Lexarius's page

On casting times and targeting templates, I would hope that you'd activate the ability, spend some time casting, during which an obviously magical animation plays, probably breaking stealth if applicable. People with the Spellcraft skill would be able to tell what you're doing and how long it will take. At the end of the casting time, the area template appears under your mouse and you can press a button to fire or cancel the spell. Most spells would need to be fired within a certain amount of time or fizzle, or you'd end up with groups of wizards standing around chokepoints with all of their magical doom preheated and waiting for someone to walk through.

On AoEs vs. Formations, you might differentiate a few different kinds of AoEs and the formation tactics that would work best against each. If your formation has shieldbearers, a turtle formation would work well against a rain of arrows or (potentially) effects that are directional in nature like dragon breath. On the other hand, if all you've got are swordsmen and spearmen and nobody's got shields equipped, being clustered would probably make things worse (unless you want a "human shield" mechanic). On the other other hand, there's probably not much defense against a grenade-like effect other than scattering, assuming that it hits where the caster wants it to hit. Fireball is described as starting off as a bead-like projectile that detonates early if it hits something, so a shield wall might be of use against it (ranged touch attack vs. openings between shields). Flame Strike, on the other hand, is just a column of holy death wherever the caster wants it.

Pharasma isn't Marking adventurers because she wants to.

There's a hidden darkness beneath the Crusader Road. It ensnares the souls of those of great power or destiny or some other attribute upon death, forcing them to serve in death. This being is Pharasma's sworn enemy, and it is sealed beneath the region by her power.

The being's power over souls is such that, given the proximity, even Pharasma herself cannot properly draw them into the afterlife. Should she simply let this being build its army with the souls of the dead? Instead, she provides a temporary solution. She Marks those traveling over the Crusader Road. The network of shrines that form the being's bindings intercepts their souls if they die in the area. While the shrines can't send them on to the next realm or hold them indefinitely, they can bring them back to life.

While abhorrent to her sensibilities, this is the best she can do for now. The upshot is that, in time, the heroes who grow powerful thanks to their immortality will one day find the being that sleeps far below and destroy it. Of course, the heroes don't realize that Pharasma will no longer auto-ressurect them once the source of the problem is removed, but res spells will still be available to players. If you die, you'll just be dead until someone raises you. Maybe you can wander around in spirit form and try to communicate with those sensitive to spirits?

If you have infinite money,

Rule 1: DON'T LET ANYONE FIND OUT

Rule 2: Don't crash the local economy. See Rule 1.

Richard Leonhart wrote:

Other possibilty if you have a bird, it will always know true north if they have their left eye.

...what?

Something about magnetic bird eyes

I haven't read Goblins of Golarion yet, but are we sure that goblins are actually illiterate? A writing taboo doesn't necessarily imply a reading taboo. Writing steals ideas from the heads of stupid humans. Goblins read human writing to steal their ideas (and spells!). Of course, only a few trusted tribe members might be allowed to read, since a reader can, in a moment of weakness, become a writer at any time.

Under this interpretation, a goblin wizard might get his spells exclusively by stealing spellbooks from others. As for the free spells they learn at each level, they would either need to figure out another way to encode spells, succumb to the temptation of writing, get them pre-written from GM-supplied sources, or go without.