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Think of it like Versatile Performance of a Bard. Mechanically, you just use the modifiers from one skill for another. How you flavor it is up to anything that fits. They are all at least Charisma-based skills in Coax Information, unlike some of the bard options.
The corners are correctly shown as threatened per the CRB FAQ. https://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm#v5748eaic9sp8
Note that this FAQ was a December 2014 post. But my CRB PDF just downloaded from the Paizo site says this on pages 192-193:
And this on pages 214 about the area of a spell effect:
In case anyone finds this later, I not only selected a level of Urban Bloodrager for my TWF rogue at level 6, I also added a level of it to my level 10 slayer archer when he got to 11th. Getting to rage to add dex and put the shield spell on a wand without worrying about UMD was just what I needed. I put a greensting scorpion in a familiar satchel too, and now I got the initiative bonus that I was seeking. I did retrain a feat into Combat Expertise and another into Gang Up [my reading of Dirty Fighting is that it only works for combat maneuvers, and gang up isn't a maneuver.] I haven't actually played the rogue since the rebuild, but I did play the slayer last week, and I really like not having to worry about losing any extra rage hit points if I go unconscious since I am always just using +4 Dex in my rage [and not risking rage death with a tenuous Con bonus]. Since I am at the ACP limit of my attack roll when dex raging i my mithral chain shirt, I didn't bother with the dex belt. Lhinir: male elf Unchained Rogue 5, Urban Bloodrager 1
At some point, I may purchase a headband of charisma to get the rogue from a 9 charisma to an 11 to improve social skills and get some level 1 castings of some spells, but the slayer has a Cha of 7 and is almost retired from PFS, so for sure I will just be using wands for casting.
Not by a strict reading, no. Against incorporeal undead, cure light wounds will still do half damage and still won't deliver precision damage such as sneak attack. Your mileage may certainly vary, though, as a lot of GMs extend the strict text to the more general principle that "positive energy affects incorporeal undead as though they were corporeal". There was another thread in the last week [either in Advice or here in Rules] where CLW vs. incorporeal came up. "When laying your hand upon a living creature, you channel positive energy that cures 1d8 points of damage +1 point per caster level (maximum +5). Since undead are powered by negative energy, this spell deals damage to them instead of curing their wounds. An undead creature can apply Spell Resistance, and can attempt a Will save to take half damage."Since channel positive energy works as full vs. incorporeal undead, CLW does the full damage [if the save is failed]. Now the question is whether to apply the sneak attack damage. If the sneak attacker is under ghost touch or the incorporeal is under ghostbane dirge or the like, there is no question. But more generally, incorporeal creatures are not listed as being immune to flanking [unlike say an ooze], so the sneak attack damage would apply in my opinion.
Or intimidate in general trying to help a face character (with almost no combat usefulness) have something to do in combat. 1. Be a Bard [either standard or an archetype that keeps Versatile Performance] with high Charisma [for at least 2 levels]. Put 1 rank each in Diplomacy and Intimidate to get through level 1, and never again.2. Max out Perform Keyboard Instruments ranks every level. [select Skill Focus, buy a cracked Pink and Green Sphere ioun stone, max ranks, headband of charisma, circlet of persuasion {over time}] 3. Select the Versatile Performance with Keyboard Instruments at bard level 2. Now your maxed out Perform Keyboard Instruments works on both Diplomacy and Intimidate. 4. At level 4, learn and use the spell Blistering Invective. Now, enemies within 30 feet are all subject to the Demoralize with no save for 1 round and 1 round/5 points by which you exceed the DC. They get a reflex save against the recurring d6 of fire damage, but none against the demoralize or the d10 of fire damage in round 1. My level 8 PFS bard has a 21 in Perform Keyboard Instruments, Diplomacy, and Intimidate. The average roll of 10 totals to 31. The DC for demoralize of 10 plus HD plus Wisdom is probably a total of 20-25 at this level. I've effectively given the shaken condition to all opponents for 2 or 3 rounds. At level 7 you can also start your bardic performance as a move action so still be able to open with that spell (though I would recommend Haste or Good Hope [which increases skills another 2 points to aid the check], and Blistering Invective on round 2). If you only have one opponent or are 2nd level, you don't need the spell. Just do the standard action demoralize via the Intimidate skill. Keep in mind that there is a size penalty though of -2 per step, so my halfling is taking -2 vs. medium creatures, and worse for large or huge creatures. Dirge of Doom at level 8 also applies shaken in an area with no save, but it takes your bardic rounds and prevents you from inspiring courage [unless you select a way to use 2 performances when you get to a higher level].
As for my Will saves, they look pretty decent for level 6.
Birthmark trait = +2 vs. charms and compulsions
Total = +9 vs. [the most important saves of] charms and compulsions
I did in fact take Dodge instead of Two-Weapon Defense.
I just read up on Urban Bloodrager, and it does have some appeal, in replacing at least the Wizard level so I maintain my BAB and can increase Dex while in rage. I could still use all 4 of my wands between a level of this class and Ranger, but I don't get real access to invisibility. Fortunately, there's a rogue talent for that: The Whole Time. Quite an interesting mix of options.
Ferious Thune,
I did look at Dodge vs. Two-Weapon Defense. What I really liked about TWD is that it's a shield bonus that works even when flat-footed, and can also boost Total Defense or Fighting Defensively (though with those additional penalties I'd be only about able to hit AC 10 to give a party mate Aid Another). But I think you may be correct overall; I should just take dodge and focus on getting a +4 shield bonus from the spell. To get the shield spell, I can just keep my UMD allocated with max skill points [I do have the Intelligence on this character to do so] and use a wand myself. I will won't ever get a +19 UMD to make wand use automatic, but +6 at level 6 would serve me well for other low level wands [at least until I toss a 1 that day]. I definitely had the Belt of Dex on my level 6 theoretical build of this character. And that is something I sure plan to keep as I go forward with him. I do love the mithral breastplate on all my other martial characters, but yes, on a thief, the max dex is incenting me to keep my mithral chain shirt. I had made my existing armor +1 about a year ago, and had just forgotten why. Thanks for the confirmation on that decision.
Slim Jim,
As for the ability statistics, I have already played the character at level 4, so I can't even re-distribute my +1 from that level, let alone all the rest [short of doing some retraining of level 4]. For the racial weapons for an elf, I found that issue after HeroLab was applying a penalty. The elf racial ability lets you treat the elven exotic weapons as martial; but as a straight rogue, I was still taking the non-proficiency penalty [since the rogue doesn't have martial weapon proficiency]. So, if I took a level in a full BAB class, I would certainly retrain that feat.
I have the Adventurer's Guide and loved the Elven Leafblade and Elven Thornblade. So, I decided to build a TWF rogue for PFS. I just entered level 4, then played a module chronicle sheet to apply to make me 5th and and have another module from being the GM on another adventure to make me 6th level. However, I am not happy with my AC, my attack (main hand +6 when TWF and piranha strike), though am OK with my damage (d4 + 10 + 3d6 sneak) with what I built up at 6th. I have the following statistics:
feats/talents:
traits:
main items currently:
I built my character up to level 6 (adding two-weapon defense and trap spotter for feat+talent, a +1 adamantine leafblade, and explored +2 dex belt, +1 mithral agile breastplate, +1 ring, +1 amulet), but my attack is pretty weak (as noted above). I'd like to get invisibility, but I would need to cast it in advance by dipping an arcane class and using wands/scrolls. Alternatively, I could retrain my weapon feats to combat reflexes, dodge, and mobility to enter shadowdancer prestige class. Another option is to get The Whole Time talent and a wand of invisibility. Or get to 36 fame (when I am currently at just 19) and spend 20,000 gp on a ring. I'd like to get a decent AC without hurting my attack. I'm thinking of taking a level of Ranger so I can: wear the mithral agile breastplate without hurting my to hit with ACP, cast lead blades/CLW/heightened awareness from wands, increase hp slightly, not hurt skills too much, retrain my leafblade proficiency into weapon focus for elven thornblade (since I would be an elven ranger and be proficient already then in both those weapons [elf treating elven weapons as martial and actually having martial weapons as a ranger]). Any recommendations? Starting a new character as a TWF slayer or ranger seems a poor solution, since I am 6th level with 15,468 gp on hand to patch up some deficiencies.
Emerald Spire has its own Flip-Mats, one per level. Not sure about actual AP's.
I was the GM for this level just last night in a PFS game. It's a pretty easy level. There's a couple of things you can do with terrain to have some monsters escape and warn others, and of course a larger fight poses more risk to the players. If the PC's make the various checks for the traps and don't have escapees from the early fight, it's easy for them to pick off the separated groups of enemies.
From the chronicle sheet of the relevant level:
[I'm not bothering to spoiler it, since it's just effectively a masterwork club out of the CRB, and I removed any reference to where it drops.]
HeroLab shows this:
HL is calculating 3.75 lb per 50 mithral arrows, but I can't determine the rest of its math {making me doubt these results}. 50 masterwork cold iron durable arrows = 400 gp (8 gp each)
Taking 20 takes 2 full minutes. That's metagamy to be searching some 10 foot area for 20 rounds. If you have no buffs running, and have already been hit by traps, and are in a suspicious area, then it could make sense. Taking 10 takes 6 seconds, the same as the regular check. That should be the standard way of operating if you have a +15 or +20 modifier. A 25 or 30 perception total finds nearly every trap in PFS.
Speaking = warning, and is a free action you can normally do out of turn (though not when you are surprised). If you beat their initiative, but fail the perception check, you are correct that you cannot speak the warning. But that isn't due to lacking a feat; that's due to failing the perception check. Unless I am missing something?
Good Hope = Heroism for the whole party, and it affects damage. I picked it on my bard at 7th, and i still cast it every fight now that we're level 13, and the campaign is starting over with new level 1's. So I made a cleric of Milani so I can get it at level 5. It's that awesome. Add Encouraging Spell as a feat to make it +3, and get a rod of Extend. Then also cast Moment of Greatness to take that +3 and make it a +6 for each party member once per fight.
You're a full caster with a fixed spell list. Knowing that list is probably most important to helping you. I assume the rogue in your party already knows your list, so you won't be giving anything away by posting it here?
Also, another equivalent of Haste:
It saves the bard from casting a 3rd level spell of haste, but does take up bardic rounds and bardic action economy (move actions at 7th, swift at 13th). And gives out fatigue at the end...
Quote from the original post: "I don't know which interpretation Hero Lab uses." In Hero Lab, I built a human with Int = 10, level 1 Ranger, level 1 Druid with the FCB in Skills on that Druid level. The character has 13 skill points in total to assign. I was, correctly, limited to 2 skill points on any skill. Adding a 3rd point turns the skill red and incurs an error message when saving. For example, "Perception: You may only have your hit dice in ranks in a skill."
Now that the site is back, and I am about to GM another scenario (#6-15) in 3 weeks, I tried getting into the Product Reviews to see what GM pointers there are to run the scenario well. Once again, trying to get to Page 2 of the reviews takes me instead to the Product Discussion (which is still true for #7-01).
When in the PRODUCT REVIEWS section for the PFS Scenario #7-01, clicking on Page 2, 3, 4, or 5 takes me into the PRODUCT DISCUSSION section, rather than the correct page of product review. This is happening to me in both MS Edge and in Google Chrome. Pathfinder Society Scenario #7–01: Between the Lines (PFRPG) PDF
There are 21 product reviews, but I can only see numbers 1-5 on Page 1. I am running this scenario on Wednesday, and am looking to see if other people have some good ideas.
When in the PRODUCT REVIEWS section for this scenario, clicking on Page 2, 3, 4, or 5 takes me into this PRODUCT DISCUSSION section. This is happening to me in both MS Edge and in Google Chrome.
For Mage Hand and unattended, this is from the Merriam-Webster website:
To me, these all involve posession and overseeing things. So, you can Mage Hand inanimate objects like a plate, and the utensils and food on top also go. However, if you have a creature on the plate, like a mouse, perhaps that isn't really unattended. Further, if the mouse is intelligent, that makes an even better case that the plate is not unattended. You should not really expect to be able to stand on a plate and use an at-will, free-all-day cantrip to replicate the effects of Levitate, a 2nd level spell, or Fly, a 3rd level spell.
Trying to run 2 bardic buffs simultaneously. Not just the masterpieces eating into more valuable feats and spells (and still arguably not being able to run with a performance), but the various performances (that you would actually use, anyway) nearly always being exclusive.
I would like to see Aid Another codified better. 1. Make it clear that all skills can now be used untrained (including with Aid Another), and that Aid Another has no Critical Failure chance [I hope]. 2. Make it clear that it can be used on all skills. I always hate when the GM says "Roll Perception" or "Roll Sense Motive" and half the people sit around with their d20's idle. I don't care what the skill is: assume we're talking about Stealth: maybe you signal to your teammate that she's still too exposed and not enough in the shadows... it's just a +2 for your standard action, usually outside of combat [where there is no action to lose really]. 3. Pick a direction: either the character of the person who's been doing the most [talking] to make the main check (which is really annoying when the character with [charisma] dumped just happens to have the most [talkative] player) or the party selects one character to re-iterate in-character the best argument the table of players arrived at. The rest can either roll their own check [which would risk a critical failure for that character] or make the assist. 4. Explain how to do an Aid Another on a saving throw. When exactly does that come up? You make your save vs. Hold Person but a teammate fails. You then take your next round's standard action to do Aid Another on your adjacent ally?
You would want to plan ahead a bard build that uses the Versatile Performance feature, and possibly include retraining of skill points in the plan. And just focus on the Perform Skills, especially if you have Hero Lab. It does a straight substitution. So, if you are considering Skill Focus for Sense Motive, which is +3 but with Wisdom +0, but your Charisma is also +3, it would make more sense to take Skill Focus for Oratory instead, since that would get you the +3 Skill Focus bonus on Oratory and the +3 Cha bonus to Oratory (e.g. to counter distraction or for rolling a Day Job check), Diplomacy (via Versatile Performance), and Sense Motive (via Versatile Performance). The same is true for utilizing a masterwork item (though I don't know if there is such a thing for any of Oratory/Diplomacy/Sense Motive). However, if you are trying for some Bardic Masterpieces that require actual ranks in non-performance skills, the ranks for your Versatile Performance skill does not help meet the prerequisite.
Clarification and simplification of any rules that should be basic. Sneak Attack from Stealth: can you do it with a full attack, or just once, or whatever? What are the limits on Charm Person? If you critically fail the save, what exactly can you be compelled to do? Today in PFS1, a lodge VO says "it is from the charm school, not compulsion" and was allowing a character to be instructed to run from the fight, but could use move actions to return the very next round, and requiring the caster use a standard action to give further instructions. This even after the character failed the Will save in round 1, and then an opposed Charisma check in round 3 (round 2 the fighter won the opposed Charisma check to avoid attacking the party [which I think is a valid command, but others disagreed]). It's a level 1 spell that's been around 30 years, and we still cannot agree on how to run it.
A +N enhancement arrow IS nice, but I'd rely on the party spellcaster to buff your ammo using Greater Magic Weapon well before combat.This spell functions like magic weapon, except that it gives a weapon an enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls of +1 per four caster levels (maximum +5). This bonus does not allow a weapon to bypass damage reduction aside from magic. Exactly. Get the spell Versatile Weapon instead. It's GMW, and mundane material bypass of 1 type at casting, but less duration.
Stealth. Please figure out if someone can stealth while you look at them or not. And if you can ever attack more than once from stealth. Maybe now that full round actions are dead and multiple attacks are part of your 3 actions, if you start in stealth, you could move once and still attack twice from stealth, losing the surprise bonus only at the end of the round... [at least once you have a certain level]
You would likely appreciate this blog posting:
1. Ban Sacred Geometry. At a certain point, it's an automatic make, and applies 2 metamagic feats without increasing the spell level. Basically, it works 93%-100% of the time once you have 6 ranks in the skill Knowledge Engineering
2. For a character focused on Counterspelling, just focus on the 2 spells Dispel Magic + Greater Dispel Magic, the 2 feats Dispel Focus + Greater Dispel Focus, and a readied action to Cast a Spell. Heightening a cantrip and using Improved Counterspell could save you a spell level or 2 if you are dispelling a level 1 or 2 spell. But those 2 feats would be a lot better spent on Dispel Magic/Greater Dispel Magic. Dispel Magic is not dependent on the fact that it is level 3 for anything, so increasing the spell level to 4 is useless, so you don't need to heighten it. The only thing that matters is the caster's caster level and Dispel Focus + Greater Dispel Focus for another +2 or +4. If you were going to heighten your counterspell to 5th, just use the spell Greater Dispel Magic instead, and get a +4 on the dispel check for the counterspell. Then also take and apply the 2 feats and get yourself a +8 total on the dispel check.
paizo.com, search for the module/scenario, and click into the ZIP for the module should get you the option to download. However, if your character gets audited, you will need the one signed by your GM. As an example, if I lost my sheet, but knew I played Emerald Spire, I would search, and pull up the module's page, then click the hyperlink in this sentence:
But I would only be doing that if I knew I had earned the full gold + prestige for 1 level, and only as a placeholder until I could get a signed form.
Cleric v. Oracle quick compare:
Alahazra at level 7 has more variety in spells [especially with her nice scrolls/wands], but no channeling. She has a 40 move [but AC only 15 with the same 59 hp].
Thorin: reading some of your other posts in this thread, you are correctly referencing the same things. I think you are just assuming the retaliation mentioned in maouse's post is an AoO against the paladin that pops the Hero's Defiance, and so qualifies as a swift action on the paladin's current turn [leaving an immediate action available to the paladin on this turn]. Maouse: I assume you were meaning that the retaliation was just a normal attack on the turn of the paladin's enemy, and not an AoO on the paladin's turn, and so qualifies as an immediate action on the paladin's current turn, eating up next round's swift action [but still leaving an immediate action available to the paladin on that next turn].
I am with maouse33 on this. Straight from d20PFSRD:
This other line about immediate actions is what maouse33 is meaning:
I recommend the Pathfinder Strategy Guide for building characters from the core rulebook [CRB], and for discussion of play strategy/conflicts/style overall.
The whole issue is here:
Here is what I would argue: P1 is an incorrect assumption. The better phrasing is "Hit point damage is assumed to be lethal, unless otherwise specified." The actual adjusted quote would be "[Lethal] Damage reduces a target’s current hit points." We know the [lethal] should be the default assumption, because non-lethal damage counts upwards, and not downwards from current HP.P2 is when looked at through the clarified P1 looks like this: "When a spell or ability cures [lethal] hit point damage, it also removes an equal amount of nonlethal damage." The [lethal] is implied due to P1. C just plain does not exist. Anything that deals specifically with non-lethal healing only deals with non-lethal healing, and only once (not doubled). When you look at an ability like the Domain special of Calming Touch, it is an example of a specific rule that interacts with non-lethal [and only non-lethal], and it only does what it says [not twice]:
Wands of CLW are great at level 1. They easily heal you in 1 or 2 charges, and the 750gp expense was meaningful, such that you basically had to give up buying a +1 weapon or armor. Wands of CLW are terrible in combat even at level 5 or so. You need to be healing more than that 1d8+1 if you are spending an action to heal, so you really need at least CMW or multiple dice of channeling for in-combat use to justify it in the action economy. The issue is that the CLW wand is now so cheap for out of combat healing, and done officially, requires a bunch of rolls, taking up table time. Instead, the rule could be that you can "Take 5" for out-of-combat use: assume the d8 rolled a 4, add your +1 for the level, get 5. And it makes the math pretty easy. 2 charges [and 2 rounds spent] for every 10 hp. Wands of CMW, on the other hand, are just too expensive at 4,500 gp. That kind of money buys both +1 weapon and armor, or a headband/belt. Healing Skill needs a buff. Remove the number of charges on a Healer's Kit (talk about minutiae in tracking...), encourage Take 10 out-of-combat (assuming the user has a +10), reduce the Treat Deadly Wounds time from 1 hour to something reasonable, and have it heal more hp. You could start with the Combat Healer Squire features for Dress Wounds but increase the time from one full round action to 1 minute, allow it to heal real HP damage (level * 3 of real HP, instead of just d4 + level in temporary HP), allow it to work 2 or 3 times per day per recipient, and allow it to work on all creatures. "Dress Wounds (Su): At 2nd level, a combat healer squire can hastily dress a deadly wound for her knight, temporary alleviating his suffering. This ability acts in all ways like using the Heal skill to treat deadly wounds, except the combat healer squire only needs to take a fullround action to use this ability. The hit points healed are temporary, and only last 10 minutes, but they are not lost first like temporary hit points. A combat healer squire can only use this ability on her knight, not other creatures. A knight cannot benefit from this ability more than once per day, and cannot be treated for deadly wounds with the Heal skill within 24 hours of being subjected to this ability. This ability replaces divine grace."
Easiest for distance: just measure anything that fits on a map in "squares" (spell effects and thrown weapons), and anything beyond that barely matters how you measure it in my games, but should have some estimated meters and feet listed (spell ranges and missile weapons). Easiest for temperature: just list both F and C figures. It doesn't come up that often that it would be a big waste of print space...
For question #2 here, does a targeted Greater Dispel Magic use 1 roll and compare to each effect [up to 3 successes at 12th level], or roll until you hit 3 successes or run out of effects to target (a new roll once per effect)?
I'm pretty sure it works like this: Under Intelligence in the CRB: "your character always gets at least 1 skill point per level." So, I am using that in comparison for the Max function. And it only makes sense to apply it to the Class + Intelligence to get a floor of 1 point, then apply other bonuses. Max ([Class bonus + Intelligence modifier ], 1) + Race Trait + Favored Class Bonus + feats (Cunning), etc. Let us take your example another step and say Intelligence modifier = -3 to make it more clear:
You really cannot wait until level 5 spells for Break Enchantment, not even until level 3 with Dispel Magic.
But yes, with this resonance thing going on, I have to wonder about the Lesser Restoration being an issue as well if there is no longer easy access to consumables like wands. Also, it would be nice to know what exactly are effects that can be cured via Dispel Magic. If you are hit with Baleful Polymorph or Blindness-Deafness, how can those conditions get removed?
I am just looking at the spell, and it's certainly written confusingly.
I don't see why you'd treat a ghost any different than a human looking at the RAW. Specific trumps general, and a spell effect is more specific to me than a creature type. RAI, I am with Pizza Lord. It makes no sense to put something corporeal like Ironskin on something incorporeal like a ghost. Or you could just do a search on "pathfinder ironskin raw" and find this result among this board's threads:
And then you can just say "Duergar-only."
The Gibbering Mouther does do 1 point of Con damage with its initial bite using the Blood Drain, but the next round, it can often maintain its grapple (using a +7), plus swallow whole using the Engulf ability, and then you suffer 2 points of Con damage - not 1 and not 6. "Special Attacks: blood drain, engulf (6d4 damage plus 2 Con damage, AC 13, hp 4), gibbering, ground manipulation, spittle (+6 ranged touch)." They are no joke for a party of level 4 characters. And you'd surely want to run them correctly: 1 Con damage per round isn't too bad since the monster only has 46hp, and 6 Con damage will kill the average character in just 2.5 rounds. The 2 Con damage is the right level of threat for a character that's engulfed for the CR of this monster.
I don't really have much of a horse in this race, as I only have 1 character at level 12 and about 6 characters at levels 1-6, with only 3 GM credits to my name at present, but here's some thoughts I have nonetheless. Things I think would be good moves, in order of importance/ease:
2. Open up the 1E (and 2E) evergreens for replay ability at all their valid character levels. There aren't any rewards in those that I see people trying to replay for specific items/boons. It just broadens the ability to get characters advanced higher (and generally through early levels), and eliminates tracking which character level you have played a particular scenario. It does add a lot of repetition though. 3. Open up the remaining 1E scenarios / sanctioned AP's + modules for replay ability at all their valid character levels. Chronicle sheets already exist. The 1E campaign will die off soon enough anyway. 4. Create chronicle sheets for other yet-to-be-sanctioned AP's and modules for 1E, along with some PFS specific suggestions/rules for GM's running these in the organized play setting. Of everything on the list, this would offer the most flavor for the Paizo customers (players and GM's get some diversity of play), but the most amount of work for Paizo. Note that none of these in particular will get Paizo a bunch of new sales, and would likely in fact just eat into the [more profitable] push to 2E ...
And to specifically get Magic Missile, use a Quarterstaff of Entwined Serpents for 5050 gp:
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Pathfinder Society GM. 308 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 14 Organized Play characters. 