
MaxBarton |

The trick is to be less picky who you game with. Most of the games I'm in have 1 person who is my friend. I rarely go through more than one campaign that's made up mostly of the same group. They're totally different people nearly every time. Sometimes there's a 1 or 2 person carry over.
Unfortunately being out of college as well as most of my players limits our options for new players. I'm pretty content with the group I play with though. We're in a pretty rural area to find a lot of RPG fans other than the local university. Least to say it takes around an hour to get to the nearest store that carries any RPG books :p
All in all I'm glad to have been able to keep our local gaming group going for almost four years now.

MicMan |

I don't think that Pathfinder Basic will tune down the rules complexity.
Basic systems usually simply leave rules out that beginners are unlikely to encounter any time soon than to really change rules.
Sometimes I wonder what the Paizos could have done if backwards comptibility weren't a concern when designing Pathfinder.

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I dont think Pathfinder gameplay needs to be simplified. I just want as many ways to cut down on my prep work as a GM as possible.
Is there a fast way to make zombies and skeletons? Maybe an app that does it automatically? I need to make dwarf zombies and skeletons, goblin zombies and skeletons, minotaur zombies and skeletons, and ogre zombies and skeletons for next tuesday. It seems to be a tedious process (Haven't started yet, just looked it over).
I would however be in favor of a class-less variant as described in my last post; A build your own class as you go grab bag of everything sorted by category and assigned point value costs; everything from BAB to Caster Level to Spells Known to... etc; with level only determining where your limits are on things. (E6 (with class abilities done up to level 8) would be fine, it would be a really big project if it went all the way to 20.)

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take standard human skeleton:
use small simple template for halflings/gnomes/kobolds/goblins
use no template for humans, dwarves, elves
use large simple template for minotaurs, ogres, trolls.
Two templates shouldn't take more than 5 minutes.
Rinse and repeat for zombies.

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Don't they normally retain a number of abilities from whatever they were pre-skeleton/zombie? I know a minotaur skeleton still has a gore attack, for example; and I'd expect goblin zombies go faster than halfling ones.
You're absolutely right. But PCs aren't likely to notice or care to a notable degree. What he's suggesting isn't RAW, but it'll do in a pinch, and save quite a bit of work.
Personally, if doing this, I'd switch out their movement speeds, too, but that's not abig deal either.

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I wonder whether out of all this discussion there could be a possible new product for Paizo (even if only a PDF product).
It seems some GMs don't want to have to construct NPCs using the same rules as PCs, they just want the stuff that will be important in an encounter.
Perhaps Paizo could release some NPC creation rules that take a cue from D&D 4e's NPC/ Monster creation rules - rather than having to choose a set of feats and magic items to justify a certain attack bonus, skill rating or save value, just have a simple scale that abstractly rolls all that up.
E.g. every 2 levels it is assumed an NPC will get an additional +1 attack bonus in addition to the normal BAB progression, either from a magic weapon enhancement, feat or ability enhancement (I am picking numbers out of the air here but hopefully you get the idea).
Then for those who dislike the NPCs having different rules, they can continue to play as is, but for those who want easier prep time they can use these optional NPC rules. Everyone wins and Pathfinder RPG can then boast one of the features that many commend 4e for having.

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E.g. every 2 levels it is assumed an NPC will get an additional +1 attack bonus in addition to the normal BAB progression, either from a magic weapon enhancement, feat or ability enhancement (I am picking numbers out of the air here but hopefully you get the idea).
They already have the Monster Creation table, which lets you do this by CR if you like, I'm not sure that we need another.

hedgeknight |

Alright, if no one else is gonna mention it, this "old timer" will. NPC's and other critters weren't so hard to "wing" in the glory days of Basic D&D, or 1E/2E AD&D - there wasn't a plethora of feats, skills, crunchy bits, etc. that had to be configured before an encounter. I ran campaigns that lasted for years...homebrews that I prepped for and winged on the fly too. Monsters were easy, NPC's were easy...to me, running a game was just more fun...and so was playing.
I'm currently running two Pathfinder games - both are at 1st level - one on the boards here, and another via email with some old friends. And while I like the new feel of the game, in my personal, humble opinion, NOTHING rivals the good ol' days of 80's/90's D&D.
To Darkholme - step away from the GM chair and play for awhile. Rekindle the fire to run a game by doing some reading, planning, and putting together a module or string of modules, and then when you can't stand it any longer, get back in the chair!

Callum |

Why not tap into the vast resource that is the Paizo community? In this thread alone, half a dozen people have commented about their ability to put together NPC in a short (or not so short) amount of time.
Every time you need an NPC and don't have the time, simply open a thread titled "NPC request: 8th level Drow assassin" or whatever it is you need. Drop a few key points about the character concept, and what type of gear, gp limit etc. you'd like. I'd be very surprised if you didn't have a handful of different options to choose from within a day or two.
Well, then, I have a surprise for you! I tried that approach four weeks ago, and it came to nothing. You can see my thread here.

sunshadow21 |

After starting a game here, I am coming to believe that for most monsters, it is nice to have the ability to stat them out fully, but most of the time, it simply isn't needed. Maybe a feat or two, and determining if they have one or two key skills for what you plan on using them for, and beyond that, fluff will go a long way. If they manage to stay alive or important long enough to matter, than a full blown stat sheet can be justified, but for one encounter monsters/npcs, pick the highlights that are likely to come up, and leave the rest to fluff and roleplaying.

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I dont think Pathfinder gameplay needs to be simplified. I just want as many ways to cut down on my prep work as a GM as possible.
Is there a fast way to make zombies and skeletons? Maybe an app that does it automatically? I need to make dwarf zombies and skeletons, goblin zombies and skeletons, minotaur zombies and skeletons, and ogre zombies and skeletons for next tuesday. It seems to be a tedious process (Haven't started yet, just looked it over).
I would however be in favor of a class-less variant as described in my last post; A build your own class as you go grab bag of everything sorted by category and assigned point value costs; everything from BAB to Caster Level to Spells Known to... etc; with level only determining where your limits are on things. (E6 (with class abilities done up to level 8) would be fine, it would be a really big project if it went all the way to 20.)
With Hero Labs there is a perfect way to make any race/type of undead/race that you could possibly want and you could make them in 2-3 minutes each. I am not sure if that is fast enough for you or not but I can't see any way that is faster in my opinion :)
So basically any NPC you could possibly want or use could be made in a matter of minutes compared to 30+ minutes without it. I have also made basically any type opf NPC that can be imagined in Hero Labs to the point where I have at my disposal about 100+ NPC's of various types that I have personally made and if none of those work I have at my disposal the NPC's from the NPC guide that Paizo released as well as the Gamemastery guide. If those don't work then I have the two bestiary's as well that I can bring in any type of creature and ad a different template like celestial, fiendish, skeleton, young, add or subtract hit dice, basically ANY template that is out there I can add at the drop of a dime and it takes me less time to sneeze almost :)So my prep time all told is minimal compared to not having this software. Yes I know I am harping on having the Hero labs software but I do find it one of my most invaluable tools and enjoy the use of it because of all the games and such that I have to prep for weekly. Having Pathfinder Society events every Sunday, A weekly game on Saturday that I run, a Weekly game in Friday that I run and a game I play in on Wed nights. So you can see why I like Hero Labs so much.

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Well, then, I have a surprise for you! I tried exactly that approach four weeks ago, and it came to nothing. You can see my thread here.
Well, it was in the d20/3.5/OGL forum, whic isn't the most heavily trafficked area around (roughly, what, 10 posts a day, total?), but still, you make a point. People with the inclination to do such things probably just didn't see it, which could definitely be a problem.
A suggestion was made a while back in this thread of a new sub-forum for getting NPC help or NPC-crafting in general. That sounds like a good idea.

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Hero Lab is great! Although it can get a little expensive if you want access to more than just the core book, but non-the-less, it has been an invaluable asset to me for generating both PCs and NPCs...
Considering how much I spend on game books, I was able to swallow the cost pretty easily by spacing out my Hero Lab purchases. It took $100 over the course of six months, and I've got everything.
It may seem like a lot of $$, but how much is your time worth to you? If I compare it to overtime at work, that's about $30 an hour. By that estimate Hero Lab has EASILY saved me ten times that. Even at $10 an hour I would still consider it easily worth the time.
And I would say it takes about the same amount of time to edit in a class/feat/etc into Hero Lab as it does to make an NPC, so even if you don't want to spend as much $ on it, with a little bit of effort it will still start saving you time.

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Digitalelf wrote:Hero Lab is great! Although it can get a little expensive if you want access to more than just the core book, but non-the-less, it has been an invaluable asset to me for generating both PCs and NPCs...Considering how much I spend on game books, I was able to swallow the cost pretty easily by spacing out my Hero Lab purchases. It took $100 over the course of six months, and I've got everything.
It may seem like a lot of $$, but how much is your time worth to you? If I compare it to overtime at work, that's about $30 an hour. By that estimate Hero Lab has EASILY saved me ten times that. Even at $10 an hour I would still consider it easily worth the time.
And I would say it takes about the same amount of time to edit in a class/feat/etc into Hero Lab as it does to make an NPC, so even if you don't want to spend as much $ on it, with a little bit of effort it will still start saving you time.
This is what I keep telling people and that is to spread the cost out over time instead of thinking of it as one lump sum of money. If had to buy it as one lump sum I might balk at it as well... but having bought it over a period of six months like you.. it was basically chicken scratch compared to what I spend in any given week hehe.
In time management Hero labs is by far the single best tool in my arsenal as a DM that I have. My prep time alone for any one of my games compared to without it makes it possible for me to actually play more then one game a week as a DM. :)

DeathQuaker RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8 |

I dont think Pathfinder gameplay needs to be simplified. I just want as many ways to cut down on my prep work as a GM as possible.
Totally hear you. I enjoy running Pathfinder, but being a detail oriented type of GM, I often find a prep a chore (but I WANT to know the NPC's exact modifier to bluff... I know it's not necessary, but it's not my instinct to wing that kind of thing). Where I have managed to streamline my preparation, I still am working on finding better ways to keep myself organized at the table--I use a laptop, but it seems like half the time I end up ignoring it because I don't like looking between it and my players, but that may just be something I have to get over.
Is there a fast way to make zombies and skeletons? Maybe an app that does it automatically? I need to make dwarf zombies and skeletons, goblin zombies and skeletons, minotaur zombies and skeletons, and ogre zombies and skeletons for next tuesday. It seems to be a tedious process (Haven't started yet, just looked it over).
In PC Gen, you can create most creatures with templates pretty easily. However, in checking, I noticed that unfortunately the skeleton template doesn't work very well--because it takes away abilities, which PC Gen doesn't really do very well. I set the race to "dwarf" and added the skeleton template. It blots out the right ability scores, but doesn't reduce remaining mental abilities to 10. It adds the appropriate undead traits and feat, but it doesn't remove the racial abilities (to be fair, it's possible the only ones needing removal in the dwarf's case is stonecunning and greed). You have to add in the claw attacks manually (from Templates). If you give the character a class before adding the template, the program fails to remove the class HD, and I imagine it would not remove skills or feats either if you added them in,.
It's a start, but you'd need to remember to ignore the parts it didn't get right. I HAVE used PC Gen for other monster templates and those have worked fine (Advanced, Fiendish, etc.).
Hero Lab probably does this (but I agree with you about the price point. Heck, I own the program but I still don't use it for Pathfinder).
One thing you could do is write up a few skeletons when you have time and just save them to your hard drive, and pull them up whenever you needed them.

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How's the tech support for pathfinder? I found a bug in the WoD package that crashes the game, and when I asked for help with it I was simply ignored. It's one thing to do that when I get something for free; but if I paid for it; I should get support when your program starts crashing.
Mathias is on the boards all the time, and generally responds pretty quickly.
Also, I would point out that NPC's don't need ten different resources. I tend to keep my NPC's to Core, APG, Bestiary. You could skip the APG and use Herolab to stat out everything you need for about $40. Drow are included in the core data set (a lot of monsters as races are), so you could do your Drow NPC's for as little as $20.

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Hero Lab probably does this (but I agree with you about the price point. Heck, I own the program but I still don't use it for Pathfinder).
Why worry about the price point when you can actually spread the cost out over a period of time instead of all in one lump sum? You have at your hands a very valuable tool and you do not use it for the purpose it was intended. As I mentioned above in another post you do not need to buy each and every package/add-on for hero labs either. I do because I like to have at my disposal all the different splat books and such. You do not need to do that though. If you spread it the cost out then you do not have to worry about the large sum of money to buy it all at once. (Read my post above for a better description of how I went about buying it and why).
You talk in depth about PCGen but you have Hero Labs too and it takes care of the problem you were discussing quite easily.
DWARVEN SKELETON(BURNING VARIETY) CR 1/2
Male Dwarf
NE Medium Undead
Init +6; Senses Darkvision (60 feet); Perception +0
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 18. . (+4 armor, +2 shield, +2 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 9 (1d8+1)
Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2
Defensive Abilities Defensive Training; DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune cold, fire, Undead Traits
Weakness Vulnerability to Cold
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Spd 20 ft.
Melee Claw x2 (Skeleton) -2 x2 (1d4+1/20/x2) and
. . Shield, Heavy Steel -6 (1d4+1/20/x2) and
. . Unarmed Strike -2 (1d3+1/20/x2) and
. . Waraxe, Dwarven -6 (1d10+1/20/x3)
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Str 13, Dex 14, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk +0; CMB +1; CMD 13
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Acrobatics -1, Climb -2, Escape Artist -1, Fly -1, Ride -1, Stealth -1, Swim -2
Languages Common, Dwarven
SQ Fiery Aura (Ex), Fiery Death (DC 11) (Su), Greed, Hardy, Hatred, Hero Points (1), Slow and Steady, Stability, Stonecunning +2
Combat Gear Waraxe, Dwarven, Masterwork Chain Shirt, Shield, Heavy Steel;
--------------------
TRACKED RESOURCES
--------------------
. . -none-
--------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES
--------------------
Damage Reduction (5/bludgeoning) You have Damage Reduction against all except Bludgeoning attacks.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Fiery Aura (Ex) Creatures adjacent to a burning skeleton take 1d6 points of fire damage at the start of their turn. Anyone striking a burning skeleton with an unarmed strike or natural attack takes 1d6 points of fire damage.
Fiery Death (DC 11) (Su) A burning skeleton explodes into a burst of flame when it dies. Anyone adjacent to the skeleton when it is destroyed takes 1d6 points of fire damage per 2 Hit Dice the skeleton possessed (minimum 1d6). A Reflex save (DC = 10 + 1/2 the skeleton's Hit
Greed +2 to Appraise checks to determine the price of nonmagical goods that contain precious metals or gemstones.
Immunity to Fire You are immune to fire damage.
Undead Traits Undead are immune to death effects, disease, mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, phantasms, and patterns), paralysis, poison, sleep, stun, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects...
Vulnerability to Cold You are vulnerable (+50% damage) to Cold damage
Created With Hero Lab® - try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com!

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They already have the Monster Creation table, which lets you do this by CR if you like, I'm not sure that we need another.
Cool! I assume this is something in the Bestiary (I have the PDF but not read it) - but is there maybe something more that could be added that would let a GM stat up any type of NPC more quickly? Just thinking of possibilities really.

DeathQuaker RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8 |

DeathQuaker wrote:Hero Lab probably does this (but I agree with you about the price point. Heck, I own the program but I still don't use it for Pathfinder).Why worry about the price point when you can actually spread the cost out over a period of time instead of all in one lump sum? You have at your hands a very valuable tool and you do not use it for the purpose it was intended.
For the sake of not derailing the thread, especially since I have discussed my feelings about Pathfinder and Hero Lab at length in other threads, suffice to say, I am not interested in using it for Pathfinder; that is my choice and preference based on lengthy personal evaluation. This is not a judgment upon you nor anyone else who uses HeroLab. I am aware of PC Gen's flaws (having used it for many years) but prefer it for Pathfinder at this time, despite the unfinished state of its Pathfinder implementation, again for personal reasons I am not interested in going into at this time, again for the sake of not derailing the OP's discussion, and I would appreciate your respecting this decision even if you disagree with it.
My statement to the OP's question about apps which apply templates was to tell him of the capabilities of the software applications available that I knew of (i.e., PC Gen)--what is capable of and what it is not. If he chooses to purchase HeroLab and finds it resolves many of his issues, I will be glad he found something that works for him. Just as I am glad that you have found something that works for you.
"The purpose for which I intended" to use HeroLab was for Mutants and Masterminds, and I do in fact use it for that purpose, but thank you for your concern and interest in my personal gaming predilections.

Sicktabou |
However; I'm starting to get more and more dissatisfied about the level of prep work that goes into running the game. It's considerably higher than in the other games I've been running or playing lately, and I'm starting to dread more and more the prospect of running the system. I'll be wrapping up my current campaign in the next 3 weeks or so, and I am thinking about avoiding GMing pathfinder for a good long while afterward.
I hear you. I am still undecided between using Pathfinder or Fantasy Craft for my upcoming fantasy campaign (after several years of break due to wife, kids, and other such life changing events). And prep time is now a big issue.
Pathfinder is a familiar and well supported system, but one big advantage of Fantasy Craft is the ease to prep the game, especially when it comes to NPC creation. With the system, its amazignly easy to create an NPC and then, all you need to do is adjust it to the level of your group.
This web site makes things even easier: http://www.meadicus.plus.com/craftygames/npc-builder/NPCBuilder.html
I wonder if there would be an easy way to use the Fantasy Craft NPC creation system and translate it to Pathfinder.
For example, a Pathfinder Bugbear is:
Bugbear CR 2
XP 600
CE Medium humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +8
Defense
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+2 armor, +1 Dex, +3
natural, +1 shield)
hp 16 (3d8+3)
Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +1
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee morningstar +5 (1d8+3)
Ranged javelin +3 (1d6+3)
Statistics
Str 16, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 9
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 16
Feats Intimidating Prowess, Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Intimidate +8, Perception +8, Stealth +10; Racial
Modifiers +4 Intimidate, +4 Stealth
SQ stalker
Languages Common, Goblin
A comparative Fantasy Craft Bugbear would be (for a "CR 2" encounter):
Bugbear (Medium Folk Walker — 40 XP): TL: 2
Str: 14/+2; Dex: 10/+0; Con: 12/+1; Int: 10/+0; Wis: 10/+0; Cha: 9/-1;
Init: +1=1+0(dex) Melee: +4=2+2(str) Fort: +3=2+1(con)
Health: +3=2+1(con) ~ 40/12 Ranged: +2=2+0(dex) Ref: +2=2+0(dex)
Def: 11=10+1+0(dex) Comp: +1 Will: +2=2+0(wis)
Size: Medium (1×1); Reach: 1; Speed: 30 ft. ground;
Skills: Athletics III (Str) +7 = 5+2; Notice III (Wis) +5 = 5+0; Survival III (Wis) +5 = 5+0
Qualities: damage reduction I, darkvision I, feat, improved sense (hearing), swarm, veteran I.
Attacks: Mace (dmg 1d8+2 lethal; threat 20; qualities: AP 4), hide shield (dmg 1d3+2 subdual; threat 20; qualities: guard +2), Net (dmg —; threat —; range 10 ft. × 3; qualities: cord, trip)
Gear: Partial leather armor with light fittings (DR 2; Resist Fire 3; DP –1; ACP –1; Spd —; Disguise –4)
Treasure: 1A, 1G
Obviously the Xp value/reward would have to be adapted but other then that it looks quite balanced. And in addition, it would allow easy access to the "mook" option of Fantasy Craft that are using damage saves instead of HPs.
What do you think?

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I haven't created a stat block in years... and my players have yet to complain.
Does a +10 to attack seem right? Go with it.
How about an AC of 25? Works for me.
70 HP seem enough? Ooh... turned out to be too little... I will bump it up (provided they haven't staggered the creature...) or give it some extra healing options.
If stat blocks slow you down, don't use them.
Story is what matters. With a good story, kobolds are fun to kill.
The "rules" are a guide, unless you are playing society games. Otherwise, just run the AP's (although I find I tend to prepare more when I run those as I really need to read them closely to make sure I understand where the story is going... and I always suggest you read the intro at least to the AP book following the one you are running - just so you aren't surprised when someone shows up that you thought wouldn't...)

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Don't get hung up on details. Players really aren't going to notice if the waves of mooks lack a gore attack, or move a little faster/slower.
As a GM your best friend is a handwave.
When the PCs see the world they see what you describe:
GM: "Before you stands a giant humanoid skeleton, it has the head of a bull, but its horns have been snapped off."
PCs: "Let's kill it!"
...
GM: "Before you stands a bugbear skeleton, its throat slit from ear to ear. It shambles towards you."
PCs: "Let's kill it!"
...
Honestly: When I prep an adventure I work on only 3 non-standard bestiary monsters. One boss, one elite/lieutenant, one "special" - everything else I try to pull out of the bestiary.
Mid-Level Example for 5th-6th level PCs:
The PCs have entered the crypt of Baron von Baddbeaver. I prepare the following:
Baron Von Baddbeaver (Human Vampire, Antipaladin 6) CR 7
The Mistresses of the night (Vampire Spawn Monk 2) CR 5
Bloody Skeleton Bodyguards (Bloody Skeletons) CR 1/2
Time taken - 10/20 minutes a monster.
Use the same stats for multiple monsters: Sasha, Isabelle and Seline (the mistresses of the night) can all use the same monk stats but take different tactics (One fights defensively, another uses power attack, the third uses stunning attack) - PCs will never know you only used one set of stats.
Now that I've done that I just mix and match these monsters throughout the dungeon and pull directly from the bestiary for other CR appropriate monsters. A wight that chooses not to attack the PCs if they agree to return Baddbeaver's head to him.
Looking under the CR 5 list at d20pfsrd.com we see:
achaierai, air elemental (large), ant lion[BB], animated object (large), army ant swarm, ascomoid[BB], basidirond, basilisk (common), bearded devil, black dragon (very young), blue dragon (wrymling), brass dragon (very young), brine dragon (very young), bronze dragon (wyrmling), cloaker, cloud dragon (wyrmling), crypt thing, cyclops, dire lion, earth elemental (large), emperor cobra, fire elemental (large), flame drake, giant crawling hand, giant frilled lizard, giant moray eel, giant queen bee, gibbering mouther, green hag, hippopotamus, ice elemental (large), ice golem, leucrotta, lightning elemental (large), lurker in light, magma elemental (large), manticore, megaraptor, megatherium, mercane, mud elemental (large), mummy, nightmare, ochre jelly, orca, phase spider, rast, siren, shadow mastiff[BB], skaveling, troll, water elemental (large), winter wolf, wraith
alu-demon[TOH1], anaconda[V], arrowhawk[3PP], barracuda (dire)[3PP], barracuda (large)[TOH1], beetle (azlanti chariot)[AP], blast shadow[AP], bog beast[TOH1], brute wight[V], buraq[AP], carrion moth[TOH1], crystalline horror[TOH1], demon of corruption (geruzou)[TOH1], derhii[PA], ear seeker[TOH1], ghoul bat[AP], giant ant queen[V], giant hermit crab[AP], giant rot grub[PA], grimstalker[PA], hodag[PA], margoyle[TOH1], memory moss[TOH1], polar bear[V], ogre spider[V], river dragon (very young)[3PP], scrag (aquatic troll)[V], smoke haunt[AP], spider, giant skate[3PP], wind walker[TOH1].
------------------------------------------------------------
I might grab a wraith, perhaps a mummy or two and just to make sure we don't go too undead heavy in the adventure, might throw in a large ice elemental powering a room keeping the dungeon in frigid conditions to better preserve the undead members of Baron Baddbeaver's court.
-------------------------------------------------------------
What I'm trying to say is:
Stop worrying about customising everything too much, there's plenty of resources out there already - don't make more work for yourself and your prep time will drop drastically.

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Stop worrying about customising everything too much, there's plenty of resources out there already - don't make more work for yourself and your prep time will drop drastically
QFT. This man speaks wisdom, which behooves listening.
Pre-generated baddies make your life so very much easier, especially when you tweak them a little here and there...these bugbears use heavy crossbows, goblin loading teams, and fire from behind pavises.
Those skeletons are tied into the ceiling by their feet, and cover the whole room with waving claw attacks.
Etc.
The less time you spend writing up new rules means more time for fun, creative implementations of existing rules.

Cartigan |

JaceDK wrote:Well, then, I have a surprise for you! I tried that approach four weeks ago, and it came to nothing. You can see my thread here.Why not tap into the vast resource that is the Paizo community? In this thread alone, half a dozen people have commented about their ability to put together NPC in a short (or not so short) amount of time.
Every time you need an NPC and don't have the time, simply open a thread titled "NPC request: 8th level Drow assassin" or whatever it is you need. Drop a few key points about the character concept, and what type of gear, gp limit etc. you'd like. I'd be very surprised if you didn't have a handful of different options to choose from within a day or two.
If you want 3.5 stuff, go to GitP. Prepare for them to ignore all your preset rules and limitation though.

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"The purpose for which I intended" to use HeroLab was for Mutants and Masterminds, and I do in fact use it for that purpose, but thank you for your concern and interest in my personal gaming predilections.
I don't think Deanoth intends to offend, he just seems HEAVILY exuberant and accidentally nudged the line a bit, and that's me speaking as a hardcore Hero Lab enthusiast.
Try imagining his voice as Mr. Popeil, it'll come off a little less intense.

Ravingdork |

mdt wrote:PC Gen is free, but lags a bit behind in getting the newer books out.And is confusing as hell.
My early attempts at using Hero Labs was terribly confusing as well. Now I eschew both unintuitive programs and just do things my own way.

Dreaming Psion |

I dont think Pathfinder gameplay needs to be simplified. I just want as many ways to cut down on my prep work as a GM as possible.
Is there a fast way to make zombies and skeletons? Maybe an app that does it automatically? I need to make dwarf zombies and skeletons, goblin zombies and skeletons, minotaur zombies and skeletons, and ogre zombies and skeletons for next tuesday. It seems to be a tedious process (Haven't started yet, just looked it over).
I would however be in favor of a class-less variant as described in my last post; A build your own class as you go grab bag of everything sorted by category and assigned point value costs; everything from BAB to Caster Level to Spells Known to... etc; with level only determining where your limits are on things. (E6 (with class abilities done up to level 8) would be fine, it would be a really big project if it went all the way to 20.)
Combat manager http://combatmanager.com/ is what I use to generate templated creatures quickly (including skeletons and zombies- there are some issues with natural attacks/acs/con/hps but these are fairly easy to correct). I've also found it makes it fairly easy to modifiy creatures by altering size and adding/subtracting hit dice (changes the skills for you although it doesn't choose feats). It also recently add an npc database of the adventure path stuff, though it looks like a few of them have some garbled extraneous abilities or spurious credits to the adventure paths they belong to.
On the d20pfsrd.com website there are several collections of npcs (which includes some from the adventure paths:
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/npc-s (right sidebar)
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monstrous-npcs

Kain Darkwind |

I have a question about Hero Lab. Would it allow me to edit in a feat like this?
Mystic Theurge
You have combined the paths of arcane and divine magic, blah blah.
Prereq Able to cast 1st level arcane spells, able to cast 1st level divine spells.
Benefit: Choose an arcane casting class. Choose a divine casting class. For the purposes of caster level in each class, these two classes stack. For the purposes of spell acquisition, every two levels in your divine casting class increases your arcane spellcasting access by one level and vice versa.
Special: This feat only applies to levels which are equal to each other. For instance, while a wizard 4/cleric 4 would gain full benefit from the feat, a wizard 2/cleric 6 would only gain benefits from two levels of each class.
or like this?
Reasoned Strike
Benefit You apply your Intelligence modifier to melee attacks instead of your Strength.
Special This feat counts as Weapon Finesse for prerequisites.
I'm not sure I'd expect it to handle the first one, but if it could, getting this would be a no brainer.

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Kain, to double check what this feat is doing;
Look up the two selected classes - get the level of each (or do you want the magic level, so that if you've added a prestige class that improves one or the other, the modified magic level is used instead).
Take the minimum of those two levels.
1/2 that, rounded down is added to each class as magic levels - the same sort of increase in spellcasting that a prestige class would add.
The full value of it is added to the caster level of each.
I haven't tested this, but it looks like you want to choose a script timing of between Level/10000 and Level/11000, and this should be do-able.
The second can be done by calculating the difference between the strength bonus and the intelligence bonus, then searching through all the melee weapons on the character and adding that difference to eachpick.field[wDamBonus].value.
(Since I've only sketched out the answers here, go ahead and re-post these questions on our forums when you're ready to enter them into Hero Lab.)

Kain Darkwind |

Kain, to double check what this feat is doing;
Look up the two selected classes - get the level of each (or do you want the magic level, so that if you've added a prestige class that improves one or the other, the modified magic level is used instead).
Take the minimum of those two levels.
1/2 that, rounded down is added to each class as magic levels - the same sort of increase in spellcasting that a prestige class would add.
The full value of it is added to the caster level of each.
I haven't tested this, but it looks like you want to choose a script timing of between Level/10000 and Level/11000, and this should be do-able.
The second can be done by calculating the difference between the strength bonus and the intelligence bonus, then searching through all the melee weapons on the character and adding that difference to eachpick.field[wDamBonus].value.
(Since I've only sketched out the answers here, go ahead and re-post these questions on our forums when you're ready to enter them into Hero Lab.)
Wow. Yes, that is a fair assessment of precisely what I would want the feats to do.
Could the Mystic Theurge script likewise be modified to deal with say, a fighter's weapon training and barbarian's rage rounds per day instead of a divine and arcane spells per day? Could I mix and match any class feature? Can I just add custom powers or abilities to statblocks that aren't standard? (Like if all wizards had the ability to at will blast a ray for 1d6 damage per level.)
Will probably be picking this up within a week or two (once these murderous classes are done with for the semester) in that eventuality. Sounds like a fantastic investment even if my multiclass feats can't be done, although it seems as if they can be.
A final question that wouldn't change my likelihood to buy it, can it be modified to display the statblock in a customized format, or just the PF official one? I like to put certain abilities in different areas than the standard format does for my personal ease of reference, and having the ability to customize that would be nice.

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Could the Mystic Theurge script likewise be modified to deal with say, a fighter's weapon training and barbarian's rage rounds per day instead of a divine and arcane spells per day? Could I mix and match any class feature? Can I just add custom powers or abilities to statblocks that aren't standard? (Like if all wizards had the ability to at will blast a ray for 1d6 damage per level.)
I'd have to study the specifics of each of those cases, but they ought to be do-able - the level of each class is a stored value, and the effective level of the class abilities is a stored value, so you should be able to look up one of those, and use it to change the other.
For the Wizard ability, it sounds like the easiest way to handle that may be to create a new archetype that adds a new class ability. Or, you could make a copy of the Wizard class, set it as a replacement of the existing Wizard class, and add a new class ability to that variant.
A final question that wouldn't change my likelihood to buy it, can it be modified to display the statblock in a customized format, or just the PF official one? I like to put certain...
Not currently, but that capability is coming soon.