Raise your character to the pinnacle of magical might with Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Magic! Within this book, secrets arcane and divine lie ready to burst into life at the hands of all the spellcasting classes in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. In addition to the brand-new magus class—a master of both arcane magic and martial prowess—you'll also find a whole new system for spellcasting, rules for spell duels and other magical specialities, and pages upon pages of new spells, feats, and more. Because when it comes to magic, why settle for less than absolute power?
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Magic is a must-have companion volume to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook. This imaginitive tabletop game builds on more than 10 years of system development and an Open Playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Magic includes:
The magus, a new base class combining deadly arcane magic with the skills and weapons of a trained warrior.
Words of power, an innovative and flexible new spellcasting system.
New options for dedicated casters, such as alchemist discoveries, alternative uses for channeled energy, druid companions, sorcerer bloodlines, eidolon abilities, witch hexes, and oracle mysteries.
Additional feats and magical abilities for martially oriented casters, including monk ki tricks, inquisitor archetypes, and ranger traps.
New magical conditions called spellblihgts, as well as systems for crafting constructs, binding outsiders, and spell-dueling.
More than 100 new spells, plus detailed guidelines for designing your own.
lazy feats, some options are good, some others just dotn´
Archetypes: the best Bladebound Magus
worst of all: Trapper Ranger
Spellblights: interesting but too complex for a fumble system
Spellword Casting: at the beginning it looks very nice, then i read it and... is the same spell restriction and opportunities at a expensive cost of time
feats: ok those are feats
Magic spellbooks: why you dont just paraphrase some words concerning about how to protect the spellbooks with some spells and thats all. maybe a feat or two for scaling this option, besides the spellbooks looks greats.
spells: again, the magus options are great.
my advice for you: buy the book, cut the pages concerned for magus, and dump the rest or Download the pdf at any place you can, print the magus and drop the rest
While I do not think that either this or Ultimate Combat deserve to be called "Ultimate" anything books (maybe Ultimate Monk), I do think that Ultimate Magic does better cover it's proported theme. In my opinion, Inner Sea Magic did a better job overall, but is sadly setting specific.
On th Divine Side (minus Paladin) this book is extremely, extremely limited. There are a few gems, but most are either placed really far out of reach, or just not worth what you give up for them, and might as well not have been there at all rather than tease.
On the Arcane side, this book is full of material, but severely lacking as well. There is an assortment of random material that just seems like it was left over from other books and tossed in here. The only magical items in this book (exceptionally noticable on the Divine Magic side) are Wizard's Spellbooks, (which of the top of my head, only 3 Classes in the entire game will actually have any use for beyond the sell price).
There are a lot of (would be) nice Feats, except they are specific to a Class, or build, or whose names imply it would be great for somone else besides who it is actually intended. Over all, there are a lot of options, but actually very slim pickings. Overall, it leaves a lot of classes and build out in the cold.
Whereas Ultimate Combat is at best Ultimate Monk, Ultimate Magic is closest to being more appropriate as Ultimate Wizard/Inquisitor, (arguably Classes that did not need more).
After reading through Ultimate Magic, some new mechanics offered in this book can add flavor and fun to an adventure.
The Magus appears to be a class that is fun to play as. You are able to swipe at your enemies with your sword in one hand and with magic in the other.
Spellblights are interesting. These curses can hinder the spellcasters in different ways.
One chapter that I especially liked was the words of power. The concept was a little hard to wrap around but when you understand it fun ensues. I tried out a couple of words of power in an adventure and it was pretty fun. There was a point where I fought a spellcaster who also had words of power and it felt like the two were having a very destructive debate ha!
Overall I enjoyed this product and I recommend this to everybody!
ARG! I don't even have the APG in hand yet, I thought I might have a month before I started going crazy wanting the next book. But... Noooo, .... must have now.
Oh ye gods, another one? I suppose by the time this comes out I'll have had plenty of time to digest the APG, though, so I suppose April works.
All these hardcovers are sure making it hard for me to fill in my back catalog of Golarion material, though. Eventually I'll get caught up to speed....
yes! Yes! YES!!! Did I mention HELL YES?!!!! More exclamation points!!! My first wish for this book is that they create a PF version of the Ultimate Magus from the Complete Mage. I'm going to save my other 2 wishes for later.
Awwww - boost the page count to 320 like the other $39.99 books.
C'mon - you know you want to....
:)
This is very unlikely. Multiple 320+ page books in a single year = short drive to the Loony Bin for all of us here at Paizo. And then there'd be NO hardcover books from Paizo, because they won't let us use computers in the Loony Bin.
This is very unlikely. Multiple 320+ page books in a single year = short drive to the Loony Bin for all of us here at Paizo. And then there'd be NO hardcover books from Paizo, because they won't let us use computers in the Loony Bin.
Depends on why you're committed, I suppose.
Taking Jokes Too Seriously aside, premade spellbooks tickle the cockles of my dark, twisted, hateful GM heart. Will they use just PF core spells, PF core + UM spells, or PF core + UM + other Paizo books?
This is very unlikely. Multiple 320+ page books in a single year = short drive to the Loony Bin for all of us here at Paizo. And then there'd be NO hardcover books from Paizo, because they won't let us use computers in the Loony Bin.
not true, they let you use computers in the loony bin
This book looks awesome! I don't even have my APG yet and now I am anxiously awaiting the play test(s) (I hope we see the magus and the new magic system!), and for the book to be released. So many cool new things to add to my characters!
any chance there will be a playtest on the Words of Power magic system?
Please
There's a chance, yes.
Public playtests WILL continue as long as we're doing hardcover books. They won't always be super-extensive, though, and some books will skip this stage. We haven't yet decided what parts of Ultimate Magic will be publicly playtested, but I'm pretty sure the magus class will be one of them. The Words of Power rules are likely to be another... and that'll PROBABLY be it for this book's playtest. It's not something we're likely to nail down and decide on for sure until after Gen Con, though.
Taking Jokes Too Seriously aside, premade spellbooks tickle the cockles of my dark, twisted, hateful GM heart. Will they use just PF core spells, PF core + UM spells, or PF core + UM + other Paizo books?
any chance there will be a playtest on the Words of Power magic system?
Please
There's a chance, yes.
Public playtests WILL continue as long as we're doing hardcover books. They won't always be super-extensive, though, and some books will skip this stage. We haven't yet decided what parts of Ultimate Magic will be publicly playtested, but I'm pretty sure the magus class will be one of them. The Words of Power rules are likely to be another... and that'll PROBABLY be it for this book's playtest. It's not something we're likely to nail down and decide on for sure until after Gen Con, though.
I'm pretty stoked for this book :) Couple of Qs though:
1. Would it be possible to see something like Wild Magic or Truename Magic in this book? It almost seems like Wild Magic is already in it in some form.
2. Any idea when the playtest for the Magus might begin?
Man I'm barely containing myself at the prospect of getting the APG pdf tomorrow and now I discover this... Curse you Paizo I'm now wishing my days away lol
Book looks amazing though... out of interest will some of the new magic class options build on the archetypes or the base classes? [or both??] - as in say just bard options/spells or some geared towards say the Savage Skald [hint-hint lol]...
Can't wait though - raising the bar yet again people :)
Some concept questions, will the Magus "feel different" than classes like Eldritch Knight or a Spell-sword? I guess the root of the question is will it be different than "I wield a sword! and I cast spells through it!"?
I doubt you can give details yet, but if so, how will it be different in concept?
So that I know how excited to get about it, I would like to know one thing.
Does the Magus cast prepared, or spontaneous magic, and what casting stat does it use?
Speculation only:
Spoiler:
I *hope* it's a prepared caster, Int Based for two reasons.
1) To get away from the bard, would be nice for a change
2) More personally, I'm more comfortable designing spontaneous casters not prepared ones, I've my legionary and the arcane duelst now. by all means let them put out a Prepared caster so I can compare.
Wow, this is going to be both fun and insane for me.
I had to pour through the APG Spells and Feats to see if WotC had any duplicates. I usually use WotC's as a default, with exceptions (such as using Lunge over Lunging Strike).
I do the same with spells. It bugs me having "duplicate" spells, where a WotC spell and a Pathfinder spell do almost the same thing with a few twists or a change in spell level and I have to scour each one and make a Word file reference which material is stamped "Confirmed" or "Denied" on it, basically. (for example, there's the Tsunami spell in Spell Compendium and Tsunami in the APG; the one in the Spell Compendium is clearly better than the APG, so I ruled the duplicate in APG out my games)
So, my one request to Paizo staff, look at your WotC books, particularly the Spell Compendium, and try not to make duplicates. The same with feats! It's kinda annoying and tiresome :D Be unique!
Wow, this is going to be both fun and insane for me.
I had to pour through the APG Spells and Feats to see if WotC had any duplicates. I usually use WotC's as a default, with exceptions (such as using Lunge over Lunging Strike).
I do the same with spells. It bugs me having "duplicate" spells, where a WotC spell and a Pathfinder spell do almost the same thing with a few twists or a change in spell level and I have to scour each one and make a Word file reference which material is stamped "Confirmed" or "Denied" on it, basically. (for example, there's the Tsunami spell in Spell Compendium and Tsunami in the APG; the one in the Spell Compendium is clearly better than the APG, so I ruled the duplicate in APG out my games)
So, my one request to Paizo staff, look at your WotC books, particularly the Spell Compendium, and try not to make duplicates. The same with feats! It's kinda annoying and tiresome :D Be unique!
That makes no sense for Paizo. They are interested in new players, and new players should rather be spending $ on Paizo books, instead of scrambling for out-of-print WotC books. So, there will be some overlap.
(for example, there's the Tsunami spell in Spell Compendium and Tsunami in the APG; the one in the Spell Compendium is clearly better than the APG
The second part of this isn't really a surprise. Pathfinder has attempted to address the disparity between full spellcasters and those who are not, both by increasing the power of the non-casters and by scaling back the power of many spells. Any duplication in spells is almost invariably going to have the Pathfinder version be weaker by design.
That said, I know there is going to be some duplication based on the sheer volume of old material.
So that I know how excited to get about it, I would like to know one thing.
Does the Magus cast prepared, or spontaneous magic, and what casting stat does it use?
If I were doing it (but I'm not), I think that I would have tried to make it a sorcerer bloodline.
But they are planning on a new base class. There are some things which you can infer about the class from knowledge of the rules.
1. They will probably have the medium (cleric) BAB.
2. They will probably have a d8 hit points.
3. They will probably have good Fortitiude and Will saving throws.
4. They will probably have light armor proficiency and not have arcane spell failure in light armor.
5. There will be a Magus spell list which will be more combat oriented than the bard spell list, but which won't have the most powerful sorcerer/wizard spells. The spell list will includes 1st through 6th level spells.
6. They will probably have simple weapons and a subset of martial weapons.
The Bard would be a good starting point for speculation. Replace the bard spell list with the magus spell list and the bardic class abilities with magus abilities. (Better armor or weapon selections, channeling spells through weapons, expending spells for bonuses, etc).
I'm anxious to get a look at pretty much every aspect of this book. One of my primary character classes is the wizard, so this would be a great resource for me!
Alchemist, Chirurgeon, breath of life: How can I use this extract to bring someone back from the dead?
The normal action economy hinders the chirurgeon's ability to use its power over death class ability (which adds breath of life to his formula book).
Normally, drawing and drinking an extract is a standard action.
Normally, administering a potion to an unconscious creature is a full-round action (the rules don't state what action it is to do so to a dead creature, but it is presumably the same).
Because breath of life must be used within 1 round of death to restore the subject to life, these action requirements mean the chirurgeon can never use this extract to restore someone to life.
In the interest of having power over death actually fulfill its intended purpose (giving the archetype the ability to restore the dead), that ability will be changed to allow the chirurgeon to draw and administer a breath of life infusion to another creature as a full-round action.
This will be updated in the next printing of Ultimate Magic.
Alchemist, Tentacle/Vestigial Arm: What does "extra attacks" mean for these discoveries?
It means "extra," as in "more than you would be able to make if you didn't have that discovery."
For example, if you're low-level alchemist who uses two-weapon fighting, you can normally make two attacks per round (one with each weapon). If you take the tentacle discovery, on your turn you can make
* two weapon attacks but no tentacle attack,
* a weapon attack with your left hand plus a secondary tentacle attack, or
* a weapon attack with your right hand plus a secondary tentacle attack.
At no time can you make a left hand weapon attack, a right hand weapon attack, and a tentacle attack on the same turn because the tentacle discovery says it "does not give the alchemist any extra attacks or actions per round." This language is calling out that the tentacle is not a standard natural weapon and doesn't follow the standard rules for using natural weapons (which would normally allow you to make the natural weapon attack in addition to your other attacks).
Likewise, if you instead took the vestigial arm discovery and put a weapon in that arm's hand, on your turn you can make
* a weapon attack with your left hand and one with your right hand,
* a weapon attack with your right hand and one with your vestigial arm, or
* a weapon attack with your left hand and one with your vestigial arm,
At no time can you make a left hand weapon attack, a right hand weapon attack, and a vestigial hand weapon attack on the same turn because the vestigial arm discovery says it "does not give the alchemist any extra attacks or actions per round."
The exact same restrictions would apply if your race had claws or you had some other ability to add claws to your limbs: the text of both discoveries says they do not give you any extra attacks per round, whether used as natural weapons, wielding manufactured weapons, or adding natural weapons to a limb that didn't originally have natural weapons.
Remember that these two discoveries do not have any level requirements, and therefore are not especially powerful; permanently adding additional attacks per round is beyond the scope of a discovery available to 2nd-level alchemists.
Archetypes and Gaining Powers: If an archetype like wildblooded sorcerer grants new class features like bloodline powers, domain powers, or the like, if I don’t have that archetype, can I use feats like Eldritch Heritage or Believer’s Boon and choose the powers granted by the archetype.
No. These powers only exist for the archetypes that grant them. This is particularly important because in some cases, the archetype might trade out non-parallel features to gain those powers. For example, a fey sorcerer with the wildblooded archetype trades out both her bloodline arcana and her 1st-level power to gain a new 1st-level power, but a non-sorcerer using a feat to gain a 1st-level power never had the bloodline arcana to begin with.
Bard: The sound striker’s weird words ability is confusing. Does it work more than once on the same target? And does it require 30 rolls to adjudicate?
Change the text of weird words to the following “At 6th level the bard can start a performance that is always a standard action to speak up to one word per 4 bard levels laden with sonic energy. Each word deals 4d6 points of sonic damage as a ranged touch attack with a range of 30 feet. The bard adds his charisma modifier on damage rolls with weird words. Multiple words that strike the same target stack into a single powerful attack, applying energy resistance and bonuses on damage rolls only once. The bard can target all words at the same or different targets, but he unleashes all words simultaneously. Each word costs 1 round of bardic performance.” This change will be reflected in future errata.
Magus, Black Blade: Can I use Craft Magic Arms and Armor to increase my blade's enhancement bonus?
No, nor can you use that feat to add other properties (such as flaming) to the black blade. You can use your arcane pool to temporarily add abilities to your black blade.
Magus: Can a magus use spellstrike (page 10) to cast a touch spell, move, and make a melee attack with a weapon to deliver the touch spell, all in the same round?
Yes. Other than deploying the spell with a melee weapon attack instead of a melee touch attack, the magus spellstrike ability doesn’t change the normal rules for using touch spells in combat (Core Rulebook page 185). So, just like casting a touch spell, a magus could use spellstrike to cast a touch spell, take a move toward an enemy, then (as a free action) make a melee attack with his weapon to deliver the spell.
On a related topic, the magus touching his held weapon doesn’t count as “touching anything or anyone” when determining if he discharges the spell. A magus could even use the spellstrike ability, miss with his melee attack to deliver the spell, be disarmed by an opponent (or drop the weapon voluntarily, for whatever reason), and still be holding the charge in his hand, just like a normal spellcaster. Furthermore, the weaponless magus could pick up a weapon (even that same weapon) with that hand without automatically discharging the spell, and then attempt to use the weapon to deliver the spell. However, if the magus touches anything other than a weapon with that hand (such as retrieving a potion), that discharges the spell as normal.
Basically, the spellstrike gives the magus more options when it comes to delivering touch spells; it’s not supposed to make it more difficult for the magus to use touch spells.
Magus: When using spell combat, can the weapon in my other hand be an unarmed strike or a natural weapon?
Yes, so long as the weapon is a light or one-handed melee weapon and is associated with that hand. For example, unarmed strikes, claws, and slams are light melee weapons associated with a hand, and therefore are valid for use with spell combat. A tail slap is not associated with a hand, and therefore is not valid for use with spell combat.
Magus, Spell Combat: When using spell combat, do I specifically have to use the weapon in my other hand, or can I use a mixture of weapons (such as armor spikes and bites) so long as my casting hand remains free?
You specifically have to use the light or one-handed melee weapon in your other hand.
Magus, Spell Combat: Does spell combat count as making a full attack action for the purpose of haste and other effects?
Yes.
Edit 9/9/13: This is a revised ruling about how haste interacts with effects that are essentially a full attack, even though the creature isn't specifically using the full attack action (as required by haste). The earlier ruling did not allow the extra attack from haste when using spell combat.
Magus, Spell Combat: If I use spell combat, how many weapon attacks can I make?
You can make as many weapon attacks as you would normally be able to make if you were making a full attack with that weapon. For example, if you are an 8th-level magus (BAB +6/+1), you could make two weapon attacks when using spell combat.
Edit 9/9/13: This is a revised ruling about how haste interacts with effects that are essentially a full attack, even though the creature isn't specifically using the full attack action (as required by haste). The earlier ruling implied that spell combat did not allow the extra attack from haste (because spell combat was not using the full attack action).
Magus, Black Blade: Can a black blade be sundered?
Yes.
The weapon's immunity the broken condition if it has at least 1 point in its arcane pool only prevents the specific effects of the broken condition. A black blade can still take damage--or even be destroyed--if it has at least 1 point in its arcane pool, it just won't take the additional penalties from the broken condition.
The name of a class feature (in this case, "unbreakable") is flavor text, not rules text.
Magus, Spell Combat: What spells can I cast when using spell combat?
The relevant text of the ability is:
"As a full-round action, he can make all of his attacks with his melee weapon at a –2 penalty and can also cast any spell from the magus spell list with a casting time of 1 standard action (any attack roll made as part of this spell also takes this penalty)."
The spell you cast when using spell combat has to be a magus spell you know, and it must be a magus spell prepared with one of your magus spell slots.
(Other magus abilities may modify what spells can be used with spell combat. For example, the broad study magus arcana explicitly states the magus can use spell combat to cast spells from the selected non-magus spellcasting class.)
Magus, Spellstrike: If I cast a spell that allows multiple touch attacks, can I deliver all of those spell touches through my weapon?
Yes. For example, if you cast chill touch (which allows multiple touch attacks), you could use spellstrike to cast and deliver the spell through your weapon, and in later weapon attacks you could use your weapon to deliver the remaining spell touch attacks (one spell touch attack per weapon attack).
If you have multiple attacks per round with that weapon (such as from having a BAB of +6 or higher), you can use the weapon to deliver multiple spell touch attacks per round, so long as you have uses of that spell touch attack remaining.
For example, if you are an 8th-level magus (BAB +6/+1) and you cast chill touch, you have up to 8 uses of that spell touch attack. If you make two weapon attacks in a round, you can deliver two spell touch attacks per round (one for each successful weapon attack).
Monk: Can a qinggong monk take a second archetype if the character doesn't swap out abilities the second archetype requires?
Yes. However, the other archetype takes priority over the various abilities granted at each level, and the character can't delay taking an ability that the other archetype replaces—he must allow the second archetype to replace the standard ability at the standard class level.
For example, the monk of the healing hand archetype (APG) replaces
wholeness of body (7th level)
diamond body (11th level)
quivering palm (15th level)
perfect self (20th level).
A qinggong monk who also wants to take the monk of the healing hand archetype has to let the healing hand archetype replace all four of those abilities at those specific class levels. The qinggong monk is still free to replace any standard monk abilities at the other class levels listed in the qinggong monk archetype (slow fall at 4th, high jump at 5th, and so on), so long as selecting those abilities doesn't interfere with acquiring the healing hand abilities at the correct levels.
Note that if the second archetype replaces a standard monk ability, the character cannot select that replaced ability at a later monk level. For example, the qinggong/healing hand monk can never select wholeness of body, even at a level higher than 7th. In effect, the character has selected wholeness of body at 7th and immediately replaced it with a healing hand ability; as the qinggong archetype only lets you select an ability later if the character "selects a different ki power in place of a standard monk ability" (which didn't occur), that option is not available for the character.
Oracle: For the metal mystery's iron weapon revelation (page 55) and wood mystery's wooden weapon revelation (page 58), how long does the created weapon last?
The weapon lasts 1 minute per oracle level. For both revelations, cut the last sentence referring to non-consecutive minutes and 1-minute increments.
Update: Page 55, Iron Weapon revelation, cut the sentence on page 56 that says "This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be used in 1-minute increments." Page 58, Wooden Weapon revelation, cut the sentence that says "This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be used in 1-minute increments."
Sorcerer, Crossblooded and Wildblooded: Can I take both of these archetypes for the same character?
No, because the archetype rules say none of the alternate class features can replace or alter the same class feature from the class as another alternate class feature. Because the crossblooded and wildblooded sorcerer archetypes both alter the bloodline arcana and bloodline powers, they aren't compatible archetypes.
Note that it is certainly within the GM's purview to allow this combination. However, the character should not be able to use the crossblooded archetype's ability to select a lower-level bloodline power that was replaced by the wildblooded archetype. For example, a wildblooded brutal (abyssal) sorcerer replaces "strength of the abyss" with "wings of the abyss" at 9th level; the character has "paid" for the wildblooded archetype by giving up "strength of the abyss," and can't use the crossblooded bloodline to select "strength of the abyss" as her 15th-level or 20th-level bloodline power.
Sorcerer: Does a sorcerer with the sage bloodline (page 72) use her Int or Cha to determine uses per day of arcane bolt?
The sage sorcerer uses her Int to determine the number of daily uses of her bloodline powers, including arcane bolt. Therefore, whether arcane bolt lists Int or Cha, the sage sorcerer still uses her Int.
The bloodline power lists Cha because that's the standard terminology for sorcerer bloodlines (because all other sorcerers use Cha), and because there may be a way for a non-sorcerer to gain access to that bloodline power, in which case it should be based on Cha (like other sorcerer bloodline powers) instead of Int.
Sorcerer: Does a 20th-level sorcerer with the shaitan bloodline (page 69) gain immunity to electricity and the ability to plane shift to the Plane of Water?
No, that ability should refer to acid and the Plane of Earth.
Update: Page 69, change the last ability of the shaitan bloodline from "immune to electricity damage" to "immune to acid damage." Change "Plane of Water" to "Plane of Earth."
Sorcerer: In the maestro bloodline bonus feats, where can I find the Mystic Motif feat?
The Mystic Motif feat was cut in development (it altered the appearance of your spells and increased the Spellcraft DC to recognize them, which wasn't much of a benefit compared to the cost of a feat). Replace it with Lingering Performance** (an APG feat).
Sorcerer: In the rakshasa bloodline feats (page 68), where can I find Deceptive and Mystic Motif?
The Deceptive feat should be the Deceitful feat.
The Mystic Motif feat was cut in development (it altered the appearance of your spells and increased the Spellcraft DC to recognize them, which wasn't much of a benefit compared to the cost of a feat). Replace it with Empower Spell.
Update: Page 68, rakshasa bloodline bonus feats, change "Deceptive" to "Deceitful." Delete "Mystic Motif" and add "Empower Spell" to the list of bloodline feats.
Summoner: Can a synthesist (page 80) make attacks from his own body (such as manufactured weapons, unarmed strikes, or natural attacks) and attacks from the fused eidolon in the same round?
Yes, but the fused character's natural attacks are still subject to the Maximum Attacks entry in the table for an eidolon of his level. For example, a 1st-level synthesist is limited to 3 natural attacks per round, whether those natural attacks are from the eidolon, the synthesist, or a combination of the two.
If the synthesist wants to use his eidolon's natural attacks and use his own manufactured weapons or natural weapons in the same round, his eidolon needs to have enough limbs to account for all of these attacks. For example, a gnome synthesist fused with a two-armed biped eidolon has two arms it can use to make attacks; if the synthesist wants to make claw attacks with his eidolon's claws and also make weapon attacks (such as with a dagger or staff), he needs to give his eidolon additional arms evolutions to hold those weapons (as an extension of the summoner's own limbs)--a two-armed eidolon can't make two claw attacks and also make a dagger attack or staff attack in the same round.
Remember that the synthesist is still subject to the rules of combining manufactured weapon attacks and natural weapon attacks in the same round (in that the natural weapons are always considered secondary and therefore have a -5 attack penalty).
Remember also that the summoner is wearing the eidolon like a biological, all-encompassing "suit," and the eidolon's shape limits what the summoner can do. If the eidolon doesn't have arms, the summoner can't use his own arms to manipulate objects, make attacks, cast somatic spells, or anything else requiring arms--while fused, the summoner's limbs are trapped within the armless eidolon-suit, and he isn't able to use them to manipulate things. The summoner isn't able to extend his own body parts outside of the eidolon-suit; if he wants to be able to manipulate things with arms, the eidolon needs arms (though tentacles are sufficient for simple tasks).
(Note: It is a matter of flavor and player's preference whether the synthesist floats immobile within the eidolon-suit and its limbs move at his mental command, if the synthesist moves his own arms and the eidolon-suit's arms echo this movement, or if the eidolon-suit is more form-fitting and the flesh-enveloping limbs move in direct response to the synthesist's own movements.)
Note: This clarifies an earlier FAQ error where the summoner's weapon attacks counted toward the number of attacks on the table.
Summoner: Can a synthesist (page 80) benefit from the Skilled evolution even though his eidolon doesn't have skills of its own? What about the Ability Score Increase evolution applied to a mental ability score?
If the synthesist's eidolon has the Skilled evolution, the synthesist gains the bonus to that skill.
If the synthesist applies the Increased Ability Score evolution to the eidolon's mental ability score, it has no effect on the synthesist because he uses his own mental ability scores.
Summoner: Can a synthesist (page 80) use spells on himself that don't affect outsiders, even though he is treated as his own type or the outsider type, "whichever is worse"?
Yes, because the normal eidolon's share spells ability says "A summoner may cast spells on his eidolon even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the eidolon's type (outsider)," and the synthesist archetype doesn't change that.
Note: This is a revision of an earlier question that used enlarge person as an example. FAQ pending about size-changing magic and a synthesist (because of the limitation of "the eidolon must be at least the same size as the synthesist" rule).
Summoner: Can a synthesist (page 80) use the aspect ability to apply the improved natural armor evolution to himself? Will this stack with the improved natural armor of the eidolon-suit?
A synthesist can use aspect to increase his own natural armor. However, when fused, he gains the eidolon's natural armor bonus, so this doesn't stack with his own natural armor bonus.
(Using the ability in this way is still useful for times when the eidolon is banished, dead, or dismissed.)
Summoner: Does a synthesist (page 80) keep any armor bonuses or other benefits from his armor when he is fused with his eidolon?
No. The eidolon is, in effect, the synthesist's armor, and any armor the synthesist wears does not function while the eidolon is present. Fortunately, this doesn't mean the synthesist has to remove his armor when wearing the eidolon, and when the eidolon is banished/dismissed/killed, the summoner's worn armor immediately begins functioning again.
Summoner: Does a synthesist (page 80) use his own Hit Dice or his eidolon's Hit Dice for evolutions based on Hit Dice, such as Breath Weapon and Web? What about his BAB for making attacks?
The synthesist uses the eidolon's Hit Dice for the effects of evolutions, not his summoner Hit Dice or his total Hit Dice.
When fused, use the eidolon's BAB instead of the summoner's class BAB, and add in BAB from other sources as normal. For example, a fighter 19/summoner 1 normally has a total BAB of +19 (+19 from fighter, +0 from summoner), and when fused with his eidolon this increases to +20 (+19 from fighter, +1 from the 1st-level eidolon).
Summoner: How does a synthesist (page 80) heal damage to his eidolon?
Because the eidolon gives the synthesist temporary hit points rather than having a separate pool of normal hit points, effects that cure hit points don't restore the eidolon's temporary hit points. This technically leaves you unable to heal the eidolon. To remedy this, effects that specifically restore hp to an eidolon (such as rejuvenate eidolon) restore temporary hit points to a synthesist's eidolon. This does mean those spells end up as a sort of must-have "spell tax" for synthesists, but the advantage of being a synthesist is your eidolon's hp are a buffer between you and damage, unlike a normal summoner who can be targeted separately from his eidolon.
Even the Fast Healing evolution, or other fast healing or regeneration effects, restore hit points rather than temporary hit points, so they heal the summoner, not the eidolon's temporary hit points.
Summoner: If a synthesist (page 80) takes the swallow whole evolution, does he use his own hp or the eidolon's temporary hp to determine the hp of the "stomach"?
Use the summoner's hp to determine this. Obviously the summoner isn't actually swallowing the target, so it's merely contained within the eidolon-suit, but the hp of the "stomach" is based on actual hp, not temporary hp, so it's simpler to use the summoner's hp rather than create a specific exception to have this based on the eidolon-suit's temporary hp. Fortunately, this means effects that boost a summoner's hp (such as bear's endurance) increase the hp of the "stomach."
Summoner: What happens when a synthesist (page 80) takes ability damage or drain while the eidolon is present?
The eidolon takes Str, Dex, and Con damage or drain, the summoner takes Int, Wis, or Cha damage or drain. If this bring's the eidolon's Str or Dex to 0, the fused summoner/eidolon is helpless (though he can still dismiss the eidolon). If this brings the eidolon's Con to 0, it dies and returns to its home plane. If the eidolon goes away (whether dismissed, banished, or killed), the summoner immediately begins using his own Str, Dex, and Con.
There is no "spillover" for extra ability damage or drain beyond what it takes to reduce the eidolon to 0; if an eidolon with Constitution 1 takes 3 points of Con damage and dies, the summoner doesn't take the "extra" 2 points of Con damage. However, ongoing effects (like continuing poison damage) would affect the (non-fused) summoner after the eidolon disappeared.
Remember also that the eidolon does not heal naturally. Just like hit point damage, any ability damage or drain the eidolon has persists between when it is banished/dismissed/killed and when it is resummoned. The exception is an eidolon killed by Con damage (which, if resummoned, would still be at 0 Con and immediately die and vanish); in this situation, the resummoned eidolon is cured of 1 point of ability damage or drain so the amount of damage or drain is 1 less than its actual Constitution score, allowing it to live.
Effects that cure ability damage or drain work on the eidolon's ability scores when it is summoned.
Summoner: What happens when a synthesist (page 80) takes a penalty, suffers an affliction, or has an ongoing effect when the eidolon disappears?
These effects persist on the summoner after the eidolon is gone. For example, a ray of enfeeblement on the fused character continues to affect the summoner after the eidolon is gone, as would a bestow curse spell or acid arrow spell, as would continuing poison damage. These effects apply to the character as a whole, and just because the eidolon is gone doesn't mean the summoner is freed from the effect (ability damage is tracked separately, as described in another FAQ, because it is a separate game statistic that the summoner "borrows" from the eidolon). If the condition or effect ends (whether from its duration running out, being cured/negated/dispelled, and so on) while the eidolon is gone, it doesn't return when the eidolon is resummoned. This applies to beneficial effects as well as harmful ones--an invisible summoner isn't suddenly visible if his eidolon disappears, nor does he become invisible again if the duration ran out while the eidolon was gone.
Witch, Ice Tomb Hex: What is the range of this hex? Can it affect objects? Does the target need to drink? Can it affect a cold-immune creature? If the target succeeds at its save, is it still imprisoned? How long does it last?
Like most major hexes, the range is 60 feet.
In the second printing of Ultimate Magic, the text says, "A storm of ice and freezing wind envelops the creature...," so it only affects creatures, not objects.
The target doesn't need to eat, breathe, or drink.
The general assumption for effects is if the creature negates the damage from the effect, the creature isn't subject to additional effects from that attack (such as DR negating the damage from a poisoned weapon, which means the creature isn't subject to the poison). Therefore, a cold-immune creature takes no damage from the hex and can't be imprisoned by it.
A target that succeeds at its save takes half damage and is not imprisoned.
Under temperate conditions, the ice lasts 1 minute per witch level. In tropical environments it might only last half as long. In cold environments where ice and snow persist without melting, it might last indefinitely.
Future printings of Ultimate Magic will incorporate these clarifications.
Witch, Scar Hex: Does the scar hex (page 81) have any effect on the target's Diplomacy or other social skills, or any other effects?
The hex needs some clarification and a little bump.
First, the sentence "These scars do not hinder the target's actions or abilities in any way" is there to indicate that you can't scar over a target's eyes to make them blind, ears to make them deaf, or mouth and nose to keep them from breathing. However, large, visible scars may have a positive or negative effect for the target, depending on who he's interacting with--a tribal culture may see scarification as the mark of a deadly warrior, while the upper echelons of a decadent urban nobility may see scars as a sign of childhood poverty or general thuggishness. Rather than trying to present a system of game mechanics for all these possibilities, the GM should use the Fiat Rule (Core Rulebook page 403) to modify Bluff, Disguise, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks as appropriate for interactions with the scarred target.
Second, the scar is a magical curse, and it should persist through changing shapes (lycanthropic, the change shape monster ability, polymorph spells, and so on).
Third, the hex needs a range. Touching the target to scar it is thematically appropriate, so the witch has to make a melee touch attack.
Fourth, the hex could benefit from a mechanical boost. Therefore, scarring a creature with the hex has two benefits: the witch can use any of her hexes on that creature at a range of up to one mile, and the witch is considered to have a body part from the target for the purpose of scry and similar divinations.
The book will be updated with these changes, though the exact wording will depend on the space available when the page is typeset.
Update: Witch scar hex, page 81, add notes about skill modifiers, shapechanging persistence, melee touch attack, increased range for other hexes, and scrying boost.
Antagonize: The DC to use the Antagonize feat (page 143) is listed as being equal to the target's Hit Dice + the target's Wisdom modifier. Is this correct?
No. The DC to use the Antagonize feat should be 10 + the target's Hit Dice + the target's Wisdom modifier.
Update: Page 143, in the Antagonize feat, in the benefits section, in the first paragraph, second sentence, change "DC equal to the target's Hit Dice" to "DC equal to 10 + the target's Hit Dice".
Blighted Critical (page 143): What are the prerequisites for this feat? The table doesn't match the feat entry (page 144).
The text on page 143 is correct. Likewise, the text for Blighted Critical Mastery (page 143) and Greater Blighted Critical (pages 151-152) shouldn't list Critical Focus as a prerequisite, nor should the table entry for all three feats on page 144.
Update: Page 143, Blighted Critical Mastery, remove "Critical Focus" from the Prerequisites. Page 151, Blighted Critical, remove "Critical Focus" from the Prerequisites on page 152. Page 144, Blighted Critical/Greater Blighted Critical/Blighted Critical Mastery, remove "Critical Focus" from the Prerequisites.
Choose Fate: Where is the choose fate spell, which is mentioned in the witch ancestor patron and one of the spellbooks in Chapter 2?
The spell was cut from the book during development. In the witch ancestor patron (page 83) and the Library of the Dancer of Skins spellbook (page 126), replace it with weird.
Update: Page 83, change choose fate to weird. Page 126, change choose fate to weird.
Cold Ice Strike (page 211): What are the components for this spell? Is its casting time 1 swift action?
The Components should be: V, S
The casting time is 1 swift action.
The Range should be 30 ft. and the Area should be a 30-ft. line. All references to "cone" in the spell description should be "line."
Update: Page 211, cold ice strike, after Casting Time, add a line with "Components V, S." Change Range to "30 ft." Change Area to "30-ft. line." Change two references in the spell description from "cone" to "line."
Edit: Removed reference to M component in this FAQ entry.
Fleshworm Infestation (page 220): What is the significance of the "preparation time" line?
That line is a leftover from a subsystem that was discarded in development. It has no effect in the printed version of the spell, and you may disregard it for this spell and any other in which it appears.
Update: Page 220, fleshworm infestation, cut the Preparation Time line.
Terrible Remorse: If I make my saving throw against terrible remorse (page 243), do I become paralyzed for the duration of the spell?
No. The spell is a bit unclear here. When you are targeted by terrible remorse you do not make a saving throw until your turn. On your turn, you must make a Will saving throw. If you make the saving throw, you are frozen with sorrow and can take no actions, but this causes the spell to end. If you fail the saving throw, you deal damage to yourself, but can otherwise act normally.
Update: Page 243, in the description of the terrible remorse spell, change the final sentence to read as follows.
If the creature saves, it is instead frozen with sorrow for 1 round, during which time it can take no actions and takes a -2 penalty to Armor Class, after which the spell ends.
Construct Armor (page 114): How do attacks target the construct armor? Do I gain its resistances, immunities, and other defenses? What are the "benefits" and "hindrances" mentioned in this section? Does wearing it affect your speed?
The construct armor is treated as breastplate for the purpose of AC. If something targets you, it must first hit your AC. If it hits you, the attack has to get through the construct's DR or hardness and its hit points. In effect, the construct armor acts much like a pool of temporary hit points: you don't take any damage from attacks that target your AC until the construct is destroyed.
Attacks that bypass your AC bypass this protection and affects you normally (this includes most area effects). If the construct is resistant or immune to a particular attack, the attack bypasses this protection and affects you normally. Basically, the construct armor is good at mitigating damage from melee and ranged attacks, but doesn't protect you like you were the actual construct.
For example, a wood golem is immune to and healed by cold; if you're wearing wood golem armor, hitting you with a ray of frost doesn't harm the armor, heals the armor if the attack deals at least 3 points of cold damage, and deals 1d3 points of cold damage to you. Fortunately, you don't gain the construct's weaknesses; just because a wood golem has vulnerability to fire doesn't mean you take 150% fire damage when wearing wood golem armor.
The "benefits" in this section refer to the construct armor counting as breastplate and to its hit point buffer against melee and ranged attacks. The "penalties" in this section refer to the construct armor counting as breastplate.
Because the "counts as breastplate" section doesn't say it affects your speed (presumably because the construct is partially animate and able to help you move), it does not affect your speed.
Update: Page 114—In the Construct Armor modification, in the first paragraph, in the second sentence, change “first target the construct” to “damage the construct.” In the third sentence, change “regains all the hindrances” to “retains all the hindrances.”
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