muertog's page

Appreciate the suggestions and the comments. :) I'll definitely look over each of them tomorrow.

One of the biggest problems I have with the online games has been the people on it. I am looking to avoid the immature crowd, and tired of people who are disrespectful, racist, or in general rather unpleasant attitude.

I tend to be a bit quiet until I have something specific to say. I do have access to several VOIP options (Vent, Mumble, G+, TeamSpeak, Raidcall, Skype). If you want a voice-call to see how the fit is, please message me and I'll join up. I am West Coast, so would likely be on evenings in that time zone.

How do people play magic armor when going to hybrid form? I know a lot of people play magic armor as "magically" sizing itself for small or lage players. Do you do the same thing for changing to hybrid form? What about when in animal form? Main reason I am asking is this situation is very likely to come up sometime soon in my game once the players get to the point where they are fighting the lycanthropes so I am looking for suggestions ahead of time so I can work it into the game.

Magic armor tends to resize for most purposes. Officially, Hybrid form does not "absorb" worn items, while the beast form does. Thus, you lose armor bonuses while in beast form, but retain them while in hybrid. Your call if the player loses bonuses from items such as rings, belts, necklaces and other items that could be worn by an animal.

Whatever your decision, make sure it is made clear to players beforehand.

Been running a Pathfinder game in an older Paizo product that I had laying around (Shackled City Campaign). The players have reached level 3, are running through Chapter 2, and just finished the were-rat encounter. Unfortunately, two of the four characters got hit with bites (and failed the accompanying Fort saves), so lycanthropy will be rearing its ugly head.

The official rules are a little light on the specifics of affliction, and wanted to get some feedback and insight on how to "officially" run this.

1) Cures.
*SRD states Belladonna is a possible cure, if taken within one hour of contraction. STR-damage poison.
*Wolfsbane is the "traditional" cure for lycanthropy, but has CON-based damage, which would make the DC15 save vs Lycanthropy a little difficult.
*No statement that you HAVE to take poison damage to get the additional save, although that is has been mentioned on various other threads I have read. No time limit has been mentioned that the poison has to be consumed to get the additional save.
*A remove disease or heal spell cast by a cleric of 12th level or higher cures the affliction, provided the character receives the spell within 3 days of the infecting lycanthrope's attack.

No real mention of methods to remove lycanthropy after the 3 days have passed, although Wish would likely do it, and other high-level spells should be possible.

2) Character options.
If the character does not know to take a cure before the disease onset, a character could be unaware of their affliction for up to 40 days (incubation period of 10 days, 30 day "months"). if a character wants to "use" this affliction, there are no real information provided on what the exact level adjustment is for the template. CR is +1, but I don't think that is the equivalent of the LA.
The closest information on a character progression is on the old Wizards website for the web-"enhancement" for Savage Species:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030912a
But this states that the full progression for an afflicted character would be 2 "levels" of were-rat, plus a single monster level of dire-rat. Yes, you get quite a bit in those three levels, but I am not absolutely certain it is worth 3 levels of a character.
Good stat-bumps, +2 all saves, several feats, but only 1d8 HP, 2+INT skill points, and no +BAB for three levels.

And if I figure Level Buy-offs, is that two buy-offs, or just one? I am assuming it is the template, not the DireRat level that could be bought off, since the DireRat comes with a HD.

My view on casters, saves, SR, and balancing spells:
Casters have large amounts of power to handle most "problems".

SR tends to be close enough to the character's level that you usually need to roll around a 10 to defeat the SR of a creature that is an equal CR to your level. This is definitely not good odds IF you are targeting a creature that is close to your CR.

Yes, the mass-damage spells (fireball, cone of cold) tend to be of reduced effectiveness in higher levels, but you have to look at it in a slightly different manner. You don't use those spells against 1-2 BBEGs, you use them against mass numbers of lower-level mooks, who have lower saves, lower SR, and resistances that you can overpower.

On the other hand, if you are against a single enemy, single-target damage spells (Orb of Force) tend to be ranged touch-attacks and ignore SR/Saves. Single-target spells of the type SoD/SoS -should- give SR/Saves, since if they hit every time, the game becomes about who has the highest initiative.

This balances out the fact that the Big Stupid Fighter is less useful against mass numbers of mooks, but would work better against a single BBEG, as long as he has adequate magic support. The fighter's version of "Save or Die" is (usually) a big, pointy object, and although it can have its own problems (AC and DR), it can definitely ignore the saves and SR problems mages have to deal with. If the casters do their job right, the fighter -doesn't- have a problem with the AC or DR.

Casters -can- be walking artillery platforms, but at that point they are one-man parties (with meatshield), and don't work as effectively. The game as is does work well to encourage teamwork. It doesn't -mandate- the teamwork, just means the party is less effective overall if you don't work together.

The reason I mentioned a DC of 20, is that the base DC of any maneuver is 15+opposing CMB.
At first level, it is fairly easy to get 8+ or so with CMB (goliath, 18 Str, imp grapple). If you took 10, that would be enough to guarantee throwing the halfling. As the levels progress, it only gets higher. Perhaps allowing it to go down to the usual 15+size difference is alright... would have to playtest it to see how it goes.

Just wanted to avoid the issue of someone rapid-throwing chickens or some other silly "willing object" at opponents. Worse is the idea of someone deciding to just "grapple-throw" these inanimate tiny objects (daggers).

The other idea of the "thrown halfling" is just make it an "aid another" action on a jump check. Add your Str bonus to their jump check. Completely ignore grapple and throwing if it is a willing (and assisting) creature.

Someone previously mentioned the "why bother throwing someone" bit alongside arguments for throws to deal massive damage at some point. I suggested the "fort save or be stunned" as an alternative to the throw itself doing more damage.
Nothing to prevent someone from using a featherfall or tumble to reduce the "falling" damage, either... makes sense regarding both deal with flying through the air.

Read through most of the thread.

There are a few issues to consider in the "throw" rules.
1) Simplicity of use. Over-complicated rules make people confused and disinclined to use them (except for people who want to take advantage of obscure rules).
2) Effectiveness of use. Actions that are "useless" (or at least less useful) tend to be marginalized.
3) "Reasonable". The actions described should be realistic enough that players would agree "That is how it would work in real life."

Easiest item to address is the "effectiveness". We want distance, damage, possibly an effect (other than damage).
>Distance thrown = 5', with (up to) an additional 5' for every 5 points you beat the DC.
>In a line. You don't throw at a target, you throw in a direction. You can decide to throw something a shorter distance than your maximum, but this avoids the "grenade" rules.
>Damage done = 1d6 (nonlethal) for each 10' the opponent is thrown: minimum 1d6, maximum 20d6 (same as with falling). If something prevents the creature from traveling the full distance, they still take the damage as if they had moved the full distance. (IE: hit a wall)
>If thrown towards an object/creature, it is a ranged attack roll as if with an improvised weapon at the same BAB as the grapple check. Prevents abuse of people using "I throw 20 kobolds at the opponent."
>Throwee must make a fort save, DC = 10 + nonlethal damage done via throw, or else be stunned for 1d4 rounds.
Throwee also ends their "movement" prone.

Next is "reasonable":
Throwing a person involves a) having some sort of hold on them and b) managing to throw them either by strength of guile. IE: overhead or judo-style. Throwing a person is usually a matter of size/strength, although training could make up some difference. So characters with enhanced size/strength should have an advantage. Grapple rules already reflect this. CMB=BAB+Str+Size. If throw was made a simple strength check, that would ignore the idea of judo tosses, where a smaller person could throw a larger person.

Simplicity of use:
CMB check. Why make it more difficult than that? Characters with martial training (higher BAB) -should- be better at grapples than characters with less (or no) training. Throws are a part of grappling, so Improved Grapple should improve the throws.

Finally, regarding throwing "willing" targets: (PRG p150) "If your target is immobilized, unconscious, or otherwise incapacitated, your maneuver automatically succeeds." To determine the distance of a willing or inanimate object, it should be "Opposed DC = 20 + Size modifier", which prevents silly things like picking up a willing iron golem and throwing it without some sort of effort.