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Kitfox88 posted:So wait as a ranged magus should I make my dex 18 and Cha 16 at start 18 Dex, 16 Int is the standard recommendation. You can get away with a 14 Int if you have a really strong inclination to getting a 14 in Str/Con/Wis/Cha for some reason, but in general, a ranged magus wants a stat spread something like 12/18/12/16/12/10. Charisma is your dump. You don’t have the free actions to be demoralizing or feinting or whatever even if you wanted to.
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Mar 21, 2023 14:18
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I meant thaum not magus 
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Mar 21, 2023 16:42
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Kitfox88 posted:I meant thaum not magus A thaum can’t start with 18 dex; you’ll want 18 charisma and 16 in your choice of Str or Dex if you’re planning to use a weapon. (Wand Thaums can theoretically dump both, but probably still want Dex more than any of the alternatives.) For a ranged weapon user, you probably want something like 10/16/12/10/12/18 for a starting array, and you probably don’t want to use a Weapon implement (though there are ways to make it work) - the ideal weapon is probably a thrown weapon with a returning rune, though one handed crossbows and firearms can work - reloading is a pain unless you can use FA to get access to Risky Reload.
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Mar 21, 2023 17:14
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For someone who grew up on Forgotten Realms/Dragonlance books, and is annoyed that they stopped making them, are any of the Pathfinder Tales novels notably good or bad?
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Mar 21, 2023 19:30
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bagrada posted:For someone who grew up on Forgotten Realms/Dragonlance books, and is annoyed that they stopped making them, are any of the Pathfinder Tales novels notably good or bad? I read one. It was the most aggressively  story I'd ever read; not bad but definitely not good. Characters were thrust together through circumstances and had to use their skills to survive a trip to a dungeon to get whatever poo poo the plot had demanded. Looking back on it I remember nothing about the resolution to the story other than they'd won.Think it was by Ed Greenwood.
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Mar 21, 2023 19:50
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Oof. I've got a player who seems to have decided that wanting to play an evil character is their hill to die on. So I'm either dealing with that bullshit the whole time or someone being resentful about me putting my foot down. Frankly it's just loving obliterated all my enthusiasm about running a game instantly.
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Mar 21, 2023 20:47
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Put your foot down, and if they're being a passive aggressive whiner about it later, kick 'em. That's all there's to it, really. Don't let anyone ruin your fun campaign.
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Mar 21, 2023 21:06
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Rythian posted:Put your foot down, and if they're being a passive aggressive whiner about it later, kick 'em. This. Sometimes you need to kick someone out to save the game/group
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Mar 21, 2023 21:07
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Rescue Toaster posted:Oof. I've got a player who seems to have decided that wanting to play an evil character is their hill to die on. So I'm either dealing with that bullshit the whole time or someone being resentful about me putting my foot down. Rythian posted:kick 'em.
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Mar 21, 2023 21:27
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Being evil is played out. They should run a Chaotic/Neutral Bolshevik who kills every noble you send your party to rescue.
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Mar 21, 2023 21:34
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super sweet best pal posted:Being evil is played out. They should run a Chaotic/Neutral Bolshevik who kills every noble you send your party to rescue. This is why I am steering my players to Cheliax so they can kill slave owners.
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Mar 21, 2023 21:52
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super sweet best pal posted:Being evil is played out. I dunno, Blood Lords has been really fun so far.
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Mar 21, 2023 23:32
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Rescue Toaster posted:Oof. I've got a player who seems to have decided that wanting to play an evil character is their hill to die on. So I'm either dealing with that bullshit the whole time or someone being resentful about me putting my foot down. GMs are always in higher demand than players. Own that and keep the foot down. Maybe offer to run an evil one-shot as a consolation if you're exceptionally nice.
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Mar 21, 2023 23:34
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The urge to run an evil character seems to disappear completely if you just say "I'm not using alignment for PCs, don't write anything down in that sheet section". Suddenly without having that marker, people who want to be 'evil' act much more normal. Or at least PC-standard.
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Mar 21, 2023 23:43
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Depending on how much you want to deal with it, could just be serious chat time with the player in question. Like why evil, what do they want to get up to, can they be trusted to play in a way that doesn't gently caress over the party, stuff like that. Would the player be fine with short-sighted moves blowing up in their face, or are they expecting no consequences for being a dickbag? A bit of friction can be interesting if it's not enough to start fires, in and out of character. But I admit I'm quite lucky to know that I could trust literally anyone in my normal group if one said they wanted to be Evil when the others aren't, especially if we took the time to chat it out a bit during a session zero.
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Mar 22, 2023 00:06
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I don't think the guy is aiming to create unnecessary conflict with the other players, but also can't really articulate exactly what he's going for other than character being kind of a selfish rear end in a top hat, so... Everything is manageable or whatever, I'm more so questioning, if I get this discouraged this fast over some dumb BS am I not actually as hyped to run something as I thought I was. I put a good chunk of money into books, Foundry, modules, etc... haven't even had one session and I already feel ready to just bail on it all.
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Mar 22, 2023 02:25
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Selfish how? How does it affect what the other players are doing/achieving the goal? To a limited extent he's going to have to be someone they are going to want to be around in character otherwise the game just doesn't work at all. And if they end up killing him for robbing them that's a perfectly fine way for him to learn that lesson
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Mar 22, 2023 02:36
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Rescue Toaster posted:I don't think the guy is aiming to create unnecessary conflict with the other players, but also can't really articulate exactly what he's going for other than character being kind of a selfish rear end in a top hat, so... You. Can. Say. No. Harold Fjord posted:And if they end up killing him for robbing them that's a perfectly fine way for him to learn that lesson
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Mar 22, 2023 03:17
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Rescue Toaster posted:I don't think the guy is aiming to create unnecessary conflict with the other players yes he is, also he's literally already causing unnecessary conflict with you, get rid of him now and have fun instead of let him destroy your game Piell fucked around with this message at 03:31 on Mar 22, 2023 |
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Mar 22, 2023 03:28
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mind the walrus posted:You. Can. Say. No. Oh, definitely. I was mainly just so surprised out of nowhere, I really didn't expect it from this player. And I've already said a lot of the things brought up here (all good points). And I'm trying to balance hesitancy to blow a hole in an already small group vs figuring out how to make it work within the story, etc... and then my brain was just "Holy poo poo I don't want to deal with this." Anyway, I appreciate all the feedback and encouragement that it's going to be better to just put my foot down long-term.
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Mar 22, 2023 03:31
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Rescue Toaster posted:Oh, definitely. I was mainly just so surprised out of nowhere, I really didn't expect it from this player. And I've already said a lot of the things brought up here (all good points). And I'm trying to balance hesitancy to blow a hole in an already small group vs figuring out how to make it work within the story, etc... and then my brain was just "Holy poo poo I don't want to deal with this." If you've already said a bunch of things about how you don't want him to do this and he keeps saying he's going to do it, he is absolutely not worth keeping around
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Mar 22, 2023 03:32
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On a lighter note, How do you reconcile attack actions initiated out of combat with initiative? Like a mimic's reaction to being interacted with. Do you resolve the attack first and then roll init? If you roll init first, what if they don't win? I guess this is similar to a hiding ambusher losing init against someone they're attacking. Nothing has technically happened that would cause the players to observe anything. My possible house rule would be always moving just the first character to act that triggered the fight to the top of the initiative if their opponents were all unaware. Not their entire group (unless they all win). So sort of a partial surprise round.
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Mar 22, 2023 04:33
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Rescue Toaster posted:On a lighter note, I have everyone roll appropriate initiative, and allow any actors who have reason to anticipate a fight to start with their reaction. So in the case of the mimic, I would have it roll Dwelling Lore for initiative, and give it its reaction right away (since it knows the players are close) and have that reaction go off immediately at the start of the fight. This also works well for any other surprise encounters. E.g. I had a player suddenly attack an evil guy during negotiations. I had him roll deception for initiative, and when some enemies rolled higher, I just said that they could tell that the player was about to attack (he couldn't hide his intentions / movements well enough to fool them) so they could act before he attacked. And for surprise encounters, I would just say that the truly surprised people don't get their reactions until their turn.
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Mar 22, 2023 04:44
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Rescue Toaster posted:On a lighter note, In the case of the mimic, I'd first check its automatic Deception against any target it'd have the chance to interact with (so a default mimic would beat anything with Perception +18 or less). Then you resolve the reaction, then roll init, similar to how you would a hazard. Usually you'd just simply roll initiative, but the ambusher is using Stealth. If they don't get higher, then the creature has the chance to react, but (if the ambusher's Stealth beats Perception DC) they don't necessarily know someone's there. I believe this comes up in the Gamemastery Guide, as a note.
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Mar 22, 2023 05:46
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So random question. The Pactbinder feat Pact of Draconic Fury says "You breath deeply and exhale a line or cone of powerful breath, much like the dragon with which you made the pact." The description adds later, "No matter the shape, it deals 1d6 damage per level of the same damage type of the dragon's breath weapon." What if you make your pact with a faerie dragon, whose breath weapon doesn't do damage, but instead inflicts stupefied 2 and slowed 1 for 1d4 rounds? Does it do poison damage because the faerie dragon's breath weapon has the poison type? That's my reading, at least.
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Mar 24, 2023 20:40
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marshmallow creep posted:So random question. That's probably how I'd rule it? Picking a energy type that's thematically appropriate to the dragon is easier and closer to the intended balance than trying to make a weird custom thing for stuff with weird breath weapons like faerie and cloud dragons.
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Mar 24, 2023 21:29
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How can I get my Rogue to roll Stealth for initiative? I thought you just shout "i'm avoiding notice" per this: https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=511 Which says: quote:....If you’re Avoiding Notice at the start of an encounter, you usually roll a Stealth check instead of a Perception check both to determine your initiative and to see if the enemies notice you (based on their Perception DCs, as normal for Sneak, regardless of their initiative check results). The GM says I can't roll stealth because the party is too loud. So I'd have to move way ahead of the party and initiate combat alone which I'd just never do because it seems like a great way to die. Seems like even if I do get to roll with Stealth, I could still roll low and not get Surprise Attack (Round 1 enemies who haven't acted yet are flat-flooted). And even if I roll well I'm now in a fight that's 1 vs a room of enemies, so I'd just walk away and not attack anyway?
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Mar 25, 2023 22:25
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your gm is wrong, if you're avoiding notice you can roll stealth for initiative even if the rest of the party are the noisiest fuckers in the universe
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Mar 25, 2023 22:32
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If anything, being in a group of loud adventurers should make it easier to avoid notice because everyone is distracted by the paladin in full plate and bard that never stops playing their lute.
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Mar 25, 2023 22:41
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This isn't quite a mechanical question, more of a conceptual one. I'm rewriting "Little Trouble in Big Absolom" to utilize flavor from the Dark Archive. The granny who is blind and doddering will now be putting on an act as a Secret Society member. The party will encounter a cryptid in the basement as a sub-boss and as an optional encounter in the second half. A fungus Leshy will now be a Grindywort as a sort of sad tragic figure. The thing is I can't quite think of a good concept to end it. In the original the party of Level 1 Kobolds are tasked with getting a Hedge Trimmer from a nearby house, and have to fight 4 "Lawn Crayfish" at the end. I'm obviously rewriting the Hedge Trimmer to be a spookier item-- probably a "Cloak of the False Foe" as a lure Granny uses to get them killed-- but what kind-of monsters are good for Level 1 Kobolds? The cryptid is one of those "rumored" Cryptids that doesn't like to be seen or noticed much, so the enemy needs to be a more vicious prowling type of thing. I looked through the first 2 Bestiaries and nothing jumped out at me. Wracking my brain to have a concept I can flesh out mechanically. Hrm. mind the walrus fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Mar 25, 2023 |
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Mar 25, 2023 22:42
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I'd be hesitant to replace that enemy. They are really slow and hit like a truck. In a stand up fight they will obliterate the party. After one of our kobolds was downed in a single round we realized we weren't playing 5e and kicked their rear end by properly using 2e's three action economy. They make for a very different fight than a lot of other low level stuff. Maybe just reflavor them? I really like that adventure though, in large part because of how low stakes and silly it is. There are already enough spooky scary adventures, I want more kobold misadventures, not less. KPC_Mammon fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Mar 25, 2023 |
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Mar 25, 2023 23:19
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KPC_Mammon posted:If anything, being in a group of loud adventurers should make it easier to avoid notice because everyone is distracted by the paladin in full plate and bard that never stops playing their lute. This, the GM that says otherwise is a buzzkill.
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Mar 26, 2023 00:07
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KPC_Mammon posted:I'd be hesitant to replace that enemy. They are really slow and hit like a truck. In a stand up fight they will obliterate the party. After one of our kobolds was downed in a single round we realized we weren't playing 5e and kicked their rear end by properly using 2e's three action economy. Oh I'm making two versions, essentially. One that's run as-is for newbies, and one that is for these particular players who are more experienced in 5e and very specifically want to experience things like PF's Witch, Thaumaturge, Investigator, Inventor, etc. I decided on Psychopomps-- a Nosoi and 3 NPCs with the Secret Society bonus. It'll be fun!
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Mar 26, 2023 00:25
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Just curious what people think about handling purchasing gear in something like Abomination Vaults. The town is a 'level 4 settlement' and the adventure goes up through 10th level. A) Do a lot of hand-adjustment of loot so everything they get is basically usable as-is. Which is convenient if a little unrealistic/suspicious. But then again who cares. B) Mail-order from Absalom, which is mentioned once in the adventure but presumably could be made a consistent thing. C) Maybe someone from Absalom gets wind of all the treasures the party is pulling out and sets up temporary shop in town, especially after B happens a couple times. D) Crafting, not sure how much the party is interested in this, or any idea which of the many crafting rules I'd want to use. The town would still have trouble realistically buying crap the party is trying to sell at a certain point, too. Any other good options I'm missing?
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Mar 27, 2023 14:42
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Could just have the players do a road trip to Absalom, could either make it non-eventful, or add some homebrew quests on the way/while there/heading back. It's like what 30-50 miles or so.
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Mar 27, 2023 14:51
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Rescue Toaster posted:Just curious what people think about handling purchasing gear in something like Abomination Vaults. The town is a 'level 4 settlement' and the adventure goes up through 10th level. Currently in my game, I have three different things going. 1) I allow players to invest in different shops to improve their stock/inventory. So while shops start at level 4, if they invest X amount of gold they can level it up. 2) Most mail order by absalom stuff I have via questgivers. Either they know a guy who can get you a higher level item or they're rich enough to send a courier to buy one. 3) There's a crafter in the party who can make unique magical items during downtime. That being said, I don't think it's something that's too big of an issue (Abomination Vaults book 3 spoilers) Reading ahead, it looks like there's a Drow outpost on level 8 that they can purchase better items from. If you didn't want the town to be too much of a mechanic you can just let them purchase the better goods from there.
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Mar 27, 2023 14:54
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Absalom is supposed to be relatively close. These measurements aren't quite canon, but Otari is about 40-50 miles away from it by leisurely coastal travel. (Sail out in the morning arrive in the evening, if using non-magical sailboat speeds.) I'd go with B) and C) and maybe even let them visit Absalom if you have the book/are willing to set up a whole big city for them.
Megazver fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Mar 27, 2023 |
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Mar 27, 2023 14:59
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It'd also be pretty trivial to whip up a travelling merchant NPC who goes between Otari and Absolom and takes care of the mail orders.
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Mar 27, 2023 15:03
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Arrrthritis posted:That being said, I don't think it's something that's too big of an issue (Abomination Vaults book 3 spoilers) Reading ahead, it looks like there's a Drow outpost on level 8 that they can purchase better items from. If you didn't want the town to be too much of a mechanic you can just let them purchase the better goods from there. That's actually down on ||level 9, which is almost the end||. I think using couriers or party trips during downtime is probably fine.
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Mar 27, 2023 15:03
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If you want to have crafting be useful you need to have lots of downtime built in. There was an old DnD rule that 1 day of downtime IRL = 1 day of downtime in game. The assumption was that the party would leave the dungeon at the end of the session. Helps keep people from shooting through the levels in just a few weeks of IC time. If you have an alchemist or inventor crafting is easy, they'll probably just need the magical item crafting feat in addition to things they were going to do anyway. A rogue or investigator has enough skill proficiencies to take crafting without harming things they want to take. If you're using the free archetype rule the inventor archetype gives you everything you need to be a decent crafter, and also sometimes you can make your sword explode. Super cool item for crafters: https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1282 quote:Private Workshop
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Mar 27, 2023 15:08
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