If I'm comfortable with going out specifically to kill people and take their stuff in order to get better at killing people and taking their stuff like the average adventurer, I'm not going to bat an eye at eating something just because I had a conversation with it.
The casual relationship with violence and killing is really the much greater departure from my peaceful existence in modern society.
Having multiple planar layers to a demiplane would be a huge game changer, I think. Some would definitely be on the smaller side while others would still be sizeable but probably never on the level of continental or making my own world.
And there would definitely be some with hidden, semi-obtuse entry conditions that I'd make purely as puzzles or to reward exploration or just be a kooky old wizard.
How big would it need to be to have a functioning ecosystem of temperate woodlands/meadows where the apex predators were two domestic cats? That plus an acre or so for a cottage, garden and chicken run.
Google says up to about 6 kilometers squared or about 20 city blocks. Depends on exactly what you want to import for the kitties to terrorize, though.
You'd think there'd be a limit like with resurrection spells, both due to the limits of mortal magic and because after thousands of years you'd think Pharasma would have judged them and sent them to their afterlife location.
I imagine that ultimately, it's part of why you can cast Reincarnate (away from the body so that it isn't consumed by the spell) in order to bring someone back to life and then make whatever undead you feel like out of the body.
Or do the same thing with the body left behind by someone whose soul has transmigrated into their clone from the Clone spell.
That reminds me of how I've wanted to come up with some kind of plot where a villain's evil scheme actually takes advantage of this or hinges upon it in some way for a good while now. Sadly, I still got nothing, beyond it being a bit of trivia or backstory.
(I suppose "Dave and the Negas" could always be some kind of macabre Bard band.)
Coidzor wrote:
Melkiador wrote:
You may also think of it not as souls but soul fragments. Just a tiny sliver of the original soul, more like soul residue. With undead like the crawling hand, you could actually make multiple undead creatures from a single body.
If you're around for killing them, you can make a Soulbound Mannequin or Soulbound Doll construct with soul fragments, 2 crawling claws, 2 isitoq eyeball undead, and a beheaded.
I don't believe you can make a headless skeleton or zombie, though I may be mistaken. I remember some kind of custom headless Ogre undead in Rise of the Runelords, so there might be something somewhere.
Oh, right, a Dullahan. Silly me. Though that requires Create Undead (but then so do the Crawling Claws), and isn't under the command of the creator.
So that's 1 construct and 6 undead that can be created from a single creature's death while still having them walking around alive in a new body. Before going into homebrew monsters, like animated entrails or skin or what have you.
This Reddit Thread about the viabilty of setting up manorial estates inside of demiplanes is of interest for discussing what you could do with a demiplane, especially if it were a level 20 caster plopping them down. (But doesn't go into things like a Coven massively boosting CL.) A Widened, CL-boosted Greater Create Demiplane can produce an area that can be made to fit 368 Gardens Rooms from Downtime. Round that down to 365 for a bonus divisible by 10 and that +2920 to Goods checks means that they're able to produce 293 Goods capital per day, which would then be worth 5860 gp worth of raw materials for crafting food. (It'd require a bit more math to determine how much Goods it can produce if some fraction of the gold cost of said Goods capital has to be covered by the Gardens, too. I may do that later tonight, though.)
If you just want efficiency, one option would be an item of at-will or X times per day Allfood and a way to generate matter that is then turned into Allfood, such as Expeditious Construction, this time used to create rocks that are then turned into food. It would not be good for long term morale for that to be the only food source, though, but it would definitely be handy for things like sieges or having to feed way more people than usual.
On a similar note, there is the Decompose Corpse > Restore Corpse > Purify Food and Drink loop where you get the body of some tasty meat animal and butcher it while preserving the skeleton. Then Decompose Corpse to remove any remaining bits that aren't of interest before casting Restore Corpse and repeating the process, with plenty of Purify Food and Drink to deal with the rot element.
There are also some constructs that would be useful here. A variant Rune Guardian construct with Expeditious Construction would be creating 3x3x10 stone structures at-will. A Kikituk construct could also be made with both at-will Expeditious Construction and at-will Stone Shape to be able to create the stone and then fuse it together and further shape the structure.
Gauntlets of Ogre Power.Cloak of Charisma.Periapt of Wisdom.Gloves of Dexterity.Amulet of Health. All of these items were done away with when they decided to consolidate magic items so that all physical ability scores are governed by Belt slot items and all mental ability scores are governed by Headband slot items. They separated the Headband slot from the Head slot while they were at it. (They also separated the Body slot and Armor slot, IIRC.)
Body slots had affinities which were a stated guideline, too. So between that and established precedent with other items, there was certainly room for argument for, say, a Shirt of Health instead of an Amulet of Health or a Hat of Charisma instead of a Cloak of Charisma. IIRC, affinities were also further expanded in the aforementioned Magic Item Compendium.
Past 1st lvl, I always buy cold iron ammunition instead of regular.
There's no reason to buy regular arrows even at first level if stone is an option, since stone arrows do as much damage as regular arrows and are only 25 copper per 20. Fairly minimal investment allows one to make a bundle of 20 stone arrows in an hour or less just by making the DC 12 check, which pushes the cost down to a mere 8 copper. This even stays relevant for longer if Stone Discus is available, since it creates stone that bypasses certain DRs.
It also adds an extra layer of protection if I've translated Osiriani (arabic) into a code then you not only need to break the code but understand Osiriani to make sense of it. If your trying to decode into common then you'll fail before you even start. Plus of course there's stuff that's not spell specific such as theory or discussion on various dimensions which would still be in the base language so you have a layer of protection still there as well as with Osiriani it being stated to have a lot of precise magical terminology.
Honestly while I personally prefer dragon I think Osiriani would be a better pick both because of the flavour text and the fact if you do assume its similar to Arabic then you really need to know the language because apparently the...
Kelish is closer to some kind of hybrid of Arabic, Farsi, and Istanbul Turkish while Osiriani is not Arabic, but an evolution of Ancient Osiriani. So it's either like how Demotic or Coptic compares with Middle Egyptian.
And there are several apps/spreadsheets built to take the guesswork out of any and all additional math associated with Sacred Geometry... I think it's somewhere around 7 ranks in Know:Engineering, and rolling the dice becomes pointless... success, roll again, still a success, like 99% of the time.
I believe that's part of why the feat is panned. Either A. it's onerous because someone is sitting there doing calculations or B. it's a complete farce because someone is using a computer to do it.
VoodistMonk wrote:
I think it's a great feat for builds that don't have room for multiple metamagic feats. I also think it offers a lot of flavor if you actually roleplay these extra calculations as part of the spellcasting process.
And if your pouncing barbarian friend and archer buddy just do there thing and full attack and kill the enemies before you can do that?
Then you weren't needed for the fight in the first place and it wasn't a serious combat if 1/2 or less of the party kills the entire encounter in one round.
There was a thread in the Homebrew section about it a couple of years ago, probably titled ...Elephant in the Room.... It's essentially about getting rid of the feat taxes for martials and condensing the Improved / Greater feats into their base versions so you get the better ones automatically.
There are effects that only trigger when you are wounded, or disappear when you're fully healed. Bandages of Rapid Recovery would be great for the Healer's Hands/Signature Skill combo as they'd provide their +4 Hit Dice for as long as you want.
Now that's the kind of exploiting mindset that I like to see!
Wonderstell wrote:
Immediate action death:
Reincarnated Druid, or an Eldest worshiper that has summoned a Remacera through Summon Monster V, would actually prefer to just insta-die over getting captured or killed by a death effect.
What does summoning them do? Or is the idea that since they're always 3 hp down, they summon the remacera, have it bite them once, and then since they never fully heal, then whenever they die, they'll auto-reincarnate?
I've had characters get swallowed and they could only use a dagger to cut themselves out. One time we had to have a second character get swallowed by the monster in order to give one PC a dagger because he hadn't thought he needed something like that as part of his gear and there was no way to cut him out otherwise.
I've had a lot of situations where GMs adhoc declared that it was too awkward to try to cut something with a sword or axe, but a dagger could do it no problem.
Flying enemies generally can't be Greatsworded in the face if you can't fly yourself. Even if you can fly, you still need a ranged option if they can outrun you or run circles around you in the air.
Claxon wrote:
My big problem with backup weapons is by the time you have +2 weapons the backup weapons are near worthless.
Unless you literally cannot harm the enemy without the backup weapon. A Cold Iron Morningstar is cheap and not much weight and very useful if you can't harm them with slashing damage from your +2 Greatsword or either the slashing damage or fire damage from your +1 Flaming Greatsword.
Of course, as you get +2 weapons, you should also be looking at getting alternative movement modes at least in emergency situations through things like potions if not more permanent magical items or abilities or through established tactics working with other PCs. This will minimize the situations where you would need a backup in the first place.
There are certainly mechanical limitations that make it a lot less fun, but there are use-cases unless you have a GM who deliberately avoids that kind of thing.
Claxon wrote:
You don't sell all that junk you didn't want, so you could buy things you did?
With certain GMs, it makes sense to keep some of it around since you don't have to spend money to get it and you permanently halve the gp value of stuff you get if you sell it (and don't have a party crafter).
If the GM replenishes WBL that is lost by selling for half, then the only reason to have it is for the time between when you get it and when you can liquidate it and buy more suitable replacements if replacements are even needed.
I think you'll ultimately have to get rid of the restriction of Int to 1-2 for Animals and then go through Magical Beasts separating out the ones that are natural creatures in a supernatural world and which ones are unnatural creatures in a supernatural world.
That, or you have to be OK with some kind of hive-mind or Genius Locii controlling the animals.
+4 to your allies attack and damage via Inspire Courage is definitely nice at level 9, but that's also half or more of your feats by 9th level and likely a significant investment into an NPC organization. Inspire Competence is a joke unless you're a dwarf and take another feat to make it actually work, so another +2 there isn't much, especially since we're talking skill checks. Inspire Heroics doesn't open up until level 15, at which point the difference between +4 and +6 Dodge bonus to AC is not that significant given the attack bonuses of the things that will be trying to murder the PCs.
It shouldn't work on Inspire Greatness, and that's the only performance where I can see a real argument for it being broken to get 4 bonus HD instead of 2 HD. If the GM somehow ruled it as doing so.
If you're comparing it to D&D 3.5, though, it's definitely weaker than that, because in D&D 3.5 you have the ability to double Inspire Courage bonuses and are not limited by rounds per day. Granted, I'm of the opinion that, in general, PF erred on the side of making feats too weak and making too many feat-chains in exchange for increasing the raw number of feats.
As for whether it's generally allowed, I can't help you with that one.
Every casting of Construction yields a 3' high, 10' long and 3' thick wall of packed earth and loose stone, kind of like the filler between courses of masonry in some castle walls. These summoned walls have to stand on solid footing, but once summoned they're permanent.
Packed earth or loose stone, although I suppose the "or" could be read as inclusive so you could also do a packed earth and loose stone combo wall. That would help get some of the benefits of stone while also having the earth fill in the gaps to make it less permeable to the wind.
The loose stone only version could be used as a source of stone for making celt axes or other stone tools or weapons, too. Even more so if Stone Shape were on the table to get the basic form down for further finishing. Of course, if Stone Shape is on the table, then you can eventually make yourself a stone hut, or even larger structure, over time once your immediate needs are satisfied.
For further reference, Expeditious Excavation can clear out a 5' cube, which is 125 cubic feet of soil. Using a Common Shovel, a single person can dig out 2 cubic feet per minute, meaning you can excavate the same amount as one use of the spell in about 62.5 minutes. Although you would not be able to do perfectly squared sides as easily as using the spell, and you'd likely need to take some extra time to have a slope downward on one side. OTOH, you would be able to control where the removed soil went, too, which could aid in adding some elevation to the sides, or, such as if you strike clay, allow it to be set aside for further use.
So it depends on the exact details, number of people, resources already possessed, etc.
1) Yeah I'm sure they have cataloguing systems, but there's probably no universal way of doing it. Profession: Scholar is probably all about learning those systems. That's basically the job description.
2) No I don't beleave Golarion has a printing press, or any other kind of mass media for that matter (If someone can point me to an AP with a news paper or something I'll happily admit I'm wrong about this though).
I'm reasonably confident that Hellknights were engaged in raids on unauthorized printing presses in the background of the Council of Thieves AP.
The traveling kettle would have a number of uses due to being a vessel for storing water and a cooking implement, though that's more because it's literally a kettle than the fact that it is a weaponized kettle. In a similar vein, Iron Spikes are tools that double as weak weapons.
If you have rope, or can make cordage via Survival, Craft, etc., then the humble quarterstaff can be used to make a number of structures. Survival shelters, bridges, an improvised tower to get a better view of the surrounding area.
Wooden stakes are useful in a variety of roles, and can be further split into kindling if necessary. Clubs could provide the basis for a torch, or larger ones (esp. a Large or Huge sized Creature's Club) could be used as fuel for a fire rather than kindling.
It counts as a universalist wizard but can also use thassolian magic. You must even be able to turn your bonded object into an amulet of magecraft, so that your 2 thasslian slots can be used for any spell of that days respective school!
Just ya know, a thought
They have not. Interestingly, it also gives an initially weaker but scaling version of the False Focus feat, though only for one school of magic at a time (and never Divination).
So MT759'er, I'm having trouble hunting down the RAW on Profession: Scholar. Is there any way you can link me to where the breakout is on that skill/choice combo is? I have a player that ALWAYS plays know-it-all arcane caster types, but he might make a Wis based PC if he could use this skill in the build.
I would also like to echo how keenly interested I am in this and any other similar things.
There is the New Thassilon Specialist feat. It lets you pick your forbidden schools.
New Thassilonian Magic lets you pick one of them, but the other is still locked in. Still it would let a Greed Mage keep Enchantment as a banned school and then get rid of Evocation or Necromancy so that they have a more ideal set of banned schools instead of having to give up on the versatility of Illusion spells and especially the Shadow family of spells.
Sloth Mages could similarly have an "ideal" set of banned schools by keeping Illusion and then adding Enchantment or Necromancy to the banned pile alongside Evocation.
Pride Mages, on the other hand, would still have a hard choice to make because either way they're giving up one of either Conjuration or Transmutation, although the Shadow Conjuration line probably gives back more than Shadow Transmutation does.
Some things have pretty compelling reasons for why they're tied to X, Y, or Z.
Like feats that modify a creature's tail. Only makes sense that you'd need to have a tail in the first place to be able to modify it.
Other things... not so much, the devs clearly just pulled a name out of a hat to assign it to a region or culture. These things are much more easily re-flavored and re-fluffed
As an Xcom veteran, I know that doing this is just asking for that character to die a grizzly death.
That's why you name them after friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, etc. Eventually you run out of those and have to use people's forum handles, though.
He could easily be remembering an older version of mithral armor. Wasn't elven chainmail wearable by wizards in ad&d?
I believe you are correct. They brought it back to an extent with the "Elven Chain" item in 5e, where it automatically grants proficiency in it when worn, allowing any non-Druid character to cast spells in it.
I think preparing your spells for the day is more similar to putting your heads together and making some kind of spiritual link with the aether rather than the spirit animal pantomiming or reciting the individual spells to the Shaman.
4. Zero-G Spaceship example = no, he cannot teleport. Regardless of how much it weighs in a Zero-G environment, it still weighs 500000 tons and this weight exceeds his max load of 100lbs.
Is there some FAQ or forum post I'm missing here?
The text for Teleport only says "You can bring along objects as long as their weight doesn't exceed your maximum load." It doesn't say "If you're holding onto something that exceeds your maximum load, the spell fails." So it sounds like Wizard will teleport but leave the ship behind.
I'd also argue that a space ship is no more something that a typical Small to Medium sized humanoid could count as a held object anymore than a sailing ship would because they've grasped the railing or a mountain just because they put their hand on its peak or a massive tree would just because they're currently using one hand to hang from its branches.
So to permanently kill them you had to destroy their clones, find their death, cou de gras them with an artifact, cou de gras them with an artifact a second time, leave and come back find them within a week and cou de gras them with an artifact (potentially cou de gras them again if it took more than a day to find them) and then secure everything in a mile of that last death so you can catch them when they reincarnate and cou de gras them two more times. At which point if you missed a single clone it all started over.
Now you've got me thinking about weird cases like if someone has a Clone of themselves on ice, but you try to make them into a Soulbound Shell or Soulbound Construct.
Trundling onward.... 2nd to last block of Clockwork constructs, mostly because there's just a few too many in S for me to feel good about not just doing them all in one go.
Clockwork M to P:
Clockwork Mages require Gease/Quest and Mnemonic Enhancer, so the creation DC is 27. Level 12 Alchemists can hit that with 14+ Int and their skill ranks just Taking 10.
Their 15 HD can be modified up to 22, which is pretty nice and will allow getting all the SLAs from Enlightened Construct. They're also Medium-sized so they can fit lots of places and presumably have hands. Conjuration's at-will Grease and Evocation's at-will Magic Missile are probably tied for the best single at-will spells, although Transmutation's spells are all decent buffs and don't care about DC in the slightest.
Sadly their casting DCs are so weak that you're really looking for a diamond in the rough or having to employ lateral thinking when it comes to their main schtick as minions.
Clockwork Nautiloids require Geas/Quest, Limited Wish, and True Seeing, of which, only True Seeing is on the Alchemist list. The creation DC is 29, which means that a level 12 Alchemist can hit it between skill ranks and Crafter's Fortune alone when Taking 10, even if the DC is boosted up to 34 due to not yet having True Seeing available as an extract.
They're big, they're tough, they're strong, they have 22 HD which can be boosted up to 33 with HD Modification. They can be converted into submarines if you can fix the pressurization problem. Good candidate for either Commando Construct or Enlightened Construct.
Clockwork Overseers require Geast/Quest and Haste, the latter of which is on the Alchemist list. So the creation DC is 22, which can be easily reached by a level 12 Alchemist just with their skill ranks when taking 10.
They're Medium, have 10 HD that can be boosted up to 15, and may even have 2 hands in addition to their slamming fist and lash arms. Useful for buffing other clockwork servitors, too. The fluff alludes to them having a chance of starting to develop sentience and going rogue, though. Could get most of the benefits of Enlightened Construct out of one, and their low spell requirements make the DC less daunting, too.
Clockwork Priests require Animate Objects, Geas/Quest, and Limited Wish in addition to the creator being able to channel energy. So for most Alchemists, the creation DC is going to be 37. Level 12 Alchemists can reliably hit 30 before Int, items, and other buffs between Taking 10, Crafter's Fortune, and their skill ranks, so bridging that gap of 7 shouldn't be too hard, and they can possibly already do it just from their Int scores alone.
An at-will source of Cure Light Wounds is nice in and of itself, especially if you have something like a Clockwork Angel that can benefit from the healing. Domain choice is very important and can give a fair amount of customization and potential utility. Their 18 HD that can be boosted up to 27 HD also make them good candidates for Enlightened Construct, especially since with only a few extra HD they can gain full access to the template's SLAs. A good bit of potential here, and they likely even have hands, which in addition to their Medium size allows for even more utility.
VoodistMonk wrote:
I don't know why, but I kind of like the idea of applying the Fiend-Infused template to a Resilient Skinstitch... I suppose it's about the cheapest you will get anything Fiend-Infused.
Do Skinstitch count as golems for some purposes? I missed that if so. It is a bit of a shame that Fiend-Infused is normally reserved for golems only.
VoodistMonk wrote:
But I have found that I really like the idea of fuelling constructs by trapping demons... just wait until I start messing with Fiend-Infused Souldbound Whatever... love messing with souls, abaolutely no problems here when it comes it using dead bodies and fresh souls for personal projects... grab that poor clown's soul and body, trap a demon, slap it all together with some duct tape...
That's definitely an interesting idea, since demons are made of soulstuff to some extent.
VoodistMonk wrote:
Coidzor, your suggestion of adding the Enlightened Construct template to the Soulbound Shell is genius. I feel this is something I need to explore further.
Originally, my plan was to add the Lich template to a Soulbound Shell... when a mad scientist experiment goes horribly right. Both the Lich and Soulbound Shell require a mid-level spellcaster... so I just figured it might be fun to combine them. Maybe it was intentional and they built a construct to be their phylactery. Maybe it was an accident and instead of the Lich's soul going into a phylactery, it bound to a nearby construct... who knows?
I already have an Android Lich that I am pretty proud of... a self-declared deity, not unlike Razmir proclaiming to be a living god... the eternal Android Lich God has no actual divinity (obviously). The capstone to the Impossible Bloodline turns you and your body into a clockwork mystery machine of unimaginable complexity... the vault of infinite impossibilities... he stores the phylacteries of other Liches inside himself, gaining Mystic tiers for each additional phylactery he holds besides his own.
Anyways, back to Soulbound Shells with templates... maybe there could be a yin-yang pair of twins involved in the same unfortunate accident... an Enlightened Construct Soulbound Shell, and a Lich Soulbound Shell... once loving relatives, now bitter enemies... as each blames the other for the accident? Maybe it's not twins at all, but the same person had their soul split and bind to two separate constructs... one good, one evil...
Got me all distracted now. I was in the process of gestalt'ing Mirror Men and Razmir Mask Golems, just to see what it makes. Both have a weird obsession of using a mask as a focal point... it makes sense, to me. I did make some Razmir Mask Golems with Ninja levels, but those are devoted to Razmir as his kingdom's assassins. I think any combination of Mirror Men and Razmir Mask Golems would probably originate from the Belkzen area... as it happens to be about halfway between...
I'd forgotten about the Lich template. Sounds like a neat idea. Some versions of liches require them to drain souls to power their phylacteries, too, so there's even a bit of an interesting dynamic where the Enlightened Construct one is creating new soulstuff while the Lich one is consuming and destroying it. And then now that I mention that, I can't help but think of Preservers vs. Defilers from Dark Sun.
That's certainly a new and interesting twist on the idea of a lich eating other liches phylacteries in order to gain power. I like it. Sort of a Living Doomvault, too.
Instead of Belkzen for the place to mix Mirror Men and Mask Golems, I'd offer up neighbouring Ustalav as a potential place, since it's all Gothic Horror anyway, so a bit of witchery sliding into the mix isn't too out of theme anyway. Ustalav and Razmiran also are both on Lake Encarthan, which allows for a fairly direct conduit for exchange of ideas.
An exiled or even self-exiled Jadwiga Witch falling in with Ustalavic witches and taking over a cabal of them and then getting her hooks into a traveling Razmiran priest isn't super far-fetched as far as backstories go.
Decided to go look at the Clockwork family for a bit.
Clockwork A to L:
Clockwork Angels require Fly, Geas/Quest, and Greater Magic Weapon, of which, only Fly is on the Alchemist list. OTOH, you're level 16+, so the fact that the DC is 31 isn't that big of a deal and unless you're the only magic-user in the party, you probably have access to at least one of the other spells. With +19 from skill ranks/class skill, you hit at least a 29 when Taking 10, and you almost certainly have 18 Int or higher at 16th level, so you're easily hitting that DC 31 creation check.
Their ability to make any masterwork weapon they wield magical automatically is a nice feature, as is the ease with which you can heal them and their bonus HP from CHA. They seem to be a pretty solid high-level bruiser minion and would be a good candidate for Commando Construct or Enlightened Construct, provided you had the necessary bonuses to swing a DC 45 or 56. Their 20 HD is pretty robust, too, and can scale up to 30 HD. On the other hand, they represent almost half a level 20 PC's WBL. So for being that much of a character's wealth, they thankfully seem to have the robustness and ease of healing to help protect that better than most.
(At level 16, Tears to Wine and Heroism would only require being applied 3 times each to apply to the entire day of crafting for +12. Crafter's Fortune adds another +5 for +17 total just from the stuff on the Alchemist list you have ready access to. So Commando Construct should at least be doable on its own. A +9 from a 28 Intelligence would put that at +26, meaning Enlightened Construct would be on the table, too. Combining both would require getting a CL of 21 or bypassing CL requirements, though, and necessitate a fair number of assistants.)
Clockwork Assassins require Gaseous Form, Geas/Quest, Keen Edge, and Major Creation, of which only Gaseous Form is on the Alchemist list. So their creation DC is 36. As this construct also wants you to be level 16+ just like Clockwork Angels, you can pretty safely assume that a standard Alchemist is going to be able to hit the DC between skill ranks and Intelligence, and if not, only a little bit of buffing will see them through.
They have fast healing built in, which is nice, and along with their 18 HD (which boosts to 27 with HD Modification), they can have some robustness to them. They're good candidates for the Commando Construct template with all of those HD, especially the Sneak Attack one to bolster their extant sneak attack damage. Only downside is that they don't have hands, but otherwise they're a Medium-size combatant that does the job serviceably well.
Clockwork Dragons require Animate Objects, Geas/Quest, and Limited Wish, making the creation DC 38. At level 18+, you're rocking +21 just from skillranks/class skill, so Taking 10 has a floor of 31 before Int, which should close the +7 gap.
It's a big ol' dragon, which benefits from having a huge pile of HD that can be boosted from 25 up to 37 with HD Modification. Has the unfortunate self-destruction drawback, but you want to avoid it getting that low on health anyway. Can't take it inside very many places, though, and it's prohibitively expensive.
Clockwork Excavators require Animate Objects, Fabricate, Geas/Quest, Locate Object, and Shatter. That sets the DC at 40, when a level 10 Alchemist is rocking a 23 when Taking 10 before Int, Crafter's Fortune, items, and other buffs and bonuses. So it should be possible to hit a 40 but it'll require some finagling without some assistance providing the spell prerequisites.
Clockwork Familiars require Geas/Quest and Make Whole, making the DC 27. A 12th level Alchemist will have +15 from skill ranks/class skill alone, so Taking 10 they will easily hit DC 27 thanks to their Int.
Very fragile, especially without getting half the hp of a master through a master-familiar bond. They do have an intelligence score, though, and can speak, though they cost almost as much to make as a Soulbound Mannequin, which has hands and greater durability and combat ability. The most utility they seem to be able to provide is a constant Detect Magic if they're built to be Scroll-based.
I suppose there could be an exploit to build multiple of them to stack their Advice ability for untyhped bonuses to all Craft and UMD checks, but I don't see many GMs allowing the creator to count as the construct's master in that particular sense without also having the Improved Familiar feat, which would still limit it to only a single Clockwork Familiar.
Clockwork Fiends require Delayed Blast Fireball, Fire Shield, Geas/Quest, and Rage, of which Alchemists have Fire Shield and Rage on their list. So the creation DC is 33. A level 18 Alchemist will easily hit that, as Taking 10 along with their skill ranks will get them to 31 before Int, etc.
A solid medium-sized melee bruiser. With 23 HD (boosts to 34 with HD Modification), they have some resilience, and their Overdrive ability effectively doubles their hp for a major fight of the day, which probably isn't going to last more than the 15 rounds they get to operate in while Overdriving. At those levels, it should be more than possible to set up situations to manipulate the Overdrive ability to happen when wanted without any real disadvantages, too, although is it only a 1/day ability. My gut still favors the fast healing of the CLockwork Assassin or the easy healing via Positive Energy of the Clockwork Angel, though. Still, a worthy candidate for the Commando Construct template.
Clockwork Goblins require Burning Hands and Geas/Quest. Burning Hands should be really easy to get access to, even paying for it as a spellcasting service wouldn't be too bad. The DC is 27 without the spells, though, and a level 12+ Alchemist can easily hit that given their skill ranks and Taking 10 already give them a minimum of 25 before Int, etc.
Not a good choice for a minion at level 12+, what with the fact they only have 4 HD. They are pretty inexpensive to make, though, but the only really good thing I have to say about them is that they have eye lasers, which is, admittedly, always nice.
Clockwork Goliaths require the Gunsmithing feat in addition to Animate Objects, Geas/Quest, and Limited Wish. So the DC is 43 unless the Alchemist has the Gunsmithing feat. A level 18+ Alchemist with 28 Int should be able to hit that when Taking 10 with only minor buffing, such as from Crafter's Fortune.
It's way too big to be useful in many situations, possibly even most situations, but it is pretty resilient with all of those HD and it does have a cannon for shooty fun. Its 28 HD can be boosted up to 42 with HD Modification, allowing it to be one of the first constructs so far that can fully benefit from the Commando Construct template.
Clockwork Guardians require Shield Proficiency along with Geast/Quest, Fabricate, and Wall of Iron, which makes the creation DC 37 for most Alchemists. Crafter's Fortune, 12 ranks, and Taking 10 will get one up to 30, so Int and other bonuses only have to make up for a difference of 7, and most Alchemists at 12th level should usually have 24+ Intelligence scores.
Their 10 HD can be boosted up to 15 with HD Modifcation, giving them a bit of scaling. They aren't super good melee combatants at the point they can be made, though, striking me as both underwhemling offensively and a bit vulnerable in terms of their AC and hp. Still, they are Medium and will fit into more places.
I suppose they do have a potentially interesting curiosity as an infinite source of matter, depending upon what their barriers actually crumble into.
Clockwork Gunslingers require Exotic Weapon Proficiency (pistol) as well as Haste, Geas/Quest, and Slow. Of those, Haste is the only one on the Alchemist list, so the creation DC is 32 for most Alchemists. Crafter's Fortune + skill ranks mean that an Alchemist is hitting 30 when Taking 10 before taking Int score into account.
OK HD with 9 HD (maxes at 13 w/HD Modification), only having 1 attack per round is a definite downside, even if it is attacking Touch AC. It also costs 500 gp and casts Slow as an AoE every time it confirms a critical hit, which will probably get annoying over time. Being able to self-Haste several times a day is pretty nifty, though, at least.
All in all, though, I'd say it's more of a gimmick than a solid minion to choose to invest in. It is medium-sized, though, and may have at least one hand.
Clockwork Hounds require Expeditious Retreat, Geas/Quest, and Secret Chest, of which only Expeditious Retreat appears on the Alchemist list. So the creation DC is 27. This is easily within the grasp of a level 12+ Alchemist.
They really have too few HD to be a good combat minion at this level, and while there's some potential utility in their tracking, there are also probably less expesnive alternatives than a 15K gp construct. There may be something to exploit with their ability to benefit from a necklace, ring, or ioun stone inside of their chest compartment, though nothing immediately comes to mind.
Clockwork Leviathans require Freedom of Movement, Geas/Quest, Heat Metal, and Limited Wish, of which, only Freedom of Movement is on the Alchemist list. So the creation DC is 32. Between skill ranks, Taking 10, and Crafter's Fortune, a level 12 Alchemist is getting 30 or better, so even a modest Intelligence score will bridge the gap.
Big and fairly beefy for the level it becomes available. With 16 HD, it can be boosted up to 24 HD with HD Modification No real utility, but a solid combatant when you have an arena big enough to accommodate it.
Is it actually wizards? Or would any arcane caster work? Or any INT-based caster (What about a Psychic or Occultist)?
My group is planning on running this AP eventually (after we finish the 2 we're already running), so I really appreciate the spoiler warning.
If you CAN answer without spoilers I'd appreciate it, but if you can't then I appreciate the discretion you've already shown.
IIRC, even the Player's Guide acknowledges that the Thassilonians were an ancient society ruled by wizards. (and if not, you find out within the first genuine conversation you have with Master Roshi's less pervy brother anyway.)
TBH, I can't remember what's special about Bards in ROTRL, but Wizards and Arcanists get more benefits from looting ancient wizards' swag than most other casters just as a general principle
OTOH, the spell selection available even to non-Wizards is a lot greater at this point now that new first party content is no longer coming out compared to what it was right at the beginning of PF1E development.
150 gp sounds fine as the material component for a modified, specialized Fabricate that's Conjuration instead of Transmutation.
I'd look at tweaking things again if you were looking to use something like an improved version of the Caravan rules in Jade Regent in the same game you had this spell, though.
Alternatively, if you were just worried about the duration expiring in a dicey situation, make it have a week-long duration and give the option to reset the duration for an existing caravan by casting the spell again while inside of it.
@neriathale: I should clarify (having found out a short while ago) that I'll be joining the group on their /ongoing/ campaign, which was described to me as "we're level 3, we just dealt with an underground dungeon" and "we're in a shoddy made goblin fortress" when I texted to get more info on that, so I'm sort of puzzled there (and we might actually be ahead of the curve in terms of level if not wealth? I'm unsure at this point to be honest)
@coidzor: the first example--you would be a fighter 3/-- until the end of 4th level, at which point you'd become a fighter 3/ranger 2 once you hit 5th.
Alright, yeah. Starting with level 1 wealth at that dungeon is going to be a little rough, but it's still early on enough that the rest of the players haven't gotten all that much loot, either. Especially if they are still in the beginning stages of clearing that dungeon.
Sounds like reason to proceed with caution but definitely isn't a worst case scenario, run away immediately situation.
...and multiclassing is being houseruled as a "dead" level before coming online--so a fighter changing class to ranger would have to act like a ranger for an entire level with no benefits (including base statistics, effectively a level lower for that duration) before being allowed to benefit from their change of vocation. variant multiclassing is also disallowed.
So a Fighter 3/Ranger 1 is a 4th level character with only Fighter 3 abilities and HD, etc. and then a Fighter 3/Ranger 2 is a 5th level character with the abilities of all 3 Fighter levels and all 2 Ranger levels?
Or is it that a Fighter 5/Ranger X only has the stats of a Fighter 5/Ranger X-1, and has forever lost a level to the void?
Is this a permanent crippling or is it a temporary crippling?
Either way it reflects pretty badly on him as a GM, but if it's a permanent crippling, that's extra damning.
AndIMustMask wrote:
I've been invited to an irl game for rise of the runelords, starting at level 3.
...with level 1 starter wealth, citing fears that players would break the game with "too much" money (see: the average expected assets to have your gear/etc up to par for threats of that level).
...similarly, we are also barred from any item creation feats or traits that circumvent the issue of lack of funds (such as signature moves, heirloom weapon, etc).
Rise of the Runelords doesn't contain enough downtime for much item crafting beyond maybe a few scrolls, unless the GM deliberately alters it, so banning item creation feats in and of itself wouldn't necessarily be a red flag. In combination with the rest of that, though, it sounds like he hasn't read up enough on the AP to realize that 1. you're fighting the Runelord of Greed as the BBEG and 2. you don't actually have time in the AP to do crafting anyway.
Are you starting the Adventure Path right at the very beginning where you're supposed to be level 1 or are you joining an existing game where they've hit level 3 and you'll come in at level 3 but you're coming in with less WBL than the rest of the players? Or are you all skipping the introduction to the AP and are just starting from where your GM has deemed that the PCs would have hit level 3?
If you all are starting at the very beginning of the AP and are all going to be level 3 and he's not increasing the CR of what you're fighting or deliberately nerfing the loot that the enemies carry, then you're going to get up to WBL in short order and won't be negatively affected by only starting with level 1 starting gold.
But, if that's the case, it sounds like the premise may have been put forward poorly.
Do you think all necromancy is "Evil"? Do you think there is some dark-web, Illuminati conspiracy theory reason that necromancy in Golarion has been locked behind laws of men and church?
Well, there is that one rumor that states that low level paladins needed plenty of cannon fodder that they could use Smite Evil on, leading to mindless undead like Skeletons and Zombies getting slapped with the Evil tag.
I'm sure someone somewhere has taken that seed and ran with it.
I once used many, many castings of Expeditious Construction inside of some hallways, filling them (almost) up to the ceiling with dirt and stone in order to "seal" off a dungeon entrance so that it would take an awful long time to try to dig through it. This was leftover spell slots at the end of the day that I pumped out over the course of a month or so during downtime, though.
A lot of the "this only hurts people of such-and-such alignment" spells are a useful backup to double-check that someone isn't using magic to falsify how they show up under Detect Evil, etc.
Arrow Eruption is arguably more useful for duplicating Durable Arrows than the damage output. Rain of Arrows is similar in that you can make a whole lot more golden arrows than the damage output. Slough can be used on angels or dragons or seals or any other creature with valuable pelts/skin/hides, etc. Slap a bit of Mending on the resultant skin and you've got as many of them as you have uses of Lesser Restoration, instead of just being a creepy torture spell.
Less cheesily, Restore Corpse is mostly intended to be a way to make zombies when all you have is bones, but if you use it in conjunction with Purify Food and Drink, you have a renewable food source.
I've heard of some schema called "The Silver Standard" that people have done. I'm not 100% sure if it was for PF1E, but it was at least a related enough system that it covered most of the basic gear as well as arms and armor, even if it didn't address things like collapsible bath tubs or mithral waffle irons.
Quote:
Trying to avoid the issue of higher level players going "Copper, bleh just toss it." because its worthless in their economy unless you have wagonlonds of the stuff.
You can just also... not give them copper in treasure hoards past a certain level unless it's in the form of something more valuable than coin, like art objects or jewelry.
Or you could give them wealth sinks where having vast sums of copper coinage to spend on the peasants and plebeians is more convenient than constantly having to exchange currencies.
During an encounter, the Paladin was killed and his soul subsequently transferred into a clone of a runelord.
Maybe this p*ssed off the player. Getting the PC killed is one thing, but being forced into a different body can easily be perceived as "the GM is messing with me". And some people respond with "what the heck, so I do what I want, too". Hence the attempted deception and the attack on a fellow PC.
If he played much more paladin-like before, this possible explanation gains some weight.
Either way, both the player and the GM should have a talk in private.
It's likely that they may be playing through a particular Aventure Path where, IIRC, it's basically a scripted event if the right circumstances come about. If so, then, yeah, may be a good idea to clear things up about that to some extent.
Mostly I can't think of many uses for blood. Stirge farms are all well and dandy, but then what are you doing with the stirges? There are some other monsters, like Faceless Stalkers and some kind of vampiric mist that also could be fed with a farmed supply of blood, too, I suppose.
Coidzor wrote:
Souldrinkers don't have to kill things with negative levels in order to get soul points, and they can have up to 10 soul points if they're level 10 in the PrC, which means they can create magic items "for free" of up to 10,000 gp in market value, or up to 10,526 gp if they have Spark of Creation or another 5% discount.
That covers a fairly wide range of magic items. Since it's powered entirely by the victim's suffering, it's also pure profit.
Oh, and I just remembered that Salvaging rules mean that you can get back 10,000/3 = 3333.33 gp of crafting materials back from each item with a market price of 10K. So they can produce stuff worth more than 10K, it's just the 10K stuff is pretty trivial
Souldrinkers don't have to kill things with negative levels in order to get soul points, and they can have up to 10 soul points if they're level 10 in the PrC, which means they can create magic items "for free" of up to 10,000 gp in market value, or up to 10,526 gp if they have Spark of Creation or another 5% discount.
That covers a fairly wide range of magic items. Since it's powered entirely by the victim's suffering, it's also pure profit.
There's also probably a way to set things up to ensure that someone is willing to come back to life via Breath of Life in order to continually harvest someone's soul to make armies of soulbound mannequins and soulbound dolls with more desirable characteristics. Perhaps in service to cutting off enough soul fragments that they can be crammed back together again into a new copy of the original soul.
