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I gave my players an intelligent flying carpet.

Pro's:
- Larger than any other carpet
- Could carry more weight than any other carpet
- Had an absolutely astonishing sense of geography, religion, and nature.
- Enjoyed acting "Tour guide" i.e. +1 to next one of any of above rolls when having listened to the carpet for an hour.

Con's:
- Slightly slower than other carpets
- Complained constantly about everything ("Why am I rolled up? It's dark here. No one appreciates my efforts", "I am dirty, why am I not being cleaned? Ye Gods, you are going to try to clean me with THAT brush? I require mastercrafted cleaning tools...specialized!" And so forth)
- It had a mean streak. It if conceived that it was carrying to much weight, it usually tried to shift some weight around to drop items off. That included items, armors, gold, chests, PC's that had not cleaned it with due respect...
- It had complete control over its own movement, requiring PC's to be on its good side. (Carpet cleaning can become expensive!)
- PC's had to take their boots off when entering the carpet. It also could "simply not abhor mud!"

Clerics are supposed to heal.

The statement above is an arbitrary opinion. Please support your statement.

I played a cleric at one point who, in total, cast two heals during eight levels of play. Healing is the least important role of a cleric in my opinion as nearly all situations comes down to planning, knowing the enemy, choice of battlefield, and smart choice of buffing. Doing these actions right reduce the need for healing to a point where it is more important to include the cleric (or any otehr healing role) as part of the action and excitement, not just waiting for a random phrase of "healz plz!!1!"

Asking help to prevent my death.

You are level 8 and should have access to a decent bit of money. Invest some of that money in a life insurance. Make sure that you have a large number of individuals who, in the event of your death or prolonged disappearance/imprisonment(in any way, including polymorph, plane change etc), have access to letters to send.

In these letters lie the activation code for an already paid for assassination of the character that is threatening you. The assassins guild (preferably a larger and honorable one; meaning that they will always honor a contract) has already received your money. The contract stipulates that the assassin needs to know how to defeat undead.

Information provided in the contract shows who the target is (Name, physical description, family line), all known abilities, known spells, favored tactics, as well as magical items on the person. The information is continually being updated by yourself.

The only way to revoke the contract? None, save that you will set an expiration date just about when you would pass of natural causes at an extremely advanced age. If you are turned to a sentient undead, the contract continues. If you are turned into a mindless undead it counts as your death.

When all this is set up and prepared, you inform the character. "in case of my death..." If he kills you know, he does so at the cost of an opponent who is well aware of his strengths, weaknesses, and battle tactics.

P.S. As he is undead, also have a bunch of "in case of my death" letters that are simply being sent to large churches who dislike undeads and employ clerics, paladins, and witch hunters to deal with them. Include the same info as to the assassins guild.

P.P.S. If you want to kill him at some point there are options.
1. As suggested, run away and plink away with your bow.
2. Kill him with fire. Dispel magic first.
3. Hire some ninjas to sneak around you and support you in case you are attacked by either PC.
4. Hire a wizard to nail the PC.
5. Dont stand there to be a target. Run off, come up with a plan, and retaliate.

And off course, if the campaign runs its course, you kill the BBEG, and then the PC tries to kill you...
Stand up, pick up your character sheet, and tell him with a smile and a nice tone that the attack sounds fantastic and you are sure he will succeed. Then go have a drink somewhere else and talk to the other DM about a new campaign. You wont be bothered, but the fellow with the zombie will likely be annoyed for a long time as he probably has planned your demise for weeks and months. Denying him the satisfaction is priceless.

Thank you for all the suggestions. We are quite early in the first book so far, but I figured that it is never to early to plan ahead. It is likely that my PC will take the role as leader (Cavalier with a massive 20 CHA. And yes, she is a better diplomat than fighter) so I wanted to start things out early, make a plan and execute it instead of the classical "ok, now what?"

Twoswords wrote:

grow a bread,

I agree whole heartedly - a nice wholegrain split tin, or perhaps even an onion baguette, should do nicely. However, I would advise that you stay away from factory sliced white ....

;)

I favor the bagel spread myself. Very distinguished look. The word should most likely have been "beard", but growing a bread can never be a bad thing. ^^

How much do the characters know about Gnomish history? You can always state that the time has come for you to go through...say...the "Ritual of Emergence" (or whatever name you want to use) which purpose is to spiritually cleanse you and prepare for the next part of gnomish life where thought and wisdom is praised, and the free spirit of youth is shed off and cast aside (The reason people do not see more of these mature gnomes is off course because many stop traveling far when they reach this age, letting the youngsters do this instead).

Now just go through some made up ritual where you enter some prepared area, spend a couple of days alone slacking, then come out and at least act more mature as a demeanor. Make a point of mentioning that you dress more appropriately, grow a bread, spend just a little extra time thinking things over.

It may be all an act, but hey, youre a bard and you should be able to pull it off. You act mature for a while and peoples perception will likely start to change.

Oh, and get that gem out at any cost. If a ruler cant be trusted with being in control of himself he will end up deposed, dead, or both.

How to challenge the player with some spells. I kept them to level 5 or lower. The overwhelming majority has no save.

A few random spells:
Eruptive Pustules; Take damage/get sickened when attacking someone.

Vitriolic Mist; Take damage when attacking someone.

Fire Shield; Take damage when attacking someone.

Blink; 50% miss chance for all attacks.

Gaseous Form; "Continuously active items remain active," which means that an active item with a damage shield still works while you have DR. "can fly at a speed of 10 feet" meaning you can fly up a round or two and then start casting spells since you can still cast spells that are "prepared using the feats Silent Spell, Still Spell, and Eschew Materials".

Fatigue; Got a villain who survived and want payback? Read this little gem. There IS a save on this one but hey; unlimited range. Sit back 200 miles away and keep casting.

Spiritual Weapon; Probably the weakest spell in this collection, but utilize a fly spell and start tossing these out. Every now and then some attacks hit.

Ice Storm; Only a total of 5D6 damage, but an area effect distance spell with no save. Pretty rough if the caster happens to have 2-3 of them loaded and start at 6-800+ feet away...

True Strike; +20 to first attack roll is never wrong. Start your supporting archers far away and fire, fire, fire. But why not also utilize Flame Arrow and have a battery of hired mercenary rangers fire away, all at +20 for the first shot. At this level that should be 50 rangers firing the first show with around a total of ca +35-38 to hit, for a D8+D6 damage. Any self-respecting bad guy should spend money wisely and hire quality troops.

Magic Missile; Hello 1-5 missiles for 1d4+1 damage each. No save. Any self-respecting BBEG wizard will have some minions. Equip all of them with wands and tell them to focus on anyone coming close.

Those are just a few ideas of how to challenge both the monk as well as the whole party into some different ideas of combat. Read through spells, combat maneuvers, and class abilities and there is a wealth of nasty tricks to use. An opponent with INT 5? Probably will charge in and go hand to hand. An opponent with int 18? Will probably study his foes, come up with a plan that involves little risk to himself, and is willing to spend some money to take care of the problem.

What are some of the "flavor items" that have come your way. I greatly enjoy such items and I do not think I have a problem with giving you some ideas of how to get some atypical use out of them.

As for the Amulet of Mighty Fists: You have got to have had a trainer at some point. Just decide that a messenger showed up to deliver the amulet from your old master. he is now retiring from his martial time and will instead study at a pacifist temple and focus solely on the ways of the mind. He is therefore presenting you with the amulet with the wish that you shall keep his martial way alive in the world (gives you amulet, a temple retreat, and a scholar ally).

It seems to me like you are trying to play a "Captain Blood" type of character. You also mentioned that you are the biggest and strongest. Since your goal is to make sure that your race becomes the ultimate ones in the entire world, why are you accepting the monks insults? As well, all he does by giving away loot and discuss your plans with NPC's are hurting you and your race in trying to obtain that goal.

Challenge him to a duel the next time he does something like it. Tell him you will meet him in an hours time somewhere on the boats deck. Man to man, no throwing weapons, poisons, or any such things. Just blades, feet, hands and wits. If you win, he is to cease all such behavior. If he wins, well then it is clear that the gods wish for you to have more issues.
Leaving the area, using disallowed weapons, or falling unconscious from wounds is considered grounds to have lost.

Before the challenge takes place you have spoken with the other characters who are in on it. Pool some resources (money), and bribe part of the crew to listen in. Once they hear where the duel is taking place, they go there and scrub the entire place with soap...slippery, slippery, soap.

During this time you will off course have made sure to secure a form of "grippers" for your shoes. (If the other player is not aware that you have such things, agree with the GM that you do fake rolls, so it looks like your character is rolling to maintain balance as well) Now it is very likely that he will not have any DEX bonus for the majority of the fight. Any time he does make the save, you make sure to fight extremely defensively. Any time he fails the save, you attack.

Once he is down, you can choose; either coup de grace, or simply "fall" on top of him...and sort him out permanently using the dagger you had hid waiting for this opportunity.

Needless to say you should make sure that you use any buff you can, any advantage, any action you can get away. You are lawful evil, you play by the rules, but tweak them to your advantage. If you can get a +1 to hit for higher grounds, do it. If you can get a +1 to hit due to being able to avoid having the sun in your eyes, do it. Oh, and dont forget to read up on exactly what a monks abilities are, as well as what advantage you have over a character that has been denied his DEX-bonus.

Good evening all!
Due to some unforeseen circumstances I found myself rolling up a ranger instead of a Wizard for an upcoming Pathfinder game. The fact is that I have never played something even close to a ranger before. I have read through some of the guides for rangers. Just be warned: some of his gear may look weird or seem that he has to much of it (like a ton of weaponry). It is part of his background story, and he will eventually lighten his burden.

What I need help with: Have I missed something that could help support this character now, or further ahead in the campaign? The campaign is likely to run to around level 12-14, possibly longer.
The character is intended to have his main focus as an archer, but should be able to support from the front-line in the capacity of providing damage, NOT to soak damage as a "tank".

Creation rules:
- Base races allowed
- Only allowed direct Pathfinder books (NO 3.5 books)
- Generous dice for stats (which you can see from the stats!)

STR: 18
DEX 17+2= 19
CON 16
INT 15
WIS 14
CHA 13

Race: Human
Level: 1
Feats: Point Black Shot, Precise Shot.
Traits (2): Rich Parents (RP reasons), Reactionary.
Favored Enemy: Human
Initiative: 6 = Dex 4 + Reactionary 2

Skills: (1 rank in all, 1 skill point remaining)
Climb, Handle Animal, Kno (Dungeoneering), Kno (Nature), Perception, Ride, Stealth, Survival, Swim.

Languages:
Common, Elvish, Orcish

Notable Equipment:
Composite Longbow (4)
Kukri (RP reasons, its how I befriended another player)
Morning Star
Buckler
Greatsword
Some spare throwing knives (3)
Arrows: Regular, Blunt, Flight, Alchemical Silver, Cold iron.

Armor: (AC 22)
Chain Shirt
Lamellar horn arms
Studded leather legs
Buckler