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Hello,

I'm coming back to Pathfinder after a hiatus, so I've been reading the core book to reacquaint myself.

One thing I find myself wondering - say you're a wizard, and you'd like to become proficient with a long sword to avoid the -4 penalty. Is there a skill or feat that lets you do this? Or would you have to take a level in a different class to gain that proficiency?

Thanks!

Hi,

Going into my fourth session tomorrow. I'm a new Pathfinder GM. We'll be starting Masks of the Living God.

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW, STOP READING ETC

Ok, the beginning of the adventure. The PCs attend a recruitment meeting at the Ranger's Lament. Egarthis gives his spiel about how awesome Razmir is, blah blah, then the drugged food and drink is served. The general idea is that the PCs are knocked unconscious, stripped of their gear, and thrown into a prison cell.

I'm thinking of skipping this bit, as I'm afraid it will cause the players to simply try to escape/start fighting at the earliest opportunity. I'm thinking the adventure might keep closer to the track - a slow, evidence-building investigation culminating in a big showdown - if I simply have the players accept admission and enter the temple of their own free will. I suppose I would have to throw in something about the priests demanding they surrender their weapons for "safekeeping".

Anyways, I'm mostly looking for some advice from GMs and players who've run this module before. How did it work out? I've prepared all sorts of awesome stuff and I'd hate if it was all wasted because the PCs decided to just start bashing heads - masked heads - at first chance.

Thanks!

Hi,

I'm considering getting "Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale" to run my players through - it seems like a logical next step after the Price of Immortalty trilogy what with it picking up at the right level and taking place in the same area of Golarion.

I'm wondering though: Pathfinder modules don't give monster stat blocks, but instead refer you to the appropriate Bestiary page. What then of the older modules like Bloodsworn Vale? Since they were released prior to the Bestiary, do they actually give you full stat blocks for monsters? Or do they refer to the Other Guy's monster books?

Thanks!

Player is asking me whether the horse summoned by a Mount spell needs food and water, and whether it feels fear in battle.

I said yes. I figure if the horse had special properties, it would say so. He isn't buying it, as it's a "magic horse".

I reckon that since it's not spelled out in the rules it's a judgement call, but I figured I'd ask how you guys play it.

Hello,

During our session tonight a player suggested attacking skeletons with a sheathed sword in order to negate the damage resistance. I allowed it, but now I think I shouldn't have. Why would a sword do the same damage sheathed and unsheathed? It also seems to make it far too easy to get around not having a bludgeoning weapon. Are there any rules that deal with this? In retrospect I feel I should have allowed it, but made the weapon deal only half damage, or maybe even 1d2. Any thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

Hello,

Just finished running my second session of a new campaign. Had one player who kept complaining about the rule that states you incur a -4 penalty to hit when firing at an enemy adjacent to an ally. He argued that if a bad guy has his back to you - ie, your ally is on the other side of your target - you shouldn't get the penalty. Later on, he argued that since the wizard was casting disrupt undead at an undead adjacent to the fighter, he shouldn't get the -4 because disrupt undead can't hurt the fighter, so why would the wizard need to be extra careful with his aim?

I tried to explain this by saying that the penalty is meant to not only represent the extra care taken to miss an ally, but also the fact that a creature engaged in melee is darting about and probably a hard target - naturally he didn't buy it.

So I guess I'm frustrated and just looking for some advice on how to handle this sort of thing. How do you generally deal with players who complain about rules they don't like (there were others I'm not mentioning - other rules he complained about, that is.)

Incidentally, I did point out to him that the -4 applied to the PCs enemies as well, so it works both ways. It just so happens that in tonight's session all of their foes only had melee attacks, so the -4 didn't factor in for them, only against them. Even after this point, which I felt was pretty ironclad, he just scoffed.

I designed an evil cleric NPC today for possible future use in my campaign. I made him a follower of Asmodeus, and chose Fire and Magic as his domains.

The Fire domain gives him the hand of the acolyte ability, which allows him to throw a melee weapon up to 30 feet. The rules say to treat this as a ranged attack with a thrown weapon. This cleric also has the Point Blank Shot feat, which grants +1 to hit and damage for ranged attacks within 30 feet. Would this NPC get to use the +1 from Point Blank Shot with his hand of the acolyte?

Hi,

Currently running the players through the Price of Immortality trilogy. I figure they'll be somewhere around level 6 afterward, which is about right for From Shore to Sea. However, the Price of Immortality takes place pretty much exclusively in the Nirmathas/Lake Encarthan area, while From Shore to Sea is set up to take place in Cheliax.

Any suggestions on how to get the PCs to Cheliax? It's a pretty long way. I know I can always move the setting, but since it's pretty clearly a seaside adventure, I don't think it would make sense to try to make it take place around Nirmathas. I also realize that I don't have to stick to by-the-book Golarion and could easily just say "after four days travel, you arrive in Cheliax," or even, "in MY Golarion, Nirmathas is pretty close to the ocean!", but that just seems wrong. It offends my sense of canonical rectitude.

So I thought I'd ask for some advice. Thanks in advance!

Can you move half your speed, make an attack, then move the remainder?

Hi,

I'm one session into a new Pathfinder campaign, and have decided that I had better use the encumbrance rules in order to avoid absurd situations. I sent out a group e-mail to the players to let them know. I'm getting some pushback from one player, who essentially thinks it's a bad idea because of the bookkeeping.

I'm looking for some input about this. Do you guys use encumbrance rules as written? Would it be ok to maybe compromise use load limits but not the extra check and DEX penalties?

Hi,

Questions, questions, always questions...

1) Was running some practice battles tonight. My friend was using his elven wizard, who likes to use a shortbow. He was wondering whether he could use a shortbow and cast spells. I said probably not, since the shortbow requires two hands. Would he be able to hold the shortbow in one hand to free up a hand for dramatic wizardly gesturing? If so, would "relaxing" from the two-handed ready position cost a move action, and would resuming from the relaxed position back to a two-handed ready position cost a move action as well?

2) To cast Sleep, you select an origin point for the 10 foot radius burst. Does the caster have to be able to see this point?

3) Say Valeros the Unfortunate has an enemy on either side. These two enemies are flanking him and get +2 to hit. If a third enemy moves adjacent to him, does he also get the flanking bonus, even though he isn't exactly opposite an ally?

Is this correct:

I am a first level wizard. I level up. I decide to take my second level in fIghter. I get 10 (+/-CON) hit points (instead of rolling d10.) I get a combat feat like a first level fighter. I get all the weapon and armor proficiencies of a first level fighter.

Thanks!

Hello,

Pretty basic question here: just how much conversion work, if any, is necessary to run a Paizo 3.5 module with the Pathfinder rules? Specifically, I'm thinking of trying out Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale.

Hello,

I'm new to Pathfinder, having only just run my first session a few nights ago. I'm using Golarion as my campaign setting, as it seems like an interesting and well fleshed out world.

Thing is, I don't own the Inner Sea World Guide yet, and I've never read any Pathfinder fiction. My knowledge of Golarion is comprised of what I've learned from the two modules I've read and tidbits picked up on the Pathfinder wiki.

One of the players is an Elf wizard. He found a type of armor called haramaki online (I guess it's in the Ultimate Combat book, which I don't own). He wants to know if he can either buy it or become skilled in crafting armor so he can make his own.

I assume this is eastern armor from Tian Xia? I figure this sort of thing must be hard to come by in Avistan, and the idea of crafting it seems a bit weird, as his character is an elf from Nirmathas.

What say you, grizzled veterans of Pathfinder?

Hello again,

Ran my first game of Pathfinder last night, using the Crypt of the Everflame module. It was lots of fun, if a bit overwhelming at times. I do have a few questions based on situations that occurred during the session.

1) The party's wizard was using Disrupt undead to
attack skeletons from range. The spell says to make a ranged touch attack. Are these sorts of spell attacks subject to the cover rule (+4 target AC if line of sight goes through obstacle or creature)?

2) Are they subject to the -4 attack roll penalty when firing at targets engaged in melee with an ally?

3) Does reloading a shortbow require an action?

4) Any tips on keeping track of which pawn/mini corresponds to which creature for purposes if tracking hp?

That's all I can think of right now. All in all things went smoothly. The PCs were very cautious and searched for traps at every opportunity (this served them well on one particular occasion which I won't go into in case anyone reading this plans on playing this module.) I prepared pretty thoroughly, reading the whole module
twice and even adding some of my own text. It appears to be a straightforward adventure to run.

I ordered the sequel, Masks of the Living God, and have read through half of it. I can tell this will be more challenging to GM, as it's far more open-ended. Anyone who has
run this module and would like to offer their thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

Thanks to everyone!

1) Page 68, Core Rules: "The rogue's attack deals extra damage anytime her target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC or when the rogue flanks her target."

Does this mean that every time a rogue has flanking - ie., has an ally on the opposite side of the opponent - he gets the extra 1d6 damage?

2) Say a rogue has successfully used Stealth to hide behind a corner during a combat. On his turn, he moves out of concealment and attacks an opponent. Does the rogue need to make another stealh check to approach unnoticed? And if he does approach unnoticed, does he get the extra 1d6 sneak attack damage?

Hello,

I'm running my first game of Pathfinder Saturday. I've GMd in the past, but it's been many years and this will be the first time I've run a ttrpg using gridded out combat in which position is tracked, etc.

I have only the beginner box right now, but I have printed up the full combat rules and was planning on using those; however I was reading a thread where the overarching opinion was that AoO rules slow down combat and that it flows faster without them. So I'm just looking for opinions from experienced players and GMs on whether I ought to include them in my first game.

Thanks!

First let me say thanks. I've been posting lots of questions lately and have always received patient and courteous answers.

The Sarenrae Cleric ability Rebuke Death says:

"when you use rebuke death, touch a dying ally. You heal the ally 1d4+1/2 cleric level hp. Activating rebuke death is a standard action."

Is "activating" the same as "using"? In other words, can the cleric activate rebuke death and touch his ally all in the same action? Or must you spend an action to activate it, then wait until your next turn to touch your ally?

Thanks!

I know two-weapon fighting isn't in the beginner box, but this is such a basic question that I thought this would be a good place to post it.

When fighting with two weapons, you get one extra attack - ie., you get to attack with the second weapon. Are both attacks included in a single standard action, or must you spend the standard and move?

Hello,

I'm just getting into the game after an RPG layoff. I purchased the beginner box and the Crypt of the Everflame module, which I plan on using as my group's introductory adventure. The Everflame module looks great because the monster stat blocks are comprehensive, and the text does a nice job assisting a new GM.

I plan on following it up with Masks of the Living God, to create a sense of continuity. My question is: will Masks lend itself to a GM who only has the Beginner Box? Or will the module assume I have access to the Bestiary?

Thanks!

Hello all. Two questions:

1) To cast a spell from a scroll, does a wizard or cleric still have to be the appropriate level? In other words, can a first level PC cast a second level spell from a scroll?

2) If the PCs successfully ambush an enemy, ie., the enemy's perception check falls short of the DC set by their sneak checks, do the PCs get to attack the enemy's lower flat-footed AC?

Thanks!

Hello,

Just picked up the BB. I played basic D&D back in high school and have recently been (re)bitten by the RPG bug. I've read both the player and GM book and have a few questions.

1) Rogue sneak attack. The rules say that you get the sneak attack damage bonus if your opponent "hasn't acted yet in combat." Does this apply in every combat round? Say my rogue gets the best initiative roll and so acts first in each round. Do I get the +d6 damage every time I attack? Or is it just the first time?

2) Different classes get to use different weapons. However you can use a weapon that isn't sanctioned, only with a -4 penalty. Does this apply to armor? Can a rogue wear splint mail and simply incur some penalty?

Thanks for your help. I'm looking forward to trying out the game. I ordered Crypt of the Everflame from this website and plan on using it for the first adventure. Can anyone tell me about Paizo's "non-mint" adventure books? I ordered on of these as apparently there are no more new copies of that adventure. Does "non-mint" just mean used?

Thanks,

Steve