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Consecrate and Desecrate need updated spell descriptions, as they both affect the Turning Check (which does not exist in PFRPG).

Here are the old spell descriptions, with the text I propose to change emphasized.

This spell blesses an area with positive energy. Each Charisma check made to turn undead within this area gains a +3 sacred bonus. Every undead creature entering a consecrated area suffers minor disruption, giving it a -1 penalty on attack rolls, damage rolls, and saves. Undead cannot be created within or summoned into a consecrated area.

If the consecrated area contains an altar, shrine, or other permanent fixture dedicated to your deity, pantheon, or aligned higher power, the modifiers given above are doubled (+6 sacred bonus on turning checks, -2 penalties for undead in the area). You cannot consecrate an area with a similar fixture of a deity other than your own patron.

If the area does contain an altar, shrine, or other permanent fixture of a deity, pantheon, or higher power other than your patron, the consecrate spell instead curses the area, cutting off its connection with the associated deity or power. This secondary function, if used, does not also grant the bonuses and penalties relating to undead, as given above.

Consecrate counters and dispels desecrate.

Material Component: A vial of holy water and 25 gp worth (5 pounds) of silver dust, all of which must be sprinkled around the area.

This spell imbues an area with negative energy. Each Charisma check made to turn undead within this area takes a -3 profane penalty, and every undead creature entering a desecrated area gains a +1 profane bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws. An undead creature created within or summoned into such an area gains +1 hit points per HD.

If the desecrated area contains an altar, shrine, or other permanent fixture dedicated to your deity or aligned higher power, the modifiers given above are doubled (-6 profane penalty on turning checks, +2 profane bonus and +2 hit points per HD for undead in the area).

Furthermore, anyone who casts animate dead within this area may create as many as double the normal amount of undead (that is, 4 HD per caster level rather than 2 HD per caster level).

If the area contains an altar, shrine, or other permanent fixture of a deity, pantheon, or higher power other than your patron, the desecrate spell instead curses the area, cutting off its connection with the associated deity or power. This secondary function, if used, does not also grant the bonuses and penalties relating to undead, as given above.

Desecrate counters and dispels consecrate.

Material Component: A vial of unholy water and 25 gp worth (5 pounds) of silver dust, all of which must be sprinkled around the area.

Note that if you refer to the table for the Turning Check, you see that a +3 bonus effectively lets you turn as a cleric one level higher (at least for the purpose of the Turning Check); while a -3 penalty corresponds to turning as a cleric one level lower. Therefore, my proposed spell descriptions read:

This spell blesses an area with positive energy. Positive energy channeled by a character in the area of affect is done so as if her cleric level were one level higher, while negative energy is channeled at one cleric level lower. Every undead creature entering a consecrated area suffers minor disruption, giving it a -1 penalty on attack rolls, damage rolls, and saves. Undead cannot be created within or summoned into a consecrated area.

If the consecrated area contains an altar, shrine, or other permanent fixture dedicated to your deity, pantheon, or aligned higher power, the modifiers given above are doubled (+2 cleric level for channeling positive energy, -2 cleric level for channeling negative energy, -2 penalties for undead in the area). You cannot consecrate an area with a similar fixture of a deity other than your own patron.

If the area does contain an altar, shrine, or other permanent fixture of a deity, pantheon, or higher power other than your patron, the consecrate spell instead curses the area, cutting off its connection with the associated deity or power. This secondary function, if used, does not also grant the bonuses and penalties relating to undead, as given above.

Consecrate counters and dispels desecrate.

Material Component: A vial of holy water and 25 gp worth (5 pounds) of silver dust, all of which must be sprinkled around the area.

This spell imbues an area with negative energy. Negative energy channeled by a character in the area of affect is done so as if her cleric level were one level higher, while positive energy is channeled at one cleric level lower. Undead creatures entering a desecrated area gain a +1 profane bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws. An undead creature created within or summoned into such an area gains +1 hit points per HD.

If the desecrated area contains an altar, shrine, or other permanent fixture dedicated to your deity or aligned higher power, the modifiers given above are doubled (+2 cleric level for channeling negative energy, -2 cleric level for channeling positive energy, +2 profane bonus and +2 hit points per HD for undead in the area).

Furthermore, anyone who casts animate dead within this area may create as many as double the normal amount of undead (that is, 4 HD per caster level rather than 2 HD per caster level).

If the area contains an altar, shrine, or other permanent fixture of a deity, pantheon, or higher power other than your patron, the desecrate spell instead curses the area, cutting off its connection with the associated deity or power. This secondary function, if used, does not also grant the bonuses and penalties relating to undead, as given above.

Desecrate counters and dispels consecrate.

Material Component: A vial of unholy water and 25 gp worth (5 pounds) of silver dust, all of which must be sprinkled around the area.

These spells are slightly more powerful than the 3.5 version (they both affect both good and evil clerics, whereas the old spells affected only good clerics). Also note that if you a cleric of odd level when you cast these spells the effect is on the Will save DC for half damage (either +1 or -1); if you are even level, it increases the number of dice by one.

First of all, I want to say that I really like the new rules for afflictions, especially poisons. As a DM, I often forgot to ask for a saving throw 1 minute later.

That said, I also noticed that you have changed both the effect and the DC for many monsters' poisons. In particular, the monstrous scorpion now deals Str damage instead of Con damage, and the Small monstrous centipede's DC is higher. Moreover, the Medium monstrous spider formerly dealt 1d4 Str damage, and now deals 1 Str damage for up to 3 rounds (why not 4 rounds?). I have no problem with any of these, but wonder if you have a systematic approach to these changes?

For example, I want to use a Medium monstrous centipede. The frequency and the total number of saves don't really seem to be much of a problem. I'll just require one save per round up to the maximum damage that the poison formerly was capable of inflicting. But what exactly is happening with the saving throw DCs? The only general pattern that I could discern was that they are increasing.

Please help. Thanks.

I agree that the 3.5 version of darkness is wonky and needs some work. However, the Pathfinder version essentially does nothing. I will explain, and then I will offer the alternative that I use. First, let's restate the spell description, from page 101:

This spell causes an object to radiate darkness out to a 20-foot radius. Creatures without darkvision are effectively blinded in this area. Normal lights (torches, candles, lanterns, and so forth) and light spells brought inside the area of darkness can brighten the area, allowing a creature to see normally in the light’s radius.

If darkness is cast on a small object that is then placed inside or under a lightproof covering, the spell’s effect is blocked until the covering is removed.

Darkness can be used to counter or dispel any light spell of equal or lower spell level.

Our first case will be the best-case-scenario (from the point of view of the spell). A battle is being fought in a brightly lit room when someone casts darkness. Although not explicit in the spell, it could be inferred that this should cause the light sources (torches, say) to no longer shed light. After all, there is the phrase "brought inside the area" which implies that those already in the area don't work. Okay, so now it is dark. A wizard casts light and it is bright again. Evil cleric down a 2nd-level spell, wizard down a cantrip.

Second case: Same battle being fought outside at high noon. Evil cleric casts darkness. Does this cause the sun to stop shedding light? We probably all agree that it doesn't. Most would say that this spell would cause the area of magical darkness to block out the sun. Okay, but big deal. Wizard casts light again. Now the cantrip is more powerful than the sun (which is a god in some campaigns).

Of course, if there were no light sources to begin with, then the spell does nothing. For instance, what does an area of permanent darkness look like? Just like any other area: it is dark until you bring light into it.

My proposed alteration depends on the three levels of illumination we have in the game: bright light, shadowy illumination, and darkness.

Darkness[/i]]

This spell causes an object to radiate darkness out to a 20-foot radius. Creatures without darkvision are effectively blinded in this area. Normal lights (torches, candles, lanterns, and so forth) and light spells (edit: delete "brought") inside the area of darkness can brighten the area; however, the level of illumination is worsened by one step (bright light becomes shadowy illumination, and shadowy illumination becomes darkness).

If darkness is cast on a small object that is then placed inside or under a lightproof covering, the spell’s effect is blocked until the covering is removed.

Darkness can be used to counter or dispel any light spell of equal or lower spell level.

With this change on the board, I would leave deeper darkness as is, except possibly considering natural sunlight to be magical light (thus deeper darkness cast outside at high noon would cause a 60-foot radius of shadowy illumination). My argument for this is that natural sunlight is more powerful than the daylight spell, as evidenced by its effect on vampires (and that, in some campaigns, it originates directly from a god).

Perhaps other changes could be added to further improve on these suggestions.

As an alternative for XP costs (for crafting items as well as spells such as wish), consider aging. A character crafting a magic item ages a number of days equal to 1/25 of the base price of a magic item; a character casting a spell with XP cost ages a number of days equal to the XP cost of the spell.

1st Level Scroll: age 1 day.
Cast wish: age 5,000 days (about 13.7 years).
Craft some 1,000,000 gp item: age 40,000 days (about 110 years).

Why I like it (YMMV):
o It provides a mechanic that would limit the amount of crafting, but not eliminate it altogether.
o It doesn't really penalize characters for crafting, the way XP costs do (for the most part, aging actually improves casters).
o It provides a means to explain why some (if not most) high-level wizards are elderly (whereas high-level PC wizards in 3.5 are almost always 20-something).
o It actually makes the longevity of elves and dwarves worthwhile.
o Flavorwise, it is a better representation of putting your essence into the magic item.
o Okay, I admit: it also reminds me of some of the things I really liked about 1st-Edition AD&D.

Designers: I love the new Combat Maneuvers rules, much simpler. However, one thing that bugs me is that a rogue with Str 8, Dex 18 is going to be easier to Trip than a cleric with Str 10, Dex 10 (all else being equal).

My suggestion:
Add one more defense score, the Combat Maneuvers Defense Class (CMDC).

CMDC = 15 + base attack bonus + (Str modifier OR Dex modifier) + special size bonus.

The target gets to use her Str modifier OR her Dex modifier, whichever is better.

Pros:
It is clear what it adds, Dex-based characters can also avoid combat maneuvers performed on them. It is still just one step (as opposed to the 3.5 rules) that now covers both the difficulty of getting to the target, and the difficulty of overpowering him.

Cons:
This is another stat to keep track of. However, it isn't really any more difficult than AC, because you calculate it once and then write it next to AC. The stat block might look like:

BAB +2, CMB +3, CMDC 21
(a human fighter 2 with Str 13, Dex 18, for example)

Thanks.