My Neutral wizard ("Willie") is going to cast "Shadow Projection" and share the spell with his improved familiar, a CG faerie dragon ("Farley"). What abilities of a familiar and/or dragon carry over to this undead manifestation, and which are replaced with a shadow's?
Q1: Will Shadow-Farley remain Tiny-sized, with the improved stealth and reduced attack (1d3 STR damage, not 1d6) that come with it? Or will he become Medium-sized in accordance with the standard shadow stats?
Q2: No breath weapon, of course, but will Shadow-Farley retain the telepathy and spell-like abilities that faerie dragons get? (According to James Jacob's unofficial errata, shadows can speak, so that should cover the Verbal and Somatic components of casting real spells.)
Q3: Can Shadow-Farley deliver touch spells, share (other) spells, get improved evasion, and communicate via empathic link, because he is a familiar?
Q4: Can an incorporeal shadow endowed with Mage Armor or Ablative Barrier still pass through solid objects?
Q5: Does Shadow-Farley keep his own class skills from being a faerie dragon and a familiar? Or does he switch them for an undead type's class skills? I assume he keeps his feats & mental stats but gets a shadow's physical stats.
Q6: Can an onlooker distinguish the shape of a shadow? "(Hmmm, that shadow is shaped & sized like a tiny dragon, so it must be a projected familiar.")
Q7: Would Farley (who is Chaotic Good) reject the spell because it's evil, or like it because it allows mischief?
Q8: I think that in PFS a (non-shadow) familiar can have only one magic-item slot. Or is it only one magic-item worn at a time? Can it wear mundane items (like a Beneficial Bandolier) on other item slots?
Grasping Strike reads: "Benefit: When you use Vital Strike (or Improved Vital Strike or Greater Vital Strike), you cause the foliage in the area to reach out and entangle your foe (as the condition) if it fails a Reflex save (DC = 10 + 1/2 your character level + your Wisdom modifier)."
What if there *is* no foliage, or if you're just on someone's maintained lawn? Does it materialize, or does this feat require as much natural plant life as the Entangle spell (e.g. tall grass or shrubbery)? If the latter, then it's rarely useful indoors or underground.
The book reads, "While in swarm form, the familiar loses the improved evasion, share spells, deliver touch attack, and scry on familiar special abilities. It uses its normal AC, saving throws, and skill bonuses, and it gains the swarm subtype and the ability to make swarm attacks ..."
1) If I use "share spells" to cast longstrider upon my cat familiar, Felix, and Felix then bursts into a swarm, does the spell still work for the cat swarm? If not, does Felix still have the spell active after reverting back into a single cat?
2) If I cast "mage armor" (not a self-only spell) onto Felix, will the subsequent swarm benefit from the AC bonus?
3) What happens after a foe reduces the swarm to 0 hit points? Does the swarm dissipate, leaving a single unconscious cat familiar? Or is Felix dead, or conscious?
4) If I instead use Shelob the scarlet spider familiar, does the swarm gain the familiar's poison ability in its swarm ability?
5) If Felix is standing next to a foe, and he then bursts into a swarm that encompasses the foe's square, does the foe get an AoO?
A player in my group repeatedly uses "stinking druid" as an epithet, and it inspires me to build such a character for a laugh, but I have no experience with druids. What could I do around that theme, and what should I keep in mind when incorporating those ideas?
I imagine it would be a dwarf, with Wisdom (for spells), Constitution (for combat & to improve a wildshape giant skunk's DC), and Charisma penalty (for flavor). I see there is a Swamp archetype and Decay & Jungle subdomains, but they don't look especially strong. A giant slug looks interesting for an animal companion, but I see that giant skunks aren't available for that (though one can be purchased as a mount).
Each of these is an undead creature listed in Bestiary 4 with complete instructions for creating one. An isotoq is an intelligent floating eyeball, and a necrocraft is a custom-made amalgamation of undead bodies stitched together. (Beheadeds & their creation are in this book, too, though I barely care about them.)
The list of approved Additional Resources(see below) omits isotoqs as permitted familiars but makes no other statements or implications about either creature. As a PC, can I make them, with them vanishing at the end of an adventure like any other animated dead?
Whether they *should* be PFS-legal is a different question. On the pro side,
a) isotoqs cost 2 more spells and serve a different function (spy) than standard meatshields, having nothing for combat but the equivalent of a weak 1st-level wand.
b) necrocrafts cost 1 more spell and allow originality in their options, and
c) beheadeds are also customizeable and cost 200 gp & 1 additional spell, probably too much for their limited worth.
On the con side, isotoqs & beheadeds have intelligence (perhaps creating ethical questions), and necrocrafts may be overpowered in their strength & special abilities.
As long as I'm on the subject, the wording for isotoqs' sensor link is ambiguous. I can see things that are within 60' of the isotoq, or I can see things if the isotoq is within 60' of me? The fluff about necromancers using them for patrol duty suggests the former.
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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary 4
Animal Companions (p. 311): dimorphodon, giant seahorse, giant tortoise, giant weasel, giraffe, stag, styracosaurus, trumpeter swan, velociraptor, and walrus are legal for play; Familiars: all familiars listed on pages 96-97 and the almirajes, giant flea, greensting scorpion, nosoi psychopomp, nycar, pooka, and scarlet spider are legal for play; Feats: none of the feats are legal for play for PCs, animal companions, or familiars unless specifically granted by another legal source; Other: all creatures in this book are legal for polymorph effects (including a druid's wild shape ability) within the boundaries of each spell or ability's parameters. All languages found in this book are available for a character to learn with the linguistics skill.
My PFS character is a human 3rd-level cleric of Calistria; his feats are Selective Channeling, Command Undead, and Improved Channel, as well as the trait "Sacred Conduit" to raise channeling's DC.
As a cleric who specializes in negative channeling, both Wisdom(currently 14) and Charisma(18) are important here. His domains of Luck and Trickery (which include Bit of Luck and the invisibility spell) mean he tries to remain far out of melee.
My intention is to put my 4th- and 8th-level ability points into Wisdom so that he can eventually cast 6th-level spells, but that is flexible. Which headband option is best?
a) Phylactery of Negative Channeling (11,000 gp),
b) Headband of +4 Charisma (16,000 gp, I think), or
c) Headband of +2 Charisma and +2 Wisdom (10,000 gp?), or
d) some other headband?
I would suppose c) gets me the same results as b) more cheaply if I instead put my ability points into Cha.
Armor: +2 mithral chain shirt, +2 buckler, +1 ring of protection.
+++++++++++++
Shadow companion: hp 35, AC 14, Ft +4, Refl + 8, Will +4, +8 to hit. Otherwise typical of shadows.
+++++++++++++
She switches a lot between the four different weapons, so Weapon Focus seems a poor choice. My GM suggests Toughness to give her more hit points, but my own instinct is that her low Will save is most worrisome (since Twist Away helps with Fort saves).
Spring Attack seems redundant, since she can already sneak-attack from a distance from darkness. Fortified Armor Training looks helpful against critical hits. Canny Tumble would be good for offense, but is defense needed more badly?
Note that one feat could be given to the shadow (Skill Focus: Stealth?) instead of the PC, though that seems something of a waste.
My notion is to take Major Magic: Enfeebling Ray for the upcoming rogue talent, and then to take either Crippling Strike or Opportunist if/when she reaches Level 13. (Crippling Strike would necessitate retraining Pressure Points into Resiliency, to avoid an overlap.)
As my shadowdancer has darkvision and "Hide in Plain Sight", she would like to be able to carry something that would lower the light level to dim light (or darkness) instead of having to dig out & use a "darkness" scroll.
Is there any counterpart out there to "continual flame"?
As a rogue 6/shadowdancer 3, I have just acquired a shadow. What are some creative tactics or capabilities I haven't thought of?
1) Naturally, it can fly up to someone and do Strength damage.
2) And, it's good for recon, including looking inside containers.
3) I assume I can cast Mage Armor and Inflict Light Wounds upon it, though I think the former prevents it from going through objects. But, can I cast Silence, Darkness, Magic Fang, and/or Reduce Person? The last 3 list "object", "living creature", and "humanoid creature" as what can be targeted. What other spells are handy to cast upon it?
4) If I do cast Silence upon my shadow, can it lurk inside the floor and still silence spellcasters, or does the magic radius require line-of-sight? If it "can communicate intelligibly" with me, is that verbally? I assume it can't eavesdrop & understand any languages.
5) How do I make it better than useless when our opponents are immune to ability damage? If I give it a Ghost Touch Amulet of Mighty Fists, would it be able to influence normal objects? If so, would having Str: -- mean it still couldn't actually lift or move anything? (I assume that said normal object could not then pass through doors.) Could it punch monsters with that amulet?
6) If against a creature it can't hurt, and I want the shadow to flank, what counts as "threatening"? Can it just hover there and miss on purpose so the opponent thinks it's a threat?
7) If I give it a Ghost Touch longspear, can it lurk inside the floor and try to stab up at people with the weapon's reach ability, not emerging even one bit?
8) Can I supplement or change its skills & feats? (My impression is, no.)
9) When choosing a rogue trick, is it worth it to get Ninja Trick: Pressure Points to synchronize with the shadow's STR damage? How about a Lesser Poisoner's Jacket (and perhaps the talent Lasting Poison) to do so via the poisoning route? Or do too many enemies typically make the Fort saves? (I might otherwise be taking Precise Shot, Toughness, and/or Resilience.)
10) Other suggested tasks or tactics? If it matters, my shadowdancer is something of a switch-hitter who is recently shy of going toe-to-toe against Strong opponents.
I started a cleric but have no experience with spellcasters in PF. To my untrained eye, getting the Magical Knack trait & dipping into an arcane class for one level to then go Mystical Theurge looks like a good deal. Is it? (If it matters, I'm in PFS and thus won't progress farther than 11th level. And, part of my motivation is to just try out the various arcane spells.)
Specifically, do the levels gained from MT apply to:
1) Spells that wizards learn with each new level? (An FAQ at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/core-rulebook/mystic-theur ge says "no".)
2) Cleric domain powers that they get at certain levels? (E.g. acid resistance at 6th cleric level of the Earth domain.)
3) Spells from a cleric domain and their potency? (E.g. getting "spike stones" at 4th level that then last 1 hour per cleric level)
4) The two previous questions for wizard schools & sorcerer bloodlines?
5) Level-based benefits to a wizard's familiar?
6) "Channel energy" and other feats gained via a component class's levels? (I assume "no".)
And what about the +2 "trait bonus" to caster level that can be gained from Magical Knack?
References:
"Magical Knack: Pick a class when you gain this trait—your caster level in that class gains a +2 trait bonus as long as this bonus doesn't raise your caster level above your current Hit Dice."
and
"When a new mystic theurge level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in any one arcane spellcasting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class and any one divine spellcasting class he belonged to previously. He does not, however, gain other benefits a character of that class would have gained. This essentially means that he adds the level of mystic theurge to the level of whatever other arcane spellcasting class and divine spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day, spells known, and caster level accordingly."
More specifically, is it better to have a +1 buckler & a rapier, or an elven curved blade?
The former lets me use the buckler while doing archery (or anything else), too.
The latter adds 2 to damage, and it's harder to sunder, but if it's a weird metal then I presume I can't get it in cold iron. (Also, I'm an "unchained" rogue, which seems to mean there's no 1.5x strength bonus for a two-handed weapon.)
If the buckler/rapier combination is better now, how much will that shift when I reach Level 8 and can choose the "Vital Strike" feat as well as gain iterative attacks (i.e. when it becomes +6 damage)? Or when I can afford to farther enhance my buckler?
I am new to the game and am about to take one of Miersiel's many identical cousins to the second level, so I must decide how to allocate my feats, rogue talents, and money.
These might be long-running debates already, but I am wondering:
1) What is most likely to kill me? Low hit points, low AC, or low saving throws? (If the latter, which one(s)?)
2) How often will I actually encounter traps or other situations that a rogue should specialize in? I seem to make Perception checks all the time. Should I thus get the "trap-spotting" talent that checks automatically?
3) Should I focus on melee, archery, or skills? (TWF looks handy for the former, but it carries a -2 attack penalty, and I haven't had that many full-round attacks yet.) Getting close to do sneak attacks does more damage, but it also puts me at greater risk than if I stayed at a distance and fired into fights with Precise Shot if/when I get it.
4) Rather than a longsword/rapier, is getting an elven curved blade worth spending two feats (Martial Proficiency and Weapons Finesse) for?
5) What is more important for a low-level rogue (melee or ranged): +1 to attack, or +1 to damage?
