Did you skip Knowledge planes? I like the planes knowledge. It is useful later in the game when we start travelling through the planes and fighting demons.
From personal experience, I have found that Arcana, Dungeoneering, Local, Nature, Planes, and Religion are the big six of knowledges. These are the ones that identify monster types, and can give the leg up on enemy encounters. It hasn't been too often I have been asked for a Nobility, History, or Geography check. The only time I have had to use Knowledge Engineering was when I had a character using the very powerful, and trivial to succeed at using, feat Sacred Geometry.
That's definitely true those 6 knowledges cover basically all enemy types. I hadn't heard about the Sacred Geometry feat before. Does using it slow down the game very much?
+D6Damage It can if you aren't very good at creating equations. There are several free apps and online calculators that can speed it up though. Most just have you input the values for rolled dice and then spit out the equation if one exists. Honestly though, statistically speaking, it is very rare for you to have less than a 90% chance to succeed at hitting one of your target numbers as long as you keep the skill maxed. By the high levels it actually becomes an impossibility to fail even if you roll all 1's or 6's.
@Scott Whatever Knowledge Local (legends, personalities, inhabitants, laws, customs, traditions, humanoids) So, as you can see, in the list of things covered by Knowledge Local, humanoids are there. This means identifying any Humanoid is a Knowledge Local Check.
I'm a big fan of knowledge (local). Knowing of important personalities and the law makes a huge difference if you are in a civilized region. Legends also are a great field of expertise. You can obfuscate your actions by exploiting local legends and superstitions. Furthermore, legends often represent real threads or historic events. Legends even can be useful if you lack an appropriate knowledge skill. It may cause you to belief that vampires can't cross rivers, but it may also tell you that they can't enter homes uninvited. After all, there ought to be legends about vampires - at least in Ustalav.
I always figured that religion deals with undead because they're usually the ones killing or raising them (since clerics are generally the best for having enough abilities & skills to be able to control large numbers/more powerful undead.) Personally I don't see any reason why you can't use knowledge somewhat interchangeably. Those who worship a god, devil prince, etc enough to have ranks in knowledge [religion] should at least be able to identify the servants of the deific being in question, as well as the servants of those who oppose them. Golemancers who have a lot of knowledge of animating spells should be able to at least get the more "clinical" side of reanimated corpses, perhaps with an associated perception check with Detect Magic cast on them they may even be able to incapacitate the creature by attacking the larger nodes of animating magic
Hi Guys i have a question, the line for Actions of Recall Knowledge states generally it uses no action but when does it use an Action and which action is being used then?
Nice video! I'm a fairly new DM, and this kind of video helps me a lot. Also your analysis of classes and builds helps my players. One thing I'm wondering, are the players the ones who have to ask me to roll certain type of knowledge when they fight a monster? How do they know what knowledge they have to check? And out of combat, if there is a situation where a knowledge check would give them information, but it's not clear which one, they also have to guess or should I tell them and make them do the check even if they don't say anything?
I would say wait for them to ask, but if they're in a situation where they need to roll a knowledge check, ask them if they'd like to roll a knowledge check. However, if your players are new to the game, it's a good idea to ask them to roll their knowledge. In combat, it's best to let the player guess which knowledge they have to roll, but if they guess wrong you can give them a hint.
I like improvisation and improved improvisation for exactly this reason: it gives your character passable knowledge in all fields. Not specialized knowledge sure, but enough to at least know the basics about everything.
The arcanist class is definitely very powerful. I'm planning on playing one in an upcoming game, so hopefully I can get a first hand view of how the character functions.
Can you make a video on how to deal with a bad gm? My gm hates me because apparently I "mitmax" which is getting feats that help my character. E.g. Spell focus (evocation). So just by grabbing that one feat suddenly I am too powerful to play with the rest of the group. Wtf?
Sounds like he suffers BNS (Big Number Syndrome). Basically, he is afraid with your raised save DCs that he can't adequately challenge your PC. Try calmly and nicely explaining the number of ways that enemies can challenge an Evoker. These include Evasion, natural Energy Resistance, Resist Energy spell, Absorb Energy spell, illusion magic to make you waste slots by either targeting wrong areas or using an energy type they are resistant/immune to. A classic example of this is to have a Red Dragon use Alter/Disguise self to appear as a White Dragon and engage enemies before perception/detection magic ranges. Suddenly your fire spells are useless. A few Tiefling/Aasimar Rogues, Ninjas, Monks, ect can put a damper on your day with Evasion and minor resistances to take the bite out if they fail the save. A Dragon Totem Indestructible Rager Barbarian can do likewise if you are Fire/Cold focused. Try giving these as polite suggestions of ideas for how he can challenge you and you might get him to relax a bit.
Spell focus isn't very hard to get around, but if your dm is new, he may not know about them yet. Hopefully with experience, your dm will get better or it could be that your play style just doesn't fit your dm's style and if that's the case there's not really a lot you can do, I'm sorry to say.
+dragonhawkk So true. It is very easy to end up doing things people consider obscenely overpowered, with just a little effort. Even something as simple as gaining a 40STR by level 10.
In 3.5/pathfinder if you focus in a single skill/trick, you'll eventually be overpowered in that area. As an example, in 3.5 its possible to have 25 points in a single skill in lvl 1 if you focus all your resources into it.
2 DM's I've played with insist Knowledge local, which is already a sub skill have a billion other subskills beneath it and you have to add points into SPECIFIC locations to get any benifit out of it. Honestly, it pisses me off as they can't comprehend the idiocy of doing that.
While I get their reasoning, what i do is apply penalties to the roll based on how far out of their home or known places a player is and even give a bonus when they're in their home town or neighborhood. It's too tedious to require ranks in every locale. I'd even reduce or remove penalties after a character has spent downtime in a previously unknown place.
Oh I am completely fine with increasing the DC of checks if you believe knowing something should be harder. These two DMs though would not allow local checks for the next town over. As a huge fan of wizards, I'd just bypass their rules by going Loremaster and maxing Gather information and basically doing "local" checks that way.
so i have a caricature in a campan i play in that has a int of 35 and + 18 to all knowledge so if i tack a 10 during dowen time i should beabull to cum up with say a bolts thst explodes rite (just a extra d6 to damage ) would like some feedback
That would be up to your DM, if he allows it then it's fine, but I would probably do something like a spell craft check to prepare the spell for extra damage.
See I hate when gms ask you to decide what knowledge skill to roll. Either your character knows or not and merely stating hey do I know anything about this? A gm should probably just let you know what knowledge skill to roll to find out if you do.
When I DM I make sure I have a list of what skills the party has. If they want to make a knowledge check they roll and I tell them if they know or tell them if they know nothing. Telling them what kind of knowledge before they roll can give them more information than they should have sometimes.
I think as long as you can logically convince that the knowledge you are looking for is related to the skill Just how there are multiple ways to reach something there are multiple ways certain knowledge can be known
I highly recommend you do not use the synergy skills rule from 3.5. In PF Character get plenty of options for skill points. For God sake stop the power bloat, or skill rolls become meaningless.
The fact that I'm a level 4 fighter, 3 skill points every level. Those are high skills already. Pathfinder DC 10 is the easiest thing you could pass. A DC 20 becomes the easy DC. DC 30 becomes challenging
Did you skip Knowledge planes? I like the planes knowledge. It is useful later in the game when we start travelling through the planes and fighting demons.
From personal experience, I have found that Arcana, Dungeoneering, Local, Nature, Planes, and Religion are the big six of knowledges.
These are the ones that identify monster types, and can give the leg up on enemy encounters. It hasn't been too often I have been asked for a Nobility, History, or Geography check.
The only time I have had to use Knowledge Engineering was when I had a character using the very powerful, and trivial to succeed at using, feat Sacred Geometry.
That's definitely true those 6 knowledges cover basically all enemy types. I hadn't heard about the Sacred Geometry feat before. Does using it slow down the game very much?
+D6Damage It can if you aren't very good at creating equations. There are several free apps and online calculators that can speed it up though. Most just have you input the values for rolled dice and then spit out the equation if one exists.
Honestly though, statistically speaking, it is very rare for you to have less than a 90% chance to succeed at hitting one of your target numbers as long as you keep the skill maxed. By the high levels it actually becomes an impossibility to fail even if you roll all 1's or 6's.
@Scott Whatever Knowledge Local (legends, personalities, inhabitants, laws, customs, traditions, humanoids)
So, as you can see, in the list of things covered by Knowledge Local, humanoids are there. This means identifying any Humanoid is a Knowledge Local Check.
I'm a big fan of knowledge (local). Knowing of important personalities and the law makes a huge difference if you are in a civilized region. Legends also are a great field of expertise. You can obfuscate your actions by exploiting local legends and superstitions. Furthermore, legends often represent real threads or historic events. Legends even can be useful if you lack an appropriate knowledge skill. It may cause you to belief that vampires can't cross rivers, but it may also tell you that they can't enter homes uninvited. After all, there ought to be legends about vampires - at least in Ustalav.
Knowledge is power.
Great video as always. I learned alot.
Going through your videos. Loving this stuff. Will definitely be passing this on to my players.
Thanks.
I always figured that religion deals with undead because they're usually the ones killing or raising them (since clerics are generally the best for having enough abilities & skills to be able to control large numbers/more powerful undead.)
Personally I don't see any reason why you can't use knowledge somewhat interchangeably. Those who worship a god, devil prince, etc enough to have ranks in knowledge [religion] should at least be able to identify the servants of the deific being in question, as well as the servants of those who oppose them. Golemancers who have a lot of knowledge of animating spells should be able to at least get the more "clinical" side of reanimated corpses, perhaps with an associated perception check with Detect Magic cast on them they may even be able to incapacitate the creature by attacking the larger nodes of animating magic
Hi Guys i have a question, the line for Actions of Recall Knowledge states generally it uses no action but when does it use an Action and which action is being used then?
Nice video! I'm a fairly new DM, and this kind of video helps me a lot. Also your analysis of classes and builds helps my players. One thing I'm wondering, are the players the ones who have to ask me to roll certain type of knowledge when they fight a monster? How do they know what knowledge they have to check? And out of combat, if there is a situation where a knowledge check would give them information, but it's not clear which one, they also have to guess or should I tell them and make them do the check even if they don't say anything?
I would say wait for them to ask, but if they're in a situation where they need to roll a knowledge check, ask them if they'd like to roll a knowledge check. However, if your players are new to the game, it's a good idea to ask them to roll their knowledge. In combat, it's best to let the player guess which knowledge they have to roll, but if they guess wrong you can give them a hint.
Ty for the answer, clears a lot to me. Now I only have to decide which AP to run, Rise of the Runelords or Crimson Throne
I like improvisation and improved improvisation for exactly this reason: it gives your character passable knowledge in all fields. Not specialized knowledge sure, but enough to at least know the basics about everything.
great video
I've noticed that nobody seems to have a video on the arcanist class I think it would be great to hear your opinions on it.
The arcanist class is definitely very powerful. I'm planning on playing one in an upcoming game, so hopefully I can get a first hand view of how the character functions.
Question, what's the song you use as an intro?
Thanks I was making a investigator character and was like what knowledge skills put points into.
Can you make a video on how to deal with a bad gm? My gm hates me because apparently I "mitmax" which is getting feats that help my character. E.g. Spell focus (evocation). So just by grabbing that one feat suddenly I am too powerful to play with the rest of the group. Wtf?
Sounds like he suffers BNS (Big Number Syndrome). Basically, he is afraid with your raised save DCs that he can't adequately challenge your PC. Try calmly and nicely explaining the number of ways that enemies can challenge an Evoker. These include Evasion, natural Energy Resistance, Resist Energy spell, Absorb Energy spell, illusion magic to make you waste slots by either targeting wrong areas or using an energy type they are resistant/immune to.
A classic example of this is to have a Red Dragon use Alter/Disguise self to appear as a White Dragon and engage enemies before perception/detection magic ranges. Suddenly your fire spells are useless.
A few Tiefling/Aasimar Rogues, Ninjas, Monks, ect can put a damper on your day with Evasion and minor resistances to take the bite out if they fail the save. A Dragon Totem Indestructible Rager Barbarian can do likewise if you are Fire/Cold focused.
Try giving these as polite suggestions of ideas for how he can challenge you and you might get him to relax a bit.
Spell focus isn't very hard to get around, but if your dm is new, he may not know about them yet. Hopefully with experience, your dm will get better or it could be that your play style just doesn't fit your dm's style and if that's the case there's not really a lot you can do, I'm sorry to say.
tell him to dm D&D 5e because if he's worried about minmax, pathfinder/3.5 is not for him.
+dragonhawkk So true. It is very easy to end up doing things people consider obscenely overpowered, with just a little effort. Even something as simple as gaining a 40STR by level 10.
In 3.5/pathfinder if you focus in a single skill/trick, you'll eventually be overpowered in that area. As an example, in 3.5 its possible to have 25 points in a single skill in lvl 1 if you focus all your resources into it.
2 DM's I've played with insist Knowledge local, which is already a sub skill have a billion other subskills beneath it and you have to add points into SPECIFIC locations to get any benifit out of it. Honestly, it pisses me off as they can't comprehend the idiocy of doing that.
It sucks when that happens and it's not really in the spirit of the skill, unfortunately, most of the game is at DM discretion.
While I get their reasoning, what i do is apply penalties to the roll based on how far out of their home or known places a player is and even give a bonus when they're in their home town or neighborhood. It's too tedious to require ranks in every locale. I'd even reduce or remove penalties after a character has spent downtime in a previously unknown place.
Oh I am completely fine with increasing the DC of checks if you believe knowing something should be harder. These two DMs though would not allow local checks for the next town over. As a huge fan of wizards, I'd just bypass their rules by going Loremaster and maxing Gather information and basically doing "local" checks that way.
so i have a caricature in a campan i play in that has a int of 35 and + 18 to all knowledge so if i tack a 10 during dowen time i should beabull to cum up with say a bolts thst explodes rite (just a extra d6 to damage ) would like some feedback
That would be up to your DM, if he allows it then it's fine, but I would probably do something like a spell craft check to prepare the spell for extra damage.
See I hate when gms ask you to decide what knowledge skill to roll. Either your character knows or not and merely stating hey do I know anything about this? A gm should probably just let you know what knowledge skill to roll to find out if you do.
When I DM I make sure I have a list of what skills the party has. If they want to make a knowledge check they roll and I tell them if they know or tell them if they know nothing. Telling them what kind of knowledge before they roll can give them more information than they should have sometimes.
I think as long as you can logically convince that the knowledge you are looking for is related to the skill
Just how there are multiple ways to reach something there are multiple ways certain knowledge can be known
I thought engineering included constructs.
You could probably make that argument to your dm.
I highly recommend you do not use the synergy skills rule from 3.5. In PF Character get plenty of options for skill points. For God sake stop the power bloat, or skill rolls become meaningless.
The fact that I'm a level 4 fighter, 3 skill points every level. Those are high skills already. Pathfinder DC 10 is the easiest thing you could pass. A DC 20 becomes the easy DC. DC 30 becomes challenging
im an investigator, fuck being specific. I KNOW EVERYTHIIIIIING