prototype00's page

Claxon wrote:

Tender Tendrils wrote:

My favourite character concept so far in this edition is a barbarian specialised into using intimidation to apply the frightened condition, bonus points if she is a goblin with the wolf instinct so that she is a tiny, screaming ball of pure rage that is running around biting people in the throat (like the bunny in Monty Python).

How did you come to terms with the fact that intimidation to demoralize only lasts one round and that the target is immune for 10 minutes after that? If you're really lucky it last 2 rounds but still can't be repeated.

We have a good answer to this question now: be a Lizardfolk. Frilled heritage gives you a Stride+Demoralize action that inflicts Frightened 2 on a success, which makes the whole routine far more viable.

Hmm, I wonder if there is any synergy between this and Dragon Style? (Specifically Dragon Roar)

Frilled Dragon Style?

prototype00

The Doorstopper

1) be a primal caster
2) Monk dedication at lvl 2
3) Mountain Stance at lvl 4

You select all the "XXX Form" shapeshifting spells. In combat, you change shape and activate Mountain Stance for the +4 status bonus to AC. XXX Forms AC is a fixed number so the DEX cap does nothing. Now you have excellent AC but can't do anything.

At level 5 with Insect Form you have AC 27. A Champion in Full Plate and a shield (+2) has AC 25.
At level 11 with Elemental Form you have AC 34, the same as our Champion now with +1 armor. And at level 19 with Nature Incarnate you have AC 48 with the Champion with +2 armor having AC 47.

Pretty hard to hit but you can't attack, cast spells and only with Dragon Form do you have hands to even make maneuvers. You are the mighty Doorstopper :)

Its amusing with Pest Form. Pest Form has no "obligatory" natural attacks, so you are free to use the full powered Mountain Style Strikes, with the AC boosts.

I'm not recommending that you do this, as pest form sucks on account of physical vulnerability, but the tiny rat that does xd8 + str damage and has a +4 status bonus to AC is amusing.

prototype00

It’s Class DC, iirc, so Str or Dex, depending on what you chose.

prototype00 wrote:

I'm probably pretty basic as far as Ki goes. I just picked Ki Strike as my main ki power and everything else as utility. That way I get to use Ki Strike (fingers crossed) 3 times every fight, or something like that.

Not sure if you're making this mistake.. But it's happening often: Without special feats, you only get back a max of 1 focus point per 10 minute rest. You can't gain back 3 points by resting 30 minutes.

See p.300, and look at the requirements of the Refocus ability.

I’m quite aware that you require the two meditative feats to regain 3 focus points, yes.

Shadar Aman wrote:

Mathmuse wrote:

For a less ridiculous restriction, what about setting up a campsite, cooking and eating dinner, and removing armor in order to sleep? Won't fatigue affect those?

Based on my own experience with fatigue, yes. I suggest requiring a will save in order to summon the willpower to cook dinner and get undressed. If you fail, you just lie down and sleep.

Based on my own experience with fatigue I can finish the last 10 miles of a forced march.

I can run 3 miles in 23 minutes (3 minutes slower than normal).
I can troubleshoot complex systems, and repair them.
I can stand sentry.

Your humblebrag is noted, lol.

I too have had to do likewise in I imagine similar circumstances. Having a shouty-man hurl imprecations and threats at you does do a lot to alleviate fatigue.

Seisho wrote:

Dragon Styles Dragon Tail attack is also compatible with a Barbarians fury which (damage) benefit is halfved for agile weapons - and backswing is the next best thing

How do you justify (in your mind... not to me) the mix of the barbarian losing control (rage) and the disciplined nature of a monk? A weakness/ mental issue? Which one would be the archetype?

So way back in PF 1e, there was this monk archetype called the Scaled Fist that was the absolute antithesis of the wise, disciplined, contemplative monk. These guys were based off of Charisma and were total self-aggrandizing show-offs, cowing others with their intimidation and infinite self confidence. That's what Dragon Monk in part draws it's inspiration from, and I could definitely see these guys drawing out the dragon's fury and raging.

There was also the monk martial artist who eschewed the philosophical trappings of all these martial arts and who concentrated solely on beating people's skulls in.

Martial arts is not all Kwai Chang Kaine self knowledge and wisdom. Pathfinder has always had all sorts of ways to beat face with fist and some of them interfaced very well with Barbarian (I recall Martial Artist/Barbarian was considered to be a very potent combo).

I thought about mixing these 2 classes but I cannot get past that mix in the nature of the class. The only way I would do it would be if I had the Moment of Clarity barbarian feat. This is also my issue with a monk using a tower shield, I think I could see a buckler shield but not a tower. I might try the tower shield to see if I can enjoy this style.

More than likely, the first Mountain Stylist was a half-naked Dwarf heaving with rock like muscle and sheer stubbornness. Why wouldn't they also wield a giant slab of metal the size of a barn door?

Most of the 1st level stances do not allow use of any other attacks except the one allowed by the stance, so in most cases weapons are out. Unless I misunderstand the stances/ rules.

Actually only Mountain and Crane require unarmed, all the others (3, dragon, wolf, tiger) you can use with weapons.

Justinian9 wrote:

That is true! And I should have had the damage die 1d10 as Mtn strikes (i can't remember there name) are d10

d10: Dragon tail. Agile is replaced with Backswing, which is a straight up downgrade. You also don't get Finesse. So this is the stance for monks who have both good Strength and Dexterity - Dex for AC, Strength for attacking. I'm not sure how good the stance benefit is, ignoring the first square of difficult terrain on a Stride - that seems like a very context-dependent ability. It would be very helpful with hit-and-run attacks though: Stride over some terrain with Incredible Movement, kick'em twice with Flurry of Dragon Tail strikes, and then Stride back.

Falling Stone becomes 1d10 at lvl 18 with Diamond Fists, quite a tempting feat for Mountain Monks.

Dragon Style has Dragon Roar which with some clever multiclassing can net you +3 to every attack by lvl 8.

prototype00

1. I can't understand why a Monk focus point pool is limited to 3. To be a Ki Monk (Unlike the other classes) a Monk has to pick heavy Ki feats. You can have a pool of 3 as early as 2nd level, however I think level 4 would be the norm. You can't regain 2 focus points until you pick Meditative Focus at level 12. So saying for most combat you will only have 1 focus point to use while Ki is your main weapon in combat. It is almost like they don't want you to be a Ki Monk, just a Monk that can once or twice a fight use Ki. But use a bunch of feats to have options.

I do not understand this restriction, seems very limiting, can some one please explain?

Errrm, every class is limited to max ever a pool of 3 focus points, it says so on pg 300. Sorcerors only have 3, wizards only have 3, so in a way, Monks have the most Focus points of any class...? (3)

2. The example of a Ki Monk on page 162 in the core book says you should pick occult for your spell like abilities (I say this as occult is one of the skills picked on the build). I do not understand this... is it because occult skill is used versatile in day to day play? Occult is an Int based skill while Divine is Wis based. Seems to me you need the higher stat to be wis for the saves, Ki saves, and perception. Why pick occult over divine?

Thats kind of a flavour thing, mysterious user of Ki = Occult. Its a trained skill, you don't have to take it if you don't want to.

3. I see no value in Mtn Stance as with the spread of your points across so many ability scores you will not stand and fight toe-to-toe... move, hit, move! It also limits you to one form of attack. Am I missing something?

Mountain Stance allows you to focus your ability points in Str, and ignore Dex so I'm not sure why you would be very spread out. Mountain Monks can start with one of the highest starting ACs in the game (23 with a tower shield) so heck, you can just stand there and take it. Let all the enemies pile onto you while you flurry them unconscious with your rock hard fists. (You also are one of the most damaging Monks out there thanks to high Strength)

4. Is a shield and/or Bracers considered Armor. I think a shield is but bracers of def would be okay to use as a monk. Am I correct?

Nope. Shields are not armor, you can use them as a monk and still get your unarmored proficiency bonus to AC. Bracers (of armor) are not armor either. So not sure where you are getting this info? Both are great for monks.

5. General thoughts:

I am an old D&D player from back in the 70's... it seems to me that Stunning Fist, Water Step, Wall Run and (maybe) Deflect Arrow should have been core with feats to enhance them.

Most things are feats now, thats just how it is. You build your character in a modular fashion rather than HAVING to take most abilities. Makes for more customizability. I like it, personally.

I do not understand how the fighter can have a better unarmed strike than a Monk.

He has a better unarmed accuracy than a monk, but is:

- Stuck at 1d4 nonlethal damage
- Attacks at -2 if he attempts to do lethal
- Has no ways to boost it (unarmed being not weapon attacks, so literally none of a Fighter's abilities work with it)

I'll... stick with the monk for unarmed, thanks.

I also do not understand the slow progression of monks unarmored defense. 12 levels at your starting proficiency seems very slow for a very core ability.

Thanks in advance for responses.

Once again, I am at a loss of how to respond here. Monks (and Champions) are the only class that gets it at this level. They are the FASTEST in the game at advancing armor proficiency. I mean, if that is the case, all the classes are slow as molasses, aren't they?

prototype00 wrote:

Just started building this, you can do this +3 to all attacks combo by 8th level, but it will take your 2nd, 4th and 8th Level class Feats to do it (and 6th is Dragon Roar) so kind of intensive.

But once you’re there, you can start to backfill needed low Level Feats (like Stunning Fist and Stand Still) I suppose.

This is why human is the best - you can take the multiclass dedication at 9th and take the rogue feats at 10th and 12th levels, using the rest of the slots for set up.

Made a mock up here . Make sure the tower shield is a dragon skull.

Hmm, I'm not sure putting off the acquisition of all the parts makes everything that much better (especially since you end up at the same place once you've taken all the feats). I.e. I kind of like to aim for 8th level for the entire build and then spend the next couple of levels building up Ki points so that I can spam Ki Strike twice per fight.

But I must admit, I'm new to the tinkering so I'm perhaps mistaken.

Edit: By the by, looking for advice here, any must have Skill Feats for this character? I find myself just picking the ones I have the highest proficiency for.

Sneak Attack is superfluous on the Rogue Multiclass, really. The selling point there is a free extra -2 to enemy AC. Which is absurd.

I had a Bard combining that Feat with a Bastard Sword and Dirge of Doom in the playtest and she was very frightening when she had the actions to be. The Monk version is probably better, since they have more action economy enhancers and don't have to spend an action on maintaining the fear every single round.

Hmm, yeah that makes a whole lot of sense. Rogue Multi might be the way to go then, take Dread Attacker at 8th level and then start enjoying +3 to hit whoever you're targeting...

(The trick, dear readers, is by the time you finish with one target, hopefully Dragon Roar is off cooldown and you can stick the next target with a massive penalty as well).

Now back when Men were Men and Goblins were CR1 abominations, there were two things that made life good for Monks:

1. The Scaled Fist Archetype that let you bluster your way with Charisma instead of Wis.
2. Dragon Style, which heaped hellacious Damage onto your Unarmed strikes.

And you could combine everything with Power Attack and Cornugon smash for even more damage etc, etc.

But now I notice that Dragon Roar, the upgrade for Dragon Stance (already top tier Damage) has the potential to be the most consistent demoralizer because unlike regular demoralize, the penalty will not decay below 1 as long as you are standing next to them, so potentially, you could open with Roar and keep the penalty on at least one for the entire fight.

But there it ends, as Monks don’t have much synergy with fear. Some strategic multiclassing might solve that as fighters have nice stuff.

So I’m brainstorming for the return of the Scaled Fist, I’ll post more when I’m home, but I think it has potential for a potentially Cha based monk, what do you think fellow forumites?

Dragon Monks are probably the best debuffers in this regard as they can keep one enemy frightened the whole fight.

Rather than waste further time arguing it with you lot here, I have done the useful thing and asked it in the Faq thread.

prototype00

With regards to the Skill Feat Battle Medicine, how many free hands, if any are required to use it during an Encounter and is a Healer's Kit also required on hand?

prototype00

pauljathome wrote:

Well, it probably beats the MASSIVE orphanage that used to be run by the gnomes. The one that turned out 90+% of paladins.

Paladins of Shelyn, of Iomedae, of Irori, of Abadar. Even, rumours hold, a long time ago Paladins of Asmodeus. It doesn't matter. ALL came from that orphanage

What is this a reference to? Fey foundling ?

The fact that one of the premiere Champion Weapons is the Gnome Flickmace, which, one way to access, is to have been raised by gnomes.

Everything Ive read from Paizo on this is they view folks using RAW against GMs as a thing they actively wanted to avoid in this edition. Ultimately, the GM has the final say and he shouldnt have to read 5 billion of pages of ever shifting rules in advance to lay out every bit of nonsense he disagrees with prior to play.

All I know, is I tell all my players that I play with Fictional Positioning at my table. The rules lay out a broad guideline of the possible but ultimately, the reality of the moment wins out. I think this is one of those moments where it rests on plain common sense.

Trying to bandage a party member that is bleeding out while trying to hold on to your greatsword is just plain dumb.

As to PFS, honestly, I think that expecting any GM, even a PFS one, to be little more than a rules conveyor is just crap.

You play your table, man.

In my experience as a player, theres usually enough games going out there that if you have the questionable fortune of DMs that have their hackles up about the "common sense" of the Rules as Written (how "common" is it if you are the only person in this thread that believes it?) you can find another table that suits you better.

prototype00

As a GM, I personally don't care what kinda rules lawyery nonsense a player tries to cook up here. You want to patch up your buddy, you need two hands and a kit.

You can access it a bit easier by putting it in a bandolier. But thats about it.

Common sense, folks.

The Rules as Written (aka Rules Lawyery Nonsense to all surprised/bushwacked DMs).

If you play in Pathfinder Society, (I'm not saying you have to or are, just that its the place where the Rules take precedent) thats how it works.

As a player, my base expectation is that the game follows the rules. If the DM wants to change that, then obviously I need to evaluate the situation at the table.

I had a question regarding Flurry of Blows. While in Mountain Stance and doing a Flurry of Blows, would the penalty be 0/-5? Or is it 0/-4? Although my understanding is that it's only that if using an agile stance?

It’s 0/-5, Mountain uses Falling Fist Strikes which are Forceful but not Agile.

For the purpose of the Monk Mountain Stance Trigger (Must be touching the Ground) what constitutes ground? Does it have to be au-naturel rock or earth, or can it be just be a worked stone castle interior or wooden floor?

If the wooden floor is okay, does it matter if the wooden floor is the second story of a house, say? Or the deck of a boat?

prototype00

So winners:

Str Monks:

- Dragon Style: Excellent Damage and a good debilitation effect.

- Mountain Style: Excellent Tanking and a good debilitation effect.

- Ironblood Style: Top Tier Tanking and prime contender to Fuse with either Dragon or Mountain Style.

Dex Monks:

- Tiger Style: Some interesting tricks, and the potential to cause some heinous damage on a crit. Shame about the no-shields though.

- Tangled Forest Style: Excellent Lockdown and might be a good contender to fuse with Mountain Style or Ironblood Style to keep enemies around you while your party massacres them.

As someone who has created a strength-based dwarven monk, I decided against taking Mountain Stance because of the "touching the ground" requirement. I understand that flying will be less of a thing in 2E, but this is a restriction that makes me nervous. For example, is standing on the 2nd floor of a wooden building considered to be "touching the ground?" Under most definitions of ground, I don't think it would be.

Thanks for this mini-guide though. It provides much food for thought.

Mountain Stance "Touching the Ground" is the Trigger (keyword), but you don't have to be touching the ground once you're in it.

As to what constitutes ground... I'm going to ask Mark Seifter that in the appropriate thread.

Tiger Stance **** Feat 1

Decent damage (1d8) and Agile and Finesse plus a bleed damage rider if you crit makes this a more than good choice for a Dex Monk looking to hurt someone. Step 10 instead of Step 5 is the real winner here.

Tiger Slash *** Feat 6

So this is an interesting Feat, you make one attack for two actions, and if you hit, it does 3d8 (base) + whatever Striking Rune you have – 4d8 (base) + Striking runes and it pushes your foe 5ft away (over a cliff maybe?) And if you crit, it does a whole hecking helping of bleed damage. However it requires 2 hands, which precludes use of a Shield, and obviously Flurry is no go here.

Tiger Style Overall ***

So far, the best choice for a Dex Monk, a good range of options that actually might lead to a lot of damage.

Wolf Stance **** Feat 1

Once again decent damage 1d8 and Finesse, and oh, would you look at that. One of the Rarest Weapon Traits in the game, Backstabber. Two weapons have this and neither do 1d8 damage. So add +1 (and +3 eventually) to your damage every time you are flanking, and this weapon can Trip Foes with your dex mod as well. Overall an interesting choice.

Wolf Drag ** Feat 6

So this is basically a lot of ifs. If you Crit, your attack is fatal d12, if you hit, you knock your enemy prone e.t.c. It takes two actions and I’d like it a lot more if it knocked prone first like Mountain Quake.

Wolf Style Overall **

I like the Stance by itself, but taking the whole tree seems a bit… not so great to me.

Ironblood Stance ***** Feat 8 (Edit all this: I'm an idiot)

Decent damage (1d8) for Str Monks and you can Parry, Sweep, (which is if you attack a different creature with your second attack, you gain a +1 to hit) which is really just a more conditional agile, which is nice. The Damage Resistance is the real draw here, and the way shield block works, you can have the DR of the damage applied to the Shield, then halved and applied to you, and you get to apply your own DR from Ironblood Stance to it! Super Tankiness!

Ironblood Surge ***** Feat 14

Forget the Parry Bonus, you can increase your own personal DR to +7 at the maximum end as an action meaning that if you Flurry, Raise your Shield and Ironblood Surge, you are taking only ((Incoming Damage - Shield DR)/2) - 7 damage!

Ironblood Stance Overall *****

A great tanking stance, and I'm sorry I ever said anything bad about this.

Wild Winds Stance *** Feat 8 – Wild Winds Strike Only

So this is a bit of an odd duck in a lot of ways, it lets you use your unarmed strike at 30ft (neat), ignores cover and concealment (neat, but situational, note Invisibility is not Concealment) but does very basic damage 1d6 and will halve your Str Damage (!!!) due to propulsive (well it’s better than getting no bonus at all).

I’ll say, if you need to use it against a concealed/flying foe, its probably worth it, but otherwise, you’ll want another stance.

Tangled Forest Stance **** Feat 8

Interesting Stance, basically all foes are locked down around you unless they can beat your Class DC (which should be stellar) with either Reflex, Athletics or Acrobatics. The damage is nice but about the same as Tiger Style by this point.

Tangled Forest Rake *** Feat 14

Well, moving foes around is interesting, but here is the bummer. This is forced movement and it is neither pushing nor pulling, it is repositioning. You can’t move them somewhere dangerous. Good for getting them into a flank, I suppose.

Tangled Forest Style Overall ***

Once again another decent Dex based style, the lockdown feature is especially appreciated.

So as a prelude to more serious optimizing, I thought I’d go through and grade the Monk Stances (as Monks have the most stances in the game). Ranking is from * to ***** and I might say a thing or two about synergies, and you can tell me what I missed!

So without further ado…

Crane Stance ** Feat 1 – Crane Strikes only.

Is not really that impressive, the damage is lackluster (1d6) and the +1 AC is the same as a buckler/parrying weapon with the benefit that you don’t have to spend an action on it. Hey at least it’s accurate (Agile)

Crane Flutter *** Feat 6

All right, this is what you’re here for, and it does several things really well. AC is boosted for that reaction to over what a Shield can provide, and if they miss it’s a counterattack. I’m not sure it makes up for the meh-ness of the basic Stance though.

Crane Style Overall **

Lackluster damage, and the meat only comes in at level 6 do not make me pleasantly disposed to this tree.

Dragon Stance **** Feat 1

Now this is Nice! Highest damage for Monks in the game, it’s Backswing so if you missed with the first blow of your flurry, your second is more accurate and you get to ignore one square of difficult terrain. A top pick for Str Monks.

Dragon Roar **** Feat 6

This lets you debilitate theoretically a whole bunch of foes around you (Frightened is -1 to everything) and as long as you stay next to one sucker, he will always take that penalty. A strong opener I feel.

Dragon Style Overall ****

Quite a strong tree for Str monks only (no finesse) but certainly a good pick both damage and tactics wise.

Mountain Stance ***** Feat 1 – Mountain Strikes only

Now hear me out, I’m giving Mountain stance a five star rating because it allows a whole different build to be played, the tanky Str only monk. Its even a Status bonus so it stacks with a shield or *gasp* a tower shield for truly top tier AC. The damage is more than decent (1d8, increasing to 1d10 at lvl 18 with Diamond Fists) and its Forceful, which means a scaling buff to damage always with your Second attack. A stellar choice.

Mountain Stronghold **** (if you don’t have a shield) ** (if you do) Feat 6

This is exactly as good as Raise a Shield. No more, no less. So if you have a shield already, you kind of wasted a feat. It does make your Dex cap +1 in Mountain Stance, however so not a total loss, and it is a pre-req for…

Mountain Quake **** Feat 14

This is hilarious. You stamp the ground and out to 20ft from you, enemies (and friends!) fall on their asses. Just pick your favorite target and start pummeling away. Then 1d4 rounds later, do it again! Not 5 star because it’s not party friendly. Oh, and icing, your Dex cap in Mountain Stance goes to +2. *ALERT: THIS ISN'T EVEN AN ATTACK!!!*

Mountain Style Overall ****

A stellar choice for a tanky monk, and really no weaknesses. Even the penalty to speed will disappear soon enough with the Monk’s bonus Stride Speed.

1. Do striking Runes and Weapon Specialization Unarmed Apply to a Druid’s Wild Shape (Ape or dinosaur or whatnot) natural attack strikes?

2. When taking two actions to raise and take cover behind a Tower Shield, is the circumstance bonus to AC (+4) directional, and can an enemy negate it by just moving 10ft around to the side? Or can you move the Tower Shield around to face different foes when attacked?

3. Is it possible to Create a “Sturdy” version of the Tower Shield? Currently the rules don’t allow for it.

Real Talk: I think Monks are actually one of the superior Shield using classes because with Flurry, you can attack twice, move and raise a Shield.

With a Tower Shield, you could attack twice, raise the shield and take cover for +4 AC, with this, a lvl 1 Monk in Mountain Stance has 23 AC, repeatable every round.

prototype00 wrote:

Quote:

This lasts until the shield is no longer

raised.

I think the important part is the "(and other creatures can Take Cover as normal using the cover from your shield)" and not that part of the section. For people to gain cover THEY'D have to know the location of your tower shield and it'd have to be static.

prototype00 wrote:

but I'm not here to argue

Cool, I'll leave it at what I posted then.

Just a coda to this,I have talked to a dozen people on Discord and here about this, and you are the only one to promulgate this view, most people say you can just move the shield (like any other shield) and you don't plant it in the ground like some pillar, so I guess I'm going with the majority until further notice?

Also, mechanically, to be able to invalidate something that all the Tower Shield using Fighters and Champions just spent two actions on by moving 10ft makes Tower Shields Screamingly useless in general, I suppose that’s the other reason.

prototype00

So just running the Math on a lvl 1 Tower Shield Dwarven Monk.

The basic concept is that if you are engaged with a foe, and in Mountain Stance, you can:

1. Flurry For 2 Attacks
2. Raise the Tower Shield
3. Take Cover behind the Tower Shield

(Presumably the previous round, you can Move up, activate Mountain Stance and then Flurry)

For 4 AC, which RAW (I'm guessing specific Tower Shield rules trumps general cover rules here, but I'm not here to argue)

This lasts until the shield is no longer

raised.

So that is a rather nice Lvl 1 achieveable AC of:

15 (Expert Unarmoured) + 4 (Mountain Stance: Status) + 4 (Tower Shield: Circumstance) = 23 which you can do every round and attack twice (1d8 +4 and Forceful).

I call it the Great Wall Monk.

prototype00

prototype00 wrote:

Just a sanity check here, a regular Monk could carry around a Tower Shield, Flurry for two attacks and then raise the Shield and take cover behind it for +4 AC?

If it works, I’m calling it The Great Wall Style (aka Iron Coward).

Yep. Tower shield works for anyone that can carry around an extra 4 bulk and can use 2 actions to use. Of course the monk has to hope no enemy can figure out they can just walk around the shield and hit him without the +4...

Rules as Written (under the Cover rules) that’s not a thing that can happen?

Once you’ve spent the actions on it, you get the bonus and only certain things deny it (I guess they assume you are moving the Tower Shield around to prevent just this sort of thing).

Just a sanity check here, a regular Monk could carry around a Tower Shield, Flurry for two attacks and then raise the Shield and take cover behind it for +4 AC?

If it works, I’m calling it The Great Wall Style (aka Iron Coward).

prototype00 wrote:

I imagine humans have a really easy time to get Flickmace proficiency (and Half Elves/Half Orcs by extension), but for the other races (besides gnomes), isn't it rather difficult for them?

Therefore only gnomes and the most adaptable races have it, thats probably still in flavour.

The "Adopted Ancestry" feat has no requirements. So anyone willing to, can pick it up for the cost of 2 feats.

Well, I mean, 2 feats is a lot of investment to put in to a yo-yo, and apparently you can only get it by lvl 5, sure if you want to use the most Exotic weapon ever, that seems like a good enough point to be picking it up by, given how much training you would need.

prototype00 wrote:

graystone wrote:

"A focus is an object that funnels the magical energy of the spell. The spell gains the manipulate trait and requires you to either have a free hand to retrieve the focus listed in the spell or already be holding the focus in your hand. As part of Casting the Spell, you retrieve the focus (if necessary), manipulate it, and can stow it again if you so...

Just a quick rules question regarding this, does this mean that for Bardbarian, you can have your horn stowed away at the start while you cleave foes with your greatsword, draw it out, cast, say Inspire Courage and stow it all as one action?

Or is it an action to retrieve, an action to cast the spell and an action to stow?

prototype00

No, "Unlike the normal rules for a focus component, you can’t retrieve or stow the instrument when making this substitution." It's an action to draw and an extra to stow though you can get around the stow by dropping it. Secondly, you need to find/get a one handed instrument to hold on to the greatsword and the only one currently is the horn of blasting.

How do bards attack with their weapons (or do they not?) if they want to use musical instruments if they are all (sans the horn) two handed? (More importantly for this consideration, how would the Bardbarian?)

prototype00 wrote:

I’m glad to see one of my favourite concepts prosper. I’ll have more to weigh in on the subject when I get my book tomorrow, of course but a couple of questions, apologies for ignorance:

1. Can you Druid multi into monk for this or is it not possible due to flurry requirements?

2. How does it scale vs non multi monk past level 12?

Monktopus?

Way of the Angry Bear was what I claim responsibility for, lol.

I’m glad to see one of my favourite concepts prosper. I’ll have more to weigh in on the subject when I get my book tomorrow, of course but a couple of questions, apologies for ignorance:

1. Can you Druid multi into monk for this or is it not possible due to flurry requirements?

2. How does it scale vs non multi monk past level 12?

I’m glad to see Monk/Druid is still a thing. I shall have to make a study when I pick up my book tomorrow as to exactly how viable.

(BTW, apologies to everyone who tried to message me in 2017, this is the first time I’ve logged on in like 2.5 years).

Lets use the proper terminology here, which should clear things up.

Beast Shape III is an Actual size increase. You are actually becoming a huge creature.

Strong Jaw is an Effective size increase, you deal damage As If you were two sizes larger...

According to this line in the faq:

However, you can have one of each and they do work together (for example, enlarge person increasing your actual size to Large and a bashing shield increasing your shield’s effective size by two steps, for a total of 2d6 damage).

They (as you so kindly provided the proper terminology for, Diego) Explicitly work together.

prototype00

Your guide is not worthy. Mainly because of the fact that you wrote it simply for one offside race. That's not even an open race for Pathfinder Society play.

A guide to a class needs to be written for all of the common races, but especially Humans. Writing it solely for one race because of it's munchkin advantages is simply lazy.

If you're not going to do broad racial coverage, then you should at least be writing your guide for Humans, with some notes given to other races.

A couple of things:

1. This is a build, as in a specific set of criteria coming together to make a character. It is showing the power of the Champion of Irori with the best combination possible.

2. I did make a guide, listing 16 different races. Its here.

Also "your guide is not worthy" I am trying to decide whether to be amused or annoyed at the undeserved trolling. A bit of both, I think.

prototype00

Congratulations and thanks for being there for us forumites.

prototype00

So small update this time (was slightly ill this weekend), I've finished the Style feats and put in the skills.

Traits will be next.

Enjoy!

prototype00

But Rastlov going before or after you is meta knowledge and it would not go in my game. No one take turns in Real battle.

And i still Think the Can only take a standard action criteria is fulfilled in a ready action.

Fair enough, Cap. Darling, we shall disagree as equals.Please enjoy your game then, as I will be sure to endeavour to enjoy mine.

Don't forget Rhino Hide armor for the extra 2d6 damage.

Did not enter my considerations as I have Monk/Druid on the brain currently, but I'm sure it is useful for a lot of builds.

prototype00

So as promised some months ago, I have started working on a guide to effectively multiclassing Druid and Monk to make the most scary Unarmed combatants in Pathfinder.

So far, I've covered the introduction and the Monk class and all the archetypes (whoo boy, that took longer than I thought it would).

The next step will be covering the Druid class and archetypes, then I'll move onto feats, magic items and probably three example builds (The Mauler, The Crusher and The Conqueror Ooze).

As always with my guides, I welcome your comments and suggestions.

prototype00

It's really only a few corner cases in the inquisitor that get hit by this. And if you were using those to double-stack Wisdom to some abilities, I personally think you had it coming because you should've known that was a little cheesy.

I personally do not appreciate the accusation that you leveled there against me. Calling someone's ideas cheesy when they are based on a strict reading of the rules is quite insulting. You wouldn't want me to name you a Grognard Neckbeard would you? (Hypothetically of course :P)

What is one build's corner case is another build's bread and butter. Personally I like to refer to the RAW as much as possible.

prototype00

yes, its still a very good feat.

Fair enough, though I notice that you haven't voted yet.

Yeah, you missed a choice... How about when you've never used it, even when it was the theorycrafter's favorite?

I'm not sure how that tells me much about how the use has changed, "I never used it before, and now that its been nerf, I DEFINITELY don't use it" isn't a demographic I feel contributes to a complete picture, but am I mistaken there?

prototype00

And favorite this post if it finds its way into super specialized fighting defensively builds, but otherwise not at all. (For the record, this is where I fall).

Favorite this post if you find yourself never using it after the nerf when you had used it a lot before.

So I'm just curious if Paizo's nerf of Crane Style made it less popular in general play. I think most DMs wanted to see it not as good, but still a viable choice, but it may be the case that nobody uses it anymore because of better choices out there.

So favorite this post if you still include it in your builds as a matter of course.

So there is no reason to go chasing after dragon style if it doesn't work RAW, just pick up dragon style and Horn of the Criosphinx.

Now when you charge, by RAW, all your attacks from pummeling style do 2.5x strength bonus (due to dragon ferocity and Horn of the Criosphinx, dragon style itself is completely ignored).

Ta da!

prototype00

When I saw that Andrew Christian had chosen this as his hill that he wanted to die on, I basically lost all interest in the conversation.

Either I'm right, and he has lost all that time and effort he invested into it. (and if time and effort made one right, Andrew would be right 10 times over in this thread)

Or he is right, in which case we get a lot of new rules to clarify things (because frack me, if that isn't a can of wriggly worms, ability typed bonuses).

Either way, win win, and I have expended as little of my valuable (heh) posting time and effort as possible.

prototype00

Clustered shots has the advantage that it is from range, Pummeling style has the advantage that you can use it on a charge and the crits apply.

You might disagree, but I see the balance between the two feats.

prototype00

Actually they took the multiclassing restriction out of the ACG in the end. They just added that if there are redundant abilities between the parent classes and the hybrid class, they don't stack.

prototype00

Strength is kind of a crap blessing for the sacred fist because the minor gives you an enhancement bonus to your attacks and damage (which incidentally is the most prevalent bonus source and won't stack with basically everything), and the major gives you the ability to ignore armor movement penalties (that full plate you're not wearing as a sacred fist is really hampering you).

Personally Alignment, Destruction, Travel, Luck and Trickery are the winners for me, runner up for Repose if you can find a way to put foes to sleep (quicken blessing and conductive amulet of mighty fist perhaps).

Kudos for the Sacred Fist though, thats what I've been wanting since 3.5 ended. My thanks.

prototype00