boosting black tentacles?


Advice

Scarab Sages

Love the idea of this spell. How do I boost it's effectiveness?

Metamagic feats, regular feats or special builds to maximize this one?


Cast Create Pit below the bad guy, followed by Black Tentacles. That's all you need to do.


Play as a Summoner and you can cast it as a level 3 spell - that allows you to use Lesser Metamagic Rods with it. Quicken, Dazing, etc.

Scarab Sages

Hmm...would improved grapple affect the tentacles?


The only way to increase their CMB is to increase your caster level. The Spell Specialization feat can do that for you, although I'm not sure if it's worth the feat.


Yeah, just stack caster level boosts if you want it to be better.

The highest CL (way higher than you'll ever need it to be and only for very specific set-ups) is in this thread. Some of things there can help you out in a normal game, but it's mostly an exercise in theorycraft.


Enlarge Spell can come in handy with it.

Make it a 40 ft. radius of tentacle hentai instead of 20.


Overlay the area of black tentacles with other debuffs. Anything that penalizes strength, dexterity, and/or the target's armor class will reduce their CMD.

Grand Lodge

Rynjin wrote:

Enlarge Spell can come in handy with it.

Make it a 40 ft. radius of tentacle hentai instead of 20.

You mean Widen Spell. Enlarge Spell increases range.

However, Widen Spell is a +3 level metamagic, and I'm not sure that a 40' radius Black Tentacles is worth a 7th level slot (or two traits and a 5th level slot).


Jeff Merola wrote:
Rynjin wrote:

Enlarge Spell can come in handy with it.

Make it a 40 ft. radius of tentacle hentai instead of 20.

You mean Widen Spell. Enlarge Spell increases range.

However, Widen Spell is a +3 level metamagic, and I'm not sure that a 40' radius Black Tentacles is worth a 7th level slot (or two traits and a 5th level slot).

Rods, my friend. It always pays to have rods that widen your tentacles.

Also, whose bright idea was it to use the word enlarge to mean increased range?


A Widen Rod for Black Tentacles is 54,000gp - or 14,000gp if you're a Summoner.

Grand Lodge

Rynjin wrote:
Jeff Merola wrote:
Rynjin wrote:

Enlarge Spell can come in handy with it.

Make it a 40 ft. radius of tentacle hentai instead of 20.

You mean Widen Spell. Enlarge Spell increases range.

However, Widen Spell is a +3 level metamagic, and I'm not sure that a 40' radius Black Tentacles is worth a 7th level slot (or two traits and a 5th level slot).

Rods, my friend. It always pays to have rods that widen your tentacles.

Also, whose bright idea was it to use the word enlarge to mean increased range?

As that's not a statted Rod, it's not PFS legal, which might not be relevant to the current conversation, but some GMs won't let you use it anyway because it's technically a custom item. Based on the other rods, though, that's a 54k gold item. That's half of your WBL at level 12.


Ultimate Equipment lists it as a +3 Spell Level Rod, and gives the price for +3 Spell Level Rods, but mysteriously omits it from the descriptions. So ask your GM before making any plans around it.


Rynjin wrote:


Rods, my friend. It always pays to have rods that widen your tentacles.

If your tentacles stay widened for more than three hours ...


If you're an arcanist, there are options to shape it or increase your caster level.


Throw a stinking cloud on top.


Matthew Downie wrote:
A Widen Rod for Black Tentacles is 54,000gp - or 14,000gp if you're a Summoner.

Expensive, but not out of reach, and much cheaper with Craft Rod.

Dark Archive

hgsolo wrote:
Throw a stinking cloud on top.

Yep, nasty because they lose their standard action if they fail the stinking cloud save, so they cant break the grapple. And if they stay in the cloud have to save each turn.

And you can use the cheaper 9K lesser persistent rod on the stinking cloud or web or slow.

Slow is good because they only get one action and are slower, so if they break free they cant move that round, and if they move they are at half speed, which might not be enough to get out anyway as tentacles are difficult terrain - which is often forgotten.

Web is good because they have to break free of the web and the tentacles which requires 2 standard actions and then they have to navigate the web.

Even grease works so that when they break the grapple they have a chance to fall over, using their move action to stand up.


Dark wood as a material component from the alchemy manual can be used to give it +1 caster level. In addition every tanglefoot bag you use as a material component allows you reroll a grapple check against one creature.

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