Long Term Buff Spells and Donning Armor
One of the figher-mage’s alternative to dealing with the somatic component issue is to cast their buff spells before combat and outside of armor. Spell duration is important here due to the time it takes to put on armor. As pg. 153 of the Pathfinder core rules shows, it takes a while to get in and out of armor. Donning the lightest of armors hastily takes at least 5 rounds (and donning hastily increases the armor check penalty by one and decreases the AC bonus by one.) And with heavy armor, it will take 4 minutes (and help from another character!) to get suited up properly. Thus, for all of a fighter-mage’s career, casting pre-combat buff spells with a duration of 1 round per caster level before donning armor will be a waste. Spells having durations of 1 minute per caster level will likewise be impossible to use in this manner at lower levels and hard to use of at higher levels. Of course, there are some resources (the Extend Spell feat, and the Extend Spell Metamagic Rod) that mitigates short durations, but not every party may have access to them
It is for this purpose that I am collecting all of the longer duration buff and party support spells together. By long duration, I mean 10 minutes per caster level or longer. Now, the list below contains only buff spells or other spells that can directly support or assist the parties. Long term duration spells that affect terrain (e.g.: illusory wall, wall of stone) or set traps (e.g.: the symbol spells) are not included. These are all from the Pathfinder core rulebook.
Long duration buff and other potentially useful pre-combat support spells (Sor/Wiz)
0:
Light (10 minutes/level)
1:
Comprehend Languages (10 minutes/level, useful if your enemy is speaking in a secret or otherwise known language)
Disguise Self (10 minutes/level, useful for preparing ambushes)
Endure Elements (24 hours, only useful for enduring normal environmental heat/cold only)
Floating Disk (1 hr/level, mostly useful as a stretcher)
Mage Armor (1 hr/level, won’t stack with your own armor but may be cast on other party members or allies)
Mount (1 hr/level, mostly useful only if you expect you need rapid transport across the battlefield or you have a mounted combat character in the party)
Unseen Servant (1 hr/level, useful for very simple combat actions like retrieving dropped gear, administering potions to fallen allies, or for reloading crossbows)
2:
Continual Flame (Permanent light source, but requires 50 gp ruby dust)
False Life (1 hr/level)
Protection from Arrows (1 hr/level)
Resist Energy (10 minutes/level)
See Invisibility (10 minutes/level)
Spider Climb (10 minutes/level)
3:
Daylight (10 minutes/level)
Heroism (10 minutes/level)
Keen Edge (10 minutes/level)
Magic Circle Against Chaos/Evil/Good/Law (10 minutes/level)
Magic Weapon, Greater (1 hr/level)
Phantom Steed (1 hr/level, useful for the same reasons as Mount)
Protection from Energy (10 minutes/ level or until discharged)
Tongues (10 minutes/level, useful for communicating with summoned creatures)
Water Breathing (2 hrs/level spread across all the creatures you touch, obviously only useful if you’re going into aquatic environments)
4:
Animate Dead (instantaneous effect that creates weak minions that last until destroyed, note the onyx gem material component of 25 gp/hit dice)
Stoneskin (10 minutes/level or until discharged, note the diamond dust material component costing 250 gp)
5:
Overland Flight (1 hr/level)
Permanency (can make many spells Permanent, but both costs a lot and the Permanent spells can be dispelled)
Seeming (12 hour duration disguise, works on entire party, good for preparing an ambush)
6:
Contingency (1 day/level, prepare one spell on you to be discharged at specified trigger, note expensive focus component of a ivory statue of you that costs 1000 gp)
Heroism, Greater (10 minutes/level)
Veil (concentration + 1 hr/level, works on an area of subjects, useful for a trap or confounding enemies)
7:
Spell Turning (10 minutes/level until expended)
8:
Mind Blank (24 hours)
Moment of Prescience (1 hr/level until discharged)
Polymorph Any Object (duration varies, turn an item or ally into a more favorable form)
Protection from Spells (10 minutes/level, note 500 gp diamond dust material component and 1000 gp diamond focus component)
9:
Foresight (10 minutes/level)
Shapechange (10 minutes/level, note 1,000 gp jade circlet focus)
