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Paladin's Detect Evil - Area of Effect
SwiftyKun wrote:
What is it you're trying to do specifically here? Detect evil shouldn't stop you from using jump scares or anything. I mean, Paladin's are immune to fear and all, but they can still be surprised as much as the next person.

I want to avoid the Pally becoming conditioned to use DE as a crutch for determining when there is real danger and when it's just his imagination getting the best of him. One of the tools in the GM's (or writer's, movie director's, etc) arsenal for creating fear is creating uncertainty...alternating evil with red herrings to keep players off balance:

For example, here is how a couple of the Haunting of Harrowstone (HoH) events could play out:

HoH spoiler alert:
WITHOUT DE PINGING. As characters relax in Kendra's parlor, recuperating from a long day of building their Trust score with the citizens of Ravengro, there comes a knock at the door.

"Ah, that must be Pevrin, delivering the supper I ordered from the Laughing Demon. I'll get it." says the Sorc.

She opens the door and is greeted by Professor Lorimor, maggots crawling from his ears and eyeballs, reaching out to throttle her with his leathery gray hands.

WITH DE PINGING: Replace the last paragraph with:"Wait, let me check something first," says the pally. He focuses on the front door for a few seconds. "Don't open it--moderately strong evil on the other side."

"I'll go out the back door, circle around to the front, and kill whatever foul creature it is that darkens our door!" Says the ranger.

Or

DM: As you get closer, you are able to make out the words of the song that the children sing as they jump rope. Several twisted tails of grisly murder...

"What foul evil has possessed these 'children'?", cries the pally. Tis not natural, even among the dour residents of this accursed town!"

The pally draws his sword and approaches the closest girl. "What manner of spell is this you sing, you heinous beast of the depths? I shall gut you where you stand!"

The ranger leaps to intervene, grabbing the pally's sword pommel, "Stay your hand, friend Pally! It's a grisly tune, to be true, but perhaps these are but simple children who are merely victims of the dire spirits that hangs over this unfortunate town!"

WITH DE PINGING: Replace the last two paragraphs with: The pally stares strangely at the girls for a few seconds. "Ah, I see. Go about your game, young ones. And remember to floss!"

Ok, these are admittedly a bit extreme, but you get the idea. Having the Pally pinging all over the place is like the the horror movie character that somehow gets the lights to stay on while the killer is loose in the neighborhood. More information = less suspense = less fear = less fun.
Paladin's Detect Evil - Area of Effect

I'm running Carrion Crown (Haunting of Harrowstone, at the moment) and doing my best to inject a sense of dread into my players. The pally might be immune to Fear, but I'm doing my best to make him and every other player feel it.

So, I've joined the long line of GM's trying to keep the pinging pally player from using Detect Evil to nullify any potential for being caught by evil unawares(i.e. taking away half my fun).

Which brings up a couple of questions on game mechanics. Since
A) The duration of Detect Evil is Concentration, and
B) The Area is a 30' Cone originating from the Paladin and pointing in the direction the Paladin is facing,and
C) This is an SLA which therefore requires a Standard Action

...is there anything keeping the Paladin from activating DE, then taking a move action while concentrating on DE, and turning his head all over the place to effectively bathe with Detect Evil the entire area within 30' of him throughout his move action?

I see nothing in the rules to prevent this. The only cost I can see for doing this (other than the pally having to give up a full move)would be to impose severe penalties on his Perception rolls due to his concentration on the DE.

Any advice? Thanks.
Saurian Shamans! Reptiles and Dinos and Overpowered, Oh My!

After playing a dozen or so Pathfinder sessions, my seasoned gaming buddies have asked me to GM a campaign for them. Probably do Legacy of Fire.

An experienced Pathfinder player asked me to pre-approve his planned character build -- a Saurian Shaman Druid. He plans to take the Shaping Focus feat, as well.

This player is an excellent role player but, like me, has many power-gaming tendencies...so when he began describing the archetype, my EXPLOIT alarms started going off in my head. Use ANY dino or reptile form...flyer, tank, sneaker, swimmer, DPS? Why on earth would anyone take any other shaman archetype, other than for flavor? Did the developers think this through? I started researching.

My reservations grew. My dino rules research left me doubting how dinos could have become extinct IRL. Per the rules, dinos are very powerful compared to their mammal equivalents, for instance. I ascribe to the "dinos were cold blooded" theory, so I plan to treat them that way... but I see no rules that ascribe penalties to cold-blooded creatures under cold environmental conditions. As a stickler for detail, that seems like a bad oversight to me. On a side note, my player indicated he could simply overcome the limits of an endothermic metabolism by casting Resist Elements. I'm not convinced that the spell would have such an effect, but I could be convinced.

I like to reward my players for thinking through their builds, so I am very hesitant to interfere with a Paizo build. I am also about game balance. I understand the game balance issue can always be addressed by "upping the competition". However, this may not help the other players who could feel underpowered after focusing less on power builds and more on role playing.

Thus, my questions:

-Are Saurian Shamans overpowered and in need of some nerfing? I'm considering requiring the player to pick from reptiles/pterasaurs, or land/sea dinos by splitting Saurian into two builds.

-I plan to create house rules for cold blooded creatures that would invoke some type of STR and DEX penalty, depending on how cold it is (up to -4, I suppose). Should such effects be nullifed, or perhaps reduced, by Endure Elements?