Dr Grecko's page

That said ... it's an NPC. They don't have to be restricted by the same rules as PCs. You want him to quick D-Door out, he quick D-Doors out.

My first experience DM'ing back in 3.5 days, I pulled something similar to this. A pleasant argument then ensued about "breaking" the rules that the rest of the group had to abide by. I never tried to pull something like that again.

While it can be cinematic for NPC's to pull off miraculous stunts like this, I think it breaks your players confidence in you as a DM. I would recommend not doing this. Instead just 5 foot step and D-Door. Or pump up his concentration check if he gets grappled by your players so he can pull off a D-Door to escape.

.02

Would a 10th level sorcerer be able to cast this spell?

One the villians I going to run is planning to "cast quickened dimension door with her metamagic adept power" to escape. This villian is a human vampire aristocrat 1, sorcerer 10. She has the Arcane bloodline and the Quicken Spell metamagic feat.

Quickened uses 4 spell slots higher than the spell being cast (e.g. quickened dimension door should use 8th level spell slot, which she doesnt' have). The metamagic adept only decreases the casting time of a spell when used with a metamagic feat.

What am I missing or did the designer goof?

Thanks!

From the metamagic adept verbiage: "You must still expend a higher-level spell slot to cast this spell."

So I would say no. Not possible for a 10th level Sorc.

Edit - "Ninjas did it"

We are not using the dictionary version of "notice", and I don't think you have to be able to notice them to pinpoint them. BigDaddyjug is looking at it as if one is needed for the other, but the rules don't see it that way.

I did provide him with a rules quote so I think he agrees. He just does not like the idea.

I think you nailed the crux of the confusion. Perhaps it would help to remove the word "notice" and replace it with "hunch". You have the hunch they are there even if you can't pinpoint them within thirty feet. Outside of that, you can still possibly pinpoint them with a high enough perception, but you wont get that "hunch" until they are inside of 30'.

Dr Grecko wrote:

Bigdaddyjug wrote:

Dr Grecko wrote:

Bigdaddyjug wrote:

Then my argument would be no noticing, no pinpointing. The +20 for pinpointing is obviously added onto the notice DC. So if there is no notice DC, there is no pinpoint DC. You shouldn't be able to pinpoint something you can't notice.

As somebody said upthread, "I have no idea if anything is nearby, but whatever it is is RIGHT THERE!!!"

Just skimmed this thread and it may have been mentioned, but here is my response to the bold above:

I think it's safe to say. If you've pinpointed someone, you notice them.

I think it's safe to say that the rules allow for pinpointing beyond 30 ft, but not just noticing. So no, that is not safe to say.

My point is that noticing is subsumed into pinpoint. If you pinpoint someone, you've obviously noticed them. If you didn't pinpoint them, there's a chance you can notice them (within 30').

However, the rules seem to say that beyond 30 ft, you cannot notice someone but you can pinpoint them.

Again, If you've pinpointed them, you by definition have noticed them. If you have not pinpointed them, there is still a chance to notice them (within 30')

Notice is a subset of pinpoint in this scenario.

They are not mutually exclusive conditions.

Dr Grecko wrote:

Bigdaddyjug wrote:

Then my argument would be no noticing, no pinpointing. The +20 for pinpointing is obviously added onto the notice DC. So if there is no notice DC, there is no pinpoint DC. You shouldn't be able to pinpoint something you can't notice.

As somebody said upthread, "I have no idea if anything is nearby, but whatever it is is RIGHT THERE!!!"

Just skimmed this thread and it may have been mentioned, but here is my response to the bold above:

I think it's safe to say. If you've pinpointed someone, you notice them.

I think it's safe to say that the rules allow for pinpointing beyond 30 ft, but not just noticing. So no, that is not safe to say.

My point is that noticing is subsumed into pinpoint. If you pinpoint someone, you've obviously noticed them. If you didn't pinpoint them, there's a chance you can notice them (within 30').

Then my argument would be no noticing, no pinpointing. The +20 for pinpointing is obviously added onto the notice DC. So if there is no notice DC, there is no pinpoint DC. You shouldn't be able to pinpoint something you can't notice.

As somebody said upthread, "I have no idea if anything is nearby, but whatever it is is RIGHT THERE!!!"

Just skimmed this thread and it may have been mentioned, but here is my response to the bold above:

I think it's safe to say. If you've pinpointed someone, you notice them.

Yep... Here's the link: Urban Ranger

Its from the Advanced Players Guide

Edit: I should point out that Favored Community is kind of lame.. A normal Ranger can just pick Favored Terrain (Urban), and it's much better. But if you want trapfinding and not be a rogue, this is one of the ways to do it.

My conclusions so far: Undead heavy, very urban, few if any traps...

Gonna recommend a Paladin, Cleric each in the group. Rangers might not get all they wanted out of being an undead hunter though. Barbarians are a mite risky, as they are fragile once one gets past the Fort save and hp. If a Rogue is willing to give up backstab for something else, fine, but they won't get much out of that option in this game. They would need an negotiator and an investigator type, so I shall recommend someone take the appropriate skills.

For Ranger, you could suggest the Urban Ranger variant. He can keep favored enemy for the undead, and pick Ustalav and the other communities as his favored communities (You'll have to help him pick communities). I think he could fit very well as an undead hunter type. Pick that varient, and there is little need for a rogue.. the urban ranger can do any trapfinding/disabling if need be.

Barbarians are just fine in any setting, but will struggle early. (ours died at level 2)

As far as Items:

So yes there are items that can help, but initially there will be struggles. If you feel it's too much, add in some one-shot items to help them out.

Dr Grecko wrote:

This seems a good place to ask, since we're on the subject of Classes in Carrion Crown. Just a quick Q for those familiar with later Carrion Crown. Is an intimidate build char any good in this module after book one is finished?

From what I have seen and read, no. There are one or two points in #2 that it may come in handy, beyond that...not so much.

Thanks! I may build him down that path anyway since I already started down that road, perhaps just not as heavily. At least I'll know not to expect the world from it, and hopefully can avoid becoming a total one trick pony.

This seems a good place to ask, since we're on the subject of Classes in Carrion Crown. Just a quick Q for those familiar with later Carrion Crown. Is an intimidate build char any good in this module after book one is finished?

For the OP, Disrupt Undead saved my bacon as an inquisitor plenty of times in the first module. That and saving my "Judgment" for main bosses. Between me and the Summoner and Oracle, we were the only ones capable of doing any damage to these incorporeals.

Sift (0), Bard/Inquisitor

Searching larger areas fast and without getting dirty is just great and its infinite. No DM interpretation or fiddling required.

I don't know what others concentration checks are like but its impossible to get spells of when grappled by anything that actually grapples so best to avoid the grapple checks by searching those ominous pits, pools and piles of detritus from range..

+1 for Sift. My inquisitor used it to search the bottom of a pit I sure as hell wasn't going into. He used it again to examine a room behind a locked iron bar portcullis.

And while showing up in your underwear might make you great as long as the spells you memorized last, your gonna pretty dang useless without that spellbook of yours tomorrow

Oh he has his spellbook... I'll let you guess where it's hidden :)

Blistering Invective for one, to get on topic with the op. Love the flavor and with my high intimidate bonus this spell delivers kicks to me that many don't. I also like the pit line of spells for obvious reasons, summon monster 4+ great stuff.

+1 on Blistering Invective. Something about cussing up a storm so vitriolic that those who hear it will burst into flames just speaks to me :)

Prying Eyes.. little orbs of scouting awesomeness. (also, for some reason every-time I cast it i burst into private eyes by hall and oates)

Telekinetic Charge.. Add reach spell and freak out your friends.

I was going to say liberating command until I realized it doesn't work for you personally. Still good for a that little extra boost for a high escape artist friend. Also its immediate action so it doesn't cost you much.

Put Anticipate Peril in a wand to use before you go into battle for a nice little bonus to initiative. Not really worth a spell slot though.

These creatures don't need land to survive on their own.

"Land, sea, and air" are not environments. Birds don't live in the "air" environment. They may live in a jungle, or forest, or tundra and then fly THROUGH the air to get around, but their environment is not "in the air".

<later....>

Yes. I guess that makes the person I was replying to correct, for the wrong reasons.

Not necessarily. My argument was that "Land, sea, and air" are all part of the environment these creatures live in. A fish can no more breath air, then a horse can breath water. A bird can fly and walk in it's environment where a horse can only walk.

Just imagine a horse in an all air environment. Apart from the amusing imaginary of legs-a-kickin-goin-nowhere-horse, the fact remains it wasn't meant to be there, and couldn't function that way for very long. Just as a fish out of water couldn't function for long either.

It's all a moot point with the rules quote Turin provided, but I think that just solidifies that the intent was that "land, sea, and air" are part of that "environment".

As a side note: I also just realized that when a summon dies, they go back to their plane where they heals up and can be summoned again in 24 hours. It would be a cruel existence to be pulled out of your realm only to fall instantly to your death, and then every 24 hours wait for it to happen all over again :)

master_marshmallow wrote:

Always prepare "Knock."

ALWAYS!!!

How you know name of me axe?

Sounds like a name better suited for a Bow or club really.

Disguise Self is underrated, in my opinion, as you can turn yourself into any humanoid. Why charm the guard when you can disguise yourself as a guard?

Disguise Self reminded me of another surprising favorite of mine: Alter Self. It changes you into another creature, and depending on the creature, you now have darkvision, low-light, scent or even a swim speed... I found it quite handy when we needed to explore an underwater section of a cave.

Dr Grecko wrote:

strayshift wrote:

.......just don't expect to contribute to every encounter.

I find this statement confusing, as a wizard, I've never had an encounter I couldn't contribute to. Whether it be buffing, crowd control, or damage. There is always something you can do.

The intention is to make the point that you have a finite number of spell options and in some encounters you may well have a completely minor role to play.

True, but that could be said about any class. In fact, good GM's know how to tailor encounters so that on one encounter, the wizard will shine, another the rogue, or fighter or cleric.

Even the most blaster-built evoker will sometimes have to take a back seat and focus on support roles while the fighter carves up the energy resistant creature. Other times, a high DR mob gets turned to mush by you before the fighter can even get there.

It's the nature of the game.

So, I guess I now understand what you were saying (about sometimes having to assume a minor role), and I agree. It's good advice to ensure your wizards keep a few support spells around for the times your normal shtick isn't effective.

Except if you move beyond random definitions for the word and see the usage, it says "into" which is not "on top of."

Most talk about environments supporting things has to do with available food and such.

I'm sorry, but this is hogwash. a supporting environment is more than just what food you eat. It involves everything you need to survive on your own. In the case of Orca's, that's water. Land based creatures can't fly and require land under their feet.

A simpler solution is to look at that creatures natural habitat. Which is why you don't see Orca's fly and Horses at the bottom of the ocean.

--------------
As far as favorite spells go. Dragon's Breath. While it's more dangerous to pull off because you need to be closer to the target, the fact that you can change energy types without going the admixture route as well as choose between cones and lines makes this one of my favorite damage spells. (Besides, being in the fray of combat makes it more exciting)

.......just don't expect to contribute to every encounter.

I find this statement confusing, as a wizard, I've never had an encounter I couldn't contribute to. Whether it be buffing, crowd control, or damage. There is always something you can do.

I’m about to start playing in a RotRL campaign with an Elven Wizard, Void school specialist. I’ll probably be taking a few feats to boost my blasting (Spell Focus:Evo & Varisian Tattoo: Evo). That said, I want to remain versatile, and I’m debating whether or not to also take the Spellbinder archetype or just stick with arcane bond on a ring (we’re a group of 6 and we’ve decided that no one is going to take ACs or familiars or focus on summoning to keep things moving). I also plan on taking Fast Study at 5th and leaving a few slots open across the levels for on the spot fixes outside of combat.

I really like the idea of being able to cast ANY spell just when it’s needed, so I’m leaning arcane bond, but I’ve seen quite a bit of praise for Spellbinder. Having never played a wizard before, I’m curious to hear how people make use of Spellbinder. Do you convert spells in combat, or during downtime as needed?

Any thoughts on the choice and why you’d go one way or the other would be appreciated!

I play a diviner spellbinder wizard who also took eldritch heritage to get his familiar back.

If you're going down the route of Spellbinder, you'll want to select spells that you'll use once per combat, and after combat is over, swap them out again, or spells that when you need them, you need to use a lot of them. For me, here's my current list:

1) Snapdragon Fireworks (usually added with dazing spell)
2) Mirror Image
3) Dispel Magic
3) Major Image
5) Teleport

I skipped the 4th level and picked up Major Image, for role-play reasons due to the fact that I have Preferred Spell:(Dragons Breath), but Haste would also be another good option there.

For Snapdragon Fireworks, Mirror Image, and Major Image, I generally only need them once per combat, but after I use them I want to be sure I have another one ready to go. So I'll always have at least one memorized, and will back-fill after combat is over.

For Dispel Magic and Teleport, those have very specific combat roles where a round of delay usually doesn't matter. Example: You need a quick getaway, so you yell, everyone to me, we're getting out of here. You swap a Teleport as the rest of the party gathers to you. Now you can touch everyone to Teleport away. Dispel magic is similar, usually when you need it, the round of delay is not as big a deal. If I know I'm going up against a magic user, I'll have it prepared, but normal dispels aren't usually as pressing a need.

Looking at these options again, I can see why I wanted a 2.5 It's a difference between the option given and the subtext that follows.. If we just take the Options:

Option 2: Healing in combat is a very bad use of resources and should be a last resort.

And...

Option 3: Healing in combat is a perfectly effective way to reduce risk to your party.

I would always choose Option 3. However, with the following subtext:

Option 2:This option means that you will normally perform other actions in combat but will save a comrade from dying if it comes to that.

And..

Option 3:This option means that you will heal primarily but not exclusively.

The subtext leans my answer back to Option 2.

I don't heal primarily and will normally choose other options, but healing is indeed a perfectly effective way to reduce risk to your party, and will consider it an option if my other options would not be as effective.

As a result I favorited both options.

I think there is another option.. a 2.5 if you will. Healing someone when there isn't a more effective use of your action.

Most heal spells I use during combat tend to fall in this category.

Usually this means your fighting something hard to hit, and the spells you have are not entirely effective against the enemy.

Also, My wizards familiar tends to do this a lot with CLW wand.

I guess it's hard to judge between the existing 2 and 3. I guess 2 for me. 3 for another gamer in my group who doesn't come to these boards.

Add me to the list of peeps who say you can already do this per raw with the "Bluff to Create a Diversion to Hide" rules. And while it doesn't need to specifically be a stone, that is the most iconic way to do it.

DM fiat is the only way it is viable...

I would argue that DM fiat is the only way it's not viable.

Dr Grecko wrote:

the hat will be rigid and my head held straight and firm.

At all times...

Do I care about all times. Not usually. Just I approach someone or they approach me. And even so, who's to say I can't do that at all times?

Anything contrary to what I want to do with my char is GM interference. If I want to walk around all rigid and stiff like the coneheads, that's my right.

except the volume the ship is displacing is the reason it's a freaking boat in the first place.

That air is important. Without the open spaces, a boat can't float. The air is essential to the function of the boat....

Air is indeed essential to keeping a boat afloat. That has nothing to do with the boats total volume, however.

It's not using Shrink Item in a 'creative way', it's using Shrink Item in a way that assumes GM Fiat it's going to work exactly as the player wants it to...ignoring all the evidence that that is exactly what is not going to happen.

because C) the brass bell on Ciretose's cap, tilted behind him by natural motion, expands backward at a 30 degree angle....

I think it's rather dubious of a GM to tell a player which way his head is tilted. That's for my player to decide. I believe you're picturing a hat with no rigidity to it, which is something a wizard preparing for this event would have already considered, the hat will be rigid and my head held straight and firm.

This is starting to go down the path of the "is air something" argument. I remember an argument about figments which invalidates their usage when you consider the fact that air is indeed "something" as figments can't make something seem to be something else.

Now its well established that you can indeed make illusions in mid air, which would seem to support that air is not "something" when considering the use of figments.

Using that logic, why on earth would we consider airspace when measuring the volume of an item to be shrunk?

And Aelryinth, I think if the devs wanted us to use 2 foot cubes per level, they would have used that phrasing instead of 2 cu. ft. per level which is by definition a volume measurement.

The area of effect of the spell is one object touched of up to 2 cubic feet/level.

How do you calculate the volume of a burning fire? How do you determine the volume of material in a house? A stable? A fence? A boat? ...

I'm not certain you would need to calculate the fire, just it's fuel. The spell mentions burning fire and it's fuel. Fire without fuel wont stay burning, so I would suspect the intent is to shrink the fuel.

Also, I just realized you'll probably have to make a concentration check as you get damaged by the fire you have to touch to shrink :)

Jumping further down into the rabbit hole...

At a molecular level there is a ton of "space" between each molecule, so if we are truly only interested in the volume of the material, then the molecular volume of most solids is much less than the spatial volume, by a huge margin.

But when you go to nuclear scales, it gets even crazier. A typical atom is 99.999999% purely empty space all by itself!.

So if we're going to talk about TRUE volume of material being affected by this spell, since a typical mountain will compress down into less than a teaspoonful of neutron star matter (and we're not even talking about quarks and gluons yet) then this spell could conceivably shrink down an entire planet if you TRULY want to calculate out MATERIAL VOLUME.

I like Marshall_Jansen's approach and that's how we rule in our games.

But to answer your question Marshall, the way you calculate the volume of all those complex and changing shapes is "calculus."

There's a formula for measuring volume of a cone, and it's not a measurement on the molecular level. I suggest we don't obfuscate the argument by suggesting a molecular volume when the spell is clearly measuring volume as cubic feet.

I think the spell and the authors assumes a solid(not flexible) container. Once you start using things that are flexible it kind of goes outside of the math.

Actually, I'm sure they had flexible items in mind. After all, shrunken items composition can become cloth-like, which is quite flexible. They were certainly taking it into account when shrunk, it would be reasonable to assume they thought about that before the item was shrunk.

Now, when considering volumes in regards to cu/ft per level, one needs to consider the math behind the volume of hollow cones does not include the airspace inside the cone.

If the spell didn't include air, things would blow up as the un-shrunk air tried to escape from the shrinking object. If you're talking a hollow sphere, you're effectively super-compressing the air for nothing.

Shrink Item has no choice but to include the air to avoid abusing that rule, and stop people giggling and shrinking down huge clouds of poison gas to tote around.

Shrink Item is going to consider a hollow boulder and a solid boulder to be occupying the same volume. That's all there really is to it.

===Aelryinth

Perhaps we could solve this problem the way Archimedes did. Submerge the item to be shrunk in water, the volume depends on the amount of water displaced.

Now your hollow sphere will displace more water since the air inside is trapped, which will add to it's displaced water volume. However, an open conical shape will trap no air and displace the proper amount of water.

It's silly to consider the open space as volume. It's a bunk argument and here's why: I can take a circular piece of cloth laid flat on a table... Shrink that piece of cloth... grab the point and raise it up to a cone, but according to you I can not take that same piece of cloth... raise point up into a cone and then proceed to shrink the item.

It's a mind-numbing argument.

I can prove the that the Schroedinger's Wizard is impossible. It is not sufficient to say no one has come up with such a build that just shows that no one has come up with a build.

Suppose that you managed to create Schroedinger's Wizard capable of dealing with any problem he might come across. Lets call him Bob.

Sense Bob is capable of dealing with any problem he might come across he must be prepared to fight another Schroedinger's Wizard Alice. But wait if Bob defeats Alice or Alice defeats Bob than a Schroedinger's wizard has been defeated causing a contradiction so Schroedinger's Wizard must be false.

I took the language from the proof for the halting problem

You must understand, that if Bob and Alice were ever to do battle, they would just meld into one big "Super-Schrodinger's Wizard" capable of handling any situation twice.

In all seriousness, the "Schrodinger's Wizard" concept is an abstract. No class can have the perfect solution to every problem at every moment.

But, if one was to choose one of the existing classes that is the closest to obtaining that abstract, it would be the wizard.

Dr Grecko wrote:

Nicos wrote:

Wizard are strong But wizards do not auto-win.

/thread.

You haven't met my Wizard, have you? ;)

Do you have a build you can post?

Grecko's auto-win wizard requires no build... He just wins.

Wizard are strong But wizards do not auto-win.

/thread.

You haven't met my Wizard, have you? ;)

Personally, I prefer to go with the Admixture subschool of evocation, and take the feats Spell Focus (Evocation), and Elemental Focus (Cold), and their greaters. Metamagic Master lets you cast metamagic spells at -1 CL, and taking Rime Spell allows for you to do battlefield control and blasting all with one spell slot, that one spell being fireball ideally.

Admixture is great for a blaster build. For me, I'm a Foresight Diviner who specializes in dragon-like spells (Dragons Breath, Snapdragon Fireworks, Possibly form of the dragon sometime for flavor).

But I generally focus on battlefield control.

After considering it a bit further, I think it's probably best for me to go with Reach Spell, and possibly get a Rime Rod. Reach will benefit more of my spells than Rime would, and When the time comes I can just add my dazing to the blasts instead.

Reach is wonderful because you can cast low level spells from a mile away (+1 spell lvl per range incriment).

That was kind of my thought behind possibly selecting it. What spells do you consider good candidates for reach spell?

Ilja wrote:

Reach seems to be best for buffs and defensive battlefield control, which are usually low-level, so I'd say get Rime and get a 3k Lesser Rod of Reach.

YMMV

The lesser rod of Rime is also 3k.

Utility wise both feats are really good, but if you are already 10th level, chances are you have your characters main strategy already figured out, my vote is for reach spell, if you are gonna go with Rime, it's best to do it early.

Well, I got to start this guy at 9th so strategy wise I haven't fully fleshed it out yet. When confronted with larger groups of lower level enemies I tend to start with battlefield control, and then blast them with Dragon's Breath. When mixed with a couple bigger bad guys I tend to cast my Dazing Snapdragon Fireworks.

Any other metamagic feats to consider other than the Heighten and Dazing that I already have?

Just wanted a quick opinion, and perhaps reason why I should pick one over the other for my 10th level freebie wizard feat. I can cast dragons breath spontaneously which would be great for Rime, but I also like what reach spell can do.

Whats everyone's thoughts on the two? What would be your preference?

Atarlost wrote:

To the OP: If your edit window is still open maybe you should bold "Core Only" in your OP. Apparently the majority of replies missed it.

Unfortunately it looks like I can't edit it anymore (not clear on the rules, this is my first posting).

Does core-only mean no archetypes? I've been reading the d20pfsrd site quite a bit and have figured that there are tons of races and classes that don't apply, but I've not figured out how archetypes fit into that mix. Thanks!

Yeah, no archetypes.. I believe that came in with the Advanced Players Guide.

A while ago I petitioned the people from d20pfsrd.com to create a global filter option so that one could filter out the content from books that are not allowed, but they basically said they couldn't do it. (I personally think that they can do it, and looking at their site setup, I really don't think it would even be that hard to do, but I digress)

So, since a rogue is not that strong, perhaps a Ranger? And attempt to find an archetype that makes them more rogue-like, put some points in stealth and disable device?

I'm a fan of the Urban Ranger for its ability to disable magical traps which in my opinion is the only reason to play a rogue.

Favored Community is kind of lame but can have situational benefits, but you still get Favored Enemy, which is your combat bread and butter.

I like to go switch hitter for good ranged ability but even better melee capabilities. With you and the paladin + yours and the druids animal companions, You should have melee pretty well covered.

The Trapper Ranger does the disable device shtick better, but I don't like giving up spell-casting, especially when Instant Enemy is so powerful.

If you decide to go with Urban Ranger, ask your GM what communities you can expect to be spending most your time in, and select those.

EDIT: Ahh. Core only? Then I guess it depends on how bad you need someone who can disable traps, i'd go with core Rogue for that, otherwise I still like the Switch Hitter Ranger for that group core or not.

It depends on the situation but generally, we tend to role play out the scenario's before rolling, then the GM applies modifiers depending on how it was role-played. We find it much more entertaining to have our rogue "actually" craft an elaborate lie, then to simply say "I bluff the guard". And as such, the GM will usually reward the player with what we call a "+2 roleplay bonus".

We most certainly never give out a negative for botched roleplaying unless it's just flat out terrible. Some people are just not as skilled as others.. And others simply are too shy to roleplay well, so they typically just ask for the straight rolls.

So, like I said.. It's situational but encouraged.

Wow. Thats way too many directions to consider for feats. :)

As for blasting, we will have an oracle of flame. So I am not sure I want to go that route. Also my last serious wizard was an elf diviner so I am not sure I should do that again. :)

Ugh. Decisions, decisions!

Thanks for the reply, and thanks to anyone who resopnds as well!

Indeed it's a lot of directions. I wasn't really suggesting to go with all of them, just highlighting some of what you could do.

So, if you want to try something other than the diviner, and blasting will be done by the Oracle, the Conjurer is a good choice. Take Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augmented Summoning, and Superior Summons. The rest of it is just gravy.

Then you can focus on Battlefield Control while your summons do the dirty work.

There's a good wizard guide that includes lists of good summons here: Prof Q's Wizard Guide

Even includes a sample build at the end of the doc.

3 feats just so you can get +4 bonus to skills seems a bit steep. You will be just great with your knowledge skills no matter what. My level 10 kingmaker wizard has 1 rank in all knowledge skills, combine that with his 24 int and the fact that knowledge is a class skill, I have a +11 in every knowledge skill, which for most purposes is more than enough. You can then put the rest of your points in the more vital skills: Spellcraft, Perception, Stealth, ect.

As for advice on what school to choose? I've done both a Teleportation Conjurer Wizard and a Foresight Diviner Wizard. They both perform great in Kingmaker, but I would have to say I like the Diviner better.

I went elf for the spellbinder archetype so that I could have better access to some of the utility spells. Being able to swap out a spell for Teleport at a moment's notice is quite handy. Also, You don't always need a Dispel Magic, but it's handy to be able to swap out for when you do. Spellbinder gives up your arcane bond, but if you keep Chr at 13, you could use a couple feats to get him back with Skill Focus (Kn: Arcana), and Eldritch Heritage (Arcane). Of course if you do that you'll probably want to go a step further and pick up Improved Familiar as well.

I also picked up preferred spell for casting dragons breath spontaneously. If you like to blast from time to time, it's a good idea to pick up Magical Lineage on a blast spell like fireball or dragons breath, and then combine it with preferred spell and spell perfection so that you can spontaneously add one of your Metamagic feats without level adjustment to your favorite blast spell. (You'll eventually want to get the spell penetration feats as you start seeing SR more and more after level 10) If you go Diviner, its not as big of a deal for SR because with Prescience, you get to roll twice to try to beat that SR.

Since this is Kingmaker, you will also have a ton of downtime, so if you can take crafting feats, you might want to consider taking them.

Hello Fellow Forum Friends,

I need a little help deciding my 10th and 11th level wizard feats. A little background. I'm a Foresight Diviner Spellbinder Archetype Wizard who likes to get up-close and personal to blast when needed. As such, here is my current and projected feat roll-out:

Magical Lineage - Dragon's Breath
Reactionary

1-Scribe Scroll
1-Toughness
3-Improved Initiative
5w-Heighten Spell
5-Dazing Spell
7-Leadership
9-Preferred Spell (Dragons Breath)

10w-(Rime Spell, Reach spell, ??)
11-(Rime Spell, Reach spell, ??)

13-Spell Penetration
15-Spell Perfection (Dragons Breath)
15w-Quicken Spell
17-Intensified Spell
19-Greater Spell Pen/Lingering Spell?
20-Focused Spell

As you can see I'm a little torn as to what exactly to pick for my 10th and 11th feats. I need at least 1 more metamagic feat before I can select Spell Perfection at 15, but I'm a bit torn on which one. I've read the guides, but I was looking for personal opinions.

Rime and Reach are the two that seem like the best choices right now. Rime would allow my dragons breath to entangle and with minimal cost due to magical lineage. However, a Rod would do the same thing, plus allow me to add Rime to cold ice strike without level adjustment when I get that spell.

Reach wouldn't effect dragons breath at all, but there are loads of utility spells that I think could benefit from the feat. A Rod could do the trick here too, but I would be limited to 1 range category increase, instead of 1 per spell level bump.

Maybe I'm just focusing too much on these two feats, and I know I could get both. What's everyone's thoughts? is one better than the other, is one better off as a Rod. Should I be considering something completely different with one of those feats?

Thanks in advance.

A person with a two charisma would not even get out of bed in the morning. Charisma is your force of personality, your drive to succeed,your spark of creativity, it's not just your likablity. you would with a two charisma, be beyond clinically depressed.

I have no idea where you are coming up with this, but charisma means none of that.

The PRD simply states that its a character's personality, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and appearance.

So for me, a low chr would have an dull, abrasive, unlikable personality, while possibly being ugly as well.

I see nowhere where in the description that leads me to believe you would be clinically depressed with a low chr.

I also disagree with you on low INT Chars. Some classes, like the barbarian, offer options that can be explained as natural progressions, and less a learned progression. I would play the char animalistic, and my feat and abilities would reflect that play-style.

Your options are small, but it can be done.

What might be fun, is to play a Beast Totem Barbarian with the 2 into Int. Play your char as a feral beast that learns basic trained animal commands. The rangers can then direct you in battle where you go all Beast Ragey on the enemies.

Well I'm thinking of going wizard. The theme is a guy w/a lot of scrolls; considering taking the scrollmaster archetype. Anyway, I thought for a little extra coin he would build wands and scrolls with metamagiced spells. For this reason I thought a wand of Extended Mage Armor would come in handy (pay the extra cash, put it in at 7th level of casting with the metamagic on it and get 14 hrs of armor every morning...)

I think others have mentioned but I want to reiterate. A wand with Extended Mage Armor on it costs you 10,500gp (5,250 if you make it). You get 50 castings of 14 hour Mage Armor.

Instead, grab a lesser extend meta-magic rod for 3,000gp. Now you can cast 3 different spells under 4th level as if you had the feat. Now you get your 14 hour mage armor, plus whatever else you want... And the best thing is when you level up, now your Mage armor goes to 16 hours. End 16 hours is quite literally your whole adventuring day since you sleep for 8 hours.

What I would do is get a lesser extend rod, cast your day long mage armor buff, and then scribe a level 1 scroll in cases of emergency.

Cost of Rod + scroll: 3,025gp.
Cost of Wand : 10,500gp.

Before I started playing the other three decided that they would ignore the AoO rules as they felt it dragged the combats out too long. At least that is what they *say* the reason is.

I've never had a problem with AoO's dragging down combat speed. The general goal of combat is to take away enemy hit-points before they take away yours. If anything, AoO's speed up that goal. If you want to speed up combat, I would suggest dropping combat maneuvers instead of AoO's. That's where the real slowdowns happen.