Auspician's page

Hey there Paizo, I've been a loyal subscriber since the Pathfinder Beta, and am proud to own a physical version of every Pathfinder and Starfinder book you have ever released. A little over a year ago, I lost my job and had to cancel my subscription for about six months until I could get reestablished. After I did, I went back and purchased all of the physical books I had missed in that time, and reactivated all of my subscriptions.

Of course, now I am without the PDFs for all of those books (included in Order #4178830).

I love Paizo - it is one of the best companies I have ever had the pleasure of doing business with. But I simply cannot justify spending another $206.41 for the digital copies when I've already paid for the physical books.

I understand that Paizo is under no obligation to help with my plight because I was not a subscriber for those six months. But if there is anything that could be done to allow me access to the digital versions of the physical books I already purchased in order 4178830 without having to spend over $200 to get them, I would be very appreciative.

Thank you very much for your kind consideration.

Unfortunately, my wife and I will not be able to make it to PaizoCon this year as originally intended. Is it possible to request a refund to the original credit card please?

Hey guys, I've just gotta say I'm not at all impressed with the direction you have taken the checkout on the website. It seems buggy, misleading, and intentionally customer-unfriendly. Whereas before it was a clear and elegant "this is what you're paying for this, these are your shipping options, how would you like to pay for this, etc" now it feels much more like "Oh, you want to buy this stuff? It'll be this much - what's your card #? Oh, we're not going to explain WHY it is that price. Figure it out. We need your card # to charge you money."

Specifically, the checkout jumps directly from #1 to #3 entirely skipping over shipping options and just saying it will charge you for whatever shipping option that happens to be there. A customer has to MANUALLY click shipping to select shipping options - why don't we get this option as we go rather than hiding it like a dark secret?

I think I know why...because the dark secret is that you've removed the option for standard postal (usually $6 or so) in favor of a much more expensive Priority shipping (closer to $11). While $5 might not seem like much, it is enough of a difference to make me decide not to participate in your Great Golem Sale for a few items I want when I'm unable to combine them into my sidecart for shipping with my regular subscription order.

I've been a good customer of Paizo's since 2007 and own almost every Pathfinder related product you've released - just check my order history. But the direction of the website and customer unfriendly practices makes me seriously consider cancelling my subscriptions (another problem with your website, being unable to see what I'm going to be charged for my subscriptions for over a month) and just going to Amazon in the future.

I really like working directly with Paizo, so I hope you can resolve these issues shortly. Was there really a problem with the old options in terms of checkout and shipping? If it isn't broke, why did you try to fix it?

The basic question is in the subject of this post, but here's the general question I have:

1: Assuming that a wizard with a bonded item can take the mythic ability Legendary Item, it also stands to reason that the wizard could select his bonded item to be Legendary.

2: If that is the case, would also stand to reason that the same wizard with a familiar and the Transformative Familiar mythic ability could also select Legendary Item to select his bonded item-familiar as a legendary item?

3: And assuming all that works so far, could the same wizard take legendary item again (or twice more) to upgrade his familiar to an artifact?

4: And assuming that works could the wizard then also take the Greater Familiar link mythic ability to have his familiar take half the damage he takes, despite being unable to gain the broken/destroyed condition?

5: Would the familiar retain his artifact status in familiar form as well as bonded item form? Or just when considered an item?

6: Also, despite artifacts being unable to be destroyed through conventional means, if sufficient damage was taken to reduce the familiar to half of its HP does that mean it would cease to be a bonded item and return to familiar status?

What do you guys think? Does this logic break down anywhere? Or would it be possible to have a Greater Artifact Familiar whose mere presence absorbs half the damage that would be done to you without limit?

Hey guys,

Just received my Inner Sea Gods hardcover and I gotta say, wow, amazing artwork throughout. You guys really outdid yourself this time. I am curious about what appears to be a manufacturing defect in my book - in the inside front cover there is a large protrusion that looks like something got trapped under the paper during binding.

Are you guys including RFID or similar inventory control tags/chips to your hardcovers now? Seems silly to have it included in a book shipped directly from you that never saw a retailers shelf. Otherwise, if not (which is my hope), is there any chance I could swap out the book for a fresh one? I have the PDF so I'm fine with the replacement being included with my next month's subscription shipment to save on shipping. What would be the best way to send this book back to you guys?

Thanks for all the great work that you do!

Dustin

I'm currently playing a wizard character who uses the spell 'Emergency Force Sphere' as a way to prevent enemies from making attacks on him and his minions. I can't seem to find much detail in how immediate actions work and how they would apply to this spell, and was wondering what you guys think.

At what point does the immediate action need to be declared?

A: Between actions, but not 'in response to actions'.
B: After actions have been declared, but before targets/specifics have been selected. (ie: I'm going to attack, but I haven't decided who to attack yet).
C: After actions have been declared and the specifics declared.

If C is the case, does the immediate action happen before the specific action, potentially interrupting it? In the case of Emergency Force Sphere, if a creature Y declares an attack against target X, if Emergency Force Sphere is cast between Y and X does that make creature Y's attack target the force sphere instead for that attack? For all attacks that round? For no attacks, allowing them to switch to a different target for their first attack?

Tl;dr: Do immediate actions go 'on the stack' like in Magic the Gathering? Or does it work differently?

So I just got Champions of Balance, and have found myself enamored with the Impossible Bloodline. It seems to grant hitherto 'impossible' abilities with regard to constructs; my question naturally deals with the idealization of constructs, ie Golems.

The Impossible Bloodline power states:

"Constructs are susceptible to your enchantment (compulsion) spells as if they were not mind-affecting. Constructs are treated as living creatures for the purposes of determining which spells affect them."

But here's the rub: Golem writ large are immune to magic, and don't care one bit if the spells they are immune to are mind affecting or if they are treated as humanoids - they're still immune.

So either I'm missing the benefit of this bloodline power (short of low-level constructs such as animated objects) or it does in fact allow you to hit your Stone Golem minion with Heroism and heal them with Cure Light Wounds?

Could a developer shed some light on this? What was the intent behind this ability, and does it apply one iota to Golems? Thanks!

The battle my party had with Eustoyriax, the Mythic Shadow Demon guarding the Sword of Valor in the lower levels of Drezen, was quite intense. Not only was the party split up prior to the battle, leaving it to just myself (Cavalier/Ranger who uses firearms), my cohort (melee fighter), and the party cleric (who thankfully knew how to cast Magic Circle vs Evil).

Eustoyriax was assisted in this combat by two other shadow demons who worked in tandum to possess the party. Without going into more details, near the end of the fight we had disposed of two of the demons leaving just a wounded Eustoyriax remaining. He managed to possess my character but before he could do much more than fire off a single bullet at the cleric was subsumed into the Magic Circle and suppressed.

Having reached an impasse, my character decided to make himself a less useful minion and handed his guns over to his cohort and left the Magic Circle, giving the demon a chance to escape and find a more useful servant. Not a moment after I left the circle, Eustoyriax took possession once again and used his Possession Mastery ability in conjunction with his SLA's to TELEPORT AWAY WITH MY CHARACTER to the hell's knows where.

Not only did we not gain our 3rd mythic tier for defeating the challenge, but now the GM is now asking me to roll up a new character as it might be numerous sessions before there will be a chance to recover my original character (his will save against the magic jar requires him to roll a natural 20).

How crazy is that? No idea what to do now, as my character was definitively the party's leader and his cohort has no reason to stick around without him there, short of trying to find him.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? Been possessed by Eustoyriax (or another Shadow Demon) who had the audacity to teleport away with them? I'm just curious if anyone has ever seen this before.

In Ultimate Magic there is a spell called 'Malfunction', which duplicates confusion for constructs. However, this spell allows for spell resistance. Am I correct to understand that this spell would have absolutely no effect on golems (which are immune to any spell which allows SR)?

If this is the case, what is the point of the spell? As a 4th level spell, what constructs could hope to pose a threat to a party of 7th level+?

I just finished GMing my first Pathfinder Society Scenario, #29 Shipyard Rats. After the session was finished, I reported it to Paizo, but I'm a bit puzzled by my rewards page.

In the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play it clearly states that GMs gain: +1 XP for the scenario, 100% of max gold for the Tier, and Full PA. Full PA for this scenario is 2, but according to my character record I only gained 1 GM PA credit for this scenario, and that 1 is tabulated at the bottom next to my faction name.

Can someone clarify this for me? Did they change the rules for this? Is this an error in the recording system?

Thanks for any clarification you can offer.

Paizo CS,

My wife and I will not be able to attend PaizoCon this year, unfortunately. We were hoping to have the ticket prices refunded, but would enjoy store credit more than a direct refund to our credit card, as we intend on buying books. :) Is this possible?

Thanks,
Ausp.

The benefit for Teleport Tactician reads:

Any creature using a teleportation effect to enter or leave a square threatened by you provokes an attack of opportunity, even if casting defensively or using a supernatural ability.

In the effect of this feat, how is the word 'use' defined? Put another way, in the following situations, would the 'teleporter' provoke an AoO from the holder of a teleport tactician feat who is threatening them?

1: The teleporter casts teleport.
2: The teleporter activates boots of teleport.
3: The teleporter activates the dimensional steps ability.
4: The teleporter steps into a teleportation circle he was aware of.
5: The teleporter steps into a teleportation circle he was *not* aware of.
6: A contingency teleportation effect created by the teleporter activates upon them.
7: The teleporter's allies cast a teleport spell upon them.
8: The teleporter's enemies cast a teleport spell upon them (to which they are willing).
9: The teleporter's allies activate dimensional steps upon them.
10: The teleporter's enemies activate dimensional steps upon them (to which they are willing).

You can see the need for a definition of 'use' - is use defined here as 'make use of' a teleport effect? Does it still apply if the subject is not willing (as in case 5)? Or does is 'use' defined as 'personally make it happen', meaning that in cases 4-10 (other than possibly 6) their teleportation does not provoke an AoO?

Some clarification would be nice here . . . thanks!

An unusual situation came up in a game I'm playing in that hopefully the community might be able to offer some insight on.

If a caster is grappled and they wish to attempt to cast a spell without somatic components (such as a stilled scorching ray) they obviously need to roll the requisite concentration check of 10+Grappler's CMB+Spell Level to successfully cast the spell.

However, assuming the concentration check is successful, the caster gains a number of rays (ranged touch attacks) against the grappler.

Would these ranged touch attacks be against the grappler's lower touch AC (-4 to Dexterity due to grappling)?

Does the grappler's CMD somehow come into play against this touch attack?

Can you even target a creature occupying your same square with a ranged attack? A ranged touch attack?

Could you target this ranged touch attack against another creature who is not grappling you, assuming you take the dexterity penalty to your ranged attack roll?

Rules citations and blatant speculation is appreciated!

After running through much of the Council of Thieves Campaign I realized that I don't know when the events take place in the Golorian timeline. I'm also playing in Curse of the Crimson Throne which begins in 4708AR, but I can't find a reference to when Council of Thieves starts. Anyone have any insight here?

The charts for random item generation in the GMG are awesome! Great job Paizo Staff. Now that we have such awesome charts, we need a way to make them *fast*.

In the past I've used programs such as TableSmith which take charts such as the ones presented in the GMG and allow enterprising GMs to select either a treasure value or encounter level and have the program spit out randomized loot for that level or approximate value automatically. This would save a tremendous amount of time without depriving the players of the awesome content in the GMG item generation tables.

TableSmith has the functionality to do this, but as I'm not a programmer I lack the skills needed to properly utilize it to build out the tables necessary to automate this process. Is there someone out there with the skills and desire necessary to make this happen? TableSmith is just one suggestion, I'm not locked into this at all. It has been suggested that this could even be designed in Excel.

I might pass this idea along to the guys who created Hero Lab; they obviously have the programming skills and profit motive but I'm unsure if this is too far from their core line for them.

If anyone has suggestions or is willing to put together an automated treasure generation system for the GMG, the community will heap you with praise and accolades.

TableSmith is available here: http://mythosa.net/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.TableSmith

There are both coin-op and in-house valet laundry service available at the hotel. The coin-op machines take 5 quarters for each wash or dry cycle, for a total of $2.50. The machines are rather small, but are front loading so they should be able to hold at least 7-12 articles by my estimation. There is no machine to buy laundry detergent, softener or dryer sheets, so make sure to bring your own or buy some in Bellevue if you plan on washing your clothes here. There are two each of Washing Machines and Driers. None of the machines have been in use since we arrived, but this might change over the weekend.

The valet laundry service will return clothes to you by 6PM the same day if received by 9AM that morning on Weekdays, or the next day during the weekend. They offer both press and dry clean services, but for the sake of brevity I'll only include the cleaning + press prices below for Dry Cleaning.

Dry Cleaning and Press:
Suits (Mens & Ladies) $13.50 and up
Suits (3 Piece) $15.50 and up
Jackets/Skirts $8.00 and up
Trousers/Slacks $6.50 and up
Shirt $7.50 and up
Blouses $7.50 and up
Vest $5.00 and up
Overcoat, Longcoats $17.75 and up
Silk or Linen Blouses $9.00 and up
Neckties and Scarves $4.50 and up
Sweaters $7.50 and up
Short Dresses $12.50 and up
Long Formal Dresses $24.00 and up

Normal Laundry:
Sport Shirts $3.50 and up
Shirts $3.50 and up
Blouses $6.00 and up
Pajamas $6.00 and up
Pants $7.50 and up
Robes $9.00 and up
Undershirts $1.75 and up
Undershorts $1.75 and up
Sweat Shirts $5.00 and up
Sweat Pants $5.00 and up
Socks $1.75 and up

I hope this information is helpful, and helps in packing for those who have not yet left for PaizoCon!

This being my first time attending (the highly anticipated) PaizoCon, I was curious if there will be a Paizo booth selling many of Paizo's awesome products during the Con. What about booths for partner companies?

There are a few choice items that I'd like to pick up at the Con if available, but would happily order them on the website if no booth will be forthcoming.

Hey everyone, Squeek and I are totally excited about getting into this game of Sean's, which was our #1 top pick. Let us know if you're also going to be in this game, so we can get to know each other and collectively look forward to the massive fun.

Sean, if you're reading this, feel free to post teasers!

Recently a group in which I am a player fought a collection of Lantern Archons, each generating their own 20' radius Aura of Menace. My simple question is: Does the effect of multiple Aura's of Menace stack?

A failed Will save against the Aura of Menace inflicts a -2 Penalty on AC, Attack Rolls, Saving Throws and Skill Checks. This means, given enough Lantern Archons, eventually everyone will statistically fail their saves, which lowers their saves, and thus they will fail more and more saves. In our game, we were fighting about 35 Lantern Archons at the same time, and thus the person who failed the most saves had -32 to Attack Rolls, Saving Throws, and AC and skill checks, effectively making him a mewing infant.

Additionally, since the Archon's eventually were destroyed (but not by the character who had -32 to everything) he was stuck with those penalties for 24 hours. Using baseline assumptions, this means he couldn't walk without tripping, couldn't hear someone yelling in his ear, and was basically comatose.

Does Aura of Menace generated from multiple targets cause stacking penalties without a cap?

In a campaign I am currently involved with, the party has a Cleric with the Animal domain who has an advanced crocodile as an animal companion. This creature has an ability called 'death roll' that I cannot seem to find any information on. I'm sure it will be fleshed out further in the Bestiary, but having this information now would be quite helpful to that player.

Can any of the Paizo staff shed some light on this mystery? Thanks.