Varthanna's page

A long while back, somebody posted a DIY PFS character sheet/box using one of the boxes from the WoW CCG. I've tried googling and using the board search without any luck.

Anyone know what Im talking about or have a link?

Okay, not really... but I was a bit disappointed when I was trying to come up with a character concept for RoW and there aren't really any gods with the icy tundras as their portfolio.

FR had Auril, which is really what I was looking for. I suppose the demon lord Kostchtchie is the closest thing? When I was on PF wiki I realized just how many demon lords, infernal dukes, harbingers, etc there are that grant domains... is that intentional to keep "true" gods to a relatively select few? I was wondering if this was a conscious decision for the world of Golarion, or just sort of how it's worked out.

Looking for suggestions on what deity a paladin who captains her own ship and hunts for pirates would be.

To recharge a staff, you have to use up a spell slot of the highest spell in the staff. What if the staff's spells have multiple levels?

To be specific, the Staff of Heaven and Earth has Control Winds which is either a 5th or 6th level spell.

I am playing a sorcerer who took Gust of Wind so he can recharge it, and use the non-sorc spells via UMD, but I just dont know what spell slot I expend.

I am making a ninja NPC that works for the Aspis Consortium and would love to have her similiar to the character Tira from Soul Calibur. What would you use for the weapon's stats?

Here's my go:
Battle Hoop
Exotic Two-Handed Weapon 1d10 19-20x2 Disarm, Performance, Monk

Just looking for a status update. Has this been sent? Eagerly awaiting!

It was suggested I link this over here, since I am using these rules for my S&S campaign. Here is the link to the homebrew forum where I'm testing them out by building the wormwood and man's promise as baselines. Overall speeds are reduced compared to the paizo ships, but it is an across the board reduction so far. Still playtesting and fiddling with it.

Linkie

Back when Stormwrack (Wizards 3.5) came out, I ran a pirate campaign and took bits from that book, as well as the OGL Seafarer's handbook and designed a method for creating ships from scratch. As with any customization and flexibility, it can get rather complicated. Since Skull and Shackles came out, I have tried to revise/add/modify it to use in that campaign. As time allows, I am going to try and build a Wormwood and Man's Promise using these rules in this thread.

For now,
Ship Building Rules

Ship Building Spreadsheet

FYI, I also originally designed this for Eberron, but almost everything should work in any setting

In reading through what little of the crew, I've been fleshing them out in more depth.

Cog
Why does Cog where a varisian scarf? What happened to his ear? Why is he a devout worshiper of Pharasma?
Cogward was a man in love. He was infatuated with a lovely varisian maid in a port to the north, who he frequented and fawned over every time he made port there. But on one return, he found her with another man. In a grim silent rage he killed the sailor and then his lover. He strangled her with her scarf (the same that he now wears), and as she struggled in her last moment of life, she had bit off his ear in her death throws.

Tam Tate
Why is he called Narwhal?
Maybe he only has one tooth left in his whole mouth, jutting out at an odd angle from his gums. Or maybe he has a hook for a hand that people think looks like a narwhal's horn.

Master Scourge
Why is he carrying a wedding ring? A woman that wanted him to settle down with her, an unfinished promise that he would return once he had enough wealth to give her whatever she wanted as his wife. He pretended he was someone else when he met her, someone better. But when he's with her, she MAKES him better. Soon a mourning women looks out at the harbor in port peril and wonders.

After trying (and failing) to accurately describe the utterly awesome Kaer Maga to my players, I thought a visual aid was required. So, I busted out some old terrain supplies, brushed off my elementary school craft skills, and constructed a model of the city as a player aid. It went over pretty well, so with that encouragement I thought I'd share it for all!

Below a link to how its turned out.

Pictures

According to d20pfsrd, Ice Elementals have the Air subtype, which automatically gives them a fly speed with perfect maneuverability, but no fly speed is listed on d20pfsrd. is there a default speed it should have?

My NG sorcerer's familiar croaked (was a Cassisian) and I'm looking for suggestions on what my next familiar should be. I like the Silvanshee for the lay on hands, but either of the dragons would also be sweet. What would YOU pick?

So, I could have sworn that the Ring that makes up Kaer Maga was made of black stone, but then I saw it mentioned in flavor text that it was white... which is it? Am I misremembering that it had been black?
I ask because I am painting a model of the city.

Ahoy, maties! Put yer sea shanties thar, so be they see by all th' scurvy boys tha' come aft'. Sing them rhythms and do yer times, so we be busy til Skull and Shackles!

Dead Man's Chest (modified)

The skipper lay with his nob in gore
Where the Sahuagin's axe his cheek had shore
And the Sahuagin he was stabbed times four
And there they lay, and the soggy skies
Dripped down in up-staring eyes
In murk sunset and foul sunrise
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and Besmara had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight
With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight
And we heaved 'em over and out of sight,
With a Yo-Heave-Ho! and a fare-you-well
And a sudden plunge in the sullen swell
Ten fathoms deep on the road to Cayden,
Yo ho ho and a bottle rummin'!

I am curious if this is covered in the rules anywhere (and if so, where), and if not, how people would handle it.

If I have a condition (say bleeding or poisoned) and I gain a subtype that is immune to those (namely, the elemental subtype), what happens to the conditions? Are they removed completely? Do they turn off only while I have the subtype and then "reactive" afterwards? If indeed they are dormant, do the turns in which I have the subtype count against their duration?

First of all, I love the pathfinder minis (got a case) and am impressed with the quality levels that Wizkids and Paizo has set. However, as I was looking through them, there were quite a few miniatures that set off a little buzz in the back of my head, sayings "Wait! Don't I have that miniature already?"

Now, I realize that physical anatomy limits the number of interesting poses that a miniature can be in, but having collected many WizKids minis in the past (Mageknight), I noticed a lot of them are incredibly similar to previously produced products.

One of the most obvious is the wolf.
Compare the Pathfinders Heroes & Battles wolf to their previous Mageknight wolf:
http://www.gatheringground.com/images/MK-8-043.gif
http://paizo.com/image/product/catalog/WZK/WZK70482-13_500.jpeg

The Pathfinder Elf Wizard is extremely reminiscent in pose to the Paladin Priest from Mageknight. Both elves in the same pose, robes, only difference one is carrying a lantern and the paint scheme.

The Pathfinder Orc Brute reminds me a lot of Wizkid's Troll Zombie in its pose, but at least its an entirely different race/creature so I don't have that same reaction.

Typically, it is very hard to run out of options for class abilities (rogue tricks, rage powers, etc). However, in planning out the advancement for a PFS oracle of mine, I realized that, due to the level requirement on some revelations, it is possible to run out of revelations available.

So, what happens when you run out and can't take any? Do you lose that revelation, or is the "slot" dormant until you reach a higher level and you can get the freshly available revelation?

I was just curious if there was any guideline on GMs to roll out in the open, or behind screens for PFS. And if not, what do most GMs do? In my experience at cons and my local shops, the GMs have always rolled out in the open. The last time I played, the GM chose to roll behind a screen. I felt it was odd because it was the only time I'd seen that in PFS, so I thought I'd see what other people's experiences are.

And if you are a PFS GM, why do you roll in the open, or roll behind a screen?

I have an oracle with the Misfortune revelation, which has the verbage "before the results of the roll are revealed...". A quick search of the SRD, I saw other abilities with this clause.

But what, exactly, does this mean? There was a disagreement between us on how it works. The GM thinks it works before he reveals ANYTHING, which essentially means every time he rolls a d20, he asks me if I want to make them reroll it. "I rolled a d20, want me to reroll it?" I think that makes the ability completely useless, and that what it means by "before the results of the roll are revealed" is that he would say/show that it was a 17 on the die, but before he added the bonuses to it (say a +5 to hit). My understanding is that the reroll would occur AFTER the 17 is revealed, but BEFORE he says "Does a 23 hit?"

Gah, I dont know if my brain is mush or what, but I am trying to figure out the stats of my Cassisian familiar's stats as a "Small human-like angel" and as a dog, via change shape, based on Polymorph. Caster is 7th level. Anyone know of a generator to do this?

This is somewhat like the "Pathfinder rules most people dont know". I see lots of games where there are tactics/procedures that just don't happen with the frequency I'd expect. Maybe it's just play style and YMMV, that said:

Why don't more people...

...ready actions against spellcasting BBEGs?

...drop prone at the end of their actions in ranged combats?

...cast touch spells before combats and hold the charges?

Keeper (Ex)

At 2nd level, once per day the cavalier must select a location, or a secret that he has sworn to protect. If he chooses a location, he gains a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls when directly defending his charge. If he chooses a secret, he gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws and opposed checks to resist revealing information about his charge. He gains these bonuses until he picks a new object, location, or secret to protect.

1) Would "Golarion" ensure a constant +2 morale bonus to attacks? Assume a typical adventure, would you not always be defending Golarion? If not, how specific do you need to be? Avistan? The Inner Sea? The nation of Ustalav? The county of Vieland? The city of Lepidstadt? The city district of old town? The block the courthouse is on? The courthouse building? The one room? The 5 ft by 5ft square I'm standing in?

Just how specific do you have to be?

2) It mentions object, and other parts of the Order refer to an item, but it seems like protecting an item grants no benefits. Should protecting an item grant a +2 to attack or to saving throws, or another ability?

So first, a general question:

What happens when you have a bonus feat but you do not meet the prerequisites for any of your available feats? Does the class ability just sit dormant until you do, and then they suddenly unlock? If, for example, I have a bonus feat at 6th but cannot take any of the available feats, and then at level 8 my stats increase, do I then gain the bonus feat that I couldn't take before?

I am in particular looking at the Gendarme archetype. Overall, I like it. Except for one thing:

Bonus Feats

A gendarme trains to be a mounted terror, almost to the exclusion of all other abilities. He gains bonus feats at 1st level, 5th level, and then every three levels thereafter, but must select these bonus feats from the following list: Improved Bull Rush, Mounted Combat, Power Attack, Ride-by Attack, Spirited Charge, Spring Attack, and Unseat. If the gendarme has already selected all of the listed feats, then he may select his bonus feats from those feats listed as Combat Feats.

This ability replaces tactician, greater tactician, master tactician, and the standard cavalier’s selection of bonus feats.

Including Spring Attack in that list really seems to throw a wrench in it, since it effectively means that a Gendarme needs to take Dodge and Mobility with their regular feats and have a Dex 13.

Secondly, you already get Ride-by attack, which does the exact same thing but for mounted combat, and you're supposed to be entirely focused on mounted combat, why the heck is this feat on the list??? This seems like a mistake, honestly.

Hi all, I have two quick questions I didn't find looking through the rules:

1) If a mount moves through a threatened area and provokes AoOs, can the enemy take their AoO against the rider, instead?

2) If someone is tied behind a mount (a horse for this example), and the horse moves, pulling the person along behind them, does the person provoke AoOs?

I know you dont provoke if you are Dragged or Bullrushed, and most other types of forced movement call it out as not provoking, but I couldnt find anything on these matters.

I've searched, but cant find a definitive list of the Gods that were worshiped in Thassilon, is such a list out there anywhere?

City of Strangers spoiler:

So, I have:
Lissala
Minderhal
Peacock Spirit
Desna
Pharasma

So I'm really stuck on the idea of having a melee character that takes Eldritch Heritage to pick up a familiar (probably a monkey, depending on flavor) to use wands and whatnot. Assuming the monkey would typically be using CLW, enlarge person, and maybe some other first level spell, what type of build would you suggest to take advantage of this?

I immediately thought fighter since they'd be the best at making up for the lost feats that you'd need to invest.

Then again, with the familiar using your own skills, a ranger or barbarian would be better. And an even more extreme route would be a rogue, but they seem too feat intensive already.

So! What avenue would you suggest? Assume Skill Focus at 1st (human or half-elf) and Eldritch Heritage at 3rd, and likely Evolved Familiar at 5th (for Skilled UMD)

I am trying to figure out my character's speed and what order you apply effects.

He is a human oracle with the Lame curse.
He is under a medium load.
He is wearing medium armor (breastplate).
He is wearing a swarmsuit.

I am looking for suggestions on what type of gear to buy for an Oracle of Life beyond the big six as he goes up in levels (or any character that avoids actually fighting for that matter). I have looked through the books but have been generall uninspired...

Thanks!

So having never been to a con or played PFS, is there any friendly advice people can share? I would love to hear some words of wisdom from the "pros", as it were, before I turn my weekend into a train wreck. :)

Got my copy of UM today from my FLGS... and it is a misprint. Pages 193 - 224 were replaced with duplicates of 161 - 192. Hadnt seen anyone else mention this, so not sure if its an isolated incident or not.

1: In short, the Synthesist summoner archetype's eidolon does not have skills. The Synthesist gets to use the eidolon's evolutions. Does the Skilled evolution apply to the summoner's skills?

2: Do you still pick your eidolon's base form, or must it be the humanoid base form? Quadraped seems like a better choice, allowing your summoner to pounce, and also gives your summoner an increased speed (since your speed is based on the limbs evolutions, right?)

Is it true this is a feat that works like Demoralize and makes someone attack you? I have a jerk character that would love this feat so he could coax people into taking the first swing (and provoke from his reach).

I can see this creating all sorts of problems, though, as far as campaigns are concerned! The ability to incite people to assault you has quite the ability to derail a campaign, I'd imagine.

I figured I'd put this in the rules section because I feel my lack of understanding is mostly rules-based.

I've noticed numerous effects that state they count as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction (namely, Eldritch Claws). Why is this touted as being so good, can someone explain it to me? Very little has DR/Magic, and by the time you could take a feat like Eldritch Claws, you'd like already have your attacks be magical.

So, am I missing something or are these abilities just weak?

I am playing a level 1 summoner in Carrion Crown, and something came up where my Eidolon took Con damage. Looking at the rules it almost seems like my eidolon is stuck with the con damage until we level up to 3rd and the cleric can get lesser restoration.

1. Is this really the case?

2. What if the eidolon killed, will it come back with con damage?

3. If not, doesn't that make strange instances where its best to kill your severely crippled eidolon intentionally?

As the title suggests, I am looking for clarification if people think a spirit totem barbarian can have his ghostly minions attack an adjacent dhampyr to heal them, and if you think its too good or just a neat trick?

I think it would be a cool tag-team for a barbarian and paladin :)

Spirit Totem, Lesser (Su): While raging, the barbarian is surrounded by spirit wisps that harass her foes. These spirits make one slam attack each round against a living foe that is adjacent to the barbarian. This slam attack is made using the barbarian’s full base attack bonus, plus the barbarian’s Charisma modifier. The slam deals 1d4 points of negative energy damage, plus the barbarian’s Charisma modifier.

So, I am a seasoned roleplayer, many games, many years. I've never once had any trouble figuring out or deciding on an alignment for my character. Indeed, often times I make alignment a fundamental part of the character... until now.

I'm totally stumped on what alignment to assign for my next character, and am treading water with N until something else speaks to me. So, my question is... what do you do personally when you can't decide on a character's alignment? Roll a die? Subject them to a quiz? Do you have a "if nothing else then ____" default alignment?

Really disappoints to see the Ninja is like a rogue, expected to wade around in light armor and later mithril breastplates. I'd like to see other way Ninjas might gain a bonus to AC, perhaps a trick that gives him a monk-like AC for those who picture ninjas not wearing any armor, much less big metal armor at later levels.

Just a little bump, dont want this to get over looked :)

Anyone else think its interesting that Dead is a condition, so you can temporarily bring someone back to life (and in kind die for a few rounds) with the Binding Ties ability?

Reminds me a lot of the show Pushing Up Daisies. He can bring people back from the dead for a minute (level 6 cleric), so be prepared to have your questions figured out ahead of time and know what you need to say!

At least... I think that's how it'd work.

He's not dead, he's just mostly dead!

Hey all, I am making my back-up PC and am looking for feedback on a solid defender / protector. He's a dwarf and I'm using some of the flavor from the dwarves of golarion about the huscarls.

All that said, I've looked through the APG at Fighter archetypes and feats, and there seems to be an overwhelming amount of options that would fit for a shield-using defensive fighter, but there is often a lot of overlap and I am having trouble seeing some good synergies. At first I though the Bodyguard/In Harm's Way feats made sense, but then if I went into Stalwart Defender, which Im considering, it does the same thing but better.

What archetype would you recommend? Polearm? Phalanx? Shield? None?

ps: Starting at level 4.

I am having trouble getting a concept to fit into any particular class. Basically he is a big dumb dwarf (int 6) that is the "gentle giant" type, somewhat like Lennie Small from Of Mice and Men. Extremely protective, and has an astounding ability at smithing even though he's dumb as a brick in most every other concept. I have a miniature that I really want to use which is a bare-chested looking all steroidal.

What class would you make him? What skills? He's going to be level 4

Right now I have him as a Barbarian. I gave him the spirit totem to explain that his ancestors are giving him inspiration beyond the grave on how to smith, and try to protect the big lummox. I have him wielding a Dorn Derger. I'm finding him to be really underwhelming, the rage mechanic doesn't fit him, but as monk would as not fit.

Fighter seems like the best, but then I would have to turn him into a tin can to be any good (ac 16 at level 4 isn't going to cut it). Suggestions wanted!

Just checking to see if there is anything preventing this for one of my playtest Magi.

Arrgh,Paizo ate my post. So instead of being detail like I was before, I am making it simple: Per the rules as I understand them, half-elves and half-orcs may select racial favored class options off the human (and in the case of half-elves) and elf lists. This seems supported by their racial abilities and being able to access all other race-specific options such as feats and prestige classes.

I ask this because a half-elf sorceress in one of my groups wants to take the human favored class option of gaining additional spells known.

So I went over to my friends' and gleefully read the APG on his computer because the wait was killing me. Long story short, the Stalwart defender has an ability that actually gives you an incentive for having a big ACP, so I'm just wondering -- how big of a penalty can you get?

It seems like a popular trope in D&D to protect caravans, etc. And indeed, in my campaign (its a bit of a back-to-the-roots sandbox game) my PCs are going to do exactly that. My question is, are there any modules/adventures, Pathfinder or otherwise, that do this -well- ?

They normally seem rather static and, frankly, a bit dull. I'm hoping for something that makes it feel more cinematic, or maybe some sort of victory point thing based on how well they do, how many people they keep alive, and whatnot.

I'm just curious if anybody has used this in a game yet, and how they worked out. I've used the Hot Pursuit rules before and they fairly effective. So, I'm asking for any advice from people that have tried to give this rules subsystem a try.

My PCs recently found a few weeks old owlbears. One of the PCs has since taken a level of wizard after the campaign began, and didnt want a familiar to just appear, and rather have it introduced organically into the campaign.

I was considering allowing him to have the cub as his familiar, using stats on par with other familiars (maybe reskin the weasel) and then, if the campaign continues for long enough, allowing him to take improved familiar to retain the young (templated) owlbear, else the bond is lost as the beast enters adolescents and takes off.

Curious if anyone has done something similar, or other suggestions on the idea.

I am trying to make some 3D hexes, but for the life of me I am baffled by the rivers and lakes on the map. Which rivers run INTO the lakes, and which ones run OUT of the lakes? I sit thoroughly confused unless water travels uphill in the River Kingdoms