Goblin Squad Member. Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber. Organized Play Member. 571 posts (632 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 1 alias.
I'm looking for references on a variety of topics as I start planning a pretty large adventure for a home game. Since the wikis I've found seem to be incomplete, lacking any recent citations on major topics, I'm looking into buying some APs or Campaign Setting books for additional information. Is there any good list of what topics come up in which products?
The Brawler archetype Winding Path Renegade's School Power for Mystery of Untwisting Iron states:
"At 14th level, any weapon the winding path renegade wields is treated as adamantine."
Generally, when something is treated as a material for DR, it explicitly states that. For example, Brawler's Strike says:
"At 17th level, her unarmed attacks are also treated as adamantine weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and bypassing hardness."
So, does that mean that the Winding Path Renegade treats his weapon as adamantine in all respects? That is, as long as he's wielding does it
Bypass DR/adamantine?
Bypass hardness less than 20?
Have 20 hardness?
Have 1/3 more hit points than a normal weapon of its type?
Pretty soon I'll be passing off my current DM mantle to another member of the group and rejoining the campaign as a player. As such, I'm starting to figure out what exactly it is that I'll be playing.
The Unchained Monk actually looks pretty fun, especially with Ascetic Style to keep all the fun unarmed stuff while still getting to use a weapon. This is a primarily urban campaign, so Street Style seems like a solid bet, too.
A few notes on character creation:
- I'm expecting to come in at level 12 or 13 with standard wealth by level for whichever one.
- We play a bit loose with weapon proficiency. If a character uses a weapon or type of armor long enough, they gain proficiency as a story-type thing. As a result, I don't really need to actually take the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat for the Urumi.
- We use a stat array of [18, 16, 14, 12, 12, 10].
- In general, all Paizo published material should be allowed. Third party content can be used with DM approval.
So, here's what I'm thinking.
Human with Str 18+2, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 10. All ability score increases from level will go to Strength. This is a pretty feat intensive build, so I think keeping the feat and skills is more worthwhile than Dual Talent.
Class progression will be Unchained Monk 6 / Weapon Master Fighter 3 / Unchained Monk X. The 3 level fighter dip doesn't seem to hurt too much and lets me get all of the feats needed to pull the build together much more quickly. Notably, by taking the Weapon Master archetype, I get Weapon Training 1, removing the need to take Martial Focus to qualify for Weapon Style Mastery as well as allowing the use of Dueling Gloves for the additional +2 to attack and damage.
Here is the feat and class feature progression. (I think the spreadsheet format is a lot more readable than trying to format it here on the forum.)
Favored class bonuses will go toward the Human bonus of +1/4 Ki to make up for the lost ki progression from multiclassing. I think Wisdom in the Flesh with Stealth and Honored Fist of the Society are my best bets for traits.
For magic items, I'm obviously going to want a keen urumi with as high of an enhancement bonus as I can reasonably afford. In terms of wondrous items, I'll want monk's robes, dueling gloves, a necklace of ki serenity, and the best belt of strength and headband of wisdom that I can reasonably afford. Is there anything else I should be going for?
Any other comments or suggestions? Any really good third party material that I should ask for approval to use?
First off, here are relevant citations for what all of these things do:
Weapon Style Mastery: Lets you combine a Weapon Style with a regular Style.
Ascetic Style: Allows you to apply the benefits of feats with Improved Unarmed Strike as a prerequisite to the selected weapon. A 5th level monk can apply this to any weapon in the monk weapon group.
Street Style: Can only be used in Urban terrain.
Street Carnage: While using Street Style, your unarmed strike critical multiplier is x3.
Am I correct in saying that these all combine to allow a monk to use an urumi (1d8, 18-20/x2, monk weapon group) with a x3 critical multiplier while in urban environments?
Adding in Improved Critical or the keen property for a 1d8, 15-20/x3 weapon sounds a little bit ridiculous, but it seems like this is legal.
EDIT:
I've been playing with this a bit. Even as a human, it doesn't seem terribly viable to get this combo going before about 13th level -- at least not on an Unchained Monk chassis. I think that somewhat blunts the effectiveness, making it far more reasonable.
First off, here's the text of the Blood Intensity bloodline mutation:
Bloodline Intensity:
Whenever you cast a bloodrager or sorcerer spell that deals damage, you can increase its maximum number of damage dice by an amount equal to your Strength or Charisma modifier, whichever is higher. This otherwise functions as —and does not stack with—the Intensified Spell feat. You can use this ability once per day at 3rd level and one additional time per day for every 4 caster levels you have beyond 3rd, up to five times per day at 19th level.
This ability replaces the sorcerer's 3rd-level bloodline power or the bloodrager's 8th-level bloodline power.
(Source)
On the face of it, this seems pretty straightforward. If a 15th level Sorcerer with 20 Charisma uses Blood Intensity with a Fireball, it will deal 15d6 damage as a 3rd level spell. This is the same damage as an Intensified Fireball, but it is more limited in uses per day in exchange for not requiring a higher level spell slot or having the longer cast time of spontaneously applying metamagic.
However, since the maximum damage increase scales based on your Charisma, rather than being set at 5 levels worth, this means that a 20th level Sorcerer with 30 Charisma can cast a Fireball that deals 20d6 damage.
Is that all correct so far?
Here's where I really start questioning things. Each successful hit with Battering Blast deals 1d6 damage per two caster levels, up to a maximum of 5d6. Assuming an appropriate caster level, an Intensified Battering Blast would deal 7d6 per hit. "An intensified spell increases the maximum number of damage dice by 5 levels." this is essentially reduces to 4 in this case, since the fifth level is not enough to hit the next scaling breakpoint.
Blood Intensity, however, states that "you can increase its maximum number of damage dice by an amount equal to your Strength or Charisma modifier". There's no mention of level here; it increases the maximum number of damage dice directly. Does this mean that our Sorcerer with 30 Charisma can cast a Battering Blast that deals 15d6 per hit, assuming a sufficiently high caster level?
Optimization musings:
If this is the case, we also get to consider that Battering Blast adds an additional blast for every 5 caster levels past 5th, without a cap.
A level 20 Sorcerer has a starting caster level of 20. The feats Bloodmage Initiate, Varisian Tattoo, and Spell Specialization can increase the effective caster level by 4, and all of that can be doubled via Spell Perfection. Add in an Orange Ioun Stone and the Gifted Adept trait to hit a caster level of 30. On top of all that, add the Orc bloodline and Blood Havoc for a total of +2 damage per die.
Suddenly, we have a Sorcerer that can cast a 3rd level spell that can hit up to 6 times for 15d6+30 each. Add Empower and Maximize Spell to bring it up to 6 hits for ((15d6+30)/2)+120 each as a 5th level spell (since we're using Spell Perfection anyway). Assuming every blast hits, that's an average of 967.5 force damage in a casting, and we can throw in a Quickened Empowered Battering Blast for another 742.5 average damage, totaling to 1710 average damage in a single turn at the cost of two 5th level slots and two uses of Blood Intensity. That doesn't even account for the chance of a critical hit somewhere in there.
The Orc bloodline arcana is amazing for blasters, and probably justifies the Blood Arcanist archetype by itself. It comes with a bunch of strength increase, though; is there any good way to actually leverage those top good effect?
An Inquisitor with the Sanctified Slayer gets a total of 6d6 of sneak attack by level 19.
Sanctified Slayer stacks with the Green Faith Marshal archetype to take the Crocodile domain, which grants a total of 3d6 sneak attack that explicitly stacks with other sources.
Taking the Rogue variant multiclass grants a total of 4d6 sneak attack.
Do all of these sources stack completely? Do you actually end up with 13d6 sneak attack? (Or in the case of a Vivisectionist Alchemist with VMC Rogue, 14d6?)
Long story short, I'm trying to homebrew a Mesmerist archetype that gives it more of a divine caster flavor. Any thoughts?
Alignment: A divine mesmerist's alignment must be within one step of his deity's, along either the law/chaos axis or the good/evil axis.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The divine mesmerist also gains proficiency with his deity's favored weapon. This alters the mesmerist's weapon and armor proficiency.
Aura (Ex): A divine mesmerist of a chaotic, evil, good, or lawful deity has a particularly powerful aura corresponding to the deity's alignment (see detect evil for details).
Divine Spellcasting: A divine mesmerist casts divine spells drawn from the mesmerist spell list.
A divine mesmerist can't cast spells of an alignment opposed to his own or his deity's. Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaotic, evil, good, and lawful descriptors in their spell descriptions.
This alters spellcasting.
Divine Grace (Su): At 2nd level, a paladin gains a bonus equal to her Charisma bonus (if any) on all Saving Throws.
This ability replaces Mental Potency and Towering Ego.
Touch of God (Su): At 3rd level, the divine mesmerist can bring forth divine energy with a mere touch.
A good divine mesmerist (or a neutral divine mesmerist who worships a good deity) gains the Lay on Hands and Mercy class features, using his divine mesmerist level as his effective paladin level. An evil divine mesmerist (or a neutral divine mesmerist who worships an evil deity) gains the Touch of Corruption and Cruelty class features, using his divine mesmerist level as his effective antipaladin level. A neutral divine mesmerist of a neutral deity must choose one of these features. This choice cannot be changed.
This ability replaces Consummate Liar, Touch Treatment, and Glib Lie.
Mesmerists Tricks: In addition to the normal Mesmerist Tricks, the divine mesmerist may also select one of the following.
Destiny Bound: When the divine mesmerist implants this Trick, he must also expend a use of Lay on Hands or Touch of Corruption. This trick can be triggered when the subject takes damage. If the divine mesmerist expended a use of Lay on Hands, he heals the subject as if he had just used Lay on Hands, including any applicable Mercies. If he expended a use of Touch of Corruption, he damages the subject's attacker as if he had used Touch of Corruption, including a Cruelty.
Prayer Blending: When selecting this trick, the divine mesmerist must select a spell from the cleric class list of a mesmerist spell level he can cast. He adds this spell to his class list as a mesmerist spell of its cleric spell level. This does not add the spell to his list of spells known. He can instead select two spells to add in this way, but both must be at least one level lower than the highest-level mesmerist spell he can cast. A divine mesmerist can select this trick more than once.
Hey all. I've been working up a character for TarkXT's upcoming campaign. No idea if I'll get in, but I've been very intrigued with my first foray into the Warlord, and I want to keep tweaking the character regardless.
Here is a link to my character's alias, with complete stat sheet, and here are the instructions we were given:
Character Creation Guidelines:
Character Creation
~20 Point Buy
~LVL 3
~Full HP at 1st. Half+1 every level after.
~Dwarves, Humans, Half Orcs, Halflings, Gnomes, Tieflings, Aasimar, the elemental races, and Samsarans.
~No 9th level casters. Yup, no wizards, witches, clerics and all that. Magic is ubiquitous and powerful but not to that level. Also no Summoners.
~No Brawlers, Barbarians, Cavaliers, Gunslingers, Swashbucklers, Slayers, Rogues, Fighters, or Monks. Including Unchained versions.
~Sphere’s of Power (except Cleric sphere archetype), Path of War (including the new harbinger and mystic stuff) and Machinesmith allowed. Other 3pp allowed with discretion (though it’s an automatic no on 9th level casters)
~We’ll also be utilizing These Feat Tax House Rules to alleviate many feat taxes and allow for a stronger variety of characters.
~Two Traits or Three with a meaningful drawback
~Abilities that raise caster level in the case of sphere casters can only raise it up to character level. Never beyond.
Can you all spot anything I can do to improve the character?
Also, while it's a ways off now, is there any reason I shouldn't eventually take the Dragon Fury prestige class? It looks like the only real trade off is losing some maneuvers, but everything it gets looks way better than the last ten levels of Warlord, even if I don't multiclass to make use of Dragon Fury Training.
I'm joining an already-in-progress campaign tomorrow, and I'm trying to figure out what exactly to play.
The campaign apparently has a murder mystery theme to it, and will be heavy on role play and light on combat. I'm primarily expecting skill and social encounters.
Here's what I know about the existing party:
Bard/Rogue
Bard/Barbarian
Investigator
Sorcerer
Spellslinger
Strength Rogue
Holy Gun
Brawler
For character creation:
All Paizo material is allowed
Third party material is possible with DM approval
I'll be starting at 3rd level
Standard two traits
Ability scores use this array: 18, 16, 14, 12, 12, 10
With a party that large, I'm pretty sure there's going to be some amount of overlap no matter what I do. Any suggestions?
I was thinking about a Psychic Detective Investigator; that sounds like it might feel different enough compared to the normal Investigator.
Are there any archetypes or anything that would end up being close to a Magus/Investigator or Bard/Investigator hybrid? That seems like it could be fun.
So, I've been looking over Spheres of Power a lot lately and considering incorporating it into a home game as a full replacement for normal magic. On the whole, I think the system is really solid and a great way to bring casters more in line with martial characters. My main concern, however, is that it removes a lot of the distinctions between classes.
Normally, there's a lot of flavor built into the spell list for each class. The Cleric's spell list looks a lot different than the Wizard's, for example, and the differences reflect a lot about the different flavors of the classes. The Inquisitor has a lot in common with the Cleric and Paladin, and thus has a good bit of overlap in the spell list, but also picks up a number of spells that fit the infiltration flavor, like invisibility. As spherecasters, though, you get none of that distinction. A Wizard can be just as competent a healer as a Cleric, and that feels a little weird.
It appears that there are some tools to remedy this in the form of casting traditions. However, this seems like an incomplete solution. As far as I can tell, you're only intended to have a single tradition. So, if the flavor of Wizards and Clerics comes primarily from differing traditions, how do you keep that flavor if a player decides to multiclass in each? It seems a little wrong to prevent a player from pursuing the flavor of a Mystic Theurge (though of course the actual prestige class doesn't fit with Spheres of Power at all).
Has anyone else run into this sort of dilemma? Any interesting takes on how to handle it?
For a home game, I'm looking at adapting the Wave Warden Ranger archetype to Hunters.
Most of it looks like it should drop right in to place. Both classes have Track, Woodland Stride, and Swift Tracker, so that's pretty easy. I'm not so sure what to do with the modifications to Favored Terrain and Combat Style Feats, though.
My initial thought is to drop in one of them in place of Animal Focus. Animal Focus tends to be passive bonuses, so maybe the Favored Terrain stuff fits well there? I'm not sure if Favored Terrain ends up being weaker overall, though.
Then maybe I could change the Teamwork Feats to also allow you to select from the Aquatic Prowess Feat list, in addition to normal Teamwork Feats?
What do you guys think? This is probably only going to get used for NPCs, so balance isn't completely necessary, but it's definitely a plus to be able to put it on the table for players as well.
I'm looking at making a druid necromancer. Mostly for fun right now, but a friend is planning to start a druid-only campaign some time soonish.
To do that, I'm planning on taking the Blight Druid archetype. Based on my understanding, the Undead subdomain should be fair game, since it's a subdomain of one of the domains provided by the archetype. Then, I'm planning to take Shade of the Uskwood and be Samsaran to round out the rest of the useful necromancy spells.
So far so good, but it's not quite perfect.
Ideally, I'd have the ability to use the Command Undead feat. I'm not seeing any obvious ways to qualify for it, though. Full on Channel Negative Energy would be ideal, and then I could just take the feat.
Similarly, I think using Summon Nature's Ally might be a bit over the top, since I'll have some undead minions available. A few archetypes allow druids to spontaneously cast their domain spells, but none of them are compatible with the Blight Druid, as far as I can tell. Anything I might be missing that would allow this?
I'm running a pirate campaign for some friends and I'm looking at ways to flesh some things out a bit while streamlining others.
I've seen a lot of suggestions for using Fire as She Bears, and there's definitely a lot of good stuff there. I've also seen a suggestion to use the Ultimate Campaign mass combat rules to handle general crew combat without cluttering up the combat board and making boarding actions take forever.
Has anyone made any attempts to combine the two? I'm wondering what that ends up looking like, if there are any pitfalls, etc.
So, a while back I got some help with a whip Magus build. Due to scheduling issues, that campaign hasn't started just yet, but talking to the other party members, it sounds like a melee Magus might fit a bit better. That's fine with me; I was pretty torn between whip and rapier anyway, and a rapier looks far easier on feats.
I've got a few thoughts on where I want to take this, but first, here's my basic chassis:
Elven Inspired Blade Swashbuckler 1 / Kensai Magus X
Favored Class: Magus, 1/6 Arcana as much as possible for 2 bonus arcanas
Traits:
Fencer (+1 to attack rolls for AoOs)
?
Stats (see this post for an explanation of how these stats were derived and how I can change them):
Str 10
Dex 19
Con 12
Int 18
Wis 10
Cha 8
From there, there's a number of ways I can go, which aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.
1) Pick up Enforcer, Rime Spell and Magical Lineage, Frostbite to go for debuffing. This has the advantage of conserving spell slots, as Frostbite will last a while. I'd probably want to grab Wand Wielder at some point, though, to continue making use of Spell Combat without losing the spell.
2) Pick up Bodyguard and Arcane Strike, possibly with the Adopted trait to get Helpful Halfling. Once I pick up Gloves of Arcane Striking and some Beneficial armor, this lets me buff my allies' AC pretty significantly as they take attacks, hopefully causing the enemy to try to take me out instead, giving me plenty of opportunities to use Opportune Parry and Riposte with my reasonably large pool of Inspired Panache. I like this option a lot, both mechanically and when considering potential character flavoring, but I'm not sure if Bodyguard will be enough to keep things on me given that I'll be difficult to hit. The spell Lock Gaze should help, but it's not a guarantee. Is there anything else I can do to make myself more of a target while avoiding getting hit?
3) If I go with both of the above, I can consider taking Riving Strike to pile on another debuff.
4) Pick up a familiar with the Valet archetype and start taking teamwork feats with the intent of using Improved Spell Sharing to polymorph both myself and my familiar into a useful combat form. Paired Opportunists makes Opportune Parry more likely to succeed, plus my allies can also take the teamwork feats to get their own bonuses. I don't want to go for teamwork feats without the familiar, since I can't guarantee my party members will want to take them as well, but I am afraid of losing the familiar. Any thoughts on protecting the familiar in melee with this route?
5) Ignore or scale back support and go for a standard Magical Lineage, Shocking Grasp with Intensify Spell build.
What are people's thoughts on this? I'm particularly interested in #2 or #4, but I'm not sure if they're really viable.
The Nycar is a valid Improved Familiar that has a bunch of handy defensive abilities:
Regeneration 1 (cold iron)
DR 5/cold iron
Ferocity
Immunity to paralysis
Immunity to sleep
Resist acid 5
(Ex) Elusive: make Escape Artist checks as a swift action
If I were to use Share Spells to cast a polymorph spell, such as Monstrous Physique, on this familiar, will it retain any of these special abilities?
Assuming that the familiar would not retain Regeneration...
What happens if the familiar dies while polymorphed? After the polymorph effect ends, the familiar would regain Regeneration. Does this count as the Regeneration having been disabled by a cold iron attack, leading to normal death, or could it effectively bring the familiar back to life?
So, I'm trying to put together a Bloodrager build, mostly for fun. Interestingly, it doesn't seem like there's been a ton of discussion on Bloodrager optimization. Nearly everything I've found is from the playtest, and I have no idea what's actually changed (if anything).
My basic concept here is a half-orc who was prophesied to do great things, but was tainted with demon blood during childhood and exiled from his orc tribe.
Here's what I have so far:
Stats:
I'm using the array I was given for the last campaign I made a character for.
Str 17+2
Dex 10
Con 15
Int 8
Wis 10
Cha 15
+1 Strength at 4, 16, 20
+1 Constitution at 8
+1 Charisma at 12
Alternate Racial Traits:
Replace Intimidating with Shaman's Apprentice to gain Endurance as a bonus feat.
Replace Orc Ferocity with Acute Darkvision to increase Darkvision range to 90 feet.
Traits:
Fate's Favored (+1 to all luck bonuses)
Optimistic Gambler (+1d4 rounds to all effects that give morale bonuses)
Legacy of Sand (+1 to all Will saves)
Drawback: Shadow-Scarred (-1 to all saves in dim or dark areas)
Class:
Crossblooded Bloodrager
Abyssal, Destined
Favored Class Bonus: +1 round of bloodrage, levels 1 through 20 to fuel Raging Brutality in the late game.
I'm tempted to throw in the Metamagic Rager archetype, but it sounds really expensive on the rage rounds. 10 rage rounds for a quickened 1st level spell is rough, though it would be nice for action economy for self buffs...
Bloodline Spells:
Take the Destined spells (shield, blur, protection from energy, freedom of movement) over the Abyssal spells (ray of enfeeblement, bull's strength, rage, stoneskin).
Feats:
Bonus: Endurance
1 Power Attack
3 Raging Vitality
5 Skill Focus (Survival)
6 Bloodline: Diehard
7 Deathless Initiate
9 Eldritch Heritage (Orc, Touch of Rage)
9 Bloodline: Toughness
11 Quicken Spell-Like Ability (Touch of Rage)
12 Bloodline: Weapon Focus (Falchion)
13 Raging Brutality
15 Improved Eldritch Heritage (Orc, Strength of the Beast)
15 Bloodline: Improved Initiative
17 Gore Fiend
18 Bloodline: Lightning Reflexes
19 Extra Rage
I'm not entirely sure about Quicken SLA vs Improved Eldritch Heritage as my 11th level feat. +2 inherent strength from Strength of the Beast is definitely nice, but I think a +4 morale bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and Will saves for 1d4+1 rounds as a swift action might be better.
I'm getting a somewhat rare treat, in that I'm about to join a campaign with a different DM that's allowing more than just Core Rulebook material. I think I'm pretty much settled on a Magus, but I'm unsure of how the build should actually look. Hopefully, some of you with more experience with more than just CRB material can help out. Apologies if this seems rather disjointed; I'm just trying to get all of my thoughts typed up so I can get feedback.
If at all possible, I want a whip-using Magus focused on battlefield control and debuffs (along with the standard buffs, like haste, which I believe should work in well enough just by using Spell Combat). I really like the flavor of the Kensai archetype, and it looks like it might be the best choice mechanically, between free whip proficiency and Weapon Focus, the bonus to initiative to start controlling as soon as possible, and all of the extra attacks of opportunity I'll end up with.
Things still look pretty feat intensive, though... It looks like I need to pick up Weapon Finesse, Whip Mastery, and Improved Whip Mastery at a minimum.
Slashing Grace looks like a strong candidate, though I could go for an Agile whip instead. Is Arcane Deed (Precise Strike) worthwhile? It looks like it should add up, even though it doesn't multiply on crits. Flamboyant Arcana seems like it would be a tax, but if I pick up Combat Reflexes, I should have the AoOs to parry a good bit to make it worthwhile. At level 12, if I've picked that up, Arcane Deed (Evasive) seems like a no brainer.
To cover control, I'd love to fit in Greater Trip somehow (which once again helps make use of the ridiculous number of attacks of opportunity I'll have available), but I'm just not seeing room for that line. Dipping into Lore Warden seems like a possibility for the extra feats, but I don't quite feel like it would be worthwhile given the delayed spell progression.
It looks like the Frostbite + Enforcer + Rime Spell combo is probably the more efficient option. On that note, can I cast other spells while Frostbite is active? I've seen a lot of conflicting information from searching the forums. Also, is it worth trying to find room for Dazzling Display and Shatter Defenses down the line?
Bodyguard + Arcane Strike (and maybe adding Riving Strike?) + Beneficial armor + Gloves of Arcane Striking seems like a really nifty combo, but once again I don't think I'll have room for it.
Late game, Pindown sounds great, and by that point I think there should be room for it. Any of the other options seem like stuff that I'd want to either come online early, or not bother with. Anyone have experience with this feat and a whip?
What Arcanas should I go for? Other than the possibility of Flamboyant Arcana and the Arcane Deeds mentioned above, I'm not sure what's really the best for debuffing. Accurate Strike seems pretty good to make sure I'm actually landing my attacks. Maneuver Mastery would be good if I found a way to fit in the trip line of feats. I'm not sure if there's enough good spells to make Close Range worthwhile. The only other one I'm seeing that sounds particularly interesting is Spell Blending.
Finally, what are opinions on the Bladebound archetype? On the plus side, I'm probably unlikely to find a lot of good whips while adventuring, and the various abilities look like they add a lot of versatility. On the other hand, though, it prevents me from using Agile to avoid needing Slashing Grace, and it precludes me from getting Cruel and Fortuitous on my whip for the fun of sickening and extra attacks of opportunity. I'm also worried that losing my 3rd level Arcana to Bladebound will hurt quite a bit when paired with losing the 9th level Arcana to Kensai; I'm not seeing the bandwidth in feats to make up for it with Extra Arcana. And apparently that delays when I could start taking the Elf favored class bonus to try to make up some lost ground, too?
Thanks to everyone for any feedback! Hopefully, with a little more direction, I'll be able to come up with an actual build for you all to critique.
What exactly are the differences between settlements and districts in the kingdom building rules as presented in Ultimate Campaign?
My DM believes that there is essentially no difference; each district has its own base value, etc. I can't find any sort of reference to support or deny this, but it seems that there isn't much actually quantifying what the two actually are.
I have a level 12 Diviner Wizard that may soon begin gaining Mythic Tiers.
I've mostly focused on the traditional "god wizard" style of buffs and battlefield control, with a little bit AoE blasting to fill a gap in the group. I've also served as the party's magic item crafter. I haven't done much summoning as of yet, but that's a direction I want to start heading.
I'm currently looking at the following Mythic Feats and Path Abilities:
Divine Source is primarily a flavor thing that fits the story. I'm somewhat flexible on when I take those, but I definitely intend to take them, even if it's not optimal.
Similarly, Flash of Omniscience is primarily about flavor, though I'm considering Display of Intelligence instead. The latter seems to be a larger, more versatile bonus, but eats into my available Mythic Power.
I'm also pondering finding a way to work in Dual Path (Hierophant) to gain access to Mighty Summons and Enduring Blessing. If I'm reading those right, neither is limited to divine spells. I'm worried about the opportunity cost, though; I'm not sure if it's worth it.
Anyone with some experience with Mythic play have any advice or suggestions? Thanks!
Lets say I know the mythic version of Enlarge Person. I also know Mass Enlarge Person, which "functions like Enlarge Person, except it affects multiple creatures."
Can I apply the Mythic effects to a casting of Mass Enlarge Person?
I'm running a home game based on Rise of the Runelords for a single player, and I'm having some trouble figuring out how to build her character's former mentor figure. Since I'm the DM and this is just a NPC, I have plenty of leeway to broadly interpret rules or even homebrew if necessary, but I'd like to see if there are any good options that already exist before I resort to that.
Any thoughts on fleshing out the NPC's backstory and tie that back in to the main RotRL plotline is also helpful.
I don't believe my player visits these forums, but I think I'll throw this in a spoiler just in case. If you're in a solo campaign as a Gunslinging Aasimar named Arya Smith, move on to the next thread. :)
NPC Background:
This NPC, Bailey, is an Aasimar that portrays herself as a normal human (Scion of Humanity alternate racial trait). She spent most of her life as a fortune teller and gunslinging stage performer for a traveling carnival.
Some years ago, she was coerced by one of Magnimar's nobles to assist in a trap for the goldsmith parents of the player character, Arya. Bailey enchanted some gold to attract Arya's attention, while the noble arranged for a member of another traveling carnival to attempt to interest the young Arya in the world of firearms. He succeeded and subtly suggested that she might find something of suitable value in her parents' workshop to trade for a pistol. She took the bait, stealing the enchanted gold. As planned, her parents took the fall for her, giving the noble the excuse he needed to imprison them indefinitely.
Bailey, full of guilt for effectively orphaning Arya and recognizing her as a fellow Aasimar, took her under her wing and taught her how to use firearms both for show and combat. Bailey never mentioned her role in Arya's parents' imprisonment, however, nor did she mention that the two of them were something more than human.
More recently, the noble called upon his old contact to take care of another political inconvenience. Bailey abandoned the carnival quickly and without warning, leaving only a simple letter to Arya. The letter simply stated that Arya should forget about Bailey and move on with life. Since then, Arya has been trying to track Bailey down, convinced that something is horribly wrong and she needs help. (I let the player take the Finding Haleen trait from Legacy of Fire.)
Since then, Bailey has been trying to evade the noble's agents while searching for a way to escape his influence forever.
I like the idea of Bailey having access to the Foresight Wizard subschool powers, as I think they fit the flavor of a fortune teller very well.
I also like the idea of her blending her magic and firearm usage as a primary combat style. I've looked over the Spellslinger Wizard archetype, but even if it was compatible with the Foresight subschool, I don't think it really conveys that blending terribly well. Mage Bullets is kind of neat; it's essentially an adaptation of a Magus' Arcane Pool ability. I think Arcane Gun is a much poorer way of conveying casting through a gun than the Myrmidarch Magus' Ranged Spellstrike, though.
On the other hand, the Myrmidarch definitely aims for a more martially oriented Magus in heavy armor. I see Bailey as leaning more toward magic than martial and definitely wearing light armor at most (but more likely unarmored). And as far as I'm aware, there's no way to get Spell Combat to work with a gun.
So, based on the material I'm familiar with, I'm kind of at a loss of how to really represent the concept mechanically. Unless there's some feats or prestige classes that help, it looks like there's just not much support for an unarmored/lightly armored gun-gish.
Can anyone think of anything that might be useful? Failing that, any advice on suitable substitutions to make a homebrew archetype to fit?
Hey, everyone. I've recently rolled a Gnome Sorcerer with the Draconic (Silver) Bloodline, and I'm planning to make use of the Shadow Evocation and Conjuration spells. I'm not entirely sure how it all works, though. The actual questions are in bold.
Due to my bloodline arcana, whenever I cast a spell with the cold descriptor, that spell deals +1 point of damage per die rolled.
Shadow Evocation states that "Spells that deal damage have normal effects unless an affected creature succeeds on a Will save."
Do the normal effects of the spell include my bloodline arcana?
Similarly, Shadow Evocation says that "Regardless of the result of the save to disbelieve, an affected creature is also allowed any save (or spell resistance) that the spell being simulated allows, but the save DC is set according to shadow evocation's level (5th) rather than the spell's normal level."
The evocation spell normally allows a save affected by Spell Focus (Evocation), and the only change listed is treating the spell level as if it were 5th.
So, for the second save, would Spell Focus (Evocation) increase the DC?
If not, does Spell Focus (Illusion) still apply?
Hey, all. I'm building a Dwarven Zen Archer Monk, and I'd like feedback on what I've got so far and any suggestions.
We're using a stat array of [18, 16, 14, 12, 12, 10] before racial modifiers. In general, all Paizo published Pathfinder material is allowed, though anything that seems questionable may get vetoed. I'll be joining the campaign at level 7 with by the table wealth by level (23,500 gp).
As a house rule, I get one Profession, Craft, or Perform skill that gets ranks equal to my character level without having to spend my normal skill points.
Backstory
Still working on the specific details, but essentially my character grew up in the River Kingdoms (as that's where the campaign takes place) as a hunter. At some point not terribly long ago, a dragon showed up and ravaged the city, killing nearly everyone. Now, my character is trying to track down and slay the dragon, as well as protect other cities along his travels from any other dragons that show up.
Archetypes and Favored Class Bonus
Zen Archer Monk with the Qinggong archetype to take Barkskin in place of Wholeness of Body. Favored class bonuses will go to HP.
Ability Scores
Str 16
Dex 13 (12, +1 level 4 attribute increase)
Con 14 (12, +2 racial)
Int 14
Wis 20 (18, +2 racial)
Cha 8 (10, -2 racial
Race
Dwarf with the following alternate racial traits:
Lorekeeper (+2 racial bonus to Knowledge History checks about Dwarves and their enemies. Replaces Greed.)
Wyrmscourged (+1 bonus to attack rolls, +2 dodge bonus to AC, +2 bonus to saves vs. Dragons and their abilities. +2 to Knowledge Arcana when identifying dragons. Replaces Defensive Training, Hatred, and Stonecunning.)
Traits
Regional: Glory of Old (+1 trait bonus to saves vs. spells, SLAs, and poisons)
Magic: Mathematical Prodigy (+1 trait bonus on Knowledge Arcana and Engineering checks, Knowledge Arcana becomes a class skill)
Feats
(* designates an automatic bonus feat, @ designates a selected bonus feat)
The following feats are my plan past 7:
9 Dragonheart
10@ Pinpoint Targetting
11 Clustered Shots
13 Quicken Spell Like Ability (Barkskin)
14@ Far Shot
15 Dimensional Agility
17 ?
18@ ?
19 ?
Skills
4+Int gives 6 per level.
At level 7 (42 ranks to spend):
Acrobatics (7 ranks)
Climb (5 ranks, required for Monkey Style)
Knowledge Arcana (5 ranks)
Knowledge History (1 rank)
Knowledge Religion (1 rank)
Perception (7 ranks)
Sense Motive (7 ranks)
Stealth (7 ranks)
Survival (1 rank)
Swim (1 rank)
Craft Bows (max ranks, free due to house rule)
Magic Items
Budget: 23,500gp
+1 adaptive composite longbow (3133.33gp, bow itself crafted myself)
Headband of Inspired Wisdom +2 (4000gp)
Eyes of the Eagle (2500gp)
Cloak of Resistance +2 (4000gp)
Belt of Giant Strength +2 (4000gp)
Bracers of Falcon's Aim (4000gp)
That leaves 1866.67gp left over to buy mundane traveling gear and start saving for the next magical item.
After reading over the mass combat rules (as presented in Ultimate Campaign), I can't help but feel like they gloss over a bit too much.
There's absolutely no differentiation (other than move speed) between an army of 100 Warrior 1s armed with clubs and leather armor and an army of 100 Fighter 1s armed with greatswords and full plate. That just feels broken -- the Fighters should slaughter the Warriors.
Similarly, an army of Barbarian 7s with DR 1/- get the exact same bonus to defense as an army of creatures with DR 10/- would. Again, that seems like it should make a huge difference. The best offer here, though, is that the GM gets to make a judgement call of when the DR is too high for the opposition to possibly cause damage. Even then, there's no guideline. Does it need to be high enough that a max damage hit can't cause damage? When the average hit won't get through? Less?
I really feel like there should be some sort of differentiation between the values of Light, Medium, Heavy, and no armor, and likely some sort of difference between different weapon types.
Am I crazy, wanting more details in this system, or do others agree?
Any suggestions on how to take these things into account, whether it's a different mass combat system all together or modifications to this one?
So, I'm about to start playing in an E6 campaign focused on exploration for a bit, then city building and possibly mass combat. I'll be one of 2 to 3 players in any given session, and who else is there will likely change from week to week.
The direction we were given for character creation is that our characters should be relatively self sufficient and have the ability to lead. We're limited to Core Rulebook material, and some mundane equipment from Ultimate Equipment with permission. 15 point buy for stats.
Any suggestions for tweaks are much appreciated!
Here's what I've come up with:
Half-Elf Ranger 1
Str 15 (+2) <-- Racial +2 is here
Dex 13 (+1)
Con 12 (+1)
Int 14 (+2)
Wis 12 (+1)
Cha 10 ( 0)
4th level boost goes to Strength.
Favored Enemy: Animals
Feat plan:
Half-Elf: Skill Focus (Heal)
1 Power Attack
2 (Combat Style) Rapid Shot
3 Quick Draw
5 Deadly Aim
6 (Combat Style) Improved Precise Shot*
After that, we have custom E6 feats for each ability score... The first gives me a +2 on ability checks with that stat, the second actually boosts the stat by +2 and stacks with everything. I'm thinking Strength first, then Dexterity later, likely with other feat in between.
* I'm torn here, because I think Manyshot is probably more useful up front, but with magic items, I could potentially eventually pick it up anyway. This is my only chance at Improved Precise Shot.
Kn. Nobility is mostly for background purposes, and should help a bit with leadership.
Craft skills let me start with better weapons and armor than I could normally afford with my starting 175gp, without sacrificing all of the generic survival gear I want.
After first level, I'll start putting points into Handle Animal, Stealth, and Craft (Bows), with 1 rank dips into Climb and Swim for the class skill bonus.
Gear:
With the joys of crafting, I'm starting out with a Spiked Breastplate, Greatsword, Shortbow (which I'll want to upgrade to a composite longbow when I can), Ranseur, and Club and Heavy Wooden Shield. That'll cover slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning, as well as ranged, two handed, club and board, and grapples. The rest of my starting money was sunk into things like rope, a tent, artisan's tools, etc.
So, it's clear that the prevailing opinion here on the forum is that the Cohort granted by Leadership should use PC class levels, rather than NPC classes. The actual wording in Leadership seems somewhat vague, though.
Has there been any clarification outside of the Core Rulebook (whether developer forum posts, further explanation in other source books, or whatever else) confirming that interpretation?
I've written up an artifact to use later in an E8 game that I plan to take into low mythic tiers. I'd love some feedback on all aspects of it -- mechanics, general cool factor, clarity of wording, etc. I've included some notes on intent and the campaign after the general description.
DESCRIPTION
This two-bladed sword is made entirely of blackened steel with prominent silvery patterns on each blade. Lightning bolts decorate one blade, while concentric circles, like ripples in a pond, decorate the other. The weapon is unusually heavy, yet each swing seems to carry even more momentum than one would expect. Still, it is no more difficult to wield than a normal two-bladed sword. Successful strikes with one blade cause small flashes of light, while the other emits a low rumble like distant thunder.
MECHANICS
The Oncoming Storm is a two-bladed sword sized for a medium creature, but deals damage as if it were one size category larger. This effect does not stack with Lead Blades or similar spells. One blade deals electricity and, on a confirmed critical hit, releases a bright flash, blinding the target for 1d4+1 rounds (DC 14 Reflex negates) and dealing an additional 1d6 electricity damage. The other blade deals sonic and, on a confirm critical hit, emits a cacophonous roar like thunder, deafening the target for 1d4+1 rounds (DC 14 Fortitude negates) and dealing an additional 1d6 sonic damage.
If both blades confirm critical strikes in the same round, The Oncoming Storm gains one charge, up to a maximum of three at any one time. Once per week while outdoors, the wielder may expend one or more of these charges as a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity to start a thunderstorm. The storm covers a radius of one, three, or six miles and lasts for 2d12 minutes, 2d12 x 10 minutes, or 2d12 hours depending on the number of charges expended. For the duration of the storm, The Oncoming Storm deals damage as if it were one size category smaller than its actual size. In addition, the duration of the blinding and deafening effects increases to permanent (DC 20 Reflex or Fortitude, respectively, reduces this duration to 1 round).
The wielder gains immunity to the effects of wind up to severe strength, natural lightning strikes, and visibility reduction caused by a naturally occurring storm. These benefits also apply to thunderstorms created by The Oncoming Storm, and extend to the wielder’s allies within 15 feet.
DESTRUCTION
If The Oncoming Storm is used to slay a deity that grants the Weather domain or both the Air and Water domains, gains at least one charge during the battle to bring it to a total of three charges, and is bathed in the blood of the deity within one minute of the deity’s death, expending all three charges immediately destroys the artifact. The thunderstorm created has a radius of 20 miles and lasts until a deity uses a control weather spell to calm the area. Treat the storm as a maximized storm of vengeance, with all round based effects occurring simultaneously and continuously, accompanied by hurricane force winds. Any saves related to these effects are DC 30.
HISTORY
Eons ago, the Elemental Planes of Air and Water collided for reasons unknown to even the gods. This event wreaked havoc on both planes, driving nearly all of their denizens to seek refuge on other planes for several millennia until the planes completely passed through each other. In their wake, The Oncoming Storm emerged unscathed. It is said that the blade travels the planes with a will of its own, seeking areas in which great conflict will soon emerge. It comes and leaves like a sudden summer shower, with no sign or warning of its arrival or departure. It is very selective of its wielder, who always has an important role to fill in the upcoming conflict, but leaves when it is satisfied with how events will unfold.
RAMIFICATIONS
Anyone who discovers The Oncoming Storm can be certain that life will soon be difficult in ways previously unimaginable.
Trouble Seeker: The Oncoming Storm is a legend that seeks out legends to come, a harbinger of events that will forever change the lives it touches. While it often disappears before events seem to have truly been settled, no record exists of a wielder failing to achieve victory.
Unflappable Hero: Some posit that The Oncoming Storm is not merely seeking the thrills of conflict, but rather is testing heroes to find one collected enough to handle plane-shattering crises, such as the one that forged the blade, with grace. Should it find such a hero, its true mission – if one exists – could finally begin.
As mentioned, the campaign is E8, and I plan to add some low mythic tiers eventually. The game world is extremely low magic -- real magic is only a legend, similar to our world's stories of Camelot. The only caster types in the world are Rangers and Paladins, and their spells have been reskinned as an extremely deep knowledge of nature and favors from the gods, respectively. My two players are currently Paladins, though one is considering multiclassing into a spell-less Bard, and the other is considering Ranger.
General intent for this weapon is that it will appear to be a mundane, though masterwork and fancily decorated, two-bladed sword that does more damage than normal due to it's higher than normal weight. I expect the elemental properties to eventually show up when the campaign begins to head more in the mythic direction and elementals start showing up. The critical properties will probably show up before then, hinting at the more magical nature of the weapon.
Eventually, lucky rolls will activate the charge mechanic, empathically informing the wielder of the weapon's name. The true, artifact nature of the weapon will be made apparent when the wielder first chooses to expend a charge.
I'm currently DMing an E8 campaign in an extremely low magic setting. Basically, magic is the thing of myths and legends, similar to our world's stories of Camelot. The closest thing to magic are the Paladin and Ranger spell casting abilities, but these have been reskinned as favor from the gods and an almost supernatural understanding of nature and how to use its resources.
My two players are both currently Paladin 3, but one has expressed an interest in multiclassing into Bard. The general flavor of Bard fits the character very well, so I'm inclined to let her... But the arcane spell casting is definitely out of place in this world set.
Does anyone have any good suggestions on replacing that class feature without over or underpowering the class?
In her specific case, my initial thought is to allow her Bard and Paladin levels to stack when determining her Paladin spells per day. Since Bards get a lot more spell access than Paladins, I've also been thinking of letting Bard/Paladin levels stack when determining the potency (but not the uses per day) of Lay on Hands. Does this seem reasonably balanced?
Dented Helm (Combat, Dwarf)
Your helm protects you from hard hits.
Prerequisites: Hard-Headed, base attack bonus +6, dwarf.
Benefit: When wearing a helmet, you add +1 to your AC against critical hit confirmation rolls. When a critical hit is confirmed against you, as an immediate action, you can apply half of the damage from the attack to your helmet rather than yourself, applying hardness as normal. If the damage destroys your helmet, any leftover damage is applied to you. After using this feat, you are staggered until the end of your next turn. You may not use this feat if your helmet has the broken condition or the attack ignores armor bonuses to AC.
Benefit: This heavy, reinforced helmet can be used to make melee attacks. The wearer may use the helmet when attempting bull rush maneuvers, granting a +2 circumstance bonus on the check, but after completing the maneuver (whether successful or not), the wearer is staggered until the end of his next turn.
In addition, a dwarven boulder helmet grants a +2 circumstance bonus to the wearer's AC against critical hit confirmation rolls. A dwarven boulder helmet can be enchanted as a weapon (not as armor, despite providing some protection).
A dwarven boulder helmet adds 20% to the wearer's arcane spell failure chance. It occupies the head slot and is made of metal, not stone, meaning that it can be crafted from unusual materials as a metal weapon.
It seems clear that these are intended to be used together. Without using the optional piecemeal armor rules, I'm not actually sure how you'd get a helmet otherwise, other than any head slot magic items described as a helmet.
So, neat, I can apply critical damage to a helmet to avoid taking so much. But, what's the HP for a helmet? None of the entries on the HP/Hardness table really seem to fit a helmet. The Dwarven Boulder Helmet is a light weapon, but it's neither a blade nor a hafted weapon. It's also not really armor (though it does provide AC against critical threats).
Anyone aware of any information I may have missed?
I don't see anything about it, so I'm guessing the answer is no.. But is there any way to get bulk purchasing discounts for PDF copies of the various Campaign Setting and Player Companion products?
Excluding maps, folios, and 3.5 content, there's about 35 Campaign Setting products at ~$14 each and 26 Player Companion products at ~$8 each. That works out to over $650 to get everything. I'd love to try to catch up, but that's a pretty steep price, even amortizing the cost over the next year -- in which time more will come out, of course.
For the most part, this is fairly straightforward, but I do have some questions.
Type:
What is my new type? I'm guessing that the Human subtype counts as indicating a "kind", so I'm simply Undead.
Assuming I no longer have the Human subtype, do I keep all of my Human racial traits? If I lose them, is that retroactive, or only going forward?
Racial Hit Dice:
I'm fairly sure I gain the save and BAB increases from the hit dice. Is that correct?
Do I gain another feat, in addition to the bonus feat granted by the template?
Do future ability point increases come based on my total hit dice, rather than only class levels?
Assuming that I keep my Human racial traits, does Skilled count toward skill points gained from my racial hit dice?
Do I count my racial hit dice when qualifying for feats such as Leadership, which requires Character Level 7th?
In Bestiary 3, the description for Elk (Herd Animal) notes that some Elk are large sized and have 3 HD. My current character and his companions are riding combat trained Elk, which of course must be large to serve as mounts for medium creatures. We haven't taken them into combat yet, but I wanted to make sure I've modified the base stat block correctly before we do so.
To account for increasing them to large size, should I use the stat adjustment listed for Monster Advancement (Bestiary 1, Appendix 2, Table 1-3)? That is, +8 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +5 Constitution, and +2 Natural Armor?
Since the Elk is now at 3 HD, it also gets an extra feat, correct?
Because it is an animal...
BAB is at 3/4 progression, so it should now have 2 BAB.
Good Fort/Reflex saves, so base saves should be 3 Fort/Reflex, 0 Will
Elk's hooves are listed as 1d3, though the Bestiary says that a Medium Hoof attack should be 1d4. Should I advance it to 1d4, which would be one step higher than what they currently are, or 1d6, which is what is listed for a large creature?
Does that all look correct? Anything else I'm missing?
I'm currently playing in a very low resource campaign. We've recently acquired a town, where we've fixed up the wooden walls and the abandoned houses. We have craftsmen (blacksmith, leatherworker, tailors, carpenter), but we're extremely short on raw materials. The area is heavily forested, so we have plenty of wood and such available (and we've even trained some elk as combat mounts), but metal is extremely scarce.
We keep running into goblins nearby, so we have a decent supply of small short swords and leather armor, but they aren't really useful to us as they are. Logically, we should be able to melt down the swords to reforge them into more appropriate weapons, but the craft rules are silent on how we might go about doing that.
In particular, while the cost of materials for crafting an item is defined, it isn't really specified what materials that includes. For a steel weapon, is that just steel? I'm not sure that this makes sense, given that there is no listing for steel under the trade goods section in the CRB. Iron is listed (and treated the same as steel in terms of hardness and HP) at 1 silver piece per pound, but that gets us nowhere close to accounting for the 25 gold pieces of raw materials to craft an 8 pound falchion.
Has anyone else dealt with this kind of situation before? How did you handle salvaging resources from existing weapons and armor?
Starting a new campaign tomorrow, and based on the rest of the party, I'll be going Fighter.
We'll be starting at level 1 with 15 point buy, and we're only allowed to use material from the Core Rulebook (plus Armored Kilt).
The rest of the party will consist of a Rogue and a Support Wizard focused on Necromancy.
How does this build look? I'm particularly wondering about the feats.
Human Fighter 1
Attributes STR 18
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 7
WIS 13
CHA 7
Human +2 went into Strength. Planning to put my first attribute increase into Wisdom for the Perception and Will save bumps, then put the rest into Strength.
Feats
1 Toughness, Combat Reflexes, Cleave
2 Power Attack
3 Step Up
4 Great Cleave
5 Iron Will
6 Improved Initiative
7 Greater Iron Will
8 *Weapon Focus, *Greater Weapon Focus (drop Great Cleave)
9 Critical Focus
10 *Improved Critical
11 Bleeding Critical
12 *Weapon Specialization, *Greater Weapon Specialization (drop Cleave)
13 Staggering Critical
14 Critical Mastery
15 Blinding Critical
16 ?
17 Stunning Critical
18 ?
19 ?
20 ?
* Requires a particular weapon. Trying to delay this choice as much as I can, since it'll give more flexibility with what loot we find, and if we come across any sort of artifact weapons. This will most likely end up being a Falchion, though.
Skills
2 skill points per level.
Max Perception.
3 points in Acrobatics for the bonus to Fighting Defensively.
Split the rest between Climb and Swim.
Weapons (70gp)
Small Glaive (one handed reach weapon, slashing. 8gp)
Rapier (piercing. 20gp)
Warhammer (bludgeoning. 12gp)
Shortbow (ranged, piercing. 30gp)
Planning to wield both the Small Glaive and the Rapier most of the time, threatening both reach and adjacent squares. No attempt will be made to use one as an offhand. Warhammer and Shortbow are just in case we need ranged or bludgeoning damage for whatever reason. Long term plan is to switch to a Falchion, unless loot provides something exceptional.
Armor (70 gp)
Scale Mail (+5 AC. 50gp)
Armored Kilt (+1 AC. 20 gp)
The idea here is to use both armors until I get the first rank of Armor Training (level 3), at which point I drop the Armored Kilt. Once I get the second rank of Armor Training (level 7), I'll put it back on until I get a good set of heavy armor -- preferably Mithral Full Plate.
It looks like my group will be starting a new campaign this weekend, so I'm trying to figure out what exactly to play.
I'm kind of torn, though, between playing a Diviner Wizard focusing on battlefield control and party buffs, or a Bard to take the role of party face. As a compromise, I'm wondering if I could pull off a Sorcerer to take on both roles.
We'll be starting at level 1 with 15 point buy, and only Core Rulebook material is allowed. (Some non-standard races might be allowed, but no alternate racial traits for any race.)
My biggest concerns are
1) Without access to things like the APG Human favored class bonus and a lot of the awesome non-core spells, I won't be versatile enough in terms of spells known to maintain effectiveness
2) With the low number of skills for Sorcerers, I won't be able to invest properly in all of the skills necessary.
What do you guys think? Any suggestions or recommendations?
EDIT: One more bit of information. Party will typically be me and two others, with a fourth occasionally joining, so the party as a whole won't normally be as well rounded as it could be.
Some time back on these forums, I read a recommendation of Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series as a great example of the potential role play between a Wizard and his familiar. That turned out to be right on the money, and (as a relatively new role player) I feel that it has certainly improved my RP in game. Not to mention I am now eagerly awaiting the next Taltos novel :)
Growing up, I mostly read science fiction. I've read some fantasy (the Narnia series springs to mind, as well as a few attempts at getting through The Hobbit), but I'm more than willing to bet I'm missing some amazing literature that, in addition to being pleasurable reading, would be inspiring as a tabletop player and eventual DM. Really, I'd say that most of my exposure to the fantasy genre has been through television and video games.
What books should I be looking to read? Make absolutely no assumptions of what I may have read before -- just because it's a well known classic doesn't mean I'm actually aware of that =P
It'd also be nifty if you guys could provide some clue as to what makes the book awesome and what I might want to pay attention to in particular. Basically, stuff like the relationship between Vlad Taltos and his familiar, or if a book takes a really nifty approach to magic, etc. Try to keep it spoiler free, though :)
I'm looking to create my own campaign setting for my own games, but I'm not entirely sure how to really get started. I have ideas, of course, but I'm a bit worried about putting them together coherently, or missing major details that would be better not to make up on the fly during a session.
Are there any good resources to assist in this process, and make sure I've considered everything I should? Would it be worth picking up the Inner Sea World Guide to dig through and deconstruct for ideas and an example of a fleshed out world set?
I've poked around in search for a while now, and haven't really found anything, so I'm hoping someone here knows the answer...
According to the Core Rulebook (which is the only material my GM allows), crafting arrows is DC 12.
Is it any more difficult to craft arrows using Cold Iron or Alchemical Silver? I would guess not, since neither material counts as masterwork.
But what about Adamantine arrows? Is the DC raised to 20 in this case, since all Adamantine items are of masterwork quality?
How does this interact with the crafting rules, which normally craft the masterwork portion of an item separately? Do I
A) Craft the entire arrow as DC 20, or
B) Craft the arrow in two parts, like normal masterwork items, noting that 6 gp of the 60 gp per missile cost of Adamantine is used for the masterwork portion?
Hey all. I'm helping a friend out with a blasting Sorceress, and I'm hoping to get it to synergize well with an archery/support Bard that I'll be playing. This is actually a role play thing, on top of general optimization, since the two characters will be twins.
The party is small. The only other player is a Halfing Paladin focusing on mounted combat. Obviously this changes the effectiveness of a number of buffs, since there's not as many people to gain the benefits.
We're limited to Core and APG material with two traits, 15 point buy. Leadership is open, but is limited to NPC classes or story character (which much then continue progression in an NPC class, rather than their PC class). One thing worth noting, though, is that precedent from another campaign allows a Sorcerer to take an existing spell and tweak the element if desired. For example, the Sorcerer in that campaign knows Acid Ball, which is simply a Fireball that does acid damage instead of fire. If she wanted regular Fireball as well, though, it would take another spell known slot.
Over time, we'll probably eventually hit 20 (and then start taking levels in a different class if we keep playing these characters), but I'm mostly concerned with having a solid plan up through about 13-15.
All feedback is greatly appreciated.
Level 1 Human Bard
Traits: Magical Knack (+2 Caster Level, capped at HD), Reactionary (+2 Initiative)
Str 10
Dex 17 (15 +2 racial)
Con 10
Int 14
Wis 8
Cha 14
Spells Progression
(level learned in parentheses, spells learned via favored class bonus marked with *)
0: Detect Magic (1), Ghost Sound (1), Know Direction (1), Spark (1), Dancing Lights (2), Message (3)
1: Grease (1), Silent Image (1), Hideous Laughter (2), Solid Note (3), Charm Person (4*), Feather Step (5*), Saving Finale (6*), Feather Fall (7), Detect Secret Doors (11)
2: Blindess/Deafness (4), Cacophonous Call (4), Glitterdust (5), Invisibility (6), Mirror Image (7*), Sound Burst (8*), Alter Self (9*), Detect Thoughts (10), Delay Poison (14)
3: Confusion (7), Haste (7), Glibness (8), Good Hope (9), Scry (10*), Mass Feather Step (11*), Slow (12*), Arcane Concordance (13), Fear (13*), Dispel Magic (17)
4: Dimension Door (10), Wandering Star Motes (10), Dominate Person (11), Zone of Silence (12), Freedom of Movement (16), Greater Invisibility (20)
5: Greater Dispel Magic (13), Phantasmal Web (13), Mass Cacophonous Call (14), Bard's Escape (15), Persistent Image (19)
6: Greater Scrying (16), Shout (16), Brilliant Inspiration (17), Irresistable Dance (18), Mass Charm Monster (20)
I went with Magical Knack to support a two level dip into Rogue at some point, for Trap Finding and Evasion. For Versatile Performance, I'll be picking up Acting (Bluff/Disguise), Oratory (Diplomacy/Sense Motive), and Dance (Acrobatics/Fly) in that order. Unfortunately, it seems that I will not be allowed to reshuffle skill points once I gain each new Versatile Performance, so I'll just have to suck at those skills until I pick up the associated Performance.
While Treantmonk suggests a 14 Strength for the archer Bard, since I am the only character with a good number of skill points, I think the loss of damage is worth the extra skill points to make sure we hit all of the skill necessary.
I'm most worried about the number of spells with saves associated with them -- I'll never be as good at debuff saves as the Sorceress. On the other hand, the more debuffs I can cover, the more the Sorceress will be able to concentrate on blasting.
Level 1 Aasimar Sorceress (Arcane Bloodline)
Traits: Resilient (+1 Fortitude Save), Magical Lineage (Fireball?)
Str 7
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 13
Wis 9 (7 +2 racial)
Cha 18 (16 +2 racial)
Feat Progression
1 Eschew Materials, Toughness
3 Craft Wondrous Item
5 Empower Spell
7 Improved Familiar (Azata, Lyrakien), Improved Initiative
9 Persistent Spell
11 Maximize Spell (should this be dropped in favor of just a rod?)
13 Intensified Spell, Spell Focus (Evocation)
15 Spell Perfection (Fireball?)
17 Quicken Spell
19 Dazing Spell, Iron Will
Spells Progression
This isn't nearly as planned out as the Bard. Main thought is starting with Color Spray and Magic Missile, then picking up Scorching Ray and Stone Call (prevent enemies from getting to us at range, while the Paladin's mount has Feather Step to ignore the harsh terrain) as soon as possible. As levels increase, looking at picking up Fireball for sure, and thinking about Ball Lightning, Dragon's Breath, Cone of Cold, Contagious Flame, and Chain Lightning. (Is this too many blasts? I feel like the set of them gives good coverage of elements and effect areas, I wonder if it's overkill.)
Aasimar and Arcane Bloodline are set in stone, and the stats are pretty close to final (though small tweaks are probably okay).
