Having some real fun with the witch class. Sure, i may have missed the optimization build (working on fixing as I level) and not gone cackle/evil eye/misfortune, but I'm having FUN! (and incidentally still the biggest threat the gm faces.)
Been digging for some answers though. I look at the major hex "Ice Tomb" and trying to find a duration. I see that it encases the target in ice, and the ice has 20 hp. But how long does the ice last? (Until broken, sure, but what if no one is breaking it?)
Also, i've got a few older books, and was looking at adding spells to from them to the witch's spell list. I understand that the books are probably not open content, so in regards paizo could not include them.
I'm looking for rhyme or reason to the witch's spell list. I see it's a mix of debuff, control, and relatively few blasting spells. Hoping someone could list a good frame work.
Also, due to some bad luck, lost my familar. Luckily, lvl 7 and improved familar were just around the corner. Got a Silvanshee (magic cat now.) It has natural armor already. Does the bonus my familiar gets to natural armor ADD to it's already existing natural armor, or merely overwrite the existing natural armor? And are any of the Silvanshee's abilities modded due to its familiar status. (I vaguely remember some arguement that it's Lay on Hands may improve due to it's increased hp pool, but that could have been based on someone's house rule somewhere.)
Another thing, DM has set a lvl 6-7 party with the task of saving a large portion of the continent we're on from a tidal wave due to arrive in 6 days. Party has had much info, and seems to be lacking in info gathering. Noticed Silvanshee gets Commune for 6 questions at 1/week.
That gives me 6 questions to prompt the gm into giving the me and the other pcs clues/goal to aim for.
Any suggestions on the questions? We've been given the name of a person with information who could supposedly help save the day. Spent the last 3 days on a GM directed hunt that ended up with our characters battered, depleted, and seemingly a wild goose chase.
Thanks for any help.
Flarx wrote:
Been digging for some answers though. I look at the major hex "Ice Tomb" and trying to find a duration. I see that it encases the target in ice, and the ice has 20 hp. But how long does the ice last? (Until broken, sure, but what if no one is breaking it?)
No duration is given for hexes in general as a "fallback" duration, and several other hexes ARE given a duration -- so unless errata'd, this suggests Ice Tomb lasts until it takes 20 damage. After all, the person inside the tomb doesn't need to eat or breathe while in there.
Flarx wrote:
Got a Silvanshee (magic cat now.) It has natural armor already. Does the bonus my familiar gets to natural armor ADD to it's already existing natural armor, or merely overwrite the existing natural armor?
The witch's familiar chart specifically says:
"Natural Armor Adj.
The number noted here is in addition to the familiar's existing natural armor bonus."
Flarx wrote:
And are any of the Silvanshee's abilities modded due to its familiar status.
Intelligence, based on the scale given in the Witch's Familiar chart.
Flarx wrote: Having some real fun with the witch class. Sure, i may have missed the optimization build (working on fixing as I level) and not gone cackle/evil eye/misfortune, but I'm having FUN! (and incidentally still the biggest threat the gm faces.) Witches are amazing debuffers/controllers, and as such, yeah they're great for sticking it to the DM in combat. (Oh, the BBEG rolled a natural 20? You forgot to roll again because of Misfortune. Oh, I see a 1 this time... too bad.) Just try not to stand out too much, because some DMs might homebrew something specifically to stick it back to you if you're too much of a nuisance. ;)
Flarx wrote: Been digging for some answers though. I look at the major hex "Ice Tomb" and trying to find a duration. I see that it encases the target in ice, and the ice has 20 hp. But how long does the ice last? (Until broken, sure, but what if no one is breaking it?) Unless it gets an errata, it lasts until its broken. One might also suggest that it melts eventually if not in a particularly cold area, but that would be a houserule.
Flarx wrote: Also, i've got a few older books, and was looking at adding spells to from them to the witch's spell list. I understand that the books are probably not open content, so in regards paizo could not include them.
I'm looking for rhyme or reason to the witch's spell list. I see it's a mix of debuff, control, and relatively few blasting spells. Hoping someone could list a good frame work.
Generally, when a class has a specifically designed small spell list (such as the witch) trying to manually supplement it isn't the best idea; because there's the implication that the class wasn't meant to have certain spells, even if they fit thematically. When I say small spell list, I mean when the class has a specifically granted list of spells that is significantly smaller than say, the cleric list or the sorc/wiz list.
That being said though, the DM always has final say on everything. So if your DM allows you to treat a few extra spells as witch spells, you're good to go. But pitch the idea to him first, better to not just assume that a witch should/would have it. The game does have Independent Research, though its technically meant for Wizards; but it means there is a precedent for (again with DM permission) being able to pick up spells that you wouldn't ordinarily learn by giving enough thought and research (and gold) to the matter. So yeah, if you find other spells you like, talk to your DM about it.
Kazejin wrote: Just try not to stand out too much, because some DMs might homebrew something specifically to stick it back to you if you're too much of a nuisance. ;) Derail Time: it's sad, but this is exactly why people STILL think it's DM vs. Players.
astronuts wrote: Derail Time: it's sad, but this is exactly why people STILL think it's DM vs. Players. I'm glad that my posts still break everyone's sarcasm-detectors so easily. I have a racial +50 to all Sarcasm and Cynicism-based checks.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
The other stuff has been covered. For spells I would honestly check out some of the Pathfinder 3pp stuff. There is several very cool books made for witches that add spells, hexes and feats for them that fit the game well.
Dumb Paladin wrote: Flarx wrote:
Been digging for some answers though. I look at the major hex "Ice Tomb" and trying to find a duration. I see that it encases the target in ice, and the ice has 20 hp. But how long does the ice last? (Until broken, sure, but what if no one is breaking it?)
No duration is given for hexes in general as a "fallback" duration, and several other hexes ARE given a duration -- so unless errata'd, this suggests Ice Tomb lasts until it takes 20 damage. After all, the person inside the tomb doesn't need to eat or breathe while in there. I was questioning this, so I looked it up, and now would agree. I guess this is intended to be similar to turning someone to stone, but much easier to free them from it. I was curious as to whether there was some kind of limit, such as when the Witch hexes this again it breaks, but I didn't find any.
This means she could freeze as many enemies as she has standard actions, and they'll stay that way until freed.
That's probably not balanced...
Ice Tomb is a Major Hex meaning you wouldnt get acess to it until level 10. At level 10 arcane casters have acess to level 5 spells, like symbol of sleep. So when compared to things of that power I do not consider it unbalanced.
mcbobbo wrote: I was questioning this, so I looked it up, and now would agree. I guess this is intended to be similar to turning someone to stone, but much easier to free them from it. I was curious as to whether there was some kind of limit, such as when the Witch hexes this again it breaks, but I didn't find any.
This means she could freeze as many enemies as she has standard actions, and they'll stay that way until freed.
That's probably not balanced...
If the target saves once, they're immune for 24 hours, and most enemies in a typical campaign don't live long enough to be fought again tomorrow. In other words, you've got one shot at it.
True, you can put misfortune upon them to make it easier to stick on them... if they don't save against misfortune, which a target also only needs to save against once per day.
Accursed Hex gives them another shot at the those hexes... if they burn another standard action next round to attempt it again.
The point I'm getting at, is that yes its quite powerful. But, there's a lot of setup that the average witch will attempt beforehand, meaning he/she will take a few turns to really start whipping it out. I doubt you'd often see a witch using Ice Tomb every round on every target without taking any precautions to make help ensure his/her one shot will hopefully succeed. Consider what other spellcasters can do with a few rounds at their disposal, and consider the amount of damage your BSF deals while you're casually getting ready to possibly freeze an opponent or two. It's not all that broken by comparison, though it is hilarious when you freeze the BBEG and just walk away from what might have been a challenging fight... Then again, a wizard (or even another witch) could have cast a Domination spell or one of many other powerful controller spells.
That being said, I still wouldn't object if they later put an errata saying "only one ice tomb can be active at a time."
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