Orpheas's page

Like the title says. There are a lot of abilities and items lately that use a written version of a spell, which usually can be either a scroll of the spell or a copy of it scribed in a spellbook. I'm thinking in particular of the Arcane Archivist revelation that Oracles of Lore can get, and the Rings of Spell Knowledge and Mnemonic Vestments from Ultimate Equipment. Obviously, a player looking to have a large list of spells that they could make use with one or more of these of would much rather have a spellbook full of all the spells they want to use rather than a bunch of very expensive scrolls. However, most of the Core Rulebook is written under the assumption that only wizards use spellbooks, which tends to make it unclear as to whether other classes have the training and knowledge necessary to scribe spells in spellbooks with training in the Spellcraft skill. So my simplified question is:

Can a character who does not have any levels in a class that uses a spellbook to prepare spells (i.e. wizard, magus, or arcanist) still scribe spells into a spellbook if they can make the appropriate Spellcraft check?

So I had an idea while talking to a friend about how much easier (and how much more fun) it is to GM a scenario more than once, and how some scenarios are actually more fun to GM than play. So I had a thought: is there any reason why GMs shouldn't be allowed to receive a second credit for running a scenario as long as they haven't received credit for playing? Or in other words, could GMs convert unused player credit for a given scenario into GM credit?

It provides a nice incentive to GM scenarios more frequently without handing out anything that we didn't already have. Thoughts/opinions/concerns?

Like the title says — compared to other gods who represent/rule universal concepts such as fire, nature, luck, and the like, is Aroden, the god of one little race only found on one tiny planet in the Material Plane really that big a deal? And gods have died before- it seems like Aroden's only real significance to most of the other gods is the fact that he ascended to divinity in the way that he did and that he died without any apparent reason, which makes them uneasy.

Seriously, on the cosmic scale, why should anyone but humanity care about Aroden?

So I'm building an Ifrit Wishcrafter with the Fire Elemental Bloodline for PFS, and I'm trying to determine what exactly the Fire Affinity racial ability modifies.

In order to make my question as clear as possible, I thought it would be best to list the various things that a Sorcerer's Charisma can modify, in order of most to least likely to be affected (in my opinion).

1: Checks and attack rolls made by spells such as Hydraulic Push which add the caster's ability score modifier.

2: DCs and uses per day for class abilities (usually bloodline powers).

3: DCs for spells.

4: Bonus spells per day.

5: Charisma-based class skills. (An especially large stretch, but I thought it should be mentioned.)

If anyone could point out a RAW reason why any of these do or don't qualify, that would be much appreciated. I'm personally of the opinion that numbers 3 and 4 are the only real border cases, but I'm open to being proved wrong one way or the other.

Like the title says. I have an Arcane Archer who could really use some variety of Magical Knack (Or Practiced Spellcaster), but he's already taken a Magic-category trait. Are there any such alternatives which are legal for PFS?

Like the title says. What's the fastest movement a level 20 character can have? Start with a race that has a 30 foot move speed. Take Fleet for every feat, adding 50 feet. A one level dip in Travel Cleric and Barbarian adds another 20. And then 18 levels of Monk adds 60 more feet (Martial Artist to not clash alignments with barbarian), for a grand total of 160 feet. Anything I missed? Any ways to get this even faster?

The Lantern Bearer prestige class from Paths of Prestige has the Favored Enemy ability, which stacks with a Ranger's Favored Enemy, but operates on a different schedule.

So my question is, what does it mean that the two Favored Enemy abilities stack? Do I get another favored enemy when my total level reaches 10, like I would if I were a single-classed ranger?

I've been thinking about an Arcane Duelist bard for my next PFS character, and it's really starting to grow on me. I'm thinking of him as sort of an anti-caster, making use of the Disruptive and Spellbreaker bonus feats. But when I look at my spell options, I'm not seeing many spells that fit a melee bard. Bladed Dash and the Finale spells look good, but that's about it. Any suggestions?

I've been looking at the Banishment subschool for a possible wizard build. The 8th level ability is an Aura of Banishment, which banishes any Called or Summoned outsider after two failed will saves. Now, he's probably going to be adventuring in the Worldwound a fair amount, which got me thinking: what, exactly, is the Worldwound? Is it one, enormous, permanent Gate (in which case it's a Calling effect)? Is it an area where one is subject to random Plane Shifts from the Abyss to the Material Plane (making it Teleportation)? Or is it an area where the Abyss and the Material Plane actually physically overlap? The last seems the most likely to me, but I have no idea what would be considered. Any thoughts?

Which gods grant the Tyranny subdomain of the Law domain? I can't find this information anywhere I look. I checked the "Subdomains for everyone" blog post, but it appears to predate the publishing of the subdomains from Blood of Fiends (and Angels). I'm hoping to create an Oni-blooded Tiefling or possibly Tengu who worships Yaezhing and is basically the Tien version of a Hellknight. He might even become a Signifer, depending on his experiences.

Anyway, any help in pointing me to useful information would be great. This is for PFS, so if someone could point me to a relevant Mark/Mike post, that would be great.

So I was looking at the Sun variant channeling ability, which looks cool and flavorful for a paladin of Sarenrae. Every time you channel, the light level increases by one step in the channel area. This leads to the question, what's the effective spell level of a channel (or any other supernatural ability)? It wouldn't normally matter, except I have a feeling (this being PFS) that I'm going to run into Darkness or Deeper Darkness sooner or later. If someone could point me to a ruling I've missed on the topic, that would be great.

So I'm thinking of turning my performance-and-masterpiece-focused bard into a Pathfinder Chronicler. The problem is that I haven't built towards that goal so far (he just reached 3rd level), and I have some confusion as to how the class's Bardic Performance and Epic Tales abilities interact with the core bard's BP and masterpieces, plus a few other feats. My major points of confusion:

1: Do the first two levels of Pathfinder Chronicler count for purposes of stacking with existing bard levels to determine effective Bardic Performance level? It seems to me it could be read either way.

2: Can I inscribe a Masterpiece using the Chronicler's Epic Tales ability?

3: Does Lingering Performance increase the duration of an Epic Tale? What about Harmonic Spell or Discordant Voice?

4: Are there any ways to gain additional Masterpieces without spell progression other than sacrificing feats? I don't think there is, but I'd like to check.

Has anyone ever used this in Society play? How did it turn out? I'm considering it for a bard of mine, and I was wondering if anyone else had used it to good effect. I'm especially looking at calling a Bebilith when we know that demons are just ahead, and possibly see if any Marids or Lillends would be willing to trade their services for me teaching them some masterpieces or performing for them. Any stories?

I've been enjoying an archive binge of Digimon Tamers the last couple days, and since I've been trying to come up with a new character to start applying some GM credits to, I thought I'd set a little challenge for some flavorful fun and try to create Renamon(the female fox digimon), in such a way that she gets her "digivolutions" as she levels. Here is a wiki page for her.

Obviously, I'd be starting with a Kitsune. A Sorcerer, or better yet, Oracle, seems like the right mix of flavor and abilities. The Fox Shape feat would be perfect for the Kyuubimon digivolution, but I'm not sure where to go from there. Any idea what spells, bloodlines, mysteries, etc. I should take?

The Golden Legionnaire ability Allied Retribution says:

Nowhere does it say what type of action it is to activate this ability. I assumed without ever really thinking about it that no action was needed, and that it was just something I declared whenever an enemy got off an attack. However, I used this ability for the first time during a PFS scenario last night, and my GM asked what kind of action it was to activate that ability- quite reasonably, since I had already used an immediate action and all my attacks of opportunity. I didn't have an answer for him, since I'd never thought about it. So we both looked at the description, and I said I thought it was an automatic reaction, but he reminded me that if an ability doesn't say what type of action is required to activate it, we're supposed to assume it's a standard action.

Now, I totally agree in every way with how my GM handled the situation, and played by his ruling for the rest of the scenario. But despite his convincing argument, something in the wording still makes me want to think that it works the way I originally believed. And if it doesn't, a standard action for a +1 on attack and damage against one enemy for me alone seems like a pretty terrible use of my time in most situations. So... am I just trying to make this ability more powerful than it's supposed to be? Or is there something both of us missed that explains how this ability is activated?

So for my next PFS character I'm considering a Tiefling Shadowcaster. The problem is that while I love the archetype, I don't really get anything out of it until level 10. The shadow bond is fun, but I'd rather have a bonded object, and I'll already have Darkvision, so I'd be giving up my 5th-level Wizard bonus feat for nothing. It wouldn't bother me except, as always, I want more feats than I have space for: Fiend Sight(x2), Tenebrous Spell, Umbral Spell, and Shadow Grasp take up all my feats for the first nine levels. If I drop the archetype, I can grab a few more goodies. But on the other hand, I really do love the 10th level ability, which adds 20% realism to Shadow spells.

My question basically boils down to: Just how much use will I get out of the Shadow spells? If they're not as good as I think they are, I'd much rather find out now than when I'm 10 levels and a suddenly useless archetype into the character.

I've been trying to come up with a nice new PFS character for a little while, and what I'm looking at right now is a Halfling Lore Oracle with the Clouded Vision Curse, taking the racial favored class bonus to get the Blindsense and Blindsight abilities earlier. And while paging through Ultimate Equipment, it occurred to me that the Mask of a Thousand Tomes would be magnificent flavor, and actually very useful once I got the higher-level curse benefits. But a thread a little while back suggested that if I were blind, even if I had blindsense I wouldn't be able to target any spells that required targeting. I'm not sure how much that would impair me, so any thoughts on the following would be appreciated.

Could I build an effective Oracle using mainly spells that either don't require targeting or are used mainly out of combat (i.e. bless and cures)?

Would I be able to target spells once I got blindsight?

Would it make sense to mainly wear the mask outside of combat? If so, what kind of action would it be to remove the mask?

Would I even be able to make knowledge checks about monsters that I can only "see" with blindsight? This one is probably my biggest concern, not least because it seems the most subject to table variation.

So I've been playing an Arcane Archer in PFS for a while now, and I just reached level 11 (Fighter 6/Wiz 1/AA 4). So now I've got the Seeker Arrow special, and I'm a bit confused by what exactly it requires and does.

The wording of the ability:

So here are my two main problems. First, what exactly is meant by "a target known to him"? Do I need to know the exact square? The general area, as in "target is in the Obscuring Mist"? Or can I just be confident that the person I want to hit is somewhere within my bow's considerable range?

Second, just how much will it turn? If I shoot it completely the wrong way, will it do a 180, fly past me, and hit the target? If I know the target is at the bottom of a large randomly generated dungeon, can I shoot the arrow from outside and let it fly down all the stairs, past all the traps and monsters, and go right to the boss?

I'd appreciate any thoughts anyone has, on this or other AA abilities(Centering cones with Imbue Arrow, anyone?). I'm just trying to reduce my possible table variation, so all viewpoints are welcome- I'd prefer to be told that it doesn't work the way I think outside of a game.

I've always loved prestige classes, and even the wonderful fun of archetypes can't keep me from that road nonoptimally traveled. And so, I present for your consideration and review, a shadowdancer build. Lacking any real progression of other class abilities that would help in combat (sneak attack, spellcasting, or even full BAB), I went with a strength damaging build to make maximum use of the shadow companion. And to compensate for the high feat requirements of the shadowdancer, I took two levels of fighter.

Tiefling(Rakshasa Heritage)

Str 10
Dex 18
Con 10
Int 14
Wis 8
Cha 16

Level 1- Fighter(Lore Warden) 1, Weapon Finesse, Two-Weapon Fighting.
Level 2- Ninja 1, poison use, Sneak Attack 1d6.
Level 3- Ninja 2, Pressure Points trick, ki pool, Combat Reflexes.
Level 4- Ninja 3, Sneak attack 2d6, no trace +1.
Level 5- Fighter(Lore Warden) 2, Dodge, Mobility, Combat Expertise.
Level 6-onward- Shadowdancer(Haven't really decided what feats and talents to take yet.)

So any thoughts? Any criticism is appreciated.