[PF]Buffing the Party

[Vanvidum]

My wizard just gained a level (now level 5), and with that comes a new spell level.

I've already decided that I'm going for haste and heroism as 3rd level spells--Fly is nice, but the party is about to go underground into a mine. Haste seems a more practical option for now.

I do however have the option to add one more spell to my wizard's spellbook of 2nd level or lower, and that's left me with a dilemma. Would Bull's Strength or Enlarge Person be a better buff for the party's front-line fighters?

At the moment, our primary fighter is actually a dual-wielding ranger, with the other being our cleric. That leaves us with my wizard, a rogue/alchemist and single-classed rogue as backup.

I like the idea of Enlarge Person on our ranger, as it potentially means he's making 2-3 attacks per round with haste that hit for large weapon damage. On the other hand, Bull's Strength doesn't reduce AC or dexterity, and might be more generally useful. Talking this over with the party, they were equally indecisive about it, which brings me here.

As for why all the buffs--My wizard is an enchanter who prohibited evocation and necromancy. Crowd control, non-combat utility spells, and such are all useful, but having buffs to give ensures I can help the party even if we're facing mindless undead or similar.

[Corlindale]

My vote would go to Enlarge Person out of those two, though there might be better options overall.

The problem with Bull's Strength is that it will become increasingly redundant because it doesn't stack with belts of strength (which your melee-types will be very likely to acquire very soon if you're 5th level now) - and as soon as they have even a +2 belt it will halve the effectiveness of Bull's Strength, making it a waste to cast in most cases.

Even with the drawbacks Enlarge Person remains a solid buff - not just because of weapon size, but particularly because of the reach it grants. Its casting time can be a drawback, though, but often you'll be able to have it up before battle, so you can spend your combat actions on battlefield control and party-wide buffs.

[Larpus]

Indeed, out of the two, Enlarge Person is a more useful buff in the long run, but it sort of requires your group to scout ahead and prepare for battles before they happen.

There is a problem, however, due to space, you mentioned you were dungeoning, that doesn't always go well with large creatures.

Another possibility for a spell choice is Bear's Endurance, while it does fall into the same basic problems of Bull's Strength, people tend to only get +Con items considerably later, so it'll be useful in the buff sense for longer, but while the buff itself is nice to have, most people can do without it.

[Slipperychicken]

Do you already have Web? That one's good for controlling mobs so your fighters only have to deal with one or two at a time, especially indoors. And almost nothing is really immune to it.

[Vanvidum]

Do you already have Web? That one's good for controlling mobs so your fighters only have to deal with one or two at a time, especially indoors. And almost nothing is really immune to it.

I'm ashamed to say that spell entirely slipped my mind.

Weighing Web against Enlarge Person, I think Web would be more useful. Our party loves crossbows and can be awfully squishy, so reducing the number of opponents to face at once is too valuable to ignore.

Now I'm wondering if there's anything else I'm missing.:smallannoyed:

[Slipperychicken]

I'm ashamed to say that spell entirely slipped my mind.

Weighing Web against Enlarge Person, I think Web would be more useful. Our party loves crossbows and can be awfully squishy, so reducing the number of opponents to face at once is too valuable to ignore.

Now I'm wondering if there's anything else I'm missing.:smallannoyed:

Having checked it out, it did get a nerf from 3.5 to Pathfinder. Look at Treantmonk's Guide (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-creations/treatmonks-lab/test) for his spell recommendations.

[Obahai]

If the cleric is rocking divine power/divine favor/righteous might, then casting web, grease, or even stinking cloud works.

Glitterdust and telekinesis with a little fore thought and metabuse can are also really useful too.

More importantly if you have access to Complete Arcane try and grab a few of the Warmage's orb spells.

[Vanvidum]

If the cleric is rocking divine power/divine favor/righteous might, then casting web, grease, or even stinking cloud works.

I do like using grease--if nothing else, making the mid-level caster that's resisted or avoided almost everything else the party tried fall flat on his face is extremely cathartic.

In the most recent encounters though, our cleric has been busy keeping us and NPCs alive more than dealing damage, but has nevertheless been very effective at that as well. It helps that our cleric is an Ifrit with fire spells and fire resistance.

The biggest problem my wizard has is that he just doesn't have enough spells in his spellbook, unfortunately. It's not an easy problem to solve given that our party is escorting a caravan in the wilderness, with the only other casters being divine ones. It's a matter of muddling through until the party gets back to a city.

[Slipperychicken]

The biggest problem my wizard has is that he just doesn't have enough spells in his spellbook, unfortunately. It's not an easy problem to solve given that our party is escorting a caravan in the wilderness, with the only other casters being divine ones. It's a matter of muddling through until the party gets back to a city.

Most DMs don't do this, but if you kill any Wizards, check his body to see if there's a spellbook. You can learn spells from those, you know. Same goes if you bump into any friendly Wizards you'll be spending 24+ hours with -just trade some spells with them, I'm sure they'll appreciate it.

[Vanvidum]

Most DMs don't do this, but if you kill any Wizards, check his body to see if there's a spellbook. You can learn spells from those, you know. Same goes if you bump into any friendly Wizards you'll be spending 24+ hours with -just trade some spells with them, I'm sure they'll appreciate it.

That's a good reminder. The enemy casters we've faced thus far don't seem to have been wizards, but when and if we kill or even just disable them, I'll make a point to check. My wizard will be the one checking them over for magic items anyway, and if they are wizards we obviously aren't going to leave them access to a spellbook if they're taken alive.

One useful thing about our party's composition is that by having an alchemist among us, we can store spells in potion form that anyone can use. In the campaign so far, our characters haven't had the time to make full use of that potential, but it'll save on the actions of our casters if we can distribute potions beforehand for buffs and healing.

Any particular spells that ought to be reserved for caster-use-only, or ones that are better as potions?