Gregory Ison 168's page

the spell (Hanspur's Flotsam Vessel) write up says it "is always considered to be traveling downstream for purpose of calculating travel speed, regardless of its actual direction."

CRB gives the speed of a raft as 1/2 mile per hour, plus "If going downsteam add the speed of the current (typically 3 miles per hour) to the speed of the vehicle."

SO - would this give a Flotsam Vessel a speed of 3.5 miles per hour? What does that translate to on a tactical grid map?

Has anyone actually figured this out before?

So, can a Troll Tourniquet (from Healers Handbook) regrow lost eyes?

ok, when a Winter Hag is in a Coven the coven can cast Simulacrum (as well as other things)

Now - for plot reasons it would be good to have the W.Hag create a Simulacrum of herself and send it off on a task - but exactly what would the stats be like?

From the spell: Simulacrum creates an illusory duplicate of any creature. The duplicate creature is partially real and formed from ice or snow. It appears to be the same as the original, but it has only half of the real creature's levels or HD (and the appropriate hit points, feats, skill ranks, and special abilities for a creature of that level or HD). You can't create a simulacrum of a creature whose HD or levels exceed twice your caster level. You must make a Disguise check when you cast the spell to determine how good the likeness is. A creature familiar with the original might detect the ruse with a successful Perception check (opposed by the caster's Disguise check) or a DC 20 Sense Motive check.

I bolded the part I consider the important part...

so... anyone have any suggestions? How do I go about this creature build?

Looks like it would lose half it's HD (so BAB and Saves would go down) and half it's HP. Lose half it's feats (2) and half it's skill ranks. But what about "special abilities"?

Is casting Speak w/Dead illegal? or "evil"? Should it be?

This question grows out of another thread dealing with Necromancy... so here is the link to over there...
Other Thread.

but here's the gist of the background to my question...

I'm currently running an AP set in Ustalov and the PCs have picked up a wand of Speak w/Dead. (I figured it would help me reveal some of the backstory that otherwise the PCs may never learn). After recovering the body of a murder victim, conversation came around to how they were continuing the investigation... And as no one suggested it, I had an NPC ask why they don't just cast the spell from the wand on the murder victim and ask it for details of the crime.

The person with the wand stated that they figured using the spell would at best get the evidence/testimony disallowed in court and at worse would get them attacked by the Town Guard. This caught me off guard.

"Why" I asked?

"That spell is Necromancy - and this area has a History of trouble with Necromancy. We just figured that if we cast the spell the locals would attack us."

Whereas I figured it would be part of the SOP for Police Departments in major cities. Bring in a Cleric of Pharasma and have them ask the body who killed them.

After some discussion about the spell Speak w/Dead, we decided to go with my interpretation... I am the GM after all. But heck, what does everyone else think?

Should casting Speak w/Dead be legal/illegal? Is it "evil" or even "Evil"? or just "Icky" (deals with bodies after all).

Is casting Speak w/Dead on a corpse more or less evil than casting Zone of Truth (a compulsion) to force a living person to speak only truth?

Is there a Ranger Archetype that gets Heavy Armor?

My sister is wanting to run a dwarven Ranger type in a low level game, but she was wanting heavy armor. Short of taking her first feat for it, is there another way for her to pick up Heavy Armor Prof.?

I keep waiting for it to improve. And every now and again it does... only to get even more difficult to work with.

One step forward and three back...

It has gotten to the point it takes more than 20 minutes to buy a PFS scenario - and even then it appears to have charged me several times for it.

I introduced several new/old players to the Society, and tried to show them the advantages of Organized Play - or at least where to access the 10 years of available content... After an hour of trying, the three of us (all IT professionals) simply gave up.

Yeah - I have given up (mostly)posting to the boards. Often I can’t even get to them. It took me more than 10 minutes just to get to this board - and I never did get the link to customer service to work...

Tremendously frustrating.

ok, it's already popping up in the middle of games, and the new edition isn't even out yet.

Last game, in the middle of combat, we have the following situation...

Party opens a door and a Large Monster is just inside waiting in ambush. SURPRISE! Swings! Combat starts!

and one of the PCs in the back of the party wants to get behind the monster... which would require them to pass thru the monster (thru a doorway also) and issues a complaint about how much easier this is to calculate "in the new rules"... sigh. But under "these old rules big monsters have really high CMDs" and "then you have to modify the roll for different conditions, it was simpler in the new rules"...

Actually, I never really figured out if they were talking about Starfinder rules or 2nd Edition, but as I actually don't play either, it doesn't really matter...

I can see years ahead of this issue... kind of like how (even in Season 9) I would have players still trying to do things "like we did in 3.5 rules."

Ok, I heard a rumor that there has been a change recently to what animals a PC can own/use in PFS. Due maybe to the release of Ultimate Wilderness or something?

Something about removing access to Dire Bats?

here, let me give the full background

finally it looks like she is going to get to use the mount in part of an up-coming game (tonight in fact)... and ... the rumor pops up that Dire Animals are no longer allowed in the game.

so - can a PC buy/own/use a Dire Bat riding animal?

ok, I realize this is a silly grip - but why the heck did they create the new blank PC sheets published to be 11 x 8.5 instead of the standard 8.5 x 11?!!!

so if we are using normal binders we have to turn them sideways to use the sheets - or pull them out of the binder or ... something?

Was it really just to be "different"?

delete sarcastic remarks

Has anyone re-formatted one of these to be a "standard" orientation yet? Can you share it?

well... Sorry for the Rant - but I need to get this off my chest.

over the course of the last year there has been a bit of "upgrading" done to the Piazo web-site. Mostly... each change has been for the worse. It has finally gotten to the point that the site is nearly unworkable.

I know several people who don't even bother to try to struggle thru them any more.

But this last change has broken the boards badly. When I try to access the site thru my Ipad... I am unable to actually post anything, and have little navigation abilities. I can no longer even see most of the threads and those I can see I can't post to. So, I went to a Desktop Machine to use a different browser. I.E. (Internet Explorer) is slightly better, but still a real struggle. And I am unable to actually access the lower half of the page (that includes the "submit Post" button). With Firefox I was able to get to the "Post" buttons (otherwise you wouldn't be seeing this... as I wouldn't be able to post it), but it still looks really bad.

Are you guys actually TRYING to make "the Piazo Experience" bad? I just got back from GenCon - why the heck did you do an "upgrade" during GenCon?

Anyway... please quit messing with something that works.... not that it actually does any more. It would be nice if you fixed it - but at this point I figure the next "up-grade" will make it totally unavailable to me.

I don't actually know if we are still going to have "Specials" in the new PRS2e format... but I would think so.

So ok, here is a suggestion on "Inter-Table Interaction" (a term I think I just coined) at Multi-Table events ("Specials).

How about a "puzzle" challenge where the players only get 3 of the required 4 parts for, and they get "an extra piece" that actually belongs to the table beside you. Something like a fragmented "Key" that unlocks a door the PCs need to pass... and now they arrange the 3 parts to their "mcguffen" and find they are a piece short - Part of their key is missing! and worse yet, they have a extra bit... how long does it take them to figure out that someone else has their missing piece? How much longer does it take for them to figure they also have someone else's "extra piece"? (and here's the kicker) How long does it take them to realize that they need to take their extra piece to another table. NOT just get their won "mcguffen" put together, but "Cooperate" with the other tables?

Explore! - Find your cache of broken mcguffen pieces.

Report! - "Hay, we found most of a Blue McGuffen! and this extra Red piece "

Cooperate! - "Did you say you had a BLUE piece mixed into your YELLOW pieces? - Hay, who needs a RED McGuffen piece?"

Is there going to be some kind of Inventory Tracking Sheet in the Playtest (and then PFS2e)?
If so, I would like to NOT just drag the old ITS over, but do something better... please?

so... do we have any idea if the "Generic Masterwork" tool that we all know and love in 1e is still going to be in the same form?

Will we still be able to spend XXgp (currently 50gp) and assign "the perfect tool for the job" for a skill to one of our PCs and have it give a (circumstance?) bonus to that skill check (restricted circumstances)?

Say - a 1 lb. 'shiny' metal ball, that grants a +2 bonus to Bluff to Faint Goblins in combat... or whatever... "oooh! Shiny!"

please excuse my wandering thoughts on this subject... I've been thinking about how to make "traps" more fun in the game... so this post is a little be disjointed...

The mechanic for overcoming a trap in PF First Edition was reduced to a couple of skill checks. Is this good? maybe, but picture doing the same for a combat challange.

Combat as a Pair of skill checks:

Player A - "Crud, another fight. Ok, bring up the Tank."
Tank Player - "I move up to the doorway. I got a +14 Offence, so when I take 10 I get a 24. Oh, and Defense is +12."
Archer Player rolling dice and getting at least a 10 - "And I aid the offence for a +2! Makes a 26!"
Cleric Player also rolling - "I also aid on Defense, so +2 for a +14 Defense, and I have already cast the spell 'defense boost' for another +4 making it +18 Defense"
Judge - "Great, +14 Offence handles them in 2 rounds, and with the Defense of +18 you guys need 12 points of post combat healing and remember to spend the 2 arrows Archer. Now that you're past the combat and can move on into the room you see...."

That's basically what traps have become. In fact, often that is what Diplomacy (and most Social) Challenges have become... Can we fix them so they are more "fun" for everyone playing the game? Is there a way to do this? I don't know, but here's a few random suggestions to think about.

1) More varied skill checks. Maybe while being shot at (so we can't take 10). Got 10 rounds to disable the trap? Does it have 7 parts? Do you have to Climb/Swim/Acrobatics as part of it? Seven rolls, while the entire party tries to aid/Guidance/block enemy attacks/do something! Traps where the "disarming" involves some input and decisions on the part of the all or at least most of the players... Keep all the PCs on their toes because the trap is not over with just one roll, and everyone has some buy-in (not just the skill-monkey), some "skin in the game". "Careful moving past the trigger, I was only able to disable it on the 'red' floor tiles" - "I pick up and carry our klutzy Halfling with the big feet..." ...I'd love to see players sit down at the table and ask each other - "so, how does your PC plan to help with the traps?".

2) Traps as alarms. This is a change in the way Authors often use traps (some have started doing this now). The BBE sets up a trap outside his door. If the PCs find and bypass or disable it, they (maybe) get surprise. This worked well in a resent scenario. Also, in another scenario, if the PCs set off a trap the next encounter has warning that they are there. But it seems that often, traps are just lone encounters with no real addition to the adventure. Heck - often Haunts are like that too.

3) different levels of "success". In PF 1e we have the ability to bypass or re-program a trap if the Skill-monkey is good enough... but so what? We never get anything for it... Can we have some traps that matter if you turn them off rather than just disable them? And perhaps better ways to do that. Perhaps with input from other party members? "Hay, Mr. Wizard. Do you have Detect Magic? Can you read me what the Arcane Mark on this door says? In Common this time...". And then the rogue can turn them back on. The party shuts off a trap, moves past it and re-arms it, so that when the BBE calls in his Guards - they set the trap off.

4) Traps in the middle of combat. See the big orc at the end of the hall? why is he shooting a crossbow rather than charging you with his great ax? Because there is a pit-trap in front of him, and he wants YOU to charge into it. Again this is an Author thing that can be written into the scenario...

5) Traps that aren't really traps, that are more of a "thinking" challenge. A "Puzzle" challenge. Or perhaps that give the PCs an advantage later in the scenario if they overcame the challenge... perhaps a nice "prize" if they were disarmed "correctly". (How about a magical bear-trap that conceals itself when set? Perhaps with invisibility? Find it like you would an Invisible creature - with Glitterdust, Powder, splashing water on it, whatever - then "disarm" it, only to find it on the Chronicle for later use in another scenario.

6) Traps that are part of the loot. As you come to the final door - the BBE is waiting for you behind it, and you... notice the very fine lock on the door. In fact, it's an excellent example of Ancient Azlanti workmanship in bronze with silver inlays. (Exchange player: "It would be worth a pretty penny if we got it out intact - with the key the BBE has...". Grand Lodge player "It should be in a Museum!"...). So - do you just break it down? or pick the lock? or spell cast past it or... so many things...

anyway... just some random thoughts... thanks for your time!

some of us are talking of creating a group of Groetus followers to use for the next ... 17? months. You know, a party of adventurers for "The End Times", to welcome in the god of "empty places, oblivion and ruin".

At first I thought of running a Druid for the End Time Party - but I'm not sure. Any suggestions? Anyone currently running a "crazy painter" type of PC?

I was thinking of Necro'ing an old thread...

Link to older thread

but then I figured I'd just open a new thread with a link to the old one.

Living Greyhawk had a practice of placing many scenarios that take place in different regions of the game world in different Regions of the Real World. It really fostered travel to other locations to see/interact with the gaming community in different regions. I know it was an aspect that I enjoyed, traveling to a different part of the country to visit my family - and getting in a game that I could only play in that region. Or traveling to a Regional Con just over the border - and trying to cram in an extra game there, just for the "unique" record... something I couldn't get at home.

Anyway - surely there are some of us "Old Gamers" who remember 10 years back when we STOPPED doing that... Do you miss it?

and now to quote myself from that other thread...

Unless I am mistaken, "Regional Exclusive Scenarios" are an artifact created in the 3.0/3.5 Living Greyhawk campaign. In that RPGA based campaign it worked (for the most part)- but then LG was designed around it, and it was "built in". (In the interest of full disclosure I should say that I played/judged LG for many years in several different regions - and yes I traveled to conventions in states as far apart as Colorado, Florida and Maryland, sometimes just to play LG at regional conventions. I even wrote some regional LG mods.)

I rather enjoyed the regional flavors of LG... mostly. It had some problems too... And overall, if asked to pick one or the other I would pick PFS. Can we get the good parts of LG (Regional scenarios/flavor) while leaving the Quality Control in the hands of Paizo? I don't know. Either way, as long as it is fun, I'll play.

Ok, looks like I may have blundered into a social minefield... and I need a bit of advice on how to "fix my problem".

I have a PC (the one I am posting as) that I made a mistake on back during character creation... and I am not really wanting to "correct" him, so I would like some advice. Maybe someone knows a gimmick?

My Kitsune Vigilante is 4th level now, soon to be 5th. I had a lot of fun creating her, and even went so far as painting different figures for both Social and Vigilante guises. Different portrait art for my table tent and everything - again showing him both as:
"Knightspawn" - female kitsune and as
"Sir Loin" - male human.
The problem is... it seems kitsune keep the same sex when they shift to human form. Something that I missed back when I was creating her.

So far no one has noticed, or at least not pointed this problem out to me...

SO, is there any way for a kitsune to change sexes when shifting to human form? Or do I just make this as part of his disguise? Taking a -2 to the skill check when she is in human form?

Or am I just being silly and should continue playing him as is?

or... something else?

I would really like to keep this aspect of her as is... does anyone know a way that is legal in PFS to do this and still be within the rules?

Ok, I really like Props in PFS games. Small, simple items that might just breath a little live into a character. And recently I have had several PCs pick up a Book of War Prayers...
Book of War Prayers
And they have been starting each game (during table introductions) reading from it (over "breakfast" - before going into the VC Briefing if possible).

I'd love to actually have something to read from - so I have set about creating it. I picked up a (blank) book of suitable quality, and have started grafting in pages...

like this one

And I'd love other suggestions.

For example - a copy of The Charge of the Light Brigade would be a nice addition... anyone else have suggestions - created prayers or song lyrics or poems or .... something?

Ok, I can't figure this one out.

a Vigilante has a Secret Identity - I mean it seems to be part of the core of the character class that they are "two different people", and no one else knows this... and yet when they sit down at a table with 5 total strangers, everyone knows the "Secret".

How do we do this?

This is my biggest hurdle for running this class. Say the Social Identity attends the VC briefing. Then is involved in the "investigation" part of the scenario. That finishes up with the discovery of the BBE - and the PCs move to the Dungeon Crawl part of the adventure and ... Social Sam wonders off, but we pick up the Masked Man.... And no one notices or even asks "Hay, what happened to Sam?".

I've seen one player who just had his Vigilante in it's Secret Identity all the time, and never used the Social Identity... but that seems to be sort of half playing the PC to me...

I've considered running my Vigilante as a "Crazy Guy" with two personalities that don't know or like each other. Then all the other PCs would "know the Secret" and my 'toon would be the clueless one...

anyway, in PFS how are other players handling this? How do they run a Vigilante? or are they just ignoring it?

So, as the 2017 "real time" year comes to an end, we are (most of us anyway) trying to get one last game in...

What was yours?
How did it go?

I played 8-14 To Seal a Shadow and ...

wasn't real happy with it. Good Judge, Good group of players, a slightly loud venue (not to bad, but not the best) - so I'm going to have to blame the poor showing on the Scenario. Great idea, but ... not a good way to end the year. On a scale of 1 to 5, I'd give it a 2, maybe a 2.5.

so, how was your Last Game of the Year? and what did you play?

Ok, I really fell for the picture in the book introducing the promethean alchemist - the homunculus is just so CUTE!...

And I realize that the archetype really sucks, to please no need to point out that it's not the best choice for a PC...

But then I noticed that as the PC hits 4th level, the homunculus grows up (size medium...) kind of like the way Animal Companions do... but there is no mention of NOT taking the 4th level advancement.

Is the

anyway - any way to avoid the Size Increase for the homunculus?

Long-Long ago, I think I remember being able to use Actobatics to do Tumbling as a Day Job - or is my memory just going even more bad?

Is there a way to do this in PFS?

Ok, someone asked me the following question, and I... don't know the answer.

So I figured I'd ask it here and after all the fireworks died down maybe I'd be able to answer the question.

3 players (we'll call them A, B, & C) sit down to play Gallows of Madness part 3, with PCs they have played the other two parts with. In comes Player D, who has played Part 3 with another PC at 2nd level, but she offers to sit in and get a Zeroed out Chronicle for playing. She runs a 2nd level PC (same level or one below everyone else), and actually uses some consumables - so these are marked on her Chronicle. Because she had played it before, and she isn't "re-playing" she gets a "placeholder" Chronicle that is worth zero gold, XP and Fame.

Now for the Gallows of Madness wrinkle...

Would this Zero Chronicle count toward having chronicles for all three parts on the same PC - and thus qualify for the "Bonus" Chronicle?

Thanks in advance for your insights!

I have a PC who will be summoning monsters using Summon Monster I and [/I]Summon Monter II[/I]... yeah, my first Summoner... so, am I just limited to those in the CRB?

and Which elementals? just the standard four (Air, Earth, Fire, Water)?

Ok, I have a grenadier alchemist that is 6th level (about to be 7th), and I'm having some trouble getting my head wrapped around how his mechanics work. So I think I'm going to need some other players to Aid me on this...

I've got a Composite Longbow and I draw a:

I then use the Discovery:

Now, if it hits (-2 to hit with a Raining Arrow)... what does it do?

Raining Arrow counts as a Hit with an arrow (1d8+STR)
Plus a hit with a flask of Holy Water... which does 2d4 positive energy damage to undead and evil outsiders...
The Alchemical Weapon item (Liquid Ice) "takes full effect on the next creature struck by the weapon, but does not splash, spread, or otherwise affect additional targets" so it does 1d6 Cold damage.
The Bomb (from Explosive Missile) "deals damage normally and detonates as if the alchemist had thrown the bomb at the target."...

So... which (if any) of these also get bonus damage from the Alchemists

Do I add the INT Modifier to damage done with:
#1) the Bomb? (3d6 fire)
#2) the Liquid Ice? (1d6 cold)
#3) the Holy Water/Raining Arrow? (2d4 Positive Energy)

If it only adds to one of these damages - which one? Each is a different energy type of damage, and so it often matters.

#4) (I guess) This is also complicated by the fact that the PC is an Ifrit, and has taken the Favored Class Bonus of "Extra Bomb damage +1/2" 7 times so it does +3.5 damage on BOMB damage... so if the INT bonus is added to #2 or #3, but not to #1, is the Favored Class Bonus of 3.5 points then added to #1

#5) And how about Point Blank Shot? Would it add a point of damage to one or more of these?

Thank you in advance for your time...

yeah, it's a silly question... maybe...

but, given that the rules are different, should we have/do we need a different board for SFS GM Discussions? or do we preface each board posting Title with "PFS" or "SFS"?

I have been told that durable adamantine arrows - and in fact durable arrows - are not PFS legal...
wha...?

Not to say I don't take everything I hear at the PFS table as actually true, but...

Is this true?

I had planned to drop 3050 GP to pick up a quiver of 50... can I do this in PFS?

Yeah, I've got a bunch of Mites (you know the little blue ugly dudes that's even goblins think are homely), and I'm painting names on each of them. Something the other Mites would call them - sort of "nick" names. But they have to be suitable for use at a PFS table in public, so no profanity please...

Some names I am thinking of using....

Booger
Snot-rocket
Scabby
Carrion-bait
Ankle-biter (maybe not use this as I am sure we have it out there as a PC)
Maggot
Urinalysis
....

Anyone have suggestions?

After all the problems I have had with a Paladin using Bluff (see this thread).
I really should know better than to ask this... but,

IN PFS play, if you were the table judge,
Can a Paladin use the spell Disguise Self? (Such as from a Potion, or an item (Hat of Disguise), or even from casting it from having a level of Wizard.) Basically, would using this spell violate the "tell no lies" rule?

checking to see if anyone has prepped this and might be able to help someone sort on time and hoping to leverage other peoples work...

A friend of mine is planning to run this Sunday, and I told him I'd check the GM Prep site for notes for him... but while Gallows of Madness parts 1 and 2 have stuff on the site, part 3 (The Festering Blot) doesn't have anything.

I'll point my friend to this thread and I'll even follow up later to see if anyone was able to offer pointers or anything helpful...

Thanks in advance!

Ok, this is another one where the wording isn't very clear. I'm sure the writer knew what they wanted it to say, but... well, it isn't very clear to me.

I'm putting it in a spoiler for those of you who have stumbled in here, but haven't played it...

Thanks for your help!

Ok, normally for advice/comments (and flames) on a character build, I would go to the Advice board and not the PFS board, but this is dealing with, and only possible in PFS. So I'm posting it on the PFS board... hopefully it will stay here for a few days and I can get some PFS advice before it gets moved to the general advice board and I start getting people telling me to "talk it over with the GM, and maybe the other players."

I am thinking of using the "Rebuild at 2nd Level" and the "Core Campaign" rules to create a sort of backstory for a PC. My thought goes something like this...

1) Create a Core game PC. A martial type I think, maybe a Paladin...
2) Play them in 3 old scenarios. Ones like Silent Tide or Black Waters maybe... Old school games that maybe get referenced in later scenarios.
3) Then , when they would go to 2nd level, re-create them as a much older PC - advancing the age and changing the stats as much as I can to create the illusion of a PC who aged. And so I would have a PC who was a Martial Type at first level (with the stats to do that well) and who later became a spell caster (maybe a Sorcerer? or Bard? if they were a Paladin formerly), and now has the stats to do THAT well.
4) and by jumping from the Core campaign to the Standard, I could keep referring to "Well, it was different back in MY DAY. We did things differently back then, things were a lot simpler ...." and "You young'uns don't know how soft you got it. Back in MY DAY we didn't have things like Spring Wrist Sheaths or Potion Sponges...". I can see a ton of RP things with this idea. "Well, the Society called me back outta retirement to help beat some sense into you young'uns..."
5) Heck, I could even use one or two of my Judge re-plays to run them thru Confirmation or the Wounded Wisp and talk about "how it really was back then!"

anyway - does this sound like a good idea?

anyone to see anything to expand on this? Other little wrinkles to add in?

I want to check the FAQs to see if a rules question already has an answer... but I am totally lost as to how to look it up.

can someone give me a set of step-by-step instructions to find something in FAQ?

My question (FAQ) would be: Does an unconscious creature get a Will saving throw? Say if they are the target of a Confusion effect... could it effect them? Or if they are the target of a Bless? Or a Cure spell?

How do I find FAQs on this subject?

(sorry for being an "Old Dude" on this one - but my Tech-Fu is just not up to it on a Monday)

"You conjure a ball of packed ice and snow that you can throw at a single target as a ranged touch attack." ok - now the important question...

If my PC has a minus to her strength, does that mean she does less damage when she hits a target with the "ball of packed ice and snow"?
(if she were 1st level and have a strength of 7, would she do 1d6-2 damage?)

Ok, bought a riding dog as a mount. That's little "m" mount, not a big "M" Mount... just a normal riding dog. I would like for it to be combat trained when I buy it. Yeah, I'm an archer (mounted) but I might end up on the sharp end of personal interactions with hostile creatures while still in the saddle.

I am planning on using him/her as a means of getting around - you know, as a mount. It's combat trained (at least I think it is... isn't it?), so maybe it get's the following tricks...

(from the PRD): Combat Training (DC 20): An animal trained to bear a rider into combat knows the tricks attack, come, defend, down, guard, and heel. Training an animal for combat riding takes 6 weeks. You may also "upgrade" an animal trained for riding to one trained for combat by spending 3 weeks and making a successful DC 20 Handle Animal check. The new general purpose and tricks completely replace the animal's previous purpose and any tricks it once knew. Many horses and riding dogs are trained in this way.

so... no "bonus tricks" for a Animal Companion.

now for my questions:

Does a purchased riding dog in PFS come with the tricks listed above (attack, come, defend, down, guard, and heel.)?

Can I replace/retrain one or more of these tricks (using the Handle Animal skill)? and if I do that, does the mount still count as "Combat Trained", or does it loose the ability to be ridden in combat?

Thank you for your time...

I haven't seen this yet, but has anyone else encountered the problem of rules from one game being used in the other yet?

Kind of like all the 3.5 to PF rule changes and how for years we would have to explain that "Spot" and "Search" and "Listen" were all part of "Perception" now and they weren't rolled as different skills... or that sleep has a full round casting time...

I know I will (in time) encounter someone doing XXX and when I ask about it, they are going to explain that that's the rule. But then when we look it up they'll say "Oh, that's the rule in (the other game system)" - even if it isn't.

Is there something like Magical Knack for Alchemists?

Something like a Trait, or a Feat that would increase the CL of an Alchemist (a multi-class Alchemist) for his Mutagen and/or Extracts?

Sorry to be a problem today, but I can't seem to locate the PFS rules on this...

Can some kind person point me to the rules for Crafting/Creating Arcane Bonded items...

Like Weapons (Long Comp Bow for example) and/or Wands...

[ooc] I have run a bunch of wizards in PFS, but they all have had Familiars until now..."

Basically this question is sorta what the title says...

Can a "Good" alignment Wizard (Specialty Necromancy) PC with the "Power Over Undead" ability take the "Control Undead" option? this would mean he can "channel" Negative Energy, right?

I know someone has already posted something on this - listing off several "paths" of scenarios to run in order. Like doing the Blackros scenarios all in order, or the Year of the Demon ones... or something. Several different somethings in fact... if I remember correctly.

I saw the thread on it, or at least a post listing several different options for Paths... but I hate to say I can't find it now. Anyone have a link to it?

Thanks in advance!

So, when coming up to game at a CON and there is more than one table, say 16 people and 3 judges.

How do you split them up into tables?

I would normally start by canvassing the mass to see what groups of friends are wanting to play together. Splitting the three largest of those to get 3 tables, then see if there is any "history" or "personality conflicts" (people who don't play at the same table together because of "reasons"). Then ... What?

Sub-tiers. Group like levels together (higher and lower).

Party Balance. Try to avoid setting all the Uthden 2-H-W barbarians at the same table, while trying to ensure that each table has some form of healer...

Number of players at each table. Used to, I would have tried to make each table about the same size, have the same number of players. Now, I'm not so sure. With the above numbers (16PCs on 3 tables) I think I would now push it to two tables of 6 and one of 4. With 15PCs? A 6, a 5 and a 4. With 14PCs? A 6 and two 4s. Because the scenarios are written for 6 PCs and have adjustments for 4 - so 5 PCs can be kind of short... With all other things the same.

So if we have two tables of 4 players each (friends, sub-tiers, personal history, balance, whatever) then 2 independent players drop in - I think I would put them at the same table, NOT create two tables of 5. (And likely add them to the most experienced judges table - one that can easily handle the larger group).

Thoughts?

Ok, my PFS bard (Flame Dancer) gained access to a Special Familiar... Is there any way to give it to her? A Feat/Special Archtype/weird gimmick?

It would be cute, and I hate to waste the access...

Ok,... How does this spell work? Am I missing something here? Duration is instantaneous, so it creates a duplicate of an Alchemical item. Often with a better save.

So... Say Al the Alchemist wants to use a 2nd level extract of full pouch to create an extra tanglefoot bag. He reaching for his existing 'bag and ... Casts this extract? Creating a copy which he then puts on the table in front of him. Does he have two tanglefoot bags? One with a different DC?

Can he do this again? And again (if he has the 2nd level extracts to do this)? Until he has a dozen tanglefoot bags on the table?

This is a real corner case question....

Can a PC use stuff picked up from defeated foes without having to pay for it?

Specifically, coins. If my PC casts the spell coin shot and throws coins picked up from a defeated mook earlier in the scenario - do I need to mark those coins as expended from my PC wealth? I realize that we are literally discussing "pocket change" here, but as a 2nd level PC, that's real money to me! ;)

If we pick up 100 gp - can my PC find a local temple of Abadar (or some other "bank") and change them into (about) 10 platinum pieces, then use some of those in a casting of coin shot? Would this count as my PC "spending" money?

Thank you for your answers!