Okay, lots of catching up.
Eberron-ish world?
What do people think? Lightning rail and airships? Gnome mecha gestalts ("and I'll form the head!")?
So...could I just outright play a Pit Fiend or Balor? Because I've always wanted to do that.
Pathfinder's ruling on monster PC's (pg 313-314) is that their CR equals their level, then you add character levels from there. Which surprised me at first. Their example uses a minotaur as a 4th level character, though he has 6 HD and a LA of +2 according to 3.5's Monster Manual. But Pathfinder makes the point that monster HD and abilities are less important at higher levels.
So for making a Balor: Savage species treats a Hamatula (barbed devil) as level 14, Imp as level 7, Kyton (chain devil) as 14, Succubus as 12, and a Vrock as 16. It would seem for Pathfinder, they would be:
Hamatula 11
Imp 2
Kyton 6
Succubus 7
Vrock 9
Let's see here. At first I thought, "Imp character with 18 levels of rogue? Would there be any reason to pick an elf instead?" Maybe not, but while they have fast healing 2, DR 5, immunity to fire, resist 10 acid/cold, flight, and invisibility at will, a level 20 rogue can get DR armor, rings/wands of protection from energy, a winged cloak, a ring of invisibility. And anything with magic at this level will have
see invisibility, if not constant
true seeing. *Shrug*
I'm not sure about just letting you have a CR 20 Balor. Let's see, to compare: Sorcerer 9, Fighter 1, Eldtritch knight 10; base attack 15, caster level 20 (Practiced Spellcaster); Str 16+2 abyssal sorcerer+6 item = 24, Cha 16+2 human+5 levels+5 inherent+6 item = 34; four level 9 spells/day.
If we have item creation abilities, can we have made our own magic items in order to save money on them?
Craft feats at character creation, hmmm... If I don't allow it, crafting feats are practically trash. If I let you make everything, you double your equipment value compared to non-magic PCs. Would it be fair to say you find most of your equipment over your adventuring career, but 1/4 of your equipment budget you can craft? (i.e. you have 880,000 budget, but crafting a third of it makes it worth 1,320,000)
I assume we use Pathfinder char creation rules and core classes etc. But we can convert any 3.5 DnD PrC's or extra core classes (like Hexblade) into Pathfinder format?
Yes, we will use Pathfinder rules, but for a 3.5 prestige class, you would adjust the skill requirements: instead of 8 ranks, it requires 5. Instead of Spot and Listen, use Perception. Etc.
Wouldn't a lot of evil folk be a more serious game than humor like was initially proposed?
I'm okay with a mixed alignment group if everyone can find a reason to work together. I think I'd like to keep it one group, if it's not too cumbersome. Then I (or Zaer and I since we may work together on this) would only have to concentrate on one group, and there's the interesting dynamics of all the classes, races, and alignments working together. Like everyone said, Richard (Dick), Belkar, Black Mage, they're all very evil, but are also comic relief. And their destructive natures are sometimes aimed by the good party members. Like a Malconvoker summoning demons to fight evil, only the cleric is aiming the infernal sorcerer at the more pressing evil.
how many sorceress levels could I have such that I am in total
as powerful as someone who is a level 20 of a normal class
Yeah, the succubus sorceress. Hmm, CR 7 + 13 levels is the straightest way. I may have to adjust the "free +2 LA" thing, since 3.5 and Pathfinder are a little different. Pathfinder seems to have that free LA built-in.
Succubus, level 13 sorceress: 257 HP, DR, immune to electricity/fire, resist 10 acid/cold, SR 31 (10+HD?), flight, charm monster, greater teleport, dominate person, Cha 41, energy drain grapple; flaming claws, +4 Str; five level 6 spells; cloak of Cha +6, belt of Con +6
Level 20 human Infernal Sorcerer: Str 10, Dex 14, Con 20, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 32; 189 hp; charm +2 DC, corrupting touch, immunity to fire and poison, resist 10 acid/cold, 20d6 hellfire, flight, see in darkness; seven level 9 spells; cloak of Cha +6, belt of Con +6
They're getting even, with the human winning with straight magic. The succubus already has good ability scores, and with extra levels, +5 inherent bonus, and +6 item, her Cha gets crazy high. But that only gives her slightly more spells, and only at level 6. While their DCs are four higher than the human, the human has level 9 spells, which would be only 1 lower DC.
So it's looking like using CR as total level can work, depending on the monster. I think Balors and Pit Fiends are a little out of this, since at CR 20, they haven't had enough room for their special abilities to mellow out like a minotaur or even succubus. Lesser demons/devils would probably work better.
Edit: Maybe a monster's ability scores should be generated like a PC? Everything is at 10, with 20 points to spend. Maybe a succubus has -2 Str, +2 Con, +2 Cha (two pluses and a minus, like a humanoid race)? Does that sound more balancing?
