Okay, I have lots of questions about things that I am still getting a handle on.
1. Does the Ifrit's racial fire resistance stack with the fire resistance gained from being an elemental fire sorcerer?
2. I have the Aasimar, Tiefling, Goblin, and Orc racial books. Aside from the Advanced Race Guide, what other racial books does Paizo have out? I was thinking of perhaps getting something on elves or dwarves. In particular, I am interested in character traits.
3. A PC of mine has chosen to go for the two handed weapon version of the Fighter. However, a lot of the powers kinda confuse me, given how they are worded. First, does Overhand Chop stack with Backswing, so that the Fighter adds double his Strength bonus to damage for all of his attacks?
Second, does Overhand Chop and Backswing stack with the bonus you get for wielding a weapon 2 handed in the first place (50% extra damage)? So a Fighter with an 18 Strength would get 4 (strength) + 2 (2 handed weapon) + 4 for Overhand Chop and Backswing, for a total of + 10?!
I know the description of the APG (page 108) doesn't say anything about these features not stacking. It just says that they replace Armor Training 1 & 2
4. Is the price (25gp) for just one dose of Bloodblock? Or are there multiple doses in that price, like 10 just like the Healer's Kit?
5. Casting Plaster, what conditions would it take to produce a broken bone in Pathfinder? I've never heard of any form of D&D which refers to having to use a cast or splint on a limb.
6. What the hairy heck is the Abacus used for? No game stats are listed. In fact, several items are listed that don't have any effect on game rolls at all. What game effects do using Loaded Dice or Marked Cards have?
7. Lots of items are listed which grant bonuses on Survival checks to avoid getting lost, like the Map Maker's Kit, Sextant, Astrolabe, Compass. Do these circumstance bonuses stack, assuming you use them all?
8. Are there any rules for hangovers? One would think Alchemist's Kindness to not be necessary if there weren't.
1: I guess not. But if I remember right you can trade your racial resistance for something else.
2: There's at least a dwarf race book.
4: One. And some GMs think it is much too strong for the price.
6: An abacus is an old (very old) form of calculating aid.
Abacus at wikipedia
7: If they are the same kind of bonus like circumstance they do not stack.
1. How do you know? I talked with one of the writers on FB, and he said they didn't like it when something was negated entirely, that it should do something.
6. I know what it is. What I want to know is, what possible use could they be in a game?
I shall probably hunt down the dwarves book. Since I use 3.5's Forgotten Realms, I just want it for the game mechanics.
For #3, as I understand it it goes like this:
If you make only one attack, you get double your strength to that attack (i.e. Vital Strike, Charge, triggered readied action, AoO, etc.)
If you make a full attack, the first swing gets only the standard 1.5x Str that all two-handed combatants get. Every iterative attack, however, gets 2x Str to damage.
You don't get 1.5+2 Str in any case. The 2x Str is superseding the normal 1.5x rule when conditions are valid.
1. He knows because he saw it ... somewhere. Just like how it says you generally don't stack bonuses of the same type, or how it says you don't add Spell Resistances from different sources. Some writer's opinion doesn't change the official rules.
I usually have sympathy for a player who gains an ability a second time -- if they've already selected a feat and they later would gain it as a class ability, I might give them an open feat slot instead of saying it does nothing.
Still, I suspect Ifrit partially compansates for this. Fire Affinity gives you higher Charisma for your Fire spells. This may have been written as a compensation for overlapping Resistance. It otherwise seems a little strange to me that, while trying to make a balanced race, they'd give it a racial ability that does nothing if you aren't of a small subset of classes.
2. Paizo has books for Humans, Gnomes, Halflings, Elves and Dwarves as well. They're all written for Golarion, but not all of them are Pathfinder system -- still, I think that Halflings and Humans are pretty recent books. I don't know if there are any others.
6. I don't know of any game effect an abacus would have. Similarly, plenty of items don't have game effects -- you don't NEED a bedroll to get a good night's sleep. I think these items are there to satisfy players who want to buy something but otherwise wouldn't know how much to pay.
Aside from that, GMs are free to assign bonuses or penalties if they think something deserves it. Some GMs might suggest that dealing with very large numbers mentally could be prone to error ... others might treat an abacus as having a bonus to certain Professions. Similarly, GMs are likely to give characters benefits when trying to cheat at cards if they have marked cards; though Pathfinder hasn't picked an 'official' system for gambling and cheating, and D&D has seen so many different treatments that it'd be impossible to cover even the most popular with limited page-space.
7. From memory, I want to say that Circumstance bonus can stack, at the GM's discretion.
If so, you might want to read a little into HOW these tools work -- while a map and a compass can help you in different ways, others might have overlapping purposes. For example, a compass and a star chart can both help you navigate by telling you which way is north, but that might not merit more than the single +2 bonus in the same situation. However, each might have its use -- a compass would be more useful when you can't see the stars, and a star chart would be better when magnetic activity is affecting the compass.
8. I've seen both a module and an AP treat drunken NPCs as being Sickened.
1: I guess not. But if I remember right you can trade your racial resistance for something else.
6: An abacus is an old (very old) form of calculating aid.
Abacus at wikipedia7: If they are the same kind of bonus like circumstance they do not stack.
To go into some more detail
1:Wildfire Heart Ifrits with this trait are as swift and dangerous as a blazing wildfire. They gain a +4 racial bonus on initiative checks. This racial trait replaces energy resistance.
So you can exchange your racial fire resistance for a nice bonus to initiative if you know you'll get fire resistance from your class.
6: You could rule that the abacus gives a bonus to certain checks. Some appraise checks or some knowledge checks where mathmatics are involved. Or even checks to avoid getting lost on a larger scale. Like when sailing on the open sea with no land in visual range.
Me, I'm inclined to simply allow them to stack. Just seems like a lot of bother and anal retentiveness to have a race that is made to be a elemental fire sorcerer to not have the resistances stack.
I had an idea. What about only allowing those players whose PC's had an abacus to use calculators for their own benefit? Like when figuring out how much moolah can be had from the sale of gear they've found during the game?
So, you guys are saying that the 2x Strength damage replaces the 1.5 damage? If that is true, why wasn't it noted in the description?
I'll check out the definition of sickened. Really, something as common as being hung over should be noted in game rules, especially since wine etc is on sale in the core book.
Also, I think it kinda scuzzy to have Aasimars able to have a +4 to Int, Cha, or Wis (if they give up their spell like ability) making them the best Wizard, Sorcerer, or Cleric around, and not have Elves or other player races etc have the same option. Makes for boring racial selection if all people take are Tieflings or Aasimar variants.
Turns out actually being drunk is Sickened according to the GMG, therefore a hangover wouldn't be as intense. Whaddya think, maybe being Staggered for a hangover?
Turns out page 237 of the GMG says that drunkenness is achieved once you slug down a number of drinks equal to your Con score. Based on that, I would guess ale would be twice as potent as wine, therefore a mug of ale would be 2 drinks, while the same amount of wine would be one drink. I don't know if fine wine is more potent than regular wine.