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  1. - Top - End - #181
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    upho's Avatar

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    Default Re: PsyBomb's Guides to the Akashic Mysteries!

    Quote Originally Posted by Ssalarn View Post
    Thank you!
    You're welcome! I really think any praise you get is well deserved. And thank you for enriching my game!

    Quote Originally Posted by Ssalarn View Post
    I really enjoyed putting the monsters together.
    I believe it's evident it was a labor of love. It's just too bad I rarely see monsters where both fluff and crunch are so well written and in such harmony.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ssalarn View Post
    Definitely. As I alluded to a bit above, I really wanted the daeva to be monsters that can drive and sustain a story, something that you can hang multiple plot hooks on and which has the resiliency and inherent connections to keep coming back if you want.
    Well, I think you've succeeded admirably. I feel they can provide a ton of plot hooks and immediately got my imagination going, having me almost subconsciously start creating story lines based on their unique nature.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ssalarn View Post
    Even the yaksa, the lowest CR daeva currently available, is functionally immortal, and a defeated yaksa who shows up later bonded to a mortal host is a great way to keep a story going and give the party that vibe that they've angered something that they can stop, but never entirely defeat.
    The daeva immortality/host bonding might just be one of the simplest yet most flexible and unique vehicles for creating a story which binds characters/monsters together I've ever seen. Even if just used as a basic side story to create an additional sense of coherence over time and of the party's actions having long-term consequences, it seems a daeva can provide in spades.

    And I think such a recurring daeva could also come with its own mystery solving quest with a uniquely personal touch, especially if the daeva in question corresponds to an emotion with a strong connection to one or more of the PCs, and/or if bonded hosts are relatives or allies of previous bonded hosts, obfuscating the presence, role and importance of the daeva. Tons of interesting possibilities for friends, foes and everyone/-thing in between!

    Quote Originally Posted by Ssalarn View Post
    We've actually been talking about how vritra plushies should be an add-on or stretch goal for an Ultimate Akasha release :P
    Oh yes please make this happen - both Ultimate Akasha and vritra plushies! I'd love to have a cute little "dragon-alvar" watch over me while I sleep, bringing me sweet dreams full of akashic wonder...

    --------------------

    And now to something completely different: I'd like to have one of my new homebrew archetypes - the haugadunir skald - to grant the benefits of Powerful Throw (the mechanics are perfect). Since AM just came out and its content isn't yet available on any "OGL site" such as d20pfsrd, I'd like to present the feat to make the archetype accessible to more people, and at the same time hopefully give AM a little bit of advertising. Although I assume the OGL covers the strictly legal bits, I won't put up the complete texts of any option without having your blessing, considering the very recent release.

    Is it OK with you if I put up the details of Powerful Throw now, or would you prefer I wait, or that I write a substitute instead?
    Last edited by upho; 2016-08-20 at 08:36 AM.

  2. - Top - End - #182
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    Default Re: PsyBomb's Guides to the Akashic Mysteries!

    Quote Originally Posted by upho View Post
    And now to something completely different: I'd like to have one of my new homebrew archetypes - the haugadunir skald - to grant the benefits of Powerful Throw (the mechanics are perfect). Since AM just came out and its content isn't yet available on any "OGL site" such as d20pfsrd, I'd like to present the feat to make the archetype accessible to more people, and at the same time hopefully give AM a little bit of advertising. Although I assume the OGL covers the strictly legal bits, I won't put up the complete texts of any option without having your blessing, considering the very recent release.

    Is it OK with you if I put up the details of Powerful Throw now, or would you prefer I wait, or that I write a substitute instead?
    I'm okay with you putting up the details for Powerful Throw (it's be cool if you if you attributed and recommended the source, of course!) alongside your homebrew.

  3. - Top - End - #183
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    upho's Avatar

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    Default Re: PsyBomb's Guides to the Akashic Mysteries!

    Quote Originally Posted by Ssalarn View Post
    I'm okay with you putting up the details for Powerful Throw (it's be cool if you if you attributed and recommended the source, of course!) alongside your homebrew.
    Thanks a lot! And of course I'll make sure to heartily recommend the source.

    And feel free to post your opinions of the haugadunir archetype if you find it interesting, I'd greatly appreciate your input!

  4. - Top - End - #184
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    Default Re: PsyBomb's Guides to the Akashic Mysteries!

    After having played around a bit with the daevic (mostly a mid-level Tyranny grendel with a Siegebreaker fighter dip), I have a few thoughts and questions, mainly regarding wrath's Vengeance feature and its potential impact on the game.

    In the guide, PsyBomb writes:
    Quote Originally Posted by PsyBomb's Great Guide to the Daevic
    These guys represent easily the highest damage output of any of the current Akashic classes (level 20 builds can crack 1200 expected DPR)
    If this is for a straight daevic 20, it may be correct, seeing as the class doesn't have any other true "nuke" in-class options AFAICT, nor any easy access to those found elsewhere. But for a multiclass build optimizing damage I think 1200 DPR seems like a very low number when looking at what the mechanics are capable of enabling, ie two pounces per round (via martial maneuvers, beast totem or any other pounce option(s) plus Charge Through or similar granting a free bull rush or overrun attempt). Seems the expected DPR could easily end up being more than 2k, even vs very tough monsters of a high CR (like my personal favorite end game martial "crash test dummy", the iconic tarrasque).

    This feature, or mostly the fact that it's granted at 6th level (thus making easily exploitable for damage builds already in mid levels) and that it doesn't simply add overkill numbers, but often allows for annihilating at least two enemies per round, is my only balance worry with AM so far. Not that it has a much higher risk of ruining a game than certain potentially devastating non-damage options (like for example martial demoralization), but more that it seems to have an at least equal risk of doing so while potentially radically upping the damage of the already quite silly natural attackers, causing power creep where it's arguably the least needed.

    But knowing I'm prone to read things wrong, not being exactly great at CO, and having seen a few builds by PsyBomb which I found to be very competent, I'm suspecting I'm missing something vital here. Am I?

    Also:
    Quote Originally Posted by PsyBomb's Great Guide to the Daevic
    I’ve personally gotten this to 10 attacks (2 Claws, 2 Talons, 1 Horns, 1 Tail, 2 Tentacles, 1 racial Slam,1 Bite from another source)
    This also seems a bit low to me, even if we only consider a straight daevic 20 build and no AoOs or "attack repeaters" like haste or martial boosts. Especially since some veils and certain akashic races offer a few "permanent" natural attacks very difficult or impossible to find elsewhere, notably the racial "trunk-slam", and the talons and tentacles. For example, adding a Skin of Proteus gives two additional claws/bites/slams, and a mere 3 levels in other classes (alchemist 2 and monk 1) can allow for grabbing for example two additional claw attacks.

    Hmm...

    Crap. Now I simply have to make a build experiment to see how far I can push this.

    ....

    Aight, using only Paizo and DSP options, though including some stuff from the LotW playtest, this is what I ended up with:

    Spoiler: Klau Kali Ma-Ma, Raging Daevic Destroyer - Build Outline and Offense Values
    Show

    BUILD OUTLINE
    Ragebred Skinwalker Primal Disciple Barbarian 7, Daevic 6, Formless Master 4 (Barbarian 3), Ragechemist Vivisectionist Alchemist 2, Master of Many Styles Monk 1
    N Gargantuan female humanoid (orc, shapechanger, skinwalker)
    (Klau is of feelkha heritage and thus starts as Large sized, mostly because I believe the slightly elephantine look never goes out of akashic style and befits an "ishvari" on the rise, even a fledgling one of wrath and destruction. It also hints at mysterious ancient family ties to ganapti or maybe even to a certain famous "Ole' Poppa Big-Trunk"-daeva of wisdom... And flavor-wise, I think Klau seems to be a pretty perfect avatar of violent ends to reflect the other side of said "Ole' Poppa's" peaceful beginnings, rising as a merciless mother of murder from the cold dark shadows cast by the warm and bright benevolent father of life. )

    Class and Feat Progression (Not optimized, retraining not shown.)
    1 Barbarian 1 Beasthide Shift, Power Attack
    2 Barbarian 2 -
    3 Barbarian 3 Abomination Shift
    4 Barbarian 4 -
    5 Barbarian 5 Mixed Blood (Orc)
    6 Formless 1 Sensory Shift
    7 Formless 2, Barbarian 6 Magnitude Shift, Mighty Frame
    8 Formless 3, Barbarian 7 Strongclaw Shift
    9 Formless 4, Barbarian 8 Extra Rage Power (Beast Totem)
    10 Barbarian 9 -
    11 Barbarian 10 Extra Rage Power (Greater Beast Totem)
    12 Monk 1 Dragon Style, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist
    13 Alchemist 1 Feral Combat Training (Claws)
    14 Alchemist 2 -
    15 Daevic 1 Extra Discovery (Vestigial Arm)
    16 Daevic 2 -
    17 Daevic 3 Dragon Ferocity
    18 Daevic 4 -
    19 Daevic 5 Charge Through
    20 Daevic 6
    Cracked Opalescent White Pyramid in Wayfinder Weapon Focus (Claws)
    Skin of Proteus Improved Overrun

    Ability Scores 20-point buy
    Str 50 - 16 base, 2 racial, 5 level, 6 belt, 4 rage, 6 mutagen, 5 Strongclaw, 6 size Magnitude
    Dex 13 - 11 base, 6 belt, -4 size
    Con 26 - 14 base, 2 racial, 6 belt, 4 rage
    Int 7 - 7 base, 2 headband, -2 mutagen
    Wis 20 - 13 base, 6 headband, 1 tome
    Cha 18 - 14 base, -2 racial, 6 headband

    Miscellaneous
    Rage Powers 28 rounds/day: Beast Totem, Greater Beast Totem, Lesser Beast Totem
    Traits Fate's Favored, Reactionary


    OFFENSE VALUES
    Values of pounce using Power Attack and Iron Knuckle, while in Dragon Style and Broken Blade stances, using all shifting feats and listed items, and affected by haste and strong jaw.

    Attacks in Full Attack, Damage Die Sizes and Sources (Body-part/limb/equivalent used.)
    Six Damage Die Size Increases above Medium: 1 Mighty Frame, 1 Large size race, 2 actual size increases Magnitude Shift, 2 damage die size increases wand of strong jaw
    1 Gore 1d6 8d6, race (head?)
    1 Bite 1d6 8d6, pelt of the beast (mouth?)
    1 Sting 1d4 6d6, fleshwarped scorpion's tail (tail)
    1 Dragon Beast-Claw (first claw attack in round) 1d8 12d6, lesser beast totem, Dragon Style (race hand/arm)
    4 Beast-Claws 1d8 12d6, lesser beast totem, broken blade stance, haste (race hands/arms)
    2 Proteus-Claws 1d8 8d8, skin of proteus (metamorphosis)
    2 Strongclaws 1d4 6d6, Strongclaw Shift, vestigial arm discovery x2 (vestigial hands/arms, replaces monk unarmed strikes and pelt of the beast tiger claws)
    2 Talons 1d4 6d6, sea drake's talons bound veil (legs/feet)

    Attack and Damage Bonuses (Average values of bonus damage dice.)
    +40 Bite, Gore, Sting and Talons Attack Bonus +18 bab, 20 Str, 1 orc subtype, 6 AoMF, 1 cracked pale green prism, 1 haste, 2 charge, -5 Power Attack, -4 size
    +41 Claws Attack Bonus +40 as above, 1 Weapon Focus
    +60 Bite, Gore, Sting and Talons Damage Bonus +20 Str, 1 orc subtype, 6 AoMF, 10 Power Attack, 2 broken blade discipline, 2d6 rhino hide, 4d6 Iron Knuckle
    +75 Beast-Claws and Proteus-Claws Damage Bonus +60 as above, 10 Str Dragon Ferocity, 5 Power Attack
    +77 Strongclaws Damage Bonus +75 as above, 2 Strongclaw Shift
    +85 Dragon Beast-Claw Damage Bonus +75 as above, 10 Str Dragon Ferocity

    Miscellaneous
    +66 Overrun CMB, No Size Limit +18 bab, 20 Str, 1 orc, 5 Abomination, 2 Impr. Overrun, 2 gauntlets, 2 belt, 2 boots, 2 dusty rose prism, 1 pale green prism, 1 haste, 2 charge, 8 size Mighty Frame
    25 ft. Melee Reach 20 Gargantuan size, 5 sudden reach
    70 ft. Land, Climb and Burrow Speed 30 base speed, 10 skin of proteus, 30 haste, Strongclaw Shift



    Provided I haven't seriously botched something, Klau Kali Ma-Ma's expected DPR ends up being approximately 3k vs the tarrasque, and slightly more vs just about anything else of equal or lower CR which Klau is able to charge. Actually I think it's the highest melee DPR I've ever seen a martial PF build pull off (at least without very extensive prep, party support and burning a huge pile of expensive/limited resources).

    Of course, this is at 20th level when DPR numbers probably won't matter much anyways, and some options (like the Broken Blade Stance and/or certain shifting feats) might be in for a few changes which tone this down a bit. But the same basic combo can be pretty consistently used by a natural attacker in mid levels, using for example pounce and/or full attack maneuvers + Martial Charge, combined with 6 levels of wrath daevic.

    (Btw, I blame Klau Kali Ma-Ma's ridiculously silly name on a combination of the Middle Eastern/Hindu/Buddhist inspirations for AM, an old discussion with Elricaltovilla where he wanted to prevent options from being exploited by multi-armed "kali builds" just like the above, the 80ies blockbuster "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", the fact that the "RL" Kali actually isn't just bad-ass but also actually multi-armed (go figure) and that the alchemist lets me add arms, and of course my poor imagination and my "bad pun"-OCD...)
    Last edited by upho; 2016-08-25 at 07:39 PM.

  5. - Top - End - #185
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    OrcBarbarianGuy

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    Default Re: PsyBomb's Guides to the Akashic Mysteries!

    For the vizier, have you considered the Wand Dancer feat from Inner Sea World Guide? I envision it could be the basis for some interesting builds.

    On top of that, do you think a section could be added for old incarnum feats or abilities from 3.5, in case a game wants to try backwards compatibility?

    This is honestly a very handy guide, so thanks again for making it.
    Dark Green, the color of Chaotic Evil

    Quote Originally Posted by Psyren View Post
    Altruistorc is leaving me deeply disturbed and intrigued at the same time...

  6. - Top - End - #186
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: PsyBomb's Guides to the Akashic Mysteries!

    Quote Originally Posted by Thealtruistorc View Post
    On top of that, do you think a section could be added for old incarnum feats or abilities from 3.5, in case a game wants to try backwards compatibility?

    That would be pretty cool! AM was always intended to allow easy backwards compatibility and be favorable for quick conversions to or from MoI.

  7. - Top - End - #187
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Planetar

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    Default Re: PsyBomb's Guides to the Akashic Mysteries!

    A dex-based Akasin guru is on the short list of characters/builds I want to use. The campaign I'm looking to use it in is in an unpublished setting, and I'm going to play a small race that gets +Dex,+Wis,-Cha (it was -Str before, but it was stepping on another race's toes too much, and it makes sense, they're supposed to be hardened survivors), and gets Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat. I was looking to use the two-bladed sword, and pick up Double Weapon Finesse from PoW. It'll eat up a lot of feats, but my build was going to be TWF->Double Weapon Finesse->Deadly Agility at 5th level. I can't really use any of my philosophy weapons to Gentle Touch until 3rd level. Any input?

  8. - Top - End - #188
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    NecromancerGuy

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    Default Re: PsyBomb's Guides to the Akashic Mysteries!

    A question. I noticed in the Vizier guide that it seems veilshifting away the Dreamcatcher Veil frees up the essence locked to it? Can you confirm or deny this, because my reading seems to be that it's lock for 24 hours regardless of if it stays invested.
    Kitten: *bats around a mini a few times*
    DM: "Ok, it looks like Fluffy...err, 'The Tarrasque'...Full Attacks the Cleric"
    Cleric: "Full attack my a**, that was just two claw attacks!"
    Kitten: *starts gnawing on the mini*
    Cleric: "...nevermind."

  9. - Top - End - #189
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: PsyBomb's Guides to the Akashic Mysteries!

    Quote Originally Posted by meemaas View Post
    A question. I noticed in the Vizier guide that it seems veilshifting away the Dreamcatcher Veil frees up the essence locked to it? Can you confirm or deny this, because my reading seems to be that it's lock for 24 hours regardless of if it stays invested.

    Removing the veil via veilshifting also removes the essence limitation, since the limitation is also part of the veil.

  10. - Top - End - #190
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    NecromancerGuy

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    Default Re: PsyBomb's Guides to the Akashic Mysteries!

    Beautiful. Thanks man. Love the work.
    Kitten: *bats around a mini a few times*
    DM: "Ok, it looks like Fluffy...err, 'The Tarrasque'...Full Attacks the Cleric"
    Cleric: "Full attack my a**, that was just two claw attacks!"
    Kitten: *starts gnawing on the mini*
    Cleric: "...nevermind."

  11. - Top - End - #191
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    Chimera

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    Default Re: PsyBomb's Guides to the Akashic Mysteries!

    Not sure if this has already come up, but I was reading through the Daevic guide and saw Enhanced Capacity rated light blue. but then the daevic's passion feature has this line on page 6:

    "Because of the unusual nature of these veils, they cannot benefit from veil-specific feats or effects like Enhanced Capacity or akashic catalysts (though they can still be bound as normal)."

  12. - Top - End - #192
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    Kobold

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    Default Re: PsyBomb's Guides to the Akashic Mysteries!

    Hey Psybomb, looking through the final release of Akashic mysteries, I saw the Horselord's Greaves veil lists the Daevic and Vizier as having access to it (as your guides show), but the Veil List Table shows Daevic and Guru. I know full descriptions usually trump table entries, but has anyone confirmed if Daevic/Vizier is correct?

  13. - Top - End - #193
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    Default Re: PsyBomb's Guides to the Akashic Mysteries!

    Quote Originally Posted by Air0r View Post
    Not sure if this has already come up, but I was reading through the Daevic guide and saw Enhanced Capacity rated light blue. but then the daevic's passion feature has this line on page 6:

    "Because of the unusual nature of these veils, they cannot benefit from veil-specific feats or effects like Enhanced Capacity or akashic catalysts (though they can still be bound as normal)."
    Yes, you cannot take Enhanced Capacity for the veils from your Passion, but you can use it on the Passion itself. This is incredibly powerful since you have to remember that all your Passion veils count as having the same amount of essence as the Passion itself, making increases to it paramount.

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