Genie

jybil178's page

Organized Play Member. 28 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 3 Organized Play characters.


RSS

Liberty's Edge

I have been attempting to place an order for 2nd edition, and I get almost all the way through. However, once I get to the place your order section, when I press the button it only gets the working icon for a few moments or seconds, before disappearing and leaving me on the same page. Once or twice it has gotten to the point where it asks for a security code, but when it gets that far, it will do the same thing after attempting to continue

I've tried several different cards, my main debit and credit cards, and I've checked my address with what is now on file, and what is on file with my bank, and they both appear to be identical

I do not know what is preventing me from going forward, at this point I want to make sure it gets resolve, but I am tempted just to buy from fantasy grounds, then claim my free PDF, as that would be far easier than going through your main store page at this point :P

Liberty's Edge

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Aye, the price for that item was 30,000 GP to buy, 15,000 GP to make, pg 522 of the core.

Hehe, yeah, elf :P he saw trentmonk's guide to being a wizard, which I did show him to try and help him and understand that wizards aren't the bad class that he thinks they are, but didn't assume he would just outright copy paste everything over from it *sigh*

I'll see what to do from here, once it all starts boiling down...

Liberty's Edge

Thanks again for everyones help, I really don't know if i could have gotten as far along with the material without everyone's input =) Sadly, a little bit of drama might be pushing off the game for a little bit, but hopefully I'll be able to resolve that shortley. I did have a few more issues pop up

Namely, how much of a twink do you allow your characters to make, before saying no? Such as, a person playing a spellcaster (who hates them to begin with, but laughs at playing something they hate, and decided they where fine with it) decides to dump 3 stats about as low as they can go?
Ie, Str 7, dex 16, con 13, int 17, wis 8, cha 7? First, I know this stat build is wrong for a 15 point build, I just haven't had the chance to really go over his character and correct it yet. Second, when I did, I wanted to know whether I should say NO, or what...

Another thing I've noticed, which I've begun note more and more... Are just the bloody prices of items in the core book...

My favorite example is the lantern of revealing, which is specifically listed as an example on pg 550 for a continuous item.

lantern of revealing
30,000 GP

invisibility purge
1 min/lvl

3 spell lvl x 5 CL x 2000
This perfectly leads to the 30,000 it lists, BUT there is something else that needed to be done. the continuous use has a note on it, at the end of the cost, for 2 under the key. the key states,

If a continuous item has an effect based on a spell with a duration measured in rounds, multiply the cost by 4. If the duration of
the spell is 1 minute/level, multiply the cost by 2, and if the duration is 10 minutes/level, multiply the cost by 1.5. If the spell has a
24-hour duration or greater, divide the cost in half.

Invisibility Purge is a 1 min/lvl spell, so it should end up costing 60,000 GP, not 30,000 GP. I've been going at the book all day, and have found so many prices that where off from what I would THINK they should be... Just makes it so confusing, wondering if either I'm doing something wrong, or the book is just way off, even after errata. Note, I mostly ask this, as the player in question may very well be showing an interest in item creation feats, so I wanted a stronger understanding of pricing for item creation... Sadly, I think I've walked away a bit more confused than what I had started...

Liberty's Edge

Awesome find!! Great build, I hope you don't mind if I take some inspiration from it =) only issue I saw though, was with the Fast Shifter racial option. If you took that, you would lose your Kitsune Magic trait, which is what gives you your +1 DC to enchantment. Not sure if you noticed it by the time you started playing, but at this point, I highly doubt it matters much, hehe >.< Again good work on that =) Hope it was at least HALF as fun playing as it looks, cause it looks like it would have been amazing =)

Liberty's Edge

Thank you all for giving me some time from your day and posting!! I do greatly appreciate it.

So far, I'll consider introducing the hero points a little later into the story. Still within the first chapter most likely, but first see if the players really even need them. As far as my group goes, most of us have been roleplaying in one game or another for the better part of the last decade, some of us for longer than that. Mostly what we've played is Vampire the Masquerade, with a dash of pathfinder/d&d every now and then. Sadly, especially over the past few years, no one has been able to really keep a game going for more than a few sessions. Not necessarily that the players don't want to play, as most are upset that the game goes down, but the DM/ST themselves lose interest with the game and stop running.

Sadly, I have not been able to get a game going for a long time. I've ran a few one shots, demos, ect. My greatest sin I'd think, is my love of learning new systems. I'll get hooked on one, get most of the players interested in it, then never get the story to a point where I feel comfortable running it... :(

NOW, I will start to think about letting some of the players pick their classes rather than forcing them... I do want to stick to a much more classical game, so I hope my players will be fine with sticking to this, but especially if I do manage to get this game going for the long haul, would want everyone to be making and playing something they really enjoy...

I'll talk with the players about starting gold, see what we get from there :)

As for the player that thinks wizards and sorcerers are worthless, yeah, I tried to talk to them, but I have a really bad habit of being mousy and passive, so in the end, while I knew I could have argued more on the subject, I ended up just kind of sitting out. Especially since another one of my players jumped in and started agreeing :(
EDIT: oh yes, I forgot to mention. They did not believe the class was COMPLETELY useless, just a waste of space in a party. They believed it was TOTALLY viable to just take the leadership feat, have a wizard companion, and have THEM sit their asses down all day making magical items for the party. Otherwise, you'd have the player wasting their time doing so and being a waste of space >.<

Also, I noted that Mr JohnHawkins stated that you believed the rogue class to be worthless. Is that in general, or specific to the AP itself? I have never really wanted to play a rogue, or at least get a decent enough character concept to try and make and play one for a game. Are they really that under powered for pathfinder or something? The particular player who will be playing them is a long time lover of rogues... She hasn't really had a chance to play D&D or pathfinder or many games really for the past few years, as she has not been handily invited to many of the games :( Gave her first choice on what to play, and shes really excited for it...

Liberty's Edge

First thing, this is a fairly long post requesting help. I tend to write a lot, so I apologize ahead of time. I'll try my best to be to the point, but will also have a TL;DR at the bottom for my most important points.

I've been reading through this particular forum for the past few days, lots of great stuff here!! Glad so many people seem to enjoy this one :) Sadly, my players have also played the card game, but I've kept them from ever actually reading any of the flavor text. Regardless, they may be able to recognize some of the enemies as they come up. We will just have to wait and see how that turns out.

Well, some of the big things I'd like to ask for help are on the character creation. I am a bit of a control freak it seems, and have strictly stated that I'll only run this for 4 players, keeping to the AP's structure. I've seen just how much a single player more can really throw of the balance of the game. Luckily, my game group would normally only consist of these 4 players anyway, so thats a plus. I might let another player come in as a kind of recurring character, but I'm still thinking on that.

I also stated that I wanted a much more classic game, and tried to keep it down to a fighter, cleric, rogue and arcane caster. Most of the players where perfectly fine with that, except for one of them. Originally stated they had an awesome idea for a cleric, now states how much they hate and refuse to play one. Also lead to an argument for about an hour of the "fact" that arcane casters, specifically the wizard and sorcerer, are a complete waste of space in a party. Any thing they can "fail" to contribute could either be done better by another class, or eventually, completely replaced by a magical item. I did my best to persuade them that this was not the case, but they still strongly believed in their particular take on the class.

My first issue was how I may be best able to handle this. I know I could just open up the number of classes that could be played, but that would potentially skew away from the party build that I was hoping for. I may be far to controlling of course, but was hoping I could manage. I have not spoken with this particular player in a few days, but last I heard they where "fine" with making a Wizard. I did guide them to a particular post online some people in this forum may be familiar with, Trentmonk's guide to being god "aka wizard." Seems though they may very well just make a copy paste build from that.

How do you think I should try and handle this? First and foremost, does it really feel like the arcane spellcasters are at such a disadvantage in this edition/pathfinder? I've felt they where perfectly fine, just requiring a take on them that is different from the rest of your classes. I was particularly stunned when another one of my players (who is currently playing, and hating the wizard in another game) began to agree full heartily with just how bad wizard and sorcerers are. I'd rather my players have fun of course, first and foremost. I plan to get them together sometime this week to sit and make characters and really talk about it. Hopefully we can come to some understandings...

Now, for the actual character creation, I've opted for the 15 point buy system. I've always disliked rolling for stats, as they can be highly skewed. One player can get crap, one player can get OP. Point buy is always fair to the entire group. I'm tempted to bump that higher to the 20 point build, after I've seen everyone build their characters, but we shall see.

My question is, does this feel like its really the right level of power for this campaign?

Also, since I do strongly want my players to try and survive, I've decided to give them the 2 character traits suggested. For level ups for their HP, I'm stuck between a few different options. Rolling, again, could end up real horrible for the players, which I try and stay away from. I normally run a system suggested in the old d20 star wars system. Max - 2 :P Simple, elegant.. Gives your players a bit more health than normal. I'm also considering the system they have for the pathfinder society. (Max / 2) + 1. This is much less health than the prior for the most part. It is stronger than what you would get on average, and it does provide more health than what the opposition will be granted, albeit not by much.

Again, I'd like some input on how GM's have done this in the past. What would you suggest, and what do you believe may be too much?

While I do intend to make it hard enough to be challenging, I would like my players to try and keep their characters for as long as possible. If a player death where to occur, I'd like them to have enough HP to hopefully not have to worry about sudden death due to a few bad rolls against some random encounter, but in an epic and memorable way. To this effect, I was also considering giving all my players an additional Feat at first lvl, Toughness. This, I hope, will help mitigate some lucky rolls and while allowing players to get the most out of near death situations, and not a bunch of player deaths in the first few games, or over the course of the entire campaign.

Question being, do you believe this is too much? Is it a good idea, a bad idea?

My last two points are not really related at all, just wanted to try and wrap this up beyond the truly big wall of text that I COULD make it, and it is already sizing up to be >.< Hero points, and starting gold. I've never really looked in great detail on hero points, and as such have never really though of using them. I've heard other GMs using it, and some to great effect, some wishing they had not added them to the game. Thoughts? For starting gold, I'm not sure how I should handle it. I believe that I've come to two possible ideas. Have each player start with a set amount of gold, IE 150 ala Pathfinder Society, or take the average gold for their class on page 140 of the core. This is probably a very small detail that will not come to great issue at all in the future, as money begins to become less of an issue, but I was hoping to get a little bit of input none the less to try and help...

Anyway, to all of you that will take the time to read and give your input, I thank you greatly ahead of time now, and will thank you again as I look upon your responses :)

To all who want the bullets, here they are XD

TL:DR

Classes, is wizard and sorcerer ineffective in pathfinder? are they a waste of space in a party, or do they have the ability to contribute as much or more as other classes?

Should I be less of a stickler, and allow more classes? IE, is only allowing a Fighter, Rogue, Cleric and arcane spellcaster too strict? Wanted to have a much more traditional party for my first true campaign, but would this possibly be to much?

Is 15 point buy good for this particular AP? Should I maybe consider bumping it up to 20 points for 4 players?

2 character traits from the players guide for RotRL and the traits list on the paizo site. Do these truly help for character creation and depth, or are they just statistics that end up adding more clutter?

Thinking on giving players a specific feat for free at 1st lvl, toughness. Good idea, bad idea? Wish for players to have enough survivability to get some good mileage out of the campaign

HP, hate rolling for it. Should I go max-2, (max/2)+1 ala pathfinder society, or some other possible way to generate? What has been your experiences

Hero points, yes or no? Worth having for those more difficult encounter, or can it over trivialize some potentially more stressful or epic encounters?

Starting gold. How do you normally handle it? Should I go with average gold amounts from the core, default everyone to 150 as per pathfinder society, or try to come up with another way? Or would this potentially be one of the best places to actually let them roll for it?

Again, thank you for your time and help =) I greatly appreciate it, as will my players!

Liberty's Edge

In Advanced Race Guide, the following standard racial trait reads:

Sprinter: Catfolk gain a
10-foot racial bonus
to their speed when
using the charge, run,
or withdraw actions.

Now, this specific wording to me isn't very clear, I can see it being used a number of ways. First of all, the withdraw action is probably the most potent use of this, but I won't get into that.

What I'm questioning is for Charge and Run. "gain a 10-foot racial bonus to their speed when using charge, run," from this reading, it could indicate that they either add just a simple 10 feet on after they take a charge or run action. Still rather potent for a racial trait, but not too bad. OR they could add that 10 feet on to their base, before they start doing the multiplication. Maybe there is a rule somewhere that would answer this, however, I was mostly concerned, as if this where to follow the previous reading of the rules, it would be an exceptionally powerful racial trait, equivalent and stack-able with class features that improve movement. And it would seem to me well outside the bounds of what should be kept in line with other racial traits, bordering as is with the weakest interpretation, without even going into the Catfolk Exemplar feat enhancement. *shudders*

Liberty's Edge

Thank you kindley =) I didn't know it was still considered a pre order at this time as well. I really do appreciate the break down.

Liberty's Edge

* shameful bump*

Liberty's Edge

Sadly, I've been quite out of the loop, and only recently been made aware this was coming out. Most defiantly going to get it, but was also very much wanting to try to get the hard copy AND the pdf.. If I where to order a sub now, would that get me the pdf for it once it ships, or would that no longer work? the exact wording is rather foggy, and says one thing, then says another if you look too closely into it.. And I don't want to take a step without knowing for sure what all I can do.. I'd prefer to have both, but if I can only have one, then well, I'll only get one. I will NOT buy both, as that would be absolutely ridiculousness to do...

And if this is the wrong place to post this, please advise me where I can. I tried in the actual product detail, but I only got one response, and they where not certain it seemed.

Liberty's Edge

Sadly, I've been quite out of the loop, and only recently been made aware this was coming out. Most defiantly going to get it, but was also very much wanting to try to get the hard copy AND the pdf.. If I where to order a sub now, would that get me the pdf for it once it ships, or would that no longer work? the exact wording is rather foggy, and says one thing, then says another if you look too closely into it.. And I don't want to take a step without knowing for sure what all I can do.. I'd prefer to have both, but if I can only have one, then well, I'll only get one. I will NOT buy both, as that would be absolutely ridiculousness to do...

Liberty's Edge

Luther wrote:

I see two easy options here:

1) Make it some kind of extended dream sequence or other metaphysical experience or...

2) Just wait to use it later. Just after the end of Wake of the Watcher they should much closer to Carrion Hill and in a much better position to detour there. In fact, page 75 of WotW speaks on the subject.

Really? hmm... hehe, I only have the first and second Carrion Crown APs so far.. Haven't went out and invested in ALL of them yet >.< And that could work, and be a lot less stressful... But wouldn't they out lvl it pretty badly by that time? And what all exactly is gone over in WotW, if you don't mind my asking? You've peeked my curiosity...

Liberty's Edge

Well, basically, I'm going to be running the Carrion Crown AP in the near future. Upon its completion, I'd like to continue on with the rest of the story, but I must admit, I'm stricken with a Strong desire to try to run through the Carrion Hill Module in between part 1 and 2 of Carrion Crown...

Problems being, obviously first of all, the level is a little off.. Players SHOULD be around level 4 or so as they leave Ravengro for their new destination, but Carrion Hill suggests a starting level of 5, with a rather scary end encounter to boot! Honestly, not a blaring problem, and probably the least of my worries...

But of course, the most blaring problem of all, is the simple fact that Lepidstadt AND Ravengro are on opposite sides of the map from Carrion Hill! The journey from Ravengro to Lepidstadt alone is about 100 miles, a decent amount of travel for the level of the party. The journey from Ravengro to Carrion Hill however, would be a bit over twice that, IF you could travel straight through the country! The dangers and stories involved in such a journey could be fun, but overall, would detract and eventually heavily outweigh the problems that would take place in CC (Carrion Crown) part 2..

If you decide to simply fast travel between the two, you take out a huge element of the fact that you are in a place of true, Gothic horror and that you are going through the very center of this cursed place. The land is filled with the things of your nightmares, and ... you travel for 1-2 month, and you reach your destination... Yeah... *yawn*

But, another one of the things I'd have the hardest time with, is... Why would the characters have any reason to take a side trip to the other side of the country? Not only are they setting out to fulfill the last wishes of a man they held dear in life, but they are also going to be paid a fair sum for the act as well. I kinda come up with a blank here...

Had a crappy idea of some form of divine intervention to attempt to place the characters in a place of great need, but I wanna try to keep with the theme of the game, and not get into something too silly :P An atmosphere for a series like this is difficult enough to build up, and put into place. Destroying or damaging this atmosphere once made, is going to be must easier than it was to make it to begin with.

Liberty's Edge

James Jacobs wrote:
jybil178 wrote:

Well, flipping through the forum, i found this, and had the same kinda question for the longest time... Now however, since it has been printed in Bestiar 2, I have another...

If this critter (and i use that term at my own peril) has 20 HD... How is it iconic for the Planar Binding spells? XD

While I DO love it to finally be written up, and seeing it makes me wanna curl up in a ball, I am kinda sad that it is JUST out of reach for some sad mortal to make a mistake with ;)

It's not. It IS, on the other hand, a great piece of art to break up the monotony of a wall of text that, at the last minute before we were going to print on the book, saved us from having to figure out what to do with about a half page of blank space and an art-light section of the book.

If you wanna call one up, you gotta use a gate spell.

Hehe, thats perfectly fine, and wow, surprised to see such a fast response, hehe... I meant no disrespect... Just commenting how I found it slightly humorous ^^ I completely understand, and agree, the art placement was priceless, and I think it might not be one of the best pieces, it is still awesome, and easily one of the most memorable.

Liberty's Edge

Well, flipping through the forum, i found this, and had the same kinda question for the longest time... Now however, since it has been printed in Bestiar 2, I have another...

If this critter (and i use that term at my own peril) has 20 HD... How is it iconic for the Planar Binding spells? XD

While I DO love it to finally be written up, and seeing it makes me wanna curl up in a ball, I am kinda sad that it is JUST out of reach for some sad mortal to make a mistake with ;)

Liberty's Edge

Hehe, glad I didn't get flamed or anything for my misgivings... Was the first real combat (for DnD anyway) i'd ever ran...

Overall, i think everyone enjoyed it, and I think i did manage to make them see combat can be a lot more lethal than in other games..
(especially since i was highly anal on character creation, giving them "ONLY" 25 points, or High Fantasy CC, rather than the standard 4d6 drop the lowest, reroll ones, reroll anything lower than 10, and roll 7 sets, drop the lowest, that our groups have gotten very accustomed to in recent years. As well as regulating the starting money as the book recommended, IE 25% on weapons, 25% on armor and defensive items, 25% on magic items, 15% on consumables, and 10% on gear, so no one came in with some ungodly BS hehe..)

But yeah, it was more than just a regular bandit raid. The PC's had just exited one of the major trade cities of the country, not even 6 hours out on a busy highway. A lot more going on then that ;)

Liberty's Edge

So in other words, this Metamagic feat's strength shines even stronger when it is used on a spell with more than one save...

Thats kinda scary >.< Thanks for the input, but I would also love to see if this was the original intention of the feat as well :P

Liberty's Edge

Basic question, how would this metamagic feat interact with this spell?

I'm pretty sure, simply enough, if you made the first Will save, you'd have to reroll.

What I'm NOT sure about, is if you make your Fort save, if you'd have to reroll, YET AGAIN, or if you'd be good..

I'm not sure whether the feat would...

(1) only work on the first save of a spell, so if you failed the first, but made the second, you'd be alright..

(2) would effect the first save you made, so if you made the first, and failed the reroll, but made the third roll, IE the fort roll, you'd be alright..

(3) or nastiest of all, you would have to reroll EVERY save you first make. So altogether, the above spell, would require you to make up to 4 rolls, altogether. Make first will, fail second will, make first fort, have to make a second fort.

I guess this question would apply to other spells as well, which require more than one save. I'm just very curious to overall, how this feat works.. The above is nasty >.<

Liberty's Edge

B0sh1 wrote:
If concerned about the capabilities of a Magus, why not do some mock combat trials with various enemies. A Magus has to put himself into the threat zone to make the most of his capabilities. Also, keep in mind, in addition to spells, the arcane pool is another limited resource the magus has to manage as well.

Hehe, well thank you all, very much for all the input. Just played a game, and have to say, didn't really have much of a chance to see the badassness of the Magus.. Most of that is kinda my fault of course, but I'll let you be the judge...

Basically, continuing from where I left my campaign last, it had just started, everyone had gotten together, and agreed to journey with and protect an archeological expedition thats nearly a month away from the major trade city, and home of the Adventurers Guild.

They got together, talked, developed how there characters' behaved and RP'd, got to meet some of the NPCs. I got to better flesh out my own RP, finding the NPC's own personalities, and such.

All goes well, and then.. AMBUSH.. on the open road, while conversing with each other, the caravan is stopped by a carriage parked in the middle of the Highway. The player's make their way to the front (failing to see the no name bandits from the GMG, who had taken 20, and plenty of time to hide from view, and who were also 200 feet away from the caravan, for a total DC of 42 to find them, which no one rolled) Out from behind the carriage come 10 men, 7 of them simple, ugly muscle, while the final 3 in the back looking to be better trained, and of higher intellect. The leader, a Bandit Lord call's out, and says he'll let everyone live, if only they'll leave the purse of the caravan, and their valuables on the ground.

From here, thinking they are complete pushovers, and a simple encounter, my Magus hastes himself, and takes off at his increased speed to meet the Bandit Lord, head on. I fudged a little bit, he was taking a big risk coming right into the middle of all of them. Only had 5 attacks of opportunity on him, and i didn't worry too much about moving through all those squares.... I should have :P The other individual's at his side, were a Highwayman, from the same section as the Bandit Lord, and a Sellsword from the Mercenaries section in the GMG. Needless to say, he did manage to stay "up" for 2 rounds, before I dropped, and luckily, didn't kill him. The combat continued on for a while, about 5-6 rounds I think, until all but the Bandit Lord was up. And right before he was about to make his escape, the Sorcerer in the group used a Persistent Phantasmal Killer on my poor Lord, and well... Needless to say :P

So, my biggest mistake, is I really failed to relay the full entirety of what the opposition looked like from a distance. The simple fact that the hired muscle (who i simply used the Turnkeys from the Dungeons section) were all in +1 Half-Plate, and the others behind them seemed far more competent and most likely, far better equipped would have shown how much of a jump from no challenge, to "i'd better think about this a little more". That was my biggest mistake. All together, the encounter was a CR 13, and the players, who had not had a chance to really play there characters yet, had a rather... Hard time with the encounter overall, hehe... My second biggest mistake, I guess, was throwing them into such a hard encounter right off the bat. It was fun, but I nearly killed 2 players, right out of the gate... Not a great way to start a campaign in my opinion...

So yeah, ANYWAY... overall, it was fun, and I could not at all gauge the capacity of the Magus. So... I may just let him be, without worrying about any what I talked about earlier, to see, overall, how it ends up turning out. I'll worry about things, and rule them accordingly when I come to them, hehe...

PS, how exactly would a Persistent Phantasmal Killer work? If he makes his first will, but fails his second, and he makes his Fort, will he have to reroll AGAIN, or would the Persistent Metamagic feat only work on the first roll?

Liberty's Edge

cfalcon wrote:

As was answered in the other thread, this is legal. I assume he either is elven or took XWP: Elven Curved Blade. Like any two-handed weapon, one size down will be a one-handed weapon, and he will have a -2 to hit with it.

Note, of course, that this is not optimal: he's at -2 to hit with a 1d8 18-20x2 weapon. There exist I think two exotic one-handed weapons with those stats that do not have the -2 to hit.

Quote:
Also from a balance perspective, I'm dissalowing the Magus's spellstrike ability to use a spell that has been altered by a metamagic feat.

That's fine, but my impression of the Magus is not that he is a powerhouse in need of a nerf. However, I don't know the power level of your game. I will point out that the Magus only gets to 6th level spells, over the course of the game, and anything he applies metamagic too, he is really paying for.

Quote:
I just don't really want that in my game. I also think I'll disallow keen or improved crit to increase the overal crit range of the spell. It'll only effect the weapon itself.

I haven't tested with this, this strikes me as it could be a legit concern. However, again, what spells in question are you concerned about him having a 30% critical threat chance with? Do note that the magus has to actually hit (not just a melee touch hit) with a weapon to get this stuff to fire off.

I'm just not sure if the magus needs these nerfs. Do you nerf or restrict pure casters as well? Other melee? Summoners?

Note that it would be optimal for your player to run a different weapon such as a scimitar. If you are eliminating the ability to use spellstrike with extra critical spaces, he is specifically going to do best with the Falcata if he is blowing a feat on it.

M'kay, first off thanks for all the replies, i really appriciate it ^^

Now, the big reasons I was thinking on some of these house rules...

First off, I WAS going to allow the spell to crit of the natural crit range of the weapon. I was simply stating I wouldn't allow it to benefit from the expanded crit range of keened or improved crit.

Second, the big reason I said no metamagic feats. Basically, the campaign is starting at lvl 12, so he'll have access to quite a few things already, plenty of feats, plenty of equipment. The big reason on feats, is I see a lot of potential for cheese. I don't want someone do do the following...

+3 Keen Rapiar, 1d6 (15x20 x2), cast true strike ( if your gonna meta the next spell, you'll true strike to MAKE SURE THE DAMN THING HITS!), Spellstrike your "maximixed, intensified, Shocking Grasp", then Spell Combat your full round attack. Costs you a 5th lvl spell slot.

Now first, i'm not sure if certain rules make this occur in a different order, and if it'll in the end turn out ok, but as it stands...

30% crit and confirm, a 10d6, or 60 dmg attack, criting for a total of 120 dmg. Now regardless, you will almost always hit with the auto 60 dmg. I haven't done ALL the math, but the potential 120 seems kinda scary, and with no saving throws, just an attack roll, there won't be any reducing the overall dmg...

Maybe there are other cheese things that can be done, and as I look at it, i question myself... But for now, I think i prefer no metamagic, and to use the items natural crit range. Maybe explaining myself may help a little, but I'd like an overall opinion as well, heh.

Liberty's Edge

Basically, I have a player who wants to play a magus. He found a character seeming to wield 2 Elven Curve Blades, and he spent the past 4 or so hours working on photoshop with it. He took the second blade off, and put a spell in its place.

My basic question, it it seems he can take the (S) version of the weapon, and it would become a 1 handed weapon, down from 2 handed. Would he also have to take the -2 for using an item not sized for him, technically, or would he be ok?

Would you think it would be ok to just let him do it, or would that be potentially too much? Its basically an exotic longsword, with an admittedly higher crit range. Also from a balance perspective, I'm dissalowing the Magus's spellstrike ability to use a spell that has been altered by a metamagic feat. I just don't really want that in my game. I also think I'll disallow keen or improved crit to increase the overal crit range of the spell. It'll only effect the weapon itself.

Thoughts, and overall opinion plz?

Liberty's Edge

Basically, I have a player who wants to play a magus. He found a character seeming to wield 2 Elven Curve Blades, and he spent the past 4 or so hours working on photoshop with it. He took the second blade off, and put a spell in its place.

My basic question, it it seems he can take the (S) version of the weapon, and it would become a 1 handed weapon, down from 2 handed. Would he also have to take the -2 for using an item not sized for him, technically, or would he be ok?

Would you think it would be ok to just let him do it, or would that be potentially too much? Its basically an exotic longsword, with an admittedly higher crit range. Also from a balance perspective, I'm dissalowing the Magus's spellstrike ability to use a spell that has been altered by a metamagic feat. I just don't really want that in my game. I also think I'll disallow keen or improved crit to increase the overal crit range of the spell. It'll only effect the weapon itself.

Thoughts, and overall opinion plz?

Liberty's Edge

1 person marked this as FAQ candidate. 1 person marked this as a favorite.

pg 162,
Words of Power,

Magi, Witches, and Wizards

Witches and Wizards gain all cantrips, and 3 + int mod 1st level words.

Magi gain 2 + int mod 1st level words.

This seems very odd, since all three classes normally gain the exact same number of spells at 1st level. Also, a Magi DOES gain access to 0 level words, so why do they gain absolutely NONE at 1st level?

This may be "Working as Intended", but it seems more likely a hold over from playtesting, when magi probably didn't gain as many spells. They also at one point did not have cantrips I guess?

Liberty's Edge

Well maybe i'm just a details nitpicker, or something, but why isn't the cost of the actual SPELLBOOK itself included, IE the 15gp for a blank book? Does that cost become completely negligible once you start placing spells inside or something?

EDIT: also another nitpick i forgot to mention, do they also ignore the price of the Locks as well? I've only done the math on the first few books, but the first two books with locks (average lock = 40gp, simple lock = 20gp) are not included in their costs..

Liberty's Edge

Name Violation wrote:
Momar wrote:
Mojorat wrote:

your ignoring that it's a magic weapon as part of a class with the ability to enhance magic weapons.

there is no reason to need to enhance it outside of the class.

Right, except that the ability to enhance it requires a limited daily resource that's very valuable in other areas, like spell recall.

Tangent: is there anything that prevent a magus from using arcane pool buffing to put a weapon over +10 total? I don't think it would be broken or anything, just not sure if there's some overarching rule about it somewhere.

There is a ruling on a pally's divine bond going past +10(but I don't remember what it was). I'd apply the same rule about breaking +10 to a magus.

The enhancement bonus is what it says it is. An enhancement bonus. I don't think they thought it had to be spelled out. The other bonus damage is a different ability. It also scales the same as (and stacks with) arcane strike.

Well, the primary reason I asked about it, although I was fairly sure of the answer, was the fact that in general, if its part of a class feature, they pretty much always spell it out. The odd part is the fact that the enhancement bonus is only mentioned in the table, and is completely neglected within the actual archetype description. Even if Paizo doesn't come out and tell you what it does and doesn't do, they would normally at least put in the enhancement bonus and at what levels it increases within the description of the statistics of the black blade. The questions I mentioned were in reality, for the most party anyway, things I figured were things that were most likely overlooked. While I was curious upon the input of the community, I also wanted to state the lack of clarity within the Bladebound archetype :P But still, I appreciate the community input so far, and wished to thank everyone for their time.

Liberty's Edge

M'kay, I was pretty sure that messing with the black blade was a no no, and I'm kinda fine with that. It would have been much more headache then it was worth... But the question of the Enhancement bonus still stands... If it simply states the progression of the Black Blade's, Black Blade Strike damage (which i highly doubt, because again, it calls it an enhancement bonus in the table, but in the description of the ability, its a simple, unnamed damage bonus) then in general, the black blade is rather worthless as a weapon. But if its not, then it can be at least a somewhat decent weapon, best when used in concert with your other magus abilities.. But then, what exactly can you do, if anything, with the enhancement bonus? Does it have to stay a simple +enh bonus, or can you maybe mess with it, and add qualities to it instead?

Liberty's Edge

1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

Well, just a quick couple of questions really..

First off, you have a table in the Bladebound archetype that goes over at what magus lvls your black blade gains int/cha/wis and how much overall ego it will have. But, it also goes over an enhancement bonus that isn't mentioned in the black blade's write up, which is very odd... The CLOSEST thing written up, is the ability a little later on in the write up that costs the blade an arcane point, to increase the damage of your weapon, but that is an unnamed bonus, not an enhancement bonus. Basically, I was just wondering if I should take it as it says in the table, without an explanation, or if this was an oversight. Its just it literally goes over every time it gains a point of int, and cha/wis and ego... Just not the enhancment bonus...

My second big question, is something I kinda felt a little awkward about... Nowhere in the Bladebound write up does it tell you if you can improve upon the Black Blade any other way than lvling up. It kinda goes over that stuff in Intelligent item section, but since this is a class feature, and there isn't anything mentioned of whether you can't mess with it, or whether you can and how... I'm kinda stuck on what to do about that, hehe >.< Anyway, hope i can get some input on these questions real quick.

Liberty's Edge

Well, I'm kinda new to the forums, so be kind...

Anyway, I unfortunately didn't quite catch this myself, but a friend pointed it out to me, and because of it may not allow the Magus class until an errata, or his own potential house rules.

Basic problem,
"Spellstrike (Su): At 2nd level, whenever a magus casts a
spell with a range of “touch” from the magus spell list, he
can deliver the spell through any weapon he is wielding as
part of a melee attack. Instead of the free melee touch attack
normally allowed to deliver the spell, a magus can make one
free melee attack with his weapon (at his highest base attack
bonus) as part of casting this spell. If successful, this melee
attack deals its normal damage as well as the effects of the
spell. If the magus makes this attack in concert with spell
combat, this melee attack takes all the penalties accrued by
spell combat melee attacks. This attack uses the weapon’s
critical range (20, 19–20, or 18–20 and modified by the keen
weapon property or similar effects), but the spell effect
only deals ×2 damage on a successful critical hit, while the
weapon damage uses its own critical modifier.
"

The bold text in particular of Spellstrike. With the current wording, it seems like as you use this ability, in concert with Spell Combat, you gain access to an additional free attack, at your highest base attack bonus, with the -2. This, as well as the fact you can potentially crit with your spells with a proper keened weapon at the 15-20 range, does seem a little intense, especially for an ability you gain at lvl 2. Addmitiadly, there aren't a whole lot of spells with touch in them, but you could also take a magus arcana that can turn a ranged touch, into a melee touch, which could then be used with spellstrike, increasing by quite a bit the number of usable spells.

Altogether, I love the feel and concept of the class. For the most part, the playtest before the release had a much clearer, definable wording. Admitiadly, the release probably did need to tell us about the crit range of the weapon working, or not working with the spell, but the first statement is very unclear, due to poor wording. Anyway, just my 2 cents, hope i get some kinda response, hehe >.<