Tyrantherus's page

Heya, so a friend of mine is planning on playing a Svirfneblin Alchemist (vivisectionist archtype)/Unchained Rogue who specializes in building Stone Daggers to be used in conjunction with Disposable Weapon feat and Butterfly Sting feat. For his alchemist Discovery's he was planning on getting Vestigial Arms. He believes that while these arms do not give additional standard attacks, as per the rulings on it, that they can be applicable towards additional attacks via the Multiweapon Fighting feat.
Naturally, I feel this seems a little off, as I believe that the ruling implications on it imply that said arms can be used for attacking, but does not grant additional attacks based on the number of limbs.

Hello! Been awhile since I've been on these forums. Currently running a homebrewed campaign that takes place in the traditional golarion setting. That said, one of my players was born and raised in Rahadoum, and was wondering if there was anything noteworthy that isn't covered in the wiki's (ban on religion, focuses more on human ingenuity, growing desert, but masters of trade...). In addition, I was wondering if there was any particular thing in regards to witch hunts, and what lands are more prominent with them and not. One of the NPC's that the players have something against just happens to be one, and trying to figure out what kind of future characters to involve where in which it would make sense to have them make an appearance, although obviously Irisen is more or less witch country. Any info in regards to these things would greatly help in making a more structured environment in my game!

Why not a str based Dragon disciple? 2 Level dip into ranger for permanent claws with aspect of the beast, take a race with a natural bite attack and multistrike and improved natural attack feats (although may want to consult your gm on using monster feats). You'd have some magic to lean on and once you start leveling as a disciple you'll grow some bulk. Dragonform then becomes even more beastly with the feats carrying over.

Ok, so few ideas that I have already come out with...

1. First ruins, pretty old, moist, nothing too suspicious till players locate back room used for rituals. They find an immortal man there, and on a high roll, may find a magical device that shows the happenings of before.

2. Mining town with three half-brothers, vying over the rights to mine, as well as access to the ruins. The ruins themselves are of dwarven origin, and show signs of preparing for war. It hasn’t held up too well from the excavations around it.

3. Goblins have recently taken residence in the newly found ruins, led by a Barghest, they have been harassing the nearby towns, making it easy to locate. The ruins themselves seem to be of Halfling origins.

4. Ruins located slightly under water off the coast. The majority of the city is completely underwater, and appears to have belonged to merfolk. Signs of magical protection sigils are abundant.

5. Ruins located in the far south jungles, a tyrannosaurus has made residence of the place. The residence of the ancient city appeared to have been attempting to make ritualistic sacrifices to thwart the coming storm.

6. Ruins located in a swamp. The ruins were originally floating, powered by magic. Due to no one operating, crashed into the lake below, which eventually became the swamp. Now harbors a black dragon.

7. Ruins protected by an elven group. They state that it is holy ground to them, but the true reasoning is that they had cut a deal with a green dragon not to bother it within its territory.

8.Dwarven city built directly over an ioun stone quarry. They had begun construction on war golems powered by the ioun stones. It is surprisingly in pristine condition.

9. Gnomish city completely booby trapped, almost no living things remain in it, although many spirits linger. The booby traps have been set up to completely and utterly non-stop damage the Terasque from emerging once more.

This list so far is from lowest level to highest level in terms of content ideas. I still need 7 more ideas, most of which are closer to the higher end, and two more for the lower end.

So the campaign I have in mind requires the party to constantly be moving around, and exploring different ruins of ancient civilizations. I've got a multitude of different ideas, but need more seeing as I plan on letting the party have some say in which ones they decide to venture out and explore, and often have the choices be layered in tiers of difficulty based upon setting and so on. HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST RUINS!

Ok, so far from what I'm reading/hearing, Unchained characters are what should often be used now due to balance reasons, although I'll have to look up more details in regards to the rogues since they use another new feature (Skill Unlocks). Also Summoners got nerfed into the ground in comparison with the unchained variant. Would you allow a summoner in your party now with the unchained version, or would it still be a no-go?

Occult Classes I think I'm a tad skeptical on for the time being. Will probably say no to them until I THOROUGHLY read up on all the fine details.

I'll be trying to locate all the errata changes that have been made since last I updated myself on knowledge (begins rolling D20 for knowledge history check).

Step #1 for memorable betrayals. Think LONG ahead what his goals are, and what must be done to obtain those goals. Is he seeking something that was taken from him? Is he trying to single out a single party member? If he is after something, he will do what he can to play to their trust. Meals made by him which AREN'T poisoned (at least at first) is a decent way. Him putting his own assets to good use for the team, while waiting for openings to conduct misdeeds to hinder the party.

"I'm s-sorry! While you were gone, wolves charged at the camp due to the steak I was fixing! They tore through all the meat we had!" Where in actuality summoned a pack to make it look like that, and he doesn't truly have to worry about food since he can summon his own, although the party may not know that.

Another key thing as you mentioned with 3 is to make it seem like he saves the characters life, where truthfully he may just be saving him due to current standard reasoning. "We can't let the ranger die on us in the wilderness, can we?" (thinks to himself "sheesh... seriously, if he dies we might all die from starvation!")

Step #2, the crossingpoint. You always want more positives than negatives when it comes to betrayals. You want the party to find him as an asset, something helpful, and occasionally flunk up, like those nat 1 rolls. It happens... (insert evil GM laugh). However, there's that point where you need to cautiously switch gears. "Nows the time to act!" says the villain. "DANG! I sprained my leg hopping down that ledge... you go on ahead. I'll be right behind ya." Cuts ropes on bridge.

Step #3, the true colors. Even if they decide to kill him right then right there, you want the clues, and everything else to add up eventually. Perhaps you find out more from a colleague of his, or a journal, or from his own mouth if he's a classical monologue villain. Overall, you want everything from the past to match up with the present.

So after having a year or so of absence from Pathfinder, a new group is forming, and I am taking up the mantle of GM once more. No doubt I have missed a lot that has released. Last thing I recall reading up on before were hybrid classes. I feel that as a GM, I should know all the different tools and assets that might be presented in front of me, and want to know what new things I should read up on and be informed about.

I have noticed some "unchained" classes, are these replacements to the standard ones? Optional alternative for them? What are they exactly?

I'm also seeing a little bit about Occult classes. First thing I spotted was Kineticist, which brings back memories of imbalance from D&D 3.5... anything I should be worried about?

Overall, if anyone is kind enough to help me back into the groove of whats new, I would greatly appreciate it!

What races are allowed?

Any of the core, Catfolk, Ifrit, Kobold, Orc, Oread, Ratfolk, sylph, Tiefling, Changeling, Kitsune, Samsarans, Suli, MAYBE Vishkanya (not 100% on that...), and Wayangs.

It's probably best to go single weapon Dervish Dance, I think.

If you wanna be more than just a buffer, there are several Bard options you can take.

You can go Dervish Dancer or Dervish of Dawn for a damage build (with one being more suited to full on-combat and the other for a mix between casting and fighting).

Another good one is the Archivist, if you want to also provide the party with lore.

Another option if you wanna be more active is to go Inquisitor. You can be a face with all the CHA-to-WIS skills they have, while providing more than just buffing/debuffing.
Witch Hunter is a great archetype to provide more stuff to your party.

Wanted to avoid Dervish Dancing if able even though statistically it is superior to most other kinds of builds, it just feels wrong at times to use something just because it is better and that you base a lose flavor background story "yeah, I'm a follower of sarenrae... because I like scimita-err, I mean doing good and ensuring the dead remain dead!"

Inquisitor might be a possibility since it would still somewhat be a face so to speak...

Scion of Humanity Azata-Blooded Aasimar Dawnflower Dervish.

Choose the +1/2 level higher when determining the effects of a performance racial favored class bonus for Battle Dance.

Sadly Aasimar is a no go, GM's choice.

Gillman rogue eldritch raider

Take alternate traits to be less water dependent if needed.

The RP could be Indiana jones/ Sean Connery with a dab of magic.
Acid splash, snowball, fiery shuricans.... Are great surprise round sneak attacks. You also have all the skills covered that your party is lacking. If you want melee get a wand of flame blade and go to town. .[grab the vanish trick too, if melee].

Gillmen probably won't fly in the campaign setting. FYI, setting is in Irrisen, where it has been winter for countless centuries and without proper spells/potions/magical items, the weather itself could probably freeze bloodflow easily.

Yeah, I thought about possibly playing a bard, however I can't seem to wrap my head around what is probably the best approach in making one.

As far as archtypes go, the only one that really stands out to me without 'using the scimitar for flavor purposes" with the dervish dancer is the arcane duelist, although it trades a few very handy features.

I am well aware the bard is considered the "ultimate support" so to speak, but while being a class so heavily portrayed as such, I'm irked by the idea of simply being a buffer/debuffer the entire playthrough despite a more flamboyant personality that would suggest otherwise.

Another thing that has been going through my head is among combative options which route to take? Agile weapon enchantment is a possibility, so dex builds could work, but among those should I possibly go for a sword and buckler? two weapon fighting? is it worth the feat taxes or is a more melee combative bard with being slightly less support-like a lost cause?

So the GM has been kind enough to inform us that the next encounter may have a nasty chance of killing one of the players within the campaign. That said, he has also opted that we come up with a backup character just incase. That said and done, from the looks of how the party is thinking, as well as the circumstance in which its not a full party KO, but just some, our party is lacking a "face". Since I'm constantly playing full casters, they regulated me to playing noncasters or slower progression casters (example bard, Pali, ect...).

We are not using the advanced class guide as the current pathfinder campaign we are playing was made prior to the inclusion of it. 3rd party material is also out. Core, advanced, ultimates and some campaign settings or smaller books are allowed (although the last couple are partially GM discretion).

RP standpoint, looking for a character that has a certain guile about him, savvy, prime example, Cary Elwes in a good number of his movies (Robin Hood: men in tights, Princess Bride...).

As far as races go, humans always a fine option, although the GM is being more open about uncommon races, such as kitsune, but not complete reign over the choices due to the current setting predicament (cold blooded races wouldn't ever dare be here...), as well as no innate natural flying, so strix is right out. Thoughts?

So in the campaign that I am playing, reign of winter, we came across a fairly common type of spell scroll, the resist energy cold spell scroll.

Under normal circumstances, an alchemist would dedicate an amount of time to research said spell, based upon the spell level, so long as he has the tools to jot it down in his alchemist formula book, and of course, must make a respective spell check if he got all the calculations and algorithm's right...

HOWEVER! The main question that was brought about that I have pointed out and disputed with the GM until we get an official ruling on it is that after I had successfully researched it, I now have specifically Resist Energy Cold, rather than access to casting any variants of resist energy.

Have there been any cases similar to this? If so, what was dictated as the correct answer? If no similar circumstance has been answered, what would you say to this situation?

So, in my previous custom campaign, which was a HUGE success, I hinted at a possible big time spellcaster known as the Crimson Rose. She became an immortal, went missing for over a thousand years.

The campaign that I have planned reveals that she has actually been creating her own plane of existance through massive ammounts of Greater Create Demiplane and permanency. The thing is, the years haven't been too kind to her, and she went slightly overboard, somewhat resembling the ideals of the Speakers of the Depths.

She, however, isn't content with her own plane. She wishes to become the god of chaos and creation itself.

The proteans themselves are torn about whom to follow at this point, as the creation and destruction of a new god would completely follow their own views and standpoints, let alone the new ideals of how to bring about chaos which brings about evolution, change, and the birth of further chaos that the Crimson Rose has brought about.

Now, with those ideas, here are some questions that I am pondering on.

How do I bring the party to meet with the Crimson Rose?

I plan on determining "chaotic events" that may happen around the party usually about once every 3 days or so by rolling 100. Need to come up with some interesting ideas for that, but make it generic things such as "Harassed by spiritual entities" or "Goblins running amok" to allow myself freedom to work with what the party was currently doing on their own accord.

What would be a graceful method of making the party get noticed by the Speakers of the Depths?

Overall, the campaign is going to be VERY open ended except near the beginning and as it gets closer towards the end, usually having the chaotic events to create tasks for the party to ensew on, or attempt to abandon which may cause long term effects.
"You spot a bunch of orcs on mounts riding off in the distance towards the east." 'eh, ignore them...' party gets to the next town "yes, I was wondering if you happen to pass by (insert generic town name here) if you could deliver this letter to my son..." later heads that way, town burnt down to cinders, finds out it was from an orc raid.

Hey,

The father of this char being a engineer and mother an arcane caster, i'm finding it difficult to decide what she should craft. As such a few questions:

1)In an AP, which would be more worth making, a golem or a clockwork bodyguard/soldier?

2)Said construct would possibly have the Construct Armor template as well, in case there's need of it. Because well....sorcerers are squishy, and a sorcerer in an armored suit sounds/looks cool.

3)Is there a way to make constructs more agile, possibly nullifying the need for the Arcane Armor feat or reducing the penalty at the very least. Since a construct armor counts to casters as wearing a breastplate (arcane penalty...). Textwise they get the penalty due to the added weight.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Heya. I've dabbled a bit into construct ideas and golems, although haven't COMPLETELY put it into action though. In an AP, it highly depends on several things.

Things like Kingmaker, having construct and crafting various varieties for specializations to work on your kingdom, or act as spy drones, ect. can be extremely handy. In combat though, to ensure your not sapping away the fun, try and stick with at most 2 constructs to aid you in a typical combat.

If you aim to keep it simple, nonconfusing, but still very strong and handy, Golem is a go-to.

as for #2 and #3. Its VERY difficult to make a sorcerer good in an armored suit. You could ask if you could craft the golem with mithral and apply the mithral rare material aspect when using it as construct armor to help nullify some of the spell failure chance. Many GM's rule that the reason why heavy armor applies spell failure chance is due to the movement restrictions that can effect somantic components of a spell. That said, you could apply still spell metamagic to your spells that do require somantic components. Additionally, there's a trait called magical lineage that reduces the level cost of a metamagic by 1 to a particular spell. Arcane bloodline can be used to help nullify some of the lengthened cast time for applying metamagic on a spontaneous caster.

Hope this helps!

So, they want you to play as something other than a full caster, but they (aside from the witch) all go and roll as martials with no utility outside of hitting things with a pointy/sharp stick (and rolling the occasional Knowledge:nature or Survival check)? Bah!

I'm just curious, do they all usually play casters too and are switching it up by rolling martials? Why do they seem to care what you play, but not care about overall group utility and covering all your bases? I can understand the eye rolling at the dude who *always* plays a halfling rogue or whatever, but there should be lots of variety for creating personalities and play styles among the plethora of Pathfinder casting classes.

Actually, everyone in the group is switching it up from their normal preferences to atleast some degree. Before the GM even decided what campaign we were going to do next, we came to the conclusion that everyone should switch up what they play as.

Well ok, if you have to roll up a new character--and I am not voting for this to happen--I would look at the Inquisitor.

Half-Orc would be your best race, since I would want to use Intimidate as a debuff. There is a feat (can't remember off hand) that allows you to Intimidate all enemies within 30' of you! That is -2 to everybody around you. Nice debuff!
The class has great utility. If allowed, you can take the trapfinder trait and really cover all your bases.

I actually haven't taken much time to read on the Inquisitor. I'll probably do that now...

If the Evangelist Cleric isn't your thing.

A Bard wouldn't be too bad at all. Lots of Skills and Buffs to pass out. Inspire+haste+Discordant voice is some serious damage even if it is not coming directly from you. If you add up everyone extra damage from your skills and buffs you begin to see noticeable numbers.

Dirge of Doom can intimate without a save. better then dazzling display because its a class feature so no 2 feat investment.

You can take the Knowledge's your witch didn't for the group and offer a Face for the group. I think your group has enough front line combatants.

Never been much into the idea of playing a cleric (except maybe a heavily combat oriented one reminessent of Alexander Anderson from Hellsing).

Sadly, no 3rd party. Any paizo material other than the guilds and a couple of other very specific exceptions are allowed though.

Can't help but notice everyone has a different answer. X_x

The Alchemist [Grenadier] is the perfect tool for the job.

Keep him alive at all cost!

Think about Tumor Familiar at level 4 to go along with Infusion discovery....(read familiar benefits)....

As much as I want to have him live at all costs, there are those moments where things can go wrong. This is incase there's one of those moments.

Also, I doubt the GM would just allow me to roll another Alchemist and do a FF7 Cait Sith. (I'll extract the dark materia, goodbye world! Tears are shed, Sepheroth comes and takes it, and Cait Sith 2.0 shows up all cheerful)

Well, as of right now, I'm providing aoe explosions via bombs, as well as using wand of cure light for the party, and also planning on handing out "Endure Elements" infusions once we hit level 2.

Hillariously though, I have killed 3 people so far by throwing my light mace at them, and thus the mace has been nicknamed "Face Mace", since I didn't have the cash to buy a longbow yet.

So, right now, my group is playing the notoriously difficult (atleast from what I heard) Reign of Winter Campaign setting. We have just completed essentially the first big part of the campaign, however we have had so many life or death situations and on the brink of characters dieing, I can't help but wonder how much longer my lucks going to hold out.

So while it isn't immediate, I need a backup character. Right now, the party consists of a Human Invulnerable Rager, a Human Pistolero, a Human Winter Witch, an Oread Tower Shield Specialist Fighter, and me, a Human Grenadier Alchemist. Currently, since I have been playing "pure casters" the last few campaigns, they want me to play as something else. The issue is, right now, we are lacking alot in terms of utility beyond the Witch, and very much lack AOE.

That said, I have thought of the following ideas:
Kitsune Ninja
Dragon Disciple long term build (still debating on race)
A magus.

Overall, I'm looking for something that is versatile, has a good amount of utlity, and can help backup the shortcomings of the rest of the group.

With the recent release of the Greensting Slayer archtype for magus, I've gone back to toying around with a magus construct idea I had awhile back. Basically, having a construct that has the construct armor modification, as well as the rune of shielding modification. However, I spotted the bioconstruct modification, namely the brain option. On it, it states that it permits the construct to have skills and feats. With this said, how do you determine how many skill points and feats the construct has? Would you aquire them in the exact same fashion as leveling up a character, although without classes?

I'm wondering about this namely because of potential teamwork feats in conjunction with it, having the construct deattach from me as a swift action to an adjacent spot, and then taking a 5 foot step to get immediate on demand flanking.

Any chance I get an idea about what kind of guy your alchemist is and what jobs he's taking? Beyond alchemy, of course.

First on any list should be a stylish hat and outfit, imo.

Basically, my Alchemist was an expiremental clone, whom the master died in the process of attempting to cloning. Among several other subjects, mine was the only one that lived, and while most things seemed foreign at first glance, general ideas and thoughts would come at a moments glance as though he always knew of them, atleast from an analytical standpoint. That said, he has pride in himself for being a "success" and that he is the legacy of a project that was hoped to improve humanity. Additionally, he is often analytical, stating things as they are, rather than catching onto common sayings, and can sometimes mistake sarcasm as actual statements.

When he isn't "purging the enemy" with explosions from bombs, he is often attempting to analyze anatomy, and is often taking care of the wounded through surgery or infusions. Additionally, while he does seek to preserve and extend the life of those around him, he feels as though tending to himself can sometimes wait, and that he can perform on himself later, usually attiring himself in more durable clothing, such as chainmail.

Heya. Soon going to finally start up a new campaign, friend's hosting, I'm playing (as you may have guessed) an alchemist.

That said, I often like to have a good idea of what kind of itemization I eventually want to get. No guarentee's that I'll get some particular items, however there will be some one the "christmas list".

There's some items that seem like an auto-pick for a bombing alchemist such as myself, such as poisoner's gloves (2 extract 'touch attacks' on a willing target, myself, as a full round action? Yes please!), among others. However, many lay in an area of uncertainty, such as the body slot for wonderous items.

This is where you guys come in. It would be apprietated to have interesting item ideas come to light that one may normally overlook. For all you aspiring alchemists out there, assist future ones to come with creative solutions, ideas, and more when it comes to itemization!

Ok, couple of additional questions.

Would doing touch attacks on myself as a willing target provoke attacks of opportunity?

Additionally, can I use the gloves touch attacks with items in my hand currently?

Poisoner's Gloves

In its details, each glove is able to contain a vial of substance in it. Considering I plan to make an alchemist, obviously I would be using infusions.

HOWEVER. Letsay I wanted to hit myself with 2 infusions as a full round action. Would I have to do two touch attacks on myself? Could I simply allow myself to be injected by my poisoner's gloves for the infusion benefits?

So, in the near future my playgroup is going to be doing Reign of Winter. Beyond the small "player tutorial for Reign" pdf, we have no idea what we are getting ourselves into, and its probably for the better, other than the fact that we know its gonna be cold sooner or later.

That said, each person in our playgroup has often gone with a nich'e in previous campaigns; in my case, I've always been a bigtime caster. GM this time around declared that we have to play slightly out of our confort zone, in my case, no bigtime caster classes like sorcerer, witch, druid, wizard, or summoner. Alchemist is ok, however with some discression, he is also allowing some uncommon races, not all mind you.

So, I have been juggling around between a couple of different options.

A. Human Alchemist: Generally bomb throwing, but also hading out extracts as essentially hp pots and buffs.

B. Kitsune Ninja: Having a heavy focus on sneaky sneaky obviously, but having variations of sneak, such as using disguises and being able to change my looks more drastically using kitsune feats.

C. Something else: I've often been into magic users simply because it allowed more "options" of how to attack. Yes, sometimes its pretty simple and often a logical spell with no second thoughts, however I just don't want to see myself as the archer that calls out on every given attack "RAPID SHOT!" If you have any other good options, feel free to give them.

Ok, did ALOT of toying around. After Much toiling about, this is what I came to a conclusion of.

Human Grenadier Alchemist
Level 1: Splash Weapon Mastery, Point Blank Shot, (Weapon prof from Grenadier: Longbow)
Level 2: Precise Shot, Infusions Discovery
Level 4: Smoke Bomb Discovery, Extra Discovery- Stink Bomb
Level 6: Dispelling Bomb Discovery, Rapid Shot
Level 8: Force Bomb Discovery, Extra Discovery- Fast Bombs
Level 10: Preserve Organs Discovery, Extra Discovery- Mummification
Level 12: Spontaneous Healing Discovery, Extra Discovery- Madness Bomb
Level 14: Extend Potion Discovery, Improved Initiative
Level 16: Eternal Potion Discovery, Extra Discovery- Elixir of Life

Reasoning:
Since it was going to be a bit before I actually do take advantage of Fast Bombs, pushed that out till it would be more useful, and pick up Stink Bomb ALOT earlier. While waiting on Spontaneous Healing for so long may be a tad annoying, I think Getting utility alot earlier would help out the team better in the long run. I am attempting to avoid the simulacrum, familiar, and flying routes, simply because I can understand how overbearing handling all those additional nitpicky things can be (I had my fair share in the last campaign I hosted... not fun). Additionally, wouldn't make as much sense from a flavor standpoint with the kind of Alchemist I'm going for.

It does also hurt a little bit taking out Healing Bombs, but I think simply being able to hand out a crapton of Infusions to the party should be handy enough.

Thanks for the link to the guide.
Quite a bit of helpful information, such as the Splash Weapon Mastery over Far Shot.
Missed the fine print on Throw Everything providing the int bonus damage to the bombs... Thank you for pointing that out.
Did not know there was the magical item that essentially provided the Combine Extracts Discovery. Good to know.

Revised thinking: Human Alchemist (No archtype)
Level 1: Splash Weapon Mastery, Point Blank Shot
Level 2: Precise Shot, Infusions Discovery
Level 4: Precise Bombs Discovery, Rapid Shot
Level 6: Fast Bombs Discovery, Extra Discovery- Spontaneous Healing
Level 8: Force Bomb Discovery, Extra Discovery- Blinding Bomb
Level 10: Preserve Organs Discovery, Extra Discovery- Mummification
Level 12: Smoke Bomb Discovery, Extra Discovery- Stink Bomb
Level 14: Tumor Familiar Discovery, Improved Familiar (Faerie Dragon)

Well, recently my playgroup finished my custom campaign which went out with a bang, and was enjoyable for everyone. Next person hosting is doing a module, and all of us have to play slightly out of our normal confort zone, in my case outside of playing a main spellcaster.

That said, I've been toying around with the idea of a ranged support alchemist that also has a bit of bulk going for him, so he can more or less almost be a frontline medic with infusions.

Thoughts so far as far as discoveries and bonus feats.

Human Internal Alchemist
Level 1: Far Shot, Point Blank Shot
Level 2: Precise Shot, Infusions Discovery
Level 4: Precise Bombs Discovery, Rapid Shot
Level 6: Fast Bombs Discovery, Extra Discovery- Spontaneous Healing
Level 8: Force Bomb Discovery, Extra Discovery- Confusion Bomb
Level 10: Preserve Organs Discovery, Extra Discovery- Mummification
Level 12: Smoke Bomb Discovery, Extra Discovery- Stink Bomb
Level 14: Combine Extracts Discovery, Extra Discovery- Healing Bomb

Currently, the GM is thinking of going with 20 point buy, so my stats are currently...
10 Str, 14 Dex, 14 Con, 18 Int (16+2 because of human), 12 Wis, and 8 Cha.

Now, I do realize that I could go more heavily into the two weapon fighting to get more bombs off, however I feel having versatility would be better, let alone being able to throw 3 different bombs with 3 different saves to royally screw over any potential of getting out of harms way 100%, and being afflicted with something. Additionally, I feel like I should pick up Healing Bomb earlier, but at the same time struggling to find room for it in an earlier spot. Are there any recommendations that you guys would make on improving the build long term?

Ok, now I haven't gotten a sorcerer up to level 15, however I believe I could give you some insight on things to assist.

Firstly, with metamagic feats, typically you will want to take lower level metamagic feats unless you have a VERY specific goal in mind, like a giant dps fireball of sorts by using Empowered Maximized Fireball or something like that. Most of the higher things you can easily take care of with the proper metamagic rod.

This said, a very common combo that people love to do is Dazing Ball Lightning, so it may be good to pick up Dazing metamagic to be used in conjunction with Spell Perfection, although purely optional depending on if you are going more for flavor or more for being optimal in combat.

As for additional items you may want to get, with sorcerers a huge aspect is simply having the handy dandy tools when you need them on the spot. I'm a big fan of the following items.

Armored Kilt: Extremely cheap to buy, and one of the very few armors that do not increase spell failure chance.

Masterwork Mithral Buckler: Once again, one of the very few armors that do not increase spell failure chance.

Boots of Escape: You can't escape grapples for the life of you by normal means. Well this isn't normal means.

Ring of Sustenance: Being able to rest alot less time compared to other casters is ALWAYS a good thing, especially when the GM likes to have ambushes during resting times.

Robe of Arcane Heritage: Adding +4 levels to aquire future bloodline features early, or after hitting level 16, being able to multiclass since you already have your capstone as a result of this item? Yes please! This said, you may still want to go a bit more in sorcerer to aquire level 9 spells, depending on character outline plans.

Glove of Storing: "Why yes, I do in fact have a spare hand to grab whatever potion/scroll/ect. I'm going for, and then summon my favorite metamagic rod as a free action whenever I need it."

Cape of the Mountebank: Because every caster needs an escape plan, and this plan is with a stylish red cape.

Quick Runner's Shirt: May not be the most fabulous, but being able to distance yourself more from an opponent ALWAYS helps.

Decoy Ring: When you are out of true escape plans, but ensure that it diverts attention elsewhere to help ensure that you have another opportunity for an escape plan.

Spellguard Bracers: There will be the times where you need to cast defensively. This makes sure those moments are put to good use.

Ok, so I had an idea way back when. Oddly enough, my wizard/sorcerer build I had is still alive and kicking, so after experiencing a bit more, I've gone back to pondering the best way to make this character when I do in fact have a campaign to play him in.

First off, I want him to use his pet as a mount, and not just any mount, but a Roc. A roc can go up to large size, but no larger than that as a pet.

Now, the biggest thing I am struggling on is deciding what weapon to be using. Using a lance while on a Roc, having the goblin scream at the top of his lungs random gibberish as he pierces his foes would be oh so satisfying. For the most part, bows are typically the go to ranged weapon, however goblins have a tendency to be a tad weaker in strength, making me question to maybe go into Crossbows instead. Thoughts or ideas on the matter?

If you are wanting free hands for spells, I highly recommend a pair of Glove of Storing, one for each hand, and alternate between the scimitar and the pistol.

That IS worded kind of confusingly. The way I read it is : Full round action - transform + move until something stops you. then the next round you can pick a different straight line, etc. I don't see anything about resuming your form or even CHANGING form. It says it's a (Sp) ability, so what spell is it mimicking?

It is actually mimicking a spell by the same name.

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateMagic/spells/rideTheLightning.ht ml

Accidentally double posted, please delete this.

When you take Improved Familiar, the new familiar is free.

I meant if the GM decides to kill it, as with an improved familiar one attempts to have their familiar do more things. While doing more things is helpful, it also attracts attention of enemies, thereby increasing the likelihood of it getting killed.

I've essentially learned that while improved familiar CAN be good, it is not always better.

Take into consideration that you are first losing the boost that the original familiar gave you. Additionally, improved familiar will often be performing actions that attract more attention to itself than the previous, and summoning a replacement familiar isn't exactly cheap. This said, often the "best" improved familiars for a wizard or sorcerer are those with more utility, and some methods of detracting attention from itself.

The largest question is, "what are you going to do with said familiar?" Don't just take improved familiar for the sake of taking it. Instead, have a goal in mind when doing so. After all, the trade off is a constant buff that the original familiar granted as well as a feat that could be allocated to something else.

When grabbing improved familiar, have a plan. Most people end up grabbing faerie dragon BECAUSE its perfect at what it does. Its a masterful utility caster that is also capable of self protection. Witches, while not always picking the faerie dragon since they are less likely to put their pseudo-spellbook in danger, are more commonly picking familiars that focus almost all attention on survive-ability. Some people end up picking their familiars based on flavorful or creative ideas, such as a cocodaemon to turn a persons soul into a crystal to be resurrected at a later date for interrogations (albeit, the caster level check to rez can be a PAIN).

It should also be taken into consideration weather or not your GM allows your familiars to use magical devices. This can be a make or break deal on some familiars.

Where I am getting at is, do not feel forced to get an improved familiar. It should also be noted that while you may have told us that you have casting and stealth, the general feel and concept when taking the familiar should also feel right. This said, if you want to start using the familiar for scouting, creatures with invisibility stealth can be incredibly useful.

I've been playing with Words of Power on an Arcane Bloodline Spellcaster for some time lately, currently level 6, soon to be 7.

First and foremost, ask about various distinctions in which certain features may apply. You've already done a good amount of this, but one major one that you should still ask about is whether or not the GM will allow the human sorcerer favored class bonus to allow you to learn additional words, since the normal variant is spells.

Secondly, from experience, many variants of words may in fact be WEAKER than the normal version, at least initially. Why I say initially is because eventually you'll be killing multiple birds with one stone, being able to combine words, essentially getting a free heighten metamagic, while STILL having a potential other quickened action. This doesn't really kick off though until you have access to level 3 spells.

Metawords and metaword mastery is your friend. Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT confuse metawords with metamagic. They may act the same in terms of end result after seeing the fireball dismember targets, or increasing the range, but it is not the same. Metawords can be attached to the front of an effect or target word, potentially boosting the wordspells effects in some way. Knowing metawords, however, takes up known words with the exception of boost, which all wordcasters naturally know. Wordcasters can only use X number of metawords per day, where X is half their caster level (minimum of 1). Metaword mastery adds 3 more uses on top of the norm. Metawords will not extend the time it takes to cast spells like metamagic would normally for a spontaneous caster, nor will it increase the spell level.

Just because you have metawords, however, does not mean you cannot use metamagic in conjunction with it. This said, having the metaword versions often are much more useful than the metamagic versions unless there is no version of it.

When combining words, make sure that they do consist of the same available target word. Some spells are restricted to certain kinds of targetting.

So I was chatting with some friends about the functionality of cursed items, and interesting applications for it from a story perspective. This then lead to the discussion of certain magical items which, while astoundingly good, could have the backdraw of curses, inhibiting another aspect of the character.

This made me ponder, "are there any classes that actually emphasize the usage of cursed items?" I myself couldn't find any, and so I pondered on an idea... The Curse-Melder.

Entwined in the bindings of curses, be it through madness, choice, or lifting the burden from another's shoulder's onto your own, you have begun to learn particular patterns and trends among these curses. While these curses may be weighing your strengths down, they have also taught you many lessons, and have begun to reveal a more unique aspect among these objects of power.

Role: What others would avoid, you choose to grasp. One man's trash is another man's treasure, in this case the Curse-Melder's. What a Curse-Melder make of said cursed objects highly depends on what it is, but none the less, they are able to find more use from it than the typical would-be adventurer.

Alignment: While Curse-Melder's can be found in any alignment, those who walk this path often do so in pursuit for power, no matter the cost. As such, Curse-Melder's are more typically seen as chaotic and evil than good and lawful.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements
To qualify as a Curse-Melder, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.

Feats: Cursed Item Detection
Skills: Linguistics 5 ranks
Cursed item: Must have a cursed item equipped for at least a duration of 7 days, and be aware of the items curse.

The Curse-Melder's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Linguistics (Int), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Magical Device (Cha).

Skill Ranks at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table Info
BAB's, Will Save, Fort Save, and Ref Save, and Spells per day are the same as the Dragon Disciple.

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Curse-Melder's gain no proficiency with weapons or armor.

Spells per day
At the indicated levels, a Curse-Melder gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in a spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, except for additional spells per day, spells known (if he is a spontaneous spellcaster), and an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a Curse-Melder, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.

Bonus Feat
At 1st level, a Curse-Melder may choose a bonus combat feat. This is in addition to the feats that a character of any class normally gets from advancing levels. The character must still meet any prerequisites for these bonus feats. A Curse-Melder gains an additional combat feat at 5th level and 9th.

Curse-Bound
At 1st level, whenever someone would successfully disarm, sunder, or sleight of hand a cursed object that you are equipped with or wielding, you may make a spellcraft check. If you roll a total higher than their roll, they now fail their check. In addition, if your roll was successful, you may roll 1d6 per Curse-Melder level (max 10d6) negative damage to the person or thing that had attempted to perform that action.

Ability Boost
As the Curse-Melder gains levels in this prestige class, his ability score increases from the trials and burdens of the objects he wields. At 2nd level, he gains +2 Str. At 5th level, he gains +2 Con. At 8th level, he gains an additional +2 Str.

Feigned Recognition
At 3rd level, as a swift action the Curse-Melder may trick a cursed item he is using that he has removed the curse for a duration of 1 round per Curse-Melder level. This simply negates the effects the curse would cause, but does not allow the removal of the cursed item. At the end of the duration, the curse takes a tighter grip on the Curse-Melder, and cannot have the curse removed or feigned this way for 6 hours. At 10th level, this is replaced by Cursed for Eternity.

Cursed Infusion
Starting at 6th level, for every two pieces of cursed armor or cursed weapons equipped, the wearer gains +1 on Will, Fortitude, and Reflex saves (Maximum of +3). Additionally, when a cursed item has tightened its grip of its curse from Feigned Recognition or Cursed Transfusion, the Curse-Melder gains +1 Base Attack Bonus and +1 AC (Maximum of +3).

Cursed Transfusion
Starting at 7th level, As a standard touch attack, you may apply negative effects of an equipped item to a chosen living target. These effects remain for 24 hours, or until the target is dead. During this duration, the curse is lifted from you. When the effects end on the target, however, the curse returns, and tightens its grip on the Curse-Melder. You may not use this ability on another individual if another target is currently cursed by its effects.

Cursed for Eternity
At 10th level, the Curse-Melder has become adept at taming the normally unchained powers and effects of a cursed item. The Curse-Melder can freely use the items as though the item was a standard version of whatever item it was while still gaining any benefits it may yield. The item, however, still requires the Remove Curse spell or a similar ability in order to remove it from ones inventory. The curse itself still remains intact, however, and can still apply to others, be it through them attempting to wield said object, or through the effects of Cursed Transfusion. All equipped cursed items are considered to have tightened their grip on the Curse-Melder (although can be removed unlike previous levels when a cursed item tightens its grip via remove curse). This replaces Feigned Recognition.

Any thoughts or ideas on this prestige class idea are greatly welcomed.

Ok, so I'm hosting an evil campaign some time in the near future. It is going to be an assassination based campaign against a lord who supposedly poisoned his late brother to gain power. Other lords and ladies of the land would rather he be "disposed" of before he attempts to take more power, and thus hire the PC's. The assassination is going to take place at a Ball, in commemoration for the lords rise to power.

Starting level is 7, and I'm attempting to let the players go all out and have fun to their fullest, although the campaign overall is likely to be short.

This said, however, one of the players wants to be a Dhamphir Cruoromancer.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/featured-races/arg-dhampir/cruoro mancer-wizard-dhampir

The template is likely going to be a pain, as I don't want to hold up the game every time he resurrects the dead. However, I'm also a little worried considering how the setting is going to likely have plenty of humanoids. This said, what kinds of things would you use to hinder the Cruoromancer from getting completely out of hand? Bonus points if the ideas include story related elements.

Being stuck in the "It's a small world" ride at disney land. Forever.

My brother and dad got trapped on that for two hours straight because it broke down midway... Neither of them have ever forgotten it and vowed never to ride it again. I would say that's more of a god's nightmare rather than dream.

A Wizard who took part in a shape-shifting experiment, to which it went awry and left him warped. He rose a midst the depths of his sullen form, emerging with a much larger, and fearsome shape. Those who call upon his name would be visited, as he teleports whenever one calls his name. With him, he brings word of the devastation that had been endowed upon him, and the endangerment that his kind has been through. Now, he is known as the Humanatee, part human part manatee.

I was working on a Dragon Disciple myself a good while back.

The general build that I went with was first 2 levels into Master of Many Styles Monk, followed by two levels into ranger to get permanent claws. After that, one level in sorcerer for the bloodline followed by dragon disciple.

This said though, from a min/maxing perspective, 2 levels ranger and then 2 levels monk would be better. Reason I did the other way around was more for flavor (a monk in distress as his instincts begin to take over due to his draconic bloodline). Why would that make a huge difference?

The reason is that with ranger first then monk, you could get Feral Combat Training a little earlier (At level 5 instead of level 7, when taking Weapon Focus (Claws) at level 3). Additionally, these bonuses for dragon style from the master of many styles monk levels as well as the small weapon focus bonus would be applied when in your dragon form.

This method, however, does come at a VERY hefty cost, your not going to be much of a caster, and what casting you will likely be doing will be more utility than anything else, do not expect any sort of damage output or for the most part combat oriented usefulness beyond buff spells.

Weather or not you keep craft wondrous item in my opinion is really dependent on who your GM is. Is he the kind of guy to toss things that the players really desire their way at what would likely be a proper level, or is he the guy who uses the random table? Is he the guy that actually has magicmart, where if you have the coin, you get the item, or does the GM actually use the surroundings, the town/city you are in, and try and determine what kind of goods they may have from there?

If you are looking for usefulness in the dragon's color, definitely NOT the red dragon, as the red dragon is fire (most resisted element), and also makes you weak to cold while in dragon form. The dragon that has spider climb (I think it was bronze?) can be silly, and provide some interesting occasions. Green is typically considered extremely good, as A. It doesn't have a weakness, and B. It has the least resisted of the four main elements.

Cavalier's have to choose normally for a medium character, camel or horse. A small cavalier can select a pony or a wolf, but can at level 4 choose between a dog or a boar. This said, other available options are there at the GM's discretion. Essentially, if the GM's ok with it, roll with it. The only prerequisites is that the companion must be suitable as a mount and capable of riding.

For Druids and Rangers, there's quite a few exotic options, although for ranger the more exotic ones are available primarily for the Beastmaster Archtype. Most of the options are seen here.

Additionally, if you look in the Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of Prestige, there is the prestige class called mammoth rider, which gives Huge sized companions, although the list is somewhat smaller, but can be expanded at GM's discretion. Mammoth Rider can be found Here.

Well, I actually was coming up with a Dragon Disciple myself awhile back, and the answer I came up with was 2 levels into master of many styles monk, 2 levels into Ranger, 1 level into sorcerer, and the rest into Dragon Disciple (at least until level 16...).

Reasoning? Master of many styles can easily gain dragon style and dragon's Ferocity at levels 1 and 2, since monks picking up those feats do not have to have the normal prerequisites.

From there, having the level dip into ranger allowed me to grab some natural claws, and while claws typically do not work with unarmed features, there's a feat for that called Feral Combat Training.

So overall...

Level 1: Dragon Style (monk feat), feat of your choice
Level 2: Dragon Ferocity (monk feat)
Level 3: Intimidating Prowess
Level 4: Aspect of the Beast (natural combat style, grabbing claws)
Level 5: Weapon Focus(Claws)
Level 6: (First level in the Dragon Disciple, nothing spectacular)
Level 7: Bloodline Feat: your choice, Feral Combat Training.

the rest doesn't have as huge a factor, however there are a few things that should be noted about this build.
A. The reason why I did not pick up weapon focus claws at level 1 is because normally one cannot. Many GM's deem that you are not proficient with a particular type of natural weapon unless you have said natural weapon, and you do not have it till level 4 from Aspect of the Beast.
B. Intimidating Prowess may not be the most megestic or magnificent feat, however I feel it adds a lot of flavor to the dragon disciple, let alone is likely the most powerful use of said feat (what other class will often emphasize heavily on strength and charisma?)
C. Why go to such lengths for an emphasis on Claws, when I could easily do something more emphasizing on fists? Dragon Form. It would benefit your natural claws that you could gain from Aspect of the Beast, the claws available with the dragon bloodline power, and the dragon form claws.

It may not be the absolute best idea, but it is another one to maybe take into consideration.

Also, bonus points if you can get a racial trait with a bite attack for an additional attack along with those 2 claws during full-round attacks.

As some of you may know, I have been working on a pathfinder mass effect conversion. I have finally completed the classes, and while some races are still in progress, a good number of them are done.

The spell system for this Mass Effect conversion is more similar to the ki or magus pool system than anything else. Generally, each level within a class that has biotic or tech powers grants additional pool points. You expend these points to perform that action. Additionally, these classes may have the opportunity to gain biotic add-ons or tech add-ons, which function similarly to metamagic feats, typically increasing the casting time or point cost for certain benefits.

1 point in each pool is regenerated every 30 seconds (or every 5 rounds of combat).

Considering that all biotic classes share the same biotic pool, it is the combined levels of these classes that determines caster level for biotic abilities. The same applies for tech.

Now, with rulings in how tech and biotic powers differ from normal casting, I have already devised some tech powers. The issue is I am starting to run out of ideas for the tech pool. So far this is what I have.

Tech Powers

I have enough tech powers for the infiltrator, and since the sentinel has both biotic and tech, is fine with the number of powers available. Where I am lacking, however, is powers available for the engineer or more generic powers that are available to all tech classes.

In case you are wondering, the prerequisites, while looking more like feats, kind of are. Upon reaching certain levels with biotic or tech characters, they gain a new biotic or tech power. It is at this point that they choose from the list, and if they meet the requirements, may choose said power.

Feel free to toss out ideas. The one thing though is that there CANNOT be a power that completely nullifies the usefulness of another in all ways. This is why there is the biotic and tech add-ons, to further enhance these biotics. A good example of this is Tech Armor and Geth Shield Boost. While Geth Shield boosts duration can be shorter, and has a longer casting time, its pool cost is lower, provides +1 more AC, and lasts even if the players shields are destroyed. (shields are like rechargeable health before health is actually damaged). Additionally, Tech Armor has the utility of potentially being used for damage and enemy displacement.

Currently, the Engineer has 6 options for powers (excluding Geth Shield Boost). I'm hoping to aim for at least 10 options. It should also be noted that the Engineer class has innate abilities that are similar to override and Combat Drone.

You do make a pretty valid point hogarth. In that circumstance I would expect that the word, altered form, could in fact then be combined with other selected target words instead of personal-only words. You might be onto something. Still, I think this is something that should be addressed as far as the wording goes.

I would probably say the wording should be "The effect of this effect word" if applying just to the effect, and have "A wordspell with this effect word" if it is applying to the entirety of the spell. This said, it would possibly require a text overhaul to rectify the clarification. However, for the time being what you do say does make sense.

For the most part, what people said here.

However, a couple of corrections. It can't add to the Spells damage, but it can add to the attack roll (not the damage roll) or the DC of the spell. You choose when channeling the spell through the gun. Note, it is also purely optional to channel the spell through the gun, but doing so can provide bonuses depending upon choices such as having two arcane guns or one. (Note, choosing two arcane guns does not start you with two, but gains the benefit of having more versatility in enchanted effects that are on the gun when you decide to add even more fun effects via mage bullets). If you choose to have just one arcane gun,if you do a critical hit with a spell channeled through the gun, it would deal X3 damage instead of the normal X2. (Another note, channeling spells through your gun does not actually expend bullets, it uses the gun more as a catalyst).

The mage bullets ability, on the other hand, does use bullets.

Well part of the thing is that if it was mostly just applying for itself I would be expecting more along the lines of a different wording, where as sparks wording is specifying the wordspell, which from other details in words of power implies is the combination of all effect, meta, and target words. The inhibiting factor though that spark and the other level 0 words have though is that it is an instantaneous duration, meaning you would not be able to slap it onto words that have a duration that isn't instantaneous without essentially wasting a spell. Reason being, if you are using multiple effect words that have different durations in one wordspell, you go by the shortest duration and all other spells abide by it. This said, for the most part it would make it to where the wordspells would be unlikely to see much play other than ensuring that it cannot be saved against with spells mostly along the lines of evocation, and with the selected target word as well.

Thanks for the quick response. One more question.

I notice that spark, flame jet, ect. (the level 0 damage spells) have the wording "If the wordspell with this effect word has only a single target, it requires a melee or ranged touch attack and does not allow a saving throw."

Can this be applied to any spell by tacking it onto one of your other spells? It would increase the spell level by at least one and limit the options to single target, yes, but if this can be applied to saving throws in general, that can be an extremely powerful boon for word casters if I am correct in this assumption.

Think 3rd level wordspell Selected Shock Frost Fingers. Am I correct to assume that per wording of Shock that they would not be able to perform a saving throw, thus they would be staggered for a round due to Frost Fingers? Admittingly, if this does work it wouldn't be able to be abused too much as Shock and so on are duration instantaneous, so you cant really use it on most debilitating spells.

Ok, so my words of power caster has finally started getting into the levels where he can start customizing his spells a bit more. I wanted to try and compile a list of spell combinations I would more frequently use. This said, I came across Torture and Decelerate. Torture is a 3rd level effect word and Decelerate is a 2nd level effect word.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/words-of-power

On the table illustrating spell combinations of words, it does not list a combination of a 3rd and a 2nd word.

Now, there are two main questions.
A. Could I use the combination of these two words as a 5th level spell since that could be two 3rd level words?

B. If I boosted Decelerate, would they still gain additional attempts to save against the nauseated effect from Torture?