Pathfinder Grab Bag Competition Chat Thread

[Warpwolf16]

So next months contest wil be in my favor? Sweet!

[Tanuki Tales]

Originally Posted by Warpwolf16

So next months contest wil be in my favor? Sweet!

Huh, so it does.

I really do like your entry this month, so I am looking forward to seeing what you'll be making for next month.

[Warpwolf16]

Thanks Troll Brau, I'll start working on my entry for next month when I finish the Gatorfolk. Though not sure what to make just yet, time to go through my old campaign notes! I might do a construct or psionic plant, I just got my ARG today in the mail!

[Tanuki Tales]

Originally Posted by Warpwolf16

Thanks Troll Brau, I'll start working on my entry for next month when I finish the Gatorfolk. Though not sure what to make just yet, time to go through my old campaign notes! I might do a construct or psionic plant, I just got my ARG today in the mail!

Awesome. =o

Keep in mind that we don't require the ARG to be used when making a race, I'll just be personally using it as a rule of thumb when looking over race entries.

[Warpwolf16]

Originally Posted by Troll Brau

Awesome. =o

Keep in mind that we don't require the ARG to be used when making a race, I'll just be personally using it as a rule of thumb when looking over race entries.

I know but I'd like for my races to be even slightly playable to the average DM, so I try to run my race against the builds in the ARG.

Still got to figure out something that will be nice and easily playable, if i go construct I have to figure out a good way to make it balanced while if I do plant I've got to think of fluff.

[Milo v3]

Okay now I'm going to try and get my entry finished ASAP. Might be slowed down a bit my assessments but it should be on time.

As for the next competition, I've got an underdark/desert race planned.

[Milo v3]

It probably has a few errors but I've finished it.

[Tanuki Tales]

Ok, the Past Entry Archive is done! *phew*

[Realms of Chaos]

Okay, I've got my entry up with the legion of one. It's the first Pathfinder homebrew I've made so far and though I already looked through and made some adjustments (mostly based on how cleave and intimidate work differently in PF), I'd still appreciate it if someone could point out any bugs in the system.

I also hope I got the power level right. Though the class has a very good chasis, it really doesn't really add much of anything to a "fair" fight and basically focuses on turning victories into slaughters.

Edit: Slightly changed the class to reduce the chance of this guy randomly going insane on weird creatures like the Marilith or horned devil with fewer HD than their CR. It can still happen, I suppose, but only in rare situations.

[Tanuki Tales]

Holy crap, Realm of Chaos entered my contest.






In other news, I won't be able to get to run-downs until the night of the 29th or the 30th at the latest. I'm completely exhausted from ticket pickup today and the next three days are Otakon.

But I'm very glad to see that we have more than three entries this month and I look forward to giving the Warcaster, Myrmaton, and Legion a look down once the con is done.

[Tanuki Tales]

And this week is family week now.

So, I'm hereby extending this month's contest till August 7th!

The new one will still be up on the 1st.

[Tanuki Tales]

Alright, the new contest is up everyone!

Next I'll be working on the trophies from last month (sorry for them being so late) and then I'll jump on run-downs for our latest entries for Semper Fi.

[Ancient Hippo]

Sorry, but what is the theme of the new contest? I took a look in it's thread and could not find it.

[Tanuki Tales]

Originally Posted by Ancient Hippo

Sorry, but what is the theme of the new contest? I took a look in it's thread and could not find it.

1. For this month's contest you will be creating the following:

• An original base race.
• Alternate racial traits for the race (minimum 3).
• Favored class options for the race (minimum 3).
• A Racial Archetype (minimum 1).
• Racial equipment (minimum 1).
• Racial feats (minimum 3).
• Racial magic items (minimum 1).
• Racial spells (minimum 1).

There ya go.

[Tanuki Tales]

Alright, all the trophies have been sent!

[Tanuki Tales]

Alright, time for some rundowns, starting with the Sumran Warcaster!


Fluff

• The third sentence is incomplete and is more a fragment than a full sentence.
• I would suggest combining some of the sentences so that the fluff reads less terse.
• The last sentence in the first paragraph is a fragment.

Desertsight

• I would suggest using something like, "The Surman Warcaster's tremorsense extends outwards to 30 ft. This range increases by an additional 30 ft at 6th level and again at 16th." in place of " At 2nd level this tremorsense has a range of 30 ft. At 6th level, this tremorsense has a range of 60 ft. At 16th level, this tremorsense has a range of 90 ft."

Desert Legion

• I think you meant "there" and not "their".

Dune Dependency

• I think you meant "A Sumran Warcaster of 10th level becomes permanently linked to the desert" instead of "A Sumran Warcaster of 10th level becomes soul becomes permanently linked to the desert".
• You forgot the "or" between eat and sleep.

That's it for the grammar bits.

• First thing I want to mention, you do know that Cantrips are at-will abilities, right? Spontaenous Casters don't even get spell slots for them and Prepared Casters only get them to designate which ones they've selected to be able to use for the day.
• You need to specify what Desert Strike applies to, because as is, it applies to spells. And what kind of damage is it?
• Arcanist's Insight's fluff doesn't line up with what it does. If they're meant to be trained against spellcasters, then shouldn't the bonus only apply on Will saves against spells and spell-like abilities?
• Battle Aptitude is meant to allow them to count as Fighters for the purpose of feat prerequisites only, right?
• Desert Legion is pretty meh as an ability. I'd suggest making it scale and maybe only have it apply in desert environs.
• I'll admit that the weather and terrain rules for Pathfinder are foreign to me, so before I go a-learning, did any of your class's rules come from the 3.5 Sandstorm supplement?
• What exactly does the Desert Within feat do?

Next up, a rundown for the Myrmaton!

I don't see any grammar issues, so moving on.

• Well. Wow. I must say I'm impressed with your entry Midwoka. It's not often that I see a monster that is so unique and variable all within the same stat block, let alone from a construct.
• I feel the Organization entry for the Myrmaton doesn't go into enough detail. From the ecology you provide, these guys aren't likely to be encountered alone, so your Organization entry should make mentions of what makes up groups that contain them (look at monsters like Orcs or Hill Giants for example).
• The caster level for making a Myrmaton is off. Lesser Geas isn't usable until level 7 at the bare minimum.

Next up, a rundown for the Legion of One!

In General

• You use the phrase "with at 2 HD fewer than the legion of one or fewer" a lot through the class and it just sounds weird to my ear. I think something more along the lines of "with at least 2 HD fewer than the legion of one."

Assault to Shatter the Shields of Vanguards

• I think you meant "may make any attack" instead of "can may any attack".

Now that the grammar bit is done with, moving on.

• Well, I don't have too much to prod or poke at with this entry because, being a Realms of Chaos piece, it's amazing and well put together. The only thing I wish it had was an awesome photo to go with it.

And that's all the rundowns for now!

[Milo v3]

Originally Posted by Troll Brau

Alright, time for some rundowns, starting with the Sumran Warcaster!


Fluff

Fixed

Desertsight

• I would suggest using something like, "The Surman Warcaster's tremorsense extends outwards to 30 ft. This range increases by an additional 30 ft at 6th level and again at 16th." in place of " At 2nd level this tremorsense has a range of 30 ft. At 6th level, this tremorsense has a range of 60 ft. At 16th level, this tremorsense has a range of 90 ft."

Fixed.

Desert Legion

• I think you meant "there" and not "their".

Fixed.

Dune Dependency

• I think you meant "A Sumran Warcaster of 10th level becomes permanently linked to the desert" instead of "A Sumran Warcaster of 10th level becomes soul becomes permanently linked to the desert".
• You forgot the "or" between eat and sleep.

Fixed.

• First thing I want to mention, you do know that Cantrips are at-will abilities, right? Spontaenous Casters don't even get spell slots for them and Prepared Casters only get them to designate which ones they've selected to be able to use for the day.

• I don't want this class to be able to cast Cantrips and Unlimited Amount of times per day, as I feel that for Warrior/Mages they shouldn't have unlimited resources of magic.
  
  

  You need to specify what Desert Strike applies to, because as is, it applies to spells. And what kind of damage is it?

  Added. Also it deals Sneak Attack damage effectively.
  
  

  Arcanist's Insight's fluff doesn't line up with what it does. If they're meant to be trained against spellcasters, then shouldn't the bonus only apply on Will saves against spells and spell-like abilities?

  Edited.
  
  

  Battle Aptitude is meant to allow them to count as Fighters for the purpose of feat prerequisites only, right?

  Fixed.
  
  

  Desert Legion is pretty meh as an ability. I'd suggest making it scale and maybe only have it apply in desert environs.

  Added Scaling.
  
  

  I'll admit that the weather and terrain rules for Pathfinder are foreign to me, so before I go a-learning, did any of your class's rules come from the 3.5 Sandstorm supplement?

  Sandskimmer uses Sandstorms expanded rules for movement across sand as couldn't find anything about desert movement for Pathfinder.
  
  

  What exactly does the Desert Within feat do?

That was an old version of it. Updated it.

[Tanuki Tales]

Originally Posted by Milo v3

I don't want this class to be able to cast Cantrips and Unlimited Amount of times per day, as I feel that for Warrior/Mages they shouldn't have unlimited resources of magic.

Well, that kind of goes against how Pathfinder has set up their Magic system and I don't particularly remember you making any exceptions in the spellcasting entry for the class, so players just picking up your class wouldn't understand that this was in effect.

I know it might be a little much to suggest with only ~5 or 6 days left in the competition, but what if you dropped the spellcasting from the class entirely and focused more on the Sand Points. You can change the spell list to being spells who's effects they can emulate by expending Sand Points and then there's no rule clashing with you wanting Cantrips to not be unlimited until the capstone.

Sandskimmer uses Sandstorms expanded rules for movement across sand as couldn't find anything about desert movement for Pathfinder.

Ah. Well, then may I suggest changing it to giving a version of Woodland Stride then? Allowing them to move through desert terrain unimpaired (which I assume means they treat difficult and hazardous terrain as normal as long as it's not magically made).

I'll go reading into the rules concerning deserts now then.

That was an old version of it. Updated it.

That makes more sense.

[Milo v3]

Originally Posted by Troll Brau

Well, that kind of goes against how Pathfinder has set up their Magic system and I don't particularly remember you making any exceptions in the spellcasting entry for the class, so players just picking up your class wouldn't understand that this was in effect.

I thought it would be obvious since it lacks the ability which makes the Infinite Cantrips allowed.

I know it might be a little much to suggest with only ~5 or 6 days left in the competition, but what if you dropped the spellcasting from the class entirely and focused more on the Sand Points. You can change the spell list to being spells who's effects they can emulate by expending Sand Points and then there's no rule clashing with you wanting Cantrips to not be unlimited until the capstone.

That was the original plan but there are only around three sand spells in Pathfinder.

Ah. Well, then may I suggest changing it to giving a version of Woodland Stride then? Allowing them to move through desert terrain unimpaired (which I assume means they treat difficult and hazardous terrain as normal as long as it's not magically made).

That would work.

[Tanuki Tales]

Originally Posted by Milo v3

I thought it would be obvious since it lacks the ability which makes the Infinite Cantrips allowed.

That being...? I've read the spells entry twice and am obviously missing it.

That was the original plan but there are only around three sand spells in Pathfinder.

Well, you can keep the same list and just say it's channeling Wasteland spirits or something similar.

[Milo v3]

Originally Posted by Troll Brau

That being...? I've read the spells entry twice and am obviously missing it.

The Cantrip ability. Its the only thing allowing the Infinite Cantrips. This class doesn't have that ability.

Well, you can keep the same list and just say it's channeling Wasteland spirits or something similar.

That really doesn't fit the fluff, as they are just wizards with a desert theme to its spells.

Also that would be straying into druid territory for my campaign as they function by channeling elemental spirits.

[Midwoka]

Originally Posted by Troll Brau

• I feel the Organization entry for the Myrmaton doesn't go into enough detail. From the ecology you provide, these guys aren't likely to be encountered alone, so your Organization entry should make mentions of what makes up groups that contain them (look at monsters like Orcs or Hill Giants for example).
• The caster level for making a Myrmaton is off. Lesser Geas isn't usable until level 7 at the bare minimum.

Yeah, the Organization entry could use some expanding. I'll see about adding some detail to it later.

The caster level for their construction is fine, though. It follows Paizo's convention, since the three constructs I'm most familiar with in Pathfinder (Clay Golem, Flesh Golem, Scarecrow) can be created with a lower CL than the minimum level to cast their requisite spells (Resurrection, Limited Wish, Geas/Quest). Maybe that's so lower-level builders can use scrolls? In any case, I was following their example.

Originally Posted by Troll Brau

• Well. Wow. I must say I'm impressed with your entry Midwoka. It's not often that I see a monster that is so unique and variable all within the same stat block, let alone from a construct.

=D

[Tanuki Tales]

Originally Posted by Midwoka

The caster level for their construction is fine, though. It follows Paizo's convention, since the three constructs I'm most familiar with in Pathfinder (Clay Golem, Flesh Golem, Scarecrow) can be created with a lower CL than the minimum level to cast their requisite spells (Resurrection, Limited Wish, Geas/Quest). Maybe that's so lower-level builders can use scrolls? In any case, I was following their example.

Hm, right on all accounts. That is a weird spot of the rules though, but I bet it's more to allow NPCs of lower levels to make golems by RAW then for low level PCs to have cohorts. Anyways, carry on.

[Ancient Hippo]

Originally Posted by Troll Brau

There ya go.

Of course... *Feels stupid.*

[Midwoka]

Oh, hey... I just noticed that the Past Entries Archive has the wrong link for Midwokans - it leads to Warp Wolves instead.

[Realms of Chaos]

I was about to use a similar wording but the way I worded it would have let players construe "at least" to mean "no fewer than". Your wording seems to work, however, so consider it fixed. Also, thanks for pointing out my weird typo. I wish that I had a picture to go with it but after a long DA/Google search, I seriously couldn't find a single picture of a single soldier/warrior/berserker running off to fight an army alone.

Edit: I just found the perfect picture. A bit less serious than the rest of the class but if you understand the reference, it becomes glorious.

[Tanuki Tales]

Originally Posted by Milo v3

The Cantrip ability. Its the only thing allowing the Infinite Cantrips. This class doesn't have that ability.

Well, you can see that I always gloss over the fact that it's a class feature instead of an intrinsic part of their magic system.

That really doesn't fit the fluff, as they are just wizards with a desert theme to its spells.

Also that would be straying into druid territory for my campaign as they function by channeling elemental spirits.

Then maybe they're just channeling the Morphegenic essence of the desert? You can always just make it spellcasting in every way but name so people picking up the class don't get confused or feel it's a weaker option (spellcasting wise) compared to the Magus or other Gish base classes.

Originally Posted by Midwoka

Oh, hey... I just noticed that the Past Entries Archive has the wrong link for Midwokans - it leads to Warp Wolves instead.

Thanks for pointing that out.

Originally Posted by Realms of Chaos

Edit: I just found the perfect picture. A bit less serious than the rest of the class but if you understand the reference, it becomes glorious.

Sir. You did slay me. Full heartedly.

I must now recover from my sides hurting.

[Milo v3]

Originally Posted by Troll Brau

Then maybe they're just channeling the Morphegenic essence of the desert? You can always just make it spellcasting in every way but name so people picking up the class don't get confused or feel it's a weaker option (spellcasting wise) compared to the Magus or other Gish base classes.

Channeling "The way body parts are formed" essence of the desert......

Also how would replacing the spellcastering stuff work? Do you mean just adding more abilities like sand storm and desert blade to replace the spells.

[Tanuki Tales]

Originally Posted by Milo v3

Channeling "The way body parts are formed" essence of the desert......

Sorry, meant Morphogenetic field; DC's Buddy Baker can naturally tap into the planet's Morphogenetic field and copy the abilities of any animal on the planet. So you could have the class do something similar and tap into the very essence of the desert on a metaphysical level.

Also how would replacing the spellcastering stuff work? Do you mean just adding more abilities like sand storm and desert blade to replace the spells.

Basically what I was suggesting is come up with a cost system running on Sand points. The Warcaster knows a certain amount of spells and can cast them by spending X amount of Sand points based on the spell's level. That way you keep the spellcasting but don't hand out infinite cantrips. And you can always cap how often they can mimic a certain spell.

So you get spellcasting in practically every way but name.

[Milo v3]

Originally Posted by Troll Brau

Sorry, meant Morphogenetic field; DC's Buddy Baker can naturally tap into the planet's Morphogenetic field and copy the abilities of any animal on the planet. So you could have the class do something similar and tap into the very essence of the desert on a metaphysical level.

The thing is they are meant to just be wizards who focused on combat in the desert also I don't think it will fit with the flavour of my setting at all.

Basically what I was suggesting is come up with a cost system running on Sand points. The Warcaster knows a certain amount of spells and can cast them by spending X amount of Sand points based on the spell's level. That way you keep the spellcasting but don't hand out infinite cantrips. And you can always cap how often they can mimic a certain spell.

So you get spellcasting in practically every way but name.

I plan to only Sand Points on spells which could be done with sand, also I'd have to move Living Desert down to level one. And it would distance itself even further from Wizards.