Celestial Totem?

[gunsmoke50]

Hey all,

I was looking through the Additional Resources page, and under Champions of Purity, I didn't see the Celestial Totem rage powers listed. Are they illegal, or is this an omission?

[Dragnmoon]

Not legal for PFS play.

As to why, I can't say. Though IMO it is a very powerful rage power.

[Mahtobedis]

With the advent of the slayer this has come up for me too.

In general I have learned in PFS to accept the decisions of PFS leadership for the additional resources. When something I wanted is banned it is usually for good reason.

I do not know the reason that celestial totem was banned, but I would like to make a case for its illegal status to be reconsidered.

As far as theme in the campaign, the totem does not seem out of place as fiend totem is legal for play, and celestial seems like the thematic opposite.

As far as Celestial Totem being appropriate for PCs to use, it is in the same section of Champions of Purity that the Inquisitions and feats are. Both Inquisitions and feats sections are PFS legal.

Finally in terms of power level I am not convinced the Celestial Totem is inherently broken. It is strong but not stupidly, or overpoweringly so.

Lesser Celestial Totem hives you significant extra healing, but this only matters if a player is healing you in combat.

I would consider Celestial Totem The adjacent invisibility purge is really great too, but prevents allies from turning invisible met to you if they are not good. The daylight part is really nice, but as Jiggy has pointed out Daylight only guarantees ambient light in Deeper Darkness. Outside Deeper Darkness, Daylight tends to not be very relevant.

Greater Celestial Totem looks amazing until you realize that not only are there very few [Evil] spells but that anyone casting them at you will have a better than 50% chance of overcoming the SR anyway. But the +2 on saves vs. evil creatures makes power a good Totem finisher when combined with the SR.

So Mike and John, if you read this please reconsider the ban on Celestial Totem.

[Cao Phen]

Here is an example of healing with Lesser Celestial Totem (I ran a character in Reign of Winter)

Barbarian 7
Unbreakable Fighter 1

Fey Foundling, Fast Healer, and Lesser Celestial Totem up.

Con 20 + 2 Level + 4 (Belt) + 4 (Rage) = 30 CON (+10 Mod)

Formula:
x + 2n + 1/2y + z

x = Spell or SU Healing ability
n = Number of dice used in x
y = Con Modifier
z = Caster Level of Spell

CLW Wand
(1d8+1) + 2(1) + 1/2(10) + 1
1d8+9

Channel (CL 7)
4d6 + 2(4) + 1/2(10) + 7
4d6+20

Cure Serious Wounds (CL 9, Empowered)
(1.5(3d8+9)) + 2(3) + 1/2(10) + 9
(1.5(3d8+9))+20

Determination Armor
5d8+10 + 2(5) + 1/2(10) + 10
5d8+35

Or Super Silly:
Hex Channeler (CL 11 (All to Channel)+Phylactery of Positive Channeling)
12d6 + 2(11) + 1/2(10) + 11
12d6+38

[Mahtobedis]

Wands don't get +10 the caster level is minimum for the wand.

That being said, what I am seeing is an increase of a bit under half, very nice or the high HP raging and loosing lots of HP barbarian.

But many PFS parties don't have someone who is capable of healing in combat. I see it all the time.

There are already legal abilities that empower all healing spells a character casts. There is also Ablative Barrier which effectively doubles the healing you receive. I do not think lesser celestial totem is more broken than either of those.

I do think celestial totem is a strong totem with a flavor I think should be allowed in PFS.

[Cao Phen]

The 10 in the CLW wand is your Constitution Modifier.

[Mahtobedis]

Ok but that is not from lesser celestial totem. I do understand your formula better now.

Lesser celestial totem is certainly a good rage power, but I still do not think that makes it powerful enough to be banned from PFS for being disruptive to the game.