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Liberty’s Blessing (Sp): You touch a willing creature as a standard action, granting it a boon. A creature with this boon can, as a swift action, make a saving throw against a single spell or effect it is suffering from that grants a save. The DC of the saving throw is equal to the original DC of the spell or effect. If the saving throw is successful, the effect ends. This boon lasts for 1 minute or until successfully used to remove a spell or effect, whichever duration is shorter. You can use this ability for a number of times equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.

From Liberation [Freedom] domain/subdomain.

I read through a few threads on this, but none with the question I want to ask.

Please note the bolded sentence. As written, this ability does not grant one re-roll; it grants as many re-rolls as you can fit into a minute, or until you succeed. So, as many as 10 re-rolls against a particularly bad affliction/effect that might normally only allow one save. And that's for each use of the ability. So, up to 10x(3+WIS) rerolls per day.

Do you think this is RAI? Hoping not, but would like to hear other opinions.

Stormwalker (Su): The shaman can move through non-magical fog, rain, mist, snow, and other environmental effects without penalty (see Weather). She is never slowed by such effects, and she doesn't need to attempt Acrobatics skill checks to move across such surfaces. She can also move through magical environmental effects that she created. At 10th level, the shaman can see twice as far as normal through environmental effects, whether or not they are magical in nature.

As the title says, does this remove penalties from flying through non-magical wind? I would think RAW, yes, because you've moving through an environmental effect (wind) which would normally have penalties. However, not sure about the RAI, or if I'm reading too much into it.

I noticed this contrast between the capstone for the Life Oracle and the Life Shaman:

Upon reaching 20th level... immunity to bleed, death attacks, and negative energy, as well as to the exhausted, fatigued, nauseated, and sickened conditions. Ability damage and drain cannot reduce her to below 1 in any ability score. She automatically succeeds at saving throws against massive damage. When she is reduced to below 0 hit points, she doesn't die until her negative hit point total exceeds double her Constitution score.

Upon reaching 20th level... immune to bleed, death attacks, exhaustion, fatigue, nausea effects, negative levels, and sickened effects. Ability damage and drain cannot reduce you below 1 in any ability score. You automatically make saving throws against massive damage. When you are below 0 hit points, you do not die until your negative total is in excess of twice your Constitution score.

The only difference, so far as a I can see, is that one grants immunity to "negative energy", and the other to "negative levels". Does the former encompass the latter? I presume immunity to negative energy protects against negative energy hit point damage, whereas immunity to negative levels does not. Any other key differences?

Upon reaching 20th level, the shaman becomes the spirit of heaven. She receives a bonus on all saving throws equal to her Wisdom modifier. ...

Yes, I realize, 20th level ability, who really cares. BUT, I'm curious. Since it's been ruled that ability modifiers are their own type, which cannot be stacked, does this mean that this ability really only adds WIS to reflex and fortitude saves? I would venture that's not RAI, but who am I to say.

So, Lyrakien azata, say. She is tiny. Is there anything at all, rules wise, that prevents her from throwing splash weapons, presumably comically huge compared to herself, just as effectively as her master can (perhaps more so, given her high dexterity)?

I mean, there should be, given her size. But is there? I'm not aware of any sizing rules for splash weapons.

Looking to make a healer NPC in a very low-magic setting. They'llhave skill unlock for Heal (which is the only way to make non-magic healing anything viable), and the "Battlefield Surgeon" trait which allows two uses of Treat Deadly Wounds on a given character per day.

My question is whether anyone is aware of any method to make the use time for Treat Deadly Wounds (1 hour) faster. If not, I may just want it to give faster time for an increased DC.

Danke.

Relevant section

At 4th level, a duettist's familiar learns how to create supernatural effects with its performances, just like its master. The familiar can use any of its master's bardic performances, but only the familiar or the duettist can have a performance active at any given time, not both. If one is performing and the other starts a performance, the previous performance immediately ends. Each round that the familiar performs consumes 2 rounds of the duettist's bardic performance.

So, it has to be the case that the familiar is using your bard level for the performances, but does it use your charisma bonus, or its bonus, for determining the DCs of the bardic music abilities? What about when a bardic performance calls for a Perform check?

I was looking through some Bard archetypes (e.g. Flame Dancer) and noticed that some add spells to your spells known, but do not specify that they are added to the Bard spell list.

Does this mean, for example, that you would need to UMD to use a wand of that spell, even if you know it?

Dirge of Doom bardic performance makes enemies shaken, Memorable trait says:

When you modify attitude with Diplomacy or Intimidate, it lasts 50% longer. Whenever you create a fear or mind-affecting effect that lasts at least 2 rounds, it lasts an additional round.

So, if a Bard with the Memorable trait played Dirge of Doom for two rounds and then stopped, would the enemies continue being shaken for one round afterward? This is not even considering the Lingering Performance feat, mind you.

If so, would he be able to start another type of performance immediately, and have the two overlap (if only for a single round)?

This isn't anything broken, more like a quirky edge case, but if this works, it makes the Memorable trait slightly more worth considering for a Bard.

So, "Expanded Portfolio" in the Exalted prestige class grants the spells of a domain as a SLA each useable 1/day (provided you are of sufficient level to cast them). So, if one takes the Healing [Resurrection] domain, then you can (assuming you are casting level 9/13/17) pop off a Raise Dead/Resurrection/True Resurrection 1/day each, with no material component.

Is that correct?

Specifically, the Sensei archetype of monk can potentially grant allies Diamond Body (immunity to poison) for 1 round. There are two ways I can think of this working:

Option 1 (most powerful): The Diamond Body instantly neutralizes any poisons in the system of the character, and provides them with protection from any further poisoning for that round. Useful, though since you can't do that before level 10, definitely nothing gamebreaking.

Option 2: The Diamond Body protects from the effects of poison for that one round, and prevents further poisons from taking effect during that round, but any poisons already in the bloodstream continue on the following round.

Thoughts? Previous rulings?

"Recall (Su): With a touch, you can cause a creature to recall some bit of forgotten lore or information. The creature can retry any Knowledge skill check it has made within the past minute, gaining a insight bonus on the check equal to your Wisdom modifier. You can use this ability a number times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier."

1st, can this be used on yourself? I think the answer is yes.

2nd, which just occurred to me, can you keep using this on the same check? RAW, it seems it would work (obviously the insight bonuses would not keep stacking). RAI, not sure.

Relevant text:

At 1st level, as a standard action, a Contemplative can touch a creature to grant it a temporary ki point until the beginning of the Contemplative's next turn. ... The Contemplative can target himself with this ability as a swift action, but doing so costs 2 uses of the ability.

Now, normally touch powers that are standard actions can be used on yourself (as a standard action) unless the ability says otherwise. SO, there are two ways to read this power, and I have no idea which is correct.

Option 1:

At 1st level, as a standard action, a Contemplative can touch a creature to grant it a temporary ki point until the beginning of the Contemplative's next turn. ... The Contemplative can target himself with this ability as a swift action, but doing so costs 2 uses of the ability.

For option 1, the significant part is the fact that it is a swift action. Under this interpretation, you could target yourself as a standard action (as is normal for touch powers), but would have to spend 2 ki if you wanted to spend only a swift action doing so (say, if you wanted to use that ki for a SLA).

Option 2:

At 1st level, as a standard action, a Contemplative can touch a creature to grant it a temporary ki point until the beginning of the Contemplative's next turn. ... The Contemplative can target himself with this ability as a swift action, but doing so costs 2 uses of the ability.

For option 2, the significant part is that it targets you. Under this interpretation, spending 2 ki and taking a swift action is the *only* way the ability can be used on yourself.

I honestly think both can be read as RAW, but am looking for input. Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Hey, so: I've got a 5th level character, Monk (Ki Mystic, Sensei, Qinggong) 4 / Investigator (Spiritualist) 1 NPC here. Long and short of it is that he's got +21+1d6 in 8 knowledges, and +19+1d6 in the other two, along with several other flavorful abilities.

He's pretty bad combat wise, only saved from being *completely* useless through Advice and Insightful Strike. But that's fine, because he's an NPC. I would love any general suggestions as to anything I can do to tweak him to either make him more flavorful, more interesting, or just better. Already using the Breadth of Experience, Dilettante and Deific Obedience (Irori) feats. Traits in particular; right now I have Wisdom in the Flesh and Grounded, but the latter can easily be replaced.

Thanks in advance for any input!

Finally got tired of creating characters by hand. I'm aware of HeroLab, of course, but I'm not willing to drop $100+ (the amount needed to get "access" to a full-ish set of material)

Free is ideal, of course, but I AM willing to pay 20-30 bucks for a "complete" system. Up to $50 if it's really good.

I'm about to give this a try; don't know if others have experience with it.

Any recommendations within these parameters are greatly appreciated.

So, I have a build I'm tinkering with, which involves being able to shut down opponents through the use of Antagonize (feat) and Bewildering Koan.

Here's the highlights of the build at level 7:

There's two problems with it I'm looking to remedy, if possible.

One, he's rather lackluster before level 5 (when he gets Bewildering Koan). He can inspire courage and Antagonize people, but still nothing amazing.

Two, beyond using Inspire Courage and a limited bardic spell selection, he's somewhat of a lump against mindless things. Bewildering Koan is not mind-affecting explicitly, but it's pretty clear it at least won't work on things that have no minds at all.

Any suggestions as to how to shore up these weaknesses are greatly appreciated.

text

By RAW, this is neither, but it seems a bit silly to say so. It seems pretty apparent that the creature would need to understand the question you are asking them, and thus it should at least be language-dependent.

Mind-affecting I'm much less sure about. Would this affect a vampire, for example, who is immune to mind-affecting things, but not mindless. I lean toward yes, but am uncertain.

Okay, so I'm looking for brainstorming ideas regarding a halfling whip user (not necessarily using a whip from level 1, though) who I'm going to make tiny via 'reduce person' (for the purposes of this, assume a permanent item of reduce person, priced via the rules at 4,000gp, is permitted, so that's not a factor in the long run).

20 pt buy: Str 10 Con 14 Dex 18 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 17 (after racial)
4th level point into charisma, rest into dexterity.

I'm thinking starting with a level in Swashbuckler, for the finesse and pizzazz, or whatever they're calling it. Probably get up to at least 3 levels in Swashbuckler for the precise strike.

Going to make use of the Iroran Paladin for four levels, to get +4 to AC, +CHA to all saves, bunch of ki, 2/day +2 insight bonus to most things against one foe, and a bit of lay on hands.

Further thinking of getting four levels into Bard (Archaeologist) to get Uncanny Dodge, whip proficiency, 'heroism', a bonus feat, and of course Archaeologist's Luck. Plus it's thematic.

For damage, going to make use of the Risky Striker feat, and of course aim to get an agile weapon ASAP, in addition to the precise strike damage from swashbuckler.

So...

I'm basically looking for ideas if there is anything obvious I'm missing. I'm willing to change anything I've said so far, except the fact that he is size tiny, and he is using a melee weapon. I think whip is the only way to make that work well, due to the fact that he can have 10 foot reach with it, but I could be wrong.

I'm considering making a dex-based halfling using Risky Striker feat, and a whip, ultimately making use of 'reduce person' to become tiny on a regular basis, around the same time he has the Whip Mastery and Improved Whip Mastery feats.

First, how long of a reach does a tiny creature using a whip have? James Jacobs says 10 feet, which I will go with if there is nothing more official.

Second, what does the base damage of a whip scale to for tiny? A small whip is 1d2. Is there anything less than 1d2? Does it just become "1"?

Third, anyone know of any way to deal piercing damage with a whip? I ask because of a potential Swashbuckler involvement in the build. If not, I'll do without Swashbuckler.

Suppose a spell is a spell you have as a domain spell, but it's not on your normal class spell list ('enlarge person' via the Strength domain, for example). Can you use a wand with that spell in it, without making use of Use Magic Device checks?

I know Aasimar, Tengu and Gnomes have alternate racial traits for this. Are there any other races, or other such abilities?

At 2nd level, a bard can choose one type of Perform skill. He can use his bonus in that skill in place of his bonus in associated skills. When substituting in this way, the bard uses his total Perform skill bonus, including class skill bonus, in place of its associated skill's bonus, whether or not he has ranks in that skill or if it is a class skill.

I couldn't find an answer to this specific question in the various threads I looked for, so I thought I'd ask.

Suppose a bard uses his Perform (Oratory) bonus to make a Diplomacy check. Suppose further he has an ability that lets him roll diplomacy checks twice. Does this ability function? In other words, is he actually making a 'diplomacy check'?

Iroran Paladin

Confident Defense (Ex): At 1st level, when wearing light or no armor and not using a shield, an Iroran paladin adds 1 point of his Charisma bonus (if any) per class level to his Dexterity bonus to his Armor Class. If he is caught flat-footed or otherwise denied his Dexterity bonus, he also loses this bonus. This ability replaces his proficiency with medium armor, heavy armor, and shields.

I'm not sure I've got the meaning of the bolded part correct. I think it means that you add your charisma modifier to your dexterity modifier, and that the resulting sum acts as your dexterity modifier for your AC, being capped by your armors max dex and all.

Does this seem to be correct? Other readings?

So... I've GM'd a few games for PFS, and recently had a Pageant of the Peacock using Bard character. I decided I won't do that again.

What I want to know is, how do I handle this? I never volunteer to GM at my store, but I'm on the "ask" list to GM when there isn't enough. I don't want to create problems unnecessarily, but I will not run another game where a character substitutes one skill for 15 or so by giving up a single spell known (does whomever wrote that still work for paizo, by the way?). I'd rather never play PFS again than do so, as it encapsulates everything that's bad about PFS with nothing that is good about it.

Go ahead and call me petulant or whatever, as you wish. There are a great many gripes I have about PFS, but this is the first thing that's actually been bad enough that I would not be willing to run a game with it.

My options as I see it are this, when asked to GM a game:

1) "Yes, as long as none of the players use Pageant of the Peacock"; ask around the players, determine whether they have it, etc.

2) Use a thin semantic argument to prevent players from substituting one skill for 15 or so. In that case, I would of course make it clear to any players at the beginning of the game that this was my decision.

The semantic argument goes like this:

Which is the better path to take, in general? Are there explicit rulings from PFS, FAQs or otherwise that would clearly render the semantic approach illegal?

I've GMed a few games now in PFS (only 7 atm), and there is an aspect that is greatly reducing my enjoyment of the process. I'm wondering if there is any recourse for this.

As is news to absolutely no one, dumping at least one mental stat, sometimes several, is the national past-time of Absalom. Frustratingly, I haven't once seen any reflection of this in the behavior of the characters themselves, with the exception of one charisma dumper who was 'grumpy'.

The first question is, am I allowed to, as a GM, ask the following at the beginning of a session:

"Besides boring numerical penalties, tell me what limitations your low intelligence/wisdom/charisma places on your character's behavior?"

Is that okay?

I'm fairly certain, unfortunately, that I'm not allowed to say "No, your intelligence is 5, placing you one above the Village Idiot, which means you can't solve the complex puzzle", correct?

It's been established that the Crafter's Fortune bonus can be used for day job rolls.

Assuming the scenario ends in a town of 5,000 people, can a player purchase a Crafter's Fortune spell (10gp) to use on their Day Job roll? This is definitely profitable for those with a reasonable check bonus.

So, the knowledge skill entry says, under whether you can retry a knowledge check:

"No. The check represents what you know, and thinking about a topic a second time doesn’t let you know something that you never learned in the first place."

But what if the character had, for example, a Pathfinder Chronicle? He's fighting a monster, fails to identify it. After the combat is done, he pulls out his chronicle to look it up.

I would think it perfectly reasonable that he can make another knowledge check in that case; certainly the reason given for why a knowledge check cannot be re-tried does not hold up.

What are other people's thoughts on the RAW, RAI of this, and how would you run it?

EDIT: Another possible way to run it would be to allow them to apply the +2 after the combat to the result they rolled during combat, and see if that makes the difference in identifying the creature. This might be the best from a logical perspective, but it also requires bookkeeping.

Just wanted to verify my math on this, and my understanding that I could get this with 2 PP.

Composite Longbow = 100gp
MW = +300 gp
+2 strength rating = +200gp
Greenwood = 50gp x 3 lbs. = +150gp

Total = 750gp.

Seems legit?

I realize that using greenwood is not that big a deal, as I can't recall playing in a scenario where your weapons were ever damaged, but my character's strength is 14, so might as well use the 150gp gap for something.

I've got a 5 intelligence Demon-Spawn Tiefling I'm going to be using in PFS. Now, since it's PFS, I could in most cases simply ignore my intelligence, as it has no effect in PFS outside of skill points and other direct numerical things.

However, I don't want to do this, and would actually like to make something fun out of the fact that my character is mentally challenged.

Now, if we assume that the majority of the common folk are generated via 3d6 methods, that means that he's dumber than 96.7% of the populace. This puts him, roughly speaking, in the same relative position as Forrest Gump.

So, I'm basically looking for ideas about how I can roleplay this character in an interesting manner, without irritating the hell out of my fellow players.

So far, I have that he was raised by an Iroran Monk (who considered raising my character to be on his own path to perfection) who very, very painstakingly taught him how to survive in the world. My character has lists that he checks over, written by his adoptive father, along with easy to remember catch phrases. "Father says that .. preparation is the key to perfection." (spoken slowly)

Here's the sitch. Demon-spawn Tiefling, intelligence 5, paladin. Has 1 skill point per level because that's the minimum.

Later gets a Scarlet and Blue Sphere Ioun stone imbedded in his tough hide. This grants a +2 enhancement bonus to intelligence, bringing him to 7, and also has an associated skill.

So, does he get the skill ranks from the item, even though bringing his intelligence to 7 would still put him at the minimum of 1 rank per level?

Note that I only even consider this to be a question because it means that a character who achieved intelligence of 7 via an item could have more skill ranks than one who has intelligence 7 naturally. The same could apply to intelligence 9 as well, if you consider characters with a natural 5 intelligence too much of a corner case.

So, I have a build idea that involves acquiring Ultimate Mercy at level 7, (and having enough Lay on Hands to use it). Is this permitted in PFS? I can't find any rules against it, but given how stringently they attempt to remove wealth advantage in other areas...

If it is allowed, can it be used at the end of a session? Like, "After defeating the BBEG, we rest for a day and I raise Joe from the dead", type thing?

If not, is there a good reason to give a player besides "it's too cheap of an item to do that"?

So, I've been out of PFS for about two years, and thinking about playing again today or tomorrow.

My idea is a Tiefling (Demon-Spawn) Paladin (Iroran Paladin) who will later take a single dip into Sohei in order to flurry with his Sansetsukon.

Point buy: Str 16 Dex 12 Con 14 Int 7 Wis 10 Cha 15
With Racial: Str 18 Dex 12 Con 14 Int 5 Wis 10 Cha 17

So, yeah, he's an idiot. He tries to follow the path laid out by his adoptive father, an Iroran Monk, to seek perfection in himself... but he's not always sure what that means.

First skill point will probably be into Diplomacy (though I'm open to alternate suggestions), so he'll start with a +7, and then the single skill point he gets each level will probably go into various class skills, Sense Motive, etc., to get the little boost on them. Once he dips into Sohei at his fifth level, I'll put one in Perception.

Now, I'm fully aware that no matter which faction he takes, there are some faction missions he won't be able to do, being mentally challenged. Which faction, or factions, are the *most* compatible, though?

"Further, you can add 1-1/2 times your Strength bonus on the damage roll for your first unarmed strike on a given round."

Is that the first unarmed strike that hits, or is it the first unarmed strike you attempt?

This guy, that is.

I became fascinated with this archetype recently and saw that, while fragile, it has amazing potential if handled properly. It breaks down into three builds: The Sohei/Paladin blend, the Flurry Paladin, and a Variant Reach Paladin.

I'm still working on supplemental equipment/spells sections, but the central material is finished. Please let me know what you think.

The Guide

This guy, that is.

First, if you dip a single level in Monk (Sohei), can you FoB using the unarmed damage given by the Iroran Paladin? (I only chose Sohei because they can flurry in light armor). RAW & RAI I think yes.

Second, can you stack levels between Monk and Paladin to determined Unarmed Strike Damage? Like, half your Paladin level plus your Monk levenl? I think RAW, no, but RAI, yes.

Third, is the sum of charisma and dexterity bonuses capped by your armor's max dex bonus? Or is only the dex bonus capped? Or is each capped separately? I really have no idea on this one, from the wording.

(Yes, that's a Sailor Moon reference. I'm not ashamed.)

I have a few questions I'm hoping y'all can help me with for this character. She doesn't know what's going on most of the time, but manages to stumble through on sheer luck! Take care if you are a Villain, or a doer of evil; she will not tolerate it!

Paladin (Divine Hunter) 4 / Bard (Archaeologist) 8

So, questions:

First, and most obviously, does this seem like a strong build?

Two, what kind of spells should she have, given that her bard caster level is so far behind? Is it worth trading out Lessons of Chaldira for Magical Knack?

Three, for equipment, anything obvious besides Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier, and big 6?

Four, does the feat progression look okay, and what should I fill in those blanks with?

Five, any other comments you want to make are very welcomed :).

So, I've tinkering with an alternate method for multiclassing in Pathfinder, to potentially run a game with. I'm going to outline it, as briefly as possible, and I'm looking for general impression as to whether it could work, or whether there is something obvious I've overlooked.

Also, I'm positive I can't be the first one to think of something like this, so if you know of similar systems, please share.

First, consider the experience chart, focusing on the "Medium" column, and shift all the numbers up by one step. Characters start with 2,000 xp, then, and are thus level 1 in a class. At 5,000 xp, level 2. At 9,000, level 3, etc.

Now, consider a character with 80,000 experience. He could be level 8 in one class. Or, under this system, he could "split" that experience between up to three base classes. (Pretend prestige classes do not exist for the moment). Thus, he could be a Wizard 8, or he could be, say, a Wizard 6 / Fighter 6 (because 6th level costs 35,000xp x2 = 70,000xp, which is less than his 80,000).

Now, here's the kicker: if he has more than one class, only the best aspect of each total class is used. For example, the Wizard 6 / Fighter 6 has a BAB of +6, not +9, and thus has a lower BAB than if they'd been a pure fighter. Thus, it is not always best to combine classes.

I give more details below, but that should be enough to render an general opinion. Have you heard of similar things? Any immediate problems spring to mind?

Okay, so this was inspired by Arachnofiend's thread. To summarize, it's about building a four-player party with no 6/9 casters, with the capability to handle any typical party challenge. (I interpreted this myself to also exclude the Adept NPC class). I've come up with a team I'd like to share, and ask for input on. Some of these characters have been mentioned in other threads. They are codenamed Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael. :)

First, a very brief summary of each character; if not interested in the details, this is the only spoiler you really have to read to answer the thread.

If you're interested, here are the specific restrictions/rules I imposed on myself:

What I'm most looking for are things I've overlooked. What challenge could bring this party down, or at least prove insurmountable? I'm less interested in things that no party can really do anything about (Like a Mind-Blanked Wizard running hither and yon). So, I suppose, what could a "normal" party handle that this party could not handle effectively/efficiently? Obviously anything can be handled with expensive consumables, but that's unsatisfying. Any input on the builds themselves is also very welcome.

Lastly, the full builds (with some gaps in feat/rage power choices) if you desire to see them.

Leonardo - LG Angel-Blooded Aasmiar Paladin of Irori
Paladin (Oath Against Fiends, Hospitaler) 20

Raphael - LG Half-Elven Lantern Bearer Archer
Ranger (Freebooter, Trapper) 1 / Monk (Zen Archer, Qinggong) 6 / Lantern Bearer 9 / Fighter (Weapon Master) 3 / Evangelist 1

Michelangelo - NG Human Barbarian
Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager) 20

Donatello - LN Dwarven Monk of Irori
Monk (Sensei, Ki Mystic, Contemplative, Qinggong) 20

My favorite synergy is probably the fact that the monk can potentially use, at level 20, 120-130 ki a day thanks to Ki Channel. This is without ki leeching; we're talking about a LG party, after all :)

The specific case is the following. I want a Paladin to have the Ki Channel feat, so that he can act as a recharger for his Monk (Contemplative, Sensei, Ki Mystic, Qinggong) friend. Fine.

One of the requirements for the feat is that you have to be a worshipper of Irori. Now, if we were talking about a cleric, it would be clear what that meant, but Paladins don't have Patrons in the same way (unless they take the Sacred Servant archetype).

So, two questions really, one mechanical, and one more thematic

The mechanical one. If this Paladin "worships" Irori, in the sense of offering prayers, does that prevent him from worshipping other deities, and thus prevent him from qualifying for *their* feats? Rule references are appreciated if possible.

If the answer to the first question is "yes", does this character have to be a Paladin OF Irori. I mean, he could be, but it doesn't entirely fit the theme I was going for.

The alternate racial trait for Aasimar, "Deathless Spirit" says, among other things:

They gain resistance 5 against negative energy damage.

The Shadow Entry says:

A shadow's touch deals 1d6 points of Strength damage to a living creature. This is a negative energy effect.

Is the shadow's strength damage negative energy damage? If not, to what end is it identified as "a negative energy effect"?

I'm aware there is this FAQ response that says, in the last paragraph, that crafted items should be counted at their crafting cost, and not their market price.

This seems... unbalancing to me. If you have a crafter in the party with at least Craft Magic Arms & Armor and Craft Wondrous Items, unless you keep them very time constrained, you're essentially increasing the party's wealth by 50% or more. If you give them a few more crafting feats, say Forge Ring, Craft Rod, you can easily make it 90%.

So, I'm wondering what other DMs do for this, if you do anything at all. I'm considering making crafting cost 75% of the market price instead of 50% as a house rule. I think that would still make the Crafting feats a good investment for the effective power increase they get you. Thoughts?

So, I've wondered for a long, long time why Zen Archer can Take Rapid Shot/Manyshot as bonus feats. But the following occurred to me:

Monk (Zen Archer) 1 - MBF: Point-Blank Shot, Feat: Precise Shot (not including a human feat)
Monk (Zen Archer) 2 - MBF: Rapid Shot, Zen Archer: WF (Longbow)
Monk (Zen Archer) 3 - Zen Archery, Point Blank Master, Fast Movement Feat: ANY
Fighter (Weapon Master) 1 - FBF: Deadly Aim
Fighter (Weapon Master) 2 - FBF: Combat Reflexes. Feat: ANY
Fighter (Weapon Master) 3 - Weapon Training (Longbow) +1
(Optional Fighter 4 for Weapon Specialization)

7th Feat: Manyshot
9th Feat: Snapshot
11th Feat: Improved Snap Shot
13th Feat: Improved Precise Shot

Now, I'm not going to make the claim that this is the best archer; it's not. However, it gets you a very, very solid WIS-based archer, that can then be branched into a number of other classes, PrC and otherwise, to make a very solid archer that can become many interesting combinations. Lantern Bearer, Sentinel of Erastil, Stalwart Defender, Shadow Dancer, Pathfinder Delver and Horizon Walker all come to mind as PrCs.

Things to note:

* The character will make use of the Flurry of Bows ability of the Zen Archer until he gets Manyshot, after which he will switch to Rapid Shot/Manyshot.

* Manyshot requires Dex 17, so this character will probably have to buy a 15 in both Dex and Wis, before any racial modifiers. Alternately, a Garuda-Blooded Aasimar allows you to get away with buying a 14 in dex. In either case, +2 Dex item by level 7 allows Manyshot. If not possible by level 7, Manyshot can be switched with Snapshot.

* The one weakness I see, archery wise, is the late acquisition of Improved Precise Shot. I've never found the feat very important if tactics are used properly, but the build can be altered to replace the Fighter levels with Ranger 6, to acquire it at level 9.

* Monk 3 means that the Monk's robes will boost AC and Unarmed Damage by two steps, so that will be an item this character wants to eventually get.

So, this is a second character in my no 6/9 casters party (the other being the Dwarven Monk (Contemplative, Sensei, Ki Mystic, Qinggong) you may have seen).

He's going into Lantern Bearer, cause the party needs the spells from it, but he also needs to handle the trapfinding, stealth, and a number of other skills, as well as being a serious DPR archer. I've hit upon the following build, and am looking for suggestions as to anything I've overlooked, as I've never built an archer before. This is only built to level 16; general suggestions as to what to do after that are welcome as well.

The trapfinding aspect is essential, so I can't get rid of that entirely, but I'm willing to consider plenty of variations.

Input Appreciated! FIXED

Say you got to Lantern Bearer, and wanted to take levels in another prestige class that advanced spellcasting, like Eldritch Knight. The question is whether you would allow the spellcasting boost from the second prestige class apply to the spells per day of the Lantern Bearer (the caster level is equal to your character level, so that point is moot).

I'm fairly certain it wouldn't work by RAW, even though "In all other ways, a spell-like ability functions just like a spell."

I'm more interested in the opinions of DMs here, and whether they would allow it, and why or why not?

As the title says. The rules for magic item creation gives this as the price, just wondering if people thought that was reasonable or not, as constant 'detect magic' is a very nice thing to have.

As the title says. I want to say "no", because Aligned Class is already really powerful, but it comes down to whether the favored class bonus is a "class feature" or not.

Evangelist

Okay, so I was inspired to this by a thread involving building a party without any 6/9 level casters at all. However, coming across this possibility seems interesting even outside of that context.

THINGS I'D LIKE HELP ON:

1) For stats, I'm thinking Str 14 Dex 14 Con 16 Int 12 Wis 17 Cha 5 (20 pt., after racial adjustments. For 25pt, boost Int to 14 and Cha to 6). All stat points into wisdom. Comments? Remember that due to Sensei he uses Wisdom for CMB/attack rolls, but not damage (he'll later get the Guided property, though)

2) He's almost certainly going to take the Wisdom in the Flesh trait, letting him use Wisdom for any dex/str skill, and making it a class skill. What's the best skill to use this for? I'm thinking disable device if the party doesn't otherwise have that covered. But, if they do, then what?

3) What's the best weapon to select proficiency for from the Contemplative's Spurn Tradition ability? It has to be a martial weapon with the monk property. I'm currently thinking Sansetsukon {2 handed, 1d10, 19-20/x2, B. Blocking, Disarm, Monk}

4) Per the rules, can his monk SLAs qualify him for Crafting feats? If so, what's the best trait to get Spellcraft as a class skill? I'm aware of classically schooled, but are there other options? (This would be especially relevant in the no-6/9-casters challenge)

5) I was contemplating at character level 13 dipping into Pathfinder Field Agent to get a Rogue Talent: Ki Pool, which would add half my wisdom modifier as extra ki (at that point, it would be 4 more ki). Are there any other ways to get a Rogue Talent with a 1 level dip? Is this worth considering? Does this guy already have enough ki?

6) Any general ways to make this guy have something to do in combat, after he's buffed everyone? I'm thinking of letting him specialize in a combat maneuver, but not sure if it's worth it. With the dwarf alternate monk favored class bonus, he could be VERY good at sundering, though.

7) Besides a badly desired Ring of Ki Mastery and a WIS booster, is there anything this character really needs, item wise?