So if the will save fails is the wearer of the armor crushed (plate mail) or the armor breaks and falls off?
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It won't happen at all. The armor worn is not unattended so it can't be targeted separately from it's wearer who is not a valid target of the spell. not sure where you're getting "unattended" from. I'm not familiar with that mechanic.
I love creative players. I'm familiar with the idea of using Shrink Item to try and hurl small rocks and revert them to boulders, but this one is new to me: If a wizard casts Shrink Item on non-magical armor, will it crush the hapless NPC wearing the armor? I'm inclined to allow the enemy a fort-save. Thoughts?
I saw that. I think we'll allow the donkey to talk but because he can only speak in braying noises the closest anyone can get is a strangely accented draconic :)
So we had a wizard die who left behind a magic hat that grants an int bonus. One of the other players has a character who's extremely eccentric and wants to put the hat on his donkey. This would give the donkey a total intelligence score of 5, which while low is still as high as some players could feasibly be. At this level of intelligence can the donkey speak? I had thought I would house-rule that after 24 hours the donkey would be able to talk and would lose the ability if the hat came off. Thoughts?
Can you have a spring loaded wrist sheath hold a pistol? Just wondering because the visual I get from that seems pretty awesome. IIRC you have to make a sleight of hand check to catch the pistol as it shoots out of your sleeve. I've seen them used in campaigns and they're awesome
So I have a player whose character has Expeditious Excavation and he wants to know whether or not he can dig a pit and jump into it to enjoy cover for flinging spells. So the scenario is, I have an elf wizard in a 5-ft pit trying to cast spells at enemies within spell range. The Elf is 5'6" tall. Is he considered to have line of effect to the enemies assuming no other obstacles? Does he have Total, or Partial cover?
Killed one of my players. What now?Decide how you're going to kill the rest of them. Yes, Dagger Rock. It's awesome
Actually total cover prevents any ranged attack. So you couldn't throw the rock in the first place. Or you could count it as partial cover if you wanted to stretch the rules a little.Prevents making ranged attacks, or suffering from ranged attacks? Concerned rangers want to know. So then is a chest-high wall, total cover? I get that it's written that way, but it boggles reality so much that I'd have to stick to a common-sense interpretation.
Actually total cover prevents any ranged attack. So you couldn't throw the rock in the first place. Or you could count it as partial cover if you wanted to stretch the rules a little. Prevents making ranged attacks, or suffering from ranged attacks? Concerned rangers want to know.
"" By your interpretation then any archer shooting from behind cover at advancing enemies would grant the enemies total cover if the wall is 3ft high. RAW doesn't make sense. EVEN IF the PC had had total cover (+4 to AC) he still would have been hit by the attack roll.
Unless the farmer was 10 feet tall the rules don't support your prd quote, "Low Obstacles and Cover: A low obstacle (such as a wall no higher than half your height)" So a average human at say 5'6" at the time means a wall no higher than 2'9" that he is apparently cowering behind with his eyes closed throwing rocks .. Keep reading: The attacker can ignore the cover if he's closer to the obstacle than his target. The wall was 5ft, the NPC was 6 ft and could see 100% of the wizard. He had complete "line of effect" for a thrown rock and managed to overcome the penalties to hit a wizard with an AC of 11. Also a farmer would have guard dogs which are specifically laid out as not riding dogs per the rules there's a post about it somewhere. And it makes sense since those cost 25gold instead of 150 a pop which means they won't cost more than the farmer makes in like 2 years. Except the module which I'm using specifically said to "Use the Riding Dog Template". See here, the adventure is AWESOME and FREE Mind you the player was a bloody idiot and his character deserved to die but at the same time selective and incorrect rules applications are not something players are happy about. I've applied rules neither incorrectly nor selectively, as I previously stated. I had to come up with something for hasty decisions about casting area effect/cone spells at the ground and cover for unusual situations, but I did not break any rules. I explained the whole thing akin to the Trayvon Martin shooting (forgive me for the reference) in that the death was senseless, preventable, stupid, and contributed nothing. I kept to the rules as best I could where they applied. Also the closed eyes thing is ... eh I don't approve but whatever as long as you put the rule out there beforehand, and announced that he's closed his eyes that's fine but it's like power attack if you don't say it, it didn't happen otherwise you get into a very slippery area of "Oh but I totally would have closed my eyes so ignore your spell" I agree with you. He has on several instances asserted that the "sightless creatures are not affected" part of Color Spray means "You have to be looking for it to hit you" and I let him. This is the first time I've used cover to exploit that house-rule, and even so I only gave the spell a 25% miss chance.
How in the bejesus did he only have 11hp? Minimum 6 for level 1 plus an average of 3.5 per level nets you 13hp before con mod or favored class bonuses are you giving them minimum hp or did he seriously dump con and wis? He did dump con and Wis. Also, he had taken a small amount of damage earlier in the day from falling 10ft that he didn't bother to heal Also a 5ft wall probably wouldn't be full cover therefore allowing for color spray to land, and if it was you should have applied that for the attempt to throw a rock at him which coupled with his improvised weapon negative would make hitting him practically impossible. The NPC was crouched down below the wall giving him cover from the color spray which the wizard cast OVER the wall DOWN at the ground. Also, since our wizard likes to use color spray in melee I ruled (house rule) that if a person's eyes are closed it has no effect. This means that he can warn an ally who can close their eyes when the spell is cast. Also, he didn't actually hit the hex the farmer was in. As far as the hit with a rock: AC (11) + 4 (improvised weapon) + 0 for cover (the farmer could see the wizard entirely as he was 20ft away from the wall and the farmer could see over it. here) = only a 15 to hit with a rock. He made that shot handily. and it happened to roll max damage (4) Also what kind of poor bumpkin farmer has 300 gold in riding dogs that he lets roam around as guards? For that matter I really hate the pathfinder idea of giving podunk villagers class levels because 1st level characters really make no sense that way. Have you ever seen a farmer that didn't have dogs? They're in a rough frontier town and he has two large dogs that use the Riding Dog template. It makes perfect sense to me that a farmer would have guard/hunting dogs for his farm and they would follow him around when he's in the field. As far as his class levels I nerfed him down from what the adventure had written because the campaign called him out as a FTR 3. I like the idea of class levels because it makes it more true-to-life that you'd have some people in the world who used to be adventurers or have picked up skills along the way. Maybe the farmer had to fight off orcish bands in his youth and managed to pick up a level of fighter in the local militia. Maybe the Tavernkeeper had some run-ins with the thieves guild and picked up a level of rogue doing odd jobs. That old parson who does church service on Sunday? You might not know it but 30 years ago he was a Paladin in the King's service.
Also... the next time he mentions playing a half orc wizard who charges into combat (with any weapon), point him at the Magus class. At least then the concept might be viable. Can I interest you in an Eldritch Knight?
If my DM killed off one of the other players, I'd probably quit the game and run as fast as I could. However, if I stuck it out I'd VERY enthusiastic about listening to my DM. So, if your players don't quit on you I'm sure they will listen attentively. They seem to understand that the wizard made bad choices (he's known for doing foolish things in combat) and I think they liked that "S#!& just got real". We're all in our 20's, so I'm not too worried about hurt feelings. I hate to say this, but the rogue with the panther was right. The wizard dumpstatted his Wisdom, didn't he? DING DING DING DING! Actually, what he did was totally in character. His character is just a moron. Anyway, if the player learned his lesson, great. If not, the issue isn't that you killed a PC, it's that one of your players has a playing style incompatible with your GM style. You'll probably have to dance-fight or something to solve it, although talking might help, too. It's more like his playing style is incompatible with his choice of characters. He played perfectly for a half-orc Barbarian or brawler, but he specifically wanted to be a half-orc WIZARD with high INT that carries and AXE and charges into melee. It was natural selection in action.
One of the fun things about RPGs is you get to play any number of other people. Coming back as the same person cuts into that AND makes the game seem less than real. As you say, That takes away the drama of death. It was a level 3 wizard (11 health) vs. a farmer with two riding dogs (mastiffs) and a farmer (Ftr2 Cmnr1). Here's the scenario: PCs are in a frontier-ish town trying to figure out the source of strange goings-on. They encountered communications from a deceased former resident and are trying to corroborate this account, so they decide to look for evidence under a tree near a farm as described in the document. The rogue (also lvl 3) disarms an alarm near the tree and the wizard decides to dig. The rest of the party is at a tavern gathering information. They've heard loud voices on the other side of the 5-ft fence which now stop, and he hears dogs barking now. The bigotted farmer decides to yell at the half-orc and tells him to "git off my lawn". The player decides to play "no speak common" and keeps digging. The farmer hucks a stone from the wall at the wizard and beans him in the head, doing 4 damage. At this point the wizard decides to draw his two-handed ask (yes, our wizard HAS TO HAVE a two-handed axe) and move toward the 5ft stone wall. The farmer freaks out and ducks behind the wall. The player decides to reach over the wall and cast Color Spray on a target he can't see and therefore doesn't actually hit the farmer. This freaks the farmer out so he sics the dogs on the wizard. The dogs do 14pts of damage (1d6+3 bite each) and the wizard is now at -4 health. But wait a minute, he's a half-orc! He's still up! He could run! He could surrender! He could TALK AND APOLOGIZE. No no. He casts Web. The dogs make their save and the player collapses (still -4). The farmer calls back the dogs, but 1 of them bites the wizard doing 7 damage. Con 10. The wizard is dead.
I gave the wizard every opportunity to leave the fight. He decided to trespass, ignore the farmer, enter into combat, and not flee. He also never spoke to the farmer (it's a free action!). Also worthy of note was that the rogue and his pet panther just let the wizard die because he thought he was being stupid. I've had problems with this player not listening to the situation and not picking up on hints i.e. "You hear dogs barking" or "The voices stop when you started digging, do you want to keep digging?" and "He seems afraid of you". Now he knows that there are consequences and this death had an unintended effect of showing some of the less enthusiastic players that success is not always a given and there's no Deus Ex Machina always ready to swoop in and save the party. I now need to wait and see what sort of character he wants and go from there.
So while exploring the town of Relford one of my characters (a wizard) decides he's not going to back down from a local farmer. He winds up dead at the hands (or paws) of the farmers mastiffs and now I'm at a loss for how to proceed. The player will be ok, though he's upset that he didn't perceive in perfect detail the situation. I tell him that's like life - you don't always know what's going to happen or who that guy really is. You never know when that farmer is going to turn out to be a murdering psychopath or that cloth merchant is a decorated military veteran. Anyhow, now I'm faced with how to bring in a new character. Fortunately they're in a town with a large cast to choose from, so he could simply pick up one of the NPC's and go forward with that. Alternatively he might decide to do something totally different and then I shoehorn that character into the story. I'm against him playing the exact same character but with slightly different clothes, because I think that takes away the drama of death. Any advice for a new-ish DM dealing with player death for the first time?
I like the first two. They're situational, but its a free +2. The third is a bit odd. Is the cavalier seeking to lie to the party? I don't know how often the wizard will be able to use the rod, but his freebie seems more powerful than the others. A lesser metamagic rod is 3x per day. Also, I like to give the party conflicting missions sometimes, to add an element of drama.
In between adventures I like to give my players downtime for item creation, training, etc, and depending on what they pick and how it relates I try to give them something extra in the way of a bonus that applies in-game. Examples: Our halfling Rogue is taking linguistics (abyssal) to help with information gathering since we're facing an otherworldly threat, and he decided he's spending his 3 weeks honing that skill and making contacts. As such I'm giving him a +2 bonus to diplomacy/bluff when speaking abyssal. Our Tactician is pouring through the hall of records trying to find clues about where to find the bad guy lair. He is, in fact, spending all 3 weeks doing this. He gets a +2 bonus on knowledge local for the area he's been searching. The Cavalier has been riding sorties with other mercenary groups and has made some contacts that could give him objectives counter to the party. He gets a +2 bonus to bluff against the group. Lastly the wizard has been totally obsessed with getting a lesser metamagic rod and decided he was going to watch the local item crafters as they made HIS rod. Because he was so intimately involved with the process I'm giving him a +2 on the DC of spells he casts with spells modified by that rod or a +1 to hit. and so on and so forth. Has anyone else done stuff like this or has any other suggestions? Thanks.
UPDATE So talking with the players I got the understanding that they're not really sure how exactly they can use their skills during the story to make things easier, so I've decided to give them hints for "passive knowledge" checks. In last night's game the party was facing off against tieflings. I told the cleric that he recalled from his religion training that outsiders can be sensitive to bright light, and then that led the wizard to dazzling some of them and helping the fight. Also, I'm trying to be more descriptive with how things actually function in the game to give hints. The halfling is trying to pick several jail cells, so I told him that engineering might help understand the mechanism. In comes our tactician with his Knowledge: Engineering skill and we get an assist in unlocking. On the next cell it doesn't work the same way but rather than just leaving it as a "you fail" I say "As you try to manipulate the tumblers the hair on your arm stands on end, as though energized". Well that's enough for the wizard to clue-in that it's a magic trap so we do a Knowledge: Arcana and manage to get that cell door open. I'm also "railroading" through the dungeon with a fairly linear progression of rooms, but at least they're having fun AND actually discussing the plot. There was one particularly memorable scene where two players were arguing about the order to burst in the room- cavalier charge THEN wizard cast a spell or vice-versa. I told them they could actually decide things like "After your charge attack, shut your eyes". It was a little bit hand-holdy and sometimes they could tell that all choices were leading to a common end, but that's how games are sometimes. Thanks for all the good suggestions. Next week I'm introducing them to how awesome alchemical weapons can be.
Is Hydraulic Push always exactly parallel from the caster? The wizard found out later that it can be from any point of origin within the range of the spell. I used it as an opportunity to teach the principle of "Know thy S*#%".
I would say this one is at least partially on you. I agree with using amusing results for fumbles. But I have to say I find it had to imagine how I could try to throw a burning table and end up under it. Then try pull someone out from under a burning table and end up on top of it. Then a magic spell that throws them perfectly straight up so they come right straight back down on the victim. It is kinda funny on a 3 stooges level. But if you group doesn't also find that kind of thing amusing, it will only cause resentment (and realism arguments). This one actually went down like this:
It WAS 3-stooges level but I wanted them to live with consequences of decisions, and now the wizard knows that hydraulic push can have a starting point other than the square they're in. I guess that do-over should be applied more liberally.
Yeah, as I look at the spells he's trying to polymorph with the level of control of the Disguise Self spell. I like the firehose analogy and I'll try to explain it that way. Spoiler: Disguise Self
School illusion (glamer); Level bard 1, sorcerer/wizard 1 Casting Time 1 standard action Components V, S Range personal Target you Duration 10 min./level (D) You make yourself—including clothing, armor, weapons, and equipment—look different. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller, thin, fat, or in between. You cannot change your creature type (although you can appear as another subtype). Otherwise, the extent of the apparent change is up to you. You could add or obscure a minor feature or look like an entirely different person or gender. The spell does not provide the abilities or mannerisms of the chosen form, nor does it alter the perceived tactile (touch) or audible (sound) properties of you or your equipment. If you use this spell to create a disguise, you get a +10 bonus on the Disguise check. A creature that interacts with the glamer gets a Will save to recognize it as an illusion.
Slight correction. PAO works like Greater Polymorph works like Alter self when taking humanoid form. Therefore PAO works like Alter self when taking humanoid form. I guess the semantics boil down to what is a "humanoid form". Can he polymorph into a DIFFERENT half-orc? The logic is that if you can do big changes with a polymorph spell you should be able to do smaller changes. He's getting caught up on the phrase "can also be used to duplicate the effects" and saying "Well, I don't want to COMPLETELY change form and gain abilities, just my outward appearance so I can use PAO. It seems like the important part is "This spell functions like greater polymorph". I'll go with that.
We have a leader-type character, but right now he's not terribly familiar w/ Pathfinder rules and tends to the "Well, I always loot the room why do I have to say it?" sorts of gaming practices. The group is mid to late 20's (I'm 29 myself) and is fairly new to tabletop. Maybe I need a more forgiving learning curve, but I get frustrated when everyone wants to stop and argue the physics of a situation. For example- our wizard got trapped under some burning furniture that he accidentally lit on fire (did I mention he doesn't like casting spells? He tried to throw a burning table and fumbled). Anyhow, the Paladin tried to get him out but she fumbled and landed on top. What's the wizard do? Hydraulic push. Fine, there's a roll and a concentration check and he makes it. I make a ruling that the paladin goes straight up and then down, landing on him and they each take 5 damage. We're suddenly arguing about the trajectory of the paladin based on where the jet of water emanated from the wizard >.< I almost wiped the party right then and there.
Where are you reading the "If you turn back it's dispelled"? I haven't found it. The problem is that he, being a half-orc wizard, wants to polymorph himself into a half-orc wizard using PAO. He's saying that since you can affect large changes w/ PAO you can also affect very small changes. He'll polymorph his eyebrows and call it a new form. I say he can't be a half-orc and have it be in affect- he could turn himself into a gnome permanently if he likes. He reads PAO's "can also be used to duplicate the effects" as an option that he doesn't have to take whereas I read it as "If you're doing something covered by this lower-level spell you're using this spell."
Coffee, I guess the question is about the wording of Polymorph Any Object and how duration is affected. If you make a change that is permanent (a half-orc to an elf), then change into a dragon or something (with a duration) then back to an elf does the spell stay in effect? edit: He's trying to use polymorph any object on himself to transform himself into a "slightly different half-orc" that has all the same abilities, levels, bonuses, etc which would be a permanent polymorph under the rules of the spell. From that form he feels he could then change as a standard action using his multi-morph ability to change into anything and then back to his "similar self" when he's done. This seems very broken and I'm having trouble explaining why. He feels that he can do anything under PAO using those duration rules unless he specifically wants to use Draconic Form, Beast Shape, or another polymorph spell. Spoiler: Polymorph Any Object
School transmutation (polymorph); Level sorcerer/wizard 8 Casting Time 1 standard action Components V, S, M/DF (mercury, gum arabic, and smoke) Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Target one creature, or one nonmagical object of up to 100 cu. ft./level Duration see text Saving Throw Fortitude negates (object); see text; Spell Resistance yes (object) This spell functions like greater polymorph, except that it changes one object or creature into another. You can use this spell to transform all manner of objects and creatures into new forms—you aren't limited to transforming a living creature into another living form. The duration of the spell depends on how radical a change is made from the original state to its transmuted state. The duration is determined by using the following guidelines. Changed Subject Is… Increase to Duration Factor*
Duration Factor Duration Example
This spell cannot create material of great intrinsic value, such as copper, silver, gems, silk, gold, platinum, mithral, or adamantine. It also cannot reproduce the special properties of cold iron in order to overcome the damage reduction of certain creatures. This spell can also be used to duplicate the effects of baleful polymorph, greater polymorph, flesh to stone, stone to flesh, transmute mud to rock, transmute metal to wood, or transmute rock to mud.
I'm struggling as a DM to keep my players engaged in the adventure at hand. They're new to Pathfinder, though most have had tabletop RPG experience. In my party I have: Half-elf paladin
It's not that the combats are terribly difficult, but rather that we seem to get bogged down in "Wait, what am I doing? What are you doing? Maybe I should do this? No, that!" My cleric doesn't know what he should do if nobody needs healing, my cavalier keeps trying to optimize everything, and my wizard wants to do everything EXCEPT casting spells because he's totally concerned with DPR. Outside of combat we're dealing with people not specifying their actions (Oh, I meant to check for traps) or simply not doing anything (I stand there). I frequently let them cast "detect plot hook" but a lot of times the party gets frustrated that nothing is happening when in reality The game won't respond unless THEY act first. I'm trying to make them proactive instead of reactive and I'd love any suggestions. Last week the characters missed huge amounts of content, items, exposition, etc because they just wanted to "skip to the boss fight". I let them miss it, consequences be damned, but I'm not sure how to convey the importance of exploring the world. The party started at lvl 1 and now we're almost to level 3.
I've done things like sending them into a big dungeon that may take multiple sessions and saying "It's too dangerous to rest here". It might take 5 game sessions, but only 1 day of game time.
I have a character inquiring about this combination. My rule would be that if he's changing attributes but keeps his duration at greater than 1 day he can remain polymorphed. However, I would make this require the use of his spell slot on any day when he modifies himself. Otherwise it seems very broken - You could turn into a dragon for 18 minutes, then turn yourself back into you base form with different colored eyes and the spell would persist, letting you change back into a dragon. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong here.
So, is it possible to attempt a ranged sunder or disarm without any feats? Is there a penalty to the attack roll, or is it simply not permitted?I'd say that you would still require the feats. That's why they are there after all. I haven't seen a Ranged Sunder or Ranged Disarm feat in any Pathfinder material. Did I miss it?
So, is it possible to attempt a ranged sunder or disarm without any feats? Is there a penalty to the attack roll, or is it simply not permitted?
I'd be interested in seeing the pdf as well. imbignate at gmail dot com. I'm currently playing a Zen Gunslinger based on the Zen Archer in the APG, though I'm also planning on taking some levels of Rogue/Sniper to spice things up. Thanks.
So, I'm creating a Zen Archer with a 3-level dip into the new Rogue (Sniper) class and I want to make sure I understand the relationship between flurry, surprise, and sneak-attacks: 1. The Zen Archer class permits for the use of ranged weapons in a Flurry of Blows attack. 2. The Rogue (Sniper) class permits sneak-attacks with ranged weapons whenever the target is denied its dexterity bonus (as per normal sneak-attack rules) 3. The Surprise Attack rogue talent allows the player to consider opponents flatfooted during the entire surprise round. Does this mean that a Zen Archer with 3 levels of rogue and Surprise attack can flurry in a surprise round and apply sneak-attack damage to each strike? I apologize if this seems convoluted, and I appreciate any insight you can share.
I'm a bit confused about the granted power for the new Caves subdomain:
Are all parts of this granted power tied to the 1min/lvl/day time limit, or is the insight bonus to initiative a constant modifier? |