Sacril's page

Being able to scout the entire dungeon before going in not only ruined the sense of risk that adventuring is supposed to have, but it also maximized resource usage which resulted in us curb stomping what looked like it should have been a pretty tough fight for level 1 and 2 adventurers.

Maybe you had a easy dungeon that is weak towards scouting but my experience with a spiritualist scout was decent but not overpowered. I've been through Accursed Halls and Mummy's Mask Part 1.

- The incorporeal scout can't activate traps (unless 5 lbs is enough to do it which is unlikely) and is susceptible to haunts like normal.
- The incorporeal spirit can't go past 100' without being blown back to the ethereal plane.
- The incorporeal spirit still needs to make stealth checks since it is still visible (even though I admit it can hide in the floor and peek; but still require stealth to peek).
- The spirit has limited perception and so hiding creatures will still be hidden
- I've met up with undead, statues, elementals, stirges hiding in ceilings, Shadows, etc. that never materializes or becomes present unless something activates it. An incorporeal phantom would not normally be able to get them to come out.
- Once he scouts the spirit sucks in combat so I consider the scouting a small benefit to offset the weak combat value.

As far as I'm concerned, it does help eliminate surprise rounds if the spirit sees it but that's about it. The spirit is helpful in moving the adventure along since adventurers are less worried about charging into the next room but I consider that a positive and not a negative unless you like that nervousness. I've seen the same thing done with a highly armored dwarven tank just running through Emerald Spire and kiting mobs so I'm not hating the scouting so far.