Do you need to enter a stance for these styles?

[thorin001]

Most of the style feats have language similar to "While using this style ..."; however, the following style feats do not:
Dwarven Hatred Style
Elven Battle Style
Illusive Gnome Style
Jabbing Style
Kobold Style
Orc Fury Style
Pummeling Style
Slipslinger Style
Upsetting Shield Style

Is this an oversight or a deliberate omission?

[Nefreet]

Some of them aren't "Style Feats", as confirmed by the PFS Campaign Clarifications document.

So, pretty much, only if the text states that you need to enter into a stance is it actually a "Style Feat".

Why they did this, who knows.

[thorin001]

The only 'not a style' feat I saw was Kraken Style, which, ironically, has the language requiring an action to assume the stance.

[Bob Bob Bob]

So style feats can have benefits that work outside of the style. Crane Style says:

Crane Style wrote:

You take only a –2 penalty on attack rolls for fighting defensively. While using this style and fighting defensively or using the total defense action, you gain an additional +1 dodge bonus to your Armor Class.

The first sentence is always on, the second is only while in the style. The listed styles are just weird in that there doesn't appear to be a benefit to using the style unless you take later feats that require the style (and using the style).

Exceptions to this are Upsetting Shield which is phrased more like Crane (always on benefit and only while in style benefit) and Pummeling Style, which doesn't seem to require that you ever use the style at all.

As far as I can tell, other than the two exceptions, you do not need to enter the style to use the feat. You do need to enter the style if you want to use subsequent feats in the feat chain, but the initial feats are always on.

[CBDunkerson]

thorin001 wrote:

Most of the style feats have language similar to "While using this style ..."; however, the following style feats do not:

Dwarven Hatred Style
Elven Battle Style
Illusive Gnome Style
Jabbing Style
Kobold Style
Orc Fury Style
Pummeling Style
Slipslinger Style
Upsetting Shield Style

Is this an oversight or a deliberate omission?

Upsetting Shield Style does have "While using this style..." wording.

As for the rest, the general rules for style feats state that you have to spend a swift action during combat to enter the stance required to gain the benefits of that style and you have to be in that stance to use other feats in the style chain. Thus, many take this to mean that whether (or where) the style feat itself says 'While using this style' is irrelevant... all the benefits only apply while using the style.

The alternate view is effectively that the general rule must be restated each time or it no longer applies and only things specifically designated as 'While using this style' in the feat itself require stance activation.

This is an open debate which has not been answered by a FAQ or developer comment. Personally, I think it is fairly clear that the general rule applies all the time, but you will never get agreement on that unless an official FAQ is written.

[Weirdo]

My take is that all feats labelled "Style" require you to activate that style to receive the benefits, whether they say you need to do so or not, because the default rules apply.

The exception is if a feat says "When using this style" halfway through the feat. This implies that that specific feat has some benefits that apply without actively using the style and some that apply only when in the appropriate stance, since otherwise the phrase "when using this style" would appear before listing any benefits or else would be omitted.

Wouldn't trust this for PFS (I think this inference is more RAI than RAW) but seems fair & logical to me.

[Bronsonfu]

Nefreet wrote:

Some of them aren't "Style Feats", as confirmed by the PFS Campaign Clarifications document.

So, pretty much, only if the text states that you need to enter into a stance is it actually a "Style Feat".

Why they did this, who knows.

there is only ONE "style" feat in all of pathfinder that is NOT a "style" feat and that is 'scorpion style' introduced in the core rule book.

Ultimate combat first introduced style feats and the mechanics of having to enter a style as a swift action, which granted you the benefit of that style and its 2 follow up combat feats if you have them.

every style feat you listed is in fact a style feat.

You MUST enter a style as a swift action to gain its benefits (only exception is for the monk archtype, Master of many styles).

Here is a direct quote from the PFS Campaign Clarifications document.

The Kraken Throttle and Kraken Wrack feats are not style feats.

what the document is trying to clarify is that any follow up feats that work only during a certain style feat are not style feats themselves, meaning they are passive abilities or options that only exist to you once you have entered your style (kraken style in this case). This wording is specifically meant for the master of many styles monk who cant take a follow up feat to one of his style feats as one of his bonus feats since it is not a style feat itself.

Oops, just misread that last bit about master of many styles being unable to take feats in style feat path please disregard my crossed out text.