Brett Gillespie's page

In my group, we rolled 7d6, subtract the lowest 3 from 21.

At 20th level, the Mobile Fighter archetype gets this ability:

Whirlwind Blitz (Ex)

At 20th level, a mobile fighter can make a full-attack action as a standard action. He may also use the Whirlwind Attack feat as a standard action.

This ability replaces Weapon Mastery.

Please confirm that I am correct in the assumption that, if the Mobile Fighter has Whirlwind attack, it's now a standard action to use it, instead of 'a 20th level fighter gets the whirlwind attack feat usable with a standard action'.

thanks. :P

i'm making a build similar to this, although i added in Improved Sunder and Greater Sunder. with the two handed fighter archetype, bravery becomes a scaling bonus to attack and damage with sundering. plus, two handed weapon training also stacks with the sunder maneuver.

in my build i left out the falchion stuff (weapon focus, specialization, imp. crit), but with a 15-20 that seems amazing..maybe i should change it up.

i had in there leadership and improved initiative, since they seem like the best ones to take (leadership for a sorcerer that buffs me), and imp init is self explanatory.

otherwise it's looking like so far:

power attack, improved sunder, greater sunder, leadership, improved initiative, combat expertise, dodge, mobility, spring attack, whirlwind attack.

my personal interest in whirlwind attack is so i can sunder everyone's weapons. haha. and dodge/mobility can be handy too. but on the other hand, if i took weapon focus/greater weapon focus, that would help offset the penalty to attack from using combat expertise/fight defensively. then there's lunge, which almost seems essential to a whirlwind attack build..

would wall of ice work? to squish them, that is.

and wall of stone requires it be connected at least half to stone..so..that's a little limiting.

okay would you mind explaining that or directing me to a thread about that? i'll search in the mean time. :D

Let me ask you this:

Do you think it's worth it to invest 4 feats, allowing an Admixture Wizard to spontaneously cast Shocking Grasp (changing it's damage type 9 times a day), with the reach and intensified metamagic feats applied, making it a 3rd level spell?

No save, close range, single target. 10d6+1/2 wiz. level fire/cold/electric/acid.

worth it? i'm considering it :D haha.

edit: and i just found the magical lineage trait, pick shocking grasp with that and it cancels out 1 of the meta magic spell level increases. that makes it a spontaneous 2nd level spell.

I knew I saw it somewhere, and just found it again.

The Admixture Focused School of Evocation allows you to change the energy type of a spell that does fire, cold, electricity, or acid, to another type, a number of times per day 3+INT mod.

Crazy....

what about an intensified, reach shocking grasp?

now it's a close range (you don't need to be within melee) 3rd level spell, up to 10d6 with no save.

throw in elemental spell, and you've got the option to make that fire, cold, or acid instead.

throw in preferred spell (shocking grasp), then you can, on the fly (for a wizard this is really cool), spontaneously cast 'elemental grasp' up to 10d6, no save, as a 3rd or 4th level spell.

eventually if you take Spell Perfection, you can toss one of those on without increasing it's level. say you had maximize spell...you could hit them with an elemental grasp, 60 damage, no save, as a 3rd or 4th level spell. 60 damage biatches. :D

Plus, the super benefit to making it a preferred spell, is that you can pick on the fly if you're going to change it's energy type with Elemental spell..eventually picking up different Elemental Spells for the other types, and you're SET. :D

what do you think about that

any chance of this program coming to android for smartphones?

no one in my game keeps a laptop at the table, but all have smartphones. something like this would be killer on android...

just an idea.

any alignment that is neutral..okay..

neutral good,
lawful neutral,
neutral,
chaotic neutral,
neutral evil

As long as I've been ordering from them, there's never been a delay like this. Two months?!?!?!? annoying....

When I ordered Portal 2 from Amazon, they gave me a 20 dollar store credit. So I put that towards Ultimate Magic ($25), and with Amazon standard shipping, I got it for a total of 10 dollars.

I'll be looking for the pdf though, since I won't be getting the book immediately. :P

I had a level 7 fighter/barbarian that was dealing around +17 with power attack.

thanks for the input.

particularly what you said, ironicdisaster, has given me some things to think about.

i do want to go with more good. so less murdering the offenders seems like a very viable option.

and to what deadmanwalking said...that is a fine line to straddle. punishment? or helping people? maybe enforcing 'karma' as he can.

i'd say that the thing he would gravitate towards, is helping people and making the world better. if he can get that punishment with it, all the better.

i'll have to think about it some more. hehe.

thanks again.

edit: i didn't mention it, but this character is starting at 9th level.

perhaps killing him was too extreme of an example.

maybe baleful polymorph instead. or feeblemind used on him as the justice he escaped because of the law.

i think outright killing would be a special act reserved for someone who was a serious enough threat that letting him continue in the world would do much more harm than good. like when Mace Windu wanted to strike the emperor down because he was too dangerous. whereas anakin wanted the courts to try him legally. this witch would be for killing. haha.

the way i see the character, is someone who has no qualms about being an agent of karma to those in the wrong. yes, that is mighty subjective, and it would make a paladin balk...haha.

say that a gang of vicious troublemakers hassled good people. if he stopped short of killing them, perhaps he'd hit them with blindness, or bestow curse.

now that i think about it, outright killing someone would be necessary under special circumstances. which is what the character's sister, a fellow witch (chaotic neutral), would be all for. haha.

I'm making a Witch, who will be Chaotic Good. Now the way I envision the character is one who seeks to right the wrongs he perceives, without regard for any rule or authority anyone might claim for themselves to that end.

I see this character as taking out his own view of justice, karma, or the like, on those he believes are guilty.

Say a murderer gets off easy, or is released on a technicality. He has no problem killing them, or doing things that don't lead to their death directly, if he thinks they deserve it.

To him, the ends do justify the means. If it will ultimately bring about better

He does help people and takes on causes, but a large part of his alignment is made up of pursuing retribution on those who cause the wrongs.

He doesn't trust easily, and the benefit of the doubt is given sparingly until they prove themselves one way or the other.

He has the best intentions. He wants to make the world better by sticking it to those who make it worse (in his mind, they don't deserve kindness, benevolence, or mercy)..whether they're corrupt, or they are murderers. When he takes action to stick it to them, he feels no remorse or pity if they've earned it, in his opinion.

So would you say he's Chaotic Good? He's comfortable with morally gray, but in a sense twists it to his own point of view.

I suppose I'm trying to justify the behavior and stick to CG. :P

Is it possible to take a green hag as a cohort with leadership, so that me and another player can join a hags coven, if we both have the coven hex?

Also, if it were possible to take that green hag as a cohort, what suggestions might you be able to offer as to how we get that hag to not be so evil all the time?

The first thought that comes to mind is an atonement spell. how can we get the hag to accept it? since both me and another player are 9th level witches, and the hag is CR 5, maybe..maybe she challenged us to some sort of display of skill/prowess, and became so impressed as to accept atonement so we could become a coven?

lol. i'm not sure. but it would be really cool.

thoughts?

Me and a friend are considering playing twin witches in a pathfinder game another friend runs. If we both used the Evil Eye Hex on the same target, both targeting AC, would it stack?

-2 from each of us. and eventually, -4 from each of us.

the source of the evil eye is from two separate witches..so I think it might stack, but am unsure.

regardless, we could just evil eye for two different penalties, if it won't stack. like ac and to hit.

What do you guys think?

In the pathfinder game my friend runs, we rolled our stats using 7d6, subtract the lowest 3 from 21.

which would mean rolling three 1s would land you an 18, and so on.

it started as a joke, but we decided to keep it. haha.

i ended up with:

18
17
18
17
14
16

mine arrived today, in Wichita Kansas

it had a tiny bit of a scuff on the cover :(

Tomorrow I will tell you about the Alchemist-only Prestige Class, the Master Chymist. for now..bedtime.

The Alchemist is pretty similar to what you saw in the final playtest, with some extras.

The new mutagen that I saw was concentrate poison.

There is also an asterisk by the mutagens that modify the bomb feature, to indicate which ones cannot stack (i think).

Also, there are new forumlae that are out of the spells in the APG, some of which are exclusive to the Alchemist. There is also a list of his formulae at the end of his class description, with asterisks marking which of them are in the APG, with the unmarked ones in the core rulebook.

I count 7 new 1st level formulae, 6 new 2nd level formulae, 7 new 3rd level formulae, 4 new 4th level formulae, 4 new 5th level formulae, and 1 new 6th level formulae.

In fact, those new formulae from the APG are:

1st Level: ant haul, bomber’s eye, crafter’s fortune, keen senses, negate aroma, stone fist, and touch of the sea.

2nd Level: alchemical allocation, elemental touch, fire breath, perceive cues, transmute potion to poison, and vomit swarm.

3rd Level: absorbing touch, amplify elixir, bloodhound, draconic reservoir, elemental aura, seek thoughts, and thorn body.

4th Level: detonate, dragon's breath, fluid form, and universal formula.

5th Level: delayed consumption, elude time, planar adaptation, and resurgent transformation.

6th Level: twin form.

those are in addition to the ones from the playtest.

how's that for ya?

Here's an error that I found in the Feats section.

First, in the chart listing the feats, under 'Focused Shot', it lists the prerequisites as 'INT 13, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot'.

However, under the feat's actual description, it states that to take the feat you must have 'INT 13, Precise Shot'.

Of note is that the prereq for Precise Shot is point blank shot. So..while it's not technically in error..it is a true statement, but it could be confusing.

Wow that was fast! Paizo processed all of their subscription pre-orders for the Advanced Player's Guide in a matter of hours. :D

I'm downloading mine now! :D :D

well that figures. :P I just subscribed earlier today. haha.

would those of you who have already downloaded the APG mind updating the PFSRD? :P :D

ahhhh.

i just realized my error.

having reread the ability, and some threads on it, i misunderstood it.

the feral mutagen ability doesn't let you have an effective BAB of your hit dice, with those natural attacks, as i thought. rather, it just lets you make them all at your full bonus, without penalty for using more than one attack.

oops. heh.

It is strange that Pathfinder would leave out part of the feat from 3.5.

Regarding Improved Natural Attack, I think that comparing it to Improved Natural Armor isn't a very good idea because the natural attack feat is for just that, an attack. The armor feat is just to armor class.

i think a better comparison would be improved natural attack and improved critical. improved critical does give a significant bonus, i think, to a particular weapons deadliness (and very worthy of a feat). it can only apply once to a weapon but can be taken for multiple weapons. that's how i see improved natural attack..although as you said, we are in agreement about the meaning of imp. natural attack, but as the feat itself doesn't clarify either way, it could be seen as ambiguous.

however, in this case, i think it a matter of common sense, personally. if someone want's to be strictly RAW, which is silly, in my belief, then they'll have to decide which way it means. it's very possible to have a game that goes by RAW, but also incorporates exceptions to the rule as needed to improve gameplay or clarify a misunderstanding. in this case..the feat just isn't clear, from an extremely literal and by-the-very-letter-of-the-rules standpoint. sucks to be them. :P

perhaps an official pathfinder source will notice this thread and offer some more authoritative clarification. otherwise, i'd probably suggest common sense and operating by the spirit and intent of the rule, than by the letter, at times.

Right. So then the answer to the question "does a base attack bonus high enough to confer multiple attacks stack with having multiple natural attacks?" is no. Good to know.

So my previous assumption was correct. Like I said, then, at 20th level (18 rogue/2 alchemist) you'd have 3 attacks, bite claw claw, at +20 BAB to each (before other modifiers).

Still seems like a sweet deal.

so, calagnar, i'm confused as to what the original problem you saw was?

he'll get those three attacks no matter how many attacks his BAB would otherwise give him.

When the feat says 'choose one of the creature's natural attack forms', that means a type of natural attack. Not one specific natural attack.

What I mean is if you have a Bite, Claw, Claw, you can take Improved Natural Attack: Bite, and Improved Natural Attack: Claw. But you do NOT need to take Improved Natural Attack: Claw a second time to have it's effects apply to the second claw attack.

It's exactly like any regular feat that applies to a weapon.

ie Weapon Focus Shortsword
or Improved Critial Shortsword.

if you wanted to dual wield and have both shortswords have those benefits, you wouldn't take both feats AGAIN. just taking it once for 'shortsword', or in the case of natural attacks, 'claw', is enough.

:P

:)

i'm having trouble understanding what you mean, calagnar

at levels 10 and 16 are when a Rogue with 2 levels in Alchemist would receive a second and third attack, by his actual base attack bonus.

and as far as multiple attacks from a high BAB goes..i don't know if they stack with multiple natural attacks. the default assumption about that rule would be no, he wouldn't get extra attacks with his natural weapons when his BAB is high enough for more attacks. but i could be wrong.

assuming the answer is no (but being wrong has sometimes happened to me. lol), even at 20th level, this particular rogue would only ever have a bite and two claws at +20, before any penalties or bonuses. as far as i understand it.

i think a haste effect would work as normal, though, granting another attack. so if the Rogue were willing to invest more into the Alchemist class, up to 7th level Alchemist, he would be able to make an extract of Haste that he could drink to gain those benefits.

and even if he did so, his BAB at level 20 would still be 20, but he'd miss out on extra sneak attack dice, rogue talents, etc...

If you really want to be nasty as a Rogue, take two levels of Alchemist as soon as you can, and take the Feral Mutagen discovery.

That way, when you drink the mutagen, you can get +4 Dex or Str or Con (but take a -2 to Wis, Int, or Cha, respectively), and +2 natural armor. And because it's a feral mutagen, you get three natural attacks - bite, claw, claw, that are all at your FULL BAB for your hit dice. say you're 5th level?

normally as a 3rd level rogue and 2nd level alchemist your BAB would be +3. but with feral mutagen, you'd get a bite and two claw attacks made at +5!!! and then you can take the feat improved natural attack (claw, or bite), even both if you take the feat twice, to increase the die size of the attack by one step.

so you're a 5th level Rogue/Alchemist with an effective BAB of a fighter, with natural attacks (at no penalty, other than having to full attack to do it) that do 2d6 for a bite, and 1d8 for a claw (those are the damage dies if you took improved natural attack for claw and bite. normally it's 1d6 for claw, and 1d8 for bite). pretty darn good.

note that mutagens (feral is just a type..but all mutagens grant this ability bonus, in case you didn't know) grant +2 natural armor, +4 to a physical stat, but -2 to a corresponding mental stat (if u boost STR, its -2 INT, DEX its WIS, CON its CHA. and with feral you get +2 to intimidate.

and if that's not cool enough? well, alchemists get special 'potion' type deals, you'd get first level ones only, but they can still be useful. shield 'potion'? no problem. +4 shield AC.

of special note for you: enlarge person 'potion'. even though you do take an effective -2 to hit, and -2 to AC, your bite attack now does 3d6, and your claw 2d6. you can even sneak attack with those, if you are flanking or they are flat footed. but remember, drinking a mutagen gives you +2 natural armor, and +4 dex..so you're penalty from being enlarged is effectively negated. you're getting 3 attacks at your full bab, which no one else in your party will get until much later. yea they can take TWF or rapid shot..but those give penalties. you have none (because even if you enlarge, it's effectively negated by the mutagen).

note that two weapon fighting won't stack with your natural attacks. what would be good with that type of character is vital strike on your bite. you can make one attack this round, but you effectively roll your damage dice again and add it. so if you bite and vital strike, thats 2d6+strmod + 2d6 MORE.

and if you're enlarged and your bite is even better? 3d6+strmod + 3d6 MORE. you might even get to sneak attack with that. who knows. yea..you can't full attack, but thats very useful in situations where you've got to move. sometimes you have to readjust for flanking, or the combat's just started and you can't really full attack. or you already offed the guy you're on now, and gotta move on to the next.

pretty sweet, huh? and because you use feral mutagen, you don't gotta worry about TWF or the like. and if damage is your game (which it could be, because of the bonus from the mutagen to any physical stat), then go for power attack, or vital strike like i said.

sounds pretty cool. :)

question, what are iterative attacks?

thanks for the input. :)

i talked to the gm about my idea last night, and he said it surprisingly fit the concept he had in mind of a specialized assassin.

after i told him about it, he said that he didn't see much of a bounty hunter in there, more focused on killing. i tried to debate it but then i realized..the class is actually geared more towards killing, although not as specific as the original assassin class in the core book, with killing attack, etc.

So as it turns out, the overall theme of the PrC will be infiltration/deception/killing the target. that still works. hehe.

wasn't there a feat at one point that increased the sneak attack die type?

i have a vague memory of that, but it might have been in a different system.

having looked at the paladin's smite evil ability, deadly focus seems to follow similarly, but pales in comparison, i think. the paladin adds his CHA to attack, his level to damage (at level 20..thats a huge damage bonus), and eventually twice his level to damage on the first attack. and, his uses per day eventually culminates at 7 per day. deadly focus depends heavily on INT, and half his assassin level to attack, dmg, and ac seems behind smite evil. i would imagine a pally could manage a 20 CHA in upper levels. plus, with it having access to the highest armor, deadly focus applying to AC kind of balances that, maybe?

plus, the paladin already has the best BAB. i'll have to think more about resist divination/enchantment. the idea behind it was essentially that this group of assassin's is extremely hard to locate with magic, or dissuade from their task, once they set their mind to it. but i will look it over again.

as far as alter form goes, it's basically his way to get in with the target, or even after the deed is done and guards question him, his ability to convince them that he didn't see anything gets better as he becomes more skilled in the prc.

spawn darkness kind of goes the path while he doesn't have the power to become invisible, he can change the conditions to his favor, by creating darkness and being able to act within it. and without some means of invisibility, being a lone attacker and trying to get sneak attack would be much more challenging if he didn't have a means to compensate. i'll look at that again, too. :)

thanks for the input. i'm glad this is only a rough draft and i can still go over it with revisions.

Thanks! What about two weapon fighting? Can I take that line of feats to gain an extra claw attack at a -2 penalty to my attacks?

Feral Mutagen seems really powerful now. lol :)

I was just reading over the rules for monsters and natural attacks.

In the Bestiary on page 302, it says,

Primary attacks are made using the

creature’s full base attack bonus and add the creature’s
full Strength bonus on damage rolls. Secondary attacks
are made using the creature’s base attack bonus –5 and
add only 1/2 the creature’s Strength bonus on damage
rolls. If a creature has only one natural attack, it is always
made using the creature’s full base attack bonus and adds
1-1/2 the creature’s Strength bonus on attack rolls. This
increase does not apply if the creature has multiple attacks
but only takes one. If a creature has only one type of attack,
but has multiple attacks per round, that attack is treated
as a primary attack, regardless of its type.

Also at the end of the overview of natural weapons rules, it gives an example of the part I bolded above, of a creature with only one type of attack (primary), but multiple attacks per round.

Format: bite +5 (1d6+1), 2 claws +5 (1d4+2)

right?

I read the other thread about feral mutagen, but part of it really went over my head. haha.

When you get three natural attacks, bite claw claw, at your full attack bonus, what does that mean?

Say I'm a second level Alchemist with Feral Mutagen, my base attack bonus is effectively 2 with them. I can just attack with one of them as a standard action, but as a full attack, what's my bonus look like?

The Alchemist class says that the bite and claw attacks are 'primary attacks'. What is the penalty if I were to full attack with bite/claw/claw? I know about the multiattack feat, which would reduce the penalty some. However, multiattack says that it reduces the penalty for secondary attacks with natural weapons. According to the Alchemist, the bite/claw/claw are primary attacks. Huh?

In the other thread they mentioned iterative attacks, which I guess means multiple attacks b/c of a high attack bonus? So the Alchemist with feral mutagen can make multiple attacks with a full round action even though his BAB wouldn't normally allow it otherwise?

What about two weapon fighting? Can I take those feats and use them with these natural attacks?

I'm gonna read over monster combat and see if I find any help there. :)

Please help me understand how this works. lol. :P

thanks for letting me know about the saves. :)

is there anything specific that stuck out to you as overpowered or out of place?

Hey guys. I've been working on a writeup for a Prestige Class that combines elements of a bounty hunter with an assassin. I used some ideas from the other thread about the assassin prc, so thanks to anyone who posted there. :D

a note: while the whole assassin's talents thing was really cool, i decided to just give him the abilities i wanted for this particular variant of the PrC.

one of the primary themes of this class is essentially that he is a hunter, whether capture or kill, that is difficult to dissuade once he is on the trail. even magical means to locate, or subvert his will becomes very difficult.

Prestige Class: Shade
Hit Die: d8
Skills/Level: 4+INT Mod
Class Skills: Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Stealth (Dex), Survival (Wis) Swim (Str), and Use Magic Device (Cha).

Requirements:
Any non-good.
Survival 5 ranks.
Stealth 5 ranks.

Medium BAB, Pretty Good Saves (Reflex is 1-5, Will and Fort 1-4)

1st Level: Deadly Focus, Alter Form, Sneak Attack +1d6
2nd Level: Wall Crawl
3rd Level: Sneak Attack +2d6
4th Level: Spawn Darkness (60ft), Hide in Plain Sight
5th Level: Sneak Attack +3d6, Resist Divination
6th Level: Greater Sneak Attack (d8s)
7th Level: Sneak Attack +4d6
8th Level: Resist Enchantment
9th Level: Sneak Attack +5d6
10th Level: Manhunter

Deadly Focus (EX)– After studying a creature for one full round, the Shade gains a bonus equal to half his Shade level (round up) to attack and damage rolls, as well as armor class versus the target of his focus only. This ability can be used a number of times per day equal to 1 plus the Shade's intelligence modifier, and one such use lasts an entire encounter. At 5th level, the number of uses per day becomes 2+INT mod, and at 10th level becomes 3+INT mod. The Deadly Focus bonus applies only as long as the target is alive (or for those that aren't exactly alive, whatever facsimile thereof is appropriate for sentience).

Alter Form (SU)– This ability is the amalgam of Disguise and Alter Self. At will, as a move action, the Shade can change his appearance to the form of any small or medium Humanoid creature, although he may appear as whatever subtype he wishes. The ability itself is a polymorph transmutation, not an illusion; however, the Shade's clothing and gear do not meld into his form, but they do re-size accordingly. If the Shade wishes to become a specific person, he must spend at least a minute studying them prior to his change, and then need only take a full round action to recall their specific form later. Unlike disguise self, this ability provides complete sensory properties appropriate to the form taken, and Bluff checks while the Shade is in an alternate form gain a bonus equal to the Shade's level.

Sneak Attack (EX) – This ability functions as the Rogue ability of the same name, and it stacks with it accordingly.

Wall Crawl (SU) – The Shade gains the ability to move along walls or vertical surfaces, similar to Spider Climb, at will.

Hide In Plain Sight (EX) – This functions as the ability of the same name.

Spawn Darkness (SU) - The Shade can spawn tangible darkness from a designated point out to a maximum radius of sixty feet. Accordingly, the Shade can also lower the light level within the area by up to three steps. Within this area of darkness, sound may enter, but cannot escape. If the darkness is targeted at an individual, it moves with them, however the highest radius that can be created is halved; otherwise, the darkness is stationary. The Shade also gains Darkvision 60ft, that can penetrate supernatural darkness. If the darkness comes into conflict with magical light, the Shade must make a caster level check to overcome it. The DC for this caster level check is equal to the caster level (or equivalent thereof) of the creature who originally placed the light effect. The Shade's caster level for this purpose is his Shade level plus his intelligence modifier.

Resist Divination (SU) – Whenever the Shade is the target of a divination effect (spell, etc...), he makes an immediate Will save (adding his Assassin level as a competence bonus) versus the DC of the spell. A successful save means that the spell fails entirely, and returns no information to the caster. On a successful save, the Shade is also made aware of the failed attempt, and knows instinctively from whom it came (ie. recognizes the caster on sight). On a failed save, the Shade makes whatever saving throw is normally required by the spell or ability in question.

Greater Sneak Attack (EX) – The Shade has become so precise with his sneak attacks, that the his sneak attack die type goes up to d8s.

Resist Enchantment (SU) – This ability is otherwise identical to Resist Divination, except that it now applies to enchantment based effects.

Manhunter (EX) - The Shade is now supremely competent in his abilities to pursue a chosen target. Against the target of his Deadly Focus, the bonus from it now applies to any skill check made with regards to the target in question, while he is in focus. This includes but isn't limited to tracking, hiding, intimidating, or any other skill rolled that relates to the person or creature he pursues. This is up to GM interpretation, as needed, but without question, the Shades's skill with regards to his focus is unparalleled. Furthermore, the Shade no longer needs line-of-sight visual contact to establish his deadly focus. The Shade must spend an half an hour (per hit die of the target) in contemplation over his desired focus, and the information he has about him. Following the meditation, he gains a vision of his target, and can thereafter make him his Deadly Focus without visual contact. The Shade may only have one such target in mind at a time. If he studies another target, and meditates accordingly, the previous one is lost and must be relearned.

this is only my first draft, although i've probably revised it several times and toned it down. what do you guys think? what do you like or not like about it, or what seems too powerful? why?

hey solonar, could you send me your writeup of the assassin?

thanks :D

I don't agree that Bane is their main combat ability. Judgment, rather. imo.

Bane starts at 5th, and improves at 12th.

Judgment starts at 1st level, and improves at 4th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 13th, 16th (twice at 16, really), 17th, 19th, and 20th.

In fact, in the final playtest version at least, their capstone signature ability is Judgment.

Seems like their main combat ability to me. :) but we can always agree to disagree on this point.

From what I've seen so far of the preview in changes, at least concerning the Inquisitor, just put a few more nails in it's coffin, for me anyway. We'll see the book when it comes out, but nerfing them at lower levels just because a player couldn't put in the effort needed to track his own abilities, hurts the class, imo.

Truth be told, the Inquisitor was really my favorite of the upcoming APG classes. I was psyched for it, but this change makes them less than the core classes that can do the same thing, better. What separates the Inquisitor from the other classes? With gimped judgments...I only see the class as filler.

I really hope something in the APG will pull it through. I am not optimistic, but some part of me wants to hope that they won't screw the Inquisitor, and those who loved it, because some players couldn't count to 3 or keep track from round to round. It's not really that hard.

I'm still getting the book, though, and when it comes out, we'll see.

Reading a little more into the opening paragraphs of Magic Item Creation, right near where you pointed out the prereq DC increase, is this line:

"A creator can create an item at a lower caster level than
her own, but never lower than the minimum level needed to
cast the needed spell."

If say I were level 1, and my caster level wasn't high enough to even cast the spell (although it is on my 'spell list'), would it default to +5 DC? Or preclude me entirely. hmm...

What's also interesting is what you pointed out, Kierato, about how you only need the feat, and in the case of spell trigger or spell completion items, the spell itself. But the brewing a potion description talks about having the spell prepared, and expending it, or if you're a sorcerer/bard, just knowing it. X_X

confusing...

edited to add: normally if you wanna make a magic item, you can just look right at the item description to find the listed prerequisites, and you can go from there to see what you don't have, etc... but with potions, they aren't actually listed.

its all good. thats why i'm trying to find some way past that. i figure if he drops his crossbow, drinks the potion of reduce person, then picks it back up, he'll be able to still fight for the same damage, but with better accuracy.

thanks. ;)

I'm all for avoiding a penalty, but according to the spell Reduce person, which says in particular,

"Melee and projectile weapons deal less damage. Other magical properties are not affected by this spell. Any reduced item that leaves the reduced creature's possession (including a projectile or thrown weapon) instantly returns to its normal size. This means that thrown weapons deal their normal damage (projectiles deal damage based on the size of the weapon that fired them)."

Note the last part about projectiles dealing damage based on the size of the weapon that fired them, and not on the actual size of the projectile itself.

Based on that, the weapon would be gimped if it were smaller. imo. hence the whole reason for the thread to begin with..checking out a way to get past that. hehe

thanks for the input. truth be told my character would be a Rogue/Alchemist. i was just looking for a way to overcome the stupid decreased damage die on crossbows by reduce person. hehe.

that wasn't what i was referring to. if i'm reduced, and i pick up a weapon off the ground, does that weapon automatically reduce?

if i pick up a weapon (that wasn't on my person when i reduced), does it stay the original size because it wasn't among my possessions when the spell took effect.

Could a human with reduce person cast on it use a regular medium sized light crossbow?

I'm trying to find some way to take advantage of the good benefits of Reduce Person, but not get gimped by my crossbow being one size smaller. I was thinking that if I set the crossbow down, get reduced, then pick it up again, it will remain it's original size while I'm smaller.

Can you think of any complications to this idea? Besides the -2 for using an improperly sized weapon (effectively cancelled out with the +2 dex and +1 attack given by reduce person).

The light crossbow entry says it can be wielded with 1 hand, but at a -2 penalty. However, as a small creature using a medium crossbow, I would definitely be using 2 hands. It'd just be one size larger.

Thoughts?

Okay. Thanks!

One other thing. If I wanted to create a potion from an Alchemist formula (up to 3rd level) that i'm not high enough level to cast, does that just increase the craft DC? or does it prevent me from making it at all.

edit: i just looked into the first paragraphs of magic item creation, and it says that most of the time, item creation prereqs. are spells that must be known by the creator to make them. immediately after that line it says that the DC to create a magic item increases by 5 for each prereq he fails to meet. the only exception to that rule is the original item creation feat.

Under the Magic Item Creation rules for potions, it says that

The creator must have prepared the spell to be placed in the potion (or must know the spell, in the case of a sorcerer or bard) and must provide any material component or focus the spell requires.

With regards to alchemists, lets say I'd like to brew a potion of Cure Light Wounds, which is one of my formulae. To make the potion do I need to prepare Cure Light Wounds as one of my extracts, which is then used for the potion? Or, like the sorcerer and bard, do I simply have to know the spell?

In my understanding, the Alchemist is somewhere in between Wizard and Sorcerer (for spell preparation) because they must mix their extracts before-hand, but aren't required to do so after rest or first thing in the morning.

any ideas? thanks :)

this is actually something that i'm interested in, because i'm seriously considering an Alchemist in our upcoming game. any thoughts about this?

edited to add: by the way jester, you did some math wrong. you have to figure out the items price in silver pieces, and there are 10 silvers to 1 gold. so you'd take its price in gold, times 10. acid is 10 gold, so that means it is effectively 100 silvers. not 20, like you said.