Pathfinder 1E Pathfinder Sneak Peeks (Old thread)

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

That doesn't actually solve the problem though if you think about it all the way through...

Let's assume for the moment we have wands of CLW so that the fighters can fight practically all day long...

Fighters are great against the so-called trash encounters, basically encounters at there level or level + 1 but many DMs hate using such encounters since the party is not really threatened and really the only cost in resources is the GP that will be used up in healing via the wand of cure light wounds....

Many DMs respond by having only fights where there is a decent chance of death involved, however, these encounters tend to ones where you increasingly need a MU to at least provide buffs and or actual support in battle.

However, this kind of is at odds with the "attack the party while they're resting" since this WILL result in a TPK even though all the DM wants is to have the illusion of death...

Personally, I've never thought of the 15 minute adventuring day as caused by PLAYERS but actually caused by DMs IMO

Or the Adventure Path designers of the path the DM used.

Or maybe the rules. Maybe everything could be "fixed" if you just throw out those Cure Light Wound wands?

I think the impact of wands of this kind was just not understood by the Designers initially. Compare the Ring of Regeneration and its exorbitant cost to that of Wands of Cure Light Wounds. Unless you actually lose a limb, buying a dozen of these Wands is a far better choice.

The encounter design guidelines suggest that an equal level encounter should cost you around 25 % of the parties resources. But that is just not true with Wands of Cure Light Wounds. The charges required to heal a party back to full hit points after a combat are far less then 25 % of the resources.

Of course, this won't fix everything, but it might make this type of encounters feel more challenging overall, and be a more viable choice to those DMs and groups that have switched to EL = PL+3 or more type of encounters as default.

What this doesn't change is the need for a fully fledged Healer, and it might make a Cleric again into a less desirable class, even if he could theoretically be "CoDzilla", if he actually has to spend out-of-combat spell slots for healing.

 

[dm4hire]

Cleric preview is up.

Kyra
Female human cleric of Sarenrae 8
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +5
Aura good
DEFENSE
AC 19, touch 9, flat-footed 19 (+8 armor, –1 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 55 (8d8+16)
Fort +10, Ref +5, Will +13
Resist fire 10
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee +1 flaming scimitar +9/+4 (1d6+3 plus 1d6 fire/19-20)
Special Attacks channel positive energy (4d6, 4d6+8 vs. undead, DC 17, 4/day), fire bolt (+5 ranged touch, 1d6+4 fire, 8/day), nimbus of light (8 rounds/day)
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 8th):
4th—death ward, divine power, fire shield*, holy smite
3rd—dispel magic, fireball*, prayer, remove curse, searing light
2nd—bull's strength, heat metal*, silence, spiritual weapon (2)
1st—bless, burning hands*, divine favor (2), protection from evil (2), shield of faith
0 (at will)—detect magic, light, read magic, stabilize
* Domain spell; Domains Fire, Sun
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 20, Cha 12
Base Atk +6; CMB +8; CMD 17
Feats Improved Channel, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Selective Channeling, Turn Undead
Skills Diplomacy +12, Heal +16, Knowledge (religion) +11, Spellcraft +11
Languages Common
SQ sun's blessing
Combat Gear wand of cure light wounds (50 charges), pearl of power (2nd level), scroll of flame strike; Other Gear +1 flaming scimitar, +2 chainmail, amulet of natural armor +2, cloak of resistance +2, headband of inspired wisdom +2

Read the rest at Paizo's Blog

 

[Hunter In Darkness]

man you stalk the place. I do really like the changes to channel and defensive casting

 

[dm4hire]

It helps I work nights so during my lull I have nothing better to do than wait for them to post the previews.

Points of interest:
• Concentration is casting on the defensive equal to 15 + double the spell's level.
• New feats that allow opponents to 5’ when you do
• Channel Energy remains but now you choose either to affect undead or heal with it.
• Turn Undead is a feat
• Clerics get stabilize as an at will
• Domains offer both spells and abilities with spell selection being changed around for the domains
• Four levels of illumination concerning light and darkness
• Removing ailments, such as curse, works like dispel with cleric making check against DC
• Deeper darkness blocks darkvision
• Light effecting spells affect not only the immediate area, but also affect the area outside of the spell effect within a short distance

 

[mach1.9pants]

Looks like good stuff, esp defensive casting. Still hard to tell without the rulebooks in my hand!
And a month or 6 playing

 

[Runestar]

Compare the Ring of Regeneration and its exorbitant cost to that of Wands of Cure Light Wounds. Unless you actually lose a limb, buying a dozen of these Wands is a far better choice.

One could just as easily argue that perhaps it is the ring of regen which is obscenely overpriced and that the wand of CLW/vigor/healing belt ought to be the gold standard for which other curative abilities are priced.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

One could just as easily argue that perhaps it is the ring of regen which is obscenely overpriced and that the wand of CLW/vigor/healing belt ought to be the gold standard for which other curative abilities are priced.

Yes, that is the alternative take. But it doesn't fit into the 25 % resource cost suggestion for equal level encounters.

I don't really blame the designers or playtesters for that. They overhauled an entire system, and many people still thought in the terms of that system, and played it this way, too. Only slowly do you learn emergent properties of the game. A single Wand of Cure Light Wounds wouldn't even be a problem. You have to understand that you could craft or buy more of them and _do_ it to understand that it is. But this "learning" process can take quite some time, and if you are full in grasping an entirely new game, having to "unlearn" things you knew and learn new things...

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Rope Trick is pretty easy to deal with, since the portal is noticeable: build a big bonfire under it. The other spells in the series can be dispelled, IIRC. Talk about a rude awakening.

If your campaign features goblins that can track the party back to their camp and then discover an invisible portal floating 30 feet up in the air, I think it's safe to say it is your playstyle that is well outside the norm.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

They settled on the same fix for Concentration that I did.

EDIT: Although he's set the base DC too high compared to 3e. A 3e caster could count on 4 ranks of Concentration and (most likely) a +1 CON bonus, for a total of +5. This would make the prior chance of success 50% at 1st level for a 1st level spell with a Concentration DC16.

Setting the DC at 17 for a 1st level spell, and then basing it on caster level check, gives the caster a 25% chance of success. (It will always be a 25-30% chance of success for your top level of spells.)

I guess the intent is to make casting defensively much more difficult.


Changes to darkness/light look similar, too.

 

[billd91]

If your campaign features goblins that can track the party back to their camp and then discover an invisible portal floating 30 feet up in the air, I think it's safe to say it is your playstyle that is well outside the norm.

Maybe not so outside the norm. The worgs often found with goblins would be able to smell the characters' trail and probably be able to tell that they haven't actually left the scene. A goblin witch doctor (adept) may have the spellcraft necessary to dope out what happened to them with a DC 17ish roll.