A 'round', in the simplest of terms consists of 3 types of action and any free actions you want to take:
A free action is something that takes functionally no effort to perform, such as speak a sentence or two, drop an item or falling Prone.
A Swift action is slightly more effort than a Free Action, but still takes some effort. Examples of this are Casting a Quickened Spell, activating some Magic items, or casting some spells with a Casting time of Swift (there aren't many of these in core).
An Immediate Action is special kind of Swift action that can be performed even when it isn't your turn (such as casting Feather Fall). It takes up your Swift action for the next round.
A Move action, which includes moving up to your Speed, drawing or stowing an item or Weapon or Standing up from Prone. (Note: If your Base Attack bonus is at least +1 you can Draw a weapon as part of your Movement using one Move Action for both).
A Standard action, which takes a fair amount of effort, such as Casting a Spell, making one attack (melee or ranged) or drinking a potion.
You can ALWAYS opt to make an extra move action in place of your Standard Action with which you can do anything you'd normally be able to use a Move action for.
Finally there are Full Round actions, such as making a full attack (attacking multiple times due to a high BaB), casting a Meta Magic spell as a Sorcerer or Charging, to name three.
There is also the 5ft step, you can 5 foot step only if you are not in rough terrain AND you take no other movement this turn (Move actions are allowed, just not to actually move). These can also be performed if you perform a Full Round action.
So yes shayanuser you can Move twice, it's commonly known as 'double moving' and uses both your Move Action and your Standard action to do. However, as your BaB is not at least 1 you couldn't do that and draw your crossbow.
Hope that makes sense and I'm not telling too many people things they already know. Just tell me if you want anything clarifying.
Ok, double post as I forget to actually mention Kole's actions.
Sodalite, are you adding the +4 bonus you get from the Improved Trip feat to your opposed Strength checks? It doesn't look like it to me.
Also:
Move Action, pick up Elanna's Dagger. It's in his adjacent square, and she's not capable of making an attack of opportunity, so that shouldn't be a problem.
Standard Action Attempt to Stab Elanna with her own Dagger. (d20+3)[20] vs her AC -4 without her Dex bonus.
As an aside, what kind of Armour are these guys wearing, if any is visible?
Here's Elanna's Strength check against Aleksand's trip attempt. It would be a Dex check, but entanglement has given her a sizable penalty on it. (1d20+1)[10]
If she fails this check, then Aleksand knocks her prone and succeeds in his attack on her, significantly injuring her.
The room happens to be small enough for anyone to walk from corner to corner, even at half-speed. However, the radius of the spell is so large that there is no place inside of it free from Entangle, and you'd have to exit the room and take another two half-speed move actions in the alley outside to get away from the weeds. That is well out of any line of sight from the encounter.
Shayanuser, if you're talking about using the other door, the one Thomas entered through, feel free to try it. I can't let you know what's on the other side of it until you do, though. If you want to perform your move action to go the the door and open it and save your standard action for after I describe what's behind it, you are free to do so.
As for the hawk and its critical hit, a crit like this would normally simply double the damage done. However, when there is no explicit mention of what happens on critical hits in the rules - for instance, crits from wizard familiars - I like to shake things up a bit. Ruby's going to take a -1 on attack rolls for the rest of the encounter.
Also, as Hellfire has been demonstrating, you have the duty to describe your own animal companion/familiar's actions and moves. I only swoop in to describe where and how their attacks land.
EDIT: If Elanna and Ruby are wearing any armor, their jackets are covering it. None the less, Kole's attack hits its mark as well, leaving Elanna looking gravely injured.
Last edited by Alagaesian : 03-27-2012 at 03:37 PM.
Hello! Just got your PM about me being an alternate. Thanks a lot for the offer, and I'd love to take it up, but I'll need a repost of the 16, and I'd better warn you I'm not the fastest of character creators. I'll have my character ready as soon as I can, though.
I've read the backstory post of the IC, but any other information will need to be reposted, as I remember very little from the recruitment thread, as it was some time ago, and will have been deleted by now.
Also, if I'm filling a gap, what class/race is everybody else? It would be good to remain balanced, and I'm happy as anything except a tank, so as long as it wasn't a half-orc barbarian whose left, I can fill any gap fairly easily.
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The first post of this thread has all the races/classes and character sheets.
Here are the remaining characters(to see sheets, please go to the first post):
Mr White - Thomas Burbage, Human Cleric
Jack - Kole Freeman, Human Rogue
Hellfire - Punto Forrest, Gnome Druid
Sodalite - Aleksand, Elan Psychic Warrior
Shayanuser - Regret Cypher, Elf Wizard
My sheet(Regret) is also available here.
the main thread is not deleted and is available here.
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Last edited by shayanuser : 03-28-2012 at 05:34 AM.
Well, as you lost a fairly strong combat class, I'd better be something combat orientated. As this is supposed to be a learning experience, even though I'm an experienced player, I think I'll be a class that I've never been before. So, I'm going to put together a Lvl 1 Soulknife. I generally go for a Druid, Psion, Cleric, or Wizard, so it will be fun to try something new.
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I don't see any problems with being a Soulknife either. Also, the party has moved a ways beyond the forest I mentioned we'd be starting in in the Big 16. Considering that we're also in the middle of an encounter, the situation could also change quite a bit between now and when you finish creating your character. So, you might have to be a little flexible in your backstory, though for now, you should be fine as long as your character has an excuse to be in Prophos. When your sheet is done and you're ready to join IC, I'll bring you up to speed on everything your character should know about what has happened since the campaign started.
I don't see any problems with being a Soulknife either. Also, the party has moved a ways beyond the forest I mentioned we'd be starting in in the Big 16. Considering that we're also in the middle of an encounter, the situation could also change quite a bit between now and when you finish creating your character. So, you might have to be a little flexible in your backstory, though for now, you should be fine as long as your character has an excuse to be in Prophos. When your sheet is done and you're ready to join IC, I'll bring you up to speed on everything your character should know about what has happened since the campaign started.
I thought Iceman was the person who left... I must have misunderstood. Who left? Is it a gap a soulknife can fill? EDIT: Never mind, checked again. I think a soulknife can fill a sorceror-spaced gap as well.
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Zolkabro if you need a hand sorting out your sheet, let me know, but the impression I get is that you know how to do it, it just takes a while (believe me, I know how that is!). None the less the offer is there.
Zolkabro if you need a hand sorting out your sheet, let me know, but the impression I get is that you know how to do it, it just takes a while (believe me, I know how that is!). None the less the offer is there.
Thanks, but don't worry, I've played loads, I just tend to spend ages writing the all the fluff and backstory and deciding stuff. I know how to do it, I'm just hopeless at making quick decisions and I obsess over every little things, so it takes a while.
Oh well, we all have our problems...
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Thanks, but don't worry, I've played loads, I just tend to spend ages writing the all the fluff and backstory and deciding stuff. I know how to do it, I'm just hopeless at making quick decisions and I obsess over every little things, so it takes a while.
Oh well, we all have our problems...
Can I request the use of this fix for the Soulknife? It kind of combines the Soulknife and Soulborn, and is pretty good. Fixes all of the balance problems and makes the mindblade work a bit better. I came across it by chance, the maker is DMing another game I'm in.
Anyway, I'm going to be a half-giant, and I've finished a lot of the crunch. Still have a bit more crunch and the fluff.
EDIT: All crunch finished. Only fluff remaining, and for that, we need to work out how I come in. Maybe I could be a goldy, and be all "Whuh? I ain't killing these people!" or whatever. Something like that. So then Sharp get's pissed, and I join you guys. That's just an idea.
Anyway, whatever we decide, I need DM confirmation before I do fluff.
EDIT EDIT: Ooh! I know! I could be the owner of the house, who was asleep, but gets woken up by the fight. So he comes downstairs to find his house being used as a base by an illegal orginisation, and what looks like a gang fight in his front room. That would be amazing! And so funny to roleplay. Please can I do that? Would be the best thing!
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Alagaesian, I really need to know whether my character can be the owner of the house so I can do his fluff. Been waiting for a couple of days now, what's the verdict? I think it would be a perfect way for him to come in, as well as being huge fun to roleplay coming into your front room to find a gang fight by illegal orginisations in there.
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The problem is that I can't find all the information on soulminds. Chiefly, I can't find the soulmeld list that the creator references. Preferably, I would like to know everything a class is capable of before including one in the campaign. Also, Soulminds feel a tad OP, though I don't have enough experience to determine whether or not Wizards/Clerics/Druids are just as powerful. The class mechanics are also quite complicated, so even after reading over it a few times, I'm still not exactly sure how it'll play out. I would suggest an alternative - the Pathfinder fix for the Soulknife. (Thanks to Jack for telling me about this.)
As for introducing your character into the story, having them actually living in your house isn't really going to be an option - for one, I've already established that there are exactly two doorways to the base. Even worse, characters have traveled through both doorways, so it's not like I can change where they lead anymore. Also, it's not like the Goldies decided to swat in this random building for a while. Though it wasn't their main base, it certainly was a permanent one, and I can't change it from that for reasons I can't say out loud.
There's always the option of you living in an adjacent space. The Goldie base is squashed between three buildings - one wall borders the alley, another borders a shop, and the last two walls border two nondescript buildings that I never actually thought of bothering with. You could easily be living in one of those, hear the ton of noise that would be naturally coming from a battle scene, wonder what the heck their neighbors are up to, then come around via the alleyway to see what's happening. The fact that you'll probably see moving plants on the way in and hear the sounds of people dying would only increase that curiosity.
Or, there's an even better hook for your character. I'll PM it to you because not every PC knows about it.
On a completely different topic, Thomas and Punto still need to act for this round. If Andre wants to join in on the fighting, then he still needs to act as well.
The problem is that I can't find all the information on soulminds. Chiefly, I can't find the soulmeld list that the creator references. Preferably, I would like to know everything a class is capable of before including one in the campaign. Also, Soulminds feel a tad OP, though I don't have enough experience to determine whether or not Wizards/Clerics/Druids are just as powerful. The class mechanics are also quite complicated, so even after reading over it a few times, I'm still not exactly sure how it'll play out. I would suggest an alternative - the Pathfinder fix for the Soulknife. (Thanks to Jack for telling me about this.)
As for introducing your character into the story, having them actually living in your house isn't really going to be an option - for one, I've already established that there are exactly two doorways to the base. Even worse, characters have traveled through both doorways, so it's not like I can change where they lead anymore. Also, it's not like the Goldies decided to swat in this random building for a while. Though it wasn't their main base, it certainly was a permanent one, and I can't change it from that for reasons I can't say out loud.
There's always the option of you living in an adjacent space. The Goldie base is squashed between three buildings - one wall borders the alley, another borders a shop, and the last two walls border two nondescript buildings that I never actually thought of bothering with. You could easily be living in one of those, hear the ton of noise that would be naturally coming from a battle scene, wonder what the heck their neighbors are up to, then come around via the alleyway to see what's happening. The fact that you'll probably see moving plants on the way in and hear the sounds of people dying would only increase that curiosity.
Or, there's an even better hook for your character. I'll PM it to you because not every PC knows about it.
On a completely different topic, Thomas and Punto still need to act for this round. If Andre wants to join in on the fighting, then he still needs to act as well.
I still prefer the Soulmind. Here is a link to the Soulborn, where you can find the list. I can only use one of these melds a day, though. While you're right in saying that it makes the Soulknife more powerful, it is still definitely not as powerful as a Tier 1 caster, like a wizard. There are very clear defined limits: Only one meld a day, only one psi-like ability a day. Low DCs for everything. And to compensate for adding things like essentia and chakra, they remove the most powerful Soulknife abilities, and most of soulmeld abilities. So I'd say that, considering how most of our party are fairly strong classes, this makes it more balanced not less. In terms of power, I am somewhere inbetween the Psi-warrior, and the Wizard, Cleric, and Druid.
And you idea for me coming in that you sent me in a PM works fine. :)
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I don't want to overstep my mark here, but I'm going to toss my view into the ring.
It's true that the whole game is fairly out of whack (especially in core, but let's not get into that). However at very low levels (which we're playing at) and low character optimisation (again, due to the newbie focus of this game, we are also playing at) the discrepancy is severely dampened.
It's also true that Wizards, Clerics, Druids etc are considered Tier one, but in levels 1-3 even a Fighter (considered, generally, one of the weakest classes) can actually out perform them with relative ease. A lot of the hugely unbalancing things don't really come into play until mid-high levels, or outside of core.
I've only had a chance to skim the Soulmind (it looks ok, but without seeing it in play it's very difficult to gauge its balance) but these are my thoughts. Alagaesian I forget how experienced you are as a DM, but the general advice is to be very wary of any homebrew (yes there is some amazing stuff out there, better balanced than Wizards' stuff and better play tested, however there is some absolute trash). Allowing one will often open the floodgates to other requests. Now, Zolkabro I don't mean to stomp all over your idea of playing the class (like I say, it doesn't look too bad), but the original idea was that everyone would play something from core (or the SRD) to get people familiar with the game. The interest of fairness aside, that way if someone sees another character do something and want to know how (for future reference etc), one of us can tell them without having to preface the description with "first you need to buy X supplement."
I don't want to overstep my mark here, but I'm going to toss my view into the ring.
It's true that the whole game is fairly out of whack (especially in core, but let's not get into that). However at very low levels (which we're playing at) and low character optimisation (again, due to the newbie focus of this game, we are also playing at) the discrepancy is severely dampened.
It's also true that Wizards, Clerics, Druids etc are considered Tier one, but in levels 1-3 even a Fighter (considered, generally, one of the weakest classes) can actually out perform them with relative ease. A lot of the hugely unbalancing things don't really come into play until mid-high levels, or outside of core.
I've only had a chance to skim the Soulmind (it looks ok, but without seeing it in play it's very difficult to gauge its balance) but these are my thoughts. Alagaesian I forget how experienced you are as a DM, but the general advice is to be very wary of any homebrew (yes there is some amazing stuff out there, better balanced than Wizards' stuff and better play tested, however there is some absolute trash). Allowing one will often open the floodgates to other requests. Now, Zolkabro I don't mean to stomp all over your idea of playing the class (like I say, it doesn't look too bad), but the original idea was that everyone would play something from core (or the SRD) to get people familiar with the game. The interest of fairness aside, that way if someone sees another character do something and want to know how (for future reference etc), one of us can tell them without having to preface the description with "first you need to buy X supplement."
Just my observations.
If it were an entirely new homebrewed class i wouldn't, for the exact reasons you've stated. But it isn't, it's more of a fix. It's almost entirely based on a core class, just some features added in from a non-core one. If this were, say, the Xenoalchemist (my favourite homebrew on the forums) then I would not even consider it. But this is not an entirely new class. It is a soulknife with the mind blade tweaked to be made better, some new abilities, and a couple of powerful abilities cut to compensate.
While I agree with you that a homebrew would be out of the question, I don't think that a fix is so disruptive.
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If I may, I would like to comment on how having two characters who have permanent weapons and use Psychic Warrior powers seems somewhat redundant to me, though you do also have Soulborn soulmelds. In addition, I would like to comment that a fix is no more or less likely to broken than a class pulled from whole cloth, even if it's mostly combining class features.
Zolkabro, Half-Giants have a Level Adjustment of +1. With your 1 class level, that would essentially put you at Effective Character Level (ECL) = 2, not 1 like the rest of us. Alagaesian may have ok'd it, but just thought I'd say in case you or her hadn't noticed.
Zolkabro, Half-Giants have a Level Adjustment of +1. With your 1 class level, that would essentially put you at Effective Character Level (ECL) = 2, not 1 like the rest of us. Alagaesian may have ok'd it, but just thought I'd say in case you or her hadn't noticed.
I know. I already edited my XP till next level accordingly. Thanks anyway.
So, Ala, does my character have the go ahead? Can I post?
Quick profile for those who can't be bothered to read the sheet:
Falxio is a half-giant soulmind, who always wears a suit, and has an ego far, far, far too big for his own good. He is a citizen of Prophos.
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Well, err, there is one main problem with playing a Soulmind - it's a little unfair. I know it looks weird saying this about a class trying to fix the Soulknife, which probably decreases some amount of unfairness in the game, but the main problem is that the Soulmind class is that it is still homebrew, despite the fact that it is made from the flavors of other classes. I didn't give anyone else the chance to pick a homebrewed class, or even a class that wasn't in core. If I let you do it, it just wouldn't be fair.
Plus, there is the fact that I'm still not sure I understand the Soulmind too well. I don't have much experience in psionics, so I'm exploring new territory by letting Sodalite play a psionic class and race. I'm perfectly fine with letting him do it - this game is supposed to be a learning experience, both for the players and me. I'd even be alright with letting two psionic characters run around. But, the fact that I'm still learning the ins and outs of psionics in general compounds with my small confusions on how the Soulmind would play out to create a large mass of uneasiness.
I'd honestly rather have you take up the Pathfinder version of the Soulknife. No, it's not exactly core, but it is extremely close, and from what I understand, forcing you to play the core Soulknife would be somewhat unfair. The half-giant thing also makes me a little uneasy, but at least there are systems in place to reduce the impact of its level adjustment, so I'm willing to accept it.
Two further things I would like to say. Firstly, the Pathfinder version of the Soulknife is a minimal increase in power, and will still fall behind pretty quickly. Secondly, I would very much suggest allowing LA buy-off, available in SRD, otherwise that falling behind will only be exacerbated by also being a level behind.
I've edited my sheet to fit the pathfinder version, but I agree with Sodalite that it isn't quite balanced.
If worst comes to worst, I have a Level 1 Psion sitting around from a game that never got off the ground. It's barely been played with, and was actually made for a new player's game just like this one, my first ever game. We didn't even get into our first encounter before the DM had to shut the game down because they had no time for it. Would be nice to use it after, what, 3 years?
But that's only a last resort if we can't make this soulknife work, I'd still rather keep Falxio.
He's gonna be quite a fun character to play, I've never played anyone so egotistical.
I'm not really sure how to change it, though. Maybe make it so that I can form any simple or martial weapon as my Mind Blade, rather than just a shortsword? I'm not much of a homebrewer, never been that good at balancing, so I don't have a clue whether that would do any good. Or maybe do something with a level adjustment like Soda suggested? I don't know.
Jack, what do you think? You're probably better at this kind of thing than I am.
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I've edited my sheet to fit the pathfinder version, but I agree with Sodalite that it isn't quite balanced.
I'm not really sure how to change it, though. Maybe make it so that I can form any simple or martial weapon as my Mind Blade, rather than just a shortsword? I'm not much of a homebrewer, never been that good at balancing, so I don't have a clue whether that would do any good. Or maybe do something with a level adjustment like Soda suggested? I don't know.
Jack, what do you think? You're probably better at this kind of thing than I am.
I'm not sure I understand. The major issue with the 3.5 Soulknife is that it's supposed to be a front-line combatant, but fails to be so in every viable metric.
The Pathfinder bumps it up to Full BAB and gives it a D10 hit dice, as well as allowing up to Medium armour and Shields and increasing the progression of the Mindblade's enhancement to match that which is available under standard Wealth by Level.
The blade skills give a nice amount of flexibility within the class (similar to the Rogue talents or PF Barbarian Rage abilities).
As for the shape of the Mind Blade, the PF one allows, from first level, it to be of any shape you desire, the only choice you have to make is whether it's Light, One Handed or Two Handed. With a standard damage dice of course (Two Weapon fighting is also very viable.)
As written, in terms of power the class is far from underpowered, I'd even go so far as say it's one of the better balanced classes in the game (the PF version this is). This is a very comprehensive list of the changes from 3.5 to PF, along with critiques on said changes.
As for your concerns with regards to balancing against the rest of the party (or more accurately, the Wizard, Cleric and Druid) without trying to sound condescending, you really shouldn't be. Most (or in fact, all) of the unbalance doesn't come in until (as I've said) mid to late levels and stuff outside of core. It also requires that players are intimately familiar with the rules and are actively trying to produce overpowered characters, which no one is.
As it stands you probable have the most powerful character here (although not by much, granted). The fact you're essentially level 2 does account for some of that though. LA can cause you to lag behind, but the effect will not be particularly noticeable until, again, mid-to-late levels. And there are rules in place that allow you to buy it off, as Sodalite mentioned.
If you could spell out specifically what it is that you are having issues with, explain and I will attempt to address them? I don't know what else I can say really.
Also, as far as I can tell, there's no reason you can't play your character as intended.
Edit: Also, how are you qulifying for Weapon Specialisation? The feat as written requires you to be at least a 4th level Fighter to take it, unless I'm missing something?
Last edited by Jack DeCoeur : 04-01-2012 at 06:05 PM.
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