hargoyle's page

Yes, yes it does :D

@Saldiven
I think he should be something like level 6 or 7 to give him a little edge over the PCs. Dimension door definitely at some point.

@Val'bryn2
Snake style sounds like a good option, I'll consider it.

@Pizza Lord
Now this is good. Thing is the PCs have a base of operations. It's a small settlement in the making, in the spirit of Ars Magica, almost like a covenant. Up until now there has not been a serious threat to this base. But now with the goblin... Also this is good because he only needs one cheap magic item to annoy the PCs. Can you really cast invisibility on the caltrop bag to make them all invisible? Doesn't that apply to just one caltrop per spell?

@Ryze Kuja
Solid advice. What tricks should I be aware of that can counter his concealment at this level? Or a bit later too?

And caltrops. Thanks. Hadn't even considered them!

So I'm DMing a group that has now reached level 5. There are four PCs. Next time they are going to meet a recurring villain. Namely a goblin monk. Think 100 Eyes from Marco Polo or Thac0 from Goblins and you get the idea. Now I want him to be as annoying as possible. Say something cryptic, disarm and trip the hell out of PCs. Deal very little damage, if any, be as untouchable as possible.

So my first question is: how to make him as annoying as possible? He has to be a goblin and has to have most of his levels in some martial class, but everything else is negotiable.

And second: how can I make him disappear so that he can fight the PCs another day? I'm short on ideas. As a cohort to an evil queen he has minions under his control and some magical resources too. Few levels of ninja, turn invisible and run? Sounds too risky. Teleportation? Is it even possible at this low a level? How can minions help?

If it is of any concern, the first encounter with him is in a cave that favors him and his minions.

Thanks for all the great info! I made a dwarf Bloodrager. He did as planned, hit hard with his greatsword. Maybe I'll give him a class of UMonk next, equip him with a reach weapon and so on.

He was actually quite fun to play, mainly because I didn't have to be the party face. Playing a character that's a bit dumb was a refreshing change.

All good advice, thanks! Remember, the harder it hits from 1st level, the better. If it one shots at 1st level, even better.

EDIT: one shot.

Alright, I've done The Bold, The Beautiful and The Intellectual. No more dashing bards. Big chested sorcerers? Nope. Scrawny spell slinging intellectuals? Not this time.

It's been awhile since I've played PFS and I'm playing tonight. I want to make a character that hits hard from the first level. Hell, I probably just play him one or two times anyway. Problem is, I don't know what's cool these days. And by that I mean that I've fallen behind on new Paizo products so I'm not familiar with the combos I can use so that I can WIN THE GAME.

So please help me build a PFS front line fighter that hits hard. Anything else is secondary. Super min-max please. Mind you, I don't have any boons to use. And it has to be simple. Like me.

Disclaimer: I really hate this kind of character design concept, but for this one time and one time only I want to try it out. Perhaps I'll love it and never go back from roll-playing to roleplaying. We'll see.

Given that giant spiders and spider swarms generally range in the CRs of 1-5, a 7th level module seems mildly unlikely.

True that. But what about a druid spider cult? Or undead, giant, half-dragon spiders? Or instead of a worm-that-walks, a spider-that-walks? Seems like I'm making my own adventure already..

Have you seen this one? Came out last December.

Didn't know about this, thanks!

@Spider B8

What scenario is it? Please? In spoiler tags?

@Richard Moore

I know it's 1st-level but still got my attention. Because, well, spiders! And it sounded to my ear spot on, just as you say. Just a little work to make it work...

Biased as you may be, I still appreciate the advice =)

I need to find a spider related adventure or module or dungeon. My wishlist for this is:

-Spider boss!
-Dungeon with spiders!
-If possible, more spiders!

It doesn't need to be all about spiders, but the more, the merrier. I intend to GM it for four 7th level characters.

I know there's the Deadly Delves: Along Came a Spider -PDF, is any good?

That line isn't a problem for the Ogre in pretending to be Human. Since he's Humanoid (Giant) he could appear as a Human (which are Humanoid (Human)). What's a problem for the ogre is the line immediately preceding that one:

Quote:

You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller, thin, fat, or in between.

Since the average Ogre is 10 feet tall, they could disguise themselves as a...9 foot tall human. Yeah, that's not going to attract attention, or anything.

Well, that's at least something. Are there any other options?

So there's an ogre and a tiefling in my party. They need to go to town unnoticed - and in this game this pair draws a lot of attention if not disguised. Luckily, they both have a hat of disguise. What I need is suggestions about what creatures they can appear as. What baffles me is this sentence:

You cannot change your creature type (although you can appear as another subtype)

Okay, so the tiefling can change into an aasimar without problem. He can even impersonate a human with a Disguise check, right? What other more "civilised" options does he have?

But the ogre. How the hell does he go undercover? I must admit that my knowledge about large humanoids is very limited. As in "don't know any". I guess disguising him as a human does not work.

Suggestions?

I saw a dream last night that settles this matter once and for all:

"How to fix this thing? Give casters full BAB and Fighter feat progression. Give martials full caster access to spells. Problem solved!"

Dotting for reference.

Dot

btw, if I cast Invisibility on myself while the monkey sits on my shoulder, does it become invisible too? And turns visible if he leaves the shoulder? Or does he float in the air, fully visible, scary as ever?

I had monkey familiar on Serpent Skull. When I was angry with another survivor (pc), my familiar went and peed on his stuff.

The familiar was played by me when it was on my line off sight and by gm when it was not. Lot of hilarity issues. Especially when exploring places where no other fitted in.

By the way, I had named the monkey Asmo(deus).

I had a co-worker named Asmo. He was a Union man, tough as old boots, prone to fits of rage when employer suggested any changes to working conditions. He was also a lovely old man, had a twisted humor and could paint like Michelangelo.

Yes, I think this little guy will be known as Asmo too =)

if your witch has 4 ranks in stealth, the monkey gets to add its +2 dex, +3 class and +8 size bonus for +17 total.

That's... that's awesome! I'm not very good at number crunching and was thinking how do I get him to be stealthy without Invisibility. Thanks!

Your monkey is pretty smart, but does not understand Common. However, the Handle Animal skill works fine (even though it's no longer an animal as such). You're not going to be discussing philosophy with your little buddy for another level, so do take the time to teach it a few tricks.

Umm, is there a FAQ for this? I mean the talking bit? To me it makes more sense that I cannot talk to him before level 5, otherwise there would be no gain. Still, @Rennaivx has a different opinion so is there some official ruling on this?

Handle Animal sounds good. Too bad my CHA is 10, so I imagine most of the time, even if he's trained, something like this happens:

Witch: See that fruitbowl there? Go get some fruit for me, I'm hungry!
Monkey: Stares with a blank expression
Witch: Fruit. Get. Now.
Monkey: Starts to scratch its groin
Witch: Oh, why bother. Just do what you want.
Monkey: Starts to throw poo

Just realised that the Intimidate thing would not work, mechanics wise, cause he uses his own CHA modifier. So it's like +1 to the roll. Just for fun then!

I'm playing a Tiefling Witch (Deception Patron) in Plunder and Peril, we start next week. It's a pirate themed module. I thought monkey familiar would be fun. Unfortunately I'm not very familiar with familiars (pun intended). So I'd like your input and advice on the fluff and some rules issues too. This is more for fun, I'm not looking answers for "Can he use weapons/wands?" type of questions.

Mechanics first:

1) How do I communicate with him before level 5? We start on level 4 so that's not a big issue but still. Is there some spell for this?

2) How do I calculate his skill points? I've looked over the monkey entry from SRD but it leaves me baffled. +5 Perception? How do you calculate that? I presume that he does not gain his own skill ranks, because he uses the masters ranks if they are higher.

Second, the Fun!

1) Cast Invisibility on him. Make him steal stuff. Or throw poo out of nowhere!

2) Make him climb a tree. Throw poo from there!

3) Use Prestidigitation on him - if GM lets me houserule that for the witch. Or just plain Disguise him with hooked hands, deadly looking sabres and eye patches and Intimidate enemies with his pirate-foo! Yarrr! I have +11 Intimidate (through Clever Wordplay) so that could work mechanically too. If not, then just for kicks. Also, no poo this time.

Suggestions?

@kevin_video

Your changes and suggestions to WotW are stellar! Please, take your time in order to keep up the good work :)

Lol I'd just love to play anything.

This. I'd love to start with a module that's designed for levels 4-7. Because those levels I can handle - never played past level 10... And because I've never played a PbP, so I don't want to jump start to an AP.

3: Deathless by The Rainbow. The character cannot die as long as he performs a colorful ritual just in the moment of his death. This brings him to +1 hitpoints or cancelles the death causing effect. Everytime something threatens the characters life, the player of the character can

perform this very dance. The player MUST be dressed as He-Man, do all the moves, sing all the parts.

If he refuses this he will explode in all the colors of the rainbow and cannot be brought to life with any effect.

98. Rebelling Aristocrat. You are noble born and do not like your heritage. You have taken your time to learn the court etiquette, talk like a highborn and walk like a blue blood. Still, you rebel where you can and have learned to use a weapon that is tad barbaric to the circles you frequent.

You gain profiency with one of the following weapons:

-Axe, hooked
-Boomerang
-Whip

97. Warrior of Lost Battles. You have fought in countless battles - usually on the losing side. These harsh experiences have given you an edge to survive even when the tide turns against you.

Once per day you can take a special full round action "Run like hell": When prone, you can stand up and take the withdraw action immediately after that. You still provoke attacks of opportunity as normal.

94. Family Guy/Gal. You are happily married and have children. Living and doing things with your family is something that has always given you plenty of joy. Unfortunately, it was financially tough to get by with your current occupation so you turned to adventuring. After a few tears this fact was accepted by all your family members and you promised to them to come back. This dedication gives you internal fortitude when you need it the most.

+1 rank to Craft skill of your choice and +1 to Craft (Cooking). Also, you carry with you a small memento of your family on your person that is easilly accesible (necklace, wristband etc). This memento is not a magic item and never counts as such when determening magic item slots. Once per day as a swift action you can grasp this memento to gain +2 luck bonus on any saving throw. However, if you lose this memento you gain a permanent -1 penalty to any saving throw (players choice). This penalty cannot be overcome by any means except finding the lost memento or gaining a new one.

EDIT: Name and losing the memento sections added.

Dotting.

hargoyle wrote:

Imbicatus wrote:

There is also the problem of Television vs Film pacing. Lets take a look at what may be the best Star Trek episode ever in any series, the TNG episode The Inner Light.

** spoiler omitted **

This was a perfect story to be told in 47 minutes. In an hour and a half it would have been boring, there was no action in the episode at all, and it would bomb. The payoff from the episode was set up by five seasons of character development that can never happen in a movie or even a series of movies.

Star Trek Films that try to follow the formula for good Star Trek episodes fail. These new films are did go too far away from Trek imo. But they are still fun to watch.

Check out this swanky bit of information about the flute used in the episode:

** spoiler omitted **

Oh, the things we do to get our hands on some memorabilia...

I actually made a replica using an irish tin whistle, some bronze paint, silver wire, and a tassel and gave it to my other half as an anniversary gift. Mine actually plays :).

Side note: I was inspired to give this as a gift by The Family Guy

Are you sure you are not

I had a character with a capped AC with the old 1/2 way and by the time It had been fixed, I was still capped. So in practice at high level (14th to 18th level), it doesn't matter which is used (1/2 or 1/6).

All that does matter is levels under 10th, and frankly that is where it probably should matter.

This. I'm playing a bard in Plunder & Peril in a few weeks and it's only levels 4-7. Well, the favored option has SOME effect, because I do get the bonus for Inspire Courage at 6th level, which is nice. If I choose to go that route.

There is also the problem of Television vs Film pacing. Lets take a look at what may be the best Star Trek episode ever in any series, the TNG episode The Inner Light.

** spoiler omitted **

This was a perfect story to be told in 47 minutes. In an hour and a half it would have been boring, there was no action in the episode at all, and it would bomb. The payoff from the episode was set up by five seasons of character development that can never happen in a movie or even a series of movies.

Star Trek Films that try to follow the formula for good Star Trek episodes fail. These new films are did go too far away from Trek imo. But they are still fun to watch.

Check out this swanky bit of information about the flute used in the episode:

Oh, the things we do to get our hands on some memorabilia...

I agree too. 1/2 was way OP, but 1/6 makes it very unappealing for low-level games... though I've never played past level 10 so I really don't know..

Bard: Choose one bardic performance; treat the bard as +1/6 level higher when determining the effects of that performance.

When searching for discussions about this matter the bonus is always referred as being "+1/2 level higher" - although none these threads is very recent... When did this get nerfed? Did they do some other downscaling too?

Okay, thank you! Any insight on number three?

I'm about to make a Sorcerer for Plunder & Peril but am a little confused about few things.

1. Can I combine Tattooed Sorcerer archetype and Sylvan Bloodline? If I can would that mean I get a familiar and an animal companion?

2. Does the Sylvan animal companion bloodline power work exactly like the druid version? My main issue is this sentence:

A druid can handle her animal companion as a free action, or push it as a move action, even if she doesn’t have any ranks in the Handle Animal skill.

So does it work as such for a Sylvan Sorcerer too?

3. Is there any FAQ or official ruling about reproducing Alchemical Power Components with the False Focus feat? I do know there's ton of threads about this already so please answer only briefly.

Thank you!

So, any other thoughts? On the race perhaps?

Most of the pirate-themed archetypes are pretty bad IMO. You're better off building normally and just otherwise flavoring your character around piracy. If you're particularly interested in the Witch, you can kinda fake being charisma-based by taking Clever Wordplay; with that you can use diplomacy with your int score.

I skimmed through Nargemns list and I agree with you. The archetypes seem to trade out much of utility in favor of flavor.

Didn't even know Clever Wordplay existed, thank you!

The Hydrokineticist is definitely going to be DPR focused (water is not the element for a utility kineticist) so your best bet would be a buff bot of some kind. The Druid and Kineticist will both have tanked charisma, and a pirate crew without a charmer can hardly be considered a pirate crew at all, so a Sorcerer would likely be your best bet.

Umm... sorry if these are stupid questions but:

Does DPR mean "Damage per round"?

And does "tanked" mean "dumped"?

EDIT: fixed a typo.

Unfortunately you haven't narrowed it down by all that much... There's a myriad of 'pirate' archetypes for almost every class (except the Occult ones); ie the sea reaver barbarian, sea singer bard, corsair fighter, freebooter ranger, pirate rogue, sea witch, and base swashbuckler in addition to the corsair and picaroon archetypes, to name a few.

My personal recommendation would be bard or witch, as your party is lacking in something with arcane spellcasting support.

Wow. Just... wow. Didn't realize there's so many of these.. Thanks a million!

The Sea Singer Bard seems kinda meh. Especially the 3rd level Still Water ability that replaces Inspire Competence. The Sea Witch is more interesting in my book. Is there some archetype for the Witch to make her CHA based caster? If not then I'm heavily leaned towards either a Bard or a Sorcerer. Let the other player's do the tanking...

EDIT: Thank yous

We’re doing Plunder & Peril in a few weeks and I’d like some build help with my character. This is because nowadays I’m a casual player and I really don’t know what’s been going on with PF in the two previous years. Also because there’s going to be only three players, albeit the two other know their stuff and know it good, I want to contribute in the best way possible. Okay, here we go:

Baseline
- 20 point buy
- Non-standard races allowed, up to 15 RP
- 2 traits, one of them must be from the Skull & Shackles trait list
- Toughness as a bonus feat from 1st level
- Starting at level 4, at the end of the module we’re likely to hit 7th level
- There's going to be SOME action at sea and in water too, but mostly the module happens on land

About Class
Besides me the party consists of two characters: Half-Orc Druid (kraken caller) and a Gillman Hydrokineticist. The Druid is built towards melee. About the pros and cons of the Hydrokiteticist… I really don’t know because I haven’t had the time to get familiar with the Occult Classes.

As I see it, my character could be something of these three:

1. Pure melee. I’m thinking of Unchained Monk. Maybe dip it into Unarmed Fighter for Crane Style or Crossblooded (Empyreal/Something) Sorcerer to be able to use Mage Armor and Shield? I like to play a frontliners anyway. Add some ability with swashbuckling and were set. Preferrably light or unarmored because water battles will likely occur. Still, I think the Druid can do the tanking already so maybe other concept could be welcome.

2. Arcane caster. Either Sorcerer (Water, Stormborn?) or Bard, controller or archer build. This would be good for the party face aspect too. Especially the Bard would rock I guess, because his ability to wear light armor and still be able to cast. Maybe Magus could work too?

3. Any suggestion you’d like to make.

Also investment into Profession (Sailor) seems like a no-brainer no matter what choices I make here.

About Race
I was thinking of an Aasimar (Angel Blooded) or a Tiefling (Oni-spawn). Both of them have Alter Self as a spell-like ability so when the need to be operational in water arises, I can alter myself into Boggard and gain swim speed. This would also work with any melee build. Or then just ask the Druid to use Touch of the Sea when needed.

Third interesting option is the Skinwalker (Wereshark-kin). I like the ability to turn into something sharkish. Also the concept fits like a glove with this module.

So that’s how far I’ve got. Eagerly waiting for your input!

Some people are better at multiboxing than others...

I'm with the above posters. Its not just possible. It can be awesome. Mysterious stranger is right though. Only if you are good at keeping each player's actions and in character knowledge separate. I prefer it to gestalting. Action economy is a big deal.

We actually tried gestalting with Carrion Crown. It did work but had a lot of issues. That's why we're trying another solution this time.

@BigDTBone

The first question is a serious one. Don't how I've missed the text change. Maybe because I've never used it since 3.0.

I'm planning to GM a game with two people. Because of reasons, only these two can attend. So I thought that maybe two characters per player might be a fun experiment.

Has anyone tried this? How was it for you?

I was building myself an oracle and noticed that Hold Person has been seriously nerfed (target may attempt will save on every turn). When did they do this?

Also, I noticed that Magic Missile damage die got nerfed from d6 to d4! Why? How? When? And why's the game called Pathfinder anyways? Can I timetravel back now please?

@ShiroK

Ok, thanks for the digging :)

Have you heard about taking Celestial Obedience (Arshea) hargoyle? Cause if you haven't you should.

Didn't know this existed. Nice! Unfortunately we're all LE, so storywise it wouldn't make sense. But I'll definitely use this in some other campaign.

@Arachnofiend

That's my interpretation also. Let's say I take these two Mysteries as I intended: Shadow Cloak (Dark Tapestry) and Sidestep Secret (Lore). That would give me an armor that scales up almost indefinitely - AC @ 6th level would already be +10 (+4 from Cloak, +6 from CHA). And there would be no Max DEX (or CHA, in this case) to that "armor". What a cheesy and broken armor that would be.

Hello Mr Jacobs,

I've a question about Ring of Revelation. Can an Oracle use a Revelation from another Mystery through UMD and this ring? In your earlier answer (quoted below) this is not addressed.

Dan Luckett wrote:

James,

Over at the PFS section there is some confusion on how the
UMD Skill works in regards to emulating a class. The question was targeted at Ring of Revelation. The argument is can a non-oracle utilize the ring to gain temporary access to a revelation with a sufficient roll of UMD?

Some argue that no, you have to be an Oracle, and if you're not UMD won't help you.

Others say that UMD circumvents those standard preventions.

Use Magic Device will let you trick an item into thinking you're a different class... but it does not grant the POWERS of that class. The way the ring of revelation is worded pretty much means you HAVE to be an Oracle (aka you have to meet minimum level requirements in class abilities granted by the oracle class, since the powers granted directly affect that ability rather than grant you NEW abilities). Furthermore, the ring specifically says that it has no effect if worn by a non-oracle.

SO. Best case scenario, you could Use Magic Device to trick the ring into activating, but if you don't actually have class levels in oracle, the ring will do nothing more than take up a ring slot for you.

James Jacobs points that a non-Oracle cannot use this ring, but the question here is: can an oracle use a revelation from another mystery through UMD and this ring?

That's true! Thanks for pointing it out :) We have to ask him again, then.

@Melshyahr

Nope, doesn't work. Here's a quote from James Jacobs about it.

I'm making an Oracle (Dark Tapestry) for our Way of the Wicked AP. And I'm drooling after the Sidestep Secret Revelation - from the Lore Mystery. Is there any way I could get it? Ring of Revelation does not work, because the Revelation has to be from the Oracles own Mystery. And no, I'm not making a Lore Oracle because of story reasons.

EDIT: Strange Revelation Feat could do this, but unfortunately we can't use 3rd party stuff in our game.
EDIT 2: Changed the Subject.