Better_with_Bacon's page

My group is looking for a GM.

There are currently 6 of us, and we're looking at someone who can accommodate players in multiple countries over roll20.net . Right now, we play about 1 weekend a month, typically from 6-7pm (Central US Time Zone) on a friday or saturday night to allow the two players in Japan to participate (our sessions are usually around 6 hrs long).

Normally I am the GM, but I'd like to spend some time on the other side of the screen with my friends as a player.

I'd be willing to offer compensation for your time (which can be negotiated) I am on shift work, so I would need someone who could be compatible with my schedule (with usual times outlined above) for the available weekend(s)

Any interested parties?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening Fellow GAmers,

My group is looking for a GM.

There are currently 6 of us, and we're looking at someone who can accommodate players in multiple countries over roll20.net . Right now, we play about 1 weekend a month, typically from 6-7pm on a friday or saturday night to allow the two players in Japan to participate (our sessions are usually around 6 hrs long).

Normally I am the GM, but I'd like to spend some time on the other side of the screen with my friends as a player.

I'd be willing to offer compensation for your time (which can be negotiated) I am on shift work, so I would need someone who could be compatible with my schedule (with usual times outlined above) for the available weekend(s)

Any interested parties?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,
I have a question regarding greater sunder. Damage done in excess of the armor's hit points is dealt to the character.

What if the armor has already been destroyed, but it is easier to hit with Greater Sunder (CMD is lower than the armor class)) how would that work?

Say a character's CMD is 24. Their armor is 28 (even after the armor has been destroyed) due to natural armor and magical bonuses. Could you continue using 'greater sunder' to damage them?

Part of me sees it as an exploit, but part of me thinks that if you travel that far down the Sunder/Improved Sunder/Greater Sunder rabbit hole, you should get some benefit, since you've probably been ruining a fair bit of the opponent's gear.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Morning Fellow Gamers,
I have a few ideas I would like to implement. I would like your opinions on design, effectiveness, and sense.

Damage: When a character suffers an amount of damage that reduces his hit point total to less than their Hit Dice, they are treated as fatigued until their hit point total is raised to above their Hit Dice.

Armor Durability: Whenever a character suffers a critical hit, their armor takes an amount of damage equal to the minimum damage the attack could deal after hardness (or equal to the critical multiplier but not factoring hardness)

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Greetings fellow gamers,

I have a question for you: When Summon Monster (X) Says you can summon a (SIZE) Elemental, does it have to be one of the 4 in the bestiary? Could it be an Ice Elemental? A lightning Elemental? Magma? Mud?

They are broken down by size just like the others, and have similar CR ranges...

I would think yes, but I don't want to get too excited.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Afternoon Fellow Gamers,

I was contemplating a new weapon special ability.

Devastating

A weapon with the lethal enhancement treats its critical multiplier as one higher. For example, if this enhancement is placed on a longsword, the critical mulitplier will be x3

Price: +3 Bonus, Aura: Moderate Necromancy; CL 13th;
Construction Requirements: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, finger of death

What do you think? Too much? Not enough? Is the pricing legit? Would it make more sense as a specific item, rather than an enhancement on anything?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

(Edited the name)

Greetings Fellow Gamers,

My PCs are going to be defending Sandpoint soon, but I wanted to get your advice on adjusting the encounter levels.

My Party consists of 6 PCs all 10th level:
Andrew: Human Ranger/Fighter. Archery afficianado.
Alys: Half-Elf Sorcerer. High mobility and moderate damage output. Battlefield manipulation.
Kiirn: Human Bard. Knows ALL the things.
Shavalga: Half Orc Druid. All the buffs on the animal companion all the time.
Fagan: Dwarf Inquisitor (Desna). Effective, but not much of a team player.
Torulf: Dwarf Fighter/Barbarian(Titan Mauler). Will probably be able to drop a giant a turn. but has little to no way to get around the village quickly. (Lots of running)

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,

In my campaign, I've encountered a bard who has really high acrobatics skill, and has wanted to use parkour-type skills to rapidly climb things.

His justification seemed reasonable, so I made a judgement call on the DC and counted it as accelerated climbing, and let him use his acrobatics skill instead of climb skill. He's fast enough that a 15-ft wall would have really been no problem for him, a double move and he would have cleared it with movement to spare.

I was wondering if there was a better way to do it. Or if you think it's reasonable to allow the ruling to stand?

(Obviously, you aren't going to Parkour up a mountainside, but running up a low wall seems to fit in the spirit.)

Thanks for your input.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,

Lets play a game of hypothetical situations:

There is a 6th level slayer who has maxed out his UMD Skill (for his wand of Gravity Bow) and has Crossbow Mastery in Heavy Crossbow.

a d10 becomes 2d8 while under the effect of the Gravity Bow Spell.

Could he use Vital Strike to get 4d8 damage?

If has Bracers of Falcon's Aim (giving him a 19-20/x3 critical threat) and scored a critical hit with Gravity Bow in effect would that be 6d8 (8d8 if vital strike were in play)

(Note, I am not figuring in Deadly Aim, Enhancement bonuses, Slayer Studied Enemy bonuses, etc. Just making sure the dice are correct)

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Greetings Fellow Gamers,
I am contemplating the Defiant property for my armor.

I am wondering what to be defiant against? I am thinking Evil Outsiders or Undead (I'm playing a cleric of Iomedae in the Shattered Star Adventure Path). If I was trying to be cheeky, I would just do Human... but that seems against type for my character.

Could I, for the appropriate cost increase, become defiant in two creature types? Say: Defiant (Evil Outsiders, Undead) at an effective cost modifier of +2 (above and beyond the minimum +1 enhancement bonus)

Also, if I have a Defiant Shield, and Defiant Armor, and am facing a creature type that they are keyed against, would I be at full tank mode?
For example:
+2 Defiant (Evil Outsider) Breastplate
+1 Defiant (Evil Outsider) Heavy Steel Shield

-Would provide an effective AC bonus of +15 (+10 for the breastplate, and +5 for the Heavy Shield)

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,

What would recommend for enchanting armor?

+3 Armor or +3 Shield

+1/+2 Armor with a special property or +1/+2 Shield with a special property

+2 Armor and +2 Shield?

I have a crafting budget of around 5,000gp

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Greetings Fellow Gamers,

If a character has the Catch off Guard feat, would they threaten the areas around them with an improvised weapon?

Mule picks up a broken axe handle to use as a makeshift bludgeon. Would he be able to make attacks of opportunity against the unarmed lumberjacks in the camp?

Hans has a heavy crossbow and has been peppering goblins from afar, when suddenly a sneak leaps from the underbrush and tries to grapple him. Hans brings the stock of his crossbow onto the top of the goblin's head, knocking him out.

Eodyn has a longspear, and is fighting against an ork who steps in and tries to sunder the spear, and Eodyn drives the haft of the spear into the the orks face.

All of these characters have "Catch off Guard"

They all seem reasonable to me.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,

Empower Spell on Magic Missile; Is it applied to each missile? Giving a missile a damage range of 3-7 (instead of 1-5)

Just inquiring to make sure I am understanding it properly before I recommend it to the Sorcerer.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,

So I have a character for a shattered star campaign, and I am looking down the barrel of level 7.

I have a few ideas in my head on what I want to do with that level, but mostly I am looking at feat choices:

* Extra Channel
* Crafting feat (Except for Arms & Armor*, Scrolls*, and Wondrous Items. *=She already has them)
* Metamagic (If I go this way, I'd want to have it be something that would also benefit the spontaneous cure spells)
* Heavy Armor Proficiency
* Tower Shield Proficiency
* Improved Channel
* Alignment Channel
* Another Feat that I may not have even considered?

Objectives:
I want to be the last one standing.
I want to make the party better at what it does
The front lines is not her primary position, but if an enemy thinks she's a squishy caster, they will be punished for their ignorance.

Cephira Hrist (Stats after cut)

Good evening fellow gamers,

I'm trying to make a crossbowman, with an emphasis on single-hit damage.

Heavy Crossbow is a must.
Feats that let me snipe/remain hidden are a plus
Magical items that increase the damage of each arrow
Race is leaning towards Human or Half elf

But, I am interested in your input.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Greetings Fellow Gamers,

I'm building a cleric of Iomedae and I am trying to make them as close to being a paladin as possible, but only taking levels in cleric (with no archetypes).

Started off as a back-field caster, but our party needs another front-liner, so I am trying to fulfill that role.

Current Feats: Scribe Scroll, Reach Spell, Toughness, Craft Magic Arms & Armor.

I've been putting my favored class bonus into hit points so far, and have a respectable amount there (48 at 5th Level)
Armor class is a little low for our level, but I plan on fixing that when we get some downtime in Magnimar. (AC 17)

I'm trying to find a good balance between buff-caster and warrior.

(I am trying to avoid 'dipping' into a different class, but if I did... what might you recommend?
Stats: Str 14, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 14

Thank you for your time!

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Greetings Fellow Gamers,
I was looking at building a Norse-themed rival adventuring party for my players to interact with.

I've got Ulfrydyr, the Wolf-rider (cavalier)
Dovahk, the Skald (Bard)
Astrid, the Shield Maiden (Fighter)
and Lenneth the Valkyrie (

Lenneth's going to be an Eldritch Knight, but I can't decide between Witch, or Diviner. What do you think?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,

I am playing a cleric who is about to make 5th level, but I am unsure if I should stick with cleric, or look at a prestige class.

The two contenders are:
Divine Scion & Holy Vindicator

Divine Scion allows full spell progression but I stop progressing in channel energy.

Holy vindicator gives me full BAB, and d10 HD, but take a hit to my spellcasting.

Does anyone have any experience with these prestige classes? Or is 20 levels of cleric the way to go?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Afternoon Fellow Gamers,

I have a question for you.

Say I have an Orc Fighter with a bunch of hand axes and a BAB of +6+1

* Can I hurl 3 axes in a turn (with Rapid Shot?)
* Can I throw axes at my target, and then 5-ft step into melee and hit him again (to get the Opening Volley bonus)?
* If I can throw at multiple people and 5-ft step, would the two 'thrown' axes be at -2 (rapid shot) but the melee axe at my normal iterative bonus?

Thank you for your time.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Afternoon Fellow Gamers,

Typically a wand is a slender wooden baton, about a foot long.

Could I make it 18-lbs, 4-ft long, and wielded by hefting it up onto your shoulder? (Still be a CL-10 Wand of Fireball, but used like a bazooka)

Or fuse a CL-9 wand of magic missile to a bow-less crossbow (so I have a rifle.)

(As a DM, I would definitely allow it at my table...but what about yours?)

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Afternoon Fellow Gamers,
When you use Infernal Healing, you gain some hit points, but also ping as evil.

Would you be subject to a paladin's Smite Evil ability for the duration of the spell?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Morning Fellow Gamers,
My magus decided on Craft Wondrous Item for his 3rd level feat, and have subsequently made level 4. We've returned triumphant to Magnimar, and I would like to spend my money on magical items. (Either Purchased, or Crafted)

I have roughly 2,000gp in assorted treasure to purchase/craft magical items with.

What should I get?

* My CON is 10, so I am tempted to save for a belt
* My armor class is low, so I am tempted to buy an Amulet of Natural Armor
* My spells run out quickly, so I am tempted to buy a pearl of power.
* Boots of Striding and Springing, and all of the ___of elvenkind magical items are on the table, and I intend to have all of the ones listed in the CRB/Ultimate Equipment book at some time.

Thank you for your time and input!

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Morning Fellow Gamers,
One of my PCs was complaining about the amount of treasure that they have acquired, so I looked into it.

According to the wealth by level table in the CRB, they should have around 33,000gp.

One character has a bit more than that, (Because they are given every wand that is found, and they create their own) While the rest of the party hovers at around 60% of that value.

I know that they have been nickel and diming themselves with spending gold pieces on retraining (Ultimate Campaign)

Now, they do have some non-liquid assets; titles, mounts, lands, etc. (one Character just commissioned a ship!) and only the one character has commented on it so far, but I want to get some more loot towards them, without breaking the bank and turning it into a Monty Haul situation

Right now, they are in the middle of BFE, so the local economy can't support them selling off all of the loot they've gathered from monsters right now, and there aren't really any spellcasters of a high enough level to 'barter' (The highest level caster in the region is a 5th level cleric, who has already agreed to spellcasting gratis, and discounted potions.)

I don't want to Deus Ex Machina a merchant caravan, or something like that, to allow them to unload the +1 weapons they have looted from their foes (unless I can make it believable).

Just handing out coins would be the easiest way to keep it divisible, and gems and art objects could possibly be a viable runner up. But what about magical items that I know the PCs would sell. (+1 Flaming Burst Spiked Gauntlet, for example).

I also don't want it to be obvious that I'm trying to 'fix' it. Or, since it's only the one player who's even noticed, should I just keep an eye on it and see if the difference increases.

TL;DR: How do you do treasure? Do you ever have to pad the treasure awarded in an adventure path?

Thank you for your responses.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Greetings Fellow gamers,

I don't like to change up the house rules in the middle of a campaign, but I am thinking about making the critical hits a bit more impressive.

So my idea is this. You get a threat as normal (based on weapon threat range) and roll to confirm.

If the confirmation roll is a 20 on the die, you roll another die to confirm. If this confirmation is successful, you:
A: increase the weapon's crit multiplier by one. (x2 becomes x3, x3 becomes x4, etc)
OR
B: you do maximum damage for your crit

If this confirmation roll is also a 20, you roll an additional confirmation die. If this is successful, you:
A: Increase the weapon's crit multiplier by one. (this stacks with above, and can continue as long as you roll 20s)
B: You perform a Coup de Grace as a free action against the target of your strike.

Which one seems more 'reasonable' while still being dangerous throughout and adventuring career, without being unnecessarily cumbersome.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Morning Fellow Gamers,
I have a player who wants to make their magus into an Arcane Archer.

I want to encourage them to explore their character concepts, even if they may not be ... traditional.

How would you turn a Hexcrafter Magus into an Arcane archer.

This is not a 'from the ground' build. And the feat selection has not archery feats, so they wont be able to qualify for Arcane Archer until 9th level, so they will be 8th level Magus/1st level Arcane Archer if they take the required archery feats between now and then.

(They are also interested in Eldritch Knight... but I think that is kind of redundant with Magus, but they want more hit points...)

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Greetings Fellow Gamers,

So I thought I was settled on my character's choice for advancement, but now I'm wavering.

When I made third level, I was all set to take "Step Up"
But now, as the session draws near, I'm torn between that and Craft Wondrous Items, or Extra Arcana.
(I do intend to pursue the Step Up, Following Step, and Step Up and Strike feat chain during my adventuring career, unless campaign necessities dictate otherwise)

What are your opinions?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Vadien Fayeel

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,

I'm looking into crafting some wands, and I was wondering when (if ever) applying metamagic feats would be appropriate.

A wand of Reach Cure Light Wounds, or a wand of Cure Moderate Wounds would be the same price.

The reaching cure light wounds would allow the healer to cure 1d8+3 points of damage out to 30 feet,

While the wand of cure moderate would heal 2d8+3, but require you to be adjacent.

An Extend Spell wand of Mage Armor at caster level 8 would last for 16 hours, and cost 12,000gp. It would still cost 12,000gp at caster level 16, but it requires you to be caster level 16 to get the 16 hours of protection.

What other metamagic applications would you suggest for wands?

Efficiency and efficacy are the orders of the day.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening fellow Gamers,

I have a question for you regarding the interactions of a Ring of Regeneration on a character/monster.

Fast Healer

You benefit greatly from your healing, be it from spells or natural healing.

Prerequisites: Con 13, Diehard, Endurance.

Benefit: When you regain hit points by resting or through magical healing, you recover additional hit points equal to half your Constitution modifier (minimum +1).

Say I have an Invulnerable Rager Barbarian with this feat; He has a +6 Con Modifier and he's discovered a ring of regeneration. He gets 1 hp/round because of the ring. Would this be boosted by an additional 3 because of his fast healer feat?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,

I'm planning on my next character; Cephira.

Description: Cephira Hrist

While I have a lot of her background and personality, I don't know what class I want her to be.
I know I want her to be a 'white mage' type of character, but I have a bunch of concepts for her.

Cleric of Iomedae - Pretty straight forward. Likely with the tactics subdomain.
Wizard (Abjurer) - Protections, wards, and banishments.
Wizard (Diviner) - Scrying, clairvoyance, and initiative
Celestial Bloodline Sorcerer - Area control, some blasting
Witch - Combining offense and healing spells, and re-skinning her hexes to be minor divine intervention/minor miracles

My DM allows a 20 point buy, and I want her aspirations of paladinhood to be a goal for her, even if it might be sub-optimal.

What do you think? I've been playing around in hero lab... and have 4 different 3rd-level 'builds' already...

I'm interested in hearing your inputs, because there is certainly some options and ideas that I haven't considered.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,

So I have an idea for a character who has lost an arm. But they have a magical prosthesis.

In my mind, I want it to be relatively subtle when they are in their full armor, but when they are 'between adventures' and/or hanging out at the inn the absence of the arm is noticeable. I envision the amputation to be above the elbow

Now, my questions for you:
1: Are there any existing magical items that are full-function prosthesis (or augment prosthesis)
2: If not, what 'slot' should the prosthetic apparatus take up? I'm thinking chest or shoulders slot to represent the straps and fixings and such.
3: At a minimum, I want it to be able to function as a replacement for the missing limb.
4: Would the armored prosthesis be able to 'count as' a buckler, since there is really no arm underneath the prosthetic.
5: If you were a DM, would you allow this for a first-level character? If not, what level would be appropriate?
6: According to the spellcaster for hire formula, it's only 910gp for regenerate, so why would this exist, since a magical item would likely be far more expensive.

What other considerations should I have? Is this an idea I should abandon entirely?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,

So I'm kicking around the idea of a character that doesn't use their class abilities because they don't know they have them, or don't want to have them, to have the power 'come online' later in the campaign.

Is this something that would make the others in the group upset with me? I don't want to 'multiclass' because I want to be at the 'right' level when I finally remove the fetters, and my DM doesn't allow 'retraining'

Example 1: Cephira is a paladin. But despite having been blessed with the calling of paladinhood, she does not believe that she is yet worthy. So she doesn't use her smite or lay on hands abilities (or anything that requires an action to use), but will have access to 'passive' abilities.

Example 2: Brogan is an Ulfen from a superstitious tribe. He's not a particularly imposing warrior, but he has been in his share of battles. However, he is a sorcerer who has doesn't know that he can draw upon arcane power. Later in the campaign, he'll realize his potential when he draws upon his magic to unleash close ranged or personal buff spells.

Example 3: Orson is a mild-mannered warrior with a sense of restrained violence. One day, in a fight with a worthy foe, he finally has enough and goes berserk, and unleashes brutal two-handed strikes in a frenzy of devastation.

Are these legitimate ideas? Could they been fun?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Greetings fellow gamers,
I want to get some clarification on the Page of Spell Knowledge from Ultimate Equipment.

This page is covered in densely-worded arcane or divine magical runes. It contains the knowledge of a single arcane or divine spell (chosen by the creator when the item is crafted). If the bearer is a spontaneous spellcaster and has that spell on her class spell list, she may use her spell slots to cast that spell as if it were one of her spells known. A page of spell knowledge is priced based on the spell's cleric or sorcerer/wizard spell level, unless the spell doesn't appear on either of those spell lists, in which case it is based on the highest spell level as it appears on any other spell list. For example, a spell that is on the 4th-level inquisitor list and the 2nd-level paladin list is priced as a 4th-level spell.

This seems primarily as a means for Spontaneous Casters to get a broader array of known spells.

But if the Page of Spell Knowledge is a Cure Moderate Wounds spell, does that allow the Sorcerer to Cast Cure Light Wounds? or does the spell have to be on the spell list to be useful.

Could a Magus get a Page of Spell Knowledge to 'know' a bard spell? A wizard spell?

Or is it just the world's most expensive spellbook for a sorcerer?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

I let my PC's spend their own money to train NPCs using Ultimate Campaign Downtime if they so desire (to a maximum level of Character Level -2, so they can 'build' their own potential cohorts, or make some of the local folks. But not all of the NPCs can/should be cohorts, so sometimes the leveling of NPCs is just a way to get access to higher level spellcasting, or to boost a town's defenses. (They gave some training to Sheriff Hemlock and Mayor Deverin in Sandpoint)

Sometimes it doesn't benefit them though. Training Justice Ironbriar kind of bit them in the ass.

I haven't run in to any problems, but what do you think about it?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Greetings fellow gamers,
The party in my Rise of the Runelords campaign does not have a healer. (We have a bard and an inquisitor with some low-level healing.)

I'm trying to steer my players towards magical items that can replicate healing functionality, and the Sorcerer's UMD is off the charts, she can get a DC 20 without even rolling.

What are the best healing/restorative items for the buck? The sorcerer and bard have just built a wand of Cure Light Wounds... but it's starting to lag behind as viable healing with an Average Party Level of 8 (and nearly 15 creatures in the party counting cohorts, NPCs, familiars, animal companions, etc)

The cleric in town Maelin Shreed is willing to cast any spell that doesn't have a high material component cost on the PCs gratis, but he's only just gotten to 5th level, so he doesn't have a lot to offer.

TL;DR what items (or collection of items) can replace a healer between encounters.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,
I'm going to make a thread here for the community to help me balance out some Spells and Magical Items.

First Up: Lightning Lash and Atlas Axe

Lightning Lash
School evocation [electricity]; Level Sorcerer/Wizard 5
Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./ 2 levels)
Effect one or more 30-ft.-long vertical lines of lightning
Duration Instantaneous (see text)
Saving Throw Reflex half (see text); Spell Resistance yes

Immediately upon completion of the spell, you may call down a 5-foot-wide, 30-foot-long, vertical bolt of lightning that deals 3d6 points of electricity damage and is held in place by tendrils of electrical energy for 1d4+1 rounds. (A successful save deals half damage and gives the entangled condition for 1d4+1 rounds). The bolt of lightning flashes down in a vertical stroke at whatever target point you choose within the spell's range (measured from your position at the time). Any creature in the target square or in the path of the bolt is affected.
You may call a total number of bolts equal to your half your caster level (maximum 10 bolts).

This spell functions indoors or underground but not underwater.

Atlas Axe
Atlas Axe
Aura strong evocation; CL 12th
Slot none; Price 23,715 gp; Weight 12 lbs.
DESCRIPTION
This is a +2 adamantine flaming burst greataxe. Once per day, the axe can call a 10-ft column of fire within 50-ft. This column of fire deals 5d6 points of fire damage on a successful hit.
The axe may call an additional column of fire per day at a cumulative 5% chance that the axe bursts into flame (dealing 5d6 points of fire damage to the wielder) and crumbles into useless ash.
Construction
Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, scorching ray and fireball, flame blade, or flame strike; Cost 11,857 gp

Opinions?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Greetings fellow gamers,

I am finally getting a chance to play an adventure path, and will be participating in Shattered Star.

I currently have a Magus, but a couple close calls makes me suspect he may not be long for this world. (Going from full HP to -9hp in a single hit. Twice. Does not bode well for his survival chances long term)

So, I am contemplating having a back-up character in the wings 'just in case'

Our current party consists of:
Mercy: Alchemist/Barbarian based off of Tank Girl comics. Hard drinking, hard partying, and totally ok with collateral damage.
Vonn: Cavalier. walking tank with a mighty Ranseur. Not the most intelligent, but he's a beat stick.
Zan: Cleric of Gozreh. Versatile channeling (Negative energy primary) makes him an interesting addition and definitely not a heal-bot.
Cad: Halfling Bard. Other than his performances, and a hail of tiny arrows (awww, it's a adorable!) he's still trying to find his niche.

So, with that in mind, here are some concepts I'm toying with:

BLOOD TRANSCRIPTION
School divination [evil]; Level alchemist 2, magus 2, wizard 2, witch 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range touch
Target one dead spellcaster
Duration 24 hours
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
By consuming 1 pint of blood from a spellcaster killed within the last 24 hours, you can attempt to learn a spell that spellcaster knew. Select one spell available to the dead spellcaster (this must be a spell on your spell list); you gain the knowledge of this spell for 24 hours. During this time, you may write it down (or teach it to your familiar, if you are a witch) using the normal rules for copying a spell from another source. Once you have learned it, you may prepare the spell normally.

My question is: Could someone use it on a creature that has a spell-like ability that is on the caster's class list?

Say my Magus is fighting a greater Barghest, can I use this spell to leech out Dimension Door from its corpse?

(Also, can I scribe a spell into my spellbook even if I can't cast it yet?)

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Greetings Fellow Gamers,

Say you have a character with a high skill modifier in acrobatics. Are there any rules that dictate how you can move? I know that you are limited to 1/2 speed as a move action, but:

Can I use two move-actions to move my full speed? Assuming I have a 30-ft speed, and say here is a 20-ft gap, and I move 10-ft to get a running start and make my DC20 acrobatics check, I would land safely on the other side, right?

Same scenario, but the pit blocks an entire hallway, can I say I do a quick 'ninja-run' on an adjacent wall to get over the pit?

Say I am standing on a table and there are a bunch of enemies between me and my objective; could I use my Acrobatics skill to dash through the crowd by stepping on shoulders, heads, upturned shields, etc (assuming the rules for passing through threatened/occupied squares were being used to determine DC and consequences for failure)

I'm dueling with an enemy, I use acrobatics to baseball slide through his legs and pop up behind him, (using the rules for passing through an opponent's space) to allow the rogue easier access to flanking.

If I am trying to charge someone, and there is a 5-ft pit between us, can I use my acrobatics to hop over the pit without hindering my charge? (Assuming A: straight line, and B: I succeed my acrobatics check.

Could I jump from a ledge 20-ft up, and use acrobatics to lessen the damage from the fall, and still get the benefit for charging? If I were a monk, could I count 'landing' on the target as my unarmed strike/charge?

Thank you for your time and inputs.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Afternoon Fellow Gamers,
I am spending some time on the other side of the screen for a change, and playing a Magus in the Shattered Star adventure path.

He's a hexcrafter, who I am trying to build as a debuff/anti-spellcaster type. But, while I'm not looking for game-breaking optimization, I don't want to fall into a 'trap'

Currently I have Weapon Finesse and Step Up for my feats, and Close Range arcana (and the DM does NOT allow retraining options from Ultimate Campaign), and at 5th level I will be getting two feats, and I am thinking about: Dodge, Mobility, Following Step, Combat Reflexes, and/or Inscribe Magical Tattoo. (He and I disagree on how Inscribe Magical Tattoo works, so he may let me retrain those craft skills if he rules against me).

For my Magus Hex/Arcana, I am thinking about getting the Flight hex arcana as my next hex/arcana.

We are unlikely to see the end of the campaign, as I will be moving in about a year. Should I focus on the total build, or should I focus more on what will make me awesome 'Now'

I am looking forward to hearing your inputs.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Vadien's Statblock

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,

In preparation for an upcoming session, I want to make the 'boss fight' memorable.

He's a big ogre barbarian, with hp for days, and enough strength to make anyone stand up and take notice. He has an Ogre Hook (+1 Human Bane at that), but I want him to get a bit more up close and personal.

How would you rule it so that he could pick up the Samurai, and then beat the Magus with him. I would say grapple, obviously, then pin, then make an attack roll (-4 improvised weapon penalty) and deal 1d6+1 1/2 STR Mod (wielding the samurai as a two-handed weapon) to both the samurai and the magus (or whichever character is hit by the samurai's flailing body.

Help me get the rules ironed out though, please.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Afternoon Fellow Gamers,

I play in, and run, campaigns that allow the player to choose a static # for their hit points when they level up, or choose to roll if they are feeling lucky.

Now I kind of like the idea of static hit dice, but I have a couple options that I would like to bounce off of you:

STATIC OPTION 1 (current method)
Based off of your Hit Dice
d6 = 4+CON Modifier OR Roll HD + CON Modifier
d8 = 5+CON Modifier OR Roll HD + CON Modifier
d10 = 6+CON Modifier OR Roll HD + CON Modifier
d12 = 7+CON Modifier OR Roll HD + CON Modifier

STATIC OPTION 2
Based off of your Hit Dice:
d6 = 4+CON Modifier
d8 = 6+CON Modifier
d10 = 8+CON Modifier
d12 = 10+CON Modifier

Random Option 1
Based off of your hit Dice
d6+4+CON Modifier
d8+5+CON Modifier
d10+6+CON Modifier
d12+7+CON Modifier

(These all apply to both PCs and Monsters)

What do you think? Which one do you think will make the players most happy, while still keeping the monsters threatening?

(Just as an aside: All monsters get max HP for their first HD, and max HP for their first level in a PC class (if any))

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Afternoon Fellow Gamers,

In my current campaign, the party is holed up in the wilderness with limited food and water, and some new additions to the group in the form of rescued NPCs.

The party has over a dozen people and horses.

I've calculated the DC to be 32 per day to keep the whole group fed.

I've said that they people who are skilled at survival can attempt to 'aid another' to assist the primary ranger-types in getting food. Maybe harvesting some mushrooms, making some snares, boiling snow for water, etc. (Since the DC increases by +2 for each extra person you are trying to get food for, and the Aid Another provides a +2 bonus, it seems like it was intended to balance out).

I ruled that the other ranger couldn't 'roll their own' when trying to find food for the group, because they would essentially be covering the same area, and if they didn't coordinate they might end up getting in each others' way.

To me this seems reasonable, fluffy, and keeps the idea of getting lost in the wilderness as still somewhat of a threat (when you are woefully unprepared with supplies and/or magic). But, I am not a hunter or survivalist, so I am looking for some input.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

UNPREPARED COMBATANT
School enchantment (compulsion) [emotion, mind-affecting]; Level bard 1, sorcerer/wizard 1, witch 1
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target one creature
Duration 1 minute/level
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes
The target takes a –4 penalty on initiative checks and Reflex saves.

So, based on the above, which is true?

I've been ruling it as #2, but I am looking for some support from the community at large.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Morning Fellow Gamers,

So, I am boosting a villain in my Rise of the Runelords Campaign, and I've only added 2 levels to him.

BUT, it's pretty savage. And while the party consists of roughly 9 characters (Including NPCs and cohorts) this guy could theoretically one-hit-quit anyone he manages to strike...

Part of me wants to unleash it on the party, because some of them are kind of arrogant. But part of me is like; "C'mon man, this is supposed to be fun."

Jaagrath Kreeg

What are your opinions?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

(edited for propriety)

Greetings Fellow Gamers,

I'm currently splitting my time between being a DM (Rise of the Runelords) and being a Player (Shattered Star).

My back-up character is a dwarf, who is questing for the Axe of Dwarvish Lords (or another powerful artifact) to return to the 5 Kings Mountain to solidify his father's claim as king.

Anyhow...

I want to make a character in the heaviest armor I can find.
I'm trying to decide between Phalanx Fighter, Tower Shield Specialist, or Armor Master archetypes (or no archetype).

Eventually he would get Dwarven Full Plate and an adamantine shield (large or tower), and 'weapon' (battle axe, warhammer, OR halberd, lucerne hammer).

Though the idea of a 'defending' battle axe to up my defenses would be pretty nice.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Greetings Fellow Gamers,

A bashing shield does damage as though two sizes larger, and counts as a +1 weapon.

Can you put further enchantments on the 'weapon' portion (like you could with shield/armor spikes?)

Assuming there is an unlimited budget: could I have a +5 Bashing Shield +5 Adamantine Defending Shield? All on the same 'frame'

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,
I get to spend a little bit of time on the Player side of the screen, and will be playing an Elven Magus: Vadien Fayeel.

I'm building him as a hexcrafter, and I should be leveling up next session. (I got to start at second level, because my Summoner was eaten by a centipede swarm...)

I'm thinking about taking the flight hex next level, but am interested in your inputs. I'm trying to imagine him as a very stick-and-move type, because frankly I do not have the stats to get bogged down.

I have been taking the +1/6 Magus Arcana as the favored class bonus.

What sorts of recommendations do you folks have for me?

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Vadien Fayeel
Male Elf Magus (Hexcrafter) 2
CG Medium humanoid (elf)

Greetings Fellow gamers,

A player in my RotR campaign is looking at a crossblooded sorcerer. (Draconic, and Rime Blooded). She's looking to take the Irrisen Icemage feat, and going for Dragon Disciple. She might even take a level in fighter to qualify for the Eldritch Knight Prestige class (and to get point blank and precise shots for her ray spells).

She's building an avenging ice-valkyrie sort of concept.

Items on her shopping list:
Belt of Giant Strength
Headband of Alluring Charisma
Robe of Arcane Heritage
+1 Longspear
+2 Mithral Chain shirt

What are your suggestions? I think she's leaning more towards the Dragon Disciple. Should she dip into eldritch knight?

What are some other feats, spells, and magical items that will make her a good middle-line fighter (not hanging back with the archer and wizard, but not quite up front with the Samurai and Magus.

Trying to get some inputs for things we may not have thought about.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good Evening Fellow Gamers,

A simple question, I have a sorcerer in my party with the crossblooded archetype, with the Linnorm and Rime Blooded, bloodlines.

The robe of arcane heritage gives you +4 to your sorcerer level for bloodline powers (aquisition and power) but which one would it apply to? Or would it be player's choice? Or would it apply to both?

Thanks for your time and input.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

Good afternoon fellow gamers,

I am a little concerned that a creature with DR/Magic doesn't scale very well for many creatures, especially with the prevalence of magical weapons in general.

A dragon with DR 15/Magic is just as vulnerable to a +1 sword as to a +4 sword, and that doesn't seem right to me.

So my proposal is this: A creature with DR #/Magic divides its Hit Dice by 5, and this is the minimum enhancement bonus required to bypass the damage reduction (rounded down).

So a creature with 5 HD and DR 10/Magic can be bypassed with any +1 (or higher) enhancement bonus on a weapon. But a creature with 20HD and DR 10/Magic would need a +4 enhancement bonus on the weapon.

What do you think? Is there something I've missed? Should I change the scale/formula?

Thank you for your time.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon