Could a Paladin simply get a friendly cleric of their deity to place a voluntary Geas/Quest spell on them with the instructions to "follow the paladins code"? For 1 day/level, which you should easily be able to refresh baring exceptional conditions, you mechanically are unable to fall. With all the Paladin falling threads that constantly pop up here... I would have thought more people would do this. Is there something I'm missing?
This would work for any class with a code of course, not just paladins.
Is it not considered to be walking the righteous path if you are compelled to do it? /interesting moral question.
When using handle animal, how often do I need to issue a command? For example, my animal knows the "Attack" Trick. Must I command the animal to attack each round, or will it continue to attack the same creature once the command is given. On one hand, the Handle Animal text says simply that the Animal will preform the indicated command on it's next action, however the text of the "Down" Trick in particular indicates that the animal continues to attack on its own.
If I am a Treesinger druid archetype, does the DC of all of my handle animal checks go up by +5 because I am using the HA skill on a "low intelligence non-animal"? Seems like yes but... ouch.
What happens if I use the ability score increase as my Animal Companion advances in levels to increase its INT score above 2? Anything special? I ask because it is suggested that if it has INT of above 2, it can not be an animal. OtoH, the Animal Companion skill implies animals can have an INT above 2, as it says that animals with a INT of 3+ can select any feat they can use.
For the "Come" trick, in what situations would this apply? EG: When would an animal 'normally not come' as I call it?
What is the "default" behavior for a companion in combat? That is, what happens if the command I issue fails? The animal does nothing? If my animal knows the "defend" trick and I fail to issue a command, does its behavior revert to "Defend"?
What does "defend" really mean anyway? Will my animal move to attack creatures attacking me? Will it make AoOs against creatures that come towards me?
Not really a rules question but, advice for feats to give my Companion? The list was relatively unimpressive.
Is using your off-hand to help wield a 2handed weapon considered "using that hand to wield a weapon" thereby making you lose the buckler's AC bonus for a round?
Can I attack with a greatsword and still get the AC bonus?
Can I attack with a bow and still get the AC bonus?
I saw Battlefield Surgeon, but this does not seem to be enough. Anything that would make Treat Deadly Wounds or Long Term Care better, more effective, or faster?
Hi everyone. I'm looking for advice on playing a very thematic elven treesinger. The stats were built with a unique stat generation method and they are a bit high as I rolled very well. I'm not really looking to destroy everything in combat, what I'm more interested in is a large array of plant-themed abilities and honestly I'm sort of at a loss. The best I was able to come up with was to go archery while my plant companion grapples and constricts things.
One additional thing, we were all awarded an additional bonus feat at level 1.
the working character sheet is below the fold.
Elven Treesinger L2:
Elf Druid (Treesinger) 2
HP: 15
STR 14
DEX 18
CON 10
INT 12
WIS 16
CHA 8
Initiative: +6
AC: 18=10+4+4
bab: 1
fort: 3 = 3+0
Ref: 4 = 0+4
Will: 6 = 3+3
Reactionary
Trait-?
Fire Resistance 5
Nature Bond: Plant Companion; Crawling Vine
Nature Sense
Wild Empathy
Woodland Stride
I want to play a Cavalier in an upcoming PFS event, he will likely be my PFS character for a long time. Issue is, I know I often get bored of just meleeing constantly. So I want to be able to do something else. I noticed the Tactician ability, which is cool, but I'm not sure what feat to take with it. Shield Wall is pretty good but it requires another player to use a shield. Precise Striking requires me to have DEX-13 which I'm not sure I want to have, but I might.
Mainly though, I'm looking for an option that isn't just doing damage. Cross classing is not out of the question, feats/abilities are a good route to go too. If possible I'd like to push the "leader" aspect of the cavalier, buff allies, etc.
I'm confused on how the Telekinesis spell works when used to make the Grapple combat maneuver.
I understand how to make the check and such, what I'm having trouble grasping is what happens if the caster succeeds.
The way I read it, the target will instantly be moved to an adjacent space with the caster. Telekinesis has a 400ft+40ft/caster level range. So, a 9th level wizard can move somebody 960 ft with a successful grapple check. At that point, it is a normal grapple, the target can attack the caster with a one handed or natural attack.
My PCs are going through the Hold of Belkzen and while I'm having great fun designing sergeants and leaders and the like with character classes, the cannon fodder is leaving a bit to be desired.
Having 20 orcs on initiative gums up a combat like nobody's business. Also my party is fighter/fighter/cavalier/Inquisitor, so the orcs are basically fishing for 20s to hit any of their ACs anyway.
So I want to troop-ify a group of orcs. Say, 20 or so of them. My party is level 6, so the CR should be 6-8 ish. I want them to have a ranged attack available (shortbows, maybe, I like the idea of a sort of volley fire thing going on) as well as melee options. I want their Ferocity to be represented in some fashion.
I made some guesses at this last night, but I thought what I came up with was a little easy for the CR range I was going for, and I'd love to hear some fresh ideas as well. Suggestions/help?
How close exactly do I have to be to my target to use the Dirty Trick combat maneuver? Do I just need to be in melee range? If I am using a reach weapon, can I therefore use the dirty trick combat maneuver at reach?
Second part question, Suppose I have the Quick Dirty Trick feat, any meaningful difference?
The more I'm playing the more I tend to thing "not very". I bring this up because many of the arguments for X class over Y class are "well X class has more skills, that's a huge advantage." Is it a huge advantage? Because I'm not seeing it.
I'm playing alongside a fighter. He has one skill point/level. It's perception. He does fine. It doesn't even really cripple him in social situations. He still roleplays, he doesn't particularly contribute to *succeeding* at many skill checks but still... the kick in the door approach seems to be working out for him. And I can't think of many campaigns where it would not.
1. non-combat skills are effectively communal. Very rarely does it matter if *your* character has Diplomacy, so long as somebody in the party does. This can be said for pretty much any "out of combat" skill. Does not really matter much if you know Knowledge Arcana, so long as the Wizard has it covered. The wizard doesn't need to have Knowledge Religion, Mr. Cleric has that one, etc.
There are a few exceptions, Stealth, for one, is best if everybody can do it or nobody bothers. Swim, climb, ride, acrobatics matter if *your* character has those ranks. Primarily the usefulness of swim and climb is quickly eclipsed by magic, ride and acrobatics continue to be important for their bearers, but that is because Ride and Acrobatics are "combat skills".
2. In general, skills seem vastly less important than being good in combat. I mean... has anybody ever had their character *die* because they screwed up at Diplomacy and told the King they'd like to make love to his wife? Probably not. The GM also can't set skill check DCs too high if they want the PCs to pass. For example, I *could* make it a DC 30 Diplomacy check to gather information about the secret cult.... Or I could make it a DC 15 and we could have some fun this adventure. It doesn't really matter if somebody has a +20 to Diplomacy checks to gather information or if they don't and happen to roll a 15. As a GM, I can't set the DC too high or we don't go on the adventure at all.
3. As I alluded to earlier, there is typically no real consequence for failure (aside from combat skills, like acrobatics). You fail to impress someone, maybe you get to try again later, maybe you don't. You fail to know something, no big deal, you probably missed out on a piece of flavortext that the GM might give to you anyway because he wants you to get immersed in the campaign setting. You're not going to die for failing a skill roll. You might very well die if your character isn't tough enough to handle combat.
I have a tattooed sorcerer, a little confused about the spell tattoo thing. I have Eschew Materials, btw.
Basically want to know; can I give a spell tattoo to my familiar? Up until just now I had always thought "well, yeah, that's the whole point of the archetype. That's why you get the familiar in the first place."
But now I'm not so sure. If the tattoo is basically a scroll, then is it activated like a scroll? Does my familiar need to have the requisite CHA score to cast? Because yeah... a fox's CHA score is 6.
even with my ranks in UMD, with the cha penalty for the familiar, not going to ever be enough to use UMD to activate a spell tattoo that I create.
1. For Dominate person, assuming you and the target share a language, can you order them to "act normally" or give them no orders so that they maintain normal behavior? I've had several instances where I want to do this, so that the caster can pull out their trump card dominated PC or NPC at the most opportune time.
2. Once cast, does Dominate person work at any range? What about if the caster and the target are on different planes?
3. If a target is Charmed, can you get them to voluntarily fail their save against a spell, perhaps a second casting of Charm Person -for example? Suppose for this purpose, the target has no ranks in Spellcraft. Could you get them to do it if you passed an opposed CHA check?
4. If a target is both Charmed and dominated (by the same caster), can the caster try to win a opposed CHA check against the target to get it to do something it ordinarily would not, thereby bypassing Dominate Person's second save at a +2 when you give a target orders against its nature?
5. What counts as "against it's nature" anyway? Is "go attack your former allies that you've been adventuring with these past 6 moths or so" against his nature? Or does it have to be something deeply contrary to the beings entire way of life, such as ordering a Paladin to burn an orphanage to the ground, with everyone still inside.
So I have this character right, Elemental Bloodline (cold), with the Tattooed Sorcerer Archetype. I also have Eschew Materials as a regular feat that I took, since the Tattooed archetype doesn't get it for free.
Recently I've acquired some of these Elemental Body spells (L-12, so Elemental Body-2 now, Elemental Body-3 will be free next level). I kinda want to use them. I've got Contingency set up so that the first time I cast Elemental Body each day I also cast: (insert low level buff here -Ive been using Shield, Fire Shield might work too).
Okay, so far so good, here's my problem. After that, I don't know where to go. My strength is 7, although I do have weapon finesse (14 dex). Melee attacking seems lame. I was kinda hoping for a vast array of touch spells to use, but there's not as much out there as I had originally thought. Right now I'm rocking Intensified, Maximized Shocking Grasp, which is good, but they have to start their turn next to me for me to be able to apply the metamagic. I could stack Empower on top of that to make a 7th level spell cap out at 90 damage at l13.
Anything better than that? Or even just different than that? I like having options. I guess I could just cast ray spells from short range. I'm not necessarily restricting myself to a damage role here, but I want to be able to "use" the extra HP, AC, and eventually DR and no-criticals that I get from Elemental Body, the easiest way I thought of was to be melee.
Ok, I admit, I have sort of a thing against being large. I just don't like it. I don't like my characters to be big.
I kinda was working on a character who buffs with the Elemental Body line of spells and Elemental Body-3 in particular is really good because you get to be immune to crits and such.
But it comes with the tag of being large. MUST I be large? Can I get the bonuses listed in the spell (obviously not the bonuses for being large) and retain medium size?
The spell says it functions as elemental body-2 and also [emphasis added] allows you to take the form of a large elemental.
So.... just asking, any way to retain medium size? I really don't want to be big.
Can I use multiple shields, just for the properties? Obviously the shield bonuses don't stack for AC, but could I have say, a +5 animated heavy steel shield for AC and also have a +1 Buckler of Heavy Fortification?
Two nights ago we had a situation where the party was executing a retreat from a difficult fight. One party member, an Oracle, in addition to being heavily damaged (but conscious) was also blinded, and having a difficult time getting away.
The dwarven inquisitor declared he wanted to pick her up and/or drag her along. He's really strong, she was in light armor, carrying capacity was not an issue. At the time I made a pretty s%**ty ruling I feel and said he could double-move, but not run, and that she forfeited her own movement on her turn. As I said, I'm not happy with what I said, but it was on the fly and it worked allright.
But honestly, this happens like all the time. A party member fairly often wants to pick up or drag another party member. Sometimes the party member is conscious, sometimes they are unconscious, sometimes they are dead (object). What is the correct way to handle this?
I thought perhaps the drag maneuver, for the character not resisting I could set the DC at 10 or even 0... although your allies are not your foes so it technically wouldn't work by RAW.
A player sort of wants to do the old ghostwalker prestige class. I'm not going to let him. I refuse to allow old 3.5 or 3rd party material into my game regardless of circumstances.... But if he can do the character in a way that is fully PF legit, then he is welcome to. Any suggestions I should pass on? Here is a link to the old ghostwalker;
So my party needs some healing. They are Inquisitor/fighter/fighter/alchemist. They are all dying. They all don't want to play a healer.
So that's cool... I guess. still, in the interest of having people still come to my sessions I think it might be a good idea if the party to have someone whose healing goes beyond a wand of Cure Light Wounds.
My tentative plan is to have an NPC cleric go with them. I know there are many other options, (oracle, witch, etc) but for story reasons it's a cleric that is voted "most likely NPC to accompany the party".
Not asking for you guys to build this NPC for me, but some advice on what feats/abilities/equipment to look into would be nice. Only guidelines are:
1. Don't take the spotlight away from PCs.
2. Level 5.
3. be effective at healing.
4. PF material only, no 3rd party.
flamethrower49 if you're reading this, get out of here =p.
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"Deity" being in quotes because it says a Deity or agents thereof... I'm confused about exactly what I can learn via the Commune spell, mostly because I'm not sure exactly how much knowledge deities have in Golarion.
The situation is thus. My L15 cleric of Sarenrae recently had a strange Dream/Vision. He wants to know more about it, so is considering casting the Commune spell. Would I be able to find out, for example, who sent the vision, assuming it was not Sarenrae or her agents? I realize it is a yes/no question, but I do have some idea. My question is this, if I ask:
"Agents of Sarenrae, was this vision sent to me by Sorcerer Bob?"
Is that something agents of Sarenrae would be able to answer? Assuming that Sorcerer Bob did in fact send me the vision, would they know that this was the case? It seems like it would be something they'd need to know off hand, not something they have the power to find out. The spell only lasts rounds/level.
What if I ask about the specific contents of my dream? "Agents of Sarenrae, is the Elven woman I saw in my dream still alive?" Do said Agents have any idea what was in my dream, as I presume, it was something sent only to me?
1. Do you have to roll a bluff check to convince somebody of something that is actually true, but difficult to believe? If not, is convincing them accomplished by some other means, e.g. diplomacy?
2. How long does a sucessful bluff check last? Essentially forever? They never "snap out of it"?
3. How do you go about dawning the truth on somebody who has been bluffed, particularly with a very high roll? If I provide direct evidence to the contrary, for example, does that break the bluff? If the bluffer is present he could probably try to create a larger web of lies to cover his tracks. What if he is not?
If the bard has -say- convinced Commoner Joe that his wife is an evil murderer, bent on killing him in his sleep, is it possible remind him that, no she is actually the girl that was his neighbor from the time he was 12, they grew up together, and she would not do that to him? Cross reference #1, this is actually true, but the sucessful bluff check has convinced him otherwise.
So, I was looking at the Treesinger druid Archetype for lolz. I noticed something a bit odd. The carnivorous flower says that it can rage 1/day for 6 rounds, as the barbarian class feature.
Except, being of the plant type, they are immune to morale effects: EG: rage. So they can... do what, exactly? Nowhere in the entry does it say that the flower is susceptable to morale effects, which rules it out in my mind as a case of special exemption. If it IS an exemption, does that mean the flower is suceptible to things like fear as well?
Now lets say that just for lolz I didn't take the flower and took say, the Treeant instead. Lets further suppose I multiclass into barbarian and take frenzied companion. Can I get a raging tree? Because I'm not gonna lie that sounds pretty awesome.
In many APs and such, players come across things to put a general term on it. You know what I'm talking about, non-magical valuable stuff. I was curious, do they sell for half price, or do they sell for full price? So I tried to look it up.
I found out that trade goods sell for full price, everything else sells for half price. Your trade goods are things like your 100 live chickens, your sack of potatoes, your 200 lbs of rosemary. Well that's all cool.
What I *didn't* see on the list was things like, gems. Who hasn't gotten "a sapphire the size of an ogre's thumbnail, worth 100 gp" as treasure? Do these really sell for half? I mean.. you'd think precious stones would exchange as currency right. I was floored that I could find no mention of this anywhere. Is this right? Precious stones sell for half value?
What about art? "A fresco of King Brennan the Fat, worth 100 gp" Art sells for half too? Trophies, idols, bejeweled crowns, all half cost? Am I right or am I missing a critical paragraph somewhere?
I know this is a little bit of a silly question, but what happens if you gain a feat that you already have? I know in normal circumstances you can't take a feat more than once unless it says you can. But, for example, a Level-1 Ranger takes the Endurance feat. At 3rd level, he gains the Endurance feat. What happens?
any references you could provide would be appreciated.
This bitter red chew comes from the dried leaves of galtroot, a stunted bush found in northern countries. It stains the teeth dark crimson but also increases the duration of barbarian rage entered into during the next hour by 1 round.
I thought that was cool. I've been reading stuff about the Norsemen, we're playing in a Norse themed campaign, I have barbarian levels, and that would fit right in. But I wasn't sure exactly how it worked.
Is it only really useful if I use up my final round of rage to extend the duration by 1 round? It could be useful for barbs who get knocked unconscious, but I have Raging Vitality, so not as much.
If I end my rage (voluntarily) am I still raging for 1 round? Could I:
R1. Rage.
R2. Unrage (vulontarily) Be raging because of Chew.
R3. Rage.
Which would essentially let me pick up an extra round of rage each time I went into a rage when using the Chew.
Can I use the same chew multiple times, assuming that I rage multiple times during the 1 hour increment?
I was just curious exactly how the damage bonus from Efreeti Style works and how often I can stack it. I'm using Efreeti Style and Efreeti Stance, which of the following do I get to add my WIS mod to fire damage on:
1. Fire Damage from Elemental Fist itself (should be yes, obvious)
2. Fire damage from Amulet of Mighty Fists, gaining the Flaming weapon enchantment.
3. Immediate Fire damage if my opponent fails its save and catches on fire.
4. Fire damage if my opponent is already on fire from my attack the previous turn (burning damage)
Also, is there any other way to get more fire damage on an attack (magic items or the like) so I can activate the bonus WIS damage more times?
Maybe I am over thinking this. I had just responded to another thread when I realized that maybe I didn't know what I was talking about.
Darkness (spell) says that nonmagical light sources don't increase the light level in an area of darkness. Except they kind of do, because Darkness is based off the current light level.
Lets say the party enters a cave. Once they're beyond the mouth, the cave is an area of total darkness. Fighter-1 lights a Torch. The area around fighter-1 has a 20-foot radius of normal light, and a further 20 feet of dim light. They move further into the cave.
Tiefling-1 casts Darkness, centered say, on a point just next to Fighter-1. What happens?
1. Light levels are lowered by 1 step. Since the area was normal light before, it is now Dim Light. Fighter-1 can see, Tiefling-1 can see with no penalty in dim light because of his darkvision.
2. The torch is suppressed completely, and ALSO light levels are lowered by 1. The light level in the cave goes from dark to supernaturally dark. Fighter-1 can not see. Tiefling-1 can not see, even with darkvsion.
Suppose Tiefling-1 is a rogue and wants to sneak attack. Is there any way he can make things "normally" dark in this area?
Ahead are some CotCT spoilers from the Edge of Anarchy.
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So... I'm not sure what to do, I do want to do something. I've not read the whole AP, we just completed the Edge of Anarchy. My party massively failed at recovering Gaekhen's corpse. How? Well, they got TPK'd by Derro is how. they didn't even find a single part first. I was already considering penalizing them for taking too long when it happened. I had them roll up a new party, and started them at the Execution, thinking that while they were dead, Field Marshal Cressida Kroft wouldn't necessarily know that they failed and wouldn't necessarily send another group right away, and meanwhile things in the city were moving on.
Plus I didnt want to risk another TPK by Derro. Seriously my party can NOT fight these guys.
With that said, I want there to be some repercussions. Thousand Bones did not get his grandson back. I imagine the Shoanti are fuming with rage. What do you think should happen? I was considering a war with the Shoanti or something to that effect, that's what the AP made it sound like was at stake.
Problem being I dont see the Shoanti showing up again until History of Ashes, and that is WAAAAY too far down the line. I'd want the consequences to feel immediate. I am completely okay with not even following the AP anymore and just turning this into a homebrew game, or doint something with the Shoanti for a while and then eventually picking the AP back up.
So basically: from a story perspective; what do you think should happen? And how might I put that into practice?
So there's a (relatively) new gamer in our group. She has a character in two games, one in the game where I GM and one in a game where a friend of mine GMs and I am a player as well.
She seems nice, I don't know her all that well. But she is very very quiet. She is often eclipsed by other, louder, more extroverted players. I'm sure nobody is doing it on purpose, but sometimes I don't feel as if she is included as much as she could be.
The problem being, she is very very shy. Her characters are relatively strong, so no problem in combat. However, she doesn't roleplay a lot, she isn't usually a part of the discussion on which way to go or what the party should do next. Sometimes I feel she goes a whole session barely saying a sentence or two.
One time when I was GMing I purposefully put her in the spotlight, and she did talk a little. Mostly I just want to make sure she's having fun. Talking to her privately is a bit difficult due to the fact that I game with this group over the interwebs, and I've not actually met her in person.
I have a gunslinger in my campaign. I'm running Armor as Damage Reduction optional rules. This sort of screws the gunslinger. A lot. It effectively takes away the primary reason to wield a gun in the first place. He's upset because he says that he could be a stronger character by picking up a longbow instead of using his gun. As far as I can tell, he's not exaggerating.
We are currently level 3, but will probably make it to 15 or so. I'd appreciate some help. Probably in the form of a feat or ability to suggest. The sooner he can get it the better.
This might seem like a weird question, but oh well, here goes anyway.
Both when I play and when I GM I notice that PCs tend to just go nova and use all their most powerful abilities as soon as they can (highest level spells, uses of rage/channel energy/ki). I know that if I want to stretch party resources thinner, I have to run more encounters per day.
The problem is *how* exactly to do that. People say "just run more encounters" as if it's easy, as if I can just write down "Ok, party has 5 encounters today", but that couldn't be further from the truth.
PCs more or less decide when they rest. If they want to stop in the middle of a dungeon, throw down a Mage's Private Sanctum and get spells back for the next day, is there any real way I can stop them? Or Teleport/walk back to the local inn, rest, and come back the next day?
I realize I could impose time restraints, like "You only have 5 days to resolve this quest or the king won't pay you." but on some -even most quests- I find there are no such restrictions, even in the case of Adventure Paths. It's one trick I can pull out, sure.... but right now it's my *only* trick. I'd like to have something else to keep the pressure on the PCs.
I like to have a mix of combat and roleplaying in my sessions. Usually if it's a good mix (from my perspective) we will only get done with 2-3 combats in a 4 hour session. Then, no matter where they are, the next week it's typically somebody says "Oh... I forgot how many of X ability I used... lets just rest and I wont have to worry about it." Even if everyone kept meticulous track, there's not a lot to just stop them from doing this anyway. Whenever players level up as well, they will immediately rest to gain access to their new abilities.
Ok I couldn't fit the exact question in the title, so read carefully.
I want to wield a 2handed weapon in 2 hands, gaining the additional bonus to damage. While doing it, I want to fight defensively using Crane Style. So far so good, by itself, Crane Style does not require a free hand.
After I complete my set of attacks, I want to -as a free action- switch to a 1-handed stance, using Jotungrip. I'll take a -2 penalty on attack rolls, and won't get the bonus to damage for any AoOs I make during the round. However, I will now have a hand free to use Crane Wing.
First question: is this legal?
Second question: do I technically need Jotungrip to be able to do this?
.... This is rediculous. How can I be confused by something so simple?
So, my character has studied Giants and finds them fascinating. I wanted to take the appropriate Knowledge skill to reflect that.
Am I supposed to take Knowledge (Local) or Knowledge (Nature)?
Knowledge (Nature) specifically mentions Giants in the description.
Knowledge (Local) pertains to Humanoids, which Giants are.
Is either one acceptable? It really seems odd that Giants would be the only creatures in all of Pathfinder that had 2 Knowledge skills that apply to them, but that seems to be the case?
I've read the rules, I have a player wanting to play a wordcaster in an upcoming campaign. I want to be on top of my game when the inevitable weirdness surfaces.
Ok, first up: target words. So basically this word defines your target (s). Target words don't affect the spell level (unless Boosted) as far as I can tell. Am I right in saying that you pretty much are never going to use "Selected" and will use "burst" all the time instead? it seems just better. Even a Boost selected is a higher spell level than a Boost burst.
Effect words: seem pretty ok.
Meta words: ... are basically free metamagic feats X number of times per day?... and a lot more for meta-word mastery? Some of these meta-words seem REALLY good, like Irresistible or Mind Warp. Any way to get meta-words other than at 1st level and this feat?
The given example: burst/fire blast. Is a 3rd level word? But if it's boosted as in the example, then it's a 5th level word? That seems very high to me, considering the boosted 5th level word is still slightly worse than fireball.
is there anything particularly ridiculous I should be watching out for as a GM?
I have a player who is less than enthused with Golarion's gods. I don't particularly want to use 3rd party gods.
He seems to want a god of vengence, a god like Old Testament god, who will smite entire cities for them being sinful.
I suggested Callistra but he didn't like the lust aspect. Iomedae doesn't seem like she would go that far. I know there's a lot of pathfinder gods out there. Somebody hook me up?
Ok, it's not the bbeg, its the bbeg's lieutenant, but whatever. So here's the deal. The party is chasing an assassin, they'll catch up to her pretty soon. Your restraints are as follows:
1. Must wield Kopesh as weapon. Bow as secondary weapon is acceptable.
2. Must be cat-like. Catfolk would be easy, but any cat-ish monster races would be okay.
3. Must provide reasonable- hard challenge for party.
On that note, our party is level 7. It consists of a dwarf fighter with a gretaxe, a uber-buffer/controller Oracle (and occasional healer), and two more warrior types, one with a schythe and the other with Rapier + bufferfly sting.
With Butterfly sting and a scythe and greataxe wielder, the party has some serious 1-shotting potential. I'd like that not to happen.
Notes: The combat doesn't have to be just party vs assassin. Multiple monsters are quite permissible. Fun with terrain is permissible. It's quite possible this combat *could* take place on a ship (but not required). You don't have to use the assassin class, that's just flavor, but it would be nice if the character felt stealthy, sneaky, and able to kill quickly.
I don't use 3rd party stuff, other than that, this isn't PFS so pretty much no holds are barred. Oh, and keep in mind that although I want it to be a hard fight, I also want the PCs to win at the end of the day.
Apologies if the answers are obvious here. I'm going to be playing a gun wielder in an advanced firearms setting.. I'm pretty sure nobody in our group knows the firearms rules very well (not better than me anyway), I'd like to be sure of some things.
1. Advanced Firearms don't use bullets.... Ever. Right? They use metal cartridges instead. Are they similarly prohibited from using tracer bullets, adamantine bullets, silver bullets, and pitted bullets?
2. Can advanced firearms use alchemical cartridges? It seems like they would be able to, but if you compare say, the text on the Revolver (advanced) to the text on the pistol (basic) the Pistol specifically says you can use Alchemical cartridges, but the Revolver does not.
3. Not an ammo question, but does Amulet of Bullet protection cease to function against firearm attacks NOT targeting touch AC (if they were out of the range increment, for example)? Seems weird but RAW does suggest that is the case.
4. Another not related question, but if you don't have the Gunsmithing feat, is there any way to make your own ammunition other than to take the feat? Is there a craft (gunsmithing) that would suffice? We are playing in a Guns Everywhere setting so my gunslinger doesn't have gunsmithing. Really dont want to blow a feat on that, when it seems logically that I should be able to make my own ammunition already. Am I in the wrong here?
I'd like some opinions on what sort of weapon I should be using. We are using advanced firearms, and I am playing a firearm-wielding character. We are at level 8.
I have enough gold to make my weapon a +2 equivalent. I've read the merits of straight up enhancement bonus.... however I was wondering if this still applied to firearms? I expect to be hitting pretty much all the time so long as I don't misfire. My lowest attack is at least +8, (counting only masterwork bonus, typical negatives (deadly aim, etc.) included).
Is +2 still the best option? I thought about Distance but then I read its pretty much useless with advanced firearms. I could go +1 Frost. I could save my gold to get a more expensive enchantment later (if so, what?). I could do something else entirely? Help a guy out here..
1. Command Word Activation: The rules say this is a standard action, but also say that a command word item can be activated on accident by speech (speaking is a free action). Is the intent that it takes a standard action regardless?
If I have my flaming sword command word set to "FIRE". we get into combat and I say, "It's a troll, we better use fire!." (speaking as a free action); does my sword activate, bypassing the standard action normally required? If not, how is conversational activation intended to be handled?
2. Can I set several command word activated items to the same command word? If I do, do they all activate with one Command, or does it take several commands (and standard actions) to activate each item?
3. In the case of the weapon enchantments Flaming, Frost, and Shock, if I put all three of these on my weapon, does speaking one command word override and deactivate the others? For example, I have a +1 flaming, frost longsword, I have the word "Fire" to activate flaming, "Ice" to activate Frost. If my sword is already set on the "fire" command and I give it the "Ice" command, is my sword dealing +1d6 frost damage AND +1d6 fire damage, or just +1d6 frost damage?
Seemingly relevant text:
Quote:
A command word can be a real word, but when this is the case, the holder of the item runs the risk of activating the item accidentally by speaking the word in normal conversation. More often, the command word is some seemingly nonsensical word, or a word or phrase from an ancient language no longer in common use. Activating a command word magic item is a standard action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Quote:
Flaming
Upon command, a flaming weapon is sheathed in fire. The fire does not harm the wielder. The effect remains until another command is given.
I've run into this problem a couple times. I'm not sure what to do about it, so I'm asking for advice.
I like to have images of my characters, its not something required by my group, I just like to have something that I can look at. Problem: I can't draw. Seriously, I'm really bad.
I've perused various character image archives but it always seems they never have what I want.
I am however, fairly decent with computers. Are there any drawing programs out there that I could use to make character images? With tutorials would be great, macintosh compatible would be better.
Beyond that, any suggestions as to how to help with my quandary, other than you know, having an imagination? Don't even know where to start. Someone point me in the right direction?
I'm bringing in a new character in my friends campaign. The setting is a bit unusual, we are using Advanced Firearms and Guns Everywhere availability which makes firearms pretty good. Also keep in mind that most enemies we face will be using firearms as well.
Marid Style was sort of a thematic choice, but I don't mind changing it. Also looking for things to take in the future. The idea is I can get my AC up to 26 if I spend a Ki point (and theres really not much else to spend Ki on, since I wont be using flurry of blows) and 28 vs firearm if I spend a grit to stack gunslinger dodge on top of that. If that fails I still have deflect arrows to dodge bullets with. My understanding is I can use my shotgun 2-handed and then switch to a 1-handed stance after I'm done firing as a free action so I still have a hand free for deflect arrows.
I don't have Rapid Reload... With Paper Cartridges and advanced firearms though, is it necessary?
What sort of action is loosing an Animated Shield to defend on it's own?
At first I was sure it was a move action, as per the first line in the item description:
Quote:
as a move action, an animated shield can be loosed to defend its wielder on its own.
But then I read the general combat rules and found this:
Quote:
Ready or Drop a Shield
Strapping a shield to your arm to gain its shield bonus to your AC, or unstrapping and dropping a shield so you can use your shield hand for another purpose, requires a move action. If you have a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, you can ready or drop a shield as a free action combined with a regular move.
So which is it? A move action (always) or a free action as part of a move, provided you have BAB +1?
At high level, even mid level, it is far more deadly to have to roll for a lot of low saves than it is to have to roll for one save with a high DC, because of the rule that nat 1s always fail.
An effect of this problem is the death by massive damage rules that are discussed on another thread. It's not that beating the DC 15 is hard, it's that if you have to make the save every round, you will die eventually.
In a 20th level game, I saw a pixie archer with 6-7 attacks per round useing sleep arrows (DC 15) pretty much end almost every combat in the dungeon that wasnt against undead/construct. Poisons offend in similar manners. I had a shuriken weilding monk that coated his shurikens in black lotus extract. Being immune to poison himself, he consistently pinged the enemies for 1d2 points of damage, and drained their con away to 0 in a matter of rounds.
Want to make a mockery of the CR system? Try sending a level 16 party up against 16 Bodaks (each CR 8). This should be a fairly easy encounter, with an ECL of 16, just right for the party. The party should be able to take *several* similar encoutners before having to rest for the day. Unfortunately, each bodak has a gaze attack against a DC 15 fort save or die. The party will almost certainly be wiped out.
So I'm begging the designers to do something about this problem. I'm not saying nix the "1's always fail" rule alltogether. But how about like.... if your saving throw modifier beats the DC by 10 points or higher, you don't have to make the roll at all? I think this would greatly improve the game.
1. If a wizard chooses a bow as his arcane bond, does he also gain the ability to enchant arrows as if he had the appropriate feat?
2. Is it still permissible when creating magic items to have someone else help you create it; IE, have another help you meet the prerequisites? If explicitly stated, can I get a page number please?
And I'm not saying 4th ed is any better in this respect because it's not.
So I'm putting my 2 cents in before the final copy comes out. It's about the cover art. I have nothing against the beautiful picture of the pathfinder team and the dragon... But one thing that I really liked about 3rd ed dnd was that the 3 core rulebooks looked like... well ... books. Like you were opening some ancient tome to another world every time you got out your P.H., and in some respects, you were.
I would like to see a book-like cover for the final P-finder... I don't expect it will happen, but if it did, well... I would like that a lot.
