Bard-Sader's page

Assuming the people involved have a high enough HD, what should the members of this wacko cult detect as?

The members of this cult have come to the conclusion (mostly by having lived through some really bad and violent times) that life, in general, is suffering. Whether there is a greedy and uncaring aristocracy that refuses to help the starving peasants, or malicious raiders who kill and enslave any who can't defend themselves, or scheming devils who attempt to warp and corrupt everything you love into depravity, life is, in their view, defined by suffering. What simple pleasures can be had in life are just temporary reprieves for most before the suffering resumes. The cult believes that just solving the immediate crises plaguing the people isn't enough, as a new generation is born and they will surely suffer as well when a new crisis arrives. No, in order to break the karmic cycle of suffering, to transcend mortal suffering, life must end. The good souls will get their eternal reward in the heavens, free from suffering, and the evil souls that have been malicious causing others to suffer will suffer their just rewards as well in the lower planes. As they see things, in the afterlife, common causes of suffering like,hunger, disease, warring kingdoms, etc are, for the most part, just not a factor. To that end, the cult has decided that the most efficient way to do so is with a special disease they've concocted. Is painless even as it weakens and kills the body. They offer a message of peace and hope to anyone who would listen, and actively oppose any groups or individuals (even in the face of personal peril) that would cause suffering to others, even as they wait for their disease to spread and end life. They do not do this with any expectations of reward or gain, but merely because they believe this is the right thing to do.

The alignment rules state:

Good implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the dignity of sentient beings. Good characters make personal sacrifices to help others.

Evil implies hurting, oppressing, and killing others. Some evil creatures simply have no compassion for others and kill without qualms if doing so is convenient. Others actively pursue evil, killing for sport or out of duty to some evil deity or master.

This cult could arguably check off the list for Altruism and Concern for the dignity of sentient beings (although yes, there may be a bit of cognitive dissonance in their beliefs), as they make personal sacrifices to help others. Of course they do not have Respect for Life. Their entire philosophy disrespects Living as a way of life (no pun intended).

This cult does kill, of course, primarily through spreading their disease, but they don't do it out of sport, or do it out of convenience to get something else they want. They do end up hurting people, since killing off members of society deceases society's ability to function, not to mention the mental anguish of people losing loved ones. The cult doesn't quite see it that way of course, or perhaps some members see it like the pain of a needle to inject a necessary medicine. there is pain, but it is for a beneficial situation later. Regarding oppression, not only do they not do they, they actively oppose it.

Their intent is arguably good, but the side effect (everyone being dead) is probably not good. But, they do try to minimize suffering on the way to their desired end. So, how should the objective morality of the universe label these cultists?

If a Worm that Walks has Discorporated into a swarm, can it still cast spells that require any components (assuming it doesn't have still spell, silent spell, Eschew materials, etc)

I need help looking for cleric/oracles spells of at least 1 min/CL duration that grants immunity to Cold and/or acid. I already know if Angelic Aspect, Greater. Are there any others? Thanks!

1) Can someone help me with the rules interaction for when a character uses Shadow Conjuration to mimic Mage Armor on himself?

The AC bonus will be the normal 4 unless someone recognizes the illusion, after which the AC bonus is down to 1 against that person, right? But when is the will save made? Is the attacker entitled to a will save with every single swing against the character? Or just the first time in a combat?

2) Does using Greater Shadow Evocation to mimic a Contingency work?

Ok, so here is the logic.

1) Pharasma, the goddess of death, births, Fate, and arbiter of souls, says that Abortion is evil (an abomination). It is written in the sinner Sea Gods book.

2). Pharasma gets to judge every soul at her great Boneyard, deciding the ultimate fate and location of the soul's eternal reward.

3). As Pharasma is the judge, her...well...JUDGEMENT...is the rule, regardless of whether you follow her tenets or not.

4). Golarion has objective Good and Evil, not subjective. Pharasma knows objectively what is Good and what is Evil, so she is right.

5). Therefore, on moral judgements, we tenets are absolutely true, upheld and BACKED by the metaphysical forces of the universe.

Now, if you want to say that Pharasmsa is NOT infallible in judging souls, then you are also saying that there may be a lot of souls that got send to the wrong afterlife.

So, is this paizo's intended statement? That in Golarion, abortion is evil? Do Paladins need to treat abortion providers as murderers? Am I missing something in my logic?

what happens when one's Oath conflicts possibly with the general paladin code?

Am example (if unusual) situation:

A redeemed succubus (paladin of Sarenrae. Detects as good, evil, chaos, and law) is in the local region, having heard that recently a fiend has been through this area, causing much death and destruction. She specializes in healing, has lots of Lay on Hands, has the Ultimate Mercy feat (spend LoH and take negative level to raise dead for free), and even has a way to recharge her LoH during the day. She spends time and effort healing the injured and raising the dead, even eventually revealing her true nature to the local village leaders. The local leaders accept her after some initial fear. One day a large number of dead were brought in, and the succubus starts raising them one after another, taking negative level after negative level. After raising enough villagers to have almost enough negative levels to kill her, the strain causes her to lose her humanoid form temporarily, no she reverts back into her true form.

Meanwhile, another paladin, A paladin of Abadar who has taken the Oath against Chaos and Oath against Fiends, has heard about fiend activity in the area, and came to investigate. He walks into the local healing house where a large group of people seem to be watching something, entranced. In the middle of it all he sees a beautiful woman...but wait she suddenly shifts into s Succubus! A fiend! Of the CHAOTIC subtype! No questions asked, he wins initiative, smites, and kills the weakened Succubus in one hit. The local villagers now appear angry. Why would they do that? He just saved them from s demon! Obviously they have been charmed by the demon earlier. He doesn't believe anything that the villagers say (dumped Wis), and ignores the orders from the town guard to stand down and be arrested for trial. He instead knocks them out with non-lethal damage, and decides the next step is go back to his paladin order and get some backup as to cure all these people of being charmed.

So, what should happen to the paladin of Abadar? His patron deity isn't particularly good, and he has sworn to oppose chaos. Does Abadar still take away his paladin powers?

hi all, I'm wondering about how a medusa might fit into an adventuring party that isn't immune to her gaze.

1). Can she turn off her gaze attack naturally?
2). If not, what about veiling her eyes? I read that medusas in urban settings tend to play the role of a seer, and dress the part, veils and cowls and all. She can veil herself and use her snake eyes to see for her right? Her normal eyes can study shadows and such to help.
3). Can enemies get around her gaze attack by using mirrors to track her? Didn't Perseus do that to win the day using a mirrored shield?
4). Vampire medusa...good idea or nay? No reflections for mirrors :p
5). What other things can her party members do to avoid being petrified?

Hi all, one of my friends is going to be rebuilding his existing Rogue/Assassin into a Red Mantis Assassin, and I'm pretty sure he'll insist on his entry being 5 levels of Rogue. He hasn't decided on the stat allocations yet, although he knows both Con and Cha will be important, but so is Dex for the TWF line of feats. This campaign will probably go to level 20 (we are currently level 8), and I'd appreciate some optimization advice as to help my friend not fall behind the rest of the group. His assassin regularly got knocked out in fights and was useless in some of the encounters (he is a melee fighter with meh AC, low to average HP, and no miss chance). The rest of the group includes a Summoner (standard), a Wizard, and a Oracle6/Fighter2.

Assume that the weapon is houseruled to work with Weapon Finesse. Thanks!

The Eidolon Anchoring Harness is a pretty nifty tool. You can be knocked out or put to sleep in a fight and your Eidolon can continue functioning for a time.

However, the item is pretty limited (as it should be for a 6k item). Banishment and Dismissal still work on an Eidolon. If a crafter wanted to upgrade this harness so that the summoner eidolon can sacrifice uses of Summon Monster to prevent the Eidolon from going away if it failed a save vs one of those two spells, how much should this cost? What should the new market price be?

On a related note, if the crafter then further wants to upgrade the item so that the Eidolon does not wink out in an Antimagic Field (assume that this functionality of the item works in an AMF), how much more gold should that be?

If a Summoner's eidolon enters an AMF, does it wink out?

If so, is there any way for the Summoner to prevent that from happening? Perhaps some sort of item?

If I'm trapped inside a Forcecage, will the cage (or parts of it) just disappear when I cast AMF?

Forcecages are similar to Walls of Force, which are definitely immune to AMFs.

Okay, so I've got an Aasimar Synthesist summoner with his first feat already selected (Racial Heritage: Half-elf) and 3rd feat planned (martial weapon proficiency in some weapon). Starting at level 1 but may get to level 20.

Due to character constraints, the eidolon-suit MUST be bipedal, and cannot go overboard with arms (I can MAYBE see 4 total arms, and 2 of them hidden under a cloak most of the time), so no Kali-ma build. The eidolon-suit is supposed to look like an Angel.

I *can* use natural weapons, although they cannot be the focus of the build, and let's say we'll limit it attacks that can accomplished with Wings and Limbs (arms/legs). Bite attacks are likely not thematic. Try to stay within 3 natural attacks that can be used in conjunction with iteratives.

The character's alignment is Evil, so certain evolutions are out. Emulating undead is also thematically out.

Given these constraints, what is an effective build assuming I want to do decent damage but not be glass cannon? I haven't really seen a good Synthesist Summoner guide around here, so I humbly ask for help! :)

Normally, an Eidolon gets an ability increase every 4 HD it has. Does a synthesist summoner gain an ability increase once every 4 HD of his Eidolon as well, on top of his own ability increases?

Some dragons can cast spells that are clearly on the Cleric's spell list. Despite that, do they always count as arcane spells when cast by a dragon? For example, see silver dragons cast stuff like Resurrection and Cure spells.

So...as a Summoner, you've got an intimate connection with your Eidolon, and (especially if you pimp out your Know: The planes) you probably know exactly what plane your Eidolon resides in when not with you, and generally where in that plane it is.

Now, let's say you were careless and you didn't either 1) Have someone cast Spell Immunity on your Eidolon to make it immune to Dismissal/Banishment or 2) Cast Dimensional Anchor on your Eidolon. Someone got rid of your Eidolon via ways other than damage. You are now FUBAR, and even if you cast Summon Eidolon, a mere Magic Circle against <X> can stop your Eidolon in its tracks.

So, why not use Gate to call your Eidolon back? Even with a low-ish point buy, you ought to have at least 10 uses of Gate per day at level 17+. You can open a 2-way portal to your Eidolon, and it can step through. Anyone see a problem with this?
-------------------------------------------------------------------

An unrelated question next.

At 12th level, whenever an ally is within an eidolon’s reach, the ally receives a +2 shield bonus to its Armor Class and a +2 circumstance bonus on its saving throws. This is from the Greater Shield Ally (Su) ability.

So, you always count as your own ally. Does that mean at 12th level, the Eidolon always gets +2 to saves and +2 shield bonus to AC?

I'm looking for some inexpensive ways to prevent my character from being fatigued and exhausted (mostly from enemy magic, but I'm sure there are Ex and Su abilities as well that do the same). My character is not a caster, so wands of certain spells won't be of help to me except for myallies to use on me.

What items or spells will protect me from fatigue and exhaustion? And what items or spells can remove said conditions from me as a standard action? PF-only material please. I won;t be using 3.5 for this game.

You are a wizard. You've got Mindblank and Overland Flight on because they're smart long-duration buffs for a wizardy-type to have. Let's say suddenly you're in a fight against another group of humanoids (rival adventuring party perhaps) and the first thing you do is cast Greater Invisibility.

Now...barring Invisibility Purge and Blindsense/Blindsight or other similar abilities, what in the Nine Hells can anyone do to actually attack you reliably? You're invisible. You can attack and not break invisibility. Mind blank protects from all devices and spells that gather information about the target through divination magic (such as detect evil, locate creature, scry, and see invisible). The list presumably isn't exhaustive, so by extension spells like Arcane Sight won't work either to at least pinpoint a square (since Arcane Sight is a Divination spell).

You are perfectly safe as long as you cast a spell and then move to another location. Enemy casters have to guess your general location if they wanna lob AoE evocation spells at you or maybe an Area Dispel, and you've got 3-dimensional movement.

Isn't this a bit overpowered? True Seeing doesn't help either because it is also a Divination spell.

So I'm setting out to build a Cavalier who is bitter and out for revenge while at the same time fanatical about defending her friends. This campaign is expected to go from level 1 to 16.

Sources allowed: Any PF printed material that is not region-specific or campaign-specific (game is set in a homebrew setting). Core and APG stuff should be always allowed, and most of the stuff printed in the d20pfSRD should be fine.

We get two traits and one campaign-specific trait from the DM.

Point buy: Pathfinder 25 pts [Epic Fantasy]

Races: Due to roleplay and the availability of races in this campaign, I will be either Elf, Gnome, or Human.

Class: Prefer straight Cavalier, unless someone can give me a better build that still fits my concept.

Roles: Dual purposed. Needs to be able to do good damage while charging. Would like to not be screwed totally while on foot. I won't always have my mount, even if Small-sized. Needs to be able to protect allies from HP damage. Some slight Battlefield control and location swap abilities can definitely help.

Rulings: DM has ruled that the Cavalier's Banner ability also affects the Cavalier. This makes the human alternative favored class bonus so very sexy.

Here's what I'm favoring so far:

Faith, NG or N Human Cavalier [Order of the Dragon]

Trades away Skilled for Heart of the Fields: Humans born in rural areas are used to hard labor. They gain a bonus equal to half their character level to any one Craft or Profession skill, and once per day they may ignore an effect that would cause them to become fatigued or exhausted. Faith will gain Craft (armorsmithing) for the skill bonus. Her backstory has her growing up helping repair many metal things, and her married an elf who is quite the metalsmith.

Favored Class bonus: Banner bonus is increased by +1 for every 4 Cavalier levels.

Str 16 +future ability gains
Dex 14
Con 14 +2 Racial
Int 14
Wis 10
Cha 10

Skills: Bluff or Diplomacy, Craft [partial invest], Handle Animal [partial invest], Ride, Sense Motive, Survival, and Perception

Feat choices:
1 Combat Reflexes, Shielded Caster [Teamwork]
H Bodyguard
3 Power Attack
5 Friendly Switch
6 Mounted Combat
7 Ride-by-Attack
9 Spirited Charge, Outflank [Teamwork]
11 Improved Bullrush
12 Rhino Charge
13 In Harm's Way
15 Stand Still

Traits: Sacred Touch and Jaded/Courageous. I wish to rp a dichotomy within Faith, with her dark side represented by how much she revels in skewering her opponents, and her light side by giving her some trapping of paladinhood. Sacred Touch is basically Stabilize at-will, and I'll rp that as an extremely weak Lay on Hands (or at least that what Faith thinks of it as), and has potential to create more angst for her as others point to her weak Lay on Hands as a sign of her lack of faith and drifing away from Good. Jaded or Courageous gives her a much needed +2 bonus vs Fear, and makes sense for her character since she's dead set on getting revenge on those who murdered her family in front of her eyes, no matter how scary the opposition is. Her Mount (a stallion with jet-black skin) ability makes it look like she has a Special Mount divine bond.

The Traits are pretty much set. Maybe Jaded could be switched out if the race isn't Human. The backstory will be very similar no matter what, and I know Sacred Touch isn't the strongest of traits, but it's important for the rp.

Anyhow, between being able to give adjacent allies increasing amounts of AC without taking up one of my actions, being able to take a hit for them as an immediate action, being able to grant my allies various bonii and actions, and Spirited Charge + Challenge, Faith should be a decent Leader and Striker (yes they're 4th ed terms. I use them because it's convenient for me to right now).

With Friendly Switch, I can Charge through allies. With Rhino's Charge, I can ready a Charge to intercept an enemy and possibly get next to an ally to protect him. With my mount having Charge Through, we can potential charge the target through one enemy.

My mount (a horse) will have the following feats: Combat Reflexes, Power Attack, Improved overrun, Charge Through, and Greater overrun. Undecided on the remaining two feats. Bodyguard and In Harm's Way perhaps?

Critique and suggestions on my character are welcome!

Alright class. Assume a frictionless Cavalier wielding a Lance atop her trusty mount (well, at least the relationship between the is frictionless :D), wanting to charge some baddies.

We all know that Cavaliers love to charge, and often-times using a Lance from the back of their mounts. Charging has many known limitations, of course, such as having another creature in the way. Being able to bulldoze over a creature in the way would be terrific , and having the Charge Through feat is terrific for that.

Benefit: When making a charge, you can attempt to overrun one creature in the path of the charge as a free action. If you successfully overrun that creature, you can complete the charge. If the overrun is unsuccessful, the charge ends in the space directly in front of that creature.

The question is, should the Cavalier take the feat or should her mount (with 3 int or more) take the feat?

Here's another feat that begs the same question: Rhino Charge.

Benefit: You may ready a charge, though you may only move up to your speed on the charge.

The cavalier likely be the one making the attack at the end of the charge (since the mount only has 5ft of reach but the cavalier has 10 with the lance), but they are both technically charging? So who should take the feat?

I guess the core question becomes this: When you are riding a mount in combat, who really does the charging? Is it my mount who readies an action to charge (and I'm just along for the ride...and the lance-skewer at the end) or is it really me who does it and my mount just moves me (but also gets to attack)? Does the mount even get to attack? When I wield a lance I have more reach than my mount, and the charge in theory stops once I've attacked with my lance. I guess if I have Ride-by-Attack we can keep going and my mount can also get a Bite attack or something as we go by and it still counts as a charging attack for the mount?

I'm hoping to have my mount take: Power Attack, Improved overrun, Charge Through, Improved Bullrush, Rhino Charge, and Greater overrun.

That way I can have my mount ready an action to charge, charge during an opponent's action, bowl over an enemy on the way, get an AoO (both me with my lance and my mount) on that enemy, skewer the target, and if the target is still alive at that point, try to use Bodyguard and In Harm's Way to protect my ally.

The feat Acrobatic Steps say:

Benefit: Whenever you move, you may move through up to 15 feet of difficult terrain each round as if it were normal terrain. The effects of this feat stack with those provided by Nimble Moves (allowing you to move normally through a total of 20 feet of difficult terrain each round).

Does that mean if your mount has this feat you can charge through difficult terrain as long as there's nomore than 20 ft of it?

Also, would it be a reasonable houserule to say that the Step Up feat works as long as you're threatening the target? As is, someone with a Lance can't use both the Lance and the Step Up feat at the same time, since the Lancer must be 10ft away, which isnot adjacent.

The Cavalier's Banner ability is written as such (bolded emphasis mine):

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/cavalier#TOC-Banner-Ex-[/url]]At 5th level, a cavalier’s banner becomes a symbol of inspiration to his allies and companions. As long as the cavalier’s banner is clearly visible, all allies within 60 feet receive a +2 morale bonus on saving throws against fear and a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls made as part of a charge. At 10th level, and every five levels thereafter, these bonuses increase by +1.

My question is, does the Cavalier herself gain the bonii granted by her Banner? Does the Cavalier count as her own ally in this case?

From a fluff standpoint, it seems counterintuitive that a Cavalier might run away from battle more easily than her allies (she has bad WILL progression, no other bonus vs fear, and WIS is a dump stat for her). Depending on her Order, she can easily be seen as a paladin or knight type figure, or a general leading her troops. It'd be really embarassing if she flees before her allies do.

On another note, are there any official suggestions on how to use the Leadership feat to improve the Mount of the Cavalier? And also, is the Mount allowed to use one of its ability score increases to raise its Int from 2 to 3? And if so, does it then get to benefit from Teamwork feats just like any other ally?