Hunterofthedusk's page

So, in a couple months I'm going to be running a campaign that includes various steampunk and modern elements, and I was wondering if anyone has ever worked out rules for using a bicycle, like what kind of movement speed it gives, how much does that increase when going downhill, how much does that decrease when going uphill, or anything of that nature.

so I was just perusing the APG errata a few minutes ago when I came across the Offensive Defense rogue talent. I noticed that it was changed to say dodge bonus, and a pretty decent bonus at that. My question is that if you hit an opponent multiple times in a single round with sneak attack, and since Dodge bonuses stack, do you get the bonus from each attack? It doesn't say any exception in the errata to make this any different, and in the section where it explains bonuses it just says "dodge bonuses stack with each other" without giving any clause to the same source triggering multiple times, so I was just double-checking.

Am I right in this assumption that it can stack with itself?

In the campaign I am currently preparing for (a Pathfinder game, but since the rules in question are from a 3.5 source I thought this to be the most appropriate place to ask), I am planning to use a few high-powered variants; namely, gestalt and the class-based defense system (hereafter referred to as "the CBDS"). I'm giving them the epic point buy (25 points) and gestalt because I want to truly represent how much potential the players have and how extraordinary they are in comparison to the rest of the populace, and I'm using the CBDS because it is primarily set in the desert and I've been watching far too much anime as of late.

How should I handle a character that wants to play a monk/fighter gestalt (or monk with any class with heavy armor)? It wouldn't normally be a problem, but with the CBDS they can go unarmored yet still retain their monk bonuses and use the highest bonuses from the CBDS chart, thus sending their AC through the stratosphere. Any suggestions?

So, I've been thinking about touch spells a lot lately, and this prompts a few questions. When you cast a spell with a range of touch, do you get to make a touch attack as part of the casting action, or do you have to make a separate standard action attack for that? If it is the former, can you substitute the touch attack for an unarmed strike (assuming you have Imp. Unarmed Strike) and still use the same action?

I was looking through the monsters and I came across the Dire Shark. It's description paints it as very menacing, and states that it is 60 feet long. And yet, it only takes up a 20 foot square... Even if it was going through this area diagonally, half of it is unaccounted for.

Has anyone else found such inconsistencies between the descriptive text and the stat blocks? It seems like the two should coincide a bit more, because this is the kind of thing that starts to break suspension of disbelief at my table.

So we've houseruled an evil variant of the paladin for our group and a question came up about Smite Good: If the paladin gets double smite damage against undead, evil outsiders, and evil dragons, then an evil paladin would get double damage against good outsiders, good dragons, and.... We honestly can't think of the undead equivalent for smite good. Living targets would be far too common for it to be balanced..

Any suggestions?

Okay, so I was looking at this and wondering- Are these separate spells? For instance, does a wizard specifically have to prepare Protection from Evil, and does he have to learn each Protection spell individually, or is it one of those deals like Blindness/Deafness where you can choose upon casting? Is it placed in the spell list how it is to save space?

My main question is there because I am playing a sorcerer and I wanted to learn this spell, but we are not always fighting evil things (we are a decidedly split party, alignment wise- fate has forced a paladin and anti-paladin (for lack of a better word) to coexist). I don't want to have to use 2 of my precious spells known slots for the same spell... They at least seem to me (from a logical standpoint) to be so similar that a modification could be made on the fly. Any clarifications on this?

Okay, so I have a player who's character is an Ironborn, and they are in a very undead-heavy place. There's nothing saying that they can't be turned into undead, but it seems rather odd to me that they would be able to, say, become a vampire (which is a very real threat). For those of you that are familiar with the ironborn, what are your opinions on the matter?

Arachnida(not sold on the name

As I'm reading it, under the CMB section of the core rules it says that you apply any applicable bonus to your CMB when you are substituting it for an attack. Does this mean that if you are tripping (or disarming, or sundering) with a weapon that you get it's enhancement bonus and weapon focus to your CMB?

If you have an inherent bonus to an ability score (such as you would have from a Wish spell or a Manual of Understanding), do you keep it if you are raised by means of a Clone spell? I've never fully understood exactly how inherent bonuses work, but when you pay that much for them you don't exactly want them to disappear, do you?

Were there any other lists for improved familiars other than the ones in core, Complete Warrior, and Complete Scoundrel? I was always woefully underwhelmed by the choices of Improved Familiars available to straight casters.

Also, on the subject of familiars, it says that "for effects related to the number of HD, use the master's character level or familiar's HD, whichever is higher". Would that apply to determining the DC of a Pseudodragon's poison, seeing as a poison's DC is based off of HD?

Can the Changelings from Eberron change shape into a small creature, such as a halfling or gnome?

As I am reading it, a spell-like ability never needs a material component, even a costly one? I am asking because I am currently playing a character in an Eberron game and I was considering getting the lesser Dragonmark of Healing, which can give me Restoration as a spell-like ability 1/day, but that has a variable material component. Would I just be able to ignore that all together and use the ability to get rid of negative levels?

And on a completely unrelated note *cough* *cough*

If a vampire (or something else with energy drain) hits with it's slam attack, do you get the save immediately to resist the negative levels or not, because it doesn't seem very clear to me. Also, until the 24 hours pass before they can potentially become permanent negative levels, are they treated as temporary negative levels? Because that can be a very important factor...

So I was reading through the Duskblade class from the Player's Handbook II, and it looks like a really interesting class that I'd like to play some time. But first, I have a few questions-

Arcane Channeling: Okay, so you channel a spell through your melee weapon- I get that part. But what happens when you score a critical? I know spells that require attack rolls can score crits, but is this treated like extra dice from sneak attack/weapon qualities?

Y'know, I think that's all I can honestly think of right now. I think I had another question... Bah, if I can think of it I'll post it later. This one above is the one that was really bothering me, and I couldn't find a Duskblade FAQ on my own, but if anyone could point me at one of those that would also be appreciated.

What kind of action would it be to toss a weapon, wand, or other one-handed item from one hand to the other? My question is because my DM allowed me to purchase a Wand Bracer from Dungeonscape. As a swift action, I can cause one of the 5 wands inside of it to spring forth into my empty hand. If I need to get a second wand from it, I can drop the first one to the ground (not a very desirable option), or I could conceivably just shift it to my other empty hand. Any ideas?

Under UMD, there is the entry for activating a scroll, and we (me and my players) understand that entry clearly. Now, under "Activating Blindly" it implies that it (the Activating Blindly use of UMD) can be used to activate scrolls because of the line after the additional mishap - "This mishap is in addition to the chance for a mishap that you normally risk when you cast a spell from a scroll that you could not otherwise cast yourself."

Does this mean that you can skirt the DC 30 check for a CL 10 scroll by activating it blindly against DC 25, even if you do in fact know how to activate it? Nothing by the RAW seems to restrict it, and I have a player that won't let this go until I can find a clear ruling one way or another.

Under the Witch's Flight hex, I noticed that it gives Feather Fall and a +4 bonus to Swim checks- is the skill bonus correct, or is that a typo? Also, is the Feather Fall supposed to be self-only, like a ring of Feather Fall, or is it to behave exactly like the spell (including number of targets), an infinite number of times per day?

The Oracle's various Mysteries each have a revelation that gives an armor bonus for a limited amount of time per day. Now, as it does say "armor bonus", that means that it does not stack with any armor you might already be wearing, and this is a class that is proficient with medium armor. Doesn't that seem kind of redundant?

This brings me to my second point- The Air mystery still gives a shield-wielding class the spell Shield, which makes this mystery very unattractive when compared to the other ones available. An arcane spellcaster will always appreciate shield, because that is +4 to armor class that they otherwise couldn't get. An oracle will only get a +2 bonus over her heavy shield at first level, and even less if they start getting magic enhancements on it or take shield specialization. I still vote that the 1st level bonus spell for the Wind mystery should be Unseen Servant. It fits the flavor, gives access to an otherwise inaccessible spell, and isn't made moot by the proficiencies the class gets.

I was thinking something along the lines of-

Ghost Step
By focusing your Ki, you are able to become invisible for short periods of time.
Prerequisite: Ki pool class feature
Benefit: By spending one point from your Ki pool, you can become invisible for 1 round. Activating this ability is a swift action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

According to the feat, it allows you to change the spell's area to one of the predefined areas for +1 to the spell level. Here's my question: Do you have to choose which area the spell will have when you prepare the spell, or do you choose it at the time of casting? Either way it is an extremely helpful feat, but it would allow for much more versatility for a wizard if you get to choose which of the areas it will use upon casting

Has anyone here ever tried the Final Fantasy Role Playing Game (3rd edition)? I just downloaded it (it's available as a free PDF at www.returnergames.com). It seems like a very interesting concept, and could be a very refreshing change of pace from the standard 3.5 D&D I normally play. Has anyone played it that could share some experiences?

I think it's interesting because it takes a more relaxed approach to the level of realism, which I think far too many people are fixated on. I'm also going to be using it to introduce my cousin into roleplaying, since he's played the Final Fantasy games and it will be somewhat familiar territory for him.

I have a question about (you guessed it!) Martial Scripts from the Tome of Battle, Bo9S. Can anyone use them, or is it a Martial Adept only thing? It never specifies who can use them, only that they have to be able to read it; they don't even have to know the language, just the alphabet even.

Am I right in assuming that anyone that can read it can use it?

No one? seriously? Okay, whatever...

I'm playing a beguiler and about to hit 7th level, and I was wondering if anyone knew of any good non-core enchantment or illusion spells of 3rd or 2nd level (preferably 3rd) that I could take for advanced learning. I'm really more interested in Illusions, but I'm just looking for something neat, something I would use a lot. There's just not that many choices for low-level illusion and enchantment that I don't already have, so I need to tap the vast knowledge of the Paizo boards to see if there are any obscure spells that are more interesting. Any help is appreciated

In my current campaign, it has become abundantly clear that the DM has no intent on ever putting our character's in situations that will get them killed, and even if we get into a situation that would normally result in death, he will make sure that we do not die.

Normally this would not be a problem, but it does kinda bother me a bit and shatters my suspension of disbelief. Example: One of the party members sat in a comfy chair in the middle of a dangerous "obstacle course" dungeon, and the chair fell down into a pit trap underneath. The gnome got a reflex save to avoid falling with it, and he rolled a 1. The DM cringed because he knew that this was essentially a save or die trap, and allowed him to roll a 2nd save to catch the edge. That dreaded 1 came up yet again. At that point, he gave the other party members a chance to catch him (even though we were roughly 20 feet away, but he glossed over that part), so the rogue apparently leapt across the room to catch the gnome.

That was just the most extreme case so far, but like I said, he has made it abundantly clear that we will not die, period. In fact, my character's only taken damage once so far in the campaign, and we have been playing weekly for a few months now. With my previous long-standing DM, he never went out of his way to save us, sometimes even going so far as to put something meant to deliberately kill us if interacted with. While that was just yet another extreme, it was an extreme I was used to. It kept the disruptive characters in line because pissing off the other party members usually resulted in death.

In this campaign though, and I promise I'm getting to the point, the disruptive people know that there is absolutely no repercussion for their character's actions. It may just be that I DMed a very different way, as I had no problem with killing off a character if they tried to bite off more than they could chew, or did something retarded, but our current DM always bends reality to make sure we come out on top. It bugs the crap outa me! We have a retarded chaotic cleric that bases whether he will be productive or counter-productive on a percentile roll. Example: The rest of the party starts to move silently. Cleric [rolls percentile] "I shout". And because he knows that no one will ever die, he can just sit there and laugh about it... there has to be consequences, or everything will descend into chaos!!!

I enjoy a little bit more realism (though not so far as to be a simulationist) but this DM wants us to win, no matter what. I'm just not used to it, but it's a losing argument to try and change his mind because he's deathly afraid that he'll be called a bad DM (even though he's been DMing for years). Also, we have about 9 members (5 that show up regularly) and we could stand to lose a few ;)

[Stupid Question]Okay, after reading the entry in the PHB about damaging an object, I am ever so slightly confused. Does acid and sonic damage ignore hardness? Because it says to apply it normally and it doesn't make any clarification as to whether it does or doesn't, while every other entry for energy types tell you that it does (for example) [it does half damage. Divide by 2 before applying hardness]. Is ignoring hardness for acid and sonic implied by the omission?[/Stupid Question]

As many of you may already know from previous threads, I am currently playing a Gnome Beguiler. It's been about 5 or so sessions and everything's going pretty smooth, but something suddenly dawned on me: I haven't pulled a prank yet! I have all of the means at my disposal, as well as the in-game motivation (Gnome Beguiler, c'mon. If this wasn't a prank-pulling combo, I don't know what is). I'm a little short on time at the moment as I'm on the way out the door, but I'd like to hear some of the pranks you've pulled/wanted to pull to get me started. I've thought of a few things, but they could end badly (marbles on the stairs and vegetable oil on the rails could end badly and just seems a little malicious). I need help guys!

And while I'm at it, here's another one, although it should be second nature to me by now but it might be a bit too late for me to think:

Force damage. Is it considered a physical type of damage, such as a something that could be reduced by DR, or is it some kind of special energy damage, with the benefit of hitting incorporeal creatures?

So, I have a serious problem with changing my mind on what character I want to play. Before the campaign started, I must have gone through at least 20 or more concepts that I wanted to play, and now after the campaign started (it's about 3 sessions in) I already want to change my character again. It's not a problem with my character not doing enough, the character does very well gameplay-wise. Just one minute I want to be a fighter, the next minute I want to be an illusionist, next evoker, then a hexblade, then a bard.

With my previous DM, this wasn't that much of a problem. Anytime I wanted to play a different character, my first character would take a day off. I would switch between them on a session-by-session basis. But, this is my first campaign with this DM, and I don't think he would be too happy about my decision to retire my current character and pick up another. Especially if it might happen again.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Similar problems? Maybe some little tricks to keep my own attention?

The beguilers class feature, Advanced Learning, allows them to learn a wizard/sorcerer spell of the enchantment or illusion school. For the first time you get it, does anyone know of any ench/illusion spells (other than the 2 core spells, ventriloquism and Nystul's magic aura) that they can learn? I've noticed that in many of the "splat books", there aren't many enchantment or illusion spells until the higher levels; even then, there aren't that many. I was just wondering if there were any better choices

is there any way for a non-druid/ranger to advance an animal's HD?

I'm making a halfling ninja, and I'm going to start with a ninja-dog. Basically it's sneaky through the tricks it knows, and I took a feat (cosmopolitan) to get handle animal as a class skill and get +2 with it. I don't want it to be completely useless later on, or have it get dropped in one hit, but I also don't want to have to multiclass into druid for this one thing. Does anyone know of any kind of feat, or anything else that would help me here?

In an upcoming Forgotten Realms campaign with a relatively new group, me and the other member of our old group (the new additions to this group) have had trouble getting the DM's permission on any of the non-mainstream races/classes/anything that we bring to the table, but all of the other members have been getting special treatment in the form of previously off-limits races and even one of the other members homebrew content (his own lycanthropy monstrous progression when lycanthropy was previously off limits). It normally wouldn't be a problem being limited to only one or two books, but the problem is that we are the only 2 that are limited in this way. He just seems to have a knee-jerk reaction to say no to us. Do any of you have any advice on how to deal with this kind of DM favoritism/exclusion?

We're getting ready for a new campaign, and I was looking into make a Hexblade. I was looking into the class more for the roleplaying opportunities and background possibilities (he's going to be the brother of the party warlock), but I also like the possiblities that the class provides, combat wise. I was just wondering what some of your suggestions would be for a decent Hexblade build, or even some information on supplemental rules you may know of.

I like how the Gyrspike is presented in the Arms and Equipment guide, but I would like to find a 3.5 version of it. Does anyone know if it was reprinted anywhere?

Here is a spider-based PC race for use in my upcoming Pathfinder Game. All I have here is the crunch, with the fluff to be filled in later. I'm also not completely set on the name, so any suggestions or feedback regarding anything in this post will be appreciated.

Does anyone know what the racial adjustments would be for LA +0 drow? I know I saw it somewhere, but I can't recall what they were. I thank you in advance for your help.

In preparing for my next campaign, I have just discovered something: I have too many options available to me. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, except that some of them are proprietary and are incompatible with each other. Ex. The Book of Experimental Might and the Pathfinder RPG. Now, I know I could pick and choose a few different things from each one and get some weird combination, but my houserules would conflict with that outcome. I was thinking of just going with Pathfinder for the coming campaign, but in my head I am still attached to many of the ideas in the BoXM. What have been your experiences with either of these books in use?

I've recently been putting some work into making a new base class for my own campaign, and I figured that the good people at paizo could lend me some assistance.

The class is called Elementalist, and it is an off-shoot of the warlock in a manner of speaking. Upon choosing this class you will choose an element (fire, water, air, or earth) and this will shape the entire class. Each will have it's own list of invocations, which I am slowly building, as well as other benefits, much like the warlock class. What this means, though, is that I am basically making four classes.

I need some help building this list of invocations, as I don't have as much time as I would like to work on it, and I tend to have a short attention span. I've been using the spell compendium for ideas, but my list is still a little pathetic.

I was thinking about giving the Air Elementalist some lightning related invocations, and thereby justifying making their energy resistance electricity. Fire will be fire, obviously, and water will have cold resistance, but earth will have damage reduction. I already have a good idea of the static powers, like each will get some other minor spell-like ability related to their element instead of detect magic, and so on.

As it stands, fire really only has attack invocations, and I'm not sure if that really can change, or if I want it to, but I would like some ideas for utility invocations for any of the elements if you can think of any, spell-based or made-up.

When I have a more solid idea of the class, I will post the class progression chart and invocation list, but this level is still realatively in theory mode.

I thank you in advance because I only ever get good advice when I ask for it here.

Through my times playing D&D, I've noticed something: Half-orcs are underpowered. All they have is the +2 strength, -2 int and cha, darkvision, and orc-blood (which, as we all know, is pretty much useless).

To fix this, I've been thinking about giving them the ability Powerful Build, which basically makes them be treated as one size catagory larger for certain purposes, for those of you who are not familiar with the ability. If I can't find a way to justify this in the world, I might just make a new race with the half-orc abilities + powerful build and replace half-orcs and call it a day.

What do you think of this change?

For the past however many weeks and months I've been thinking about it, I've been creating a world for my next campaign. Thing is, there's so many variants and new things that the PCs will probably never be able try everything I'm offering them. This includes, but is not limited to: new races, both splat book and homebrew; new classes and PrCs, again, splat book and homebrew; lots of variants in UA, including the spell point system and flaws and traits; new spells and feats...

The list goes on. Problem comes in right about here: Will my players be able to handle it? I know I can, as the only thing my mind likes to do is multi-task. It seems I can't do anything unless I'm doing something else at the same time. This isn't a new group, though; We have played together for years and this is my... third attempt at DMing with them.

The biggest thing is new classes. I'm including just about every Complete series class, and psionics, and I'm in the process of designing my own classes. I'm almost hoping that no one chooses the base classes, and that at least 1 or 2 people try out my home brew classes.

Does anyone think I'm going overboard?

What are your opinions on them? I've been thinking about adding them to my upcoming campaign because my players are always complaining about how slow the feat progression is, and I wanted to remedy that. What have been your experiences with them. Have they impacted your game positively or negatively?

recently I've been having a problem and I want to know if it's just me.

Sometimes when I click on the "add new post" button, it just refreshes the page. Anyone else having these problems? Are the people at Paizo making some changes in the forums that are causing some small errors? Or does my computer just hate me?

I was thinking of making a character using the "Freedom Paladin" Variant in Unearthed Arcana, and I was wondering which of the gods in the PHB a Chaotic Good paladin would be likely to follow.

Side note: I am not at home, so I do not have access to my PHB, and I am not that familiar with the gods as I have not ever made a paladin or cleric. I want to try to play something "out of my comfort zone" for mainly role-playing reasons

I was recently reading the Bestow Curse spell, when I noticed that you can invent your own curses, pending DM approval of course. I've been trying to come up with a few, and I'd like your input. How many creative curses can you think up?

A good curse to put on a druid or a ranger: Wild animals attack the subject on sight, while domesticated avoid and fear the subject. A stroll through the woods becomes impossible as the constant attacks by birds, wolfs, and even bears threaten your life; Traveling becomes a burden as you cannot ride a horse, and even dray animals refuse to pull the cart with you in it.

I'm about to make a campaign, but whenever someone in our group DMs we have trouble keeping the party together. Most of the people, no matter what alignment they choose, always tend to act a certain way. We're never heroes, we never help people unless it helps us in the process. Even when someone plays a good character, they always find a way to claim "It's not my problem." Because of this, I've never been able to play the archtypical D&D hero, and as a DM it's been hard to design "quests" for these indecisive and borderline evil players.

So I was thinking of making a campaign where they can be as evil as they want. They can succumb to the temptations of evil, and let their greed take over without TOO much worry about the reprecussions, meaning I won't punish them as a DM for doing arbitrarily evil things. Maybe if they finally have that taste of evil that they've obviously been wanting, they might be more inclined to play an ACTUAL good character in future campaigns. If anything, they might appreciate the change of pace.

Problem is: I need ideas. I want them to start out in an orginization, giving the evil characters a reason to stay together. What are your ideas for quests, or even some ideas for the orginization that the PCs belong to. How should I run it? Should I reward criminal behavior and punish anything altruistic?

We were in some dwarven mines that had been invaded and subsequently taken over by drow. Party level = 2.
We found a survivor and we decided to take him along with us. He had a broken leg, which the party healer had actually made worse (rolled a 1), but then tried again to set the bone and succeeded. We fought our way past drow and then 2 trolls, we dispatched the trolls with 2 sleep spells and then the roof collapsed on them. We made our way into the vault, and the party healer and fighter went into this closet-like space, pressed two stones in, and then the room rotated so that they were in the "real" vault. The two wizards, including myself, had to wait with the dwarf. I found a trap door, which led down a spiral staircase. I notified my collegue, and we proceeded down the steps. We came to an ancient looking room, everything was covered in several layers of dust. The dwarf followed us down and was in awe of the place. Apparently, this was a long forgotten part of their history, or something like that, and in the middle of the room was a medium-size wood box. Inside was a glass case with a very nice looking sword, gems encrusted in the hilt, and generally just looked very tempting. The dwarf asked us to not disturb it, as it was part of dwarven history, but we wanted the sword. We were out of detect magic for the day, so we couldn't tell if it was magical, but all signs pointed to yes so to speak.

The dilema - (neutral and chaotic good characters) we couldn't justify killing the dwarf, which was the only way to get the sword. Do you kill the only surviving dwarf in the mines for a sword that could be possibly magic?