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My cavalier player just hit level four, so he can choose an exotic mount. The beast rider entry specifically states a medium sized beast rider may choose a lion as a mount (which is treated as a druid's animal companion), but the lion animal companion is size medium (that may advance to large at 7th level).

So which is accurate? Can my medium player choose a lion at level 4 or does he need to wait until level 7?

I'm creating my own world, and I've hit a significant roadblock. How does magic affect everyday life? With spells that can teleport people thousands of miles, how does that effect inter-city trade and travel? How do you build a city when the enemy can literally walk through your walls or fly over them (or even simply appear in your throne room)? How does telepathy affect communication?

I suppose this all depends on how common magic is, how many people can cast spells of different levels, etc. But what's the average? How did you build your magical world?

I'm a GM, and there is a mounted combat-focused cavalier in my group. He's third level and his Ride check is already enormous. I'm looking for ways (RAW or otherwise) an enemy can knock him off his horse, preferably without a Ride check to ignore it (though other checks are fine).

On a related note, is it just me or are the Ride check DCs extremely low? Would I be breaking the ride system if I boosted all the DCs by 5?

I've played two sessions now with my two-handed fighter (with the two-handed archetype), and I'm dealing ridiculous damage. I would like some help double - and triple - checking my math. Here is my build:

Human Fighter (Two-Handed Fighter archetype), level 1
Str 19, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
BAB +1
Feats: Power Attack, Furious Focus, Cleave
Weapon: Falchion

So here's my math:
My falchion deals 2d4 damage. I'm wielding it in two hands, and my Str mod is +4, so I get +1.5 Str mod damage, for a total of 2d4+6. Power attack grants +2 +half for two-handed, for +3. This increases it to 2d4+6+3 = 2d4+9. I crit on an 18-20 for x2 damage. On a crit, I deal 4d4+18.

As you can see, 11-17 damage (22-34 damage on a crit) is quite high. My GM, though this is only his first campaign as a GM, also thinks this is quite high. Would someone mind looking at my math? And if this math is correct, how can my GM deal with such high damage output (since I can fell most opponents with one hit, at a +5 attack (BAB +1, Str +4, Power Attack -1, Furious Focus negates first Power Attack per round)?

So I'm introducing psionics into my game soon, and I've been thinking about something. I'm not having psionics be an "it's always been there, but now you can use it" thing. I've got a way to introduce it, but I've got a problem. How do I make psionics feel totally new, like it is in my world? How can I let them know that this is not simple, ordinary magic (arcane or divine)? (Granted, in my world, psionics were developed as a magic substitute, but I still want it to feel different.)

My group has been doing a lot of combat recently, so I thought I'd give them something a little different. I'm going to have them follow a series of clues and riddles to find their mentor. After they solve each clue and get to the location revealed, there well be a challenge waiting for them: first a bare knuckle brawl, then a logic puzzle, then a gauntlet of sorts. After they overcome the challenge, they'll get the next riddle/clue. Problem is I have no idea how to give out rewards for this kind of adventure. The brawl is easy enough, but what about the logic puzzle and the gauntlet, and the individual riddles? Any advice? (This is their first adventure after hitting 3rd level, if that matters.)

I have a cavalier in my party who is looking for feats for his horse. For the purposes of feats, who is actually doing the charging? Specifically, he asked me about Minotaur's Charge. Can his horse get this feat? Will it apply while the cavalier is performing a mounted charge?

I have an aasimar oracle and a half-elf ranger in my party, and as they just hit 3rd level, they threw several questions at me, the GM, that I couldn't answer right away. I thought I'd get your opinions before I made my final decisions. I've included my initial decision.

1.) The aasimar oracle favored class bonus states the following: "Add +1/2 to the oracle's level for the purpose of determining the effects of one revelation." Does the oracle have to have the revelation to apply this bonus, or could he choose a revelation he hasn't picked up yet? (Neither of his current revelations take into account his level, so it would be useful to take this only if he can apply it to a revelation he wants to get at a higher level.)
My initial decision: The oracle must have chosen the revelation, and have it in his list of revelations.

2.) The 'rock throwing' revelation for the stone mystery states an oracle can hurl rocks up to two size categories smaller than him (tiny), and that it does 2d4 + 1.5 Str mod damage. The keyword here is "up to:" If the oracle throws tiny rocks (which we assumed would be about the size of a bowling ball or slightly smaller), it would deal 2d4 + 1.5 Str mod damage, but what if he throws smaller rocks, like fist-sized rocks, or pebbles? It certainly doesn't make sense they would also deal 2d4 + 1.5 Str mod damage.
My initial decision: Diminutive rocks deal 1d4 + Str mod damage, and fine rocks deal 1d3 (no Str mod) damage.

3.) The archer ranger is looking at both the manyshot feat and the focused shot feat. Would they stack? I know one takes a full-attack action and the other takes a standard action, but manyshot specifically mentions "precision-based damage," and focused shot certainly sounds like precision-based damage.
My initial decision: I don't know about this one. I'm leaning toward no, they don't stack.

One of my players is playing a cavalier (beast rider), and the group will hit 3rd level after next session. It's difficult designing encounters for the group because of the cavalier's horse. I designed one adventure specifically for him (horse chase and outside combat afterward), and the rest of the adventures he's had to leave his horse. I get the feeling he's getting tired of not being able to use his horse, but I'm having trouble designing encounters in which he can take full advantage of his mount. He particularly likes the mounted charge with lance.

So my question is this: What can I (or he) do to make the game more fun for him?

So far in my campaign, I've been using Bestiary monsters and NPC Codex baddies, but I feet its about time I learn to make my own adversaries. I plan for the next bad guy to be a fourth or fifth level elf druid. I can make a druid PC with no problem, but using a stat block in combat is so much easier than a character sheet. My question is this: Do you have any tips on writing up stat blocks? The last time I tried, I copied the sample archer NPC stat block from the book, changing abilities where appropriate for my own NPC, but it just didn't seem right. Any advice?

I'm new to adventure design, and this has always stumped me: how do I populate the dungeon i just made? What monsters are typically found in dungeons, and WHY are they found in dungeons? If a powerful wizard creates a dungeon to protect his research, he could summon or capture a varitable menagerie of magical beasts and outsiders. But what if the dungeon is no longer serving its original purpose (like if adventurers cleared it out decades ago)? What if the dungeon's creater is on a budget?

In short: What types of monsters are good to put in dungeons?

In my homebrew campaign setting, the large, technologically advanced city-state is going to war and decides to create an army of living constructs instead of sending its own citizens to fight. Eventually, I would like this race to become a player race, so I thought I'd go ahead and make it a player race now. I naturally decided to use warforged as a basis, but instead of converting it myself, I searched these forums.

Fellow Paizo message board user Anburaid posted his/her conversion of warforged a year and a half ago. (The post can be found here.) Since it was the last post before the thread died, I wasn't able to see what any one else thought of it. I liked it, and what you'll find below are a blend of my own ideas and a few of his/hers. I'm looking for critiques on balance. What are your opinions?

One of my players is unable to play in my campaign any more. He was a wizard in a group of an oracle, a cavalier, and a ranger. How should I proceed? Should I research how to run adventures for small parties, or should I introduced a GM-controlled PC? If the latter, what is the easiest class to play that won't step on the other PCs' toes?

One of my players, a ranger, just picked up Craft (leather), so I'd like to get a good handle of the crafting mechanic. I understand all the steps (convert price to silver, multiply DC by result, etc.), but I still have a couple questions:

1.) How much time is taken out of a character's day by crafting? Suppose he wanted to do the by-day crafting instead of the by-week crafting (figure price in copper rather than silver). How many hours must he spend crafting for it to be considered a "day" of crafting? Eight hours? Sixteen hours? What else can a character do in a day and still get a "day" of crafting in? Could he spend the last hour or two of the day, after he's done adventuring and before he goes to sleep, working on the saddle for his new horse?

2.) The ranger wants to gather his own leather for crafting. I've ruled it would be a Survival check to skin an animal and a Profession (tanning) check to make the leather usable for crafting. (Should this be a Craft (leather) check instead?) Would the ranger be able to scavenge enough materials for crafting, thereby eliminating the "pay 1/3 the cost in raw materials" fee for crafting?

I doubt either of these answers are in the rules, so what are your opinions on the subjects?

I'm playing a Wizard in my friend's D&D 3.5 game, and I'm stumped. How should I be spending my gold? We started at 4th level (we're 5th now) and everyone except me has bought a ring of sustenance; I was saving up for a Heward's fortifying bedroll, though I'm rethinking that now. I bought some scrolls to scribe more spells into my spellbook, and that's really been my only significant purchase. So what else should I buy? I have 2,900 gp now. Should I get the bedroll (3,500 gp)? Save up for a headband of intellect +2 (4,000 gp)? Buy more scrolls (and writing materials) to beef up my spellbook?

I'm going to be running Kingmaker soon. Two of my players have made characters using our standard "4d6, reroll 1s, drop lowest" method to generate ability scores. The GM reference thread, however, says that's too high. What do I do? Should I make them redo their characters using a 15-point buy? I don't think they'll like that. If not, how should I make the game more challenging? (I'm new to GMing.) Should I make the monsters have max HP? Include more monsters? How about the kingdom-building aspect. That relies on ability scores, right? I don't have much free time, which is why I'm running a published campaign in the first place.

I'm an amateur GM and I needed some enemies fast, so I went to Paizo's PRD and checked out the NPC Gallery for some bandits. Each NPC has gear listed. Does that gear count as the treasure the PCs should receive when defeating an enemy? Is it enough treasure, according to the table for treasures in the Core Rulebook, or should I add more treasure?

My friend has an abnormal obsession with dragons. His old GM created (or claimed to create) a class for him called "dragon cursed" (I hate this name) which is essentially a barbarian with dragon-like abilities. I'm not very good at judging balance, but it seems completely overpowered.

I'd like to rework it to be a bit less powerful, and I'd like some advice on this particular class that I'm making now and creating classes in general. Here's what I have so far of the class I am creating as an alternative (this class is not yet complete):

UNNAMED CLASS
Role: This class is combat-focused. Borrowing traits for mighty dragons, it is able to both inflict and receive large amounts of damage.
Hit Dice: d10
Alignment: Any

Class Skills
Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Fly (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana), Perception (Wis), Ride (Dex), Swim (Str)
Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier

Class Features
Fast BAB, Good Fort Save, Poor Ref save, Poor Will save
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The character is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and light armor.
Dragon Type: At 1st level, the character must choose between black, blue, green, red, white, brass, bronze, copper, gold, and silver. This decision will affect later class abilities, namely Energy Resistance and Form Of The Dragon.
Claws: At 1st level, the character's fingernails become extremely tough, granting her two claw attacks. Treat this natural attack as a secondary attack. The damage dealt is dependent on the character's size (small characters deal 1d3 damage, medium characters deal 1d4 damage).
Energy Resistance: At 4th level, the character gains resist energy 1 for an energy associated with the type of dragon chosen (acid for black/green/copper, cold for white/silver, electricity for blue/bronze, or fire for red/brass/gold). Every four levels after 4th, this resistance increases by 1 to a maximum of 5 at 20th level.
Damage Reduction: At 7th level, the character gains damage reduction 1/--. Every three levels after 7th, the damage reduction increases by 1 to a maximum of 5 at 19th level.
Form Of The Dragon: At 10th level, the character may use the spell form of the dragon as a supernatural ability once per day. The type of dragon which the character transforms into is the dragon type chosen at 1st level.

I'd like to run a chase encounter in which a group of bandits have stolen several horses and the PCs must chase them. I've read over the chase rules in the GameMastery Guide, but they don't seem to work very well in an environment as uninteresting as plains or rolling hills. I was thinking of an alternative:

Start off the bandits 150 feet ahead. The bandits and players make opposed Ride checks. Each roll, they advance 150 feet. (It's only 150 feet because a) the players' horse is carrying 500 pounds and b) the bandits are controlling horses they aren't riding.) If one group beats the other by five or more, the losers advance only 100 feet. If one group beats the other by ten or more, the losers advance only 50 feet.

The players will be on a cart pulled by the horse. When in range, they will have the chance to cast spells or fire ranged weapons. Once the players have caught up to the bandits, they would need to either attack the bandits while running alongside them or make a Hollywood-style horse-to-horse jump (Jump check DC 20) and commandeer the bandit's horse.

If the players do no catch the bandits in time, the bandits will make it back to camp and gather their allies, making the players fight the bandits on the bandits' terms.

Does this seem like a reasonable way to run a horse chase?

The Advanced Race Guide says an aasimar who chooses oracle as her favored class receives the following: "Add +1/2 to the oracle’s level for the purpose of determining the effects of one revelation." I have a couple questions about this.

1.) It specifically states "one revelation." Does the player need to choose a single revelation to apply the bonus to?

2.) When the player chooses oracle as her favored class and she levels up in oracle, does this mean she may take this ability instead of getting an extra hit point or skill point? How does that work? The player would need to take this ability twice to get a +1. May he choose a different revelation each time, taking it twice for one revelation for a +1 and taking it two more times for another revelation for a +1 in that one as well?

I'm thinking about setting my next game in the official campaign setting of Golarion. I'm a bit intimidated, however; I've never run a game in someone else's world. Whenever a player asks a question about my own world and I don't have an answer, I make it up, and that becomes canon. I can't do that with a published setting like Golarion. How much should I know about Golarion before starting up a campaign set there? Should I read and memorize all the books from cover to cover? Should I read about only one small area and take it from there?

So my players are about to go up into the mountains, and I've been reading about mountains and cold weather. In the cold weather section of the Core Rulebook, it states "A character cannot recover from the damage dealt by a cold environment until she gets out of the cold and warms up again." A couple questions about this sentence:

1.) If a character takes lethal damage from the cold (either by taking too much nonlethal damage or by being in extreme cold, aka -20 degrees F), can a character regain hit points through a cure light wounds spell or some other source of magical healing, or does she need to be "out of the cold" in order for the spell to be effective?

2.) Does a camp fire provide enough heat for a character to be considered "out of the cold" and warm for the purposes of recovering from damage?

I'm an amateur GM running a game for a group of 1st level characters (Ranger, Oracle, Wizard, Cavalier). They're about to head into the mountains to rescue a lost NPC, and I wanted them to fight something big, but I don't know what is an appropriate challenge for them. I was looking at the Ice Troll, CR 4. Is that too tough for a party of four first-levels? I have an NPC Magus that I could use to help them. What if the troll is the only combat for the day? Would that make it easier?

Any advice for this particular situation, or any advice for planning encounters in general, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!