Munafiq's page

Yes, if you have a GM that doesn't really want to play with it, the spell will do basically nothing.

But if your GM is on board with the concept, it can be a lot of fun.

So true! Especially the way it's written, it's very GM dependent. Luckily, my GM is open-minded and will likely see it the way markrivett describes. I really like the idea of linking "perceived" to the senses (see, hear, smell, etc.), because it's more measurable and less subjective. As far as whether the target can discern it, yeah, that makes a lot of sense about a "cursory mental touch." Perhaps it could be tied to the level of the save? It could be something like: critical success=target knows the caster attempted to read their mind, success=target knows someone attempted it, failure/crit failure=target is unaware of the mental touch.

Hi all. Question about the Mind Reading spell (Occult 3rd). I find the wording vague and problematic. I’ll be playing a Psychic with he Silent Whisper conscious mind so taking this spell seems very fitting but the operation of the spell is unclear. The description says that if the target fails their Will save, then “You perceive vague surface thoughts from the target when you Cast the Spell, and you find out whether its Intelligence modifier is higher than, equal to, or lower than yours.”

Two questions:

1) What are “vague surface thoughts?” There’s no further description here. Does this mean a target's motivations? Their emotional state? Whether they are hungry or not?! I can see different GMs giving players vastly different info. Any help here?

2) Does the target know they are being subjected to mind reading? Other similar spells, such as Suggestion, clearly state whether or not the target is aware (for Suggestion, on a successful will save, “The target is unaffected and thinks you were talking to them normally, not casting a spell on them.”) Again, nothing about this in the Mind Reading spell description. Any ideas?

Thanks!


Yes, Caffeinated, totally agree that Champion is the most efficient or fitting way to go. I tried but it just doesn't fit with my character concept (the deity/cause aspects or the CHR aspect) so I went the less efficient fighter route. I like the unconventional weaponry idea, but not sure that it actually scales up(?) but will check it out, thanks!

Vamp, found your psychic guide right after I posted! Love the guide overall, really cool. I like the melee psychic build, thanks. And I agree, it's a pretty specific build to get the right mix. I've seen a few other references to the dwarf/unburdened iron, I think it's a great fit. I tried to achieve something similar for the human with sentinel. One thought, for melee psychic fighter you might want to make a reference to the unleash-melee-releash cycle since I think it may end up driving the combat pattern with this multiclass. But I'll have to see how it works out when I finally get to put it into practice...

Hi all. Loving the flavorful Psychic class and prepping a new character to drop into an already advanced Age of Ashes campaign. I’m semi-retiring my goblin Swashbuckler (fencer-acrobat) and replacing him with another 12th level character. I’m excited about my character concept in general, but wondering if folks have suggestions about specific combat tactics. I’m seeing few online discussions about psychic martials (so maybe I should have picked up the hint that this is sub-par?!).

The character is a Psychic base but with a heavy martial influence. The backstory is that he is a grizzled fighter whose psychic powers were recently manifested. He was human veteran in Lastwall (fighter and sentinel archetypes). He barely survived Tar-Baphon’s massacre at Vigil, and the traumatic near death experience has unearthed his psychic powers. We already have a straight-on tank fighter in the group so I’m the secondary martial in a group of five.

Lvl 12 - Human Lastwall-Survivor Psychic
Str 19, Dex 16, Con 19, Int 21 Wis 10, Cha 10
Conscious Mind - The Silent Whisper
Subconscious Mind - Precise Discipline

He wears half-plate and uses a shield and warhammer. Feats are mostly made up of fighter/martial feats since I’m mostly relying on class features for the psychic under-structure:

1-Light armor proficiency
2-Fighter dedication
3-Medium armor proficiency
4-AOO
5-Toughness
6-Fighter resiliency
7-Fast recovery
8-Sentinel dedication
9-Shield block
10-Impose order
11-Steel skin
12-Psi catastrophe

My general sense of his combat strategy is that he’ll start by casting in round 1, setting himself up to Unleash Psyche. Then spend the next 2 rounds unloading spells, especially the no duration damage spells that are increased during the Unleash period. Then he’d enter hand-to-hand combat with shield/hammer while he’s stupefied and recovering. That seems like a feasible back-and-forth combat pattern, but am I missing anything? Beyond the general unleash-melee-unleash cycle, I could use some more specific ideas, like best cantrips or spells to use and when? Combat tactics? Etc. Thanks a lot!

Yes, 57 total. And my weapon for this whole combat (since dropping down the hole) has silversheen on it so it should be doing full damage to vamps.

[Correction - second falchion attack, which probably missed anyway, still can't be a critical because the roll was a 14, I needed at least a 15.)

After the attacks and healing, Munafiq is still conscious but injured (26HP: 10 regular plus 16 temporary). (Again, I'm somewhat confused by the map because I'm dense, but it appears that at this point I can reach Aldo with a 5-foot step. Assuming this is the case...)

Munafiq takes a 5-foot step toward Aldo and attempts to let loose with a full attack and as much vengeance as he can muster against this abomination of natural laws who has been cutting us to shreds.

(First falchion roll=16+16=32 total to hit, possible crit=17+16=33 to hit. Damage = 2d4=(4+3)x2=14 +42=57. Second falchion=14+11=25, probably a miss but just in case of possible crit, second roll=18+11=29 total). If it hit, crit dam would be=(2+4)x2=12+42=54. And gore from the horns=3 (miss).)

Munafiq is deep in battle concentration and ignores the smoke (fort+13, roll=8, total 21). The flames lick his coarse fur but he is unaffected (fire resistance 2).

Munafiq runs out the door, sees Arthen and runs beside her. [To C8].

No, you're correct, I didn't read carefully, I just remembered that Quinly yelled something about invisibles and thought it included Arthen being in trouble. In any case, even after drinking a healing potion Munafiq is still only at 35HP and he wants some serious healing so that he can continue the fight so he's still planning to run to Arthen's side.

Munafiq runs to C8 to protect Arthen. If he bumps into anything on his way there he stops and attacks it: to hit=21 & 14. [yes, more of the same rolling].

I'm sorry, I'm an idiot and didn't remember that that was a wall next to me! I'll try to get another description in soon - we're in the middle of lots of family visits.

[ok, here's those dice rolls again: to hit falchion 1=26, falchion 2=Natural 1 (no fumble), gore=16) [UUuuggghh. The worst rolls. Adding 1 damage roll judge in case=24.

[Apologies in advance if I'm reading the map incorrectly. If so, please correct me and I'll try to understand from that point. Also, I've only got an iPhone, so I hope this makes sense...]

Munafiq tries to attack the creature attacking Arthen. He swings at the empty square to his right, rolling: [dice=d20+16] to hit. If he hits something, he attacks there twice more. If there's nothing to hit, then he takes a 5-foot step left. If the square is unoccupied, he swings at the square above him (left of Arthen). If he bumps into a creature, he stays where he is (not taking a 5-foot step) and attacks that square (to his left). He rolls on his second attack: [dice=d20+11]. If he hits, his damage rolls are: [dice=2d4+21] [dice=2d4+21]. He also takes a gore attack on whatever he hit before or a missed square: [dice=d20+14], dam [dice=1d4+13].

Tarcinzia, love the image, but... Can I touch your monkey?

Arthen's avatar definitely looks like she is used to getting people to do what she wants!

Ok, I've sent around the map(s). Yes, the avatars that people have chosen are really fitting! Except that the DM reminds me a bit of a peasant girl from the French countryside wearing old fashioned motorbike goggles.

Ok, let's give it a try!

Thanks all for the varied and useful advice!

I suppose I’m not much farther along than when I started, but at least I’ve learned a lot. So far, all I’ve done is exactly what Yoassarin suggested – I gave the horse to some folks that I knew would take really good care of him and left them with a serious amount of gold to ease its last days (basically, a horse hospice).

Thuvia and the sun orchard elixir is really interesting idea. A far reach, I suppose, but cool – I like the history and the potential adventure options are colorful. If I could side-track the group for that long (which I can’t really do), it would sure be a cool quest.

Oh well, as the generic Villain nicely summarized, it sure seems that in a Golarion setting, anything that restores youth is dangerous, rare, and expensive. Coincidentally, we just picked up some figurines of wondrous power – that’s an interesting idea but I wonder if it’s as much of a curse as a blessing for the horse...

I hadn’t even thought about the reincarnate option (especially odd for me because several of my past PCs have focused on necromancy). Sure would be a shock for the horse – yep, a WTF moment for sure! Probably leave the poor beastie with PTSD. I suppose I could ask my DM for a custom table –the “large hauling domesticated animals reincarnation chart.” Or even better, I can kill him (mercifully), and then have him re-animated, only to live forever as my faithful steed. Hmm... (The necromantic streak is coming out…)

Oh sh!t, my DM is here – gotta run! ;-) LOL. Well, I probably won’t use the horse as a mount with “Bonded Mount” from my nature mystery because I’ve only just dipped into Oracle and I’d lose too many barbarian goodies if I wanted to grab another Revelation.

Thanks for the great suggestions!

Hey all. Here's an odd one... My barbarian (barb 5/oracle 1, nature mystery) recently rescued an ancient horse that has had a hard and brutal life hauling vats in a factory. This was during the "Trial of the Beast" path in a Carrion Crown campaign, in Vorkstag & Grines' factory - "smash the bad guys, save the horsey"). I know it may sound silly or far-fetched, but as a role-playing endeavor I'd like to restore some youth to him and have him as a faithful mount rather than just put him out to pasture. I'm not fully versed in Pathfinder magic options - is there any way to "de-age" him rather than merely a "Youthful Appearance" or "Age Resistance" spell, neither of which actually extends the lifespan. Potion? Magic item? Place on the Inner Sea to quest to?

(I suppose if there were a fountain of youth, it would be hoarded by wizards rather than doled out to horses via barbarians!) ;-)

Thanks!