Tomppa's page

Huh. I'm surprised - I was pretty sure that existing characters would get to live and adventure as they were, and only new characters were affected - kinda like with pre-master wizards vs remaster wizards.
A full rebuild is a kinda fair compromise, though.

As there's a good chunk of players who don't actively follow the forums and paizo news, how would you recommend GMs to handle situations where someone sits down with a gorumite after august 1st, and they haven't yet heard about the change?

There's also a bunch of non-core 20 deities that are going to die. Will those be handled with the same rules (immediate rebuild when one of them is announced, like with God, Varix the Despoiler, and Sturovenen the Dragoneagle?) and do we need to wait for OP's confirmation for each death/deity, or can we just assume that any that dies results in a rebuild?

Please cancel my Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscription after the last part of Strength of Thousands has shipped in December. (Adventure Path #174: Shadows of the Ancients (Strength of Thousands 6 of 6))

I would have otherwise cancelled it per immediately, but I hate having incomplete sets, so...

Thank you for your stellar service so far.

-Tomppa

Yay! ^_^
I was trying to get the 5th star for quite a while, the pandemic caused some problems with that... But now it's done. Whew.

Really excited to see the Starfinder Beginner Box offer double AcP as well, I should probably try running it!

HUZZAH!

Congratulations to the new 5 Star and 5 Nova GMs!

BREAKING NEWS!!!

Phoenix Con in Neenah WI, August 13th,14th & 15th, will have Organized Play! Myself and four volunteers have submitted 15 tables, over 60 hours, of PFS1, PFS2, and Starfinder gaming goodness! We have applied for Convention Support so hopefully we will have those sweet, sweet, increased ACPs, as well as the usual chance for prizes!

Find and register for Phoenix Con on Tabletop.events and Facebook!

Hope to see you there!

I highly appreciate the speedy sanctioning. It's a lot of work, and timely sanctioning has been an issue in the past. I'm glad for the diligence in ensuring that new content gets sanctioned close to a book's release.

That being said, I'm disappointed to see *all* of the ancestries/heritages require expensive boons, even ones that had been popular and common for half a decade. I had hoped that the Society's evolving story in 1st Edition would have at least translated to a discount for these ancestries.

Hi!

I have two subscriptions - Please cancel the Pathfinder Rulebook Subscription, starting on Advanced Player's Guide if possible, or after Advanced Player's Guide if it gets shipped before you react to this, that's okay as well.

I still want to continue my Adventure Path Subscription, so keep that one as it is.

Yeees! So Excited! Going to be an awesome AP I think!

Also, really glad to see that disclaimer/content warning/reminder about consent on the index page.

AoA! Whee!

... Would just need time to play through that particular AP.

This quest was pretty awesome from a roleplay perspective.
I've really come to enjoy PFS2 quests in general because their shorter length gives a lot more room for roleplay among the PC's and gives the GM more time to make the world feel "alive".

I have to say, though, that I feel like this quest probably has some editing errors.
Some of the DC's are Fine for level 3-4 PC's, while some are really low (15, or even 13 for lore skills). The adventure has PC's overhear one of the masterminds (A creature 7 by bestiary) behind the operation discussing matters with the main antagonist, but said creature is nowhere to be found when PC's bust in, and their disappearance isn't explained. I guess by description that they might have been talking through some sort of radio, but there's no mention of any sort of radio that the PC's might have.
It would be nice to have some explanation on what's going on.

The fight feels lackluster. There's one creature 4, and two creature 1's vs a party of four level 3 characters. The creature 4 has a decent attack and save for their spells, but lack any offensive options aside from chill touch cantrip, while their tactics say to stay at range. The creature 1's have bunch of HP and not-horrible-but-pretty-poor Ab, but their abysmal AC means that they are easily cut down in a couple of swings. Given that the boss is mostly defensive, it feels almost as if parts of this adventure are 1-4, and other parts are 3-6.

Also, the picture in the cover is about the Venture Captain.
The venture captain is mentioned in the background, but the PC's don't even see him during the adventure - the briefing and debriefing are both given by his assistant.
However, there's no picture or a decent depiction of the main antagonist - I think the best description is "A trembling diminutive figure".

Does a picture of ZATQUALMISH exists?

The rules state that:

If you have an item, you can try to reverse-engineer its formula. This uses the Craft activity and takes the same amount of time as creating the item from a formula would. You must first disassemble the item. After the base downtime, you attempt a Crafting check against the same DC it would take to Craft the item. If you succeed, you Craft the formula at its full Price, and you can keep working to reduce the Price as normal. If you fail, you’re left with raw materials and no formula. If you critically fail, you also waste 10% of the raw materials you’d normally be able to salvage.

However, we don't get to keep anything we find. We just get the gold, and the opportunity to buy the item. So let's say that I find an uncommon level 0 weapon in the adventure, and because I'm a crafter, I want to save some gold to craft it myself.

How this should work: I disassemble the weapon, pay half of the cost, roll to craft, succeed, spend extra days to reduce the price of the other half of the cost, and I now have the formula. After the next scenario, I spend my downtime to begin (and possibly finishing) crafting my weapon.

Problems: We don't get to keep the items we find. Downtime comes after the adventure. I don't thus actually have the weapon when my downtime begins, so how can I disassemble it? What happens if we have two crafters and both want to disassemble the item to learn the formula? If I fail and lose the weapon, am I out of luck or can I try again?

A logical solution would be that since we just found it, I can disassemble it "at the end of the scenario" when rolling for downtime, before we return all the loot to the grand lodge. But what if I had some other crafting or downtime activity (retraining) in progress? Can I start disassembling this item we found, not immediately afterwards, but let's say, two scenarios later?
Or is the only way to learn the formula, to buy the weapon at full price, then scrap the weapon by disassembling it to learn the formula to craft it again (costly and pointless)?

In short: For the purposes of learning formulas, should we be considered having access to items that are on the chronicle sheet for the purpose of disassembly and reverse engineering?

If a chronicle gives you access to an uncommon weapon you otherwise would not have access to, are you allowed to upgrade said weapon?

For example, a racial weapon or a weapon from an exotic culture and the low tier gives access to that specific weapon, and higher the higher tier gives you that same weapon +1.

I'd reason that yes, you can upgrade it, because +1 striking [cultural weapon] isn't any sort of unique weapon and there isn't much logical reason why you could buy a striking rune for your +1 quarter staff, but not for your +1 [cultural weapon], but the way the chronicle is arranged (low tier giving access to plain weapon and high tier giving access to +1 weapon, which is level 2 item) makes it unclear - if you were allowed to upgrade it anyway, what's the point of having the +1 version on the chronicle sheet?

As per title, there are 2 scenario specific items (from different scenarios) this question relates to:

"[spoiler] Crystal [minor artifact]
...
Whenever the bearer takes damage from negative energy, such as channel energy or an inflict spell, she takes 10 less points of damage. This reduction is applies after any saving throw is made."

"[spoiler spoiler] Ring
In addition, anytime the wearer takes negative energy damage, she subtracts 5 from the damage
taken (calculated after the wearer has rolled her Will save against the effect), to a minimum of 0 points of damage."

Should these stack?

Clicking the "pathfinder" in the left side of the header (right next to paizo logo) and selecting Organized Play under it leads to:
https://paizo.com/pathfinder/society
But the link leads to an empty space.

The kobold boon from Gen con 2018 says that "Treat all kobold specific character options in the ARG, ISR, and Kobolds of Golarion as legal except icy mementos, lair snake, lightning blessed, ooze defense, and the spell blightburn weapon and the item blightburn paste."

The new GM boon that includes Ghoran, Kobold, Rougarou, and Samsaran, has no such language, instead merely stating that you may play a kobold, but doesn't open up the racial options.

I very much assume that this is just an oversight, and all kobolds should be equal. Would be nice to get an official confirmation for this.

While we're at it, I also assume it's an oversight that the Monster Codex is missing from that list of Kobold Legal options- it includes two archetypes (alchemical trapper and dragon yapper) and two feats (draconic magic and Slurk Rider) - could those be added to the list of kobold-legal options too?

Thank you!

As per title, Cradle of Night (which got sanctioned recently) is missing from the scenario list when trying to report it.

I'll be writing a review for it when I get to it, but in case anyone is curious, I really loved it. It took us about 27-30 hours to run in strict pfs mode (not campaign mode), with PC's using clever tactics and [magic] to get around some obstacles and avoiding some (pretty pointless) fights.
Benefits a lot from being run for pfs characters, since it emphasizes the nature of the module and kept players on their toes - the module has a very real chance of ending characters.

Vessel of the Boneyard:

You may spend your downtime and 4 PP to travel to the Boneyard or the Maelstrom.
If you do so, you may select one of the following benefits. After using one of these benefits, cross the others
off your Chronicle sheet.

However, neither option mentions anything about Maelstrom.

The text implies that you can pick between Maelstrom and Boneyard, but both options given relate to the Boneyard, and neither has anything to do with Maelstrom.
It seems like Maelstrom's options were left out by accident.

Is there another boon that includes Maelstrom, or is there any chance to get a fixed version?

I'm interested in learning what Season Explorer 4-5 does, or if anyone even has one.

Mainly interested because my tiefling is going through season 5 scenarios currently, and has taint of the worldwound boon, and I was hoping that the season explorer 4-5 might have something similar.

So, from the Martial Arts Handbook:

With the 3 Shikigami Style feats, any improvised weapon can deal damage as if it was 3 sizes bigger (maximum 3d6) and give it an enhancement bonus of +1 per 4 caster levels the item has.

Extemporaneous Channeler (occultist):
As a swift action, you can give an improvised weapon +1 enhancement bonus, +1 per every 4 levels after first. You can give it a special ability too, instead of a bonus. Stacks with other things that give enhancement bonuses to improvised weapons.

At level 5, with 3 feats, and activating the Transformative Resonance, you can turn a single pearl of power (1000gp) or Merciful Metamagic rod (1500gp) into a +5 BANE [that thing I'm trying hit] weapon with base 3d6 damage.

That's a total of +7 ab, 5d6+7 dmg.
Ability score/bab/feats/other powers are not included in that.

That's strictly better than a +5 Flaming Frost Butchering Axe (which would cost 98 000 gp to buy) (apart from the axe having x3 crit, but whatever at this point).

... Could we maybe do a trade? I'd be fine with banning this nonsense instead of the Warrior Poet >.>

Alternatively, this could be restricted by simply limiting the shikigami Manipulation with the price of the magic item used. Say, a maximum of +1 per every 3000gp the item costs, or something.

I do sorta enjoy the idea that this build could slap people around a bit with a +1 Bane Large Trout for 5d6 dmg >.>

So, this will be my first PbP game, but I'll do my best.

I'll need the following information:
Player Name:
Character Name:
PFS#:
Faction:
Normal/Slow Track:
Day Job or other Downtime Activity:

Anything special that I should know about, such as being able to always act on surprise rounds or the like.
I would also like to know your character's "basic combat routine": What you do under normal circumstances (Power attack, deadly aim, what spells/SLA's you're using, etc).

Please Dot and Delete after signing up.

So, this will be my first PbP game, but I'll do my best.

I'll need the following information:
Player Name:
Character Name:
PFS#:
Faction:
Normal/Slow Track:
Day Job or other Downtime Activity:

Anything special that I should know about, such as being able to always act on surprise rounds or the like.
I would also like to know your character's "basic combat routine": What you do under normal circumstances (Power attack, deadly aim, what spells/SLA's you're using, etc).

Please Dot and Delete after signing up.

Hi!

I'm a 4 star GM (and a Venture Agent). Planning on running this for our local players, could I get access to it?

Thank you,

-Tomppa

When the first RSP race boon came, it was supposed to cycle out in january 2018 when the new RSP came active. The Skinwalker boon's time was extended, though.

The new RSP boon for Aasimar/tiefling says that only games through 1.2.2018-31.1.2019 are valid. I've filled my own boxes a good while ago, but our newer GMs have no hope of filling in the rest of the games to qualify for the race boons.

Please extend the time during which you can collect games towards the boon. I think it's fair that no new RSP GM boon sheets can be started for aasimar/tiefling after january, but I don't see any harm in allowing GMs to continue collecting games to the old boon even after the new "RSP season" starts, if they've started it within the allocated original time.

-Tomppa

Cool to see the AR updates pushed up to date!

Problem is that a couple of them raised more questions that they answered.

The Ganzi boon says that "Ganzi characters... gain quibble as their ganzi oddity ability. By combining this boon with another boon that allows you to create a ganzi PC, you may replace that PC's Quibble or ganzi oddity ability with any other ganzi oddity options."

First question: The new AR says that "A ganzi may select any of the legal oddities in place of the quibble racial ability. A ganzi may also pay 2 Prestige Points between adventures to replace their oddity with another legal oddity."
Does this mean that a ganzi created using only 1 boon can select any of the legal oddities? Or does this only apply to ganzis created using 2 boons?

Same question for Planar Adventures:
A ganzi may select any of the oddities in this book except chaos champion or weaponplay in place of the quibble racial ability. A ganzi may also pay 2 Prestige Points between adventures to replace their oddity with another legal oddity.

Does the AR update override the boon, allowing a single ganzi boon to be eligible for All the different Oddities, meaning that those who merged 2 ganzi boons wasted the other one?

In the event that these apply only to Ganzi created with 2 boons, does the "pay 2 PP to change it" also apply only to Ganzi created with 2 boons?

Further, the new AR update made weaponplay illegal.

What happens to the Double-Ganzi (2xboon) Weaponplay Spellslinger-wizard (from a boon) with Eldritch knight PRC (qualified with the weaponplay oddity, which is no longer legal)? is it "grandfathered" since the Weaponplay became illegal only now? Or is retraining the only option, meaning that three boons are wasted on a build that is no longer legal?
If retraining is allowed, does retraining include "retrieving" used boons and using them for something that actually works? >.<

Faction journals: "Once per adventure that grants a chronicle sheet and at least 1 xp" - If a chronicle sheet WOULD grant 1 xp, but the player is playing it on the slow track, and thus only gets 0.5, do they still get to mark a goal?
Likewise, "Serve as the GM for an adventure that grants 1 or more xp, and apply the chronicle sheet to this character" -> Can I apply the sheet as slow, only gaining 0.5 xp?

Stats:
Str 12, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 15

4 levels of cleric - channels negative energy, undeath domain
Feats: Improved initiative, Extra traits: Reactionist (+2 initiative),
Magical Knack (+2 caster level if multiclassed), Stealthy.

Task: level this up from a lvl 4 to lvl 12.
The goal is not to super optimize the build or anything - merely to turn this character into something somewhat useful at lvl 12, so any ideas are welcome. No PrC's and the less obscure the sources are, the better. In effect, try to keep it as simple as possible?

I'd really love to continue on the cleric path, but I'm not sure if that's anyway usefull, given the low casting stat. Also, gold at (roughly) 21k or so, so you can't lean heavily on equipments to make up for the stats.

I was thinking about maybe something roguish..?

A few spellstrike questions I haven't been able to find answer, even after searching the forums thoroughly. The real question is wether or not you can use two hands with spells and spellstrike and spellcombat to get that 1.5x strenght bonus to damage (instead of single-handed 1x bonus).

1. Grabbing the weapon with -both hands- while holding the charge:
Does this dissipate the charge?
Example:
Round One: Cast Shocking grasp, move to enemy, use free attack and miss.
Round Two: As a free action, grab your sword with two hands, strike the enemy with your sword to deliver the spell through spellstrike.
(Reason would obviously be to deliver 1.5 str bonus as damage)
Is this possible?

2. Can you use spell combat to: Attack twice with your sword, wielding it with two hands, then letting go of it with one hand, cast a spell and deliver with the spell with the free attack (either using one or two hands on the weapon)?
If the answer to 1st question is "No", then two-handing the weapon is obviously a no - but how about the other option?

3. Critical hit deck: If I confirm a critical hit with a Spellstrike melee attack that delivers both weapon and spell damage, should I either draw two cards (one for swords damage and one for the spell) or just one and decide wether I should use the melee or magical result?

4. This actually concerns more the Critical Deck and less about the magus.
If I confirm a critical hit with a spell (say, through spellstrike), but the opponent makes the save (and it negates the whole spell) - should I still draw a card in case the critical hit inflicted other penalties? If the save only, say halves the damage of the spell, does it also reduce the critical effect to half?

Line of Effect

A line of effect is a straight, unblocked path that indicates what a spell can affect. A line of effect is canceled by a solid barrier. It's like line of sight for ranged weapons, except that it's not blocked by fog, darkness, and other factors that limit normal sight.

You must have a clear line of effect to any target that you cast a spell on or to any space in which you wish to create an effect. You must have a clear line of effect to the point of origin of any spell you cast.

Emphasis is mine.

Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target or Area: one spellcaster, creature, or object

You can also use a targeted dispel to specifically end one spell affecting the target or one spell affecting an area (such as a wall of fire). You must name the specific spell effect to be targeted in this way. If your caster level check is equal to or higher than the DC of that spell, it ends.

.

I'm a caster, and I just saw another caster cast invisiblity, and I recongized the spell through the check. They may, or may not have moved after casting of the spell, but I can safely presume they did not get outside of dispel magic's range, 100ft+.

Is there anything, by RAW, preventing me from naming "invisibility" and "the caster" as my targets, and then attempting to dispel the invisibility?

By RAW, I do not need a line of sight to my target, only line of effect. Line of effect is not blocked by anything affecting vision, only by solid barriers. If the caster did not get behind an solid object, there should not be, by RAW, anything preventing me from dispelling the invisibility.

In effect: I have chosen my target, which by raw I do not need to see, and I have chosen the target spell by naming it, which I do not need to see either.

Two particular situations to which I'd want to find 'official' answers or some sort of consensus.

It has been agreed to elsewhere that Undead Lord is a valid cleric archetype, and that the corpse companion is perfectly legal - you may start play with a vanilla skeleton, and may make a companion out of a corpse you 'acquire' during an adventure - such a companion should be recorded down.

Now. What happens when one of your party falls during a quest, and you want to make a corpse companion out of their lifeless body?
Assuming that they agree, I don't think there will be a problem. What if they disagree, though? For example, they want to get raised after the quest? (My guess is that in that case, you shouldn't do it. But what if they don't have the resources/ we know raise dead is impossible to get - after all, they are now just a corpse - can you then make them into an undead minion?).

What about if you cast create undead on them, returning them back to life in an undead form? Yes, I know, all spells cease funtioning after the module ends, but since a pc casted raise dead is as valid as a npc raise dead, and that doesn't "end" either, should the player be allowed to continue playing the said undead character? (Keep in mind that skeletal champions continue to gain experience and level up, and keep all their class levels with them)

I'd figure that a DM would rule that since "all undead are evil" you'd need to retire - but I'm not sure about that.

What do you think? Also, can one use corpse companion to create a skeletal champion out of a friend? Since these things are intelligent, should the creator, or the original player, play and control that character?

I did a quick search, and while it seemed pretty obvious, I just want to make sure: Are half-elves and half-orcs allowed to take feats with "human" or "Elf" or "Orc" as prequisites?

It would seem so, based on http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz4c6j?Half-Elves-and-Archetypes#1
And: http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz20ea?Whats-the-halforcs-subtype#8

But I want to make sure before I make a half-elf, take the Racial Heritage feat and choose Orc, Take Eclectic feat and have 3 favored classes, and then become an arcane archer, and then take the diehard-deathless master line of feats that requires orc as a race.

Or, to simplify: Despite Elven Accuracy ( http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/elven-accuracy-combat ) listing only Elf as prequisite, can Half-Elves also choose it in PFS?

A cleric with channel negative energy and without selective channeling (or too low charisma to exclude the whole party)

An alchemist that misses the shot and the bomb scatters to friendlies (or, a friendly is included in the splash from the beginning).

A spellcaster who can't throw that cone/fireball/cloud without hitting a PC or two.

A positive energy channeling character in a party with a dhampir/A PC undead lord with a corpse companion
(Before you go ahead and say that it's completely legal to bust the corpse companion in, I'd want you to consider wether or not it's completely legal to butcher that eidolon/familiar/Animal companion just because your PC is superstitious/hates animals - Now, back on topic):

Obviously, you're not allowed to kill other PCs. I presume that this means you aren't allowed to -deliberately- kill other PCs. Saving your arse by positioning yourself behind the others, leaving a weaker PC in the front and getting killed? I'm fairly sure there's no rule against that (Since it would boil down to intention).

What I'm more interested in, is: Is it completely forbidden to use spells/abilities which would cause harm to a friendly PC? Ie, your wizard won't be able to fire off the fireball because there's not enough room, even if the chance for casualties is small and it could end the fight/Possibly prevent a TPK? Or would you need the players permission to do so? ("Hey, I'll shoot this fireball, you have evasion so you should be all right and make the DC - there's a small chance that if you don't, you're dead. Is that all right with you?")

Or is the no PvP more like a "hardcoded" resolution - Sure, you can shoot the fireball and drop the PC into the negatives, but since you're not allowed to kill him, he won't die?

Also, is the rule against PvP just to prevent open, "till death" conflict, while still allowing something like "Yeah, thanks a lot for leaving me hanging in there. *punches you in the face, 1d3+1 dmg, non-lethal*" style of RP where the goal -isn't- killing the other PC?

In the end I think it all boils down to the most important rule: "Don't be a jerk", but I'd still want to hear your thoughts about this.

(Side note - I'm not saying nor debating that the "no PvP" rule should be lifted, rather, I want to know how much, if at all, it restricts certain AoE-capable classes and RP. For example, a wizard accidentally scorches your animal companion, so you decide to take it out on him by painting the walls red with his familiar.)

One option would be to simply disallow such actions/characters from play, but for example the spellcasters would take quite an unfair penalty if a single character, with bad positioning, negates half of their spells (or rather, prevents them from using their abilities to the fullest).

So you met a guy in a con that happens to live in the same area as you do, and told you that he DM's Pathfinder. You are starved for more games, and manage to convince him that you'd make a good addition to his group (without actually knowing what his group might be like). He agrees, and you exchange numbers.

A few week later, you receive a text, telling you to Roll the best char you can - he wants to test you first. 20 pts point-buy.

Now, you need to roll that character. What would you roll?

You need to keep in mind the following things:

1. You do not know if this is a solo-adventure, or a party.

2. If there is a party (and you don't know if there is), you don't know anything about their composition.

3. You have no knowledge wether this will be a one-shot, or a campaing, or some sort of a melee-tournament (solo or party).

4. You have no idea if he wants the best concept, or the best mechanical build you can do, so you aim for both.

5. You don't know about what books are legal for play. It's safe to assume that anything PFS legal is legal as well, but you don't have to confine yourself to that - At most, if you decide to use a strange or outlandish or lesser-well known entry from some book, you might want to think up a replacement feat/thing in case it gets shot down. (For example, you could make a reincarnated druid and decide to revert to the ordinary druid if it gets shot down). (it's quite safe to assume all monster races are illegal). (You can also use the pfsrd as a reference, so don't limit this to books you actually own)

6. You have no idea of the genre, and as mentioned, of the group's size or composition, so you might want to invest a bit in survivability (both in terms of self-sufficiency and in terms of being able to survive non-combat encounters)

7. You weren't told the level, so assume lvl 1. You don't know if you're ever going to level up, so you should be kinda efficient from lvl 1 forward - on the flip side, there's a chance that you get told to level the char up to X immediatly before the game begins. (in short, you should think a bit forward about the build, but not build the character around "it'll work at lvl 5 and forward").

8. Of course, you know nothing, so you might, or might not want to rely on the DM being nice and ruling things in your favor.

9. And as a final rule, you are free to ignore any rule written above (including this one).

So, go ahead and post what kind of a character you would roll up.

EDIT: Just to clarify, this is completely hypothetical question and I'm not making a char along these guideliness, rather, I want to see what kind of character -you- would roll. In effect: "If you had to roll a character and knew nothing about what you'll be rolling it for, what would you do?" ^_^

Firstly, my questions:

1. How does alchemist's bombs hit incorporeal creatures?

2. How much dmg does it do? 50%?

3. How about splash effect? 50% with a save for another 50% reduction (aka 25%)?

4. How about Explosive Bombs? Can Incorporeal creatures catch fire? Can they take a full-round action to put it out? Could they just move through a solid material to put it out? Could they just drop into the ground to put it out and then come back up, and would this cause AoO's?

Rules:
1. Alchemists bombs: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/alchemist#TOC-Bomb-Su-
2. Explosive bombs: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/alchemist/discoveries/paizo--- alchemist-discoveries/explosive-bomb
3. Incorporeal: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/rules-for-monsters/universal-monster-rules #TOC-Incorporeal-Ex-

The way I read it, it's a supernatural ability, so it should affect the ghost. Then again, even holy water does affect ghosts but since the bottle is non-magical and will pass through the target, to use holy water one needs to pour it over the ghost instead of throwing it - does this mean that throwing a bomb, the bomb would pass through, but the splash would hit? Even if the bomb is a supernatural ability, is the making of the bomb supernatural, but the fire being most likely natural and non-magical, would not affect the incorporeal creature? I don't really see a burning house damage it either.

In any case, the fire should do half the usual damage, I suppose. Following the logic of Holy Water not breaking upon a ghost, perhaps the bomb should only deal splash damage (and half of it) instead?

However, the most problematic part is the Explosive Bomb - Any creature that suffers a direct hit is set aflames, takes a full round action to get a ref save to put it out. This isn't a problem if one rules that incorporeal can't be hit by the bomb, but only by the fire (and thus only splash dmg) - now there's no chance of a direct hit. Even if we rule that as a supernatural ability, the bomb can hit the ghost, does it constitute as a direct hit as the target only takes half damage?
And even if we do suppose that it is a direct hit, should incorporeal creatures really be able to catch fire? Where does the fire cling to, anyway? And if we do conclude that it somehow mystically does catch fire, does moving through solid object put it out? Does such movement (dropping down through the solid floor and immediatly getting back up) give a reason for AoO? The rules do not state that the full-round action to put out the fire would cause AoO's, so it's a bit confusing...

One should also remember that the alchemist has a Force Bomb discovery. Force effects affect incorporeal normally, as far as I know. Does this mean that the fire should not affect them at all?

Also, I'd like to point out that incorporeal undead are immune to precision damage (such as sneak attacks) and critical hits. Bomb's description says:

The damage of an alchemist’s bomb increases by 1d6 points at every odd-numbered alchemist level (this bonus damage is not multiplied on a critical hit)

Firstly - I take it that this means that the extra d6's aren't multiplied by a crit, but that the base 1d6+int dmg would be multiplied. Is this correct? Further, since critical hits say that precision based damage isn't multiplied in a crit, and the bomb says they aren't multiplied in a crit, one -could- assume that the extra dmg from bombs is precision based (I know this doesn't hold true in mathematical logics, but it does imply this might might be the case none the less) - Does this mean that incorporeal, since immune to precision dmg, would take 50% of 1d6+int (or depending on the interpretation, perhaps even just 50% of the INT dmg) and ignore the rest of the "bonus dice"? One could also argue that bombs are precision based since the AC to hit is Touch AC, not your regular armor class - more like you need to hit the target and less like you need to get through a shield and a platemail.

I think that, from rules perspective, it's a SU ability so it does hit the ghost and deal 50% dmg and set it on fire, and the ghost must take a full-round action to put it out WITH a ref save.
But, this simply does not make any sense AND there are some rules points that might prevent this from working (see holy water - created by a spell, yet the shell/bottle does not break on impact with a ghost - and direct hit vs doing only 50% dmg)

How does fire cling to something that is incorporeal - literally, insubstantial, that is, without any kind of material? Can you set fire on something that does not exist? What would even burn? Nothingness? Spiritual energy?

I'd also like to point out that despite labeled as a SU ability, creating a bomb and then throwing it sounds more like extra ordinary than supernatural - I mean, anyone can create alchemical fires with a bit of points in craft alchemy, alchemists just do it really really fast and make them more effective?

Even though RAW at first glance would suggest it works at full force (except for the only 50% dmg) and set the target on fire, I think a more RAI approach and a sensible (also from a balance point) would be to say that just like holy water, it passes through, deals half of the splash damage, again halved on save. OR, since this might be -too- weak: Can hit normally, but since it does only half damage, can not be concidered a direct hit, and thus does not set the incorporeal on fire? AND even if it did set the ghost in fire, I think it would be fair to assume that a move action through a solid material chokes the fire automatically (even if you assume that it does not need air to burn, the burning substance isn't incorporeal and shouldn't be able to pass through a wall).

To Recap:

Alchemist bomb vs incorporeal:
Is it possible to score a direct hit?
Is it possible to hit with the splash?
Does fire even do dmg against things that are not quite there?
Can incorporeal be set on fire? Can you even score a direct hit when full damage is impossible to do?
Can they extinguish it by going through ground, and does it provoke AoO's?

Righty, so I've got some experience running world of darkness (vampires, hunters, and vanilla), and have played enough of dnd 3.5 and PF to know the basics, but I've never run PF (nor dnd) before - and thus, I fear I lack the "feel" and "touch" with regards to how dangerous encounters are.

In short, I'm a bit afraid that I might accidentally kill the PCs, especially when 1 of them is a newbie to dnd, another is a rookie, the third is also a newbie to PF&dnd (but has lots of expertise with tactical games and is quite good with odds) while the fourth is quite experienced.

Let's take a look at the party, shall we? 25 point buy

Firstly, a Dhampir Ninja, high dex, cha, then str int. Point-Blank with shurikens and shortbow, Katana for close combat. (Experienced)

Ratfolk Alchemist, Int Dex Con. Not sure what he plans, but he can deal dmg with the bombs. Newbie, but I'm quite confident he can handle the combat tactics. (The guy is an expert at finding loopholes in rules - anything I should be cautious of? Also, who crafts poisons? Nobody I know. Is it too powerful if I let him craft poisons way faster than what the basic crafting rules suggest? For example, two days instead of a week and can create a larger batch (many doses) of a single dose. The poisons didn't look to dangerous (to NPC's) either).

Human Druid, Wis, Dex and some str and con. Not sure what he'll do either, but a newbie - and not too good with tactics. She has a bear, and likes to try and cast entangle to a single giant centipede while in a crypt. >.>

Catfolk Summoner - with a winged snake (does not fly yet) and high Cha and Dex and the master summoner archetype, I think she could wreck quite a lot of things (especially in a few levels)... If she either gets a lot of help from the other players or is given some time. I don't think she's ever played any tactical square based combat games...

1st question: As you can easily read from above, I'm not too confident with some of the players being able to pull their own weight in combat - I'm no master tactician either, and the game is a lot more than just positioning and concentrating fire. But generally speaking, I don't want to do combat through the PCs. I'm highly tempted at giving them advice, but then again, I feel they should learn the ropes by themselves. What do you think? Is dm giving advice on combat a bad thing?

2nd question: The party lacks channeling. And healing, apart from that 1 or 2 cure light wounds the druid has, and the alchemist (who can't yet use it on others). In addition, the Dhampir is a bit challenged when one thinks about how potions use positive energy... I *know* this will be a (mechanical) problem... Or will it be? Are there enough holy waters and stuff lying around? I'm also guessing that the players (especially the newbies) who are also familiar with less mechanical roleplaying, and can surely create crafty solutions (The *Rap Rap* for example). Should I be prepared to let them find an additional potion or two? How many skeletons or zombies are enough of a challenge for a group of this kind? I mean, the alchemist kinda insta-kills everything (throwing a bomb to a square between two opponents, touch AC 5, splash dmg 5, save halves with DC 15 IIRC).

3rd question: Regarding the Alchemist, mostly. The certain skeletons burst into flames at some point - so flaming skeletons. But should they be fire immune even before that? It's not mentioned anywhere. And if yes (I'm thinking yes just to prevent the ratfolk from killing everything with bombs) - does almost totally disabling the strong dps in the team nerf the party too much?

4. The party. Look at it. It's a carnivale). The party doesn't feel particularly strong, either - And just looking at the team, even if two of them have high CHA, it should be a rough journey convincing the villagers that they really are on their side.
Question: Should PC's be given penalties to, say, diplomacy rolls because the townspeople generally hire lowlevel adventurers to kill rats FOR them, instead of talking to rats? Since the party doesn't feel too strong, if I do decide to give them penalties because the town distrusts these freaks - is it too much? I mean, if they are going to have trouble in combat, is it unfair to also make social situations hard? Or are these two completely different things that should not be mixed together? They do receive xp for social things too... And I fear I might give them a bit too hard time if I give them penalties for choosing and creating flavorful party.

5. The party just beat 6 villagers, and then they went to the false crypt, and found loot. Question is - if they should choose to go straight to the ruins, do they have a chance of survival? I personally would find it more interesting if they tried to snoop around the town more - any ideas how I should do this? They don't have any idea about what's really going on ( they know it's a prison, and that it burned). Is it possible/Likely that they just run through the whole complex? The players (3 of 4) aren't exactly clear on the mechanics of skills and stuff and what can be done. The rat tried to find out who all died in the fire by asking around - I later realized that he did, in fact, well play out a session of "gathering information", and rolled for him when they had already left - I was thinking about hinting at the memorial, that should keep them occupied. It's now the eve of their second day in Ravengro, no rain yet...

6. Haunts. I was thinking making them also vulnerable to holy water, maybe even pouring potion of cure light wounds over the area (again, given the lack of channel). Any ideas if this makes things too easy?

7. Journal of Father Charlatan. I can't find it anywhere, is it anywhere to be found? It's mentioned in the book...

8. Encounters. Is there something that I should be especially aware of? I mean, with a new group of players, I'd rather not TPK them - especially I don't want to wipe them using something I had no way of knowing would wipe them. What encounters usually cause trouble for parties? Also, how long did it take for your party to finish the first part (in In Game days? In play sessions)?

9. Any other advices to give for a new dm?

Thanks, and cheers! Waiting to hear your advices and thoughts!

- Tomppa