Kaushal Avan Spellfire's page

A question came up on the OPO Discord, so I thought I would replicate it here with the hopes of getting clarification.

The body of the post is in the spoiler.

This came up on the OPO Discord, so I figure I'd ask it here in the hopes it gets an FAQ. The question is basically the title of the thread. What is the caster level of the spell gem cast with a spellthrower fusion.

For context, spellthrower rules can be found here, and spell gems here.

For the purposes of this discussion, I will highlight the important text in spellthrower fusion.

If you are proficient with and wielding the weapon, as a full action you can cast the spell contained within the spell gem rather than make a normal attack. This allows you to use the spell gem as if you were a spellcaster with the spell on your class’s spell list.

Unlike the normal rules for using a spell gem, it does not matter if the gem’s item level is higher than your caster level (even if your caster level is 0). However, if the spell gem’s item level is higher than your base attack bonus, once you’ve spent the full action to cast the spell, you must succeed at an attack roll with the weapon against an AC equal to the spell gem’s level + 1 or you fail to cast the spell.

So we have two effects here: We have the full action that "lets you use the spell gem as if you were a spellcaster with the spell on you...list" and states that you can use spell gems "even if your caster level is 0" (in other words, you have no levels in a spellcasting class). From this together, what do we determine the spellthrower user's caster level to be? There is no language that grants an effective caster level, so I assume your CL is 0 unless you get a caster level from somewhere else.

Some people argue this would make spellthrower not function. I would disagree, but that's tangential to the question of this thread.

So, I have 2 questions regarding this scenario:

1. Where is the trapdoor that descends to the ruins? It says it's marked with a dotted line on the map, but I don't see any dotted lines. I'm assuming this was lost/forgotten in editing.

2. Where is the golem? The description says it stands in the "Eastern End" of area A2, but it's unclear where, exactly that is. I could place it down near the tunnel where it might never attack, or I could place it closer to the northern tunnel where the party might still trigger it with incautious movement.

Recently on Discord a disagreement came up with regards to Whirling Throw and its interaction with Forced Movement Rules (specifically with the capacity to throw people into dangerous situations, like pits or bonfires).

To recap, Whirling Throw says you throw a target 10 ft. + 5 ft x Str Modifier. The feat does not mention that it follows Forced Movement rules (such as seen in the text of Guiding Riposte or Guiding Finish), and it does not call the movement a Shove. It's a "throw."

Now this raises the question: Can you throw someone off a cliff with Whirling Throw. One school of thought says "no." The case for "no" is that anything that moves you against your will is Forced Movement. A Forced Movement effect must say it can move you into dangerous situations. Whirling Throw doesn't say that, therefore you can't throw someone off a cliff.

On the other side of the coin, most other forced movement effects either reference the Shove or Drag action, or has an explicit clause that mentions the ability obeys forced movement. The argument further observes that a "throw" is more similar to a shove--the person that your moving has no control of their momentum. All of this together, along with some common sense interpretations of the word "throw" would suggest that you could, in fact, throw someone off a cliff (much like you could Shove them off a cliff).

Now, I clearly have a horse in this race, but I want to know what other people think. I'm generally in favor of making things fun for the players, but I also like seeking community consensus (since it's often the only precedent we have). I'm also hoping that this conversation will earn a clarification from the developers--either to clarify that throwing someone is a "Reposition," a "Shove" or something that follows its own rules entirely (and what those rules might be).

I am presently preparing a few tables of #2-19 Truth Keepers, and I've noticed a few things I would like to ask about.

1. For the encounter in Part B, the Creatures entry states that there are four Keepers that ambush the PCs. However, only 3 Keeper locations are marked on the Encounter B map. The Encounter CR seems to add up to four enemies. Where should the fourth enemy be located? GM's choice?

2. In Part C, Area C1 describes a door to the West and a hidden garbage chute to the North. However, the compass indicates the top of the map is North, which would mean that the door is North and the garbage chute is West. What is the correct orientation of the map?

I've been seeing people talk about explosive ammunition lately and it's utility against swarms--specifically that it counts as having the explode quality and thus allowing single-target weapons to attack them. I'm not sure explosive rounds damage swarms the way people think they do, however, and would like some clarification on the sentence that contains this rule.

The rule in question here is Fiery. Fiery is a weapon property granted by Explosive ammunition that says "Fiery ammunition bursts into glowing embers when fired. While this is not enough to change its normal damage to fire damage, any extra damage from a critical hit is considered fire damage and the weapon deals half damage to targets that take half damage from energy attacks but no damage from kinetic attacks (such as incorporeal creatures) and counts as a weapon with the explode special property against creatures with swarm defenses."

The important part is contained within the dependent clause. Now I will be the first to admit that grammar isn't my strong suit, but the way I parse the sentence is:

• *Bonus damage from a critical hit with fiery ammo is all fire damage.
  
• *The critical hit deals half damage to creatures that take half damage from energy but no damage from kinetic.
  
• *This critical hit counts as having the explode quality against creatures with swarm defense.

What some people argue, however, is that there are actually three separate clauses within the sentence:

• *Bonus damage from a critical hit with fiery ammo is all fire damage
  
• *The weapon deals half damage to incorporeal creatures
  
• *Fiery ammo damage counts as having the explode quality vs. swarm defense.

I have difficulty agreeing with this second reading, because it seems to me that if the author wanted to indicate that fiery ammunition counts as having the explode quality vs. swarms, they would have included that in a separate sentence. Instead, it is included in the same sentence as the rules about critical hits with fiery ammunition, suggesting--to me at least--that the "explode" quality only happens on a critical hit.

Obviously I would love some input from the devs here as to what the purpose of fiery is supposed to be. Is it the former, or the latter?

Hey folks, I made some handout cards for Starship combat, based on some resources I prepared for MAGFest. Each card is 5" x 8" and can be printed out (usually front and back) to give players a full list of their role's options.

The pdf can be found from this google drive link.

C&C welcome, but be kind--I made this on Powerpoint and don't own a heavy-duty application like Illustrator.

The body of the text is in the spoiler tag.

(I've added a spoiler tag just in case criticism of the society references specific scenario content).

Aside from the green text in 2-01 Pact World Warriors, the media assault on the Starfinder Society has been mostly left up to GMs to determine what is being said. I'm curious to see what elements of the Starfinder Society my fellow GMs have chosen to attack. I think it'd be awesome if we all shared what we've said, or either verbatim or paraphrasing.

I'll start: I attack the military aspects of the society. Here are some things I've used.

More condemnations of the Society's growing militarism I've used include the following talking points:

What scenarios or elements of the society's recent activities have you chosen to attack?

The premise is simple: An ousted River Kingdoms noble finds a trinket that transforms her into a warrior capable of reclaiming her stolen destiny.

I was playing around with the Medium class, and how it might be used as a multiclass dip, and I struck upon a fun idea: What if I used a Relic Channeler Medium/Vigilante who channels the spirit of an ancient warrior to transform? Immediately infatuated with the idea, I set about trying to make it.

So far, I've had a few ideas of how to do it, but none are completely satisfactory. As a note, I've been building PFS-legal, 20 pt. characters, since if this build works out well why not surprise a few PFS GMs with it?

Permutations to Date (all level 11):
Medium (Relic Channeler) 1/Vigilante (Avenger spec) 4/Aldori Swordlord 2/Duelist 4
Medium 6/Vigilante 2/Aldori Swordlord 3

So what's the problem? Well, so far she fights well, but sorta lacks mobility and, well, magic. I mean, the flavor is there--channel the spirit and use transformation sequence, but it's the rest of her abilities that are somewhat lacking. She lacks any magical attacks (I know a more martially-inclined character could expect much in this regard), and a way move around easily. Ideally, she would express her magic through feats of great athleticism, like jumping high into the air.

Now to the question: What suggestions do y'all have to make this magical girl work? Is there an archetype or feat I haven't thought of, or a spell or magic item I should know about? Thanks!

Hello folks, I'm looking for some feedback on a magus idea I had and am currently playing in PFS. The original character concept was supposed to be something of a mounted spellcaster (inspired by the Dark Knight class in Fire Emblem), but what it turned into was something a bit different--a spontaneous caster raised by wolves.

Here's the proposed build:
Male half-elf magus (eldritch scion) 1st level, Destined bloodline.

Str 14+2, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 14
Traits: Beastkin (wolves), Reactionary
01: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (katana)(from Ancestral Arms), Nature Soul
03: Quick Draw, Familiar arcana
05: Improved Familiar, Arcane Strike(B)
06: Flamboyant Arcana
07: Animal Ally
09: Mounted Combat, Hasted Assault arcana
11: Intensified Spell(B), Spontaneous Metafocus
Alt 11: Ride-by Attack, Spirited Charge

The reason I want Improved Familiar is because I've got a boon that qualifies for a pretty good one (explained in spoilers, below). The more important question is: Is this character too greedy? Or should I pick a different feat spread?

My reason for going for a familiar is pretty straight forward--the right familiar gives you an improved action economy. Given his relatively low intelligence (I went 12 just so I could have 3 skills...I'm using my favored class bonus for extra arcane pool points), a Sage archetype familiar could also help out with knowledge checks.

What does everyone think?

Hello. I will be moving to New York (Westchester County, specifically) in August and I wanted to know if there are any active Pathfinder Society organizations in the area. I've looked around on Paizo and online, and so far I haven't had any luck. I would really like to keep up my involvement in PFS, so please let me know if there are any extant groups.

NB: I know there is a society in Long Island, but it is pretty hard for me to go all the way out there from where I will be living (it would be either a very long drive or a very expensive train ride).

Hello,

So I'm setting-up to run the Scions of the Sky Key mini-arch for my current PFS group and I've got a question about what the

I can't seem to find any thread that addressed this specific question, so I'm posting it here:

I attended GenCon 2015 and participated in the 7-00 The Sky Key Solution event. I played a pre-gen at the time, but did not have my PFS # on the chronicle sheet (I had forgotten my number and was assigned one by my table GM for reporting purposes). Can I still apply the chronicle sheet to a character of the appropriate level, so long as I can also produce the temporary number card I was handed by the GM? What do I need to do in order to apply credit, if possible?

Thanks.

Hey all. I'm currently in the middle of preparing for a fresh Jade Regent campaign, and I have been thinking a lot about making the game and its travels feel more organic, especially once we get to the latter half of the story.

Insofar as I'm aware, what we have on Minkai is limited to about a handful of pages in "Tide of Honor" and half a page in the Dragon Empires Gazetteer. Sadly, mostly what gets mentioned are the major cities in Minkai, but nothing of the villages and settlements that doubtlessly dot the massive countryside.

My question is: Are there any products, threads, etc, that have further developed Minkai? Do we have any additional information on local rulers, threats, and so forth? Anything you guys can share would be great!

So, Mythic Realms came out on Wednesday. That's pretty sweet. It's packed with information on mythic locations, legendary foes, and founts of mythic power where the characters can achieve their ascension to mythic power. All-in-all, it's pretty great, except there's this one big problem sitting between pages 16 and 17. Can you guess what it is?

I can't really stress how disappointed I am with this development. First and foremost, this is an utter betrayal of the lore. Why, do you ask? Because the starstone in Pathfinder Chronicles lore has always done one thing, and one thing only: Make you a God. But now, now completing the mythic dungeon that transformed four other mortals into living gods instead just gives you your first mythic tier...

WHAT!?

That's it? You complete the test, get a mythic tier, and a pat on the head from your favorite god? What happened to the divine apotheosis that Cayden Cailean achieved? Or Iomedae? Or Norgorber? Or Aroden? Are we expected to buy this Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting product and not be expected to remember that the starstone is a godmaker? Really?

Maybe someone's got a reason for this, but I doubt it's a good one.

Hello. I was wondering if anyone might be able to answer a question I have about drawbacks (a developer, preferably). You see, I find the phrasing on drawbacks a little vague and am uncertain as to what exactly it means. Here is the full explanation of drawbacks as provided by the book.

Drawbacks are traits in reverse. Instead of granting you a boon, they grant you a negative effect, typically in particular circumstances. If you choose to take a drawback, you can take a third trait that you have access to. You don’t have to take a drawback.

Now, there are two ways this can be interpreted: 1.) You can take three traits and a drawback, or 2.) you can take two traits and a drawback.

Let me explain my reasoning for 2: Recall that it says "Drawbacks are traits in reverse." This statement suggests that a drawback would be selected as a trait, and furnishes you with a third bonus trait just so you're night behind your peers in terms of power. This interpretation makes sense with drawbacks being purely for flavor, but also makes characters with drawbacks slightly weaker than their peers, although far more interesting.

I do realize that my thought process here might be a little too complex, and that I might be getting caught up on the semantics of a vaguely worded sentence. However, I would still kindly appreciate some clarification.

Hey, so I was reading through Magnimar, City of Monuments when I noticed the Lord-Mayor's menagerie entry mentioned a rather familiar gorilla—Mandali.

Now, I know it is unwise to ask such questions of the fabulously wealthy, but why is Mandali, Sheila Hydemarch's longtime friend, living in a glorified zoo? I certainly hope this situation was done at Mandali's benefit, I'd hate to see what would happen if Sheila discovered her boon companion was languishing in some noble's gilded cage.

Hey folks! I was wondering if anybody knew of any maps that exist for the Rusty Dragon Inn. I'm a consummate planner, and I figure it's always nice to be able to throw a fight into the PC's (or what essentially amounts to their) home. Let me know if there are any good resources (personally, given how often Sandpoint has been visited I'm surprised there aren't more 1"x1" grid maps of various popular locales)!

OK, I just have to ask (and I couldn't find it anywhere else on the forums): Does anybody know how much of Ameiko's back story comes from her career as one of James Jacob's D&D characters? I'm honestly curious here.

After a quick search of Paizo's messageboards, I have been unable to find the answer to the question I seek, so I will ask here.

When advancing monsters using character classes, what are the key roles of prestige classes? Is there something that spells this out, or are we to decide the prestige class's role using common sense?

For example, succubi, strangely enough, come with all the necessary skill ranks for becoming an assassin. Granted, they lack the roleplaying requirement, although I don't think it would be hard for succubi to kill just for the heck of it. Anyway, the problem becomes "what role does the assassin play?" I'd assume it was the Skill role, because the assassin doesn't seem like much of a fighter (any more than the rogue anyhow), but the fact is I just don't know.

The same problem occurs whenever I try to advance monsters using prestige classes. I'm really just making educated guesses as to what role the Prestige Class might fill (Duelist = Combat, Arcane Trickster = Skill & Spell, Eldritch Knight = Combat & Spell, etc).

I get that creating a comprehensive list of prestige class roles is next to impossible, given that the number of prestige classes continues to grow with practically every book Paizo publishes, but I was hoping the community might have its own wisdom to share on the matter.

Hello all. For a while now I've been trying to figure out a way to make the player's revolution in Crown of Fangs more interactive, and I have come up with a fun little idea- a "war game" of sorts. I've posted the rules here because, well, I need help making sure all the math and stuff makes sense and the rules are balanced. Plus I'd also love to hear suggestions about more stuff I could do with it! The system is derived from a mash-up of (fixed?) caravan combat (from Jade Regent) and army combat (from Kingmaker).

Anyway, here are the rules. Please read them at your leisure. I'll try to respond to comments/questions as fast as I can.

I've excluded the information in the special missions because It's not exactly pertinent to the "war game's" system (it's regular PF RPG stats and stuff). Please pardon any misspellings on my part, the rules were written in Wordpad.

BATTLE FOR KORVOSA
The following is an optional rules system for running a guerrilla war to recapture Korvosa from Queen Ileosa. Although the battle will mean little should Ileosa's ultimate plot succeed, the idea here is to give the heroes more of an "epic" feeling as they direct a war against the Queen's Grey Maidens and loyal guardsmen.

RESOURCES
Build Points: Players may use a special resource called "build points" to build units, or train new members. Build points are abstractions of the money, equipment, and man-power available to the characters. 1 bp is the rough equivalent of 100 gp.
The player begin with 100 build points.
Special Note: Ileosa cannot gain or spend build points from districts she controls. Build points are player-specific resources.

TIME
War takes place over a massive timescale. One day is divided into eight turns, and each turn represents one hour of activity. There is also a "night" phase in which units replenish hit points, regain special abilities, and restock supplies.

Turns and Turn Order: During each turn, the players and the GM chose where to move their units. The players always act first in the turn, and the GM acts second. During a turn each unit is allowed one action with which to move or activate special abilities.

Movement: When moving, units may move up to their full speed within any one district. Crossing between districts requires a separate movement, and places the unit in the closest adjacent ward of that district.

Night Phase: At night, units bunker up to rest and recover, maintaining minimal activity during this time. Normally, no units may act during the night phase, although certain units may acquire tactics that allow them to do so.
During the night phase, a unit recovers a number of hit points equal to its CR. Units with attached units possessing the healer special ability, or allied units in the same district as a unit with the healer special ability, recover twice this many hit points.
During the night phase, the players may decide to spend resources toward recruiting new troops. New units appear at the start of the first turn in a district controlled by the players.

DISTRICTS, LANDMARKS, AND CONTROL
Being a large city, Korvosa is divided into several distinct districts, each of which are in turn home to several landmarks. Districts are the major source of player power and are the primary method for determining who "controls" Korvosa. Districts are divided into "wards" that act as different theaters for combat (see the Combat section below). Landmarks are structures separate from, yet connected to, various districts. Landmarks provide special bonuses to those who control them.

Starting Control: When the battle begins, Ileosa will have control over all districts of Korvosa except Old Korvosa, whose control will depend on previous player actions. If the players left either Bahor or Pilts Swastel alive, then one or the other controls Old Korvosa. If the players left both alive, then Bahor has long since disposed of Pilts and rules Old Korvosa uncontested. If both Bahor and Pilts are dead, then the Cerulean Society controls Old Korvosa.

Gaining, Keeping, and Losing Control of Districts and Wards: In order to control a district, one side must first occupy the majority of the wards in that district. Occupation requires that no visible enemy units be present in any given ward. After successfully occupying a ward, the ward must remain under the occupying side's control until the Night phase. At this point, any player present in the ward must make a Diplomacy or Intimidate check, the DC of which is equal to the control DC of the distric the ward is in (Ileosa always uses Intimidate, at a +13 bonus). If no player is present in the ward to make the check, the check is made with a +15 bonus.
Upon a successful control check, the player occupies that ward. Failing the check means the ward is contested and provides no benefits whatsoever. Furthermore, if units from both sides are present in the ward at the beginning of the night phase, no control check is made and the ward is considered contested instead.
Failing a control check by 5 or more means that the residents of the ward resent occupation and do whatever they can to aid the enemy, and the district gains the unrest condition. Occupying units in wards with unrest suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls while enemy units receive a +2 bonus to attack rolls.
Control checks must be made each day there is fighting in the ward, and only if the ward remains uncontested at the end of the day.
Once one side has control of the majority of the wards it controls the district and receives resources in the form of build points, which they can spend as they see fit. Furthermore, the district continues to add to a side's build point pool every night phase it is controlled. The amount of build points received is given in the district's description. In districts where no side controls the majority of the wards, or the majority of the wards are contested, the district is considered contested and provides no resources whatsoever to either side as long as they remain so.

Fortifying Wards: In contested districts and controlled districts, it is possible to construct barricades and fortifications to aid with the defense of the area. During the night phase, players in may have units in wards they control attempt to construct barricades and fortifications with a DC 15 Leadership check. For each additional unit present in the district, that unit receives a +2 bonus to the check. For players, each barricade requires 2 bp to build. For Ileosa, she may only construct 3 barricades per night.
When a barricade is constructed, the owner chooses one adjacent ward (even if that ward is in another district). Enemy units cannot enter from that ward while the barricade is in place, unless they possess the Shingles Runner or Running special abilities. Barricades can be demolished if they sustain 50 hit points of damage. While a barricade is under attack, defending units in the barricaded ward with ranged weapons may attack the attackers.

Districts
East Shore-
Control DC 20; Resources 3 bp
Wards
-East Shore

Gray District-
Control DC: 20; Resources: 2 bp
Wards
-Gray District

The Heights-
Control DC: 35 (Ileosa gains a +10 bonus to Control checks here); Resources: 9 bp
Wards
-Cliffside (Shingles)
-Citadel Crest
-The Heights
-University

Midland-
Control DC: 25; Resources: 5 bp
Wards
-High Bridge (Shingles)
-Pillar Hill (Shingles)
-Slope
-West Dock (Shingles)

North Point-
Control DC: 30; Resources: 7 bp
Wards
-Five Corners
-Mainshore
-Northgate
-Ridgefield

Old Korvosa-
Control DC: 25; Resources: 5 bp
-Special: If the Cerulean Society controls Old Korvosa, it is possible to forge an alliance with the thieves' guild (See City of Thieves quest). An alliance with Old Korvosa provides 1 bp per night phase.
Wards
-Bridgefront (Shingles)
-Garrison Hill (Shingles)
-Old Dock (Shingles)

South Shore-
Control DC: 30; Resources: 5 bp
Wards
-South Shore

Controlling Landmarks: Throughout Korvosa are scattered various locations of significance and note. These locations, called Landmarks, are special resources that control benefits to those that control them.
Landmarks may be controlled one of three ways: Diplomacy, Military, or through Special circumstances. Landmark control is independent of district control, and controlling a district does not immediately bestow control of a landmark to the occupier.
Diplomatic control is attempted during the Night Phase, and the side attempting diplomatic control must have visible units present within the district containing the Landmark. The side attempting to gain control must succeed on a Diplomacy check (DC is given for Landmarks in which Diplomatic Control is possible). Success indicates the side is now in control of the Landmark. Failure by 5 or more means that the Landmark endorses the enemy instead. Only one diplomatic control attempt may be made per night (Ileosa makes these checks at a +18 bonus).
Military control of a Landmark requires the side to defeat the Landmark's defenders, which are given in the Landmark's description. Only units in wards adjacent to, or containing, the Landmark may participate in the assault against that Landmark. Should the defenders of the Landmark have been previously defeated, its defenders are instead the units occupying it.
Special control means that the players must complete a quest or other, similar objective in order to gain control. These quests are detailed in the Special Missions section.

On Ileosa's Control: Ileosa receives no benefits from Landmarks she controls. Rather, Ileosa is able to capture Landmarks in order to deny the players their benefits.

Landmarks
Academae
-Control: Diplomatic (DC 35, requires Breaching Festival special mission completion)
-Benefits: Recruit Academae Wizards
-Defenders: See below.
-Special: The Academae cannot be taken through military action. Any attempt to attack the Academae results in the immediate defeat of all attacking units as the powerful wizard faculty blast attackers apart with devastating spells.

Arkona Palace (Old Korvosa)
-Control: Special (requires City of Thieves special mission completion)
-Benefit: Special
-Defenders: See Below
-Special: If the Cerulean Society controls Old Korvosa, Arkona Palace acts as their base of operations. Control of Arkona Palace requires an alliance with the Cerulean Society, and permits the recruitment of Cerulean Society Thieves, but only if the Cerulean Society controls the palace.
Arkona Palace is defended by 5 Cerulean Society Thieves units if the guild occupies it, otherwise it is unassailable due to its powerful Rakshasa inhabitants.

Bank of Abadar (North Point- Five Corners)
-Control: Diplomatic (DC 30, see below), Military
-Benefits: Recruit Abadaran Clerics and Paladins
-Defenders: 4 Abadaran Cleric units, 3 Abadaran Paladin units, and Archbanker Tuttle
-Special: The Bank of Abadar will not immediately withdraw its support for Ileosa after the Akaruzug's defeat, but will become receptive to diplomatic talks with the Resistance.
-Special: Military control of the Bank of Abadar is not possible while the Akaruzug lives, and all attacking units are automatically defeated after 6 rounds.

Castle Korvosa
-Control: Special (must defeat all enemies in Castle Korvosa)
-Benefits: Players win the battle
-Defenders: See below
-Special: Castle Korvosa cannot be taken through diplomatic action, as it is the enemy's base of operations. Attempts to take the castle using military might will be met with failure, and all attacking units will be destroyed as the powerful spellcasters and devils within blast attackers apart with horrifying attacks.

Cathedral of Pharasma (Grey District)
-Control: Military (Ileosa only)
-Benefits: Recruit Pharasman Clerics and Inquisitors
-Defenders: 4 Pharasman Cleric units, 2 Pharasman Inquisitor units, and Bishop d'Bear

Citadel Volshyenek
-Control: Military or Special (requires Captain of the Guard special mission completion)
-Benefit: All resistance foot soldiers may upgrade their armor and weapons. Attack bonuses and AC increase by +1.
-Defenders: 5 Korvosan Guard units, Field Marshal Baradin

Kendall Amphitheater (The Heights- Citadel Crest)
-Control: Military or Special (requires Breaking the Blood Bank special mission completion)
-Benefit: Enemy-controlled Asmodaen Cleric units and Asmodaen Inquisitor units take a -2 penalty on attack rolls.
-Defenders: 4 Asmodaen Cleric units, 2 Asmodaen Inquisitor units

Longacre Building (North Point- Five Corners)
-Control: Military or Special (requires Capturing the Longacre Building special mission completion)
-Defenders: 5 Gray Maiden units
-Special: Should Sabina Merrin lead an attack against the Longacre building, she immediately captures the landmark (see Capturing the Longacre Building quest).

Temple of Asmodeus (The Heights- Citadel Crest)
-Control: Diplomatic (DC 40), Military, or Special (requires Dealing with the Devil special mission completion)
-Benefit: Immediate defeat of all Asmodaen Cleric and Asmodaen Inquisitor units
-Defenders: 4 Asmodaen Cleric units, 2 Asmodaen Inquisitor units, and High Priest Ornher Reebs
-Special: Should Ileosa ever recapture the Temple of Asmodeus, she gains 2 Asmodaen Cleric units and 2 Asmodaen Inquisitor units.

University of Korvosa (The Heights- University)
-Control: Military
-Benefit: gain an extra 2 build points per Night phase
-Defenders: None

COMBAT
Starting Combat: At the end of each turn, units on both sides decide whether or not they wish to engage in combat. When a unit engages, it makes a single attack roll against one visible enemy unit in the ward and hits if the result is equal to or greater than the defender's AC. If the attack roll hits, it deals damage equal to the value listed in the unit's stat block, which is substracted from the defender's hp. Units that abstain from combat do not make attack rolls, but can still be targted by attacks.
Attacks between units are rolled simultaneously, and damage is dealt simultaneously. At any point during combat a unit may opt to flee from combat instead of attack, but must succeed on a Leadership check (DC = enemy unit's leadership bonus + 10). A unit that successfully escapes must move to an adjacent ward or district. Units that fail to escape are still in combat, but may not attempt to escape again until the next round of combat.

Routing: A unit routes when it is reduced to 0 hit points or fewer. Routing units are still valid targets in combat, but cannot attack and must succeed on a Leadership check to escape (DC = enemy unit's leadership bonus + 10) to escape. For each 5 points of damage a routing unit sustains, it loses 1 member of the unit instead. Each time a unit loses a member it gains 1 permanent negative level. Should a unit gain a number of negative levels equal to its original size, it is utterly defeated.

Losing and Replacing Unit Members: If a unit loses a member, it gains a permanent negative level that represents the unit's weakened state. A unit suffers a -1 penalty to attack rolls, leadership checks, and AC, and loses 5 maximum hit points, for each negative level it possesses. These negative levels cannot be removed, save by training a new member or cannibalizing an identical unit.
Training time for one group member is given in a unit's stat block, but costs only 1/5th of the build cost per member replaced. Alternatively, a unit may receive members from other identical units to fill their numbers. For example, a Resistance Foot Soldier unit with 4 members and a Resistance Foot Soldier unit with 6 members could be combined to form a unit of 10 members (full strength)! Alternatively, two units of five members could be formed.

Special Actions: During the battle, each side has a set of special actions they may perform during their turn. Special actions may only be used a limited number of times, as noted by the action's description. Special actions can affect the battlefield, and can also grant units bonuses or penalties.

PLAYERS' SPECIAL ACTIONS
By the Gods, It's Blackjack!
Uses: One Time Only (Blackjack or Vencarlo Orsini must be alive)
Effect: Blackjack appears in one district to engage an enemy unit. Furthermore, if Ileosa controls the district the players make an immediate Diplomacy check to create unrest. In a district with unrest or a contested district, a successful Diplomacy check instead immediately captures the district without waiting until the Night phase.

Cry of the Hippogriff
Uses: One Time Only (must have at least one Sable Company Marines unit)
Effect: The majestic cry of the Hippogriff echoes across Korvosa. All player units gain a +2 morale bonus to AC, and a +2 morale bonus on attack and damage rolls for one hour.

Into the Vaults
Uses: Once Per Day (Neolandus Kalepopolis must be alive)
Effect: All resistance units disappear into the vaults beneath Korvosa to regroup, making them hidden for the rest of the day. Units that are hidden this way cannot participate in combat for the rest of the day.

Rally
Uses: Once Per Day (Cressida Kroft or PC with leadership must be alive)
Effect: All routing units in one district regain 1/2 their hit points, but keep any negative levels they've gained from the deaths of their members.

Underground Movement
Uses: Constant (Passive)
Effect: Until the players make their first move, all units in the Gray District are considered hidden.

Uprising
Uses: Once Per Day
Effect: The player chooses one ward with unrest against Ileosa. Ileosa must make an immediate control check in that ward, or the player places two Resistance Foot Soldier units there and immediately initiates combat.

Vault Running
Uses: Constant (Passive) (Requires Befriending the Wererats special mission completion)
Effect: All player units gain the Running special ability as they traverse the extensive sewer system beneath Korvosa, although whenever it does so the unit must pass a DC 15 Leadership check to avoid getting lost. Lost units end up in a random ward adjacent to the ward they were attempting to reach.

ENEMY SPECIAL ACTIONS
Conscription
Uses: Once Per Week (Must control Citadel Volshyenek and/or the Longacre Building)
Effect: Ileosa places 2 total Korvosan Guard units in any one ward she controls.

Cunning Ambush
Uses: Once Per Day (Mistress Kayltanyia must be alive)
Effect: Ileosa selects one unit with the Running or Shingle Running special ability moving into a ward containing a hidden Red Mantis Assassins unit. The Red Mantis Assassin unit immediately uses Assassinate on the selected unit. If the attempt fails, the unit escapes and reveals the Red Mantis Assassins unit's position. If the attempt succeeds, the ambushed unit is defeated as normal.

It's Trifaccia, Run!
Uses: Once Per Day (Trifaccia must be alive)
Effect: Trifaccia appears and deals 80 damage divided between any number of units in one ward. Furthermore, if Ileosa controls the ward the players take a -5 penalty on Diplomacy checks made in that ward for the remainder of the day.

Kayltanya's Handiwork
Uses: One Time Only (Kayltanya must be alive)
Effect: Mistress Kayltanya takes matters into her own hands and deals 200 hit points of damage divided as she pleases between all units is one district.

Martial Law
Uses: Once Per Day
Effect: Ileosa's Gray Maidens enact a brutal show of force and intimidation, removes all unrest from any one ward where there are Gray Maiden units, and all adjacent wards in the same district.

Night Raid
Uses: Once per night phase
Effect: Ileosa may move up to 3 Gray Maiden units from adjacent non-barricaded wards into one ward. Combat is then initiated between all Gray Maiden units and any number of units in the district that Ileosa chooses. The leadership check DC to escape this combat is increased by +5 for this combat. After combat ends, Ileosa may move up to 3 Gray Maiden units into any adjacent non-barricaded wards.

Threat of the Sword
Uses: Constant, Passive
Effect: Ileosa gains a +5 bonus to control checks in any ward she controls, or that is adjacent to a ward she controls.

Upon Black Wings
Uses: One Time Only (Sabina Merrin and Zarmangarof must be alive)
Effect: All enemy units in one district must pass an immediate leadership check (DC 20) or panic and attempt to flee. Fleeing units cannot fight back, and take a -2 penalty to AC.
Special: This begins the Gray Mistress event

UNIT STAT BLOCK
Name (CR)
Unit members; Special Members
AC; hp; Attack; Damage
Tactics; Resources
Special Abilities
Leadership
LOGISTICS
Speed
Build Cost; Build Time; Prerequisites

PLAYERS' UNITS
Pharasman Clerics (CR 2)
5 members (N human cleric of Pharasma 1)
AC 14; hp 20; Attack +4; Damage 1d6+4
Leadership +3
Special Abilities attach, divine mission, healer
LOGISTICS
Speed 2 miles
Build Cost 10 bp; 1 week; Prerequisites allied with Cathedral of Pharasma
Attach (Ex): As an action, Pharasman Clerics may be attached to up to five separate units in the same ward. While attached, the cleric can heal and support the unit's members. Once per round, and no more than twice per day, the attached cleric may restore 1d8+1 hit points to the unit. Attached clerics remain in the unit until it is defeated, at which point they are also killed.
Divine Mission: Pharasman clerics cannot be demoralized by the undead and do not suffer a -2 penalty from their horrifying ability. This special ability is also bestowed upon any unit a Pharasman cleric is attached to.
Healer (Ex): Units in the same ward as this unit heal at double the standard rate.

Pharasman Inquisitors (CR 2)
5 members (N human inquisitor of Pharasma 1)
AC 14; hp 20; Attack +4; Damage 1d6+4
Special Abilities blast undead, divine mission, judgment 1/day
Leadership +3
LOGISTICS
Speed 2 miles
Build Cost 10 bp; 1 week; Prerequisites allied with Cathedral of Pharasma
Blast Undead (Su): Once per day against undead enemies, inquisitors may make a special attack. If the attack hits it deals 5d6 damage.
Divine Mission: Pharasman inquisitors cannot be demoralized by the undead and do not suffer a -2 penalty from their horrifying ability.
Judgment (Su): Once per day, the Pharasman Inquisitor may unleash a vicious judgment on its foes. For the next hour, the Pharasman inquisitor unit gains a +2 sacred bonus on attack and damage rolls.

Resistance Foot Soldiers (CR 4)
10 members (LN human warrior 2)
AC 17; hp 40; Attack +7; Damage 2d8+2
Resources ranged weapons
Leadership +4
LOGISTICS
Speed 3 miles
Build Cost 5 bp; 1 week; Prerequisites Cressida Kroft, or PC with Leadership

Sable Company Marines (CR 10)
5 members (LN human ranger 6 [sable company])
AC 24; hp 130; Attack +13; Damage 4d6+6
Resources ranged weapons
Special Abilities flying mounts, skirmish
Leadership +11
LOGISTICS
Speed fly 10 miles
Build Cost Special; Prerequisites Sable Company Diplomatic mission completed
Upon Completing the Sable Company Diplomatic mission, 3 units of Sable Company Marines will spawn in any district the players choose 3 days after the conclusion of the mission, at the start of that day.
Flying Mounts: Sable Company Marines may only be attacked by units that have spellcasting or ranged weapons and may move between districts in a single move.
Skirmish (Ex): A Sable Company Marine unit may participate in combat in any adjacent district, although while doing so it suffers a -2 penalty on attack rolls and deals half damage.

NEUTRAL UNITS
Abadarian Clerics (CR 2)
5 members (LN human cleric of Abadar 1)
AC 14; hp 20; Attack +4; Damage 1d8+2
Resources ranged weapons
Special Abilities attach, bless
Leadership +3
LOGISTICS
Speed 2 miles
Build Cost 10 bp; 1 week; Prerequisites destroyed Akaruzug, allied with Bank of Abadar
Attach (Ex): As an action, Abadaran clerics may be attached to up to five separate units in the same ward. While attached, the cleric can heal and support the unit's members. Once per round, and no more than twice per day, the attached cleric may restore 1d8+1 hit points to the unit. Attached clerics remain in the unit until it is defeated, at which point they are also killed.
Bless (Sp): Once per day, the Abadaran Cleric unit may cast blessing of the watch on up to 5 units in the ward, or on any unit it is attached to. This grants a +1 morale bonus to attack rolls and leadership checks for 1 hour.

Abadarian Paladins (CR 4)
5 members (LG human paladin 2)
AC 17; hp 40; Attack +7; Damage 2d8+2
Resources ranged weapons
Special Abilities smite evil 1/day
Leadership +5
LOGISTICS
Speed 2 miles
Build Cost 25 bp; 1 week; Prerequisites destroyed Akaruzug, allied with Bank of Abadar
Smite Evil (Su): Once per day Abadarian paladins may smite one evil unit within the district. For the rest of the day while engaging the targeted unit, the Abadarian paladins receive a +2 bonus on attack rolls, a +3 damage bonus, and a +3 bonus to AC.

Academae Wizard (CR 6)
1 member (LN human conjurer 7)
AC 19; hp 70; Attack +9; Damage 3d6
Special Abilities attach, blast barricade, spellcasting
Leadership +7
LOGISTICS
Speed 3 miles
Build Cost 40 bp; 2 weeks; Prerequisites Breaching Festival mission complete
Attach: As an action, the Acadamae wizard may attach to any unit in the same ward and provide magical support. The attached unit receives a +4 bonus on attack rolls and deals 2d6 extra damage on a successful hit. Furthermore, the attached unit counts as having ranged weapons. The wizard remains attached to the unit until it either spends another action to detach. If the unit is defeated while the wizard is attached, the wizard is also defeated.
Blast Barricade: Once per day, a wizard in combat against a barricade may blast a barricade apart with a well-placed fireball. This replaces any attack the wizard or the wizard's unit makes that round.
Spellcasting: The Academae wizard draws its strength from incredible magic power. Against foes resistant to such power, such as those with spell resistance, the Academae wizard takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls and deals half damage.

Cerulean Society Thieves (CR 3)
3 members (CN human rogue 2)
AC 15; hp 30; Attack +6; Damage 2d6+2
Special Abilities Infiltrate, Shingles runner, Stealth
Leadership +4
LOGISTICS
Speed 3 miles
Build Cost 20 bp; 5 days; Prerequisites City of Thieves mission complete
Infiltrate (Ex): During the Night phase, a unit of Cerulean Society Thieves may infiltrate an enemy ward and create disruptions. If the infiltrating unit succeeds on a Leadership check (DC = 10 + highest enemy unit CR), then all units in the district recover no hit points during the night phase, and the thieves steal 2 bp worth of supplies and equipment.
Shingle Runner: Cerulean Society Thieves move at double speed in districts the Shingles expands into, and can cross between multiple districts in a single move provided they only move through wards containing the Shingles.
Stealth: Cerulean Society Thieves are difficult to detect. A unit in a ward with cerulean society thieves must pass a DC 15 Leadership check to be able to notice them and interact with them normally.

Gray Maiden Defectors (CR 6)
4 members (LN human cavalier [honor guard] 3)
AC 19; hp 70; Attack +9; Damage 3d6
Resources ranged weapons
Special Abilities mounted
Leadership +7 (fearless)
LOGISTICS
Speed 4 miles
Build Cost Special; Prerequisites Sabina Merrin, Capturing the Longacre Building special mission complete
5 Gray Maiden Defector units are automatically spawned at the Longacre building the round after it is captured.
Fearless: Gray Maiden Defectors do not route when reduced to 0 hit points or fewer, but continue to sustain losses as normal units do.
Mounted: Gray Maiden Defectors may cross multiple districts in a single move.

ENEMY UNITS
Asmodaen Clerics (CR 2)
5 members (LE human cleric of Asmodeus 1)
AC 14; hp 20; Attack +4; Damage 1d8+2
Special Abilities attach, channel negative energy
Leadership +3
LOGISTICS
Speed 2 miles
Attach: As an action, Asmodaen Clerics may be attached to up to five separate units in the same ward. While attached, the cleric can heal and support the unit's members. Once per round, and no more than twice per day, the attached cleric may restore 1d8+1 hit points to the unit. Attached clerics remain in the unit until it is defeated, at which point they are also killed.
Channel Negative Energy (Su): Three times per day, instead of attacking, an Asmodaen Cleric unit may deal 2d6 damage to one enemy unit. If the Asmodaen Cleric is attached, that unit instead deals 1d6 extra damage that round and may attack as normal.

Asmodaen Inquisitors (CR 2)
5 members (LE human inquisitor of Asmodeus 1)
AC 14; hp 20; Attack +4; Damage 1d8+2
Special Abilities enslave, judgment 1/day
Leadership +3
LOGISTICS
Speed 2 miles
Enslave (Ex): A routing unit reduced to half unit strength in combat with Asmodaen Inquisitors must succeed a DC 15 Leadership check or be captured by the inquisitors. These slave forces provide the Inquisitors a cumulative +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls for each unit thus captured. These bonuses go away at the beginning of the night phase.
Judgment (Su): Once per day, the Asmodaen Inquisitor may unleash a vicious judgment on its foes. For the next hour, the Asmodaen inquisitor unit gains a +2 sacred bonus on attack and damage rolls.

Grey Maidens (CR 6)
4 members (LE human cavalier [honor guard] 3)
AC 19; hp 70; Attack +9; Damage 3d6
Resources ranged weapon
Special Abilities mounted
Leadership +7 (fearless)
LOGISTICS
Speed 8 miles
Fearless: Gray Maiden Defectors do not route when reduced to 0 hit points or fewer, but continue to sustain losses as normal units do.
Mounted: Gray Maiden Defectors may cross multiple districts in a single move.

Korvosan Guards (CR 4)
10 members (LN human warrior 2)
AC 17; hp 40; Attack +7; Damage 2d8+2
Resources ranged weapons
Leadership +5
LOGISTICS
Speed 2 miles

Red Mantis Assassins (CR 11)
4 members (LE human rogue [sanctified rogue] 4/fighter 2/red mantis assassin 3)
AC 25; hp 145; Attack +14; Damage 7d6
Special Abilities assassinate, poison, running, stealth
Leadership +12 (fearless)
LOGISTICS
Speed 3 miles
Assassinate (Ex): As an action, a unit of Red Mantis Assassins can attempt to silently kill one squad while remaining undetected. The unit makes an attack roll against the defending unit's AC. If the attack is successful, damage is dealt normally and the defending unit must pass a leadership check (DC 24) or be immediately defeated. The Red Mantis Assassins must be hidden to use assassination. If the assassination is successful, the Red Mantis Assassins remain hidden, otherwise their position is revealed.
Poison (Ex): Whenever a unit of Red Mantis Assassins attack hits an enemy unit, that unit must pass a leadership check (DC 24). If it fails, the unit takes a cumulative -2 penalty to all attack rolls until the end of the day.
Running (Ex): A unit of Red Mantis Assassins can move anywhere within a district as part of a single move action, effectively ignoring barricades.
Stealth (Ex): Red Mantis Assassins are difficult to detect. A unit in a region with red mantis assassins must pass a DC 24 Leadership check to be able to notice them and interact with them normally.

Zombie Horde (CR 4)
10 members (NE Medium undead)
AC 17; hp 40; Attack +7; Damage 2d8+2
Special Abilities Horrifying, Staggered, Undead
Leadership +0 (fearless)
LOGISTICS
Speed 3 miles
Horrifying (Ex): Units sent to fight against zombies must pass a DC 15 Leadership check or suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls as they are horrified by the sight of their former comrades.
Staggered: Zombies cannot initiate combat in a ward if they moved this turn.
Undead: Zombies are undead and thereby have all the standard undead immunities and resistances. Zombies never route and cannot retreat- instead they are immediately destroyed when they reach 0 hit points.

HERO UNITS
Occasionally there are special named defenders that represent the head of an organization. These units are usually found as Landmark defenders. Hero units that are defeated are not slain, but rather captured. On the next night phase following a hero unit's capture, its captors may decide to keep that hero in captivity, or execute them. Captive heroes may be ransomed for build points, although it is not possible to tell whether or not the ransom will be paid.

Archbanker Tuttle (CR 12)
AC 27; hp 160; Attack +15; Damage 4d8+5
Resources scrolls
Special Abilities mass hold person
Leadership +13 (fearless)
LOGISTICS
Speed 2 miles
Scrolls: Once per combat, instead of attacking, Tuttle may read a healing scroll and recover 5d8+13 hit points.
Mass Hold Person (Sp): Once per day instead of attacking, Tuttle may paralyze all enemy units for three rounds.

Cressida Kroft (CR 9)
AC 23; hp 115; Attack +12; Damage 4d6+6
Special Abilities Peerless Leadership
Leadership +10 (fearless)
LOGISTICS
Speed 2 miles
Peerless Leadership (Ex): Once per day, Cressida may inspire her allies to greatness. All other allied units in the ward gain a +5 bonus to attack rolls, deal 2d6 extra damage on successful hits, and cannot fail leadership checks for one hour.

Field Marshal Baradin (CR 8)
AC 21; hp 100; Attack +11; Damage 5d6
Special Abilities shatter defenses
Leadership +9 (fearless)
LOGISTICS
Speed 2 miles
Shatter Defenses (Ex): Once per round, instead of attacking Baradin may attempt to intimidate all enemy units he is fighting. Each unit must pass a Leadership check (DC 21) or suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls, damage rolls, and AC for one round.

High Priest Ornher Reebs (CR 11)
AC 25; hp 145; Attack +14; Damage 2d10+18
Resources scrolls
Special Abilities flame strike
Leadership +12 (fearless)
LOGISTICS
Speed 2 miles
Scrolls: Ornher Reebs has many healing scrolls on his possession. Once per combat, instead of attacking, he may cast one of these scrolls to recover 5d8+11 hit points.
Flame Strike (Sp): During combat, Ornher Reebs calls down terrifying blasts of fire upon his foes. Three times per day, Reebs may gain a +6 bonus to his next attack roll. If that attack hits, it deals 3d6 extra fire damage and 3d6 extra damage that is pure divine power.

Blackjack/Vencarlo Orsini (CR 9)
AC 23; hp 115; Attack +12; Damage 4d6+6
Special Abilities Cunning Duelist, Stealth, Old Fox
Leadership +10 (fearless)
LOGISTICS
Speed 3 miles
Cunning Duelist (Ex): Once per day, Orsini may single out an enemy unit or hero in the ward and engage that unit in single combat. For the duration of this combat, Orsini gains a +2 dodge bonus to AC, and a +2 morale bonus to attack rolls.
Stealth (Ex): Vencarlo Orsini is difficult to detect. Units in the same district as Vencarlo must pass a DC 21 leadership check to be able to notice and interact with him normally.
Old Fox (Ex): Orisini is crafty and difficult to kill. When reduced to 0 hit points, Orsini makes a DC 20 leadership check. If successful, he retreats underground to the nearest ally-controlled ward. Orsini is considered hidden for the rest of the day and can only be located by units that succeed a DC 25 leadership check.

Player Characters as Participants
In a massive-scale combat like this, the player characters are incredibly powerful assets on the battlefield. Each an army of their own, a player character at this level should easily be able to conquer a ward, if not an entire district, on their own. Player characters should be discouraged from directly participating in combat and instead tasked with more important jobs- special missions, or playing out the adventure path.

Starting Distributions
Ileosa begins play with a limited number of units, listed as follows: Asmodaen Clerics (4), Asmodaen Inquisitors (4), Gray Maidens (23), Korvosan Guards (35), Red Mantis Assassins (4)
The Asmodaen units may be placed in any wards within Midland or the Heights, and the Korvosan Guard may be placed in any district Ileosa controls. Red Mantis Assassins may be placed in any ward.

Furthermore, Ileosa must place most of her Gray Maidens in specific wards:
East Shore- 2 units
Midland- 2 units (High Bridge), 3 total units divided between any number of wards
North Point- 3 units (Five Corners), 1 unit (Northgate)
Old Korvosa- 3 total units divided between any number of wards
Shingles- 8 total units divided between any wards containing the Shingles
South Shore- 1 unit

SPECIAL MISSIONS
During the campaign against Ileosa, the players will have the option of launching several special missions in order to drum up additional support for their fight. Special missions are normally undertaken at night, but may technically occur at any point during the day. Players may attempt multiple special missions in one day, but it is not advised.

So, looking back over Ultimate Combat, I cannot help but wonder if Two-Weapon Feint was meant to be a prerequisite to Improved Two-Weapon Feint. Otherwise, it raises the question "why even take Two-Weapon Feint?" when Improved Two-Weapon Feint is just better. Can someone clear this up for me?

There are many reasons I've been eagerly anticipating Varisia, Birthplace of Legends. For one, I love reading the new companions, and the updated organization and new traits and feats seemed like a real treat. I was especially excited in this case because I believed that Sable Company Marines would finally get a text publication that explained their hippogriff mounts, so we didn't have to rely on a blog post that is getting progressively more difficult to find. Yet, to my great disappointment, that did not happen, and the Sable Company Marine role entry causally mentions you favor hippogriffs as your mount without offering any rules as to how to get one (especially given that both suggested classes have a Mount/Companion feature). This is upsetting because hippogriff mounts are part of the identity of the Sable Company and to leave rules for hippogriff mounts out of official publication is a great oversight.

No GM will deny that magic items are an essential part of treasure. There is something rewarding to players when they scramble over a heap of gold and discover a glowing sword buried half-way-up to its hilt. Even more exciting is the discovery of rare or unique items with strange but useful effects.
Sometimes, however, the discovery of a magic item can be a dull experience. In the process of clearing a higher-level dungeon the PCs will strike down a hobgoblin defender and, with a heavy sigh, toss yet another +1 longsword into their portable hole. Of course, even these magic weapons have value, and can be sold back in town, the gold generated put toward better items.

The trick here is that act of selling. Read literally, the rules for selling and trading goods (as found on page 140 of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook) state that anything not considered "treasure" (i.e. do not include a "worth such-and-such gp" line when listed in the hoard) must be sold at half their listed cost. This makes sense for common gear, as chain shirts are by no stretch of the imagination rare, but the line starts to get "blurry" when it comes to the sale of magic items.

Magic items are, by their definition, rare and might be thought of as treasures by those that trade in them. If a merchant buys a diamond ring (worth 600 gp) for 600 gp, a magic item merchant could certainly buy a +1 longsword for 2,315 gp. Or perhaps the character could trade the magic sword to the merchant in exchange for a collection of items at equal value (in this case, 2,315 gp's worth of goods).

Alternatively, magic item merchants may be hesitant to make such a trade. They may only insist on purchasing the sword for a set amount of gold (in this case, 1,157 gp and 5 sp). Trading magic items for their worth would seem like bad business, as it is difficult to gauge the worth of an item based solely on the criteria used to price gems and treasures. The worth of a star sapphire set in a solid gold ring, for example, is readily apparent, and will always be apparent to any shopper. A battered iron sword, on the other hand, while looking to be of shoddy quality may actually be a +2 dragon bane vorpal longsword.

So it can go either way. In my group, we tend to allow magic item trade-ins, but that can cause players to have magic items and gear that far exceeds their wealth-by-level by a few levels (around +2 or +3).

Still, I'm asking the community: What do you think?
Can magic items be traded in exchange for items at their full value, or should they, like other mundane equipment, only be sold for half-price? If you can (or care to), explain your reasoning.

Hey guys, I know this probably comes up a lot, but I wanted to just straight ask the community what their opinion on Clustered Shots is, and what, if anything, should be done to fix it.

We've recently come to notice the power of Clustered Shots (and archers in general) in our JR campaign, in which the archer routinely kills the boss monster in a single round of combat. And while we can't point to a single element that makes her overpowered, we've noticed that Clustered Shots tends to makes a nonsense of the only weakness the archer has (or had, rather)- damage reduction.

Personally, I think Clustered Shot comes way too earlier for the archer-fighter. It's prerequisites are Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, and a BAB of +6. This is approximately 6 levels before fighters qualify for Penetrating Strike- a feat with a similar effect (for the archer, at least).
If you step back, only applying DR once is a lot better than just ignoring 5 points of DR. Consider a situation where an archer shoots at a clay golem and hits 4 times. Without either feat, her damage would be reduced by 40 (let's assume she's not using adamantine arrows, and that each strike does at least 11 damage). With Penetrating Strike her damage is reduced by 20. With Clustered Shot her damage is reduced by 10.
In this situation, the archer finds that Clustered Shots is more efficient than Penetrating Strike. This seems off to me, as Penetrating Strike is supposed to be the more powerful effect, but when compared side-by-side it does less work. As a matter of fact, the only place where it would be more efficient in the above scenario is if the archer only hit once with all of her attacks, and she was not using feats like Many Shot.

So, I posit this question: Is Clustered Shot too powerful? If so, what should be done to fix/balance it. If not, why?

Seeing as the article was published in Forest of Spirits I think the Jade Regent thread should be the most appropriate place to post this. If there is another (better) thread, please do tag this for a relocation.

While reading up on the ninja clans of Minkai, I stumbled across a curious decision made by "The Way of the Ninja" article's author to make the Black Lotus Clan a primarily lawful neutral organization. For background, the Black Lotus is a clan of spies and assassins that favors poison and kills almost anyone for the right price.

Such a characterization of lawful neutral is, to me, problematic, and I think it would be more appropriate to label the Black Lotus as lawful evil due to their willingness to destroy intelligent, peaceful life.

The Black Lotus ideology is, in many ways, similar to the ideology of the Red Mantis Assassins, the most obvious parallels being their absolute commitment to their task and their association of monetary gain with the assassination (although for the red mantis this is something of a sacrament and not actual payment).

As near as I can tell, the only major differences between the Black Lotus and the Red Mantis Assassins are:
1.) The Red Mantis Assassins use magic, whereas the Black Lotus do not
2.) The Red Mantis Assassins kill their mark if he is resurrected, whereas the Black Lotus stop after the first death.

It would seem, therefore, that what makes the Red Mantis "evil" and the Black Lotus "neutral" is how they treat the victim after the assassination. It is "evil" to repeatedly kill the target, should he or she be resurrected, and it is "neutral" to only kill them once. But this does not fit with the description of evil as defined by others of identical roles to the Black Lotus.

Looking at the Assassin prestige class, we can see in the alignment section it is written "due to its necessary selfishness and callous indifference toward taking lives, the assassin class attracts those with evil alignments more than any others." Such a moral outlook could also be applied to the Black Lotus- they possess a "callous indifference" toward taking lives which necessarily makes them evil.

But now we come to the definition of lawful evil itself.

A lawful evil villain methodically takes what he wants within the limits of his code of conduct without regard for whom it hurts. He cares about tradition, loyalty, and order, but not about freedom, dignity, or life. He plays by the rules but without mercy or compassion. He is comfortable in a hierarchy and would like to rule, but is willing to serve. He condemns others not according to their actions but according to race, religion, homeland, or social rank. He is loath to break laws or promises.

This reluctance comes partly from his nature and partly because he depends on order to protect himself from those who oppose him on moral grounds. Some lawful evil villains have particular taboos, such as not killing in cold blood (but having underlings do it) or not letting children come to harm (if it can be helped). They imagine that these compunctions put them above unprincipled villains.

Some lawful evil people and creatures commit themselves to evil with a zeal like that of a crusader committed to good. Beyond being willing to hurt others for their own ends, they take pleasure in spreading evil as an end unto itself. They may also see doing evil as part of a duty to an evil deity or master.

Lawful evil represents methodical, intentional, and organized evil.

The problem arises because the moral outlook of the Black Lotus does not fall squarely within this definition of lawful evil. The Black Lotus views each assassination as "a singular loyalty in and of itself," not the intentional propagation of evil, and they condemn all to death equally. To the Black Lotus, it is only a matter of payment.

However, this fails to reconcile the fact that killing for no other purpose than to kill is a necessarily evil action. The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook defines evil as "hurting, oppressing, and killing others" and states that "evil creatures simply have no compassion for others and kill without qualms." This would make the Black Lotus evil, as their organization concerns itself with the cold destruction of life, devoid of compassion. As the clan description states: "No job is too despicable for the mercenaries."

From these considerations we may state that the actions of the Black Lotus are obviously evil, due to the morally wrong nature of murder, and the clan's views on such. Furthermore, the argument can be made that while the definition of lawful evil does not create a perfect fit because the Black Lotus do not serve an evil deity or master, their willingness to perform evil (cold-blooded murder) and their preoccupation with honor create a strong fit within the alignment's definition that help distinguish it from the vaguely defined lawful neutral.

Therefore, we may conclude that the Black Lotus ninja clan should be considered Lawful Evil rather than Lawful Neutral, as such an alignment is more appropriate to the moral outlook of the organization and its members.

So I'm not really sure where to put this thread, so I'm going to post it to the Products discussion, just to be safe. In my reading of the Dragon Empires Gazetteer, I noticed that it did not include a section on holidays, which I thought would be nice to have (although I see why it would not be considered necessary).

I'm well aware that there are many holidays celebrated throughout Asia, but I was wondering if Paizo had any specific names for the Golarion versions of the more famous festivals (like Tanabata). Are there any, or should I just make them up?

This is just a fun question I want to toss out there: Has anybody decided or written up birth days for the various significant NPCs? I think it would be rather fun to have exact dates on the calendar, especially because this Adventure Path has a rough idea of what time of year it's supposed to be. That way you could have special events on the characters' birthdays- how fun!

So, I recently read through the character archives in the back of Brinewall legacy and stopped to look at Sandru's stat block. Needless to say, I was a little surprised by what I saw. No doubt James Jacobs intended for Sandru to be a less-than-ideal rogue (optimized characters are the domain of PCs after all), but I was still surprised by what I saw, especially armed with the notion of Sandru as a swashbuckler- a term that in modern parlance conjures up images of deft duelists like Inigo Montoya or Jack Sparrow (and to gamers conjures up the Weapon Finesse feat).

For starters, there's his 16 Strength and 14 Dexterity. To me these scores seem odd because, normally, they'd be switched. After all, the rogue places a great emphasis on agility and mobility, and most of his key skills (Acrobatics, Escape Artist, Disable Device, Stealth, etc.) rely on that score. Then there was his intelligence score: 10. Now, I'm not going to say that a swashbuckler should necessarily be bright, but a good swashbuckler should*- especially if he's shooting to be a Duelist (the quintessential swashbuckling prestige class).

Now, from what I read of the Devotion boon, Sandru has "a dance-like fighting style," something elegant and flowing. I was therefore also surprised when I discovered he had no ranks in Perform (dance). The dance skill would also naturally lead in to becoming a Duelist later in his career path, which to me only deepened the mystery.

Noting, however, that Sandru's favored weapon was the Scimitar and he supposedly had a dance-like fighting style, something in my head clicked and I got to thinking.

Now, we all know about the best feat** ever published in the Inner Sea World Guide, sitting smugly on page 286 while it ignites all sorts of Kensai Magus optimized builds across the forums. That feat would be, of course, Dervish Dance, and I thought Sandru would be a perfect candidate for it.

Now, I'm keenly aware that the flavor behind Dervish Dance takes after the Sufi Medlevi Order of 13th century Konya. However, even though Sandru worships Desna and not Sarenrae (whose fanatical warrior-priests are called Dervishes in distant Qadira), I feel that his "dance-like fighting-style" would still make this feat a natural pick. After all, the feat was written so that it was open to all cultures, it just happens to resonate more strongly with some cultures than with others. All you need to do is give him ranks in Perform (dance), which can easily be done by swapping one of his other skills, or reworking his ability scores as such:

Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 14, Cha 13.

This gives him 8 extra skill points to work with, and guarantees his attack and damage stay about the same (although his CMB and CMD suffer for it). Then there's just the task of giving him Weapon Finesse and Dervish Dance, which can be done by swapping out two of his feats (I picked Toughness and Dodge). Of course, he'll have to take Dodge and Mobility at later levels to qualify for Duelist, but I foresee no complications there.

Of course, with this framework in mind, I'm setting Sandru up to be an actual swashbuckler, rather than allowing him to delude himself into thinking he's a swashbuckler, which could ultimately lead to a deeper character development than what I'm offering. So there's that to consider.

Well, that's my 2 copper pinches, what do you all think of this hair-brained rework?

* This is also true in real life, as fencing (the modern sport of European sword fighting) is often called "physical chess," connoting that some level of thought must be put into the sport. However, Sandru is a sabreur, so I suppose that I shouldn't be too surprised that he's not heavy on the thinking component.

**I don't actually think this is really the best feat ever, but I will concede that it's pretty great.

I'm not sure if anybody's posted this before, but if they did I couldn't find it when I searched the forums. I noted there were a lot of comments on the Ultimate Combat errata thread about the Tetori's bonus feats, but no answers.

So I decided to see if I couldn't work out what these bonus feats were and post them here, for the sake of convenience. I invite discussion about my choices, as I am by no means the authority on what the tetori was supposed to have (that would be the domain of it's lead designer Jason Bulmahn, or any of its 13 other designers).

Anyway, now that all the disclaimers are out of the way, let's commence.

Bonus Feat: A tetori gains the following bonus feats: 1st level—Improved Grapple, 2nd level—Crushing Embrace, 6th level—Greater Grapple, 10th level—Twin Lock, 14th level—Chokehold, 18th level—Backbreaker. These feats replace a monk's normal bonus feats.

The feats in question are "Crushing Embrace" (2nd), "Twin Lock" (10th), and "Backbreaker" (18th).

Crushing Embrace = Final Embrace
I believe that crushing embrace is actually supposed to be the feat Final Embrace. This makes sense, as it gives the Tetori monk the grab and constrict special attacks. Grab allows them to start a grapple after hitting with their unarmed strikes, while constrict lets them deal unarmed strike damage whenever they make successfully grapple to do anything (including more damage). It may make grappling with a tetori a little unfair, but hey, that's what you get for tangling with a wrestler. Both abilities granted by the feat fit perfectly into the wrestler theme of the Tetori.
Now, as for those pre-requisites, recall that monks don't have to qualify for feats they gain as bonus feats, as long as they remain monks.

A monk need not have any of the prerequisites normally required for these feats to select them.

Twin-Lock = Non-Existent

Backbreaker = Neckbreaker
When you break someone's back and break someone's neck, your pretty much doing the same thing to them- paralyzing them for life (the only question is how much of their body will be paralyzed). Given how powerful this ability is, it seems natural that the Tetori would receive it as a bonus feat. He has stunning fist, and Neckbreaker doesn't utilize the previous feats in its chain (it just adds to what you can do).
No doubt Neckbreaker was originally called Backbreaker in some design document, but the mechanical intention is the same.

Well, I hope this helps all of you Tetori aficionados out there. The tetori's a great concept because it creates an enticing way to play a character that was pretty much impossible in 3.5 edition D&D. Of course, another reason I love the tetori is because he can put ghosts in a full-Nelson- I mean how cool is that?!

Recently, I opened up my Ultimate Combat to show a friend the text to the spell pup shape, which I absolutely love (not for any mechanical reason, mind you). However, as I read through it a typo caught my eye (emphasis mine):

You transform the subject animal into a Small magical beast, creating a young magical version of itself for a short period of time. While in this form, the target has only 1 HD (maximum hit points), and the target takes a –4 penalty to Strength, Constitution, Intelligence and Wisdom (minimum 1). The creature also gains a +4 size bonus to Dexterity and a +2 natural bonus.

Checking online, I found that the same typo exists on the PRD. I checked the forums and couldn't find any mention of this error either. Would someone be willing to speculate on what this +2 natural bonus is to?

I'm not certain if somebody has asked this question before, but every time I read through Land of the Linnorm Kings it keeps coming back to me: Why isn't the Infuse Effigy spell a witch spell as well? For a class that is all about placing curses and hexes on their targets, why don't they get one of the more versatile and flavorful curse spells? Was this perhaps an editorial oversight, or did the author(s) really think that witches shouldn't have access to this spell? And, if so, what was their reasoning behind that decision?

So, in the Bestiary 3 all Asura have the Elusive aura, but I can't seem to find where the aura is defined. Now, the Tripurasura defines Elusive, but only in the context of the effects on itself, and it does not have the Elusive aura, unlike its other Asura brethren.
Now, I can extrapolate on what the aura does given the one-sentence mention of the Asura's elusive quality in the summary on Asura, but I'd rather not get the rules wrong.
As near as I understand it, Elusive is like a nondetection spell as if cast by another person (CL = HD), and that this protection extends to everything in the aura. Is this a correct interpretation?

Here is my reasoning:
The Tripurasura's Elusive DC is 14. This is too low for its CL 6th spell-like abilities, and also too low for a personal version of nondetection (DC 15 + CL). It does, however, perfectly fit the DC for nondetection cast on someone other than the wizard, if we count the Tripurasura's HD as its Caster Level (11 + 3 = 14).

OK, so here's the deal. Recently, I've been working on a flying city campaign setting, and I've come to realize that traditional land-based mounts might be a little...disadvantaged. As such, I've come to realize that the cavalier is woefully handicapped at dealing with this issue. Originally I thought the Beast Rider archetype would be able to handle it, however after reviewing the list of possible options, I realized that every beast rider option present was terrestrial.
I've scoured the Bestiaries for advice on Hippogriff and Griffon companions but alas, no luck. The Giant Eagle entry also didn't have rules for making one your animal companion. There's always the Roc, but it's not big enough for a cavalier to begin play riding (unless you're small-sized).
I am very aware of the concerns surrounding a flying mounted class. Flying mounts provide an incredible amount of mobility and speed, and are usually difficult to fight against (especially ones with flyby attack). However, I feel that the setting permits it, as otherwise cavaliers would be strongly disadvantaged due to their reliance on their mount companion (the cavalier is a "pet" class, after all).
My working model right now mimics the Beast Rider class, although it restricts the mount selection to Giant Eagle for Medium-sized cavaliers, and I haven't even figured out good mounts for Small-sized characters yet. My idea was to open up options at 4th and 7th level. For medium-sized creatures that would mean Hippogriffs and Griffons, respectively. Again, I haven't a clue what to do for Small cavaliers.
Does anybody have any good suggestions for how to write the winged companion stat blocks? Should I maintain the giant eagle's supernatural intelligence, or should they just be big birds? Also, if anybody has any suggestions on how to tweak the archetype, I'd love to hear them.

This is what I have so far:

Sky-Knight (Cavalier Archetype)
A knight is defined as much by his skill as he is his steed, and the sky-knight knows this well. This is why he has eschewed traditional land-bound mounts for a winged companion, and the freedom of the open skies.

Armor Proficiency: A sky-knight is proficient with light and medium armor, and with shields (with the exception of tower shields)

Winged Mount (Ex): At 1st level, the cavalier forms a bond with a strong, loyal companion that permits him to ride it as a mount. This mount functions as a druid’s animal companion, using the cavalier’s level as his effective druid level.

A Medium-sized cavalier must select a giant bird as his mount. At 4th level, the cavalier can also select a Hippogriff. At 7th level, the cavalier can also select a Griffon.

[Small-sized cavalier details to come]

A cavalier does not take armor check penalties to Ride checks while riding his mount. The mount is always considered combat trained and begins play with Flyby Attack. A cavalier’s mount does not gain the share spells special ability.

A cavalier's bond with his mount is strong, with the pair learning to anticipate each other's moods and moves. Should a cavalier's mount die, the cavalier may find another mount to serve him after 1 week of mourning. This new mount does not gain the link, evasion, devotion, or improved evasion special abilities until the next time the cavalier gains a level.

Giant Bird (Eagle/Owl)
Starting Statistics: Size: Large; Speed 10 ft., fly 80 ft. (average); AC +2 natural; Attack 2 claws (1d6), bite (1d6); Ability Scores Str 16, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 5, Wis 14, Cha 10; Special Qualities low-light vision
7th-level Advancement: Ability Scores: Str +2, Dex +2, Int +4; Attacks 2 claws (1d8)

[Hippogriff and Griffon blocks to come]

This ability replaces the standard cavalier’s mount and expert trainer abilities.

One last thing to add, and this should go without saying, I'm posting on this board for discussion and advice, so please keep criticism constructive. Anything that's obviously just mean-spirited will be flagged.

So, this question has been ruminating in the back of my mind ever since I first played Rise of the Runelords and got a treasure reward which didn't sum to a multiple of 10. How exactly is treasure determined in an Adventure Path? Is it by author's choice, or is there some sort of guideline that authors follow? For example, do the treasure values follow the wealth-by-level table?
Also, if anybody has any good suggestions on how to do treasure anyway, I'd like to hear them.

OK, so I was reading through the JR player's guide and under Courageous Caravan, you get bonuses on Security checks to resist a rout. It then directs me to Caravan combat for the details concerning a rout. However, nowhere in the caravan combat section does the word "rout" ever come up. I think it refers to the Security check made to escape a foe, but that's really not what "rout" means.
Would somebody clarify this for me?

For those of us players who like to be difficult: Would it be conceivable to "create" a horse train if you got 6 heavy horses somewhere? Like if you fight a bandit camp and the bandits had 6 heavy warhorses (for some reason), would you be able to make a train out of that?
Also, would we be able to "squeeze in" additional travelers if we just used one or two riding horses? The caravan rules don't really say anything about travelers who can provide their own mounts, like a cavalier, druid, or ranger (let's just assume for a moment the ranger said "I'm a guard!" or "I'm the healer!" instead of "I'm scouting!"). I get that the wagons provide shelter too, but so do tents and things that can be packed onto a horse and carried with you. And there's no reason that 21st person couldn't make camp in the wagon circle with the rest of the caravan unless the caravaners really don't like traveler #21 for some reason.

So, I've got a question I was hoping someone might be able to help with. It seems to me that Jade Regent makes the assumption that characters are not from Minkai, or Tien-Xia in general. The campaign traits mostly assume you're native to Varisia, or you have been for many years. Playing a character who was born in Minkai and lived there for near 28 years (his reasons for leaving are his own), I find it hard to reconcile the fact that he's not proficient with any of the "exotic" Eastern Weapons that the Eastern-flavored classes (samurai and ninja) are proficient with.
My GM agrees this is strange as well. One solution we thought of would be to "flip" the proficiencies- my character would regard many Eastern weapons as martial and, in exchange, regard many Western weapons as Exotic. However, this hardly seems like a downside- the wakazashi is just a better short sword than the short sword, because it has a weapon property and a higher critical threat range. But asking for an exception on katana and wakazashi proficiencies just feels like cheating.
My question is this: Can anybody think of a good system that would allow my character to gain proficiency with weapons that he in all right should be proficient with?

My reasoning on why he should be proficient are put in these spoiler tags, to save room and to spare those who don't feel like reading it.

So far we've got three players with characters and one player without a character. Below is the group. How screwed are we?

Human Two-Weapon Warrior Fighter
Human Qinggong Monk
Human Invulnerable Rager Barbarian

Note: We've got 1 more player making a character, but I don't know what she'll play yet. Also, nobody told her what everyone else was, because the only guy who put us in contact with her won't, because he doesn't want to "taint her character-making decision." Commendable, I guess...

So, I have a question that I'm hoping someone might be able to answer. While in the midst of preparing to run "A History of Ashes" it occurred to me that the Shoanti expressions in the back of the AP leave a lot to be desired when it comes to describing their language. This got me thinking, does the Shoanti language have a real world counterpart it was modeled off of? And, for that matter, does it actually have a set of grammar rules or other qualities which might make it a more believable, if not exactly complete, fantasy language?
For that matter, what exactly are Shoanti naming conventions, if any? I've noticed names such as "Thousand Bones" and "Ash Dancer," among tribal shaman, but Chieftains (at least the two encountered in CotCT) all have hyphenated names ("One-Life" and "Ready-Klar"). Are these names merely intended to sound Native American, or are they modeled off of a real world naming convention of some tribe?

I know that this question may look simple, but it's given me a big headache. So, as we all know vampires have the Undead (augmented) type. This means their primary type is undead. However, they still have the augmented subtype, the rules for which read as follows:

Augmented Subtype: A creature receives this subtype when something (usually a template) changes its original type. Some creatures (those with an inherited template) are born with this subtype; others acquire it when they take on an acquired template. The augmented subtype is always paired with the creature's original type.

From my reading, I understand that a creature with the augmented subtype is still also it's original type, as the augmented subtype is "paired" with the original type.

Hey guys. I'm trying to make a facebook for my players, so they can know the names and appearances of the major NPCs they interact with (Grau Soldado, Vencarlo Orsini, Cressida Kroft, etc), so I don't have to show them the adventure's text along with the picture every time the adventure brings in a new NPC.
Any suggestions on the best way to do this, or any legal methods of procuring character pictures? I highly doubt there's a "Face Card" deck specifically for CotCT and I'm a big fan of electronic resources (so my players can contemplate the NPCs' names and looks on their own time, on their OWN computers).

To Clarify: A facebook is a collection of people's pictures and names; it's not just a social networking site.

That's awesome. There's an after school D&D program in my area run by a librarian and a handful of volunteers, and I must say (having both played there and worked there) it fosters the development of teamwork-skills and creativity in kids.

Hi guys.

I've been busying myself converting this campaign over to Pathfinder for my gaming group, and I've seemed to reach a snarl with the rules. More specifically, the Red Mantis assassin's Death Mantis Form. According to the old 3.5 D&D rules, the spell functions like polymorph, however in Pathfinder polymorph has been significantly altered so that it now performs the functions of three spells, beast shape II, elemental body I, and alter self. Unfortunately, none of these transformations permit the caster to shift into vermin (which is what the Giant Mantis is typed as and thus would be the ability modifiers I would want to use).
I assumed that the stat bonuses would be similar to the effects of polymorphing into a large animal with beast shape II, so I'm using that for now, but what is this exactly about the +4 Str and Con? Is that buff in addition to gaining the mantis stat modifiers, or is that the only bonus imparted by the shape change?

This is what I have so far: