Zhelgadis Graywords's page

I would make such a wish the final quest of your character's campaign.
Someone pointed out that the wish is asking for the equivalent of a ton of money - all the money that could buy objects granting dragon-equivalent power.

Fine then: I would combine such thoughts with the following:

When a wish duplicates a spell with a material component that costs more than 10,000 gp, you must provide that component (in addition to the 25,000 gp diamond component for this spell).

And tell the player that for his wish to work, he needs to provide rare, expensive magic material to fuel the spell. The value of such materials will roughly be the value of all those items which combined will grant him a comparable power.

Provided that this can fit in your current setting, it could lead to some really exciting adventures to put together all what is needed for the spell to work. And of course, the PC will have to bargain with his companions, since he will need their help to gather all this stuff ... :)

Only partially correct, you can have the slots regardless of int but you need a 14 int in this case to cast the metamagic'd spell.

FAQ - unless of course you believe that requiring the 14 int isn't a disadvantage as outlined in the FAQ.

Well, in this case it is at least a partial advantage, since with an INT 14 requirement you will be able to exclude up to two targets from the fireball area.

I'm not sure if quicken spell feat can apply to a staff, or if using it always take a standard action.
Besides that, nothing in rules forbids metamagic feats in magic item creation.

Not so much, as far as I know...
1. Increase INT (headbands and so on)
2. Increase caster level (ioun stone)
3. A quickened true strike will allow at least a nearly auto hit, although at a great cost.

Telekinesis has a great fluff, but I find it hard to use... many monsters have very, very high CMDs.

Two characters, one with Scribe Scroll, and the other with the spell desired to be made into a scroll, can cooperate in the crafting of a scroll, in which case the scroll is whatever type (divine/arcane) was cast in its crafting.

Actually, this is not allowed by RAW.

In addition, you cannot create potions, spell-trigger, or spell-completion magic items without meeting their spell prerequisites.

Scrolls, wands and potion make exception to the general rule that you can add +5 to the DC in case you miss a requirement or have another caster cast the spell for you.

In particular, scroll section says

The creator must have prepared the spell to be scribed (or must know the spell, in the case of a sorcerer or bard)

At 4th level.
Before 4th you have no caster level, so Magical Knack does not apply.

1. I like your stat buy Tomos. I guess I just hadn't given up on the concept of being able to wildshape and be combat effective. By ignoring that aspect it makes everything else more doable.

In 3.5 wildshape made you gain the STR, DEX and CON values of the new form, in PF this is no longer true ... so, a druid who tries to be both a melee and a caster ends in being suboptimal in both.

Animal Companion is fine and TM's guide are not the Holy Bible, so go ahead and make the character you like :) you'll end in having less spells, but unless your caimpaign goes high level your pet remains a strong boon.

Wildshape still remains a strong choice - tiny animals will make you much harder to hit, and elemental form grants good maneuvrability options.

You're right. I've been doing that wrong. That's a dumb distinction (IMHO) that the game makes. I think I will continue to ignore that in my games.

All class powers work this way. This encourages you to stick to one class without go multiclassing.

I flagged the original post for FAQ.
Looking at how traits are intended, I think these two feats should not stack. However, by RAW these is nothing forbidding this.

Antariuk wrote:

Persistent Spell - what for at 5th level? You can only use it for 1st level spells at 6th-8th level, so unless you have a specific strategy in mind I'd really skip this until you have enough spell levels to make it useful.

The idea was to use it on fireballs via magical lineage and metamagic master, forcing double saves at 5th level seemed like a solid choice. The same logic applies to the use of empower at 7th lvl.

I think Persistent Spell is not a big deal for a blaster type. Blasts do half damage anyway even if saving throw succeeds (save for Evading foes), I think that damage-increasing feats are a better use of your feat slots.

Normally I'd agree, but they aren't really bonus's and are generally considered to stack, but they can't reduce a spell to lower then its base spell level. The consensus online seems to agree, this thread holds more info in that. For quick clarification, when I say metamagic master I'm referring to wayang spellhunter.

I don't think letting these traits stack is really a problem, however the traits rule says:

they're intended to give player characters a slight edge, not a secret backdoor way to focus all of a character's traits on one type of bonus and thus gain an unseemly advantage

All of this IMHO, of course ... ;)

My understanding of RAW is that the first creature you hit gets slowed for 1 round. That's all. (nasty effect, though.)

Dealing with your build, notice that trait bonuses as a general rule do not stack. Were I your GM, I wouldn't let you pick Magical Lineage (Fireball) and Metamagic Master (Fireball) to have a 2 level discount on the final adjusted level. Personally, I'd go with Magical Lineage and Lore Seeker (+1 CL to three spell, your choice). Together with spell specialization you're firing 10d6 fireballs @7th level. At 8th level you can use Empower Spell to throw a 15d6 fireball

Some notes from my side:

1. Mithral heavy shields still have a 5% ASF. Mithral light shields and bucklers have 0% ASF, I would advise a buckler since it leaves the hand free for casting, wands and so on (you can NOT cast with the hand holding a light shield - see chapter 4, section 3, step 24). Note that using any item in the shield hand makes you lose the shield AC bonus, though.
2. Wielding a shield you are not proficient with means that you'll have to lose a move action to drop it.
3. Haste also gives an extra full BAB attack to your pet melee BSF, after he charged.
4. Drinking a potion also requires a (provoking) move action to retrieve it.
5. Chapter 3, Section 7, step 15 - repeats what already stated in #14.
6. I'd point out that while fighting enemy caster, a ready action "attack as he casts" has a good chance to disrupt the spell if the attack lands.
7. Metamagic feats are powerful, but impose a heavy price and are best handled by experienced players.
8. Deafened characters have 20% spell failure chance, not 50%.

It doesn't need to be a diviner to beat One's initiative
Starting array (20PB): 7/14/14/17/14/7, or 7/14/14/18/11/7 human +2 to INT
Reactionary trait, improved initiative, Compsognathus familiar, at 1st level your init bonus is +12
Take a +6 belt of physical perfection, you end with +15 init.
At 20th level, you can cast 4 Wishes in a row to pump your Dex to 24 - this means init +17.
Or, you can live with init +13 and go around with a faerie dragon, who can use all your magical items as he casts as a sorcerer.
If you go the diviner's way ... another +10 bonus, and an automatic 20 on the initiative roll - means init 47 (with the compsognathus) or 43 with anything else.

That object would not use a slot on the body, but it wouldn't either qualify as a bonded item.

Objects that are the subject of an arcane bond must fall into one of the following categories: amulet, ring, staff, wand, or weapon

Amulets and rings take up slots, object not taking up slots are not amulets, nor rings.

The main issue with augment is that it takes a standard action, otherwise +4 to any stat or up to +5 to natural armor would be pretty solid (not all party members will have +6 items to all stats, not in our caimpagns at least).

Perfection of self really rocks, as it can be used
- To pump up DCs
- To get some extra HP in case some bad guy gets in touch (sh#t happens, and can be a life saver until healing comes)
- To pump up AC and initiative (my reading of the rules is that the next round you'll have better initiative, handy if some enemy is just ahead of you)
- To get a saving throw bonus, if you can foretell that something bad's happening
- To get a quick bonus to any skill check (knowledge, sense motive, UMD ... YMMV)

A very flexible self buff, all for a swift action. My GM allows me to pass it on my faerie dragon also, but I'm not sure whether rules really allow for it.

1. As Mystically Inclined says, Evocation is likely the easiest school for newbie wizards. However you should plan your build to pump up your damage or you'll be disappointed in seeing how fighters and barbarians deal 3x/4x your DPR.
If you're willing to spend some time in studying spells and think about strategies, you'd rather go on Conjuration (Teleport) or Transmutation (Enhancement).

As for opposition schools, I usually ban Enchantment (too many monsters are immune to mind-affecting, although some spells like Confusion are really nasty) and Necromancy, which has powerful spells but is a small school.
However, as you're planning an evil wizard you could opt to keep necromancy (hi, undedads!) and ban Abjuration instead, specially if you have a cleric in the party.

2. CHA and STR are the usual dump stats for wizards, pay attention to encumbrance (CHA may be useful against charmed creatures). Some also dump WIS (but failing Will saves really sucks).
INT is of course your main stat, then choose CON (HP & Fort. saves) or DEX (initiative, ranged touch & Ref saves) as 2nd and 3rd stat respectively.

3. Handy haversack if you dumped STR and your GM is strict on encumbrance. As said, some 1st level scroll. A +2 Headband of Vast Intelligence, to be upgraded whenever possible. A cloak of resistance. Some potions of cure wounds. Flasks of acid and alchemic fire.

4a. Skills: Spellcraft should be maxed out. Take some grade in Perception, and max it out via the headband. Then put grades in all knowledges, needed to identify enemy weaknesses. Fly will need some grade since 5th level, and you may find some extra language handy, especially if you are going summoning. Some sense motive, some UMD if you plan to have an Improved Familiar. Acrobatics might be useful as well to avoid AoO where a single step cannot get you out of troubles.

4b. If you plan to build a blaster (hint: Evocation/Admixture) you'll need a ton of metamagic and feats to power up your damage.

As an example (YMMV a lot) I'd go with
Traits: magical lineage (fireball), Lore Seeker (magic missile, fireball, choose another)
1. Spell Focus (Evocation), Spell Specialization: magic missile (you fire 2 missiles at 1st level, 3 at second)
3. Improved initiative or Toughness
5. Preferred spell: fireball, heighten spell (B)
6. Spell Specialization -> switch to fireball, now you cast at CL9.
7. Empower spell (now you cast a 15d6+3 fireball as a 4th level spell)

For other builds, you may want to take as a reference:
School: Conjuration/Teleport or Transmutation/Enhancement
Traits: Reactionary (+2 init), Focused Mind (+2 concentration) or Dangerously Curious (UMD as class ability).
1. Improved Initiative, Toughness
3. Combat Casting
5. Craft Wondrous Items (B), Spell focus: your favourite school
7. Improved Familiar (Faerie dragon rocks).

For a summon-centric build you may want to take Spell Focus at 3rd and Augment Summoning at 5, skipping combat casting.

5. As a general advice, you do not have to cast each round. Doing this, you'll end soon your spells per day.
Even if you go the blaster way, remember that anyone in the party can do damage, while there are things only the wizard can do. 90% of times, a Haste spell will deal more damage than any fireball.
Scribe scrolls! Even in ad adventuring day you can net out 2 hours of work, which allow you to write a 1st level scrolls @CL10 and 2nd level scrolls @CL5.

#242 A polka-dancing smurf, right in front of that arrogant noble trying to intimidate my party.
#243 A tiny Dwarf, shaking his head while a drunk NPC tries to punch our barbarian. Didn't save the drunk man life, though.

Late reply, but at our table we usually wave encumbrance on characters having
- STR 10 and no armor
- STR 12 and light armor
- STR 14 and medium armor
- STR 16 and heavy armor
If these conditions are not met, you have to manually track your encumbrance.

We see it as a good compromise - want to min/max your character? Fine, but you have to face some consequences and be ready for them (my 8-STR wizard was counting each cp, and took Craft Wondrous Items to make its own bag of holding. And CHA 9 lead to some funny RP consequences...).

Otherwise, just take a STR value which makes sense and we'll assume you're able to carry your stuff without further bookkeeping

In my understanding, figments should work much like holograms. You can create the image of something that is not there, you can make it move, you can have it block line of sight, but an hologram cannot make something look like something else.

Were I the GM, I'd agree with MurphysParadox - you could create the illusion of a wall depicting the continuation of the road. But in the best case this would only work against a single, far viewer, who should have a robust bonus on his saving throw. All others should immediately recognizing the illusion for what it really is.

Therefore, I'd say your usage is not kosher ;)

So long, Sean, and thanks for all the fish.