Character Creation Discussion Thread

[TheFred]

4 hours ago, Rudra said:

Go for it Laird, 2 more applications and this game will reach 50, could be a record!

Ah, this was like every 3.5 game in the old days. People come out of the woodwork for stuff like gestalt especially.

But, I mean, if people want me to try and write up my other three character ideas, I could...

[Rudra]

never played 3.5(begun with 4, i did like it...not many did ) my idea of "a lot of apps" was like 20.

I did notice that pathfinder high level or gestalt (or both) tend to draw a lot of interest, i think people love building characters, regardless the outcome, it's just fun to create them

[Mister Doctor]

*Quietly hides the app with 8 discreet statblocks*

[Steel Warrior]

1 hour ago, Mister Doctor said:

*Quietly hides the app with 8 discreet statblocks*

lol, yeah.

Edited January 29 by Steel Warrior (see edit history)

[CraziFuzzy]

App count is a function of GM to Player ratio... And for pf1 of any sort, there just aren't enough people willing to GM games these days. It wasn't that many years ago where the pf1 add section could easily have 2-3 pages of active advertisements. Right now this is the ONLY active pf1 advertisement on either myth-weavers site.

Pf1 is great - but it has never been 'easy' to GM. Spheres can make that a lot harder of a task as well. I much prefer to GM pf2, but at the same time - i really like spheres - so its a tough decision. I'd love for a dedicated spheres RPG that could divorce itself from the legacy problems of a 20+ year old game system, but that hasn't shown up yet.

[Mister Doctor]

Yeah with Spheres of Guile being out now, it really feels like we're getting into Ship of Theseus territory with PF1e. So much has been carved out and replaced that it really would probably be better to just start fresh.

[CraziFuzzy]

I had hoped a year ago around the OGL kerfuffle that it would push DDS in that direction, but I haven't heard a peep from them about that since Paizo announced the ORC license. Right now, however, I don't think anyone is even afraid of WotC/Hasbro - they are unlikely to pay lawyers to go after the little guys when they can barely keep their lights on.

[dalamb]

18 hours ago, Rudra said:

i think people love building characters, regardless the outcome, it's just fun to create them

For me, it's the only sensible attitude given that you're often 1 out of 30 or more applicants for a 5-player game.

[Mister Doctor]

I just love a good opportunity to get weird with it. As much as I am fairly neutral on Spheres content there are a few very narratively interesting options that step well outside of the typical PF1e design paradigm. Options like the Collective Wraith, some of the tech-adjacent stuff (but not the tech sphere), and the options for access to transformation abilities make it much easier to play some of my favorite weird concepts like bizarre post-humans and terrifying mutants.

[Ulysses Dare]

I'd like a bit of clarification regarding the Infested curse. Specifically this: "Animals shy away from you—you take a –4 penalty on Handle Animal checks." Would that penalty apply to Handle Animal checks made on vermin as well?

[Illogictree]

I'm a bit worried I might not be able to complete feat, talent, and equipment selection in time. I have most of the information necessary for the statblock hammered out though. How complete does it have to be on the 1st (and is that by end of day on the 1st or cutoff as soon as it hits midnight on the 31st?)

I'm afraid I got stuck on concept for a long while, hence starting late, and I won't have time to work on it during working hours.

[Ratpigeon]

Would it be okay to take Varisian Tattoo for a Sphere instead of a School (using Sphere Focus as the prerequisite)? https://www.aonprd.com/FeatDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Varisian Tattoo

Edited January 31 by Ratpigeon (see edit history)

[Saberfan]

Reminder that there is only a single day left to complete your applications and I will not consider any application that is submitted after February 1st at 11:59 P.M. I am a bit behind on going through the statblocks, likely around 80% finished, so I will probably not actually announce who gets in until February 2nd or 3rd, but the deadline still stands for submissions. If there is anything minor that needs adjusting with any particular character, I will be lenient on that due to falling behind on my own job as a GM working through statblocks and won't count that against players if they are selected, although any required changes will still need to be made.

On 1/27/2024 at 11:48 AM, Steel Warrior said:

So, I was looking over the rules and I tried to see if this had been answered. I know the goal is "spheres classes" and I thought it would be cool to have a shapeshifter (changeling) race builder. I am also interested in the Shifter class that's not spheres and the Oozemorph Archetype.

Can I still use this plus a spheres class?

The only other thing that kinda fits is the Alteration Ooze Transformation (transformation) [Origin], but it since it says Origin. So I don't know if I can use it as we use Racebuilder, and not Origins.

Or it's only implying the source of the alteration and it's free to use. Just making sure.

This game is specifically for Spheres characters and, as such, the original Shifter class is not allowed.

As for Ooze Transformation, it has interactions with Origins, but can be taken as a standalone Alteration talent.

On 1/27/2024 at 7:14 PM, TheFred said:

Other questions...

Just to double-check, the Veilweaving Sphere is allowed, but were the Spheres archetypes of the Veilweaving classes, like Sphere Vizier?

The odd Spheres gestalt rules let you get double bonus tradition SP. Does the same apply to bonus essence from the Essence Pool boon? I wouldn't expect it to, but then, I would never have expected SP to either (and Draw/Condense sets up a - rather generous - 1:1 ratio for the two).

Are things like magic items of Vancian spells still available? I assume so, since under these rules you can still be a Vancian spellcaster (e.g. Magus with the Runic Knight archetype I think still counts as "a Spheres class"?), just wanted to double check.

Those are allowed, yes.

The Essence Pool boon isn't something that can be doubled up per the errata.

Vancian magic items are generally still allowed, but Vancian casting itself is not.

On 1/28/2024 at 8:22 PM, Escheton said:

With the only off limit sphere being bear sphere, that means pilot, and thus the Arcforge Mecha Rules are in play correct?
In looking into it, I found some other Arcforge feats on the SoP site, and would like to request the use of some of them:
 

%5Burl%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fspheresofpower.wikidot.com%2Farcforge-feats%23toc14%22%5DFortified%20Corpsecraft%5B%2Furl%5D

Fortified Corpsecraft

%5Burl%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fspheresofpower.wikidot.com%2Farcforge-feats%23toc27%22%5DRevenant%20Militia%5B%2Furl%5D

Revenant Militia

%5Burl%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fspheresofpower.wikidot.com%2Farcforge-feats%23toc21%22%5DMaster%20Necrografter%5B%2Furl%5D

Master Necrografter

 

I'm not as familiar with the Arcforge Mecha rules and so I'm hesitant to allow those.

As for the feats, as long as they can be reasonably applied to Spheres content- and those seem to be- I will allow those.

On 1/29/2024 at 4:57 AM, Laird Ichofox said:

@Saberfan Because I've had a third idea, I want to know: Would you allow the Epoch-Walker & Veilknife archetypes for Soulknife to stack, trading the feats Veilknife would grant away for the Epoch-Walker's Blended Training?

I would allow that, as you're still trading away the bonus feats, but remember that you must also give up the requisite blade skills mentioned as well.

On 1/29/2024 at 11:04 AM, Steel Warrior said:

Oh? I didn't realize that Dreamscarred Press combined with spheres would be allowed. It's all good though. I may not have time to finish an app anyways :( Work work.

Only Dreamscarred content that is tied to Spheres, seeing as how that's the main focus of the game.

4 hours ago, Ulysses Dare said:

I'd like a bit of clarification regarding the Infested curse. Specifically this: "Animals shy away from you—you take a –4 penalty on Handle Animal checks." Would that penalty apply to Handle Animal checks made on vermin as well?

That's actually a good question, although I've always assumed it applied to all Handle Animal checks. I can look to see if there is some errata on the subject, but we'll operate under the assumption that it applies to all Handle Animal checks.

2 hours ago, Illogictree said:

I'm a bit worried I might not be able to complete feat, talent, and equipment selection in time. I have most of the information necessary for the statblock hammered out though. How complete does it have to be on the 1st (and is that by end of day on the 1st or cutoff as soon as it hits midnight on the 31st?)

I'm afraid I got stuck on concept for a long while, hence starting late, and I won't have time to work on it during working hours.

The cutoff is the very end of February 1st at 11:59 P.M. since I'm a bit behind anyway. Giving people a few extra hours to finish up is the only reasonably thing to do in this circumstance.

2 hours ago, Ratpigeon said:

Would it be okay to take Varisian Tattoo for a Sphere instead of a School (using Sphere Focus as the prerequisite)? https://www.aonprd.com/FeatDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Varisian Tattoo

I will allow that.

Edited January 31 by Saberfan (see edit history)

[Saberfan]

Unless I'm miscounting, there are 52 submissions in various states of completion thus far, around a half-dozen of which are new since I retreated to work on reviewing applications. Outside of those new ones that have been added to the list to be reviewed, only 5 of the others remain. I have quite a bit of time on my hands to get those done since I'm on my three days off, so I should have all of that complete and a proper party selected by the 2nd or 3rd.

[AdellRazh]

Nothing quite like high-powered gestalt to draw people out of the woodwork.