How to make the 'nails' witch hex useful?


Advice


Ok, I am making a witch PC and I want her to act in a certain way that fits her personal story and character. Regarding the combat aspects of the PC, I want her to have spellcasting as her primary mode of attack (obviously) and the magical/savage part of her as a secondary one. For that reason I want to choose the 'nails' and 'prehensile hair' hexes in order to use them in times of rage and anger against my enemies. The problem is that all those attacks are secondary, which means that they impose a -5 penalty to the attack roll, making them useless.

Is there a combination of feats that could be used to ease out the penalties?


not really. Unless you are planning on multiclassing, it won't be as good later on without buffing yourself. The best thing would be weapon focus (nails or hair) since PCs can't take Multi-Attack.

You might also want to look at the Hexcrafter magus archetype. They get hexes as well, and are better at melee and survivability.


I understand it not being that good at higher levels and that is acceptable. The problem is that it isn't good at any level. Can I at least make it usable at low levels?


You could always just take the whitehaired witch archtype give up all hexxes to boost your hair skills. It won't help with the nail thing but it would boost your hair, and increase it's reach every level I beleive


My understanding of the Natural Weapon rules is that if a human (or other creature without natural attacks) gains a single natural attack, and uses it without other attacks, the natural attack is considered a primary natural attack.

I think that means that a human with Prehensile Hair can attack with only the hair, and attack at full BAB, INT bonus to hit, and 1.5 'STR' (That is, 1.5 INT bonus, for Prehensile Hair) bonus to damage.

If the witch also tries to use a dagger, for instance, the Prehensile Hair becomes secondary, which would be BAB-5+INT to hit, INT/2 bonus to damage. Which is not a BAD deal, because the dagger attack is as good as it ever was going to be. The hair is just a bonus.

I should say that my current GM has ruled my Prehensile Hair is always at -5, and half the stat bonus to damage. And he's a VO, so there's obviously still room for disagreement.

I think the first three paragraphs of this post are entirely correct, and I would love to be supported or corrected by a designer.

Good luck, OP.


Interesting points Thornborn.

It seems logical that no creature can have ONLY secondary attacks.

I would like to hear more opinions on this.


You might want to talk with your GM(if it isn't society) about giving the nails or hair a secondary effect. The hair has 10 foot reach and the scar has its mark related abilities, why not give nails something to make it worth your time?


I have already tried but he is way too stuck in the rules.


Ew... In that case how about Scarred Witch Doctor. There are a series of feats to land your hexes in combat with your melee attacks. Constitution based and free natural armor to help keep you alive in combat. It also has a wierd fetish mask instead of a familiar which you can easily refluff into any sort of mask you like. I like mouthgaurds and mask you wear for hats myself(Wild concepts like anime always gave me a ton of inspiration for this kind of thing). Doesn't actually have to be an orc with racial heritage. Its something to look at, nails on their own are pretty meh unfortunately.


I've always wondered could you use the hair to deliver touch attacks? I mean it is technically a part of you, and I don't know of a rule off the top of my head that would specifically prohibit it


Pretty sure you can. Don't see why you wouldn't. Setting someone on fire with your hair sounds awesome.


I know right?

Shadow Lodge

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber
Thornborn wrote:

My understanding of the Natural Weapon rules is that if a human (or other creature without natural attacks) gains a single natural attack, and uses it without other attacks, the natural attack is considered a primary natural attack.

I think that means that a human with Prehensile Hair can attack with only the hair, and attack at full BAB, INT bonus to hit, and 1.5 'STR' (That is, 1.5 INT bonus, for Prehensile Hair) bonus to damage.

If the witch also tries to use a dagger, for instance, the Prehensile Hair becomes secondary, which would be BAB-5+INT to hit, INT/2 bonus to damage. Which is not a BAD deal, because the dagger attack is as good as it ever was going to be. The hair is just a bonus.

I should say that my current GM has ruled my Prehensile Hair is always at -5, and half the stat bonus to damage. And he's a VO, so there's obviously still room for disagreement.

I think the first three paragraphs of this post are entirely correct, and I would love to be supported or corrected by a designer.

Good luck, OP.

Thornborn:

Here is a link to a discussion of Prehensile Hair use. SKR weighs in about a third of the way down, with a quote from the PRD which supports your position.

Also, yes, you can use Prehensile Hair to deliver touch spells.


As pointed out, any single-attack from any source is always at full BAB. Attacking just with your hair will thus be quite effective.


Thank you, PH. My GM cites that exact thread in support of his opinion (and ruling) that Prehensile Hair is a secondary attack, even when it's the only natural attack I have.

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