Vaarsuvius

Bellona's page

2,828 posts (2,890 including aliases). 1 review. 10 lists. 12 wishlists. 1 alias.



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I have a question about the Mascot archetype for familiars (originally in Familiar Folio p. 11, re-printed with some changes in Ultimate Wilderness p. 211). One of my players chose it, but we can't quite figure out how it works in practice.

"Lucky Mascot: Whenever a mascot uses the aid another action to improve a team member’s attack roll or AC, that team member also gains a +1 luck bonus to AC for 1 round. ..."

Am I correct in thinking that this is the normal "melee attack" version of Aid Another (CRB p. 197)? If so, it sounds like it's best for familiars who are big enough to have some sort of fighting capability. Most familiars are so small that they have Reach 0' and therefore are not suited for melee combat.

I hope that someone can me interpret these game mechanics! :)


I have some questions about a particular race/class/archetype combination and how it interacts both with its own class features and with certain feats. Seeing as how part of the Polymorph sub-school's description seems to boil down to "GM discretion", I'm asking the forum's communal mind for opinions. :)

One of my players has a dwarven character, a Druid wtih the goliath archetype (PC: Giant Hunter's Handbook). He spends most of his adventuring time in a wild shaped giant form - usually as a troll or ettin. Currently, he's only using the Alter Self version of wild shape (available from goliath Druid 6+). Later on he'll get the Giant Form I and Giant Form II versions.

Should his Goblin Cleaver feat (ARG) still be usable while he's wild shaped? The feat requires that the user is a dwarf. (The same question goes for the rest of that feat tree.)

Other questions revolve around what abilities are gained/lost by using wild shape. The basic spell descriptions are clear about what is/is not gained. The troll form cannot use Rend or Regeneration yet. (Those have to wait for the Giant Form spell-equivalents.) Likewise, I'm pretty sure that the ettin form's Superior Two-Weapon Fighting special attack is not given by any of the wild shape spell-equivalents (Alter Self, Giant Form I, Giant Form II).

According to the Polymorph sub-school's description, the dwarf's unadjusted 20' movement speed is replaced by the troll's 30' speed or the ettin's 40' speed. However, I feel that the wild shaped dwarf should lose both the Slow and Steady and the Stability racial traits, as they are connected with a dwarf's natural speed and build. (The same goes for the dwarf while in dinosaur/megafaun form.)

I'm also looking at the dwarven Hardy racial trait. How much of it is bound up in the dwarf's phyically dwarven form and how much of it is somehow innate to his very being? Ditto for the Steel Soul feat (APG), which requires the user to both be a dwarf and to have the Hardy racial trait. Or the Glory of Old region trait from Five Kings Mountains (Dwarves of Golarion)?

What about Dwarven Weapon Familiarity? Defensive Training? Or abilities like Stonecunning and Greed - how good is the short range vision of either giants or dinosaurs/megafauna when it comes to specialised skill checks like those?

The Hatred racial trait seems to be hardwired psychologically into dwarves, so I'd be reluctant to remove that from the wild shaped dwarf.


I went looking for the Pathfinder (first edition) FAQs, but could not find any functional links. All that I could find was PF2 FAQs (useless in this case) and the Legacy FAQs for PFS (irrelevant in this case).

Luckily, I still have a bookmark saved for the PF FAQs and that still works.

Please make those links available again to more than just those who have saved bookmarks.


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I'm running JR for the first time. We're still in Book 1, with the L 2 party en route to Brinewall (I'm using the "Road to Destiny" plug-in). One of the players is completely new to the Pathfinder system but the other three have been through RotR together (also run by me). Due to not wanting to overwhelm the new player, I haven't been pushing all the sub-systems in JR straight from the start.

Caravans: I first introduced the Caravan rule set when the L 2 party returned to Sandpoint from the Brinestump Marsh and gave the letter to Ameiko. Am I correct in ruling that the caravan "starts" as a L 2 caravan, basically jumping immediately from L 1 to 2 due to the party being L 2 at that point?

Relationships: I'm about to introduce the Relationship rule set today. Am I correct in thinking that a PC can try to improve a Relationship score once each level (by means of gifts/insults) with as many different allied NPCs as he/she wants?

These are probably no-brainer questions, but I wanted to make sure that I haven't misunderstood or overlooked anything important. :)


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There will be spoilers in this thread!

I'm embarking upon the Jade Regent AP as a GM in a few weeks' time. During my preparations, I've been looking at the four major NPCs who accompany the caravan from the start (Ameiko, Koya, Sandru, and Shalelu) and some of the later potential caravan NPCs (e.g., Kelda and Miyaro).

Did you re-build the four main NPCs or any of the others? For example, making Ameiko a Bard/Swashbuckler instead of her official Aristocrat 1/Bard 3/Rogue (rake) 1 combination.

If yes, then how was the character re-built (classes, archetypes, levels)? What effect did it have on the AP?

Did you keep to the NPC level guidelines suggested? That essentially keeps them at cohort levels.

At the end of Book 3:
By the end of “The Hungry Storm,” the PCs have likely reached 10th level, and have surpassed their NPC allies in levels. At this point, you might want to consider leveling up Ameiko, Koya, Sandru, and Shalelu. They should not be as powerful as the PCs, but you can certainly add a few class levels to them, bringing them up to 7th or even 8th level. As the Adventure Path progresses, you can continue leveling up these NPCs, though we recommend keeping them two or three levels behind the PCs to allow the players’ characters to shine!


(My search-fu is apparently weak.)

Can anyone remind me of where to find the rules for successfully trailing/shadowing people in urban environments without being noticed, please?

(It's probably somewhere obvious, but I seem unable to find it at the moment.)


Dear Website Team,

I would like to draw your attention to the following thread which I started on the PF1 Rules Question sub-forum:

CRB FAQ link should have a sticky thread

It was correctly pointed out on that sub-forum that I'd be better off posting my requests on this sub-forum instead.

If you need me to copy/paste my original post from that particular Rules Questions thread to this thread, then please let me know and I will do so.


It would be really useful if the following link was made a sticky thread on this particular forum. Doing that would save future FAQ-searchers some time (instead of making them looking through any number of broken links which only lead to the website's front page or similar generic locations).

The Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook Frequently Asked Questions webpage which also contains the sidebar with the other official PF (first edition) FAQs, etc.

Assuming that the PF1-related FAQs are no longer being constantly changed due to updates, it would also be nice if those FAQs were available as downloadable PDFs.


I've just started one of my groups on CotCT (RE version), with the PF1 rule set.

Some background information on the party:

The players produced a party which consists of: a halfling Bard (going for Harrower prestige class), a halfling Witch (jinx-focused), a half-orc "boom" Cleric of Sarenrae (very fire-focused and taking one level of Sorcerer so as to be Crossblooded [Red Dragon/Orc bloodlines]), and a dwarf Barbarian 1 (Armoured Hulk)/Druid 1+ (Goliath).

Yeah, they only have one front-liner. :(

The two halflings and the Cleric had problems with the Mad Prophet encounter (mainly because they didn't want to hurt him). (The dwarf Druid was elsewhere at the time.) The entire group had a lot of problems with the Imps vs. House Drakes encounter (it certainly put the fear of imps in them, and impressed upon them the need for silvered weapons).

So, when they got the job to bring in Verik Vancaskerkin from All the World's Meat, they decided to be very careful and subtle. They let the halfling Bard reconnoitre first. He walked round the the building, visited the shop, and then climbed up onto the roof to look/listen through the windows of the upper floor. There he saw Verik, drinking already even though it wasn't even noon.

Long story short: the two halfings double-teamed Verik (Lullaby spell followed by Slumber hex) and managed to keep him unconscious long enough to manacle and gag him. The other two party members then climbed up onto the roof, and Verik was unceremoniously taken out of the window and the session ended with him about to be lugged off to the Old Fishery. (The party wants to question him about the cause of his desertion before they turn him over to Kroft. For some reason, the Cleric is certain that she'll hang him for desertation.)

My dilemma: the party has basically skipped most of the "All the World's Meat" section, including the horrendous discoveries which lie within. I want them to finish that section (and maybe inflict some mental trauma :) ). Any suggestions for how to persuade the players to return to the scene of the (Cow Hammer Boys') crime?

I'm considering something so basic/crude as just having one of the Cow Hammer Boys happen to walk outside and around the corner, and see his boss being carted off - thus starting a combat which will hopefully end with the thugs being defeated. Then the party might be tempted to explore the building properly.

But do any of my fellow CotCT GMs have a better idea?


I use Chrome on a desktop when browsing the Paizo site.

Recently I've noticed that "My Account" and "Cart" (on the top strip) are overlapping each other.

Is there any fix for this from my side of things, or is it a website issue?


What is the canon pronunciation of "Rivethun"?


There are many, many traits out there which make a skill "always a class skill for you".

However, I can't seem to find one which gives access to the Stealth skill. Can anyone help me find one? (No 3PP and no campaign traits, please!)


In the single-post thread "Pathfinder Rules Questions Guidelines",

Chris Lambertz wrote wrote:

... As community members respond to the question, they may mark it as an FAQ candidate for our team to review. The FAQ system is based on individual posts, not by each thread—spamming a thread with FAQ clicks will not generally result in a faster answer. ...

I don't understand how we are expected to indicated our support for/interest in a particular OP's question.

Is it by clicking the FAQ button on the first post of the thread as indicated on the first sentence of the quotation ("mark it as a FAQ candidate")?

Or by posting in the thread after the thread's original post, as indicated by the second sentence ("based on individual posts, not by each thread-spamming a thread with FAQ clicks will not generally result in a faster answer")?

(Also, I realise that the likelihood of our getting any more FAQs sorted out is vanishingly small at this point, but I would at least like to know how to express my interest properly.)


I tried to look at the Chessex battle mats by the following links:

Store/Gaming/Accessories/Gaming Maps & Mats

Buy the Chessex link didn't work. It asked me to log in - just to look at a product page!?!

I logged in on another tab in my browser (Chrome), and tried the link again. Still no joy. The page is continuously trying to load, but all I get is the Paizo website's "frame" (not sure if that's the correct technical term).

Eventually I got to the Chessex battle mat product by another route (using the search function).


No idea if this has a connection with current website problems ...

The order of my lists have been completely jumbled. For example, part of the order previously included the various 3.5 (Dungeon and Paizo) and PF APs from oldest to newest. Right now it's a mess, and it's hard to find a particular list amidst the 30+ others.


Maybe my search-fu is too weak, but I've both skimmed the JR books and tried a search here in the JR sub-forum, and still have no answer: how are the major escorted NPCS (Ameiko, etc.) expected to level during the AP? The only mention that I could find was a brief sidebar in the beginning of Book 5 which talked more about how it is expected that the caravan itself will be left with allies, but the major NPCs will want to join the party on the various quests.

Once the PCs overtake the NPCs' levels, should the NPCs stay just one level behind? That will give them some agency, but not enough to overshadow the PCs (and disqualify them from becoming cohort options).


Doomsday Dawn (DD) is the not-quite-an-adventure-path which accompanies the Pathfinder 2e play-test. It has some level gaps: the players are expected to play both "primary" characters (who get levelled up between appearances, including the first and last adventure) and other, secondary characters who only turn up for one adventure each. The secondary characters often have to be constructed according to certain guidelines,

Doomsday Dawn spoiler:
For example, in one adventure all the characters must each have their own source healing.

Also, certain adventures are constructed for specific play-test goals, for example "test to destruction"/"final stand in a base under siege".

All of the above makes DD a very atypical not-quite-an-adventure-path. However, the subject matter is interesting, and offers an answer to a mystery which has existed on Golarion for many centuries: the Doomsday Clocks. It also covers at least a decade of time, and re-visits certain iconic loations from various APs and modules.

That said, has anyone thought of converting DD "back" into PF 1e?


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And there was great rejoicing, now that the Player's Guide has finally arrived! :D


Does anyone know what Viorian Dekanti's ethnicity is?

I've tried to compare her name with various Golarion ethnic name lists, but haven't come to a certain conclusion. Nor has my search-fu turned up anything useful on the message boards here.

My best guess is that she is either Chelaxian or Varisian, or some combination of the two.


Do each of the seven sins/schools of Thassilonian magic have a specific colour attached to them?

The reason why I'm asking is that ...

RotR AE AP spoiler:
Book 5 of the RotR AE AP describes seven pillars, each one associated with one of the schools of Thassilonian sin magic. "If all seven pillars are active at the same time ... the central pillar begins glowing and ripples with a vortex of light that combines all seven of the surrounding colors." (RotR AE, p. 252)

However, the text does not give any specific colours associated with the Thassilonian schools/forms of sin.


Have there ever been Inner Sea Magic-style stat blocks for Riddleport's Cypher Lodge and Galduria's Twilight Academy? (The actual Academy, not the Harrowed Society which works behind the scenes there.)

For that matter, what about Magnimar's two magic schools: Stone of the Seers and the Golemworks?

I'm running Rise of the Runelords (for two different groups!), and one of the characters decided to contact the Cyphermages and exchange information, etc. with a view to eventually joining and earning the Eclectic Training reward. That had me scrambling to put together some sort of ad hoc stat block, and figuring out whether or not it was a guild or an academy.


Sounds interesting!

Is the Rusty Dragon included? :)

E.T.A.: I just found out on the product thread that the Rusty Dragon is not detailed in this book. :(


3 people marked this as FAQ candidate. 1 person marked this as a favorite.

The Improved Feint feat allows the user to feint as a move action. The matching Improved Feint combat trick (Pathfinder Unchained) allows the user to feint as a move action.

Bearing in mind that one cannot access a specific combat trick unless one already has the matching combat feat (see the Combat Stamina feat, also in PU), there is no point to the combat trick under normal circumstances. (Aside from a corner case for an Intelligence-drained fighter who has the relevant feats/trick.)

That sounds like it goes against the design philosophy of combat tricks. So I am left wondering if there is some missing text for that particular combat trick.


1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

How is CMD calculated for a flat-footed character?

Core Rulebook (p. 199) wrote:

Any penalties to a creature's AC also apply to its CMD. A flat-footed creature does not add its Dexterity bonus to its CMD.

Core Rulebook (p. 179) also (when referring to AC) wrote:

Any situation that denies you your Dexterity bonus also denies you dodge bonuses.

When I pointed this out in a bug report to Hero Lab, they asked if I had a second source that verifies that the flat-footed state also modifies CMD. They prefer an answer from an official PF game designer, or a FAQ answer. Any idea for how to go about getting that, aside from clicking the FAQ button in a post? :)


Is a druid's Wild Shape class feature the same as the Change Shape special quality?

This is a point which I expect to come up soon in one campaign. One of my players looked at the spells in Horror Adventures, and found the Quick Change spell (L 2 for Druids and many other classes too). The spell's first sentence starts: "If you have the change shape special quality, you can ..."

My personal reading of the spell is that a druid's Wild Shape class feature is not the same thing as the Change Shape special quality.

For one thing, a druid's Wild Shape has a time limit, unlike the Change Shape quality which seems to have no time limit. Furthermore, the Bestiary entry for Change Shape makes no mention of Wild Shape. Also, Wild Shape encompasses many forms (moreso as the druid gets more levels), while Change Shape is normally limited to just one specific form (e.g., lamia matriarchs each have only one alternate form).


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As always, I am in utter awe of the Order's attention to detail. Those sets look amazing.

And best quotation for a starting scene ever! :)


Very nice art! From the look of the muscle on that leg I certainly would not want to be kicked by that beastie! (Or anywhere within reach of it for that matter.)

Somewhere on Castrovel, per chance?

And who wrote this Paizo blog entry? :)

Also: first!


Dear Customer Service,

I understand from the comments on the Starfinder AP subscription page that if I subscribe to the Starfinder AP before the end of September 2017 (i.e., before the Dead Suns 2 subscription order creation date) and would like to receive Dead Suns 1 as part of my subscription, then I can contact Customer Service and you will add a back-ordered subscription copy to ship with Dead Suns 2.

If this is still the case, I would like to do so (order number 4422913). I do understand that my copy of Dead Suns 1 will be delayed until Dead Suns 2 ships, and that I will not receive my free PDF of Dead Suns 1 until then either. Those delays do not bother me.

Thank you for all your help! :)


My search-fu didn't turn up any specific threads on this topic, so here goes ...

Frostbite (UM, level 1) and Frigid Touch (UM, level 2) both are low-level spells with touch attacks which do cold damage (non-lethal in Frostbite's case) and have a rider effects (Fatigued from Frostbite, Staggered from Frigid Touch). There is no saving throw at all, though Spell Resistance does apply in both cases.

When dealing with regular damage, the rule has always been that if Damage Reduction negates the damage, then the rider effect is likewise negated. (For example, injury poisons riding on a bite attack.)

Does the same rule apply to energy resistance and rider effects?

(In my opinion, it seems cheesy to the extreme that a cold immune creature is still Fatigued or Staggered by these spells. Even the Rime Spell meta-magic feat from UM specifies that the cold damage must "go through" before the Entangled effect can affect the target.)

Anxious cold resistant and cold immune monsters/NPCs await any useful replies! :)


Dear Paizo customer service team,

Please cancel my Pathfinder Adventure Path subscription.

I have enjoyed it to date, but circumstances dictate that other needs have priority at the moment. My hope is to resume it at sometime in the near future.

Cheers,
Bellona


The Battle Dancer class originally appeard in Dragon magazine (issue #159) during the days of 2e. When Paizo published the Dragon Compendium, they kindly updated the Battle Dancer to 3.5. Basically, it was a "Chaotic Something", Charisma-using, capoeira-style Monk.

Has anyone made a credible update of the Battle Dancer to Pathfinder, preferably using an archetype on the Unchained Monk chassis?


Mini-rant about why I created this archetype:
I've played D&D since 1e's AD&D days, and have always had a preference for the Fighter/Mage multi-class combination. Open the battle with a Fireball or two, then wade in to clean up the surviving foes with old-fashioned hack-and-slash, that sort of stuff. It was a combination that made sense for "demi-humans", seeing as the rules cruelly limited their advancement in most classes. (Likewise combinations like Fighter/Thief, Fighter/Cleric, Cleric/Mage, Mage/Thief, etc.) And dual-classing - different from multi-classing! - was strictly the preserve of humans alone.

Then came 2e, 3e, and 3.5. Level caps disappeared, and multi-classing opened up and became something else. I was not that fond of the Eldritch Knight prestige class (one had to wait several levels before both martial and arcane classes progressed more evenly), the Warmage didn't have any utility spells, and I really disliked the Spellsword prestige class. Shooting spells out through one's sword? Fine for those who like it, I guess, but I really preferred the classic Fireball-then-hack-the-next-round combination instead. And doing two offensive combat actions at once struck me as kind of ... cheating?

Next up was Pathfinder, and L 6 spellcasters like the Magus and Warpriest were introduced. "Great!", I thought when I first heard of the Magus - until I saw Spellstrike and Spell Combat. Again with the spell-through-the-sword thing! It was the Spellsword all over again. *sigh*

And so I decided to create an "old school magus" archetype for the Magus, inspired a bit by something that the Warpriest got right (IMHO). The basic changes are as follows:

  • At 1st level, an Old School Magus gains the Scribe Scroll feat. This replaces Spell Combat class feature.

  • At 2nd level, the Magus gains a new feature called Arcane Pool (swift buff) (Su). (See below.) This replaces the Spellstrike class feature.

    "As a swift action, an Old School Magus can expend one point from his arcane pool to cast any one Magus spell which he has prepared with a casting time of 1 round or shorter. When cast in this way, the spell can target only the Magus, even if it could normally affect other or multiple targets. Spells cast in this way don’t require somatic components and do not provoke attacks of opportunity. The Magus does not need to have a free hand to cast a spell in this way." (This is adapted from the Warpriest's Fervour class feature.)

  • At 8th level, the Magus gains a bonus feat (just like at 5th level). This replaces the Improved Spell Combat class feature.

  • At 14th level, the Magus gains a bonus feat (just like at 5th level). This replaces the Greater Spell Combat class feature.

  • At 20th level, the Magus becomes a master of spells and combat. He does not need to make a concentration check to cast spells defensively. (This class feature has simply been shortened. A possible alternative was to keep the rest of the original class feature, but to have the Magus apply it to a target which the Magus successfully either hit with a weapon or targeted with a spell in the previous round.)

  • Any Magus Arcana which refer to Spellstrike or Spell Combat are not available.

So ... what do you think? Is it balanced? Would you play this archetype? Constructive criticism is welcome! :)


Dear Paizo Customer Service,

Please cancel my AP subscription after Pathfinder AP #115: Trail of the Hunted (Ironfang Invasion 1 of 6).

Thank you!


Dear Paizo Customer Service,

I can see that in early March there will be a "double" shipment of Ironfang Invasion 1 and 2 from my Adventure Path subscription.

Is there any way to get those two instalments shipped separately, i.e., in separate packages? I've noticed that if I receive a double shipment in a single envelope, then I get slammed by a large customs charge. In this type of situation I don't mind being charged twice for the shipping/handling.

Cheers,
Bellona


I'd like to pick the brains of my fellow AP-GMs ...

I'm about to get a "miniature" for a

My players shouldn't look!:
shemhazian demon (CR 16, from B2),

and was wondering if one appears in any of the Paizo APs. (I have most of the APs, but haven't actually read them all.)


I would like to take advantage of the "Last Days of Summer" sale (just a few hours left, if I understand correctly). One of the items in which I'm interested is AP 37 (Serpent's Skull 1, Souls for Smuggler's Shiv). The only print edition remaining is non-mint - and I'm fine with that.

However, the price seems to be very wrong. The non-mint versions of SS 2,3, and 5 all display as being $7.50, but SS 1 is displaying as $14.99. That's more expensive than the current price for the print editions (which are $10)!

My thread in the Website Feedback section has gone unanswered (probably due to the Labour Day long weekend), so I'm hoping that there's someone on duty here who can help me in time to take advantage of the "Last Days of Summer" sale.

(Of course, if I'm off by 24 hours with regard to when the sale ends, then the question is moot!)


Is it an error that most of the print copies of the Serpent's Skull AP are being offered at a reduced price ($10 instead of $19.99), but the non-mint version of SS 1 is not reduced to $10 or lower? (SS 1 has only been reduced to $14.99.)


A situation occurred recently in our campaign, and I promised to seek the opinions of other sage rule lawyers on the topic.

A tendriculos swallowed whole the party's Druid (who luckily happened to have some natural weapons). The rest of the party, including the Barbarian, started whaling on the plant.

The Druid was unlucky enough to fail her saving throw against the paralysing agent in the tendriculos' stomach, which meant that she could not cut her own way out. (Interestingly, the rules do not cover suffocation while in the stomach, so presumably that is not a danger.)

In an attempt to save the Druid, the Barbarian literally leapt into the tendriculos' mouth and didn't contest the grapple checks which then lead to him being swallowed whole too. (In my quick look at the rules, there did not seem to be any limit on how many creatures could be swallowed whole in quick succession, only their sizes. Did I overlook something?)

Alas, the Barbarian failed his own saving throw against the paralysing agent. (!!!!)

(Actually, that was probably the second WTF moment, as the Druid got a 4 on her attempt to identify the tendriculos with Knowledge [Nature] at the start of the encounter, which lead to her walking merrily past it without taking any precautions.)

Now the rest of the party is desperately trying to kill the tendriculos before its round-by-round digestive damage does in the two paralysed party members inside its stomach. Which leads me to the questions we were asking each other at the table ...

1. Can someone on the outside damage the tendriculos enough in the right place to simulate a reverse version of "cutting the way out of the stomach"? Or is the point that any attempt like that would do damage the stomach contents, which is why it simply is not done?

2. Once the tendriculos is dead, does the stomach acid continue to damage the contents? And if it is dead, is it any easier to cut the stomach contents free from the outside?

(I ruled that it was easier to cut them free after the plant was dead, but they did continue to suffer some round-by-round damage. Thinking about it again, it probably should have been at a reduced rate of damage.)


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For an early peek at these two minis, check out the Paizo blog announcement here.


Please cancel my subscription to the Pathfinder Adventure Path, effective immediately.

For clarification: I do not wish to be shipped or charged for volume 1 of the Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path and the rest of that particular AP.

I do wish to return for the Strange Aeons AP which follows the Hell's Vengeance AP. Is that something which you can do for me, or should I re-subscribe myself then?


I received three e-mails about this order, with about "0 to 1" minutes-worth of intervals in between. Is there any risk of the credit card being charged thrice for this order?


Pack Flanking is a Teamwork feat in the ACG, but it only applies to one character and his animal companion.

Is there a similar feat in Paizo-published material which allows two characters to gain flanking advantages (i.e., a bonus to hit and the opportunity to apply sneak attack damage) while they are not in the normal flanking positions, but are still threatening the same foe in melee range?


I find the write-ups for various Style feats to be a bit confusing. Do they apply only to unarmed combat, or can one use all/most/some of them with manufactured weapons?

Take the Crane Style series of feats, for example. The obvious inspiration for that one would be the original Karate Kid movie, i.e., unarmed combat. The flavour text for Crane Style (UC p. 93) includes the words "your unarmed fighting techniques blend ...", but the actual rules text makes no mention of restricting the feat's use to unarmed combat. And both the flavour text and rules text of the next two feats in that chain (Crane Wing and Crane Riposte) make no mention of unarmed combat. Therefore my question: are these feats just for unarmed combat, or for all forms of combat?


Most of this looks to be right up my alley, so many thanks for the announcement! :)


(Spoilers for any campaigns set in/near Sandpoint, obviously!)

According to Sandpoint's settlement stat block, the highest-level spells available for purchase from spellcasters in town are L 4.

However, according to Sandpoint's write-up (Rise of the Runelords AE), the listed spellcasters have a maximum caster level of 4 ... which is definitely not the caster level 7+ needed for those afore-mentioned L 4 spells.

So who are these (somewhat) higher-level spellcasters in Sandpoint, and where can they be found?

One suggestion that I've heard is that various travelling spellcasters (possibly from Magnimar or Riddleport) come through town regularly once a month, and make their services available to anyone who wants to hire them for specific spells.

Does anyone - JJ or otherwise - have any useful input on this curious issue?


I have some android-related questions ...

Having read the "Ecology of the Android" article in Iron Gods 1, I was left wondering about one aspect of the Renewal process. From both Kariand's letter (at the start of the article) and the rather vague text about the Renewal process, it looks as though the android's new body could be of either sex. Is this true? And does anything govern the choice of the new body's sex (other than the new soul which inhabits the body during the Renewal)?

It is stated on page 71 of Iron Gods 1 (top of the first column) that a creature cannot use the Reincarnate spell to gain an android body. What if such a spell was cast close to where an android body was going through Renewal? Could such a character theoretically be reincarnated into the "empty" android body?


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Wow! That looks like fun! Also, I'm impressed with that kind of gaming endurance. (Twelve hours is my personal best, although I did manage that a few different times.)

That gaming room set-up looks good too. I'm curious about the table shown in the photo taken from behind the GM screen. Besides what looks like custom-built elements, the surface under the map looks as though it's sub-divided into three white sections. Are they folded maps, or something else?


I've been looking through the various sourcebooks, but there doesn't seem to be a human deity who is clearly focused on marriage. My search-fu only turns up various deities who represent various aspects of marriage, but not all that marriage entails ...

Erastil: marriage as a bond which strengthens the community and encourages procreation/the raising of children.

Shelyn: love.

Calistria: sex.

Abadar: marriage as a contract under law (inheritance, etc.).

Asmodeus: similar to Abadar, possibly with a helping of "male dominance over female subservience" on the side.

Falayna (empyreal lady): gives blessings to brides.

Winlas (empyreal lord): religious rituals and ceremonies.

I discounted Lymnieris (empyreal lord), as he seemed more focused on helping people get out of unwanted marriages.

Kofusachi (Dragon Empires): abundance, happiness, and prosperity in marriage. (Not as relevant for my purposes as his worship is centred in Tian Xia, not the Inner Sea region.)

Have I missed anything, obvious or not?