The things you want:
Agile Amulet of Mighty Fists (4,000 gp): use dex instead of str for damage on natural weapons and unarmed strikes.
Weapon Finesse (feat): use dex instead of str for attack rolls (and the trip, disarm, and sunder maneuvers)
Agile Maneuvers (feat): use dex instead of str for all combat maneuvers (including grab)
I don't think Constrict or Swallow Whole have any way to use dex for damage, because they are special attacks (not natural weapons) so the amulet doesn't apply to them.
no bonus to damage from weapon finesse... it doesn't let you stun all enemies in a 1 mile radius either.
weapon finesse works for SOME maneuvers, basically trip/disarm/sunder, but not grapple.
there is the agile maneuver feat to use DEX for ALL maneuver's CMB check. also doesn't apply to damage :-)
...i thought this thread would be about the serpentine eidolon's move speed somehow...
You could make it a weapon wielder and go the Dervish Dance route for Dex to damage.
Bonus points because serpents wielding scimitars actually kinda fits flavor-wise
So not damage. Is there any way to switch from Str to Dex for Attack Bonuses?
weapon finesse (normal attacks and trip/sunder/disarm) with 'eligible' weapons. or agile maneuvers (all CMBs) regardless of weapon.
Also, thanks, I just noticed I got my feats mixed up! And as for the constrict, etc, will Agile Maneuvers work on checks made to swallow and hold enemies during the grapple?
yes, on all CMB checks, even weird ones :-)
But technically, the body part I'm using to Grab(Bite) them is the weapon I have finesse with... so would it allow me to get the bonus because of that?
saying 'the weapon [you] have finesse with' is kind of misleading, since weapon finesse applies to ALL finessable weapons (but that includes natural weapons, so you're good).
to your question... i honestly have no idea, i've asked that question before (and for similar scenarios, such as barbarian knockback which lets you do a normally non-weapon-using bullrush in place of a melee attack, which is thus using a weapon), but no answer. i would rule yes, but i have no idea what is the official intent there.
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Intent? As in what I want to do with it? I visualize my eidolon reaching out with her bite, grabbing a victim and pulling them in, constricting them until she can eat them whole. (another thing, can she attempt to disarm a grappled opponent so they don't get to hurt her from inside and therefore have a higher chance of digesting them?)
no. not what you intend to do. official intent. as in how do the official rules developers, paizo, intend for the rule to function.
If a creature with this special attack begins its turn with an opponent grappled in its mouth (see Grab), it can attempt a new combat maneuver check (as though attempting to pin the opponent). If it succeeds, it swallows its prey, and the opponent takes bite damage. Unless otherwise noted, the opponent can be up to one size category Smaller than the swallowing creature. Being swallowed causes a creature to take damage each round. The amount and type of damage varies and is given in the creature’s Statistics. A swallowed creature keeps the grappled condition, while the creature that did the swallowing does not. A swallowed creature can try to cut its way free with any light slashing or piercing weapon (the amount of cutting damage required to get free is equal to 1/10 the creature’s total hit points), or it can just try to escape the grapple.
Thar ye goo.
That's from the Universal Monster Rules for Swallow Whole by the way, if you need to find it again.
i agree to just go with STR.
...that is another vague rules issue that i'm not aware of official intent on.
i think the swallow-er should no longer be grappled, and the swallow-ed should be grappled without the swallow-er needing to continue to maintain. If you go by a strict reading, the swallow-ed is still grappled normally and could reverse the grapple from inside the stomach. I don't like that, but the Rules As Written just don't really say otherwise.
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Argh... Rathyr I'm starting to see just how expensive Dex gets both in terms of cash and feats/evolutions...
Along with that, I don't want to have my eidolon be huge all the time. From the RP perspective, this Eidolon is supposed to be a kind of adopted parent. She looks like a Lamia, half snake from the waist down.
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Ok, I just imagined the woman part of her trying to eat a human whole.
Donotwant.jpg.gif.dat
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Ok, now I need to take this thread elsewhere as I go beat my head against the wall to figure out what I want to do with this Eidolon. It started off as a snake so it could eventually eat victims, but... ew.
Dancing snake, huh? Doesn't sound like a bad idea... Maybe I'll pick up Ultimate Magic and toss in a few spells.
Btw, if anybody has any creative ideas to help me make my Eidolon more like Alipheese Fateburn from MGQ, I'm all ears. (yes, terribly uncreative of me to base my eidolon on an already existing character, but that girl is just... something else)
What is MGQ?
I mean a quick search pulls up the wiki and such but it gives no real info on this person nor does it provide a picture or say anything about her battle tactics, etc.
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The long story, Raviel, is that Alice would absolutely have all her stuff based on Strength. Now, you absolutely don't have to have your eidolon as Large or Huge- those are awesome mechanically, but you're far from required to use them. You can just as easily stack the +2 to ability score evolutions on Strength (though there is a limit) instead.
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Rynjin, MGQ is Monster Girl Quest, and Alice's battle tactics are usually just raw strength, although she also has the ability to cast powerful magic (which I'll probably have to skip just to stay within evolution point bounds)
Seranov, I hadn't thought about that, you're right! It seems a waste to not capitalize on the Serpentine base form's high Dex, but Alice would definitely just smack stuff out of the way. I'll keep that in mind while planning..
Rathyr yes that's right, I forgot about Evo surge! I've been staying away from the size mod spells because in my PFS experience there's been little use for it, but that spell is useful in any way I want. That'll work for when she needs to be huge :D
Don't suppose you thought about using humanoid, buying a tail, and saying it LOOKS serpentine?
Yes. So far as I know you have to pick a base and use those evolutions. But nothing says you can't just pretend it doesn't have legs as long as you follow the rules for leg having creatures.
Is Constrict necessary for your concept though? Constricting seems contrary to the "muscle through it and also use some magic" bit that you want, which could be accomplished easily by buying Claws/Slams and a Bite and tail + Tail Slap, then going for Minor/Major/Ultimate Magic evolutions.
If Constrict is necessary I dunno what to tell you other than pump your +2 attribute evolutions into Str every 5 levels and enjoy the extra AC your Dex would give ya.
and extra AoOs the DEX yields if Combat Reflexes is taken...
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One must wonder, when swallowed whole, can you see anything? Do the innards have total concealment relative to you?
Just some food for thought. ;p
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I would definitely like to include constrict, simply because that is something that will set my Eidolon apart from Bipeds, which are damage kings amongst Eidolons, what with extra reach and (highest?) STR amongst eidolon baseforms. Also, I just came across a neat little feat tree, the Final Embrace. I'm feeling giddy already just thinking about yelling that out near the end of a long, arduous battle :D