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To bring things back on track, since the original poster did not want a War of Words...
My now-primary PC was created as a result of this thread about non-combat-focused PFS PCs. If that PC can pull off 7+ and higher-level play, so can you, Kezzie.
You don't need a ridiculous amount of damage per round, a giant attack bonus, or unbeatable save DCs. Those just mean you're aiming for Easy Mode anyways. All you need is a willingness and desire to try new things, analyze where things went wrong, and learn. A thread like this shows that you want to learn, Kezzie, and that's what matters.
-Matt
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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To bring things back on track, since the original poster did not want a War of Words...
My now-primary PC was created as a result of this thread about non-combat-focused PFS PCs. If that PC can pull off 7+ and higher-level play, so can you, Kezzie.
You don't need a ridiculous amount of damage per round, a giant attack bonus, or unbeatable save DCs. Those just mean you're aiming for Easy Mode anyways. All you need is a willingness and desire to try new things, analyze where things went wrong, and learn. A thread like this shows that you want to learn, Kezzie, and that's what matters.
-Matt
This is an excellent post.
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Ah, I should explain since some of my comments are hard to understand. Most people in my gaming store don't want to GM. So we were essentially not going to run any scenarios because of a lack of GMs.
My solution was simple. If you've played up to lvl. 5, you get to GM for every 3 games you play. This way no GM is ever burned out and everyone does his share. So, with 20+ people, we've got 10 GMs to run scenarios.
Now why is it only 10-12 people are going for the lvl. 12 PCs when we have 20+ people. The short and simple answer is, some people play every time slot they have a chance to and some only show up to our bi-weekly weekend slots. So, of the 20+ players only 10-12 want the ubber achievement of a lvl. 12 at all costs.
Now, as to why I don't organize two tables for lvl. 12+ gaming. The stone cold killers and hard core Pathfinders will group up in one group, I'm not worried about their chances. They'll succeed and keep going past lvl. 13 2/3 and never look back.
The ones that role-play and create 'cool concept' PCs that have no umph, on the other hand, will be stuck playing together and will probably get TPKed in the first Eyes of the Ten Scenario. And when a GM does it to them, there will be blame as to who screwed up, where and how and there will be bad blood. Poor builds get parties killed, 6 poor builds at the same table, spells disaster for the PCs and anger and hurt feelings among the players. Why would I do this to them?
And the first group will not want to carry any players from the second group, so they are not up for splitting up. They just won't have it. Most of them carried the concept PCs up to lvl. 12, they want the 12-19 to be a breeze where they can focus on the story and not on keeping the party alive due to dead weight dragging them down.
And I know some of you are going to berate me about how they should include everyone. And all I'll say is this "Pathfinder Society is a competitive sport." The Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks aren't putting third string and...
Okay...Where do I start with the mess of WTFs....
First of all, PFS IS NOT A COMPETITVE SPORT. It is a co-operative RPG game. I am completely unsure how you can possibly mix the two up...but you did.
Your the organizer for you venue. You HAVE EVERY RIGHT to seat people as what best works for your game day and EVERYONE who plays in it. That COULD mean you place all the power hungry munchkin at one table and everyone else at another...but YOU are suppose to choose that...not the power hungry munchkins. This is a PUBLIC gameday after all...not the munchkins private play time.
You have 10-12 people who GM 1/3 of the time. That is 3-4 GM...which means you can VERY easily make enough tables for EVERYONE for a group size of around 20...so there should be almost ZERO issue with table space. If there is, make them have to GM every 2 games instead of 3. Although working on a good roster of GM is generally better anyways. Somebody who isn't very good at doing the GM thing being forced to doesn't really help make for great games...and that is what you ultimately should want.
If your group of 6 stone cold killer PFS players think they can waltz through PFS, put them at a table I run for waking rune hard mode in the 10-11 tier (people around here absolutely refuse to let me run that one at all...even not hard mode...something about me being a murderous GM).
I am reading through eyes of ten to get ready to run it...it isn't that hard and I can see some of the concept characters doing some creative things and utterly wrecking this series. The build doesn't tell you ANYTHING other then that maybe they can go online and read some guides. I have seen full martial characters who can only do 1d8+9 damage at level 11 utterly wreck scenarios. I have seen characters that can't even do any damage utter wreck scenarios. I have seen pre-gens do it too...hell I have done it with pre-gens. Then I have seen people use some of the most broken builds there is in PFS and almost cause a TPK due to their bad play. The build isn't what matters...the PLAYER is.
You think that the concept players are a bunch of cry babies who can't handle a character death or a TPK while the power gaming munchkins can...well...I think you are selling half your player base short. And if somebody does have a hissy fit over a death, it is part of your job to work that out. If you can not, the VOs are there as well.
And yes, I realize that I am being a jerk by calling your optimizers power gaming munchkins...but when they refuse to play nice with others...well I kinda feel like being a jerk back to them (yes yes pot, kettle, black...I know).
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This team wants to play together at lvl. 12+ and I’m not going to tell them they can’t play together and that they have to take along a weak PC who’s going to have to be babysat for the next 6 levels. That would be uncool in my mind.On the contrary. If they want to play with each other exclusively, then you should suggest that they set up a weekly private game outside of game day. Because your PUBLIC game day event should not be exclusive. The entire point of going to game day is to meet new people and grow a community, is it not? If you have this exclusive "cool kids club" paradigm in your area then that's defeating the purpose of a game day, and I bet you it's making it more difficult to plan your events. It's also enforcing this notion that some people in your group are inherently better and more preferred than others. And that's the exact opposite of what PFS should be promoting.
I probably would not play in your area if you guys just pick favorites. Especially when your preference is power gamers over those who want to enjoy the story and RP of an RP tabletop game.
This. Well said.
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I feel terrible for the times when find out the hard way that my character is woefully under-prepared for what is to come up in a new scenario. But, I also feel bullied by other players and GMs for not having/knowing things I apparently should for being at higher levels.
Even after a whole year of playing/GMing(again, only tier 1-2 games) in PFS,browsing the message boards, I still have trouble with learning/preparing everything as needed/expected of me in higher level situations. This makes things really hard for me as a very community minded gamer. I want to have fun and "keep the ball rolling" when I come to play but essentially being bullied for not being used to something new to me hurts. It's doesn't make me very angry. It just hurts.
AMEN. I've got a quite a lot of 7+ characters now and with the scenarios getting rougher and tougher, the absolute most common response I hear is "high-level play, kiddie gloves are off".
Getting to high level play means you should know the mechanics of the game, not necessarily the best tactics to deal with everything.
Yes you should know that special materials of a weapon gets through DR, that you can use total defense, things like that. But to know how to deal with every enemy in any formation, in any scenario is still a pretty big ask. I've even heard suggestions that I should know about obscure spells to deal with a rough encounter. It's a bit out of control.
I know those people are well-intentioned, but it should be said that high level play only goes so far as to what you should be prepared for, for different people, at least.
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And all I'll say is this "Pathfinder Society is a competitive sport."
First of all, Eric, this statement above pretty much summarizes your own, and likely the band of 'elites' at your gamedays, attitudes. I suspected that there was this level of 'not getting it' out there. Thanks for confirming that.
Secondly, I am really heartened by most peoples reactions and input to this thread. It's nice to be reminded that, unlike some MMO communities I could name, the PFS community is for the most part made up of really decent people.
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So, when you say most are really decent people, its a backhanded way of flaming me by implication that somehow I'm not a decent person.
I on the other hand am disheartened to know that some people only have enough courage to throw cheap shot insults cloaked in the anonymity of a screen name. And only when the the mob is out in full force.
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I think people should cut Eric a little slack.
Up here we have a good community. The experienced players GM, they are willing to play with whomever, etc.
But we still have some groups of players who tend to play together. They're friends, their play styles match, whatever. In fact, in some ways this becomes almost self fulfilling in that they will have played the same scenarios and so sometimes will HAVE to play the same scenario because they've played the others.
One such group is definitely composed of power gamers (I am NOT using that term insultingly)
It most certainly doesn't occur to the same extent as it seems to with Eric's group. But it seems to me to be fairly natural that this happens to at least some extent.
The fact that the local culture at Eric's store is different from the norm most certainly does NOT mean that he is incompetent or not a decent person.
That said, I think that it would be a good idea for Eric to try and slowly change his local culture to reduce how much this occurs for all the reasons expressed above. Cliques (real or perceived) make the game less attractive to newcomers and those newcomers are absolutely essential to the long term survival of any PFS group
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As a DM I don't care what players bring to my table. As a player I keep close taps on who I should not play high level games with. It's simple you can make any character you want. Make it effective at that role. If not I have no problem dropping my character from that scenario. This is more important at high levels. If you don't want to die due to other characters not preforming there job. I have characters that I worn players when I set down at a table. This character is not like most I can't do X. Like my cleric that can't channel. I just let them know ahead of time so it dose not become a problem.
I offer advice to new players. If they take it cool if not don't blame me. When your character gets past level 5 and is no longer effective. It's just how the game works. If your not ready for high level it is very hard. There are some times when you make choices at low level. That directly affect how higher level play works. Ask for advice if you don't know. There is no way around it. Not every character concept works in all games.
As my DS told me " Suck it up. I deal in reality. Reality is I might need you to save me! If I can't trust you in training. Why should I trust you real situation? "
The reality here is not all characters can perform well enough at high levels. The only way to know the problem. Is to look at the mechanics of what's going on.
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I know that everyone’s experience differs with PFS in general, and Eyes of the Ten in particular. Let me share what my experience was.
Last year I was living down in the triangle area ( Raleigh, Durham, Chapel hill) area of North Carolina. They have a very large and robust PFS community down there. I think there was a minimum of five stores running weekly PFS games, I think there was more. I remember a goal of the organizers was to get PFS games offered every day of the week. I think they may very well have achieved this goal.
Towards the end of the summer last year, a sign up popped up for people interested in playing Eyes of the Ten. I think 11 or 12 players signed up, I’m not entirely sure of the exact number, but I was one of the players.
Steve Miller, the Venture Captain of Raleigh, went over the list, took the players and their characters into consideration, and he divided the mass of players into two groups. One group I believe he asked his Venture LT, Joe Jungers to GM. The other group, which I was in, Steve Miller GMed himself. He was kind enough to have us all over to his home where he ran the Eyes of the Ten in his gaming room. We were in a nice quiet comfortable environment. We didn’t have to worry about time slots or stores closing. We got to play through the entire Arch. I don’t think we skipped a single encounter. We had the luxury of time. I felt very lucky.
I knew all of the players and they were friends. Two of the players, had characters which had done allot of adventuring and leveling with my character two years previously. The two others players were good friends, while my character hadn’t adventured with their characters, they had adventured and leveled together as well. Their characters were archers and with different builds, were in a friendly competition with each other. We were a mix of “optimized” characters and “concept” characters. I suppose my character, a mystic theurge, was a “concept” character. The Eyes of the Ten was a challenge for us. But we pulled together, worked as a team and got through it. And I think because we were challenged, that pushed us to learn how to better utilize our characters abilities, and to work more cohesively as a team. Was it perfect? No, we had our bumps in the road, but we worked them out.
I’m glad that Steve took the time to take the players and their characters into consideration and made two groups out of them.
Oh and yes we enjoyed the story as well.
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So, when you say most are really decent people, its a backhanded way of flaming me by implication that somehow I'm not a decent person.
I on the other hand am disheartened to know that some people only have enough courage to throw cheap shot insults cloaked in the anonymity of a screen name. And only when the the mob is out in full force.
Eric, I didn't mean to flame you in a backhanded way. I guess I should have been more direct. I find the attitude reflected in your posts horrible and elitist. Glad we got that out the way. If you wish to take this up directly with me, e-mail me and I will provide you my contact information.
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I think people should cut Eric a little slack.
Up here we have a good community. The experienced players GM, they are willing to play with whomever, etc.
But we still have some groups of players who tend to play together. They're friends, their play styles match, whatever. In fact, in some ways this becomes almost self fulfilling in that they will have played the same scenarios and so sometimes will HAVE to play the same scenario because they've played the others.
One such group is definitely composed of power gamers (I am NOT using that term insultingly)
It most certainly doesn't occur to the same extent as it seems to with Eric's group. But it seems to me to be fairly natural that this happens to at least some extent.
The fact that the local culture at Eric's store is different from the norm most certainly does NOT mean that he is incompetent or not a decent person.
That said, I think that it would be a good idea for Eric to try and slowly change his local culture to reduce how much this occurs for all the reasons expressed above. Cliques (real or perceived) make the game less attractive to newcomers and those newcomers are absolutely essential to the long term survival of any PFS group
There is a difference between tends to play together because they are friends and DEMANDS they do so...which is what it sounds like is happening at Eric's venue. The first is fine and dandy and quite natural thing to happen. The second is unacceptable behavior for a public game day.
As for if he is a decent person...I have no idea, but the fact that he is having trouble dealing with table space when he should have enough GM on rooster doesn't bode well for his competence level. Nor does the fact that he has let a group of his player base get so freaking out of control as to refuse play with others. If he shares said views, then we need a VO involved before he hurts the PFS community in his area...and he is no longer a decent person at that point.
Honestly I have no fraking idea what is actually happening at his store...unless it's a certain store near me...in which case I DO know what is happening and we need a VO for sure. But I do know that the things he are saying are worrisome to say the least. Enough so that I would say his local VO should really be considering a visit.
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Thanks for tips and encouragement, everyone.
I guess I should say that it's not necessarily the well meant "advice" from some of the more seasoned/optimized players & GMs that I deal with that bothers me. I also noticed and tried to work through some of the mechanical/equipment issues (In the case of my rouge 6/fighter 1) at earlier levels and I'm still not feeling all that good about it now that I've have some more time to look at it.
As I mentioned before, I have another character that's 6th level now and I'm just trying to give my judgement about how I play/write up characters for PFS the benefit of the doubt before I make any long-term decisions about stopping for a while or not. I just feeling a little overwhelmed by mid-higher level play and it's taking a toll on my enjoyment of the game.
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Don't get me wrong, there are loads of new players coming into the venue I play at. Some of them are new to role-playing games in general, let alone Pathfinder! And there are many well meaning veteran players/GMs who tell you to "make sure you buy..." or "you should have at least one or more by now..." as far as equipment goes. But as for game-play its self, I find more often than not, its many of the same individuals that tend to make things apparent to me that I really don't know what I'm doing playing what I do sometimes.
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I also noticed and tried to work through some of the mechanical/equipment issues (In the case of my rouge 6/fighter 1) at earlier levels and I'm still not feeling all that good about it now that I've have some more time to look at it.
Well, if it helps, I've played multiple Dex-based Rogues in PFS, from 1st to high levels, and it's been my experience that around 8th or 9th, once you hit +4d6 sneak attack and you've got enough feats, that's when Rogues start getting really good. 5th-7th-ish, in my experience, are the "drought levels" of effectiveness. So hang in there!
If you want to hit me up, I'll look over your feat/equipment list and give you a few pointers. Feel free to PM me.
-Matt
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Kezzie: I sympathise with your situation. I have a lot of experience with D&D 3rd Edition/D&D v.3.5/Pathfinder, and probably come across as a veteran to some degree. However, my experience probably breaks down as:
25% Playing low level
60% GMing low level
15% GMing high level
I literally have no experience playing PCs of 8th level or above (my highest level PFS character hit 8th level last week). GMing scenarios and adventure paths is a different skill-set: the monsters/NPCs come pre-built, and often have tactics written down. In terms of choosing feats, spells (4th level+), and especially equipment, it's all new, and a little intimidating.
I guess what I'm trying to say is: you're not alone. Some of us are muddling through as best we can too! Also, if you've made it to 7th level without dying already, you must be doing something right.
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Friends can be split up to accommodate people. I play with my fiancee whose my best friend in the world, and we love playing PFS together, but I have split tables with her at least 50% of the time to try and accommodate more tables, or to fill a GMing position. If I can split myself from my own FIANCEE, one can split a group of friends once in a while.
On topic with what the poster said:
One thing that is popularly said at my lodge is to read the combat section of the rules. If you know the mechanics of the game it is fairly simple to extrapolate tactics, and really, thats what helps you survive and thrive. Teamwork is what wins the day at mid to high level play, not a single character. You can have no damage character be pivotal to the fights outcome, perhaps a bard who buffs and debuffs. They don't have any damage potential but they make everyone else better. Perhaps a In Harms Way/stand still fighter/cavalier. Their damage will not be amazing, maybe a 1D8+7-9 at best, but they will help to make those front line damage dealers survive by taking blows and increasing AC. This is how I run my level 6 Cavalier of the Dragon. I only deal about 1D8+5 damage with an average to hit, but I can stop enemies moving past and with shield wall and Aid another I can increase the survival of other front line fighters.
There are a multitude of character options and builds for PFS, and if you work with others, any build can be done, play what you want, and be willing to work with others.
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There are a multitude of character options and builds for PFS, and if you work with others, any build can be done, play what you want, and be willing to work with others.
The problem I have sometimes is that no mater what I play and try to do what I can with it, I basically get penalized for or looked down on for not having or doing things the way that many others think and say I should by these levels of play.
I'm feeling way out of my league and with more people showing up all the time, I am feeling overwhelmed by the weight of what is essentially peer-pressure to try and live up to the majority of their party standards. And that is getting tiring.
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"You play your character and I'll play mine" is the right response I think.There are a multitude of character options and builds for PFS, and if you work with others, any build can be done, play what you want, and be willing to work with others.The problem I have sometimes is that no mater what I play and try to do what I can with it, I basically get penalized for or looked down on for not having or doing things the way that many others think and say I should by these levels of play.
I'm feeling way out of my league and with more people showing up all the time, I am feeling overwhelmed by the weight of what is essentially peer-pressure to try and live up to the majority of their party standards. And that is getting tiring.
+1
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
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While relatively new to pathfinder, as well as PFS, I've recently started GMing in my area to help pick up the slack. Most weeks where I GM a game, my wife also plays. If mustering tables to allow the greatest number of people to play means that she plays at a different table than mine, that's more than fine. She enjoys herself, I enjoy myself, everyone else enjoys themselves because they all got to play, and we tell each other stories afterwards about the various parties.
On the large scale of things, The more new players we attract to the games, the more players will need the rulebooks needed to play. The more these players buy rulebooks, the more money Paizo and our local game stores will make. The more money our game stores make, the better they can support us running games. The more money Paizo makes, the more they become capable of providing for gamer demands. The better they become capable of providing for gamer demands, the higher the quality of the scenarios released. The higher the quality of the scenarios released gets, the greater the demand for new scenarios. The greater the demand gets for new scenarios, the faster Paizo will release them. The faster Paizo releases new scenarios, the more income they will make. The more money Paizo makes, the more they will invest in Pathfinder Society. They more Paizo invests in Pathfinder Society, the more empowered we are to attract new players to our store. Repeat indefinitely.
Therefore, after much rambling and far too much ado, I conclude that anything which discourages people from joining PFS is detrimental to the player base as a whole. Whether it be by discouraging new players, refusing to split tables, bullying, or other potentially harmful behaviors, it is directly harmful to the hobbies of both the people they harm as well as the people who are performing said actions. Said actions should be evaluated in full, shown to be such, and avoided whenever possible.
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Therefore, after much rambling and far too much ado, I conclude that anything which discourages people from joining PFS is detrimental to the player base as a whole. Whether it be by discouraging new players, refusing to split tables, bullying, or other potentially harmful behaviors, it is directly harmful to the hobbies of both the people they harm as well as the people who are performing said actions. Said actions should be evaluated in full, shown to be such, and avoided whenever possible.
So, back to my ORIGINAL first train of thought. Should I take a break for a while without PFS and the rigors of organized play until I can figure things out?
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Kenzie, I would keep playing.
I wouldn't worry too much about your builds... Most are not irredeemable with a feat or two, or the right gear. Talk to your favorite GMs and players to see if they have any suggestions.
Expertise is something that only comes by doing. It has been said that "experience is learning from one's mistakes." You are getting experience, which is good. Try not to make the same mistake twice, and above all, have fun! Learn from those players you respect, and don't let the jerks bother you.
If you cannot have fun, then take a break. You'll hopefully soon find that you miss playing.
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I agree. If the problem is not having enough experience playing at high level, the solution is certainly not to quit playing. If you have a way to take a break from Society and play some high level home games, that might be a good compromise. All in all, I would have a word with the organizer and see if there's a way you could play high level without so much pressure to get it "perfect" from the other players.
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The best way to figure it out. Ask some of the players with higher level characters what works. Or you could ask some of the players in your area that have strong characters and find out how they did it. Making a good character dose not require a lot of system mastery. It just requires a basic understanding of the game. Along with the understanding you can't do every thing. With the more high level games you play you find two things to be true. One focus on what you want to be able to do look ahead. Two have a back up plan or understand where you character will be weak.
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The best way to figure it out. Ask some of the players with higher level characters what works. Or you could ask some of the players in your area that have strong characters and find out how they did it. Making a good character dose not require a lot of system mastery. It just requires a basic understanding of the game. Along with the understanding you can't do every thing. With the more high level games you play you find two things to be true. One focus on what you want to be able to do look ahead. Two have a back up plan or understand where you character will be weak.
^This.
And do not fret too much. High level play can get intimidating the first few levels. But really, it is less character build and more teamwork that lets people survive and thrive in high level.
If your constantly getting push back from a few players, talk with your event coordinator. Cause that's just not cool. I can see a couple players in our local lodge could turn into that so I am keeping an eye on them. Just have fun, and work together.
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The best way to figure it out. Ask some of the players with higher level characters what works. Or you could ask some of the players in your area that have strong characters and find out how they did it. Making a good character dose not require a lot of system mastery. It just requires a basic understanding of the game. Along with the understanding you can't do every thing. With the more high level games you play you find two things to be true. One focus on what you want to be able to do look ahead. Two have a back up plan or understand where you character will be weak.^This.
And do not fret too much. High level play can get intimidating the first few levels. But really, it is less character build and more teamwork that lets people survive and thrive in high level.
If your constantly getting push back from a few players, talk with your event coordinator. Cause that's just not cool. I can see a couple players in our local lodge could turn into that so I am keeping an eye on them. Just have fun, and work together.
I have to partially disagree with this. Higher level play does indeed weed out many builds in my opinion. Particularly builds that dumped CON or even those that haven't increased it.
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Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area South & West
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I'd also like to a couple of extra points.
There is a lot of good advice to be found around the web. One site in particular that I'd recommend is the Ontario Pathfinders Society, and in particular a series of articles published under the heading of Mergy's Methods.
You don't have to be the best ever whatever-character-you-choose. But the higher level you get, the more important it becomes for you to at least cover the basics of your chosen role.
Front line fighter? Understand about damage resistance, and how weapon type and special materials affect your ability to overcome it.
Offensive Spellcaster? Try to have spells that target each of the various saving throws (and with a variety of energy types).
And, in general, know the basic features of your class, and what is necessary to use them to advantage.
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Please note that arcane blasters are typically not that effective against evil outsiders because of the triple layering of resist, save, and SR. Even direct damage casters with good DCs and spell pen find their dpr go down very significantly against these foes. I've seen groups get in hot water when they were *relying* on the sorcerer to do a lot of damage, and it turned out they just couldn't.
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Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area South & West
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One other piece of advice - before play, refresh your memory about what your character can do.
I played an entire scenario recently where I forgot that I'd just picked up an extra spell - one that would have come in handy at least once. I had all my basic numbers (the ones on the front page of the character sheet) right, but I wasn't contributing as much to the party as I really should have been.
I'm sure I'm by no means the only person to have made this kind of mistake - forgetting a spell, or a feat, or a new piece of equipment. So now, when I'm sitting down to run a character that I haven't played for a long time, or one that has just gone up a level, I take a couple of minutes to remind myself about the abilities of the character.
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The biggest thing is to know what your character can do ... you don't have to know all the rules... srsly the crb + books are a huge and daunting task to try and learn all at once.
Read up on what you can do, skim over the "stuff" you can buy, identify one person in your area that seems like they have solid knowledge and bug them with questions on how to overcome this or that.
While you're playing have a piece of paper beside you, if you see something kewl be it an item, tactic, etc jot it down and look it up after the game to see if it's something that will fit into the theme of what you want your character to be.
My first character was a semi knowledge monkey, but her big thing was big over the top arcane spells, my second was nothing more than the big dumb fighter type.. she didn't really do anything other than participate in combat. Other character since have been more mid-line.
There are great posts on the boards that give ideas (my search-fu sucks for trying to find them tonight) on what to have to overcome things at general level ranges.
You can always ask on the boards, you're going to get a lot of differing opinions and stuff, but you'll get answers that will help your thought process.
I don't think you should take time off, absence in PFS means that you'll take your break and get busy with other things and it'll just keep being harder and harder to figure it all out. :) Keep playing, you'll get it all figured out :)
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Thanks, everyone. I'm sticking around and have begun to work on some new stuff to help me with some of my mechanics issues and I've decided to alternate between slow & normal advancement after certain levels to give me a chance to get a better feel for class features/spells/etc.
Again, I thank you all for your support and understanding. :)
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So, back to my ORIGINAL first train of thought. Should I take a break for a while without PFS and the rigors of organized play until I can figure things out?
I'd suggest if you want a bit of a break playing, is get into GMing - it has helped my character creation process and character planing process a fair amount - such that the 3rd level character I brought into Bonekeep,
survived, and got the widget.On a different note - some one early on wrote that blind-fighting feat protects against sneak attacks in deeper darkness, but that is a little more than it does - it protects against melee sneak attacks - if someone is shooting you at range, they can still get it.
I have cast Obscuring Mist while in Deeper Darkness to level the playing field - it hampers those that see in the darkness a lot -but a party that cannot see anyway - not at all.
And talk to any 5th level clerics you play with - if they cast their Continual Flame spell on one of your items - it is a 3rd level light spell that can help with Darkness spells. It is not high enough for deeper darkness unless someone uses daylight - depending on the GM - but for 50gp it is useful. Even my Darkvison characters usually get one, for fellow travelers without one (or for animal companions needing light - on their training harness)
Don't specialize too much - I have a character specialized in healing and channeling healing - but since he doesn't do much damage he is a liability in 4-player tables (and for some GMs he is too effective, such that the bad guys make sure those they down are dead so they can't be healed.)