Thorny issues

[Saeviomagy]

1. Phantasmal Killer. Nothing specific. It just troubles me.

So we cannot help you. You're merely a troubled individual.

2. Hide Skill. How do you justify hiding when there's nothing to hide behind? In the rulebook, there's nothing to stop you, but it makes no sense to me.

Others have pointed out your solution.

3. Evasion. Can it always be used? A rogue can't be flat footed, and could theoretically therefore evade a fireball in his/her sleep. Don't get it.

The fireball starts going off. The rogue hears the 'fwackoom'/sees the flash of light through his eyelids/is otherwise alerted, and rolls into a ditch/under the bed/behind a rock/whatever. There. Easy.

4. Divine Might. The name suggests strength, but the rules applications led one PC to apply the bonus to his Searing Light spell. I disallowed this at the time, but was I right or wrong?

Do you perhaps mean 'divine favour'? If you're using tome and blood, then any ray spell is a 'weaponlike spell', and gains bonuses to hit and damage as such. The alternate spell you may be referring to is 'righteous might', which doesn't increase the damage done by spells cast by the recipient.

5. the Divine Oracle prestige class. I raised this one before, and people agreed with me. But I still feel mean for not allowing one PC the benefits of this class if he never casts any divinatory magics.

Did he speak with a representative of his god? Then he's in. If he really can't thematically justify the PrC, then chances are he's not going to use any of it's abilities either, and it simply doesn't matter. If he uses abilities of the PrC, then he obviously fits into it.

6. There is no Number 6.

7. This number intentionally left blank.

Of course the conundrum is that there is and it wasn't.

 

[Eccles]

Thanks for the tips so far.

I just remembered the other one.

8. Concentration & combat casting. Two of my players just issued standing orders that they're always taking 10 on concentration rolls for combat casting. At 13th level, this means that they can never, ever, fail. Even if they roll the dice, they can't fail anyway. Strikes me as being too easy.

(Similar to the tumbling DC never changing, but I House Rule'd that already).

 

[AGGEMAM]

8. Concentration & combat casting. Two of my players just issued standing orders that they're always taking 10 on concentration rolls for combat casting.

Well they can't if you read the Taking 10 rules.

Taking 10: When your character is not being threatened or distracted, you may choose to take 10. .... Distractions or threats (such as combat) make it impossible for a character to take 10.

 

[Darklone]

IIRC you can expend your psionic focus to take ten for a concentration check or something similar? If they are no psions, they are out.

 

[Gez]

Hint: In both french and german words ending with an 'e' are generally feminine words.

Generally. However, le foie, la foi. Un lycée, un collysée, un musée... Un squelette!

1. Phantasmal killer is (one of?) the only spell whose description refers to a magic item able to protect the target; and even turn the spell back against its caster. Not only the target gets two saves, but in certain circonstances, the caster may be killed by his own spell!
2. You don't necessarily need to be behind something to hide. You can hide by crouching in a corner, going to a place where people won't look, such as on a beam near the ceiling, etc.
3. As others have said, you can't evade fireballs in your sleep. And neither can you when you're chained on an altar and unable to move. I don't allow helpless characters a Reflex save, and I don't think the rules allow it either, but I'm too lazy to check. In the same way, I won't allow a feebleminded character a Will save, unless the situation specifically calls for it.
4. I know of no divine might.
5. It seems only normal a divine oracle would be a diviner. It's like if someone wanted to take Weapon Focus; Longsword, while having never wielded a longsword in all his life. A feat or a prestige class is not merely a numerical bonus to something, it's a role-play element, and it is supposed to make sense. You're right in barring the class to the diviner that is not a diviner. To be an oracle, one has to be so entranced by divinations that he wants to make it his path, his career choice, his life. You can't say that of someone who never even read a divination spell "because preparing fireball was more useful, and my spellbook only contains evocation spells, but hey, I'm not an evoker, but a diviner. Yeah right."
6. <-- Look, here is a number 6.
7. This space intentionally filled with useless typing.

 

[AGGEMAM]

Generally. However, le foie, la foi. Un lycée, un collysée, un musée... Un squelette!

I intentionally said generally as there exceptions in both languages, more in french than in german though.