Waffle_Neutral's page

I'm currently brainstorming some ideas for my next campaign. What campaigns have you run or always wanted to run?

So you use Command an Animal and the Animal Companion gets 2 actions. Can the Companion take 1 action, you take 1 action, then the Companion takes its second action Or must they take all their actions at once?

Maybe I'm blind, but I can't seem to find any spells to animated a horde of undead minions. There doesn't seem to be an "animate dead" spell like in 1e. There's not a Summon Undead spell, even though everything else seems to be summonable. Am I missing something?

About the only way I can find is to cast Ghoulish Cravings to infect someone with Ghoul Fever, wait for them to die, then cast Bind Undead after they rise as a ghoul at midnight.

So the Handwraps of Mighty Blows double the damage dice, but Dragon Blood Sorcerer claws have two dice, 1d4 slashing and 1d6 elemental. Are both dice doubled in this case? Both dice are inherently part of the dragon claws, they just do different types of damage.

As you invest these embroidered strips of cloth, you must
meditate and slowly wrap them around your hands. These
handwraps have weapon runes etched into them to give your
unarmed attacks the benefits of those runes, making your
unarmed attacks work like magic weapons. For example, +1
striking handwraps of mighty blows would give you a +1 item
bonus to attack rolls with your unarmed attacks and increase
the damage of your unarmed attacks from one weapon die
to two (normally 2d4 instead of 1d4, but if your fists have
a different weapon damage die or you have other unarmed
attacks, use two of that die size instead).

You can upgrade, add, and transfer runes to and
from the handwraps just as you would for a
weapon, and you can attach talismans to the
handwraps. Treat the handwraps as melee
weapons of the brawling group with light Bulk
for these purposes. Property runes apply only
when they would be applicable to the unarmed
attack you’re using. For example, a property that
must be applied to a slashing weapon wouldn’t function when
you attacked with a fist, but you would gain its benefits if you
attacked with a claw or some other slashing unarmed attack.

I really want to make these dragon claws useful, but it doesn't seem that Sorcs ever get Expert in unarmed attacks. Their simple weapons go to Expert at level 11, but not unarmed. Weapon Specialization at level 13 applies to unarmed, but only at Expert and above. Is there a way to get expert in unarmed at all?

Was just looking at the Harm spell and the 3 action version of it says it Disperses Positive Energy, which seems like a copy/paste mistake from the Heal spell since all the other forms of it create negative energy.

Another player told me that you only add half your strength to off-hand damage, but I'm unable to find this in the rules at all. The two-weapon fighting section in combat and the two-weapon fighting feat only talk about penalties to attack.

Can anyone point me to the rule about damage for off-hand attacks?

So all armor protects from vacuum, but no protection from attacks that bestow some kind of poison, disease, or stat draining effect. I would assume that in order to be poisoned the poison needs to make bodily contact, which would mean piercing the armor or spacesuit. Does this ruin the vacuum protection? What if you are already in vacuum when the attack occurs?

I don't understand why a square grid is still the default for tactical combat with its clunky diagonal distance measurements. I admit that it aligns better for environments with lots of straight lines, but for anything outside of that it's just as messy as a hex grid.

The only other thing I can think of that would be different is that some of the radii would change the amount of spaces effected by certain spells. A 5 foot radius is 4 squares, but only 3 hexes.

If I want to switch between the two I have to flip my vinyl table mat. That means moving all the minis, books, dice, drinks, and paper off the table.

Why would they do this?

When you advance an animal companion from medium to large, does it get reach to match its size? Horses and camels don't have reach, but what about apes or constrictor snakes? The large apes in the bestiary have reach, but there are no large examples of snakes.

I'm looking at the Beast Rider Cavalier in Ultimate Combat and it says that at 4th level a medium cavalier can choose from a list of animal companions. The problem is that most of these companions don't become large until 7th level.

Does that mean you can't even take them or can you still ride them even if they are the same size as you? Can a small cavalier choose from this list as well?

Today's post on the Howling Tower blog suggests a great idea. Get rid of the Perception skill. It outlines 4 different replacements, but the best is the fourth. This particular post uses 4th edition skills as examples, but there are parallels in Pathfinder.

Option 4 is to eliminate Perception as a skill. Drive an ice pick into it. When some sort of perception is called for, use the skill that most closely relates to the situation. Here are some examples, in 4th Edition wrapping.

-Finding a secret door? Thievery or Dungeoneering.
-Tracking a monster to its lair? Nature.
-Spotting the lich's phylactery? Arcana.
-Picking out your contact among all the bar's patrons? Streetwise.
-Noticing the fang marks on the corpse's wrist? Heal.
-Hearing someone sneaking up on you? Stealth.
-Spotting the demonic cult tattoo on an assailant's arm? Religion.

This is my top contender. Not only does it a) work and b) make sense, it also c) steers some attention back onto skills that are all too often overlooked. When was the last time your DM called for a Streetwise check? How do you suppose that makes the bard feel? This approach works so well with the skills in 4th Edition D&D that I wish it had been the official choice.

You win initiative and move in front of a monster with your weapon drawn. Your ally casts invisibility and moves behind the monster while drawing his weapon. It's your turn again and you attack the monster. Both you and your ally are threatening the space from opposite sides, but neither you nor the monster are aware of your invisible friend. Do you still get the flanking bonus if you don't know you're in a flank?

From Ultimate Magic.

You can wield a quarterstaff as either a two-handed or one-
handed weapon.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus (quarterstaff ), base attack
bonus +5.
Benefit: By employing a number of different stances
and techniques, you can wield a quarterstaff as a one-
handed weapon. At the start of your turn, you decide
whether or not you are going to wield the quarterstaff as
a one-handed or two-handed weapon. When you wield it
as a one-handed weapon, your other hand is free, and you
cannot use the staff as a double weapon. You can take the
feat Weapon Specialization in the quarterstaff even if
you have no levels in fighter.

You can already fight with a quarterstaff one-handed, because it's a double weapon. Why is this restated in this feat? The only thing this feat does is let you take another feat. If you're taking this, you're probably a monk, and there are so many better options.

The next campaign I run will focus on the heroic adventures to be had while running your own small business. Basically, the party will inherit an old, run-down inn from their estranged relative. He is somehow related (through the use of his long elven life and polymorph and enchantment magic) to all the party members (who will meet for the first time when they all show up to claim their inheritance thinking they are the sole beneficiary).

There will, of course, be a wide variety of monster slaying and traditional fare, but my players really get into the economics of a world. The Pathfinder rules fail in providing this sort of simulation. The main problem I'm running into is that magic items (what the PCs will be hoping to buy with their profits) are so much more expensive than a mug of ale. The first thing I intend to do is drop a zero off the end of all masterwork and magic item prices and give my players far less gold so that it's a little more meaningful. A 245gp +1 longsword is actually in within their grasp if they save up their tips. As-is, magic items are just too expensive, considering they practically litter the landscape.

I also plan to have random events, such as:
-Dwarves show up: who stereotypically drink far more ale than normal customers.
-Taxation: the greedy local lord sends his tax collector to their door (maybe the PCs will allow him to take their gold only to don masks and rob him in the forest).

Does anyone have any other ideas to make this a fun and rewarding mini game?

Since Bashing is a property of magical armor that gives it a +1 enhancement when used as a weapon, how could I increase it beyond that? Do I treat it as a weapon and start enchanting it using the price for weapon bonuses, but would it just cost 2,000 because it doesn't have any magical weapon bonuses yet? Do I just apply Bashing to it again for another +1 bonus (probably not increasing its size again, because they are from the same source)?

So the camel druid animal companion has a ranged touch attack that sickens the target with no saving throw.

If a balor, a horrific, perverse demon from deep in the abyss, that does nothing but torture souls for its pleasure, is standing knee-deep in blood and gore, and a level 1 druid commands her camel to spit on it, the balor's reaction will be, "eww, gross!" Then be sickened for 1d4 rounds.

Same thing would happen to a zombie, ancient black dragon, stone golem, jelly, or another camel. They would just be so grossed out, regardless of their anatomy, level of sentience, or own putridity, that camel spit would sicken them enough to hamper their ability to perform their everyday abilities.

Is camel spit really so vile?

If a rogue succeeds on stealth check does he get +2 to his attack roll against his target's flat-footed AC? What about an aboleth attacking with its 15-foot-long tentacle from behind an illusory wall? In both situations, the target of the attack cannot visually locate the attacker; rendering them essentially invisible.

It says evil creatures, but is a human with an evil alignment an evil creature, or is it referring to something like a devil that actually has the evil type?

Last night i pit my party against a shadow demon. It is both incorporeal and had has DR 10/ cold iron or good. They were hitting it with their magic weapons, which only do half damage, because they were not ghost touch; nor were they cold iron nor good.

Say they hit for 14 points of damage. Do i subract 10 for DR and halve the 4 for a total of 2 points of damage? Or do i halve the 14 and subtract 10 for a total of 0 points of damage?

As im writing this, it just occurred to me that if it were a mathmatical formula, it would follow the order of operations and divide before subtracting.

In last night's game i subtracted before i divided.

Or do you just not have to make checks?

If something grapples you and you only have your two-handed weapon in hand, can you draw your back-up one-hander and make attacks with it?

Freedom of Movement

This spell enables you or a creature you touch to move and attack

normally for the duration of the spell, even under the influence of
magic that usually impedes movement, such as paralysis, solid fog,
slow, and web. All combat maneuver checks made to grapple the
target automatically fail. The subject automatically succeeds on
any combat maneuver checks and Escape Artist checks made to
escape a grapple or a pin.
The spell also allows the subject to move and attack normally
while underwater, even with slashing weapons such as axes and
swords or with bludgeoning weapons such as flails, hammers, and
maces, provided that the weapon is wielded in the hand rather than
hurled. The freedom of movement spell does not, however, grant
water breathing.

The spell description is vague, but it suggests that anything that hinders movement is nullified. Should a monk should still get his full bonus movement and all other abilities that are normally disabled while in armor? Is a fighter's speed still reduced because of heavy armor? What about a wizard's spell failure?

Under handle animal it says that you can Handle Animal as a move action, or a free action if you are a Druid or Ranger, and Druids or Rangers get +4 to Handle their companions.

Does this include any class that gets an animal companion, such as Paladins, Cavaliers, or Clerics with the Animal Domain? In all cases, those classes' animal companions use the Druid rules. What I find odd is that Ranger is singled out under Handle Animal, even though its companion also behaves as if a Druid's.

I'm making a character that only uses a shield, kinda like Eric from that old dungeons and dragons cartoon. So I was wondering, since shields are a one-handed martial weapon, can you wield it in two hands when you bash for that extra damage? He's going to be a cleric, so I'd like to wear a shield and keep one hand free to cast spells.

You can make attacks with natural weapons in

combination with attacks made with a melee weapon and
unarmed strikes, so long as a different limb is used for
each attack. For example, you cannot make a claw attack
and also use that hand to make attacks with a longsword.
When you make additional attacks in this way, all of your
natural attacks are treated as secondary natural attacks,
using your base attack bonus minus 5 and adding only 1/2
of your Strength modifier on damage rolls. In addition,
all of your attacks made with melee weapons and unarmed
strikes are made as if you were two-weapon fighting. Your
natural attacks are treated as light, off-hand weapons for
determining the penalty to your other attacks.
Feats such as Two-Weapon Fighting and Multiattack (see the Pathfinder
RPG Bestiary) can reduce these penalties.

But in the bestiary, none of the monsters follow this rule in regard to necessity of Two-Weapon Fighting or Multiattack feats. Creatures that use weapons and natural attacks have no penalties beyond their natural attacks being treated as secondary.

Is this just a mistake in the Core Book?

Can you cast hold person or enlarge person on a monstrous humanoid?

I can't seem to find a definition for Burrowing in either the Core Rulebook or the Bestiary, but I might not be looking in the right places.

Does a burrowing creature leave a tunnel behind, or is it like Bugs Bunny's tunnels which collapse behind him?

When, for example, a vampire turns into a wolf, does it lose its natural armor bonus that it has for being a vampire? Does the wolf form's bite attack drain levels?

Does a monk's flurry have to be with different weapons each time or can he just attack with a single weapon over and over again?

While picking spells for my BBEG sorcerer, I was reading the text for Nightmare. The last paragraph states:

Creatures who don’t sleep (such as elves, but not half-elves) or dream are immune to this spell.

There is, however, no such text referencing Elves under the Dream spell.

When you get hit by a wight or a vampire slam, do you get to save against their energy drain? Or is the effect just so foul that it gives you the negative level with no save and then you save at the end of the day, or both?

With the Command Undead feat, you control their actions as per the spell Control Undead. It says that intelligent undead get to save everyday, but the spell only lasts minutes. The feat description doesn't say anything how long they are under your control, so I assume it's permanent and doesn't just replicate the spell in respect to duration.

What about number of undead you can command at once? The animate dead spell says 4 hd per caster level, is that only for the spell, and feat is unlimitted?

So I'm making a Goblin Cavalier with a Goblin Dog as his mount, but I am a little unclear as to how mounted combat works. When I charge while mounted, do both the rider and mount get attacks? What about in situations with reach weapons, such as a lance, using ride-by-attack? Does the rider get to make an attack when within reach, then the mount keeps moving and gets to make its bite attack?

What if I give my mount the mobility feat? Does that mean that only it gets +4 against AoOs, but what about the rider? The mount is the one moving him.

I did have another question about the Freedom Subdomain power from the APG, Liberty's Blessing.

(Sp): You touch a willing creature as a

standard action, granting it a boon. A creature with this
boon can, as a swift action, make a saving throw against
a single spell or effect it is suffering from that grants a
save. The DC of the saving throw is equal to the original
DC of the spell or effect. If the saving throw is successful,
the effect ends. This boon lasts for 1 minute or until
successfully used to remove a spell or effect, whichever
duration is shorter. You can use this ability for a number
of times equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.

What exactly is an effect that grants a save? Does this mean curses and the like that you only get one save against, or things that give you saves every round, like poisons or glitterdusts?

Almost all of the Ninja Tricks are just flat out better than the Rogue Tricks. With the exception of finding and disarming traps, anything a Rogue can do, a Ninja can do better.

Other than the Ki requirement, Rogues could still use most of these tricks once for free. Ya know, why not just make the Ki pool a Trick, and then have all Ki-dependent Ninja Tricks just require the Ki Trick?

I suppose it's a setting thing, but I'm a firm believer in giving classes the tools to fit any setting by expanding on their options. Making classes with names like Ninja, Samurai, and Monk, only make them less likely to be played.

A reach weapon allows the wielder to attack a square 10 feet away, but not squares adjacent to itself. Every second diagonal counts as double distance. Does this mean that a character with a reach weapon is practically defenseless if someone runs up to it diagonally, since its diagonal squares go from 5 feet and then 15 feet, skipping the 10 feet square?

Diagram:
c=character with reach weapon
T=threatened squares
X=squares it cannot attack
XTTTX
TXXXT
TXcXT
TXXXT
XTTTX

So if I were to take the Catch Off Guard feat(which gains you proficiency with improvised weapons) would I then be able to use any weapon that I lack proficiency in as an improvised weapon while converting its threat range to 20 and x2? What about an inappropriately-sized weapon, could I skirt the penalty to using such an item in the same manner?

So if one plays a monstrous PC that doesn't have its PC stats on its page, do you use the base ability scores listed for the monster on the stat block instead of rolling? Because I don't see how you could roll/point buy if you don't know the creature's racial modifiers.

Can a Dwarf ride a pony properly? I ask because there seem to be some contradictory passages in the books about it.

In the Core Rule book on page 162 it describes a horse thus:

Horse: A horse is suitable as a mount for a human, dwarf,

elf, half-elf, or half-orc. A pony is smaller than a horse and
is a suitable mount for a gnome or half ling.

But in the Bestiary under the "Horse, Pony" entry:

Ponies are smaller breeds of horses better suited to halflings, gnomes, and dwarves, but they also make fond pets for humans as well.

I do recall reading somewhere that a mount should be one size category larger than the rider, but I can't seem to find it(it may have been in a DnD 4e book). Dwarves and ponies are both medium creatures. That rule does make sense to me, but then again the very foundation of the fantasy genre is pretty much based on Dwarves riding around on ponies.

Here's the text on p141 of the core rulebook.

Now this has drawn some debate between me and another player. He plays a gnomish warrior and we have been getting a lot of medium sized weapons. He thinks that a medium one-handed weapon would have a -2 penalty because it's inappropriately sized. I say that, since a one-handed medium weapon is considered a one size category smaller, a small character could wield it two-handed without penalty.

I want to wield a large greatsword, dealing 2d8 instead of 2d6 damage, taking a -2 penalty on attack rolls for it being inappropriately sized for my medium character. He says that I won't be able to wield it at all, because I would need three hands to wield it since it's a two handed weapon one size larger than myself.

My question is, when is a weapon inappropriately sized?

I was reading through Fingerprints of the Fiend to try to get some ideas and it left me a little confused. This is the first adventure I've read and I had some questions.

In creature stat blocks, what is GRP?

One creature has

During Combat: Overconfident, Zahur uses Power Attack

relentlessly. He prefers to fight other strong combatants to
prove his manhood. He selects anyone who’s managed to get
behind him as his Dodge target each round.

written in its tactics section. What does that mean? I thought the dodge feat only gave +1 AC.

And why is there no CMB or CMD listed for any creatures?

The requirements of both Cleave and Vital Strike state that you must make a single attack(as opposed to a full attack). Does that mean you can Vital Strike a creature, then Cleave his friend? I assume that the Vital Strike bonus would only apply to the first attack.

Can you combine Power Attack and Combat Expertise when you're attacking so that you would gain a larger attack penalty for an increase to both damage and AC?

I was wondering, since a sorcerer(and bards) does not need to prepare spells ahead of time, does that mean he does not need the materials for it(if a spell requires them)? I know most of the time the material cost of a spell is ignored, but not always for spells that do require a more expensive reagent.