xris's page

I would like to check I understand the Patch action by an Engineer during Starship Combat. In particular, this section on page 324.

If the check succeeds, the severity of the critical damage is unchanged, but it is treated as one step less severe for the remainder of the combat, until 1 hour has passed, or until the system takes critical damage again (which removes the patch and applies the new severity).

Let's take an example. The Engines have taken Critical Damage and are now Glitching. Pilot Actions take a -2 penalty.

I take this to mean...

• (i) While the Engineer might succeed at the check to reduce a Glitching system, it doesn't mean the condition has been removed. It is only treated as being "removed" for the moment.
  
• (ii) Since the Glitching condition on the Engines has been temporally removed for the moment, Pilot Actions do not take a -2 penalty.
  
• (iii) If the Engines take another Critical, they are now considered to be Malfunctioning, the patch (i.e. the early fix of the Glitching system) is removed and the new severity is now applied (i.e. the Engines are now Malfunctioning, not Glitched again).
  
• (iv) Since the Engines are now Malfunctioning, Pilot Actions take a -4 penalty and they cannot take "Push" Actions.
  
• (v) If a single Engineer wants to Patch a Malfunctioning Engine, then it will take at least two Rounds. The two successful rolls do not have to be consecutive but as long as the Engines don't take further Critical Damage between the successful rolls, the Engines will only count as Glitching once this has been done. Pilot Actions take a -2 penalty.
  
• (vi) The Engineer can now attempt to patch the Glitching Engines, if successful the Engines are temporally considered to back to "normal". Pilot Actions do not take a penalty.
  
• (vii) If the Engines take a third Critical, they are now considered to be Wrecked. The patch (i.e. the early fix of the Malfunctioning / Glitching system) is removed and the new severity is now applied (i.e. the Engines are now Wrecked, not Glitched or Malfunctioning). Pilot Actions that require a roll automatically fail. The Starship can still move and turn as normal but the Pilot can only take the Fly Action.

Critical Damage can be fixed but only outside Starship Combat (as per the rules on pages 321 and 322). This does actually remove the Glitching, Malfunctioning, or Wrecked Conditions.

Is the above correct?

I'm unclear as to what the Mighty Rage free action gives you. I'm finding the wording a bit obscure.

Mighty Rage [free-action]

Barbarian [trait]
Trigger: You use the Rage action on your turn.
Use an action that has the rage trait. Alternatively, you can increase the actions of the triggering Rage to 2 to instead use a 2-action activity with the rage trait.

Is it basically telling me that I get a discount of 1 Action when taking Rage Actions (but only on the turn I actually Raged?

Could you give an update for Order 8096779.

The order was "stuck in a glitch" so I was wondering if said glitch has been resolved.

Cheers

I'm only too happy to have Paizo release videos via YouTube, I'm no great fan of using Twitch as a platform.

What I'm not so impressed by is to have 29 Paizo Inc. YouTube videos all being released at the same time. It seems the bulk of the Paizon GenCon output has been dumped all at once, each video being about 40 to 50 minutes.

I'm sure releasing these 29 videos over a period of time, such as one or two a day, would be fair more acceptable to people than suddenly being deluged with 25 hours worth in one go. As it stands, I'm sure people will just gloss over them and not pay much attention to any particular one. In a week or so, they will be forgotten, which is a shame.

Releasing them over a period of time might result in better viewing figures and it gives a chance to notice the separate topics as they are released. A regular release schedule tends to attract more views.

So, thank you for the releases, but please don't make this this a regular occurrence. I personally don't think this is a good way to try and grow the YouTube channel, it will most likely work against you.

On the Paizo SF Character Sheets (and in particular, the form-fillable sheets created by Gilfalas), what is the purpose of the "Upgraded Score" boxes under the Ability Scores?

Each Ability has a box for Score, Modifier, Upgraded Score, and Upgraded Modifier. I'm wondering what's meant to be tracked under the Upgraded boxes.

On the form-fillable sheets created by Gilfalas, the Upgraded Modifier starts at -5 unless something is entered into the Upgraded Score. The rest of the sheet seems to use the values entered in the Score box, not the Upgraded Score box.

I'm wondering how people fill in this part of the Character Sheets. I first thought that you enter your base (i.e. Level 1) score in the "Score" box and never change it. As you progress through the levels, you update the "Upgraded Score" to show how you have increased your Ability Scores, leaving the first box (Score) unchanged.

I would like to use the SFS scenario (Ratrod's Scrap Battle race from SF S01-01) as part of an introduction to a campaign. The Junkrace seems an interesting idea but I'm a bit unsure how it was meant to be implemented in the SFS scenario.

As far as I can tell, each player gets to make four actions before the race but for example, I'm not even sure if the same action can be taken multiple times (see page 6 of the SFS scenario). I don't see any restriction on taking the same action but if so, it seems rather silly that the speed can be increased by 120 feet (i.e. "vehicle’s base speed increases by 5 feet" taken 24 times). This would change the full speed for the basic Junkracer from 400 feet to 1600 feet. Since the race course is 3,000 feet long, this seems a winning strategy.

Has anyone who has run this scenario, or who has played in it, give any suggestions on how to make this an interesting race? What limitations were imposed on the race, what would you make different to make it more interesting?

How many turns did it last? Assuming the racers move at 500 or 550 feet per turn, and the course is 3,000 feet, it should last about 7 or so turns. Did it come down to who's Overloading engine lasted the longest time before malfunctioning? Was Overloading too dominant? Did combat slow the race down (as in, being too fiddley to track and implement) or did it make the race more fun?

There are lots of tweaks that can be made to the race mechanics but I'm wondering how much to implement. For example, I'm thinking of making the result of the Piloting roll directly affect the speed (instead of just imposing a half speed penalty).

Investigating the race course beforehand could impart speed bonuses at certain points. Tweaking the engine could improve its performance for certain corners or the long straights. Allow only forward facing energy weapons maybe. Lots of possibilities but first I want to understand how the race is meant to be run.

Any help appreciated! Cheers.

Last night (about 9 hours ago), I added a few items to my cart and they were correctly priced (i.e. they showed the current sales price). As I was going through the checkout process, I decided to add another item so I started the checkout procedure again but this time I noticed the price displayed was the list price and not the sale price.

Checked again this morning, still the same. Tried to log out and log back in, still the same.

Due to this, I haven't completed the checkout procedure. As mentioned, the checkout prices seemed to be working correctly about 9 hours ago but since then the checkout prices now show the full sales price instead of the sales price.

I'm planning on introducing Starfinder to some my regular D&D players but at the moment only two of them are going to be available (i.e. one GM and two players).

What recommendations would you suggest for scenarios to try. I have the Beginner Box so I could use the scenario included but since it's almost identical to the Pathfinder Beginner Box scenario, they might notice they've played something similar before.

Are there any Adventure Paths or Organised Play scenarios suited for just two players? What would be your recommendation? Many Thanks!

Does the Spell Cache require a standard action "Activate an Item" or "Use a Special Ability" to activate it?

Since it is a Supernatural Ability, page 262 says "If a supernatural ability doesn’t specify what type of action is required to activate it, it requires a standard action."

Page 119, under Technomancer, says "While you don’t need your spell cache to cast your spells, once per day, you can activate your spell cache to cast any one spell you know and are capable of casting, even if you’ve expended all your spell slots for that spell’s level."

Does this mean it will take an action to retrieve the held spell and then a second action to cast the spell, or does it mean you spend one action to actually cast the spell held in the Spell Cache?

If it is just the one action, then does it count as a "Cast a Spell" action or does it count as "Use a Special Ability" action. This might make a difference when it comes to provoking AOO since Spell Cache is a supernatural ability.

In general, with a few exceptions, no matter what class or ancestry you want, you can obtain the following Ability Scores

18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8 (if the race has a Flaw) or
18, 16, 12, 12, 10, 10 (if the race doesn't have a Flaw, i.e. Human ancestry).

You might have to limit your choice of Background to obtain the required combination of Ability Boosts but even then, there are at least 6 of the 19 Backgrounds that will give you the right combination of fixed and free Ability Boosts, no matter what class or race you select.

The only time you can't obtain a 18 in the Ability Score you want, is when your Ancestry Flaw coincides with the Ability you want to achieve 18 in. This is assuming you want to obtain 18 in the Class's Key Ability.

It's not possible to obtain two 18 Ability Scores, the best you can do is an 18 and a 16. It's also possible to get 16, 16, 16 as an alternate to 18, 16, 14. Note: this isn't a complaint, it's just an observation.

It just seems that no matter what class or race combination you want, with very little effort or sacrifice, you end up with the same 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8 score (or 18,16,12,12,10,10 for humans).

There are plenty of other combinations as well but if you want to try and concentrate to get high Ability Scores then the single 18 is the best that's possible (without relying on lucky dice throws). I would think a lot of players would try and optimize a build such they get as high a score as possible in one favoured score and so on down. It seems way too easy to obtain this.

Seems rather boring to me. Very little to decide, very little give or take. That, plus the fact that you only gain one Ancestry Feat at 1st level, it makes all the class / race combinations rather similar and dull (for want of a better word). They all seem painted from the same brush, no long term / short term trade offs.

So as long as your Dwarf doesn't want to be a Bard or Sorcerer, your Gnomes and Halflings don't want to be Barbarians of Paladins, or your Goblin doesn't want to be a Cleric or Druid, then you can obtain a pretty easy 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8 character! Humans are limited to only a 18, 16, 12, 12, 10, 10 character.

An 18 Ability Score is a +4 Ability Modifier, it also seems somewhat boring to have to wait till Level 10 before you can get to +5 in an Ability Modifier. It seems to me that yet again the +1/Level just swamps out anything else during level progression, but that's another story.

I have a question concerning the interaction between using the Heat Metal spell against a target that has cast Disguise Self on themselves.

A character has cast Disguise Self on themselves to give the appearance that they are wearing plate armour (or some similar metal armour). What happens if someone casts Heat Metal on such a target?

Now clearly the Heat Metal spell doesn’t work but does the Heat Metal spell even get cast? Does the caster waste a spell slot? Do they realise the spell has been wasted or don’t get cast?

If the target is wearing some sort of metal armour under the illusion, does that heat up? I assume not since it wouldn’t be visible due to the illusion and therefore couldn’t be the target of the Heat Metal spell.

Can the answers for this specific combination apply to a more general case where a spell targets an illusionary object or creature? What happens in such a case?

I made the above three orders a few minutes ago. I would like to ensure the three orders are shipped separately and they are not combined into one package.

I know I could obtain a cheaper shipping rate if they were combined but then I would most likely have to pay in the region of an additional $25 for Import Duty.

Keeping them separate should ensure they remain under the import duty level.

Cheers
Chris

I'm recently started running the Rise of the Runelords adventure path and there seems to be some irregularities with the timeline, in particular when the Late Unpleasantness occurred along with when Ameiko purchased the Rusty Dragon Inn.

From the RotR Anniversary Edition, the following is stated.

From page 10
"Five years ago..." Lonjiku Kaijitsu murders his wife Atsuii, Jervis Stoot lays down his plans for murder, and Nualia Tobyn promises herself to burn down the Sandpoint Chapel.

Page 373 tells us that in late 4702 AR, Chopper started his murder spree. This lasted a month before he was slain, a month later the Sandpoint Chapel was burnt down.

This suggests that current year is 4707 AR, which makes sense since RotR was published in 2007 and in general AR = the Gregorian year plus 2700.

Elsewhere (page 27) it is stated that in 4705 AR, Ameiko and Tsuto have a terrible argument and Ameiko left Sandpoint to become an adventurer. As an aside, since Ameiko was born in 4789 AR (page 27 again), that means she was about 16 years old at the time.

Ameiko returns a year later (4706 AR) to attend her mother's funeral. This doesn't tie in with the Late Unpleasantness, Atsuii dies in 4702 AR didn't she?

On page 382 we are told that the Rusty Dragon Inn has been owned and operated for the past six years by Ameiko Kaijitsu, and she bought and renovated it after she retired from Adventuring.

This now suggests the current year is 4712 AR (because she became an adventurer in 4705 AR, retired and purchased the Rusty Dragon in 4706 AR).

Has this been addressed before? I tried searching the forum but haven't manage to find any clues but it might be the case I'm not looking in the right places or I'm not searching using the right key words.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Just received #2856769 but unfortunately one of the item was incorrect.

I ordered "PZO4014: GameMastery Map Pack: Caverns" but received "PZO4015: GameMastery Map Pack: Caravan" instead.

The other items in the order were fine. I ordered "PZO4014: GameMastery Map Pack: Caverns" as part of the Great Golem Sale so I hope it's still available. Let me know what I should do with the Caravan Map Pack.

Many Thanks

When your order ships you should receive a confirmation email. We apologize for any delay in shipping. We have been experiencing a high volume of orders due to the Great Golem Sale and the approaching holidays and are processing orders as quickly as possible.

I suspect the above standard reply applies to my order, placed on Nov 10th, but would like to check there are no bugs or issues. The five items ordered appear to be in stock and all are listed as "Usually ships from our warehouse in 2 to 15 business days".

Thank you.

Judging by replies I've seen in other threads (over on BGG and here), I think most people would say that you are allowed to evade a Skeleton Horde Barrier.

I suspect this is in fact incorrect, while you are allowed to evade the Ancient Skeleton Henchmen it summons, you are not allowed to evade the Skeleton Horde Barrier card itself. What I would like to get an official response for this and possibly an addition made to the FAQ (for whatever the correct answer happens to be).

If you are wondering what the difference is between evading the Skeleton Horde and evading the summoned Ancient Skeleton is, here's an example.

In a four player game, Merisiel encounters a Skeleton Horde Barrier. The other three characters are all located in open locations.

Scenario 1 (which I suspect most people do)
Merisiel simply evades the Skeleton Horde Barrier and it gets shuffled back into the location deck. The Skeleton Horde Barrier is not banished and no Ancient Skeletons are summoned.

Scenario 2 (which I think is the correct sequence)
Do what the card says, each character at an open location summons and encounters an Ancient Skeletons henchman. Merisiel evades her Ancient Skeleton henchman, she's good at doing things like that. The other three characters now have to either attempt to defeat their Ancient Skeleton henchman or, if possible, evade them. After this, all the Ancient Skeleton henchman are banished as is the Skeleton Horde.

Points to note:
In scenario 2, the Skeleton Horde is always banished at the end, the card itself is never evaded so it can't get shuffled back into the deck it came from. The Ancient Skeleton henchmen it summoned can be evaded.
The Skeleton Horde Barrier isn't the card that needs to be evaded, it's the Ancient Skeleton henchman that need to be evaded. It doesn't matter if the active player can or cannot evade the Ancient Skeleton henchman, any player at an open location still has to encounter their own Ancient Skeleton henchman.

Anyway, the above is my current understanding of the rules, I'm sure others have different views so it would be nice to obtain an official view on how the card should be played. I must admit, the example I outlined above come up in a game I played and we followed scenario 1 (Merisiel evaded the Skeleton Horde and it was shuffled back into the deck) but I now think sequence is incorrect. But what do I know :)

The "At this location" effect at the Farmhouse states...
"If you would discard an ally, bury it instead".

The term "discard" is used in the rules for two different effects.

(i) Play a card to invoke a power on the card that involves discarding the card. Example: Archer - Discard this card to explore your location.

(ii) Discarding a card as part of a cost. Example: You take combat damage and have to discard a card.

Does the Farmhouse "At this location" effect apply to both of these cases? Clearly for case (i), if I play an Archer to explore then I would have to bury it instead of discarding it. But what about case (ii), if I discarded an Ally as part of my combat damage, would I have to bury it instead?

What about effects such as Seelah's power "You may discard the top card of your deck to add 1d6 to your check. If the top card was a blessing, recharge it instead of discarding it." If the top card happens to be an Ally, should it be buried instead of discarded?

I suspect that the "At this location" effect of the Farmhouse only applies if you play an Ally and discard it. If so, then it may be worth adding an entry for Farmhouse to the FAQ.
"If you would play an ally, bury it instead of discarding it."

On page 2 of the rules we have the Golden Rule.

If a card and this rulebook are ever in conflict, the card should be considered correct. If cards conflict with one another, then Adventure Path cards overrule adventures, adventures overrule scenarios, scenarios overrule locations, locations overrule characters, and characters overrule other card types. Despite this hierarchy, if one card tells that you cannot do something and another card tells you that you can, comply with the card that tells you that you cannot.

My concern is that the last sentence of the Golden Rule only applies to cards (if one tells you that you cannot do something then that over-rules the hierarchy ), this doesn't seem to apply if the rulebook tells you that you cannot do something.

If we take the following situation, I think the outcome is obvious but it doesn't seem to be supported by the wording of the Golden Rule.

The barrier Skeleton Horde is encountered. "Each character at an open location summons and encounters an Ancient Skeleton henchman".
The Ancient Skeleton henchman card states "If defeated, you may immediately attempt to close this location".

This would suggest that any location where one of these summoned Ancient Skeleton henchman were defeated could now be closed (this question has come up a couple of times in the BGG forums). The rulebook does cover the situation, Henchmen, page 17.

Some cards may summon a particular henchman card into play temporarily. Since this summoned henchman doesn’t come from the location deck, defeating it doesn’t allow you to close a location.

Trouble is, according to the Golden rule, cards over-rule the rulebook. So despite the rulebook saying that you can't close the location, the Golden Rules tells us that cards over-rule the rulebook. The last sentence of the Golden Rule doesn't apply because there is no conflict between cards. The only conflict is between the rulebook and the Ancient Skeleton card and so the card is correct.

I think it would help if the Golden Rule is reworded to something like...

If a card and this rulebook are ever in conflict, the card should be considered correct. If cards conflict with one another, then Adventure Path cards overrule adventures, adventures overrule scenarios, scenarios overrule locations, locations overrule characters, and characters overrule other card types. Despite this hierarchy, if one rule tells that you cannot do something and another rule tells you that you can, comply with the rule that tells you that you cannot.

(The word "card" has been replaced with "rule" in the last sentence.)

I'm not sure I understand what the DC would be when you use Dispel Magic to target a specific spell or when using Dispel Magic to counterspell.

You can also use a targeted dispel to specifically end one spell affecting the target or one spell affecting an area (such as a wall of fire). You must name the specific spell effect to be targeted in this way. If your caster level check is equal to or higher than the DC of that spell, it ends. No other spells or effects on the target are dispelled if your check is not high enough to end the targeted effect.

What is meant by "DC of that spell"?

Does it mean 10 + spell level + spellcaster's INT/WIS/CHA modifier? Or is it 11 + the spell's caster level (like the DC for Targeted Dispel)?

Example, if I wanted to target the spell Fly (3rd level spell) that was cast by a 10th level wizard (INT of +5), what is the DC?

Counterspell: When dispel magic is used in this way, the spell targets a spellcaster and is cast as a counterspell. Unlike a true counterspell, however, dispel magic may not work; you must make a dispel check to counter the other spellcaster's spell.

What is the DC in this case?

As far as I can see, the only roll required for Blindness / Deafness is a Fortitude saving throw.

Spells of a similar nature, for example Bestow Curse or Contagion, are Touch spells therefore require a Melee touch attack roll (as well as having a saving throw).
Blindness / Deafness isn't a touch spell, it has a range (medium) but the spell doesn't seem to require a ranged touch attack roll.

I just wanted to check if I have this correct.

A bonded object can be used once per day to cast any one spell that the wizard has in his spellbook and is capable of casting, even if the spell is not prepared. This spell is treated like any other spell cast by the wizard, including casting time, duration, and other effects dependent on the wizard's level

I'm unsure if the spell cast using your bonded object counts toward your available spell slots?

The PRD states that while the spell doesn't need to be prepared, it is treated like any other spell cast by the wizard. This seems to suggest that it counts as one of your spells of the day as it "is treated like any other spell cast".

Is this correct or is it an additional spell?

while a bonded object is an item a wizard can use to cast additional spells or to serve as a magical item.

This suggests that the bonded object gives "additional spells", but I'm not sure why it says "spells" instead of "spell" (or is this an extension of one of the additional core rulebooks?).

And lastly, why does it say "or to serve as a magical item". Why can't it "cast additional spells and to serve as a magical item".

Very basic questions but would welcome any help. Cheers.

I'm not sure I understand the use (or need) for the Spellcraft Skill in BB. What am I missing?

As far as I can tell, Detect Magic is a better way to identify potions, scrolls, wands or any magic item. No need for Spellcraft here is there?

Spellcraft can be used to identify a spell that's being cast but I don't understand how this knowledge can be of use within the BB framework. There's no concept of casting counterspells in BB.

My players are wondering why they should put skill points into Spellcraft and at the moment I can't give them a satisfactory answer.

If a wizard copies a spell into his spellbook, can he prepare and cast it even if he isn't at the required level?

For example, at the end of the introductory Beginner Box adventure, a Scroll of Fireball is part of the treasure. It seems clear that a wizard of any level can copy the Fireball scroll into his spellbook but can a wizard lower than 5th-level now prepare this spell and cast it, as in, can a 1st-level wizard now cast a 3rd-level spell?

To me, the text on page 52 of the Game Master's Guide suggests that he can.
"Once the spell is copied, it is part of your spellbook, and from then on, every time you prepare spells you can prepare that spell from the spellbook."
This seems to suggest that it over-rides the usual limitation that a wizard needs to be at 3rd-level before he can prepare a 2nd-level spell (and so on).

If he can't prepare a high-level spell previously copied into his spellbook, then I'm wondering why the BB includes the rules for copying scrolls, it doesn't seem worth the complication. Yes, it means he gets an extra spell into his spellbook eventually but it will be a while before he could make use of it. Even without copying the scroll it would be available when the wizard reaches the appropriate level.

If he can, then clearly he would only be able to cast Fireball dealing 1d6 damage as a 1st-level wizard. When the wizard becomes 2nd-level then it would do 2d6 damage but it would still only count as a 1st-level spell. When the wizard becomes 3rd-level then it would do 3d6 damage but then would count as a 2nd-level spell. Actually, this begs the question if a wizard can in fact prepare a higher level spell at a lower level (and it counting as a lower level spell).

I can see the intent of the rule to mean either so I'm unsure how the rule is meant to work. Please bear in mind I'm working from the Beginner Box rules, not the full rules. Thanks.

I'm a new GM and have recently introduced Pathfinder (Beginner Box) to my games group. I plan to slowly introduce more core rules and creatures into the game and having just played and finished Crypt of the Everflame the PCs (currently at level 2) ran into swarms for the first time.

The question I have are what methods are there for low level characters to deal with swarms?

I searched the forums and there have been a number of threads on this subject (in particular this thread from a couple of years ago, Dealing with a swarm when you have no choice). As a GM I would like to ensure I understand the methods used to deal with diminutive and tiny swarms, particularly in context of low level characters who may not have the equipment or spells to deal with them effectively. I don't want to be throwing more swarms at the PCs until they have some chance to be able to deal with them.

I understand that for diminutive and tiny swarms they are immune to all weapon damage and that swarms take an additional 50% damage from spells and effects that affect an area. What I would like are some examples of spells and splash weapons that would damage swarms (at least those that low levels PCs could use). Here's my current understanding.

Burning Hands would seem to work (and at +50%) but would the swarm get a Reflex saving throw for half damage (given the size of swarms)?
What about Magic Missile, Ray of Frost, Acid Arrow or Scorching Ray? I assume they all targets single creatures making them ineffective.
What about Sleep? Swarms such as bats and rats don't have hive minds so I guess that's out.

Alchemist's Fire. Would a swarm (even a mindless one such as spiders) get a DC15 Reflex saving throw to avoid the follow-on 1d6 damage?
Torches only deal one point of fire damage, you ignore the 1d3 damage, so that makes them pretty useless.
Oil and Acid can be used but what about against flying swarms such as bats? This applies to Alchemist's Fire as well, it's unlikely the flask would conveniently break in mid-air if thrown into a bat swarm.

Any comments on the above are welcome? Are there other recommendations on how to deal with swarms?

I want to ensure I understand the requirements when using a Scroll, i.e. actions required, number of free hands, and so on.

I'm new to PF and my knowledge is limited to the BB rules. Is the following correct?

You first need to retrieve the scroll (say, from your backpack, so I assume doing so requires both hands?), this takes a Move Action.

You then would need to read the scroll, so before you can do this you would need to cast Read Magic on yourself. Use of the Read Magic Cantrip/Orison would take a Standard Action. Since Read Magic has a duration of minutes this can be done sometime previously, it can be done on a turn previous to retrieving the scroll but it does need to be done prior to reading the scroll.

Now you read the scroll and this takes another Standard Action. I assume you will need both hands free, one to hold the scroll and the other to make the magic gestures (I assume you still need to make gestures for a scroll). Could you hold the scroll in your shield hand, or do both hands need to be free?

In addition, you need to be able to concentrate, so no enemy must be adjacent when reading the scroll (or for that matter, when you cast Read Magic on yourself).

Is the above correct. It seems making use of scrolls during combat rather limited. It takes at least two turns (a Standard Action, a Move Action and then another Standard Action) and during this time you must not be adjacent to an enemy. You also need both hands free, so you can't be holding a weapon or shield at all. If you had to drop your weapon, quarterstaff for example, then you need another Move Action to pick it up again.

What about the requirements for using a Wand?

I would assume that drawing a Wand is akin to drawing a Weapon (so if you have an Attack Bonus of +1 then it's possible to move as well), and requires only one hand. It wouldn't need the Read Magic prerequisite either and you would need only the one hand to cast the spell using the wand (since I assume the hand holding the wand is used to make the magic gestures). You don't have to worry about an enemy being adjacent when using a wand either.

Given this, a wand seems a much, much better solution than a scroll :) and they are cheaper. While this statement might seem obvious, I just to want check I understand it all.

Anyway, would welcome any comments or advice on the above. This is from the perspective of a GM, what should I allow?

Would both hands need to be free to retrieve something (like a scroll, potion and maybe wand) from your backpack?

On page 90 of the BB Game Master's Guide it lists that a "Cloak of Protection +1, cost 1,000 GP" is available for purchase while at Sandpoint.

What's a Cloak of Protection? I don't seem to be able to find it anywhere in the BB content.

On page 12 of the BB Welcome to the GM Kit free download it lists a number of new Potions, Scrolls and Wands (such as Bane, Grease, Water Walk, etc) but no descriptions of these items are given.

Is this just a tease to encourage the purchase of the core rules :)

Edit: OK, found out the answer to my second question. Was in the Player Pack free download. Oops. Still Don't know what a Cloak of Protection is.

Many thanks.