Kryptik's page

Greetings. Short enough question:

The Spell Stone Discus, which can be found here , at 15th level "counts as Adamantine."

Under Overcoming Damage Reduction, there is a note under +4 weapons "* Note that this does not give the ability to ignore hardness, like an actual adamantine weapon does."

Is one correct to surmise that a 15th level Stone Discus, therefore, does not ignore hardness? And in fact that nothing other than actual physical adamantine can do so?

Thanks.

Simply put, does the Augment Summoning spell work only with spells with "Summon" in the title, or does it also to apply to spells of the Conjuration (summoning) subtype, such as Creeping Doom or Insect Plague?

Why, or why not? (Please cite sources)

Thank you kindly.

Howdy.

So the character of one of my players has a Furyborn Elf Bane Falchion +1.

Furyborn says "Each time the wielder damages an opponent with the weapon, its enhancement bonus increases by +1 when making attacks against that opponent (to a maximum total enhancement bonus of +5)."

The magic weapon rules say "A single weapon cannot have a modified bonus (enhancement bonus plus special ability bonus equivalents, including those from character abilities and spells) higher than +10."

My question deals with a couple scenarios:

1) When the character attacks a creature of the Humanoid (elf) subtype (so therefore the weapons enhancement bonus is increased by 2), does the weapon enhancement bonus "cap" after only 2 hits? IE, base +1, +2 bane, +2 from two hits from Furyborn? If the bane does not count against that, does the base +1 count against it? Or is the Furyborn "enhancement pool" separate altogether, so that if you hit the elf 5 times with Furyborn, you'd have base +1, bane +2, Furyborn +5 for a +8 equivalent weapon?

2) If the weapon does not cap out, and effectively functions as a +8 weapon in the previous scenario, do Bane and Furyborn count against the +10 maximum mentioned previously?

Thanks for any help!

Simply put, can Large PCs/NPCs cast (and completely benefit from) the spell Giant Form 1?

The Liveoak spell allows a druid to cause a Huge oak to "animate as a treant." Does this mean that this new "treant" gets all of the abilities of an actual Treant? For example, does it get the languages? Treespeech? Does it get the Treant's Animate Plants ability?

Ahoy.

So...

"A creature with a natural fly speed receives a bonus (or penalty) on Fly skill checks depending on its maneuverability: Clumsy –8, Poor –4, Average +0, Good +4, Perfect +8. Creatures without a listed maneuverability rating are assumed to have average maneuverability."

Does anyone know if this penalty is already taken into account in creature statblocks, or if it is applied to their unmodified Fly bonus?

Relevant text:

" So long as some small portion of the creature's body still exists, it can be reincarnated, but the portion receiving the spell must have been part of the creature's body at the time of death."

Am I correct in assuming that preemptively taking, say, a lock of hair before time of death would not be valid?

Ok so, normally if you have a bunch of monsters you award a treasure pool based on the APL and progression (slow/medium/fast). Simple enough.

So let's say we have 4 Hill Giants, for a CR 11 fight. On medium progression, that would be 7000.

But what if we gave each of the Hill Giants a level of Warrior? Per the rules, one NPC level does not change the CR. So, I am assuming we reference the Creating NPC chapter and give them 260 gold each, and I am also assuming that is in addition to their pool of 7000.

So let's say we decide to keep the same CR but shuffle things around a bit and have it be two 1st level warriors, 2 dire wolves, and a 1st level fighter.

So the rules for adding PC class levels to monsters say that the gear for that fighter would be 7800.

How do you figure the treasure for this fight? Is it 7000 plus the 7800?

Any help appreciated.

Hello there. Let's cut right to the chase.

A creature with Change Shape (Su) does not receive the stat bonuses as one gets from, say, Giant Shape 1, but it "gains any other abilities of the creature it mimics."

So, does this mean that an Oni (ogre mage) that uses Change Shape become a Cylcops gains the Cyclops' Flash of Insight (Su) ability?

Thanks.

Hey gang. My group and I got on the subject of touch spells, and, well, long story short there appear to be some discrepancies and general vaguery with the application of touch spells on multiple subjects, and the action cost of applying them.

The Combat section of the CRB has this to say about touch spells:

"You can touch one friend as a standard action or up to six friends as a full-round action.

This is also reflected in the action chart, as it says it is a full round action to "Use a touch spell on up to six friends," and that doing so provokes an AoO.

The conclusion reached by some at this point was that you could, for example, cast the original Bull's Strength (which normally is limited to "creature touched") on up to 6 friends as a full round action. Additionally, this makes it seem that, if you have a spell that allows multiple targets touched as part of the original spell (such as Water Breathing), the act of casting the spell and applying it to up to 6 allies consumes a full round. Ok, I can work with that I guess.

The Magic section of the CRB has this to say about touch spells:

"Some touch spells allow you to touch multiple targets. You can touch up to 6 willing targets as part of the casting, but all targets of the spell must be touched in the same round that you finish casting the spell. If the spell allows you to touch targets over multiple rounds, touching 6 creatures is a full-round action."

This raises a couple more issues. This seems to contradict the apparent intent of the Combat section rules. The Magic section seems to say that if you have a spell that normally targets multiple creatures via touch, you can touch up to 6 allies as part of the casting of the spell, which is a standard action.

Furthermore, it goes on to say that if the spell allows you to touch over multiple rounds, touching 6 is a full round action. Now, I don't know which spells allow you touch over multiple rounds, but the sheer action cost of that last sentence doesn't jive with what they said just before. Are you meaning to tell me that I can cast a spell and as part of that casting touch 6 people, all as a standard, but doing nothing but touching 6 people is a full round? That doesn't make sense.
____________________________________________________________

To my mind, there are three conflicting interpretations here, and I will try to elucidate them below as clearly as I can. For our purposes, only the first option assumes you can trade up action economy to let you affect multiple allies with a spell that normally is only "creature touched."

Here they are:

"A spell with a target of "creature touched" can be expanded to include up to 6 allies instead of one, by consuming a full round rather than a standard. Spells that affect multiple targets touched include the touching of those targets as part of the standard action to cast the spell."

OR

"When casting a spell that allows multiple creatures touched, the act of casting that spell and applying it to up to 6 allies consumes a full round action."

OR

"When casting a spell that allows multiple creatures touched, the act of casting that spell and applying it to up to 6 allies consumes a standard action, but if you can somehow touch over multiple rounds then the act of touching 6 allies consumes a full round."

My personal take is that the first interpretation is too strong, and largely neuters the Communal spell line. Why have it a higher spell level and divide duration, when you can seemingly use just a full round to do the same thing and not divide the duration?

So, brave Pathfinders, which is it?

Long story short, my warpriest was slain in the Magnimar sawmill.

I was thinking about playing a caster druid, since I've not played a Druid yet in 3.5/PF.

Are there opportunities for Druids to shine, or would it be better to go arcane (we also lost our wizard)?

Thanks folks.

Howdy folks.

Getting ready to make an Angelkin Aasimar Barbarian for Wrath of the Righteous. I saw the Touched by Divinity trait and thought it too good to pass up.

I'm having a little difficulty deciding between the domain spells though.

I figure the barbarian's deity will be either Iomedae or Ragathiel (leaning toward the latter for thematic reasons).

In no particular order:

1) Archon (Divine Favor): I am strongly leaning toward this, and picking up Fate's Favored as my other trait. That would mean ending up with a +4 to attack and damage for one minute, 1/day at level 3. Not bad, effective across the board.

2) Good (Prot. from Evil): A strong contender. Good scaling duration. A non-scaling +2 AC/saves that takes up a deflection bonus only vs. evil things (which will be common, of course, but still). The good part is the immunity to mind control. Will probably see less use overall, but potentially a life-saver.

3) Glory (Shield of Faith): Good scalable duration, scalable deflection AC bonus. Would be good for when I bust out Reckless Abandon to not trash my AC. The bummer is that it would interfere with a Ring of Protection.

4) Destruction (True Strike): Pretty much a guaranteed hit once a day. Interesting combination with Combat Maneuvers.

Anyhoo. If anyone has played WotR before and has a specific suggestion, please let me know. Or if anyone has particularly strong feelings about one over the others, that's great too.

Thanks again,

K

Hey there.

To make a long story short, because of a temporary absence, my group is taking a break from our regularly scheduled plotline to do a little mini-adventure. They are now four 10th level Dwarves leading an expedition to establish lumber camps in an ancient forest which used to be the heart of the now-fallen wood elf empire. Hijinks ensue.

Unfortunately they have gotten the attention of the local denizens.

I need help building a strikeforce around a Treant with 5 druid levels (CR 10.) The climax of the adventure will be the Treant leading the strikeforce against the Dwarven lumber camp, so it will be an Epic difficulty encounter.

As I said before the force will be built around the Treant. Total XP budget for a CR 14 encounter is 38400, of which the Treant takes up 9600.

Ideally, I would like to keep the creature types to Plant, Fey, and Animal, although I was considering making a couple Wood Giant rangers as overwatch.

The basic idea is for Treant & Co. to Soften Earth and Stone, and entangle as needed to give the melee grunts time to move in and mix it up. Ranged support holds at the top of a nearby hill, protected by Plant Growth/Entangle in case the Dwarves approach.

Once the Dwarves are engaged and the support spells expended, the Treant will wade into the melee utilizing his Feather Step spell, or run interference for the overwatch group by using his Woodland Stride through the overgrowth. Rinse/repeat until the defilers of the land are defeated (or the axes of the Dwarves prevail.)
___________________________________________________________________

This brings me to what I need help with. I need to create a balanced strikeforce that has sturdy melee, some ranged support, and buffs/debuffs. I am generally unfamiliar with how to effectively use Fey, especially.

If you have used Fey effectively, please suggest specific creatures and tactics.
____________________________________________________________________

A couple final notes. This forest is supposed to be brutal. As this is a mini-adventure and not the main characters, I am less worried about potentially destroying them, but I want to adhere to the CR guidelines of it being a very difficult, but winnable, fight. While it would be epic if the Dwarves overcame this assault, it is also perfectly acceptable for them to perish. It would work well to establish the mood for when the main characters enter the forest, a sort of "Balin's Tomb" moment if you will.

For all the player supremacy activists out there; don't worry. I am making sure they have a jolly time cutting through swathes of enemies before this event.

Thanks for any feedback!

So yeah. I am having a hard time setting up illusions when the wizard says "I stop every 30 feet and cast detect magic" throughout the entire dungeon.

How do you stop it from going something like this every time:

Him: I cast detect magic. Is magic present?

Me: *sigh*, yes.

Him: *concentrates for 3 rounds* I make my K: Arcana roll. What school is it?

Me: *apply palm to face* Illusion.

Him: Aha! I carefully study the area. And if I can't get it, I tell everyone else it's an illusion for their +4 to disbelieve.
____________________________________________________________

Does anyone else have a problem with this? What do you do to prevent this cantrip from negating an entire school of magic?

One suggestion another player had would be to houserule it so that, upon casting Detect Magic, you roll the will save to disbelieve for said player. If he fails, he does not detect the illusion.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I have a sinking feeling that this could really limit my options as a GM.

So...let's talk about Project Image for a minute. The effect is that it produces "one shadow duplicate." It offers a saving throw if it is interacted with.

"You tap energy from the Plane of Shadow to create a quasi-real, illusory version of yourself. The projected image looks, sounds, and smells like you but is intangible. The projected image mimics your actions (including speech) unless you direct it to act differently (which is a move action)."

Ok, so far so good. You can use it as an origination point to cast spells, etc. Fine.

So what happens when it is attacked?

I'd say the attacker must spend his attack, and *then* that would meet the qualification of "interacted with."

The real question is, does the image, for all intents and purposes, have the same stats as you? Same AC, HP, saves, etc?

If not, then how do you adjudicate attacking it? If the attacker fails the save to disbelieve, does one go through the motions of AC, damage, etc, even though it is "intangible?"

If it is a "clone" of you, what happens when it is hit by status-inducing spells (ie being Stunned, or Blinded, etc?)

Can you Bull Rush an Image?

This is going to come up tomorrow night, and it is a fairly pivotal aspect of the final encounter. I am going to have some angry players if I don't have everything in order.

Thanks for any assistance.

...because I have gone over the table in the rulebook like 5 times and I can make neither heads nor tails of it. I think it is the most cryptic, vague, and generally arcane table I have seen yet in the Pathfinder Rules.

Maybe it's just because it's currently 1:30 AM here, but I am just failing hard right now.

Can anyone decipher this maddening riddle for me? Basically, I am trying to figure what changes between CR 2 and 3.

Thanks a bunch.

Hey all. I had a couple questions on the proper way to kit monsters with class levels, specifically those whose "base" version of the monster (without class levels) says "Double Treasure."

The rules for Monster Advancement say this:

"A monster with class levels always possesses treasure equal to an NPC of a level equal to the monster's final CR. To determine the value of this gear, use the value listed for a heroic NPC of that level, as listed in Table: NPC Gear. Once a total GP value is determined, follow the rules for outfitting an NPC as outlined in that section."

Let us say that said monster has a final CR of 8. The NPC Gear Table lists the Heroic Wealth amount for 8 as 7800 GP. That's all fine and dandy.

My real question is this: If the base monster says "Double Treasure", would you double the 7800? Or does adding class levels negate the "Double Treasure?"

I can find no rule that says so specifically.

Thanks for any insight.

Hey all,

In the last session of the homebrew game I run, the party wizard interacted with and successfully shut down a powerful magical observatory that, among other things, was used to control weather, dominate entire towns, and communicate with various eldritch horrors from beyond the stars. (If this sounds familiar to some, it should: I am running an adaptation of the From Shore to Sea module).

What is not in the module, however, are side effects of interacting with such an immensely powerful device, which was malfunctioning and leaking power compared to its original operations. Both the player and I are on board to have the power affect the wizard in some way. I want to incorporate a couple beneficial side effects, and a couple minor drawbacks.

Some parameters: I do not want to duplicate anything too powerful, and the flavor must stick with the theme of the purpose of the device. Here are possible options I was thinking of, let me know what you think.

By the way, the wizard is 7th level, about to hit 8th, to give you a rough power gauge.

1) Some sort of vision enhancement, Darkvision probably.

2) Something to do with shifting in and out of the Ethereal plane. I do not want this to be as powerful as the Blink Spell, but I do like the idea of cherry picking some of the benefits. Something like the following;

Voidstrider (Su): Once per day as a swift action, you may engulf yourself in the power of star motes. When under the effect of this ability, any physical attacks against you suffer from a 20% miss chance as the bonds which tie your body to the Material plane are weakened. Likewise, your own physical attacks are subject to a 20% miss chance. Spells and other effects which do not require an attack roll affect you normally. This ability lasts for a number of rounds equal to your caster level.

In addition to the above, you may attempt to move through solid objects. For every 5 feet of solid material you move through, there is a 50% chance you materialize and are shunted to the nearest open space and take 1d6 points of damage for every 5 feet of space through which you are shunted.

3) Character gains Aklo as a bonus language.

....

What else can you think of? I am also open to "fluff" physical alterations as well, maybe his eyes glow with the light of a faint star, or maybe his hair becomes translucent.

So I have gotten halfway through creating an NPC squad, when I ran into some creative stagnation.

So far I have: dex-magus, arcane archer, conjurer wizard. (these are non-negotiable)

vs.

The PCs: 2-handed warpriest, 2-handed inquisitor, archer ranger, evoker wizard, melee cleric.

Now, I am about to ask a very difficult thing of this board. I am asking that we stick within the limitations given.

Which are: Must be elf, 20 point buy, must be 10th level (PC level wealth), must not be the following (summoner, gunslinger, shaman, druid, barbarian, paladin). All other classes and sources allowed (except Paragon Surge shenanigans).

Initially, I think I need at least one more melee class to avoid the PC beatsticks from ganging up on the magus. Maybe a Slayer or a melee cleric of my own.

Help me overcome this designer's block!

Many thanks.

1) When you cast a spell from a wand, does anything modify that spell? For example, let's say a 4th level character has a trait that adds 1 to the Caster Level of Cure Spells. When that character uses a wand of CLW, is it just 1d8+1 or 1d8+5?

2) Can you apply such a trait to a spell via Craft Wand?

Scenario: human warrior with spear and shield braces with a spear against an orc 30 feet away.

Question: Given that the Brace ability gives you a benefit *if* the target charges, and let's say the orc does not charge, but rather uses a regular move action to approach...

Do you still get to attack the orc without the benefit of Brace, or does the action of Bracing Against a Charge mean that you cannot attack the orc if he does not charge?

Thanks!

Hey folks,

Question in the title.

Argument for: AoO says melee attack. Aid Another is a melee attack.

Argument against: Aid Another is a standard action. You can use Trip on an AoO, for example, but it specifically says you can trip "in place of a melee attack." Aid Another has no such wording.

Personally, I think you could use Aid Another, but I am interested in hearing your thoughts.

Thanks!

Hi folks,

Just looking for ways to add static bonuses to healing spells. The special caveat is that it cannot be adding CL (character level).

Thanks!

Good afternoon, Pathfinderdom.

Today's topic is on the perceived fairness of intelligent NPCs focus firing PCs down.

Let us take a hypothetical example of the PCs trying to storm a bridge, or perhaps a gate. Let us also assume the defending NPCs are well-disciplined, intelligent, and have an officer to direct them. Let's say a third of the defending NPCs are archers.

The question is, would it be unfair for the officer to direct the archers to focus fire on the PCs one at a time starting with the most dangerous/most vulnerable one?

Arguments for:

- When you are faced with a small but highly skilled team of transient loot-hungry psychopaths, would it not make the most sense to quickly dispatch them one at a time rather than spread your damage out?

Arguments against:

- This tactic, combined with certain buff spells (Haste, for example), can put a PC down before he/she even gets to act.

_____________________________________________________

Please leave your thoughts below! I am interested in both GM and Player points of view.

Thanks!

Too often on these boards I see posts, and sometimes entire threads, that are unfriendly or sometimes downright hostile to GMs. Horror stories abound in which GMs are portrayed as power-hungry control freaks who, like some malicious gremlin, feed off of the frustration and disappointment of their players.

This thread is here for people to post actual good things about their GMs! What was something your GM did that made you stop and say "awesome!" or particularly captured your imagination? It could be a particularly satisfying plot resolution, or an epic battle, or something like that. Or perhaps the party interacted with an NPC early on in the campaign that made a memorable appearance later on.

Question posed as per the title.

GMs, how do you solve this issue? The most expedient option seems to have it buried with them, but that does not stop the PC in question from granting it to others in their will, or from the other PCs in simply taking it from them.

My second thought was that if the party decides to keep the loot, to keep the GP value as a deficit on further loot drops. But that seems kind of meta.

Of course, the "ideal" situation is one in which the body is not immediately recoverable, such as if the rest of the party is forced to retreat. By the time they get back, the body has already been looted.

Anyway, I would be grateful for hearing suggestions on how to handle this potential inflation of party wealth.

Thanks!

This is to settle once and for all the shenaniganery found in this thread.

The claim is that the Racial Heritage feat, combined with a feat that improves an inherent feature of the other "parent" race, grants you that feature. So Tail Terror grants you a tail, or Sleep Venom grants you a Vishkanya's poison, etc.

Please FAQ, so that we may put this to rest.

If so, please cite references.

For example, would a 4th level warpriest count as a 4th level fighter for the purpose of selecting Weapon Specialization?

Thanks all!

Greetings. I am building a level 8 NPC, specficially

The available wealth is 33000, as I am giving the NPC PC wealth.

Since I am upgrading her, the non-negotiable gear at this point is a potion of CMW, a +1 Dagger, +1 Chain shirt, and a

This particular NPC is not designed to be a menace in combat, so equipment should be focused mainly on stealth and defense.

I am probably going to end up giving her a +1 longbow, a Ring of Protection, an Amulet of NA, and a Cloak of Elvenkind. So that leaves...24500 left to play with, less if we go with stronger versions of the +1 ring/amulet.

Any helpful advice would be appreciated, and remember; she is not designed for combat. She should be focused on staying under the radar and living to tell about it.

Thanks in advance! :)

Greetings.

One of my players who has been absent for quite some time due to some RL priorities, has indicated he will be rejoining our group.

The catch is he is 4th level, while the rest of the PCs are 6th level.

Two levels isn't all that horrible, but I am seeking ways to do this as gracefully as possible.

The current plan is to run one-offs with him on a separate game day while the party is involved in other matters. The PC is a wizard, so I will focus on various interactions, skill challenges, riddles, etc as much as possible. While some combat may take place, I am trying to avoid as much of it as possible.

Therefore, I call upon the sage wisdom of the assembled GMs out there! What sorts of neat things have you done to catch a player up to the rest of the group?

Thanks,

K

Good evening, everyone.

So, with the right combination, my level 8 NPC necromancer cleric is able to control 64 HD worth of undead via Animate Dead.

I am new with the ins and outs of optimizing an undead horde, so please help me!

More specifically, I don't know when it is better to make skeletons vs zombies.

The available creatures in this particular area are a bit limited. Humans, orcs, ogres, trolls, griffons, wyverns, and gnolls.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

Good morning, comrades.

I am currently in the design process for a necromancer NPC. My main set of questions arises from figuring CR for when he creates/animates undead.

1) The feat Command Undead states "You can control any number of undead, so long as their total Hit Dice do not exceed your cleric level." Is this a hard cap, or can you boost your effective cleric level in some way?

2) So, it seems pretty clear that any minions via Create Undead plus any other acolytes or servants the cleric has would go into the CR calculation for the encounter. What about Animate Dead? As opposed to Create Dead, it's a standard action spell. They are also controlled indefinitely. So, should I treat this like any summon spell, in that it does not increase the CR? This seems kind of like a questionable way to artificially pad the CR: fill out the CR with the cleric, his acolytes and Created Undead, and then pile on Animate Dead after the encounter starts...

3) Let's talk about the Robe of Bones. It doesn't actually say what kind of action is required to detach an embroidery, so my GM senses are telling me it should be a standard action like Animate Undead But here, we run into a similar issue as above. Does this not count toward CR? Furthermore, would such an undead creature still get the bonus for being created/summoned into a Descrated area? Would it gain any of the relevant bonuses (boni?) from feats that boost created/animated undead?

4) Considering all the above points, if Animated Undead and those created via the Robe do *not* count toward the CR of the encounter, then a Necromancer hiding in an Invisibility or Greater Darkness spell is a seemingly endless fountain of undeath. A Death cleric hiding in a Greater Darkness can then channel negative energy, healing his minions and himself while simultaneously damaging his foes. This seems like a pretty untenable fight.

If these added foes *do* count toward the CR, I suppose my only option would be to spread them out within the lair as separate encounters?

Does anyone have experience running necromancer NPCs that might be willing to give me your two copper?

Greetings friends.

Let us say that a nobleman has a guard with him, that uses a shield. That guard has the Saving Shield and Bodyguard feats.

Let us say someone attacks the noble, and the guard is adjacent to the noble. This could possibly trigger either or both actions, and I want to figure out what the legit ruling is here.

So, as per Saving Shield, the guard can use an immediate action to grant the noble a +2 Shield bonus to AC.

However, Bodyguard is also possibly triggered when the assassin attacks the noble, specifically in that the attack triggers an AoO from the guard so he can specifically grant him the +2 bonus to AC from Aid Another, assuming the guard succeeds on his attack roll of AC 10.

Attacks of Opportunity (such as that of Bodyguard) interrupt the normal flow of attacks in a round, and resolve immediately. Immediate actions (such as that of Saving Shield)may be performed at any time.

My question is this: what happens first? It seems as though Bodyguard would kick in first as it is linked to an AoO, but the question then becomes, can the guard still use his immediate action to grant an additional +2 Shield AC to the noble, or is it too late at that point?

Or can he use the immediate action before the AoO?

Thanks for any insight or relevant ruling references!

Sometimes, we as players imagine legendary scenarios for our character to accomplish. These are things that are worthy of song, are particularly iconic for our characters, or stories that are repeated by friends around the gaming table for many years to come. These are things you, as a player have always wanted to do. They can be a social interaction, an accomplishment in combat, or merely a reputation gained within the realms.

I'll share one of mine to start us off.

Tonight, I checked one off the list. My stoic elven fighter successfully grappled a dire bear. At 6th level.

Good afternoon folks, and well met again.

The question stands as per the title, in one corner, we have Unexpected Strike.

In the other, we have Escape Route.

Here's the scenario: an Inquisitor who selected Escape Route moves into a square threatened by the Barbarian, but that square is adjacent to an ally. Because of Solo Tactics, Inquisitors can treat allies as having the feat when determining if they would benefit from it.

Is there a guideline out there to determine which resource trumps another? I would think the rage power trumps the feat because it is a much more limited resource that can only be used while raging, and furthermore can only be used once per rage. In contrast the feat is useful all day as long as the triggering circumstances are met?

Thank you for any and all constructive input, and especially any with references to standing rules or precedents applicable to the situation.

- K

Hey folks,

I've got a player playing a Bladebound Magus who was asking about enchanting his Black Blade. I looked through a couple threads in the forums, but nothing contains an official answer. One of the threads opening post said that the question was answered in the FAQ, but I go to the Ultimate Magic FAQ and nowhere is this issue mentioned.

Is there another FAQ I'm supposed to be looking at? Where other than the UM FAQ would it be?

Thanks!

- K

Question as per the title.

All the spell specifies is close range, and the monster appears where you designate.

Question posed per the title.

Does the Alarm spell go off when invisible creatures enter the area? I would assume it would, as it makes specific caveats for ethereal or astral creatures and would have made one for invisible ones if applicable.

Hello friends,

I wanted to weigh in for feedback and advice on how far you as DMs go in playing enemies intelligently without frustrating your players. For the purposes of this discussion, let us take an intelligent and rational being such as a dragon, wizard, lich, or really anybody with something to lose. These intelligent and rational beings might be long-lived or hold a position of power that would prompt them to do everything in their power to end the PCs or flee when it became evident the odds were against them.

How have you handled this situation? Did you award XP and loot for defeating them anyway (which I am leaning toward)? What happens when the villain is carrying all the loot with them? How did your players react? Were they frustrated, or happy to defeat them, or did they look forward to meeting them again?

Any constructive advice appreciated, thank you!

Hello all!

I'm trying to detail a village of about 200 people. In particular, I'm trying to get a sense of proportions of different professions. I've decided that, since it is a village on high alert during wartime, they would have 4 full time guards and 20 militia. It is a town on a major river surrounded by grasslands, so fishing, herding, and farming will be important.

I'm trying to ration out the other professions now. Here are my thoughts so far, please jump in and give your 2 copper, or if you have any historical reference for any kind of census for a village of about this size that would be great!

1 secular leader (mayor)
1 religious leader (priest), with 2 or 3 acolytes
1 blacksmith and apprentice
2 inn keepers and their spouses
10 farmers
10 fishermen
10 herders
3 carpenters/coopers/woodworkers
3 hunters
2 masons
2 storekeeps
16 Elders (unable to fight or work efficiently)
...and the rest being children of ages 0-15 or 16 and spouses(a combined figure of about 113)

(in peacetime, the militia would fill in the other full time professions)

What am I missing here? Does this sound like a reasonable ratio? Please leave your comments and suggestions!

I know that normally, mounted characters get a +1 on their attack because of Higher Ground. Does this still apply when attacking a creature larger than yourself. Small characters attacking medium enemies, medium characters attacking large enemies, etc. I would assume it does not apply but am interested in feedback.

Thanks!

I have finished fleshing out the long term motivations of the first major villain the NPCs have run across. In order to accomplish his objectives, he needs to

My question is this: have you, as a GM or player, been in a situation in which the villain succeeded in his plans? This could be due to either inattention by the players, or by them failing to kill or disable a target in a time-sensitive scenario. How did the players react to this perceived failure? Were they utterly crushed and disappointed, or did they rally to meet the new threat and try to rise again?

Edit: I want to make it clear that in no way is the villain guaranteed to succeed. The fight could go either way. I just wanted to gather if anyone had any experience about possible failure when something this important was at stake.

I'm trying to find a wingless dragon/wyrm to use as a lower level boss monster in my campaign. I don't seem to be having much luck. So far the linnorms seem to be the closest in concept, but the weakest one is level 14, which is not going to work.

So, is there anything like this that I have overlooked? Or should I just reskin an adult dragon by popping the wings off and taking away some spells?

Which brings up a secondary question: how much does having wings add to a monster's CR, roughly?

What are some magic items that every class should have? What priority do you give them?

Common magic items I've seen are Rings of Protection, Cloaks of Resistance, and of course enchanted weapons and armor.

For example, what should every fighter have by, say, level 10?

So, a fighter with a fauchard has the Feat Step up. The fighter is standing 10 feet away from the enemy to use the reach against him. The enemy uses a 5 foot step back on their turn. The text of the feat says, "Whenever an adjacent foe attempts to take a 5-foot step away from you, you may also make a 5-foot step as an immediate action so long as you end up adjacent to the foe that triggered this ability."

My question is this; does this feat require you to be literally toe-to-toe with the enemy to be able to use it, or are you also considered "adjacent" when using a reach weapon?

Thanks for any help on this matter.

- K

...if I hand a Troll a large-sized longspear, does that Troll threaten 20 feet?

Thanks.

Greetings all. At some point very soon, my players are going to have to take a bridge.

I'd say that all my players are skilled gamers, but relatively new to Pathfinder/3.5.

So what do you all think? Too much?