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My half-elf ranger received a cooshee as an animal companion. I used the PFSDR to get the specifications and the level four advancement. I took boon companion to raise its level to that of my ranger.

In last weeks game we freed a genie from the trap it had been in for 1000 years. He gave each of us one wish and the cooshee wished to be large. The GM agreed and now I need to figure out how to go from a medium cooshee to a large. I have been looking at the monster advancement but I am not sure I have it right. Any advice would be appreciated.

Level 10 -> Large
Str - 15 -> 23
Dex - 17 -> 15
Con - 17 -> 21
Int - 3 -> 3
Wis - 12 -> 12
Cha - 7 -> 7
Natural Armor - 6 -> 8

The monster advancement talks about increasing the hit dice and related items but I don't think that applies since it is still my companion and would use that progression for hit dice, skills and etc.

As I moved from playing PFS to being a GM, I would get the same questions over and over. How do I get a member number? Where do I go to get help? How do I find out what I can and can't use?

Those of us that have been around a while know where to find all of this information on Paizo but what about new players. The last thing we want someone to stop playing because they could get the information that they needed. To help with this problem I have created a Google site which I hope will make things easier for new players. The site contains only information about getting started and where to get information. It will not help you create a character (there are plenty of guides to do that).

Anyway, I hope someone finds this useful and if you have any suggestions let me know.

Bowawa's Guide to PFS

I must have done something wrong last time I posted this so I am trying again.

I have a 5th lvl ranger, archery based and decided to add a lvl of Alchemist to the mix. I was mainly adding it for the extracts and mutagens as I do a lot more damage with my bow. However, I started to think about my favored enemy and its pluses to damage. Which made me wonder does it apply to the bombs as well. Lets say I hit a human (+4 FE) with a bomb within 30 feet. Does that mean I do 1d6+1(INT)+1(point-blank)+4(FE) and if so does that mean the splash is 7 points (always the min damage). Thanks in advance.

I have a 5th lvl ranger, archery based and decided to add a lvl of Alchemist to the mix. I was mainly adding it for the extracts and mutagens as I do a lot more damage with my bow. However, I started to think about my favored enemy and its pluses to damage. Which made me wonder does it apply to the bombs as well. Lets say I hit a human (+4 FE) with a bomb within 30 feet. Does that mean I do 1d6+1(INT)+1(point-blank)+4(FE) and if so does that mean the splash is 7 points (always the min damage). Thanks in advance.

I overheard, lets call it a discussion, at our monthly PFS game night about upgrading a Headband of Vast Intelligence to a Headband of Mental Prowess. One guy was saying that since it was X+ upgrade of a mental stat that you could pay the difference to go from one to the other. The other guy said that they were two different things so you have to sell one at half and buy the other at full. I offered to look it up and bring the answer back at the next game night.

I did some looking in the guide, FAQ and boards. I don't see anything that supports the difference upgrade option. Everything I found says that you have to sell one and buy the other. However, before I go to the game night on Saturday I thought I would post it and make sure I was right. Thanks for the help.

Here is the Heighten Spell (Metamagic).

Heighten Spell (Metamagic)

You can cast spells as if they were a higher level.
Benefit: A heightened spell has a higher spell level than normal (up to a maximum of 9th level). Unlike other metamagic feats, Heighten Spell actually increases the effective level of the spell that it modifies. All effects dependent on spell level (such as saving throw DCs and ability to penetrate a lesser globe of invulnerability) are calculated according to the heightened level. The heightened spell is as difficult to prepare and cast as a spell of its effective level.

My questions are how many spells does it apply to (I assume one) and can it be taken several times for different spells?

I don't play wizards to often (I only have one) and I am looking at feats for level 5. One of the feats I was considering was Improved Familiar. While looking over the list I was interested in the Pseudodragon, however when I looked it up in the Bestiary I got the wrong book and found Dragon, Faerie which would work better with my character. Which leads to my questions,

1. Is the Faerie Dragon legal for PFS?
2. If not, I currently have a Hawk Familiar can a take the Improved Familiar and get a Celestial Hawk even if I am level 5?

My main PFS character is an 8th lvl archery based ranger. Due to the lack of high level characters in my gaming group I end up playing up so the other players have enough for a table. In my last scenario I ended up setting out one battle because I didn't have any arrows that would overcome the DR of the evil character that attacked us. Granted he had 3 different DR and no one in the group had a weapon to overcome all of them but the others were able to overcome some of it.

Anyway, I don't want to have to purchase arrows of every known DR (my gnome couldn't carry them) so I am looking for another option. Any advice?

I just want to make sure that I have the steps straight. My character is a ranger with a wand of gravity bow and a spring loaded wrist sheath with the wand in it.

Immediate Action: Spring wand into hand
Standard Action: Use wand
Move Action: Put wand in pocket

Since my character is basically artillery, I stand in one place and fire a lot of arrows at the target. The only advantage using the process above would give me is that I would not limited to 2 uses of gravity bow per day. However, if it going to take more then one round I don't want to spend the gold for the wand and sheath. Also, I don't want to have to drop the wand after every use. So, can someone help me make sure I have the right process above, Thanks.

I won a Corvid-Blooded boon at Diecon this weekend allowing me to create a PFS tengu character. I was not aware that this was a option but I will take it. Anyway, I have looked up the stats and am looking for some suggestions for the character. The tengu get a +2 to Dex and Wis and a -2 to Con. This leads me to ranger or cleric but I already play with those classes and what to do something special with this great option. So, any advice on the class and maybe a back story.

I am getting ready to level my illusionist wizard to the 4th level and according to the people I play with I don't have the correct number of known spells. However, they can't seem to agree on how many I know. So, I need a little help. Here is what I came up with.

I have a Int of +4 and put all of my new spells into the highest lvl I can cast each time I level. So, this is the progression that I have come up with.

At 1st level:
0 lvl spells - All (pick 4 to use)
1 lvl spells - 3 + Int (4) + 1 school = 8
At 2nd level:
0 lvl spells - All (pick 4 to use)
1 lvl spells - 8 + 2 + 1 school = 11
At 3rd level:
0 lvl spells - All (pick 4 to use)
1 lvl spells - 11
2 lvl spells - 2 + 1 school = 3
At 4th level:
0 lvl spells - All (pick 4 to use)
1 lvl spells - 11
2 lvl spells - 3 + 2 + 1 school = 6

This is the only wizard I have ever played so I strongly doubt I have it correct. Thanks in advance.

I am working up a samurai for my next PFS character and went with the Katana as the weapon of choice. I looked through the two-handed Asian weapons in the UC and I looked through the two-handed exotic weapons only to find it in the one-handed exotic weapon list. Now like most american's my understanding of Japan's culture comes from the movies in which the Katana is almost always wielded two-handed (yes I have seen the original Seven Samurai). Still movies are not the most reliable sources of information, so, I did several internet searches over the last few days. It was quite amazing the vast amount of information available on samurai and the katana. However, no where did I find that the katana is used one-handed. So, who decided it would be one-handed and (more importantly) can it still be wielded with two-hands?

Samurai start with a loyal mount. In PFS is it assumed that the mount comes with saddle and barding or do you need to pay for that out of your 150 starting gold? I include the barding as the mount gets light armor proficiency at start which would be pointless without the barding.

I am working on a new character for PFS it is a gnome samurai. The back story has him crossing over the mountains into Tian Xia. However, what ever happened to him to get over the mountains caused him to lose his memory. Once out of the mountains he is found by a samurai who takes him and trains him. Fast forward a number of years and the samurai master and his lord have passed and the gnome is now a full samurai loyal to the son of the original lord. When the new lord receives Amara Li request for adventures he send the gnome to Inner Sea to learn about the "other" pathfinders and to make contacts for the future. The gnome is hoping to learn where he came from or why he crossed the mountains.

That's the back story, now here are the questions.

First languages, as a gnome he starts with 3 known languages common, gnome, sylvan. However, in the back story he would have had to learn Tain. Since my INT isn't high enough to get a bonus language do I have to drop a language or do I just add the fourth?

Next question, I don't have access to a book on Tian Xia (if it is out) so I am needing help with a name. A normal (if gnome names can be called normal) name would not work as he has no memory of who he was or what he was called. I need a name that would fit who he is now. The character is LG and takes honor more seriously than any normal person. He is very white with solid black hair and blue eyes. He basically looks like a 3 foot porcelain china doll dressed as a samurai. If you are feeling inventive a name for the new lord would be helpful.

As always thanks in advance for any and all help.

I have read several of the postings for the Titan Mauler and there seems to be a lot of confusion about what can be wielded one and two handed. Of course, everyone is talking about medium players and large weapons (or bigger). So, lets take it down a level to figure this out. What if the barbarian was a gnome or halfling? Since in the UC it is written as "weapons too large for her size", there is no reason it has to be a medium character. Since we all know the medium and small weapons maybe going this route will help. Then we can take it up to medium.

Let's start at lvl 1, what is the largest weapon a small Titan Mauler can wield one and two handed? And what is the penlty?

The same at lvl 2, then 3, 5, and 14 (the levels where you get more abilities).

Personally, I love the idea of a gnome with a great axe that is wider and taller then he is.

I am working on making a samurai and would like some advise on what people would take for the the first three or four feats. I don't often play fighter classes so any advise would be helpful.

Okay in previous postings it is agreed that the Hammer the Gap feat can apply to range weapons with manyshot and rapid shot. Just so I have it straight for my next game. I have a lvl 7 gnome ranger, with manyshot, rapid shot, point black, and a +1 composite bow (+1 str)

Assuming a full attack and the dice gods are with me, they all hit, I would get the following:

Manyshot:
1 arrow 1d6 + 1(str) + 1 (+1 bow) + 1 (point blank)
2 arrow 1d6 + 1(str) + 1 (+1 bow) + 1 (point blank) + 1 (Hammer)
Rapid Shot:
1d6 + 1(str) + 1 (+1 bow) + 1 (point blank) + 2 (Hammer)
Second Attack:
1d6 + 1(str) + 1 (+1 bow) + 1 (point blank) + 3 (Hammer)

Meaning that if I roll all ones on my damage I would still do 22 point of damage against a non-favored enemy. Please tell me if I am wrong here, sometimes I miss read things.

I am looking for Glasses of See Invisible. I can't seem to find one in the books (I don't have all of them so I may not have the right one), so, can someone tell me what it would cost to have See Invisible cast on a pair of lenses?

Is anyone GM pathfinder at the G.A.M.E Day in Springfield, MO on the Sunday, August 28th, 2011?

I am playing a wizard for the first time and need some clarifying of the number of spells I know and can cast.

My character is a Gnome Illusionist (I know not to original) with an int of 18.

If I understand it correctly I can cast 3 lvl 0 spells, 2 lvl 1 spells and Blinding Ray 7 times (special class spell).

I know all lvl 0 spells and 8 lvl 1 spells (seven spells + one class spell).

So, here is my questions assuming everything is correct so far:
1. lvl 0 spells don't go away, but I thought that meant I can cast say light three times. However, the DM told me I pick 3 spells and I can cast them as many times as I want. Which is correct?

2. When I made my character I read something that said I could pick one spell from my class and it would work like a bonus spell. Assuming I choose a lvl 1 spell, like Color Spray, does that mean I have 3 lvl 1 spells?

Thanks for the help in advanced.

So, in a recent game we had an alchemist with some type of feat (don't know what the feat was) that allowed him to pick up to four squares that took no damage from splash. This I have no problem with as my ranger can hit just about anything no matter what it is hiding behind. However, when he missed his target it didn't matter were the bomb dropped only the target took damage. I was told the reason was that as long as there are no more than 4 friendlies around the square the bomb dropped into they don't get hit. This makes no sense. I would think that when the bomb is thrown the squares that are free of splash damage are set and if the bomb misses the target the splash damage squares adjust. Let me explain what I mean. Let's say that the target is in the center of nine squares and three friendlies are standing in front of the target. The alchemist states that the three friendly squares are safe and throws the bomb. It misses and a roll puts the bomb directly behind the target. Now in the game I played the target would still take splash damage but in my mind the target is now in a safe zone as the bomb dropped behind the target moving the safe zone. In the same example if the bomb dropped in the middle of friendlies everyone would take damage as the safe squares are not on anyone. Feel free to tell me that this is for flow and balance. I don't intend to play an alchemist and anything that means I don't take damage from a friendly is a good thing. The guys I play with say I am too logical and real world, and I am good with that. This is just my two cents.

I was looking over the schedule for DieCon 11 and didn't see that many Pathfinder offerings. Does anyone plan to be GM Pathfinder at DieCon in June? I plan to bring two new characters just for the con but I may have been wasting my time giving what I see so far.

I am making a Gnome Illusionist for society play and I have a feat question. According to the organized play guide wizards get Spell Focus instead of Scribe Spell. So, since I get Spell Focus automatically then can I take Greater Spell Focus as one of my first level feats? It doesn't sound right but I'm not sure why.

I am going to a con next weekend and foresee my range going to 4th level. I took Boon Companion at 3rd level so I could have a 4th level companion. The companion will be a dog (basically my gnomes riding dog becomes his companion). So, I would like someone to verify my calculations and answer a few questions for society play.

My understanding is that the stats my dog had vanish and I now have new stats.
Which are:
STR: 18 (including lvl 4 +1)
DEX: 16 (including lvl 4 +1)
CON: 17
INT: 3 (I put my lvl 4 ability score here)
WIS: 12
CHA: 6
AC: 15 (10+dex(3)+natural(2))
Fort: 7
Reflx: 7
Will: 2
BAB: 3
CMB: 7
CMD: 18
Bite Attack Bonus: 7 Damage: 1d6+6
Race Senses: Low Light, Scent (+4 to track), Perception (+8)
Race Modifiers: +4 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 Survival when tracking by scent

My understanding from reading the boards that the dog loses the trip attack, feats (skill focus) and skills (Acrobatics +6 (+14 jumping), Perception +8, Survival +1 (+5 scent tracking)) that it had as a riding dog. Although, I get to pick 2 feats and any skills.

So, here are my questions:
1. HP: at 4 lvl it is 4d8, so does that mean the HP is 17 or is there a accumulation that he would have gotten progressing through the levels to 4th lvl?
2. Does it lose all of the training it had to be riding dog? Meaning would I have to retrain it to ride it?
3. What feats do I have to take so it can use leather armor?

Thanks for the help.

Need some help with my animal companion.

Background: My character is a 3rd level gnome ranger. After being left behind on a couple of adventures I purchased a riding dog. Now I want to make my riding dog into my companion when I reach level 4 to do so I took the Boon Companion feat.

As I understand it, the Boon Companion feat brings my companion level to the same as my level (basicly wiping out the -3 ranger issue). Per the druid animal companions at level 4 the dog goes from small to medium but my dog is already medium.

Riding Dog Stats:

Medium Animal
Str 15, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Init +2; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +8
AC 13, touch 12, flat-footed 11 (+2 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 13 (2d8+4)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +1

So here is my questions:
1. Does my dogs stats change to the Str 17, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6 which is what the small to medium stats are or do they go to Str 19, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6 which is what applying the advancement to the inital stats? (I guess a third option would be no change as it is already a medium dog)

2. Does my dog get all of the special abilities (link, share spells, evasion, ability score increase) and the 4th level base stats automaticly?

I did a search of the board and found a lot of discusion about the Boon Companion but not much on how to make it work. Any assistance would be helpful.

I am most likely miss reading something but there appears to be two different prices from a +1 masterwork weapon depending on if you read the PHB or the official guide concerning the price of a +1 weapon.

The PHB states "A masterwork weapon is a finely crafted version of a normal weapon. Wielding it provides a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls." So, using that a +1 masterwork longbow is 375 gp (300 mw + 75 for the weapon).

The Official Guide states "+1 weapons (2,000 gp + 300 for the masterwork weapon cost + item cost)" So, that would mean that the same longbow would cost 2375 gp.

Can someone tell me which is the right amount. Thanks.

I think I am doing the calculations for some darkwood armor correctly but it seems a little off so if someone could verify this I would be thankful.

A Chain shirt is 100 gd
Mastercraft is 150 gd
Darkwood is 10 gd per pound
Since it is for a gnome the weight is 13 pounds (25/2 round up)

So, the total is 380 gd for a Mastercraft Darkwood Chain Shirt with these specs:

Armor bonus +4
Max Dex +4
Armor Check Penalty 0
Spell Failure 20%
Speed 30/20 ft
Weight 7 pounds

For some reason this seems low cost and higher specs then it should but I could be right. If it is then I don't know why everyone isn't using darkwood. Thanks in advance.

My Gnome Ranger had an issue in a battle royal in that I could not get away from the others due to my 20 foot movement. As I could see this as an adventure problem, I used the funds from my first adventure to buy a riding dog. I was thinking that I would have this dog become my companion in the future but as I look over the ranger list it appears that the dog companion is a small dog and the riding dog is a medium dog. So, my question is in society play will I have to get different companion or can I use the riding dog?