Why do certain spells still exist?


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion

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Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32

Dαedαlus wrote:
ryric wrote:
While d20pfsrd is sometimes a useful reference, if you decide to use things from it without owning the actual books -effectively "stealing" the material- and therefore mess up your game due to lack of context, I have a hard time being terribly sympathetic. If you're unwilling to buy the book, use at your own risk.

It's not always 'unwilling.' Most people just can't afford to buy all 400+ books that Paizo has put out for Pathfinder. As a broke college student myself, I have to heavily rely on sites like the Golarion Wiki, D20PFSRD, and the Archives of Nethys for my world info and rules. I just can't shell out the thousands needed to buy even the PDFs for everything.

I would also contest the use of the term "stealing," but it's really not important.

Considering you can make a perfectly capable character using only the PRD, I think "unwilling" is the correct word. You're choosing to use an option that you don't want to buy. I understand some people are in situations where they would rather buy food and rent than game books. That doesn't mean you aren't taking for free the fruits of another's work.

Again, I get why people do this. I just have little sympathy when using your free source blows up your face.


Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

PFS players using d20pfsrd or the Archives of Nethys can actually make a fair amount of money for Paizo. I have lost track of how many times I found a character option that I really liked on one of those sites and then decided to buy a PDF of the source material just so I could see the material in its original context. PFS players would have to do that if they want to use such material in their games.


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Pathfinder publishes lots of lore books.

I have no interest in the lore whatsoever, only the mechanics.

So I have no interest in buying most of the books.

I woudln't know the context of a spell because I don't usually care.

I don't use galorion at all, and in my next campain, I'm writing homebrew deities instead of using galorion ones.

I don't want to purchase a book that is mostly lore and opponents, when all I care about are the mechanics.

I also don't want to purchase or use adventure paths. Because at that point, when it's all written out beforehand by somone else, the players may as well be playing against the book, rsther then with a dm.

I'm sorry, but the idea that I'm stealing by reading and using something publicly given out on the Internet, with no apparent desire from pazio to see it taken down for any sort of copyright reason, seems silly to me.

Pazio actively allows that information to remain up for public vision and use.

If it were a case of theft, then why would they allow such a thing to remain up in light of this problem?


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Rysky wrote:
Not really, they are a part of that issue of Pathfinder, they are not a part of the Adventure Path.

Where does it say that.

Rysky wrote:
The thing is those new spells and items are in the AP itself and are just collected in a "bestiary" style fashion for reference, whereas the Deity articles in issues of Pathfinder are separate from the AP itself.

Where does it say that. Where does it say one section is LIMITED ONLY to the AP and where does it say the other sections are free for general use.

Rysky wrote:
blood money is in the AP itself, it's not just in the backmatter that has no connection to the AP.

Where is this stated. Where is the AP, spell or section does it say anything close to 'this spell is exclusive to this AP'. Please quote something to back up your stance. If I'm missing something, please tell me. Otherwise it seems like you're JUST telling me your opinion. It's being used in the AP doesn't in and of itself mean it only exists in the AP.

ryric wrote:
Considering you can make a perfectly capable character using only the PRD

The PRD is the worst possible resource for character building. It has many places that list incorrect material because the book isn't up for reprint yet do to errata being linked to book runs. Add that the lack of merged information and it's a chore to find abilities that other sites collect together. The PRD set-up seems designed to push people to use the other sites because of it's issues.

ryric wrote:
You're choosing to use an option that you don't want to buy.

I'm choosing to use the site that works the best. That just happens to be the free one. As opposed to the 2 other free ones. [and one is from the company in question]

ryric wrote:
I understand some people are in situations where they would rather buy food and rent than game books. That doesn't mean you aren't taking for free the fruits of another's work.

You mean the product that Paizo got for free? And because they got it for free, others can make a free site with that info? THOSE fruits? I'm playing the world's smallest violin just for you... :P

Poor/cheap people aren't going to buy the majority of the items anyway so no lose. People WITH cash and the ability to spend it get to see new options that might interest them that they missed. I don't see the stealing or even a lose for the company. If anything it's an opportunity to sell more items as they get more exposure.


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graystone wrote:
Rysky wrote:
blood money is in the AP itself, it's not just in the backmatter that has no connection to the AP.

Where is this stated. Where is the AP, spell or section does it say anything close to 'this spell is exclusive to this AP'. Please quote something to back up your stance. If I'm missing something, please tell me. Otherwise it seems like you're JUST telling me your opinion. It's being used in the AP doesn't in and of itself mean it only exists in the AP.

Exactly alot of those options are in the back and unless the back area or the area that uses the options calls it out as rare it's just new. Sure the only place blood money has been seen up until now was in a runelord's spell book, but if a new feat shows up on character in a AP for the first time do we assume he created it?


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ryric wrote:
Dαedαlus wrote:
ryric wrote:
While d20pfsrd is sometimes a useful reference, if you decide to use things from it without owning the actual books -effectively "stealing" the material- and therefore mess up your game due to lack of context, I have a hard time being terribly sympathetic. If you're unwilling to buy the book, use at your own risk.

It's not always 'unwilling.' Most people just can't afford to buy all 400+ books that Paizo has put out for Pathfinder. As a broke college student myself, I have to heavily rely on sites like the Golarion Wiki, D20PFSRD, and the Archives of Nethys for my world info and rules. I just can't shell out the thousands needed to buy even the PDFs for everything.

I would also contest the use of the term "stealing," but it's really not important.

Considering you can make a perfectly capable character using only the PRD, I think "unwilling" is the correct word. You're choosing to use an option that you don't want to buy. I understand some people are in situations where they would rather buy food and rent than game books. That doesn't mean you aren't taking for free the fruits of another's work.

Again, I get why people do this. I just have little sympathy when using your free source blows up your face.

Drop the "stealing" thing and a bit of the attitude.

PF is bound to the OGL, therefore the pure mechanical parts have to be open to the public.

The only annoying part is that "non-customers" feel entitled to explain as loud or louder than the actual customers.


Talonhawke wrote:
graystone wrote:
Rysky wrote:
blood money is in the AP itself, it's not just in the backmatter that has no connection to the AP.

Where is this stated. Where is the AP, spell or section does it say anything close to 'this spell is exclusive to this AP'. Please quote something to back up your stance. If I'm missing something, please tell me. Otherwise it seems like you're JUST telling me your opinion. It's being used in the AP doesn't in and of itself mean it only exists in the AP.

Exactly alot of those options are in the back and unless the back area or the area that uses the options calls it out as rare it's just new. Sure the only place blood money has been seen up until now was in a runelord's spell book, but if a new feat shows up on character in a AP for the first time do we assume he created it?

It's not only the spellbook, There is also a wand of it with 33 charges. No reason someone couldn't do Independent Research to add it to their book after seeing it in action from the wand. ;)


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Rarity seems like a bad balance tool. Suppose a Sorcerer wants to go beyond Eschew Materials and be really self sufficient in their casting. They see Blood Money and suggest taking it as a known spell. Should the GM allow it?

If the Sorcerer has just gone up a level and is entitled to another first level known spell and the spell is pegged as a first level Wizard/Sorcerer spell it should be no problem.

If you look at Blood Money and tell the player "No, it's too powerful to be given out for the asking to a sorcerer" it is too powerful to be a first level spell. Intentionally publishing overpowered options and trying to intentionally reign them in by making them rare isn't good design. A feat that gave +1 BaB but was only available to NPCs would be a terrible feat.

Sovereign Court

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Basically, A lot of this should be the DM explaining clearly : NO ! not in my campaign.


PossibleCabbage wrote:

Because Paizo can't unprint a spell.

But they could rotate it out.


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icehawk333 wrote:

Pathfinder publishes lots of lore books.

I have no interest in the lore whatsoever, only the mechanics.

So I have no interest in buying most of the books.

I woudln't know the context of a spell because I don't usually care.

I don't use galorion at all, and in my next campain, I'm writing homebrew deities instead of using galorion ones.

I don't want to purchase a book that is mostly lore and opponents, when all I care about are the mechanics.

I also don't want to purchase or use adventure paths. Because at that point, when it's all written out beforehand by somone else, the players may as well be playing against the book, rsther then with a dm.

To each their own! For my next campaign, I'm doing exactly the reverse: Using the Golarion setting with a completely different game system. (Still undecided: either Fate or Dungeon World.)


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Envall wrote:
PossibleCabbage wrote:

Because Paizo can't unprint a spell.

But they could rotate it out.

How would that work? Like even if they never print Blood Money in another book for the remainder of all time, I still know a guy who owns the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition. So no matter what I could go somewhere, pull that book off the shelf, and page through it to find the text of the spell.


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PossibleCabbage wrote:
Envall wrote:
PossibleCabbage wrote:

Because Paizo can't unprint a spell.

But they could rotate it out.
How would that work? Like even if they never print Blood Money in another book for the remainder of all time, I still know a guy who owns the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition.

Stealth-Errata it.

That is, put it in a new, hard cover published book in the RPG line (perhaps Book of the Damned?) where the exact same spell has been nerfed to the ground, perhaps granting 1 gp per point of CON damage taken, or something. Then, that would become the new 'official' Blood Money, and the former would be effectively removed from the game, barring houserules.


PossibleCabbage wrote:
Envall wrote:
PossibleCabbage wrote:

Because Paizo can't unprint a spell.

But they could rotate it out.
How would that work? Like even if they never print Blood Money in another book for the remainder of all time, I still know a guy who owns the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition.

Incompatibility.

New edition.
Of course, that will not happen because they do not want to do that.
But they would be able to do it.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32

My core point was simply that complaining about stuff you get for free is a bit, well, irrational.

I apologize if people feel like I was trying to start a debate about free stuff on the internet and intellectual property, etc. We're clearly not going to resolve that issue on this thread.


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Dαedαlus wrote:

Stealth-Errata it.

That is, put it in a new, hard cover published book in the RPG line (perhaps Book of the Damned?) where the exact same spell has been nerfed to the ground, perhaps granting 1 gp per point of CON damage taken, or something. Then, that would become the new 'official' Blood Money, and the former would be effectively removed from the game, barring houserules.

I don't think that will work either. Outside of PFS, I'm pretty sure people are still going to be using the old Lore Warden, even though there's a different version of it in a more recent book. Outside of organized play, people are generally going to use whatever version of a thing they like the best. Plus, if someone owns Runelords but not whatever player companion or w/e that the new version is printed in, they might not even know that a "fixed" version exists.

Shadow Lodge

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To get back on the topic of spells that shouldn't exist I'd like to add Haste to that list. I know it seems like an odd choice but a spell that gives nothing but buffs to the whole party with no downsides and is always combat useful like that is kind of too good and end's up being something EVERYONE brings vs. something that is useful in certain situations and not others. It's basically an essential everyday must bring in almost every conceivable group and it basically turns turn 1 into who can pop the spell the fastest and that shouldn't be the case. I'd love to see a rewrite that either throws some drawbacks into the spell like Time Shudder or have it removed and its abilities incorporated into the basic designs of the game.


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PossibleCabbage wrote:
Dαedαlus wrote:

Stealth-Errata it.

That is, put it in a new, hard cover published book in the RPG line (perhaps Book of the Damned?) where the exact same spell has been nerfed to the ground, perhaps granting 1 gp per point of CON damage taken, or something. Then, that would become the new 'official' Blood Money, and the former would be effectively removed from the game, barring houserules.

I don't think that will work either. Outside of PFS, I'm pretty sure people are still going to be using the old Lore Warden, even though there's a different version of it in a more recent book. Outside of organized play, people are generally going to use whatever version of a thing they like the best. Plus, if someone owns Runelords but not whatever player companion or w/e that the new version is printed in, they might not even know that a "fixed" version exists.

But for everyone without the AP who only uses SRD type sites they would only see the new version. It would eliminate a lot of the "problem users"

Silver Crusade

@Graystone, uh it says that in how they're set up. An issue of Pathfinder consists of the Adventure Path, the bestiary showing monsters from said AP, important NPCs from said NPC, and Items from said NPC. Then you have additional articles like Deity write ups, ecologies of certain creatures, and until recently fiction, almost all of which have absolutley nothing to do with the Adventure Path they share that issue of Pathfinder with.

The stuff from the AP is assumed to be relegated to the AP it appears in, the Deity articles on the other hand are pretty much free game for the followers of said Diety and usually have nothing to do with the AP.


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Ring_of_Gyges wrote:

Rarity seems like a bad balance tool. Suppose a Sorcerer wants to go beyond Eschew Materials and be really self sufficient in their casting. They see Blood Money and suggest taking it as a known spell. Should the GM allow it?

If the Sorcerer has just gone up a level and is entitled to another first level known spell and the spell is pegged as a first level Wizard/Sorcerer spell it should be no problem.

If you look at Blood Money and tell the player "No, it's too powerful to be given out for the asking to a sorcerer" it is too powerful to be a first level spell. Intentionally publishing overpowered options and trying to intentionally reign them in by making them rare isn't good design. A feat that gave +1 BaB but was only available to NPCs would be a terrible feat.

The answer from any decent GM to your first two paragraphs should just be a straight "No, you can't have it."

Regarding your third paragraph, I'm not saying it is too powerful for a sorcerer, I'm saying it is a poorly designed spell that shouldn't exist - and, to be honest, I'm not sure why it was. It isn't like the BBEG in question is going to be making use of it in the final showdown, so they could've left it out entirely and saved a world of problems.


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It really shouldn't be any harder or weirder for a GM to say "No, your sorcerer can't take that spell" than for your GM to say "no, you can't take Sacred Geometry, Leadership, or play a Venerable Synthesist Summoner".

There are all sorts of things that aren't allowed on a wide variety of tables, and it's not like this is especially controversial.


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Pathfinder RPG isn't a 1v1 system. It's also not a tabletop wargame. Every one of the arguments I see about caster supremacy and "this spell is broken" ect fail to realize that every challenge is supposed to unfold like a puzzle. No challenge 7th lvl or higher (4th lvl spell range) should be handled alone. The game is designed for a party of 4+. Your fighter can't smash the pesky teleporting wizard? Why hasn't he asked for help from the party's arcane caster, or the grappling monk, or the counterspelling bard, or whomever he has traveling with him?

Everytime I have this discussion at a con or online, its like the person complaining never thought of this.

Shadow Lodge

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PossibleCabbage wrote:

It really shouldn't be any harder or weirder for a GM to say "No, your sorcerer can't take that spell" than for your GM to say "no, you can't take Sacred Geometry, Leadership, or play a Venerable Synthesist Summoner".

There are all sorts of things that aren't allowed on a wide variety of tables, and it's not like this is especially controversial.

I think the point he's trying to make is that it shouldn't be the job of the consumer to edit Paizo's work after they've spent months if not years creating and going over these works for theme and balance. It's a scummy feeling and erodes trust in the company to feel like you have to read over every new book and have to do your own editing pass on it after already paying for the material with the assumption that Paizo would have looked at something like the synthesist, blood money, or simulacrum and been like, "nahh, we need to overhaul or change this. It's going to cause more aboveboard strife than it will solve."

This is exacerbated by Paizo's approach to solving these which usually takes forever (as they attach it to reprints of the book) and tend to be unsatisfying for a variety of reasons (ignoring accepted fixes on boards, insinuating it's our job to fix these problems rather than taking some responsibility for releasing something that is broken, not giving us access to old pdf versions alongside the updates to cross reference and keep track of updates, ignoring the problem all together, etc.)

In general the whole approach can be frustrating as all hell.


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Talonhawke wrote:
PossibleCabbage wrote:
Dαedαlus wrote:

Stealth-Errata it.

That is, put it in a new, hard cover published book in the RPG line (perhaps Book of the Damned?) where the exact same spell has been nerfed to the ground, perhaps granting 1 gp per point of CON damage taken, or something. Then, that would become the new 'official' Blood Money, and the former would be effectively removed from the game, barring houserules.

I don't think that will work either. Outside of PFS, I'm pretty sure people are still going to be using the old Lore Warden, even though there's a different version of it in a more recent book. Outside of organized play, people are generally going to use whatever version of a thing they like the best. Plus, if someone owns Runelords but not whatever player companion or w/e that the new version is printed in, they might not even know that a "fixed" version exists.
But for everyone without the AP who only uses SRD type sites they would only see the new version. It would eliminate a lot of the "problem users"

As long as they know about the old spell it's a simple thing to use the wayback machine to find the original one. So it might slow down brand new "problem users", at least until they find the messageboards and hear about the old version.

Rysky wrote:
The stuff from the AP is assumed to be relegated to the AP it appears in, the Deity articles on the other hand are pretty much free game for the followers of said Diety and usually have nothing to do with the AP.

I can't say NO enough times to say how much I disagree. The "stuff from the AP" is assumed to be used IN the AP only. NOTHING, and I repeat NOTHING indicated that the material is exclusive and unique to the AP. NOTHING states, infers or assumes it's ANY different to the other articles after the AP.

New material is "pretty much free game" unless something is stated otherwise. Unique or one of a kind items are marked/mentioned/pointed out. Look once at secrets of the sphinx once. "CURSED SPELLS: Curses are strong magic, and spellcasters throughout the world have explored new ways to lessen their sting and to intensify their bite." Going by your theory, "explored around the world" means unique to the AP.


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dysartes wrote:
It isn't like the BBEG in question is going to be making use of it in the final showdown, so they could've left it out entirely and saved a world of problems.

They must have thought he had SOME reason to have it as they gave him a wand with 30+ charges of it. ;)

Silver Crusade

Actually what you reference backs my "theory" up, the Curses of the Ancients article is its own thing, it's not a part of the AP. So it is open to everything effectively, it's not unique to the AP.


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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Wand is pretty easy, but how does one even make a scroll of blood money? Or a scroll of restoration for that matter?

How much strength would the scroll have embedded in it? (If you recall spell decisions need to be decided upon in advance for spell completion items.)

How expensive would the restoration scroll be, what with a variable material components and all?


Rysky wrote:
Actually what you reference backs my "theory" up, the Curses of the Ancients article is its own thing, it's not a part of the AP. So it is open to everything effectively, it's not unique to the AP.

How does it back up your "theory"... It's printed in the SAME place as the blood money spell: after the AP. It has the same restrictions printed on it: None. What is the section called? New rules and not Unique rules...

it also lists Thassilonian specialist wizard and doesn't list them as unique to the AP.
it should also be noted that some of the spells can be used by a cleric, that can get spells without a spellbook just by asking.
It should be noted that the Lamashtu's Mark would seem to be useful to Lamashtu's worshipers outside this AP.
Is should be noted that the Magic Section suggests limiting the items from sale except the elixir of the Peaks, and EXPLICIT warning to limit them "to preserve their unique feel" and not power. Nothing like this is noted in the section New rules. So why note the warning if ALL material used in the AP was considered unique to that AP...

Silver Crusade

The Blood Money spell was printed within the AP, not after. The Curse of the Ancients article you mention is a separate article from the AP.

Thassilonian Specialists are originally from Inner Sea Magic, they were reprinted in the Collected Edition for ease of reference. Which makes sense if they're limited to that AP/area since that's where they come from.

I don't really get what the rest of what you're trying to say is.


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Rysky wrote:

The Blood Money spell was printed within the AP, not after. The Curse of the Ancients article you mention is a separate article from the AP.

Thassilonian Specialists are originally from Inner Sea Magic, they were reprinted in the Collected Edition for ease of reference. Which makes sense if they're limited to that AP/area since that's where they come from.

I don't really get what the rest of what you're trying to say is.

Blood money WAS PRINTED IN THE SAME SECTION as the curse article. For runelords it's the appendix, AFTER the AP, and the other in the section AFTER the AP.

As to the rest:
The feat is in the same section as the spell and CLEARLY not an AP specific feat.
Several spells are cleric spells and therefore any cleric could ask for them: opposite of unique.
The magic item section actually suggests you keep them unique, something MISSING from the section with spells.

So I see no basis for your 'theory'. Nothing in or out of the AP suggests that things not marked unique are unique.

PS: I see no reason to keep up the back and forth: Unless you find something that actually proves your point, I'm out of any more debate on this.


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Ravingdork wrote:

Wand is pretty easy, but how does one even make a scroll of blood money? Or a scroll of restoration for that matter?

How much strength would the scroll have embedded in it? (If you recall spell decisions need to be decided upon in advance for spell completion items.)

How expensive would the restoration scroll be, what with a variable material components and all?

I'm actually kind of curious about this myself, and it's something I've been wondering for a while. How much does a Scroll of Animate Dead cost, for example?

Silver Crusade

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Going back to the OP, a lot of these spells exist as DM tools (simulacrum in particular), to give the DM options (within the rules, obviously the DM can just declare things, but having these spells gives them an understood method for achieving goals).


doc the grey wrote:
To get back on the topic of spells that shouldn't exist I'd like to add Haste to that list. I know it seems like an odd choice but a spell that gives nothing but buffs to the whole party with no downsides and is always combat useful like that is kind of too good and end's up being something EVERYONE brings vs. something that is useful in certain situations and not others. It's basically an essential everyday must bring in almost every conceivable group and it basically turns turn 1 into who can pop the spell the fastest and that shouldn't be the case. I'd love to see a rewrite that either throws some drawbacks into the spell like Time Shudder or have it removed and its abilities incorporated into the basic designs of the game.

I like 5e's version which, should the spell end, causes a creature affected by the spell to miss a turn from exhaustion. Of course, 5e has spell concentration (basically, maintaining a spell passively but limited to only one spell at a time, but it can be broken by attacking the spellcaster or causing them to be violently shaken about, like through grappling and earthquakes), so you can cause this to occur early by ending concentration. It allowed for some response to an otherwise really powerful spell.

Problem is, removing or reworking haste is probably hurting your martials more than your spellcasters. Which I can't advocate in any way unless the difference is basically negligible at best from system reworks.


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Dαedαlus wrote:
Ravingdork wrote:

Wand is pretty easy, but how does one even make a scroll of blood money? Or a scroll of restoration for that matter?

How much strength would the scroll have embedded in it? (If you recall spell decisions need to be decided upon in advance for spell completion items.)

How expensive would the restoration scroll be, what with a variable material components and all?

I'm actually kind of curious about this myself, and it's something I've been wondering for a while. How much does a Scroll of Animate Dead cost, for example?

It costs normal for a spell of that level, but only allows animating up to the amount covered by the supplied component. This means you must have noted the component amount along with the scroll. Otherwise, you need to have a default amount. Usually this is the amount to equal what a generic caster would max at. In this case, it would be 50 gp per spell level. Standard wizard spell would be 4th level, so CL 7 and 350 gp components used. [Equals 14 HD worth, or 2*CL.]

/cevah


Haste in 2nd edition aged everyone hit by it one year. In most cases, this was the only way characters aged, too.

I find it pretty simple to judge which spells I don't want in my Campaign: Do they mess up core assumptions or not?

In the case of Blood Money, it does. The core assumption in question is that Money is supposed to be a finite resource, regulated by a character's level. Now, there really isn't anything wrong with removing the WBL principle, but if you don't, you really shouldn't have Blood Money either.

Silver Crusade

graystone wrote:
Rysky wrote:

The Blood Money spell was printed within the AP, not after. The Curse of the Ancients article you mention is a separate article from the AP.

Thassilonian Specialists are originally from Inner Sea Magic, they were reprinted in the Collected Edition for ease of reference. Which makes sense if they're limited to that AP/area since that's where they come from.

I don't really get what the rest of what you're trying to say is.

Blood money WAS PRINTED IN THE SAME SECTION as the curse article. For runelords it's the appendix, AFTER the AP, and the other in the section AFTER the AP.

As to the rest:
The feat is in the same section as the spell and CLEARLY not an AP specific feat.
Several spells are cleric spells and therefore any cleric could ask for them: opposite of unique.
The magic item section actually suggests you keep them unique, something MISSING from the section with spells.

So I see no basis for your 'theory'. Nothing in or out of the AP suggests that things not marked unique are unique.

PS: I see no reason to keep up the back and forth: Unless you find something that actually proves your point, I'm out of any more debate on this.

No it wasn't.

It was reprinted in the appendix for the AP but it also appeared in the AP itself. As for being in "same section"? Not really, at all. Pathfinder issues are made up of articles, the Adventure Path and appendixes and then you have varied other articles that consist of many different things, such as ecologies, gazetteers, fiction, Deity articles, etc. that usually don't have nothing to do with AP in the issue.

The Skinsaw Murders (Pathfinder #2) for example has the Deity article for Desna. Who has absolutely nothing to do with the AP.

The "Curses" article you keep referring back to is not an appendix for Mummy's Mask, it's its own article. Do curses come up in Mummy's Mask? Yes, but the article does not require the AP and in fact mentions other cursed sites and effects throughout Golarion.

And you actually bring up what I've been saying this whole time, the items/abilities that appear throughout an AP are assumed to be relagated to that AP unless stated otherwise. Assumed, the section does state "and seven new spells designed by ancient Thassilonian wizards." And yes 2 of the are on the Cleric spell list, so if they know about them they can pray to their deity to get them. But I don't think it's all that far out there if a spell shows up in an AP that's unique to one person or group to not let every character have access to it and use it before or even never encountering the originator of the spell that doesn't appear anywhere else.


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Also, they don't use any of the curses or such in the actual adventure.

I can't tell you how much my party wished I DIDN'T use the death traps from Vaults Of Madness in Serpent's Skull. :-)


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My uneducated take (because it's been a year or two since I read it) on the Blood Money thing is, unless it actually states somewhere it's only in Karzy's stash I can see it getting out amongst the populous, it has been ten thousand years after all, and it's not like Thassilon fell in a safe and orderly manner. As they say, when the s*%+ hits the fan, grab what you can and get out. :-)

Edit: That said, I personally don't like spells like Blood Money and probably wouldn't include it in any of my campaigns. :-)


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Garbage-Tier Waifu wrote:
How many years canonically has it been since Rise of the Runelords? At some point, someone has probably snagged that spell from the party that hypothetically resolved that adventure. The secret is, more than likely, out by now on Golarion. The only thing stopping a PC from taking it is a GM.

Apologies if someone has answered already.

The default assumed year is easy to figure out.

It's 47xx, where the last two numbers are the year the AP was published.

So the default assumption for RotR is that it takes place in 4707 (published in 2007).

But default canon and your game's canon are different things.

Our party that finished RotR founded a benevolent queendom they named Storval (with Xin-Shalast serving as the Capitol), dedicated to giving Varisia back to the native Varisians and founded on principles of freedom and independence.

Storval is strongly allied with most of the Shoanti, and strongly opposed to Cheliax as well as further expansion into virgin wilderness (the Queen of Storval is an elf).

That is *very* different than any default canonical assumption. Though on-topic, it has had the effect in our games of disseminating a lot of the knowledge and wealth of Xin-Shalast and Runeforge across the Inner Sea region.


PossibleCabbage wrote:

Because Paizo can't unprint a spell.

Yes, they can. They can simply post Errata that undoes a spell. This wont stop some from using it, but you can do anything you want if you dont follwo the rules.

And I think that Paizo should errata a couple spell out of existence. Blood Money is one, Infernal Healing is another. Their excuse is that that ere RPing reason for not taking these. hah, it is to laff. Why not just dump them?

Simulacrum also- it can go.

or post errata that nerfs them to death. Blood Money- the Str loss is permanent, cant be regained by any means. Infernal healing: Does Wis damage to caster. Heals 1pt.


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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Simulacrum should stay, but should also be made into a clearly defined template.


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Java Man wrote:
A minor correction on the availability of Blood Money, thsre are two copies in the AP, one in a Runelord's spell book, and one in a minor artifact that could be encountered slightly earlier, but is still damn tricky to get to. Doesn't change the point that it should not be commonly known, just an inaccuracy that bugged me, carry on.

". At each new wizard level, he gains two new spells of any spell level or levels that he can cast (based on his new wizard level) for his spellbook."

You dont need a copy of a spell in order to learn it using this. You can just say "I learned Blood Money".


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Dasrak wrote:
In the case of Blood Money, most people ignore the most important part about this spell: there is only one copy of it in existence and it's in the possession of the Runelord of Greed, Karzoug. It was intended to serve as a reward for completing the entire Rise of the Runelords AP, and if you're just giving this spell away as just a scroll or a standard level-up spell it's being acquired way too cheaply.

As someone with ~two years experience in Pathfinder, it would be nice to know this. I'm not super huge into lore, but I haven't ignored it either.

My group has yet to finish a single AP, only recently hitting level 7 on Reign of Winter, calling an end to Wrath of the Righteous on level 8, and a homebrew campaign that ended in a total party kill/retiring. It would be nice if d20pfsrd listed this somewhere.

Also maybe just because I haven't seen high level play, but don't most of the spells get limited by the cost/cast time? Simulacrum has a 12 hour cast time. That is something that has to be prepped hugely in advance and it costs seems to add up.

I do agree on teleporting, since I've had it destroy more than a few things in WotR and a one-shot I made while members were away.


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So RAW is as RAW does, but this ends up in some "spooky action at a distance" territory. If a spell does not exist it must be researched and developed. But as soon as one guy on the far side of the world invents it and writes it down, everyone else can just grab it on level up. What?


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Java Man wrote:
So RAW is as RAW does, but this ends up in some "spooky action at a distance" territory. If a spell does not exist it must be researched and developed. But as soon as one guy on the far side of the world invents it and writes it down, everyone else can just grab it on level up. What?

Because magic.

Obviously.

Sovereign Court

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It usually work best if you put some ground rules at the beginning of the game in your setting. That's basically what I do:

CORE spells from APG, CORE, ARG, Ultimate Magic etc...are available (some harder than others) in my setting. Anything outside of these sources, is rare or nearly impossible to obtain by normal means, research and otherwise.


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And then what about magi and their Knowledge Pool ability. Magus Hivemind of infinite spell knowledge!


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captain yesterday wrote:

My uneducated take (because it's been a year or two since I read it) on the Blood Money thing is, unless it actually states somewhere it's only in Karzy's stash I can see it getting out amongst the populous, it has been ten thousand years after all, and it's not like Thassilon fell in a safe and orderly manner. As they say, when the s+!+ hits the fan, grab what you can and get out. :-)

Edit: That said, I personally don't like spells like Blood Money and probably wouldn't include it in any of my campaigns. :-)

I feel like the sort of high level wizard who engages in magical research to create new spells, you're going to be the sort of person who realizes how valuable "I know something you don't" is going to be in Wizard politics. That is, the thing that keeps any given high-level wizard from ruling the world is largely "they know better than to step on the toes of their peers"-- the mutually assured destruction theory of wizarding.

So if you create some spell that potentially gives you a significant advantage over your peers (Simulacrum lets them think they killed you, but you'd prefer they don't also know it, so when you kill them it's for real), you want to do everything in your power to keep it out of their hands. Certainly, espionage exists and works, but individual casters probably do not have the same resources at their disposal as whole countries, so how quickly this information disseminates is entirely within the purview of the GM.

Which is to say, Magical Non-Proliferation is a wholly realistic thing to model in your fantasy world.


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It seems my earlier comments regarding Blood Money have spawned a lot of heated discussion, so I don't think I can stay in lurker mode like I often do in threads where I give my 2 cents then back off.

I don't blame anyone for not knowing the situation surrounding Blood Money. It's an easy mistake to make, especially with the way the information is presented on D20PFSRD. Like many people here I started out by using free resources, so I've been there. However, I do think it is highly illustrative of the hazards inherent in using content published in adventures without knowing the underlying context. This sort of content often has a unique narrative purpose within the specific product it was published for, and may not be appropriate for general play. This is further exacerbated by the fact that these products tend to have more lax editorial oversight and never receive errata or FAQ (although in rare cases, like the Juju Mystery, republication has happened) so serious balance issues are more likely to slip through the cracks. This doesn't mean it's wrong to use this content, but rather it's hazardous and far more likely to be problematic in general play. Knowing the context can help us understand the purpose of the rule in question better, and make a more informed decision on whether it's appropriate at our table. The context surrounding Blood Money makes it very easy for a GM to justify disallowing it at their table, since it's clearly intended as a post-game reward for finishing a 6-volume AP.

I also don't particularly care for the Golarion lore aspect of whether the spell might become more well-known after the events of RotRL. There's lots of stuff that technically exists in Golarion - technological items being the most prominent example - that is not generally available and in fact would be quite disruptive in many campaigns (and quite frankly given how dysfunctional and corrupt the Technic League is presented in Iron Gods I'm incredulous of their ability to prevent the dissemination of technological knowledge throughout Golarion). Blood Money is a magical secret with far reaching implications, and having it be generally available brings large changes to the setting and gameplay. The question isn't whether it's possible to unleash this secret on the setting, because it is, but whether that's appropriate for your table.

To use a less contentious example than Blood Money, consider the Trench Fighter. This archetype appears in Reign of Winter: Rasputin Must Die! This chapter of the adventure has the party transported to Earth, specifically World War 1 Russia, which is a "guns everywhere" setting. Knowing this immediately explains one of the archetype's peculiarities: it doesn't actually give firearm proficiency. In guns everywhere rules firearms are simple weapons so such proficiency isn't necessary. In addition, Gunslingers get the Gun Training class feature at the 1st level. This means Gun Training at 3rd level is actually late, not early. This doesn't mean that it's wrong to use the Trench Fighter under the typical "Emerging Guns" rules, but understanding where that content came from and the context surrounding it lets us make a better-informed decision on whether it's appropriate for our own table.

I think the take-home lesson here is to apply a higher level of scrutiny to material that comes from adventure paths. There are a lot of reasons why content published in an adventure might be unusual, and without having read the book it's difficult to know why it is the way it is. That doesn't mean we have to have read the adventure in question to make a judgement call, but it's all the more reason to be attentive to red flags. And for those of us who have insights into the source material, sharing the context with the broader community is the best thing we can do.

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