Michael Haneline's page

does immunity just mean you automatically make your saving throw?

No, immunity is treated as unbeatable spell resistance by the PRD.

If I cast charm person 3 times: once on a vampire disguised as a human, once on their human lacky, and once on their drow lacky, and the spell fails all three times because of invalid target, successful save, and successful spell resistance, respectively, do I, as the caster, know that without metagaming?

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/#TOC-Saving-Throw

"Succeeding on a Saving Throw

A creature that successfully saves against a spell that has no obvious physical effects feels a hostile force or a tingle, but cannot deduce the exact nature of the attack. Likewise, if a creature’s saving throw succeeds against a targeted spell, you sense that the spell has failed. You do not sense when creatures succeed on saves against effect and area spells."

No, it just takes no effect as if your target passed a save. You don't normally know why a failed anyway, its just that via metagame, you can usually tell when a GM rolls a save vs when they don't.

Well specifically according to the PRD, the caster knows if a target makes a save against a spell unless it is an area spell.

If I cast a spell on an invalid target (for example, Charm Person on someone who looks human but is actually undead or an outsider) do I know that the spell failed to target them because they're an invalid target, or do I just know that it failed in the same way that I automatically know if they made their saving throw?

For example, I cast Charm Person twice: once on a vampire who has successfully disguised herself as a human, and once on her human lackey, who succeeds on his saving throw. Is the "failure feedback" different between the two?

At the risk of wandering too far from the original topic, I'd argue that items like the reversible cloak and tear away clothing imply that clothes are, in fact, part of a mundane disguise.

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipmenT/goods-and-services/containers-bags-boxes -more/#TOC-Cloak-Reversible
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipmenT/goods-and-services/containers-bags-boxes -more/#TOC-Tear-Away-Clothing

I have to admit, while I was expecting arguments either way about the armor, I was not expecting the assertion that ordinary clothes and accessories are not part of the mundane disguise skill

Note: Quickchange Cloak is from Ultimate Equipment, pg. 267

For the purpose of a Quickchange Cloak, is armor considered part of a mundane disguise? Like if one of the owner's disguises is a simple unarmored pigfarmer and another disguise is a knight in fullplate, can both those disguises be stored in the cloak, allowing the owner to effectively equip or remove full plate armor as a standard action?

Though the reverse isn't what I was going for, it is an interesting thought experiment. Using disguise self to portray fire that doesn't actually shed any light makes me think of IRL painting miniatures with "glowing" bits that obviously don't actually shed light, but look like they do with application of some optical illusion.
https://www.lightminiatures.com/tutorial-object-source-lighting-osl-and-oth er-lighting-effects/

Thank you!

I'm surprised no one has ever asked this before (and that I never thought of it before), but how does Disguise Self interact with Continual Flame?
My character is a warpriest of a fire god and currently has continual flame cast (multiple times) on her armor, cloak, weapon, and her holy symbol. I was looking over magic items today, and began to wonder about what would happen if she had a hat of disguise, or any other item that basically casts disguise self on her. Can disguise self hide the continual flame? If she tried to use the magic to disguise herself as a simple peasant woman instead of her "true" form as a scary fire knight, would she look like a peasant woman who was on fire? If the fire is hidden, is the light also hidden?

So, I'm running a Star Trek style campaign, and thus the starship the players will be playing on will require quite a few BP to capture that Enterprise feel. More than the level of 4 that the PCs are starting at are supposed to "have".

Any tips for adjustments to make to the game when the starship the players are playing on is a "higher level" than the PCs?

So, as GM, I think it is really silly that the Skill Focus feat does not stack with the class features that give a scaling bonus to a skill, since they are all insight bonuses. A star shaman mystic that takes skill focus Pilot is effectively punished by having a class feature that does nothing until level 11... at which they have feat which does nothing instead, and this same problem applies to many other classes.

So I'm thinking of either changing the scaling skill bonuses from class abilities to untyped or changing the bonus from the Skill Focus feat to untyped. Which do you think would be a more balanced change? I'm leaning toward the class features being untyped?

How might I build a jedi-esqe character in Starfinder system?

My wife is playing a "Jedi". She is Mystic with a 1 level dip in soldier.

Also, I've noted that the Pact Worlds book will have a Star Knight archetype in it, and I'd be legitimately shocked if it wasn't a "Jedi" type thing.

*blearily blinks at the topic*

'Thanagarian' from DC, eh?

Shayera Hol ftw!

Same species, basically, yeah (Pretty sure DC stole them from KFS).

Buy yeah, strong humans that fly with bird wings, basically.

So, to get us in the mindset for Starfinder, my group watched the 1980 Flash Gordon movie.

Now one of my players wants to basically play Prince Vultan (who can blame him?)

I was curious, how would you guys stat out a hawkperson race for Starfinder?

In one of the scenarios I played, one of the treasures that you are granted access to is a non magical high tech item (though it functions like a magic item) that goes into the cybertech body slot. Are familiars allowed to use this item in PFS?

(I hope I am vague enough to not break the spoilers rules while being specific enough to get a useful answer.)

You'd probably get better results, if you don't average different categories of gear together. For instance in Pahfinder, armor and weapons enchantments follow a different progression. I would expect the same to be true here. So your averages get corrupted as the percentage of armor/weapons vary at each level.

The same is not true in starfinder. Armor of the same level is priced roughly the same as weapons of the same level. Items of the same level aren't priced exactly the same, different weapons of the same level cost more or less than each other, but it seems to just be random variation or something for the sake of making it look more realistic.

Fifth Power Series Equation

y = 2.0002x^5 - 68.891x^4 + 908.68x^3 - 5233.2x^2 + 13149x - 9553.2

R² = 0.9997

Exponential Graph Equation

y = 344.41e^0.3891x

R² = 0.991

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The R² value is how close the line of best fit plots the data.
99.1% is pretty dame close.
99.97% is even closer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you plot in excel you can get it to give you the line of best fit

this is exactly what I was looking for, thanks

So, I made a chart of the approximate average price of each level of item in starfinder using both weapons and armor as reference. When I plotted them on a graph, they formed a very clear curve. However, I cannot figure out the equation behind it, and though I used to know how to find that using statistical analysis software in college, I have since forgotten.

What equation to the following prices seem to be following?
1: 250
2: 600
3: 1300
4: 2300
5: 3000
6: 4300
7: 6500
8: 9000
9: 13000
10: 17000
11: 25000
12: 35000
13: 45000
14: 75000
15: 110000
16: 165000
17: 245000
18: 390000
19: 550000
20: 810000

Thanks for the suggestions!

So, my players have expressed an interest in a Starfinder campaign that has a 1930's/40's "Raygun Gothic" feel to it.

I've been trying to think of ways to infuse that aesthetic into a starfinder game.
So far I've got
-using 1940's sci-fi art to depict different ships and stuff
-referring to lasers as "rayguns"
-giving all human male NPCs three syllable names with a scifi element to them (Zap Branson, Kent Proton, Blast Bulkhead, Zeus Warpdrive, etc.)
-putting a -9000 after every android's name.
-probably tweaking how space works a bit? Like if you just hold your breath in space, you're probably fine for a few rounds.

Any other ideas?

So, yesterday, I played a scenario, and at the end, the GM crossed out every magic item on the chronicle sheet. When one of the players asked why, he said because we didn't identify any of the items we found. I didn't inquire further into the matter because 1. I didn't even want any of those items and 2.I was in a hurry to get to another game in another city later that day.

However, today I'm thinking about it, and I'm looking for the rule on this, and I can't find it? I've GMed about 15 PFS games so far, and I've never crossed out items on the CS if they weren't identified. Am I supposed to?

I hope some of the spells they add are more technomancer fire spells (especially adding at least one to 2nd, 5th, and 6th level, where there are currently none). My vesk firebender needs them to regain his honor!

Usually I just go that that section of the store and click the pre-order link:

http://paizo.com/store/starfinder/rulebooks

lists Starfinder Pact Worlds in Mar 2018 as the next hardback

Ah, thanks, that's very helpful!

So, I'm looking forward to more Starfinder books (particularly any that might have more magic or gear in them). Is there a particular place to watch where Paizo would announced future planned releases? (Like, "look for Starfinder's Magic Database in January 2018!" or something like that?)

Pirate Rob wrote:

I believe unlisted ones suffer no changes.

Yes, unless the new book and/or Clarifications explicitly overrules the old book, the old book keeps functioning as it always has.

Well, additional resources says the new Wayfinder replaces the old one. Resonances are listed under the Wayfinder magical item entry. So imagine that some table GMs are going to rule that the old resonance table is only for the old (now illegal) Wayfinder and thus stones not listed on the new table simply don't get a resonance power.

Just confirming, when the next additional resources update goes live, ioun stones that USED to have a listed resonance in Seekers of Secrets but are NOT mentioned in Adventurer's Guide (such as the Onyx Rhomboid, Opalescent White Pyramid, etc) will no longer have a Wayfinder resonance power in PFS at all?

I've always run all things coming from a successful attack roll as resolving simultaneously (Which would mean only a -2 penalty for shaken, and the sickened would occur after all things pertaining to this attack roll were resolved. And even though you decide with spellstrike whether to use it or not after making a successful hit, I don't find it convincing that it occurs after the attack roll.)

Unfortunately the rules don't have the granularity (as far as I'm aware) to clearly indicate what method is correct.

Well I could've sworn I saw an FAQ or developer post at some point that says when multiple things would apply at the same time, the player chooses the order most beneficial to them, but I can't seem to locate it now.

If anyone knows what I'm talking about and could point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it.

Yes should be good. Sickened happens when weapon hot, the spell goes off after weapon hits them.

Awesome. Seems like a pretty good combo.

buy why not? I'm trying to find the order of operations here. just saying "no" doesn't build a solid rules set to work with.

I think because the feat says "you deal double damage with a melee weapon (or triple damage with a lance)" is the rationale. I'd be curious to know if the people above believe that only the weapon dice are multiplied? What about strength modifier and such?

Anyone have any thoughts?

Take the evolved familiar feat. Improve the reach of your familiar's attack so it threatens adjacent squares. Done.

John Mechalas wrote:

"Crafted" has a specific definition in the game, and for a club with a value of 0, it's a DC12 craft check (e.g., you have to pick the right tree branch, and trim it down to the right size and weight).

But if it has a value of zero, that Craft check takes zero time, so it's still true that you can pick up any branch and have a club.

Unless it is made from adamantine, in which case it has a value of 3000 gp, and by the Craft skill rules will probably take you years to make just one.

So, say a magus attacks a shaken enemy with spellstrike through a cruel weapon, and the spell being channeled into the strike requires a saving throw. Hitting a shaken enemy with a cruel weapon automatically makes it sickened, which applies a -2 penalty to saving throws. Would the enemy have that sickened penalty on the save he needs to make against the spell being delivered from that same attack?

(More specific example: I am playing a myrmidarch magus with an evolved mauler familiar. On my turn, my familiar successfully demoralizes an enemy, rendering it shaken. I then do a ranged spellstrike with my +1 cruel bow, channeling snowball. I hit, so the enemy is both shaken and sickened. The enemy also needs to make a fortitude save against snowball or be staggered. Does he only take the -2 penalty to the save from shaken, or does he have a -4 to the save from both shaken and sickened?)

Linda Zayas-Palmer wrote:

We've talked over how to approach this feat, and we'd like it to use Unchained evolutions without blocking access to evolutions that most subtypes can take. We're planning to add the following to the next update of the Campaign Clarifications document.

"For the Evolved Familiar feat, use evolutions for the unchained summoner (Pathfinder RPG Pathfinder Unchained 25). The familiar must conform to all requirements listed in the evolution, such as having wings to take wing buffet, with the following exception. If any of the eidolon subtypes that appear in Pathfinder Unchained qualify for the evolution, then a familiar qualifies for that evolution as well."

Disappointing - another case of "oh by the way, now you need another book rather than the actual source material".

When the update goes live, please clarify how those who may not have access to additional source material now required should handle the character changes.

hopefully they handle it like adventurer's guide updates where you don't actually need the new book.

One thing I'm not clear on: If you obtain an item at a discount, how much does it cost to upgrade it?

For example, if a chronicle sheet allowed you to purchase a Ring of Protection +1 for 1000 gp, and you later wanted to upgrade it to a +2, would you have to pay 6000 or 7000 gp?

I have wondered/looked into this before, and even went as far as to post this question.

The only answer I received there leans toward being able to use the APG evolutions for these legal options. On the flip side, a local VL auto-no'd the idea, insisting that absolutely everything to do with the APG summoner forever just doesn't exist, so far as PFS is concerned.

So... an official answer on this would be delightful.
I'm even going to hit that FAQ button. If enough people do the same maybe we can get an answer to this.

Hmm, so John Compton said no spell or feat collateral is affected by the summoner being replaced by unchained summoner, here: http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5lheb&page=6?Society-Unchained#280

By that, did he mean that they continue to use the chained versions? Or do they have to use they unchained version and didn't think that was a noticeable change(despite becoming unable to qualify for most of the 1-pt evolutions due to subtype requirements)?

Sorry for the Threadcromancy, but I have this exact same question. I initially assumed you would used the Unchained versions of the evolutions since original flavor summoner class is banned, but the feat references the original summoner's eidolon's evolutions and by a strict reading, the unchained evolutions are actually illegal to take with this feat.

Pathfinder universe laughs at the squared cube law. Given the listed weights Ogres are made out of balsa wood and adamantine golems have a marshmallow core.

Mind you, there's nothing prevending you from describing your character as looking like a 400 pound slab of 6 foot 6 muscle.

Wouldn't that violate the "no reskinning" rule?

So, I'm making a particularly large human character, and I notice that maximum for human height/weight as rolled is 6'6" and 220 lbs. Does that mean that is the very tallest and heaviest you can make a human in PFS? I've known a couple people from my fencing days that were taller than 6'6", and I think probably 20% of my male friends weigh more than 220. Heck, I used to weigh more than 220.

So, I ran the scenario for a group of 4 yesterday. It was quite difficult to recruit players because word had gotten around in this area that this is a "killer mod" and many people refused to play it based on reputation alone.

It is definitely a tough one, even when people don't choose to play "hard mode". Oddly, I think the module is actually easier with 4 people instead of 5 or 6. The modifications it makes for 4 players are pretty generous, especially in that first encounter with the swarms and locust demon. It still came whiteknuckle close to killing people at times, but everyone seemed like they felt really triumphant at the end to have beaten it.
I also think that how hard it is depends a lot on how good the characters are at Will saves... that module is VERY heavy on the save or suck Will saves, but everyone in the party had a high Will mod which made a huge difference.

That being said, I don't know how anyone could ever beat it with the modifications made for "Hard Mode". I was laughing at how over-the-top some of what it said to do for that, especially at the final boss getting to roll two initiatives and get 2 full turns per combat round. Cheezus.

After having talked this over with a few VOs I trust on rules calls, the RAW appears to let them stand as non-standard item slots (with the one item previously mentioned as a head slot), since they *are* specifically marked as such on the chronicle sheet!

Can these items be upgraded as the "normal" items? i.e. can "amulet of natural armor +1 (crocodile skull headdress)" be later upgraded to "amulet of natural armor +2 (crocodile skull headdress)" for 6000 gp as if it were a standard amulet of natural armor?

You normally have to buy nonmagical arrows in lots of 20 and magical arrows in lots of 50, presumably because that is how they are listed in the books.
Multiple adventures chronicles have a reward along the lines of "you are gifted a single item worth up to xxxx gp by Joe Smoe, Lord of the Smoes"

So, my question is, if it said you could gain a single item worth up to 8500 gp, could you use that to gain a bundle of 50 +1 shock arrows? Could you use it to claim a single +5 heart-piercing arrow?

Have there been any updates on open call? I used to write a few things for Dragon Magazine, and after getting into PFS I've been wanting to pitch some scenarios.

The Field Manual library

Neat!

I suspect that the major masterwork tool will something on the lines of a Load Bearing Rig, minimizing encumbrance and maximizing availability.

Isn't that basically the masterwork backpack?

Pocket knife with a spork and one of those things to get stones out of hooves.

I do like the idea of a [Kingdom] Army Knife

I was trying to think of a masterwork tool that would be useful for my character trained in Profession (Soldier). Specifically for making money with the skill between adventures.

Anyone have any suggestions for that masterwork tool? Every tool I think of that a soldier would use seems to apply more specifically to something else.

One nonmagic item I found that seems pretty good is the Vigil Cap http://archivesofnethys.com/EquipmentMiscDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Vigil%20cap

+2 circumstance bonus to Perception, +2 to saves vs blind and dazzle, or heavy fortification against gaze attacks.