Tumskunde's page

There's a feat called Wild Speech that let's you speak while wildshaped.

Your companion to accept signals from others as long as you don't train them with the exclusive trick, but that leads into the possibility of other not of your party doing the same. There is no bonuses to my knowledge for others trying to command your companion, but I'm also sure the don't have any penalties either if the option's open.

An animal companion does not automatically learn common or any other language just by increasing it's intelligence to 3, you still need to put points into Linguistics, and then choosing the language they respond to.

I do know that I have a concept character, a Bloat Mage that will require a retraining of his single level of Wizard into Sorcerer at level 3. Hmmm, the gold cost will be 150 gp, pity you can only use prestige for items.

David_Bross wrote:

Without the prestige cost I would constantly retrain my characters for the benefits I can get. Hit points to say the least. Most campaigns don't have at will downtime, and that is why the cost must be so high for PFS.

There definitely needs to be some kind of cost beyond the (minor) gold expense. I just think we can work around it. Maybe PP equal to 1/2 of the retrain time, rounded up?

I was going to suggest an XP cost instead of PP, but I realized that could lead to player wealth issues.

Been reading this, and I've been thinking.
New content shouldn't be locked into a particular region, that can cause hurt feelings for those outside the region, even more so since well some of us can barely afford to play In PFS, let alone travel. And not everyone will travel, there are those who can't afford the money or time involved and there are also those who are wired to dislike travel.

That said Con's already have their draw, they have unique rewards for showing up. Be they boons or playing with different players or running particular scenarios.
For some the only thing they will see is the boons and scenarios, as playing with new players is not a draw for them. Heck I know that when I started playing Pathfinder in general, it was as a way to hang out with certain friends regularly, not meet new people.

Now that said, I'm personally against a regional setup if it does something that people would view as forcing them to travel, that is like adding a travel tax on something you do for fun, some will keep with it, some will wait it out, some will leave for other pastures.

So a scenario 'ransom' setup is not what I view as ideal, let's look at other things.

Regional Boons would add flair to characters, and those who can travel or are diehard character conceptualists will want them. There should be new boons every so often to keep fresh interest. But we have a Boon trading thread on this board, so those on the site will be able to avoid traveling if they don't want to.

Regional Replays might be another option. This might allow people in certain regions replay an older scenario for credit, they should still be limited to a single replay, but if they are available, some will travel more to enjoy the privilege, much like how it works for GM's.
Now I'm not saying we should under cut the GM's privilege, so the scenarios should be limited to a 6 month run or something similar, and that they be from the halls of the yesteryear, like season 1-4, or perhaps be certain AP's.

Not the best ideas I know, but limiting scenarios to a particular group, for some will just smack of elitism, favouritism and/or discrimination, those are all bad influences in a social game and can drive away new blood as well as old.

Hammer and Polearm groups both fit it. Good thing a weapon can be in two groups without issue, so I don't see a problem.

The question was asked before here, but no answer given.

My advice would be to ask your GM before the game starts to be sure he's ok with it.

Short answer: Yes.

Long Answer: The restriction does not cover favoured class bonuses in the ARG. That is beside the fact that the Human favoured class bonuses were first printed in the Advanced Players Guide, Page 23, and that the APG lacks the restriction.

For those with out of place animal companions or familiars, there is an oft unlocked upon ability that has cause untold amusement for me.
Share Spell is awesome, as you can Polymorph your companion into something else for the time in town. Anything from Alter Self to Vermin Shape.
Nothing says surprise than a tree turning into a Tiger, or a Halfling into an Eagle, or Butterfly into a Bear.
Be it from surprising bandits, smuggling a Bear into a ballroom or a cunning halfling/eagle swap in the middle of a neutral stronghold, it's an amazing and amusing ability.
Heck, I've even seen it be used to turn an Elemental Familiar into a skeleton along with it's master, so the fighter could (badly) impersonate a Necromancer.

Derailment aside though, an Ooze companion named Major Mucus is amusing. Much like my fascination with using an Awakened Goldfish Sorcerer as a villain in a dungeon.

Thomas Graham wrote:

Mathwei ap Niall wrote:

Tumskunde wrote:

I forgot that you could also use Bestow Weapon Proficiency to give your familiar proficiency with a whip for a short time. And you can get a wand of it, of you want.

I mentioned Anthropomorphic Animal due to it's hours/level duration, other polymorphic spells could fit the bill, though the durations are shorter. Anyway, I figured I'd try and list what I can recall. Gonna list them at the level you first get it and ignore the upgraded versions of the spells.

So a lot of choice, I know those over level 6 probably won't get used by most, but there may be a few higher level characters that might want to cause some familiar shenanigans.
For those that worry about their familiars kicking it, The False Life line of spells are nice for adding a buffer to them, and yourself.

Don't forget that Anthropomorphic Animal is a banned spell in Society play.

I don't see it listed as banned. The spell blights and blood transcription are the only banned ones I see for Ultimate Magic

Bah, it was flagged banned under the Vivisectionist entry and when that was removed it looks like the ban was removed to I must have missed that. Good to know.

Still hate the spell since it takes away more then it gives for all animal companions and most familiars.

Quite true, the part that was banned I think was the use of it through the Torturous Transformation ability, which I was pretty sure that it would let you apply it perminently, still a nightmarish Doctor Moreau ability.

Some people take a Compsognathus or a Rat named Splinter, you lose very little with them. Still not my preferred method, simply a method. The idea was to build a familiar that could use a whip, these could be done without 'sacrificing' a valuable feat. But then I value feats over spells.

While I am not sure this would work, and pretty sure it isn't worth it, it looks like you could take a level as a beast bonded witch, give the familiar your feat, and then cross train out.

The problem here is that when you retrain out, you might lose access to the feat entirely. There is a DM I play with that ruled as such, a player tried to retain out (he was a wizard) and the DM ruled that for the feat to be on the familiar, and for the familiar to use it, the character was required to have the Transfer Feats ability. Thus he ended up keeping the witch level.

I forgot that you could also use Bestow Weapon Proficiency to give your familiar proficiency with a whip for a short time. And you can get a wand of it, of you want.

I mentioned Anthropomorphic Animal due to it's hours/level duration, other polymorphic spells could fit the bill, though the durations are shorter. Anyway, I figured I'd try and list what I can recall. Gonna list them at the level you first get it and ignore the upgraded versions of the spells.

1st Level
Enlarge Person
Reduce Person
2nd Level
Alter Self
Animal Aspect - Monkey gives Throw Anything to a 'handed' Familiar
3rd Level
Anthropomorphic Animal
Beast Shape
Monstrous Physique
Undead Anatomy
4th Level
Elemental Body
Vermin Shape
5th Level
Animal Growth
Plant Shape
Polymorph
6th Level
Fluid Form
Form of Dragon
Transformation
7th Level
Giant Form
Ice Body
8th Level
Frightful Aspect
Iron Body
9th Level
Fiery Body
Shapechange

So a lot of choice, I know those over level 6 probably won't get used by most, but there may be a few higher level characters that might want to cause some familiar shenanigans.
For those that worry about their familiars kicking it, The False Life line of spells are nice for adding a buffer to them, and yourself.

If you are going the Valet route, I really recommend picking up Escape Route, as it can save a lot of headaches and heartaches when it comes to avoiding movement AoO's. Yes it's another feat, but the added mobility offered to both Master and familiar are amazing, especially as it works off of adjacency, not reach.

Other than the homunculus there is also a possibility to take a regular animal familiar and use Share Spells to cast Anthropomorphic Animal on it. Toss your Ioun Stone in a Wayfinder and you're set, though you'd need at least a Flawed Opalescent White Pyramid, the Cracked only grants Weapon Familiarity, not proficiency. Which means you could probably get the setup done by 5th level, though the Familiar doesn't get the 'flyby' aid ability until 7th anyway. You lose all but land speed, so Escape Route is still an excellent option for mobility, or magic flight might do the trick as well. You are dropping a 3rd level spell to do this, but it lasts hours/level, and frees up a feat slot.

Yes, the familar would provoke Attacks of Opportunity if Tiny or smaller from the movement portion of the 'flyby' aid another action.
That is, unless the familar's master AND someone with the Escape Route feat is adjacent to the enemy being aided against.
This is do to the Teammate ability of the Valet Familiar letting the familiar have the teamwork feats of it's master, and Escape route allows allies to move through your square and any adjacent (Not within reach mind you) to it without provoking attacks of opportunity.
As written, a tiny or smaller familiar would have to enter the opponent's square, which it can do as it's tiny or smaller.

I've had a player with a bard use his snake familiar to do this, as well as avoid AoO from movement as the snake rode on his shoulders.

I've had an idea kicking around for a while, inspired by one of my players.

His was a straight Carnie Rogue.

Dwarf Carnivalist 7

Traits
Alluring
Dirty Fighter.

Feats
Escape route
Precise Strike
Improved Familiar
Out Flank

Familar
Started with a Goat with the Valet archtype
Switched to an Earth Elemental with the Valet archtype at level 5

He had Str 14, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 10 and lucked out with HP rolls, sitting at a solid 80 HP.
He fought with a Warhammer and buckler, while not a "Mad" sneak attacker he was fairly reliable as his familar used Earthglide to pass under single opponents to out flank them, and they would daisy chain retreats when the going got tough. Both made use of the teamwork feats and both hit for +3d6 sneak attacks. I know his next plan was to move into two weapon fighting to build on his sneak attack routine.
Not sure how tough this would be for another player as he was incredibly smart with his placement to minimise any threats to himself and his familiar. I have some ideas on how to improve on this, but the concept itself is the same, use abilities to get a valet familiar and use it to provide you with sneak attacks, flanking bonuses and AoO immunity when moving. But YMMV.

I'd simply call it Lamellar Plate, as it consists of both of those elements. Or come up with an elven name for Iron Forest Armour.
Or you could name it Laminar Plate, after it's cousin Laminar, the type of armour which the Lorica Segmentata and some of the other Japanese armours belong to.
Something different, Plated Mail, a persian armour type.

If I wanted to match the classic bushi helm iconography with a mechanic, I'd try and get the Steelskin trait,though the helm would probably shaped like a powerful beast or plant, like gryphon, dragon or treant.

I could try, due to moving, I only have access to the new one I was rather 'lazily' compiling. IE: it is currently unfinished as the group hasn't hit higher levels or tried making their own.
Lacking a scanner/camera I'll transcribe it.
My usual format is a table in a lined notebook: spell name, color, taste, smell.
I sort it with 'common' spells first, plus their 'linked' or troubled set.
My first one had 3 additional sections, listing spells by their common component, I was really just going to toss this one into a digital database and use that to resort it on the fly.
There will be modifiers, more intense tastes and smells for stronger CL potions.

Cure Light
Blue w/ Red Specks, Almonds, Cloves
Cure Moderate
Dark Green, Cinnamon, Garlic
Cure Serious
Rancid Yellow, Artichokes, Sulfur

Inflict Light
Rancid Yellow, Cinnamon, Sulfur
Inflict Moderate
Dark Green, Cinnamon, Boiled Cabbage

False Life
Blue w/Dark Red Flecks, Almonds, Blood

Bull's Strength
Brown, Rare Steak, Wet Fur
Cat's Grace
Cloudy Grey, Raw Tuna, Wet Fur

Spider Climb
Orange, Cobwebs, Dusty
Levitate
Orange, Leather, Musty

Jump
Pale Blue, Bugs, Grass
Sleep
Blue, Bugs, Wet Sand

Long Stride
Navy Blue, Dirt, Peat
Bark skin
Deep Blue, Willow Bark, Loam
Burning Hands
Navy Blue, Tar, Peat

Lesser Restore
Black, Stale Bread, Mold
Resist Energy
Black w/Silver Swirls, Bitter Tea, Tar
Shocking Grasp
Black w/Blue Swirls, Bitter Tea, Rain

Reduce Person
Dull Red, Bloody, Acidic
Enlarge Person
Dark Red, Bloody, Soap

I will say, when I give them a potion, I give every potion a number, and they have to declare they are using said number, I have the only 'true' master list, and their free to make their own, like good adventurers.
It's a little more 'work' but keeps us all honest, the same goes with scrolls and found wands. Plus it lets me better keep track of what I've given them, and they've used the 'similar' but different angle to bluff adversaries to down negative effect potions.

Speaking of scrolls, I've used a similar system for them as well, but I dropped that with my new game and I lack my old primer for them, it only really came into effect when they were trying to figure out a found scroll of a spell they didn't know, or in the rogue's case, every scroll. It was fun, and as the rogue tended to horde any scrolls he found, it led to some fairly amusing incidents. Summoning a wild boar instead of healing the wizard, Bane instead of silence, Polymorphing into a cat instead of turning invisible, etc.

Well if you're going to be using an aasimar, you could take Emberkin (or any other arcane ability types, or be a Tiefling) and a single level of Wood Oracle with the Bend the Grain power. That gets you into Mystic Theurge at level 4, with both casting types, depending on the feats and traits you take you can walk away with full CL on both sorcerer and oracle spells with only a 1 and 2 level lag in spell access. That setup is also PFS legal to my knowledge.

If you're worried about the negatives of the 'curse', certain ones are awesome, Haunted and Blackened add additional spells for minor penalties, Legalistic is fine as long as you keep your word, as you're a Charisma caster, Wasting provides a means to 'bow out' of being the party face and the impact of Wrecker is minimal to a spellcaster unless you use wands.

I've always stuck with a descriptive, letting them try and figure out what an item is by use rather than give a flat out description of it. It makes identifying something that much more fun and intensive than a simple die roll.
If they want to spend the time to figure out the item with skill checks, then I will give them hints on notes, with three levels of obscurity, the most being just a base test, the next requiring an advantage of some sort (Magic, Bardic Bullpucky, or a lab/library), the least requires atleast 2 of those. Still the final act has to be them activating it, and has caused characters to learn new languages as the trigger isn't always in common/draconic/dwarven/etc.

Testing potions is fun, as I have an index of what a potion looks, tastes and smells like. Every potion of a given spell is similar to another, so It keeps things 'easy', though gambles and mistakes can happen, like when the potion of cure light and potion of barkskin are both green and taste of almonds, though one smells of chocolate and the other of loam.
With items, I often use hints as to it's use. Doubly so when I started a new campaign on a new world and started a new index.

A sword with a fire enchantment might be made of black iron, be stylized with flame motifs or be warm to the touch. Most magic items will have a trigger or command word, for a sword it might be embossed on the blade or be the battle cry of a famous user in the past.

I've shamelessly stolen ideas from books, movies, tv shows and cartoons, and even other games and systems.

Anyways, when in doubt, make it up, or ask a friend who's unconnected for help. My wife's given me more ideas for items for my last campaign than any other source.

The familiar is a more permanent aspect than a summoner's eidolon.
In addition, unlike the eidolon, the familiar would be providing the benefit through the feat, not it's skills. This same feat which replaces what most would consider the more advantageous Alertness feat.

Personally though, I would want to allow it due to the amusement and inspiration the imagery of just how the familiar would be helping in the various craft skills brings me.
A wizards workshop indeed.

Sexism, racism, classism, beliefism, and all the host of other ways we discriminate one another, they are all forms of abuse that usually stem from either a lack of respect, or a 'wealth' of ignorance.
If someone is being discriminatory, then we should help them stop and become a better person. While banning someone does 'deal' with the problem, helping to make that person a better individual is a true and clear victory. But people being as diverse as we are, we all react to different things different ways, so there is no one 'best' approach, if there was then we wouldn't be having this issue.
Now some will say that it isn't our responsibility to help fix someone else's problems, and I think that's the true dragon on the mount. Because if we don't, then who will?

Well, for #1 I think it would work as written.
You'll share both craft skills and feats and the valet familiar would grant a bonus to the day job rolls, as you get a bonus to mundane crafting as well. A +2 circumstance bonus if I'm not mistaken. As you cannot posses Item creation feats, then I think that's the gist of it.

For #2-3 I think samerandomhero nailed it. Though I always wondered if a familiar got skill ranks as it's intelligence increases.

I had a player run a Carnivalist with a Valet familiar, the teammate feature was the defining element of that pair.

I've read over most of this thread thus far.
The biggest issue I have with it is, once a character dips into the evil alignments they are effectively dead without any chance of redemption and their story ends.
To my knowledge, though slim as the possibility may be, every other method of having a character removed from the game has a chance of recovery. Be it being poisoned, petrified, roasted by dragon fire, or a rogue GM killing every character he can find. We have a way to recover the time spent developing that story.
But once someone's turned evil, that's it, they are out of the game, and from what I've been able to infer from some people posting, there's going to be table variances that will cause massive headaches for all, and for more reasons than I've seen so far.
There'd be two ways to do it.
One is to set the alignment lines, but that can and will straightjacket people into a mindset that while 'good' is to me draconian, especially as it would break immersion into the story due to having to weigh every decision instead of bringing the story to life. Plus there will be people who don't track both sides of the equation, as it is a lot of work.
Two is to leave it to the GM's, where one could be at jeopardy change alignments even if you are performing the same actions in similar situations, simply because you are sitting with a different GM. This can lead to hard feelings or worse.
Three, leave it as it was before the ruling. And thus no change from present play.

I'd only be comfortable with such a change to the way alignment works if we had a chance at redemption, a way to keep that story going a little further.
This means letting us play evil characters as we try and redeem them, offering ways to 'buy our way to salvation' or maybe having special scenarios.
I doubt they'd let us play evil characters though, so they'd have to add rulings to limit it, the most interesting I've come up with is making any alignment change a condition that we have a set time to clear before it becomes 'permanent', with my personal preference being 3/6 games depending on your experience track when you acquired it.

Now I still haven't had the chance to play an active part in the society yet, but I don't find the weapon cords themselves as being offensive, though I still haven't made a character who uses them, as I tend to carry spare weapons on all characters I play.
As well, I've never used double barrelled pistols with the single gunslinger I've played.
But that was both a home game in which there was either a large number of high touch ac enemies, like Vampire Monks, or we dealt with enemies that had a large amount of reach, like ogres with polearms, so for me, pistols were usually considered a backup weapon, as it wasn't safe to get close enough to use them.
Not to mention that double barrelled pistols were ruled double weapons, and cost a ridiculous amount to enchant.

But again that was a home game, not PFS.

That said I've tried to do the math from multiple angles, the weapon cords themselves are a means to an end, a cheap one, taking it away does not solve the problem that most people have with Gunslingers and the glut of free actions they use. There are other ways people abuse the cords, but really a GM with a calm nerve and common sense should prevail against ignorance.
It's the double barrelled firearms that are bloating the 'action pool' as it were. Without dealing with that issue, then you still have a problem. As we aren't adjusting the rules in PFS, then the easiest way to solve the problem is to ban the guns. A more 'elegant' solution would be to make them double weapons for enchanting, which makes it incredibly expensive to enchant a pair of double barrelled pistols to the same level as a single weapon.

The long and short?
Get rid of double barrelled pistols and keep weapon cords and free actions as they were.

How about an Allosaurus? Reminds me of the old 3.5 setting, Eberron, and the Halflings there. Throw a cowboy hat on him, give the dinosaur some reins and have fun!

If he was a CE? Ranger, he may just be perfect.

Oh and let's not forget that you can create water right?
So mount an octopus or shark in a wheeled bathtub and bring on the land kraken or your proto-bulette.

Reading up on the Paladin Code, it's far more complex than I originally anticipated.

Code of Conduct

A paladin must be of lawful good alignment and loses all class features except proficiencies if she ever willingly commits an evil act.

Additionally, a paladin's code requires that she respect legitimate authority, act with honor (not lying, not cheating, not using poison, and so forth), help those in need (provided they do not use the help for evil or chaotic ends), and punish those who harm or threaten innocents.

So you have to be lawful good, that's a given, but there are 'many flavours' of Lawful good.

Code of Conduct

The oathbound paladin must abide by the listed tenets of her oath in addition to the specifics of her god’s code of conduct. In some cases, a deity’s or paladin order’s code may conflict with the oath’s tenets; in most cases, these conflicts mean the oath is unsuitable for a paladin of that deity or order (such as the Oath against the Wyrm with respect to a good dragon deity or a dragon-riding order of paladins) and cannot be selected by the paladin.

The Oathbound entry brings to light something that some may miss, but is how I've played and run Paladin's since 2nd Ed. The god you follow, who grants your powers, their servants, their creed, that is what sets the 'boundaries' of you code of conduct.

You respect those who Torag deems is a legitimate authority, you act with honour as set forth by Iomedae, you help those in need as Cayden Cailean sees fit and you punish in the name of Sarenrae. The gods may not see someone not in their order as truly legitimate, but I'm not going to bring this into a seminal discussion.
In addition to your basic code, your god may require additions to your code of conduct, require you to say or do things or the opposite.
It depends on the god, and if you are part of a Paladin or Religious Order or take an Oath.

A Paladin does not fall, cannot fall, for breaking a law or committing a chaotic act, as those acts don't instantly change your alignment. You also don't fall from breaking the Paladin Code of Conduct, you can lie to someone to keep them safe, you can give someone a raw deal, and you can take a life when necessary. Paladins only fall when they commit an Evil act, if in breaking the Code or a law they also commit an Evil act, then yes they would fall. They can also lose their powers when they move their alignment out of Lawful Good, which only happens at the end of the scenario in PFS to my knowledge, and can be dealt with on a case by case basis, and truly will be difficult to enforce due to the nature of PFS.

I haven't had a chance to go through the Hellknight entries in any real depth, they seem to have a more flexible stance on morality than Paladins. But I'll leave studying that to tomorrow, as I'll have time then.

Slavery is not always Evil, and in a lot of cases it tends to be considered Lawful. But I'm not going to get into that argument tonight.

A thought.
Lets see if I can do this right.
You only need the Gunsmithing feat to buy guns, and then the proficiency to use it, any class can take them.
I was thinking, 'would it work for a pure paladin?'
So I tried building some, I'm only going to show the feat levels, as eerything else is gravy.
Human Paladin, pure build.
Feats
1 Gunsmithing
1 EX Prof: Pistol
3 Rapid Reload
5 Point Blank Shot
7 Precise Shot
9 Rapid Shot
11 Deadly Aim
Can work, but feat drained and only 'decent' in late levels.

Human Divine Hunter, pure build
At level 11 you can use a smite to gain deadly aim, plus you start with precise shot.
1 Gunsmithing
1 EX Prof: Pistol
3 Point Blank Shot
5 Rapid Reload
7 Rapid Shot
9 Amateur Gunslinger
11 Extra Grit or Extra Smite or Deadly Aim or Unsanctioned Knowledge.

I had a few that worked better but included multiclassing, it's late and I work early. So I'll have to get back with them.
They were a fairly standard:
Paladin 11, Mysterious Stranger 1
Divine Hunter 9, Musket Master 3.
There was one that was crazy:
Monk 3, Ninja 2, Myserious Stranger 1, Hospilier Paladin 4, Champion of Irori 2. A Bronze Gong let you Smite more per day, plus you could Smite Chaos for more versatility, check the Champion of Irori guide for more info on that setup.

If you are an elf, there's the Brightness Seaker prestige class from the Elves of Golarion book.
They get it at level 3 and you can enter the class at level 5 dues to 5 skill ranks having to be in either Knowledge Nature or Religion.
At 2nd level you can can get a 'beastial' trait until you change forms.
At 5th level they can wildshape twice and have a limited reincarnate.
It's not a caster class, nor is it Society legal unfortunately.

Whatever your tengu comes up with it will never top the slappy-hand magic missiles (which actually came up once in a campaign I played).

Funny, I've had some one use a more crass version.

First I create/steal/alter a concept, be it from a picture, movie, book, song, personal encounter or whatnot else.
I usually throw the concept around in my brain for a few hours/days/weeks and in some cases years, while reading source books, and more frequently these days, the d20pfsrd, much for the same reason as BigNorseWolf, to rough out how I want the character to go,and start developing a background for them.
Once the rough polish is finished, I break out pencil and paper, and frequently curses from a half dozen languages, while I try and fine tune the character into something useful.
Then, I start filling out a character sheet, by hand.

Curaigh wrote:

Saint Caleth wrote:

I am a little bit confused as to what people are trying to crack down on in this thread, because the two examples given (the skull magic missiles and sunflower fireball) are a-ok by me in PFS even without having to splatbook dive for a feat to justify it.

The skull shaped MM is still an MM. The sunflower FB that grows 'in the spot I designate' is not a FB: it is an indirect spell.

Yea, you're right about the fireball, when I read that I automatically imagined it with the caster tossing a little seed out.

I still wouldn't call it out and be super legalistic if someone did it at the table though.

Exactly as I was going to suggest.

Flavour with traits and descriptions is also a good thing, as long as they don't change the core of what you took. Be it using Sea-Souled and being from a lake city, Seasoned Climber when from a tall forest, Riverfolk and living on a island off Absalom.
You could even be a green-skinned Half Elf, though that's more drawing from a possible exception I their descriptive text: "their skin color is normally dictated by their human side." And the fact that there are green skinned forest elves are possible.
Still, for animal companions, while you could style up a unique looking big cat, it's still a big cat and not a dog, a horse or a pig.

Paper or paperless.
Liability and accountability.

I will say I'd rather use a digital format for most games if given the chance, but I do enjoy shuffling paper as well.
If given the option, I'd use digital Chronicles and physical paper character sheets, real dice and a miniature that I spent way too much time painting.
Again, given the choice, I'd like to own every book physically (and I think I did at one point), but they would be a pain to carry, and in my case were stolen and never recovered.
If someone stole my tablet, I've got lock outs already in place and an internal GPS tracker I can remotely activate. My tablet also costs less to replace than the original cost of the books that were stolen, it's also insured against damage and theft, and the PDF's inside are available to be redownloaded through the Paizo site as well.
Speaking of tablets, I've got mine in a shock resistant case to lessen the chance of damage, and I usually carry a charger and extension cable with me when I go to game. But then I was a Boy Scout once and still try live by the many credos.
That is how I'd wish to deal with it.
Time will tell when I actually get the chance to do so.

A different thought on this.
If you really want to stop the people who reuse single use boons, physical paper is not the way to do it, I learned all I needed to know to replicate a paper document by taking the time to read the manual of my scanner/printer and install the support software.
To truly stop that, you have to have the boons able to be tracked and registered to a controlled database, through a player's PFS account number and character account number.
Have this database be accessible to everyone, but only edited by either GM's or an archival group dedicated to it.
A GM then merely needs to send a 'gain' or 'use' form with the player's PFS account number and the boon number.
A fail safe could allow that a GM's boons are only editable by a different GM.
Done.
If you want to know if a player had actually gotten the Chronicle legally? Easy to check if they have it registered to the database.
You could also be able to gather 'electronic' Chronicles as well and I can see them as being used as backups for when they run out at Cons, just have the sheet credited to you and you're set.
Now, from the other side, this would be a nightmare to initially implement, but once started it should be 'easy' to maintain as long as the database servers were setup correctly. This is also assuming no one tries to hack said database, which can be mitigated by proper backup procedures, though you may lose some progress. Again easy to do if set up right, but not necessarily cheap. There's more issues that arise as well as the methods to stop them, but really that's not what we're here to discuss.
But this is something I don't see happening over night, nor in the immediate future, as the time, resources and personnel are not in place, nor is there an immediate demand.

After all, we are assumed to be honest gamers first correct?
And yes, I said honest, as one can also be honestly mistaken, stupid or ignorant, as well as happy, companionable and fun to be around.

The way I've been reading into the conversations thus far, there are people not comfortable on either side and no matter what stance is taken, someone's going to remain uncomfortable, the only question I'm really seeing is the argument over who it is.
Really as long as we can have fun, then that's all that really matters.

I did think that the Elven Spirit feat was an exception that allowed a half-elf to take something from the ARG. If I was mistaken, I suppose I'll have to fix one of my characters. :o

This is how I would interpret it as well, as the feat itself grants a specific, narrow selection of traits. This is unlike Racial Heritage, in that it doesn't open the door to everything involving Elves anytime, just a narrow set of choices at character generation.

Vincent Colon-Roine wrote:

so it wouldn't preclude a half-elven treesinger now, as treesingers are approved? cool.

additional resources mucks that up

Note: Alternate racial traits, racial archetypes, racial evolutions, racial feats, and racial spells are only available for characters of the associated race. Racial equipment and magic items can be purchased and used by any race as long as the specific item permits it (for example, only halflings can purchase and use solidsmoke pipeweed).

there is no work around to that, for pfs you STILL have to be the race

As that caveat is only found in the ARG section, is that restriction only on content from the ARG?

According to the ruling, both Half race can take favoured class options, among other things, of Humans and Half Elves can snag Elf ones as well, in addition to their own racial choice, and they aren't restricted by the caveat in the ARG correct?

All I'm looking for really is either the caveat be added to the APG and Core Rulebook sections of the Additional Resources section for clarity's sake, or left out to allow access to those book's options. The caveat could also be altered or expanded to allow the ruling to work within PFS or the ruling be refuted for Society Play.
What I don't expect to see is the Half races getting banned from play for being too difficult to use, so those would be the logical assumptions I can come up with.

Really, I'd like to know which options are allowed by the Elven Spirit feat, or if you are stuck with Elven Magic, despite the option to change it being presented in the feats text, due to the ARG restriction.

Well, seeing as Scarred Witchdoctors are banned from PFS, a bit of a bad example on that regard.

Still, on to the issue at hand, Half Elves and Half Orcs now qualify for it as well, at least since the ruling on the 26th.

Two FAQs updated: Core Rulebook FAQ on racial archetypes, Advanced Player's Guide FAQ on racial favored class options. Half-elves and half-orcs may select racial favored class options, archetypes, traits, and so on, as if they were a full member of both races (a half-elf can select elf and human rules elements, a half-orc can select human and orc rules elements).

This resolves a contradiction between Core Rulebook and Advanced Player's Guide FAQs that gave contradictory answers.

Now how does this affect those races, as if I'm understanding this correctly, by RAW through just having the Core Rulebook and Advance Players Guide, Half Elf/Orc characters can select Human and Elf/Orc options, including favored class bonuses. The ban on racial choices is only noted on the Advanced Race Guide, so does this mean that you suddenly lose options when you buy the ARG?

The Half Elf Elven Spirit feat needs to be addressed as well, as the feat gives you an Elven Racial trait and an option to exchange it for a different one, but according to the restrictions in the ARG where it is found, you can't do that.

yeah I was going to post that myself tumskunde after reading that lol.

But until a change is made it still doesn't work for PFS.

How so? As per the Core Rulebook and Advanced Players Guide, a Half Elf/Orc is both a Human and an Elf/Orc and can take thier racial options. The ban on racial choices is only noted on the Advanced Race Guide, so which takes precedence? Most would either argue the Core book or which ever books you owned, but does this mean that you suddenly lose options when you buy the ARG?

I'm not trying to be 'that guy', but I'd like to push for a ruling on this, as it's a bit of a mess to try and figure out.

I am no longer allowed to build Muscle Wizards, be they powered by martial prowess, arcane might or cult of Personality.

I am no longer allowed to throw monkey wrenches in the GM's plot by killing a vital NPC and myself by falling down a set of stairs, off a ladder or balcony.

I am no longer allowed to suggest that we do things simple and straightforward, as the party will then devolve into Machiavellian scheming as something has to be up if I'm making reasonable suggestions.

I am no longer allowed to pull out an item of minor importance that the group picked up ages ago and use it to solve the complex puzzle the GM just laid out for us because he forgot we had it.

I am forever banned from having an actual chess game against the Half Ogre's player instead of simply role playing it.

I am no longer allowed to work with the GM and have the party find out I was the BBEG the whole time, and have me take over as the GM brings in the reoccurring villan to aid the party in the final battle.

Regarding names, I recently had a player ask if it was permissible to have a character with the same name as the player. I responded that it was permitted, but Not Recommended.

My reasons were:
- it blurs character-player separation, especially when the GM is trying to address one of them
- it breaks suspension of disbelief
- it displays lazyness on the player's part; and
- it may be impossible to register it on Paizo.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

I think it should really depend on the situation too, I've managed to play with a few that used thier own name while still convincingly seperating player and PC.

One gent, Caius played a roman styled gentleman soldier by the name Caius Quintus, and all of us referred to his character by his surname more than not.

And I found out my friend Ozzy's actual name was Duncan Foster, but only after we'd been playing for 2 months.

But I also realize that it can be both confusing and disruptive. Not everyone can pull it off, and those that can't, shouldn't.

I'm new to society, but I've got a few that are thought exercises.
An elf sorcerer with the Orc bloodline?

Or what about a teacup wielding rogue/ninja, who disarms people and destroys them? (Humble Beginnings Trait or Catch Off Guard feat and sneak attack)

What about a character that took a different class every level?
A Fighter/Barbarian/Gunslinger/Cavalier/Monk/Rogue/Ninja/Alchemist/Ranger/Dru id/Oracle/Bard would certainly have a unique bag of tricks. Not sure on the viability though, you could make it work better with prestige classes.

I found something today that clarifies this issue.
This thread has a response from the design team:

Two FAQs updated: Core Rulebook FAQ on racial archetypes, Advanced Player's Guide FAQ on racial favored class options. Half-elves and half-orcs may select racial favored class options, archetypes, traits, and so on, as if they were a full member of both races (a half-elf can select elf and human rules elements, a half-orc can select human and orc rules elements).

This resolves a contradiction between Core Rulebook and Advanced Player's Guide FAQs that gave contradictory answers.

As this should allow what I asked about and more, as it stems from the APG, not ARG, I guess the issues closed?

According to the description on the link of Heirloom Wep, you would only get +1 or +2 if you had an AoO or CBM respectively. I would not think that it would add wep proficiency.

Actually, you get a choice of proficiency or one of the other two.
You still need to buy the weapon though.
[edit]It appears that you can't enchant an Heirloom Weapon in PFS using the Masterwork Transformation route at this point in time, makes no sense to me, and no don't try to explain it, I don't want to derail this thing, still you could use Magic Weapon spells and Magic Arrows to get around that limitation.[/edit]

I've had a few interesting names run in both my games, and the games I've played.
Unfortunately all of them have been home games, as PFS was not a popular option where I played.
The last campaign my crew and I finished before I moved was epic, and amusing at the same time. While not set in Golarion, the setting was adapted from Golarion and Game of Thrones.

Sylvan, the Half Elf Storm Druid, noted for turning into random animals and role playing how he would tell us things as he never took Wild Speech.

Johnny Walker was our Human Cleric/Inquisitor of Cayden Cailean, whose departure left my Sorcerer sharing Healing duties with the Druid (Infernal Healing, a wand of False Life and wands/potions of various cure spells).

Nigel was a Half Ogre Fighter, who was noted for being a classy gent and for collecting titles. His Full name went like Colonel Sir Nigel Kalum-Saver Barrel-Slain Stair-Historian Dragon-Shaker Orc-Welder Chess-Master the Third, Lord of Fitzwizzle Tower and Proprieter of the Classy Gentlman's Club and Fine Dining Establishment, by the end of the campaign.

Kalum, also know as Prince Kharak of House Orm, second in line to the Imperial Succession. He was a Sorcerer/DragonDisciple i played, who masqueraded as a wandering bard. I managed to keep the other identity a secret for about 12 months(50 odd sessions) when plot determined that we head to the Capitol and Kalum secret was ousted at the city gates by his older brother. Fun times, he also somehow got reincarnated female for a time, the GM said he'd give credit for someone pulling off a sarcastic "We'll, excuse me Princess." routine as he was a Zelda fan.

Then finally the GM's brother had a particularly 'awe inspiring' character, both how he played him and how he named him. He had a laterally thinking Human Fighter specializing in Polearms. He had everything set but the name, and the GM refused to let him play with the name he usually plays using. In picking it, he asked me to hand him my bag of chips, staring at it a second, he snagged a few and wrote down Ondulées, proceeding to play him like an immortal québécois murderhobo, until he was 'redeemed' by a Dwarven Smith monk that made him his Adamantine Fullplate.
After his redemption, our group ended up calling ourselves Ondulées and Associates.

Other lesser characters include
Tinkerer Niobe Gearmaiden of house Brassdprocket, a gnome rogue who took out a Mindflayer in a single round using Chakrams, Drow Poison and an angry Nigel.
Tyge Ulriksen of the Tenth-street Tailors, A human Urban invulnerable Rager, who became victim to a Mohrg attack while guiding the group into the city's catacombs.

Sounds like you can play whatever you want in PFS, because you really didn't play PFS before based on the GM modifying things drastically to their content.

That's both a load off my mind, and makes me feel quite bittersweet about the whole mess.

Honestly, from your story it sounds like the GM took so many liberties that it wasn't even really a sanctioned Organized Play game anymore. Come to think of it, it may be that was his intention, seeing as he didn't hand out any chronicle sheets.

The GM there told us you only gained a chronicle sheet if you survived. But it could be that was the case, especially since he walked off with my newly bought Pathfinder library at the end of the night. The matter has since been settled rather permanently, but I never got my books back.

I'm new to society, so bear with me.

Couldn't you take Heirloom Weapon? To get your proficiency in Longbow? I think it's from the Adventurer's Armoury.

Going Human would get you the feats for Point Blank and Precise Shot. By level 3 you could snag Arcane Strike, level 5 nets you Weapon Focus and level 7 Rapid Shot to leads into Many Shot at level 9. Deadly Aim could be snagged at level 11 and your done with your archer feats.
Slower than a martial class, but not much slower than an archer bard or cleric. Your spell casting will probably amount to buffing and support, so you probably won't need a Charisma higher than 14 (13 at the start maybe?), which leaves more room for more Dexterity and Strength.
You could do a Fighter dip if you wanted, but it wouldn't change your end BAB, and it would weaken your Eidolon, which would be undesirable if you were also running that one as an archer, as you would lose too much.

Running an archer Eidolon would technically also net you more archery ability than rolling an equivalent martial one, as you'd have 2 archers on the field instead of one. It's archery abilities can match pace with your own, though it has fewer feats to work with.
If your running one, I agree with Dhjika, the Serpentine form looks to be the best, higher dex and the ability to be used as a mount to boot, makes it an attractive choice. The slower speed is easily offset by adding more legs or adding flight.
Can an Eidolon with 4+ arms use 2+ (cross)bows? If so, a Kali like naga would be an intimidating pincushioner. If not, oh well.

I have a conundrum.

(setup)
I originally tried out Pathfinder Society a little over 2 years ago, shortly after Ultimate Combat came out I think.

In my first, and only, day of playing scenarios, we ran through 3 of them in roughly 4 hours. All resulted in TPK's and, with further events afterwards, saw me and the rest of my pathfinder crew abandon Society play in my hometown, we stuck to home games after that.
W
Now I'd like to try it out again, as I just moved to a new area, I figure I'd give it another shot. It'll take me a while to repurchase the books I'll need, so I've got a bit of time to solve my next riddle of sorts.

Now, the problem is, the GM at the time didn't give out Chronicle sheets, and it's been a fair stretch of time as well. I even had to make a new paizo account, as I still have no idea what my first one was called, or which email address it was tied to.

I know that we aren't supposed to get credit for scenarios we've already played or read through, but I'm not sure which of the scenarios I've played.
(/setup)

Now I don't want to break any of the society's rule intentionally or not, do any of the more experienced players and/or GMs want to help me figure out which scenarios I've played?
I'd hate to figure it out midplay and possibly wreck the game for others. I'm fairly sure these were from 2 years ago, they may have been older.

Anyways, thanks in advance.
-Tumskunde

Ok, I think I've followed this.
As long as I have both The Advanced Players Guide and Advanced Race Guide, I would be able to take Elven Spirit from the ARG to qualify for the Lightbringer Elven racial trait in the APG?

If so, no worries, as they are the only two books I currently own or still have in my possession since the fiasco that was to be my first try with Pathfinder Society play 2 years ago. I'll need a few months to repurchase the rest of the books I'll need, at least my new LGS doesn't add a +200% markup on everything.

I did search for this, thought my search-fu may be a little rusty. Found a single thread, on the general Pathfinder board, though nothing Society focused.

Half Elves have a feat called Elven Spirit. This feat gives them the Elven Racial Trait, Elven Magic, and an option to swap it for a different trait that replaces Elven Magic.

Now I'm wondering if we could swap it for Lightbringer.

Feat in cut.

The traits which replace Elven Magic are: Desert Runner, Envoy, Eternal Grudge, Lightbringer, Silent Hunter, Spirit of the Waters and Woodcraft.
Spirit of the Waters is out as you need Weapon Familiarity, which Half Elves lack. Besides, the important part can be mimicked by Water Child.
Lightbringer again requires an additional cost of Elven Immunities, a trait that in name, form and function, both Races share.

So can it happen, legally within Pathfinder Societies?

And yes, I ask as I wish to play a glowing half elf when I give Society Play another try, hopefully better than my first time.