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Our group will soon be running the first AP of Hell’s Rebels, and I have been going over the Player’s Guide since then studying the terms, actions, teams and events associated with the weekly schedule of the Rebellion. While this AP is clearly a perfect fit for Chaotic Good character types, if ever there was one, I had settled myself on playing a Paladin. As a Lawful Good, conduct based character in an environment of Intrigue, Secrecy, and Resistance, you would think that this would be a poor decision. Why, I’d stick out like a sore thumb!

On the contrary, I was actually attracted to the challenge. What’s more, I think the involvement of such a character in a resistance movement (as a prime mover rather than merely a supporter) is an overlooked aspect to any successful change in government. I’d like to try to explain my thoughts on such with this post.

For anyone curious, here is a link to the Pathfinder Reference Document’s definition of the alignments.

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateCampaign/campaignSystems/alignme nt.html#lawful-good

Lawful Good characters exemplify duty, fairness, honor, property, responsibility, right, truth, virtue, and worthiness. They are tireless in seeing that justice is done, and are most comfortable in a world of law and order. Good is as much, if not more so, a part of their character as Law. In the end, they will see justice is done—by their own hands if necessary

Now, even given that Lawfulness is not synonymous with Legality, and that firm adherence to a code of conduct may take precedence over local rules and customs, I would generally assume that your average Lawful Good character (Paladin or not) is firmly comfortable adhering to the rules and regulations of the area they are in. It says so in the LG description: “Hers [the Lawful Good Character] is a world of order, and she obeys superiors and finds it almost impossible to believe there's any bad in them”.

Should an area where they stay for a protracted length of time have unreasonable rules or excessive fees and taxation, a Lawful Good character will likely champion change through the system and perhaps be mostly successful thanks to his or her support from the trust and traditions of the community. Whereas a Chaotic character may be viewed as a blacksheep or even an outsider, a Lawful character will be seen as persistent and reliant, exactly the kind of qualities needed to push for long term change in the system. Such an environment is where a Lawful Good character is obviously most comfortable, assuming they succeed.

So, what happens when that fail? Being unsuccessful in such a venture is not necessarily a turning point, but what if this unfairness is not only unaffected but expands further? As a lack of justice continues to pervade a community, a Lawful Good character may very well keep trying to adhere to the laws as best they can, but I would say only the most stone faced would not start developing some form of a persistent twitching over such gross violations of reasonableness, blatant thuggery, and overt persecutions. This is also just such an environment where we find this AP to be set in.

If a Lawful person can be thought of as firm and inflexible in their ways, then the misuse of law and order can be thought of as a steadily increasing load or strain upon their psyche. Sooner or later, when you push hard enough, they don’t bend. They snap.

This leads me to my next idea of how Lawful Good characters in a similar situation as this AP would behave. I would say Lawful Good characters really only have two modes when it comes to dealing with oppressive, brutal regimes:

1. Work within the system for meaningful change
2. Wage war to change the government and apprehend evil doers

(I would argue there is not much in between)

If there is at least one thing that no one should dispute Lawful Good characters can do, its wage war. We’ve seen such in the Worldwound adventures and with the ongoing Glorious Reclamation against Cheliax. In a no holds brawl where the chips are down and the knives are out, Lawful Good really lets rip. Lawful Good is not Lawful Nice, after all.

They’ll try to avoid harming innocents and bystanders, and protect them where they can be. Otherwise, the mentality is that there is no other option but to fight, so best get it on and over with as quickly as possible with the least amount of damage. They won’t lie to people’s faces, break promises, torture spies, threaten hostages, authorize mass collateral damage, steal from innocents, threaten family members, engage in terrorism, or kill without cause. Anything else, however, goes.

So what happens when this happens? When a system gets so bad that it forces such upstanding citizens to grudgingly take up arms against their government? Several things.

1. It gives legitimacy to the Rebellion. A group of underdogs, outlaws, and generally thought-of misfits suddenly have representatives and envoys that even Lawful Institutions would be comfortable conversing and dealing with (though not necessarily publicly). It helps if you’re known to keep your word and never lie.

2. Conversely, it reduces the Regime’s legitimacy. Suddenly, a credible alternative for law abiding folks starts to make itself known. It’s worse for the regime if the Lawful Good characters are native born traditionalists that can pull support from more conservative factions.

3. The Resistance becomes stronger. The same traits that made such Lawful characters good community organizers and law abiders also allows them to enforce discipline and organization across the rebellion. The rebels go from being a rag tag group to a credible freedom fighting force.

4. The Resistance gains endurance. A Lawful character is nothing if not persistent, disciplined, and focused. Whereas as a more Chaotic character may shift attentions as the months and years drag on, a Lawful character is in the struggle for the long haul.

5. A credible plan is developed for what victory will look like, and how the new government will base itself. An exiled heir may be found and supported, an imprisoned leader restored to their rightly office, or a constitution drafted for a new governing body.

In conclusion, I would say that not only would a Lawful Good character fit into a Good themed Rebellion against an Oppressive Regime of Devil Worshipers, but that their aid in the fight is crucial and marks a major turning point in the struggle. As a final note, I would bring up as an example of precedence three Lawful Good characters from another well-known Rebellion that I feel brought these benefits to their own faction in their fight against an oppressive, galaxy spanning empire: Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, and Luke Skywalker.

Thank you all for the long read :P

I figured theres not much to add at this point, and since no one has responded yet, can this thread I made be deleted? http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2stgi?Lore-Friendliness-of-Backstory-Guild#1

Lets say a Lv 1 Barbarian with Lesser Beast Totem charges an Orc and attacks with a Greatsword. Next round the Barbarian rages, getting access to two primary claw attacks.

If the Barbarian wants to make those two claw attacks instead of attacking with the Greatsword, would he (or she) have to drop the weapon as a free action before doing a full round action attacking with the claws?

In other words, do your hands need to be empty when making claw attacks with both of them? The feat does not specify your hands as the body part receiving the claws, can you make claw attacks with any other part of the body?

It stated that you can use Bodyguard to use aid ally on your ally's AC bonus when they are attacked. Normally though, you need to be adjacent to use a standard action on an enemy that your ally will attack or that will attack your ally.

For the purpose of using aid other through the bodyguard feat, do you have to be adjacent to both your ally AND the enemy who you will give an AC bonus against, or just your ally?

From PFSRD;

Bodyguard (Combat)

Your swift strikes ward off enemies attacking nearby allies.

Prerequisite: Combat reflexes.

Benefit: When an adjacent ally is attacked, you may use an attack of opportunity to attempt the aid another action to improve your ally’s AC. You may not use the aid another action to improve your ally’s attack roll with this attack.

Normal: Aid another is a standard action.

Hello everyone, at the risk of cluttering the advice forum more than it is already, I have come to ask for some advice on the finishing touches I could do on a character concept I have come to feel rather strongly about. As a dedicated DM, whether or not I will ever use it myself is beside the point. Most likely, a future player might look at it and like it enough to use it in my games.

Anyhow, for those familiar and comfortable with dropbox, I have posted a link for the build (1-20) below. It uses a presentation template I have been tinkering with for some time.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19420057/Dervish%20of%20Cayden%20Cailean.pdf

The character is built as a (18 Cleric)/(2 Fighter), who is meant to provide divine magic support while at the same time being just as good as hard hitting, supportive, and mobile melee combatant.

A two level fighter dip at 2-3 is perhaps the biggest potential drawback of the build given the hit to spell progression, but it does bring a lot to the table, enough so that I believe it is well justified. In addition to accelerating feat progression, I have gone with the Cad fighter archetype, providing me with class skills in acrobatics, among other things.

Magical Knack keeps caster level updated throughout.

The little bit of fighter base atk progression eventually sees the character have my fourth attack by level 20, and blinding critical at level 19 where I would not have previously.

I have applied the Liberation domain along with Travel (Exploration). Liberation will always be a stretch, but given that it was originally one of Cailean's domains that was just later removed (quite unfairly), and that it is very appropriate for Cailean's portfolio, I have decided that it would be nothing of a stretch to include it. Otherwise this could simply be a cleric of Desna (but no where near as cool).

Only the first three pages (and perhaps the last) of the pdf are relevant to the discussion, which include feats, traits, and domains. Also, ignore the Elite Array I have posted, that is what my club used initially, and it is perhaps the least overpowered option they have.

Thoughts and opinions? Should I change out Heighten Spell and Preferred Spell x 2 for something else? Should I bother getting Turn Undead? Should Critical Focus be moved around? Etc etc.

[EDIT] From farther down;

It turns out my error in the base attack progression has required me to make several revisions, so after correcting the base atk progression (hopefully) and after some feat swap outs I have organized this build:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19420057/ClericCailean.pdf

Questions arise as to whether Divine Interference is truly worth it, and if not what to put in its place (Turn Undead, Combat Casting). I am also wondering about the value of both minor and major spell expertise, and if having two choices of circumstantial crits for a scimitar is actually useful.

Otherwise, the feats fall rather readily into place, and do a good enough job of supporting the overall vision of the character that I have posted the new build for further input by the community.

I am not sure if there was a change in how the Heirloom Trait operated, as I am reading conflicting discussions on the message boards with what the PFSRD clearly shows as;

Heirloom Weapon

You carry a non-masterwork simple or martial weapon that has been passed down from generation to generation in your family.

Benefit: When you select this trait, choose one of the following benefits:

proficiency with that specific weapon
a +1 trait bonus on attacks of opportunity with that specific weapon
a +2 trait bonus on one kind of combat maneuver when using that specific weapon.

Note: You pay the standard gp cost for the weapon.

What interested me the most was the bonus to a single Combat Maneuver.

Now since standard equipment cannot be reforged into masterwork pieces (and therefore magical ones) by contemporary crafting techniques (aka Craft skill), I thought of this as a nice little boost to something like Trip at the lower levels (1-2, maybe 3) that would quickly get phased out as the character was forced to upgrade their equipment (Heirloom Weapon included). It would have been nice to carry the item around regardless for sentimental purposes.

But then I found this...

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Masterwork Transformation

School transmutation; Level bard 2, cleric/oracle 2, druid 2, sorcerer/wizard 2, witch 2

Casting Time 1 hour
Components V, S, M (see below)

Range touch
Target one weapon, suit of armor, shield, tool, or skill kit touched
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no

You convert a non-masterwork item into its masterwork equivalent. A normal sword becomes a masterwork sword, a suit of leather armor becomes a masterwork suit of leather armor, a set of thieves’ tools becomes masterwork thieves’ tools, and so on. If the target object has no masterwork equivalent, the spell has no effect. You can affect 50 pieces of ammunition as if they were one weapon. You decide if the object’s appearance changes to reflect this improved quality.

The material component for the spell is magical reagents worth the cost difference between a normal item and the equivalent masterwork item (typically 300 gp for a weapon, 150 gp for armor, or 50 gp for a tool). If an object has multiple masterwork options (such as a double weapon, or a spiked shield that could be made masterwork as a weapon or armor), you choose one option of the object to affect (though you can cast the spell again to affect another option).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I suppose with Ultimate Magic, anything is possible. Unfortunately, from a optimization viewpoint, it would be hard to deny that any class that relies on a single weapon based Combat Maneuver should always get this no matter what (+2 is really nice). Such would include my Tripping-Halberd loving Phalanx Soldier, but I am sure others would as well. You would keep the same weapon your entire play through and keep upgrading it at regular intervals, and for doing so you will still retain that +2 bonus it had all along.

Is this an RP goldmine, or a breakaway from the original intention of the Trait?

I have been reading about one region in Northern Avistan known as the 'Worldwound'. Essentially some kind of brief tear in the fabric of reality between the Material and Abyssal planes has resulted in a Demonic (but not Daemonic) infestation that threatens to expand and engulf the whole of Golarion. This expansion seems to be tied to the military conquest of the demonic forces,and the whole Crusade theme has been applied to it with the forces of Mendev (aka the Crusader States of Iomedae). Essentially a playground for High level Lawful good Characters, but the way the narrative goes clashes between mortal armies and demon forces are common place. The mortal armies are easy enough to characterize; Pilgrims, Crusaders, Mercenaries, and high level Paladins and Clerics to bulk them out. As a fan of RTS games, I find this to be a very traditional setup.

The problem I am seeing here is the lack of characterization for the demonic armies. I do not have published material available, but while looking through the PFSRD I could not for the life of me find a credible Infantry unit to the fill the gap between the fodder like Dretch and the more powerful Vrock, Succubi, Glabrezu, etc. At the very least, nothing that I would think your average every day mortal could 'hold the line' against. This lack of a middle ground also translates into player confrontations with demons, where demons are relegated to BBEG or mini boss encounters. With cults involved, sure, the humanoids could fill that gap, but sparing that, I find this to be a disconcerting hole in the whole mythology.

The demon lords have to rule over something right? There has to be some kind of commoner like demon that could be their subjects and also fill out the bulk of their hordes as weapon and armor based core infantry. Something that your average mortal warrior could proudly fight against while the Paladins go after the really bad stuff. Could there truly be nothing of the sort?

I have been looking into the PRD after buying the core book PDF, and wanted to build a Defensive Dwarven Fighter from the phalanx archetype. It was alot more difficult than I thought it would be given, some of the inherent quirks of the Phalanx Soldier. After focusing the feat structure and revising what I wanted this character to do as he leveled, I have come up with the following build order. I would like to restrict myself to the core book and the advanced player supplements currently on the PRD. I have built this character around the Dwarf's characteristic's as well, and am proud enough to say that it is a very Dwarven Character as a result. More details after the build:

Description: Template for a Dwarven Fighter–Phalanx Soldier(VaultWarden)

LV Class Atk. Class: (Bonus Feats) Feats Ability
1 Fighter +1 1.Combat Expertise 1.Improved Trip
2 Fighter +2 2.Combat Reflexes
3 Fighter +3 2.Shield Focus
4 Fighter +4 3.Shield Spec: Tower +1 Dex
5 Fighter +5 Weapon1: Pole Arms 3.Body Guard
6 Fighter +6/+1 4. Greater Trip
7 Fighter +7/+2 4.In Harm’s Way
8 Fighter +8/+3 5. Power Attack +1 Dex
9 Fighter +9/+4 Weapon2: Spear 5.Vital Strike
10 Fighter +10/+5 6.Improved Bull Rush
11 Fighter +11/+6/+1 6.Imp. Vital Strike
12 Fighter +12/+7/+2 7. Improved Overrun +1 Con
13 Fighter +13/+8/+3 Weapon3: Close 7. Charge through
14 Fighter +14/+9/+4 8. Greater Overrun
15 Fighter +15/+10/+5 8.Greater Bull Rush
16 Fighter +16/+11/+6/+1 9. Greater Vital Strike +1 Con
17 Fighter +17/+12/+7/+2 Weapon4: Crossbow 9. Stunning Assault
18 Fighter +18/+13/+8/+3 10. Second Chance
19 Fighter +19/+14/+9/+4 10. Lightning Reflexes
20 Fighter +20/+15/+10/+5 11.Imp.Lightning Reflexes +1 Con

Starting Stats (15 pts): STR: 14 DEX: 14 CON: 16 INT: 13 WIS: 10 CHA: 7

The strength of the phalanx soldier comes from it's mastery of the tower shield, its large bonus to CMD and later CMB, and the defensive bonuses it provides to adjacent allies from 9th level up. The shield Shield Slam tree is therefore not a factor in this build. The feat tax from that feat tree would also have hindered CM versatility. Vital Strike has been included in this build because it pairs greatly with the Phalanx Soldier's move action ally defense bonus, which is why I have added it at lv. 9 instead of 6. The Power attack, Bull rush, and Overrun Feats have been factored in to take effect before Irresistible Advance. Stunning Assault is combined with Charge Through to reach vulnerable targets behind other enemies that need to be disabled for that round. Second Chance is used during the full round action to ensure that an urgently needed trip or stun is allowed to go off. Lightning Reflexes and Improved Lightning Reflexes are not dumps but rather build up to the improved Evasion provided by the Tower Shield at lv 20.

The weapon of choice for this build is a Halberd wielded in one hand (Trident leading up to it). The Halberd is a versatile two-handed weapon with two different damage types and the brace and trip feature. As a one handed weapon, it is very potent in that regard, especially for a Phalanx Soldier that can take advantage of the brace property. AoO beyond 2 are made possible by the inclusion of a Mithral Tower Shield (an upgrade from a Steel Tower Shield) as stated in Races of Stone.

Steel Tower Shield Cost: 75 gp (4075 gp Mithral)
Shield Bonus:+4 Max Dex: +2 (+4 Mithril) Armor Check Penalty: –10 (-7 Mithril) Spell Failure: 50% (40% Mithril)
Weight: 100 lb. (50 lbs Mithril) Hardness: 10 (15 Mithral) Hit Points: 60 (60 Mithral)

Tower Shields are further made more important in this build by the use of the Shield Spec Feat, which grants bonus CMD based on the base Shield Bonus + 1. Overall, I have aimed to make this Fighter a Combat Maneuver superiority Defensive - Support Fighter. Damage was considered but not prioritized. I would like input from the community on my idea :)

NOTE: I am sorry if my Character Build format does not come out how I wanted it. I have tried to make it clear how I meant to progress, let me know if I need to make any clarifications.