[PF] Any ideas on how to take advantage of a Cyclops's Flash of Insight?

[Power]

So, the PF Druid can summon a Cyclops with Summon Nature's Ally V . The most interesting ability they possess is this one:

Flash of Insight (Su) Once per day as an immediate action, a cyclops can peer into an occluded visual spectrum of possible futures, gaining insight that allows it to select the exact result of one die roll before the roll is made. This effect can alter an action taken by the cyclops only, and cannot be applied to the rolls of others.

So naturally, this begs a question: How can you best make use of this? The most obvious stunt is to make a cyclops charge with a greataxe and declare an automatic 20 for a crit if they make their confirmation roll. If you have a Cleric with the Destruction domain (or you have the domain as your own Nature Bond through some archetype, probably Nature Priest), you can skip the confirmation roll, at which point you might as well hand them an X4 multiplier weapon since a 20 auto-hits and the aura auto-confirms the crit too. As a a matter of fact if your character has the animal or plant domain and the ability to spontaneously cast cure or inflict spells, they can just take the Spontaneous Nature's Ally feat and cast SNA spontaneously as a Druid does.

Anyway, this brings us to a more interesting point. Summons, of course, are a lot more fun if you hand them items that allow them to do unusual things. And it just so happens that Flash of Insight can affect any type of die roll, not just d20s, so if, for instance, you hand a Cyclops a Rod of Wonder, you can just have your cyclops pick the effect of your choice. And if you just hand your cyclops a +1 heart-piercing arrow (only costs 1/50th because it's priced as ammunition) with a longbow you can have it auto-kill an enemy without a roll by making it a 20. Another interesting note is that if you give your cyclops a Ring of Spell Storing, you can store a Reincarnate spell into it, have your Cyclops cast it on someone and have it pick what form they will reincarnate into, but unless you have a way to increase the duration of SNA to minutes/level (Hunters get minutes/level SNA when their animal companions are dead, but only for animals that they summon), your Cyclops probably won't have enough time to use it. A Druid can use Summon Flight of Eagles or Summon Totem Creature with Alter Summoned Monster to obtain summons with a 10 minutes/lvl duration, though. For primarily non-combat summons, Aquatic Cavalry with Alter Summoned Monster works also.

So, really, I'm hoping for any ideas and suggestions on what kinds of mundane items, magic items, and spells (presumably with randomized effects) you can take advantage of using the Flash of Insight ability of the cyclops.

[Nanashi]

Rod of Wonder? Day long reduction of size by two size categories is a potent buff and worth a fifth level spell slot, though not necessarily the rod's cost+slot and less great on a Druid that can wildshape.

Cyclopean Seer Oracle can get the ability on a PC every day with a level 1 dip.

[kitep]

If PF still bases intimidation off STR, seems like a nat 20 would work wonders there.

step 1) summon Cyclops
step 2) Spellthief steals supernatural ability
step 3) ????
step 4) PROFIT!

[Power]

Intimidation is based off of charisma, not strength, There is an Intimidating Prowess feat in the PF Core Rulebook to add your str mod to Intimidate though.

The permanent size reduction would only reduce the Cyclops's size, not the Druid's, and given Wild Shape that is indeed not useful anyway. I'm mostly wondering about any spells or items with randomized effects that can be wielded effectively.

[Nanashi]

Oracle 1/Primal Magic Wizard X lets you replace the effects of your spell with a primal magic effect, then choose the event. This has a few fun gimmicks that are stupidly OP at level 2. At only two uses per day even after Abundant Revelations, it wears out fast.

Depending on how Chest of the Mercane is ruled, who rolls the dice is unclear, you can sell items for more than 50% value reliably.

[Power]

Cyclopean Seer Oracle is an easy ban honestly. Cyclops summon off of SNA less so.

[zook1shoe]

Numerian Fluids and hope you don't get a 7 on the exceptional table

[TiaC]

Numerian Fluids and hope you don't get a 7 on the exceptional table

Abundant Revalations lets you pick the second roll too. Now you just need some way of fast healing or reduction for ability score damage and you have all-day incorporeality.

[nijineko]

Flash of Insight (Su) Once per day as an immediate action, a cyclops can peer into an occluded visual spectrum of possible futures, gaining insight that allows it to select the exact result of one die roll before the roll is made. This effect can alter an action taken by the cyclops only, and cannot be applied to the rolls of others.

That... that was totally influenced from Krull.

[zook1shoe]

Numerian Fluids and hope you don't get a 7 on the exceptional table

Abundant Revalations lets you pick the second roll too. Now you just need some way of fast healing or reduction for ability score damage and you have all-day incorporeality.

oh right, nice!

[Power]

If you want permanent incorporeality just use Ghost Syrup (6k gp) and consider wearing an Amulet of Grasping Souls (21k gp), no need for laborious fluid stunts as Cyclopean Seer Oracle. You can also just Mind Swap into an incorporeal creature.

[Endarire]

Does this apply to spells cast from items, like mirror image or prismatic spells?

[Power]

It does indeed. Spells you cast from items are still rolls you have to make, so you can control the outcome with Flash of Insight. Ring of Spell Storing means a Cyclops can cast just about any spell that doesn't have an onerous cast time.

[Endarire]

Can you use this to force a Cyclops (or yourself as one) to set your HD (or another's HD) when leveling?

[zook1shoe]

you mean hp when you level up? why not

[Power]

No, your cyclops does not roll for your PC's hit dice and can only affect its own rolls with flash of insight. You could possibly do it with the Cyclopean Seer Oracle, but at any rate, there are hit dice retraining rules in PF to max out your HD as is, because paizo.

[Felix Underwood]

Pathfinder has an item based on this ability:

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/c-d/cyclops-helm/

But its limited on the type of checks:   "the wearer can choose the result of the die roll instead of rolling her next attack roll, saving throw, skill check, or ability check."

Good for the roll to research custom occult rituals or find true names.

[zook1shoe]

the biggest difference between the two?

flash of insight works on any roll, while the cyclops helm is only d20s

[Power]

Cyclops Helm isn't even all d20s. You can't use it on caster level checks, for instance. But it is good enough to give you an automatic kill with a vorpal blade.

[Power]

And we have a simple PF Core item to go with our PF Core spell:

EFREETI  BOTTLE
Price 145,000 gp; Slot none; CL 14th; Weight 1 lb; Aura strong conjuration
Source Ultimate Equipment pg. 294, Pathfinder Core Rulebook pg. 511

This item is typically fashioned of brass or bronze, with a lead stopper bearing special seals. Periodically, a thin stream of bittersmelling smoke issues from the bottle’s top. The bottle can be opened once per day. When opened, the efreeti imprisoned within issues from the bottle instantly amid a cloud of noxious smoke. There is a 10% chance (01–10 on d%) that the efreeti is insane and attacks immediately upon being released. There is also a 10% chance (91–100) that the efreeti of the bottle grants three wishes. In either case, afterward the efreeti disappears forever, and the bottle becomes nonmagical. The other 80% of the time (11–90), the inhabitant of the bottle loyally serves the character for up to 10 minutes per day (or until the efreeti’s death), doing as she commands. Roll each day the bottle is opened for that day’s effect.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Cost 72,500 gp
Craft Wondrous Item, planar binding

Use Cyclops, and guarantee you get 3 wishes. That said, you're probably better off just getting 3 scrolls of Wish than resorting to this overpriced bottle (although that's largely a casualty of PF being stupidly overgenerous with UMD accessibility). Hell, a Ring of Three Wishes is cheaper. But hey, at least if you end up getting an Efreeti Bottle you will be able to actually ensure you can get the 3 wishes out of it instead of it being a coin toss whether or not it will attack you and just amount to overpriced junk instead.

Still, there's another item we can rig a die roll for 1/week free wish:

SCEPTER OF THE ARCLORDS
Price 200,000 gp; Slot none; CL 20th; Weight 5 lbs; Aura strong universal
Source Lost Treasures pg. 52

The Scepter of the Arclords is a powerful device capable of harvesting all the ambient magic from a large area and focusing it into a single powerful effect. Once per day the wielder can command the Scepter of the Arclords to duplicate any spell of 3rd level or lower. This automatically succeeds, but there is a 10% chance the wielder also gains a random minor spellblight (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 94).

Additionally, once per week the wielder can command the item to create any magic effect he desires. Roll d% to determine the effect of this command.

d%	Effect
01	The wielder gains a major spellblight (Ultimate Magic 94). The GM may determine the spellblight randomly, or may design a custom spellblight based on the magic effect the wielder commanded the scepter to create. The DC to remove this spellblight (using the normal rules for eliminating spellblights) is 35 (or 40, if the target still has the Scepter of the Arclords in his possession), and isn’t reduced with the passage of time.
02-05	The Scepter creates a permanently magic-dead area (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Magic 12) with a radius of d% × 100 feet.
06-10	The Scepter creates a permanent area of primal magic (Inner Sea Magic 12) with a radius of d% × 100 feet.
11-80	The wielder’s command is fulfilled with a limited wish. If a limited wish can’t fulfill the command, the scepter comes as close to fulfilling it as a limited wish can (GM’s discretion).
81–100	The wielder’s command is fulfilled with a wish. If a wish can’t fulfill the command, the scepter comes as close to fulfilling it as a wish can (GM’s discretion). Additionally, one random creature of the outsider type learns the wielder has the scepter and just used it to gain a wish; the nature of the wish and the location of the wielder aren’t revealed. The GM secretly determines which outsider gains this knowledge.

The eye-like spheres on the Scepter sometimes swivel of their own accord, and although the Scepter isn’t intelligent, it’s capable of sliding on its own at a speed of 5 feet.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Cost 100,000 gp
Craft Rod, limited wish, wish

Fun fact: There is no real explanation of magic-dead areas in Inner Sea Magic. It just says "magic won't function at all." That's it. That's all of it. Thanks. (It's in the primal magic link I mentioned, which just copied pages 12-13 of Inner Sea Magic verbatim.) The reasonable interpretation is to default to the rules for dead magic planes instead to determine how this is supposed to behave.

Anyway, use this item with a Cyclops and you get 1/week free wish. You can also use it to force magic-dead zones (the other effects aren't particularly worthwhile), but your Cyclops only gets to rig 1 roll which means you can't control the size of the effect (and naturally you will lose your summoned Cyclops doing this). The other fun part of it is that when you wish your random outsider will only get to know that a summoned Cyclops (which is soon to disappear) had a Scepter of the Arclords and cast a wish, instead of your Druid. IIRC in the Golarion setting in particular, summoned creatures don't actually exist, but are basically temporary copies of some kind of primordial template of the creature, but it might just be PF2e that establishes that.