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Build of the Week: The Lion Blade

 Build of the Week: The Lion Blade

The Spy. The Assassin. Agent of the Crown.

Today i’m going to show off one of my favorite Prestige Classes, the Lion Blade. The first iteration of the class itself predates the Pathfinder RPG, published in the 3.5e book “Taldors, Echoes of Glory”. An apt title, given the class itself is an echo of a bygone relic: multiclass prestige classes. Oh, sure, we still have the Mystic Theurge and Eldritch Knight, but while every other base class in Pathfinder got all new features like School and Bloodline Powers, the prestige classes continued to only advance casting or base attack bonus.

The Lion Blade had similiar problems. As a rogue, it cut your base attack bonus and sneak attack progression to hard to be an effective striker, but gave mediocre bonuses to your skills.… Read the rest

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Handy Haversack: Pathfinder Playtest Secret Rolls Chart

After spending a week trying to create a fun Naga Aspirant, I decided this week would be better spent releasing a new category of post: The Handy Haversack of Game Accessories!

In Pathfinder Playtest there is a new mechanic called “Secret Rolls”. With the advent of critical failures on skill checks, certain skills should now be rolled by the GM so the PCs aren’t sure whether or not they completely fumbled. This is especially true of the new Knowledge skills, which can give PCs false information if they roll a critical failure. But with everyone able to attempt these skills, investigative scenarios can quickly become bogged down as the GM sits behind the screen rolling dice for himself. But after running Raiders on Shrieking Peak multiple times at Gencon, I came up with a trick to help speed it up (without just letting the PCs roll themselves and ruin the chance for a false information critical miss).… Read the rest

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Build of the Week: White Fluffy Tail

There are so many ways to read a new sourcebook. Maybe you are looking for just the right feat for that explosive fire-mage you levelled-up last week? Or are you trying to find that perfect swashbuckler archetype for your aasimar? It’s natural that new material means new discoveries. But I’m going to argue today that the most exciting part about new content isn’t what you can discover in the new book, but rather what you can rediscover in older material.

There are plenty of really cool character options that just don’t work as well as we’d like. It’s always fun to try the archetype regardless, especially in a format lLike thisike Pathfinder Society where the scenarios aren’t (usually) designed to crush the party.… Read the rest

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Optionsmas is Nigh: Cayden Cailean Edition

After a harrowing six months, we finally get to see what did and didn’t make the cut in this edition of: Pathfinder Society Additional Resource Updates! As usual, please comment on what new toys you’ve found, and feel free to discuss my own findings below! This month we got tinctures and inebriation rules for the Caileanites, lover’s bangles and covenant rings for the couples, And so many neat poisons…

Adventure Paths:

… Read the rest

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Build of the Week: The Axe Gang

Get your top hats on and sharpen your axes. Thrown weapon builds have been thought of as a “trap” for quite a while, and for good reason. Veterans of the 3rd Edition might remember the Master Thrower and Bloodstorm Blade, capable of throwing enough daggers (or chairs) per round to put a Zen Archer to shame. But in Pathfinder, thrown weapons are no longer about littering the battlefield with enough weapons to choke Rovagiggles himself. Rather, they have found a niche in Midrange Control.

Your job as a thrown weapon wielder isn’t doing the most damage per round. It’s utilizing your ability to keep out of the way of your crowded melee fighters, while adding to their damage per round with the Trip combat maneuver.… Read the rest

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Build of the Week: Devoted Poet

I come first with a rose. Since it gives me Cha to Initiative.
Have you dreamt of flitting across the battlefield, cutting down enemies one at a time with such grace and beauty that your bard has to scoop his jaw off the ground to keep singing? Well, there are already about five or six ways to do it in Pathfinder….but what if I told you now it can be done with a katana!?

There’s been quite a bit of enthusiastic talk about Pathfinder’s newest softcover Player Companion, Heroes from the Fringe. In addition to a number of incredible alternate racial traits, the book has finally given us an archetype we’ve been wanting for years: A Dexterity & Charisma based Samurai!

Queue the collective squeal of every Crane clan player everArchetype Analysis: Warrior Poet

Unless you are especially fond of Iaijutsu, the Warrior Poet is the perfect archetype for those looking to play a “fantasy samurai”, giving up every class feature other than Challenge, Resolve and Honorable Stand (i.e.… Read the rest

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