VedicCold's page

They can use a 'damage your opponent action' with a successful grapple check but that would just do non-lethal damage equal to ... hmm well I don't see what it is equal to in the SRD but I'm pretty sure its their size modifier. D3 for medium so what's that? d4 for large, d6 for huge, d8 for gargantuan and finally 2d6 for colossal. To an 18th level character this is just chump change they could take this damage all day. Though the dragon can do this move once per 6 points of its BAB so adding it all up might be notable.

A better option, I suspect, is for the dragon to use its natural weapons in the grapple. It gets a -4 to hit doing that (no grapple check required) but the damage is lethal and it sure has a lot of good natural weapons.

I believe Ninjack was referring to the fact that a dragon with the Snatch feat essentially gains Improved Grab with its bite and claw attacks, which allows it automatically inflict damage on the grappled target as if it struck with the natural weapon used for the grapple on any round in which the dragon maintains its hold. Considering this is essentially automatic damage, and the dragon can still either take a full attack with all its other natural weapons or use its breath weapon with no save allowed (if grappling with the bite), that amounts to significant damage. The only problem is that it can leave the dragon vulnerable to other attackers, but as was stated earlier, the -20 grapple penalty to avoid being considered grappled probably doesn't hurt a dragon too much.

As for giving the dragon Combat Reflexes, it's actually not too impressive. Since it only allows a number of extra attacks equal to your dex bonus, and dragons rarely have a Dex score above 10 without being given the Elite ability adjustments, that translates to 0 extra AoO's. The only benefit it would get is being able to make its one AoO while flat-footed.

I'm actually in the middle of running the adventure you're talking about as a supplement for my group. It's called "The Fall of Graymalkin Academy," and it's in issue #140 of Dungeon. I'm using it to build levels and treasure between "Test of the Smoking Eye" and "Secrets of the Soul Pillars." My group got beat up hard on the Abyss and used up a lot of the wealth they had built up just to revive fallen allies and recover from the ordeal. Bluecrater Academy is easily substituted into the adventure, though I changed the premise and timeline a lot. I replaced the multiple invading factions with a single group of evil adventurers (the Necrocants) seeking to raid the academy's vault for something of value to the Cagewrights as a test of their worthiness to serve the evil cabal. I altered the adventure's drow sorceress and made her a necromancer wizardess (and elder sister to the group's drow rogue). There's also Khyron bonesworn, and two others I created from scratch. Everything has happened overnight (can't justify two months passing in the middle of the city with an ice barrier blocking off the school). Several of the most junior students have survived and are protected by the two remaining academy wizards because I needed to spare the younger siblings of my group's bard, since she's spent a lot of time and money seeing that they get a good education, and I didn't want to slap her in the face for good roleplay and character develoment. I plan for Aldevein (the drow necromancer) and Khyron to escape, so they can be present for Lords of Oblivion, which will give the party a nice sense of satisfaction when they finally take the pair down at that point. If you want any more details about the changes I've made, just ask, and I'll be happy to post them here.

Huh. I must've assumed he had that ability... does it not state in the Tactics section that he teleports away if reduced below X hit points? Or am I on crack?

It does. That was what prompted me to examine his stat block to see how often he could use the ability, if it came from an item, etc. I found nothing, zip, nadda. The killer thing is that the entire rest of the adventure setup assumes he teleports back and alerts the rest of the bad guys about the heroes, which is a big impact on how difficult the battles in the taboo temple will be. I mean, I thought about just giving him the ability to do it, but I don't like that sort of arbitrary change, especially one that makes the difference between whether the PC's enemies are expecting them or not. I may change Onailati into a different sort of demon who CAN teleport away, and can also change its shape. May be difficult to find one to fit neatly into that CR range. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Okay, maybe I'm blind and just completely missing something, but exactly how is Onailati supposed to "teleport" away from the battle? I don't see any SLA teleport ability, none of his other powers mention anything about teleport, and I see no magic items that would allow it. So... what am I missing?

This is entirely a matter of opinion, but I'd say no. If an infestation attack doesn't mention that it can be thwarted by high Nat Armor bonuses, I would just assume it doesn't help. No matter how much nat armor a body has, a living creature still will have less protected areas. For instance, in the case of being engulfed by a swarm of worms or swallowed by an overworm whose gut is filled with kyuss worms, there are enough of them that some might find their way up a nostril, into an ear, an eye socket (ouch!), into the mouth, or some other... orifice.

According to the Manual of the Planes, the Plane of Shadow is Coexistent with the Astral Plane, which I presume means that in any place where one may access the Astral Plane, one may also access the Plane of Shadow. The only restriction the Manual of the Planes places on it is in relation to the Ethereal plane. It states that the Plane of Shadow does not connect to the Ethereal Plane, and that spells and spell-like abilities that access the Ethereal Plane do not function on the Plane of Shadow (it does not explicitly state that the reverse is true, but it seems a logical conclusion if the two have no connection). I would imagine that traveling to Occipitus via the Plane of Shadow is theoretically possible, but it would be dangerous and extremely time-consuming. According to the Manual of the Planes, the Plane of Shadow is in a constant state of flux, making any form of mapping or establishing routes nearly impossible. Thus, assuming there is a point of connection between the Plane of Shadows and Occipitus, it will not be fixed, and therefore extremely unreliable. As well, dangerous creatures are abundant on the Plane of Shadow. The Manual of the Planes has a Shadow Creature template to create a Shadow version of any corporeal creature, while the Tome of Magic (in the Shadow Magic section) also has several new types of specific monsters that would call the Plane of Shadow their home.

Ultimately, if the group has access to spells of a level such as Shadow Walk, I would strongly recommend the faster (and generally safer) Plane Shift. However, once on Occipitus, Shadow Walk could allow the group to move accross the terrain much faster than normal.

Kelnor is a 13th level spellcaster which means even Kaurophon may be paralysed (a 2-level difference, and a 3-level for my PCs).

As written, Kauraphon's alignment is CE, so unless you've made changes to him, he can't be affected by Blasphemy.

This seemed like a question to bring here. I converted my remaining issues of Dungeon and Dragon into issues of Pathfinder, and went ahead and signed up for month-to-month delivery of Pathfinder beyond the two free issues I received, since choosing that option meant I would be considered a "Charter Subscriber," and thus receive a free copy of the guide to the new AP's setting. So here's my question: "Pathfinder Charter Subscriber" does not appear beside my messageboard icon, as it does for others. Does this mean that I bungled the sign-up process somehow and didn't actually order what I thought I did, or am I good to go?

The Charter Subscriber title is for those of us who sign up for month-to-month subscriptions to Pathfinder before the first issue is launched. Charter members will receive a special guide to the new AP.

Okay, I've managed to work it out. Thanks for the tip.

I am thoroughly disgruntled over the loss of Dragon and Dungeon, but I'm excited about the possibilities that Pathfinder offers. I've done the transition and will get a couple of Pathfinder volumes before I start paying the monthly subscription price, and I'm really hoping that it lives up to its potential. Paizo, you've earned my trust and my business, and you're keeping it (until and unless you give me reason to go elsewhere).

By the way, when I went through the transition process, something was mentioned about being a Charter Subscriber, which I've seen by some people's names and not others (such as my own). Two questions: 1) Are there any specific perks for this nifty title?; 2) Was this reserved for the folks who got on the bandwagon the day of the announcement?

Since I have started playing D&D again, I have been on the huint for the perfect character sheet. I happened upon a few character sheets from this Ema person. Ever since I have been in smitten by this woman's brain. I was wondering if this was even a real person if so, good job. I dont know who she is really I just know that anything I get with the name Ema on it has been good to me. Tell me what you think or maybe what you use for your perfect character sheet.

Ema is actually short for Emanuele; he's a 36 year-old gentleman living in Italy who has a passion for the game. His character sheets are excellent, if for no reason other than the consolidated spell lists compiled from just about all of the current WotC releases. His website and all his character sheets can be found here:

http://www.emass-web.com

The comment about the CCG crowd is something I've suspected would be the key to a successful gaming store for a long time. I have yet to see a really successful store that doesn't host such events. CCGs seem to have a much broader appeal, drawing a larger demographic to the location. This is absolutely something to consider. The karaoke-bar style, while interesting, threatens to be too expensive to expect gamers to utilize. But as always, we really like the feedback we're getting here. Keep it coming.

Yup; against those particular monsters, it does +1d6 damage, in the same way that a bane weapon deals +1d6 damage.

I was actually wondering about this. The "bane" property typically does 2d6 extra damage against appropriate foes. Was this lowered due to the wider array of creatures subject to the Nimbus Bow's effect?

Vedic Cold

-High Priest of T'PeeKay, Overgod of Slain PCs
-Master of Too Many Dungeons
-Speaker of the Ancient Tongue of Burblish

Oshun and I just had a conversation along this line. Rather than making it just a "coffee shop", shift to a model more similar to a Borders or Barnes & Noble - a gaming/book store with a refreshment counter and area for seating with tables etc so that customers can relax, read, and get together to play when they want to. While we really like the original premise, and would love to make it work, this model may be more realistic in terms of economic viability. We certainly want to keep this thread going to see what could be the best solution. It's just a pity that most of you fine folks are so far away.

You make very valid points that will be very carefully considered, Sebastian. However, I'm going to call you out on one issue: you didn't answer the question at hand. IF such a place were available to you, would you go there?

I think he was making a comment about your login name. It is rather... lengthy. ;)

I don't know much about the soulknife class, but from the looks of the other classes I presume he'll be the primary melee combatant, with the Bard serving as a backup for him. Things could get a little dicey in places without a true melee warrior in the group. Hopefully the Warmage can dish out enough damage to make up for that somewhat, expecially when he comes into those really fun 3rd level spells. They'll definitely be challenged in certain places (the Rhagodessa in the first battle could tear them to pieces if they can't take him out from range), but not so much that they won't be able to function. Having two people capable of using healing magic will certainly help their survival odds.

AMAZING MOVIE!!! LOVEDITLOVEDITLOVEDITLOVEDIT!!!!

Ahhhhh, I gotcha. Yeah, the bar-iguras' See Invisibility SLA is just another reason they make such nasty ambush demons. Pair a couple of these with a couple of Babau demons and you'd have a very nasty team of abyssal hit-demons. Despite the trouble the demons had, I'm betting that little assault still put the whole party on edge, since now they know that they've gotten the attention of a pack of demons that can roust them so harshly. Doubt they'll be sleeping very easily anytime soon.

A Bar-Igura using Greater Teleport, whether or not it's attempting to bring along another creature, is still using an SLA, and thus still provokes AoO's. Picking up a stick or some other creature wouldn't change that. Think of the Abduct supernatural ability as a modifier of sorts. The clearest wording for the ability would look something like this:

"Abduction (Su): When a Bar-Igura uses its Greater Teleport spell-like ability, it may transport other creatures. It can bring up to one Large or two Medium or smaller creatures with it each time it teleports. It can teleport unwilling targets as well, although an unwilling victim can attempt a DC 18 Will save to resist being transported. The save DC is Charisma-based."

So to use its Abduct supernatural ability involves using the Greater Teleport SLA, and thus provokes AoOs as normal.

Well, as the Bar-Igura's description appears in the adventure text, no grappling is necessary for Olangru to use his Abduct ability. All he has to do is successfully touch his intended target and then use his Greater Teleport ability. I agree with those who see the Abduct ability as something seperate from the SLA Greater Teleport. It's basically an independent ability that just alters his Greater Teleport SLA. The safest way for him to do this is to be invisible when he makes the touch attack, since you can't take attacks of opportunity against a target you can't see (also, you can't make AoO's if you don't threaten an area, so if Olangru's target doesn't have a viable weapon in hand, no AoO either). Also remember that an AoO doesn't defeat a touch attack unless the touching creature takes damage from the AoO, which Olangru's DR 10/cold iron or good may prevent. All in all, Olangru basically had a much harder time abducting his target in this scenario than he should have.

On another note, your sorcerer PC technically shouldn't have received an AoO for failing a Concentration check. Casting defensively automatically prevents AoOs, but if you fail the Concentration check you lose the spell. However, I know a lot of people (including me, until I read the "casting defensively" entry under the spellcasting section thoroughly) play the mechanic the way you do.

Well, first off, the correct interpretation is whichever one works best for you and your group. However, consider a strict reading of this section of the item's description:

"... should that spell ever be cast upon the wearer, the spell is immediately countered, as a counterspell action, requiring no action (or even knowledge) on the wearer’s part."

As I see it, the ring works as the standard counterspell action, which is to immediately counter the specific spell stored in the ring. Based on a strict reading of the item description, a ring of counterspells storing a Dispel Magic spell would immediately counter a Dispel Magic spell targeted on the wearer, but not a Greater Dispel Magic. The two spells are not the same, any more than Inflict Light Wounds is the same spell as Inflict Critical Wounds. The strongest argument I can make against using the Dispel check normally involved with casting Dispel Magic as a counterspell is that the ring does not cast the spell stored within it - it simply says that if the wearer is subject to that exact spell, then the spell becomes automatically countered.

Actually, using the Lesser Planar Binding would be a creatively efficient method of getting someone to Sasserine and back again quickly. Because the Bar-Iguras' SLA mimics Greater Teleport, which has no range limit, it would be a simple matter to bind one, have it become invisible so as not to spook the good folk of Sasserine, teleport a party member to the city to handle business, and then Teleport back, thus ending the service for which the creature was bound. Much more flavorful than a bevy of simple Teleport spells, though arguably just as dangerous.

Short of Lesser Planar Binding, a cleric of a non-good deity could attempt a Lesser Planar Ally spell at around 7th level in order to accomplish the same thing, but the Planar Ally spells all involve some form of payment (not to mention an XP component) for the service rendered. Still, it remains an option for a cleric whose morals are somewhat... murky.

The Savage Tide is rising soon, and heroes are beginning to emerge from the streets of Sasserine to attempt to stem its terrible onslaught.

Currently, three PCs are in the works for the run of this campaign, with a fourth to be run by the DM to fill in whatever gap is left in the party's composition. Thus far, two characters have begun to form more clearly, with a third only hinted at:

Female Halfling Druid
Female Human Rogue/Swashbuckler
*Female Human Sorcerer

For those who will be reading this, it will progress slowly, as it will be a side campaign with sessions taking place only once every month. For my players, you can expect to be able to come here for a recap of the story to date, and possibly to find fun extras about the background goings-on of the story. If any of you want to make login names for these boards and post on this journal, feel free to do so. Any in-character journal posting you do here will earn you bonus experience points (maximum of 1 award per play session).

I much prefer static initiatives, simply because it makes long battles much easier to handle. Also, the fact of the matter is that more randomness is bad for the PCs. For every roll a PC makes, the DM probably makes 3 or more, which means that random effects become far more likely to impact the PCs unfavorably rather than benefitting them. Dynamic initiative works well for some systems, like L5R and WW, but for D20 there is so much to keep track of that it's just much simpler to keep it static.

Assuming one allows the Keen effect to stack with Improved Crit feat, 18-20 would be the correct final threat range for a bow, due to the rules of stacking multipliers (which were the same in 3.0 as they are in 3.5).

A bow's original threat range is 20 only, which is one number. When that number is doubled by keen, it becomes 2 numbers, thus making the range 19-20.

Now, when the Improved Crit feat is applied to the weapon(assuming they're allowed to stack), it increases the threat range by 1 more number (it does not double the new threat range of 19-20, but increases the range by one more unit of the original increment). Thus, the final threat range would be 18-20.

Personally, I think the ease with which this stacking effect could be confused was a primary reason that the designers ruled out stacking Keen and Improved Crit in 3.5.

Sorry about your negative experience with your local gamers; it's those few bad-eggs treating newcomers like pariahs that give the rest of us gamers a bad name.

On a more practical note, I thought you might find this interesting: http://www.d20srd.org/

It's the three core rulebooks in an online form, courtesy of WotC's open gaming license. You said you did internet research already, so you may have come across this already, but I thought I'd put it here just in case, since you mentioned not having the money to pick the books up right now. Hope it's helpful, but as has already been said please feel free to return here with any questions you might have.

True, but the existence of Improved Death Attack (same thing as Ability Focus, but applied only to death attack) as an epic-only feat leads one to wonder.

I see your point. However, considering that they're both unnamed bonuses granted by different sources, the two would stack together. Also keep in mind that since at epic levels an assassin's Death Attack DC only goes up every two levels, taking the Improved Death Attack feat is like gaining four levels worth of epic advancement as an assassin for the purpose of that ability. The fact that you can take it multiple times and it stacks with itself is part of what makes the feat so good. Very few pre-epic feats (aside from the ever-crappy Toughness) can be taken multiple times and stack together.

Saturday we're starting "The Demonskar Legacy," Chapter 5 of the Shackled City adventure path. The group is eager to start unravelling the mysteries they're being shown, but their confidence was rattled in the battle against Mangh-Mictho and Aushanna in the Temple of Bhal-Hamatughn in Chapter 4. There are some serious challenges in this chapter, but also some great opportunities to learn more of the region's history, especially during the interaction with the Deva guardian of the region. I'm very much looking forward to it.

... and allow Ability Focus (Death Attack) as a non-epic feat. That way, your DC approaches the realm of something not so easily ignored/shrugged off.

If you check your MM or the SRD, you'll find that the feat "Ability Focus," though listed as a Monster Feat, can be taken by any character or creature who possesses a Special Attack. The Assassin's "Death Attack" falls into that category. Any Assassin who wants to be taken seriously should absolutely pick that one up.

Though I realize it's slightly off-topic, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who dislikes the fact that the Assassin's death attack cannot, as written, be used with a ranged weapon. I'm of the opinion that, in conjunction with requiring 3 rounds of study during which one's target does not perceive you as a threat, meeting all the requirements for a Sneak Attack is quite stringent enough.

Adding my agreement with Thanis and Vegepygmy. In order to apply a sudden metamagic feat like this, you would have to expend your daily use of the feat, but there would be no increase in charges lost.

No 139 in Indianapolis, though I do have the October issue of Dragon. It arrived 2 days ago, even though it was shipped from Paizo a week later than the October Dungeon issue. If it isn't here by the end of the week, I'll be requesting a replacement issue. I've had a subscription since just before the original adventure path began, and I have every AP issue since then. No way I'm missing out on the first chapter of AP #3!

::EDIT:: Oh, and kudos to Vic and all the staff there for always staying on top of things like this via the message boards. I'm a long-time subscriber and I've bought a lot of the Game Mastery products, and I've ALWAYS been impressed with the customer service at Paizo.

While I agree name-calling is not necessary, I will say this: there's little to justify poor planning. Basic scouting / recon techniques should not be beyond the grasp of even the newest players. My group is, admittedly, not new to D&D, but they hadn't played in years, and had never played 3rd edition. The greater complexity of the rules and bewildering array of character options was daunting to all of them, but by the time they worked their way to Flood Season, they were working together cohesively in the most basic ways. They didn't extensively case the place, which would have been easy considering they had two stealthy characters at the time. But they also did not simply go through the front door. For me, the bottom line is that the bad guys will react as intelligently as they are able to take advantage of an obvious mistake on the part of the players. A lot of the fun of D&D is in outwitting one's enemies, and very seldom is kicking in the door the smartest way to begin an encounter. I do not advocate punishing players for making bad decisions; I DO advocate having the bad guys respond appropriately to a poorly planned assault. Otherwise, you harm the suspension of disbelief of everyone involved.

Touch of Idiocy? Hmm, who do you use that on? Spellcasters? Hmm, what type of save is it? Will? Hmmm, what is the good save of the only people you would use that on? I think you see the problem.

A minor point, but a telling one; Touch of Idiocy allows no saving throw. Having played a necromancer wizard into epic levels in the days before I became primarily a DM, I know firsthand how devastating magic and spellcasters can be, with the proper dedication. Study your spells, know what your magic can do, and make every single spell you cast have as much impact as possible by choosing the right spells. Any save-or-die spell without a decent secondary effect is next to pointless against a BBEG, for example. Use the other spells, like low-level save-or-die and area-effect direct damage spells, for the minions. Arcanists are, after all, only supposed to be one fourth of the power of the traditional adventuring party. Wipe out the minions and weaken the BBEG, but realize that it's up to the fighter, with flanking support and SA from the rogue, to take it toe-to-toe with the Evil Baron, or what have you. Every class gets their time to shine, as does every type of spell. Figuring out what spell to use, when to use it, and on which foe, is the real challenge of playing a mage.

I think not:

...

::Softly Applauding::

Amen, Snorter. The dreaded Tongueater was decimated by my party of 5 after they cased the place and snuck in through the back door, taking the hallway directly to the kitchen and laying down a vicious spanking on the werebaboon before any aid could make it to him. From there, the "dregs" of the resistance were mopped up handily. Kicking in the front door at the Lucky Monkey is suicide.

My players are working their way through the AP and one of them has recently taken a great interest in the map shop in town. Mostly he has been doing things like picking up maps of some of the dungeons or buildings around town, and a treasure map or two(which I have no problem just inventing).

My question comes from the fact that he recently asked for maps of red gorge and hollowsky(away from my books, I think thats the name). I know that there is a map of red gorge available, both in the AP itself and on therpgenius.com. My question was is there one of hollowsky anywhere? I don't mind making one myself, but this is my long term gaming group and I intend to run them through AoW and any of the other AP's set in this region, and I would prefer not to contradict myself if there is a map published somewhere else.

If anyone could help me out with this, or if any of you have made your own maps of the non-key areas in the region I'd really appreciate it because somehow I'm sure this will happen to more then just the one town.

Thanks alot!

Cauldron and Redgorge were the only two towns in the region to get a map drawn up. I suppose not many groups wind up in Hollowsky or Kingfisher Hollow during the SCAP. I'd feel free to draw up one of your own or scavenge one from the WotC D&D website, since they have tons of maps posted there. There's even been a couple of city maps printed as Maps of Mystery in Dungeon that might work.

If you look at the aquatic subtype in the back of the MM it simply means that they have a swim speed(for instance the draconic fingerlings in chapter 4 have the aquatic subtype but it says that they will leap out of the water after characters who are on land), but I think that without having amphibious also it is fair to say that they only breath water.

Actually thats a good question, they are oozes. Do they need to breath at all?

Here's the SRD's full description of the Aquatic subtype:

"These creatures always have swim speeds and thus can move in water without making Swim checks. An aquatic creature can breathe underwater. It cannot also breathe air unless it has the Amphibious special quality."

The last two sentences were the basis of my previous post. The SRD also states that Oozes eat and breathe, but do not sleep. Since they must breathe, and are aquatic (meaning they breathe water and not air, unless they have the Amphibious quality and can thus breathe both), then the Bloodbloaters shouldn't be able to survive out of water for long; and with a speed of 5, they're not going far before they suffocate.

Well, heck, I was so certain about that. I just ran that encounter a couple of weeks ago. Still... a land speed of 5? At the very least, they DO have the Aquatic subtype, and that means that unless they also have the Amphibious ability, then they can't survive out of water because they can't breathe air.

They're fully aquatic. They don't even have a land speed.

Well, I ran the (New & Improved) Demonskar Ball last weekend using the download file you had placed on RPGenius, Delvesdeep, and I really must say, it was a fantastic evening. Everyone had a moment in the sun, everyone was involved, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. We started around 5:30 pm and were so engrossed that we didn't stop until we had finished the whole ball, which was sometime around 1:30 - 2:00 AM Sunday morning. My group's bard was a fanatic about the Song of Heaven competition, having already built up a stiff rivalry with Annah, and she LOVED stealing the title of Angel of the Ball. It was a tight contest, but she won fair and square, and everyone else had a blast. Thanks a lot for all your hard work on this, because it made for a truly memorable night for both my players and their PCs.

Thanks for the feedback. Regarding the light issue, what happened was that the caster was in the sphere casting spells at enemies outside. An enemy entered the sphere, so the caster turned off the lights inside to hide from the enemy. He argued that the sphere would be dark because it is opaque from the outside. I didn't have an issue with that, but then the player claimed that the character could still see the enemies outside the sphere. I realize it's reasonable to be in darkness and see enemies outside, but my sense of the sphere is that the ability to adjust light is more about creating light when it is dark outside; not creating darkness when it is light outside. It seemed a little much to have concealment from a range and from foes within the sphere.

I can see your point, and after a more thorough reading, I agree with you. Total concealment against foes outside the sphere is fine. But in order to be able to see everything clearly outside the sphere while inside it, the natural lighting conditions outside the sphere must apply inside (though the caster can provide dim illumination if it is naturally dark outside the sphere), because light would have to be able to pass through the sphere in order for those inside to see outside of it. So if this sphere was placed in a well-lit environment, I would have to agree that attacks made inside the sphere suffer no concealment miss chance unless the area is already darkened.

Well, from the standpoint of realism concerning vision from inside to outside, consider a darkened room with a tinted or two-way mirror. The darkened room is dark enough that people outside, in brighter light, can't really see inside very well, while those inside are in relative darkness, but can see through the window quite well (I picture a police line-up room). As for the 3rd level spell issue, I'd refer you to Blacklight, a 3rd level spell from the Spell Compendium that creates a sphere of total darkness through which the caster can see normally. Granted, only the caster can see through it and not the whole party, but it's total darkness, which makes everyone else in the area effectively blind, which severely hurts the caster's enemies (and possibly allies). Tiny Hut is not a one-sided wall of force, and I agree with the idea that after more than 9 people enter the area, the spell would fail. From the spell description, you wouldn't even have to lower the interior light level, because it says the spell is always transparent from within, and alway opaque from outside, constantly granting total concealment to those within against any outside enemy. It effectively is one-sided darkness, but only at range, and it is not mobile. It seems pretty well in line with other 3rd level effects like Blacklight or Invisibility Sphere to me.

Is there a reason why this does not create complete darkness and is there a spell that does?

Blacklight, 3rd level spell from the Spell Compendium, creates total darkness that the caster can see through normally.

I'm in the player's camp on this one. As a DM, my job is to organize and present the story, play the NPCs, and adjudicate the rules. In this case, the RAW is pretty clear (though it can admittedly be very ambiguous on certain issues). The description of the Dwarf's dodge Vs. giants lists the instances in which the bonus would be lost. Changing size doesn't alter it, and I see no logical reason why it should, as it is a result of training (and as was pointed out, increasing in size carries inherent AC penalties already, which account for all of the reasons a DM might use to justify the loss of the dodge bonus in the first place). Just because you get bigger doesn't mean you forget that training, plain and simple.

Given its harder to hit someone with a spontanious inflict rather then a prepped one because of the full round casting time...

Actually, that's not the case. Converting & casting a prepared spell to a cure/inflict spell is only a standard action. It only takes a full-round action for a cleric to spontaneously cast a cure/inflict spell if they're applying a metamagic feat that they know to it on the fly.

My party, having no rogue at the time, simply invested in a greataxe, handed it do the heavy-hitter, and proceeded to hack their way through each door, accepting the fact that without a rogue they simply had to deal with springing the traps each time.

OK. Here's the Shatter spell: "Area or Target: 5-ft.-radius spread; or one solid object or one crystalline creature

Saving Throw: Will negates (object); Will negates (object) or Fortitude half; see text

Shatter creates a loud, ringing noise that breaks brittle, nonmagical objects; sunders a single solid, nonmagical object; or damages a crystalline creature.

Used as an area attack, shatter destroys nonmagical objects of crystal, glass, ceramic, or porcelain. All such objects within a 5-foot radius of the point of origin are smashed into dozens of pieces by the spell. Objects weighing more than 1 pound per your level are not affected, but all other objects of the appropriate composition are shattered.

Alternatively, you can target shatter against a single solid object, regardless of composition, weighing up to 10 pounds per caster level. Targeted against a crystalline creature (of any weight), shatter deals 1d6 points of sonic damage per caster level (maximum 10d6), with a Fortitude save for half damage."

Taking the first option, Area, you basically have a 5 ft radius sphere. Will negates though.

So, if a player casts invisible, then walks up to the Wind Warrior with the wand and the Warrior doesn't detect the player and the player uses the wand on it, I'm thinking that the player KILLS the warrior if the warrior fails the Will save.

The area attack of Shatter would not have worked on the Wind Warriors. If you notice, it states that when used against a creature of the appropriate type (which the Wind Warriors are), it does 1d6 damage per caster level (3rd for the wand) against a single creature with a fortitude save allowed for half damage. The Wind Warriors aren't valid targets for the area effect, first because they are creatures and not objects, and second because they certainly weigh more than the 1 pound per caster level limit on that version.

And don't forget that casting a touch spell into a threatened area creates an attack of opportunity....

Actually, this is a point where the wand has an advantage. Wands are spell trigger items, and using a spell trigger item is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.