Weren Wu Jen's page

I am trying to create a back story for Aasimer. According to ARG they don't reach adult hood till 60 making it a 1:4 Aasimer:Human ratio.

I am wondering is that a exact even ratio or do they develop normal as infants and/or toddlers and then slow down latter.
It would suck trying to raise an infant for 3 years before they are even ready for solid food.
Also according to Blood of Angels many aasimer children think they are human. This would not be possible if their childhood friends are aging 4x as fast.
How have others handled this in their campaigns?

Actually, James Jacobs said in a post that Aasimar and Tieflings should have the same lifespans as a Human. I believe it is something that we might see corrected in the Inner Sea Races book.

Link to what JJ said

Hmmm... let's see:

Str: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 1) = 6
Dex: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 3) = 11
Con: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 2) = 7
Int: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 6) = 14
Wis: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 2) = 9
Cha: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 4) = 11

Well, let's go Human w/ Dual Talent alternate Racial Trait (no bonus feat/skill pts, but +2 to two ability scores):

Human Empyreal Wildblooded Sorcerer

Str 6, Dex 11, Con 9, Int 16, Wis 9, Cha 11

FCB: levels 1-3 = +1 hp; levels 4+ extra spell known

Ability score increases: 4th = Con; rest to Int

Character Traits: Focused Mind (+2 conc. checks), Resilient (+1 Fort saves)

Feats: 1st) Toughness; 3rd) Combat Casting; (I'd have to play him past 3rd in order to choose additional feats)

Thank you keyafay, this is an amazing resource!

Cheers!

Weren Wu Jen

My apologies for missing the limiting effect of Expanded Arcana. So, Arcanists cannot select it.

That means that the Expanded Preparation feat could be intended to increase the amount of spells prepared, as the name and fluff seems to indicate, as opposed to extra slots, as the Benefit describes. This feat definitely needs to be addressed by the Devs!

BTW: I wouldn't bother taking a feat for more prepared spells, I'd instead take the Quick Study exploit and spend the feat on Extra Reservoir.

If it was extra slots, then it's a feat that I'd take. :P

From the PRD: "Feats and other effects that modify the number of spells known by a spellcaster instead affect the number of spells an arcanist can prepare."

The Arcanist can already use the feat Expanded Arcana (from the Advanced Players Guide) to increase the number of spells they can prepare without needing an Arcanist specific feat. Also, Expanded Arcana has no limit on the number of times it can be selected.

Therefore, it's more likely that the name of the feat (Expanded Preparation) and the flavor text were poor choices.

Why make a feat with MORE restrictions that effectively does the same thing as a preexisting feat?

You're welcome Christopher!

Oh, and for everyone else, the Distant Outposts Kickstarter was successfully funded with $21,7881!

:D

I concur. I'd like to see all four sections of the Outpost unlocked.

I know he wanted it done for GenCon, but I wish he'd allotted a little more time!

Still, the KS needs $5,600 to meet that goal (though it only has until Monday evening).

Hopefully, we'll see that nearing the end "push" that often happens on KS projects!

I'm not sure (I just did the $50 pdf level as I don't use minis in my games).

If you pledge any amount, you could then post the question in the comments section.

Cheers!

The KS hit it's first stretch goal, but it needs to get to $16K for the complete outpost!

I'm not sure how to reply to that...

:O

For those of you interested, Christopher West (of Maps of Mastery fame) has a kickstarter that ends July 28th called Distant Outposts.

Here's a link: Distant Outposts

If you like sci fi maps, check it out!

However you handle it, I hope that you have fun!

Keep calm and game on!

:D

williamoak,

I don't know if you've heard of Fantasy Flight Games' new Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG. It is definitely NOT d20 (it uses really awesome custom dice that generate more than just a Pass-Fail system).

They have rules that easily translate into a social combat situation.

In fact, there is a podcast dedicated to FFGs' Star Wars RPG. It is the Order 66 Podcast. Episode 6 specifically deals with Social Combat, with guest host Jay Little, who was the Lead Designer of the system.

Even if Star Wars isn't your cup of tea, listening to that episode of the Podcast could help generate ideas about how to accomplish it in the system of your choice.

Cheers!

Weren Wu Jen

You're welcome!

:D

Student's Robes: You pick one of your Disciplines to be affected. You are treated at 5 levels higher for your Discipline powers gained from that Discipline only.

A Dual Disciple gains the abilities of his primary Discipline at the normal intervals (2nd, 8th, 14th, and 20th).

They only gain the first two abilities from their Secondary Discipline. The one normally gained at 2nd is instead gained at 10th level, and the one normally gained at 8th is instead gained at 15th level.

In your example, if you choose Telepathy to gain the benefit from the Student's Robes, then when you hit 5th level, the robes allow you to be considered 10th, and you get the first Telepathy Discipline power. Once you reach 10th level (considered to be 15th with the robes), they would grant you access to the second Telepathy Discipline power.

As for taking an Advanced Discipline, I cannot see why you couldn't--except that the choice has to be made at 1st level and cannot be changed.

Cheers!

So...how do forgeborn interact with cure spells and/or repair spells? Are they healed by repair spells like Warforged, or are they healed like humanoids?

(The rules aren't really clear on this).

From the Advanced Race Guide:

If a Half-Construct was healed differently than a standard race, it would have to be mentioned in the description. As it isn't, they are treated just like a human for healing purposes, except for being raised/resurrected (which is specifically mentioned).

Note that the Forgeborn's Source Crystal trait supersedes the standard Half-Construct restriction against being raised/resurrected.

Cheers!

Wow, I didn't expect any more traction on this thread!

I'd already told my player that he couldn't (that he'd have to treat it like a spell) and he's okay with that.

This is a nice tidbit that didn't "click" when I read the ability, though, "If he misses with this attack, he can hold the charge for up to 1 minute before it dissipates."

That settles it anyway. He has Dimensional Agility and was wondering if he could activate pool strike and then cast dimension door, using the pool strike when he got to the other side.

The answer to that is a definite, "No".

Thanks!

The Dragon Kings Project is "system neutral", but there are going to be PDF supplements for Pathfinder, 13th Age and Savage Worlds.

That is the way I've been leaning toward as far as the interpretation goes.

Thanks for you input!

Okay, one of the players in my Skull & Shackles game is playing a Magus.

He's wondering if he can activate pool strike, hold the charge, then cast a spell without losing the charge on pool strike.

As pool strike is a supernatural ability, we were both wondering if it counts as a "spell" for the purposes of the "holding a charge" rule?

That's true. Another great resource is "Skill Monkey" (which is featured on the Order 66 Podcast, but can be found individually here:

Skill Monkey

The best one pointed out how to use the actual dice the results came from to narrate the effects.

The specific episode is here: Die, Master

Cheers!

@ CapeCodRPGer -

SW: EotE runs really nicely! It's fast-paced and is a lot more flexible than most RPGs.

It should only take 20 minutes or so of actual play to start automatically sorting the symbols.

You can use maps all you want, but the fact that you don't have to is great (especially after all my years of D&D/Pathfinder).

An excellent resource (if you have the time) is the Order 66 Podcast. You can listen to them (or download them) here:

Order 66 Podcast (Feedburner)

You should head over the the Fantasy Flight Games forums to get more help on the subject!

I'm playing in a campaign, running my niece in a game (her first RPG), and when I finish GMing Skull & Shackles, I'm going to run it as my main game.

Cheers!

So, EpicFail, is this what you feel is ambiguous?:

The universal monster rules for spell-like abilities states: "Some spell-like abilities duplicate spells that work differently when cast by characters of different classes. A monster's spell-like abilities are presumed to be the sorcerer/wizard versions. If the spell in question is not a sorcerer/wizard spell, then default to cleric, druid, bard, paladin, and ranger, in that order."

Interesting, because it has NOTHING to do with Player Characters.

That paragraph is for monsters. The paragraph of the FAQ that everyone is directing you to specifically calls out PC races and their SLAs.

.

That being said, why don't you tell us what you're trying to do with this character?

Maybe then we can find a way to help you achieve your goal!

(Of course, that probably should be a new topic in the "Advice" section.)

From the FAQ for the CRB:

"For spell-like abilities gained from a creature's race or type (including PC races), the same rule should apply: the creature's spell-like abilities are presumed to be the sorcerer/wizard versions. If the spell in question is not a sorcerer/wizard spell, then default to cleric, druid, bard, paladin, and ranger, in that order."

Where is the confusion?

The SLA in question is Speak with Animals.

It is NOT a Wizard/Sorcerer spell (it is listed as "bard 3, druid 1, ranger 1"). Using the order of precedence from the FAQ, druid is listed BEFORE bard. Therefore it is considered the druid version of the spell. Druids are divine casters.

The Ragebred's SLA is therefore considered a 1st level divine spell. This is supported by the FAQ, which are OFFICIAL rulings by the Paizo design team.

So, apparently EpicFail has Epically Failed at his Perception check to even see my post...

@ EpicFail - Why are you ignoring the FAQ ruling that specifically mentions how to determine if a racial spell-like ability is arcane or divine?

Here's the link: Spell-Like Abilities: How do I know whether a spell-like ability is arcane or divine?

.

EDIT: I would also like to note that the FAQ was updated AFTER the post from SKR that you quoted at the start of this thread. The FAQ is official. That's the point of the FAQ. The Devs are only human (at least I think they're human...), and as such have changed their stances on certain issues from time to time.

They also changed things so that all official rules replies are posted using their "Pathfinder Design Team - Official Rules Response" Alias, and not a specific member of the team.

From the FAQ for the CRB:

"For spell-like abilities gained from a creature's race or type (including PC races), the same rule should apply: the creature's spell-like abilities are presumed to be the sorcerer/wizard versions. If the spell in question is not a sorcerer/wizard spell, then default to cleric, druid, bard, paladin, and ranger, in that order."

Where is the confusion?

The SLA in question is Speak with Animals.

It is NOT a Wizard/Sorcerer spell (it is listed as "bard 3, druid 1, ranger 1"). Using the order of precedence from the FAQ, druid is listed BEFORE bard. Therefore it is considered the druid version of the spell. Druids are divine casters.

The Ragebred's SLA is therefore considered a 1st level divine spell. This is supported by the FAQ, which are OFFICIAL rulings by the Paizo design team.

Jiggy, don't forget Weapon Focus and Dodge. Good solid feats for this build.

In fact, Weapon Focus is probably more useful for a 1/2 BAB character than a Full BAB character.

:D

On a side note: Does this mean you're not playing your EK build?

Well, for that you need to talk to your GM and see how he/she feels about the Tengu, not to mention the rest of your group.

If your playing in the Shackles or the Sodden Lands, they're fairly common.

They also live in the Dragon Empires.

However, a PC Tengu could end up anywhere.

Another place that they might be more accepted is the River Kingdoms.

The Shackles has a decent Tengu population.

It's considered good luck to have a Tengu aboard ship there!

Arrrr!!!

If I wanted a prepared arcane caster that can fight, I'd play a Magus.

If I wanted a spontaneous arcane caster that can fight, I'd play an Eldritch Knight.

My favorite is Ex-Sohei Monk/Empyreal Wildblooded Sorcerer/Eldritch Knight. The Sohei grants proficiency in all Martial Weapons, and gives you Wis to AC. The Empyreal Sorcerer uses Wis for casting. Nice synergy.

Cheers!

The old "Top Secret" game used d% for task resolution, and they had "00" = Zero (so it was 0-99).

We use a dry-erase board and a ruler.

No hexes or squares.

It makes movement more natural.

:D

@ Starbuck_II - If you are planning on running the Shattered Star AP and want the Acrobats to have shields to make them tougher opponents, there is another option:

Give them Darkwood Shields (257gp, CRB page 467). These are heavy wooden shields made from darkwood, and as such have no ACP.

Your opponents are a little tougher, but the PCs will get a little extra loot if they win.

As for the wording of "Expert Acrobat", yes, they could have worded it better. Remember that they are merely human like the rest of us, and as such, fallible.

The Rogue is proficient with Light Armor, but not Shields.

If they intended the Acrobat to use Shields with that class feature, they would have mentioned them in the class feature.

Giving the archetype a benefit that mentions one thing specifically (Light Armor) does not automatically include other things (such as Shields).

By default, the fact that Shields are not mentioned in the Acrobat class feature means that the class feature does not apply to Shields.

Remember, General Rules always apply unless overridden by Specific Rules (look at the latest incarnation of the Monk's Flurry of Blows class feature to see how FoB modifies TWF).

A Shield is not Light Armor. It's a Shield.

So no, the archetype doesn't affect it.

However, a Masterwork Buckler has no ACP (and you can use it without proficiency, as it has no ACP).

Let me ask you this. The Sorcerer is considered to have innate magical power when compared to the Wizard who studies magic. Even though his magical power is innate (that means that he was born with these powers because they are part of his bloodline), he casts spells, not spell-like abilities. In addition, if he takes a level in a different class (even in an arcane spellcasting class!!!) his caster level won't increase at all.

However, if a character of a race like Aasimars takes a non-spellcasting class, his innate magical powers (which are part of his race, just like a Sorcerer's bloodline) will continue to increase no matter whether he bothers to practice them or not.

In the end, I want to ask both the community and the developers: What is the purpose of spell-like abilities if they work just like spells 95% of the time? They can be dispelled, Spell Resistance works on them and the only difference is that they cannot be countered and don't have any components associated with their execution. Why not give races spells instead?

Because of backwards compatibility with D&D 3.5. You can thank WotC for SLAs.

On a similar note, I would like to point out that Sorcerers and Wizards (and even Clerics, plus other classes) also have SLAs in addition to their Spells.

Giving them those SLAs are a way to give the classes a little extra something without messing up the Spell Progression of their class. They can also regulate it more than just saying, "Hey here's some more spell slots."

Case in point: An Evoker gets Force Missile (a SLA) 3+Int times per day. It works like Magic Missile, except it is only one missile at 1d4.

Also, the very points you made: Cannot be countered, and they don't have components.

So, your Fighter has the arcane SLA Enlarge Person. As it is, he doesn't need to wave his arms about and mutter something weird. He doesn't need any powdered iron. Oh, and he doesn't have to roll that 50% spell failure for his full plate and heavy shield.

If you instead said that the Fighter has a single 1st level arcane spell slot that he can use to either prepare or spontaneously cast Enlarge Person, is he going to bother?

SLAs and spells serve different functions in the game, even if their result often looks the same.

Just my 2 coppers' worth!

Ah, I was just going off the picture in Blood of Fiends.

So, pick your appearance first, and then decide.

However, a better option than the scaled skin alternate racial trait is to just take the feat Armor of the Pit (assuming you can spare the feat, that is).

Edit: As fluff, you can say that he's got more than one fiend in his past, and that the resistance(s) is(are) from one of them.

They have fur, so Cold Resistance?

In the Advanced Race Guide (Race Builder section: Type):

Link

The first paragraph discusses it.

As for the Lenses of Situational Sight, you still have to have Darkvision to benefit. As the Rakshasa bloodline doesn't grant you Darkvision, I'd say that the item would give you 60 ft. Darkvision.

Edit: Ninja'd!

It has been covered elsewhere that weapon and armor proficiencies of creature types and subtypes are only for creatures with racial HD (creatures that have 0-HD use their class for weapon/armor prof.).

So, the Shapechanger subtype would give everything but weapon and armor proficiencies.

However, you should get proficiency in the natural weapons (that's kind of understood, even if not explicitly mentioned, from the Beast Shape spells).

The Rakshasa Bloodline is very clear: you are only treated as a native outsider for the purpose of spells and other magical effects, so that's all you get.

Ditto. I blocked him.

Another option is to either play an Agathion-Blooded Aasimar, or be Adopted by one, so you can take the Enlightened Warrior Character Trait.

Then you can be Neutral (or Neutral Good, but this is a pirate campaign).

Actually, the rule is that a secondary natural attack is only considered primary if it's their only attack.

Weren Wu Jen wrote:

Is your GM allowing you to take Scarred Witch Doctor even though your character isn't an Orc?

Yes he is. Our rational is that he was born of a wereboar and an half orc.

Shiny. :)

A suggestion for order of attacks: Technically your gore and bite are separate attacks, but a boar "gores" with his tusks. As such, I'd say that you always have to make the gore attack right before the bite attack, and only against the same target.

Claws and hooves could got whenever and against whoever.

Just remember, hooves are secondary attacks (-5 to attack and 1/2 Str to damage). You'll probably want to pick up Multiattack at some point.

Cheers!

Auskrem wrote:

J-Gal wrote:

I'm talking humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, and half-elves.

raises an eyebrow

I am unsure what the implication of your raised eyebrow is, but if it's because of the exclusion of half-orcs, I assure you, it was purposeful.

You do realize that half-orcs were in the original 1st edition AD&D, right?

Oh, and classes? Clerics, druids, fighters, rangers, paladins, magic-users, illusionists, thieves, assassins and monks were all in the original AD&D PHB.

Is your GM allowing you to take Scarred Witch Doctor even though your character isn't an Orc?

Okay, so, with what everyone's posted, here's a build:

Dwarven Brutal Wildblooded Sorcerer

Str 8, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 15 (20 pt buy--that Cha pen. hurts!)

Dwarven Favored Class Bonus: +1/2 sor lvl to damage w/ acid/earth spells/SLAs

Character Traits: Havoc of the Society (add +1 force damage to spell), Quantium University Graduate (+2 to concentration checks)

Equipment: Acid Flask (Power Focus Component, +1 damage to acid splash)

Feats:
1st) Point Blank Shot (+1 to hit/damage w/in 30 ft)
3rd) Weapon Finesse (because he gets claws from his bloodline, and his Str sucks)
5th) Precise Shot

So, damage with Acid Splash (w/in 30 ft) as follows:

1st) 1d3+4 acid plus +1 force (+1 PBS, +1 Focus, +2 Brutal, +1 force Havoc of the Society)
2nd) 1d3+5 acid plus +1 force (add +1 fav. class bonus to above)
...Increase fav. class bonus damage by +1 at even levels.

I don't think that it's necessarily a good use of your character traits, but if you take Magical Lineage and Wayang Spellhunter from the Dragon Empires Primer for a damaging cantrip, you could actually apply up to 2 levels of Metamagic Feats to it.

Empower Spell (Metamagic)

You can increase the power of your spells, causing them to deal more damage.

Benefit: All variable, numeric effects of an empowered spell are increased by half, including bonuses to those dice rolls.

Saving throws and opposed rolls are not affected, nor are spells without random variables. An empowered spell uses up a spell slot two levels higher than the spell’s actual level.

This would add +1d3/2 (so, 0-1 pt), plus half of the bonuses.

An Evoker Wizard with the Intense Spells class feature could be amusing with this combo.

Human Evoker w/ Magical Lineage (Ray of Frost), Wayang Spellhunter (Ray of Frost); Empower Spell, Point Blank Shot.

At first level he could prepare an Empowered Ray of Frost with Liquid Ice (Adventurer's Armory) as a Power Focus Component:

1d3 +1 (intense spells) +1 (liquid ice) +1 (point blank shot) +1d3/2 +1 (empower spell)

1d3 + 1d3/2 +4 (5 to 8 points at 1st)

At 4th this becomes 1d3 + 1d3/2 +6

There you go. Southern Garund and the Valashmai Jungle are good places for your catfolk to hail from.

Cheers!

Okay, so Southern Garund.

That got me thinking. I don't have my Dragon Empires Gazetteer handy, but I vaguely recall that the "nation" that's a jungle (and mostly monsters) might have listed catfolk in the inhabitants section...

If that's the case, there's work as a caravan guard traveling from the Dragon Empires to Varisia.

Hrm... okay. What about a sorcerer? Would the bloodline bonuses that are normally used help the damage from ray of frost/acid splash? If so I guess that would bump acid splash up to 1d3+3 for a crossblooded sorcerer with applicable bloodlines. That's really solid for level 1 at will effect.

Yes. For instance a draconic bloodline sorcerer with black, green or copper as their dragon type would add +1 damage to Acid Splash (It says +1 per die rolled. You roll 1d3, so add +1).

So, at 1st level with Point Blank Shot that's 1d3+3 w/in 30 ft.

EDIT: Add in a crossblood with orc bloodline and add another +1