Zerbe's page

Hello,
Since I've read the discussion about RP>Min/Max, I was curious how you and your group handle background stories.
I am a HUGE fan of backgrounds and usually write at least 2-4 pages for my character.

Maybe it has to do with my first group or my background as a writer, but I just want every player in my group to write a background story for his or her character.

Do you think my expectations are too high ?
How do you handle the Situation ?
What if 1/4 characters comes up with a very nice story , would you Award him/her an additional feat ? Or would it be too broken ?

Me and my group aren't very experienced at PF. We've chosen it as our alternative P&P to a VERY RP focused one.

So we picked up the RotRL AP and we are playing with "quite" optimized characters, it feels more like a hack and slay , which is very good for our group because in the other System there were like 2 or 3 encounters each 8 hour session. Now that our AP became to easy our GM is using a "hardmode" (+3-5CR) to Keep it fun.

Because of this "hardmode" one of our Players feels weak, he is playing a bard and doesn't really realize how amazing his RP could be.

I'm playing P&P for over 10 years now and during my teenage time I almost always played optimized chars because I wanted to "win" the game (which is impossible of course).

Since I've gotten older usually every of my characters has ist own background story. Sometimes I am playing not optimized builds just because they fit the concept or background so well, and it is so easy to play them , because I have an answer for every RP questions which comes up during the session.

I experienced the total opposite as well , for example a dwarven warrior who was asking the group "ummm what would my ancestors/Family/deity do???" basically he could smash everything but didn't know what his character would do "out of combat".

So from my experience (not so much PF experience) a good concept / background-story is almost always better than an optimized build.
IF! you are playing a hack and slay one shot without any RP , an optimized build might be fun.

Hello everyone,

Right now I'm trying to make a conversion of an old campaign which I've written for a different system.

The magic systems are really different so I am a little bit stuck how to make the following NPC.

Basically he is a Necromancer,Enchanter,Demon Summoner.
So his minions are Skeletons,enslaved/mindcontrolled humanoids and demon guards. And the players will encounter those in his mines where the humanoids are farming Onyx? for more summons. (other places too)

So I was thinking how I can realize that in pathfinder.
Maybe just make him a Necromancy focused wizard since he is an arcane caster and give him Succubi who control the workers ?

They will confront him or his "Image" around Level 5 7 and 10 so I would really appreciate if you could give me some advice how would you would design those encounters and the NPC himself.

First , thanks for mentioning the reach cleric.
But he doesn't like it at all (me neither tbh).

Dervish Dance isn't important , but I thought it would help and also suits such a character (maybe even the Flame of Dawn trait on top).

It should be a cleric with a scimitar (Sarenrae) who can go melee to do some damage and take some hits , and of course have some buffs or other useful spells as well.

Hello,

One of our group members died during our last RotRL session and now he has to make a new character for the weekend.

He wants to make a cleric of Sarenrae with the Heroism/Good domains, his role would be offtank (next to my pala), "offDD" and some buffs.

We are using a reroll table for new characters , the best rolls were:
18,14,14,13,11,11 or 16,15,15,15,12,11

2 things are set in stone , human and cleric of Sarenrae.

So here are 2 build ideas, which is the better path to go ?

Build 1:

Stats:

-Str:13
-Dex:16
-Con:14
-Int:11
-Wis:18
-Cha:11

Feats:
-1st Weapon Finesse
-1st Imp. Ini
-3rd Dervish Dance
-5th Power Attack
-7th Craft Wondrous Items

Build 2:

Stats:

-Str:14
-Dex:11
-Con:14
-Int:11
-Wis:20
-Cha:13

Feats:
-1st Channel Smite
-1st Guided Hand
-3rd Power Attack
-5th Craft Wondrous Items
-7th ???

He will join us at level 7 with a WBL of level 6.
Which build do you prefer?
How would you continue the builds?
And which items can you recommend?

We used his Money for a +1 weapon/armor,Ring of Protection+1,Amulet of Natural Armor +1 and a Handy Haversack

Thanks in advance

@Lune Youtube to MP3 converter . I guess that's what you are using (sorry that it's German Website you can just Google it)

Does anyone have some nice suggestions for magnimar themes ?

My paladin has a high diplomacy for his level as well.
Our GM keeps it like this RP>rolls, even if I get a score over 30 I don't expect to convince the other person to do anything I want, the roll just "helps" strengthen my arguments

What about a Kitsune Rogue with Realistic Likeness and Sleeves of Many Garments.

High CHA and DEX, I don't know about others , but I like to play my "thieves" as highly charismatic masters of deception, who might get invited to a ball because of some nobles they've cheated.

Then later while my character gets some fresh air, he takes his "thiefs kit" hidden in a brush and climbs to the first floor with the help of a grappling hook.

Maybe even the Master Spy PrC ?

We are using Erdenstern. They have different albums with different themes.
Into the Green,White,Blue,Gold and so on

I used the Dracula OST while the group was in a cloister which was run by a "dark magic cult"

While we are on the worldmap (my group is playing with a projector) we are using the Terranigma overworld theme .

Then several FF Soundtracks,Vagrant Story OST,Ocarina of Time,Gothic 2 and so on and so on.

But we still haven't found our "perfect" Magnimar theme yet. Usually we use the same themes for the same places, and change them if something in the area changes as well.

And we use different layers of sound, for example there is the typical city theme and then the PCs go on a market, then there is a new layer with something like this as well .

We are having a halfling bard (vanilla) in our party as well, actually I like that little guy a lot.
-1st his RP is great and contributes a lot to our gaming sessions
-2nd who doesn't like the additional % to hit and other stuffs
-3rd our rogue (your ninja?) absolutely loves vanish/invisibility and so on

If you are fine rolling a d4 for damage definitely go for a halfling archer bard, give him a sweet name and personality and your party will have a huge profit

@darkwarriorkarg
1)Our characters are rolled, and the GM said I should show him a 20point example first. Maybe I have to go down to 15 Point-buy don't know yet.
2)Paizo products are fine , we don't use any 3 Party stuff

How would you build the Aasimar in "Blood of Angels", the blonde woman with the white robe and staff. I imagine my cohort kind of like her

We are playing the RotRL AP.
At least in our group we had contact with the clergy, helped them a lot and have a great renown.

Here are some of the problems:
-We don't have experience how much of a benefit crafting is(our druid wanted to take it but doesn't have any free feats)
-Our druid is on holidays we don't know which way he will take(weather domain is all i know). During our last session he was kind of a blaster

Hello,

This weekend we should advance to level 7 and my Paladin is going to choose leadership as his feat.
Our GM would like to see the cohort in advance to think about how the feat would change our campaign.

Our party consists of:
My paladin, a rogue,bard,druid and ranger.

I know that we don't have any real arcane caster, but I guess a divine class fits my character better(Cleric or Oracle?).
So I was thinking about a group support cleric, my character knows clerics of the following deities ingame, Desna,Saranae and Iomedae(he's a sacred servant of Iomedae). So my obvious choice would be a cleric of Iomedae, maybe an Aasimar like myself. I don't want to go melee with the cohort he/she should be a healbot/buffbot and able to craft... I know it sounds like taking 1 feat for 5.

So here is my first idea for a cohort

Aasimar cleric of Iomedae
Domains:Heroism/Law

Str:10
Dex:10
Con:14
Int:10
Wis:17+2(+1 level 4)
Cha:12+2

Skills:knowledge religion,spellcraft

Feats:
-1st Scribe Scroll
-3rd Craft Wondrous Item
-5th and then ?
Any suggestions?

Would you allow such a cohort for a paladin in your group?
I'm kind of the leader and face of our group(highest Cha and roleplaying the tactics domain) we have a good reputation and contacts to the local churches.

Do you have any other suggestions for a fitting cohort?

I am playing a Paladin myself , I don't see myself as the PURE good.
From my experiences as a GM Paladin players often forget about the "law" aspect.
This means respective laws of the country or area where the group is.
If slavery is allowed by law, I have to respect that law because ... when in Rome do as the Romans do

If I can make sure that someone will atone for his or her wrongs I give him another chance it happened some times during our campaign.

Hey pennywit,

thanks for the suggestions, after our last session I gave the GM my folder with some characters which he can use as bad guys.

He showed us some tactics from the first chapter , and well ... the tactics in the book are quite weak but he really changed it I guess. Or the second book is much better(we had barrels rolling down the stairs and so on)

Maybe our group harmonizes too well out of combat, we really focused on different skills. We have a very nice variety of knowledges, social skills and other things.

Thanks for the advice so far.

We are using the anniversary edition.

Some of our enemies were already using sneaky tactics and setting up traps, but it didn't work. So maybe the only solution is to add more monsters because we don't have any AoE , our single target burst has been a problem most of the time.

And it isn't that much fun if "Boss-fights" don't feel epic or important at all.

Does the whole situation get better by the end of book 2 and the rest of the adventure path ?

We are running RotRL as well and I am playing an Aasimar Paladin in the campaign. Our GM doesn't have any problems with it, actually I had some nice RP moments because of my race.

What I did , I gave my GM some infos about Aasimar from the "Blood of Angels" so that he got an idea about how other people see them and so on.

Hello,

after our last RotRL we discussed how encounters can be more challenging for our group. Here is a quick overview about the group first.

All characters are Level 5

Aasimar Paladin(Sacred Servant of Iomedae/Oath of vengeance)
Attack: +11 (2D6+8)
AC: 23
HP:~50
Feats:Fey Foundling,Power Attack,Combat Expertise

Human Ranger
Attack: +11 (1D8+3)
AC: 19
HP:~40
Feats:PBS,Precise,Rapid,Deadly Aim,Boon Companion
Pet: Wolf

Human Rogue (Knife Master/Scout)
Attack: +7/+7 (1D4+1+SA)
AC: 19
HP:~30
Feats:(Not sure)It's a TWF Kukri build.

Halfling Bard
Attack: +8 (1D4+5)
AC: 20
HP:~30
Feats:PBS,Precise,Arcane Strike

Human Druid (Weather Domain)
Don't know that char well and he wasn't there the last time we played

Usually we are only 4 players but from this week we want to try playing with 5 players.

The biggest problem is that the encounters are already too easy and now we will even have one player more.

So how can our GM "buff" the encounters without making them too hard ?
We were thinking about adding small buffs to them , like AC , to hit , DAM and so on.
Or adding additional enemies to the encounters.

Our GM is new so he is worried about making them too hard, any advice would be appreciated

He will begin at level 4 so he has 6000 gp.
But we are almost level 5 so I was wondering if he gets a low level companion first, and then on level 5 it suddenly levels up because of boon companion.

Our GM just told me that the ranger will get 6000 gold to spend.
So should he get the "Bracers of Falcon's Aim" or a magical bow, arrows + a haversack ?

Also I could really need help with an animal companion.
A ranger can't choose a tiger right ?
What's a nice one for a bow ranger , a wolf ?
Does the AC suddenly get levels after taking the boon companion feat ?

Full builds for an AC would be appreciated

I wrote a short story about a young goblin ranger, if you are interested in it for your campaign I can translate it into English.

I don't have a full build for him (only up to level 10) and he doesn't like other goblins, actually they are his first favored enemy :D

Sorry if I didn't make it clear , IF he stays in the group we will play the whole RotRL AP. So he will advance to higher levels.

When I said level 8 I was talking about this weekend.

So how would you handle the stat situation?
It's the only thing I'm not really sure about yet

Thanks for the advice so far

1. I totally overlooked the -3 Level on the companion, if he wants an animal I will definitely take the feat at 5.

2. We are playing RotRL finished the first chapter (no real rumors about our next enemies yet)

3. First I thought about 20 STR as well , but it Looks a bit cheesy and would increase the burst of the group even more (our GM already has problems with life totals and is upping them)

4. +2 to WIS sounds fine then he wouldn't have to buy a headband later, or maybe just pump WIS at 8 and 12 ?

5. He will be starting with 3k gold, which isn't enough for the bracers yet. Any ideas on how to spend it ? We have like 4 comp bows with us , but he isn't with us yet so he has to buy things first.

Hello everyone,

this weekend an old friend is going to join our group as a guest , he hasn't played PF for a long time so he asked me to help him with his character.

He wants to play a human ranger using a bow.

His rolled stats are:
-18,14,14,12,11,10

I basically don't know anything about ranger archetypes so here is my build for him.

Race:Human
Class:Ranger

Stats:
-Str:14
-Dex:20
-Con:14
-Int:11
-Wis:12
-Cha:10

Traits:Magical knack (worth it for buffs?) and ???

Skills:Handle Animal,Perception,Ride,Survival,Stealth

Feats:
-1st Point Blank Shot
-1st Precise Shot (Human Bonus)
-1st Favored Enemy (Humans)
-2nd Rapid Shot (Ranger Bonus)
-3rd Deadly Aim
-5th Favored Enemy (Maybe anything from the AP based on rumors)
-5th Weapon Focus Longbow
-6th Improved Precise Shot (Ranger Bonus)
-7th Many Shot

I don't think that we will advance to Level 8 or any higher , but advice for higher levels are still recommended. Because he might become a regular member of our party.

If there are any interesting archetypes you could show builds for them as well

Tonight after our session we were talking about our funniest fails on checks. So I was curious what you guys have experienced.

Here is my fail situation:

It was such a funny situation for the whole group , so I was curious what kind of funny fails you have experienced

I experienced one player in my group cheating as well, while I was the GM. It was a system where you had to roll more than 1D20 for check. So I randomly checked the table and calculated his total outcome. He wasn't my friend , and actually I didn't really like him , so I didn't inform the other players about it.

Later I contacted him at skype telling him that he should stop that cheating thing because it isn't a solo game it is a group game and everybody fails (in my opinion fails make the game awesome and so much fun).

Around 2 months later I played with him (this time as a player not as a GM) and kept an eye on him , and could cleary see that he turned some dice to his Advantage. I told the GM (my good friend) about this and since then he has been banned from our gaming group. In our opinion fails are what makes the game so awesome, who didn't have to roll only a 5+ and failed with a 1, "book i like , story good".

In our current group the GM can't see the dice very well , because he is sitting a bit far away to control the Sound , beamer and stuff , but basically everyone is keeping an eye on the others roll. So who would even dare to cheat playing in a group of RL friends

Usually plot-items are miraculously giving to another party member before dying. Otherwise we usually bury our characters with their gear or donating their gear to an associated temple/organization for a greater good.

We are still thinking about if my paladin is dead or can be revived.

Maybe I care too much for the image of "my kitsune" and that's why I never really considered the serpentine bloodline, I didn't even consider the infernal bloodline, it might be sweet as well but Yui is your "kitsune next door" ...:D

I was considering Fey-Serpentine as well , but the flavor just seems to be so wrong. My GM even allowed me to reflavor mad monkeys to mad squirrels ... I mean who doesn't like a horde of mad squirrels attacking your enemy :D

Thanks for the advice but serpetine bloodline and its descreption doesn't suit the character.

@Ausk we were confused by the description as well, first I thought they are flying around. Then our GM said "Walking on the floor" so would grease work ?

When the party escaped he realized the fly speed.

I wouldn't see them as pride from FMA more like Nocturne from LOL

Hey ecw1701,
I'm totally in love with the concept and the kitsune as well (might be because I've read a tale about a kistune lately).

After my paladin died (not sure if i can be ressurected) I told the group about my new character and they were like .... "okay and what could you have done this game session?!?!?"

I just love the idea of that curious , cheeky , innocent fox girl protecting herself with things like "oh excuse me Mr. Orc I dropped my crystal ball , could you please give it back to me ?"

I think I might switch imp. initiative to an earlier level and take Skill Focus Nature from my bloodline (I can choose my bloodline feat first and then the regular feat right ?)

I could still need some help because it seems like my paladin died ...:D

Hello,

today we had an encounter with 3 shadows spawning and surrounding my Paladin , resulting in his death. Other charcaters were surrounding the shadows but we couldn't damage them.

But we had some questions after the fight:

1. How do shadows act ? Do they target the lowest strength target ?
2. Can I die from the STR damage. (The shadow says so , but the core rulebook says something else)

Hey Wiggz, I am going to be the GM of the third book , so I will definitely message your wife, thank you.

I want to have at least 1 nice compulsion every level , first my plan was 1 compulsion , 1 buff , 1 other CC and one blast. But we have a bard and druid with buffs and blasts are so "brutal" :D

Yui is a good girl based on her background story what I like about the Improved Familiar feat is that her best friend in the story is a fairy , so I should consider that for RP reasons.

I want a so called "hoshi no tama" aka starball as my bonded item.
Because in my opinion it fits a kitsune and might have some RP elements.

One more question about Realistic Likeness , it only allows me to Change into a HUMAN not a GOBLIN for example , right ?
And only the visual Features and not the voice for example , right ?

@Wiggz:

The build is almost the same as mine , could you ask her for her spell list ? This seems like my biggest problem right now

@Ipslore: Thanks for that item , I haven't seen it before

Any advice for blasts which I could use ?
I'm thinking about Snowball because it isn't as "brutal" as burning someones face ...:D

@andreww thanks for the advice with command undead , it would take away a spell (or a wand just for the case that we really meet undead)

If I don't go the Eldritch Heritage line I still have many free feats, any idea for a build without it ?

Maybe I am just blind, but I don't see any good alternatives

@ Eltacolibre: the feat sounds sweet but kind of limited , maybe I could combine it with ghost sound.

@ Zhayne: I don't really know about high level monsters and their saves, so I just wanted to max my DC. What would you do with 4 feats as an enchantress. I already planned with the spell penetrations and persistent spell.
I could take Spell Focus:Necromany and Threnodic Spell which I wanted to handle with a wand in my build.

@ Matrix Dragon: I didn't see Oppressive Boredom before it sounds like it can be a lot of fun. It seems like the other spells are a must.

Do you think the build works without blasts ? Would you like to have her in your party ?

Our old sorcerer only used blasts , so my friends might be surprised about that character :P

Is that feat really that good ?
It sounded like a +10 on disguise and only for human individuals.

And if I am going the Eldritch Heritage line I don't see any room for a feat before Level 19.

Hello everyone,

This weekend we are going to continue with our RotRL session and I am preparing my replacement chars.

This is my Kitsune Fey Sorcerer , I haven't played her yet so basically everything can be changed (has to be Kitsune and "Enchantress" though)
She is a cheeky,curious and mischievous girl, who prefers "playing" with her enemies instead of blasting them. I tried to reflect her personality in the spell list

Yui Misuru

Race:Kitsune
Class:Sorcerer(Fey)

Stats:
-Str:10
-Dex:15
-Con:17
-Int:16
-Wis:10
-Cha:20 (+1 at level 4)

Feats:

1st - Spell Focus: Enchantment
3rd - Greater Spell Focus: Enchantment
5th - Skill Focus: Nature
7th - Eldritch Heritage (Arcane Bloodline: Bonded Item)
7th - Improved Initiative (Bloodline)

Spells:
Cantrips (7)
Detect Magic,Daze,Ghost Sound,Mage HandRead Magic,Prestidigitation,Jolt

1st (5)
Entangle(Bloodline),Charm,Sleep,Grease,Color Spray,Mage Armor

2nd (3)
Hideous Laughter(Bloodline),Web,Glitterdust,Unnatural Lust

3rd (2)
Deep Slumber(Bloodline),Suggestion,Slow

I never played a sorcerer (especially Enchantress) in PF so I could really need your help, especially with the spells.
The group is level 4 right now and we might advance to level 6 this weekend, so I only posted the build till level 7.

The full build would include Greater Eldritch Heritage for school power enchantment because I really want to max the DC.

We only finished the first book of RotRL , so please don't spoil when giving advice :)

Actually my AC wasn't the highest but it should be now , and especially my HP are crazy in comparison to the rest of the Group.

About the performance , yes he is so effective it's crazy and I've already heard complaints from the party and had to "explain myself" why I do more damage , have more health and so on ...

I don't have to go shopping in sandpoint it seems like we have some time (don't know what will happen next though) so I could take a trip to magnimar.

We have a "group piggy bank" for stuff like wands and so on, maybe we will purchase the haversack from it and then I can spend my money on a +1 weapon and a new armor

My paladin is pretty vain, so I could use a magical razor :D

I don't have to care about my clothes because we have a really friendly bard in the group who keeps them clean and the armor / weapon shiny

Hello everyone,

Our GM asked us to prepare our "whislist" for the next session because right now we can spend some time resting and Shopping.

I am playing a Level 4 Paladin (Sacred Servant of Iomedae/Vengeance) in the RotRL and have around 4k gold to spend but don't know what I should get next.

His stats:

Str:20
Dex:12
Con:16
Int:13
Wis:11
Cha:20

Feats: Fey Foundling , Power Attack , Combat Expertise (at Level 5)

Equipment:
Greatsword
Warhammer
MWK Composite Longbow (+4 str)
Breastplate +1
Ring of Protection +1
Amulet of Natural Armor +1

Any advice what I should buy ? Or if I should save money for something "bigger" ?

I was thinking about replacing the breastplate with a full-plate and maybe getting a longsword + shield. Because last session I got hit quite hard.

The first char in our group is created with 4D6 drop lowest, assign as you like.

Replacement chars (after a death) can use stats from a 6x6 table generated with 4D6 drop lowest. So that everybody has the same possibilities and can generate a replacement char without the GM checking the dice.

I'm playing a Paladin (sacred servant of Iomedae/Vengeance) in RotRL now and I am having a good time.

Our party consists of a Rogue,Druid,Bard and my Paladin.
We finished the first book and my Paladin was the face/tank/DD it was pretty awesome.

Just get STR and CHA , grab a greatsword , put ranks into diplomacy and you should be fine.

My feats are Fey-Foundling and Power Attack (I'm an Aasimar so no additional feat from being a human) my next feats will be Combat Expertise and Leadership.

At later levels I am going to pick up Unsanctioned Knowledge for some sweet spells.

Especially through the first book you should really shine with a Paladin , don't know about the rest of the AP because we haven't played it yet

One thing which I like to do is to edit / write certain passages to give one (maybe not combat oriented) character places to shine.

We always play with a group of real life friends , so I can get their characters in advance. Then I take a look at their stats possible spells and so on, and try to create parts where a character can shine.

I realized that this is important especially in combat heavy systems / campaigns. Because some players of our group like to build beautiful RP characters who play a teriary role in combat.

Hi,
I'm playing a greatsword paladin in our RotRL campaign and we just finished the catacombs of wrath

Usually if I hit something it dies and our other members feel quite weak when it comes to damage.

Another thing is that we played the beginner box as well , but we remade our characters so that we didn't keep any loot from it, and I am not sad about it. We don't have a lot of cash or any real Magic items yet. So we try to get equipment with diplomacy and roleplay (thanks father Zantus for our holy water). Maybe the longsword (which my paladin had as well in the beginner adventure) makes things a bit unbalanced ESPECIALLY if they are going to sell it, if I remember the value it was quite high , so that you could purchase many useful stuff.

As others already suggested I would target the barbarian with some arrows and sneaky stuff or difficult terrain. My paladin had the same problem as well.

Hey Mors,
thanks a lot for the great help.
The Player decided to go with the barbarian build.

He wanted to play something like a "come and get me" character in another game.

We are going to play tomorrow and our GM already told us "that there will be quite a lot combats" , so I hope that he is going to support my pala in melee quite well.

Our last session was crazy , the rogue didn't to manage any rolls over 10 almost the whole night and the druid rolled so many 1s.

I think an alignment Change would be possible especially MoMS first then continue as a barbarian , don't know how the GM would think about barbarian --> MoMS --> barbarian though.

Could you maybe post both versions Mors ? One for the barbarian and one for the ranger ? Then I will Show them to the player later or tomorrow

I guess by RAW it doesn't work , but our GM will allow it if it suits the concept which it does. Especially because that player is an old friend and more like a "guest character" who can't play with us every week.