So I have it in my mind to cast an empowered awaken on a bristle boar for my halfling psychic to ride, hopefully next level or so. The DC to UMD a 7th level scroll is 33, next level I will have +10 to umd (I have a lot of charisma and will be lvl 6). Obviously I will not be able to pull off the umd roll under normal circumstances, and taking a feat or whatever won't help in this case. I will need an effect (probably a spell) that I can use to help get a very large bonus to a skill roll once.
A couple of things; certain very important aspects of awaken mean that I must be the one to cast the spell, or it's very much a different deal (basically inherent loyalty).
Second I am willing to pay.
Third the casting time of awaken is 24h. Any solutions must take that into account.
bump?
I want to say "hire a couple of people to Aid Another". This assumes your GM would let you, of course, but ritual support for magic is a fairly common trope. XD
That's actually pretty clever, I hadn't thought of that. It won't be enough on it's own though.
Oooh masterwork tool, I hadn't thought of that, thanks.
Is there a cheap way to gain UMD as class skill, at least for a day?
My GM has ruled that only two helpers can perform aid another. That and the masterwork tools give me +16, which while good, I need to hit a DC 32 check followed by a DC 33 check. The first is to emulate a wisdom score of 17, the second activating a cl 13 scroll.
I would need to hit 16 on the first roll, then 17 on the second.
One more thing you can never take ten on a UMD check unless you have a class feature or whatever that allows it. The skill forbids it by default.
Ummm, have you tried finding a druid and asking them to cast awaken for you? I see you mention the inherent loyalty thing, but awaken doesn't make the creature "loyal" per se. It would serve the druid in some specific tasks, but once you get it away from the druid it would be alright. Unless your concern is basically that you can't convince it to be your friend without magically compelling it to do so.
Ummm, have you tried finding a druid and asking them to cast awaken for you? I see you mention the inherent loyalty thing, but awaken doesn't make the creature "loyal" per se. It would serve the druid in some specific tasks, but once you get it away from the druid it would be alright. Unless your concern is basically that you can't convince it to be your friend without magically compelling it to do so.
Look, this is how I want to do this. Another reason is that it is one thing to have a mount that you bought, or a class feature that follows you around, but a true blue npc? That's different. Why don't I ask a local paladin to follow me around too? The spell is a work around for that, if you like, meta-quandary.
Guidance gives a +1 bonus to your check. It has to be cast twice, but it's a Cantrip that's a standard action, so no problem there if you have a party member who can cast this.
I seriously suggest you look into retraining so you can gain a feat and then retrain it later once you get the benefit you're looking for.
Possessed Hand into Hand's Knowledge can give you bonuses on the check equal to half your character level, which stacks with all other bonuses. It's two feats, but depending on your combat style, is worth the investment.
If you have large amounts of Linguistics, the Esoteric Linguistics feat can let you use that skill modifier in place of your UMD/Spellcraft check for scrolls, meaning if it's higher than your UMD check, it's going to be better for you.
Divine Deception gives a flat +5 bonus to UMD for the purposes of emulating divine spell trigger/completion items, which the scroll would fall under.
Altar of Nethys gives a +2 bonus, but costs 8,000 gold. Maybe if you can rent it from a local "church," for however long it takes for you to cast the spell, it'd be worth it.
A Wand Key Ring tied to Awaken costs only 3,000, but grants an immense +10 Insight bonus to the check. It's also slotless, so if you can create one that takes up a slot (probably a ring slot), it'd cut the price tag in half.
There's more, but they are usually very expensive and/or require more investment than you may care to take. I can list them if you wish, but I think this stuff should be more than enough to help out.
With just the Wand Key Ring, an Aid Another, and a Guidance, you're looking at 10 Base + 10 Insight + 1 Guidance + 2 Aid Another = 23. It's not guaranteed, but you have a fighting chance at least.
**EDIT** As for the Wisdom score emulation, you'd be better off using temporary boosts to that attribute, such as with Owl's Wisdom or a Headband of Inspired Wisdom. With a 13 Wisdom, the spell (and the headband at +4) should be more than enough.
Ummm, have you tried finding a druid and asking them to cast awaken for you? I see you mention the inherent loyalty thing, but awaken doesn't make the creature "loyal" per se. It would serve the druid in some specific tasks, but once you get it away from the druid it would be alright. Unless your concern is basically that you can't convince it to be your friend without magically compelling it to do so.Look, this is how I want to do this. Another reason is that it is one thing to have a mount that you bought, or a class feature that follows you around, but a true blue npc? That's different. Why don't I ask a local paladin to follow me around too? The spell is a work around for that, if you like, meta-quandary.
I was simply trying to make a suggestion about what would be a simpler method. Darksol's suggestions would help you accomplish what you want to do, but it's obviously a lot more difficult and expensive than the method I suggested.
Guidance gives a +1 bonus to your check. It has to be cast twice, but it's a Cantrip that's a standard action, so no problem there if you have a party member who can cast this.
I seriously suggest you look into retraining so you can gain a feat and then retrain it later once you get the benefit you're looking for.
Possessed Hand into Hand's Knowledge can give you bonuses on the check equal to half your character level, which stacks with all other bonuses. It's two feats, but depending on your combat style, is worth the investment.
If you have large amounts of Linguistics, the Esoteric Linguistics feat can let you use that skill modifier in place of your UMD/Spellcraft check for scrolls, meaning if it's higher than your UMD check, it's going to be better for you.
Divine Deception gives a flat +5 bonus to UMD for the purposes of emulating divine spell trigger/completion items, which the scroll would fall under.
Altar of Nethys gives a +2 bonus, but costs 8,000 gold. Maybe if you can rent it from a local "church," for however long it takes for you to cast the spell, it'd be worth it.
A Wand Key Ring tied to Awaken costs only 3,000, but grants an immense +10 Insight bonus to the check. It's also slotless, so if you can create one that takes up a slot (probably a ring slot), it'd cut the price tag in half.
There's more, but they are usually very expensive and/or require more investment than you may care to take. I can list them if you wish, but I think this stuff should be more than enough to help out.
With just the Wand Key Ring, an Aid Another, and a Guidance, you're looking at 10 Base + 10 Insight + 1 Guidance + 2 Aid Another = 23. It's...
Neither Guidance nor owl's wisdom will work as a bonus must be active the entire duration it is used and awaken takes 24 hours. That ring on the other hand is fantastic. Condidering I was eventually going to use limited wish to get a large bonus to the roll, considering I can craft this it's cheaper.
All told I'm at +26, or +29.
10 base
10 insight for the ring (crafted)
4 from 2 aid anothers
2 from masterwork tools
3 from circlet of persuasion (also crafted)
With all this, and no real consequences for failure I think this problem is solved. Thanks guys.