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The Blinded condition is still confusing, especially to new players. It should mention enemies usually become HIDDEN when you are blind and so you're off-guard, and require a flat check to attack them etc. I even just listened to the latest Glass Cannon 2e actual play and they got it wrong.

Is there a preferred word count for submissions relating to New Equipment? the guidelines don't mention a word count. I'm putting together a bunch of thematically linked magic items, weapons and armor.

I really like the +2 damage too. I think it adds to the experience if the party is incentivised to work together as much as possible. Nice small bonus!

So I ran a high level game and realised there are so many character options that cause the flat-footed condition: Sword crit specialisation, rogue's double feint, investigator's shared stratagem, flanking.

All these options detracted from the importance of flanking as the condition doesn't stack. I'm considering changing flanking to work like it did in 1e so that it grants the attacker a +2 circumstance bonus to attacks. It would also trigger sneak attack.

What are folks' thoughts on this change? Would it give the PCs too much advantage... If they can stack flat footed with flanking bonuses ?

Please share your thoughts

Hi friends, please share your collective thoughts on this one.
1) do you need to be able to be able to SEE a creature to target it with the message cantrip? (It’s clear they need to be able to see you in order to respond)
2) and if so, do you need to be able to see a creature to target it with the sending spell?
3) Sending has a range of “planetary.” I can guess what this means, but is it defined anywhere in the rules?
4) finally what do you think the RAI are for how these two spells should work?
Many thanks !

I like this as a simple fix. I let the alchemist at my table use INT for bombs and it definitely improves their effectiveness and enjoyment. They weren’t outshining other PCs. Clever little tweak to make if you have an alchemist player who’s feeling underpowered.

I posted this in the GM Reference thread, but here again: Here is a quote from Tuskhead Stoneworking for the renovation of the Citadel. My party didn't want to do any of the work themselves, so this contains all the costs if outsourced 100%. The special requests were things they specifically wanted added to the Citadel. Link to PDF is on dropbox over HERE!

My party decided to hire Tuskhead Stoneworking to do all the repairs and upgrades on the Citadel. I'll update them as to the background progress of the works between their adventures. I made a formal quote for the Building Works and shared this with them. The Special requests were things their characters specifically wanted to add to the renovation. Here is the pdf for you to use.

I'd like to see somethings along these lines (old and new classes):

1) Magus - Arcane Fighter - as per 1e

2) Hexblade/Cabalist - Occult Fighter. Mixing mental and martial attacks. Strange, Mysterious, Gloom Blade fantasy

3) Inquisitor - Cleric Rogue - Hunter of men and monsters as per 1e. Great flavour.

4) Scout - The Nature Rogue - What Ranger is to Fighter; Scout is to Rogue. Skillful, nature-based, lots of movement, sneaky, deady.

5) Saint - Magical or Supernatural incarnation of a god in a mortal's body, something new and wonderful with wow-factor like the Solarion.

6) Warmage - Medieval technomancer, Martial Wizard, Muscle Wizard - Arcane Support Caster trained to wage war and enhance weapons and fellow warriors; Buffs; Battlefield abilities; Can wear armour and survive the heat of combat.

Just my 2c!

I don't have a problem with "Elementalist" initially evoking the 4 classic elements. When you dig into the class and realize - wow, there are all these other cool 'elements' to choose - shadow, aether, wood etc. We're already sort of familiar with strange elements in elementals beyond the Big Four. It's taking the familiar and expanding on the depth of the concept. Makes me think of China Mieville's Bas Lag novel "Iron Council" which has golem makers who make the creatures out of traditional elements and matter but later create beings out of light and shadow and other more conceptual elements which is awesome.

I agree with OP. For me, “kineticist” has the wrong connotations and feel. It’s also not obvious from the name what fantasy (or play style) it evokes. My personal preference would be Elementalist. People are familiar with that name from CRPGs and know it means they’ll be manipulating and blasting elements. It’s evocative and broad enough to encompass tons of elemental “paths”

Thanks All. I like your approach Rainzax...I want this house rule to guarantee that when an encounter begins, any creatures that are not surprised get to act first and receive a moderate advantage by this.

I don’t want them to have a full 3-actions (as this seems too great an advantage especially if they have won initiative anyway and get to take 2 full rounds (I.e 6 actions) before the surprised opponents act);

But I’m having trouble with the limitations of what 1 or 2 actions allows. If they receive two actions, then they can attack twice which feels like too much. If they receive only one action, then they can’t cast most spells in the surprise round, which feels unfair to casters.

I’d like them to be able to make one attack, or cast a spell and maybe step too. But I’m wondering what the simplest , most elegant way of codifying this might be.

I feel like spells taking two actions to cast in 2e has more to do with limiting them to one spell per turn, rather than the fact that casting a spell takes longer to achieve in real time than making an attack.

Do you think making two attacks in a surprise round is overpowered?
Do you think casters should be able to cast spells in a surprise round?

Thanks for the input and discussion.

I’m looking at adding Surprise Rounds to my game, similar to how they worked in first edition. If combat breaks out and only some (but not all) of the combatants are aware that combat is starting, then we have a Surprise round. Everyone rolls initiative as normal, and is ordered accordingly. But then only those who are aware of combat get to act (in their initiative order). Once this Surprise round is over, we go back to the top of the initiative order for the first full round of combat.

In First edition, during a surprise round, you could only take a single move or standard action. This represented a shorter amount of time to act before everyone was ready and aware of combat. With this standard action you could make a single attack, move or Cast a Spell or similar.

Now in Second edition, during the Surprise round, I’m unsure whether to allow a single action only. (Which wouldn’t allow for Casting a Spell) or whether I should allow 2 actions. (Which would allow creatures to attack twice) or some more nuanced allowance (eg one attack or Cantrip plus one Step)

Has anyone implemented similar in their games? What are your thoughts on this house rule? What should creatures be able to do in a Surprise round?

As a final consideration - Surprise rounds were addressed in Pathfinder Unchained (which was the precursor to Second edition’s 3 action system. Unchained gave two “acts” as follows:

“Surprise Round
When combat starts, if some but not all of the participants are aware of their opponents, a surprise round occurs before the first round of combat. Those who are aware can commit up to 2 acts during the surprise round, and gain a reaction when that round is over. If all combatants are aware of their opponents, skip the surprise round.”

Anyone played this yet? Is it a good introduction to new players to ttrpgs?

Why doesn't Razmir just gain another level and take Immortality as his 20th level discovery? What a moron.

I suggest a modified version of Runeforge. You can expand and change it as needed, but a dungeon with sections devoted to the Living God's different "virtues" is nice. He's called the Master of the 31 Steps- you could add sections according to different steps in his church's hierarchy and his supposed path of ascendance.

Great idea!

Hi guys, I’ve been GMing a homebrew set in Golarion for the last 7 years. The campaign started with the Price of Immortality trilogy and then branched our into homebrew territory. The Big Bad is still Razmir and his Church, and the Demon Lords he’s allied with to secure his own immortality. The party is level 19 - duelist/fighter/rogue, Oracle of Flame, Warpriest and Ranger. Super powered but great, creative role players. They’re about to head into Razmiran into the Forgotten Track (a gulag-like mining complex underground). I want to use a published Paizo dungeon from one of the APs that I could tweak to fit the setting but that would come ready made with interesting encounters (combat, puzzles, RO etc)

tl;dr: can anyone suggest a dungeon from a published AP for a 19th level party that I could tweak to fit into my homebrew campaign. Got to be challenging and fun and be able to be ported underground in Razmiran.

All Hail the Living God!

Thanks seems. That's exactly the feature i was hoping existed. I also use a lot of custom monsters and monster combinations. Being able to prepare these ahead of time and then load them up as required is awesome! Many thanks

One more question re prepping for sessions: Is there a good way to organise your maps in the Maps tab. It would be great to be able to create folders for different campaigns or at the very least manually sort the order of the maps. Also, if you change the map in name once you Open up the individual map - it doesn't reflect this name change in the list of Maps.

Just discovered this fantastic program. What is the best way to prepare a number of different encounters ahead of time that you can easily switch to when PCs stumble across them? It's easy to quickly search for and add a single monster to a combat.. but can you do it with a specific group of monsters? Many thanks!

Fellow GMs! I'm approaching the final chapters of a 4 year long campaign which began with the awesome 'Price of Immortality' trilogy of modules. The Cult of Razmir has hounded my party all these years - tormenting them across the Inner Sea Region as far as the Elemental Plane of Fire. My PCs are now level 16 and they're finally ready to take the fight to Razmir himself in Thronestep! I'm looking for any cool ideas for what lies ahead within the Theocracy. I imagine a final showdown in Thronestep (with Level 20 PCs) atop the 31st step where Razmir sits gilded in blood and gold, mad with power and perversion behind his mask. The campaign has developed the Living God's growing ties to the Abyss and Abraxus who has promised Razmir eternal life in exchange for the souls of those his growing empire enslaves. Any ideas or resources would be greatly appreciated. My PCs are currently attempting to scry on the Living God's Kingdom from the Plane of Fire... But his demonic allies surely provide some trickery against such prying, for as we well know, one must "Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.”

I say "fie" to both Orfamay and Claxon. FIE! I say! This is an excellent way to tell a tale and involve the players. One just has to do it in a way that engages the players in a fun way.

This is an awesome idea! Reminds me kinda of the flashbacks in Brandon Sanderson's brilliant Stormlight Archive series. I love the motes representing constellations and the epic space-time warping magics!

Congrats to all fellow contributors who made the cut! And a massive thank you to Tim, Paris, Dain, Garrett and all the editors who give us, the community, such an incredible opportunity to write for the game we so dearly love.

Hi. For a submission aiming at 750 words, what would be the maximum acceptable word count? Many thanks

Hi guys, 2 questions about the gore attack:

1) how would you work the gore attack you get from this helm into a PC's attacks?
If a pc has iterative attacks from high bab, does this gore attack replace one of those iterative attacks at normal bab? Or is it an additional attack over and above normal number of iterative attacks? And if so what is the bonus to hit? Is it treated as a secondary natural attack or what?

2) Do u add strength bonus to the gore, and if so as its a single natural (?) attack would u add 1.5 STR modifier?

Many thanks for input

Fellow GMs - I need some help building a winter witch BBEG for my home group to face at the end of my current adventure arc. They are about to enter a Winter Witch's ice spire base deep in Irressen territory on an assassination mission for a Linnorm King. I've set up the idea of the Witches as powerful evil masters of cold and death who steal children across the border to trap their souls in porcelain dolls and steal their youth for eternal life - but I don't know the witch class very well at all. What are some cool tactics she could use when they face her - I'm looking for flavorful combat ideas - hex/spell combos etc. that are thematic and effective. The party is pretty powerful at Level 10 average. They have it All - barbarian cleric wizard ranger rogue occasionally a paladin and/or bard too.

Any ideas welcome - would love to incorporate environment and/or magic items too.

Cheers!

Thanks for all the advice guys - some great ideas. I think the party wizard would be happy make her a couple of interesting wands, the recently defeated Denizen of Leng's hoard could reveal a bag of randomly rolled magical arrows with different properties, I'll employ a much greater use of cover and magical cover like wall spells and wind spells, some more use of minions charging up close - and a nemesis male ranger npc who Steps Up in her face and demands Mortal Kombat would be awesome. I'll also encourage her to take Boon Companion as her next feat so her Wolf becomes worthwhile again, and she could even ride him! She'll love that. Story wise - they're heading into a woodlands village recently ravaged by unnatural storms - for certain the poor, local animals are going to need a hero to build them a shelter. Cool idea Mr Boggard. Of course the Enemy will lay an ambush using a poor little puppy as bait - and the Campaign continues!

Re the druid level, she took that hoping to go for the PrC Nature's Warden... but now she's having major doubts as many parts of the campaign have been in dungeons, on strange demi-planes, and now they're heading towards the Linnorm Kingdoms - so the favoured terrain focus (forests) seems like a bad choice. It was originally her character concept of the one-with-nature-fighter-druid-protector-of-the-wild...

thanks again for all the help folks

That is a neat little trick. Thanks mdt - Magic Aura is now my new bffe.

Thanks Zaister. Harder to trick spellcasting PCs than I thought. Instead of having an enemy spy on them in animal form via Beast Shape - I'll have to make it a Familiar or perhaps an awakened animal companion...

If a spellcaster is polymorphed into another form with Beast Shape spells or Alter Self - would a detect magic reveal the deception? What exactly would it reveal - a magic aura of the transmutation school?

Hi friends,

I've been running a home campaign for about 6 months - party is now up to level 8 using the fast progression track - good times... currently trying to escape from the Harrow Deck in the Harrowing. My girlfriend is playing a Ranger 7 Druid 1 elf archer character and she's fallen into a rut of casting Gravity Bow in round one, then just using her manyshot feat to fire 3 arrows into everything. I get the feeling she's losing interest in the game as she's a one trick pony. Its great having her at the table and I dont want her to lose interest in the game.. but also dont want to drastically reduce combat situations because the other guys enjoy that part immensely. Besides mixing up encounters with a good range of combat/social/puzzle obstacles - what are some easy ways I could make combat more fun for her. She's not as into crunch as I am, and doubt she'd read through all the spells and feats available.. i just want to give her a few good, easy, fun options to use in combat - did i mention i gave her a really powerful bow: +1 flaming composite Longbow (+2 str) which might be compounding the problem as she's dealing the most consistent damage in the party by far. She's also got a wolf animal companion (but its weak as a Class Level 5 animal companion - cos of Ranger levels - so most time is now spent keeping him out of harms way rather than adding to her options)

* What are a few neat tricks she could use in combat, ie spell combinations, feats etc? besides gravity bow and full attack?

* I was thinking of giving her a bag of randomly rolled arrows of slaying so at least she'd have something to try work out(what type of monster she's facing with a knowledge check or twp) before launching volleys of arrows.

* Is there something I could do by controlling monsters differently so she's forced into melee or different tactics? Dont want to make it feel like i'm picking on her character though by having every monster rapple her for instance.

* should I just level her wolf companion to level 7 (with some cool story to back it up) so it grows up to (7th-Level Advancement: Size Large; AC +2 natural armor; Attack bite (1d8 plus trip); Ability Scores Str +8, Dex –2, Con +4.) so it keeps up with the rest of the party and she has that to play with as well?

I'm happy to make her a little overpowered, as long as she has fun and has options in combat.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

A great pleasure to be able to take part in this competition. Thanks for the opportunity and for the feedback.

Circlet of the Spectral Eye
Aura faint divination and necromancy; CL 9th
Slot head; Price 18,000 gp; Weight -
Description
This finely crafted bronze circlet features a closed eye in the centre of its design. The eye flashes open when the item is activated. Once per day as a standard action the wearer of this circlet can release a wave of spectral probing. The wave detects and targets all living creatures within a 30-foot radius. All unwilling targets are allowed a DC 17 Will save to avoid detection. The wearer may select a single target who has failed their save and remotely possess one of their senses - sight, smell or hearing - for up to 1 minute. The effect lasts the full minute even if the target moves beyond the 30-foot radius. The wearer may end the effect at any time as an immediate action. The target is unaware of the possession and merely shares the selected sense with the wearer. During the possession the wearer must maintain concentration and cannot perform any other actions besides ending the effect. The wearer may extend the duration of the effect by an additional minute, but doing so has a debilitating effect on the wearer’s own natural senses once the possession ends. The extended use causes the wearer to be stricken with blindness, deafness or the loss of their sense of smell (depending on which sense was possessed through the circlet) for 1d4+1 minutes.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Detect Thoughts, Magic Jar Cost 9,000 gp

The OP's story just fired my imagination.

Definitely Asmodeus.

Because he knows beyond certainty that the Lord of Hell has something special in store for him...

That is on the money. I love it. Its dark and deadly and focussed. I've just added Indomitable Faith as one of my traits - mechanically and tastefully sound. Thanks for awesome tuning Black Raven. I'm set.

Just my 2c but i think you should do an in depth analysis of all the archetypes - 1 class per episode. there are so many and so many of them seem to be TRAPS - like avoid at all costs. its put the fear of god in me when creating a new character. i'd rather avoid archetypes completely and go with the core class as originally designed and balanced. it'd be super helpful! keep up the great work guys.

Whats a cool Half-elf / Elf god for my PFS character to worship despite being a slave to Chelish Masters?

I'm creating my first PFS character and am going with a half-elf fighter in the cheliax faction - i love the idea/flavour of the Ancestral Arms racial trait and equipping him with a Elven Curve Blade. Mechanically I want to go down the heavy crit tree... but i want to support all mechanical choices with cool flavourful back story.

so choosing traits i like the +1 will from indomitable faith... all this leads to my idea that he was a slave in Cheliax - yet always maintained his faith in some elven god (should be lawful) because although he hated the loss of freedom he respects order (probably Stockholm Syndrome of sorts) - and his ultimate dream is to become a Hellknight.

What god make sense for him to have followed his whole life as a slave... that led him to freeing himself (how?) and seeking out his homeland, where he took (by force?) his fathers Ancestral Elven Curve Blade as his right... and found that although he'd left Cheliax. Cheliax hadnt left him. So he joins the pathfinder society as a chelish agent to fullfil his dreams of becoming a Hellknight and smiting chaos where'er he finds it.

Very cool podcast guys. With so many new options for PF being released all the time - its excellent to have a well researched and thorough overview to listen to. Keep them coming and I'll keep listening.

Set wrote:

Great ideas, as usual.

Or, you know, you could also go with Set's idea, as it's really cool. Alternatively, you could say the negative energy summoned up a Shadow Demon, which is basically a negative-energy incorporeal demon made specifically to possess creatures.

Alternatively alternatively, with a specter, two castings of raise dead (or reincarnate) could destroy it - one to drive it out (non RAW, but cinematic), the other to destroy it (RAW). Neither of these would use the normal material components (unless you want them two), the latter being spelled out by RAW that it doesn't.

EDIT: To clarify, with the specter, you could even have the specter possessed by the demon, allowing the demon to possess the girl. There's nothing, to my knowledge, preventing that from happening, if the specter simply shares the space with the girl (not making any touch attacks, thus not killing her). That is, if you want (mostly?) RAW justification. Of course, I might have something off there, but that's just an idea.

Also, for precedent, when a Juju oracle charms, dominates, or the like, it looks undead and often acts like one, so that could be the result of her appearance.

If you wanted to make it really hideous and powerful, but also defeatable, simply say the negative energy transformed her, but since it was directly from living to undead (with no dead inbetween) she can be returned with a powerful-enough magic (i.e. raise dead or reincarnation) - basically it does nothing but drive the evil spirit out (or, if you prefer, destroy it) while returning her to her "pre-undead" state.

Very cool ideas - I'm inspired. I'm liking going with the possession aspect rather than her suffering undeath - and a Shadow Demon makes sense - it's CR7 (party is all level 7), and I like the shadow blend and sunlight powerlessness special qualities - it should make for a nuanced, interesting encounter where the environment plays a key role with light and shadow. Thanks guys.

1 question Tacticslion

Neither of these would use the normal material components (unless you want them two), the latter being spelled out by RAW that it doesn't.

What do you mean by this? How would one avoid paying the diamond worth 10,000 gp for resurrection or the oils worth 1,000 gp for reincarnation? This might be an avenue the PCs want to explore, and finding those components could spur a side trek. Thanks for the help.

Hey fellow pathfinders,

I'm running a campaign for my home group - we've just completed the Price of Immortality trilogy which was AWESOME. They are now heading back to Kassen to return the amulet to the Crypt of the Everflame and put the souls of the dead to rest. While they've been away, of course, the Negative Energy which Assar unleashed has seeped out of the Crypt and corrupted the Fangwood forest. When they return via Kassen, they'll find the town besieged by a horde of undead - shambling zombies, gate-smashing zombie giants, and other abominations of nature and unlife. As a respite from the combat heavy end to City of Golden Death, I wanted them to find Kassen Mayor Uptal's young daughter corrupted by the Neg Energy and transformed into an Attic Whisperer. The scene will play out something like the Exorcist - with the girl bound in bed... using her father's stolen voice to get a PC to stroke her cheek, then biting them and stealing their voice.

My question - other than killing the girl and ending her torment - what are some ideas for reversing/curing/undoing undeath to save the girl's life? (It could simply be saved when the PCs fight their way back into the Crypt and return the amulet, sealing off the Neg Energy Plane from this world... but something interesting which will delight my players by revealing something of the magical/planar/religious workings of Pathfinder time-space would be awesome!

In short - how can you turn an Attic Whisperer (Bestiary 2 pp. 34) back into a sweet little girl?

Thanks for the help!

Run all three Masks of Immortality modules and then a modified version of Red Hand of Doom, changing hobgoblins into orcs.

Thanks for all the advice... thinking about it more, i think you're right - following the Three modules of Masks of Immortality to conclusion would be the easiest and an educational xp for me as GM. Thanks again!

Friends,

I'm GMing my very first Pathfinder RPG campaign, and have started with Crypt of the Everflame. My PCs are pretty much all 1st timers to RPG in general with 1 who has played a little 3.5. Crypt is working out well as a classic dungeon crawl and intro to Undead... Though i dont feel the rest of the modules (Masks of the Living God) would be the best fit for these 1st timers as it seems more RP heavy. I really like the classic themes and tropes in Rise of the Rune Lords and wondered if people could offer their advice. Would Rise of the Rune Lords be a good AP to continue into after Crypt... for eg. after the party returns to Kassen after getting the Everflame, some lead leads them to Sandpoint - a clue about the robbers who robbed Kassen's tombs (who turn out to be the Skinsaw men) or have the goblins attack Kassen (as opposed to Sandpoint) and take it from there...
1) which AP would you recommend I embark on - as a new GM with new PCs (I'm a little worried about having to adjust the 3.5 rules for Rise of the Rune Lords into PFRPG rules, but sure i could do it)
2) Which major threads could i use as links.. as i'd like to set up some of the story arcs asap in the Crypt. (I can use the background of the crypt robbers as a clue, also whatever was stolen from Kassen's tomb, and by whom are all easy hooks to attach to other AP story material.)

3) Finally, if by the end of Crypt of the Everflame the party is level 3... is it still worth starting at the beginning of the AP (eg. Burnt Offerings if Rise of the Rune Lords) or should i skip forward to the 2nd segment? Or just up the CRs of the encounters by adding more monsters, advancing them etc...?

Any advice to this super-keen, inexperienced GM would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks for taking the time to include everyone.
Much appreciated.

Spine of the Forest

Aura moderate transmutation; CL 7th
Slot belt; Price 28,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
DESCRIPTION

This belt appears as a thick corded tangle of vines which tightens or loosens to fit the waist of the wearer perfectly.

On whispering an ancient Sylvan command word, a number of vine-like limbs equal to your Dexterity modifier sprout out of the belt like spiders' legs. These limbs may extend up to 15ft and allow the wearer to move or climb at a speed of 40 without the use of her hands. Climb checks made while the belt is in use are granted a competence bonus equal to your Dexterity modifier. In a Forest setting this competence bonus is increased to twice your Dexterity Modifier.

Two limbs are required to support the weight of a single medium creature. Hence, four limbs would be able to support two medium creatures, four small creatures or one large creature. When using this item for long-distance movement, you can hustle without taking nonlethal damage. The limbs remain in operation for one hour per character level per day, unless dismissed by the wearer, or destroyed by lethal damage. Each limb has AC 16, 20 hit points, and hardness 5. Destroyed limbs re-grow in 1d4 days, as long as at least one limb survives. Destroyed limbs cause a climbing character to fall and receive falling damage as usual.

Any limbs not being used to support a climbing position may be employed to make secondary natural attacks (Reach 15ft). Each successful hit deals 1d6 damage and may attempt a grab (CMB +15). If more than one limb attempts a grab on a single opponent the CMB increases by +2 per additional limb.

CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, plant growth, spider climb; Cost 14,000 gp