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My Ranger jumped enthusiastically in a pool of slime or acid (in my defense: it looked like a pile of gold) and all my items ended up taking 28 points of damage. I want to figure out what can still be salvaged.

I'm aware of the Mending and Make Whole spells, but it's not entirely clear to me what can repaired and how. Here's how I understand it:

* All mundane items are destroyed, except for my Masterwork Breastplate, which is broken.
* Mundane items that are destroyed cannot be repaired, so they are permanently lost.
* Most magic items are destroyed, except armor and +2 and +3 weapons because they get +10 HP per +1 (I have two greataxes +1 bane, one of them large, so unusable to me).
* The physical aspect of most destroyed magic items can be repaired, but restoring the magical abilities has additional requirements as mentioned in Make Whole.
* Magic items that are only broken (I think that's only my collection of +3 weapons) retain their magical properties.
* Potions and wands are lost.

Is this correct?

Is there a way to restore the magical function of magic items where the caster doesn't meet the requirements for Make Whole? Or should we wait until we do meet those requirements?

Are there any other items that could have survived 28 points of damage, other than armor and magic weapons?

My Bard reached level 5! Yay! Only I have no idea what feat to pick.

My Bard is an extreme talky Bard. Or actually not a bard, but a politician. Words are his weapon, or I'd like them to be, and one time, I managed to stall half of our attackers by talking to them while the rest of the group mopped up the rest of the attackers (I was tied to a tree by my friends; definitely my finest hour).

We're playing Kingmaker, and with his political ambition and crazy high Charisma, my Bard is the ruler of our little kingdom. The rest of the group are a Fighter (just took a level of Cavalier, I think), a Paladin with crazy high charisma and diplomacy (though his roleplaying tends to lead to intimidate rolls rather than diplomacy rolls), and a travel domain cleric archer (unusual build, but remarkably effective with his high speed, though he sucks at channeling). So I'm also the only arcane caster in the group, which is going reasonably well. With Strength 14 I don't suck completely at melee, but with my light armour I tend to go down way too fast, so I try to stay away from the front lines these days.

The build started out inspired by Treantmonk's Controller Bard, but I deviated from that plan because some things didn't work out:

I wanted to go for Dazzling Display to intimidate all enemies at once, only unable to take Weapon Focus at level 1, that meant I could get Dazzling Display at level 5 at the earliest. I took Lingering Performance at level 1 instead, which is certainly a nice feat to have, but hardly essential or character defining.

Because we had plenty of time and nowhere to buy magic items, I took Craft Wondrous Item at level 3 instead of Weapon Focus (which, as feat tax, is not very appealing by itself). I may have thought the Blistering Invective spell would be a good replacement for Dazzling Display, only I think we're not using that book (which sucks; it's the most fantastic spell).

So if I now finally go for Weapon Focus, I can have Dazzling Display at level 7, but at level 8 I get the bardic performance Dirge of Doom, which does the same thing but better. So maybe I need something else. Besides, I want to take Leadership at level 7 (Just because. I'm already a leader, so I need followers).

So now I've got this hole at level 5.

Some ideas from Treantmonk's guide:
Exotic Weapon: Net - I actually have a net, but I rarely use it; its range of 10 ft, which is useless against opponent with reach. Also, the description sounds like nets are trivial to destroy with regular damage.
Combat Expertise (and then on to improved trip) - Bonus AC but even less likely to contribute anything in melee. Not sure if that's of any use to me. Also, I hear bad things about tripping.
Intimidating Prowess - actually a social feat that makes use of my Strength 14. But it adds up to only a +2, which doesn't seem worth it.

Another option would be to continue in the magic item creation direction, like Craft Magic Arms and Armor? Only despite owning a big kingdom, we don't actually have a lot of personal funds for item creation (I've created a few cloaks and stat boost items so far), and we don't want to loot the treasury. But magic item creation does seem feasible for a Bard.

So does anyone have any interesting ideas for feats for a Bard? Doing something fun with my high social skills would be great. Doesn't have to be combat oriented, but could be. I suppose something that makes my Strength 14 less pointless would be nice. Preferably Core or APG, maybe UM (I keep forgetting if we're using that). Something interesting and unique is better than a small bonus on something I rarely use. Something suitable for a ruler or noble would be particularly nice.

Any ideas?

Is it possible for a level 3 Ranger to start training an animal and then, upon reaching level 4, turn it into his Animal Companion?

An obvious obstacle here may be that Bestiary stats may differ from AC stats.

Some more context: in a campaign, my ranger 3/barbarian 1 found a geier (giant vulture) egg. The GM informed me that I would be able to use it as Animal Companion. I've been carrying it around and keeping it warm ever since. No idea how long before the egg hatches, but considering the speed at which we raced through the first couple of levels (at most 2 weeks from level 1 to 4), I assumed it'd hatch when I hit the appropriate level.

However, having finished a major milestone, we're suddenly facing a year of downtime, and I'm not ranger level 4 yet. Will the egg take more than a year to hatch? That seems unlikely. But if it hatches, I can't take it as AC yet. But a year of downtime would be great for training it. But is that of any use if I'll just turn it into an AC later?

I'm currently playing a Ranger and considering taking the Infiltrator archetype. Infiltrator loses Favored Terrain though, and I'm trying to understand what I'm really giving up here.

The bonus are nice. Not killer, but a Stealth bonus won't hurt, Initiative is nice. (Perception is overkill for me, because it is already sky high.) But it's extremely circumstantial. We happen to be playing a desert campaign, so desert sounds like an obvious choice for favored terrain, except that most of our encounters take place in or around a semi-abandoned town on a hill in the desert. Is that urban, hill or desert? And we're about to explore the basement of a temple. Is that urban or underground? Can a place count as multiple terrains? Am I completely subjected to the whim of the GM here?

Infiltrator at least lets me decide when it works, even if it's only for a limited time per day.

In a discussion, I noticed people discussing farms as if you could have only one farm per hex. This makes a lot of sense, but I notice it's not what the rules actually say: Farm is listed with a *, which means it can be combined with other improvements, just like roads, canals, aquaducts, etc can. So can it only combine with non-farms then? Nowhere in the rules does it specify that, but Watchtower, which also has a *, explicitly states: "A Watchtower cannot share a hex with a Fort or another Watchtower." The farm does not include that limitation.

So according to the RAW, you can have multiple farms per hex. And I think that means there's no limit to the number of farms per hex. This sounds broken.

Besides, farms are big things. They need lots of space. Why should you be able to combine a farm with a mine, or a farm with a quarry, but not a mine with a quarry?

Is it safe to assume that the * shouldn't be there? Same with Fisheries?

Also, what do Highways do? They cost double what roads cost, but don't seem to add any benefit.

Suppose you're fighting a large, scary monster with lots of scary attacks, can you throw a net at it to buy time? According to the description of Net:

An entangled creature can escape with a DC 20 Escape Artist check (a full-round action). The net has 5 hit points and can be burst with a DC 25 Strength check (also a full-round action).

So you can get out with a full round action, (and let's assume our monster has no problem passing that Strength check). If it takes a full round action, that's an excellent deal for a party that needs a few rounds to buff at the start of combat. One PC sacrifices his action to waste one full round of the monster.

But can the monster get out faster than that? It says the Net has 5 HP. Could it use on of its many attacks to rip the net to pieces and the rest to rip one of us to pieces? If that's possible, then the net isn't so useful. (Also because you already get an attack of opportunity when you throw it.)

While I love Treantmonk's Ranger Guide, it was made with only Core. I've been looking for more up to date advice on switch-hitters, and couldn't find any, so I decided to search through the list of feats for anything non-core that's suitable for switch-hitters.

Here's what I found so far (with the book it's from). Not all of them may be good, but if they suck for a switch-hitter, they probably suck for anyone. I've written down my thoughts on them and would love other opinions.

Opening Volley (UC): This has got to be the ultimate switch-hitter feat. Your ranged attack gives you a bonus on your next melee attack. No idea who would use this other than a switch-hitter. Of course you're only going to get this bonus once in most combats. Unless you've got a back up ranged weapon.

Furious Focus (APG): Makes your first Power Attack easier, which is always nice. You're all about doing damage, after all.

Ammo Drop (HoG): The advantage of the sling, on top of it being ridiculously cheap, is that you get to add your Strength bonus to damage, which makes it an excellent backup weapon for any switch-hitter, and a very likely starting weapon for a 1st level switch hitter. What I didn't know until I saw this feat, is that apparently it takes more time to reload a sling than it does to reload a bow. This advantage changes that. Well, not entirely; apparently you'd also need Juggle Load (HoG) to really reload as fast as a bow. Worth it for a crappy beginner's weapon? Maybe not. Although you do get to add your Strength, and if your Strength is variable (rage, spells, str boosting item you just acquired), that could make a sling more damaging than your composite bow.

Dazing Assault (APG): Not switch-hitter specific, but dazing people is nice, and this builds on a feat you already have. Melee only, though. Feats that work both ranged and melee are better.

Stunning Assault (APG): If dazing is cool, Stunning is even better.

Pushing Assault (APG): Builds on Power Attack. Pushes the target away, which might help to disengage, so you can switch to ranged again, so you can get the bonus from Opening Volley more than once per combat. Is that really worth it? No idea, but it might be worth consideration. And you can still do other tactical stuff by pushing your opponents around.

Focused Shot (APG): Makes me wonder if I should have taken higher Int, but that would make the switch-hitter a bit too MAD. This feat builds on Precise Shot, which is one of the archery feats that we skip, but we can take this as archery style feat, which means we get to ignore that prerequisite. So if you happen to have high Int, this might be a decent choice.

Shield of Swings (APG): You're sometimes a bit short on AC for a true front line fighter, so +4 AC is definitely nice, but sacrificing half your damage? Aren't we about doing tons of damage? Still, when your HP gets low and you can't withdraw, this could be a life saver.

Devastating Strike (UC): Builds on Vital Strike which Treantmonk recommended, but many here think is a bit of a trap. Works both melee and ranged. Could be nice if you use Vital Strike a lot, but is particularly nice if you also have Improved Vital Strike.

Sliding Axe Throw (DoG): Throwing axes? That wasn't our plan. But you get your Strength bonus, and a ranged trip is certainly nice.

Death or Glory (UC): If you really need that finishing blow now, and don't care what happens if you fail. Risky choice, but builds on Power Attack. Melee only.

Desperate Battler (ISWG): You're not a tank, so you shouldn't really be in melee on your own. But you're mobile, and as the group's scout, stuff like that can happen. Melee only, though.

Stabbing Shot (APG): Aren't you supposed to be Aragorn rather than Legolas? This is totally something Legolas does all the time in the movie, but I thought we'd agreed you'd have a sword in your hand by now. This feat is not you, cool though it may seem.

Monkey Lunge (Sargava): If you're going to take Lunge, this makes it seemingly better. But not really; it takes a standard action, which means you can't attack, which means this is only for attack of opportunity monsters.

Reckless Aim (BoF): Man, if only this was a combat style feat. An extra to hit bonus to offset the penalties from Rapid Shot and Deadly Aim would certainly be nice, but alas, we'd have to take feats we intend to skip, so this is not for us.

That's everything that came to mind, ordered roughly from good to "looks nice but isn't". It's a quick write-up, so I must have missed a lot, and I'm sure others have better insights.

I'm trying to figure out if I want some archetypes for my Ranger. My Ranger is actually not a ranger yet, because I started with a level of Barbarian for the extra move (the HP and the rage doesn't suck either), and I'm still level 1. (I'm not actually sure if that level of Barbarian was a good idea; they look like they have synergy, but Rangers get plenty of speed boosting spells later on.)

I'm limited to Core and APG.

My Ranger-to-be is a level 1 half elf Barbarian switch-hitter. Str 18, Dex 15, Con 14, Wis 14. Perception accidentally went through the roof because I decided to put the half-elf skill focus on it. Backgroundwise, I noticed somewhere that half-elves born from wild-elves from the Mwangi expanse are called "wildborn", so if that's a real thing in Golarion, I'll probably go with that. It sounds very appropriate to my layman's ears.

Looking for potential archetypes, the ones that appeal most to me are the Infiltrator, the Skirmisher, and the Urban Ranger. Actually also the Guide, but I know I'll probably be facing Gnolls, and Guide doesn't work with Infiltrator. Although my group lacks a rogue, Urban Ranger doesn't sound appropriate to the character. So are Infiltrator and Skirmisher any good? Are there any other archetypes I should look at?

Infiltrator sounds appropriate. I'd already considered the background that my character had been captured by and escaped from Gnolls, so knowing a gnolls up close sounds suitable. Also, Darkvision and AC +2 don't suck at all. And I'm giving up Favoured Terrain which I'm not terribly sure about.

Skirmisher sounds really cool. I would be giving up spells, which of course hurts, particularly at higher levels, but some of those tricks are pretty awesome:

Deft Stand: I can't believe how many fights with wolves in Kingmaker would have been a lot easier if I'd been able to stand up safely.

Surprise shift and Chameleon Step would do wonders for my mobility. Not sure how important mobility really is, but I really do like abilities like these. I'm not sure if it's worth giving up spells for, though.

Is it better to stick to a basic ranger? Are there other archetypes I should be looking at?

My Bard just turned level 3, and I need to pick a feat. The shortlist contains 3 very different feats: (edit: there's actually 4 feats in the running now)

Combat Casting is immediately useful. I'm the party's arcane caster (in a Kingmaker campaign, which means few encounters per day, which means few spells per day isn't a big problem), but I also have a longsword and shield (just like our fighter and our paladin), so I could technically assist in melee. My AC isn't great though, and I've had a few times when an enemy focused his attacks on me and I went down. The ability to cast spells while in melee is definitely useful, but it's still risky, and I'd rather stay out of melee whenever possible. (I suck at ranged, though.) It feels like I'm investing in something I'd better avoid altogether.

Craft Wondrous Item is always cool, and I'll probably max out my spellcraft anyway. And in Kingmaker, I expect we'll have plenty of downtime to create stuff. Just not right now. At the moment, we're busy exploring, and we're utterly broke (all those animals and monsters we encounter don't have much loot), so I can't use this right away. Maybe I should pick it at level 5 instead of level 3. (Level 7 is definitely going to be Leadership.)

Eldritch Heritage: Imperious bloodline seems to be the only Eldritch Heritage I meet the requirements for. EH requires that I have Skill Focus in the skill related to the bloodline, and it just so happens that I have Performance: Oratory as my main performance skill, and due to the Focused Study alternate racial ability, I've got Skill Focus on it. And fluff-wise, it's absolutely perfect for my Bard: he's a Bastard of Rogarvia (campaign trait), which means I'm related to a mysteriously vanished royal house. Also, my Bard isn't really the music type, but a politician; words are his primary weapon. The Imperious bloodline fits this all perfectly. But is it actually any good?

The first ability from the Imperious Bloodline looks very iffy. I get a bunch of class skills that are already class skills for me. And on very specific uses, I get a hefty bonus. But how often will I be using those skills for that?

The later abilities sound more useful. But is this good enough?

There's actually a 4th feat that I was also considering in the past, and my write up of Combat Casting made me think of it again: Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Net. That might help my usefulness in combat, but I'm not sure just how effective a net will be.

I'm a player in a Kingmaker campaign (currently at level 2) and I'm not looking for spoilers.

However, from what my GM tells me, there seems to be an inconsistency in Kingmaker. The player's guide says that when you take the Bastard campaign trait, you could be an illegitimate descendent of the Rogarvians, and thus have Rogarvian blood. But my GM tells me that everybody with Rogarvian blood vanished, puff of smoke style. And apparently it had to do with having Rogarvian blood. As he understands it, being a bastard of the house Rogarvia means you vanished in a puff of smoke and can't exist anymore.

So is the player's guide wrong? Is my GM wrong? Is there anything in later books that makes a Rogarvian bastard make sense?

Note that I don't want to hear any spoilers. I just want to know:

* Is it possible to be a Rogarvian bastard?
* Is there any source that I can point my GM to that explains more about this?

Also, is there any more info on the house Rogarvia? Some list of names, rulers, noteworthy family members, etc? I'd like to have some material to work out my background story. Should I just make it up, or is there anything official? Is there anything official that's accessible to players? Again, I don't want any spoilers.

I've been thinking about speed lately. Actually I started by thinking about playing a Ranger switch-hitter, then maybe a Dwarf Ranger, and then I realized that I didn't want to play a slow Ranger. Although wearing medium armor is going to make you slow anyway.

But of course there are ways to increase your speed, aren't there? Barbarian and Monk get a bonus, there's spells like Longstrider, and even the Fleet feat. And probably a lot that I've missed.

So how viable are these?

I've noticed that Fleet isn't very good. Only 5 feet extra, but with a maximum of light armor. Nice for a rogue perhaps, but not really for a Dwarf Ranger, or anyone else who can wear medium armor.

Monk's speed boost takes a few levels before you get it, and you lose it when you wear any armor at all, so that's useless.

Barbarian looks great, however. You get the speed boost at level 1, and it works with medium armor. So a Dwarf Ranger x/Barbarian 1 could be running around at 30 feet in medium armor, which is pretty cool. Still, it costs you an entire level of Ranger. Still, Barbarian doesn't look like the worst match for a Ranger.

Longstrider is a level 1 Ranger spell. I'd have to wait until I'm level 4 before I can use it, and it lasts only a limited time, but it's probably the cheapest speed boost.

There's also the Cleric Travel domain, which gives +10 extra speed with no restrictions, as well as the ability to ignore difficult terrain, and of course all the stuff you get as a cleric, like spells. (How do Cleric spells work if you also get Ranger spells later on? Do you just get them both, double the number of spells per day, and double the bonus for high Wisdom?)

Of course the question remains whether that extra speed is really worth all that trouble.

So what do you think? If you really want that extra speed as a Ranger, which is the best approach?

Did I miss anything? (I'm pretty sure I did.)

And is it worth it at all, to be running around at 30 feet in medium armor? It certainly helps to explore faster in a Kingmaker campaign, and for a switch-hitter, I think some melee maneuverability is quite useful, but maybe I'm overestimating the importance of speed.

I realize I've got a surprising amount of trouble making up my mind here. My Wizard just reached level 5, and I can take a feat. But which one? There are a lot of interesting ones, but nothing that really jumps out as the "take me now!" feat.

I'm a Conjurer, Teleportation subschool, specializing in battlefield control. Background-wise, it'd make sense if I summoned lots of Devils. I don't have Summon Monster I (probably because it has no devils for me to summon), but I do have Summon Monster II. I've got an insane +13 on initiative.

My wizard is not actually lawful evil, just neutral, but he grew up in a lawful-evil environment and only recently left. He didn't object so much to the devil summoning itself, but he hates the tyranny and the decadence of his former masters.

Our group consists of a 2-H Fighter who's planning to focus on crits, a Tiefling reach Fighter with a glaive, an archery Ranger, a Monk (who's often absent), and a Druid with a big ape.

Were using Core, APG and UM.

Feats so far: Improved Initiative and Craft Wondrous Items.

When I get to level 7, I'm going to take Improved Familiar, to get an Imp. I believe that's still legal when you're neutral, right?

But what to take right now, at level 5? Some ideas:

Spell Focus (Conjuration) - increased DC for many of my battlefield control spells, and is prereq for augmented summoning. But so far I haven't actually summoned all that much yet.

Metamagic -- I already have a Rod of Extend Spell which I love, and I think it's way too early for Quicken Spell or Dazing Spell to be useful.

Item Creation -- I don't know what more I need beyond scrolls and wondrous items. Rods? I only need a few and I'll just buy them when I get there. Unless the GM wants to restrict my access to them, of course. Then being able to make my own is a nice workaround.

Combat Casting -- I don't really plan to be in melee at all. Plenty of meleeers to hide behind. Although I do have a tendency to be a bit too much to the front (for a better view of the battlefield to get that first vital spell in), but I use my Shift ability to move to the center of the group as soon as possible.

Defensive Combat Training -- suggested by Treantmonk, but I can always Shift out of any grapple. Shouldn't I be focusing on offense (well, control) rather than defense?

Spell Penetration -- No doubt useful eventually, but is this something to take right now? We haven't encountered anything with spell resistance yet.

Preferred Spell -- Well, first I'd have to take Heighten Spell, but aside from that, I have no idea which spell should be my preferred spell. I suppose spontaneously summoning devils would be cool, but it's only going to work for one specific summon spell. Later on I may want to summon more powerful monsters.

Spell Specialization -- Again, no idea which would be my favourite spell for this. Does this +2 also count for DCs? Also, I'd need Spell Focus first, so it's going to have to be a Conjuration spell, probably.

Toughness -- I don't intend to get hit, but you never know what happens. Last session I got sneak attacked and nearly went down. I had 23 HP at level 4, and a +1 Con modifier. Do I really need something defensive rather than something offensive?

After writing all of this down, Spell Focus (Conjuration) is starting to look like the best option. Still, if I take a feat just for the prerequisite, it's going to be until level 9 before I can finally take the feat I'm taking it for. Because Imp at level 7.

So I'm hoping someone here has some interesting insights or new suggestions I haven't considered yet.

I've got a Bard in a Kingmaker campaign, and we just leveled up to level 2. My plan was simple: I already have Skill Focus(Perform: Oratory), mostly because I envision my bard not as a musical type, but as a politician whose words are his weapon. I was planning to use Versatile Performance on Perform: Oratory to boost my diplomacy and sense motive sky high.

However, having played a couple of sessions, I find myself wondering just how much diplomacy we're really going to see in this game. I'm wondering if skills like intimidate and maybe handle animal might be more appropriate at early levels, which would mean I should focus on Perform: Percussion (or maybe some other skills entirely). But then my Skill Focus would be practically wasted until I reach level 6 for my second Versatile Performance. My Skill Focus comes from the Focused Study alternate racial trait, which would give me another Skill Focus at level 8.

So how bad of an idea is it really to ruin my build to adapt my character to what the campaign seems to be about? On one hand it seems too stubborn to stick to my original plans in the face of a campaign where these skills don't seem to get a lot of use at low levels, on the other hand it seems foolish to waste my skill focus by suddenly working on a different perform skill.

Does anyone have any useful opinions or wise words for me?

To create magic items, you need magic supplies worth half the base price of the item. What they are is unspecified. I mean, it makes sense that you need a cloak to make a cloak of resistance, and a stick to make a wand, but that's never going to add up to hundreds or thousands of gp.

Technically, the RAW sounds like you just need a pile of money, and as soon as you start crafting, *poof!* it disappears and you're now working on that wand or cloak. But that seems silly.

Of course when you're in a city, it doesn't matter much. A quick visit to Ye Olde Magick Shoppe is easily assumed. But what if you're trekking through the wilderness or deep in some dungeon, you've got a ton of loot, and you want to do something productive with it. Can you use it to craft, or do you need to hang on to it until you reach a city? In some campaigns, you could be several levels further before you enter the civilized world again. Can you use just any random stuff you find as magic supplies? Are all my wands made out of solid gold?

I've recently come to realize I may have ignored some limitations to how easy it is to cast spells. In my defense, this stuff is spread out all over the book, in feats, classes, the magic chapter, etc. I'm trying to get it all in one place, so I can finally understand it all.

In the past, I never played many spellcasters (in fact, I never played much D&D), but currently I'm in three campaigns (two PF, one 3.5), and I've been playing a 3.5 Druid for a while, and have recently started playing a PF Wizard and a Bard. So I figured: maybe it's time I got a better handle on the complexities of spellcasting. And my main issue is: how much time does it take, apart from the standard action (or whatever) to cast the spell itself?

I think that in all my groups we may have a tendency to ignore the time it takes to draw a weapon or switch to a different weapon, so I guess it's fair to do the same for spellcasting, but spellcasting is already quite powerful and flexible, and maybe this is actually an important limitation to it. I don't know. I'm just trying to understand it.

Casting spells with a somatic component (which I'd always ignored up to now) requires a free hand. I suppose that means that my Bard will have trouble casting spells in combat if he's also wielding a sword and shield. So it takes a move action to sheathe the sword, a standard action to cast the spell, and then he can't draw his sword anymore, unless he takes Quick Draw (suddenly I understand why that feat is useful).

The Bard could drop his sword as a free action, cast the spell as a standard action, then pick up the sword from the floor as a move action. Is that correct? So dropping it is better than sheathing it.

Still, dropping a sword feels wrong if you intent to use it again later that round. Assuming he's got a shield on his arm instead of a center grip shield, could he pass the sword to his shield hand to hold it, then cast the spell, and then take it in his sword hand again? It makes more sense to me than dropping it, but there's nothing in the table of combat actions that sounds like this.

For my Wizard it's different. He doesn't fight, so he has his hands free to cast all the spells he wants. Only, some of his spells may be on scrolls, and he may want to use a metamagic rod.

When I first noticed metamagic rods, I thought they were ridiculously overpowered: they're pretty cheap, don't require a feat, and most importantly: they don't increase the level of the spell slot. I now realize what their main limitation is: you need to hold that rod, and you've got only two hands. So you can use only one rod for a spell with a somatic component, and two for a spell without somatic components. Is that correct?

Can I draw a rod the same way I'd draw a weapon (during a move)? Would Quick Draw help? And what about drawing wands and scrolls? Is that a move action too? Does Quick Draw help? Does it matter where I store them?

If I understand correctly, getting something from your backpack is only a move action. Is that correct? It sounds way too fast; wouldn't it involve taking off the backpack, opening it, getting something out, closing it, and putting it on again? I'm counting 5 move actions here. Or maybe a full round action.

A Handy Haversack always has the thing you need on top, as does the Efficient Quiver. Is not triggering an AoO the only difference with a regular backpack?

And can I store my scrolls and wands within easier reach than in my backpack? Efficient Quiver is supposedly great for wands and rods. Can I stuff potions in my belt? Hang a scroll case on the straps of my backpack? My 3.5 Druid has a scroll organizer, which I believe is a bandolier for scrolls, which should make it easier to retrieve scrolls. I'm not sure what the exact game effect is, but I haven't been able to find a similar item for Pathfinder.

Anyway, it looks like however I turn it, I'll need at least a move action to get that wand or scroll out (except with Quick Draw perhaps?). If I want to use a rod with it (is that even possible?), I'd have to draw that too. Do I still need a free hand to cast it, if it happens to have a somatic component? Or do those not matter for wands and scrolls?

Am I still overlooking vital complications here?

I'm playing a Bard based somewhat on the Controller Bard from Treantmonk's Guide to Bards, which has a lot of interesting ideas, one of which is using your whip to trip.

However, today I found A Guide for Trip Builds, which insists that a trip build for Bards is not viable, and whips suck for tripping.

So which is right and which is wrong?

I do get the impression that the second guide assumes (but doesn't state explicitly) that tripping has to be done through AoOs, which definitely goes well with trip, but is it really so bad to stand behind the front-line fighters and trip one enemy per round, while boosting everybody's to-hit and damage?

Reading guides on Bards, I noticed that this guide recommends recommends against Dazzling Display because you get Dirge of Doom for free, whereas Treantmonk's guide recommends it quite strongly for a controller bard.

So which is it? Spending two feats on something you get for free sounds wasteful, but there are a lot of subtle differences between the two, and I find it hard to judge.

Here's a list of the pros and cons of each (as far as I've been able to come up with; please add more if I've missed anything):

Dazzling Display:
con:

• Costs two Feats
  
• No automatic success (though a Bard's Intimidate against target's 10 + HD + Wis gives good odds)
  
• Full round action
  

• Can be combined with Inspire Courage (or any other bardic performance)
  
• Can be used as often as you like
  
• Can be used as early as level 5 (sooner if your first level is of a full BAB class)
  
• On a good roll, it might work for several rounds
  

Dirge of Doom:
con:

• Cannot be used at the same time as Inspire Courage (or another bardic performance)
  
• Limited by number of uses for bardic performance
  
• You don't get it before level 8
  

• Free!
  
• Always works
  
• Standard action (later move, later swift, and always free to maintain)
  

So how do you compare these two? I mean, any bard is going to get Dirge of Doom anyway, but if you take your control/support role seriously, is it worth it to spend two feats on the ability to combine this with Inspire Courage or to get it 3 levels early? Is the full round action a crippling problem? (Can full round actions be combined with free or swift actions? I have no idea.)

To what extent does it matter that one is supernatural and the other isn't?

And which Perform skills actually have both audible and visual components? (Unless seeing someone play a flute is visual enough.)

It's too bad they both specify it won't make a shaken target frightened, or you'd definitely want them both.