I've generally played it is the weapons *can* glow, and the light can be volitionally turned on and off by the wielder with a thought. As for color, I usually default to a cool blue to white light color, sort of similar to a lot of LEDs. I've never had someone ask about changing the color, but I'd probably let it go with a standard action to focus on the item, no check if they've wielded it for a while. Maybe a Charisma/Intelligence/Wisdom or UMD check with no consequence for failure if it's something they just recently picked up.
Well for class im torn between going bard or a rouge/sorcerer multiclass maybe with the rakshaza or maestro bloodline
As for weapon I kinda want her to keep her distance and am seriously considering going deadly dealer, cause i can't think of anything more stealthy and unassuming then a deck of cards
as for when i have to go to melee, I'm planning on getting this little beauty i ran into
Range 0 ft.
Effect one shadow weapon
Duration 1 minute/level
Saving Throw Will disbelief (if interacted with); Spell Resistance yes
DESCRIPTION
Drawing upon the Plane of Shadow, you shape a quasi-real masterwork melee weapon of a type you are proficient with. You may use this weapon to make attacks as if it were a real weapon, dealing normal damage for a weapon of its type. The first time you hit a creature with the weapon, it may make a Will save to disbelieve; failure means the weapon deals damage normally, success means it only takes 1 point of damage from the weapon’s attacks. The weapon only deals 1 point of damage to objects.
If an attacked creature has spell resistance, you make a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) against that spell resistance the first time the shadow weapon strikes it. If the weapon is successfully resisted, the spell is dispelled. If not, the target may save to disbelieve as normal.
At 5th level, the weapon gains a +1 enhancement bonus. At 10th-level, you may increase the enhancement bonus to +2 or add the frost or keen weapon property. The frost and keen properties have no effect if the target makes its disbelief save.
The spell ends if the weapon leaves your possession.
Source: Ultimate Magic
The second is the level 2 Bard, 2 Sorcerer/Wizard spell Instant Weapon
Range 0 ft.
Effect melee weapon of opaque force
Duration 1 minute/level
DESCRIPTION
You create a melee weapon sized appropriately for you from opaque force.
You are considered proficient with this weapon, which acts in all ways as a masterwork weapon typical of its type. The instant weapon has hardness 20 and the same number of hit points as a typical weapon of its type. As a force effect, it can strike and damage incorporeal creatures. If the instant weapon leaves your hand at any time, the spell ends at the beginning of your next turn.
Source: Melee Tactics Toolbox
And if you go with the rogue, the rogue talent Umbral Gear might be something to think about, too.
Spoiler:
Umbral Gear (Su)
As a standard action while in an area of dim light or darkness, a rogue with this talent can coalesce wisps of shadow into a quasi-real, functional item. The rogue must choose whether to make a crowbar, 50 feet of silk rope, a glass cutter, a light melee weapon with which she is proficient, a reversible cloak, thieves’ tools, or a wire saw; the GM may allow other similar items. The rogue can use such items for a number of minutes per day equal to 10 plus her rogue level. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be used in 1-minute increments.
An item created with this ability remains until the rogue is no longer touching it, or until the rogue runs out of duration for this talent, at which time it dissolves. A rogue can select this talent more than once, gaining an additional 10 minutes of duration each time this talent is selected. If a rogue has selected this talent at least twice, she adds 50 feet of silk rope with a grappling hook, a masterwork light melee weapon with which she is proficient, and masterwork thieves’ tools to the list of things she can create.
Source: Blood of Shadows
Returning throwing weapons might also be a consideration.
I'll agree with the notion of having to be easily hidden. Some of it might depend on the class you're using and the story for the character.
Cane sword could be good if there is any reason she would be carrying a stick around. Daggers and stilettos are always good, and the game gives you a very broad expanse to describe them. This could include folding or switchblade knives, which could also be disguised as something else. As an example, take a look at Cold Steel's Honey Comb.
Punch daggers could also be an option, if you look at the ones closer to push daggers then katars. Even something like a straight razor could be a useful weapon.
For ranged, daggers, darts, slings, and blowguns would be concealable.
Catch Off-guard may be good feat investment. At that point, anything becomes a weapon. So perhaps she has a fancy cord or chain belt wrapped around her waist? Now it's a weapon. Mugs or bottles sitting on the table? Now they're weapons.
Since you asked for other opinions, here's mine. JDLPF pretty much summed it up. As for using two hands to get the 1.5x STR bonus, I'd have to say no. I don't know if there's anything official to it, but from the little bit of playing around I've done with slings, I'd say it becomes a light melee weapon, so it wouldn't get the bonus.
Also, having hit myself with a loaded sling a couple times when I was first trying to figure out how to use one, I can vouch for the fact that it hurts. Probably not as much as a real flail would, but it certainly does hurt.
It could even be something like an oubliette with no opening to the outside other than the trap door in the ceiling. And it could be a decent (10-15 foot) drop from the trap door to the ground. If this is in an area that will be constantly watched, it would be very difficult for a human or fox to escape.
And if they are doing this same trick in the same local area, maybe someone has noticed a fox running away from other dungeons, so the local constabulary has established a fox hunt, giving anyone turning in a fox pelt a few silver coins. This would up the risk for the Kitsune attempting to escape in fox form. And could possibly be worse if someone sees him/her shifting from fox to humanoid form. Now they might start having a werewolf scare on their hands.
If the rogue is shooting from within the fog cloud, then his targets would have concealment against his attacks, too. And if your targets have concealment, you don't get sneak attack. Unless you have an ability or feat or something that would allow it... But if you can't clearly see your target to pick out a vulnerable or extra squishy part, then you don't get the extra damage.
An addendum to the people who have said to keep it short: you can add more background later if it is relevant and if your group is interested.
Many years ago I played a home-brew system that a friend is/was developing. Most of the other players, as well as the GM, were big into theater and/or writing. The players were awarded points (more like Karma in Shadowrun than like XP) for writing a background or doing something similar that would help him and the other players get a feel for the character. That was really all that was needed: a feel for who this person is. At a certain point in the game, my character had a very uncharacteristically strained interaction with another PC. In truth, I was having an off day and couldn't quite get into character, but in the session debrief (a core part of this system), a couple of the players commented on this interaction and wondered why my character acted that way. Even though I admitted that I was having trouble getting into my character, they still wanted to look at the in-character motivation. So that got me thinking about what in his history could have caused this, and I ended up writing an additional small piece that added another facet to that character.
In short, you don't have to do it all at once. Leave yourself some room to grow into the character.
A few other ideas. For one, don't discount how demoralizing debuffs can be. A good Waves of Exhaustion at the beginning of the fight can take the wind out of a group's sails. Same with Enervation and Energy Drain. Especially against casters, and moreso against the ones that might be able to correct such weaknesses. Cloudkill can also be brutal as it can drain their Con.
If the liches have learned much about the party, such as who the strongest fighters might be, isolating party members with Resilient Sphere, Force Cage, or Walls of Force can cause them to have to rethink tactics.
Spells that take away actions, like Irresistible Dance, can be more interesting than a hold spell.
Also, if they don't have a Shield spell, don't underestimate how destructive a group of liches coordinating Magic Missile attacks can be. At 5 missiles each, so 5d4+5, times 9 if all nine liches coordinated the attack, you'd be looking at 45d4+45. So between 90 and 225 damage. Not bad for a first level spell. Even if this were split up between two targets, it would still soften them up quite a bit. And the liches wouldn't even have to make an attack roll or worry about displacement, cover or concealment (less than total), or Mirror Images.
Play with the fact that players generally assume "whatever the DM says is usually important", and then break that rule a few times. Fear is more powerful with an ample amount of suspense.
Also, if you get your players paranoid, they might do some of the work for you. When you hear them say something like, "what if this food is poisoned?", play off that paranoia by being more specific when describing the next meal they eat (but yu decide if it's poisoned or not)
This trick works very well. I've used it before if they seem to show unusual interest in certain things, to emphasize those things. Whether it's that they're paranoid of traps, so I'm describing fountains and clocks and whatnot in more detail, or they think they'll be ambushed, so I'll describe the large, muscular man in the marketplace in a little more detail, or things along that line. Plus, then you do describe something that's actually important, they'll actually have to consider whether it is or not.
Also, use the adage "random events segregate non-randomly" to your advantage. If the attacks just happen to come at a certain time of day, or if they just happen to hear someone chanting or singing each time they're beset, they might start to assume that's some sort of sign, even if it's just pure coincidence.
Many, many years ago, I pitched this idea to the group I played with, and surprisingly, they went for it. All of the characters would be self-based characters, but with a twist. The rest of the group would create the character for you. They would all decide on your race, class, and stats. You got to pick your own proficiencies (this was AD&D, 2e), gear, and spells. The premise was something like the D&D cartoon of old: a powerful force has pulled you to another realm, and in the process, you have become this race and class.
It took several days to come up with characters for everyone, but it turned out to be a lot of fun for everyone. I was DMing, so I didn't get a character, but it was also an interesting way to see how the group viewed each other.
"If the instrument is too large to be held in two hands, the spell 'summons' a transparent illusion of the instrument that only the caster can interact with. The caster can use it to produce sound (i.e. the caster can use it to produce Bard Effects), but it cannot be physically interacted with in any way. It provides no cover/concealment, and has actual no physical substance, cannot be climbed on or used in any way other than by playing it."
Sort of like "Air Guitar" for the Organ... or "Air Drums"
In fact , if we were to use something like this for all instruments summoned by this spell, bards would be seen to use "air guitar" more often...
This was similar to the first thought I had, but making it work along the lines of Prestidigitation. It lasts for one hour with a casting, and the bard can simulate, and thus produce the sound from, any number of instruments during this time. So he could go from strumming a lute to pounding a drum to playing a flute to playing a piano, all seamlessly. Since both Summon Instrument and Ghost Sound are also cantrips, it doesn't seem too far of a stretch to be able to do this. The instruments have no physical form, maybe just a sort of ghostly, ethereal looking form around the bard's hands.
In the group I play with, it's been house-ruled that if you have two distinct gloves where only one needs be worn, that you can wear both and have both effective. Just as you can wear a ring on each hand, if the magic in your gloves only requires one, you can wear one on each hand. But since most gloves require both in order to work, this rarely comes up.
The vorpal weapon description states that it severs the head on a roll of Natural 20 with a successful critical confirmation. The Ranger class ability Quarry states that when you roll a critical threat on a target of this ability, critical hits are automatically confirmed.
I'm playing a ranger with a vorpal battle axe. I had designated one of the big bad guys in the encounter as my Quarry to get the +2 to hit. The question came up when I rolled a Natural 20, plus Quarry's automatic critical confirmation: does that automatically trigger vorpal's head severing power?
We looked through the books, but weren't able to find a specific ruling. The GM let me have the severing without any other rolls in that encounter just to keep the game rolling, but afterward said that in the future, the vorpal effect will require a confirming roll to trigger if I have Quarry active. And even if I don't roll the confirmation, Quarry still grants the critical hit, just sans head removal.
Has anyone else had this come up? Are there any rules written about whether things like this trigger when a class ability automatically confirms critical hits for you? What do others think?
I typically figure that in a world where magic is common, most people are aware of a large number of spells. And just like I'm sure that the language "Common" is not spoken as American English with a 20th and 21st century vernacular, people aren't necessarily calling the spells "unseen servant" or "storm bolts." Instead it's all just glossed over for sake of the rest of the game. Other characters and NPCs alike with sufficient INT or experience can toss around names of most core spells.
Plus, I also assume a fair bit of dialog goes on between the characters that's never played out. If, as a GM, I tell the players that they travel four days to reach their destination, I'm going to assume they didn't walk along in silence. If there's a caster in the group, it's easy to assume that they might talk about their spells, or spells they are seeking, or spells that they've heard of.
Nobody in my group seems interested in psionics except me. So since one of my NPCs is the only psion around, I do keep this air of mystery about his powers. The party doesn't know that the pale green ray that shoots from his hand and the faint smell of ozone is really just a disintegration power. And since psionics are foreign to the country the campaign is set in, nobody else knows either.
One thing I've done in situations like this is, if there's a pertinent piece of information that the party seems to have forgotten relevant to the fight, provide the character an out of body experience reminder. Sometimes they are watching part of their memories play before them. Sometimes they are approached by agents of their deities or spirits of ancestors or fallen companions. That way it can remind the player, who likely has all sorts of stuff to remember from work/school/etc., what they might have overlooked from the game.
