Vinyc Kettlebek's page

Could more items be written as modifiers to base items. instead of unique items. For example the holy avenger. In 1e its only available as a cold iron longsword, but why not make it a set of powers that could be applied to any weapon like a battleaxe or a starknife, based on diety.

This format change could also be applied to specific magical ammunition and alchemical weapons like the tangleshot arrow to allow for all types of ammunition to be used. Some abilities could still list restrictions on the types of weapon/armor that they can be applied to.

In a homegame you could make whatever alterations you wanted to any given items, but in PFS items tend to be more by the book. Which means that by formatting all items as modifiers to be applied to a category of items would create a lot more options for players.

I wouldn't mind seeing all the factions being removed, and the PCs are all simply Pathfinders. Instead allow the completion of certain tasks to grant rep with certain NPCs or Organizations, and then allow PCs with a certain amount of rep unlock special rewards from those benefactors.

This would allow for story lines to support certain groups, and avoid the pvp mess that existed with factions in the early years of PFS.

Quairon Nailo wrote:

I think the idea of scrapping existing PCs is as terrible as it gets. I really don't see an issue with creating general conversion rules for 1st ed characters, and letting us carry them over.

Ask anybody who was around for the Living City 2nd Edition to 3rd Edition conversion debacle.

IMO a clean slate is best.

Agreed. All of the edition conversions that the RPGA Organized Play campaigns when through were a mess. The more baggage you try to keep from 1e will limit what can be done/changed for 2e.

You should also check the Additional Resources page for a list of what is allowed to be used from each sourcebook outside of the core rulebook. You also need to own any sourcebooks you use to build your character. Specific rules about this can be found in the FAQ page.

The easiest way to find a campaign with everything you want is to run it yourself. Anything else will result in you having to compromise with what the campaign is offering.

"more valid". Distinct difference. ;)

An updated ruling was provided. The PFS FAQ.

If the UE description not saying "Mithral" causes a problem then it causes the same problem for steel as it doesn't say "steel" either. The point is that it doesn't say what it is made out of one way or the other. To assume one material is just as valid as the other but it is an assumption either way.

Look at it from a slightly different angle. If a creature had a sunder like effect on it's attack, what hardness would you use? Unless a special material is listed in the item description the armor would use the default base hardness 10 of steel plus the enhancement modifier. Using the base hardness 15 of mithral would be adding abilities that the armor doesn't normally have.

Hit shuffle on the Zune you got from your daddy.

Most of this is addressed in the Campaign Clarification document.

Not sure how tech and magic items are going to work in Starfinder, but maybe expand the always available list. Expand it to include more of the weakest versions of the most common items. Things like the equivalents of +1 rings of protection, +1 cloaks of resistance, and +2 stat items.

Remind me, was Living Greyhawk the one where pretty much anyone could write a sanctioned scenario for their region? (I only played 1 game of it personally, since it was mostly dead in my area when I finally discovered OP, but it led me to PFS. )

Each regional triad would have one member that managed editing all of their regional adventures, and they would usually recruit writers from the local player base.

There are Pathfinders running around Golarion without their wayfinders?

There are games being offered in North Jersey, but for South Jersey. Your best bets will be found in the Philadelphia area, and a few in Delaware.

That's just it. It isn't a trait. It's a heritage listed in the Bastards of Golarion book. It would, outside of organized play, allow access to an optional racial trait, but that is the only thing actually specified on Paizo its self.

Drow and half drow characters were banned by previous campaign coordinators. Current campaign staff posted in this thread that allowing this material into the AR was an error, and the current campaign coordinator hasn't lifted the ban. Which means you currently can't create a drow or half drow character in PFS unless you find a boon somewhere that opens up those options.

No. You only have the options listed, and can't combine them. So you can spend 1PP for an item up to 150gp value or 2PP for an item up to 750PP.

You also can't mix and match gp and PP to buy an item. You have to spend the listed amount of either to get an item or spellcasting service. Example Resurrection is either 32PP or 10,910gp. You can't spend 16PP and 5,455gp to get it cast on your character.

The date printed on the campaign guide is August 4th, so the first day of GenCon.

Some adventures grant 1xp while others grant 3xp, but it should be on the chronicle sheet that the GM gave you at the end of the game.

Can Oreads take the Dwarf Blooded (Oread) feat and be considered members of the Dwarf race for purposes or racial specific archetypes? Specifically, can a Dwarf Blooded (Oread) use the Stone Lord archetype?

Most material from the ARG is restricted to the members of that race only, so you can't take the stonelord archetype as an Oread.

Pirate Rob wrote:

Raise animal companion is not a core spell so the text would need to be repeated which would take up more space.

Not necessarily - you'll notice that a lot of the new books (Occult Adventures as one outstanding example) reference boatloads of non-core material without reprinting it all.

Paizo rarely worries about PFS campaign rules when publishing Pathfinder books.

It would probably be best to offer ideas that wouldn't require a complete overhaul of the reporting system. The more resources Paizo has to use to implement an idea. The less likely they are to use it.

A GM's character getting a chronicle sheet, because the GM ran a game, does not have any interaction with the characters of the players, or the adventure being run. Which means that they can't contribute anything to the PCs during or after a game. This is the other side of the rule that the results of a given table do not influence the rewards received from a GM credit chronicle sheet.

A pregen can only sell its gear to remove conditions gained by that pregen during a game. Regardless of who is controlling them. GMs running a pregen to fill a table don't normally have to worry about this unless the pregen dies early in the adventure, and prevents the PCs from having enough resources to finish the adventure.

The only changes made to Specials that I recall occurred between Paizocon and Gencon. Those changes were made because of issues that showed up while running it at Paizocon, so that the Special would run smoother at Gencon.

The Guide says that you have to follow the Sanctioning documents that are included with the module's chronicle sheets. Which means that only the APs and 64pg modules allow campaign mode to be used.

The Sanctioning documents for Thornkeep, Emerald Spire, the Free RPG Day modules and the older 32pg modules do not allow campaign mode.

Aasimars currently require a special certificate to create, and the boon only works in the standard campaign. There are less than a handful of boons that open extra races in the Core campaign.

The races currently open for use, in standard PFS, are those in the CRB, tengu, kitsune, wayang, nagagi, sylph, oread, Ifrit and udine.

Using a 1-5 scenario as an example. First you calculate the groups APL.

If the group's APL puts them in the 1-2 subtier. Any characters level 3-5 will get out of tier rewards.

If the group's APL puts them in the 4-5 subtier. Any characters level 1-3 will get out of tier rewards.

Rewards for GM credit depends on level of character getting it. A level 1 or 2 character will get subtier 1-2 rewards. A level 3 character will get out of subtier, and a level 4 or 5 character will get subtier 4-5 rewards.

Adding special materials to named magic weapons and armor would fall under custom crafting, which isn't a legal option in PFS.

The equipment and treasure you take from fallen enemies contributes to the GP rewards you earn at the end of the adventure, so you can't spend found treasure without reducing the rewards you earn.

Just out of curiosity, How does this affect the silver hex chronicles and the other quests where you are 1st level and are playing a pre gen?

The change really doesn't impact players using level 1 pregens. Outside of the fact that if the player started the game assigned to their -1 character. If the pregen dies they can't swap in character -99 to eat the death.

Looking at the paragraphs in the new Season 8 Guide for Campaign mode, Module mode and Sanctioned material. You still need to follow the rules provided with the sanctioned module's chronicle sheets on how to run a table. The sanctioning documents for Thornkeep, Emerald Spire and all of the older 32 page modules don't allow campaign mode to be used.

Having only 3 players in campaign mode would be fine, but it looks like you're still limited to using campaign mode with APs and the newer 64 page modules. Unless campaign leadership makes adjustments to all of the module sanctioning documents after Gen Con.

Is it legal to run with only the 3 characters? Given the power creep a reasonably built team of 3 will still probably crush the module.

I don't think it is technically legal but it definitely seems like it should be. I guess there would be a bit of peer pressure to play on but people playing modules with a lower character range of 8+ should be able to withstand that pressure

A legal PFS table requires four characters, and a maximum of one of those can be a NPC pregen. If you are running material outside of the level ranges that the pregens cover you need a minimum of four players to run a table.

As long as the games were properly reported. You can also try and contact your local Venture Captain for help replacing your missing paperwork.

GenCon is this weekend, so many VOs who are attending. May not be quick to reply.

I was thinking specifically about aether elemental from beastiary 5 which would still fall under the elemental any list in the core rule book. Is there some other additional resource required to make them legal to summon?

PFS leadership limited the Summon spells, from the CRB, to the 4 basic elements in Bestiary 1 - air, earth, fire and water.

Wearing peg legs while you have two good legs is basically using stilts. Rules for stilts exist. Which means using peg legs in this manner would be reskinning, and not legal for use in PFS.

This character should be saved for a home game. Because the build is based solely around a mechanical benefit, and could offend other PFS players.

Vinyc Kettlebek wrote:

James Risner wrote:

If you bought a +1 adamantine light mace and wanted to call it a tankard, I'd say "sure".

Doing with would go against the campaign's no reskinning rules.

Then consider the ability to have table variance and the player should consider his mileage may vary. For what it's worth, I'm not using reskin rules. I'm making it clear that being a tankard doesn't get him discounts (like MW tankard is +50 gp and weapons are +300 gp.)

The fighting style does nothing to change the fact that a tankard isn't a weapon, and is not eligible for upgrades that can only be placed on weapons.

If you bought a +1 adamantine light mace and wanted to call it a tankard, I'd say "sure".

Doing with would go against the campaign's no reskinning rules.

If I treat it in all ways as a light mace, why can't I by a masterwork tankard?

I can buy a masterwork light mace, I should be able to make a masterwork tankard.

I can buy an Adamantine Light mace, I should be able to buy a adamantine tankard.

I can buy a +1 light mace, I can buy a +1 tankard.

Is there somewhere that the PFS powers that be have ruled on this and I have missed it? I got a really neat barmaid figure with a tankard that is just begging me to make a TWF tankard fighter of Cayden.

The fighting style only influences feats and class abilities that relate to weapon use, and does nothing to change how equipment is purchased. The problem is that a tankard isn't a weapon, and many upgrade options don't have pricing listed for equipment that aren't categorized as armor or weapons.

Different tables can only share resources when the special includes rules for doing so.

You can spend all the PP you have during any single game - body recovery, remove disease, raise dead, etc. The only PP expenditures that are restricted, to once per chronicle, are the two that allow you to spend PP for equipment (1pp-150gp and 2pp-750gp item).

Unfortunately you're correct. You can't play any level 8+ material with only 3 players since there aren't any pregens that can be used in that level range. You will need to find more players with PFS characters in the correct level range.

Sort of another side question while I build one of my characters.

In the Weapon Masters Handbook under the Divine Fighting Style by Cayden Cailean’s Blade and Tankard is says
"Initial Benefit: You can wield a tankard (or mug) as a
weapon, treating it in all ways as a light mace appropriate
for your size."

So any feats that apply to a light mace will apply to a tankard I wield right?

Thanks again for the input everyone. You've gotten me super excited for my game this weekend.

Just be mindful that tankards are not weapons. Most special materials only have prices for weapons or armor, so a tankard couldn't be made from those materials. You could buy a mithral tankard since that material lists pricing for random items by weight. Tankards not being a proper weapon also prevents you from enchanting them as magic weapons. However there are a few specific named magical tankards that are enchanted as magic weapons.

Rather the discussion is about whether player characters should be engaging in morally reprehensible acts. The PFS campaign is not an appropriate place to explore that. Hell's Vengenance, for example, is a campaign where it is appropriate. Society missions have shades of gray, in terms of morality, but there is very little "gray" in slavery. Not to the slave anyway. The standard for PCs is not the same for NPCs, in an organized play campaign. Home games are an entirely different matter.

Since PFS has a houserule saying that it is okay to commit evil acts as long as they are orders from your superiors without suffering an alignment shift. With the caveat that you must still follow any class codes. It means that the Decemvirate, VCs and Faction leaders of the Society order PCs to do reprehensible acts frequently enough to require that rule.

The campaign has been written as a PG-13 rated campaign since the beginning. which means at times you'll run across situations that will stop and make you think about some questionable topics. Look how many scenarios force PCs to steal property, murder or commit other crimes in order to achieve their mission goal, and the victims aren't always evil. There are so many that campaign management had to issue a special rule allowing PCs to ignore these alignment infractions, forcing them to become evil themselves, as long as they didn't violate a class code.

Questionable topics don't need to be graphically described during a game, but they can be used in moderation to drive a story. Look how often PCs free slaves while on a mission without going into fine detail about the horrors of slavery.

I just find it strange that there are so many people complaining that real world morally heinous acts pop up in a magical land of make-believe. When they spend most of their time, in the same world of make-believe, killing anything that moves until they can get their mcguffin. Why haven't people cryed out that Geb is allowed to exist when it has farms full of humans being raised as a food source for it's undead citizens? I have a friend who has a severe fear of spiders that has no problem reading a book about drow and lolth where spiders are mentioned in every other sentence, or having their PC face off against a giant spider or a swarm. Because there isn't a real spider sitting in front of them, and they can tell the difference between the real world and a work of fiction.

Perhaps the campaign should change PFS to a G rated game, and we can go around making deliveries for local businesses or saving cats from trees.

The quests were developed to be used as a quick demo for new players, so allowing pregens only makes sense. If a player is committed enough to make their own character they should have no problem investing the time to play an evergreen or 1-5 scenario.

Many nations of the Inner Sea allow slavery and are not considered evil. This means that within Golarion canon there are ways to participate in slavery that are not automatically evil, or any nation that allowed slavery would have to be labeled as evil.

Applying real world morality to fictional cultures will create some incompatibilities. Look at the number of courtesans/prostitutes that PFS seems to house, or pirates for that matter. Many older faction missions basically told members to murder NPCs or commit other evil crimes in order to achieve mission objectives.

A player could have slaver as a dayjob and still manage to be respectful of everyone else at the table by managing the level of details they include in their roleplaying. However it would be far simpler to avoid any potential arguments by finding something less divisive.

I'm against the idea of getting extra chronicle sheets from GMing a scenario multiple times, but I wouldn't mind seeing a GM reward similar to the faction cards that unlock from running games.

A class that has Misfortune is a nice way to force opponents to reroll, but the shirt/folio rerolls won't work on NPCs. As shown above the player with an appropriate item can make one reroll during the game, but they must use the new result even if it's worse. Which means it can't be used to influence the rolls of other characters.

BigNorseWolf wrote:

Re metaplot i want to say yes but could you elaborate?

Lets say our GM wanted to integrate a recurring villain, or a few extra quests we had to run off and complete or a coupld of groups we needed to politic and play off against one another or help foster alliance between.

Can we do that?

Not really. You have to run the adventures as is. The adventures for the most part are episodic, but there are some multi-part series or ones that share themes.

andreww wrote:

I see quite a lot of Kitsune and almost none of the rest.

I see a lot of kitsune in Philadelphia and roughly 95% of them are mine. :-P

That number will eventually get a lot lower...

While PFS does eliminate the use of some subsystems like Leadership and crafting to maintain balance in an Organized Play setting. It is unlikely that there will ever be a point where PFS starts picking and choosing which updates to the Pathfinder rules they will use.Since PFS is run and managed by Paizo. It is easier to decide to allow or ban a particular item then to rewrite entire sourcebooks just for PFS.

I see it as there are 3 ways to run APs as they relate to PFS:

1) Module mode: Your existing PFS character gets pulled in to run thru the sanctioned portion of an AP then returns to their normal scenario adventures. They apply the credit normally based on their existing level when they played it. The GM applies it to any character that falls within the published tier as normal.

2) Exclusive PFS Campaign mode: The characters are fully PFS-complaint and "they can't be involved otherwise in organized play." Those characters get the XP.

3) Non-PFS Compliant play: I feel like this is the one most people (myself and my local groups) do. It allows us to play characters built outside the rules of the Allowable Resources but still provide some benefit within the PFS structure. Based on your comment that their characters are "custom rules based characters" then this is the one they're doing. Those characters can't go into normal PFS play so the chronicles get applied to any other PFS-compliant character.

Yes, to apply a chronicle from 1 or 3 above to a PFS character, (s)he must be at the correct level for the published tier on that chronicle. So, as an example, the second chronicle from RoW is "The Shackled Hut" at Tier 5-7. You and your players can apply this chronicle to any character of level 5 thru 7. Of course, you can also hold the chronicle until a character reaches the minimum level of the chronicle, in this case 5th.

2&3 should be the same thing. You either play just the sanctioned parts of an AP with PFS characters, or you run characters through the entire book. Assigning chronicle sheets to a separate PFS character as you complete each book of the AP. Applying those sheets to the PFS character when they reach the minimum level marked on the chronicle sheet.

Limited crafting is allowed for bonded items. Basically you can upgrade a bonded item as if you had the appropriate feats. But you're still limited to upgrading it as a holy symbol or neck slot item.