richard develyn's page

are they primary or secondary?

i.e. a sorcerer shape changes into a creature with natural attacks, who then wears something which gives him even more natural attacks.

are these second lot of natural attacks primary or secondary?

Richard

What happens when two creatures are forced into the same space, as in for example two medium sized creatures falling into a 5'square pit?

Richard

I haven't seen it posted anywhere else, so FYI, the effect on a D20 is:

- 3.325

i.e. expected results on a D20 are:

Ordinary: 10.5
roll 2x and take lower: 7.175
roll 2x and take higher: 13.825

Richard

Argus on d20pfsrd

What does "vulnerable to sleep" mean?

And how is this thing a "vigilant and restless sentry" when it's vulnerable to sleep?

Richard

I've never seen this very satisfactorily explained anywhere, but from my maths, and without taking into account natural 1s and 20s, which I'm hoping will even out, you should power attack when:

number-to-hit < 21 - ( average-damage / power-attack-extra-damage )

So, for example, a 1st level barbarian with a two handed sword, +6 to hit and 2d6+6 damage: average damage is 13, power-attack-extra-damage is 3 (two handed), so

number-to-hit < 21 - (4 1/3)
number-to-hit < 16 2/3
number-to-hit <= 16

which basically means anything of AC 22 or less.

Which is going to be most things for a 1st level Barbarian

A Frost Giant, however, with a greataxe, +18/+13 for 3d6+13 damage: average damage 31, extra is 3 again so:

number-to-hit < 21 - (10 1/3)
number-to-hit < 10 2/3
number-to-hit <= 10

which basically means anything of AC 28 / 23 or less (go for the average of 25).

Which for a CR 9 monster is going to be pretty rare.

Which makes sense, as anything which does a lot of damage is going to get a very marginal gain from power attack in exchange for losing the chance to do the lots of damage it's already doing.

Most of the time, giants shouldn't power attack.

Richard

just as the title says :-)

so, if my djinn blooded sorcerer casts an ectoplasmic burming hands spell, using alchemical fire as a mateial component, changing the damage type (and spell type) to electrical, against a shadow that fails its reflex save, does that shadow start to burn with ectoplasmic electrical flame?

richard

is pfs legal for ifrits only

but it is part of the solar sorcerer bloodline which is not race restricted.

so, can a non ifrit solar sorcerer use fury of the sun as his bloodline bonus spell in pfs?

(hero lab says no, btw)

I just want to check I've got a few things right:

1st level Gnome Sorcerer (crossblooded)

Alternative racial: Lava Gnome (Darkvision and Pyromaniac), Eternal Hope, Nosophobia

Bloodlines: Orc and Solar

1st level bloodline power: Sunsight

From all of this, I have low-light vision, darkvision 90' and although I have light sensitivity I'm immune to being dazzled so it doesn't bother me.

Then:

Feats: Point-Blank Shot
Traits: Gifted Adept (Burning Hands), Extremely Fashionable (Diplomacy)

Spells:
0: Acid Splash, Daze, Disrupt Undead
1: Burning Hands

Burning hands does 3d4+6 damage. Disrupt Undead and Acid Splash both do +2 damage too (point-blank shot and orc bloodline).

I'm getting 2 skill points per level which I'm putting on Bluff and Diplomacy, and wearing very fashionable clothes :-)

Where I'm going next with this is down the fire route, with Precise Shot, Scorching Ray, Fireball, etc. First magic item will probably be an elemental meta-magic rod to turn the fire into electricity if I need to, or intensify to raise my burning hands some more.

Looks good?

Richard

P.S.F.Y.I

Stats are: STR 5 DEX 14 CON 16 INT 7 WIS 14 CHA 19 and I'm putting my one class point into skills

will it do 1d4+2 damage x 1.5 for a 1st lvl sorcerer?

Heroic Recovery is a feat that gives you a once per day ability.

So - does that mean that as a Ki Power it can only be used once per day?

Or do you get to use it every time you use a Ki point?

Richard

I *think* this is correct but I want to double check.

If I get myself a scroll of Faerie Fire, can I use it with UMD by pretending to be a Mesmerist, that has FF on its list, but thereby only needing to have a high Cha score rather than a high Wis score?

My understanding is that spells on scrolls do not have a particular class hard-coded into them.

Otherwise, presumably, I could buy a Mesmerist FF scroll.

Richard

Although there are some spells which are particularly called "ray", the term seems to have been used as flavour text in some places (e.g. Disintegration) leading me to believe that "ray" was never meant to be a game concept as such and that it is really just synonymous to ranged touch.

Am I right?

Or do you, for example, have to take Weapon Focus( Ray ) and Weapon Focus (ranged touch) separately?

Richard

1) Can a monk with a two handed weapon still deflect arrows when not on his turn, by using free actions to free one hand at the end of his turn and reapplying his hand to the two-handed weapon at the beginning of it?

It would presumably mean that AoOs would have to be with unarmed strikes.

2) Am I right that you need to have Shield Proficiency to use a quickdraw shield, so a monk that wants to use such a shield when it isn't his turn will need two feats: shield proficiency and quickdraw?

Cheers

Richard

I think this is a rules rather than an interpretation question, but an incident came up at our game last night which illustrated that we hadn't (I think) being playing this right.

Dominate Person is very much geared on the concept of a "command". The dominated person is only controlled by the dominator to the degree that they obey that command to the exclusion of all else save their survival needs, and it takes a move action to change that command so this is nothing like a puppetteer subconsciously controlling his puppets.

So what happened:

An NPC bard dominated a PC fighter and told him, trying to be clever, to go and subdue one of his friends (2nd PC) because he's sure that 2nd PC has been possessed. The NPC was trying to make the request sound reasonable because someone had already been possessed earlier in the combat and suggesting subdual is in keeping with what the PC would do - so no need for another saving throw.

All fine and well.

Then the 2nd PC disappeared and the first PC did not know where, although in the light of what happens next one might even consider that this event is not actually necessary.

The first PC still saw the NPC bard that had dominated him as an enemy. There's no "charm" component in dominate. So the PC argued that his survival needs required that he defeat the enemy, which he promptly did before the NPC bard got a chance to use a move action to change his command.

So if all of this was reasonable, which I guess is my question, then any time you dominate someone your command to them has got to include "don't attack me and my friends but do this and that instead" or you could find your command ignored.

Richard

Is there somewhere a chronology showing everything that's happened in Golarion since Rise of the Runelords?

I suppose more generally, does Golarion represent a world that is changing, or one that is broadly static? If the latter, where's the best place to find out what has changed?

Richard

I couldn't think of a better word than reclassifying, but my question is best illustrated with an example.

Assume an elven first level fighter takes Weapon Focus as his 1st level feat and Weapon Finesse as his fighter bonus feat:

Could he, on going up a level, take Toughness as his new feat by re-classifying Weapon Focus as his second fighter bonus feat?

Or would this be retraining?

Richard

I've seen previous posts, and they seemed inconclusive on this point (unless I missed one somewhere).

In particular, I'm looking at this part of the feat:

"An invisible attacker gets no advantages related to hitting you in melee. That is, you don’t lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class, and the attacker doesn’t get the usual +2 bonus for being invisible."

My question is, if the attacker is doing other things which would cause you to lose your Dexterity, such as sneaking up on you, do you still not lose your Dexterity bonus?

RAW as far as I can see implies that if the attacker is invisible then you don't lose your Dexterity bonus no matter what he's doing. In some ways, you are better against invisible opponents against visible ones. That doesn't seem too odd to me - blind people often have enhanced non-visual senses.

It does lead to the curious situation, though, that if a hidden invisible rogue 5' stepped out of cover and attacked you, and you have Blind Fight, then he wont sneak attack you on the first attack, but when he then becomes visible he will (assuming you didn't hear him).

Is this right?

Richard

They're Three Dollar Dungeons for one more day only!

http://paizo.com/companies/fourDollarDungeons

Richard

(and I meant "sale" not "sales" :-|)

... for non-Paizo products.

Hadn't seen it publicised anywhere.

I've no objection to it as a vendor - it just took me by surprise.

Richard

A bit of a strange thought experiment, this, relating to an adventure I'm writing so I'm not sure if it'll interest anyone else, but in case it does:

Imagine some buddhist-style philosopher sitting at the top of a mountain trying to figure out what are the irreducible qualities that make up existence in this Golarion / Pathfinder world, a bit like the mind/body philosophical debates that we have in our own world.

I've come up with 6:

1) Form - i.e. body but made a bit more generic. Given that things can be incorporeal I cannot use the term physicality, but where we are physical it includes not just our shape but also our physical qualities such as strength and fortitude.

2) Mind. The second one from our own world. Although I'm not hugely familiar with the new magic system I include psionics / mind-based magic in this.

3) Spirit. The bit that carries on existing even if we have no form (i.e. we've died and become some sort of petitioner) or mind.

4) Polarity. Could just be thought of as +1 (alive), -1 (undead) or 0 (dead), or we could extend this into Energy Level except that I've never heard people talk about undead having lots of negative energy levels (maybe they have).

5) Bloodline. Those features that we have by virtue of our ancestry. Our type mixed in with our bloodline. I believe that this is independent of form, but I mix in that essence which sorcerers tap into because I think type and bloodline are part of the same thing.

6) Alignment. An odd one this, because it is much debated whether or not this relates to Mind. There appears to be in this magical world of ours some sort of cosmic judge that decides where you sit on the alignment axis and therefore how certain spells and items are going to react to you, regardless of what your mind might have to say about the matter. Clearly there is some relationship between mind and alignment, however the relationship has enough wiggle room in it for me to postulate that alignment and mind are separate entities in our existence.

If anyone's interested, please comment :-)

All the best

Richard

For example, 1st level Titan Mauler, n levels Spire Defender Magus.

Use weapon wand with an oversized Fauchard (reach), cast True Strike from the wand every round and then either AoO or (when of sufficient level) Vital Strike. Go full-on Combat Expertise and Power Attack, and don't worry about the -4 penalty when attacking with reach over someone's head or the -2 penalty for using an oversized weapon.

Is this good, bad or ugly?

Richard

Is the difference deliberate or a mistake (former increases by 5, latter by 10)?

Richard

Does the action depend on the spell?

Or is it a standard action (to call the spirits)?

Or is it a free action (after all, it's the spirits that are casting the spell)?

Or something else?

Richard

This goblin is for the Wrath of the Righteous AP, where by lottery I have to be the Marshall. The build and is built around the Mounted Marshal mythic ability, the point being that I will always be flanking whatever I'm fighting thanks to the fact that I hang underneath my bat.

I haven't picked my alchemical extracts yet though I've quoted myself as having Shield up since that seems the most obvious one to use.

I also have just over 1K gp to spend for wbl, though of course I have no idea where I will be at the end of the first adventure in terms of wealth actually gained.

My 2 points of Fire Resistance come from the Alchemist class Goblin favoured class option. I intend to continue as Alchemist from now on.

The only disadvantage that I can think of is that I might be mistaken for something that's come out of the WorldWound.

Richard

Flus
Male goblin alchemist (internal alchemist, vivisectionist, winged marauder) 2/rogue (unchained) 4/Marshal 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 26, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 156, Pathfinder RPG Monster Codex, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 18, 20, Pathfinder Unchained 20)
CG Small humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +9
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 28, touch 18, flat-footed 22 (+5 armor, +1 deflection, +6 Dex, +1 natural, +4 shield, +1 size)
hp 49 (6d8+16)
Fort +7, Ref +14, Will +5; +2 bonus vs. poison
Defensive Abilities danger sense +1, evasion, fortification 25%, hard to kill, uncanny dodge; Resist fire 2
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 20 ft., climb 10 ft.
Melee +1 cold iron dagger +10 (1d3+4/19-20 plus 2d6 sneak attack and 1d6 sneak attack) or
. . +1 mithral dagger +10 (1d3+7/19-20 plus 2d6 sneak attack and 1d6 sneak attack)
Ranged light crossbow +11 (1d6/19-20 plus 2d6 sneak attack and 1d6 sneak attack)
Special Attacks advance[MA], mythic power (5/day, surge +1d6), sneak attack (unchained) +2d6, sneak attack +1d6
Alchemist (Internal Alchemist, Vivisectionist, Winged Marauder) Extracts Prepared (CL 4th; concentration +6)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 5, Dex 22, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 5
Base Atk +4; CMB +0; CMD 17
Feats Blind-fight[M], Boon Companion, Brew Potion, Two-weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse
Traits child of the crusades, magical knack
Skills Acrobatics +10 (+6 to jump), Appraise +6, Climb +12, Craft (alchemy) +6 (+8 to create alchemical items), Diplomacy +1, Disable Device +19, Disguise +1, Escape Artist +10, Handle Animal +6 (+10 to force this mount into an Unnatural Aura.), Heal +4, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +6, Knowledge (local) +6, Knowledge (nature) +6, Linguistics +6, Perception +9, Ride +19 (+23 to force this mount into an Unnatural Aura.), Sense Motive +4, Sleight of Hand +10, Spellcraft +6, Stealth +23, Survival +4, Swim +1, Use Magic Device +1; Racial Modifiers +4 Ride, +4 Stealth
Languages Abyssal, Common, Gnome, Goblin
SQ alchemy (alchemy crafting +2), breath mastery, debilitating injury: bewildered, debilitating injury: disoriented, debilitating injury: hampered, discovery (preserve organs[UM]), mounted marshal[], poison use, rogue talents (pressure points[UC], slow reactions), trapfinding +2
Other Gear +1 mithral chain shirt, +1 cold iron dagger, +1 mithral dagger, crossbow bolts (10), light crossbow, amulet of natural armor +1, cape of free will +1/+2[MA], ring of protection +1, masterwork backpack[APG], masterwork thieves' tools, 2 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Advance (Ex) As a swift action, use 1 power to grant allies in 30 ft a free move action or 5 ft step.
Alchemy +2 (Su) +2 to Craft (Alchemy) to create alchemical items, can Id potions by touch.
Animal Companion Link (Ex) Handle or push Animal Companion faster, +4 to checks vs. them.
Blind-Fight [Mythic] As a swift action, use 1 power to ignore concealment miss chance for 1 rds.
Boon Companion (Animal Companion) +4 levels to calc familiar/animal comp abilities (max of your HD).
Breath Mastery At 1st level, the internal alchemist can control his breath and the flow of vital energy within his body. Without preparation, he can hold his breath for a number of minutes equal to his Constitution score (after this, he must begin making Constituti
Climb (10 feet) You have a Climb speed.
Danger Sense +1 (Ex) +1 bonus on reflex saves and AC against traps.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Debilitating Injury: Bewildered -2/-4 (Ex) Foe who takes sneak attack damage takes AC pen (more vs. striker) for 1 rd.
Debilitating Injury: Disoriented -2/-4 (Ex) Foe who takes sneak attack damage takes attack pen (more vs. striker) for 1 rd.
Debilitating Injury: Hampered (Ex) Foe who takes sneak attack damage has speed halved (and can't 5 ft step) for 1 rd.
Energy Resistance, Fire (2) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Fire attacks.
Evasion (Ex) If succeed on Reflex save for half dam, take none instead.
Fortification 25% You have a chance to negate critical hits on attacks.
Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2.
Mounted Marshal (Ex) You and mount are treated as flanking any opponent you both threaten.
Poison Use You do not risk poisoning yourself accidentally while poisoning a weapon.
Preserve Organs 25% The alchemist learns how to preserve and protect his vital organs, reducing the chance of a mortal wound. When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on the alchemist, there is a 25% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damag
Pressure Points (Su) A ninja with this trick can strike at an opponent's vital pressure points, causing weakness and intense pain. Whenever the ninja deals sneak attack damage, she also deals 1 point of Strength or Dexterity damage, decided by the ninja. Unlike normal ab
Slow Reactions (Ex) Foes hit by a sneak attack can't make AoO for 1 rd.
Sneak Attack (Unchained) +2d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Sneak Attack +1d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Surge (1d6) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount.
Trapfinding +2 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex) Retain Dex bonus to AC when flat-footed.

Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Inc.®, and are used under license.

Animal Companion
Dire bat (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary)
N Medium animal
Init +4; Senses blindsense 40 ft., low-light vision; Perception +6
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+4 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 30 (6d8)
Fort +4, Ref +9, Will +4 (+4 morale bonus vs. Enchantment spells and effects); +4 morale bonus vs. fear and emotion effects.
Defensive Abilities evasion
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 20 ft., fly 40 ft. (good)
Melee bite +4 (1d6)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 11, Dex 19, Con 9, Int 3, Wis 14, Cha 6
Base Atk +4; CMB +4; CMD 18
Feats Toughness, Valiant Steed, Wingover
Tricks Attack, Attack, Attack Any Target, Combat Riding, Come, Defend, Down, Guard, Heel, Stay
Skills Acrobatics +8 (+4 to jump), Fly +14, Perception +6, Stealth +8; Racial Modifiers +4 perception for blindsense
SQ attack any target, combat riding, devotion, stay
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
+4 Perception for Blindsense +4 to Perception checks while using blindsense.
Attack Any Target [Trick] The animal will attack any creature on command.
Blindsense (40 feet) (Ex) Sense things and creatures without seeing them.
Combat Riding [Trick] The animal has been trained to bear a rider into combat.
Devotion +4 (Ex) +4 morale bonus on Will Saves vs. Enchantments.
Evasion (Ex) No damage on successful reflex save.
Fly (40 feet, Good) You can fly!
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Stay [Trick] The animal will stay where it is.
Valiant Steed +4 vs. fear/emotion effects & to push you into unnatural aura. Wounds don't increase push DC.
Wingover (1/round) Can turn up to 180 degrees as a free action without a Fly check.

Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Inc.®, and are used under license.

... is now available here:

http://paizo.com/products/btpy9p9y?Worlds-End

and, like all Four Dollar Dungeons, there's a free preview available as well.

All the best

Richard

Now available.

Richard

Let's say you are a little hobbit rogue with a dagger and very low strength (-3 bonus) and you hit with a bit of sneak attack (1d6) and your dagger is +1 flaming.

Damage is 1d3 - 3 + 1d6 + 1 (dagger) + 1d6 (fire)

What's going to happen here:

Do you roll 1d3-3+1 first, turn that into 1 non-lethal hp of damage (minimum - assume you roll a 1), then add another 1d6 (lethal or non-lethal) for sneak and 1d6 (lethal or non-lethal) for fire?

Or do you roll 1d3 + 1d6 - 2 and only turn into non-lethal if you roll two 1s?

Richard

HeroLab doesn't like this, but I think it's wrong.

Construct Rider is the Alchemist archetype from Cohorts and Companions. I think it should work fine with Boon Companion, should it not?

Richard

Vivisectionist +
Construct Rider +
Mythic (Marshal) Mounted Marshal

It means you are always doing sneak attack damage on your mount.

Good Idea?

Richard

This is a 5th level adventure consisting of seven short stories linked together by a number of themes.

You can find it here:

http://paizo.com/products/btpy9kbu?Seven-Sinful-Tales

When seven 13 year old kids inadvertently summon the PCs over to their land by simultaneously making a wish in the middle of a stone wishing circle, the PCs have to figure out what those wishes are and sort them out in order for them to return.

As they soon discover, each young person has been let down by their parents in some way relating to one of the seven deadly sins. Sorting out all seven problems takes the PCs into troll-infested woods, hunting hippos on a raft, breaking into a pyramid in the desert, infiltrating a city's drug den, and so on - i.e. there's plenty of variety here.

Hope you enjoy it.

All the best

Richard

Is there any limit to the number of allies?

I can see this being perfectly balanced if allies are simply companion PCs. However in the group that I'm running PCs are including summoned Monsters, summoned Nature's Allies and we even debated yesterday about trained animal companions.

Is this reasonable? Seems very powerful to me when you combine summoning and raging song, especially with all those spirit attacks.

Or is there a limitation on accepting the rage? For example, are summoned animals or animal companions with Int 1 or 2 clever enough to choose acceptance?

Richard

Let's say a fighter with a magic sword gets turned to stone, along with all of his possessions.

Then someone chips away the stone sword from the rest of the fighter statue.

Can Stone to Flesh now be used to return the sword to, well, steel?

And on a related note:

Did the sword still radiate magic in petrified form?

Can anything be petrified in this way, even artifacts?

Richard

Or Detect Aberration, Detect Demon, etc, etc.

If not, what spell would?

Cheers

Richard

You're armed, so no -4.

You have a hand free, so you can grab the weapon.

Is that right?

If I've read RAW correctly, the -4 does not apply to you making an unarmed disarm, but rather not being armed when you make the disarm.

Richard

Once again, last night, we had a character death when a high DPR PC was turned against the party.

My group quite likes high DPR PCs, so this sort of thing is not unusual.

I mean - failing will saves against confusion and domination doesn't happen all the time, but it is inevitable at some point during an AP.

It led me to think, is it a bad idea to create PCs that can destroy one another in one round of combat?

(For us it's normally the rangers that do the killing when this happens; their ability to suddenly full attack a favoured enemy PC at a distance is pretty devastating).

Creating PCs with high DPRs is kind-a sexy, but isn't like walking around with a ticking time-bomb?

Richard

My party of 5th level PCs found her pretty much unbeatable.

The fact that they were on a boat and she was in salt water I think is the standard environment to encounter one of these things, so I cannot imagine that in itself that would raise the CR.

However, the combination of endless 7d6 ranged attacks, 80 foot movement and fast healing 10 meant she could work away on them in a war of attrition. Her DR also meant that eventually the party ran out of cold iron arrows.

Being able to lower water at will (!) also meant she had battlefield control. And she has pretty respectable saves too.

(The three orcas she summoned at the beginning of the encounter were just an aperitif which the PCs overcame. It was all her other stuff which made her impossible for them).

What do you think?

Richard

Common sense says that spells whose area is "centered on you" should count as Target: you when it comes to sharing spells with an animal companion.

So anitimagic field and detonate, for example, should be able to be cast on an AC.

But ... has this been clarified anywhere?

Richard

P.S. Sorry if this seems like splitting hairs - I just wanted to check

(if you find yourself reading this post in many places - my apologies, but it is a significant moment for me)

This month The Horn of Geryon passed its 200 sales mark, which by general 3pp standards classifies it as a "hit".

2 1/2 years on people are still enjoying this "treasure island" type tale that begins with an innkeeper asking the PCs to find his daughter's missing rabbit.

(which was inspired, incidentally, by my daughter and her stuffed toy rabbit - called "rabbit" - which at the age of 23 she still goes nowhere without)

Anyone who loves Dr Who might also have noticed the strong connection between this adventure and the Dr's first encounter with the Daleks back in 1963 (Snakero -> Skaro, etc). I'm a big fan of the classic series and my adventures are full of references to the old black and white stories.

So in conclusion I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you very much to the 200+ people that have bought this PDF, as well as the other adventures that I have written.

And as a general note - purchasers vote with their wallets. Your support of the 3pp scene encourages, inspires and guides the material that we produce. Buy the things you like, and you'll make sure that more of what you like gets written.

All the best

Richard Develyn

http://shop.d20pfsrd.com/collections/four-dollar-dungeons,
http://www.rpgnow.com/browse/pub/5369/Four-Dollar-Dungeons, and
http://paizo.com/companies/fourDollarDungeons

An insightful and thoughtful review by Pathfinder's most prolific and well respected reviewer.

http://paizo.com/products/btpy9dhm?Holy-Island

Richard

Now available here:

http://paizo.com/products/btpy9g47?The-Reign-of-Terror

All the best

Richard

Is this a good idea?

Should it replace Tempest Rising?

Should it be played alongside Tempest Rising to make a double-length 2nd part of the AP?

Any other ideas?

Cheers

Richard

(or teleporting in maybe)

Would there be any oxygen in there?

All those decomposing bodies use up oxygen as they decompose, but apparently when tutankhamun's tomb was opened by Howard Carter he lit a match at the entrance and discovered that there was air in there.

Any views?

Richard

I've never understood the appeal of this feat.

Sure, doing lots of damage is sexy, but DR to one side I would have thought the most efficient way of dealing damage was with lots of little blows rather than with a small number of big ones.

In most cases any damage beyond taking an opponent down to -1 hp is wasted. Power attacking barbarians with greataxes are frightening but most of the time smashing someone down to -50 is just wasted effort. If by the laws of probability you were destined to do 100 points of damage over 4 rounds, you'd be better off doing it with 4 x 25 pt blows than with 2 x 50 pt ones.

Richard

HeroLab has resurrected this question in my mind with the addition of polymorph spells as spell-like adjustments.

(Bravo to them, BTW)

The question in my mind has always been what do you lose when you change form.

The official rules answer has always been (unless this has changed) that there are too many cases to enumerate.

Could we not just use the guideline, though, that form-based abilities are defined as those abilities that a polymorph spell can *give* you.

(Not including, incidentally, characteristics changes, which seem to be something totally unrelated to form which a polymorph spell more or less gives you incidentally.)

So, for example, energy resistance is in, spell resistance is out.

Does that sound reasonable?

Richard

What's interesting about this character is his arcane bond.

We run a home-PFS campaign BTW.

AFAICS, since a heavy repeating crossbow can be fired with one hand, it takes away any issues about having a hand free to cast a spell whilst still "wielding" your arcane bond.

The arcane bond item is rather expensive but seems quite legal, especially since as a half-elf I can use Ancestral Arms to give myself proficiency with the thing (oddly missing from the hero lab listing below).

Half-drow seemed to make sense for him, and the traits are one for his carry capacity (which is pretty poor otherwise) and one a sort of last-resort save-your-skin thing.

Gravity Bow turns his shots into 2d8. Not worried about the reload after 5 rounds since at low levels combat rarely lasts longer and at high levels it's likely to be just one of many things he can do. The feat-plan is Precise-Shot, Focused Shot ... Bullseye shot, Vital Strike.

Not sure what to choose for Spell Focus but sticking Enchantment in there for now.

From 5th level onwards I can enchant the crossbow for half price, +1 plus abilities, using greater magic weapon from 8th level on for the ordinary plusses.

Seems like a good build to me - wondering if anyone has any comments.

Here's the Hero Lab output:

Pancho
Half-elf (half drow) wizard 1
CG Medium humanoid (elf, human)
Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +4
--------------------
Defense
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AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 10 (+3 Dex)
hp 8 (1d6+2)
Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +4; +2 vs. enchantments
Immune sleep
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Ranged mwk repeating heavy crossbow +4 (1d10/19-20)
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +5)
. . 1st—gravity bow[APG], gravity bow[APG] (2)
. . 0 (at will)—daze (DC 15), disrupt undead, ray of frost
. . Opposition Schools Divination, Illusion
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Statistics
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Str 7, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 14, Cha 7
Base Atk +0; CMB -2; CMD 11
Feats Point-blank Shot, Spell Focus (enchantment)
Traits muscle of the society, oregent desperation
Skills Knowledge (arcana) +8, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +8, Knowledge (local) +8, Knowledge (nature) +8, Knowledge (nobility) +8, Knowledge (planes) +8, Knowledge (religion) +8, Perception +4; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Varisian
SQ arcane bond (masterwork repeating heavy crossbow), augment, elf blood, physical enhancement (+1)
Combat Gear cold iron repeating crossbow bolts (10), silver repeating crossbow bolts (10); Other Gear mwk repeating heavy crossbow, repeating crossbow bolts (50), 118 gp
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Bond (Masterwork repeating heavy crossbow) (1/day) (Sp) Use object to cast any spell in your spellbook. Without it, Concentration required to cast spells (DC20 + spell level).
Augment (+2 ability or +1 AC, 1 rds, 7/day) (Sp) Grant either +2 to an ability score or +1 natural armor by touch.
Divination You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Divination school.
Elf Blood Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Enhancement Associated School: Transmutation
Illusion You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Illusion school.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Muscle of the Society +2 bonus to strength checks to break doors or lift portcullises.
Oregent Desperation (1/day) 1/day, improve from dying to disabled but take 4 Int damage.
Physical Enhancement +1 (Constitution) (Su) When preparing spells, chosen physical attribute gains enhancement bonus.
Point-Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Spell Focus (Enchantment) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.

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This is more important with PFS and arcane bonded items where, if I understand it correctly, there is no spellcraft roll as such but you must rigidly meet the pre-requisites.

Richard