A quick guide to Assurance casting


Advice

Liberty's Edge

5 people marked this as a favorite.

Want to cast from a scroll and be 100% assured of the result, without having to take a caster dedication ?

Take Trick Magic Item and the Assurance feat for the skill of the Tradition you want.

Here are the PC levels at which you will cast spells of a given level, according to your proficiency in the skill.

1st level spells (DC 15) : Trained at level 3, Expert at level 2.

2nd level spells (DC 18) : Trained at level 6, Expert at level 4.

3rd level spells (DC 20) : Trained at level 8, Expert at level 6.

4th level spells (DC 23) : Trained at level 11, Expert at level 9, Master at level 7.

5th level spells (DC 26) : Trained at level 14, Expert at level 12, Master at level 10.

6th level spells (DC 28) : Trained at level 16, Expert at level 14, Master at level 12.

7th level spells (DC 31) : Trained at level 19, Expert at level 17, Master at level 15.

8th level spells (DC 34) : Expert at level 20, Master at level 18, Legendary at level 16.

9th level spells (DC 36) : Master at level 20, Legendary at level 18.

10th level spells (DC 39) : no luck ;-)


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

So you spend an action to pull out a scroll, then spend an action to Trick Magic Item, declaring your use of Assurance, then...nothing, because you only have one action left and most spells are two actions.

You'd have to use a one action spell or start the round with scroll already in hand.

It's a nice trick, but not so useful in combat.


4 people marked this as a favorite.
Ravingdork wrote:

So you spend an action to pull out a scroll, then spend an action to Trick Magic Item, declaring your use of Assurance, then...nothing, because you only have one action left and most spells are two actions.

You'd have to use a one action spell or start the round with scroll already in hand.

It's a nice trick, but not so useful in combat.

Did RB mention combat? Even outside combat Assurance would be useful to avoid crit failures cutting off one's access.

And I've known players to walk around with specific scrolls (or other consumables) in their hands knowing they want to spend their first combat turn using them. This would be no different, and would apply to wands too (at least for those w/ spare hands as dropping wealth is risky).
And if it's really game-changing (which many spells can be in specific circumstances), taking an action the turn before to pull that scroll can be worthwhile.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

You also have familiars that can help.

Raven Black, your list will be even better if you add Wands to it. I know, you just have to look at a spell one level higher, but I'm not sure everyone knows that.
You also have special Wands that may be nice to know, like Manifold Missiles and such.

Liberty's Edge

SuperBidi wrote:

You also have familiars that can help.

Raven Black, your list will be even better if you add Wands to it. I know, you just have to look at a spell one level higher, but I'm not sure everyone knows that.
You also have special Wands that may be nice to know, like Manifold Missiles and such.

I would need to make a new thread for wands then. I cannot edit the first post anymore.

BTW I did not know about wand = scroll +1. Thanks for the info.

Liberty's Edge

Come to think of it, maybe a list with all standard DCs by level would be of use for all those fixed DCs out there.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Castilliano wrote:
Did RB mention combat? Even outside combat Assurance would be useful to avoid crit failures cutting off one's access.

I'm not sure why you felt the need to jump to RB's defense like that. I wasn't attacking him or his idea; just stating additional facts much like you did. (Apologies if I've misinterpreted your post; it happens to us all.)

The Raven Black wrote:
I would need to make a new thread for wands then. I cannot edit the first post anymore.

Yeah, edit privileges are only available for 1 hour after posting.

The Raven Black wrote:
BTW I did not know about wand = scroll +1. Thanks for the info.

Neither did I. Pretty cool!

Shadow Lodge

The Raven Black wrote:
Come to think of it, maybe a list with all standard DCs by level would be of use for all those fixed DCs out there.

Chapter 10: Game Mastering / Difficulty Classes / Level-Based DCs: There's a reason I keep this specific page bookmarked...

Liberty's Edge

Taja the Barbarian wrote:
The Raven Black wrote:
Come to think of it, maybe a list with all standard DCs by level would be of use for all those fixed DCs out there.
Chapter 10: Game Mastering / Difficulty Classes / Level-Based DCs: There's a reason I keep this specific page bookmarked...

Definitely.

I meant a list similar to the one I did in the OP. So that you would know which level you must be, depending on your proficiency in the skill, to reach any standard DC when using Assurance in the skill ;-)


1 person marked this as a favorite.

I had these tables lying around from when I was analyzing Medicine options. They show the results of using Assurance based on Level, Proficiency, and DC.

Assurance Results

Combined with the link that Taja the Barbarian linked to, they should make it easier to compile this type of list.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
The Raven Black wrote:

...

1st level spells (DC 15) : Trained at level 3, Expert at level 2.
...

I just added two tables showing the fastest possible progressions for classes. They make it easier to see, for example, that Investigators and Rogues can hit DC 15 by becoming Expert at Level 2, but the other classes won't get there until they can become Expert at Level 3.

Liberty's Edge

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Gisher wrote:
The Raven Black wrote:

...

1st level spells (DC 15) : Trained at level 3, Expert at level 2.
...
I just added two tables showing the fastest possible progressions for classes. They make it easier to see, for example, that Investigators and Rogues can hit DC 15 by becoming Expert at Level 2, but the other classes won't get there until they can become Expert at Level 3.

Some Dedications give you Expert in a specific skill when you take them, which can be at level 2.

Of note is the Pathfinder Agent dedication, which gives Expert in a single skill in which you're already Trained.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
The Raven Black wrote:
Gisher wrote:
The Raven Black wrote:

...

1st level spells (DC 15) : Trained at level 3, Expert at level 2.
...
I just added two tables showing the fastest possible progressions for classes. They make it easier to see, for example, that Investigators and Rogues can hit DC 15 by becoming Expert at Level 2, but the other classes won't get there until they can become Expert at Level 3.

Some Dedications give you Expert in a specific skill when you take them, which can be at level 2.

Of note is the Pathfinder Agent dedication, which gives Expert in a single skill in which you're already Trained.

I hadn't noticed that. That's really cool! I'll adjust the table descriptions to reflect that possibility when I get a chance. Thanks!


Gisher wrote:
Assurance Results

Blured. Can you post this to spreadsheet?


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Laclale♪ wrote:
Gisher wrote:
Assurance Results
Blured. Can you post this to spreadsheet?

Sorry, I have no idea how to upload Numbers documents to an online spreadsheet. Some mobile browsers seem to blur Google Doc images. Opening it in a Google Docs app should fix the problem.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder Second Edition / Advice / A quick guide to Assurance casting All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.