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Yeah what we settled on is if someone actively chooses, they're allowed to roll for their defense but it's more of a one - off in combat if the person defending asks to take the risk of rolling. Already had someone be all "this is an important defensive manoeuvre I need to make I must roll for my AC" and promptly got a 1. So the party knows fine well it's a risky move. Everyone's loving the roll for magic attacks though, myself (dm) included. Pretty sure I'll play this way forever now.
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May 29, 2017 12:36
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I want to emphasize that there is no advantage to making you roll for your defense, all other things being equal. If you're doing it for the "feeling of being in control" or some similar evocative intent, that's fine, but that's all you're getting.
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May 29, 2017 13:45
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Yeah pretty much, the illusion of choice. The party and I went through the changes and we all understand that dc10 = d20, all it does for defense is give them an extra turn of involvement. That said I'm sure someone will roll a natural 20 and be smug about it forever. Switching the magic attacks to a d20 roll is kinda the same, it just shifts the d20 roll from defender to attacker for smoother combat. Or at least that's what I've taken from this, works well for us so far. 
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May 29, 2017 14:19
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gradenko_2000 posted:The Unearthed Arcana says to make it [11 + modifiers] to convert to a defense score, which is wrong, it should be [12 + modifiers] to preserve probabilities to be exactly the same.
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May 29, 2017 16:10
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Yawgmoth posted:Average of a d20 roll is 10.5 so I'm interested in hearing why you think it should be 12 instead of 10 or 11. For saves, because it's 10.5 + modifiers, and the roller wins on ties. If you're inverting who's rolling, you need to compensate for the loss of the tiebreaker to keep the odds the same.
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May 29, 2017 16:14
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RAW method: Caster with 16 Intelligence casting a level 2 spell: 10 + 3 Intelligence modifier + spell level 2 = 15 spell save DC Target has 12 Wisdom and a +2 base save bonus: d20 + 1 Wisdom modifier + 2 base save bonus = d20+3 saving throw  There's 11 NO's in that picture, so the spell will have full effect 55% of the time Unearthed Arcana method: Caster with 16 Intelligence casting a level 2 spell: d20 + 3 Intelligence modifier + spell level 2 = d20+5 spell attack roll Target has 12 Wisdom and a +2 base save bonus: 11 + 1 Wisdom modifier + 2 base save bonus = 14 spell defense  There's 12 YES's in that picture, so the spell will have full effect 60% of the time, or 5% more than doing it RAW
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May 29, 2017 16:25
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That's very interesting. Does it appreciably shift when you start getting into higher saves/spell levels/ability mods?
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May 29, 2017 16:39
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Yawgmoth posted:That's very interesting. Does it appreciably shift when you start getting into higher saves/spell levels/ability mods? Nope. A base of 11 when you convert is always going to leave a disparity of exactly 5%/1 die face no matter what the modifiers are. And a base of 12 will always set the math to be correct and identical
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May 29, 2017 16:42
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Can I get recommendations on Divine spells up to level 4 to buff myself up as a face-smashing melee character (Factotum 6/Chameleon 6)? Right now I've identified: Divine Power Prayer Bull's Strength Greater Magic Weapon Divine Favor Prayer - luck bonus Aid (supersedes Bless?) Stretch Weapon
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Jun 4, 2017 08:32
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gradenko_2000 posted:I want to emphasize that there is no advantage to making you roll for your defense, all other things being equal. If you're doing it for the "feeling of being in control" or some similar evocative intent, that's fine, but that's all you're getting. The singular advantage is that in most cases you are making the DM do less work.
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Jun 4, 2017 09:41
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gradenko_2000 posted:Can I get recommendations on Divine spells up to level 4 to buff myself up as a face-smashing melee character (Factotum 6/Chameleon 6)? Right now I've identified:
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Jun 8, 2017 18:34
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I found a scroll of Gate while searching through an abandoned Harper's stronghold library. The group isn't going to get to high enough level for me to learn the spell, so what kind of fun can a level 13 archivist/malconvoker have with a single casting of Gate?
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Jun 17, 2017 23:01
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Gate in an angel in the middle of an evil stronghold
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Jun 25, 2017 14:05
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Kind of a rules question here, but it came up in a game as a hypothetical. How would a solid fog spell interact with a cloudkill spell? In the sense of cloudkill moving, that is. Would the solid fog slow down the cloudkill's movement or no?
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Jul 4, 2017 04:42
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Were there ever any official pregens or level 1 statblocks of the iconics released? I'm trying to gear up for a game this weekend and I'm relying on the pregens from Death in Freeport ATM. There's certainly enough data in the DMG and PHB2 for me to do it myself, but I'd rather not have to transcribe into character sheets manually if something else out there already exists.
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Jul 5, 2017 09:57
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gradenko_2000 posted:the iconics Regdar Human Fighter HP: 0
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Jul 5, 2017 10:06
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gradenko_2000 posted:Were there ever any official pregens or level 1 statblocks of the iconics released? I'm trying to gear up for a game this weekend and I'm relying on the pregens from Death in Freeport ATM. As is custom, Redgar gets absolutely loving hosed.
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Jul 5, 2017 13:56
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Yawgmoth posted:In the 3.0 book Enemies and Allies they are all given stats for 1st, 5th, 10th, and 15th level. Thanks, but it looks like these start immediately at level 5: 
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Jul 5, 2017 14:27
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Huh, thought they had lv1 stats in there too. Well, shouldn't be too hard to reverse engineer their starting stats. Or just use the appropriate stat block from the DMG for a lv1 character I guess?
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Jul 5, 2017 16:34
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Rorac posted:Kind of a rules question here, but it came up in a game as a hypothetical. yes or no, depending on which answer is more fun/interesting for the encounter in which it occurs. if a player came up with the idea to use fog to slow or contain cloudkill, that's a pretty cool solution to the problem, so hopefully your DM plays by the rule of cool. anything more involved than that and you're getting into D&D-as-physics-simulator and that way lies madness.
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Jul 5, 2017 16:55
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I've heard it said many times that Paizo tends to be rather, shall we say, conservative with their design decisions in Pathfinder, to the extent that even their Warlock derivative tends to be pretty bad because the designers just aren't comfortable with decent at-will abilities. Was this always the case? That is, I know Paizo ran Dragon and Dungeon magazines during the 3.x-era. Did they ever write anything that you'd consider innovative or off-the-wall across however many prestige classes and feats and spells and alternate class features? For example, I know that they did a Fighter Variant called the Targeteer that lets them use their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier when making ranged attacks, but no such similar feature exists in Pathfinder AFAIK.
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Aug 3, 2017 06:00
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gradenko_2000 posted:I've heard it said many times that Paizo tends to be rather, shall we say, conservative with their design decisions in Pathfinder, to the extent that even their Warlock derivative tends to be pretty bad because the designers just aren't comfortable with decent at-will abilities. Dragon magazine stuff in general wasn't so much innovative or off-the-wall as it was incredibly poorly balanced. Pretty much every single Dragon feat or class was either worthless or overpowered.
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Aug 3, 2017 12:12
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Piell posted:Dragon magazine stuff in general wasn't so much innovative or off-the-wall as it was incredibly poorly balanced. Pretty much every single Dragon feat or class was either worthless or overpowered. They do have slightly better monster design, though; I've used several creatures out of Dragon in games before, although most of them have required a bit of tweaking to actually pose a threat/not be immediately fatal. But that's kind of a thing with D&D in general so I can't fault them for it.
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Aug 3, 2017 14:13
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Yawgmoth posted:There's almost nothing I would actually use as a player in Dragon at all. I played wizards a lot, and in one issue they had a feat the let you add int to hp instead of con. I took that feat a LOT.
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Aug 3, 2017 17:03
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My character just hit [Factotum 6 / Chameleon 8], and I want to think about longer-term planning. Chameleon is only a 10-level PrC, so I might potentially still have 4 more levels to fill out after maxing the Chameleon. * is there a class that would allow me to further advance my spellcasting? Chameleon ends at level 6 spellcasting * failing that, is there a fightyman class that I could look into instead? I looked at the ToB PrCs, and qualifying for a Jade Phoenix Mage is just a little out of reach, and I don't know if it'd be worth going into any of the base classes.
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Aug 31, 2017 17:02
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quote:You can't use any abilities gained from your aptitude focus, ability boon, or mimic class feature abilities to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other option. You can use your bonus feat to qualify for such options, but if you change the feat, you suffer the normal drawbacks for no longer meeting a prerequisite or requirement. as far as where to go from there, going back to Factotum for the extra standard action isn't a bad idea, and there are certain base classes that don't need heavy investment to be useful - such as Warblade, or Incarnate. Nihilarian fucked around with this message at 21:12 on Aug 31, 2017 |
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Aug 31, 2017 21:09
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Yeah Factotum 8 is a fantastic level so you should definitely take that. Warblade could definitely be good, look especially at the maneuvers that replace a saving throw with a concentration check.
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Aug 31, 2017 21:18
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gradenko_2000 posted:My character just hit [Factotum 6 / Chameleon 8], and I want to think about longer-term planning. Chameleon is only a 10-level PrC, so I might potentially still have 4 more levels to fill out after maxing the Chameleon. -Paragnostic Apostle adds something (usually minor) to any caster build and you probably qualify already. It can also stack with your turning. That was the first thing that came to mind; it's probably a decent fluff fit too. Now looking through things alphabetically: -Abjurant Champion is kind of a rules mess so there are a bunch of fixes various people have applied. If you can qualify with Skill Focus (Concentration) instead of Combat Casting and Abjurant Armor applies to Conjuration spells that provide an AC bonus (as the flavor text of the ability implies) it may be a good fit depending on your other choices to date. -Argent Savant is ok if you really love Magic Missle. -Church Inquisitor is ok if you love Dispel Magic and accidentally bypassing clever DM plots. -Divine Oracle is ok if you like scrying. -Elemental Savant is ok if you like Lightningball instead of Fireball. -Fatespinner has some good stuff going on if the fate/luck theme is a nice fit. -Geomancer would let you do some interesting tinkering with your lower level spells and is a good fit thematically for nature lovers. -Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil is probably too hard to qualify for but is a fun abjurer thing. -Mindbender is a decent one level dip to grab Telepathy for a more socially-oriented character or just to qualify for the Mindsight feat. -Rainbow Servant would get you two domains and wings. Only worth it if you apply text trumps table and get full casting advancement. -Spellwarp Sniper is good if you wish there were more ray spells than exist in official sources. -Unseen Seer is a good fit if you've focused on being sneaky. -Urban Savant is a good fit if you love cities although the abilities aren't super exciting. -Wayfarer Guide is a decent one level dip if you love Teleport. -Wild Mage is a good fit if you think the Deck of Many Things is the greatest. Tome of Battle options: Due to the way initiating works, adding ToB base classes on to the end of a build isn't terrible since your non-initiator levels count as .5 initiatior levels. So a Fact 6/Cham 8/Warblade 1 would have IL 8 or F 6/C 10/W 1 would have IL 9 (odd levels are better break points and Chameleon 9+10 is likely better for you so this is probably the route I would suggest). -Warblade: least able to take advantage of the bonus IL due to lower number of stances/maneuvers (even with a higher IL you still have to meet # of maneuvers prereqs) but gets some nice benefits from your (presumably) high INT. -Crusader: If you've focused on Attacks of Opportunity or your party is really low on healing this might be your best bet, otherwise warblade is tougher and swordsage has more utility -Swordsage: Lots of options and a great fit if you've focused on the sneaky aspect of things. -PrCs: Bloodclaw Master is relevant if you've already focused on Two-Weapon Fighting and the Jump skill, which I'm guessing you haven't. Bloodstorm Blade is good if you've already focused on throwing weapons, which is a little more plausible. The other ones either aren't good or you are unlikely to qualify for in time. efb: but I wrote more 
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Aug 31, 2017 21:19
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gradenko_2000 posted:My character just hit [Factotum 6 / Chameleon 8], and I want to think about longer-term planning. Chameleon is only a 10-level PrC, so I might potentially still have 4 more levels to fill out after maxing the Chameleon.  Everyone: I let him take Cunning Surge as a feat because it amuses me, so he doesn't really have that as a reason to go Factotum 8. Bouquet has a pretty drat nice post here, lots of good options in there for Jim- Bouquet posted:-Wild Mage is a good fit if you think the Deck of Many Things is the greatest. Wild Mage posted:Reckless Dweomer (Su): a wild mage knows how to spontaneously convert her own spell energy into random, unpredictable results. As a standard action, she can eliminate a prepared spell or spell slot of at least 1st level to create an effect similar to that of activating a rod of wonder. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Yawgmoth fucked around with this message at 00:10 on Sep 1, 2017 |
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Sep 1, 2017 00:07
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See its responses like that that make me want to be in yawgs games, and simultaneously fear a gm that excit d about rod of wonder effects
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Sep 1, 2017 17:50
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There is no downside to riding a rod of wonder like a trapeze in any game your GM gives it to you.
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Sep 3, 2017 00:18
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Our Rod of Wonder has turned its wielder into Gargantuan Dragons something like three times and only turned an enemy into a dragon like once, and it was just a juvenile. Do always Rod of Wonder.
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Sep 6, 2017 17:49
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JUST MAKING CHILI posted:Our Rod of Wonder has turned its wielder into Gargantuan Dragons something like three times and only turned an enemy into a dragon like once, and it was just a juvenile. One of these days Follow's gonna turn into a wyrmling and/or you're gonna turn some trash mob into a great wyrm, and I will laugh and laugh.
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Sep 6, 2017 20:17
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Please have a phone out and at the ready to record that day, as I wish to see the dawning terror as everything goes to hell in a hand basket.
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Sep 8, 2017 18:07
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I'm curious if this feat chain is worth it for an arcane caster type Snowcasting -> Frozen Magic -> Cold Spell Specialization. No level requirements, Snowcasting requires 13 CON. Snowcasting: As a move action, add a handful of snow or ice as a material component to any spell to give it the [cold] descriptor. Doesn't change the nature of the spell, just adds the cold descriptor so it can be affected by other feats. Adds +1 CL to spells already of the cold type. Frozen Magic: In cold areas (below 40 degrees F), cold spells gain +1 CL. In extreme cold (below -20 degrees F), cold spells gain +2 CL. Cold Spell Specialization: In cold areas, gain +1 bonus damage per die. In extreme cold, gain +2 damage per die. There's lots of ways to make it cold around you all the time, and adding +2 damage per die could get bonkers with an Admixture'd damage spell. Three feats is kind of steep though.
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Sep 12, 2017 19:55
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It's okay if you're already in an area of extreme cold and will be in such 100% of the time, but beyond that I don't think it's terribly worth it. Most of the things chillin' in that kind of climate already have cold immunity or huge resistance. Maybe if you're the cold version of a dry lich?
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Sep 12, 2017 23:36
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There's control temperature for baby casters, fimbulwinter for grown ups, and cold snap if you're friends with a Druid or Cleric. And overcoming resistances and immunity is easy with piercing cold and/or lord of the uttercold. This looks like a cold lich build in the making.
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Sep 13, 2017 00:35
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FYI, if you're trying to be the Lord of Uttercold and hang out in your own Walls of [Cold]Fire, then you wanna be an Anima Mage. Acererak, the Devourer is a fifth-level Vestige who gives you both Cold Immunity and Negative Energy healing. For this you drop one caster level but you pick up a metamagic total-discount technique, so it's pretty much a wash. Depending on how dedicated you are to early entry you can have the dude online at level ten, plus or minus one. Actual liches can suck your fully-fleshed dick.
Eikre fucked around with this message at 17:45 on Sep 18, 2017 |
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Sep 18, 2017 17:40
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One of our party members is being coy about his next character for our upcoming EEEEEVIL campaign, posted this "obscure clue" about his next character. What could this be?
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Sep 21, 2017 16:12
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Google's Best Guess for this image: The Age of Trees. So: Evil Druid.
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Sep 21, 2017 16:27
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