Sophia: "Ugh... *cough* Cait! What am doing waking up on the beach?"
Cait: "Gotta sleep somewhere. Can't just run on Psycho, Jet, and liquor all the time."
S: Is that why I feel like five gallons of puke in a one gallon bucket?
C: That's how you know you had a good time.
S: Sure wish I remember what was so good about it.
C: First was offing that prick that tried to extort you for caps in Goodneighbor. Turned his back and he never saw that shotgun slug coming.
S: I did what?!? Did anyone see?
C: You offed that yahoo like I did with raiders back in the Combat Zone. Of course the mayor saw but he liked it. Not much patience for thugs that Hancock.
Then their was that research post with the Handys.
S: What the heck did I do with robots now?
C: Made yourself a small little army to try and throw off their mirelurks overlords. Didn't work out well for anyone. Then their was Salem.
S: Isn't that place abandoned?
C: Almost. Some crazy militia codger tried to bark at us for riling up the lurks. You set him straight, cleared out all the nasty neighbors for him but only after he promised to give you something worth the time. Ate good after that too.
Then the retirement home after that.
S: I really hope that was abandoned.
C: Those nanny handys were convinced you were some long lost lady. Took all their meds and then after the synths attacked you laid them all up in beds like the needed a nurse. Then their was Mt. Crabcake.
S: This can't be good. *Clears custom map marker from Pip-Boy.*
C: Some Mirelurk Queen you insisted on beating to death with that funny knife of yours and then climbed up and planted a flagpole in. Then you had some fun at the races.
S: What races are we talking about?
C: Some races the Triggermen had rigged up for raiders. We tried to blend in but they spotted is straightaway. Turned into a right bloodbath that did. After that we strolled down the beach until we found some beaten up house and insisted it must be a haunted.
S: What the hell was I thinking?
C: Don't know, but you did put some ghouls down and looted the basement. I tried to tell you we should call it a day their but you insisted on going on a bit more.
S: Just where did we go. What's this Libertalia?
C: A bunch of raiders all camped together on boats. Not so many raiders anymore. You can see them floating back over their.
S: Is that all of it?
C: More or less. We walked down the beach a bit and you passed out. The dog kept watch for us, good boy that he is.
S: What the heck is that smell?
C: Some stuff the dog decided to roll around in at the bottom of an old subway station.
S: Remind me never to do chems again.
C: Sure thing. Now turn that thing off, I got something important I need to ask you.
Sophie: smooth-talking brainiac with as much coordination, fortitude, and luck as a rabbit...
that got hit with a mini-nuke.
Day One: Woke up in a strange tube in some bunker of sorts. Lots of other people in this place but no survivors. The computers were less than helpful but this was some sort of cryogenics facility.
The place was void of life other than some giant bugs. Seems the rest of the staff died from revolt or starvation, or at least that's what the 'Overseer's' computer led me to believe. He also remarked on some 'cryo gun' he was working on but it was rather secure. I'll have to check back after I work on my lock picking abilities. Funny what you can learn to do when you need to.
Getting out of this tomb proved impossible without the aid of this handy Pip-Boy. Not only does it interact with the Vault door, it also has dozens of buildings plans and construction guides as well as a handy planner. I've become rather attached to it and I don't think the deceased scientist will mind if I borrow it.
A large elevator, thankfully still working (after how much time?) emerged on some small house near a housing area. I picked up whatever I thought I could make use of on my way down, which is quite a bit.
I spent most of the day scavenging around town and avoiding some floating robot of unknown disposition. I found a house to bunk in near the exit of town, appraised my gathered gear, and decided the next chance I got I was leaving this blue jumpsuit behind.
I've put a little bit of time into the game, but I've not made too much progress, at least I don't think I have. Combat is challenging but not quite as bad as some games I've played. So far I haven't touched any online team capabilities but I was sorely tempted for one fight.
I've started up two new characters, mainly for the fun of trying out new weapon types in parallel.
The bow wielding huntress Sindrea and her partner Nightshade and
A more personal character:
Steven and Tuli. You might recognize the cat name from here. I figured I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a butt kicking partner cat and not name her after my old cat.
I haven't settled on what sort of weapons to test out on the other character but it'll likely be a gunlance, buster sword, or other melee weapon. My first used the Insect Glaive extensively and I think that has a very unique play style.
I'll share the experiences of my new characters starting tomorrow, likely starting with Sindrea.
I'd also like to hear from anyone else there experiences with the game.
I've had a chance to read through this a time or two now and I have to say that all three classes in here are very cool.
The Troubadour might take a little bit of note keeping* and the Sage a little bit of planning, but the Prodigy is not for the inexperienced.
This is not a bad thing though; I actually like the existence of classes that require a bit experience to pull off.
*:
I made my own set of character sheets awhile ago that, little did I know, one of my friends spent quite awhile trying to find them online. We both had a good laugh when I told him it was my own making and he mentioned his browsing for them.
I'm not too sad about the Vigilante. It was a character that was set up as tactical combat support and have some good RP stuff. Well, the group isn't exactly tactical in combat and RP doesn't occur very often. He was almost useless.
Well, I had to start the Scholar out at level 10 and quickly leveled to 11.
Let me try and recall all that I can without my sheet.
Tradition - Canny Huntsman
Equipment - I think I put something else into equipment for a future feat but I don't remember right yet.
Another feat into extra Knack, can't give that up with so many wonderful options.
Materials - Howling Herbology, Circle of Salt, Silver, Gold, Ammonium Nitrate
I figured a DC amping material with some dispels and holy damage rounded out some usefulness the party definitely lacked. I just picked up Ammonium Nitrate so powerful CC is also going to be awesome.
Feats: Extra Knack, Toughness, Fast Learner, Extra Combat Talent...
Don't remember exactly and it wasn't in that order obviously.
I went Human and traded out the bonus skill point and feat for Skill Focus feats and a scaling bonus on Craft (alchemy).
I have pumped healing as hard as I can and picked up the relatively cheap magic item to further supplement it. With Expert Healer and the benefits level 11 gives me, I can turn a healing kit into a miraculous tool.
My offense is mainly focused on identifying something (swift), communicate weakness (move), throw basic flashbang (standard).
Following turns my actions could vary greatly but I try to shoot something with a trick arrow flashbang that burns focus to augment with a material (standard). This forces a Thread the Needle save and a Flashbang save. The DC is very high since I prioritized Intelligence over everything else. A move action later and I have focus back with Focusing Reload. With my swift I can continue identifying targets for future move actions or heal people.
My weaknesses are my saves and to a small degree my AC. Identify Rhythm helps a bunch as well as Uncanny Dodge and I plan to grab a few buckler focused feats to use it while I use my bow. Circle of Salt is going to be my save booster, at least when it comes from spells and supernatural sources. A constant source of SR should also help, though nothing has tried to pierce it yet.
There are lots of other ways I could have taken this but it works very well. Perhaps even too well, I've told the other players that if they feel this character is over-contributing, I'll tweak him down some.
Been awhile since I chimed in here but I'm a fan of the changes. The reasons given were exactly what went through my head when I saw the changes that were made. Makes sense.
I also love the Scholar I created for an ongoing campaign. My Vigilante become completely aggravating to play and my GM told me it was cool to make a new character.
The GM might be slightly regretting letting me do this however, the Scholar is a very strong class and I definitely tried to maximize my effectiveness.
...starts shuffling along behind me in my wind shadow (i'm big enough to have one)
I used to have people hide behind me at the bus stop in middle and high school to escape the wind. Nice to know I wasn't the only much larger than average person that has performed the "human wind break" role in life.
Beernorg wrote:
Large hands...large pencils (for writing...you dirty dirty folks ;P)
Funny but long story:
During a presentation back in high school my group was in charge of entertainment of the 19**. Boxing had become extremely popular in that decade which also served as a backdrop for racial tensions. Perfect, I decided to pick that and made a tri-fold board explaining boxing and the big fight I role-played that was happening tomorrow. (The idea to role-play that came from a female student and partner in the group that knew I played D&D)
Day of, teachers and the inactive groups this presentation rotation came visited each group. I explained the stances, how to hold your arms, make a fist, and throw a punch. One of the two teachers came by and I went through my spiel and I helped show her how to stand and square up. When I helped her form a fist she commented on the size of my hands, looking down at her hands she noticed my feet and commented on their size.
I said something like *Ma'am, I know how the saying ends. We can just stop right there."
It was only a week earlier that I had heard the end of that particular off-color saying from my, now, mother-in-law.
BNW wrote:
Sitting on the branch is a raven. Doing a damned good dog impression.
I watched a video of a raven imitating a very loud "meow" to try and drive dogs crazy in a shelter once. As soon as the person looking at the bird was seen by the bird it quickly swapped to normal noises. Clever little buggers.
I love the Vigilante class. It is very well done and is probably the best class Paizo has put out.
I'm playing one now in Curse of the Crimson Throne. Any issues I have with the class directly relate to the group and in no way reflect on the design of the class.
Glad to hear you are doing alright John. I know for sure it can take awhile to get over something like that. I had a similar situation with one of my cats.
I'll spoiler it just so people can avoid reading it easily, it's sad.
Sad story:
Seriously... you've been warned.
I came home from work one day and found Tuli laying on the floor near the back door and didn't even move when I walked in. I immediately knew something was wrong because she normally walks over to get petted before flopping over on the ground to get belly rubs.
Grabbed the wife and headed to the only 24 hr emergency vet in town. A few hours later, I stand next to the table petting her as I tell the vet to put her out of her misery. We later learned that she died from an abnormally shaped heart that caused fluid buildup. Thankfully I had a picture of her saved on my phone when she was laying with our other cat, Lily.
I've had pets die, buried them, watched the vet euthanize them... whatever, and it never hit me really hard. I was a kid for all those and never had a deep bond with the pet.
Tuli picked us out really. We came in, she demanded to get attention from inside her cage while the other cats just lazed about. We took her home and kept her and the other cat separated so Lily could slowly get used to her. Tuli lived in our bedroom for a few weeks while Lily had the house to herself. After that they got along alright.
Tuli ended up claiming me as her human and I provided a good warm lap to lay on with pets and belly rubs included. It worked out great.
Since she passed we got another cat, a little kitten that has grown into a cat sized kitten, named Waffle. He is a lovable little spaz that enjoys tormenting the other cat, running around the house like crazy, and laying on my lap.
That was tough to type out. Hopefully by sharing it I can heal some.
I would say that adding this to the next subscription shipment tripled the weight, but I added some hefty books to this recently, so now the unfortunate UPS person is probably going to need a pallet-jack to move the order.
Not to steal any thunder from Dreamscarred Press (I love your stuff, seriously) there is an interesting supplement from Drop Dead Studios, (Ships of Skybourne) that might interest you.
The Vigilante class can help in keeping a powerful separation between the family and the adventurer, so long as he keeps his Vigilante powers away from his Social persona.
That's... beyond stupid if it turns out to be the reason -_-
Did they petition the metaphysical laws of the universe and get a bunch of signatures or something???
The Eoxian Ambassador to Pharasma kindly requested that the act of ripping shreds of a soul and cramming it into a vessel to no longer carry the metaphysical stigma of evil.
Mark, I have a really odd idea and I just want to know if its even something worth considering for my own experimentation.
Unchained has this beautiful table for the Automatic Bonus Progression (ABP). I loved it because it gave me a great guideline about when I should expect to have certain items based on the internal math of the game.
What I'm wondering is this... could you turn the ABP around as a sort of scaling debuff to monsters?
Well seeing as how I still intend to play Pathfinder as well I kinda can't :3
I still try to remember as much of their meanings for Pathfinder as I can, but I know that chalkboard is full of smudges from 3.5 and stuff covered in 5 layers of FAQS and erratas.
I just want to keep this new one clean until I get the Rulebook. Hopefully the book will stay cleaner than the mental chalkboard. :)
Captain, you are reminding me of the eleven years I worked in retail.
Started pushing carts and bagging groceries. Cleaned up the occasional mess.
Then I got transferred. My domain became everything from toys to hardware and the small amount of automotive.
Fast forward a bit and since I had been there for, well, longer than most anyone else, my responsibilities changed to "doing whatever anyone anywhere needed because I could get it done."
Unloading a truck, restocking anything, assembling anything, running a register, managing the fish tanks, even closing my half the store for 3rd shift.
No critter proved itself to be as scary* at Boy Scout Summer Camp as the raccoon.
I only had a close encounter with a raccoon once and it was rather funny. I brought a cooler with me and at the Scout Masters directions all coolers should be padlocked shut. So, I had it chained and padlocked closed almost all the time. One night I awoke to a scratching and whining from inside the tent. I look over the side of the cot, see the dim outline of a critter and two eyes. I mutter "good luck with that" and roll back over to sleep. Raccoon didn't get anything from me that week, but the other less prepared campers weren't so lucky.
Be Prepared. It's the motto for a reason.
*:
New campers are warned numerous times that you are now in the raccoon's backyard. Expect him to raid your tent for food if you leave it out. When you get back from the dining hall after dinner, he might be in your tent when you get back if you weren't careful.
If you are worried about something, send customer service an email or you could open a thread in the customer service forum.
I'm not a betting man, but I would guess that they are very busy taking care of lots of stuff related to these subscription lines, so it might be a bit till they can get back to you.
Fear not, from all of my previous interactions I can attest that they are an awesome bunch of folks.
A druid-like moment I remember from Boy Scout summer camp.
Bird:
Incredibly hot and dry July. The few weeks before the camp had no rain, that week had none and it was over 90 most days. The dining fly was the only shelter from the sun and we methodically moved the camp chairs to stay in the shade.
One day, a little before noon, a bird flew down onto the table next to me. It didn't move much, didn't look much at me, and it just stood there. I'm not sure if birds regularly leave there mouths open to expel heat quickly, but this one surely was.
After a few minutes I poured some water from my canteen into the cap for the bird. I didn't watch the bird much after that... would you like being stared at by a creature more than 10 times your size... but it left sometime after we left for lunch.
Another fun memory of Boy Scout camp involving
Ants:
A boy was getting ready to throw out some licorice (or something like that) when he noticed ants had crawled into the package.
I asked him to bring it to me instead. I pulled out a piece and happily ate it and the ants. Crunchy little guys that now tasted like candy. After a few more pieces the ants started to run out of the package.
No Wild Empathy with vermin, but they got the point well enough.
In the Curse of the Crimson Throne group I'm in right now, we have a Paladin of Sarenrae.
The group:
A drug user and criminal that the law just hasn't been able to nail.
A Tiefling that loves burning things, especially people out to kill him.
A Calistrian that doesn't say much but loves stabbing things and throwing them with Telekinesis.
A Vigilante (To the party I'm just some magic swordsman guy) that spends most of his time gambling.
He gives us an example to live by, a few of us try to do good by him once in awhile but we have caused him to fall once. (It was by inaction and a very pragmatic decision... the GM jokes that our alignment is Pragmatic Good)
Paladins can get along fine with a group that isn't evil, despite them being screwed up, so long as the player knows how to do it.
Another thing to think about; we have a pretty diverse crowd here, anyone know a charity or know someone that works with charities that might be able to help?
Took another look at all the Troubadour's abilities. As it is now it is an impressive class with tons of versatility.
The Mentor provides a nice caster level bonus to keep up with mid casters and being able to purchase more Magic Talents as quirks makes it incredibly flexible. I don't think I'd ever use a low or mid caster as a 'save or suck' caster; but for buffs, heals, and some area denial, absolutely.
Heros get full BAB so they can always keep up with the attack roll bonuses without needing to invest a ton into extra stuff.
Cunning Servants and Lovers each capture particular aspects of popular classes and make them powerful class features. Great.
Fools are particularly entertaining to read; being rewarded for the dice gods hating you.
The Villain is interesting as it borrows some stuff that you normally see with particularly heinous archetypes or the Antipaladin. Nice way to borrow those tools and make them available to a normal character. Nice job.
I love the tropes but the thing I think is perhaps the most powerful feature of the whole class is this...
CotS Playtest Document wrote:
It is possible for a troubadour to permanently change one of his personas into a completely different persona, but doing so requires 5 days of work.
Snipped to a more easily displayed size.
So, after making a bad decision or two, with a little bit of downtime a player could completely overhaul one of their personas and tweek it into something better for them and the party.
That amount of wiggle room in a class is something I love to see.
In a closer reading I noticed this line of text.
CotS Playtest Document wrote:
A troubadour gains an additional persona for every 5 troubadour levels he possesses, and gains these personas instantly when he gains the appropriate level, as it is assumed he has been working on these new personalities in his spare time during his adventures.
Could we get this progression added into the Table:Troubadour? Something like 'personas (3)' at level 5 and so on.
Seems like some people might miss it in a quick skim.
