Fun Pathfinds

[Power]

Yeah, that's pretty handy for Bards, especially if they use the Expanded Versatility Advanced Versatile Performance and/or Pageant of the Peacock to make that one Perform skill count for a lot of other skills. But you can also get a +4 sacred bonus to all Perform and Craft checks just by taking Deific Obedience (Shelyn). Of course, the Blade of Three Fancies has the advantage of not using up a precious feat (and an Obedience at that).

[zook1shoe]

How would spellcasting contract work as a magic item, like a scroll or in a staff?

[Power]

Seems to be in "ask your DM" territory, but it looks like it wouldn't consume a spell slot as it would if you were to cast it yourself.

Also, it seems I haven't mentioned this spell yet:

PLANAR INQUIRY
Source Adventurer's Guide pg. 125, Arcane Anthology pg. 14
School conjuration (calling); Level arcanist 3, cleric 3, druid 3, hunter 3, inquisitor 3, oracle 3, shaman 3, sorcerer 3, summoner 3, summoner (unchained) 3, warpriest 3, witch 3, wizard 3
CASTING
Casting Time 10 minutes
Components V, S, M (offerings worth 100 gp per HD of the creature called)
EFFECT
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect one called outsider who answers questions
Duration instantaneous; see text
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
DESCRIPTION
Although he was hardly the first to turn to the Outer Planes for answers, Jatembe’s dealings with outsiders in his pursuit of enlightenment are legendary, and the Magaambya credits the Old-Mage with the creation of this spell.

This spell calls a creature from another plane to your precise location, functioning like lesser planar ally except as noted. When you call a creature using planar inquiry, the only task that you can ask of the creature is for it to answer questions or gather information regarding a specific topic (a person, a place, or a thing). After hearing your request, if the creature has an appropriate Knowledge skill, it can attempt a check to provide the information it has. If it lacks such a skill, the called creature leaves for 1d4 hours to gather this information. Upon its return, you roll 1d20 + your caster level, and use the result to determine what information the creature has gathered about the subject (as if using Diplomacy). The called creature stays for up to 10 minutes as it relays this information to you, after which it departs to its home plane. If the creature is attacked or damaged at any time during the spell’s duration, the spell ends and the creature returns to the plane from which you summoned it.

When you cast this spell, you can choose a specific kind of outsider to call, even calling an individual creature by name. The kind of outsider called doesn’t alter the effects of the spell, but when you use planar inquiry to summon a creature with an alignment or elemental subtype, the spell gains that descriptor. You cannot call an outsider whose Hit Dice exceed your caster level (maximum 18 HD) and you cannot use this spell to contact a unique outsider (such as a deity’s herald) or an outsider with mythic ranks.

The fun part here is that you can select what kind of outsider you call. So, for example, you cast Planar Inquiry, ask for a Raelis Azata, ask a question ("What is your name?"), and then you let it expire and use Planar Ally to call the Raelis by name.

[Tohron]

I suppose that you could also use CL-boosting shenanigans to get a bunch of information about the subject.  Not sure how many of those there are in Pathfinder though, and you'd need an additional modifier of 9+ CL for it to be better than just using the skill.

[Power]

Really if you're just using it for access to the outsider's knowledge, you can at least try to summon an outsider with a very high knowledge modifier (high int, Skill Focus, racial bonuses...). Not sure what standout options are there though.

However, if we interpret this spell a little less restrictively, we might be able to get the outsider we summon to use spells or abilities to help us answer our questions (such as anything that raises a knowledge skill, or perhaps even any spell that obtains information), and ask questions beyond what can be answered by a knowledge skill, such as where we might be able to find a person we are looking for, and have them cast divinations for us. In that case this spell is actually a pretty good catch-all information gathering spell, worth the component cost. The restrained take on this is that the outsider may do so of its own volition, but is under no obligation to go that far to answer your question. The less restrictive interpretation is that since we treat it like Lesser Planar Ally (and indeed the price for services of that duration is the exact same) then if we ask for it to answer questions or gather information, it should perform that task according to its task and our request, rather than only rolling Knowledge or Diplomacy.

But there are other tricks that are possible with Planar Inquiry as well. If you call an outsider with Planar Inquiry, you can use your questions to pass information to the outsider, which the outsider might then pass on to a superior upon returning to its home plane. If you're doing a campaign where there is a deity with a vested interest in your mission, this can be leveraged for interesting consequences by utilizing an appropriate outsider as a messenger. Another stunt would be to call an outsider with a Plane Shift spell-like ability and inquire about its willingness to aid you on your quest, basically working out a deal manually and then letting the spell expire, after which the outsider can Plane Shift itself to you. In addition, if it has a Teleport spell-like ability, it can study the current location to teleport towards it afterwards.

[Theaitetos]

Maxing your Oracle's hitpoints:

• Choose the Legalistic curse
• Choose the Cyclopean Seer archetype for the Flash of Insight revelation
• Take the Fate's Favored trait
• Cast Lucky Number on yourself until you roll an "8"
• Cast Moment of Greatness on yourself
• During level-up, use Flash of Insight to choose "8" when rolling for hit points.
• You get 8 (roll) +2 (Lucky Number) +1 (Fate's Favored) +4 (Legalistic) +4 (Moment of Greatness) = 19 hit points.
• Laugh at the d12 HD Barbarian.

[TiaC]

Take Abundant Revelations to get a second use of Flash of Insight so you can always get an 8 with Lucky Number.

[Power]

There's also the Untold Wonder spell to increase morale bonuses you receive by 1, the Rousing Courage religion trait to 1/day increase a morale bonus by 1, the Fascinated by the Mundane story feat to increase all morale bonuses you receive by 1, the Extreme Mood Swings feat to increase morale bonuses by 2 (but only if you use their drinking rules to obtain the Soused condition), the Fate's Favored faith trait to increase all your luck bonuses by 1 and Deific Obedience (Chaldira) for the 2nd Exalted or Sentinel boon (get both if you grab both prestige classes). This will let you inflate the roll much higher.

Of course, this is all TO since it's unlikely your GM will let you use that stuff to boost HD rolls.

[Power]

Check out Ultimate Equipment pg 388-390 for Appendix 2: Gems and Jewelry.

What were they smoking when they wrote this? Its super convoluted, and has some weird chart stuff.

- When making simple jewelry w a tier 1 gem increases the value by ×5 (same w tier 3 and 5)
- Making simple jewelry w a tier 2 gem increases the value by only ×2 (same w tier 2, 4, and 6)
- But making ornate jewelry from any tier is a ×10 increase.
Why would you ever make simple jewelry w the even tiers?

- Working unworked gems doubles their value for a 50% profit, using simple rules.
- Making jewelry uses the Craft rules, costing 1/3 for the raw materials. But as w gems, they sell at full value, this is written in the early part of that Appendix. Which gives you a whopping 66% profit. Thats unless you have to also buy the jewelry or gem separately, very confusing.
- Other forms of mundane crafting is only a 16% and magical is a 0%, without tricks.

That's a random nerf out of nowhere. Well, it's pretty fun to Limited Wish for a Fabricate with 1000 gp's worth of raw diamond as the material component generating 3k worth of diamond according to PF Core (2k according to Ultimate Equipment). Just balanced Pathfinder things. Presumably you can get the full 3k because that's how the Craft rules work and Fabricate can meld smaller, rough, cracked diamonds into pristine large ones with perfect cuts unlike a normal jeweler's work. Hell, with Fabricate you can probably turn graphite into diamonds, since they are both made of the same material (pure carbon), just in different structures. (Strictly speaking, you can just squeeze graphite into becoming diamond, but that requires a truly massive amount of pressure.)

[Power]

Here's a fun feat:

STONY RAMPART (COMBAT, CONDUIT)
Source Planar Adventures pg. 32
Stone rises up at your command, offering cover to allies.

Prerequisites: Knowledge (planes) 3 ranks.

Benefit: As a standard action, you can call forth a low wall of unworked stone along any side of a square within 30 feet. This wall is 5 feet long, 3 feet high, 2 inches thick, and acts as a low obstacle, except that it provides only partial cover. A single 5-foot section of stone created by this feat has hardness 8 and 30 hp. You can only have one such wall in existence at a time for every 5 ranks in Knowledge (planes) you have (minimum 1); walls last for a number of rounds equal to your ranks in Knowledge (planes) before crumbling to dust. If you have 10 or more ranks in Knowledge (planes), you can create multiple walls as a single standard action by expending an equivalent number of uses of this ability.

You can use this feat’s benefit a number of times per day equal to your ranks in Knowledge (planes).

So, these walls are somewhat fragile (abnormally durable for its dimensions, but fragile on the whole), but they have interesting ramifications. First, it's a 3 foot high wall. Frankly, a wall of that height should give full cover by default, according to the low obstacle rules, but whatever. Special exception strikes and people can magically shoot you better from above this wall. But, if you are small size, this should count as cover anyway, because now most of your body is under that wall. Second, if you decide to drop prone (a free action), these walls give you total cover (and being prone is +4 AC vs ranged and -4 AC vs melee) and that is Very Fun (until they destroy or sidestep your wall, anyway). Third, they're terrain obstacles, so unless people can make their Acrobatics checks to jump over it (which is harder without a running start) or have a climb/burrow/earthglide speed, you can do some useful stunts to box in enemies so they can't maneuver well (they can still 5-foot step through obstacles, though).

[zook1shoe]

since Major Image has thermal effects.... could you burn/freeze the shit out of people who fail their save?

could you engulf them in an illusory blob of lava or sphere of boiling water and have those burning them for 20d6 (failed disbelief obviously)

the Sun is even hotter.... could you Major Image someone's molecules into nothing?

The sun should be avoided by all but the most powerful
adventurers. In the face of the star’s nuclear fires, spells such
as resist energy, protection from energy, and planetary adaptation
are useless—only complete immunity to fire allows a
creature to survive the immense heat. Any
creatures or items not immune to fire are instantly and
utterly consumed down to the molecular level—only spells
such as wish or true resurrection can bring back such victims.

[ketaro]

Still can't do real damage though 

[Power]

That's an AD&D system shock save, iirc, but in PF you can't use the spell to inflict damage, not unless you use the Shadow Gambit feat, which is awful.

[zook1shoe]

damn

they would feel the oppressive heat, but take no damage?

[Power]

Correct. You might be able to talk your GM into letting you force people to roll environment saves for heat dangers or cold dangers if they fail to disbelieve, I guess, but the thermal effects are also an illusion, so a GM could easily say no. Turns out the rules indicate you can't do that either.

[Maelphaxerazz]

they would feel the oppressive heat, but take no damage?

Only for a fraction of a second. The lack of pain from the lack of damage would be incontrovertible proof that the illusion is false, and thus the target would automatically Disbelieve the illusion.

Because figments and glamers are unreal, they cannot produce real effects the way that other types of illusions can. Figments and glamers cannot cause damage to objects or creatures, support weight, provide nutrition, or provide protection from the elements. Consequently, these spells are useful for confounding foes, but useless for attacking them directly.

{ . . . }

Creatures encountering an illusion usually do not receive saving throws to recognize it as illusory until they study it carefully or interact with it in some fashion.

A successful saving throw against an illusion reveals it to be false, but a figment or phantasm remains as a translucent outline.

A failed saving throw indicates that a character fails to notice something is amiss. A character faced with proof that an illusion isn’t real needs no saving throw. If any viewer successfully disbelieves an illusion and communicates this fact to others, each such viewer gains a saving throw with a +4 bonus.

[Power]

Right, if they cannot provide protection from the elements (ie. heat and cold, as well as other weather phenomena) then they cannot affect people as the elements would either, so no heat/cold hazards from major image.

[zook1shoe]

Portable Pit doesn't spit out creatures if you command it to close. sucks for baddies stuck inside if you use the Acid or Hungry Pit

Creatures that trigger this effect and those adjacent to the portable pit when it transforms must succeed a DC 20 Reflex save or fall into the pit, taking damage and suffering additional effects (see below). The extradimensional pit persists for 1 minute before collapsing (harmlessly expelling any trapped creatures into an adjacent space) and becoming inert for 24 hours. If the command word is spoken a second time, a portable pit transforms back into cloth and can be picked up, moved, or stored.

it also does not spit out items either way, and could be a poor man's Portable Hole (10ft x 10ft x 20ft)

[Power]

Technically yes, but I reckon most GMs wouldn't accept that as RAI and would just have it spit out all contents when you command it to close.

Incidentally, about the Stony Rampart feat above, I may as well mention that it's possible to stack two or more consecutive layers of walls so they have to shoot through all of them, and that the Open Conduit feat will give you an extra 5 uses/day.

[Kethrian]

Even if the pit does not spit things out when you command it to close, it will still expel all contents 1 minute after triggered regardless.