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  1. - Top - End - #61
    Dragon in the Playground Moderator
     
    Peelee's Avatar

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Second level of Favored Soul. On top of being a dragon, I think that works out quite nicely.

    Spell list
    Last edited by Peelee; 2022-01-11 at 09:06 PM.
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  2. - Top - End - #62
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    Troacctid's Avatar

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by TalonOfAnathrax View Post
    I've been plotting out my item crafting for the year (only spending half the year's XP, to leave some wriggle room for low XP gain + selling Fortifying Bedrolls for ridiculous sums to rich people who want what are effectively more hours added to their life). However in the process I ran into some RAW questions :
    1. MIC rules for stacking additional properties require me to keep track of the combined item's value, just in case I want to further improve them in the future. I'm determining a combined magic item's value by adding up the gp costs paid to create and improve it, and just doubling them. Is there a better method?
    2. The rules to improve existing items obviously weren't created with combined items in mind. It seems that to improve an item you pay the difference between that item's cost and the cost of the new upgrade, which would effectively make upgrades free if the cost of the item has been increased by adding new properties to it. I've used the common sense method of paying to improve it as if it weren't a combined item (see for example the cost I indicated for the Hat of Disguise CL increase, which uses the 1800gp base price and ignores the far larger cost of the added item properties). Is this required, or should I go full RAW and take the upgrade more cheaply by taking into account the added value from the other property? This is sort of pushing it, but if you're a RAW fanatic AFAIK it should work :D
    3. I won't lie: I find the idea of making Goggles of Night into sunglasses to be quite funny (sunglasses at night, unironically!) so I went with it.
    4. Is there a RAW way to make a magic item set without being able to buy a piece of the set? I'd love the raiment of the four, but the
    1. & 2. This is really a simple RAW question, but you use the base price of the most expensive item, and 1.5x the base price of all other items. Sum them all together and that's the final cost.
    4. Bonding rituals from DMG2 allow this, as does the Ancestral Relic feat. You could also wish a piece of the set into existence, but that seems like it's a ways off.

  3. - Top - End - #63
    Orc in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by Kalkra View Post
    I wouldn't recommend driving with only 60 feet of vision, but if you do, make sure you have the full Blues Brothers outfit and car.
    Cars have good headlights anyway. On the other hand, I've had to cycle through country roads without any lights several times this month, and it sucked. 60ft darkvision would have been great there!
    Similarly, walking home at night can be not great in city streets/parks without lights. I'd feel safer if I could see in the dark, magic or no magic.
    On the other hand, I do have access to the Darkvision spell which lasts hour/level... I'll still be editing that crafting list in the next few days, and I give goggles of night good odds of being removed in favor of something like a mask of silent trickery or a spidersilk pendant.

    Quote Originally Posted by Troacctid View Post
    1. & 2. This is really a simple RAW question, but you use the base price of the most expensive item, and 1.5x the base price of all other items. Sum them all together and that's the final cost.
    4. Bonding rituals from DMG2 allow this, as does the Ancestral Relic feat. You could also wish a piece of the set into existence, but that seems like it's a ways off.
    Thanks for replying! And thanks for reminding me that Bonding Rituals exist - I'm going back and rethinking my whole build's feat distribution now...
    I'm not too sure I understood how that answered question 2 though?
    Last edited by TalonOfAnathrax; 2022-01-03 at 05:57 PM.

  4. - Top - End - #64
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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Built up a Character Sheet. No items on the sheet, but money wouldn't be a problem in very short order, so I could do all the crafting I'd want.
    Of course, by the time I finish this post, it will already be obsolete. C'est la vie.

  5. - Top - End - #65
    Orc in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by Jack_Simth View Post
    Built up a Character Sheet. No items on the sheet, but money wouldn't be a problem in very short order, so I could do all the crafting I'd want.
    We don't seem to have permission to view it?
    Last edited by TalonOfAnathrax; 2022-01-03 at 06:14 PM.

  6. - Top - End - #66
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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by TalonOfAnathrax View Post
    We don't seem to have permission to view it?
    Updated permissions.
    Of course, by the time I finish this post, it will already be obsolete. C'est la vie.

  7. - Top - End - #67
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    Barstro's Avatar

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by Troacctid View Post
    It was in 2016. The original post actually has pretty detailed reasoning! https://forums.giantitp.com/showsing...6&postcount=55
    Unusually well written for me, too. I must have been bored that day.

    Looking back; I stand by my reasoning and lament that I did not update every year (hoping OP takes my stated desire for level 20 Alchemist to imply that I would/did take it each year). I’ll continue to take Alchemist.
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  8. - Top - End - #68
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    ClericGuy

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    OK....well I'm a mid-50s dude prone to developing health problems as I age and with a wife who has a long term chronic disease and a 13 year old dog who has has a bad back and a weird new condition that might or might not count as a disease and who is interested in all of us living as long as possible so...

    Much as my recent move into a rural area where we've experienced 4 feet of snow in less than 2 weeks, two power outages, learning to use a wood burning stove during said outages, learning to drive in snow (and dig said car out of snow...all wheel drive doesn't help if snow is deeper than clearance of car....) made me think maybe ranger or druid.

    In reality, I gotta go with a Pathfinder Witch. They have Delay Disease, Diagnose Disease as L1 spells (and only they have delay disease as such) and a healing hex. There's a Harrow card variant (Cartomancer) where my deck of cards is my familiar, basically. That's me, I read tarot sometimes and my gaze-hound doesn't need another animal in the house. For my other starting spells, Jury Rig, Comprehend Languages, Unseen Servant. None of the Patrons thrill me, but I'll go with Endurance, mostly for Endure Elements at L2. Cantrips would be mending, guidance prestidigitation (on my list from 2 world magic, below)

    Attributes

    Str 11 My carrying capacity is in this range.
    Dex 8 I am a galoot
    Con 9 If this was higher, I might have picked another class.
    Int 14 (12+2 human). My highest stat IRL, no question
    Wis 13 with age comes wisdom. In my 20s, this would have been my 8
    Cha 10 I have skill points in cha skills IRL, but am neither naturally good or bad at this.

    Traits: Two World Magic (Prestidigitation is on my spell list), Harrow Chosen (I've got that heirloom deck...but the kind of divinations I do with it aren't short-time-range like Augury, so why not?)

    L1 skills - basically stuff helpful for understanding magic, guessing about my patron, healing or my new "natural setting" home.

    Heal 1 rank, Kn Nature 1 rank, Kn Arcana 1 rank, Spellcraft 1 rank, Kn Planes 1 rank, UMD 1 rank (hey, a magic item might happen someday in a world that grants levels) (2+2int+1human+1 favored class)

    Feats
    Extra Hex (Feral Speech - So I could talk to my dog when he's scared, or I could ask him if he is in pain etc).
    Believer's Boon - Restoration Domain - remove fatigue 1/day. Incredibly useful. Enough to suck up to a healing deity of some kind, possibly that Endurance patron, possibly somebody else.

    Should I remember to do this 4 more years I could actually cure all the ailments we've accumulated. But I'll settle for suppressing the effect on days I roll a caster level check, plus CLW on demand, communication with animals and fatigue removal 1/day. Plus really useful on-demand cantrips. I break things and suck at repairing them and prestidigitation has a zillion uses.

    Sorry for lack of formatting. I'm tired and achy from shoveling snow all day and just wanted to get in on the fun. If I really thought I'd remember to keep posting in this thread next year and year after I probably would have gone for a cleric with restoration domain, gambling on getting remove disease in 3 years instead of 5. If I really thought I might go 8 years, doing 3.5 instead and qualifying for 3 Ruathar levels for the doubled lifespan would have been pretty appealing although without actual elves in the world qualifying for said class is probably impossible.
    Last edited by Seward; 2022-01-03 at 11:21 PM.

  9. - Top - End - #69
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    NecromancerGirl

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Another cleric level

  10. - Top - End - #70
    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    New year, new level and gaining +1 BAB, +1 Fort and Will, a new pact empowerment, a new clause, and a new shape. Decided to bold the changes.

    Alignment: NE(CN)
    Race: Human(Heart of the Snows)
    Class: Avowed(Weaver Pact) 4
    Attributes: Str 12, Dex 9, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 13
    BAB: +3
    HP: 32
    Feats: Additional Traits, Intuitive Recitation, Silent Recitation, Point-Blank Shot, Power Attack
    Traits: Blood of the Dragon(Low-Light Vision), Pragmatic Polytheist
    Flaws: Light Sensitivity
    Qualities: Heart of the Snows (-1 temp band in cold climates, +2 on fort vs cold climate effects, slipping and falling, and against trip attempts), Pact (Weaver), Clauses, Aether Pulse, Pact Attunement (Climb speed and silk creation with with varied strand types), Pact Sense (nearby spiders and Detect Magic), Spider Bites (Bite attack with weak dexterity poison, plus dermal plating and minor resistance towards spider venom)
    Clauses: I Go Where I Please, Resonant Pulse (M), Vermin Love Me (Spiders), Spider Lord I
    Shapes: Aether Bolt I, Aether Breath (cone) I, Aether Burst II

    With my new level I grew some nice fangs and a good set of dermal plating. Looks like all of my training with Discount Fireball payed off since I can now hurl it far further before it detonates. I've also learned how to call on some of my patron's more dangerous children to help me from time to time. Additionally, I've figured out my form of immortality, though actually acquiring it will require some changes to my future plans. Not a bad thing, mind you, but it's a little more than just a restructuring. I will need to get my hands on a special kind of far realms symbiote though...
    Quote Originally Posted by Quarian Rex View Post
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  11. - Top - End - #71
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    DwarfBarbarianGuy

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    So...here we are, gaining levels and growing in power...

    ...but that rarely happens in a vacuum. Guilds, tribes, clans, academies, colleges, and at the very minimum, parties.

    I know geographical location is a limiting factor, but does this interest anyone?

    I think I'd be interested in building a Mage Guild in Australia.

    Thoughts?
    "There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter."
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  12. - Top - End - #72
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    Red Fel's Avatar

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Ah, hindsight. At my last level, I took the Inquisitor feat - which is admittedly a prerequisite. However, had I but thought about things, I would have taken that feat earlier, and instead taken the Telepathic Communication Psion ACF at level 5. Alas, it seems Mindsight is out of reach. For now, anyways.

    Regardless, here is my previous level:

    Spoiler: 2021
    Show

    Red Fel
    Psion (Telepath) 5
    STR: 8
    DEX: 10
    CON: 12
    INT: 16
    WIS: 13
    CHA: 14

    Feats: Overchannel (Human bonus feat), Psicrystal Affinity (Psion bonus feat); Extend Power; Inquisitor (Psion bonus feat)1
    PP/day: 25+62
    Powers Known: Attraction; Charm, Psionic; Crisis of Breath3; Demoralize; False Sensory Input3; Inertial Armor; Mindlink; Read Thoughts; Share Pain; Suggestion, Psionic; Vigor.

    1 Level 5 includes a bonus psionic feat. I am choosing Inquisitor, to better tell whether people deceive me. Subtlety.
    2 INT grants a bonus to PP/day.
    3 I gain two bonus Powers. I choose Crisis of Breath and False Sensory Input.

    And here's the new one:

    Spoiler: 2022
    Show

    Red Fel
    Psion (Telepath) 5/ Thrallherd 1
    STR: 8
    DEX: 10
    CON: 12
    INT: 16
    WIS: 13
    CHA: 14

    Feats: Overchannel (Human bonus feat), Psicrystal Affinity (Psion bonus feat); Extend Power; Inquisitor (Psion bonus feat); Psicrystal Containment1
    PP/day: 25+62
    Powers Known: Attraction; Charm, Psionic; Crisis of Breath; Demoralize; False Sensory Input; Inertial Armor; Mindlink; Read Thoughts; Share Pain; Suggestion, Psionic; Vigor.

    1 Level 6 includes a bonus feat. I am choosing Psycrystal Containment, for an extra psionic focus.
    2 INT grants a bonus to PP/day.

    And it begins. Level 6 is a fairly straightforward one, because Thrallherd 1 doesn't progress manifester levels. I get my level 6 bonus feat, and the Thrallherd class feature, and that's about it. My Thrallherd leadership score is my character level, plus my CHA modifier, plus my Thrallherd level, which is 6+2+1=9. That means that all I have is a 6th level thrall, at least so far. This also means that, next year, I suddenly start gathering followers. So that's fun.

    I choose Psicrystal Containment for my level 6 feat, because having two psionic foci to expend is always useful.

    This is going to be a good year for Red Fel, folks.
    Last edited by Red Fel; 2022-01-04 at 10:48 AM.
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  13. - Top - End - #73
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Devil

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by aglondier View Post
    So...here we are, gaining levels and growing in power...

    ...but that rarely happens in a vacuum. Guilds, tribes, clans, academies, colleges, and at the very minimum, parties.

    I know geographical location is a limiting factor, but does this interest anyone?

    I think I'd be interested in building a Mage Guild in Australia.

    Thoughts?
    I was sorta assuming all of that stuff would take place in the Dreamscape, although I don't know how that would work with PF stuff.

  14. - Top - End - #74
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    OldWizardGuy

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Hmm tricky choices.
    do I need to model my stats after what I think they are irl?
    if so... 13 12 11 10 9 8
    11 strength 12 constitution 8 dexterity 13 int 9 Wisdom 10 charisma and a +2 that could go anywhere but wisdom or dexterity depending on my class choice if I'm being true to real life while sticking to non elite array. If I can move it around, I definitely want at least a 12, preferably a 14 in my casting stat. Those odd numbers are going to bother me... hm. Am I considered to have 1 NPC level before now that incorporates what I already know and can do? Just, one level of expert or aristocrat.
    But which class...
    bard (pathfinder)is good jack of all trades and both healing and inspire competence would change how I live my life for the better. Plus a handful of other spells and performances and lots of skill points

    warlock would give me great magical effects that would again, change how I live my life. Breathing underwater, speaking with animals, reading all languages, all possible at level 1? I'd need to eventually grab one of the melee blast options because my dex is pretty bad. But otherwise solid choice. Could also be great as a 1 level dip.

    paladin would only start getting good around level 2-4 but at that point it would be incredible. Furthermore... it would be nice to really know that there's a god and that I'm doing what they want...

    witch would use my int, which is my highest casting stat, and has healing hex, a familiar and the celestial agenda patron would get the same bonus of inner peace that Paladin does....

    Bard, witch and warlock also get bonus points because familiars are more convenient than a mount, but then I'd have to take a feat to get the familiar except on witch....
    tricky choices
    Last edited by Lord Foul; 2022-01-04 at 11:03 AM.

  15. - Top - End - #75
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Devil

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Foul View Post
    do I need to model my stats after what I think they are irl?
    No, the modifiers are added to what you have now. In other words, you get +3 to something, +2 to something, etc.
    Last edited by Kalkra; 2022-01-04 at 10:56 AM.

  16. - Top - End - #76
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    OldWizardGuy

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by Kalkra View Post
    No, the modifiers are added to what you have now. In other words, you get +3 to something, +2 to something, etc.
    Ah! Neat. I can swap strength and charisma then. I'm strong enough for every real world application of effort... the penalty to dexterity and wisdom becomes a bigger deal... considering those are already dump stats

  17. - Top - End - #77
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    Planetar

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Rereading the DMGII, I've been struck by the hardest build decision yet: what signature trait do I want my Craft Wondrous Item feat to have?
    • Comfortable seems useful if I intend to wear these items regularly, but I can make that irrelevant by simply making them comfortable in the first place. I'm also organizing my crafting so that combined items all have the form of the most convenient item, which further reduces the need for this.
    • Clean seems useful for obvious reasons. On the other hand, I've lived my entire life with clothes I had to wash and it's never been a huge imposition. And I do have Prestigiditation now.
    • Fashionable is pure vanity, but it's also an item effect that's a lot harder to replicate. After all fashion changes with time, but magic items generally don't. And having my items all be appealing would make getting high-price sales easier. As I type this, I'm convincing myself to pick fashionable...


    The one magic item I have that I really can't make comfortable without the signature trait is the chainmail glove of Taarnham the Vigilant. I could wait a few years and combine it with a Wand Bracelet, but that's quite a wait and I'm not sure it'd even be possible : although the glove is a wondrous item, it's still a +1 gauntlet. Thankfully that obstacle might be my salvation, as I can take a Bonding Ritual and make it a +1 Morphing Warning Gauntlet (with the OA enhancements for cheap +8 Balance and +10 Move Silently, of course). I'm still reworking my crafting schedule to see how much I can fit in there, as this method removes most prereqs but doesn't remove the gold and xp cost. IIRC Morphing would let me turn it into a poison ring that I could wear comfortably every day, which is a lot better than a big chainmail glove!

    Unfortunately earning a Bonding Ritual looks quite hard, especially without enemies to fight. The only ones I could attempt are Ritual of Magic and Ritual of Honor, and those both require me to find someone of CR 4 or higher and fight them. Not impossible (especially as people here are becoming increasingly overt in their magic use, with some people outright selling magical healing and whatnot) but not easy either. Still, it does seem very worth it - and it could be fun! These aren't fights to the death or anything, after all.

    .

    Not to target any specific poster (I've been rereading old threads and this is more of an overall vibe), but I get a kick out of the fact that every single poster here seems to have above-average Int when they estimate their own stats. And of course there are one or two self-declared supergeniuses posting every year. I wonder what this says about 3.X players?

  18. - Top - End - #78
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Devil

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by TalonOfAnathrax View Post
    Unfortunately earning a Bonding Ritual looks quite hard, especially without enemies to fight. The only ones I could attempt are Ritual of Magic and Ritual of Honor, and those both require me to find someone of CR 4 or higher and fight them. Not impossible (especially as people here are becoming increasingly overt in their magic use, with some people outright selling magical healing and whatnot) but not easy either. Still, it does seem very worth it - and it could be fun! These aren't fights to the death or anything, after all.

    .

    Not to target any specific poster (I've been rereading old threads and this is more of an overall vibe), but I get a kick out of the fact that every single poster here seems to have above-average Int when they estimate their own stats. And of course there are one or two self-declared supergeniuses posting every year. I wonder what this says about 3.X players?
    What about the Ritual of Purity or the Ritual of Travel? I mean sure, they wouldn't be pleasant, but they're totally doable without enemies. Also, the Ritual of Blood can be done with an animal, and elephants have a CR of 7. I don't know what level you are, but that might work. There might also be higher CR animals, I didn't look that hard.

    Regarding Intelligence, D&D suffers from the same problem that a lot of games do, namely that the numbers are too small. Strength is pretty straightforward in that it has linear scaling. Intelligence is trickier, though. I think I'm smarter than the average person. I also think I'm smarter than some people who are smarter than average. That means that if 10 is average (admittedly not an airtight assumption), my INT is at least 12. If 18 is the theoretical maximum a person can be born with, and training can only simulate a maximum of 10 levels or so (also unclear), that means that all of the smartest people in the world can't have had an INT of much higher than 20. If my INT is 13, and I add another +3 from the non-elite array, that gives me an INT of 16. That means if I cast Fox's Cunning, I'm now as smart as any human who's ever lived. Move over Newton, Einstein, von Neumann. The thing is, all of those people I just mentioned are more than twice as smart as me by every available metric, despite the fact that they can't have more than twice my INT, which would seem to imply that scaling for INT isn't linear, which just makes everything confusing.

    Of course, if you look at the world records for strength, is seems like some people have a Strength score of more than 20, but still, even if an average person only has an INT of 8, I can't believe that Einstein wouldn't be at least five times smarter than the average person, giving him an INT of 40, which is impossible no matter how you slice it.

    It occurs to me at this point that I don't remember where I was going with this, so I'm gonna stop now.
    Last edited by Kalkra; 2022-01-04 at 01:59 PM.

  19. - Top - End - #79
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    OldWizardGuy

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    To be fair on the above average int bit. There's selection bias at play. This is a math heavy game (wouldn't say math focused, because for me the narrative is more important but still)

  20. - Top - End - #80
    Orc in the Playground
     
    Planetar

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by Kalkra View Post
    What about the Ritual of Purity or the Ritual of Travel? I mean sure, they wouldn't be pleasant, but they're totally doable without enemies. Also, the Ritual of Blood can be done with an animal, and elephants have a CR of 7. I don't know what level you are, but that might work. There might also be higher CR animals, I didn't look that hard.
    The Ritual of Travel requires skills I don't have. The Ritual of Blood requires BaB +3 (which I won't have for years, as troacctid banned fractional BaB and saves). Ritual of Purity seems theoretically doable, but in practice it would require some amazing rolls (I have Con +0 and 13HP, so on average I'd succumb to the nonlethal damage long before the 14 days of fasting are up).
    I guess I could wait a few levels and attempt the Ritual of Purity when I have more HP? I'm not sure which is riskier though: finding another PC and asking for a spar, or waiting for several more levels without a safety item like the chainmail glove. I am publicly selling very valuable magic items at this point, after all - I'd feel a lot safer with the chainmail glove's "threat detector" feature.

    Not only am I not sure where you were going with the Int talk, I'm also not sure I agree with most of the numbers you cited. Why should Einstein have Int 40, and not Int 18 and a pile of ranks in relevant Knowledge/Profession skills? I had similar reactions to most of your other Int-related numbers.

  21. - Top - End - #81
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    El Dorado's Avatar

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by TalonOfAnathrax View Post
    Not to target any specific poster (I've been rereading old threads and this is more of an overall vibe), but I get a kick out of the fact that every single poster here seems to have above-average Int when they estimate their own stats. And of course there are one or two self-declared supergeniuses posting every year. I wonder what this says about 3.X players?
    For me, it's less that I think I'm smart and more that I need to boost my casting stat. I got me some spells to cast.
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  22. - Top - End - #82
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    BardGuy

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Been reading these threads for years but never participated. This year let us finally settle on

    Human Cloistered Cleric - Domains Planning, Magic, Knowledge

    12 Con
    13 Wis
    11 Int
    10 Charisma
    8 Dex
    9 Strength

    Feats
    Human Bind Vestige
    1st Bind Vestige, Improved
    Bonus Flaw: Spontaneous domains
    Bonus Flaw 2: Martial Study Vanguard strike (DS)

    Flaw 1: Vulnerable
    Flaw 2: Individualist

  23. - Top - End - #83
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Wildstag's Avatar

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    So I guess in 2020 and 2021, I took levels in Druid, so I'll continue taking levels in Druid. Barb1/Druid3 would give me access to second level spells this year. I guess I'd take an improvement to my Wisdom to bring it to 14! A bonus second level spell for me!

    Level 3 Neutral Good Human Barbarian1/Shapeshift-Druid2

    Ability Scores:

    Strength 12
    Dexterity 8
    Constitution 10
    Intelligence 9
    Wisdom 13
    Charisma 11

    BAB and Saves:

    Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+3

    Saves: Fort +5, Ref 0, Will +5

    Skills: Climb 4 ranks, Survival 5 ranks, Swim 4 ranks, Listen 4 ranks, Knowledge (Nature) 3 ranks, Spot 2 ranks, Profession (Wilderness Guide) 4 ranks

    Spells: I would prepare Light, Mending, and Cure Minor Wounds on a regular basis. As a side note, Know Direction is hot garbage. For my 1st level spell, Endure Elements daily, Goodberry before an expedition, and either Produce Flame or Shillelagh (probably the latter) as a combat option.

    0th: 1 Light, 2 Mending, 1 Cure Minor Wounds

    1st: 1 Endure Elements, 1 Shillelagh, 1 Pass Without Trace

    2nd: 1 Tern's Persistence, 1 Primal Hunter

    Feats: Extra Rage, Reckless Rage, Wild Cohort

    Flaw: Wild (Dragon 329)

    Class Features: Fast Movement, illiteracy, Rage 3/day, Nature Sense (+2 Knowledge (Nature) and Survival), Wild Empathy, Shapeshift (Predator Form: Puma), Woodland Stride, Trackless Step

    Wild Cohort: Light Horse.

    With Predator Form and Rage, I get 22 Strength. Pretty good for level 4 and the non-elite array.
    P.S. Would that I knew of Mystic Ranger back in 2016, I would have just gone four levels in that class, getting second level spells this year, but I didn't, so I don't. It is kinda the ideal class for what I'd be doing though.

  24. - Top - End - #84
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    Troacctid's Avatar

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by Red Fel View Post
    My Thrallherd leadership score is my character level, plus my CHA modifier, plus my Thrallherd level, which is 6+2+1=9. That means that all I have is a 6th level thrall, at least so far.
    That's not correct. With 12 Charisma from the non-elite array, you only have a leadership score of 8, which results in a thrall 2 levels lower than you.

  25. - Top - End - #85
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    ClericGuy

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by El Dorado View Post
    For me, it's less that I think I'm smart and more that I need to boost my casting stat. I got me some spells to cast.
    Objectively I am a lot smarter than I am wise, based on standardized testing, where I went to college, what degree I got and what career I had. And life choices over the years 4prove I'm smarter than wise. But I went with 14 int and 13 wisdom because I really wanted a feat that needed 13 wisdom, instead of 15 and 12, like I originally intended.

  26. - Top - End - #86
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Devil

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by TalonOfAnathrax View Post
    The Ritual of Travel requires skills I don't have. The Ritual of Blood requires BaB +3 (which I won't have for years, as troacctid banned fractional BaB and saves). Ritual of Purity seems theoretically doable, but in practice it would require some amazing rolls (I have Con +0 and 13HP, so on average I'd succumb to the nonlethal damage long before the 14 days of fasting are up).
    I guess I could wait a few levels and attempt the Ritual of Purity when I have more HP? I'm not sure which is riskier though: finding another PC and asking for a spar, or waiting for several more levels without a safety item like the chainmail glove. I am publicly selling very valuable magic items at this point, after all - I'd feel a lot safer with the chainmail glove's "threat detector" feature.

    Not only am I not sure where you were going with the Int talk, I'm also not sure I agree with most of the numbers you cited. Why should Einstein have Int 40, and not Int 18 and a pile of ranks in relevant Knowledge/Profession skills? I had similar reactions to most of your other Int-related numbers.
    Wow, I didn't realize the rules for starvation were so restrictive. I mean, in real life a person could survive for two weeks with no food just fine. I also forgot that as a Sha'ir you don't get access to all knowledge skills for Travel.

    Regarding skill ranks and INT, I was assuming that even if they did have ranks in all of the relevant skills, they wouldn't have gotten them early in life, and there are stories of various people being ridiculously smart even from a young age, which I'm assuming comes from raw INT rather than skill ranks. I admit, I there was a lot of hand-waving with my numbers and assumptions and whatnot, and also I'm not really sure how any of this stuff works for people who don't have levels, nor am I sure how stuff is mechanically applied to people with levels who have skills from before we got our first level, but the point is that there are some people who are clearly so much more intelligent than other people that it seems like either their INT would be above 18 or the scaling for INT isn't linear. Admittedly, you could probably make it work by making a ton of assumptions about skill ranks and effective levels and whatnot, but it just seems unlikely to me that people would have that many class levels at such a young age. Actually proving anything would be impossible because there's no way to calculate the DC of an intellectual feat, nor is it clear if people usually take 10, or 20, or roll.
    Last edited by Kalkra; 2022-01-04 at 02:03 PM.

  27. - Top - End - #87
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    ClericGuy

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by Kalkra View Post
    point is that there are some people who are clearly so much more intelligent than other people that it seems like either their INT would be above 18 or the scaling for INT isn't linear.
    It helps if you think of intelligence as just the thing that helps with certain sorts of spellcasting and makes some skills easier to use. It might not map too well on what we think of intelligence in the real world. Although...honestly what we think of intelligence here doesn't map that well either.

    I am by all ways we can measure (including real life outcomes over a 35 years of professional life) in the top percentile, although when I went to Caltech, there were a few who found it as easy as most of us found high school. I was a "B student graduate in 4 years" kinda guy there.

    I can't speak for the folks who were so much smarter than me, but at my level of raw intelligence (and the kind I was born with) it actually doesn't help nearly so much for being better than somebody with similar expertise at a skill, it helps in how fast you LEARN skills. I go from novice to basic competency much faster than most people, even at things like making a pizza really fast at a restaurant job. Getting from competency to expertise is slower, but I tended to get there faster than most of my peers. Then it levels off, although I was still the guy they called in when something truly strange occurred and it needed to be figured out. I also read faster than nearly anybody I've ever met, although ironically as an adult I stopped having time to sit in one place and use my eyes very often, so most of my casual reading is via audio books, as I constantly have jobs that need my eyes and hands but not my mind (chores around the house, driving, shopping etc).

    So the D&D model of "more skill ranks for higher int" isn't terrible. You can be competent at a larger variety of things because it takes less time to learn. The model of getting big bonuses to knowledge skills? In my case...I didn't get that part of Int being modeled in D&D. I get a lot of the rest from learning curve and fast reading but a good memory isn't one of the talents I had. I struggled a lot more getting multiplication tables down as a kid than learning algebra, I understood grammar in my Russian class much better than vocabulary and I did a lot better in math olympiads than in spelling bees. Most true expertise has come from experience, not raw intellect, and building a toolkit for problem solving that let me play to my strengths, and compensate for my weaknesses.

    It's easier to model real world skills in a system more like Champions, which has a lot of skills and variations that range from "barely exposed to it" to "acknowledged worldwide expert". D&D is granular and skills cover a lot of ground. In real life, skills age out if you don't use them. In college I could do a lot of math I never needed professionally and I lost it. I used to be competent with a violin, now it sounds like a cat being tortured if I try. And lets not talk about physical skills like, say, Jump. Strength loss due to aging doesn't begin to cover the gap between what I could do now and what I could do when I was in my 20s - some of it is aging, some of it is deconditioning, some of it is simply not using those skills in too long and forgetting the knack of it.

    Even in Champions or similar systems, a college student doesn't have a skill point spent for each of her classes. What they actually have is something like "Profession, Student of Engineering" which gets to a fairly competent level by senior year, then degrades as they shift to "Profession PhD Candidate" or "Profession Traffic Engineer". All of those will get you a solid grounding in basic sciences without having to buy explicitly physics, chemistry, materials science, statics and mechanics, math etc as separate skills. In D&D, most folks are pretty much good with things like "Profession Peasant Farmer", which gives you aspects of Kn Nature, Survival, Heal, Handle Animal, Craft (various farm things, including a barn, fences etc) maybe even very local versions of Kn Geography, Kn Nobility, Kn Local that impact them personally.
    Last edited by Seward; 2022-01-04 at 02:27 PM.

  28. - Top - End - #88
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    Wildstag's Avatar

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by Kalkra View Post
    Wow, I didn't realize the rules for starvation were so restrictive. I mean, in real life a person could survive for two weeks with no food just fine. I also forgot that as a Sha'ir you don't get access to all knowledge skills for Travel.
    "Just fine" is a stretch. You can survive without food for two weeks. Realistically, you start having serious health conditions and lose the ability to do more than shuffle about in a small area. Your body gets significantly weaker, and you have a lot less blood sugar. Probably some blood pressure changes and complications from rapid weight loss.

    My on-hand medicine book is actually a Wilderness Medicine guide, so I can't really explain much more. I could explain affects of dehydration, but I guess I'm not expected to encounter someone who hasn't eaten for a fortnight.

  29. - Top - End - #89
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    GnomePirate

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Quote Originally Posted by Wildstag View Post
    "Just fine" is a stretch. You can survive without food for two weeks. Realistically, you start having serious health conditions and lose the ability to do more than shuffle about in a small area. Your body gets significantly weaker, and you have a lot less blood sugar. Probably some blood pressure changes and complications from rapid weight loss.

    My on-hand medicine book is actually a Wilderness Medicine guide, so I can't really explain much more. I could explain affects of dehydration, but I guess I'm not expected to encounter someone who hasn't eaten for a fortnight.
    I don't know - if you sleep well, aren't cold or overheated and have access to water and electrolytes, 2 weeks is certainly doable. You're not combat ready by any means, but you shouldn't be in too much danger either as long as you're healthy and doing it right.

    And even if not "just fine", still far better than taking a fireball in the face. D&D treats starvation weirdly. It should've dealt with it with a system that isn't HP. Con/Dex/Str damage would have been better.
    Screaming defiance with the last breath

    It would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.


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  30. - Top - End - #90
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    Devil

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    Default Re: You just gained a level in real life: 2022 edition!

    Yeah, "just fine" was maybe an overstatement. But it's certainly doable in the context of the Ritual of Purity, in which you don't need to physically active, and I wouldn't expect any permanent health issues from it, especially if you prepped well before-hand.

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