Spheres of Power Ask Me Anything #2

[Ssalarn]

Q. How would planeswalking/gate spells work in spheres?
I'd assume that Warp would be the sphere, but the talents are nowhere near powerful enough.
My only solution is to just outright take the spells in question and convert them to rituals. The problem is the vastly increased casting time.

Flawless Teleport, Planeshift, and True Teleport are Advanced Magic talents for the warp sphere that cover pretty much all the planeswalking type stuff. Summoning and Diagram are advanced talents for the Conjuration sphere that cover the gate-type mechanics. All of those are located in the Advanced Magic section of the core book.

[Klara Meison]

Q 31: could you post a couple of sheets of casters made using SoP, that fill generic party roles? E.g. control wizard, healer cleric, mind controlling wizard, blaster caster? I'd like to compare what is possible to achieve using SoP to what is generally seen as normal for Vancian magic.

[Mehangel]

Q30. How would planeswalking/gate spells work in spheres?
I'd assume that Warp would be the sphere, but the talents are nowhere near powerful enough.
My only solution is to just outright take the spells in question and convert them to rituals. The problem is the vastly increased casting time.

A30 Planeswalking can be done with the Planeshift advanced talent, or by using rituals as you have pointed out. Depending upon how you are intending to use the 'Gate spell', you may possibly combine the Portal advanced talent with the aforementioned Planeshift advanced talent, or you may use the Diagram + Summoning advanced talents; or you could use a Ritual, Incantation, etc.

[masterjoda99]

Q 32 How viable is it to be extremely focused in a single sphere (for example, Telekinesis) that isn't Destruction? Would a character be shooting themselves in the foot?

Q 33 Which of the base classes would be your recommendation for a Telekinesis focused character, Incanter, Symbiat (with archetype), something else?

[inuyasha]

Q 34 Is it possible to have magic items with metamagic feats built into their effects?

[AmberVael]

Q 32 How viable is it to be extremely focused in a single sphere (for example, Telekinesis) that isn't Destruction? Would a character be shooting themselves in the foot?

Q 33 Which of the base classes would be your recommendation for a Telekinesis focused character, Incanter, Symbiat (with archetype), something else?

A 32

Some spheres are going to be better at this than others, but a lot of spheres can support this sort of mono-focus. I tried to give Telekinesis a fair amount to do, and I think you can build a reasonable character solely focused on telekinesis. You'll likely end up less versatile and more specialized, obviously, but if that's a tradeoff you're willing to make, you can do it. I'd definitely say Telekinesis can do as well as Destruction, and so can a lot of other spheres.


A 33

A lot of classes can do Telekinesis well, it really depends on what your preferred style of play is. I find Incanter is great for battlefield control, using its high number of talents and good CL to litter the battlefield with weaponry that all takes AoOs at anyone nearby. They can also play around with the gravity themed talents in the Telekinetic's Handbook, and are good for just directly picking up massive objects (due to CL again) or enemies (since their abilities will tend to have high DCs). The electrokinetic elementalist is great if you want to be Magneto and focus on offense, while the soaring blade armorist can create a floating arsenal and is probably the best at just being the weapon wielding telekinetic with their full BAB and the Steel Sentries feature. Or you could play a hekatonkheires symbiat and have telekinetic limbs.

[Ualaa]

A 31

20-point buy, standard wealth by level.
I took the archetype (Sphere Cleric), from Spheres of Power (Expanded Options).

(Sphere) Cleric, Level 6.
Human sphere cleric of Sarenrae 6
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +3
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Defense
--------------------
AC 23, touch 12, flat-footed 21 (+6 armor, +1 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 natural, +4 shield)
hp 44 (6d8+11)
Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +10
Weaknesses beast soul, focus casting, magical signs, prepared caster, somatic casting, verbal casting
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee touch destructive blast +5 (3d6)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 5/day (DC 15, 3d6)
Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; concentration +9)
. . 6/day—rebuke death (1d4+3), resistant touch (+2)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 10, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 17, Cha 14
Base Atk +4; CMB +4; CMD 16
Feats Cantrips, Dodge, Extra Magic Talent, Extra Spell Points, Shield Focus
Traits life of toil, practiced aim
Skills Diplomacy +10, Heal +10, Knowledge (planes) +5, Knowledge (religion) +5, Sense Motive +10, Spellcraft +5
Languages Common
SQ barrier (ward), casting, cure, deflection (aegis), destructive blast, domain talents (life sphere, protection sphere), easy focus, elemental transformation, extended range, greater healing, greater restore, healer's blessing, invigorate, life talents (greater healing, greater healing, ranged healing), magic skill bonus, magic skill defense, mass healing, ranged healing, restore, restore health, shapeshifting
Combat Gear potion of neutralize poison, potion of remove blindness/deafness, potion of remove curse, Sphere Staff (Life); Other Gear +2 mithral shirt, +1 mithral heavy steel shield, amulet of natural armor +1, handy haversack, ioun torch ioun stone[APG], bandolier[UE], bedroll, belt pouch, candle (10), flint and steel, masterwork backpack[APG], mess kit[UE], pot, soap, trail rations (15), waterskin, wooden holy symbol of Sarenrae, 49 pp, 1 gp, 6 sp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Alteration: Elemental Transformation You can give your shapeshift target the elemental form
Alteration: Shapeshifting (2 traits) You can bestow the Blank Form
Beast Soul You cannot bestow the Blank Form
Cantrips You can create a variety of small magical effects
Casting (CL 6, Wisdom, DC 13) You can cast sphere effects.
Cleric Channel Positive Energy 3d6 (5/day, DC 15) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Destruction: Destructive Blast 3d6 Ranged or melee touch attack deals 3d6 damage
Destruction: Extended Range Increase the range of your destructive blast
Easy Focus Maintaining a sphere effect takes a move action instead of a standard action
Focus Casting (DC 23) You must make a concentration check to use magic without your focus item
Healer's Blessing (Su) Your cure spells are empowered for free.
Life: Cure 2d8+21 Heal a target for 2d8+21 hit points
Life: Greater Healing (2) Your cure heals 1 additional HP per caster level
Life: Greater Restore Restore heals ability damage and removes some conditions that it would otherwise lessen
Life: Invigorate (Up to 7 temp HP) Grant up to 7 temporary HP to an injured target
Life: Mass Healing Your cure can affect multiple targets
Life: Ranged Healing Your cure, invigorate, and restore abilities have a range of Close rather than Touch.
Life: Restore Heal a target's ability damage and remove negative conditions
Life: Restore Health Cure heals +1d8 HP, and restore can remove poison or disease
Magical Signs Your use of magic is obvious to all observers
MSB +6 Use for counterspelling, concentration, caster level checks, and beating SR
MSD 17 Use when defending against an MSB check
Prepared Caster You must assign your spell points to spheres prior to using them
Protection: Barrier You can create a ward that absorbs damage
Protection: Deflection +2 You can put an aegis on a creature to grant it a deflection bonus to AC
Rebuke Death (6/day) (Sp) As a standard action, touch heals 1d4+3 dam to negative HP target.
Resistant Touch +2 (6/day) (Sp) As a standard action, touch ally to grant Protection domain's resist bon for 1 min, but lose own bonus.
Somatic Casting You must have at least 1 hand free to use magic, and may be susceptible to ASF
Sphere Cleric Domain (Healing) Granted Powers: Your touch staves off pain and death, and your healing magic is particularly vital and potent.
Sphere Cleric Domain (Protection) Granted Powers: Your faith is your greatest source of protection, and you can use that faith to defend others. In addition, you receive a +1 resistance bonus on saving throws. This bonus increases by 1 for every 5 levels you possess.
Verbal Casting You must be able to speak aloud to use magic, and may be susceptible to ASF

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11 spell points allocated to heals.
1 SP = Single target, in Close Range (40 ft., at level 6) for 2d8+21.
2 SP = Up to 4 targets, all within Close Range (40 ft. burst) for 2d8+21.

Unlimited (range.touch) Medium Range 'ray attacks' dealing Bludgeoning Damage.
+5 to hit, for 3d6

Can grant Elemental Form (Fire, Water, Air, Earth) as a Standard action, and maintain it via Concentration (move action); so can grant flight, swimming, movement through Earth, or do the same themself.

[Ualaa]

A 31


20-point buy, standard wealth by level.
I took two levels in Elementalist, and would continue with Incanter thereafter.

As an Incanter, I can choose my casting stat, so am using WIS although I'm filling the 'Blaster' role.



Blaster, Level 4
Male dwarf elementalist 2/incanter 2
LG Medium humanoid (dwarf)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +12 (+14 to notice unusual stonework)
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Defense
--------------------
AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 27 (4 HD; 2d6+2d8+6)
Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +11; +2 vs. poison, spells, and spell-like abilities, +1 trait bonus vs. spells, spell-like abilities, and poison
Defensive Abilities defensive training, evasion
Weaknesses aligned combatant, magical signs, somatic casting, verbal casting
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 20 ft., movement burst (ft.) 25 ft.
Melee dagger +2 (1d4/19-20) or
. . touch destructive blast +2 (2d6+1)
Special Attacks hatred
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 21, Cha 6
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 15 (19 vs. bull rush, 19 vs. trip)
Feats Cantrips, Orb Expert, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Traits glory of old, reactionary
Skills Acrobatics +3 (-1 to jump), Appraise +1 (+3 to assess nonmagical metals or gemstones), Knowledge (arcana) +8, Perception +12 (+14 to notice unusual stonework), Spellcraft +8, Survival +10, Swim +5; Racial Modifiers +2 Appraise to assess nonmagical metals or gemstones, +2 Perception to notice unusual stonework
Languages Common, Dwarven, Goblin
SQ casting, crystal blast (blast type), destructive blast, drowning blast (blast type), energy wall (blast shape), explosive orb (blast shape), extended range, force blast (blast type), intense magic, magic skill bonus, magic skill defense, specialization (sphere specialization [destruction]), stone blast (blast type), teleport, weave energy
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds (4); Other Gear mithral shirt, dagger, cracked dusty rose prism ioun stone, headband of inspired wisdom +2, bandolier[UE], belt pouch, blanket[APG], everburning torch, flint and steel, ink, inkpen, masterwork backpack[APG], mess kit[UE], pot, silk rope (50 ft.), soap, trail rations (4), waterskin, 1 pp, 3 gp, 7 sp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Aligned Combatant (Good) Your destructive blast deals full damage only to creatures of your opposed alignment
Cantrips You can create a variety of small magical effects
Casting (CL 3, Wisdom, DC 15) You can cast sphere effects.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Defensive Training +4 Gain a dodge bonus to AC vs. monsters of the Giant subtype.
Destruction: Crystal Blast Destructive Blast deals piercing damage (d4's) and can entangle target
Destruction: Destructive Blast 2d6+1 Ranged or melee touch attack deals 2d6+1 damage
Destruction: Drowning Blast (Bull Rush +9) Destructive Blast deals bludgeoning damage and can nauseate target
Destruction: Energy Wall Create a wall of energy that damages creatures passing through it
Destruction: Explosive Orb (Radius 15 ft.) Deal destructive blast damage in a radius
Destruction: Extended Range Increase the range of your destructive blast
Destruction: Force Blast Your destructive blast deals force damage and can knock targets prone
Destruction: Stone Blast Your destructive blast deals slashing/piercing/bludgeoning damage and ignores anti-magic defenses
Evasion (Ex) If succeed on Reflex save for half dam, take none instead.
Greed +2 to Appraise to determine price of nonmagic goods with precious metals or gemstones.
Hatred +1 Gain a racial bonus to attacks vs. Goblinoids/Orcs.
Intense Magic +1 (Su) Deal more damage with your destructive blast
Magical Signs Your use of magic is obvious to all observers
Movement burst (25 feet, ft., 8/day) (Sp) Project a burst of energy to move as a swift action
MSB +4 Use for counterspelling, concentration, caster level checks, and beating SR
MSD 15 Use when defending against an MSB check
Orb Expert Increase CL by 2 for Explosive Orb range, radius, and DC
Point-Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into melee.
Somatic Casting You must have at least 1 hand free to use magic, and may be susceptible to ASF
Sphere Specialization (Destruction) Intense Magic, Movement Burst, Elemental Wall
Stonecunning +2 +2 bonus to Perception vs. unusual stonework. Free check within 10 feet.
Verbal Casting You must be able to speak aloud to use magic, and may be susceptible to ASF
Warp: Teleport You can teleport yourself as a standard action
Weave Energy Gain Destruction as a bonus sphere, and use your class level as caster level with Destruction

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Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Inc.®, and are used under license.


I cast in Light armor, without Arcane spell failure.
And have Evasion.



Point-Blank Shot & Precise Shot, for firing into a melee.

The option of a (medium range) Range Touch attack.
- Unlimited +5 to hit, for 2d6+1 blasts.
- For a spell point, 4d6+1 blasts.

Or a Wall (20 ft. long per caster level), for a spell point.
Inflicts the 2d6+1 for passing through.

Or an Orb (15 ft. radius), for a spell point 3d6+1, Ref DC 18 (half).
- Can do a 5 ft. radius Orb, without spending spell points.



The default damage is Bludgeoning.

Can change the damage to Crystal, which reduces the dice to d4s but force a Ref save (DC 17) or become Entangled.
If cast as an Orb (AoE) the crystal area is difficult terrain, and lasts for 1 minute.

Can change the damage to 'Stone Blast', which counts as Piercing/Bludgeoning/Slashing, ignores Spell Resistance, Spell Turning, Globes of Invulnerability, Anti-Magic Field/Circle, but does not count as Magical for targets that gain a bonus to saves vs magic.

Can change the damage to 'Force', which strikes Incorporeal targets for full damage, and targets must save vs Reflex (DC 17 base, DC 18 as an Orb) or fall prone.

Can change the damage to a 'Drowning Blast' which can Bull Rush (+9) and forces a Fortitude Save or the target is nauseated for a round.

[Ualaa]

(Spheres is rather flexible... I'm sure others would build different casters, even to fill the same role)

A 31.

Level 9, a 'Control Wizard' type.
20-point buy, standard wealth by level.

This one would focus primarily on placing Darkness over the combat area.
Dark-vision doesn't work within her darkness area, and effects such as Blindsight/Blindsense are at half range.
Her party, via Clearsight (1 spell point per person, for a 9 hour duration) can see just fine.

She can also do Orbs (20 ft. radius) or Walls (180 ft. long), and apply Crystal Shards as her damage type for the chance to Ensnare (Ref, DC 21 or DC 22 with Orbs)... the Crystals last 10 rounds and create an area of Difficult Terrain.

She can assume an Elemental Form, as a Standard Action and maintain it through concentration (as a Move Action); so if they cannot fly, she can be an orbital battlestation... unlimited Destruction ray attacks, even if that is not the focus of the build.
Elemental Form can be placed on others, to grant Fly, Swim or Earthglide.
She can grant Darkvision as a secondary effect on the form.
For a spell point, this can be given a duration rather than concentration.

Foreshadow was taken from Divination, primarily for the Initiative boost; she wants to go first or at least early.

She can secondary heal, in a pinch for d8+18.

Time sphere opens up the equivalent of Haste, and this is improved to 6 targets and the normal Vancian effects of Haste.
Slow, as a debuff is gained optionally.

Warp sphere grants the equivalent of Teleport.
However, with Ranged Teleport (close burst 45 ft.) and Group Teleport (up to 4 extra targets), this could function as a party evacuate or simply battlefield rearrangement... rearrange where most of the party is now standing.



Control Type, Level 9
Female elf incanter 9
CG Medium humanoid (elf)
Init +16; Senses low-light vision; Perception +5
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 19, touch 15, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +3 Dex, +2 dodge)
hp 74 (9d6+36)
Fort +8, Ref +12, Will +9; +2 vs. enchantments
Immune sleep
Weaknesses beast soul, energy focus, limited divination, limited restoration, magical signs, somatic casting, somatic casting, verbal casting
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee touch destructive blast +3 (5d6)
Incanter Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +7)
. . 10/day—diviner's fortune (+4)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 9, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 24, Wis 10, Cha 7
Base Atk +4; CMB +3; CMD 18
Feats Cantrips, Dodge, Extra Magic Talent, Extra Magic Talent, Improved Initiative, Orb Expert, Spell Penetration, Toughness
Traits muscle of the society, warrior of old
Skills Appraise +19, Fly +10, Knowledge (arcana) +19, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +19, Knowledge (nature) +19, Knowledge (planes) +19, Knowledge (religion) +19, Perception +5, Spellcraft +19 (+21 to identify magic item properties), Survival +5, Swim +5; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, +2 Spellcraft to identify magic item properties
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Elven, Goblin, Infernal, Orc, Sylvan
SQ casting, clearsight (meld), crystal blast (blast type), cure, darkness, destructive blast, distant teleport, easy focus, elemental transformation, elven magic, energy wall (blast shape), explosive orb (blast shape), extended range, foreshadow (sense), foretell, forewarned, greater healing, group teleport, group time, haste (time), improved haste, invigorate, magic skill bonus, magic skill defense, pure darkness (darkness), ranged teleport, read magic (sense), shapeshifting, slow (time), specialization (sphere specialization [divination]), teleport, true teleport, unseeing teleport
Combat Gear Sphere Staff (Time); Other Gear bracers of armor +4, cloak of resistance +3, cracked dusty rose prism ioun stone, handy haversack, headband of vast intelligence +4, ioun torch ioun stone[APG], 42 pp, 5 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Alteration: Elemental Transformation You can give your shapeshift target the elemental form
Alteration: Shapeshifting (2 traits) You can bestow the Blank Form
Beast Soul You cannot bestow the Blank Form
Cantrips You can create a variety of small magical effects
Casting (CL 9, Intelligence, DC 17) You can cast sphere effects.
Dark: Clearsight Target gains immunity to the negative effects of your darkness
Dark: Darkness You can create an area of darkness
Dark: Pure Darkness Your darkness suppresses senses
Destruction: Crystal Blast Destructive Blast deals piercing damage (d4's) and can entangle target
Destruction: Destructive Blast 5d6 Ranged or melee touch attack deals 5d6 damage
Destruction: Energy Wall Create a wall of energy that damages creatures passing through it
Destruction: Explosive Orb (Radius 20 ft.) Deal destructive blast damage in a radius
Destruction: Extended Range Increase the range of your destructive blast
Divination: Foreshadow +2/+3 You gain a danger sense that grants bonuses to AC and Ref saves
Diviner's Fortune +4 (10/day) (Sp) As a standard action, touch grants ally +4 insight bonus to many checks for 1 round.
Easy Focus Maintaining a sphere effect takes a move action instead of a standard action
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Elven Magic +2 to spellcraft checks to determine the properties of a magic item.
Energy Focus (Crystal) You may only make a destructive blast of a single energy type
Foretell +2/-2 (9 rounds/day) (Su) Grant luck bonuses to allies, or penalties to enemies
Forewarned +4 (Su) Can always act in surprise rounds.
Life: Cure 1d8+18 Heal a target for 1d8+18 hit points
Life: Greater Healing Your cure heals 1 additional HP per caster level
Life: Invigorate (Up to 9 temp HP) Grant up to 9 temporary HP to an injured target
Limited Divination (Divine banned) You lose access to either sense or divine
Limited Restoration (Restore banned) You lose access to either restore or cure/invigorate
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Magical Signs Your use of magic is obvious to all observers
MSB +9 Use for counterspelling, concentration, caster level checks, and beating SR
MSD 20 Use when defending against an MSB check
Orb Expert Increase CL by 2 for Explosive Orb range, radius, and DC
Read Magic (sense) You can read and decipher magical writing
Somatic Casting You must have at least 1 hand free to use magic, and may be susceptible to ASF
Somatic Casting You must have at least 1 hand free to use magic, and may be susceptible to ASF
Sphere Specialization (Divination) Forewarned, Diviner's Fortune, Foretell
Time: Group Time (6 extra targets) Affect more targets with your alter time abilities
Time: Haste Target can make an extra attack during a full attack
Time: Improved Haste Your Haste ability becomes more powerful
Time: Slow Target becomes staggered
Verbal Casting You must be able to speak aloud to use magic, and may be susceptible to ASF
Warp: Distant Teleport Teleport at longer range
Warp: Group Teleport (4 extra targets) Teleport multiple creatures
Warp: Ranged Teleport Teleport other targets within Close range
Warp: Teleport You can teleport yourself as a standard action
Warp: True Teleport You can teleport incredible distances
Warp: Unseeing Teleport Teleport without line of sight

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Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Inc.®, and are used under license.

[legomaster00156]

Q 32 How viable is it to be extremely focused in a single sphere (for example, Telekinesis) that isn't Destruction? Would a character be shooting themselves in the foot?

Q 33 Which of the base classes would be your recommendation for a Telekinesis focused character, Incanter, Symbiat (with archetype), something else?

Oh, boy, Telekinesis! I happen to be playing a mono-Telekinesis character right now!

A32. Telekinesis is a perfectly viable mono-focus, especially with the awesome talents in the Telekinetic's Handbook. Know that high Will saves will be your bane, but even against such foes, you have a couple options. Greater Speed + Flight is an absolute necessity, as it gives you or anyone you wish flight of increasing speeds. Dancing Weapon is a nice talent for a weapon-focused build. I'm a fan of Telekinetic Crush as a way to deal a bit of damage while crowd controlling, but it's not exactly significant.
Even so, I would suggest spending at least one of your talents opening up Destruction, because everyone benefits from being able to deal CL*1d6 damage, and as a telekinetic, you probably won't be consuming a lot of spell points anyway.

A33. It might just be bias because it's what I'm playing, but the Symbiat (Telekinetic Warrior) is my recommendation for a telekinetic focus character.

[TheMadPhoenix]

Q 35 This may have been asked and answered somewhere before but... Is there a reason that the combat tradition for the hedgewitch gets class skills that are already class skills for the hedgewitch class itself? If it were me I would swap stealth for intimidate on the Combat tradition class skills and then swap swim and climb on the hedgewitch with heal and survival.

Q 36 This is more of a comment. What are your thoughts on adding an Orison feat similar to the cantrip feat but more in line with the orisons that divine casters get?

Q 37 Thoughts on creating drawbacks for more divine type casters such as the ability to heal others but not yourself. Basically take every drawback and make it so that instead of only affecting the caster it can't affect the caster and can only affect others.

[A.J.Gibson]

Q 35 This may have been asked and answered somewhere before but... Is there a reason that the combat tradition for the hedgewitch gets class skills that are already class skills for the hedgewitch class itself? If it were me I would swap stealth for intimidate on the Combat tradition class skills and then swap swim and climb on the hedgewitch with heal and survival.

Q 36 This is more of a comment. What are your thoughts on adding an Orison feat similar to the cantrip feat but more in line with the orisons that divine casters get?

Q 37 Thoughts on creating drawbacks for more divine type casters such as the ability to heal others but not yourself. Basically take every drawback and make it so that instead of only affecting the caster it can't affect the caster and can only affect others.

A 35 Climb, Swim, and Intimidate are not class skills for the hedgewitch

A 36 Cantrips are tradition (arcane/divine) dependent, they do all the little things spell casters can do, so Cantrip has orisons covered already.

A 37 The Life handbook will have drawbacks related to healing. A 'heal others only' drawback was considered, but I don't think it will go in, as it really isn't balanced for a drawback. There will be, however, a 'heal others by taking their damage' option.

[khadgar567]

C 37 is there heal your self by taking others hp option?

[A.J.Gibson]

C 37 is there heal your self by taking others hp option?

C 37 Currently yes, but it requires that you have Death sphere as well, since you are literally 'taking life'.

[TheMadPhoenix]

A 35 Climb, Swim, and Intimidate are not class skills for the hedgewitch

A 36 Cantrips are tradition (arcane/divine) dependent, they do all the little things spell casters can do, so Cantrip has orisons covered already.

A 37 The Life handbook will have drawbacks related to healing. A 'heal others only' drawback was considered, but I don't think it will go in, as it really isn't balanced for a drawback. There will be, however, a 'heal others by taking their damage' option.

You are correct. I was looking at Hero Lab rather than the book. And according to the book Heal is a class skill for the Hedgewitch already. I will submit that to the SoP Hero Lab creator. Thanks for pointing that outl


As for Cantrips, your definition is correct in D&D but in Pathfinder they actually split Cantrips out for the Arcane tradition and Orisons for the Divine. And there are vastly different abilities for each.

[Ualaa]

Q 38 Short of the Light Sphere, what are some counters to Darkness?

Specifically, I'm running 'Rise of the Drow' (AAW Games), and one of my players has made a replacement character who is focused on the Dark Sphere. The Drow are a highly magical race, but their thing is Darkness and not Light...

The player in question has 'Clearsight' on each of the party members (1 SP each, for an hour per character), and is using Darkness with Pure Darkness (Standard Action, duration concentration... not spending the spell point for a duration without concentration, so he can move/place the darkness as required).

Pure Darkness notes that Darkvision still extends 5 ft., so the Drow could just advance into the darkness slowly, until adjacent and then attack without issue.

I don't want to just invalidate a build, but the Drow thing is darkness...



Q 39 Clearsight says that the target gains immunity to all negative effects of your darkness talents for 1 hour per caster level. Does that mean that if two casters both do darkness, via the Dark sphere, Clearsight is essentially useless since you cannot see in their darkness, only your own?

[Lirya]

A 39: This is correct.

A 38: I imagine most Drow would do as suggested in Q 39 and counter darkness with their own darkness, so that both parties are on equal terms. They would also be used to fighting in darkness as such have feats like Blind-Fight or perhaps the Blindfolded Oracle (sense) Divination Talent to gain Blindsense/Blindsight (it is better than nothing even with halved range). As most mages, picking up Counterspell (dispel magic) at 5th level and Counterspell Mastery (to counterspell others as an Immediate Action) at 7th level is very tempting to have a fair chance of shutting down inconvenient spells.

[khadgar567]

Q40 is there a way to hijack some one elses spell from them?

[A.J.Gibson]

Q40 is there a way to hijack some one elses spell from them?

There is something like that in the Enhancement book. The Protection book may end up having something like that as well.

[inuyasha]

Q41 In addition to the other questions I'd asked a while ago, I've got one more about the magic item system. If I was to make a wondrous item item based on the extradimensional storage talent, would the uses per day indicate times per day that I can draw from it or place things in? If so, how would I make it so that I could have a continuous, at will, extradimensional storage.

[Beez]

I've been slowly working through the questions threads, but I'm in a couple games currently and these questions are coming up, so I apologize if there are repeats. Google didn't show anything, at least.

Q42: If a Life caster has the Fount of Life talent, can they heal themselves with the stored healing after they fall unconscious, like as an automatic bodily function? How about if they have the talent that brings people back from the dead as well, could the Fount of Life healing kick in after they've technically died?

Q43: Staves. The bonus cost for applying an enhancement bonus to another sphere is +1. Is that enhancement bonus the same bonus as the first sphere, or is it separate? As in, could I have a +10 staff that gives me a +5 bonus to 6 spheres, or is the best I could do a +5 bonus to 2 spheres or some dispersion thereof?

[Mehangel]

Q43: Staves. The bonus cost for applying an enhancement bonus to another sphere is +1. Is that enhancement bonus the same bonus as the first sphere, or is it separate? As in, could I have a +10 staff that gives me a +5 bonus to 6 spheres, or is the best I could do a +5 bonus to 2 spheres or some dispersion thereof?

A43: The best you can have with a staff is one that grants a +5 bonus to two spheres or some dispersion thereof.

[legomaster00156]

Q42: If a Life caster has the Fount of Life talent, can they heal themselves with the stored healing after they fall unconscious, like as an automatic bodily function? How about if they have the talent that brings people back from the dead as well, could the Fount of Life healing kick in after they've technically died?

A42. This would require the Contingency feat, but as a GM, I would allow both of these.

[meemaas]

A43: The best you can have with a staff is one that grants a +5 bonus to two spheres or some dispersion thereof.

Can you quote a source for that? Because everything I've seen has favored the first possibility over the second.

[Mehangel]

Can you quote a source for that? Because everything I've seen has favored the first possibility over the second.

+5/+5 would be the highest (like swords and armor, staves have a max of +10, but only half can be bonus to a single sphere.)

I dont have a link, but I could post screenshots of the Skype conversation.

[meemaas]

If it is what Adam intended, I don't have any reason to argue, but there might be need for some Errata to clarify that, because the wording implies otherwise.

[Lirya]

Wow... After reading the Second Sphere again I can see how it is possible to interpret it both ways but errata is definitely needed to clarify it. Too bad really, since that means high level sphere users with multiple spheres that use caster level need to carry a golfbag (efficient quiver) full of staves as that is way cheaper.

[Kentama]

I haven't done a more complex analysis and crunched the numbers yet, but it seems like SoP rewards multiclassing a lot more than traditional pathfinder. The capstone abilities are certainly good, but they seem more awesome from a flavor perspective than a numbers perspective. Also, many of the classes have amazing level 1's. I'm just looking for other people's perspectives on this assertion for the most part. One specific instance of this that stands out is incanter. Is there anything preventing somebody from taking a level in incanter, picking out a sphere specialization AND a sorcerer bloodline (for the max of 5 specialization points), and then never leveling incanter again to circumvent the lost bonus feats?

I'm working on a character now who's part incanter (warp focus), monk, fey adept, shifter, symbiat, and thaumaturge. It's all still in early design stages but I've never seen such a disparate multiclass build in pathfinder seem so promising

[digiman619]

I haven't done a more complex analysis and crunched the numbers yet, but it seems like SoP rewards multiclassing a lot more than traditional pathfinder. The capstone abilities are certainly good, but they seem more awesome from a flavor perspective than a numbers perspective. Also, many of the classes have amazing level 1's. I'm just looking for other people's perspectives on this assertion for the most part. One specific instance of this that stands out is incanter. Is there anything preventing somebody from taking a level in incanter, picking out a sphere specialization AND a sorcerer bloodline (for the max of 5 specialization points), and then never leveling incanter again to circumvent the lost bonus feats?

I'm working on a character now who's part incanter (warp focus), monk, fey adept, shifter, symbiat, and thaumaturge. It's all still in early design stages but I've never seen such a disparate multiclass build in pathfinder seem so promising

Being multiclass friendly was a design goal as I recall. As for the incanter, you could just take 1 level and nab a school specialization and a bloodline, but both of them scale to your incanter class level, so if you only care about the 1st level bloodline power and the passive and first active abilities from your specialization, you'll be grand. Whether that's worth more than a bonus feat that you could spend on Extra Magic Talent is up to you, however.

[CasualViking]

Q: What do you think of the following Drawbacks?

Wish-granter (lesser): In order to cast, someone else must have audibly expressed a wish, desire or need that your casting will wholly or partially fulfill. Examples: "kill them", "we need cover" or "I'm hungry". Out of combat, anything expressed within the last few minutes is fair game. In combat, only wishes expressed in combat or immediately leading up to are valid. In either case, once you start granting a wish, you can continue to do so, or you can grant wishes expressed after your action, but granting one wish voids all wishes heard before that. This drawback can be circumvented with Silent Spell.

Wish-granter (greater): As the lesser version, but the phrase must be expressed as an order, wish or request; the examples above become "kill them", get us some cover", or "I wish I had some food". Also, the wisher must be mortal (not Outsider, Construct or Undead) and not under the Wish-granter's control, and the drawback can not be circumvented.