Raulwocket's page

Hey all,

I play a control style mage dealing with battlefield control and positioning of both friendly and enemy units. I'm always looking for new ways to do my job better and I came up with the idea of using Hydraulic Push as a repositioning spell similar to Telekinetic Charge.

My question has several parts:
1. Can Hydraulic Push be used on a friendly target to reposition them on the field?
2. If the friendly target is expecting the spell, can he willingly "fail" his CMB against the spell and allow himself to be moved, and if so what would his CMD be considered for purposes of distance pushed?
3. Can the caster choose to "cut short" the total distance of the bull rush? For example, he beats the CMD by 20 and has the ability to move the target 4 spaces. Can he instead choose to cut it short and only move the target 2 spaces instead?

Our DM has answered the questions as follows.
1. Yes, but we had to practice it first in order to prepare the targets for the effect.
2. Yes, and the CMD would be considered 0.
3. No.

Looking forward to input.

OK, so a 5 foot step during a cleave is out, what about Step up, Following Step, or Step up and Strike feats as they are all immediate actions?

*A small dirty face with a blonde beard under a large nose pokes in from a side hall* Pathfinder Raulwocket Winterbarren reporting for duty.

My group and I were having a discussion about the starting ages, and applicable experience of the various races. Here are the givens we used: All races learn at roughly the same rate: a human and another race will soak up information at the same speed. None of the races have a period of do nothing time. (all numbers taken from Pathfinder Core book 5th printing Pg. 169)

Race Adulthood
Human 15 +1-6 years during this time they learn the basics of living, their future trade/ class. Which means that the fastest maturing human is 16 years old. The oldest human will live naturally to be 110 years old.

Half-orc 14 +1-12 years during this time they learn the basics of living, their future trade/ class. Which means that the fastest maturing half-orc (15 years old) is 1 year ahead of the curve compared to a human. The oldest half-orc will live naturally to be 80 years old.

Half-elf 20 +1-18 years during this time they learn the basics of living, their future trade/ class. Which means that the fastest maturing half-elf (21 years old) is 6 years behind the curve compared to a human. The oldest half-elf will live naturally to be 185 years old.

Halfling 20 +2-24 years during this time they learn the basics of living, their future trade/ class. Which means that the fastest maturing halfling (22 years old) is 7 years behind the curve compared to a human. The oldest halfling will live naturally to be 200 years old.

Dwarf 40 +3-42 years during this time they learn the basics of living, their future trade/ class. Which means that the fastest maturing dwarf (43 years old) is 27 years behind the curve compared to a human. The oldest dwarf will live naturally to be 400 years old.

Gnome 40 +4-54 years during this time they learn the basics of living, their future trade/ class. Which means that the fastest maturing gnome (44 years old) is 28 years behind the curve compared to a human. The oldest gnome will live naturally to be 500 years old.

Elf 110 +4-60 years during this time they learn the basics of living, their future trade/ class. Which means that the fastest maturing elf (114 years old) is 98 years behind the curve compared to a human. The oldest elf will live naturally to be 750 yeas old.

So that means that a group of first level wizards, each who works under the same master, and each that learns at the fastest possible rate for their race will be the following ages at their graduation:
16 year old Half-Orc first level wizard (2 years)
17 year old Human first level wizard (2 years)
23 year old Half-Elf first level wizard (3 years)
24 year old Halfling first level wizard (4 years)
47 year old Dwarf first level wizard (7 years)
49 year old Gnome first level wizard (9 years)
120 year old Elf first level wizard (10 years)

Meaning that it will take an Elf, which by many are considered to be the masters of magic of the fantasy world, 8 years of additional study to become as proficient a wizard as a half-orc, the dumb ones of the fantasy world.

This is a typical example of age grouping used in a lot of RPG's. My problem is this: In the longer lived races what are the people learning in their MANY years of additional time of growth and study? I'm sure that their are valid fantasy and story reasons for the age gap. But even so, according to the rules, with 98 years of additional growth and training, a 114 year old elf fighter has no better skill or ability than a 16 year old human fighter? That just does not make sense, especily when you take into account elves are proficient with longbows, longswords, rapiers, and shortbows, and receive training in “elven” weapons no matter which class they go into.

Examine nature, the majority of species that have a life span of over 50 years, mature quickly, learn on the fly, and reach physical maturity within roughly 15-20 years. That applies to humans which can live to be around 110 years old, or to Antarctic sponge, some estimate the oldest known specimens are 1,550 years old.

I think the starting ages and the ages for learning a class need to be revamped.

Just my 1.9876944718329 (rounded up to 2) cents.