I'm trying to round out a part consisting of a Swashbuckler, a Fighter, a ranged Paladin, a Magus, and a Stormborn Sorcerer.
The party is really heavy on Hammers, so I figured I'd make a character that would pull double duty as both an Arm and an Anvil (probably more Anvil than Arm), but can't really decide on a class to go with.
According to the GM, spontaneous casters are forbidden (the Sorcerer was given an exception because of a very good character concept), as is the Witch, but the Shaman is open.
So this leaves the Alchemist, Arcanist, Cleric, Druid, Shaman, and Wizard that I feel could reliably fill the role of Anvil/Arm, but can't decide which class to go with that might best supplement the group.
As the title says, I'm trying to figure out how high you can possibly get a perform check (specifically Perform [Sing]), with the intent of eventually being able to easily pass the DC 30 perform checks for an extraordinary performance without anyone providing assistance on the check (ie. no Aid Another or Inspire Competence).
I'd be doing this with an NPC, so it could be entirely devoted to maxing out this skill (so it wouldn't be a detriment to the rest of the party).
I figure a starting CHA of 20 (18 plus 2 from a racial bonus), +5 through level-up bonuses and another +5 through inherent bonus books, and the +6 headband, bringing it up to 36 for a CHA mod of +13.
At first I was thinking of going Bard for this, but looking over the class, I didn't immediately see anything on it that gave me bonuses to my perform checks; I did however find the Instrument of the Divine, which counts as a masterwork instrument (so a +2 circumstance bonus) and gives a sacred/profane bonus based on my channel-energy dice, which makes me think a Cleric might do better for this.
Skill Focus (Perform [Sing]) for a +6, Magnum Opus (Completed) for a +5 and the ability to take 15 on the skill check, a trait for a +1 bonus and making it a class skill (for another +3), 20 ranks in it.
With all that thus far, it comes out to a +58 on the skill check, which comes out to at least a 74 if I "take 15" on it, up to a max of 79 if I roll a natural 20.
I feel like there should be more I could add to this to increase the check even higher, but I can't seem to think of anything else that might provide a boost to it.
A friend of mine in my gaming group came to me recently with a character idea he wanted to try for a campaign set to start in a few months; for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to effectively do it, as the concept hits a couple different areas that I don't think gel well together.
The character is supposed to be a front-line tank that uses a heavy shield and the heaviest armor possible, while also casting ice magic (presumably paired with the Rime Spell metamagic for some lockdown as well).
Right off the bat, I know this character is going to be really MAD, needing STR for at least some offense, CON for Hit Points, whatever casting stat is needed, plus maybe a bit of DEX and WIS for AC and saves. It's also going to be feat-starved, since it needs feats that improve shield bashing, the save DCs of the ice spells, and concentration checks (because front-line casting) at the very least.
The campaign will probably run till about 15th level, 3PP is not allowed but the ACG is (as it'll be out by the time the campaign starts).
The party of PCs for an upcoming campaign I'm going to be in is seriously lacking in magical talent (a melee fighter, a ranged fighter, a gunslinger, and a witch that'll be focused on battlefield control).
My first instinct upon hearing this is to go Mystic Theurge (because having access to both Wizard and Cleric spells sound very helpful in this situation) using the SLA ruling to get into it really quickly, but I've yet to find a Mystic Theurge guide that explains how best to build one.
The campaign will most-likely run the full 20 levels and I don't think I'll have problems getting access to spells for any class that needs spellbooks.
Yesterday, I was made aware of a Google Chrome extension known as KB SSL Enforcer though one of my cyber security news feeds. This add-on, in short, automatically switches you over to a website's SSL protection side (which makes you very safe while browsing that website) if that website uses it.
KB SSL Enforcer conflicts with the Paizo website. Every attempt to access the Paizo website with this extension activated generates the following error:
"You have made too many requests for the same page too quickly.
Please wait a minute before trying again."
and no amount of waiting will resolve the issue. It's still possible to access the Paizo website, but only when viewing it in Incognito Mode.
I'm trying to figure out how to create the Miraluka race for a Star Wars d20 game that will be heavily adapted to make it more friendly with the Pathfinder rule set that everyone in my gaming group is already very familiar with (Star Wars d20 looks pretty damned close to D&D 3.5, so a lot of stuff can just be done with the Pathfinder rules because it's easier).
However, creating the Miraluka race has got me stumped right now. The whole Miraluka race adapted to a world without visible light, so they don't have eyes, but they're all Force sensitive and "see" the world through the Force.
I have no idea how to quantify something like this from a "ARG race builder" perspective, since it's basically Blindsight at a range of normal vision.
For those that don't know, in the DC universe, Belle Reve Penitentiary is a special prison designed to house and contain super villains and other meta-human lawbreakers, boasting defenses strong enough to hold Superman (they know, they've checked).
As I idly thought about guilds and other such groups that can settle land, this idea kept coming to mind, and I've decided to bring it here to see what other people think about it. Is it possible to create a prison run by players specifically for housing other players?
Now, I'm not talking about serious infringement of the mechanics of the game or ToS violation going on here, because that falls under the purview of what the GMs need to handle and they can just outright ban someone than locking up one of their characters in a jail cell. But in the context of "meaningful player interaction", where players who want to be bandits can choose to be bandits and hold up roads and attack caravans and such, what about the opposite end of the spectrum? Would it be possible for lawful players to capture and imprison criminal players?
The more I thought about this, the more discouraged I got. If it was ever possible to force one player character into a cell and somehow prevent them from escaping outside of exploiting a glitch or bug, what's the point? It's all too easy to log out of a character, delete it, and make a new one. In essence, it'd be impossible to stop players wanting to be criminals, because there's no real way to reduce the criminal population. Killing the character has no real consequence for the player and as soon as they're locked up, the character gets deleted and they start all over again with a new one.
Can Lawful characters do anything to stop criminal ones besides throw more guards at them and hope?
In the not too distant future, I plan to run a campaign set in the Elder Scrolls universe during the events of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It's a big enough place to explore with lots to do, it just felt like an interesting place to set a campaign. However, I've run into a tiny snag that really shouldn't be that much of an issue, but the more I try and think about it, the more stumped I get.
In this campaign, I'm going to be altering the story just a bit so that the players don't actually become the leaders of the many different available factions like the player character can in the game itself, but I still want to reward them for their time going through the various missions and story lines for those factions (and players are only allowed to join a single faction).
The Companions, who are basically honorable mercenaries and resident Fighters Guild, award the player with the ability to become a werewolf and that's a very easy thing to replicate using the Pathfinder system. What isn't so easy to figure out is what to award players who side with the Thieve's Guild or the magical College of Winterhold (The Dark Brotherhood will probably not be a joinable faction).
Looking at what special rewards each faction gives the player, a lot of it is some very nifty gear, but just throwing more loot at the players isn't something I wanna do (although I'll relent if there's really nothing else that can be done). The most I ever got was maybe giving players who progress in the Thieve's Guild the Prowler's Profit power (maybe the ability to make easy Perception checks to find extra money or gems in a dungeon or something), but that's it, so I've come to the Pathfinder boards looking for inspiration.
I was originally pledging at the $100 level, but something came up and I no longer felt comfortable pledging at the $100 level, so I dropped my pledge to $50.
I recently came into a bit of extra cash that makes me comfortable in pledging at the $100 level, but I'm curious if that will put me back into the group of first 2000 people to get into early access the first month (since I did pledge at a time before the first 2000 was reached), or not.
This was one of those "brilliant" 4:00 am ideas, but one that I think has enough merit to start a discussion on.
It seems like discussions on how GMs can make a Paladin fall have been around since the class itself has, and while it sometimes crushes my faith in my fellow GMs, I have to admit that some people make incredibly elaborate plots to make some Paladin characters fall (for whatever reason). However, Paladins are easy to make fall (harder depending on how well the player controlling the Paladin plays), because it's not that hard to set up some no-win situation where the Paladin directly or indirectly performs an evil action (or at least an action that the GM considers evil enough for a fall). But what about the other way around?
So as the thread title suggest, I've got a challenge for you all:
For whatever reason, your party's roster is now the home of an unabashedly chaotic evil Anti-Paladin. For whatever reason, you as a GM have decided that the Anti-Paladin needs to fall.
One of the players in my gaming group is working on a race that's supposed to be very good with heavy arms/armor but are weak to magic and can't cast it in any way (using magic items and supernatural abilities aside).
In order to emphasize this, he came up with two custom race features, but before I okay anything, I wanted to get some more opinions on this.
Armor Training: The Armor Check penalty for all armor is reduced by -3 and the armor counts as one category lighter for all purposes except proficiency. (6 RP)
Magic Vulnerability: Take a -2 penalty to all saves against spells, and another 50% damage from spells. (-6 RP)
First and foremost, I think 6 RP is a bit low for what basically amounts to getting half the benefits of Mithral without actually using Mithral, but I'm REALLY not sure how I feel about taking a -2 penalty to all saving throws against spells on top of suffering 50% more damage from spells, too.
Pathfinder Society - Pass the time until Pathfinder Online's release in the massively multiplayer OFFLINE Pathfinder Society Organized Play worldwide tabletop RPG campaign! You'll receive a special in-campaign chronicle sheet PDF detailing an unusual one-use magic item called the emerald elixir, stolen from a bizarre pool in the Emerald Spire Superdungeon. When used at an official Pathfinder Society game table, drinking the elixir grants your hero the advanced simple template for the duration of the scenario. Alternately, the elixir can be spiked with experimental agents to trigger a beneficial permanent mutation randomly determined on a huge chart included on the certificate. If more than one player activates an emerald elixir at the same table, all drinkers can choose their preferred mutation from the list rather than roll randomly.
I'll admit that I'm currently not a PFS player, though I would like to one day, and I'm wondering if this reward is available for people at a higher donation level than $5 (I'm currently pledged at the $100 level).
Assume one character has full BAB, so four attacks in a full-attack action. While he is holding a weapon in each hand, the first two attacks are made with the weapon in his main hand and the second two attacks are made with the weapon in his off-hand.
Is this still considered TWF, and thus would take the penalties of dual-wielding, even though he's not actually making multiple attacks per iterative attack in a full-attack action?
To go a bit into specifics, I'm looking at a Gunslinger build where, during a full attack action, he makes the +20 and +15 attacks with a one-handed weapon and the +10 and +5 attacks with a ranged weapon, rather than the +16/+16/+11/+11/etc/etc that you normally have when two-weapon fighting.
The idea for this build isn't to try and hit as many times as possible through traditional TWF (which is also very difficult due to needing to reload and such), but as reliably as possible, using a melee weapon at the two higher BAB (as they have to hit the enemy's full AC) and a firearm at the two lower BAB (as they have to hit only the enemy's touch AC), while also going through ammunition slower and needing to reload less often.
Hadn't really found a thread like this with the search function, so I thought I'd make a new thread on it.
I've got a Wizard character that has a Familiar and the Familiar is VERY important to the character, to the point where the presence of the familiar is the only thing keeping him Neutral Good (long story short, the familiar came to him after his whole adventuring group was killed horribly in a really bad dungeon trip).
I've toyed with the idea of using Improved Familiar to get some extra millage out of the Familiar, but with how dependent the character is on the presence of the Familiar, I can't come up with any possible reason he'd replace it with a better Familiar. My GM also does not subscribe to the idea that a Familiar could "evolve" into an Improved Familiar like I typically subscribe to.
Is there a way I can improve my base Fox familiar without replacing him? At least, I'm looking for a way to permanently increase its survivability. Giving it some other powers would be nice but not necessary.
This is something that's been on my mind since the release of the Advanced Race Guide, mostly stewing in the back of my mind until recently, and doing a quick search of the Paizo forums hasn't really revealed anything that might help answer this question:
How exactly is a GM and his/her group supposed to deal with the death of a player laying a construct or half-construct character?
The rules specifically state that a construct and half-construct character cannot be resurrected, and for a construct that makes sense. They're all machine, so there isn't a soul that can be pulled back from the afterlife and put back into the body, but what about half-constructs? Why can't someone who's only partially mechanical be resurrected?
And outside of the reasoning, what am I as a GM supposed to do to a player if their construct/half-construct player character ends up dying? Is my only option just to tell them "tough luck, roll a new character"? Is there any chance Paizo could release in some supplement a way to bring back a fallen construct/half-construct PC?
[EDIT] Also, I wasn't sure if this was best posted here or in General Discussion, so if it needs moving, feel free.
The recently released Artifacts & Legends book contains the major relic: Saint Cuthbert's Mace, an artifact dating back all the way to the beginning of D&D and now introduced into Pathfinder.
However, while the mace itself isn't really all that spectacular (in fact, you could probably recreate it using the normal rules for magic item creation, save for the dimension traveling part, probably), what REALLY got me interested in the relic was the different events associated with it's use. A couple that I find particularly interesting are:
• Appeared under the bed of the shepherd Pol, who carried
it into battle to dethrone the King of Many Crowns.
• Dug up by Horner, the dog of Prince Anlost, who resisted the legions of the Archdevil Moloch, delaying his world’s conquest by diabolical armies by 3 centuries.
• Employed by the child hero Ouphineil to destroy the Salvation Machine.
• Served as a replacement for the Nightlock, barring the way of the choker hordes of the Undermaw for 4 months while the original ward could be repaired.
• Flung by Quinizhal Zhihita to shatter the teeth of the giant protean Zolo of Hungry Shapes when he nearly consumed the Elysian realm of Silvermists.
I'd totally love to hear the whole story behind Ouphineil and whatever the hell the Salvation Machine is, and you can't deny that a dog using the mace to fend off a diabolical army for three centuries isn't completely awesome. Is there any chance we could get some more information about these really amazing events or is hoping for more info just a pipe dream?
After a long... long... oh-so-very long time working on this, I've finally finished a long-standing project of mine to completely update the Runemaster class from the World of Warcraft Tabletop Role Playing Game (pg 10 of the More Magic & Mayhem book).
I've broken the whole thing up into 5 different chapters, each touching on a different part of the inner workings of the class to best present it to new players. It's a doozey, though, coming it at a grand total of 32 pages for all of it. However, I had a blast converting this class and updating it to what I believe are balanced Pathfinder standards and I hope you enjoy it as well.
As always, feel free to give any critiques and if you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them. Enjoy!
Chapter 1 - The Runemaster: This section outlines the base class, detailing it's mechanical workings and class features.
Chapter 2 - Runic Arts: This section gives an in-depth explanation of how runic magic works.
Chapter 3 - Runic Patterns: This section outlines the different runic patterns that the Runemaster can learn runes from.
Chapter 4 - Rune Feats: This section presents a small collection of general feats that apply to runes and "Metarunic" feats to give your runes more power.
Chapter 5 - Runes: This section catalogs a complete list of all the runes within each runic pattern (a grand total of 77!) that the Runemaster can learn.
As a quick heads up, please excuse any spelling mistakes you find. I've tried to make as few as possible, but my wonderful proofreader has already found a few and I am correcting them as they are found. The PDFs will be updated to reflect the better spelling changes, but none of the content will change, so you're not missing anything.
My friend and I are in disagreement over how the rules work, yet we can't seem to find anything to accurately answer the question.
Let's say I have a 1st level Wizard, which has a default of 1 first-level spell per day. Let's also say that the Wizard has an 18 in INT, which grants him one bonus 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th level spell slot.
My friend says that it's within the rules to prepare 1st level spells using those bonus 2nd, 3rd, and 4th level spell slots.
I say that I can't, because I can't cast 2nd, 3rd, or 4th level spells yet and don't have access to those bonus spell slots yet.
While looking over some Rogue archetypes that might be interesting to play as, I had an idea for the Swashbuckler Rogue, but I'm not fully sure if it's a legal move.
The Swashbuckler's Martial Training ability reads: At 1st level, the swashbuckler may select one martial weapon to add to her list of weapon proficiencies.
Well, shields can be used as Martial Weapons, so if you pick shields as your one "Martial Weapon", does that basically give you proficiency with that type of shield as if you had the Shield Proficiency feat?
Admittedly, this character is more proof-of-concept at the moment, but I am planning on using him for a future campaign, should the opportunity arise.
As stated in the thread title, I'm currently looking at a Ranger character with the Shapechanger and Skrimisher archetypes (though Skrimisher isn't looking so fun anymore with the loss of something like Strong Jaw. Using a 25-point buy, his stats are currently sitting at STR18/DEX14/CON13/INT10/WIS12/CHA10 (Human floating stat in STR, WIS bonus and CHA penalty from lycanthrope template) and when transformed, his stats become STR20/DEX14/CON15/INT10/WIS12/CHA10 (which, admittedly, would probably be always).
Because of the lycanthrope template on the character from the start, I automatically qualify for the Aspect of the Beast feat, which I pick up with either my normal 1st level feat slot or the Human's racial bonus feat (it really doesn't matter). He would obviously be using the Natural Weapon combat style, and I can spend those Combat Style Feat slots on Improved Natural Attack and Weapon Focus (but that's 4 feats max if I apply both feats to the character's claws and bite attack, which still leaves one combat style feat slot unused).
As for normal feats, since this character would be a physical attacker, I'm thinking Power Attack, Improved Initiative, Iron Will (to make up for the lower Will save), and Combat Reflexes.
But beyond that, I'm kinda stuck. I'm not sure what other kinds of feats I can grab that would benefit a user of natural attacks. Thoughts?
I was recently looking over the Ranger class, trying to come up with ideas for a character idea for a future campaign, when I ran into an confusing situation that I'm not really sure how best to resolve.
The Guide archetype for the Ranger class replaces an ability called Hunter's Bond (which gives the Ranger's Favored Enemy bonus to the Ranger's allies or gives it an animal companion) with an ability called Terrain Bond (which gives the Ranger's allies bonuses within the Ranger's favored terrains).
However, what do you do if you want to use the Guide archetype, but you are also using another archetype that replaces Favored Terrain, since Terrain Bond does nothing without a Favored Terrain?
For a second, I thought that, maybe, a GM could rule that Terrain Bond just doesn't get replaced and you retain Hunter's Bond, but one part of Hunter's Bond depends on Favored Enemy, which the Guide archetype replaces with an ability called Ranger's Focus! So you'd be stuck with just an Animal Companion, which I know isn't a load, but not everyone wants an Animal Companion.
Is there a way to resolve this situation, because if there isn't, 4th level can potentially be a dead level (if you also have an archetype that replaces spell casting).
PS. As a point of reference, the character idea I was working with was a Guide/Skrimisher/Shapeshifer Ranger for a werewolf character.
Not sure if this should be posted here, but I felt it was the best place.
I've been interested in signing up for one of the Pathfinder Ongoing Subscriptions for a while, and after recently coming into some money, I started seriously considering signing up for one.
However, I was wondering if there was a way to cancel an ongoing subscription sometime down the line if, for instance, my priorities shifted and finding new employment was more important than getting Pathfinder books. I looked at the page for the different Ongoing subscriptions and, unless I'm just looking in the wrong place, I haven't seen anything that says you can cancel one after it's started.
I'm a little confused on exactly when Oracles get the bonus spells from their Mystery IF you choose to multiclass.
I currently have a Life Oracle that's going to take levels in the Holy Vindicator Prestige Class come 8th level and I wanna know how this will affect me obtaining the Oracle's Bonus Spells.
According to the text beneath the Mystery section, it just says "At 2nd level, and every two levels thereafter", but I don't know if that means every 2 character levels, every two Caster levels, or every two Oracle levels.
In one of the campaigns I'm in, the "main healer" of the group is looking to get this feat due to how much healing he normally does in a session (the campaign is homebrew and healing in combat has become a necessity due to the kinds of enemies we face).
Here's the text exactly as written.
The magic of life flows through your body like a river.
Prerequisites: Cure a cumulative total of 1,000 points of damage for other creatures using healing spells. Dealing damage slows progress toward this goal achievement; for every 1 point of damage you deal to another creature, reduce your cumulative healing total by 2.
Benefit: When you cast a healing spell to heal a target other than yourself, the spell is maximized as though using the Maximize Spell effect. This does not increase your casting time for the spell. When you cast a healing spell to damage a target, the spell is not maximized but its saving throw DC increases by +4.
Note: There may be an opposite version of this feat allowing casters using negative energy to heal undead.
Here's my question: The text says that it doesn't increase the casting time of the spell, but it doesn't say if it still increases the level of spell that must be spent to cast it... but at the same time, Maximize Spell doesn't increase the casting time of spells at all, it only increases the spell level.
How do I use this feat? Are all of my healing spells now forcibly 3 spell levels higher than normal if I try to heal someone else? If so, what's the point of this feat if I can just grab Maximize Spell and get the same effect and choose which spells it effects?
I've had this sitting in my folder for WIP custom content for Pathfinder for a while, not really sure what to do with it, but not quite fully satisfied with it being the final version, so I decided to toss this out here to see if there's anything the Pathfinder Community could find that maybe I missed.
Dark Knight - Introduction
Spoiler:
“As I bear this darkness into battle, my suffering becomes my strength.”
- Leon Z. Gaffgarion
“If Light is the absence of Darkness, and in turn, Darkness is the absence of Light, what is the Light without the Darkness and the Darkness without the Light? This is a fundamental nature of the world as much as Life and Death. Mortal creatures, and even some beyond mortality gravitate towards the Light; why wouldn’t they? The Light breaths warmth, safety, and security, and from these things the Light has been come to be called “good”. The Darkness, on the other hand, is a place of peace and solitude and even its own breed of security, offering secrecy among its void. However, just as the Light has been called “good”, the darkness has come to be considered its opposite, as the forces of evil have exploited and tainted what the Darkness exists to be. The Darkness is part of the natural world and not something to be feared. It’s those that lurk in the Darkness that are to be feared, and as the chosen champions of the darkness, we strive to purify it of evil’s presence.”
- Arthur C. Harvey, instructing new Dark Knights
Dark Knights are firm believers in the concept that the “darkness” of the universe isn’t something to be feared or shunned, but something to be embraced as much as the “light” of the universe. However, while most see this argument as something wholly philosophical, Dark Knights have given a more tangible side to the argument, possessing the unique ability to wield darkness in its most basic form in a means similar to how Wizards and Sorcerers turn the Arcane into magic. However, the physical strain of wielding such a pure cosmic force is not to be taken lightly, and Dark Knights are chosen from the ranks of mortals not just by their similar beliefs, but by their ability to withstand the strain of wielding the Darkness.
Abilities: Constitution is the Dark Knight’s most important stat, increasing the amount of HP they have, which increases how much HP they can spend empowering their abilities without endangering their own existences. Strength is beneficial to improving their melee damage, which Dark Knights primarily rely on, especially when spending HP becomes too risky. Dexterity is marginally supportive for improving initiative and DEX-based skills, while Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma only provide bonuses to their appropriate skills.
Races: Any race is able to become a Dark Knight, provided they endure the trial necessary to become one.
Alignment: Any
Hit Dice: d12
Requirements
To qualify to become a Dark Knight, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Feats: Endurance, Diehard, Fast Healer
Special: To become a Dark Knight, a senior Dark Knight must perform a 24 hour long ritual wherein the recipient is saturated in the darkness that empowers all Dark Knights. After the full 24 hours have passed, the recipient must succeed a DC 20 Fortitude save or be stricken with one negative level that lasts for 24 hours, after which the recipient can attempt the ritual again.
Dark Knight - Class Features
Spoiler:
Level Progression: 10 levels
Base Attack Bonus: Full
Good Saving Throws: Fortitude
Poor Saving Throws: Reflex and Will
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Dark Knight gains no proficiency with any weapons or armor.
Darkness Powers: The pure darkness residing inside each Dark Knight can be molded and shaped in a variety of ways to suit their needs. Many Darkness Powers require the Dark Knight to pay an amount of Hit Points to use and generally get stronger or harder to resist as more Hit Points are paid while others allow them to recover spent Hit Points by stealing the life from their enemies. Dark Knights gain one Darkness Power at 1st level and one additional Darkness Power every level until 9th level. No Darkness Power can be obtained more than once.
Outflow of the Darkness (Su): The vast well of darkness inside the Dark Knight swells to the brink with energy, greatly empowering the Dark Knight beyond what others are capable of. With enough focus, the Dark Knight can condense this darkness into a single all-consuming blast. At 10th level as a full-round action, the Dark Knight can sacrifice 100 to 200 hit points (in increments of 10) to fire a blast of darkness at a single creature up to 60ft away. The designated target must make a successful Fortitude Save (DC10 + ½ character level + constitution modifier) or suffer instant death. If the target succeeds, the target suffers 1d10 points of damage for every 10 hit points spent over 100. Outflow of the Darkness cannot be used again on that target for 24 hours.
Dark Knight - Darkness Powers
Spoiler:
Blood Weapon (Su) – When a Dark Knight confirms a critical hit, they recover an amount of hit points equal to their damage roll before applying the critical hit multiplier. Any recovered hit points that exceeds the Dark Knight’s max hit points is granted as temporary hit points that last for 10 minutes. This ability still activates to recover HP even if the target is immune to the bonus damage from critical hits.
Bolt Darkness (Su) – As a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity, the Dark Knight may fire a barrage of dark energy bolts at an opponent within 60ft for 1d6 + the constitution modifier as damage. The Dark Knight must pay 10 hit points to use this ability and can fire an additional Dark Missile for 10 more hit points, up to a maximum of 5 Dark Missiles. The target of this ability can attempt a Reflex Save (DC10 + ½ character level + constitution modifier) to negate the damage for each individual missile.
Dark Seal (Su) – Once per day as a swift action, the Dark Knight can mark a single opponent with a black, smoking sigil that persists for 24 hours and cannot be removed by an outside source. The Dark Knight gains a circumstance bonus to all attack and damage roles against the target of Dark Seal equal to half the user’s Dark Knight level (minimum +1). In addition, the DC to make any saves from Dark Powers increases from ½ the user’s character level to the user’s full character level. This ability can be used twice per day at 5th Dark Knight level and three times per day at 10th Dark Knight level.
Diabolic Eye (Su) – As a full-round action, the Dark Knight may make an Intimidate check against a single opponent within 30ft and add his full character level as an enhancement bonus to that check. If the check is successful, the target of this ability is paralyzed. At the beginning of his next turn, the Dark Knight may make an additional Intimidate check as a full-round-action to prolong the effect, but the Dark Knight suffers a -2 penalty to these checks for each round after the first. If the target of this effect has more hit dice than the Dark Knight, the penalty increases to -5 for each successive attempt. If the target or the Dark Knight is the target of any successful attack or harmful spell cast, the effect ends immediately. Once the effect ends, the Dark Knight cannot designate the same target for Diabolic Eye for 24 hours. This does not affect targets immune to fear.
Drain (Su) – As a standard action, the Dark Knight may deal damage equal to their character level plus constitution modifier to a single opponent within 30ft to recover HP equal to twice the damage dealt. This ability can be used a number of times per day equal to half the player’s Dark Knight class level (minimum of 1/day and up to 5/day at 10th level). Any recovered HP that exceeds the Dark Knight’s maximum hit points is granted as temporary hit points. Drain cannot reduce an opponent to lower than 1 HP, but the amount of HP recovered remains the same. A Fortitude Save (DC 10 + ½ character level + constitution modifier) can be made to reduce the amount of hit points recovered to equal the amount of damage dealt.
Dread Armor (Su) – As an immediate action, the Dark Knight may coat their body in darkness for a number of rounds equal to ½ their Dark Knight class level (minimum of 1) per day; these rounds do not need to be consecutive. The Dark Knight gains a +1 shield bonus to armor class that increases by +1 for every 2 Dark Knight class levels the player possesses. Enemies that make successful melee attacks against the Dark Knight during this time suffer twice the Dark Knight’s Constitution Modifier in damage, and the Dark Knight is healed for the same amount. Any recovered hit points that exceed the Dark Knight’s max hit points are granted as temporary hit points. Dread Armor cannot reduce an opponent to lower than 1 hit point, but the amount of hit points recovered remains the same.
Guarding Darkness (Su) – As a swift action, the Dark Knight may pay an amount of hit points equal to 10 times the highest penalty to armor class the Dark Knight may have to negate all armor class penalties until the start of the Dark Knight’s next turn.
Keen Darkness (Su) – As a swift action, the Dark Knight may pay an amount of hit points equal to 10 times the highest penalty to attack rolls the Dark Knight may have to negate all attack roll penalties until the start of the Dark Knight’s next turn.
Lashing Darkness (Su) – As a swift action, the Dark Knight may pay 10 or 20 hit points to increase the effectiveness of any Trip, Disarm, or Grapple attempts. If the Dark Knight pays 10 hit points, the Dark Knight may make a Trip, Disarm, or Grapple combat maneuver against a target as if they had the Improved Trip, Improved Disarm, or Improved Grapple feats. If the Dark Knight pays 20 hit points, the Dark Knight may act as if they had both the Improved and Greater Trip, Improved and Greater Disarm, or Improved and Greater Grapple feats.
Mending Shadows (Su) – As a full-round action that provokes an attack of opportunity, the Dark Knight can put his darkness to work mending any injuries the Dark Knight has sustained, granting the Dark Knight Fast Healing equal to his constitution modifier, removing any bleed effects on the user, and ends as soon as any other any other action is taken or the user is the target of a successful attack or harmful spell. This ability does not recover any hit points lost from starvation, thirst, or suffocation. If this ability is used for at least 10 minutes, the Dark Knight can use this ability to reattach lost body parts.
Pulsing Darkness (Su) – As a standard action, the Dark Knight can sacrifice their hit points equal to their character level to deal damage to every enemy within a 10ft radius around the Dark Knight for an amount equal to the hit points spent and render enemies in a 5ft radius prone. This ability can be used a number of times per day equal to half the player’s Dark Knight class level (minimum of 1/day and up to 5/day at 10th level). A Fortitude Save (DC 10 + ½ character level + ½ HP spent) can be made to resist being knocked prone.
Rushing Darkness (Su) – As a swift action, the Dark Knight may pay 10 or 20 hit points to increase the effectiveness of any Bullrush or Overrun attempts. If the Dark Knight pays 10 hit points, the Dark Knight may make a Bullrush or Overrun combat maneuver against a target as if they had the Improved Bullrush or Improved Overrun feats. If the Dark Knight pays 20 hit points, the Dark Knight may act as if they had both the Improved and Greater Bullrush or Improved and Greater Overrun feats.
True Darkness (Su) – As a standard action, the Dark Knight can sacrifice their hit points equal to their full level to deal damage to a single opponent within 60ft for twice the amount of hit points spent, plus their Constitution Modifier. A Fortitude Save (DC 10 + ½ hit points spent) can be made for half damage.
I'm getting some conflicting information about this from the people in my usual gaming group and I want to get some solid confirmation on this so there's no confusion.
When wearing a suit of metal armor made of metal, does it effect your movement speed in any way?
Would a character with a base movement speed of 30ft. still be able to move at that 30ft. while wearing a Mithril Breastplate or would he still be reduced to the 20ft. movement speed as noted on the armor table?
What would be the movement speed of a character in Mithril Full-Plate armor if said character's race has a base movement speed of 30ft.?
In one of the campaigns that I'm currently in, when we started, we didn't get to pick any traits for our characters (not sure if it was DM ruling or people just not knowing, but I didn't know Traits existed at the time).
However, recently, the DM has come back and said that he's wanting to homebrew up something to replace the two feats that we would have gotten, each one made specifically for each individual party member, and for the sake of brevity, I will call them "Treats" (see, it's a pun because they're kinda TRaits and kinda fEATS).
I got permission from the DM to post them here to see if we could get some feedback on how to better balance them, if they need any balancing at all. Keep in mind that each player only gets one Treat and they're supposed to be as powerful as two traits.
Orc Hero - The blood of the orc heroes of the past flows through your veins. Ignore the Armor Class penalty to charging a number of times per day equal to 2 + INT mod.
This ability is being given to a Half-Orc Fighter, who is also my character.
Dovahkiin - The blood of dragons flows through your veins. Whenever you slay a dragon, you may choose to take one of its abilities for a one time use.
This ability is being given to a Human Cabalist/Dragon Disciple. A Cabalist is a 3rd party archetype for the Magus that makes them a spontaneous caster instead of a prepared caster.
Elven Bowman - Whenever you fire your bow, your elven ancestry kicks in. Add +2 Insight bonus to your attack rolls with a bow, and deal an additional +1 damage.
This ability is being given to a Half-Elf Ranger.
Master Wizard - Whenever you cast a spell that deals damage to an opponent, add one additional hit dice to the roll, and increase the DC of the save by 2.
This ability is being given to a Human Wizard.
Pharasma's Chosen - Once per day, when you channel energy, you may choose to channel both negative and positive energy in one burst. Feats that alter Channel Energy can be applied to both the positive and negative channeled energy as normal.
This ability is being given to a Human Cleric that, I forget how, actually can channel both positive and negative energy.
Great Wolf - Your animal companion gains a new form of a natural attack.
This ability is being given to a Drow Druid with an animal companion (we're not really caring about Drow cannon for her).
Son of Wulfshelm - Add +2 to any attacks made with a two-handed weapon.
This ability is being given to a Human Barbarian.
Old Fashioned Sniper - You have always been proficient with the art of stealthy sharpshooting. Add +2 to your Stealth rolls, and +1 to damage with any attack made with a rifle.
This ability is being given to a Human Gunslinger that uses rifles.
I'm not sure if this belongs here or in the "Compatible Products from Other Publishers" forum, but since I'm looking for help, I thought this would be a good place to post and see if I could get some feedback.
To those that don't know, Dreamscarred Press released a book called "Psionics Expanded - Unlimited Possibilities" that introduced two new classes, the Aegis base class and the Metaforge prestige class.
The Aegis base class works somewhat similar to the Soulknife, but instead of creating a weapon, you create a suit of armor that you can augment with a wide array of different abilities like Flight, enhancement bonuses to STR/DEX/CON, DR, and even things like having extra arms. However, the "Astral Armor" that comes with the Aegis apparently can't be in-use alongside a Soulknife's Mind Blade.
The Metaforge prestige class fixes that with it's 3rd-level ability "Dual Summon" which removes that restriction, while also allowing you to transfer a portion of the Mind Blade's enhancement bonus to the "Astral Armor" (since the AC provided by the different forms of Astral Armor can't be augmented with enhancement bonuses), make the Mind Blade harder to break, and even allowing you to boost the enhancement bonus of the Mind Blade by spending Power Points (which you get natively as an Aegis).
However, Metaforge stunts the progression of most Soulknife and Aegis abilities aside from Enhanced Mind Blade and the Astral Suit's DR and customizations, which means I can't qualify for any stronger Soulknife Blade Skills (which are the heart of Soulknifes). It's not as bad of a hit to the Aegis's Astral Suit, since I'd rather buy armor to take advantage of special materials, armor special abilities, and such (the Astral Suit, on its medium and heavy setting, overrides the stats of any other armor worn, so I normally prefer to keep it on it's light setting).
Anyway, long story short, I've got a Soulknife/Aegis/Metaforge build I've come up with and I'd like to get some input on how I can improve it.
Soulknife-10/Aegis-7/Metaforge-3
Race: Human
Trait(s): Reactionary, ... (haven't found a preference for a second trait)
Base Ability Scores: (25-point buy)
STR 18 (+5 Starting, +2 Racial, +1 Level Up)
DEX 18 (+5 Starting, +2 Nimble, +1 Level Up)
CON 16 (+4 Starting, +2 Level Up)
INT 14 (+3 Starting, +1 Level Up)
WIS 13 (+3 Starting)
CHA 10 (Not a fan of "dump" stats)
Assumed Gear:
Mind Blade +6
Mithril Chain Shirt +5
Amulet of Nat. Armor +5
Ring of Prot. +5
Feats:
Wild Talent (Comes free with Soulknife 1)
Dodge (+1 Dodge AC)
Improved Initiative (+4 Initiative)
Power Attack (-Attack, +Damage)
Furious Focus (Negate attack penality on first Power Attack roll)
Psionic Meditation (Regain psionic focus as a movement action instead of a full-round)
Combat Expertise (-Attack, +Dodge AC)
Master Craftsman (comes free with Aegis 5)
Vital Strike
Improved Vital Strike
Greater Vital Strike
Devastating Strike
??? (This feat would normally be taken up by Agile Defense, which is a 3rd party feat my gaming friends like to use and requires Dodge as a prerequisate. The feat gives you a dodge bonus based on your BAB, but is reduced by the type of armor you're wearing. For the purposes of this thread, I ommit it, since Agile Defense wasn't made by Paizo or Dreamscarred Press.)
???
Class Abilities:
(Soulknife) Form Mind Blade (Su) – The Mind Blade itself
(Soulknife) Shape Mind Blade – Being able to reshape the Mind blade into different forms
(Soulknife) Blade Skills - Special actions usable by a Soulknife
(Soulknife) Throw Mind Blade – Self-explanitory
(Soulknife) Bonus Feats - Power Attack, Two-Weapon Fighting, or Weapon Focus for free
(Soulknife) Wild Talent - The wild Talent feat for free, becomes Psionic Talent if you play a psionic race.
(Soulknife) Enhanced Mind Blade - Progressively stronger enhancement bonus for the Mind Blade
(Soulknife) Psychic Strike (Su) – A special precision-damage attack
(Soulknife) Quick Draw - Being able to summon the Mind Blade as a swift action once per round
(Aegis) Form Astral Suit (Su) – The Astral suit itself
(Aegis) Craftsman - Bonus to one craft skill check.
(Aegis) Damage Reduction - Self-explanitory
(Aegis) Invigorating Suit (Su) - Endurance without actually being called Endurance.
(Aegis) Reconfigure - Adjust up to your INT mod in customization points faster than normal
(Aegis) Augment Suit (Su) - Spend power points to gain temporary customization points
(Aegis) Master Craftsman - The Master Craftsman feat for free
(Metaforge) Astral Suit - Levels in Metaforge stack with levels in Aegis for Customizations and DR
(Metaforge) Mind Blade - Levels in Metaforge stack with levels in Soulknife for Enhanced Mind Blade
(Metaforge) Crystallized Mind Blade (Su) - The Mind Blade becomes harder to break
(Metaforge) Transfer Enhancement (Su) - Transfer some of the Mind Blade's enhancement bonus to the Astral Suit
(Metaforge) Dual Summon (Su) - Summon both your Astral Suit and Mind Blade at the same time
Blade Skills:
Bladewind - Basically Whirlwind Attack
Furious Charge - 2 extra damage on a charge, less if wielding more than one weapon
Mind Shield - +2 shield bonus with a free hand
Powerful Strikes - deal an extra d8 damage with psychic strike
Reaping Blade - Recharge psychic strike on a killing blow, or deal 1.5x damage on your next one if it's not used up.
Armor Customizations:
Augmented Weapon - Your weapon is treated as 1 size category larger
Crystallized Weapon - Use power points to deal extra weapon damage
Flight - Lets you fly with Good maneuverability
Improved Damage Reduction - Slightly better DR
Nimble - enhancement bonus of +2 DEX
Quickened Attacks - The extra attack from Haste
Reach - Attack reach increases by 5 feet
Speed (2) - +20 to movement speed
The general idea of the build is that it's a one-hit-per-round build, but you deal so much damage with that one hit that it makes up for the other attacks. Each round, you spend a swift action recharging your Psychic Strike by expending your Psionic Focus, you use your movement action to regain Psionic Focus, and then use your standard action to make a single attack against the target and use Psychic Strike to boost the damage as much as possible. However, that's best possible scenario. For instances where you need to attack multiple targets or you can't continue the action cycle, you can still perform decently, and defend in a pinch.
Any spell that is language dependent requires that the target of the spell can both hear you and understand what you're saying for the spell to have any effect; these spells, naturally, also have a verbal component.
Silent Spell removes the verbal component from any spell cast.
Since you're casting a spell without saying anything, wouldn't that mean you can also bypass the language dependence of the spell as well?
