Ezzard's page

So we were playing Saturday night pathfinder (online) and I used summon construct to summon a Animated Armor.
I've always been told to have the stat blocks for the things I've summoned. Knowing what I'm summoning takes weight off the GM. This is what I was taught to do. This is relevant.

The GM made a token for the Armored knight. As per the minion trait it got two actions upon summon. I went to attack with the Armored Knight. I didn't have access to the token. No big deal the GM prolly forget to set it up, I have the stat block already so I roll manually. GM tells me I can't do that, it needs to be from the Armored Knight. I say I don't have control over the token. GM responds "your not supposed to have control over the things you summon, only the Gm does."
To which I, and other members of the party raised an eyebrow. It felt like something insane had been said to us. But apparently he's right. The rules for creatures summoned by spell read as follows:

"It generally attacks your enemies to the best of its ability. If you can communicate with it, you can attempt to command it, but the GM determines the degree to which it follows your commands."

Personally I'm both confused and turned off by this. Like I don't think I can keep using summons spells after this. It seems like such an superfluous ruling. But maybe I'm wrong. That's why I'm here. Our GM said it's in place because Players shouldn't be looking at stat blocks of monsters they summon, specifically in 2e. I don't really get that either as it just puts more work on the GM, which is the whole point of having them prepared yourself. So we didn't really buy that either, but we pressed on, finished the session. Had our laughs. But curiosity still has me on this one. I don't get what benefit this rule has for either the GM or the Player. I don't get how anyone would want to ask permission every time they wanted their minion to act on their turn. I don't get why any Gm would want to be given an extra unit to roll for when the player could be handling what they brought to the table. If any of you can tell me why this rule was written like this, I'd appreciate the clarity.

thank you.

I'll keep it simple. Before the remaster Longswords were included in elven weapon familiarity. They are not anymore. Does anyone know why?

EDIT: Also the legacy version says you are trained with the weapons listed. Does "access" mean trained in the remaster? If not then what is even the point of taking the feat? Without the training it's effectively crippled as far as it's function goes.

If I roll a Mythic Theurge and use druid instead of cleric does increasing my mystic theurge level scale my animal companion?

Build.

Crossblooded
-bloodlines: Orc/Draconic(Fire).

At level 7 we take blood mutation (blood havoc) instead of the level seven feat.
(and of course, have or plan to take spell focus evocation.)

This will provide a total of +3 damage per damage die on evocation fire spells.

My personal concern is that the Blood Havoc mutation could not be taken with Crossblooded Sorcerer.

Full disclosure I'm fairly certain you can, though it still sounds to good to be true.
I am remaking this post as it's own topic thread to make it easier to search for the answer in the future. I would still like anyone who can provide support for this build to do so.

Thank you for your time.

I am losing my mind. Not long ago I found a bloodline, or a feat, or something that removed/replaced/altered a bloodline arcana to do +1 damage per damage die on spells of a school that the character had taken spell focus in.

For the life of me I can find no sign of it anywhere. As if my inner self gets off on withholding the memory. Please help.

So I'll start with the trait Accelerated Drinker. I will provide it's rules and it's flavor text(with emphasis.) Normally I wouldn't involve the flavor text but I find that it seems to contradict the actual rules a bit. Not that it'll likely matter on ruling I just thought it was a funny little quirk of the trait.

"Accelerated Drinker:
You know how to drink a potion efficiently, such as by *not* using your hands, tossing it in the air and catching it in your mouth, or opening it with your teeth.

Benefit: You may drink a potion as a move action instead of a standard action as long as you start your turn with the potion in your hand."

Now I will add the racial trait Prehensile Tail from the Vanara stat block.

"Prehensile Tail:
A vanara has a long, flexible tail that she can use to carry objects. She cannot wield weapons with her tail, but the tail allows her to retrieve a small, stowed object carried on her person as a swift action."

So clearly accelerated drinker is designed to be primed. You need to decide what potion you are going to use prior to using the trait to drink it as a move action. What I want to know is can I use the Prehensile Tail on turn 1 to grab a potion as a swift action, then on turn 2 use Accelerated Drinker to imbibe that potion as a move action? If so do I need to state that the tail places the potion in my hand or is that assumed to be the case given that the item is "retrieved." Does placing it in my hand count as another action all together?

To start I will post the feature and it's rules in full.

Heavenly Fire (Sp): Starting at 1st level, you can unleash a ray of heavenly fire as a standard action, targeting any foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. Against evil creatures, this ray deals 1d4 points of damage + 1 for every two sorcerer levels you possess. This damage is divine and not subject to energy resistance or immunity. This ray heals good creatures of 1d4 points of damage + 1 for every two sorcerer levels you possess. A good creature cannot benefit from your heavenly fire more than once per day. Neutral creatures are neither harmed nor healed by this effect. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.

The text I want to focus on is this: *targeting any foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack*

Does this mean I can only target foes? If so am I not able to heal anyone except foes who's alignment is good? Many, when discussing this ability, speak of it as an additional method of out of combat healing. Is this generally recognized as a typo?

I'm making a Lizardfolk (the one from the advanced races "more races section") on hero lab. Had to build it from scratch. Anyway It's trying to tell me to add bonus languages based off my Int but I'm not sure Xenophobic allows that.

So with this ability Let's say I've got 10 Occultist levels. If I invest 4 mental points. The damage bonus would be 2+10 right?
2(for four points invested)+10(half your level per incremental investment)

The implement channels and enhances the effects of damaging evocations. A spellcaster who bears the implement can add the implement as an additional focus component for any of his damaging evocation spells that have an instantaneous duration or focus powers with an instantaneous duration. If he does so, the spell or focus power deals 1 additional point of damage of the same type to each creature for every 2 points of mental focus invested in the implement, to a maximum of 1 + 1 for every 2 occultist levels you possess.

Bestow Cures and Greater Bestow curse.

Are these separate spells. My group uses Hero Lab and if I select the trait <Magical Lineage> I have to pick between either <Bestow Curse> or <Greater Bestow Curse>

I did not question this because, for years, the groups I've played have treated Lesser/Normal/Greater spells as being separate from each other. In the case of Bestow curse this seperation has been used to stack the effects of <Bestow Curse> and <Greater Bestow Curse>. Doing it this way one could effectively give an NPC (or PC) a -12 penalty on attack rolls, saves, ability checks, and skill checks.

Is this the correct use of these spells?

Basically the title. It says I can prepare spells from one class in the spell slots of the other. How does this work if I want to prepare a Cleric spell in a Sorcerer spell slot?

So in my journey to make a Mystic theurge I came across the Empyreal bloodline/Cleric build. So I wanted to look into what a Empyreal is, even though most of the games I play in are homebrew.

So far I've discovered (very little) information on Empyreal Lords. I'm guessing they are involved in AP plots so I gave up on that.

I'm hoping someone here can give me something beyond "They are a divine entity."

Please and thank you.

Is it possible to be both a crossblooded sorcerer and a Wildblooded sorcerer.

If I'm a wizard with a CL of 10 can I cast the spell <Teleportation Circle> and then cast <Permanency> on it assuming both spells are cast from scrolls made by a different wizard of CL 17+?

Or do I need to be a wizard with a CL of 17+?

If I take the Spell Sage Archetype can I then scribe scrolls from the Bard/Cleric/Druid spells lists?

Spell Sage- https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/archetypes/paizo-wizar d-archetypes/spell-sage/

Scribe Scroll-https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/item-creation-feats/scribe-scroll-ite m-creation/

Alright today we're going to summon a Djinni. No particular reason I just like them.

So let's take a look at what we need. Looks like Three(3) actions to cast the Summon Elemental spell.

So once this is done the Djinni will gain the minion trait and be granted two(2) actions to use on the turn it's summoned.

Oh. But can it use those actions, without the caster commanding it?

"Your minion acts on your turn in
combat, once per turn, when you spend an action to issue
it commands. For an animal companion, you Command
an Animal; for a minion that’s a spell or magic item effect
like a summoned minion you Sustain a Spell or Sustain
an Activation; and if not otherwise specified, you issue a
verbal command, which is a single action with the auditory
and concentrate traits." (page 301)

This breaks it down into three sections.

Animal Companion - command.
Spell or magic item - sustain.
If not otherwise specified - verbal command.

The fun part is the following text from page 637:
"If you can communicate with it, you can attempt to command it, but
the GM determines the degree to which it follows your commands."
-excerpt from the summoned trait

So I speak Common. The Djinni speaks common. I spend three(3) actions to summon it.
Do I then need to wait until my next turn to both sustain the spell, and then give a verbal command, for a total of two (2) actions? With the final total being five(5) actions over the course of two(2) turns for a single summoned creature that is only able to stay summoned up to a minute?

P.S.
Had to make a minor edit to make sure what was being asked was clear.

Making a level 9 character.
I have two general feats.
One at 3rd level and another at 7th level.

Am I able to select a general feat for these slots even if that feat has the "skill" trait along side the "general" trait?

So two things I need to confirm. Does the spell (Trail of Acid and Fire) trigger the Cherry Blossom effect each round or is it only triggered once per spell cast?

To give an example of what I mean here is a link to how toppling spell works with MM.
https://paizo.com/threads/rzs42lo6?Toppling-spell-Magic-Missile-how-many-ch ecks

Next, if it does trigger CB each round how many times does it trigger? Some in my circle think it triggers twice. Once for the Fire damage and again for the acid. I presented a counter to that with the following:

It's "1d6 points of acid damage *and* 1d6 points of fire damage."

Not "1d6 points of acid damage *then* 1d6 points of fire damage."

My point being that you take 2d6 once each round. Half of it's Acid the other half Fire. But I've been wrong before so here I am.

At first glance I assumed meant Hit point damage.

But it doesn't specify. Does that mean you could stack it with a spell like cloudkill?

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/rings/ring-of-force-shield/

So what happens when the shield provided by this item reaches 0 Hp.

Does the shield go poof only to be replaced by a new on the next time the ring is activated?

Does the ring just become a normal ring?

I have a list of other guesses but you get the idea: We don't know. Please help.

P.S.
I kinda hate this magic item now. Also Wall of Force being an evocation spell low-key bothers me.

Item Description:

"This ring generates a shield-sized (and shield-shaped) wall of force that stays with the ring and can be wielded by the wearer as if it were a heavy shield (+2 AC). This special creation has no armor check penalty or arcane spell failure chance since it is weightless and encumbrance-free. It can be activated and deactivated at will as a free action."

Wizard Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
"Wizards are proficient with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armor or shield. Armor interferes with a wizard’s movements, which can cause his spells with somatic components to fail."

I know if I use it as a wizard I won't suffer check penalties or encumbrance but can I use it at all since it acts *as if* it were a shield. Or does my lack of proficiency prevent me from doing so?

Further more when using it does it take up a hand slot? I wouldn't think so since it already takes up a ring slot and having it take up a free hand slot would defeat the purpose(and waste gold), but I just want to makes sure.

Is this spell's damage affected by Draconic Bloodline(Red/brass) or the Orc Bloodline arcana?

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/f/fiery-runes

If I cast a toppling magic missile and have all the darts target 1 creature how many trip checks have to be made against the creature? (Assume 5 darts for this example.)

Here is a link to the metamagic spell for reference.
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/metamagic-feats/toppling-spell-metamagic/

I hypothesize only one trip attempt will need to be made, I'm just a doubtful person.

I need to know how Empower Spell works with a Fireball that's already getting bonus damage from Bloodline Arcana.

For this example we will be using the following Sorcerer Bloodlines playing a Cross-blooded Sorcerer.

Draconic Bloodline(Red dragon):

"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"

Orc Bloodline:

"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 my Fireball does 10d6 fire damage on it's own. Adding the bloodline bonus that's 10d6+20. With Empower spell the base damage becomes 15d6 with a +30 for it's bonus damage. This is were my uncertainty kicks in. The reason the bonus damage increases is because of the Bloodline Arcana, not because of the Empower Spell.

The Empower spell provides the following benefit: "All variable, numeric effects of an empowered spell are increased by half *including bonuses to those dice rolls.*"
(emphasis mine)

So does that mean the final damage calculation for this Empowered Fireball comes out as 15d6+60?

If so I may have to get with me GM as I did not predict that much damage output.

No really what's it for? It know it's a craft skill and I've been told it's for Necromancers to craft the undead they want to create.

Say you wanted to make a Skeletal panther but lacked a dead panther. But you just so happen to have a lot of chicken bones and a lot of points in boneworking. AbraKraNecro- you've got a skeletal panther.

I've never bought into this in the past because I've never seen rules for this craft skill anywhere and I've only heard the above information one time from one person.

I would love to know what this skill is actually used for and if possible a reference to what book it shows up in.

Oh and before anyone else wastes the time looking it up: No, shockingly this is not the skill required to craft a Bone golem. Go figure.

So at one point I thought they did. Specifically it was set up so that they counted as undead or not-undead depending oh which would be worse for them. That's what my memory told me and I was thankful to not find that information when I looked up the race online.

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/featured-races/arg-dhampir/

However, as I began looking at the Vetala-Born option for the race I came across this trait:

"Stubborn (Vetala) The angry child inside bolsters your will, and you often prove utterly defiant. You gain a +2 trait bonus on saving throws against attempts to control you, such as command undead, halt undead, or channeled energy to turn or control undead. (Source Blood of the Night)"

Why would I need to resit command undead if I didn't count as/wasn't undead?

Please help find the truth in this mess. Thank you all.

So I've been looking into Mystic Theurge out of nostalgia. And I've come to realize that I could make a Druid/Wizard build instead of a Cleric/Wizard build.

I know that if you are specialist wizard you still gain a specialist slot leveling up as a mystic theurge. Does that also mean that the druid's animal companion levels up accordingly? Granted even with Boon Companion it will still be 3 levels behind the caster at level 20. But it would still be better than being 13 levels behind.

page 287

"Familiars are mystically bonded creatures tied to your
magic. Most familiars were originally animals, though
the ritual of becoming a familiar makes them something
more. You can choose a Tiny animal you want as your
familiar, such as a bat, cat, frog, lizard, raven, or snake.
Familiars have the minion trait (see page 416), and so
they gain 2 actions each round during an encounter, and
you need to spend 1 action each round to command them.
If your familiar dies, you can spend a week of downtime to
replace it at no cost. You can’t have more than one familiar"

"Each day, you can channel your magic into two abilities
chosen from familiar abilities, which affect your familiar,
and master abilities, which affect you.
If your familiar is an animal that naturally must have
one of these familiar abilities (for instance, an ---->owl<--- has a fly
Speed), you must select that ability, and your familiar can’t
be an animal that naturally has more familiar abilities than
your daily maximum familiar abilities."

Right off the bat the example in the second part gives an animal option not present in the first list. Even worse I can't find any of those animal names listed in the bestiary. Or anywhere else for that matter. So that means that we have to decide what familiar abilities each of them might have.

So let's try the raven.

Can see in the Dark, Can be taught to speak, Can Fly.

Well that's three options so I guess we just pick two- oh wait.
"your familiar can’t be an animal that naturally has more familiar abilities than your daily maximum familiar abilities."

So I guess Raven is out. Let's try Cat and snake. Oh bonus they even have stat blocks under the ranger pet section, guess there are some examples in this book, let's check those out.

Welp sad news they also have more than three.

So far out of the presented options Frog is the only one that seems to fit, with dark vision and a swim speed.

I noticed there is a feat called <enhanced familiar> which allows you to infuse your familiar with additional magical energy. Letting you select four familiar or master options each day, instead of two.

This would allow most animals on the list to be valid options but at the same time opens a new can of worms. The way it's worded on page 287 you can take 2 familiar abilities and 2 master abilities. The feat mentioned above suggest that it's either one or the other. More confusing that that is there are only 3 master abilities listed.

In conclusion the rules for familiars are not clear at best not finished at worse. One of the best parts of playing a Wizard is having a familiar, at least in my experience. Paizo please look into this matter before the release of the final product.

Additionally on page 137 there is a typo in the General Feats Section. It reads:

General Feats *2nd*
At 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter, you gain a
general feat. General feats are listed in Chapter 5.

The typo is with the bracket the text seems to read correctly, however this (like the familiar ability selection in place) could lead to arguments across the table. Such arguments will only prevent DMs and Players from having a truly fun experience.

The errors are small but I have faith that you can fix them.

P.S.

I love what you did with Necromancers. The ability that lets you heal when casting a Necromancy spell is great. I would like to see Class labels in the spell descriptions, it would make it easier to not get excited about spells only occult bards can know.