Andrew Bay's page

Is Survival a cross-class skill for a Grizzly Bear?

I'm running into this in a lot of monsters.

IMarv

Is there an obvious place where the rules specify when a monster uses Dex instead of Str for climb?

I have run across a number of monsters where this swap was made but it was not noted in the skills text.

(Cat and Giant Centipede are two I recall.)

Thanks,
IMarv

Hi,
Is there a thread for skill point errata?
I created a database which recalculates the skill points and I am finding many errors.

Some I can account for as cross-class skills, but others like the Darkmantle have an unused skill point (Actually negative) or an unaccounted for size bonus on Stealth.

IMarv

Can a monk use a Ring of Force Shield without penalty?

IMarv

Do you double the 3000 gp for a large adamantine weapon?

IMarv

The item says this:

If a divination spell is attempted against the wearer, the caster of the divination must succeed on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) against a DC of 19 (as if the wearer had cast nondetection on herself ).

However:

If you cast nondetection on yourself or on an item currently in your possession, the DC is 15 + your caster level.

So, shouldn't the DC for the Amulet be 24? The item is Caster Level 8th.

IMarv

This problem also afflicts the poor Rune Domain Cleric.

IMarv

I've never liked burning a feat to make magic items. One of my solutions is just to automatically grant the feats to spell casters. Here's another solution:

---------------------
Craftsman's Guides
Aura faint, moderate, or strong universal; CL varies

Slot -; Price varies; Weight 5 lbs.

Description

These well constructed books contain magical writings which impart the user with the ability to create magic items. Each book is tuned for a specific magic item creation feat. The user must still meet the minimum caster level to use the book. The book must be present during the entire item creation process.

Brew Potion: CL 3rd: 3,000 gp
Craft Magic Arms and Armor: CL 5th: 5,000 gp
Craft Rod: CL 9th: 9,000 gp
Craft Staff: CL 11th: 11,000 gp
Craft Wand: CL 5th: 5,000 gp
Craft Wondrous Item: CL 3rd: 3,000gp
Forge Ring: CL 7th: 7,000 gp
Scribe Scroll: CL 1st: 1,000 gp

Construction

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Selected Item Creation Feat; Cost half market price.

---------------------

I'm still unsure of the prices of the books. I'd appreciate any comments on these items.

IMarv

I was reading over a [url=http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/pathfinderRPG/communityContent/houseRules/convinceMeThatSpellSaveDCsByLevelMakeSense&page=1#6]post[/url in "Convince me that Save DCs by Spell Level make sense" that got me thinking.

What if the feat, Heighten Spell, also increased the dice limit to the general limit of the level the spell was raised to?

In the 3.0 DMG (pg 95), there was a new spell dice cap chart and Heighten would basically follow that.

Basically, a Heightened Fireball would be nearly identical to a Delayed Blast Fireball.

Dice Limit per level:
0: 1/2 (Acid Splash)
1st: 5 (Burning Hands)
2nd: 10 (Scorching Ray)
3rd: 10 (Fireball)
4th: 15 (Shout)
5th: 15 (Cone of Cold)
6th: 20 (Chain Lightning)
7th: 20 (Delayed Blast Fireball)
8th: 25 (Polar Ray)
9th: 25

Although, this does take some of the wind out of using Empower since you can get 50% more damage from a fireball by making it a level 4 spell instead of a 3rd level spell. But you must be 15th caster level to get those 5 more dice.

Alternatively, you could always bug your DM to make "Fireball 1.1" which is a Fireball at 4th level with a dice cap of 15 dice and "Fireball 1.2" which is at 6th with 20 dice cap.

If a spell does not max out at the charted maximum for the level, the heightened spell maxes out at a proportional value.

IMarv

I'm looking over the Raptoran from Races of the Wild and I'm not sure if certain things should be done.

The +10 to Jump checks is pretty easy, just make it a racial bonus on Acrobatics made to Jump.

They have +2 to Spot, should that be made into +2 to Perception or dropped since it does not apply to Listen and Search?

Also, +2 to Climb, keeper.

The biggest kicker for me is, they have no racial ability modifiers. Because they gain the ability to fly over time, I'm considering not granting any change here. If I do, I'm tempted between just +2 to any or +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Con.

IMarv

From what I can see in the rules, starting at 9th level, a monk has a lower effective attack bonus when making a single attack than when performing a flurry. Since the Flurry uses Monk Level for BAB, while the standard attack would only provide the base BAB.

Is this intentional?

IMarv

This is a bit odd, but.

Have your characters ever considered moving into either of Jzadirune or the Malachite fortress?

The only downside of Jzadirune is that you cannot make magic items as easily there. But once the characters have a high enough level, they can just remove the curse on the items and move on. Perhaps eventually just breaking the entire curse itself.

Alternatively, they could move into the fortress and have no such problem (or just make the items there). But this makes them the guards of the underdark entrance.

Are there any other downsides that I'm missing? What other pitfalls should I throw in?

Thanks,
IMarv

My party of 6 had a very easy time with this fight, partly because they were 3/4th level and they had some pretty good luck.
The party consists of a 4th level Large Great Sword wielding Snow Elf Duskblade, a 4th level human wizard, 4th level elven cleric, 3rd level Draconic Gray Elf Ranger, 3rd level Catfolk Rogue, and a 3rd level Draconic Raptoran Monk.
(Their sheets can be found at: http://www.imarvintpa.com/dndlive/Index_Ch_Campaign.php?Campaign=Andy%27s+S hackled+City )

I'm using Recharge Magic and Level Adjustment Buy Back.

They rested up before coming down from Jzadriune. They came in through the kitchen and placed those slaves into the weapons store room until they could leave.

The rogue slipped into the barracks and performed CDGs on the sleeping hobgoblins. Then the duskblade made a ghost sound of feet retreating up towards the entrance foyer from the central hallway, which provoked a silent response of increasing defenses at the double doors while one of the two hobgoblins went to the foyer to investigate and check on the entrance. The party then rushed the room. The ranger took out the remaining southern hobgoblin. As the northern hobs came to the south to help, the monk stood guard to prevent many charging hobs. The duskblade came up to help kill hobgoblins, but before he could, the rogue got curious about the levers and pulled the one on the west, opening the pit trap under the duskblade, he made is reflex save and landed on the far side of the pit from the hobgoblins. The ranger killed one of the hobgoblins next to the monk, the monk put down another then leisurely hopped over the pit (+24 to Jump vs DC 20). A few javalin assults later and a few spells, a failed jump check by a hobgoblin and they were dead. The curious cat found another pit trap with the other lever, but nobody was over it. The final two hobgoblins rush in and die.

As our Duskblade is in a rush to get to level 5 (and switch to a half-troll something), he decided to just bust down the barred door. Everybody chipped in and after three attampts, the iron bar (DC 30!) gave in. Whereupon they found our boss battle. Kaz demanded to know what they wanted, and they replied the children. Pyllrak requested 450 for his 3 children and the party attempted to negotiate, but finally decided to pull a ruse and act to pay then switch it up. I rolled horribly on my Sense Motives to detect this. Pyllrak was dead before he know what happened. The monk partial charged to Kaz and used a stunning fist and hit! DC 16 vs a +9 bonus, piece of cake, right? Nope, I rolled a 3. So, now I have a stunned Kaz who's going to be nauseated next round. Not that it mattered, he was on the ground before long. The howler howled, calling in the reinforcements. The howler also reduced the monk to 0 hp which forced him to "guard" the children for a couple rounds until the cleric could patch him up.
The wizard's spells recharged after the hobgoblins amassed, allowing him to cast Malevolent Miasma, which took out two of them out (good save) and then Sleep 4 of them the next round (bad saves).

The monk did attempt to stun the howler, but missed. He had no more uses since he used one other that day.

We'll see how the rest of the dungeon goes next session.

IMarv

The trapped rune doors in Jzadirune, do the traps go off when you attempt to break the door or sunder the door? Or just on the attempt that causes the door to be destroyed? Do the traps get destroyed with the door and do not go off at all?

Thanks,
IMarv

Is this a magic item that I cannot find, or is it just mundane clothing on the skulks?

Thanks,
IMarv

I generally only allow leveling to occur when the characters are resting.

Is this normal? I see mention of characters leveling in the middle of dungeons, like half-way through thistle top. Do you let your characters level immediately after the combat that won them the XP to level?

Thanks,
IMarv

Is there any interest in duplicating my site at http://www.imarvintpa.com/dndlive/index.php with the Pathfinder RPG version content?

Thanks,
IMarv

Where does it detail the recommended point buy and number of players the module is designed for and other recommended starting conditions? I would expect to find this kind of information within the first 10 pages but I found no numbers.

Thanks,
IMarv