DaedalusV's page

@Claxon
Hehe the 14 charisma is there because the party needs someone with people skills ;)
A few ranks in bluff, diplomacy and intimidate with +2 from cha and Circlet of Persuasion makes me want to use my cha for more battlefield control/damage

@Horselord
Hmm so it's possible to get Animal companions boosted beyond your character level (mainly around lvl 9+) because it limits the boost on the ACs hit dice and not the characters level..

(that won't be possible with my attempt afaik since you'd need eg. fav. class bonus..)

@Claxon
The price for it instead of the nature soul + animal ally + boon companion seems to just be a single trait. The advantage is a full druid list of creatures instead of animal ally version.

I've taken Travel and Defense domains for better spells and stuff :)

@Rhaleroad
Very true, I forgot that. So instead of online lvl 3 it's online at level 5..
This version though is with a level 8 cleric I'm playing and retraining a few feats if it's possible to get it.

The Links:

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/eldritch-heritage

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/exotic-heritage

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/magic-traits/ascendant-recollection/

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/boon-companion/

Is it possible to take the above 3 feats + 1 trait to choose the Sylvan Bloodline and get an Animal Companion that is the same level as you?

EG:
Human Cleric with 14 charisma

trait: Ascendant Recollection
bonus feat Exotic Heritage (Knowledge Nature)
lvl 1 feat Eldritch Heritage (Sylvan)

Animal Companion: Tiger (will stay level 1 atm)

lvl 3 feat Boon Companion (Tiger)

From now on it will follow your level.

Is this legitimate?

High crit weapons will frighten more often which is actually powerful compared to shaken which is only ok.

Hasted + 2 iterative attacks with a high crit weapons with an expanded crit range should frighten almost every round.

Consider a cruel weapon.

The game has no way to retrain traits so make sure retraining them is ok with your gm.

Edit nm your the gm.

Noted.

I've never been a fan of dazzling display or any of that line.

Enforcer or C. Smash are the ways to go IMHO. Grab a cruel weapon and make it worst for your target. But because of how fast combat goes and needs to end I feel the fighter needs to be killing things every chance he gets without wasting any action economy.

Yeah I gave him enforcer/blade of mercy to give him single target Frighten @lvl 3

The dazzling display stuff is a nice way for him to influence things in AoE, the party lacks AoE Debuffing, so I'm thinking it'll be helpful.
Cruel will be his second enchant (if going for crit fishing, I'd value Keen over cruel)

BigNorseWolf wrote:

Never seen anything to indicate a 14 int . 16 con might be warranted given what he lived through under westerosi medicine.

Agreed. I think you should swap INT and WIS. Also clever wordplay... LoL. Try Intimidating prowess instead.

He has Intimidating prowess AND clever wordplay and the 14 int is a nice way (I think) to give him more skillpoints per level to use (for ride/handle animal etc)

(To me clever wordplay could just as well be called Brutishly intimidating or W/E the main useage was giving him a way to beef up intimidate while keeping his charisma low so diplo and bluff stays lower...)

Ofc, I could min/max a bit more on his secondary stats (con(wis/dex) but the 14 int is really just there to make sure there's enough skillpoints to go around.

I've been considering giving him brawler levels or slayer levels after level 3, even a couple of barbarian levels for rage powers, but I wanted to keep the dipping down to a manageable amount for a new player, while still keeping stuff interesting for him.

Dazzling display ->shatter defenses + Violent Display +Disheartening Display
Might be a bit too focused on intimidation tactics for the character to remain "The Hound" Maybe I should rethink and go earlier into some mounted stuff and/or some shield bash shenanigans...

@Grandlounge Very true, but that doesn't come online until 6th, he wanted to be able to do intimidating stuff from level 1 (And I am a min/maxer, so wasting standard actions to use demoralize for 6 levels really didn't work for me) *edit* Plus tbh. Enforcer is really really strong since the duration of your demoralize attempt will be = the damage dealt instead of 1 round/5 you succeed the intimidate check. */edit*

Of course It's possible to rebuild a bit around level 6-7 to get cornugon smash and switch out blade of mercy+enforcer.. I'll take that into consideration, thank you.

I'm GM'ing a home game for a bunch of friends. One of them wanted to play a character heavily inspired from GoT's The Hound. I'm sharing the build here partially for advice on how to go forward with it and to see if there's better ways to do what I've done already.

Basically early on, I've made him an intimidating monster in combat..

Human
(25 pointbuy)
Str: 20 (18+2 racial)
Dex: 12
Con: 14
Int: 14
Wis: 10
Cha: 7

Drawback: Burned (Because yeah.. Fits like a glove)
Traits:
Blade of Mercy (for his intimidation build)
Clever Wordplay (Intimidate, the reason I gave him int 14 and dumped cha to better simulate his lack of personality together with his intimidation tactics)
Cynical Ear (This can be changed)

He is currently lvl 3:
Fighter 1
Feats:
Fighter Bonus Feat: Power Attack
Human Bonus: Intimidating Prowess
1st level feat: Enforcer
Fighter 2
Fighter Bonus Feat: Weapon Focus
Fighter 2/Rogue(Thug) 1
3rd level feat: Hurtful

Intimidate modifier: 3 ranks +3 class +2 int +5 str = +13
(+mwork tool etc etc)

So at 3rd level he: moves to enemy, hits enemy with non-lethal damage (Sword of mercy longsword attack) that triggers a free action demoralize attempt, if it works he can attack again as a swift action, again using non-lethal for another free action demoralize.)

Rogue(Thug) has the Frightening class ability. It prolongs the shaken condition with 1 and it lets you give an enemy the frightened Condition instead of Shaken IF the shaken condition is 4+ rounds.

So if he hits with both attacks he will in all likelyhood frighten the enemy for 2 rounds. (up to 4 if he crits on both due To Enforcer+hurtful)

The planned build for the next levels:
4 fighter levels
So @ lvl 7:
Dazzling Display
Violent Display
Disheartening Display
Shatter Defenses (retrained bonus fighter feat)

For even more Intimidation Goodies...

Can this build be improved upon (my player really wants to be using intimidate alot both single target and AoE)

I want to keep weapon training for the goodies introduced recently
He needs max intimidate, ride, handle animal at the least (he's made an awesome backstory involving his horse so I'll give that one to him eventually, probably through the nature soul -> AC + boon companion line) So I'm thinking he really really needs all the feats he can get.

That sounds like Skull and Shackles.

you need more dex.

It might be that AP or something inspired from it. Looking forwards to finding out :D

Why more dex? and how would you suggest I went about it? I'm getting combat reflexes and CaGM pretty late, so I'm betting I'll have access to +dex from a belt or something.

The 15 point buy and only 1 dumpstat rule makes it hard to get more dex imo.

Greetings fellow pathfinders!

I've been the regular GM of a group the past 6 years and now I get to be a player!

I would like advice/criticism on my character as it is now (still WIP)

Setting: Forgotten Realms
Available books: CRB, APG, Ultimate Equipment, Ultimate Campaign.

House Rules/Limitations:
- Can only be CRB Race and Class.
- 15 point buy
- Can only dump 1 stat below 10
- Only Rules used from UC is drawbacks and traits.
- 1 trait for a secret in a hat (for RP purposes)
- 1 trait and 1 drawback from bg story (Again our new GM protege wants to emphasize RP and non-combat)

Current build highlights:
Halforc (Alt racial traits: Shaman's Apprentice, Sacred Tatoo, Chain Fighter)
Barbarian lvl 1 (No Archetype yet, he's still considering if they are allowed)
Str: 16 (+2 racial for 18)
Dex: 12
Con: 15
Int: 10
Wis: 10
Cha: 7

HP: 14, Fort 6 Ref 3 Will 2

Equipment: Not much, we start as prisoners.

Feats:
Endurance (from alt racial trait)
Power attack

Traits/Drawback
Fate's Favoured (total of +2 luck to my saving throws from sacred tatoo)
Sea-Souled (+1 trait bonus to swim, can always take 10 in water) Because I want to make sure I am useful in that element in a naval campaign before getting my hands on magical help.
Drawback: Pride (Rp reasons mainly)

Skills: Acrobatics +5 Climb +8 Perception +4 Survival +4 Swim +9

Feat/Rage Power future (would like suggestions here too)

Lvl 2: Lesser Beast Totem (rage power) 2 claw attacks when raging
Lvl 3: Shield of Swings? (lvl 3 feat) +4 shield ac cost ½ dmg/hit
Lvl 4 Superstition (rage power) +2 saving throws vs spells, supernatural abilities og spell-like abilities +1/4 lvls
Lvl 5: Lesser Hurling (rage power) (feat: Extra Rage power )
Lvl 6: Hurling Charge (rage power)
Lvl 7 Beast Totem (rage power) Gives +1 natural AC +1 per 4 levels (feat: Extra Rage power)
Lvl 8: Internal Fortitude (rage power) Immune to sickened og nauseated
Lvl 9: Improved Critical? (lvl 9 feat)
Lvl 10 Greater Beast Totem (rage power) Pounce ftw
Lvl 11: (Oracle dip if possible)
Lvl 11-13 Combat Reflexes + CaGM and Fearless Rage
Lvl 14+ undecided.

Main things I see as changeable are: Lvl 3, 5, 6 and 9 stuff. Maybe Fearless Rage too.

TLDR: Look at this stuff, comment to make it more awesome. Sorry for Wall of Text.

So in actuality, you have 7.500 troops near the enemy that can be used proactively to help the aggressor's cause. That opens up some pretty nifty ways of messing with the enemy.

1) Guerilla tactics/scorched earth tactics. The 7.500 man army is (if I read your post correctly) between the capital and the loyalist armies. They could be used to slow down the loyalists immensely by using hit and run tactics and/or burning down/destroying ressources the loyalists might have need of. (they could hit some of the loyalist army trains for good measure too)

2) Alliance with Reece. Get your PCs to the high-command of the Reece armies and create an alliance with them. Let them know you have a substantial force close by that flanks their enemies and agree with a set of terms that will make Reece a helpful ally in the future (also securing the borders from any future aggression from Reece)

Let the biggest army move north (the 17.500 troop one) while your 7.500 troop army circles around and attacks the eastern or central duchies' armies in concert with the Reece troops. (Make sure to get word to the commoners in the capital that the Reece armies are decimating their loyalist troops and that it really isn't smart of their crazy king to fight a war on two fronts, make sure to mention that the northern armies are only marching on the capital to help free the city from this mad king and his cronies who are only interested in gaining more power for themselves at the expense of the plight of the commoners.

Propaganda is a powerful tool indeed.

If you bisect the loyalist army forces like that, you will have no trouble defending the capital from the southern duchies' armies. They don't even outnumber your forces two to one. If the loyalist army starts to siege their own capital, they will loose the loyalty of the commoners completely. You even have the king and several other high-born as a prisoners

If you play the Game of Thrones, you either win or you die.

To eradicate the enemy forces, simple bruteforce tactics would suffice.

A few normal rods of widen spell and some castings of Cloudkill would be an ideal way to thin the herds so to speak (cast at night with usual defensive/anti-scry/detection spells on)

It will wreak havoc with the enemy forces' moral knowing that at anytime after nightfall, there will be rolling mists of death wreaking havoc in their camps. Even if the casualties can be minimized by dilligent watchmen and quick feet/aoe dispel magics, it'll make the soldiers less and less happy about going to battle against the sorcerous powers and his men (whom they haven't even encountered yet)

Contagion/greater Contagion is easily one of the most diabolical and dangerous spells to use against an army on the march towards a battle. Use them early and often. And make sure to vary the deseases to keep the healers guessing.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/w/wall-of-blindness-deafness

Placing one of those on a bridge an army is passing while flying above them (greater invis + non-detection) Will wreak havoc on enemy moral if they are forced through. Bonus points for doing it at night and throwing them it up in the path of running soldiers trying to get away from your cloudkill spells.

The only ressource I'm permanently devoting for Magic Missile is 2 traits.
I may retrain toppling for a better metamagic feat later on (level 6+ or so) but I'm liking the versatility of having several magic missiles that knock things on their beehinds in my lvl 1 spellslots.

With spell tatoo (evocation) and spell specialization, I'll eventually be focusing on higher level spells, it may be smarter to have a higher level spell as my magical lineage, so I'll reconsider it.

Fey bloodline is locked through my backstory and I like the flavour of it.

I don't expect that I will absupositively NEED to fully focus on either evocation OR enchantment, I've got my trusty teammates, so I don't need to finish encounters singlehandedly. I want a face character that also does control, so a full focus on evocation isn't what I'm going for. We have an admixture wizard doing the heavy lifting in that role.

Teammates:
Anti-Paladin
Gravewalker Witch
Samsaran Oracle
Admixture Wizard
barbarian (undecided)
Me (face char/support)

Last campaign I was lucky enough to be a player in, I ran a full-on min-maxed Elven teleportation school Conjurer, so I'm trying to cut back a little on being the most useful/dangerous partymember.

Oh btw.
The CMB bonus on my magic missile is +7 @ lvl 1 (CL+caster stat) At level 5 I can do 5 ranged autohit trip attempts as a full-round action with a +13 modifier on them (probably +14 or +15 with a headband) That's not too shabby. After level 5 I start getting some more serious firepower and the magic missiles becomes alot less used/more situational.

I could do spell focus (enchantment) -> greater spell focus (enchantment) at level 3 and 5 instead of the evocation route...

Hi forumdwellers!
I'm usually on the GM'ing side of the table, but luckily, one of my players in the group is starting a campaign. It's not 100% RotRL as written, but he will lean heavily on it throughout the campaign.

I've made a face character that I would love to get some critique on.

Houserules/non-RAW things to know:
Everyone gets a houseruled bonus feat (must be a racial or local feat)
Everyone gets 2 traits for free (I was allowed to take Finding a Friend)
I was allowed to take 2 drawbacks to get 2 extra traits
I have traded my racial SLA for +2 int. (alternate tiefling heritage)

20 pt. buy
N/E Tiefling (Rakshasa spawn) Female Tatooed Sorcerer (Fey-blooded)
Str: 12
Dex: 14
Con: 12
Int: 14
Wis: 10
Cha: 18
(racials included: +2 dex, +2 int, -2 wis, +2 cha)

AC: 13 (+2 dex +1 armoured kilt)
HP: 10 (8 +1 con +1 finding a friend)

Feats/traits/drawbacks:

Cosmopolitan (houseruled Bonus Feat)
Magical Lineage Magic Missile (magic trait)
Finding a Friend (campaign trait)
Hedonistic (drawback)
Cruelty (drawback)
Precocious Spellcaster (Prestidigitation, Magic Missile) (regional trait)
Talented (Social trait)

Mage's Tattoo (bonus feat) (evocation)
Alertness (familiar proximity)
lvl1: Toppling Spell (metamagic feat)

lvl3: Spell Focus (evocation)
lvl5: Spell Specialization (Magic Missile)

(we start at lvl 1. feat progression is not set in stone)

Skills:
(2 + int bonus +1 FCL +1 (finding a friend) = 6/lvl)
Bluff 1 rank + 3 (class skill) +4 (alt. racial trait) +4 (charisma)= +12
diplomacy 1 rank + 3 (class skill) +4 (charisma) = +8
knowledge arcana 1 rank +3 (class skill) +2 int = +6
perception 1 rank +3 (class skill) +2 (alertness) = +6
spellcraft 1 rank + 3(class skill) +2 int = +6
perform (dance) 1 rank +3 (class skill) +1 (trait) +4 cha = +9

Cosmopolitan gives me perception and diplomacy as class skills
Talented gives perform as a class skill

I elected out of the Rakshasa bloodline since I didn't want to pimp out my bluff too high, sense motive and intimidate will be prioritized on subsequent levels.

Special Abilities:
Fiendish Resistance: Tieflings have cold resistance 5, electricity resistance 5, and fire resistance 5.

Darkvision 60 ft

Beguiling Liar Many tieflings find that the best way to get along in the world is to tell others what they want to hear. These tieflings' practice of telling habitual falsehoods grants them a +4 racial bonus on Bluff checks to convince an opponent that what they are saying is true when they tell a lie.

Prehensile Tail Many tieflings have tails, but some have long, flexible tails that can be used to carry items. While they cannot wield weapons with their tails, they can use them to retrieve small, stowed objects carried on their persons as a swift action.

Familiar Tattoo (Su)
Familiar: Greensting Scorpion (+4 initiative)

Mage's Tattoo: Dancing Lights 3/day (Su)

Bloodline Arcana: Whenever you cast a spell of the compulsion subschool, increase the spell's DC by +2.

Spells:
0-level:
Acid Splash
Detect Magic
Prestidigitation
Daze (DC16)
lvl2: Read Magic
lvl4: Ghost Sound

1st level:
Magic Missile
Sleep (DC 17) Switch to Silent Image @lvl 4
lvl3: Mage Armor
lvl3bloodline: Entangle
lvl5: Charm Person

2nd lvl:
lvl4: Compassionate Ally (DC 18) Switch to Burning Arc @lvl 6 (specialize it for CL9)
lvl5: Glitterdust (DC 17)
lvl5bloodline: Hideous Laughter (DC 18)

My little tiefling lass here has Calistria as her patron goddess, she's very much devoted to her own needs and pleasure, loves to be a tease and has a penchant for cruelty. Her mother has been abducted and she, her foster-brother and her little band of allies are in Sandpoint because they are looking to find her. She's been trained in the art of dancing by Varisian travellers, with whom she spent several years with, and were part of a scam run by Szcarni (sp?)

Tactics:
Daze cantrip or Acid Splash cantrip on low threat single-targets
Sleep on clusters
Toppling Magic Missile in hard encounters (CL3 at lvl 1 = 2 missiles)
Stay out of melee, use sling or sickle as a last resort.

TLDR:
Critique on spell-selection and feat progression primarily.
Will she be able to handle the face role and be a decent control caster with the present build?

Why bring up non-human races/options when the OP stated it was a human bard?

Focused trance mystery works quite well, most of the time. But it's limited by 1d6 rounds of move-actions only. Furthermore, it only works on intelligence-based skill checks. Pageant of the Peacock involves a charisma based skillcheck, so the +20 bonus is not happening.. You can only do that trick a limited amount of times/day (cha mod)

You won't be able to max all your intelligence based skills so your example @ lvl 3 only works for the few knowledge checks you maxed out. (again, remember that pesky 1d6 round time-delay) The main draw of the peacock is the amount of skillpoints you save. You use fully maxed knowledge skills, that's a large amount of ressources used. Bardic knowledge is a huge skillpoint saver if used correctly, so I wouldn't funnel a single skill point into knowledge skills as a bard.

Spellcraft checks in combat: Peacocked yes, tranced no

It's the only int based skill that focused trance doesn't help, but it's an extremely useful one.

When push comes to shove, I would rather take pageant of the peacock @ lvl 4 than go oracle 1 for focused trance (there are better mysteries out there)

@lvl 10
Versatile performance (Dance, Oratory, Percussion)
Pageant of the Peacock
Max ranks in Bluff, Perform (Dance, Oratory, Percussion) = 20 skills effectively maxed at the cost of 4x10 (40) skill points.

Silver-tongued human
Skill focus Bluff
Max Bluff ranks
Pageant of the Peacock @ lvl 4

4 ranks +3 (class skill) +2 (silvertongued) +3 (skill focus) +4 (peacoc) = +16 bluff checks = +16 on ALL intelligence based checks. @ lvl 4
(bardic knowledge = can make untrained knowledge skills)

If sorcerers are allowed:

Human Tatooed Sorcerer (Orc Bloodline)
Precocious Spellcaster (+1 CL magic missile and a cantrip) (trait)

Spell Focus (evocation) (Human Bonus feat)
Spell Specialization (+2 CL magic missile) (1st level feat)
Mage's Tatoo (evocation) (+1 CL on evocation spells) (tattooed sorcerer)

CL 5 magic missile for 3d4+6 damage = 9-18/spell cast.

If PFS:

Human Wizard(Diviner or evoker or conjuration:teleportation)
precocious spellcaster (+1 CL magic missile and a cantrip) (trait)
Spell Focus (evocation) (PFS houserule instead of scribe scrolls)
Spell Specialization (+2 CL magic missile) (1st level feat)
Mage's Tatoo (evocation) (+1 CL on evocation spells) (Human bonus feat)

CL 5 Magic Missile for 3d4+3 damage = 6-15/spell cast (7-16 if evoker)

a +2 initiative trait, a +4 initiative familiar, +1 from diviner and +2 from dexterity gives you a good chance to win initiative.

Castings of greater planar binding for 2 Erinyes each casting (HD 9)
Castings of greater planar binding for 3 Half-fiend minotaurs each casting (HD 6)
Castings of greater planar binding for 1 Marilith each casting (HD 16)
Castings of greater planar binding for 1 Cornugon each casting (HD 15)

Erinyes, Cornugons + Half-Fiend Minotaurs have natural fly speeds (Erinyes are ranged troops with mobility out the wazoo) (the minotaurs are Large sized cannon fodder)

Erinyes and Mariliths have true seeing.
Mariliths, you don't want to melee those..
Cornugons... You DON'T want to melee those..

You take your army of simulacrum and try getting through an army raised through planar binding spells... You WILL loose that battle.

The fact your opponent failed to prepare properly makes your victory hollow indeed.

@lvl 15 a wizard gains Spell perfection. Say hello to quickened, persistent dazing fireballs (dazing spell from rod) (use the trait that deals 1 point of force dmg to make sure the dazes stick no matter the energy resist and magial lineage) (spell-perfected chain lightning with magical lineage = quickened + dazing (from rod) for even stronger AoE battlefield control)

Or just heightened dazing magic missiles if need be. (preferred spell + dazing rod) (or cast dazing heightened snapdragon fireworks on your familiar)

spell focus
greater spell focus
Craft rod
Craft wondrous
quicken spell
persistent spell
heighten spell
preferred spell
spell perfection
improved initiative

(not an optimal feat list, but it's decent)

I congratulate you on winning against someone who did not prepare, someone who was not playing his class to it's potential (whereas you did)
You won against a lazy player/someone who has no system mastery. You said it yourself, he's using 3.5 as a crutch to cover his lack of knowledge on pathfinder.

The fact he didn't use any of the staple munchkin/powergamer/minmax tactics is why you won.

plus, the monk has evasion, so every save made is 0 dmg.

Thanks for the tips. I think I am going to take a little bit of everything mentioned here.

PyroHydra (6 heads) with the Improved Grapple feat. This will prevent the auto grapple.
Then add a few emperor cobras to the mix - chained to the Colosseum floor, hidden underneath sand, as sort of 'living traps.' As the adventurers approach, they'll pop up and attack. This means that if he wants to grapple, he'll be in the range of the Cobras. He'll get to try and suffocate the beast, but there will still be an element of risk.

DaedalusV:

I admit I assumed he couldn't use the breath weapons, but you're right. The hydra could.

I'm hesitant to rely entirely on that, though, because 18d6 at level 5 is practically an instant kill. It's not particularly fair to kill the player merely because he's playing a broken hero. I'd rather try to accommodate what he's trying to do, as opposed to DM fiating it away.

If the Tetori Monk always does the charge ---> grapple ---> IWIN, then I can't see the problem in letting a hydra punish that strategy since it's not going to be effective in this particular encounter.

If the Tetori Monk grapples the hydra, what's stopping it from unleashing 6 x 3d6 breath weapon attacks straight into the monks face?
It's immune to fire itself, the Tetori Monk would not be able to evade all 6 DC 17 breath weapon attacks.

Switch out combat reflexes for Ability focus (breath weapon) and the DC is a bit higher. When the Tetori charges, don't take any AoO (Admiral Ackbar says It's a Trap!)

Breath Weapons are (Su) NOT spells/SLAs so the hydra is free to use them vs the grappler.

Edit:
The Hydra has 6 heads. How would the tetori monk ever maintain a chokehold on all 6 heads? I would rule that the Hydra would not begin to suffocate due to common sense.

I'm not going to comment much on the viewpoint introduced by frodoofthe9rings since he is obviously not able to distinguish RL religious/cultural practices and the term: Fantasy Role Playing Game..

(All I'm saying about it is; Killing "fornicators" is a disproportunate punishment and thus placed securely in the L/E department)

In my games we run the gamut, from using 3rd party splatbooks to just using diplomacy/bluff/profession(giggolo/Harlot)/Perform(seduction) or similar skill rolls. The end results (if successful) are fade to black worthy though. No reason to do too explicit sexual RP since it drags on way too long (except if using 3rd party splat books and the campaign revolves around adventures of a more carnal nature (has happened once))

In short, it all depends on the scope and theme of the story we're creating at the table.

This feels like a cornerstone or something he is desperately trying to keep quiet. I would ask if this is a campaign cornerstone as mentioned above. That or being a less than confident GM are the only two reasons I can think of for this kind of thing.

Well... After the vampire fled, we returned to the encampment, roused as many as we could and went to the vampire's lair where we managed to knock it to 0 hitpoints, get it into it's coffin and got the coffin to the encampment where we could show everyone that the vampires exist.

The thing that annoys me isn't the story as such, it's the railroad through a preset way of doing things he wants us to experience.

It feels like we have to follow a set path, otherwise nothing really works.

*Post Session Update*

Hi all. For those interested..

Our bard had to go to a planned meeting with one of the vampires at night (he had failed at his coherced betrayal of the group, so the vampire wanted to meet with him to give him new orders)

A few hours before the meeting, the party gathered. Before doing anything else, I used Detect Scrying, and we all made some perception checks to make sure we were unobserved by magical and mundane means. I laid out part of the plan, told the others that I would follow the bard closely in shadow form, gliding along the ground, as if I was his shadow.

We had the fighter and druid stay at home, guarding my body while me and the bard would meet the vampire.

Our ninja would shadow us from a distance as well (he's a stealth specialist, and he would drink a potion of invisibility when we got near the destination)

So... The bard walked along, seemingly quite alone, to a planned meeting with the vampire... The vampire somehow spotted me or the ninja and fled the scene before we ever got close enough to roll initiative or even notice him.

Looks like even the best laid plans are foiled by DM fiat induced omniscience.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/magic-weapons

DaedalusV wrote:

Shimesen wrote:

Forget talking to the GM. Just do it! If he plays with gm fiat with this, then grab your dice, stick them in your pocket, fold up your character sheet, then rip it into pieces and shower the table with confeti and walk away...either a gm let's the players help tell the story, or the gm loses players...its that simple. He needs to be able to adapt to what you do as much as you have to adapt to what he does.

I'm a 30 year old man, I'm not prone to adolescent behavior. Our gaming table is a tight knit group and has been for a looong time. He just needs to realize a couple of things to become a great DM. It's one of his first REAL campaigns (as in, not an AP)

Me and him usually have a great big laugh post-session about the shenanigans happening/not happening due to metagaming from him (and me from time to time. No one's perfect you know).

I'm 27 and also am not prone to acting like a child, but that doesn't mean that its not an effective tool to help get your point across sometimes. My group is also very close and usually very fun and all that too, but none of us are scared to call bulls*** on whoever is GMing at the time. I've called pray to the fiat myself as a GM and had to back off a little when my whole group decided to simply stop being adventures and settle down because i wasn't letting them have much freedom. Player refusal is a powerful tool for education of a gm....

I'm not going to refuse to play along quite yet ;) I'm having loads of fun, but I'm sticking to the plan of NOT telling him my plans this time since it wil force his hand just as much as if we just went and did something else. It'll be impossible for him to have the NPCs deny the existence of the vampire threat if every dignitary invited to the big meeting we're having sees a vampire burning up in the sun right in front of them.

The plan's only weakness is that it hinges on one solitary will save. That's why I'm wanting the threnodic spell metamagic rod (so the bard can debuff the vamp's will saves) Our ninja is trying to develop an anti-vampire poison using garlic extract (hoping the GM will let it debuff the vamp's will save as well)

The Magic Jar DC is @ DC 24 atm, I'm hoping we can debuff the vampire with -2 to -4 on it's will save. And I'm hoping the GM will allow a hero point or two to further maximize our chances. (1-2 hero points to spontaneously manifest my magic jar with the persistent spell metamagic would be awesomesauce)

What happens if your group doesn't stop the vamps and finds a new adventure?

I know that it is probably an evil act to just walk away from a community in need, but when said community doesn't want the help because they don't perceive the threat as real, what's stopping the adventures from just walking away?

That might put the gm on the def and show him that he can't just block you are every turn. If he wants the story to progress the way he wants it to hell have no choice to have someone believe your groups story about vamps...

Well. The vampires have captured our bard's love interest (after he confessed to us about trying to poison me, he found her severed hand in his bed)

Our Dwarven fighter is the son of a Dwarven king, We went there earlier in the adventure to find the entire clan slaughtered by Giant-kin, some investigation from us gave us enough evidence to suspect vampire involvement (one of the vampires is a dwarf as well) Now our Dwarven fighter speaks for his clan at the meeting, thus giving us *some* leverage at the political tables

Our Druid has fled from his forest, trying to find help since the forest has been infested by evil (yeah, the vampires are putting up lairs there)

The Ninja was hired to help us escape from the Arena by one of the NPCs who knows the vampires exist, he has tagged along ever since

I'm a cast-out elf who's lived in the main city for years, I found acceptance there and won't easily let the city down, especially when it is threatened by a host of Vampires that have actively threatened me, my friends and everything I hold dear in life.

We're all very invested in the storyline.

Forget talking to the GM. Just do it! If he plays with gm fiat with this, then grab your dice, stick them in your pocket, fold up your character sheet, then rip it into pieces and shower the table with confeti and walk away...either a gm let's the players help tell the story, or the gm loses players...its that simple. He needs to be able to adapt to what you do as much as you have to adapt to what he does.

I'm a 30 year old man, I'm not prone to adolescent behavior. Our gaming table is a tight knit group and has been for a looong time. He just needs to realize a couple of things to become a great DM. It's one of his first REAL campaigns (as in, not an AP)

Me and him usually have a great big laugh post-session about the shenanigans happening/not happening due to metagaming from him (and me from time to time. No one's perfect you know).

Hendelbolaf wrote:

DaedalusV wrote:

Man... My DM won't know what hit him...

I know you probably mean this well and I am not lecturing you, but I have found as both a player and a DM it does not go well when you try and "surprise the DM." I always run these scenarios past the DM if I feel it is a little out there. You may be 100% in the right, but it wastes table time for you and him to argue it out there. Just my two cents!

I have to agree - tell him about it before hand and tell him you want to make it really cool for the other players.

I could give him the benefit of doubt (again) but up until now, if I have revealed my plans pre-game, he has made sure that the monsters we'd be up against were immune/wouldn't bite the bait or similar metagaming shenanigans. This time I'm going to keep it to myself.

Ever since he realized that our Dwarven fighter has taken the dwarven cleave racial tree, he's made sure to only target him with 1 monster at a time (no matter what we're up against.)

Our Ninja with blindfighting and using smoke bombs to his advantage has lost that advantage since everyone and their grandpa has blindfighting now as well.

It's a great game and he's really learning alot as a GM, but he's overdoing the metagaming a bit IMO (I'm their usual GM, so I'm just enjoying the rare feeling of being a player for once)

I hope the GM realizes that it's not us vs him soon.

@Hendelbolaf

- I don't feel like he's being a jerk, he's just not used to being a GM and have a hard time dealing with the shenanigans a well-built wizard brings to the table. I've tried several times to work WITH him on how to progress, but he usually ends up using my attempts at cooperation against me by filling the holes in his tactics pre-emptively ;) This is going to be the first time I'm keeping my plans to myself.

My main focus is getting the NPCs in the world to understand the very real and dangerous threat the vampires pose towards civilization as they know it.

@LazarX
A LESSER metamagic rod of Threnodic spell is NOT an IWIN button. It's just a tool that makes it possible to actually affect undead with mind-affecting spells. If I had known that the campaign would revolve around vampires and undead, I would have taken Threnodic spell as a feat earlier. (I even had Necromancy as an opposed school until lvl 9)
I would have dropped my Craft Wondrous feat and taken Threnodic spell instead, had I known he would take my stuff (essentially making that feat completely useless)

The Sunblade is an IWIN button vs. vampires yes. But I would have hoped he'd let us quest for it at least...

The vampires work 100% behind the scenes, everyone in the world (we've met) except exactly 2 NPCs have an uncanny lack of interest in our claims and actively disbelieve and riddicule our stories about vampires.

I love the story and the challenge though, so I'm not frustrated (even though I may sound like I am)
I just want our party to succeed in revealing the vampires to the world :D :D

DaedalusV wrote:

Man... My DM won't know what hit him...

I know you probably mean this well and I am not lecturing you, but I have found as both a player and a DM it does not go well when you try and "surprise the DM." I always run these scenarios past the DM if I feel it is a little out there. You may be 100% in the right, but it wastes table time for you and him to argue it out there. Just my two cents!

You're quite right, but since he's been actively trying to hinder my character several times throughout the campaign (eg. I took Craft wondrous items, he railroaded me into an arena run by a succubus, stripping me of all my items, I'm still 20k under WBL 5 levels later) I'm going to use every single spell I know to succeed in foiling the vampire-driven nefarious plot...

I know that usually it's better to coordinate with the DM on what you're about to do, but if I tell him I'm about to try for a Magic Jar posession, the vampire WILL be immune to such shenanigans.

He knows my full spell list.

I asked him if it was possible for us to get a hold of a lesser metamagic rod of threnodic spell, he pretty much nixed that right out of the gate.

Same with a sunblade. We have no cleric in the party and no NPC clerics believe our claims about vampires, neither are they inclined to help us investigate.

So I'm thinking waaay outside the box, trying to crack the proverbial nut here :P

Thank you all for the feedback and helpfulness. It seems like I'm safe on this one...

I'm going to enjoy solving the ingame dilemma our GM has put our group into (no one believes us when we tell people that vampires are trying to take over the kingdom/city-state we're in. At the moment we're gathered with the ruling body of the different races in the alliance that has made the kingdom.) I'm going to possess a vampire and walk it straight into the meeting in full daylight. Nothing says vampires exist like a burning vampire in the sun...

The Magic Jar gem focus does not have to be in your possession. In fact, the spell specifically states you do not even have to have line-of-effect to it, only that it has to be within range.

"To cast the spell, the magic jar must be within spell range and you must know where it is, though you do not need line of sight or line of effect to it. "

Yeah, seems like you're right. So it looks like it's possible, doable and quite legal...

Man... My DM won't know what hit him...

So I'll need a ghost touch gauntlet/glove to get around that hurdle?

Hi all. I've written this question in another thread earlier, haven't had any replies, so I'm trying one last time on a seperate thread.

If I use Shadow Projection (to make sure my body is in a safe and guarded place)

Then, when I meet the vampire BBEG, is it possible for me to Magic Jar from my shadow form, into a focus carried by my familiar (or a team mate)
Then try to possess the vampire?

In short..

Shadow projection -----> Magic Jar

Is that legal?/a working combo?

(The group is very limited in divine magic, so we only have 2 death ward spells. Since I'm immune to level drain in my shadow form, I won't need a death ward to protect me against the vampire's level drain attacks.)

Our next session is in less than 24 hours, so I would love some replies on this asap.

Bump...

So...

Shadow Projection ----> Magic Jar

Legal/working combo?

I'm going to necro this thread...

What are people's thoughts on:

First using:

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/shadow-projection

to get your body out of the equation

Then

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/m/magic-jar

to possess the big bad evil dude. Can/will it work?

(Here's the scenario in short...)

I'm a lvl 9 Wizard(Conjurer) (Control/summons)
Party consists of:
Buffer/control bard
A mean little halfling ninja
A druid (summoner/caster) with wolf AC
A Dwarven Greatsword fighter (cleave/racial cleave line) I enlarge/fly/haste him habitually

We're up against vampires working behind the scenes in a political and heavy RP campaign. No one except us and a very few key NPCs believe the vampires are working behind the scenes towards a fall of the kingdom.
We need proof, so I'm going to possess a vampire and walk him into the big official meeting we're having. I hope that having a bunch of eyewitnesses see the vampire burn up in the sun will be the proof we need.

Since we have a distinct lack of clerical magic, we're pretty much fubar'ed if we don't think outside the box/do things carefully.

I don't want to be level-drained to kingdom come while setting up the magic jar (we need the vampire's will saves debuffed) So I was thinking I would be in shadow form until the vampire was debuffed enough to get a magic jar off. (the druid can cast Death Ward on 2 of us total so we've got that going for us.)

Illithids, Umber Hulks, Beholders, Dragons and Rust Monsters all have a special place in my heart (and mind.)

Cloakers and Mimics are my favourites though. A living treasure chest and a couple of curtains that comes alive when adventurers get too greedy is just too much fun.

Imbicatus wrote:

Suthainn wrote:

Well spotted Daedalus! Though instead of the Razortusk feat I would always suggest the Tusked trait instead, exactly the same mechanically but only costs a trait instead of a feat.

As Daedalus said, the Tusked trait locks out Sacred Tattoo, which is a +2 to all saves with Fates Favored.

Nope, you're thinking of the Toothy race option which swaps for Orc Ferocity. I am talking about the Tusked racial trait from Orcs of Golarion which works similarly to the Razortusk feat.

Quote:

Toothy Some half-orcs' tusks are large and sharp, granting a bite attack. This is a primary natural attack that deals 1d4 points of piercing damage. This racial trait replaces orc ferocity.

Quote:

Tusked Huge, sharp tusks bulge from your mouth, and you receive a bite attack (1d4 damage for Medium characters). If used as part of a full attack action, the bite attack is made at your full base attack bonus –5.

Quote:

Razortusk You can make a bite attack for 1d4 points of damage, plus your Strength modifier. You’re considered proficient in this attack and can apply feats or effects appropriate to natural attacks to it. If used as part of a full attack action, the bite is considered a secondary attack and is made at your full base attack bonus –5, and adds half your Strength modifier to damage.

I don't have that supplement unfortunately, and I use the SRD, can't find that particular trait.. But yeah, if you can get a bite attack through a trait, then you're golden.

Archaeologist Bard 1 / Barbarian 2 (take your fav archetype(s))
Superstition rage power + sacred tatoo (fortune's favoured)

fort: +3 +2 +2 = +7 (before stats)
ref: +2 +2 +2 = +6 (before stats)
will +2 +2 +2 = +6 (before stats)

That's very very nice @ lvl 3

Lingering Performance @ lvl 1
Extra Rage power @ lvl 3 for 2 claws

Tusked for bite attack

3 natural attacks (2 full BaB 1 @ -5 BaB)

2 BaB + 2 (luck bonus) + str bonus.

Give the build Eldritch Heritage (Orc) enjoy (@lvl 17) Large size +12 Str and more....

Prereqs:

½orc
at least 11 starting Charisma (for eldritch heritage line)

If not going for natural attack build, just do the 2 lvl barbarian dip for superstition, Get Magical Knack trait and enjoy.. This will also free up a feat. (get craft wondrous item and a +2 cha headband then 1 lvl bard and 1 lvl tactician fighter for skill focus and first eldritch heritage feat @ lvl 5) Then start Dragon Disciple progression or something like that ;)

In short...
Fate's Favoured is very strong on a ½orc and/or archaeologist bard dips.

I don't know about the new advanced classes, but there might be cheese to be had there as well.

sorry for the thread necro...
Suthainn: You can't get both toothy and sacred tatoo (both are alternate traits replacing Orc ferocity)

The Razortusk feat gives a secondary bite attack @ -5 to hit, so there's that yeah.

½Orc Archaeologist bard 1/Barbarian 2( suggested: invulnerable rager/urban barbarian)

sacred tatoo, shaman's apprentice (free endurance feat)
trait(s) Fate's favoured + Defensive strategist (if possible)
1st lvl feat Die-hard
3rd lvl feat extra rage power (Lesser beast totem)
Rage power (from barbarian 2) (superstition)

Effing hard to kill (die-hard ---> deathless initiate line)

+4 to all saving throws at all times (+2 morale +2 luck)

2 primary natural attacks

archaeologist luck bonus when needed

(if not going for deathless initiate line, you could free up a feat and go for other nifty stuff)

Silver Tongued Human are often adept at subtle manipulation and putting even sworn foes at ease. Humans with this trait gain a +2 bonus on Diplomacy and Bluff checks. In addition, when they use Diplomacy to shift a creature's attitude, they can shift up to three steps up rather than just two. This racial trait replaces skilled.

Sorted??

DaedalusV wrote:

I had persistent instead of extend originally and didn't want to take extend spell. An above poster gave good reasoning towards having extend as a metamagic feat. I'm still undecided.

Extend is a decent utility feat but Persistent will let you end encounters. Lets take a look at some of the spells mentioned above:

Extended Spells

Contingency of greater invisibility : This lasts 1 day/level already so extend is pretty unnecessary.

Mage Armour and Unseen Servant: As level 1 spells you could just memorise them more than once or buy some level 1 pearls of power at 1000gp each.

Phantom Steed: This becomes largely superfluous as soon as you gain access to Overland Flight.

Greater False Life: Its a decent spell but frankly as a Wizard HP are not your primary defence.

Non-detection: Has a 50gp material component so you aren't likely to be casting it every day or even every other day.

Countless Eyes: You cannot be flanked but you shouldn't be in melee in any event.

Ablative Barrier: This has a pretty minor effect and once again you shouldn't be getting hit. If you are in reach of a full attack then this wont be saving you. Emergency Force Sphere is a much better choice for keeping you alive.

Now there are some better spells which this list doesn't cover. In particular Ant Haul and Life Bubble are great long duration buff spells. However both also last 2 hours/level so probably don't need extend. Also Darkvision at 1 hour/level is really useful.

Finally be aware that you can still craft a rod even if you do not have the feat, you just take an extra 5 to the DC. I think you would be better off with a normal Rod of Extend Spell to cover Darkvision, Overland Flight and Life Bubble. The level 1 spells can be memorised additional times or covered with Pearl of Power or a lesser Rod.

All very good points (do be aware that the list of buff spells you're referencing isn't mine.)

I'm aware that I don't need the metamagic feat to craft a rod (I'm planning to take advantage of that quite alot)

Persistent spell is very much a valid choice. There's alot of offense in it. Although my character concept isn't about singlehandedly ending encounters with SoS/SoD.

Extend spell is more versatile, I can use it both offensively and defensively.

The group I'm playing with:

1) A blastercaster druid (Fur subdomain + boon companion for full power wolf AC)

2) Dwarven greatsword fighter (my trusty meatshield)

3) Halfling Ninja (blindfighting poisonuser with crystalline katana)

4) Elven Bard of awesomeness (buffing and ranged feinting)

So my main focus is battlefield control, summons and debuffs/buffs.

Persistent spell may be the best choice.

You need another two metamagic feats before you hit level 15. I highly recommend Quicken Spell at 13 and then pick a spell of level 5 or lower for spell perfection so you can get a few one every round.

Extend is OK but you wont use it that much and Rods of Extend are fairly cheap. Personally I would grab Persistent Spell to force multiple saves.

I am not sure why you are using Preferred Spell (Snapdragon). On its own it isn't very good unless you combine it with Dazing Spell, do you have a Rod?

You have augment summoning. If you are summoning a lot then I would consider Superior Summoning to get extra bodies on the table.

Note you cannot take Spell Perfection with your wizard bonus feat as it is not an item creation or metamagic feat. Just swap it with whichever metamagic you do take.

Yeah, I'm going to use a dazing rod on snapdragon.

I had persistent instead of extend originally and didn't want to take extend spell. An above poster gave good reasoning towards having extend as a metamagic feat. I'm still undecided.

Quicken spell is a given imo. Having a quickened haste or other similar high value buff is a great advantage.

heighten + quicken + one more (persistent or extend) gives access to spell perfection.

If I want spell perfection I don't have room for superior summoning until I hit 17, so that's really late.

@ DaedalusV I think it's better to take the extend feat than to use a MM rod of it because it is possible to "wear" dozens of spells into combat, and 1 hour/level spells are available at all levels of casting. It can also save you money. Consider a 13th level mage pre-casting:

Extended
contingency of greater invisibility
Overland Flight
Greater false life
non-detection
Mage armor
Unseen servant
Countless Eyes
Phantom Steed
Ablative Barrier

He also has several shrunk items on his person to use as backup weapons and/or familiar tricks.

Note that at this point he cast all these spells YESTERDAY, so he's still got a full spell payload for the big adventure. He's flying (at either fast or very fast speeds), non-detectable, he can turn invisible as a swift action, he's got a minor telekinesis, he can see in all directions. The first 5 points of damage he suffers is non-lethal, AFTER you calculate in the bonus 24 HP from greater false life.

He keeps a handful of spell slots open to memorize spells as needed, and if he doesn't use them by the end of the day, he uses them to memorize and re-cast the same buffs again at the end of the day, rolling the spell effects into yet another day of adventure.

This sort of capability is extremely versatile, and can (and should) be used in addition to a metamagic rod of extend spell. Use the rod to extend the 1 min/level spells that you cast during the dungeon crawl. Use the feat to wear spells all day, every day.

This is what makes wizards more powerful than sorcerers: The ability to exploit extend spell to bank magic from one day to the next, keeping both power and versatility.

Thanks for the advice/breakdown of how useful extend metamagic will be as a feat choice. I haven't had room for the feat yet, but I'm thinking I should make room for it between levels 11 and 15.

ATM my feat choices are:
lvl 1: Improved Initiative
lvl 3: Craft Wondrous Items
lvl 5: Spell Focus (conjuration)
lvl 5: Augment summoning (wizard bonus feat)
lvl 7: Heighten Spell
lvl 9: Craft Rod
lvl 10: opposition research (Necromancy) (wizard bonus feat)
lvl 11: Preferred Spell (Snapdragon Fireworks)
lvl 13: ??? (extend spell)
lvl 15: ??? (quicken spell)
lvl 15: ??? (spell perfection) (wizard bonus feat)

I've only hit level 8 on my nifty little elven conjurer, so I've got plenty of time to decide my late game feat progression.

I chose necromancy and evocation as opposed schools due to character concept but since the campaign has revolved around a hostile political takeover from a brood of vampires, my character sees his folly in neglecting the necromantic arts and will remedy that shortcoming asap.

I'm still very much interested in advice/discussion on feat choices @ level 13 and above.

Tiefling (or Aasimar)
1st lvl Master of Many Styles (crane style)
2nd lvl Cleric (trickery domain + whatever other domain you want)
3rd lvl Empyrean Sorcerer
4th-13th lvl Mystic Theurge
14th + either cleric or sorc.
Take the +2 caster level trait on the caster class you level)

Wis+dex+fighting defensively on AC goes a long way for a squishy caster.
(armor of the pit feat for tiefling build) + mage armor and shield and your AC is 10(base) +2(14 dex) +5(20 wis) +3(fight defensively) +2(armor of the pit) +4(mage armor) +4(shield spell) = AC 30 @lvl 3)

You get CL11 spells for one class and CL 20 on the other with the above cheese.

Eldritch Knight is attainable @ lvl 2 (Aasimar/Tiefling Magus1 -> EK) but I'd advice against that. you're better off with a martial1/caster1 --> EK build.

I'm pretty certain Vimes isn't Lawful. He isn't Chaotic either. Vimes is Neutral/Good in my book. (who watches the watchmen? Vimes is...)
He'd definately have some urban ranger levels as well as a few rogue levels.

Vimes should have low charisma, not only is he universally disliked by the nobs of any city, most people give him a wide berth (especially in the early books) His leadership feat doesn't really kick in until in later levels (only nobby and colon are under his command at first)

I would probably whip out the rules for psionics JUST for Granny Weatherwax (her headology and extreme belief in herself) Esme isn't just good... She's SHARP. She might also have some Wizard levels (Divination comes to mind)

It wouldn't be easy to also emulate the innate ability the witches have to blend with their surroundings in the pathfinder rules unless all of them get Hide in Plain Sight.

Quote:

I wouldn't let a guy in my homegame dump his strength, then give him the option to qualify for powerattack just because his eidolon has 13+ strength.

You know this is a houserule right? Do you not let someone who has a belt of str qualify for power attack? Functionally that is what a fused eidolon is

I don't see it as a houserule really. It's plain old common sense...

An Eidolon goes away whenever the summoner looses consciousness or sleeps.

A magical enhancement bonus needs to be present for at least 24 hours to be considered permanent.

- going without sleep for 25 hours just prior to taking a feat is metagaming/gaming the system/in bad taste.

Getting a headband or belt to raise statpoints to qualify to feats is still okay since all you need is 24 hours of uninterrupted wear.

But hey, if you wanna call it a houserule, so be it. It works for my games.

Maybe I'm shooting way past the issue but..

Do you allow him to stay awake 24/7?
He can wear his eidolon all he wants?

I wouldn't let a guy in my homegame dump his strength, then give him the option to qualify for powerattack just because his eidolon has 13+ strength. The eidolon vanishes the second he goes to sleep, so maybe use that to your advantage.. Some monsters have the habit of attacking the players when they are at their most vulnerable ;)

It takes 10 rounds to summon the eidolon, that's not going to happen if the party is ambushed after making camp.

Other people in the thread's already been giving great advice.

Target touch AC
target his worst saving throw
use energy drain and similar stuff
let the monsters play smart, turn the tables and use crowd control and battlefield shaping to your advantage (fogs, illusionary stuff, fatigue, daze, dominate, charm and similar effects)

Elven longevity + a ring of sustenance makes 2x aging through demi-plane crafting a trivial thing.

Total cost for a greater demiplane with 3 features added (eg. double time, positive dominant and bountiful) Costs 28.620 total to have cast for you by a NPC caster. If the party has the means to travel to it (eg. plane shift) you have the ultimate safe haven for the party to camp in.

you get 8 hour rests using only 4 hours of real time, prolonging the adventuring day as well.

On topic:

A +5 weapon @ lvl 5 would be impossible because you can't spend more than 50% of your WBL on one single item as per RAW.

So you're building a conjuerer that focuses on Snapdragon Fireworks?

The point of Spell Specialization is that it, taken on a conjuration spell, grants you a minimum of 2 extra rounds of that conjuration (since most of them are rounds/level).

Because of that utility, with conjurers I like to go with Greater Spell Specialization because then I already have the prereqs.

One thing you need to look out for, if you Heighten a spell past 3rd level, you will need the more expensive metamagic rods to accomplish what you want to do.

Kind of. Snapdragon fireworks is a neat spell. taking perfection as well on it might be overkill. But since I plan on taking some metamagic feats, Spell Perfection on one of my spells won't hurt at all.

regarding the metamagic rod issue. I'm taking Craft rod @ 9th, wealth by level makes it possible for me to have a Normal strength Metamagic Rod +3 when I hit level 10. (27000GP is a bit less than 50% of WBL for a lvl 10 char)

I'm not sure why I would want more duration on my summons and battle spells since the party has most things down quite fast

- http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/summon-monster

- http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/metamagic-feats/heighten-spell-metamagic---fi nal

Maybe a very stupid question, easily answered but...

Does applying Heighten Spell on Summon monster I increase it's use to become effectively Summon Monster I-IX?

Well remember that you get a lot of mileage from Spell Specialization, and if you were going to take that anyway, then Greater Spell Specialization would be a better option for you imo.

Because Heighten doesn't really help you too much, I vote against taking it. If you aren't going to take Spell Specialization, then sure, it's a way to get some spontaneous casting going.

I've confused things alot. I wasn't going for spell specialization ;)

heighten spell + preferred spell is integral for spontaneous casting of multiple rounds of ranged crowd control (heightened snapdragon fireworks and a (normal) metamagic rod of Dazing. Since the Daze effect duration comes from the metamagic Rod, I need a high level spell (Hence the heighten spell metamagic choice)

Snapdragon Fireworks: For CL number of rounds you can choose a 5ft square within long range. Anyone inside has to make a reflex saving throw or be dazzled for a round + 1d4 dmg.

Heighten Spell increases Save DC and the duration of Daze (from my rod)

Spell specialization doesn't achieve the effect I need.

Maybe I should choose a different spell for spell perfection?
That way I could memorize the other spell (flavoured with some metamagic) and add Quicken for free through Spell perfection...

My character is lvl 6 at the moment so my summons last 10 rounds already (caster lvl +1 (spell focus) +3 (conjurer))

I'm going for as much versatility as possible, but with a few signature moves and self-imposed limitations. I want to thank you for helping out though. All input is good input :D

(main limitation is my utter distaste of the evocation school, I want my companions to shine so I get left alone to do my crafting and mastering of all things arcane, that doesn't blow stuff up and cause bothersome stains and scorchmarks)