Vil-hatarn's page

Received a bottle of Lagavulin 8 as a 'divorce gift' a little while back. Cracked it to share with some new friends and found it very enjoyable, might join the rotation alongside my favorite Laphroaigs.

And while we're on the subject, is it just me or is Augment Spell something of a feat tax? Wouldn't it be better to have the spell augmentations tied directly to Heightening?

If I understood it correctly while building Kolmac's spells out, Augment effects listed as part of the spell seed (e.g. changing the brightness of a light spell) do not require the Augment Spell feat to use. The Augment Spell feat is a separate effect that modifies scaling numerical effects.

Vil-hatarn wrote:

DeathQuaker wrote:

I'm sure it was a sacrilegious use of good scotch, but nonetheless the Christmas pudding my stepmother doused with The Macallan was delicious.

You're not alone, I've been using Speyside in a brown butter 'bourbon' chocolate pecan cookie recipe. Wasn't drinking it, and the cookies are something else.

Ooh,would you share the recipe?

Gave a friend who has discerning tastes in whiskies a bottle of Sagamore Rye for Christmas and he was pleased, so I was glad I picked well. I know what I like but I'm not always how it fits other standards.

Here you go!

Brown Butter 'Bourbon' Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies
8 oz unsalted butter (for browning)
1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter (for pecans)
1.5 cups finely chopped pecans
~30 whole pecans
2 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons whiskey of choice (Speyside 12 thus far)
2 large eggs
12 ounces dark chocolate chunks or morsels

Part 1
1-Brown 8oz butter in a large skillet (Google this if you've not browned butter before, I'm still getting the hang of it myself), then transfer to a bowl (make sure to get all the toasty bits). Place in refrigerator until completely solid (about 2 hours).
2-In the same skillet, add the remaining butter and the chopped pecans and toast, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Part 2
3-Combine flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda, stir well, and set aside.
4-In stand mixer (or large bowl with hand mixer), combine browned butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and whiskey, beat until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating until combined.
5-Gently fold in flour mixture with a spatula or wooden spoon, stopping when the flour begins to disappear. Fold in chocolate and buttered pecans.
6-Form 3-tablespoon balls (I use a 1/4 cup to scoop and eyeball the final size), place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Gently press a whole pecan into the top of each ball.
7-Bake 9-10 minutes at 375 F. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring to wire rack to finish cooling.

Original recipe calls for 2T bourbon, twice as much cinnamon, and gives the option of semi-sweet chocolate, so feel free to adjust to your own taste, but the above is what I've liked best and the whiskey comes through beautifully.

Yes, that was actually my intention, I was calling it hinder. It's a bit of a non-bo as augmenting past staggered renders the terrain effect irrelevant unless you've made it an area effect, but it's cheap and will be useful for quite a while (raising to extended stagger results in alternative slow) so makes much more sense than trying to pick up the feat itself.

Not exhaustive, but here's a few thoughts. One way to look at it is compel "waste highest spell" ~= compel "do nothing" + Cascade dispel (+1) + Reach (touch to close; +1) + Creature-Specific Spell (spellcaster; -2).

1. compel "waste highest spell" is slightly worse than the Cascade construction since it depends entirely on a Will check which most spellcasters will have an above-average chance of passing, compared to roughly even odds on a Concentration check.
2. 'spellcaster' may not be specific enough to justify a -2 reduction?
3. the overwhelming majority of spellcasters are not immune to [mind-affecting] so that's not a major factor.
4. whether or not a turn is lost, and how that's valued, is a major factor.
5. whether the drain effect is an effective trade of resources is also a key factor.

For dispel alone, as you have it here, (and this depends partly on whether the Concentration check for drain incorporates the relative spell levels, which I'm still unsure about), you can also consider the calculus of when it's better as a counterspell vs. drain. Counterspell has the advantage of causing loss of a turn, but can only affect spells of equal or lower level, whereas a level 1 drain spell can strip a level 9 spell, assuming you're closely matched enough to make the Concentration check. However, by the time this level differential is large enough to offer any value, your target has so many spell slots as to render the drain effect a completely ineffectual use of a turn (this goes double if they're spontaneous, as it removes the chance of hitting a specific high-value spell). So, as I outlined before, you turn to Mass Effect (if allowed), which gives you a 4th level spell (Reach1, Mass3) that drains 1 slot/level, and that seems problematic to the other extreme.

Kolmac offers a noncommittal "right" in response. Not quite the same as good for the clients. His thoughts go back to his youth in the gin distillery in Northwind and the brusque manner his father adopted when dealing with new customers. Drove some business away to be sure, but in the end the deals were fair and the clients reliable. Something new every day in this place. He adopts a small, wry smile, shakes his head slightly, and sets aside thoughts of his youth in favor of the task at hand, with limited time before the scheduled meeting.

I have a geo/chem background, so I'm 100% on board with the valence terminology (or something similar e.g. 1st sphere, 2nd sphere).

Still think Mass Effect probably shouldn't apply here--if you think of spell drain as a sort of alternate damage, like ability damage, then it follows that the target is a single creature. You're basically sending a blast of countermagic at their spell 'cloud' and stripping off whatever you can, rather than targeting X specific electrons, so it should be treated the same as other direct damage and/or drain spells for targeting purposes.

Kolmac wrote:

The only other option would be the enhancement seed, but there's not usually a way to apply enhancement bonuses to rays so I'm not sure that's valid?

Per Chapter 8, you can treat rays as a weapon type. Therefore they can receive enhancement bonuses.

Perfect, I'll rebuild it on that basis then.

Sorry in advance, I got a little carried away...

Analysis of the Dispel Seed

Discussing details of the spell slot drain effect of the dispel seed with Kirth in our game thread inspired me to dig deeper into some of the corner cases. I’ll start with some notes on dispel as a whole, then break down where spell drain goes off the rails and make some suggestions on how to address it.

The basic premise of dispel’s counter and dispel modes is using your action and spell slot to reactively negate an enemy action and spell slot, with a default chance of success near 50% (see below: inconsistencies in counter/dispel checks). Comparable effects targeting action economy include 2nd level daze monster, 3rd level dazing, or a 3rd level bind effect (pinned for 1 round), all of which leave the target with spell slots intact but can be used proactively and against non-casters for a significant net advantage. Still, a 2nd level dispel+Reach isn’t an unreasonable use of a spell slot if you’re expecting to use it, and the metamagic cost to Cascade dispel onto your AoE spells for an action-efficient debuff is minimal.

Unlike the other spells listed, all of which offer a saving throw, the success rate of dispel is readily shifted in the caster’s favor. Improved Dispelling and Improved Counterspell offer a +4 bonus (~70% success); Skill Focus Concentration grants a similar bonus which scales up to +10 (>90% success) by 20th level; one can also get +10 for +1 spell level via Cascade skill enhancement (Concentration, 0th) + Maximize (+3), Extend 1 round (-2), and Effect-Specific (counter/dispel only, -1); and for +2 spell levels (with synergy) Irresistible Spell bypasses the check entirely. This makes counterspelling and dispelling a strong option for characters willing to invest the feats, and both scale reasonably well with level (dispelling via Bouncing, Mass Effect, or Shape Spell metamagic; counterspelling via the improved action economy of Improved Counterspell).

Moving on to my main point. Spell drain, as originally written, removes one spell slot (default highest) from the target on an opposed Concentration check (see above: checks and DCs). It has the significant drawback of having no impact on the enemy’s action economy (as compared to using the same dispel as a counterspell), but you get to use it on your own terms. Regardless, this mode should never be used except when Cascaded onto more impactful spells, or when modified itself to hit multiple spell slots—wiping out an opposing mage’s entire stock of top-tier spells is real damage.

Let’s look at some sample spells; I’ll use the same constructions as benchmarks for suggested alternatives.

So we start to see some issues in multiple areas. I think the following adjustments bring everything into a semblance of balance:
1: limit level drained to the level of the dispel effect, effectively treating the drain as a proactive counterspell. This fixes the primary issues with both the basic drain effect and Ray Splitting by providing a numerical value that can be worked upon, resulting in spell shatter draining a 4th level spell per ray with 2 rays, or a total of 8 levels split across 3 rays (individual max of 4).
2: decouple Mass Effect from the built-in Heighten effect, so mana leak, which is 2nd level without Mass Effect, would target 1 slot/level of 2nd level or lower. This is closer to an appropriate power level, but substantially less useful, so
2b: allow mingling and redistribution of spell levels from Mass Effect, similar to Ray Splitting. So a 10th-level caster casting mana leak gets 20 spell levels to work with (5th level minus Mass Effect cost of 3 = 2nd level spells, 1 slot/level) which they can distribute as desired among up to 10 target spell slots. Given equal Concentration bonuses, that gives a drain of 2 5th level spells on average, which given the action disadvantage seems fairly reasonable for a spell of this level.

2a could also reasonably be applied to Ray Splitting, in which case spell shatter would hit two 3rd level spell slots or 3 2nd level. Ray Splitting at any level would result in a 1-level reduction of the spell level drained (assuming synergy) when split across two rays, which sounds more correct to me.

Altogether: spell drain effect targets one spell slot (default highest valid), maximum spell levels drained equal to final spell level, drains on Concentration check as for countering (maybe benefit from Improved Counterspell?). Metamagic: Irresistible (no check required), Ray Splitting or Mass Effect (subtract metamagic modifier, including synergy discount, from final spell level when determining spell level affected, may redistribute spell levels between target slots up to final spell level).

As a final check, I tallied the total levels drained for all combinations of spell level and multi-targeting metamagic; the 8th and 9th level totals for 1 slot/level are a bit much but I know Kirthfinder tends to embrace such extremes at high levels.

Total Levels Drained (minimum level for mass2, mass3)
Level Basic RayS Mass1 Mass2 Mass3
2.........2.......2........0........0........0
3.........3.......4........4........1........0
4.........4.......6........6........4........7
5.........5.......8........8........9.......18
6.........6......10.....10.......12.......33
7.........7......12.....12.......20.......52
8.........8......14.....14.......30.......75
9.........9......16.....16.......35......112

Dairkal Nimblecloak wrote:

Questions:

I took another rank in Linguistics, which I *believe* gets me a new language spoken(but not written). Any suggestions as to which one would make sense? Dair currently knows: Common, Dwarven, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, High Elvish.

This mighta gotten lost in the discussion of numen, but any suggestions from either Kirth or the other PCs?

I've got Abyssal and Draconic so far. Probably makes sense to leave the 'academic' languages to Kolmac and Eshkeval, and you can pick up anything of a more 'conversational' bent. Looks like you have the racial bases covered except for Wood Elf, or Orc...or you could go farther afield and add Aramnic, or Oeridian (see p20 of Intro chapter re: shipments of grain from Greyhawk).

For Cayden, it's not a bad idea to put 1 skill point into most of your class skills over the first few levels in order to take advantage of the +3 trained bonus. Survival is definitely one where some redundancy is not a bad thing, and Kolmac's skill in it is mostly limited to Aid checks and I'm not likely to invest much more in it unless it's called for.

Hey Kirth, this might be a dumb question but I couldn't find an answer when I looked over the introduction:

Does Kirthfinder use the PF rate of feats when leveling(ie, every odd) or the 3.x(ie 1 per 3) or something different?

Are ability score increases still gained at a rate of 1 per 4 levels?

Same as PF for both, I asked a while back.

I think the background point per level can be assigned as desired, it's not treated like the class bonus skills. Or you can take Smithing as your regular background rank and then spend a skill point for Construction, if you want both.

No, but they may be a useful source of information regarding the original purpose and abandonment of this property. We were set to discuss some of the manor plans.

Looking over the rogue skills, I really gotta applaud Kirth on not only the concept of bonus skills(which is genius), but also on the fact that they have some skills that are generally seen as non standard for a rogue.

Since we're dealing with a demon lord and his unholy symbol, plus some undead, I'm going to be giving Dair a rank in knowledge(the planes), planar sense and spellcraft.

I do have one question however: How come Sleight of Hand isn't one of the rogue's bonus skills??

Most bonus skills are necessary for the class to function e.g. Perception for the rogue so they can benefit from the free Alertness feat, or Concentration for spellcasters since it stands in for caster level. Sleight of Hand, while certainly a very useful skill for a rogue, isn't strictly necessary, and you could feasibly come up with a rogue character that doesn't use it.

I don't fully understand numen and the WBL for Kirthfinder. Can somebody give me a simplified, layman's terms crash course?

It's why Dair only has a rogue's kit(plus his combat gear), as I didn't really get the system.

I'll give it a shot. The key number is 'par' for your level (1000 gp at 2nd)--this is your 'target' WBL. Whenever the value of your gear falls below par, you are entitled to acquire, discover, or upgrade magic items of your choice until you reach par. This does not require Craft skills, magical ability, or access to a 'magic mart'; a previously mundane item can be discovered to actually have magical properties, or an item can grow in power as you do. Essentially, this system cuts out treasure acquisition and liquidation in favor of simply allowing characters to have a reasonable quantity of magical gear that suits them.

Where it becomes slightly complicated is overflow. Crafted items or treasure found in the course of an adventure do not count against your regular numen and the par limit and are tallied separately. This is roughly speaking the gap between your expected wealth when you first reach the level vs. expected wealth as you reach the next level.

Your maximum numen is the sum of your par and overflow values. You are allowed to exceed max numen in the short term, but by doing so you accept that at some point in the near future something will happen (GM's discretion) to bring your total numen back under max.

You can ignore minimum numen--its purpose is to define the line between what Pathfinder calls PC vs. NPC WBL; creatures with numen below min. have their CR reduced.

I'd recommend tracking your par and overflow items in separate rows, something like:
Possessions (numen 900, par 1000): weapon (+1 attack), boots (+10 speed)
Overflow (numen 1000, max 3000): +1 armor

Kolmac wrote:

Does the [force] effect duration increase granted by my specialist bonus apply to Sudden Shield, or does the duration reduction/Extend Spell prohibition from Sudden Spell override it? Important for the next few levels until it goes to At Will at 6th...

I'd actually never thought of that! The way it's written doesn't suggest there are any exceptions, so I'd be willing to allow it.

Nice! It scales rather nicely this way:

Kolmac wrote:

Still can't decide if Explosive Spell is a trap or not. The single-target damage potential on a conductive explosive lightning bolt is amazing, but it feels pretty lackluster attached to most other AoEs.

Nothing in the rules is intended as a "trap" option - that was an explicit design goal. To my mind, the value of Explosive Spell at higher levels isn't in the potential to add a piddly bit if damage, but rather the ability to scatter groups of enemies and/or force them back a long way from you.

That's how I was approaching it as well, and it's certainly well in line compared to building a similar effect with Cascade push or the like. I guess I just find it underwhelming attached to common lower-level AoEs--moving enemies 5-10 feet off a fireball is pretty mopey. Direct hits off a range medium line, or Widened cones/bursts are another thing entirely, but now you're looking at quite a high spell level. I did spot one nice synergy for the argent savant--the 8th level Still Spell bonus is perfect for lining up the perfect bolt AoE, though it sadly rules out Conductive. Still need to work out whether AoE damage is even worth it compared to Ray Splitting with my specialist bonuses. Which reminds me, how does the bonus damage from Warmage interact with Ray Splitting?

Kolmac wrote:

Kolmac is updated, save for assigning some spare numen.

Looks good - I especially like how you left yourself spell notes, to make play a lot easier. "Fist of force" is a great use of the spell construction system, BTW.

P.S. I just had a gin and tonic in his honor.

Cheers! I have generalized versions of the spell descriptions offline as well, so I can easily recalculate values when I level up. Practically a necessity with this spell system or I'd forget half the spells at my disposal, and helps map out which metamagic to pick up.

I sincerely hope I never need to cast fist of force-it's one of the least effective things I could be doing-but if it comes to that, I thought it was a nice touch that most of the evocations have no M/F component, making defensive casting fairly reliable.

2.) The Archivist states that I get a new cleric spell every level. Can I choose seed spells instead?

See five posts up--the distinction between seed spells and other prebuilt spells is mostly arbitrary, you should be okay to take your pick of any 1st-level seed, prebuilt, or custom spell.

Kolmac is updated, save for assigning some spare numen. Now that I've had some time to explore the spell system, I switched out bind for push, which should have a significantly higher success rate. I'll come back to bind next level, when I can buy it premodified with the grapple augment and Fell Entangling.

Believe hp is choice of rolled or average, alternating rounding down and up. Average would seem to be the wiser choice for those of you with larger hit dice.

Improved Critical makes for some great burst damage, especially if your next pick is a strike feat. Power Attack is strongest for a 2-handed fighter but it's still a respectable damage bonus for Cayden and a solid choice. Inspirational Victory could be good once your BAB is higher, but the impact seems pretty minor right now. Rallying Strike requires a higher BAB, and Combat Reflexes isn't great with your low Dex, so I'd rule those two out.

For diversifying, maybe you could divert a skill point or two into Craft (construction)? It seems like something Cayden might be familiar with, and as we've already seen it could prove useful while exploring/searching areas.

Typo to report: the Reach Spell metamagic feat specifies Close range as 25 ft. + 5 ft/level, everywhere else has 5 ft/2 levels as base PF rules.

Taking 20 to search may take an extremely long time, plus I think Kirth prefers to use relevant skills (construction or engineering, in this case) in place of Perception for this sort of focused search, so we won't even get that high of a result. Given our failure to make any of the rolls, it may be more expedient for Cayden to just start ripping up some boards...

Kolmac approaches the smoking corpse, curiosity briefly overriding caution. He prods at the wound with the blade of his axe, observing how the creature's hide moves. "Something left over from the Days of Darkness if I had to guess. And also the reason the construction site was abandoned, most likely. We should approach carefully, there may be more about." At this point, the smoke rising from the wound reaches his face, and he backs away quickly, coughing violently, "Winds of winter, that's foul."

Reporting back as requested re: Laphroiag Lore following a visit from some friends made during my time in Scotland. In a word: wow. Everything that's great about regular Laphroiag but turned up to 11, and very drinkable neat despite the peat and higher proof. I'll be treasuring that bottle.

Kolmac is noticeably uneasy with the prospect of troubling the Baron over what seems a relatively minor matter of law enforcement. He would rather see the group investigate the constabulary more directly and avoid even the slightest suggestion of wrongdoing on the Baron's part. Thank you 32-point Diplomacy margin...though as a player I'll also note that if we sort the matter ourselves we may avoid potential interference on the Baron's part if he is in fact guilty of something.

I believe the ghoul was the intended target of the apprehension--the baron said it was being handled, not that they'd already caught him.

Had the opportunity to do some proper tasting a few months back courtesy of a good friend of my parents. His collection is heavily American-centric but he was kind enough to break out a few Scotches for myself, including a Laphroaig 15 and a few rarities I unfortunately don't recall the names of. Provided a solid confirmation that I am all about that Islay peat.

Received a bottle of Laphroaig Lore for the holidays--have yet to crack it, but I'll be sure to report back once I do!

Well would you look at that, we wound up in a bar after all.

Almost-complete draft of my character.

Coming up a bit short on ways to spend mojo for someone who doesn't need weapons or armor? Is it valid to give my wand +1 attack or damage?

Beyond that I think I just need languages, one more spell (probably a non-seed), and a name.

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed my item (the Cuirass of Distortion), there are definitely some good points there that I'll have to keep in mind next year.

Well, if nothing else I've certainly learned a lot about dashes in the last week...

Awesome, I should have something by tomorrow.

Expanded special materials would be great, both at the low and high end of the spectrum--alternate metals for heavy armors, and substitute materials for light armors. A special material that can be used for leather armor would probably be much appreciated by some characters (though the options for what bonuses it grants would be rather limited).

Page 14: Minor Events--states that there are three minor events, which are the first three events which occur instead of rolling. However, only two are listed--the Founding of Tatzlford, and Troll Sightings.

What happened to the third event? Also, if the Troll Sightings event happens in the second or third month of development, doesn't that run counter to the "give the players a year to start their kingdom" as well as the suggested 5th level for the troll adventure?