Min/Max Boards

Can the creature you target with the combat maneuver be changed from round to round or are you limited to the target you specified when manifesting the power? 

The wording of the power seems to indicate "no" but maybe I'm missing something.

This would make the power much less useful than the wizard telekinesis version, and maybe it should be (5th lvl vs 4th) but it doesn't seem like there is a higher level Psion power that would be similar to the wizard version if this is the case.   

I'm just wondering if anyone has come up with any ideas to fix the thrall herd prc.  That is, it's pretty much universally agreed that the thrall ability is completely broken, so is there a way to rebalance the prestige class without it or reduce its power?

My first thought was to delete it altogether, and simply give back the manifester level that you give up for the ability.  While this certainly rebalances, I'm afraid that may go too far and the flavor of the class I'd certainly lost.  While keeping the ML is decent, you don't really gain a lot of other benefit out of the thrallherd prc beyond a few buffs to certain powers that every psion can get... Granted those buffs are good, but it doesn't really establish a unique prc when those powers are things that a normal Psion can still do, but with more difficulty. 

Any ideas, thoughts, or ramblings on the subject are greatly appreciated as I'm looking to propose options to my dm.

Is the RKV the best "full" caster build for melee?  I know its -3 levels but they do eventually get 9th level spells at 20.  It seems like cleric is the only way to go if you want to do melee AND have spells.
Ruby Knight Vindicator seems like the way to go to actually be a force in melee as well as getting 9th level spells.  The maneuvers are just great. 

Does anyone know of anything better for Someone who wants to be an effective tank and ALSO wants to have 9th level spells?   

Secondarily, the RKV suffers from MAD a bit, if there were a tankish/caster character that could get away with 2 main stats that would be much better... I know its a problem that any character of this type may end up having, but I just thought I'd ask...

a Kobold built as such:

sorc 1/wiz4/ultimate magus10/full prepared arcane casting class 5x

having done the greater draconic ritual, would get 19th level wizard spells known etc and 23rd caster level and would get 9 levels of sorcerers spells known (+1 for the ritual) and a caster level of 13 right?

is there a further way to boost either or both caster levels?

How do you determine if something is "broken"  Rules-wise?  (primarily looking for D&D 3.5/pathfinder answers, but the answers could be good for any RPG)

What is "broken"? at least in a general sense?  is it some ephemeral thing and you just know it when we see it?  There needs to be some objective measure agreed to by any gaming group,  preferably beforehand by which we can point to a character or ability and say "this is broken".

Just totally dominating a particular battle or encounter? seems like not enough evidence, perhaps the character is built to do a specific thing well, and that encounter played to their strengths.  I wouldn't require a person take all their ranks out of diplomacy because they talked their way into the throne room, just as I wouldn't require a fighter to change their options just because they did well in a fight.

Other People's complaints?  is that enough reason to decide on?  If another party member or multiple of them feel overshadowed by the character does that warrant a nerf?  In my experience this just leads to hurt feelings, and usually the people doing the complaining are lower tiers complaining about higher tiers, should a higher tier be penalized just because they made good choices?

Difficulty finding challenges?  If the DM is having a rough time providing challenges because of a particular ability that someone has does that mean its broken?  Basically if the DM has no hope of threatening you short of making a character just like yours, does that mean its broken?  Again the fall back is "should that character be penalized for making good choices?"

-My personal feeling on the subject is that anything that provides truly infinite abilities or "nigh infinite"  increases (attribute boosts that don't go away and can increase indefinately depending upon time or easily gotten resources invested) are the only truly game-breaking ones.  These combos should be automatically assumed by the players and DMs to be out of bounds via the "gentlemans agreement".

does anyone else have an objective interpretation of what is "broken"?

I'd also appreciate any thread links if there have been similar discussions along this topic.
 

Does anyone have any experience with the Pathfinder point-buy system?  My group is going to reboot and we have decided to use the PB system and I don't know which array to use.  (and what if any are its potential problems/effects?)

Link to the system:
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/basics-ability-scores/ability-scores

low fantasy
standard
high fantasy
epic fantasy

Which should we use and why?

For additional background, 3.5 material is allowed so any problems with using this point buy system in 3.5 would be relevant.

Are there any rules for intelligent items gaining class levels? 

They are intelligent so I dont see why they couldnt gain classes in purely mental classes like psions, or they could get marshal skill if they can somehow dance...

Do any rules exist that could cover this?  Could your character be an intelligent item?

What are the best ways in which you can boost spell level? 

I know that specific shadowcraft mage builds can effectively mimic +1 spell level, (IE a 9th level SCM could "mimic" 6th level spells), but are there other ways to cast more powerful spells at a lower character level than would normally be allowed?

Assuming wizards are the fastest arcane progression in terms of spell level.

Constraints are, no dragon mags stuff, everything else is fair game.

does anyone have a homebrew method for how to handle battles on an army scale? 

I want to have the PCs act as generals in an army, not really getting into the weeds of the battles themselves, but more directing the movements of the troops.   There may be parts of the story where the PCs go down to the frontlines of the battle and get thier hands dirty, but I want to give them some control over the outcome of the war based on thier decisions, etc. 

The mini's handbook has squad combat, and the older d&d systems have some rules.  but all of them are clunky and frankly confusing or boring to run. 

Does anyone have any homebrew options or suggestions for this kind of a story line?  I've considered coopting Diplomacy or the Game of Thrones board game rules, but I'm not sure if that would allow for the RP I want....

as far as weapons on a person I think that you can dual wield two weapons and have shield spikes (on a buckler) and you can have one enchanted armor spot and carry a shield. 
Are there any other spots where you can hold an additional magic ARMOR or WEAPON item?

Specifically I'm looking at those two types of items for thier enchantments...