Are guns still as expensive as they are in Pathfinder?
GM mentioned guns were Commonplace.
UC wrote:
Commonplace Guns: While still expensive and tricky to wield, early firearms are readily available. Instead of requiring the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat, all firearms are martial weapons. Early firearms and their ammunition cost 25% of the amounts listed in this book, but advanced firearms and their ammunition are still rare and cost the full price to purchase or craft.
@That Sean fellow - Likewise! Although, as mentioned, I change my mind a lot, which brings me to...
@Aest - What of the Occultist? It's pretty much a weak Wizard, with some of the flash and flare remaining in their spell list, but is (obviously) Occult. I'd really like to take myself out of my comfort zone for this submission, and that's one whacked-out sounding class.
But, I feel as though it fits the theme. That era was the heyday of the Ceremonial Magicians, and while my consideration of a Panoply Savant with the Mage's Paraphernalia panoply screams "arcane caster," it's also, in my eyes, the perfect fit for the likes of an Aleister Crowley or an S.L. MacGregor Mathers.
My problem with that is that it would literally take everything that makes my character special away. Which is the Rogue Makeshift Scrapper. So it's not a problem if the GM wants to do that but then I would like to change my character. Hope that makes sense. Which is fine, I have a couple of ideas I can use for this game. But will see what GM Aest thinks and what other suggestions come up.
FYI I almost always make my characaters dip one level into Brawler, it's one of my favourite classes along with the vigilante.
Oh right on; as I mentioned, I'm not personally vested in the idea, it was just more of a randomly-occurring thought than something I'd actually want clarified pre-creation.
Would you guys like to discuss weapons and how to balance around not having greatsword/greataxe/bulky medieval-esque weapons? I'm open to suggestions, but also okay with just not using them.
Personally I was probably going to roll up a Brawler anyway, but I tend to change my character 3-4 times during the process of creation, and that idea got stuck.
On that note I'm okay with not using the big weapons, but I also had an idea to rectify it:
Give Fighters/Barbs/big martial bullies some version of Catch Off-Guard for free, sans the flat-footed attribute of the feat. They might not be wielding a hammer and shield, but a hefty table leg and a metal lunch tray could have the same effect. Then they aren't limited by what'd actually "be around" but still be able to use the primary features of their class without relegating themselves to what's effectively (considering the common Str/Con builds) a sub-par weapon (not even sub-optimal, because at this point taking the THW's from the big folks probably thirds, if not halves, their DPR).
Along the same veins as removing arcane magic and heavy armors for period validity, what're you doing with the vast majority of martial weapons?
Bows, xbows, guns, daggers, and some small/disguised swords (like the sword cane or rapier) are probably appropriate, but a good number of the staple set of fantasy weapons weren't even really used in real life at all, let alone by the time of Victorian England.
If I were trying for Fighter, say; sure, it's probably a less-useful class in this type of scenario, but it'd still make a nice meat sack tank, but I also can't see him carrying around an Earth Breaker, or a Greatsword, especially in a sanitarium.
Also throwing in a dot here, with great interest. Life pulled me out of table tops altogether for the horror stuff, and, as a long-time Lovecraft fan, would love a chance to see it in action!
There is some fine competition here, and some even finer pitches, but I'll toss my hat into the ring anyway.
About Me:
I started tabletops in back in 2001 with D&D 3rd; of course, that was junior high, so the adventures were silly and so were we. I'd like to say it got a bit more serious in high school and 3.5, but it didn't; the options back then could get humorously broken, and of course we did, or tried anyway.
Seriously, I started in college, with Pathfinder, with a regular group of about seven of us meeting once or twice weekly; two brothers were the regular GMs, but I had my turn a few times, especially for quick shots or "hey what if x characters from y campaign had done z thing instead" scenarios. During the same time I also had an IRC gaming group, and we continued on until about two years ago; had a few games on Roll20 as well, but those never seemed to pan out for long.
As far as PbP, I got started here around a year and a half ago, got a few months in, and had an unfortunate series of family events that pulled me off of here until just a couple of weeks ago. I look highly unreliable, and I understand that.
However, feel free to check out Grunyn for some examples of my style, particularly his earliest, and then most recent posts.
I've obviously chosen to highlight my best, but with a 1-on-1, there's time for the best, and the expansive narrative posts are necessary, rather than tedious and distracting (when with a larger number of people, as it can sometimes come across).
Pitches:
To say that I wouldn't have a preference for a game would be a lie, but there is also an abundance of APs and other pre-built products that I've yet to experience, and any of them would certainly make for a great time. However, there are a few particular species of game I'd most enjoy.
If you'll note the Grunyn character again, I really enjoy bookkeeping; I'm especially salty that I'm behind with his inventory, thanks to the near-week of terrible site service (happens, I know, but still! xD). I love hard, gritty games, where I need to know how many barrels of oats it's going to take to feed my horses, and the barrels of water, so we probably need an extra wagon, which means more water and food...you get the idea. Don't ask me why; I'm not an accountant, but perhaps I should have been.
So along those lines, something like "Pathfinder: Oregon Trail," where we would trek across Casmaron, or detailed parts of your world (I'm open to any location really, it's just the quest I'm after). I'm also a fan of the kingdom-building campaigns, though not Kingmaker itself, as I've ran that a fair number of times now.
I have not, however, tried much along the horror lines, and haven't even looked at the material (aside from random bits of equipment and such) from the Horrors set. A game like that would likely challenge me more than I'm accustomed to, and break me out of my comfort zone: something a great game always does.
Taking all that, for you, I'm all in. I have no unique world, at least not anywhere accessible, so I'd limit to Golarion; I'd prefer not to run a game in your personal world, however, as I'd certainly not have the same ideas for it as you, and that's hardly conducive to a good time. I'm more than willing to run any published work, but I do have two ideas for you I'd be able to ad-hoc together fairly readily.
The first would best be described as a psychological thriller; you'd begin in a classic fantasy horror setting, slowing morphing into the surreal, and climaxing with a variety of radical changes that'll leave both your character and you confused. I do promise an absolutely cohesive story, with no outright ridiculousness, but it would require a fair amount of sportsmanship and faith.
I'm not entirely certain of the second idea; it would require an even greater deal of communication and cooperation between the two of us than an average campaign, but could turn out to be really fun.
There would be four nations, or power groups, all fighting for some central thing of value; A-B-C-D, and this plan would encompass both of our campaigns together (most likely; this is a lot of work).
Nation A would be controlled by me, and my character's campaign would be in Nation B, controlled by you. Nation C would be controlled by you, and your character's campaign would be in D, controlled by me.
We would use the Kingmaker rules for progressing our nations. And while we have two character-centric campaigns going on, we also have a meta game of Diplomacy, with you and I having to negotiate as sovereigns in-game while maintaining a Risk-like atmosphere of conquest.
It's not really refined at all beyond that; we'd have to do that together. However, there already exist several rulesets for dealing as states, mass combat, sieges, nearly everything we'd need, save for our personal rules of fair balance and negotiations.
Thank you, and best of luck; to the entries and to you for your choice!
Sorry fellas, I've been slacking this weekend. My family just bought a house, and if you've ever done so, you'll know the amount of paperwork that requires.
Is there anything in particular you seem to be lacking, role-wise? I'll fill up whatever, I'm not too set on any one idea.
Just to make sure I understand: the classes you listed above are the only allowed classes? Or are you saying Core+those listed that are non-core, but for Core, the only archetypes are the above?
Alrighty folks, sign-up sheet is up. As suggested, we'll start with two evergreens; I'll run The Confirmation, and Slin can run The Wounded Wisp.
I figure we can alternate; start with those two, switch for the second, and for the final level 1, and from then on, run the same modules concurrently. I'll talk to Slin, see if he wishes to play as well; he can always apply the first sheet from running to his character if he does, and that way we're all caught up without having to drop to slow xp or any of that silliness.
Feel free to pop your names into which ever table you'd like to be at; please bear in mind that, once we're set, it would be preferable to all involved that we stay at the same tables, particularly if each group takes differing directions with their feats.
Leave the 7th/Waitlist slot open until the tables are full; if there ends up being a greater interest, we can always recruit GM Fez to run a third table. If that happens, just stick your info off to the side, and I'll set up the third bracket.
Thanks!
@ElterAgo - I'm sorry to hear that; take care of yourself!
There was a previous discussion that kind of explains it, but there is no official clarification.
I would like to think a permanent and constant ability replaces a permanent and constant ability. Honestly, however, I despise rules debates. If you want to rule that every surprise round disables "Battlefield Presence" I will just take the Defensive Strategist trait.
Thanks for looking into it :-)
Don't make any decisions just yet! I don't want to be the final say until I absolutely have to. And I do as well; I just wanted to see something like that thread you linked.
How will the tables be broken up? When would each of them begin?
I'll do up one of those sign-in sheets on Google Docs once I hear back from everyone, or a few days pass, whichever comes first. Players can pick a table, and then that's how they'll be divided from then on; we should have minimal switching once we get started, if my system holds true.
Welcome! I'm giving it another day or two before I say "we have X number of players," so everyone has time to see my PM and respond. But as it's looking, we still have room!
Quote:
The General's Plan
I'm extremely new to PFS; I'm halfway through The Confirmation on my only PC, and just started running Dawn of the Scarlet Sun for a group here. I'm not innately familiar with the unprinted errata/FAQ responses so many experienced GMs know innately how to find, and as such I'll gladly defer rulings to anyone who knows better than me.
So, if you would, can you tell me why the Pally's ability doesn't cost an action to activate once combat starts? The way I read this line:
Quote:
This ability does not function if the paladin is flat-footed or unconscious.
-is that the ability will not work until the paladin is no longer flat-footed, which means acting in combat (as even if you can go in the surprise round, until you've acted, you're still flat-footed). I understand that, once activated, it lasts until the conditions are gone, but I do not see how it can be activated before combat begins, and is simply "suppressed" until you're good to go; otherwise, it wouldn't need to cost an action to activate, as there is already the action requirement for switching feats.
Again though, none of this matters if I'm not running your table, or if the "event coordinator" (whomever that falls on) says otherwise. And again, I'm rather new, so any time I have a question about how something works, I'll readily defer to someone with a better grasp of the Organized Play standards. If I don't know, I'll always ask.
@Saiman - This is for credit, so standard PFS character generation rules apply. By "Hard Mode," I believe Elter meant that we'd likely run the highest-tier versions of the scenarios, and pick from those that have a proven record of difficulty.
Essentially, at L3 the whole party will have Paired Opportunists within 30 feet. At L4 with a standard action the party will have Outflank as well. By L9 Dissa can grant 3+ teamwork feats to the party in the surprise round.
That's my concept...
You would only be able to activate one, assuming you can act in the surprise round, as each costs a standard action to activate. Likewise, only the Brawler is a fluctuating feat, but it can only be used once per day; the other two are determinate on the bonus feat selected from the other class abilities. That's another reason why it'll be super important for the groups at each table to discuss which feats they'll be taking.
Otherwise, it's a nice idea, and definitely the model of "teamwork!"
I have some time this afternoon; let me see if I can consolidate everyone back together, and get all of this information down (which is made much easier, thanks to Jezakay!).
If we set it up where we have two main GMs (for now, lets call them EA and slin), with five only-players per table and the opposite GM, we get a set-up like this: NOTE: This is only an example; I ran straight down Jez's list.
I'm going to send everyone (including those of you posting every day, and those like slin we know are unavailable right now) a PM, asking for a return to the thread to those gone, and finding out if everyone is still interested (it's easy to lose a thread like this, so it's possible several of the people who haven't posted in a bit did just that; it happened to me). As I hear back, I'll update lists, and assuming we fill back up, will work on getting one started (or deferring to someone else to GM, as fits).
That being said, given the nature of what we're trying to do, it would be best that the PCs of each table coordinate specific feats; we have a rather general discussion going on now, and that's great, but if Player C wants to focus on Feat Line 2, then it would be best to put him at Table #1 with the others who are doing the same thing.
Counting AlterEgo and slin2678, we have twelve. That's enough for two tables of six, with each GM playing at the other's table.
I had mentioned my desire to GM as well, though after the first session, as I wanted some time to get some other things I have going established first.
However, if we are not starting until June, that's more than enough time for me.
So, Slam and Spell-Like Ability, and Fragile and Light Blindness. Heh.
For SLA, at will is a bit OP, so it'll probably only be like 3/day or something.
How do you want your mutant to look and where do you want him to hail from?
Wow, the thread really blew up yesterday!
That's totally cool on the SLA; I agree that at-will ends up being a bit much.
Honestly, I'm really fond of the mutant image you provided in the Player's Guide; he looks like some sort of half-tree, and I think that's rather cool. Light Blindness, however, suggests dark, so maybe modified a bit to be more "half-fungus," and have him hail from either a very dense swampland, or some underground cavern complex.
I'll get tuned on the mechanics and the rest of my CP buy later on today.
I'll get the Gameplay up by Sunday, and revamp the Recruitment until someone bites; we're recruiting for a band, might as well do it OOC, too! Plus, I'm afraid that if I don't start soon, everyone's going to lose interest, and I'd hate to see that.
So if you haven't already, polish up your characters. I'll get PMs sent out to everyone in the next couple of hours and pull us all back.
I don't really like it and would rather not use it. Part of that is that the way published adventures are set up, you're never going to find just parts of armor as loot so it's an extra step of complication that I don't feel adds much as return on investment. The other part is that it makes it more difficult to keep track of everything when it's all broken up like that.
Fair enough, and a valid point.
@Kolaiah - No, the idea of different bits scavenged together just fit well with my character background.
I'll get my build up sooner rather than later then; we can always swap it around after the first and you get a chance to look at it.
Also, if there are that many, I'd prefer Wounded Wisp; my single other PFS scenario is a play of Confirmation going on right now on the boards. I know it's an evergreen, but I would still much prefer to play something different, given my limited experiences.
Also, to say it in public, I'll gladly pick up and run some once we get started. I've got a couple other things getting ready to begin right now, and I'd like to get them established before taking on something else.
I'm going to have to pull Kramgar out of this one; I can't find any good reason for him to be there, or to want to help, and I'm pretty set on the character as-is now. I'll have to pop him into something more suited to his personality.
Is that written somewhere, or is it just a logical extension houserule? It makes little sense to me that one of those monkeys down in the Mwangi Expanse would speak Common, but not Polyglot; RAW though, as far as I know, unless they took Ling. that'd be the case.
What about human dialects as part of Int bonus languages? That's rarely ever mentioned, and they're never on the list; can a non-human character pick one? Not looking for anything unusual, just Hallit.
Do you have any qualms with minions? I'm torn between two concepts, one being some variety of Necromancer. The Evil fits well, but some GMs don't like a PC to have a host of minions, and this guy will definitely keep his full HD compliment of undead, and likely raise fallen foes along the way. Once he gets the spells, that is.
Is Necromancy intrinsically evil in your eyes? I'm not looking to make a specialist Wizard, but a lot of the spell selection I'm looking through is of the Necromancy school, with many having the [Evil] descriptor; Shared Sacrifice is a good example.
MM was looking at a Goldscale paladin of Apsu and taking the Sacred Shield archtype. But if LG is TOO good then I could add the grey paladin so he's more LN
Just as a personal bone with the alignment system.
A LG Kobold of a monstrous deity likely has a different worldview than a LG paladin of Sarenrae.
Consider Solku, in Katapesh. It's a bastion of Sarenrae, built as respite for weary travelers being plagued by the Gnolls that abound in the region. A Paladin of Sarenrae would consider it her duty to strike at the vile, evil creatures.
But the Gnolls view themselves as neither "vile" nor "evil," they're just doing what they need to survive in the harsh wasteland. Pick some appropriate LG deity, and make a Gnoll Paladin of it; he's going to regard the Sarenraeians, who do nothing but kill his kin and prevent their survival, with a similar level of disdain.
I know it's not my game, so really my interpretation has little place, but little things like that always bug me. I understand alignment as a mechanical device, but it functions like energy; beings with free will, even divine agents, are always going to interpret things according to their own world view. That's what separates the playable races from the "elemental alignment" races, those that are intrinsically built from the mechanically-aligned planes. Like Angels in Judeo-Christian mythology, they have no free will, being bound to the role God made for them, or in game terms the planar stuff that they're composed of/infused with.
I'm not using the fluff from that source- just some crunch to make the kobold more playable. They are humanoid (reptilian). no more shadowy than usual.
Edited without refreshing, so deleted!
What about HP? And can we use the alternate racial traits/favored class bonuses they give?
What are you using as their creature type? Humanoid(Reptilian), or some sort of Outsider? I figure we're not using anything but that entry, so maybe these Kobolds aren't actually from the Shadow Plane, but I'm not too sure.
First thing I thought of when I read that Soriel's favoured weapon was unarmed was the sacred fist archetype for warpriest.
I have a non-archetyped Warpriest of Irori I'm running; I haven't gotten far in the main campaign, but we're running a little side arena for members of the party, and I gotta say, it's quite fun. Monklike, thanks to my feat selection, but still in full plate and swinging hammers.
Alternate racial traits are fine. I feel like the right wording is obvious and I'm just stupid(...)
Not at all! I figured that's what you meant, but I use them a lot, and I just wanted to be sure; not having them available tends to change the race I pick overall.
The Kobayashi Maru: Force your party into an encounter that you have no chance of surviving, then physically alter your GM's book/papers/computer screen so it is easy to defeat.
Cool deal! I actually have a character concept I've tried to use a time or two that focuses on the manipulation of life energy; I always had to make the character neutral to be able to fit the bill, but envisioned it more as a beneficent healer.
What about the various Protection From/Magic Circle Against spells? Given that there don't seem to be any alignment-specific outsiders, I would assume they also do not exist?
On a very related note, does that mean alignment in your campaign is more a function of personality rather than a hard mechanic, and would an aligned character therefore not be restricted in casting? I'm specifically thinking about Inflict, though there are a few other [Evil] spells to which it could also apply.
Sorry, I was a bit unclear on the wealth. To answer your questions:
We're 4th level, with 4th level wealth. Initially, I wasn't sure what level we wanted to start at (and it didn't really make that much difference to me), so I left it open to 3-5. We ended up settling on 4, and I want everyone to have the proper 4th level wealth, so 6,000 GP.
It's all good. I'm not in any particular rush; we'll set reasonable post expectations and all that once we all get settled.
This is unlikely to be a day-by-day campaign; what I mean is, expect "Two Weeks Later" posts and similar, barring special events. Our concerts are the encounters, and while it may take a week to drum up a crowd, we certainly don't need to play it out.
