Spheres of Power Ask Me Anything #2

[stack]

Q153: Does the Resizer's Agile Strength ability work when the character's size is changed by outside sources (like reduce person), or it is it restricted to the character's own size-changing effects?

A153: So the ability reads "Agile Strength: At 2nd level, a resizer ignores penalties to ability scores when changing size."

Since actual size changes don't stack, reduce or enlarge person don't really do anything that the resizer can't do on its own. The resizer can match or outstrip most other size change effects, so applying it to all effects ought not be an issue for single-class resizers.

Only issue that springs to mind is the case of someone dipping 2 levels to ignore the size penalties form other sources.

As written, it applies to any size change though using it that way was not considered in writing it. If it is a point of abuse, then we might need to errata "when changing size" to "when using Size Focus".

[EldritchWeaver]

Well, thank you for your interest! But this is actually a touchy scenario. The short of it is that just reading a submission like that can put me in a precarious position, so I prefer to categorically avoid such material.

Is that the reason why I have never seen any answer on my PM to you? I can assure you, I only referenced existing rules and didn't include any homebrew. It was basically an overview what options I found in Paizo resp. SoP material.

[Zsaber0]

Q157
Is it possible to enchant a Battle Creature Companion's weapon with the craft magic arms and armor feat if you keep him summoned with Lingering and Greater Summoning?

[Saffron-sama]

Q158: If a magic item crafter creates a slotless staff as a tattoo or implant can he apply its caster level bonus to crafting items of that sphere?
Edit: Nevermind reread craft staff and it specifically calls it out as a temporary caster level increase.

[inuyasha]

Q159: This has probably been asked already multiple times, but I want to know, has anyone ever introduced SoP into a preexisting campaign with standard magic, allowing for both at the same time? And if so, how did it go, and how viable was it in the long run?

[Ualaa]

Q159: This has probably been asked already multiple times, but I want to know, has anyone ever introduced SoP into a preexisting campaign with standard magic, allowing for both at the same time? And if so, how did it go, and how viable was it in the long run?

Our current campaign uses both the default Vancian system (currently none of the players use this) and Spheres of Power (half the group are using Spheres).

I'd say using one or the other is probably better, and I'd prefer Spheres if I were choosing.

Some of the basic assumptions are different, from one to the other.
A Vancian caster, who is level 3, and casts Invisibility has +40 to their Stealth check, but is automatically invisible.
The Sphere caster has the equivalent of Improved Invisibility, from level 1 onwards (with the Invisibility talent and the Illusion sphere), but their degree of undetectableness scales with level.

The Vancian caster uses a See Invisibility, and by the system automatically spots any invisible character.
The Sphere caster has True Sight, which is a bonus to detect invisible creatures and has to roll a Perception opposed by the Invis character's Stealth.

Does the Vancian 'See Invis' function like True Sight (need to make a successful check) or is it an auto detect no matter what the Sphere's stealth result is?

It's easier to use one system or the other.



The player's can do Darkness, in the Dark sphere.
They take the talent to make it so that Darkvision only penetrates 5 ft. of darkness.

The Drow Noble does his Deeper Darkness... and you cannot see through it at all.
The Drow can see through five ft. of the player's darkness effect, but the player's cannot see through the Drow effect at all.

Using one system would be an even playing field...

[EldritchWeaver]

Q159: This has probably been asked already multiple times, but I want to know, has anyone ever introduced SoP into a preexisting campaign with standard magic, allowing for both at the same time? And if so, how did it go, and how viable was it in the long run?

A159: I've been playing for a while in a combined campaign. So one thing I noticed, having at-will abilities is really nice to have as a player, but this can cause problems with the GM resp. the encounters (like playing APs unchanged) or other players. My character is well-optimized and can do things related to the Destruction sphere that basically no enemy encountered so far can't not be damaged. But because the other players did effectively negative optimization on a lower tier classes, my character seems very strong. His explosive orbs do around full-attack damage (compared to the martials), but are AoE. The other caster is more of a support type, so not doing any damage in particular.

A current example: Yesterday we defended

Spoiler: RotRL

Show

Sandpoint from the giant attack

and thanks to the nature of the enemies, ranged attacks were dominating. Only my character and the ranger had this option, leaving the monk out of parts of the fight (the sorceress tried sometimes debuffs, too). That made me MVP, because otherwise the various enemy groups would have taken double as much time as we needed, so the main enemy group would have been free to cause havoc unopposed far longer.

[Saffron-sama]

Q160: How does the Protection Sphere's Barrier interacts with large moving objects like ships? Would it act as an anchor, move with the vehicle or rip a hole in it?

[Mehangel]

Q160: How does the Protection Sphere's Barrier interacts with large moving objects like ships? Would it act as an anchor, move with the vehicle or rip a hole in it?

Immobile effects on large, mobile surfaces has always been a weird spot of pathfinder. If you want to read it strictly, you can't anchor an effect to a mobile surface... but in that case you better hope the world isn't obeying standard physics.
I'd probably allow it, but its more of a DM's call than anything else.

Personally, this is one of the reasons why I am for mobile barriers and wards, because without them, you can get some rather dysfunctional effects.

[Saffron-sama]

Personally, this is one of the reasons why I am for mobile barriers and wards, because without them, you can get some rather dysfunctional effects.

I will talk to my GM then.
Yeah I was thinking about how you could use the barrier to stop yourself and others in the area midair till you can solve the issue or heal up then fall and activate again.

[Zsaber0]

Q159: This has probably been asked already multiple times, but I want to know, has anyone ever introduced SoP into a preexisting campaign with standard magic, allowing for both at the same time? And if so, how did it go, and how viable was it in the long run?

I am playing an Incanter in a basic pathfinder game and so far I feel like it's been pretty balanced. My character uses all the ritual feats and rules as well, traveling around with a preconstructed spellbook and several spellbooks he's found in the world and off enemies. He uses them with the scribe scroll feat and then uses the scrolls to create wands, staves, and other items. It's a really great combination of systems that hasn't really been show to be overpowered.

However that seems to be going out the window now that I've learned of the item "page of spell knowledge" and by RAW I can craft those without the required spell with a +5 to the craft dc then use it to scribe the spell to a spellbook.

If any part of this is wrong, I would appreciate a correcting.

[A.J.Gibson]

Q160: How does the Protection Sphere's Barrier interacts with large moving objects like ships? Would it act as an anchor, move with the vehicle or rip a hole in it?

There's no official ruling (yet), but I would allow any AoE to be anchored to a large object or vessel.

[A.J.Gibson]

However that seems to be going out the window now that I've learned of the item "page of spell knowledge" and by RAW I can craft those without the required spell with a +5 to the craft dc then use it to scribe the spell to a spellbook.

What use would a page of spell knowledge be to an incanter - the don't have a spells known class feature and are not vancian casters. It's not like a scroll, which can be explicitly be used by non-casters via UMD.

[A.J.Gibson]

Personally, this is one of the reasons why I am for mobile barriers and wards, because without them, you can get some rather dysfunctional effects.

And with them you get other dysfunctional effects, like moving walls. :)

[wesmer]

Can a character that has the Area Glow and Irradiance talents cause all objects and creatures in the targeted area to glow and be sickened with the same standard action?

If so, can the character also cause one of the glows to shed bright light with the same standard action?

Also, the combination of Area Glow with Irradiance makes the creatures sickened without an attack roll and without a saving throw?

If one of the glows can shed bright light with the same standard action, then does the penalty to saves from the sickened condition apply to the save against the nauseated condition?

Thanks in advance.

[Zsaber0]

What use would a page of spell knowledge be to an incanter - the don't have a spells known class feature and are not vancian casters. It's not like a scroll, which can be explicitly be used by non-casters via UMD.

Never mind that, I misremembered the item and thought a spell could be scribed from the page of spell knowledge into a spellbook.

EDIT: I mixed it up with a Spell Lattice.

[Saffron-sama]

Q162 How does the Hybrid Tranfromation & to a lesser extent Improved Transfoemation interact if you have multiple iterations of the Transformation fe8at from Beastsoul Monk?

Edit
Q163 Does the Hard Light Feat interact with Light Talents? Example could I make a hard light sword which benefited from black light and beacon of hope?

[stack]

Q162 How does the Hybrid Tranfromation & to a lesser extent Improved Transfoemation interact if you have multiple iterations of the Transformation fe8at from Beastsoul Monk?

A162: Hybrid Transformation should be taken once to apply to all forms. Improved, I would say that you pick one set of traits and apply them to all forms. I will put clarifying this into the errata list.

[inuyasha]

Thanks for the feedback on my last question, I guess that leads me to...

Q164: Would you guys, as players, find it odd if a system like this was introduced by the DM solely for NPC/Monster use?

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Q164: Would you guys, as players, find it odd if a system like this was introduced by the DM solely for NPC/Monster use?

My answer: yes. It means rewriting a substantial portion of the bestiary, which is more work for the DM. I could see using it for monsters to help introduce it, but locking PCs out of it seems a little odd.

[TheIronGolem]

Thanks for the feedback on my last question, I guess that leads me to...

Q164: Would you guys, as players, find it odd if a system like this was introduced by the DM solely for NPC/Monster use?

I could understand a DM doing that for a session or two, for the sake of getting a feel for the system before letting players use it. Particularly if it was being introduced to a campaign that was already underway.

I'd be annoyed if it was a permanent thing, though. But that's not specific to spherecasting, I'd feel the same way about any new subsystem.

[Ualaa]

The DM could allow the players to build whatever type of characters they want through spheres... but that's not saying that it couldn't also be more restrictive.

Maybe there are several different orders of mages, in a death struggle against each other. Any mage encountered, who is not your faction, is a mortal enemy who will kill you at their first opportunity...

The DM then crafts the tradition (Boons & Drawbacks) of each of these orders, and can include which spheres they have access to.
So one order has access to six spheres, including some advanced talents.
While another order believes that that use of magic violates the laws of nature, and those who practice magic in that manner need to be slain...

You (or your DM) could easily regulate what you're comfortable with, within your game, without banning the whole system from player use...

[Saffron-sama]

Q165 Would you allow a caster to take Limited Telekinesis (Personal Creation), which would only allow the caster to use telekinesis on items made through the caster creation sphere?

Q166 How does the Enhancement drawback Special Delivery interact with instantaneous and permanent durations like Bestow Life?

[Mehangel]

Q165 Would you allow a caster to take Limited Telekinesis (Personal Creation), which would only allow the caster to use telekinesis on items made through the caster creation sphere?

A165 Personally, I would say yes. I would allow it because unlike other material requirement, you cannot constantly carry around objects created with the Creation sphere due to their short duration or expensive spell point cost. It thus would be a very real, yet reasonable drawback.

[Saffron-sama]

A165 Personally, I would say yes. I would allow it because unlike other material requirement, you cannot constantly carry around objects created with the Creation sphere due to their short duration or expensive spell point cost. It thus would be a very real, yet reasonable drawback.

Thank you for the swift answer.

[stack]

Advanced talents may impact that answer. Create materials, if allowed, removes a fair chunk of the inconvenience, though it is still nontrivial (can't lift enemies, mostly limited to prepared objects unless making them in the spot). Yeah, I would probably allow it even then.

[Saffron-sama]

Advanced talents may impact that answer. Create materials, if allowed, removes a fair chunk of the inconvenience, though it is still nontrivial (can't lift enemies, mostly limited to prepared objects unless making them in the spot). Yeah, I would probably allow it even then.

This was my concern. I was also concerned I was missing something bigger.
Thank you for the help.

[EldritchWeaver]

Q167: How does Gather Energy interact with Admixture? Do you increase the casting time from a standard action to 1 round?

[stack]

Q167: How does Gather Energy interact with Admixture? Do you increase the casting time from a standard action to 1 round?

A167: Multiple casting time increases stack, so if you don't want to pay for the die/level damage or the admixture, it will take a 1 round action, yes.

[TheIronGolem]

Q168: The wording of the Wild Empathy trait (from Fey Transformation) differs a little from the class-based version that Druids and Shifters get. It seems to imply that it uses an actual Diplomacy check, rather than a [level+CHA] check that functions like Diplomacy which is how Wild Empathy normally works. Is this correct/intentional? Does this trait interact with the "standard" Wild Empathy if the character has both?