Devilkiller's page

I kind of sympathize with how the OP feels though I'm not sure that this really constitutes a "Rules Question". Anyhow, I'd bet that the staff might find many of our threads "incredibly frustrating" (maybe even this one)

I personally think it would be pretty funny if this thread got answered with "Staff Response: no reply required". Maybe it is really Paizo's way of saying, "We love you guys despite your pedantic rules lawyer ways".

It certainly seems like a nicer answer than, "You guys really get on our nerves sometimes with your whining and demands" or "This has been discussed 17 times. Will you just cut it out?"

Referring to the player as "the offender" makes it seem like maybe he'd be better off if you did just make a house rule rather than making him a criminal for following the FAQ. Maybe you could admit to him that he was correct about the FAQ ruling but tell him that you all hate what the FAQ says and want it to work a different way.

If you go that route then offering him a chance to swap out feats or rebuild the PC if desired might be nice.

The only possible cause for misinterpretation I see is where the feat's description says, "You are descended from a long line of sorcerers". It doesn't say that you yourself are a sorcerer though.

If it said, "You are descended from a long line of sushi chefs" that wouldn't necessarily mean that you are a sushi chef, right? Maybe your family is ashamed because you have a mild shellfish allergy and opened a yakitori stand instead, but you still have a right to embrace your heritage and use your grandfather's tuna knife to slay the fish demons plaguing the land, even if it might give you hives (just for an example of how a similar feat might play out)

Pounce is one of the best attack abilities around. I think you need Beast Shape III to get the rakes though. With your gore that's 6 attacks on a pounce from a saber tooth tiger with horns. I suspect that this will do more damage than 10 attacks from a horned octopus since 8 of those are secondary. It isn't very hard to set up charges if the party is cooperative. Later on Air Walk can also help a lot.

Furious Focus only works with two-handed weapons, so I doubt it will help you here. The Boon Companion feat is like Shaping Focus for the animal companion (+4 levels up to your HD), so I'd highly suggest it. If you're taking Barbarian levels and don't like dying you'll also probably want Raging Vitality.

If the idea of aggravating the DM and other players by being a flying octopus really amuses you maybe you could take levels in Rogue instead of Fighter and Barbarian. If you have your animal companion concentrate on flanking you could do a LOT of sneak attack damage. The idea of an octopus sneaking into places and stealing things also seems vaguely amusing to me.

As Varisian in Golarion have been using them for centuries there is no problem there to find a appropriate wagon with the space and comfort to work on most magic items. the only one that would have some problem are those that require a substantial heat source. You don't want a big fire in a wooden wagon.

Actually, classic gypsy vardos usually had a wood burning stove with an external exhaust pipe which goes through the roof. I think it is safe to assume that Varisian wagons would have something similar.

As for Rope Trick, the rules for crafting magic items say, "Any place suitable for preparing spells is suitable for making items."

What sort of place is suitable for preparing spells though? The rules for that say, "To prepare any spell, a wizard must have enough peace, quiet, and comfort to allow for proper concentration. The wizard's surroundings need not be luxurious, but they must be free from distractions. Exposure to inclement weather prevents the necessary concentration, as does any injury or failed saving throw the character might experience while studying."

Whether you should you be able to craft without the half speed penalty for distractions in a Rope Trick, a vardo, or Secure Shelter is for the DM to decide, but if not then maybe you shouldn't be able to prepare spells there either according to the stuff I quoted above. Maybe Wizards aren't such a powerful class after all. It turns out that the world is full of distractions, from undulating extra-dimensional spaces to Bards who put on rings of sustenance and play all night long so the Wizard will be powerless. Play that funky music half-elf!

If it isn't safe then why is it called Secure Shelter? :)

DM: "Sorry, you're not at home, so you're too scared to Craft"
Player: "Ok, I Teleport home so I can Craft"
DM: "Your enemies set bear traps all over the floor! 2d6+3...10 damage!"
Player: "Ok, I heal myself with a wand, remove the traps, and settle down to craft"
DM: "Unfortunately for you, a local ska band begins playing loudly outside your window!"
Player: "I Fireball them!"
DM: "Are you sure? That would be an evil act. These are just fun loving Bards trying to spread their joy of life"
Player: "Ok, I slit my throat"
DM: "Ok, that's Evil too. Your PC awakes in Hell, where the Devils command you to Craft magic items for use against the party!"
Player: "I can't Craft in Hell. It is noisy with the sounds of tortured souls, and I don't feel safe here."
DM: "You actually feel quite safe since you're a devil now too, and the sounds of the tortured souls are very soothing to you."
Player: "Alright, alright, I guess you don't want me to use Craft feats except between adventures"
DM: "Yeah, I didn't want to seem heavy handed though."

The Greater Hat of Disguise allows you to use Alter Self. If you use Alter Self to turn into a medium humanoid you gain a +2 size bonus to Strength. The item is from the Pathfinder module Curse of the Riven Sky, so it might not be available in a lot of games. I find the idea of disguising myself as myself with +2 Str or Dex pretty amusing though.

I'm currently playing a Paladin4/Bard6 who started with an Int and Wis of 7 and a Charisma of 18. He's managed to get his Int up to 9 with a headband, but his monkey familiar (from Eldritch Heritage) is still smarter than him. He was stolen by kobolds as a baby and later enslaved in Brevoy before escaping to join a Varisian circus, where his hard life and their hard partying encouraged him to become an alcoholic. My story is that he's drunk, uneducated, and perhaps a bit impulsive rather than naturally stupid.

Since the PC is being played in Kingmaker he's become the ruler of a nation (along with his wife the Sorceress, who I think has Int 12). In keeping with his 7 Wisdom, his Edicts include no Taxes at all but 24 Festivals per year. His kingdom is like a big, non-stop party, and he builds Brothels in every city.

The PC is quite good at Diplomacy though he has a comical propensity to misuse and mispronounce big or uncommon words. He's also an expert in Knowledge [Religion], which he has Skill Focus in. He's capable of learning. He'd just prefer to spend most of his time having fun and slaying evil.

Granting upper body powers to the lower body seems like it might turn the game upside down.

After seeing this question I began to think of a mounted archer who rides around on a Roc. Alas, I think the rules limit you specifically to the "bird" animal companion. They say:

"This ability functions like the druid animal companion ability (which is part of the nature bond class feature), but the falconer must take the bird animal companion, and that companion has only half the normal hit points."

I'd imagine that any skilled armorer could craft the barding with little trouble as long as he or she can take some measurements and such. I wouldn't expect to find a lot of suits of magic dinosaur armor in treasure hoards though.

I think the intent of the rule is to allow you to change the size of the eidolon when you level up or use an effect like Transmogrify. As far as analyzing the rules as written goes, the Lesser Evolution Surge spell says that it grants the eidolon an evolution, not that it changes the evolution pool. I guess the issue might come down to whether you think the "evolution pool" refers to how your eidolon's evolution points have been spent or whatever evolutions the eidolon has no matter how it got them.

Here's what the rules say about the "Evolution Pool". Note that they specify two times when the Summoner can change the pool. It isn't entirely clear whether this is an exhaustive list, but certainly the text doesn't say "or through the Lesser Evolution spell".

Evolution Pool: The value given in this column is the total number of points in the eidolon's evolution pool. Points from this pool can be spent on a wide variety of modifications and upgrades that add new abilities, attacks, and powers to the eidolon. Whenever the summoner gains a level, the number in this pool increases and the summoner can spend these points to change the abilities of the eidolon. These choices are not set. The summoner can change them whenever he gains a level (and through the transmogrify spell).

Now I have a question for you. Why would you choose to have a small eidolon? I guess it wouldn't be bad as a stealthy "skill monkey" to help out a Master Summoner in non-combat situations. Other than that it sounds like a self-nerf. Maybe there's something I'm missing though.

Can an Alchemist take Ability Focus[Bomb]? If so would one feat cover all bombs, or would you need a separate feat for each type of bomb?

I know that a Witch needs to take Ability Focus for each individual type of Hex (Ability Focus[Slumber], Ability Focus[Evil Eye], etc). The rules for Bombs are written a little differently though, so I'm not sure. Covering all bombs with one feat seems kind of strong. On the other hand, I recall that a 3.5 Warlock could take Ability Focus [Eldritch Blast] and have it apply to any saves generated by various blast shapes or essences. Bombs seem a little like eldritch blast in some ways, so it makes me wonder.

As far as I know, Wall of Thorns doesn't block line of sight. James Jacobs once posted the following about it

The spell itself doesn't come out and say it, but it does describe the effect as "very tough, pliable, tangled brush." Page 426 talks about heavy undergrowth, which is what I would qualify a wall of thorns as. There, heavy undergrowth provides concealment (in fact, heavy undergrowth's concealment creates a 30% miss chance, not the normal 20%). I would therefore say that a wall of thorns provides concealment and interacts with such things as spellcasting and ranged attacks as appropriate.