Pathfinder General /pfg/

>when your DM is being a passive aggressive bitch that doesn't directly name anyone when posting messages that are clearly aimed at a specific person

Do you want Squid Kraken or General-Sea-Life-Amalgam Kraken?

why he do dis doe

who had sex with his sister?

Well, I think it has to look like something that could function on land. So full-squid might not be an option.

Alright! So, Snakeform, or crabipede quadrupedal form?

Get your DM to run an all-monster campaign and be a Fire Elemental with levels in Fire Bloodline Sorcerer and grab Searing Spell and-

Look, I dunno. I just wanted an excuse to post Ragnaros.

Well, I mean...

I did, but that's not what he's bitching about.

The argument ended in "it probably doesn't stack?"

pls stop making me ask for the story and delivar

So, does Dragonheir Scion even lose much of anything, considering it replaces bonus feats that don't exist?

Modules can be good to learn by; you pick up some lessons you might not ever realize without doing a module first. Most easy to miss thing is to make every type of specialization have some use, really. Make sure you aren't testing only AC or only one type of save, make sure there are enemies with varied types of defenses, make sure you aren't testing only certain skills or neglecting the Knowledges (and you should generally allow semi-related knowledges to work at some penalty, make those skills worthwhile to them), and occasionally just put some shit out of simple reach to test generic problem-solving and utility magic usage. Deep underwater, across a big ol' pit, through a prison cell's bars, etc.

Modules are good at those already, but those are the hidden boxes to check off when shit goes off the rails.

Aquatic with pincers and a few tentacles perhaps?

By RAW it does because one is a replacement not a bonus.

Okay.

>Know DM since I was about 6, he was my neighbor
>Been friends with him and his sister since I moved in
>His sister was my first and only girlfriend in high school
>Fucked like rabbits
>Still together in college
>Thinking about asking her to marry me

But what he's bitching about is a player that keeps complaining every time the DM has to cancel to look after his cancer-addled dad.

Would it be better to try out a Warpriest/Sacred Fist or a Sohei?

for chainsaw mcflurries?

I want to ERP with Colette

Not sure I buy it. If a pair of magic gloves just says "you can add your Strength bonus to melee attacks" I wouldn't say you get it twice in places you already would have that bonus. What's the wording?

> You may use your Charisma modifier (instead of your Dexterity modifier) as part of your Armor Class and all Reflex saving throws. Your armor's maximum Dexterity bonus applies to your Charisma, instead.

From the Lunar Mystery

I want to ERP with SwimmingEagle!

>Sidestep Secret (Su): Your innate understanding of the universe has granted you preternatural reflexes and the uncanny ability to step out of danger at the very last second. Add your Charisma modifier instead of your Dexterity modifier to your Armor Class and all Reflex saving throws. Your armor’s maximum Dexterity bonus applies to your Charisma instead of your Dexterity
Note: It is a replacement not a bonus

>AC Bonus (Ex)(modified by Scaled Fist): When unarmored and unencumbered, the Scaled Fist adds his Charisma bonus (if any) to his AC and his CMD. In addition, a monk gains a +1 bonus to AC and CMD at 4th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every four monk levels thereafter, up to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.

These bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the monk is flat-footed. He loses these bonuses when he is immobilized or helpless, when he wears any armor, when he carries a shield, or when he carries a medium or heavy load.
Note: This is a bonus.

And you did. We appreciate you.

I recall coming across a 1pp magic item that let you add your strength modifier to breaking things or sunder or something.

By that ruling, this item is literally worthless.

Is that a fucking leg?

It's legal to use both then

That's because the ruling of Captain Illiterate here is bullshit.

You could permanently turn yourself into a fire elemental with Spheres.

Or use that one fire elemental race that one guy made.

New rag had legs instead of a tornado foot.

My party's greatsword using fighter is feeling pretty outclassed by the party slayer, who regularly deals twice as much damage as he can dish out with a large-sized bastard sword. Me and the GM are trying to come up with ways to make him feel more relevant in combat without taking away his big sword away, bc as of now the slayer does the same thing much better.

I guess we could consider PoW but its definitely not our first choice.

He also still has tornadofoot in HotS. Rag does what Rag wants.

>game yesterday
>playing Plunder and Peril. level 5
>Party is me (BFC/utility wizard), an Esoteric Magus, a spear-dancing style U.Rogue, a Startoss-style Swashbuckler, and a Intimidate build Vigilante.
>Levitate Vigilante 150 ft. up an arch to take mcguffin
>Encounter Crab-man and swarm of small snib-snabs as soon as he grabs the item
>We're in a small dinghy
>We have to make Prof. (sailor) checks to not invoke vigorous motion, which gives Spell Failure chance
>None of us have anything to deal with the swarm
>I have a few torches in my bag, and the means to light them
>But I have to spend my move actions to pull vigilante with mcguffin
>Swarm enters boat, dealing damage to us all and distracting us, making us nauseated
>Later it entangles
>Rest of party starts getting upset at me for not dealing with the swarm through burning hands
>A spell I have never cast in the campaign, since I tend to not prep blast spells
>I get increasingly salty that the blame is put on me for not casting a spell that I didn't have prepared, with a standard action I didn't have, by people who ALSO didn't have any method of dealing with a swarm let alone most things because they can't optimize for shit.
>want to die
>later hear swarm had like 40 hp, so burning hands likely wouldn't have done shit.

So how do you deal with swarms, /pfg/?

In my current game, my fighter carries a blunderbus for the express purpose of killing swarms.

Are you using WMH options?
What are their Archetypes?
What level are you all?
Also, welcome to Pathfinder, enjoy your stay.

You fucking don't because swarms are fucking bullshit. "lol immune to everything except fireball" is a stupid encounter design.

Swarmbane clasp at later levels.

Really? What does a Slayer even have besides +1 every 5 levels? Which Weapon Training also gives?

Then how the hell are people supposed to deal with swarms in APs/Modules?

Who?

Quick question on backstory length for an app: is four paragraphs good or do I need to cut it down, lengthen it out or what?

MIKE JONES!

Post your character sheet. I'll tell you what you're doing wrong.

>four pages
bruh
this

It wasn't four pages, it's about four /paragraphs/

four paragraphs, not pages.

What I say is a Backstory is like a resume. It should be exactly 1 page, no more, no less.

my bad fellas

Would you include personality, flaws, and physical description in that one page limit?

Yes, generally.

Honestly just make sure it's organized. Give them a quick idea of what the concept is all about at the start, use headings or bold significant character-defining details, and tell their story in 2-4 paragraphs, yeah.

We just hit level 9, and i believe he took a Weapon Mastery thing that gives him divine bond. I'm unsure about the specifics.
Archetypes are Vanguard (Slayer) and Two-handed Fighter.

Something I probably should have mentioned, we have one Mythic tier. Slayer took Mythic Vital Strike. Thus the damage gap.

>Already a page in the default Word settings
>Still haven't gotten to last paragraph
Welp, time to sudoku.

Wait so he only took generic stuff a Fighter can get even more easily than him? Why didn't you?

Post character sheet

Hey guys, I need some help with me being dumb.

I went to see how Disguise works, and the way I'm reading it, the penatly to the check to make yourself look like a being of any other size category than yours is -10, regardless of original and target sizes.

This can't be right, right ? There's something I'm misunderstanding here, right ? The penalty to make a thrush look like a motherfucking dragon CAN'T be -12 (taking into account the "different race" bit), right ?!

I always read it as a mistake and that it should be cumulative

Cumulative sounds a little harsh though. I mean I get that explosively stupid actions need explosively stupid DCs, but -10 for going from medium to small ? That's the same difference as getting help from someone in the street or an outright opponent (check Diplomacy).

I agree that it should be cumulative, but maybe something like -5 by size category ?

The fighter is the only player at the table that uses a physical sheet, so I really don't have access to it right now. From what I remember, her feats consist of PA, Iron Will, Lighting Reflexes, Cleave, WF and WS. Pretty generic stuff.

Here's the outline you should try to aim for, each arrow is a paragraph.

>Establish the character, where they're from and what they are
>Rise to Power, they're good at what they do and you're exemplifying that
>Zenith followed by the Fall from Grace
>Character deals with the Fall, hint at campaign-relevant hooks
>Finish with the character making their way to the campaign location

Swallow whole

Look at some of the other apps to get an idea, the work with that.Also this

Fuck it, I'll just post it here.
pastebin.com/zPkmACLT

It's probably super shitty, but I'm really at a loss on what to do with this. I'm trying to revise it to be less "muh family hates me, abloobloo", but it ended up being MORE of that. Also I still haven't explained where she gets any of her abilities/skills.

I'm really tempted to just scrap the whole damn thing and start with a different character. This is really frustrating.

>Look at some of the other apps to get an idea

And on that note, I'd like to suggest Nefertari as someone to be inspired by - she doesn't have blocks of text like I suggested, but she follows the basic outline to the letter.

>Who is this character
>Where are they good
>When did they reach the height of their ability
>What caused them to fall
>How do they deal with that fall
>Why do they end up in the campaign area

You might be asking me, "but user! My character did not have a fall!" And my answer is why? You are the star of this backstory, this means you are not the Han Solo but the Luke Skywalker. Did Luke ever have stumbles on his way to becoming a Jedi Master? Of course he did! But he picked himself back up and went on his way to fight Lord Vader on the Death Star while Monster Mash watches.

But that is not where you should end up in your writing, the campaign is your Return of the Jedi and Monster Mash is the BBEG, with Lord Vader your personal foe (whether figurative or literal) the DM should be expected to put in there!

I get the impression they're just assuming it's not possible to convince anyone of a disguise where the size difference is 2 stages, and didn't figure you'd try. Even commoners can see with their own eyes. A halfling just cannot be passed as an adult hill giant for any amount of effort, but even if you rule that way, the loophole you can still get into is that you could count young versions of the larger creature as being one or more size categories down - you COULD pass an adult halfling as a child giant with a ton of extra costuming.

Currently fiddling with a dwarf for ROTJR, /pfg/. What I currently have is the daughter of a rich, old dwarven line that lives in Kalsgard, in the Undercroft; money made through mercantile works and mercenary works, very close ties to the Ulfen in the LotLK. She's the oldest daughter, expected to inherit the company when she comes of age in a century or three, but that's not what she wants out of life; what's just one company when they could have the world? She dreams of not just reclamation or survival, oh no, that's too simple.

She dreams of taking the Path of Agenhai, going to long-distant lands; and founding a new Skyhold there, a fortress-city tapping into the local Darklands, making wealth and trade and expanding her people's wealth and glory both above and below ground. She doesn't want a company; she wants a KINGDOM. Her parents tell her it's just a phase, she'll grow out of it; they told her why doesn't she go down to Varisia for a bit, explore some, work out her youthful energy for a few decades?

She's been there for a bit now, but her burning desire has not faded; currently in Sandpoint for a few reasons (not the least of rich is a desire to show off at the festival), perhaps fortune will go her way soon enough?

This all seem to flow well, seems to make sense? I was considering making her from Janderhoff instead of Kalsgard, but I felt like Kalsgard would be more suitable for the campaign; I'm also still trying to find character art, so if anyone has any punchy, cocky-looking blood female dwarves in light or minimal armor, that would be appreciated.

Dude, I seriously love her goal and concept, it all fits in-setting and the dream of building a new Skyhold is very doable in Tian Xia or even Minkai.

Did you have any preferred hair colors head shapes? Full body shots are kind of right out considering dwarf, but I've got heads.

Yeah, I have to admit I Like how it all fits together; this is my first time actually bothering to read into Golarion dwarves and they're honestly different enough from the standard Scots Fantasy Dwarf to interest me.

Blonde hair if you please, and something a little youthful? She's basically going to be still a teenager-equivalent, so that should show; still, someone capable of maturing into a true beauty instead of just someone cute.

I tie to one of the four story npcs for one, which could be as easy as "Family works with Sandrus Caravan often"
But aside from that, Looks good to me.

>Blonde hair if you please, and something a little youthful? She's basically going to be still a teenager-equivalent, so that should show; still, someone capable of maturing into a true beauty instead of just someone cute.

I gotchu, senpai!

Here's the most important question though, braited, pleated, or other for the beard?

So! Weekend's almost here, /pfg/. Any fun or exciting plans, game-related or otherwise?

How much of a Fall does it have to be? Can it still be appropriate and satisfying if it's as humble as a death in the family, the abrupt disappearance of your mentor, or something similar that forces you to give up a quest you'd been on?

The Fall is a disruption in your Rise, the thing that makes you stumble. All those things you listed count as a Fall.

The campaign should be the start of you picking yourself back up and Rising once again.

Nope, none at all.

Just more useless flailing at this damn backstory. I'll probably try and just come up with a different character. It feels like I've written myself into a corner. God, I'm a shit writer.

Reposting since it's no longer an ungodly hour. This is ROTJR character but I'm busy the next couple days and can't work on the sheet. Rather than post the draft I'm just showing off the bullet points and seeing what people think.

>character is a female tiefling in a family of humans in Rozenport
>treated like dirt for it, particularly by bitchy sister
>only her father, an occult investigator/alchemist/Sincomakti prof. treats her nice
>serious daddy issues result, thinks he is the greatest thing ever
>wants to be just like daddy, grows up to be a researcher/alchemist and even manages to become a junior prof. at Sincomakti
>meanwhile, sister becomes a housewife, pops out some kids
>one of these kids, a daughter, grows up to also think that being an occult investigator/alchemist/Sincomakti prof. is the greatest thing ever
>thinks her aunt is awesome as a result and doesn't care about the whole tiefling thing
>serious niece issues result
>meanwhile, dad has gone missing investigating rumors of cult activity
>character wants to go look for him, niece wants to go on awesome adventure
>lets the niece come, though she knows it's the worst idea ever
>they set out, but are predictably apprehended by cultists, who do Very Bad Things to both of them
>character and niece are discovered dumped on the road weeks later, both are unconscious, character wakes up a few days later, niece never wakes up and is still comatose
>character is now wracked with guilt, has frightening visions and nightmares, and is plagued by bad memories of what happened
>family naturally hates her guts now
>resigns from Sincomakti to devote herself to full-time looking for a cure for the niece
>nothing in Ustalav works
>decides to venture beyond Ustalav to continue searching
>is starting to think she needs to look beyond Avistan entirely

Character itself is an Investigator|Occultist, though I don't have too much experience with gestalts or third party.

Which one is yours?

Gonna see if I can kill my entire party in the next session. For their benefit, of course.

This one: All the advice before has made me just feel utterly defeated. Backstories gotta fall in line with theses rules but at the same time, can't be formulaic, and you should just do what feels right. It's all really conflicting and I'm totally lost. Not to mention that I'm also shit at roleplay in-game too. So I question the idea of even putting forth effort for a great backstory if I'm just going to completely flub it in game. It'd be awful if I get in, that happens, and someone else could have gotten in and not ruined everything with shitty roleplay.

sage for blogshit

I will give you a more detailed response in a half hour, but I honestly quite like Silvia and think she is excellent potential. Are you on the IRC? I could talk with you about this there.

Very cute, thank you user!

She doesn't have a beard on her face, user.But the other one's braided with gold beads for luster.

Well, the stuff you have down doesn't seem so bad. Introduces her circumstances, gives her a reason to become an PC, and then follows it through. The rest can probably be summed up under flaws or personality.

I can be in a bit, but I've got some things to deal with first.

roll20 using DMs

what do you use for making your dungeon maps

I still feel like I need to explain where she learned all of the things she knows. I don't know how to put that in without making everything take forever.

She was lonely and left forgotten in the manor, she read books and heard scullery gossip.

When she got picked up by her new father figure, she learned from the Shelynites.

While we're going over backstories, I think I'd like to submit mine for critique
>Family broke off from a Chelish noble house decades ago and moved to Varisia, gradually migrating until they hit Sandpoint
>Tried to fit in but to the locals they're so Chelish they shit imps
>Rumors of devil worship abound, and intensify when the family's son disappears just after his wife dies in childbirth
>Twin boys spend their early years friendless, one buckles down to study while the other lashes out all the time
>Hothead kid ends up meeting Ameiko she's the first other kid who doesn't seem afraid/angry at him
>She and her friends become his first friends
>Aw, ain't that cute
>Wait shit they're hitting puberty this is going to stop being cute real fast
>Grandparents and headmaster of the local school arrange for him to be a squire to a knight
>It's just like my Tian chapbooks!
>Squirehood goes well, learning about magic, fighting monsters, doing good
>Late Unpleasantness happens, a letter reaches him that his brother disappeared just after the fire. Grandfather's already died, grandmother's in her last days
>Has to go home after a hasty ordainment, tries to pick up where his brother left off and run the family business
>Been fighting a losing battle ever since as supply lines dry up, contracts expire, customers go elsewhere
>Goes monster-/bandit-hunting to supplement income
>Spends most of his free time at the Rusty Dragon
>Can't just hit on Ameiko 'cause it's not "knightly"
>Can't make any romantic gesture 'cause he's poor
>Starting to doubt his commitment to his oaths

>you COULD pass an adult halfling as a child giant with a ton of extra costuming.

Now I'm stuck imagining the plot of Little Man with giants and a halfling.

Did she learn it at the Shelyn Paladin Seminary and/or under the tutelage of Carin' Marin? If yes, then you really don't.

I have 3 different methods.

1) If its a custom-made map, I do it myself using the roll20's image database

2) If its just a standard set like a throne room or a swamp, I find something from Veeky Forums's battle maps threads.

3) If its something rushed but not important, like a quick combat encounter, I just draw shapes and maps and objects using the line tool.

I mean, that's more or less what she did for the skills, but trying to explain the Font of Inspiration tradition for Hedgewitch, the whole conversion domain with high social skills, and the Maneuver/Discipline choice is still escaping me. I just feel like I've written too much on the early childhood thing and now don't have space to explain everything else, leading me to want to start a new character.

Hm.

The basic stuff roll20 has available... they're not very good. I've purchased a few packs, and even them, I don't like them that much.

I wonder if that Virtual Battlemap thing on steam is any good...

>That spoiler

Well lube me up and call me the excavator, because I want to tunnel this Dwarf!

>Carin' Marin

Marin Karin?

I don't really use roll20's maps. they suck.

I use their objects and textures to make my own maps.

This isn't bad either but I rarely use it because I'm a lazy fucktard: pyromancers.com/dungeon-painter-online/