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Following a few years of game-play over fifty-four sessions, our intrepid band of adventurers (the Sihedron) went up against the Runelord of Greed and defeated him after surprising him in the "Eye of Avarice". We began Spires of Xin-Shalast last session, though we only went so far as to perform a successful Harrow reading and discretely reconnoitered the Pinnacle of Avarice.

We started off this session by buffing ourselves to the nines and then circumventing a quintet of lamia harridans to trigger the opening of a portal by touching a Runeforged weapon to a crystal mirror held by a statue of Karzoug. We next appeared inside the Eye of Avarice; surprising Karzoug, a huge blue dragon and another human wizard who I believe was an apprentice named Khalib. During the surprise round, my character cast antimagic field on himself and had his familiar carry him over to the Runelord's side. With all his magical defenses down, our rogue succeeded in hitting Karzoug with a devastating ranged sneak attack, followed by another arrow from our ranger. I was looking forward to the prospect of assaulting Karzoug with a tanglefoot bag (hey, not much else I could do right?) but our monk charged forward and hit the Runelord with a vital strike; ending Varisa's would-be conqueror's life. The Dragon proved a little more time-consuming to defeat while Khalib fell to the same antimagic/monk-attack combo as Karzoug.

And then five lamia harridans and six rune giants crashed our little party in the Eye of Avarice. The Battle of the Pinnacle will continue next session...

I'm reading up on using dispel magic (or greater dispel magic) to counterspell and am having trouble figuring out what the dispel check DC is supposed to be. The spell description says that dispel magic "targets a spellcaster and is cast as a counterspell".

Backtracking to the targeted dispel option of the spell it initially says: "One object, creature, or spell is the target of the dispel magic spell. You make one dispel check (1d20 + your caster level) and compare that to the spell with highest caster level (DC = 11 + the spell's caster level). If successful, that spell ends."

But then, reading ahead a bit, it says: "You can also use a targeted dispel to specifically end one spell affecting the target or one spell affecting an area. You must name the specific spell effect to be targeted in this way. If your caster level check is equal to or higher than the DC of that spell, it ends."

So which of the two applies to counterspelling? Is the check DC (11 + the spell's caster level) or the targeted spell's save DC? It seems to me that the second one makes more sense since it means that it's easier to counterspell lower level than higher level spells.

For that matter, why are two different systems used for setting dispel DCs? Isn't that needlessly confusing?

Thoughts?

1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

I was wondering whether using arcane eye to explore outer space was fair game. The spell description says: "You can create the arcane eye at any point you can see, but it can then travel outside your line of sight without hindrance." So, look up during a clear night, pick out a visible celestial body you'd like to explore, cast your spell and "create an invisible magical sensor that sends you visual information" at that location. Granted, you wouldn't be able to explore very far on the planet or moon of your choice since "An arcane eye travels at 30 feet per round" but it's certainly much better than using a telescope and easier than casting interplanatary teleport. Traveling Dream further increases the window of exploration by an order of magnitude (to hours rather than minutes) and even opens up the door to communicating with native extraterrestrials.

Thoughts?

Looking at the Estimating Magic Item Gold Piece Values table, I see that an item which enhances an ability score costs "Bonus squared x 1,000 gp" with no mention of any limits. I seem to remember that in 3.X there was a maximum of +6 for any such (non epic) magic items, but I see nothing to that effect in Pathfinder. Is there any RAW reason one couldn't create +8 or +10 items?

My mystic theurge character is currently possessing a Shemhazian demon via a lucky casting of magic jar and I'm trying to figure out what his new attack routine is. On the one hand, Magic Jar's description states "A body with extra limbs does not allow you to make more attacks" yet also says "The body retains its Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, hit points, natural abilities, and automatic abilities." So do I get its full natural attack routine, my own +6/+1 two attacks or some other combination?

Also, in regards to the Shemazian body, what exactly are its "natural and automatic abilities"? Thanks!

I tried searching for an answer and couldn't find a consensus. So, is it feasible to improve similarly themed buildings; for example building a shrine and later improving it into a temple and eventually a cathedral? Would it save on BPs? Or must a building be demolished and a new building be erected for full BP cost?

I'm trying to figure out the price for an item similar to an eversmoking bottle which, instead of opaque smoke, constantly emits a thin mist akin to a mind fog spell except with triple the spell's normal area of effect (60-ft. radius spread),a Caster Level of 15 and save DC of 17.

Seeing as how the mind fog (normally a 5th level spell) has been enlarged twice over, it'd seem equivalent to an 8-9th level spell. When multiplied with its CL and then again by 2,000 gp and adjusted for its duration, it'd seem to be well over 300,000 gp. Is that right?

It comes up often enough that Intelligence boosting items appear in modules in the hands of defeated NPCs. Rarely however to their descriptions detail which skills they enhance as a part of increasing a character's Intelligence. Certainly not every headband of vast intelligence is created the same since their creators have differing goals. And yet, some things are likely common to the majority of these items' creators. Their most likely creators are wizards since they stand to benefit the most from such items. Being wizards, they've certainly an interest in magic-related skills. And yet, having studied wizardry so as to eventually create magic items, they likely already have full ranks in Knowledge (Arcana) & Spellcraft and so wouldn't benefit from placing those skills in the headbands they create.

So my question is: what are the three skills, in order of priority, that are likely to have been incorporated into a Headband of Vast Intelligence during its creation by an unspecified creator?

Are any creature types immune to bleed damage?

I'm wondering whether anyone has or knows how to calculate the number of spells to be found inside of a typical NPC wizard's spellbook at various levels. Some modules don't list the full contents of NPC spellbooks in an effort to save space; leaving the matter up to individual GMs to flesh out on their own. Picking extra spells beyond those listed in an NPC's prepared spell list is easy; the only issue is how many is a reasonable number to add.

A simple formula could likely do the trick; say something like 50% or 75% beyond a caster's daily allowance of spells. Any suggestions?

I've always been a little sketchy on the "activate blindly" option of Use Magic Device and which actions, if any, a character *must* perform to activate a magic item.

You do have to perform some equivalent activity in order to make the check. That is, you must speak, wave the item around, or otherwise attempt to get it to activate.

Does that mean that, when attempting to activate blindly, a character can freely choose to babble gibberish or wave the item around or shake it wildly; whichever is most convenient regardless of the item's nature? That is to say, can a character attempt to blindly activate a scroll or wand merely by waving them around?

A follow up question: since constructs are created in the same way as magic items (with item creation feats, raw materials and spells) can a character attempt to command them via the Use Magic Device skill?

I'm wondering whether there are any magic items out there which might grant a bonus to caster level checks, say for the purpose of dispelling/counterspelling?

Since they seem to use the same mechanic, is there any difference?

I feel it necessary to distinguish between in-game "goodness" and real-world "goodness". Since, I believe, a truly good person would have to adhere to some level of pacifism, I'd hazard to say that few of the characters we play could be considered truly "good" by real-world standards. A big focus of the game and the characters we make is combat-related; which weapons they use, what sort of armor they sport and the battle-tactics they favour. They also don't pursue non-violent careers. On the contrary, they usually go looking for trouble and so draw their (very lethal) weapons in combat regularly. Although some characters might be truly pacifistic, they're the rare exception rather than the norm. The best of adventurers only practice their trade when confronting monsters or truly evil people. But again, their first instinct is usually to beat their opponents to death with sharp pointy things rather than capturing them alive; even if the latter is feasible. When the grisly business is done, they then collect loot for their own personal use or for resale. Again, the best among adventurers may seek to share some measure of their loot with the bad guys' victims, the poor or a church of their choice, but most of the treasure usually remains with the PCs.

In the real world, such adventurers might be hailed as heroes by some people under the right circumstances. But would anyone hold them up examples of "goodness"? To measure up to real-world standards, it seems to me that an entire group (because good people who abide morally-deficient behaviour amongst their buddies aren't really all that good themselves) would strive to take anyone alive whom they consider redeemable, and then also take the subsequent steps to redeem them if possible. Of course abominations (such as undead and evil outsiders) might be exempted since they're considered irredeemable by their very nature and should be destroyed for the sake of goodness. In most campaigns however — with their horde of evil cultists, misguided cohorts and sentient "monsters" — that kind of kid glove treatment would quickly devolve into untenable tedium.

So, for the sake of keeping the game rolling and fun we generally accept a certain amount of bloodlust and self-serving greed in our "good" characters. In the real-world, such characters would, at best, be considered well-intentioned and possibly heroic.

I'm curious to hear whether others disagree with this assessment or if it's widely accepted (even if not discussed overmuch) as being self-evident.

Anyone know whether it's the master or the familiar which gets to access the stored spells through the companion cache feat? If the master, does he have to be in contact with the familiar?

I'm a fan of Paizo's Harrow Deck and am planning on introducing it via the Old Beldame; who would seem a natural pick as a Harrower. As was done in the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP I'm looking to tie the AP's modules into the six ability score suits of the deck. I'm looking for some suggestions to that effect from those more familiar with the AP. Thoughts?

This might have been addressed before; I'm just not sure where to start looking for the topic. Seeing as how item creation cost and final sale price is dependant largely on caster & spell level and that the summoner has many iconic sorcerer/wizard spells on its spell list at lower levels than any other class, it would appear that summoners could produce many iconic items more cheaply than the traditional crafters.

Consequently, it would appear that the summoner is suddenly the best/fastest/cheapest item crafter around. Since an item's sale price is normally equivalent to the lowest creation cost x2, it would appear that the a big part of the magic item market would be skewed toward overall lower prices. Does anyone see this as a problem?

I couldn't find a definitive date for this event and don't know if it's ever been specified canonically. Is it a relatively recent or pre-historic event? Even a ballpark figure would be better than nothing. Thanks.

1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

Maybe this has been addressed, but I couldn't find with a search.

When used against an object, the ray simply disintegrates as much as a 10-foot cube of nonliving matter. Thus, the spell disintegrates only part of any very large object or structure targeted.

Bolding mine. I'm wondering whether the caster is limited to disintegrating matter within a 10-ft cube shape, or if he can affect an equivalent amount of matter (1,000 cubic feet) in a different shape; say to tunnel a 40-ft long passage that's 5-ft wide by 5-ft high.

As a secondary question, what occurs when a disintegration ray meets a target that is living matter but not a creature such as a tree? Are plants somehow immune to disintegration?

A Revelation Quill allows its bearer to ask up to 10 questions a week to which the quill writes out responses as per the contact other plane spell. My question is, does the quill's bearer get to choose the plane contacted and does he risk the spell's usual chance of causing Intelligence and Charisma loss via this indirect usage?

...or are they their own mini "planes"? That is, can a creature teleport into our of of an extradimensional space or would plane shift be necessary to traverse its boundaries? Can divination spells detect creatures or objects through the extradimenional space's boundaries? And how about if the extradimensional space has been somehow rendered inaccessible (say by entering an antimagic field); where does the extradimenional space, and everything currently inside it, go?

I'm considering taking a six year pause between the first and second modules for the purpose of forwarding through a child birthing/rearing storyline and am wondering if there are any pitfalls with which I should concern myself in regards to kingdom building. Might it run amok if I allowed my players to play through 70+ months of kingdom building? Might it remain manageable if I retarded the players' acquisition of initial BPs to, say, 10 per year for the first five years? I appeal to those with more familiarity with the kingdom building sub-system.

Back when we started our Kingmaker campaign, I helped flesh out the background of one of my player's half-elf wizard. She's the illegitimate offspring of an elven woman who, along with an entourage of other elves and the financial backing of a minor Brevic noble family (that of another PC), had attempted to reclaim and settle the Forgotten Keep in RRR. The PC, as a young child, had been sent away to live with her human father's household in Brevoy when monstrous attacks on the elven keep grew too dangerous for her to remain. Eventually the keep's forces were overwhelmed and the elves were never heard from again. It's been sixty years since then and our venerable half-elf has joined the expedition into the Green Belt with the goal of finding the lost keep from her childhood and to discover what ever befell her mother.

That's as much as I told the player about the place. Many session later, after speaking with the gnomish explorers, the group has a lead on the keep's location and are en route to it. The PC uses her mother heirloom silver ring, embossed with a stylized tree, as her bonded item. I've hinted that it has some additional powers while in the Narlmarches.

I'd like to somehow incorporate the background we've put together when the party finally explores the elven keep. I'm wondering how I might add some depth to the dancing lady's presence in the keep. Were some or all of the fey amongst the original attackers who overcame the keep's defences? If so, why did they attack in the first place? What were they after? Could this event serve as foreshadowing for later fey encounters in the campaign? What became of the PC's elven mother? Etc. I'm hoping to get some ideas for fleshing out this site since it's so important to the PCs. Thanks for any help.

I'm wondering whether an air-deprived character could breathe the substance of a friendly air elemental. That is to say, could a spellcaster summon one or more air elementals and ask it/them, to encircle his or another creature's head and then breathe normally while underwater? Of course, the elemental's substance would slowly grow stale and eventually poisonous as it is slowly transformed into a carbon-dioxide elemental. ;)

I don't know if it's been suggested (if so I'm all for it!) but I had the simple idea for having advanced and monstrous races available for play at 1st level; tie the acquisition of some of their more powerful abilities to trait and feat expenditures. For example a generic "advanced race" trait available at character creation could grant a character +2 rp; ideal for playing 12 rp races such as aasimar and tieflings.

In turn, further racial advanced and monstrous abilities could be acquired as the character advances in class levels via stackable "improved race" feats; each of which would grant +4 rp worth of enhancements each.

So, as a PC-friendly option, advanced and monstrous races would have some of their more powerful racial abilities listed as being acquired via feats, perhaps with prerequisites for added balance. This could represent, amongst other things, a young member of an advanced or monstrous species slowly maturing.

For example, imagine a dragonkin themed monstrous race with some of its racial traits being listed thus:

ADVANCEMENTS

Claws: A dragonkin grows claws capable of dealing 1d6 damage each via the improved race feat. Prerequisite: Character level 3.

Wings: A dragonkin's wings finally grow strong enough to allow him to fly at a speed equal to his base speed (average maneuverability) via the improved race feat. Prerequisite: claws, Character level 5.

Breath Weapon: A dragonkin develops the ability to breathe fire for 1d6 damage per character level in a 30-ft. cone once per day. Prerequisite: claws, wings, character level 9. Special: This racial advancement may be selected more than once; each additional feat allows the dragonkin to use his breath weapon 1 additional time per day.

If acquired, who might be able to use the spell stored in a druid's spellstaff? Is it a spell completion item like a scroll or a use activated item like a potion? Might the Use Magic Device skill play a role in activating a spellstaff? If so, what would be the check DC?

I know that Pathfinder has never included the 3.5 Effective Character Level system for powerful PC races; I'm just wondering why not. To me it seems a simple and clear system that's easy to implement. I'm looking at these new RP tiers (standard, advanced and monstrous) and wondering at what PC level they'd be balanced.

Maybe someone can explain to me how this (in my mind at least) vaguely defined system is superior.

After a few decades of playing I've reached a odd situation of sorts in my current campaign and am curious to know if others ever feel as I do.

Without much planning the PCs in my current group ended up with high-initiative / high-stealth PCs; two of which are front-liners (a paladin & monk) and two archers (a rogue & ranger). Due to there being a lack of spellcasters, I went ahead and made a mystic theurge to cover both divine and arcane casting. Because of our proclivities we generally favour stealth/surprise attacks.

Due to a high level of teamwork (in my experience at least), thorough reconnaissance, having the right magics at hand and decent tactics we've proven to be rather formidable in battle. We usually end up gaining surprise in most every fight, follow it up by winning initiative and then defeat our enemies before they can really mount a defence (if any); even the big boss fights. We've managed to go through half a module without suffering a single PC injury as a consequence.

I'm not complaining; it's certainly gratifying to see one's preparations pay off. But here's the weird part; I often find myself holding back. Certainly I've tailored my character to be versatile and effective but I'm hardly a gaming savant. It's just that, if I were to pull out all the stops, my spellcaster sometimes wouldn't even need the other PCs' help at all. Occasionally, while performing reconnaissance, I envision a means by which I could solo-defeat an enemy and then discard it in favour of going to fetch the party so that the other players won't miss out on the fight. Only twice have I pulled out all the stops to defeat enemies by myself; once when confronted by a high CR creature which I guessed could wipe out some PCs if attacked with conventional tactics and the other to quickly defeat an army which both the players and GM were loathe to battle one-by-one.

The flip side is that I often find myself sitting back, delaying round after round, to watch the martial characters wipe up the bad guys. After having prepared the group with buffs, advantageous tactics and positioning it often seems a superfluous waste of magic to further beleaguer the NPCS. Physically beating NPCs is what the other PCs are designed to do, so why rob the other players of their fun?

As is, I figure that I'm perhaps playing at 80% of my character's potential. Even so, our group dominates most battle to such a degree that I'm considering, perhaps next campaign, easing up even further; perhaps to 60% to 70%. I have to admit though that the notion feels oddly meta to me. Why would PCs purposefully ignore advantageous opportunities or purposefully favour less-effective tactics?

I'm just wondering if others ever find themselves acting similarly. Do you ever find yourself holding back while playing? If so, why?

As per the title. What are the means by which a character can gain the ability to earth glide? Off the top of my head, it seems that the elemental body spells are the most direct. I believe the oracle's stone mystery can likewise net you an earth gliding revelation. Are there any others?

Warning: Mild Runelords spoiler.

Seeing as how most of the Runelords AP has so few unique magic items that are desirable and usable by PCs, it was with some disappointment that I learnt that the nifty-sounding Robe of Runes we'd discovered would no better than a conventional Int-boosting item for my spontaneous arcane caster.

Not content to merely sell it off I'm looking to retool it so that its spell-recall and associated spell save DC increase ability are useable by a spontaneous caster. I'd be willing to pay the difference in item creation cost, if only I could figure out how much that one aspect of the Robes cost in the first place. The robes are worth 44,000 gp, 8,000 of which is the cost of the +4 Int increase, leaving 36,000 for the spell-recall and spell-save DC increase. Anyone know (or care to guess) how the item was originally priced?

As per the title. If they don't, is there any reason a caster couldn't hurl more than a dozen colossal-sized weapons with the spell; assuming said weapons are at hand? It just seems odd to me that, with a dozen or more successful to-hit rolls, one could deal as much as six times as much damage as a conventional blasting spell of the same level (such as cone of cold). Am I missing something or is this legitimate use of Telekinesis?

Our group has successfully infiltrated an enemy stronghold housing a veritable army of some 200+ infantry, cavalry, air support and a variety of undead & monstrous reinforcements. This stronghold is the army's home base and point of origin for at least three unprovoked attacks against our home nation; one a successful attack against an allied military outpost and the other two failed attacks against civilian communities. Our home nation is aware of the enemy's impending attack and is currently massing their own forces to confront them. Our party was sent ahead to possibly prevent the enemy's march on our nation if possible.

Since our initial entry, our group has covertly captured the enemy leader, destroyed all of their undead forces and dispatched half of their air support; all without yet raising the alarm. Although some of the enemy forces are clearly evil, many of the rank-and-file soldiers are likely neutral in alignment. It remains unclear what will happen to the army without is leader since there appears to be quite a few subordinate commanders left; any of which might assume control and proceed as planned with their full-out invasion plan.

Due to our current circumstances, our group has a chance to dispatch most of the enemy soliders with little risk to us; but our chances would be understandably lessened if the enemy becomes aware of our activities. Being part of a good-aligned group (with a paladin) I'm left to wonder whether proceeding with this counterstrike is the proper thing to do or whether it'd be better to try diplomatic approach even if that means loosing the element of surprise. I've also some doubts that they would even contemplate surrender, despite their losses, considering that they still outnumber us more than 30 to 1.

Thoughts?

Since traveling dream's description says that "Upon casting this spell, you fall asleep for its duration", I'm wondering whether the time spent asleep would count as a valid period of rest for the purpose of recovering spells and the like.

Also, since it references the arcane eye spell which states that "You can create the arcane eye at any point you can see..." and that it's range is "unlimited" I'm wondering if, on a clear night, the caster could form her dreamscryer on the moon, the surface of a visible planet or even a distant star.

If so it sounds like a great way to remain active 24 hours a day or to explore the cosmos from the comfort of one's own bed.

One of my players acquired a magical ranseur with a cool backstory and would like to have it refashioned into a lance since his paladin character is focused on mounted combat. I'd like him to be able to do so rather than having him sell the weapon he likes only to have a new nondescript lance crafted in its stead. Is there any rules-legal means to accomplish such a thing?

Failing that, how would you improvise a means to accomplish the task?

2 people marked this as FAQ candidate.

Magic Jar appears useful but some of the wording, largely unchanged since 3.X, isn't always clear. Care to take a shot at it?

By casting magic jar, you place your soul in a gem or large crystal (known as the magic jar), leaving your body lifeless.

In this case, I believe it should say: "your body appears lifeless". If your body were truly lifeless for the 9+ hours of the spell's duration then decomposition would become a very real concern.

Only sentient undead creatures have, or are, souls.

Right. So one can't target non-sentient undead with this spell, though sentient undead are all fair game. So what about incorporeal undead? Is there a distinction between an incorporeal undead's soul and its physical form? Can one possess an incorporeal undead's form/body?

Failure to take over the host leaves your life force in the magic jar, and the target automatically succeeds on further saving throws if you attempt to possess its body again.

I would assume that this sentence should incorporate the addendum "...within the duration of this spell." It's an important distinction if a target is forevermore immune to your attempts to possess it once it succeeds on a single saving throw.

If you are successful, your life force occupies the host body, and the host's life force is imprisoned in the magic jar.

Is the soul aware of anything, such as the passage of time, while it is imprisoned?

The body retains its Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, hit points, natural abilities, and automatic abilities.

What exactly are "natural" and "automatic" abilities? Can someone offer up examples?

A body with extra limbs does not allow you to make more attacks (or more advantageous two-weapon attacks) than normal.

I'm puzzled by what is being implied here. Is this intended to set a limit on wielding melee weapons? Does the caster gain a monstrous body's regular attack routine (ex.: bite, claw, claw, wing, wing if a dragon) based off of the caster's own BAB or is she limited to the number of attacks she'd normally receive by virtue of her BAB but using the monster's natural weapons (ex.: bite +6/+1).

The creature's spells and spell-like abilities do not stay with the body.

Is this meant to apply to casting a possessed creature's spells, or is it meant to broadly encompass any spells or spell-like abilities which the creature already had active at the time of possession?

Those are enough questions to get started. =)

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Like anybody, I enjoy threads that recount the unexpected (and inexplicable) turn of events that sometimes occur in games or those that expose the mind-nubblingly dumb things that PCs (or DMs) occasionally do.

A little less common, in my experience, are the stories that recount ridiculously unlikely deductions, leaps of logic or unintended accidents which have lead PCs to solve mysteries, prematurely defeat bad guys or stumble out of a problematic situtation before they're even aware of being in it. These are the events that leave lesser GMs weeping on the floor, their carefully plotted storyline in disarray and with no idea of how to pick up the pieces. Here's one such example from the other thread:

Champions game. Until that point in the game, it had been very classical super heros. Fighting other supers, lots of tech and such. So, the GM pulls each of us aside in turn, and I'm 3rd in line. As I'm bored, I start thinking to myself, what is the most stupid plot line I could think of, given our game style. I hit on throwing in werewolves or vampires. As I'm thinking about how bad of a clash this would be, I devise a joke to play on the GM. When he pulls me back in the other room, I count to five as he starts talking, and then carol out in a loud voice. "VAMPYRES! Are you Serious?!" The GM looks shocked, and several people look back into the room. He looks so shocked I feel bad, and apologize, saying it was just a joke.

To this day he still thinks I cheated and looked at his notes or was listening to the two people that went before me. We were attacked by vampires. :) And it was as bad as I thought it would be, it clashed horribly, and we killed the head vampyre, rather than capture him to find a cure, so the GM had to come up with a wierd cup ritual to undo the vampirism he spread to half of us.

How about you? Ever had a PC unexpectedly kill your disguised BBEG while trying to read a campaign's opening boxed text?

As per the title... Do they possess some (unmentioned in the rules) foolproof means to identify their creator when accepting orders or are they limited to mundane visual/auditory recognition like the rest of us? That is to say, could someone merely disguise themselves as a golem's creator and usurp control of it that way? What if the creator himself is unrecognizable to the golem due to being older, disguised, polymorphed, etc? Would the golem ignore his creator's orders until he manages to resume an appearance the golem recognizes?

Seeing as how Mokmurian's Robe of Runes from Fortress of the Stone Giants predates the Pathfinder RPG, it lacks the associated skills which all Intelligence boosting items are supposed to have according to the new system's rules. I was just wondering whether there is any official or semi-official errata which would update this item to mesh with the Pathfinder system.

Seeing as how the pit from a create pit spell is extradimensional in nature, would it be possible for a creature that falls inside to burrow (or earth glide) out through the pit's side/bottom?

Having read the entry on the Shadows in the recently released Undead Revisited, I was a little dismayed to see the singular focus being on the traditional undead spirit. While most shadows are undead horrors formed from the spirits of dead people I've always had the impression, perhaps misguided, that the shadows hailing from the Plane of Shadow aren't dead people per se, but native spirits; sort of like shadow elementals. Sure, they might possess the undead type and may behave like their undead brethren in most cases, but they're not really undead in the sense that they were never truly alive to begin with. I figured that these shadows, possibly of neutral or even good alignment, were the stock from which Shadowdancers draw their bound companions.

I'm just curious, did I imagine all this or was something like this ever mentioned in older editions?

Though I love Pathfinder and can see the high quality of the work in such books as the Advanced Players' Guide and Ultimate Magic, I find that they offer little to nothing for the multi-classed character I'm currently playing. Since Paizo's current design mandate precludes producing support material that'd encourage multi-classing it'd seem like a niche crying out to be filled by 3rd party publishers. I'd imagine that the fine folks at Super Genius Games would be up to the task and might see some value in developing such a supplement.

So how's about it? Might a supplement featuring multi-class feats and archetypes be a possibility that others aside from myself would be interested in seeing?

I'm in the midst of in-between-modules downtime and looking to spend some loot on new magic items but am a little underwhelmed by the options. Sure, a handy haversack with an assortment of scrolls and wands is always good to have on hand and AC or saving throw enhancers are a must, but I'm looking for something that will improve my spellcasting on a continuing basis. So far, the only such item I've found is a headband of alluring charisma; which is great but I already have the best available; a +6 version.

Anything from Pathfinder and possibly 3.5 sources is fair game. So what are your suggestions? Which item(s) makes for a great sorcerer?

An odd idea popped into my head while reading a thread about the Deck of Many Things being used in a campaign as a plot device rather than something the players are meant to use for themselves.

I've often wondered how exactly the Staglord managed to achieve his current position considering that he seems to be an unmotivated drunkard with questionable mental stability. What if the events surrounding the Staglord were merely the result of his draws from a Deck of Many Things?

Imagine if the Staglord-to-be had instead started off as a goodly and clever ranger in service to Erastil (which explains his helm) who was out exploring the Narlmarches when he somehow came across a DoMT. Perhaps he was offered the opportunity to draw cards by some mysterious fey being in exchange for a service or simply for the sake of amusement; either Nyrissa herself or the Old Beldame could fit this role handedly. However it happened, our goodly ranger felt ambitious and decided to draw five cards from the deck! His first card was the Star. Being an archer, he chose to improve his Dexterity (up to 18). Next he drew the Throne, granting him a small castle (which he chose to locate next to the picturesque Tuskwater) and a +6 bonus to his diplomacy . The following card turned out to be the Balance; and so his heart suddenly grew dark and malevolent. From then on he advanced as a rogue rather than a ranger. He next drew the Knight, granting him the service of a fighter; which turned out to the dimwitted Auchs. For his fifth and final draw our Staglord-to-be drew the Idiot (knocking his Intelligence down to 10) which indirectly pushed him into becoming a drunkard. Then, having the choice of drawing again and hoping for his luck to turn around, he opted for one final card and so drew the Rogue; which made his father and mentor turn against him... violently.

And so with six draws of the deck (three good, three bad) we end up with the Staglord we all know; a not particularly bright though evil drunkard who's good with a bow, has a modest keep, a faithful lieutenant (initially) and a bad relationship with his druid father (who he's since subdued and now keeps locked up in his cellar).

Assuming the PCs discover this background (I'd have him bitterly muttering "Star, Throne, Balance, Knight, Idiot, Rogue..." over and over when the PCs encounter him), it could serve as nice foreshadowing should the GM ever want to introduce the Deck of Many Things into the campaign at a later date.

A wildblooded umbral sorcerer's bloodline arcana grants the sorcerer an effective +1 caster level increase whenever she's "in an area of dim light or darkness", which would seem to be provided by the Protective Penumbra spell. So, in exchange for casting a second level spell, the sorcerer increases her effective caster level for up to 10 minutes per level (plus immunity to sunburns). That seems sort of awesome to me. =)

I've flipping through the main book and failing to find anything detailing the specific conditions under which a character can activate/use a magic item. What I'm wondering is, must a character physically touch or manipulate an item (particularly scrolls, wands, rods or staves) to activate it? Might holding/manipulating/aiming an item with a mage hand spell (or other telekinetic effect) be sufficient if the user is in proximity to the item and can speak the command word freely? Could an ally hold a spell scroll up so that a caster could read a spell off of it? Could that same ally hold and aim a wand for the caster?

I'm just not seeing anything in the RAW concerning proximity and contact in regards to activating magic items. I'm left to wonder whether holding an item is simply an unfounded assumption or unstated RAI.

The APG presented the Shadow Projection spell; an intriguing bit of necromancy which allows the caster to separate and project his incorporeal psyche away from his body. So how might having two separate bodies/forms in two locales that are irrevocably linked affect magical effects affecting one or the other? I hope that last bit made sense to you all. ;)

So, for instance, how might magical items worn on the corporeal body affect the incorporeal body if at all? Would a mental ability score enhancing headband or physical ability score enhancing belt worn on the corporeal body continue providing their augmentations to the projected psyche? How about a cloak of resistance or a ring of projection offering their bonuses to the errant psyche? And what about cast spells? Would the psyche benefit from a mage armor spell cast on the body? Conversely would the body benefit from the same spell cast on the psyche after separation? What happens to enduring spell effects cast on one or the other once the psyche and body are reunited?

A related question is, can a shadow projection use magic items? Say, for instance, that the projection has an active mage hand spell could it pick up and use a wand, scroll or wondrous items? In lieu of any sort of telekinetic affect, might the projection be able to activate items held by allies if it enshrouded it within its shadowy form? Might the Use Magic Device skill somehow come into play in such an attempt?

Thoughts? Opinions?

This has probably been covered before but I'm not in a mood to hunt around for a thread ATM.

What's the general view of allowing casters to select an alternate type of energy when learning a new spell? For example, a sorcerer has just achieved 6th level and, as her 3rd level spell she chooses fireball but instead of fire she'd prefer that it deal electrical damage instead; effectively making it a "lightning ball" spell. All other parameters of the spell (except perhaps setting combustible materials on fire) remain unchanged. Forever after she'll be limited to that version of the spell when casting, though she can freely use fireball scrolls, wands or even learn the fireball spell in the future by dedicating another spell known slot to it.

So how's about it? Is there a fundamental difference between the basic energy types: fire, cold, electricity, acid or sonic which should be considered before allowing such a change? Are they interchangeable?

In regards to the teleport spell, would creatures carried in a portable hole or bag of holding count against the limit of "passengers" a caster can bring along?

The skill description doesn't make any mention of understanding or communicating (at least the gist of a topic) through the spoken word. I'm wondering if anyone makes allowances for this sort of thing. It'd seem the type of thing "linguistics" would be good for.

I'm wondering whether the ability penalties from a Sands of Time spell can be stacked with successive castings. All penalties, especially unnamed ones, normally stack don't they?

This spell accelerates a creature’s aging, rendering them temporarily withered and haggard, applying a 1d6 penalty to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. This penalty can’t reduce any of these scores below 1. This penalty lasts for 10 minutes per level.