bookwormbabe29's page

Heh. I do like OoTS. Though to be fair, this game I joined has been running for over 2 years before I came aboard, and they help run a frontier outpost for their kingdom (all of them having rank/authority, etc). Giants have been an issue there for a while, and apparently while the group was out stopping a dragon problem, the ice giants came in to negotiate a deal while our high level leadership was away. The 'idiot noble' type of character agreed to horrible terms, and we were sent in to fix the problem. What started out as a negotiation went south when the Paladin loudly declared the evil beings should just be killed. To the Frost giant king's face. That didn't go over well, you know?

I have skills ranks in every skill at this point. On knowledge skills, I am maxing Arcana to identify spells and such, with enough checks in the others to have +20 to all knowledge skills. I could pump them up more, but it's starting to feel like overkill, if that makes sense.

Hey all, original poster back again!

I apologize for the delay. My PC restarted and I couldn't find the thread again lol.

To update, I went to the DM with a few ideas from this thread, and with his not-so-subtle encouragement I went with Arcanist, an Occultist to be precise. It's been a slow start, and our first encounter (5 PC's vs 20 something Frost giants) was nearly a TPK with thier spellcasters hit us with a 'hold monster' type spell and paralyzed half the team. Still, I am happy to say I was a good support person, using dispel magic to get the party moving, and used my occultist powers to summon some Lilends (I think it's how they are spelled) to give out healing and bard songs (the DM was happy I was reading all of the powers and found these on my own). There were a few of the 'did you prepare X?" questions, but nothing mean spirited or anything. It was a crazy encounter, and I gained level 16 at the end of the first session (I started lower lever than the rest of the group being the newbie, me being 15 to their 17).

I can post my spells/feats/etc here if there's an interest, but I feel this board probably gets enough of that lol.

Anywho, one follow up I did have is on skills. After said first fight, I gained +1 INT from level up, a +5 INT tome, and +6 INT headband (with points being flexible says DM). With those items, I have a 36 INT already, which seems crazy. That's a LOT of skill points. 240 according to the automatic sheet we're using. Might I ask for some ideas of how to spread this around? Most skills seem to have an upper DC limit, and unless I'm crazy I can hit a lot of them with this many skill points. I put something like 2 checks into Knowledge Nobility, and I have a +20 to that skill already, for example. That sees more than enough. I can put in max ranks to perception and diplomacy and half a dozen more at least. How would the board suggest spreading these points out?

Hi there!

So it's been a while since I played pathfinder. My pathfinder group broke up, my wife plays 5th edition, etc. Excuses, I know.

I've been asked to join a pathfinder game at 15th level, 25 Point buy, and 240,000 Gold Pieces worth of Gear to start our journey into high level/epic adventures. And well, I'm intimidated as all **** as this is not the level one, low magic games of pathfinder I typically played. I'm trying to remember how to do this, and I have TWO DAYS to get a sheet ready. It usually takes me longer than that to make a level one character lol. So yea, to say I'm open to suggestions is putting it mildly.

Making things even more fun, they hope to find a caster, so reading the dozens of spells around is taking me forever, trying to remember the changes in the system (Shield is AMAZING in 5th edition, not so much in pathfinder).

Anywho, the party is:

Hunter/witch/Arcane Archer
Bloodrager
Fighter
Paladin

So I'm thinking 'Wizard' is the ideal choice here. That's... as far I've come so far lol. I'm trying to read up on archtypes and specialist schools and prestige classes... and I'm getting overwhelmed. I haven't even LOOKED at races yet, nevermind gear.

I need to focus if I'm going to get this down in time, and I don't mind admitting I could use some help. If anyone has the time to spare, I'd love to hear your suggestions of what to look at, some build ideas that won't leave me the laughing stock of the party. Reading Treantmonk has given me some ideas for a summoning/buffer type, though with the last update being in 2009 (at least on the page google brings up) I thought it might be prudent to ask for a second opinion, that I'm not putting all my eggs into an out of date basket, as it were.

Thanks for reading this rambling mess of a topic. I appreciate your time, and your potential aid. Either way, I wish you well. Happy gaming out there ;)

Presdigitation would work, but not being an arcane caster that's not a viable option. My character's a ranger, so I thought this low cost item could add some fun/flavor.

Topic. I'm wondering if I can switch my clothing at will, couldn't I will my clothes to help my blend in with my surroundings? This seems like it would be a fun trick to try, and yet I can't find a ruling on it anywhere.

As a bonus question, does the illusion from sleeves of many garments include smell? Could you fake a 'freshly laundered' smell vs a 'i just **** my pants' to something like a perfumed scarf?

For an item so cheap, it seems like it has a lot of untapped potential.

Topic. Say I train a bird using the handle animal skill, and teach it the trick 'deliver.' I give it a message easy enough, but what's the range? Could I send it a few feet or a few miles? Line of sight or cross country? Thoughts?

Spear throwing, TWF and the like have their uses, but the one thing I'm trying to stick to is a 2 handed pole arm with reach. Our 4 person party has 3 casters and me, so I'm trying to stick semi-close to them and be able to hit opponents as they approach with AoO. Hit with lunge/whirlwind attack at later levels as any melee enemies are going to be trying to rush the casters while said caster blow apart the enemies ranged combatants. If I were going to go range, I'd just go with archery, you know? OR heck, another wizard...

So for the curious, my build is shaping up like nothing I first thought of, naturally lol.

So at the moment, I have skinwalker (Fanglord) Ranger with the infiltrator archetype. Her favored enemy is 'animal' allowing her access to increased land speed, climb speed, swim speed, dark vision and/or the 'see in darkness' abilities to maximize her utility. She also has 'jump' once a day to do any of her crazy pole vault antics with her pole arm, which I'm leaning towards Bardice at the moment to go for a tribal/jungle feel, with the blade having a claw/tooth of some beast she hunted down.

I decided against Combat patrol for Whirlwind attack, and to get around the feat tax used one of the 'faith' based ranger combat styles that gives whirlwind attack at level 6. I'll grab Combat Reflexes for level 1, nab Improved Initiative from her combat feat, and I'm guessing power attack from level 3, as I do want her to be a damage dealer.

Not really sure where to go from there, not being the biggest melee person. I'm happy with her utility, now I just need to hit often and hard. I know I don't want to to TWF (that seems like such a head ache and I've never seen it work well) so I'm guessing things like weapon focus, lunge, and improved critical. I was debating doing a level dip into Brawler and grab combat expertise, letting me use flexibility to use any of the combat maneuvers... but I think if I'm going to dip I'd be better served dipping to Barbarian for Rage.

Not sure, really, but see as it develops.

"Now I suggest keep the spear you want to play with and go Barbarian, Slayer, Ranger, bloodrager, paladin, or warpriest. All of them bring more to the table than fighter. Most those classes end up being a better fighter than the fighter."

Hm, this is an interesting statement. I would have thought Fighter and all it's bonus feats would be the king of melee damage. How would these classes be 'better' than a fighter?

Hm, I doubt the party's Rogue would like me going Rogue.

I'm thinking I'll do Two handed Fighter archtype, nab me a two handed spear with power attack and combat reflexes. The damage should be pretty big this way. Hold off on whirlwind attack until later (if at all) and work with Patrol when I can get it.

My only complaint is my movement speed. I can nab some boots of springing later, I suppose... unless someone has a better idea? :)

Hi there! Thanks for stopping in.

Short Version: I'm trying to make a specialized spear warrior, someone with reach, enough power to kill things, and do the odd acrobatic stunt (pole vault over enemies).

Level 3, 25 point buy. How would you go about this?

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Longer version, where I ramble on about my own ideas to see if they work:

Starting off, would it be better to take one a longspear/ranseur for reach and toss normal spears as needed? If I want to do some acrobatic stunts, should I stick to medium armor or is that too light/heavy for this?

For actual combat, I've been reading up on Combat Reflexes, Combat Patrol, and Whirlwind attack. They seem good at first glance, but not sure how they measure up.

For example, I'm not sure if it's better to build this as a Fighter (possibly with Polearm master) or with a Ranger. Fighter's get more feats to be sure, but the bonus feats of ranger's can bypass typical feat requirements (such as Whirlwind attack in one of the faith based trees) not to mention the animal/spell stuff. A friend even suggested Unchained Monk for the flips and such, but I think that's a dip at best for this build (I do like my monks).

Thought 1:
Half-Orc Fighter
STR: 18 (16+2), DEX: 16, CON: 12, INT: 13, WIS: 12, CHA 8.

1: Combat Reflexes, Dodge
2. Mobility
3. Combat expertise
4. Spring Attack
5. Combat Patrol
6. Whirlwind Attack

Thought 2:
Half-Orc Ranger

STR: 18 (16+2), DEX: 16, CON: 14, INT: 10, WIS: 10, CHA: 10

1. Combat Reflexes
2. Improved Initiative
3. Mobility
5. Combat Patrol
6. Whirlwind Attack

If I'm doing my numbers right, the early levels are pretty similar (Half-orc isn't set in stone) for feat progression, but with the ranger getting spells and animal friends, too.

Of course, this assumes going for Whirlwind attack, and I'm not sure if it's worth the effort, or if something like Improved Trip would be a better investment.

And um, I should ask... is there any rule/feat that discuss stunts like the pole vaulting thing, or will I have to wing it?
----------------------------------------

Oy, I've rambled long enough. Any advice on how to make this work, preferably without driving me crazy? Er, crazier?

Um, bump, I guess? Did I do this post wrong or something that everyone's passing it by...?

What you craft is up to you (obviously) but if you're looking for crafting, I'd suggest classes that high INT and have feats for it, like Wizard and Alchemist (wizards get Scribe Scroll, and Alchemist's get Brew Potion). Wizard's have the better spell selection for wondrous items, wands, and staves.

Topic. I one of the many who look at 20 different posts on 'how crafting works' and walks away more confused than I started, so I will be upfront when I say it's a subject I muddle through at best. Still, I want to make a go at an Elf Alchemist and I'm intrigued by crafting. I think it could be a big help in my game, as our GM tends to run low magic (finding a level one scroll is rare) but if can cast/make it, it's fine.

I have like, a million worries in my mind of how could all go wrong, being out of my element. I'm going to keep trying to learn this if it kills me... and that brings me here.

So at level 1, my Alchemist has a +12 to Craft: alchemy (Maxing that INT for +5, +4 from one rank as a class skill, +1 from being a level one alchemist, and +2 from a homebrew mechanic that takes up one of my traits). I want to make a vial of acid (100 silver, DC 15) and hitting my RNG, I roll a 26. I get all happy that it succeeds, but then notice that's my work for a whole week? One vial of acid? If I try by the day, I have to divide by 7 - result of 3? - and fail miserably. Am I understanding this right? A level 1 potion is made in two hours according to 'Brew Potion's text, yet a vial of acid takes a week? I have to believe there's something I'm missing here, otherwise how does this class even function? How could I ever use 'craft wondrous item' if I'm failing at the basics?

I'm sorry that this is probably one of the most asked questions, but most of the posts I've been reading (and reading and reading...) seem to assume I have a clue how to do this, and clearly I don't. I'd appreciate some help making sense of this, as I feel I took a wrong turn somewhere.

Well, our opponent is(was?) a human who has made a pact with a 'Cthulhu like being' and has achieved mythic tiers, and has declared himself a demi god on the path to full on godhood. While all signs/spells point to him being alive, he works closely with vampires and he is known to cause stat drain with his touch (how he does is not clear to us). Reality itself appears to distort around him, and just getting near him is enough to cause hallucinations and/or panic.

I haven't looked, but I don't think he is in the monster manual.

Anywho, I've had luck countering his fear/mind effects with protection from evil and i'm thinking of trying death ward on the fighter to protect against his touch. We've fought him twice before, and just surviving has been an achievement. We know he has high AC and saves as nothing has so far as hit him (granted, most spells have been against his reflex and will saves, so he might have a lower fort). The DM also let slip he has epic DR, and no one is the party even has a magic weapon, so that's going to be fun.

As for my cleric, it's a homebrew setting with pathfinder rules. My goddess gives me the domains of Travel and Heroism/Glory. I am good aligned, so evil spells are generally frowned upon. Still, with these odds, I might ask for evil spells 'for the greater good' if it means stopping a friend of Cthulhu from becoming a god.

Honestly, I expect him to kill us all, or be stopped via plot device. Still, I'm trying to come up with a few tricks that might tip the scales in our favor. Sorry if the first post was too vague, was trying not to bog down the forums with too many details ( I have my character's 10 page bio around here somewhere...)

Anywho, thanks for reading, and for the help so far!

Hey there!

So long story short, my 8th level cleric is about to fight a highly overpowered opponent, with saves and AC far too high for me to reach normally. I think I can nail him with spells that target touch AC, so I'm trying to come up with some spells that could work. I can't get the spell filter I'm on to work with me though, so I'm hoping the kind folks here can suggest a few spells that could help debuff the boss long enough for the rest of the party to end this guy. Thank you for your time!

Thanks for the help. I was trying to avoid a wand/scroll as she'd have to cast it instead of me, plus the whole 'cost' thing (a level 1 wand is a big deal in this game).

As for the ranger, she has a sub-optimal build, using a sword and shield while still managing to have low AC. We're level 7 now, and she just grabbed 'spring attack' which isn't doing her any favors (her first attack has enough trouble hitting with her attempting to dual wield her sword and shield, never mind her second). The party is just out of balance: we have a sorcerer who has put everything into blasting, a fighter whose AC is through the roof, the ranger in question, and my cleric buffing the party. The ranger usually ends up setting up flanks for the fighter and letting her animal (dog) do much of the work. I give her bull's strength, bless, and other bonus' as I can, and she says it's fine... still, I worry as she's in that 'jack of all trades, master of none' roll. I was hoping Paragon surge would let her use new feats for a few minutes, let her see what she likes and plan ahead for it.

Title. If not clear, I mean change a spell from Transmutation to Abjuration, say. I thought there was something for this, but I can't find anything so I think I was wrong. Figure it can't hurt to double check though.

My end goal (for the curious) is trying to cast a personnel spell (paragon surge) onto a teammate. The half elf ranger is really behind the rest of the team, and I thought this spell from my cleric might make things interesting for her. I thought I had found a way with 'imbue with spell ability' but the school types don't work. I know some items could help (i think ring of storing is one, could be wrong on that) but it's a low money game so anything over 4,000 gold might as well be impossible. I keep looking for a way to make it work, but keep striking out I'm afraid.

Topic. So my cleric is level 7, and now mythic tier 1. Hierophant is the obvious choice for her, with mythic spell casting, faith's reach, and eventually enduring blessing. I'm wondering if dual path would be worth it to grab a few archmage abilities. Crafting mastery is drool worthy, but this game has never encouraged crafting so I'm weary trying to introduce it. Mirror dodge would be picked up if it were on my own path, but not sure if it's worth a mythic feat for dual path and the path ability to grab it, for example.

It would be foolish to not grab some mythic spells, and I'm tempted to grab mythic spell casting AND mythic spell lore to build my mythic spells up right (incidentally, I'm open to ideas here, but not the point). If I want dual path though, it has to picked now. No right ot wrong answers, just wondering if others feel it would be worth it. Thanks for your time!

Topic. Or you know, translated means 'what happens when using a whip with bodyguard?" I tried searching for this, thinking 'this has to be answered' only to find different answers. Yea for confusion!

Anywho, if not clear, whips have specific threaten rules, and bodyguard isn't clear on if this excludes whip builds with it. The DM I'm running this by has also asked if the whips rules for doing damage on armored opponents would affect the feat/aid another.

I'm fairly certain that I can use the whip without a problem, even with the threaten and damage rules for whips. Still, getting a seal of approval would be nice so I can show it to the DM. Thanks for your time!

Sorry for the delay in responding. Silly Holidays getting in the way of gaming! The nerve!

Honestly, with the team's set up, I didn't have a master plan for being fully optimized. My initial plan was VERY low key, casting defensive spells and being a heal-bot as needed, and this team will need it. I had planned on grabbing crafting feats (scribe scroll and wands) as when a wand of cure light wounds is a prime find, you're in trouble.

Still, that being said, I am intrigued by this Evangelist idea of yours, Magda. A dwarfen longhammer and tripping could be fun. I've never done a character who uses combat maneuvers, and most times I try a CMB check it might as well be an auto-fail. I'm not sure how I'd make it connect without boosting the CMB with the obvious feats (improved trip, etc). I debated Guiding hand for using wisdom to hit, but that leaves CMD still off of STR so it'ts not worth two feats.

I'd also ask how you feel on it's durability, as Evangelist loses medium armor and spontaneous healing. It's benefits are pretty wicked, though AC loss is a tough pill to swallow. With light armor, boosting DEX would be ideal, but the stat pool is already spread thin on a 20 point build. With a team where everyone is packing a heavy shield, going in with light armor, no shield, and no dex makes this cleric look very squishy.

If I'm not being too demanding here, how would you make it work? It sounds fun in theory, but i'm not sure how it works on paper.

Yea, battle field control in this group tends to mean 'we're surrounded, now what?" My last character was a rogue, who was often trying to do some control with limited options, from dropping smoke sticks to throwing marbles over the place. The ranger and fighter tend to use 'spring attack' to run around slashing things, and letting the rookie oracle struggling to keep up. Our most powerful damage dealer is the ranger's animal companion: a dog.

The team is NOT optimized, to say the least.

That said, I'm going in knowing I'm likely to be doing some band-aid work. I'm not super familiar with all the cleric spell options yet, but I'm hoping to use some buffs to keep the party going without as much healing as we've needed in the past. Magda (whose name I love by the way) hit it right on the head: I could do a battle cleric and outshine the entire team, but I'd rather be a team player and do more of a support role.

Also, I forgot to mention that this is for a homebrew world using pathfinder rules (no 3pp, no 3.5) so the gods/domains are different. I'm pretty sure if I asked for a god of X alignment and Y domains, it would exist.

Zhayne, I don't actually know if the oracle is making them or failing them in secret, as he does most of his rolls hidden. I'll ask.

Neither the ranger/fighter have two handed weapons. The ranger has a mace (or something like it) for undead, but that's it. The ranger's sword was sundered two sessions ago, and still neither of them carry a back up blade.

As for expecting healing... I'm not sure. No one ever yells 'get over to heal me' or anything, but the DM's enemies hit hard. I think it was last session that the Oracle had to heal the ranger nearly every turn as the damage kept piling up too fast.

Hey all!

So, title says it all. A dwarf cleric in need of an archtype and/or domains.

Details: This is a for A LOW money, LOW magic game. We rarely get wands/scrolls/potions/etc and those we do get are generally of the healing variety. As a rule of thumb, if we can't cast it ourselves, we don't have access to it. That said, party at the moment is level 7, and has a fighter, a ranger, and a life oracle who thinks he's a summoner (90% of the spells he casts are "summon monster"). Note the entire lack of arcane magic.

The fighter and ranger are sword and shield, so we've been entirely melee, only pulling back to let the oracle patch us up or channel. The oracle often tries to heal on the front lines, so the bad guys get an attack of opportunity for healing nearly every session, so...yea.

That said, I am torn between taking the 'merciful healer' archtype or domains to get some wizardly support. Merciful healer gives me only the healing domain, but takes attack of opportunities out of the picture (and the DM loves those as mentioned). Where if I grab a domain like travel, I get spells like 'fly' and 'teleport' which is sort of a big deal when you can't access them.

I'd like to think I could avoid most opportunity attacks, but seeing as how that's the biggest problem for our current healer, not having to worry about that ever is a nice feeling. (Incidentally, is there any other feat/class that does this, as this is the only instance I've found of this ability).

To muddy the matter further, the oracle's player has mentioned several times he'd rather be an arcane caster and is only an oracle as "we needed a healer." If I show up as a cleric, he's said he is quite likely to switch to an arcane class. That makes the arcane spells a little less drool worthy... but if I skip the big arcane spells for myself, and he doesn't grab them or doesn't switch over, it bites me in the rear.

So yea, hence I'm torn. Any suggestions or advice on you'd run it?

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by :)

Anywho, I'm trying to set up my first game of pathfinder as the DM. I've been the GM/DM of many, many games in other systems so I'm confident in my sandbox story telling, and world building. Still, I'm still fairly new to pathfinder (few months) and it will be the first game of the system for all of the players.

My biggest concern is in making the opposition balanced. I'm reading charts of CR, but I'm not sure how it pans out (my own GM was throwing dragons at us at level 4, and I don't see THAT anywhere yet). I don't want the wandering monsters to one shot the party (see: DRAGON) or the town guard being so inept you can do anything without them ever noticing, guaranteed. I need my porridge just right, to use the phrase.

I've yet to set a level for the game; I want to keep it low, and was thinking level 1. Still, from my initial talking to the prospective players, I'm looking at having a team with a Paladin and two wizards (this isn't set in stone yet, and a potential 4th member is still on fence). I know wizards become god (which will be it's own challenge later) but at level 1 they're a tad... well, squishy.

Bottom line is, I'm looking for ideas on how to make things 'level appropriate' and still fun for a new group. I trust the advice given on here, so I thought I'd try asking here, see what comes up.

Anywho, thanks for giving your time to read all this. Much appreciated!

Score. Always nice to have confirmation on these, especially when you find out you're right lol.

Last question: Would multiple orange ioun stones stack for more spells? Or does that fall under the same source doesn't stack rule?

Hey all! ;)

I'm trying to get a Magus running, and wanted to double check a few things, not being super familiar with magic.

1. Cantrips. I know all of my cantrips, but I can only prepare 3 a day at the start. I'd gain a few more with levels, but is there any other way to get more cantrips prepared per day? I've heard ideas from two world magic to orange ioun stones, but the wording sounds like I know more cantrips, not actually prepare more cantrips. Do these - or anything else - actually let me prepare more cantrips?

2. The shield spell. As a dervish dance Magus, I can't have a weapon or shield in my off hand. One of the players suggested I shouldn't be able to use a shield spell as it uses a hand... which it says absolutely no where I can see. Anyone back me up on this?

3. On Dervish dance's free hand, it says I can't use a weapon or shield in the off hand, so does that mean I can use a wand? The more I try to figure if a wand is a weapon, the more confused I get. Ideas?

Hey there! Thanks for stopping in :)

The set up: So some of you are likely groaning 'not THIS again' as it comes up a bit, and I've seen several threads of wizard/rogues, like how to best qualify for Arcane trickster among others.Still, most of what I've found searching are builds focusing on levels in wizard and as few dips into rogue as possible (Wizard 3/rogue 1/assassin 1 seemed popular in my readings).

The goal: I'd like to reverse that, be more focused on stealth, back stabbing with a sword, and having a few spells to fall back on.

The numbers: Right now, I'm a level 6 half-elf, levels being Rogue 5 / Shadow dancer 1. Stats are STR 7, Dex 20, CON 14, INT 14, WIS 14, CHA 7. 3.5 material isn't allowed, but retraining is, so I can change things around. The game likely won't go past level 12. Also of note, the game is VERY low magic, with no one having a magic weapon and a wand of cure light wounds is a big deal. For the curious, the party has myself, a sword and board Fighter, a sword and board Ranger, and a life oracle. Alignment is Chaotic Neutral at moment, and party is all good aligned, so going evil (aka Assassin) is not likely to fly with the DM.

The 1st build: Rogue 7 / Shadow dancer 4 / Magus 1

When trying to do arcane magic with melee, it's hard not to start with a magus. The mixing of multiple classes lowers BAB, and a magus using spell combat + true strike can lessen that pain, though it does eat up spell slots. Mixing the shadow dancer's hide in plain sight and shadow jump with a few spells from Magus (ghost sound alone is super helpful) while still wearing light armor and a blade (scimitar, of course). It gets the job done, but I feel like it could be better.

Idea 2: Rogue 3 / Magus 4 / Arcane Trickster 5

If Magus is the first thing that comes up, Arcane trickster is the second. The requirements are steep, and the results don't seem worth it to me. For sure, it gives far better casting abilities, but I feel it loses too much natural stealth, covering for it with more magical means. Not to mention losing the Shadow dancer powers, which really hurts in my mind. I could switch it to wizard 3 for another level of trickster, but again, this is even more magic focused and i'd likely have to give up weapon/armor altogether.

Idea 3: Frankly, it was terrible. I was mixing and matching odd things from master spy to guild agent, trying to find the right mix of stealth and spells. Maybe I missed the 'best' one out there, but thew few abilities that aided stealth were so specific as to never come up, and those with spells focused too much on spells. That's when I decided to check here.

Closing thoughts: In my attempts to make a stealthy/rogue character with a few spells, I'm looking at having three (or more) classes to do all I'd like to do. I feel like there has to be a better way of doing this, and I'm missing it somehow. I'm still surprised there was no Sorcerer/Rogue hybrid for this, but... I don't know. Can anyone suggest something better than Rogue/shadowdancer/Magus, or is that really the best around?

Thanks for your time!

Topic. I KNOW I've seen this rule somewhere, but 30 minutes of searching and I'm coming up empty.

To be specific, I have normal size human creature and all the normal magic slot items allowed to said human sized creature. By the power of magic, I now have six arms. Can I equip more magic rings?

Wow, a lot more spells than I realized. I really need to play a caster one of these days to better learn the spells. Fiery body will work nicely for my needs with those sweet abilities. Thanks!

Topic. Any and all books are viable, as our mythic, adding templates, becoming a monster, anything.

I thought I had it with 'servant of balance' mythic power, but re-reading it only protects from extra damage, not from the 'critical hit.'

I'm in a mythic game where anything goes, and we're hitting mythic tier ten. As the 'immortal' power says, "At 10th tier, you can be killed only by a coup de grace or critical hit made with an artifact." I'm trying to eliminate the critical hit part of that, but not sure how. Ideas?

Oh my, I seem to have opened a bigger can of worms here than expected.

I think the one thing that can be agreed on by all is that wish/miracle spells are some of the most subjective to a DM's ruling. It was not my intention to argue over every possible wish/miracle that could or could not be granted, as I feel these spells are open ended on purpose. They are the batman's utility belt of spells, capable of being exactly what you need RIGHT NOW. I don't mean to take away from that, and I apologize for making a mess here.

To avoid too much of a mess, I'd like to focus on the one aspect the original post mentioned: that 'limited wish' spells out specific numbers/instances for attacks and saves: 1 auto hit, or a -7 to saves.

On it's own, this can lead to a lot of problems. As penalties seems to stack, a single level 13 wizard could make scrolls of limited wish to take down....anything. Get a nice wealthy backer, make 200+ limited wish scrolls, pass them to the villagers, and proceed to summon any being you want in pathfinder. In theory, you could reduce the mightiest demon lord to having saving throws of 1, and cast any spell you want, including 'save or die' spells. While not likely to be sure, it IS more likely a decent group of adventurer's would be able to use UMD to reduce those saves fast.

And if wish is stronger? What would the reduced saves look like then? And as for the auto hit.... one poster suggested a wish be an auto critical. Vorpal swords, anyone? Wizard uses 'wish' so the fighter gets one auto critical, he slices off head. Rinse and repeat the entire adventure/world, whatever ends first.

What throws me off is that this line most over look does NOT make sense.

"Produce any other effect whose power level is in line with the above effects, such as a single creature automatically hitting on its next attack or taking a -7 penalty on its next saving throw."

I don't know how to highlight, but note the first part: it produces an effect in line with the above effects. Those effect above level 6 spells or lower. What level 6 spell can reduce a creatures saves by 7, or give an automatic hit? True strike is nice but it's not auto hit, and the best I can find to reduce saves is a -4 spell at level 8 (prediction of failure). Using limited wish for this is letting you use a lower level spell for a greater effect, and can hit undead where most spells to reduce saves do not.

So yea, the way I see it these two affects are greater than the 'above effects' it's supposed to be in line with, which makes this sentence all kinds of a mess.

And if wish is supposed to be a greater effect... well, I'm not sure how to rule that without making the spell an 'auto win' instead of auto hit. The GM's old stand by of 'because I said so' works, but I was hoping for something more substantial to give my players.

If there's no rulings for this, there's no rulings and i'll make 'because I said so' work. My apologies for any troubles I may have started.

Ok pun title aside, I was hoping to ask about an odd line in limited wish. I've been looking for a way to reduce the saves of an undead creature. They're immune to my usual options, and looking for new ideas I came across this line in limited wish:

"Produce any other effect whose power level is in line with the above effects, such as a single creature automatically hitting on its next attack or taking a -7 penalty on its next saving throw"

This seems a fairly interesting use of a 'limited' wish. One automatic hit, or a -7 to saves without a specific type. I have to wonder, if you had several people using 'limited' wish, could you wish for this -7 saves to be of a specific type, or is this supposed to be specified? Like could you wish for a -7 'age' penalty, a -7 curse, a -7 bad luck penalty, etc? It seems logical to think it's the same spell so it's the same source = no stacking, but can the wish circumvent that with some wordplay?

My other thought here is if a 'limited' wish can do this, what would a 'wish' spell do? If I wished to reduce an opponent's saves as much as possible, would it emulate limited wish for a -7, or would it be a higher bonus for a higher spell? If a limited wish = one automatic hit, would a wish = one critical, or maybe auto hits for a full round attack? Wish can clearly go a step above 'limited wish' as the spells it can emulate are of a higher level, so shouldn't these numbers increase? Yet there's no mention of it in the spell. I've tried looking for an answer in the faq, on google, and even bing, but I'm not finding anything. I refuse to believe I'm the first to ponder this, yet I can't find anything on this. If it's on here and I missed I'll be the first to apologize, but this is bugging me at the moment and clarification would be nice. Thank you for your time!

Your number progression is accurate, though I'm not sure why you have enlarge person and mythic enlarge person together. 8d6 is your cap now, going up to 8d8 at level 11, with 12d8 being your maximum when you hit level 15. Add in the spell strong jaw and let the damage go nuts.

Title says it all. I could have SWORN I saw this in the faq earlier, but now I can't find it... not sure if i'm imagining things or not. If I'm being blind, I apologize.

Anywho, I have a vampire (technically a dread vampire, but should still be the same I think) with it's sunlight problem. I keep penumbra (level 0 cantrip) up at all times, and will bolster my defense with protective penumbra in a combat scenario. A player recently asked why I do so, since it wouldn't protect me from sunburst or light spells that call out vampires (I don't know of any others myself, but I'm sure they are out there). I would think protective penumbra would protect me as it has 'vulnerability' listed clearly in the spell... I mean, why make this advanced version of the 0 cantrip if it didn't add anything? Anywho, if there is a clear rule on this I'd appreciate the source to show my DM for extra proof. Thanks for your time!

Ah, so that's how they use wands, got it. That helps a lot.

As for fox's cunning, I wrote it there to consider using it with the Idealize arcane discovery; at level 20 it would give me a +8 bonus, 2 higher than any headband. I did take a headband as the spell doesn't last forever. Not sure if it's worth it, honestly, but it was another option I was considering.

A nice option I feel under appreciated is the monk. I have a level 20 monk that is so full of cheese you think she ran a dairy farm. Monk of four winds lets you use your quick action to gain 3 standard actions a round, which I find pretty sweet. You can't use flurry of blows (full round) but you can make 3 attacks all the same. Add to this the vital strike line (including mythic vital strike), putting every possible bonus to your STR, dragon style... it adds up. Plus if anything goes, craft permanent buff spell items. I use lead blades, animal aspect gorilla, and strong jaw, along with the item stonefist gloves and the mythic titan stike. Right now? I deal 96d8+236 damage per attack, and get to strike three times a round thanks to slow time. Add in amazing initiative (mythic power) and you're getting four strikes per round with your full BAB. Super fast movement rate and Abundant step (use Qinggong archtype) lets you be anywhere you need to be and hit hard when you get there. Still not enough? Toss in a few fickle attacks from mythic trickster. With the number of damage die you have, turning all your rolled 1's into 8's can be comical. Of if allowed, get a legendary amulet of mighty fists (or brass knuckles I suppose) to pour on more cheese.

I personally love it when you show up to play this beast, telling people you're a monk... they all think you're weak until you start killing everything in a round.

Oh wow, how did I not notice that line about the value? I feel silly now. I suppose you could get around it if you wanted to make money off of it (I'm sure someone would buy statues, dragon eggs, or who knows what else) but good to know they gave it some limits.

As for the familiar, the part that confuses me the most is how does it 'use' the wand? I mean, how's it going to pass a UMD check to activate it?

WARNING: Incoming Long post! You've been warned!

Well, it's taken me a LOT longer than I expected, but I have the semblance of a build together. I had to reduce her level to 17 (with the promise she'll catch up to 20 FAST) but I was able to boost her INT to 46(!) so I can't complain.

So I made her school Divination as the school bonus was too nice to ignore. I'm currently using Necromancy and Illusions as her opposed schools.

Many of the other spells are utility/support; from low level ant haul to mind blank. Sleet storm blocks vision, irresistible dance can force an opponent out of the battle a bit, and limited wish states it allows 'a single creature automatically hitting on its next attack or taking a -7 penalty on its next saving throw" (which makes me wonder what wish would if you asked for one attack to hit, or to ensure a spell get through SR/saves...). She won't be blasting (only one chain lightning in case of EXTREME minions) but should make things interesting if I understand half the rules as well as I think do lol.

Her 'forced to fight' signature move is going to be 'polymorph any object.' I've taken spell focus and the greater, spell penetration and the greater, spell perfection, etc, to give it every advantage possible. For more help, I applied 'magical lineage' and persistent metamagic to it, to make it a level 9 spell (higher save) and make the opponent roll twice. When it NEEDS to hit, I have an improved familiar to use a scroll/wand to lower an opponent's save (limited wish, crushing despair, prediction of failure, etc) followed by a quickened spell from myself. All together, little should have a chance.

Anywho, here's what I have so far:

(don't mind my notes; *means it's a divination spell)

Spells memorized:

0 Level: 5, 1, Read Magic
*Read Magic
*Detect Magic
Penumbra evok
spark evok
prestidigitation uni
scoop evok
Acid Splash conj

1st Level: 9, 1
*Heightened Awareness
Heightened Awareness
identify div
detect secret doors div
protection from Evil abj
protection from Evil abj
unseen servant conj
Ant Haul trans
Ant Haul trans
Ant Haul trans

2nd Level: 9, 1
*Blood Transcription
2 slots: mirror image ill
knock trans
Glitterdust conj
protective penumbra evok
pilfering hand evok
pilfering hand evok
touch of idiocy ench
touch of idiocy ench

3rd: Level: 8, 1
*Tongues
Phantom Steed abj
Sleet storm abj
Sleet storm abj
Sleet storm abj
haste trans
haste trans
burrow trans
Extended Fox’s Cunning trans

4th Level: 8, 1
*Detect Scrying
Dimensional anchor abj
Dimensional Door Conj
emergency force shield evok
emergency force shield evok
emergency force shield evok
emergency force shield evok
emergency force shield evok
greater make whole trans

5th Level: 8, 1
*Telepathic Bond
2 slots: Extended Greater Invisibility ill
2 slots: Extended Greater Invisibility ill
Life Bubble abj
overland flight trans
telekinesis trans
Feeblemind ench

6th Level: 8, 1
*True Seeing
Contingency evok -
Chain Lightning evok
Disintegrate trans
Disintegrate trans
Conjure Black pudding conj
Conjure Black pudding conj
Threnodic Feeblemind ench
Threnodic Feeblemind ench

7th Level: 6, 1
*Greater Scrying
Greater Teleport conj
Greater Teleport conj
Plane Shift conj
Plane Shift conj
Limited Wish Uni
Limited Wish Uni

8th Level: 5, 1
*Moment of Prescience div
Moment of Prescience div
Irresistible Dance enchant
Irresistible Dance enchant
mind blank abj
mind blank abj

9th Level: 4, 1
*Divination
Time Stop trans
persistent polymorph any object trans
Mage’s Disjunction co
Prismatic Sphere abj

My lingering questions:

Right now, my opposition schools of necromancy (which I've taken no spells from) and Illusion (witch I have three). I could opposition research to get one back, but is it worth it? I can see myself needing necromancy down the line when needing spells like trap the soul and/or soul bind (which I still can't tell which is better) for dealing with big baddies, and needing two level nine slots for that seems painful, where I am not losing much for Illusions. Good idea, bad idea?

Polymorph any object has so many uses, it's insane. I mean, I can't find any reason why I couldn't polymorph a mountain into gold, and be wealthy beyond my wildest dreams for the entire game. Does this spell have ANY limitations?

As suggested by others, I grabbed improved familiar so it can use UMD for me. Still, I'm not sure how this works in practice. Most things Iv'e read say 'it works' but don't give details on how. For a lawful evil character, I'm liking the Shadow Drake, but I have no idea how it would use a wand, scroll, etc.

I was initially going to use feeblemind over polymorph any object, but like the later as it's more versatile. I like feeblemind and still have several castings of it (even with metamgic to hit undead which we face a lot) but not sure if I should replace some of them now that I'm not focusing on it. Ideas?

whew! Long enough for you? :) I'm open to comments, critiques, etc. I haven't posted everything here as this is already super long. If I missed something super vital, let me know. Thanks for your time!

Hi all!

I was toying with a monster/wizard theme build of reducing abilities, loving things like feeblemind which reduces INT and CHA down to 1. I started looking for a way to lower stats further, you know? There has to be ways of reducing stats below 0 or we wouldn't have rules for what happens... but I can't find out how to do it. Can anyone throw me a bone here?

Opps, guess the second zero didn't type. Was supposed to be '100' pages, which I know isn't the exact number, but still. I'm just surprised there are this many posts in an LGBT topic. I've been on transgender forums that didn't have half that many posts, period.

Huh, an LGBT topic with....10 pages?! Holy ****!

Well, I'm on a time crunch right now so I've only read the first page so far... still, thought I'd make a 'hi!' post of some kind. Someone mentioned they didn't know a 'T' gamer, so allow me to fix that.

The name's Victoria (Vicky or V to my friends) and I am a transgender gamer. I was born with... (PG-13...um) 'male parts" for lack of a better word. And despite wanting to be female my whole life, my parents named me Dick. Yes, Dick. The irony is staggering.

Like so many, I tried to 'blend in' for years, thinking there was something wrong with me. It wasn't until college I learned of the Trans community, of surgeries to change one's gender. Even then, I hesitated as I was afraid I'd lose my family (a common occurrence for many in this community, and when your grandmother nearly disowns your cousin for dating someone 'of color' my odds didn't look promising).

Still, fears and all I went through with it, and came out nearly a decade ago now. My family did NOT disown me, for which I am very thankful. I did the lengthy required steps (therapy, real life test, etc) and had my surgeries done in 2009.

Now I'm all legally female with the right hormones and right parts. I'm happily married to a wonderful wife, and get to play the role of favorite auntie to some adorable nephews. I can't complain.

So there you go, now you can all say you know a transgender gamer :)

And for the curious, I do work for Transgender awareness in the local area, giving panels and answering questions at colleges and the like. So if you have any questions you'd like answered, feel free to send me a message. Nothing is too personal, embarrassing, etc. I've answered plenty of 'embarrassing' questions on a stage, so I can handle an email or two lol. "Ignorance is the enemy of Tolerance, and only through learning can we best it."

I'll be around ;)

Oh, nice finds!

I had missed how spell perfection increased with Spell focus, so that's a plus. And the profane pact bonus is quite clever, too. I'll run the 'scroll cost for a spell added' thing by the DM, but it makes sense to me.

Special Kudos to Paulicus for the long post and spell ideas! I'm really liking the spells without saves, like the waves of fatigue/exhaustion. I've been hoping to find spells like that, either that have no save, or even if you save you still take a penalty of some kind.

I'm going to keep at it, see what I can do. Hopefully I can make some progress on this today.

Hey all! Thanks for stopping by :)

So I'm trying to make a high level wizard. I've picked Divination for my school, grabbed an (improved) familiar, and muddling my way through the remainder of choices to be made. Having never done an arcane user in pathfinder (or D&D for that matter) I had three questions I was hoping to spring on you fine folks.

The big issue I'm worrying over is the DC for saves and touch attacks. The game she'll be jumping into has saves of 30+, and I'm having a hard time finding ways to raise her DC's to compete. There's spell focus and greater spell focus, and...nothing else? Really? Touch AC is overly high in this game, so I'm not sure if spells targeting that are even viable. Still, I'm open to ideas.

The next question I wanted to ask: I know a wizard can learn new spells from copying them from spell books and the like. Is there a way to 'buy' access to a wizard's spell book or something to gain new spells? How would that work?

The last is easy to ask, impossible to answer. Like many before me, I find spell selection is especially intimidating. As one topic on the front page already asks, it's tricky finding low level spells that stay relevant at high level. Not that deciding between high spells is any easier... oy. I'm reading two guides for suggestions as is, and this is still pain. I'm open to ideas, but I'm not crazy as to ask for someone to pick every spell for me, if that makes sense. More like, if you have a 'top five' spells you never leave home without, I'd appreciate getting other opinions.

Thank you for your time!

I had one player come to a session and request to play a 'lesbian vampire warrior princess pirate captain with a peg leg and three pet monkeys."

After unpacking all of that, I asked 'and what race was this vampire before turning?"

"Dwarf."

Normally I would have called BS, but this came from one of my best role players... so I told him to play it (with restrictions for balance, etc). Still, one of the funniest things I've seen in gaming, I tell you.

Not sure how that will help, but I'll play along.

Level 18 at moment, and I need to level up to 19. I'm using the four winds/qinggong archtypes. Stats are high: 48 STR, DEX 34, INT 20, WIS 29, CHA 29. No con for being undead vampire (HP off CHA). Retraining is an option. Feats re many, many of the basics (dodge, improved initiative, lightning reflexes, toughness, etc), the vital strike chain, crane style feats, and the grapple feats (greater, improved). Also, it is mythic and I'm a tier 2 mythic trickster, and need to pick up mythic tier 3. Mythic powers/feats are surprise strike, mythic unarmed strike, titan strike, and mythic vital strike.

Up until now, I use four wind's 'slow time' (quick action) ability for three standard actions, getting three vital strikes a round, for roughly 400-500 damage per attack. My AC is 61 (46/48 for touch/flat). My defenses are usually good enough I don't get hit, but the damage output of the opponents we fight make it so if one does hit or critical hits, it's game over. My Hit points are relatively low, and my 'to hit' is slightly above average. My damage is top notch, and my AC is the highest of the team.

One tactic I've used is use slow time for two attacks (or to use qinqqong true strike and one attack for those with high AC) and use the third standard action to set up a total defense with crane wing. I can deflect one opponent with that and be ok. I also carry a wayfinder with the ioun stone to let me absorb 8th level or lower spells as an immediate action.

This set up has lasted for me from level 12 to 19, but I'm drawing a lot more fire, and looking for ways to stay alive. I like the mythic power 'mirror dodge' but it uses my immediate action, and thus no slow time. Could be handy as a last resort, but can't depend on it. And as said above, I'm thinking of dipping into swashbuckler for it's 'Opportune Parry and Riposte' ability.

If there are any other defensive abilities that I'm over looking, I'd love to know about them. Thanks for reading :)

Hm, this lack of faith is disturbing.

Hey all!

So here's the sitch: my DM has upped the difficulty of our games to the point that nearly every attack has become a 'save or die.' And being the team's leader in DPS, I'm often the target of many, many attacks. I'm a mythic monk with things like Crane stlye/wing, and mythic mirror dodge at my disposal, but it's not enough. If I use crane wing to parry, I can't attack. If I use mirror dodge, I lose my swift action and with it my best attack options. Last game I was having to use both to stay alive, locked down to total defense. And while we won with my playing a shield (the rest of the team was free to whittle away at the enemy) it wasn't exactly thrilling to play a wall.

Does anyone have any ideas of feats/powers/abilities that could avoid attacks without me stuck being a decoration? I'm thinking of dipping into swashbuckler for it's 'Opportune Parry and Riposte' ability, but that's all I've been able to come up with so far. Is there anything I'm over looking that could help out?

This is REALLY useful. I'm surprised though, too... I had thought there were more get 'stat X in addition to Y to..." abilities. I remember a friend saying there a lot he used when he min/maxed and such, but heck if I could find anything not already on the list. I finally have a character who could benefit from adding multiple stats to skills, and there are fewer than I would have figured.

Sacred fist was ruled not to stack, and the legendary item was nixed too.

After thinking it over for WAY too long, I think I know how to make it work. I've been so focused on improving the actual numbers, I was blind to everything else. By taking Crane wing, I can stop one fighter cold, and mythic mirror dodge stops another. For the third, I need to make sure I go first to take him out before he gets a turn.

To do so, I'm going to do some dabbling, try to get bonus' from a few classes. Take 2 levels in Inquisator for it's WIS to initiative bonus, and take the paladin archtype that gives me CHA to my initiative as well. Take mythic improved initiative as well, and one use of mythic power to have an automatic 20. If all goes well, I should be able to take out the caster in round one, and shut the other two down with mirror dodge and crane wing.

I'm going to look into some other 'add this stat to X as well" bonus', see if I can find some other nifty tricks. If not, the next thing I'd need is bonus' to hit, and I think plain fighter will give the best boost there with full BAB, weapon training, and fighter feats (greater weapon focus comes to mind). Potentially debating a level one dip into Ninja/rogue to get the CHA based KI boost.

I think the last thing I need to figure out is a replacement for my monk robe (stops being useful at level 20). I'd like to try to find a spell that increases my fist's effective size category once more without actually increasing size, too; I have lead blades, animal aspect: gorilla, strong jaw, and mythic titan strike so far. If I can find one more I'd hit the max on the charts, which will be sweet.

Oy, ranting again lol. Anywho, it's not a concrete plan, but it's a start, I think. I feel better knowing I'm not just stalling until I get killed now lol.

You know, I had already forgotten about the hybrid classes. Bloodrager and warpriest could be interesting options. I'll need to read up on them more.

As for mythic, I think I'm getting used to it. Our game last saturday was cancelled last minute (DM's PC had a critical error) so I haven't tried it out yet, but I'm thinking of taking the Trickster path. With it's sudden strike ability (the one that lets me catch a foe flat footed) and ignore DR combined with my back up Brilliant energy brass knuckles, I can ignore most enemies defenses. I grabbed some feats with my low level powers, grabbing mythic vital strike, unarmed strike, and titan strike to improve my damage to levels I never dreamed (I'm fairly certain 64d8 +250 is a 'little' Over powered). Eventually grab Mirror Dodge and some fickle attacks as with that many dice it adds up fast. Path dabbling will be useful to, of course. With both the kensai and the anti-paladin/cavalier going champion, I think it will throw them off their game.

And heck, since I'm admitting these numbers I'll just say my AC is 61, hp is 332, and my saves are 33/38/33. My hit, damage, AC and saves are the best (well, the sorcerer might have close/higher saves) where my HP is low for this game. The two fighters can't even hit me without a critical at this point, but they're likely to get more BAB and fix that, where boosting my AC to match will be tricky. The sorcerer/oracle is the one that worries me the most, as he's a clever power gamer. Thankfully he's my closest ally of the three (the campaign started out as me playing his bodyguard for the last two years) but if it becomes a blood bath I feel he's the one to watch.

And one of these days I will learn to make a post without rambling for an hour. Oy. Sorry if I'm long winded.