Cuup's page

I wrote this up for my group, and figured I’d share it here in case anyone else would be interesting in adding some interesting content to Hammer Rock (I found it very bare bones as written). In my game, Dondun was saved in Book 3 and turned a new leaf, and comes back as Aylunna’s Knight Arcanist in Book 6, to clear up any confusion below:

Tar Baphon has erected two Witchgates since his escape from Gallowspire - one in Vigil, and one in Hammer Rock. These locations mark his most overt displays of dominance over the Knights of Ozem, but as two settlements bordering the southern-most edges of Virlych, he also saw these newest Witchgates as a way to expand the borders of his realm.

Knight Arcanist Dondun is quite right to suspect a teleportation error had befallen Aylunna’s previous team, and is dreadfully on the nose when he suggests that there could even be a new Witchgate in play. By teleporting 10 miles away from Hammer Rock, he successfully lands the party outside of the Witchgate’s ensnaring properties. After taking a minute to orient themselves (noting a forest that is not supposed to be there), Dondun reminds the PCs that he will remain in this area while they move forward with their mission.

This Witchgate reacted strangely with the lingering energies of the Radiant Fire, and with the fickle nature of the nearby First World-spawned forest; unlike most Witchgates, this one does not deposit teleporters to the same location that it is located in. Instead, teleporters are dropped in the middle of Keirodera Forest. Tar Baphon is unaware of this, and left Ptemiazrol, the Wyrmwraith, at Hammer Rock as the Witchgate’s guardian. Though teleporters are not brought to the feet of a Wyrmwraith, it still functions as an effective protector of the Witchgate itself. Just as well, as the teleport deposit location has acquired its own guardian, a Forest Blight. The fate of the original team is largely the same, save that Kwenlyn was able to locate the Hammer Rock Witchgate before perishing. If raised from the dead, or questioned about the Witchgate specifically with Speak with Dead, Kwenlyn can direct the PCs directly to it.

Ever since Tar Baphon set the Radiant Fire upon Hammer Rock, the sky above has been overcast with dark, low-hanging clouds of water vapor and sulfur. This effectively blocks any natural sunlight from touching Hammer Rock, save for an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset. Because of this, Ptemiazrol has almost completely unfettered rein to move about without being exposed to sunlight. However, any spell that alters weather, even temporarily, can sweep away this overcast, returning Hammer Rock to a normal weather rotation.

Two Crypt Dragons have been drawn to Hammer Rock, hearing of the recent gross abuse of Necromancy ever since Tar Baphon escaped Gallowspire, and Hammer Rock was the most recent target of such magics. They’ve heard of Tar Baphon’s Witchgates, and are aware of a ritual that might be able to disarm them, though they’re hesitant to perform this ritual without help.

The two dragons are hunkered down nearby, strategizing on their best approach to Hammer Rock, as they correctly assume the area to be very dangerous. They are unaware of the magical protections of Hammer Rock, and if they end up approaching before the PCs, they automatically trigger the Antipathy Flames trap as they close a proximity of 70’ of the outer walls. Whether they fail their saves or not against the Antipathy effect, they both immediately halt their approach and turn back to strategise more.

If they observe the PCs fighting Undead within the walls of Hammer Rock, they identify the PCs as enemies of Undead, which is good enough for them to approach and assist during the fight. They arrive 1d4 rounds after combat begins.

After combat ends, the dragons will introduce themselves to the PCs and explain that they’re thirsty for some Undead hunting and found this place, in which, they suspect hides a Witchgate. They automatically assume that any random adventurer is dim-witted and only interested in fighting, and the PCs will need to succeed at a DC 30 Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate check, combined with a DC 30 Knowledge (Arcana), (Nature), (Planes), or (Religion) check to properly assert themselves and display an adequate base of knowledge before they can be taken seriously.

The Dragons are aware of the PCs’ proficiency in combat so long as they witnessed them fighting any Undead, and so if attacked by the PCs, the dragons keep their distance with their superior Fly speeds and rely on their Breath Weapons to wear them down. If they are both brought to 57hp, or if one is killed and the other brought to 95hp, they attempt to flee.

The tower called the Bronze Wing (B8) was designated as the Hammer Rock Witchgate. Without being directly told where it is, a DC 23 Knowledge (Arcana) check finds it after searching for 1 hour; DC 27 finds it in 1d4x10 minutes; DC 31 finds it in 1d4 minutes; DC 35 finds it intuitively. PCs will need to stand atop the Bronze Wing in order to interact with it. There’s a noticeable shift in the air up here, like when you stand near a cracked-open door that has that heavy breeze from uneven air pressures, but instead of wind, it’s just chills.

When the dragons mention the ritual, PCs can make a DC 25 Knowledge (Acana) check to get some basic info on occult rituals, namely that all rituals come with a Backlash (a price extolled by the ritual that can’t be avoided), and a consequence of failure. The PCs may notice that whether accidentally or conveniently, the dragons have not mentioned this ritual’s Backlash or failure consequence. The Backlash affects all casters, and is 1 Permanent Negative Level. The failure consequence is unknown, for this is always unique to the specific Witch Gate (though it is an Insanity effect (all casters), DC 24 Will negates). The dragons only know about the Backlash; they know that the Ritual’s failure consequence is different for each location, but they don’t know this location’s consequence. They freely explain this to PCs who ask.

The ritual requires incense ground from plants native to the First World. Luckily, Keirodera Forest is itself an extension of the First World, and many plants found within are native to that plane. If the PCs were decent to The Hunt, won their race, and dealt with the Forest Blight, the tokens gifted by The Hunt will suffice for this requisite. Otherwise, spending 1d4 hours in the forest and succeeding at a DC 30 Knowledge (Nature) or Survival check is needed to get them; for each hour spent gathering herbs in Keirodera Forest, there is a 20% chance of a random encounter (roll 1d20+70 on the random encounters table for the First World in Planar Adventures). Regardless of how the PCs get the necessary herbs, it takes 1 hour and a DC 30 Craft (Alchemy) or Knowledge (Nature) check to grind the herbs into burnable incense (failure by less than five instead takes 1d4+1 hours, and failing by 5 or more ruins the plants and requires a new expedition to get more).

The dragons collectively know a cobbled together version of the ritual, and one of them acts as the primary caster, while the other will stand guard. Up to 8 secondary casters can join the ritual (granting a +1 bonus to all checks made for every 4 secondary casters). The ritual requires 9 hours, and 1 Knowledge (Nature), 1 Knowledge (Planes), 3 Perception, 1 Spellcraft, and 3 Sleight of Hand checks, with 5 or more of these Checks succeeding at DC 35. The dragons insist that the PCs do the Sleight of Hand checks (their big claws are ill-suited to such small-folk tasks), but they take the lead in all other checks.

Unfortunately, the dragons’ cobbled knowledge of the ritual is flawed, and instead of Knowledge (Nature), they try to use (Religion), reciting praises to Pharasma in lieu of incantations to steady the ley lines. The PCs can catch this mistake with a DC 35 Knowledge (Arcana), (Nature), (Religion), or Sense Motive check, but they must make a DC 30 Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate check to convince them to allow a PC to attempt the Knowledge (Nature) check instead.

If the dragon isn’t corrected, they suffer the effects of failure, even if the ritual is otherwise successful. They must make a DC 24 Will save or suffer from Insanity. If the PCs have no way to cure Insanity on hand, the unaffected Dragon asks for assistance in putting it down. After this, it flies away, never to be seen again. If the dragon is struck insane and is saved, they express their gratitude by fetching a small token from their horde, located about 30 minutes (by dragon flight) East - a fine leather bag containing a porcelain display hand wearing a bracelet adorned with 5 small diamonds worth 200gp each, and wearing a magical ring, which is a Ring of Transposition. The dragon placed the display hand into the leather bag for the trip, but wants the bag back.

If Dondun is informed that there was a Witchgate (“Ha! I KNEW it!”), and that it has been destroyed, he eagerly joins the PCs at Hammer Rock, where he sets up a Secure Shelter. He thereafter can be found in this encampment in Hammer Rock. He forwards this development to Aylunna, who is pleased with the PCs’ initiative and success, and sends two Iomedean priests to join Dondun, with instructions to remain safe, but otherwise help the PCs with any Divine magic they can employ. The priests remain on the surface with Dondun. They venture down to Glerhadring only if the PCs declare the place completely safe.

Once the Dragons leave, Tsomar Trant reveals himself “I thought they’d NEVER leave! Sorry, but with the state I’m in, you can’t make many chances with agents of the Boneyard. I’m Captain Tsomar Trant. I know what you’re looking for, and I can help you. Come find me in the gatehouse and we’ll talk.”

“I saw it - the Radiant Fire. A green flash. Must have been smuggled in with one of the refugees coming into the fort. Nothing I could do but die. Except, I persist! I swore an oath to High Priestess Aylunna Varvatos to protect Hammer Rock, and death is just another hurdle in my way.

“The Whispering Tyrant arrived one day, with a small army of followers. I emerged to defend the castle, but…well, I’m Undead, now. One of his Death Priests took control of me and I was forced to comply. I granted them passage inside the castle, and accompanied them as they went down. There’s something hidden beneath Hammer Rock - an enormous storage facility called Fallowdeep. I didn’t see all of it, but there’s enough corpses and resources down there to raise an army of tens of thousands of Undead! The Whispering Tyrant grabbed what was ready and left with them, but he ordered the foremen to ready the rest of them. I slipped free of my jailor once they started controlling more Undead, and returned here.”

“I can’t accompany you - trust me, the last thing you need is for another necromancer to take control of me and aim me back at you. No, I need to remain up here, where I can be out of your way, and continue guarding Hammer Rock. But I’m not entirely useless - I can offer you the intelligence I gathered during my enslavement.

“To reach Fallowdeep, you need to go through Hammer Rock’s cellar. Tar Baphon brought a bunch of evil giants with him, and he left them there, so you’ll have to watch out for them. He blasted apart the floor in the dungeons on the south side, and there’s a tunnel that leads down. It was hidden - sealed up, and we never knew. We’ve been harboring an Undead factory right under our noses for perhaps the entire history of Lastwall.

“Fallowdeep is made up of three separate wings. Best I can tell, each wing specializes in a different method of reanimation and has its own foreman. From what I gathered, the three foremen don’t get along with each other. Tar Baphon was beside himself with their infighting getting in the way of output. And then there’s the Daughter of Urgathoa - goes by the name Lyanthari. The Foremen were already inside, but she arrived with Tar Baphon. He put her in charge of overseeing production, but she didn’t seem to be his biggest fan. After he left, she just went off about how insufferable he is and how she wants to teach him a lesson. See, they’re all the enemy, and they need to be destroyed, but maybe the easiest path to that goal is to turn some of them against each other.”

“I’m sorry to have to tell you this. I know Lastwall is struggling to find any morale these days, but there’s something else. There’s a traitor down there. She was my hero. Now she’s a graveknight. Ceto Malderra.”

“Oh, one more thing. Maybe it’s nothing. I was fleeing for my…well, I was frantic, so maybe I’m mistaken, but if there’s a chance that we have an ally hidden in Tar Baphon’s ranks, I can’t not report this. As I was fleeing Fallowdeep to return here, there was someone already up here. A Winterwight. He knew I had escaped. But, he didn’t attack me, or report me, or try to control me. He just said something about being happy to see me in control of myself, and then he returned down to Fallowdeep. I don’t know, maybe he just knew there was nothing I could do to stop the operation. But it’s stuck with me.”

Tsomar will cast (CL 12th) Heroes’ Feast every day for the PCs (reveling in any jealousy it causes Argenus “It KILLS me to see you so upset, son”). He’ll cast Greater Magic Weapon (+4) and Magic Vestments (+4) for anyone who wants it. He always bids the PCs farewell with a Mass Bull’s Strength spell.

He’s also capable of casting Raise Dead and Restoration, so long as someone else provides the material component, and will acquiesce any Cure requests as long as he has the spell slots to spare.

Recently got the urge to envision how I might run a low-magic game. I know there have been a thousand threads exploring this exact topic, but humor me while I put some ideas down. My goal would be to keep all classes in the game, but limit spellcasting in a way that makes it far less objectively better to be a spellcaster, while still keeping casting classes playable for players who want to play them badly enough. I wouldn’t say I have all kinks worked out, but I think this is a pretty solid foundation, pending peer review.

Point Buy:
- No ability scores higher than 16 before racial bonuses
- You can get back up to 3 points from ability scores below 10

Point Budgets:
Full Martials; ¼ casters: 22
¾ casters (includes Alchemists, Investigators, and Mediums): 18
Full casters (includes Kineticists): 15

Burn is a mechanic used by the Kineticist Class, but is now also applied to spellcasting in general with several specific applications:
- Spellcasters can take a number of points of Burn per day equal to 3 plus their casting ability modifier.
- All spellcasters take 1 point of Burn anytime they cast spells in consecutive rounds (0-level spells don’t apply to this rule, nor do spells four or more levels below the highest level spell you can cast).
- Applying a metamagic feat to a spell costs 1 point of Burn per metamagic effect (in addition to the increase in casting time and spell level as normal); Quicken costs 2 points of Burn.
- Kineticists take 1 point of Burn anytime they use Kinetic Blasts in consecutive rounds (Gathering Power can be used to ignore this Burn). Metakinesis costs 1 additional Burn to use.

Other:
- Full martials gain Combat Stamina as a bonus feat at first level (minimum 1 point). Spellcasters (including Rangers and Paladins) can take Combat Stamina as a normal feat.
- 0-level spells cannot be cast at-will. Spellcasters with access to 0-level spells receive the same number of spell slots for 0-level spells as they do for 1st-level spells, and add to this number with bonus spells per day from a high casting stat the same way they would for 1st-level spells per day. A spellcaster can cast a 0-level spell without expending a spell slot by making the casting time 10 minutes.
- Core Rogue banned; Unchained Rogue gets the Inspiration class feature as an Investigator, but the skills that can use Inspiration for free are from the Expanded Inspiration talent, only, and they gain Inspiration points equal to ½ level (minimum 1; can take Logical Inspiration, Unconventional Inspiration, and Underworld Inspiration as Rogue Talents, and Combat Inspiration and Tenacious Inspiration as Advanced Rogue talents).
- Ninjas gain Inspiration as Unchained Rogues, but the skills that can use Inspiration for free are from the Underworld Inspiration talent, only (can take Expanded Inspiration, Logical Inspiration, and Unconventional Inspiration as Ninja Tricks, and Combat Inspiration and Tenacious Inspiration as Advanced Ninja Tricks).
- Mediums can Spirit Surge without losing Influence 1/day, as long as they don’t channel the Archmage or Hierophant Spirits. This benefit increases by +1/day every 6 levels.
- All characters use Automatic Bonus Progression.
- All characters gain 2 Background skill ranks per level.

This is a first draft. Any notes or thoughts are appreciated.

I have been obsessed with the Soot Sea (and the Forgetting Place by proxy) - mentioned in the Vault Gazetteer with other possible area of interests in the Vault of the Onyx Citadel. Such a unique premise with some truly skin-crawling visuals for anyone who accidentally falls in. I wrote up some basic rules for the Soot Sea and figured I’d share them here in case anyone else was interested:

The Soot Sea is a network of caverns and crevices along the east and northeast walls of the Vault of the Onyx Citadel. Instead of water, however, the sea is made up of innumerable petal-soft flakes of soot. Even something as small as a mouse or lizard is too dense to stand or float atop the Soot Sea, and nearly all such subjects instead instantly disappear beneath the surface, never to be seen again.

Floating and Submerging:

For something to rest safely on the surface of the Soot Sea, it would need to have the surface-area-to-weight ratio of a sheet of parchment, or better. This leaves very little that can safely “float” atop the soot. A select few things can break this rule in the Soot Sea - mainly the Bone Ship that guards the Forgetting Place, and the Cutting Smolder, a special sailing ship designed by the Xiomorns that built the Vault. The remains of similar ships can be found along the seafloor - a few rare sites are actually beached on islands within the sea. It is believed that the Bone Ship is made up of the spirits and remains of all creatures who have perished beneath the surface of the sea.

Not many creatures are native to the Soot Sea, let alone those who live beneath the surface. The most well-known exceptions are the Soot Sea Krakens, who have adapted to swim through the soot as well as they might in water. It’s unclear what agendas these bizarre creatures hold, for their intellects are roughly the same as those clever Krakens who dwell in Material Plane oceans.

For non-native creatures, being beneath the surface of the Soot Sea creates a number of hazards. First, traditional visibility is impossible. Scent-based perception is possible, but comes with its own perils (see below). The most reliable methods of visibility are Tremorsense, which functions fully, and Echolocation and other hearing-based perceptions function normally, but have their ranges halved.

Creatures who must breathe to survive must hold their breath beneath the surface or inhale dry soot. This includes creatures who breathe water or air, though creatures with the Earth subtype can breathe normally in the soot. Creatures who breathe in soot are Staggered for 1 round as they aspirate, and starting on their second consecutive round breathing in soot, also take 1d4 Con damage. A Fort save (DC 15 +1 per consecutive check) negates the Staggered Condition and halves the Con damage. Casting spells while under the surface of the Soot Sea requires the same Concentration check as doing so underwater. An Air Bubble spell benefits creatures who breathe air while under the surface, both for breathing, and for casting spells.

Finally, unless a creature wades into the sea at a gradual shore (though most banks are themselves drop offs, and it’s usually impossible to tell, anyway), a creature entering the soot is met with no resistance, and plummets at full speed until they hit the seafloor. The soot offers only the faintest resistance while falling and cushion upon landing, and falling creatures and objects ignore 10’ fallen for every 60’ fallen, but terminal velocity still reaches a crushing 20d6, eventually. The topography of the seafloor is a mystery to nearly anyone who sails it, but there are chance shallows, though there also exist perilous depths. Roll a d% when someone or something falls into the soot, and note the below chart (I didn’t include the chart here). Remember that in a freefall through the soot, a creature or object falls 500’ on the first round, and 1,500’ on the second round. If a creature reaches a depth of 1,200’ before landing, they’re treated as landing in water. If a creature reaches 1,800’ before landing, they take no damage. See below for more details on extreme depths.

The soot cannot be swam or burrowed through, nor can it be climbed. Walking can only be accomplished along the solid rock bottom, and where the seafloor becomes too steep to walk, it can be climbed (though if the climber doesn’t have a means to see, they take a -5 penalty on their checks). Mechanical flight is possible, though all maneuverabilities drop by two steps, and the creature must make a DC 20 Fly check at the start of each round to avoid dropping 1d% feet, and the DC’s of all normal Fly checks increase by 10. Magical flight is easier, but still difficult, dropping all maneuverabilities by one step, requiring the same Fly check to avoid falling each round (though only DC 15), and all normal Fly checks have their DC’s increased by 5 instead of 10. Whether magical or mechanical, all fly speeds are halved. The changes in topography means that creatures flying blind risk ramming into a solid wall from a drop off; taking damage, and risking a plummet. Spells that offer flight through gaseous forms function normally beneath the surface.

Spells like Air Walk and Sky Swim, that allow a creature to walk or swim through the air, do not function beneath the surface of the Soot Sea; it’s unclear why, though most magical scholars have theorized that such spells recognize the surrounding soot to be earth, and therefore fail to activate properly, just as if the subject were fully submerged in dirt, the spell wouldn’t effectively grant a burrow speed. Earthglide remains as the best method of travel, receiving no penalties or hindrances.

Though only a fraction of the density of water, the Soot Sea will slowly build up pressure if you travel deep enough into it, as the soot petals become finer as they are themselves crushed under the weight of their own brethren. At depths greater than 500’, movement is halved (or quartered for fly speeds). At depths greater than 1,200’, creatures begin taking 1d6 nonlethal damage every minute. At depths greater than 1,800’, movement is quartered (flight becomes impossible), and creatures take 1d6 lethal damage and 2d6 nonlethal damage every minute. At depths greater than 2,000’, burrow speeds can be utilized for navigation (at half speed), though without Earthglide, creatures are still subject to the crushing pressure.

Navigation:
The normal light ever-present in the Vault doesn’t fully reach into the crevices and caverns making up the Soot Sea, and so it is perpetually dim light, though some of the banks near crevice openings are still normal light. Though wind seems to flow in from the open Vault and through the walls of the Soot Sea with remarkable ease, the soot itself seems supernaturally resistant to being kicked up by this wind, and the wind rarely penetrates the soot surface. Occasionally, intense wind storms are strong enough to kick up soot and create pockets of soot storms. Creatures caught in these Soot Storms are treated as if they’re beneath the surface of the Soot Sea, though they must also contend with the high wind speeds as normal; the high wind speeds make it much easier to accidentally aspirate soot, which increases the save DC by 2 to avoid being Staggered and halving Con damage.

If a creature is fortunate enough to be aboard the Cutting Smolder, or managed to salvage and repair a destroyed ship, such a ship sails over the soot with the same speed and maneuverability as a sailing ship over water, though oars and other mechanical propulsions do not work, leaving wind power the only reliable form of locomotion. Profession (Sailor) checks can be made as normal for navigation, though creatures unfamiliar with the Soot Sea take a -4 penalty on these checks. Creatures capable of flight can do so over the surface of the Soot Sea without penalty or hindrance.

The Cutting Smolder
The Cutting Smolder is a Sailing Ship that’s been magically outfitted to be buoyant atop the Soot Sea. This ship is a relic from the Xiomorns who once managed the Vault of the Onyx Citadel. The Peches that now sail aboard it aren’t capable of constructing such a vessel or (with the exception of Carbonax) maintain it. The Pech Wizard has accrued just enough magical competence and know-how to keep the Cutting Smolder operating, though the ship is always possibly one major setback away from being unfixable.

The crew of the Cutting Smolder is made up of 12 Peches, total. Seven 3rd-level Unchained Rogues make up the main crew, and usually take lengths to avoid any of the grand dangers present around the Soot Sea. The ship’s officers are much more capable, and consist of three 10th-level Swashbucklers and the First mate is a 10th-level Ranger. Carbonax, a 14th-level Transmuter, as the oldest and most powerful Pech, not to mention the only one with even a rudimentary understanding of how the ship works, acts as the ship’s captain.

The Cutting Smolder facilitates a lucrative, if dangerous, operation that’s kept the crew well paid, so long as they work carefully. The ship has several enemies within the Soot Sea, mainly the Soot Sea Krakens who occasionally venture near the surface, and the Sinister Bone Ship that occasionally acts as a guardian of the Forgetting Place.

In a campaign set entirely in the Great Beyond, where new adventures constantly bring the PCs to new Planes, a strong understanding of the many Planes can be an invaluable asset. In a non-planar-focused campaign, the Knowedge (Planes) skill is used to quantify a person’s collective knowledge on all things inter- and extra-planar.

However, when a campaign is set entirely away from the Material Plane, this simplification can do a disservice, considering every plane is infinitely more vast and mysterious than most traditional settings. The standard skills rules assume that any information regarding a Plane is attained with Knowledge (Planes) - creatures, cultures, histories, governments, etc. Meanwhile, in such a default setting, each of these categories receives its own separate Knowledge just for its own local Material address (Local, Geography, History, and Nobility, respectively). And yet, it would also seem perfectly reasonable to disallow Knowledge (History) from representing a person’s collective knowledge of historical lore within all of infinity on over a dozen unique planes of existence. Still, it WOULD be entirely unreasonable to introduce several dozen new skills to represent various categories of knowledge in every single plane (or even one single knowledge skill per plane).

The goal of this alternate Knowledge system is to validate the vastness and mystery of the Great Beyond with an expanded system, but still leave the overall skills rules largely unchanged and not overly complicated. This system is a work in progress, and I'm open to suggestions.

The Knowledge (Planes) skill no longer exists. Knowledge (Local) is now used to identify Outsiders. At each new level, PCs receive 3 Background Skills. In addition to the normal uses of Background Skills, PCs may also allocate these into Planar Foci. Planar Foci are treated in many ways as skills (total ranks per Focus cannot exceed your total HD, they can be modified by the Skill Focus Feat, etc.), but are actually used as modifiers for other skills when used on different Planes. Each Focus is considered a Trained Only skill. A class that receives Knowledge (Planes) as a Class Skill can instead select a single Planar Focus to be treated as a Class Skill. A PC may allocate normal Skill Ranks into Planar Foci, just as he may put normal ranks into any Background Skill.

When making a skill check (usually Knowledge-based) that pertains to a specific Plane or several specific Planes, a PC adds his Planar Focus modifier to the modifier of the skill being used. For example, to identify a Large Fire Elemental, a PC would roll Knowledge (Local), and also add his Elemental Planar Focus modifier. If the PC has no ranks in Knowledge (Local), OR if he has no ranks in Elemental Planar Focus, he is not considered trained, and cannot make the roll. Alternatively, if a PC wanted to know something about the ruling class in the City of Brass, they would roll Knowledge (Nobility), and add their Elemental Planar Focus modifier. If a roll could pertain to more than one Planar Focus, use the highest modifier of all that apply.

Planar Foci:
Upper (Heaven, Nirvana, Elysium)
Middle (Axis, Boneyard, Maelstrom)
Lower (Hell, Abadon, Abyss)
Elemental (Fire, Earth, Water, Air)
Energy (Positive, Negative, First World, Shadow)
Transitive (Ethereal, Astral)

A couple problems I'm already aware of with this system: It enables a PC to max out Knowledge (Local) and Planar Focus (Lower), and become doubly knowledgeable in identifying fiends than someone with the default rules, while the goal of this rules system is to prevent hyper-knowledge in the multiple infinities that is the Great Beyond. Second, a PC could simply put one rank in each Planar Foci, and then allocate ranks into Knowledges as normal, kind of defeating the whole point.

Maybe I'm over-thinking this, but I feel like simply doubling all Knowledge (Planes) DCs wouldn't really fix the problem, either. Maybe I'm overthinking this. Any feedback or suggestions are welcome!

If a creature has reach as well as a way to see enemies on the surface through the ground, can that creature freely attack without penalty? Attacks of Opportunity?

Hi! Any GMs here done anything with the extradimensional stable or prison linked to Castle Overwatch? Both locations were cut off when the Radiant Fire blew up the city. I really like the idea of a prison filled with dangerous criminals and powerful guards trying to figure out what happened and trying to deal with their situation - perhaps some guards snapping and turning control-hungry, and/or prisoners learning the value of working together with both sides for their joint survival. I’d love to hear any ideas or testimonies for that (either the prison OR stable)!

Hello, 1E chums! I have an encounter idea that sounds very fun to me, but I’m having trouble finding a way to translate it into gameplay, and so I’m here, looking for help from people smarter than me!

In this encounter, the PCs (18th-level) will be pitted against a 20th level, 10th Mythic Tier Wizard. I know, so simple! This Wizard has some more crunch beyond this, and is truly terrifying, indeed. The PCs will be aware of the Wizard’s might, and this encounter is intended to feel like a Monster Movie, where instead of charging into combat, they will likely be inclined to flee (or at least fall back and rally). As monster movies go, I’m reminded of the scene from It (2017), where the kids take their first crack at exploring that creepy old house - lots of getting separated; lots of blindly running away, only to find themselves in some fresh hell; and occasional instances of standing and fighting. The encounter will ultimately end with a proper combat, but only after some change in circumstances.

This encounter will take place on the PCs’ turf, but the Wizard has had all night to prepare his invasion and attack. I understand that with the powers this Wizard possesses, it’s very possible for me to nuke the PCs into oblivion in 1 or 2 rounds, but I obviously don’t want to do that. To that end, though, I also don’t want it to be obvious to the PCs that I’m holding back.

So, with all that in mind, I’m looking for some way to let this Wizard pursue the PCs in a way that will let him be a threat, but not so much of a threat that they can’t retreat. Indeed, I WANT them to retreat. I also need a way to prevent the PCs from retreating in a way that the encounter flat-out ends- (as 18th-level characters, they’ll have access to impressive magic, themselves, and can simply Teleport or even Plane Shift away if they’ll allowed.

As the PCs will be on their own turf, I imagine a lot of the limitations on the Wizard could come from their turf’s own magic - perhaps they’re on a Demi Plane and think themselves safe, but the Wizard can project himself there, but something about the Planar wonkiness limits him in some way? Again, I don’t really know how to make these dots connect. In some ways, I kind of like the idea of making the first half of this encounter work like a Chase, using Pathfinder’s Chase rules, which could let me keep the crunch a bit more abstract, but I would ultimately prefer to keep the encounter grounded with actual mechanics if at all possible.

I know I’m really swinging for the fences with such a complicated encounter style, paired with such powerful combatants, and I’m sure there’s a million ways that certain PC builds could be strong enough to trivialize the encounter altogether, but please, let me worry about that; I’m just looking for help in getting this premise to work.

Thank you for any help!

It never struck me until recently how few Undead are actually featured in the cemetery of Roslar’s Coffer and Roslar’s Tomb. The Book references a “massive uprising of Undead”, and the Loci Spirit tells the PCs that they’ve been holding all the Undead in the cemetery, preventing them from entering the town. However, upon actually counting the number of Undead the PCs must deal with, there are only five. Five! The Bone Golem and Living Walls represent the “spirit” of Undead, and the golem itself likely is meant to account for a fair number of the corpses that had once been buried, but it really feels like the “massive uprising” was more like a light trickle under this scrutiny.

I’d like to add more Undead to this part of the adventure, but I’m also aware of what doing so would mean for the balance and pace of the adventure. I was thinking of adding a couple Haunts to the graveyard, but the bulk of the Undead are reportedly inside the tomb. I was thinking of simply adding a trivial number of Skeletons (CR 1/3) and/or Zombies (CR 1/2) to each encounter inside the tomb - something like 1d3+1 - which wouldn’t increase the CR by much, if at all, but would potentially make them more interesting, and also satisfy the feeling of an entire cemetery-worth of bodies being reanimated.

I’m looking for feedback for this idea, as well as any alternatives that might accomplish the same goal.

Thanks!

The main focus of these books was to give martial-heavy classes, like Fighter, Rogue, Cavalier, etc. more options and give them more interesting tools, and I both appreciate and approve of this. However, has anyone found these expanded options become unbalanced when utilized by Gish characters, like Magus or Occultist?

Hi, folks! I'm trying to price out a custom magic item. If an item like this already exists, please let me know!

This item is a cloak that provides the wearer with a constant Greater False Vision effect. Once per day, the wearer can concentrate for 1 minute to change any elements of the illusion. As a Constant 7th-level spell, the custom magic items guidelines has the spell effect priced at 182,000gp (CL 13th * 7th-level spell * 2,000). Greater False Vision has a Material Component costing 500gp, which raises the cost by 50,000gp, for a grand total of 232,000gp, which is just a stupidly high cost. From the way I'm reading Greater False Vision, the only saving throw mentioned is if the target of the spell is unwilling; the Scryer DOESN'T get a save, meaning it always works. Therefor, this would be an incredible magic item to have, but not, I think, something that would cost the entirety of a 15th-level PC's wealth.

I know the custom magic items rules are meant to just be guidelines, but I'm having trouble figuring out what price range it should be regardless. My group is likely to find this item. It's probably just as likely that they'd just sell it as keep it, so I don't want to give them an unreasonable payday.

Any insight on this would be appreciated!

I’m considering replacing the written system for voting and swaying votes with the Verbal Duels system from Ultimate Intrigue. Has anyone tried this? It seems to be a perfect system for this encounter. I would pit the one who did the debating against the listed “champion” or “opponent” for each Issue as a separate Duel. Whichever “champion” or “opponent” was on their side would grant them a number of Edges based on how influential they are and how friendly they are with the PC’s. This would make some Duels incredibly difficult, though, as they’d be Dueling against the Hurricane King probably at least twice, who has a lot mor HD and therefor more Determination. Also, his status as the H King would give him a fair bit of bonus Determination and Edges due to his social advantage. However, on the 2 Issues that matter, the PC’s ally would be Tessa Fairwind, which should give them some much needed help. One thing I’m unsure of, though, is how to adjudicate the vote swaying. Would the winner of the Duel automatically just get enough votes to win the vote? Would each exchange sway one or two votes? I’m looking for some help on this.

I'm looking for confirmation on if I'm interpreting this correctly or not:

A Trip is an attack action. Let's say I have 3 attacks on a Full Attack. So, as a Full round action, would I be able to Attack (full BAB), Attack (Full BAB -5), and Trip (Full BAB)? I've never seen anything that says your CMB takes the same penalties as iterative attacks. Or would the Trip be at Full BAB -10?

Hey, everyone! I'm here to invite you all to the saltiest Actual Play around - Tuesday Gaming, by the Swiss Army Scorpion Podcast, where we play through Paizo's Skull and Shackles AP, one Swim Check at a time! Life is tough on the open sea, but this rough, tumble, and largely incompetent group of scalawags is determined to make it to the top of the heap!

Players Nick, Joe, Tom, Matt, and Andrew; and GM Alex bring you a podcast of humor, adventure, and drama every Friday. Content is rated Arrr for language, adult situations, and PIRATES!

You can visit our website, where we have 89 episodes of our main campaign, and 9 episodes of our rainy-day secondary campaign, Sweet Side Action, or you can find us on Podbean, iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or anywhere else find podcasts are found! You can also chat with us and other listeners on our Discord Channel, aptly named Swiss Army Scorpion.

I hope anyone who checks us out has fun listening to our over-the-top pirate hi-jinks, and if anyone reading this is already a fan, then hello! You're all beautiful!

Thee ya!

If a Plane has the Timeless trait (regarding Afflictions and Natural Healing), does Bleed damage apply, or does that count as an affliction? Furthermore, if a creature gains the Dying condition, do they still lose 1hp per round (barring a successful Con check), or does that also count as an affliction?

The spell Blindness/Deafness has the Curse descriptor. Can a it be removed with the Remove Curse spell?

I love these little monstrosities from Planar Adventures, and would love to include them in a campaign in the future. My first question, though, is how the heck do I pronounce Wisagatcak?

Beyond that, these little buggars are nasty! They’re really good trippers, and with Greater Trip, having multiples of them swarming the group can rack up a lot of Attacks of Opportunity. Plus, they’re dealing 1 Wis damage per round with their 60’ Aura, and their Bites inflict 1 Str Drain. And, their 1/day Polar Ray deals 1d4 Dex Drain. They can go into Berserker Mode by just full-attacking on a single creature (Bite, Gore, 4 Talons, and Rake), for a couple rounds, and gaining Haste.

With Nimble Moves, Acrobatic Steps, See in Darkness, Tremorsense, 3/day Air Walk, and At Will Dimension Door, you can put these guys in the darkest, foggiest, craggiest, most unnavigatable environment, and they’ll run circles around the group.

How would you run these creatures? As a solo monster? As a group?

I was wondering what would be some good Setting-specific books to go through (for either GM or Player) before diving into this AP?

Thanks!

As a standard action, a blood hag who has removed her skin by using mask evil can assume the form of a flying ball of fire for up to 12 rounds. After leaving fiery form, a blood hag must wait 1d4 rounds before assuming it again. A blood hag in this form who enters the same space as another creature stops moving for that round and deals 3d6 points of fire damage (Reflex DC 20 negates) to that creature. A blood hag can suppress her heat and dim her light to that of an ember if she chooses, and can pass through openings and cracks as though in gaseous form. A blood hag in fiery form retains her AC and also has immunity to non-magical attacks and effects. A successful targeted dispel magic spell or 20 points of cold damage returns her from her fiery form to her normal form. A blood hag can assume fiery form a number of times per day equal to her Charisma modifier (typically 4). The save DC is Charisma-based.

This ability states that the Blood Hag takes the form of a flying ball of fire. My question is - can she still use her natural attacks while in this form? The ability description doesn't address her natural attacks at all. It's not a Polymorph effect, so her physical stats/abilities shouldn't take any mechanical changes (except what's specifically covered in the description - Flaming Sphere movement rules, and Gaseous Form squeeze rules/magic damage rules).

Bonus question - as she needs to enter a creature's square to deal her Fiery Form damage, wouldn't this provoke, barring an Acrobatics check?

The Fabricate spell lets you create Masterwork items with an appropriate skill check. My question is if you fail that check, what happens? Do you simply make a standard version of the item? Does the spell fail? If it’s the former, can you recast the spell on the standard-quality item? It’s still the same materials, after all. Or can you only cast the spell on what is viewed as “raw materials”? Seems like if this is the case, even a little downtime means you’re basically guaranteed to get Masterwork items. Or is that the point?

I know the final book hasn’t been released yet, but for anyone who has played through, ran through, or just read through the first five books, how is this AP so far?

The Blessed Script is a Supernatural Ability, which is by default a Standard action to activate unless an ability specifies otherwise. However, the chosen spell is treated as a Spell-like Ability, which is also a Standard action unless otherwise noted.

If a Living Grimoire selected Burst of Speed (Swift-action spell) as his 3rd-level tattoo, would it be a Swift action to activate the spell, or Standard action?

As a GM, I enjoy creating NPC's with the NPC Ability Score and Wealth rules in place - it's fun to create difficult encounters while setting those limits for myself. Right now, I'm creating a Lich, and find this to be a bit trickier, and thought I'd write my thoughts down and invite others to comment on the issue as well. (I'm not looking for opinions on the NPC's build or tactics, just looking to discuss the way GM's might have been expected to use the NPC rules when building a Lich)

So in this case, the NPC is a 14th-level Sorcerer turned Lich. According to the NPC wealth-by-level chart, this gives me 34,800gp to work with. So let's talk about some of the expenses a Lich needs to think about. First, there's the Phylactery, which must be created in order for them to reach Lichdom in the first place, which costs...120,000gp. Well, that's a pretty huge speed bump - if adhering to the NPC wealth rules, only a 20th-level NPC could even afford one, and only have about 30k left to actually spend on gear etc. The Phylactery cost aside, let's talk about hiding it - no self-respecting Lich would just leave their Phylactery just laying around. For the sake of not needing to return and refresh defensive spells out of the fear of Scrying spells giving away its location, we need to pay for some Permanency buffs; we probably don't have every single spell on hand that will go into hiding it, so we'll need to buy some scrolls. Without revealing my Lich's actual plan, let's go conservative and say they only needed 2 scrolls and spend about 2,000gp. They even bothered to learn Permanency to be responsible, but the cost of applying that spell enough times is gonna cost them another 14,500gp. So again, we're not even accounting for the cost of the Phylactery, and the Lich has sunk 16,500gp into hiding it - just under half our total, leaving them with 18,300gp.

Considering that the Lich needed to take the Craft Wondrous Item feat anyway in order to create the Phylactery, we can actually get a decent amount of mileage out of this. Creating a +4 Cha Headband and a +2 Dex Belt for a total of 10k isn't too bad, but now we're suddenly down to maybe buying a nice ring and we're done. And bear in mind that the gp they put into hiding their Phylactery is a bit on the cheap, so if they wanted to put up some more defenses, the pool of money they have left to actually outfit themselves is going to drop accordingly.

This brings us into somewhat undefined territory. Breaking down the system of Pathfinder, gold is just a means to better stats, utility, mobility, etc. On one hand, that 120,000gp for the Lich's Phylactery should just be hand-waived as something only blocking a PC from easy immortality. On the other hand, though, the Phylactery is something that improved the Lich's survivability, which in turn makes it a harder enemy, and that needs to be taken into account. Spending gp to make the Phylacter harder to get to in turn makes defeating the Lich more difficult. However, these benefits are mostly out of combat, so to speak - they won't help you kill the PC's in the moment, just give you additional attempts to, one at a time. Does this mean gp spent protecting the Phylactery shouldn't be spent at a one-to-one basis? Maybe the 16,500gp spent in the above example should only count as spending 8,250gp. It shouldn't be completely ignored in my opinion, or else they would suddenly have 10 Symbols of Death and a Quintessence Golem guarding your 14th-level Lich's Phylactery.

Still, this doesn't account for the actual price of the Phylactery, which, to me personally, leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Should I just ignore it since it means I could only make a Lich at 20th-level, and even then, it would be shamefully under-geared to deal with a party of level 17-18 PC's? When making a Lich, should I just make them with PC wealth-by-level, which would give the 14th-level Sorcerer 185,000? Here, though, even after making the Phylactery, they'd still have more gp than what would be expected of a 14th-level NPC Sorcerer. How have other GM's here adjudicated gp expenditure when building a Lich? Did you only subtract gp when it went into specifically statting out the Lich? Did you account for every single defense errected for the Phylactery?

Food for thought - the 11th-level Wizard statted in the Bestiary has about 16,300gp-worth of gear (after halving the price of all his Wondrous Items with his Craft Wondrous Items feat), and 11th-level NPC's should have 16,350gp.

Flaming Arrows are listed as +1 cost. If I were to buy a bundle of Flaming Arrows, would it cost 2,000gp, or do I price it out like a magic weapon, where I'm paying 8,000 (+1 Enhancement plus +1 Property)?

The rules for breaking an object using a Strength check don't seem to include what happens to the object if you succeed. Does the object gain the Broken condition, requiring another Strength check to fully destroy it? Is one successful check enough to completely destroy it? I'm inclined to believe the latter, but the rules don't actually spell out what condition an object is left in after a creature makes a successful Strength check to break it.

If the wearer is a spontaneous caster, once per day she may use a spell slot to cast a spell from a written source (such as a scroll or spellbook) as if she knew that spell. The spell must be on her spell list, the same spell level or lower than the expended spell slot, and the same type of spell (arcane or divine) as the spell slot expended. The caster must also understand the written source (such as using Spellcraft or read magic) and be carrying it. Activating the robe is not an action, but casting the spell otherwise works as normal, including casting time, providing components or foci, and so on. Using a mnemonic vestment’s properties does not consume the written source.

My question refers to the bolded text. Does "carrying" mean the user must be holding the scroll in hand, or can the scroll simply be in the user's pocket to count as being carried?

This spell functions as symbol of death, except that all creatures within 60 feet are affected with uncontrollable laughter (as hideous laughter) for 1 round per caster level.

A creature whose type is different from the caster’s receives a +4 bonus on its saving throw, because humor doesn’t “translate” well.

My question is: does the Creature Type caveat in Hideous Laughter carry over to Symbol of Laughter? Would an Outsider gain a +4 bonus on its save vs. a Symbol of Laughter cast by a Humanoid?

My thinking is no, since Symbol of Laughter's FUNCTION is similar to Symbol of Death, and only its EFFECT is similar to Hideous Laughter. Still, I'd like to hear from others on this.

One of my PC's had a fun idea of burying some of their recently acquired treasure for a "rainy day". They're a bit ahead of the wealth-by-level mark, so they might just follow through with this. I heard this idea and realized with some shock that not in any of the 6 books for Skull and Shackles does the AP ever play with the idea of the PC's burying their own treasure, as opposed to seeking out someone ELSE'S buried treasure, and I was doubly surprised that I couldn't find someone else sharing their experience with this on the forums.

On the surface, this might just seem silly, if fun and worth some rp-points. However, we're smack dab in the middle of Book 2, when gaining Infamy is the name of the game. I realized that buried treasure always, ALWAYS holds some level of myth (or Infamy, if you will) for the one who buried it in the first place. The treasure of Mancatcher Cove, for instance, comes with a dedicated Adventure Background entry to share in the legend of Cyrus Wolfe and his immense reputation and treasure horde.

What if I applied this cause-and-effect relationship with Infamy and buried treasure to what the PC's are doing? I could say something like they need to bury x-amount of gold/treasure, make a y-skill check to hide it/leave cryptic clues to find it, and then gain z-Infamy as stories of their buried treasure spreads through the Shackles. Maybe the Infamy they gained for burying it goes away if the treasure is ever retrieved (either by them when they decide they need the cash more than the Infamy, or by some other pirates who followed the clues and found their hidden horde.

If I do make a system out of this, I'd want it to be balanced, and remain so as the PC's gain levels and wealth. I'm thinking at least 1,000gp per ACL as the baseline, and the skill check can be Survival, Bluff, or Profession, with the DC weighed against the gp-value of the treasure, which would represent their ability to hide it well. Based on the check result, I would make a secret check once per week or so to see if someone finds it. It could make for a pretty awesome story hook for them to head into port, only to hear stories of how someone found the buried treasure they were bragging about a few months back (i.e. I tell them their Infamy has dropped), they go back to the dig sight, and find a note from the thief.

Any guidance on this system would be greatly appreciated!

I'm a fan of the Planar Infusion feats from Planar Adventures (especially as a GM), but each feat (Basic, Improved, and Greater) is actually almost 30 different feats, since they offer an entirely different benefit based on which Plane you're Infusing. The format of the Planar Adventures book had each benefit displayed in the specific Plane's entry, making comparing different aspects of the feat tedious to compare. That's why I've compiled all the Planar Infusion feats' different Plane-specific benefits into one neat list, and I'm putting it here for anyone interested in perusing. Unlike the ordering in the book, I've ordered them alphabetically.

Basic Infusion: Must have spent time on the Plane
Improved Infusion: Basic Infusion, 7 HD
Greater Infusion: Basic Infusion, Imp Infusion, 13 HD

Abaddon
Basic: +1 Ref saves; move at full speed while hiding your tracks; +2 Survival vs. tracks
Imp: +4 saves vs. Possession effects and effects that tamper with your soul (Soul Trap spell, an Astradaemon’s Devour Soul ability, etc.); consume a soul gem created by a Cacodaemon as a Standard actionto immediately be treated as an Evil Outsider and gain Fast Healing 2 for a number of rounds equal to your HD.
Greater: Immune to effects that cause amnesia or alter your memory; 3/day SLA Mindwipe (range touch)

Abyss
Basic: +1 Fort saves; +2 Intimidate to demoralize; +2 attack rolls to confirm crits
Imp: 1/day SLA Curse Terrain
Greater: 1/day SLA Insanity

Akashic Record
Basic: 1/day (typically when you wake up) select one Knowledge skill to gain a +2 bonus in (or +4 if you have 10 or more skill ranks in it)
Imp: 1/day SLA Divination
Greater: 1/day SLA Retrocognition

Astral
Basic: +2 saves vs. Curses, Diseases, and Poisons; +4 Wis checks to maneuver Subjective Gravity.
Imp: Always succeed at Wis checks to maneuver Subjective Gravity; Increase max lifespan and the number of years in each age category by 10%; act under the effects of a Haste spell as a Free action for a number of rounds per day equal to ¼ your HD.
Greater: Become Immune to your choice of either Curses, Disease, or Poison; Increase your max lifespan and the number of years in each age category by an additional 10% of the base numbers; you don’t retroactively age/hunger when leaving a Plane with the Timeless Trait; gain a Fly speed 60’ (Perfect) on the Astral Plane

Axis
Basic: +1 Fort saves; +2 one chosen Craft skill; +2 Perception vs. secret doors and hidden traps
Imp: 1/day SLA Secure Shelter
Greater: Turn into a whirling cloud of glowing glyphs as a Standard action; you gain a Fly speed of 60’ (Perfect), can move through small cracks as Gaseous Form (not prohibited from entering water), gain DR 10/Chaos, Regen 5/Chaos, and are immune to precision damage and crits. You can remain in this form for up to 1 minute per HD per day.

Boneyard
Basic: +1 Will saves; +2 Heal checks to stabilize dying creatures; +4 Con checks to stabilize yourself
Imp: 1/day SLA Death Ward
Greater: 1/day SLA Destruction (not a Death Effect, only usable on Undead)

Cynosure
Basic: Perception DC’s aren’t modified when you’re asleep; +4 saves vs. sleep
Imp: 1/day SLA Air Walk
Greater: 1/day SLA Dream Travel (roll twice to determine how accurate your arrival is and take the better of the two results)

Dead Vault
Basic: +4 CMD vs. maneuvers that force you to change your position (Bullrush, Reposition, etc.); +4 CMB on Grapple checks to maintain a Grapple
Imp: 1/day SLA Dimensional Anchor
Greater: 1/day SLA Force Cage (windowless cell only)

Dimension of Dreams
Basic: +4 Cha checks to arrive in the Dimension of Dreams at an advantage, and you can attempt one additional impossible action beyond the normal limit during a visit to a Dreamscape
Imp: 1/day SLA Dream
Greater: 1/day SLA Dream Council

Dimension of Time
Basic: 1/day roll twice for Init and take the higher result
Imp: Use Basic Infusion 2/day; 1/day touch an object that used to be alive (wood, paper, a dead body, etc.) to protect it from time as if you had used an unguent of timelessness (maintain this effect on a number of object equal to Int mod, min 1)
Greater: Use Basic Infusion 3/day; Immune to Temporal Stasis; 1/day gain the effects of Time Stop when the spell is cast within 30’ of you, lasting the duration of the same effect (functions without your knowledge of the spell being cast).

Elysium
Basic: +1 Ref saves; +2 Acrobatics checks vs. provoking attacks of opportunity; +2 one chosen Perform skill
Imp: 1/day SLA Confusion; Lawful or Evil creatures take a -1 penalty on their saves, and LE creature take a -2 penalty.
Greater: Whenever you’re under the effects of an ongoing fear or possession effect, or an effect that grants mental control over you (like Dominate Person), you can attempt a new save at the beginning of each of your turns. On a success, the effect immediately ends as though you initially succeeded your save. You can attempt such a save a number of times per day equal to 3+Cha (min 4/day).

Ethereal
Basic: +3 Perception checks on Ethereal Plane, vs. creatures native to the plane, or vs. ethereal creatures. See twice as far while on the Ethereal Plane
IMP: See clearly on the Ethereal Plane, gain nourishment and water from ectoplasm, 1/day SLA Ectoplasmic Snare
Greater: 1/day SLA Ethereal Jaunt

First World
Basic: +2 Perception, Init, and Cha to shape the First World
Imp: 1/day SLA Summon Monster IV (1 Boggart, 1 Calpina, 1 Huldra, 1 Satyr, 1d3 Liminal Sprites, 1d3 Pookas, 1d4+1 Atomites, 1d4+1 Brownies, 1d4+1 Fauns, 1d4+1 Grigs, or 1d4+1 Mockingfeys)
Greater: 1/day SLA Fey Form III

Hao Jin Tapestry
Basic: You can use Perception or Knowledge (Planes) in place of Spellcraft to identify magic items, spells, and effects associated with such effects as if using Detect Magic.
Imp: 1/day SLA Dimension Door
Greater: 1/day SLA Mage’s Magnificent Mansion

Harrowed Realm
Basic: 1/day, draw a card from a Harrow deck to randomly choose 1 of 6 ability scores. At any point within the next 24 hours, gain a +2 bonus on a single ability check of the ability score chosen after the die is rolled, but before the result is revealed.
Imp: The bonus from the Basic Infusion is now +4, and the bonus can be utilized twice per day.
Greater: The bonus from the Basic Infusion is now +6, and the bonus can be utilized three times per day. Alternatively, you can expend all three uses at once to add the bonus after the outcome is revealed.

Heaven
Basic: +1 Fort saves; +2 Diplomacy checks vs. Good creatures; +2 Intimidate checks vs. Evil creatures.
Imp: 1/day, release a 30’ radius burst of divine energy, damaging evil creatures within the area for 1d8 damage per HD (max 10d8), and blinding them for a number of rounds equal to your Cha mod (Will save DC 10 + ½ HD + Cha halves damage and negates Blindness)
Greater: 2/day SLA Breath of Life; if the target is LG, this is only a Move action; if the target is Evil, it’s staggered for 10 minutes unless if vows to repent for its evil ways.

Hell
Basic: +1 Will saves; +2 Bluff checks to lie/fool; +2 Diplomacy to improve a creature’s attitude
Imp: Whenever you deal Fire damage, you can instead deal Hellfire damage; secondary fires created by your fire effects always deal regular Fire damage, if such an effect would occur.
Greater: 1/day SLA Mass Inflict Pain

Jandelay
Basic: +4 saves vs. effects that reduce your body to ash (Destruction, Disintegrate, etc.); +4 saves vs. Confusion effects and spells with the Chaos descriptor
Imp: 1/day SLA order’s Wrath
Greater: 1/day SLA Dictum

Leng
Basic: +2 Intimidate to demoralize; +1 DC of your Supernatural Fear effects
Imp: 1/day SLA Confusion
Greater: 1/day SLA Contact Entity IV (must provide expensive material components)

Maelstrom
Basic: +1 Ref saves; +1 Init; +2 Bluff checks to Feint
Imp: 1/day SLA Confusion
Greater: 1/day SLA Word of Chaos

Negative Energy Plane
Basic: Treat Positive/Negative energy as if you were Undead; if you are Undead, gain +2 bonus to Channel Resistance
Imp: 1/day SLA Enervation
Greater: 1/day, when reduced to 0 or fewer HP, you release a 20’ radius burst centered on you that deals 1d6 points of negative energy damage per hd (max 20d6) to all creatures in the area (Ref DC 10 + ½ HD + Cha halves), and also healing you an amount of hp equal to your HD, but doesn’t heal other creatures. This healing happens immediately and may prevent your death or keep you conscious.

Nirvana
Basic: +1 Will saves; +1 Perception checks; +2 Sense Motive checks vs. Bluff
Imp: 1/day SLA Restoration (doesn’t affect Physical Ability damage or Fatigue/Exhaustion); expensive material components are required for non-Good creatures
Greater: Gain Truespeech and can speak with any creature that uses language as if affected by Tongues; +4 saves vs. Language-dependent effects, and such effects created by you gain a +1 to the DC.

Plane of Air
Basic: +2 Fly checks, +2 saves vs. Air/Electricity effects
Imp: 1/day SLA Air Walk
Greater: 1/day SLA Wind Walk

Plane of Earth
Basic: +2 Climb checks, +2 saves vs. Earth/Acid effects
Imp: 1/day SLA Acid Pit
Greater: 1/day SLA Statue

Plane of Fire
Basic: +2 Acrobatics checks, +2 saves vs. Fire effects
Imp: 1/day SLA Wall of Fire
Greater: 1/day SLA Delayed Blast Fireball

Plane of Water
Basic: +2 Swim checks, +2 saves vs. Water/Cold effects
Imp: 1/day SLA Control Water
Greater: 1/day SLA Vortex

Positive Energy Plane
Basic: Whenever you’re healed by a Positive Energy effect, you heal an additional number of HP equal to your HD; gain a +4 bonus on Con checks to stabilize while dying
Imp: 1/day SLA (only one) CSW, Lesser Resto, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Remove Disease, or Remove Paralysis; if used on yourself, the SLA is only a Move action.
Greater: 1/day SLA Raise Dead; you must supply expensive material components as if casting as a spell; if used on a creature that’s been dead no longer than 1 minute for each HD you have, the target doesn’t incur negative levels and doesn’t lose its prepared spells or spell slots, nor does this ability require expensive material components

Shadow Plane
Basic: In your space, and each square adjacent to your space, treat dim light as normal light
Imp: 1/day SLA Shadow Conjuration
Greater: As an Immediate action when you would take damage from an attack, spell, or other effect, dissolve the portion of yourself that would take damage into quasi-real shadowstuff, gaining a 50% chance to ignore all of the effect’s damage. Use this ability until it succeeds 3 times in one day

Xibalba
Basic: +1 DC Fear effects; +2 saves vs. Fear
Imp: 1/day SLA Phantasmal Killer
Greater: 1/day SLA Insanity

I had a crazy idea for a character who has 3 Bloodlines - Bloodrager, VMC Sorcerer, and his remaining feats go into Eldritch Heritage. This should leave him with no remaining feats, save for his Bloodline feats, and let's have him be Human so we can get one more, which isn't part of a list. I'm sure this isn't a great idea, but I'm curious what can be done with 3 Bloodlines in one character. Anyone have any ideas?

There are no hard rules for this, as far as I'm aware, which is perfectly fine, as it's a very subjective label, but at what point would a person count as being familiar with another person for the purposes of inflicting a -5 penalty on the subject's Will save vs. a Scrying spell?

Without revealing too much of this scenario, in case someone from my game sees it, I propose several methods in which a person can become more familiar with another. I'm curious of others' interpretations in the methods' validity and time required to fulfill the stated parameters.

Cooperative Interaction - This involves speaking with the subject, fighting along-side them, eating with them, etc. It's getting to know someone the old-fashioned way.
This is the bar to measure by. Obviously, a caster Scrying on his father would count as being familiar, as would Scrying on his life-long friend. But what about a good friend he only met a year ago? I'd say yes, but how low does that bar go from there? Would you be considered familiar with someone you've known for a week - even after heavy interaction? I'm inclined to say no. I think the minimum here would be a month, and it would need to be regular interactions - the store clerk that you buy scroll paper from once a week for the past month would not count.

Subversive Interaction - This involves observing the subject in a way that the subject isn't aware of you - either by doing so up close albeit invisible or stealthed, or even using other forms of Divination, such as Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, or even in a situation where the subject is famous and their personality, preferences, and other characteristics are constantly on display for all to see.
Maybe some people wouldn't count this at all, but I think with enough time, it would be possible. Anyone here fans of long-running podcasts or Youtubers? I feel like I know Aron Hanson from Game Grumps pretty darn well at this point. For this, I personally would say a minimum of 1 year of dedicated observation would be needed.

The Diary - While reading about the subject through reports, research notes, etc. may not count for much, something else can be said about reading someone's personal diary/journal. With this method, the thing to measure would likely be the number of pages available, rather than the amount of time invested.
This is very similar to the Subversive Interaction, but in this case, you may not even know what the person looks like or what their voice sounds like. Still, a deaf caster should still be "familiar" with their father, even if they've never heard their voice. I feel like a blind caster casting Scrying is pretty asinine, but they would still be considered "familiar" with their father, regardless, right? Well, despite the visual and audible disconnect, there's still a case here imo, for the information revealed is likely extremely intimate. I'd even go so far as to say that the level of intimacy in the info you're getting balances out, letting you become familiar with the subject around the same length of time as Subversive Interaction; "Idk what they look like or sound like and I've never met them, but I know their deepest, darkest secrets, their preferences in fashion, their childhood dreams, their failures, their intolerance for chilly nights, and much, much more." So, assuming that one page is usually the space needed for a single entry, I'd say that around 350 pages would need to be read before becoming familiar with the subject (rounded down from a full year).

Detect Thoughts - This spell (and others similar to it) would be more of a supplement for either Cooperative Interaction or Subversive Interaction). Assuming the subject regularly fails its save vs. this spell, the caster would learn much more intimate details about the subject much faster than be external observation alone.
This is sort of a combination of either Cooperative or Subversive Interaction, and the Diary; in addition to all the info you're getting from your external observations, you're privy to the subject's intimate thoughts. I think a flat double-time modifier would be fair - using Detect Thoughts while traveling with someone for only 2 weeks would get you familiar with them, or using Detect Thoughts while spying on the subject would get you familiar in just 6 months.

Again, I know there are no hard rules for these, so I'm looking for opinions. Are there other categories of interaction I missed? Did I wildly overestimate how much time is required to become familiar with someone? Did I underestimate it?

During this spell’s duration, you can touch the sign of a creature’s passage that you have identified using the Survival skill to make the other steps in the creature’s path perfectly clear to you, no matter how minute.

Obviously "a sign of a creature's passage" refers to footprints, blood left behind, disturbed foliage, probably even a creature's scent, assuming you have the Scent ability, etc. My question is if another creature makes their Survival check and points out a set of tracks for me, can I use this spell from that point without the need for my own successful Survival check?

Does pointing out a sign of a creature's passage to another PC count as the other PC making their Survival check to spot said signs? Pointing out a hidden object you've spotted with Perception to another PC would count as that other PC making a successful Perception check to also spot the hidden object, or so I would assume.

Scrolls have a preset CL, usually the lowest possible, resulting in lower durations, range, damage, etc. than if you were to cast the spell yourself. I know that feats like Spell Focus affect scrolls, or Evoker Wizards using an Evocation spell scroll. However, if the user receives an automatic bonus to his CL, say from a Wizard with Alchemical Affinity using a scroll of Resist Energy, would the spell (normally CL 3rd) manifest at CL 4th?

Hello, I'm here to spread the word on a new Actual Play Podcast that I'm a part of called Swiss Army Scorpion! Our website is linked here, where we already have 7 episodes for your listening pleasure, and we upload new episodes every Friday! We're also on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher, and you can talk to us on Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter.

Obviously, we're playing through the Skull and Shackles AP, and we're having a blast so far, and hoping some fellow Paizo fans will get enjoyment from listening to our antics. Some of it's funny - even downright goofy - and some of it's serious, but all of it is genuine fun!

And yes, we are aware of other Skull and Shackles Actual Play Podcasts, some of which are moderately active on these forums. When we started preparing for this project, we wanted to do an AP not currently covered by other podcasts, and at that time, Skull and Shackles fit the bill. By the time we discovered another one, we were already underway with our own Wormwood Mutiny! We decided to press on, though, because at the end of the day, we're doing this because we thoroughly enjoy it - the podcast was just a fun addition to our hobby. And besides, who could possibly have TOO MUCH pirating in their podcasts playlist? :)

I’m very happy and proud to finally share this new podcast with the Paizo community. This has been a couple years in the making - we had a lot of speed bumps, set backs, and other obstacles, but there ain’t no stopping this train, now!

We call ourselves Swiss Army Scorpion and we’re playing through Paizo’s Skull and Shackles AP. The link goes to our website, but we’re also on Podbean and iTunes (and Google Play is pending as of now, but we should be on there soon as well). We have 3 episodes for you to enjoy today, and more coming every Friday.

We’re a bunch of dudes goofing off and having a blast so if you’re looking for a fun, casual Actual Play, we hope you’ll give us a listen.

DISCLAIMER: content is rated “arrr” for language, subject matter, and pirates!

Devilfish have the Cleave feat, which I found a bit odd at first, but then I started thinking...

It has a Tentacle attack that has the Grab ability. I also has a Savage Bite that it can use anytime it makes a successful Grapple check.

Can a Devilfish use Cleave to Tentacle-Grab-Bite-disengage Grapple as a Free action-Tentacle-Grab-Bite?

Half the damage from Hellfire is fire damage, but the other half is unholy damage, which let's Hellfire bypass Fire immunities and Resistances to an extent. Does this also mean that Hellfire will wind up dealing less damage to a creature with vulnerability to Fire than regular fire that deals the same damage?

So let's take Hellfire dealing 8d6 damage. 4d6 would be Fire damage, and 4d6 would be Unholy damage. A creature with vulnerability to fire would take on average 21 damage from the fire portion, and 14 damage from the unholy portion, for a total of 35 damage. Compare that to say a Fireball spell that deals 8d6 damage, and a creature with vulnerability to fire is taking 42 damage.

Am I understanding this right? Should Hellfire just be treated as normal fire for creatures with vulnerability to fire?

Occult Adventures was probably my single-favorite addition to the Pathfinder system. The flavors of the classes were all great, but I also really loved the mechanics of Psychic casting. With 2E coming out, I'm a little worried that classes from this book will get absorbed into Arcane and Divine camps, or just not come back at all.

Does anyone else want to see the third style of magic persevere in 2E? Would you want it to keep its unique Emotion/Thought Components, or would you want them to use Verbal/Somatic components like Arcane and Divine magic for simplicity's sake? What changes would you make? What would you want to keep the same?

Is there any chance we could see Psychic Magic appear in the Core Rules?

The fact that the format we chose for our dragons limits us to only a very short section of flavor for them is very unfortunate... but it's a format we're more or less stuck with. I did my absolute best to get as much flavor text into the books for these five dragons, but that best is pretty much the same as all other dragons—only a few lines of text. (I considered at one point only providing one stat block for all five dragons—for the ancient version of each, but abandoned that idea pretty soon for reasons).

Quote from the Dragons of Bestiary 6 Paizo Blog. From what I understand, monster stat blocks will be much MUCH more simple in 2E. Combine that with an opportunity to format True Dragons differently in 2E Bestiaries...maybe we can finally get the lore/flavor text we've all been craving from our True Dragons! Anyone else have thoughts on this? On other hopes/wishes involved with Paizo's opportunity to format Bestiaries differently?

1 - Would a Fey with a Fly speed acquired from a Constant Fly SLA grant a caster a fly speed?

The following questions are about the mechanic that allows a caster to ignore somatic and verbal component rules when casting spells that the Fey they've taken the form of can cast as a Spell-like Ability:

2 - Would a SLA for something like Summon Monster II encompass ONLY SMII, or would it apply to the entire Summon Monster line, or would it apply to only SMI and SMII?

3 - Would a psychic caster (such as a Sorcerer with the Psychic Bloodline benefit from this rule in the same way, but applying to Thought and Emotion components?

4 - Do Fey with the Psychic Magic special ability interact at all with this tule with the spells they can cast with Psychic Magic?

The Horrific Appearance ability for a Gorgoros states

Creatures that succumb to a Gorgoros’s horrific appearance find their eyes drawn to the creature’s gaze and must immediately attempt a saving throw against its gaze attack. Affected creatures can’t avert or close their eyes, and treat creatures other than the gorgoros as having concealment.

I'm here for the bolded text. How long do other creatures have concealment from someone who failed their save against this ability? Instinct tells me it lasts until the beginning of the Gorgoros's next turn.

Side note: these guys are SCARY! Gaze attack for permanent petrification, at which point, it can auto-kill a petrified creature as a Standard action. It gets a free attempt to petrify everyone within 30' every round. Then, it can make everyone save against petrification AGAIN as a Standard action, and if it has anyone grappled in its many tails (which it can also do as a Free action agaisnt any creature adjacent to it!), it can make them save against petrification a THIRD time as a Swift action. Vital Strike on a 4d6 Bite attack is nothing to sneeze at, either. Not to mention Freedom of Movement, SR/DR, and a 40' Earth Glide. Just gushing, here; I'm mostly interested in my above question :)

Rusalkas have Quickened Charm Monster as a 3/day SLA. Very cool, but...I wonder what application one could use this for, as opposed to not being Quickened. I mean, Charm Monster is a Standard action, so if you're Quickening it, you must be in combat, right? But...

If the creature is currently being threatened or attacked by you or your allies, however, it receives a +5 bonus on its saving throw.

A +5 to the save is pretty steep. Unless she was either very confident, or very desperate, why would a Rusalka bother? This is obviously an out-of-combat spell first. Strangely enough, though, Rusalkas don't get Charm Monster as a standard SLA (NOT Quickened). So, if she wants to charm somebody, it HAS to be Quickened.

I'm just curious if I'm missing something here. Is there an obvious element I'm overlooking? It just seems like such a waste of a Quickened SLA. I guess having At Will Charm Monster is a bit...much, so I understand why that's not available. But it's just - why QUICKENED? Honestly, I'd rather have 3/day Extended Charm Monster than Quickened. Or Reach, or Bouncing, or Threnodic to fit her Undead flavor. Quickened seems like such an odd choice.

I know this has been done already, but I created my own expansion of the VMC rules to incorporate the classes from Occult Adventures. I'm posting it here for anyone who would want to use them. Feedback is welcome; parts do feel a bit overpowered when compared to the VMC rules from Unchained, but maybe I'm just imagining it?

Kineticist
3rd – Choose an Elemental Focus. This choice doesn’t grant you the associated Class Skills – it grants you the associated Basic Manipulation and restricts you to the chosen Element when choosing Utility Powers and Infusions. You can’t choose to accept Burn when using your Kineticist abilities.
7th – Gain a Simple Blast associated with your Elemental Focus. For affects and damage tied to your Blast, your Kineticist level is your level minus 4.
11th – Choose an Infusion associated with your Simple Blast. For choosing an Infusion, as well as its effects, your Kineticist level is your level minus 4. You can now Gather Power as a Move action to reduce the Burn from an Infusion by 1.
15th – Choose a Utility Wild Talent associated with your Elemental Focus. For choosing a Utility, as well as its effects, your Kineticist level is your level minus 4. You can now choose to accept a number of Burn equal to your Con mod (minimum 1) when using your Kineticist abilities.
19th – Choose an Infusion associated with your Simple Blast. For choosing an Infusion, as well as its effects, your Kineticist level is your level minus 4.

Medium
3rd – You gain the ability to channel a Spirit into yourself just like a Spiritualist of the same level. Doing so has only two functions: Influence functions the same way, and you gain the listed Spirit Bonus. You must choose a taboo, but doing so doesn’t provide additional uses of Spirit Surge.
7th – Gain the Spirit Surge ability, but the die rolled is always 1d6
11th – You now benefit from the Séance Boon, and allies can benefit from Shared Séance.
15th – You gain the Connection Channel ability. Taboos now let you use Spirit Surge extra times without gaining additional Influence like normal.
19th – Your Spirit Surge now adds 1d8 to a check. You gain the Ask the Spirits ability, usable a number of times per day equal to your Cha mod (minimum 1).

Mesmerist
3rd – Gain a Mesmerist Trick; you can implant a Mesmerist Trick a number of times per day equal to your Cha mod (minimum 1). Your Mesmerist level for choosing a Trick, as well as its effects are equal to your level minus 4 (minimum 1).
7th – Gain the Hypnotic Stare ability as a 1st level Mesmerist.
11th – Gain Touch Treatment as a Mesmerist of a level equal to half your level. You can use Touch Treatment a number of times per day equal to your Cha mod (minimum 1).
15th – Gain a Mesmerist Trick. Your Mesmerist level for choosing a Trick, as well as its effects are equal to your level minus 4.
19th – Gain a Masterful Trick. Your Mesmerist level for choosing a Trick, as well as its effects are equal to your level minus 4.

Occultist
3rd – Gain a number of Mental Focus equal to your Int mod (minimum 1). Choose one school of magic and gain an associated Implement. All of your Mental Focus is automatically stored into this Implement. You gain the Base Focus Power for that Implement, and your Occultist level for determining its effects is equal to half your level.
7th – Gain the Object Reading ability.
11th – Choose a second school of magic and gain the associated Implement. You gain the Base Focus Power for that Implement. You now gain a number of Mental Focus equal to half your level plus your Int mod (minimum 1), and must assign Mental Focus as normal. Your Occultist level for determining the effects of your Base Focus Powers is now your level minus 4.
15th – Choose a Focus Power associated with one of your Implements. Your Occultist level for choosing the Focus Power and its effects is equal to your level minus 4.
19th – Gain the Magic Circles and Binding Circles abilities as an 8th level Occultist.

Psychic
3rd – Choose a Discipline. You gain a Phrenic Pool with a number of points equal to your Wis or Cha mod (minimum 1), as determined by your Discipline. You gain the base Discipline powers associated with your Discipline. Regardless of a listed daily use or other cost (or lack thereof), using a Discipline power requires you to spend 1 Phrenic point.
7th – You can cast Detect Thoughts as a SLA once per day (CL equals your level).
11th – If you have an Int score of 10 or higher, choose a Psychic Knack, which you can cast as a SLA at will. (CL equals your level, and your Int score dictates any saving throw).
15th – Gain the 5th level Discipline Power associated with your Discipline.
19th – You can cast Telepathic Bond as a SLA once per day (CL equals your level). You can’t leave yourself out of the bond.

Spiritualist
3rd – Choose an Emotional Focus for your Phantom. Your Phantom cannot manifest. You gain the Shared Consciousness ability, but you don’t gain the Skill Focus feats associated with the Phantom’s Emotional Focus. In addition, the duration of a Shunted Mind-affecting effect is considered 24 hours.
7th – You Phantom can manifest like normal. Your Phantom’s statistics are as if your Spiritualist level was your level minus 4. Your Phantom will refuse to manifest while you have an Eidolon or Shadow Summoned, and will immediately retreat into your consciousness if one is summoned while it is manifested. You gain the Etheric Tether ability, but can only sacrifice a number of your own hp equal to your HD per day.
11th – You gain the Bonded Manifestation ability as a 3rd level Spiritualist.
15th – You can cast Detect Undead as a SLA a number of times per day equal to your Wis mod (minimum 1). Your Bonded manifestation ability is treated as if your Spiritualist level is 8th.
19th – You can cast See Invisibility as a SLA once per day with a duration of 1 minute. Your Bonded Manifestation ability is treated as if your Spiritualist level is 13th.

Full Plate Mail with constant Ride the Waves (4th level Cleric; CL 7) and Freedom of Movement (4th level Cleric; CL 7). According to the Magic Item Creation Rules, this item costs ([MW Full Plate 1,650] + [Ride the Waves (hour/lvl) 56,000] + [Freedom of Movement (10 mins/level) 84,000] =) 141,650 gp. Seems a bit much. I know that the Magic Item Creation Rules are meant to be more of a guideline than bible, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what the cost SHOULD be.

This is meant to be crafted by a member of the group, so they'll only need to spend half the total cost to get it. Any help would be appreciated.

I'm sure I simply failed to find a relevant thread, but I couldn't find an answer to these questions:

1) Does a creature with DR/magic also overcome DR/magic with its natural attacks?

2) Does this rule continue to apply with other types of DR (i.e. Slashing, Silver, Adamantine, Evil, Epic, etc)?

3) In the case of an alignment-based DR, do the creature's natural weapons overcome alignment-based DR of the alignment opposite its alignment-based DR? In other words, would a creature with DR/evil overcome DR/good with its natural weapons?

4) Are stronger DR types all inclusive in overcoming weaker DR types? In other words, a +4 weapon is needed to overcome DR/Adamantine. A +4 weapon would also overcome all the DR types that weaker Enhancement bonuses would overcome, such as Cold Iron, Silver, and Magic. Applying this to the assumption that a creature's DR is connected to its natural attacks' ability to overcome DR, would a creature with DR/evil overcome DR/magic with its natural attacks?

Of all the Demigods statted up in the Bestiaries so far, I've found none are quite as unstoppable as Black Butterfly. On top of all of her sweet Empyreal Lord abilities, this opinion comes primarily from her Silence Between Ability:

When Black Butterfly takes a 5-foot step, instead of moving 5 feet, she can ride the spaces in between breaths and thoughts, disappearing and rematerializing anywhere within 150 feet and attempting a Stealth check to hide as a free action. She can hide even when being directly observed, and her Stealth can defeat any sense (for example blindsight, lifesense, and tremorsense) as long as the result of the check exceeds the result of the observer’s Perception check. She gains an additional +20 bonus on Stealth checks (+40 when immobile), which doesn’t stack with the bonuses from invisibility, and she can’t be outlined by spells like faerie fire or glitterdust. If she is hidden when she begins a full attack, any creature that wasn’t observing her is denied its Dexterity bonus to AC against all attacks in the full attack, not just the first attack. Black Butterfly loses access to her silence between ability when she is in an area of bright light.

So let's take that step-by-step: Black Butterfly takes a 5' step (no attack of opportunity), and rematerializes wherever she wishes within 150' of her 5' step. In addition, she can make a Stealth check at a +20 bonus (giving her a +73 to her Stealth check!) to essentially Hide in Plain Sight. This means that even in an Antimagic Field, she can do this as she pleases, as it's a mundane ability). During this time, she can't be auto-found with ANY sense, and can't be outlined by effects like Faerie Fire or Glitterdust - so basically only an old fashioned Perception check can spot her. She can then make a Full Attack on whomever she wants (120' range increment with her special throwing weapon (+5 Aberration Bane Ghost Touch Holy Starknife)), and that creature remains Flat-footed for her ENTIRE attack. When her Full Attack is over, guess what? 5' Step, rinse, and repeat. On average, she's dealing 23.5 damage plus 7 fire plus 7 cold damage per hit, with 4 hits, and her lowest attack roll is at a +37, and her target will never NOT be Flat-footed. Admittedly, her damage output isn't all that stellar for an Empyreal Lord, but seeing as I can't think of a way for an opponent to defend against this chain short of running, I'm not sure it's really a problem.

Is there any defense against this? Does Black Butterfly have any weakness I've missed? Do any Empyreal Lords have some tool to negate this ability, or have an ability of their own that makes it not matter?

Say a 3rd-level Wizard finds a scroll with a 4th-level spell. Can he add the spell to his spell book, even though he wouldn't be able to prepare or cast it yet?

I'm posting this here to get feedback on this house rule. Note: my table uses a Crit Deck.

Like many TV shows, movies, and books, there are situations Pathfinder characters can find themselves in where they hold another creature’s life in their hands – they’ve snuck up on an unaware creature and have their knife pressed against the victim’s back; a man has his victim in a tight embrace from behind with one arm, and the other points a pistol at the victim’s head – there are many versions of this scenario, which all have a common understanding: “one wrong move, and I kill you/them”.

The mechanic these scenarios are coming close to emulating is a Coup de Grace (auto crit; Fort save vs. dmg dealt or death), but such a maneuver requires the victim to have the Helpless condition. In these scenarios, though, the victim may be considered Flat-footed, or even Pinned, but they’re usually not considered helpless, which means the mechanical payoff to such a flavorful setup is almost always just a simple attack roll, followed by normal damage, which is almost never enough to warrant the tension such a scene should invoke.

At the same time, a full Coup de Grace is perhaps a bit too far in some of these cases, which aren’t always even incredibly hard to pull off; some sort of middle ground would be more appropriate. Introducing the Hostage Situation; it’s not a condition, so much as a series of circumstances that must be met in order to gain a special attack.

To create a Hostage Situation, the attacker must have their weapon drawn and be adjacent to the victim, or be no more than 10’ away if using a Bow, Crossbow, or Firearm. In addition, the victim must have one of the following conditions before a Hostage Situation can begin: Flat-footed, Helpless, Paralyzed, Pinned, Stunned, or Unconscious. In the case of Flat-footed, the victim must also be unaware of the attacker's presence. Finally, the attacker must have some way of seriously and immediately threatening the victim’s life. Once all of these circumstances have been met, the attacker prepares a Readied Action to Slay the Hostage. Once this Action has been readied, the victim remains subject to it, even if the condition they had when the Hostage Situation began has changed (such as losing their Flat-footed condition once they’re aware of the combat, or losing the Unconscious condition and gaining the Prone condition). The idea here is that the attacker has positioned themselves into an un-defendable position when the victim's defenses were down, and even if the victim is now able to defend themselves normally against other opponents, the attacker is still inside the victim's defenses, and able to strike with impunity, even if such a blow wouldn't be quite as devastating as if the victim were completely helpless.

Slaying the Hostage can be done as an Immediate action when the triggering condition is met, or else it is a Standard action to be taken on the attacker’s turn. A Pinned creature who is Slain is considered Grappled after the attack. When slaying the Hostage, the attack is automatically a crit, and the attacker draws two Crit Cards and chooses which one to apply to the crit.

Other circumstances could create a Hostage situation, and sometimes, meeting all the standard circumstances might not create one at all. The GM is the final arbiter of these instances.

I like the flavor and mechanics of two Arcane Discoveries called Alchemical Affinity and Yuelral's Blessing - +1 CL and save DC for any Wizard spell you cast that also appears on the Alchemist or Druid spell lists respectively? Yes, please! When I tried to find a source for quick reference on which spells they applied to, though, I was disappointed to find that none existed, short of looking up every Wizard spell and seeing if the other class got it in the description. Well, I wound up doing just that, and figured that I'd put them here for anyone else who might want a reference for these Discoveries.

Sources used: ACG, APG, ARG, CRB, HA, ISM, MC, OA, UC, UI, UM, & VC.

The capitol letter at the end of the spell name is a superscript I added in the Word doc to indicate the spell school (E = Evocation, En = Enchantment). The spell levels listed are for the Wizard. Feel free to let me know if I missed anything or made a mistake.

Alchemical Affinity

1st – Abjuring StepA, Adhesive SpittleC, Ant HaulT, Anticipate PerilD, Blurred MovementI, Body CapacitanceT, Comprehend LanguagesD, Bouncy BodyT, Crafter’s FortuneT, Detect Secret DoorsD, Detect UndeadD, Disguise SelfI, Endure ElementsA, Enlarge PersonT, Expeditious RetreatT, Fabricate DisguiseT, Heightened AwarenessD, IdentifyD, Illusion of CalmI, Invisibility AlarmA, JumpT, Long ArmT, LongshotT, Monkey FishT, Obscure PoisonA, Phantom BloodN, Polypurpose PanaceaT, Recharge Innate MagicT, Reduce PersonT, See AlignmentD, ShieldA, Shock ShieldA, Stone FistT, Touch of the SeaT, True StrikeD, Urban GraceT, Vocal AlterationT, Wizened AppearanceT, Youthful AppearanceT

2nd – Adhesive BloodT, Air StepT, Alter SelfT, Animal AspectT, Bear’s EnduranceT, Bestow Weapon ProficiencyEn, Blood ArmorT, Blood BlazeT, Blood TranscriptionD, BlurI, Bullet ShieldA, Bull’s StrengthT, Cat’s GraceT, Certain GripT, Communal Ant HaulT, Communal Endure ElementsA, DarkvisionT, Defensive ShockE, Detect ThoughtsD, Eagle’s SplendorT, Elemental TouchE, Extreme FlexibilityT, False LifeN, Fire BreathE, Fleshy FaçadeT, Fox’s CunningT, Ghostly DisguiseI, Investigative MindEn, InvisibilityI, Kinetic ReverberationT, Languid VenomN, LevitateT, Owl’s WisdomT, Protection from ArrowsA, Quick ChangeT, Resist EnergyA, Scale SpikesT, See InvisibilityD, Shifted StepsI, SkinsendN, Spider ClimbT, SqueezeT, Tattoo PotionT

3rd – Ablative BarrierA, Adjustable DisguiseI, Air BreathingT, Ancestral RegressionT, Anchored StepT, Arcane SightD, Assume AppearanceT, Aura SightD, Beast Shape IT, Blood ScentT, Blood SentinelT, BurrowT, CatatoniaN, Communal DarkvisionT, Communal Protection from ArrowA, Communal Resist EnergyA, Communal Spider ClimbT, Countless EyesT, Disable ConstructT, DisplacementI, Draconic ReservoirE, Elemental AuraE, Eruptive PustulesT, Fire TrailT, FlyT, Gaseous FormT, Greater Scale SpikesT, HasteT, HeroismEn, Marionette PossessionN, Minor DreamI, Monstrous Physique IT, Nauseating TrailC, NondetectionA, Paragon SurgeT, Prehensile PilferT, Protection from EnergyA, RageEn, Resinous SkinT, Seek ThoughtsD, TonguesD, Touch InjectionT, Undead Anatomy IT, Voluminous VocabularyD, Water BreathingT

4th – Absorbing InhalationT, Adjustable PolymorphT, Arcane EyeD, Beast Shape IIT, Communal TonguesD, DetonateE, Dragon’s BreathE, Earth GlideT, Elemental Body IT, Enchantment FoilA, Eyes of the VoidT, Fire ShieldE, Greater Animal AspectT, Greater Assume AppearanceT, Greater DarkvisionT, Greater False LifeN, Greater InvisibilityI, HypercognitionD, Lesser Age ResistanceT, Miasmatic FormT, Monstrous Physique IIT, Remove CurseA, Scorching Ash FormT, StoneskinA, Temporary GraftT, Touch of SlimeC, Unbearable BrightnessE, Vermin Shape IT, Vitriolic MistE, Vomit TwinC

5th – Absorb ToxicityN, Beast Shape IIIT, Communal StoneskinA, Contact Other PlaneD, DecollateN, DreamI, EcholocationT, Elemental Body IIT, Glimpse of TruthD, Half-blood ExtractionT, Magic JarN, Monstrous Physique IIIT, NightmareI, Overland FlightT, Planar AdaptationT, Plant Shape IT, PolymorphT, SendingE, Undead Anatomy IIT, Vermin Shape IIT

6th – Age ResistanceT, Analyze DweomerD, Beast Shape IVT, Elemental Body IIIT, EyebiteN, Fluid FormT, Form of the Dragon IT, MisleadI, Monstrous Physique IVT, Plant Shape IIT, Shadow WalkI, Sonic FormT, TransformationT, True SeeingD, Undead Anatomy IIIT

7th – Giant Form IT, Greater Age ResistanceT, StatueT, Walk Through SpaceC

Yuelral's Blessing

0 – Detect MagicD, Detect PoisonD, FlareE, LightE, MendingT, Read MagicD, SparkE

1st – Air BubbleC, Ant HaulT, BlendI, Damp PowderT, Decompose CorpseN, Endothermic TouchT, Endure ElementsA, Expeditious ExcavationT, Flare BurstE, Gentle BreezeE, Heightened AwarenessD, Hydraulic PushE, JumpT, Liberating CommandT, Marid’s MasteryT, Monkey FishT, MudballC, Obscure PoisonA, Obscuring MistC, Ray of SickeningN, Recharge Innate MagicT, Restore CorpseN, Stone FistT, Stone ShieldC, Strong WindsT, ThunderstompE, Touch of CombustionE, Touch of the SeaT, Wave ShieldA, Weaken PowderT, Windy EscapeT, Winter FeathersA

2nd – Aboleth’s LungT, Accelerate PoisonT, Aggressive ThundercloudE, Air StepT, Alter WindsT, Amplify StenchT, Animal AspectT, Badger’s FerocityT, Bear’s EnduranceT, Bull’s StrengthT, Burning GazeE, BurrowT, Cat’s GraceT, Certain GripT, Communal Ant HaulT, Communal Endure ElementsA, Commune with BirdsD, Companion Life LinkN, Create Treasure MapD, Elemental SpeechD, Euphoric CloudC, Flaming SphereE, Fog CloudC, Frigid TouchE, Frost FallE, GlideT, Greater Detect MagicD, Gust of WindE, Gusting SphereE, Ice SlickE, Lesser Curse TerrainN, Masterwork TransformationT, Mud BuddyC, Owl’s WisdomT, Pernicious PoisonN, Quick ChangeT, Resist EnergyA, Scale SpikesT, Share LanguagesD, SlipstreamC, Spider ClimbT, Steal BreathT, Stone CallC, Stone DiscussC, Unshakable ChillN, Web ShelterC, Whip of SpidersC

3rd – Air BreathingT, Air GeyserE, Anchored StepT, Anthropomorphic AnimalT, Apport AnimalC, Aqueous OrbC, Ash StormC, AversionEn, Blast BarrierT, Blood ScentT, Campfire WallE, Cloak of WindsA, Communal Resist EnergyA, Communal Share LanguageD, Communal Spider ClimbT, Control VerminT, DaylightE, Dispel MagicA, Fins to FeetT, Greater Scale SpikesT, Greater ThunderstompE, Hydraulic TorrentE, Ice SpearsC, Improve TrapT, Mad MonkeysC, Nixie’s LureEn, OutbreakN, Pack EmpathyD, Protection from EnergyA, Pup ShapeT, Raging RubbleT, Rain of FrogsC, Resinous SkinT, Shifting SandT, Sleet StormC, Swarm of FangsC, Vengeful CometsE, Virulent MiasmaN, Water BreathingT, Wind WallE

4th – Ball LightningE, Cloud ShapeT, Communal Protection from EnergyA, ContagionN, Creeping IceE, Curse TerrainN, Earth GlideT, Fire TrapA, Greater Aggressive ThundercloudE, Greater Animal AspectT, Greater Flaming SphereE, Ice StormE, Insect SpiesC, Lesser Age ResistanceT, MoonstruckEn, Obsidian FlowT, Ride the WavesT, River of WindE, ScryingD, Stone ShapeT, StoneskinA, Touch of SlimeT, True FormA, Vermin Shape IT, Volcanic StormE, Wall of FireE

5th – Absorb ToxicityN, Animal GrowthT, Baleful PolymorphT, BlightN, Communal StoneskinA, EcholocationT, Fickle WindsT, Fire SnakeE, GeniekindT, GeyserC, Glimpse of TruthD, Half-blood ExtractionT, Hungry EarthT, Life BubbleA, Plague CarrierN, Transmute Mud to RockT, Transmute Rock to MudT, Vermin Shape IIT, Vile Dog TransformationT, Wall of StoneC, Whip of CentipedesC, Wind BladesT

6th – Age ResistanceT, Control WaterT, Greater ContagionN, Greater Curse TerrainN, Greater Dispel MagicA, Mass Bear’s EnduranceT, Mass Bull’s StrengthT, Mass Cat’s GraceT, Mass Owl’s WisdomT, Move EarthT, Path of the WindsE, SiroccoE, Tar PoolT, True SeeingD, Whip of AntsC

7th – Control WeatherT, EpidemicN, Finger of DeathN, Greater Age ResistanceT, Greater Insect SpiesC, Greater ScryingD, Plague StormN, Plundered PowerN, RampartC, Reverse GravityT, Scouring WindsE, VortexE

8th – AntipathyEn, Curse of NightE, Death ClutchN, Euphoric TranquilityEn, Frightful AspectT, SeamantleC, Storm BoltsE, SunburstE, Supreme Curse TerrainN, SympathyEn, Wall of LavaC

9th – Clashing RocksC, Curse of Fell SeasonsT, ForesightD, ShapechangeT, TsunamiC, Winds of VengeanceE, World WaveT