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RPG Superstar 9 Season Star Voter. Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber. **** Pathfinder Society GM. 350 posts (354 including aliases). 2 reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 34 Organized Play characters.



Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

IN 2e, it seems really challenging to battle golems.

golems:
They have DR adamantine, and having many different weapons (cold iron, silver, adamantine, bludgeon, piercing, slashing, nonlethal, etc.) seems discouraged and difficult to do.

In addition, the "immunity to magic" is incredibly more powerful in 2e - as there are no 'no SR conjuration' spells anymore.

How do spellcasters fight golems? none of their spells work, excepting the one unique spell for each golem (which probably requires an exceptional success on a recall knowledge check to learn, which is by no means likely).

I would like to argue the Telekinetic Projectile cantrip is an ideal choice, but it is a spell, and golems are immune to all magic (2e doesn't give us a mechanism to make an obvious exception).

Any thoughts or recommendations?

Trying to avoid playing 2e like 1e, where all characters have a golf bag of weapons and scrolls for every annoying scenario that only has one viable solution.

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

I'm wondering how people are dealing with dead PCs in this AP.

In most other APs I have read/played/run, there is at least one raise dead scroll drop early on (typically late 1st book or mid 2nd book). In this series, I have seen nothing in Book1-3. Add in the fact that the PCs have no access to high level spellcasting at all (the blurb on Longshadow on page 83 of Book 3 says 5th level spellcasting, but I have no idea who this awesome cleric is, or where she is hiding during the battle).

Any thoughts on how to handle this? My party has a druid- so they have the capability to cast reincarnate at level 7 (assuming it's not the druid that dies). By Book3, the odds of a death are high, there are many opportunities for saves to go wrong or high DPR enemies to focus fire on a squishy.

In my case, I think the bugbear assassins (when they attack at night) are highly likely to kill someone if they win initiative. They'll focus fire on someone, with the intent to kill at least one PCs before they're killed in turn. They get 4 sneak attacks each against a prone, unarmored opponent (someone who just woke up).

Any thoughts?

Scarab Sages 4/5 **

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Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

I am reminded of the above quote from Pirates of the Caribbean, and I would encourage others to tell stories of the "worst pathfinders". Not in a mean way, but in a comedic way. I'll set the tone with last night's game:

A certain low level adventure. The Pathfinders find a special coin. They appraise it, use knowledge local and history on it. Then someone thinks to cast Detect Magic. The coin is magical!

They take the coin to a magic-shop in Absalom and pay to get it identified. The merchant completes the Identification, looks up at them in disdain and says

Merchant: "You are the WORST Pathfinders I've ever met. This is a PATHFINDER COIN. How did you not know what it was?"
Pathfinders: "Hey, we're new. What does a Pathfinder Coin do?"
Merchant: (*sigh*) "You place it in a Wayfinder and it relays a message."
Pathfinders: "...Do you have a Wayfinder we could borrow?"
(At this point, we all start laughing)
Merchant: "Just... Just leave my store."

The Pathfinders then decide to head to the Grand Lodge, where Wayfinders are sold - the plan is to just take one "off the shelf" and "test it out" with the coin to retrieve the message.

(The players are laughing even more at this point, as many of them had worked retail earlier in life - and had to deal with people constantly tearing open packages in the store to look at products, without buying them. This seems like a karmic balance to them).

With the message in hand (and without buying a Wayfinder), they totally complete the adventure with 2 prestige (barely).

Much fun was had by all.

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

It was alluded to in another post, so I'll separate it out here - and even let my players read it.

This past weekend, my non-mythic party brought down Baphomet in a "bonus session" dedicated to that encounter.

Setup:
The party is non-mythic, level 18 using 20 point buy. They received four +2 stat bumps (per recommendation if running non-mythic), and the treasure has been kept the same as the AP (which is still a lot).

They do have access to a limited hero points system (useful for re-rolls and only move or swift actions), limit 2 points per day.

The party (and allies) for this battle:

Spoiler:

PC1: Zen archer
PC2: Paladin
PC3: Cleric/Battle Herald (Channels to hurt evil outsiders)
PC4: Witch

NPC1: GATED ally for the entire prison was a unique (advanced) half-celestial elder earth elemental. He hits like a truck. His name is Bob.
NPC2: Redeemed Herald. The herald (as statted in Inner Sea Gods), minus gear. They did have a large longsword from a marilith to give it.
NPC3: Alderpash (level 19 evoker lich)

It is worth noting that both Baphomet and his allies are significantly improved over their published stat blocks. Key differences:

Spoiler:

All Demons (Balors) can teleport, greater dispel, and use a few other powers as both move actions or swift actions. This significantly improves action economy.

All Demons (Balors) have a +x profane bonus to AC, to-hit, saves, weapon damage, and Save DC of some abilities

All monsters have improved ability scores (around +4, per the advanced template)

All monsters have more HP (typically 60%-80% of hit die).

Baphomet was more like Scorpion's modified statblock. I gave him The Evil Breath Weapon, as well as some improved other abilities.

balor:

Key summary of Balor abilities:
AC 41, Fort/Reflex/Will saves of 30/18/25; 410hp
To hit +34/29/24 (Sword and Whip) for 25 or 15 damage, plus another 15 "evil and fire" damage.
The balor's explode when they die, for 100 points of "evil and fire" damage, DC 34 for half.

minotaur:

Key summary of Ivory Minotaur abilities:
AC 34, Fort/Reflex/Will saves of 22/12/22; 310hp
To hit of +32/27/22 for about 30 damage
The minotaurs can also move to any square in visual range as a move action (similar to the Maze / Lair mastery ability on mythic minotaurs).

Baphomet Stats [Fully buffed]

baphomet:

AC 59 (with barkskin, mage armor, and shield)
900 hp with fast healing 40
Saves: 36/26/33, effectively has Evasion and Mettle, SR 38
Attack: Reach 20', +52/47/42/37 [74 damage, plus 7 evil plus 14 fire]
Glaive Sickens (DC 38 Fort prevents], and wounds require DC 30 caster level check to heal.
Breath Weapon: 45 Evil Damage (70 to people with a good aura)

Pre-Combat:

The session begins immediately after the last one ended - with the Herald Unconscious from non-lethal damage, having just been fully redeemed with all the Atonements.

Pre-Round1:
The party heals the Herald with no-SR effects (lay on hands, channel energy), clusters around the Teleportation circle, and uses UMD to activate it. Since they possess all 5 keys to the prison, they can take everyone with a single UMD check and arrive outside Alderpash's Prison.

Pre-Round2:
More healing happens, some buff spells are pearl-of-powered back. The herald is armed with a Longsword.

Pre-Round3-6:
Healing finishes. The Herald is buffed with Mage armor and barksking. The party re-casts Good Hope and Communal Stoneskin. Alderpash "contributes" by casting Haste, Crushing Fist, and Mage's Sword.

Baphomet Arrives (Boxed Text Round)
Baphomet Monologues
For the first time in my history as a DM, I allow the players to also Monologue. My secret motive was to give them a chance to "piss off" Bapohmet even more, which would have a game effect of him randomly forgetting to do some of his buffs.
The Paladin gave a stirring speech, which was very good, but not very antagonistic. I believe there was a comment about Hepzimirah in there.
The Witch had a serious mouth going. He tossed Baphomet's ball of twine down the hall and said "fetch".
The Zen Archer set the ball of twine on fire.
The Cleric (of Torag) was all business, and kept it clean.

Round 1:
As expected, Baphomet goes first on Init count 58, and starts with his Mythic Time Stop.

Time_Stop:

Baphomet buffs in his Time Stop.
He Calls 3 Balors and 3 Ivory Minotaurs
He uses a Miracle to Unhallow most of the area and tie a Silence to it.
he uses a scroll of Prismatic Wall to separate the party. His intent is to have some balors murder the heck out of the smart-mouthed witch.
His buffs are: Mage Armor, Shield, Barkskin, Resist energy sonic, Corruption resistance (good and law), greater arcane sight, and greater spell immunity (holy word, dictum, ill omen, suffocation, horrid wilting).
Baphomet (in his rage) FORGETS to cast Divine Power and Heroic Invocation. This reduces his To-hit and Damage by TEN (down to +42 to hit for 64 damage).
Baphomet also forgets to ready a standard action for when Time stop ends, so he gets no real offensive action in the first round.

The party is now separated by the prismatic wall and trapped in a silence field. Fortunately, they have Telepathic bond (but the Herald and Alderpash are not in it).

The Zen Archer full attacks and puts down one Ivory Minotaur.
The Witch uses a scroll of Mage's Disjunction to get rid of the Unhallow+Silence
The Rest of the party spreads damage around and learns that Baphomet is really hard to hit (and so are the Balors). The Paladin uses Aura of Justice to grant his smite to the Earth Elemental and the Cleric (he can't grant to anyone else because of the Prismatic Wall).

Round 2:
Baphomet leads off with his breath weapon, damaging team Good pretty significantly. He makes use of his Greater Arcane Sight to start de-buffing the Paladin with Greater Dispel (at Caster level 27). He then Fails to Imprison the Earth Elemental (it rolls a natural 20 on the Will save).

The Balors and Minotaurs start doing a number on the Witch - the Balors are especially good at Dispelling buffs from the Witch and Zen Archer (going for AC buffs and Fire/Corruption resistance).

The Witch had to Burn all his rerolls and his Jingasa in the first round - first to stop a Balor's nat 20 vorpal attempt, and second on a Nat 1 on a save vs. another Balor's Implosion.

Alderpash Time Stops and moves to safety, putting up an empowered (ice) delayed blast fireball and protecting himself and the Witch behind a wall of force, then readying a disintegrate to drop the wall AFTER the fireball goes off.

The Witch uses a second Mage's Disjunction to drop the Prismatic Wall, The cleric has to switch to healing a bit, and the Paladin and Archer buff up and begin to focus on baphomet. One balor dies (because of Alderpash's fireball) and his death-throes hurt (with the recently dispelled fire resistances). Evasion only protects the Zen ARcher and Paladin.

Round 3:
Baphomet is concerned about the Earth Elemental (he's both hard to hit and hits hard). This time he uses MAZE on him. Baphomet's reach serves him well: at 20' with combat reflexes, his opportunity attacks have severely damaged multiple targets, including a charging redeemed herald.

The Archer and Paladin focus on baphomet, The Paladin charges in and gets one good hit (and nailed by an opp attack). The Cleric Spams Channels to hurt evil outsiders and really wears down the opposition. Two Ivory Minotaurs die this round. In addition, Bob the Earth Elemental rolls a natural 18 and (with Good Hope) finds his way out of the maze on the first try.

Alderpash re-targets his Crushing Fist to Balor #2 and uses Quickened (intensified and empowered) magic missiles and cones of cold to wear down more of the opposition.

round 4:
Baphomet uses a Mass Heal scroll to repair himself and the opposition. Continued Dispels have now significantly debuffed the entire party, but really only their defense (barkskins, resist fire, etc.). Most of the party offense is from the Smite Evil shared by the Paladin (+10 to hit, +22 damage).

Baphomet gets beat down hard this round by the Earth Elemental and the Zen Archer. The Paladins first (and only) full attack vs. Baphomet is a total failure. Not a single die roll above 5. The Witch Hexes Baphomet with Evil Eye (-4 AC) and Cackles. Baphomet is not immune to hexes... Alderpash finishes off the last Minotaur and gets the attention of Balor#2.

Round 5, Finale
Baphomet breathes again, this time hitting the whole party and significantly wounding them.
He sends his three primary attacks at the Earth Elemental and misses wildly. his 4th iterative goes to the Paladin and Crits - spending 2 Mythic points to guarantee it (I let hime Surge as a free action). This kills the paladin.

The next initiative count is the Zen Archer, who crits TWICE and hits three more times for a total of (I kid you not) over 500 damage.

This kills Baphomet dead, dropping him to -100. Game Over Man, Game Over.

The remaining Balors run away (because why stay when you can be the first to loot Baphomet's lair..).

Final Thoughts

I'm sure I made tactical mistakes, but so did the players.
The witch realized on Round 3 that he could have used a Time Stop to Mage's Disjunction away the Unhallow and Prismatic Wall, thus freeing up his actions in Round 1 &2.

I could have had Baphomet spend a mythic point to take a standard action (for a spell like ability) and then full attack, but he would have missed the Earth Elemental a lot, and his early move actions where spent on additional Dispel Magics to debuff the party.

The witch also forgot to ask what buffs Baphomet had up AFTER the time stop (with his greater arcane sight). So the party never realized they could have dropped Baphomet's AC a bunch by (Mage's Disjunctioning) his Barkskin, Mage armor, and Shield.

Overall, it was a fun fight. It went a little over 4 rounds, and resulted in only one PC death. The combat took a little over 4 hours, but we took our time and dedicated an entire session to this on purpose.

The next few hours of "aftermath" were quite entertaining. It involved negotiating with a besieging forces of Devils (trying to take back the prison from Asmodeus) and dodging an army of Vrocks (Pazzuzu trying to sieze the entire realm).

Now, on to book 6!

Scarab Sages 4/5 **

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

Can someone please point me where the updated Season 5 faction goals are? I've seen them referenced in recent modules:

Destiny in the Sands Part 1?:

Mentions something about Sczarni faction, and someone trying to kill the head of the faction.

I remember having trouble finding the Season 5 starting goals a while ago.

Is it possible to update the Faction page (that new players will most likely link to) to include the current seasons goals and status? The Faction page link on the right is really obvious and useful, and I think it should have a blurb on current season goals. This will be helpful as we progress through the seasons and the stories evolve.

Thanks.

Scarab Sages

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Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

Greetings! I'm about to start running WotR for a group of experienced players, and am going to run them through as non-mythic.

I have already run through chapters 1-5 as a "test case" using the suggested non-mythic rules as follows:

Campaign Rules::

1) Build is 20 point buy, generally following PFS (pathfinder society) character construction rules

2) PCs are eligible for the Iomedae boon at the end of Chapter 1 if they perform the requisite tasks

3) PCs will get the stat bumps suggested at the end of Chapter 1 (+4 to one stat, +2 to two other stats - all of the players choice).

4) PCs will use the fast XP track. This means:
a) Book 1 remains level 1-6
b) Book 2 is levels 7-10
c) Book 3 is levels 11-14
d) Book 4 is levels 15-17 (level 16 for the Hepzamira fight unless they rest)
e) Book 5 is levels 17-19 (level 19 for Baphomet fight)
f) Book 6 - PCs hit level 20 after the Drezen battle, end the campaign at level 20...

5) In addition, I intend to modify the wardstone shards so that they are permanent type items that grant a few useful effects (protection from evil 1/day, evil outsider bane 1/day, reroll a d20 1/day, DR 5/epic 1/day. Duration effects are for 1 hour)

House Rules on Mythic Monsters:

For mythic monsters and effects, a few changes are needed.

1. Since PCs won't have mythic at all, I'm intentionally avoiding abilities that make monsters immune to non-mythic effects. I am letting them have enhanced protection (like Mythic Lightning Reflexes)

2. For mythic effects that hurt the PCs and bypass normal protections, I'm adopting a two part policy:
a) If the PCs would normally be immune to something, the mythic version bypasses the immunity but is still reduced in some fashion. Example: A Mythic Magic Missile deals half damage to someone with Shield up. A mythic Dominate allows a second save the next round for someone with Protection from Evil up. Things that reduce damage only reduce half as much, immunity generally results in half damage or a +4 save bonus.
b) the monster must always use a mythic power point to use the ability. This applies to things like Mythic Poison attacks - PCs always have delay poison up and I want to be able to bypass it when it is appropriate. Again, the Delay Poison would grant a +4 save as compensation.

3. The wardstone shards mentioned above have 4 powers, but only two can be used each day. I figure most PCs will use the re-roll, and then the either the DR 5/epic or Bane effects.

4. In general, the outsiders are all getting a few free extra powers (whether they are mythic or not).
a. CR 8+ outsiders can use greater teleport as a move action (at will)
b. CR 12+ outsiders get quicken spell like ability as a bonus feat
c. CR 15+ outsiders can quicken greater teleport
d. All outsider ability to Summon is as a standard action
e. CR 12+ outsiders can summon as a move action
f. CR 18+ outsiders can summon as a swift action

5. Most of the monster improvements are to help with action economy, buffing, and survivability. I may host up my stat blocks at some point, but I won't promise the level of detail Sc0rpion8 did with his work (great job!).

Notes on the Simulated run:

When I ran my simulation, I mistakenly thought the Wardstone fragments were permanent items (so the PCs had evil outsider bane weapons for all of chapter 2-5).

The PCs had little crafting, but there was no limitation on magic item purchase - I assume Crusader allies (and the Key NPCs in book 1 and 2) facilitated these purchases.

The PCs made good use of Auranshalea - letting her keep Desna's Staff, along with her ability to Greater Teleport at will, made her an excellent support character, and personal shopper. She had to fetch the PCs from the Abyss a few times, as the party did not have the ability to cast Plane Shift or Greater Teleport (had to rely on reems of scrolls).

Overall, the Test party has done well - I used the books as written for Chapter 1 and 2, and in Chapter 3 started severely buffing up enemies to compensate. Some fights were challenging, and I had the following comments (other GMs have suggested similar things):

Key Learnings for Non-Mythic parties::

1 - Saves are critical. PCs will need ways to make lots of important saves, and without Mythic - they need to do it the old fashioned way. This is why I plan on modifying the Wardstone Shards further to grant the d20 reroll.

2 - AC is important up to a point. Some monsters (even with my rebuilds) couldn't hit any of the PCs. Boss monsters rarely missed. I found that Communal StoneSkin was the most powerful buff in the game (as long as it lasted).

3 - Without Mythic spellcasting, damage spells were ineffective against the monsters. The PCs could not keep up with the extra HP I had to put on bad guys so the monsters could survive PC weapon-based full attacks. Consequently, casters that relied on "save or suck" effects excelled. Spamming Suggestion and Confusion worked fantastically. The only damage that worked was the Thundercaller ability (Supernatural ability to Soundburst for increased damage multiple times per round with no save - a best case DPR magic build).

4 - Paladin smiting was the most effective damage dealing. Two-handing a scimitar with power attack led to obscene amounts of damage, even on a non-mythic PC (granted, with a +2 anarchic gift stat bump and a +4 pseudo-mythic stat bump).

5 - Consequently, the Paladin died the most. Deaths were common, about 1-3 per chapter. The AP grants sufficient resurrection/raise boons, this was never a big deal. The only time there was a near TPK was vs. Xanther Vang. I significantly modified his summons ability (kicking out Level 7 "fiendish" elementals as a swift and a standard). The deadliness of this fight was mostly due to the party trying to do the whole dungeon in one run (same thing happened in the mines of Chapter 4, but Hepzamirah was insta-killed with a McGuffin from Chapter 3).

Explicit details to follow in subsequent posts.

Any inputs (or personal experiences) welcome!

Scarab Sages 4/5 **

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Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

I want to say kudos to the (secret) secondary success conditions.

I'm having a lot of fun GM-ing and playing with them now, especially the newer content (when they're more thoroughly integrated).

One thing I've noticed in my play style, is I'm much more motivated (and eager to motivate others) to get away from the "murder hobo" label and act more like true pathfinders:

- Explore, Report, Cooperate.
- Make a good impression for the society
- Learn whatever we can
- Go above and beyond what is expected of us
- Pay attention to mission briefings, and get as much information as we can.

I think having secret success conditions makes us more cautious about doing something foolish, and more eager to do something "extra". I like to think of it as a reward for "going above and beyond" what is expected of us - sort of a true meritocracy.

Anyone else having similar experience? I really think the (secret) success conditions are helping players be better pathfinders, because they never know what exactly earns them that 2nd prestige.

Scarab Sages 4/5 **

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

Another GM mentioned to me an option for GM credit I was not aware of:

"Instead of taking the gold for the tiers in the adventure listed, you can choose to take 500gp and apply it to a first level character".

The idea was if I GM'd a tier 5-9 for credit, but didn't want to apply tier 5-9 credit to a tier 5-9 character (because I prefer to play those characters more), I could apply it as a generic 500gp credit to a first level character (which is especially useful because there is a lot of demand for 5-9 GMs in my area, and I have limited opportunities to get DM credits, or play opportunities, on my low level PCs)

Is this rule legitimate? I couldn't find it in the PFS guide or FAQ and was wondering if it was real or imagined.

Thanks.

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

I am working on a Monk that uses Improvised Weapons, with the intent to be at least effective as a normal unarmed monk. This will probably get moved to another forum, but I’m looking for PFS DM input (since I will be dealing with PFS DM’s). I am looking for guidance from the boards to see how this is likely to work in PFS play:

I’m going with the concept of “You’re Doing it Wrong!!”

The monk would use a Monk weapon as an Improvised Weapon in an attempt to benefit from effects that normally only Monk Weapon users can get.

As a Monk of the Empty Hand + Monk (Weapon Adept), I will use a Monk Weapon (for this example, we will use a Temple Sword).

Weapon Adept gives me Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization in a single Monk Weapon (in this case Temple Sword).

proficiency:

It is not clear if I must have proficiency in Temple Sword in order to get the benefits of Weapon Focus. Assume I have proficiency in Temple Sword from a trait or some other means for the purposes of this discussion.

For the sake of this discussion, let’s say I have a +1, Flaming, Holy, Adamantine Temple Sword, that a Wizard casts Greater Magic Weapon on to make it an effective +3 enhancement to hit and damage.

As a Monk of the Empty Hand + Weapon Adept, I will have Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization: Temple Sword and the Trait Surprise Weapon (Trait: +2 to hit with Improvised Weapons). I will also have the feat Improvised Weapon Mastery. What happens in the following scenarios:

Monk of the Empty:

A monk of the empty hand treats normal weapons as improvised weapons with the following equivalencies (substituting all of their statistics for the listed weapon): a light weapon functions as a light hammer, a one-handed weapon functions as a club, and a two-handed weapon functions as a quarterstaff

Improvised Weapon Mastery:

Increase the amount of damage dealt by the improvised weapon by one step (for example, 1d4 becomes 1d6) to a maximum of 1d8 (2d6 if the improvised weapon is two-handed). The improvised weapon has a critical threat range of 19–20, with a critical multiplier of ×2

Scenario #1;

As a standard action (or opportunity attack) Can I choose to wield the Temple Sword as a Temple Sword Normally?
In this case I assume I would get the benefits of Weapon Focus and Specialization, but not the benefits of Improvised Weapon Mastery or Surprise Weapon. I would get the full benefits of the +3 holy, flaming, adamantine temple sword.

Scenario #2: I use flurry of blows (or otherwise choose to treat the sword as an improvised weapon).

In this case, I must treat the temple sword as an improvised weapon, using the base stats for a club (bludgeoning, 1d6, crit for x2 on a 20). However, those stats are augmented by Improvised Weapon Mastery, making it a “better” club that does 1d8 damage and crits for x2 on 19-20.

The argument (for “yes” to the below questions) would be, even though I am treating it as an improvised weapon (using club statistics), it is still a temple sword, still made of adamantine, and still magical.

1. Do I get a +2 to hit from Surprise Weapon?
2. Do I get the +1 to hit and +2 to damage from Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization?
3. Do I get a +1 to hit from the masterwork quality of the weapon?
4. Do I get to treat the weapon as adamantine?
5. Do I get the +1 magical enhancement from the weapon to hit and damage?
6. Do I get the +3 magical enhancement from Greater Magic Weapon to hit and damage?
7. Do I get the benefits of the Flaming property?
8. Do I get the benefits of the Holy property?

It is important to keep this in perspective. If I were a normal (weapon adept) monk, I would get the full benefits of the temple sword (even while flurrying). I am instead spending archetype features, feats (Improvised Weapon Mastery, Catch-Off-Guard) and a Trait (Surprise Weapon) to basically get an additional +2 to hit.

And of course to be hilariously awesome in the process.

Thanks for your input.

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

I'm working on a special witch build which requires adding (wizard, magus) damage spells like corrosive touch and shocking grasp to the witch list.

Other than Witch Patron (elemental patron) and (samsaran racial feature), are there other ways to add non-witch spells to the witch spell list?

Here is the intended build:

one level dip in sorcerer for wild-blood/crossblood white dragon+water for +2 damage/dice cold damage.

Use winter witch archetype with Level 2 hex option to add cold damage to any touch attack.

Mix with Intensified shocking grasp and corrosive touch for hilarity. (or through snowballs at range).

Build would be for PFS play, so Samsaran is not an option, and Elemental Patron does not work with winter witch archetype.

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

I have searched the char-op boards for details on Gunslingers and I see a lot of ways to increase attacks/damage, but not to reduce misfire.

For me, the fundamental flaw of a Gunslinging PC is the misfire system. I can't find a way around it in order to make an effective (let alone do damage on-par or better than an archer), until high level (11+).

If I misfire during a full-attack, I have to stop the Full-attack. On my next turn, I spend a move action (minimum) to clear it, and only get one-two shots (double barrel?) in that second round. So my attacks/round are actually very low, because of my misfire risk.

I suppose if there was zero chance of a SECOND misfire, I could just live with the broken condition (-2 to hit and 20/x2 threat range) until the combat was over.

How do I make an effective/optmized Gunslinger at Level 1-10, by minimizing the misfire chance or eliminiating the "second" misfire?

Here are my parameters:

*PFS (society) play.
*Playing all the way from level one to level 11 only.
*20 point buy
*Gunslinger + Gunslinger Archetypes (no spellslinger or non-gunslinger gun users)
*Main Paizo books (stuff in the online PRD plus inner sea world stuff).
*Standard wealth-by-level, only 70% of which can be spent on the Weapon/Solution.

Having all that, I've seen lots of ways to get multiple attacks (a lot discussion about weapon cords, multiclassing for special limbs, double-barrel guns, etc.), but no way to deal with the near certainty of a misfire every round.

I accept that I can reload a pistol as a free action an infinite number of times using rapid reload and alchemical cartridges.
This puts my misfire chance at 1+2.

If I use a double-barrel pistol, my misfire chance is now 1+2+3

If I am using some of the tricks suggested online, combining two-weapon fighting, two double-barrel pistols, and rapid shot - I am making six attacks at level 1-5, and eight at level 6. With a 15 % misfire chance PER SHOT, it is a near certainty I will misfire at least once each round.

Even at the conservative rate of just Rapid shotting a single pistol (2-3 shots per round, misfire 10%), I will misfire every other combat. At higher levels this will get worse, until the problem suddenly disappears.

A Reliable gun (+1 enhancement) drops that by 1; a Greater Reliable (+3 enhancement) drops that by 3.

I can afford (assuming standard WBL) a single +1 Greater reliable double barrel pistol around level 9-10, assuming i make no other major purchases (like cloak of resistance, magic armor, belt of DEX+2, etc.). I certainly cannot afford a second one until around level 12-13, when I won't need it.

I never misfire (as a pistolero or musketeer) at level 13; but that is outside my level range.

I don't need alchemical cartridges AND rapid reload at level 11 (lightning reload deed), but that is also at the edge of my level range.

the only other thing I had thought of was purchasing multiple masterwork double-barrel pistols, and simply quickdrawing a new one each time a misfire happens.

Any help/suggestions/ideas out there?

Thanks.

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

My paladin is about to hit 7th, and I'm considering Unsanctioned Knowledge. This lets me add a single BARD/INQ/CLR spell to my list at each level.

I already have max UMD, and a collection of scrolls for utility (I've used at least four scrolls of fireball already in my career). So what I'm looking for is a spell I would regularly cast.

I'm a STR build two-handed weapon (bonded weapon) build, focusing on melee damage. My defense isn't good (13 CON, 8 DEX, full plate and no shield) - so I'm looking at good defense spells.

level 1:
no good ideas. Was thinking Grease for fun, but maybe Vanish could come in handy. I wouldn't cast it on myslelf (my goal is to draw aggro away from squishies), but a fellow party member in need could benefit from it.

Level 2:
Thinking Blur, Mirror Image, or Alter Self. Keep in mind my caster level is 3 less as a paladin, so MIrror Image is less appealing (less iamges), plus in PFS you can kill images with a "near miss".
Most likely will go with Blur unless someone has a better idea.

Level 3:
This is a long way off, and I really hadn't thought of it.

Any thoughts/recommendations?

Thanks!

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

I'm going to start running Jade Regent for my wife and I, but we'll only have three PCs.

To keep them a little tougher, I've gone with 25 point buy (so PCs can have 14's in tertiary stats to be good at additional skills - like an INT 14 sorceror).

So far the party is shaping up to be

- human Tien sorceror (meastro/geisha), best friend of Ameiko
- human Ulfen barbarian/monk martial artist, caravan guard
- human Varisian inquisitor, family friend of Koya

Right now it's the Inquisitor I'm worried about, as he's essentially fulfilling the roll of Tank (high AC) and healer (only divine caster).

Any thoughts on bulding the Inquisitor? I was thinking Preacher/Witch Hunter of Erastil with the Growth Domain, and picking up Heavy Armor Proficiency soon. That will make him reasonably good at those roles.

And with Koya in the caravan, I assume any serious out-of-combat Divine spells can be handled by her (does she level up during the adventure, cause someone needs to be able to cast Raise Dead, since it's not on the INQ list).

Scarab Sages 4/5 **

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber

I'm trying to make my first PFS character, a scholarly type Paladin from Osirion. I'm interested in this faction/region, but for the life of me can't find an "egyption style" deity to select.

The character would be a loyal Osirion, believing in the authority of the Pharoah and the strength/nobility of the long dead Pharoah god-kings (which I would worship if I could).

- As a paladin, am I REQUIRED to have a specific deity in PFS?
- are cults/etc. legal? I found the cult of Wadjet in an Osirion supplement that would fit the thematic purpose. It has no domains (but I'm not a cleric, so I don't care)

The closest meaningful option would be Abadar, but it doesn't seem right for my character concept.

Any other thoughts/recommendations?

Thanks!