Character Creation Q&A

[Paxon]

52 minutes ago, Demented said:

I'm also drawing up a blacksmith (in fairness, it's a pretty obvious choice for this campaign).  I'm wondering if you would allow a blacksmith to use Profession (Blacksmithing) instead of knowledge (engineering) for tank-related purposes after they get Skilled craftsman at 2nd level.

 

Also, I want to make a mutant, but I don't know spheres of power at all, and the wiki going down doesn't help, so I don't know how feasible it's going to be.  I want something large and packing ludicrously heavy guns.  Think the TF2 Heavy or Fallout super mutants.  Is that a thing I can do, or am I going to have to go back to the drawing board?

I would let it substitute for the Craft (mechanical) actions, but not the Knowledge (engineering) ones. That skilled craftsman seemed to be aimed more at weapons/armor/shields than engineering related (i.e. complex moving mechanical parts) tasks. I might let you use it for some tasks around modifying/improving/repairing the tank especially if it involves the main cannon or armor. 

 

Powerful Limbs: Powerful Arms may get you into wielding really big weapons. Here's a wayback machine link that should get you around a bit. You could also do the size change alteration to actually become large, but I'm a bit leery of that for actually fitting in the tank 🙂

 

PigLickJF is right in that the best way to go might simply be to describe your character as really big, give 'em a commensurate high Str/Con score, and have them wield heavy weapons. There are a couple fun options in the Brute sphere to increase how much you can lift/carry.

 

[Arklytte]

4 hours ago, Llyarden said:

I'm probably going to go Iron Chef, so the 5th-level Techsmith feature giving a Maintenance option doesn't really work for me, unfortunately.  Or I guess I can just ignore that ability.

Well crap, looks like we were thinking along similar lines, Llyarden.  Heh...I could take Barista instead, and we could handle all the teams food and beverage needs between us.  😄

Edited May 20, 2022 by Arklytte (see edit history)

[Paxon]

Just now, Arklytte said:

Well crap, looks like we were thinking along similar lines es, Llyarden.  Heh...I could take Barista instead, and we could handle all the teams food and beverage needs between us.  😄

It may be the apocalypse, but at least there's good food and coffee aboard this tank!

[Llyarden]

Oh, heck, I thought you were going for Barista, my bad.  But yeah handling all food and beverage needs between us works, or I could just flip back to being an actual Blacksmith.

 

EDIT: *Sigh*, one day I'll remember Baldr doesn't use BBcode.

Edited May 20, 2022 by Llyarden (see edit history)

[PigLickJF]

4 minutes ago, Paxon said:

Powerful Limbs: Powerful Arms may get you into wielding really big weapons. Here's a wayback machine link that should get you around a bit. You could also do the size change alteration to actually become large, but I'm a bit leery of that for actually fitting in the tank 🙂

Well, technically, I don' think either of those two are options. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be a jerk or argue with the DM here, lol. I just spent a ton of time last night trying to figure out how the dang Transformation feat actually works, and I'm pretty sure I've got it right (although I could well still be wrong).

 

Transformation only lets you choose from (transformation) or (body) talents; neither Powerful Limbs or Size Change are (body) or (transformation), so they're not actually valid choices.

[Arklytte]

1 minute ago, Paxon said:

It may be the apocalypse, but at least there's good food and coffee aboard this tank!

Damn straight.  How can we fight Kaiju, radiation warped !onstrosities, and post apocalyptic warlords without a good, strong cup of joe and a blueberry scone??  Anything else would be barbaric!!

 

2 minutes ago, Llyarden said:

3 minutes ago, Llyarden said:

Oh, heck, I thought you [i]were[/i] going for Barista, my bad.  But yeah handling all food and beverage needs between us works, or I could just flip back to being an actual Blacksmith.

 

Nah, play what you want.  I honestly hadn't made up my mind, though, tbf, I was leaning towards Barista.  🙂

 

I was also pondering pairing Scholar/Doctor with Alchemist/Physician, and really doubling down on things.

 

I honestly haven't made up my mind re:mechanics, though I'm definitely committed to playing The Doc.

[PigLickJF]

10 minutes ago, Paxon said:

It may be the apocalypse, but at least there's good food and coffee aboard this tank!

That might be the only reason it's actually survived all this time! That journal they pass down is actually just a recipe book...

[Arklytte]

1 minute ago, PigLickJF said:

Well, technically, I don' think either of those two are options. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be a jerk or argue with the DM here, lol. I just spent a ton of time last night trying to figure out how the dang Transformation feat actually works, and I'm pretty sure I've got it right (although I could well still be wrong).

 

Transformation only lets you choose from (transformation) or (body) talents; neither Powerful Limbs or Size Change are (body) or (transformation), so they're not actually valid choices.

You can choose other traits, but you have to have the appropriate talents.  And since we can't take magical talents, Transformation is highly limited.

 

That said, if Pax were willing to let you take those talents, with the caveat of not actually being able to actually cast Alteration spells, it would work fine.  It'd be a bit of a 'wasted' talent, in a sense, since its literally only there for your Transformation feat, but if it fits the character vision, it might be worth it.  YMMV

[PigLickJF]

SO now I'm trying to decide if I want to go Commander-focused build, or Engineer. I think the Commander role is a better fit with my original scout-ish build, since it could still focus on observation/situational awareness and such. Mix that in with some sniper-y skills, and then add some abilities to benefit the team (Commander class, Warleader sphere?) would round it nicely. He can sit up on the cuppola surveying the battlefield, providing beneficial information to the rest of the crew while taking shots at opportune targets, but he's not afraid to get down and dirty in the field for some scouting and up-close surveillance when it's called for.

 

That being said, I don't think I really want him to be the "Commander" of the crew, inasmuch as there is one. He does the job because he's good at it and he's loyal to the crew and wants to help, but he doesn't want to be in charge or actually make decisions.

 

Now to figure out the mechanics for that...

[PigLickJF]

31 minutes ago, Arklytte said:

You can choose other traits, but you have to have the appropriate talents.  And since we can't take magical talents, Transformation is highly limited.

 

That said, if Pax were willing to let you take those talents, with the caveat of not actually being able to actually cast Alteration spells, it would work fine.  It'd be a bit of a 'wasted' talent, in a sense, since its literally only there for your Transformation feat, but if it fits the character vision, it might be worth it.  YMMV

Actually, now that I look again, he already has exactly that option in the form of the Greater Mutation feat! I'm considering a mutant as well, and I spent so long last night trying to figure out how Transformation even works that I forgot all about the Greater Mutation option, lol.

[Paxon]

8 minutes ago, PigLickJF said:

Actually, now that I look again, he already has exactly that option in the form of the Greater Mutation feat! I'm considering a mutant as well, and I spent so long last night trying to figure out how Transformation even works that I forgot all about the Greater Mutation option, lol.

Ah good you found it. Yeah I specifically included some extra options to get some extra traits. Pretty limited at this level still, but you can get some extra mutated traits on your character. 

[Demented]

I'm using Gate Breaker to improve damage to objects (like other tanks), so I do have a crunch reason in pushing STR, but I'm not married to size increase.

 

The Mutation feat doesn't spell it out-what is the caster level used for determining the number of traits you receive?

 

Also, the Anthropomorphic body type has this:

 

Quote

If this form is being applied to a creature that is already an intelligent humanoid or a creature of a similar makeup, this instead works as the Blank Transformation, but the creature may undergo cosmetic changes without costing a trait. Additionally, you may choose up to two traits from a single (transformation) or (body) talent that you possess that do not grant natural attacks and apply them to the target, as if it were part of this form. These traits are for all purposes not considered to be traits.

Do those two trait count against your total trait limit?

[PigLickJF]

Just to clarify, in terms of abilities, etc., does The Tank count as a character/ally? I mean know mechanically it's been built as a Technician Invention, but in some places you refer to affecting it with abilities, so I'm not sure exactly how we're handling it. I don't have any specific examples in mind, but for example, Warleader Tactics - does The Tank gain benefits from them (where appropriate, for instance the one that grants a move speed bonus)?

 

And, sort of as an inverse, do we have access to all of The Crew's abilities, etc. as long as we're operating The Tank (i.e. occupying a position)? Does The Crew have it's own separate set of actions in a round, or do we use our actions to "invoke" Crew abilities? Just as an example, The Crew has the Warleader Sphere. In order to start a tactic, does The Crew use a move action to start (ie the group as a whole decides what actions The Crew will take each round and it gets its full set of actions as if it were another character), or does one of the party use their move action to start the tactic, "borrowing" the ability from The Crew?

 

I hope that was clear...

Edited May 21, 2022 by PigLickJF (see edit history)

[Arklytte]

2 hours ago, PigLickJF said:

That might be the only reason it's actually survived all this time! That journal they pass down is actually just a recipe book...

👍

[Paxon]

2 hours ago, Demented said:

I'm using Gate Breaker to improve damage to objects (like other tanks), so I do have a crunch reason in pushing STR, but I'm not married to size increase.

 

The Mutation feat doesn't spell it out-what is the caster level used for determining the number of traits you receive?

 

Also, the Anthropomorphic body type has this:

 

Do those two trait count against your total trait limit?

Use your character level as caster level. So you get no additional traits with base eternal transformation. If you choose humanoid, you get to pick those two traits, which don't count as traits (and they don't count against your limit). Improved transformation gives you an additional trait (which can be a natural) attack. 

2 hours ago, PigLickJF said:

Just to clarify, in terms of abilities, etc., does The Tank count as a character/ally? I mean know mechanically it's been built as a Technician Invention, but in some places you refer to affecting it with abilities, so I'm not sure exactly how we're handling it. I don't have any specific examples in mind, but for example, Warleader Tactics - does The Tank gain benefits from them (where appropriate, for instance the one that grants a move speed bonus)?

 

And, sort of as an inverse, do we have access to all of The Crew's abilities, etc. as long as we're operating The Tank (i.e. occupying a position)? Does The Crew have it's own separate set of actions in a round, or do we use our actions to "invoke" Crew abilities? Just as an example, The Crew has the Warleader Sphere. In order to start a tactic, does The Crew use a move action to start (ie the group as a whole decides what actions The Crew will take each round and it gets its full set of actions as if it were another character), or does one of the party use their move action to start the tactic, "borrowing" the ability from The Crew?

 

I hope that was clear...

The Tank is a creature, technically, so yes can be affected and can count in certain ways as an ally. For the most part it doesn't make its own rolls though, the PCs make their rolls to act through the tank. It would get certain enhancements to damage, ability scores, and I suppose it will make save rolls sometimes. You could technically affect saves with an Aid Another action, so in that instance you could Aid Another the tank (if it also made sense narratively). The Warleader tactic is a good example, I would allow it to affect the tank. I might have to double check, but I'm not sure constructs can benefit from Morale bonuses, which is a chunk of Warleader.

 

On the Crew side, the Crew does not have its own actions. The PCs use all their own actions. However yes, you are considered to posses the Crews talents, feats, and class features when operating the tank. In your example, the member of the party would use their own move action to activate the tactic, and their own actions to maintain it. I'm sure some odd instanced will come up that I need to make a specific ruling on the spot where this stuff is concerned. Another distinction on this would be the Sniper sphere. While firing the main gun or a relevant weapon connected to the tank, you could use the Crew's sniper talents. If you hop up atop the tank and use your own personal firearm, you are no longer operating the tank, and could not use the sniper sphere for your shot unless your character also possesses it.