zza ni's page

zza ni wrote:

For anyone who 'worship' Raz...

to clear up any confusion, Razmir is not a legal deity for clerics.

Which is why I wrote: 'worship' and not worship.

The spell Sow Thoughts does not confer any bonuses per RAW but the trait does... interesting but these are casters and generally don't care about melee.

no but it is a permanent compulsion effect the trait does and all it need is:

it doesn't say anything about the attack and damage only being for melee, your rays can benefit from it too, don't you just HATE missing a ranged touch attack? and bumping up even the cantrip acid splash is nice.

For anyone who 'worship' Raz i'd suggest picking up the overpowered trait 'Strength of Submision' and pay a caster to cast Sow Tought on you for those sweet permanent +1 to hit and damage bonuses.
my main go-to is the thought 'Razmiran is great!'.

As a sorcerer you can also use the spell yourself but sorcerer spells known are so limited it's usually better to just pay 10 gp once (and carrying 25 gp worth a scroll in case anyone dispel it) this should be a lot better then picking this spell (unless you REALY want it for other uses)

I meant specifically what I said. how fear immunity being stripped off depend on the creature.

I seem to remember somewhere that the antipaladin aura that remove fear immunity only work on things that used to be able to get frightened but gained an immunity from some source( such as paladins) but not things that never had any ability to be effected by fear (such as skeletons). but for the life of me I can't find where I have seen it...

Thank you Name Violation for the in deph explanation.

Luckily the player or the GM are not beyond by your opinion.

To be fair that method had so many wrong things written in it that initially I had gave up on even responding.

to start off. there is a very specific FaQ about the traits that decrease metamagic levels and how it work and more so NOT WORK (as in - it can't reduce a 3rd level spell into a 2nd, so even IF the heighened spell WILL turn into a for-real-and-any-purpose-6th-level spell, which he can't cast, it won't be able to get back into 5th).
Next there are very specific rules as to WHEN one gain new spell slots (also has a faq) and more so about how heighten spell work (if you heighten it to level 6 and drop it back to 5 it is a 5th level spell as that is ALL the metamagic does so even if the bullcrap before did work and let you get a higher level spell slot IF that part would have worked, it doesn't count as a 6th level spell anymore).

so what do we have so far?
- Miss understanding how the trait work? -check!
- Miss understanding how one gain new level spell slots? -check!
- Miss understanding how the metamagic feat work? -check!

pretty sure saying: 'That's not how ANY OF THAT works' is point on.

-So yea, thx Name Violation!

good thing you didn't also claim that having high score in his casting ability grant him a bonus spell slot of 6th level which open up his domain spell...

--------------------------------

to the OP question.

the prestige class of a Diabolist (which can be entered as soon as 8th level since it was nurfed, used to be 6th) has a class ability at it's 2nd level (so you can get it by 10th level) which let you channel hellfire through any damaging spell cast up to 1/day per cha modifier (minimum 1). the class also give other perks (but you do damn your soul to hell, minor details..)

you also provoke when shooting while in melee, which would be an added option.

no, has has proven that the spell level scale up. not that it is equal to caster level nor that it scale up as well. and level 20+ rules are optional rules ('...although in many cases these alternative rules...') which would beg questioning how come so many spells mention an effect using more then 10 caster level? could they ALL be talking about optional alternative rule set?!

ALSO ALSO, since you mention these specific rules, look and behold what they say RIGHT AT START THE SPELLS SECTION! :

"Spells: A spellcaster’s caster level continues to increase by one for each level beyond 20th level...

now for any caster that follow the rules as we mentioned (even rangers and paladins who's caster level is -3 of their level) every level increase their caster level by one. (ranger's and paladins just start at level 4 instead of 1). which work with these rules. how does this work with your GM?

speaking of:

ranger :
"Through 3rd level, a ranger has no caster level. At 4th level and higher, his caster level is equal to his ranger level – 3."
- no weird formula of caster level = spell level

paladin:
"Through 3rd level, a paladin has no caster level. At 4th level and higher, her caster level is equal to her paladin level – 3."
- no weird formula of caster level = spell level

Using Diego's estimate as a base:

unless you plan on making more then 200 crafting checks, 4 wands of crafter's fortune (each cost 750 gp and has 50 charges) would be cheaper.

also hiring a caster to cast it for you would only be 10 gp each time. that make it cheaper as long as it's up to 300 times.

@ Belafon - there are 2 traits that reduce 10 from the roll when you are confused. the one you brought and the campaign trait Foe of the Strange since these are not trait bonus rather an effect having both traits should reduce 20 from the roll.

1st: ask him to provide evidence to this scaling rule.

2nd: next ask as to HOW it scales? there are no more spells beyond 9th level. and not all casters gain spells the same level. sorcerer gain 2nd level spells only at 4th level, and 3rd at 6th while magus need to wait even later for his 3rd level.

Again, in pathfinder rules MUST be stated to have effect. if this so called 'scaling after level 20' is a real rule it should have be mentioned somewhere in the rules. ask for him to show you where he found it.

-continue- (i got internet dc while editing this for over an hour)

pathfinder is rules work in a way that something must be mentioned for it to be in the rules. as you showed the caster level is mentioned to be (most of the time) equal to the character class level. ask your GM to show you the rule where it say the caster level is equal to the highest spell level you can cast.

you can also mentioned that spell like abilities that work mostly like spells always have a mention where it say that their caster level is equal the creatures total hd (in case they were gained via the creature's race) or his class level (in case where it was gained from a class).

caster level is not spell level. spell level range from 0 (cantrips) to (normally) 9th level.

caster level is how 'professional' the caster is while spell level is more like what complex tools he mastered using.

if caster level was equal to spell level then spells talking about maximum caster level over 9 shouldn't even be (at least not common, as raising caster level is HARD and limited). yet fireball talk about maximum 10 dice for caster level 10. ask your GM how does that work? show him higher level spells that talk about even higher caster level (delayed blast fireball, heal, Horrid Wilting etc)

@Azothath the padma Blossom is not a consumable rather a piece of magical jade with a constant effect while grasped (that can also cast calm emotion 2/day).

to the OP:

- You can get sheltering stubborness. Thus the first round you are just dazzled (-1 to attack rolls and sight based perception) and can cast spells to prevent the ongoing confusion. can be combined with the Padma Blossom from bellow to negate the confusion (and save a spell slot) while not having to keep it in hand all the time.

- the Subconscious Ursurpation feat will cost one feat less, but you will have to be able to remove the confusion with a mental ability which would be harder to get.

- the fortunate trait will let you roll twice (once per day) and pick the better roll which would mean getting the 25% to act normally (and then remove the confusion via your own spells) has a higher chance of happening.

- grasping (probably take up a hand) the Padma Blossom make you Immune to confusion and other things while granting +3 to concentration (which should also be nice to cast spells in combat). downside it also make you immune to moral effects, most of which are bonuses (rage, bless, etc).

- the spell Nine lives last an hour per level and will let you overcome confusion among other things. 8th level clerical spell though.

-Rant on-
If you follow strict raw, leadership doesn't even come close controlling the creature as do clone, as it state the cohort and followers are NPC as in control of the gm not the player (non player characters).
they are not mini-pc for the player to control. and in fact having them have a say in what exactly their build would be is also not part of the rules. the character with leadership might op for a fighter cohort and wait to hire one, but having him decide it's feats, stats spread, starting gear etc is out of the question the same as with any other npc.
Having the cohort npc sit in a portable hole for day on end sweat-shopping away is very poor treatment and should warrant an immediate confrontation and likely resining.
-Rant off-

as mentioned by Mysterious Stranger the clone need to be a copy of a specific Indvidual creature. so first one must find the right target to clone (with the right feats) and get a sample before creating a Dolly out of it.

You know, if you like 'the Oliphaunt of Jandelay' and this is for an end-game-almost-apocalypse story then the fact it should be guarding Jandelay shouldn't stop you.

If it was me and the monster fit the bill, I'd have it in Golarion causing massive damage around after the mastermind which control and unleashed it here had already made his little apocalypse at Jandelay.

-'what is it doing here?! It should be guarding Jandelay!'
-'Jandelay... is no more...'

This will showcase not only the magnitude of evil that works against the party but also what might be the end of Golarion should his plan not be thwarted.
The party might even need to do a side-trip to the 'Ruins of Jandelay' to find clues about this evil and how to stop it (and\or how it works).

- As for the cr 30 dragon you picked, who said the mastermind need to limit himself to one big distraction pet? (or it can BE the mastermind)

I think this is where the rolls for planes\geography Diego mentioned come into. unless you speak about a truly featureless plane there will always be markings. and unless this is a place NO1 ever been through a successful knowledge rolls would indicate that they know enough about the area from others who have been there and spread the knowledge about (bards\cartographers\navigators etc). there should be some major land marks along the way (lakes\ rivers\ hills\ mountains \cliffs etc.) that they can align themselves to.

I would also add the getting roll vs lost rule anyway. since they are traveling and it should be in effect. getting lost would indicate that they might have mistaken the pound they just vaguely see to the lake they thought they would reach into etc.

the rules are very detailed on how to solve what happen if they do get lost

the shadow plane overlap the material plane and if you read it's info it has very similar things in it which are somewhat distorted.
the spell say:
"Thus, you can use this spell to travel rapidly by stepping onto the Plane of Shadow, moving the desired distance, and then stepping back onto the Material Plane."

since the planes are roughly similar by going in the desired direction for the desired distance even if 'you can’t make out details of the terrain or areas you pass over during transit' you can have a rough estimation to where in general you are on both planes. but since it's blurry you can't be 100% sure until you get out of the 'quasi-real' 'coiling path of shadowstuff'

the rule was brought for feats as you mentioned but it was also used for prestige class not having their requirements.
it's a general rule not just for feats.

any effect that has requirements that lose these requirements can't keep it's effect (unless mentioned specifically that it can).

in this case, say you cast enlarge person then disguised as an ogre. dismissing the enlarge will shrink you as this is the effect of dismissing said spell, you will show up as an ogre who was hit with something like reduce person -a medium sized ogre.

because the size change comes from the enlarge spell, once it's gone the size change can't be maintained the same way not having enlarge to begin with stop you at medium size.

the disguise spell say:
"You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller" the enlarge is what let you disguise bigger because you are bigger.
Once it's gone the disguise has to keep up on it's own rules in which "You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller" now you are back to medium so your disguise can't be more then 1 foot taller.

"but if you cast enlarge you can appear as a creature of a size bigger than yours. Then you can decide to dismiss enlarge and you are still left with a large disguise"

No, if you dismiss the enlarge you can't keep the large size disguise. the same way that losing any prerequisite make you unable to use the effect that require it. lowering your str below power attack requirement mean you can not use power attack for example.
the disguise allow a larger form only when enlarged. dismissing the enlarge make the larger form 'shrink' the same as would happen to anyone who has enlarge on him and have it dismissed.

well the option of the fear anti-paladin isn't a must lethal one.
it's there so the enemy that the party have been foiling his plans can hire to 'teach them a lesson' (or to keep them busy while he finish up his dirty deeds).

there is no reason to tell the party beforehand the plans the BBEG make, but there is also no need to have them being automatedly lethal. and once met they party can start their plans on how to overcome it next time.

A less lethal way to deal with paladins-monks then the one I posted above would be to use an antipaladin's aura to counter their immunity to fear and send them packing.
say an antipaladin focused on intimidate with all 4 damnation feats, backed up by a caster who stone wall (or stone shape) the area to prevent the paladin from moving more then 10 ft away from the antipaladin (so he's fear immunity doesn't come back. "Run coward!")

be mindful the following has caused more then one tpk when used sparsely. i made this back in 3.5 in the original format.

any item crafting villain (In pathfinder I use a Hoaxer bard arcthype for flavor) who summon\control undead (can use skeleton summoner feat or other means). have the undead throw sneeze dust before engaging for ether 3d6 con damage (if failed save) or 5d4 rounds of stunned condition (if succeeding, not poison, straight up damage or condition). as a cursed item this can be made cheaply by making a cursed Dust of Tracklessness. (125 gp per dose)

In the original battle plane the undead were flying (vampire spawns sprites controlled by the vampire bbeg) who dusted the party from above using big 'salt & pepper shakers' while they stood over a gride floor (with holes leading to the floor below) the stunned condition also make them drop their weapons and the floor below had rust monsters waiting for their treats. and then the vampire spawn exploded a few beads of force trying to trap each party member with at least 2-3 spawns who went into grapple-drain the split up stunned party members.

the original plan was formed by me for a fellow GM who complained her players become overly confident. it was meant to teach them humility. the invisible sprites kept talking about the tasty 'snacks' they would soon eat while dealing with them. the gm in this case showed them mercy and let them survive vie the old 'deus ex machina', but originally they should have perished. (she also let them reclaim their treasured weapons, i'm still a bit upset over that part. overly compassion lead to not learning any lessons.)

Mind Blank should work against Detect fiendish presence. it's an 8th level spell though.

while rule one is listen to gm, what I would have done in this case (and do in any case of an upgraded or unique\altered monster) is to stage up the dc.

say the dc to find out about the normal monster was 20 and the unique is set at 27 i would make one roll (or let the player roll, sometime letting the players roll tell them too much. even a high dc let them know the enemy is a tough one, something the character wouldn't know just by not knowing what monster they face) and depending on the result tell the player the info related:

- if they fail to even make the lower dc they learn nothing or close to it (some things are common knowledge aka dc 5/10, even if you fail to learn the exact creature type. you see a dragon, and pass dc 5, you at least know you see a dragon.).
- if they roll enough to pass the lower dc but not the 2nd I tell them the info about the common creature, maybe also let them throw in a perception to notice this one is a bit abnormal (bigger then normal. is on fire etc).
- if they make the higher dc they gain info related to the unique creature.

guys. i am sorry seem like i was wrong.
while natural weapons are were separated from unarmed attacks, so if you go into the combat section you will see that under the headline of 'attack' (under 'standard action') there are several separate sub headlines:
'Melee Attacks', 'Unarmed Attacks', 'Ranged Attacks', 'Natural Attacks' and 'Multiple Attacks'.

it seem they ARE unarmed attacks in a way:
"
“Armed” Unarmed Attacks: Sometimes a character’s or creature’s unarmed attack counts as an armed attack. A monk, a character with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, a spellcaster delivering a touch attack spell, and a creature with natural physical weapons all count as being armed

which mean it is an unarmed attack that is considered armed (and have it's own rules) it is not an 'unamred strike' (which is a specific form of an unarmed attack), but for the feat such an attack was not required. all that it say was using an 'unarmed trip'. which natural weapon should be enough to count as.

sorry, but can you point out where did you ever find that natural attack is an unarmed attack? because as far as i know that has never been the rule. (the opposite, where a monk's unarmed strike count as natural for spells and such is something else)
Unarmed is unarmed. whether it threat or provoke is one thing but natural attack is NOT unarmed attack and never have been. (the fact one uses extra attacks from high bab and the other doesn't should pretty much show it's not even the same class of things)

2 things.
1. If the wolf can use ki throw (which is the next part), it happen before the aoo from the tripping. as the ki throw IS part the trip and the aoo is the result of it.

but then we go to-
2. i don't think the wolf can use ki throw. even if he can get the requirement. using the feat itself call for an unarmed trip. which is NOT the same as tripping after biting. the feat say:
"On a successful unarmed trip attack against a target your size or smaller..
this is probably to make sure one doesn't throw someone after tripping him with a weapon. but this limit lock it right into only unarmed attack being used to throw. the fact the wolf count as having the improved unarmed strike for feats. doesn't mean he uses it when he attack.

this is a R.A.W. nit-picking and some GM might allow it, but as this is the rules forum so I had to nit-pick.

So, as long as you do not go into melee a lot there is a sneaky trick you can try. it get better if your GM allow you to upgrade the chain shirt of this unique armor with Mithral. It should add 1,000 gp to the cost but reduce the acp to 0 and the arcane fail chance to 10% (which can be lowered via feats)
-As it's a unique armor any change from the printed info must have gm approval.

with the normal, non-Mithral item as long as the enemy can't see through illusions and you avoid melee attacks (or any melee that the hitter fail the dc 16 will) this give +9 ac (as a breastplate +3) with the max dex bonus as a chain shirt of up to +4 which is huge for less then 7,000 gp. Since it also stay a light armor that mean better mobility and weight.

adding Mithral as mentioned would bring the dex up to max +6 and the other benefits.

even if the enemy can see through the illusion it's still a +1 chain shirt.

this is my go-to cheap, 'heavy duty' armor for ranged based characters.

well with blood havok added you get 3 extra damage per dice rolled as long as the spell is form the bloodline or you have spell focus for it (which you should if you care for dc) so them 5d6 get a +15 to it.

just make sure you don't focus too much on a one trick pony build. Also you should have answers for the wind wall (and worse fickle winds) casters.

if you are going to invest 1 level in it then def also take the 'blood havok' blood mutation.
Trading the 1st level bloodline for +1 more damage per dice in any spell you have spell focus in or gained via your bloodline is only a plus.

I don't know if your GM would allow taking the witch's hex twice, but if so and you're laying back there is a combo I used with witch's hexes:
'Protective Luck' hex combined with the 'Soothsayer' which let you set it up ahead of time (and cackle\chant later on) the protective luck isn't limited to once per 24 hours so the next time the target gets attacked it triggers(for one whole round so any other attacks on hi in that round are also effected.) you can just renew it in your turn if only one party member gets attacked each round and is not you. once you get the chant hex you can keep the whole party effected (again except you which this doesn't effect) with the hex for the whole combat as long as they are within chant range.
took those two at level 1 with extra hex. and the party was more then happy to be my meat shield.

but the only wish it can grant is more wishes.

it's not A and separately B. it's do A to gain B. the same as using weapon expertise. the words say :
"You can (A) choose to take a -0 penalty on all ranged attack rolls to gain (B) a +0 bonus on all ranged damage rolls....
...You must choose to use this feat before making an attack roll and its effects last until your next turn"

- if you didn't selectively cut off the words just before the important part you'd have seen it (or maybe you had and this is why you cut it off short) -

if you make no attack roll you have no option to use the feat.

if you take no penalties to hit you gain no bonus to damage. you can not chose to gain the bonus without getting the penalties.

You might have something if you quicken the magic missile in the same round you also rolled a to hit with a different ranged weapon and took the penalties.
But most would say no to even that as the damage bonus you gain is in effect a formula of the penalty you take so in this case:
(x=0): F(y) = 0

I didn't see in the thread above this item so i'll post it here.
sometime it's cheaper then picking a mithral or darkleaf cloth for your armor type. and it can help moving fast when it matter even if you end up with a heavy armor turned into medium.

also I like to remind anyone who relay on the heavier armors that this neat item is there to help donning them.

since you can even use spell-like abilities (or an item that cast the spell for you) to fulfill item creation spell requirements, i think your good.

thank you all, it was very enlightening.

And I have to agree, the extra words about the virtual size are binding (otherwise there would be no real reason to add them).

As for the hardening spell, I would also fail, not because creatures have no hardness (since some objects also have no hardness. this should work the same as barkskin in this matter) rather since the spell doesn't target weapons but items(objects?). the monk\brawler may count as a 'living' weapon but he never had the option to become an item. the fact the spell can target weapon as they are objects doesn't mean the monk\brawler is a valid target for that spell.

?? i never intended to use magic fang (at least not as part of this question).
magic fang is an example on how these spells work for the monk\brawler and how the rune should work as well - on how the spell format is the same (except the duration etc).

in a game that consider RAW at face value if it's not out right stupid. (as in if the rules doesn't say stuff, use logic, but when it say stuff you follow it as much as possible)

- monk\brawler get to use any part of body for unarmed strike and it 'treated as both a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that modify either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.' (from brawler)

- this faq state that:
"Therefore, a creature's unarmed strike is its entire body, and a magic fang (or similar spell) cast on a creature's unarmed strike affects all unarmed strikes the creature makes."

and Rune of durability that follow pretty much to same target as spells like magic weapon has:
"Target weapon touched
Duration permanent
..A weapon that bears this rune multiplies its hit points by 2.."

so what do you think?

Edit.
GM said 'anything in the AON'.
so if that work i'm also thinking about Hardening. the spell can be used on items with no hardness, and hardness 0 +10 = 10 after all...

and paying for spell casting is only 10*spell level * caster level, so 20*10*6 = 1,200 gp for permanent hardness 10.

reading it, seem like an true expert in Ringen would end up (in pathfinder) close to a high leveled 'unarmed fighter' fighter archtype. he doesn't get improved damage with his unarmed strike like monks (so no unrealistic punching down walls) and focus on using weapons, unarmed fighting and grappling.

the dr vs nonlethal damage is great to show how he learn to fend off attacks (and the part where it turn into normal dr when grappling is such a nice ability that I made a build focused on keeping some1 grappled while fighting to keep the dr active)

oh no, it's there.
thx for help finding it.

it's a few posts later on. found it below: here
you can see his diagram the charger goes next to the target instead of at it.

also note, he make a very important remark that many miss about charging:

"Yeah, not closest in terms of distance from your starting point, but in terms of "this is the first square along my path where I could attack this guy."

look up ride by in this forum.
there should be a post by a dev with an added sketch that show exactly what i said. normal ride by is passing by. not going through.

If i can find it later i will post it here, but at work atm.

also this is less then fly by which let you use any standard action or spring attack which doesn't provoke. with ride by unless using reach you and your mount provoke from the target.

a bullrush-charge can probably be done by ether of you. The charging line you make will determine if you pass by and just shove him sideways or go straight at him and 'take him' along. (if you succeed of course).

some basics need to be set off first:

A.
most basic thing - normal mounts, that are not class specific and have extra abilities (such as riding horse you buy at the market), must be told what to do (such as to charge) and this might take some actions depending on the action and your ride skill and the mount etc. animal companions are easier to direct and mounts who can understand your speak might be even easier. if you have to use a move action to guide your animal for example you cannot take a full round action in the same round.

B.
when mounted you can have the mount charge without you. which mean you do one thing and it charges. this do not gain any benefit from any mounted-charge related feats\abilities that you might have. in this case the mount charges and follow all the charge rules while you can do what ever you want (with any penalties for doing them on a charging mount if any). you can even dismount and move farther using you move action if you want.

C.
If you want to charge with the mount and make a 'mounted-charge attack' (and benefit from any mounted-charge related feat\ability that you might have. see the linked FAQ). then:

C.1 - both you and the mount need to perform a charge attack together. that mean you both use a full round action and consider it a charge for everything a charge call for. +2 to attack, -2 to ac, straight line etc. since both of you are charging you both get to attack the moment you reach striking distance (this might be different for you and the mount depending on reach, such as lances reach, and the mount's reach with it's attacks).
this also mean that if ether of you can not perform the same charge action then you can not use this joint attack.

C.2 - only you need to have mounted feats\abilities such as ride by attack etc. any non-mounted feat\ability that give a benefit to a charge (such as one that make you able to charge past allies or on rough terrain) must be taken by the mount to benefit from it, but then you do not need to have it.

C.3 - effects that talk about mounted charge, such as a lance that deal more damage on mounted charge, only deal that extra damage when used on a charge of both you and your mount (case C).

------------------------------------------------
now that that is out of the way let's try and answer your questions:

1. when you use ride by attack the mount get to attack and continue it's movement as stated by the feat. it doesn't need to have the feat. only you need it. (taking the feat won't benefit the mount anyway, unless it mount something else by itself)

2. the attack need to hit the enemy so to it's space. again the attack of both you and the mount might happen from different spaces depending on reach.

3. this was answered on the forum before (I might find it if i search real hard) this is a RIDE BY attack. you do not go through the enemies space but the space next to it (think jousting). unlike normal charge that must be directly at the enemy you need to form a straight line that pass next to it with enough distance for at least you to attack (As the feat is yours. some might say you must also allow the mount to have it's attack, but jousting tournaments would be impossible if this is right).
-this is different from normal charge rules where you must move at the enemy and not past it and should have been mentioned in the feat.

if you want to overrun the enemy while mounted-charging it you can. just follow all the overrun charge rules and line up your movement through him instead of by him. same for trample if your mount can charge and trample. (and probably bull-rush as well), mind the one moving is the one doing the maneuvers and must succeed.

for only the 1st round of combat, there is this feat:
Surprising Combatant.
"You can briefly trick your foes into discounting you as a combatant."

- '...I'm a rock, just a rock...'

porting it to another plane doesn't work as a long plan option anymore. not since it became a herald.

see 'Azothath' link above:

"Herald, Tarrasque
...
...
(go to bottom of age)
...
...
Herald Subtype: Heralds are unique representatives of their respective gods and sometimes have a specific outsider subtype such as “devil” or “psychopomp” that grants it additional abilities. A herald has the following traits.

Always Armed (Su) ...

...
Emissary (Ex) Heralds can always be summoned by the faithful using greater planar ally or gate, regardless of limitations of that spell, even if it’s not an outsider."

one gate by a true follower of Rovagug and he's back to munching cities.

get a valet monkey familiar?
they get all your crafting feats and skills (also super useful for crafting via cooperative crafting) they get at will Prestidigitation and mage hand.

you're assuming being tired makes psychic preparation of food easier then manual, but arcane casters from the get-go shouldn't be doing anything too tiring to begin with. when i'm to tired to cook it's mostly a mental fatigue more then physical one.

let the unseen servant read your cook-book and he can use the craft skill untrained.

it can do skills checks, but only up to dc 10 of skills that can be done untrained, which is why with craft(cooking) or profession (chef) i stated it need to be the character who cook and only order it to do simple errands that the skill check shouldn't count on, without relaying on it's 'skills'.