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GoliathReturns

Marcethus wrote: Fri Jun 20, 2025 11:17 am
I can see that. As long as it has the appropriate costs and materials similar to the circle but it's a Necro only secret ritual.

That's what I was thinking. Basically, just copying the summoner's circle

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GS

GoliathReturns

My reasoning is that the summoner's circle is actually MUCH more powerful than the actual abilities of the necromancer, which doesn't sit right with me.

For most purposes, Necromancy is spell magic, and spell magic should seldom be as powerful as ritual magic, especially not ritual magic with ...

GoliathReturns

4) I would lean towards a compromise space... not "get access to a circle", but "a special Necromancer ritual that lets them raise armies." Now, that ritual may precisely emulate the circle, because my objection stems not from the power of the ability, but from "I don't think necromancers should ...

GoliathReturns

OK, since I'm prepping for an undead/Necromancer portion of my campaign, some thoughts for tweaks to the necromancer:

1) Starting at level 2, gains one spell per level, from the necro/bone magic/necro-related lists.
2) For a permanent sacrifice of PPE, Union of the Dead being permanent. Limit to ...

GoliathReturns

Its less obvious in the second ed book but in the first ed book the magic powders are on a page with other poisons and drugs, and all the others mentions a saving throw, whereas the magic powders are like potions and do not mention a saving throw.

Magic powders specifically says "these are ...

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I'm going to echo Franko, and say use the magic powders rules.

Or heck, be generous- a dodge against the "attack", and then a save against the magic. If they fail the dodge, but make the magic save, maybe a few good sneezes

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GS

GoliathReturns

Ok, we all know the various speed tables don't translate well..

I've been looking through, the book, but not seeing much of detail..

Wagon speeds? Carts? Ship travel times?

I mean, I think the closest we get to actual travel times for ships is the "Journal entries" we get in fluff text..

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GS

GoliathReturns

Additional spells and riluals related to Necromancy may be learned or pUIChased at any time regardless
of the character's experience level; however, the Necromancer does NOT obtain lhese automatically.

This has always bugged me- why don't they get more when they level up?

It doesn't make ...

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Well, overthinking it is sort of the point. The magic wall spells are wonky without being used as a no-dodge, no-parry, attack. But it does beg the question of whether the damage from a wall dropped on people is some inherent magic damage, or is it from gravity accelerating the wall and creating ...

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I dont like the MM for many reasons, but the fact they constantly get back isp even when being tortured is a big one, not to mention mind bolt, nothing like coming up against a level 1 character who can do a 15d6 - 20d6 damage strike straight up and still have good hth abilities. Get behind ...

GoliathReturns

On the walls, especially, I think you're overthinking it.

So yes, I'd say you can absolutely orient it, just as if you were casting it on the ground- but I'd argue that casting it up in the air, with lack of references in spatial positioning, you're not going to get it perfect, so you'll have some ...

GoliathReturns

I have never found Mind Mages to be overpowered in any way. Their power level is equal to the Warlock and Wizard.

Level 1 MM starts with average of 112 ISP.
Now, let's just take one power- pyrokinesis. Specifically, function 6, the fireball.
6d6 fireball. He can throw four of them, with that ...

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If you have to resort to turning a core defensive feature of the class into a massive weakness that makes it hard for them to do anything, it feels like the more elegant solution here is to say "I don't allow Mind Melters in my game" or "I'm nerfing these powers that are actually the problem ...

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So, both Vek and Logan bring up very valid questions and arguments. Here's my view

Mind Mages are overpowered and broken. This leaves MBAD as a way to help reign them in.

So, early on in a combat, I'd argue that if you trigger their MBAD, it would take an action for them to drop it, and another ...

GoliathReturns

Threads which discuss the stats of gods do tend to presuppose agreement with the concept of giving them out as the game writers have been consistently doing since the 80s.

I'd argue against "consistently". Primarily Palladium and The Other Game.

The Other Game does it because high level ...

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Doesn't "Island at the Edge of the World" Crystal Devices involve wire? (yeah 1E, waiting for 2E revision).

It's been a hot minute since I looked, but, IIRC...

On those, the "wire" is inside the crystals, so I'd argue that it's actually the magic that puts it there, which means it might start ...

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It's a deity. Unless it's being horribly interrupted, or another deity is involved.. why bother doing a skill/ability check?

They're DEITIES.

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GS

Because some GM's like to give players a chance at stopping the big bad deity when it's doing something world breaking. And if it has a skill ...

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Most wards can be sewn in, and that's why I said folded, not rolled.

Hadn't considered sewn; gold or silver wire would work well, though I think wood and quicksilver are a lot harder to justify.

There's also the sewing the physical ward TO the fabric. Say, you carved/molded the ward ...

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Strips of cloth. Wards on cloth. Carefully folded. On the outside of the folds, you label which ward package it is.

I don't allow cloth; not stable enough to hold the ward in place, too likely for it to bend and dislodge the components made of gold, silver, quicksilver, or sawdust. Alarms and ...

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I let one of my players use premade tiles to make ward phrases jigsaw puzzle/domino style

Absolutely within RAW, as long as they get attached to "one thing".

IE, by the book, can't just slap a bunch of tiles down next to each other. However, if you glued all the tiles to a door, that's fine ...

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It's a deity. Unless it's being horribly interrupted, or another deity is involved.. why bother doing a skill/ability check?

They're DEITIES.

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GS

GoliathReturns

(Now that I think on it, you could have a roll-up toolkit with 12" long, 2" wide pieces of wood for your arsenal; the "blank" half would be in the leather pouches, the "written" half could be covered by paper or parchment to prevent damage... unroll it to get to your arsenal, then go)

You're ...

GoliathReturns

Diabolists can be tactical beasts. Write area effect ward phrases on a piece of wood or walking stick. Exclude your party with true names. When the fight begins, empower and force-activate them. Takes about 2 attacks. Repeat as necessary until the threat goes away.

It takes some preparation to ...

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According to the man himself, the grammar was primarily influenced by Finnish, as was a lot of the phonology, but the pronunciation was influenced by Latin and Greek.

I mean, the man was a linguist. Blending multiple languages like that was right up his alley...

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GS

GoliathReturns

As others said, High Seas & Byzantium.

Also, as a personal suggestion, if you have the rifts Book of Magic, I'd allow the necromancer spells and bone magic from there. A lot have been copied over, but i like BoM for the ease and completeness.

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GS

GoliathReturns

So, to piggyback on Ogre...

The diabolist has two roles.
1) "I've got that lore"
And
2) "give me 10 minutes to prep, and we win." (as long as he has the components).

In a direct combat encounter, he's not going to do much. But, give him a few minutes to prepare, and he can devastate enemies.

He ...

GoliathReturns

To the people of the Palladium world, they'd probably hear "cyber knight" and think "psi-ber knight".

As a group, they aren't known. Some individuals may be aware of them, though. Primarily deities and/or extremely ancient dragons that are capable of interdimensional travel

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GS

GoliathReturns

Well, here's another scroll question. What's the minimum size a piece of paper can be to still be turned into a magic scroll? Certainly, a gnome's scroll will be much smaller than a Titan's.

-Vek
"It's not the size of the scroll that matters, it's who made it."

Because there's no book rules on ...

GoliathReturns

1) my house rule on this is it takes half a round for spells of level 5 or lower, full round for 6-10, 2 rounds for 11+ (which are rare to get their hands on), unless it's a spellcaster who knows that spell, in which case, it takes as long as it would following PPE channeling rules. If they cast ...

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Example A- the gargoyle has 4 attacks, which can be bite, claw, tail, or weapon.

Example B*- vampire has 3, which can be claw, bite, charm, or weapon.

*some creatures have HtH skills, which, depending on level, may be superior to the "base" creature. In this case, I'd say you use the natural ...

GoliathReturns

Vestments, priest, travel 160gp
wool trousers, vest, leather belt, wool shirt, tabard w/ holy symbol sewn, wool hat, wooden holy symbol on necklace

Vestments, priest, Formal 500gp
Silken and fancy version of the travel outfit, plus a silk robe, typically of a color favored by the deity.

Travel ...

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I'd also point out that "made from demon bone" predates a lot of the details about demon death.

I'm not only going to second this point, but add in that area lot of the "demons and deevils don't leave remains" aren't from actual PF books. They're RIFTs sources. While it's a megaversal system ...

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Im going with Logan.. while many may not consider him a soldier anymore, his training and advancement (based on that training) would keep him a soldier.

While he may behave as a merc, and people may call him a merc, training and such will have him a soldier, unless he specifically abandons that ...

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I honestly don't even remember seeing a 1e M&A.

Easiest solution is probably just use 2e, and ignore SDC and PPE

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GS

GoliathReturns

Plane wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2025 5:19 pm yeah I agree, the wrist is even thinner than the ankle so the ideal handhold to grip if there's no clothing or hair

Can also grab by the collar and belt, or any number of other ways.

Lots and lots of options to use people as weapons. (Or shields...)

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GS

GoliathReturns

I do lot of specialty srrows homebrew.

I'm just waiting to see what all is found in the other books.

When my players end up in Old Timiro (it's in the plan), the prices will definitely not be that low. My current group of sociopaths would buy every single one available, and probably use them to ...

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While valid arguments, the reality is..

Stuff that was copy/paste from earlier publications, and not gone through carefully before being updated.

And, to be fair, this is a tiny little line about a merchant in a city. Not even a full writeup, just a small little blurb about the store.

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GS

GoliathReturns

Isle of Cyclops use the Western Imperial, which is the standard "1 gold piece" for books. In the Tier and exchange list, they're a Tier 1. Timiro is a Tier 2, which means the Imperials are worth double (per On Numismatry in LoB)

Which makes the price difference even more glaring.

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GS

GoliathReturns

So, I'm currently working to build a spreadsheet of all the various items in the different books, so I can use it as a quick reference.

One of the more hilarious things I've come across...

In Old Timiro, Sir Larnod's Magic Shop.. Lightning Weapons are cheap. Like, ridiculously cheap.
Arrows sell ...

GoliathReturns

here's some relevant tropes!

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EquippableAlly
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GrievousHarmWithABody

How many actions would it take? Would you have to be grappled first?

You'd need a decent set of grappling rules to begin with and even ...

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Off the cuff..

Wrestle/grapple, 3 consecutive rolls.

Must have strength to carry that much (to be able to swing).

I'd give massive penalties to any strike (after all, I'm sure the improvised weapon is flailing a bit). Ballpark, I'd say -8 to any strikes. This is more of a swinging wild type ...

GoliathReturns

Well, here's yet another teleportatoin circle question. The circle says that you can link two circles and use them with 0% chance of error. You inscribe the location of the other circle with a quarter sized circle attached to the original. How do you write the location in? There aren't addresses ...

GoliathReturns

Since discussing custom made items, it would be entirely possible to get parts of it "built in".

Say, for example.. using a component to make the circle be part of the actual shield. The physical circle always existing, that way, and then you just need to adjust the rest of it.

And if you plan on ...

GoliathReturns

but given we're likely talking about a custom shield it could be made flat or have ornamentation to achieve that effect (put spikes on the front for shield mode, but they act as "legs" to use the circle)

This is where we're much more in line about it working.. custom made items.

If we're ...

GoliathReturns

In regards to the shields portion-

Shoulder width is a very strict, and not entirely accurate, usage.

Shoulder width would be for something akin to a servicemember standing at attention. Not conducive to long term.

People generally stand with feet a little more than shoulder width apart. Usually ...

GoliathReturns

I don't think anything blocks circles (in general) from being pre-made per say on Rugs or blankets (even scrolls),

IIRC, the circle magic section of core book specifically says can't be set up on a circle to be rolled out.

Side note, I've used the backs of wagons and carts many times, as ...

GoliathReturns

I don't think anything blocks circles (in general) from being pre-made per say on Rugs or blankets (even scrolls),

IIRC, the circle magic section of core book specifically says can't be set up on a circle to be rolled out.

Side note, I've used the backs of wagons and carts many times, as ...

GoliathReturns

Well, I hadn't thought about this much until recently, and this makes little sense to me. If Isis is trying to collect the pieces of Osiris, why would she build a shrine on top of the pieces she finds? Why not simply take them into her deific realm where they are at their most safe? I understand ...

GoliathReturns

So, this got me looking at the core book, and trying to think of some of the stuff you mentioned, and ways to achieve the basic goals.. honestly, the circle magic isn't the best for this, however, there are three ways that seem best.

1) sealed circle will require a save (16+) to enter, and those ...

GoliathReturns

In theory, possible.

The catch is that most circles have to be purposefully activated, and don't sit there for an eternity, powered up, just waiting for someone to walk across.

However, based on the circle of transformation in the place of magic, we do know it's POSSIBLE. But considering that was ...

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