Chance Wade's page

Hello all,

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.

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."

I appreciate any help you can give.

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.

Thank you,
Chance

Hello all,

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?

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?

Hi all,

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.

Thank you

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.

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.

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?

Thank you.

Hello all, I was wondering if someone can help me understand the Double Time Social Talent, specifically the part I've bolded.

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.

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:

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.

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:

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?

Hello all,

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".

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.

Thank you.

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.

Does anybody know whether the HP Retraining rules can be applied to your companion, familiar, or eidolon? Thank you in advance.

I was just curious if the Enduring Armor mythic path ability would be compatible with the Synthesist archetype. For reference:

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:

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.

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?

Does anybody know of any way (outside of house rules) to increase the DC for spells and effects generated by magic items? There are a lot of really neat and unique powers for some magic items, but it seems that by the time the item becomes affordable the DC is trivial for the enemies you're fighting. Any info is appreciated.

I have simple question that I oddly couldn't find on the forums.

When buying and selling a magically enchanted cold iron items, is the extra 2000 gp enchantment cost added to the base value? And if so, would that just be an extra 1000 gp when selling?

I couldn't find this on the forums, though it's probably been asked, but if you were to take levels in Sorcerer and Bloodrager would the Dragon Disciple's Blood of Dragons apply to both bloodlines. I didn't see anything in particular that said it wouldn't apply to both, but I wasn't sure if there was a ruling or a precedent for this type of thing. Thank you.

So I'm looking for an item that may or may not actually exist and I figured I would see if a kind soul on the forums could help me out.

I'm making a Bloodrager/Dragon Disciple who will use natural attacks when bloodraging. I need a weapon for when I'm not bloodraging and I was wondering if there is a weapon like the Trident of the Storm Captain that transforms into a enchantment when criteria 'X' is met. So in this case I'm looking for a weapon that can become a enchantment when his claws grow. I'll be spending some time scouring the magic items on the SRD but I thought I might as well see if someone on the forums could save me some time. Any help is appreciated.

My DM and I are trying to figure out what sort of action is to use the Counter-Summons ability of the Riftwarden prestige class.

Counter-Summons (Su): A Riftwarden can ready an action to use a summon monster spell or spell-like ability as a counterspell, even though the casting time for a summon monster spell is 1 full round. When used this way, the summon monster spell is treated as though quickened to a swift action via the Quicken Spell metamagic feat, though its spell level is not increased, and it can be used only to counterspell. When used to counterspell, a summon monster spell can counter any conjuration (summoning) spell or spell-like ability of its level or lower, including an outsider’s summon ability.

Normally readying an action is a standard action, but is this a case where specific trumps general? I suppose my question is why it specifically mentions it's a swift action if it can only be used as a standard action anyways?

Thank you.

Hello, I was wondering if someone can help me with a character concept. I'll be joining a Carrion Crown campaign soon, and I want to play a character based on Ash Williams from Evil Dead. Giving my character his signature shotgun (blunderbuss) is easy, but the chainsaw hand makes it a bit more difficult. I'm fine with reflavoring the chainsaw to be a combat prosthetic of some kind, but the issue I'm running into is using a two-handed firearm with "one" hand. Does anyone know a work around I might be able to try. It's a level 1 character so it can't be too expensive. Also, my DM typically doesn't allow 3rd party material, but he'll make an exception for this if there's a viable solution.

I'm making a summoner for an upcoming campaign and need some help with the name. I'm making a half-elf and am modeling my eidolon around a treant sort of creature. I'm thinking of naming my eidolon "Yggdrasil" after the tree in Norse mythology and I was wondering if anybody knew of a god that tends to Yggdrasil. Or if you have other good name combinations I would like to see them as well. Any help is appreciated.

Alright, this is probably going to sound like a really stupid question, but what prevents characters from making infinite unarmed strikes? If I understand correctly, an unarmed strike can be made with any part of the body, albeit at a -4 with his primary "hand" and -8 with his off "hands". So what prevents a character from making an attack with his hand, and then his other hand, and then his head, his leg, other leg, so on and so forth?

I've been wondering if anyone has been able to find a way to make the Ragechemist archetype work. I'm about to join a campaign and I like the RP capabilities of the Ragechemist,especially when in conjunction with the Master Chymist prestige class. The campaign I'm going to join is not made for optimized characters, but I would at least like to not be a liability to my party. Is there any hope for the Ragechemist or is it a lost cause?

I'll be running the Rise of the Runelords adventure path soon and I have a question about the paper minis. Are there any creatures or NPCs in the anniversary edition of the campaign that aren't presented in the paper mini bundles in the Paizo store? And if so, is there a place where I can find the missing figures?