Joachim's page

The table on Item Creation gives the cost for "Multiple different abilities" for slotted items as "Multiply lower item cost by 1.5" There is a warning on the webpage Altering Existing Items warning against moving powers from one slot to another, especially inappropriate locations.

As with all things non-PFS it is up to the GM to say, but expect the price to be 50% higher than the head slot, remembering that normally you can only purchase even bonuses to stats (+2, +4 or +6)

That's what I was looking for. I couldn't find the reference back to it and wasn't sure if it existed in the final ruleset. I remember it being a specifically discussed change in the Alpha.

Not trying to break the game or buck the system. Amulet of Spell Cunning/Mastery it is!

I am playing a Wizard in our current group's campaign. I have chosen an amulet to be my bonded object, and I have reached the point where I can start to enchant it. If possible, I would like to have it give an enhancement bonus to my character's Intelligence.

I am remembering that there were some restrictions on placing enhancement bonuses on items that were not slotted correctly (e.g. Physical attributes on belts, mental attributes on headbands) but this may just be an artifact in my mind from the PF Alpha. All that I can see in the section on crafting items is that it costs 1,000 gp x bonus^2.

I have scoured the SRD, the FAQ, and the boards to see if this question has come up, and I haven't seen anything. So, I thought I would just post this myself.

Anyone have any idea on this? Is it possible? Does it cost more? Have I just overlooked a section in the CRB?

Monrail wrote:

I'm following your journal both here and over at Enworld (even though I actually don't like the AP as I don't get the appeal of playing a downright evil character). That said,your writing is as entertaining as in your previous campaign logs so I'm more than likely to keep readin' :-)

Thank you, Sir! We were skeptical of this campaign as well, but I tell you, it has really opened up the role-playing possibilities. Seems like it frees the players up to try things they wouldn't normally do. Everything doesn't boil down to "here's a monster/bad guy so roll initiative." With the antagonists being generally good-aligned, there is room for diplomacy, bluffing, intimidating on a much higher level.

"Evil will always triumph over Good because Good is dumb."

- Kelvin Dannister

Yeah, that one sucked. As Zula's player, I let the group make the call as to whether or not they wanted me to blast the ravens (with them in it) and risk the stun. Then I rolled high damage (19 on 3d8) and everyone failed their saves. The situation cascaded and was somewhat touch and go, especially with the ninjas having that extremely potent poison requiring two consecutive saves.

The DC is the opposing creature/character's armor class.

Playing a synthesist right now. If we weren't doing Slumbering Tsar I would almost feel bad about how BA this character is. It needs no more help.

I have forwarded this to my gaming group (most of whom don't necessarily troll this board as much as I do). It has been universally praised...well done.

The answer to question 1 is option 1...both would trigger at the same time, with the Rending Claws being precision damage.

To your question about speed, you use the Eidolon's speed, increasing by 10 feet for each extra Legs evolution.

Been reading up on Synthesists, and I couldn't figure this out. If I want to focus purely on damage, is it better to go biped (presumably for Slam), or go quad (presumably for Pounce/Rake)?

I've seen it argued that you can't always pounce, but more often than not, you should be able to Rake. So what's the downside to quad? -2 to Str doesn't seem so bad? Or is there some other advantage that I'm not seeing for biped? Can someone enlighten me?

Please no snarky comments about going normal Summoner or Master Summoner instead.

Biped, for no other reason than you can't cast somatic spells without hands, per the FAQ.

Just my 2c to this discussion...

I am an unabashed optimizer. I agonize over every choice for my character, whether its a feat, skill point, new spell known, etc. I LOVE the summoner class. Its one that I just keep coming back to. When the master summoner came out, I was thrilled, because it did what I thought the class was supposed to do: Summon, as opposed to buff a pet and let it maul your enemies.

Then I played one. Eidolon was a lockpicker/searcher/scout type (I even used the small eidolon so he would never be a combat threat). Character was the party face, having taken a trait that gave Diplomacy as a class skill (and eventually the skilled: diplomacy evolution through Aspect).

Plain and simple, in most situations, the master summoner stole the thunder of almost every character on the table. He was analogous to a Swiss Army Knife. No, you may not have the most optimal tool for any given encounter/challenge, but you have something good enough to get the job done in almost all cases (the only exception being a shadow demon that we ran into at around 8th level), and in some cases egregiously so. I started putting an unspoken limit on myself of only ever having two SLA's worth of summons on the table at one time...this was to let others do their thing as well as for time considerations (even though I was super organized, I was hogging way more time than one of seven players should).

Following that experiment I had to promise my GM and group that I would never play that class ever again. Even I have my limits...

We have a group that consists of 7 players. What we have found that works is to simply add the 'Advanced' template to all creatures. This makes them all tougher, hit harder, and the increased CR gives enough xp to keep everyone on course for the levels required in each module.

A melee inquisitor would fit in very nicely with the group.

Just wanted to ask the Paizo community regarding the use of arcane sight.

Situation:

A wizard has previously arcane sight cast on himself. During a encounter, an enemy casts a silence spell that includes the wizard in his area of effect.

Question:

In this situation, would you allow the wizard to know the extent of the area of the silence, and thus allow him to choose to take the shortest path outside the area of effect?

1) There is no such thing as a "weapon-like ability". If the Weird Words ability created a Ray effect, it would count, but it doesn't, so it doesn't. The spells listed specifically create a magical "weapon", i.e., a scimitar, greataxe, etc. There is nothing that indicates that Weird Words is a weapon in any way.

2) The FAQ is from the developer. The FAQ is part of the Rules. If your player doesn't like it, he can play a different character, but answers in the FAQ are canon. A lack of appearance in a rulebook does not discount the validity of the ruling.

Maybe I am completely missing the boat, but the FAQ post does not seem to be as exclusive as you are indicating. It does not separate rays from other ranged attacks...the FAQ request simply asked about rays specifically. If you have to roll an attack, you can use good hope, heroism, etc.

Replace Warrior of Old with Wayang Spell Hunter.

Is Heighten Spell a prerequisite for any of the feats? It doesn't do any good at level 5.

Magical Lineage...at 5th level you cast a heightened (+1 lvl) fireball as a 3rd level spell...and its the pre-req.

Kat, that is not accurate. In fact, its totally wrong.

Agreed. Especially when many of the people that are complaining have the same angry tone that we fault him for. Having worked for a company that deals with complaints from customers, I can feel his pain. It's not easy to balance something and a lot of people keep thinking that it is. Already, reading back on the last two pages and other threads on how to fix FoB, we see people can't exactly agree on what homebrew version is balanced. So, imagine if that was your job? At the very least the argument has gotten more civil for the most part.

Difference being that he's not paying us to play his game. It's the other way around. I understand that some of the responses were somewhat over-the-top (one of the reasons I have stayed silent on the matter, letting the dust settle a little bit), but he needs to maintain some level of civility with his customers, especially when he is being challenged with reasonable arguments (see: how this new ruling invalidates entire archetypes). Instead, he chose to respond with snark...and in the process showed his lack of respect of the people that literally 'pay his salary'.

This party is just getting started, Joachim! You know, I had a barbarian character in 3.5 with that exact name, spelling and all!

Master Arminas

Mine was a cleric of Tyr from 3.0, back during the original Take Eight modules.

Late to the party, although I have been following it with interest from the beginning. Put me down in master arminas' camp...+1 to basically all of his points.

While the point has already been made, this situation does bring up a question with Paizo's internal organization. Either:

1) There are two sides of the office, one that makes the product (AP's, accessories, etc.) and the other that makes the rules. Obviously, based on the stat blocks provided in the AP's and the GMG (as well as archetypes like the Zen Archer and Sohei that CLEARLY do no work with the clarification), the assumption by Paizo's own staff was that they interpreted it similarly to how arminas (and the group that I have been playing with) has. This would indicate a lack of review and or communication between the two groups.

and/or,

2) SKR gave a quick response to a long series of questions regarding the AoMF and monk attacks, and then JB sided with that interpretation to prevent his co-worker from looking bad. To his credit, JB indicated their plans to review and make a final ruling on the issue, and this shows a commitment on his part to customer service.

I will say that some of SKR's responses were somewhat troublesome. I would not expect such a tone being directed at one's customers, even in the midst of a contentious debate such as this.

Winston Churchill.

My favorite two-handed weapon is the heavy flail. 1d10 damage (decent), 19-20 crit range (good for improved crit), and is a trip and disarm weapon.

If you want to do something else, go the combat expertise route and pick up trip and (later) disarm.

How about maze followed by a dimensional lock in the area that the person previously occupied? Refresh the lock every 20 days or so...that would be a pretty efficient way to rid the world of, say, the Tarrasque...

Ah, i didn't realize you were *that* Joachim.

LOL...that sounds less than positive.

Here is my Master Summoner's introduction/schtick:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/story-hour/308232-jollydocs-serpents-skull-upd ated-8-28-2011-a.html#post5611582

Cheapy wrote:

You can find Entropic here in the PRD. Scroll around for Resolute too.

Where does it say you can summon the elementals from bestiary 2? I know there have been several complaints that the original list was not expanded. If it can be done then it is a well kept secret.

Check the PFSRD. Under summon monster/elementals, they provide stats for all of the elemental types.

I'm playing a Master Summoner right now. He's fifth level, and his eidolon is currently pretty useless in a combat situation. She can do almost everything else, though - I've fixed her up as a freaky little (snake) rogue with arms. She can Disable Devices with the best of them, and she specializes in Perception and Sense Motive, skills that the rest of the party is severely lacking. She can also solve a lot of problems with a climb speed and a knife.

The summoner himself is a dominating force in combat due to his ability to cover the field in whatever is appropriate to the situation. Many an encounter has been buried under the force of a horde of Earth Elementals. Even when encounters turn against the rest of the party, he has the staying power to keep summoning up something else, giving us time to fall back and mount a second offensive. Sometimes he ends up having to spend an action dismissing his eidolon, but that's a small price to pay for the devastation multiple summons can wreak.

+1. I am playing the same template as flamethrower49, albeit just reached level 4. Yes, you don't have the same power behind your hits as your party tank, but you can be useful in just about any combat situation, be it on the ground, air, water, etc.

If I'm allowed 6 squares as my move, is it allowed to make an attack (standard action) after moving 2 squares and moving another 4 squares afterwards?

Not without a feat, such as Spring Attack or Flyby Attack.

I see nothing wrong with a DM having NPCs distrust or even condemn a PC casting [evil] descriptor spells, but I do fault a DM that wants to see alignment as a brainless tally sheet.

-James

+1 to everything you said, James.

To add, usually those DMs only see the tally sheet move one way, regardless of what the PC does before or after the 'evil' act.

Will it cause Paladins and good clerics to fall?

Probably.

Problem here...Paladins and Good Clerics are mechanically forbidden from casting spells with the [evil] descriptor, so it can't happen.

This argument pops up frequently, but I think one of the posters had it right...it's what you do with the creature that makes it evil or not. Pathfinder has removed ALL references to casting evil spells as being evil acts.

If casting a spell with the [evil] descriptor makes you lean towards evil, then conversely every time you cast a [good] spell you should start to lean back towards good. Is there some karmic scoreboard that the Powers That Be keep every time a sorcerer casts Protection from Good? I guess I could just summon a few celestial dogs in the morning to get things back to neutral, like a daily vitamin.

Usually the proponents of the [evil] spells as evil acts (reflexively, without thought as to how the creatures are used) are capricious DMs who like to use alignment as a hammer against their good-aligned PCs.

DP doesn't only control the body while leaving the mind completely under the target's control. Otherwise the target could take purely mental actions, like using SLA's, of his own volition.

It would make even less sense to suggest that the dominating entity could not activate mental abilities because "he controls the body, not the mind."

If a dominated character shares a telepathic link with another creature, the dominating entity can force the character to "speak" using that link, or forbid him to "speak" just as the dominating entity can force him to speak, or not, normally.

How does the dominating creature/caster know what the target's mental abilities are to tell him to use them?

You have to look at what dominate does...it establishes a telepathic link and controls the target's physical actions. It does not control the target's mental activities, as noted by the way the target resists the control.

The summoner and eidolon are linked by a separate telepathic bond, through which the summoner can send separate commands to the eidolon (such as 'I am being dominated, knock me unconscious').

Purchased the two Crit and Fumble apps. Crossing my fingers for an interactive character sheet for the iPad.

Taldans - Spanish during their collapse

Cheliax - Germany during the rise of the Nazis

That's what I equate them to.

Joachim wrote:

Are the wild-blooded abilities available using eldritch heritage? They are part of an archetype, so I would be interested to see if they are available for that particular feat chain.

Hmmm, don't know actually. I hadn't looked at it that way. It sure doesn't seem unbalancing, but I don't know if it's RAW.

I would be interested in the Primal (Elemental) bloodline for the MS that I am currently playing, and like you said it shouldn't be unbalancing...Skill Focus (Planes) has its place for the character, but the initial Eldritch Bloodline feat for the ray is basically taking a feat, throwing it on the ground, and lighting it on fire.

Are the wild-blooded abilities available using eldritch heritage? They are part of an archetype, so I would be interested to see if they are available for that particular feat chain.

Managing summons is just part of learning to be a decent player.

If you learn how to do so efficiently there is no problem. In fact I've been at tables where one player had 8 different creatures and their turn went more swiftly than the player who only had his own PC.

It's all about the player,

James

Amen to that, James. That's why I will come prepared. As to your previous point (and I am not sure that you were directing this as me), I was not suggesting that the summoner would supplant the sorcerer. I was trying to suggest that the master summoner, in it's role, was merely on a similar power level to the sorcerer.

I tend to look at the master summoner as a Swiss Army knife. Sure, you may have a better pair of scissors or a screwdriver in your tool drawer, but in a pinch the Swiss Army knife can get the job done. Similarly, the myriad of summons that you can whip out can meet almost any combat challenge, albeit not necessarily as effectively as a PC built to handle said challenge.

I agree with most of what Elyza says. I am playing a master summoner right now (only made it to level 2), and he is coming along quite nicely. However, I am always prepared, complete with iPhone summoning apps and my laptop pdfs....I have even taken pages from the bestiary and made separate files for each Summon Monster spells so I can just flip quickly between pages and have all the stats there.

As to your analysis of the class I think that you are dead on. One thing that must be pointed out is that while the sorcerer may have more TOTAL spells than you, you will have many many more of your highest level spells due to the fact that your summon ability spell level increases (i.e. when he has 4 5th levels per day you will have the equivalent of 12), and the ability to cast summons as a standard action with 10x duration can't be overestimated.

Set wrote:

(Yes, that's a lame idea, to treat alignment as some cheap, morally irrelevant point-game, but if evil spells can turn you evil for no reason at all, then good spells should be able to turn you good for no reason at all as well, or else the whole...

Here is how I think of that. If you are summoning an evil creature, casting the spell requires you to focus on that type of creature and what it does. You briefly, superficially take on a similar mind set to that of the creature. (That's why gods don't like their clerics casting evil spells.) If you do this often enough, the mind set becomes more natural to you and your alignment changes.

If you are a good person and spend six seconds thinking about what it would be like to kill a baby, you will probably end up saying "that was unpleasant". If you spend a minute or five doing that every day, you will eventually transition to a "yeah, it's time to think about killing babies" attitude (neutral) and then to a "baby killing time. I wonder how skewers would work" attitude (evil).

By this logic, summoning a lantern archon or hound archon often enough would 'balance the score'.

The thought process of a character skilled in summoning would not be how evil the creature they are summoning is...it's more like 'which tool fits this job?' If you are going to say that casting evil spells make you evil then casting good spells, conversely, MUST make you good.

found and fixed. thank you for bug report.

Cool. While you are looking at the bonuses for Augment Summoning, the damage bonus for the Tyrannosaurus (SM VII) should be +4 as they have the powerful bite ability.

If you are interested in getting really complicated, the bonuses for creatures with trample, rend, constrict, powerful charge, etc. may also be affected similarly, but the formulas for these effects are not provided in the Bestiary, although you can interpret them.

Thanks for putting this together, and smacking the bugs down as they come along!

Joachim wrote:

Just an FYI, I have downloaded the update, and while it looks great, it crashes every time that I go from a monster tab back to the menu.

Which device do you have?

speaking about menu do you mean the spell list? or the monster list? I don't have this issue on iphone 4. so i need to know witch device has this issue, and if someone other has.

Another thing: you can ignore this question, if you don't want to answer, but i have to ask it: Is your device jailbroken? If it is, do you have some tweak like backgrounder, or something else?

I'm asking it because i have to know if it's a program issue or if it is just the new gui asking for too much memory.

Thank you for your help. i will implement the bonus you sayd i hope soon. ^^

Sorry that I haven't responded sooner...been out of pocket.

I am using an iPhone 4, should be updated to most recent version (I will double check tonight by connecting to my iTunes computer). It is not jailbroken, no weird backgrounds. The crash occurs ever single time that I go from the full monster description and hit the Summon Monster (i.e. the Back) button. It shows the monster list for about 1 second, and the program quits.

new version updated.

Summoner now is 1.2

ChangeLog:
- greatly improved GUI: Now The first monster tab is full screen. you can scroll down to see other monsters HP.
- Fixed many monsters issue.
- Fixed minor bugs.

Summoner Lite 1.1.1

ChangeLog:
- greatly improved GUI: Now The first monster tab is full screen. you can scroll down to see other monsters HP.
- Fixed many monsters issue.
- Fixed minor bugs.
- Added and removed some trial monster.

Just an FYI, I have downloaded the update, and while it looks great, it crashes every time that I go from a monster tab back to the menu.

I know that you are working on other issues (resolute/anarchic, BAB/HD, etc.), but there is one mechanical thing that you may want to look into. Monsters with 1 natural attack or wielding 2-handed weapons need to have 1 point of damage added to their stats when affected by Augment Summoning. The +4 strength bonus should give a +2 to hit and +3 to damage.

Again, I love this app and have already recommended its purchase to a couple of friends. Thanks!

Joachim wrote:

I am about to play a master summoner in a Serpent's Skull campaign, and one possible feat for your consideration would be Spell Specialization (Black Tentacles). This would help keep the spell viable into the higher levels.

Spell Specialization? This feat?

It requires Spell Focus, which may be seen as a feat tax for a class that doesn't have many feats, and probably should be avoiding DC-based offensive spells anyway, and Black Tentacles doesn't have a save. It might be something you'd get on the way to Augment Summoning, but Master Summoner receives Augment Summoning anyway as a bonus feat without needing prerequisites. Additionally, Black Tentacles might not be worth a feat or two for a +2 to its roll. Is it worth two feats, one you might consider a feat tax, just for a +2 to one spell?

I view Black Tentacles as being more for locking down weaker enemies as well as making difficult terrain, in which case its somewhat poor and poorly scaling CMB roll is not seen as such a hindrance.

Oops...Didn't see that requirement. Yeah, you're right. Not worth it unless you are taking Spell Focus for Varisian Tattoo/Bloatmage, in which case you are burning 4 feats to gain +4 on the spell. Too much of an investment for my blood, but I still really like the use of the spell.

I am about to play a master summoner in a Serpent's Skull campaign, and one possible feat for your consideration would be Spell Specialization (Black Tentacles). This would help keep the spell viable into the higher levels.

Joachim wrote:

I have a question about Augment Summoning and other 'temporary' bonuses to strength (such as the spell Bull's Strength). The rules state that for every 2 points you add, you gain a +1 to hit and a +1 to damage. What if this is going to a creature with one natural attack and/or someone wielding a two-handed weapon? Does this bonus to damage increase to +3 (or, in the case of a summoned T-rex, +4)?

Increasing a creature's Strength increases its Strength Bonus, and that does indeed affect every single attack the creature makes. So, if you increase a monster's Strength score by 8 points, that would indeed give it an additional +4 to hit and +4 on every attack. You base the damage on the creature's TOTAL strength, though, not the bonus itself, in the case of determining total damage bonuses to two handed weapons or off hand weapons/secondary attacks.

Thanks, James.

I have a question about Augment Summoning and other 'temporary' bonuses to strength (such as the spell Bull's Strength). The rules state that for every 2 points you add, you gain a +1 to hit and a +1 to damage. What if this is going to a creature with one natural attack and/or someone wielding a two-handed weapon? Does this bonus to damage increase to +3 (or, in the case of a summoned T-rex, +4)?

Joachim wrote:

Is there anywhere that you have listed the monster's Hit Dice or BAB? This could be useful information, especially for those several monsters with Power Attack. Hit Dice may not be as useful unless there are questions about the monster being effected by spells like daze monster, sleep, etc.

Ops. It's in To Do List.

Great...thanks, man!

Is there anywhere that you have listed the monster's Hit Dice or BAB? This could be useful information, especially for those several monsters with Power Attack. Hit Dice may not be as useful unless there are questions about the monster being effected by spells like daze monster, sleep, etc.

Beats wrote:

The Master Summoner I'm currently playing doesn't use his eidolon in combat. All of his evolutions are Skilled (Knowledge: Whatever) and Ability Increase (Int). The eidolon is only summoned when a question needs answering that no one else can answer; Evolution Surge can give other Skilled evolutions temporarily that he doesn't permanently have (like Appraise).

....just make sure you keep some uses in reserve.

i like that idea for the eidolon on this archtype.

We are about to start a Serpent's Skull game, and I will be using the Master Summoner archetype, and I have built my Eidolon to cover traps and locks. At 1st level, my Eidolon has a +17 to disable device.

Do you threaten all squares within reach in 3-dimensional space? So does a normal medium PC threaten the five-foot space directly above him, so that a flying creature who passed directly over him would provoke an attack of opportunity? What about the five-foot space above-and-beside him (on a diagonal)? Would a flying creature who lands in front of a medium PC provoke an attack of opportunity for moving through that space?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes.