I'm traveling for a couple of days, so I might be a bit sparse on posting. But I'll be checking in.
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I'm traveling the next couple of days for work meetings. I'll try to catch up this weekend.
Found it. IT was in shopping cart, and had a ton of trouble checking out, but now it says the order is "Pending". Am I good to go?
I had pre-orfered, it was in my side cart for a few days, and when I tried to ship it now, it disappeared. There was some trouble setting up a new payment method, but that all seems cleared up, but now there is nothing in my side cart. What should I do?
So, your cleric has this special power, which might take a bit of foresight to use in a PbP format: "Unity (Su): At 8th level, whenever a spell or effect targets you and one or more allies within 30 feet, you can use this ability to allow your allies to use your saving throw against the effect in place of their own. Each ally must decide individually before the rolls are made. Using this ability is an immediate action. You can use this ability once per day at 8th level, and one additional time per day for every four cleric levels beyond 8th." My save bonuses are: Fort +9, Ref +4, Will +12 So, keep this in mind if we're ever in an area of effect that requires a will save, and you're posting before me. Don't make the roll, call my name IC, and I'll try to jump in with the immediate action.
Next few days I might be without internet access. Neva will attack with Spiritual Weapon and crossbow, attacking whoever is being attacked by her teammates. Back home on Wed.
Neva has delayed until after the PC of a player who just went out of town. Doh. :-)
Oh, and the new AP "Hell's Rebels" comes out this month. Another set in Cheliax. We could hustle on through the Crow, and give Aard a chance to scope out either CoT or Hell's Rebels.
Hunkering down for a blizzard. I have a generator, but wet snow and high winds might mean no internet. If I'm quiet for a few days, that's why.
We're in Sins of the Saviors now, but a while back... Name of PC: Pikrak the Unruly
Name of PC: Jakardros Sovark
I'm DM'ing Rise of the Runelords AE, and we're early in Sins of the Saviors. d20Pro game. We should finish up the whole thing by May or so. I'm looking forward to Curse of the Crimson Throne, but my players might one of the others, and that'll be fine. I'm playing in the first book of Second Darkness: d20pro I'm playing in book two of Carrion Crown: in person. I'm playing in book one of Shattered Star: pbp here.
Neva smiled at Rutter. "Only slightly. You've seen the Jeggare"
Worst PC I DM'd was a martial arts psion: Monk3/Egoist5/Psionic Fist 1. I tried my best to let the guy play the character he wanted, and merge his bizarre concept into the world. There were story lines, special items, etc.
The worst I've played was in a one-shot game of Mutant Future. The stats were just horrific and the combination of mutant abilities and deficiencies were comical. I could change the size of objects and could move like a simian, but I was a deaf mute. The scenario began with the characters coming out of cryo in a dark room with an unknown force draining their life away. Unable to see, hear or otherwise interact with the other PCs, my character's first action was to try to run to find some sort of exit from the silent, painful dark. DM rolled to see which direction I ran...right into another PC...the one with the poison skin. Failed save. Dead.
I tried the exact same character when the DM ran the scenario at a con. I made it to the wall, but before I could find the door, the unknown force drained his HP. Lasted 2 rounds that time. :-)
I'm fine with this house rule. Strangely, I don't know that I've ever seen this situation come up in my 15 years of playing 3.x
My house rules: Ability Damage: We use the 3.5 version of this rule: ability damage reduces ability modifiers accordingly. Ignore the Pathfinder rule that says “For every 2 points of damage you take to a single ability, apply a –1 penalty to skills and statistics listed with the relevant ability.”
Trapfinding is a Feat: Any class may choose the Rogue class feature “Trapfinding” as a feat. It is a “General” feat, for purposes of those classes which gain bonus feats (e.g Fighter Combat feats or Wizard Item Creation feats). This is intended to allow parties without Rogues to still have a trap specialist. Characters will still need to put points into the Perception and Disable Device skills to take proper advantage of this feat. [And after having read this thread, I think I'm going to try the "Combat Maneuvers only provoke AoOs on failure" option. I think that might increase the odds of the maneuvers being attempted...I want to see if it makes combats a bit more lively.]
Ok, so insomnia resulted in me re-reading the entire freaking IC thread. And based on that, I have two small ret-cons for Caelin: Aumgwe will get a barkskin +2 from Tae's wand, instead if he can; Caelin will drink a potion of fly in the armory
From the next set's errata:
:-)
"Slashing all day for Sarenrae" "Feel the Raw Power of the Dawnflower!" "Say 'goodnight' to the Everlight!" or, once you've moved up the ranks and are allowed to enter the most holy kitchen of Sarenrae's worship: "Place evil monster in the good-processor and hack mercilessly for 10 to 11 6-second pulses."
The History of Chess, in Two Scenes: Scene 1:
Scene 2:
So, I've just finished Skinsaw and thought about going through with some new characters.
Is there any plan to make (or do they already exist) Suggested Deck Lists for characters above "start level"? They would need "Suggested Feat Choices", too obviously. This might be a good online resource and generate content from fans.
I think the scenario card phrase "...from a location deck,..." means what it says. A summoned Zombie Minion is from the box, not a location deck, and thus doesn't get shuffled into a random open location. Caizarlu was from the location deck, not the Zombies. So, Valeros and Lini fight the summoned zombies, then whoever explored fights Caizarlu. There is no shuffling of zombies into this or any other location.
These meta-rules, combined with the new example of play, nicely address the feedback I'd given on the rules presentation. So, for me at least, they work very well.
I'd include Sanctuary. The ability to pin henchmen and villains is crucial given that both characters will likely be in the same location.
Excellent points, h4ppy. I think that you're right that the design deities at Paizo could probably shrink the concepts down on paper. That's why they get paid the medium bucks!
I recall the maelstrom around timing in Magic when it first came out. And the steady proliferation of action types in 3.x/Pathfinder systems (swift, immediate, free) was also a response to timing issues. I believe this shows clearly that FAQs and errata (along with an evolving and expanding sequence of play) have as much to do with gamers always trying to lawyer their way to victory, as it does with the quality of the game design and rules presentation. More people playing the game, and engaged enough that they care about how to win, means more people pushing on the limits of the system and generating FAQs, calls for rulings, corrected components, etc. Stated another way, games that people don't play (because of lame subject matter, cumbersome core mechanics, length, etc) have less FAQ and errata. But it is nonsense to assume that those crappy games are more perfectly designed and tested. :-)
Mike: I'd like to join the many others in saying "thanks" to you and your team for designing a very fun game.
I'd like to provide my feedback on learning and playing the game in the hopes that it is helpful. It echos much of what has been said above. (However, I don't want my comments below to detract from my first comments: this is a very fun game!) I'm a long-time wargamer, a 25-year Advanced Squad Leader veteran, and the last game I learned was GMT's Here I Stand. I say this to let you know that I am no stranger to complex rules systems, errata, the need for clarifications, etc. I very much enjoyed the "natural language" style of the PFACG rule book. I think this is an excellent way to ease people into a game. But I was surprised by the difference between, on the one hand, the fairly simple presentation of the rules and sequence of play and, on the other, the complexity of turns when you actually played them. Not "angry", not "disappointed"; not anything negative...just "surprised".
Because of that experience, I drew the following conclusions. First, the natural language of the rules means that you can't address all the complexities that will derive from the millions of card, power, and feat combinations. This is ok. It shouldn't try to do this.
Secondly, I think the sequence of play description and aids (especially on the back of the rule book) should be expanded a bit to better illuminate the complexity of how turns actually play out.
So, that's my feedback. I hope it helps as you move forward with your development efforts. I look forward to the next adventure in this set, and to subsequent sets!
Isn't it a spellcraft check for magic items? Each type of magic item (arms & armor, scrolls, potions, etc) has a different set of skills that may be used. For scribe scroll they are: SpellcraftCraft (calligraphy), or Profession (Scribe) I don't know how I'll do this as I advance. Spellcraft is a much better investment of a skill rank, and one needs to keep up with the rising caster levels of item creation.
I have a sudden urge to eat things. Hungry, Oz secretly worships Rovagug, or both?
Nice, what was your favorite place to eat? Too many to choose. Los Cuates, Papa Filipe's, El Pinto for the patios and the chile con carne, Eloys, that place way down on 2nd street that has frickin' relleno burritos (!)... My wife loves Frontier vegetarian burritos, and I could eat Frontier tortillas like a thirsty man drinks water. But the place I probably miss the most is Dion's. There really isn't anything to compare to that out here. Quality, variety, convenience, consistency. When I visited for a week last year, I pledged that every meal would be either New Mexican or Dion's. Success. Now, don't get me wrong, there are some fabulous restaurants out here, and one has plenty of ethnic cuisine, but Mexican or Latin food isn't the same as New Mexican because of the chile. It's an issue. (As this rant suggests.) How about you? What part of the state are you in, and where do you get your food? [And I actually stopped typing in the middle of that sentence and started thinking about mopping up red chile sauce with a sopa.]
Albuquerque. Christmas on combo plates, red otherwise.
I'm east coast now (But most of my life was spent in New Mexico! Love the Land of Enchantment!)
Ok, sold on the "entire pantheon" take and the Force for Good trait. Will edit backstory to reflect. Now I'll gear-up the Tanj and he'll be ready to start play by midnight eastern. Oh, and Shalafi:
How to build a spoiler: Use the following formatting tools:
What a nice dancing brother, maybe your theme song can be dancing queen from Abba :)Ha! Nah, you're the queen =P If anything, his song would be Can't Touch This =P [singing] My, my, my magic hits you so hardMakes you say "Oh my Gods, Thank you for blessing me With high SR and 10HD" [/singing]
I guess I'm not really seeing a rules-based problem here. The worship of Desna only really gives him proficiency with the starknife. Other than that, it's just an eclectic choice for one of his two domains. I'm making an eclectic choice to make playing the character memorable and fun. He's sill going to spend his time casting buffs and cures and soaking off the boring magic items, just like any other cleric. It'll just be with a slightly different flavor and back story.
As for the campaign or society traits, it really doesn't matter to me at all. I picked focused mind for the rules impact, but I don't care about the second one. I was just trying to find something that matched the background as I had written it. But I can change the end of the story to incorporate something else. I'm happy for someone else to suggest one for me if it'll tie our PCs together. Maybe I joined a similar faction, because [insert reason].
I didn't feel that any of the Campaign or Pathfinder Society traits matched my desired back-story. Of course, I can take one of them, if you are ok with me changing the flavor text.
As for the domains, I look at it this way: clerics can choose any two domains if they don't specify a deity. That's what I'm doing. The worship of Desna is mainly just flavor.
Here's the character fluff for me. Let me know if there is anything you don't like here, Aardvark Tanjvats, half-orc cleric 1 of Desna
Really long background:
Tanjvats (“Tanj” to most) was born and soon abandoned by his human mother in the tiny costal village of Sandpoint. There he eked out a living as one of “Gorvi’s Boys” cleaning the streets and gutters and carting the filth to Junker’s Edge. He suffered the predictable struggles of a poor half-orc in a mainly human town working in a lowly profession. However, unlike many of his friends and co-workers, the oppressive contempt never drove his soul towards anger, violence or evil. He once joked (shyly, through is over-large fangs) that the occasional, violent insults at least broke the monotony of being unseen and unremarkable. His co-workers failed to see the humor, and his friends remained few. Tanjvats liked Sandpoint, especially the small chapel with its shrine to Desna. The stories of hope, luck and adventure that covered its walls, or were shared by its itinerant priests, were a source of joy and succor to the young urchin. He would often spend the early evening (before darkness fell and his street-sweeping duties would begin) gazing at the Lost Coast Road and imagine walking it someday as a free priest of Mother Moon. So, when he experienced his first bout of good fortune, his mind immediately turned to Desna. One rainy night, when shoveling horse manure down on Water Street, Tanj heard the sound of strange singing, interspersed with retching, coming from the dock behind the Hagfish tavern. He peeked around the corner and saw a large Shoanti man bent over a piling and emptying his stomach into Sandpoint Harbor. Tanj was shocked at what seemed to be gallons of vomit coming out of the man. Concerned (and not a little impressed) he moved forward to help, just in time to see the man slide sideways off the piling, bounce on the wooden planks and roll ignobly into the filthy water.
Tanj spent a few of these coins on a book at The Curious Goblin (a missive by some Patherfinder-hopeful), but the remainder he left as a gift to Desna, thanks for his good luck. From that point on, he was determined to help others through the worship of Desna, and to travel open roads. Father Zantus was an excellent teacher (if a bit preoccupied with his own adopted daughter) and Tanj proved an apt pupil. He quickly learned the basic skills of an acolyte and took a new job as a low scribe, catering to the merchant class of Sandpoint. He had a good fist for letters, a decent head for numbers, and a love of books and reading. All seemed to be going well, and he hoped his dreams might soon come true. But then the nightmares began. The first was bad, and he awoke in a cold sweat and felt an immediate need to pray. He’d dreamt that he was back cleaning the streets for Gorvi and was pushing a severed dog’s head along the dusty roads with a broom. The dog’s eyes were still open, and it was whispering terrible secrets to him. Tanj tried as hard as he could to ignore the whispers, but he kept recognizing the words. When he finally realized what the dog was saying, his own belly began to swell. It grew and grew until he began vomiting all over the dirt road. The vomit kept coming and coming until it ran like foul sewage through the streets of Sandpoint. As this filth touched the boots of the townspeople, they turned to look at him in fear and horror. The nightmares came frequently after that, and they took their toll on his demeanor, confidence and faith. He’d begun to learn the basics of divine magic. And while the unrelenting night terrors caused him to redouble his devotion to Desna, there was a part of him that worried that it wasn’t Her, but some other power, that was granting his powers. Doubt and fear crept into his mind. There followed the Sandpoint Fire, and Chopper’s Spree and the ruined Swallowtail Festival, and the attacks by giants and a dragon. His heart hoped for the courage to face these evils, to help his home town, to prove his own worth. But his mind doubted, weakened by horrific visions, and he hid himself in the cold stone walls of Sandpoint’s new cathedral. One night, awakened by another nightmare, he walked the streets alone. He came to a sinkhole that had recently opened next to the garrison after an earthquake. He looked into that abyss and could hear again the sinister whispers of his dreams. But this was no dream. The whispers confirmed what he secretly feared: that he didn’t belong here, that his true nature came from darkness and for all his faith, and dreams of open roads, he only deserved dark holes like this one. He wept, and fled. He arrived soon in Magnimar, able with effort to maintain coherent thought and fight off the brutal visions of his now-waking dreams. He actively sought out dark places, from filthy sewers to dank catacombs, exploring them for rusty coin and to escape the shame of the sunlit world. But even here divine fortune didn’t abandon him. His skills were of use to a local Pathfinder who, taken by his devotion to Desna, sponsored him in the local lodge. But Tanj knows he’ll never be a real Pathfinder. Not like the others, with their heroic uncovering of long-lost mysteries. But he hopes that he’ll be able to help those who do deserve to have their stories told. He hopes that he’ll be able to capture at least some portion of his lost dreams by aiding those who are better than him. And he hopes that he’ll be able to thank Desna for the grace she has shown an unworthy and troubled soul. He remains blessed by some remarkable luck, a fact that grants some comfort during his extended periods of coherence. But open roads are now just rutted paths between the rank pits he must call home. Maybe someday he’ll be strong enough to find the peace that comes so easily to others, and to finally be free of the whispering dark.
Ok, a 10 is a 14, per Aardvark's suggestion. I'll have a 14 Cha, so a +2 mod.
Obviously, I'm going for the domains of Luck and Madness.
Ok, so re-reading the rolling rules, as corrected, I can re-roll if result is less than a 15-point buy or if total mods are less than +5. Set above has net mods of +1. So, I'll re-roll again. - 2 = 13
Total mods +4, but I think I'm just going to take this guy and start building.
Aard:
- 1 = 11
I'm out of time this morning, but I'll go back and look at the rules. I think this one is officially too low? I'll get it worked out.
I have no problem with any of these. I'll play whichever way folks decide.
Oh, and I'm going to mull those rolls and peruse some domains tonight. I'll post a character tomorrow. Sorry for the slow posting. A bit of a week for me.
So, I'm seeing a party that is:
Is that correct? Looks like we'll need a cleric? Happy to do that if that's the case. Here are my rolls: - 2 = 16
Final set is:
As a great man once said: Hoody-frickin-hoo. I'll roll comeliness after I place CHR stat.
Hi folks: I'm late to the discussion show, but happy to be here. I'll pick my class last, so as to fill any holes in the party composition.
There's some minor clean-up I'd like to see to the Vision and Light rules, namely the adoption of light levels "supernaturally dark" and "supernaturally bright". Thus, in descending order of brightness:
This would do two small things:
"Evocation [light]" spells above daylight could be created to raise light levels in the same way that the darkness spells lower them. E.g. face of the gods a hypothetical 5th level spell, raises the light level shed by an existing source by 2. Thus, a torch becomes supernaturally bright to 20, bright to 40, normal to 60, dim to 80 (double for LL creatures). All the above assumes that this hasn't been done already and I just didn't see the change. :-)
Salindurthas: yes, in a way, but only if you retain the skills currently defined by the system, which isn't required. I'd describe it instead as: IF (the 'if' is important), if you want to drop the concept of "skills" and "ranks" and "class skills" as well as the clearly limited meaning and usage of those skills, this system gives you a way to adjudicate tasks vs a DC that is 1) super-easy, 2) analogous to the original mechanic, and 3) preserves a bit of inter-class balance. Does the fighter use the same ability score as the rogue when jumping a pit? That's up to the DM. Does the rogue know anything about the strange arcane writings just because the player said he used to study dragons? Player and GM make it up as they go along and try to be challenged and have fun. The design pit-falls are obvious:
2) Nightmare players/GMs can easily abuse.
But again, it's not designed to be robust, it's designed to be flexible. This is the system I'll be using next year to teach my soon-to-be 8-yr-olds how to roleplay.
My version is similar to yours, Mordo:
Rogues aren't nerfed because they have flavor text which describes their general skillfulness. Smart players will have detailed backgrounds. The goal is to have something very rules-lite. That obviously means that there will be more "pressing for advantage" by the players and more adjudication by the DM. And more strange happenings caused by the variability of the d20...just like in older versions of D&D. All that stuff is a feature of old-school, not a bug. As a side note, on the super-barbarian/grandmother example mentioned above: if Conan simply Takes 10 against the weak grandmother, he can't lose. She might tie if she rolls a 20, but tell me that wouldn't be a blast to have happen at your table? Who wouldn't want to have that be part of their gaming experience? In closing, if you want fewer rules, you've got to be OK with less certainty.
I started Patchwall 5 of CY 593 for my campaigns. That is autumn with enough downtime between the two adventures before "winter rains". I mitigated the tropical climate with the elevation of Cauldron, making it seem a bit less tropical, except when folks descended the mountain...first to high savannah, then to lowland forests.
No, negative energy and ability damage/drain are not the same thing, even though some monsters do both. So, a touch attack by a wraith does 1d6 points of negative energy damage to your hit point total, but also (with a separate d6 roll) Con drain.
Yes, I am missing a feat somewhere: Elemental Spell. Thanks.
The Elemental bloodline arcana and the wizard evocation school power allow spells to have their energy type changed (e.g. fireball to "acid ball") Are there other ways to do this outside of these class choices? Are there feats, racial options, etc for instance, that give this ability? I note that cross-blooding would allow it, with a drawback. Am I missing a feat somewhere? |