|
Pyrotechnics is awesome. Two options in one spell. what other spell does that?
Grease.
Actually, Grease has three options: Tripping, Disarming, and avoiding grapples. Everyone knows the first two, and the third was mentioned already, but you asked.
On Topic:
Everything about Mad Monkeys might qualify. The monkeys you summon potentially deafen, nauseate, damage, and make a really good disarm against several opponents. Now, on average, they won't do all that, and they're pretty killable...but I've seen that spell on its own basically take a couple of Redcaps (CR 6 each) out of the fight, just by making them have to wrestle their weapons away from it again and again.
| 18 people marked this as a favorite. |
Simulacrum, it creates an unlimited amount of posts on Paizo forums
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I find that to be less of a concern that people who talk about casting Create Water every round for days to support a desert townJust so you know, this really doesn't work. The water created by create water disappears after 24 hours. You can live off it, but you can't fill a cistern for a town to live off after you leave.
Actually it only disappears if it is not drunk. So if you have a bunch of people in a dessert drink from create water and pee it out you will soon have an oasis there.
Actually it only disappears if it is not drunk. So if you have a bunch of people in a dessert drink from create water and pee it out you will soon have an oasis there.I find that to be less of a concern that people who talk about casting Create Water every round for days to support a desert townJust so you know, this really doesn't work. The water created by create water disappears after 24 hours. You can live off it, but you can't fill a cistern for a town to live off after you leave.
This.
+If plants drink it and sweat it out it remains, too.| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Actually it only disappears if it is not drunk. So if you have a bunch of people in a dessert drink from create water and pee it out you will soon have an oasis there.I find that to be less of a concern that people who talk about casting Create Water every round for days to support a desert townJust so you know, this really doesn't work. The water created by create water disappears after 24 hours. You can live off it, but you can't fill a cistern for a town to live off after you leave.
Purify Food and Drink is also an orison. :-/
My friend loves to tell this story about command. It was back in the days of Spelljammer, before the restrictions on what words could be used as commands. They were fighting githyanki raiders, and she cast the spell on one of them. Her command?
"Disembark."
Good times.
I played a character once that REALLY wanted a Pegasus mount. We came across some Pegasus riders who were flying and I (jokingly) told the DM that I cast Command and say "DISMOUNT". Despite it being a joke, he decided that it was funny and rolled to see if my character really did it.
My character felt REALLY bad after that, tho :)
Back to the original topic:
I didn't realize that Alchemical Power Components could be so useful. Like adding acid to Grease or Alchemist's Fire to certain fire spells. I've wanted to use them ever since I found out about them but haven't gotten around to it :)
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
|
So would having a Dwarf or Half-Orc along. Light spells or at the very least sunrods are needed for non-darkvision races to adventure underground.Non-magical darkness is barely an issue with their existence.The same can be said of 1cp torches...
Torches eat up carrying capacity, occupy a hand, and run out eventually. They're also easier to extinguish, and don't work under water.
I don't agree with the OP that light spells need nerfing, but I will say that one of the coolest moments I've experienced in a game involved searching a pitch-dark flooded tunnel for a switch, and if we'd had someone capable of casting light, it would have stripped all the tension and fun out of that situation.
Absolutely, which is why I'm not too worried about light spells.
However, there are some cool stories to tell when light is in short supply. I'm not advocating banning light spells or darkvision races, but if you happen to have a party without either, there's good fun for everyone to be had in riffing on that lack (in moderation of course).
On the other side of this Dimension Door makes you lose the rest of your actions for the turn unless you have a feat to mitigate the effect. I have pointed this out and had a player very unhappy with me.
Mage Armor helps with incorporeal attacks, though not with incorporeal touch attacks.
Chill Touch does negative energy damage and not cold damage. The name fools a surprising number of people.
Create Pit also creates a sloped area that causes all kinds of positioning challenges.
Mage Armor helps with incorporeal attacks, though not with incorporeal touch attacks.
Mage Armor does help with incorporeal touch attacks.
Some creatures have the ability to make incorporeal touch attacks. These attacks bypass solid objects, such as armor and shields, by passing through them. Incorporeal touch attacks work similarly to normal touch attacks except that they also ignore cover bonuses. Incorporeal touch attacks do not ignore armor bonuses granted by force effects, such as mage armor and bracers of armor.
Silence does more than mess up spellcasters or allow sneaking - it also shuts down any command-word magic item, which is most of them.
Aboleth's lung. As an offensive spell. 2nd level save or die, unless the opponent can find a body of water before suffocation sets in...
|
Wind Wall can deflect most breath weapons. This can vary depending on what your specific group considers "gaseous breath weapons" and if that includes fire based breath weapon.
This came up in my last game when I defended the party from an angry dragon.
Aboleth's lung. As an offensive spell. 2nd level save or die, unless the opponent can find a body of water before suffocation sets in...
If you don't mind waiting over a minute for your SoD to work then yeah, it's great.
I would stick to Blindness/Deafness or Hideous Laughter myself.
Mage Armor helps with incorporeal attacks, though not with incorporeal touch attacks.Mage Armor does help with incorporeal touch attacks.
Some creatures have the ability to make incorporeal touch attacks. These attacks bypass solid objects, such as armor and shields, by passing through them. Incorporeal touch attacks work similarly to normal touch attacks except that they also ignore cover bonuses. Incorporeal touch attacks do not ignore armor bonuses granted by force effects, such as mage armor and bracers of armor.
You are entirely correct on that front. I was thinking of a caster with Etherealness and Vampiric Touch for instance. I am now unsure about that however reading the rule again.
Aboleth's lung. As an offensive spell. 2nd level save or die, unless the opponent can find a body of water before suffocation sets in...If you don't mind waiting over a minute for your SoD to work then yeah, it's great.
I would stick to Blindness/Deafness or Hideous Laughter myself.
You're assuming they get to hold their breath? What makes you think that?
Does it makes sense for there to be a second level save or die that knocks them unconscious in one round? No. Therefore, assume they get to hold their breath.
Nonetheless, a somewhat effective option if there is no water nearby.
Non-magical darkness is barely an issue with their existence.The same can be said of 1cp torches...
I would much rather light be a first-level spell and maybe—maybe—be given some extra oomph. It doesn't really need it, in my opinion—it's kinda like magic missile in that even at first level, some wizards will still have motivation to take it. Note that produce flame gets an attack option but does not have nearly as good a duration.
So would having a Dwarf or Half-Orc along. Light spells or at the very least sunrods are needed for non-darkvision races to adventure underground.
Hee. People pay for sunrods? What, did their GM ban spellcasting classes? ;P
Might as well ban easy access to torches then. As one can buy many of them with a gold piece.
But torches have drawbacks. Light is an invulnerable, infinite torch that you don't have to carry. Also, free. Pretty dang different.
I don't see what I want as a "nerf" for these spells. Just a buff for the power of darkness. ;)
I'm betting people complaining about Light also ban races with Darkvision in their games
How much did you bet? Just, uh, curious. Races with darkvision are awesome because they have a huge edge—not only can they effectively stealth, they don't need to deal with light spells. If a party is all-dwarf or half-orc, more power to them. It's a special feature they get and they should get to use it.
People seem to be slowly developing this increasingly hilarious viewpoint for me. Apparently I'm against PCs being able to see now? Welcome to Pathlost. We can't see s~#@. S$!!, just stubbed my toe!
:P
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Torches take up an extra hand right up until you get magic weaponry, which glows as a torch on command a lot of the time.
Only about 30% of them, and that does come with some drawbacks of its own—you can't stealth with that weapon drawn, for instance. Besides, that's more of a mid-level issue. The low levels are where lighting is going to be any sort of issue to begin with.
High-levelers have henchmen for that. :P
Shield sconces are very cool, and kudos to the player who's thoughtful enough. That's exactly what I want to foster in my games.
That said, it still depends on a water- and sunder-vulnerable torch to work. ;P
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Spiritual Weapon, it also tests a character's faith, when surrounded by the forces of evil, your omnipotent deity grants you a weapon-like spell that does 1d8 damage.
No wonder why there is so much evil in the world.
** spoiler omitted **...Non-magical darkness is barely an issue with their existence.The same can be said of 1cp torches...
So, I've never played Pathfinder at 1st level before (1st level sucks for everyone--I don't think we've done that since AD&D), but every time I've played at level 2+, everyone in the party without darkvision had ioun torches. There's just no other light solution worth talking about.
Yes, we use Dancing Lights or Light on a thrown stone/fired arrow to light up the distance, but everyone that needs light is surrounded by a floating, handless, darkness destroying glow. In fact, once we have the money to pay for it, or we happen to have a prepared caster with Heighten, I always recommend to the group that we get a Heightened Continual Flame, to further cancel darkness spells.
Darkness is not tense or fun for anyone. It's tedious to deal with, even for the GM. Every GM I know would prefer to just gloss over light levels and vision anyway, and Ioun Torches let them do just that.
Darkness is not tense or fun for anyone. It's tedious to deal with, even for the GM. Every GM I know would prefer to just gloss over light levels and vision anyway, and Ioun Torches let them do just that.
It's a shame you haven't had a good time with it.
Does it makes sense for there to be a second level save or die that knocks them unconscious in one round? No. Therefore, assume they get to hold their breath.
Nonetheless, a somewhat effective option if there is no water nearby.
Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that it's not true.
Don't worry about people holding their breath, you can still instantly take down people with Aboleth's Lung if you're a warpriest with the void blessing.
What part of Aboleth's Lung says they can't hold their breath? Do you simply extrapolate from the fact that you can't breathe air, and that your lungs probably have air, to reach the conclusion that there's no water in your lungs to hold your breath?Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that it's not true.Does it makes sense for there to be a second level save or die that knocks them unconscious in one round? No. Therefore, assume they get to hold their breath.
Nonetheless, a somewhat effective option if there is no water nearby.
Holding your breath is something you consciously do. Easy when you're about to put your head under water, much harder when someone catches you off-guard and forces your head under.
Unless they knew you were about to drown them with magic, why would they think to hold their breath?
What part of Aboleth's Lung says they can't hold their breath? Do you simply extrapolate from the fact that you can't breathe air, and that your lungs probably have air, to reach the conclusion that there's no water in your lungs to hold your breath?Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that it's not true.Does it makes sense for there to be a second level save or die that knocks them unconscious in one round? No. Therefore, assume they get to hold their breath.
Nonetheless, a somewhat effective option if there is no water nearby.
Holding your breath is something you consciously do. Easy when you're about to put your head under water, much harder when someone catches you off-guard and forces your head under.
Unless they knew you were about to drown them with magic, why would they think to hold their breath?
I would like to remind folks that Kraken Throttle, a feat that literally says that the target suffocates, is not intended to prevent the holding breath rules. Dev intent on effects that "cause suffocation" is that you are given the opportunity to hold your breath first. Even if you do get to skip the "hold your breath" rules for some reason, there's still the fort save per round to stay conscious.
Then again, martials can't have nice things.
|
|
Silence does more than mess up spellcasters or allow sneaking - it also shuts down any command-word magic item, which is most of them.Silence also has a 1 round casting time which I find that people forget about a lot.
As silence allows for it to be cast on an object, it is feasible (although highly irritating to your adjudicator) to cast the spell on a projectile right before combat (if able) and then have your team mate shoot the enemy spellcaster, essentially tagging him and bypassing his ability to make a will save.
This is a pain in the butt for adjudication as it depends on
1.) Questions about if the arrow 'survives'.
2.) Questions about how to yank it out/throw it away.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Silence does more than mess up spellcasters or allow sneaking - it also shuts down any command-word magic item, which is most of them.Silence also has a 1 round casting time which I find that people forget about a lot.As silence allows for it to be cast on an object, it is feasible (although highly irritating to your adjudicator) to cast the spell on a projectile right before combat (if able) and then have your team mate shoot the enemy spellcaster, essentially tagging him and bypassing his ability to make a will save.
This is a pain in the butt for adjudication as it depends on
1.) Questions about if the arrow 'survives'.
2.) Questions about how to yank it out/throw it away.
Use dye arrows and cast the silence on the dye. It's just a touch attack to hit with and in dye stays on.
|
Spiritual Weapon, it also tests a character's faith, when surrounded by the forces of evil, your omnipotent deity grants you a weapon-like spell that does 1d8 damage.
No wonder why there is so much evil in the world.
That does full damage against incorporeal beings and attacks on it's own without taking your actions. I love this spell, and only wish that Paladins and Oracles weren't screwed in PFS by the hard coded wisdom.
|
|
What part of Aboleth's Lung says they can't hold their breath? Do you simply extrapolate from the fact that you can't breathe air, and that your lungs probably have air, to reach the conclusion that there's no water in your lungs to hold your breath?Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that it's not true.Does it makes sense for there to be a second level save or die that knocks them unconscious in one round? No. Therefore, assume they get to hold their breath.
Nonetheless, a somewhat effective option if there is no water nearby.
Holding your breath is something you consciously do. Easy when you're about to put your head under water, much harder when someone catches you off-guard and forces your head under.
Unless they knew you were about to drown them with magic, why would they think to hold their breath?
What you are describing is not holding one's breath. It is taking a deep breath and holding it. There is a difference.
Dude, just cast silence on a rock and tuck it in your belt or something. That way it helps facilitate your ambush of the enemy, the enemy doesn't get a save against it, they can't easily move out of the area (since you would simply follow) or toss away the object, and there is no awkward adjudication to be had.
I would like to remind folks that Kraken Throttle, a feat that literally says that the target suffocates, is not intended to prevent the holding breath rules. Dev intent on effects that "cause suffocation" is that you are given the opportunity to hold your breath first. Even if you do get to skip the "hold your breath" rules for some reason, there's still the fort save per round to stay conscious.
That's all well and good, but you really need to provide a source. Or are we expected to take you at your word?
Dude, just cast silence on a rock and tuck it in your belt or something. That way it helps facilitate your ambush of the enemy, the enemy doesn't get a save against it, they can't easily move out of the area (since you would simply follow) or toss away the object, and there is no awkward adjudication to be had.
I would like to remind folks that Kraken Throttle, a feat that literally says that the target suffocates, is not intended to prevent the holding breath rules. Dev intent on effects that "cause suffocation" is that you are given the opportunity to hold your breath first. Even if you do get to skip the "hold your breath" rules for some reason, there's still the fort save per round to stay conscious.That's all well and good, but you really need to provide a source. Or are we expected to take you at your word?
Well, it is called Kraken Throttle (thankfully not kitty throttle) it better do something good.
Dude, just cast silence on a rock and tuck it in your belt or something. That way it helps facilitate your ambush of the enemy, the enemy doesn't get a save against it, they can't easily move out of the area (since you would simply follow) or toss away the object, and there is no awkward adjudication to be had.
I would like to remind folks that Kraken Throttle, a feat that literally says that the target suffocates, is not intended to prevent the holding breath rules. Dev intent on effects that "cause suffocation" is that you are given the opportunity to hold your breath first. Even if you do get to skip the "hold your breath" rules for some reason, there's still the fort save per round to stay conscious.That's all well and good, but you really need to provide a source. Or are we expected to take you at your word?
Scroll down for Owen's post.Dude, just cast silence on a rock and tuck it in your belt or something. That way it helps facilitate your ambush of the enemy, the enemy doesn't get a save against it, they can't easily move out of the area (since you would simply follow) or toss away the object, and there is no awkward adjudication to be had.
I would like to remind folks that Kraken Throttle, a feat that literally says that the target suffocates, is not intended to prevent the holding breath rules. Dev intent on effects that "cause suffocation" is that you are given the opportunity to hold your breath first. Even if you do get to skip the "hold your breath" rules for some reason, there's still the fort save per round to stay conscious.That's all well and good, but you really need to provide a source. Or are we expected to take you at your word?
Since there's a process for official FAQs that goes with highest priority first, and as far as I can tell only a few folks have hit a FAQ request on this even, this is not an official FAQ. It is a declaration of intent of one of book's the two developers.
Kraken Throttle should be read to cutting off air from the target, and thus activating the "Suffocation" rules on 445. Yes, as written one could claim that since it uses the word "suffocate" it actually refers the very last step of that process "In the third round, she suffocates." No, that's not what is intended. Since most people agree it doesn't mean "make two checks (in the same round if you have Greater Grapple) and you kill anyone," I'm hope it's not a surprise that it was never intended to mean "make two checks (in the same round if you have Greater Grapple) and you KO anyone, and kill them 1 round later."
The main utility of the feat is that it adds 2 hp to the damage dealt by Kraken Style. This is the same size boost as Weapon Specialization, and enough to make the feat useful in the builds it's designed for even without the ability to choke someone to death over a couple of minutes. It certainly doesn't need to become the first 1-round-kill-no-save-feat in order to have fair utility.
Also, if you have questions about a Player Companion rule, I'll see it sooner if it's in that product's thread. I do scan the rest of the forums, but I can;t get to every thread every day. :)
FYI, you can link directly to someone's post by copying and pasting the URL of the post's time stamp (in the top right corner of the post).
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
That's all well and good, but you really need to provide a source. Or are we expected to take you at your word?
Ravingdork, I hope you are aware that this same question could be applied to your assertions regarding aboleth lung.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Arcane Mark glows and is permanent on inanimate objects. Even if this is only as bright as a candle (5' rad Dim Light) if spammed around it can provide light forever.
In one game we had a wizard with an owl familiar. He put Arcane Mark on a pebble and had the creature carry it in it's mouth on scouting flights. Owls get Low Light and the wizard himself got +3 Perception in Dim Light. This simple rock made sure the two were never completely blind (unless magical darkness) and the wizard's Per was better than the ranger's.
Scroll down for Owen's post.Dude, just cast silence on a rock and tuck it in your belt or something. That way it helps facilitate your ambush of the enemy, the enemy doesn't get a save against it, they can't easily move out of the area (since you would simply follow) or toss away the object, and there is no awkward adjudication to be had.
I would like to remind folks that Kraken Throttle, a feat that literally says that the target suffocates, is not intended to prevent the holding breath rules. Dev intent on effects that "cause suffocation" is that you are given the opportunity to hold your breath first. Even if you do get to skip the "hold your breath" rules for some reason, there's still the fort save per round to stay conscious.That's all well and good, but you really need to provide a source. Or are we expected to take you at your word?...Since there's a process for official FAQs that goes with highest priority first, and as far as I can tell only a few folks have hit a FAQ request on this even, this is not an official FAQ. It is a declaration of intent of one of book's the two developers.
Kraken Throttle should be read to cutting off air from the target, and thus activating the "Suffocation" rules on 445. Yes, as written one could claim that since it uses the word "suffocate" it actually refers the very last step of that process "In the third round, she suffocates." No, that's not what is intended. Since most people agree it doesn't mean "make two checks (in the same round if you have Greater Grapple) and you kill anyone," I'm hope it's not a surprise that it was never intended to mean "make two checks (in the same round if you have Greater
For all the years I've been on these boards, I never knew about the time stamp link. Thanks for the tip.
Arcane Mark glows and is permanent on inanimate objects. Even if this is only as bright as a candle (5' rad Dim Light) if spammed around it can provide light forever.
In one game we had a wizard with an owl familiar. He put Arcane Mark on a pebble and had the creature carry it in it's mouth on scouting flights. Owls get Low Light and the wizard himself got +3 Perception in Dim Light. This simple rock made sure the two were never completely blind (unless magical darkness) and the wizard's Per was better than the ranger's.
While I love Arcane Mark shenanigans, and I'd concede that brightness of the glow should be at least that of a dim candle, I'd debate the glowing part - as the spell only mentions the invisible variant of the Arcane Mark 'glowing' when hit by a Detect Magic. Quite a specific set of circumstances (which can be used to one's advantage to trigger a Programmed Image, for example).
Nothing else, other than assumption or House Rule, that a visible mark should glow. It has no need to glow, it's already visible.
Chain lightning explicitly targets objects, and deals 11d6 damage baseline for wizard. weapons tend to average 10hp, on a successful item reflex save average damage from chain lightning is 19.25, - the average hardness (also 10). more often than not, you can disarm the BBEGroup's leader in the first round of combat, and finish group's weapons in the second round.
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Chain lightning explicitly targets objects, and deals 11d6 damage baseline for wizard. weapons tend to average 10hp, on a successful item reflex save average damage from chain lightning is 19.25, - the average hardness (also 10). more often than not, you can disarm the BBEGroup's leader in the first round of combat, and finish group's weapons in the second round.
Careful: at the level you have chain lightning, the enemies are likely to have magic weapons, which have boosted HP and hardness.
Also, you forgot to apply the half-damage-to-objects rule.
Chain lightning explicitly targets objects, and deals 11d6 damage baseline for wizard. weapons tend to average 10hp, on a successful item reflex save average damage from chain lightning is 19.25, - the average hardness (also 10). more often than not, you can disarm the BBEGroup's leader in the first round of combat, and finish group's weapons in the second round.Careful: at the level you have chain lightning, the enemies are likely to have magic weapons, which have boosted HP and hardness.
Also, you forgot to apply the half-damage-to-objects rule.
forgot the half damage, my bad. +2 hardness/hp per +1 enhancement rating isnt all that serious, since reflex tends to be the worst save of those big hulking bastards with swords. around level 10, yeah, you're looking at around 14-16 hardness 14-16 HP on that +2 or +3 greatsword. after half damage, hardness, and a successful save(not a likely save at that) we're doing s$*! damage. if the save fails though, thats 38.5/2)-14= 5.25 damage to the weapon. does acid damage still do full damage to weapons, or was that just 3.0-3.5? if so the energy substitution feat makes it a guaranteed 1 shot.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Just gonna say: There is no action listed for "hold breath". You don't immediately start drowning if you're shoved in the water during the surprise round, nor does being teleported without warning into the ocean deprive you of your benefits by RAW. This reading of Aboleth's Lung is not exactly "you may not like it, but that's how it works" material.