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Spring load wrist sheaths to draw potions as swift actions and Accelerated Drinker to drink them as move actions. Also very useful in using Breath of Life scrolls in a timely manner.Forget scrolls, wear First Aid Gloves. 4500GP buys you two castings of Breath of Life anyone can use. And most importantly, they're always at hand.
This is a fantastic item and one of the best additions to PFS I've seen. I'm not sure if it was John's idea or Mark's or if it came from somewhere else and made it into their book, but whoever is responsible deserves a huge thank you. This can be a TPK saver. It's a pricey expendable, but every support character that can't already cast breath of life should think about picking them up. Sooner or later your party will thank you. I think the inclusion of more items along these lines should be encouraged.
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Back in October, 2012 the Paizo Blog ran a "Pathfinder Survival 101" column. It recommended:
Potion of Invigorate (50 gp): Going into battle with a creature that can sap your endurance, leaving you fatigued or exhausted, this potion will banish that pathetic mortal weakness and allow you to ignore the associated penalties for 10 WHOLE MINUTES. Of course, when it runs out, you get not only the penalties, but also an extra d6 points of nonlethal damage for your arrogance in ignoring your natural limits—but hey, performance enhancements are just an easy way of separating winners from losers! Honestly, though, ignoring those penalties for 10 minutes, that's freaking awesome for 50 gp.
My UMD heavy Sorcerer carries a scroll with several castings of this on it. Between that and his Ring of Spell Knowledge he can temporarily remove the conditions from the whole party, if necessary.
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A scroll of accept affliction. If you have a good character that tends to stand in the back and just buff people, taking blinded, deafened, fatigued, nauseated, shaken, and sickened off of another party member can be a life saver. While having the condition yourself is bad, there's no roll or caster level check.
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Oh, can't believe I forgot about this: bag of powder, 1 cp. At low level, it's a very good way to deal with invisible enemies (how old school, I know!). Most people don't seem to think of buying such an item. :)
Also, for a brand new first level character: flask of oil, 1 sp. Your brand spanking new character may not be able to afford alchemist's fire or flasks of acid for dealing with swarms, but a flask of oil can help out in that regard.
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Another thing that can help with ugly effects is a potion of Remove Sickness instead.
You quell feelings of illness and nausea in the target, giving it a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against disease, nausea, and sickened effects. If the subject is already under the influence of one of these effects when receiving the spell, that effect is suppressed for the duration of the spell.
Casting it, when possible, is more effective, but pouring the potion down your nauseated companion's throat, sort of like a dose of pepto, can be amusing...
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They quickly become less useful when you reach mid levels but Stingchucks are just glorious at low levels, particularly when playing an Alchemist where you can apply your Int to damage as they are splash weapons.
Interestingly, they're priced exactly like clubs and slings; i.e., free. Add to that they can make the target Nauseated for 1d3 rounds if they fail a rather easy DC 11 Fort save. Again, not too useful as you progress in levels but at levels 1-3, I've effectively dropped a few BBEGs in the first round of combat.
The only real downside to them is that they weigh a hefty 9 pounds each. That and some players find them a bit icky. You can find them in Adventurer's Armory.
Also, every Calistrian should keep some Bachelor's Snuff or Night Tea handy, "just in case."
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My personal list of PFS Survival items includes a few things folks have already mentioned, but also:
Bloodblock
25gp, APG
Stops a bleed effect as if you made DC15 Heal check. Doesn't come up often, but it's really handy when it does.
Bladeguard
40gp, APG
Protects a 2 handed or two 1 handed weapons from damage. Doesn't come up often, but it's really handy when it does.
Pot of Blur
300gp, Core Rulebook
20% concealment--enough that precision damage won't work usually
Pot of Delay Poison
300gp, Core Rulebook
Makes you immune to poison for 3 hours. How many times have you seen enemies throw Stinking Cloud or Cloudkill on the party? This makes you immune to those. Not easy to use if you're already nauseated from the Stinking Cloud, though.
Pot of Spider Climb
300gp, Core Rulebook
Gives you a climb speed of 20', you retain Dex bonus while climing, and lasts 10 min. How many times have you encountered an Alchemist who is spider climbing on the ceiling and chucking bombs at the party?
Bead of Newt Prevention
1,000gp, UE pg282
Negates failed save vs hostile polymorph effect, consumed when triggered. Useful at higher levels when you might encounter a Baleful Polymorph.
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Pot of Spider Climb
300gp, Core Rulebook
Gives you a climb speed of 20', you retain Dex bonus while climing, and lasts 10 min. How many times have you encountered an Alchemist who is spider climbing on the ceiling and chucking bombs at the party?
Story time.
My favorite ever use of Spider Climb was when I was GMing an adventure (don't want to name names) where there's a ghast waiting around a corner to ambush the PCs. The group used some magical scouting to discover it was there, and prepared accordingly.
The group had quite a few casters, so they put both Spider Climb and Invisibility on pregen Kyra. The girl playing Kyra then had the character climb to the ceiling and hung upside down invisibly, crawling past the ghast. The scary part is the sucker had high enough perception that it almost noticed her anyway.
Once Kyra was past the ghast, she channeled positive energy to hurt it as a surprise round, and then we rolled initiative to start the rest of the fight.
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Several low gp cost items:
traveler's anytool (can change to be whatever tool you need)
snapleaf (mentioned earlier, but I consider them almost essential at low level)
Potion of lesser restoration (a must have, with the added benefit of only being a standard action to activate as opposed to the spell's three round casting time)
Bead of Newt Prevention (not important early on, but I would definitely recommend one in the 7-11 range)
Bottled Yeti Fur (while slightly over the cap for purchase using prestige, it's still pretty solid for 24 hours of cold resist 5, +2 nat armor, and +4 to stealth in ice and snow)
Dowsing Syrup (for 1000 gp, you can use a consumable to find the NPC that has been kidnapped, or the object that has been stolen. Good if you have no other avenues of recourse).
Weapon enhancements:
Limning (+1; if you hit a target, they're effected by faerie fire for 1 round. nice for dealing with invisible targets.)
lesser and greater designating (+2 and 4 respectively; A great ranged weapon enhancement that adds a +2 morale bonus to hit and damage (lesser) or +4 morale to hit and +6 morale to damage (greater) to any melee attacks your allies make on a target for a round. A really solid "team player" ranged enhancement)
and my favorite "lesser known" weapon enhancement: Phase Locking (+2; any creature you hit is dim anchored for a round. no save. now available in melee and ranged variants; truly awesome for amulets of might fists at the high end).
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Thanks Nosig! Totally picking that one up for Garble.Dead Garble or Confused Garble.
Not sure which is worse.
well, let's look at the possiblities...
25% "act normally" (this is Garble - please define normal)
25% "Do nothing but babble incoherently" (see note above for act normally)
25% "Deal 1d8 points of damage + Str modifier to self with item in hand" (some people would pay to see this)
25% "Attack nearest creature (for this purpose, a familiar counts as part of the subject's self)" (is this another act normally?)
Master Garble enjoys being read to as long as it involves a heavy dose of fire and blood.
25% to act normal. I believe in this case normal would be better described as "without self control."
25% chance to do nothing but babble incoherently. I'm pretty sure this is close to his normal percentage of incoherent ranting.
25% chance to deal 1d8 points of damage plus Str modifier to self with item in hand. This is going to be difficult as he usually doesn't have anything in his hands. His mouth, on the other hand is often full (and we're all thankful for that).
25% chance to attack nearest creature. Please see "act normal."
I find it interesting that while confused he can deal more damage to himself than he can to another creature. 1d8 is quite a bit for the little would-be king. He usually only deals about 1d6+8 damage per round, or about the same as a first level Valeros.
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Thanks Nosig! Totally picking that one up for Garble.Dead Garble or Confused Garble.
Not sure which is worse.
well, let's look at the possiblities...
25% "act normally" (this is Garble - please define normal)
25% "Do nothing but babble incoherently" (see note above for act normally)
25% "Deal 1d8 points of damage + Str modifier to self with item in hand" (some people would pay to see this)
25% "Attack nearest creature (for this purpose, a familiar counts as part of the subject's self)" (is this another act normally?)
Master Garble enjoys being read to as long as it involves a heavy dose of fire and blood.
25% to act normal. I believe in this case normal would be better described as "without self control."
25% chance to do nothing but babble incoherently. I'm pretty sure this is close to his normal percentage of incoherent ranting.
25% chance to deal 1d8 points of damage plus Str modifier to self with item in hand. This is going to be difficult as he usually doesn't have anything in his hands. His mouth, on the other hand is often full (and we're all thankful for that).
25% chance to attack nearest creature. Please see "act normal."I find it interesting that while confused he can deal more damage to himself than he can to another creature. 1d8 is quite a bit for the little would-be king. He usually only deals about 1d6+8 damage per round, or about the same as a first level Valeros.
actually - I have always had a problem with the "Deal 1d8 points of damage + Str modifier to self with item in hand" result. I myself have suffered it twice - inflicting a d8+1 damage with a whip in one case and with a cherry tart in the other (I was going to cast Hidious Laughter and the cherry tart is the material component.)
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Where as last time it happened to me, I hit myself with a +2 furious nodachi while raging.... Ow. (It's not clear to me if I should have taken the nodachi's +4 enhanced damage or not, but I elected to on the basis of "hit with item in hand")
my problem has always been - "but I don't have anything that can do damage! let alone 1d8!"
...and did you do the nodachi damage with 2 handed strength - or just one handed? was that what you were asking about the "enhanced damage"?
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Where as last time it happened to me, I hit myself with a +2 furious nodachi while raging.... Ow. (It's not clear to me if I should have taken the nodachi's +4 enhanced damage or not, but I elected to on the basis of "hit with item in hand")
I always have players deal exactly 1d8+Str, regardless of item, given that it doesn't matter whether you're holding a sponge or a greataxe.
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Where as last time it happened to me, I hit myself with a +2 furious nodachi while raging.... Ow. (It's not clear to me if I should have taken the nodachi's +4 enhanced damage or not, but I elected to on the basis of "hit with item in hand")I always have players deal exactly 1d8+Str, regardless of item, given that it doesn't matter whether you're holding a sponge or a greataxe.
Agreed.
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This is correct.I always have players deal exactly 1d8+Str, regardless of item, given that it doesn't matter whether you're holding a sponge or a greataxe.Agreed.
The real question would be how my gnome prankster bard would do 1d8 damage with 7 str, a scroll in one hand, and a whoopee cushion in the other.
Speaking of which, should it only do 1d6 instead of 1d8 for small characters? :P
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This is correct.I always have players deal exactly 1d8+Str, regardless of item, given that it doesn't matter whether you're holding a sponge or a greataxe.Agreed.The real question would be how my gnome prankster bard would do 1d8 damage with 7 str, a scroll in one hand, and a whoopee cushion in the other.
Speaking of which, should it only do 1d6 instead of 1d8 for small characters? :P
paper cut to the eye. Those can be nasty.
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This is correct.I always have players deal exactly 1d8+Str, regardless of item, given that it doesn't matter whether you're holding a sponge or a greataxe.Agreed.The real question would be how my gnome prankster bard would do 1d8 damage with 7 str, a scroll in one hand, and a whoopee cushion in the other.
Speaking of which, should it only do 1d6 instead of 1d8 for small characters? :P
It's emotional damage, and if it kills you then you died of embarrassment.
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Would that require a fort save vs the self coup de grace?
The real question would be how my gnome prankster bard would do 1d8 damage with 7 str, a scroll in one hand, and a whoopee cushion in the other.You attempt to swallow the woopie cushion.
If you roll an 8 you succeeded.
No but it might require some explanation about 8 hours later.
Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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Where as last time it happened to me, I hit myself with a +2 furious nodachi while raging.... Ow. (It's not clear to me if I should have taken the nodachi's +4 enhanced damage or not, but I elected to on the basis of "hit with item in hand")my problem has always been - "but I don't have anything that can do damage! let alone 1d8!"
...and did you do the nodachi damage with 2 handed strength - or just one handed? was that what you were asking about the "enhanced damage"?
In the spirit of "I am a barbarian with 100 hit points, who hasn't been hit yet this fight and there is only one enemy left" I went all out and power attacked myself at:
1d8 + 9 (1.5 * str) + 4 (+2 furious for a total of +4) + 6 (Power attack!)
The character is cheesy enough that getting hit with my own cheese from time to time is fair enough.
"enhanced damage" as in "the weapon in my hand has a +4 enhancement bonus to damage"
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In the spirit of "I am a barbarian with 100 hit points, who hasn't been hit yet this fight and there is only one enemy left" I went all out and power attacked myself
In a home game I'd definitely do this to a player if it was funnier and they weren't at risk of dying to it. There's just something incredibly fun about making barbarians Coup De Grace themselves with a greatsword through various means of mind control...
I had a barbarian who was obsessed with proving his own toughness and manliness get suggested by a succubus to show that even he couldn't kill himself. He grinned and impaled himself through the heart.
And lived.
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I find Burning Arc, like most direct damage, deeply underwhelming. The damage simply doesn't keep up with enemy health unless you engage in a heavy degree of optimisation.
Now if you want an excellent and little known level 2 spell then have a look at Burst of Radiance. Long range area effect blindness targeting reflex, commonly a poor save. It also has a minor damage component which will let you detect evil enemies!
Well, not really detect. It is like a smite. You do not know if the extra damage is applied by the GM, but most GMs waive it as a "yes" or "no".
Like a smite, you would say, "DC X Reflex or the enemies are blinded. If the enemies are evil, they take Y Damage."
Not something like "DC X Reflex or the enemies are blinded. Are they evil? Ok, they take Y Damage."
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Hey, it can be a great spell to use on any of those "helpless lost and sad children" who pop up from time to time in scenarios.
"Now dearie, just close you eyes, this wont hurt a bit, it will just be a flash of light and then you will be fine...."
Now I am picturing a version of the Pathfinder Society "Men in Black"
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I don't remember the book off the top of my head (Field guide maybe?), but one of my favorite spells is Lipstitch.
I've only used it once in PFS play, during...
Final fight - our fighters get caught up by black tentacles, but my wizard is lagging behind a bit. I throw lipstitch on the BBEG and he fails his save...
Followed by the GM throwing up his hands, yelling, "they didn't even give him a pocket knife?!"
BBEG had no edged weapons to cut the stitches, and couldn't make the strength check to burst them. Our fighters got our thanks to a Liberating Command and some good CMB rolls, and rolled him.
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I don't remember the book off the top of my head (Field guide maybe?), but one of my favorite spells is Lipstitch.
I've only used it once in PFS play, during...
** spoiler omitted **
I absolutely love that spell but I don't have any casters sadistic enough to want to use it... yet.