An Aberrant-Bloodline sounds...kinda frightening. Not just in terms of their potential powers, but also the implication of what happened several generations back.
"Yeah, my Granddaddy was Cthulhu's second cousin. He and my Grandma got drunk at the same party and well, y'know how these things happen."
....cool! Sounds like a character for next time!
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Hey Jason, we've seen teasers about Barbarians, Paladins, and Sorcerers...what about Druids?!?
Next revision I'd guess. Release a little at a time so it gets thoroughly playtested, then release some more. This isn't about giving you the class you like to play, it's about making sure each piece works before going to the next.
I find the rage points/rage powers concept quite interesting, and full of potential.
Different barbarian tribes could develop different (and even exclusive!) powers, inspired by environment or totem or else, and thus give a crunch-strong basis for fluff.
Good times ahead for Shoanti tribes, I'd say.Can't wait to see Alpha Release 2.
Golem, I had not even begun to consider that option. That is a fantastic point. The idea that certain tribes might have specific rage abilities that are not (or rarely) found outside the tribe is great. It can really make each barbarian fit with their tribe and shine seperately from other barbarians. "These are the berserkers of the Windrunner Tribe, they are all about the speed and movement. These are the ragers of the Mountain Bear Tribe, for them it is all about the strength and tenacity." This concept makes me extremely happy. Some nice options for a splatbook...probably including druid and ranger to do a "wilderness classes" could give some really solid options for rage powers.
-Weylin STormcrowe
An Aberrant-Bloodline sounds...kinda frightening. Not just in terms of their potential powers, but also the implication of what happened several generations back.
"Yeah, my Granddaddy was Cthulhu's second cousin. He and my Grandma got drunk at the same party and well, y'know how these things happen."
....cool! Sounds like a character for next time!
Makes me consider the idea of an Aberrant-Bloodline Githyanki sorcerer...the illithids tampered more heavily with his ancestors mixing the blood and essence of aberrations with theirs inadvertantly creating a powerful bloodline of sorcerers after the Githyanki freed themselves.
So does the "gaining rage points with levels" thing mean that you can't recover your rage points until you level up? If so, it sounds like it could be underpowered, depending on how many rage points per level you get. I like the concept, though.
I suspect it is a daily pool myself.
Well as for an undead bloodline...some one can be tainted a few ways.
Been feed off of to many times,to much energy drain,to much time dealing with death and undeath, pact with a death god,exposer to negative energy or items rich with it. I am sure there are many more but thats off the top of my head.
Also I think rage pools are daily.
I posted this in the Sorcerer suggestions thread, but:
. . . while undead do not reproduce by normal means . . . might effect necromancers and others that deal regularly with the dead or the undead . . . in rare instances a vampire or other undead might feed off a pregnant humanoid and in allowing her to live endow the unborn child with its foul nature . . .
That was from the description of the undead bloodline feat from the Dragon article on bloodlines. While I doubt the effects will be identical, I imagine the explanation of the bloodline will be similar.
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I find the rage points/rage powers concept quite interesting, and full of potential.
Different barbarian tribes could develop different (and even exclusive!) powers, inspired by environment or totem or else, and thus give a crunch-strong basis for fluff.
Good times ahead for Shoanti tribes, I'd say.Can't wait to see Alpha Release 2.
Golem, I had not even begun to consider that option. That is a fantastic point. The idea that certain tribes might have specific rage abilities that are not (or rarely) found outside the tribe is great. It can really make each barbarian fit with their tribe and shine seperately from other barbarians. "These are the berserkers of the Windrunner Tribe, they are all about the speed and movement. These are the ragers of the Mountain Bear Tribe, for them it is all about the strength and tenacity." This concept makes me extremely happy. Some nice options for a splatbook...probably including druid and ranger to do a "wilderness classes" could give some really solid options for rage powers.
-Weylin STormcrowe
Exactly what I was thinking.
While the listed 21 rage powers could be the "common base" for barbarians, a nice gazetteer (Pathfinder Companion? *hint*) could fill the details for the Golarion-specific tribes, such as the Shoanti.I find really exiting the mutual benefit from crunch to fluff and vice versa: you a have a cool idea for a power, you develop a themed piece of history that backs it up, you have a cool concept for a background theme related to a specific tribe, you develop simple rules to reinforce the feeling of specialization.
The same base concept can be morphed to suit different monk styles too, with a basic list of ki powers and a further development covering the details for fluff-heavy (with crunch backup!) Golarion monasteries.
Moreover the pool point framework gives a player a very nice balance of flexibility in game and strategic use of its character resources.
Good times ahead.
Is there going to be a teaser today?I hope so...and I hope this time it's about Druids!
yes Druids with a glimpse into the updated shapeshifting rules.
*drops to his knees*
PLEAAAASE.....
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My favorite class is ranger and I was dissatisfied with PHB 3.5 Ed. variant so much that I've created an Elven Hunter class for the use of my players. I hope that Paizo team will do something with Animal Companion ability and two-weapon fighting that were ranger's trademarks. Under the current rules it's better to play Drizzt-like fighter.
Dum-de-dum. Big week. Big week.
Director of Games
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Ah, Sunday. Only a few more days left until release 2 gets posted (crosses fingers). Here is yet another exciting preview.
Polymorph, and all of the abilities based off it such as Wild Shape, have undergone a wide variety of changes in the upcoming release. First off, polymorph is no longer a spell, it is a subschool of transmutation. While I am not going to get into all the specifics right now, there are now a large number of spells in this new subschool. Here is one of the more basic ones.
BEAST SHAPE I
School transmutation (polymorph); Level wizard/sorcerer 3
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a piece of the creature whose form you plan to assume)
EFFECT
Range personal
Target you
Duration 1 min/level (D)
DESCRIPTION
When you cast this spell you can assume the form of any Small or Medium creature of the animal type. If the form you assume has any of the following abilities you gain the listed ability: climb 30 feet, fly 30 feet (average maneuverability), swim 30 feet, darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, and scent.
Small animal: If the form you take is that of a Small animal, you gain a +2 enhancement bonus to your Dexterity and a +1 natural armor bonus.
Medium animal: If the form you take is that of a Medium animal, you gain a +2 enhancement bonus to your Strength and a +2 natural armor bonus.
Not surprisingly, the first ability of wild shape is based off this spell.
Enjoy
Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing
That looks really nice.and a new subschool of spells yay. Love the spell looks great its simple.
however doe being small changes any of your stats or is there no change to stats, or are they the critters physical stats?
OMG... can I have you baby?
I really like the component needed. One thing though, how will this mesh with the Eschew Materials feat? Without a 1gp cost, one could bypass the built in limitations the spell seems to have (i.e. the ability to still assume any shape the caster wants). Perhaps it would have been more apt to make it a focus (bone form the creature you wish to assume the form of).
well simple stuff is cheap stuff like orgerhide or dragon scales is gonna cost more then 1gp.
Man, transmuters are getting some love! First, we got b-tch slap as a level one school ability and now the whole polymorph subschool. Its going to be a loong two days.
True.
The point that stands out with the material component, it puts the onus squarely on the character (within game context) to know/show what is is capable of transforming into. Kind of like a running record of knowledge of creatures encountered. So often I have seen players, and DM's letting them get away with it, finding some obscure creature from a little known book to transform into.
yeah It might allow something odd put you'll have to find a piece of it first
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Here is your preview for today, a look at a pair of specific barbarian rage powers. As noted in a previous preview, barbarians gain rage points as they gain levels. These points can be spent to enter and prolong a rage, but they can also be used on a number of powers that consume rage points. There are 21 rage powers in the release 2 document. Here are two of them.
Mighty Swing (Ex): The barbarian automatically confirms a critical hit. This power is used as a swift action once a critical threat has been determined. A barbarian must be at least 8th level before selecting this power. (12 rage points)
Moment of Clarity (Ex): The barbarian does not take any of the penalties from rage for 1 round. This includes the penalty to armor class and the restriction on what actions can be performed. (6 rage points)
Hmmm...The concept of Rage Points for barbarians sounds interesting. It might add a bit more versatility to the barbarian character class without greatly increasing its overall power level.
My only concern is that this mechanic may introduce some additional bookkeeping in combat. I wonder whether it would possible to preserve the underlying concept of alternate rage powers without introducing the need to track rage points?
The potential extra bookkeeping for Barbarians does concern me a little (not to mention the irony of more bookkeeping for a class that is illiterate), but extra uses for Rage? Sign me up!
The potential extra bookkeeping for Barbarians does concern me a little (not to mention the irony of more bookkeeping for a class that is illiterate), but extra uses for Rage? Sign me up!
That why they have fingers and toes maaan. :o)
But then I guess that would make the dude who lost a few to the pirranahs a bit SOL, now wouldn't it?
i'm sooo looking forward to release 2
i've got a new group starting in a few weeks and one player (a newbie no less YAY go me!!*) has an idea for a barbarian!!!!
*i'm excited because i haven't had more than one player in my group for about 18 years, now i'll have 2 new ones, the old player is taking a break!, and so it'll hopefully be the start of an awesome campaign!
Ah, Sunday. Only a few more days left until release 2 gets posted (crosses fingers). Here is yet another exciting preview.
Spoiler:Polymorph, and all of the abilities based off it such as Wild Shape, have undergone a wide variety of changes in the upcoming release. First off, polymorph is no longer a spell, it is a subschool of transmutation. While I am not going to get into all the specifics right now, there are now a large number of spells in this new subschool. Here is one of the more basic ones.BEAST SHAPE I
School transmutation (polymorph); Level wizard/sorcerer 3
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a piece of the creature whose form you plan to assume)
EFFECT
Range personal
Target you
Duration 1 min/level (D)
DESCRIPTION
When you cast this spell you can assume the form of any Small or Medium creature of the animal type. If the form you assume has any of the following abilities you gain the listed ability: climb 30 feet, fly 30 feet (average maneuverability), swim 30 feet, darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, and scent.Small animal: If the form you take is that of a Small animal, you gain a +2 enhancement bonus to your Dexterity and a +1 natural armor bonus.
Medium animal: If the form you take is that of a Medium animal, you gain a +2 enhancement bonus to your Strength and a +2 natural armor bonus.
Not surprisingly, the first ability of wild shape is based off this spell.
Enjoy
Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing
Sounds a bit like a combination of the shapeshifting ability from PH2 and the polymorph sub-school from the spellcompendium.
I miss burrow speed and natural armor.
And higher level spells / wildshape uses should really give more abilities like pounce, rake, imp grab, poison,...
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The potential extra bookkeeping for Barbarians does concern me a little (not to mention the irony of more bookkeeping for a class that is illiterate), but extra uses for Rage? Sign me up!
Somebody over on ENWorld pointed out that the barbarian tends to be a one-trick pony under the standard 3.5 rules.
I like the idea of giving the barbarian a more versatile role. I just wonder whether there is a way to do this that doesn't increase the amount of bookkeeping. One option might be to introduce something similar to the ranger talent trees. Another option might be to use a mechanic similar to the rogue talents...perhaps something like this:
Rage Talents: As a barbarian gains experience, she learns a number of to channel her rage more wisely. Starting at 2nd level, a barbarian gains one rage talent. She gains an additional rage talent for every 2 levels of experience attained after 2nd level. In order to activate a rage talent, the barbarian must expend one use of her rage ability for the day. This is a swift action.
Personally, I'd love to see a barbarian ability that allows a barbarian to get a second Will save against mind-affecting spells and supernatural abilities by focusing their inner fury - Conan does it all the time :)
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The potential extra bookkeeping for Barbarians does concern me a little (not to mention the irony of more bookkeeping for a class that is illiterate), but extra uses for Rage? Sign me up!
For points systems like this (I run with a spell points system), we use the little colored resin stones like you might get in a mancala game to keep track. Different colors for different denominations of points. As an added benefit my reflexes are improving. Want to cast a spell? Throw a stone at the DM! Just be prepared to receive your change.
I may have to reallocate my denominations, though. I can't imagine using anything but red for barbarian rage points.
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Personally, the rage points seems like a great idea to me. I don't consider it "bookkeeping" as i already track hit points, and this is no more difficult. I also use action points (borrowed from Eberron) and track them as well. So all total, thats only 3 things for a Barbarian to keep track of... Not much of a trade off for a really great new flexibility.
Really like the new polymorph change as well. This i think fixes alot of the broken uberness of the old polymorph. Also gives it more scalability and yet keeps the power level balanced and very well described. Helps to avoid rules-lawyering arguments. Kudos!
... Polymorph, and all of the abilities based off it such as Wild Shape, have undergone a wide variety of changes in the upcoming release. First off, polymorph is no longer a spell, it is a subschool of transmutation. ...
AND SANITY MAKES A COMEBACK TO POLYMORPH, AND THE CROWD GOES WILD !!!
Are we there yet ? ;)
Vic spent the weekend doing the final edit on the Alpha 2 release, so hopefully that means it will be up soon.
-Lisa
w00t!
Vic spent the weekend doing the final edit on the Alpha 2 release, so hopefully that means it will be up soon.
-Lisa
Lets all thank Vic and lets hope we get it a day early LOL
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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BEAST SHAPE I
School transmutation (polymorph); Level wizard/sorcerer 3
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a piece of the creature whose form you plan to assume)
EFFECT
Range personal
Target you
Duration 1 min/level (D)
DESCRIPTION
When you cast this spell you can assume the form of any Small or Medium creature of the animal type. If the form you assume has any of the following abilities you gain the listed ability: climb 30 feet, fly 30 feet (average maneuverability), swim 30 feet, darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, and scent.Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing
I assume that if the chosen creature has speeds greater than 30 you get the movement form, but capped at 30?
Also, as another poster mentioned, what about burrow? I don't think that's more game breaking than fly.
Finally, does this spell grant a bonus to deception checks to disguise yourself as the beast form assumed? Is this aspect of the spell part of the polymorph sub-school description?
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Director of Brand Strategy
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Vic spent the weekend doing the final edit on the Alpha 2 release, so hopefully that means it will be up soon.
-Lisa
This is why we love Vic. He's willing to sacrifice his weekend for the betterment of the RPG community. I'm refreshing the page over and over again, so once it's up, I will see to it that has efforts were not in vain. I'm more excited about this release than I was when I heard the initial announcement for the first release.
Vic spent the weekend doing the final edit on the Alpha 2 release, so hopefully that means it will be up soon.
-Lisa
How soon is soon(LOL!)?
We have two sessions planned for friday and saturday so I am eager to see what Alpha 2 has in store as well.
Barbarian rage points sound great (anyone complaining it's too much bookkeeping, suffers a -1 penalty to skill checks, attack rolls, and saving throws in the Halls of Wrath and the Shimmering Veils of Pride!) and I can't wait to see what they have done with the druid.
Jason,
Please consider giving the Ranger access to spells like BEAST SHAPE I. One of the great losses in going from 3.0 to 3.5 was the loss of the polymorph spell from the Ranger spell list. If someone is playing the ranger as a Druidic Knight then the ability to shape change into an animal form to travel with a druid is invaluable.
Doug
Only a few days? Woo! That may mean I will be converting my RotRLs group too. Then I'll have two playtest groups. ^^
Will there be a Character Sheet with this update?
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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BEAST SHAPE I
School transmutation (polymorph); Level wizard/sorcerer 3
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a piece of the creature whose form you plan to assume)
EFFECT
Range personal
Target you
Duration 1 min/level (D)
DESCRIPTION
When you cast this spell you can assume the form of any Small or Medium creature of the animal type. If the form you assume has any of the following abilities you gain the listed ability: climb 30 feet, fly 30 feet (average maneuverability), swim 30 feet, darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, and scent.Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo PublishingI assume that if the chosen creature has speeds greater than 30 you get the movement form, but capped at 30?
Also, as another poster mentioned, what about burrow? I don't think that's more game breaking than fly.
Finally, does this spell grant a bonus to deception checks to disguise yourself as the beast form assumed? Is this aspect of the spell part of the polymorph sub-school description?
Actually a Burrow speed would be more game breaking than Fly. Firstly if a creature flies and you aren't able to, you can resort to ranged attacks to get at it. A Burrower however gets total cover from you until it pops it's head back up from the ground.
Some things to remember about burrow (emphasis mine)...
Burrow: A creature with a burrow speed can tunnel through dirt, but not through rock unless the descriptive text says otherwise. Creatures cannot charge or run while burrowing. Most burrowing creatures do not leave behind tunnels other creatures can use (either because the material they tunnel through fills in behind them or because they do not actually dislocate any material when burrowing); see the individual creature descriptions for details.
So, no digging around those dungeons/buildings, and no creating tunnels for your mates (in most cases).
Also, a creature granted burrow that doesn't also gain blindsight, tremorsense, or at least blindsense is going to be moving as if totally blind...
For all animal abilities, however, I would like some clarity on things like fly (if I'm a creature with a better/worse fly speed and maneuver rating, does the spell change that?). Maybe reword the sentence something like this:
"If the form you assume has any of the following abilities you gain the listed ability: climb (maximum speed 30 feet), fly (maximum speed 30 feet, maximum maneuverability average), swim (maximum speed 30 feet), darkvision (maximum range 60 feet), low-light vision, and scent."
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Thank you Lisa, Vic, and the PAIZO staff for keeping us updated and for staying in-step with the times. The idea of user-created-content that could make its way into the actual release of Pathfinder RPG is of high appeal to many of us. The fact that Vic is dedicated enough to work through the weekend says a lot about his, and your company's, passion for its product, and relationship with its customers.
Again, and again, I say Erik Mona, and PAIZO, is the true steward of "our game." Those of us who believe that the integrity of a company and its customer service still matter in today's world, thank you. Where else would the CEO, the lead designer, and the publisher all hop on the message boards to update its beloved consumers who are eagerly awaiting the newest release!
PAIZO is where the legacy of dungeons and dragons truly continues.