The Unknown Elder's page

People who are Slowed (since that was a factor specifically mentioned) are also Staggered... which means no full-round actions, and thus no Full Attack.

The Pounce allows the use of all your iterative attacks in spite of the fact that you're moving (Charge)... which itself is a Full-Round Action.

In other words, if you are Slowed, you can't Charge at all, let alone Pounce at the end of it.

A couple points:

1) The Planes were meant to be traveled to by higher level characters. The developers didn't spend tons of hours designing the Planes, investing piles of capital creating books and adventures only to have a GM say that the rules don't allow a person to survive in a number of them for more than a few seconds before turning into piles of ash and outrage.

2) Common sense dictates that while on the plane of fire (for example), on a calm "day", with literally everything around you on fire, that the normal fires and atmospheric conditions will not harm a person protected by Planar Adaptation. Now, a massive superstorm with the atmospheric gases hurtling past you at 180 mph, tossing large debris about like gunfire IS going to hurt you. Sure, it's a "natural" phenomenon... but it's not a "normal" natural phenomenon. As to the swimming through lava angle: lava is WAY hotter than fire. The Wall of Lava spell describes damage from moving through it as 20d6 (70 points on average). That goes way beyond the -20 granted by Planar Adaptation, so, good luck with that - unless you've got an effect that renders you immune to fire damage (or the GM chooses to fudge it for you). Just remember: regular every-day phenomenon = immune; extreme stuff = not immune.

And a few questions:

1) When crafting a magic item that protects a character with Planar Adaptation, can you specify (on each new use) which plane you wish to have immunity from, or is a single casting limited to one plane only (requiring an additional device per plane)?

2) Would it make a difference if the item were a permanent effect vs. an activated effect with a duration?

3) Why is it that the Druid - the one class that is arguably attached naturally to the greatest number of differing planes (the Elemental and appropriate Outer Planes) - does Not have access to this spell? I understand that the Druid has the option at level 8 to assume an elemental form 3 times per day at 8 hours each, but that's not the point. That Druid will want to be able to extend an effective protection around his/her party members as well...

TriOmegaZero wrote:

Stebehil wrote:

One thing pointing to the "evilness" of undead is their connection to negative energy. I´m not sure if this has been explored in depth in Pathfinder (I´m waaay behind on my reading).

Big hole in your argument is the fact that negative energy is not actually evil. It is used by evil, but not actually evil. In the same way positive energy is used by good but not actually good.

also too much positive energy can kill as well

The best example supporting this is the condition of Neutral Clerics of Neutral deities, allowing them to choose (on creation) which energy to focus upon.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/3rd-party-feats/paizo-fans-united/general-fea ts/dual-channeling

The dual-channeling feat allows for the use of both by one Cleric, though one is still the primary focus.

Agreed, Mark Moreland, in all respects. The only two reasons for departure from cannon are: story arch, and character development.

Now the side question: if something must be a flavor of evil, is Lawful Evil not a viably playable option, even in the face of Good-aligned players? After all, though the character in question is "evil" (effectively translated as "selfish"), said character does their level best not to break laws or rules... which may well include oaths sworn to the gaming group regarding allowable behaviors.

The fun of this comes from roleplaying character conversations and exploration of moral grounds, in my opinion. It's another version of a True Neutral Druid pointing out and defending some of the viewpoints of humanoids (monstrous and normal) as being relative to environment and circumstance.

There's opportunity for growth for everyone in the group if properly done, certainly including the Evil character. In fact, the goal may be to redeem that very character in the long run. In fact, there's a distinct challenge in accurately portraying the slide from evil to neutral, to possibly even good - in my opinion - that can produce some amazing story archs.

It seems to me that as long as the GM and (more importantly in some respects) other players agree with the idea ahead of character creation and implementation.

Thoughts?

Understanding the general implications of undeath in its many Pathfinder iterations, I still don't see becoming undead as an absolute imperative to become evil as a result, unless the form of undeath is unintelligent and not free-willed.

As an example, I'll focus on the Lich. In the description of becoming a lich, there is no part of the process that requires a specifically evil act. Any evil in the process would come solely from the ultimate intent of the person going down that path.

As an example, imagine a human mage (appropriately short-lived in the grand scheme of things) who has been tasked with the duty of guarding something - a location, or object of power, for example. As the mage ages and begins to see that there doesn't appear to be an apparent heir to the duty coming to the fore, yet his/her life is coming towards its inevitable end. That person may make the decision to sacrifice all to continue performing their duties well beyond their natural life spans... at least until another qualified person comes along.

More relevant to an adventuring party, another human mage might see themselves as the guide to the rest of a youthful party (or one made up of beings with much longer life spans) and feels he/she should linger on to continue helping them.

Perhaps the story arch is an intentionally long and complex one, and the character (which, btw, apparently doesn't even need to be a caster, let alone a mage, if they have access to one... warrior liches exist) just can't let death get in the way of saving the world from the end-game bad guy.

Part of my reasoning stems from an appreciation for the potential difficulties of playing such a role. As a lich, one doesn't instantly turn into a rotten corpse-like pile of bones and parchment-skin. That takes decades... even centuries to happen. One could go for years as just an arcane oddity who makes people feel uncomfortable because of a notable aura of something... other.

But all of that just touches upon the subject. Even with NPC's, a ghost might not be even remotely evil; seeking, rather, to see their murderer brought to justice, or even just keep people from falling into the bog that had killed them.

Long story short, I tend to dislike absolutes like, "This can only ever be evil."

Thoughts?

There's a feat that allows you to grow Leshies (and all manner of other creatures), found in The Complete Advanced Feats, called Create Wondrous Creature.