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Thanks. As it happens, the tiger's nine current tricks (six for 2 int, three bonus tricks) are: attack, improved attack, come, heel, track, guard, defend, down and stay.

Does that mean she doesn't need to teach it any additional tricks? Or does it mean if I "train" it for combat it loses "stay" and "track"?

Is the "play" trick a custom trick you worked out with your GM?

With that list of tricks your tiger is combat trained rule wise. So you are set on that score.

The trick packages are said to use up all the tricks of an animal because a normal animal can have a maximum of 6 tricks at Int2. Your companion laughs at them and says: 'see what else i can do? nyah nyah.'

Regarding my 'play' example above. The text for Tricks is as follows.

"Possible tricks (and their associated DCs) include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:"

Spending a trick to give a combat option to an AC that is within its capabilities to perform was something my DM was fine with. Animals will naturally flank (wolfpack tactics?) but i could also easily see spending a trick to command an AC to aid another as a combat option as well. Take a moment to think 'outside the box' on that list. Adding a few extra simple options via trick use adds new levels of adaptation to the flow of encounters you can be useful in.

Lastly, since the AC's get 3 tricks per Int point, by raising Int to 3 you should gain 3 more tricks also.

Combat Training is a 'trick package' consisting of 6 specific tricks.(which uses up all of an int2 animals trick allotment. +1 extra trick for improved attack.)

To answer your fight/mount question, the following text.

Fight with a Combat-Trained Mount: If you direct your war-trained mount to attack in battle, you can still make your own attack or attacks normally. This usage is a free action.

Basically getting to ride +9 on a combat trained mount is the gateway to 'proficient mounted combat', the baseline to do it competently. You have room to improve from there, by sinking feats into things like the mounted combat chain and other stuff. Also remember that spellcasting while on a moving mount uses concentration checks.

Fortunately druids get freebie extra tricks so the 7 are easy to have. (I also typically raise AC's to Int3 with their first stat point.) I have also used a trick to teach the AC to attack to subdue. (mine calls it the 'PLAY!' command.)

Technically with enough ranks in ride you won't need a saddle. All you really need is the animal tricks for 'combat training'.

"Combat Training: An animal trained to bear a rider into combat knows the tricks attack, come, defend, down, guard, and heel. Training an animal for combat riding takes 6 weeks. You may also “upgrade” an animal trained for riding to one trained for combat by spending 3 weeks and making a successful DC 20 Handle Animal check. The new general purpose and tricks completely replace the animal's previous purpose and any tricks it once knew. Many horses and riding dogs are trained in this way."

I also suggest spending the extra trick to have it combat rained to Improved, so it will attack freaky things like undead.

Ride skill in the rulebook will have the die rolls and uses for you.Saddle won't have to be masterwork AFAIK.

Fight with a combat-trained mount DC 10 ride (free action) so you want to be able to auto-succeed that.

Riding bareback is a -5 to ride checks, but a bonus of 15 would give you the auto-succeed threshold for combat riding.

Is that the type of things you were looking for?

Also, you simply need an Exotic saddle.

"Animal Gear, Saddle (exotic)

An exotic saddle is designed for an unusual mount. Exotic saddles come in military (60gp, +2 bonus on ride on checks to stay in saddle), pack, and riding (30 gp) styles."

Halfplate is also armor+8 with a +0 dex bonus cap. So i see an AC of 10+8(armor)+5(shield) for a 23 baseline before the buffs and 'smiting fury' bonuses. Hope that helps!

Technically speaking i agree with the general stance several of the other posters have mentioned. Superior wealth and higher then 'normal' stats make it much easier for PC's to shine or overpower a given encounter.

Your default CR uses should probably be tweaked. One of my favorites is to drop the augmented simple template on everything and max bad guy hit points.

ALSO: you can get around high AC by using attacks that target CMD. A grappler (vampire, or big critter) can target the CMD instead of AC and make all that armor and shield bonus mean nothing.

Just throwing another option out there to help you changeup encounters.

Just wanted to point out that "4 from extra channel" only can be used as a standard action 'channel energy', and are not available for a swift action use to lay hands on self.

So it is more accurately 8 lay on hands + 4 only to channel.(which use up 2 of the 4 each time it is used.)

As to weather it is or is not overpowered, well that is partly based on your group as well. For your table it may be. I don't have a dog in that race however.

Hopefully your group gets through it regardless!

edit: TOZ you bastich. 57 seconds!!! ;)

Wonderful news! Congratulations you two!

Wondrous items can get inspiration for use by any/all classes as well, while spells would be limited to only certain classes instead. Not sure if that came across clearly, but i hope it's generally understood what i was trying to say.

Hahaha!

Loki: "I have an army..."

Stark: "...we have a Hulk."

I put my money on the latter.

My 2 coppers: no to the walkup or elevator. Yes to standing on the surface of the pool at the bottom.

Great!!! Thanks for the suggestion!

How should I go about upgrading it to lv 3?
Should I just add 2 hd and 1~2 to attacks, damage, Skill DCs and other factors to boost the damage? And add a couple more monsters for each fight?

fast and dirty? give everything the augmented simple template (which is basically +2's to all rolls and mods) and max hit points. Not a perfect redo, but enough to offset a 2 level jump in a hurry.

It was 3.5, but 'The Red Hand of Doom' may have that epic feel you are looking for. It could be updated to PF with a few rewrites of named NPCs and substitutions/PF-updates of several critters(Dragonspawn).

Additionally, it becomes apparent fairly early (well before teleport) that you are traveling to a place that has faction(s) that wish you all(and ameiko) dead dead dead. Popping in without any knowledge of the area 'could' be a fast suicide.

As there is no vow of poverty like in exalted deeds, i suggest this approach

Take the gp 'loot' one step further. Instead of gold/jewelry/gems, have your character hold onto weapons, armor, and magic items. Roleplay the character as bartering. Trading useful for useful and avoid the references to coin medium whenever possible.

That way you the player still gear up, but in character you avoid 'wealth' and the comforts of luxury.

This is really more about magic items in general, not just armor.

My opinion on the matter: If the eidolon has the slot open and is able to use, the eidolon should have the magic item equipped. Any items that could not be would be 'under' it and safe from targetting.

Example: Boots or rings on a serpentine base form. (no legs or hands)

"Armor Bonus

The number noted here is the eidolon’s base total armor bonus. This bonus may be split between an armor bonus and a natural armor bonus, as decided by the summoner. This number is modified by the eidolon’s base form and some options available through its evolution pool. An eidolon cannot wear armor of any kind, as the armor interferes with the summoner’s connection to the eidolon."

Is that what you were looking for wraithstrike, or something else mechanically?

Did your snake ever punch anyone, just to physically intimidate them?

"Teaching snakes to kick since 1999."

Personally i highly recommend Metamagic: Reach spell.

Allows heals to be dropped without being next to target. No defensive casting from threatened reach critters. Since you can spontaneously convert into the Cure line, you can drop everything up through Cure Crit at Range:Close (45' away at level 9) for only +1 spell level. Spontaneous casting means that its a full round action and you can do a 5' step while doing so.

Very useful, my group loves the combo and uses it constantly. I may consider it almost mandatory for any mid+ level cleric healer build nowadays.

Thanks Jak.

Which feat do you suggest? Maybe Spell Focus Conjuration?

Extra evolution whenever you can take it (1st, 7th, 13th). Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summoning if you want better milage out of your Summon Monster SLA. Metamagic(Reach Spell).

Those would be a few feat suggestions from me on my end.

I also think its a nice background, gives a good bit of hooks the DM can choose or not choose to develop more.

As far as your Eidolon, do you envision it in combat more as a 'durable tank' or a 'damage dealing heavy hitter'?

If you attack with a tentacle as your only attack for the round, is it still secondary and at -5, or primary for full atk/damage?

Pathfinder rules use the assigned type regardless of if it is the only attack in the round. A tentacle (secondary) will always be at -5(unless the feat Multiattack is taken which reduces it to -2)

Semi-Random thoughts/observations.

Obscuring mist on ship vs "things"(level 1): (i have played this AP so know what you are referring to)
As yourself have admitted, both of you were unaware of the creature's tremorsense, so i think this one is a wash. If it didn't have it you two could have gotten topside in much greater safety, and possibly moved to a safe area outside the cloud. This is also pretty much one of the first 3-4 encounters when you start that AP so people would still be getting settled into their specific characters and feeling out useful spells/tactics.

Archer Incident: (level4)

Whiel dropping a cloud on the badguys forced YOU to melee, it also deprived the badguys of their optimal combat style as well. That seems to be a fairly solid tactical choice.

Skelly incident: (level ?)
Seems like a bad play. Player made joke afterwards saying he forgot you were there. Seems to be a no harm/no foul. Point of consideration. You have had enough encounters, sessions, and time played to gain three whole levels before this 'situation' comes up for only the 'second' time. That seems to be a fairly large gap and when i first started reading i was thinking you were having problems every session or close to it. Assuming you level every 3-4 sessions it seems like 1 out of every 10 or so would have some type of extra 'drama moment' player caused. That's doesn't strike me as horrible but can still be avoided.
An above poster pointed out that entangle is only -4 dex (net -2 AC and reflex saves) and if you fail your save you cannot move from your square. I also think the above comment about the guides always touting obscuring mist and entangle as being terrific druid control spells may be why your friend is using them.

Have you said anything in character about it? "dude, don't do that, i can't shoot em with arrows if i can't see em, and that's what i am best at. " or some such. Ironically, entangled skeletons being shot with arrows get their DR so its not the best combo. But weak damage at range with no damage taken is still better then wild melee.

What level were you all for your 3rd incident?

Overall my impression is this is not a real problem problem, but simply two playstyle choices that don't mesh 100% at this time. Also no build is at its optimal use in every single encounter...occasionally you will have one that you underperform in. (yeah, i am sure you know that already, but just felt it needed to be said!)

So starting next week, I will be running a campaign for seven players. I have never run a game for a group that big, and I have only played in one group that is that size. That group had twelve players and that seemed rather unwieldy. So what I want to know is how would you run a game for a group that big, and just how big is too big?

Avoid using single or even only 2-3 opponents for encounters. the group size will be overwhelming with action economy. I also suggest using max hit points for foes, and possibly dropping the augmented simple template if you are using premade products. Adding extra creatues to every given encounter can help also.

I believe the Primer is roughly made to be PC friendly as a handout/briefing they can skim through to get general ideas of the region/cultures while the Gazetteer is targeted for the DM's and has more crunchy stuff as well as secrets revealed.

Can we have feathered dragons in a future bestiary? I think there were some in IRL folklore, but I forget which civilizations.

The Couatl are in bestiary 1.

HERO, or so I've heard, has long been used as a toolkit for other games. People would make stuff in HERO to make sure it was "balanced," worked the way they wanted, etc., then would convert/export the resulting creation to the system of their choice.

Has anyone done this?

I've got a copy of HERO Sidekick and HERO 5th revised, plus friends who play/use HERO religiously. As such, they've got tons of notes, books, etc., that I might find useful from decades of gaming.

How do you convert? I was sort of thinking of finding baselines to work with, but am not sure. HERO's two damage types (BODY and Stun) don't quite help, either... *-*

Help?

While i have used HERO for over 20 years now, i am not sure regarding this toolkit for other games, and converting you speak about. What are you hoping to use it for, more specifically?

Well, to be fair, that list does include the Throwing enchant. And it just says it CAN be thrown, not that it MUST be thrown to be used as a ranged weapon.

This statement i find rediculous to be honest. You are trying to rules lawyer something that just does not work that way. It's fine if you want to do it in your home games tho. The bottom line there is have fun!

Quite a few people have mentioned X-COM, and expressed disquiet that the new 'XCOM' game is a first-person shooter.

Good news!

Firaxis - the makers of CIVILIZATION - have listened to your pleas (well, not yours specifically, but the harsh outcry from the Internet in general) and will be releasing a modern update of XCOM: ENEMY UNKNOWN in 2012. It's still turn-based, it has base-building, it has the Geoscape screen, it has R&D. It pretty much has everything from the original (er, although the action point system has been simplified and you can only take 4 men on missions).

The FPS has also been pushed back to 2013 for reasons unknown.

I...I think i have already committed to buying this in the 15 seconds it took me to read the article.

Because a person's spit does not do damage for one, at best you can try to be crafty with a dirty trick manuever.

So spitting is a go?

...i took this as 100% jest, to be honest.

Were you actually completely serious?

In counterpoint, i would point out that using the same power on a real weapon that meets the category also seems silly. Spiked gauntlet +1, Throwing?

So i punch, and my hand goes flying off? You have a fist, so it's not like the glove slips off and slips back on. For added humor make it a Locked Spiked Gauntlet. Does it work now? (YMMV but i say no to both.)

For those that do, my old school anime quote for you is... Boost Knuckle!

I am familiar with blood wind. It is a decent spell for specific build concepts but does not make your limbs detach to damage at range.

Saying that Throwing enchantment turns it into ki-blast effects adds something that normal weapons with throwing don't get. If i use my Greatsword +1 Throwing, i do not chop the air and retain hold of my weapon while a wave of energy arcs into the distant target so neither would/should the amulet.

That's about all i have to add to the points of consideration, thank you for reading!

Amulet of Mighty Fists has a line that specifically says "Alternatively, this amulet can grant melee weapon special abilities, so long as they can be applied to unarmed attacks."

Emphasis mine. I think it's obvious that fists cannot be thrown, in the literal sense.

Edit: If you have monstrous regeneration (like a 3.x troll) you can always cut off your hand and throw it at someone.... But that's besides the point.

+1. This explanation mirrors my view.

Since you yourself say that you pretty much trust the players honesty on the matter, i suggest simply telling him you didn't catch the wordcaster part and only became aware of it recently, but you are willing to give it a run and see how it goes.

I'd also suggest that for his part, he be willing to change to normal sorcerer (or something else if that wouldn't be acceptable) if it ends up with you feeling that it is a bad thing down the road.

It's also such a blatant "@#$% you for playing the game" call that no GM that doesn't have some sort of grudge against his players is going to make it.

Permanently taking away what is perhaps the big appealing element of a class is bad pool. Hell, even fallen paladins can atone.

I also agree with Mikaze here.

If/when that happens, say you will DM the next game and curse the wizards so their spellbooks disintegrate whenever they touch or make them, and do the same with your player's clerics and their holy symbols. They'll enjoy not being able to spellcast, and the barbarians unable to enter rage. After all there are other things they can do then just those 'class features'.

If an Eidolon was killed by a death effect such as a symbol of death spell, What would be the proper ruling insofar as to whether or not the Eidolon could be summoned again the next day?

My thought is RAW - Eidolon is croaked, RAI - It should be allowed to comeback or at the very least summons the body back so the party could cast a Ressurrection spell.

AFAIK its back the next day.

Ringtail wrote:

I miss that character. The party's half-orc paladin probably didn't.

I should amend this. The party's half-orc invoker truly did not miss him. My illusionist was also an accomplished alchemist- whilst paralyzed and grappled by a roper he go hit by a scorching ray that missed the monster by cover, setting off his 67 alchemist fires and 26 acid vials. Ever see a roper killed by 93 splash damage? Yeah, the DM didn't until that day either.

"YOU HAD HOW MUCH ALCHEMIST FIRE ON YOU?!?!"

DM ruled that he couldn't be raised from the dead because there wasn't anything left of the body but a crater full of napalm.

Hilareous. In the old 3.x adventure Forge of Fury my group fought the roper, got a standoff with my character wedged in its mouth, and offered it a dead bear from an earlier room encounter as a substitute. They ran off leaving me there in the maw, loaded the bear carcass up with the alchemical fire from the earlier door trap, made a heal check to stick it up to hide the 'addition' and then presented the beastie with the bigger food option. I was let go, it scarfed down the bear, bladders broke and suddenly the roper had fire pouring from its mouth and dove into the underground river trying to put it out. (it came back up less then pleased with us.)

Your invoker brought that memory crashing back to me. Thanks ;)

Mergy wrote:

Unfortunately, I seem to recall undead being immune to physical attribute damage.

really? oh man... :(

that's correct..

Undead (type) are immune to stat damage and drain.

I'd buy one.

okay maybe an idiot here but trying to puzzle out how the "blankity blank" a half orc sorc with favored class ability works because it says in the APG and I quote here "sorcerer:add 1/2 to fire spell damage" does that mean at 20th level you have a 10 X damage mod to fire damage if chosen for every level or is it just a one time choise to substition ???

someone please help define this as it is a maddening thing my current orc sorc chose this thinking it a simple choise but now some questions have arisen and needing some definition

It means every 2 times you take it you get +1 to fire spell damage regardless of spell level. At level 20 you could have an extra +10 to fire damage that way.

Int for more skill points perhaps? Wis for an actual save boost? Cha to have better socials? Concepts vary and having a 13+ Str is not a game requirement to play a viable character. If the feat serves little purpose to you, that's all well and good, and no sweat. On the flip side, i had several players at my table who were very happy to see it.

are the rest of his attacks getting the +4?

yep

Genius Guide to Invisible Text.

20 dex, 10 or 12 str rogue or fighter(or monk, or ninja, blah blah etc etc) using finesse as a build. You said it yourself, power attack is better..IF and only IF you have the STR. Duellist PRC also good for this. Having a 13+ STR is not a given.

Hmm, whoops, i am remembering the 3.x text. My apologies. In that case, you are mostly correct it would be useful to those who do not have the requisite Str score or who are inclined to take finesse anyways for their build. This would come into play more often using the 15 and 20 point buys, or for high Dex fighter, monk or rogue builds as well as TWF light weapon users. In effect it gives a partial workaround for MAD stat investments for melee types.

If you look at the power attack wording, you will see that it is not usable with Light Weapons. If your character build uses them, Power Attack is useless for it. Piranha Strike allows a 'power attack' type of feat for the Light Weapon and Finesse builds and to offset not having a moderate to high STR score.

"Sorry" yourself. I was giving my take on the situation and how i'd handle it. If that's not what you want in the way of replies then i won't waste your time further. G'luck.

My take on the situation is that after the readied spell was cast, the charging folks would take the movement damage for 1 square and have the option to stop. They would however have 'used' a move action (because they traveled distance) and would only have a standard/move left if they wanted to do something else.

Disagreeing with me on the matter is one thing, but I am still often surprised at how much actual opposition I face when I make a thread like this one. A change such as the one I propose here couldn't possibly hurt other peoples' games, could it? AS always, I'm merely trying to help Paizo make a better game.

It's less opposition then debate from what i see. YMMV

Happler wrote:

Please see my post above about wall of thorns, black tentacles, and entangle. All of these are spell with duration that do damage and do not allow SR.

So use those spells instead of Spike Stones. Problem solved.

On my end, Happler's post would lead me to think that those 3 listed spells SHOULD have SR:yes added to them for the exact reasons mentioned above and not that Spike Stones should be SR:no.

Whether or not golems would be effected by this spell isn't the issue. The idea that certain barbarians and dwarves can run through a field of spikes with impunity due to their SR is totally nonsensical!

Happler wrote:

LOL, I will have to. although, one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn't the same.

I included my archived posts because there are people who find my posts extremely valuable. I did not mean to imply that I was a developer.

On my end it doesn't break immersion to envision.

If you are up for the bookwork, have the PC's be NPC classes as normal, and the Personas can be the typical PC class options when active. Can also keep the normal versions relatively low level while letting the Personas gain xp faster.

/random.