Curious about opinions on this. I'm thinking things like inevitable gaps in the rules, applying realism to a fantasy environment, abstractions like hit points and how to explain them, etc.
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I think the Rules Questions forum should be split into two separate forums: One where people are really asking for answers to their question, and one where people are only looking for people who agree with them and will totally disregard the opinion, no matter how well sourced or researched, of those who don't agree. Would save some time, I feel like.
the FAQ version of this question: Does an Urban Barbarian under the effects of a controlled rage have the ability to cast spells? I believe that the most straightforward reading of the archetype is that you cannot cast while raging. However, I think there are two points in favor of it: 1) Without it, it's a very small benefit. Now this certainly isn't proof - many archetypes have abilities that do nothing or next to nothing, either because their intent isn't achieved (looking at you, Titan Mauler), or the idea just isn't mechanically great. But I don't think anyone would argue that the ability to make sense motive checks and knowledge checks to identify enemies is worth losing +2 (or more) to will saves and +4 (or more) to a battle stat. Especially for a class that's generally not going to be good at those skills, anyway. 2) Moment of clarity is not among the recommended rage powers to pair with that archetype. Now this is certainly circumstantial -- but I find it hard to believe that this archetype, which fits that rage power so perfectly, doesn't have that power listed. The only reason I can see is that the archetype makes the rage power obsolete.
Proposed house rule: you get a stat increase each level. The stat increase belts and headbands are removed from the game. The WBL is reduced somewhat to compensate, and you cannot add more than 8 total points to the same stat. Cannot add to the same stat in back to back levels. Intended effects - eliminate the homogeneity of everyone always working toward the next tier of stat boosting item. Make the stat boosting spells (Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, etc) actually useful spells to have. Also give more weight to the occasional other item that increase a stat. Lessen (somewhat) the need for ye olde Magic Shoppe (though I don't hate it as much as some). Unintended effects - that's where you guys come in. Anything I'm not considering that I should tweak or reasons this isn't a good idea?
Moving my recent thread derailment to its own home here. General question - when your form changes to another form due to a polymorph spell, how does your new form vs your natural form influence what spells effect you? Specific example: I am a humanoid. I use Plant Shape to become a plant creature. I am hit with a Horrid Wilting spell. Do I take 1d6 per caster level or 1d8 per caster level?
"The area within the grove is temperate and comfortable, like that of a tiny hut, although the grove provides no illumination and provides no protection from the elements." So if there's a blizzard going on, you aren't protected from it, but the area is temperate and comfortable? How exactly would those two mesh?
A house rule I'm considering for an upcoming campaign - each character can have a readied standard action that automatically goes off at the beginning of combat. Buff spell, class ability, whatever. I'm trying to let people use more of their abilities - it sucks when you never get to use something because while it's a cool buff, it never trumps another round of actual damage-doing. If the PC's are surprised, they still get the readied buff, but after the surprise round - making surprise rounds a little more momentous, since you're not only flat-footed but without your favorite buff. Each person would have to have their "basic" choice, selected in advance - no tailoring it to the individual encounter, waiting to see what you're fighting before choosing, etc. Should I cap the spell level/power of the ability somehow? Any other restrictions I should consider?
Does anyone have the experience of playing a character that's largely a mounted combatant and then the DM never attacks the mount? I feel like I've got a feat tax of Mounted Combat and Trick Riding and I haven't yet got to use them. The thing is, I can't say it's a bad idea. I'm a 15th level mounted Nature Oracle/Barbarian/Rage Prophet with the Beast Rider feat so my mount is certainly holding its own, but it's not nearly the threat that any of the front line pc's are. Advice?
I am currently building a barbarian/nature oracle/rage prophet who takes the beast rider feat to get either a stegasaurus or rhinocerous mount. I'm going to be charging in combat to take advantage of lance double damage and my mount's powerful charge ability. Any reason I can't take dragon style for my mount? I know it's a completely useless feat tax for improved unarmed strike, but overall there aren't a ton of great feats for my mount, and the added versatility when charging is valuable.
I tend to not play stealth-based classes. Can someone sum up what the horrible problem with stealth is that everyone seems to acknowledge exists?
Came across this issue in our current campaign. I was attempting to cast Plane Shift to return to the Prime Material from what was essentially a created demiplane. The focus for this is a forked piece of metal attuned to the plane of travel. While I understand the general idea that a material component or focus like this that doesn't have a stated value is assumed to be in your component pouch, how do you guys play it in a situation like this where until you were there, you didn't know the plane existed? My thought was that you just have the forked piece of metal handy and the knowledge of the spell would allow you to know how to "attune" it. Any suggestions?
The Ifrit, the Sylph, the Undine, and the Oread, as expected, all get their elemental affinity ability. But what I don't understand is why those races get the bonuses to their appropriate cleric domain or sorceror bloodline but these benefits don't extend to the appropriate oracle mystery. Is there some mechanical or balance reasoning that I'm overlooking here? Or is this just an oversight by the devs? I don't get it.
Do you think that the spells cast from a bonded witch bonded item need material components? The description seems to suggest not, per the wording "The spell is treated like any other spell cast by the witch," however casting a spell from an item generally does not require the material component. Balance-wise, I feel no material component would be good, whereas needing a material component would be needlessly limiting. Opinions?
I want to give my players the option of swapping out for extra feats. What's balanced in your opinion? A certain # of skill points?
If a caster is hit with feeblemind, but has bonuses in effect, would the bonuses still be there? For instance, if a wizard hit with feeblemind is wearing a +6 headband of intellect, it sort of stands to reason that he would end up with a 7? The feeblemind doesn't dispel the headband, but if it really reduces him to 1 even with the headband, if he takes off (or is sundered of) the headband he goes unconscious immediately? Spinoff question would be if he does end up with a 7 after that, does that make it possible for him to communicate? EDIT: 0 int and cha make you unconscious, not dead. Duh.
Does a hedge witch have to have the appropriate cure spell added to her familiar before being able to spontaneously cast it?
So I'm running a level 11 scarred orc witch doctor, and I've taken transformation as my patron. Once I start getting the Form of the Dragon spells, those will be my primary combat forms, since they give a size bonus to con, it'll boost the dc's of my hexes and spells, and I'll be able to cast in that form - and use breath weapon if I want to do some blasting. But I wanted to see what to do with my beast shape I, II, an III. Obviously melee combat is a very part-time thing for me, but I've zeroed in on some good forms. If not constrained by surroundings, the Allosaurus is pretty hardcore, and if I need a smaller form, it'll probably be the Dire Tiger. Treantmonk's and Peterrco's druid guides were helpful, as well as Tinalles' wild shaping guide, for these animal recommendations. My question though is for Beast Shape III, whether there are any recommendations you good folks have for medium or small magical beast forms to consider, and if they're worth it over the animal forms. Also, as a side note, anyone know if there is an easy way to polymorph your character in herolab, or do I have to just make the polymorphed character as a seperate sheet?
What would happen if you did crossblooded wildblood sorceror with the Empyreal and Sage bloodlines?
I'm building a gnomish heavens oracle (standard illusion focused build) starting at 11th level, and going with Eldritch Heritage for Arcane bloodline. Looking for help choosing my 3 new arcana to add To start I was thinking of taking Shadow Evocation, lots of versatility and my illusion save dc is very high so I'm hopeful it'll hit with high frequency. At level 17, I'm thinking I'll take Scintillating Pattern for it's synergy with awesome display. level 15 I'm more up in the air - Limited Wish is cool but the material component cost is a bit high. Of course I don't HAVE to pick a spell of the highest level I can cast - I do so love Sirocco, and it even follows the flavor of my mystery a bit. Any feedback on these choices or alternate choices are appreciated. We have a dervish dance magus in the group but other than him I'm the only caster, so I'm pretty much taking divine and arcane duties.
Thulin Nibel
Crunch:
Favored Class Bonus x10, +1/2 HP Lay on Hands Str 12
HP 69
Feats: Big Game Hunter (Free upbringing)
Skills: Ride +15
EQ: +1 composite longbow
So my guy is a very effective archer, a solid healer, and not much else. I'm about to hit level 11 and I want to branch into some melee combat usefulness. I'm not especially worried about taking more levels of Paladin - in fact I'm pretty much decided my next couple of levels will be some combination of Cavalier (perhaps order of the star to combine with LoH if I'm going to take more than a couple levels) and/or fighter. I'm definitely going to do Ultimate Mercy as my level 11 feat, so I can do the heavy raise dead lifting with it. I'm deciding between mounted combat and twf for my melee preference. Before someone suggests it, I'm not going dervish dance because it makes no sense fluff-wise. I'm open to doing str at level 12 to qualify for power attack. I was considering Cavalier archetype beast rider or emissary, Fighter archetypes Dragoon, Two-weapon warrior, or mobile fighter. Obviously to take advantage of what my stats are I'd be grabbing finesse at some point. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks! EDIT: Forgot to mention I'll soon be able to visit a major city with a solid amount of cash to grab a melee weapon or 2 to do something useful.
If you're any wizard or sorc that intends to use Illusion (pattern) spells, is there any realistic reason other than prejudice against cheese that you wouldn't take a level of Heavens Oracle to get Awesome Display? Heck it even gets you CLW on your spell list and lets you use a wand of it. I'd say that the RAI of Awesome Display would be to have it only affect the divine spells you cast, not any spell, but they forgot to put that in the book.
Is there an official rule in place when your character gets a bonus feat from a list and every option is taken?
A few questions 1) One of the more popular things to do with Rage Prophet is use the ragecaster ability to gain bonuses on save dc's of offensive casting. RAW, this does not work because all bonuses of a rage are suspended while using moment of clarity to cast a spell, which I assume would lose the con bonus as well. Sure a rage prophet is likely to have a high natural con, so it'll still be likely to be a +3 to +5 bonus, but the raging itself doesn't help the casting with its own con boost. This seems counter to the class flavor and the name of the ability itself. 2) How would this interact with Urban Barbarian's special brand of raging? I know the most common interpretation is that you still cannot do anything that requires patience or concentration while raging, but it says you can use int/wis/cha based skills, so you can paint a picture, craft an alchemical item, or research ancient knowledge, which don't seem to require more patience and concentration than casting a spell, especially not with the flavor of a rage prophet. 3) When using moment of clarity, you lose all benefits of your rage - what about the hit points? Do you suddenly fall unconscious if you're down to just your bonus hit points?
questions:
2) Would DD advance the bloodline abilities of both bloodlines? 3) If you would answer yes to 1 and no to 2, ruling that DD only advances draconic bloodline abilities, would you also rule that the "1 less spell known" restriction for crossblooded is also removed for those levels and you go back to getting 2 spells per level with your Disciple levels?
Male Half-orc Barbarian1/Battle Oracle8 Str 18 (22 with belt) (15+2 racial+1 level)
ac 21, Fort +7, reflex +4, Will +7
Bestial instead of ferocity (+2 perception)
Feats
Revelations (all levels shown are oracle levels, so delay everything 1 for when I get it)
Curse - Lame. -10 ft speed, never reduced by enc, immune to fatigue at 6th, not reduced by armor at 11th, immune to exhaustion at 16th. Equipment:
I plan to go Oracle all the way unless someone convinces me to take another level in Barb and go with rage prophet (unlikely) At level 11 I'm going to take improved eldritch heritage and get a robe of arcane heritage. That'll give me +4 inherent bonus to str (scaling to +6 at level 15). Another +4 from my 6 rds per day of rage means I'll be quite the tripper, and greater trip kicks in at the next level. I also plan to be enlarged fairly often. At level 12 I'll be taking the Iron Skin revelation, giving me stoneskin 1/day without a material component. I'll raise my charisma here as well, so I'll need a +2 headband to get to 9th level spells. So I'm a great tripper and good melee combatant, and my melee strikes come with a pretty solid debuff effect via Enforcer. Critical hits are fairly common due to weapon mastery and make enemies frightened, which is going to be VERY bad for them. None of that even mentions being a 9 level caster (delayed one because of the barb level). Weaknesses I see are AC and reflex save, and precious little else. Questions: The level in barb. it's basically +10 movement, +3 hit points, and rage for 6 rounds a day, so pretty much an option for boss fights. I can also fit extra rage in as a feat somewhere and double that. I'm immune to fatigue, so I can effectively use it in 1 round increments. I don't really use the martial weapon proficiency, although it's nice to have. If I didn't take the level in barb I might switch lame out for tongues (abyssal) which would match some flavor and creepiness of my character, but my movement would drop even more. Getting higher level spells a level earlier would be nice, and the final revelation kicks ass, though who knows if we'll even make it to 20.
3rd level revelation. I'm not really a controller-type so initiative isn't as important to me as it would be to a primary caster. Skill at arms would give +3 ac from full plate would be nice, plus martial proficiency, though I'm pretty focused on heavy flail. But honestly 24 isn't much to write home about at level 9, so maybe not worth it. Combat healer might be nice for emergency in-combat heals. Battlefield clarity and surprising charge are both nice also. That's specifically what I'm questioning, but of course any other suggestions are welcome.
Tetori monk? Maneuver master? Lore Warden fighter? Also, if you're going to build something focused around a single maneuver, which is the one to pick? Edit: by which one to pick, I mean which specific maneuver is the best, just to be clear.
So my previous character in our RotR campaign died and I decided for RP reasons to leave him dead. I was playing a Battle/Support cleric with emphasis on Battle. We also have a Wizard/EK who's wanting to move up into a melee role, so my replacement character is going to be something that can do damage from range and still support. I have a couple builds kicking around in my head, but I wanted some critique on this one. Starting level 9, the rest of the party is about 10.5, so I want to optimize pretty well (although the group is not overly optimized). Halfling Paladin (Divine Hunter) Stats (rolled)
Feats:
Equipment:
Not sure whether I want to Weapon finesse or focus at 9th level, if I went with finesse I'd probably do dervish dance at 11th for possible switch-hitting, because I'm not entirely sure the EK will be able to hold the front line. I plan on supporting with shield other and paladin's sacrifice but the main party melee is a barbarian and he generally needs that sort of support also. The 4th party member is a support/ranged bard. If on the other hand, I do stay pure ranged, I was thinking after weapon focus do mounted combat and mounted archery, but not positive about that. Clustered shots I'm not really in need of because I'll pretty much be smiting in every combat at this point, although it would help against neutral. What about the possibility of the critical focus chain for bow?
Rage prophet levels stack with oracle levels to determine the effect of revelations, but does not grant new revelations. My question is as follows: Situation: Barb2/Oracle5/RP2 - (effective oracle level 7 for revelations). Could I then take the extra revelation feat and get a revelation that cannot be taken until level 7?
There was a thread a few months back that complied the different ways to get a certain stat to apply to things (e.g. paladins getting cha to saves via divine grace). Anyone have it favorited that can post the link? My search-fu is weak.
In fluff, the abilities of a Titan Mauler seem really cool, but they're really neutered by the rules as written. Jotungrip: wield a 2 handed weapon in 1 hand. Sweet!:
You've got a greatsword that you're wielding in 1 hand. Badass. Your damage is 2d6 instead of 1d8, so you're doing an average of 2.5 extra damage. Let's look at a level 1 barbarian with a VERY pedestrian 14 str, power attack. You've lost 1 point of damage from not getting 1.5 str, and another point of damage from the power attack being 1hd instead of 2hd. Got an 18 str? Oh thanks, you've lost another point of damage, for a net LOSS of .5 damage on average.
Raging with your 18 str? There goes another point! -1.5. Let's say you're level 8, you've bumped your str to 20, your power attack is -3 now, you've lost another 3 points of damage. And so on with stat items, power attack, greater rage, etc. Stinks, right? Well I didn't even mention that for the benefit of this lost damage, you get to also get -2 to hit and lose uncanny dodge! I repeat - this ability is a net negative when you ONLY LOOK AT THE "BENEFITS!" But let's be fair; you have freed up a hand. You can use a shield, get some ac out of it. Or you can be a two-weapon fighter, or even combine the two and TWF shieldbash. You're taking ANOTHER -2 to hit, burning a ton of feats and money on more magic items. I guess if you look at it as a dex-type build possibility, you can eliminate power attack from the equation, take finesse instead? Cool, be an elf, use a curve blade in one hand, light shield in the other, pump dex, have the highest ac of barbarians, put all your feats into it, you might be viable, and I'm not discounting the cool factor of that. But it's an awfully niche build, and it's the only one I can think of to make this ability even break even. And does anyone think that the point of an archetype where you wield 2 handed weapons in 1 hand is to lend itself to dex builds? Massive Weapons: less text behind this spoiler ;):
First thing's first; they don't work together according to the faq. So what this lets you do is wield a large longsword as you normally would a medium greatsword. A large longsword and a medium greatsword do the exact same damage, so what's the use here? Versatility I suppose; you can actually do something other than sell those ogre weapons you loot.
The measure of how much effort it takes to use a weapon (whether the weapon is designated as a light, one-handed, or two-handed weapon for a particular wielder) is altered by one step for each size category of difference between the wielder's size and the size of the creature for which the weapon was designed. For example, a Small creature would wield a Medium one-handed weapon as a two-handed weapon. If a weapon's designation would be changed to something other than light, one-handed, or two-handed by this alteration, the creature can't wield the weapon at all. IF there was something in this ability that overrode the limitation about effort to use weapons and allowed you to use a 2hd large weapon as a medium character, now that would be something, I suppose. You could use a large greatsword at a -2 for another 1d6 to damage. I have to assume that this is the intent of the ability, and I'd houserule that you can break that guideline. By the way, you also lose trap sense. The condensed version: these abilities are in one case useless without a houserule, and in the other actually detrimental. I want to like the titan mauler, but the rules aren't letting me. I would really like if someone could prove me wrong.
Power Attack: You can choose to take a –1 penalty on all melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +2 bonus on all melee damage rolls. This bonus to damage is increased by half (+50%) if you are making an attack with a two-handed weapon, a one handed weapon using two hands, or a primary natural weapon that adds 1-1/2 times your Strength modifier on damage rolls. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every 4 points thereafter, the penalty increases by –1 and the bonus to damage increases by +2. Rules as written, the progression with a two-handed weapon would be: BAB +1 = -1 to hit, +3 to damage
and so forth. Nothing in the feat description says that the damage bonus is +3 each time. It says it's +3 at first level, and +2 at every subsequent tier. I don't know anyone that plays it that way though, is there some errata or faq I'm missing?
Would this apply as well to a spell with ongoing damage, like Flaming Sphere? The rules say once per spell, but then specifically call out rays/missiles. But the sphere is just one sphere, so on subsequent rounds would the intense spells damage apply? Thanks for opinions
This build popped into my head but I didn't find a way to make it really viable and gave up. So I challenge those smarter than me to do so instead :) Combine the Skirnir Magus archetype, a divine caster who spontaneously casts inflict spells, and possibly the holy vindicator prestige class (for even more shield synergy) into an inflict-spellstriking-twf-shieldbashing butt kicker. Go.
Weapon Adept 2nd level ability, Way of the Weapon Master, states: At 2nd level, a weapon adept gains Weapon Focus as a bonus feat with one of his monk weapons. At 6th level, the monk gains Weapon Specialization with the same weapon as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. For the purposes of this skill, is a monk weapon one of the original monk weapons in which you automatically gain proficiency, or any weapon with the monk weapon quality? It would be nice to fit Katana into this archetype, not just for optimization purposes, but flavor as well. Edit: ok, brain fart, Katana not a monk weapon, but the question still stands with regard to nine-ring broadsword and similar weapons.
Inspired by this thread What would you give a divine caster if you took away his 3/4 BAB? Spontaneous casting? maybe add some direct damage spells to the list that don't suck? Skill points? More than 2 domains?
Krathen Dane Str 14 + 4 (belt) 18
Half Orc Cleric 7/Holy Vindicator 1 HP 52 (ugh, terrible rolls) Skills - K(religion) +5, Perception +2, Heal +1 Travel (exploration) and Luck domains Feats: Selective Channel, Extra Channel, Power Attack, Alignment Channel (evil) EQ: +1 breastplate, +1 keen rapier, phylactery of positive channelling, Heavy steel shield +1, boots of striding and springing, ring of protection +1, sihedron medallion, amulet of natural armor +1, belt of str +4 I need to get my level 8 domain dimensional hop ability, so I'm 99% sure I'll be taking the level in cleric. The 1% is the chance of a level in Inquisitor. It would still allow me to get the domain ability, would set me back 1 bab (but judgment half takes care of that) and 1 caster level and channel level, which hurts. That said, I could really use the skill points and the perception as a class skill. The one level of inquisitor would get me +4 perception, +5 sense motive, +5 intimidate, +4 climb, and maybe another knowledge skill, plus monster lore bonus added to my k(religion). Also it sets me up for a possible second level of inquisitor to get cunning initiative and detect alignment at will. Again though, I'm pretty sure I'm going cleric. So what feat should I get? I can think of a couple useful unsexy ones, like toughness or step up. Maybe combat casting or weapon focus rapier? My role is basically tank, second melee combatant, and band-aid. Also, for equipment, I do want to pump ac to really take advantage of vindicator's shield. I have about 12000 to spend, plus trade in value of what I have. Was thinking +2 full plate. Thoughts on that or other suggestions? Thanks for advice in advance.
A crusader gains a bonus feat at 1st level, then again at 5th level and every five levels thereafter (to a maximum of six at 20th level). Obviously a mistake here, but what's the mistake? Is there a missing level at which a feat should be received, or is the actual maximum at level 20 FIVE feats, not 6?
Gonna try some of these builds out to see what they do. Wanted to base a character on the quarterstaff. Here is an exhaustive list I was thinking of. Any other builds that belong on the list or any tips for these builds? Fighter
Ranger (TWF chain)
Monk (weapon adept)
Wood Oracle
Rogue
Magus
Premise: Holy Vindicator stacks with ANY class that grants the channel energy class ability. What if you channel positive from one source and negative from another? How about a Gnome Life Oracle 3/Cleric (neutral or evil god) 4/Holy Vindicator 10? 20 point buy:
You're channelling positive energy at 7d6 13 times per day, negative at 8d6 with bloodrain plus 1d6 bleed plus sickened 15 times per day. The save DC is 28 with improved channel. You can do either of these in a standard burst, a cone or a line. Lame curse counteracts the low str. Extra revelation feat makes you crazy healer with life link, channel, and energy body as your revelations. Channelling is the focus of the build, but of course you're a half-decent caster also, and nice ac due to the standard benefits of holy vindicator with heavy armor and vindicator's shield. If you combine pyromaniac with fire domain, you're a passable blaster as well. You can make a more effective negative energy channeler by just going straight cleric/hv, but this lets you be pretty much an equal healer as a positive channelling cleric also. I don't even really like it, but what's your opinion of the Holy Vindicator channel interpretation? Is it RAW? RAI?
I can see how it has extreme utility for a Magus, and it's a natural feat in the prep for Duelist (and of course, Dawnflower Dervish). But I fail to see how it's especially useful for other classes. If you can use it, it's because you're a druid (who doesn't do much fighting in his own form), or a class that's much more likely to have a strength that's higher than their dex anyway. And yet I see Dervish Dance on the short list of feats people seem to center builds around on these boards. Am I missing something?
So my base land speed is 50; travel domain and boots of striding and springing. The rules state that for each 10 ft above 30 for base land speed, you get a +4 racial bonus to acrobatics checks made to jump. My question is, is this in addition to the +5 competence bonus for the boots themselves? Am I reading the rules wrong, or should I have a acrobatics bonus of +13 when jumping (taking no other modifiers into account)?
APG states that an inquisitor must select his domain from one of the 2 domains he has as a cleric if he has levels in cleric. But it also states that inquisitor levels stack with cleric levels when determining domain powers. RAW do not specify that this stacking applies only to the domain selected as inquisitor, so would seem that every inquisitor should take a level in cleric to basically activate their second domain's powers, since the domain powers are the only benefit of domains that the inquisitor gets. Anyone care to comment on whether I'm seeing RAW correctly and if you think this is RAI?
The priest is essentially a Cleric who gives up virtually all martial ability for enhanced spells and spell-like ability. Alignment: must match deity
FAITH ARMOR: As a priest disdains armor, instead she receives a faith armor class = to 1/2 her class level + her wisdom modifier. She does not gain a dex bonus to armor class, as her faith literally is her armor, and she trusts her god to turn the blades of her foes. She is likewise not permitted to benefit from any feats such as dodge that raise AC by avoiding contact. The faith armor bonus is equally effective against touch attacks and when she is flat-footed. The priest is also prohibited from wearing any magical item that increases armor class unless the item is created by an ordained of her god (including herself). Divine spells that give armor bonuses, like magic vestment, if used, can replace the faith armor class, but do not stack with it. The wisdom modifier is still added to this bonus. Similar arcane spells (such as mage armor) have no effect on a priest. Deflection bonuses from spells of both types are allowed. PRIEST CHANNEL ENERGY: A priest may channel energy as a cleric, a number of times per day equal to 3 + her wisdom modifier. A priest's channel, however, is more powerful. The priest's channel to cause damage affects ALL creatures with opposed alignment - a good priest's channel harms all evil creatures in the area. Undead receive no saving throw against this power from good priests; evil priests gain command undead as a bonus feat at first level. Further channeling feats which would normally expand the type of creature affected by channel (such as alignment and elemental channel) instead expand the types of targets who do not receive a saving throw. An Evil priest heals evil creatures and harms good creatures. A neutral priest heals neutral (TN, CN, LN, not NE and NG) and harms non-neutral creatures (CG, CE, LG, LE). Against creatures of alignments not listed as opposed, if they are hostile to the priest, her companions, or the church and its flock (subject to dm's discretion) the offensive channeled energy of a good priest dazes, a neutral priest nauseates, and an evil priest frightens the affected individuals for a # of rounds equal to the damage die of the channeled energy. Good and neutral deities frown upon using this ability offensivly, such as dazing someone with the intention of the party members taking potshots at them; at the gm's discretion this could have serious consequences. Evil priests' deities share no such compunction, but any attack by one of the priest's allies ends the effect. SPELLS and DOMAINS: The priest casts spells and has domain powers as a similarly leveled cleric, except as follows: The domain spell slot does not need to be prepared but instead can be spontaneously used to cast either of the priest's appropriately leveled domain spells as needed. A priest still needs to pray for an hour to prepare non-domain spells. Rather than spontaneously casting cure or inflict spells, a priest may expend a spell slot to invoke an extra channel energy, with the spell's level serving as the damage die for that particular channel. At 10th level the priest gains DR6/- and SR6/- against any opponent that is diametrically opposed to the priest's alignment on both axes (so a LG priest would gain the ability against a CE enemy only.) A Neutral priest instead gains DR3/- and SR3/- against all enemies without an element of neutrality in their alignment (so LE, CE, LG, CG). At 15th level these resistances double. At 20th level the priest becomes the true conduit of their god's power. They may use their first level domain powers at will. If killed while serving their god's interests, they have a 50% chance of being affected by an immediate reincarnate spell from their deity.
I'm running a cleric in this, my first PF campaign, and am thinking the following houserules would be useful, flavorful, and not game breaking: Knowledge (religion): this needs to get buffed for skill-poor clerics. At the very least base it off wisdom for clerics, but preferably a bonus of half cleric level to the skill. Less necessary if 2 skill point classes are houseruled to 4. The party bard and wizard should not both be better at this skill than me. Detect evil/chaos/good/law: should be 0 level for clerics. The whole "stunning feedback" part of the spell stops it from being especially powerful anyway. Channel Smite: not worth taking except for I'm going to go Holy Vindicator. Should be either maximized or not allow a save on a successful hit, and should not burn a channel use if it doesn't hit. Should be made to synergize with Alignment/Elemental channel.
I'm looking into this build, and I see on the message boards here that I'm not the first. Question: Why is the recommendation usually to take 2 levels of sorceror rather than only the one? I was thinking more Paladin4/Sorceror1/DD7/Eldritch Knight 8. If anything maybe Paladin 5 to get divine bond, but I don't see the point of Sorceror 2
This might be one of the most pointless paradoxes in the game - just about every healing domain spell is a cure wounds spell, which you can spontaneously cast anyway so there's absolutely no reason to normally prepare them, unless you're forced to. Basically the domain invalidates the spontaneous casting class ability. Does anyone normally houserule this out?
Question about this (Day Subdomain) power. This ability does not allow a target to prepare spells an additional time per day. Does this mean it does allow spontaneous spellcasters to regain castings? It would seem likely since the choice of the word "prepare" is conspicuous.
Question here: Would an ability score boost from a temporary source grant additional uses of a "3/day + ability modifier" type of ability? The specific situation I'm wondering about is Eagle's Splendor and having it grant extra uses of channeling positive. Anyone who knows could you also please give a source? I'd like something to show my DM if I'm going to go against his initial ruling. Thanks |