Pathfinder 1E Pathfinder Sneak Peeks (Old thread)

[frankthedm]

sweet, scimitars only have a 19-20 crit.

 

[Eridanis]

sweet, scimitars only have a 19-20 crit.

I think the consensus on the Paizo board is that that's a typo.

 

[Voadam]

Why ? She's a priestess of the sun goddess. Hurling balls of flame makes absolute thematic sense.

Its not like clerics don't already do the Holy Fire Tacnuke with Flame Strike.

Yes clerics can start doing a ranged area fire spell for 1d6/level at 9th level in 3.5 with the 5th level flame strike.

In pathfinder they can do it for the same amount of damage at 5th level with a 3rd level spell. And get 20' radius instead of 10'. And long range instead of medium. Plus get wands of fireball. Sigh.

Well, they're very fitting with Sarenrae though. She's not just the goddess of the Sun and Fire and such, but she's an avenging angel elevated to Godhood after defeating the embodiment of chaos and destruction and is the primary LG warrior deity.

Does she use a staff of fireballs or a flaming sword to fight her enemies? Doesn't really matter, I wouldn't really care if she was an ascended fire elementalist mage whose signature move was fireballing.

This will apply to anyone with the fire domain right? Such as say Hestia, goddess of the hearth in Greek mythology.

I'd prefer if the clerical fire domain had a fire shield or flaming burst weapon or body of flame type of spell instead of a fireball. To go along with being a tankish front line holy warrior instead of holy artillery.

Its a matter of personal taste. I don't like god lasers in general. I don't want clerics to be D&D evokers in full plate.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

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.)

This is not quite true, due to ability boosting. (You seem to have overlooked that the caster adds his casting stat modifier.) I ran some numbers. Assume a starting score of 16 (+3), all points into casting attribute (+1 at 8th, +1 at 16th), stat-boosting item at 9th (+1), 13th (+1) and 16th (+1):

SPELL LEVEL   DC   EXPECTED BONUS   AUTO (W/ COMBAT CASTING)
1             17    +4 at 1st       11th level (8th level)
2             19    +6 at 3rd       13th level (9th level)
3             21    +8 at 5th       14th level (11th level)
4             23    +10 at 7th      16th level (12th level)
5             25    +14 at 9th      17th level (14th level)
6             27    +16 at 11th     18th level (16th level)
7             29    +19 at 13th     20th level (16th level)
8             31    +21 at 15th      -- (18th level)
9             33    +25 at 17th      -- (20th level)

I do think the intent is to make defensive casting much more difficult. (If they really intend to weaken spellcasters, this would be one way to do it. There's not much else in that preview to convince me clerics are (relatively) weaker than in 3.5 ... )

I also like that it makes Combat Casting quite a good feat.

 

[Roman]

I think the consensus on the Paizo board is that that's a typo.

This has been confirmed and corrected.

BTW: I like the changes.

 

[dm4hire]

Found this on Paizo's board in relation to defensive casting:

The caster can still take a 5 foot step back and cast a spell. Only if the enemy has the Step Up feat is this going to be a problem, otherwise, no check is needed. I know this is not always possible, but the power of spellcasters needs to have some checks and balances to it.

 

[dm4hire]

Jason Bulmahn gave this explanation for the changes concerning defensive casting.

Spellcasters have a lot of power in the game. This has not changed. They can deal massive amounts of damage at distance, completely neutralize various threats, control the battlefield, travel the planes, bring back the dead, and solve just about any problem the GM can throw at them. They can do all this and still (generally speaking) take a move action. This change makes it a little harder for spellcasters to do all that while in the middle of combat. Now they need to plan a bit more carefully and spend some time protecting themselves. This gives all the other characters a more important role, especially in a game that is built on group dynamics.

I strove to keep much of the power of the spellcasters, but in the end, this one mechanic was the one that we (internally) kept tripping over. Spellcasters could always get all their magic off, to full effect, no matter the situation, in 3.5. These new rules force them to plan out a bit more, making them pay a price for their incredible power. You may not agree, but I would recommend giving it a try. It can be a really refreshing change of pace to work with these rules. The combats are less static and a bit more tactical. Most of the time you can 5 foot away and cast your spells, but now there is a bit of risk involved.

The reward in 3.5 came without that risk.. which made it kinda flat. Give it a try, it is not as bad as you might think.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing

 

[cangrejoide]

Sigh, if they want to balance spellcaster all they need to do is for starters make spellcasting a full round action that provokes attack of opportunity.

Aslo have spellcasting Tax the individual so only one spell can be cast every few rounds.

That will at least give a few rounds for the fighther to play his melee/defensive role.

Only with a few simple house rules they could change the way spellcasters are seen in 3E.

But apparently they had to rewite a whole book for it.

/shrug

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Sigh, if they want to balance spellcaster all they need to do is for starters make spellcasting a full round action that provokes attack of opportunity.

Aslo have spellcasting Tax the individual so only one spell can be cast every few rounds.

That will at least give a few rounds for the fighther to play his melee/defensive role.

Only with a few simple house rules they could change the way spellcasters are seen in 3E.

But apparently they had to rewite a whole book for it.

/shrug

What's the cost of a +5 Concentration Skill item? Or a +10 Concentration Skill Item?
(It used to be 2,500 gp or 10,000 gp)

 

[Kishin]

Aslo have spellcasting Tax the individual so only one spell can be cast every few rounds.
/shrug

That sounds like fun. "Hey guys, I can only perform the major function of my class once every couple rounds! I'll be over here if you need me!"

Guess I know who's gonna be bringing their laptop/a book/watching TV during the session.