Expletive's page

So I was thinking 'What's the smartest animal companion you can have, without awakening them?' After a bit of thought, this is what I came up with. As for skills, I was wondering "What's something highly improbable?" and decided on Profession(Barrister)

D. Ratt has a base intelligence of 2, gains +2 from having 8 HD, another +2 from the Precocious Companion Archetype, and another +2 from Rojan's Eye for Talent racial traits. This puts him at 8 INT, a point higher than Rojan's. His intelligence is greater than 2 from the outset, so all 8 of his skill ranks are placed into Profession(Barrister). At third HD, he takes Skill Focus for it, and at Rojan's 9th level, he takes Evolved companion, for the Skilled Evolution. This provides a +8 racial bonus to Profession(Barrister) and giving him a total of +22(8 ranks, 3 WIS, 8 Racial, 3 Skill Focus)

@Ten'shun

That's fine. You can do whatever you'd like with her. The statblock was mostly a thing I made because I felt like it and I like making characters. It's not like I'm playing in your game anyway, so it's no skin off my back.

I decided to make a character who could fill any category. I present to you, Hilda, and Her Humerus Hoard of Hydras. Following calculations for CR on the wiki, Hilda is CR6, her four lesser hydras are CR2 each, and the big one is CR 7. Adding them together, they come to around CR9&1/2 and defeating all of them would gain your party 7600 XP. ( These calculations may in fact be ludicrously off base, I don't know, I'm not a GM.)

And as for her horde, I've included construction instructions for creating them. I might edit in a statblock when I wake up tomorrow.

Can a Wizard with the arcane bond feature begin play with a masterwork firearm as their bonded weapon?

Certain Prestige classes have prerequisites that require the ability to cast a specific spell. For example, Animate Dead for Agent of the Grave, Command Undead for Soul Warden. Does choosing a class for mnemonic esoterica which has such a spell on it's list satisfy these requirements?

There's the rebirth discipline for psychics that give you a floating spell known per day from any list. But you're probably using the cognatogen discipline already.

My GM will be running a new campaign soon, and I'm working on a character for it. I have the character sheet mostly done, but I'm wondering how I could build them in the future. We're starting at 3rd level. Here's what I have:

I wanted to focus on Illusion and Necromancy.

Some ideas I had were to go into Veiled Illusionist at 6th level, because gaining extra illusion spells known would be really nice. I'd need spell focus (Illusion) at 5th level though. I'd also like to get Scribe Scroll at some point, probably 7th. From there, I'm not really sure where I'd go. And I'm not entirely set on the mystic past life spells. Probably Shadow transmutation can be traded out for something, but shadow conjuration/evocation and animate dead are definitely keepers.

Didnt mean to start up a sub-thread, but can you explain the source? We couldnt find it so it was effectively hearsay.

I think the way the player used the Skirmisher tricks was like the Primalist Bloodrager, as is no tradeoffs. I dont remember him using any spells(it was level 1ish) so I dont know if he traded off all his spellcasting like the actual Skirmisher Archetype is supposed to do. It just came across as pets better than everyone else's .

The PRD says the following:

A hunter may teach her companion hunter's tricks from the skirmisher ranger archetype instead of standard tricks. The animal companion can use skirmisher tricks when commanded, a number of times per day equal to 1/2 its hit dice + its Wisdom modifier.

And as far as "pets better than everyone else's": Yeah, that's kind of the whole point of the class. Almost all of the class's features are pointed towards making their animal companion better than a Druid's or Ranger's. Whether it's the SEVEN free teamwork feats both the hunter and the animal get or the animal focus that gives both of them free stats, the companion being better is the whole idea.

Okay, so here's my plan to ambush these griffons causing trouble. First we'll hire a couple of mercenaries to help us out, and then we hike out to a general area where these griffons have been spotted, we put up a scarecrow splashed with wild animal musk as a lure, we put four bear traps on the ground around the scarecrow.

The party will hide within attack distance using camouflage netting to conceal their position and scent cloak to hide their scent. An ideal situation would be one griffon getting caught in a bear trap and then the other griffon getting caught in one if it lands to help the first griffon. In the worst case scenario, neither of them step in a bear trap and we have to use our Nets and Tanglefoot bags to keep them on the ground, and from there we can proceed with combat, probably starting with whichever griffon isn't in a bear trap.

Are there any glaring holes in this plan that anyone sees?

So our two person party, a level 4 Alchemist(Beastmorph Vivisectionist) and a Level 4 Druid, are tempted to take on a pair of griffins that have been terrorizing the local area, the idea being that two of them means there's probably a nest full of either eggs or live young who could then be potentially sold for quite the tidy sum in addition to the reward for getting rid of the Griffins themselves.

The issue we're facing though is that griffins can be really damn dangerous with Pounce, rake, and an 80ft fly speed. Some ideas I've had were to be using Tanglefoot bags, Nets, or even just sneaking around to find their nest and ambush them there.

Also there's the option of hiring other mercenaries to help slay the beasts, but there's still the potential of this situation to go belly up with just a few bad rolls. Do you guys have any other suggestions? Maybe more reliable strategies too.

Well, the Necronomicon itself isn't inherently magical. The reason it's typically shown as sanity destroying in Lovecraft and other's work is because the knowledge contained within is so contrary to the learned man's understanding of the world. This is one of the reasons Lovecraft's protagonists are typically scholars, or artists or others of higher education. If you put a lovecraftian horror in front of a scientist, it should repulse them, because it's something that, from their limited perspective, can not exist. It would bring about a revelation that everything they know about the world is fundamentally wrong, that things are not as they seem, and a realization that the only thing protecting the poor insects populating the world is their ignorance of the universe's true nature. So I think it would be a challenge to properly translate it into a pathfinder RPG's narrative, as the typical adventurer can be quite insulated from horror by their own ignorance. It's part of their daily routine. They could look at this odd book, and declare it the work of some mad simpleton, or overlook it entirely, precisely for the same reasons that it might drive another man insane. Because when someone looks at a piece that doesn't fit, they can discard it, or they can make it fit, thus shattering their previous view.

So in the first session of a new campaign I've recently joined, the party started out by signing a mortgage in order to buy a ship and equipment for underwater ruin exploration. The terms for that were 19,000gp in capital at 50% interest compounded every two months.

Now, we've accepted our first job as ship owners, which is basically to deliver this scholar from Town A to Dungeon B. The issue is that between the two is a two-week sea voyage, so a four week round trip. That's a lot of sailing, boats aren't usually know for their plumbing.

Anyway, the topic of discussion is what are some good ways to pass the time and make long sea voyages less like being alone in the middle of an ocean? I've done a bit of thinking on this, and here are some of my ideas, though most of them involve making the cleric/wizard do the work:

Bathing: A Collapsible bathtub is 15gp, soap 1cp for a block that lasts 50 uses. Sea Water probably isn't what you want to bathe in, though, so this is likely a job for a Cleric and Create Water.

Laundry: Either you can wash them with soap and created water, or have the wizard use Prestidigitation.

Food: This is kind of a sticking point. I suppose trail rations are alright, though the cleric can't cast Create Food and Water yet.

Entertainment: Well, a deck of cards can be had for as low as 1sp, as can a board game. Games like Tennis, Croquet, and Polo are likely out, though the motion of the boat on the water could make a 5sp bowling set quite interesting. There's also the Dartboard set, which is a pretty replayable source of entertainment.

So how would your characters manage on a longer sea voyage? Would they manage or would they go crazy and jump into the sea chasing mermaids? And did our party get ripped off on that mortgage deal?

Why does it take an elf over 100 years to reach 'Adulthood'? For that matter, why does it take a tiefling 60 years? If they're mostly human, wouldn't that be incredibly awkward watching all the humans grow faster than you? Isn't it kind of unfair for the parents/orphanage/etc who have to feed them?

Can they? Is it a rare vestigial ability like it is in humans? If it isn't possible through conscious effort, what about reflexive? If you were to jump out and shout 'Boo' at an elf would their ears move in surprise? If it is possible with conscious effort, could an Elven bard use Perform (Percussion) with chimes/bells/etc. attached to their ears?

First of all, Marionette Possession says it's components are: "Components V, S, F (a piece of paper with the target's name)" and also that it's on Alchemist Formulae List.

But the alchemist's Alchemy description says "Extracts cannot be made from spells that have focus requirements (alchemist extracts that duplicate divine spells never have a divine focus requirement)."

Does this mean that the Alchemist could learn the formulae, but it would be impossible to prepare, and so only serves to facilitate wand use? If a wand of Marionette Possession is crafted, would it be restricted to only being able to target the creature whose name was written on the focus for the Wand's creation? If not, then does the focus have to apply to one individual, or if you write down a common racial name (e.g. 'Axebeard Beardaxe' for dwarves) could it apply to any individual with that name?

How would a spell that is limited by an object's weight function in an area with no gravity (And thus, no weight)? Would shatter be able to sunder any object? Would mending be able to restore 1d4 HP to any object? Could a space ranger cast allfood on a 'planet-killer' sized asteroid, and then use a Ring of Telekinesis to move it to a starving world?

You could get an Otherworldly Kimono. It gives a +4-6 bonus on all caster level checks. It's pretty expensive at 67k, but it also gives you a +4-6 resistance bonus on saves, and 1/day Maze, which is nice and slot-efficient.

A summoner whose Eidolon specializes in Profession (Maid)

How weird is weird?

Use your own subjective definition of weird. That way, when people disagree with you, you get to have a 500 page argument about it.

So, just think of some of the strangest character concepts you can. It can be based on fluff, or unusual combinations of feats. It can be optimized, or terrible, serious or funny, as long as it's weird.

I'll start with something simple. A Human Barbarian with Racial Heritage (Troll) and Gift of Sight

I actually think I can simplify these arguments further.

The alchemist gains a new arm (left or right) on his torso. The arm is fully under his control and cannot be concealed except with magic or bulky clothing. The arm does not give the alchemist any extra attacks or actions per round, though the arm can wield a weapon and make attacks as part of the alchemist’s attack routine (using two-weapon fighting). The arm can manipulate or hold items as well as the alchemist’s original arms (for example, allowing the alchemist to use one hand to wield a weapon, another hand to hold a potion, and the third hand to throw a bomb). The arm has its own “hand” and “ring” magic item slots (though the alchemist can still only wear two rings and two hand magic items at a time).

The bolded text, the source of thousands of posts of arguments, is only an exception to the general rule that if a creature has multiple arms, it can make multiple manufactured weapon attacks.

For example, let's look at the High Girallon

One of it's full attack routine is:
Melee mwk throwing axe +16/+11/+6 (1d8+5), 3 mwk throwing axes +16 (1d8+2), bite +11 (1d8+2)

Breaking it's attack bonuses down, we see it has +16 (+12 base +5 STR +1 weapon focus -2 for multiweapon fighting with light weapons.) In bold, it has the standard iteratives any creature using a manufactured weapon can get. In italics, however, we see that the Girallon gets Three offhand attacks at it's highest attack bonus. This is because it has four arms. It follows the general rule that having extra arms lets you take extra attacks with manufactured weapons. This is the only difference between a Vestigial Arm and a 'Real' arm. Therefore, these arms can wield weapons, hold objects, etc. just as well as any other arm could, and if you can give the Vestigial Arms claws, you can even use them to make natural attacks. It is NOT the Vestigial Arms giving you these natural attacks, it is whatever you have used to put claws on them.

I've done a lot of reading on the Paizo boards as of late, and this seems to have always been something of a hot-button issue. So let's consider an example scenario.

For this example scenario, we will assume two near identical 4th level Alchemists. They're both Changelings with two claw attacks for 1d4 damage and the Feral Mutagen discovery. The only difference is that one of the characters has taken the Vestigial Arms discovery twice, once at 2nd level, and once at 3rd via Extra Discovery.

Now that we've established the example characters let's look at a combat.
We'll assume that both characters have imbibed a mutagen. Feral Mutagen grants both characters two 1d6 claw attacks and a 1d8 bite.

Consider for a moment, that any character can perform unarmed strikes with punches, kicks, headbutts, even without IUS, and so too can they use the TWF rules
Because the Alchemist without VAs with Claw/Claw/Bite can do an attack routine of Unarmed Strike/Unarmed Strike/Claw/Claw/Bite, an alchemist with two vestigial arms can do an attack routine of Weapon/Weapon/Claw/Claw/Bite, or even Claw(1d4)/Claw(1d4)/Claw(1d6)/Claw(1d6)/Bite if they could somehow choose to have feral mutagen's claws be added to their VAs, but in that case they couldn't have Unarmed Strike/Unarmed Strike/Claw/Claw/Claw/Claw/Bite because then they'd have 7 attacks, which is more than the 5 attacks that the character without vestigial limbs grants, because vestigial arms can't give you 'extra' attacks over what a character without them could get. This is supported by SKR's Post elsewhere.

I see little reason why weapon/weapon/claw/claw/bite would be particularly imbalanced, with it's -2/-2/-7/-7/-7 penalties. While a worried GM could rule that attack cycle of Claw/Claw/Claw/Claw/Bite is non-option due to the player being unable to choose where the claws from Feral Mutagen Manifest, they still wouldn't have more than the 5 attacks than the non-VA alchemist, they'd simply have more options as to what those attacks could be, rather than simply having to choose from Iteratives or TWF attacks including Unarmed Strike/Armor Spikes/Barbezu Beard/Blade Boot, they could use a pair of short swords, or perhaps a more tactical choice like a reach weapon. Thus ends my arguments about crunch.

On more fluff related matters, I've been thinking about what sort of problems having so many arms could cause a person. Certainly you would have to have most of your armor and clothing specially made, which is easier said than done. I don't know of many non-alchemists who might tolerate such drastic body modifications either. In fact, I'd probably expect to be chased out of town by an angry mob wielding torches and pitchforks. On the upside, I could get a large coat and use the disguise skill to try and pass myself off as a pair of halflings, one on top of the other's shoulders.

Bloodline Arcana: Whenever you cast a spell with an energy descriptor that matches your draconic bloodline's energy type, that spell deals +1 point of damage per die rolled.

Bloodline Arcana: You gain the orc subtype, including darkvision 60 feet and light sensitivity. If you already have darkvision, its range increases to 90 feet. Whenever you cast a spell that deals damage, that spell deals +1 point of damage per die rolled.

Let's say you're a Sorc/etc/Arcane Trickster with 2d6 sneak attack, and you cast scorching ray at a flatfooted creature within 30ft. Would you deal 4d6+2d6+4 or 4d6+2d6+6? Basically, do the sneak attack dice count as rolled dice for the bloodline's bonus damage?

You make yourself - including clothing, armor, weapons, and equipment - look different. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller, thin, fat, or in between. You cannot change your creature type (although you can appear as another subtype). Otherwise, the extent of the apparent change is up to you. You could add or obscure a minor feature or look like an entirely different person or gender.

So, as the spell is written, it means an Aasimar could disguise itself as a Succubus, or an Oread could look like a tiefling? Is there any restriction on appearing as an outsider with multiple types? What happens if a Native Outsider tries to disguise themselves as an invisible stalker? Do they just take the form of a visible invisible stalker?

I've never heard of descriptor focus. Is it new from something? I definitely agree with tenebrous spell being amazing. For Umbral Spell, it might be a bit cheesy, but I was thinking I could go Tenebrous Spell/Umbral Spell at 1st/3rd level and then put an Umbral Arcane Mark on something like a cloak. As a fetchling, this would both make sure Tenebrous Spell was almost always 'on' and with shadow blend provide near-constant 50% Miss Chance. At 7th level I definitely want to take improved familiar though. I'd probably end up picking Arbiter though, since it's nigh-unkillable, unless the GM has decided specifically to single me out and kills it anyway. So for 5th level feat, maybe Accursed Hex? And then from 9th on I should focus on really boosting my save DCs really high with spell focus, etc?

I'm tossing around ideas for a Fetchling Shadow Patron Witch. I've got some feats I want to take, but I don't know which ones to take and which order to take them in.

Feats I've been considering: Tenebrous Spell, Umbral Spell, Improved Familiar, Spell Focus(Illusion), Greater Spell Focus, Mage's Tattoo, Witch Knife, Ability Focus(Evil Eye), Split Hex, Accursed Hex, Extra Hex, Mage's Tattoo(Illusion)

I'd also like to take any other things that improve Illusion(Shadow) spells, or are particularly synergistic with my concept or strong for witches in general. An idea I rather like is Umbral Spell and Mage Armor, which with a Fetchling's Shadow Blending is kind of like having an hour/level duration displacement, or for slapping on the party's sneaky type to keep them hidden.

Question: If I want to cast an Umbral Tenebrous Mage Armor spell, can I apply tenebrous spell for +0 cost, since it gains the darkness descriptor from Umbral spell?

This spell functions like shadow conjuration, except that it mimics conjuration spells of 8th level or lower. The illusory conjurations created deal four-fifths (80%) damage to nonbelievers, and nondamaging effects are 80% likely to work against nonbelievers.

This spell functions like shadow conjuration, except that it duplicates any sorcerer or wizard conjuration (summoning) or conjuration (creation) spell of 6th level or lower. The illusory conjurations created deal three-fifths (60%) damage to nonbelievers, and nondamaging effects are 60% likely to work against nonbelievers.

So, Shades says it copies Shadow Conjuration, but unlike Greater Shadow Conjuration, it lacks the phrasing that would restrict it to Wizard spells of the summoning or creation subschools.

Does this mean it can copy any conjuration spell, even those from other class lists, so long as they're 8th level or lower? (Such as Greater Planar Ally, or Heal?)

We don't have to discuss all the other ambiguities with shades, like what happens if you use it to duplicate Create Demiplane or Trap the Soul, just what spells are implied by this difference in wording.

Creatures encountering an illusion usually do not receive saving throws to recognize it as illusory until they study it carefully or interact with it in some fashion.

A successful saving throw against an illusion reveals it to be false, but a figment or phantasm remains as a translucent outline.

A failed saving throw indicates that a character fails to notice something is amiss. a character faced with proof that an illusion isn't real needs no saving throw. If any viewer successfully disbelieves an illusion and communicates this fact to others, each such viewer gains a saving throw with a +4 bonus.

Identifying a spell as it is being cast requires no action, but you must be able to clearly see the spell as it is being cast, and this incurs the same penalties as a Perception skill check due to distance, poor conditions, and other factors.

Does this mean that if someone casts an illusion spell, and a character with ranks in spellcraft identifies it, they don't have to make a saving throw on the basis that they have 'Proof' that the illusion isn't real?

Do you have to be a monstrous and/or cannibalistic cleric? Do you have to consider it food for it to work? What would the effects be? Is it considered an evil act?

An eldritch knight adds his level to any levels of fighter he might have for the purpose of meeting the prerequisites for feats (if he has no fighter levels, treat his eldritch knight levels as levels of fighter). He also adds his level to any levels in an arcane spellcasting class for the purpose of meeting the prerequisites for feats.

I suppose what I'm asking is can a Fighter2/Wizard8/Eldritch Knight 10 select arcane discoveries as if he were an 18th level wizard? If not, the only feats I know of that it would 'help' qualify for are Spell Mastery(Requires 1st level Wizard), Create Sanguine Elixir(Sorc 3rd), or Split Hex(Witch 10. The only one it actually helps with, since the others are fulfilled by the time you qualify for EK)

^Topic.

Our party ~20th level party of 3 PCs had to fight two Great Wyrm Green Dragons and a Quickling with levels in Rogue. The situation is that we had prep time enough for buffs, and could buy items in advance, and were traveling via magic portal, directly to where the fey and the dragons were causing havoc. Since we seemed rather out-numbered, I asked my GM if I could buy 10 doses of cockatrice grit and he agreed. The fight went down like this: Quickling has initiative, and so spring attacks/feints/etc and deals a 97 damage sneak attack to the dervish dancer bard, who barely survives. Next in the round, the bard Dispels the rogue's true seeing, shield, and stoneskin spells and retreats back. The monk uses his dimensional agility feat chain to deal something like ~275 damage, which has the rogue at low HP. The Eldritch knight with Fluid Form, Iron Body, and a helluva lot else advances and swings, and misses. The EK's familiar, a sprite, throws a tanglefoot bag at the quickling. Then the dragons cross their 70ft acid cones on us, I lose an argument with the GM over Fickle Winds protects us, and we take some damage, but not much. At this point, the quickling almost kills the monk, but the monk finishes off the quickling, and then abundant steps out. So it's just the Eldritch Knight, her familiar, and two great wyrm green dragons, who are conveniently quite nearby. They both throw a dose of cockatrice grit at one of the dragons, and the 2d4 dex damage is enough to turn it to stone instantly. Seeing this, the other dragon snatches up the corpse of it's quickling ally and planeshifts away.

Question: Is it cheese to defeat a dragon with 4000gp in consumables?

^Topic. What if you're trying to look into a box containing an object with deeper darkness cast on it. For that matter, what if there is no box? Could you still see 20ft through the darkness effect?

For this scenario, let's say you're a wizard capable of casting 9th level spells, but only barely, so any spell that allows a save is likely to do nothing, so you're focused on making yourself and your allies stronger instead of your enemies weaker. You have a metamagic rod of quicken in your handy haversack, and so can quicken 3 spells of 6th level or lower. For some unfathomable reason, escape isn't an option. Because you're still a smart wizard, you also have a contingent spell set to trigger upon speaking a specific word or phrase, and so can be used as a free action.

So it's time for combat. You win initiative and you're acting first in the round. You spend a move action to pull out your rod of quicken, a swift action to cast a quickened spell, and then a standard action to cast time stop. You roll 1d4+1 and get a 2, so you have two swift actions, and two standard actions, and two move actions. Including the quickened spell you cast in the first round, that's five spells affecting you or your party plus the free action contingent spell and any weird ones I don't know about might that only take a move action to cast.

What should you cast to best enhance to general combat effectiveness of you and your party? For the purpose of this exercise I'll allow any non-wizard spell of 5th level or lower, under the excuse that it can be limited wished for.

As food for thought, which additional buffs, if any, would you prepare if you had more than 2 rounds of time stop, up to the maximum of 5?

What do you want of the character?

Well, I think what I want to do is have fun. Generally I was thinking I'd use Giant Form II for the +8 STR +6 CON +6 Natural armor etc, or other things depending on whether I wanted elemental immunities. You're probably right. I should just go +5 and Keen, since I won't be fighting tarrasques and other divine spawn daily. How much AC would you say I should have for a 20th level character? I also really like your suggestions for arcane discoveries. But looking at it, I can't actually take opposite research, unless Diverse Training means I can qualify as an 18th level wizard, instead of just as an "Arcane Caster level 18" And if I wanted an armor without spell failure chance, what would you suggest?

Hi Paizo forums. I'm joining a level 20 campaign and would like a bit of build advice. The rules for building a character were level 20, 25 point buy, 880k starting wealth, 2 traits, everything on www.d20pfsrd.com published by paizo.

Human Fighter 2/Transmuter 8/Eldritch Knight 10

Compsagnathus Familiar for +4 initiative

STR 36 (18 bought +2 racial +5 levels +5 inherent +6 enhancement)
DEX 10
CON 16 (14 bought +2 enhancement)
INT 26 (15 bought +5 inherent +6 enhancement)
WIS 10 (10 bought)
CHA 7 (7 bought)

Fort +18, Ref +10, Will +14 BAB +16/+11/+6/+1

Can cast spells as a 17th level wizard.

Traits: Magical Knack, Reactionary

Feats: Toughness, Weapon Focus(Nodachi), Power Attack, Improved Initiative, Spell Penetration, Arcane Armor Training, Still Spell, Weapon Specialization, Improved Critical, Critical Focus, Greater Spell penetration, Greater Weapon Focus, Critical Verstatility, Quicken Spell.

Equipment: +5 Magical Beast Bane Heartseeker Nodachi, +5 Mithral Chain Shirt of Determination, +1 Gauntlet of Dueling (For the +4 initiative), two +5 statbooks, two +6 stat enhancers, Big Six, handy haversack, ring of freedom of movement.

Right now I have open feat slots for 7th and 19th levels, but if you think I should replace something let me know.