Xavier Dorland's page

Oooh shiny. Already am running a modern style game using the anachronistic classes exclusively. Will try to have my players who are enforcers put this to the test. Have an enforcer knee-breaker and an enforcer weapon master (from the tough). They party alongside a daredevil acrobat, an investigator psychic, and an investigator combatant.

So far they've been mostly dealing with NPCs and the occasional animal, so should I continue as I have or playtest them against more fantasy-traditional critters?

All of this is sounding pretty exciting. Will new Legendary rules also add Mythic options? Such as Mythic Path abilities that require Legendary feats or class features? Or perhaps even Legendary feats or possibly even prestige classes that are especially made for Legendary Mythic characters or critters? Legendary rules are pretty rocking already, but once you add a revamp as well as Legendary Mythic support? Plenty of room for plenty of books there, and I'll be buying every one!

As far as third party goes, more Little Red Goblin stuff is obvious, but a big fan of the Dreamscarred psionics, and am also quite fond of the dreadfox Swordmaster. Supergenius expansion would be a major bonus, especially the anachronistic adventurer line. I'm sure whatever you pump out will be some high quality product.

I'd support an expansion/revision. I'd especially like to see how compatible you could make it with the mythic rules. Deific rank as an expansion of mythic tiers/rank? I like how that sounds!

Some Legendary Eastern support would also be great. Once you have whichever path you choose to do set in stone, several Legendary Bestiaries would be an infinite blessing.

Well, I'd up it to 5d10 and then 6d10 (or 10d6). As a personal preference, I try to keep the number of actual die rolled to a minimum to speed up play. I can't recall off the top of my head for any official rules for damage over a certain size, but that's where common sense and the GM's judgment call comes in.

Switching to the mentioned d10s allows for a nicer mathematical ease of use and clean averages. Need to know the next size category of attack? Just add on the d10. If taking the example to its uppermost heights, I can see a d100 roll (or percentage dice if you don't have what I lovingly call the golf ball) being a reasonable resolution.

These things can be devastating if done right. My buddy has a game he does with some of his friends, and he had me build some NPCs for him. I only built two mechanically different NPCs. One, which represented the 8 soldiers in the group were 13th level fighters with NO magical equipment. The other was a level 16 Fighter/UrPriest/Holy Vindicator. He used this group of 9 NPCs, who, as I said had NO magic items to hold off a group of 5 fully decked out and well built level 20 player characters. From what I hear, they almost lost even!

It's pretty amazing what you can do with two rounds of clerical (urpriestian- and the ONLY non-pathfinder core thing I used) buffing and a group of fighters using sound tactics and circumstance bonuses.

While I don't have the Ultimate Combat book, yet, I'll take a quick look at the damage die table from core and the prd. Closest thing they have is 2d10 goes to 4d8, which is what I would have suggested originally. 4d10 wouldn't be too far of a stretch over 3d12, and they set the precedent. I'd go with 4d10. Enjoy double hackbutting something!

It's nice to see how many people here have some really nice solid ideas as far as epic/mythic should go. In my group, we alternate who is GMing. Myself and two of my friends. All three of us have had a game apiece that have gotten to the 20th level cap. One of my friends ended his game. I put mine on the backburner and with that particular game pull out the retired character sheets for cameo games. And the last friend is also delaying his game while he and I work on making 20th level+ playable.

As has been said before, the standardizing of the progressions on attacks and saves are a good thing. In fact, even though I'm not a big fan of 4E, their core mechanic of 10 +1/2 level for attacks, ac, and defenses was brilliant and gave a nice anchor to tie everything to. One thing we've been toying with is the idea of an epic bonus to AC (that just gets tacked onto the base 10) that is equivalent to 1/2 your level past 20 (of course, keeping the attack and save progressions at the 1/2 level). However, we've decided to limit the total different kinds of bonuses that can be applied to any one thing in general at any one time. While having a cookie-cutter style character IS boring, having wildly diverging target DCs, ACs, and attacks for any certain level is even worse.

So we came up with the base bonus +prime ability modifier (for saves, attacks, or AC) +class bonus +feat bonuses and 3 other bonuses. For attacks this will obviously be from your weapon, and then possibly from a buff or two. For AC, armor, shield, natural, deflection and luck come to mind. For saves you'd have your resistance bonus, morale bonus, and maybe a luck bonus. Yeah, there are other types out there, but, as I said, we've found that by limiting the number of bonuses you can use at once, it really lets the GM know where the players will be ballparking (which in turn lets the players feel like they're equally competitive, which can be a problem in some groups).

Epic spells from the ELH went right out the window. Personally, we just capped it at 12th level spells (nostalgia), and 10th level spells came at 21st level, 11th at 30th, and 12th at 35th. These are true spells and not just metamagic. While said slots could be used for that, we wanted to have that newer set for the OMGWTFROFLMAO uberman spell whatever player wants to design (while sitting down with the GM and hashing it out for approval).

Honestly, none of our games have used EXP since low levels and level-ups are given out as warranted. But the math is still there for whoever is interested. Haven't really seen a need for higher bonus items. Epic people can overcome epic damage reduction with magical weapons in our games (or magical with a non-magical weapon). We've really been considering Upper Krust's four artifacts system for equipment. Basically, it's just four signature items that grow with the character. It's pretty neat.

I know this post is long, sorry. Hopefully it can help contribute to the amassing ideas! :)

Oh, I get he's enhancing the paper. My point being conceptually. If I can enhance paper to the point it's taking THAT much damage...why not enhance something that's even more durable? Like somebody's facepiece.

This is tough. The Magus was awesome. There are tons of cool new feats (paladins got some nice love, IMO). There were a lot more cool things for other classes too, but these were the ones I liked most.

I'll openly admit that I don't "get" scrollmaster in the slightest.

+1 to this. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to treat that paper and parchment as such. One hit and it's gone. Magical paper or not, a great wyrm red dragon, a +5 vorpal great sword, or a rapier or puncturing...it's ripping your little script to shreds. I don't know what they were shooting for here, but it makes me a VERY sad panda.

Just got Ultimate Magic and am looking forward to Ultimate Combat. A "Mythic Book" will be a monster of a challenge, but I have faith the guys here at Paizo can handle it. Keeping in with the spirit of the "ELH, NOW!" why don't I just list a few things that were mistakes (and I'm sure they've been said before, but a collaboration of ideas that don't work and possible solutions for them would definitely be of help).

This will be a little long, sorry.

Advancement: Yeah, the whole "hey I'm growing feats in funny places" advancement in ELH was kind of a put off. As has been mentioned, a more natural progression would be nifty. But we're MYTHIC now, so we want our new class features to grow in that direction. 36 would be a good "soft" cap. Then maybe one of those little mysterious tack-ons they do sometimes about supposedly being able to go up to level 40 with each level representing a different stage of divinity (demi, lesser, intermediate, greater). IF divinity is handled, the gods should have even more powerful options. And maybe some auto "I win" abilities against lower level opponents (for flavor of course), but not against mythic opponents. After all, aren't fantasy stories and myths sprinkled with godlike people who have bested said gods? Oh, and the standardized advancement? I can see the need for it. It makes sense to keep stuff in a manageable range. It's already hard enough to challenge some character's saves while just totally destroying another. Do we as players want standard? Not really, but there has got to be some way to shore up all those gaps without telling me my paladin no longer gets full BAB.

Magic: Epic magic kicked the crap out of the 3.0 ELH. Yeah, built in DM clause, but even still. Great idea, and I like how words of power worked better, but the way they had it implemented left a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths. From a DM perspective, I'd much just rather have higher level spells with guidelines for them. Maybe an expanded Words of Power for these higher levels that'll help be a guideline of what you can or should have.

Monsters: Challenge Rating. They were all over the place and I'm sure maybe one or two of them accurate. Yeah, it'd be cool to see some mythic level opponents in this, but I think it's just as, if not more so, important to give the Mythic book more support by putting a few mythic-level threats in the bestiaries. We'll need everything from fiercely territorial beasts to world-shaking behemoths. I want wolves similar to Fenrir and BIG monsters that'll make Godzilla look small. Rules on sizes larger than colossal would be nice. Can you just imagine how cool it'd be to fight a 4000 ft long construct with multiple parts you have to disable to even have a chance of stopping it? Pretty BA.

Items and Wealth: I'll be honest, not a fan of the Christmas tree effect in any implementation of D20, but this isn't here or there. The ELH pushed it even more. Maybe some options to slowly wean characters off them so they can focus more on iconic-style stuff. Yeah, of course we want more items, but I can think of WAY more cool things than a cloak of resistance. Maybe feats that add these? Eh, maybe not, that'd just be a feat tax. How about items that are kind of like the tomes and manuals that give permanent effects of these kinds? I could get behind that. It'd still eat your wealth but leave you with more room for cool stuff. Oh, and on the topic, we need ways of representing wealth that makes it easier to handle. "Yeah, come check my vault. Last time I had the accountants check, I've got over 9 billion gold pieces in here!"

Adventures: Yeah, more hooks! You know, not everybody can imagine the kind of power level we're talking here and making any kind of adventure for that might be hard for them. So, a section on running adventures is a must. Adventures should become increasingly complex to challenge our MYTHIC! characters. Maybe you COULD teleport to the BBEG at the beginning, but he's ready for you and there's so much you can do in the meantime to make his life miserable. Simple solutions are meh at best. I think if you were to publish a mythic adventure, it should be iconic in and of itself. An adventure that highlights what it means to be this powerful. One that explains why not every 30th level wizard isn't blowing up moons and such. "Sorry we weren't here to help Mr. Level 20, but me and my level 36 buddies were busy outside reality at the time preventing the Great Old Ones from devouring the multiverse. Thanks for taking care of that tarrasque lich!"

Feats and abilities: I want scenery to be wrecked. A level 30+ battle should have chances of ruining a small mountain range. But not just absurdly powered stuff. Cool stuff in general. My monk? Yeah, he's got perception so high he just qualified for a feat that grants blindsense! My rogue is so precise with his sneak attack, he ruptured a bunch of internal organs on this dude with a poke the guy didn't feel. He died the next day unaware he was a target. I've noticed, from a lot of my players at least, the express desire for unarmored combat options. I can't say I blame them. The concept of a two-weapon fighter who is parkouring all over the place dodging and parrying arrows and dragon talons is pretty wicked.

And this is just stuff for a FIRST book. As it's been posted before, a few books introducing more monsters, more adventures, more powers, more gods...all of it will be needed to support it. At least, that's my 9,0001 coppers.

To expand on the Complete Scoundrel idea... I think it'd be cool to have some kind of trickster archetypes.

For example, you could have one that could pick up acrobatics tricks to run on walls, another to make a high DC roll to get an extra 5 foot step, or another one to springboard off of enemy and get a bonus from that.

And some martial love would be good, too. Like a crowd-control machine that gets the cleave and great cleave feats for free. Later it could gain the ability to make a full attack with the attack at the lowest bonus being a cleave/great cleave, and possibly working up from there.

Then some kind of spell stuff would be fun, too. Tricks like, maybe bouncing a lightning bolt off a nearby wall to get a higher save DC using some high skill check would be neat-o. Or some kind of spell-bluff to make it harder for enemy casters to ID your stuff, possibly even making them think it's something else.

I see these all being like rogue talents where you give the regular stuff for the class and you get to pick some of these depending on level. Anyways, the stuff I've gotten from SGG has been awesome so far, so I know you can do it!

Oh, and the title Stylish Archetypes would be a sure-win for purchase purposes.

All good ideas. Had one myself that I use that might be interesting. Kinda stole it from 4th edition. Natural '20's could flat-out kill the zombie and a standard crit (I'm looking at you keen scimitar) could disable the zombie for 1d4 rounds. Never really considered the fast zombie template much, though. Maybe 1d4 -1 for them? You're giving ME more nasty and fun ideas for my own games... hope it helps!

Wow, that's a lot of good advice and it's hard to decide from which to go. Those are some good ideas for the cleric build (and close to what I had in mind). Looked closer at the oracle idea, and that could work. But then again, a bard/pathfinder savant could be handy, too. Hmmm... Tough choice. Thanks for the advice so far!

Is she going to be adventuring with the party, or just following them around, taking care of the entourage of peons and such?

If she's adventuring, how about a bard? I know that's not what you might think at first, but Sarenrae has some bards in her clergy, and with the ability to heal, buff, and generally get along with most people that would be a natural fit. Put her 17 in charisma, her 15 in int (for skills), and her 14 in dex, 13 con, 12 str, and 11 wisdom. She can stroll into towns playing and singing the good word of Sarenrae, while the big bad paladin stands back in his shiny armor and gives a silent reminder that Sarenrae has a strong side too.

If she's not going to be adventuring with the group, but is instead holding down the home office and keeping track of things, go for a cleric build, but boost her int as her second stat, and give her skill points as her favored boosts, basically turn her into a skill monkey/healer that keeps the books. Give her some item crafting feats as well, to make things while you're out adventuring.

She'll be more of the "hold down the fort" type. I had considered the item creation feats, as well. Would skill focus (diplomacy) and persuasive be worthwhile? With a base diplomacy of 10 from ranks, 3 from it being a class skill, and the +6 and +4 from the feats, that'd be an impressive bonus.

More than likely (and for their best interest) she will train and keep track of the followers, too.

Thanks for the input!

(Okay, I'll try to post again, boards keep eating posts and displaying them as empty...)

Okay, I'm playing a level 12 paladin who is going to be picking up a cohort sometime soon via the leadership feat (finally, yay!). The cohort will be an already existing character in-game. So far that character's definition has only been 1)she's a human, and 2) she's a childhood friend of the paladin. They both will be followers of Sarenrae. The cohort recently died and was brought back by the party the paladin is in.

I already rolled up her ability scores and consulted with the DM (the character is going to be a cleric). Her ability scores are :13,15,12,14,17,and 11. Not bad if I do say so myself. So the advice is on her build itself. I know she won't be involved in much of the adventuring and certainly not in heavy combat, so doing her as a support character sounds like the best path. Problem is, I'm a n00b when it comes to divine casters, for the most part. We have access to Pathfinder Core and most 3.5 stuff (pending the DM's approval, of course). So, any advice will be welcome. (Checked various other cleric things and most of them seem to focus on, "I'm the cleric and I destroy everything because I'm that awesome!!!!", and that does not fit story and flavor or function here).

If any additional flavor/backstory information is needed, I'll be happy to supply it.

Thanks!

Okay, I'm playing a level 12 paladin who is going to be picking up a cohort sometime soon via the leadership feat (finally, yay!). The cohort will be an already existing character in-game. So far that character's definition has only been 1)she's a human, and 2) she's a childhood friend of the paladin. They both will be followers of Sarenrae. The cohort recently died and was brought back by the party the paladin is in.

I already rolled up her ability scores and consulted with the DM (the character is going to be a cleric). Her ability scores are :13,15,12,14,17,and 11. Not bad if I do say so myself. So the advice is on her build itself. I know she won't be involved in much of the adventuring and certainly not in heavy combat, so doing her as a support character sounds like the best path. Problem is, I'm a n00b when it comes to divine casters, for the most part. We have access to Pathfinder Core and most 3.5 stuff (pending the DM's approval, of course). So, any advice will be welcome. (Checked various other cleric things and most of them seem to focus on, "I'm the cleric and I destroy everything because I'm that awesome!!!!", and that does not fit story and flavor or function here).

Oh, and if you need more background/flavor information, feel free to ask.

Thanks!

Tempest? Doesn't have to mean "two-weapons." Could be a raging storm of steel and flame. ...

Savant? A student completely devoted to smashing face. ...

Einerjar? Who wouldn't want a great fighter/mage for Ragnarok? ...

Myrmidon? Imagine if Achilles would have had stone-skin and protection from arrows, and haste in effect..

Tempest? Doesn't have to mean "two-weapons." Could be a raging storm of steel and flame.
Savant? A student completely devoted to smashing face.
Einerjar? Who wouldn't want a great fighter/mage for Ragnarok?
Myrmidon? Imagine if Achilles would have had stone-skin and protection from arrows, and haste in effect...