MacGurcules's page

The only legit way I can think of is the one Grell mentioned earlier: A big witch coven.

It'd take one level fifteen-to-eighteen witch to cast the resurrection spell or life giver hex along with seventy or eighty additional witches, depending on how high the first witch could juice her own caster level. The crowd of helper witches can be any level as long as they all have the coven hex.

Kind of a big deal, but also kind of appropriate for a deed this epic. Convene a gigantic gathering of witches and they all pool their power in a huge ritual to return a soul from ancient history.

Could be a good story hook.

You can make melee attacks when grappling, even if you can't make attacks of opportunity. So, while you might not be able to take advantage of one of the most common uses for threatening, you still threaten.

Based on the context, I read the provisions against allowing Strangling Hair to move an enemy as a restriction on taking the move option when maintaining a grapple. I wouldn't see it as unreasonable to to interpret it as a restriction on the initial movement as well, but that's not how I read it.

If your hair successfully grapples an opponent, you will likely threaten that opponent. But that's because the first step after successfully initiating grapple against a distant opponent is that you move that opponent to an adjacent square. So if you threaten adjacent squares, you will threaten the grappled opponent for the purpose of flanking.

Combat reflexes limits you to a single AoO for movement during a round.

No, it limits movement to a single opportunity per round. It's a subtle difference, but a significant one.

Now, you could argue that the entire movement is part of the same opportunity and you're merely deciding when to act on it. I'm not aware of any other drawn out opportunities like this, but movement is already a special case, so it may be possible.

I could see having a lot of fun with a character who can see all of these tropes and this foreshadowing for what they really are and declares it loudly for everyone anyone hear.

Only nobody actually believes him. People put up with him because he's a pretty good bard or whatever, but they all think he's a little touched and more or less just ignore his ranting.

You'd need the other players to back you up on it, but it could be pretty fun.

This one, perhaps?

Snake Style allows UAS to do piercing. No problem, there.

I have a question, though. How is your crit range already 19-20? Are you already factoring Keen into your attack with the stats you list?

This is why the serial comma is for winners.

Also, have a look at the Quick Runner's Shirt. Won't keep your opponents close, but it will give you a bit of extra mobility you can use to lay down a flurry when you might not otherwise be able.

It's not RAW, but I've always been kind of a fan of allowing players to take whatever feats they want, but they just don't work unless they qualify for them. I think the advantage of being able to take early feats is offset by having dead feat slots for one or more levels.

Either that, or the Sean Reynolds way where you can take a feat if you're able to meet its prerequisites in any way (like with potions, or wild shape, or raging) but they're only "on" while you actually qualify for them. Again, not RAW, but I like it.

Ah, I stand corrected. Though with enemies that you need a crit to hit at all, the larger crit range would still provide more utility. Most DR can be overcome with the correct materials or magical enhancements. I still think the game leans towards swords being a better choice for front-line fighters.

A critical threat does not mean an automatic hit. If you miss on a 19 with a battleaxe, you miss on a 19 with a longsword. Automatic hits only score on a 20.

EDIT: Ninja'd like crazy. That's what I get for letting this thread sit in an open tab for 20 minutes without refreshing.

hypothetical usage driven definition of BAB:

Each creature has a base attack bonus and it represents its skill in combat. As a character gains levels or Hit Dice, his base attack bonus improves. When a creature's highest base attack bonus reaches +6, +11, or +16, he receives an additional attack with a separate base attack bonus in combat when he takes a full-attack action (which is one type of full-round action—see Combat).

There are indications in PF (and some of the 3.5 books) that the hypothetical definition is used and the additional attacks have a different BAB instead of an 'attack bonus' calculated by applying a -5 penalty to the BAB for each attack after the first, but there are also indications for the BAB is only the first attack number. Unless I missed a FAQ (not at all impossible), there has never been an explicit redefinition of BAB like the hypothetical one. I have no problem with the usage driven definition, have played with it often and consider it a reasonable rule - if it were clarified that iterative attacks have their own BAB instead of an 'attack bonus" based on BAB with penalty I would not at all be upset, but absent such a clarification I have to consider RAW to be that the BAB is the highest number and the iterative attacks are in addition to the BAB attack with "attack bonuses" but not BABs.

It's not at all unreasonable to come to the conclusion that each iterative attack has its own separate BAB, especially in the light of many rules entries which refer to "your highest base attack bonus."

However, even if that is not the case, general bonuses and penalties to attacks also apply to combat maneuver attempts. So the penalties for iterative attacks would apply to combat maneuvers taken in their place.

I don't see how that drops the Tarrasque in one round? Then again I'm not keen on the Double-Barreled Gun's interaction with Haste and Rapid Shot.

I'm assuming that you would feat/ Class Feature to reload both barrels as a free action, and they fire both barrels at once? So 6 touch attacks (with both barrels?) would be 50 * 12 shots or 600 damage? dropping the Tarrasque to -75, putting it down for 2-3 rounds, (that is making an assumption you have overcome the DR 15/Epic)

This is why I had asked for a build post, kinda like taking a math test. (They like it when you show your work.)

Great ideas, please keep them coming guys.

I don't know much about gunslingers, I think guns were invented while I was sleeping. Is that accurate? 12 attacks? Are you sure double-barrel lets you fire both barrels every time you fire rather than only once? I dunno, guns are weird.

Did you take into account my massively armored hide, subtracting 15 damage from each attack? That's only 35 damage per attack. I'll survive that.

I'm assuming we're just working on bringing the monster down to 0 HP. Of course it'll eventually regenerate. The Tarrasque is a plot device. You're not supposed to be able to actually kill it.

As for showing work, Rapid Reload with alchemical cartridges allow reloading a one-handed firearm as a free action. Clustered Shots lets you group all attacks in a round against DR.

I agree, I'm not super crazy about double-barreled guns, but it seems like that's the way they're supposed to work. If you use single-barreled pistols and two-weapon fighting instead, you could do the same if you can squeeze out another ten damage per shot. I'm sure the optimization gurus around here could make that happen.

With its pathetic touch AC, a single decently prepared gunslinger could put a Tarrasque down in one round. With a double-barreled gun, four iteratives, haste, and rapid shot the gunslinger will have twelve attacks. That means she needs to average 45 damage per attack to fell the creature.

Assuming pistolero:
4.5 average base pistol damage + 8 dex damage + 3 pistol training + 5 weapon enhancement + 12 deadly aim + 17.5 average Up Close and Deadly = 50 damage per attack

Only trouble is getting within range, but if you're considering a fighter going toe-to-toe, I guess we're not worried about that.

A wand of Reduce Animal should last you a good long time.

There is a small bit of official support for this kind of thing. The deliquescent gloves note that it gives your melee attacks the corrosive quality but it also makes a note that you can use a melee touch attack to deal 1d6 acid.

Where is the rule barring flying with a med/hvy load?

The section on carrying capacity says a medium or heavy load affects a character the same way medium or heavy armor does. And the section on animal barding says that flying mounts can't fly in medium or heavy barding.

I suppose it's not exactly spelled out that creatures can only fly with a light load, but it's not much of a stretch to fill in the gaps.

Actually it's even nastier.

R1: bite (damage) + attempt to grab
grab succeeds -> constrict damage and establish grapple

R2: attempt to maintain grab
maintain succeeds -> bite damage and constrict damage and maintain grab

Quote:

If the creature does not constrict, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals the damage indicated for the attack that established the hold. Otherwise, it deals constriction damage as well (the amount is given in the creature's descriptive text).

This is how I read it, as well. In fact, lacking any text to the contrary, you should still be able to get your standard grapple option on top of this.

As far as I know, staves are the only items which take advantage of the "multiple similar abilities" clause. If you break down any of the wondrous items in the books, you'll find pretty much all of them price extra abilities at 150%

After accounting for Bao's comment, you've pretty much got it.

There are reasonable arguments that grab will continue to do damage in subsequent rounds in addition to other sources. There's some kinda awkward wording regarding the interaction of grab, constrict, and the option to avoid the grapple condition with grab. It makes the intention somewhat less than clear but there are ways to read it which suggest the ability to pile on one more bit of damage.

The way you've outlined is probably the safer interpretation.

A quick way to make not a lot of friends around here is to go into a thread and start demanding "OFFICIAL RULINGS." The people who frequent these boards are quite knowledgeable and if you get a consensus answer, you can generally rely on it.

And that is official.

You can split the difference between Lore Warden and Tetori with Unarmed Fighter.

He won't have the overall mobility of a Tetori or the huge maneuver bonuses of the Lore Warden. However, he is eventually unencumbered by grappling the same as the Tetori and he has a small feat advantage on the Lore Warden. He also picks up a bit of damage reduction and a small boost from built in dan-bong proficiency.

Another viable option, at least.

Exactly how is the PC dealing damage while grappled? Is it a monk? Usually grappled is great for basically taking an opponent out of combat, but doesn't usually kill them.

A highly dedicated grappler can do the equivalent of six attacks per round. Nine, depending on how you interpret grab. And double that, if you can get the job done with non-lethal damage.

It should be noted, though, that if you're in a situation where you can craft, you're in a situation where you can take 10 on the craft roll. So for scribing scrolls, so it's entirely likely an actual roll is unnecessary.

...even combat reflexes won't give this person two separate attacks of opportunity against a person who both casts a spell and then moves away.

Actually, yes. Yes, it will.

Since I don't believe this was adequately answered, I'm bringing it back.

I saw a quote from the ARG that conflicts with the second FAQ answer in another thread. Someone might want to add that in here.

Humanoid races have few or no supernatural or spell-like abilities, but most can speak and have well-developed societies. Humanoids are usually Small or Medium, unless they have the giant subtype, in which case they are Large. Every humanoid creature also has a subtype to match its race, such as human, giant, goblinoid, reptilian, or tengu. If you are making a new humanoid race, you should either find an existing subtype to match or make a new one by using the name of the race as the subtype. If you are making a half-breed race, it should have the racial type of both parent races. For example, a half-elf has both the human and the elf subtypes. Subtypes are often important to qualify for other racial abilities and feats. If a humanoid has a racial subtype, it is considered a member of that race in the case of race prerequisites.

Why all of this mess isn't just handled by the racial subtype system, I do not know.

Alright. so basically the options are cast defensively and risk losing the spell, or cast normally, provoke and attack, and risk getting hit/losing the spell from the damage.

That answers my question.

Also, spells cast with the Quicken metamagic do not provoke.

I'm a big fan of Cold Ice Strike. It's a little unremarkable until you notice that it has built-in Quicken.

Only first generation migrant gnomes lack souls. As long as your gnome was actually born on the Prime Material, he'll have a soul.

The book is very slightly contradictory. In the section on adding additional abilities, it says the cost of upgrading an item is just the difference in cost between the item you have and the item you're turning it into.

Then, right after that, if tells you that additional abilities beyond the first are at +150% cost. The example shown is adding invisibility to a ring of protection +2. Invisibility costs more than protection +2, but according to the example, you pay 150% for invisibility. The intention here, seems clear enough.

This does introduce a small amount of weirdness in that a ring of protection +2 of invisibility has a different cost from a ring of invisibility of protection +2. Personally, I run all of it as "calculate the final price and craft the difference" just for consistency. That doesn't appear to be the actual intent of the rules, though.

I'm not actually aware of any items that are priced with the "similar ability" discount. If you look in the book at stuff like the multi-stat belts and headbands, you'll see they price out using the other multiple ability formula.

That being:
First ability at the regular rate + 150% of each extra ability

And you'll notice that the first suggestion for pricing custom magic items is to see if there's a similar magic item already and price it accordingly.

The physical action defined by a slam is suggestive at best. You've got creatures that fairly clearly use one slam attack per arm, such as the marilith; creatures that get just one slam regardless of how many arms they have, like the vampire; or monsters with no limbs at all that use a slam attack anyway, like the mimic.

The intention here is made somewhat clearer by the recent FAQ response that indicates a slam attack is associated with a hand. The fact that a slam can be used in spell combat gives more weight to the idea that it uses only one hand. That doesn't really help for creatures like the Gelatinous Cube that manage it without any hands at all.

Burn56 has the meat of it, here. It's not necessarily one AoO per action. It's that movement specifically only provokes once per opponent per round.

Also worth mentioning, speaking is a free action allowed out of turn. So you should be able to give commands to your AC on its initiative. A lot of commands require you to point, so an uptight GM might not allow those, but verbal commands should be legit.

Though honestly, for ease of use, practically everyone I've played with just has the AC go on the PC's turn.

Well, if Feral Combat training allows you to apply "effects that augment an unarmed strike" to your chosen natural attack, would that not allow you to apply your increased unarmed strike damage?

There is a trait whose name I am blanking on that lets you take monk without being Lawful. Might belong to a specific race. Hmmm...

Yeah, it's for Aasimar from the Blood of Angels companion, or somesuch.

I'll also mention that, if you're willing to take a level of monk just to get the ability, you can take the Martial Artist archetype. For the first three levels, it has all of regular abilities of a standard monk but without the alignment requirements.

C) You cannot rake on a pounce. In order to rake something you have to start the round already in a grapple with it.

When a creature with this special attack makes a charge, it can make a full attack (including rake attacks if the creature also has the rake ability).

There's no size limit for a regular grapple. If you want to make the standard action attempt, you can do that to whatever you want without spending anything. Bigger monsters are just harder to succeed on.

The Grab ability lets you attempt to start a grapple for free when you hit with your unarmed strike. For monsters that have it, the Grab ability is usually limited to targets of the same size. Tetoris get to waive that restriction by paying extra ki.

So, yes, you can try to grapple a colossal dragon with grab, if you spend the ki. But you can also just grapple it like normal, regardless.

If you can afford it and you can meet the craft DC, there is no level requirement beyond the requisite feat. Even things like the caster level requirement for magic weapons and Amulet of Natural Armor can be waived with an additional +5 to the DC.

Just noticed they did an FAQ on the issue:

CRB FAQ wrote:

Half-Elf or Half-Orc: Can a character of either of these races select human racial archetypes (such as from Advanced Race Guide?

No. While half-elves and half-orcs do count as humans "for any effect related to race", racial class archetypes do not count as an "effect."

—Pathfinder Design Team, Friday

There we have it. Half-orcs and half-elfs can not use their racial subtypes to gain racial archetypes. The only way to be a scarred witch doctor is to be an ORC or be human/half-elf/half-orc and take the RACIAL HERITAGE feat.

In light of section Kazaan referenced, that seems more than a little contradictory.

Well, the size limitation for most other maneuvers is one size larger, so Large size for most medium grapplers. For consistency, I suppose that's not a bad place to land.

That said, what's your main problem with grappling oversized creatures? Just that it breaks verisimilitude? If that's the case, might I suggest that you're simply not being imaginative enough? Grappling doesn't necessarily mean you have a creature completely at your mercy. It just means that you have it somewhat restrained and it needs to devote a some of its attention to you. It could involve pressure points, tangling up limbs, or just keeping an enemy pushed off balance. You might have that colossal dragon "grappled" because you're tugging on one of its legs hard enough in the wrong direction that it needs to spend some effort righting itself. You might have that cyclops "pinned" because you've got hold of his nosering and it's causing him so much pain he can't do anything else.

Grappling is one of the very few combat maneuvers that's worth specializing in, precisely because it doesn't have a size limit. In my opinion, forcing an upper bound just limits the options your players and NPCs have available.

Your base speed is just your speed while unarmored/unencumbered. It includes any bonuses you may have such as a barbarian's fast movement or a monk's enhancement bonus. If you've got multiple means of travel, you have a base speed for each.

If it doesn't specify otherwise, I'd say it's safe to assume the Oread Burrower feat refers to their base land speed.

Name Violation wrote:

barbarian archetype from animal archives gets a companion at first instead of rage

RAW says the mad dog's companion has to be a dog, unfortunately.

Where does it say that? I'm reading this:

The ability that grants the companion doesn't name any specifics as to type and the flavor description for the archetype actually explicitly contradicts the notion that it has to be a dog.

That said, if you've got your eye on something like Ranger, perhaps you could discuss with your GM about buying a bestiary kangaroo with some of your starting money and just use Handle Animal like normal to interact with it for the first three levels. It won't be of much use in combat, but if you just need it for character purposes, that shouldn't be much of an issue. Then when you actually get the ability to have a proper animal companion, you can adopt it.

A kangaroo doesn't have a listed price that I know of, but its CR and stats put it roughly on par with a pony and a combat trained pony runs 45 gold. If it were me running the game, I'd say that's pretty fair.

hogarth wrote:

SunsetPsychosis wrote:

Allosaurus is a fun one. It's got the same same attacks as a big cat, but higher natural armor and strength.

Not quite; it doesn't have rake (which means it only has 3 attacks on a pounce, not 5).

You do realize that you can't use rake during a pounce, right?

When a creature with this special attack makes a charge, it can make a full attack (including rake attacks if the creature also has the rake ability).

Now this language is absent from the Eidolon pounce, but for the example you're quoting, it's completely applicable.

I'm not sure what Banecrow is talking about, but it seems like Xexyz has the right of it. You basically get a free sunder attempt on top of your critical through Sundering Strike. When doing that, if you manage to break all the way through their equipment, the extra damage spills over via Greater Sunder. As a means of clarification, it even makes a note of rolling the sunder damage separately.

Seems perfectly straightforward to me.

Baboon more or less fits the bill, but it's terrible stat-wise. Especially if you compare it against the Ape. I'd at very least give it a climb speed.

Sometimes I wish there was a flag for, "Replying to a two-year-dead thread and doesn't realize it."

I would be very hesitant about allowing any kind of "permanent" access to True Strike. It's game-wrecking from a balance standpoint and most attempts aren't really rules-legal. This particular idea is easily shot down due to the fact that you can't make potions from personal-range spells.

You're not necessarily limited to just one or two weapons, regardless of how many hands you have. If he had a way of making four attacks in a round (from having sufficient BAB, haste, speed weapons, etc.), he could attack once with each of those four weapons and never have to even consider the Two Weapon Fighting rules.

However, if he's taking extra attacks via TWF, he has to pick one weapon as the off-hand and use that for all of the attacks gained that way. The rest of his attacks may be taken with any other weapons he can wield.

Consider this situation: He has three arms, a +6 BAB, and Improved Two Weapon Fighting. A full-attack might look like this (ignoring TWF penalties and other hit bonuses).
Hand 1 (first iterative): Longsword +6
Hand 2 (second iterative): Battleaxe +1
Hand 3 (first off hand): Short Sword +6
Hand 3 (second off hand): Short Sword +1