JOHN DICKERSON's page

So this legal PsiTech discovery in Occult Realms lets you channel unused spell slots or phrenic pool points to power tech items, but unused charges go away at the end of the round.

But it explicitly can't be used to power timeworn devices.

Besides maybe E-picks, can anyone thing of any items, including on chronicle sheets, that this ability could be used to power?

Is this possible? Could I have Masterwork Transformation cast on a timeworn tech gun, then have it enchanted as a magic weapon?

I know that when we purchase wands or scrolls we are supposed to go from the cleric or wizard list if the spell is on them. But what if I want to buy an Arcane Scroll of a spell like Lesser Restoration. Can I pay the extra cost(CL 4 instead of 3) to buy an Alchemist scribed scroll, or am I forced to buy the divine version off the cleric list instead?

From Inner Sea Gods, this magic glaive lets you use Color Spray 1/day.

The caster level of the item is 3rd, so the Color Spray would be CL 3, but what casting stat should I use to set the DC?
Minimum for 1st level spell, 11?
My casting stat?
12, the minimun to cast level 2 spells as a wizard or cleric?
or something else?

Are there any limitations to what sources I can pick humanoids from when casting alter self in PFS?

Could my Angel-Kin Aasimar use his racial Alter Self to change into a Strix, thus gaining wings and a fly speed for a limited time? (Assuming I have a proper source for Strix stats)

Can anyone think of any good silver crusade flavored feats, trait, or class abilities that would work well for a CG barbarian?

I don't have a good handle on what item slots animal companions and familiars get.

If I have a small earth elemental familiar, can I equip it with an amulet? What about armor(with all the penalties for not being proficient)?

Battle Form (Su): At 3rd level, a mauler gains the ability to transform into a larger, more ferocious form and back at will. In battle form, the mauler’s size becomes Medium and the mauler gains a +2 bonus to Strength (this stacks with the normal Strength adjustments for increasing in size). This ability replaces deliver touch spells.

Share Spells: The wizard may cast a spell with a target of “You” on his familiar (as a touch spell) instead of on himself. A wizard may cast spells on his familiar even if the spells do not normally affect creatures of the familiar's type (magical beast).

Enlarge Person says "Multiple magical effects that increase size do not stack."

Is there any reason why a familiar in Battle Form could not benefit from an Enlarge Person spell cast on it through the Share Spells familiar ability? Would it count as multiple magics effects not stacking?

I've notice that some ACG classes have racial spells listed on their customer spell lists.

For instance, Shamans have Stone Shield listed as a 1st level spell.

Do I have to be an Oread Shaman to cast this spell, or can my Dwarven Stone Spirit Shaman cast it?

Another question.
If I'm a class that casts spells from a spellbook, can I let other spellbook casters scribe/cast racial spells from my book?

For PFS (so no customer items), I'm looking for a source of Resistance bonuses to my saving throws that don't use the same item slot as a cloak.

I'm not a spellcaster, and Multiclassing isn't really an option.

I can possible get the bonuses from a prestige class ability for Order of the Godclaw Hellknight, but it will be way way behind a cloak of
resistance appropriate for my level.

A temporary solution using consumable magic items end up being my best option, but there has to be some items out there that I'm missing that can at least help one of my saves.

Armor slot and 1 Ring slot are already taken, but the rest besides Cloak are free.

Any ideas?

In PFS, can I pay the appropriate costs to have my familiar retrain it's feats? I guess this would apply to animal companions and eidolons too, and maybe even Stonelord earth elemental buddies.

So I vaguely remember reading somewhere on these boards that GMing Valley of the Veiled Flame does not grant you the Efreeti's Wish Boon. Reading through the boon, it has good effects, but not really game breaking effects especially considering what a Wish spell can possibly grant.

So two questions about this boon.
1. Is this the case?
2. If so, how should this information be distributed to GM's that don't check these boards, since it directly contradicts what was printed in the Guide to Organized Play at the beginning of the season, when I last checked it.

Finally, the boon that lets the slag giant repair Gamen the Misforged(Master Smith's Services), do you have to choose to use it immediately after applying the chronicle sheet to a character, or can you wait and spend the prestige at a later time(not in the middle of a scenario, obviously)?

I vaguely remember PFS having some house rules on animal companion magic item slots. Animal Archives says humanoid animals get most item slots. So how does it work for PFS?

I have a Aasimar character with 1xp from GM credit before they were removed as options without a race boon. Can I rewrite this character into a Tiefling? I've been toying around with the idea of a Kyton Tiefling Bloodrage(kyton) or maybe Shadow-blooded Sorceror.

The ACG Hunter class says that you can teach your animal companion Hunter Tricks from the Ranger Skirmisher[APG] archetype instead of normal animal tricks. I'm confused as to how this works after reviewing the Hunter's Tricks, which read as follows.

"Hunter's Tricks: At 5th level, a skirmisher ranger learns the use of hunter's tricks, which typically grant a boon or bonus to the ranger or a nearby ally. At 5th level, the ranger learns one trick, selected from the list below. At 7th level, and every two levels thereafter, he learns another trick. A ranger can use these tricks a total number of times per day equal to 1/2 his ranger level + his Wisdom modifier. Tricks are usually swift actions, but sometimes move or free actions that modify a standard action, usually an attack action. Once a trick is chosen, it can't be retrained. A ranger cannot select an individual trick more than once. This ability replaces the ranger's spells class feature. Skirmishers do not gain any spells or spellcasting ability, do not have a caster level, and cannot use spell trigger and spell completion magic items.

The following is a list of hunter tricks and their effects.

Aiding Attack (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a free action when he hits a creature with an attack. The next ally who makes an attack against the target creature before the start of the ranger's next turn gains a +2 circumstance bonus on that attack roll.

Bolster Companion (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as an immediate action when his animal companion is hit with an attack or a combat maneuver. The companion's AC and combat maneuver defense increase by +4 for the purposes of that attack. If the attack still hits, the animal companion only takes half damage (if any). The animal companion must be able to see and hear the ranger to benefit from this trick.

Catfall (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as an immediate action when he falls 20 or more feet, ignoring the first 20 feet of the fall when calculating the falling damage. If the ranger takes no damage from the fall, he does not fall prone.

Chameleon Step (Ex): The ranger can move up to twice his speed as a move action. The ranger does not take any penalty on Stealth checks for movement during this move. This move provokes attacks of opportunity as normal.

Cunning Pantomime (Ex): As a standard action, the ranger can communicate with a single creature as if using the tongues spell for 10 minutes. Because the communication is slow and lacks subtlety, the ranger suffers a –4 penalty on all Bluff and Diplomacy checks relating to the creature he is communicating with when using this trick.

Defensive Bow Stance (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a swift action. Until the start of his next turn, his ranged attacks do not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Deft Stand (Ex): The ranger can spend a move action to stand up without provoking attacks of opportunity.

Distracting Attack (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a free action before he makes an attack. If the attack hits, the target takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls for 1 round.

Hateful Attack (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a free action when he makes an attack against one of his favored enemies. The ranger doubles the threat range of his weapon for this attack. This does not stack with other abilities that increase a weapon's threat range.

Heel (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as an immediate action when his animal companion moves. When the companion moves, the square it starts out in is not considered threatened by any opponent it can see, and therefore visible enemies do not get attacks of opportunity against it when it moves from that square. The companion must end this movement in a square adjacent to the ranger. The animal companion must be able to see and hear the ranger to take this movement.

Hobbling Attack (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a free action when he hits with an attack. The target of the attack's land speed is reduced by 1/2 for 1d4 rounds.

Quick Climb (Ex): The ranger can climb at his full speed as a move action without penalty.

Quick Healing (Ex): As a swift action, the ranger can make a Heal check to administer first aid on an adjacent dying character. Alternatively, the ranger can administer a potion to an unconscious character as a move action.

Quick Swim (Ex): The ranger can swim at his full speed as a move action without penalty.

Ranger's Counsel (Ex): As a swift action, the ranger can grant all allies within 30 feet that are within line of sight and can hear him a +2 bonus on skill checks with a single skill of his choice. The ranger must have at least one rank in the chosen skill. This bonus lasts for 1 round.

Rattling Strike (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a free action before he makes a melee attack. If the attack hits, the target is shaken for 1d4 rounds.

Second Chance Strike (Ex): When he misses with a melee attack, the ranger may reroll his attack at a –5 penalty. Using this ability is an immediate action.

Sic 'Em (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a swift action. His animal companion makes one melee attack against an adjacent creature. The animal companion must be able to see and hear the ranger to make this attack.

Skill Sage (Ex): As a free action, the ranger can roll twice on any one skill check and take the better result. He must have at least 1 rank in that skill to use this ability.

Stag's Leap (Ex): As a free action, the ranger can attempt a running jump without moving 10 feet before the jump.

Surprise Shift (Ex): The ranger can move 5 feet as a swift action. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity and does not count as a 5-foot step.

Tangling Attack (Ex): The ranger can use this attack as a free action when he makes an attack. If the attack hits, the target is entangled for 1 round.

Trick Shot (Ex): As a standard action, the ranger can make a ranged attack that ignores concealment (but not total concealment), soft cover, and partial cover.

Uncanny Senses (Ex): As an immediate action, the ranger gains a +10 insight bonus on Perception checks for 1 round.

Upending Strike (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as a free action just before he makes a melee attack. If the attack hits, he may make a free trip combat maneuver against the target.

Vengeance Strike (Ex): The ranger can use this trick as an immediate action when an enemy adjacent to him hits an ally with a melee or ranged attack. The ranger can make a single melee attack at his highest base attack bonus against the creature who attacked his ally"

Are the Hunter's Animal Companion limited to the number of times per day they can use Hunter's tricks?

For something like "Sic 'Em", it's very confusing when applied to an animal companion, since it would be refering to the animal companion's animal companion. Would it work like the Hunter had the trick instead?

Celestial Servant says

"Rather than being a normal animal or beast, your companion or familiar hails from the heavenly realms.

Prerequisites: Aasimar, animal companion, familiar, or mount class feature.

Benefit: Your animal companion, familiar, or mount gains the celestial template and becomes a magical beast, though you may still treat it as an animal when using Handle Animal, wild empathy, or any other spells or class abilities that specifically affect animals."

What happens when I use this on a Vermin Animal Companion. Does it become a Magical Beast? Can I now target it with spells that only affect animals, even though I couldn't before?

This is for PFS, so I need strict Rules as Written, even if they don't make much sense.

I received Gen Con 2014 Boon #17, Xenophile, over the weekend, and I'm a little confused as to how it works.

"You may include with this boon any number of Chronicle sheets that enable you to play a character of a different race. Each such Chronicle sheet grants you skill specialization in a particular skill associated with that race."

I have two questions about this boon.
1. If I'm using a race book to play a differnt race, will this book give me the skill specialization for that race, or does this only work with raceboons that I'm not using on the character.

2. Many race boons have multiple options on them. Do I get specialization in the skills for all the races, or do I have to pick one.

Interesting note, Android is one of the listed races, implying that there will be Android race boons at some point.

I'm creating a character for Iron Gods that draws his powers from the Dark Tapestry. I'm looking for some spells that really fit with that kind of flavor. Things like Black Tentacles, and a non core spell I found called "Bloody Tears and Jagged Smile" from the Rasputin Must Die! book.

Does anyone have any other ideas for spells I could use along this theme? I know 3.5 had the Alienist prestige class, but I couldn't find anything similar for Pathfinder.

Are there any spells that let me turn into a mass of writhing tentacles, or summon alien monstesr from beyond the stars, or stuff like that?

So I have 31 tables of GM credit listed on the "My Pathfinder Society" page. Some of these tables are extras from running modules.

The Guide to Organized Play says that after 30 reported tables of credit I should received my secord star, but I'm still only listed as a 1 star GM.

Any idea of how to get this fixed? I've kinda been looking forward to my second star. I know it's not a big deal, but it's nice to get some recognition for all the work I do volunteering to run games.

I have a couple questions before I decide if I want to buy a copy of Empty Graves.

1. Do the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Osirion still grant prayers and divine powers in the modern era golarion?

2. Do the gods/goddesses have subdomains listed in the article? Specifically, does Anubis have access to the Undead subdomain of the Death domain?

I've been looking forward to the Reign of Winter mini set for a long time. I'm an avid mini collector since Wizards started putting out DnD minis, and I'm playing in a Reign of Winter campaign, and was planning on dropping a large chunk of money buying the cool npcs like Baba Yaga and Rasputin to use in our game.

I've been watching the previews closely, and the sculpts your artists have produced have been just amazing. It's been a bit frustrating to watch paizo repeat the same learning curve with their Minis that Wizards of the Coast did 10 years ago, but you've put out a good number of sets, but based off the previews it looked like the scaling and quality issues had been addressed.

So imagine my suprise when I got to my local comic shop, giddy with anticipation and started pawing through the singles that they had opened.

The scaling, as usual, is attrocious. Large sized minis aternate from barely using the space provided (centaurs), to spilling out over the bases. But scaling trouble I can forgive.

What I can't forgive is the absolutely attrocious quality control for your products. A lot of the rares for this set are humanoids, and the I just can't beleive you let these products be shipped to sell in stores, using the pathfinder logo.

The paint jobs are terrible. Ugly, inconsistant, and most of the time the paint is not even properly mixed (reds and lighter flesh tones seperated all blotchy like instead of blended). I spend 40 minutes digging through the boxes for commons and uncommons, not that I thought were good, but ones that weren't so terribly I couldn't justify spending the not small amount of money on them. The rares were unsalvagable. There just plain weren't enough of them to find a paint job that completely ruin the mini.

Last set there were similar problems, but it wasn't so bad.

If I had purchased unopened boxes, and gotten these minis out of them, I would have demanded a refund from the store I bought them from. I'm going to advise my local comic shop to send back what they have opened and demand quality replacement product.

The product you delivered was not the product you advertised.

You paid your artists good money to come up with amazing sculpts and paint schemes for these minis. In production, they have been butchered.

Unless this problem is majorly addressed in the next release in your minature line, you will have lost my business on them. I'll stop watching the previews, and stop talking to my friends about the cool minis your say you are going to release.

Since Occult Mysteries contains references about The First World being seperated from the cycle of souls, should we assume that this interesting quirk of The First World has not been retconned out of existance, like previously implied by Paizo?

I know that the campaign rules for PFS say that you can not upgrade named magical items. I was wondering if the items in Inner Sea Gods were an except to that rule, since that book explicitly calls out a general rule where you can upgrade the magical pluses on the weapons or armor, and the functionality of the ring of protection or similar effects.

I have heard people saying that you can use Animate Dead to make Bloody/flaming skeletons and Fast Zombies, but I can't seem to find any rules that confirm this. Can anyone help me out?

I have a new character concept brewing in my head, and I wanted to get some clarification on how something works.

When an animal companion dies, does it stop being an animal companion? Specifically, if the dead animal companion is animated as undead, does it lose it's bonus HD and stats? Would it revert to the base stats for the animal type?

In PFS, can you use magical items to meet pre-reqs for feats? If my str is 11, and I have a belt of +2 str, can I take Power Attack? If I have a Phylactery of Positive Channeling, can I qualify for xd6 channeling feats sooner?

I just want to make sure I've got the pricing right for an item I want to buy. If I have a +4 con belt(16,000), i believe that I'm allowed to add +2 dex to it(4,000), but the cost is increased by 1.5 for the cheaper enchantment. So assumming I have enough fame to be able to purchase 22,000gp items, I can upgrade my belt with +2 Dex for 6,000gp, correct?

I just want to make sure I am understanding this correctly. With the Mythic Powers 1 boon, if I bring a copy of Mythic Powers when I play part 3, I can have a full Mythic Rank 3 character, including Path Abilities and Mythic Feats?

So I've been doing a lot of research into these two gods, both because I like the story, and because I'm playing worshipers of both gods in different campaigns. I noticed some contridictions in the lore, though. The articles on Shelyn state that followers of Zon-Kuthon leave the followers of Shelyn alone, because messing with them would earn Zon-Kuthon's ire. But the articles on Zon-Kuthon state that while Zon-Kuthon and Shelyn don't fight, Shelynites have no such protection from Kuthites. Faiths of Corruptions goes on to say that Kuthonites especially enjoy torturing Shelynites.

So which is actual cannon, in this case? I think a full truce between the two faiths makes a more interesting story, but I want to know what's the official take.

How much damage would a longbow do if used as an improvised melee weapon?

Animal shapes emulates Beast Shape III, which let you take the form of a diminuative to huge animal, or medium sized magical beast. Can anyone think of any forms that would be be able to speak, so that you could keep casting spells?

The natural armor bonus from Giant form doesn't specify that it is an enhancement bonus to natural armor. Does this mean it stacks with barkskin or an amulet of natural armor?

On saturday I played a level 1 human abyssal bloodrager through the first level of Thornkeep, with interesting results.

Fighting with a rapier and wand of shield/lantern in offhand kept my AC top notch most of the dungeon, when I wasn't raging, and power attack gave me enough damage to power through some DR/5 we encountered. When I raged my damage went through the roof, and I was able to solo an ambush by 3 striges, even though I had taken off my armor to be better at climbing.

The party managed to take down the wight before it managed to hit anyone, thanks in part to 2 claw power attacks while raging and a crit by Valeros.

When we got to the shadow we had to flee to town to re-equip, but being able to use scrolls of magic missle and magic weapon was a big help.

The cold/fear room trap ended up wrecking the party, dealing massive damage and sending a third of the party frightened to run and trigger the boss fight before we were ready. This lead to a blender of different parts of the party rushing(namely me) to the first PC's aid only to get attacked twice on a surprise round/held actions, then attacked 6 more times before my init came up. Needless to say, even with AC 19 I went down before I could do anything. Followed quickly by the next PC behind me.

We eventually managed to pull out a win after a couple critical rounds of the crickets failing to hit the cleric on 3-6 attacks, while he managed to heal me to conciousness with a wand. That let me rage/2 claw one of the crickets to death over 2 rounds, while lying prone on the ground. The last dropped me again, but the cleric had managed to get more of the party concious, and I think either Valerous or the Cleric managed to finish off the cricket, who was close to death from magic missles the sorceress got off before it mauled her into negative hit points.

So the class seems pretty strong, 2 attacks a round at +5 with power attack for 1d6+7 clears most monsters at level 1, but with only 6 rounds of rage a day I had to ration it carefully. The wand of shield really helped my survivability, though it would be hard to get my hands on as level 1 outside of the 2PP rule from PFS.

I also think 3 of the encounters in the module were way over the top for a party of all level 1 characters, and that we would have TPKed if we hadn't gotten lucky at just the right time, so the class wasn't so powerful that it could carry the party through challenges it shouldn't be able to beat normally.

Probably will play the character again, now at level 2, on sunday. Will post the results when I can.

Looking over the Abyssal Bloodline, one thing really catched my attention. At level 7, you get cause fears as a bonus spell, but the spell doesn't work on anything with more than 5HD, which will be almost nothing at level 7 and beyond. It would be nice to get a bonus spell that wasn't next to useless.

Last PFS session my character got poisoned by some terribly demon cricket and took some abiltiy damage. At the end of the game I was in a hurry to get to another game and I forgot to ask the GM what I needed to do to get it cured.

Is my character dead because I forgot to clear all conditions?

Can I get the ability damage cured before my next session, or do I have to start with the penalties?

Do I get a night's sleep, and thus cure 1 point of ability damage per stat, in between sessions.

Is getting an NPC to cast Lesser Restoration on me the best way to get this healed? How much does that ususally cost?

I have a couple questions about throwing shields from Ultimate Equipment/Adventurer's Armory.

First Question, do I need Shield Proficiency and Exotic Weapon Proficiency to throw them without the -4 non proficient penalty?

Can I choose to enchant the shield as a weapon, paying normal weapon enchantment costs, and knowing full well that the enchantment won't add to my AC? If not, can anyone think of a way to get the shield to return to my hand after throwing it.

There has been a lot of chatter on these boards about Blood Biography not being legal anymore. Is the use of the spell outright banned, or is it just not on the additional resources list anymore.

I ask because there is a scroll of it listed on a season 5 chronicle sheet, which may or may not make it legal to use. If it is legal to use with the chronicle sheet, is it an alignment infringment towards evil everytime the spell is cast?

Are the Bonekeep adventures availabe for homeplay, or are they still convention only scenarios?

I know what if I take levels in a prestige class it doesn't add to my cleric level for my domain abilities. But do I get domain slots and spells if the prestige class ups my caster level?

The Monster Manual lists Worgs as ECL 6 cohorts, but doesn't list Winter Wolf Worgs in it. Do you think 9 sounds reasonable, with 6 good HD and special abilities on top of the normal Worg?

From the PRD for the APG
"Focused Spell (Metamagic)
When you cast a spell that affects more than one creature, one opponent finds it more difficult to resist.

Benefit: When casting a spell that affects or targets more than one creature, you can choose one target or creature within the spell effect. That creature's saving throw DC to resist the spell is increased by +2. You must choose which target to focus the spell on before casting the spell. A focused spell uses up a spell slot one level higher than the spell's actual level.

Spells that do not require a saving throw to resist or lessen the spell's effect do not benefit from this feat."

Does there actually need to be multiple targets for the spell at the time of the casting, or does the spell just have to be able to target multiple things if they are present?

I needs some idea for what to call my Order of the Star(Cayden Cailean)'s horse companion.

So far I've only come up with the following
Hops
Sudds Mckenzie

I vaguely remember reading something at some point that allowed you to use a figurine of wonderous power as an mount class feature animal companion. Is this just be being crazy, or is there actually some mechanics that allow something like this.

So multiple chronicles in season 4 can give access to magical tattoos. Is there a limit to the number a character can have, do they take up a magic item slot? If you have one, can you get rid of it to make room for another?