gorod's page

The thing that makes me sad about this thread is that after that reply of his that this is a minmaxer's game he has not been back, which to me points to him leaving the system in general.

This makes me sad too. If you're coming back to read this thread OP and can find the sense between the rogue build argument going on, take this bit of anecdotal evidence:

I'm currently running a campaign for three people with very limited RP experience. They decided to play Monk, Rogue, Sorcerer, and I'm currently filling out the party with a Druid NPC. They've had very little issue running against encounters of appropriate CR (except for when they split and got ambushed around a blind corner, but that was just dumb). Two MAD classes and no TPK yet.

As long as you're not playing PFS where you need to follow RAW for inter-table compatibility, you don't need to worry anywhere near as much about optimization vs. building for concept (and I've even heard a couple stories about helpful non-optimized PFS characters). I can't speak for the APs (haven't had a chance to play them yet), but if you're GMing or you have a decent GM, it's not hard to see where the party is at and make simple adjustments.

PF is a great replacement for 3.x. Plus, it's still in print and you can convert 3.x resources to PF. I've purchased 6 of the hardbound volumes (CRB, APG, UE, UC, UM, GMG) and I'm saving up to get the bestiaries. I also really enjoy having the PRD (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/) And the PFSRD (http://www.d20pfsrd.com) as information sources for when everybody at the table wants reference material, but can't afford the books.

Don't give up on PF from what you read on the forums. There are those of us out here that don't focus on that aspect of the game. (even though it is fun to make optimized builds from time to time. Helps give better insight into what the system is capable of.)

@blackbloodtroll
Any races you can find on the Paizo PRD (not d20pfsrd) are allowed. I went for the half-elf because it gave me both keen senses and i could use the +2 on WIS.

@Peter Stewart
Looked at feathers, but without taking a bunch of levels in druid/cleric it doesn't do much for this build.

@Matrix Dragon
Cool, I blanked on the fact that racial bonuses stack. Makes sense.

@AnnoyingOrange
Thanks for pointing out the robe. Adding it in below. And it could be debilitating during battle to have the eidolon summoned, you just dismiss it and you're good to go. I'm with you on the questionability of aid another, but if you get lucky with a GM it's worth a try. That's why I left it separate. And the feat for getting scent is for orcish heritage characters.

With Robe of eyes replacing Lenses of detection:
Running total: 64-115

Running total: 64-124

so: Ranger 16/Summoner(Synthesist) 1/Druid(Eagle domain) 1/Fighter(Archer) 2

I think that's about the max level dipping this build can take. There might be a better 2 level dip out there than the Archer archetype, as that only gives Pam a 1 pt boost. Maybe Alchemist(Mindchemist) for the cognatogen alchemical bonus to WIS?

I'd be happy to roll up a Halfling Bard(archaeologist) if there's still an opening in the group. let me know. If so, I think I can have him in by tonight.

Hey all, here's a partial build that I put together to see how high of a perception score I could build with only the Paizo PRD. I call it a partial build because it only includes the important things to get the high score and a couple minor things to make life easier.

Here she is:
Pam the Perceptive
Half-elf Ranger 17/Fighter (Archer) 2/Druid 1 (Eagle Domain)

Running total: 1

At level 20:

Running total: 14

Running total: 57-105

Running total: 59-110

Final: 1d20 + 59-110

Resources Used:
Traits used: 1/2
Feats used: 5/10
WBL used: 177k/880k gp (20%)
Magic item slots used: 2/11 (22%)

Best conditions: bright light (or dim for wizard with an owl companion), Acute Senses cast, shifted (Form of the eagle), searching for favored enemy.

You might also be able to slip in an extra +4 from aid another depending on the situation and if both your animal companion and familiar roll well.

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I'm not sure on the favored enemy if the first favored enemy chosen automatically gives a +4 bonus. The wording says "at every interval" so I'm assuming here that it's only a +2. Let me know if this is wrong.

I add my voice to those before me in this thread. My sincerest thanks for your help and dedication.

As a GM running my first campaign, this was a really interesting thread. Here's my thoughts on it.

1. Rest issue:
A horse beat to undeath, no further comment.

2. Doing favors for your players:
I'm in a slightly different boat than you because my players are new to d20 gaming, so not at all the "strictly RAW" crowd. If I can't remember or look up a rule I try to rule on a side that reasonably helps the player and then mention a clarification at the start of the next session.

If it's obvious that a player forgot/doesn't know a rule I like to let them know what's going on. (e.g. "your groggy and don't feel like you can prepare spells. You can sleep in, but it will cut out of your travel time for the day...") If they do know the rule, it also never hurts to check to make sure their actions are intentional.

3. Encounter design:
I think you're perfectly reasonable in your encounter design for this point in the campaign. I assume that designing your kobolds to hold up against strong physical damage means that they don't have as effective defenses against spellcasting (CR tradeoff). If they survive this encounter/quest I would suggest you rebalance further encounters according to what will make things run better. This doesn't mean pulling punches, it means finding the right balance within the range of plausible so the characters have a decent chance.

I would also second the idea of having the Barbarian come in and save the day, but make sure the player wants to play him. I would hate for one of my players to be forced to not play a character they wanted just because the party "needed" it. I think with the right GM/Player rapport, any party is feasible.

I wouldn't plan on killing the players in your next session, at the same time with no pulled punches. I would try to offer them a way to escape that very clearly shows they're running with their tails between their legs.

4. On the space-waster and the whiner:
It sounds like they might need help, especially the space-waster. See if you can get some party level conversations going about what decisions they should make. Then you aren't "playing solitaire" and I would hope it builds team cohesion.

5. Rich worlds:
You originally said that your players wanted a deeper, more thought out world to play through than your first attempt at GMing. From your explanation, it sounds like they aren't use to: "enter scene, get general description, search for traps and important clues, ...". You might want to give them a couple "training" sessions with encounters designed to specifically target the exploration patterns the rest of your campaign requires. I'm currently doing the same in trying to help my players overcome the "Charge the baddies! Loot the bodies! Sell the stuffs!" strategy that dominates modern computer-based "RPG" games (I'm looking at you Skyrim).

I any case, I wish you luck and hope both you and your players can have fun at the table.

So if PCs can do this I would expect NPC crafters to be doing this. Any suggestions on how much to add to the costs for off the market weapons, etc with higher caster levels? Or for having an NPC increase the CL of a weapon or item?

I would go by the Spellcasting services entry as a minimum. 10gp x (sp level) x (caster level) to start, and of course I assume they need the item creation feats and the spell prepared (all spell component cost already payed, but you're modifying the spell so it's almost a recasting).

You could also use the entries in the wondrous item creation table if the CL has a larger effect on the spell than just higher dispel difficulty. I would go for (cost modifier) x (spell level) x (new CL - old CL) for this second way.

My take on this having read through what I've seen here and the PRD entry is this:

1. Any item in a purpose-built "drawable" container (sword sheath, spring-loaded wrist sheathe, quiver, Bandolier, belt-hooked (within a reasonable count), etc.) counts as a draw action.

2. Any item stored in a non-drawable place incurs the penalty as normal (handy haversack, pack, scroll case, etc.)

I would add in my games that if things start to get out of hand on the player's side, a straight d20 fumble check with DC 5 is required, failure incurs the penalty.

That's what I'm thinking right now. Not really precise enough to directly drop into a FAQ though, because there's no "drawable" trait for containers.

I like the drop-bomb ideas. Have your wizard cast fly on you and you're a competent bombardier.

For now the only published FAQ is that about the Ring of Continuation.

The original ruling was posted in a blog published the 9/11/12 and the FAQ update was published the 15/3/13, that give you an idea of the time needed to finally formalize that kind of decision.

You can find the book FAQs with the link in the high right corner of the forum. Now that Paizo is trying to update the FAQs more regularly it is a good idea to check it at least once month.

Alright, I do understand how much work it takes and the possible length of development cycles. I was just hoping for some better news than this.

*Puts on rubber gloves and waders to prepare for some forum slogging*

I'm just posting to inquire about when we'll see an official document (errata, FAQ, etc.) published on these. It's been quite a while since this thread was started and it looks like most of the main problems have been discovered.

I feel this information needs to be more prominent on the website by now and not buried in the forums where many people might not think to look. Not to mention organization and portability. I know the dev team stays pretty busy, but if you can only get to the big mechanical issues like errors in the generation tables, and mislabeled prices and weights that's OK. I don't think most players are going to go ballistic because of a redundant word or non-italicized item title.