Cid Ayrbourne's page

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/magic-weapons#TOC-Conductive

Conductive: A conductive weapon is able to channel the energy of a spell-like or supernatural ability that relies on a melee or ranged touch attack to hit its target (such as from a cleric’s domain granted power, sorcerer’s bloodline power, oracle’s mystery revelation, or wizard’s arcane school power). When the wielder makes a successful attack of the appropriate type, he may choose to expend two uses of his magical ability to channel it through the weapon to the struck opponent, who takes the effects of the weapon attack and the special ability. (If the wielder has unlimited uses of a special ability, he may channel through the weapon every round.) For example, a paladin who strikes an undead opponent with her conductive greatsword can expend two uses of lay on hands ability (a supernatural melee touch attack) to deal greatsword damage and damage from one use of her lay on hands. This weapon property can only be used once per round, and only works with magical abilities of the same type as the weapon (melee or ranged).
Moderate necromancy; CL 8th; Craft Magic Arms and
Armor, spectral hand; Price +1 bonus.

Cid Ayrborn wrote:

would need to A) come within line of sight, or B) defeat My Stealth vs His Perception, in order to overcome my Stealth.

Nope.

It's impossible to use Stealth while attacking, running, or charging.

So unless you are sniping, once you attack someone you're no longer hiding from anyone. You're standing out there in the open, plain as day to anyone that comes around the corner.

That's the key comes around the corner.

If I successfully beat an opposed Stealth vs Perception check on 4 guards, guarding one wall each of a building, and I attack one of them, unless the other three come around the corner and have line of sight on me, I'm still Stealthed so far as they are concerned.

Now the attack itself may trigger a Perception check to hear the attack, and have reason to come around that corner, but if they don't hear it, and don't have reason to come around the corner, then the previous Stealth vs Perception roll still stands for them. I am not 'using Stealth while attacking', because I've already used Stealth, before I attack - and for them, nothing has broken that Stealth, or triggered another check.

And if one (or more) do come around the corner, there's nothing preventing me from using Stealth next round, either through Hide in Plain Sight or a Distraction, so long as I'm not attacking, running, or charging.

An arrow sticking out of someone's but has a dc of 0 to spot. Even the dumbest adventurer is going to think 'sniper' when they see it, NOT "hey guys, watch out for that arrow tree over there"

Absolutely. But, again, you have to have the opportunity to even make the check. It doesn't matter that the DC is 0 to see your friend is shot, if you don't have line of sight on your friend to even see that he's been shot.

If you don't have the opportunity to even have that information (either seeing the action, seeing the results, or being told of it), then you don't get the benefit of a new opposed Stealth vs Perception roll.

Again, think of it like an Illusion. If you've failed your save initially, you have no reason to believe it's an illusion. Until you have new information to work from, you don't get to make a new save.

Ok, here's one of the things about Stealth and 'the first round of combat' I so very often see over looked - and not just in Pathfinder, but in practically every system.

Stealth is an opposed checked. My Stealth vs Your Perception.

But in a group setting, it's My Stealth vs Ya'll's Perception. Each person's perception.

So if I attack one member of the group, unless I am out in the open when I do so (assuming I don't have Hide in Plain Sight, or even simpler, perform a Distraction), and there is a direct line of sight to me from each and every person in the group, I may - and probably do - have Stealth against one or more members of that group, even though I have attacked.

Think of it like an Illusion. No one sees through it, it's still real. One person sees through and tells the others, they are now more likely to see through it - but there's no certainty that they will.

So when I attacked one member of the group, if I'm in line of sight of one or more of the other members, those individuals will see me (and even, then, that's a GM call, as their backs may be turned, etc). And if they call out to the rest, (or I failed to put the first guy down in one round), the others, individually, would need to A) come within line of sight, or B) defeat My Stealth vs His Perception, in order to overcome my Stealth.

The Sniping portion of the skill is in reference to the person I shot, and may or may not apply any others in the group. The person who got shot knows there's someone out there, and someone in the group may have seen him get shot, or have been looking where the shot originated. But until they are informed (or see a dead companion with an arrow through his throat), they do not know someone is in the area.

Galahad2112: Once your invisibile ninja is using Greater Invisibility only 1 of those attacks has sneak attack.

Attack 1 (while invis): Target suffers sneak attack. This breaks invis.
Attack 2 (no longer invis): No sneak attack (unless other reasons are used).
Etc.

Stealth is the same way. You only benefit from the first attack.

- Gauss

Two things wrong with this.

1) Greater Invis doesn't break on attack.

2) If a character is flat-footed against your attacks, he's flat-footed until it's his initiative and has a chance to act.

So, if you're Stealthed, and on your initiative, you make 20 attacks as a full round action. Yes, you're no longer Stealthed with regards to that character (you may still have Stealth against other characters, however), but since it's still your initiative, and he has not had a chance to react, your other 19 attacks are also flat-footed attacks.

Basically, if Wisdom is a dump stat and Perception is not a class skill - AND YOU HAVE OTHER SKILLS OF EQUAL OR GREATER VALUE TO YOUR CHARACTER - then, no, it's not required or even recommended.

That said, you really need to have another skill worth putting the point into (Spellcraft for a caster, for example).

And, if you do not take it, I highly recommend being in the middle of the group, not taking a turn at watch, not going off on your own for any reason, etc...

I built a tanking Synthesist, basic premise was a Gnome with a battlesuit. By taking Master Tinker, I was automatically proficient with any weapon I made, so I would craft my own magical weapons. I took Large Size and extra arms, going with a Shiva-like design, using Armor and Natural Armor to provide my defense (my Touch AC blew chunks).

However, to give myself flexibility of movement and threat, I took the Dimensional Chain of feats, effectively making me Nightcrawler.

Also, while useful for any Summoner, this is practically mandatory for Synthesists, particularly Tanks.

Resilient Eidolon
Your link with your eidolon is strong enough that it can remain with you for a short time after you fall unconscious or are killed.
Prerequisite: Eidolon class feature.
Benefit: If you are knocked unconscious, fall asleep, or are killed, your eidolon remains for a number of rounds equal to your summoner level before it is banished. If you are brought back to consciousness before this duration expires, your eidolon is not banished. If the duration expires before you are brought back to consciousness, your eidolon is banished normally.
Normal: An eidolon is immediately banished when its summoner is unconscious, asleep, or killed.

Sadly, I do not remember the name of the Module, but I believe it was for Forgotten Realms (it's been a long while, as this would either have been late 2E AD&D or 3E), but there is a module out there I had tons of fun with, which the basic premise is this...

The players are goblins, and are trying to prevent Adventurers from looting their horde.

Really great twist on the classic dungeon crawl.

What doe AOE stand for? Granted, I'll allow two jokes before correct answer. Gather information: 1d20 + 0

Area of Effect.

Which is a better (AOE) damage dealer? Mind Chemist or Grenadier?

Just focusing on AOE? Probably the Mind Chemist; the added damage to your bombs from your mutagen wins out.

But I prefer the Grenadier, for the flexibility (combined with Strafe discovery) on how to use my bombs, to hit the most number of targets. Also, I happen to like being able to supplement my bombs with Alchemical Weapon. Particularly fun, when combined with Explosive Missile.

If guns are allowed, I would take two double barrel pistols. Almost all of your bomb feats apply to pistols, and when you're out of bombs, it'll give you a hefty opening salvo from the pistols, (two-weapon fighting - with or without the feat, since it's touch in close - and rapid shot, for a total of 3 shots on the opener) and a shot in the pistol the next round, in case you need to move and shoot.

Downside is, you have to spend your move action reloading. However, you're an Alchemist, so should be making Alchemical Cartridges anyways, and you can pickup Rapid Reload, making it a free action.

In addition, you can make bullets that allow you to do poisons on your shots too. You can also pick up Explosive Missile Discovery allowing you to add your Bombs to your shots as well (and this stacks with poison shots). It's a standard action to do, so it can slow your usage of bombs against a single target, while keeping your damage up - or if you have to shoot and scoot, and still need a bit more damage.

I think, what you're looking for, is called 'Bullet-proof Nudity'. But seeing as this is Pathfinder and not GURPS... :p

That said, you could go skyclad with a monk/kensai combo and have as good (maybe better) armor as a fighter. Their flavor is more eastern than celt, but just change the fluff slightly and it might still work.

Clearly this video shows that Druids do no lose their skills as a Monk while shapeshifted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghgg_fukbvU&feature=fvwrel

Ya that was the link I was using but if you click on the paper cartridge you get this;

Alchemical cartridge, paper wrote:

This simple mix of black powder and either pellets or a bullet increases the misfire value by 1.

Again nothing about reducing the load time. I just found this, is this what people are talking about?

Alchemical Cartridges: An alchemical cartridge is a prepared bundle of black powder with a bullet or pellets, sometimes with more exotic material added, which is then wrapped in paper or cloth and sealed with beeswax, lard, or tallow. There are many types of alchemical cartridges, the simplest being the paper cartridge—a simple mix of black powder and either pellets or a bullet. Alchemical cartridges make loading a firearm easier, reducing the time to load a firearm by one step (a full-round action becomes a standard action, a standard action becomes a move action, and a move action becomes a free action), but they tend to be unstable. The misfire value of a weapon firing an alchemical cartridge increases as listed in each entry. (emphasis mine)

Paper Cartridge: This simple mix of black powder and either pellets or a bullet increases the misfire value by 1.

So using a paper cartridge increases it's misfire value by 1, by dint of it being an alchemical cartridge, it also reduces the reload time.

I hate to say I told you so but...

I enlarge and rapid shot, multi-shot, deadly aim shot, clustered shot the enemy for 2d12 touch damage and paper cartridges!!! LOL!!! I WINZOR PFS!!! ikilld tarrasque in 1 rnd!

Let's examine this a moment.

Enlarge would cause using it more difficult within a confined space due to your, and it's, size - and that is it! Because as soon as the leave the muzzle, it's no longer effected by Enlarge. (Mind you, if there becomes some variant of Gravity Bow, then you can bring this discussion back up).

Multi-shot? I assume you mean Manyshot - which only effects bows (and not even crossbows, let alone firearms), because there is no feat or spell I can find for 'multi-shot'.

Deadly Aim doesn't apply in the first range increment - because it can't be used with Touch Attacks, which all firearms are in the first increment. So, yeah, it's still going to be hard to hit that Tarrasque with Deadly Aim.

Also, keep in mind that the misfire in that scenario is 1-3, which is pretty significant, all things considered.

Garden Tool wrote:

Interesting. What does the author mean by "in my turnover?"

It a small pastry usually filled with fruit. :-P

I believe what he is talking about: "I gave the editors this beautiful work of art, representing my heart and soul, sweat and tears, and they ripped it from my bosom, stomped on it, sliced it up, removed any semblance of what I wrote and printed the final copy."

In other words, he wrote it to give a bonus when firing from prone. Logical if you ever fired a gun from a prone position. Somewhere in the editing process they removed the bonus and any reason for taking the feat.

"You have to leave the editor something to change. Once he pisses on it, he likes the flavor better, and buys it." ~ Robert Heinlein Stranger in a Strange Land

I think that at higher levels, gunslingers have a massive problem with AC since they only get light armor and need to stay close to get the touch attack.

Also, I bet fighters or rangers still do more damage with Manyshot.

Depends on what weapon the Slinger is using. And also, Distance doubles the range increment, meaning he doesn't even need to be all that close. Particularly if the campaign allows for advanced firearms.

Quatar wrote:

gnomersy wrote:

Reloading two weapons when twf is iffy but works as long as you don't rule they have a specific attack order for the off hand aka prim.1->sec.1->prim.2->sec.2 ... and instead he can go prim.1->prim.2->sec.1->sec.2 and has weapon straps. But even without twf they can put out a mean hurting with double pistols.

If he has quickdraw he should be able to holster/draw pistols as a free action too, so he can always holster one of them and reload the other.

It seems extremely silly though that that's possible from a realism standpoint.

Oooh that works too totally didn't think of that probably because for some reason I never take quickdraw.

I'd have to look at the rules for this works in the game, because I think there's already something like this for swords, but during the flintlock era, especially at sea, it was very common to use a weapon lanyard for your pistol.

Either a lanyard around the wrist, or more commonly on a baldric (for example, the baldric for your cutlass) so that you could easily switch weapons, either after firing a shot or if you needed to quickly draw your sword, without losing your pistol. Also, being on the lanyard meant it was quickly recoverable to switch back to in a hurry.

Because the TWF feats don't stack with what they already have, Rkraus2. So, the monk would have to waste three feats (and meet the prerequisites) without being to use those feats, in order to pick up Two-Weapon Defense, Two-Weapon Rend, and the rest of the TWF chain.

Double-slice is a feat taken by nearly all TWF-fighters that allows them to get full STR bonus with bonus hands. Monks, on the other hand (pun intended), DON'T get 1.5xSTR when using a two-handed weapon in a flurry of blows.

First off, a Monk doesn't need Double Slide, because he gets his full strength with Flurry attacks, per Flurry.

A monk applies his full Strength bonus to his damage rolls for all successful attacks made with f lurry of blows, whether the attacks are made with an off-hand or with a weapon wielded in both hands.

And a dual-wielding fighter also doesn't get 1.5 Str, unless wielding a double-weapon. Which monks would receiving 1.5 Str for a double-weapon as well, but their choice is more limited.

As to TWF chain, Flurry specifically says it counts as TWF and Imp TWF, so you would already qualify for those, just not while wield non-monk weapons.

as if using the Two-Weapon Fighting feat (even if the monk does not meet the prerequisites for the feat)

Note the 'even if the monk does not meet the prerequisites for the feat', which is the same verbiage for all free feats, the previous portion of the sentence limiting the weapons for which this free feat can be applied.

Having played a Synth to 12th level, I can tell you that they are potent. However, they do have weaknesses. The ed is effected by dismiss, which means Summon Ed is essential, and hope you can cast more often than it can be dismissed. Despite my best tactics, while my AC was excellent, by Touch AC was lousy - with little defense, besides Blur. The stacked health pool means you can soak damage, but it's difficult to heal back up during combat, because (and this may be just my GM's ruling, but as a GM myself, I have to tend to agree) most heal spells cannot be used on me (inside the ed), so Rejuv is your only heal. And in combat, as a melee character, you're taking yourself out for as long as you need to heal yourself up (and likely taking damage that whole time, too).

And let's face it. While you have some spells you can use as a caster, the arch is built to be a variant melee caster. But you're also a melee character who's fairly feat starved.

It has versatility. It has strengths. But it also has weakness.

Of course, since my character was a Gnome Inventor, wearing a suit of battle armor, these strengths and weakness were uniquely suited to the character.

How do tactile illusions (such as veil or mirage arcana) even function when illusions cannot support weight? What happens if my mirage arcana spell creates a tower, and people try walking up the steps to higher floors? How does a huge glabrezu disguised as a medium humanoid with its veil spell-like ability even enter a human dwelling without completely destroying the medium door frame, or sit in a chair sized for man without crushing it?

Let's examine these sequences from a neutral, outside observer. What one would likely see, is the people 'climbing' the tower, would just be walking around in a circle, as they 'climb the spiral staircase'. Those under the illusion aren't actually getting any higher, but they perceive that they are.

As for the Glabrezu, clearing it would take an effort for it to get through the door, but the magic of the illusion would make it seem a normal action, or disguise the movement altogether. Similarly for the chair; it would appear that he's sitting in the chair, when it's possibly been crushed, or merely being sat next to.

Funny, I usually see responses like yours (Shalafi) and yours (Wraithstrike) when I ask people about this. What I rarely see is an established list for the campaign being played. It's always "core only" or "anything goes".

Well, you would need to set specifics for the campaign world for 'something else'. Typically, I'm an 'anything goes' type for basic dungeon crawl campaigns.

However, for my homebrew, Gnomes are not allowed (because, so far as any non-Dwarf is concerned, Gnomes don't exist), and other races are restricted by starting location. For example, for my current group, they started in the Western Kingdoms (think Europe-esque), only Human, Dwarf, and Hobbit, along with a homebrew race, Lupins, with restrictions on using Goblins, Orcs, and Half-orcs. However, in the Jade Empire, races are restricted to Elves, Humans, and Half-elves, along with another homebrew race, Rakasta.

Other races that might be PC races, either don't exist or would not join the average adventuring party due to cultural differences.

At this time check with your GM or if you are GM make a house call.

The book has several issues with things that may end up being clarified in the errata as time goes on so with luck it'll at least get explained.

I see no reason to disallow the ability this way as the overall damage isn't going up by much.

See, that's just it. I'm a GM who, one of my players was interested in a more bomb oriented Alchemist (which, frankly, I was surprised there isn't one). We were working on a couple of Archetypes, Grenadier and Mad Bomber.

The Grenadier is sort of a Gunslinger/Alchemist, focusing on bombs and guns. This discover seems perfect for this idea, but it seems odd it specifically excludes 2-hand firearms. Especially, with the idea of the rifled grenade from WWII.

I was hoping I would get a bit more feedback and/or input on this.

Professor Fizzlepop Geargrinder (Synthesis Summoner)

Fizzy's a tinkerer and inventor, and he uses a suit of power armor (eidolon) he's invented and on which he's constantly tinkering; changing this, that and the other thing (using evolution points), and even occasionally straps some mechanism or doo-hickie on it on the fly (Evolution Surge). He makes other various tinker-toys and projects (craft construct), but M.E.C.H.A. (Mechanically Enhanced Combat and Heavy-lift Armor) is his one true love.

The current form of M.E.C.H.A. is similar to the Iron Giant, but with a pair massive swords across his back.

Explosive Missile: As a standard action, the alchemist can
infuse a single arrow, crossbow bolt, or one-handed firearm
bullet with the power of his bomb, load the ammunition,
and shoot the ranged weapon. He must be proficient with
the weapon in order to accomplish this. When the infused
ammunition hits its target, it deals damage normally and
detonates as if the alchemist had thrown the bomb at the
target. If the explosive missile misses, it does not detonate.
An alchemist must be at least 4th level before selecting
this discovery.

I understand, and approve, of this particular discovery. Makes me think of the rifled grenades used in World War II, which I always thought was a great idea for it's time.

But it makes me wonder...

Why only one-handed firearms? It certainly can't be for range, since bows and crossbows have a much higher range. And as for damage, the delivery system's damage is fairly negligible compared to the bomb itself, so...

Why not two-handed firearms?

Something is usually "cheese" because someone has used the rules to combine/twist/misinterpret to create an effect that is usually vastly superior to things that it should have equivalency to. This can also happen because a writer doesn't do a good job or a developer fails to anticipate certain consequences. But since the rules as written don't specifically forbid the use people take it as a carte blance for all sorts of abuse and call it optimization (until an author or dev comes along and puts the kibosh on it which, even when everyone agrees an interpretation is borked as hell, sometimes never happens or happens really slowly).

This is an excellent summation of what most people consider 'cheese'. An example of this that's floating around the board right now is the Sohei Archer. Most everyone who posts about it, points out that the Zen Archer restricts the use of Rapid Shot and Manyshot - but the Sohei neglects this restriction on it's use of Flurry.

So while, RAI, Sohei's Flurry should work exactly like the Zen Archer's Flurry, RAW - and the cheesy interpretation that is often quoted - says you can combine Flurry, Ki, Rapid Shot and Manyshot all together.

depending on how the crossbow is loaded, (with a "goats foot" or a belt hook or some other means) it can be loaded while prone. Muskets can't be (powder wont fall down the barrel - it's not down when prone).

Clearly, you have no experience of loading a musket, prone or otherwise. Powder doesn't fall down the barrel, it's rammed home, along with the ball. It's a bit more difficult to load from the prone position, but it's far from impossible, and was done in combat.

<---Civil War, Fur Trade era, and Rev War re-enactor, who's loaded from pron,e a number of different smooth-bore and rifled muskets.

The Prone Shooter feat is a useless feat, because it removes a penalty that doesn't exist. Prone expressly states the penalty is for melee attacks. If crossbows take a penalty for being prone, I want to start being able to use Feint for crossbow attacks.

As a GM, I find 5 to be the ideal number, with no less than 3 players, and no more than 6.

That said, '6 per GM' can work too, as I've help run a campaign of up to 22 players, which was typically broken down into groups of 5 or 6 for most sessions, with mega-sessions every few months, bringing all the groups together for one massive, epic battle. Was also interesting, in that we allowed players to switch between groups between sessions (all the groups play at the same time, in different rooms, so you could try to be in all the groups at once).

... God, I miss messed up, all night, weird-ass college campaigns...

Lawful Neutral, likely. Not evil, as you weren't doing this for yourself. And you can still be lawful and not strictly adhere to legal behavior as long as you have your own morals.

This right here is the key to the dilemma of the whole 'is it lawful' part. Lawful means strictly adhering to a code - be it the civic code, or some other code of honor or justice.

That said, you would have to analyze - closely - the motivations behind the actions, as well as the actions themselves.

If the motivation were to end perceived corruption, then I would be inclined to say the acts are Chaotic Good.

If, however, the motivation were to bring justice to the unjust, then I would be inclined to say the acts are Lawful Neutral.

Frankly, even if you claim both were motivating factors, I would be disinclined to try stretching for Lawful Good.

An argument can be made for Neutral Good, in that an attempt was made to act within the frame work of the law, and the law cast aside when it proved useless. But I would say, that Neutral Good - in this case - could only be argued for the character and not for the act itself. Bringing them to the authorities is a Lawful act; acting as vigilante is Chaotic. Net effect - Neutral characteristics.

Name: Grimm
Race: Tiefling (Div-spawn) Half-Dragon (Red)
Level: Sorcerer (Pit-Touched) 2
Campaign: Homebrew
Alignment: Chaotic Good

Found as an orphan by a nomadic desert tribe, his life was spared by the Seer of the tribe, upon seeing a medallion about the infant's neck. Raised by the Seer, the child proved adept at the written and spoken word, and even showed innate talent in mystical arts. Cautioned against showing his 'gifts' - arcane magic being distrusted by the nomadic tribes, and the child's very nature already making him pariah - the child grew to be trusted, if at an arm's length, by the tribe. He kept his gifts hidden, until very recently, as he has left the tribe, and set out to find his own way - curious to know his origin, and why he finds these dark yearnings and urges tugging at him, that he must battles against constantly.

(This character is in a reboot continuation of a recently ended campaign; which ended in an apocalyptic clash triggered by our previous characters - the consequences of which make this character unusual within, but fit, the setting)

Ok, so I'm late to the game here, because I haven't been using Pathfinder until recently. I'm an old school AD&D 1st & 2nd Ed player/DM who was dragged into 3.0/3.5 some years back, and more recently have been convinced of the virtues of Pathfinder.

There are alot of great ideas given here, some simplistic - which I like both as a player and a DM - and some more complicated, but more realistic. I like realism, as long as it's fairly easy. A 6 second combat round for a character, taking 6 minutes and a calculator for the player isn't usually my idea of fun.

I'd like to present, late to the game as it is, the rules I developed for my homebrew campaign which has had guns since AD&D 2E, and that I adapted to 3.0/3.5. Each of these is a special quality for a weapon, just like trip or double weapon.

Firearm - +2 on rolls to hit

Scatter - +2 on rolls to hit. 5 foot burst, roll attacks against all creatures adjacent to the target. Double all range increment penalties.

Rifled - Considered to have Far Shot feat while using this weapon.