Daysin Fireblossom's page

Have there been any guidelines mentioned/released/made up after the Remaster?

So far it seems to have a general guide of 4 cantrips, three 1st rank spells, 2 spells for each rank after 1st but before 9th, and 1 9th ranks spell. Then there are two school spells, one at 1st and 1 at 4th rank.
But that's my take.

Has anyone seen something different? Or can offer guidance?

So here's a quandary. There is a creature called a tallow ooze (Creature 11). It has this ability:

Greasy Seepage (aura) 10 feet. Any creature that starts its turn in or enters a square in the area must attempt a DC 30 Acrobatics check to Balance. A creature that takes a Step doesn’t need to roll this check.

So if a character is in the aura he must make a Acrobatics check to Balance. Does that take the character's first action, or is it an action that happens automatically at the start of the character's turn?

Since it is "Acrobatics check to Balance," do we apply the critical success/success/failure/critical failure conditions from the Acrobatics check to Balance? If the answer is yes, then does a failure/critical failure end the turn for the character?

It would be greatly appreciated if someone could shed some light on interaction.

Are wind-able watches available in Golarion? I don't think I have every seen reference to such a thing, but there are clockwork mechanisms of all kinds, from guardsmen to mages.

Seems like a logical thing to find, but on the other hand I could see definitely understand that watches haven't been "invented" yet.

So an interesting occurrence happened in my Friday night game. There is a barbarian that just picked up the Acute Scent (which gives him scent as an imprecise sense when he rages).

In the game (Extinction Curse if it matters), they entered a large room that was cut in half by bars (like an animal cage). On one side of the bars are the bad guys hiding in the foliage. The Players are on a different side, so the bars keep the sides from one another.

Can the barbarian rage and use his Acute Scent to detect if there are bad guys around?

Reaction 1: No, nothing seems to be an enemy so he can't rage.
Reaction 2: Yes, and while he does scent something not normal, he doesn't perceive it, so he then falls out of rage (and fatigued for a round).
Reaction 3: He rages, senses the bad guys, and continues to rage even though he can't find the bad guys.

I'm not sure how I should have run this. Especially since i am hesitant to take player agency away from them (e.g. not allowing them to rage when they want to rage.) At the time I went with the third action. But thinking back on it, I am not even sure the RAW is, much less what the RAI. Can anyone comment, explain, or offer a different explanation?

So a flurry of blows is one action where you swing twice with one action, each strike taking the appropriate multiple attack penalty. So tonight my monk flurried and struck down the adjacent creature on the first strike. He then moved to the next enemy...

The question is did the second strike in the flurry happen? Did my monk swing at thin air? Or not?

Basically, can the monk move (an action) and strike (with the third action and a -8 penalty)? Or is the 3rd action (a strike) at a -4 penalty (since logically the monk wouldn't swing at empty air).

I can see both sides of the coin here. Anyone else want to chime in?

Has anyone else encountered this? I can find a way to price spell books (explicitly). I could price out the cost of each spell as a scroll and then total that, but that seems (logically) wrong. Especially since spell books are usually encoded or done in a wizard's shorthand is some way.

So are we expecting guidelines for the creation of monsters/encounters? Or the modification of monsters/encounters?

I've been working on a home brew adventure and this has been my biggest stumbling block so far.

So my players and I got together last weekend to talk about Pathfinder 2e and create their characters. My plan was basically a Session 0, then start them through Plaguestone.

Then they created three goblins, a hobgoblin (based off the goblin rules), and a gnoll (repackaged half-orc) as PCs.

Anyone have any idea how to run this group? or suggestions?

So let me preface this with the fact that i know it isn't a rules question nor is there a tried answer for the dilemma that i find myself in.

So I'm running a Strange Aeons campaign. And i made up complete backstories for each of the PCs. One PC is a paladin/warpriest of Erastil who is very naive and innocent. However, in the backstory I made up (as the GM) she was a summoner who hated everyone, especially loving relationships, and used her eidolon to cause havoc, death, and heartbreak.

The character recently found a page of spell knowledge (summon eidelon) and is planning to use it to summon the eidolon and attempt to redeem the eidolon.

Regardless of whether the PC can do this or not, its a perfect opportunity for some role-play. But i am having trouble coming up with scenarios that would have resolutions. I think its a great idea and i would like reward the player/PC somehow.

ANyone have any ideas?

So, recently the bad guys attacked the PCs and one of the bad guys was a bard. Being a bard, it started off with inspire courage helping all the enemies of the players.

Then one of the PCs, an enchanter, charmed one of the attackers, turning it against the bad guy bard.

Is the bad guy still an ally of the bard? Does it require an action on the bard's part to drop the charmed fighter from the list of allies?

What does the hivemind think?

So i recently introduced the concept of time travel into my home campaign (Yes, yes, i know it wasn't smart but it is making a good story!).

But somewhere in my head i have an echo of an inevitable that is tasked with keeping time travel from happening. Did i dream this? If not, where did i see it?

Of course, if you have a suggestion for what that inevitable should look like/behave/be like, please feel free to make it. It should be a challenge for a group of 5-6 12-13th level PCs.

Thanks! I hope the group mind can point me in the right direction...

Something came over me and I created this document. I tried to include every item other than gold or gems. And some of the items may not look how you imagine them, so feel free to modify as your see fit for your game. Each card is a 4x6 card for easy handing out to the players.

I hope somebody likes it. :). I know my players did.

Despite the title, i was actually thinking of any natural attack...

Can anyone think of a creature in the Pathfinder system that does double their strength modifier on a natural attack? For example, a creature that gores but does double strength modification on the damage of the attack...

Surely there is one somewhere...

Normally a creature adds his strength modifier to damage on a natural attack. If it is an attack like a powerful charge, it might do 1.5 strength modifier. I'm looking for one that does double strength modifier.

Call it Pathfinder Trivia.

Has one one thought about what spawn of Rovagug (other than the one mentioned in products) might look like? As sort of an intellectual exercise?

So there are monsters in the PF system/world that are indescribable, or whose descriptions are malleable. The one that comes to mind at the current moment, because i am writing an adventure with it in it, is the animate dream.

How would you describe something like that? And as a followup, what about other monsters that are similar? Ghosts are fairly easy, since they sort of depend on what there were like in life. But what about the oozes? Plants? Or elementals?

Or we could expand the subject to different ways to describe common creatures to confuse your players and keep them on their toes.

In the module The Moonscar there is this snippet:

Void Boys' Hideout

A band of river brigands called the Void Boys has built up a sizeable [sic] hideout in a network of hollow trees and caverns carved out amid their roots. Originally the band was little more than an upstart group of hoodlums who were too weak to make it on the streets of rugged Skelt, and fled the city for better pickings on the banks of the Shining River. But in the desolation of the Growling Skald, the gang discovered a strange carving of a woman screaming to the heavens, her arms bound to her sides by chains and her eye sockets empty. After the brigands carried the statue back to their hideout, it began to speak to them, and since then the renamed Void Boys have been an increasing threat to river traffic in the region. Some say they turn the dead of their victims against any survivors and that they have an army of undead waiting in the woods for a pending assault on Skelt itself.

Now, ignoring the bit about undead (because I don't want to go shooting of the track of the adventure too much, what would you think the "Void Boys" are?

I was thinking things like:

• Void elementalist (Dragon Empires Primer)
  
• Void bombs (Drow, alchemist 6)
  
• void Kineticist
  
• hungry ghost monk
  
• Oni, Void Yai (bestiary 3)
  

But nothing it actually exciting me. Any suggestions from out in the, er, void?

Say we, as game masters, are telling a story and in this story the PCs find a mortally wounded soldier. The soldier has information to give the PCs but in the story you (the game master) don't want the PCs to save the NPC, the NPC just wants to go on to Valhalla or where ever.

How would you present this to the players? Do you break the 4th wall and say your healing has no effect? Do you give the NPC a will save against the cure spells (for 1/2 healing)?

I'm not sure how to handle this situation in my mind's eye, or at the table.

So based on nationality/religion/race, what are you stereotypical examples?

For example, Ulfen warriors are probably lightly armored (no heavier than chain mail), probably doesn't use a shield, and uses all kinds of axes

Iobarian warriors wear chain mail and shirt, use bucklers, and carry swords, and/or spears

A Mwangi warriors wears light or no armor, any type of shield, and uses spears and javelins.

The Kellid warrior wears hide and leather, doesn't use a shield, and wields spears and large swords or large axes

A Qadirian warrior wears Light to chain armor, nearly always has a shield, and wields a scimitar.

Any others? Or disagreements?

I have a player who wants to play a clerical type but with alternative abilities. he basically wants to mix cleric with summoner. So he came up (with my suggestions) with this archetype. now i have burned myself before by not realizing the impact that seemingly innocuous things will cause on the life of the campaign. Could someone take a look and tell me what you think and, perhaps, some suggestions for improvements?

Divine Caller (Cleric Archetype)

Skill Ranks per level: 4 + Int modifier. This alters the cleric’s class skills.

Dedicated Summoner: A Divine Caller depends on summoned allies to overcome her foes, which affords little experience with martial pursuits. A divine caller loses proficiency in medium armor. This ability alters the cleric’s armor proficiencies.

Additionally, without the training domain abilities, a divine caller loses access to any domains. This modifies the cleric's domain abilities.

Servant of the Devout: At 1st level, the Divine Caller gains the ability to summon to his side a powerful outsider called an eidolon. The eidolon forms a link with the divine caller, who, forever after, summons an aspect of the same creature. A Divine Caller’s eidolon must be of a type that serves her deity. It can speak all of the Divine Caller’s languages. Eidolons are treated as summoned creatures, except that they are not sent back to their home plane until reduced to a number of negative hit points equal to or greater than their Constitution score. In addition, due to its tie to its divine caller, an eidolon can touch and attack creatures warded by protection from evil and similar effects that prevent contact with summoned creatures. A divine caller can summon his eidolon in a ritual that takes 1 minute to perform. When summoned in this way, the eidolon hit points are unchanged from the last time it was summoned. The only exception to this is if the eidolon was slain, in which case it returns with half its normal hit points. The eidolon does not heal naturally. The eidolon remains until dismissed by the divine caller (a standard action). If the eidolon is sent back to its home plane due to death, it cannot be summoned again until the following day. The eidolon cannot be sent back to its home plane by means of dispel magic, but spells such as dismissal and banishment work normally. If the divine caller is unconscious, asleep, or killed, his eidolon is immediately banished. The eidolon takes a form shaped by the divine caller’s desires. The eidolon’s Hit Dice, saving throws, skills, feats, and abilities are tied to the divine caller’s class level and increase as the divine caller gains levels. In addition, each eidolon receives a pool of evolution points, based on the divine caller’s class level, that can be used to give the eidolon different abilities and powers. Whenever the divine caller gains a level, he must decide how these points are spent, and they are set until he gains another level of divine caller. The eidolon’s physical appearance is up to the divine caller, but it always appears as some sort of fantastical creature. This control is not fine enough to make the eidolon appear like a specific creature. The eidolon also bears a glowing rune that is identical to a rune that appears on the divine caller’s forehead as long as the eidolon is summoned. While this rune can be hidden through mundane means, it cannot be concealed through magic that changes appearance, such as alter self or polymorph (although invisibility does conceal it as long as the spell lasts).

Summon Divine Ally: Starting at 1st level, a summoner can cast summon monster I as a spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Wisdom modifier. The divine caller can use this ability only to summon monsters particularly appropriate to her deity. This includes creatures whose alignment is within one step of her deity, or creatures of an elemental subtype that matches a domain granted by her deity. Drawing upon this ability uses up the same power as the summoner uses to call his eidolon. As a result, he can only use this ability when his eidolon is not summoned. He can cast this spell as a standard action and the creatures remain for 1 minute per level (instead of 1 round per level). At 3rd level, and every 2 levels thereafter, the power of this ability increases by one spell level, allowing him to summon more powerful creatures (to a maximum of summon monster IX at 17th level). A summoner cannot have more than one summon monster spell active in this way at one time. If this ability is used again, any existing summon monster immediately ends. These summon spells are considered to be part of his spell list for the purposes of spell trigger and spell completion items. In addition, he can expend uses of this ability to fulfill the construction requirements of any magic item she creates, so long as she can use this ability to cast the required spell.

Channel Link: At 2nd level, whenever the divine caller uses channel energy to heal, she can include all of her summoned monsters and/or her eidolon, even if they are out of her normal channel energy radius, or if it is a creature type that would not normally be affected.

Mighty Divine Ally: At 4th level, a divine caller receives Augment Summoning as a bonus feat, and is considered to have Spell Focus(conjuration) for the purposes of prerequisites for feats that have Augment Summoning as a prerequisite. At 8th level, she gains Superior Summoning as a bonus feat.

Transform Calling: At 6th level, whenever the divine caller has her eidolon active, she may use her Summon Monster spell-like ability to temporarily replace her eidolon with the monster she chose to summon. This monster appears in the same square that the eidolon occupied or in the nearest open space that will accommodate the creature or creatures. She may recall her eidolon by expending another use of Summon Monster or by waiting for the spell to expire. If the summoned monster is returned to it’s home plane for any reason beside those listed above, her eidolon can only be summoned back by the standard ritual.

Divine Legion: At 10th level, a Divine Caller can use her summon monster spell-like ability even if her eidolon or another summon is already active. Using this ability expends three uses of her summon monster ability.

Summoning Surge: At 12th level, by expending a use of the divine caller’s Summon Monster spell like ability, she can infuse her eidolon with any evolution whose total cost does not exceed 2 evolution points. You may only grant one evolution, however you can grant evolutions that allow her to spend additional points to upgrade that evolution. This power cannot be used to upgrade a power the eidolon already possesses. The eidolon must meet the prerequisites of any selected evolution. This ability does not allow an eidolon to exceed it’s maximum number of natural attacks. At 14th level, this ability can infuse up to 4 points of evolutions to her eidolon and 2 points to a summoned creature. At 16th level, this ability can infuse up to 6 points of evolutions to her eidolon and 4 points to a summoned creature. This effect lasts for 1 minute per Divine Caller level.

Divine Intervention: At 20th level, once per day, the divine caller may call a servant of her deity as if using one of the following spells: Lesser Planar Ally, Planar Ally, Greater Planar Ally, or Gate. The divine caller must pay any material component costs, but most creatures summoned will forego any additional payments (and the negotiations that go with it) for simple tasks, and much reduced payments for longer or particularly dangerous tasks.

So I am constructing a murder mystery urban adventure. And considering using a stalker vigilante as the murderer. I want a very Jack the Ripper feel to this bad guy. So far I have this in my head (BTW, my home campaign is called the Wounded World):

I'm looking for suggestions, tips and tricks, and ideas. Feel free to call me an idiot if you need, but help me craft a great villain. :)

I miss him already. Sniff, sniff.

Well, the title says it all. The players were overconfident and when the challenges came about, they failed in the test of Strength and Combat, but won the test of Storytelling.

So they lost and the Gorilla King wants the city.

How can i work this so the players (and their characters) have to deal with the repercussions? I don't want to make it too tough and i don't want it too easy. And i want it to definitely have an effect in the game story.

A bit on that: The campaign has derailed in several places but thanks be to luck, guile, and cunning on my part, the story line is fairly close to the way the books describe. However the PCs have changed a number of things. The PCs managed to talk the pathfinders into allying themselves with the Sargavans. Additionally the characters went out of their way not to offend or get in the Red Mantis' way. So the RM have their artifact sword.

The Aspis Consortium has been destroyed (at the end of book 3). The Free Captains have been dealt with (by an attack by the Arpis and an encounter with ghosts when they set their camp up in a bad part of the city).

I have also introduced a new faction: the Razmirians. The Masks as the PCs like to call them, are exploring the southern part of the city. the PCs believe that the Razmirians are being controlled by a Moonbeast and Denizens of Leng (and I am not say here whether or not that is the truth since i know some of my players lurk in these electrons).

So what am i asking for? Advice, suggestions, and ideas. I would really appreciate anything no matter how off the wall it might seem.

In short, the text says that it acts as the auguary spell. Does that mean it is only for the half hour after the hour of writing? That seems too limiting. But at the same time, i dont want to grant the ability too much power. Any suggestions?

Hypothetical situation....

Take a 200 ft. deep pit. Cast a web spell in the exact middle and then make it permanent. Creature falls into the pit. Does the web break its fall? How much if any? Would it obscure the bottom of the pit (i.e. if a creature falls all the way through, would it hinder thing dropping into the pit or the character climbing out?

I realize that some of these questions are fairly easy to answer, but the repercussions of each "simple answer" is not so easy to adjudicate.

And yes, I get .01 every time I use a big word. :)

Its a goodly sized city and I am sure I am not the only one that has done this. In fact, I was surprised i didn't even see another thread already for this....

In any case, my players' PCs are exploring the city now and i have the fortunate/unfortunate (depending on how you look at it) habit of waxing rhapsodic and adding lots of stuff in game... here are a few.

The Water Treatment Tower
Mostly ruined and with lots of corridors that go no where. The only true path that the adventurers can take is through the sewers into the main treatment area. In the sewers are various oozes and slimes.

In the main area are several constructs whose only purpose is the assist those that are supposed to be there (signified by a red headband than can be found on a few skeletons and bodies also in the tower. I used Caryatid Columns (ToH p.93) as the base critter and added special attacks like the ability to cast Hydraulic Push once per minute (to clean the pipes).

The main opponent here was a alchemical golem (Bestiary 2, p.135) who was still attempting to keep the water purification going. I added a back story that long ago a group of serpentfolk tried to poison the city. the water purification was set up to keep that from happening again. Of course with the alchemical golem gone, who knows what will happen now?

Okay, so i finally got to use a modified version of dwtempest's ziggerat this last weekend and thought i might leave some comments....

1) The puzzle was well done, though my players complained that it was fairly obtuse and you had to think about things in a certain way. I have no problem with that, 'cause that is what puzzles are supposed to do.

2) The serpentfolk at the start, in the main room of the lowest level of the ziggerat, seem odd. The lieutenant was large for example, but no explanation as to how he got large. I left it along though, and the players thought he might have been a different caste of serpentfolk. Which is cool, as I can not make different serpentfolk with all sorts of oddness in the future. A lot like y***-t* way back when they were first introduced to DnD.

3) The enchanter turned out to be a bit tougher than I thought he would be. However, at the end of the battle is a struggle of attrition -- protection from arrows proved it worth, especially when the person protected is using spider climb to stay away from the group.

4) Watch out for failed knowledge checks. My players failed their geography checks when presented with the ancient map of the Mwangi. So I actually had to *tell* them what they were seeing so they could figure out how to get from Tazion to Saventh-Yhi.

5) The encounters, at least when i ran it, all happened at the start of the exploration of the ziggerant. If you wish to make it a bit more combat oriented, i would add a few things. perhaps a few of the giant wasps attack anyone on top of the ziggerat for any period of time, or a mimic in one of the side rooms. The leech swarms were annoying all around, I would change that to some sort of nasty fish, perhaps modelling on the stats of a viper or turtle. if you want to be absolutely nasty and really screw with things, make it a larval form of an aboleth. :) But that is probably too much.

6) Three gems are found before the PC even get to the ziggerat by Isseth (the serpent folk enchanter). When running you may want to detail with the serpentfolk found the gems and what was there. I put secret panels/hiding places in the hall of Stars, Hall of the Sun, and the Void room (where the water is).

7) What happens to the various pieces of the puzzle after it is solved? Do the gems lose their power (the faint aura of divination on them)? What are they worth? Can they be taken from the ziggerat? What about the gold plaques in the step puzzle room? What are they worth each (I assigned an arbitrary value of 100 go each)? What happens if the gems are left in the hands of the idols and the PC do not take them with them? (Here i suggest that the gems must be presented to the door of the step puzzle room to get the door to open.)

Hope these comments are of help to someone. I really enjoyed the redo that dwtempest did. Thanks for sharing this with us!

The SA Maned Wolf is an animal almost designed to be a witch's familiar. I suppose the fox's stat block with a bonus feat of Skill Focus (Stealth) and 10' fee to move would suffice for a maned wolf.

A sloth would be good one for a SA feel. I would suggest a wolverine's stat block minus the attacks and a maximum of 10' of ground movement. Give it a climb speed of 20' and this that would be fine.

The armadillo (fun fact: the armadillo is hunted as food in parts of SA) and anteater (this is not the giant anteater that most are familiar with (no pun intended) but a tiny anteater cousin of the bigger anteaters) would also make interesting, unique familiars. Add the chinchilla (this is the long-tailed chinchilla, the most known of the chinchilla family, but all the chinchillas work), and theCapybara and you have a a fairly good selection of animals.

Have any of the rest of you had players want odd, or unusual familiars?

So, I am preparing this encounter from "Racing to Ruin" and I just don't get it. Maybe it's cause i am working from wrong assumptions.

I was just doodling as i was waiting for an application to compile and run and I came up with the following critters...

RHAMPHORHYNCHUS SWARM CR 3
XP 800
N Fine animal (swarm)
Init +5; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +6
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 23, flat-footed 18 (+5 Dex, +8 size)
hp 4 (1d8)
Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +2
Immune weapon damage
Defensive Abilities evasion
OFFENSE
Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (good)
Melee swarm (1d6+2)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks sudden swoop, distraction
STATISTICS
Str 4, Dex 21, Con 11, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 11
Base Atk +0; CMB -; CMD -
Feats Lightning Reflexes
Skills Fly +11, Perception +6, Stealth +11
ECOLOGY
Environment warm coastline or forest
Organization solitary, pair, or flock (3–16)
Treasure none
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Sudden Swoop (Ex) If a rhamphorhynchus makes a charge attack while flying, it does not provoke attacks of opportunity when it enters an opponent’s space to make a melee attack. It also gains a +2 bonus on damage rolls with its bite attack when it makes a sudden swoop.
Distraction (Ex): Any living creature vulnerable to the creature swarm’s damage that begins its turn with a creature swarm in its square is nauseated for 1 round. A Fortitude saving throw (DC 10) negates the effect. Even with a successful save, spellcasting or concentrating on spells within the area of a creature swarm requires a Concentration check (DC 20 + spell level). Using skills requiring patience and concentration requires a Will save (DC 20).

NOTE: The rhamphorhynchus swarm's cr may be off considering its AC.

MOSQUITO, GOBLIN (MOSQUITO, GIANT WITH YOUNG TEMPLATE)
A bloated, red belly dangles beneath the furiously beating wings of this massive mosquito.
GOBLIN MOSQUITO CR 5
XP 1,600
N Small vermin
Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +9
DEFENSE
AC 22, touch 20, flat-footed 13 (+1 Size, +9 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 26 (8d8+8)
Fort +7, Ref +11, Will +3
Immune mind-affecting effects
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
Melee bite +9 (1d6+3 plus bleed, disease, and grab)
Special Attacks bleed (2d3), blood drain (1 Constitution)
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 29, Con 13, Int —, Wis 13, Cha 6
Base Atk +6; CMB +9 (+13 grapple); CMD 26 (34 vs. trip)
Skills Fly +11, Perception +9, Stealth +13; Racial Modifiers Perception +8
ECOLOGY
Environment temperate or tropical swamps
Organization solitary, pair, or swarm (3–12)
Treasure none
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Disease (Ex) Malaria: Bite—injury; save Fortitude DC 14; onset 1d3 days; frequency 1 day; effect 1d3 Con damage and 1d3 Wis Damage; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Lexovisaurus CR 2
XP 600
Medium animal
Init +0; Senses Low-light vision, scent; perception +6
Defense
AC 14, touch 10, flat 14, (+4 natural)
hp 18 (2d8+9)
Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +1
Defensive Abilities Ferocity
Offense
Speed 40 ft.
Melee Gore + 4 (1d8+4)
Statistics
Str 17, Dex 10, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 4
Base Atk +1; CMB +4, CMD 14 (18 vs trip)
Feats Toughness
Skills Perception +6
Ecology Temporate or tropical forests
Organization solitary, pair, or group (1d6+2)
Treasure None
The lexovisaurus is a small ill-tempered, plant-eating dinosaur closely related to the stegosaurus. Instead of plates down its back, it has spikes that project out from its back. Its head is also spiked and it is the head spikes that the lexovisaurus uses to attack, slashing and ripping with their wicked edges and points.
A full grown lexovisaurus weighs 200 lbs and is about 4-5 feet long. Some savage tribes have tamed lexoviasaurus and used them as guard beasts.

NOTE: This is my version of the lexovisarus. On our earth, in reality, the lexovisaurus lived in the woodlands of western Europe in the late Jurassic (160 million years ago). They averaged about 15 feet long and weighed in at about a half-ton. They were one of the first of the stegosauri to walk the earth.

Cynosaurus CR 1/2
N small animal
Init +4; Senses low-light vision, scent, Perception +5
Defense
AC 16, touch 15, Flat-footed 12 (+4 Dex, +1 natural, +1 size)
hp 6 (1d5+1)
Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +1
Offense
Spd 40 ft.
Melee Bite +5 (1d4)
Statistics
Str 11, Dex 19, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 4
Base Atk +0; CMB +0, CMD 14
Feats Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +4 (+12 jumping), Perception +5, Survival +1 (+5 scent tracking); Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 Survival when tracking by scent, +4 Stealth when in a rocky region
Description
Small incredibly fast raptors, cynosaurus (dog lizard) is a insectivore, though pacts of cynosaurs have hunted together much like a dog pack would. They tend to dart in, relying on their speed to attack.
When alone, a cynosaur typically avoids contact with anything bigger than it unless it is rapid (see below). Only cynosaurs encounter in the wild are ever rabid.
The red cynosaurs hunts in rocky regions using their reddish-brown color to blend into the rock when possible. Other cynosaurs, like the green cynosaur (encountered in forest realms, the white cynosaur (in the tundra), and the black cynosaur (underground) do the same thing in their environments.

Your comments would be welcome

Either I'm missing it or I am look in the wrong places, but has something been said about whether or not the magnus can be used in PF Society play?

Bobby

Okay, i am truly confused about how to advance a monster. For example, the giant crab. He starts off with 3d8 HD and a 14 Con. Now I want to make him Large, as opposed to Medium. Table 2-2 in the Bestiary has be apply +4 Str and Con, -2 to Dex, and +2 Natural armor to his AC. That makes him Large. According to the Crab, Giant entry a large giant crab has 5d8 HD and is CR 4. Will I want a CR 8 creature.

So I try again, this time following the directions on p. 295 of the Bestiary. I want a CR 8 creature. If i read things correctly here's what happens.

1) the crab become Large since its HD is more than doubling
2) the calculation mentioned above take place
3) Now table 2-1 comes into play. Totaling the hp additions between the the CR 2 row and the CR 8 row results in +65 hp. Since the crab's Con has changed I can't seem to wrap my head around how to figure out how many HD the new CR 8 crab should have.

Base version: 3d8+6
Large version: 3d8(?)+24
CR 8 version: nd8+n*4=total hp

How does the +65 come into play? Are these base hp not modified for Con> Or has the Con already been added? My read of the material says,

Note that if the creature increases in size, its Constitution may also increase, as noted on Table 2–2, granting it additional hit points that might offset the need for additional Hit Dice (this also applies to any other Constitution increases).

That seems to say to me that the Con modifier for hp is included in the CR 2 to CR 8 hp calculations.

Usually I am good at math but this seems rather circular to me. Can anyone help?

Has any one seen any of these guys'/guy's stuff? The Book of Thaumaturgy looks interesting but it has a hefty price tag of $19.99 -- and its a pdf!

The other product I have seen by then is the Book of Darkness. They are both over at Drive Thru RPG.

Looking for comments and suggestions. Also the pricing I used is a bit wonky. I basically took a ring of three wishes and divided it by three. I figure combining two magic items into one is about what a wish or miracle could do. Agree/Disagree?

Any how, here is the item...

Flux Gems
Aura strong Universal CL 20th
Slot none; Price 40,000 gp; Weight -
Description
These odd looking stones appear to be opals but careful examination will reveal that the gem changes color from milky white, to reddish gold, to purple-black, to bluish-green and back to milky white. The only other property that they seem to have is a high internal gravity (in other words, they tend to stick to items they touch, like a small magnet but usable on non-ferrous items). These gems are very rare (naturally) since they are usually formed by a strange interaction of magic with the planar barriers between the elemental planes of earth, fire, and air. However, some mages, after extensive study, have crafted a few flux gems on their own.

When attached to a magical item and left for more than an hour, the gem dissolves into a fuzzy field of whitish-gold energy. Then another item can be added to the field. The second item is destroyed but its powers are added to the first item. A couple of caveats with this process:

* no more than two items can be combined at one time. If a third item is added to the mix, bad things will happen (see below)
* If no second item is added with five minutes of the manifestation of the magical field, the field fades and the flux gem is gone forever. The magic item must make a will save or lose one or more (DM's choice) of its magical properties (reminder: an unattended magic item has a Will save of +2+1/2 its caster level. So a hat of disguise, with a caster level of 1st, has a +2 will save while a robe of the archmagi has a Will save of +9).
* if the item that the flux gem is attached to is a masterwork item with a spell effect on it, that spell effect may be made permanent (DM's decision). Normal, non-masterwork items are unchanged by a flux stone.
* If the items' properties conflict (eg. a decanter of endless water and a necklace of missiles), bad things may happen (see below).

* the items must both make will saves or lose one or more of their magical properties
* the two items are combined into some other item (DM's choice)
* an 40' energy (GM's choice or random)/force explosiondoing 8d10 points of damage
* the effects of a mage's disjunction affect all magic items in a 10' radius

The GM's call is the final say in the matter. A Knowledge (Arcana) DC 25 check plus a Spellcraft check (DC 15+the highest caster level of the items involved) will allow a determination of whether the items can be combined and what might happen if the items are combined.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, wish or miracle; Cost 32,500 gp (and for those using 3.5 rules instead of PRPG; and 1600 xp)

Some background: We are playing a game where we (the characters) are in the middle of nowhere, no access to cities, magic shops, wizards, and all the other things that most game have to allow a character to customize their equipment. So the GM allows us "wish lists" where we list the items we would like to find/recover/steal for our characters. However, from the optimizing point of view, we have no way to craft items with the properties of other items (say a headband of intellect with a circlet of persuasion). So the flux stone is my suggestion to overcome this "problem"

From their web site...

[Moderator note: snipped product description from post, as it's now redundant]

Here that came up in my game today.... We had a monk using unarmed strike against the caryatid column, which has the special ability:

Shatter Weapons (Ex) Whenever a character strikes a caryatid column with a weapon (magical or nonmagical), the weapon takes 3d6 points of damage. Apply the weapon’s hardness normally. Weapons that take any amount of damage in excess of their hardness gain the broken quality.

So how does this affect the monk's fists? At the time I ruled ignored the special ability against the fists of the monk, but I am still unsure about this....

Note that this is a duplicated post from the Pathfinder RPG forum...

Here that came up in my game today.... We had a monk using unarmed strike against the caryatid column, which has the special ability:

Shatter Weapons (Ex) Whenever a character strikes a caryatid column with a weapon (magical or nonmagical), the weapon takes 3d6 points of damage. Apply the weapon’s hardness normally. Weapons that take any amount of damage in excess of their hardness gain the broken quality.

So how does this affect the monk's fists? At the time I ruled ignored the special ability against the fists of the monk, but I am still unsure about this....

Actually when you are unconscious, but that isn't as catchy a title.....

When your character is unconscious, do you get saving throws? Or when you are unaware of the threat (the dragon breathes on you when you are flat-footed).

I looked and looked and couldn't find anything in the Core

Now that I've asked the question, I would say that its very DM dependent. Some GMs will not damage a character once he hits the ground (eg. the fighter gets knocked unconscious by the drow's sleeping poison and the next round a fireball goes off over his body). Other GM will say you get a save with no Dex (or whatever the relevant ability is) bonus. And still others will say you automatically take full damage.

I wonder if we could actually get a consensus on this subject. (Highly doubtful.) How about an opinion from some the fine Paizo folks (with the caveat that it is non-binding)?

One thing I hate to do is DMing the spell Divination on the fly. I am just no good at cryptic poetry and the like. Can anyone help by posting ideas (or suggestions, or anything they used in their own games)? Things that might be divined are:

• Where is Xin-Shalast?
  
• How do we get to Xin-Shalast?
  
• Where is Karzoug?
  
• How do we kill Karzoug?
  

I am sure there are other questions... but any help or ideas (or even suggestions on how to create my own) would be appreciated.

Was out in the 'net today and stumbled on this <http://dsc.discovery.com/earth/slideshows/top-10-alaska-glacier-surpris es/> Some great pictures here and they might be useful (they will be for me!) in describing some of the terrain in the mountains around Xin-Shalast.

As a side note, kudos to Paizo and the creator(s) of the geography. You goty it dead on since the Himalayas and the Kodars have a lot in coming (a) they are at the edge of two tectonic plates going edge to edge and (b) actively volcanic)

One of my players asked my about warmages and warmage schools in Golorian. I sort of went overboard in my reply, but I thought I would share with y'all in case someone else might find it of use

Warmages in Golorian

Warmages came out of Complete Arcane, which are not part of the SRD so Paizo could not include them in their setting. That being said, here is my opinion on where warmages came from....

Golorian has a long, long history --- something like 4-6 thousand years of *recorded* history. In that time, warmages could have come from several places. Since I am more familiar with the RoRL series, the Runelord of Evocation, Alaznist (Wrath), would have definitely had a warmage school for her minions. In fact I considered changing some of the mages in the Runeforge to warmages but I didn't have time to work them up.

In any case, Alaznist ruled in Bakrakhan, which was where the Varisian Gulf is today. So a library of warmage secrets could have been unearthed and founded on one of the islands out in the gulf. There could be a school in Riddleport (though I doubt it -- Riddleport doesn't seem like a warmage kind of place, especially considering there is already on magical university there). There could also be one in Magnimar.

So a warmage can be from almost anywhere and just learning the warmage skills as he adventures. He doesn't need to be a member of any order or belong to any school.

However, in my campaign, I have placed several friendly, yet competing, warmage schools in the following places. First I name the school, and then tell you the name of the order that runs it. Any other information follows (all the fluff). Then lastly I tell you why I put the school there).

Warmage School by Location

Absolom -- Tarth Karltha, Order of the Blue Flame. Tarth Karltha is probably the richest of the warmage schools of Golorian. Absolom is the middle of the world after all and Tarth Karltha desires to be the leader of the warmages in Golorian. Of course this desire conflicts with all the other warmage schools. Thus warmages of the Blue Flame aren't as popular with warmages as they could be.

Carpenden, Andoran -- Tarth Valorian, Order of the Swift Eagle. One of the newest schools Tarth Valorian has trouble retaining students and teachers as Andorians tend to go off and fight for the cause de jour at the drop of a hat. However, they have no lack of students and mages who apply for entrance into the Order.

Egorian -- Tarth Vex, Order of the Fire Hawks. Tarth Vex is a school that is torn in two by competing demands. On one hand, warmages are evokers, first and foremost. But Cheliax is also an ally of the Nine Hells, and the demand for competent conjurers is intense. Many of the students here are conjurer/warmages.

Egorian is the capital of Cheliax and warmages seem like they could be "influenced" by diabolical forces. I see these warmages tending towards conjuration more than the usual warmage though.

Eleder, Sargava -- Tarth Cigerhet, Order of the Lion. A fast growing school, Tarth Cigerhet is definitely off the beaten track. A majority of their students are Mwangi, but not all. Most of the teachers, in fact, are Chelixian.

A former Cheliaxian colony, Sargava is on its own now and the natives (very tribal African in flavor) are slowly/quickly (depends on who you ask) taking over. Warmages seem like an African to me, but that is in my opinion.

Hellknights -- Each order of the Hellknights has a small subgroup of warmages. Afterall it is always handy to have a mage who can cast spells in armor. The Hellknights’ warmages are neither powerful enough, influential enough, or number enough to really deserve their own school.

Janderhoff - Tarth Margrava, Order of the Iron Fire. Run by Kell Irongrip, a dwarven warmage/archmage, Tarth Margrava focuses on spells that can be used to defend the dwarven people. Additionally the Iron Fire's warmages are in demand for escort duty and exploration of the Mindspin Mountains.

I like the idea of a dwarven-run warmage school. Just feels right.

Mechitar, Geb -- Tarth Evarg-thed, Order of the Hand. Mechitar is the capital of Geb, the longest ruling aristocracy in Golroian. Probably because it is ruled by a ghost and his lich-consort. The Order of the Hand is very necromatic (duh!) and on the decline, but definitely a place where a warmage school would pop up. Almost as far away as Tarth Jagajenda in Niswan.

Niswan, Jalmeray -- Tarth Jagajenda, Order of the Roc. A very exclusive school, it is very hard to gain membership in the Order of the Roc. This is probably because of the requirement that you must be Vudrani to be a student here. One of the more famous schools, even people in far off Varisia have heard of the Order of the Roc.

Very Indian is flavor, very strong Oriental influence. Also very far away.

Quantium, Nex - Tarth Nothelek, Order of the Kraken. The Order of the Kraken are huge rivals of the Order of the Hand, and rarely due they cooperate together. However, they are known for their metamagic abilities and the fact that they are working to recover the land that buffers Nex and Geb, the Mana Wastes (where magic does not work).

Nex is the arch-enemy of Geb, and they would definitely have something that Geb would have, if only for self-preservation.

Sothis, Osirion -- Tarth Memlis, Order of the Silver Sphinx. This is one of the smallest, yet most influential schools. They claim to be the first one, the original home of warmagery. Other schools scoff at this, but it is true that despite their small size they have access to magics and arcane knowledge that the others do not.

Obviously for the Egyptian flavor of Osirion.

Starfall, Numeria -- Tarth Pellmont, Order of the Diamond. Starfall is the capital of Numeria, and Numeria abuts the Worldwound where all the demons in the Abyss are congregating to invade Golorian. Thus Tarth Pellmont is a very influential school. Students here are mostly worshippers of Iomedae but they are also known for their very powerful evocation magics. One of the principle feats taught here is Element Substitution (Cold).

Warmages (I imagine) would be helpful to have around.

Trollheim, Land of the Linnorm Kings -- Tarth Nantýr, Order of the Silver Bolt. A very aggressive school, many of the students that fail here don't drop out, they are instead casualties of spell battle.

The warmages of Tarth Nantýr are very Norse-like in flavor. And warmages would come in handy fighting the minions of Irrisen which is right next door. Irrisen is ruled by one of Baba Yaga's daughters and her evil fey often make forays into the Linnorm Kings' territories.

Well, i wanted to create a few low-level threats for The Festering Maze in case my players decided they wanted to explore this area. So fasting about for some fun templates I found the id ooze in Green Ronin's Advanced Beastiary, but that wasn't the flavor i wanted.

But then the book fell open to the eye king template. And for some reason an ettercap sprang to mind. Here is what was produced and I think it makes a great creature for the Festering Maze:

EYE-KING ETTERCAP
An eye king ettercap has a roughly spherical body with a single central eye on the front of its body. It has a large fanged jaw on its underside and 5 eyestalks protrude its top.
EYE-KING ETTERCAP CR 6
Usually NE Medium aberration
Init +5; Senses Low-light vision; Listen +4, Spot +8
Languages Common
DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 15, flat-footed 11 (+5 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 32 (5d8+10)
Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +6
OFFENSE
Spd 5 ft., climb 5 ft., fly 30 ft. (perfect)
Melee Bite +5 (1d8+2 plus poison) and
Melee 2 claws +3 (1d2+1)
Special Attacks Poison, web, eye rays
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 20, Con 15, Int 4, Wis 14, Cha 17
Base Atk +3; Grp +5
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Skills Climb +10, Craft (trapmaking) +4, Hide +11, Listen +4, Spot +8
Feats Great Fortitude, Multiattack.
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Central Eye Beam (Su) When an eye king ettercap’s central eye is open, it constantly produces a slow effect identical to the spell slow in a 100-foot cone whenever the eye is open. The save DC for the central eye beam’s effect is 15.
Eye Rays (Su) Each of an eye king’s eyestalks produces a spell effect (see below) that follows the rules for ray spells (see Aiming a Spell in the PHB). Each such ray has a range of 100 feet and, if appropriate, a save DC 15. An eye king may use each of its eye rays once per round as a free action. However, it can aim only one-third of its eyestalks in any one 90-degree arc (up, forward, backward, left, right, or down); the other eyestalks must aim in different directions. These effects have a caster level of 5 and the DC are Charisma-based.

• Grease - The target of this eyebeam is covered a layer of slippery grease. Any object wielded or employed by a creature receives a Reflex saving throw to avoid the effect. If the initial saving throw fails, the creature immediately drops the item. A saving throw must be made in each round that the creature attempts to pick up or use the greased item. A creature wearing greased armor or clothing gains a +10 circumstance bonus on Escape Artist checks and on grapple checks made to resist or escape a grapple or to escape a pin. This effect lasts for 5 rounds.
  
• Acid Arrow - This eyebeam deals 2d4 points of acid damage with no splash damage. The effect last for 2 rounds, dealing another 2d4 points of damage in the second round.
  
• Stinking Cloud - This eyebeam causes it target to emanate fog that are nauseating. Living creatures in the cloud become nauseated. This condition lasts 1d4+6 rounds. Any creature that succeeds on its save must continue to save each round (for 5 rounds) on the eye king ettercap's turn.
  
• Ghoul Touch - This eyebeam is imbuing you with negative energy, allowing the eye king ettercap to paralyze a single living humanoid for 1d6+2 rounds with a successful ranged touch attack. Additionally, the paralyzed subject exudes a carrion stench that causes all living creatures (except the eye king ettercap) in a 10-foot-radius spread to become sickened (Fortitude negates). A neutralize poison spell removes the effect from a sickened creature, and creatures immune to poison are unaffected by the stench.
  
• Touch of Idiocy - A successful ranged touch attack applies a 1d6 penalty to the target’s Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. This penalty can’t reduce any of these scores below 1. However, the effect may make it impossible for the target to cast some or all of its spells, if the requisite ability score drops below the minimum required to cast spells of that level. This penalty lasts for 50 minutes.
  

Please excuse the profusion of spoiler tags but I thought it would be safer just to be paranoid than spoil something for a player. So you players, you know who you are, just hurry along. Nothing to see here. Honest.

Well, I am running Fortress of the Stone Giants now and the PCs just got to the bottom level. They just had a running fight with the

And i just know they are going to want to rest now. But

I was thinking some hit and runs by

One quick thought i just had.... an ethereal filcher or a pack of ethereal marauders. That might be interesting. After all we are dealing with ECL 11-12 now.

Suggestions? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? :)

Now, this is a rumor and I am treating it as such. However, i can imagine that this may be true, so i am looking for confirmation....

The owner of a local gaming store insists that come January, 2009, the publishers of our hobby will have to make a choice. Either print 4e stuff or print 3.5 stuff. According to him, the OGL (or whatever the current acronym is) restricts the usage of 3.5 stuff when you are also doing 4e.

On one hand this sounds like a bunch of <ahem>. However, as much as I would like to just say that this isn't truth, there is a small niggling worm of doubt crawling here. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Bobby

Well, this thread will probably have spoilers in it, so you have been warned. :)

I am getting ready to run the attack on Sandpoint that happens at the start of Chapter 4, The Fortress of the Stone Giant. I want to add color and description but I also want to minimize the amount of distraction that a huge battle of this can cause.

The goal is to make the battle seem flowing, continuous, violent, and quick. But not to make it more difficult.

So I am trying to come up with one or two round vignettes that I can use to "grey box" the chaos of the attack and give the PCs something to do to hold their focus. Here is the list so far (and these are not worked out in any detail):

• An NPC gets in trouble when the building he is in is hit by a boulder and collapses. The PCs must rescue him or he will be trapped. (This one will not be used because it will de-focus the event of the attack.)
  
• A boulder comes bouncing down the street, causing destruction as it comes. (Color, nothing the PCs can do to stop it just see it coming and know that there is something out there throwing stones.)
  
• A band of “bad guys” encounters the PCs – looters, Sczarni, or just some toughs. The bad guys drop whatever they were doing and fee in different directions when confronted.
  
• A woman screams as her building is hit by a boulder, no damage is done to her. (This may defocus the attack as well.)
  
• A small group of horses/ponies/cattle come stampeding down the street. (An opportunity to use stampedes :) )
  
• A town guardsman is attempting to pull people from a burning building.
  
• Another guardsman is hiding from the chaos and destruction.
  
• A large boulder hits in the middle of the street 1d4 × 10 feet in front of the PCs
  
• A runaway horse pulling a cart comes barreling down the street, littering goods, boxes, and fruit as it goes.
  
• A townsman is attempting to organize a fire brigade to combat a building in flames.
  
• An itinerant “holy man” is preaching about doom and destruction as the town dissolves into chaos around him.
  
• A solo rogue attempts to steal something as the chaos rages.
  
• A youth and his girlfriend are fleeing from the girl’s brothers as the attack happens.
  
• A child is sitting in the middle of the street crying, wailing for his “mommy.”
  
• A group of goblins, trailing the giants, attempt to attack but fall victim to the chaos themselves (e.g. running from the stampede of horses, caught in a burning building, quarreling over who gets what when they find a body with some silver pieces).