Contract Devil and whips


Rules Questions


Sorry if I'm being a bit dense(r) today.

Our boy here is a Phistophilus, aka Contract Devils. They can magically use the contracts they wear as lethal damage whips. Ok until here.

Now: as they don't have any special feats regarding whips.
1. Would they generate AoO when attacking, as doing with a real whip would? Or they don't because "they can wield these contracts like whips" but they are not really whips?

2. A real whip allows you to attack with reach but you don't threaten those squares. The Phistophilus has reach "5 ft. (10 ft. with binding contract)". Is that real-reach or whip-like reach?

3. "A contract devil can use its binding contract to disarm and trip foes as if the contract were a whip" but his Impale (Ex) states: "a contract devil can impale an opponent grappled by its binding contract". And you can't grapple with a whip without special feats, right? Or again, "it looks like a whip but..."


Treat it as if the paper in their hand was replaced with a whip straight from the rulebooks. No difference. So reach, threat, AoOs, etc. are the same as if they are a whip.

If they don't have the feats listed then they don't get them.

That would be my interpretation.


So, while strictly speaking pinkycatcher is correct I think that is probably a really bad way to run it.

I would run the creature based on intent as written. He is proficient with the whip, he has 10ft reach with his whip (but doesn't threaten), doesn't provoke an AoO using the whip, and can grapple with the whip as if he had the appropriate feat.

I think a lot of the monsters are written by people who are not so intimately familiar with the rules as they are and don't realize the restriction placed on using whips through all the feats. It's difficult to know for certain, but I think it's better to go with the idea of the intention of how it was written then to nerf it into being an overly weak enemy.


Solved one of the doubts: the Phistophilus Binding Contract attack has the grab special quality, so that's how they grapple with their whip-like contracts.

Thank you for your input, specially Claxon ;)

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