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Getting an aquatic animal companion to be moderately useful on land -PFS

Timebomb

Aug 18, 2016, 04:33 pm

I know it isn't a good idea at all, but I want myself a land-shark and I think I've almost done it, but some of these corner cases have a lot of dust in them and I'd love some more eyes and opinions. Specifically there are two strange things:

1) What is the Base Speed of a shark when it's not in the water?

2) Assuming the Base Speed of a shark when it's on land refers to the Base Land Speed, what is the Base Land Speed of a creature that does not have a listed Land Speed? (possibilities I can think of are either 0 or Null)

2b) Can I give the shark a +5 foot enhancement bonus to it's Base Land Speed and if so what would the resulting Land Speed be?

I use Totem Companion (stag) to give my shark a +5' enhancement bonus to it's Base Land Speed, resulting in a 5' land speed (and 60' swim speed), and 1/day through Primal Companion's Primal Transformation I give it the Climb evolution twice: once to give it a climb speed of 5' (it's Base Speed) and the second to boost it to a 25' climb speed. I use the definition of a slope in the climb rules to climb across the ground.

Totem Companion:

Your animal companion becomes spiritually connected to an animal totem that has a spiritual significance for you or your background, such as a Shoanti clan’s animal totem.

Prerequisites: Wis 13, animal companion class feature.

Benefit: Select one animal aspect from the list presented in the hunter class’s animal focus class feature. Your animal companion has natural coloration suggestive of this aspect—a bear might have a dark spot in the shape of a bat, or a hawk might have unusual tiger striping in its feathers. Your animal companion gains the benefits of the selected animal aspect, treating its Hit Dice as its effective hunter level for this ability. This bonus doesn’t stack if the animal companion is already under the benefit of the same animal aspect because of the actual class feature.

For example, an animal companion with Totem Beast (snake) under the effect of the snake aspect from its hunter owner would get a +2 bonus on attack rolls when making attacks of opportunity, not a +4 bonus.

Shark Animal Companion:

Starting Statistics: Size Small; Speed swim 60 ft.; AC +4 natural armor; Attack bite (1d4); Ability Scores Str 13, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2; Special Qualities low-light vision, scent.

4th-Level Advancement: Size Medium; Attack bite (1d6); Ability Scores Str +4, Dex -2, Con +2; Special Qualities blindsense.

Primal Transformation:

At first level, a primal companion hunter can awaken a primal creature from within his animal companion as a swift action. The animal companion gains a pool of 2 evolution points that can be used to temporarily give the companion evolutions as if it were an eidolon. A primal companion hunter uses her hunter level to determine her effective summoner level for the purpose of qualifying for evolutions and determining their effects. At 8th level, the number of evolution points in her pool increases to 4, and at 15th level, it increases to 6.

Activating these evolutions on the animal companion is a swift action. A primal companion hunter can use this ability for 1 minute per day per hunter level. This duration need not to be consecutive, but it must be spent in 1-minute increments. An animal companion transformed in this way cannot exceed the maximum number of attacks available to the eidolon of a summoner whose class level equals that of the hunter. While transformed in this way, the animal companion's type changes to magical beast, though the primal companion hunter still treats it as an animal for the purpose of the Handle Animal skill.

If a primal companion hunter's animal companion is dead, she can apply these evolutions to herself instead of to her animal companion. Uses of this ability count toward the hunter's maximum daily duration of evolution use.

This ability replaces animal focus.

Climb Evolution:

An eidolon becomes a skilled climber, gaining a climb speed equal to its base speed. This evolution can be selected more than once. Each additional time it is selected, increase the eidolon’s climb speed by 20 feet.

Excerpt from Climb skill:

With a successful Climb check, you can advance up, down, or across a slope, wall, or other steep incline (or even across a ceiling, provided it has handholds) at one-quarter your normal speed. A slope is considered to be any incline at an angle measuring less than 60 degrees; a wall is any incline at an angle measuring 60 degrees or more. A Climb check that fails by 4 or less means that you make no progress, and one that fails by 5 or more means that you fall from whatever height you have already attained. The DC of the check depends on the conditions of the climb. Compare the task with those on the following table to determine an appropriate DC.

I personally think that an animal always has a land speed, just that if nothing is listed it is 0, so you can give it an enhancement bonus to said land speed of 0 and 0 + n = n.
Alternatively I can see the idea that if a speed isn't listed it's value is Null, and unless something explicitly grants that movement type it is impossible to enhance, Null + n = Null. But this to me means that the base speed of a shark would therefore have to be it's only listed speed: swim, and thus the evolutions would give it a climb speed of 80', which is really good.

Other minor questions I have:
i) Does a shark's scent ability work in the air?
ii) An Aquarium Ball establishes it takes 2 gallons of water to comfortably hold a Tiny aquatic creature and keep it breathing for a day, how much water does a Small aquatic creature require? 4 gallons (double)? 16 gallons (octuple)? What about a Medium aquatic creature?
iii) If I keep the Small sized shark in a barrel I'm holding and have the weight capacity for, does it share my space?

While it may be far easier and more effective to make another character, at level 4 I'll have a ground-scuttling Laser-shark (burning gaze), and that's awesome.

Thanks all.

"Useless" magic items to give to players

Timebomb

May 23, 2014, 09:06 pm

11 people marked this as a favorite.

I'm planning on running a high magic campaign and I want some random magic items to sprinkle into the loot. I don't want them to be actually very useful though, so that I can include them from lvl 1 and don't have to include them into the WBL or really think about them at all. Additionally for more fun I would tell them the name of the item, but not the description.

Basically they range in power from minor cursed items to effectively the cantrips of magic items.

Here is the list I have so far:

Armor of UNREAL AIR:

Masterwork suit of banded mail. When completely worn: halts all of wearer’s horizontal movement, user moves upwards at 5’ per round... Forever.

Arrow of Unlively Vigor:

Arrow heals 6d6 to those negatively aligned, cannot deal damage.

Liferaft stone:

Stone cannot go lower than 1” under water. Item must be submerged in liquid or take 1 damage each round, 10 hp.

Useless Ring:

Ring of wishes with 1 charge, command words cannot be found my any method. Command words are “I wish”…

Shield of Self-Protection:

Whenever the wearer fights defensively or takes the "Total Defense" action the shield casts “circle against evil/good/chaos/law” (according to the wearer's alignment) around the wearer at CL 1, focused both inward and outward, binding the wearer in place for 10 min in addition to other effects

Headband of (Il)Literacy:

+2 headband of intellect removes the wearer’s ability to read (including spellbooks) for as long as it is worn and 1 additional day. The headband gives its skill ranks to linguistics.

Belt of Deep Breathing:

+2 Constitution belt reduces the time the wearer can hold their breath to 1 round

Carrying Stone:

Golden stone glows as a torch and, when affixed to a non-living object weighing less than 1000 lb, floats the attached object 1” above any terrain. One point on the object must always be 1” above the terrain.

Chaos Rod:

Cure Serious Wounds 5/day, also roll on Rod of Wonder table.

Scabbard of the Second Place:

+2 initiative as long as a weapon is held in it, wearer must draw the weapon as a Standard action, wearer gains Haste for 1 round after the weapon is drawn.

Helm of Suicide:

Wearer can choose to have any damaging attack on them be a critical hit, in exchange the enemy provokes an AoO.

Diver’s Bell:

Wearer gains water breathing for as long as the helm is worn, also blinded.

Hand of the Dropout Mage:

Mage hand at will, can only affect organic items.

Amulet of Thought Projection:

As a [swift] action, the wearer may project their thoughts to everything within 120’. This does not count as verbal components to spells.

Cloak of Elemental Transmutation:

The wearer may change any type of energy damage effecting them to Sonic damage (this can apply to AoE spells effecting them too)

Vest of the Arcane Tap:

The user may cast any first level spell into the vest to have the vest grow berries as Goodberry. These berries do not expire as long as they are attached to the vest. Only 8 berries may be attached at one time.

Lantern of Detection:

This lantern glows as a torch whenever it is within 5’ of any magic/good/evil/chaotic/law aura, poison, undead, disease, animal, or living plant.

Be more than welcome to post your own or give commentary.

Thundercaller Thunderspam?

Timebomb

Feb 25, 2014, 12:05 am

Bardic performance says "Starting a bardic performance is a standard action, but it can be maintained each round as a free action" and later can be reduced to a move/swift.

Can a thunder-caller start the "thunder call" performance on round 1 then get to direct it as a free action on round 2?

If so could the bard start the performance again the same round for a second thundercall? (and how would that interact with Lingering performance?)

Could a 13th lvl thundercaller use all their actions in a round to get three thundercalls out the same round, resulting in 15d8 sonic damage and 3 fort saves?

While I'm here, here are some tangents:
How does Fire Music interact with thundercaller abilities?
Can you apply metamagics to the faux sound-burst/call-lightning? (I'm assuming no)
Would other class's abilities (sorcerer orc bloodline for instance)/traits/feats affect the effects of thundercaller abilities?

Priority of Oracle Curse vs Revelation

Timebomb

Feb 12, 2014, 02:22 am

If a character is a less than 5th level Lunar Oracle with the "Clouded Vision" curse ("You cannot see anything beyond 30 feet...") and has the "Eye of the Moon" revelation ("You gain darkvision to a range of 60 feet") would the oracle be able to see objects 35' - 60' away?

On a complete tangent Paizo should really come out with more curses. Half of the current ones I have never seen used, or even seen suggested, and I don't think it would be that hard for Paizo to think up some fresh ones while they're adding in more mysteries.

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