So, my PFS Paladin/Shadowdancer will, assuming she survives her next two sessions, end up with enough gold to do the following:
+2 INT on her CHA Circlet, gaining ranks in Use Magic Device
Circlet of Persuasion
And about 5,800 GP left over.
She can buy a Wand of Blur for 4500 GP - it's there to keep her (and more importantly, her Shadow) alive. It's a 3 minute duration spell when the charge is used.
Alternatively, she's just shy of one session (with a good job roll) away after that from being able to get a Wand of Displacement, which will last 5 rounds when cast. 50% miss chance is better than 20%...not being able to cast it until the beginning of the fight sucks. She could also get a wand of Extended Blur - which is 10 minutes per charge, which means it's pretty easy to set up as a contingency buff.
She's about three sessions away from a Wand of Extended Displacement, which is a 14 round buff.
I'll only be taking one of those options - any recommendations of the four?
Repeating:
Blur (2nd level, 4500 GP, 20% miss chance, 3 minutes/charge)
Ext. Blur (3rd level, 11,500 GP, 20% miss chance, 10 minutes/charge)
Displacement (3rd level, 11,500 GP, 50% miss chance, 5 rounds/charge)
Ext. Displacement (4th level, 21,000 GP, 50% miss chance, 14 rounds/charge).
I expect that whichever option she takes, she's going to use until her eventual retirement from PFS.
Dot.
Not something I'd invest in BUT I'd go with the regular blur. Its your cheapest option, lasts a good enough hunk of time and your sneak friend will thank you for the constant concealment (because you should be generous with that my paladin friend). The rest of that money should go for some sweet combat item, you know the good ones.
no you cannot normally buy wands of metamagic spells in pfs
and note displacement does not give actual concealment, only blur does.
Interesting - I was not aware that you couldn't take metamagically enhanced spells in wands in PFS.
Can you point out the rule where it says that's not permitted?
Can you buy a wand at a higher caster level than the minimum?
the first line of my post is a link to the faq rule
you cannot buy higher caster level unless permitted by a chronicle sheet.
All potions, scrolls, and wands are available only at the minimum caster level unless found at a higher caster level on a Chronicle sheet.
Huh. Fascinating. I've had several people routinely buy scrolls of Heightened Daylight, and Caster Level 7th Communal Resist Energy scrolls and never thought to question it.
Thank you for pointing that out to me.
That does simplify my choices considerably, and I agree that the 4,500 GP wand of Blur is the best option. 5 rounds for a charge is too short a duration to be using two rounds to set up in combat. 14 rounds was iffy.
I'd about talked myself into the 11,500 GP Extended Wand of Blur.
My Paladin is one of the two "sneaky scout" types in our usual PFS group. She's already got Hide in Plain Sight from 'dancer, There's some dispute as to whether or not Blur allows the recipient to make Stealth checks while observed.
My primary aim is to keep that Shadow alive. There's some powerful backstory behind her, and for this character, the Shadow is irreplaceable. If the Shadow gets killed, the character will never summon another, so I'm trying to avoid the "Disposable Animal Companion" syndrome.
imo blur is perfect to use for hide in plain sight. anyone who argues just compare it to invisibility, which is the same level, same school, and same subschool as blur. it's not that far of a reach. and technically you just need concealment of some sort (which blur gives) to make a stealth check, unless youre in bright light (iirc)
The primary reasons for going down this path are A) being able to heal the Shadow if I'm the only Divine caster in the party; wands of Inflict Light Wounds are fairly common on chronicles, and every now and then I'm in a party that's so bothered by a Shadow following a Paladin that they won't even use charges off my wand to do it.
(To be fair, the Shadow's dynamic is a bit odd.)
B) being able to cast Shield from a wand (she's a two-handed weapon combatant), and C) casting Blur to help keep the Shadow alive/herself alive and if allowed, helping other people do Stealth while directly observed and not in bright sunlight.
without hide in plain sight, you cannot make a stealth check while observed, even if you have concealment. they would need something to take attention off of them in time to make a stealth check while unobserved.
although the stealth rules are woefully in need of being rewritten, that will not happen. probably only with a new version of pathfinder.
also wand of inflict light wounds is easily bought by spending 2pp, as is any level 1 wand worth 750g (very few are more than 750g)
you could buy some armor for the shadow. a +1 mithril breastplate with the comfort ability it could use without penalty for +7 to it's armor class, although being incorporeal you may need to buy the ghost touch property for it to be able to wear it, not sure about that for pathfinder (im pretty sure it was like that in 3.5). then you could add other armor abilities to help protect it more.
oh also about buying 7th level scrolls you mentioned before:
Finally, scrolls of spells of 7th level or higher are not permitted unless you gain access to them on a Chronicle sheet specifically listing them.
Caster Level 7th is not the same as a 7th level scroll. It's still not legal.
In order for the Shadow to get AC, and still be useful for scouting, I'd need to buy a Mithral Breastplate with a +1 ghost-touch comfort enhancement on it, which makes it 4,000 + 16,000 + 5000 = 25,000 GP. That may come later; my current plan is about 40% of that cost.
And yes, buying those two cheap wands is easy with PP - I've also got a litter of partially charged ones on assorted chronicles.
And, when under Mage Armor, the Shadow cannot walk through walls....
Logical reasons:
1) You need ghost touch on armor for it to allow an incorporeal creature to wear it and use their walk through walls ability.
2) Mage Armor specifically adds to your touch AC versus incorporeal attacks...thus, they can't "phase through" it.
Yup
An invisible but tangible field of force surrounds the subject of a mage armor spell, providing a +4 armor bonus to AC.
Unlike mundane armor, mage armor entails no armor check penalty, arcane spell failure chance, or speed reduction. Since mage armor is made of force, incorporeal creatures can't bypass it the way they do normal armor.
ah i hadn't thought about the walking through walls. even ghost touch armor would stop that, since it doesn't stop it from being normal armor it cannot go through walls either(ghost touch makes it both corporeal and non-corporeal, it doesn't switch it from one to the other). not sure if there is any solution to that as far as pfs is concerned. may just have to deal with never having an armor bonus.
but that makes me think, what items(as far as pfs allowable items) could a shadow use and still be able to walk through walls? every magic item is corporeal, isn't it?
EDIT just reread ghost touch for armor, it does allow going through walls, unlike the weapon description. seems silly to have armor work that way and not weapons, but oh well.
ghost touch for armor is +3
4200 mithril breastplate, 1000 for +1, 15000 more to add ghost touch, 5000 for comfort = 25,200g
A bunch of tree tokens. :)
Throw a tree token, shadow comes up into tree, has cover while attacking!
Barring that, the blur wand.
Asthyril:
Ghost touch armor specifically allows incorporeal creatures to wear it while walking through walls.
This armor or shield seems almost translucent. Both its enhancement bonus and its armor bonus count against the attacks of corporeal and incorporeal creatures. It can be picked up, moved, and worn by corporeal and incorporeal creatures alike. Incorporeal creatures gain the armor's or shield's enhancement bonus against both corporeal and incorporeal attacks, and they can still pass freely through solid objects.
There is also the minor issue that the Shadow, not being a full Animal Companion, does not get improved skills, feats, or any weapon or armor proficiencies.
Right now, Astrid (the Shadow) has an Amulet of Ghost Touch Fists, which allows her to carry potions, move through doors (while not carrying anything else) and open them from the other side.
Right now, the Wand of Blur seems to be the best option. I'd've gone for Extended Blur if it were an option.
I so wish that Ghost Touch were a +2 or +1 enchantment...
Isn't there a spell or weapon upgrade that allows you to fuse a wand with a weapon so you can cast with it while wielding the weapon? That could help you a lot with your action economy, especially since you have 2 weapons to put wands in.
I'm pretty certain this spell exists and is Paizo material, can't remember the name though.
There is a spell that does this. I'm not sure that there's much to be gained by using UMD to bond a wand into a weapon for one minute.