Prerequisites: Channel energy class feature, necromancer or neutrally aligned cleric (see below).
Benefit: You may make a choice whenever you use your channel energy class feature.
If you normally channel positive energy, you may choose to channel negative energy as if your effective cleric level were 2 levels lower than normal.
If you normally channel negative energy, you may choose to channel positive energy as if your effective cleric level were 2 levels lower than normal.
Having this feat means you qualify for feats and abilities that have "channel positive energy" or "channel negative energy" as a prerequisite (for example, you qualify for the Command Undead feat and the Turn Undead feat).
Note: This feat only applies to necromancers, neutral clerics who worship neutral deities, or neutral clerics who do not worship a deity -- characters who have the channel energy class ability and have to make a choice to channel positive or negative energy at 1st level. Clerics whose alignment or deity makes this choice for them cannot select this feat.
A vindicator can channel energy into his shield as a standard action; when worn, the shield gives the vindicator a sacred bonus (if positive energy) or profane bonus (if negative energy) to his Armor Class equal to the number of dice of the vindicator’s channel energy. This bonus lasts for 24 hours or until the vindicator is struck in combat, whichever comes first. The shield does not provide this bonus to any other wielder, but the vindicator does not need to be holding the shield for it to retain this power.
1) Can a Holy Vindicator with Versatile Channeler choose whether to apply a sacred or profane bonus when using Vindicator's Shield?
2) If a Holy Vindicator can choose whether to apply a sacred or profane bonus as above, can he apply both types to the same shield simultaneously (by two separate uses of Vindicator's Shield)?
Is it possible for a paralyzed creature to delay its actions until the paralysis stops? (or during other, similar effects, such as being hit by the Sleep spell)
If I Delay on my turn and choose to act on the same Initiative count as another creature, can I choose whether I act before them or after them?
Example: on Round 1, Initiative 13 a level 2 Witch (Caster Level 3) casts Hold Person on a humanoid creature, with initiative 5, which fails its save. The paralysis effect will end at the beginning of Round 4, Initiative 13. The humanoid creature wants to act as soon as possible, so each time it is its turn, it attempts to save at the beginning of its turn, but fails in this case. Can it then Delay so that it gets to act on Round 4, Initiative 13, when the paralysis stops? Does it get to choose to act before the Witch, or is the tie-breaker system used?
For that matter, should the tie-breaker system be used every round, or just at the point two creatures attain the same initiative?
How Combat Works:
How Combar Works
Effects that last a certain number of rounds end just before the same initiative count that they began on.
Initiative:
Initiative
If two or more combatants have the same initiative check result, the combatants who are tied act in order of total initiative modifier (highest first). If there is still a tie, the tied characters should roll to determine which one of them goes before the other.
Delay:
Delay By choosing to delay, you take no action and then act normally on whatever initiative count you decide to act. When you delay, you voluntarily reduce your own initiative result for the rest of the combat. When your new, lower initiative count comes up later in the same round, you can act normally. You can specify this new initiative result or just wait until some time later in the round and act then, thus fixing your new initiative count at that point.
Condition - Paralyzed:
Paralyzed
A paralyzed character is frozen in place and unable to move or act. A paralyzed character has effective Dexterity and Strength scores of 0 and is helpless, but can take purely mental actions. A winged creature flying in the air at the time that it becomes paralyzed cannot flap its wings and falls. A paralyzed swimmer can't swim and may drown. A creature can move through a space occupied by a paralyzed creature—ally or not. Each square occupied by a paralyzed creature, however, counts as 2 squares to move through.
Spell - Sleep:
Sleep
A sleep spell causes a magical slumber to come upon 4 HD of creatures. Creatures with the fewest HD are affected first. Among creatures with equal HD, those who are closest to the spell's point of origin are affected first. HD that are not sufficient to affect a creature are wasted. Sleeping creatures are helpless. Slapping or wounding awakens an affected creature, but normal noise does not. Awakening a creature is a standard action (an application of the aid another action). Sleep does not target unconscious creatures, constructs, or undead creatures.
Condition - Helpless:
Helpless
A helpless character is paralyzed, held, bound, sleeping, unconscious, or otherwise completely at an opponent's mercy. A helpless target is treated as having a Dexterity of 0 (–5 modifier). Melee attacks against a helpless target get a +4 bonus (equivalent to attacking a prone target). Ranged attacks get no special bonus against helpless targets. Rogues can sneak attack helpless targets.
As a full-round action, an enemy can use a melee weapon to deliver a coup de grace to a helpless foe. An enemy can also use a bow or crossbow, provided he is adjacent to the target. The attacker automatically hits and scores a critical hit. (A rogue also gets his sneak attack damage bonus against a helpless foe when delivering a coup de grace.) If the defender survives, he must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + damage dealt) or die. Delivering a coup de grace provokes attacks of opportunity.
Creatures that are immune to critical hits do not take critical damage, nor do they need to make Fortitude saves to avoid being killed by a coup de grace.
When do you stop being flat-footed in a combat that includes a surprise round?
(Or: what is a "regular turn"?)
There are three sections I can find which deals with being flat-footed:
Surprise - The Surprise Round:
Surprise - The Surprise Round
If some but not all of the combatants are aware of their opponents, a surprise round happens before regular rounds begin. [...] Combatants who are unaware at the start of battle don't get to act in the surprise round. Unaware combatants are flat-footed because they have not acted yet.
Initiative - Flat-footed:
Initiative - Flat-footed
At the start of a battle, before you have had a chance to act (specifically, before your first regular turn in the initiative order), you are flat-footed.[b]
Conditions - Flat-footed:
Conditions - Flat-footed
[b]A character who has not yet acted during a combat is flat-footed, unable to react normally to the situation. [...] Characters with Uncanny Dodge retain their Dexterity bonus to their AC and can make attacks of opportunity before they have acted in the first round of combat.
Both the surprise section and the flat-footed condition indicate that you are flat-footed until you have acted, but the initiative section specifically states that you are flat-footed "before your first regular turn in the initiative order". An important question then is what a "regular turn" is.
How Combat Works:
How Combat Works
When combat begins, all combatants roll initiative.
Determine which characters are aware of their opponents. These characters can act during a surprise round. If all the characters are aware of their opponents, proceed with normal rounds. See the surprise section for more information.
After the surprise round (if any), all combatants are ready to begin the first normal round of combat.
Combatants act in initiative order (highest to lowest).
When everyone has had a turn, the next round begins with the combatant with the highest initiative, and steps 3 and 4 repeat until combat ends.
The description of how combat works makes no mention of "regular turns", only "turn", "normal rounds" and "surprise rounds". In fact, I've only been able to find two other references to regular turns, both in the section of special initiative actions, on Delay and Ready Action
Delay:
Delay
If you take a delayed action in the next round, before your regular turn comes up, your initiative count rises to that new point in the order of battle, and you do not get your regular action that round.
Ready Action:
Ready Action
Your initiative result becomes the count on which you took the readied action. If you come to your next action and have not yet performed your readied action, you don't get to take the readied action (though you can ready the same action again). If you take your readied action in the next round, before your regular turn comes up, your initiative count rises to that new point in the order of battle, and you do not get your regular action that round.
To me, this seems to imply that "regular turn" refers to your turn without taking special initiative actions into account. However, the section on surprise mentions "regular rounds" and defines them as separate from surprise rounds. In that context it is not unreasonable to interpret a "regular turn" as a turn in a "regular round", which is still compatible with the definitions of the special initiative actions, as you cannot have more than one turn in the surprise round.
Under the first interpretation, you are flat-footed until you take your first turn (whether or not it is in a surprise round) while under the latter interpretation you are flat-footed until you take your first turn after the surprise round.
So, I'm thinking of creating my own campaign and have been pondering the idea that (for some reason irrelevant to the discussion) the astral plane would be unreachable. Anything relying on travel or communication through it would effectively stop working. How would this manifest in Golarion?
A few thoughts from what I've read so far:
1. Spells like teleport rely on a quick stop in the astral plane. They would cease to work.
2. Any travel or contact with the outer planes would be impossible. The gods would not be reachable and presumably divine casters could not cast or prepare any spells (at least not prepare).
3. Souls could not travel to the afterlife, so intelligent ethereal undead would become much more common. Spells like resurrection would presumably be easier to perform.
How does Spell Perfection work with Spell Specialization, Varisian Tattoo or Intensified Spell?
Normally a Fireball does 1d6 damage per caster level up to a maximum of 10d6 damage. An Intensified Fireball can do up to 15d6 damage. If I have Spell Perfection (Fireball), would my Intensified Fireballs have a maximum damage of 15d6 or 20d6? That is, does Spell Perfection apply to the bonus applied by Intensified Spell?
Now, say that I've multiclassed and I'm a 5th level caster with Spell Specialization (Fireball) and Spell Perfection (Fireball). Would my Fireballs do 7d6 or 9d6 damage? That is, does Spell Perfection apply to the caster level bonus given by Spell Specialization?
Same example as last time, but with a Varisian Tattoo (Evocation) instead of Spell Specialization (Fireball). Would my Fireballs do 6d6 or 7d6 damage? That is, does Spell Perfection apply to the caster level bonus given by Varisian Tattoo?
Spell Perfection wrote:
Benefit: Pick one spell which you have the ability to cast. Whenever you cast that spell you may apply any one metamagic feat you have to that spell without affecting its level or casting time, as long as the total modified level of the spell does not use a spell slot above 9th level. In addition, if you have other feats which allow you to apply a set numerical bonus to any aspect of this spell (such as Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Weapon Focus [ray], and so on), double the bonus granted by that feat when applied to this spell.
Intensified Spell wrote:
Benefit: An intensified spell increases the maximum number of damage dice by 5 levels. You must actually have sufficient caster levels to surpass the maximum in order to benefit from this feat. No other variables of the spell are affected, and spells that inflict damage that is not modified by caster level are not affected by this feat.
Spell Specialization wrote:
Benefit: Select one spell of a school for which you have taken the Spell Focus feat. Treat your caster level as being two higher for all level-variable effects of the spell.
Varisian Tattoo wrote:
Benefit: Select a school of magic (other than divination) in which you have Spell Focus—you cast spells from this school at +1 caster level. Additionally, you gain a single spell-like ability usable up to three times per day.
