The first two times they encountered him the party was forced to retreat; the third time they eventually whittled him down enough to trigger his contingent Dimension Door, but he'll be back.
He's studied the party carefully and knows the party's tactics (or lack thereof). The party is 16th level and consists of a blasty Cleric (Flame Strike), a blasty Oracle (Chain Lightning), a melee Barb, a melee Monk, an Arcanist, and a Paladin.
He's been fairly successful keeping most of the party locked down using BF control, summons and pits (and Bull Rushing PCs into pits) and enough direct damage to keep the healers busy and if his BP or FtS sticks those need to be healed as well, but the Monk consistently eludes him (Fort 17, Ref 23, Will 19, 32 touch AC), and, in the most recent encounter, was able to (fortified with Resist Energy (Cold) to ignore damage from Fire Shield) eventually force him to retreat.
In the most recent encounter he had prepped Project Image (his Blindsight 30' stays with his meat body allowing him to use both forms quite effectively) and Prismatic Wall (Killed one PC and Plane Shifted another with this), but still just didn't have enough spells to take down all the PCs.
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Basically I'm just looking for new tactics to keep the PC's one their toes the next time they encounter him, and maybe give him a little more staying power.
Oh, and with few exceptions, I'm limiting this guy to the CRB and APG, just so you know.
I'm building a Transmuter BBEG and I've run into a problem with PAO, namely: How the heck does it work?
When cast on a creature, I gather it works like Greater Polymorph, and would be limited by the constraints of that spell as to what types and sizes it can transform into. Which cuts a lot of utility out of the spell.
What I don't understand is how does it work when you cast it on an object. The spell description specifies the base stats for an object that has none, which I imagine would then be further modified as per Greater Polymorph, so I can change a pebble in to a Medium Red Dragon with rather pitiful stats: Str 14 Dex 10 Con 12 Int 5 Wis 5 Cha 5, 14 AC and only a handful of abilities, pretty weak compared to Summon Monster VIII.
But the big question is: how many Hit Dice would this Dragon have? Objects have hit points, so maybe I can have those carry over (which raises its own problems: Pebble into Dragon - 20 hp, boulder into Dragon - 2,000 hp). But I still need HD for basically everything else.
Any ideas on how to run this? If there's not a RAW answer, House Rule suggestions would be welcome too.
If a Half-Orc with the Toothy Racial Trait were to make a single bite attack (and no other attacks), would the bite get the benefit of 1.5x STR since it's her only natural weapon or would her iterative attacks count as "multiple attacks"?
PRD wrote:
If a creature has only one natural attack, it is always made using the creature's full base attack bonus and adds 1-1/2 times the creature's Strength bonus on damage rolls. This increase does not apply if the creature has multiple attacks but only takes one. If a creature has only one type of attack, but has multiple attacks per round, that attack is treated as a primary attack, regardless of its type.
What if she was under the effects of haste? Would the second bite attack make both of her attacks 1x STR?
Can I cast Magic Fang on my animal companion three times to make all three of its attacks +1 weapons, or would only the most recent casting take effect?
Does my Paladin have to attack with his Holy Avenger to gain the benefit of SR?
Holy Avenger wrote:
This +2 cold iron longsword becomes a +5 holy cold iron longsword in the hands of a paladin.
This sacred weapon provides spell resistance of 5 + the paladin's level to the wielder and anyone adjacent to her. It also enables the paladin to use greater dispel magic (once per round as a standard action) at the class level of the paladin. Only the area dispel is possible, not the targeted dispel or counterspell versions of greater dispel magic.
Pathfinder FAQ wrote:
Unless otherwise specified, you have to use a magic item in the manner it is designed (use a weapon to make attacks, wear a shield on your arm so you can defend with it, and so on) to gain its benefits.
This new ruling from the FAQ would seem to imply that my Pally would have to make an attack for the powers of his Avenger to function.
If I had reason to believe a foe was under the effects of a Haste spell (or any spell for that matter) and I wanted to dispel the Haste, but not any other spell effects, could I simply target the Haste? Do I have to be able to see and identify the Haste aura via Detect Magic and Spellcraft?
I'm playing a Barbarian 1/Inquisitor 5 right now. It's my first time playing the Inquisitor class and I'm really enjoying it. The firt Barb level I took at creation for RP reasons, I'm about to level up and I can't decide if I want a second level of Barb. I'm mostly interested in the Moment of Clarity power, though d12 HD, +1 Fort, +1 Bab, +2 rounds of rage, and uncanny dodge are all nice.
The only problem is I'd be losing yet another caster level. Is it really worth it to be able to cast while raging?
I'm quite sure I'm reading this right, but it still doesn't sound right.
The 1st level Strength Domain power says:
Quote:
Strength Surge (Sp): As a standard action, you can touch a creature to give it great strength. For 1 round, the target gains an enhancement bonus equal to 1/2 your cleric level (minimum +1) to melee attacks, combat maneuver checks that rely on Strength, Strength-based skills, and Strength checks. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.
Since this is an enhancement bonus to attack, it wouldn't stack with a magic weapon, but it would stack with Bull's Strength (an enhancement bonus to Strength, not to attack).
It just seems counter-intuitive to me. There's no errata I'm missing?
7 people marked this as FAQ candidate. Answered in the errata.
In 3.5 demoralizing an opponent with intimidate could not worsen a subjects condition past shaken. Pathfinder seems to have omitted this line. Does that mean if the Necro-Sorc uses grave touch to make an enemy shaken, I can intimidate them to frightened?
So, I've been unable to decide exactly what kind of character I want to build. What started as Gnome Duelist, has been gradually morphing to become more and more focused on combat maneuvers.
My current harebrained idea is to try to use a whip effectively.
I figured a feat heavy build like this is better off going Fighter, though I have considered a dip in Bard or Inquisitor of Calistra to pick up Whip prof. Don't really know what benefit that will have over just spending a feat, (although the flavor Inquisitor could be interesting)
While my group has an APG, I personally don't have a copy so I'm not sure if there are any feats, or possibly Rogue Talents that may help in the APG.
A basic idea was to use the whip for range, and a rapier for up close and damage. Perhaps a short sword and TWF? TWF with two whips could be interesting, but whips aren't light.
If I stuck with Gnome (preferred), it's only a -1 to CMB, not too awful. I won't be able to trip large creatures, though, and anything with natural attacks can't really be disarmed. That's could be a lot of enemies that a whip can't control. I could still attack such opponents with a rapier, or qucikdraw a greatsword for more damage.
I haven't really been able to organize many thought on the build (half of this just I thought while writing) so I apologize for that. Anything at all that you could give me would help a lot. I still can't decide if this idea is even viable.
Recently I have seen the topic of Light and Magical Darkness pop up on the forums. I've tried reading them all, but they are dominated by opinion and conjecture, and I'm having trouble deducing a straight answer.
What is "Ambient Light"?
Are the Sun, Moon, and Stars to only sources of "Ambient Light"?
If I'm exploring a room lit by a torch I'm holding, and someone drops Darkness. The torch is canceled, there's no other light, so the room is dark.
What if the room was lit by torches in sconces, or oil lamps? Are those canceled as well, or are they reduced one level to dim? What if they're not in the area of darkness, can they shed dim (reduced from normal) light into the darkness?
If a cave is lit, to normal light, by bio-luminescent fungus is this light reduced or canceled?
The original concept was to create a rakish Gnome Duelist based very loosely on Oliver Platt's portrayal of Porthos with a bit of the Dread Pirate Wesley.
The Duelist is the target of much ire, being accused of not dealing damage and being generally useless. A small Duelist would have compounded damage issues and his Parry ability would suffer. I'm not opposed to focusing on Combat Maneuvers like Trip and Disarm, but the Duelist PrC doesn't seem built towards those mechanics.
Ironically, the Rake and Swashbuckler archetypes don't appeal to me, mostly because I've played many the Rogue, and am hoping for a slightly different crunch than flank and full-attack. At least not a straight Rogue, anyway.
Looking at the Fighter Archetypes, the ones that jump out immediately are the Free-Hand, Two Weapon, and Mobile. Only the Free-Hand Fighter seems to benefit from being lightly armored.
At the moment, I'm thinking along the lines of a multi-classed Free-Hand Fighter and Swashbuckler Rogue. I'm haven't started planning a level progression or feats because I'm still unsure how I want to contribute to combat. Can this character deal worthwhile damage without being a straight Rogue? Can he survive in melee without the AC of full plate? Are combat maneuvers a viable alternative, or are they the sole purview of spiked chain fighters?
The fighter in my group wants to take the Two-Handed Fighter Archetype, but he also doesn't want to lose armour training. Would it be too much if the DM allowed him to "buy back" his armor training using his lv 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 feats, and got the benefits at those levels? Realistically, only armour training 1-3 will come into play as the campaign is unlikely to go much past 12.
All he'll be getting is +10 move, +3 max dex -3 armor check. The +10 move is basically the Fleet Feat, the armor check and Max Dex combined is basically Dodge + Free Mithral. Not really but it's a ballpark. Dodge is kind of a sub-par feat, especially to a Fighter who already has good AC, so is how much would the "Free Mithral" be worth considering it would stack with actual Mithral armor. Maybe too much.
Fighter's Dex is 13, so he can only abuse it so much.
Two-Handed Fighter
Spoiler:
Some fighters focus their efforts on finding the biggest,
heaviest, most imposing weapon they can find and training
to manage and harness the weight of their massive weapons
for maximum impact. These fighting school benefits only
apply when using two-handed weapons.
Shattering Strike (Ex): At 2nd level, a two-handed fighter
gains a +1 bonus to CMB and CMD on sunder attempts
and on damage rolls made against objects. These bonuses
increase by +1 for every four levels beyond 2nd. This ability
replaces bravery.
Overhand Chop (Ex): At 3rd level, when a two-handed
fighter makes a single attack (with the attack action or a
charge) with a two-handed weapon, he adds double his
Strength bonus on damage rolls. This ability replaces
armor training 1.
Weapon Training (Ex): As the fighter class feature,
but the bonuses only apply when wielding two-handed
melee weapons.
Backswing (Ex): At 7th level, when a two-handed
fighter makes a full attack with a two-handed weapon,
he adds double his Strength bonus on damage rolls for
all attacks after the first. This ability replaces armor
training 2.
Piledriver (Ex): At 11th level, as a standard action, a
two-handed fighter can make a single melee attack with
a two-handed weapon. If the attack hits, he may make a
bull rush or trip combat maneuver against the target of
his attack as a free action that does not provoke an attack of
opportunity. This ability replaces armor training 3.
Greater Power Attack (Ex): At 15th level, when using
Power Attack with a two-handed melee weapon, the bonus
damage from Power Attack is doubled (+100%) instead
of increased by half (+50%). This ability replaces armor
training 4.
Devastating Blow (Ex): At 19th level, as a standard action,
a two-handed fighter may make a single melee attack with
a two-handed weapon at a –5 penalty. If the attack hits, it
is treated as a critical threat. Special weapon abilities that
activate only on a critical hit do not activate if this critical
hit is confirmed. This ability replaces armor mastery.
I'm making a Lv 1 character to join the following group in a 12 level campaign:
Human Fighter(Melee)
Human Rogue(Ranged)
Halfling Bard(Ranged)
Drow Sorcerer(Blaster)
I want to make a Pally and decided on Elf so I can hassle the Drow (All in good fun :) Party needs a frontliner, so picked I THF. Rolled scores: 17 17 14 13 11 10. Here's my preliminary build:
Any advice would be appreciated. Particularly, should I swap Str and Con for more Hp? Would both Cleave and Vital Strike be redundant?(things to do with a Standard Action) Which is better? I'm also thinking of squeezing Deadly Aim for some ranged support. If I were to squeeze in a level of Fighter, when would be best? After Lay on Hands? Divine Grace? or wait until Divine Bond?
