Pathfinder General /pfg/

>first things first, figure out one or two mad zinger sentences to get your story going. Doesn't have to be directly related to the character, but it should set the stage - like, if I was making a Thuvian for the Dragons campaign, it would be something that sets the tone for Thuvia as a nation and suggests what caused my character's downfall.

Fuuuuuuck, and here's me forgetting to add the rest of my advice to this little bit of info.

After figuring out the mad zingers, you should spend most of the day *not thinking* about the character. Chewing on that bone will wear your creative teeth out, we need those things sharp for crunch time! Enjoy yourself, and come nightfall get a sippy of your favorite intoxicating beverage, get a good buzz going, slip on some music that helps elicit the emotions you're trying to sell me, and get to work on that character!

Bonus: Spend the day before this reading backstories you like, getting vibes on what they're doing and shamelessly copying that for your character. Also (very important!) Steal an application format you like and fill in all the stuff you already know, saving the Backstory and Quick Facts segments for the night I talked about before.

>inb4 half a dozen people suddenly edit their applications to follow this formula

I've gotta say, I'm pretty confident in mine. That said, I might bother criticismAnon for a bit of his time later, to know what the strengths and weaknesses of my style are.

>Implying I care about my applications after submitting.
That's a quick way to be disappointed when the games all get canceled.

>mfw my dragons character is basically this without even meaning to be

>Bonus if you describe your village for Molthune Knights!
I was thinking about this earlier actually.

I'd like Adalbern's village to be a nice little fishing village on a hill on the far western shore of Lake Encarthan, harvesting lumber from the far southern Fangwood near the border with Nirmathas.

The problem may be that the village would be practically within spitting distance of Tamran, and that seems like it would detract from the comfy slightly with the possible tension of being there.

>Second paragraph (Bad)
Do you mean bad as in bad writing or bad as in negative?

It's not exactly a perfect formula, and YMMV depending on how much you may or may not write.

But the First and Fourth paragraphs absolutely need to be in there; the moment you establish a tone is the moment you get someone invested to some degree in the backstory, even if it isn't a particularly exemplary example of writing.

And when you've got the reader invested? Cue Paragraph 4, cue the character clicking into the campaign hook, and cue the DM finishing your app and seeing you've seamlessly put a fleshed out character into Session 1 without any finagling on his part.

Bad as in "negative." I'm kind of writing this from stream of consciousness based on my experiences with writing applications on Myth-Weavers.

>Fucking with my app this late in the game

I'm locked down my man, warts and all I'd rather stick with it than agonize over class combos and backstory shit more than I already have.

(Last post about this unless someone asks a question, I don't want to fill up the thread!)

An excellent example of this backstory structure that really, really works is Osanna Verona from Rise of the Runelords.

Would you be willing to look at some of the other games' applications?

>level 4 elderly half-elf alchemist (mindchemist) 1/wizard 3
>deific obedience Irori
>visualization of the mind
>breadth of experience
>+29 (31 with cognatogen) to all knowledge skills at level 4

So at a minimum check of 30 for all knowledge skills how does one represent this character?

We know he is an elderly Half-elf alchemist/wizard. So an old academic would make sense?

How would one represent from a "how others talk about him" standpoint for how knowledgeable he is.

So this is the state of my current game:
>players are part of a mercenary company, the Crow Men
>the mercenary company is 1200 strong
>the 1200 are divided into four battalions of 300 strong
>one of my players naturally gravitated towards Major of one of these four battalions
>two of the players are lieutenants under him
>two more are sergeants under one of the lieutenants

>the players are 1 of 4 (for being a controlling factor behind one battalion) and report to a colonel and his second in command.

So, is this enough control over their situation? Only one of the players really has a ton of sway over the company as a whole as the upper echelon of the company is made up of:
>1 colonel
>1 lieutenant colonel
>4 majors

Also is 1200 a good size for a mercenary company? They are meant to have been down on their luck and spend two years inside of a city slowly starving to death in a siege, so their numbers have dwindled further. For reference The White Company, a famous Italian mercenary company, was some 4-5k strong.

What's an application you keep coming back to to check on? Is there anybody you keep checking over, even because you're annoyed by them?

>This would be when a character finds reason to visit the Swallowtail Festival
What if my dudes a native. It's kinda hard to find a reason beyond, "shit man everything else is probably going to be closed until after this over anyway."

>Mfw tried to make a noblebright character
>She didn't actually have any conflict growing up, her story is just starting
I just gotta believe in the me of yesterday. I gotta believe that she came out well.

Posting again cause I didn't get answer in last thread:

Is it worth it to take Battle Scout on a Ranger? Gives up favored enemy which I'm fairly loathe to do but I also can't predict what enemies there might be in Molthune (except humans) and it fits thematically.

Specifically for the Molthune game. I can only really imagine three areas in molthune...forest, plains, and mountains

Well there are extremes on both sides. DHB is probably the extreme for negative in RotJR. Both of his characters had really shit lives. One is running away from a previous shit life, the other was just abused as a kid.

>What if my dudes a native.

Maybe they think the Swallowtail Festival is the right time to do something, maybe sell their wares or check out the foreign hotties?

Favored enemy is pretty shitty, though?

There's a spell that lets you treat any enemy as favored enemy, though.

>Battle Scout
So a thing to combine this with would be Horizon Walker.

At later levels Horizon Walkers treat enemies in any terrain they have mastered as Favored Enemies. If you're going to be a ranger messing around with Favored Terrains (and giving up favored enemy), you may as well.

So:
>Battle Scout 5
>Horizon Walker 10
Easy peasy

>Specifically for the Molthune game. I can only really imagine three areas in molthune...forest, plains, and mountains
Don't forget Urban and Water. We're on the shores of a lake and do in fact live in cities.

A noblebright character should have conflict, even if it's something as simple as, "she needs to find the right kind of flower to give to that cute boy" or "she just got anointed as a knight, she's so excited! She's going to the Swallowtail Festival to spend some time celebrating!"

Well, you see, the thing is the DM has already read my app so I don't think I can actually change it.

But the backstory probably would be stronger if I included an anti-paladin that tried to kill Marduk, adding another injury to him and prompting the move to the Demesne. Giving her a personal reason to see what sacrifices he's been making for her and motivating her to get him his immortality

I thought we'd own territory in the plains, didn't figure we'd be too close to cities. Hmm. (Mine is the most recent submission, just added sheet link I'm currently working on)

I'd rate priority as Plains > Forest > Urban > Mountain > Water

I want to throw a giant message into the sky for everyone to read

How do I make this happen?

How do you make what happen?

That's pretty much the order I was gonna prioritize them yeah

Was my post confusing or something?

>get someone who can fly
>release some kind of alchemical smoke/gas as you go
>SURRENDER DOROTHY

Was thinking about making a Sohei/Luring Cavalier, anyone have any experience with something similar? Should I go Strength and use composite bows or Dex? Or is this a terrible idea and I'm wasting my time?

A little. It sounds like you're giant message is either an in character thing or you're trying to address /pfg/ at large.

He wants to write a giant message in the sky like we sometimes do IRL with those planes that makes clouds.

As for how you'd do this, unless there's a cloudshaping spell or alchemical brew you're either going to have to go the plane route like suggests or you're going to have to devise a new spell altogether. I'd make it a level 1, personally.

well, there's conflict now

I went and gave myself an antagonist

Which hopefully Dragon DM is fine with using as an enemy and stuff. Apparently I don't know how to make a character without also making the NPCs around them.

>d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/m/mirage-arcana

Mirage Arcana covers a 20ft cube per level. So a Sorcerer with Bloatmage Initiate, Spell Specialization, Spell Tattoo, Spell Perfection, that one lunar crown (you gotta do this during the full moon), Outlander, Death Knell, Gifted Adept, Orange Ioun Stone, Greater Prayer Beads.

This gives you a CL 38 Mirage Arcana. Meaning 38 20ft cubes you cover.

Big enough?

I need help /pfg/. I keep wanting to have a really edgy campaign where the PCs are Metal Gear Rising-tier edgy warmongers.

Would there be interest in this?

Any help?

I'd play it. I want to inherent the will of the boss.

An edgy, evil, ultra-violent campaign? Sounds like fun.

I want to give war a chance!

Let's give war a chance!

Maybe.

THE JUSTICE OF THE GRAVE

AND THE TRUE MEANING OF FEAR

I'm interested in playing a bard due to them being akin to lightly magical rogues, but don't really have any interest in the musical side of things. What are some unintrusive instruments or alternatives to music I could use?

Really, bards don't Need to sing.
It just needs to be a perform skill like: Oratory, Dance, Act, Comady, ect.

If you're going a more Rogue ish path, go with Comady so you can be a wise cracking bad ass.

Perform (Oratory), Perform (Comedy), or be an Archaeologist Bard since that gives you some rogue class features and removes the performance aspect entirely.

You'd need new rules on breaking equipment

Could just give everyone free Improved Sunder.

What?

Did you... not play MGR:R?

pls

I did, but the idea of breaking loot still seems like heresy.

Wasn't the thing about the game's mechanic that you either got loot automatically or got it specifically by breaking enemy gear/slicing off enemy hands?

Maybe work in some easy, cheap, or free way to re-forge any enemy weapons you've broken.

It depends on your builds. There are spells that let you designate any enemy as your favored enemy as a swift action, in which case it becomes one of the better attack boosters available. If user already knows there will a large number of human enemies, that also makes it more viable.

A friend of mine wants to play a Synthesist in a potentially lewd solo game I'm gonna run for him- he says he'll let me be Gestalt. We're gonna be highly powerful, of course, but I've never played with or against a Synthesist before. What challenges should I throw at him? Is there anything I should look out for?

>Wasn't the thing about the game's mechanic that you either got loot automatically or got it specifically by breaking enemy gear/slicing off enemy hands?
You got loot by slicing off enemy hands, or killing people then having their stuff analysed in a lab and replicated.

Sorry, should have mentioned also that we're running off-and-on i.e he runs one week, I run the next week etc. My bad, makes a lot more sense with that added on.

We really don't know what to tell you beyond "yes, that's enough control" because really, the concept of Majors and Corporals wasn't really a thing back then.

You had footmen, sergeants, captains, lieutenants and generals. That's about it.

>tfw natural attcker gains access to PoW
>tfw Chimera Soul mostly adds redundant attacks and Broken Blade/Primal Fury are on the chopping block

All I wanted to do was rip and tear

What are the best classes for a beginner to Pathfinder?

Paladin, easy to build, easy to RP, and difficult to jack up.

Slayer, Ranger and Bard, in those orders.

Slayer is the ultimate beginner's class; it has a forgiving list of skills and skill points, can be built many different ways, and Studied Target introduces players to unique mechanics.

Slayer. Easy to build, flexible, and effective.

Inquisitor is a fairly good entry point.

It casts spells, it does skills, it has utility, it can hit things.

"back then" isn't really what I'm worried about. I'm using modern military terms simply to help describe the units sizes. I would be more historically accurate if I was going for a historical game. I originally considered entirely unique names but decided on modern terms because it's easier for players to understand.

Warmind

I would encourage a 3/4 BAB, 2/3 caster type character for a beginning player as well. It gives them a chance to play with all the systems core Pathfinder has on offer, without being too reliant on any one of them. Playing a non-caster can give you a stilted view of the game and maybe even be downright discouraging, not to mention that it means there is a whole chunk of Pathfinder that the player still doesn't know how to interact with.

I've been thinking of trying something new, because I usually play sorcerers and alchemists, and I've been thinking of trying out a Psywar. Is it any good, and does anyone have any advice on how to build one?

Is there a class that will let me do one of the following:
>seal an evil spirit/outsider in a body part
>give me a single evil arm
>lets me remove an arm and replace it with an evil one

I want an ability similar to Zabaniya: Delusional Heartbeat, an ability possessed by True Assassin in Fate/Stay Night.

>typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Zabaniya:_Delusional_Heartbeat#Delusional_Heartbeat

What's your favorite adventure path?
Looking for something to run for a group of semi-new players.

>copying F/SN
Apply yourself.

But yes. Fiendbound Marauder Warder.

Iron Gods. If they're new you might want Rise of the Runelords, which is also good.

APs I have played:
>Rise of the Runelords
>Curse of the Crimson Throne
>Second Darkness
>Council of Thieves
>Kingmaker
>Carrion Crown
>Jade Regent
>Skull and Shackles
>Shattered Star
>Reign of Winter
>Wrath of the Righteous
>Iron Gods
>Giant Slayer
>Hell's Rebels
>Hell's Vengeance

I played them nearly in order so it's been a long time since I played some, but if I had to rate my top 5 in terms of story it'd be:

>Iron Gods
>Curse of the Crimson Throne
>Reign of Winter
>Shattered Star
>Council of Thieves

And the 5 worst written:
>Giant Slayer
>Skull & Shackles
>King Maker
>Carrion Crown
>Hell's Rebels

Strengths of Top 5:
>Iron Gods
A real sense of adventure and unique experience in golarion. The enemy actually feels frightening and oppressive, and you interact with a very unique setting in golarion. The story itself is one that I have to say is absolutely fantastic, especially for the entire last arc with the divinity drive.

>CotCT
Well written urban adventure with an interesting cast of characters. Suffers from a few plot holes that can be fixed with little effort however.

>Reign of Winter
Another sort of High Adventure game which had a very strange and entertaining second half.

>Shattered Star
Best villain

>Council of Thieves
Another urban romp. People bash it because of apparent lack of stakes. I agree that that stakes aren't high, but I don't find it an issue. It's high personal stakes low wider impact, sort of the difference between Jojo Part 3 and 4.

Weaknesses of Bottom 5:
>Kingmaker
Boring region overall, the subsystem ruined it for me because it severely impaired the story. Lots of empty boring hexes.

>Giant Slayer
Interesting encounter design, but boring story. You can tell this is an AD&D adventure. It's strength is in the encounter design, not story.

>Skull & Shackles
No sense of urgency and direction. You have next to no reason to complete the adventure.

>Carrion Crown
Nothing was overly bad, just overall very weak. There was nothing here to excite me.

>Hell's Rebels
TERRIBLE start, overall weak finish. I did not feel like a plucky chaotic good rebel. I felt like a populist demagogue.

>Apply yourself.
We're playing a PvP Holy Grail War game Yes I know and I pulled the star for assassin.

The Godhand by Little Red Goblin Games is a fun class that fits that.

>Though there hasn't been a lot of change, lately, except in mind and war.
War is the next one to be released is why.

How many feats do you have available for this?

I was trying to remember the name of that class and couldn't find it under LRGG's catalogue on Paizo, but based on what I recall from the last time a player ran one, I would recommend it as well.

>I pulled the star for Assassin
If we're talking tarot cards wouldn't Moon fit assassin more?
>Holy grail pvp game
that unironically sounds kinda fun, as a 4-5 session game of course. Going to long could get boring

I am level 11 as a human, so 7.

I'll have to take a look at them, but thanks for the recommendations.

>that unironically sounds kinda fun, as a 4-5 session game of course. Going to long could get boring
We played one before at level 15. We reduced the level a bit for this one.

Last time I also pulled the straw for Assassin and played Edgar Allen Poe as a Ravenlord Harbinger. It was set in San Francisco, we all had maps and everything.

None of us could secure a kill on the others, and the entire thing ended up being much more like a proper holy grail war than it should have with actual cool fights and multiple encounters with no one dying and instead people running before they got into too much danger.

I was allied with Alexander Hamilton who was Saber.

Probably the best fight was the one in a famous hotel in San Francisco in the middle of a Hurricane summoned by Thor that ended when Daedalus, who had figured out modern explosives, teleported in a dirty bomb and leveled the building. The fight started on the roof, blew through multiple floors, and was a 2v2 between Me & Alexander Hamilton vs Thor and Perseus.

>The Godhand by Little Red Goblin Games
Does it allow you to slice through thugs with a Shockwave!?

SHOCK
WAVE

lrgg.wikia.com/wiki/Godhand

>DM cancels a game because 'not enough time'
>Posts on forum like a day later asking for GMs for a Pathfinder game
>mfw

More beheading than a guillotine, Headslicer!

Where do we go from here, lads.

In a week we won't have Dragons, RotJR or Molthune.

Who do you want to see in RotJR?

Well, nothing better to do so here's one for my molthune character.

Originally a small logging-camp on the borders of Backar, the town became such when a series of vicious raids by irate fey led to a hiring of several guards.

Suddenly in need of additional service and logistics, the local camp took on a second cook. With nine young families in tow and generous pastures, it was only a matter of months before a brand new general store took the matter of buying and selling off the overworked quartermaster's hands.

The glut of springtime births convinced the temples of Erastil to assign creation of an altar to the area, originally in a back-room of the newly constructed tavern after delays led to a late-autumn arrival by the head of the new branch. Within five years, a town true to the term dotted the most to-date maps of the southwest.

An abundance of trees and their abnormally rapid growth ensures extensive wooden construction. Poorly insulated, the region's houses rely on massive stone ovens built directly into the center of each house's floor. Individual rooms are set around the central dining room, and in more affluent families the master bedroom lies atop it as a smaller 'second' floor. The various decorations, curtains and other methods of hiding the obvious chimney running through these are a popular purchase for rich wives.

Local roads are well-worn dirt; numerous roots and boulders dot the land and are usually avoided rather than dealt with in any regular fashion. Low-maintenance cattle dot the grassy hills, while the local diet continues to pride itself on berries, herbs and small forest delicacies.

Eating the fey is severely frowned upon - the natives are uppity enough as-is.

Would that Vampire Hunter D class work for this concept?

... that doesn't look like the Zabaniya at all!

How many red herrings/suspects should a good murder mystery campaign have? It's a level 4 campaign, so I can't get too crazy, but I want to have something more interesting than "guy with knife" or "mild nuisance stolen from the NPC codex". Wat do?