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Okay, so in PFS I know that there are only a few spells you can get that carry over from scenario to scenario. Masterwork transformation (you are allowed one of them) and a few others. Is continual flame one of them? If so can I do this?
Pay 330 gold for spell casting service. Get a Heightened continual flame (level 4) It should be 7 (caster level required)x4 (Spell level) x10 gp (280), plus 50 gp for material components.
Does that work? Because I am REALLY tired of deeper-darkness creatures sneak attacking me in the middle of some dungeon, and no one able to do ANYTHING about it. Especially now that tieflings are not allowed and they can't get see in darkness. Now unless the enemies have HEIGHTENED deeper darkness, are we good?
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My understanding is that you can pay to have continual flame cast, but not modified by any metamagic feats.
What you can do, however, is ask that 5th-level cleric (or 6th-level oracle) you are adventuring with to cast continual flame on something of yours at the end of the scenario. (You can even rest a day if they don't have it prepared that day.) It also works if a sorcerer or wizard with that spell has Heighten Spell. Mark your chronicle with their PFS number, spell level, and caster level (in case someone tries to dispel it), and have your GM initial. Then carry a potion of darkvision for when you are in areas that overlap between your continual flame and a deeper darkness.
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My understanding is that you can pay to have continual flame cast, but not modified by any metamagic feats.
What you can do, however, is ask that 5th-level cleric (or 6th-level oracle) you are adventuring with to cast continual flame on something of yours at the end of the scenario. (You can even rest a day if they don't have it prepared that day.) It also works if a sorcerer or wizard with that spell has Heighten Spell. Mark your chronicle with their PFS number, spell level, and caster level (in case someone tries to dispel it), and have your GM initial. Then carry a potion of darkvision for when you are in areas that overlap between your continual flame and a deeper darkness.
See, I was under the impression that light from a continual flame of equal level to deeper darkness did nothing to a deeper darkness.
Here we go, light spells COUNTER AND DISPELL darkness spells of equal or lower level (but do not SUPPRESS them.) (This is from continual flame)
Light spells do not increase the illumination levels of darkness spells of equal or higher level (this is from darkness)
So, yeah, unless I meet a level 7 wizard with heightened continual flame we just have to suck it up and die. Good to know.
Second, slightly off-topic question:
Let's say I have a wizard with Heighten spell and Magical Lineage (Continual flame.) At level 5, could I highten continual flame to spell level 4, reduce it to 3 (through magical lineage) and it would still count as a level 4 spell (using up a level 3 spell slot?) If so, that might be the earliest way to solve the problem.
Magical Lineage:
Heighten Spell:
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I was going to mention "light & darkness spells" in another thread about "What rules need understanding" or some such. Yeah, I need some clarification on this since I just got a chronicle sheet with a stone that supposedly counteracts deeper darkness. Still confused.
I know that scenario and It doesn't. I spent the money on it thinking that it would (a GM mistakenly told me that it would) but it doesn't according to my later research.
It does cut through normal darkness though.
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Venture-Agent, Florida—Longwood
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My understanding is that you can pay to have continual flame cast, but not modified by any metamagic feats.
What you can do, however, is ask that 5th-level cleric (or 6th-level oracle) you are adventuring with to cast continual flame on something of yours at the end of the scenario. (You can even rest a day if they don't have it prepared that day.) It also works if a sorcerer or wizard with that spell has Heighten Spell. Mark your chronicle with their PFS number, spell level, and caster level (in case someone tries to dispel it), and have your GM initial. Then carry a potion of darkvision for when you are in areas that overlap between your continual flame and a deeper darkness.
See, I was under the impression that light from a continual flame of equal level to deeper darkness did nothing to a deeper darkness.
Here we go, light spells COUNTER AND DISPELL darkness spells of equal or lower level (but do not SUPPRESS them.) (This is from continual flame)
Light spells do not increase the illumination levels of darkness spells of equal or higher level (this is from darkness)
So, yeah, unless I meet a level 7 wizard with heightened continual flame we just have to suck it up and die. Good to know.
Second, slightly off-topic question:
Let's say I have a wizard with Heighten spell and Magical Lineage (Continual flame.) At level 5, could I highten continual flame to spell level 4, reduce it to 3 (through magical lineage) and it would still count as a level 4 spell (using up a level 3 spell slot?) If so, that might be the earliest way to solve the problem.
Magical Lineage: ** spoiler omitted **...
For magical lineage, I can't ever see a wizard picking continual flame over an offensive spell.
Magical Lineage allows you to add a metamagic feat and it reduces the adjusted spell level by 1. So if you have a level 3 spell, like fireball or continual flame you heighten it by 1 level to level 4 but have magical lineage, it is a level 3 spell. For the purpose of continual flame it is not worth heighten spell.
"But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong" - Dennis Miller
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The biggest thing to remember is that many of the creatures using it also can't see in deeper darkness. Be sure to bring this up if you're not certain. I've played with several DMs that didn't understand this distinction (including a few VCs).
I kind of ran an encounter into the ground in terms of making it take so much longer than it should with this. Had a demon cast deeper darkness as counter to daylight being cast to counter darkness and then realized that the bad guys left are ruined just as the good guys are. Definately on my list of things to check when preparing.
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I can't ever see a wizard picking continual flame over an offensive spell.Magical Lineage allows you to add a metamagic feat and it reduces the adjusted spell level by 1. So if you have a level 3 spell, like fireball or continual flame you heighten it by 1 level to level 4 but have magical...
Ah, but that's only step one of my master plan. Step 2 is to put it on an arcanist with counterspell exploit. See the counterspell exploit lets me spend an arcane pool point to try a free counterspell attempt on ANYTHING by spending a spell of a higher level. So, since my hightened continual flame 2 is considered a level 3 spell (taking only a level 2 slot) I can counter level 2 spells easily.
Besides, I have run into a LOT of deeper darkness. I'd be willing to spend a trait and a feat to stop that kinda thing.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Washington—Pullman
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Ah, but that's only step one of my master plan. Step 2 is to put it on an arcanist with counterspell exploit. See the counterspell exploit lets me spend an arcane pool point to try a free counterspell attempt on ANYTHING by spending a spell of a higher level. So, since my hightened continual flame 2 is considered a level 3 spell (taking only a level 2 slot) I can counter level 2 spells easily.Besides, I have run into a LOT of deeper darkness. I'd be willing to spend a trait and a feat to stop that kinda thing.
The way the Counterspell exploit is worded is that you have to expend a higher spell slot, you do not have 3rd level spell slots to expend.
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Elixir of Darksight is the only thing I know of that gets you "see in darkness".
I've seen a lot of demons with deeper darkness that don't have "see in darkness". I just can't figure out why they would ever use a power that shuts them down, too.
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Jiggy has a thread that goes into detail about light and darkness interactions.
The rules are really a mess.
But, to answer the OP's quandary, for most scenarios all you need is either an oil of Daylight or someone that can cast Obscuring Mist.
Though, if you're speaking about a certain Season 3, tier 7-11 scenario, you're just screwed.
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My 9th level Oracle does that currently. People really appreciate it.
My Warpriest's answer to Deeper Darkness is to cast Shield of the Dawnflower.
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I make it a point to ask every wizard I play with at 7th level or higher if they have heighten spell. If they do I ask for a 4th level continual flame at the end of the adventure (or highest level they can cast). If they don't have the spell in their spell book, I offer to buy it for them. It's too bad so few players around here play wizards. Also works with clerics, but so few clerics take heighten spell, so...
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.....
Does that work? Because I am REALLY tired of deeper-darkness creatures sneak attacking me in the middle of some dungeon, and no one able to do ANYTHING about it. Especially now that tieflings are not allowed and they can't get see in darkness. Now unless the enemies have HEIGHTENED deeper darkness, are we good?
Heighten spell works if the light spell is higher level (my clerics have broken a few games by not even being there because I gave a 4th or 5th level heighten continual flame]. And a cleric's normal continual flame will take care of normal darkness if you don't have dark vision.
However, there are two spells (maybe more - I know of two) that in their descriptions have language such as "..is brought into an area of magical darkness (or vice versa), the effects of both spells are temporarily negated, so that the otherwise prevailing light conditions exist within the overlapping fields of effect." that are not level dependent. For those spells the level does not matter.
One is daylight, the other is unwelcome halo - so if you have dark vision (because often the prevailing light condition is normal darkness) they can help you. Unwelcome halo requires a non-good target creature, prevents the target from hiding, but an oil of it only costs 50gp for 1 minute (deeper darkness has a larger area of effect though). Daylight will last longer, cost more, can be put on objects.
Blind fighting is a good feat for not getting melee sneak attacked in deeper darkness. Also Obscuring Mist will cause problem with see-in-deeper-darkness creatures without messing with your party - who cannot see.
You cannot pay for metamagic NPC spells.
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My wife has a 10th level sorcerer that took heighten for this spell ONLY. each game she asks if anyone wants one.
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Honestly, I don't see what the problem is... I just put my Imp on telepathic "spotter" duty.
The little blighter enabled my group to absolutely wreck a drow cleric and her babau toadies by dropping a pebble with Deeper Darkness and Silence cast upon it into their midst, then relay their locations while myself and another character shelled them from range with Fireballs for a couple of rounds - even with spell resistance, they were all thoroughly singed by the time they stumbled/teleported out into range of our melee-types. There's nothing quite like turning an infamous trick back on one of the creatures that originated it.
In all seriousness: It may not be an option many (or even most) would consider, but it's an option nonetheless and one that has proven quite effective for me, on occasion... I'd suggest considering it, if your character is of a less than virtuous persuasion.
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Brown-Fur Transmuter Arcanist with Eyes of the Void.
Sensing Armor Enchantment
Pallavi of Nirvana’s Blossoming Bardic Masterpiece
Bottled Sunlight can be used to bring the light level of Deeper Darkness to Standard Darkness for 1 Round.
Contributor
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The spell "Unwelcome Halo" has a nice little side-effect in terms of how it interacts with magical darkness.
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My mistake. Used to pairing the negation clause with the countering one.
Sidenote: A neat trick with it is to have it on a wand and toss it on your Non-good Aligned party member. Just tell them it's for the best.
Fun fact: animal companions are "non-good" creatures.
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You can get vials of djezet from [REDACTED], which you can buy and give to a level 7+ cleric to get a 4th-level daylight.
This here is the answer, djezet is a sky metal which can heighten a spell you need as many vials +1 of the spell you want to heighten.
Alternatively buy a lesser meta magic rod of heighten and a 5th level cleric?
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By my reading, an ordinary, non-magical torch, sunrod, or lantern also acts as a soft counter to the technique. Darkness or deeper darkness suppress MAGICAL light sources of equal to or lesser level. They don't do anything about non-magical light sources. They just reduce the level of prevailing natural illumination whether from the sun or a torch or a bonfire. So for darkness, the primary normal illumination area of a torch or sunrod becomes shadowy. The shadowy area becomes total darkness (or magical darkness with deeper darkness). That's bad and enables monsters to hide near you without cover, but it's not an "I win" button. And a scroll of obscuring mist can even the 20 percent playing field.
Deeper darkness reduces the illumination by two Levels so the torch or sunrod will be reduced to no light but not supernatural darkness. Consequently, torch or sunrod + is a potential deeper darkness counter. Even for those who have to rely on potions for their darkvision, it is both available and relatively inexpensive.
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It's actually pretty funny how most of the things that cast Deeper Darkness (at least the demonic types that do so) can't see in supernatural darkness. There've been a few scenarios where some clever bad guy has dropped some Deeper Darkness only to get Spring Attacked by my tiefling Lore Warden / Duelist. There is a reason Fiendsight is my favorite race specific feat. It takes two feats, but being able to see in supernatural darkness and use it against enemies is worth it, to me at least. Both of my tiefling characters took Fiendsight twice to See in Darknes, and when I decide with my grandathered tiefling, you can bet that it will take Fiendsight twice as well.
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Nonmagical sources of light, such as torches and lanterns, do not increase the light level in an area of darkness.They still radiate light, but since Darkness prevents them from increasing the current light level, they do nothing until the magical darkness is counteracted.
That is embarrassing.
Other ways to deal with it darkness. Pathfinder society field guide equipment trick. Sunrod, "like the sun" use a sunrise as an additional material component for a spell with the light descriptor-the spell is treated as one level higher for all purposes, including the calculation of saving throw dcs and it's ability to overcome sources of magical darkness. So, apply that to a casting of continual flame or daylight to eliminate the need for heighten spell.
Another option from the same source: dayfinder enhancement for a wayfinder. 10 pp and the wayfinder will replicate daylight for 1 minute once per day.
Other than those options, horn of fog and/or smokesticks to even the playing field seen like the best easily accessible counters.
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Nonmagical sources of light, such as torches and lanterns, do not increase the light level in an area of darkness.They still radiate light, but since Darkness prevents them from increasing the current light level, they do nothing until the magical darkness is counteracted.
Is that text also in Deeper Darkness? One of the causes of confusion is that the various darkness and light spells don't use the same wording, so it's really hard to determine intent.