Jeff Carlsen's page

I want books in the spirit of the Rules Compendium and Spell Compendium. Follow that up with some sort of Ultimate Classes that includes all the classes and feats from across the Pathfinder line.

But from a Golarion viewpoint I could see the creator putting in a stipulation that the wielder could over-write it's resistances with his own as long as they were stronger than the magical item itself, and he could automatically fail his resistance to a helpful effect.

True, but there are two forms that could take.

First, the object is bonded to an individual, and allows only that person the ability to drop the items defenses. This could either mean the object will only ever do this for one person or that there's a bonding ritual of some sort.

Second, anyone who holds the item is allowed to drop the item's defenses, which is simply, but means that the object is vulnerable to anyone who holds it.

Both are cool possibilities, even if they're making magic items a little more complex.

Do magic items always make a saving throw to resist beneficial spells such as magic weapon or mending?

As far as I can tell from the rules, they do, but I've never seen a group actually require this.

Some relevant points:

1. A person can choose to fail a save in the case of a beneficial spell. But this is a person, not an object.

2. A magic item's saves are based on the caster level of the object unless it's sentient, implying that these saves represent a general resistance to spell effects. I don't see how this resistance would know the difference between a beneficial and a harmful spell.

3. An attended object uses the object's save or that of the person holding it, whichever is greater. Again, more evidence that it's a general protection.

4. It is stated that a magic item should always get a saving throw against a harmful effect. This implies that someone who is both holding a magical item and trying to cast a harmful spell on it can't choose to fail the save against a harmful effect. But, it does allude to the idea that saving throws for magic items exist more as a game concern than a simulation concern.

Obviously, I can run it how I want, but I find the topic fascinating. Any thoughts on the matter?

I appreciate the offering of light versions of the hardcover rulebooks, but these are only slightly better than the full versions. A light, printer friendly document should forgo any colored background and unessential decoration.

Plus, if done right, you shouldn't need to provide separate versions at all. If the backgrounds, images, and text were all on separate layers, users could simply turn off the parts they don't need to print. Chances are, your page designer already uses layers in InDesign. It's a simple matter to condense them and export to PDF with layers turned on.

That said, I actually like the look of the lite versions over the normal ones, so your page designer deserves props for that.

I like the Third Edition book covers. They did have a nice feel, though some of them really did look tacky.

But I think Pathfinder is better off as it is. Beautiful book the whole way through.

That said, I would LOVE a leather-bound special edition of the Core Rulebook with ribbon bookmarks and foiled edges.

I've played in, and enjoyed, post 20th level play, so I'm not against it in principle. Even so, I think it has to mean something.

I don't think the current classes should have more than 20 levels. Instead, Level 21 should be the start of a new form of existence. Humans, elves, and halflings don't reach these levels of power through pure experience.

I would suggest new, epic classes, such as Demigod, God, Demon, Angel, Buddha,etc. Each class would have soul changing requirements and their own special sets of powers.