Luthor Aesernus's page

Running a campaign with a Brawler focused on combat maneuvers. His plan is to get Greater Magic Fang made permanent on himself to up his DPS, but he wants to know if that enhancement bonus would apply to combat maneuvers, especially grapple.

On the one hand, we have the Sundering weapon enhancement, which allows you to add the weapon's enhancement bonus to sunder attempts, suggesting that this is not normally the case. On the other hand, we have this passage from the combat maneuvers section of the PFSRD:

"When you attempt a combat maneuver, make an attack roll and add your CMB in place of your normal attack bonus. Add any bonuses you currently have on attack rolls due to spells, feats, and other effects. These bonuses must be applicable to the weapon or attack used to make the maneuver."

This seems to suggest that enhancement bonuses to weapons are added to the CMB, so long as the weapon is part of the combat maneuver (so a +3 sword would lend a +3 bonus to Disarm but not to Steal).

What is the correct interpretation here? Do enhancement bonuses automatically apply or not?

I'm working on a 25 point build alchemist for a campaign my brother is going to be running. Basic concept for the character is a frontier tanner turned adventurer, who eventually gets into the habit of hunting dragons for his profession (taking the dragon crafting feat asap) with the help of homemade poisons fired from a bow/crossbow. At first I thought about going with a Slayer build and just spending the skill points for the alchemy portion of things, but the Vivisectionist works so well I think I'm going with that as my primary class.

Any help planning out this build is much appreciated; character starts at level 1 but I'd like to plan it out at least to level 10. For synergy purposes, his companions consist of a spell caster cleric, a TWF Ranger, and a Sorcerer.

Gaze attacks are wonderful. Even a relatively low DC can be dangerous since they are a passive ability that require no actions to use on whoever you're fighting with. Enemies can try to avoid looking at you, but even that carries serious debuff's. It's the iconic attack of basilisks, medusas, and a number of other famous monsters. Meanwhile, almost no PC classes grant gaze attacks as class abilities. So what do you do when you have some gold lying around, want power, but can't get it through leveling up?

You make a magic item of course!

Pathfinder (1e, haven't looked that much at 2e) has great rules for crafting a number of spell effects into magic items, but isn't very concrete about how to price things that are not based on spells, and with good reason; the rules are already pretty long, and with less concrete abilities it wouldn't be very hard to game the system to get OP magic items for low cost. So it's left to GM fiat.

So I'm looking for advice on the fiat for gaze attacks and how to price them in crafting a magic item. For example, this magic item:

Void Eyes
Aura: Moderate Necromancy
Slot: Eyes
These dark lenses are fitted beneath the eyelids of the wearer and seem to suck in all light, so that in place of eyes the wearer seems to only to have two dark entrances to the void. The lenses to not impede eyesight in any way and can resize and reshape themselves to more comfortably fit the wearer. When the wearer of the void eyes desires, he gains a gaze attack that on a failed DC 14 fortitude save causes the eyes of the one who sees him to immediately darken to to complete blackness like the wearer's eyes. This causes the target to be immediately and permanently blinded, as per the spell blindness-deafness, with the additional memento of his eyes appearing as the void.

Construction Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, Blindness-Deafness, Creator must have at least 5 ranks in Knowledge Planes.

Any suggestions on how to price stuff like this?

I'm currently running a Mummy's Mask adventure and my group is about to encounter an Adherer (bestiary 3). Adherers have the grab special ability due to their stickiness, allowing them to grapple without being grappled. My group intends to use a lot of trip attacks on this thing to keep it prone and easier to bludgeon to death on the floor. But what happens if the Adherer is grappling a PC and is knocked prone? I don't think the adhesive is very stretchy so I'd imagine the PC would be forced to the ground as well, but I can't find anything in the rules to that effect. Anyone here know of a rules reference I could follow?

I'm running a Mummy's Mask campaign and 3 size tiny warrior dolls have just come to life to fend off the PC's from the grave goods. They begin the round adjacent to one of the PC's on a table, and on their turn (before said PC so she is flat-footed) leap up and attempt to attack her.

They have two slam attacks each, and while the PC is definitely in range of a move action -> standard attack, I figured that since they started adjacent and the dolls only need to 5ft step into the PC's space and can make a full attack. On the other hand, other creature's spaces are considered rough terrain, and normally not 5ft step-able into. Does that hold true for creatures entering the space of something at least 2 size categories larger than them?

If it does, a follow up question would be do tiny creatures require a full 10ft running start in order to charge?

A number of us over at Giant in the Playground would like to play this adventure path but lack a GM, so I thought I’d widen our search by posting over here. If there are any willing GM’s, please visit the recruitment thread at http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?554809-PF-Iron-Gods

The guide for pricing magic items at the back of the core rule book is very helpful, but sometimes you have a great idea for a magic item and you the rule book just can't be specific enough. I need some help with caster level, pricing, and construction requirements for this magic item:

Ring of Shadows
Aura Strong Necromancy CL???
Slot Ring Price ???
Description
This silver ring is set with a rare black sapphire that glows faintly in complete darkness. Once per day, by speaking the command word and stretching out his hand, the bearer of this ring can force an incorporeal undead creature (such as a shadow) no more than 60ft away to make a DC 22 Will save or be drawn into the ring and trapped there permanently. Thereafter, the bearer of the ring can speak another command word to release the shadow force it to serve him as per the spell Command Undead but with no saving throw. Intelligent undead may attempt a new saving throw to escape every new moon, but some decide to remain anyway if their master is consistently providing them with victims. If the ring is placed in an area of bright light for the duration of the new moon the undead take a -5 penalty to their will saving throw to escape. The ring can contain up to 20 HD of incorporeal undead at a time, and multiple entities can be contained in and released from the ring at once.
Construction Requirements
Trap the Soul, Command Undead, a black sapphire worth at least ??? gp, ???

Zelthrek watched as the troglodytes collapsed to the floor, twitching with the remains of the bolt of electricity he had just blasted through them. Raising his hand, sparks of electricity arc between his fingers, casting shadows across the cave.

"Kneel."

The remaining troglodytes looked first at each other, then uncertainly at the half dozen bodies of their fallen companions, their clubs still raised.

"KNEEL!"

One by one, they each complied.

Using the threat of magical power, and demonstrating that power to prove your point, is spell caster intimidate 101. Unfortunately, as I currently understand the rules, intimidate is a standard action and thus precludes any spell casting to enhance it, like Zelthrek making use of a shocking grasp spell.

Is there some way of using magic to intimidate opponents, and how large is the bonus from doing so?

I'm looking at playing a Flail and Shield melee character who will make extensive use of trips and disarm combat maneuvers.

For a medium character, a light flail has a d8 damage die and a x2 critical multiplier on a natural 20 only. A heavy flail (two hands) has a d10 damage die and lands a critical threat on either a 19 or a 20. But a small Heavy Flail would be identical in stats to a light flail, except it would have a larger critical threat range.

Other similarly scaling weapons do not experience this change in critical threat range, such as bows, (longbow to short bow) and swords (long sword to short sword).

Is there a reason the light flail experiences this decrease in critical threat range or is there errata on this somewhere?

I have actually two questions here:

1) Dhampirs and Synthesist Summoners: Dhampirs have the ability negative energy affinity, causing them to be affected by positive and negative energy as if they were undead (what exactly that is is a separate question that can be found in at least one other thread). So what happens when a Dhampir becomes a synthesist summoner and has an eidolon that is affected by positive and negative energy as normal? Are both healed and damaged by positive and negative energy, or do they mutually protect eachother?

2) Shuang Dao swords (twin broadswords, or, for Avatar fans: Zuko's swords). This is a REALLY cool set of weapons in my opinion: a curved blade in each hand, and both blades go to the same sheath. In some cases, the blades even hook together! Unfortunately, I can find no equivalent to this in the pathfinder weapons. Closest I can come is a double staff katana or two wakizashi's. Do I just fluff certain aspects, or should there be another weapon to represent this?

I'm looking to play a weekly game of either Rise of the Runelords, Second Darkness, or Jade Regent (GM's choice) We would meet every wednesday from 6:30-9:30 pm PST via Roll 20 (no video).

I only ask that everyone keep it PG at worst, and that we stick to high powered characters (30 point buy or 4d6b3) and high magic.

Some characters that I'd like to play:

Rise of the Rune Lords: Paladin (with an unconventional mount, like a wolf. If allowable, maybe even a dragon cohort :) probably not though...)

Second Darkness: Elf Wizard/Fighter/Arcane Archer

Jade Regent: Summoner (Synthesist)