Currently playing a level 17 Gunslinger - I have my class DC only come up with Critical Weapon hits. Not when I use my class feats... As said elsewhere, it isn't fun playtesting a kineticist and doing 25% of my damage (which is already lower than every other class based on action economy) since my class DC isn't scaling well
I mean the core class feature, elemental blast, seems to imply that that the class will literally blast enemies. The smugness of "you don't know design" is contradicted by the CORE ability of the class - you'd think if the design team didn't want to project this idea of a blaster, then they would've made it an optional feat (like many of the various AOE class DC abilities). The various spellcasters mentioned above can blast enemies but at a measured pace (i.e. they cannot blast after spellslots are used) and most of the time a good team player will have a varied spell list. The people on the forums that are saddened that this class isn't a blaster, are saddened that they indirectly/directly relegated to playing a fighter/gunslinger for high, single targeted, consistent damage. To compensate for the damage (the topic of this thread) the class could have gather elements be a varied action (1, 2, or 3 actions). Based on how much "effort" you spend gathering your element then you gain a damage boost to that gathered element. Maybe for 2 actions Gathering lets you add your CON to damage; 3 actions allows CON to damage and pumps the die size up one. The class would be able to operate in blaster mode (i.e. just using your gate for elemental blasts) or utilizing element specific AoEs
My comment doesn't imply that casters should have a higher save chance - I was merely commenting on the fun factor of the class, and how it compares to damage. (i.e. more damage = more fun; or at least I feel like I'm contributing more). I think spellcasting is fine as it is. I really can't provide numerical suggestions to class, I'm an English teacher not a statistician. But, if I were to make a suggestion, I would probably have the gather element ability be related to damage in some capacity. For example, if you spend 1 action gathering it does the damage listed as is. But, there could be 2 action/3 action variants that increase damage until you overflow. The idea thematically is that the more effort you put into gathering your element, the more you get out of it.
Looking at the damage of blasts and keeping in mind that the average monster gets a success on a saving throw against ANY DC; I still don't understand why we wouldn't want the damage buff to some extent. Anecdotally, I played a wizard Tuesday for a one shot. In a six hour game, not a single creature failed or critically failed my spells. It wasn't my poor abilities to pick spells, target the "correct" creature, or etc. But, it wasn't fun dealing 25% of my damage compared to my melee friends/ranger who were consistently dealing reliable damage. It just didn't *feel* fun. I know the thematics of the kineticist are fun, but when it comes to impulses and damage, I doubt it will *feel* fun.
... Sometimes on the forums an individual’s tone can be ambiguous. I say this as neutrally as possible. I’ve ran all 2e APs except the Frozen Flame, and Alkenstar AP. If the GM is reading ahead of time, not vastly ahead, but reading ahead, then they can tailor these AP to your party. It isn’t a huge time sink changing “X” skill to “Y” and the same line of thought applies to the challenge of encounters. I’ll secretly deflate AC or Strike values by 1 or 2 if I feel like it isn’t fun. The math in these rules are a baseline, it requires and encourages a good GM to make slight adjustments in play. To me, all of your gripes sound GM specific considering there are ONLY so many pages in these books and they are written for the widest appeal possible. Not saying your experiences aren’t true, but if I was your GM and I saw your post I would probably feel ashamed I hadn’t done more for my party.
Reading the Player's Guide has helped with my expectations! I liked the houses, the NPCs briefly mentioned, and the leadership sub-system rules foreshadowing the AP's trajectory. My only nitpick was the font choice for the AP's title/headers. It just looked a little goofy compared to the tone they were describing in the actual guide. I'm with keftiu, I'll probably pass on this one knowing that Alkenstar is next.
I love Night Witches too! I'm from the Carolinas so I've also played Carolina Death Crawl!
@keftiu this is off topic per se, but Fiasco (by Bully Pulpit Games) is also a great non-violent game
@mergy What I’ve seen is several poster asking for acknowledgment. I feel like the new rooming policy does that. But others disagree. So what step would be next?
Well since conventions are often out of state, couldn’t the law be based on the state in question? For example, as someone from SC my ability to record someone on the phone differs depending on what state I’m currently in and not where I’m from. So while the claim, “the law” is weak, it is more than just citing a law, right? And unless more objective proof other than “transgender employees” come to light we don’t have evidence of discrimination. For example, I wasn’t allowed to room with my wife in a company trip. We both went. And I just had to room alone or not go. Proof of discrimination de jure or otherwise is high, although the optics look poorly. If other trans-folk have had similar experiences wouldn’t we see them agreeing with Crystal, to embolden her claims?
Could Paizo even state that they mistreated trans/queer folk? From a legal point of view? Could that open the company up to civil rights issues?
Hey I understand- but my question wasn't addressed in general, just to those that have said, "I'm done with Paizo" ya know? If I went around decrying a company saying I'll never buy their products, etc., I wouldn't want to spend hours on that company's forums I guess, but apparently that's just me lol I understand, and I agree with you.
I re-read LO:Legends today, and there are some interesting implications for the Worldwound area - an AP "cleaning up" and dealing with the impact of that world event. This isn't a sequel directly, but "following" up with the Veiled Masters from Age of Ashes/Kataphesh (etc.), would be super interesting.
I found this discussion to be super interesting, especially since as I converted from 5e to 2e, the level 1-20 Adventure Paths were selling points for me as the GM. Regarding the conversation, I think that when you're playing with the 3 book APs one thing that hasn't been discussed much is the player perspective. I'm currently running Carrion Crown, Kingmaker, and Agents of Edgewatch. I'm also a player in Age of Ashes. When asking groups of players which module we want to play in, the two most important aspects I've seemingly noticed is theme (I can't wait to play Ruby Phoenix!) and level count. The groups I play in LOVE the long journey from 1-20 and feeling the heroic transition from being a small-fry to a level 20 badass in a continuous story. I know that everyone's group is different and things can derail a long-running game, but just my anecdote. I know from a business perspective Paizo gets more of my money from the 1-20 APs, obviously. I also know that if the next two years were interchangeable 1-11/11-20 3 Book APs my players would probably keep asking me to convert 1e modules (UNLESS the theme was as great as the Ruby Phoenix, or so on). I love reading everyone's opinion on this, because isn't the next AP in 2022 another 3 book AP?
This is amazing, props to all the talented people who made this playtest possible!
I'm so hype for this! My group is absolutely loving the AP so far :) can't wait to read this! The creativity in this series so far has been amazing
My group didn't kill any Kobolds or arrest any of them, except Rakerak . They actually were sympathetic and negotiated issues between Ama and Skerix. I'm glad everyone else is handling this encounter well :) Anyone have any tips for running the House of Planes? I made dossiers for the missing persons and the party isn't even aware that Henry is the culprit. :) |
