Rycaut's page

I don't run 2e, where did the 1e additional resources and campaign clarifications and other PFS specific house rules documents go? Every link I see here goes to the home page now and not to the documents. I found the file from 2016 for the campaign clarifications but I don't see where all the regular FAQs, additional resources documents and other 1e legacy files have gone. The "Legacy" link on the Organized Play tab only shows the general PFS FAQs but not the additional resources documents and all the other FAQs for 1e play.

Since I like to use PFS as the starting point for my home games, as well as 1e PFS games that I run (of course) I'd love to know where / how to access the legacy files and information. I'm not going to go to 2e any time soon.

When I try to redownload the season 10 player's guide from my downloads I get a message that I do not have permission to access that content. I need to get a copy of the guide to keep for my 1e play - can't find my previous download.

Is this intentional?

What would make for the best shadow focused character (PFS legal - so no gloomblade flighters at the moment however awesome they are).

Assume that I own most PFS sanctioned materials.

I was considering a gnome or wayang Oracle with the Shadow mystery (there are a few ways to gain wizard spells of the shadow subschool as such an oracle as divine spells onto the oracle spell list (and as bonus spells known) - however the revelation that grants this seems best taken at a fairly high level (since it adds a max of 1/2 oracle class level number of spells up to your CHA modifier - so the highest CHA possible and taken at the highest level gives the best benefit)

There is also another revelation that allows such an oracle to apply the shadow template to any creatures summoned that would usually get the celestial or fiendish template - so summoning shadow creatures would be a viable tactic for such an oracle.

However balancing the feats needed - to boost illusion spells as well as conjuration summoning as well as any feats specific to shadow related spells might make for a very difficult build.

Any suggestions?

(the basic idea was that there are lot of ways to make illusions (and specifically shadow subschool spells) function at higher DCs and at higher CL levels (and deal higher amounts of damage to people who save vs the illusion) - and the massive flexibility it could offer might fit a spontaneous caster very very well.

But the challenge is how do to so while being fun to play at all levels of PFS play (1-11) and having options against any foes if illusion spells don't work well.

(and I'm open to prestige classes or to multiclassing if the benefits are strong enough and fit the theme - i.e. would a level of wizard (shadow school) which includes a free spell focus (in place of scribe scroll) be useful for this build? (which might open up mystic theurge as an option) or would a level as a sorcerer (perhaps tattooed sorcerer) offer benefits? Sorcerer of course being CHA based being an easier to fit in multiclass option)

So for PFS I have a boon to let me play a Vine Leshy and the Herbalist archetype of Alchemists from Ultimate Wilderness is PFS legal (if you have a Vine Leshy character) so I want to give it a shot.

However a few things are giving me pause.

1) Does the Herbalist get Extra Bombs (in place of Brew Potions) or Skill Focus? The archetype trades out the Bomb class feature (which in other cases in PFS play have meant that those archetypes got Skill Focus in place of Brew Potions) however the Herbalist's replacement specifically allows Extra Bombs to work with it (Seedpods). Hero Labs seems to think it gets Skill Focus but I haven't see any note to that effect in the PFS pages.

2) What Druid spells qualify for Natural Spells? (the Herbalist gets to ADD two Druid Spells to their Alchemist spell list every time they gain a new level of extracts). Do spells like Produce Flame qualify? Finding spells that would be good additions is surprisingly difficult as there is already a lot of overlap between the Alchemist and Druid spells lists. Note the Herbalist uses WIS not INT for all class abilities and spellcasting (and uses Profession Herbalist in place of Craft Alchemy including getting a 1/2 level competence bonus)

3) Without the Bombs class feature it leaves the Herbalist with mutagen related discoveries and general discoveries. What discoveries do you think would be good choices for the Herbalist? I'm trying to decide what approach the Herbalist is best suited for - seems like ranged attacking with seedpods + some other weapons might be doable (however no Throw Anything is an important downside of this approach), Mutagen and melee focus could be doable though small size doesn't help (suggests weapon finesse as the approach and go dex - so some degree of switch hitting) and with the addition of druid spells some focus on extracts seems doable - albeit limited by the alchemist spell list - which is best for self-buffing.

4) are there any herbs that the herbalist should be foraging for along with any fun alchemical items it should be focused on making/using? (without throw anything it doesn't get the usual alchemist advantages with throwing splash weapons)

With a likely WIS > Dex > Con > STR > INT > CHA ability array is there any multiclassing options that might be a good choice? With WIS being high it may open up some options that typically aren't great for an alchemist. Are there any that would be worth the delay in extracts?

side note - it appears that Hero Labs has some errors in their implementation of Herbalist - they give Natural Spells at 5th level which I think should have been 7th level when the alchemist gains 3rd level extracts. (and they show some other archetypes as being legal when they actually replace the same class feature - poison immunity)

Overall the Herbalist looks like it could be a really fun class - Vine Leshy's get a lot of nifty racial abilities (plantspeech, pass without trace etc) and are a small race without a STR penalty and the herbalist gives them a lot of nice debuffing attacks with their seedpods (eventually entangling, blinding, sickening as options)

So in the process of rebuilding a PFS character (who qualified for a full rebuild - at level 11 so it has been complex) I am looking at Alchemist as an option for him and had the following thought.

If he takes tumor familiar as a discovery and the infusion discovery and casts touch injection (but shares it with his familiar) how can he take advantage of the action economy this could offer.

Not via quesrionable abuses like having the familiar touch an enemy and deliver poly purpose paneca or skinsend but via the far simpliar route of delivering an infusion to the alchemist.

Ideas:

- channel vigor (so have better saves or haste up without spending an action buffing)
- an admixture (again to start using it a round earlier)
- boring but perhaps useful - healing (but boring can save your life)
- displacement or another defensive buff
- polymorph spell?

Seems like for rounds per level buffs this could offer great action economy. And even for minute per level buffs that you might not always be able to cast ahead of combat (though at level 11 11 minutes is often enough time for multiple encounters)

Are there other options I should consider (either extracts or useful potions or other touch injection possible options like potions etc). But generally potions I would probably prefer to drink via alchemical allocation (and enhance potion discovery) for long lasting buffs at the cost of acquiring the potion once.

And are there any games to play via various methods to combine alchemical items (via magic items probably won’t take the discovery)

Hi all,

I recently ran The Moonscar for the second time at a local convention (Kublacon) which means that at least a dozen local players (in the Bay Area) have very high level characters (16-18th level). The run went well - took an entire convention day (9am to midnight) skipping only a few encounters. So overall a good experience if exhausting.

I offered to run Witchwar Legacy for some of the players in the future (probably not at a convention but over multiple long game sessions so time and sheer exhaustion is less of a factor - and probably only for a 4-5 person table not a full 6 person table).

But I had the thought that would it be even more thematic to run the last book of Reign of Winter (which is also 15-17 tier) first before running Witchwar Legacy? Has anyone done this (run it for a group of characters that haven't been playing the whole AP previously)?

How did it go?

Has anyone run other last books of sanctioned APs as standalone adventures for high level PFS characters? If so how did that go?

Many of the best chronicle sheet boons for the adventure assume that the character has played one or more of the earlier books - so that is a factor - and the culminating book of an AP also has a lot of AP specific components and assumptions which might not work as well for a table of PFS characters. But the options for high level sanctioned play are limited.

I am finally rebuilding one of my all time favorite PFS characters who needs to be fully rebuilt as it was based on the old now banned Lore Warden. He was a skill monkey dirty trick focused lore warden/mmaneuver master monk of the four winds/rogue (and may have had one fourth class that was arcane but I don’t recall exactly). He had +15 or higher on a dozen skills including spellcraft and all knowledges (and used a cloak of the hedge wizard -divination to cast detect magic and identify items). He was a daemon blooded tiefling with a prehensile tail. However his precise build (now broken by all kinds of errata and rule changes) doesn’t matter.

I need to do a level 11 PFS legal full rebuild of him which means everything about him can change.

The basics however I want to keep are:

- race - a tiefling
- role - high skills esp INT based ones, dirty trick focused front liner with lots of tricks up his sleeves (combat maneuvers, precision damage, Magic both items and inherent etc)
- alignment - lawful good (he was tempted by the whole Lisallian arc but

Due to multiclassing he had every skill except Heal as a class skill. However in the rebuild I don’t need to hit that somewhat dubious achievement but I would like to have all knowledge skillls as class skills.

Notable boons: - bonus feat (but use for one that isn’t part of a chain and the feat was acquired late in his leveling so best as a capstone feat not a core part of a build)

He could via rebuild be a build that wouldn’t have been great at lower levels. Previously he was Dex and Int (high and equal), con, STR, then low and dumped CHA and wis but via the rebuild that can be very different.

Builds I have considered:

Slayer (bounty hunter) - either full or multiclassed probably after level 10

Investigator - full of multiclassed (hits the skills but may not the combat maneuvers)

Unchained rogue ?

Unchained monk?

What else? I feel like I’m missing some great potential builds. I’m fine with multiclass builds as long as the synergy is there and as long as the flavor of being a very smart skill focused front liner is still there. His role in the past was to close quickly with individual enemies especially casters and shut them down via dirty tricks like blinding.

Hi all,

I'm trying to run a Reign of Winter campaign in San Jose CA (or nearby) probably meeting every other Sundays (though time / place could be adjusted to accommodate new players - but we're a group of working parents so time isn't entirely flexible - in the past we've played Sunday evenings at a game store in Santa Clara with all of the players chipping in to cover the cost of the private gaming space there.

I'm a long time gamer (and 4 star PFS GM) - been playing since 1st edition (but didn't play much during 3rd ed days) - these days I prefer GMing to playing most of the time. The other player in thie campaign is also an experienced role player, though this is his first time playing Pathfinder. Looking to add 2-4 new players as we had one player leave due to a change in his job and a father & son leave to run another campaign. We are just finishing book 1 so still early in the AP and can easily add new players. For the first session or two we would have you run existing NPCs to see if you like the campaign and group - and then you can choose whether to continue running those characters or make new ones as we begin book 2.

(running the game not as PFS but if you are a PFS player I can give you chronicle sheets as we complete future sanctioned sections to apply to a society character)

My nomination is a rule that until earlier today I didn’t know was rules as written - on a 1 when saving against a spell you are supposed to apply the spell damage to one item chosen amongst four selected per a chart of the order of most likely to be hit by a spell (assuming it could in theory damage an item) and then the item needs to also save against the spell (saving throw being the same for all three types at 2 + 1/2CL rounded down unless intelligent in which case use the item’s own wisdom score for will saves)

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this rule invoked in PFS or home game play.

(And not unrelated I’ve rarely seen AoE spells cause damage to unattended objects in a room - ie loot or a horde or a key clue etc)

So I have a party of 4 who are making good progress on book 1 (about to encounter the lodge which I expect will be our full session though I'll be prepared for more) and as part of the lodge setup I'm rebuilding Ten-Penny and Lady Argentee Malassene as fully built PC's (complete with PC level wealth for Ten-Penny and still determining items for Lady Argentee given her prisoner status - however I might make some of the magically concealed items.

Of course the players may take actions that preclude the potential use of these characters as NPCs or future PCs but I'm trying to build them to be potential flavorful hooks into the rest of the story - as well as potential replacements/gap fillers for the current party (4 players but we may have a 5th player join us occasionally)

Ten-Penny I rebuilt as an unchained rogue and reflavored her a bit as a whip specialist with a background of having been a failed shaman's apprentice - and a worshiper of Ng (one of the Eldest) though I might downplay that - haven't decided. I could see a PC Ten-Penny going full unchained rogue - or I've tried to build her to offer the opportunity to multieclass effectively if a player wanted to do that

For Lady Argentee i have gone a very different route - the actual Noble Scion class from the bestiary seemed a poor fit (martial almost cavalier type build but with NPC classes) - instead I rebuilt her as an Oracle with the Noble Scion feat. I am seriously considering making her a changeling and building her as natural weapon using oracle (with the Hunger curse - she would have a bit and two claw attacks). Still working out the details and how to build her - I think in any case I'm going to make her a good addition to the party if they choose to invite her to join them.

To be clear - my player is not new to roleplaying (he's been playing since 1st Ed, GMed a lot of 2nd ed and a lot of other diceless roleplaying systems) but he is new to Pathfinder/D&D3.5x systems. He isn't all that interested in focusing on combat - but doesn't want to be ineffective - just doesn't want to be optimized only for combat.

And he already has a character background in mind that he likes - a half-elf raised in Tien by his mother who was a renowned sorceress with a snowcaster elf father (who may have been an Eldritch Knight or something similar) - we are starting at level 1 (in Reign of Winter) so his initial motivation is to seek out his father (wherever he has ended up)

So he would like a character that uses elf weapons (longsword, perhaps bow), has some magical ability, some performance ability and perhaps an asian/anime like companion (he also indicated an interest in perhaps having some unarmed combat ability but mechanically getting all of that may be difficult)

Ideas we have been exploring (but I would love other people's suggestions) are:

Wizard (probably admixture evoker) with a familiar (possibly the familiar adept archetype to make his familiar something that later on is more active and flavorful) - drawback is this doesn't lend itself to using a sword/bow effectively (perhaps multiclassing and heading to eldritch knight), doesn't play up the performance capabilities and likely limits his out of combat skills a bit

Bard (probably arcane duelist) - doesn't grant the anime like familiar but does make fighting with a sword (or occasionally a bow) pretty effective, long term if he went pure bard he would get to magically enhance weapons and more) - if he wanted to multiclass could add a martial class for more capabilities and then consider either eldritch knight or dragon disciple (which might play up the son of a sorcerer background very well) - would however minimize the bard archetype abilities. Doesn't lend itself to being all that blasty.

Summoner - would play up the anime like companion very effectively - but for someone new to Pathfinder may be overly complex (I would insist probably on the unchained version). Also the party already has another PC who is doing a lot of summoning as a GM not sure I want two PCs summoning

Paladin (chosen one archtype) - this would potentially play up the anime like flavor - possibly combined with bard or another spontaneous caster class to then led into a prestige class like eldritch knight or dragon disciple - but could be fun just by itself - most martial, least magical caster - but could really capture the anime flavor and equipment choices might capture rest - and the player has already shown a propensity to have the character swear oaths to avenge an NPC who had died (so leading into being an Oath bound paladin might happen very naturally - which also boosts magical abilities a bit). Would need the player to pick a good and agree to LG alignment so that is a factor

any other ideas? open to unusual multiclass builds and again the focus doesn't have to be on pure optimized in combat capabilities - ideally I want the PC to be fairly easy to run in combat (so not too many moving parts to juggle) and effective if not crazy optimized - but with plenty to contribute to the whole party outside of combat and lots of roleplaying hooks (which is what my player cares most about)

(obvious might be samurai of some flavor - I'll admit to not being as well versed in that class as others) I'm also still digesting all of the occult classes but they are certainly possible options for a class that might have an anime like companion of some form.

I'm about to run Reign of Winter again (my first group didn't finish due to players and myself all moving away) and this time I'm considering really emphasizing the fey as a linking and reoccurring enemy (and potentially at times ally) of the party. Posssibly changing some elements of later books when I do so (especially books 3 & 4). I'll be running for a group of 4 players and I hope to keep a fairly brisk pace (going to not let the group get too bogged down in repeated long combats and I'll probably adjust xp to level at the appropriate times without running lots of extra encounters. That said fandoms encounters in the past have led to some of the best moments of past campaigns.

I think of this AP as Russian fairytales meets Doctor Who. But also find the third and fourth books the least linked and thematic so plan to make the most adjustments there. (I also found in the past that book one could go very very long so will try to keep it moving without getting too literally bogged down.

(I'm also debating whether to rebuild certain characters to use Occult adventures rules and perhaps mythic)

I don't have any specific answers -but curious about what are some folks favorite less common spells to buy and carry scrolls, potions or oils of? Not routine ones like lesser restoration or breath of life etc but ones that are more obscure yet surprisingly useful to buy and carry - especially interested in useful oils as I rarely think about buying those.

Please also note if this is something useful throughout a career, at low levels, mid levels or especially at high levels (where buying more costly potions, oils or even scrolls may be viable options)

I am prepping to run this complex module at Kublacon here in the Bay Area later this year. Lots of time to prep (which I suspect I need) but a bunch of questions.

Non-spoiler bits first - Looking forward to running this highly complex module - but worried that with all of the encounters and interactions (especially some that are implied to happen multiple times) running this in a single day for the first two chapters and in 9 hours for the second day may be challenging.

How long has this run for others who have run it? (especially for PFS with PFS characters not as a campaign game)

I just noticed the Azata subdomain 1st level power:

Elysium’s Call (Su): With a touch, you can imbue creatures with the spirit of Elysium, lifting their spirits and freeing them from bonds. The creatures touched can immediately reroll any failed saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities of the enchantment (charm) and enchantment (compulsion) subschools. In addition, targets receive a +2 sacred bonus on such saving throws and a +2 sacred bonus on CMB checks to escape a grapple. Finally, targets can ignore up to 5 feet of difficult terrain each round, as if they had the Nimble Moves feat. These bonuses last for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your cleric level (minimum 1), although the saving throw reroll only applies when the creature is touched. You can use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.

Two questions (for PFS play in particular so RAW matters)

1) the power clearly uses the plural "they" and "creatures touches" which implies it can be more than one person. Does this mean up to 6 people if you can reach them all with a single move action like other multiple target touch effects or spells?

2) is it a typo (and has it been fixed) when it says number of rounds per day instead of number of times per day as nearly all other such powers use?

Hi

For anyone in the Bay Area (or visiting for the holidays) if you can't make it to GobbleCon I have arranged for up to two tables all day at Legends Comics and Games in Santa Clara.

I can run anything people are up for playing - currently I picked three modules of different levels and added them to Warhorn - I've also added a placeholder if you would be interested in playing (or running) but not one of the three scenarios I've listed. (I'll remove the second slot from 6 to 11 after talking with the one player signed up for a game that slot currently)

Please sign up at:

Sign up at Legends Warhorn

We also run regular PFS games every Friday evening from 6:30 to 11:30 - I'll be adding games for December soon (leave a comment if there is a specific scenario you want to play or run)

Playing is $4 and GMs get a $25 store credit.

Looking forward to running this tonight.

A few thoughts:

1) I'm disappointed that the PC's actions early on only impact the optional encounter (which many parties will bypass in any case)

2) I suspect MANY GM's will make mistakes in running this scenario as there are some confusing duplications

3) I think the last encounter could have used some box text and thus some hint as to how to deal with one of the creatures (especially since doing so is tied to rewards from the scenario)

what have other GM's see in running this (or plan to do in prepping this)

did you mean to not give Smuz the same language as the other goblins (his sheet has undercommon but not goblin)? I think as GM especially for new players I would just hand wave that otherwise you have one PC who can't talk to the rest of the party in a manner that they can understand.

Also will you be releasing versions of Bisbee and Smuz for the earlier modules? (I think it would be fun to have authorized versions - assuming that these are intended to be allowed in PFS play of these modules)

I have been looking at my sessions and realized that some games that I have played are missing - a few from Gencon and one from Pacificon. How can I get these games added? (especially games where I may not have an easy way to reach the GM?)

This is complicated by the fact that most of my chronicles were stolen a few months ago when my backpack was stolen - so I've been trying to recreate two lost characters but realized that I'm also missing all of my boons, all of my GM chronicle sheets (for all of my GM characters not yet played) and so the accuracy of my online records is fairly important to me - but it appears that a number of scenarios are missing.

(also I thought at one point I had 99 sessions but at the moment I appear to have 97 sessions - so it is possible that one of my GM sessions is also missing)

any one able to help me?

This happened in an AP I ran where the party killed an NPC witch - the party witch wanted to learn spells from the now dead NPC's familiar. I ruled that he had 24 hrs to learn as many spells as he and his familiar could - assuming he could convince the familiar to teach them to him and his familiar. After that unless something happened I was going to have the familiar's magical abilities and spell knowledge etc start to fade away.

However I'm not entirely thrilled by this - though if it doesn't happen then what does happen to all of those dead wizards and witch's familiars?

(in my campaign another NPC who had been traveling with the party and just leveled up along with the party decided to take the ex-NPC's familiar on as her familiar - which also helped the party convince the familiar to train them)

I guess there are a few schools of thought around Familiars - one is that they are otherwise normal creatures transformed by a ritual into magical beasts - and that when their master dies that ritual dies with him or her and the familiar reverts (eventually) to be non-magical.

(how this works if the wizard or witch is raised from the dead is another question - I've never seen it ruled that the wizard or witch has to pay to get a new familiar if they die and their familiar lives)

Animal companions are a related question - though they aren't magical beasts like familiars are (as far as I know- been a while since I looked at every nuance of the Animal Companion rules)

What do folks do in their games around Familiars especially of NPCs or of PC's who have died? (do you do something different for Improved Familiars?)

One of my favorite Druid archetypes is the Menhir Savant. Lots of flavor and a unique feel (and mechanically strong especially if you are dipping into other classes or a multi classed Druid). In PFS I have a monk/druid who is a Menhir Savant).

With the new Occult Adventures I'm curious if there has been any thought about revisiting older archetypes to match them up, at least to some degree, with Occult Adventures. In particular looking at the Menhir Savant and how/if it interacts with Occult Adventure's rules for Ley Lines and related rituals.

In a houserules thread there has been much discussion about various house rules that ban multiclassing or modify it to avoid certain combinations). One rational has been given that while the "power" boost may be very real at lower levels it means that such characters miss out on a big power bump between levels 16 and 20.

So my question(s) are - how would you rank the various classes (perhaps including archetypes and prestige classes) by their high tier abilities.

Clearly any divine or arcane class that gets access to level 9 spells gains a pretty real boost in power that is hard for a multiclassed character to match (perhaps) - but are there other high tier abilities that are particularly strong?

I haven't had much play or GM experience of very high levels of Pathfinder - and for this discussion let's avoid the complications of Mythic tier or 3rd party products. I'm asking just about Paizo's own products.

As I write this I haven't been able to load Archives of Nethys since sometime yesterday - anyone else having problems accessing the website?

I just skimmed that chapter (I'm a subscriber, got my copy earlier this week) but I'm curious was there any thought about marking which items were in other books and which were new? (and I haven't checked but are there any cases where something has the same name but wording has changed?)

I think I missed some of the new items in the midst of other items which had been in other books.

I do like the model of keeping all the crunch in one compact section. Looking forward to reading over the other chapters more fully.

I was participating in the fascinating thread about whether a Rogue could be a BBEG and as I looked over the possible Rogue archetypes (of which there are many) I noted that with a handful of notable exceptions few if any Rogue archetypes have changes to core abilities beyond the early levels of the game (Underground Chemist is one notable exception but few other archetypes introduce any big changes after level 20).

Is there a reason for this?

Have I missed other archetypes of the Rogue that do have major impacts at higher levels (the Kobold only rogue archetype is another exception, being the only archetype I'm aware of that modifies Master Strike).

In a recent PFS scenario I ran there was a wizard who had Shadow evocation and Shadow Conjuration prepared. Due to running the combat via the given tactics I didn't actually cast either spell but had I chosen to do so I'm curious what spells people favor?

The stat block suggested Fireball, Sleet storm or resilient sphere but it seems to me there must be better options.

Literally stolen - I just had my backback which had all of my unused boons, GM chronicle sheets (including my tier 1 boon from this year's gencon) and three of my characters stolen and likely won't ever be recovered.

What can/should I do?

(I don't have copies of any of the characters or chronicle sheets for those characters which sucks because one of them was the one I wanted to run thru Waking Rune, the other is the one I have been playing most recently and the third is my only built low level character (needed to be rebuilt due to errata but I don't have the chronicles etc for him)

And the loss of the boons from years of GMing and playing hurts the most - all my races boons all my various seasons boons etc.

Really bad day

So I read somewhere that there were two books which had errata published for prior to GenCon, however I don't have PDFs of all of the hardcovers (bought many at my friendly local game store prior to subscribing) so I didn't get a notification for both Errata updates.

Is there a place that like the FAQ page that shows all of the Errata which have been posted for Paiso products? I know if you are a subscriber and have the PDF of something you are notified when a new version of that PDF is available - but less sure how to track when errata are shared (including if Errata are posted prior to the product being made available for sale)

How are other GMs handling maps for some of the specials that have lots of maps which may/may not be used by a given table? Especially some of the really really large maps which may only be used for a single encounter?

(I'm specifically think of 6-97 Siege of Serpents which has a LOT of maps many of which are custom)

I generally try to have maps pre-printed whenever I can (and I bought a bunch of the flip mats and map packs for various scenarios - but some of those are out of print - i.e. the Pathfinder Lodge map for example) and this scenario in particular has lots of large maps with lots of details but little reuse.

For a home or non-campaign game I would probably just run some of these adhoc, draw things on the fly or reuse other maps - but for a time-crunched special I'm trying to do the best i can - but printing out dozens of maps - each which I have to convert to Jpeg then turn into a PDF poster and print and hope I can reassemble quickly is getting to be a bit much...)

(not complaining - just want to have a good experience for all - which includes not packing too much weight...)

Is there a map we can print out to go with our table assignments for GenCon?

(I'm running 8 sessions don't know how much time I'll have to scout where each table is ahead of having to find it to set up...)

Also I haven't been to GenCon in Indy - are there food options near where PFS is played? A bit worried about only having 15 mins to grab lunch between the first and second slots on Thurs & Fri.

Will it be available ahead of GenCon?

and will it or the current guide be in effect for games we are running at GenCon? Just asking because as part of my prep for GenCon I want to make sure I'm current on the current society guide (I haven't run much during Season 6 due to being the father of a toddler, moves, new job, wife's new job, family obligations etc)

(for example I need to remind myself how to map old factions to the new ones... and want to make sure i'm not forgetting any other changes to the rules of play)

There are a lot of items (both wondrous and rings especially) that replicate the effect of common spells and offer the ability to activate that ability at-will.

Examples would be Hats of Disguise, Ring of Invisibility or a Ring of Blinking

A helm of comprehend languages and read magic makes it pretty clear that the effect is always one.

The hat of disguise I've almost always seen used as if the duration was unlimited but does the "as with a Disguise Self spell" imply that the duration is actually only 10 mins (CL 1)?

similarly in play historically I've always see a ring of invisibility used to generate ongoing invisibility (until the wearer attacks - then it takes an action to reactivate) but does it actually only allow for a 3 min duration with each activation? (CL 3).

How would an item that grants the effects of the spell OTHER than the duration be written? (i.e. one that allows you the ongoing benefit either always active or on demand)

In play and outside of combat this can probably be hand-waved - but the limited duration makes some items like the hat of disguise less useful for long term uses (such as infiltration in a social setting that is longer than 10 mins - you would have to somehow hid your reactivation).

There are other items which are strongly implied to have a longer duration by their flavor text such as a Cap of Human Disguise (which since it has a CL of 3 even though it costs 1000gp less than the CL 1 hat of disguise would apparently if spell duration applies have a longer duration than the theoretically more powerful Hat of Disguise)

Specifically for the Pathfinder Tales novels (which no longer includes a digital copy with the subscription) but also for other parts of the line have you considered a digital only subscription?

I'm sure this varies a great deal between gaming groups but I'm curious - when playing Pathfinder (especially in Golarion either PFS, APs or home campaigns) how much knowledge about game mechanics do you assume is also common "in game"

A few examples to illustrate my question:

Do people refer to themselves as being "fighters", "Wizards", "sorcerers", "paladins", "swashbucklers" etc (i.e. are classes terms that people use to describe themselves or others?

What about how class features, especially those that are limited use per day? How do people in your games refer to things like "Rage", "Lay on Hands", "Panache" or perhaps most basically spells (known/slots per level per day etc)?

How about magic items (that don't have names)?

Or spells?

Where I think it starts to get tricky to think through how someone would be described "in game" is with folks who are multi-classed or who have many prestige classes (some have some built-in flavor - but others are less tied to the campaign setting and thus less clearly associated with a specific organization in the world - i.e. Dragon Disciples for example.

There are also a lot of in-game associations that may not reflect out of game mechanical features (member of the Pathfinder Soceity for example could be nearly any race/class combination - though there are also multiple specific prestige classes that are typically Pathfinder Society members in Golarion)

Specifically in the context of the Planar Wild Shape feat which grants a druid the ability to apply the Celestial or Fiendish (depending on alignment) template to their wild shape form (at the cost of a second use of their wild shape ability for the day).

Since at over 5HD a creature with the Celestial or Fiendish template applied gets Spell Resistance based on their CR (which is also modified by +1 from the template) and to have the two uses of wild shape a day to be able to use the feat in the first place a Druid would likely have at least 6 class levels (so for a PC would have 6 HD) my question is "how is the CR of the PC calculated?"?

The only place I see that even broaches CR calculations is in Monster Creation - but even there it isn't entirely an exact science (for example Humaniods are assumed to have 3/4BAB - does that mean that a FULL BAB character would be a higher CR? Would a multi class Druid with better than 3/4BAB have a higher CR than a 3/4BAB regular Druid?

Does character wealth impact CR? (i.e. does player level wealth especially if in a high magic/high wealth game) change the CR calculation?

Reading the Spirit Whisperer I'm wondering if possibly there is an error in this archetype based on changes that may have happened to the Shaman class after this archetype was written up.

Specifically the Spirit Whisperer's Spirit Link ability:

Spirit Link (Su): At 1st level, a spirit whisperer forms a mystical bond with a spirit. The spirit whisperer picks a spirit from the shaman’s list of spirits (see page 37). At 1st level, he gains a spirit ability granted by that spirit. At 8th level, he gains the greater spirit ability granted by that spirit. At 20th level, the spirit whisperer gains the manifestation ability granted by the spirit. He uses his wizard level as his shaman level for determining the effects and DCs of abilities granted by the spirit. In addition, he uses his Intelligence modifier in place of his Wisdom modifier for these abilities. He does not gain hexes, spirit magic spells, or the true spirit ability typically granted to a shaman by these spirits. This ability replaces arcane school and the bonus feat gained at 20th level.

However almost no Shaman abilities actually use the Wisdom modifier (though personally I think that this is an error and that Shaman's really should have been Wisdom based not Charisma based) almost all Spirit abilities use Charisma - so as written this is a Wizard archetype which really needs a high Charisma to actually do anything much at all from one of the core abilities it gets to replace pretty big class features (arcane school + 20th level bonus feat). In a home game I would either fix this by changing Shaman's to be Wisdom based or make the Spirit Link ability replace BOTH WIS & CHA Shaman abilities with INT.

But for say PFS play it would be helpful to know what is actually intended or if this is just a very very weak archetype as a result (or at least a very MAD archetype).

So in another thread we were suggesting that someone planning a melee druid consider dipping into Cavalier as he was already looking at a horse animal companion and was considering taking a weapon proficiency as a feat.

But this got me to wondering which specific rules apply to that character's companion.

1) Upon taking Druid levels does the mount/animal companion gain back the Share Spells animal companion ability? (Cavalier's mounts don't get it)

2) if the animal companion dies and needs to be replaced (or is released) which rules cover that replacement? The Druid's 24hr rules? (with no penalties) or the Cavalier's rules (1 week mourning period and doesn't gain the link, evasion, devotion, or improved evasion special abilities until the next time the cavalier gains a level.).

I assume that the "gains a level" clause is limited gaining a level as a Cavalier? )

So in another thread a discussion resurfaced about whether or not elementals of other types than the basic four elements could be summoned in PFS play. (consensus based on older rulings is that no only the core four elemental types are legal to summon in PFS via typical summons spells)

Which got me to thinking - a nifty boon either as a convention boon or from a scenario might be an ability to summon some subset of alternative elementals with your summons (perhaps with some alternative option for non-spellcasters)

(or another idea - non-spellcasters might get a one-time only casting of a specific level of summon monster only for elementals of a specific type with a caster level of their character level? while spellcasters might get a nicer boon of permanently adding additional elemental types to their summon spells - including both spells, class or racial abilities) - this could be somewhat akin to an elemental gem but might work slightly differently (i.e. summons for smaller sized elementals etc)

it would be a nice boon but not a crazy good boon (and implied would be a requirement to own the given Bestiary with the type(s) of elementals in question.

I occasionally look over the Bardic Masterpieces when thinking about various builds but I haven't yet seen one used. Are there masterpieces which are really good?

Specifically are there any masterpieces which are better than a 2nd level spell known for a Bard? I have a PFS Paladin/bard/dragon disciple and when he gains 3rd level spells I'm contemplating whether taking Expanded Arcana to get two 2nd level spells known and getting one or two bardic masterpieces might be worthwhile. He only has a limited number of bardic performance rounds a day as he is only a 1st level bard (higher level spellcaster due to dragon disciple levels for spells known and those levels plus magical knack for cl)

Specifically say a bard is able to cast 3rd level spells, if she takes the Expanded Arcana feat could she take one or two Bardic Masterpieces (that replace either a 1st or 2nd level spell known) in place of the spells known gained via the Expanded Arcana feat?

Still not sure if it is worth taking - but I realized that if I was considering taking a masterpiece in place of a feat, taking the Expanded Arcana feat instead might allow me to gain one masterpiece and one spell known or two masterpieces (assuming I cast at least one level higher than the spell levels needed for those masterpieces.

In my specific case I was considering this for a Paladin / Bard / Dragon Disciple.

Not sure if there is one or two masterpieces which would be worth taking but figure I should at least look at them (this is for PFS so the masterpieces would also have be allowed in PFS)

Has anyone played a Goliath Druid yet? I just was reading it and realized that it might be a really really fun archetype to play (probably for PFS).

It seems to trade away mostly the least interesting features of a druid (to me) and instead gets really cool animal companions (or decent domain options), really nifty wild shape options (though with some minor mid-level drawbacks) and a bunch of really really nifty tricks.

It gives up: Nature Sense, Resist Nature's Lure, Venom Immunity and Thousand Faces (the last being the one Druid ability I really like though it comes a bit late in the game)

It modifies: Class skills, nature bond - domains can only be Animal, Destruction or Strength (or select subdomains) and animal companion can only be a dinosaur or a megafauna, Wild Empathy - only with sized Large or larger animals, Wild Shape - can't turn into animals other than dinosaurs or megafauna (no elementals or plants) and at certain levels gains the ability to turn into a number of Giant forms

It gains a bunch of nifty replacements (additional animals on summons lists, defenses against giants and more.

All in all a very flavorful archetype which also seems, at least on first glance, to be mechanically very sound and potent. It gives up a few iconic Druidic abilities but gains some very very nifty ones (at higher level being able to use giant forms as wild shape options is really nifty - as is spontaneously casting "Enlarge Person" on your Dinosaur companion (which isn't quite as powerful as Animal Growth - but also takes a 1st level not a 5th level spell slot for a similar if marginally less potent ability - less STR gain, no CON gain, but the same gain in weapon damage etc.

Is there something i have missed/ Is there a particular race I should look to use for this character? (have a bunch of boons for elemental races)

So in Undead Slayers Handbook there is a feat:

Weapon Versatility (Combat)

Source Undead Slayer's Handbook pg. 25
You can use your favored weapons in unconventional ways.

Prerequisites: Weapon Focus, base attack bonus +1.

Benefit: When wielding a weapon with which you have Weapon Focus, you can shift your grip as a swift action so that your weapon deals bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage instead of the damage type normally dealt by that weapon. You may switch back to the weapon’s normal damage type or another damage type as a swift action. If your base attack bonus is +5 or higher, using this feat is a free action instead.

If a swashbuckler gets this fear can he still finesse a weapon he uses the weapon versatility feat on? Or does he lose dex to hit if he shifts his grip? (And likely is this is the case he would lose Fencing Grace or Slashing Grace as well?) What if he is an inspired swashbuckler and his abilities only require a rapier?

Would it be possible to make the FAQ Queue a filter on the message boards that anyone can use?

i.e. I'd like to vote up a bunch of ACG related FAQ's - I can either try to find posts via lots of searchers (or browsing) or if the whole FAQ queue were visible I could filter on that, then browse for the posts that are discussing the issues / questions I have.

I can see how this might lead to some abuse - but I can also see how it would help get all the message board readers contributing further to voting on FAQs and perhaps on helping identify overlapping FAQ requests and/or posts that contain multiple issues etc.

I'm thinking about a new PFS character and lately been getting intrigued by building a Skald / Dragon Disciple

Probably going 5 levels of Skald to get to Spell Keening then Dragon Disciple for at least 4 levels. Leaving me at least 2 levels to figure out for PFS (possibly going back to Skald to get the higher level Skald abilities.

I have a bunch of Race boons for GMing - so have to decide if an elemental race would work well for this concept or if not what race to start with.

Other factors to decide:

- initial feats
- eventual rage power(s)
- should I multiclass for greater BAB and other useful abilities at the expense of spell casting ability?

Going Skald does delay the draconic bloodline abilities and going Dragon Disciple does lose out on eventual Skald abilities. However I do like that the combination will make for a class that gets a lot of inherent STR bonuses (plus possibly CON and INT) on top of Rage Song bonuses. Taking a level of Bloodrager is a definite possibility (or a level of Barbarian - perhaps Urban Barbarian for the flexibility on the rage bonuses)

Any thoughts - is there an aspect of this build idea I have missed? Some traits/feats/spells/rage powers I should focus on?

For race Human for the extra feat and skills is a definite possibility (likely Ulfen because why not -and it opens up Ulfen Guard as a possibility as well). But I do have a bunch of race boons so I'll look at those closely - and I'm open to suggestions (of course Half-Orc for all of the orcish rage related features is a possibility). Nagaji get Draconic for free - but I already have a PFS Nagaji Dragon Disciple.

I've been away from active playing/running for a while but trying to gear up and am excited to make a few new characters (at low levels and to use my DM credits) and to run stuff before and at Gencon.

As such I've been finally taking a full and detailed look at the Advanced Class Guide - but the more I look, the more questions I have about nearly every class and archetype as well as many key feats and items from the guide. The current FAQ and Additional Resources don't really address most of the questions that seem common across the boards about the book.

Since many of these include concerns about how to use abilities that start from level 1 forward and impact build decisions I'm hesitant to build characters as much as I really want to play them.

Any idea when the full Errata and/or updated FAQ's for the ACG will be published? Whether fully or just for PFS play?

(to take a few simple examples:

- how should you handle training a hunter's animal companion with Skirmisher Tricks? Many of the tricks are unclear how they work if it is the animal companion that knows the trick? What's the usage per day? the DC? Is there a DC to "push" an animal companion to use a trick they don't yet know (can you even push them to use a skirmisher trick or is that limited to only "regular" tricks?

- Many of the Swashbuckler's deeds refer to whether or not you can use the Signature Deed feat with them - however nothing in the Swashbuckler Class would actually even qualify you to take Signature Deed (since there is no line that says something like "Swashbuckler's Panache can count as Grit for the purpose of taking Grit Feats etc)

- The Swashbuckler's Level 15 deed - Dizzying Defense talks about taking the fighting defensively action as a swift action - does this include the actual attack which is usually part of such an action? (i.e. is this actually offering another attack at full BAB modified by the penalty?)

and there are questions that remain for nearly every class in the book and many many of the archetypes and feats. While I love the concepts the many questions about how to interpret the rules as written make it hard for me to settle on a class to play.