So when monks gets his first Ki Spell he decides to what tradition he belongs - either occult or divine.
Can anyone by observing monk decide which tradition he belongs to?
On other hand, Sorcerer does the same at lvl 1. Can you detect which tradition he belongs to if you only uses multi-traditional spells?
So if someone casts a spell before your party and noone has this exact spell memorized they don't immediately know which spell is cast.
Now someone might want to know what was that spell. Rules say that you need to use Recall Knowledge action to recognize it, but they never say which skills are supposed to be used for that action.
Example: Some NPC Bard uses Charm. Party wizard makes Recall Knowledge action to recognize it. Which skill should GM use?
1. Occultism, because Bards are Occult practitioners.
2. Either of three: Arcane, Religion or Occultism, because Charm is affiliated with arcane, divine and occult traditions.
3. Lore Bakery, because rules never specify which skill to use and GM wants to be random.
Bane is the best enchantment for AoMF. You can have 4 bane amulets for the price of single +2 amulet.
Also, don't bother with flat +X enchantments, you can always have that in form of Greater Magic Fang.
Assuming half-human using the human FCB - it's often useful as an archer to have some form of night vision, and both half-elves and half-orcs have some other advantages too
There is an alternate racial trait that grants humans darkvision.
I'd rather say that trip is still pretty viable at these levels.
Flying enemies can definitely break your day, but generally it is still great maneuver. Just pick PA to have a fall-back plan.
The interesting thing is that your reasoning here is completely correct -- but you have a flawed premise that results in an incorrect conclusion. Per the Gamemastering Rules...
Let's start with a level 10 Warrior. He has NPC class levels with NPC ability scores along with NPC wealth. He's CR 8:
"A creature that only possesses non-player class levels (such as a warrior or adept) is factored in as a creature with a CR equal to its class levels –2."
But let's say we give him PC classes and ability scores -- he's now a level 10 Fighter and CR 9:
"A creature that possesses class levels, but does not have any racial Hit Dice, is factored in as a creature with a CR equal to its class levels –1"
And then we could give the level 10 Fighter PC wealth and make him CR 10:
"A classed NPC encountered with no gear should have his CR reduced by 1 (provided that loss of gear actually hampers the NPC), while a classed NPC that instead has gear equivalent to that of a PC (as listed on Table: Character Wealth by Level) has a CR of 1 higher than his actual CR."
PC Wealth and PC levels/ability scores DO increase CR by one each...but without those you start at level -2. Meaning a level 10 PC is actually CR 10. And four level 10 PCs are a CR 14 encounter -- or APL+4.
You forgot about Ability Score increase.
Normal NPCs have elite array for abilities, which corresponds PB15. Generally, PCs have higher abilities - 20 or 25. (20 being the norm)
So, unless you are playing PB15 or lover compaign, your PCs should have another +1 CR bump for exceptional ability scores.
More later, but wanted to touch on one thing quickly...
dysartes wrote:
And an APL+4 fight should certainly have a reasonable risk of PC death - which increases if people don't bother to use tactics.
Yeah, an APL+4 fight is the same CR as a mirror match. Clone the PCs and make them fight the clones. That's APL+4. Comes down to tactics, preparation, and luck. So if both sides have equally good tactics and each side has the same amount of preparation, it should literally be a 50% chance of either side winning.
Nope. If you totally clone your player characters than it would be at least APL+5 encounter, because PC Wealth is CR+1 modifier, and PC-level abillity array is also at least CR+1 modifier.
OP, seriously, I've never had a single blaster either in my game nor that I have actually played even come close to one shotting anything. The characters that have put out enough damage to nearly kill a creature has always been martials.
To be honest, my BlockBuster Wizard once almost one-shotted a boss.
spoiler to RotRL:
it was when fire dragon/giants attacked sandpoint.
I made my Knowledge check so I knew that dragon was vulnerable to cold.
It was cold-admixtured intensified empowered specialised fireball.
He failed the save and I was awarded with "F@#$ You!" praise from my DM when I rolled the damage.
Dragon survived that blast and tried to escape, but died round or two later due to lingering Icy Prison damage.
But, honestly, the most deadly tools of that wizard were Icy Prison and Mydriatic Spontaneity.
When you got IGMS, it did 77 damage split between all targets in the area of effect. As a level 6 spell. Granted, it acted like Magic Missile (auto-hit, no save) and was Magic damage (basically Force damage) but the consistency was the major benefit. At higher level and when Empowered/Maximized it could do 210/240 damage (again, split between all targets)...but it was also one of the first spells usually nerfed (or opponents got Magic Resist or partial Immunity) in custom campaigns or on custom worlds.
Firebrand did 1d6 to 15d6 maximum selectively as a level 5 spell. It did less damage than an Empowered Fireball until level 15 (when they tied) and overall an Intensified Firebrand is effectively a normal Chain Lightning.
Flame Arrow did 4d6 per 4 levels. At level 15 or less, Pathfinder's Scorching Ray is superior or equal. Scorching Ray is also a level 2 spell...and if Intensify worked on Scorching Ray then Flame Arrow would only pull ahead at level 20+.
First, IGMS and FA deal the maximum possible single target spell damage in the game. Even more than Epic Hellball (which is, actually, a joke spell, if you ask me).
Yes, IGMS is split when there is more than 1 target, but you simply don't use is against the horde, you use it when everything else is already dead. Killed by your Firebrand.
Sure you can nerf it in you custom campaign (actually, can you? I remember spells being somewhat hardcoded inn NWN). But doesn't make it less broken. Being able to fix things doesn't make them good (i.e. "balanced").
Second, Firebrand is not a Chain Lightning. Chain Lightning is a level higher and deals only half it's initial damage as AoE. Firebrand deals full. Also, Firebrand will not kill Deekin, as Fireball and Cone of Cold would. It also totally will not kill you when enemy horde swarms you.
It also has larger AoE than fireball, which apparently means more damage in your terms (and since it's radius is exactly 1.5 half times larger that fireball,that it at least ties with empowered fireball).
Third, there is no Intensify Metamagic in NWN. Your point is invalid.
Fourth, when you talked about NWN, you were referencing lvl 40 characters. But now you suddenly switched to low levels (15 and below). Why so?
To be honest, NWN is not even close to be representative of dnd rules. Not even 3rd edition it is based on.
It has so many things that work completely differently. And has some really OP custom blasting spells (I remember Isaac's greater missile storm, Firebrand and Flame Arrows being completely broken).
Funny thing about that CR10 Warlord: if your sorcerer guy suddenly decides to use, let's say Acid Pit, he can suddenly one-shot that warlord guy with no optimization whatsoever.
Anyway, this thread is comedy gold! Keep the flow going!
It is however worth noting that grab doesn't let you deal extra damage because you made a successful grapple check, though constrict ability does deal damage on each successful grapple check.
This is the part of Grab (Ex) description:
A successful hold does not deal any extra damage unless the creature also has the constrict special attack. If the creature does not constrict, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals the damage indicated for the attack that established the hold. Otherwise, it deals constriction damage as well (the amount is given in the creature’s descriptive text).
This means that Grab doesn't deal damage immediately, but it will deal damage each time you succeed a grapple check after you have established hold and it stacks with constrict.
Djelai wrote:
Anyway, since I am here, I have a few questions:
Greater Grapple lets you roll to maintain the grapple as a move action. If you succeed, the course of actions is pretty clear. But what happen if you fail?
1. Does it release the grapple immediately? I would say so.
2. Then, how do you get a "retry" as a standard action (from the Greater Grapple feat, you can make 2 checks and only need to succeed once)?
3. Should you decide, at the beginning of your turn, if you want to make one or two grapple checks?
4. If you make two checks, succeeding as a standard action and failing as a move action, does it trigger Rapid Grappler? RAW would say No (« Whenever you use Greater Grapple to successfully maintain a grapple as a move action,[...]»).
I feel lazy today, so I just answer your questions without proof quotes.
1. It does not. Rules state that you have X attempts to maintain grapple and you must succeed only one of them.
2. You do not get a retry, you simply have more "grapple attempts" just by the fact that you have necessary feat.
3. No, you don't. But you really don't have other options once you start grappling - you can't move unless you do so as maintain grapple option, you cannot attack, unless you release your opponent first. Really, you only choice is either grapple the foe to the maximum of your ability, or release him and do something else.
4. You do need to succeed maintain grapple as a move first.
at level 8 you get Grab.
at level 9 you obviously take Rapid Grappler feat.
at level 10 tetori gets Pinning Knockout feat, which doubles nonlethal damage on pinned target.
So, unless your target is immune to criticals or nonlethal damage your course of action is the following:
First round:
1. You attack your target, if you hit you immediately make grapple check with nearly 100% success rate (grab).
2. You maintain as a move action and choose to pin. You also deal damage because of grab.
3. You maintain as a swift action and choose to deal nonlethal damage so you deal double damage. You also deal your grab damage (not sure if can be nonlethal, but lets count as it can for the sake of ridiculousness) and deal double damage.
Total damage for round 1: 6x your normal damage.
Second and subsequent rounds:
You maintain grapple three times, each time choosing to deal nonlethal damage so you deal double damage two times. so it is 12x your normal damage total.
It is debatable, but I believe you can also use Power Attack when you grapple to boost your damage.
Damage estimation:
lets say we have level 10 tetori with power attack, 24 Str, +2 enchantment and +1 unarmed damage trait. His damage per hit is 1d10+7+2+6+1 = ~21.5
So damage for first round is 21.5x6 = ~129,
and damage for consecutive rounds is 21.5x12 = ~258
Blightburn paste costs 5.000gp, not 4.000gp; is labeled as "alchemical tool" and -as far as I can comprehend from its text- definitely not an *consumable alchemical item*, which is required for Full pouch.
There is no such category as "Consumable alchemical item". Every alchemical item that is of single use is labelled as something else:
- alchemicst's fire is alchemical weapon
- hound's blood is alchemical tool
...and so on.
So either this spell is of very limited usability (like, it can't even dupe alchemist's fires), or Blightburn paste is totally qualified for it.
To make blasting work you need to make it do more damage per spell.
You don't want him to do more damage per spell.
So, what do you want?
Either allow as many damage improving options as you feel comfortable with, or just kill his character (and be unreasonable, yes).
Things you need to blast:
- magical lineage trait
- spell focus feats (he really needs them due to low casting stat)
- elemental focus feats (less useful than spell focus)
- metamagic feats (mostly empower, intensify and maximize)
- spell specialization (optional, but good)
- fallback plan (either elemental spell metamagic or different type secondary blasting spell)
- heighten spell is sometimes good thing to have
- spell penetration (because spell resistance is a thing)
- spell perfection as a capstone feat
Choose how many of this he can have.
About enemy caster one-shoting entire party:
In perfect world casters and non-casters are balanced and all pose exact same threat to the party. Unfortunately, PF is not a perfect world. Casters are always scary. Failing save to fireball is scary. Failing slow save can be even scarier. Failing SoD spell save is downright terrifying.
Ghoul Sorcerer Bloodline gives you power to grow claws which paralyse on hit. But it never states what is the paralysis DC.
Almost every other Bloodline power states how to determine it's save DC. (The only one other I know that doesn't state it is Beguiling Voice from Maestro Bloodline)
Most of such powers have 10+1/2 Sorc level + Cha mod for DC. But I found that Serpent's Fangs from Serpentine Bloodline bases it's save DC on Constitution Mod. And ghoul's original ability is Con based.
So, how do I determine DC for Ghoul Sorcerer paralysis?
As mentioned, unarmed strikes may count as "natural attacks" for effects but they are not and do not count as "primary natural attacks" and so you will not gain better damage with power attack.
This is large part of why flurrying with a two-handed weapon (seven ring sword) is so popular. Because you can flurrying while using the weapon in two-hands and get the extra power attack damage.
Valid point. But!
(mostly for the sake of the argument)
1.Monk's unarmed strike states that it counts as both natural and manufactured weapon for thing thats enhance or improve it. I don't see why it shouldn't count as natural for this purpose.
2. Natural Attacks entry states:
Quote:
Most creatures possess one or more natural attacks (attacks made without a weapon). These attacks fall into one of two categories, primary and secondary attacks.
So every natural attack is either primary or secondary. There are no "simply natural attacks".
Quote:
If a creature has only one natural attack, it is always made using the creature’s full base attack bonus and adds 1-1/2 times the creature’s Strength bonus on damage rolls. This increase does not apply if the creature has multiple attacks but only takes one. If a creature has only one type of attack, but has multiple attacks per round, that attack is treated as a primary attack, regardless of its type.
This clearly identifies monk's attack as primary.
And since it is a primary attack that add 1.5 Strength bonus (due to Dragon Ferocity) it should apply for +50% damage bonus from Power Attack.
Do ability modifiers from the same ability stack? For instance, can you add the same ability bonus on the same roll twice using two different effects that each add that same ability modifier?
No. An ability bonus, such as "Strength bonus", is considered to be the same source for the purpose of bonuses from the same source not stacking. However, you can still add, for instance “a deflection bonus equal to your Charisma modifier” and your Charisma modifier. For this purpose, however, the paladin's untyped "bonus equal to her Charisma bonus (if any) on all saving throws" from divine grace is considered to be the same as "Charisma bonus (if any)", and the same would be true for any other untyped "bonus equal to her [ability score] bonus" constructions.
I think you don't understand what I'm trying to tell here.
It's not about stacking Strength bonus. It's about Dragon Ferocity changing unarmed strike formula so it qualifies for PA +50% damage bonus (i.e. +3 damage for each point of penalty).
Please read once again, but pay more attention this time. And please don't do this again.
Java Man wrote:
The "new wording" for power attack is straight from the CRB, and has been that way as long as I have played PF.
Wow. I guess I never actually read it. ha-ha.
Than it changes question to "Was this a Dragon Ferocity's intended feature from the start?"
4 people marked this as FAQ candidate.
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Hello!
Recently I noticed that d20pfsrd has new wording for Power Attack, which eliminates light and one-handed weapons from description and deals only with primary and off-hand/secondary attacks.
neat upgrade
But today I suddenly realized one little combo:
Power Attack states:
Spoiler:
You can choose to take a –1 penalty on all melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +2 bonus on all melee damage rolls. This bonus to damage is increased by half (+50%) if you are making an attack with a two-handed weapon, a one handed weapon using two hands, or a primary natural weapon that adds 1-1/2 times your Strength modifier on damage rolls.
and if you go Dragon Style feat chain, than you can get Dragon Ferocity feat, which states:
Spoiler:
While using Dragon Style, [b]increase your Strength bonus on unarmed strike damage rolls by an additional one-half your Strength bonus, to a total of double your Strength bonus on the first attack and 1–½ times your Strength bonus on other attacks.
And monk's unarmed strike is specifically states that it is counted as both natural and manufactured weapon.
Thus, Dragon Ferocity qualifies monk's unarmed strike for +50% damage increase from Power Attack.
So, if I'm reading this right, monks with dragon style should enjoy 1 to 3 exchange ratio for their Power Attacks.
This is probably a dumb question, but I still need to ask it xD
Normal Monk's Flurry of Blows and Brawler's Flurry specifically state that you can substitute attacks for some combat maneuvers, but Unchained Monk's Flurry of blows doesn't say that.
What exactly does that mean? Can monk use combat maneuvers that substitute an attack (trip, disarm, sunder) or using combbat maneuvers with FoB is no-no for Unchained Monk?
Maybe not what you are looking for, but I've heard that Paladin mixed with Life Oracle with Life Link mystery is one of the best options for party tank.
Ok, a little more info about his druid.
His build is kinda secret for the party, so I hide it inside a spoiler tag.
don't read it if you play my game:
First of all, he's not a simple druid, he is Reincarnated Druid with Vulture Domain.
And we are playing Way of the Wicked, so he is basically the evil Doctor with a nature twist.
He's not using Wildshape right now because he doesn't have it. He'll get it later though.
I've tinkered a little with some of his class features so he can spontaneously cast his Domain spells and I'm thinking to let him wildshape into his past incarnations. We also made a custom Reincatnate table expanding options and adding some random thing like plants and oozes.
He pumps his feats into saves: he already has Great Fortitude and Improved Great Fortitude and he said that he plans to get Iron Will chain as well.
Also I should point that I started this thread not because someone is not having fun or disappointed with his character. It's simply because I know that build without some battle plan tend to fall into "I do nothing" pit. Right now he deals OK damage with his quarterstaff and produce flame, but I'm kinda concerned that he can fall into it later (Yes, I know that casters are still overpowered, but druid's spelllist is kinda tricky - I'm not sure if you can simply pick a random spell and be good by using it)
Anyway, he seems to be very defensive when I try to talk about his build, so I think I have to back off for now and see what happens next.
Hi!
One of my players plays druid. But his druid is very unconventional:
he doesn't have Animal Companion
he is not using summons
and he traded his Wildshape for ability to speak with women (JK, but he is not using Wildshape).
From what I can see he has no build plan and his current build is mostly eared for survival.
I want to be able to give him some build advices (especially about what to do in combat) when the need arises (and I believe it will).
Aside from buffing and healing (which is boring) I don't see readily available options for him.
He has moderate strength (16) and low dexterity (10),so I was considering "bad touch" rote for him, but I'm not sure if it is viable for druid.
Grab allow you to do the damage listed under that attack for each successful grapple check in the following rounds.
So if a constrictor snake bit you and choose not to take the -20: it would deal damage, get it's free grapple check, and then deal constrict damage. The following round if it passed the check to maintain, and you didn't escape and it choose to pin you, you would be pinned and would take bite and constrict damage. The third round if it choose to maintain and deal damage: you would be pinned, it would deal bite damage from the damage option, it would deal bite damage from the grab ability, and it would deal constrict damage.
This looks like what I imagine this should work. But there are people who say that Grab only works this way if you choose to take -20 penalty because Grab ability says about dealing damage only when you maintain the hold. Which is than linked to earlier sentence from Grab description:
Quote:
The creature has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use the part of its body it used in the grab to hold the opponent. If it chooses to do the latter, it takes a –20 penalty on its CMB check to make and maintain the grapple, but does not gain the grappled condition itself.
Another question - does bonus damage comes online only if you initiate grappling through grab ability or it works no matter how grapple started?
You are probably thinking of Constrict, which does let you inflict damage with every successful Grapple Check.
No, I'm not.
Grab has this part (at least at d20pfsrd.org) in the description:
Quote:
[...]
The creature has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use the part of its body it used in the grab to hold the opponent. If it chooses to do the latter, it takes a –20 penalty on its CMB check to make and maintain the grapple, but does not gain the grappled condition itself. A successful hold does not deal any extra damage unless the creature also has the constrict special attack. If the creature does not constrict, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals the damage indicated for the attack that established the hold. Otherwise, it deals constriction damage as well (the amount is given in the creature’s descriptive text).
And I'm not sure if it only concerns second option, or it is a free damage every time you grapple someone.
And is it an extra damage, similar to constrict, or it simply replaces every other grapple option available?
Well, once again I'm frustrated with grapple rules and how people read them xD
First and the most interesting:
There seems to be two ways how people read Pin rules:
1. Some think that like in that other old pnprpg you need to choose Pin each round to maintain Pin on you opponent.
2. Others think that once you Pin someone he stays pinned untill he escapes. (which is, IMO, a little OP since it completely shutdowns enemy at the cost of two actions).
Which is the correct one? Is there a FAQ on this?
Second: Do Grab allows you to do free automatic damage in every situation or only if you choose to take -20 penalty and don't get grappled condition?
Third:
If you have Greater Grapple you can maintain twice per round. But! Do you need to actually maintain your grapple (i.e. wait to the round after you initiate grapple when you need to maintain grapple) or you just have option to do another grapple check every time you have someone grappled and a free move action to spare (for example when you initiate grapple or brake someone's grapple and choose to become primary grappler)?
You need critical feats at higher levels. And you can stack them because you're kinda fighter.
You can also focus on your opportunate parry and riposte deed since it's kinda the only good thing you have.
The worst thing about swashbuckler is that he has no apparent role. Dealing damage is the only thing he can. But he does it not so good. At least worse than other melee fighters.
To add insult to injury: Daring Champion archetype for Cavalier can have all the good things that Swashbuckler has, but still keep all his class features.
For being a highly specialized Evoker your Dex is quite low, considering that rays are probably a good part of your arsenal.
Being an Evoker, are you using/abusing of Dazing effect? He cannot teleport away if dazed XD
I don't do rays. I do fireballs.
Besides, specializing in evocation gives no benefits for ray type spells.
Yeah, I'm going to use dazing spell a lot, but I grabbed it only recently, so never actually used it =/
Talking about great target debuffs: none of noteworthy antagonists ever failed SoS/D effect in my current career. I actually begin to suspect that my GM is a cheating bastard. But I respect his choice if he actually is. For now xD
Abraham spalding wrote:
There is a weapon property for this, phase locking just make a bunch of arrows for the ranger and have him use one a round.
This sounds like a plan.
Wheldrake wrote:
It's 4th level, so just make a wand of it (or buy one) and give it to one of your buddies with a higher dex and a maxed UMD skill. They'll have to spend an action too, but I don't see any way around that. At least it isn't *your* action. <g>
Is the ranger is archery based have him ready actions to disrupt spells.
Another idea us to try to planar bind something to help you until you complete book 5, and have that be on disruption duty.
Are they teleporting away, healing up and then coming back to fight you again?
I feel incredibly stupid right now. I completely forgot that you can easily counterspell anything by dealing enough damage to the caster.
Thanks for this advice. It really helps xD
They do different things: one was hiding inside solid fog right besides us, some others simply ran away (carrying my precious loot -__-) and some do run-heal-attack-repeat cycles.
Hi!
We are playing through Rise of the Runelords. We are 5 books deep and we have a problem:
Everything worthy to be a challenge has Dimension Door or some other means of teleportation. What should we do with this?
We have: a bard, a wizard and a slayer. Plus pet ranger and pet brawler (via Leadership). We are all level 13 and our 'pets' are lvl 11.
I am a wizard. And I know that I can get Dimensional Anchor. But:
1. Wasting an action to cast it severely damages our chances of winning.
2. I am a highly specialized Evoker and I have low Dex (12). So actually hitting with it may be a problem.
Are there any other reliable means to deal with teleporting enemies?
The bard is a full-on caster with nice things like hold monster and domination.
And she's also secretly an evil b**ch. She often full-controls her enemies first and mercilessly murders them while they are helpless. My character and Rogue are honestly scared by her.
Currently party is lvl10.
We usually don't have 10 minutes adventure days. But there are a lot of, let's say' 1-hour adventure days in this AP.
I'm as specialized as you can be. I mostly follow Brewer's Blockbuster Wizard guide.
And I actually banned conjuration school because our DM was kinda pissed at me for being too good at lvl 1 xD Our gaming party is usually not very optimized, so I try not to outshine everyone.
We usually don't have problems with killing things. And we also try to avoid head-to-head combat.
Blaster Wizard is actually not that bad. I drop some damage on enemies and everyone else usually pile up and drop them down. And targets with elemental vulnerabilities (like red dragon from book 4) simply melt due to high knowledge checks and ability to switch elements.
I try not to do only damage. Evocation actually has some semi-decent control and debuffs (like Sheet Lightning, Icy Prison, Wall of X spells).
Hi!
We are playing RoRL AP and our party consists of Bard, hit-and-run Rogue and blaster Wizard (me). We had a melee cleric, but he bailed out.
We also have two cohorts - ranged ranger and brawler.
And now we have a problem: this AP has tons of strong melee opponents, and underleveled brawler is our toughest melee combatant. So any full attack from our enemies usually brings down anyone caught in it.
We need something to improve our melee survivability. I have blur, but it is clearly not enough. Stoneskin has costly component and actually doesn't help much.
What non-personal protective spells would you advice me to use?
Similar question were on this forums before, but those threads are confusing, hard to read and generally not helpful.
So, here's the problem:
Full-Round action says:
Quote:
A full-round action consumes all your effort during a round. The only movement you can take during a full-round action is a 5-foot step before, during, or after the action. You can also perform free actions and swift actions (see below). See Table: Actions in Combat for a list of full-round actions.
[...]
A full-round action requires an entire round to complete. Thus, it can't be coupled with a standard or a move action, though if it does not involve moving any distance, you can take a 5-foot step.
If I get somehow an extra action (like extra move action or extra standard action), can I use this extra action and then also use my full-round action?
For example:
I am 6th-level fighter and I happen to have a Quick Runner's Shirt.
Quick Runner's Shirt says:
Quote:
Once per day as a swift action, the wearer can take an additional move action to move on his turn.
Can I activate my shirt, take additional move action to towards my enemy, and then make a full attack? Why?
Hi!
I was tinkering with various wizard builds when polymorph subschool suddenly got my attention. After short search I realized that I don't think I can do something good with it.
So, is there a way to make polymorph wizard viable? I am talking specifically about spells like Beast Shape, Elemental Body and so on.
So, are you primarily looking for buff and utility spells from the enchantment and conjuration schools to put in your staff? I'd suggest things like glitterdust, fog spells, dimension door, teleport, and summon monster [...]
Not exactly enchantment and conjuration - just overall useful spells.
I've banned myself from being a 'fog wizard' not to take fog spells through loopholes xD Same with glitterdust and summons.
But yeah - dimension door and teleport is a good idea .
Dave Justus wrote:
Typically I would choose to have my general use spells, like Mage Armor, that I am going to cast every day, be ones that I memorize. I like a staff to be my emergency spells for when I'm running low on what I can cast.
With that, as an evoker I'd probably start with Magic Missile.
Fair enough. Wasn't going to take magic missile as a backup, but now I probably will.
Hi! I'm playing blaster master wizard (evocation(admixture) school) and I've banned enchantment and conjuration (because I can!). I chose staff as my arcane bond.
My GM has allowed me to craft my custom staff right from level 1 and gradually upgrade it as I level up.
My first obvious choice is probably Mage Armor (roleplaying is one thing, but 11 AC is a cruel and painful thing ;P). My goal is to pick overall useful spells, that either too costly for a scroll (assuming I'll use them a lot, like mage armor) or benefit from higher caster level or intelligence score (like phantom steed).
Question about Arcane Deed: It never says that you use your Magus level as Swashbuckler level for anything. it only allows you to select deed from list that would be normally available for swashbuckler of your level. Was it ever adressed in FAQ or errata?
Just as Daring Champion never states that he uses his Cavalier level as Swashbuckler level.
This thing bothers me a lot.
Why would rapier and/or estoc be any better for str build than 1d8/18-20 weapon?
About build:
First: don't go kensai - it's a trap. Vanilla magus, hexcrafter and bladebound are much better, especially for str build.
Second: unfortunately, there is no use for high wis or cha unless you multiclass. Maximum you can get - good perception, UMD and will save. You can still invest in Diplomacy (especially if make it class skill).
Third: Tiefling is a great choice for Dex-based magus. For str magus it is still ok, but extra feat from human is probably better.
Maybe I missed it, but has someone proposed to use litany of Righteousness?
I had pally with Scimitar and shield in my game (also, Improved Critical and power attack). He was mostly 'face', in combat he usually was a tank with some DPS and was outperformed by fighter and rogue. But he was the one who could oneshot almost any evil outsider or undead, especially when he was prepared for this fight (i.e. had 2-3 rounds for buffs before combat).
