TheJudicator
2012-08-29, 04:45 PM
Hello again, Playgrounders. I have with me a number of questions that I could really use your guys' help with, ranging from fluff information about the pathfinder setting to down-and-dirty mechanics queries. Normally, I'd think each should get their own thread for cleanliness of replies, but I do not wish to overload the forum with such a thing. Instead, I'll number them for reference.
TL;DR people: The root questions I ask will be in bold for easy recognition.
I'll begin with the questions for the campaign I am DMing. In my (rather large) party, there is both a cleric and paladin of Saranrae. After clearing the first part of the adventure, they both reported to a temple to give a report of their actions. The cleric is behaving as you'd expect one of Saranrae to be; the paladin, though, is showing some disciplinary issues, which the cleric has been asked to keep an eye out for in the future. The player asked me if clerics in this religion naturally have higher "rank", and therefore authority, to keep paladins in check. I said I'd get back to him, checked some resources, and came up empty handed. So I ask...
1) Should a cleric of Saranrae have the authority to keep an undisciplined paladin of the same faith in check?
Next I turn to the alchemist PC in the same campaign. He's exposing himself to all manner of hazardous materials in the hopes that, one day, he'll get a tumor. Familiar, that is. The player imposed upon me the question of how that works with the feat Improved Familiar, which simply states the "ability to acquire a familiar" as the requirement. How would this work? Would the familiar basically be the same, except made of his flesh, or does this not work? In other words...
2) Does the alchemist's tumor familiar qualify with the Improved Familiar feat, and if so, how would it work?
The rest of the questions are all about one scenario and character, specifically mine in a different campaign. My character is a halfling dragoon fighter, paired with a teammate who is a tengu dragonrider with a gold dragon steed.
Assume that both are level 20, and the dragon is permanently enlarged to colossal for purposes of this exercise.
But before that, I would like a couple things clarified, if you'd please...
3a) When making a mounted charge with a lance, is the strength bonus to damage also multiplied?
3b) In the event of a critical hit on a lance mounted charge, how are the multipliers handled?
3c) How would things like Weapon Training and Power Attack be handled in the above situations?
It seems that this little scenario is full of gray areas as far as rules are concerned, haha. Anyways, here's the idea in a sentence:
Have the dragon sling the halfling into its target, the halfling charging with a lance.
Thus far, the idea is that the halfling would leap from the dragon's back whilst holding onto a chain with a free hand. The dragon, having hold of the other end, would whip the chain around, essential working an improvised sling and launching the halfling (who lets go as a free action) as its attack at the target enemy. As the halfling leapt from the dragon without landing, this seems to work in junction with the Leaping Lance, qualifying this as a mounted charge. So the base question is: 4) Would it be possible to throw a character at a target as an attack with the character launched also making a Leaping Lance charge?. If this is the case, I have some particular factors I could use some help with. If not, then I guess it would be a mute point, eh?
Moving on, if such a strike is possible, the idea of trajectory is in question. While any toss would work, 5a) how much damage would a small (or medium) creature make upon impact?. I am aware that there are rules for dropped objects too, but none for ones thrown straight down. 5b) Would throwing an object straight down change the resultant damage, range, or other factors?. Lastly, I had in mind a few spells that may make things interesting. 5c) Would Iron Body, which multiplies a target's weight by ten, change the impact damage factors?
Needless to say, my halfling is indeed quite insane, and I don't expect her to survive such an event...but hey, the potential awesome factor is too good to pass up. While i have a pretty good idea how to Pump the damage potential, if you have ideas, feel free to give your input!
This is pretty much it for my questions. Thank you in advance for your help, Playgrounders!
TL;DR people: The root questions I ask will be in bold for easy recognition.
I'll begin with the questions for the campaign I am DMing. In my (rather large) party, there is both a cleric and paladin of Saranrae. After clearing the first part of the adventure, they both reported to a temple to give a report of their actions. The cleric is behaving as you'd expect one of Saranrae to be; the paladin, though, is showing some disciplinary issues, which the cleric has been asked to keep an eye out for in the future. The player asked me if clerics in this religion naturally have higher "rank", and therefore authority, to keep paladins in check. I said I'd get back to him, checked some resources, and came up empty handed. So I ask...
1) Should a cleric of Saranrae have the authority to keep an undisciplined paladin of the same faith in check?
Next I turn to the alchemist PC in the same campaign. He's exposing himself to all manner of hazardous materials in the hopes that, one day, he'll get a tumor. Familiar, that is. The player imposed upon me the question of how that works with the feat Improved Familiar, which simply states the "ability to acquire a familiar" as the requirement. How would this work? Would the familiar basically be the same, except made of his flesh, or does this not work? In other words...
2) Does the alchemist's tumor familiar qualify with the Improved Familiar feat, and if so, how would it work?
The rest of the questions are all about one scenario and character, specifically mine in a different campaign. My character is a halfling dragoon fighter, paired with a teammate who is a tengu dragonrider with a gold dragon steed.
Assume that both are level 20, and the dragon is permanently enlarged to colossal for purposes of this exercise.
But before that, I would like a couple things clarified, if you'd please...
3a) When making a mounted charge with a lance, is the strength bonus to damage also multiplied?
3b) In the event of a critical hit on a lance mounted charge, how are the multipliers handled?
3c) How would things like Weapon Training and Power Attack be handled in the above situations?
It seems that this little scenario is full of gray areas as far as rules are concerned, haha. Anyways, here's the idea in a sentence:
Have the dragon sling the halfling into its target, the halfling charging with a lance.
Thus far, the idea is that the halfling would leap from the dragon's back whilst holding onto a chain with a free hand. The dragon, having hold of the other end, would whip the chain around, essential working an improvised sling and launching the halfling (who lets go as a free action) as its attack at the target enemy. As the halfling leapt from the dragon without landing, this seems to work in junction with the Leaping Lance, qualifying this as a mounted charge. So the base question is: 4) Would it be possible to throw a character at a target as an attack with the character launched also making a Leaping Lance charge?. If this is the case, I have some particular factors I could use some help with. If not, then I guess it would be a mute point, eh?
Moving on, if such a strike is possible, the idea of trajectory is in question. While any toss would work, 5a) how much damage would a small (or medium) creature make upon impact?. I am aware that there are rules for dropped objects too, but none for ones thrown straight down. 5b) Would throwing an object straight down change the resultant damage, range, or other factors?. Lastly, I had in mind a few spells that may make things interesting. 5c) Would Iron Body, which multiplies a target's weight by ten, change the impact damage factors?
Needless to say, my halfling is indeed quite insane, and I don't expect her to survive such an event...but hey, the potential awesome factor is too good to pass up. While i have a pretty good idea how to Pump the damage potential, if you have ideas, feel free to give your input!
This is pretty much it for my questions. Thank you in advance for your help, Playgrounders!