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I searched, but couldn't find an answer.

Can you cast Spell Immunity on someone to make them immune to Protection from Evil, and then cast mind controlling spells on them?

Spell description:

The warded creature is immune to the effects of one specified spell for every four levels you have. The spells must be of 4th level or lower. The warded creature effectively has unbeatable spell resistance regarding the specified spell or spells. Naturally, that immunity doesn't protect a creature from spells for which spell resistance doesn't apply. Spell immunity protects against spells, spell-like effects of magic items, and innate spell-like abilities of creatures. It does not protect against supernatural or extraordinary abilities, such as breath weapons or gaze attacks.

I'm making a mind-controlling specialist NPC and am trying to figure out how to work around the usual defense against such spells.

Thanks for any insight.

Running a game for a 6-person, 16th level party. They're in a city looking for a missing person and I want to throw someone at them who can maybe possess anyone at any time, and also control plenty of others so that the party doesn't know who to trust, and keeps getting attacked by civilians.

Any race, any class, lots of wealth.

This is my first foray into running a Pathfinder game at this level and don't know what tactics, spells, etc. would work best. Any help would be appreciated.

Being able to dominate/possess/etc. the party would work, but that takes the players out of the fight, so I think I'd rather focus on making an NPC who can hide out inside a civilian, control others, and avoid detection while sending encounter after encounter at the party.

I have a party consisting of:

--Archery-based paladin with a seeking bow.
--Summoner who mostly stays out of battle, summons whatever is appropriate, and casts dazing walls of fire.
--Witch who has taken on healing duty (divine healing has been shut off temporarily in this world) and often focuses on support spells.
--Dragon disciple/sorceror who alternates between acid damage, melee, and mobility (can become a specter as a free action)
--Oracle with advanced and celestial template added to make up for a weaker build who front lines and smites.
--Fighter who can one-shot most bad guys if she gets off a full-round attack, but has the usual fighter weaknesses.

They're all 15th level and are a level or two stronger than that due to some ability score boosting boons and extra feats they've picked up, plus they have a couple of god-level boons to cash in if I overdo it and end up challenging them too much (basically, can get a miracle or two, if needed).

They're trying to stop an incursion from the evil planes (demons, devils and daemons all are on the same team in the campaign I'm running), so any combination can show up together.

I want to really push them, but of course, don't want to overdo it.

So far, I've come up with a few Kalavakas demons with the disarm feats to steal weapons and teleport away (they have access to an armory after the battle), and I thought it would be fun to have a few mid-level creatures with some class levels, along with some decent minions to keep the summoned creatures busy.

Anyone feel like helping me come up with bad guys?

Looked at the river whip spell, which states "You create a coil of flowing fresh water, functioning as a whip appropriate for your size, except you make a melee touch attack instead of a regular attack. Anything you strike with the whip takes damage and is doused with 1 pint of water."

Do you need whip proficiency when you cast this spell to avoid that penalty?

Could you use this spell to disarm or trip while attacking against touch AC?

Since it targets touch AC, would it still damage armored targets?

I'm thinking about this spell as a method for my magus to deliver touch spells when I want extra reach, but want to figure out the mechanics before using it. Thanks for any input!

So I'm making an NPC who is a skeletal champion zen archer monk. 13th level and with PC wealth (CR 14).

With that level of wealth, I can afford to give it a powerful bow. Does a weapon with the speed ability stack with the zen archer's flurry of bows? Would it also stack with spending a ki point to gain an extra attack with a flurry? That would be 7 attacks per round.

Also, I'm going to equip it with some magic arrows that cast some battlefield control spells centered on wherever they land. The idea is for the archer to shoot an arrow into the middle of the party and have black tentacles, or glitterdust, or something similar erupt out of the spot where the arrow landed.

Figuring out the cost for these arrows would use the single-use, use-activated rules for creating wondrous items, but since a composite longbow can deliver arrows to a range of 1100', should there be an additional cost to these items?

Also, does the archer even need to roll an attack to deliver the arrow to a particular square if he or she isn't trying to hit a target? To target a splash weapon at a square, you just need to hit AC 5-- would that be the same rule for shooting an arrow at a square (minus range increment penalties)?

Thanks in advance for any answers forthcoming. I couldn't find anything specific to these questions when I searched.

So here's what I've come up with so far. I'm not worried about optimizing completely, since our group has players of a variety of skill and/or interest. Mostly, I want to create a character that always has something to do, can take out a big bad guy on his own if he has a round or two to prepare, and can at least provide support if the battle doesn't suit him.

I don't know how high a level the campaign will reach, so I'm looking for a functional character throughout the levels.

Class: Hexcrafter Magus
Race: Human (dual talent, i.e. +2 to 2 stats, no bonus feat or skill points)
All favored class points into HP

Stats:

STR: 18 (with racial +2)
DEX: 10
CON: 12
INT: 20 (with racial +2)
WIS: 10
CHA: 10

Level 1: scribe scroll feat
Level 2:
Level 3: combat casting feat; arcane accuracy arcana
Level 4: slumber hex
Level 5: extra arcana (flight hex) feat; lunge bonus combat feat
Level 6: evil eye hex arcana
Level 7: extra arcana (spell blending hex [ghoul touch & fox's cunning]) feat
Level 8:
Level 9: extra arcana (misfortune hex) feat; cackle hex arcana
Level 10:
Level 11: improved critical feat; weapon focus (scimitar) bonus combat feat
Level 12: ice tomb hex arcana

I intend to use scrolls for utility spells, so that I don't have to waste slots on spells that I don't use all the time. The character won't be dealing massive damage, but will instead focus on hitting with slumber, snowball, ghoul's touch, etc. to take opponents out quickly. The biggest weakness I see is a terrible AC, so casting blur and mirror image will be key.

Basic strategy will be to use high knowledge rolls to assess targets, spend a round or two buffing, then take the opponent out before it can hit back too many times.

Any suggestions? I'd like to have high DCs for my attack hexes and spells, and figure out how to boost my AC. I need a high to hit bonus, but don't need to worry as much about damage output. Thanks in advance for your input.

I'm planning on making a paladin, with the idea that he's kind of a behind enemy lines evil-fighter. He'll often be operating without a lot of support.

First question: does anyone think the Divine Hunter archetype is worth taking, or should I just use a regular paladin and focus on using a bow?

Also, what are your ideas of the best spells to use for the Unsanctioned Knowledge feat? I'm thinking either grease or alarm for 1st level; silence or heroism for 2nd; haste for 3rd; and either greater invisibility, dimension door, or freedom of movement for 4th. Any input?

I'm making an NPC out of a satyr with the half-fiend template and two levels of anti-paladin added. Trying to stat this thing out has raised several questions:

1. half-fiends gain the ability to smite good "once per day," according to the bestiary. Does this mean once per day it can choose a target that smite works against, or does it only work on one attack per day?

2. "a half-fiend gains two claw attacks and a bite attack." Does this mean if it attacks with both claws, it gets an attack, or does it get an attack with each hand?

3. with the two levels of anti-paladin, its BAB raises to 6/1. On a full attack, does it get to bite twice and also deliver twice as many claw attacks? also, how does this work if a weapon is added-- would a full attack be a bite, a claw attack, and two attacks with a one-handed weapon?

4. can it use the anti-paladin's touch of corruption in one round, but hold the charge, so it can deliver it along with a claw or bite attack the next round?

5. could the creature use its half-fiend smite good against the target of its anti-paladin smite good?

6. creatures get bonuses to their stats if they gain PC class levels, and also if they gain the half-fiendish template. Does this creature get both boosts, or just one?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

We are starting up a campaign using the core rule book, APG, UC, and UM (no 3.5 stuff). One of our players is truly cursed by the dice gods. We're talking about characters that can go for an entire session without landing a hit, or even rolling a good skill check.

So my question is: what are the best classes, or ways to play a class, that will minimize the effect of being a terrible dice-roller?

The player in question is very good at role playing and gets very involved in the story line of each campaign, but is getting pretty frustrated with being useless so often.

Thanks for any suggestions.

In the campaign that I am getting ready to start, I have made a world where most of the dwarves are sea-faring pirates and explorers. These dwarves live on islands and are known for their seamanship and boat-building expertise instead of doing much mining.

So I've come up with the following racial alternatives:

Replace Stability (+4 vs bullrush and trip) and the ability to move full speed in heavy armor with the Ledge Walker rogue talent.

Replace Stonecunning (+2 to notice stonework) with +1 to profession: sailor.

Replace Defensive Training (+4 to AC vs giants) with +2 to AC vs aquatic creatures. (Only +2 because aquatic is a bigger category than giant).

Replace Weapon Familiarity (heavy pick and war hammer) with familiarity with scimitar and falchion.

As for elves, I have played up the fact that they are renowned for the way they blend music and magic. This seems a little harder to figure out as a racial ability. I was looking at the Spellsong bardic feat, and thought that something like that would be pretty cool to give them, but I don't know how it would work mechanically, since I'd like them to be able to blend music and arcane magic even if they aren't bards.

So...

Do my ideas for the dwarves seem balanced?
And, do you have any suggestions how I can give elves a bit of musical flavor without turning them into a race of bards?

I need to build an NPC. He's going to be a juju zombie that a green hag necromancer sends out to track down enemies, or individuals she wants to experiment on, intimidate, etc. Sometimes, he'll just be hunting them down to kill them; sometimes, he'll need to capture his quarry.

I see him mostly using non-magical means-- at the most only a few levels of spell-casting. Thematically, it makes more sense for him to get his boss the hag to cast spells for him if he needs them. I like the idea of him having a high UMD skill so he can use a few scrolls that she gives him ahead of time.

I probably want around 8 or 9 character levels, and I'm not really looking for him to be super-optimized. Mostly, I just want an NPC that does what I want it to: high tracking ability, good combat ability, some skills to intimidate information out of the locals, etc.

So, what class or classes would make this work?

(unfortunately, any kind of religious theme wouldn't work, so the inquisitor class isn't an option.)

oh, and we're only using the core rulebook, APG, and ultimate magic.

The wording for this power says that it blinds creatures who don't make a fortitude save, but I couldn't find where it says what the DC is.

Anyone have an answer?

I'm setting up an encounter with a green hag who is an 8th level wizard specializing in necromancy. I want her tactics to involve creating zombies to roam the local swamp, and keeping several controlled zombies near her lair as guards. I want her to be able to feed some of these guards each one potion of ghoul touch, since they can stand motionless for weeks "holding" the spell until something comes along that they need to attack.

Looking at the rules for potions (specifically that the drinker is both caster and target), I see that this won't work. Keeping within the rules, how could she give the zombies the ability to use ghoul touch?

Also, would a rod of metamagic (empower) allow her to control 50% more undead with the animate dead spell? Or if not, is there another way to give her more undead under her control within the rules. She already has spell focus and greater spell focus (necromancy) and the command undead feat.

Since the spell has verbal, material and somatic components, does the target remember that you just cast a spell on them? If so, I don't see how that really works from a character motivation perspective:

Gee, this person I don't know just waved her hands around and chanted something that sounded like a spell aimed at me, but I guess that's okay because she's my friend now.

I've always thought it made sense for the target to recognize a spell was attempted if the caster fails, but to not realize it if the spell was successful. What do you guys think?

The wording in the core rule book says that if you are allowed to act during the surprise round, you may take a standard or a move action (plus free actions).

How do swift actions work? Can you only take one instead of your standard or move action, or in addition to it?

Thanks

This came up last session and looks like it will become a recurring theme.

A rogue in my party decided to sneak-attack my paladin during a combat. His stealth skill is very high and my perception is only +5, so he will beat me at opposed checks almost every time. The DM told me to make a perception roll, and allowed a sneak attack against me because I didn't roll as high as the rogue.

Now reading the description of stealth, it seems clear that the rogue can't do this unless he has something to hide behind. Since we were both standing in the middle of a room, there should have been no way he could have gotten away with this.

I'll point this out next session, but now I'm looking at other ways I might get sneak-attacked later. Am I reading this stuff correctly?

If I am aware of his presence, he needs to make a bluff check opposed by my sense motive roll in order to distract me long enough to use stealth AND this will only work if he has something to hide behind. Additionally, this stealth check will have a -10 penalty because he has to move fast. If he succeeds on his stealth check, he can then make a ranged sneak attack against me, but not a melee sneak attack. If he is makes a ranged sneak attack, he may try to hide again with another stealth check at a -20 penalty.

I'd appreciate it if anyone could double-check my understanding of these rules. Thanks.

I’m gearing up to run a homebrew campaign-- probably using Pathfinder and allowing any 3.5 material on a case-by-case DM approval basis. So here’s my dilemma…

When I picture a cool campaign, I have images of Aragorn or Lancelot or Odysseus (or Roy and Belkar, for that matter) playing important roles in their respective stories. In other words, melee-types. And yet, much of what I read on these boards says the rules as written only allow a marginal role for these types of characters.

We’ll probably go past 20th level, and I want both melee-types and spellcasters to feel relevant as we progress. So here’s my question to you: how do I make this happen without rewriting a bunch of rules?

(And if your only input is to say it can’t be done, please don’t bother cluttering up this thread. I’m looking for ideas not discouragement.)

Ideas that I’m wondering about:
Are there certain kinds of magic items I can just leave out of my world?
What kind of point buy levels the playing field?
Would it help to allow masterwork and special materials to give higher bonuses (i.e. steel can be masterworked up to +3, mithril to +4, adamantine to +5, etc.)?
Are there certain feats, classes, prestige classes, etc. from 3.5 that I should allow to give the melee-types a boost at higher levels?
Are there feats, etc. that I shouldn’t allow from 3.5 to avoid making the spellcasters even more powerful?

In general, I’m looking for simple things I can do, so we aren’t all trying to remember a ton of house rules, but I’m open to all suggestions.

(And let’s leave the fighters vs. wizards competition to another thread. I’d like to see both have a place in my world.)

I couldn't find an answer in the rulebook. Can a Paladin take a couple of levels of Fighter, then go back to advancing as a Paladin?

Thanks in advance for your reply.

Starting a new campaign soon. We have a couple of min/maxers who use point-buy systems to make characters who are great at 1 or 2 things and terrible at everything else. As such, they either dominate an encounter, or completely check out if the situation doesn't match up with their couple of tricks. Making matters worse, at least one of these guys can be counted upon to roll a ridiculously high set of abilities if we use any dice-rolling method (and they're not cheating), so they still have characters who overpower some of the other players in the group.

So I am considering the following starting array for all characters:

17, 16, 14, 12, 11, 10.

Further, I will stipulate that racial modifiers may not increase the 17 or lower the 10.

I'm shooting for flexibility (i.e. you can have an 18 to start, or you can get three +3 modifiers if you are dependent on several stats, etc.), but also want all of the characters to end up a bit more well-rounded and fair than we usually get. This campaign has the potential to go on for a while, and it's going to require more than just one-hit wonders.

Any thoughts? Has anyone run into these kinds of issues around the table before? Is this too much of a straightjacket to put the players in, or does this look like it's going to give them a head start on making unbalanced characters anyway?