Diego Rossi's page

Legendary Games' "Mythic Solutions" tackles a number of problematic rules in Mythic Adventures and does a LOT to tone down the PF1 Mythic landscape.

I highly recommend it.

It seems interesting. For people who don't want to open another account in another platform a link to the same product on Paizo's forum.

Dong that would normally fall under the rules on p. 296 of Bestiary 1: Adding Class Levels.
Those rules don't speak of archetypes as they didn't exist when Bestiary 1 was printed, but I see no reason why they couldn't be used.

Determining the effect on the dragon CR is tricky. It is even more difficult if he is meant to be a player companion or a PC.

Pathfinder doesn't have clear rules to add character levels to a creature with racial HD and get a player character (what the player has done, even if starting from a character race). The existing rules are for NPC, where what matters is the creature CR, not the level.

That notwithstanding, she is now an 11 HD dragon with what, 20 levels in character classes? That is a CL of 31.
To increase her level by one using the rules for Beyond 20th Level in the CRB she would need 2,150,400,000 xp. "Only" seven million CR 20 monsters.
Her class advancement should have stopped as soon as she had completed her trick, as no single world can feed her the xp she needs to advance.

Oh, I forgot she had added 25 HD too. That would make her a 56th-level character. 72 million of billion of XP to increase her level.

All that riding on a Polymorph spell that somehow has become permanent.

Guess what?
It is still a Polymorph spell and it can still be canceled with a Dispel Magic spell, without save or spell resistance.
Mage's Disjunction would remove the need for a caster level check against the level of the Polymorph.

You should remember that the PC will not get the dragon BAB, feats, and skills even if he has a legitimate way to become a dragon.

Polymorph is very different between Pathfinder and 3.5.

Then there is the problem of stacking Ioun stones. For almost all of them duplicates are the "same source", and so don't stack.

Stacking: Stacking refers to the act of adding together bonuses or penalties that apply to one particular check or statistic. Generally speaking, most bonuses of the same type do not stack. Instead, only the highest bonus applies. Most penalties do stack, meaning that their values are added together. Penalties and bonuses generally stack with one another, meaning that the penalties might negate or exceed part or all of the bonuses, and vice versa.

There are several spells where that line was omitted because of the "there is no need for it" reasoning and players have found a way to abuse it, so it is refreshing to see it even if there is no apparent reason for it.

About the voluntary failing the save, when an object is attended, you are making the save if the item is non-magical, and without a doubt, you can voluntarily fail it.

It depends on why he is denied his Dexterity Bonus to AC.

1) The opponent is Flat Footed (i.e. it was surprised and hasn't yet acted during the first full combat round).
- He doesn't regain his Dexterity Bonus until he acts.

2) The target isn't Flat Footed but you are attacking from stealth or you are using Invisibility.
- Both stop working as soon as you make your first attack. The target regains his Dexterity Bonus to AC after your first attack.

3) You are using Greater Invisibility. It persists even after you attack.
- The target doesn't recover his Dexterity Bonus.

4) Other abilities: you need to read the ability description.

I'm just trying to find out if I need to be jumping my NPC's AC in the middle of every single full attack, or if a Full Attack is a single cohesive action the same as a standard attack.

A full attack isn't "a single cohesive action". You can change targets with each attack in a full attack, take a 5' step, drop a weapon and draw a new one (assuming you have Fast Draw), or add any other kind of action that can be made as part of a full attack.

No, by that logic the Corset of Delicate Moves and Borrowed Time should not work either. The text you cite is just explaining that you have 1 swift action during your turn by default. Also, readied actions get to take place outside your turn.

Azothath, the rules are clear on this: readying is a standard action and only a standard action. At the moment it triggers, it provides the action you chose to ready. You do not spend an extra action if you decide to ready a move action or swift action.

Read the text of the item and of the spell:

Once per day as a move action, the wearer can take an additional swift action.

For the duration of this spell, you gain an extra swift action you can use only during your turn.

Both are specific exceptions, allowed by the specific rule of the item and of the spell. They don't change the general rule.

It is Istantaneous, so it works once and moves your spellbook to the Ethereal plane while giving you the ability to recall it.
After you recall it, the spell hasn't any further effect.

Useful for a backup spellbook, but less useful for the one you use regularly.

One more q: I don't need the mounted skrmisher feat in order to pounce, as long as I have the ability to pounce I can pounce mounted?

AFAIK, yes. If you and your mount charge, you can use pounce. You don't need Mounted skirmisher.

Can you make an example?

I don't get if you are speaking of some creature that has an SU constant Freedom of movement effect, a guy with a Ring of Freedom of movement, a guy with a permanent Freedom of movement spell, or a creature with a constant Freedom of movement spell.

As a general rule, the sadistic weapon will work if the creature is the target of an Abjuration spell or spell-like ability, and it is in effect when the one wielding the weapon attacks.

The problem, as usual for a lot of Knowledge checks, is what the player knows against what the character knows.

RAW, "A successful check allows you to remember a bit of useful information about that monster. For every 5 points by which your check result exceeds the DC, you recall another piece of useful information."

So, with a successful check, you should get something like: "It is a barghest, a creature from Hell." In reality even that gives several useful information, not only one. As a minimum, it translates to: "It is a LE outsider." and those are 3 useful pieces of information.
Knowing its plane of origin you know that it is an outsider with the Lawful and Evil subtypes, and that allows you to know 2 kinds of bane weapons that work against it and that Anarchic and Holy weapons do extra damage.

Knowing that with a basic check can be acceptable, but a lot of players will know way more, as they read the different bestiaries. They will recall what type of DR it has, probably have some idea of its spells and attack routine, and other special abilities (if any).

The best solution I have found so far is to give out information without giving the name of the creature.
"It is one of the canine creatures from Hell."
The players still know that it is a LE outsider, but are unsure if it is a Hell Hound, Barghest, or some other creature.

CRB page 180 wrote:

Speed

Your speed tells you how far you can move in a round and still do something, such as attack or cast a spell.

Humans have a movement speed of 30' per round but can move twice (for a total of 60'). So the spell's movement speed/rate isn't necessarily the limiting factor.

Humans have a basic speed of 30', and a Flaming sphere moves 30 feet per round.. They are two different statements.

If you use two move actions in a round (sometimes called a “double move” action), you can move up to double your speed.

The Flaming sphere doesn't have a speed at all. It has a distance it can move in a round.

Check the rest of that line too:

As part of this movement, it can ascend or jump up to 30 feet to strike a target.(1) If it enters a space with a creature, it stops moving for the round(2) and deals 3d6 points of fire damage to that creature, though a successful Reflex save negates that damage. A flaming sphere rolls over barriers less than 4 feet tall.

(1) The sphere moves 30' even if it is vertical movement. Normally going up reduces your movement.

Confusion is a big problem, I think. You are constantly attacked, so you have to attack back, you never get to choose your action. As I see it, you should attack the creature (so it's total hp), and you will not be trying to cut a way to escape, so you would not be opening a way to escape.
After the creature dies it can change, as you will be damaged only if there is an acid effect or other environmental effect, not by muscular action.

Also, the party should have been able to notice the fact that it was healing. It’s wounds closing up should have been a clue that it was not dead.

Not all healing is automatically recognizable, especially in a creature so different from a human as an ooze.

The typical adventurer solution is to apply unnecessary roughness to the enemy's body after he fell.

Just for a laugh about the in-game and out of game definition of what is a Falchion:

A falchion (/ˈfɔːltʃən/; Old French: fauchon; Latin: falx, "sickle") is a one-handed, single-edged sword of European origin. Falchions are found in different forms from around the 13th century up to and including the 16th century. In some versions, the falchion looks rather like the seax and later the sabre, and in other versions more like a machete with a crossguard.

Category Two-Handed; Proficiency Martial

Weapon Groups Blades, Heavy
Description
This sword has one curved, sharp edge like a scimitar, with the back edge unsharpened and either flat or slightly curved. Its weight is greater toward the end, making it better for chopping rather than stabbing.

The only movement you can take during a full-round action is a 5-foot step before, during, or after the action.

The only movement you can take during a full attack is a 5-foot step. You may take the step before, after, or between your attacks.

If you have an older edition of the CRB maybe it is not there. I think it was errated after a FAQ.

Greylurker wrote:

You only need a free hand if the spell has Somatic components right?

So any spell without an S component works
anything with Still Spell works, If you have a Cleric with Blessing of Fervour you could even get the Still on low level spells without the feat.

Unfortunately very few inquisitor spells lack an (S) component. And since the inquisitor (and zealot) are spontaneous casters, Still Spell would bump a standard action cast up to a full-round, in addition to taking a higher level spell slot. At that point Quick Draw is a better feat choice than Still Spell.

A lot of divine spells have a Divine Focus (DF) component and there are several ways to make your weapon or shield a DF. The hand with the DF can fulfill the Somatic (S) components of a spell, so it is possible to resolve the problem of S components that way.

If we apply the technical aspects, I would make a permanent Mage's Magnificent Mansion. It comes with its servants, food production, and climate control.
The different versions of Create Demiplane would require a lot of castings of it and of Permanence to get something with a decent size without half of the features.
The only advantage of Create Demiplane is that the Greater version allows you to add planar traits.

Managing people requires work. If I were to create my own demiplane as a leisure place, having to manage people wouldn't be one of my goals.

A work demiplane would be another matter.

My idea of a private demiplane is of a place to rest, study, and think.

Thanks, it is not the one I was searching for, but it was a huge help, as it pointed out at what I was missing. I was searching my digital books, but almost certainly she is one of the few I have only in paper format.

In my group, while adventuring people use what is available, caring only about utility.

When is time to sell the loot, we make a spreadsheet with the items sell value and how much money each character will get from the sales. Then people "buy" whatever interests them as a selling price.
If multiple people want an item, there is a friendly discussion about utility or why the characters want an item, usually, we can reach an agreement. If not, we roll a die.

If something cost too much the character can be into a negative balance that will be covered by future loot.

Ring of Resistance

No idea why it costs 50% more (not an appropriate location, maybe?).

Or the PC can add the powers of a Cloak of Resistance to the Cloak of Displacement:

Adding New Abilities

Sometimes, lack of funds or time make it impossible for a magic item crafter to create the desired item from scratch. Fortunately, it is possible to enhance or build upon an existing magic item. Only time, gold, and the various prerequisites required of the new ability to be added to the magic item restrict the type of additional powers one can place. The cost to add additional abilities to an item is the same as if the item was not magical, less the value of the original item. Thus, a +1 longsword can be made into a +2 vorpal longsword, with the cost to create it being equal to that of a +2 vorpal sword minus the cost of a +1 longsword.
If the item is one that occupies a specific place on a character’s body, the cost of adding any additional ability to that item increases by 50%. For example, if a character adds the power to confer invisibility to her ring of protection +2, the cost of adding this ability is the same as for creating a ring of invisibility multiplied by 1.5.

Then there is the Unchained book and the Automatic Bonus Progression.

What I dislike the most is almost all of the specific bonuses you mention and almost all of the spell effects give Resistance bonuses, so they can't stack.

Holy Aura (and the similar spells for the other alignments) is an 8th-level spell. It gives a +4 deflection bonus and a +4 resistance bonus (plus SR and a special effect). At level 15+ the PCs and most NPCs will already have items that give a +4 resistance and +4 deflection bonuses. If they have low wealth they will have +3 items.
Unless you have a veritable horde of NPCs with lover levels and less equipment it is a waste of a high-level spell slot.

To point it out, in RL Earth we have people who have survived falls from extreme heights:
No Parachute The Highest Falls Pople survived[/url]

Nicholas Alkemade suffered a sprained leg from a fall of 18,000 ft. Seems a high-level character taking 20d6 of damage, né?

And people who survived lots of wounds:

Roy Benavidez received 37 different bullet, bayonet, and shrapnel wounds and survived.
Even assuming an average of 1d4 of damage for each wound, it is more than 90 points of damage, like a 10th level fighter with a constitution of 16+.

It can be:
There is magic on Earth, but the different governments and powerful people monopolized it. Most successful politicians are spellcasters, men of faith have divine powers, star athletes have body-enhancing classes, great artists are bards or something similar, and so on.

So, to sum it up: a Schroedingen wizard who knows every spell, has always the right spells available, and can spend them freely while still having the needed combat spells available, will always win.

I suppose you are part of the group that says that "using magic is evident" is wrong, and that magic use is easy to hide.

Considering the number of people that Trump can influence at the same time, yes, he is high level.

"Outside of Ukraine earth has not seen a conflict in a large enough scale to create many such characters." Afghanistan? Israel and the Near East, with a low-level war going on for 70 years? Mass genocide in Africa? Spy games that extend to all the world?

Most NPC in Golarion are and haven't been in big or little wars, nor hunt monsters, but they still have levels, sometimes even high levels.
Working your job for forty generates experience.

Legal enforcement and crime will be some of the fast tracks, but well-drilled armies, air forces, and navy will train people to higher levels.

Same thing for universities and specialist schools.

Stuff that can generate high-level NPCs:
- scientific research;
- worldwide trading;
- big engineering projects;
- organized armies and firms with hundreds of thousands of people
- athletic world competitions;
- regular state and nation wide competition to get government positions.

All that stuff will generate goal completion xp.

The wizard is not going to be the “weirdly dressed man with the foreign accent”. A 12th level wizard will be a genius because they need to be in order to cast their higher-level spells. They will also be investing in magic items to boost their INT. Assume a NPC stat array, so the wizard starts with a 15 INT and bumps that to 17 with racial adjustment. 12th level gives him 3 bonuses to boost that to 20, and a headband of +2 puts that to 22. Divination spells are going to mean the wizard is not going into the situation blind.

You seem to be a genius means that someone has common sense, knows how to meld into a crowd, knows how to interact with people, and is wise. Can you give us some examples of that?

"Ears of the city": your wizard speaks English, Russian, Hindi, or whatever is the local language? You need to be able to communicate to use diplomacy.

You continue to say that Earth people will saves will be low, but not why you think so. Are you aware that Wisdom increases with age? The "average" leader will be in his forties or behind.

From what I see, Earth people don't seems low leveled.

Considering Golarion-universe version of Earth:

I would say that, at least in the Western Hemisphere, witch hunts and the Inquisition would have eliminated most sorcerer bloodlines. The Eastern Hemisphere probably would have more of them. The few that remain in the Western Hemisphere will generally hide their power (but in the XIX and XX centuries there have been groups interested in magic).

Saints and other religious figures will be divine spellcasters, but most clergy have focused on the mundane side of work, so they are experts.

Note that Rasputin is an Oracle (from what I gathered playing Rasputin must die), so he wasn't "taught" his magic.

- * -

Regarding the original question, I would say that is not something that will be known "casually". To know about Earth you have to have researched information about a related topic, like "From where Baba Yaga and her daughter originally come?"
Finding the answers to that question by researching the topic in libraries or with spellcasting will be very hard, in the DC 50 range.

Access to more direct methods, like analyzing an item coming from Earth or searching for information on one will be slightly easier, but still in the 40-45 DC difficulty.

Essentially the question wouldn't be "How hard is it to know about Earth?" as it is equivalent to asking "How hard is it to know about Pandora (the Avatar film planet)?" before the film was made. You have to "ask" a question that would lead to getting the reply "Earth".

I think one thing that needs to be taken into account when assessing a conflict between Earth and Golarion is means of access. I'm assuming you have a portal that is linking the two worlds. Something for maybe a dozen people at a time to go through at most. Something that most military vehicles wouldn't fit through. No ships. No airplanes.

To me the battle is Earth starts invading Golarion (for completely unknowable reasons) and a high level adventuring team shows up and figures out how to get rid of the portal.

Winning isn't always about completely eliminating your enemy's supply of soldiers.

Edit: Well, it is but that doesn't mean killing them. Sometimes it means closing the magic portal allowing passage between your two worlds.

That is what adventurers do and what Golaronians will be the best at doing.

Why Earth will invade? Besides the usual stupid imperialistic reasons (Why Italy invaded Somalia? It was a big expense with very little return.), Golarion seems to have a lot of gold when compared to Earth, plenty of unknown metals, spices, animals, and other resources (magic included). All "good" reasons to want to get a piece of it, and in 1920 colonialism was in its declining phase, but there was still a strong push to expand into new territories and exploit them.

Give 1920 Italy or Japan a way to reach Golarion and they will try to see pieces of it to be "on par" with other colonialist nations. Other nations probably will try a more commercial approach to acquire pieces of Golarion.

I've always personally considered the published numbers of people in cities to be too low.

I agree (but those numbers don't include plenty of intelligent species).

My calculations, considering that during the Middle Ages, the rapport between the urban population and the rural areas was 1:9, say that the Inner Sea region has 1/2 the population of Europe after the Black Death in an area that is 2x that of Europe.

Considering that Golarion culture and technology seem to be that of the late Renaissance, those are very low numbers.

I usually multiply the population of large settlements x5, the available cash by the same margin, but keep the "magic market" at the base value.

In the current campaign, I am adding "everyday" magic and magic items. That too would increase the population.

An interesting concept introduced by Gary Gigax in a different setting is that the use of magic reduces fertility, so barbarian tribes that use few or no spells or magic items reproduce faster, while civilized people that use a lot of magic reproduce at a slower rate.

To be clear, Earth is on the same plane as Golarion. Not another one. Just separated by the vastness of space. Reign of Winter sets the Golarion calendar date to the Earth calendar, but I don't know the exact numbers off the top of my head.

From what I gathered playing it, Reign of Winter is at the end or just after the end of WWI, 1918 or 1919. It is after the killing of Nicholas II, so not earlier than 1918.

There is an interesting post here: Golarion Timeline into Perspective via Earth.

I agree with Mysterious Stranger. A person can register as both alignments when the Detection X spells are used.
Note that it requires a true intention to do Evil or Good, not simply bad or nice thoughts.

Note that the ruthless merchant that routinely squeezes every penny from his clients, never does a good act, pays his workers as little as possible, and beats people mercilessly for misbehaving or errors, probably will ping evil if he is above 5th level, but, probably, everything he does is (barely) within the limits of the law.

Probably the sadist surgeon that loves the pain he inflicts while doing surgeries will ping evil, even if he actually helps people.

...However, the quicksilver becomes unstable once the stone is opened and loses its potency within 24 hours, so all transmutations must take place within that period.

The quicksilver found in the center of the stone may also be put to another use. If mixed with any cure potion while the substance is still potent, it creates a special oil of life that acts as a true resurrection spell for any dead body it is sprinkled upon.
"while the substance is still potent"... sure sounds like a time limit...
oil of life (the phrase is not italicized, whereas philosopher's stone and true resurrection is) shows it is really just descriptive to give the thing a name.

You need to mix it while the quicksilver is "still potent", but that doesn't automatically mean that the oil of life has the same duration as the quicksilver. In RL several chemical products are unstable until they are combined with other products, but the final product is stable.

The "oil of life" has a limit that True Resurrection hasn't: you need a body, or, as a minimum some piece of the creature, while True Resurrection can resurrect someone even without his body, as long as you can "unambiguously identify the deceased". The oil needs to be sprinkled on the dead body.

@Senko: It is a McGuffny, but if needed I would price the oil a bit above a scroll of True Resurrection. It is a bit more limited but easier to use, so 30,000 gp seems about right.

Relatively cheap, low-quality paper was available even in the Renaissance. Some of Galileo's notes about the expenses of his tenants were written on brown paper used by his butcher. Paper used to write important stuff instead was expensive and durable. The paper for a notebook almost certainly is of the latter type, made to last for centuries.

@ Mysterious Stranger: I have read books and letters from XIII century onward for work. Some are as you describe them, especially if they are personal notes, others are well readable. A lot of people read and wrote by candlelight. With that kind of illumination, you can't write that small.

@ Warped Savant: The cost of living is tiered and not well connected with the pay for laborers, and especially the cost of hiring labor.

The average lifestyle in the rules is that of people living a good life, it says:

The PC lives in his own apartment, small house, or similar location — this is the lifestyle of most trained or skilled experts or warriors. He can secure any nonmagical item worth 1 gp or less from his home in 1d10 minutes, and need not track purchases of common meals or taxes that cost 1 gp or less.

The cost of living is very different today, we take for granted stuff that, in the past, wasn't available unless you were extremely wealthy, but I would equate that style of living to the top "blue collar" and mid to high tier "white collars" of today (well, a really top tier welder can go around in a Maserati and do the hours he wants, so probably they fall in the wealthy bracket).

Note that it says:

Hireling, Trained: The amount given is the typical daily wage for mercenary warriors, masons, craftsmen, cooks, scribes, teamsters, and other trained hirelings.

This value represents a minimum wage; many such hirelings require significantly higher pay.

[PFS Legal] Cackle (Su) (Advanced Player's Guide pg. 66): A witch can cackle madly as a move action. Any creature that is within 30 feet that is under the effects of an agony hex, charm hex, evil eye hex, fortune hex, or misfortune hex caused by the witch has the duration of that hex extended by 1 round.

As I read it, all valid hexes are extended.

Flight and Magical Flight: Can a paralyzed or stunned creature keep flying with magical flight? Does a creature with magical flight not apply bonuses or penalties to Fly checks because it doesn’t have a “natural” fly speed? Does flying make a creature immune to being flat-footed?

No, any creature that loses all actions can’t take an action to attempt a Fly check to hover in place and thus automatically falls. That includes a paralyzed, stunned, or dazed creature. Magical flight doesn’t act any differently, even for paralysis, as it isn’t a purely mental action. A creature with 0 Dexterity can’t fly, and paralysis sets a creature’s Dexterity to 0. Despite the fact that the Fly skill mentions that bonuses and penalties from maneuverability apply to creatures with natural fly speeds, they apply for any fly speed. If they didn’t apply to creatures that gained flight artificially or through magic, then those maneuverabilities (like the listed good maneuverability for the fly spell) would have no game effect. Finally, the statement “You are not considered flat-footed while flying” means that flying (unlike balancing using Acrobatics or climbing) doesn’t automatically make you flat-footed or force you to lose your Dexterity bonus to AC; it doesn’t mean that flying makes you immune to being caught flat-footed.
posted December 2015

A thread whose last post was made in 2013 isn't very useful when the 2015 FAQ gives the official reply.

If you look at AD&D 1st and 2nd editions, a lot of the non-combat items were published on Dragon. The same thing for a large percentage of the more colorful or lore-based combat items.

It was the advantage of having a monthly magazine that featured plenty of articles. You did get articles about monsters speaking of their way of living and with plenty of potential hooks for your adventures, magic items with a lot of lore linking them to the main game worlds (Greyhawk or Forgotten REalms), new gods descriptions, and a lot of other interesting stuff (included the April fools numbers, Pupazzilla, the toy bear that becomes a gigantic golem bear to defend the children that own it was an instant hit).

Sure, there were plenty of uninspired articles too, but I never regretted having a subscription to it. Pathfinder Player Companion and Campaign Setting lines of products did some of that, but they were less varied.

Most of the colorful items you want aren't what will sell a hardbound or softbound book, so they are only a section of other products. Today no one will write an article describing a dozen different magic spellbooks.

Tears to Wine is one of those spells with a questionable description, and that makes replying to your question more complicated.

First: it is possible to make a potion/oil of Tears to Wine?

A potion is a magic liquid that produces its effect when imbibed. Potions vary incredibly in appearance. Magic oils are similar to potions, except that oils are applied externally rather than imbibed.

Oil of Tears to Wine doesn't respect those two limits. It is not imbibed, nor is it applied externally. To work it has to be mixed with a liquid.

As I see it, you can make a single-use wondrous item in liquid form that has the same effect but it isn't a potion/oil.

Second: what does Tears to Wine?
Based on how I read its description, it turns a liquid into wine as an instantaneous effect, then the wine, when imbibed, gives "a +2 enhancement bonus on all Intelligence- and Wisdom-based skill checks. This increases to a +5 bonus at caster level 9th, and to +10 (the maximum) at caster level 15th." This effect lasts 10 minutes/level.

Third: wine created by Tears to Wine maintains the enhancement effect forever until imbibed or only for 10 minutes/level?
That isn't answered in a clear way by the spell description, but, as the duration of the effect is in the initial description of the spell, I would rule that the wine enhancement effect lasts only for 10 minutes/level from the time when the spell was cast (or from the time when the "oil" was mixed to a liquid).

Fourth; how much Wine do you need to drink to benefit from the effect?
No idea, but I would think something like a small beer bottle (33 cl.).
1/2 cubic foot is a bit more than 13 liters, so enough stuff for 40 persons at CL 1.

As a friend said, "I can easily make a witch capable to destroy a village even at low levels, one that works well as a member of a party is another matter."

What class? You are against taking a cleric level?

The first level of the Travel domain gives great powers:

Granted Powers: You are an explorer and find enlightenment in the simple joy of travel, be it by foot or conveyance or magic. Increase your base speed by 10 feet.

Agile Feet (Su): As a free action, you can gain increased mobility for 1 round. For the next round, you ignore all difficult terrain and do not take any penalties for moving through it. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.

As it is a granted power and it isn't an enhancement effect you can fully benefit from haste and other powers that enhance speed.

"Advantage"?

At 10th level, the pact wizard can invoke his patron’s power to roll twice and take the better result when attempting any caster level check, concentration check, initiative check, or saving throw. He can activate this ability as a free action before attempting the check, even if it isn’t his turn. He can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + 1/2 his Intelligence modifier.

Your citation is a bit off.

Regardless, an automatic success does something only if a die roll could fail on a natural 20, like skills. In initiative, an automatic success does nothing, because initiative hasn't a success/failure result.

how many Huge sized BASTARD SWORDs,can i get at lvl 8 ?

If it works as the Telekinesis spell, 8.

Since the feat does not require you make an AoO it should not matter if you can make one.

As the FAQ specifies , you use one of your attacks of opportunity for the round. Not a potential AoO, but one of those that you can make that round. If you can't make any because you are using total defense, you have no AoO to use.

When you don't have a resource you can't use the resource.

LunarVale wrote:

1st: Teleport

Yet strangely, in first place is a spell I rarely see banned. I don't ban it. Yet people are certainly aware of its power to disrupt campaigns. Launch a surprise attack on the enemy leader.

Ah yes, the potential of the "Scry n' Fry" tactic. See, at my table, this does not get abused. But that's because my players know the moment they start doing that to their enemies, their enemies start doing it to them, and there will be no mercy. That is what prevents them from using it. LOL

I like your list.

I am very strict with the "You must have some clear idea of the location and layout of the destination." You can Scry the enemy in a room somewhere, but that doesn't allow Teleportation, as you don't know where is "somewhere".

It is one of the reasons why kings, in my world, have several mansions, and all the bedrooms have the same layout. "I scry the king in his bedroom." "It is the one at Windsor, St. James's Palace, Buckingham Palace, or Clarence House" "Our spies say he is in London." "So, not at Windsor, but we can't risk getting the wrong room. We need more information."

Then there is "Areas of strong physical or magical energy may make teleportation more hazardous or even impossible." The target is in a subterranean dungeon? Probably teleporting in isn't that easy.

Enough magical defenses will greatly reduce the chance of successfully teleporting to the target location. Some of that stuff is in Complete Intrigue.

Lanter archons are fairly good.
You can summon one of them with a 3rd level spell, but using a 5th level spell and Superior summoning you can get 1d4+2 of them.
I have seen them force a standard lich to flee. 6-12 ranged touch attacks that don't care about DR are painful if you haven't a high touch armor class.

Color spray is better than Sleep for several reasons.

The first is because of its casting time. Sleep has a 1 round casting time, so it is a good spell only if you can start to cast it when the opponent is outside its charge range (several animals can charge for 100' in the right circumstances).

Sleep is a non-targeted AoE spell, so casting it against nearby enemies can generate problems. Color Spray is a cone, so it is easier to control it.

Color spray still has a chance to do something if the opponent has 5+ HD.

At the first level, you can have only 2 prepared 1st level spells, so you need those with maximum flexibility or utility.

Not an expert on the Arcanist, but checking the exploits, Armored Mask gives you the benefit of Mage Armor, +Shield of Faith if you spend a second point.
Better than the spell.

For some reason, this topic always comes up in regards to polymorph spells. By all logic, guano should be costly in areas where no bats live, and yet, I've never seen someone mentioning making Fireball's material component costly. Hipocrisy at it's best.

The spell requires bat guano, so seabirds guano isn't a valid substitute, but finding a place without bats is really hard.

Bats are present throughout the world, with the exception of extremely cold regions.

Bat guano would be hard to get in the extreme northern and southern areas of a world and very tall mountain ranges. In those regions, it will not be a non-expensive item.

So, your argument is a simple attempt at deflection.

Let's use the whole citation about material components:

Material (M): A material component consists of one or more physical substances or objects that are annihilated by the spell energies in the casting process. Unless a cost is given for a material component, the cost is negligible. Don’t bother to keep track of material components with negligible cost. Assume you have all you need as long as you have your spell component pouch.

As already said plenty of times, if we take that assume as you absolutely have a spellcaster with a component pouch, and the right spells will never fear to die of hunger or thirst.

And to cite what you have said today in another thread:

Oh, and one more thing, just in case: Pathfinder rules are written by people for people, not by lawyers for lawyers. They aren't written like legal documents that have to be 100% loophole proof because otherwise the company can get sued for billions or a murderer gets free or something like that. They're written with the assumption that a human being interprets them using common sense.

So, how does it work? It is not legalese only when it is convenient?

Relevant citations:

To use a magic item, it must be activated, although sometimes activation simply means putting a ring on your finger.

...
Command Word: ... A command word can be a real word, but when this is the case, the holder of the item runs the risk of activating the item accidentally by speaking the word in normal conversation.
...
Use Activated: This type of item simply has to be used in order to activate it. A character has to drink a potion, swing a sword, interpose a shield to def lect a blow in combat, look through a lens, sprinkle dust, wear a ring, or don a hat.

Slot: Most magic items can only be utilized if worn or wielded in their proper slots. If the item is stowed or placed elsewhere, it does not function. If the slot lists “none,” the item must be held or otherwise carried to function.

Activation: To activate a scroll, a spellcaster must read the spell written on it.

To activate a staff, a character must hold it forth in at least one hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for nonhumanoid creatures).

To activate a wand, a character must hold it in hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for nonhumanoid creatures) and point it in the general direction of the target or area.

The form chosen must be that of an animal with which the druid

is familiar.

I was wrong.

Wild Shape works like Beast Shape and allows you to transform into a normal version of an animal, not one with a template.

Polymorph spells cannot be used to assume the form of a creature with a template or an advanced version of a creature.

The Planar Wild shape allows you to add a template to that.

The feat allows you to bypass a limitation of the spell and requires 5 ranks in Knowledge (planes). As I see it, the two things are linked. With 5 ranks of Knowledge (planes) you know what are the effects of adding the celestial template or fiendish template to your animal form, so you are familiar with the templated forms of the animals.

"Familiar" isn't a defined term, so I think that the feat requirement should be taken as the requirement to extend your knowledge and familiarity to the template forms of the animals.

An alternative is to require the character to have enough skills in Knowledge (Nature) and Knowledge (Planes) to identify the templated animal while taking 10, but that, in a game where skill points are limited is a tough requirement.

The feat adds a template to the animal, and the template is linked to the druid alignment, I see no reason to require the player to be familiar with the templated form of the animal.

RAW, there is no rule requirement to be familiar with the animal in which you are wild shaping. Some GMs require you to know about the animal but it is not a RAW requirement, only something that is reasonably logic.

I can see why a GM could say that a druid living in a desert can't turn into a plesiosaur unless he has some way to know what is a plesiosaur, but the rulebooks don't limit the forms you can take.

It is the famous "furniture" skill, an advanced skill that allows NPCs only to resemble furniture (or a normal rock, or a plant, depending on the location) and disappear in the background.