Validorn's page

7 Player Adjustment: Where players and the GM roll initiative and then wait for the possibility of participating in a combat that can still last for half an hour.

Pro-tip: During your down-time, in between turns, you can notify your friends/significant other(s)/parents that you're going to be late. You can also take this time to start a hobby, read a book, make a sandwich, go for a jog, catch up on sleep, perform the full story of Moby Dick using your minis, etc...

(See Also: Party with multiple "pet classes")

... when the party's wizard determines there is illusion magic in the area and tells everyone that, yet nobody (wizard included) can roll higher then a 5 on their will save.

I ran into an issue like that playing Wounded Wisp.

... when you are the only experienced player at the table and some of the party decides to split at a time where your character does not notice.

Errata| That magical event where changes result in: gutted items having to be sold back, feats being retrained, and whole builds or characters being orphaned/abandoned/forsaken. This is often accompanied with intense debate on the forums of 'why can't we have nice things?' or 'that was so broken and you munchkins know it!' along with much praise for John Compton and campaign management for their understanding and assistance during this difficult time.

Face: (noun)
1) What the barbarian is about to smash, unprovoked, on a person you just met.
2) The person designated as having the responsibility of talking, in the hopes of non-violent outcomes, before the barbarian can act.

*is suddenly glad that he played them pbp :P

But wouldn't role-playing a goblin in a PbP be a cardinal goblin sin?

Writing! It burnsses!!!

Reap what you sow?

Invite RP - Introductions can set the tone for the adventure as suggested above. Folks might be bashful with introductions at first but if the mission briefing, for example, is role-played well it might encourage the same behavior in players. Also, players comfortable with role-playing can lead, even request, introductions to encourage RP from others... i.e. 'hey, I've broken the ice for us and it's completely safe, acceptable, and, dare I say, enjoyable to have fun being your character'

Maintain RP - Party talk in character can help keep the mood. This might be essential in more 'dungeon crawl' environments where there are not many opportunities to socially interact with NPCs. However, this can lead to the 'goofing off' time burner so use as appropriate. Try to help each-other (players and GM) avoid stalling in conversation. Speaking summarily in character can help convey intent of someone that might be struggling to find the right words or ideas, important not to talk over someone while doing so. However, hitting 'the wall' in conversation can force things to go out of character and could adversely affect RP momentum.

Reward RP - This overlaps a little with maintain RP but positive experience with RP can encourage future RP. I believe Hmm indicated in another thread that she rewards RP with more RP. Such positive feedback loops can be quite helpful. Help RP be meaningful. Perhaps the party's words helped them avoid an encounter. Perhaps combat was unavoidable and the party has a reason to fight the guards beyond entering square A2, maybe the guards remarked that a players lineage included a hamster and someone smelling of elderberries. Maybe the party is given additional insight from an NPC they befriended/frightened, even if it is mostly flavor text. Perhaps the main thing to avoid is having anyone feel like they failed at or because of RP. So time management and group dynamic are important.

Just my ramblings...

p.s. spend time with people that enjoy RP and then share the love :)

I'll chime in my appreciation for 322. The backstory on the pre-gen sheet gives a great sense of the character. I had the privilege of playing her twice (2nd time for no credit) since we ran out of time in the final battle at GenCon the first time I played it. As others have done, I played up the creepy and ambivalent angle. Kind of like the 1,000 yard stare of one 'who has seen too much'. I also kept her awkwardly focused on her goals with simple but dark statements. As others have suggested, definitely take a close look at her gear and abilities. There were several things that I was not familiar with but have very interesting uses. If you can't get the character sheet in advance then andreww's spoiler tags should give a good head start.

As others have already stated, I'm also not thrilled with several of the changes in the errata (again) or that errata continue to be used predominantly for nerfs instead of clarifications. But the specifics are better reserved for the appropriate forum, i.e. main Paizo not PFS.

With that in mind, I do want to thank John for his diligence, pro-activity, understanding, and definitely patience with us as everyone processes these changes. While I must admit that the thought of discontinuing my participation with PFS* has begun to creep into my thoughts after reading yet another unpleasant errata, the people are what still make it worthwhile. Thank you very much for your on-going efforts!

*I call out PFS specifically because home games can employ whatever rule sets and equipment they want where as the Society campaign must enforce a common set of rules based on the latest versions of source material.

As far as scenarios go, it can definitely come down to luck of the draw. I've had several scenarios where my Dark Archives or Scarlet Crusade characters walked away with nothing. Unfortunately, the mechanical type checkboxes can be more difficult to check off than the 'story type' checkboxes as they depend heavily on how you build your character. Not everyone will be a linguist or put points in appraise or profession merchant, but with creativity (and some luck on a scenario) encounters can be resolved non-violently or an entrepreneur undermined, etc...

In fact, my Exchange Stygian Slayer/Strangler did one of those recently.

Hopefully, future faction cards will promote more such story type goals rather than possess x ranks in y or z skill. I think that's why there is the general instruction for GM's to be flexible on granting the completion of these checkboxes. Unfortunately, having a certain number of ranks or visiting specific towns does not allow much flexibility.

As for getting the CMB up...

-BAB +13
-Dex +7
-Brawling armor +2
-Dusty rose prism + Wayfinder +2 untyped
-Pale Green, cracked +1
-Thorny Violet Ioun Stone +2
-Improved Grappling +2
-Greater Grappling +2
-Gauntlets of the Maneuver +2 (not weapons, don't impact your damage)
-Adhesive armor quality +2

That gets you to 35. If you were a brawler you would have another +3 from the class maneuver training ability.

Be very careful of overlapping bonuses. Cracked Pale Green overlaps Thorny Violet as a competence bonus I believe.

My grapple thread lurking efforts to date has given me the following:

Enhancement: +2 Adhesive, +1-5 3x/day Belt of Superior Maneuvers
Circumstance: +4 Extreme Flexibility, +4 (surprise rd) Gladiator's Sandals
Competence: +1 armbands of the brawler, +2 Anaconda's Coils, +2 Thorny (Violet) normal or flawed, +1 Cracked Pale Green Prism
Sacred: +4 Celestial Obedience (Falayna)
Morale: +1 Flawed Pale Green Prism, +1 Bless
Trait: +2 Heirloom Weapon (YMMV), +1 Bred for War
Insight: +2 Dusty Rose Prism Resonance, +20 True Strike
Luck: +1 Prayer
Size: +1 Enlarge Person
Untyped: +2 dan bong (YMMV), +2 brawler, +2 gauntlets of the skilled maneuver, +1 Unfair Grip, +2 Aid Another

I welcome any corrections/additions. My PFS grappler is still a baby (level 2 Strangler/Slayer X)

Really torn on the remaining levels. I like Slayer for full BAB and better sneak attack progression since I'm using (the nerfed :*( ) Sap Adept en route to Sap Master. I'm not impressed with the slayer talents in a grappling context though and improving martial flexibility instead would really add to the builds versatility.

Thank you very much for the indexes! Definitely will make life easier with managing/building my characters as well as practicing being a GM!

I'm sorry that I cannot provide more constructive feedback but I must confess my disappointment with several parts of this errata. I have 3 existing characters affected by this build.

Gunslinger (musket master) - changes to abundant ammunition, musket training, signature deed.

Grappler (Strangler/Slayer) - my planned rapid grappler final embrace sap master build was decimated quite frankly. I think the most frustrating part is, having read how hard it is to keep grapple worthwhile at high levels, I spent a lot of (read: too much) time trying to plan out my build and now one feat (sap adept) is cut in half, rapid grappler has a -5 penalty on a maneuver that you can't always use and can be difficult to pull off at high levels, and final embrace was removed entirely as an option. Except, of course, for a naga aspirant, as someone pointed out, but they don't seem to have the feats or BAB to support an effective grapple build. I had originally wanted to make a nagaji tetori constrict build but learned that they do not count as "naga" or "serpent-folk" (I'm still learning). Now, even a wondrous item (Anaconda's coils) will not help bridge that gap. I think this is where I'm most frustrated. Having invested so much time and energy only to have several pillars of the build kicked out at the same time... is unpleasant. It's like that specific build was targeted and attacked on multiple fronts. Seems and feels a bit drastic.

And of course, my beloved crane wing for my monk. Oh what a remarkable journey we've been on together. That poor feat has been changed substantially so many times it probably doesn't know what it is anymore. :) I can admit that it was a very strong feat in its original incarnation. I was at peace with the latest FAQ version getting a flat constant bonus vs one target. Wasn't much but every little bit of AC can help. The main problem I have with the 2nd and now 4th incarnation (the next Dr. Who?) is that they are very clunky to use in combat. As a pure monk using a defensive flurry of blows, furyborn AoMF, and combat master stance dance from Dragon Style back into Crane Style, it can be cumbersome to keep up with the calculations in combat, especially when other buffs come in to play too. I don't mind running the numbers, (math guy) but it does slow combat down, especially if I'm hasted, burn a ki point, and proc medusa's wrath for 4 additional attacks. Now, even on enemy turns I need to run through and recalculate my AC if they missed by 4 or less because being almost hit makes one suddenly easier to hit? It would be nice to have a more straight forward and fluid benefit whose strength is inline with being the 2nd feat in a style chain.

As others have mentioned, it would be nice if errata were meant to address typos or address clarifications on feats. If something needs to be completely rebalanced and changed then having more dialogue between the developers and community (beyond PFS of course) might be helpful. I know some folks have suggested 'errata playtests'. I cannot imagine the challenge of trying to balance everything, especially on material published before so many other feats/spells/archetypes etc even existed. However, it is a bit jarring, particularly on older books, to have things changed so dramatically. I just hope that future changes are a bit more moderate and feel a bit less knee-jerkey? Although I'm not satisfied with any of the changes listed above, I do appreciate the work that you do and have really enjoyed my time with Pathfinder thus far. Thank you.

Validorn, a faithful monk (12) of the Silver Crusade is most humbled and grateful that his devotion to Irori has blessed him with the title of Seeker after aiding in the Sky Key solution. He could not have done so without the help of his trusty companions, the two Smash Brothers, Boldston the Sunderer and Edric the Frustrated, just Olav "two-skills", a well-intentioned warpriest (sorry Mike!), and the newly met and quite entertaining Jules the Traveler with his rather vocal imp, Vince. Vince's addition of a drawn ketchup heart helped transform Validorn's freshly prepared breakfast offering into an omelet filled with love, bringing peace to a very troubled lady. It was an honor to help redeem so many creatures via face punching; in reshaping their bodies, Validorn prays he has helped reshape their minds.