If the people at a bar cannot identify the target based on the information given the spell will not either. People at a bar would not recognize the invisible target, so the spell doe not either.
Why not? why can't the description be "A 7' tall, blue skinned troll, wearing a white hat and white pants, but is currently invisible?"
Invisible creatures can be detected, just needs a good roll on a perception check, or have one of many means to bypass invisibility. Maybe one of those bar patrons has such?
Or really, isn't "A creature that's invisible" an accurate physical description?
maybe, but since the spell doesn't use a target but look for any subject that resemble the description, asking the spell to call a subject which does not have a visible shape should prompt the hand to just beacon the air in front of it, it has the same description after all, it matches the description perfectly.
well since the game use 'Physical Description' to explain how the races usually look like, it should stand out that an invisible creature, which by definition can't be describe 'how it look likes' would have a null\negative Physical Description and won't be a valid option to be described.
I have to agree with Pizza Lord that going by name and profession is changing the spell.
The big problem seems to be that Pathfinder does not define physical description in game mechanics. Too me a physical description means what the target currently looks like. Basically, what the police would use in an APB is what it needs. If the people at a bar cannot identify the target based on the information given the spell will not either. People at a bar would not recognize the invisible target, so the spell doe not either.
To answer the OP question the reason it is God tier spell is because the game you are in is not enforcing the restrictions of the spell.
while the game doesn't define Physical Description , it does give multiple examples for it, just check some race entry for a player's character.
examples:
- Dwarf:
"Physical Description: Dwarves are a short and stocky race, and stand about a foot shorter than most humans, with wide, compact bodies that account for their burly appearance. Male and female dwarves pride themselves on the long length of their hair, and men often decorate their beards with a variety of clasps and intricate braids. Clean-shavenness on a male dwarf is a sure sign of madness, or worse—no one familiar with their race trusts a beardless dwarven man.
- Elf:
"Physical Description: Generally taller than humans, elves possess a graceful, slender physique that is accentuated by their long, pointed ears. It is a mistake, however, to consider them weak or feeble, as the thin limbs of an elf can contain surprising power. Their eyes are wide and almond-shaped, and filled with large, vibrantly colored pupils. The coloration of elves as a whole varies wildly, and is much more diverse than that of human populations. However, as their coloration often matches their surroundings, the elves of a single community may appear quite similar. Forest-dwelling elves often have variations of green, brown, and tan in their hair, eye, and even skin tones.
While elven clothing often plays off the beauty of the natural world, those elves who live in cities tend to bedeck themselves in the latest fashions. Where city-dwelling elves encounter other urbanites, the elves are often fashion trendsetters. "
- Human:
"Physical Description: The physical characteristics of humans are as varied as the world's climes. From the dark-skinned tribesmen of the southern continents to the pale and barbaric raiders of the northern lands, humans possess a wide variety of skin colors, body types, and facial features. Generally speaking, humans' skin color assumes a darker hue the closer to the equator they live. At the same time, bone structure, hair color and texture, eye color, and a host of facial and bodily phenotypic characteristics vary immensely from one locale to another. Cheekbones may be high or broad, noses aquiline or flat, and lips full or thin; eyes range wildly in hue, some deep set in their sockets, and others with full epicanthic folds. Appearance is hardly random, of course, and familial, tribal, or national commonalities often allow the knowledgeable to identify a human's place of origin on sight, or at least to hazard a good guess. Humans' origins are also indicated through their traditional styles of bodily decoration, not only in the clothing or jewelry worn, but also in elaborate hairstyles, piercing, tattooing, and even scarification. "
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As we can see, the game uses Physical Description for how the creature looks like, not his profession or name so 'Dave the cook' will not be there (it might show up in ether the 'name' or 'society' entries, but those are not used by the spell)
Notes:
about #1:
" It is invisible to anyone except you and a potential subject" so the target can see the hand and doesn't need see invisibility to see and follow the hand to you. allowing the orc chief to know where you are and guide him (and his following tribe) in the fastest way to your camp is not very smart.
#2
cracks or exits small enough for ants and such to travel through might not be a secret door, it might just be small cracks in a non airtight wall of the ruin.
#3
"you specify a person (or any creature) by physical description, which can include race, gender... When the description is done, the hand streaks off in search of a subject that fits the description."
the hand search for someone that fits the physical description that you give it, anything that is made to look just like the target (looking at you doppelganger) will count as a 'potential target' and make the hand beckon it and not the real king. unless you know of a very special mark that only the target would have.
"If more than one subject in a 5-mile radius meets the description, the hand locates the closest creature."
also since this is a visual description. invisibility would still work against it. "If, at the end of 4 hours of searching, the hand has found no subject that matches the description within 5 miles..." (invisible creature by default doesn't match his normal description, he no longer look like a 5 ft human with a scar on his nose)
note:
- about secret signal, a good way to deliver a massage with this (and say, not any other massage delivering spells you might use instead) is to agree before on the target per massage you want to send. sign the healer if you want the party to come and help, peg the rogue if you want them to flee and bring reinforcement, etc.
- Pranks: this can be a very interesting prank to pull on the neighbor's mangy dog that won't stop barking...
Yea, i forgot to edit that, actually even if one could ready a coup de grace in this case i wouldn't recommend it, since he'll act before the witch used her immediate action, if she survive the damage she can bounce his coup de grace back to him, and i think the dc would be a lot higher then the familiar...
but taking a pot-shot at a helpless character (dex=0) is still fair game.
beside having the familiar provoking for performing the coup de grace, you might want to consider smart opponent actions once some of them realize what the witch is doing. if word got out or they dug enough info about her (or rolled a good sense motive or a knowledge check etc?) a well prepared enemy might just ready an action to coup de grace the witch themselves when she let herself be helpless.
all in all a risky maneuver, not much unlike 'sheathing the blade' in all of them sword dueling epic fights. (the act to use one's own body as a sheath to hold the enemy's blade to get a chance to strike them), I'd say roll with it but play the smart enemies smart enough to make it worth it when it works, and dire when failing.
Let me just highlight the main part from Toshy's nice post:
"he continues his actions once you complete your readied action."
-Until the readied action is done, unless the triggering person have a special ability etc, he can't act.
to help it make sense. the counterspelling wizard's turn was before the sorcerer's turn. and he took a very special initiative altering action to allow him to continue his act at the sorcerer's turn. so we stop the sorcerer's turn, let the wizard continue his earlier stopped turn, and only then continue the sorcerer's turn.
so unless the sorcerer has an ability or item or what-not that let him cast a quicken spell out of turn, he wait for his turn to resume.
(very special initiative altering action - from the next turn the wizard initiative change to just before the sorcerer's, no matter what it was up to now and who else act in the turn order.)
unless you have a feat or action or something that allow you (like a readied action) you can not interrupt some1 else's action. so the npc wizard who took a ready action get to try and counter-spell the Sorcerer , but the Sorcerer won't get any action, not even a quicken action to counter that counter. (and if he had any feat allowing this it would have probably be an immediate action).
so action #4 is illegal. the ready action happen in response to his casting and unless he has something special that allow it, he doesn't get to respond until after the counter spell attempt is resolved.
just a note, in my games this item (the one linked, not the one the op is trying to price) is changed to hold a maximum of 5 spells and not 5 scrolls, since by raw a scroll can have any number of spells scribed on it (you just make it longer) and this would allow a ridiculous number of spells, all to be inside the case even on one scroll, and allow casting of any of the spells within.
I think you mixed stuff up there, op doesn't want to craft his bonded item like he can, he want to designate another, already magical ring, as his bounded item. which is a different process.
to make his bounded item magical (or enhance it) he need to fulfill the item's crafting feat requirement that match his bounded item. then he can craft it into a magical item or enhance an already magical bonded item using the magic item creation rules.
one can also pay for another person to do this. (if he trust him with his bounded item that is)
to bound with a new item of the same type as his bonded item a different process is needed (that week of attuning etc) but he doesn't need any requirement beside what is describe in the process of replacing his bonded item.
Also I personally rule that the point about bounded item losing all it's abilities once the master bound with a new item should only include what the master added with his class ability of crafting his bounded item. an item that was enhanced by other means shouldn't loose that enhancement just because the master took a week to attune it and then another to attune a different item.
you may take the"Advanced Weapon Training" combat feat with the fighter bonus combat feats or normal feats as long as you have the requirements (i think it's to have the class ability of weapon training).
enjoy!
ranged spec fighter with warrior spirit?
i'd like to recommend to you the Beaming weapon ability. (not to put on the weapon via crafting, to use with the warrior spirit)
since every time you power up your weapon with a point from the ability you can only add one weapon special ability. this one let you shoot a 10th level (max power) searing light as a free action when you full attack per weapon enhancement bonus at the time you use this power. adding 5d6/5d8/10d6/10d8 (depending on target) to your full attack for each + the weapon have at the cost of +1 weapon bonus. (also note that the spell can target anyone in 200 feet range, not just the target you shoot bolts at)
do note that some DM might say the amount of beams is daily based so you can only use this once per day and the rest you will need to use other weapon abilities, but among the +1 worth weapon abilities this is golden.
you also can gain a feat every odd level, any feat.
but you still need to get the requirements to gain it. same thing here. unless specifically called out to not require any requirement anytime you want to take a feat you must meet it's requirement, as this is a general rule for gaining feats and unless you have a specific rule to overcome it (like ranger combat feats etc) you must follow it.
there is a specific ruling that if you gain a feat with requirement but then lost them (say power attack and lost the minimum str from being sapped) you don't lose the feat, but can't use it (or any feat that require it) until you get back the feat's requirements.
but as i said this specific ability doesn't say you may ignore a feat's requirements so you don't get to pick one you are unqualified to take..
we're ain't at the homebrew or game balance section, this is the Rules section.
And the rules are very clear:
If it doesn't say it stop being a two handed weapon. then it doesn't, and it uses ALL the 2 handed rules beside the ones it specifically call out to change.
If it say it work with a shield held in the other hand all together it does.
Save the homebrewing and society nerfing for their own section of the board.
Fighter's have it hard enough to scale up to casters as is, the extra feats are HIS *spellcasting* balance.
Each feat break the rules up to it and allow you to do something you just can't do without it. this is not a bug in the balance, it's a feature!
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side note, you got the requirements wrong, the proficiency and shield focus are a must, then you ether need to have bab +3 or 1st level fighter. it is meant to be easier for fighters to gain.
that pfs ruling is clearly a nerf they added to the feat, if it was considered using one hand then the feat would have mentioned it to begin with, as it does in so many other places where that happen. the half off str and power attack alone make a big deal enough for it to be mentioned.
that aside OP, you should probably go for a Clawhand shield for a caster with shield brace. it makes things so much easier and help when grappled (which would suck in ether casting or two-handed weapon fighting) .
intangible?
some options you might want to look at:
look up the Wayang, specifically the alt ability of Dissolution’s Child:
Once per day, you may change your appearance to look as if you were little more than a 4-foot-tall area of shadow. Your physical form still exists and you are not incorporeal—only your appearance changes. This works like invisibility, except it only lasts 1 round per level (maximum 5 rounds). This is a supernatural ability. This racial trait replaces shadow magic.
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if allowed (and you don't mind playing one, some do) then a Duergar can be realy nice here. they got invisibility and enlarge person 1/day , a bunch of immunities and +2 vs spells and such. and the +2 to con and wis also help a monk. you can pick up the innate flexibility feat to gain 2 more uses a day (and take it more then once)
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getting 1 minute of invisibility from being a heavy drinker is also an option.
option #1:
4th level (see *note* below) unchained monk who pick up the empty body ki power (it surprisingly has no minimum level cap) can turn ethereal for 1 minute for each 3 ki used (2 ki with a charged up ki mastery ring):
"Empty Body (Su) (Pathfinder Unchained pg. 16): A monk with this ki power gains the ability to assume an ethereal state for 1 minute as though using the spell etherealness, using his monk level as his caster level. Using this ability is a move action that consumes 3 points from the monk’s ki pool. This ability affects only the monk and cannot be used to make other creatures ethereal."
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option #2:
drinking the addictive Numerian Fluids drug and getting very lucky (rolling a 100 in a d100% and then 3 in 1d10):
100 = Roll on the table below. All exceptional effects are permanent.
3 = Phasing: The drinker gains the ability to become incorporeal for 1d4 rounds as a swift action, but takes 1 point of Con damage when he does so. Phasing can be extended as a free action by taking 1 additional point of Con damage. Coming out of phase inside a solid object is instantly fatal. Phasing cannot be used by creatures that are immune to Con damage.
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option #3:
to become permanently incorporeal (not like shadowcat) you can drink the
Ghost Syrup necrotoxin (base price of 6,000 gp) and if you succumb to it and lose all of your str you permanently become incorporeal. need wish\miracle and such to come back. so make sure you got something like ghost touch armor and probably ghost touch amulet of mighty fists to be able to do things.
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option #4:
adding the Etherealness magical ability to your magic armor (add a flat 49,000 gp to the armor cost) will let you become ethereal for 1 hour a day.
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*Note*
Your wish to be able to do it at level one is kinda hard as it's an issue with breaking the game's powers balance. a level 1 character is not meant to be able to go through walls unchecked anymore then to be flying at supersonic speed and shooting death lasers out of his eyes.
Consider the unchained monk option and think of levels 1-3 as training yourself to be able to do it. (flavor wise maybe you barely flicker on and off, without a real game mechanic effect, when meditating. Until you fully grasp the ki ability at level 4)
i work a lot with AI, never trust it, always fact check. An AI will blatantly lie, and keep up lying about it up to the point you confront it with facts, at which point it will apologize ,of sort, and might still claim the lie is true in the next answer he gives.
As for Freebooter:
Freebooter replaces: Favored Enemy; Hunter's Bond; Woodland Stride -and that's all.
The AI might even give you an answer about a freebooter from a different edition or game without even telling you he does. and that's if he doesn't just use the most common answer he finds that others wrote which might not even be from the rules.
I do not personally advocate for critical fumbles. Martial characters have it rough enough without needing to worry about one of their 6 attacks a turn causing them to decapitate themselves.
To deal with martial having more attacks and thus those with X5 the attacks then a 1st level would fumble x5 time more, i added a 2nd roll. each bab a character have (which should represent his martial prowess and expertise) is a stacking 5% to not fumble on a nat 1 (which is followed by a to hit roll to confirm the miss, like with a crit) so say a level 6 fighter rolls a nat 1 and then a miss confirmation, he has 30% to just miss and not fumble. while a level 20 would only fumble if he rolls a nat 1, then a miss confirmation and then a 100 in a 100% roll.
"a monster that has miracle as an at will ability even if its just once a day?"
I assume you mean 'as sla even once a day' not 'at will'
if it can get class levels then it's possible.
a level 10 oracle(dragon mystery)/10 exalted (any deity who has the magic/divine sub domain. like nethys or Asmu) can have:
sla - to material cost:
1/day - miracle, 1/day resurrection, 1/day any up to 7th level wizard spell (such as limited wish) from dragon magic revolution (2/day if he's an elf with fev calss bonus).
-also the other divine sub domain bonus spells as sla of levels 1,2,3,4,5,6,8.
and the exalted 1/day ability that i like to call limited miracle. all without material comp.
my wish granting dragon (oracle) build has all that and more, being an elf who is adopted by genie-kin got him to add his fev class bonus for 2/day limited wish and the ability to cast 'at will' any 0 level spell if a humanoid (himself as well) wish for it.
This could make an interesting adventure. An npc party gets a hold of the bottle but only have the word of opening and don't know what will happen when they use it. Now your city is being invaded by evil outsiders that are getting progressively more powerful.
As a GM (just to mess with the players) I would add that the long imprisonment in the bottle somewhat effected the resident's mind, now they all dress the same, look the same and answer to the name 'Bob' ,yes even the big guy at the end.
(one way to calm this problem is to research each and every fiend true name to send them off with it)
if the dragon got acid breath attack (and gm is ok with old 3.5 pathfinder feats) then I would strongly suggest getting him the Noxious
bite feat.
7 attacks a round with each getting it's own save or suck when hit are very strong!
the spell is considered to be of a higher level, but it's not is of a higher level.
So it will be harder to: counter with darkness magic\resist\dispel\make into a magic item etc (a spell for a wand might end with a spell level over 4th so can't be put into a wand etc) -things that use the spell level for consideration.
But the spell's specifics would still follow it's original spell -the creatures one can summon for example.
The fact there is a spell of higher level named almost the same doesn't make it the same spell with a higher spell level as the only difference. for example if you scribe a summon mounter II spell that is somehow effected by this feat and class ability it will not turn into a summon monster IV, they use different..well everything... and you can't use one to add the other to your spell book because the 'considered' level is higher.
It will be like saying, I can heighten my magic missile spell to be a 3rd level spell so now it's a fireball. these are different spells altogether with somewhat similar effects (and while the higher level spells can be used to summon creatures from lower level spell list, having the higher in your spell book for example doesn't mean you automatically also have the lower ones. again -different spells)
in the magic section it state (in spell effects, about bringing people back from death):
"Revivification against One’s Will
A soul can’t be returned to life if it doesn’t wish to be. A soul knows the name, alignment, and patron deity (if any) of the character attempting to revive it and may refuse to return on that basis."
so if he knows who killed him by name (and more so by alignment and patron) he might decide not to let the same person bring him back.
note that the aromatic extract doesn't normally work with haste as it only allow touch spells\extracts. and even if it did the extract slot used would be 2 higher and the caster level would be the minimum to cast the original extract (2 i think, for 2 rounds of haste only).
you bolded the wrong part. here let me point you to it:
"The target can attempt to resist this spell’s effects with a Fortitude save-if he succeeds, he is merely staggered for 1 round as he gasps for breath. If the target fails, he immediately begins to suffocate. On the target’s next turn, he falls unconscious and is reduced to 0 hit points. One round later, the target drops to -1 hit points and is dying. One round after that, the target dies. Each round, the target can delay that round’s effects from occurring by making a successful Fortitude save, but the spell continues for 3 rounds, and each time a target fails his Fortitude save, he moves one step further along the track to suffocation. This spell only affects living creatures that must breathe. It is impossible to defeat the effects of this spell by simply holding one’s breath-if the victim fails the initial Saving Throw, the air in his lungs is extracted.
the spell is resisted if he succeed a save, not negated. if the first save would have ended the spell effect it should have mentioned something like "staggered for 1 round as he gasps for breath and the spell ends".
the save is to resist the spells effects. if the save would negate the whole spell it should have said: 1- negate, not resist. 2- spell effect not effects and 3- mention that the spell end if the first save is made.
Instead the spell add a 'but', and inform us that no matter what was before it LAST 3 ROUNDS, if this part only talked about those who failed the first save it should have said "each round after the first the target can delay..".
if the 1st save stop it before that it should have mention so, the fact it say he is staggered for 1 round and later add but the spell last 3 and any fail move him down the path of suffocation mean that each save is for that specific rounds effect only and the next turn if the spell's rounds are not over he must save again (if not dead yet). Heck adding extend spell metamagic to this spell will let it last 6 rounds with a save for each.
arrows, backpack, blanket, bedroll, belt pouch, flint&steel, sawback + kunai, silk rope (cost 10 gp), soap, wet-stone, water-skin (more then one, unless you got some1 casting create water), caltrops(cold iron), torches, chalk, acid flasks (cost 10 gp each. for them swarms), mirror,trail rations,
other stuff from this list that you like.
a mule\donkey (they will go into dungeons and are more stable then horses, also cost a lo less). make sure to also get saddle and feed for it.
this is obviously a mistake and they should use 'turn'.
if they meant it as the full 6 sec 'round' then the last part in the 5 ft step the op copied would mean one can take 5 ft step after his 'turn' in another person's 'turn' while on the same 'round':
"You can take a 5-foot step before, during, or after your other actions in the round."
remember it's not even an action!
talking is a free action one can use even out of 'turn', if 5 ft step isn't even an action and can be used after your actions but in the same 'round' (and not 'turn') one would be able to use it anytime he want's in that 'round' even on some1 else's 'turn'.
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I think it's a carry over form 3.5 that never got patched:
from page 144 of the 3.5 player's handbook:
"You can move 5 feet in any round when you don’t perform any other
kind of movement. Taking this 5-foot step never provokes an attack
of opportunity. You can’t take more than one 5-foot step in a round,
and you can’t take a 5-foot step in the same round when you move
any distance.
You can take a 5-foot step before, during, or after your other actions in the round."
right, that was a house rule from my gm I have adopted and forgot it was one. Where you could 'save' your swift action for an immediate action before your next turn without taking the next turn's swift action. kinda like a ready action taking this turns action not the next.
the start of your turn reset all your actions. (move, standard and swift if you didn't use a swift action in your last turn and an immediate action between turns).
so in case #1 once your turn start you gain all action uses including your movement or the option to take a 5 ft step. using an immediate action before your turn doesn't prevent you from taking a move action or 5 ft step once your turn start. (it does prevent you from taking a swift action, depending if you used a swift action in your previous round or not). the immediate action in fact is accounted for your previous turn (if any) and has no movement restriction on your actions in your new turn.
to prevent you from taking a 5 ft step in your next turn, the ability need to specifically call it out to be prevented (for example see the step up feat).
in case #2 you take the immediate action in the enemy's turn, after yours was done. so again not part of your turn's movent and has nothing to do with that turn's 5ft step -and thus you may use it.(the same for that matter with the step up feat mention above)
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the only time this action would hamper your 5 ft step is if on your turn you provoke an attack of opportunity (not for moving. say from ranging in melee) and use the immediate action to move with Dodging Panache during your own turn actions. this movent will prevent you from then taking a 5 ft step until your next turn.
general rule is for all cases not specifically calls out an exception. it effect all things under it's rule unless called out otherwise.
specific rule is an exception to the general rule and can only effect itself. one can not use a specific exception to set the rules to other unrelated to it. it is not a general rule.
back to us:
the general rule for outsiders call out general outsiders traits among them the proficiency in all martial and simple weapons. same general rule also say that should a specific creature entry say otherwise it trump what the general trait say.
the specific of each 'planetouched'(a non pathfinder name but meh) creature rules for player playing them include some of these traits, but removed the proficiency in all martial weapon proficiency etc. so they don't get it.
the fact a specific monster entry (Undine) include what seem to be a proficiency in trident, said monster is not player approved and is set as a monster for gm use. as such it should NOT have any effect on the rules for player played Undine. Hack at the same link bellow are the character Undine traits and again no proficiency in martial weapons is mentioned.
why does the gm monster has such proficiency?
GM fiat exception? favored god weapon? it doesn't matter! it is NOT there as a player character and as such has no effect on the rules for one. trying to apply the rules from it is the same as asking why doesn't all Undine character have a free cleric level.
I marked in bold more then one line in my answer. make sure you read the first one before asking 'why not'.
here it is AGAIN:
"unless otherwise noted in a creature’s entry"
the auto proficiency or any other trait the outsider get in the GENERAL outsider type info depend on that the SPECIFIC creature of said type doesn't note a difference. and in plaintouched (as i pointed out with the Oread) it DOES. it call out SOME traits that outsiders get (like 60 darkvision) while removing others (like the proficiency) hence anyone who want to use the traits in the type to claim they SHOULD get the proficiency need to comply with the entire text they use -not just the pretty shinny bit they like.
and the entire text include the part that say that if the creature specifically change anything from the general type traits then that is what he actually get and not what the type say!
yes and No. for normal player option races it's no.
And reason is, if you read the outsider type info in the beastry it say:
"An outsider possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature’s entry).
- Darkvision 60 feet.
- Unlike most living creatures, an outsider does not have a dual nature—its soul and body form one unit. When an outsider is slain, no soul is set loose. Spells that restore souls to their bodies, such as raise dead, reincarnate, and resurrection, don’t work on an outsider. It takes a different magical effect, such as limited wish, wish, miracle, or true resurrection to restore it to life. An outsider with the native subtype can be raised, reincarnated, or resurrected just as other living creatures can be.
- Proficient with all simple and martial weapons and any weapons mentioned in its entry.
- Proficient with whatever type of armor (light, medium, or heavy) it is described as wearing, as well as all lighter types. Outsiders not indicated as wearing armor are not proficient with armor. Outsiders are proficient with shields if they are proficient with any form of armor. "
for a player's race the creature entry is the one that explain what you get as playing these races.take for example the info for Oread character (from the beastry's section about oread, scroll down to the end at'Oread Characters').
In there some of the above is written (like the 60 ft darkvision) and some are not. and the GENERAL rule of the outsider's traits say that you go by the specific info if it's say differently. the info for player character races doesn't include proficiency in all of them weapons so it doesn't gain them.
you have a NE boss that leave a lot of corpses around?
I would team him up with 1 (or more) Orphene(s). NE fey that has command undead at will and 1/day animate dead (caster level 6), as well as a Desecrating Aura which boost the undead made.
All them dead bodies littering the place around can be used for something other then props!
With command undead at will at caster level 6 this fey can command unintelligent undead with no save, and each use of his sla last 6 days!
Give him enough time (or teammates) and he can animate every corpse in the area and control it (dogs and horses as well as birds. don't limit the undead to just the humanoids).
(voice drifting down the hill)
"come play with us!"
Goz mask + saltspray ring. (some races, spells and abilities can replace the goz mask)
And stay 10 ft away at least (which you probably already doing since you are ranging)
If you are going slayer and don't mind loosing the studied target ability for a cool factor with good defensive and utility abilities then I would suggest to go with an Ankou's Shadow. by level 5 you can have 2 mirror images constantly following you (until destroyed\discharged but can be recalled) and since it's level 5 they can also aid another (in combat, doesn't seem to be for skills, not at this level) and give flanking.
the Cool factor is that you can almost always appear to leave after images and make anyone nervous by not knowing which one of the triplets the real you is.
You know the one you can only DMG with AoE spells which are mostly Ref Saves? And giving them Evasion, so that they are nearly invulnerable.
Like a Bat swarm (CR 2) with 2 levels in rouge.
+3 to Ref from the class +2 from Dex (+4 Dex for class adjustment) and evasion.
Thats a "CR 3" creature with a +12 Ref, evasion and swarm abilites.
And I bet a lot, that most level 2/3 partys would die against this monster.
Thanks. I just envisioned what power a vampire with the ability to turn into a bat swarm and two levels as a rogue would have.
that would not be a CR 33 monster but a cr 43 monster.
the rules for adding classes to monster say that if the class fit the monster 'style' it add it's full level to the cr, if not it add half. so an arcane spell casting, half bab, monster who gain fighter levels get half the class level to it's cr, while if it gained wizard class levels it would gain the full levels to it's cr.
a Solar a a full hd\bab with divine spells (and detect evil etc) is pretty much a 'monster' paladin so adding more paladin levels to it should add the full paladin levels to the cr.
distance perception penalties in pathfinder is wunki at best.
you get -1 penalty for perception for each 10 ft to the target (a rule which i have not seen anyone actually use). so that is -80 to perception at 800 ft range. pretty sure not a lot could tell the difference if they are both wearing similar clothes and fighting.
but then again following these rules by the letter mean one can't see the sun or moon at all (as penalties for stealth for size cap at colossal and the stacking penalties for the opposed perception to notice it do no cap)
Benefit: While in a tavern or other drinking establishment,
It only works in taverns or drinking establishments.
Great at the Oktoberfest, useless in a street filled with angry people.
Read the 'special' part at bottom (which led to my 2nd question in my 1st post) - can be used on a large group if suppling the booze even outside a bar.
about stacking, does anything (other then time\resources etc) prevents taking 10 more minutes, in case of starting with unfriendly, to get them bar into friendly mood?
That's because usually such effects state the target 'die' without explaining\care for how much damage it took (if any), and breath of life return one to life by fixing the damage (so with no damage value to fix it's ineffective).
As such while not as 'per written' it's reasonable to allow it to fix death caused by damaged caused by a death effect.
I will nitpick that the spell is not capped at 200 as Diego wrote, if your effective caster level is above 20 the damage can go higher then 200.
So I have read this feat a long time ago, but stumbled into it again today while looking for something else and I noticed important things that seem to make it a lot more stronger then I initially thought.
reading thig feat effect (and the fact that one can use it even outside taverns if he supply booze worth at least 5 gp) it seem that the attitude shift is:
1.An auto success not requiring a skill check (which if using diplomacy would have been at dc 20+targets cha for unfriendly).
2. As a follow up since it is not the result of the diplomacy skill check it can stack with it. (the diplomacy check to change an attitude cannot shift the target more then 2 stages using it alone).
this mean that targeting an unfriendly group, even outside a tavern buy spending 5 gp, will move them into indifferent which can then be further improved up to helpful with a high enough followed diplomacy check.
so as long as the targets are not straight up hostile and you have 11 minutes to sing, one can move them into indifferent or even better with ease.
any thoughts?
also how many is 'a large crowd of people' in your mind? (or more importantly how few are still a large group so this can work on them?)
Benefit: While in a tavern or other drinking establishment, you can change the attitude of the patrons from unfriendly to indifferent or from indifferent to friendly by spending 10 minutes engaging in a group sing-along. For the following 24 hours, your attempts to gather information in that tavern take only 2d6 minutes if the patrons are indifferent or 1d4 minutes if the patrons are friendly. You must be able to speak the same language as the majority of the patrons to use this feat.
Special: You can use this feat with a large crowd of people outside of a tavern if you supply at least 5 gp worth of alcohol to the group.
A bard getting countersong with ready action? anyone hearing can use his skill check as a save. and that (especially at higher levels with all the added bonuses one can pile on skill checks) can be set to be so high no dc can ever hope to reach.
I find countersong to be one of the least used abilities of the core bard, about time it got used for a something. I considered even to homebrow a feat to let a bard start it as an immediate action just to make it more usable.
heck at high enough level a bard can have up to 3 performances running at once, so he can have one of them to be countersong for the whole fight, no need to ready. (shadow bard and that spell\feat that let him run a 2nd performance, don't remember atm how it's called).
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Another rarely used basic function is to counterspell against the banshee wail.
Then there is the silence spell that can be used ether on the party as protective or on the caster (or on an item near him, like one a close melee wear) to shutdown all his verbale depended spells. (in some ap I had casters royaly screwed by this as ALL of their spells were verbal)
the only offensive spell wand I tend to go with is Ill omen or stuff with no save (or no save without interaction, like illusions).
Even then it's for the help to wield. the main character has better things to use his action on.
and the needed spell is an empowered acid arrow. which is a (bumped up)4th level spell. you can't cast it at 3rd level.
the words you posted:
" but never lower than the minimum level needed to cast the needed spell."
to cast an empowered acid arrow spell the minimum caster level is 7th. (reminder that one can't use his class\trait abilities to lower the metamagic level when crafting)
