ACG Shaman of Heavens spirits questions

[Oblivyax]

Hello,
I am about to play with an Heaven spirit Shaman from the Advanced Class Guide. I will be playing the Skull and Shakles Ap with friends. I have some questions about the Class features.

1) The Spirit power is: Spirit Animal:
The flesh of the shaman's spirit animal accurately reflects the stars that would be visible in the night sky, no matter where the animal is or the time of day. Due to this, it can be used as a star map. In addition, it gains a fly speed of 5 feet; if the animal already has a fly speed, instead its fly speed increases by 10 feet. While the animal is flying, a small nimbus of light surrounds it.

A) Is the any use to the star map feature? Is the same as the Oracle Star Chart or the half-elf gear star chart? Or is it just flavor?
B) A non-flying familiar get to fly with a halo, but can a flying one fly without the bonus And the nimbus? What is the effect of the nimbus rulewise? Cannot stealth, or penality to stealth, illumination to area ?

2) Can a shaman leave spell slots open to prepare them later like they say in the Magic section of the Players Guide?

3) Heavens leap is the equivalent of Jester Jaunt. Does the following are acceptable as "solid ground destination":
A) ships deck
B) ships platform, like the crow's nest
C) floating platform on the ocean
D) ships rigging
E) underwater floor
F) any swimming in the water

4) Is there a saving throw against Stardust(su)? Spell resistance yes?

Thank you!

[Weirdo]

1A) The half-elf star charts look right.

1B) RAW no, it's always on. Since the nimbus doesn't state any mechanical effect it won't provide meaningful illumination or impede stealth - though it probably will identify the familiar as more than a simple animal.

2A) Though the CRB only refers to core classes, it's generally assumed that all divine prepared spellcasters have the same general casting mechanics as druids and clerics, so a shaman can leave slots unprepared.

3) A, B, C definitely, they're solid enough to stand on normally. Probably E, same reasoning. Don't think D (rigging) or F (water) would qualify since they're not firm footing, though I'd probably allow it as GM.

4) No save, no SR. SR only protects against spells and spell-like abilities.

[Decorpsed]

I agree with Wierdo accept on his last point. Stardust does in fact get a save.

Quote:

Each shaman must select from the following spirits. Unless otherwise noted, the DC to save against the special abilities granted by a spirit is equal to 10 + 1/2 the shaman's level + the shaman's Wisdom modifier.

[Benchak the Nightstalker]

Decorpsed wrote:

I agree with Wierdo accept on his last point. Stardust does in fact get a save.

Quote:

Each shaman must select from the following spirits. Unless otherwise noted, the DC to save against the special abilities granted by a spirit is equal to 10 + 1/2 the shaman's level + the shaman's Wisdom modifier.

That doesn't mean "all abilities have a save (unless otherwise noted)", it means "all abilities that have a save calculate the DC for that save this way (unless otherwise noted)"

So when other abilities, like Enveloping Void frex, tell you "A successful Will saving throw negates this effect" you know the DC of that save is 10 + 1/2 the shaman's level + the shaman's Wisdom modifier.

To think about it another way, if the line you quoted gives Stardust a save, what kind of save is it? (Fort/Ref/Will)

[Decorpsed]

Thanks Benchak.

I had not thought about it like that before. But that makes much more sense. My group had just been giving Stardust a Will save, but now I don't think we'll be doing that anymore.

[Bronnwynn]

Weirdo wrote:

3) A, B, C definitely, they're solid enough to stand on normally. Probably E, same reasoning. Don't think D (rigging) or F (water) would qualify since they're not firm footing, though I'd probably allow it as GM.

I'd allow D only if they had a climb speed (and would also allow them to immediately grab on without an action) and F only if they had a swim speed. Strict RAW is probably no, though.

[CraziFuzzy]

Bronnwynn wrote:

Weirdo wrote:

3) A, B, C definitely, they're solid enough to stand on normally. Probably E, same reasoning. Don't think D (rigging) or F (water) would qualify since they're not firm footing, though I'd probably allow it as GM.

I'd allow D only if they had a climb speed (and would also allow them to immediately grab on without an action) and F only if they had a swim speed. Strict RAW is probably no, though.

I think RAW would support this. You could not freely take any actions on rigging or underwater without making an appropriate check, unless you have said move-speed, so I certainly wouldn't consider them 'solid ground'. However, if you HAD those speeds, and were able to navigate that space as easily as you could walk around, then yes, I'd say you could land there.

[Shane Field]

What about the part of Jester's Jaunt that says:
he destination must be on solid ground, and the teleportation cannot end in a space that is by nature hazardous to the creature you are teleporting.

Does this mean I couldn't tp an ally behind a target to set up flanking? Or does it mean I can't tp the creature to a natural hazard?

[Dave Justus]

Shane Field wrote:

What about the part of Jester's Jaunt that says:

he destination must be on solid ground, and the teleportation cannot end in a space that is by nature hazardous to the creature you are teleporting.

Does this mean I couldn't tp an ally behind a target to set up flanking? Or does it mean I can't tp the creature to a natural hazard?

The space itself cannot be hazardous. If just standing there hurts you, it isn't valid. Something else hurting you while you stand there is unrelated to the space being hazardous by nature.

[Weirdo]

Hazardous by nature means the space itself is hazardous - for example, a pit trap or an area affected by cloudkill or a wall of fire. A bad tactical position (like being flanked) is not due to the nature of the space itself, but its interaction with other spaces and creatures.

Also, if you teleport an ally into a flanking position the space isn't hazardous at all to the creature teleported - and as a bonus the ally will intentionally fail their save, unlike an enemy teleported into a flanked position.