shalandar's page

You'd need some sort of vetting process to keep that from happening. All in the name of making something to compete with PF2... you know the thing they're currently getting paid for.

I agree, absolutely. It certainly wouldn't be a "Everything 3rd party is good". There would need to be a submission for authors and review process by a team of people.

It would still be an Organized Play model, just not organized by Paizo. And no, not organized solely by myself, but by some type of committee that would need to be created/organized.

You wouldn't have Chronicles, GM Stars, or any incentive to hold players and GMs to any standard. It would essentially just be several homegroups leveling up together in a homebrew Campaign.

Why couldn't chronicles be created for 3rd party scenarios? Why couldn't GM stars be tracked in this system? I guess I don't understand why this couldn't, in effect, replace PFS1 with something like "Pathfinder Outside Society" (the name I was originally calling the website).

Just because it isn't officially from Paizo, doesn't mean it couldn't use the same model. I mean, right now, it's just all the players and GMs saying "We will abide by these rules, so we can play anywhere in a PFS game." What would be the difference if they say "We will abide by these rules, so we can play anywhere in a Pathfinder Outside Society game"?

It may not be worth the workload/reward ratio, that is why I am asking if people are interested....

What is it that you want to bring to the table? Anything 3rd party would pull it out of the Organized Play model and thus no longer PFS.

It would still be an Organized Play model, just not organized by Paizo. And no, not organized solely by myself, but by some type of committee that would need to be created/organized. Yes, Paizo is continuing to allow you to purchase their PFS1 products, but they stated they are no longer creating content for PF1. Meaning, the environment will become stale and eventually no one will/can play PFS1. I am proposing a way to continue playing by introducing 3rd party products in a "new" Organized play model.

Have you asked this question to the company?

No, I have not. Paizo was very clear that they cannot/will not continue to make PF1 products. Sure, they will let you purchased products they have already made (It would be stupid not to), but their focus is on PF2 and SF.

From what I have seen, there is still quite a bit of interest in PFS1. The lack of continued support has many of us frustrated.

Last year, I had begun work on a website for continued PFS1 support, which would potentially include 3rd party products/scenarios/modules/etc. (with approval of some kind, of course) to continue support for PFS1. I had stopped working on it, since I wasn't sure there was a need for such a site, but perhaps that has changed.

So you know, I am not a person who dabbles in web development. I have been writing applications that run over the web for 17+ years. This is what I am paid to do professionally. It was, what I would think, something that everyone would want from a reporting system....including the ability to use it on mobile devices and the ability to get a "report" on everything you have played with character level/scenario tracking built in. There are other features I had been working on as well, but I shelved the code last summer.

At this point, I want to gauge how much interest there is in continuing the site. If there is a good amount and the site would be used, I'll be glad to bring it back online and continue to develop. I would also probably want a few beta testers to play with the site, see what they can do/break, if I could get some volunteers.

Please reply to this post if you would be interested in some type of continuation of PFS1 (or at least like this post) so I can determine if it is worth my time and money.

I don't think any of these replay options are "good". Option 1 and 3 seem the best, but without knowing the actual numbers, it's impossible to judge.

shalandar wrote:

Does anyone know: Will there be a General Feat that says: Select a class feat for your given class?

Well, Humans can take the Natural Ambition ancestry feat, gaining them a 1st level class feat. Anyone can take Adopted Ancestry (a general feat) to take Ancestry feats from another Ancestry (unless those feats rely on physiology). As a note, you don't need to be backstory adopted by humans, the flavor says that a close friendship is enough.

True, that will work...for non-humans and only one time. I was looking for something like:

Just curious if anyone had heard of something like that in other threads.

Does anyone know: Will there be a General Feat that says: Select a class feat for your given class?

Right now, as many have pointed out, the class feats/abilities feel very streamlined to the point of "Well, you selected this to start. Here are your next X feats."

BigNorseWolf wrote:

PJRogers wrote:

1) It requires work on someone's part. I think we all agree that the core organized play team probably will be focused on PFS2, so who would be responsible for the re-number/re-issue process?

The only work required is one paragraph to write out the rules algorithm for the release scheduel. People can just ignore the replay warning that pops up in their play history.

I think 10 years of gaming warrants at least that much.

wanna take a swing at the rules algorithm? a first draft that we can kick around and try on for size? And where would it need to be posted? So that everyone had access to it going forward.

I agree with BNG...as a whole, it isn't difficult.

( If(# of scenarios for the season not retired / 2 is not even, add 1 for the math) / 2)

Round previous number to highest of the following:
52 (each week) - start on First Friday of Aug
39 (3 out of 4 weeks) - start on First Friday of Aug
26 (every other week) - start on First Friday of Aug
12 (every month) - start on August 1st

That's all you need really.

For season 0/1, that would mean:
(47 (+1) / 2)
48 / 2
24
Closest highest number: 26
Release schedule: Every other week

Aug 5 2019: 0-01, 0-02
Aug 19: 0-03, 0-04
Sep 6: 0-05, 0-06
Sep 20: 0-07, 0-08
Oct 4: 0-13, 0-14 (note: 9-12 are retired)
Oct 18: 0-16, 0-17 (note: 15 is retired)
Nov 1: 0-20, 0-22 (note: 18, 19, and 21 are retired)
Nov 15: 0-23, 0-24
Nov 29: 0-26, 0-27 (note: 25 is retired)
Dec 13: 0-28, 0-29/1-01
Dec 27: 0-30/1-02, 0-31/1-03
Jan 10, 2020: 0-32/1-04, 0-33/1-05
Jan 24: 0-34/1-06, 0-35/1-07
Feb 7: 0-36/1-08, 0-37/1-09
Feb 21: 0-38/1-10, 0-39/1-11
Mar 6: 0-40/1-12, 0-41/1-13
Mar 20: 0-42/1-14, 0-43/1-15
Apr 3: 0-44/1-16, 0-45/1-17
Apr 17: 0-46/1-18, 0-47/1-19
May 1: 0-48/1-20, 0-49/1-21
May 15: 0-50/1-22, 0-51/1-23
May 29: 0-52/1-24, 0-53/1-25
Jun 12: 0-54/1-26, 0-55/1-27
Jun 26: 0-55/1-28
As in this case, there will probably be a rotation or two that will be missed until the start of the next one (in this case, 2 rotations).
If Paizo still has some staff members who would like to make some PF1 scenarios, they could be throw in here...else, there would be a small dead period.

It wouldn't be hard to expand this out to the other seasons. But I did this one by hand, so I'm not doing the others without actually writing the algorithm.

Speaking of the ability enhancements, I would have preferred you to just say "Can add any +1 ability of your choice that is suitable for the weapon created." instead of listing the specific abilities that can be added. There's always cool ones you find in books that you would love to add.
You added the line "Additional special abilities might qualify, at the GM's discretion." Only problem is, this is basically implied for home games and ignored for PFS.

One thing I should add is: I do understand that abilities like Bane can be abused heavily with the wording I gave. However, that can easily be mitigated with a line such as "Weapon abilities that require you to make a choice (such as Bane) may not be selected."

Otherwise, eagerly awaiting your thoughts, Isabelle Lee.

Excellent! I'm glad my efforts weren't in vain. ^_^

(The gloomblade fighter was one of my four archetypes, alongside the azatariel swashbuckler, the chronicler of worlds bard, and the dreamthief rogue.)

• I like how the ability enhancements to the weapon are separate from the +s of the weapon. I don't have to give up a +1 to gain flaming, for example. Although it would have been cool to have that option to gain more abilities instead of +s...but I can understand from a design stand point why it would have been too complicated.
  
• Speaking of the ability enhancements, I would have preferred you to just say "Can add any +1 ability of your choice that is suitable for the weapon created." instead of listing the specific abilities that can be added. There's always cool ones you find in books that you would love to add.
  You added the line "Additional special abilities might qualify, at the GM's discretion." Only problem is, this is basically implied for home games and ignored for PFS.
  
• There is a bit of confusion for me about two weapon creating and abilities. It appears that the gloomblade can't gain abilities to her weapons if she creates two until 15th level? Is that correct? It says this:
  
  book level 7 wrote:

  If a gloomblade creates only one weapon, it gains a weapon special ability of his choice (chosen upon creation);

  book level 11 wrote:

  If a gloomblade creates only one shadow weapon, it gains additional weapon special abilities; the total effective bonus of these abilities cannot exceed +3.

  It appears that if I do a dual wield gloomblade, They only gain abilities at level 15.
  book level 15 wrote:

  At 15th level, a gloomblade’s shadow weapons each gain magic weapon special abilities with a total effective bonus of +2 per weapon.

• One thing I did miss was: you don't just lose heavy armor prof and armor training, you also lose shields. Slightly annoying if you wanted to create a one handed weapon. Certainly not a deal breaker, however.
  
• Shadow weapon training feels a bit of a letdown (but that could also be comparing it to the overall good job you did with the Shadow Weapon itself). Out of the 4 options you gave, I only see one that would be used with any consistency (the first, I won't give it away in case it's against the rules). Personally, I think a bit more to do with altering the weapon itself would have been better, but through techniques or understanding instead of enhancements. Could be something like:
  The shadow weapon gains +1 to the critical threat range of the base weapon (this does not stack with any other type of critical threat range increase other than itself).
  The gloomblade gains the increased base weapon damage of the warpriest’s sacred weapon ability at her gloomblade level. Each additional time this ability is taken, add +4 to the gloomblade's level for determining the base damage.
  The gloomblade gains the ability to change the weapon enhancements on her shadow weapon once per day as a swift action. Each additional time this ability is taken, the gloomblade gains an additional use of this ability.
  Choose an element (fire, cold, acid, electricity). The base damage of the shadow weapon changes from physical damage to the chosen element. If the gloomblade attacks a creature with vulnerability to the chosen element, she gains a +2 to strike that creature. If this ability is selected more than once, the gloomblade may chose a second element and may switch between those elements as a swift action. This ability may only be selected two times.
  (some multiclass options would have been cool, such as:)
  The gloomblade gains the Spell Strike ability of the Magus, but only when using her shadow weapon. She may use any spells you can cast from any class, but she may not use scrolls with this ability.
  The gloomblade gains the Ascetic Style feat, but it can only be used with her shadow weapon and must still meet all prerequisites of the feat. If she selects this ability a 2nd time she gains the Ascetic Form feat, but only with her shadow blade. If she selects this ability a 3rd time, she gains the Ascetic Strike feat, but only with her shadow blade.

  I don't think the options you added were bad, as I said, they just felt a bit underwhelming when compared to how good you did with the shadow blade itself.
  

I really like the Gloomblade (arch for fighters). Lose armor training (no big deal) and heavy armor prof (again not a big deal) for a blade you can create out of shadows that auto increases in +s and abilities. Weapon training changes to do things with your nifty shadow weapon.

Out of all the feats and arches, that is clearly my favorite.

I agree with some of the other posters. I would like to see it simply be "Action: X" where X is the number of actions needed to active the item. It's quick, it's elegant, and really goes along with the action system you have created.

So, yeah, I guess it's sort of "cliquey" - I would only give my replays to those people I want to... But I guess I'm not seeing the problem with this. IMHO - It would be like if I gave $10 to my wife, or my friend Bryan, or the new kid I just met.

It would be turning the "GM Star Replay" into a commodity I guess... And I'm not sure if I think that is a problem...

It creates a system of favoritism. If you are in favor of the GM, then ya, you don't see a problem with it. However, if you aren't liked by the GM or you just aren't liked as much as his wife or friend Bryan, then you can say goodbye to ever getting a replay.

Alternately, was there a particular player-based replay scheme you wanted to promote over the others? Are you a fan of the reset-everything-at-once approach, or nosig's phased reset?

It has to be simple for Paizo to implement, otherwise there's no incentive for them to do it.

• The easiest, obviously, is unlimited replay...but I've never been a fan of that (like most, for one reason or another).
  
• The second easiest would be "Everyone gets 1 replay for every scenario...aka, you can play every scenario twice. GMs can run it twice as well." (don't play it twice with the same character). As a whole, I like that one, since it is simple from a player/GM perspective, and should be very simple to implement from Paizo's perspective. Personally, this is the one I like best.
  
• The third easiest would be "seasonal replay". Meaning, at the start of PF2 season 1, then PF1 season 0 gets reset. And everyone gets 1 free replay/GM on season 0. When PF2s2 comes out, PF1s1 gets reset. Etc. Not sure how difficult it would be to implement from Paizo's perspective, but it could also cause issues for players/GMs. Especially those who want rush to get the old season done before it rolls over.
  
• Next is some type of Expanded Narrative for players. I'm not entirely sure how that would work, especially for players who have played 75%+ games already. I also think there is a high possibility for cheating in this situation. "Oh, I'll just fill out this paper and get a replay real quick."
  
• After this? You get into some convoluted ways that make no sense from Paizo's perspective
  

I don't actually know how bad that would be. I'd hope that if you're at 3 or 4 or 5 stars (which is the point at which you'd have a bunch of these, in theory) you recognize the value of investing in your region (or Pathfinder Society, or tabletop in general) and you're comfortable with giving back to the community in some way. That if you see someone who would like to play but can't, you'd help out. But I know that feeling's not going to be universal.

Exactly. It's human nature to like some people and not like others. I can think of 2 specific players in my local PFS group that I do not enjoy playing with. Would I give them a GM star just so they could play in the same game as me and annoy me? I highly doubt it. Then, since they couldn't play, they talk about how shalandar is an *#(@*! and their friends now don't want me in their game anymore. Now it really spirals from there as I am vindictive of them being vindictive, etc etc. All because I didn't want to give up my replay to someone I don't enjoy playing with.

Or what if I'm running a game, and don't particularly like an individual (maybe I had a bad experience with that person or perhaps I just don't like their play style)...I have 3 players, we can run a pregen with those players and now I don't have to burn my GM start for someone I really don't like (for whatever reason).

My point is: Leaving replays for one person up to another person will always cause favoritism in some way....either "I like this person more than you, sorry." or "I really don't enjoy playing with you". I could probably come up with 20 different situations where I can see someone saying "Ya, no, I'm not giving you one of my previous replays" and running a table anyway.

nosig, you may be a nice person. I don't know you. But I do know there are jerks out there (myself included sometimes) who would be selfish and not use their star for someone else. That is why I don't like this option as the ONLY replay possibility.

Going to mention that Produce Flame (1st level, 1d6+level touch damage, 1 min/level) is practically the same as Flame Blade (2nd level, 1d8+level touch damage, 1min/level). Flame Blade caps out at a higher damage, Produce Flame can do ranged touch for a cost of 1 min duration.

Ya, but with Flame Blade, you can make light saber wooshing noises.

...come talk with me if you want to work on making positive change.

Then I suggest you put your money and your time where your mouth is and YOU spear head the project. Why don't you pay for the servers, design the screens, design the database structures, handle the security, figure out the problems and bugs, and deal with the complaints. Hell, get a group together, make an investment. You want change? Then as you said "do something about it."

I don't think Jeff Bezos will be hiring anyone who says it can't be done. Amazon (not the company I am talking about) was built by people who said, "We want it done. How do we do it? Let's figure it out."

Let's figure out something that will work.

You have people who do this for a living telling you there are technical difficulties in this project that make it unfeasable. Not undoable, I never said it wasn't doable. I said it isn't worth the cost it would require. I get paid 6 figures to be a web developer. I write in 5 different programming languages on a daily basis. I produce programs similar to what you are talking about. I do it every day, including many weekends. I am paid to go into areas and figure out solutions to problems, sometimes problems companies didn't even know they had until I came in and started poking around.

What you are demanding (and that's exactly your tone) will not produce any additional money for Paizo. Oh, it "might" and "it's possible" sure. So is the idea that if they give away their PDFs for free, then people will be more inclined to buy the hardback book. Do you want to be the employee that goes to the owner of the company asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars on the "chance" your idea will make money?

Paizo could have created a scenario tracking system to help out all their players years ago. Did they? No. Do you know why? There's no money in it for them. Because, believe it or not, THEY ARE A BUSINESS. Did an outside group do that? Yes. But guess what? That's not official. And if the site goes down, PFS continues on like before (not that I wish that to happen). If something happens to the system you are demanding, guess what? Everyone is screwed. Because people like you will have said, "I live in the digital world....there's no need to print them out. But now, the system is down, and I can't do anything." Oh sure, you could have printed them out, but hell, if you were just going to print them out, then why did you do them all electronically? What's the point if you were just going to print them all out anyway?

There are so many technical issues with this it's not funny. Without any solid return on their investment, paizo would be stupid to pursue this product. That is my professional opinion. You know, the thing I get paid to give and then backup my opinion with facts. The amount of work required to do what you are asking, without any type of guaranteed revenue generated from it, isn't worth the risk.

As a web developer, would I like chronicles online? Sure. It would save me work tracking and filling out papers manually. I don't argue that it isn't a worthy idea...I argue that there is no reason paizo would ever do it. Just like the scenario tracking. There's no money in it for paizo.

I think one of the things you are missing, Xathos, is the amount of work required to do what you are asking. While I am no expert on pathfinder or paizo's employee structure, I am an expert on web development. I have been doing it for a living for the past 15 years.

What you are asking, while certain feasible, isn't something you can just throw together. It requires some decent servers, purchasing of database software (or knowledge of free databases), solid database programming (SQL), web servers, web development (especially for mobile, which is specialized skill in itself), and then continuous maintenance. And that isn't including upgrades and modifications.

This would require at least 1 full time web developer (although it would probably take 2 or 3 to get it up and running in a reasonable amount of time) and at least a half time database administrator. Both of which are costly to employ...especially considering paizo is getting no real benefit from it.

Because, let's be honest, while it may be more convenient for you and/or other players to have everything digital, what is paizo getting from it? They are business. They have to worry about sales, salaries, and profit. So, what are they getting out of making all these chronicle sheets digital and creating the "great online experience" you are demanding? Players are still going to play. The lack of chronicle digital support isn't going to push many players away from their products.

The links under "My Account" change according to what forum you are in. This is easy to duplicate:

1) Log in to the website
2) Select Community -> Organized Play. You're now at Community / Forums / Organized Play.
3) Click on My Account to bring up the menu.
4) Hover over Organized Play. Look at the link. It is: paizo.com/community/forums/organizedPlay/myAccount
4.5) The link SHOULD be: paizo.com/organizedPlay/myAccount

This happens with pretty much every link/menu once you are in a forum.

I'm a web developer, so I'm going to give my opinion on another part (this isn't a bug like above, this is opinion):
The main menu changing once you are in a forum is annoying. The main menu shouldn't change, it should always stay the same. A secondary menu with options for that specific area should appear. I get that the main menu has been pushed to the very top header bar (above the search), however, you cannot access the normal submenus when clicking on those, so it makes the use of those buttons limited.

Or having to sit thru one of the players discussing the scenario with the Judge - BEFORE THE GAME STARTS. Thinking they are "being secretive" but "talking around" the exact make-up of what we'll be facing... sigh. Yeah.

Me: "Guys - I'd really like to just find out the story as we play it..."
Informed player "Heck, it's not like I told you the BBE is a Bard or anything"
Sigh.

This can happen no matter what. There are always jerks around who know more about a scenario/monster than they should or use knowledge their character wouldn't have...replay, GM, or just from talking to a friend.

What about getting rid of the "buyable" items, and putting some type of % discount? Something like a 2% or 3% discount to buy a single item of your choice? And yes, it's cumulative. Even if you combined 10 chronicle sheets (3.33 levels), that is only a 20-30% discount on a single item. Not game breaking, but something to work towards. You could even put a cap on the item or discount depending on the level of the lowest scenario.

Another idea, would be rewards like:
You can purchase one wand of your choice with 25 charges.
You can purchase X scrolls with a one level metamagic feat, without changing the price.
You may purchase one ioun stone with a 20% discount.
You may add a special material to a weapon or armor after it has been made. You must pay the cost of the special material + 10% for each enhancement the armor of weapon has.
Choose one spell from another class. You may treat that spell as a part of your class for the purpose of activating magic items.

If you don't like any of these ideas, then just get rid of items that are always purchasable. Keep special items, wands with lesser charges, and perhaps a few discounted items that aren't a big deal but would be useful for anyone to buy.

booo, hisss, boo I say. BOOO!!!! the magus should not be in the core and neither should the alchemist and the oracle. onmly the witch and hunter should have been added.

so till then BOOO I say

All I could think of was this when I ready your comment....

The only thing the Magus really had going for it was casting a touch spell through your weapon. It would be relatively easy to add a feat or class ability that could be chosen to make this possible.

shalandar wrote:

Tallow wrote:

2) If its still being artificially kept alive due to replay, and organizers are still offering it at conventions, then its highly likely a new player will try it out. If they do, and they get turned off (which is highly likely) because its a bunch of people who have played it several times, then that will make it less likely they will also try out PFS2.

I disagree with this statement. I think someone who hasn't played Pathfinder (any) will be way more likely to try PF2 than PF1 (assuming no outside influence such as friends who play it). Most people will play the newest version of any game first.

On top of that, you will always have players "meta gaming" the module regardless of what edition you are talking about.

Finally, it organizers are still offering it, and it is getting enough people playing it....then that means there is a demand for it. Which ultimately is a good thing for Paizo, right? That means, more people will buy older materials because they liked the game and want to play it.

As someone who has organized several conventions and been involved in the after action reports of several large ones (like Gen Con), my anecdotal evidence tells me that new players don't often read the information about the event very carefully, and just sign up to play because its available in a time slot they have available.

So if something is offered at a convention, they will try it out, without realizing sometimes there even is a difference between PFS1 and PFS2.

Its a pretty well known fact amongst organizers, that people in general don't read the information given.

Fair enough...I'll concede the first point to your experience...but that doesn't invalidate the other points I made.

And if the organizer is offering the game and people are playing it, doesn't that mean there is still demand for it? That people still WANT to play it? By allowing no replay, you are forcing it's death (or pushing it into the realm of "home game only").

2) If its still being artificially kept alive due to replay, and organizers are still offering it at conventions, then its highly likely a new player will try it out. If they do, and they get turned off (which is highly likely) because its a bunch of people who have played it several times, then that will make it less likely they will also try out PFS2.

I disagree with this statement. I think someone who hasn't played Pathfinder (any) will be way more likely to try PF2 than PF1 (assuming no outside influence such as friends who play it). Most people will play the newest version of any game first.

On top of that, you will always have players "meta gaming" the module regardless of what edition you are talking about.

Finally, it organizers are still offering it, and it is getting enough people playing it....then that means there is a demand for it. Which ultimately is a good thing for Paizo, right? That means, more people will buy older materials because they liked the game and want to play it.

Why is replay for no credit not enough to make tables happen?

I can list a reason, "While I have fun playing pathfinder, if I am going to get nothing out of my 4-5 hours sitting there other than the enjoyment of it....then I'll go do something else."

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy playing pathfinder...however, if it was "Play and get nothing for your time" or "Go and play another game or home and play on the x-box" why wouldn't I choose the second?

How is "this kind of playstyle is not healthy" an example of "I don't care about you"?

It's the combination of what was said...

He got his play in...he chose to do what he wanted and got to play as much as he wanted. Regardless if it is "not healthy" or not (his opinion), he got to play and GM as much as he wanted and he's now done with PF1. Fine. I know people who feel the same way. No one is making him play or continue with PF1.

But by following it up with "I fully expect PFS1 to die off in about 2 years. And that's as it should be." The "..that's as it should be." show a total lack of caring about anyone else's situation.

I care about this...and surprisingly, not fully for myself. I only started PFS a bit over a year ago, so I have a tons of scenarios I can play before I am close to being limited with PF1. In this case, I mostly care for those in my area that have already played 75+% and would like the ability to replay PF1 while also playing PF2.

All I see are people who have 4 and 5 stars next to their names saying "Don't give any replay" and most everyone else saying "We'd like some replay of some type".

Maybe I'm too close to this or care too much. Maybe I'm taking it too personal....When I see people disregarding other's feelings on the matter, someone who has already done all they wanted, yes, it ticks me off. Great, glad for you, but that doesn't mean you should deny anyone else who wants the possibility to replay scenarios.

I used to be top 5 in scenarios played and GMd on the session tracker. I'd be involved in some way 5 to 8 times a month. That was fun, but ultimately not sustainable nor healthy.

...
As PFS2 comes online, and active Paizo support ends for PFS1, I fully expect PFS1 to die off in about 2 years. And that's as it should be.

Wow...so "Screw you people who want to still play PF1. I got my play in, so I don't care about you." or "Convert or go away." huh? You may not care, but there are many people who do. Many of us have characters we still want to play and maybe even want to build yet. Characters who may not be possible in PF2 for years or ever...but you got your play in, do you don't care. Glad I'm not in your area....

I realize that replays were only available to GMs in the past (and even then, it was quite limited)...however, I think keeping it to ONLY GMs for PF1 after PF2 comes out/is established would be a mistake. There are a lot of players (or GMs who prefer to play but GM because it's needed) who would like to play scenarios again. I know in my area, it's hard at times, because some players have been playing since the very beginning and have played every freak'n scenario.

It won't affect me that much, because in PFS I've only been playing/GMing for about a year....however, I'd like to see things opened up for the older players.

Without some type of enhanced replay option (and I still vote for a rolling replay of some type)...PF1 will begin to die around fall 2020. A year after a full season for PF2. There will be no new scenarios and the older players will have fully converted over to PF2 since they can't find games they haven't played in PF1 and won't want to GM a X games just to get the ability to replay one scenario.

I'd like to see 4 things for a new chronicle sheet:
Discounted items: The items don't need to be 50% off, but some type of discount for finding an item on a chronicle sheet vs being able to buy it normally.
Abilities from weapons can be purchased for any weapon: If I take an exotic weapon prof for something, I am guaranteed to be able to purchase a special version of that weapon from a chronicle sheet. Outside of a longsword, shortsword, or rare scimitar, I never find a different weapon. If you could combine this ability with the discounted one, that would now REALLY be a reason to look at what we got.
Reduce the cost of purchasing items by spending PP: Outside of vanities, and keeping PP available due to death, there is no point to PP. I'd love to see something like "Spend 3PP to gain a 20% discount on one item"
No digital only chronicles: Yes, it's a bit annoying carrying all the papers around, you can't punish people who don't have wifi enabled devices or the place doesn't have wifi.

Inventory Tracking Sheets: I've never seen one looked at by a GM. In fact, I asked a few GMs how they handle tracking, and they said "So long as it sounds reasonable for the character to have purchased, then I just trust the player."

A bit more evolution (no Summoner Pun intended) would be good, however. Say, "level 4, the animal companion gains X, Y, and Z" then "level 7, it gains A, B, C", then "level 10, it gains your choice of G or H"
Something like that would be nice....let them grow with the player a bit more.

If you are waiting for Thanks, it's a bit of a thankless job. As others have said, you have to WANT to do it for some reason. I enjoy doing it on occasion, so that's why I do it. If you don't want it, feel the need for it, then you probably shouldn't do it.

"I throw the potion of dragon control into the dragon's mouth. What happens now?"

Pathfinder is suffering from 3.5 problems. Every new class is more powerful than what came before. Every new monster is cracked out to deal with the new classes. A core character has serious problems with the new mods. A new character class steamrolls through the old mods.

Apparently, you didn't read all the talk about the latest class Paizo created....Shifter. Definitely not "more powerful than what came before"

Let me first start out with what I think are viable alternatives to rogue for you:
You can play a Slayer, which is a Ranger/Rogue class. It has full base attack bonus, and gives Slayer Talents every even level. One slayer talent is Trapfinding. You would get it at 2nd level instead of first.
Differences I think you'll care about:
BaB: Rogue: medium, Slayer: Full (every level)
Sneak Attack: Rogue: every odd level (starting at 1), Slayer: Every 3rd level (starting at 3)
Skill points: Rogue: 8, Slayer 6
Talents: Slayer can take some rogue talents, but not all, has a few other options as well.
There are a lot of other difference as well, but I would suggest checking out Slayer as it sounds like what you are REALLY looking for and only slows trapfinding down by 1 level and will allow you to take the feats you want to take.

If you are really set on getting trapfinding at level 1, there is always the Investigator class as well. It is an alchemist/rogue hybrid, but it is medium BaB and will slow down your feat choices.

Bard has a few archtypes that grants trapfinding: Archivist and Detective come to mind...but again, those are medium BaB.

Finally, there is the Seeker archtype for SORCERER. Yes, sorcerer. It gives you trapfinding at level 1 in place of eschew materials. Very out of the box, but doable and if you like messing with your GM, it could be fun.

Now, if you are set on playing a rogue (or shoehorned into it), you need to decide if you are playing an unchained rogue or regular rogue as that will limit what you can do for archtypes. But in either case, there isn't much you can do about BaB and other abilities. You're sort of stuck in rogue.
I will say, I think unchained rogue is vastly superior, but "technically" many of the archtypes for rogue aren't legal for unchained rogue.
I would suggest looking at the links I provided for unchained and normal rogue, scroll to the bottom, and check out the archtypes you may want. There is no way to give a good suggestion without knowing what you would enjoy.
Overall? I'd suggest just playing a slayer. It's what you want to play and only delays trapfinding by one level.

Seems like carry capacity rules are largely unknown/misunderstood.

Oh, I think they are known, just mostly ignored :)

1) I would say no on the Furious Spell metamagic, mostly because the SPELL doesn't deal any damage. It creates a blade and you attack with that blade and the blade deals the damage. The spell itself actually doesn't deal damage.

2) While I agree with you, I've brought up a similar point with our Venture Captain. He was quite adamant that flame blade is a "spell not a weapon" and therefor doesn't qualify for using things that says you can do it with a weapon.

Of course, those two begin to contradict one another. If it's a spell, then furious spell should work on it. If it's a weapon, then Divine Fighting Technique should with it.

It's a stupidly gray area, and while I originally wanted to abuse the s@$+ out of this spell, it's turned me off of every wanting to use/see it.

You get exactly what you said, proficiency with a specific martial weapon. Just because you already had proficiency with all martial weapons, doesn't mean you don't get another line that says "Martial Weapon Proficiency (specific weapon of choice)"

But in effect, Zautos is right, you net nothing additional.

Buy a +1 Folding Mithral Buckler, fold it into a tower shield, enjoy mithral tower shield for about 5005 gp.

This. This is the only "legal" way to do it. It's even PFS legal.

Also, ask your GM if you can swap this out without waiting 24 hours. The general wisdom has been you can't swap out items. Some items have had errata to block the swapping, mostly for low cost items. So your GM might say you can't swap due to not being attuned to the new item. If they say sure, it's at least 3 move actions. One to remove and drop free action. One to acquire new from handy haversack. One to put on new one.

Umm, I don't understand why I'd have to do this. There are rules specifically in place for certain items saying they don't work until the wearer has them on for so long (such as a ring of sustenance). I mean, if I get a piece of gear in the middle of the dungeon and throw it on (such as a cloak of resistance) I don't have to wait, so why wouldn't I be able to swap out items?

If I take Brawler, gaining Martial Flexibility, then I take the Fighter archetype, Free-Style Fighter, again gaining Martial Flexibility....do the two types stack or are they two separate pools?

Since it doesn't specifically say that it stacks with other versions, I think they would be separate pools, but on the other hand, the Free-Style Fighter says "as per the Brawler ability".

Edit: Or does the FAQ here apply in this case: FAQ

Hi all.

A game I'm playing has a distinct lack of healing powers, and since my fighter died from the said lack of healing, I'm taking druid now. I'm aiming for a melee wildshape druid with a minor on healing. Except I don't know what feats to take. Natural Spell and combat casting is a no brainer, but that's all I got. Any core only suggestions?

Stats are 14str, 12dex, 14con, 10int, 18wis, 8cha. The stats might change though.

Thanks.

Well, here are some feats (obviously from the 3.5 books...) that you may be interested in:

Bestial Charge (Comp Champ, p 56): Let's you do some tactical things while charging in wild shape form, such as Pounce, and charging in a zig-zag.

Blindsense (Comp Adv, p 114): expend a wildshape to get blindsense for 1 min / HD.

Dragon Wild Shape (Dracomicon, p 105): Let's you take small and medium dragon shapes, and keep all extraordinary and supernatural abilities (excluding spellcasting).

Exalted Wild Shape (Book of Exalted Deeds, p 42): Lets you take the shape of blink dog, giant eagle, giant owl, pegasus, or unicorn.

Fast Wild Shape (Comp Divine, p 81): Wildshape as a move action.

Powerful Wild Shape (Race of Stone, p 143): As a standard action, you can spend one of your uses of wild shape to assume a powerfully built version of a creature you can normally wild shape into. While in this form, you retain the benefits of your powerful build racial ability and are considered one size category larger than normal for many effects (see the goliath racial traits on page 56 for details on powerful build).

Primevil Wildshape (Frostburn, p 49): When you assume a wild shape form, you can opt to cause the shape assumed to be a primeval form of the creature that existed in the ancient past during a vast ice age. Doing so grants the new form a +2 racial bonus to Strength, a +2 bonus to its natural armor, and resistance to cold 10. A primeval wild shape has a much shorter duration than normal, since the enhanced qualities of the new shape drain your supernatural energies much more quickly. A primeval wild shape has a duration of 1 round per druid level (or per level of the class that granted you the wild shape ability) instead of the normal 1 hour per druid level.

Swift Wild Shape (Comp Champ, p 62...Requires Fast Wild shape): Can wildshape as a swift action.

Those are the best ones I found doing a brief search in my feat database....

If you happen to open your passwall passage into the Orcish Ladies Locker Room, which just happens to be populated by the Lower Orvan Championship Ladies Blade Dancer team (National Champions 14 years running), well, you are probably going to be frantically trying to dissipate your own spell. ;)

Man, I've been waiting for their swimsuit calendar for months!!

I've been reading a ton of material lately, and I stumbled upon the Tome of Secrets book. For those of you that do not know, it has the following classes in it: Artificer, Knight, Priest, Shaman, Spellblade, Swashbuckler, Warlock, and Warlord...all upgraded to Pathfinder rules.

I started reading about the spellblade, and realized that this and the duskblade (from the Player's Handbook II) are only slightly different. One channels spells through their weapon while one casts spells and enchances their weapon. This made me think that I could use the spellblade as a template for the duskblade.

So, here goes....

Hit dice: Keep at d8. The spellblade has d8, and while the normal conversion rules say to make "good BaB = d10 hit points" I think keeping this ad d8 is appropriate.

BaB: Keep at "good" or "fighter" +1 each level.

Saves: Good Fort, bad Ref and Will. Yes, this downgrades the Will saves of the duskblade, but it realigns it with the spellblade.

Skills: Keep the same, just convert to pathfinder: Climb, Craft, Intimidate, Knowledge (all, taken separately), Linguistics, Ride, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Swim
2 + Int modifier per level

Weapon and Armor Profs: All simple and martial weapons. All light and medium armors. This is a change from the original material, in that no shields are now offered. This will become apparent why in a bit.

Spells: A duskblade casts arcane spells, which are drawn from the sorcerer/wizard spell list. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. Every duskblade spell has an additional focus component which consists of the duskblade’s weapon (see Arcane Weapon Focus). To learn to cast a spell, a duskblade must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a duskblade spell is 10 + the spell level + the duskblade’s Intelligence modifier.
Like other spellcasters, the duskblade can cast only a certain number of spells per day. His base daily allotment is given on the duskblade table. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Intelligence score.
The duskblade selection of spells is extremely limited. A duskblade begins play knowing 4 0-level spells and two 1st level spells of the duskblade’s choice. At each new duskblade level, he gains one additional new spell. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a duskblade knows is not affected by his Intelligence score).
Upon reaching 5th level, and at every subsequent odd-numbered level, a duskblade can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the duskblade loses the old spell in exchange for the new one.
The new spells level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least two levels lower than the highest-level duskblade spell the duskblade can cast. A duskblade may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that he gains new spells known for the level.
A duskblade need not prepare his spells in advance. He can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming he has not yet used up his allotment of spells per day for the spells level. A duskblade may burn a higher level slot for a lower level spell, but he may not use lower level spells to cast higher level ones (through the use of a feat or other special ability).
To cast a spell with a material component, the duskblade must have 1 hand free and 1 hand holding his weapon (see Arcane Weapon Focus).

Spells progress as such:
1st level: 2
2nd level: 3
3rd level: 3
4th level: 3, 2
5th level: 4, 3
6th level: 4, 3
7th level: 5, 3, 2
8th level: 5, 4, 3
9th level: 6, 4, 3
10th level: 6, 5, 3, 2
11th level: 6, 5, 4, 3
12th level: 7, 6, 4, 3
13th level: 7, 6, 5, 3, 2
14th level: 7, 6, 5, 4, 3
15th level: 8, 7, 5, 4, 3
16th level: 8, 7, 6, 5, 3, 2
17th level: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3
18th level: 9, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3
19th level: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 3
20th level: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4
(yes, this means he gets 6th level spells now!)

Arcane Weapon Focus: A duskblade’s weapon is so intricate to their spellcasting, that all spells cast by a duskblade have an additional focus component of the duskblade’s weapon. This weapon works similarly to the wizard’s bonded object, in that it must be wielded to cast a spell (although, unlike the wizard, you may not make a concentration check to cast a spell without the weapon). If the duskblade loses his weapon, he may not replace (described below) it until he gains another level. If the weapon is broken (although not through negligence, determined by the DM) however, he may perform the bonding ritual with a weapon of the same type (longsword, dire flail, etc).
Unlike the wizard’s bonded object, a duskblade may change his weapon upon gaining a new duskblade level. Changing the arcane weapon focus of a duskblade requires the duskblade to perform a meditation for 8 hours with the new weapon. This must be done in complete silence and may not be interrupted. If an interruption occurs, the duskblade may attempt the ritual again the following day, but must pay an additional cumulative penalty of 1 hour of meditation.

Cast in Combat (Ex): At 2nd level, duskblades are so attuned to using magic and casting spells while in combat, that they no longer require concentration checks if they are injured while attempting to cast a duskblade spell. They do still provoke an attack of opportunity if the cast a spell while threatened, but the damage (if any) dealt by those attacks (or other attacks) do not require him to make a concentration check as other spellcasters (see page 206 of the Pathfinder Cole Rulebook).

Arcane Channeling I (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, a duskblade can use a standard action to cast any Range: Touch spell he knows and deliver the spell through his weapon with a melee attack. Casting a spell in this manner does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The spell must have a casting time of 1 standard action or less. If the melee attack is successful, the attack deals damage normally; then the effect of the spell is resolved. If the melee attack is unsuccessful, the spell harmlessly dissipates and is no longer channeled through your weapon. If the spell normally allows you more than 1 touch attack, all other attacks are wasted when using the Arcane Channeling ability.

Arcane Armor Training (medium): This ability is the same as Arcane Armor Training (light), except that it may now be used with all medium armors. This is achieved at level 5.

Spell Power (Ex): Starting at 6th level, you begin to damage your opponent’s spell resistance when you successfully injure your opponent with a melee attack. If you have injured an opponent with a melee attack, it gains a -2 circumstance penalty to its spell resistance for the remainder of the encounter. This penalty increases to -3 at 9th level, to -4 at 12th level, to -5 at 15th level, and to -6 at 18th level.

Arcane Channeling II (Su): At 8th level, a duskblade can now attack with a full action and cast any Range: Touch spell he knows to deliver the spell through his weapon with a melee attack. Casting a spell in this manner does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The spell must have a casting time of 1 standard action or less. The duskblade still only channels the spell for one attack (usually the first, but it may be a subsequent attack if preferred). If the melee attack is successful, the attack deals damage normally; then the effect of the spell is resolved. If the melee attack is unsuccessful, the spell harmlessly dissipates and is no longer channeled through your weapon. If the spell normally allows you more than 1 touch attack, all other attacks are wasted when using the Arcane Channeling ability.

Arcane Channeling III (Su): At 12th level, a duskblade the channels a spell using the full attack option, can now have the spell channeled last for 2 attacks instead of one. These attacks must occur sequentially. Once two attacks are performed, the spell is no longer channeled through the duskblade’s weapon.

Arcane Channeling IV (Su): At 16th level, a duskblade the channels a spell using the full attack option, can now have the spell channeled last for 3 attacks instead of two. These attacks need not occur sequentially any longer, but they must occur in the same action (effects such as the Haste spell that grant an additional attack when making a full attack option may channel the spell, allowing a duskblade to attack once with his highest attack bonus (and channeling), once with the second highest (still channeling), two more times as normal, then once with the hasted action (and channeling).

Arcane Channeling All (Su): At 20th level, a duskblade achieves channeling supremacy and a spell channeled through a duskblade’s weapon lasts until the start of his next turn. This includes all normal attacks as well as attacks of opportunity until the duskblade’s initiative in the following round.

While I did drop the Quick Cast ability of the Duskblade, I think the other abilities added (and smoothed over in the case of arcane channeling full attack) have made up for this removal.

Thoughts, ideas, comments?