We are adventurers and we are adventuring. We are fallowing the path of the Dead Suns adventure, but I have this concern...We keep failing to kill people.
Our hale and hearty band includes a crafty and creative Android Mechanic, who makes machines and technology dance to his will. We are protected by a mighty, monastic Vesk Solarian who lost her honor and most of her name in some sort of noodle incident involving Skittermander. Bending the laws of physics is...well we have some player drift but that slot keeps getting filled with a caster. And me, the charismatic and charming Envoy...with whiskers and a long tail.
But we keep failing to kill people. It all started with
Incident at absalom station spoiler:
the Android Operative...no actually it started earlier. My memories are foggy (we play slow) but I recall there was a gang-leader we needed to "deal with". After lucky-crit removing her heavy hitter we knocked her out and then stabilized them both. We gave them a stern lecture and stole their stuff, there may gave been more but I can't recall.
Then we got to the derelict ship. Instead of just killing everything we actually rescued the two idiot goblins and, to make matters worse, when the ship left us on the drift rock they were aboard. This annoyed our employer enough he decided to punish us...by making them a part of our crew.
After that we beat down but did not kill the Android Operative who surrendered. We patched her up and left her with some (but not all) of her gear so she'd be less able to shoot us in the back, moreover we had reason to accept that she wouldn't be jumping us when we were her ship had been trashed.
She declined to come with us into the mysterious facility, did not face any of the hazards, but when the final boss fled through the walls to escape us it ran straight into her. A few die rolls later she showed up and asked for more healing, shocked we were still alive.
After that are some events I don't recall, but I think we actually did what we were supposed to...until we talked to Guido.
Temple of the Twelve spoiler:
I don't remember names, but I call the local criminal/coyote/fixer guy "guido". I dressed the part of an even scarier mafioso and walked in with an android who was acting "I care not for meatbags" and a glowing-but-with-blackness (graviton armor) Vesk and intimidated everyone between me and the answers I wanted. Not a shot fired, spent 100 credits on "playing and looking the part".
After that we went on Safari. We faced the stampede and something like half the successes we needed to escape were me making intimidate checks against giant thunderfoot beasts. Jokes about "mouse that roared" and "elephants afraid of mice" abounded.
Other things happened, a%++&$$ scorpion monkeys etc, but things didn't get weird again until the cultist. We saved her life, because at the time I was still in the mindset that every scrap of intel is important for your shadowrun to succeedheroes to win the day. I then decided (because I'm playing a gentleman adventurer who picks up the Rat Man's Burden and believes that Ysoki's prevalence across the universe proves we are manifest destiny to guide and help other races) to recruit her.
Then we got to the undead elf solarion. Now every person I have seen on the internet says they had to kill him dead. I listened to his tale and thought, "wait, can't I rules-lawyer this? He's in a magical bind he doesn't like." So after pointing out that we were clearly members of the cult *point to cultist we rescued* and he was under orders to take cult member orders under advisement, he should follow our suggestion to go check out a dead monster all the way down the mountain path, FAR away from us and any potential power-struggles that are perfectly normal business as usual for the Cult of the Devourer.
He said, "that's a damn good point" and walked away.
After that (and a boss fight or two) we had another crew member (cultist girl) and the Professor had a whole new avenue of research called "chatting with this dead guy."
Of course, that led us into prime-time. We had an NPC crew, we had a ship, we had a lead...so off we went
Splintered Worlds:
into the Diaspora.
Our Solarian used diplomacy (and a suprising amount of charm) to talk the pirate who was supposed to be our space battle into just giving us coordinates and leaving us alone.
On the asteroid, we captured the mind-slave Sarcesian sniper because we thought he was a cultist who knew the entry code. I spent several hours grief counseling him later.
Leaving the asteroid, we stole the Devourer-themed Golemforged Plate and decided to wear it, forgetting that it's Devourer themed for several sessions and accidentally making some intimidate checks with it.
On Eox, we failed to kill the undead who were roughing up one of their fellow soldiers, instead robbing them and sending them home in their skivvies to explain to the base commander why they were out of uniform and missing their kit.
We tried a "higher ground" strategy against the giant monster by climbing the building, and falling through it...
We brought a mind-mage enchanter to an undead fight and she spent most of the fight ENRAGING the hopping vampire/ranged specialist with 'you don't get to make ranged attacks' fog cloud.
And since 75% of the party doesn't need to breathe, (those ioun stones are dollar-menu cheap) we had trouble even recognizing that the assassins sent after us were trying to assassinate us.
All-in-all, I think our watchword for that book was "Macgoo".
And now, we're in Ruined Clouds. No need for spoilers, but after successfully hitting the first 3 locations on the track we've killed a total of 1 person, and he was technically killed by his friend under the influence of a suggestion spell, and he still honestly believes it was his own idea and that his friend had betrayed him. (also, it was a lucky crit).
Okay, maybe 2 people. There's a critter that might be sapient, I'm not sure because I can't exactly look at the stat blocks of an AP book I am currently in. But we even didn't kill (saved, actually) the inside-out dudes.
So yeah, I think we're doing it wrong. I may lose my GUMBO card. Still having fun though.
I had a thought the other day as I was burning and pillaging yet another town that made the unfortunate mistake of trying to arrest me for vagrancy. Adventurers often have a bad reputation; and many times when an elf, a dwarf, some indeterminate life-form made entirely of spikes, and 2 giant spiders wander into town the so-called "murderhobo alarm" is sounded and people scurry indoors with terrified looks on their faces. It seems the average village, town, or capital city expects wandering purveyors of violent science to burn their homes and steal their things.
As a card-carrying member of the Golarion Union of Murderhoboes for the Betterment of Others *holds up blood-stained, obviously stolen card* I pondered the best way to deal with such mistaken assumptions, and came upon the idea of putting forth a challenge to you good folk. What do you believe is the best way to win friends and influence people via good works and non-murder activities?
Joking aside, my mild addiction to god games and city/nation sims mean every character I play inevitably wants to exploit non-combat situations/powers to either make money or (because WBL) win indefinite forms of influence. After all, adventurers SHOULD have a bad reputation (the difference between "hero of the land" and "homeless serial killer" is who writes the press release) and having the town guard or local lord actually LIKE you because you did something for him is really nice the next time you need a new quest hook (because you killed the last one accidentally) or to bail a party member out of jail.
Plus, any time the cleric is upgrading a magic sword for his ungrateful teammates those teammates need something to do for a few days.
Now magic is easy. Run around casting mend (or at higher levels, stone shape/fabricate) and you can win a lot of friends in a few hours, but these ideas are still welcome. The REAL challenges are figuring out good works a Martial or Sneak character can do, and ways in which the efforts might accidentally intentionally go wrong because the GM is a bastard.
Example: Wizard talks with the captain of the guard, uses fabricate to outfit an entire platoon with masterwork quality weapons and armor for the cost of the base materials, now the blacksmith's union is pissed at the wizard for costing them a prime contract.
Third, the spell prevents bodily contact by evil summoned creatures. This causes the natural weapon attacks of such creatures to fail and the creatures to recoil if such attacks require touching the warded creature. Summoned creatures that are not evil are immune to this effect. The protection against contact by summoned creatures ends if the warded creature makes an attack against or tries to force the barrier against the blocked creature. Spell Resistance can allow a creature to overcome this protection and touch the warded creature.
No big deal, it's not like technology gets "summoned" and only robots really count as "technological creatures" anyway, right? Except Magic Circle against technology says this:
SRD again wrote:
...Robots receive a saving throw and spell resistance to avoid being kept at bay,
So now I have a doubt, is it intentional that the two spells are different, or is Protection from Technology supposed to prevent robots from touching those protected by it? Did someone copy-paste the wrong section or am I just being foolish even asking?
So, I was perusing the ooze entries in the SRD for unrelated reasons when I remembered a question that had arisen in a game a while back.
As a rule, oozes have crap dexterity. No big deal for them, they're oozes, but what happens when I decide to exploit that? I can't find any entry that says oozes are immune to grappling, ability damage, or the entangled condition.
What happens if I hit a 1 dex ooze with a net and it ends up with (effectively) a -3 dexterity? And even if you rule it is immune to the net because it's a freaking net, what if you hit it with an ooey-gooey tanglefoot bag?
Since ray of clumsiness does not appear to have ported over with other 3.5 spells, what other methods are there of cheaply dealing a small amount of dex damage/penalty to an ooze? Or did I miss something and I'm completely wrong about their immunities?
I have a couple of characters currently in development hell which may or may not ever see the light of day. If they do they're expected to ride the adventure pony all the way to level 20 or die trying. (spoiler alert, they're probably gonna die).
First is a half-assed battle oracle. Built for healing first, his backstory ended up with a very angry man, cursed with powers and an adventuring life he never wanted and an imaginary friend (actually an ancestor spirit) hassling him to go risk life and limb to fight evil. No problem, right? But because of the anger management issues he seems fitting for the Rage Prophet, and at later levels his healing can probably slow down a bit in favor of martial prowess.
Basically question #1 is: Is Rage Prophet worth it? And if so what's the best way to do it? If not is there a better PrC for that particular character story that still keeps up as either a battlecaster or a healer/other caster?
Next up with #2, unrelated character: I have another caster (sorcerer) who wants an extra-planar sidekick. Getting a familiar or even an improved familiar isn't really in the cards for reasons I don't wish to go into, but a cohort works just fine. But here's where I lose the thread. When (if) she gets to level 7 and takes Leadership, she just gets a cohort, right? Except it's a lot more comfortable and role-over-roll if I have some sort of reason that a sidekick (I'm thinking Lyrakien Azata caster for more spell-slinging but other suggestions are welcome, we're kinda heavy on the stabby-shooty front right now) is going to come from Heaven to go take on hell with some doofy jack-hole mortal. What I'd really like is a way to have a magical extra-planar pen-pal who I chat with, but I don't know a spell or magic item that *does* that. Also, what would an effective level 5 Lyrakien-grabbing-cleric-levels be? Cleric 3? Cleric 5? Cleric -2?
Continuing on with #3: bandoliers. Can a bandolier be loaded with caltrop bags, and if so is retrieving them a move action? While we're on the subject, what sort of action is spreading caltrops and can it be done at range?
Finally with #4: Alchemical power components. If I use a flask of alchemist's fire as a focus on a scorching ray spell (+1 to attack) to I need to have the flask in one hand and cast with the other? Does the flask merely need to be in my pack? Can I cast with the same hand that holds it? It can be important if I need that other hand for other things, like holding a crossbow, or not having a hand because it's a brutal and crippling dungeon.
So, I perused the paladin guides, the ones that weren't locked down and unreadable, and with their somewhat limited guidance I crafted a halfway decent paladin. "This guy will survive a session or two before being devoured by the horrors of the mega-dungeon," I thought to myself.
Then another player explained to me his Tiefling Magus character that will be throwing fistfulls of damage dice by level 3 and wreaking havoc at a disturbing level, so I think I need an upgrade.
Character creation rules are fairly simple: 20 point buy, max starting gold, the major splatbooks, ARG and ACG are available. It starts at level 1. My goal is to be the brickiest brick of a melee-martial that ever bricked. Someone has to weather the attacks and spells of enemies while the rest of the party does whatever dancing, slashing, casting BS they're going to do to kill the baddies. I have volunteered, but I'm not very good and power-gaming martials. Summoner and gunslinger not allowed for campaign setting reasons, The stranger the race the harder I will have to finagle and cajole permission from the GM, and "pass for human without difficulty" is pretty important.
Also, I really would like to be a paladin. Detect evil is pretty useful, and as a personal challenge I am trying to break out of my standard character rut of being the ride-along instead of a moral compass or a leader.
Oversimplified version: Can I use prestidigitation in place of a disguise kit when I'm making a disguise?
tl;dr version: I'm playing a drow in a good campaign. Please save your Driz'zt jokes and clichè-shaming for the end of the thread, I got a few mechanics questions.
Since being Out and Drow'd is dangerous at times and I'm level 1 I cannot afford a hat of disguise, hell I can't even afford a disguise kit, and that doesn't last very long.
First question is; do you even need a kit? The skill doesn't mention it and the kit doesn't say, "you must have this or you can't use the skill."
Second question; Prestidigitation can change the color of things (and a lot more, depending on interpretation). It ALSO says, "The materials created by a prestidigitation spell are extremely fragile, and they cannot be used as tools, weapons, or spell components." A disguise kit doesn't need to be durable but game balance, other argument, etc. I don't know. Can I use Prestidigitation to fake a disguise?
Third, was there ever a ruling saying you can or cannot take 10 on the skill? As an elf I don't sleep so I have an extra 4 hours every night, and can work on my disguise for the (up to) 5 hours.
And fourth, I'm trying to look like a different race (elf) so I get a -2, I'm ALSO just trying to make generic disguise rather than a specific one. Do I get any bonuses for that second part?
So I was in a thread about low-magic and high-magic settings and the arguments between the greedy munchkins and the stingy, stuffy "purists" and I had an interesting idea for arcane talents.
The base idea is a player picks an astrological sign (a la Elder Scrolls, Eberron Dragonmarked, etc.) that corresponds to a school of magic (except universal, more on that later). They then get 1 0th level spell from that school (their choice) as an at-will spell-like ability and 1 1st level spell (same school, rolled randomly) as a 1/day spell-like ability, their hit dice as caster level.
Already there are questions, like whether the spell list should be modified (Hold Portal is a terrible spell) and whether it should be Sor/wiz only or include cleric, bard, or druid spells. And I know plenty of folk don't care for rolling randomly for powers, but the powers are "free" and not unlike rolling for stats. But the idea is everyone has a magic "talent" they are born with, so even mud-farmers in podunkville have some magic in them, even if it's just magic lights and a bartender who keeps the drinks cold.
Moving on, characters can "upgrade" their abilities by taking the "Enhanced Sign" feat that grants another spell from their school (their choice, 1/3 their level, up to 4th level spells, may take feat multiple times) as a 2/day spell-like ability, their hit dice as caster level.
This means a level 9 or better barbarian could throw fireballs and lightning bolts, but so can anyone else. And they aren't getting better than Greater Invisibility (maybe not even have that on the approved list) because it caps at 4th level spells.
Fluff-wise the magic is part inborn sorcery and part learned wizardry, but the save DC is Constitution-based because the force you can spare on magic is determined by your general health.
But then there is the Universal school. What can they do? Well they are the only ones who get Prestidigitation (aka "best cantrip evar"), but they don't get a 1st level spell because there are none. The "signless" have a number of superstitions associated with them, and are often seen as either blessed or cursed for not being associated with one type of magic or other.
But they do have a big advantage, they have the option of taking Spell Resistance.
When they take "Enhanced sign" instead of receiving a spell-like ability they receive spell resistance 5 + their level. A 25% chance to resist spells tossed at them by equal-level casters, though they have to consciously "turn it off" for a round to get beneficial spells cast on them by others. Not surprisingly they also make good wizards, because they often feel the need to work hard to "make up" for a perceived lack.
So, what do you think? "Dumbest idea ever, never post here again"? "Great idea, needs these changes but Imma totally have peasants throwing fireballs at the party next campaign"?
I had to get that idea out of my head and into someone else's.
