psyrus's page

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2nler?A-Guide-to-Touch-Spells-Spellstrike-and-S pell
the above Guide doesn't even address concentration Dc's. I had noticed some Magus guides claiming that concentration checks were veritably ignorable...

that is not what I am seeing when I look up the rules for casting in combat and casting on the defensive (or casting defensively).

Dc of 15 + Double the spell level. A first level spell is DC 17.
(when you add the thought component +10 to it, 27.) I don't get how some magus guide writer's claim that concentration isn't necessary. If you fail the concentration DC, you lose the spell period.

the only way of using normal magus spell combat is to (Declare spell combat) cast when you are directly adjacent. a full attack is a full attack. there is no provision for taking your 5ft step anytime during the course of your Full Attack so you can cast->5ft step->Start swinging. This would be akin to letting a fighter using cleave to make a 5ft step to use the cleave swing on a foe that is out of reach.

So, no spell combat for the mindblade magus. you have it, but there's no way in H you can use it.

Disappointed in the mindblade. the -10 to cast verbal spells defensively pretty much means spell combat is going to be really hard to pull off.

well, to avoid the "Feat hole" for concentration as others have mentioned, or reach, or some very confused comments about action economy; I would say that this does need analysis.

The Basic DC's stay the same. the penalty is in this text here:
The DC for any concentration check for a spell with a thought component increases by 10. A psychic spellcaster casting a spell with a thought component can take a move action before beginning to cast the spell to center herself

This bit of text right here either changes the normal magus action economy or raises DC's by 10. you are adjacent to a foe, you declare the use of spell combat. this is a Full action part 1 you attack with your weapon at -2. full action part 2, you cast a damage dealing touch spell and must beat a concentration check or provoke...

you are using a full attack action. there is no "move" action to use normal concentration DC...

you either use spell combat or you don't. hrmm.

It looks like a head first dive into a feat hole: combat casting (+4), concentration (+2), and a trait(+2), and still not meeting the -10 penalty... Only a total of (+8)
ugh, you end up buying and using the concentration arcana? and no, its use is only once per day.

The regular magus combat casting a 1st level spell has a dc of 17, but gets caster level and intelligence bonus to help beat this. if you have a 14 int (+2) and are 1st level, you have a flat roll of d20+3...
Even with the feats combat casting, concentration, and a trait (+8 total) this is still d20+11 vs DC 17, you must roll 6 or higher.

add the +10 DC increase and...

you may as well forget about it.

Has anyone developed any booty kicking occult Adventures character class builds yet? Especially for less than 12 levels and PFS legal? (*nothing worse than seeing a really awesome ability; oh, it's level 13...*)

The only thing that pops to my mind right away is the Magus archetype, the mindblade magus. Seems to me that one can start dual wielding weapons as early as 4th, when using the "instant weapon" spell-level 2nd. the downside is that this is still clearly an arcane class with a few labels changed. Yay, that we have this option - but what is the point if it is from the exact same mold?

The mesmerist is truly outrageously good, and has a wizard independent theme. This is some A+ Classy writing. only that I am not interested in enchantment-charm stares, and minor touch heals. I don't like playing bards; you aren't good at any one thing - you're "meh" at bunches of stuff. It works undoubtedly, but it isn't something I am yearning to explore right away.

The occultist class is also brilliantly written, yet it doesn't really strike me as useable right at this moment (*especially once you get stripped of all your trinkets). however, the occultist class is the one that most reminds me of 2nd ed psi. It is just so "Generalized" that it doesn't really grab my attention. Give me psychic discipline specializations and refine these with archetypes and I'll consider it. again, let me emphasize Psychic not hedge-bard-zard.

The psychic seems to have only one semi decent damage dealing spell - the 0 level T.K. projectile. Sure telekinesis is a 4th spell-level for the psychic but no, the rest of the spell list seems devoid of fire power and any purpose. it wanders the map of disciplines (telepathy, tK, T'port, all as "Sortas" via spells that come close) and just borrowing from wizard/sorcerer/cleric. (Summon animal... Why? you're supposed to be psychic?) they clearly wanted "Same-but-different" but didn't get that far.
Same as the occultist class above; it is just so "Generalized" that it doesn't really grab my attention. give me psychic discipline specialist archetypes and give some dang "psychic spells" not borrowed from other casters. So what if you have 9 spell-levels of casting. As a PFS player, I pretty much won't see much more than half of it and what I do get should be useful! (damage, defense, mobility, utility, purpose; give me more of these and I will love it)

The kineticist is not going to be discussed in this thread by me. I like it. it seems okay. It has purpose, firepower, defense, utility, and mobility, that so many archetypes and classes lack... (laughing at you swashbuckler) putting it simply: As a Brawler is superior to the fighter role-playing wise; So too, the kineticist is superior to the psychic and occultist. Forgive me if I balk at the telekineticist moving 1,000's of lbs - That smacks of being super heroic! Oh yes, I am glad that one can play something of a character from the "Avatar, last air bender" thingy.

Medium, for me this is an odd duck class. I know of mediums, don't get me wrong. I just see psychic ability as an intensely personal and inwardly focused art. Not something that goes, outside, "out there"... When it comes to spirits, I tend to view that as a divine caster's territory.

Spiritualist, Same as the medium. however, I am glad that one can play a character drawn straight from "Shaman King" thingy.
*************************************************
Ultimately, I am still confused as to why 2nd ed psionics wasn't revisited and re-made for Pathfinder. I'd gladly play a revised, and balanced "psionicist". I had control over the direction my character grew; if I wanted damage - I went damage, if I wanted defense - I went defense, if I wanted mobility - went mobility, if I wanted utility - I would take a look at how some of the powers could be used, if I wanted a purpose... well, I as a player had already started with one.

One might think that S.A.D. is preferable if you look at the paladin as compared to the M.A.D. monk. - Still this has nothing to do with the content of the Occult adventures book.

Is it me or does the Elemental Ascetic Archetype still deal unarmed damage and adds the kinetic fist?

Not going to argue here, just asking. I am kind of hoping that the Hands are Sheathed in force so that the character doesn't actually touch things. It is my big fear regarding "Punchy" types - having to touch something *Really* nasty - like Diseases, traps, elemental hazard, curses, etc. Great, now I just invented monsters that Curse you every time you touch them...

An interesting fact: Hydrocephalic brains are compressed, but most of these persons have no signs of mental problems. Which may lead to the morbid questions;
1. What if the compression was done differently to make the brain smaller without impairing function?
2. How small could a human brain safely get?

Could future genetic engineers make humans who are far smaller than the recent archaeological "Hobbit" find? Combining genetic engineering and manipulated diseases to make... living dolls?

Truly, horrific!

As I mentioned a few pages back (34 or higher in this thread) I looked at the Unchained Monk with the Weapon adept archetype, the threatening defender combat trait, the Signature moves social trait, the acrobatics skill and the following feats:
Improved unarmed strike (monk bonus)
Dodge (monk bonus)
weapon finesse (Human)
Combat expertise (first level)
Perfect Strike(1st level Archetype bonus)
Weapon focus (2nd level Archetype bonus)
Combat reflexes (2nd level monk bonus)
Crane style (3rd level feat)
Crane wing (5th level feat)
Mobility (6th level monk bonus)
Crane riposte (7th level feat)
and fighting defensively standard action...

The result? no penalty when fighting defensively and gaining a considerable stacking bonus to armor class, on top of the monk's AC bonus!

As this massive dodge + parry idea based on some 11 feats wouldn't be available to an akashic seeker (who has no bonus feats) I decided on applying a +1 occultist level to the resonant and focus powers per each "implement" to make them the best at what they do.

Joe Hex wrote:

I saw someone mention the Akashic Records. How does using them come into play? Are they accessed from a feat, skill unlock, or something different?

Uhm no. Sorry for the confusion. I had an archetype idea for the occultist class. An extremely specialized divination concept that no longer needed an implement, couldn't bestow the effects of their focus on others, didn't learn circles or summoning. The archetype was called the Akashic Seeker and the intent was for this occultist to look inward, and not to random passer by outsiders for information. that the astral plane is a conduit where one can access the Akashic record; all truth, all knowledge, all experience. The Akashic seeker uses their psychic power to attain enlightenment.

************************************************8*
I was exploring an idea of a "Combat Precognitive" type of character, based on the very real experiments around "Prestimulus response" and "Prestimulus Go, No-go". I.E. Most people need 0.3 of a second to acknowledge that they are seeing something; the fastest martial artist reflexes are approximately 0.18 of a second, between stimulus and Strike; however, a precognitive may be accessing a feature of quantum mechanics where information appears to travel backwards in time. Dr. Edwin May is right, that consciousness can push against all the possible futures up to 8 seconds (usually only 3.5 seconds) in advance - allowing for a martial artist who can begin reacting (opening an industrial sized can of whoop-az) long before an enemy even thinks about moves. Also, as this is using a hyperconscious state that seeks out the most optimal course of action before collapsing probability waves into what we experience as "The Present" (*which is actually lagging a bit behind) such an Agent would be flawlessly perfect with every move - provided that the results of the action occur within the next 8 seconds or less.

Dodge bullets? yes, not via super human speed, just the intuitive urging to avoid a non-optimal outcome. Unlike a telepath, a combat precognitive does not need to make contact with an enemy mind. The Agent may not even know that enemies are present until the insight begins guiding the agent. the ability is not dependent on others, it depends on you to listen to intuitive direction.

When a combat precognitive is mental accessing a frame of time an instant before our own; the information is not KNOWLEDGE, but experienced intuitively - thus causality is not violated.

Combat precognitives once trained will be assigned to counter intell and Sensitive information/persons protection services. This program was conducted via agency other than the C.I.A. (which is still pursuing remote viewing) there are several active agents in the US.

End of brief.

Hey! the Pathfinder Society Additional resources is finally updated!

Red Text near the bottom of the page, HERE!

I love the Reincarnated medium archetype. The idea is so nuts and so neat at the same time!

Watches movie The Crow

Yeah, something like that...

None of this changes the fact that the Kineticist has inexcusably poor damage, which is what I complained about to begin with.

Let me ask of you (Nicely) Please, show me a Pathfinder society legal battle-dancing varisian gypsy wielding two starknives (that can never be broken, lost, stolen) with range, damage, defense, utility, and mobility, all superior to the kineticist and I will join you in your outrage-

...but only after you show me the above build and demonstrate it.

Question: when does the Occult Adventures make it on to the "Additional Resources" for PFS?

******************

Kineticist about on par with a bow-using warrior; Is there a reason why the Kineticist's damage output wasn't changed much from playtest to release?

I am not a designer so ignore me if you wish.

Apparently, spell casters are supposed to find other ways to make their spell casting more so prominent or fall back on item creation so that they have 50 charges of A,B,C,(blah)X,Y,Z, spells that they use at the drop of a hat so they can reserve their personal spell slots for something else.

Even an NPC warrior with a masterwork composite longbow (strength 18), weapon focus feat, Dex 18, etc. has a limited supply of arrows. 1d8+4 damage per shot and a +7 to hit, isn't too shabby. of course, you'd need a human race Variant (double +2 adjustment human -No bonus feat nor bonus skill rank) 20 point build: Str 18, Dex 18, con 12, Int 10, wis 12, Cha 7. the +2's are on str&dex.

The warrior doesn't gain any extra protection,
the warrior has a limited supply of ammo,
the warrior cannot use his bow to jump 30 ft vertically on a whim...

Which begs the question; Why isn't the vegetarian diabolist a class yet?

Bandw2 wrote:

blackbloodtroll wrote:

This needs a FAQ like a potato needs an enema.

scared to tempt fate? :3

Giving a potato an enema is tempting fate?

What dark rituals have you been performing?

As science has discovered that plants can "feel" fear and pain it becomes obvious; He's a vegetarian diabolist who specializes in alternative (non-mamilian) sacrifice rituals...

and thus is most likely to score health conscious, athletic physique, succubi of insane hawtness, and not other forms of fiend.

Given the recent update to Slashing Grace, there are going to be those who start to wonder if Dervish Dance with a slightly different, but still restrictive wording should still work in conjunction with the magus Spell Combat feature.

uhm no. Dervish dance is a performance- dance, combined with movement and combat. At no point does the text of dervish dance allow any spell-casting; only melee attack with the scimitar.

Question: when does the Occult Adventures make it on to the "Additional Resources" for PFS?

psyrus wrote:

Occultist Archetype Idea Akashic Seekerthe Akashic Seeker may change the action required to activate resonant and focus powers to a free action. The Akashic Seeker also gains the extra focus feat at 1st level as a bonus feat and gains it again at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th level.

Is this a good archetype or not?
Question: Can an occultist totally specialize in a single implement school?

they can, but Divination is a terrible school for that because it's not a good variety of spells. This archetype either gives you no spells or only Divination. It's really a abuseable as a one level dip to get free action activation of any Divination power.

Okay, change that line to: "For each known implement applied to your specialized school (*Divination) you count as +1 occultist level higher for the use of your occultist powers."

There should really be more oomph for an occultist that specializes in a single implement. This is why I wanted the Akashic Seeker to use their own mind as their implement, to not bestow their "implement" to others, and to turn inward for wisdom instead of asking a random outsider...

psyrus wrote:

What was wrong with 2nd edition psionics? Cheaters, period.

Disintegrate at level 3? It was in fact possible to have. Its prerequisite Science was Telekinesis so you can pick it at level 3 as your second science if a psychokinetist. Assuming you even have 40 power points to use it ONCE.

You're looking at roughly a 50% chance of having a 50% chance of killing something, in exchange for basically everything you can do today and a 5% chance of having a 40% chance of killing yourself outright for attempting it.

Like I said they were cheating. You see a 2nd ed wild talent received access to all the pre-requisite powers of the power that they gained from the roll. In terms of Psychic strength points (PSP) a wild talent also received enough to use all of their known powers once, plus a bit as a wild talent.

A cheater would more or less lie about outrageous wild talent result rolls which would bestow a Dozen powers and a few hundred PSP...
Ignoring the fact that Psionicist characters could not roll for wild talents in the first place. Player's Option book, which allowed on to cherry pick their class features basically provided as many as 4 wild talent checks, bonus PSP, even to be a Psychic adept which had TWO primary disciplines. So, you'd get these Munchkin players with 700 psp to start and about 50 known powers...

psyrus wrote:

elemental ascetic, please show me what infusions/wild talents are useable? the description says something about not being able to use anything that has a ranged attack roll and ranged touch attack. this leaves me confused as to what is left for the Ascetic to use

You can use it with the Cloud, Cyclone, Deadly Earth, Explosion, Fan of Flames, Kinetic Blade, Kinetic Whip, Mobile Blast, Spray, Torrent, and Wall form infusions. Possibly Impale, I'm unsure as to whether it's supposed to be a ranged attack roll or a melee attack roll, but I lean towards not.

My apologies to Mark if this list is too detailed and needs to be deleted.

Erm, can we narrow this down a tad by selecting Aether, telekineticist type?

*Also, I doubt this counts as "Too detailed" all I am being provided with is the names of allowed infusions and wild talents for the elemental ascetic; it is not like you are copying and pasting descriptions.

Another question; Could this Elemental Ascetic Safely punch something hazardous? (*as in the hands are wrapped in aetheric force and thus don't actually touch the foe) I am not asking for the description of the kinetic fist ability - just a Yae or Nae, and why.

psyrus wrote:

QuidEst wrote:

Anybody have more archetype questions that they'd like answered early?

psyrus wrote:

kineticist - elemental ascetic, please show me what infusions/wild talents are useable? the description says something about not being able to use anything that has a ranged attack roll and ranged touch attack. this leaves me confused as to what is left for the Ascetic to use

Please help.

I'd assume it means you can use the melee and the save based infusions.

which are what infusions and which wild talents? a list please.

Anybody have more archetype questions that they'd like answered early?

kineticist - elemental ascetic, please show me what infusions/wild talents are useable? the description says something about not being able to use anything that has a ranged attack roll and ranged touch attack. this leaves me confused as to what is left for the Ascetic to use

Please help.

Where is the clairvoyant and/or precognitive character type? What about the raw combat department, a Combat Precognitive archetype for the brawler perhaps? The bard and ranger classes have a great deal they can trade off to become a different kind of psychic.

I took some time to look at the "Weapon adept" monk archetype with the trait - Threatening combatant and the following feats: improved unarmed combat, dodge, crane style, combat expertise, perfect strike (human for the bonus feat). At first level I would have a -2 on all attacks and gain a +5 AC, on top of monk AC.

I imagined the Magus-Kensai as a pure Martial class, only taking "spells" that could be inferred as some kind of martial feat, or instead of spell casting gained bonus feats and the brawler's martial flexibility. This is more likely an intrigue class idea.

The idea I look forward to reading about is a form of Combat precog.

I am looking forward to player made guides, optimizations, and so forth for this book. Especially for the kineticist - elemental ascetic as I am uncertain of what it has lost. Can someone clear this up for me and show me in writing what is left useable?

A little help here somebody?

I think this book offers a radically different take on what it means to be "Psychic" that has never been a part of any roleplaying game. It is interesting in its own way. I like the classes and appreciate the differences from other classes. I enjoyed the non-Sci-fi spin and "blending" of psi into pathfinder in this non disruptive way.

I noticed a lack of new races, race options, and traits; is this part of another book? what is the title? when is it coming out?

Where is the clairvoyant and/or precognitive character type? 2nd edition had a few interesting powers for this type of character. there are a number of ways to provide a group support in the healing department - that's good. what about the raw combat department?
a Combat Precognitive archetype for the brawler perhaps?

The bard class seems perfect to strip of all performance skill, performance abilities, lore/knowledge abilities, and spell casting to make a different kind of psychic class.

For that matter so can the ranger; dump terrain and favored foes, lose the combat styles, dump spell casting, and make a front line psychic combatant. While the monk dabbles in some mysticism (I do like the Monk wisdom AC bonus) I feel that this ability would be suited to a kind of "Psychic Kensai" based on the framework of the ranger class.

I am looking forward to player made guides, optimizations, and so forth for this book. Especially for the kineticist - elemental ascetic as I am uncertain of what it has lost. Can someone clear this up for me and show me in writing what is left useable?

I liked the title of this thread. 4th ed rules, 3.5 feel.

Being in the military I don't get to game often but I don't have the budget obligations a civilian does (*I don't pay for rent, utilities, or food. I just have to settle for what the army gives to me and my whole paycheck is mine to use however I wish. I could blow the whole thing on day one and not worry about how I am gonna eat at the end of the month.*)

what I felt that the title meant was:

1. Here comes a whole bunch of hype about our new product...
2. then comes the players message board posts...
3. then comes the announcement "we already knew we had to do another edition because"... (*yeah, they knew it was bad years ago- it wasn't the players pointing our the chapter of "cut and paste" errors in the psi book... 'scuse me, the authors interview stated that writing psionics would be too hard so he just copied wizards and spells, changed some names and was done.
4. We fans called them on the crap, and were promptly banned from the wotc website. but thanks for content that certain people claimed as their own to fix the problems.*)
5. then comes the announcement, "it's here! it's here! you have to buy it or you won't be playing real D&d!"

6. then comes the "oh yeah, I guess that is broken..."
ah well, didn't we learn with psionics?

7. to quote monte cook and bruce cordell, "If you want to have an opinion you need to be published first".
and
"I am a game designer and designers are never wrong."

then it starts all over again.

******WAIT JUST AN F****ING MINUTE**********************
(*looks at the youtube videos again*)

there it is, the eraser and clothes pin "minatures" that are viewed as "confusing and problem causing"... a minotaur and a troll, oh no.

their solution that is SOOOOO much better?
Now, you can pay for a random pack of digital images which will likely be lost if you quit your account or clean your drives... but you can also use stand in "tokens" for digi-minis that you don't have yet?

All I can say is "WHY THE FRENCH!"

a prayer for serenity, no actually, a prayer for sanity:
god please have mercy. protect my game from stupidity. burn down all of renton washington... especially you know where, before it's too late.

I want 4th to prove me wrong and be better than any aquatic sleep system nocturnal unconscious disturbance I could ever imagine having...
not that I have those kind of dreams anyway.

thing is, from what I have read of 3.5 as of late and of all the NON-hype about the mechanical crunch that "They can't tell us about" that is supposed to be "SSSSssssooooooo GGggguOOOOoooooOOOoodddDDDD!!!!!" is actually turning me off.

not just the trends of:
1. designers equal gods, (*ie. your not allowed an opinion until your published and made more money than them) gamer equals morron.

2. We don't need you, (Ie. no more dungeon/dragon magazines, no more comicshops, no more quality product... no more fans?)

all of this is just sdrawkcab!

Don't they want my money? I just stopped buying anything from wotc and china er, hasbro...
I hope that they get the message soon.

Go give your pro/con feedback where ever you want. It doesn't matter. The Great Hasbro Wheel is already rolling. You will get what Baker wants.

AH, somebody who knows the truth of it all. So, you work with baker or is this just so obvious to everyone that even psionics haters can figure it out...

Maybe the new podcast will answer more.

Nyan. but there are folks without Ipods. an Ipod is not essential to playing D&d- hence I don't have one. So these "podcasts" don't do jack for us Ipod haters/ zune owners. nyan.

oh, in case you don't know, nyan again.

My comic shop manager is a friend of mine.
He didn't know why D&d suddenly stopped selling.
I had to tell him... 4th ed is going to come out.
he had no idea.
He could recall selling me the tee shirt, the book bag, and a small mountain of 3.0 D&d books... but now, he had nothing for 4th ed to sell or advertise. HE HAS NOTHING TO ADVERTISE 4TH ED. He didn't even know it was going to come out, it isn't even in the wotc product forecast.

he got conspiratorial with me over the end of the dungeon and dragon magazines. He said Wotc had a little chat with the dealers that was summed up as, "we really like how you've drummed up business for us, we like how the kids go to you. That's why they are going to come to us for now on."
translation, "you did all the hard work of selling our products. now we are just gonna take your customers."

anybody notice how the book prices seem to jump by 5$ ever so often?
seems to me that those marketing response cards are the source of that problem. I bet that if everybody started to claim on those forms that they only had enough money to buy $20 a month of anything and were only interested in D&d...
books wouldn't be jumping to $40 per each next month.

this is all wrong. I can't see the product. I can't make an informed decision about it. My friend did not even know about it...
so yeah. we are being screwed.

Disenchanter wrote:

JD Wiker wrote:

It is an entity that enforces the decisions of the individuals comprising the organization.

That isn't entirely true.

OMG! WotC has achieved sentience and is now capable of making decisions!!! Get an axe. Hide Sarah

Geez! $3@B@$Schun, Seabassnun, See he gets none, whatever.

just as a D&d book with good trend in the "fluff" AND the "crunch" can be said to have a "flavor". do you get it? or do I hate to send you off to the malhavoc press (monte cook) message boards so you can troll there?

get it, or go away.

The Real Brain wrote:

WOTC has failed miserably in both regards and will suffer accordingly.

I laugh at you and point. For all the (censored) and moaning, everyone will buy 4e. Face it. You are suckers.

Okay, here is our true troll. you get a trolly pop.

now, Dead serious.
I WILL NOT BUY 4th ED. why? because of the wotc trend.
what trend is that?

1. bad marketing. The whole, "3rd is broken! you need 4th, but keep buying 3rd until 4th", is just wrong. Especialy the implied, Designers know what is best- players and D.M.s are morons, attitude.

2. screw the fans, we are doing it our way. Changes, changes, and changes- but WTF- if it's not broke don't fix it. Anybody remember the 3.0 psionics book, AND the author interview on the Wotc website...
(*quote from memory, not exact)
"Writing psionics would be too hard, so I just copied stuff from wizards and the magic section", Bruce robert cordel admitting that he plagurized the PHB rather than do his job, which surprisingly was to write a psionics book! I still laugh when I see posts decrying psionics... it's like, dumbaXe he said it was wizards and magic! HE SAID HE COPIED STUFF, it's not new. Then came the admition that rather than make a legitimate psionics book for 3.5, they simply tried to fix the mess BRC made... because they were stuck with it. hearing this one does a double take at the idea of a 4th ed cause 3rd needs to be overhauled.

3. book filler, repeated content that fills pages while new content is actually a hand full of paragraphs. Skill tricks are a nice fix for high level rogues... and yes, complete scoundrel deserved it's own book. I love the tome of battle. thing is there a many 3.x books that don't do anything of value, and have no real content. guess which ones.

4. Easier to play? did anyone else notice that dragons are being mentioned as having thousands of hit points- are we going to need slide rules to play? oh, no. somebody forgot an AoO, versus, the cleric scored a critical hit... who gets healed? JEEBUZ!

5. I hated the whole "grapple thing" on the youtube video. watching them "search" for the grapple rules made me want to scream. The prop books had never been opened, you could tell that by the way the pages didn't turn. you could tell the actors didn't even know how to read the book...
since the chapters where flipped through at random, even stoping at the end of the character creation- when your looking for a combat rule!
RETARDS!

Well,,,, let me jump on this bandwagon.
the "wizards of the co$t" can suck it and kiss me where it smells funny!
RAH! okay, I am better now.

I won't buy any of 4th ed until I know it's good. can anyone remember how bad the 3.0 psi handbook sucked? that kind of kludge is exactly what I expect. Tob:9s and ComScound to "fix" the non spell casters with their own powers... I am sure that there is a good idea in all that, but realy- a set of special powers based on the weapon you choose to master?
Some people just aren't meant to CAST SPELLS.

on the cost of my library:Some books cost 25$ each, some 30$ each, some 35$, others $40... I did spot a few new players the soft cover phb set, and on missions in Iraq I often had to rebuild a basic library to play, only to give it to the marines at each cop/fob.
(*MARINES ARE HARD!* Never doubt a Marine's courage. I may be army but I did clear caches with them, 80 kicks at a go.)
I OWN all the books for Kingdoms of Kalamar by Kenzer and co.
I Like sword and sorcery by white wolf.
I bought the mindshadows of Green Ronin.
I bought Iorn kingdoms of Privateer press.
I liked a lot of D20/OGL content.

So yeah, since 2000, 10k$, but will I shell out the clams for 4th? I don't think so... I will likely have to wait until they give a surprise announcement for 4.5 or 5th ed.

Agreed, the "death" of the magazines hurt me a lot.
hence my subscription to Kobold quarterly by Wolfgang Baur, Paizo's Game Mastery and Pathfinder... YEAH. I LOVE PATHFINDER!
Am I going to quit d&d because someone insists that we need to stop killing trees and we should just start playing "evercrack", "w.o.t?", or "DDO" online with a limited rule set? broken code and LeWt-PhArMeRz my answer is NO! Screw trees! I mean it. I want my magazines.

ultimately when it comes to 4th ed- toss my collection, and re-buy a new set because shareholders want more money?

HECK NO!

lemme see, will 4th ed be good.... maybe.
my problem is that my 3.5 collection with a value over 10k-
is obsolete. it's obsolete NOW. I don't play 2ed anymore, nor does anyone else I know. So 3.0, 3.5 = garbage can fodder?

"keep playing they say, but Keep buying is what they mean".
nope. I can't. $40 a book isn't worth it when I have to throw it all away for a new rule set SIX MONTHS FROM NOW.
I don't buy computers every year, try once every four/five. but my last D&D purchase was expedition to greyhawk, this month. and it is already obsolete. it's dead. I wasted that money. my character may as well have been a 15 point human commoner.
anybody get my drift?

so that is my problem.

EVERYTHING WE BUY SINCE 4TH ED WAS ANNOUNCED, IS NOW OBSOLETE...
and it isn't out yet

how's that grab ya?

there will be an issue of cost.
my library is the full forgotten realms line, full core line, full support line, with lots of d20-ogl books...
all in all, over the years since 2000, I have spent $10,000 cash.

Now, none of those books are gonna be valid. all of that will be a waste.
I just get back from iraq to do some serious gaming, and my players tell me not to buy anything else... because it is ALREADY obsolete.

and they are right. I went to the website and watched the presentation video. "please, keep playing" they said. I will. But I won't be buying anytime soon. right now, I have to finish D.M.ing my own adventure module that is equal in size to two path adventure books.

I won't buy obsolete materials. let alone $40 books that I will have to throw away. (yeah I know they don't exactly cost $40, but I dont really see a difference for my gaming dollar when it is 39.99 plus tax for one book.

so here is to my last 3.5 character. A human "lurk" till 4th level, turn shadow mind till 7th, turn shadow dancer at 8th and 9th...
huh?
because "all of a sudden" one extra power point and one extra lurk power of psionic darkvision doesn't compute when compared to:
Darkvision (free, always on), evasion, hide in plain sight (affects everyone at once for free!), and Uncanny dodge. it's like, lame psion who is only a scout, suddenly turns into an assasin of worth.

the big problem I have with 4th eddition...

is 2nd ed "kitts". the brown books. you may be asking yourself, what is he talkin' about? A kitt was a way to mod your 2ed character similar to a 3e template, otherwise the classes where utterly inflexible save for dm fiat.
Every character of the same class was exactly the same...
fighter... 18(00) str. nuf sed.

the problem I foresee?

You have some 300 weapons to write fighting styles, feat combos, race bonuses, magical/clockwork/alchemical enhancements and more for...

sooner or later, somebody is gonna say, "this one is exactly the same as that! that sucks!" and they will be right...
Sooner or later, in play, somebody is gonna want to do something the designers could not have envisioned (not swinging a scimitar upright, but reverse grip, a defensive "wing" style ala last legion), but the rules might not allow for it. somebody is gonna say, "that sucks" and they will be right...

considering the number of fights over agincourt, fairy invisibility, the validity of chain shirts as armor, and so on- Somebody will want something the game doesn't offer... yet.
off topic.

So, why does a fighter have less skill points than the barbarian, than the ranger... I don't buy the old excuses. spellcasting should have a price tag attached. if you have to spend time mastering it, then a non magoical character should have more skills for the real world...

sorry for the crazy rant.

what I mean is: that every character race, and every character class will have "scaling features" from what I have read.
a level 1 dwarf has a +x bonus verus blah, and this is going to change as the dwarf advances- as an example.

if the martial stuff from ToB-9s crosses over, you'll be looking at 15th level fighters doing things like 15d8 with a "queen's longsword bondock saint deadly thrust ki sandwich slice of dispairing doom and devastation because the designer thought it would be cool to have an attack named after this thing he saw in a movie-video game"....

Not all bad. I mean, doesn't anyone see a problem with a shrunk fighter doing 1d4 damage with his greatsword, but rogues still deal +Xd6 sneak attack no matter their size, or that magic spells do not scale (range, area, dice size) with size?

I hope some of these inconsistencies get fixed.

there will be 30 levels, not 36... heh.

What 4 e seems to be about is giving all the player's something "cool".
what do I mean?
complete scoundrel- skill tricks. (*make +12 skill ranks cool)
tome of battle: book of nine swords (*plus other weapons and fighting styles)

these two books appear to be transformed into the "new core" material.
why? magic.

no not the card game, well not the card game directly...
Magic spells are absolute, they do what they say and say what they do.
period. when a wizard/sorcerer/arcane-double-dipper-not-unbalanced Prc reaches level twenty and casts spells as a 15th level sorcerer, and a 15th level WwizZAdDDD Does the fighter/weaponmaster of the adamantine falchion still mater? even if his weapon some how deals 4d4+ Strength bonus, Plus class and feat bonuses, (*plus magic- because without enchanted items all non casting classes are monster food that got lucky so far) even if he gets criticals all day long...

Is the fighter worth it? are you playing the henchman role of "stuff carrier"...
if the rogue was anything other than a handy doorman? could it be more fun?

really, you reach 10th level and monsters start doing things like breath weapons and magic at will...
meanwhile your guy with a "deadly poke" is still doing 1d6...

So now we look at this tome of battle, I love the book. I really missed manuevers, passes, and fighting styles- I was searching for that 2e issue for the longest time to add some juice to non magic classes.

***MEANWHILE*** more and more classes and prestige classes began to appear allowing players to cast spells in armor or vainly attempting to replace the rogue. hehe hehe.

that's what fourth ed is all about from my reading:
Not giving everyone magic, no. It's giving everyone something cool that only they can do. and when they do it. it is done. period.

Who wants to bet that the new knight class will have crazy shield options or martial manuevers with shields- I hope so!

As much as I want the game to improve and grow...
I do have to say this sucks. I have close to 10K wrapped up in my collection of D&D stuff since 2000. I am not going to buy anything else.
It is over for me... for now.

they killed dungeon, they killed dragon, and they *EXPECT* everyone to have a $3,000 dollar book collection and a $3300 dollar laptop with internet... I do not know if the D20/ogl will still exist next year.

You know whaT I say?

they are killing the game with a hostile corprate money making scheme.

To: store gurus, ninja and assorted samurai!
question: I need to change my mailing address for all my remaining items on order, preorder, etc. for all my current orders...
How can I do that?

psiandco@hotmail.com

drop me a line, eh?

Okay,

I just love using the gamemastery map packs, so it wouldn't hurt to
include a list of "tiles" used to map out a scene...

alternately, I will need full scale maps for the mini's.
*******************************************************
why?

anybody try to make maps for the "forge of furry" adventure?
it's a nightmare, it's so huge. I just hope that adventures
that feature little map diagrams in their pages also start including

FULL SCALE MAPS- or I will owe dwarven forge/crystal castle a few mints...

Hello all.
I just need to say that something is missing from the map sets.
I just need a set that features a / reason why
dry creek bed / survivalist "roads to town"
Stand of trees with shrubery/ wood elf scouts attack
slope of a grassy hill / outside a "halfling village"
sandy area with clumps of grass / "shore landings" or "quicksand"
Muddy field/ "plowed farmland" "wild surge- rock to mud spell"
collosal dragon foot print/ "why the heck not?" and "here lies 'bob the flat'"
Statue garden/ "medusa lair" "noble estate" "sanctified graveyard"

so when is the "underdark passages", "underdark hazards", and
"underdark chambers" coming out?

could someone please, produce maps for "forge of furry"
it is a real monster to do with all my tile sets!

PLEASE!

psyrus wrote:

I am a head case, er- PSIONICS PLAYER! I just want to know if psionics is given a fair shake in "Pathfinder".

********************************************************

Do you mean "Are there going to be psionics in Pathfinder?" If so, then I think you're going to be disappointed. I don't know for sure (since I don't actually work on the Pathfinder team, but I seem to recall James saying there'd be no psionic support there. That's not to say you can't add it in, of course, but don't expect to read about dorjes and psicrystals.

I'm still holding out hope, however, for us to run a 32-page adventure that features psionics. It's a long shot, of course, but I like to dream big. :D

psyrus wrote:

Sounds like a crazy idea but: what if the battle dancer class (*Dragon compendium) could be tweaked to have "spining frenzy" alternative barbarian rage feature (unearthed arcana?) or to "Ki channel" hand to hand damage dice through melee weapons... or, become a new kind of "martial adept" (*tome of battle: book of nine swords) with stances and maneuvers.

All of those options sound plausible to me. :)

I also look forward to it. When they do open up the submitions for path finder I will happly toss in a psionic adventure series for free- my big bonus would be getting published in pathfinder!

plus an article on the "variant Battle dancers"...

Saern wrote:

theacemu wrote:

Ticks.

Careful. The same could be said of humans.

Now this is where druids and I disagree.

humans are a part of nature, everything and anything in the MM can take a bite and pretty much wants to. I was even bit by a rude unicorn once!

technology isn't a valid excuse to rule humans as being outside the natural order, as other animals and insects communicate from one generation to the next and use tools.

Suck it, druid types!

my rant for today?

lets look at armor in the D&d game.

a chain shirt gives you a +4 armor bonus,
a chirana thingy goes over that to increase it to +5,
dastanna can be worn rasing the ac to +6

and then you can still get a shield!

one player who generated a samurai character for a 4th level adventure had the above items in the masterwork quality... totaling maybe 820 gold pieces, from his homeland. sure he was exiled to a distant land by a magical curse and the player is very good. what is my problem?

meanwhile, a suit of elven chain mail, frigin' mithril, is 4,000+ gold- covers the whole body- yet isn't as good as the above masterwork items.
chain shirt, chiranna, dastana, INDEED!
ARGH!

NSpicer wrote:

If there was a way for Pathfinder to devote a handful of pages (say 2-4?) for a more "serious" comic that shows the iconics actually going through some part of the adventure itself, that might be neat. It would provide for even more artwork showcasing a particular encounter...or even to act as filler scenes for what happens to the iconics in between each adventure.

We could... but that'd probably cost so much that there'd be no art in the rest of the book.

Comics are Horror-Expensive to do.

hmm... so, who did you ask?

there are a whole lot of artists out there and I am sure that if you could get one a contract. a few pages to "hook" readers isn't a whole comic book and should be easier to do...

how about asking the good folks of "insert comic book company name here" to consider the option. could you imagine getting "joe mad"(*battle chasers) or pat lee, or cold fuzion studios, or dream works productions or antarctic press comics "fred perry", "dave hutchinson", "Rod espinoza"...

anybody ask them "UDON" folks?

My big interests are:

a. advertisment purchasing. what would it cost in dollars to get a full page ad color, in the moths of October and November?

b. I am a head case, er- PSIONICS PLAYER! I just want to know if psionics is given a fair shake in "Pathfinder". as a side note, I greatly enjoyed the savage tide series, one player role played his human "warblade" (*tome of battle: book of nine swords) as an alternative swashbuckler...

who occasionally screamed, " I am indio montigo, you have" insert the insult to him, "PREPARE TO DIE!"

Sounds like a crazy idea but: what if the battle dancer class (*Dragon compendium) could be tweaked to have "spining frenzy" alternative barbarian rage feature (unearthed arcana?) or to "Ki channel" hand to hand damage dice through melee weapons... or, become a new kind of "martial adept" (*tome of battle: book of nine swords) with stances and maneuvers.

see, "head case" does fit.

What part of Pathfinder do you want to know more about?

And should this be a multiple-choice poll?

Can I purchase advertising with pathfinder?

Oh, yes. I am a psionics player. how does pathfinder adress psionics?

Okay,

The magazines are dead. So, can I look forward to purchasing advertising with pathfinder? what would it cost to say get a full page color, in october and november?