I’ve been GMing a game of 2e recently, and the one thing I’ve found consistently is that my character who is playing a wizard seems to have less fun on his turns in regard to being creative and strategic with the three-action system. This is primarily due to the fact that virtually all spells are at least two actions, leaving the third action a little in the dust.
Please note this is not another “casters are weak” thread; nor is it necessarily just about optimization (although certainly some options are bound to be better). I just wanted to see how folks playing casters tend to use their actions in ways that are fun for the player and/or mechanically interesting.
Right now I’m seeing a few options:
Basic:
Strike
Stride
Step
Raise a Shield
Skill Actions:
Recall Knowledge
Trip
Disarm
Create a Diversion
Feint
Demoralize
Treat Wounds (with Battle Medicine)
Command an Animal (requires an animal)
Conceal an Object
Hide
Sneak
Palm an Object
Steal
Personally, I’d like to see the Rogue Dedication offer access to Finesse Striker (the rogue Dex to damage ability) rather than Surprise Attack. This small change opens up a wealth of builds (e.g., Dex-based but still melee paladins, fighters, barbarians, rangers...)
If this were to happen, I’d also like to see the addition of Thievery as a signature skill change to a choice between say, thievery and stealth.
I’d be interested if folks think this is unbalanced. I just think it opens up a lot of new options in a single simple way.
Heal is a really cool spell because it takes advantage of the three action system in a really interesting way. Not enough spells do this!
I’m not saying that all spells should have 1/2/3 action versions, but more certainly should, especially cantrips which need to be more of spellcasters’ bread-and-butter. This lets players do interesting things with fewer choices during character creation/spell selection. And then interactions with metamagic become more interesting too!
Here’s an example with Ray of Frost:
One Somatic Action: Melee range only
One Somatic, one Verbal: As written
One somatic, one verbal, one material: The Target also takes 1 persistent cold damage
Simple changes like this make players feel like they have more agency and choice in what they’re doing, and I think that the three action system feeds into this beautifully.
I'm planning this campaign out now, and is it just me or does the final fight seem underwhelming? Ariadnah isn't really a "recurring" villain apart from her legend being discussed in books 1 & 2, and the star seed is cool but not exactly an evil genius behind everything.
I'm thinking of replacing Ariadnah with some kind of representation of Count Lowls' spirit or mind that is attempting to complete the ritual while his body has been subsumed by Xhamen-Dor. This necessitates changing some of the lore around her to reference other events instead, but that's outside the scope of this post.
Rather than a bard, I'm thinking of having Lowls be a silksworn occultist 16, with some kind of template that grants incorporeality to represent it being his spirit rather than his body. Ghost, animus shade, and a few others seem like great options, and a silksworn occultist not only works well thematically, but is a pretty potent support caster for the star seed.
Anyone else have thoughts about this final fight for what you did, or know of any templates that would be appropriate? Thanks!
Given that it's unlikely the Eldest (gods of the fey) will receive the deific obedience treatment any time soon, I've gone ahead and tried my hand at creating one for Magdh, the seer of the eldest.
I'd greatly appreciate any feedback, including any balance needed or rules clarification. Thank you!
Considering making a Drow Antipaladin, and I'm a little confused about the text of their favored class bonus... any help would be appreciated. The text is the following:
Advanced Race Guide wrote:
Antipaladin: The antipaladin adds +1/4 to the number of cruelties he can inflict.
Does this pertain to the number of cruelties available to the antipaladin (letting them pick an additional cruelty) or does it mean another cruelty is actually inflicted when using Touch of Corruption? The first interpretation seems more reasonable, but the second is of course more powerful.
Hi everyone - one of my players is interested in an item that acts as a bit of an emergency button should he die (he's a wizard). I came up with this, the Amulet of Second Chances. Thoughts on this item in terms of balance would be greatly appreciated, especially as far as price is concerned. If you'd like to alter spells or effects, try to keep it in a similar vein.
Amulet of Second Chances
Aura strong conjuration (healing, teleportation) and strong transmutation; CL 13th
Slot neck; Price 60,000 gp; Weight 1/2 lb.
Description
This simple golden chain holds a talisman in the shape of a chalice that is bejeweled with a hundred tiny diamond studs. Once per week when the wearer of the amulet is killed, precisely one round after his death (at the end of the turn of the creature that killed him, if appropriate), the amulet immediately whisks the wearer's body away to a "safe" location within one-third of a mile. ("Safe" is relative and up to GM discretion - it could be home if the wearer is nearby, or perhaps simply an unoccupied broom closet.) The wearer may not choose to stop this effect, as he is dead. Removing the amulet from his body within one round however (a standard action), will cancel this teleportation and all further effects of the amulet. Upon arrival, the amulet creates two additional magical effects. First, the wearer is affected by a breath of life spell, following all rules and limitations of that spell. If breath of life fails to revive the wearer, no further effects occur. Second, the wearer is affected by a randomized version of the alter self spell. The wearer takes on a new humanoid or monstrous humanoid form according to the table below, but this transformation takes 2d6 minutes (during which time the wearer is helpless) and lasts for 5+2d6 days as the wearer slowly reverts to his own form. During this time the amulet may not be used again. If a person removes the amulet while under its transformation, he gains two temporary negative levels that cannot be removed unless the amulet is put back on before the duration of the alter self effect expires. If he does not do so the negative levels become permanent, as does the alter self effect.
Further, once per month the wearer may activate the amulet's breath of life ability on another creature by placing its tiny chalice up to the creature's lips and mimicking a pouring motion as a standard action. During the month after this use of the amulet, it becomes completely inert and its diamonds become drab and dull. Worshippers of Cayden Cailean frequently fashion these amulets for foolhardy adventurers, with the chalice in the shape of a tiny beer mug.
Construction Requirements
Craft Wondrous Item, Extend Spell, Enlarge Spell; alter self, breath of life, clairvoyance/clairaudience, dimension door, status; Cost 30,000 gp
Table 1: Possible races
1-3; Human
4-6; Elf
7-9; Dwarf
10-12; Halfling
13-15; Gnome
16-18; Orc
19-21; Goblin
22-24; Hobgoblin
25-27; Kobold
28-33; other (see Table 2)
33-66; use previous race but sex is altered
67-100; use race nearest to where PC revives
I have plans to frame one of the PCs in my Kingmaker game for murder most foul... he's expressed interest in going from CN to CG (and in worshipping Cayden Cailean), and I think one way for him to do that is to realize that people actually *could* see him as doing something so heinous, and correcting his behavior after a moment of realization. (He's in on this a little bit, but the details of how it will go down are in my control).
So basically, I ask of the amazing Advice boards - how would you frame a PC for murder (or some other heinous crime)? There are so many delicious ideas, I think I'll refrain for now from posting my own to see what you guys and gals come up with.
A little bit of background info:
Spoiler:
The PC is an 8th level wizard of the Air school, and is Magister of the PC kingom. His pet projects are a recently-built Academy and meeting with the Old Beldame and other magic-users to trade spells, if you're familiar with Kingmaker. Most of that is irrelevant though. The character's personality is of the neutral-because-of-a-jaded-past variety, and is selfish but not unreasonable.
I did some poking around on the boards, and didn't see too much about this yet. My players have just completed RRR and have a bit of kingdom building downtime ahead of them. One of my player characters, a shamanistic barbarian, is interested in meeting the Talon Lord Barbarians (I changed the name because tigers in this region seemed silly to me) after hearing rumors of their existence to the west. I'm thinking meeting them would be good as part of a side excursion to visit the Drelev Demesne a little early. Namely, before Pitax has had too much influence on the area.
The players have met the Drelev Company before in Restov when the charters were given, so they at least would recognize Hannis and Pavetta, as well as Imeckus Stroon (as well as Terrion Numesti and Satinder Morne; IMC they were hired by Hannis to come along on their charter, and is the reason they are in the Demesne to begin with). The question is though, what would Fort Drelev look like before Irovetti's minions (that is, Armag) cowed it?
I'm conceptualizing it as a fairly prosperous port city on the Slough, bustling with trade and basically having the city have a lot more life than described in the AP. Drelev isn't really a bad guy in this case, he's just a little apathetic, and has spent a lot of the kingdom's money on luxuries for himself (when welcoming the PCs, he will be sure to impress upon them how prosperous his nation is). I'm also thinking of adding a few small settlements in the areas nearby, like a small town on Wyvernstone Bridge, for example.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this, or advice on how to proceed? Did anyone else encounter a similar issue? Further, how should I deal with meeting the barbarians? I'd like to keep the Black Sisters out of the picture for now, perhaps hinting at "wise women" who assist Armag (would he even be called Armag at this point?)
With the newest GW Blog post, I'm really excited to see that training is becoming a finite resource that can be bartered and sold. I do have a concern though, namely that it will not be on par with trading physical goods. This is for one reason:
Upkeep.
Upkeep is what drives any economic system. As items leave the market after being used to the point of no longer being usable, crafters are there and ready to supply a brand new - and possibly improved - version. Or alternatively, are there to "reforge" the sword or "patch holes" in the wizard's robe. Either way, you're paying upkeep on the gear you own, and this upkeep continually keeps money flowing through the economy.
Yet with training, I'm worried that it will be a system where, once you've purchased the training, you do not need anything else. Sure, you'll need to return to train better skills/abilities/feats (I'm just going to say skill from now on for simplicity), but once you have a skill, it's yours forever. You theoretically never need to return to that place of skill training.
There are upsides and downsides to this. The upsides are for the consumer, the downsides for the training establishment. So what will keep the training establishment in business? Is it new customers, purchasing skills as they gain XP? Or is it old customers returning as they continue to advance (assuming the training facility keeps pace their advancement)?
While I'm not sure what the best way is to resolve what I see as a problem, I can offer a few opinions.
Solution 1:
This is largely a player-based solution. Training is expensive. Since you get to keep it forever, there should be a high fee for learning a skill, especially at upper tiers of play. Training facilities would subsist off of the large(r) payments of upper-tier players as they wait for lower-tier players to reach a similar level of skill. Rinse repeat. Additionally, larger fees are likely required of upper tier characters because by necessity, a significant portion of income will need to go into improving the facility. This is because if they want upper-tier characters as a significant source of income, they will need to be able to continually offer upper-tier skills.
Solution 2:
This is more of a GW-based solution. Training is not as expensive, but skills require upkeep (practice) to stay sharp. Over time (personally I would say time logged in, as that's when you're "using" your skills, but there are other solutions), a skill gradually decreases in efficacy. If this is the solution enacted, I think this should be a very slow decrement, such that you only need to really re-up your training once or twice a month or so, or it will get annoying quickly. And after a while, skills near the bottom of the pyramid stop needing to be re-upped as you become an expert or master at them. So, recently-acquired skills need continual training until mastery. This would allow for training establishments to charge more of a constant, low fee for training (perhaps with a larger installment for the initial skill purchase), rather than have to gouge trainees with a one-time fee. I think it would also allow the "training economy" to operate more smoothly and similar to the crafting economy.
Any thoughts on this? I love the idea of monetizing skill training, but I think it does need to be more than a one-time purchase to keep the training economy afloat (thus I like option 2 better). What do others think? Do you think this is even a problem?
Hi all - first, let me thank pretty much everyone here for great inspiration thus far for changes to my kingmaker campaign, especially DM_Dudemeister for his excellent additions to RRR.
My players have just finished up the main plotline of RRR, and I'd like to get some feedback from other GMs before continuing on with the next plot point I'd like to drop into the game: a truncated version of Realm of the Fellnight Queen. Currently, I've only dropped hints about Nyrissa, and as you'll see below, if I implement what I'm thinking, it's actually Rhoswen who's been manipulating the Stolen Lands so far. Basically, I'm looking for feedback on whether you guys think what I have plotted is feasible, and if you see any plot holes before I go on with it, because I can still revert to the traditional storyline at this point.
Relevant History:
Spoiler:
In my history of the Stolen Lands, Nyrissa was once the consort of Count Ranalc, and she gave birth to a daughter (Rhoswen) long ago before even Starfall. A little while before Starfall occurred, Rhoswen noticed the elves of Kyonin begin searching for a new home (what would eventually become Sovyrian on Castrovel). Rhoswen brought the elves' activity to the attention of her parents, and they looked on as elves in what are the present-day Stolen Lands sought out a new home. They were intrigued by the idea of other worlds; in their corner of the First World, none had thought to look for realms beyond the readily apparent diversity in the First World around them.
From their observatory atop Talon Peak the elves scouted for possible locations of their new home, discovering not only Sovyrian, but also locations on Golarion’s Moon and on other worlds in Golarion's solar system. Now with several locations noted, the elves continued with phase two of their plans: to build a gateway to these worlds, and explore them for one hospitable to the elven people. It was on Candlemere Lake where the elves headed up this effort; a powerful confluence of ley lines on the lake proved to be essential for their world-spanning magic.
All the while, Nyrissa, Rhoswen, and Count Ranalc watched on. They even subtly guided the elves to pursue stranger and stranger vistas, fascinated with the surprising amount of variation the Material Plane could show. Candlemere thus became a testing ground for the elves’ interplanetary portal magic, and it is from here the elves explored the vistas spotted through their observatory, and also different planes - including the Shadow Plane and the First World. Eventually the elves explored Aucturn, the Stranger. When the connection with Aucturn was made, however, it drew the attention of the Lurker in the Threshold, Yog-Sothoth. (This is all inspired by DM_Dudemeister: link). The elves who were present at Candlemere when this occurred were enslaved by Elder Things sent through the portal, and retreated to the Talon Peak observatory to pursue unknowable goals. Elves not at Candlemere sensed the evil that had occurred there when they returned, and abandoned their survey of worlds—settling on Sovyrian as the destination of choice, and taking all of their research with them to Iadara to begin building the elf gate that would take them to their new home.
This left an opening for the fey. Each of them were interested in a different aspect of the elf gate: Rhoswen in the Dark Tapestry, Count Ranalc in the powers of the Shadow Plane, and Nyrissa in using the gate to peer through the mists of time itself. The fey faced a problem, however. Starfall had occurred on Golarion, and the night sky was obscured with dust. With the help of her parents, Rhoswen was able to bring a copy of the gate room on Candlemere Island whole cloth into the Fellnight Realm (essentially the prototype of Nyrissa's plan to bottle the Stolen Lands). From the dark of the Fellnight, the trio was able to gaze at the stars without interruption. For years they studied the darkness of the skies together, peering through ancient eons and using the portal to explore strange vistas.
It was Nyrissa's peering through time that condemned them, however. She saw, far in the future, her own death at the hands of heroes. Not wanting such an event to occur, she began building her own realm in the First World, the stonghold of Thousandbreaths. Magdh, Eldest of prophecy and fate, did not enjoy her demesne being trespassed upon, and particularly did not enjoy Nyrissa's attempt to change her own fate. Convening a council of the Eldest - save Count Ranalc - Magdh sent the Jabberwock to attack Nyrissa's stronghold before it was complete. Its mission was not to kill her, but instead to rend a piece of her away, and to then guard her in her realm. Using ancient magic, the Eldest council severed the Thousandbreaths into its own demiplane off of the First World, and forbade Nyrissa ever from leaving it. They cast the piece of her that the Jabberwock had rent off (Briar) into the Material Plane, beyond Nyrissa's reach. Thus, Magdh cleverly turned Nyrissa's stronghold into a prison, where she could await her death at the hands of heroes far in the future.
Taken as collaborators, Rhoswen and Count Ranalc were not spared sentencing. Rhoswen's Fellnight Realm too was severed from the main portion of the First World, and the elf gate's connections were severed with it - all save the connection between Rhoswen's copy of the elf gate and its twin on Candlemere Island. This they sealed with a warding keystone of adamantine in the version of the gate in the Fellnight Realm, cursed so that no native to the realm could ever touch it. None could get in or out while the wardstone existed, save for Rhoswen's otherworldly will-o'-wisps, who were ineffectual against the wardstone itself. Cruelly, the Eldest also made it so that the Fellnight was in eternal twilit sunset - just bright enough that Rhoswen could not gaze into her beloved Dark Tapestry.
Count Ranalc was banished similarly to the Shadow Plane, where he met his fate at the hands of the Arclord Nex many years ago.
Ok, so that's the historical background information. Now, to the present day:
Spoiler:
In the thousands of years she has been in the Thousandbreaths, Nyrissa has used her knowledge of portal magic gleaned from the elf gate to create the Fable, a device possibly even more powerful than an operating elf gate, at least within her realm. From it, and a copy of the visionary lens found in the Fellnight Realm, she has been quietly watching the Material Plane, looking for signs of Briar and of the heroes from her vision. Now that the Age of Lost Omens is here, Nyrissa feels that she may have an opportunity to finally escape her fate.
Though she cannot leave her realm fully, Nyrissa has devised a clever method of projecting her image through mirrors (see here for the inspiration of this). Basically, she cannot leave line of sight from the mirror while projecting herself through it. Using this, she has been subtly affecting events in the stolen lands and beyond for some time now, preparing them for her bottling ritual. She has collected the souls if Rogarvian nobles to power her spell (she is the reason behind the vanishing of said nobles; Choral struck a bargain with her for his powers that had unintended consequences), and now she concerns herself largely with Irovetti and Pitax, and allows Rhoswen to deal with threats nearer to the elf gate, only occasionally aiding her with items such as the cursed ring of animal enmity from RRR. They communicate through sending (replace one of Rhoswen’s 4th level spells with it) and through this method of mirror transport, as neither can leave their respective realms. Nyrissa does this not out of love for her daughter (as that part of her was rent away ages ago) but out of a mutual desire for revenge on the Eldest.
And now what to do currently:
Spoiler:
This means that basically throughout books one and two of the AP, Rhoswen stands in for Nyrissa. She influenced the Stag Lord, as well as prodded Hargulka into attacking the PC kingdom. My PCs are at an interlude now after defeating Hargulka, and I want to make sure I execute the next part right.
The kingdom is on good terms with the lizardfolk tribe on the Candlemere, so I think I'd like to run the wedding scene from Fellnight Queen instead as a celebration of the start of spring (or summer, depending on when I want to spring this on the PCs) on the lizardfolk island. Instead of Tenzekil the gnome, a lizard folk shaman (let's call her Isserya) has been communing with the ancestors on Candlemere Island, in an effort to restore balance after it is revealed "the trolls" tricked them into worshipping a will-o'-wisp (actually Rhoswen, who was helping the trolls). Isserya stumbles through the gate on Candlemere island into the Fellnight Realm while attempting to commune with her ancestors, the first creature to do so since Rhoswen's imprisonment (the gate is only active, appropriately, at twilight.) Isserya enters the realm through the copy of the elf gate in the Fellnight Realm, where Rhoswen has built her fortress around her copy of the gate. Seizing on the opportunity to finally escape, she sends a geased (using the visionary lens) Isserya back through the portal, carrying the wardstone with her. Isserya returns to the Material Plane with no memory of the encounter, rousing from her enchantment with her claws dirty with earth - she'd buried the wardstone in her private sanctuary.
She returns to the lizard folk tribe believing to have gone on a spirit quest, and holds the spring ritual to honor the ancestors she believes inspired it. In actuality, Rhoswen left one final directive on the enchantment - to invite the PC rulers that have been a thorn in her side for so long to the ritual, and use it kill them once and for all. Instead of bees, substitute in dragonflies, as these are more appropriate for lizard folk. After Isserya summons the dragonflies to attack, she faints cold, her geas expended. The fellnight spriggans attack en masse led from the rear by Agai (from Varnhold Vanishing - he should escape if at all possible), and mist rolls in to the lizardfolk village.
Assuming the PCs drive off the attack, it’s likely they will have some questions for Isserya. She will explain all that she remembers, which is “communing with the spirits” on Candlemere, and then waking up in her home with dirt-covered claws. She offers to take them through the mist to her home, a modified version of Dead Man’s Drop from Fellnight Queen. Basically, it’s a small spring-fed pool carved into the southern cliffs of lake Candlemere with a druid’s hut on the bank of the pool. En route, the fog thickens. The wardstone is buried in the mud here, and she can point out to the PCs where she remembers waking, and further - touching the wardstone a second time restores her memories. When they arrive at her hut, however, the entire area is shrouded in fog generated by the water elementals and the wardstone. After the PCs slay the water elementals, the fog clears... and the PCs realize they are cut off from the exit to the lake by Agai’s forces. He waxes poetic about Duchess Rhoswen’s armies arriving, and orders them to surrender.
Fortunately, Isserya can get the PCs to safety. She calls to them to gather around her, and she casts communal ride the waves on the party. They dive into the pool, following her lead through a hidden tunnel under the water that emerges somewhere to the west of her den. The PCs should encounter nixies along the way that warn them of the multitudes of spriggans coming from Candlemere Island. Once they are on land, Isserya then explains what she remembers in full, going into detail about how Rhoswen got her to dislodge the wardstone and carry it through the portal, which Rhoswen activated with her staff. (This should key the PCs into thinking that the staff is linked to the portal’s activation.) She urges the PCs to go back to Candlemere Island and go through the portal - which will be active any moment now. She will return to her people to help King Vesket defend them from any of Rhoswen’s armies, though she is normally a pacifist.
The PCs must brave Candlemere Island, which now has several Spriggan camps on it, and reach the gate room at the top of the tower. At this point, I plan on running Fellnight Queen normally, with the gate in Candlemere opening up to the gate room in Rhoswen’s Palace (it is replacing the Dungeon and cavern system for me, and Jaxir and his spriggans make up the guards of the gate room rather than jailers. If PCs try simply replacing the wardstone, they find it doesn’t work; it needs to be sealed into place with magic (the crook). As the PCs ascend through the palace, have them spot through the windows massive armies of spriggans gathering under different banners - the ones they’ve seen so far are just the forward guard. Since they could never hope to deal with such a threat militarily, this should impress on the PCs that they must try to seal them in the Fellnight Realm instead. When the meet Rhoswen directly, reflavor her shadows to instead be inky blackness from the Dark Tapestry; simply reskinning them should be enough to impress upon the party that she is incredibly knowledgeable about the darkness between the stars - at least those from 10,000 years ago. Before she dies, or if any PC approaches her throne, she should call out “For you, mother!” and cast spark (or a shadow evoked fire spell if PCs are nearby) on an open book casually lain across her throne - this is her personal journal of the most important events since her imprisonment, and by destroying it is concealing vital information about Nyrissa that the PCs might otherwise find. This is one last act of familial fealty before she dies. Consider leaving some choice passages near the beginning and end unburnt, as teasers to the party. Definitely don’t reveal any information about Nyrissa herself yet at this point.
Finally, a little resolution:
Spoiler:
Once Rhoswen is defeated, Spellcraft and Knowledge: Arcana checks with the crook of Cildhureen should allow players to glean enough information to realize it is essential in resealing the gate to Candlemere, and will allow them to return to the Material Plane. Though they don’t have much time in the palace (due to the massive armies outside), the PCs should at least find a copy of Zuddiger’s Picnic (gifted to Rhoswen from her mother via mirror transportation magic - sort of her little joke), and the scraps of Rhoswen’s personal journal, as mentioned above. Additionally, plant little items in her bedroom reminiscent of the Stag Lord (perhaps a replica of his helm made of thorny branches) and Hargulka (perhaps a map matching that found in his den, but beautifully made, and in Sylvan), clearly implicating her in their actions.
From here, the PCs should return to the Material Plane with some mysteries solved, but other questions, as well. Now they know who was behind the Stag Lord and Hargulka, yet who is Rhoswen’s mother? Nyrissa does not take the death of Rhoswen particularly hard; she did not love her any more after all. Yet still, she now recognizes the PCs as a much bigger threat than before, and decides to begin dealing with them herself. She starts by waking an ancient lich...
Thoughts? Plotholes? Concerns? Do I reveal too much by having Rhoswen here, or is it a decent “mid-boss” that reveals just enough to keep PCs guessing? Please let me know what you think, and feel free to borrow liberally if you like it!
So I'm building an archer paladin of Shelyn for a Carrion Crown campaign, and I'm looking for some advice on which build to pursue. Both are using a human paladin as a base for roleplay reasons. I've poked around the boards a bit, but still having trouble settling on an option.
The first is straightforward - either straight paladin or divine hunter. Likely vanilla paladin, possibly with Oath of Vengeance.
With divine hunter, I'd probably just put Weapon Focus in at level 3 or so.
The second option is a paladin/bard/arcane archer build that I like because it seems a little more versatile and fits with the flavor of the character. It sacrifices LoH progression and Smite damage/use per day progression but gains lots of skills, some spells, and the Archaeologist's Luck ability (which makes up for some of the loss in BAB and Smite).
Long-time lurker, first time thread-starter, yadda yadda...
So I know Paizo is pretty good about this in their APs and modules, but after doing a few searches of this forum I hadn't seen anyone else request this: I really hope that PFO does a good job of representing minority groups in the game.
I for one get a little tired at seeing time and time again Straight White Men speaking to other Straight White Men about this and that... I beg you to please try to ensure within the framework of the stories you want to tell that there's a good mix of diversity to the game in terms of NPCs and story / quest lines. I certainly appreciate it when it does occur in video games. Of course, this being a fantasy setting, this also applies to other races as well.
Speaking of which, tokenism (not to be confused with Tolkienism...) is also something to be avoided. Is the only dwarf in town the blacksmith? Is the only elf in town the wizard? Are women consistently portrayed in domestic roles, or roles that rely largely on men? (See the Bechdel Test for movies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLF6sAAMb4s) Are there people of color represented in a non-stereotypic way? (Ameiko is of course a pretty good example of this.) Are LGBT people visibly represented at all?
I'm not saying women can't be mothers, housewives, or vamps, and dwarves can't be or even typically are blacksmiths, but it goes a long way when games try to portray characters as real people and not just as sum of tropes. Though tropes can be great at times, they can also be a little tiresome and expected. I'm not looking for anything specific to come out of this post, other than I hope that the developers take things like this into consideration when building and designing the game. I'm looking hugely forward to the game, and would be disappointed if it were prone to the same types of things that make me roll my eyes at other games.
Hey guys! I'm hoping some of you might be able to help me optimize this build I've been working on of a cleric of Cayden Cailean for the Jade Regent AP.
The flavor I'm going for is charismatic and a bit rascally; for his background I'd imagine he's a brewer or perhaps a liquor merchant.
Here's a link to the character sheet at first level:
So I'm in a bit of a unique situation. I have a group of friends that I play board games with a few times a month, and recently they have shown interest in RPGs. I have a fair amount of GM experience, and am the only one with tabletop RPG experience (the others have some experience with video game style RPGs and the fantasy genre in general though.)
I picked up the Beginner Box after hearing rave reviews and have read through it a few times. We're using the pregen characters, FYI. I'm ready to GM, but I have a few questions for you guys. I'm planning on being verrrry gentle with them in combat, but other than that:
What's the best way to go about communicating the rules?
What's the best way to help new players learn to roleplay?
What should I do if one or more players feel uninterested after playing for a bit?
Any general tips and tricks to help make a player's first time memorable?
So I'm creating a Life Oracle for a new Kingmaker campaign I'm about to start, and thought it would be a good idea to ask around for advice first.
I did some searches on the messageboards (and online in general) and haven't been able to find too much about how to get the most out of an oracle, so I thought I would ask here. This will be my first Pathfinder campaign, but I'm already loving it based on my devouring of the rulebooks and setting guides. I'm no stranger to D&D in general though. My characters in the past have leaned melee (a skirmisher, a melee druid) and an arcane caster or two (bard, wizard) - so I thought I would go for more of a support/divine caster role.
So now that you know a bit about where I'm coming from, I decided on the Oracle class because it seems to offer a lot in terms of roleplay, and also some pretty cool abilities in through the revelations.
Here's what I've gotten worked out:
Sex/Race: Female Half-Elf
Class: Oracle (Life Mystery)
Deity/Belief: The Green Faith
Alignment: Neutral Good
Ability Scores (20 Point Buy):
STR 12
DEX 14
CON 12
INT 12
WIS 12
CHA 17
Oracle's Curse:
Haunted (Fits well with my background story, and the granted spells are nice too)
Revelation:
Channel Energy
Traits:
Fast Talker
Ease of Faith
(Fit in well with my backstory, and go well with trying to fill the "party face" role.)
Skills:
(One extra for favored class)
Bluff (+8)
Diplomacy (+11)
Heal (+5)
Knowledge (Nature) (+5)
Spellcraft (+5)
Survival (+5)
Spells:
0-Level:
Create Water
Detect Magic
Light
Mending
Ghost Sound
Mage Hand
1st Level:
Cure Light Wounds (Automatic)
Bless
Shield of Faith
As for equipment, I currently have her with scale mail, a buckler, a morningstar, a sling, and a dagger plus other random inventory. Since this is Kingmaker, I tried to strike a good balance between in-combat utility and out-of-combat utility. So what do you guys think? Am I missing anything glaring that would make my oracle a cut above the rest?
For the third level revelation, I plan on taking Life Link, and using the feat at that level to get a second revelation, Energy Body. I figure this is a good "damage swap" combo, letting me heal my party members essentially by healing myself. A thing that might be good to keep in mind is that I play with a fairly large party (of which I am the main healer), which is why I thought that a Life Oracle would be an interesting choice to play. Also, I'm conflicted as to how else I should help in combat... is my role more at range or up close? I have the AC to stand up front, but if I go down, then the party would likely follow suit unless they can figure something else out.
Any thoughts or advice are welcome, and thank you in advance!
