Hi Guys,

One of my players plays a merfolk sorcerer. The race alone provides her with a swim speed of 50ft.

She is lvl 3 now and gets the following from her class:

Aquatic Adaptation (Ex): At 3rd level, you gain a swim speed of 30 feet.

Some character sheet software the player is using added those values together, giving her a swim bonus of 80ft.

I'm not sure if this is right, the aquatics sorcerer's ability seems to be written for normal humanoid PC's that don't have a swim speed, giving them some swimming capability. It's not a bonus that you can add, if you already have swim speed.

Am I right? :D

Ok, thanks guys. I guess I will just show him this topic.

He doesn't want to CAST the spell of this level. He wants to use it to cast a lower level spell he can cast at his level.

He wants to use the 3rd level spell slot to cast a 2nd level spell. It's not forbidden by the rules. Only 3rd level spells are forbidden.

The question is: Do you get your bonus spell slots even if you cannot cast spells of that level yet?

There is no answer to this question in the rules. It only says you cannot cast 3rd level spells as long as you don't reach character level 5. Thats something completely different.

He only gets the additional spell slots if he could cast spells of that level.

That's exactly, what I need to find in the rules.

That's how I see it to, but I need it written down in the rules :)

1) The benefit for him is, he only has invisibility as lvl 2 spell, but a lot of lvl 1 damage spells :)

2) He doesn't want to cast the spell, he wants to use a higher level slot (3rd and 4th) for lower level spells.

Hi guys,

One of my players, who is playing a sorcerer has some questions which I'm not sure how to answer.

1. "I have 2 lvl-2 and 0 lvl-1 spells left for the day. Can I just cast any lvl 1 spell I know by using a lvl-2 slot?"

The rules say:

"These openings for daily spells are called spell slots. A spellcaster always has the option to fill a higher-level spell slot with a lower-level spell"

This seems like it's written more for wizards and not for sorcerers, cause the second ones don't really "fill slots".

But also:

"Sorcerers and bards cast arcane spells, but they do not use spellbooks or prepare spells."

So, the sorcerer doesn't prepare spells, so he cannot "fill" a slot. But can he just cast it without preparing it? Or does this imply he has no way to fill a higher level slot with a lower level spell cause he cannot decide what he wants to put in what slot?

And the second question:

2. "I'm lvl 4 and can only cast 2nd lvl spells. But I also get some bonus higher level slots from my high charisma. I know I cannot put higher level spells in these slots right now, but can I fill those higher level bonus slots with lower level spells?"

Here I'm almost sure he can't but I'm looking for in the rules.

Ok, thanks. I guess my players will now start to buy higher level scrolls, cause the spell is really much more powerful than anything they have at their disposal at this level (CMB+12 is much too much for their enemies at this level).

I've read the description again and realized it only lightly implies that the spell from the scroll is cast at the higher caster level (the scroll's CL and not the player's character CL).

Is there a place in the rules where this is mentioned more clearly?

Hi guys,

I have a question regarding casting from scrolls. Until now I was almost sure I've understood how it works in theory, but now that I've saw how my player used it during a session it seems overpowered.

So, he is a 4 lvl Witch. And got a lvl 4 Black Tentacles scroll(CL7) - it's standard treasure from the final fight of an AP.

According to the description in the PRD his CL is lower than the CL of the scroll so he just needs to make and d20+4 vs 8 caster level check and can cast it as CL7. Even if he fails (and doesn't suffer a mishap) he can try it again in the next round.

He just smashed a very hard encounter with just one spell that is 2 levels higher than he should be able to cast at this level.

Is this how the rules work? Or are we doing something wrong?

I've read is as 150 tons or 120 passengers. After looking at the map of the Promise I've decided this particular sailing ship is build to have about 2/3 cargo and 1/3 passenger quarters. So 100 tons and 40 passengers. By my ruling the crew also counts as passengers.

This way they have room for 40 sailors and if they want to hire more or transport some additional passengers they have to buy the modification or let them sleep in the cargo hold and risk the consequences. These smaller numbers felt much more playable to me and gave them a reason to actually think about buying the “upgrade” which otherwise seems pretty useless.

Thank you, I guess this makes sense.

And how does the swarm attack? Does it have to spend an attack action or can it just move around with double move attacking for free at the end of its round?

Hi guys,

A swarm can move through squares occupied by enemies and vice versa without impediment

Creatures with the swarm subtype don't make standard melee attacks. Instead, they deal automatic damage to any creature whose space they occupy at the end of their move

Swarms do not threaten creatures, and do not make attacks of opportunity with their swarm attack

One of my players asked me if all the above means he can charge through a swarm without any danger of taking damage and it seems like this is the case. Am I missing something?

Hi guys,

I'm about to gather some mechanics for the sanboxy part of S&S and would like to know where I can find the distance a standard sailing ship can cross in a day.

There is a chart for the speed of a sailing ship on the PRD but it looks like it's connected to the old vehicle rules - in the new ones from the S&S Player Guide they changed the speed and other stats of a sailing ship.

In the additional rules section of the PRD there is a table for calculating distance based on speed, but it's for creatures running/walking on land.

To make it short. What's the distance a ship with a speed of 90ft can cross in 12h or 24h?

That's one of the first things I've done in this AP. I saw it as necessary for having the mutiny at the right time (after they leave the Wormwood). In my game during the first Bloody Hour the thief who was sentenced do death somehow got free and tried to attack Harrigan with a hidden dagger. One second later he was paralyzed by the mage-officer but Harrigan just smiled and let him try his luck. A quarter of a second later the attacker was missing both arms, and Harrigan laughed at him as he collapsed to the deck unconscious from the shock.

After that, the players didn't event think about fighting the officers. Well, all but Plugg and Scourge, who I showed as having a lot of weak spots (perception, sense motive checks etc.)

Hi guys,

I'm not sure if I understand if his ability works like normal swallow whole or is toned down to not make this encounter to difficult.

In the tactics section it says:

If a swallowed victim deals damage to the Whale, the giant grindylow vomits up its undigested meal on the following round as

a free action.

Special Attacks swallow whole (1d8+7 damage, AC 13, 3 hp)

And the description of "normal" swallow whole is:

A swallowed creature can try to cut its way free with any light slashing or piercing weapon, or it can just try to escape the grapple. If a swallowed creature cuts its way out, the swallowing creature cannot use swallow whole again until the damage is healed. If the swallowed creature escapes the grapple, success puts it back in the attacker's mouth, where it may be bitten or swallowed again.

So, if the victim escapes the grapple it will get back to Whale's mouth without the grappled condition or with the grappled condition? If it's witout being grappled it can't be swallowed again in the same round.

If the victim deals damage (any damage or the 3hp?) it's not cutted free and can act but has to wait until the round of the Whale to be vomited out. If it's vomited out, is it free or back in the mouth?

Also keep in mind that any character she does cast chill metal on is then most likely going to be unable to dive down to assist any other PC/NPC that happens to get pulled underwater by the octopus or other means.

Yeah, well. The description says it happens only if the metal objects are unattended:

making it float if unattended.

I guess I will just change it to frost fall, the combat is complex enough without me introducing/changing some rules :)

Hi guys,

I'm just preparing the fight with the queen and her son and found this information:

During Combat The Queen uses her wand of summon

nature’s ally II to summon an octopus (she never summons
a squid) to attack foes, then casts entangle against groups
and chill metal against any armor-wearing opponents.

Underwater, chill metal deals no damage, but ice immediately forms around the affected metal, making it float if unattended.

So, why does she cast a spell that won't work on the party in her room?

And another question - is the barkskin spell she casts before combat already in her stat block?

Hi guys,

How am I supposed to handle reach with creatures that are bigger than 5ft?

I have a creature that is listed as:
Space 10 ft.; Reach 15 ft.

If:
# - size
* - reach

Is it supposed to look like this?

A)
****
*##*
*##*
****

B)
_******_
********
********
***##***
***##***
********
********
_******_

From what point do you calculate the reach? From the center of the creature? (No square there, just a point) Or from his edge?

Hi guys,

I have a question regarding grappling. I've read the FAQ and I know you don't lose your DEX bonus to AC while grappled (so you cannot be sneak attacked etc.), but you get a -4 DEX penalty. That means you can still lose some (or all) of the DEX bonus but it's not the "you lose your DEX bonus" condition that makes you the target for special attacks?

If my AC is 12 (10 base + 2 dex bonus) and I'm grappled my AC turns to 10, right?

Does it count for attacks from both inside and outside of the grapple?

I've saw the table on d20pfsrd, just want to make sure.

Hi guys,

I have a quick question regarding this feat:

Improved feint benefit: You can make a Bluff check to feint in combat as a move action.

Feint: You can use Bluff to feint in combat, causing your opponent to be denied his Dexterity bonus to his AC against your next attack

Can I feint (move action) and attack using the benefits from feint (standard action) on the same round?

It seems a nice combination, a chance for a sneak attack in almost every situation.

Hi guys,

My players just landed on Bonewreck Island and they are about to meet the first mosquito swarm. One of the player characters has a trait that lets him use dyplomacy on vermin (wasp whisperer - it functions like wild empathy). If it funtions like diplomacy I will need to set an attitude for the swarm in order to calculate the DC. The swarm is mindless but (I guess) hungry, would it be unfriendly or hostile? If i set the swarm to hostile there isn't really any chance the player will save the group from the swarm (with no critical succes it will just go from hostile to unfriendly - that's not enought to stop an attack). How would you rule this?

How do you do it with animal empathy? Is an hungry animal (predator) hostile?

And another question: The players have a chance to be infected with ghoul fever by mosquitos every time they sleep. Could the player with wasp whisperer help with this and spend the night repeling them? How would you set the DC for such a task? I guess the individual mosquitos that come at night aren't really hostile?

Hi Guys,

I have a quick question regarding Sandara Quinn. I'm running Wormwood Mutiny now and she is about to die.

Do I need her for anything in future books of the AP? In the book it says

Well, yes this would make sense, but it's not what's written in the description. It just says "it can be used underwater" and not "it can be used underwater without penalties".

Also I don’t see how the next sentence “When fired underwater, the crossbow has a range increment of 20 feet” can be read as “the range increment underwater is shorter but you get no penalty for shooting through water ”.

For me it seems like the person, who has written the description of the crossbow didn't knew, how the underwater rules are formulated. If he knew, he wouldn’t spell it this way.

There is no line saying "the range increment of every ranged weapon used underwater changes to 5 feet" as the penalties for underwater shooting are in addition to the range increment, and not a range increment.

Well, yes this would make sense, but it's not what's written in the description. It just says "it can be used underwater" and not "it can be used underwater without penalties".

Also I don’t see how the next sentence “When fired underwater, the crossbow has a range increment of 20 feet” can be read as “the range increment underwater is smaller but you get no penalty for shooting through water ”.

For me it seems like the person, who has written the description of the crossbow didn't knew, how the underwater rules are formulated. If he knew, he wouldn’t spell it this way.

Guys,

I need help with understanding how this weapon works:

Underwater Crossbow: An underwater crossbow functions like its normal counterpart above water, and can be used underwater. When fired underwater, the crossbow has a range increment of 20 feet. Anyone proficient with a normal crossbow can use an underwater crossbow.

Underwater rules from the environment section of the rulebook:

Ranged Attacks Underwater: Thrown weapons are ineffective underwater, even when launched from land. Attacks with other ranged weapons take a –2 penalty on attack rolls for every 5 feet of water they pass through, in addition to the normal penalties for range.

Where does it say a normal crossbow cannot be used under water? Even Sahuagins have a normal crossbow as their standard equipment. It looks useless to me. It should at least mitigate the penalty for shooting through 5 feet of water. Or does the desctiption imply it does?

Hi guys :)

The rules say you can draw a weapon as a move action or draw something that is harder to reach (in your backpack) as a standard action.

Can you choose to draw the weapon as a standard action?

My player has a BAB of 0 so he cannont draw for free while moving.

He would like to move (move action) and to draw his weapon (standard action). Can he do this or does he need to have the weapon in his backpack? :D

Hi,

My player's sorcerer is running around with a long spear. Are there any penalties I shoul know of? I know he can cast without droping the weapon, but does he have to use any action to change from casting to attacking? And how about attacks of opportunity? Does he threaten all the time or just in rounds he chose to use the standard action for attacking with the spear?

Hi guys,

There are 2 spells my players like to use with their 1st level casters:

Ear Piercing Scream:

"The target is dazed for 1 round and takes 1d6 points of sonic damage per two caster levels (maximum 5d6). "

and Elemental Ray

This ray deals 1d6 points of damage of your energy type + 1 for every two sorcerer levels you possess

I've just noticed I've ruled them differently until now. How do you read it? As a lvl 1 caster do I deal:

1d6 + daze on EPS and 1d6+1 on ER

or

only daze on EPS (gaining the 1d6 at lvl 2) and only 1d6 on ER (gaining the +1 on lvl 2)?

I've ruled daze + 1d6 dmg on EPS and 1d6 dmg on ER at lvl 1, cause I've read the levels on ER as full levels (you need 2 levels to gain the benefit)

Thanks for all your replies :)

The players had many arguments, why it was not ok for them:

1. This use of the bluff skill was not described in the rules and I've promised them we would try to play per RAW.
2. This use of the bluff skill should at least take an action, this means he would not have the option to climb in the same round.
3. Bluff should only work when the players are actively talking with each other/paying attention to each other's actions.

Finaly we came to an agreement and moved on. It was a massacre. But a good one!

After the player playing a witch realized he got fooled by te rogue he cast dancing lights on the climbing players (to distract them) AND summoned his Hawk familiar to attack them. After all this, he started to climb after the others.

Hi guys :)

I have a small problem with my players and a rule interpretation. We are playing the 1st tome of Skull and Shackles and just started out.

Are my players right? Would you accept this use of the bluff skill? I've tried to explain it's almost the same situation as feint (which many GM's let players use against other players). The only difference is, it's outside of combat.