Astral Wanderer's page

If a creature is being kept pinned in a grapple, or tied with ropes or chains, and uses a change shape ability or a spell or spell-like ability to polymorph into something larger, how would you rule it?

The Polymorph subschool description in the CRB doesn't mention anything about that.

Unless there are some other relevant rules somewhere, I'd say the ability/spell simply fails; lacking necessary free space, the effect is cancelled to prevent the creature from suffering damage from whatever is squeezing it. In case the creature was going to turn smaller, it'd work because there is no intrinsic potential harm in doing so.

There's plenty of threads about the other case, the creature getting smaller, but I couldn't find any about larger.
Some argued about the ropes or chain being considered the creature's gear because they're being worn, but like others in those same threads pointed out, it's quite a huge stretch and it would lead to all kinds of issues.
In the case of being grappled, someone noted there's no rule about size change breaking a grapple, and by extension a pin, and I'd couple that with the effect just failing as mentioned above.

Does anyone remember some other rule that would be relevant?

Can't find rules or FAQs about this.

We found a magic cursed weapon, and the GM also can't find anything about removing the curse from the weapon itself and making it a normal magic item.

Remove Curse can only remove the curse from a character wielding it (or just enable them to let go of the weapon and get rid of it), but specifically cannot remove the curse from a cursed shield, weapon, or suit of armor.

Break Enchantment doesn't work on items at all.

So, is there a way at all, as per the rules (short of Miracle/Wish)?

I was trying to find a free initiative-tracking Android app to use at the table, but I can't really find any at all on the store, not even for D&D, not even priced, which seems rather strange.

Add that the store randomly throws in a f**kton of crappy mobile games in the results pile, and every search I try is just a hellish trip.

Anyone using one already and can tell its exact name (hoping it's still available for download, if you've gotten it years ago).

The ideal at my table, just for the sake of saying it, would be an app that:
#1 keeps in memory the names you ask it to memorize (typically, the PCs), their Dex score and further initiative modifiers, and lets you exclude some of them (in case someone isn't participating), and add others (typically, the enemies and temporary allies);
#2 for each name participating, it rolls initiative, resolving ties with whoever has the highest total initiative modifier goes first (if it's further tied, whoever has the highest Dex, and if further tied, just go random) and sort them;
#3 has a button to advance the turn and round;
#4 allows you to add notes for effects, to set their durations, and to set on whose turn (at start or end) they take effect and/or have their durations reduced.

Party level is 4, and I'm a Witch.

I have the following hexes (two taken with the Extra Hex feat):
Healing
Slumber
Evil Eye
Flight
Water Lungs

Int 20, so the DCs for Slumber and Evil Eye are now 17.

And the following level 2 spells (on level 1, the only relevant ones I'd mention are Enlarge Person and Reduce Person), 3/day usable:
Alter Self
See Invisibility
Invisibility
Blinfness/Deafness
Feast of Ashes
Vomit Swarm

The situation is that there is this Wizard (not confirmed that he's an actual Wizard, but that's where the current informations point) from the Aspis Consortium with a lair in a broken lighthouse.
If you don't want all the other details, skip to #3.

#1
This dude is a real bastard, on one of our first encounters he killed a kid for no discernible reasons and ran away invisible.
Shortly after, he tortured a slave that I had freed, after I paid her on a boat towards a safer city; he happened to be on the same boat, and he did that to get informations on us.
Plus he has ties with a s%$+ty merchant guild that spans the nation (Sargava), but what he's actually interested in is to get to certain ruins (which we already have been at, but didn't explore them because there were some incorporeal undead and we had no means to fight them) and a certain manufact used inside the ruins (we have most parts of the manufact, but he doesn't know).

#2
Now we're in the "safer" city caught between that s!!%ty guild from before and another that is just as bad, plus government officials (who seem to be the only decent people) who want to topple both guilds.
The lighthouse is in a part of the city controlled by the first guild, which won't attack us openly but definitely wants us dead.
We visited this lighthouse after gathering some intel, and there were two Scarecrows (constructs) guarding it. After fighting them, we entered and found that it was definitely his lair, there was Aspis stuff everywhere.
He wasn't there at first, but before we could fully explore the upper floors, he came back with a Wood Golem (far beyond our fighting abilities) and forced us into a deal: helping him to steal a part of the manufact from the second guild.
We stopped at this point for now (well, after we gave info to the government agents, who can't help in that part of the city).

I don't know if I should mention this, but the GM isn't too expert, and I don't know where he breaks rules knowingly and where unknowingly, and whatnot, but even if the evil bastard has a Wood Golem (which requires CL 12th to make, but could have been gifted to him) from various details we *might* assume the dude is not an excessively powerful Wizard.
So, assuming the dude can be brought down with good tactics alone (and quite some luck), here I am asking for advice.

#3
My current plan would be, regardless of what we'll do in group (since we have to retrieve the manufact part and topple the guilds anyway), to try to attack him solo. Not immediately, of course, but soon.
Having Water lungs and 40 minutes of Invisibility, I can just enter water from any point, swim to the back of the lighthouse (which the GM specifically said has only a few rocks separating it from the water) and peek from a window. If he's home (we don't know his habits or whatever, since the lighthouse is in that hostile part of town that we can't really roam freely, nor entrust someone with keeping an eye, we already tried), I could use Alter Self to become a Locathah (which would give me 30 ft. swim for 4 minutes, and moreover, if I get spotted, I won't look like myself and instead look like a believable "threat" from the sea), break the window and use Evil Eye, then either Blindness, Deafness, or Feast of Ashes on him (so, Invisibility, Alter Self, plus this last spell would exhaust all my 2nd level spells).
I had also thought of setting fire to the lighthouse with Alchemist's Fires, but that wouldn't harm him directly, would make him flee somewhere, and wouldn't let us discover his other secrets, so this is out of the picture.

Problems with this are:
1) The GM might easily "punish" me with an aquatic encounter while I'm in the sea, especially after breaking Invisibility by attacking the dude. I could partially escape that using Levitate (from the Flight Hex), but that only lasts 4 minutes and I'd be stuck in the air, and depending on the encounter, the enemy could not go away and/or have ranged attacks.
(I say punish because I understand he may not take it well, especially since apparently he loves to always have the upper edge and con us in various ways; I'm acting totally in character, though, I've been wanting this dude dead for about an in-game month, and I'm thinking on doing it solo merely because I don't have invisibility and disguises for the whole group, or even just one other person.)
2) Magic wards and traps. Supposedly there are none, if the GM doesn't decide to put them there just because he suddenly has to protect the dude from an unexpected type of attack. There was a ward on the front door, if my memory serves, but our Rogue disabled it, and there were a couple of traps inside, but there's good chance that there isn't anything dangerous on the back and the windows (which I don't have to enter anyway, only break to have line of effect).
3) The fact that even if everything goes smoothly, I'll have made him either blind, deaf or temporarily cursed (8 days of Feast of Ashes), but I won't be able to push the attack further (if everything else goes really as desired, I may use Slumber on him, and end it there if he fails the save, but it's a Will save against a supposed Wizard, so chances are dim, and that's assuming he doesn't immediately react). So, he *might* not be able to remove the curse and be forced to starve, but that would only weaken him temporarily; we'd have to break in again as a group within the 8th day where he'll be most weakened (assuming he won't have removed it) and hope to land a blow before the Golem (or even the dude himself) breaks us. And with blindness and deafness he'd have an even easier time; they're permanent, but one Dispel Magic and they're gone. Even making him deaf only gives a 50% chance to fail casting it.

In light of all of this, any other suggestions?

The end goal would be capturing him, keeping his mouth open, and vomiting a swarm of spiders inside him.

If there is something 4th edition did right, at the time, it was adding to monsters' pages the degrees of lore characters receive based on their Knowledge results.

For whoever may not know what I'm talking about, a sketchy example using the Mummy: CR 5, Knowledge (Religion) DC 15.

Knowledge (Religion) 15: Mummies are undead formed by the dead bodies of ancient people, usually kings or priests, upon which certain burial rites were performed.
Knowledge (Religion) 20: Seeing a Mummy in too close proximity seems to drain all hope and courage from the living, leaving them frozen in terror. The putrescence of their corpses also spread a horrible disease through injuries.
Knowledge (Religion) 25: Being often covered in bandages or other wrappings, and due to the essiccated state of their bodies, Mummies are particularly susceptible to fire. At the same time, their bodies are hardened and are damaged only by powerful strikes, when using weapons against them, even magic ones.

So, with 15, you know it's an Undead, and you're aware it has the common Undead abilities and weaknesses.
With 20, you know what you knew at 15 plus that they have a Despair Aura.
With 25, you know even more.

Is there any supplement, web page or whatever that does it for Pathfinder? I know there's no official book, but maybe some 3rd party product?

I'm playing with a GM who just runs it loosely. DC is 10 + CR; you rolled much higher? Here's the link to the monster's page, you know everything. Which is very ugly, but after all he lacks a tool like the one I'm asking for here, and doesn't want to waste time on picking what characters get to know or not.

___________________________

Also, a question. the description of Knowledge skills gives these entries for DCs:

Identify a creature's planar origin: Knowledge (Planes), DC 20
Identify a monster's abilities and weaknesses: Knowledge (Varies), DC 10 + monster's CR

So, what if a planar creature's CR is less than 10, making its DC 19 or less for abilities and weaknesses?
Say I have an Efreeti: CR 8, Knowledge (Planes) DC 18. At first sight, how can character know it has certain abilities if they fail to recognize it has planar origins (and thus, its specific kind, because if they knew it was an Efreeti, of course they'd know it is planar)?
Does it mean the check to identify abilities and weaknesses can only be done if those abilities and weaknesses are actually interacted with? In that case, that should be applied to all creatures, and one may never come to know certain weaknesses. For example, how would you get the check to know that you need silver weapons to harm a Werewolf, if you don't hit it with silver first? Also, knowledges are supposed to be had beforehand, not as reactions, so that can't be.
Then how should one handle the planar creature matter?

I'm trying to expand my knowledge about programming, and I was considering making some RPG-related tool.

With all the stuff out there, though, I have no idea what could be useful that hasn't been done yet, so I'm looking for suggestions.
I can't guarantee I'll get anything done, but I'm willing to try, if any idea seems within the realm of my possibilities.

Of course, don't ask me for something huge like a VTT (go get MapTool, you can't ask for anything better... except newer versions of it) or a character generator. Just something "small".

My first idea was dismissed as soon as it came, because it was a simple set of random generators based on what's on Pathfinder books (such as the treasure generators in Ultimate Equipment, the background generator on Ultimate Campaign, and many others), but that would mean inserting copyrighted content, and I can't do it.

So, is there some relatively simple tool you think would be useful and cool (and which has not been made yet)?

Since the CRB doesn't seem to specify it (maybe some other book, like Undead Slayer Handbook or others, say more about the matter, but I don't have them), am I supposed to treat a cloudy day (the avreage grey day) as if light is normal, rather than bright? Same for shadows, like the shadow of a big building on a clear day.

And for things like a Vampire's weaknesses or a monsters' Light Blindness/Sensitivity, are they safe, as long they don't have line of sight (basically) with Sun? This would allow a Vampire to walk the streets by day, as long as it avoids open spaces where there aren't shadows big enough.
Or are they affected anyway, so long as they're under the open sky by day, regardless of clouds or shadows?

Wednesday I'll be at a "gaming party". I got the notice just a few hours ago, and if I can find something quickly (with enough time left to tell the organizers, to begin with), I thought of running a Pathfinder game.

So, since I don't usually run pre-made adventure and never went around looking for them and checking, I'm asking if anyone can point me to a free one-shot (with a duration of about two hours) they tried and had fun with.
I was thinking of 5th or 6th level so the PCs are capable of doing some nice things, but not too complex stuff (some players may be total newbies to d20 in general).

Also, a gallery of pre-made PCs (not NPCs as in the NPC Codex) that I could print would solve another problem, since I don't have time to build 4-6 characters. Preferably one-class characters who use just the Core rulebook or maybe the APG, so I don't have to check a thousand books for their abilities and stuff.

I have no idea if anyone did something like this already, and I know very few will care. But some years ago, I ran a campaing prologue with the PCs as children in training, and it was really funny. If I can, I'll do it again whenever possible.
Also, it allowed me to use those 1/X CR creatures (like tiny spiders and other things that can creep children but are never a real threat to standard adventurers) as effective threats without sending them in swarms.
So, I'm presenting and expanding here the rules I used back then, in case anyone likes the idea.
Ever wanted to play Hogwarts? Now you can. And more than that. You can have kid NPCs, you can have the PCs play a flashback of their childhood, you can make them enter a strange dimension or a dream where (almost) everyone is a child... and much more.

The following is for kids around the Human age of 8. For older ones, of course, make adjustments: increase the reduced bonuses progressively till they reach their standard values, add more proficiencies, add abilities that weren't previously obtained, and so on.
Also, quite obviously, it is assumed the kid is created as a level 1 character.
Note that where I mention a stat bonus instead of a stat modifier, I mean that the modifier applies only if +1 or greater.

I. Stats
Roll the stats for a normal character and then apply the Young simple template. Add also a -4 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

II. Races (Only going to cover the CRB, here.)
- Add racial stat adjustments as normal.
- Reduce size as per the Young template above. Races with a base speed of 30 ft. have 20 ft. instead, and races with 20 ft. have 15 ft.

Now, for each specific race in the spoler below, unlisted racial abilities are gained as normal and unmodified (except in some detail that is already modified by something else, like Dwarven speed in relation to the Slow and Steady ability). The others have some adjustments or aren't gained at all, as specified.

III. Classes (CRB-only here too.)
- As per the racial abilities, anything unlisted stays unchanged.
- HD: the child gains half the max hit points from the first HD of her class, plus her Con modifier as normal.
- Skill Points: the child gains half the normal amount of skill points from her class, plus her Int modifier as normal (a Half-Elf gains +2 skill points, or +1, if her class normally grants a max of 2 + Int skill ranks). The minimum is always 1, as normal.
- Class Skills: the child must select a single skill among her class skills list. That is her only class skill.
- Saves: good saves have their bonus halved (+1 instead of +2). Poor saves are unchanged, since they're already at 0; but in case you want to create a higher level kid, halve the poor saves too.
Favored Class bonuses: not obtained.
Spells: if the child is a caster, her casting ability score must be at least 10 to cast cantrips/orisons, and 11 to cast 1st-level spells, as normal.

IV. Alignment
This is not a mechanic rule, just a mere consideration.
The usual alignment for children is Neutral, as their view of the world and of themselves isn't developed enough yet.
Of course, particularly caring or sensitive kids exist, as do cruel and egoistic ones, obsessive ones or wild ones, so they may have NG, NE, LN or CN alignments, but that will be a bit out of the norm. LG, LE, CG or CE alignments are even greater exceptions.
As with all exceptions, they do exist, but they are, indeed, exceptions to the norm.

V. Equipment
Starting money rules go flying out of the window, of course. Children equipment depends on family and mentors, or other backstory elements. Thus, apply whatever you see fit.
Of course, all weapon damage dice are reduced one step, if a child uses weapons appropriate to her own size.

Beyond the age chart in the Bestiary, which sets Great Wyrms at 1201+ years, with no defined maximum age, I was wondering if there is any reference about it in Campaign Setting books, such as Dragons Revised/Unleashed, which I haven't read, or others.
Are there references to the maximum age a Dragon can reach, or just hints at formidably high ages? Something like, for example: "Draconixus witnessed the Earthfall with his own eyes; today he sleeps inside an active volcano", which would mean that Dragon has over ten thousand years and is still going on, and, unless he's using magic to prolong his life, any other Dragon has the potential to reach the same age and further.
Or even hints at virtual immortality, as long as their life doesn't end in violence?

Title is way too generic, but I had no idea how to better put it.

I read just yesterday an NPC backstory/campaign role in the Wrath of the Righteous AP, and it got me wondering.

LITTLE WRATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS SPOILER ALERT

Similar example include things like:
- Harpies' singing; can't a harpy sing on a stage without the whole audience trying to get on it?
- Medusa's gaze; can't a Medusa make friends without always carrying a huge stock of Stone to Flesh scrolls?
- Shadows' touch; can't you give a high five to a Shadow without feeling weak?

And so on.

Bringing it to a silly extreme, can't a Dragon blow the candles on his birthday cake without ruining the party?

Since Inner Sea Gods was made, and it is nasically the enhanced version of the old Gods and Magic, I was wondering if anything was said about an analogue for the old The Great Beyond.
I love the Planes, so...

I mean a relatively specific kind of alternative.

Up to now, I've been using a simple no-experience system, where the PCs level up when I decide that they do (it's awsome to be free of XP). And I decide it, in a somewhat arbitrary-yet-not-so way.
I mean, I don't bother keeping track of some particular things, simply when we've been through enough events that I feel a PC has achieved enough, she levels-up.

So, not for need but just curiosity, I was just wondering if anyone, here or elsewhere, including maybe in 3rd party books I'm unaware of, actually codified an achievement system of sort (possibly a flexible one) to handle things in a more schematic way.
Maybe something akin to how Mythic Trials/Boons, like each character having to achieve a number of specific objectives in various fields to progress: combat, social, racial, learning, personal growth, whatever.

If I bothered to write it myself, I guess I'd make something where you have those fields and must achieve at least 3+ (depending on level) things in combat, and 3+ in any of the other combined fields.
Given a list of suggested achievements (with a minimum of differentiation based on class, race and kind of character, because a Wizard cannot be asked to achieve tripping two opponents in subsequent rounds, for example), the GM would roll some random achievements (eventually rerolling if they are unfit for the character) or straigh-up decide them, and leave the player unaware of what they are to avoid incurring in absurd situations where a player makes his character try something too insistently just to get his achievement.

Does anyone knows of vaguely similar systems or other interesting alternatives?

This has "bothered" me for years, I don't know why I didn't write about this earlier.
We have two subrules for essentially the same thing. The only differences between Regeneration and Fast Healing are that the first can be halted by some attacks and the second can't regrow or reattach body parts.

This could easily be made in a single subrule, under Regeneration.
Just change the format in stat blocks as following:

Regeneration 5/fire/R

What does it mean? It means 5 points of Regeneration per round (if it was per minute, just add "/minute"), stopped by fire, and the R means a type of Regeneration that can regrow or reattach body parts.
Basically, it's an example of normal Regeneration, like that of a Troll.

Want a Fast Healing like that of a Vampire?

Regeneration 5/-

Meaning it's a type of Regeneration that can't be stopped (just as for Damage Reduction, same format and same meaning) and can't regrow or reattach.
As a side note, this brings my mind to wonder what happens if you sever a Vampire's limb, given its gaseous transformation upon physical destruction, but that's another matter.

It also makes for special Regenerations like that of the Tarrasque, which can't be suppressed but at the same time can regrow or reattach:

Regeneration 40/-/R

And of course that would cover other possible special cases, as for a creature whose Regeneration can be suppressed, but can't regrow or reattach.

If we want to go further, we can differentiate regrowth and reattachment with RG and RA respectively.
In the format, a simple R would mean the creature can do both, while only RG or RA would mean it can do only the specified one.
Think for example of Piccolo (from Dragon Ball Z): he can regrow but not reattach; the T-1000 (from Terminator 2), on the other hand, has a finite mass and can reattach lost parts but can't regrow them.

Also, it would be nice to have specific rules for "how much can a creature regrow or reattach", but I won't do that here.
I mean, if I sever a Troll's head, will it die or both parts will still be alive and reform the normal Troll if put together? Or will the head regrow a body and the body a head, thus forming two Trolls? How much do you have to reduce it to poultice to definitively suppress its Regeneration?
There has been much discussion about this, and that's why clear rules would be nice.

I apologize, as this is a bit off topic, but I think this is one of the most appropriate section to ask.
And also, I apologize if there's anything behind this matter that I'm not aware about and that I might unwillingly go against by posting this. In that case, let me know.

As title says, I've missed the updated Vigilante playtest, and now, after reading the mail about it, I find the file to be unavailable.
Is it for some specific reasons or is it just a technical issue of sort?
Since it is a free file (I suppose, like all other playtests), may I ask any kind soul if they can send me the pdf or upload it somewhere?

Thanks in advance.

You have a Kasatha PC with his four hands and the Multiweapon Fighting feat (monster feat), and he wants to use a two-handed weapon as his primary weapon, and two one-handed (or light) ones in the other two hands.
Would you give him more penalties to hit? How much, and to what (all attacks, just the primary, or just the off-hands)? And what if the primary weapon isn't a two-handed weapon but a one-handed used with two hands to apply 1-1/2 Str?
Further, he wants to wield two two-handed weapons, or two one-handed weapons used with two hands each. Other than penalties to hit, how do you treat the Str bonus for the second weapon? Normal Str (which is halfway between the off-hand's 1/2 Str and the two-handed 1-1/2 Str)?

Let's take one effect for which the rules say it affects "allies", such as a Paladin's Aura of Courage, and creatures within the area.
Now, apart from the obvious cases, how do you define those creatures in the following situations? Allies or not (or better, valid targets or not)?

1) An actual ally that is invisible, hidden or anyway not visible for the Paladin. The Paladin knows he is there and invisible/hidden/whatever, but doesn't know his actual position. He may also move in or out of the area at any given round while unseen; would that change his being a valid/non-valid target?
2) As above, except the Paladin doesn't know that he's there at all.
3) A creature that by default isn't nominally an ally of the Paladin, but is being magically controlled by someone who is an actual ally, and thus used as if it was an ally.
4) A creature that the Paladin considers an ally, but isn't reciprocated. For example, a Doppelganger in disguise, but maybe even someone that just disagrees with the Paladin's view/goals or doesn't trust him, while the Paladin himself considers him trustworthy, instead. Such difference in each other's reciprocal consideration may be known or hidden for one or both parties.
5) The opposite of the above: Paladin doesn't consider him an ally, while he does.

What's your take on these?

And, of course, if you can think up of other cases, bring them on.

I had a perfect video to show you what I'm looking for, but it got deleted from YouTube (and the title was in japanese characters, so I could never find who was the artist or anything else), so I'll take this song from Naruto as a reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daPo6q4FXDw (this one has more than evident electric guitars, and that's fine, but something less than that is also good).
I'm looking for similar music, does anyone have some names or titles I could look up? If possible, I'd prefer artists or bands' names, so that I may listen to all their works, but nonetheless, if you have a good track to recommend with no info about it, I surely won't skip that.

I have faith that, with the wild variety and number of these boards' users, someone will be able to point me in some nice direction.
Thanks in advance.

This is more a homerule tool for flavor than anything needed or improving game mechanics, but bear with me.
Imagine a mighty Dragon breathing its fire on a rusty sword, turning it into a golden blade as majestic as it is powerful. Or a wicked Gelugon holding the magic spear of the cultist worshipping it, infusing its essence into the weapon and making ice-barbs grow on it while changing its overall structure.

Basically, I'm talking about powerful magical creatures pouring their own life-force and spirit into items to make them magical.
And here's how I thought of ruling this:

Creators: Any creature with at least 11 HD and of the Dragon, Fey, or Outsider type, or other creature types, if the creature holds enough magic power, at GM's discretion (for example Storm Giants, powerful Vampires, Neothelids, or even a "normal" Human Wizard of high enough level) can create a magic item from a mundane one of the same type without having to consume money and resources, nor do they need a laboratory of any kind.

Creation overview: The base item doesn't need to be masterwork, and can be in any condition, even damaged or broken, as long as the majority of it is still placed together. It will be created with full hit points and in perfect conditions. The creature doesn't need to have item creation feats or fulfill a particular magic item's requirements to create it (such as knowing the spells normally required for a Frostbrand), and can even choose the material of the final item. The only limitation is that the created item must be in tune with the creator's theme, personality, or history; for example, a Silver Dragon may create a silver bow with air, sky, or cold-related powers, or it could add the Bane (Dragons) to it to make a weapon against its evil brethren.

Creator's drawbacks: The creator suffers a heavy toll for infusing part of itself into an item, becoming weak for a long time by gaining a number of negative levels (these negative levels are applied even to creatures normally immune to energy drain). These negative levels are removed at the rate of one per year, thus making many creatures choose to hide in secluded hermitages and sleep until full recovery. Negative levels from creating multiple items stack and extend the total years necessary to remove them up to the last one.
To calculate the number of gained negative levels, look at the market price of the desired item, or, if it isn't among the already printed ones, calculate the price by using the table in the "Magic Item Creation" section of the Core Rulebook. Remember to include special material and masterwork items' additional costs, if the item is going to acquire such qualities, as well as the cost of the basic item itself, if it was in bad conditions. Items that are already magical can be empowered by this process as well; just obtain the price of the final item you want to create, and subtract the cost of already existing qualities, exactly as you would do when adding properties to a magic item with the normal rules. The only exception is that if you are going to turn an item's material into a less costly one, you must exclude materials from the calculation altogether. For example, say you have a +1 adamantine full-plate and want to turn it into a +3 mithral full-plate; the starting item's cost is 17,650 gp (1,500 full-plate, +150 masterwork, +15,000 adamantine, +1,000 for +1 enhancement), while the desired item has a price of 19,650 gp (1,500 full-plate, +150 masterwork, +9,000 mithral, +9,000 for +3 enhancement). By excluding the prices of the materials, the starting and final item come to cost respectively 2,650 gp and 10,650 gp. Subtracting the starting item's value from the final one's, you have 10,650 - 2,650 = 8,000 gp.
Once you have the effective difference used in this process, obtain the square root of such price, divide by 20 and round up (for example, a value of 100,000 gp would have a square root of 316.22, reduced to 15.8 by the division, and rounded up to 16); the final result of this is the number of negative levels the creature will have to suffer to make that item.
Regardless of how small an improvement to the item is, the creature always takes a minimum of one negative level. Also, if the creature so wishes, it can create an item that would make it gain negative levels up to its total HD + 3, but gaining as much negative levels as its HD or more will kill it immediately after the item is finished.

Creation time: The time required to create or improve an item with this method depends on the price of the final item (or its difference with the already existing item) and is reported below.

Up to 1,000 gp: 1 full round.
Up to 2,000 gp: 5 full rounds.
Up to 3,000 gp: 10 full rounds (1 minute).
Up to 5,000 gp: 10 minutes.
Up to 10,000 gp: 1 hour.
Up to 20,000 gp: 1 day.
Up to 50,000 gp: 1 week.
Up to 100,000 gp: 1 month.
Up to 150,000 gp: 4 months.
Up to 200,000 gp: 1 year.
For higher values, add 1 more year for every additional 50,000 gp.

The creator must spend the whole time with the item at least within its reach and without the slightest interruction, meaning it cannot rest, sleep or eat (although it can be fed by others during the process). Due to this, only creatures beyond mortality can bring to life the most potent creations.
Artifacts can also be created with this method, although calculating proper prices for them can be difficult.

Special: After an item is created with this method, the creator is immune for one year to each and every harmful effect produced by that item, by anyone carrying it, or anyone who has carried it for at least a week within the year immediately after the creation. Only indirect attacks work against the creator, such as a collapsing building subject to an Earthquake spell, while the spell itself doesn't affect the creator in any way, as if it was surrounded by an antimagic fields. Similarly, physical attacks have no effect, treating the creator as if it had infinite and unbypassable damage reduction.
After that year has expired, other the creator loses this immunity but instead gains the ability to gain back the power from the item it created. Doing so works exactly like creating that item, except that it takes half the time. An item drained in this way reverts to what it was before being enhanced, and the creator loses all the remaining negative levels it had from that specific item. Negative levels gained by creating other items still persist and disappear at the normal rate.

I think I have forgotten some things, but whatever...

The fact that the setting is Golarion may not be particularly relevant, but since it is Golarion nonetheless, I'm posting in this section...

So, I have this campaign that started last summer, but was interrupted after the very first session; now we're resuming it, but I don't remember anymore one thing I had planned, and now it haunts me.
The situation is as such: the PCs are in Sothis (Osirion), and have still to meet with one another, except two of them, who are brothers and travel together.
The plan is that all of them end up in the same expedition to some osirian excavation site; two of the PCs will join that particular expedition for their own reasons, but I have have a problem with the brothers, because they are looking for a particular artifact and should be put on a trail where joining that expedition goes towards such goal, but I don't want the dull scenario where "oh, that artifact is exactly at the excavation site where this particular expedition is going", if you get my point.
It's odd because, before we interrupted the game, I had clear plans on how to put the group together without forcing events in a so stupid way, but I can't remember what it all was and am unable to think of anything else.
Help...?

As everyone knows, when you cast Bestow Curse, you can choose an effect different from the listed ones ("You may also invent your own curse, but it should be no more powerful than those described above."), but it may be difficult to establish what is too much powerful when dealing with things of a much varied nature.
So, is there a list of suggestions and possible curses somewhere, or things you tested in your game and seem to be alright?

Tried to put town these guys that almost everyone knows (or can websearch for in a blink).

Humanoid - 0 RP
Medium - 0 RP
Specialized (+2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Cha) - 1 RP
Xenophobic (Yautja language only) - 0 RP
Ancient Foe (Aberrations) - 3 RP
Natural Armor (Improved) - 2 + 1 RP
Silent Hunter - 2 RP
Stalker - 1 RP
Yautja Vision - 0 RP - Special: Yautjas' eyes capture only a limited spectrum, and as such they cannot distinguish colors in the same way most other races do. Yet, that particular spectrum, allows them to consider the light level of any area they see as if it was one step higher, up to bright light.

Well, without technology (and especially their masks) they do lose much, but whatever...

I'm much unsatisfied by what Mythic rules turned out to be in the playtest (hoping in a really radical and complete revamp in the final version, but I don't realistically expect such an event), and I didn't like at all the old 3.5 rules about Epic.
So, I was wondering wether there is some system on the line of "when you level up past 20th, you get to choose between gaining a new feat, X skill points, a bonus on max hp, a +1 to an ability score, a new spell known or per day, a +1 in CL" and so on. (Because when a character already has tons of abilities to keep track of, and a player or GM can't even remember half of them, it becomes pretty pointless to keep adding wagons of new ones who make the character look shiny but do no good to the game. Mine and my group's opinion, of course.)
Possibly a decently playtested and, as such, a fine working system of that kind.
Can anybody point me something like that?

Actually, my questions come from the wording in those planar traits' descriptions.

A-block) Minor Negative-Dominant says that it deals 1d6 damage per round to living creatures.
RAW, it's not negative energy damage, just untyped damage, and affects living creatures only (thus, not Constructs and objects).
So:
1) Do you let it affect Constructs and objects? It does make sense that such planes consume everything, but I could understand if they affect living things only.
2) Do you convert the damage to negative energy, thus letting Undead creatures benefit from it?

B-block) Major Negative-Dominant says that it bestows negative levels. It doesn't say "in addition to what the minor trait does", it just says that it has that effect.
So:
3) Do you apply it standalone or in addition to what the minor version does?
4) Do you let it affect Undead in the same manner the major Positive-Dominant does with living beings (exceed = explode, or, in this case, implode)? With what mechanics?

C-block) Minor Positive-Dominant says that "all individuals" (thus including Undead and Constructs) gain fast healing 2.
So:
5) Do you treat it as actual fast healing and apply it to everybody (remember that some Undead, such as Vampires, and even some Constructs, do have fast healing, so it's positive energy on its own) or do you consider it actual positive energy that only applies to living creatures and eventually damages Undead (leaving Constructs completely unable to benefit or be harmed from it)? Of course, this applies to the major Positive-Dominant version too, with the appropriate consequences.

D-block) Major Positive-Dominant says that a creature on the plane must make a Fort save or be blinded for 10 rounds. It says just so, not "once the creature first arrives on the plane" nor "every round".
So:
6) How do you treat this one?

From Liveoak spell's text:

"This spell turns an oak tree into a protector or guardian. The spell can only be cast on a single tree at a time; while liveoak is in effect, you can't cast it again on another tree. Liveoak must be cast on a healthy, Huge oak. A triggering phrase of up to one word per caster level is placed on the targeted oak. The liveoak spell triggers the tree into animating as a treant."

Actually, I don't understand the purpose of that triggering phrase. What exactly is it supposed to trigger?

As I'm right now into a mosquito war, I want to stat my enemies down, so that all of you know the horrible powers of these bloody foes and can develop methods to annihilate them.

Mosquito

The subtle buzz of this flying, alien-looking monstrosity will keep you awake until you can catch it.

Mosquito CR 4
XP 1,200
NE Fine vermin
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +9

DEFENSE
AC 22, touch 22, a mosquito is never flat-footed (+4 Dex, +8 size)
hp 5 (1d8+1)
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +1
Defensive Abilities sudden invisibility, weak only to slippers
Immune mind-affecting effects

OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., fly 60 ft. (perfect)
Melee puncture +12 touch (1 plus attach, berserk, bleed and disease)
Special Attacks attach, berserk, bleed (1)

STATISTICS
Str 1, Dex 18, Con 12, Int —, Wis 13, Cha 1
Base Atk +0; CMB -4; CMD 6 (14 vs. trip)
Feats Weapon Finesse B
Skills Escape Artist +16, Fly +16, Perception +9, Stealth +20; Racial Modifiers Escape Artist +12, Perception +8

ECOLOGY
Environment anywhere you go, especially the places whre you'd like to stay quiet and comfortable
Organization solitary, but that's more than enough
Treasure great satisfaction when you've killed it

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Attach (Ex) If a mosquito hits you, it attaches until you go berserk, causing 1 point of damage each round without need of rolling for the attack.
Berserk (Ex) Each round a mosquito is attached to you, you have a 20% cumulative chance of noticing. When you do, you go berserk. While in berserk, you have a +2 morale bonus to Strength and Dexterity, but suffer a -6 penalty to Wisdom. In fact, you not only fail to recognize friend and foe, but you fail to recognize yourself too, and slap yourself in the hope of crushing the Mosquito. If you are sleeping and a mosquito passes within 1 ft. of your ears, you instantly wake, get up as an immediate action and go berserk.
Disease (Ex) A mosquito has a 5% chance of carrying a random disease. Once this % roll is made and the disease is decided, don't roll again for that particular mosquito.
Sudden Invisibility (Ex) You're looking at it, readying your action to strike it with the most violent blow of vengeance you've ever landed, and... vanished before your eyes. A mosquito can become invisible as a move action in any round in which it doesn't attack. It becomes immediately visible, when it attacks, but you must still make a Perception check opposed to its Stealth check to notice it. An invisible mosquito can not even be seen by means such as see invisibility and true seeing.
Weak Only to Slippers (Ex) A mosquito is immune to any kind of damage, except slippers damage. Against a mosquito, a slipper has a critical range of 2-20.

As per title, I don't remember (and thus I'm unable to find) where I've read this rule. It may be a 3/3.5 leftover, but I have a blurred reminescence of reading it in Pathfinder some months ago.

The rule is: when you have two creatures confronting in something that involves a more or less prolonged use of an ability score, such as arm wrestling, you don't roll a d20 as you would for opposed skill checks, unless they have the same bonus in the relevant ability score. If the two have different bonuses, whoever has the highest one wins without rolling anything.

Does anyone remember where it's written, given that it really is?

From here: "If you miss the target (whether aiming at a creature or a grid intersection), roll 1d8. This determines the misdirection of the throw, with 1 falling short (off-target in a straight line toward the thrower), and 2 through 8 rotating around the target creature or grid intersection in a clockwise direction. Then, count a number of squares in the indicated direction equal to the range increment of the throw. After you determine where the weapon landed, it deals splash damage to all creatures in that square and in all adjacent squares."

So, tell me if I get it right. An Alchemist throws a bomb (20 ft. range) to a character 10 ft. away from her and misses. The d8 roll results in 1, so the bomb falls 10 ft. behind the Alchemist?
Or if the Alchemist was 20 ft. away, the bomb falls in her own space?

"Spell trigger items can be used by anyone whose class can cast the corresponding spell. This is the case even for a character who can't actually cast spells, such as a 3rd-level paladin."

So, how is a Warrior of the Holy Light Paladin considered?
(It's that archetype that replaces the ability to cast spells.)
The Paladin class itself can cast the spell that is in the spell trigger item, but the Warrior of the Holy Light's own Paladin class can't. Is it capable of activating it anyway?

This, at "Step 2: Add Class Levels", second paragraph:

"If the creature possesses class features (such as spellcasting or sneak attack) for the class that is being added, these abilities stack."

Now, that means that if I have, say, a Dragon with a Sorcerer CL of 7 and I add 5 real levels of Sorcerer, it gains a total CL of 12 (and all other class features as a 5th level Sorcerer).
My question is: if the creature is a Silver Dragon, or any other creature that can cast Cleric spells as arcane spells, how does this interact with the Sorcerer levels?
I mean, can the Silver Dragon choose Cleric spells to add to its list of known spells when it gets Sorcer levels, or can it do so only if it advances in racial hit dice and gains increased spellcasting level from that?

Is it just me, or are there things, here and there, that make it look like the whole multiverse is Inner-Sea centered?
I haven't read anything about the Dragon Empire's deities, so dunno if the matter is discussed at all, but as far as I can see with my current knowledge it seems that:
1) Most if not all of the eastern Gods, are relatively pointless in the great mythology. I mean, who placed the stars and everything in the void? Desna. Who was rampaging Golarion, causing most other Gods to ally? Rovagug. Who beat Rovagug? Sarenrae. Who encaged Rovagug? Asmodeus. And so on. All Inner-Sea deities. Looks like all the others didn't play any really important role.
2) Since it were those Inner-Sea deities to do all the important things, then maybe their cults should be spread in the whole world and it is relatively pointless to worship additional Gods, unless they're very specifically related to a race/territory/something. This extends not only to the east, but also to Arcadia and every other place of the world.
3) Looking at other planets, well, shouldn't the denizens of Akiton (random planet) worship (or at least know and pay respect) to those same deities? Which brings us to...
4) Almost all of the core Deities (and many others, I suppose) have a strong Humanlike appearence. And Outsiders of most kinds also do.
Yet, the Material Plane is full of life and diversity in its many planets, it seems, so what about all those aliens (which, summed up, would supposedly be an immense number, compared to the number of Humanlike creatures) who die and find themeselves in an otherworld full of Humanlike beings, first of which is Pharasma? Like "hey, they're all so akin here... seems like my species and many others I knew look like an abomination to the multiverse..."

Well, a little chaotic, but I hope you get what I mean by all this, and other implications.

I'll throw the idea in, and be what it must: a book on the line of the Rival Guide, except that it focuses on single individuals (or in certain cases maybe a couple, like twins, lovers, or whatever, or maybe a trio) that are totally unique. They don't belong to any known race, nor to any class, and they wander Golarion or hide in it for their own singular purposes.
I'll make an example of what I mean using the Final Fantasy videogame series. In many chapters of the series, there are recurring elements (despite their "shapes" usually differ a little), and one of them is Gilgamesh, who is (always, more or less) presented as basically being a master swordsman of unknown nature (hardly Human) and obscure origins who wanders the world in search of worthy opponents to battle and legendary weapons to claim for himself.
Well, I'd like to see something similar in Golarion: a set of unique creatures (more humanoid in shape, than monstrous; but the monstrous ones could make a nice sequel) that the PCs could meet (either for good or for bad, making for exciting foes or allies), each with their own story and agenda. Unique creatures that do not come from the ranks of "common" creatures, but from entirely singular events.
For example... the former divine guardian of an ancient temple that was destroyed, along with the death of its patron deity; an emperor of the stars that fell on Golarion as a meteor; a redeemed Devil of lost ages who wanders the world and tortures and crushes fiends to free the multiverse from the stain of evil; three white twins that claim to come "from the Spider-Out-There" and want to swallow the sun; and so on.

So... maybe I didn't read enough campaign setting books, but so far it seems to me that while each plane has had its share of words spent, Astral and Ethereal have likely been forgotten. Am I mistaken?
If Golarion's Abaddon has Daemons and Divs, Hell has Devils, Asuras and Kytons, Abyss has Demons, Demodand and Qlipphoth, the Plane of Shadows is full of Kuthon's horrors, the Negative Energy Plane is a neverending Undead birthday-party, and so on... I know almost nothing of what happens in Golarion's Astral and Ethereal, which are both (and for me especially the Astral) full of potential.

Doesn't it unsettle you that a "faintly magic", lowly +1 dagger can negate the full DR of a "strongly magical" imposing Great Wyrm? (Of course, hitting the target is a different matter.)
Well, it does unsettle me.

Thus, I propose a variant (and if someone can make it better, they're welcome): when a target has DR X/magic, each point of enhancement bonus negates 4 points of DR rather than all of it.
So, against a 15/magic DR, a +3 weapon would ignore 3 x 4 = 12 points of DR, as if the target only had DR 3/magic.
A +5 enhancement bonus, being the apex of (mortal) magic weaponry, would be the only exception, ignoring any amount of /magic DR (the strongest creatures usually have /epic DR, which so far is unexplored terrain).

As for Monks and anyone else who uses a Ki Pool or something similar, the Ki Pool's magic "aspect" would equal a +1 enhancement bonus for each 3 levels, for the purpose of resolving DR (obviously, with a maximum of +5 at 15th level).

I don't know if and how this has been discussed, but... where do evil deities take their worshippers? I mean, alright for dudes like Asmodeus, which (other than thriving in the curtains of deception) can come to be somewhat accepted by the common folks, if they don't keep violence and suffering too high and too visible. Alright for Lamashtu, which has entire races (though far less numerous than Humans and the other more common guys) culturally devoted to her.
But it's guys like Zon-Kuthon and Rovagug that make me wonder. Zon-Kuthon gave (dark) cookies to Nidal, and got an amount of worship in return, but beyond that (or even within the borders of Nidal), how many intelligent beings can there be who like suffering, self-mutilation and all other nice things Zon-Kuthon has about him? Other evil deities may be whorshipped for power; a lot of people want power. But how many want loss and self-suffering, compared to the mass of worshippers a god like Nethys, or Erastil, or Torag may have?
Same for Rovagug: how many fans can it have, except the occasional madman here and there?
Ultimately, even including all the evil beings in the world and beyond, isn't there a huge disparity in the number of worshippers some deities get, compared to others?
And isn't that a significant problem for the less liked gods?

Since the developers won't update the Summon Monster/Nature Ally lists with the creature from Bestiary 2 and 3, can anyone point me some good homebrew-updated lists? By searching the messageboard I found only a bunch of old links.

You know, in movies/books/comics/whatever, other than the scenes regarding the main characters, you have now and then a scene about the evil guys while they scheme their ordeals, fight among themselves, build their ultimate destruction device, make a pact with another evil guy or supernatural power, recover from a wound, and so on.

Now, in a role-playing game like Pathfinder it is usually (if not always) crucial that players know only what their characters know, and thus that they don't witness scenes like the ones mentioned above. Yet, it would be fun to let them know some more of what is going on out of the main light they're under, showing interesting and otherwise unknowable sides of their nemesis, and the relationships between certain enemies.

So, I was wondering if anyone can suggest a good way to do such things AND to do it by involving the people around the table, because a mere GM soliloquy would just usually cause the players to send their brains in "finished-yet?" mode (usually = always, for my gaming groups).

Making the players roleplay the bad guys is of course an awful idea, since they could super-easily A) stray from the plot I intended for the bad guys to follow, and B) make the foes do (stupid) things that could unnaturally advantage their normal PCs; and if I let them roleplay the enemies and then say every two seconds "you can't do that, you must do this", the thing becomes pretty dumb.

I think everyone knows the stories of Smaug or Achilles; they had a tough hide (or invincible, at least against human attacks), but they also had a weak spot. Maybe every creature has one.
So I thought of implementing a simple rule in my games, and now I share it: an attacker can choose to (try to) hit an enemy's weak spot, thus bypassing its Damage Reduction. The attacker rolls, and subtracts an amount equal to the target's DR; if it hits, no DR is applied.
To determine if a target has a weak spot or not, the GM calls for a Perception or appropriate Knowledge check. GM's judgement; maybe he chooses that a particular creature (or kind of creatures, subtype, type or whatever) has no weak spot at all or that some unique creatures have weak spots that can be knowk only through dedicated research, not just on the fly during a fight.

I like happy endings. At least, I surely like them when I'm someway involved.
So, in a cosmology like that of Golarion, where Evil seems to outnumber Good at a ∞:1 rate (Demons here, Devils there, Daemons everywhere, Dark Gods below, Great Old Ones above and beyond...), could I really make the Forces of Light grow tired and wrathful enough to all become one and set aflame the skies with holy fire until the very last memory of Evil has been cleansed from the multiverse? All the Demon Lords butchered, the Archdevils torn asunder, the Horsemen dismembered, the Dark Gods enchained in pain, the Great Old Ones crushed under the heel of someone greater... you get the idea.
But I ask for more: could I really do it without making it sound like crap?

Disclaimer 1: the picture in the lower right corner belongs to its rightful owner (which I have no idea who he/she is, since I couldn't track him/her).

Disclaimer 2: this statting out of Frieza is merely for fun, and it is not intended to be a faithful transposition of the character (if it was, he would probably have something like CR 500). It is just intended to be an uber-boss for use in the Pathfinder RPG (given that anyone is mad enough to use it) based on Frieza's character.
I didn't put too much effort in making it balanced, so don't come yelling at me because something is wrong in those regards. I post it here for mine and your fun, and that's all.

Frieza - The Tyrant

I thought I remembered rules for continuative or repeated efforts, such as repeatedly trying to bash a door, push/pull a boulder, and other things like these, but now I can't find any.
Alright with the rules for forced march and all the rest, but what about the above? Is there any rule? And if there isn't, how would you rule it?

Binding spell, Hedged Prison version: "The subject is transported to or otherwise brought within a confined area from which it cannot wander by any means. This effect is permanent. Reduce the save DC by 3. Casting this version requires a tiny golden cage worth 100 gp that is consumed when the spell is cast."

What exactly does "transported to or otherwise brought" mean? That the subject is teleported to a pre-determined location, that it is dragged to a point within the spell range chosen by the caster, that it remains where it is currently (and thus that it must have been brought there by other means) or what else?
And what if the Binding is temporarily interrupted by an anti-magic field? Will the subject be dragged back to the original spot (and what if there are solid barriers in between?) or will it be locked where it is when Binding becomes active again?

Also, what should the confined area be? The same as the spell range centered on the target? The plane or planet it is currently in? An undefined-limit place such as a forest, a political region or a sea? A physical structure such as a tower, a dungeon or a house?

Heat

It is not specified wether that heat does or doesn't affect an attacker who strikes the heated creature with a natural weapon or unarmed strike, or who is grappling or grappled.

On one hand, one could say yes because the creature is burning-hot and that's just it.
On the other hand, one could say that the heat is harmless for the contact of just a fleeting moment as attacks generally do, because the heat of the creature transfers to its metallic weapons after a given time they're in contact with it. This, though, would invalidate the fact that the creature's mere touch too deals fire damage, and grappling would remain an open question.

Should I simply assume that yes, a natural weapon/unarmed strike attacker and a grappling or grappled creature do take the damage?

This should also modify Efreet, Salamander and whatever other creature had Heat in the first Bestiary.

Say I have a +1 Flaming Burst Longsword and hit with critical menace one of those few creatures immune to critical hits. The target doesn't take the normal extra damage from critical, and that's ok; but should I anyway confirm the critical and add the Flaming Burst extra damage, or it doesn't apply at all?
In other words, is a critical considered to be "in my strike" or "on the target's skin", if you get what I mean?

damage caused by bite can only be healed with magic if the spellcaster succeeds on a DC 20 caster level check

I'm unsure about the wording:

Contagious Flame: say at the moment of casting I fire two rays to a target and one to another; in the next round will the first target spring two rays or just one?

Consider fighting a Phase Spider.
It keeps on shifting Ethereal/Material and back each round to annoy its preys.
Are the preys flat-footed each and any time it shifts to Material, despite the fact that they know the Phase Spider is "around"?

After that, if the preys are considered flat-footed each time, how can they counter? They may ready an action to attack as soon as the Spider materializes, but it's unrealistic that they perform a readied action if they're flat-footed (read: unready to act).
A Reflexes save could be afforded to the preys to be able to react (success: they make their readied action and are not flat-footed; failure: they remain flat-footed and take no action), but what should the DC be? Should it be the result of a Stealth check of the Spider?

What do you think, can a Silver Dragon under the effect of the Statue spell lay on the clouds while in stone form, or would it fall down?