Gallant Armor's page

I feel that the items don’t really serve a purpose of helping martial vs caster issues. You may as well just hand out more potions and raise their level cap.

For the martial/caster issue, I have an alternate rule, where spells “known” is limited by a formula to slow the entrance of problem spells. For 9 spell level classes you can only learn spells of level 1+(character level)/3. For 6 spell level classes you are limited to 1+(character level)/4. Slots for spells known and per day are still gained at the usual levels, but must be filled with metamagic or lower level spells. Other class abilities that mimic spellcasting also need to be similarly effected, like the summoner’s summon monster ability.

This rule doesn’t begin to effect casters until the levels where martial vs caster issues begin to become a thing. And it basically removes level 8 and 9 spells from the game. It also makes multiclassing a caster more attractive, as you aren’t missing out on higher level spells as much.

My goal wasn't to address caster/marital disparity as that isn't much of an issue at my table. What I was interested in was to balance the items with each other.

Not sure I've ever seen this heated of a rules debate in the homebrew forum.

If anyone wants to steer back to my proposed item I would be interested.

Java Man wrote:

Do bloodline mutations follow archetype stacking rules?

No but if they are replaced like with tattooed sorc it replaces their 1st level bloodline power for a tattoo familiar and thus won't work with blood havoc. Cross blooded does not replace or alter the 1st level bloodline power so you can use it freely with the mutations.

"At 1st, 3rd, 9th, 15th, and 20th levels, a crossblooded sorcerer gains one of the two new bloodline powers available to her at that level."

The obvious issue with this, that i dont personally mind, but will clearly appear if you are trying to balance them equally is the following:

1 spell, even at lvl 1, might amount to far more than 1 atk. Sure, if the guy cast some spell to hit one single enemy all is fine. If he cast an extra color spray and clear a room, doesnt seem quite the same anymore.

This is lvl 1, when you consider tha caster can do a lvl 5 extra spell while the martial just 1 extra attack, well...

Applying a metamagic feat. That, well, is worth more than than a swift move. Actually this is a very powerful item for this ability alone.

What you can try to do is divide said stones into spell levels like the rods.

Another issue is the word "wielder". Keep in mind the implications for both martials and casters regarding free hands.

I agree that an extra attack or move is worth less than a bonus spell or free metamagic, that is why I gave the Spellstone 1 use per day and the Bladestone 3 uses per day. I am unsure about the balance even with that.

As for wielder, I intended it to be a slotless item similar to a Stone of Good Luck, I will reword for for the final version.

I'm working on a campaign and I had an idea for some custom items:

Spellstone
Once per day the wielder of a Spellstone may gain the benefit of one of the following effects:

Pathbuilder looks like the best resource for what I am looking for, thanks to all who suggested it!

For anyone else with this issue; there are hundreds of complete builds people have shared, it should save a ton of time.

Both of those resources are useful as a starting point, but not exactly what I was looking for.

I was hoping to find statblocks for individual NPCs from 1 to 20 (i.e. Bob the Fighter 1, Bob the Fighter 2, Bob the Fighter 3...Bob the Fighter 20).

I am working on an upcoming game and one thing that interested me was to have allies and foes of the party level along with them. This would be a lot of paperwork to keep up with so I was wondering if anyone put together stat blocks for the same NPC from level 1 to 20.

I searched around and didn't find what I was looking for, I'd appreciate any help or ideas anyone has on this.

Deathless armor can help a bit and Soul Stimulant is a cheap way to negate a negative level for a day.

Relevant FAQ http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm#v5748eaic9ru6

tl;dr You can't charge unless rider and mount are able to charge.

I had a lot of fun with my eldritch archer/hexcrafter magus. I took the flight hex and was able to get in position first round and then rain down arrows for the rest of combat. Snowball and scorching ray were 2 of the spells I used the most with acid splash on hand if I needed to save my spells. There are a good number of ranged tough attack options to consider if you go that route (check with GM if you can use the pre-UW version of snowball).

I've played with both and it depends a lot on what you want to do with your familiar.

I used my mauler familiar as a flanking buddy and added in beast shape whenever possible to add in combat effectiveness (vivisectionist alchemist, pre errata).

For my protector I used life link to absorb damage from the party and siphoned some off on my familiar when needed (shaman with life spirit). I also made use of imbue spell like ability and familiar spell to have my familiar heal me/itself/other party members when needed, saving me actions in combat.

Your role and your familiar's role in the party will tell you a lot about which is the better option. Having played both, I had more fun with my mauler but both are solid options. If you do pick mauler, be warned that you will have to spend a fair amount of gold on it's survivability and combat effectiveness.

I have played a good mix of both and I generally prefer martials. Casters are a lot of fun, but their deeds feel less earned somehow. If I kill an enemy with phantasmal killer it is somehow less satisfying than if I slay it with a sword.

Gallant Armor wrote:

Only thing I could find is the Disease Variant Channeling ability:

"Creatures heal a number of points of ability damage to one ability score (your choice) equal to your channel bonus."

"...[channel] bonus is +1, increasing to +2 at cleric level 5 and for every 5 cleric levels thereafter (to a maximum of +5)."

That's what it was! I was looking for a "Disease Domain" because of my notes and couldn't find anything today when I went back. Not sure how I ran into that, but thanks!

I must've tried a half dozen different searches of "Cleric disease ability damage heal" and similar and couldn't find even a forum post talking about it.

Glad I could help! For future reference, I find the search feature at archives of nethys to be very helpful; I did a Classes/Pets search for "ability damage" and it showed up under Cleric - Variant Channeling.

Only thing I could find is the Disease Variant Channeling ability:

"Creatures heal a number of points of ability damage to one ability score (your choice) equal to your channel bonus."

"...[channel] bonus is +1, increasing to +2 at cleric level 5 and for every 5 cleric levels thereafter (to a maximum of +5)."

How about for Ultimate Mercy if the paladin agrees to accept the temporary negative level?

Not sure how to price it, but it would likely be well under the 5,000 GP material cost for raise dead.

"non-living objects up to her maximum load are sucked into an extradimensional space within the robe."

What is the weight of a gargantuan object (painting) ?

If the wearer leave the extradimensional space, are the objetcs still on the extradimensional space ?

Thanks for your future help.

Animated Portrait lists a weight of 1 lbs. for a 4x6 foot framed painting. Seems rather light but we will go with that.

Typical weight for a medium creature is 60 to 500 lbs.
Typical weight for a gargantuan creature is 32,000 to 250,000 lbs.

That puts the multiplier at 500 to 533x, meaning a gargantuan portrait should be 500 to 533 lbs.

At 1st level, a white mage can expend 1 point from her arcane reservoir to use one of her spell slots to cast a cure spell (any spell with “cure” in its name) from the cleric spell list as if it were on her spell list and prepared.

RAW this exploit would have no effect on a caster's ability to activate spell trigger items. It does not add the spells to your list, it allows you to cast them as if they were on your list if you spend an arcane reservoir point and sacrifice a spell slot.

RAI I think it would be reasonable to allow it, but the caster would need to spend an arcane reservoir point to activate the item.

You always round down in pathfinder.

+1/2 per level to perception, min +1 would go as follows:
Level 1: 1/2, default to 1 because of minimum
Level 2: 1
Level 3: 1.5, rounded to 1 per the round down rule
Level 4: 2
Level 5: 2.5, rounded to 2 per the round down rule
Level 6: 3

Ray of the Eclipse would follow this pattern as well.

Divine Favor follows the same rules but would advance every three levels, reaching +2 at level 6.

"Is a large one-handed weapon still a one-handed weapon for class abilities like for Swashbuckler's panache?"
No

"Is a small two-handed weapon a one-handed weapon for Swashbuckler?"
Yes

Bladed Brush with the glaive might be what you are looking for. A fauchard is described as being "like a glaive". A permissive GM might allow Bladed Brush to work with a fauchard, but it wouldn't work RAW.

With the Whirling Dervish archetype you can get 1.5x dex to damage as well.

Gallant Armor wrote:

A prereq for weapon focus is proficiency with the selected weapon, you can't take weapon focus (whip) if you are not proficient

The second prereq is BAB +1. Yet the 1st level warpriest takes Weapon Focus (any other weapon) even if he has BAB 0.

Good point. It's possible that it was intended for warpriests to treat their BAB as equal to their warpriest level for weapon focus as well as their other bonus feats, but that isn't outlined.

RAW, you don't ignore prereqs for bonus feats so warpriests wouldn't be able to use weapon focus until level 2 (as long as they were proficient). It would be reasonable for a GM to rule that it was intended for it to work at level 1 so the BAB requirement should be ignored. There isn't a good justification to ignore proficiency however.

A prereq for weapon focus is proficiency with the selected weapon, you can't take weapon focus (whip) if you are not proficient.

Sacred weapon alters the amount of damage, not the damage type. It would still be nonlethal.

Yeah, if the GM didn't mention it after the check that was a bad call.

I support players not knowing things their characters wouldn't know. If the GM telling you about changes to enemy types makes you prepare for that in character, that is metagaming unless there is some reason in character to make those preparations such as a known troll threat in the area.

If you know you are hunting for trolls then it would make sense to do the proper research and prepare accordingly. If trolls came out of nowhere you wouldn't necessarily be prepared to fight them.

And to Pantshandshake and his houserule issue: I 100% agree houserules should be written somewhere the whole group can see. If acid does 10%hp damage before being effective to regen, I should know going in that is a rule different from what I know (the core). If the GM can point to his paper with the rule he showed day 1, then me pointing to core rules or bestiary 1 entries is irrelevant. Otherwise it seems like GM cheating (GM FIAT is different).

I disagree with you for there, changes like this can help prevent metagaming. The important thing is to include that information if the characters make their knowledge checks.

Changes that impact the character directly such as a certain spell/feat not existing should be revealed during session 0/character creation.

"The character can also choose to use a double weapon two-handed, attacking with only one end of it."

The way the double property is written Steadfast Slayer only works when you wield the weapon two handed, attacking with one end.

Gallant Armor wrote:

Can't find anything that fits what you need exactly:

Missive stone - Pass whispered messages with the paired stone (must be within 3 miles).

Communique Rings - Pass whispered messages with the paired ring (must be within 1 mile).

Shell of Sending - 1/day message of 25 words or less, no range limit.

None of those are even close. How weird is it that this doesn't seem to exist in Pathfinder?

I made an edit to my post to include Permanent Telepathic Bond as an option, not sure if that helps.

Long range communication is generally highly valued in Pathfinder. You could use the items as a baseline to create more powerful versions that work as you desire.

Can't find anything that fits what you need exactly:

Missive stone - Pass whispered messages with the paired stone (must be within 3 miles).

Communique Rings - Pass whispered messages with the paired ring (must be within 1 mile).

Shell of Sending - 1/day message of 25 words or less, no range limit.

Telepathic Bond - Unlimited communication with unlimited range.

Permanent Telepathic Bond would be closest to what you need but some don't like the investment given the dispel chance. It would also require a lvl 13 caster to set it up and a fair amount a gold depending on how many you want to be linked.

I think what has been shown here is that the term hit point damage is used inconsistently to sometimes mean lethal damage and other times mean lethal and nonlethal damage. Barring an official ruling I'd say it's a GM call.

Gallant Armor wrote:

Is nonlethal damage considered hit point damage for the purpose of feats, spells and other abilities that only work with effects that deal hit point damage?

Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Read the last 1399 posts...

I still have my doubts...

If you aren't locked into playing an Oracle, Life Shaman would be worth looking at. You get channeling and access to Life Link and Shell of Succor (variant spirit hex) which are very nice. Hexes are good for combat debuffs so you can save your spells for other things and give you something to do all day. Human/half-elf FCB help fills in gaps in your spell list such as shield other.

Protector familiar allows you to transfer some of your damage to your familiar who will have fast healing 1 if your main spirit is Life.

Familiar Spell (feat or rod) and Imbue with Spell Ability are great ways to have your familiar heal you, itself or teammates in combat and save on action economy.

Life Shaman is a good choice, you get channeling and access to Life Link and Shell of Succor (variant spirit hex) which are very nice for tanky healers. Hexes are good for combat debuffs so you can save your spells for other things. Human/half-elf FCB help fills in gaps in your spell list.

Protector familiar allows you to transfer some of your damage to your familiar who will have fast healing 1 if your main spirit is Life.

Familiar Spell (feat or rod) and Imbue with Spell Ability are great ways to have your familiar heal you, itself or teammates in combat and save on action economy.

Gallant Armor wrote:

She could start with Recruits as her level 5 feat and switch to Leadership at 7 and get an awakened spider as a cohort. That would give the spider a small CHA boost to start and she might like the idea of being able to talk to him.

Awaken could be done through spellcasting services or she could just find the spider after taking Recruits/Leadership if the GM is nice. Adding empower and/or maximize to Awaken is a good idea if possible.

As she levels the spider will gain class levels so there are some fun possibilities there.

Lucas the Spider is a talking (and singing) spider so this would be a pretty good idea. I'm gonna say he needs bard levels as he can also play the harp. (As well as being able to create a harp with his web.)

I'd suggest that a mite would be a good choice as a race, but the racial hit die kinda hurts, and a charisma penalty is not gonna help with his leadership score.

Edit: Obviously, Awaken doesn't work on vermin so you'll have to look for something other than a giant spider for a cohort.

The Vermin Heart feat would fix that, finding an appropriate Druid could be a side quest.

Gallant Armor wrote:

It's not about reading it differently, you are just missing the that the term "magic weapon" is defined as having at least a +1 enhancement bonus. If something counts as a magic weapon for DR it counts a having a +1 enhancement bonus for DR, this would stack with bane. Nothing in the FAQ refutes this. "other than the ways indicated in the Core Rulebook" is an important phrase to note; ammunition counting as magic is an exception to the FAQ so the enhancement bonus applies.

Oh, I understand your reasoning. I simply disagree.

The fact that an attack bypasses DR/Magic does not imply that it has a +1 enhancement bonus. A level 1 kineticist throwing a physical blast bypasses DR/Magic. They don't have enhancement bonuses.

It's a logical fallacy that since a -> b, b proves a. In this case, a is "enhancement bonus ≥ +1" and b is "counts as magical for the purposes of DR."

One causes the other, but the reverse is not necessarily true.

There is a difference between "treated as magic" and "treated as a magic weapon". Unless you have a definition from the rules of "magic weapon" that contradicts the one I quoted, a magic weapon has an enhancement bonus of at least +1.

Right. And the arrow is not a magic weapon or magical ammunition. It just so happens to gain some benefits because of the above FAQ.

Before this FAQ was written, I would have agreed with you. Before this FAQ that's exactly how I thought everything worked. This FAQ basically says "No, it doesn't actually work that way, even though it's pretty close".

Reread the FAQ: "No, other than the ways indicated in the Core Rulebook (if the ranged weapon is at least +1, they count as magic, and if the ranged weapon is aligned they count as that alignment as well) the enhancement bonus granted to ammunition from the ranged weapon doesn’t help them overcome the other types of damage reduction."

Ammunition overcoming DR/magic when fired from a +x bow is an exception to the FAQ so the later text is irrelevant.

Gallant Armor wrote:

You can channel to harm living as well so it's still very useful.

I disagree. The damage is pitiful and the DC is based on a secondary stat for the majority of clerics. If you don't build specifically around it it's pretty much a waste. Same with spontaneously casting inflict spells.

I played a versatile channeler and got good mileage from channeling negative to harm. This was a party without a blaster so it was a useful side role for me to fill when needed. I did build for that a bit with half-elf FCB and a phylacteries of positive/negative energy (item stacking was allowed) but even without those bonuses it can still be useful depending on the party/campaign.

Gallant Armor wrote:

tchrman35 wrote:

Gallant Armor wrote:

"Ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an enhancement bonus of +1 or higher is treated as a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction"

"Damage Reduction may be overcome by special materials, magic weapons (any weapon with a +1 or higher enhancement bonus, not counting the enhancement from masterwork quality), certain types of weapons (such as slashing or bludgeoning), and weapons imbued with an alignment."

An arrow fired from a +x bow is treated as a magic weapon and a magic weapon is defined as having a +1 enhancement bonus. Bane would stack with this bonus and thus you would end up with a +3 even with mundane ammunition.

Gallant, you are absolutely right. The arrow will land with +3 damage, and it will be fired with +3 to hit.

But none of that matters when you're dealing with DR, because the conferred bonus doesn't help you get through DR.

Based on what? The arrow gets a +1 for the purposes of DR from the bow's +x and +2 from bane; 1+2=3. I don't see how to get any other answer without ignoring the text.

Based on the FAQ quoted and linked above.

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree here. We clearly read the text differently.

It's not about reading it differently, you are just missing the that the term "magic weapon" is defined as having at least a +1 enhancement bonus. If something counts as a magic weapon for DR it counts a having a +1 enhancement bonus for DR, this would stack with bane. Nothing in the FAQ refutes this. "other than the ways indicated in the Core Rulebook" is an important phrase to note; ammunition counting as magic is an exception to the FAQ so the enhancement bonus applies.

You can channel to harm living as well so it's still very useful.

She could start with Recruits as her level 5 feat and switch to Leadership at 7 and get an awakened spider as a cohort. That would give the spider a small CHA boost to start and she might like the idea of being able to talk to him.

Awaken could be done through spellcasting services or she could just find the spider after taking Recruits/Leadership if the GM is nice. Adding empower and/or maximize to Awaken is a good idea if possible.

As she levels the spider will gain class levels so there are some fun possibilities there.

Gallant Armor wrote:

"Ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an enhancement bonus of +1 or higher is treated as a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction"

"Damage Reduction may be overcome by special materials, magic weapons (any weapon with a +1 or higher enhancement bonus, not counting the enhancement from masterwork quality), certain types of weapons (such as slashing or bludgeoning), and weapons imbued with an alignment."

An arrow fired from a +x bow is treated as a magic weapon and a magic weapon is defined as having a +1 enhancement bonus. Bane would stack with this bonus and thus you would end up with a +3 even with mundane ammunition.

Gallant, you are absolutely right. The arrow will land with +3 damage, and it will be fired with +3 to hit.

But none of that matters when you're dealing with DR, because the conferred bonus doesn't help you get through DR.

Based on what? The arrow gets a +1 for the purposes of DR from the bow's +x and +2 from bane; 1+2=3. I don't see how to get any other answer without ignoring the text.

Large light weapons would be one handed and huge light weapons would be two handed for a medium creature. The line you quoted was refering to the fact that you couldn't wield a gargantuan starknife at all as it would be above a two handed weapon (you also couldn't wield a small starknife as that would be below a light weapon for a medium creature).

I'm not sure about adding 1.5 cha to damage if you wield a large or huge starknife two handed. My guess would be yes, but I'd ask your GM if no one else can give you a definitive ruling.

"Ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an enhancement bonus of +1 or higher is treated as a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction"

"Damage Reduction may be overcome by special materials, magic weapons (any weapon with a +1 or higher enhancement bonus, not counting the enhancement from masterwork quality), certain types of weapons (such as slashing or bludgeoning), and weapons imbued with an alignment."

An arrow fired from a +x bow is treated as a magic weapon and a magic weapon is defined as having a +1 enhancement bonus. Bane would stack with this bonus and thus you would end up with a +3 even with mundane ammunition.

Gallant Armor wrote:

A weapon with a special ability must also have at least a +1 enhancement bonus

Unless you have a rule to say otherwise, a weapon (or piece of ammunition) needs to have at least a +1 to have a special ability added.

Following your interpretation, then no special ability can be ever bestowed on mundane arrows by magic bow: since the arrow has no enhancement bonus, no special ability can be applied.

Of course that rule applies to special properties applied by (permanent or temporary) weapon enhancements, not to properties bestowed to ammunition by the weapon used to launch them.

A mundane arrow shot from a +1 bow is still a mundane arrow, but deals also +1 damage and overcomes DR/magic.

A mundane arrow shot from a +1 Bane bow is still a mundane arrow, but deals also +1 damage, overcomes DR/magic, and counts its enhancement bonus (+0) as 2 higher vs the target of Bane (+ other Bane stuff), hence counting as a +2 (Bane) arrow.

The enhancement bonus from a ranged weapon does not stack with the enhancement bonus from ammunition. Only the higher of the two enhancement bonuses applies.

By the rules an arrow fired by a +x bow would be a +x arrow. The FAQ limits this by saying that the arrow will not overcome the DR as normal for a given enhancement bonus, with the exception of DR/magic. Therefore the arrow would be treated as +1 for the purposes of DR and if bane is applied then this would be brought up to +3.

Gallant Armor wrote:

A mundane arrow fired from a +x bane bow would be considered a +1 bane weapon for the purposes of DR.

You can't have a special ability without a +1 so it must be at least a +1 to have bane and we know that an arrow fired from a magic bow is considered magic for the purposes of DR. Bane stacks with existing enhancement bonuses for all purposes so you would end up with an effective +3 for the purposes of DR.

No it wouldn't. It's an arrow that gets +1 bonus to attack and damage, bypasses DR/magic, and have the bane quality. But it wouldn't effectively be a +3 arrow, unless the arrow itself had a +1. That's the whole point of the of FAQ quoted above. Otherwise a +3 bow firing a mundane arrow would bypass DR/cold iron or silver, but it doesn't. The only reason the non-magical arrow fired from the magical bow bypasses DR at all is because it explicitly says it does.

The FAQ above literally tells us that the +1 bow does not make the ammunition that it fires a +1 arrow.

"A weapon with a special ability must also have at least a +1 enhancement bonus"

Unless you have a rule to say otherwise, a weapon (or piece of ammunition) needs to have at least a +1 to have a special ability added.

Kensai magi get exotic weapon proficiency. Clerics, Warpriests, Inquisitors, Nature Priest Druids, Reliquarian Occultists and Zealot Vigilantes of the deities Arete or Nemyth Vaar would be proficient in the bastard sword as a deities favored weapon (other classes/archetypes might get this as well).

Is there anything in particular you are looking for?

Gallant Armor wrote:

Claxon wrote:

The main point is that the arrow will itself need to be magical in some capacity to overcome DR.

So if you have a +1 bane bow and fire an arrow it wont bypass DR. If you fire a +1 bane bow with a +1 arrow the arrow effectively becomes +3 against the target of bane and would bypass DR as appropriate for a +3 weapon.

That isn't true at all. An arrow is considered a +1 for all purposes if it's fired from a bow with at least a +1.

"if the ranged weapon is at least +1, they count as magic"

Sorry, I should have said it wont bypass any DR except DR/magic.

A non-magical arrow fired from a +1 bow doesn't generally count as a +1 arrow, but does get a +1 bonus to attack and damage and will bypass DR/magic per the FAQ referenced above.

It does not generally count as a +1 arrow though, and if you could somehow have a bane arrow (no +1) and fire it from a +1 bow, the effective enhancement bonus would only be +2, not +3 and wouldn't bypass anything by DR/magic.

A mundane arrow fired from a +x bane bow would be considered a +1 bane weapon for the purposes of DR.

You can't have a special ability without a +1 so it must be at least a +1 to have bane and we know that an arrow fired from a magic bow is considered magic for the purposes of DR. Bane stacks with existing enhancement bonuses for all purposes so you would end up with an effective +3 for the purposes of DR.

The main point is that the arrow will itself need to be magical in some capacity to overcome DR.

So if you have a +1 bane bow and fire an arrow it wont bypass DR. If you fire a +1 bane bow with a +1 arrow the arrow effectively becomes +3 against the target of bane and would bypass DR as appropriate for a +3 weapon.

That isn't true at all. An arrow is considered a +1 for all purposes if it's fired from a bow with at least a +1.

"if the ranged weapon is at least +1, they count as magic"

On the magic weapons page Bane has the note "Projectile weapons with this ability bestow this power upon their ammunition". Since the arrow becomes a +1 bane arrow it would overcome DR as a +3 weapon against appropriate enemies. If the weapon was a +3 bane bow it would still only overcome DR as if it was a +3 weapon given the FAQ.

Wand of infernal healing would be more efficient if that is allowed (10 HP per charge vs. 5.5 avg).

You could also ask GM if you could get a healer NPC/hireling, taking leadership if needed.

As I have stated previously, this situation reminds me strongly of the bows overcoming DR debate. One side was arguing that the text indicated that a bow's enhancement bonus only allowed arrows to overcome DR magic, the other side's argument was that the common interpretation should be followed which allows bows to overcome DR the same as a melee weapon.

Just because an interpretation is common doesn't make it correct.

Allying weapon or AoMF would work, but you would have to decide how to divy up the enhancement bonus to various natural weapons. Gauntlet would be a good choice for a weapon so you can still hold something in that hand.