I'll be joining a level 1 campaign shortly and I'm having some difficulty figuring out my character's backstory (and potentially their long-term goals). The campaign is a homebrew set on Golarion, so standard Pathfinder lore is applicable. The campaign will start with us taking on work at a town in Isger to clear out a monster nest, but other than that we don't really know what the campaign will be about. The GM wants to run a largely free-form campaign that's designed to be reactive to our decisions while having an overarching goal for us to achieve (but we don't know what that goal is yet). After speaking with the other members (and the GM, of course), we decided we wanted to run an evil or, at the very least, morally ambiguous party.
After quite a bit of indecisiveness, I finally decided to make a Soulbound Summoner with a demon eidolon. The eidolon is flavored as a Shadow Demon and will be built accordingly, and the oracle curse I decided to take was "Possessed" as it seemed like a natural fit. Furthermore, I'm taking the Umbral Unmasking drawback where my PC will have a monstrous shadow when the eidolon is not summoned, and will have no shadow when it is summoned. As for race, I haven't settled on anything as of yet. Nearly every race is on the table, including drow; nothing overpowered or particularly outlandish though. Half-elf is the current front-runner if for no other reason than the favored class bonus, but it's certainly not locked in.
And now I seem to have hit a creative wall. Normally I'd design my character around the campaign (I usually play APs) and would have their backstories and long-term goals based on the that, but the free-form nature of this campaign is throwing me off my game. So now I look to the esteemed members of this community to help me get some inspiration.
The background I vaguely have in mind is that my PC's soul and the Shadow Demon's soul have become irrevocably bound in some way. As to how and why...that's the part I'm hung up on. Perhaps the Shadow Demon possessed my PC and something happened during the possession? Or some sort of deal was struck between the two? Or some sort of curse caused the two souls to be bound? Basically it's "What happened that caused them to be bound?". I'm hoping that if I can get a satisfying background that'll help me determine what the character's personal goal/s will be.
If anyone has any cool ideas I'd love to steal them gain inspiration from them.
I thank everyone that posted and after reading through the comments it appears that a reasonable conclusion is that, by RAW, the Synthesist doesn't gain the UnEidolon's subtype for "effects that relate to type." That being said, it seems like one could make a reasonable argument to say that they do; at the very least for negative effects. However, even if that is the case, the Synthesist still doesn't qualify as a subtype for the purposes of meeting prerequisites.
The synthesist specifies that "He counts both as his original type and as an outsider for any effect related to type, whichever is worse for the synthesist." This was before the unchained summoner was introduced and, by extension, before eidolon subtypes were introduced. My question is whether an UnSummoner synthesist can be targeted by effects that only work on certain subtypes i.e. angel, demon, devil etc. Furthermore, would the synthesist be able to qualify for feats and such that have subtype requirements? For example:
"Demonic Possession
Prerequisites: Demon or half-demon, Cha 21, Wis 17
Benefit: You gain the ability to use magic jar as a spell-like ability once per day."
Hello all,
I'm currently running a Ruins of Azlant campaign for some friends and we're nearing the end of book 2. The campaign hasn't featured a substantial amount of underwater combat thus far so we've been keeping things fairly simple for the most part, but after skimming through book 3 it looks like it'll play a greater role in the coming books. That being said, I was wondering if anyone knows of a pre-existing cheatsheet for all the aquatic rules (including those introduced in Aquatic Adventures) that I can print out and have handy. I was planning on making one myself, but I thought I'd save myself some trouble and see if someone had already beat me to the punch.
How are your players running out of money at the start? I tend to run out of bulk before money. Right now my Druid has a scimitar, hide armor, hand crossbow 40 bolts, climbing kit, backpack, torches, compass, silk rope, rations(5), bedroll, waterskin, sheathe, and chalk. And I still have 50sp and 6cp left.
I've only made an Alchemist so far, so I can't speak towards the purchases of the other classes. But that being said, I can definitely tell you I burned through my initial 150 sp a lot quicker than I thought I would.
So I made a goblin alchemist, and here were the initial purchases.
-Dagger: 2 sp
-Studded Leather: 30 sp
-Ordinary Clothing: 1 sp
-Satchel: 1 sp
-Alchemist's Tools: 60 sp
-Cookware: 10 sp
-Bedroll: 0.1 sp
-Waterskin: 0.5 sp
-Rations x5: 2.5 sp
And because I found the Alchemist has problems with bulk, I bought these two things to compensate.
-Riding Dog: 40 sp
-Saddlebags: 2 sp
Total: 149.1 sp
Now obviously a lot of those aren't "necessary" purchases, but even if I ditched all the unnecessary stuff and just got a better weapon spread it'd still drain the funds pretty quickly.
You're right though that in a lot of circumstances Bulk is going to be the key factor, not money. But basically anybody that wants to buy tools or a kit will have to spend a pretty substantial chunk of their starting wealth on it.
I think instead of increasing wealth or offering a kit for free, they should just reduce the price on a lot of the tools and kits. At least for the base versions.
At the very least I think Alchemists should start with Alchemist's tools. The damn things are 60 sp. That's a pretty big chunk of your starting wealth you have to spend if you want to use one of the class's core features.
At the very least I think Alchemists should start with Alchemist's tools. The damn things are 60 sp. That's a pretty big chunk of your starting wealth you have to spend if you want to use one of the class's core features.
So my PF group is going to try the playtest AP pretty soon, and I decided to build an Alchemist for my first character. It was during character creation that I realized that the game doesn't seem to address how things like backpacks work. So it reads, "A backpack can hold up to 4 Bulk worth of items. If you are carrying or stowing a backpack rather than wearing it on your back, it has light Bulk instead of negligible." After checking the forums, most people agree that it doesn't increase your bulk, but merely acts as a means to hold your gear. But the question I have is whether there is anything in the game that requires it? Now one could argue that it's common sense that you'd need a container to carry your things, but I suppose my question is at what point? Like, one presumably has pockets, right? How much could those hold?
If I wanted to build a character (who is carrying an adventurer's worth of gear) but didn't have a backpack, belt pouch, satchel, etc. is there any actual mechanical effect? And frankly speaking, using a backpack is an objectively worse option than just storing your things in your "pockets" since "Retrieving an item stowed in your own backpack requires detaching the backpack first with a separate Interact action." So unless your GM is houseruling it for common sense sake, why would anyone wear a backpack?
If the AP has interactive maps, the AP PDFs come with them. The separate maps PDF is therefore only useful if you aren’t getting the AP PDFs (for example, if you have physical copies of the AP). The product description on the interactive maps page mentions this fact.
The personalizing process just adds your name and order number to every page in the PDF; it doesn’t combine products together.
I checked the webpages for the books and didn't see anything about the interactive maps there so I didn't think they came with it. Now I see the interactive maps webpage mentions it.
Hello all, I just purchased the first three books of the Iron Gods AP + the Iron Gods Interactive Maps PDF. I downloaded the first book and noticed the ZIP file had both the book 1 pdf and the book 1 interactive maps. After which I downloaded the interactive maps pdf to double-check and it's the exact same file as the one bundled with the book 1 pdf.
So I was wondering if the book pdfs already come with the interactive maps and I purchased something I didn't need? Or does the "personalizing" that occurs when you click on the link add the interactive maps to my book 1 download for convenience?
If you want a Dex build then you might consider taking advantage of the Elven racial weapons.
Mindblades have proficiency with all martial weapons so an Elf with the Weapon Familiarity Racial Trait or a Half-Elf with the Weapon Familiarity Alternate Racial Trait consider all of the following as racial weapons and would have proficiency with all of them.
...
Wow, that's actually a really cool idea. Basically you'd make the character into a master of elven weaponry, which has some really cool thematic potential. It's not what I originally envisioned but now I'm definitely considering it.
I play a Mindblade Magus in Pathfinder Society. I gave up on the ability to use spell combat and instead opted to use a reach weapon (Fauchard, 1d10 17-20) and Combat Reflexes to make up the difference and allow me to cast easier in combat.
I went with:
Str 18 (16+2 racial)
Dex 14
Con 12 (This I do regret)
Int 14
Wis 10
Cha 8
If I had to do it over I might dip Str a bit to raise Con a 14. I can honestly say that the only reason this char is still alive is cause of a boon that increases the death threshold. As a side note, as a Mindblade you can grab silence as a spell, it won't affect you but will shut down most enemy casters (and I guess ally casters too).
Are you enjoying the archetype so far? And did you decide just to stick with Light Armor? Also Silence is a great suggestion. I hadn't even thought of that.
Bloodrealm wrote:
What you would focus on for spells is buffs spells and spells that give you multiple attacks (like Chill Touch and Frostbite) instead of just one (like Shocking Grasp). This is mostly because you want to avoid Concentration checks as much as possible due to the Thought component of psychic magic (buffs can be cast beforehand, and multi-touch spells can be cast just before you enter threatened area and then used with Spellstrike potentially for multiple rounds; remember you can cast, 5-foot step, then attack with spell combat) and because you don't have Spell Recall like a normal Magus. Having good DCs is really nice, though, as touch debuffs are usually pretty great and your access to the Psychic spell list lets you pick up some really good stuff for both touch range and when you're away from that.
For armour, you can use a Chain Shirt to get the most armour bonus from Light Armour without pumping Dex really high, and (this is a bit gamey) later on get MithralKikko Armour which has an AC Bonus of 5, a Max Dex of 6, and an Armour Check Penalty of 0 (which means no penalty for non-proficiency). It may or may not be worth it for the price, but it does give more AC than the Chain Shirt.
Another option is, yes, just getting Medium Armour Proficiency and wearing a Breastplate since a Mindblade is a psychic caster.
Overall, you'll definitely need a moderately respectable Dex, though if you want to be Two-Weapon Fighting you're going to need more than that. Unfortunately, two-handed doesn't fully come online until 13th level (when you become able to use Spell Combat with two-handed weapons, though you can still Spellstrike with them right out of the gate).
Somehow I completely forgot about two-weapon fighting. Chill touch + TWF could incapacitate enemies pretty quick, which is awesome, but that'd definitely mean pumping Dex. Otherwise I agree that the thought component is definitely a limiting factor for Spell Combat. Finding a play style to work around it sounds fun though.
So I've been throwing around the idea of making a Mindblade Magus lately because I find it to be a very cool archetype with amazing versatility. However, I can't really decide how the ability scores should be distributed. In order to make the most of the weapon versatility I feel like a high strength score is required, but the fact that the Mindblade gives up Medium and Heavy armor proficiency means that he'd need Dex to compensate. Of course being a Magus would also mean I'd need a moderately high Int for spellcasting. And then if you take into account the d8 hit dice for a melee character you'd also need a respectable Con. In fact it's similar to the Monk in many regards, just changing Wis to Int.
I figure I'd basically need to keep Int to the bare minimum and mostly rely more on attack spells and less on saving throw spells. Other than that the options I've considered so far are taking the medium and/or heavy armor proficiency feats since the Mindblade is an occult caster and therefore doesn't suffer from spell failure and keeping Dex low. Alternatively I could keep both Str and Dex balanced but I'd be sacrificing both attack and defense at that point.
I'm curious to see if anybody else has played a Mindblade Magus or a similar character and what they're experience has taught them. Or if anybody has any other ideas I hadn't considered I'd be happy to hear them.
Though regarding a social identity, the blacksmith is really a full time job and something very noticable if they go missing at odd hours the day (a medieval town needs it's blacksmith). Perhaps you are an apprentice blacksmith, or something similiar, and are able to create magic items only through cooperative crafting with your NPC master Blacksmith. An apprentice that goes missing at odd hours would not be that unusual.
Like a mentioned a couple lines up he's actually a...
I hate that site cuts off long posts.
Even if in a big city, blacksmiths won't be able to disappear unnoticed. Smithing is loud. The blacksmith require regular shipments of materials, which requires the smithy to be attended. Plus it would be really expensive for the blacksmith to operate like this. Fuel for the forge is expensive and benefits from the flames never going out. More so if you smelt metal (a steel foundry, for example, would be destroyed if you allowed it to cool. It works while the metal flows, but if it solidfies in the wrong spot you'll have a real problem).
A traveling blacksmith...only in a fantasy setting, I suppose. A quality blacksmith requires a full shop, with proper forge and so forth. I suppose, a magically smithy that fits in your pocket could result in a traveling blacksmith with the ability make magic items on the go.... Should still consider looking into the timetables required to make magic items. Certainly not something a traveling character could do normally. I suppose with ship, or similiar sized vehicle, you could set up a smithy, but it's a bad idea on a wooden ship...
You could still do simple repairs and smithing on the go. Cold Hammering and such, but you need a proper smithy for a lot of things.
I definitely don't know anything about smithing in real life, but I was just using the available Pathfinder materials to make it work. Like, the heavy wagon is 8 squares large.
Heavy Wagon:
This large, four-wheeled vehicle is primarily used in caravans to transport goods over long stretches of territory.
Huge Land vehicle
Squares 8 (10 ft. by 20 ft.; 5 feet high); Cost 100 gp
And the forge is 8-16 squares large, so it should technically fit.
Forge:
Benefit counts as masterwork artisan’s tools for smithing skills
A Forge includes a hearth, an anvil, a slack tub, metalworking tools, and other appropriate materials for shaping iron and other metals. A Forge counts as masterwork artisan’s tools for up to three people working on metalworking skills such as Craft (armor) and Craft (weapons).
And while, yes, it probably would be more cost prohibitive in the real world, we're not sticklers to quite that degree. All this is basically so I can still craft even if we end up leaving the city.
Um, your character, is the fluff already set? There is a vigilante archetype that gets armor training. Bit extreme flavor wise.
Masked Maiden
Gets armor training and armor mastery in place of social talents at 3/7/11/15/19.
However, Master Craftsman and Craft Arms&Armor the advanced armor training gives you can only make ARMOR, not weapons.
Haha, yeah, the fluff's definitely set in stone. And even if it wasn't this character is actually one I'm playing in Curse of the Crimson Throne, so that archetype really wouldn't make any sense. But yeah, it sucks since its an option that's simultaneously really close at hand but also couldn't be further away, metaphorically speaking.
toastedamphibian wrote:
On a side note, If your willing to take 3 levels in fighter to make this work, have you considered just taking 3 levels in a casting class?
An even easier solution would be for me to take the "Minor Magic (Sp)" Vigilante talent, as it'd give me a full CL spell-like ability so I wouldn't have any issue qualifying for crafting feats. Unfortunately my character doesn't do magic, for personal reasons, so the conventional methods of getting a CL are off the table. I know, I know, I really boxed myself in, but I like to build according to the backstory I've developed for him even if it's sub-optimal.
Murdock Mudeater wrote:
Though regarding a social identity, the blacksmith is really a full time job and something very noticable if they go missing at odd hours the day (a medieval town needs it's blacksmith). Perhaps you are an apprentice blacksmith, or something similiar, and are able to create magic items only through cooperative crafting with your NPC master Blacksmith. An apprentice that goes missing at odd hours would not be that unusual.
Like a mentioned a couple lines up he's actually a character in Curse of the Crimson Throne so even if his social identity needs to "disappear" for a bit, there's definitely no shortage of blacksmiths in a city that size. Besides that, I bought a heavy wagon,a pack animal, and a forge (from downtime rules) so he's actually a self-employed travelling blacksmith, so customers not seeing him for a a couple days would be pretty normal anyways.
Somehow getting advanced armor training would net you both master crafter armor and CMA&A if you can somehow swing it?
As far as I can tell the most efficient way to do so would be to take three levels in fighter and then take the Advanced Armor Training feat.
It's not a bad idea, as a three level dip in fighter doesn't really hurt an Avenger Vigilante too much, other than delaying some of the scaling talents that key off vigilante class levels. Definitely something to consider, thank you.
I guess I should ask: why not take Master Craftsman? Wouldn't that be in line with what, say, a talented blacksmith would want as his or her 5th-level feat? After all, that +2 will help with those prerequisites you're missing. It mitigates a little noncaster penalty, it does delay (yay, retraining? At least, that's what I did) but you still can get in on making magic, and it fits your cover identity to where no-one would think twice to see that you have textbooks on mystic forging if they ransack your shop.
Basically because it's not very good. If I wanted to be able to craft magic weapons, armor, and bows I'd have put skills ranks into all three skills and have to take the Master Craftsman feat three times (which I don't think is even legal by RAW).
Now don't get me wrong, if it comes to it I'll take Master Craftsman (probably for Craft (Weapons), I just wanted to explore other options first.
The toilcrafter trait allows you to use your craft skill as your CL for magic arms and armors.
This means you can then take Craft Magic Arms and Armors, although you will have to roll higher than most, or partner up with your party buddies that have spells.
Benefit: Choose one Craft or Profession skill in which you have at least 1 rank. Ranks in your chosen skill count as your caster level for the purpose of qualifying for the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat. You may craft +1 armor, weapons, or shields (with no special qualities), substituting your rank in the chosen skill for your caster level. You must use the chosen skill for the check to create the item. Crafting in this fashion takes twice as long as normal. These items cannot be upgraded with new abilities.
Damn, that is almost exactly what I was looking for. Unfortunately it's limited to worshipers of Droskar and it's too stifled by limiting it to just +1 gear (especially since you still need to take the feat). Good find, though.
Without a caster level what is the point? The feats do nothing for you. That's why Master Craftsman lets you use skill ranks as your caster level.
Sorry, I worded it poorly. What I should have said was "How can I craft magical items without being a spellcaster or having a spell-like ability."
I'm playing an avenger vigilante whose social identity is a blacksmith and I'd like him to be able to eventually craft magical arms and armor. The minor magic vigilante talent isn't an option for in-character reasons, so I was exploring other options besides just Master Craftsman.
Hello all, I was wondering if anybody knew of a way to gain magic item creation feats without having a caster level. I already know about the 'Master Craftsman' feat, but I was wondering if there were any other options.
Instead of starting a new thread I thought I'd just revive this one since I have the exact same question. I'm building an Order of the Land Cavalier for Ironfang Invasion and was wondering if it's Challenge bonus applies to Far Challenges. Thank you.
Because a colossal dagger isn't a light weapon unless you're a colossal creature? The biggest damage dice you'll be getting as a medium creature are 2d8 by exploiting the fact that a bastard sword is both a one-handed and two-handed weapon. Its 1d10 damage dice jumps to 2d8 after a size increase, rather than 2d6.
Ah, I'd always interpreted it that each weapon was 'set' in it's designation, like a greatsword is classified as a two-handed weapon in the same way it's classified as a martial weapon, and that using a small greatsword meant that you were "effectively" wielding it as a one-handed weapon. So does that mean a tiny sized greatsword can be finessed, with a -4 penalty?
Actually, after looking through the forums it looks like there is a lot of contention about a weapon's "true handedness" vs it's "effective handedness", like this thread, for example.
This is probably a long shot, but did Paizo every release any rulings on this?
Because a colossal dagger isn't a light weapon unless you're a colossal creature? The biggest damage dice you'll be getting as a medium creature are 2d8 by exploiting the fact that a bastard sword is both a one-handed and two-handed weapon. Its 1d10 damage dice jumps to 2d8 after a size increase, rather than 2d6.
Ah, I'd always interpreted it that each weapon was 'set' in it's designation, like a greatsword is classified as a two-handed weapon in the same way it's classified as a martial weapon, and that using a small greatsword meant that you were "effectively" wielding it as a one-handed weapon. So does that mean a tiny sized greatsword can be finessed, with a -4 penalty?
Johnnycat93 wrote:
I'd question the versatility of a weapon that your character literally can't wield, even if they could summon it instantly.
I agree that summoning a colossal weapon wouldn't have much versatility outside of this specific spell. Also, shrinking would work, but it runs into the whole material component problem where you'd be spending 3000+ gp per cast.
No, they can manifest light, one-handed, and two-handed weapons. In this context, determining if a weapon is light, one-handed, or two-handed is tied directly to the magus' size. That is, a medium magus could manifest a large dagger as a one-handed weapon rather than a light one.
How do I tell if the ability is calling for the interpretation you've provided vs the standard weapon tiering that uses the same wording?
Johnnycat93 wrote:
Why not just buy a colossal sword as a focus component if this is what you're getting at? It skips a step (though I can probably guess the answer already since this looks like a Fate/Stay cosplay).
The spell calls for a material component, not a focus component, so you'd have to provide one every time you cast. Furthermore, there aren't a lot of great ways to transport a weapon of that size so being able to call one to your hand is a great benefit as far as versatility is concerned. Also I've never seen the Fate/Stay series.
Hello all, I just have a few questions or clarifications to make in regards to how the Mindblade's weapon manifesting interacts with the spell Storm of Blades.
Psychic Pool (Su) wrote:
A mindblade gains a psychic pool, similar to a normal magus's arcane pool. At 1st level, a mindblade can expend 1 point from her psychic pool as a standard action to manifest a light melee weapon of her choice, formed from psychic energy. By spending 2 points, the mindblade can manifest a one-handed melee weapon, and by spending 3 points, she can manifest a two-handed melee weapon (but not a double weapon). This psychic weapon can last indefinitely, but it vanishes if it leaves the mindblade's hand. The mindblade can dismiss a held psychic weapon as a free action. When a psychic weapon vanishes, the mindblade regains the psychic energy used to create it. She can maintain only one weapon at a time.
At 1st level, a psychic weapon counts as a magic weapon of whatever type the mindblade selected, with a +1 enhancement bonus. At 3rd level and every 3 levels thereafter, the weapon's enhancement bonus increases by 1, up to maximum of +5 at 12th level. Starting at 5th level, the mindblade can add any of the weapon special abilities listed in the arcane pool class feature in place of these bonuses, although the weapon must maintain at least a +1 bonus to benefit from any weapon special abilities. At 15th and 18th levels, the weapon gains an additional +1 enhancement bonus, which the mindblade can spend only on weapon special abilities.
My first question is whether the mindblade's manifested weapon can serve as the material component for the spell Storm of Blades?
Secondly, can a mindblade summon a weapon of any size? I don't see anything in the text that limits it's size like almost every other weapon manifesting ability. This ties into my last question.
Third, if yes to the first two questions, could a mindblade manifest a colossal weapon and use it as a material component to summon and attack with 5 colossal sized weapons?
Hmm, the wording is indeed ambiguous, but I guess the intention is that it just applies to the chosen Craft (x) or Profession (y) skill.
While it would make sense for the special case of Heal and long-term care, it doesn't for Intimidate, Diplomacy, Sense Motive and whatever. Not even for a Heal check to stabilize...
Yeah, there are very few skill applications other than Craft or Profession that take longer than 4 hours. Perhaps using Spellcraft to make magic items? Though I'm curious how that might interact with the clause about mundane uses, though that does specifically call out Craft and Profession and nothing else.
So if the Social Grace portion of the talent is it's own thing unrelated to the first part of the talent, could a Craft skill be used for magical crafting, or does the clause about "mundane uses" still apply?
Hello all, I was wondering if someone can help me understand the Double Time Social Talent, specifically the part I've bolded.
Double Time wrote:
The vigilante's social identity is that of a skilled and respected artisan or professional, rather than a merchant or noble. In order to complete his day's work while still continuing his vigilante activities, he has learned to work faster than normal, hiding his progress so it seems like he is working full shifts at his day job rather than spending some of that time on other pursuits. The vigilante needs to spend only 6 hours each day for mundane uses of the Craft or Profession skill, rather than 8 hours. If he has the social grace social talent, he needs to spend only 4 hours for any skill he's chosen with social grace. A vigilante must have a social identity appropriate to the chosen skill to select this talent.
I'm confused by what "any skill" is supposed to encapsulate. Does this mean "any Craft or Profession skill he's chosen with Social Grace"? Or does it mean that any skill that has a application that takes longer than 4 hours can instead by done in 4 hours, like providing long-term care with Heal for example? I guess I'm just trying to figure out how interconnected the first part of the Double Time talent and the Social Grace talent are supposed to be, if at all.
As for how OP it is, it depends on the archetypes in question and what kind of campaign you're in. Most archetypes make you more specialized in certain areas, which is good in campaigns with themes that match your specialization. But in general archetypes are considered weaker than their original class.
But all that aside, remember that the GM has the final call. If you find your GM being too unreasonable, then excuse yourself from the campaign.
i think i read some where that you can craft a chain weapon from your slave chains or shackles. if there isn't then i must have seen it in some D&D stuff.
I couldn't find a feat or trait that was flavored like that, but the half-orc has an alternate racial feature called "Chain Fighter" that might be what you're looking for.
Chain Fighter: Some half-orcs have escaped from slavery and reforged the chains of their imprisonment into deadly weapons. Half-orcs with this racial trait are proficient with flails and heavy flails, and treat dire flails and spiked chains as martial weapons. This racial trait replaces weapon familiarity.
The Staff-Like Wand ability has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. That just lets you use your own CL and mod instead of the items. What I'm saying is that the Arcane Training lets you use spell trigger and spell completion items as though they were one level higher. The RAW seems clear as day to me but you must be reading it in a way that I'm not. I suppose arguing it is pointless though as we seem to be reading it two different ways.
This is definitely what's happening.
You are saying the ability allows you to use the item as if it (the item) was one level higher.
What is actually happening is that you are using the item as if you (the half elf) were one level higher.
If you were a level 3 witch trying to activate a scroll of Cure Light Wounds set at CL1, the racial trait allows you to use that scroll as if you, the witch, were one level higher. So you are treated as a level 4 witch trying to activate a CL1 scroll, not a level 3 witch trying to activate a CL2 scroll.
Chance Wade wrote:
Quote:
They can use spell trigger and spell completion items for their favored class as if one level higher.
It doesn't mention anything about it increasing your CL or the item's CL, just that you use the item at one level higher.
Critical difference bolded.
EDIT: to clarify further, it's a grammar thing.
"As if" one level higher doesn't work in the context as applying to the item. It effectively reads "You can do [this thing] at +1 level".
Usage of the word "at", as you used in the quoted text, implies a different grammatical context entirely. In this reading, it sounds more like "You can do [this thing at +1 level]", which is the erroneous reading.
To further clarify, the effect of you lack levels in your favored class is to use items as if you were a first level caster of that class. It flows better if seen as "using the ability as if a level higher increases from 0 to 1", than if seen as "you don't have...
You know, my whole confusion with the ability could have been easily fixed by adding a couple of words.
You guys were reading it as:
Quote:
You can use spell trigger and spell completion items for their favored class as if you are one level higher.
While I was reading it as:
Quote:
They can use spell trigger and spell completion items for their favored class as if the item were one level higher.
But I see what you guys mean now. Let this be a lesson kids, grammar is important.
If you want to see an ability that does let you do what you're talking about please see:
Quote:
Staff-Like Wand
Your research has unlocked a new power in conjunction with using a wand.
Prerequisite: You must be at least an 11th-level Wizard and must have the Craft Staff feat to select this discovery.
Benefit: Similar to using a magic staff, you use your own Intelligence score and relevant feats to set the DC for saves against spells you cast from a wand, and you can use your caster level when activating the power of a wand if it’s higher than the caster level of the wand.
Notice how it directly says you can use your caster level.
Arcane Training is talking about being able to activate items:
Quote:
They can use spell trigger and spell completion items for their favored class as if one level higher (or as a 1st-level character if they have no levels in that class).
The parenthetical really helps to clarify what they're talking about. But you see there is no mention of caster level at all, it's only talking about being able to activate spell trigger/completion items. Basically you count as one level higher for these, or as a 1st level character of the appropriate class if you don't take levels in it.
The Staff-Like Wand ability has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. That just lets you use your own CL and mod instead of the items. What I'm saying is that the Arcane Training lets you use spell trigger and spell completion items as though they were one level higher. The RAW seems clear as day to me but you must be reading it in a way that I'm not. I suppose arguing it is pointless though as we seem to be reading it two different ways.
I may be mistaken, but I believe it also treats your CL as 1 level higher when resolving the effects of spell trigger and spell completion items. For example, say you're a Wizard with a CL 1 Wand of Burning Hands, when you use the wand you cast it as a CL 2 Burning Hands.
No, doesn't do this, unless you also have an ability that allows you to use your CL instead of the wand's CL when casting the spell (that ability does exist).
Wait, why not? Isn't that literally what the ability says?
Quote:
They can use spell trigger and spell completion items for their favored class as if one level higher.
It doesn't mention anything about it increasing your CL or the item's CL, just that you use the item at one level higher.
I may be mistaken, but I believe it also treats your CL as 1 level higher when resolving the effects of spell trigger and spell completion items. For example, say you're a Wizard with a CL 1 Wand of Burning Hands, when you use the wand you cast it as a CL 2 Burning Hands.
Keeping the item changes in line with Disguise Self's changing parameters is a really good idea, thank you. You're right that it requires a lot of GM fiat so that's something I'll need to speak to him about.
And let's be honest the difference between 'your equipment actually changing' and 'your equipment appearing different but with no chance to perceive that difference' is largely irrelevant.
Is this the case? Even though it doesn't offer a saving throw anymore I don't believe that equates to "no chance to perceive that difference". They're just forced to notice the difference via other methods.
dragonhunterq wrote:
That said I don't believe the underlying mechanics of your equipment can be changed by this effect. I guess if push comes to shove your longspear can look and feel like a dagger but retain reach while not actually being an illusion because magic.
This is the entire contradiction I'm trying to figure out. How can a longspear that is polymorphed into a dagger still have all the qualities of a longspear? And say somebody else grabs the polymorphed object? Do they feel a dagger? Or do they feel a longspear?
Hello all, my GM and fellow player's in our Hell's Vengeance campaign are trying to figure out exactly how this ability functions. I'm playing an Intrigue Oracle and thought it was a really neat ability, but the level 7 feature raises some questions. For reference:
Assumed Form (Sp) wrote:
You can change your appearance at will, as disguise self with a caster level equal to your oracle level.
At 7th level, you can choose to actually transform, which works the same way but counts as a polymorph effect instead of an illusion and doesn't allow a Will save to disbelieve.
At 11th level, the ability lasts until you dismiss it or use it again, allowing you to even keep it active while you sleep.
At 15th level, when you use this ability as a polymorph effect, you can gain the size bonus to your ability scores and additional racial abilities as if using alter self.
The problem we're running into is whether the user's gear becomes part of the disguise. Generally speaking polymorph effects that keep you humanoid keeps your gear from melding.
Polymorph wrote:
When you cast a polymorph spell that changes you into a creature of the animal, dragon, elemental, magical beast, plant, or vermin type, all of your gear melds into your body...
...If your new form does not cause your equipment to meld into your form, the equipment resizes to match your new size.
But it works as disguise self, which says:
Disguise Self wrote:
You make yourself - including clothing, armor, weapons, and equipment - look different. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller, thin, fat, or in between. You cannot change your creature type (although you can appear as another subtype). Otherwise, the extent of the apparent change is up to you. You could add or obscure a minor feature or look like an entirely different person or gender.
The spell does not provide the abilities or mannerisms of the chosen form, nor does it alter the perceived tactile (touch) or audible (sound) properties of you or your equipment. If you use this spell to create a disguise, you get a +10 bonus on the Disguise check. A creature that interacts with the glamer gets a Will save to recognize it as an illusion.
So specific trumps general. But the problem we run into is that "..nor does it alter the perceived tactile (touch) or audible (sound) properties of you or your equipment." So if we follow the idea that specific>general, then we have an issue where it physically alters your equipment without physically altering your equipment, hence the contradiction. Thoughts, anyone?
There is another one: if you use a summoning spell it can get the evil descriptor. You have to be evil and apply the fiendish template to the critter. Otherwise, many share always your alignment (marked with an asterisk) and that will turn the spell also into the subtype of your alignment.
That's a good point. I also believe there are a handful of abjuration spells that work similarly to that and gain the alignment descriptor that is opposite of the alignment they defend against. But it looks like there really aren't many ways to give a spell the evil descriptor.
I'm playing an Oracle in Hell's Vengeance right now with some friends and was interested in taking Damnation feats, specifically Maleficium. So I was wondering if anybody knew of ways to give your spells the "evil" descriptor in order to maximize it's effectiveness? The only method I've found so far is the Diabolist's 2nd level feature "Channel Hellfire".
Channel Hellfire wrote:
At 2nd level, a diabolist can alter spells that deal energy damage to instead deal hellfire damage (see page 5). She can do this as a free action a number of times per day equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum 1). Spells altered to use hellfire gain the lawful and evil descriptors.
I'm free to use any Paizo published material, but no 3rd party material.
If an archetype replaces a class ability that is part of a series of improvements or additions to a base ability (such as a fighter’s weapon training or a ranger’s favored enemy), the next time the character would gain that ability, it counts as the lower-level ability that was replaced by the archetype.
In effect, all abilities in that series are delayed until the next time the class improves that ability. For example, if an archetype replaces a rogue’s +2d6 sneak attack bonus at 3rd level, when she reaches 5th level and gains a sneak attack bonus, her sneak attack doesn’t jump from +1d6 to +3d6— it improves to +2d6, just as if she had finally gained the increase at 3rd level. This adjustment continues for every level at which her sneak attack would improve, until at 19th level she has +9d6 instead of the +10d6 of a standard rogue.
Thank you very much. Not being able to find that was annoying me to no end. You, sir, are a saint.
Hello all, I was wondering if someone can help me find a rule that I'm like 90% sure I've seen somewhere but for the life of me can't find now. The rule I'm referencing is when you lose a low-level class feature (through an archetype or something of the sort), but gain it's higher level version later. I swear there is a rule that says to set the class feature back a tier in those cases, but I can't think of where I saw it or a concise way to search for it.
The specific case I'm looking at in regards to this rule is for the Kapenia Dancer archetype of the Magus. At 1st level the Kapenia Dancer loses all armor proficiencies but at the 7th and 13th levels still receives Medium and Heavy armor proficiencies respectively. So if the rule I mentioned does exist they should instead receive Light armor proficiency at the 7th level and Medium armor proficiency at the 13th. Any help is appreciated, even if it's just to tell me that this rule doesn't exist and I'm crazy.
This is a problem caused by the overuse of the word "armor" in the rules. The text is most likely only referring to armor as equipment, but it is up to your DM to determine how he wants this to work.
I was afraid of that, as I'm trying to make a case of it before talking to him. I was looking around on the forums but couldn't find anything concrete, but does anybody know if there's precedents for this type of thing? For example, do Bracers of Armor or Mage Armor work with the Synthesist?
I was just curious if the Enduring Armor mythic path ability would be compatible with the Synthesist archetype. For reference:
Enduring Armor wrote:
You are protected by armor made of force. This armor grants you an armor bonus to AC equal to 3 + your tier. This ability is an abjuration effect with a spell level equal to your tier. If this armor is dispelled or otherwise ended, you can reactivate it as a swift action.
As for the Synthesist, the relevant bit is as follows:
Fused Eidolon wrote:
While fused, the synthesist loses the benefits of his armor.
And this is assuming that you decided to make the eidolon's AC bonus a natural armor bonus.
This could actually be a hook to get the party involved with the mayor of Magnimar, which is something that happens eventually, anyway. Maybe the mayor finds out what happened with the impersonations and makes some sort of agreement to make the charges go away if the PC's keep quiet.
That's an excellent point, actually. The book describes the Lord-Mayor as being legendarily corrupt and "exceptionally quick-witted", so I could certainly see him waving the charges if the PCs keep quiet about the impostor and agree to investigate the murders for him (which they would have done anyways, just now with no reward). Plus I could use this opportunity to introduce Ironbriar as Kalindlara recommended.
Rub-Eta wrote:
First, you kinda f#+~ed up as the DM, it's writen that they do switch back to their original form once they think the PCs are on their trail or when they're ready to kill the PCs.
Ah, I missed that line, you are correct. Although, I don't know why they would change back anyways...
Personally, I would keep the same PCs. They have a vested interest in Sandpoint and its survival, which is important in the later books. New PCs wouldn't have the same interest in the town, though that could be "hand waved" into their background. But still....
I do like Kalindlara's ideas of having Sheriff Hemlock come into Magnimar to vouch for them. He should have already been to Magnimar to secure extra help after the goblin raid. So he would have a contact or two in the city guards/watch. I would add that the PCs are tasked to eliminate this new aberration menace to Magnimar as part of their release, in spite of Ironbriar's objections. Also, would add that the Sheriff is "out of favors" to provide if the PCs get into trouble again with the authorities.
Hope that helps. :)
I'll just need to ask my players and see if they have a preference. They enjoy their current PCs, but they've also accepted the fact that they have put them into a position where fixing it would be somewhat unrealistic. They're the sorts of players who would rather live with the consequences than have the DM fix all their problems for them.
But if they think the situation for the PCs is salvageable then I will definitely use your guys's suggestions. Thank you.
How have they been doing in Sandpoint? Are they respected there?
If they get caught by the guards, or if enough time passes that word could get to Sandpoint, have Sheriff Hemlock/Father Zantus/another respected citizen show up to vouch for them. This will get the guards off their backs, hopefully long enough for them to find more proof.
You could use this example to foreshadow Ironbriar - have him as the "face of the prosecution", arguing vehemently for their imprisonment and obviously peeved when they get to go free. If they can then show that he's part of the Skinsaw Cult, that should get them enough room to get Xanesha's list, which in turn should earn them a full pardon from the Lord-Mayor.
Thoughts? ^_^
They are greatly respected in Sandpoint, but I'm not sure how much pull any of the notable NPCs have in Magnimar. But I do like the idea of having Ironbriar prosecute them to foreshadow him. Most of their crimes are forgivable, but I'm not sure some can reasonably be hand-waved. Like coup-de-gracing the impostor as the guards were trying to take him away. Yes, he was an impostor but they did kill him in cold blood. And I'm not sure if aberrations have *any* rights as far as being killed in cold-blood. Resisting arrest and assaulting guards also seem particularly egregious, especially when I gave them ample warning to stand down and wait for the investigation to conclude.
I doubt the stalker has any rights here. If anything, it's not so much "hand-waving" as "giving them a chance to clear their names". There's also a little bit of "this is what needs to happen to keep the campaign alive"...
Yeah, if I suspend disbelief a little I could keep these PCs around. Alternatively, my players have mentioned that they would be willing to roll new PCs if necessary, so I have a question for anybody who has gotten further into the campaign. Could a new group feasibly come in at this point and carry on? Or are there things later on that rely on these specific PCs?
I don't have the name right, so forgive me. Has the group run into Jacob Dagal? He was much help to our group. Perhaps Jacob could use some leverage and lead the group in the right direction?
That name doesn't appear in either the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition or Magnimar: City of Monuments.
Perhaps he may have been created for your campaign? ^_^
How have they been doing in Sandpoint? Are they respected there?
If they get caught by the guards, or if enough time passes that word could get to Sandpoint, have Sheriff Hemlock/Father Zantus/another respected citizen show up to vouch for them. This will get the guards off their backs, hopefully long enough for them to find more proof.
You could use this example to foreshadow Ironbriar - have him as the "face of the prosecution", arguing vehemently for their imprisonment and obviously peeved when they get to go free. If they can then show that he's part of the Skinsaw Cult, that should get them enough room to get Xanesha's list, which in turn should earn them a full pardon from the Lord-Mayor.
Thoughts? ^_^
They are greatly respected in Sandpoint, but I'm not sure how much pull any of the notable NPCs have in Magnimar. But I do like the idea of having Ironbriar prosecute them to foreshadow him. Most of their crimes are forgivable, but I'm not sure some can reasonably be hand-waved. Like coup-de-gracing the impostor as the guards were trying to take him away. Yes, he was an impostor but they did kill him in cold blood. And I'm not sure if aberrations have *any* rights as far as being killed in cold-blood. Resisting arrest and assaulting guards also seem particularly egregious, especially when I gave them ample warning to stand down and wait for the investigation to conclude.
So my players have made several RP choices that may or may not be campaign-ending, and I need help figuring out what to do.
The situation: I'm running book two of RotRL and my players have arrived in Magnimar and are inside the Foxglove Townhouse. For those of you not familiar with this encounter, basically two faceless stalkers disguise themselves as Aldern and Iesha Foxglove (both of whom the PCs had dealt with in the Misgivings). After a short conversation, the PCs were able to deduce that they were impostors and instead of attacking they were going to restrain them inside the house and get the authorities. It's at this point I have the impostors proceed to attack and the battle ensues. The morale of the enemy is for one of them to start running if the other goes down, which happens when "Aldern" is knocked unconscious from nonlethal damage. "Iesha" is able to avoid the PCs and escape the Townhouse. Prior to their encounter, however, one of my PCs had his griffon animal companion rest on the roof and make sure nobody could leave the house. So at this point it goes in for the attack and "Iesha" is able to get the attention of some guards before the griffon kills her. Basically, the guards see a random woman killed in the streets by a rogue griffon so they follow it back to the Foxglove Townhouse. I'm going to cut out a bit of the story here, but suffice to say the griffon and the PC owner don't resist and are led to a holding pen.
It's at this point the guards see an unconscious Aldern Foxglove inside the Foxglove Townhouse and three random people whom they assume were robbing this poor man. The guards tried to take "Aldern" to a healer but the PC's thought that if they show he is an impostor, it'll help their case so they attack and kill the unconscious impostor, making it revert to a faceless stalker. Not having a clue what is going on, the guards are non-too-happy that the PCs coup-de-graced someone as they were taking him away. The PCs resisted arrest and knocked out all the guards, and are now on the lam. This doesn't even take into account the influence that Justice Ironbriar would use to lock them up. So I'm not sure how to salvage this campaign.
TL;DR - My players are running from the law and are still guilty of a lot of crimes even if they can prove innocence for some of them. How do I fix this?
