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So why is that Summoner Archtype banned from pathfinder society games? It doesn't seem any stronger than a regular summoner. Sure turning into a big magical monster is neat, but Clerics and Druids (and Wizards sometimes) can pull that off too.

I'd also like to hear comparisons between a Synthesis Summoner vs a shapeshiftin' Druid, is the SynSummoner really that much stronger to warrant banning?

I was wondering if there's any info out there on what levels pathfinder's designers usually play at and have played up to, and with what classes. Do they have any favored classes themselves?

With D&D, I remember reading somewhere that 3e's designers barely played anything at level 15+.

Barbarians are able to be built in a way where they can resist level appropriate magic as well as wreck stuff in melee, notably being able to pounce at level 10.

How can other 'martial' melee classes be brought up to the level of this iconic Barbarian?

There's no equivalent from Paizo publishing, so is Tome of Battle considered too powerful for Pathfinder games?

Is Pathfinder backwards compatible enough for ToB classes to just be dropped into the game?

The traditional image of a cleric is swinging around a mace, but how about shooting a bow? Is there a viable build to make cleric archers in pathfinder?

Simple question, what do you see as the Fighter's niche that the Ranger is unable to imitate?

A campaign where full casters like Wizard, Druid, Cleric are not allowed; if you want to use magic you have to go with Bard, Inquisitor, Magus types.

From levels 1-5, 6-10, 11+, have you run games with these restrictions before? Or had games where noone showed up with a full caster?

How's the balance of PF society and adventure paths without full casters in the party?

*Monsters with sorceror spell progression and the like would still work as opposition, just nothing can take full caster CLASS levels.

I was kinda dissapointed to find that the Samurai was not a Ki Point Fighter like the Ninja was to Rogue, so here's my take on a Ki based Samurai(the goal is to make the tradeoff rougly equal to Rogue->Ninja):

Samurai are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, plus the katana, naginata, and wakizashi. Samurai are proficient with all types of armor (heavy, light, and medium), but not shields.

Lvl1: Trade "Bonus Feat" out for Improved Initiative (Iajutsu!)
Lvl2: Trade "Bravery" out for a Ki Pool:

At 2nd level, a samurai gains a pool of ki points, supernatural energy he can use to accomplish amazing feats. The number of points in the samurai's ki pool is equal to 1/2 his samurai level + his Wisdom modifier.

The ki pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation; these hours do not need to be consecutive. If the samurai possesses levels in another class that grants points to a ki pool, samurai levels stack with the levels of that class to determine the total number of ki points in the combined pool, but only one ability score modifier is added to the total. The choice of which score to use is made when the second class ability is gained, and once made, the choice is set. The samurai can now use ki points from this pool to power the abilities of every class she possesses that grants a ki pool.

Is this roughly balanced to what Ninja is to Rogue?

I could see someone going Rogue for roleplaying reasons (because they don't want 'Ninja' on their character sheet, etc.), but it just seems to me like Ninja is a Rogue with Ki points, losing very little in the exchange.

Since character backstory and flavor is a personal thing, I'd only like to talk about mechanical differences between the classes. What does a Rogue do that the Ninja can't?

The game often begins with "Walk to the dungeon and find stuff!" but the higher level you go the more options open up: underwater, castles in the sky, trips to separate planes of existence (some perpetually on fire even), going to the underworld, and more.

What are the most exotic locales you've adventured to? But what I'm most curious about is HOW you GOT there (a spell, a magical portal, a flying mount, etc.)

What monsters were designed to wreck wizards (and Clerics to a lesser degree)?

Either by design intention ("The golem is immune to magic!") or in your own experience as a DM or player.

There's plenty of threads about fighters as PC's, but how about antagonists? TOo often I see them as just a lackey or bodyguard to the lich/archmage/evilsorceror/skeletor/thulsadoom type magical super villain thats behind the scenes of the adventure path, but how about a FIGHTER villain? A high level badass that makes whole kingdoms cower at the sweep of his blade?

Dungeon masters, how do YOU run your Fighter villains?
Players, what death defying clashes have you had against Fighter villains?

The challenge: Replicate an effect in the bible with the mechanics available to a level 20 wizard.

Can a level 20 wizard create his own plane of existence, then create a human man & woman in a garden filled with animals of his choice?

Can a level 20 wizard cause a world engulfing flood?

Can a level 20 wizard inflict the 7 plagues upon egypt for defying Moses?

Can a level 20 wizard create an army of beings with the versatility of angels?

These effects all occur in the plane that you created and seeded with life.

A Wasp Swarm is CR3 and as a swarm of diminutive creatures is immune to weapon damage.

I've gotten the impression that Pathfinder society strongly relies on sword swinging antagonists to provide a challenge, but once that melee strike is nullified it becomes a cake walk. So if your average Pathfinder Society villain had to fight a duel against a swarm of bees for some reason, would he be able to survive?

Finding and disarming traps is part of the dungeon crawl experience. Back in pre-internet days, trap disarming was more of a narrative exercise in tossing bags of flour, rocks, and poking things with a 11ft pole. It can be fun but not everyone wants to play "read the DM's mind, either", so in D&D3e & Pathfinder you have a d20 roll for the process. But at it's worse that becomes *I roll to spot a trap!* *I roll to disarm it!*

What are ways to make it feel more involved? A good balance between player creativity and in-character skill use.

When I look at movies and stories with traps though, it's often triggering the trap that's the fun part (rolling boulders, ceilings crashing down and all that).

Have Pathfinder's designers given any specific advice for using traps in games?

Without the use of spellcasting classes, wands, and so on, what's the biggest threat you've manged to overcome?

Things like "+1 sword" are OK, since they're more of a math bonus than truly magical.

To start, here's some I've already heard of:

Killed a yeth hound with a rope and a long spear once.

Through an unlikely series of Use Rope and Strength checks, I lassoed his head, pulled him in with a pillar as a fulcrum, and then tied his head to the pillar using the bind action. He couldn't make bite checks to eat the rope, so I bashed him with a long spear until dead.

killing a Dire Tiger as a horse archer

Using "three crits=instant death" rule, killed a minotaur

In Pathfinder's adventure paths and Pathfinder Society games, what's a rough estimate of the number of fighting encounters PCs will experience in one day, and how many rounds do those encounters tend to be? What's the average?

How about your own games?

Jason Bulmahn gave the reason for the recent Crane Wing errata:

Part of our process of updating a book involves talking to various departments to see if there is anything that is causing them problems or needs a second look. In this particular case, Crane Wing was the #1 problem child on the list from the PFS folks. Without much work you could build a character with an incredibly high AC that could still make attacks, and if a foe would happen to get lucky and score a hit, deflect it. This build, which was not really all that difficult to setup, was all made possible by Crane Wing.
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Lets not drag the martial vs caster canard into this. Start another thread...

So the problem with Crane Wing being a High AC exploit that comes online at level 5, and also stacked with a level 7 ability. What other high AC exploits can be achieved in Pathfinder at level 5, level 7?

Out of the box thinking is desired, such as a way to entirely avoid melee by level 5 through means other than AC.

So at the level that the party is ready to fight eleven-headed hydras and adult white dragons, the Rogue has access to the advanced talent "Rumor Monger" which gives the following benefit:

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Benefit: A rogue with this talent can attempt to spread a rumor through a small town or larger settlement by making a Bluff check. She can do so a number of times per week equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum 0). The DC is based on the size of the settlement, and it takes a week for the rumor to propagate through the settlement. If the check succeeds, the rumor is practically accepted as fact within the community; succeeding by 5 or more over the DC decreases the time it takes the rumor to propagate by 1d4 days. A failed check means the rumor failed to gain traction, while failing by 5 or more causes the opposite of the rumor or some other competing theory involving the rumor’s subject to take hold.
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Ok, so... what are the mechanics for spreading rumors for the 9 levels before Rogues get rumor monger?

Both as PC's and as a DM deciding what opposition to throw at 'em.

What are the lowest levels to do ability damage to STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA?

A character that can sneak, steal, disable traps, perhaps diplomance too (optional). Contributing to combat is also important, which class best suits this role?

A cursory look through the Pathfinder online materials makes me think it's "Trickery domain Cleric", as you get this:

-Bluff, Disguise, Stealth as class skills
-Copycat (Sp): You can create an illusory double of yourself as a move action. This double functions as a single Mirror Image and lasts for a number of rounds equal to your cleric level, or until the illusory duplicate is dispelled or destroyed. You can have no more than one copycat at a time. This ability does not stack with the Mirror Image spell. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.

-Master's Illusion (Sp): At 8th level, you can create an illusion that hides the appearance of yourself and any number of allies within 30 feet for 1 round per cleric level. This ability otherwise functions like the spell veil. The save DC to disbelieve this effect is equal to 10 + 1/2 your cleric level + your Wisdom modifier. The rounds do not need to be consecutive.

-Domain Spells: 1st—disguise self, 2nd—invisibility, 3rd—nondetection, 4th—confusion, 5th—false vision, 6th—mislead, 7th—screen, 8th—mass invisibility, 9th—time stop.

Trickery Channel Divinity: Heal—Creatures gain a channel bonus on Bluff, Disguise, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth checks for 1 minute. Harm—Creatures gain a channel penalty on Perception and Sense Motive checks for 1 minute.
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And then there's this trait....
"Trap Finder"
-Benefit(s): You gain a +1 trait bonus on Disable Device checks, and that skill is always a class skill for you. In addition, you can use Disable Device to disarm magic traps, like a rogue.
Which stacks nicely with the divine spell "Find Traps"

This also works well with Inquisitor. Since they already have stealth as a class skill and a ton of skill points you can take another domain/inquisition instead of Trickery, such as one that lets you use WIS instead of CHA for social interaction skills.

What other classes are good for the archetype of a guy who sneaks around disabling traps?

-Ninja with Trapfinder?
-I've heard that Alchemists make fantastic sneaky stabby guys, but I'm not familiar with that class

Are there arcane ways of building sneaky/stabby/trap disabling guys too? Like some kind of bard or magus archetype.