assist you in combat. I might be able to blind and confuse some of the people. Distraction, confusion, and assistance to you two " Laucian points to Nox and Aggo, "would probably be my specialty in combat, if one was to label me. Depending on the length of time I am with you, I may be able to work up some new tricks to help as well." Turning to Nox, "Does that answer your question, good friend?" After furrowing his brow and looking at Laucian for a few seconds, Nox breaks into a grin and says, "Aye, friend, that is more what I was querying towards. It will be interesting to see how we can take advantage of your unique gifts." If all agree, we will head on our way." Looking in the direction that Glenna has indicated, "After all, if Graymoon is free to find us, a group our size would be hard-pressed to hide our tracks from him, even if we were so inclined......Shall we?" Glenna pipes up, "According to what Graymoon said, there should be a faint game trail that takes us nearly all the way to the hag's meadow. He thought we'd get there by midafternoon today."
Survival = 17 + 5 = 22
Well, it appears the time has come to dip my toe in the waters of running a play-by-post on the boards here. We will be continuing a play-by-post experiment that has had a couple of different homes that have been abandoned for different reasons. To any lurkers: Because the game is already in progress with a group that knows each other, I'm not planning to open invitations to the game at this time. If we experience some attrition, I might consider it at a later date. If you have advice or suggestions for our players (this is their first game on these forums, but far from their first game), you are welcome to post here. Naturally, we'd rather keep the posts on the game thread to those playing in the game as much as possible. To the players: We will be picking up where we left off, but there have been a lot of very cool things become available during our hiatus. If you wish to modify your character in some fashion using the new rules available in the Advanced Player's Guide or just wish to try something difference in the Core Rulebook, have at it. If you have something you want to try from a third-party source, run it past me first. I'll probably say yes, but want an opportunity to look at it ahead of time. The purpose of this thread is to discuss things that don't belong in the game thread. Once everyone is ready (alias built, character sheet filled out, etc.), I'll start a game thread. In the meantime, welcome to the new home of our poor, neglected game!
This probably won't satisfy the truly hardcore professional and pseudo-professional game designers, but we've been wanting to contribute to the playtest, so here's the little bit we have. I don't have details on any characters, but it was an all-tenth level group built for a one-shot encounter. Human cavalier, half-orc cavalier, human oracle, gnomish summoner, human inquisitor. First off, I've seen a lot of criticism about the over-powered potential of the eidolon and I have to admit that I was able to design her as a meatgrinder fairly easily, but I felt that there were significant trade-offs between offense and defense. A magical opponent would have eaten her lunch -- or used her to eat the party's. I'm sure the optimizers can do better, but for a little time outlay, I was pretty happy with her performance. Bipedal, Large, Extra arms, Claws, Reach, Rend. She did 98 points of damage in a single round to a stone giant -- I don't get to play with those kinds of numbers often, so it was great! (Never mind that said giant only had 8 hp left, that's not relevant.) Both encounters were unknown going in -- the party was asked to investigate a terrible story provided by a survivor who didn't live long enough to give details -- classic vanilla hook. In the first, we had not done much buffing when the human cavalier decided he didn't need to until he'd seen what we were facing -- and took a thrown rock in the chest for his trouble. We faced a stone giant and his two pet dire tigers. Our cavalier had the special ability to take some damage from each hit as nonlethal -- he was unconscious before the second round was over. The eidolon was enough threat that they didn't finish him off -- they turned to her and the other cavalier. The summoner and oracle primarily served as support -- buff spells and healing -- and the summoner never even used his SLA, though he could have. The inquisitor buffed himself and used greater invisibility, only to get hit anyway by a dire tiger when he attempted to approach, and never even got to attack -- the foes were all dead inside of five rounds. Might have been four, I'm not certain. Overwhelming victory for the good guys and a lot of fun was had. Since we wrapped that up so quickly, the DM grabbed the bestiary, said reset your abilities and hit points, etc. for a completely new day, and proceeded to use the same map as a battleground for five stone giants. The only change (he says) from the bestiary was giving them all +3 weapons so they would hit our higher ACs better. This one was a fight - the eidolon essentially went toe-to-toe with two stone giants (one at a time) and was down to a single hit point when she tore the second one in half. She had some assistance, but most of the attention was with the human cavalier again, who had charged a giant (in the dim light) not realizing that he would end up within reach of three giants. He was down to 3 hp and his horse was killed before the tide turned. The other cavalier did not survive the first round. The summoner used his SLA to bring in a bralani -- an awesome addition to the summon list (or new to me, anyway) and one that I played terribly, I'm sure. Other than that, the summon was casting buff spells and trying to keep his eidolon alive. The oracle's healing and the bralani were key in my mind -- mass cure light wounds (and the bralani's healing and mobility) kept the human cavalier alive (and the others tip-top) while the others got into position to do some damage to his three playmates. I completely overlooked the bralani's DR until it was over or he would have been much more of a force to reckon with, combat-wise. At it was, he was able to use lightning bolt and hit three giants each time. Glitterdust from the summoner gave the cavalier a short respite as his foes couldn't successfully target him. The inquisitor, hasted, nearly took out a giant by himself once he got into position. The oracle also did some ranged softening-up using searing light. All in all, I think it was a success and I did not hear any significant concerns with the characters. Since we're not a hardcore group, we don't analyze the tactics and abilities to the nth-degree and didn't have all our buff spells pre-planned and synchronized, but we were able to utilize a lot of our class features without a lot of homework. I guess I'm saying that the classes were usable, they each have a flavor that is their own, and they were very playable, even by a casual group like ours. The one concern I heard was regarding the cavalier's dependence (in that player's mind) on being horseback. Hopefully there's some useful feedback in there. I did not try to record a lot of details beyond the information provided here, but if there are questions, I will try to answer to the best of my ability. (Oh, during the fifth-level playtest using the original beta rules, we faced a pair of bearded devils and their pet hell hounds. That was very tough, but we persevered with one devil teleporting away from certain defeat. Also very fun.)
It seems like I saw a comment from Jason to use a modification in further playtesting for one of the new classes, but I didn't need it and now I can't find it. Is there a single location where just the latest rules (errata to the beta, if you will) are located? |