[OOC] Table Talk (OOC Chat Thread)

[Pilgrim]

Wow. Been looking at some of the stuff from the Advanced Player's Guide that comes out on August 4th... will likely allow ya'll to modify characters. No race/class changes, and you stick with your current ability scores, but you can choose new racial and class abilities, replace feats, and change favored class bonuses.

[Pilgrim]

Update tonight. If Kinnon or Alessandra had anything to add, they should do it before then.

[Pilgrim]

I'll give anybody the same span I gave Jezrul (a bit longer in fact), but if you haven't posted anything in two weeks and I have had no indication that you would be gone, I'm going to assume you have dropped.

[Pilgrim]

Just to be certain, everyone can see their secret text, right?

[Ieiunitas]

I can see that, yes.

[Pilgrim]

It's been three and a half days since I updated, and nobody has posted. I'm a little nonplussed. It isn't exactly the kind of situation that I can move past to keep the game going. Is something wrong? Are you all just not enjoying the game, or are you waiting on someone else to act first? I don't want you to feel you have to keep playing if you aren't enjoying the game, but it would be nice to have some kind of feedback, even if it is just, "Dude, you suck, I quit."

If I don't know the problem, I can't attempt to correct it.

[Casino Jack]

To be fair, Corporeal has left us hanging dialogue wise, you can't really respond to the post without Drubner

[Ieiunitas]

Don't worry Pilgrim, you're doing a fine job =P

I was thinking there's really not much we can do until Drubner responds to that question...it's just not a situation where anyone would feel safe interjecting. If he's not posted sometime today, I could try to think of something to throw out there that would be both in-character and helpful, but honestly, short of someone's character knowing he was actually Silas, I don't see a way of successfully defusing the situation; and knowing how protective he is of that bit of information, I doubt anyone would.

[corporealself]

Sorry. It's the nature of my work week. Sat-Mon I just don't have time to post at all. A sad truth.

Anyway, working on a post.

[Pilgrim]

Ah. I see. Well, I guess in the future I'll try to avoid an update right before the weekend that requires Drubner to continue.

That said... update tonight after work. Drubner'll need a Bluff check, everyone else a Sense Motive. Corporeal, let's hope this one's better than your Stealth. If not tonight, then next update, I'll move things along so you are all on the way to see the Lady. There may be a "random" encounter. Just to get everyone used to the way I do combat.

EDIT: BTW, if anybody has the artistic talent and wants to volunteer to create some player tokens for use in combat maps, I'd love to have them. Otherwise I'll just use circles with initials in GIMP.

[corporealself]

Hey now, can't have fun if I don't push Drubner in directions he was never meant to go. Anyway, just a few hours until the pdf for the advanced player's guide is released, can't wait!

[Pilgrim]

Sorry, I know I said I'd update tonight, but I'm dog tired. I'll do it in the morning.

And I don't know if the PDF is going to be available at midnight... someone on the forums said they thought it would be at 9am CST. Haven't double checked yet, but I hope you are right...

Once I get the rulebook, I'll allow people to change up their characters. (There might be a delay, but the info will usually be on d20pfsrd.com shortly after the book is released.) You have to keep your same race, class, stats, and concept but anything else can change - feats, spell selection, skill points, favored class bonuses, archtypes, domains, etc. If you choose to make the changes, I want you to do so within the week.

Come to think I might have to delay that combat so people won't be changing capabilities in the middle of it.

[LordJecks]

Just wondering what the status is on the rest of the knowledge check information, no rush, just curious

[Pilgrim]

Knowledge check info will be finished soon... probably Monday.

Going through the APG now... I'm just going to name the ones that seem to fit your concepts, but if you have the rule material feel free to ask about other options. All of these are your choice - you don't have to change your character at all. I didn't detail all the rules, but will on a case by case basis if you would like.

Half Elves can trade Adaptability for a single Weapon Proficiency; or a +2 bonus to Will saves; or a +1 to Bluff, Knowledge(Local), and Disguise checks.
As a favored class ability (in place of the +1 hit point or skill point), half elf fighters may choose to gain a +1 to their CMD when resisting a disarm or overrun.
(Alessandra, not sure what your other favored class was or if you were thinking of multiclassing later.)

Half Orcs can trade their Orc Ferocity for a +2 to Perception (and look a little more bestial); or for a +2 to Strength checks made to break objects and sunder checks; or for a sacred tattoo that gives a +1 luck bonus to all saving throws; or for a larger set of tusks that gives a primary natural bite attack dealing 1d4 damage.
They can replace their Intimidating trait for a +2 racial bonus to Appraise checks and Perception checks made to find hidden objects (including traps and secret doors), determine of food is spoiled, or identify a potion by taste.
A half orc alchemist, as a favored class ability (in place of hp or skills) may add +1/2 to bomb damage. This is rounded down, so you wouldn't get anything at 1st level, but a +1 at 2nd level, up to a +10 at 20th level (assuming you took this option at each level).

Humans can trade off their starting bonus feat for an eye for talent - this gives them a +2 to Sense Motive, and for any animal companions, bonded mounts, cohorts, or familiars, it gets a +2 to any one ability score.
They can trade their Skilled racial trait for a rural background, gaining +1/2 their level on any one craft or profession skill, and the ability to ignore an effect (once per day) that would cause them to become fatigued or exhausted; or for an urban background, gaining a +1 to Reflex saves and a +1 dodge bonus to AC when adjacent to at least two allies, and crowds do not count as difficult terrain for them; or for a wilderness background, gaining +1/2 level on survival checks, a +5 to Constitution checks to stabilize when dying, and +1/2 level to Constitution score when calculating the negative hp total needed to kill them.
Human bards, as a favored class ability, can add one spell known from the bard spell list, which must be one level below their highest spell level. (So, until you get level 2 spells, you can only add cantrips.)
Human clerics, as a favored class ability, can add +1 to their caster level checks to overcome the spell resistance of outsiders.
Human druids, as a favored class ability, can add +1/2 to their Diplomacy and Intimidate checks to change the attitude of creatures. (This is rounded down, so you wouldn't get a bonus until the second time you selected it.)
Human monks, as a favored class ability, can add +1/4 to their ki pool. Again, this is rounded down.

Class Archetypes: Again, only going to mention those that seem to fit existing concepts, but feel free to look up others on your own if you feel I missed them. You can apply more than one archetype, so long as they don't replace the same features.

Archivist Bards are less artistic, but more scholarly. Instead of Inspire Courage, they gain Naturalist - they use Knowledge checks to identify a creature, then give bonuses to AC and attack rolls, and to saving throws against abilities, of that creature. Instead of Inspire Greatness, they gain Lamentable Belabourment, dazing or confusing a fascinated creature for as long as they continue the performance. Instead of mass suggestion, they gain Pedantic Lecture, which is like Lamentable Belabourment but can affect multiple targets, and possibly make them fall asleep. Instead of Versatile Performance, they gain Lore Master early. Instead of Well Versed, they get magic lore, which gives a bonus to spellcraft checks to identify items and decipher scrolls, allows the bard to disable magic traps like a rogue, and gives some saves against various kinds of magical effects (mostly traps, glyphs, and language-based). Instead of their normal Lore Master, they get Jack of All Trades early. Instead of their normal Jack of All Trades, they get Probable Path, which allows him to take 10 on a d20 roll a certain number of times per day.

Rather than archetypes, clerics get access to subdomains. These are modifiers to the normal domain, and you basically trade out the normal domain for one (not both) subdomains. Technically, not all deities have access to all the subdomains of their domain, but I'm allowing it for this game. Glory has the Heroism and Honor subdomains; Sun has the Day and Light subdomains. Day replaces your Nimbus of Light with a refresher power that lets someone effectively take an eight hour sleep in ten minutes (but doesn't allow spellcasters to reprepare spells), and replaces your 2nd and 3rd level domain spells with continual flame and daylight, respectively. Heroism replaces your Divine Presence with Aura of Heroism, which affects your allies like the spell of that name, and 3rd and 6th level domain spells with heroism and greater heroism, respectively. Honor replaces your Touch of Glory ability with Honor Bound, which allows you to touch a creature to grant new saving throws against Charm and Compulsion spells, and replaces your 2nd and 6th level domain spells with Zone of Truth and Geas/Quest, respectively. Finally, Light replaces your Sun's Blessing power with Blinding Flash, which can dazzle creatures and even blind weaker ones, and replaces your 1st and 3rd level domain spells with Faerie Fire and Daylight, respectively.

The Swamp Druid archetype replaces Woodland Stride with Marshwight, which gives you bonuses to several skills and Initiative in swampy terrain (note that not all terrain in this campaign will be), and prevents you from being tracked in such; instead of Trackless Step they get Swampstrider, which eliminates speed penalties and penalties to Acrobatics and Stealth checks in bogs and undergrowth; instead of Nature's Lure they get Pond Scum which gives a save bonus against diseases and the abilities of monstrous humanoids, and DR against swarm attacks; they get Wild Shape at 6th level, and their effective druid level is -2 for this ability; and instead of a Thousand Faces, they gain Slippery, which is a continuous Freedom of Movement.

Mobile Fighters replace bravery with agility, granting bonuses to saves against hindering effects; instead of weapon training 1 they get Leaping Attack, which gives a bonus to attack and damage if you move before attacking; instead of armor training 3 they get rapid attack, which allows you to forgo your highest attack but take the rest of a full attack action while moving; instead of armor training 4 they get fleet footed, which gives a movement speed bonus and lets you take 10 (and 20 a few times/day) on Acrobatics checks; and instead of weapon mastery you get Whirlwind Blitz, which lets you take a full attack (and, if you have it, Whirlwind Attack) as a standard action.

Two Handed Fighters replace bravery with shattering strike, which gives bonuses against objects (including sunder attempts); they replace armor training 1 with overhand chop, which allows you to add double your strength bonus to damage rolls when making a single attack (either standard or as a charge); their weapon training is as normal but apply only when wielding two-handed melee weapons; they replace armor training 2 with backswing, which works like Overhand chop for all attacks made after the first on a full attack action; armor training 3 is replaced by piledriver, which allows you to combine a bull rush or trip maneuver with a single attack; armor training 4 is replaced by greater power attack, which doubles, rather than increasing by 50%, the bonus damage from power attack when using two-handed weapons; and armor mastery is replaced by devastating blow, which allows you to make a single attack at -5 to automatically get a critical threat.

The weapon master fighter focuses on a single weapon, to which all of his abilities apply. Bravery is replaced by weapon guard, giving a bonus against disarm and sunder attempts, and saving throws against effects targeting the fighter's weapon. Armor training 1 through 4 are replaced with weapon training, though this is limited to the chosen weapon. The normal weapon trainings get replaced: wt1 becomes reliable strike, which allows you to reroll an attack roll, critical hit confirmation roll, miss
chance check, or damage roll a few times per day; wt2 becomes mirror move, which gives your weapon training bonus to AC against attacks made with your chosen weapon; wt3 is replaced with deadly critical, which allows you to increase your crit multiplier a few times per day; wt4 becomes critical specialist, which boosts the save DCs of effects caused by critical hits. Lastly, armor mastery is replaced with Unstoppable Strike, which allows you to make a single attack as a touch attack that ignores DR and hardness.

Monks gain a number of archetypes, referencing various styles. Kinnon probably isn't a Drunken Master, a Hungry Ghost (steals life energy), a Weapon Master, or a Zen Archer, but he might be a Ki Mystic (more scholarly, heavier use of ki, but loses still mind, purity of body, diamond soul, and empty body), a Monk of the Empty Hand (focus on improvised weapon fighting), a Monk of the Four Winds (elemental and spirit focused), a Monk of the Healing Hand (gives some healing ability), a Monk of the Lotus (Peace loving monk who tries diplomatic options), or a Monk of the Sacred Mountain (less mobility, more durability and steadfastness). There are too many to detail the abilities more, but ask and I'll give you the basics.

And of course there are new feats, spells, magical and mundane equipment, prestige classes, combat maneuvers (dirty tricks, drags, repositions, and steals), and traits, which I won't detail here.

[Ieiunitas]

I noticed there's a spell on the online SRD called "Create Ice" that I haven't seen there before. Is that one that we're allowed to use? Because that would be pretty useful in crossing this stream =P

EDIT: Actually, never mind; logic just kicked in and the ice would just float downstream xD

Another edit to avoid double posting: Also, what would you like me to do about preparing spells? Should I put up a list of what I prepared at the beginning of each day?