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I wanted to use my Orcus, Prince of Undeath miniature that I picked up earlier this year. He's Gargantuan, so I had to make my own monster. This will be fought by a level 7 party of over-large size (usually six people) and will be followed by a CR 10 encounter consisting of a quite powerful wizard (and anything he summons).

Yuthos, the Demigod of Blood CR 9
LE Gargantuan outsider (devil, evil, extraplanar, lawful)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., see in darkness; Perception +18
AC 22, touch 10, flat-footed 19 (+3 Dex, +6 natural, +7 armor, -4 size)
hp 174 (maxed* 12d10+54)
Fort +12 (good), Ref +8 (bad), Will +12 (good)
DR 10/good; Immune fire, poison Resist acid 10, cold 10
Speed 40 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
Melee Blood Lord’s Scepter +26 (4d6+1d6 acid (blood)+14)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th)
At will—greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only), invisibility (self only), vomit blood (DC 20 Reflex) (as cone of cold, but dealing acid damage, and appearing as a torrent of blood)
3/day—wall of force (describe as “a churning barrier of fresh blood”), enervation
Str 34 Dex 16 Con 22 Int 14 Wis 18 Cha 18
Base Atk +12; CMB +28; CMD 31
Feats Improved Initiative, Wingover, Flyby Attack, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes
Skills Bluff +16, Craft +2, Fly +14, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (planes) +14, Knowledge (religion) +14, Perception +16, Sense Motive +16, Spellcraft +14, Stealth +3
Languages Infernal, Homebrew 1☻, Homebrew 2☻, Homebrew 3☻, Celestial, telepathy 100 ft.
Treasure Blood Lord’s Scepter (+2 Gargantuan corrosive heavy mace), +1 Gargantuan breastplate

*We use maximum HP for all creatures - the players wanted it for themselves and agreed to have it apply to everything.

☻: Homebrew languages that replace Common.

The only thing I'm really unsure about is the damage dice for the Gargantuan heavy mace. I had to make a guess based on the weapon-resizing tables in the Equipment chapter of the CRB.

Target creature's Intelligence and Charisma scores each drop to 1. The affected creature is unable to use Intelligence- or Charisma-based skills, cast spells, understand language, or communicate coherently. Still, it knows who its friends are and can follow them and even protect them. The subject remains in this state until a heal, limited wish, miracle, or wish spell is used to cancel the effect of the feeblemind. A creature that can cast arcane spells, such as a sorcerer or a wizard, takes a –4 penalty on its saving throw.

By my understanding, the bolded section means that any spellcaster hit by feeblemind is unable to cast spells, not just one who uses INT or CHA to cast. Is this correct? I believe I am backed up by part of the spell specifically calling out arcane casters as having a worse effect happen to them than normal - leaving me with the thought that divine casters (including our WIS-based Clerics, Druids, and Inquisitors) cannot cast during the feeblemind either, although they are not subject to the -4 save penalty.

Alchemical Power Components

An alchemical power component is an alchemical item used as a material component or focus for a spell in order to alter or augment the spell’s normal effects. What follows is a sample of these effects; your GM may allow other combinations.
Spells followed by an (M) expend the alchemical item as a material component;
Spells followed by an (F) use the item as a focus and do not expend it.
In both cases, the alchemical item does not have its normal effect and does not affect any other parameters of the spell. You cannot use the same item as both a focus and a material component at the same time.

Much Googling and checking of the PRD and PFSRD (as well as the 3.5 SRD) cannot lead me to these rules. I'm particularly interested because HeroLab tells me that using X tanglefoot bags while preparing/casting black tentacles will allow me to reroll X attack rolls on the black tentacles' grapples. That would be useful indeed for the BBEG I have planned to run in an upcoming game, but I want to be able to point to somewhere I can cite this rule from.

Would any of you be able to point me in the right direction?

One of the last places the players will visit in this campaign arc is a country that is relatively advanced by the rest of the world's standards.

This means clockwork technology - including "clockwork swords," the closest thing a D&D character will get to a chainsaw.

I want players to able to use these. I was thinking that stats would be as follows. A simple greatsword reskin can always be done, but I want these to be unique. If anyone's seen similar equipment detailed in another spot, please lead me to it:

The hilt of a clockwork sword is heavy and bulky, for within it is contained the gears and springs that turn its four blades. These sharp metal disks are affixed to a shaft protruding from the hilt; the simplest of magics keep the blades turning, although a version that requires manual winding can also be purchased.

Clockwork Sword (self-winding)
8 lbs
400 gp
2d8 slashing damage
x3 crit
Requires EWP (clocksword) to use at all
Special: trip, disarm (The blades in each pair spin towards each other, tugging at flesh and fabric and helping the wielder to upset his opponent's grip or balance.)

Clockwork Sword (manual winding)
8 lbs
275 gp
2d8 slashing damage
x3 crit
Requires EWP (clocksword) to use at all
Special: trip, disarm (The blades in each pair spin towards each other, tugging at flesh and fabric and helping the wielder to upset his opponent's grip or balance.)
Special: requires swift action to start the blades turning every X rounds

I'm not sure what number X should be - every five rounds, perhaps? Or maybe just once per combat, but it doesn't take effect until the next round (so you'd have to use something else in the "spin-up" round).

Let me briefly set the scene. Last session, my players were fighting a vampire lord. The vampire used his Dominate Person on the monk and paladin, who, after failing their "against-their-nature" secondary saves, about-faced to attack the rest of the party.

The cleric decided to cast Command on the monk to change, or at least temporarily suppress, the effects of the vampire's Dominate. I wasn't sure how to rule this, so I ruled that if the monk failed his Will save, the Dominate would be overridden for the duration of Command.

This, I think, is an imperfect solution. My idea later in the night was to have an opposed caster-level check between the cleric and the vampire - perhaps on top of the monk's Will save.

Is there any rule related to "dueling" mind control effects, so that I can have an official place to stand on this? Alternatively, if it's come up in your game, what did you do?

Very simple, really. The Master of the Unseen Hand PrC, as detailed in Complete Warrior - is this A-OK to import as-is for a Pathfinder-rules Wizard?

I had a look at it for the player who asked me about it (GM here with a wonderful new group). It doesn't seem to be broken or OP/UP - and considering the slight power adjustment from 3.5 to PF, I'd say it's ready to rock (with obvious adjustments such as skill requirements and spell effects based on the new rules).

That's all - thanks. If this was supposed to go somewhere else, my apologies - just went with what felt right.

Hello, Paizo forumites. Here's the skinny: I am going to use some magic items to hook the characters into adventuring. Specifically, these magic items are special because their histories are uncertain; the players receive these items as a result of agreeing to seek out their creators, backstories, or other similar information.

My party is at 3rd level, partway to 4th, and I have 7 players. I checked the Wealth by Level table, and they should have about 5k worth of stuff. Now, here's the thing: they barely have anything. I prefer to give out a few cool magic items (that grow in power a la Legacy Weapons) rather than bunches of potions and lots of boring +X weapons/armor.

We have: Paladin, Rogue, Rogue, Wizard, Ranger, Fighter, Cleric. I want to give each one a cool item that is (currently) somewhere between a +1 and a +2 worth of bonus; as I said, it will unlock new abilities over time when certain criteria are met (part of the motivation to learn about their items' histories).

Here are my ideas. Please let me know if things are too powerful for the range I specified, too weak to be much fun, or too boring to be cool! Game is in a few days. Please ignore the crappy placeholder item names. In addition, I will try to ham it up when describing these weapons; even if the bonuses seem a little plain now I think I can sell them on description.

For the Dwarf Paladin:
Hammer of Grace - This gold-inlaid rock warhammer feels solid in your grasp. A simple motif of slender winged figures runs around the head.

+1 Warhammer. Grants +10ft of Speed to the wearer.

(Big deal since he's a slow dwarf.)

Possible future bonuses (PFB): Flight or Wind Walk, Summon Air Elementals or Angels, Air- and Movement-related spells.

For the Elf and Half-Elf Rogues:
The Twins - These matching shortswords have hilts chased with silver. Identical halves of an amethyst are set into the pommels.

+1 Shortswords. When players wielding The Twins flank with each other, they gain +4 to attack instead of +2 (or maybe they get +2 damage and have normal flanking bonus?).

Alternative: If the wielders of The Twins are within 30 feet of each other, flanking someone gives them this bonus (makes it so they don't have to be together).

(The Rogues' players love working together and love flanking and teamwork. I like to encourage their dynamic and I figured what better way to do that than with matched weapons?)

PFB: Magic abilities on the swords, granting charges or abilities from one character to the other (a bit nebulous I know)

For the Human Fighter:
Linking Stone - This smooth gray pendant has a sword icon on one side and a magical burst on the other. It swings freely from a wire necklace.

The Linking Stone allows its wearer to channel spell energy into his strikes, giving him a +1 to attack and 1d4 of [damage type, in this case necromantic energy] to damage, depending on what type of spell he uses to power it. If the player is not a caster (see below) he may use it a number of times per day equal to 1 + his Cha or Int mod (whatever's higher). Otherwise he may use it with a 1st level spell or higher.

Note: this Fighter absorbed some necromantic energy. He opted to not Multiclass into Sorcerer yet, but I figured this would be a cool way to integrate his weird affliction. I'm also aware that this idea kind of sucks. My description is not very good mechanically, but I trust that the player will enjoy it anyway. Please help with this one?

PFB: More attack and damage, different effects, perhaps enabling some spells

For the Cleric:
Owl Tabard - This simple gray tabard is trimmed with blue. It bears a flying owl on the front, picked out in red thread. The eyes are blue gems of the same color as the trimming.

+1 Glamered Mithral Shirt. Allows casting of Owl's Wisdom once per 2 Cleric levels per day.

Not sure on this one, just like the idea of an armor as opposed to a weapon or tool.

PFB: Something to do with awesome fiery wings, or maybe some cool ray attacks from the eye-gems.

For the Gnome Wizard:
"Knowledge" - This willow staff is three feet tall and has a slight spring in it. At the top, between a fork in the branch, rests a pinkish pearl.

Magic Staff with maximum of 3 charges for now. "Knowledge" motif to the spells.
- Know Direction (free? or maybe 2 per charge)
- Alarm (1 charge)
- Identify (1 charge)
- Locate Object (2 charges)
- Fox's Cunning (2 charges)

The player enjoys being a bit of a know-it-all. This might help him out there. :)

PFB: More and better spells, increased charge limit, maybe a Permanent Light or Know Direction.

For the Half-Elf Ranger (TWF Focus, but loves his Bow too):
I will give this guy a choice between a bow or a sword. In return, his tasks to discern its history will be a little trickier for either one.

Sword Choice:
Runewarden - This longish blade has a definite curve to it. Mystifying letters and symbols run along its length. They look to be charcoal, yet they do not smudge off.

+1 Elven Curve Blade or maybe Longsword. For (Ranger level + [2*Wis mod]) rounds per day, the runes can be lit up a dull green. The rounds need not be consecutive. While active, the blade gives a +1 to AC and Reflex saves.

PFB: Better bonuses, maybe a defensive-magic effect (possibly for everybody in 30 feet or something)

Bow Choice:
Comet Burn - This ash longbow has an interesting motif. The top half of the bow's body depicts stars and pillars of fire, while the bottom half displays stalactites and hail clouds.

Longbow with one of four damage types (NO +1 TO ATTACK). Move action to change while in combat:
+1 Fire damage or
+1 Holy Damage or
+1 Unholy Damage or
+1 Ice Damage

(I took the attack bonus off to account for it being a very versatile weapon. Hopefully that helps the pricing?? Please let me know if I'm okay on that.)

PFB: Better damage bonuses, maybe some spells or augmented arrows (player is very keen on magic arrows and casting spells, and cannot wait for level 4).

Whew! That's done with. Finally, I have a Halfling Monk who sometimes shows up, but he's pretty busy. When I have time I'll cook something up for him and put it here. Some sort of punching-dagger-like thing, perhaps.

To reiterate: I am shooting for a value between 4k-6k gold pieces. I am also going to use a Weapons of Legacy-style advancement in bonuses to these weapons.

If I am reinventing the wheel anywhere, that would be helpful to know. I'm sure Comet Burn is just some Day/Night bow in a splatbook.

Thanks everyone! :)

(PS I realize this is kind of a wall of text but I couldn't really think of ways to condense it.)

My D&D group has been merrily mucking their way through the first few adventures of Savage Tide, and are currently partway through The Sea Wyvern's Wake. The plan was originally to play the entire two year's worth (biweekly gaming) of adventures. However, I will have too much work this year in school to run the game. Thus we will be ending the game after the summer - and since all my players are going on vacation at one point or another, we only have about five or six sessions, maximum!

I've begun concocting a satisfying ending that essentially skips to the end of Sea Wyvern's Wake, mushes together parts of HTBM, and culminates in the big fight at Farshore - except not at Farshore! (I'll be changing it up, and making a familiar face the Big Bad.)

I will most likely be throwing experience straight out the window and having players level up after every session. I will also be more open to the Rule of Cool and will do my best to make these last few sessions be nothing but enjoyable.

Do you have any suggestions for a DM who's decided to go for broke on the last few sessions his group has together? Weird crazy shit you always thought would be cool? A fight you ran five years ago as a finale that deserves someone else's playtime? Get that down on electronic paper and post it right here.

You know you want to give me advice! FIRE AWAY!

Thanks.

Last session, one of my players had his character killed. Rather than make a new character, he asked me to surprise him with a new one.

I would like your suggestions for characters that are strange. You needn't submit a whole concept; if you simply feel that Craft (Underwater Basket Weaving) is a great skill to invest in, just post that and it'll get added to my list of things.

Of course, full character concepts are the most welcome of submissions. If you decide you wish to come up with a full character, kindly note that the PC must be of 4th level and that we are only using the core Pathfinder rulebook.

A character whose spells all involve plants? A gnome Ranger flavored to work as a pirate? A Barbarian with impressive mental ability scores at the cost of poor physicals scores? All perfectly good suggestions.

Thank you for your input, fellow forum-goers. I apologize if this kind of thread is common, but I did a few searches and found nary a one on the messageboards.

Hello there. I have a player in my STAP (converted to Pathfinder) game who's playing a Cleric. He is interested in taking magic item creation feats.

However, many items require spells that are not on the Cleric spell list at all. The rules say that if he can't access the spell, considering it is one of the prerequisites, the DC goes up to make that item.

However, he has come up with an alternate solution, and I'd like to know if this is fair/balanced.

He proposed a system to me: if he could have cast that spell three levels ago, he can create the item with that spell. For example, if the item requires a spell he doesn't know/can't access of 1st level, then at 4th Cleric level, he could be considered eligible. At 6th level, he could make items with inaccessible 2nd level spells; at 8th level, items with 3rd level spells, and so on.

All other pre-reqs would have to be met, obviously, and the normal rules about needing to know the spell for certain items, like spell-trigger items, would still be in place.

There you have it, then. Is that system balanced? He's a bit of a powergamer, for certain, but I don't think he'd try to pull one over on me.

Thanks.

To make a long story short: 3-player party playing Savage Tide under yours truly as the GM. We've got a Paladin and a Monk ... and last session, the Warmage bit the dust.

In his place, we have a Rogue.

Basically, are these guys royally screwed? No arcane magic (not that the Warmage ever really cast much of anything, because he was paranoid about AoO for whatever reason).

They're all level 2. The Monk has imposed his own Vow of Poverty (not the feat, just RP) and carries an assload of healing potions instead of other possessions. The Paladin just got access to Lay on Hands, as well.

The way I see it, with all this offensive power and a couple sources of healing, they might be ok - the only thing to worry about is how many actions they get (spending a possible attack action on using a potion or something) which could lead to problems.

Thoughts? Should I start subbing scrolls/wands/tailored magic items into the prewritten treasure to give them some firepower?

Thanks in advance, everybody. Loving the game despite our myriad scheduling issues.

Hey there! After more than a year of inactivity, I've convinced my three friends to give D&D another go (stuff just kinda fell apart last time) and we're kicking off Savage Tide tomorrow afternoon. Do you guys have any quick tips or suggestions I should keep in mind?

Relevant information:

We are playing under Pathfinder rules, but I will only be converting important NPCs (i.e. Rowyn, Lavina, Vanthus, 'boss' encounters) due to rules similarity.

I have a 3-man group; the lower-than-average size should help offset the Pathfinder power increase nicely, as far as I can tell.

Nick Cochurrs, Paladin 1 - This guy is in it for the fun, and the fun, for him, is being outrageous. He's generally the instigator of the silly, although I've requested that he try and tone it down a bit on behalf of the Warmage's player. He can be very serious if necessary, but, well - let's just say this is the guy who wants to use Leadership to attract monstrous crab cohorts. (Or something weird like that.)

Breel Ceu, Monk 1 - This guy is the math nerd and resident rules junkie in the group. He's not a rules lawyer, really - a bit of a min/maxer, but he knows when to stop to keep the game fun/fair for everyone. If I have a rules question, he's the go-to guy. Fun fact: his name is an anagram for Bruce Lee.

Kyril Targaryen, Warmage 1 - The resident serious guy is in it to be serious. Sure, he'll laugh along with everyone when Monty Python inevitably gets quoted - but the Paladin's player tends to get on his nerves a bit. Nothing I can't alleviate. I am using a variation of Warmage found on these boards; I can't find the link, but the basic premise is that it gives Warmages a Sorceror Bloodline OR one step better BAB and HD. Our friend here took the Red Draconic bloodline (he likes dragons, a lot).

One major question: is there any one adventure (or more) in Savage Tide that can be excised outright? Not for lack of quality or anything, simply to make the arc as a whole that much shorter. When it comes to quality, I've heard "Wells of Darkness" kinda sucks - other than that, I dunno.

TL,DR: Paladin in it for the fun, Monk in it for the power game, Warmage in it for the serious business. Feed me your tips, please.
Thanks.

Hello. I've been playing 3.5 D&D for ~7 months now, all as a DM. Mostly the previous stuff has been a bunch of fun oneshots, with lots of silliness thrown in. However, my three players and I want to try something new and more serious: the Savage Tide Adventure Path. I need to know:

1. How easy is it to DM this?
2. Will I be required to make many adaptations?
3. Do you have any tips on DMing Savage Tide in general?
4. Where can I find the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan conversion that is rumored to exist somewhere on these boards? My searches have failed me.

Here are the characters, all starting at level one:
Human Scout
Human Dragonfire Adept
(race undetermined) either a Wu Jen or a Warmage, probably Warmage

The main problem is the lank of a real "tank" to take damage and be a frontline fighter. The scout plans to do more ranged combat than melee. Player 2 plans to spam his breath weapon and cast a lot. Player 3 is unpredictable, so I'm not sure what his combat style is going to be like.

I think I might have to stick in a Fighter (for tanking) or a Cleric (fairly good fighter and useful for buffs/healing) DMPC, but I would like to avoid that if possible. The players are not opposed to it, but they feel they would rather go it with their characters alone.

Thank you for your input.

Hello. I've been playing 3.5 D&D for ~7 months now, all as a DM. Mostly the previous stuff has been a bunch of fun oneshots, with lots of silliness thrown in. However, my three players and I want to try something new and more serious: the Savage Tide Adventure Path. I need to know:

1. How easy is it to DM this?
2. Will I be required to make many adaptations?
3. Do you have any tips on DMing Savage Tide in general?

Here are the characters, all starting at level one:
Human Scout
Human Dragonfire Adept
(race undetermined) either a Wu Jen or a Warmage, probably Warmage

The main problem is the lank of a real "tank" to take damage and be a frontline fighter. The scout plans to do more ranged combat than melee. Player 2 plans to spam his breath weapon and cast a lot. Player 3 is unpredictable, so I'm not sure what his combat style is going to be like.

I think I might have to stick in a Fighter (good versatile tank) or a Cleric (pretty good fighter and useful for buffs/healing) DMPC, but I would like to avoid that if possible. The players are not opposed to it, but they feel they would rather go it with their characters alone.

Thank you for your input.