Wolf Munroe @pathfinder.social I play Pathfinder1e using multiple game options from Pathfinder Unchained and Horror Adventures.
I also play Pathfinder Kingmaker video game. I hope to purchase/play Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous if I ever finish Kingmaker.
I'm on Mastodon: @[email protected]
I'm thinking about having the penalties start at level 2 instead of level 4. So Grazed would start at hp 75% or lower with -2 penalties. The second penalty, Wounded at 50% would kick in at level 4 (-4 penalty), and the third, Critical, would kick in at level six (with -6 penalty).
This is harder on spellcasters though, because a -2 penalty to attack at level 2 is going to reduce their BAB to -1, and their effective caster level to 0, so they can only cast cantrips once their health drops below 75%. Of course a spellcaster is likely to die in two to three hits anyway at level 2, so they're going to be trying to stay out of combat already.
At that rate, I may as well just have the first penalty start at level 1, since level 2 with less than 75% health is arguably worse than level 1 with no chance of penalty. So maybe I should just say the penalties kick in at 1, 3, and 5. This would also mean that full BAB characters could have a -1 BAB at level 1, level 3, and level 5 if they have the maximum penalty I grant at that level.
Still, better than just starting at with all penalties at level 1, since one hit can put a character under 25% health pretty easy at level 1.
I guess it's time for me to start compiling my Starfinder 1e shopping list. I have the Core Rulebook, but that's it.
Making them wait until level 4 to start seeing penalties seems a long time to go without. I'd like to introduce it earlier, but I don't want to do so in a way that seems too punishing at the low levels when every +1 is very significant. I'll have to think about it some more.
Scaling Wound Thresholds Variant Idea
Provided link is to Wound Thresholds from Pathfinder Unchained as reprinted on Legacy.aonprd.com, for a reference point.
I run a Pathfinder 1e game set in Ustalav. In my campaign, we use a lot of variant rules. Among those rules are the Wound Thresholds rules from Pathfinder Unchained. These apply mechanical penalties as a character's hit points decrease. (Specifically, we use the Gritty Mode Wound Thresholds, which double the penalties.)
I introduced Gritty Mode Wound Thresholds at level 9 of the campaign on a trial basis, but the players seemed to like them so we've been running with them since. (They like them because I apply them equally to monsters as well, which means they can death-spiral monsters. I rule that anything immune to critical hits is also immune to wound thresholds, so incorporeals, oozes, and such.)
Background information about my campaign and my situation is behind a spoiler tag as it's extraneous information.
spoiler
Background: My Pathfinder 1e game, which started in 2012, has been on hiatus since December 2019, initially for our seasonal 3 month winter break, but then because Covid lockdowns started in March 2020, and finally because my family wanted to minimize exposure to other people so pressed me not to resume play right away. In May 2023 my family agreed it was reasonable that I take-up in-person play again. I had told my players I would give them a month's notice when the game was set to resolve again, so that meant gaming in June, but they weren't available, so that meant gaming in July. We scheduled for 29 July but since then all my players (except one that never responses to group messages) have canceled, with one being unavailable until June 2024, and the others (a couple) being indefinitely unavailable. I asked the couple if they wanted to drop out of the game permanently or still hoped to resume later, and the response I got back was that they hope to resume later. So I told them I would put the campaign back on long-term hiatus.
So there's no telling when or if we'll actually play again, but the campaign is not technically abandoned, as I specifically asked for clarity on that from the players.
I told my campaign players that I will seek to run some one-shots or smaller stuff while our campaign is on hiatus, so I can get my game fix.
So the meat of the situation is this: We've been playing with Gritty Mode Wound Levels and I like them. I want to incorporate them into my games in the future. However, we started using them at level 9 in our campaign, when the players had high enough modifiers that it wasn't game breaking that they take some penalties. If I introduce them to a campaign at level 1 (and I also like to run at "level 0" (NPC classes) at the start of a campaign), I think they'll make the game far too hard.
So I'm considering scaling Wound Thresholds instead. Because Gritty Mode is -2 at every wound threshold, and there are three (75% or lower hp is -2 penalties, 50% or lower hp is -4 penalties, and 25% or lower hp is -6 penalties), I'm thinking I should introduce them gradually. But I don't want to surprise the players with them, so I want to write them into my table rules appropriately.
Basically, because the Gritty Mode is -2 at the first penalty, I think I should house-rule that the first penalty (Grazed, hp 75% or lower, -2 penalties) starts at level 4, the second penalty (Wounded, hp 50% or lower, -4 penalties) starts at level 6, and the third penalty (Critical at hp 25% or lower, -6 penalties) starts at level 8.
The Wound Thresholds system has a benefit as well, and that is that the Disabled condition isn't just at 0 hp, but at 0 hp to the negative of the CON modifier for characters that have a positive CON modifier. So a fighter with 16 CON is disabled at 0 hp to -3 hp, and only begins dying at -4 hp (but still dies at -16 hp). I would leave this benefit of the Wound Thresholds system intact from level 1 onward. (If we do "level 0," it would not apply at level 0.)
I have also buffed the Critical Cure feat to make it more effective, but it just now occurs to me that I need to recover my revised wording for that feat from a file format I can no longer easily access.
Anyone have any thoughts about this idea? Besides the general consensus that "Wound Thresholds are terrible," I mean? I've heard that already.
I'm not a huge Lemmy user (I only check this instance regularly) so I didn't even know that was going on.
Has pathfinder.social had an outage recently?
I've been intermittently trying to connect to pathfinder.social for the past few days (since Sunday 09 July, I think) and I've been unable to connect. Was pathfinder.social offline or was I running into some kind of issue along the way?
Instead of gaining +1 ability point, could just gain +0.5 modifier, with fractions rounding down on rolls. That would require that people spend two of them in the same ability to see a mechanical benefit though.
I ran my (P1e) game in a game store for years so I recruited there. I actually had a huge turn-over of players because people wanted to try it then didn't stick with it. One session had 11 players because everyone that was interested was interested THAT DAY for some reason. Next session was down to eight, then we settled on seven basically until the store went under.
I occasionally get someone referred to me, but it's rare. I scout anyone and everyone that even hints at playing TTRPG, though I don't necessarily recruit them if it's obvious we don't want to play the same game or same style of game. (I'll certainly invite people who play mechanically adjacent games though as long as they're interested in the same style of game.)
I just had a player inform me today that he's not going to be available to rejoin the campaign for at least a year, if at all, so I'm probably going to be visiting the local game store to try recruitment there. I may need to run some one-shots at the store or something to get people interested in my game since it's presently a home game and I don't want to move back to a game store (too much stuff to move as I use a lot of materials). I have one guy I might try to recruit as a player as well, as I was introduced to him as someone who could help him with exposure to the system a few years ago. His schedule doesn't seem open enough to join a regular game though.
When I first started playing, I played my first D&D3.5e game with people I met through meetup. This was back in 2004. Meetup might still be an option though.
I would not be above online recruiting but I only run face-to-face games, and I'm in Charleston, WV so it's rare that I'm in online groups with anyone within a two hour drive outside of Facebook. Facebook is an option, of course.
I also am not above trying to convert friends and family, though my immediate family has made it abundantly clear that they're not interested. I had an old friend in my previous campaign for awhile but I'm pretty sure he would have rather gone out to dinner, watched a movie, or played some video games, so he didn't stick around.
Really, I'd recruit just about anywhere. I'd not be above recruiting strangers that I just heard mention TTRPGs, though I might be more discerning with a home game than when I was running the game at a game store.
Pathfinder1e homebrew back-conversion of the P2e bogey (hybridized with P1e redkind).
I used the #Pathfinder1e #redkind as the base creature on which I built this back-conversion of the Pathfinder2e #bogey, but it still has some redkind abilities I thought were cool for the bogey, so it's not an exact conversion. Notably it has the redkind's situational blindness and twisted shadows abilities, as well as some of the redkind's spell-like abilities. It's also got some tweaks I made to my #P1e #bogeyman as well, specifically unspoken name as a constant spell-like ability. The creature is intended to replace the redkind at my own table in my #Ustalav campaign so the overlap in special abilities is a non-issue for my use.
You'll note that it can hear "a personal name" and "bogeyman" but not "bogey" with its unspoken name constant spell-like ability. This is intentional, as I thought it should only be able to hear mention of the final form, not just the creature it is, though it can hear its own name if spoken. This also might help the bogey locate a bogeyman if someone is talking about one and it is not already in the company of one.
It has the devour soul ability of the Pathfinder2e bogey. I also gave my Pathfinder1e bogeyman the devour soul ability of the Pathfinder2e bogeyman, as this gives mechanics to a concept that was only hinted at in the P1e bogeyman lore. I haven't statted a bugaboo yet, though it's mentioned in the stat-block below. I'm not sure if I will stat one. If I do, it will just be a bogey increased to medium with increased sneak attack dice, and more hit dice, falling roughly halfway between a bogey and a bogeyman.
In places a superscript V (V) appears. This is my notation of a variant ability I'm giving the creature. It's essentially meaningless in this context, but makes sense when compared with my bogeyman and the standard redkind. I left it in anyway. The sources listed in the stat block are for the P1e redkind and the P2e bogey, as listed on aonPRD.
Bogey CR 3 XP 800 Source Taldor, The First Empire, page 62, Pathfinder #152: Legacy of the Lost God, page 78 NE Small fey Init +4; Senses low‑light vision, unspoken name; Perception +7 Aura twisted shadows (30 ft., DC 14) DEFENSE AC 18, touch 18, flat‑footed 13 (+2 deflection, +4 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 size) hp 27 (5 HD; 5d6+10) Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +3 DR 5/cold iron; SR 14 Weaknesses situational blindness OFFENSE Speed 30 ft. Melee 2 claws +7 (1d4) Special Attacks devour soulV, sneak attack +2d6 Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +7) Constant—unspoken nameV (a personal name, “bogeyman”) At‑will—darkness, detect thoughts (DC 13), ghost sound (DC 12), knockV, lullaby (DC 12), messageV 1/day—gaseous form, minor image (DC 14) STATISTICS Str 10 (+0), Dex 19 (+4), Con 14 (+2), Int 10 (+0), Wis 9 (‑1), Cha 15 (+2) Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 15 Feats Dodge, Great Fortitude, Weapon Finesse Skills Disable Device +9, Escape Artist +12, Intimidate +9, Perception +7, Sense Motive +7, Stealth +16 (+20 in darkness); Racial modifiers +2 Intimidate, +4 Stealth in darkness Languages Aklo, Sylvan ECOLOGY Environment any Organization solitary, pairV (bogeyman and bogey), or gaggleV (2‑5 bogeys, plus 1 bogeyman) Treasure standard SPECIAL ABILITIES Devour Soul (Su) When a bogey is adjacent to a creature he has killed within the last round, the bogey can consume the creature’s soul. Consuming the soul is a full‑round action. The soul is utterly destroyed—nothing short of a miracle, wish, or a similar effect can restore it to life, and only after the bogey has been slain. The bogey regains hit points equal to double the hit dice of the consumed creature. After devouring three souls within a year, the bogey transforms into a bugaboo. Situational Blindness (Su) Bogeys have trouble targeting creatures who can’t see them. Any creature that can’t see a bogey (such as by closing its own eyes) gains partial concealment from it. Any creature that covers itself entirely (such as by hiding under a blanket) gains full concealment, even if the creature would not otherwise be considered hidden. Twisted Shadows (Su) In areas of dim illumination or darker, a bogey’s presence animates the shadows within 30 feet of it into leering or wicked shapes. The first time a creature ends its turn within this aura, it must succeed at a DC 14 Will saving throw or become shaken for as long as it stays within the aura. If the creature succeeds at the saving throw, it cannot be affected again by the same bogey’s twisted shadows for 24 hours. This is a fear effect. The save DC is Charisma‑based.
Where to post Pathfinder1e Monster Variants on pathfinder.social?
I'm interested in posting my #Pathfinder1e modified and variant monsters, as well as related content. Is the #P1e General Discussion community the best place to do that?
Also, what is the URL field for in creating a post?
I've never been a Reddit user, but I'm interested in giving Lemmy a shot and I was excited to see a dedicated Pathfinder instance, so thanks for that! I'm active on Mastodon (dice.camp) so I love that I can follow "communities" and users of Lemmy and have them show in my Mastodon feed. Then I don't have to check as many sites directly.
I look forward to the success of pathfinder.social.