Sazbirtraz's page

I pretty much agree with Shadowcat, just a few extra points:

2) Person Gravity does stipulate you have to be within 1 foot of a sufficiently stable solid or liquid surface. While a person is certainly (or at least normally should be) solid, you can't really call them stable, not in the sense that the ground, or a wood floor, or whatever is stable. And as far as I know there is nothing that increases the range of personal gravity, so even if he does say a creature is a stable surface, he would have to be way too close to charge (and that wouldn't work anyway).

3) As per Psionics Unleashed for Pathfinder, the glossary defines Ability Burn as such:

Ability Burn: A special form of ability damage that cannot be magically or psionically healed, even by effects that remove ability drain. It is caused by the use of certain feats and powers. It returns only through natural healing.

The only ability that interacts with ability burn damage I know is Mind Over Body:

MIND OVER BODY

Benefit:
You heal ability damage and ability burn damage more quickly than normal. You heal a number of ability points per day equal to 1 + your Constitution modifier.

So, unless he is sitting in the Astral Plane for days, his ability burn cannot be healed by any means, unless its something that I am completely unaware of.

Ninja'd.

While you deal damage in a whirlwind equivalent to a slam attack (edit: unarmed strike in the case of the master of storms), you are not actually attacking them with an attack roll or an attack action, so I don't think sneak attack would apply, regardless of the situation.

If nothing else (and this is just purely my opinion), I would say being a tornado would negate any ability to pick out or reach a vital spot on an opponent, as I don't think a tornado, even a sentient one, would be able to precisely control how anything caught within it is bashed around.

Shields do not count as any kind of armor, a Barbarian can run around at mach 5 and not be hampered in any way by the use of a shield.

The barbarian's faster speed is only restricted when wearing heavy armor or carrying a heavy load, so unless the shield is somehow increasing the barbarian's carry load to heavy, they get access to the class feature while wearing/wielding shields.

By comparison, look at the Weapon and Armor Proficiency section of the Monk class, which specifically calls out wearing any armor or a shield as restricting their class abilities. The wording would be similar if the same shield restriction affected barbarians.

Hope this helps.

In this case, you would get either Armored Defense + Adamantine or Armored Defense + Stalwart, whichever is higher (probably Stalwart unless you are Combat Expertising at lowish level).

The DR gained from Adamantine interacts with a class feature in the case of Armored Defense, but is not in itself a class feature, so by definition cannot stack with Stalwart.

To determine whether your target has cover from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target's square passes through a square or border that blocks line of effect or provides cover, or through a square occupied by a creature, the target has cover (+4 to AC)...

...When making a melee attack against a target that isn't adjacent to you (such as with a reach weapon), use the rules for determining cover from ranged attacks...

...Soft Cover: Creatures, even your enemies, can provide you with cover against ranged attacks, giving you a +4 bonus to AC.

Emphasis mine. Yes, attacking with a reach weapon through a square occupied by a creature than can provide cover vs. a ranged attack will do the same for the reach attack.

Sadly not, you must still meet the pre-reqs for all your regular advancement feats. The Combat Style Feats let you skip some of the progression, but only on the levels where you get those bonus feats specifically.

I certainly wouldn't say you can't use evocation spells that aren't attacks, just that Shadow Evocation wasn't written to address every possible spell effect/combination/possibility that it can possibly produce.

Unfortunately, the caveat covering non-attack SE spells is only a single sentence long, so (in my opinion) if you are GM you are just going to have to make a call in game and if you are a player you'll have the hash it out with the GM. As for organized play...*shrug*, I just don't think that kind of thing is specifically covered beyond the basic illusion rule of "if you fail the save, it's real, if you pass, it's fake."

As for SE Daylight, I suppose interacting would be up for interpretation, and I could be persuaded at a table that you aren't interacting with it just by standing in it, but it is possible to try to grab a save through careful observation:

Creatures encountering an illusion usually do not receive saving throws to recognize it as illusory until they study it carefully or interact with it in some fashion.

Perhaps the interaction between Daylight and Deeper Darkness itself would count as 'interacting' for the purpose of (dis)believing an illusion?

I feel compelled to observe that this seems like an awfully long way to go to cast Daylight...would a scroll or three not be more efficient? Shadow Evocation always seemed to me to be a way for Illusion casters to get some pew pew out of their strongest school.

Man, screwed the formatting on that post, oh well.

You may just be in the realm of GM fiat when considering these kinds of spell interactions, I'll admit I have never seen (or done myself) anyone try to use Shadow Evocation for anything other than blast spells.

Sazbirtraz wrote:

Floating Disk may be a bit of a corner case but for the specific example of Distracting Cacophony I would point out the second to last sentence of the description of Shadow Evocation:

Core Rulebook pg. 340 wrote:
Nondamaging effects have normal effects except against those who disbelieve them. Against disbelievers, they have no effect.
The 20% thing doesn't come into effect for evocations that don't have attacks. Each character in the area of a Shadow Evocation Distracting Cacophony would make their individual save to disbelieve, those who fail are affected normally, like many other area illusion spells, and those who pass are unaffected.
The OP is particularly hoping to find out about a Shadow Evocation version of daylight and its interaction with deeper darkness (I know because I know him). I'm of the mind that if even one person disbelieves the daylight, it only has a 20% chance to counter deeper darkness since it is a disbelieved effect and it either counters the other spell or it doesn't.

I think my example would still stand, as Daylight is no more an attack than Distracting Cacophony, so the 20% doesn't come into play.

As to whether anyone disbelieving a SE Daylight would negate the SE Daylight's ability to supress/counter Deeper Darkness is...perhaps something that is not specifically covered, I'll admit. It would seem weird that the non-illusion Deeper Darkness would be suppressed for some people in a group and not for others because it is being affected by an illusion.

Floating Disk may be a bit of a corner case but for the specific example of Distracting Cacophony I would point out the second to last sentence of the description of Shadow Evocation:

Nondamaging effects have normal effects except against those who disbelieve them. Against disbelievers, they have no effect.

The 20% thing doesn't come into effect for evocations that don't have attacks. Each character in the area of a Shadow Evocation Distracting Cacophony would make their individual save to disbelieve, those who fail are affected normally, like many other area illusion spells, and those who pass are unaffected.

Spell-like abilities usually run off Charisma, and the basic Shae presented in the monster manual has a listed CHA mod of +3 and a listed INT mod of +5. The DC for the Bestiary Shae's Lesser Shadow Evocation is 16, so the DC should be CHA based unless I am totally missing something.

It's simply that spell-like abilities and class based spell casting are not the same. So lets say for example you have a 9th level Shae Wizard that happens to have the same stats as the Shae in the Bestiary, with INT 21 and CHA 17 being the important ones. That Shae can use the spell-like Lesser Shadow Evocation to lets say Burning Hands, which will have a Will and Reflex save of DC 16 (CHA based because it is spell-like), and do 5d4 base damage.

That same Shae can also cast Shadow Evocation as a 5th level Wizard spell, creating a fireball again with DC's of 20 (INT based because it is an actual Wizard spell), and do 9d6 base damage.

Hope this helps again, Spell-likes can get a little funny, I recommend looking here for useful information about them specifically.

Hello chaoskin I will try to help you.

1) The DC is set by the CL of the shadow evocation, not the spell being copied:

...the save DC is set according to shadow evocation's level rather than the spell's normal level.

However, it looks like the DC for the Shae's specific spell-like ability is CHA based, so it would be 10(base) + 3(level) + CHA mod. So the Bestiary Shae's mod is 16 (10+3+3).

2) The Will and Reflex saves are essentially simultaneous, it shouldn't really matter which comes first, a creature hit by a shadow evocation fireball will get to make both before damage is applied. It is a 5th level spell for both save DC's (as noted above), so 10 + 5 + casting mod. Damage dice is based on caster level up to 10, as per the fireball spell, so a 9th level Wizard with 22 INT casting shadow evocation fireball has save DC's (Will and Ref) of 21, and deal 9d6 damage before save reductions (not counting feats or other modifiers to DCs or damage).

3) If they pass the Will save versus shadow evocation fireball, but fail the reflex save, they take 20% of the full damage. The fireball is still partially real, so they didn't "dodge" any of the damage like against a regular fireball, they just realized it wasn't a true fireball spell. And yes, if they fail the Will save it affects them just like a real fireball spell at full damage, and if they pass the Reflex save they will take half of the full damage.

4) By RAW they should still get their Will save if it is directly affecting them, regardless if they can see it clearly or not. If you would like to houserule it differently, that is your choice, but in this case seeing the spell doesn't really matter. It is essentially an illusion spell that is directly interacting with them, and a save should be allowed.

Hope this helps!

Hello James,

I haven't seen this specifically referenced in FAQs or Errata anywhere, and the Bestiary description could be considered arguable:

Does a celestial template creature (ala summon monster or Celestial Servant), lets say a celestial Riding Dog, that uses its once a day Smite Evil ability do so as the Paladin's Smite Evil ability (bypass DR, deflection to AC, etc.), or do you only gain the +hit and +damage?

Special Attacks smite evil 1/day as a swift action (adds Cha bonus to attack rolls and damage bonus equal to HD against evil foes; smite persists until target is dead or the celestial creature rests).

The Half-Celestial Template was errated to function as Paladin Smite, but Celestial Simple Template was not. Do you know if this is oversight or intended?

Thank you.

The Half-Celestial inherited template is not the same as the celestial simple template. The Half-Celestial Smite Evil was specifically errate'd to act like the Paladin's Smite Evil, but the celestial template Smite Evil was not, and the two were not equivalent in the original printing either.

The celestial template Smite Evil specifically calls out it gives Cha bonus to hit and HD to damage, and in no other way references the paladin ability, bypassing DR, giving deflection bonus to AC or doubling the damage bonus against certain creatures.

A search of the boards gave me these links:

Smiting (celestial / fiendish templates)

Half-fiend Smite vs. Fiendish smite?

Summon Monster spells and Celestial Template

Smite Evil and summoned monsters

Mm, I did not know this, thank you Kiinyan.

While Exploit Weakness (Ex) is not a Cha, Dex or Int skill (or check for that matter), I would argue that it would require the use of concentration that raging does not allow, though another DM might rule differently of course.

Out of curiosity, how are you taking Monk and Barbarian together?

If you have the Gunsmithing Feat and a least 1 rank in Craft (Alchemy), there is no check involved; you are automatically successful in creating ammunition (at half the listed cost for alchemical cartridges).

If you don't have the feat, then you are correct that does not seem to be a listed crafting DC. Might I suggest an extrapolation from the core Craft skill list? DC 15 for crossbow bolts (or "high quality items"), or perhaps DC 18 if you consider it "exotic" (ala exotic weapons). Even DC 20 if you consider them complex or superior. I would probably stick to 15 myself, two-handed firearms users need those alch. cartridges.

Edit: Hmm, I totally missed the new item Craft DC's in the feat section of Ultimate Combat. Firearms are set at DC 20, and since in the Core weapon and ammunition are the same DC together, I guess I would go up to 20 for alchemical cartridges.

Planar Wild shape to add celestial (and thus smite) to your wild shape.

For animal companions, look to add that celestial template somehow, although I don't immediatly know of a way.

I am afraid this will not in fact work. Unless I am missing something, the smite evil granted by the celestial template is not the same as a paladin's smite evil. Celestial smite evil only adds Cha to attack rolls and HD to damage rolls against evil foes once a day, it does not bypass any DR.

For my money Gunslingers in general are pretty locked into their initial feats unless you are doing something rather unorthodox. I personally only have experience as a Musket Master but a lot of this should be transferable.

1 - Rapid Reload (Firearms). Necessary, if you enjoy things like being able to move and take more than one shot ever, or both later on!
3 - Point Blank Shot. Prereq for most of the ranged tree, and you're going to want to be within 30 ft. anyway, might as well!
4 - Rapid Shot. Dump that hit for more damage, that's what the Gunslinger is best at.
5 - Deadly Aim. Same idea, scales well the more attacks you can take, and you should be on the verge of +6/+1 (as well as haste if you have a dedicated arcane caster in the party).
7 - Precise Shot or Dodge. Even for a Gunslinger +4 to hit is nice, unless you're getting a lot of buffs. Dodge is nice for Pistoleros and leads into Deft Shootist.
8 - Improved Initiative or Mobility. A flat footed enemy against a Gunslinger is like always having True Strike, you basically cant miss if you can get into range increment. Mobility is nice for, well, mobility, and is another prereq for Deft Shootist.
9 - Combat Reflexes or Deft Shootist. Combat Reflexes sucks unless you weapon cord some melee weapons or other such nonsense, BUT Snap Shot and Improved Snap Shot are AMAZING especially if you're going to be in their face anyway. Deft Shootist? Ignore provoking in melee for firing and reloading, huzzah! It's in Ultimate Combat.
11 - Signature Deed. Also Ultimate Combat of course. I recommend Up Close and Deadly from the Pistolero, as this instantly becomes free +3d6 damage on EVERY attack that can deal precision damage, and half on a miss, that scales up with level. Hard to beat unless you find yourself not being able to deal precision damage.

That is just some suggestions based on my experience. Of course if you make a Human character you will have some more wiggle room in the mid levels, though I highly recommend picking up the first 4 feats unless you are diverging from the basics.

If you find yourself not liking Improved Initiative or Deft Shootist and such, I highly recommend picking up the Snap Shot chain, I've gotten a lot of milage out of it in my campaign since I find myself on the fight lines a lot of the time.

Also, if you can pick up some Celestial Armor or something equivalent, I think you will find that a Gunslinger is quite tanky. Just remember you are giving up scaling AC bonus with Mysterious Stranger.

Hope this helps some, good luck.

In the Kingmaker game I GMed the name of the parties capital city was Ostwick. The party wizard, after having many a near death (and a couple of actual death) encounters in the first couple of books, settled on a new survival strategy:

"I teleport to Ostwick."

This became the catch-all response to any situation of any severity going forward for the wizard, then the other players, then the NPCs, then anyone in any other game we've played since.

Few things so readily bring a smile to my face as hearing a party of level 1 PCs proclaim that they are, in fact, teleporting to Ostwick as the first action of their first encounter.

@Phasics

As a Wizard Archetype I think this would definitely drop a Wizard out of a tier 1 position because you are giving up such a huge swathe of useful/powerful spells at any given level to pick up a rather small list of specific spells that they cant even technically cast better than any other Wizard, just earlier. It feels like pigeonholing a class that is built for versatility and utility. I honestly think that this seems like it would be a better fit as some kind of Sorcerer bloodline/archetype, as they are already constrained on the spells they can know anyway.

Also, considering Spiritual Weapon and Ally are particularly bad if you don't have a decent Wisdom, a low level Force Archon would pretty much be stuck with all Magic Missile all the time, which could be completely shut down with a Shield spell or Brooch of Shielding. That can be compensated for with wands and such, but again that pretty much just makes a Sorcerer right there. I might suggest having the Spiritual spells gain the benefit of primary casting stat if that is the route you want to go down.

I'm just saying that Black Tentacles is a bit of a ambiguous case because it is both an area effect and an attack. Since a standard creature, lets say a Fighter with some appropriate feats, can't "AoE" grapple like Black Tentacles can, there isn't really a direct comparison that can be made with this spell as oppose to, say, Grasping Hand.

I certainly don't think it should attack all of the images, just like Fireball doesn't. But Mirror Images doesn't say anything about it only being ignored by instantaneous area effects. It simply says that area spells affect you normally and don't destroy any of the images.

The thought of Blur turning you into a bush to hide in Solid Snake style is kind of humorous though.

More seriously though, is that what is effectively being suggested? I might grant a bonus to a creature that Blur was cast upon while they were already hiding via Stealth and then wanted to move around (within reason). But if a Wizard were to cast Blur 10 feet away from a Barbarian that wants to murder them, how would that Barbarian not be able to see them walk from point A to point B, assuming Blur was the only thing granting concealment? Does the Barbarian suddenly become blind to the smudged watercolor figure walking around 10 feet away from them?

I might tentatively suggest that these two spells are in direct conflict with each other due to how Black Tentacles works.

While I can't argue that it certainly makes an attack and would thus be affected like any other attack as per Mirror Image, Black Tentacles is an area spell and Mirror Image specifically calls out that area spells essentially ignore Mirror Image and don't interact with it in any way, including attacking all "creatures" (i.e. the caster and all his images) at the same time.

So, Black Tentacles is an area of effect spell that produces an attack roll, which technically means that both aspects of Mirror Image would apply to it. It seem to me like it would be up to the GM to decide how it is affected.

Personally, if it were my game, I would say that as an area spell, Black Tentacles would ignore Mirror Image and attempt to grapple as normal. Nothing to do with seeing or whatnot, just the fact that it is an area spell.

As a caveat I could be convinced otherwise if someone knows whether the attack aspect or the area aspect supersedes the other.

Not that I am aware of. The rage powers listed under the individual archetypes are merely suggestions, not mandatory, restrictive or limited to that archetype in particular.

Technically the Totem Warrior Archetype limits you to only one Totem series as per the wording the APG, but that may have been changed and is beside the point. Essentially all the rage powers are available to any barbarian that meets their individual prerequisites.