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I'm not familiar with the system, but I would assume 8-12 hours. Enough time to rest, gather food, deal with other necessities, but not enough time to do any other tasks of significance.

I'd like to know as well - from what I understand, the spell creates a new "sense" for the caster, which doesn't seem like it would go to allies. However, the focus of water/mirror makes it seem like the scrying is happening on the focus itself, which leads me to think that others could peer through it. I don't think they'd receive darkvision/low-light from the caster, since they'd be looking with their own eyes.

The spell itself says "creature," but the description of Divination and the spell Obscure Object state that objects and locations are fair game.

After further reading, I found that nonmagical objects that are not being held do not get Will saves, so one should be able to automatically scry an object or location if they have a suitable connection.

Or I guess it's the location's will save vs your spell DC.

Necro-ing this thread. Does anyone know what the DC to scry a location would be? Maybe just 10 + standard given mods for scry?

Problem fixed! Adobe Reader does the trick, though not without some tweaking. I had to set the page option to 9 on 1 (as desired) and then the page size to "Fit." It defaulted to try to auto-scale it, which shrinks everything down way too far.

Hey, this is kind of an obscure issue, but hopefully somebody else has run into it (or has more printer experience than I do). I'm trying to print off some spells from the PDF, and I'm doing 9 per sheet. My printer spits it out with 9 on there in the proper order, but they're insanely small, with tons of white space around them. Four per sheet produces similar results. Google hasn't been helpful yet. Anyone have a suggestion? I'm using a Canon LBP6000 and Windows 8, and I'm trying to print from my Google Drive. I'll try downloading Acrobat Reader and printing from there. Windows 8's default PDF app doesn't even provide the advanced printing options I need. Thanks for any advice!

Hah, I should have said I'm looking at this for my druid off the get-go! I'm definitely not going for prime optimization - I'd like to keep him pretty well-rounded, and I'm the only experienced player in a group of new guys, so I don't want to be too overpowered and be a buzzkill to the rest of the group. I think gloves/handwraps make a lot of sense and are more thematically aligned than an amulet, but I'm cool with whatever is fair. Thanks for all of the great feedback.

Is there an implicit (or explicit) rule against having, say, a pair of bracers provide the mighty fists enchantment? I know for magic item creation, there's an additional cost for applying an enchantment to an out-of-the-ordinary slotted item, but I think it makes sense conceptually for bracers to provide a bonus like this without that. What do you guys think?

These are all hilarious. And I happen to have a pair of ring gates as the next game's prize...

Blah, this thread made me realize something about my build. I had thought that Shield Master nullified all two-weapon penalties while using a shield, but it only applies to the shield. I was going to go back to a heavy shield once I picked it up, but I guess I'll have to stay light. Having a d8 in each hand will still be cool, though (light spiked bashing shield and longsword).

TWF is a cool style that has a couple of traits.

1. A TWF done right will outdamage a 2 hander on a full attack.
2. A two hander will outdamage a TWF'r on a standard action attack.

Now to make TWF worth the investment we need to pump point 1. Awesome full attacks.and negate the problem with point 2. Doing crappy damage on standard action attacks.

Now the solution we come up with depends on what archetype you pick and what weapons you wield.

Now, lets work on point 2 first.
People make this claim because they assume the comparision is a brute 2 handing a greatsword vs a TWF'r one handing a sword/scimitar.
This comparison doesn't have to be true.
Now some archetypes get a class ability which lets you make multiple attacks on a standard action strike. Noteably the Two Weapon Warrior who can make a Primary/ Offhand attack at level 9.
The Dawnflower Dervish and the Mobile Fighter get Rapid Attack at 11, giving up thier first attack and making all the rest of thier iteratives whenever they move.

These are awesome abilities, but 9 or 11 levels is a long wait.
Our solution at level 1-5 is when you move, 2 hand just like the other guy.[b]

Meaning either use a double weapon or pair a Weapon/Offhand Cestus or pair a Weapon and a Quickdraw light shield.

Example1. Our half elf wields a doublesword to TWF when he full attacks, and Two Hand Power attacks with it if he has to move. This costs EWP feat but has the advantage of never falling behind the Greatsword guy and all my wpn fcs/spl apply to both ends of my double weapon.

Example2. My human TWF can either TWF with a Scimitar/Cestus or if he needs to move he can 2 hand power attack.with the Scimitar. The TWW gets his wpn training equally to any weapon so long as he twf's so the cestus only misses out on Wpn fcs/spl till level 9, when you switch to Scimitar/Kukri and can TWF as a standard action. At 11 when improved balance comes in go with 2 scimitars.and make Gtr wpn fcs/spec finally apply to both hands.
Th advantge here is you didn't waste a[/b]...

Wow! Nice.

At some point I am going to make a single shield wielder! No idea how to best make that work, but it is happening. And I don't mean Cpt America style, throwing it and all that. Just a slightly frightened warrior.

He really doesn't like pain, especially getting his knuckles wrapped, so he hold onto his shield for dear life and bashes away with it.

I know it is a little thread hijackery but any suggestions for it? Might be a fun PFSer

Check the free-hand fighter archetype and see if you could do it with a light shield.

That makes dual-shielding even more desirable.

Hooray, I was influential!

The game went great! We went with a murder mystery. Here's what happened:

The shae, Ashera, called the elven rogue, Firae, out to the Dark Forest at night with a summoning whisper. Firae stopped at the edge of the spooky woods and decided to return with the others during the day. The next day, the party entered the forest, fought some beasties, and met Ashera. She asked them to look for her friend, Gerden, who was supposed to be bringing her a ring.

The party found Gerden's body off the trail near town. He had a sword wound in his gut and singes on the edge of his clothes.

The party asked around town and ran into Aela, a traveler that the party knows is a magic user. She proffered that a dragon disciple could have committed such a murder, and she revealed that she was one herself (though she's blue, not red). The party then began hunting down a red dragon disciple in town.

They found their way to a gossipy drunk who told them that he had seen smoke curling out of Hawk Morgan's mouth once, and that Hawk had not been smoking at the time. Hawk likes to hang out at the seedier locales.

The party busted into the town's shabbiest drinking hole and busted some heads until they found that Hawk was at the brothel. The heroes headed on over and confronted him. He indeed had the ring Gerden was carrying, and he refused to hand it over. Instead, he leapt out the window and revelaed himself to be not a dragon disciple, but a true red dragon. The heroes jumped out onto the rooftops and fought the fearsome beast. Once he was slain, the party ranger skinned him, and they brought the skin back to Ashera for her to craft into new equipment.

Fun was had by all!

Thanks for the ideas, guys! I'll see what these inspire me to do and let you all know.

Due to players being unavailable, I've had to postpone my prepared game ideas, so I need some stuff for tomorrow evening. Tomorrow's party will be a LN Dwarven Drunken Master/Sacred Mountain Monk, a CG Halfling Skirmisher Ranger (using hand crossbows), and a CN Elven Cutpurse Rogue. All are level 7. The Rogue will be going to Shadowdancer soon, and she'll be learning her shadow skills from a Shae named Ashera. I plan on having Ashera show up this game and request something of the elf in return for a gift (some shadowed armor) and the promise of teaching down the road. The Shae has a grudge against the kingdom's Thieves' Guild, but that's going to be an issue a few games in the future. I think she might want to test the elf's mettle before sending her after the Thieves. What kinds of things might she require?

It takes 1 hour to prepare all of your spells from all of your classes. I had to look into this at one point because I had a wizard/ranger with both arcane and divine spells.

What would you suggest, Cheapy? Also, it'd be limited to a single form for the entire race.

The ARG demo gives a "Change Shape" Magical Racial Ability that costs 6 RP. This functions as the Alter Self spell, allowing you to take the form of a Small or Medium humanoid. Do you think it's fair to have a Magical Racial Ability that instead grants Beast Shape I for 6 RP? If so, I assume it would be limited to one animal, but what would the duration be? Unlimited? If not, how many times per day could you use it, and how long would it last?

I switched his weapon to a heavy mace, since I think using a two-handed spear would be a little awkward from a mounted position.

Can I get a quick critique? This is my first summoner build, and I'm really enjoying the options for it. I'm open to all suggestions for bettering this guy.

I also need some mechanical tips on how using an eidolon works. Do both the summoner and eidolon get actions, or does the summoner have to spend a standard or move action to order his eidolon around? When mounted on an eidolon, does the usual "either the mount or the rider may attack" thing apply due to the eidolon being sentient?

Alexander Spiros
LG male human summoner 8
Init +2; Sense Perception +0

Defense
AC 22, touch 14, flat-footed 20 (+8 armor, +2 Dex, +2 deflection)
HP 7d8+16 (59)
Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +6

Offense
Speed 30 ft, 120 ft run
Melee: Spear +8/+3, 1d8+3/x3
Ranged: Spear +8, 1d8+2/x3

Statistics
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 18
Base Atk: +6/+1; CMB +8; CMD 14
Feats: Combat Casting, Mounted Combat, Skill Focus: Ride, Spirited Charge, Toughness
Skills: Handle Animal 4 (+11), Knowledge: arcana 6 (+11), Knowledge: planes 6 (+11), Ride 8 (+16), Spellcraft 8 (+13), Use Magic Device 8 (+15)
Special: bond senses, cantrips, eidolon, life link, maker’s call, shield ally, summon monster IV, transposition
Languages: Celestial, Common, Draconic
Equipment: spear +2 (8302 gp), elven chain +2 (9150 gp), handy haversack (2500 gp), ring of protection +2 (8000 gp), miscellaneous adventuring gear
Description: Alexander wears white and gold clothing, and he has golden hair. He is strong, virtuous, and selfless.
Spells per day 1:5/2:5/3:3
Spells Known 0:6/1:5/2:4/3:3
0: arcane mark, detect magic, light, mage hand, mending, read magic
1: endure elements, expeditious retreat, jump, lesser rejuvenate eidolon, unfetter
2: bull’s strength, glide, lesser evolution surge, summon eidolon
3: evolution surge, rejuvenate eidolon, water breathing

Eidolon - Xanthus, the Golden Lion
LG large wolf-lion outsider

Init +2; Sense Perception +0

Defense
AC 21, touch 11, flat-footed 21 (+6 armor, +2 Dex, +4 natural armor, -1 Size)
HP 6d10 + 18
Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +2 (+4 vs enchantment spells and effects)

Offense
Speed 40 ft, 160 ft run
Combat Options Grab
Melee: bite +18, 2d6+18 plus grab; 2 claws +18, 1d8+13
Melee: 2 rakes +18, 1d8+13; received after successful grapple check against opponent

Statistics
Abilities: Str 26, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 11
Base Atk: +6; CMB +15 (+19 to grapple); CMD 25
Feats: Improved Natural Attack (claw), Improved Natural Attack (Bite), Improved Natural Attack (Rake)
Skills: Acrobatics +9, Intimidate +7, Knowledge: arcana +5, Knowledge: planes +5, Perception +6, Stealth +4, Survival +5
Base Form: Quadruped
Evolutions: bite(1), claws (1), grab: bite (2), large (4), mount(1), rake (2)
Special: Ability score increase (Str), darkvision, devotion, evasion, link, share spells
Languages: Celestial, Common, Draconic
Desciption: Wolfish head, white fur, gold mane, big cat-like paws, lion’s roar

Just make them as wondrous items with x uses per day.

Knowledge(engineering), maybe?

Pretty cool! I was just thinking about doing a soulknife as a fighter archetype. Good work.

Check out Old School Hack. Really simple character creation and rules, while still retaining the flavor of D&D. On top of that, it's free!

I've started on a "wild barbarian," which loses rage but gains wild shape. I think it could probably benefit from some of the rage powers (or modded versions of them). Suggestions for balancing when wild shape is gained and any other additions are welcome.

Wild Barbarian

While most barbarians gain battle prowess from their fury, wild barbarians shapeshift into deadly beasts to slay their foes. A wild barbarian has the following class features.

Weapon Proficiency: Wild barbarians are proficient with all natural attacks (claw, bite, and so forth) of any form they assume with wild shape (see below).

Wild Shape (Su): A wild barbarian gains the ability to turn himself into any Small or Medium animal and back again once per day. His options for new forms include all creatures with the animal type. This ability functions like the beast shape I spell, except as noted here. The effect lasts for 1 hour per barbarian level, or until he changes back. Changing form (to animal or back) is a standard action and doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity. The wild barbarian must choose a single animal form for each size. Once chosen, it is permanent.

A wild barbarian loses his ability to speak while in animal form because he is limited to the sounds that a normal, untrained animal can make, but he can communicate normally with other animals of the same general grouping as his new form. (The normal sound a wild parrot makes is a squawk, so changing to this form does not permit speech.)

A wild barbarian can use this ability an additional time per day at 3rd level and every two levels thereafter, for a total of ten times at 19th level. At 20th level, a wild barbarian can use wild shape at will. As a wild barbarian gains levels, this ability allows the wild barbarian to take on the form of larger and smaller animals. Each form expends one daily use of this ability, regardless of the form taken.

At 4th level, a wild barbarian can also use wild shape to change into a Large or Tiny animal. A wild barbarian's wild shape now functions as beast shape II.

At 7th level, a wild barbarian can also use wild shape to change into a Huge or Diminutive animal. A wild barbarian's wild shape now functions as beast shape III.

At 10th level, a wild barbarian’s wild shape now functions as beast shape IV.

This ability replaces rage, greater rage, tireless rage, and mighty rage.

The shields are light. I probably mis-calculated a point.

I'm thinking of doing something similar - a barbarian archetype that trades rage for wild shape and possibly rage powers for beast powers.

I see the reasoning behind it now. Thanks.

Under core combat rules, readying a shield (which I am assuming means drawing and buckling it, so correct me if I'm wrong there), is a move action.

Then we get this addenudum:
If you have a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, you can combine one of these actions with a regular move. If you have the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, you can draw two light or one-handed weapons in the time it would normally take you to draw one.

This leads me to believe that I can pull my sword and heavy or light shield off my back during a regular move, provided I have TWF.

Now, the quickdraw shield states this:
If you have a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, you may don or put away a quickdraw shield as a swift action combined with a regular move. If you have the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, you can draw a light or one-handed weapon with one hand and a quickdraw shield with the other in the time it would normally take you to draw one weapon.

Isn't this behavior inherent to all shields? What makes the quickdraw shield special? It seems like the language here implicitly limits what you could do with regular shields.

Help me out, please!

Here's the dual shielder NPC I drafted up for my campaign:

Orion the Shield
N Human Warrior 7
Init +4; Sense Perception +1

Defense
AC 24, touch 17, flat-footed 17
HP 45 (7d10+7)
Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +3

Offense
Speed 20 ft.
Melee: Razorshield +12 (1d8+2/x2)
Full Atk: Razorshield +12/+7 (1d8+1/x2)
Full Atk: Razorshield +10/+7 (1d8+1/x2), Razorshield +10/+7 (1d8+1/x2)

Statistics
STR 14, DEX 18, CON 13, INT 10, WIS 12, CHA 8
Base Atk +7/+2; CMB +9; CMD 16
Feats: Improved Shield Bash, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Shield Focus, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse
Skills: Craft (armor) +7, Profession (gladiator) +8
Languages: Common
Equipment: breastplate +1, 2 bashing razorshields +1 (Razorshields have a bladed edge. They function as spiked shields but deal slashing instead of piercing damage.)

I feel special now. And unintentionally ornery.

I am a level 4 Barbarian urban rager I can boost my STR to 22 a x number of times a day I Can choose to stay raged for a24 hours if i wish as long as i don't sleep so i dont understand the mechanix does rage subside? at some point that I have been missing?

Yes, rage subsides after a specified number of rounds. It's dependent on your CON and your barbarian level, I believe. And once you drop out of rage, the fatigue messes you up.

big post

Totally not offended, Mr. Jacobs. Thanks for your input!

Show me something from anything—history, movies, comic books, whatever—that's not an RPG— where someone uses two shields in a cool fighting style that doesn't look lame and actually looks like it works to both defend and fight... then we'll talk!

I was thinking vibroshields from Star Wars (from the book Shatterpoint).

In addition, you can take Close Weapons as your primary weapon group so your main and off hand have the max bonus.

If you have bashing spiked light shields, I think they'd do a d8 each. So you basically have a pair of longswords that count as light weapons, and you're still getting a good shield bonus to AC. Not too shabby. My fighter is sword and board himself, but this NPC I crafted is cool, too.

Holding two shields won't give you any extra shield bonus, but a fighter with the proper feats that wields enhanced/spiked/bashing shields is going to be dishing out solid damage while still getting an AC bonus from them. Is there a good reason not to do this? I put together a warrior NPC who fights like this with "razorshields" (functionally the same as spiked, but they have bladed edges and deal slashing instead of piercing), and I like him a lot.

Yeah, I'll have to somehow convey that staying and fighting is a bad idea. Our primary tank PC dropped out of the game last session, so when I'm running, we don't have one (as I play the only other melee guy currently). As I thought about how to solve this problem, I came to the conclusion that we don't have to be stuck in typical combat all the time. It's often slow and drags at the narrative, so I'm going to try to take what's cool about it (action, sweet kills, etc) and put it into something quicker. Hopefully the party roles will remain more or less intact. The cleric will still be able to buff and unleash positive energy on the hordes of undead. The sorcerer will still get to blast away. The ranger will shoot his crossbows as he ducks and weaves through the masses. They'll just be doing these things in a more cinematic way, and taking out the enemy's HP won't be the only goal.

I'm going to try out something a little different in my next game. I'm looking to slightly modify the chase rules to expand them into action rules. The players will be moving through an icy castle filled with zombies, and they'll be harassed by a frost giant along the way. I think I'll just add some combat options to the normal chase options, but I want to keep it all rather fast-paced and exciting. I'll also throw in some hidden saving throws along the way. For instance, the rogue will be dashing down a narrow hall when the giant's fist comes through the wall, and she'll have to make a Reflex save to slide under the attack and not get pummeled. What are your general thoughts on the idea itself, and how can I make it really action-packed and exciting?

Here's my first stab at a homebrew drake:

Mountian Drake
N Large Dragon
Init +8; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +11
Defense
AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+4 Dex, +6 natural, -1 size)
hp 50 (5d10+25)
Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +4
Offense
Speed 20 ft., fly 80 ft. (average)
Melee bite +10 (1d8+5), tail slap +5 (1d8+2)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Statistics
Str 20, Dex 18, Con 21, Int 5, Wis 11, Cha 12
Base Atk +5; CMB +10; CMD 19
Feats Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Climb +13, Fly +10, Intimidate +9, Perception +11, Stealth +8
Languages Draconic (cannot speak)

It's abilities are generally higher (more on par with my current heavy horse), though it has no real special abilities. It's not as bright as other drakes, though it is faster. What would the CR/Cohort Level be on something like this? Or how could this be a better rounded mount?

Thanks again, Cheapy. That definitely makes one a viable choice for my fighter later on. I'm leaning heavily toward a drake as well, since they're pretty lithe-looking. I just need to homebrew a neutral or good one.

Checked out Dragonne. Totally sweet and definitely in the running, though there's some mumbo jumbo about a required druid level to have it as a cohort? Maybe I'm reading that wrong, but we'd probably handwave that away anyway.

Oh yeah, I remember that pdf. I'll check it out.

I have indeed checked out Dragon Horse. They're really awesome, though probably too powerful. I've considered a toned-down version. I don't have Bestiary 3, so I haven't been able to check those out yet.

I'm looking for a good end-game mount for my sword and shield fighter His end-game self will likely be in mithral full plate of speed and wielding a mithral frost longsword and mithral quickdraw shield, and I want a style-appropriate mount. I was originally thinking about getting a silver dragon with the Leadership feat, but my fighter would have to be really high level to get it (and we may cap out around 16), and I'm not sure if that's exactly what I want yet. Right now I'm looking at making a neutral or good variation of the frost drake, preferably with a level of fighter so I can give it medium mithral armor. What kinds of changes might make its cohort level more on par with, say, a griffon? I'm thinking less intelligence and possibly no speaking ability might make it feel more like a mount (albeit still a sentient one) and less like an NPC.

Alternately, I'm open to other mount suggestions from the bestiaries or mythologies.

Cool, thanks.