Crimeo's page

The Pathfinder PRD states:

This compendium of rules, charts, and tables contains all of the open rules in the system, and is provided for the use of the community of gamers and publishers working with the system.

Yet the actual legal text of the OGL for pathfinder includes "trade dress" as not-open Product Identity, and this includes:

trade dress; artifacts, creatures, characters, stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs

I have bolded just some of what appear to be glaring contradictions that the PRD is "the open rules in the system."

The equipment chapter is listed in PRD, but "equipment" is product identity?
The spells chapter is listed, but all spells are PI?
The whole bestiary is listed, but "creatures" are PI?
Doesn't "special abilities" pretty much wipe out all classes as kosher?

Also, things like "language" and "concepts" would seem to apply to every single sentence in the entire work.

Am I missing something here? It seems like potentially nothing whatsoever in the "Open" Game License is, in fact, open? Or at best, only a random, unreliable smattering of it? I wanted to make a sweeping rewrite of some core d20 stuff and was excited about the OGL making it possible, but now I'm not seeing very optimistic wording here.

I'm guessing I probably AM missing something, though, since Paizo has clearly used a ton of d&d spells, basic creatures, "concepts" etc. and has not gotten sued into oblivion. How?

I'm looking for as many of these as possible. From anything to anything.

I'm just filling out a bunch of NPCs in a campaign with this sort of a theme to it of heavy transmutation shenanigans, but I'd like to stay within written rules as much as possible.

The lower the level it is possible, the better.

Can't seem to find any text on this. It says in the spell section that you know if you win a save as a malevolent tingle, but not seeing anything relevant to poisons.

Assume for purposes of this question that there was no opportunity to notice the poison directly perceptually (assume any relevant checks to notice taste or sticky stuff on a sword, etc. failed). If I succeed my fort save, do I even have any idea anything special happened? other than just eating a normal bowl of soup or getting hit by a normal sword?

(Interested primarily in text citations, please).

.

The -8 to hit is killing me here... Even with BAB +7/+2 and 12 dex (already using expensive items to get to that), it's at +0/-5 overall... Are there other feats/spells/etc. I can use to land even ranged touch attacks at mid level play?

* Reckless aim I found but it is a 2 feat investment I'd rather not make for such a small bonus. Maybe.

* It's a non-humanoid that has pretty much no remaining slots available for items.

* I can do invisibility or vanish if really necessary to get a small bonus of making them lose their dex bonus for not seeing me attack, but that's all I seem to be able to find.

* Most of my attacks are not rays, so weapon focus doesn't help.

* Reduce is not an option due to the creature type making it an invalid target.

(don't want to give overly giveaway details on exact type in case players are prowling from my table)

Specifically, I'm interested in "Polymorph any object" or "Baleful polymorph" -- both can give you the new form's type of an animal, as well as it's INT score, making you now qualify for all of the requirements of Awaken.

Then you're awakened, which is instantaneous, not permanent like the polymorphs.

Then after that, somebody dispels your polymorph spell. Do you remain a magical beast squirrel or whatever? Or do you go back to being a human with all the same original stats etc. you had before?

I can't seem to find the rules that talk about more than one identical named spell effect applying or not at once.

Seems like you should be able to do this with regard to different memories each time, but not sure, because I remember there being something that says you can't cast reduce person like 5 times, for instance.

When you cast summon monster, it says you summon "celestial monkeys" and so forth. Am I correct in interpreting therefore that some plane(s) out there are just chock full of mimics of every random kind of animal, but as outsiders not animals? If so, is there any clue as to WHICH planes, exactly? Like is the plane of air full of outsider swans and thrushes and stuff in addition to air elementals? Or do these things live in places like Nirvana? Or is there just no clear RAW info on this?

Of course this is silly realistically, but I'm just wondering if there are actually any rules against things with realistically inappropriate limbs going right on ahead and taking proficiencies then using stuff anyway at no penalty? I'm hoping there are, I just can't find any.

Also potentially applies to familiars and so forth, but awakened animals are the easiest example case to work with that cuts through all the other peripheral BS the most.

For example, the set of [adamantine weapons] is more specific than [weapons]

And the set of [masterwork weapons] is more specific than [weapons]

But neither [adamantine weapons] nor [masterwork weapons] are more specific than one another. So is there any convention for if those categories had opposite confliciting modifications on weapons? (They don't, just making up example categories)

I just want a list of creatures with, say, fire immunity, and I am astonished that no such resource seems to exist? Or am I just missing it.

I see tons of stuff that filters for size or subtype, etc., but nothing that includes most of the other important abilities. Much less other useful things like description text.

Hi all,

I've been working on this for awhile now for personal use, but may as well share! I gave up on the Paizo perception rules trainwreck awhile ago. Players never understood it without months of practice, and hardly anything makes sense. For example, the DC to see a campfire from a mile away at night is over 500 in core rules, but should be automatic success in real life. In fact, you can pretty much not see anything at all 400 feet away. Invisiblity for no apparent reason grants more bonuses than being in total darkness does. Etc. And rules are spread out over a dozen different parts of books, are sometimes redundant or conflicting, blah blah.

So I've made a whole new system. ALL the main rules are on ONE page. Followed by tables and modifiers for each individual main detecting sense. It is not suuuper simple, but ends up being far simpler and more transparent than the vanilla rules.

Everything in the document has also been researched with regard to actual physics and psychology as well. Signals degrade by inverse square laws, decibels map to realistic perception thresholds, all the example stimuli were looked up for at least one point of real world reference for how loud/smelly/whatever they are, atmospheric absorption of sound is integrated already, and so on. Despite all the complicated calculus and arithmetic though, it's all just lookup tables, so you don't worry about any of that.

Appreciate any and all feedback! There are also several applied examples at the end for clarity.

PDF:
Perception Overhaul System

(minor errata: the fox example is out of date with regard to upwind/downwind, sorry, don't want to re-upload)

So round 1, I cast my spell with duration concentration, like mage hand. Pick up a coin and hover it in mid air.

Round 2, let's say I double move, and neglect to maintain concentration at any point. Does the coin fall at the beginning, middle, or end of this round?

Would like to pick up one with mage hand from its tube and unroll it in front of me to read. Mage hand specifies non-magical objects picked up.

Detect Evil, round 1 says "Detect the presence/absence of evil"

Not "evil auras" just "evil". Compare to Detect Magic, which DOES specify "detect presence/absence of magical auras" making it seem more intentional the difference.

Why it matters: let's say you have a level 4 character in front of you who is a serial killer and murders and skins babies to wear as suits in his free time, then reanimates them to improve his skin suit disco dancing skills.

I cast detect evil on this fellow, he is the only person in front of me in an empty, neutral field. If you take the spell literally at its word, then round 1 I should detect the presence of evil. Round 2, I should detect no auras.

Versus if it's supposed to only detect auras, then round 1, I would detect nothing.

Is there a FAQ or errata on this or any developer statements or whatever, or is it just purely house rule?

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/spells/light.html

Note that the spell lists the target as just an object (not an unattended object, etc.), it has no save, and it does not mention a melee touch attack anywhere.

I was unable to find any generic rules saying that touch spells always require melee touch attacks on unwilling targets or their stuff by default.

All I found was this suggestion that spell designers should consider adding such, but here they didn't:

Most spells that are usable against others should require either a saving throw or an attack roll (generally touch or ranged touch). Spells that are quite powerful for their level, like disintegrate or phantasmal killer, may require both, or allow two saving throws.

Also the section in magic on attacks:

Some spell descriptions refer to attacking. All offensive combat actions, even those that don't damage opponents, are considered attacks. Attempts to channel energy count as attacks if it would harm any creatures in the area. All spells that opponents resist with saving throws, that deal damage, or that otherwise harm or hamper subjects are attacks. Spells that summon monsters or other allies are not attacks because the spells themselves don't harm anyone.

Light itself doesn't harm anyone or decrease their speed or stun or dazzle them or anything hampering. If summoning a grizzly bear next to somebody isn't an "attack" then...

Does this mean as long as I'm within reach of you I can just (likely defensively) cast light on, say, your armor with automatic success?

Or perhaps less unrealistically, if I metamagic light with Reach Spell, would it require a ranged touch attack?

I'm thinking that simply removing the 2,000g would make it level 6. But I've never done this before. Thoughts?

I'm comparing this to Awaken at level 5, obviously, and also mainly Polymorph Any Object, which is level 8 can also turn a mouse into an intelligent creature, for instance.

Note that polymorph has no material cost.

Polymorph has the ADVANTAGE of insanely higher flexibility. The no-cost awaken has no flexibility, so this suggests a lower level

Polymorph has the ADVANTAGE of also changing physical form and strength. Awaken does less stuff. An awakening using polymorph rules would also way overshoot the amount of similarities needed for permanent duration, suggesting even a little bit weaker still.

Polymorph has the DISADVANTAGE of permanent duration not instantaneous, so awaken is more powerful in this sense as it cannot be dispelled.

So sort of a -2 +1, but the flexibility thing seems more important than the other two. Thus, I'm kind of on the fence between level 6 and level 7. Normally I would add a (lesser) material cost to bridge the gap, but the whole point is getting rid of the material cost!

Hi, I've been recently doing a lot of thinking on what an ACTUAL logical Golarion would be like, if spells were used industrially and with common sense, both for public good and for profit. In my research, I came across this Tippyverse concept recently. Interestingly, what I had been thinking of was almost the polar opposite of it, and remains so after reading about it all day. So maybe this is of general interest, and I'm hoping for some brainstorming possibly.

If you don't know what Tippyverse is, it's here: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?222007-The-Definitive-Guide-t o-the-Tippyverse-By-Emperor-Tippy

Basically, a world where all spells are ruthlessly exploited. Permanent teleport circle networks, beneficial food spell "traps", fabrication factories, traps that cast wishes for rings of three wishes, etc.

The goal is a game setting where munchkins can be themselves and not hold back for fear of "breaking the world" and annoying people, because this world's citizens expect nothing LESS than people trying to break the world! And it's already ready for that.

What I concluded on my own though was very different for how the world might turn out:

* If you have a tiny village that everyone knows about, and there are instant teleporting armies toting rocket launcher spells, then you're screwed. You live in constant fear.

* If you live in a large city that everyone of course knows about, then you invite inevitable, tragic, oblivion, because your safety is so... "swingy". one wizard army 20% larger than yours just one time, with one exploit, and it all burns. Far too unstable. And just a few greedy folks are enough to ruin 99.99% of people being happy with utopia.

* There's no reason to trade anyway. Tippyverse is built entirely on a city concept built off of the concept of trade, but then it describes automated spell trap factories etc. that remove the need for trade... so... why would the cities develop around something that isn't needed anymore?

All of the above seem unstable to me. Instead, I lean toward a more likely outcome of:

Security by obscurity

1) Form a community as small as you can that still covers all the jobs and that can afford the free time-creating food and water traps and basic matter fabricators, with wizards of sufficient skill to maintain it.

2) Make it completely impossible to ever find that community.

3) Everyone does that. The world is a seeming sprawling primordial wilderness everywhere outside of communities, but secretly full of thousands of small warded, illusioned, hidden, protected, self-sustaining enclaves. Maybe in demiplanes, maybe in extra dimensional space. Maybe just in some mage's sanctum on steroids underground. Not sure. But ideally you can't find the without invites.

______________________________________________________________

What I could use some help with is firstly, does this make any sense? And secondly, is there any mechanical way to hide a small plot of land from ANYBODY trying to look for it? Ideally even if they know its name, etc. But if necessary, complete lack of contact and people not even knowing you exist or WANTING to look for you can be part of the equation too.

Assume 9th level spells and infinite material resources. And it can't be a dead magic plane, because we still need our magical food traps and things.

For example, a spell that affects you while casting requires a concentration check. Or various metamagics like disruptive or flaring spell refer to the triggering condition being affected by a spell.

I can't find the definition for this. Obviously damage is, or a clear cut named, standard status effect like causing you to become fatigued.

But what about obscuring your vision, like a fog cloud, is that affecting you (if you're inside it)? What if I use prestidigitation to clean your boots? Prestidigitation specifically says it cannot damage or affect the concentration of spellcasters, but triggering a flaring metamagic would be neither of those things, for example.

What about walking through an entangle area but making your save? You're still affected by it in terms of it being difficult terrain that is physically slowing you down to half speed, or does that not count? Does this trigger the metamagic / concentration checks?

So, the spell call lightning says that you can cast it, then at any time you feel like (NOT require every round), you can opt to spend a standard action concentrating on the spell to call down a bolt of lightning, up to your maximum allotment.

Thus, continuation of the spell does not on its own require continued concentration, and it is not listed with its duration as "concentration"

So my question is: if you experience adverse conditions while doing one of these concentrations (such as injured while doing the standard action to call one bolt), and you fail the check, do you just lose the bolt? Or does the whole spell end?

Two questions about this item.

1) Can it transform clothing into no clothing? If not, what's the smallest, hardest to notice "clothing" it can turn into? Something like a small piercing? I want to pass off as having no clothes but be able to suddenly have them for disguise/sneak purposes.

2) What happens to items in a pocket of a coat, for example, if you transform it into another coat that has no pockets? Can you still access them... somehow? Or do they go to some magic place until it transforms back?

Bardic Performance is replaced by Archaeologist's Luck, but can I still take this feat and then combine a spell into a perform skill check to mask it being cast? Using up one round of luck?

As long as you pay the cost to write it down per page, can I write a spell by carving it into a park bench, tattooing myself (mundanely), weaving the figures into a tapestry, casting hundreds of half inch line arcane marks on something, etc., instead of a spell book?

Also, can I voluntarily use a larger surface area than 8x11 or whatever a spellbook says a page is?

For example, "If Joe begins talking or writing about me when I am more than 200 feet away, cast scry on Joe."

or "If any halfing anywhere in the material plane sneezes while wearing an orange shirt, cast prestidigitation to make my shirt warm."

"If an invisible creature with an evil aura comes within 50 feet of me, cast dancing lights 6 inches above their head."

Etc.

Hi, I am making a character who will start out at level 1 with a guaranteed 25 climb check, so I will be climbing all over the place a lot, but I'm not sure about the following:

1) If I get hit by an arrow or something while climbing, normally I would take a climb check. Does this still apply while clinging to a wall with 3 limbs and one hand doing something else (which it says you can do but doesn't specify if it affects saves, etc.).

2) Would I also still get my dex bonus to AC while clinging with 3 limbs (I normally do since I have a racial climb speed)?

3) As long as I have both hands free and the ground has a texture I would normally be able to climb can I climb horizontally at my climb speed along the ground or a rope etc? The idea being pulling myself along as if a wall. Or climbing a rope stretched across a gap.

"A slope is considered to be any incline at an angle measuring less than 60 degrees" implies that unless it's polished marble built carefully to be perfectly level (which couldn't climb anyway due to perfect smoothness), the ground would also be a "slope" and thus climbable crosswise. Which I wouldn't feel bad about exploiting since it also makes perfectly good common sense. But maybe I'm missing some other rule on this.

4) Can you stealth + accelerated climb and cancel each other out? (character has a natural climb speed, so accelerated = 2x speed normally)

So let's say I have a 12 foot rope and I've tied a piton to it, that would make it act as an improvised weapon, and according to the rules, you're supposed to pick the actual weapon which most closely resembles it to use as a model.

In this case, it would be the "rope dart" - which is a 1d4 ranged weapon that you can tug back into your hand. Would the improvised weapon also gain the "tug back" feature therefore?

Or if you use a hammock on a rope as an improvised net weapon, will it ensnare like normal if you hit despite the -4 penalty?

Or a block and tackle on a rope is closest to the Dorn Dergar, does that mean it gains the "choke up and change between reach and adjacent with a move action" ability?

Etc.