TarEcthelion's page

Handed out my first 2e magical staff to my players recently and it brought up a series of questions I haven't found a solid answer for yet.

So (in this example) they got the staff late morning during some shopping before any fighting had broken out yet...

"Just before setting out to explore, or after a night’s rest, the PCs spend time to prepare for the adventuring day. This typically happens over the span of 30 minutes to an hour in the morning, but only after 8 full hours of rest."

...it fits the criteria but the spell prep had been done. Are they stuck waiting until tomorrow? Could they have held back some/all slots to prepare later?

So here is the series of questions:
1. If the staff wasn't previously prepared by anyone can they spend time to prepare it now?
2. If a staff can be prepared when found, presumably a prepared caster couldn't expend a previously prepared spell slot to add additional charges right?
3. If a prepared caster only prepared some of their Spell Slots in the morning could they have spell slots to expend in the staff?
4. If a prepared caster only prepares some of their Spell Slots in the morning can they prepare the others later (spending another 30-60min period as defined in the CRB)?

Perhaps it's putting too much on the use of "typically" and not enough on "Daily" but it sounds like it could be done after breakfast/shopping, or whenever they get to it as long as there has been 8 full hours of rest since the last time they prepared the staff/spell-slot.

But, I'm starting to repeat myself so I'll leave it up to you all? Did I miss important text somewhere? Breaking it up legal by RAW/RAI? "The First Rule"?

I just stumbled on and had the same question... nice to see others agree it's in err, but any chance we've seen something like an official response about it?

This is a response to finding out there is a Digital Dragon Studios not the app itself (both of which I'm excited about), but I just want to say that if you haven't already...

You really should reach out to David Wilson (Redrazors) and make the relationship between Pathfinder/Paizo and Pathbuilder official. Much like the partnership with Archive of Nethys.

I love the idea of more Paizo digital products, and I'd much rather see a partnership than splitting the base and both sides feeling cheated/loss.

Again, super excited about about both the product and the new company. Hoping for success and all the best for all involved.

:)

Timeshadow: "It is basicly a ritual" is what I was leaning on too. Because Magical Crafting isn't required to apply/transfer a rune.

Plane: Love the Conan reference (and the inspiration your name provided)

Castilliano: Love the flavor of the "essence of their exemplary creator"

I appreciate all the answers, at the moment I'm leaning towards a magical abstraction...

Effectively a ritual that lets the crafter interact with the Ethereal projection/essence of the item.

Runework then becomes etching/changing the face of the Ethereal essence/spirit of the thing in the aesthetic of the way we get have a Material and an Ethereal plane that overlap. Then we get a change in the material of the thing (though calling it Physical is still a stretch), but it's also just the other side of how we expect materials to work because it's the Ethereal.

It lets it remain unseen on an item if desired though there is room for shoddy or intentional work to effect both planes.

It allows for "fun and interesting" ways to see/interact. True seeing might let you see the numerous magical scars, or ethereal beings might be slightly more weary (nothing mechanical, just flavor). You could even discover a mundane weapon had been magical at one time but has since been "robbed".

Still some time between now and Friday's game... Happy to hear/refine further.

How do you other GMs envision/explain runes in game? I find myself with many non-system questions, and would love to know what other folks have found or done.
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Relevant Official Descriptions include:
"Most magic weapons and armor gain their enhancements from potent eldritch runes etched into them." -CRB p580
"Runes must be physically engraved on items through a special process to convey their effects." -CRB p580
"When a rune is transferred from the runestone to another object, the runestone cracks and is destroyed." -CRB p571
"It takes 1 day (instead of the 4 days usually needed to Craft) to transfer a rune or swap a pair of runes..." -CRB p580

Example questions:
1) Is "Etching" or "Physically Engrav[ing]" a rune into an item actually removing material? (Does it also introduce material?)
2) If it's Physically a change to the item are runes visible after they're applied? (so magical equipment are generally always obvious then unless steps are taken to cover the runes?)
3) If it takes a day to transfer (or swap) a rune what does that look like? Is that chisel and hammer, or something (jokingly) like a magic laser?

I think I'm mostly struggling with the terms "transfer" and also "physical" together... if it's physical why wouldn't you just Copy or Duplicate and leave the original intact? So it must be a magical process (that even causes the stone to crack), so Magical Serial Numbers? But then 1 day of "Physically Engrav[ing]"? Does transferring the rune off the weapon put the removed material back on it or is it scarred by each rune borne and out lived?

I know it's fiddly and ultimately going to be "your the GM it's whatever you want!" but I like consistency, internally to my world, and with the publisher when I can. This just seems contradictory and I haven't settled on a screen ready version... something that "Looks right" and still follows all the rules descriptions.

When you want to go past "you pay your gold and come back the next day" to actually describe it, what did/will you say?

Just me? Thoughts? Anything official?

They have access to a pool of 'soul' energy that forms the very plane they exist on, which is fueled from the material realm (and positive energy plane that creates the souls).

I've seen that stated before but I'm not sure where that comes from. I have a copy of Planar Adventures ordered but not arrived yet, is it in there or can you cite a source so I can read more about it?

Gods don't really intervene directly, that's why they have clerics. The clerics, and the divine spells they cast ARE their intervention.

It's a slippery slope for sure... free spells and answers is not somewhere I want to end up. I think this quote is basically exactly how I'm going to run it. I just want to dot my 'I's and cross my 'T's.

But I would add one more question (in the vein of 1a)... I know it's super vague but, if/when a God does use powers that are not commonly associated with them; Any repercussions? Any precedent for the way that might be handled? (largely outside of any players purview is probably the short/clean answer)

Apologies in advance for the length; I find myself asking some questions that border on philosophical and wanted to know if there are official (RaW) answers and people's opinions (House) on the same...

There is lots of information on Domains (and Sub-domains) but it's always written from the perspective of the potential receiver of power (Cleric, Paladin, etc) and not the deity themselves. I haven't yet found an answer to the question what are the god's spell lists limited to? None? Non-conflicting Alignment only? Domains only? And I expect it's by design, and I get that.

I know this is going heavily into the "talk to your GM" area, and that's why specifics are sparse, so I've knocked that one out for you... In this case I'm a new(ish) GM holding the Inner Sea Gods book (and other core books) and I'm trying to define the boundaries of gods in my Golarion, and I want it to be as Cannon as can be with such a tenebrous GM defined topic.

As a GM I'm asking the following specifically:

1) Can a god cast spells that do not fall under their listed domains?
1a) If yes, why are Gods given "domains" is it a faux pas to tread on another's domain?
1b) If no, why can the divine casters they fuel cast spells their patron can't?

2) How likely (Raw or House) is a character to get a response from a god without use of "Commune" or other spell casting. Honest Prayer alone... leaving the form of the answer (and other god specific differences) largely out of the question. How do you handle it?
2a) Example: Follower asking for something in-line with their god's domains
2b) Example: Follower asking for something that doesn't fall in their god's domains.
2c) Example: Non-follower asking for something in-line with the god's domains

50 dkp minus to anyone who paraphrases "Your the GM do whatever you want...", but in all sincerity Thank You to anyone who takes the time out to answer. I appreciate it.

Heal looks like it carries over all of the problems from P1E, except even worse because P2E's inflated HP scaling. It just doesn't look like it does enough to compete with other spells at the same level.

Compare heal at level 6 to Vampiric exsanguination. For the same action cost, I could heal one person of 6d8 damage at range, or I could force everyone in a 30-foot cone to save or take 10d6 damage and and I also will probably gain 5d6 temporary hit points.

Maybe spellcasting modifier scales with level, but then heal cast at level 1 will be more efficient (again) than heal cast at level 3.

It's always been harder to build than to destroy, it is the nature of things.

Talking strictly system though... I think this is an intentional choice; They should not be balanced, because the imbalance leads to action. "We can't do this forever! Can you kill it or do we need to pull back?" etc.

The difference is you can tend to your wounds after the fight, but the fight should be intense with real danger in the moment. If you want to have enough healing to match/overcome for prolonged, potentially endless (matched) fights then you'll just need to bring more healers, and keep them clear of the splash zone.

If you care for the dog that much, give it to a peasant that needs guarding long term.

Love this suggestion; Plus we can always say he's living a happy life up state on a farm... and the uninitiated will assume it's a euphemism for he died and we don't talk about it. :P

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.

They can pay to get the dog battle trained, or a PC with ranks in Handle Animal can teach the dog new tricks.

Awaken the dog?

As a guard dog it came battle trained...

Guard Dog: This Small, combat-trained dog is bred for battle; breeders favor strength, a thick body, and a low center of gravity. Guard dogs are sold in most large cities and some cultures use them for sport fighting or in some armies' special infantry.

...unless you're referencing something in addition to what we see in Handle Animal.

Awaken is interesting, though it's even farther in the future than leadership (Awaken: 2k Gold & Druid lvl9 to cast the lvl5 spell). But it doesn't quite scratch the itch we're looking for.

I appreciate the reply, and I don't want to come across as dismissive (I hadn't thought of awaken, it's a good suggestion). But we're looking more specifically about how does the animal advance through it's XP or equivalent... Specifically if/when might it gain additional hit dice/points, and or stats.

Barding and training may be the only RAW growth for a non-class companion... but I wanted to ask the community in case we've missed something, and if someone has good suggestions on fair house rules for such a situation.

I've been digging around but haven't seen anything particularly definitive. And perhaps it's because the secret sauce only works at low levels but here's the situation...

Situation:
A low level party (levels 1-2) buy a Gaurd Dog who's done well for itself as a companion. It's not an animal companion or anything with advancement rules. They've all leveled up now a few more times (levels 4+) and the question has come up... when does Leroy J. Brown (Yes, we made the mistake of naming the dog) advance?

In general the RAW seems to indicate never, the golden rule says whenever the DM says so. And there are suggestions about the leadership feat, which doesn't even become an option until someone is level 7, and seems to be overkill.

And then there is the "well we could split the XP for +1 player taking away from the group but benefiting the dog"... (This seems to penalize the party more than help the dog, especially since it will certainly die at some point as things get tougher)

Questions:
1. What sort of advancement options are there RAW?
2. What sort of advancement options do people feel comfortable with that don't cut into what Druids/Hunters/etc have, but also don't penalize the group?