David Spaar's page

Can you please update this order to use the cheapest shipping method possible? $43 for shipping one book seems way out of line.

Just wondering if there have been any rulings on the TMtW spell for the variety of wood created. Not that it matters for the tactical uses, but for flavor and roleplaying, I'm wondering how people have handled it. I could see it being just a matter of choice on the part of the caster, or maybe something dependent upon the type of metal involved. But I've tried searching across various forums and the web in general and I've never come across a discussion about this facet of the spell. Thoughts? Thanks!

Hi, I pledged $100 for the Pathfinder Online Kickstarter and thought I'd get a hardcover copy of the Emerald Spire when it was released. I was wondering if you have any record of if this is correct, and if so if the order was shipped. Any info you could provide would be appreciated. Thanks! Please let me know if you need any further information.

Hi, I'd like to cancel order 1825459. Please let me know if you have any questions, thanks.

Hi, I just received the subject line order number today and instead of the Pathfinder campaign setting book Giants Revisited, the order contained the Pathfinder Module No Response from Deepmar. I don't have a module subscription, this appears to be an error.

How can we fix this? Thanks in advance for your help! :)

Sorry to post about this again, but honestly, it's driving me batty. In an earlier thread I suggested three possible re-wordings to clarify exactly how Shades should work, and if any one of these is on the mark, I'd appreciate having it pointed out, or else another explanation entirely. But in any case, I find the current wording of Shades in the PRD to be more ambiguous than is necessary:

(1) [Shades is Shadow Conjuration for sorcerer/wizard spells of 8th level or lower] - "This spell functions like shadow conjuration, except that it duplicates any sorcerer or wizard conjuration (summoning) or conjuration (creation) spell of 8th level or lower. The illusory conjurations created deal four-fifths (80%) damage to nonbelievers, and non-damaging effects are 80% likely to work against nonbelievers."

(2) [Shades is Shadow Conjuration with subschool limitations removed] - "This spell functions like shadow conjuration, except that it duplicates any sorcerer or wizard conjuration spell of 8th level or lower. Unlike shadow conjuration, shades is not limited to the creation and summoning subschools of conjuration. Any sorcerer or wizard conjuration spell of 8th level or lower may be duplicated.

The illusory conjurations created deal four-fifths (80%) damage to nonbelievers, and non-damaging effects are 80% likely to work against nonbelievers."

(3) [Shades duplicates any conjuration of 8th level or lower] - "This spell functions like shadow conjuration with the following exceptions: the duplicated spells are not limited by subschool, the duplicated spells are not limited to conjuration spells from the sorcerer/wizard spell list and may in fact duplicate ANY conjuration spell, and the level limit for duplicated spells is 8th.

The illusory conjurations created deal four-fifths (80%) damage to nonbelievers, and non-damaging effects are 80% likely to work against nonbelievers."

It would really be personally helpful if the designer could clarify his intent. Thanks in advance for your help! :)

Hi, I was just glancing through the stats for Nyrissa in "Sound of a Thousand Screams", and I was wondering if anyone could point out to me where and how she gained her druid levels. I see from the PRD that a nymph casts spells as a 7th level druid, but it also says she can't spontaneously sacrifice prepared spells for "summon nature's ally x" spells. So that to me indicates she's NOT a 7th level druid, she simply has spells like a druid. But from her stat block in SoaTS she's clearly adding her mystic theurge levels to her druid casting ability. I get that she qualifies for the prestige class based on her sorcerer and druidic casting abilities, but what I don't get is how she can add levels to her druidic ability when she (apparently, like the PRD nymph) does not actually have levels in the druid class.

Anyone have any insight on this? Thanks!

Hello, I'm trying to find a tracking number for my latest order, #1269653. It's supposed to arrive in five days, so I was hoping to see it would arrive today some time. If you could help me find the tracking number I'd appreciate it, thanks.

From the Pathfinder SRD (emphasis mine):

"Second, the subject immediately receives another saving throw (if one was allowed to begin with) against any spells or effects that possess or exercise mental control over the creature (including enchantment [charm] effects and enchantment [compulsion] effects). This saving throw is made with a +2 morale bonus, using the same DC as the original effect. If successful, such effects are suppressed for the duration of this spell. The effects resume when the duration of this spell expires. While under the effects of this spell, the target is immune to any new attempts to possess or exercise mental control over the target. This spell does not expel a controlling life force (such as a ghost or spellcaster using magic jar), but it does prevent them from controlling the target. This second effect only functions against spells and effects created by evil creatures or objects, subject to GM discretion."

Well, I didn't look through EVERY enchantment spell (to the best of my knowledge) but I did click through every wizard spell of the enchantment school, and they are ALL of the enchantment[charm] or enchantment[compulsion] subschools.

So if I'm reading this correctly, a first level spell can make a creature completely immune to an entire school of magic. Is that REALLY the intent of the spell? I know it says the effect only functions for spells and effects created by evil sources, but it still seems WAY too powerful to me.

This portion of the protection spells was also problematic in 3.5, where the language was slightly different (the 3.5 version's relevant text(s) are "(including enchantment (charm) effects and enchantment (compulsion) effects that grant the caster ongoing control over the subject, such as dominate person). " and "This second effect works regardless of alignment.")

Soooo...does anyone allow this level of global immunity? While we were playing with the Beta game over the summer (and then using the core rules when released) we were still learning many of the details of spells and such. I had the party facing a vampire bard, and protection from evil basically made the foe worthless as a spellcaster, since her best spells were things like hideous laughter and confusion and such.

I thought the 3.5 version of the spell was fine with respect to this second feature, except that it was ambiguous. Now it seems that we're being treated to a version that for the sake of expediency was given short shrift. The way this spell should have been fixed was to take the time to determine exactly what other spells it would protect against and compile a list. At any rate, that is how it will work in my games, and I'm going to limit the list to spells that can lead to the caster having direct influence over the subject's actions (like charm, suggestion, domination) and NOT things that simply cause the subject to lose control (hideous laughter, confusion, symbols). Also, the alignment limitation will be removed.

Anyone else have any experience with/thoughts about this?

Hi, I'm running a game in which the characters will be facing off against a bunch of vampires. The vampires have the energy drain ability which states (from the 3.5 SRD) that "Living creatures hit by a vampire’s slam attack (or any other natural weapon the vampire might possess) gain two negative levels. For each negative level bestowed, the vampire gains 5 temporary hit points. A vampire can use its energy drain ability once per round."

I can't find any rules on temporary hit points stacking in PFRPG, but I seem to recall that in 3.5 the rule was that each instance of something that grants temporary hit points overlaps with previous instances. What I'm wondering is how exactly the energy drain temporary hit points would work...is each attack that bestows two negative levels a single instance and the vampire gains 10 temporary hit points which are replaced by the next successful energy draining attack? Do the points accumulate without limit? I'm just not clear on exactly how this is supposed to function, so if anyone has any rules they can point me to or opinions to offer I'd appreciate hearing about it. Thanks in advance for your help and/or advice.

Hi, I've been mulling over an idea for a simple but powerful template that I'd like to use, and I'm not sure what LA to assign to it. I've always liked the paragon creature template from the Epic Level Handbook, but it's way too powerful for normal play. In that vein, however, I'd like to create a template which I'd call "Perfect Specimen". The template would grant exactly two things: all ability scores are 18 (then modified by race and increased by level adjustments as the character progresses) and all HD grant maximum hp. Note that this template preempts rolling for ability scores or point buying.

My feeling is that +3 is around the right value for the LA. However, my statistical skills are weak, and I was hoping some folks with a better head for how this would work out might have some thoughts. I don't intend to let my players use this template (until it's fleshed out) but I think it would be cool for some NPCs.

Thanks in advance for any ideas! :)

OK, I guess there's nothing to be done from the Paizo side of things. Can anyone tell me for sure what carrier was used to deliver my package so I can contact them directly and ask that they not bend packages labelled "DO NOT BEND"?

I like the basic ideas behind combat maneuvers, but in our game the other night we still had questions arise related to grappling. Specifically, the rules seem to adopt the concept of one creature as the initiator of the grapple and the other as the resistor, with those roles maintained throughout the struggle. However, we had a situation in which a skum grappled a dwarf PC, and rather than try to break the grapple, the dwarf wished to move both creatures in a particular direction, as part of a successful grapple maintenance check.

Since the dwarf hadn't started the grapple, but was indeed grappled by the skum, how exactly is this resolved, and more importantly, what happens when the dwarf fails to "maintain" the grapple?

The way it played out, the dwarf used a standard action to attempt to maintain the grapple and move both creatures. The attempt failed, but clearly the grapple wasn't broken since the dwarf hadn't attempted to break free and neither had the skum. On the skum's turn, it too failed to maintain the grapple, at which point I ruled the grapple was broken. But it seemed to me the rules default to the position that there will always be one creature attempting to maintain the grapple and another always trying to break free. That wasn't the situation we had in our game. The resulting situation got me to thinking about how you determine unequivocally if a grapple is broken due to failure of the roll, and I still don't understand how to make that determination. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks! :)

Hey everyone, I've been working on a BBEG who is going to hopefully be the campaign capper for our summer game, and I've been looking through Libris Mortis for some appropriately themed magic items, feats, monsters, etc. One of the feats I came across is Quicken Turning, which allows a user to turn or rebuke undead as a free action (but still only once per round). Awesome ability, right? And no prereqs but being able to turn or rebuke undead.

So since my bad guy can channel energy, I'm planning to give him this feat, but it will be way powerful with the way channel energy works in PFRPG. My thought is to limit it in some way, such as to impose a three per day rule as for Quicken Spell-like Ability, or to charge an additional use of channelling per quickened use. Or maybe both. Anybody have any thoughts, including if I should just let this go? Since the party has just reached third level then no matter how I implement it I'll give the party cleric the option to take this feat as well so it's all fair.

Just curious about it since with the mechanical advantages of tumbling it should be something that every fighter learns about. Not warriors of course, but fighters are focused on fighting, they're not simply soldiers.

I'm planning to make it a class skill in my game as a house rule, but I was wondering why it isn't one already (and for that matter, why Tumble wasn't one in 3.0/3.5).

Cheers! :)

Hi, I've been reading up on poison in the Beta, getting ready for a session. I guess I'm kind of thick, because I'm not understanding exactly how they work (or at least I'm not confident I correctly understand the mechanism). Based on what I'm reading, the way I perceive poison to work in general is that when exposed to the poison the victim makes a saving throw. If successful, that's that, no more waiting a minute to make another save. If the save fails, then each round the victim takes the damage and gets a new save. Once ONE save succeeds, the effect of the poison is over. If no save succeeds, the damage continues for the number of rounds specified in the Frequency entry for the poison, then the poisoning ends on its own.

Is that correct, or am I way off base? Thanks in advance for any insight.

but is there an error on page 194 of the beta? The section on arcane schools doesn't show a bonus 4th level spell at 8th level. Doesn't make much sense to me to skip only that one, is this a typo?

Sorry also if this double-posted, I clicked submit instead of preview and it seems my original post disappeared into the ether...

Hello,

I just started a campaign last week using the PFRPG beta rules, and while I'm aware that a bestiary is due in September (already pre-ordered!) what I'm wondering is if some of the creative souls that frequent these boards have compiled an online resource of monsters that I might "borrow" in the mean time.

I did try searching for a link to a discussion of this type, but I couldn't find what I was looking for. Essentially I'm looking for any conversions of 3.5 monsters to PFRPG stats that folks might have laying around.

Thanks in advance for any help on this.

Regards,
Dave

Hey there,

I see from my account info that this order was shipped on March 19th by priority mail, which is supposed to have a max delivery time of 5 business days. As of yet I haven't seen this shipment. Any way you can track it down? Thanks!

Regards,
Dave

Hello, I'm sorry if this has been asked and answered but I wanted to know if the Pathfinder RPG book will be automatically included in my existing Pathfinder subscription or if instead I'll need to order a copy specifically. Thanks!

Hello,

I recently began running Age of Worms for my group, and things had been moving along nicely. The players had been very proactive in the development of their characters, and had accomplished quite a few tasks from The Whispering Cairn sans violence. Or with limited violence. They managed to reach the iron ball trap in area 23 and came to an agreement with Alastor Land, tracked down his family farm, located Kullen and his group, cajoled (25 Diplomacy check by the sorceress, plus gold and booze) them for information on Filge, whom they defeated but kept alive for questioning.

When they finally confronted Smenk, none of the conditions for him being hateful to them had come to pass, so I had him being helpful (and manipulative). By providing some outline of his experiences in the Dark Cathedral, he gave them somewhat of an advantage as to its layout (the main chapel and part of the labyrinth only). Allustan had been working closely with the group, since he was a mentor to the sorceress, and had worked to help them secure a claim to the land on which the Whispering Cairn is located (basically told his brother he wanted it for historical research purposes - which is true, in fact). He helped them with a few healing potions and other one shot items when they entered the Dourstone mine.

As expected, they followed the two tiefling guards into the temple of Hextor and, after a protracted series of skirmishes that saw one character killed, managed to defeat Theldrick and his minions. The deceased's player rolled up a new character that was a prisoner within the temple of Hextor, a dragon shaman from the south that had stumbled upon some cultists in the midst of searching for information about green worms and unkillable undead.

The new character joined the group, and then they made their fatal mistake. Although they were all level 3 at this time, and well on their way to 4 after the sacking of Hextor's temple, they chose to enter the labyrinth, of which they had a partial map, rather than explore the unknown area behind the unmarked door. They had some knowledge of the nature of the Ebon Triad, and Smenk's intel identified the Faceless One as the de facto leader of the cult. They entered the labyrinth and proceeded to have a cat and mouse game with the kenku. They managed to kill most of them, but the leader did some damage with a 5 hd fireball from his necklace, then fled to warn the wizards of the incursion. The assault on them stopped at this point, and the players gathered themselves in one of the kenkus' rooms and healed up, then followed their map and proceeded through the area to the laboratory. They managed to get to area 25, from where they tried to spy on the Inner Sanctum. They spotted the two wizards, the allip and the boss kenku (still wounded), and made an assault. The allip wasn't surprised and leaped to the attack, while the dragon shaman rushed into the room to assault the wizards. One wizard was taken down relatively easily, but the other used his scroll of web to snare the remainder of the party in area 25, save for the halfling bard who was closer to area 24. Sorry, been rambling on here, the point is that the battle drew in the other two wizards and the Faceless One, and with the web separating them, the allip was tearing up the party while the dragon shaman was bitten by the summoned huge fiendish centipede, then burned to death by a flaming sphere. The party was getting free of the web, but the flaming sphere coupled with the burning webs took down the cleric of Kord, who did get revived briefly by the rogue, but when they should have fled completely, the rogue closed the door to area 24 with the Faceless One and his flaming sphere on the other side, then when it opened he bull rushed the mage, managing to knock him into the remnants of the web. Everyone started filing back into the room, and when they were in a nice line the Faceless One zapped them with a lightning bolt. That was pretty much the end of it, the sorceress was still on her feet and made a brave stand, but a magic missile spell dropped her and that was that.

OK, I guess all that detail wasn't completely necessary, but it may help with the reason I'm actually writing this in the first place...continuing the story. My players are great, they didn't skip a beat, as soon as everyone was dead they started talking about the new characters they wanted, to go kick some Faceless ass. :) MY problem is how to balance out the ensuing situation. Obviously TFO isn't going to sit on his hands and do nothing...finding the sketched maps would likely lead him to Smenk, and the sorceress had Filge's spellbook with her. The party had also collected most of the booty from the temple of Hextor, including holy symbols to use as evidence of the cult's presence.

So, realizing that someone is on to him, and that the map could only have been provided by Dourstone or Smenk, I'm trying to establish tactics for TFO over the course of say two weeks...I ruled that the amount of time that passes in game will be the same as in the real world for this period, to reflect the fact that the new characters aren't just sitting around waiting to enter the mines, and probably aren't in Diamond Lake. Allustan will send out a call within a day of the fall of the characters, but it will still take time to have the new team arrive and get prepped. With the loss of the kenku the defenses of the labyrinth are weakened, but more pressing, I think, is the rise of the Ebon Aspect. The module doesn't spell it out, but I am operating under the rule that the cultists are engaged in some series of rituals that will eventually manifest this big baddie. Since the rituals for the temple of Hextor can no longer be completed, will this cause the beast to rise? Or can the other two branches of the cult continue on, and the aspect will be limited with no Hextor special power maybe? Or maybe they can go into a stasis mode, and call for another priest of Hextor to join them. Which would be fine, if time and secrecy weren't factors. No, there's only a few options open, and I'm not certain of the best way to proceed.

So if anyone out there has any ideas on what they might do, I'd really appreciate hearing them. I'd like to bring in the new characters in a smooth way, allow for Allustan's involvement in some way to provide guidance in routing the cult, and also account for the feeling of impending doom that would afflict TFO and Grallak Kur on discovering that they are known and being hunted to some degree. Some basic ideas I'm toying with:

1) Smenk has fled Diamond Lake already, once he is sure the party went into the mines to rout the cult - probably hiding in the Free City for the time being

2) TFO arranges to abduct Filge from prison and press him into service. I wonder where he'd get some bodies to make zombies...>:) And on this topic, how does a 3rd level wizard create undead, anyway? Last I checked, Animate Dead is a 4th level spell...but whatever.

3) TFO places a call for a new priest of Hextor to join him, with about a 1% cumulative chance per day of having that call answered. Probably generous on the chances, but also subject to the immediacy of dealing with the fact that the presence of the cult is known.

4) The cultists somehow abduct Allustan, after discovering that the sorceress was his student, and try to silence anyone with direct knowledge of their presence.

Anyway, please add your thoughts and ideas, and thanks! :)

Regards,
Dave