Forwell Hog

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Goblin Squad Member. Organized Play Member. 397 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 1 Organized Play character.



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Running a group through the 1st Adventure Path, and some of the veterans from the previous edition are complaining. We wasted 30 minutes of our last gaming session discussing combat math. The party saw goblin dogs and assumed they were roughly as dangerous as they were in the past, but a single goblin dog now has close to even money chances to down a 1st level fighter, and more than one almost certainly will do the job.

Which is radically different than previously. Running through Rise of the Runelords, goblin dogs were attacking at a +2, and a 1st level fighter might have a 17 AC. A fighter could engage a group of three goblin dogs and excepting lucky crits or a string of high rolls on the GM's part, could be expected to stand his ground for several rounds and potentially finish them off solo. I mean, a 13 AC and 9 HPs, a single dog would likely drop in one hit to a two-handed fighter.

Now we have goblin dogs with a 17 AC and 17 HPs, with an attack bonus of +9, with the potential to strike 3 times in one round, inflicting pox on a hit... A single goblin dog looks, from a stat standpoint, very similar to your typical 1st level fighter. Which led to immediately problems for experienced gamers who thought they knew what a goblin dog was capable of being quickly over-whelmed in a single round. Tempers flared. My group felt cheated. Should not have walked into this edition blind.

I've only had a few sessions of experience with this edition so far, and the second session went very well for my party, but these guys are still 1st level. I had to assure my group that I was sure that things would balance out better as they leveled up, they picked up magic items and acquired more abilities, and were more likely to encounter creatures of lower levels. Is this the case, though? Is anyone else having issues with this?


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How many of each dice do you keep in your dice bag?

I'm trying to optimize my dice bag that I travel with and use from the literally hundreds of dice I have in a small chest in my game room. I tend to GM a lot of games, so this is what I normally keep in there:

5d4 (for Magic Missile)
10d6 (for Fireball)
4d8
4d10
3d12
5d20 (for rolling multiple monster attacks in one go)
2d100

This seems to handle the vast majority of situations that arise with having to scoop up and roll the same dice more than once to resolve a single action, as well as making it easy to find a d12 blindly when you randomly need one.

Anyone else give this any amount of thought?

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Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the game so far. Maybe not as much as I initially enjoyed Dungeons and Dragons Online, but it's an unfinished product, and DDO was bogged down with some serious problems at endgame which PFO looks to avoid.

However, I get the distinct impression that the developers have not actually sat down and played, more than a few hours if any, of tabletop Pathfinder. This is a huge issue for me as I wouldn't be playing this game if it were Fantasy Kingdom Building Online.

It's unfair to do a direct comparison, I know, but it's hard not to put this up against my initial reactions to DDO (what with it being based on DnD 3rd edition the same way Pathfinder is). When I logged on to DDO for the first time I generated a character and started the game already knowing the gist of what was going on. I knew that kobolds and rats weren't very dangerous, that wearing plate armor was going to cause me to jump shorter distances, and that having a shield equipped was going to help my defenses.

Starting PFO for the first time I had issues equipping a weapon, or even finding starting gear (back in alpha). I was overwhelmed with attack feat options. I don't really have a very good idea of how many goblins my character can take, not real sure how good my attacks are, or even what a good attack and defense score is, and the nuances between this chain shirt and that chain shirt and which one is better... Shields apparently don't help with defense at all, I'm casting what looks like a Cone of Cold but it only hits one creature and doesn't even kill a simple goblin...

I just get a vague impression that the developers flipped through the Core Rulebook, took the chapter titles and looked at pictures, and threw familiar looking words at us and called it Pathfinder. The game they gave us is a lot of fun, and I don't have any plans on quitting any time soon, but it's as much Pathfinder as 4th edition DnD is.


1. If you close a location, the on closing effect, or the when closing effect, whichever one happens after you pass the check to close a location (in our case the Holy Island's ability to allow you to recharge divine cards from your discard), does every character at that location benefit from that, or just the character that made the check to close the location?

2. Encountered a Blessing this evening. The DC was a 7 with Wisdom/Survival, or 5 with Divine. Rolling a d4 on Wisdom and didn't have the Divine skill. However, I did have a Blessing of the Gods in my hand. I could roll the d4 for the Divine check, eh? Then roll 2d4 with the Blessing? Even if I don't have Divine and I, obviously, have the Wisdom?


Does the creature anchored make a CMB check every 5 feet he moves, or does he move his "intended" distance and then the check is made based on where the creature wants to move?

"The target's shadow becomes a flexible tether to its current square. The creature can move up to 5 feet from that square without penalty. Moving farther than 5 feet from the tether point requires the target to make a bull rush combat maneuver check against a CMB of 10 + 1/2 your caster level + your Intelligence modifier (if a witch or wizard) or Charisma modifier (if a bard or sorcerer). The target takes a –1 penalty for every 5 feet of distance between it and its tethered square. Failing this check means the target's move is wasted and it cannot move farther away. If it fails this check by 10 or more, it is pulled 5 feet toward the tether square and is knocked prone. If it beats the check by 10 or more, the spell ends. This spell does not work on creatures that do not cast shadows or reflections. If the target uses a teleportation effect or leaves the current plane, the spell ends."


How does rum bottle interact with pirate hunting?


This is a complaint thread because I've become a disgruntled customer. This pertains to my Pathfinder Card Game orders for Skull and Shackles (obviously). I have a regular gaming group that has been meeting once or twice a month to play the Pathfinder Card Game. We had a blast with Rise of the Runelords. We were really looking forward to Skull and Shackles, but last month the order didn't ship in time for our meeting, despite emails telling me I should expect the shipment in early August. August 22nd rolled around and there was no shipment, so my group instead decided to try out DnD Hoard of the Dragon Queen (which was readily available at our local bookstore).

I have since left the country for a three week vacation, and just returned two days ago. As expected, my Skull and Shackles base set was waiting for me, which was really exciting because my gaming group is meeting up again this weekend. However, now it appears the Character Add-on Deck isn't present, and has only now been shipped (meaning I should get it by Halloween, I guess, given your history). My group has five players. I'm sure we can work something out with our Rise of the Runelords base set to enable us to play without difficulty, but the point is, we shouldn't have to do that.

Looking at it from a logical standpoint:
I'm a Pathfinder Card Game Subscriber. Why?
Because I want the card game shipped to my door, I like the promotionals, and it saves me the hassle of running to one of several local gaming stores here in Northwest Arkansas.
However...
I paid, even with the promotional discount, $4 more for shipping than if I had just picked it up at my gaming store. I had to watch other people play the card game and then listen to them talk about it at our local "game days" hosted by one of the retailers while I sat and twiddled my thumbs waiting for my late shipment. It aggravates me that all the local retailers had it on the shelf for a week before I left the country and my shipment still hadn't arrived. I consider subscriptions similar to pre-ordering, and your subscribers should get their orders filled before ALL OTHERS. Why is this not the policy?

It's understandable, actually, that you were backed up and couldn't get the shipment out in August on time. At least to some small degree. It didn't seem to stop you from getting shipments to the stores, but I don't know how your warehouses and shipping process works, so there is probably an explanation beyond retailers take priority over subscribers or something.

I don't mind not getting the promotional cards on time. They're a bonus. I can work them in when they get here.

But the Character Add-on Deck? Is there an explanation for that? Did you just not have enough? You should know exactly how many subscribers you have, how is it you couldn't get that to us on time? Why do I have to sit and wait yet another month to play? How do I convince my gaming group to stay with Skull and Shackles instead of moving fully to DnD Next since now we'll be two sessions into it, especially since they were expecting to pay in mid-August and our start time has been pushed back to mid-to-late October?

Why am I subscribing still when I can get things quicker and cheaper, and support my local gaming stores, if I don't subscribe? Especially since, in the way of apology, you offer... NOTHING? No larger discount on late shipments? No additional copies of free promo cards? Nothing?

I'm sorry for the rant. I'm a big fan of Paizo, and have been a staunch supporter of your company in the past. Paizo and I have had a long, successful relationship, going way back to the early days of your company when I was a subscriber to Dungeon Magazine. The only time I've been disappointed with you revolves around this subscription nonsense. Please help me find a restored faith in your company.


I see in the Core Rulebook under mounts in the equipment section that a horse is fine for the medium sized creature, and that a pony works well for small sized creatures, but it doesn't give any penalties to a 3' tall halfling riding a clydesdale, for example.

The closest rule I can find is under the Ride skill where it says you take a -5 penalty when riding a creature that is ill-suited to serving as a mount, which isn't necessarily true about horses in general, but probably is true about a halfling riding on a horse.

Can a halfling ride a horse?
Can he do it without a penalty?
Are there certain checks he just can't make while on a horse?
Does he take a -5 penalty on ride checks while mounted on a horse?
etc etc


*TWF with Rapier/Swordbreaker Dagger. Yes, this build assumes you can use the Duelist precise strike while parrying with an off-hand attack you choose not to take. No, I hate Dervish Dance. Scimitars aren't my style. Yes, Swordbreaker Dagger is an exotic weapon, and it's not even very strong, but I've wanted to use one for a while.

*20 point buy.

*Either human, elf, or half-elf.

*Level 7 with 23,500 GP of starting gold.

*We're using traits, but we randomly generated them using the Ultimate Campaign. I'm stuck with Talented and Militia Veteran.

*Must take most pre-prestige levels in Cad Fighter.

Here's my first quick take on the character:

Thadeus Okona (yes, I'm a TNG fan)
CG Human Cad Fighter 7
Str 12
Dex 22
Con 12
Int 14
Wis 8
Cha 10

HP: 58 (rolled)
Init: +6
speed 30 ft.
AC 24 = 10 + 5 (armor) + 6 (Dex) + 1 (nat) + 1 (deflection) + 1 (dodge)
touch 18
FF 17

F +8
R +10
W +3

BAB +7/+2
CMB +8, +14 disarm (+16 vs. blades), +14 dirty trick
CMD 26

Attack: +12+7 (1d6+7, 18-20/x2 Agile Rapier +1) and +12 (1d4, MW Swordbreaker Dagger)
or
+14/+9 (1d6+7, 18-20/x2 Agile Rapier +1)

Acrobatics +16
Bluff +10
Climb +6
Perception +4
Perform (Oratory) +6
Stealth +14
Survival +10

Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Weapon Finesse, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Swordbreaker Dagger), Two-Weapon Fighting, Combat Expertise, Improved Dirty Trick, Improved Disarm, Greater Dirty Trick, Catch Off-Guard.

Equipment: mithril chain shirt +1, +1 agile rapier, MW swordbreaker dagger, belt of incredible Dex +2, amulet of natural armor +1, ring of protection +1, cloak of resistance +2. 770 gp worth of misc rope, waterskins, etc.

I thought I'd take advantage of the Cad Fighter's level 7 ability to string out dirty tricks to keep a single opponent blind, allowing me to hit him easily while still fighting defensively and using combat expertise to avoid attacks from his allies. I realize there are a lot of other options though.


While I have two weekly Pathfinder games (Monday and Thursday nights), neither group meets too consistently (a 60% meet chance, I'd say), and the Thursday group barely squeezes two hours of play time in when it does meet. I wanted a new fix, and a once a month group seemed the best solution. I had a group of gaming friends who were currently not meeting regularly due to their busy and hectic schedules, but were interested in meeting occasionally. An idea was born. And problems immediately emerged.

The idea was a Facebook page where the five members would discuss several weeks in advance what the best day of the month to meet would be. We'd try to stick to a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, and we'd try to play for a solid 6-8 hours. With at least a couple of weeks notice before we made an attempt to meet on a given day, we thought we could avoid conflicts.

The first session went alright. People were responsive to the page, and communicated their schedules. One guy, let's call him Jerry (name changed to protect no one, really), was about an hour late, and had forgotten all of his gaming supplies. He lived half an hour away, and the round trip wasn't worth it, so he had to start the campaign trying to remember what was on his character sheet. Not a big deal, we worked it out, spare dice and all, and everyone had a good time.

The second session was tougher to schedule. Two of the players are twins (Let's call them John and Jim). One of the twins (Jim) is both a high school drama teacher and a member of the National Guard. His weekends are almost always full. Scheduling was tough, but we finally worked out a day. Everyone showed up on time, except Jerry, who I was informed had to work late that day. Apparently he has no control over his work schedule, and they don't always give him a lot of notice. I think he works in retail, but he's a friend of John's, and I didn't know him beforehand. So, we go ahead and get started a man short. I use some NPCs to help out, and the session goes great. Jerry never shows up. We call him a few times, and get no answer, even several hours after he was supposed to be off work. The session ends and everyone goes home with no word from Jerry. I start looking for a replacement player immediately. A few days later I get contacted by John and he tells me that Jerry had to drive half an hour home to get his gaming stuff, and he took a nap when he got home, and didn't wake up until after the session had ended.

This is ridiculous to me. Knowing that you were working, and that you were already going to be late, why not bring you gaming stuff with you to work, leave it in the car so you can hurry over afterwards and not miss more of the session? And knowing that you were already running over an hour late, why would you think it's ok to take a short nap? We schedule these things once a month so these situations don't happen, and I drive an hour back to my home town to game with these guys, something I'm willing to do because we only meet once a month.

But John assures me that Jerry really wants to play, and that we should give him another shot. Even though I had already found a replacement for Jerry, a much more reliable ex-roommate of mine (let's call him Spock), I decided to give Jerry the benefit of the doubt.

So we start discussing our third meeting. This time, because my wife is nine months pregnant and I don't want to be that far from home, everyone agrees to carpool up to my place for a day. We set a date three weeks in advance, and, despite not hearing from Jim, John assures me that Jim is available on that date. The date in question is a Sunday afternoon. Well, the day before our scheduled game day, and John informs me that Jim has got a drill that weekend, and won't be able to make it. And then Jerry chimes in and says he's scheduled to work, but he gets off at 6 PM, and even though we talked about meeting at 1 PM, he'd drive up and join us by 7:30 at the latest (there was no chance we were going to be playing past 9 PM, and I wasn't even sure we'd make it to 7 PM).

Well, that's the last straw for me. Jerry is an unreliable player, and needs to find a group that works better for his schedule because, unlike the rest of us, he works every weekend. Jim had three weeks to let us know that the day we picked didn't work for him, and, having some military service myself, I know drill weekends are announced months in advance. And because of Jim's busy schedule, he really limits us to only one or two days a month where he's available, and we had better hope we don't have conflicting plans. I had already bought snacks and did all my pre-game prepwork (drawing maps, reviewing encounters, getting minis ready, etc). I definitely want to make this weekend work. I tell John and Santa Claus (the 4th guy, name changed again) that we can get a fresh start with a new group. I tell them that if they're serious about gaming, we can pull in Spock and another friend of mine (Frodo). They agree.

Unfortunately, the next day rolls around, and there's a snow storm, so John and Santa don't make the drive up the mountain. Spock, who lives in the same area as John and Santa, does brave the weather, and when I call him to tell him John and Santa aren't driving up, he tells me he got an early start and he's more than halfway here. Frodo comes over as well, as he lives up here with me. So now Frodo, Spock, and I hang out for the afternoon, play some board games, and talk a lot about how awesome this new Pathfinder group is going to be for next month's session when John and Santa can meet again. I think all is right in the world, minus a month without gaming with this particular group.

Well, the next day, John tells me that he really wants Jim to be able to play, and even though we're only two sessions into our first campaign, he really likes it and his character, and doesn't want to start a new campaign. Santa agrees, and the two start talking on Facebook about getting together with Jim, and just adding Spock to the group, dropping Jerry. But Frodo is now super excited about joining our group. And I'm again worried about how non-communicative Jim is, and if we'll be able to reliably schedule anything with his packed weekends. And I don't want to run with five players, especially because I've already GMed this AP (Serpent's Skull) with Frodo as a player, and he absolutely hated it, which is why the fresh start and a new campaign was necessary. What should I do? I see several options:

1. Forget Frodo and try to run Serpent Skull with Jim, John, Santa, and Spock.
2. Forget John and Jim (the twins), and run a new AP with Santa, Spock, Frodo, and Samwise (Frodo's college aged brother).
3. Forget the entire thing and allow Jim, John, and Santa to work something out in their hometown, and try to organize something with Frodo and Samwise which would include Spock.

I know this was a lot of TL:DR, but I'm looking for genuine, non-biased feedback, and the more information I provide, the better the genuine feedback will be.


Paladin in the party has mounted combat and ranks in ride. Druid in the party can change into a dire tiger, and typically stays in that form through most encounters. Is there any reason why the paladin can't ride the druid like a mount? If he does, how do those mechanics work?


How do these two things interact? I'm thinking it's the same as evading it, but I want to know for sure.


Been running a few games solo and a few questions came up. Want to get some clarification before I break it out with a group again.

1. Sajan. Can someone explain, again, how his combat ability works?

When you attempt a combat check without playing a weapon, you may use your Dexterity die instead of your Strength die.

So does the Amulet of Mighty Fists trigger BECAUSE it's still a "Strength" check, or because it's a Melee combat check? I know it triggers, but I want to know why.

Basically, does the Blessing of Gorum, OR the Blessing of Erastil add 2 dice to his combat checks? Do they both? Do they recharge like normal?

2. Valeros and the Dogslicer. Valeros recharges weapons when playing them. The dogslicer says: If any d6 rolled for this weapon is a 1, count it as a 3, then discard this card. That's not exactly playing the weapon.

Does Valeros recharge the dogslicer if he rolls a 1 on one of these d6's?

3. Solo play with Erylium. When playing solo, or if you're the only character at a location, are you forced to encounter a Wrathful Sinspawn henchman before the combat with Erylium?

When I first read it, I got the impression that it meant another character, but this doesn't seem to be the case.


What happens in the case where you can't close a location?

In most games, you can just chase and defeat the villain, auto-closing locations you can't otherwise close. In the scenario Local Heroes, though, there are no villains, and there's a possibility that you can go through all the cards in a deck and still not be able to close the location. Say you need a 7 on a check you only roll a d6 on. You don't have any blessings left to use, and you don't have any other cards (allies, items, etc) that boost that roll. Do you just auto-lose?


For example:

Valeros flips a card for a pit trap, which has a WIS or Perception to defeat. In his hand, Valeros has the ally that gives an extra 1d10 to a Perception check. Now, Valeros doesn't have Perception. Can Valeros use that ally to add that modifier to his WIS check? Or does that particular ability on that card not have any effect unless played by a character with the Perception skill?

Forgive me if this is addressed in the rules somewhere, as I don't have the game on me, having let a friend try it out for a few days.


I read somewhere that the PCs leave Riddleport forever in the second module of the AP, but I'm still curious how you would construct the Gold Goblin using the rooms, teams, and manager rules presented in Ultimate Campaign.


Hoping for some more feedback...

Playing a Second Darkness campaign. Built a Fetchling Ninja and just hit level 2. I've had an idea for this character for a while, but haven't really penciled it all in yet, as I'm not sure what feats are most useful in what order.

Setim, LE male Fetchling Ninja (Scout) level 2
Str 16
Dex 16
Con 12
Int 12
Wis 8
Cha 13

Improved Init

Acrobatics +7, Bluff +5, Climb +6, Disable Device +7, Disguise +7, Intimidate +6, Kn (Planes) +4, Kn (Local) +5, Perception +4, Sleight of Hand +6, Stealth +9, Survival +4, Use Magic Device +5.

2-handing a katana, with a supply of shuriken.
AC 16 (studded leather)
HP 17
F +1
R +6
W 0

2 ki points and Vanishing Trick

I've read the optimization guides for both ninjas and rogues, and wanted to try something different. I was really interested in the Knife Master / Scout combo rogue, but wanted to play a ninja, so I kept the Scout part. I know that Brute Rogues can be effective, but haven't yet seen anything on brute ninjas. I know that shuriken can dish out lots of damage in monk builds.

The idea is a brute ninja. With a high stealth, I'd like to be able to close in on opponents, open with a shuriken flurry (Flurry of Stars), and then move to sneak attack with a high crit range katana and power attack. I'd like to take advantage of poison use on the shuriken, especially since I can flurry and then Vanish as a swift action to let the poison take it's effect before finishing the kill. With the scout, I'd also like to take Charging Hurler, so I can make charging ranged sneak attacks on surprise rounds, and then (hopefully) win initiative to move 10 feet and sneak attack with a katana.

Seems really feat heavy, though. Power Attack, Weapon Focus (katana), Point Blank Shot, Deadly Aim (probably, eventually), Charging Hurler, Improved Crit. Also seems like there is little room for adjustment on ninja tricks, as I need to use at least some of them for feats.

In the two sessions we've had so far, the character has been a blast to play, has been highly effective in combat, and is seeing character development. I want this to work.

What are my best options? Where should I be concerned (AC, Will saves, BAB, etc)? Are there aspects of this that I should just scrap, or ninja tricks I can't pass up?


This has come up in my game, and I just want to make sure I'm doing it right.

I'm an 11th level wizard with Augment Summoning and have prepared Summon Monster VI twice.

First, I'm in combat with some bad mofo who is wiping the floor with the party. I cast Summon Monster VI for a Dire Tiger. With Augment Summoning, I've got:
133 HPs of Tiger, with a 17 AC (suck), but DR 10/Evil (sweet). I cast in such a way so he's going to be able to charge once he hits the floor. He swift action uses Smite Evil on Billy Bad A--, and charges with pounce, for three attacks at +22, doing 2d4+24/2d4+24, and then 2d6+24, for an average damage, assuming all three hit, of 89 points, not counting crit chances. He also has three chances to make a grab with a +25 to his CMB check. Unless we're facing something much higher level than we are, at level 11, we've more or less guaranteed a successful grapple, and at least 50 or more points of damage. The baddie now can't move, and if not freed by the next round, El Tigre gets some rake attacks in addition to the +25 Grapple attempt to keep dealing damage.

1. The Tiger does get Smite Evil, right?
2. The Tiger gets Smite Evil damage on EVERY successful attack?

Later, after combat, I cast Summon Monster VI again to summon a Lillend Azata. In my copy of the Bestiary, she's only got one 3rd level spell: Charm Monster. I see that it has since been errata'd to include Cure Serious Wounds. Let's ignore that. I want to use her to heal my allies, since we don't have any other means of healing. I tell her to do so (in Draconic) and she casts Cure Light Wounds 11 times, for 1d8+5. That's 100ish points of damage healed, outside of combat, while we're catching our breath.

1. She can convert her higher level spell slots to cast Cure Light Wounds, eh?
2. She would be willing to do this without wasted rounds of negotiation or diplomacy, right?


I'm playing a wizard in a Jade Regent campaign. We're closing in on level 12. I've still got a 16 AC and around 60 HPs. Nothing can miss me. How can I solve this problem without wasting tons of rounds and spells?

*I almost always have Overland Flight cast, so I try to stay out of reach of melee attackers.
*I have a Ring of Invisibility and know how to use it. I dungeon crawl while flying invisibly ten feet off the ground behind my tankish companions.
*I'm playing an Enchanter, and have dominated some CR 7 hobgoblin fighter/rogues. A lot of the time I won't cast spells beyond a Haste or a mid-level Summon so I won't pop my invisibility and waste a turn going invisible again.

Should I be rocking Stoneskin all the time?
Do I need to find ways to boost my AC?

What are the best tips for squishy characters with regards to defense? Stay behind the fighter only works if the enemy obliges you and attacks from one direction.


In chapter 2 of Ultimate Campaign, it looks like you can buy or build your own storefronts and inns, and give you an order of operations for a typical day of hanging out in town. The first step is building upkeeps, but the only upkeep costs I'm seeing are the daily stuff for your store Managers and the like. Am I missing something somewhere? I haven't read the thing cover-to-cover, yet, but I've looked for it in the chapter and must be missing it somewhere.


This came up tonight, and I can see the discussion going either way.

I was playing a wizard when I was approached by a mini-boss in the middle of combat. Not knowing anything about the mini-boss, I activated my Ring of Invisibility on my turn and then attempted to move away. The boss could See Invisibility and attacked me with an Opportunity Attack. I had 42 HPs left, and thought I'd just tank the attack. It turned out to be a crit, and due to Power Attack, Bull's Strength, and Barbarian Rage, he smacked me for 58 points of damage, which would have killed me.

I had a single hero point, and wanted to use it to act out of turn. I wanted to cast Teleport and just teleport to the corner of the room, behind some tankish characters. I thought this was allowed as I would interrupt his action with a spell, which would have provoked an attack of opportunity if he had combat reflexes and I chose not to cast it defensively.

The GM argued that he would still hit me with the attack and kill me, especially because I waited to see how much damage was being dealt to me. I think he would have let me get away with it had I instead cast the spell before the damage was rolled.

How should this have worked, and what other options were there for me?

By the way, the GM is a nice guy, and awarded everyone a free Hero Point so I could use two and stabilize myself instead of dying. I don't want to sound like I'm unhappy with the GM's decision, I just thought it worked differently than he ruled and want clarification for the future.


I'm having some real trouble trying to nail down this build. We're starting a Second Darkness campaign in a few weeks, and I've decided to pursue a fetchling rogue. While looking over the archetypes, the Knife Master / Scout combo seemed like a good fit. Now I'm trying to figure out a good way to piece him together.

The 1st four levels of feats and talents seem to be pretty obvious.
Level 1 Two-Weapon Fighting
Level 2 Finesse Rogue
Level 3 Point Blank Shot
Level 4 Charging Hurler

After that I'm not sure if I should go the Combat Expertise and TW Feint route, or...

I'm assuming a 15-point buy for now.
S 10
D 18
C 12
I 13
W 8
C 13

These aren't set in stone. I could live with a 17 Dex, or a lower Int if I'm going to ignore Combat Expertise, etc.

Right now I'm going to focus on just daggers, as I don't really see the need for a higher crit kukri when all my damage will be done via SA.

We will be using traits, but one of those will be a campaign trait, so there's really only one free trait slot. We won't use anything that isn't native to the area the campaign is set, so River Rat comes from a Taldor source book and therefore isn't allowed in the game. The trait will therefore have to be one of the generic traits from the APG or something that isn't specifically tied to a non-Varisian location.

Any help or advice would be appreciated. I've seen a few other Knife Master / Scout threads, and read the guide by Bravo which is specifically for humans, but nothing seems to address my particular problems.


I've seen a lot of people mention haggling using Diplomacy checks to lower the price of purchased items. I don't know if I've seen anything official on the subject, like the effects of a merchant with a more favorable attitude. Just being helpful doesn't mean the merchant hands items for free to the PCs, but PCs geared toward having a decent Diplomacy will get to a point where they auto-succeed on Diplomacy checks.

-Should Diplomacy be able to affect the sale prices that merchants offer?
-Should this effect all manner of gear and equipment, like magic items and consumable wands and potions, or just mundane gear?
-What level of discount should the PCs be able to achieve? 5%? 10%? More?
-Should the PCs be able to game the system by appointing a designated character with high Diplomacy to make all their purchases?
-Would a system like this be able to work in reverse, with the PCs selling items at more than 50%?

For enterprising characters, could they pay to rent a storefront and hire an expert to sell their items for them, thereby being able to sell closer to 100% of their value? Are there guidelines for something like that yet, or am I just going to have to wait until Ultimate Campaign finally comes out?

I ask these questions because in any campaign that goes on for a while, characters will have the money and diplomacy to make a lot of magic item purchases, and depending on how hard the diplomacy DC should be, they might be saving hundreds or even thousands of gold pieces on every transaction.


Looking through my old TSR books, and came across the Staff of the Serpent, which really works well for the Serpent's Skull AP, and would like to insert this magic item into the campaign in the hands of one of the antagonists.

+1 Quarterstaff that as a swift action x/day the head animates and all attacks also inflict poison (deathblade or wyvern, probably). How would you price something like that?


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This story is too epic to just post in the Vaults of Madness thread, and it comes with the question of whether I handled it correctly, which isn't that important since my party seemed to really enjoy the way it played out.

So, the party, consisting of:

Strel, the gnome sorcerer now suffering from schizophrenia.

Manius, a human bard / dragon disciple with a string of bad luck with cohorts and the current leader of the Pathfinders, suffering from an extreme phobia of shaving, which will manifest itself if someone appears clean shaven in front of him. Julliver, as a Pathfinder, has attached herself to him as his latest cohort, in the hopes that this will stop their deaths.

Bishop, a very tactical and defensive human fighter.

AND

Ellisar, an elven druid and cousin to Osond of the Rainbow Serpent Tribe (which are all elves in my game).

The lead-up to this...
The party just finished clearing out the first vault, and have freshly exited from Urshlar's secret study, with two members suffering from a fresh set of insanities. Heading back to the Pathfinder camp (their faction, which is currently allied with the Sargavan Government), they run headlong into the two fleeing Pathfinders, who warn them of the Aspis Consortium attack on their camp, moments before they are shot in the back by the pursuing Aspis Legionaries. The party vows revenge, as the two unlucky Pathfinders informed the party of the ritualistic execution of poor Amivor Glaur, and his head being mounted on a stake. This leads to many of the Legionaries being beheaded during combat.

The party retreats back to the Artisan District for the night and to plan their counter-attack. They encounter Julliver, since healed of her paranoia, having herself escaped from the Pathfinder camp and then an ambush from 8 serpentfolk seekers (a random encounter) through the use of a Potion of Invisibility. She gives more details on the attack, as well as declares that Manius is the new de facto leader of the Pathfinders, being the next ranking member after Glaur. Not that Julliver cares too much, as she hardly considers herself a Pathfinder anymore, but Manius declares that after this expedition, he's not sure how the rest of the society will view him either, which impresses Julliver, and she vows to follow Manius at least until Eando is rescued.

The Tribe of the Rainbow Serpent ups it's guards at the urging of the party, who is now convinced that the Aspis Consortium is on a rampage, and manages to drive away the Serpentfolk Seekers searching for Julliver, slaying one and showing the body to the party the next morning. The party is now concerned with this fact, and I think not certain if this serpentfolk is with the ones on the island with the rakshasa, or not, but either way have declared their first priority as freeing the captive Pathfinders in the new Aspis Consortium camp.

Ellisar scouts the camp in the form of a raven, even going as far as to mount atop Dargan Etter's staked head and peck at it to further the ruse. He gets an idea of the layout of the camp, and it's defenses. Upon reporting this information back to the party, they decide the best course of action is to slay Ivo Haigan in the hopes that the rest of the Aspis forces will disband without the presence of a strong leader. They toy around with the idea of hiring the Red Mantis to do it, but decide it's too dangerous to trust them. They know that they can't approach the camp without being seen, and the only person who can get close enough is Ellisar, the druid. So the party hikes and sets up camp near the new Aspis base of operations, in preparation for a night time raid.

Another interesting strategy they mentioned was napalming the camp with alchemist's fire. They have over three dozen flasks of the stuff from the keches as well as vials they've accumulated over time. They were thinking Ellisar could drop it down on the tents and buildings and sow confusion among the ranks, but they finally discarded that idea as being too risky, as they might start executing prisoners, and several NPCs that the party was fond of were captured, including Athyra, N'kechi, Havilard, and Jask.

On their way to their temporary camp close to the Aspis Consortium, they stumbled upon poor Pezzock, who escaped the initial slaughter by being stealthy (I've rolled Pezzock up to stay even with the party so he can jump in and be useful at times), and with the additional firepower, were able to defeat a random encounter of four camulatzes (an encounter I was afraid might be too much for the party, but again, glitterdust and a massive trip CMB from the bard, and the alternating full defense toting fighter, with close to a 40 AC, and power attack, saved the day). Long, run-on sentence. My 9th grade English teacher is rolling in her grave. Or at least I hope she's dead, as I never liked her, but that was only fifteen years ago.

So Ellisar buffed himself like crazy. Stoneskin, Barkskin, Magic Fang, etc. He morphed into a large sized earth elemental. He cautiously burrowed his way into the Aspis camp, a difficult task since he doesn't have tremorsense and therefore had to rise from the earth every ten yards or so to check where he was going. He passed his stealth checks to slip past the guards. He burrowed up into the room Ivo was sleeping in. I figured Ivo didn't have his armor on at night, but he did roll a 31 on his Perception check, so before Ellisar could coup de grace him, Ivo's eyes popped open. A massive earth elemental was staring him in the face. Baleful Polymorph instead. Ivo passed his save, rolled to his feet, and grabbed his falchion, calling for his guards and alerting the two gorrillons in the other room. Stone Shape the door closed. Ivo slashes at the druid, but can't connect. The druid has no problem hitting because of the lack of armor. Several rounds back and forth, while Aspis mercenaries make their way to the building's entrance, not realizing they can't get into the bedroom. Druid crits and Ivo is hurting. Ivo rolls out the window and rolls a 19 on the d20 for his Stealth check. I figure he'll slip away and the party will have to go about this the old fashioned way. Ellisar literally walks through the stone wall, rolls a 19 on the d20 for his Perception check. Oh, yeah, druid. Elf. Perception is class skill. Wisdom primary ability score. He gets a 37 on his Perception check. Spots Ivo trying to slink around a corner and disappear into darkness. Can't let that happen. Wall of Thorns. Now Ivo is trapped. Ivo, area too small to drink his potion of invisibility, decides to go out fighting, screams an obscenity, and lunges at the druid. Still can't connect with all the buffs. Druid smashes his head into a pulp (kinda literally, considering). Rest of the Aspis Consortium is hacking at the Wall of Thorns trying to reach their leader. Ellisar, as a large sized Earth Elemental, dismisses the Wall of Thorns, holding aloft Ivo in one large, rocky hand, and thunders at the mass of mercenaries, "Get the *bleep* out of my city!"

Well, at this time, the mercenaries weren't really expecting something like this. Several of them lowered their crossbows. A few started whispering amongst themselves in wonder. And several fired their weapons. Only one connected. It did 11 points of damage. Oh, yeah... Stoneskin. Ellisar casually flicks away the bolt, laughs, and tells them that their puny pointed sticks have no effect on a being of pure NATURE, and then calls down a Flame Strike on three of the mercenaries, including the one that fired the bolt. He failed his save, and it was close to 50 points of damage. They flee or surrender at 14 or less HPs, which he had, so he screams and flees in terror, which breaks the morale of many of the other mercenaries. Ellisar, who has the Weather domain, then launches a few lightning bolts down at a few of them, plus any others that try to approach him. Within a few rounds, no mercenary had the courage to face the creature that single handedly, and without any real harm to himself, defeated their terrifying new leader. A creature that managed to sneak into camp undetected despite there being only one real approach. It didn't make sense for the camp to even attempt to kill Ellisar.

So Ellisar marched the captured Pathfinders straight out of camp unimpeded, launching spells at anyone who ventured too close. Outside the walls, he threw up a Wind Wall, which stopped the mercenaries who had the courage to fire at their mass of fleeing prisoners from doing any damage. This fact also demoralized whatever Aspis Consortium members were left.

Obviously not the way the module intended the encounter to go down, but my party spent the better part of our weekly five hour session planning their assault, and everyone at the table was laughing and cheering at the end of the session, so I guess it was a rousing success. And for the poor druid, who normally doesn't do much other than scout and buff the rest of the party, it was a fantastic moment to shine.

I do want to know how other GMs would have handled the situation, though, and whether anyone thinks that I perhaps miscalculated something, or made some sort of glaring error with either the role play or the rules.


I'm trying to gauge how other groups use this spell, specifically from the PCs PoV. I'm playing an Enchanter and I don't want to overstep my bounds.

1. Should he hand me the stats of the creature I've dominated so I can control it in combat?

2. Is the creature more or less mindless while dominated, or does he retain his personality?

3. Will I have to command him not to run away or try to escape if I leave him alone?

4. Over what distance can I exert commands? How complicated can those commands be?

5. Will he get a new save every time I tell him to do something, as anything he does to aid me is sorta going against his nature, as he was trying to kill me a few moments before?

6. Can I order him to fail saves against something like Mind Fog?

7. If I order him to go off somewhere on his own, can I then get a sensory idea of the location to better pinpoint a Teleport spell?

8. How many creatures can you have Dominated at one time?

9. If you have more than one creature dominated, can you give a blanket command to all of them as a single move action?

10. Is dominating a creature an evil act? Can you justify the use of the spell in the name of a greater good? What if you Dominate someone that is trying to kill you? What if they're mindless?

11. Does the dominated creature remember it's time dominated, or is that period a blank?

12. Can you Dominate a creature that you've already dominated while the first Dominate Person spell is still in effect, to reset the duration? What happens if he passes a save against a 2nd Dominate Person? Can you Dominate a creature that someone else already has dominated?

13. Over the duration of the spell, can I attempt to build up a rapport with the creature, showing him that we (the party) don't have hostile intentions to him, so he's less likely to go berserk on us when the spell duration expires? Do dominated creatures ever suffer from Stockholm Syndrome?

I want to post this in the Advice sub-forum, but I guess it makes more sense to post it here. I am looking for feedback on how other PCs have used this spell, so any advice you can give would be appreciated.


This isn't a complaint. The character in question is a solidly built fighter with a high AC, but the player isn't pulling weird feats, equipment, or magic items to achieve the AC, so it's not like a cheese thing. I'm sure other groups have similar characters.

My situation is thus:
My party is 8th level. Most party members have ACs in the low 20's, which is where you'd expect it. The fighter is rocking a 29 AC with his armor, feat bonuses, Dex, shield, and magic items. It's higher, usually, during combat, and someone hastes or buffs him. And the player is smart. He'll fight defensively at times, and even takes a total defense more than I've seen with any other character. It's his build, and he plays it well.

But...
As an example, last night I ran a combat with a CR 10 creature. For the fight, after buffs from the Sorcerer, Druid, and Cleric, the fighter was rocking a 34 AC. This guy, Mr. Billy Bad-A himself, had three attacks at +16, which would have murder-raped the rest of the party, but in the 9 rounds of combat this fight dragged on, the beast managed to hit the fighter 3 times. When it got the occasional swipes at the other party members, it couldn't miss, but I couldn't land a blow on the fighter. The creature's minions needed a Nat 20 to hit the fighter, even with flanking and haste, only having a +13 to hit. They managed to hit the rest of the party occasionally, but other than critical threats, unable to touch the fighter.

This, to me, is a worrisome trend. Most encounters I can come up with involve creatures that need a Nat 20 to hit the fighter. If I use creatures with a higher attack bonus, they'll have trouble missing even the reasonably ACed other party members. So in pure melee / physical encounters, the fighter is actually burdened by his group, as he'd be better tanking all the attacks and the group would be wasting less resources. The options seem limited:
1. Keep playing as normal and need Nat 20's to hit the fighter.
2. Use creatures with higher attack bonuses and have trouble missing the other characters.

I realize I can do dickish things like Sunder his gear constantly, but I already rolled up a foil for the fighter, his nemesis, who focuses on Sunder. Grappling is out as the Druid always keeps a Freedom of Movement prepped. Spellcasting doesn't seem to work because of how easy it is to silence a caster (It's hard to stay away from a hasted, silenced fighter and a trip focused, whip-wielding bard). And it's not that I want to kill anyone, or disallow them to play their character concepts, but I want to be able to challenge the entire party.


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Is it a standard action to activate? Does it require a standard action every round to maintain, or can you maintain it with a swift action or something? I can never figure out the relation between SU abilities and actions.

I've been playing it so it's a standard action to use, and you have to use it every round to maintain it, but it's such a lackluster use of actions every round for it's limited range, so I'm literally only doing it when I don't want to waste spells or feel like I can't be productive with the spells I have left and don't want to waste wand charges.

Goblin Squad Member

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Name: The Carrion Corps
Alignment: True Neutral
Role: Mercenary Services

Goals: Our number one priority is having a good time in a casual setting. Duh. So our primary goal is ensuring that all guild members are having fun. It's a game.

Specialization: Fort construction and financing. We'll build you a fort out in an uncharted hex, come to an agreement with the financing of said fort, and then pass ownership of the fort to your guild or organization. We also offer other, miscellaneous mercenary services, such as custom item crafting and bounty collection, but our main agenda is hex exploration and fort construction.

Structure: Right now we're a guild of six Kickstarter backers. We'll likely do a lot of things as a small group, working together. As our membership grows, however, we'd like to start multiple cells, or flocks, with each one working independently toward the overall goals of the Corps. Our only requirement is that the flocks work with each other, and never compete for contracts, or work for different sides in an exchange (at least not simultaneously).

Membership: As a mercenary company, we accept members of any alignment, class, or race, as long as they work toward the overall goals of the organization. This means we'll probably be at odds with NE or CE characters, or any character that draws negative publicity on our guild. As our organization grows, new members will likely be assigned to new flocks based on a need assessment.

Guild Rules:
1. Never kill, attack, or impede other members of the guild.
2. Never (unlawfully) commit crimes against neutral parties, or current clients.
3. Have fun.
4, 5, 6, etc. should all be common sense, with new rules being added on a need basis.

What's with the morbid name?
What's morbid about carrion birds? Last I checked they were true neutral. They are no more evil than the lion who makes the initial kill, or the sun that dehydrates the lone wanderer until he no longer lives. A lion, that stalks it's prey and murders it, is considered a noble beast. The crow, raven, or vulture is just an animal of opportunity, much like a mercenary company. They are true neutral, like our mercenary company. They sometimes thrive on the misfortune of others, like most mercenary companies. They travel and work together as a flock, like our mercenary company. Seems like a fitting name to me.

Base of Operations: Our members need to understand that we're not going to have a base of operations. We'll travel where the wind and opportunity takes us, living in one community or working out of one fort or another, until our services are needed in another location. Eventually, if we have a persistent client, we might permanently settle in a specific village or kingdom, but until then, like the carrion flocks, we'll roost where we end up at the end of the day.


So, in another thread, it was explained to me that you can, indeed use a gaze attack against a creature without eyes, as long as that creature is not specifically stated to not be immune to it.

My next, follow-up, questions:

Can creatures without eyes, avert their eyes?
Can creatures without eyes wear blindfolds, or otherwise cover their eyes?


Do they leave a body behind?

Say a PC bites it from the Str drain of a shadow. When he becomes a shadow, does his body physically become a new shadow, or does a shadow rise from the corpse?


I've got a party of casters happy to Glitterbomb an entire square mile every combat session (I mean to say that they all happily cast Glitterdust until everything is blinded). They've used this tactic a lot, and I don't mind it, as Glitterdust isn't that powerful of a spell, but there are times when I'm not sure it makes sense.

Can you blind shadows? Can you blind skeletons? Can you use Glitterdust to affect creatures underwater? Can you use Glitterdust on incorporeal creatures?


Back in the days of 3.5, there was a Prestige Class in the Complete Arcane called the Mindbender, which essentially could create thralls to serve him. I became fascinated with playing a Warlock Mindbender, but before I got a chance, 4th edition was released, and my hopes were dashed forever. Enter Pathfinder. Sure, no warlocks, but there's a wizard school of enchantment that has the same basic synergy....

So, I'm playing a wizard in a Jade Regent campaign, specializes in Enchantment magic with Necromancy and Evocation being opposed schools. So far so good. About to hit level 9, and with it Dominate Person.

How do I go about creating my own army of thralls to serve me, so I don't actually have to do anything but direct them in combat, and how do I do this in such a way so the DM doesn't kill off my character in frustration?

Honestly, this is my character's calling. I've been building up to this moment since I rolled him up. And I haven't made it a secret. The second session we attacked a goblin village, and I took a goblin hostage and charmed him. That goblin now serves as my cohort via the Leadership feat. Useful little lady, she is.

I think I covered all my bases. I've got Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus in Enchantment, and a 23 Int, so the DCs are high. I've got 4 ranks in Linguistics, and speak Goblin, Infernal, and Giant, with plans on learning Draconic, Aklo, and Abyssal upon leveling again, if I can find some source to learn Aklo from, so communication isn't an issue. And I've got maxed out ranks in both Bluff and Dimplomacy (with a +2 Cha mod and a +3 from Enchantment school), so I can roleplay away any hesitation my thralls might have (mainly those created from Charm Monster, where they're less of a thrall, and more of a friend coerced into serving me).

I'm considering picking up Mind Fog. Even if it won't be useful in some situations, when I've got a thrall via either Dominate Person or Charm Monster, I'll have him sit in a Mind Fog and purposefully fail his save (using my +17 Bluff check) so it'll be easier to re-up these Days/Level duration spells. I've got a bonded ring that I'm saving up to enchant as a ring of Invisibility so I can stay close to my thralls without drawing attacks from my enemies.

Any other tips or tricks I should be aware of? Has anyone seen a good build for characters like this, or seen someone else pull off a character similar? Synergy that I haven't thought of?


I inadvertently started a discussion on this topic in the Obits page, which is probably the last place people wanted to see it, so I figure if people have things to say, they can say them here, instead.

My particular case:
My party originally consisted of an Elven Rogue, a Human Sword-and-Board Fighter, an Elven Druid, and a Gnome Starsoul Sorcerer.

The initial concerns for the group was a lack of solid healing. Most of my players think that for a group to be successful, they need a dedicated healer in the mix, which, of course, is not the case. The very first thing purchased in every campaign I've run are several wands of Cure Light Wounds. If the party isn't walking around at max HPs all the time, they get really on edge. Whatevs.

So the Elven Rogue decides to leave the group (he was consistently rolling low on HP) and that player rolled a Human Archaeologist Bard, with no healing spells. Odd choice, I think, for a party so worried about healing.

When the bard had around 28,000 exp, he made it known he was going to take Leadership at level 7. He says this while the party is exploring the ruins of Tazion, right before the final few encounters in the ziggurat. I don't like disallowing things from the Core Rulebook, and have had characters that take Leadership myself, so I don't see anything wrong with that. If he had worked into his backstory an NPC that I knew he was going to try to recruit with Leadership, I'd have let him roll that character up as an NPC himself. As it was, spur of the moment, I wasn't completely unprepared. I had kept many of the NPCs the party has met at level 5 just in case someone wanted to take Leadership and recruit one of the NPCs as a cohort.

I like this feeling of realism in my campaigns. I'm not a DM that, if a character takes Leadership, a random NPC just appears at that characters side and how he got there is glossed over. I feel this kills the mood of a role-playing game.

He wants, specifically, a cleric of Cayden Cailean as a cohort. This annoys me, as the last game we played he took Leadership and recruited a cleric of Cayden Cailean as a cohort. I tell him that it's probably not likely that the Pathfinder expedition (the expedition that PCs are helping) would have a cleric of Cayden Cailean in their mists, but I'd roll one up anyways and work him in.

A lot of other GMs don't like the fact that I roll up my PC's cohorts as NPCs. In the past I allowed players to roll them up as full PCs, but that's always backfired with cohorts more powerful than party members. An NPC is supposed to be weaker than the PCs, especially a cohort 2 levels lower. Plus, the Core Rulebook makes reference to Chapter 14. I use the Heroic NPC stats appropriate for it's class, modify those based on race and level, equip him with a few MW weapons, probably one or two magical items, including a fully charged cure wand, and hand him over to the player. If the PCs want to equip their cohort from the loot they earn from that point on, that's their prerogative.

The cleric I rolled up, one Reagan Tenor, is a fully fleshed out NPC. He has a history. I describe his personality and appearance to the PC. I tell him what domain spells he likes to take. Then I let the PC run him, with me stepping in if the PC makes him do something that is radically unlike Reagan Tenor's personality. Immediately the party hates the guy, as I describe him almost like a frat boy with a constant buzz. Not a jerk frat boy, but a man with drunken wisdom and bravado. I gave the man the Drunken Brawler feat, so the guy is always drinking. For flavor, I used some of the alternate channeling abilities for clerics of Cayden Cailean, so his channeling is only half as effective, but it has a synergy with poison and ability damage, something that might play a role later in the campaign. He also has a negative Dex modifier, which the party dislikes.

Whatever, I handed them a divine caster with the ability to cast level 3 spells. It's a powerful resource. I look at Leadership the same way I look at any feat. Having an NPC spellcaster that can buff and heal and serve as a flanking buddy is a much better use of a feat than a +1 Dodge bonus to AC. So I don't want my player's to go crazy with him.

Anyways, poor Reagan dies to a regular shadow while on Shadow Island, his 12 Str quickly drained while he repeatedly cast and failed to touch the thing with a cure spell, the party too busy to come to his aid. I'm not sure if this counts as causing the death of a cohort or not, but the bard's player wants another divine caster to play healer to the party, now, Reagan having survived less than one full session. In my head, the suspension of disbelief... how many level 5 NPCs are with the Pathfinder expedition? Again, reiterate, the party has two characters capable of casting Cure Light Wounds, but this cohort better be built as a heal bot. Sheesh!

So I rolled up an oracle of wind, with a detailed backstory. First time to roll up an oracle, so I thought I'd make one without Cure Spells, but apparently oracles get cure spells for free, so that backfired. Still, it's not the raw healbot that he wanted, and I'm not allowing him to have one. He can either take this oracle, or he can recruit Athyra as his cohort. I'm not filling in any more orders for cure bots.

I understand the draw of taking Leadership, and I want to encourage players that want to do so, but as a DM, I'd prefer it if they worked on it a bit, either through recruiting a cohort many levels in advanced, beginning friendly relations with an NPC they might want as a cohort, or having a cohort in mind at character creation and working on in to the backstory.

I have a character with Leadership in our Jade Regent group. It's a goblin my Enchanter charmed back in the second session of play, and this goblin has been a part of my character's life ever since. When I decided I was going to take the goblin as my cohort, or try, as I wasn't sure if the DM was going to let me, I roleplayed trying to teach the goblin some manners and abilities, teaching him new languages while learning goblin myself. He was going to be a rogue, I decided, back when I was level 3, so whenever we came across locked boxes or chests, I'd hand them to my goblin with a set of lockpicks and let him try his hand at it for a while. We even roleplayed weening him off Charm Spells through the use of Diplomacy and Bluff, permanently changing his alignment to True Neutral. In game time, the process took half a year, while in real time it was some 20 odd sessions. I guess when I think of a player taking Leadership, I just assume they're going to do something similar.


A hog coven uses a variety of SLA's. Are they subjected to concentration checks if a member of the coven is attacked while the coven is attempting to use a SLA? If so, how do you calculate the concentration check for the coven?

Also, if a creature has an energy drain ability associated with hitting with an attack, such as a wight, is the target allowed a saving throw before taking the negative level, or is the level just a sure thing upon a hit? And despite it's CR 3, wouldn't a single wight be a dangerous opponent for a party of 2rd level characters, particularly if it attacks from surprise with it's massive +16 Stealth check? I mean, two hits from a wight and someone is dead, with no save, regardless of HPs. Brutal.


So, a few weeks ago the party was fighting a cleric NPC with an animal companion, and the party druid started casting dominate animal (I think) which has a full round casting time. To counter this spell, the cleric casts Blindness/Deafness and blinds the druid so he can't target anything.

Then, last night, the party was fighting an enchanter, which started to cast Dominate Person. The party druid, remembering the tactic I used, cast Obscuring Mist as a standard action, limiting what the Enchanter could see so he couldn't target anything.

Both valid "counters"?

Also, talking about countering spellcasters, is there anything stopping the party's bard from casting silence on one of the melee fighters' swords so that character can close the distance and stop spellcasting? Same tactic with an arrow which is then fired from a bow? Two combats that have ended prematurely because the enemy spellcaster can't get far enough away from the fighter with the silenced sword.


Over the last couple of weeks, several questions have come up. As always, I've got to ask the board for clarification.

1. Does Regeneration prevent bleed? Is it considered magic healing, and therefore ends bleed effects?

2. What about a creature with regeneration and instant death spells, like Phantasmal Killer? Can something regenerate from dead?

3. If you knock a creature with regeneration unconscious, where do they start regenerating from? How far negative can they go? For example, you trap a troll in a whirling blade trap that damages it every round and then knock it unconscious. It sits there for a week and takes... 100,000 points of damage. Does it start regenerating at -100,000? Or should you use something like it's HP in negative numbers?

4. If a PC gets an ear bitten off, what would it take to regrow that lost ear?

5. Does innate telepathy bypass language barriers? If something only speaks abyssal, but can communicate telepathically, can it still communicate with creatures that don't speak abyssal? Can it communicate, telepathically, general notions and ideas?

6. If a creature has a breath weapon useable every x rounds, when do you start calculating x? Say it's every 1d4 rounds. Round one it uses it's breath weapon, and I roll a 1. Can it turn around and use it again round 2?

7. Can you ready an action to cast a spell as soon as a creature moves adjacent to you? Since your action takes place during that creature's turn, wouldn't that mean that creature couldn't make an AoO against you? Or do you split it's turn in two, so it would still get an AoO?

8. I asked this before, but forgot again... if a creature has the constrict ability, does it do constrict damage the very first turn it starts the grapple? Say a creature has a bite attack that deals damage and has grab. It hits, deals damage, then makes a Grapple check against the target's CMD. It succeeds. Would it immediately do constrict damage? Can a creature with constrict make a successful grapple check to move it's enemy and both move and constrict at the same time?

9. Say you target a creature with a climb speed with a Grease spell, and that creature is adjacent to a wall. Does that creature have to make a new Reflex save on his turn if he attempts to climb the non-greased wall?


Four separate questions that came up in a recent session. Asking them all in one thread instead of several separate ones.

1. When does constrict damage take place? Is it the round of the successful grab check, or is constrict damage applied on the first round of maintaining the grapple, after the creature has had a chance to break free?

1a. If a creature has multiple, say, tentacles, each of which have grab and constrict (obviously), can this creature grapple the same target with multiple tentacles and apply constrict damage multiple times in a round to a single target?

2. When you modify a creature by adding HD to it, and it increases in size category, all it's damage dice for natural attacks presumably increase (d4 to d6, etc). Would the constrict damage dice increase as well?

3. If I have Two-Weapon Rend, and I'm attacking something with DR (Cold Iron, for example), but only one of my weapons actually possesses the ability to overcome DR, is the damage done by TWR reduced by the DR... or no? Say, for example, I'm wielding a +2 Longsword and a +3 Short Sword. I hit with the longsword and barely deal damage (say 12 points when the DR is 10/cold iron), and I hit with the short sword. Is the damage from rend reduced?

3a. If I hit with the longsword but don't overcome DR, I can still rend, right? The condition is hitting the creature, not damaging them, correct?

3b. Saw this in an optimization guide. Can you rend more than one creature a round? Say I attack one creature with both weapons, hit twice, and then use my second attacks with both weapons to attack a second creature and hit it both times. Do I rend both?

4. Finally, and I've asked this before but keep forgetting where to look to find the answer, what action is required to use supernatural abilities? I don't even remember the ability, now, but it came up. Most of them specify as a free action or a standard action, etc, but what's the action if that's not listed (like in my case, whatever it was).

4b. Also, where does it talk about the caster level / spell level of spell-like abilities, like those associated with the wizard schools?


I have a Starsoul PC in my group with an interesting backstory involving his grandfather receiving his sorcerer powers via the discovery of an otherworldly sphere that literally teleported him into space for a few seconds. The PC is traveling to the Mwangi Expanse seeking information on this sphere and where his grandfather's old (centuries old, as we're talking gnomes) adventuring group disappeared to.

I'm running the Serpent's Skull adventure path, and there's a dungeon in the second installment with a very vague backstory to it, and I'd love to retool this dungeon to fit my PC's backstory. I'm looking for advice on what sort of things to include.

The party should be level 6 when they arrive at the entrance to the dungeon, and I'd like to somehow tie it to one of the Other Worlds in the Golarion Solar System mentioned on page 209 of the Inner Sea World Guide. I was thinking Eox, Apostae, or Aucturn.

Just looking for some advice and ideas, specifically what sort of monsters work well in this theme and level, and any cool plot hooks or story stuff that might be interesting to drop now and develop over the course of the campaign. Also, haven't seen anything on the forums yet dealing with the Other Worlds in the Golarion system, and was wondering if anyone else had used them in their campaign yet, and if so, how did you handle it.


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This came up tonight:

Bard was sitting in a boat on the surface of the ocean. Party druid and fighter, both with Water Breathing, were fighting a kelpie 60 feet underwater. The bard, passing his perception check to see the combat, decided to cast Glitterdust and target it so that the kelpie was in it while the druid and fighter were not. I said that there'd be a "miss chance" on the targeting of the spell because of refraction, and the fact he was trying to aim at something 60 feet below the surface of the water. I mean, that's some depth. Player tried to make an argument that since there was no attack roll and he could see the kelpie, he should be able to hit it with whatever he wanted.

How do you handle a situation like this? Was I being unfair?


I have a Gnome Sorcerer (Starsoul) named Strel with an interesting backstory that I'd like to implement within my adventure path. The gnome's grandfather was a member of an adventuring party within the Mwangi Jungle that came across a blue orb in the course of their travels. The grandfather, himself a wizard, touched the orb in the course of investigating it, and found himself teleported, with the orb in hand, into the heavens, where he promptly passed out, released the orb, and then awoke in a temple to Iomedae. His companions were never heard from again, and the orb was, of course, missing.

Strel's grandfather, however, was changed by the event, essentially becoming a Starsoul sorcerer based on his encounter with the orb, a bloodline he passed down to young Strel upon his birth. It was always the grandfather's goal to find this orb, which he always assumed was in the heavens where he had let go of it, a mission that Strel took up when he came of age and started training with his power. A mission that led Strel to board a boat to travel to Sargave and then the Mwangi Expanse.

Obviously, the item in question being a blue orb, and wanting to implement my player's backstory into the campaign, I immediately thought of the Salt Mines (a lie, someone else on the forums mentioned it). What I'd like to somehow do is to connect the Blue Orb in the Salt Mines, the Blue Warrior dude, and Strel's grandfather to the rest of the campaign, and maybe re-tool the entire mini-dungeon so it fits the character's backstory with the Starsoul Sorcerer bit. I was thinking perhaps some sort of vessel or portal leading from Golarion to one of the other worlds mentioned on page 209 of the Inner Sea World Guide. Maybe Eox or Bretheda? Or perhaps somehow tying all of that into the ziggurat in Tazion that deals with the stars.

Any ideas, as you guys are much cleverer than I am.


Playing in the Serpent's Skull Adventure Path and heat dangers have come up multiple times. The Full Plate Fighter now has some cash to spend, and the party's druid can create Wondrous Items. He wants to create a pair of bracers that would give him a permanent Endure Elements. I hate the rules for new magic items as I think they're easily abused, but I don't want to take that out on him. And he agreed not to make an item that has a 1/day use of Endure Elements to make it cheaper, as the spell duration is apparently 24 hours anyways, and he felt this was gaming the system (his notion, not mine).

What's a fair price for this item, and is there any problem with it occupying a Bracers slot?


A few questions came up in tonight's session, and I figured I should know the answers before reporting back to my players, so:

1. Enthrall has a somatic component. In my head, the evil bad guy was going through his evil guy monologue, casting enthrall, and favorably positioning himself for combat. I tell the party, at the end of the monologue, that they noticed the bad guy moving into position, but were enthralled and the action didn't register with them. Do the PCs get to make Spellcraft checks to identify the spell as it's being cast? Does Enthrall have an actual verbal component beyond the full round of speaking required to cast it? Can an evil caster hide the somatic component behind a facade of Italian style hand gesturing?

2. Druid summoned some stirges, that have no reach at all, meaning they have to be in the space of the creature they attack. Can the druid summon them into the space of a creature, or do they have to be summoned on an empty space and then moved? Can stirges use a 5-foot fly to avoid AoO?

3. I thought I read somewhere that animals or any other creature with an Int of 2 or less didn't register illusion spells. Therefore spells like Mirror Image or Major Image or Phantasmal Killer didn't effect creatures of animal intelligence. I can't find that anywhere, but I know it's come up in the past. Am I imagining things?


I've been trying for close to two years to convert my old 3.5 Warblade to Pathfinder, only using Paizo Pathfinder products. Thing is, not only is the Warblade hard to convert, but my character, Tallet, used two bastard swords. I don't think there's a Pathfinder equivalent to Oversized TWF, nor should there necessarily be. So I've been trying to figure out a way to address the need for high Str and Dex, while retaining lots of skill points, and keep my beloved character just as kickass as he was in both 3.5 and 4th edition.

I fooled around with barbarian / TWFer Fighter archetype, some sort of samurai / fighter, a barbarian / fighter / samurai, etc. I gave up on ranger because of the spells and the animal companion, but I started looking into the problem again this morning. I never considered ranger archetypes for some reason, despite being a fan of the Skirmisher for a while. And I only realized a few months ago that you can combine two archetypes as long as their abilities don't overlap. Hence, thread title. I think I've got a good start for my concept, but the community here has always given excellent advice on prior builds, so...

Tallet, level 1 human Ranger (Guide)
Str 15+2 = 17
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 12
Cha 7

Skills: Acrobatics, Climb, Intimidate, Perception, Stealth, Survival, Swim

Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Wakazashi), Weapon Focus (Wakazashi)

The original 3.5 concept used bastard swords due to their equivalency to katanas. This character has a very Eastern samurai-y code of honor, despite being a very blunt problem solver. I figure I can use wakazashi instead of katanas, as I don't want to use two feats for proficiency with them both.

Tallet was never stupid, so I don't want to drop his Int any further. I realize that acrobatics isn't a class skill for rangers, which is a bleeding shame, but the original character has ranks in balance, jump, and tumble, so how can I not take ranks in acrobatics? I'm hoping I can take some sort of campaign trait that will give me acrobatics as a class skill, or else work with the GM to allow me to create a new trait that does that.

At 2nd, 6th, and 10th levels I figure I'll take those TWF I wouldn't otherwise qualify for. I also think Quickdraw and Power Attack are important to take early, though I'm having second thoughts about Quickdraw. Obviously Improved Crit, and 2W Rend, but beyond those, I'm stumped for where I should take feats, and what feats compliment this character.

This isn't really a build at the moment, just a rough concept, but any sort of advice would be appreciated on how the community would roll up a character like this and advance it, not necessarily to optimize him, but to keep him valid through one of Paizo's published adventure paths.


Used on for the first time tonight. Wasn't sure how it works. It says it has no range penalties and requires an attack role, so I figured it must be a ranged attack against AC, like a bow, but that seems sorta weak, considering. I'm playing a wizard, and if that's the way the ring works, I suppose I should give it to someone else since with my BAB, I won't be hitting much with it.

So, is it:
1. Ranged weapon, like a bow, using BAB and Dex mod against target's AC.
2. Ranged weapon, but targets touch AC, like ray spells.
3. Or does it just deal damage based on charges without any rolls.


I want to provide an experience for my PCs where they feel like the characters they've created are integral to some so of the action in the campaign. I've got a few ideas, but I would love to see how other GMs would handle this.

Player 1: Elven druid. Father sold into slavery in Cheliax and managed to escape to his freedom. Character grew up with his father telling him stories about "his people", the Ekujae, and the druid is returning to the Mwangi Expanse to reconnect with his long lost kin.

Player 2: Human Fighter. A minor noble from Korvosa, his sister was raped by a group of men. The character tracked down these men for vengeance and killed two of them before he took a nasty wound to the face. The very strict laws of Korvosa has forced this character to flee the city in fear that he'll be hanged.

Player 3: Elven rogue. The son of a pirate captain in the Shackles, this character has connections to the criminal underworld. When he helped his best friends, two brothers, complete a job stealing some priceless jewels or some such, he thought he'd be set for life. He wasn't expecting one of the brothers to betray them, trade the ill-gotten gains for hard drugs, and then attack him in a pesh haze. After killing one brother, the other brother wants revenge, and so this character had to get out of Dodge.

Player 4: Human sorceror. His grandfather was an adventurer who explored the Mwangi Expanse, and discovered a powerful artifact in the shape of an orb. Touching this cursed artifact, his grandfather's adventuring party was teleported into the vastness of the void. Passing out and letting go of the artifact, he awoke later in the care of some clerics at a temple. That orb is still up in the void, the grandfather told his character from a young age, and the character is obsessed with recovering it himself. To aid him in his quest, his grandfather gave him a map of the Mwangi Expanse and tattoos for the night sky on the back of his hands so he can always find his way home.

Obviously players 2 and 3 are easier to write in to the adventure. I can invent some NPCs looking for them, and they could easily be working for an opposing faction. Maybe a crazy Hellknight bent on bringing the fighter to justice has spent all his resources tracking him to the Mwangi Expanse, and a rogue turned assassin teams up with the Red Mantis to hunt his brother's killer.

I was thinking I could make the druid's tribe be the one camped out in the Artisan District of Saventh-Yhi. It'd require some changes from human to elf, but they could have easily have moved to Saventh-Yhi in the hundred or so years since his father was sold into slavery. I'm not sure if this is the best solution, but it doesn't effect the plot too much.

I'm not sure how to handle the sorcerer's character. Do I come up with some sort of crazy artifact with a lingering curse attached to it, or maybe do something with his grandfather's old adventuring group that is presumed to have died in the Void, or... Really, one of the more interesting backstories, and ties into his Starsoul bloodline nicely, as his grandfather was "affected" by his trip to the Void, and I don't want to miss a chance to use it.

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