Sesharan's page

Nope. Versatile Performance is quite explicit. You get to use your bonus on the perform check in place of the bonus for the associated skill. No more, no less.

I can't say that I've ever had a character pretend to be another class (yet), but I did have one character who was a paladin in all but abilities. Horatio, of the Silver Crusade, studied with the Golden Legion in order to maximize his ability to defend his allies. With the ability to add +12 to the AC of anyone adjacent to him, intercept attacks that would have injured his allies, and prevent any foe from getting past him, even with a 5-foot step. In the end, he died after suffering 18 points of Con damage, holding off Runelord Krune to ensure that his allies were able to safely escape, and left instructions that the last of his prestige and gold be used to raise the two who he failed, even though that meant that he would never be raised. A truly heroic end to one of the most heroic characters I ever played.

I was rather under the impression that the purpose of a spellbook was to record spells in such a way that they can be studied and cast. Spontaneous spellcasters may need an item or feat in order to cast from one, but they most certainly can do so. The original purpose of a spellbook was to allow wizards to record their spells in order to study and cast them later, but like so much else in this wonderful living game, that purpose has expanded with the addition of new options.

I am simply asking that, with all these new options, we take a fresh look at spellbooks and see whether it makes sense for other classes—properly equipped with a knowledge of spellcraft, a book, and a pen—to be able to copy down spells.

I'd like to just briefly cast my vote in favor of non-wizards being able to scribe in spellbooks. In addition to the mnemonic vestments and versatile spontaneity, there's also the ring of spell knowledge which can use either scrolls or a spellbook to increase a spontaneous caster's spells known, and the Arcane Archivist revelation of Lore Oracles, which explicitly requires that the Oracle have a spellbook (no scrolls allowed).

I think it's safe to say that you're never going to find a RAW statement saying that all undead all uniformly evil (or that all undead can become good, for that matter), because it's a setting-specific question rather than a rules-specific one. We've given you pretty much all the RAW there is on undead alignments, and the Golarion ruling on it as well (non-evil undead are about as rare as succubi paladins). Everything from there is up to you.

Humble greetings from this unworthy warrior to the august Pathfinder Society,

Once again I petition that the Society might lend aid to the Mizu Ki Hikari in our endeavor to free Chu Ye from the Oni overlords who oppress it. We have much history and culture for the Society to explore, which the Oni will certainly never allow you access to. Our elaborate traditions of medicine and acupuncture would be most intriguing to you, but there is much we could offer in exchange for your help. The Way of the Kirin has been providing us with some resources, but the skill of the Pathfinders is renown throughout all Golarion. A single team of your most skilled operatives could, with our aid, even defeat the Voidlord Shogun Tsuneni. We have heard how you organize a new Crusade into the Worldwound of the Inner Sea — surely our fiend-held country of Tian Xia is no less deserving?

With the utmost respect, I remain your humble servant,

He Whose Form is the Imperial Dragon of the River,

Chu Ken.

Lore Oracle seems fitting.

Oooh, yeah! Combine a love of the law with an overwhelming knowledge of it. "According to the most recent Laws of the City (Annotated collection, fourth edition, with a foreword by Grandmaster Torch), magically enhanced firearms are a restricted class IV controlled weapon. Please present your permit for your musket or prepare to be immediately extradited and eviscerated according to Chelaxian....." Spends a move action each round explaining why the enemies are breaking the law.

A Legalistic Oracle going into Diabolist could definitely do very well. The only trick would be picking a mystery. I'm inclined to jump to Outer Rifts as the only "evil" mystery, but that one's more associated with demons than devils. Another Prestige Class to consider is the Divine Scion from Inner Sea Magic, which has full spellcasting progression and some interesting flavor, but might not be exactly what you're looking for.

Worth noting that Aroden's death and the failure of prophecy were certainly linked... if only because they happened at the same time... but one did not necessarily actually cause the other...

Curse you, Correlation! Stop giving us that come-hither look and furtively pointing at Causation!

The assumption that players are supposed to ask questions, instead of receiving one or more pieces of "useful information", is my biggest Pathfinder pet peeve. It rewards metagaming like nothing else. The more knowledge a player has about a monster, the more useful the information their character can learn.

Example: A relatively new player is playing as a 3rd-level wizard. He has Acid Arrow, Daze Monster, Shocking Grasp, Ray of Enfeeblement, and Bull's Strength. He encounters a Carrion Golem, succeeds on his knowledge check, and is told that he gets one question. Not knowing that golems are immune to magic, he asks what its weakest saves are. He's told that it has poor Fortitude and Will saves. In his first turn, he casts Ray of Enfeeblement to weaken it, and then next turn he casts Shocking Grasp to damage it. Electric damage Hastes Carrion Golems, so because the player didn't know the right question to ask, he's wasted his first turn and spent the second round buffing the enemy. If the GM had just told him the most relevant information (immunity to magic that checks SR), he could instead have cast Acid Arrow in the first round and Bull's Strength on an ally in the second round.

That was the most obvious example I could think of. There are so many strange immunities, abilities, and weaknesses that monsters have which have to be handled correctly to keep them from being much greater challenges than intended. If GMs don't tell you the most useful information, then you need to already know it out-of-character to learn it in-character.

I gave my imp familiar Muleback Cords and the Heavyload Belt so he can carry me around. I call it the Chelaxi Taxi.

I think what many of you are describing is what modern actors call "resonance", a talent cultivated by actors with great presence (especially stage actors) so that they may project their voices even when speaking quietly. An audience member in the back of the room can hear Patrick Stewart when he whispers, for example.

This idea lends itself to the idea that in magic, one speaks deliberately and with a Force of Will, uttering what they will into existence. (At least, that's how I'm imagining it). Similarly, the principle with the use of wands is to point and deliberate in an act of Will "THIS thing right HERE!"

This is how I've always thought of it. Strong does not always equal loud. It seems to me that "strong" is speaking in a way that cannot be misconstrued by the laws of Physics when you tell them to shut up and go sit in the corner.

I actually asked about a similar effect a while ago (the Sun versatile channel) and there doesn't appear to be a relevant answer. It would be a useful thing to have, not just for Darkness but also for other effects (like Globe of Invulnerability) that rely on spell level. I propose the following FAQ question:

For purposes of effects such as magical Darkness or Globes of Invulnerability, how do you calculate the effective spell level of a Supernatural effect?

If you think this is a question worth answering, be so kind as to FAQ this question.

The problem with that kind off search requirement, I find, is that very often the GM has a much better mental image of the room than the players do, so we expect the players to "see" the obvious places to look (i.e., a pile of rags) but the players' mental image of the room may not have the same obvious places. Maybe they missed it when you mentioned there was a pile of rags. Maybe they assume it's a very small pile that is easily searched in the process of searching the room. The point is, getting PCs to search specific things works best when you have a really well-drawn map and a strong narrative description of what's represented there.

Brett Cochran wrote:

+1

To add another option, what about having one of your characters get written into the story at some point? a 5 or 5+ star reward. Not a prominent role, but perhaps a minor lodge VC some where, or a friend of the society in retirement helping out in a scenario.

I approve of a write-in. Which Pathfinder Society character doesn't?

I would hate fighting most of my characters as a boss... or even as a mook with prep time. I can just see it now...

PC: I walk into the room. Do I see anything?
GM: Nope. Make me a Fort save as a weird scaly person bites you, and take a -4 on the save. Oh, and her imp is pointing a wand at you- roll twice and take the worst. Failed? You're poisoned- take a d4 of Con damage for the next 8 rounds. Next turn, someone can make me 2 will saves to not get Dominated.

Definitely should be in homebrew. However, advice: none of the things you're looking for (especially permanency) are appropriate for a single spell level increase. As a rule, creating a Greater or Mass version of a spell is at least an increase of two spell levels. You could go Communal, but the only way that makes sense is by dividing the amount of possible shrunken material between all the items you're shrinking.

Obviously, the Phylactery and the Reincarnation ability both create their own copy of the Lich Druid, who then work together and can both "double up" again, allowing them to create an army of Reincarnating Lich Druids, each with full druidic powers and zombie animal companions!

As Umbera speaks, she pauses every so often and tilts her head as if waiting to be told what to say next.

You speak of law in the same breath that you talk of revolution. Do you expect that we who work for the lovely paracountess will be so easily swayed? Even in her absence, we know where our loyalties lie.

I admit, I see no fault in what you are trying to do. You have admirably distilled many of the best qualities a Pathfinder can possess- which is, of course, why I recognize so many of them in myself. However, a true Chelaxian knows that loyalty to those who rule is the highest call of Law. Perhaps you can look to some less reputable faction for your recruitment, like Andoran. I understand many of their members are dissatisfied with their leadership of late.

Ever Loyal,
Umbera Dizak

Do you mean Life Bubble? Life Bubble and Overland Flight will solve all your problems on their own.

Oh, an alternate idea for Illusion: Find the only thing in the room that's not an illusion. The answer is themselves.

Necromancy: Through careful application of positive and negative energy effects, equalize the positive and negative energy of a crystal. They get points for doing it with fewer spells, more quickly, and more accurately.

Abjuration: Walk through a gauntlet without getting hit. Lose points each time you're struck.

Evocation: Protect themselves from a number of humans or dogs or whatever- without killing them.

Transmutation: An elaborate obstacle course. Think 30' jump over a crevasse, navigating a room full of spikes in the dark, a wall that they have to go over, under, or through... stuff like that.

Enchantment: Convince an examiner who's determined to fail them to let them pass, as subtly as possible.

Divination: Make their way through a maze to find an item as quickly as possible.

Conjuration: Fight past a guardian without actually attacking it themselves. Use the definition of "attack" Invisibility uses.

Illusion: Identify the illusion in the room- which turns out to be an Illusory Wall of the floor, and the floor is actually a Wall of Force.

Jeraa is correct. Also, I really hope those are homebrew spells which get frequent use.

I'm not a fan of escaping enemies meaning less gold. There are any number of reasons, in character, to let enemies escape. Also, chasing escaping enemies eats up time that could be used to run that really interesting optional encounter or finish the scenario in time for the next session.

Tsunami, World Wave, and Meteor Swarm work well for that "divine retribution" feel. I think he rather needs to have Overwhelming Prescence, as well.

Common effects at high level which will kill a level 1 PC unless all they ever do is hide 100 feet from combat:

Breath weapons
Fireballs
Cloudkill
Swords
Fists
Claws
Any other damage effect designed to be challenging for characters several levels higher.

Triple Time. No bard-including party is complete without it.

I don't see it as fighting dishonorably. In fact, if they use it to escape from a battle with someone who is misguided and need not be fought, I would reward them for acting with mercy even though all others would think them cowardly. A paladin of Sarenrae avoids battle, and more importantly needless death, whenever possible. Death ends a being's potential for redemption. Imagine if they fought "someone they can beat with relative ease" and crit (he is using a scimitar, right?). Even he was dealing nonlethal damage, enough of that could still kill a weak target. I'd also probably let him use it to gain a tactical advantage when needed- after all, it's best to put that undead out of its misery as quickly as possible.

Also, what the heck is a "mimi paladin"? Some archetype I've never heard of?

If I may offer an opinion, the problem is rarely an unbalanced table. More often, the problem is unbalanced characters. For example, a barbarian who can't do anything but attack and put their single skill rank at each level into Intimidate usually contributes very well to the party in combat, but in a non-combat situation they'll quickly get bored. Or worse, an enchanter fighting vermin who didn't prepare any non-mind-affecting spells. Someone said something I really like: You should have one thing your character is great at, and at least two things your character is good at, so that you can always contribute to the table.

A table with four fighters who can all do several things well can easily do better than a table with a highly specialized fighter, wizard, cleric, and rogue. PFS is a great environment for "fifth man" characters because they can always fit in at a table.

Anyone have any stories about familiars doing somethting particularily interesting in game?

In a recent session, we were fighting a purple worm, and I had just been paralyzed by a ghoul from a previous fight. I still had a good four rounds left, and I was roughly one full-round from death. However, I was right next to an Obscuring Mist that had been popped earlier, and I had my familiar with me. So... he tried a Drag combat maneuver. With a STR of 3 and a BAB of +2, he succeeded and pulled me safely into the mist. I had to go to the carry weight table to see if he could even drag my weight.

The general rule for PvP is very simple: "Don't do anything to another player's character that the player of that character doesn't want you to do." That's it. Sometimes things happen by accident- it happens. Apologize, move on, try not to do it again. But don't negative channel in the middle of the party without Selective Channeling.

Here's a different question: Do you need to have to be a wizard or magus to have a spellbook and fill it with spells? I ask because my Lore Oracle is eventually going to take the Arcane Archivist revelation, which allows me to cast from a spellbook 1/day. I imagine it's also a relevant question for people with the Mnemonic Vestments, which do much the same thing.

I think of Angelskin the same way I think of Dragonhide: The additional cost represents the cost of the special tools/materials/whatever you need to work properly work the material. You have to actually go out and get said skin/hide because it's almost certainly not on sale, unlike mithral, cold iron, and the like, because those can be obtained by non-adventuring miners or blacksmiths pretty easily. Basically, if you have to kill a thing that could look at an average NPC and have them explode to get a material, NPCs probably aren't gonna go looking for a fiery doom.

My archer bought the Bracers of Falcon's Aim quicker than he could load an arrow. Those be some sexy, sexy bracers.

Also: Gloves of Reconnaissance. For (either 2k or 4k, I can't remember and don't have my book), you can see through fifteen feet of any material for ten rounds per day. Hideously powerful, really. I decided not to let myself have them because it seems like such a gamebreaker. "You see a big, impressive door." "I look through the wall next to it." "....You see the boss and his goons getting ready to surprise you." "Mage, fireball them as soon as I open the door." *fireball* "They're all dead. What a surprise."