artofcheatery's page

One of my players wants to create this spell. He tried to get it past our old GM which I though was a little crazy, but the written version seemed really different than what he explained to me. I've rewritten it, just want to see if I left any loopholes to make this completely broken.

Does allowing the enhancement bonus seem like being too nice?

Simple question.

You have levitate cast on you. Either you haven't made use of it or you've gotten back to ground level. Can you act on the ground normally or are you penalized by the levitate spell (treating the ground under you the same as the spell description says to treat walls and ceiling)?

Thanks.
-Xander

Backbreaker’s Hunt
Alignment: CE
Headquarters: Cheliax
Leader: Huntmaster Roc Backbreaker
Structure: Guerrilla warband
Scope: National
Resources: caches of supplies to last approximately one year of monthly hunts.
For every slave who does not mind their lot in life, one rebels against their misfortune and yearns for freedom. When they succeed, they join Backbreaker’s Hunt to get their revenge against their former owners. The Hunt conducts monthly raids, or as they call them ‘hunts’, freeing slaves and killing their former owners. Originally their leader’s quest for personal vengeance, it has turned into a twisted abolition plot that stains Cheliax with the blood of slaves.
Structure and Leadership
Roc Backbreaker founded and leads the Hunt. There is little about him known. Most assume he’s human, but some survivors have reported that he was half-orc or even halfling. Some think he may not exist at all or that he died early in the Hunt’s life. Whatever the case, he doesn’t believe in giving direct orders, feeling the Hunters received enough orders in their lives already. Whatever the Hunt does, Roc takes no responsibility, claiming they are the actions of free men. This doesn’t change that most of the Hunt follows his unspoken orders and remove the minority that does not.
Goals
Backbreaker’s Hunt has the lofty goal of abolishing slavery, even if that means killing every slave and owner. They believe that if they continue their monthly hunts, they will ‘break the back’ of the Chelish economy causing a massive uprising that will overthrow the House of Thrune. They recruit heavily from the slaves they free during hunts. If the slave doesn’t wish to join them, the Hunters break their spines in front of the others in order to intimidate the rest into service. The Hunt claims this is in order to ensure the safety of the Hunt. Ironically, this policy makes the Hunt the largest slaveholding operation in Cheliax.
Public Perception
Few are aware of Backbreaker’s Hunt outside Cheliax and the majority within Cheliax are slavers . The Chelaxians who are aware of them do not approve of the 'uppity slaves' nor do the slaves they plan to ‘save’. The Eagle Knights offered them support shortly after the Hunt’s founding but rescinded the offer do to the Hunt’s lack of mercy to those who do not share their values.

Divine Bond is a spell like ability, so if you use it while threatened, you risk an AoO. What is the DC for the caster level check to activate it defensively?

We overcame most of the dangers of our recent adventure with a water walk spell.

The final battle happening in a room made of ice (so all the floor was ice, that didn't matter since we had the spell) and contained pit traps where the 'lids' were thin ice (about an inch or two). The spell says that you are hovering an inch over any liquid, including ice (or mud, or lava). Is there still pressure enough against the ground to have triggered the traps?

Object was a magic gem whose location was discovered by a detect magic spell (overwhelming aura). The gem was hidden with a Sleight of Hand check which would require a DC 30 Perception to search for it. While I never decided where it was, I stated that it was somewhere on my torso and probably more than a move action for my character to take it out.

Could it be stolen via Combat Maneuver? If so, what would be the modifiers?

Hold Person

School enchantment (compulsion) [mind-affecting]; Level bard 2, cleric 2, sorcerer/wizard 3

Casting Time 1 standard action

Components V, S, F/DF (a small, straight piece of iron)

Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)

Target one humanoid creature

Duration 1 round/level (D); see text

Saving Throw Will negates; see text; Spell Resistance yes

The subject becomes paralyzed and freezes in place. It is aware and breathes normally but cannot take any actions, even speech. Each round on its turn, the subject may attempt a new saving throw to end the effect. This is a full-round action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. A winged creature who is paralyzed cannot flap its wings and falls. A swimmer can't swim and may drown.

Questions that came up in last night's game:

Our answers were: yes, a spellcaster can cast if he very well prepared (three feats and a prepared spell). No, saving throw since it can't leap out of the way. You can move through the square, but you can't stop in it since the spell might release at any moment making it an illegal square.

Agree? Disagree?

Aura faint evocation (darkness); CL 3rd
Slot —; Price 600 gp; Weight —
Description
This shimmering black dust causes one creature to be coated in a layer of darkness for one minute. This grants the creature concealment (20% miss chance) in normal light or total concealment (50% miss chance) in dim or less light and grants bonuses to Stealth as if the creature was invisible. The darkness is thin enough that the creature can see out of it with no penalties.

There is no effect while the creature is in bright light, though a DC 20 Perception check allows an observer to notice that the user is in less light than the area around them. Creatures with darkvision see through the dustings of darkness as if it were normal darkness. Applying dustings of darkness to someone affected by a glitterdust spell, removes the glittering effect, but not blindness if still present. Casting glitterdust on a creature under the affect of dustings of darkness neutralizes the dustings of darkness.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, darkness; Cost 300 gp

I keep going back and forth on whether this is even worth asking. I think the paladin is okay right now.

In one of the games I am in we are in a tournament to discover if we get to one of the groups of heroes for our city before the near bi-century dragon attacks begin.

We are one of three teams attempting this. One is from the country, and we don't mind them much, the other is a group of nobles, who we hate with a passion. (We're a bunch of inner city orphans).

The first two rounds of the tourney we place strong second, not winning outright, but getting out with a lot of points and apparent the city thinks we're awesome.

In both rounds the nobles failed miserably (we wanted to replace their name on the scoreboard with 'Total Party Kill'). They apparently are so scared of us that they convinced the country team to join forces with them in the last round and just knock us out right from the start.

My question is, how far can the paladin go in attacking us before he is in danger of losing his paladin status? We are never in mortal danger, we all have weak rings of regeneration that prevent death from anything short of beheading, but there is an honorable thing going on right now, too. The other teams aren't actually completing the task, they're standing at the end of our lane shooting us full of arrows (and slings, and bolts) in front of a crowd of 50,000 people (who I might add, are booing).

Even though this is a tournament that we can't die in, doesn't this start to rub against the edges of not good? There is also a cleric on that team of presumably a good god. How far does the Code of Conduct go?