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Is there a pre-earthfall map of Avistan and Garund? In an upcoming adventure, I want my players to find a map created by the cyclops of Ghol-Gan so I'm looking for a map like this, particularly the shape of the landmasses.

Thanks!

Does an animal archetype allow the animal to take the archetype without meeting the prerequisite of the listed feats? Or does the animal still need to meet the prerequisites, but the feat is now on the eligible feat list?

For example, the bully archetype has improved trip on the list. Does the animal still need a 13 INT?

Bully Archetype:
ttps://www.aonprd.com/ArchetypeDisplay.aspx?FixedName=Companion%20Bully

Do shock weapons work any differently underwater by RAW? I don't think so, but just making sure.

I am gearing up to run Skulls and Shackles starting mid-November for a crew of 7 PCs.

My ambitious plan is to allow some sandbox elements by bringing in other adventures and letting the PCs have some control over their destiny and choose which challenges to tackle, because I think that is the way to capture the freedom of a sailboat in game terms. Consequently, there might be spoilers for other adventures along the way in this log, and I'll try to flag those in advance. I'm also currently super-ambitiously planning to roll from the end of Skulls and Shackles into the middle of Savage Tide and take Savage Tide to the end. Savage Tide is an adventure I always wanted to run but haven't done it, and it looks like a good thematic fit with Shackles, and a good excuse to get my old Dungeon magazines out of the basement.

As a group, we've playing together for a long time with people coming and going and coming again. I've been playing D&D since the mid/late 80s, and I've been playing with one of the players in this game since the early 90s. When Adventure Paths became a thing we embraced them, and together, with rotating DMs, we've done 1) Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, 2) Age of Worms, 3) Shackled City, 4) Red Hand of Doom, 5) Mummy's Mask, 6) Kingmaker, and 7) Hell's Rebels. The only one we started and didn't finish was Shattered Star, and that is because we started as an online game and when the pandemic ended resumed our usual monthly in-person game. We're currently playing Wrath of the Righteous (where I'm a player), but this month should be the last session which is why I'll take over soon and I picked Skulls and Shackles. It should be a real change of pace from Wrath of the Righteous, which I think is a good thing.

Hi

If I cast the spell Echean's Excellent Enclosure ( https://www.aonprd.com/SpellDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Echean%27s%20Excellent%20 Enclosure ) ... which has a range to touch, an area of an immobile 10 ft radius emanation, and a duration of 1 round/level, and then I die, does the spell persist for its remaining duration?

I'm contemplating a suicide tactic in our current high-level game where I shut down a very powerful, BBEG, enemy spellcaster for 21 rounds (my caster level is 21) while the rest of my party fights the spellcaster's minions. I know I'll die in the antimagic field trapped with the BBEG, but it could be worth it if it lets the other 4 PCs focus on all of the BBEG's mooks and then the BBEG (21 rounds later, with everything else cleaned up).

Is there a map of the continental plates of golarion? I am gearing up to run skulls and shackles and was curious if there might be a deepnunder sea trench nearby.

If a character has contingency heal programmed to go off at 1 or fewer hitpoints, and that character has 2 hp currently and is hit for 50 damage, does the heal go off or is the character dead?

A L16 wizard casts a 1 hour/level duration spell (e.g., mass planar adaptation). The spell is cast while under the effects of an arcane concordance effect, so the duration is doubled to 32 total hours.

The wizard casts this spell at 7:00 AM on Monday.

On Tuesday, the wizard casts the same spell at 7:00 AM.

Does this second casting overlap with, or replace, the first casting.

Put another way, at 7:01 AM on Tuesday does the wizard have 2 mass planar adaptations up (1 with an 8 hour duration remaining, and 1 with a 32 hour duration remaining)? Or does he just have 1 mass planar adaptation up with a 32 hour duration remaining.

I'm aware that he doesn't get any stacking benefits from having 2 mass planar adaptations up simultaneously. So why am I asking? This question is really about if this wizard gets hit with greater dispel magic at 7:02 AM does the greater dispel magic have to chew through 2 castings of mass planar adaptation or just one?

Hi

I'm looking for suggestions (because I don't think there is anything official) on how a character could increase/decrease the chances of a random encounter.

For example...a ranger in her favored terrain makes a DC20 survival check and can increase/decrease the chances by 50%.

Anyone have suggestions?

I'm specifically thinking of doing this in an upcoming skulls and shackles adventure path where the players might want to increase encounters during piracy and decrease encounters when just trying to go from point A to point B.

Source books say it happened, but I can't find a year. If it hasn't been specified I will just place it 1 year prior to the beginning of the golden age of piracy in the timeline.

Is there a book with stats/rankings for different countries or regions of Golarion? I was specifically wondering about which country in the Inner Sea region has the strongest navy ... but I'd be curious about just about any stat: population, army power, overall military power, gdp. I know this isn't very "fantasy" but it would be interesting.

Hi

I'm sure this has been asked somewhere before but I couldn't find a clear answer with my internet searching.

How do I find a well-balanced Pathfinder Society module to add to my home, non-PFS, PF1E, Adventure Path? I'd like to use some modules to pad out the story for an Adventure Path.

I see the modules are listed as being for certain tiers - is a tier the same as a level? Is tier 5 balanced for PCs at level 5? Also, how many PCs do they intend to do one module, for balance purposes? Four? Six? I feel like I've seen both.

(Specifically, I'm looking to give my players some quest "options" in an open-ended segment of Skulls and Shackles - so if people specifically can think of good pirate adventures/adventures in the Shackles I'd also be interested in those recommendations - but that is a bit of a different question).

Hi

I'm sure this has been asked somewhere before but I couldn't find a clear answer with my internet searching.

How do I find a well-balanced Pathfinder Society module to add to my home, non-PFS, PF1E, Adventure Path? I'd like to use some modules to pad out the story for an Adventure Path.

I see the modules are listed as being for certain tiers - is a tier the same as a level? Is tier 5 balanced for PCs at level 5? Also, how many PCs do they intend to do one module, for balance purposes? Four? Six? I feel like I've seen both.

(Specifically, I'm looking to give my players some quest "options" in an open-ended segment of Skulls and Shackles - so if people specifically can think of good pirate adventures/adventures in the Shackles I'd also be interested in those recommendations - but that is a bit of a different question).

Can anyone recommend a suitable adventure to replace book five? As others have commented here, it looks like it will feel repetitive after storming so many giant strongholds. It also looks like of all the strongholds it is the most monolithic in its enemies (I think I counted 72 fire giants), and it doesn't have a cool tactic/trick like the other strongholds.

My ideal adventure (I understand this likely doesn't exist, but I'm prepared to adapt my expectations or adapt an adventure)...

1. Uses the Pathfinder 1E system - or failing that is 3.5 or 3.0; although I'm prepared to work with PF2 or other D&D systems.
2. Is of a similar level challenge to book 5.
3. Involves defending Jaggerhoff, the dwarven Sky Citadel near the Mindspin Mountains, from Giants. Two of my players are dwarves so I think that would go over well. Plus a tactical adventure where you plan out defenses could be a nice change of pace while also fitting the theme. It might actually improve the adventure by showing the giants aren't totally on their heels and put an urgency to the whole Adventure Path.

The situation:
The adventure asks the party to overcome a DC 40 knowledge arcana check.
Party A has a bard with a +30 arcana and a wizard with a +19 arcana. This party has a 60% chance of overcoming the skill check (wizard automatically succeeds on DC 10 aid another adding +2 to the bards check, and now the bard needs to roll an 8 to succeed).
Party B has a bard with a +30 arcana and a rogue with a +9 arcana. This party has the same 60% chance of succeeding on this check (rogue automatically succeeds on DC10 aid another adding +2 to the bards check, and now the bard needs to roll an 8 to succeed).

What I don't like about it:
I don't like that both of those parties have the same chance. I also feel like the player of the wizard in Party A will feel cheated because his investment in getting a skill bonus above +9 is a waste when the bard shows up.

The house rule I propose:
To successfully aid another you must succeed at a check (e.g., a skill check) against a DC of 10, or the DC -10, whichever is higher. If you succeed you grant advantage to the person you're aiding.

With this rule, for party A, they make the check 67.4% of the time and party B makes the check 55% of the time.

Party A Math: The wizard needs to make a DC 30 arcana check (40-10), and if he succeeds, he grants the bard advantage. He will make this check 50% of the time. The bard needs a 10 to make the check - he has a 55% chance of success without advantage and a 79.8% chance of success with advantage (according to a table I googled).

Party B Math: This check is just too high for the rogue to assist, so it is all up to the bard who needs to roll a 10+, which he will do 55% of the time.

What I'm asking:
Is there a better way to reward a party with an increased chance of success for having a second PC with a relatively high skill modifier?
What do you think of the rule I proposed? Would you tweak it? I applied advantage rather than just having the usual +2 because I figured if I was making it harder to complete the aid another action I should make it a bigger bonus when it happens.

I understand fluid form lets you pass through small cracks. What about in combat ... does fluid form help you ignore the penalties from squeezing? I pasted the relevant text below....

School transmutation [water]; Level alchemist 4, arcanist 6, investigator 4, psychic 6, sorcerer 6, wizard 6
Casting
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components S, M (a mixture of oil and water)
Effect
Range personal
Target you
Duration 1 minute/level
Description
When you cast this spell, your body takes on a slick, oily appearance. For the duration of this spell, your form can stretch and shift with ease and becomes slightly transparent, as if you were composed of liquid. This transparency is not enough to grant concealment. You gain DR 10/slashing and your reach increases by 10 feet. In addition, you can pass through small holes or narrow openings, even mere cracks, with anything you were carrying at the time the spell was cast (except other creatures). Finally, you can move through water with a swim speed of 60 feet and can breathe both water and air for the duration of this effect. You are treated as if you had the water subtype while this spell is in effect.

A demon forced us to flee and took our friend prisoner. We are planning to go back and kill the demon and rescue our friend. It is obvious to the demon we will attempt this rescue. In the meantime, we can communicate with the demon.

How do we threaten the demon? Like, "we are coming to rescue our friend and if you harm him we will do x."

X should be something worse then death for the demon, since it is already obvious we will try to kill it.

Thoughts?

Player bard casts Music of the Spheres, which, among other things, grants fast healing 5 to everyone within 20 feet of the bard. An enemy undead is within 20 feet of the bard. Does the fast heal 5 help, hurt, or do nothing to the undead?

Link to spell:
https://www.aonprd.com/SpellDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Music%20of%20the%20Sphere s

How does Tessa know there is a traitor/spy from Cheliax in the Shackles? I don't recall seeing that in the AP. I list below what I came up with, but I'm happy to use what is in the AP or someone else's idea if it's better. I could see my players asking her how she knows.

My idea:
Tessa has a few spies in place among the clerks of the Chelish navy. These clerks have seen plans for a planned combat expedition in various order ledgers and ledgers for outfitting ships. The senior brass in the navy know the target, but Tessa's doesn't have spies among the senior brass. Nevertheless, her clerks are smart (Tessa would only choose smart spies) and they love her.

Based upon the amount of food/water provisions being planned for the clerks can estimate the travel distance of the combat expedition. That immediately reduces the number of possible targets to a handful - and The Shackles is on this short-list. Second, the expedition will of course be well armed. However, when trade-offs are being made between seaworthiness/speed/maneuverability vs. more firepower for this flotilla, the former is prioritized. Tessa's spies surmise that is exactly the choices one would make if they needed to sale near a hurricane and then fight speedy, lightly armed pirates. So it isn't like Tessa's spies are 100% sure of what is going down, but they are making logical conclusions around the information they do have.

When Tessa got this information, she thought why now, as she knows the storm, and the pirate's ability to fade into the islands has previously held back Cheliax. Tessa has come to the conclusion that Cheliax must have a traitor among the pirates of the Shackles, and access to that traitor has sufficiently bolstered Cheliax's confidence that they would plan an attack. So similar to the clerks making a reasonable assumption about things, Tessa is doing the same. In both cases, the clerks and Tessa are right.

The cyclops Ghol-gan empire existed thousands of years ago in the region that is now the Shakles/Sodden Lands, and under what is now the hurricane of Abendego. The empire succumbed to evil (cannibalism, ritual sacrifice) before it ended.

Their capitol city is believed to be beneath the waves (possibly beneath the hurricane).

I'd like to run an adventure where the party explores this place.

Does a Pathfinder adventure like that exist? If not, can someone recommend another adventure I can adapt?

Ideally that adventure would be PF1E or 3.5 or 3.0 (but I'm willing to adapt from other D&D editions if necessary), and target PCs of levels 12-14. It should involve exploration of an underwater city, and that city should, ideally be creepy.

Thanks!

Hi

I'm a transmuter in a campaign that will go to level 20, and where our primary opponents are demons. I mostly polymorph and fight, but I do like to carry combat spells for situations when I don't have time to get all my buff spells up or when I can't full attack.

I have persistent spell and plan to pick up spell perfection (enemies must roll to save twice). I am debating between spell perfection (persistent spell) for disintegrate or flesh to stone. Overall, both operate similarly as single-target spells, medium range, and both hit fortitude saves.

Which one should I pick for spell perfection?

Advantages of disintegrating: Has utility outside of killing people (e.g., make a hole in a castle wall); works on undead (unlike flesh to stone), it is easy to recover equipment from a disintegrated enemy (getting equipment from someone you turned to stone is a tedious process).
Disadvantages of disintegrate: Some enemies will have so many hit points, that even after failing the save, they don't die. Disintegrate requires a ranged touch attack before the target needs to save.

I'm also open to suggestions of another transmutation spell that fits persistent spell better and falls between spell levels 6 to 7....it's just that these two seemed head-and-shoulders above the other candidates I saw.

What is the cmD of Forceful Hand when someone pushes against it to get to the caster? Assume the caster can use his caster level in place of BAB for cmD, and the hand's DEX is 10 ... which results in a cmD = cmB?

Texty text:
This spell functions as interposing hand, except that it can also pursue and bull rush one opponent you select. The forceful hand gets one bull rush attack per round. This attack does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Its CMB for bull rush checks uses your caster level in place of its base attack bonus, with a +8 bonus for its Strength score (27), and a +1 bonus for being Large. The hand always moves with the opponent to push them back as far as possible. It has no movement limit for this purpose. Directing the spell to a new target is a move action. Forceful hand prevents the opponent from moving closer to you without first succeeding on a bull rush attack, moving both the forceful hand and the target closer to you. The forceful hand can instead be directed to interpose itself, as interposing hand does.

Pieces of Eight
I am adding an artifact to my Skulls and Shackles campaign. I am sharing my plan for it here in case others have feedback, or if they want to add something like this to their game.

If you google around, someone else made a cool artifact already called Pieces of Eight. What I describe here is totally unrelated to that item. I created this artifact to provide in-game encouragement of co-operation among my players, who may be playing selfish and evil pirates.

Why Add Pieces of Eight:
This is a Besmaran artifact designed to give the campaign some more pirate-flavor. More importantly, I want an item that helps bind the team together. I’m placing no restrictions on alignment in my game, but I don’t want player vs player combat or player-vs-player thievery. The campaign offers other mechanisms to bind the players such as a shared starting experience and likely shared hatred of some NPCs. This item is one more mechanism to encourage cooperation. And unlike the former two, I describe below a way to use this to encourage co-operation for characters that enter the campaign after the first adventure.

What Is It:
The Pieces of Eight are a set of 8 silver coins that offer modest benefits when held individually by chaotic characters. If a crew of pirates acquire the whole set the power is amplified, but a lack of communication or coordination by the holders could diminish the items effectiveness.

What do they look like:
Each Pieces of Eight is a silver coin of good size that feels thick and satisfying in the palm. One side always bears skull and crossbones somewhat reminiscent of Besmara’s holy symbol. The opposite face usually appears blank. However, if it is keyed to an individual (described below) that individual sees his own likeness on this face of the coin and his name engraved in bas relief. This side appears blank to everyone else – only the keyed individual sees his likeness.

What do they do:
The Pieces of Eight can exist in three states: unkeyed, keyed, and setted. The powers vary.

Unkeyed: An unkeyed Pieces of Eight confers no penalty or bonus to its holder, although it does radiate overwhelming enchantment magic.

Keyed: When a bearer possesses a Pieces of Eight keyed to him, he gains a +1 untyped bonus on swim and climb checks if he is chaotic. If he is chaotic neutral he also gains one level’s worth of favored class bonus (e.g., a bonus hitpoint or skillpoint) and the benefits of the Cheat Death trait while he possesses a keyed pieces of eight. Characters who are not chaotic can still possess a keyed Pieces of Eight without harm, but they do not gain these benefits.

Setted: If a crew of eight individuals hold all eight keyed Pieces of Eight they gain access to divine magic. A character can receive these benefits regardless of alignment. This “setted” status can happen because the crew acquires the Pieces of Eight by their own pluck, luck or effort (which I term organically), or it can occur by Besmara’s will (which I term divine will). In my game the party will acquire them organically, but I describe both below because in the history of the item I have a story where they are acquired by divine will. The Pieces of Eight are more powerful when acquired by Divine Will.

Organically: Each holder of the Pieces of Eight selects one domain from Besmara’s portfolio (Chaos, Trickery, War, Water, Weather, Deception, Duels, Oceans, Protean, Tactics, Thievery, and Storms). He can then cast the level 1 spell from this domain with a caster level equivalent to his hit dice. He uses his charisma as the relevant ability score when casting a spell using this item. If his charisma is too low to cast that spell, then it functions at the minimum ability score to cast the spell. At levels 6-10 he can access the second level domain spell once per day, at levels 11-15 he can access the third level domain spell once per day, and at levels 16-20 he can access the level 4 domain spell once per day. At levels 16-20 he can, alternatively, forgo the use of the spells of levels 1-4 and instead cast the level 5 domain spell once per day. He does not need to make this decision until he is ready to use the item (i.e., the spells are not “memorized” in the traditional sense and the user can choose to use the level five spell in the moment provided he has not otherwise used the Pieces of Eight that day).

Divine Will: If the Pieces of Eight are “setted” by Divine Will, the Pieces of Eight operate identically to how they work when acquired organically, except all bearer’s function as character level 20 for the purposes of the divine magic, regardless of their actual character level.

How is a Pieces of Eight keyed to an individual?:
There are a few ways one can become keyed: It can be gifted, willed, or placed.

Gifted: Anyone possessing a keyed Pieces of Eight may willingly gift it to another. To gift a Pieces of Eight, the currently keyed individual must hold the Pieces of Eight at arm’s length during the full moon spring tide (this happens about once a month) so the Pieces of Eight with his likeness faces him and covers the moon from his perspective. He must then speak the name of the individual to whom he wants to gift the Pieces of Eight. This will key the Pieces of Eight to the new individual.

Willed: Anyone possessing a keyed Pieces of Eight may perform a similar procedure to the one described under “Gifted” except he holds the coin with the skulls and crossbones facing him when he speaks the name aloud. In this case, the Pieces of Eight remains keyed to the original person. However, upon this person’s death the Pieces of Eight will automatically key to the individual named during this ritual. At any spring tide with a full moon the Keyed individual may repeat this ritual with a new name to update who will gain the Pieces of Eight upon his death.

Placed: If a bearer of a Pieces of Eight dies without a named willed individual then the Pieces of Eight will be unkeyed (it can also become unkeyed as a deathwish, described below). A cleric of Besmara may cast Greater Dispel Magic (this is an alternate use of Greater Dispel Magic), succeed at a check vs. caster level 25, and touch an unkeyed Pieces of Eight and key it to a new named individual. As part of the casting, the cleric must perform the ritual for willing a Pieces of Eight described above (e.g., only during a full moon spring tide, while holding the Pieces of Eight so it blocks the full moon).

Of note, at anytime Besmara herself can adjust the keying of a Pieces of Eight by divine will and cause them to be lost or found anywhere on Golarion.

How do Pieces of Eight encourage cooperation?
In two ways...

First, two individuals cannot select the same Besmara domain of setted Pieces of Eight. To select a domain, the bearer of a Pieces of Eight holds the coin at arm’s length during a spring tide full moon so the coin covers the moon and names a domain. If two or more individuals name the same domain, neither individual gain the benefit of this domain until he can do a new ritual at the next spring tide full moon.

Second, at the moment of death of a holder of a keyed and setted Pieces of Eight, the bearer may make a deathwish to cause the bearer(s) of any other keyed Pieces of Eight to become unkeyed. The deathwish is a bit meta-gamey because I’m not defining it as a free action, standard action, immediate action, etc and the character is technically choosing after he has died. Basically, the dying player character can just choose to throw someone out of the setted crew by wanting it to be so at his moment of death.

…my hope is that selecting domains causes the setted crew to have to plan together monthly on domain selection, and if they get it wrong there is a temporary penalty. I’m hoping the deathwish option causes a bearer of a Pieces of Eight to think twice about doing harm to another bearer of a setted Pieces of Eight.

What is the in-game story/lore behind the Pieces of Eight?
The gold dragon Mengkare, who rules the island kingdom of Hermea in the Steaming Sea, set out to create a utopia for humanity that he ruled absolutely in a city he named Promise. Approximately 200 years ago, in the guise of a human wizard Lamond Breachton, he set out to find the best, brightest, wisest, and most beautiful to join his utopia.

At this time, handsome Pete was a loving trophy husband of the pirate captain Cutlass Jess. Cutlass Jess and her crew achieved modest renown and operated out of a port on Shark Island (this is shortly before the time the Sahuagin began to overrun Shark Island). Handsome Pete’s rugged handsomeness struck Mengkare as Mengkare toured Golarion, and the dragon sent a letter to invite Handsome Pete to Promise. Handsome Pete agreed and traveled to Promise. It is unknown if, at the time Handsome Pete traveled to Promise, he knew his invitation did not include his wife, Cutlass Jess, or if Handsome Pete discovered this later. Regardless, the invitation did not include Cutlass Jess. Handsome Pete came to miss Cutlass Jess, and freely left Promise to return to Shark Island and his beloved.

Mengkare set Red Mantis assassins on anyone who left Promise, including Handsome Pete. Fortunately for Handsome Pete, Cutlass Jess and her pirate crew discovered his assassination order when Cutlass Jess and her crew seized a Red Mantis ship bound from Ilizamagorti for the Shackles. Doubly fortunate, Besmara herself found Mengkare’s entire Glorious Endeavor to create a perfect human race through breeding beyond distasteful. Mengkare’s effort to kill the husband of a pirate of the Shackles’ for not staying in this so-called utopia personally offended the pirate goddess. Besmaran faithful today believe the pirate goddess secreted the Pieces of Eight aboard the same ship with the Red Mantis assassins’ orders to kill Handsome Pete, and Cutlass Jess found them.

Cutlass Jess sought to shield her husband from the Red Mantis assassins, using the warning the seized note offered her, and she turned to her crew for help. Cutlass Jess’s crew saw little profit and great risk taking on the feared assassin organization. Cutlass Jess used the Pieces of Eight found on the assassins’ ship to sweeten the deal with her crew, and offered to share them with seven of her officers. This secured the needed help to defend her husband. Cutlass Jess attributed finding the Pieces of Eight to good fortune, but the Besmaran faithful today view it as a miracle of Besmara’s hand. Regardless, the crew agreed to help Cutlass Jess ambush the Red Mantis assassins.

Cutlass Jess and her crew used the powerful magic of the Pieces of Eight: flamestrike, ice storm, and call lightning to slay the Red Mantis assassins. They then used False Vision to fool Mengkare when he scried the battlefield, and tricked the dragon into believing his assassins had killed Handsome Pete.

What became of Cutlass Jess and Handsome Pete? Unfortunately, according to the tale, a few years later Cutlass Jess lost interest in Handsome Pete and took a new lover.

What became of the Pieces of Eight? It is not known if Cutlass Jess is the first to use the Pieces of Eight, but this is the oldest story of their use. Over the next two hundred years to present day, occasionally pirate crews have uncovered the Pieces of Eight and used them to outwit and outduel opponents. Usually, these opponents come from beyond the Shackles and seek to impose their ideology on the freedom-loving pirates.

There are also a handful of cases where pirate crews with the Pieces of Eight don’t co-operate, and the Pieces of Eight fail them at a critical juncture, often resulting in the death of the bearer. For example, Bart the Betrayer, at the time known as Black Bart, saw the Pieces of Eight fail him. About thirty years ago, Bart and his crew made a good living raiding Osirion ships in the Inner Sea and then fleeing back to the Shackles. The Ruby Prince, Khemet III grew tired of this piracy, and commissioned Cheliax to construct a Ship of the Line for Osirion, Desert’s Salt, and end the piracy on its shores - starting with Black Bart. Fortunately for Bart, he and his crew held the Pieces of Eight. Bart and his crew sailed bravely to face Desert’s Salt in the open sea. However, at the sight of Desert’s Salt fear overcame Bart but his officers pushed him to take on the Ship of the Line. Bart poisoned his officers during breakfast the morning before the anticipated combat. He intended to flee from Desert’s Salt using the Pieces of Eight’s ability to conjure obscuring mists, and fog clouds, and then complete his escape with nondetection. If successful, he would survive the day and keep his ship and his life. However, all the powers of the Pieces of Eight failed him at this critical moment, and Desert’s Salt captured Bart the Betrayer. The Ruby Prince hanged him from a short rope in Sothis.

Despite these stories, most often the Pieces of Eight show up as incomplete sets, and The Pieces of Eight have not been united as a set in over three decades. Bart the Betrayer was the last known pirate to have the set.

How will I use the Pieces of Eight in my campaign?
I plan to introduce the Pieces of Eight as treasure in the first adventure. I am following the suggestion elsewhere on these message boards to insert the Dungeon Magazine adventure Salvage Operation into this adventure (very happy to crack out my old issues!). My players (likely 6 PCs) will find six of the Pieces of Eight mysteriously and without explanation already keyed to them. If a player dies, I expect his Pieces of Eight to go to a friendly NPC and the newly created PC could come with one of the missing Pieces of Eight. In this way, a new character who doesn’t have the common experiences of the existing players still has a reason to join and co-operate, and possibly a reason why he joined my player’s crew. If the game goes past the point the players have ready access to raise dead, and I don’t expect any permanent death, then I plan to have the players find the remaining Pieces of Eight as treasure if they have not done so already.

I suspect, and want, my players to believe Besmara left the Pieces of Eight for them. This won’t be the case though, and I look forward to the excitement when they realize someone else left them in their path. They can come to this discovery with divination magic or high knowledge checks about how the Pieces of Eight work, because they will need to “unlock” the powers of the Pieces of Eight with character levels which will imply that they did not receive them by Divine Will (see above). My campaign links Skulls and Shackles on the front end with Savage Tide on the backend so I don’t want to spell out how I’m linking them here as it risks a spoiler of the Savage Tide adventure path. If you pick this item up for your game, I encourage you to have them come from some mysterious (but mortal) benefactor rather than Besmara herself, because the Skulls and Shackles doesn’t feel like the Adventure Path with strong divine destiny elements.

What do the players know of the Pieces of Eight?
Anyone holding a keyed Pieces of Eight instinctively understands the bonuses it grants him and that he cannot possess more than one Pieces of Eight at a time. If he holds his Pieces of Eight and wonders how to change the image on the coin he instinctively understands how to gift and will a Pieces of Eight, and also the powers it confers upon him at that time. A player holding a keyed, but not setted, Pieces of Eight also instinctively knows the item will grow more powerful if setted. A character holding a setted Pieces of Eight knows the powers available to him, the ritual to choose his domain, and understands he has the deathwish ability as do others bearing a Pieces of Eight.

Here are some other things revealed with study:

History DC 30: To know the story of Handsome Pete and Bart the Betrayer described above.

Local 15: The Pieces of Eight are a powerful artifact of Besmara. Individually they grant a small boon, but if a team of powerful individuals brings the eight pieces together, they can access divine magic sacred to Besmara. They have not been brought together for decades.

Religion 20: The Piece of Eight are a relic created by Besmara. Besmara respects self-made pirates who obey only their own scruples; however, she knows some challenges require working together as a team. The faithful of Besmara believe she created the Pieces of Eight to encourage cooperation when needed. One who has a Pieces of Eight may freely give his piece to another person. However, at any time Besmara wishes, she can ordain specific recipients of the Pieces of Eight or cause someone carrying one to lose it.

Arcana 25: If a player makes this knowledge check while studying a Pieces of Eight, he understands keying and the powers a keyed Pieces of Eight confers. He also knows this artifact becomes more powerful when setted, but does not know the specifics. If a player holds a keyed Pieces of Eight he instinctively understands much of this information but this arcana check can succeed even if the studies Pieces of Eight is not keyed to the individual making this check.

Arcana 30: This reveals the Besmaran domain powers granted by a setted Pieces of Eight. It can be made even before the studied piece is setted.

Arcana 35: This reveals the difference in power between an organically setted Pieces of Eight vs. when they are setted by Divine Will. It is here, if the players have all eight pieces, the players could realize that someone other than Besmara left them in their path (but who!? And why!?).

How are the Pieces of Eight destroyed?
If a daemon uses a Pieces of Eight as currency to purchase a selfless gift, all Pieces of Eight lose their magical abilities and become silver coins.

Hi, is there a way to search for the most liked posts in a section of the website? For example, I am planning to start running a new adventure path and would like to see the most liked threads in that section.

Hi

I'm working up a side-trek to run for my players. It is somewhat inspired by the movie Guns of the Navaronne.

The players will need to scale a cliff to get up a hidden side of a tropical island occupied by enemy pirates (and possibly other natural/fantastic threats). They then need to quickly cross the island in dangerous territory to get to the other side and take out cannons on a high cliff. These cannons are used by enemy pirates to threaten shipping through a narrow straight. They are climbing the cliff because it gives them an approach that is not seen, but unfortunately for the PCs, it is not to close to the cannons.

I want a friendly wizard to be waiting for them at the top of the cliff who casts communal phantom steed to help them quickly cross the island and get to the site with the cannons. The wizard is level 9, so plan that the communal phantom steed spell will make 6 horses each lasting 90 minutes. The horses have a speed of 80 ft per round and can cross sandy/muddy/swampy ground easily. This is the only assistance this wizard will provide the party.

Where I need advice:
I want to treat the phantom steed ride across the island as a skill challenge, kinda like the equivalent of a motorcycle chase in Pathfinder. Please help me brainstorm things that could happen during this phantom steed ride to make for a fun and interesting skill challenge.

The players are level 5-6.

Jack

Does anyone know of a way to polymorph into a gargantuan gold dragon? I have that mini from the pathfinder battles set and I would like to see it used.

Form of the dragon 3 allows you to turn into a huge gold dragon, and I don't think there is another spell you can add to get 1 size bigger.

If I put up permancey arcane sight the incremental benefit of putting up permancey detect magic and permancey enchantment sight looks minor. Is there a good reason to spend the extra gold to get permancey detect magic or enchantment sight if you know you will get permancey arcane sight?

A level 14 druid casts greater magic fang on a level 10 wizard. The wizard then casts permancy on the greater magic fang effect. Tomorrow an enemy casts dispel magic. What is the relevant caster level for greater magic fang, 10 or 14? 10 right?

Does the caster of time stop know exactly how many rounds of actions he has to work with?Basically, does he know the number on the d4 or does the gm roll/know that?

Question: Can I choose a lower caster level than the item (provided it is sufficient to activate the spell in question) voluntarily at the moment of activation?

Context (if it matters): I received a plot-based item in an adventure that lets me do resist energy (cold or electricity only) at caster-level 19 3x per day.

We are currently level 8. I can count on 1 finger the number of times we have been attacked with cold or electricity attacks in the whole campaign. Moreover, since that attack came out of nowhere, I of course did not have the spell up, so we've benefited from the item 0 times to date.

I want to put a protection energy spell on my self at one caster-level higher than my own caster-level so that this spell effect is likely the first spell peeled off if I am hit by a dispel magic that starts with the highest caster level effect. If I do the effect at caster level 19 there is almost no chance my enemy will be able to dispel it, and thus it will not absorb the dispel magic effect, and the dispel magic spell will just progress to my next spell (which is probably actually useful).

My character just gained the glyph finding ability from the arcane savant prestige class (description pasted below). Anyone see a good way to make this a positive? I have an excellent spellcraft, I'm just worried that in the process of using glyph-finding looking for writing based traps I will expose myself to all sorts of other traps that I'm not equipped to detect. For this reason, unless I have reason to believe there are writing-based magical traps, I should just leave trap finding to the party rogue.

My gut tells me <10% of traps are writing based magical traps.

The ability...
Glyph-Finding (Ex)
At 2nd level, an arcane savant can use Spellcraft to find writing-based magical traps (including glyphs, runes, sigils, and symbols) in the same way a rogue can use Perception to search for traps.

Angelic Aspect gives you the abilities of Lesser Angelic Aspect and, among other abilities, it gives you: In addition, your natural weapons and any weapons you wield are considered good-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Greater Angelic Aspect gives you the abilities of Lesser Angelic Aspect and a slew of other abilities, but does not cross-reference the regular Angelic Aspect spell. The slew of abilities Greater Angelic Aspect gives you does NOT include making your weapons good-aligned for the purpose of damage reduction.

So it appears, RAW, Greater Angelic Aspect, does not confer the ability to over come good damage reduction.

Is this true? Was it ever corrected in an errata? I can't think of another example of a spell where the greater version did not confer all the benefits of the prior version.

Thanks!

Linky-link: https://www.aonprd.com/SpellDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Angelic%20Aspect,%20Great er

How do you pronounce "Ki" like in monk's Ki points?

Ki like in Ky in Kylo Ren?
Ki like in key, like use a key to open the door?
Ki like in Chee, like the beginning of the word cheese?
Something else?

Thanks

Here is the description of the Bracers of Sworn Vengeance:
Description
These white leather bracers have delicate elven runes etched upon them, one reading “swift defeat” and the other “vengeance.” Once per day, as an immediate action when the wearer takes hit point damage from a target, he may cry out, “Death to those who wrong me!”, swearing vengeance against the attacker. The wearer gains a +1 competence bonus on weapon attack rolls made against the target of his sworn vengeance, and deals an additional 2d6 points of damage on successful weapon attack rolls.

For the duration of the effect, the wearer takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls against any target other than his sworn enemy. These bonuses and penalties last for 24 hours or until the sworn enemy is slain or destroyed by the wearer, whichever comes first. If the wearer fails to slay the target of his oath, these bracers cannot be used again until 7 days have passed.

Question: If I'm not the player to actually knock out the target, but someone in my party kills the target, do I still need to wait the 7 days for the bracers to reactivate?

Is it possible (e.g., by a magic item crafter, or otherwise) to remove a power from a magic item?

For example, my barbarian wants to buy a +6 STR, +6 DEX, Cord of Stubborn Resolve. At L17, when he gets Tireless Rage, he would want to remove the cord of stubborn resolve power because it is driving up the cost of other powers and becomes 22,500 gp of dead-weight. Some math is shown below, but it is not really necessary to the question - which is can a power be removed (and if yes, does removing the power yield any gold back)?

Belt Before L17
36,000 gp STR +6
54,000 gp DEX +6 (36,000 gp x 50% for stacking powers)
22,500 gp Cord of Stubborn Resolve (15,000 gp x 50% for stacking powers
Total: 112,500 gp

L17 Belt with Cord of Stubborn Resolve Removed:
36,000 STR+6
54,000 DEX+6
54,000 CON+6
Total: 144,000 gp

L17 Belt with Cord of Stubborn Resolve Preserved:
36,000 STR+6
54,000 DEX+6
54,000 CON+6
22,500 gp Cord of Stubborn Resolve
Total: 166,500 gp

Hi

Is there any value to very high Use Magic Device? The highest DC I see is 25 + spell level, which would be 34 for a 9th level spell.

Is this a skill that at very high levels you can stop improving, or is there a benefit to going beyond +33?

Jack

There are a few feats (e.g., opposition research, idealize) that have a prerequisite of a specific wizard level.

My plan is to take 5 levels and then go into the arcane savant prestige class to mix things up. My thinking is that I cannot count my wizard level as wizard level + arcane savant level for the purposes of qualifying for these feats. Am I correct?

EXAMPLE:
Opposition Research

Prerequisite: You must be at least a 9th-level Wizard to select this discovery.

Benefit: Select one Wizard opposition school; preparing spells of this school now only requires one spell slot of the appropriate level instead of two, and you no longer have the –4 Spellcraft penalty for crafting items from that school.

Hi,

I'm playing a barbarian and plan to pick up the impelling disarm feat. I'd also like to get a ranseur (reach weapon) because it is good at disarming and other role-playing reasons.

Down the road, if I get the come and get me feat, and someone closes on me to attack me from 5-feet away, how do I still use the come and get me feat when my opponent is right next to me and I have a reach weapon? I was thinking about getting a spiked gauntlet...but...I believe it is a free action to switch my ranseur from 2 hands to 1 hand - free actions need to be done on my action and not my opponent's action.

I'd like a solution for this, and ideally not one where I have to end every round determining whether I have one or two hands on my ranseur as that could get tedious.

Thanks

My party complete the AP yesterday. Along the way I kept a journal. It is not beautiful prose but it is a no-nonsense record of my party's progress against a precisely maintained calendar. I share it as other DMs may find it useful.

My kids have been bugging me to play D&D for several years and I just started running Skulls and Shackles for 6 PCs:
my wife
my friend
my 5th grade boy
my 3rd grade girl
my friend's 6th grade girl
my friend's 3rd grade girl.

My 3rd grade daughter wanted to make a pixie (of course) and I'm trying to make a fair one. I want most to hang onto flight, as it is not much of a pixie without flight.

Fey
Small size
+4 DEX, +2 CHA, -2 STR
Slow speed
Fly 40' (poor manuverability)
SR 5 + character level
SLA at will: Dancing Lights, Shield
Languages: Common and Sylvan.

What do others think? It still looks a bit too good to my eye but I want other's thoughts. I made the flight a bit worse and did not want to go any worse. Shield at will and a +4 DEX looks a bit too good after the flight is in there.

Picking up the heart resulted in Serethet instantly being possessed by Hakotep. However, handling the Mask poses no such danger. Any ideas why, besides it's magic so it doesn't have to be consistent?

Looking for ideas as a DM....

In a prior session my party of L10-11 PCs was attacked by a huge blue dragon. It looked like a hard encounter but it was in the Adventure Path, and the party had the assistance of some monster allies (per the AP plot).

My group was running with 7 players that day so I also through a L10 sorcerer on the dragon's back, which allowed me to use my sorcerer on dragon mini.

The dragon/sorcerer got the jump on my players. The dragon and sorcerer killed THREE pcs, including all 3 primary spellcasters. The players killed the sorcerer.

With the sorcerer dead I had the dragon decide to run away (although it is quite possible if he stuck around we would have had a TPK). On the way he scooped up the body of the dead PC cleric and left, permanently killing that PC barring true resurrection.

Since that encounter we've played two 12 hour sessions, and the game clock has advanced a couple weeks. The PCs have not let this go. Every day they scry on the dragon - which usually fails due to SR. However, it recently worked and they saw the dragon resting in a non-descript desert cave. Hard to pinpoint but it is something.

I just threw the party a bone (or bait?) and let them find a map leading to this cave. Now they are hell bent on getting the dragon. It should go better now - they could surprise the dragon and the dragon will lose the flight advantage in a cave. But I don't want it to be boring or a push-over, as this creature has emerged as public enemy #1 for my players.

Thoughts on things I could add to a natural cave in the desert with a huge blue dragon to make it an interesting and challenging small dungeon?

I'm looking for ~4 hours of gametime here.

Can a creature with the stand still feat use it to stop the movement of another creature in gaseous form?

Stand Still (Combat)
You can stop foes that try to move past you.
Prerequisites: Combat Reflexes.
Benefit: When a foe provokes an attack of opportunity due to moving through your adjacent squares, you can make a combat maneuver check as your attack of opportunity. If successful, the enemy cannot move for the rest of his turn. An enemy can still take the rest of his action, but cannot move. This feat also applies to any creature that attempts to move from a square that is adjacent to you if such movement provokes an attack of opportunity.

Gaseous Form
School transmutation; Level alchemist 3, bard 3, magus 3, medium 3, occultist 3, psychic 3, sorcerer/wizard 3, spiritualist 3; Domain air 3; Elemental School air 3
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components S, M/DF (a bit of gauze and a wisp of smoke)
EFFECT
Range touch
Target willing corporeal creature touched
Duration 2 min./level (D)
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
DESCRIPTION
The subject and all its gear become insubstantial, misty, and translucent. Its material armor (including natural armor) becomes worthless, though its size, Dexterity, deflection bonuses, and armor bonuses from force effects still apply. The subject gains DR 10/magic and becomes immune to poison, sneak attacks, and critical hits. It can’t attack or cast spells with verbal, somatic, material, or focus components while in gaseous form. This does not rule out the use of certain spells that the subject may have prepared using the feats Silent Spell, Still Spell, and Eschew Materials. The subject also loses supernatural abilities while in gaseous form. If it has a touch spell ready to use, that spell is discharged harmlessly when the gaseous form spell takes effect.
A gaseous creature can’t run, but it can fly at a speed of 10 feet and automatically succeeds on all Fly skill checks. It can pass through small holes or narrow openings, even mere cracks, with all it was wearing or holding in its hands, as long as the spell persists. The creature is subject to the effects of wind, and it can’t enter water or other liquid. It also can’t manipulate objects or activate items, even those carried along with its gaseous form. Continuously active items remain active, though in some cases their effects may be moot.

Can a hasted character fire (std action) and reload (full round action) a heavy crossbow while hasted?

These are NPCs who have no particular feats to make them better with the heavy crossbow.

Hi,

My party is in the middle of Shifting Sands, and just finish digging into ancient libraries to learn about Hakotep I - accessing information that has been intentionally hid and apparently not accessed for 100s of years.

On the other hand, Osirion has a 17 square mile feature to the South West named the Slave Trenches of Hakotep. Admittedly the function is unknown to most/all, but they are his eponymous trenches.

How do I reconcile this situation? Was Hakotep widely known among scholars or not? If unknown, why are there huge trenches with his name? If unknown, is it just the nature of his flying pyramid that the PCs learn about which is new? Do most people call the trenches something else?

I was thinking of having them known as The Slave Trenches of Hakotep as a name that stuck, but somehow through the centuries most scholars incorrectly assume the trenches are named after the second (and unrelated) Hakotep pharaoh who is not the Sky Pharaoh, Hakotep I. But I thought there might be an actual answer and I don't need to make something up.