digeridork's page

So I jumped on another thread and essentially chimed in with a "me too," but I guess I should start a new thread. If not, meh.

I am unable to download any file from the My Downloads section. Whenever I try to do so it says "Personalizing...Click link again in 60 seconds to download." When I click the link again it just reloads the page and nothing gets downloaded. I've been having this problem since about 10:30PM last night. I sent an email last night as well.

These are all good suggestions. Thanks and keep 'em coming. I'm looking for as many opinions as I can get.

I'm in a Rappan Athuk game and my character recently died. I have decided to run something I've never played and we've never had at our table. Our group is 10th level now and so my character enters play as a 10th level magus.

I'm using a build around the Dervish Dancer feat. I think it is a pretty good build, but I don't think it is relevant other than it is a Dexterity Magus build.

What I'm looking for is a suggestion for spells. What are good spells to use for a 10th level dex-based magus?

I am a big fan of Bungle and Stumble Gap. As first level spells go they were really useful at early levels and remained useful well into later levels. But I think that Create Pit and its older cousin Spiked Pit are my favorite spells.

My list looks something like this:

1st Level:
-mage armor
-corrosive touch / shocking grasp (useful if you get the Reach Metamagic feat or delivered with Spectral Hand)
-grease
-stumble gap
-bungle
-burning hands
-vanish / silent image
-ray of enfeeblement
-burning disarm
-feather fall

2nd Level:
-warding weapon
-create pit
-stone call
-web
-frost fall
-blur
-mirror image
-minor image
-spectral hand
-levitate
-false life
-ghoul touch (never actually used it, but i like it)

Actually I think this is a good idea and let me tell you why:

First, the characters let their hubris make promises they can't keep. I think that repercussions are an important part of any gaming environment that is often overlooked.

Second, it allows you the opportunity to look into the underlying reasons why they aren't working as well as you might like them to as a team. Do you possess more teamwork experience than they do? Is their age a factor in the way their characters behave? Do they lack relevant real world experience regarding the tactics you'd like them to develop and use? Do they really like the characters they ended up with? If you can isolate what it is that is causing the disconnect with your players you can better address it in the future and plan for it.

Third, this presents an opportunity to showcase a group that uses their class abilities to the best advantage. Sometimes all it takes is the opportunity to see what these things like flanking and sneak attack damage can do to get the group hooked. It makes it a stronger example when you use lower level characters to whoop up on them because a lot of time players can get their characters to higher levels and then discount the threat that lower level opponents can present.

Considering all of the above I don't think I would let this result in a TPK. I'd want their characters to feel the sting of defeat, but I wouldn't want this to be something that completely derails the campaign that you've written.

Good luck with your group and consider talking with the group after the combat ends and go through what worked and what didn't with their characters and offer advice where you think that they could improve their tactics.

Honestly I think you're stuck with one round to cast Enlarge from a wand. I don't think that you're going to be able to meet any of your criteria within the rules as written.

When it comes to wands we've normally allowed spells to be modified by a metamagic feat and then loaded into a wand at the increased cost so long as the new required spell slot of the spell stays 4th level and under. I don't know if that is just our house rule or is in the rules someplace, but that's how we do it. Unfortunately adding quicken to an enlarge person spell requires a 5th level spell slot.

You might see if your DM lets you apply a metamagic feat to a spell in a wand at the cost of extra charges. It will solve two of your desired criteria, but is most definitely in the realm of 'house rule.' Sorry to say that's the best advice I have to offer you.

The 15th level of the wrecker curse specifically says that magical weapons receive an additional save versus the effect so I would imagine that that would apply to all of the lower levels of the curse as well.

Pretty sure the penalty for the blackened curse would still apply.

I don't really think you were being unfair. It isn't how I would have handled that and that is going to color my opinion on the matter, but the only red flag is the random way you determined the information that they got and that isn't really a red flag when I step back from my DM style.

I think I might have fudged it and given the group a heads up, especially since they had just been tenderized in the initial exchange that left three of their five unconscious. In my mind a party of five with one person absent (allowed to cast spells, but no player present) and three of the four remaining players out of the action would warrant throwing them a bone of some sort. Though I'm not sure even knowing about the funky chicken dance the vrocks were doing would have helped at all. At most the wizard who was making the check might have been able to save himself. It sounds to me like this might have been the last encounter for this particular adventure even without the dance.

I normally go with one bit of relevant information for knowledge checks, like if the dragon is huffing and puffing then I tell the player the dragon has a breath weapon and that they think he might get ready to use it (that or he decided to take the stairs rather than fly - it could go either way with dragons). Though the way Remco Sommeling broke up the information is a way I might start using.

Put it on them to come up with their background.

Start with the Fighter and ask that player to provide two things off the top of their head: 1) How they know the Cleric and 2) Why are they looking for the Idol of Azul-Khara, or some other mildly valuable treasure item, it doesn't even need to be magical.

Then move on to the Cleric and as that player: 1) How they know the Sorcerer and 2) what are they going to do about the goblin attacks south of town that he/she heard about.

Then the Sorcerer and then the monk. Each time give them a lead that is specific to them, their "Starting Quest" if you will. We've adopted this method for why our players know each other and it works famously. It has the side benefit of automatically injecting something the group can work together to accomplish right away. Maybe the goblins mentioned above are in a ruined temple that has a scrap of information in the main hall about the Idol of Azul-Khara. They're just a raiding party right now and the group learns that goblin raiders just attacked a caravan near the old temple. Make sure they're brief about their answers, no more than a couple of sentences each and take good notes because some of these little on the fly questions can lead to full blown stories when you're pressed for time or running out of ideas.

About the aasimar, that is a personal thing. We've found that with 20pt point buy and no modifications to the race things run just as smoothly as with a core group taken straight from the main rule book. It has been our experience that point buy pretty much trumps any benefit to stat bonuses anyways, so the character gets the race/class combo they want.

There's always the Undine, sort of like the water elemental version of a Tiefling. They're described as having blue skin.

In 1898 there was the Yukon gold rush that required every prospector to carry a year's worth of supplies. Here's a website that was distributed by the Northern Pacific Railroad http://www.arcticwebsite.com/goldrushsupplies1898.html

I would imagine this would be a good place to start. If they could afford it, things like bags of holding might go a long way towards safe storage of supplies.

This website http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/firstfleet.htm covers the first fleet to Australia and this link (from the above mentioned site) http://home.vicnet.net.au/~firstff/list.htm lists the stuff that they carried with them on the first fleet.

That might be a good place to start.

Though for the actual list of stuff I would imagine that seeds and tools would be most important.

Reading your post was the first that I had heard of them. Reading about them on the Pathfinder wiki doesn't throw up any red flags to me, even with their history.

Looking at their stats it looks like they're about on par with the aasimar so if your DM has an issue with them he might not want you to play a strix. As for flight, I don't think that it's the big game breaker that people make it out to be. Sure you can avoid many obstacles, but there's always the fact that you're gonna be the first thing people shoot at if your DM remember to have anyone look up and clear days sixty feet in the air leaves precious little to hide behind.

I'd ask you the same thing I would ask any of my players that wanted to bring a non-standard race to the table: "What about the Strix makes you want to play one?"

The only things I could say that might make some trouble would be in getting equipment. I'm pretty sure they weren't thinking wings when they said one size fits all so armor and clothing are going to need to be specially modified, though I suppose every day could be a toga party with that character. I've never really considered a character with wings before so I would imagine standard inn beds and chairs might also be problematic, but then you get into the discussion of expediency versus realism.

All in all though they look interesting and I might try to swing one past my DM when it is my turn to be a player.

It is a current trend with people in general. We had a guy at our table that liked to wander off while on watch and would find out what I had planned for the group ahead of time. Usually it was just bad for him, but occasionally a wandering monster would get the drop on them. This same player decided that smoking pot in the bathroom at his job was okay even though there was a zero tolerance drug policy. He blamed me for letting his character die and his boss for firing him. I'm pretty sure he passes the blame on everything else in his life, but having watched a few games being run at the local gaming store I have come to realize that he is no longer in the minority.

I try to do my part though, I've brought back a perennial favorite of one of my older groups: the Wall of Shame. That's where we take character sheets from fallen characters and hang it on the wall with the monster killed him written in red marker. Little things like that and the mocking of fellow players really kept my old group sharp so it might help in these situations as well.

We used one of those mini netbooks for gaming. It handled my PDF library well and could get online. If I recall correctly about the price they were in the same ballpark as the Kindle.

I don't know a lot about eReaders so I can't speak to their performance, but the netbook worked for my group.

How is their alignment situated? There was a 2nd edition Underdark boxed set that I vaguely recall had all sorts of rules and such for adventuring in the underdark from the drow perspective (at least that's what I recall, it was so long ago I might have it totally wrong).

If they're sticking around the Underdark how about have them adventure to advance the matron mother's house in whatever drow city you're using. There's artifacts from ancient surface empires to learn about and retrieve. Humans that are interrupting vital drow trade lines that happen to get too close to their sewer system with a connection to the Underdark that need to be dealt with and maybe that connecting sewer needs to be closed. A thief from the surface pulled off an amazing bit of thievery and grabbed something vital to the matron mother's plans to wipe out a rival house and the group needs to fetch it.

You've got all sorts of plot hooks right there from the matron mother in question. I always found that running games set in the Underdark was similar to running games set in surface locales. You have the same formula that works in either location, but the scenery is kind of bland (or nonexistent for those without darkvision) in the Underdark.

Q) Do you roll your characters?

A) Nope, it's point buy.

Q) Is your answer the default of your gaming group?

A) Pretty much.

Q) How long have you been gaming?

A) Since about 1989. My gaming resume was able to legally drink last year.

Q) What system did you first game in?

A) Star Wars d6 was the first system.

We used to roll 4d6 for our characters. When 3.0 came out and I started running games for my group I noticed some discrepancy in the challenge rating versus characters. I think my rule of thumb was to add two levels to the party level when designing encounters and not giving them XP for it. I felt bad about that because it wasn't fair to them, but they were more challenged for that.

Our switch came about rather recently when another member of my group that also handles GM responsibilities echoed my sentiments about early levels being too easy and how that can influence the course of the entire game. We did some experimenting with point buy and, from a GM perspective, things seemed like they fit for us.

Gaming now is more about being prepared and keeping an eye to tactics whereas before it was more about half the group being a one man armies and the other having very little to do on their turn in combat. After a fight that is designed to be a challenging encounter for our party level we actually feel like we were challenged. I think it has vastly improved our gaming experience and makes success that much sweeter and failure that much funnier (says the guy that dealt less than 10 points of damage in the last game we played).

Please rate these in order from most to least important:

Rouge skills, Tanking ability, High DPR (damage per round), Effectiveness at combat maeuvers.

Most important to least, as discussed by myself and another player just a short while ago would be as follows:

Combat Maneuvers -> Rogue Skills -> DPR = Tanking

Using combat maneuvers was the idea behind this character. I am not familiar with them so it was something that I wanted to explore with this character. I was looking for a highly mobile character that would put our opponents at a disadvantage and make my group's attacks more effective.

RE: trip weapon clarification. Thank you, I normally skim past that part and usually forget to use them when I do have them.

...snip for space...

If you want to trip you will probably end up using a pole arm of some sort as they are usually the only weapons with trip.

The part I quoted makes me think I read the maneuver description wrong. Does the weapon have to have the trip quality to be used to trip? I have been playing catch up with the maneuvers because I normally take the role of wizard for our group and those rules don't normally apply to me.

As for the Urban Ranger, that might be the way I go. It certainly sounds like it fulfills everything my group needs. I've never played a Pathfinder Ranger before so I will definitely look into that.

I hadn't considered weapon choices very much. What weapons would be best for a disarm / trip type of fighter? I was including the feint to deprive the opponent of his dexterity bonus to AC so I could sneak attack more frequently.

Would you recommend more fighter class levels over rogue, or would rogue be a better choice. I think fighter appealed to me for the fast access to a good number of feats early on, but seeing as I am new to this type of character nothing is really set in stone at this point.

Thank you for the suggestions. It gives me more to consider.

We're starting an adventure path my buddy is running. My group consists of a paladin, witch, and a psion. I will be taking over rogue duties and it has been requested that I make a character that can serve as a secondary meat shield.

After some consideration I thought I would make a fighter with dexterity as his higher score. I thought that a mobile combatant with an emphasis on disarm / trip attacks would fill a decent support role.

He's a human made with point buy (18 points) and ends up with the following stats:

S: 12 D: 16 C: 12 I: 14 W: 12 Ch: 12

This includes the +2 to one ability score for being a human.

He is starting as a fighter with the following feats: Agile Maneuvers (1st), Combat Expertise (human), and Improved Disarm (fighter).

As for skills I took Bluff, Disable Device, Intimidate, Perception, and Stealth for my first level set.

I plan on rogue for second level and then another level of fighter for 3rd level, which would give me Improved Feint, Improved Trip, and Improved Disarm for feats by 3rd level. It's playing the system a little bit, but I figure I will need all the help I can get for role I'll be playing in this group

I've never made a character that makes heavy use of combat maneuvers before so I was hoping someone with a little bit more experience would look over the character and tell me what they think, as well as offer some suggestions about things I should know about heavy use of combat maneuvers like disarm and trip.

Thanks in advance.

I was a player in another game system where we had an incident of a player cheating. Our GM identified the problem and asked the players that weren't involved in the cheating what should be done with a cheating player without providing specifics. Then she asked what the person that was cheating the same question. He was mature enough to admit what he had done right then and there. Since every one of the other players weren't willing to play with a cheating player she told him he wouldn't be welcome at the game after that.

It worked out for the players because they weren't given details and asked to make a decision without the influence of friendships that might have kept a player around otherwise. He ended up coming back to the game several months later and proved to be a much better player for it.

It might be a suitable approach for you if you think the player is mature enough to admit what he's doing and accept the consequences for his actions. Plus going into it you know what the other players think about the situation. Otherwise I'd change something major and then call him out when he says something. That way the players get to have their say there and then and you get to speak your peace. It will probably derail the session quite a bit and you're going to have to deal with that however you think is best.

I think I've come to accept the fact that my group will hack apart the kobolds and probably the mites as well. Thus far they have been playing up the "we're adventurers, prepare to become experience" card to its utmost.

I will be surprised if the call for "parley" is heard above the clamor for kobold blood, but even if the kobolds aren't rooted out they might find themselves on the short end of an eviction notice once the group starts the kingdom building process. Not only are the kobolds sitting on a silver mine (to go nicely with the gold mine they've already found and "forgot" to add to the map), but they are traditionally pests that cause problems for villages that are bound to spring up nearby.

My take on Genasi was a little different, though I have not had the opportunity to test these in play as niether group I am involved with has expressed any interest in playing genasi. I set them up as a feat, though I am wondering if it shouldn't be more than one feat and break up the abilities. It seems more thematic to me and therefore maybe a little more powerful than a normal feat.

Feat: Elemental Heritage [Air]
Can only be taken at 1st level
+2 Reflex
Can hold breath 4x con (in rounds)
+4 con check to avoid drowning
Electricity Resistance +1/HD
Fly is always a class skill
Languages: as race + Auran

Feat: Elememtal Heritage [Earth]
Can only be taken at 1st level
+2 Fortitude
Darkvision +15ft
Stabilty (or +2 to Stability)
Acid Resistance +1/HD
Appraise is always a class skill
Languages: as race + Terran

Feat: Elemental Heritage [Fire]
Can only be taken at 1st level
+2 Reflex
+5 Spd per 5 lvls
Produce Flame 1/day (+1/day per 3 lvls) as druid of same level
Fire Resistance +1/HD
Acrobatics is always a class skill
Languages: as race + Ignan

Feat: Elemental Heritage [Water]
Can only be taken at 1st level
+2 Fortitude
Swim Spd 10 (or +10 to swim spd)
+5 to Swim Spd per 5 lvls
Cold Resistance +1/HD
Swim is always a class skill
Languages: as race + Aquan

I am torn between thinking that these are too much or not enough and that anyone taking water is gonna get short changed a bit in that I made Swim a class skill (when it has special rules for having a swim speed in the skill listing). At a loss for any other skill that I could add there it came down to Swim or Heal.

This is made of awesome with an extra helping of "thank you so much you've saved a ton of time at my table!"

This is a great way to organize spells and way cooler than a list in a notebook. So yeah, what everyone else said.

I was looking for just something like this and the closest I got was hand writing the spells on index cards. This is way better and I'll actually be able to read what it says.

Ooh Ooh I love these things! Its like talking about your kids except people actually want to hear what you have to say.

My group of four consists of an elf sorcerer (elemental), an elf cleric (sarenrae), a human rogue (that will be multiclassing to ranger), and a human fighter.

I used the Crypt of the Everflame adventure to conveniently explain why they are 1) a group, and 2) given the charter. We already finished the everflame adventure and start kingmaker Friday.

I'd show you their pictures, but I left those in my other wallet...

I almost just used regular size modifier rather than the special size modifier for this (it came up just today) and instead implemented the Touch AC addition and that seemed to work fairly well. The first two or three times it came up there was a little bit of a delay, but thus far it has been fairly smooth.

As I use this more I might find a flaw, but so far it's worked fine. I'm curious about the thinking behind the CMD special size modifier, but think it might have been for the sake of making ut universally easier.