Viondar's page

"Well done, Beauregarde, I'll relieve that you made us to be not the killer of those unknowing owlbears"

Alyna's common is less haltingly spoken, but she's clearly not reached humour, yet.

Thanks for the PM, GM.
Wouldn't have noticed this, otherwise.

I'm going to think on a character

No, I get that. And I'm glad. Anyway. I posted the stats. Just not the magic items, although some of them might be gauged from the pluses ;)

No hard feelings for your attacking me, either. Or for putting me at the mercy of the rest of the party, as I am now ;)

I'd say attacking a demon on sight just cuz' it's evil is a decidedly chaotic good action.

PB (phantom blade), MB (mindblade), BB (bladebound)

Ability dependency:
PB: wis or cha.
MB or BB: int.
Conclusion: no real difference.

Feats:
PB: level 3, 8, 13, 18. Used at equal fighter level
MB and BB: level 5, 11, 17. Used at fighter level 0, 5, 8. But other feats at fighter level as well.
Conclusion: about even. Especially since spiritualist gains 4+int skill points.

Spells
PB: Spontaneous psychic caster. Spiritualist spell list, including healing and interesting stuff like possession and curses, but lacking in the damage department.
MB: Spontaneous psychic caster. Magus spell list with psychic additions, making a strongly offensive list with some insidious additions from the psychic, but no healing.
BB: Prepared arcane caster. Magus spell list with possible wizard additions and possible (if hexblade) curse additions, making for a very flexible list, but no healing.
Conclusion: all have their own flavour. BB seems to have the widest range, but that depends hugely on playstyle and preference.

Weapons & armour.
PB: martial weapons and medium armour
MB: martial weapons and light armour
BB: martial weapons. Light armour increasing to heavy over time.
Conclusion: minor differences.

Spellstrike and spell combat:
PB: not the greatest match in spell list, but good options are there. Spell combat only with a one handed weapon. Possibilities for 'centering self' quickly to negate the thought component's crippling concentration penalty.
MB: great match in spell list. Spell combat with 2 weapons and even with two handed (reach) weapons. Crippling concentration penalty.
BB: great match in spell list. Spell combat with a one handed weapon only. No concentration penalty.
Conclusion: mind blade scrores best as soon as they can do 2 handed weapon spell combat (level 13). Before that point, they've a huge concentration problem. Bladebound is the overall constant. Phantom blade is the big loser.

The weapon:
PB: any weapon form (though no ammunition, no reach spellstrike, and if you want spell combat, you're restricted). Weapon goes up to +10, but is expensive in its temporary enchantments. It does have free standard ghost touch.
Weapon can, at higher levels, change form and appear quickly.
Has backup monk unarmed strike damage. Last to reach brilliant energy (lvl 15), no bane option. Free alertness feat.
MB: any melee weapon form. Possibilities include even a split up to two weapons, making this the only archetype to combine two weapon fighting with spell combat. Pool points are refunded when the weapon vanishes, and the weapon(s) can be removed and reformed as a swift action eventually, making this weapon the most sustainably versatile. Weapon needs specific arcana (planar hunter and bane weapon) to reach the +10 limit, or will hang back with a +7 maximum. Quickest weapon to reach brilliant energy (lvl 12)
BB: Single weapon form, one handed. Weapon reaches +10 easily, and gets there faster with certain arcana. Second to reach brilliant energy (level 13), but can change to energy or force earlier (for a round). Free alertness feat. Weapon can be teleported to hand as std action. Weapon can have a magical sheath.
Conclusions: bladebound probably has the most powerful weapon, but it's the least versatile, it's also not expensive in arcane pool points.
Mindblade has the most versatile weapon, being able to switch from a brilliant energy scimitar to a flaming planar ghost touch lance in a swift action. It's downright cheap in psychic pool points.
Phantom blade has the middle ground in power and versatility. It is the most expensive in ectoplasmic pool points.

Special abilities:
PB: has a specific set of spell like abilities.
MB: has 6 (or more) arcana's. Can easily get a familiar.
BB: has 5 (or more) arcana's. Spell recall or very powerful hexes (hexcrafter). Can freely learn any spell on their spell list.
Could opt for weapon/armour training and higher fighter level for feats (myrmidarch)
Conclusions: Bladebound clearly wins, mindblade is the runner up. Phantom blade falls miserably behind.

Final conclusions:
Bladebound is the biggest powerhouse. A simple concept to steamroll over enemies.
Mindblade has greatest versatility and will benefit most from intelligent positional play.
Phantom blade has a great concept and an interesting spell list, but is very difficult to personalise or to rise to mediocre levels of power.

Considering the above, I still think phantom blade lags behind. Perhaps even a bit more than I thought, because previously I hadn't taken in the enourmous pool costs the phantom blade requires to enchant their weapon. I think it's really a shame that such a great concept is that much weaker than its counterparts, and I would still like to rectify that.

I can imagine how it might be too much to provide full support for all the soft cover booklets. But to ignore the rules in it even when they contain the last puzzle piece to what you're writing is kind of a weird policy.

But, weird or not, if that's their policy, I'll guess we'll have to houserule it :D

I do wonder about the greater elemental whispers wild talent. Although it's easy to think of just having 6 different familiars... I guess that's the answer. Unless it's supposed to be a single familiar with 6 forms...?

I didn't get the ultimate wilderness, because I found bad stuff on the shifter. But...

Now I found the terrakineticist! What an awesome archetype!!!

I have a (soon to be) level 10 gnome telekineticist (with aero second) and he's definitely going to be retrained to terrakineticist as soon as the current adventure ends.

He's also going to let grow his blue hair, smoke the blossoms of five fingered plants and say stuff like:

"I used to enforce my positivity and will upon my surroundings. It made me such an awfully controlling person! Now I've learned to accept what is around me, and welcome those naturally appearing elements into my body and mind. I'm so much more at peace, now. It's like I'm truly in the here and now for the first time!"

I can't wait to play his new him!

But, now that this archetype has come out... Would anyone ever seriously play another sort of kineticist?
A kinetic knight, maybe. But if you're not a minion of RAW, those archetypes are even compatible!

James Risner wrote:

Each Green Man is a different unique entity that grants different spells.

And each human is a different unique entity that has a different taste in music. That doesn't mean you can't take the form of that general type of creature.

Not all humans are unique. Some are hipster graphic designers with glasses and beards.

Derklord, How the rules work is how your GM says they do.

But if you ignore how the rules were designed in favor of some nebulous “RAW” that you define all the interpretations, that’s ok. However, if you care about how the game is designed and intended to be read then Green Men are unique. Each Green Man is a different unique entity that grants different spells.

RAW interpretation is not nebulous. It's very exact.

Darklord is not stating that he's in favour of green men being a legal polymorph forms in his games. He's stating that the rules do not preclude us from polymorphing into green men. A GM still might (and probably should).

If there are multiple creatures (regardless of them being deific) who are of the species 'green men', then you don't have to impersonate any of those very unique deific personae or appearances to shape into something resembling a green man. You'd just become a general massive powerhouse, not a specific one.

Well... Druid wild shape doesn't require a material component.

And if you're any psychic caster (like the psychic bloodline sorcerer, for example) you can sacrifice 'emotionally charged' items of equal value to cast your spells. So, let's not find the solutions in material components.

The 'how do you know this thing??' argument makes sense, of course, but the rules don't really ask for this by RAW.

As a house rule, it would be cool if you could only polymorph into or summon creatures that have a challenge rating equal to or less than your ranks in the corresponding knowledge skill. (or some variant to this rule)

But for PFS... It appears that the above stats are yours if you want them when you're a level 6+ leshy warden.

I think something needs to be done about that. Same for the medusa lady.

Masterwork removes fragile?
I had totally missed that!

I'm getting closer to cool bone or glass armor :)

Considering hardening.

When does a material lose its fragile quality? How hard must it get?

I know this is probably hard to answer, because this Pathfinder spell is a remnant from 3.5 days, but since it is Pathfinder, perhaps we can answer it :)

This is an ethical question of intention vs result. In AD&D/D&D/Pathfinder, good, evil, lawful, and chaotic alignments are based on results, not intention. And if you inadvertently did something you didn't want to do, you seek atonement, as per the spell, to clear your soul of the stain of your actions.

The negative energy plane, by its very nature, destroys life. The plane itself might be unaligned, but if you create undead, you're creating a creature with an aversion to life. The nature of undead, when left uncontrolled, is to attack and kill the living.

This makes undead evil in nature. At least in Pathfinder. Even if you control undead to save innocents, you're still creating an evil force upon the world. If you die or otherwise lose control, the innocents have the undead as one more problem in their lives. So, you're doing both good and evil, which means you're neutral.

Your intentions might be good, but your actions aren't. And actions are what count in Pathfinder. You should seek an atonement spell for your evil deeds and not do it again. If you keep doing it, atonement will stop working, and you'll shift alignment to neutral.

Not that it's a problem to be neutral, mind you. It's very easy going and pragmatic. Lots of very fine folks are neutral. Usually the neutrals are much more widely agreeable people than the good...

So, I've been reading the new shifter, and would compare it against the old feral shifter
, feral hunter, and wild hunter archetypes.

Comparing them, they are mostly alike, with the following differences:

Shifter:
full BAB
Wis to AC
Very limited aspect options
Very limited wildshape options

Feral shifter:
Level 9 casting
Full options in wild shape
Option for 'planar focus' feat

Feral hunter:
Level 6 casting
Free teamwork feats
Unlimited time on focus abilities
All animal options in wild shape
Option for 'planar focus' feat

Wild hunter:
Full BAB
level 4 casting
Ranger combat styles
No wildshape
Option for 'planar focus' feat.

So... Considering these, the shifter class strikes me as extremely niche. Only a build with a very specific fighting style in mind would be a reason to abandon the advantages the other classes give. Full BAB is nice, of course, but it's not that nice. Especially considering the high likelihood of a natural attack build.

Am I wrong? Am I missing something?

Well Risky and Wei Ji,

I get the feeling that I now would have to defend my opinion on how an answer would be simple to find.
I would gladly do so, because I like benign arguments.

However, I do feel that arguing over this is futile. The point is, mostly, that after two years, the dev team is horribly late in responding with either a simple or a complicated response. If I would be working excruciatingly slow, I could easily review every single ability (masterpiece or otherwise) paid with in performance rounds and write a ruleset for each of them individually, within a week. At a normal working pace, it would take me a day. A simple solution would take me an hour or less.

If you ask me, it is unjustifiable that no single member of the dev team had a day (or week), somewhere in the past two years, to just solve this problem. Not doing so is willfully ignoring the problem. Willfully ignoring the problem is perfectly understandable if only 10 people ask for a clarification. But with a thread like this? I believe that to be rude and snobbistic towards the community.

So, to the dev team: either cut the knot or carefully untie it. Either way, solve the problem. You're late.

Sorry, I got distracted by life...

Ehm... Here you go :)

Paragon surge fits the description. Transmutation, and 1 min/level

It's easy to tell whether it's a corpse or a magic jarred body. The latter should have an attached note saying "I aten't ded"

Terry Pratchett rules :D

Edit: to stay on topic... He rules posthumously... Sort of like in suspended animation... Possessing his books and our minds, our imagination! What a wizard... (or wizzard?)

First off... You shouldn't be the DM for these guys. It's sweet that you do it, but they have the experience, you don't. They should be taking you along the ride of fantasy gaming, not you them. But that's not really my business, so here goes.

You have a nice horror/fairytale setup. Well done. That is one of the genres in which a storyteller doesn't necessarily need a lot of gaming experience! Your challenge lies in converting your ideas to the game.

As a DM, you should not really think "what to do next?". That's a player's job. Your job is to know (make up) the why behind things, and to maintain the bigger picture. Then, when the players have considered what to do next, you can unveil what part of the bigger picture they have discovered.

For example, in your story. There is apparently a witch who gets a child per year. Why does she (or he?) need those children? What does she do with them? Eat them? I suppose one a year won't really suffice, then. Use their souls? Okay, but how? And why would she need souls so steadily? Raise them as fellow witches? Alright, but then what is her vision / bigger plan?

Also, the witch clearly has the power to affect crop yield. How? Does she cast plant growth? If so... How does she gain access to that spell? Is she really a witch? Maybe she's really a druid? Or even a skald with the expanded spell kenning feat? Or a psychic with the rebirth discipline? Hell, she might even be a Daivrat (prestige class), who sells the kids to some elemental lord.

So, considering the above, and considering the pace of your game, I would conjure up a story that goes like this.

The witch is actually a druid, who has sympathies for the nefarious shadow circle (a world-wide secret druid organization that glorifies the more feral aspects of nature, harboring quite a few evil and chaotic members within their ranks). But, being not actively malicious or destructive herself (let's say she is true neutral with some evil tendencies of ruthlessness), she has grown tired of the Shadow Circle's nonconstructive and hateful ways. She sees no need for spiteful actions against civilized races, because that doesn't really accomplish anything except fermenting more hatred. She wishes for a more complete regression towards the ways of nature, where citizen dwellers will have the opportunity to let go of their vile ways, and once again follow the teachings of nature, in a harmonious hunter/gatherer sense. Nevertheless, because of previous affiliations, she still has some shadow druid allies, who (while being a little more anarchic or malicious), would still occasionally help her out.

The children given to her by the woman have been raised in harmony with nature by the druid. They are now classed NPC's with levels of druid, witch, shaman, hunter, ranger, barbarian, bloodrager (greenrager), sorcerer (fey or verdant bloodline), or kineticist (wood element). They have grown and are now ready to teach their mentor's teachings in their own right. Some may have their own thoughts about their mentor's views, and a small number may actually have defected, but most just agree, and are ready for students. So, this is why phase two of the druid's plans has come into action: kidnapping children on a larger scale. The third phase would probably be guerrilla warfare on urban society, where even farmers are deemed 'evil' for their controlled cultivation of the land, and 'enslavement' of farm animals.

The base (or bases) of operations of this group would probably be: ruins, a cave system, a treetop village, a grove of bountiful natural beauty, or anything that glorifies nature. The enemies that the players would face would be: fey and nature spirit creatures, animals of all kind (including awakened ones, as per the spell awaken), the missing children of previous years, shadow druid allies, monsters that like nature (not excluding evil ones, such as green dragons and black dragons), but also not excluding good ones. A fairy dragon or a unicorn, for example, might very well be very hostile to the players, despite it being good.

The druid has probably seen fit to hide her tracks (including hiding her tracks literally, through magic). She might have employed some of her shadow druid allies to do the kidnappings for her, and others to provide distractions to any would-be investigators, by guiding beasts and monsters into being a menace to society. It would probably take quite some time and research for the players to find even one of the training grounds, where the kidnapped children are being indoctrinated. First, they would encounter rampaging monsters, and discover one or more kidnapping agents. Also, consider that the druid might have started kidnappings in multiple towns and villages, perhaps not even all human ones.

While the players slowly trudge through the false trails laid out by them, you can make all kinds of wonderfully creepy encounters. An evil shadow druid might have a very scary marsh for a home, with all kinds of bloodsucking or reptilian creatures. A chaotic druid might glorify strong creatures, and therefore have allied himself with some giants and pray on traveling families. The children are kept, and the parents are food for the giants. But, at the same time, make sure that the players slowly begin to grasp the bigger scheme behind all this. And it's best if they get this presented as being not so evil at all.

For example, when they finally do get to a place of indoctrination, make it a beautiful place with waterfalls and children happily playing with tamed deer. In that way, the players will have a lot of trouble justifying the destruction of it all. Also, as you've already pointed out by having the village not spring into action for less influential people's children, the village (and other civilized places) are not exactly good either. A case could very well be made for it being overly hierarchical and wealth-glorifying. Guiding the players into ethical considerations, will trap them into the story something fierce. Make the druid a charismatic person, who believes that the children are the key to a brighter future (like many authoritarian figures of history). If you need her to have appeared as a nasty old witch earlier, there is alter self to suit your every need.

Be ready for anything. Flesh out not only the druid's 'faction', but also the unsuspecting opposing civilization. Not only to give the players potential diplomatic allies, but also because the players might very well be swayed by the druid's viewpoint. They might have the idea that the druid means well, and has had to resort to evil allies. The players could be good allies, feeling that they could make a beautiful place in the world, where everything lives in harmony with nature and each other. The cities and villages need merely be converted, or, if necessary, pacified. So your fleshed out allies of society would then become diplomatic or actual adversaries. You'll have a wonderful campaign that could easily run to level 12 and beyond.

Feel free to pick and choose any of the ideas, and combine them with your own. They're all merely suggestions. I hope you now see, though, what favour you're doing them to be their DM. Being a DM is a hell of a lot of writing, and players usually only get to see about 20% of it.

Take a look at the psychic bloodline for subtly casting just about anything.

Invest in bluff to mask your concentrated look and tadaa!

Or, the spell: illusion of calm

As to spells...
Night of blades?
Abi Dalzim's horrid wilting?

I'd say go ratfolk. They are small (+1 to hit and AC), have access to the scurrying swarmer feat (holy crap!), have access to the tailblade and possibly a bite for extra attacks, and favour int and dex.

If you're stuck on aasimar, I'd recommend a small-sized musetouched or emberkin. But I'd sooner go for a tiefling if I'd be making a swashbuckler.

For a ratfolk (middle age) 20pt build
str 8 (1pt, -2 -1)
dex 16 (7pts, +2 -1)
con 12 (3pts, -1)
int 16 (3pts, +2 +1)
wis 14 (3pts, +1)
cha 14 (3pts, +1)

Level 1: swashbuckler (inspired blade)
Get fencing grace at level 1

Level 2: Occultist (haunt collector)
This dip will get you a few spells (like magical weapon, for example), the ability to give any magical weapon a bane enchantment of your choice for a minute (legacy weapon), the ability to get +30' to your base speed for a minute at the cost of a swift action, and a +2 enhancement to str, dex, or con. At this level, this is obviously dex, but later it will probably become con. Oh, and you get to pick a second implement too... You don't really have focus points left, though, so probably go for abjuration, to have all healing spells on your spell list for wands and such.
Last but not least, this dip will boost fort and will, the weak saves of your level 1. Also, being able to cast bane on a ranged weapon makes you less melee-dependant

Level 3: Alchemist (vivisectionist, internal alchemist)
Get the scurrying swarmer feat to pretty much always flank if you're near friends (and start thinking about future teamwork feats)
This dip will give you +1d6 sneak attack (pretty much always), a mutagen (dex mutagen gives +2 to hit, +2 dam, and +4 AC). As a bonus, you can now start make a crapload of potions of level 1 spells for all kinds of uses at the cheap cheap price of 25 gp per potion. Oh, and you can hold your breath for 12 hours! Isn't that nice!?
This is assuming that you're using fractional BAB, where 1 occultist / 1 alchemist results in +1 BAB. If you're not using that, you might prefer a level of brawler (mutagenic mauler or snakebite striker) here.

Level 4-7: run up that swashbuckler to being a critical master at level 5!
Of course, get the works, like weapon specialization. But don't forget those teamwork feats! Outflank might help you out a lot!

Level 8: show that haunt collector some love and bring it to level 2.
Depending on whether you don't hit others enough or you get hit too much yourself, get divination or abjuration. But whichever you choose, fill it up with the champion spirit and your 2 leftover focus points. This will give you a flat +2 to damage (that does double on crits) and 2/day +1 bonus to attack, damage, and other stuff for a swift action. Plus the base focus power of the chosen implement (you might even want to make it another transmutation implement, just for more bane). Oh, and by the way, it will give you another spell option.

Level 9+
Well, from here on I'd say it has a lot to do with what you want.

Daring champion means a lot of damage, especially if you select the order of the flame. Also, since you work with teamwork feats, it helps to be able to share them :)

If at level 5 or 7 you've chosen dodge, you can now take mobility at level 9, along with a level of self perfection psychic, taking the 'kinetic enhancement' psi-tech instead of a phrenic amplification, and then take some levels of duelist. You'll go armorless, but with great CMD, probably wanting to take a level of scaled fist monk to add cha to the fun. But... this is more whacky than overpowered.

Planar focus is a nice little feat that will net you a lot of extra damage and a lot of extra utility

Pack flanking will make you hit a lot and really make use of that outflank bonus feat.

And make sure to mount your beast and go for the feat: escape route.

Hunters are one of the strongest melee classes out there imo

I really don't want to toot my own horn like this

TOOOOOOOT :D

You're referring to this piece of work. I'd seen it.Since you're specifically changing one class, as opposed to all classes, I don't think it's that similar. But you're asking nicely so sure, I'll give my thoughts on your work in your own thread

Bitter Lily, your question has been answered. Sorry I missed it before. Indeed, as Riuken said, feat devaluation is the reason.
With so many extra feats, the one extra feat for humans becomes less valuable, but I thought it too extreme to double their bonus. Hence the bonus trait.

As to your other suggestion. A specific list would have to be very well put together. I would resent it to be only made up of low power feats, because some very powerful feats add a lot of flavour. But since other very powerful feats don't add flavour at all, this could easily benefit those characters whose concept aligns with what a dev tried to create over those characters whose concept is original, and requires boring feats to achieve. As such, I feel that creating a specific list carries the danger of dampening creativity.

Ryan Freire,
I think you're on a right track, there. Could you think of a few examples? I'll also start thinking about a more in depth solution than just adding more feats. Maybe tomorrow's nightshift ;)

I wholeheartedly support automatic chain feats and feat improvements. I honestly think that you people are right and that this is what the game needs. My solution of more feats is not a solid repair of a flawed system. It is a quick fix to it.

I think working out a proper review and fix to faulty feats and their chains is enough work to fill a proper game book. My fix, on the other hand, took me about 25 minutes.

Is there anyone among you who has such automatic feat chains worked out? Or who has a list of feat revisions? If so, would you post it?

Rainzax,

We take turns on being DM, because none of us have that much spare time. The group had been playing for 10 years when I joined them a year ago, which put me in the position of most experienced player. We use all books that aren't campaign specific, but only original Paizo (and the 'open minded' feat from dreamscarred, so far)

I really like your idea, as it is simple to implement, and doesn't require a lot of house ruling. It's elegant in that. However, the ruling doubles the value of BAB, which is already valuable. A sorcerer might want to go eldritch knight or dragon disciple for the sole reason of getting feats more quickly. Also, druids and clerics (level 9 powerhouses) would benefit greatly. I'm actually looking for a similarly elegant solution that would favour characters more the less spellcasting they have. Perhaps a division in feat bonuses according to non-caster, level 4 caster, level 6 caster, level 9 caster?

Drahliana Moonrunner,

I guess "someone like you" had to show up and deny the problem eventually. (see what I did, there?)

Your viewpoint is very valid from a static 'just deal with it' attitude. That's a commendable attitude which gets you through a lot of crap in life. But... I choose not to assume it with a fantasy game where the rules of life are subject to our thinking.

I view this game as evolving. Let me take you through it.

I started with 2nd edition. We had no feats, no skills. We had proficiency slots. And we were slot starved. because we all thought our characters should have fire building and swimming, we were two slots down to start with. Also, nonhumans had level limits and multiclassing and dual classing was a mess.

Then came the player's option series. We lost slots and got character points. This got us a whole lot of freedom, but since the same character points were to be used for racial abilities, class abilities, weapon proficiencies, and nonweapon proficiencies, the freedom quickly turned to abuse and power gaming.

So... 3.0 came out (with shiny books and better art). Suddenly we were all assumed to be able to build a fire and cook. 3.0 was more game mechanicly focused. It introduced skill points (which worked fine, if a little unwieldy concerning class skills) and feats. Cool! The feats took some of the weapon proficiency aspects, but a lot more. Suddenly casters could specialise too, and personalization didn't need the 'kit system' of second edition anymore. However, multiclassing was suddenly a great idea!

3.5 vamped the whole thing a little. Adjusted some spells, some feats, some classes, but honestly didn't do all that much. It did add a ton of prestige classes, though, and obsoleted the fighter by entering sword saints and crusaders. Multiclassing went rampant.

Then came Pathfinder. Pathfinder picked and chose what worked from 3.5, finally made the skill system work without problem, and increased the amount of feats a character could take. Pathfinder also did a great job of diminishing multiclassing, not in the least by adding tons of base classes. However, because people, when they don't multiclass, still want to add a lot of personality, over the years many many feats came out.

But... Some of those feats are just really good and simply cannot be passed by. Even though we get 50% more feats than in 3.0, we're starting to have trouble to get past the 'must haves' into the 'want haves'.

So... I hope you get what I'm saying. Pathfinder, in its own way, is now as clogged as 3.5 once was. Its better frame allows us to not notice it so badly, but it certainly is time for a Pathfinder 2.0. And one of the things 2.0 should do, is using a system more like the vigilante class has and what people suggest here: combine feats. But... Until that time, the simplest solution might just be to add more feats for everyone.

However, I do hope that the devs follow duscussions like these, for playing a game that doesn't require many adjustments is a lot nicer :)

Thanks all for responding :)

Funny that I get more response to posts that can easily be perceived to be radically wrong :D You people have good ideas. I like the feat chain idea, for example, although I do wonder about its implementation. For example: when you take spell focus or spell penetration, you immediately qualify for their greater variants. When would you get them?

So... You think my solution is not such a great idea. That's fine. So let me try to explain what I see as "the problem". Wonderstell already had the gist of that.

Most classes, or builds, have a set of no-brainers that you shouldn't leave out. Archers are the best example, but honestly, the examples are legion. To name a few:

I tried to make a cool crafter psychic, and wasn't able to fit in forge ring before level 13. I hadn't even looked at metamagic or focus yet, and craft construct was still on the horizon.

When creating a melee mounted hunter (one of the strongest melees imho), sublime options like power attack, weapon, outflank (free), expertise (tax), pack flanking, planar focus, escape route, paired opportunists, combat reflexes, and bodyguard, make most attempts at personalization a conscious choice for the worse.

And don't even get me started on a halfling trying to make use of a double sling. Even if he is a fighter.

Even improved initiative hardly ever makes the cut, nowadays...

My simple solution of adding a lot of feats is an attempt to give people the breathing room to add those feats they like on top of the feats they simply should take. I had thought to tackle feat devaluation by enhancing the martials and their bonus feat gain more than the spellcasters. Because in the end, the spellcastets already are so far ahead.

Forcing people to get non-combat feats, as often suggested, would needlessly hurt martials, where the wizard happily picks up skill focus: spellcraft, toughness, and spell penetration. I do think combat feats also add flavour and personality, together with power.

Concerning the Kineticist powers of telekinesis.

Basic telekinesis refers to "mage hand", which would exclude '"attended objects" from being moved. All clear here, no problems.

Now, the second level wild talent "telekinetic haul" vastly increases the weight of moved objects, going from 5lbs per 2 levels to 100 or 1000 lbs per level (without or with taking burn). In my opinion, merely this change of scale needs a new definition of "attended object". Let me explain.

Where to draw the line?
A worn set of clothing is attended, no argument there.
A plank upon which someone stands? Is that attended? maybe...
What about a ship with a single person on it?
Or a 4500 lbs rock with a 10 lbs pixie on it?
A dead tree with a fox sleeping inside? And what if it wakes up?
And if foxes count, what about insects? Can we, in fact, move anything at all?

Secondary: concerning the first level wild talent: telekinetic finesse: Can we use sleight of hand to steal something off a person using telekinesis? It seems to be RAI, but mage hand's description prevents us.

Please FAQ this. I would really like an official ruling on this.

Hello all,

Considering the Tiefling 'vestigial wings' racial trait, I tried to find rules about how much actual, functional wings would aid in magical flight. But I couldn't find any.

Although this could arise in many ways, the case I found was the following: A kineticist with the 'wings of air' wild talent gains, through greater eldritch heritage, the 'on dark wings' infernal bloodline power.

I can fully grasp that the wings themselves only give an average maneuverability and a speed of 60'. But what if they are used to aid in the magical flight granted by the 'wings of air' power? In my mind they should then give a bonus to maneuverability, and probably even to speed, also, but I can't find anything about it in the rules.

It warps my mind to think that vestigial wings would give a +4 bonus to checks, because they help with balance, and that fully functional wings would not help at all.

If no rules exist: what would you think about a +8 racial or circumstance bonus to the skill, and an speed increase of 50%, up to a maximum of double the speed the wings would give by themselves?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

Hey all, I personally feel that the oracle is kind of weak... Compare the oracle to a shaman with the speaker for the past archetype, for example, and it just doesn't get there... I've thought of the following adjustments to make the Oracle more interesting. What do you think?

Oracle: Skillpoints at each level changes to 6 + int modifier.
Epiphany: At level 5, 9, 13, and 17, the Oracle receives an epiphany. The Oracle must select one of the following list of epiphanies. Each epiphany may be taken multiple times.
Divine teachings: The oracle receives a vision or a series of visions that show her the true nature of how things work. The oracle receives Skill Focus in any skill that’s either on the oracle class skill list, or on the list of additional class skills of the oracle’s chosen revelation.
Soul Searching: The oracle encounters figments of her subconscious self in her dreams, and those figments give her challenges to overcome. Once overcome, the internal challenges make the oracle more aware and resilient to external hardships. She receives +1 to any saving throw and +1 to another saving throw.
Overcoming Mortality: The Oracle gets infused with a part of the divine power that is in her blood. She receives a +1 ability increase to an ability score of her choice. This may not be the same ability score that was most recently increased due to the ability increases gained at every four character levels.
Sacred Vessel: The oracle becomes more at one with her divine magic and receives boons by letting her power flow through her. Whenever she casts a divine spell, she receives fast healing 1 for a number of rounds equal to the spell level of the spell cast. Rounds from multiple spells do not add up, but overlap. If this epiphany is taken more than once, the fast healing increases by 1 for each time it is taken.

What is the radius of a raging song?

All the rules I can find is 'Allies must be able to hear the Song'. On a quiet day, I can imagine singing to go quite a long way (think of yodeling Swiss dudes, for example).

Does this mean that, theoretically, with a single level 12 Skald with Greater Elemental Blood (air), you could have an army of thousands fly through the air and rain death from above?

And I can imagine that magical Items may give a voice sound amplifier. A single Skald could evacuate a whole city by this measure.

In the most extreme case, a level 12, cha 29 half orc or half elf bard with 6 times the 'extra performance' feat could keep them all flying for 82 rounds. Enough to reach the next mountain, I reckon.

These are extremes, but a cha 16 half orc without any extra performance would already reach 40 rounds of flying 1.000 people using nothing but a bullhorn, or not even that, to sing ride of the Valkyries at the top of his lungs.