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Some swarms are immune to weapon damage. Do flame fountain fireworks deal damage to such swarms? The description says it behaves similarly to a heavy mace, which might make one think that it would not. However, it's not exactly the same as a melee weapon, and I believe torches DO affect swarms. Thoughts?

In the last session of a game I am running one of the players suggested that a PC should be able to identify any spell that they themselves know when someone else casts it. For example, a cleric should recognize every spell on their spell list that another cleric casts without needing a spellcraft check, as long as the spell is not being cast with metamagic enhancements. (For most classes this would be restricted to a much smaller group of spells known.) I did notice that specialist wizards get a +2 bonus to identify spells of their school, but aside from this there is no mention of bonuses or automatic successes on spells that the PC knows.

edit: Also, the rules associated with the counterspell action seem to make the automatic identification a definite no, but what about bonuses?

I see the player's logic, but I ruled against it because I feel like it might work against game balance. I do feel like the character making the spellcraft should get some bonus though. What are the RAW on this?

In a homebrew campaign in which I'm playing, the following happened last session:

1.) We fought an evil treant that supposedly had DR/bludgeoning. I was under the impression that treants have DR/slashing. Of course the GM has the last word, but he claims he was reading straight from the rules, and he thought that it may be because they were the evil counterpart to normal treants. I think he's just getting the DRs mixed up. What's the deal here?

2.) We fought a lich which took no damage from a magic missile that I cast on him. I beat his SR, and the GM said the missile struck him directly in the chest to no effect. I rolled 12-14 damage on the mm. He said the lich did not have the shield spell cast on him, did not have a brooch of shielding (that protects from magic missiles), and that it was a type of damage reduction against magic spells. Again, I honestly think he just doesn't understand how DR works. (I think when he sees DR 15/bludgeoning and magic, he thinks that means he has reduction AGAINST bludgeoning and magic, which is the opposite of how DR is supposed to work.) What's the deal in this case? Is there some kind of damage reduction against magical damage?

I looked up both creatures and DR rules because, as a newbie GM myself in another campaign, I want to make sure I have a good grasp on the rules. Is there something I'm not aware of, or is he just wrong/making up homebrew rules?

Can any combat maneuvers be attempted by a prone character?

If so, which ones, and what are the modifiers for that situation?

What combat maneuvers can be attempted on a prone creature?

What modifiers apply?

Not sure if this has been asked elsewhere, but a lengthy search turned up nothing. Currently playing in a homebrew campaign where the party bard has redonkulous bonuses to every possible knowledge skill. Every time we fight a new enemy, he attempts a knowledge check to determine if the creature has weaknesses, immunities, etc. The GM refuses to tell him which knowledge skill to roll (arcana, religion, etc), saying that he has to simply choose one and see what happens. There have also been instances where the GM has made up the monster from scratch, and claims that no knowledge check could possibly reveal anything about the creature.

I realize this particular use of the knowledge skills is one that gets houseruled a lot, and that in the end everything is up to the GM's discretion. However, I am curious as to how this is "supposed" to work. I am a newbie GM and run my own campaign, where I tend to try to stick close to the rules. I usually simply tell the players which skill check they need to roll.

So what is the "right" way, or at least the one most commonly accepted? What are the rules on this in a PFS game?

If a creature has DR 5/magic how does the conjuration school ability Acid Dart and other similar abilities interact with this? I think acid dart would do full damage.

Need advice on class/role choice in a combat-heavy homebrew campaign.

The group includes myself and 4 other PCs. The party is currently level 5 and consists of: A standard two handed build fighter that hits very hard, a paladin who has about 26 AC and a tower shield focused on defense/tanking (but enemies tend to ignore him and focus on the other PCs due to his low dpr), a bard that orates, gives the fighter +2 str, then typically gets smacked down after firing an arrow or casting flaming sphere due to his low defenses, and a "healbot" kobold oracle that typically casts an aid or two and heals himself after taking life link damage and is nearly incapable of doing damage.

So far in 7 sessions I've lost two characters (wizard and a summoner) due to the difficulty and length of combat encounters. I know encounters are typically less than 6 rounds, but ours are generally 10-25 (30 min-2 hours) and the GM says that's how it should be. We generally get close to a TPK once every session or two and I feel like this is due to the length of the encounters. As a side note the encounters almost never consist of one BBEG, it's typically 4-8 enemies at a CR that feels 2-3 points higher than the APL. I feel like what is needed here in a fifth party member is a character that can shut down or delay a few enemies at the onset of the encounter.

Essentially, I think we need a Battlefield Control character like a "god" wizard. The group consists almost entirely of 10+ year D&D veterans but none of them (including the GM) really "believe in" the battlefield control style of character. They all think a wizard should cast magic missile/fireball over and over. They also keep hinting that they want me to play a rogue, but I played one before and found it underpowered. Furthermore, there has been a grand total of one trap (that couldn't be disarmed anyway) and zero locked doors or devices to disarm. The party bard has all social skills and knowledges covered, so the only point in playing a rogue is as a "glass cannon" style, which I think is inferior to a two weapon fighter (or the insane dpr Summoner that just died).

My idea is to play a BC wizard, whose backstory includes him working as some sort of military adviser/tactician. I think insane initiative, BC, haste, and "save or get pooped on" spells are what is needed to cut these crazy encounters into bite sized chunks that we can eat quickly enough to cut encounter times and casualties down.

I'll be creating my character in the next 4 days and will start at level 5 with standard wealth. Outside of character creation acquiring the gear you want or need is almost impossible, so I'm avoiding builds that require specific eq later down the line and need to get most essentials at creation. I would really appreciate any advice on builds, especially what roles or classes would fit best into the party we have. I apologize for the length, but I thought the details would help devise a build for the particular situation.

Thanks!