Dex to quarterstaff easier way?


Rules Questions


Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

1 level swashbuckler/ 2 level quarterstaff magus human.
Feat 1st weapon focus quarterstaff
Feat 1st versatile weapon(undead slayers handbook)
Class feature swashbuckler finesse
Quarterstaff mastery (1st lvl quarterstaff magus)
Feat 3rd level slashing grace

= dex to hit and damage.

Is there a more economical way?


That doesn't work because Slashing Grace requires a slashing weapon, and quarterstaffs are not slashing weapons. The Weapon Versatility feat (Versatile Weapon is actually a spell) merely lets your staff deal slashing damage while you are wielding it.


Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Weapon versatility (undead slayers handbook):

You can use your favored weapons in unconventional ways.

Prerequisite(s): Weapon Focus, base attack bonus +1

Benefit(s): When wielding a weapon with which you have Weapon Focus, you can shift your grip as a swift action so that your weapon deals bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage instead of the damage type normally dealt by that weapon. You may switch back to the weapon's normal damage type or another damage type as a swift action.

If your base attack bonus is +5 or higher, using this feat is a free action instead.

Changes damage type.


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Weapon Versatility doesn't make your quarterstaff a slashing weapon (it just allows you to deal slashing damage with it), so it does not qualify for Slashing Grace. There is the same problem with Quarterstaff Mastery. The quarterstaff is not a one-handed weapon just because you can wield it as one.


Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

type:

Type
Weapons are classified according to the type of damage they deal: B for bludgeoning, P for piercing, or S for slashing. Some monsters may be resistant or immune to attacks from certain types of weapons.

So If it can deal the damage that is how it is classified.

Simarlary a bastard sword is either a two handed weapon or with special training a one handed weapon. This could be transposed to the quarterstaff using quarterstaff mastery.


Neither feat changes the physical properties of the weapon. The quarterstaff remains a two-handed bludgeoning weapon and therefore does not qualify for Slashing Grace.

Liberty's Edge

Helpful Harry wrote:
There is the same problem with Quarterstaff Mastery. The quarterstaff is not a one-handed weapon just because you can wield it as one.

The existence of the Staff Magus archetype says otherwise.


CBDunkerson wrote:
Helpful Harry wrote:
There is the same problem with Quarterstaff Mastery. The quarterstaff is not a one-handed weapon just because you can wield it as one.
The existence of the Staff Magus archetype says otherwise.

I disagree but play it however you wish.


it is true that while wielding the weapon it IS a slashing weapon however you have to pick a slashing weapon when u take slashing grace and it is not a legal choice at that point to pick quarterstaff.
anything you have that says "while wielding a slashing weapon" do work if you have it set to slashing but it won't let u make illegal choices when you take the feat.

Silver Crusade

Quote:
Simarlary a bastard sword is either a two handed weapon or with special training a one handed weapon.

The bastard sword is a ONE handed exotic weapon, exactly like a falcata. You can wield both 2-handed (like any other one-handed weapon), but this doesn't make either of them a 2-handed weapon for the purpose of an imaginary feat that works EXPLICITLY ONLY on 2-handed weapons. The difference is that, if you don't have the proper proficiency, you don't suffer the -4 penalty on hit when you use the bastard sword 2-handed, while you do when using the falcata.

The same applies for the Slashing Grace feat.


For class abilities, feats, and other rule elements that vary based on or specifically depend on wielding a one-handed weapon, a two-handed weapon, or a one-handed weapon with two hands, the bastard sword counts as however many hands you are using to wield it.

The BAstard Sword is a bad case to use for analogies. It's a weird little monster.


CBDunkerson wrote:
Helpful Harry wrote:
There is the same problem with Quarterstaff Mastery. The quarterstaff is not a one-handed weapon just because you can wield it as one.
The existence of the Staff Magus archetype says otherwise.

No it doesn't It merely lets you use a two handed weapon AS IF it was one handed. It does not make the quaterstaff a one-handed weapon. i.e it does not move it to the one-handed weapon list.


Psi51 wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

So If it can deal the damage that is how it is classified.

Simarlary a bastard sword is either a two handed weapon or with special training a one handed weapon. This could be transposed to the quarterstaff using quarterstaff mastery.

The bastard sword is a one handed exotic weapon. that's where it's found on the weapon charts. It has a unique property that it can be used martially as a two handeded weapon, but that does not change it's position on the weapon lists.

Liberty's Edge

A quarterstaff is physically a two-handed blunt weapon, and thus I would not allow an Effortless Lace to make it work with Weapon Finesse. The physical nature of the item does not change regardless of the abilities of the wielder.

However, if a character has the ability to use a quarterstaff as a one-handed piercing weapon then that changes how the weapon is used and allows it to work with other feats and abilities which work with one-handed piercing weapons.

Thus, a Staff Magus can use a quarterstaff with Spell Combat... their ability to USE it as a one-handed weapon (via Quarterstaff Master) allows it to work with the Spell Combat ability (which requires a one-handed weapon).

Silver Crusade

Quote:

Bastard Sword FAQ wrote:

For class abilities, feats, and other rule elements that vary based on or specifically depend on wielding a one-handed weapon, a two-handed weapon, or a one-handed weapon with two hands, the bastard sword counts as however many hands you are using to wield it.

The BAstard Sword is a bad case to use for analogies. It's a weird little monster.

Nice catch fretgod99! But, you see, it needed a FAQ to be clarified. It's the proverbial exception that confirms the rule.


Psi51 wrote:

1 level swashbuckler/ 2 level quarterstaff magus human.

Feat 1st weapon focus quarterstaff
Feat 1st versatile weapon(undead slayers handbook)
Class feature swashbuckler finesse
Quarterstaff mastery (1st lvl quarterstaff magus)
Feat 3rd level slashing grace

= dex to hit and damage.

Is there a more economical way?

I posted the same question here

This link was pointed out to me. Specifically:

Mark Seifter wrote:


Kudaku wrote:
Something popped up the other day in relation to an Inspired Blade swashbuckler who (understandably) really wants to be able to deal slashing and bludgeoning damage without switching weapons. However a lot of deeds specify that the swashbuckler must be wielding a one-handed piercing weapon.
Weapon Versatility allows the user to switch between dealing piercing, slashing or bludgeoning damage with the same weapon. Does using this feat change the base weapon to the corresponding damage type?
Or to put it more succinctly: If a character is using Weapon Versatility to deal bludgeoning damage with a rapier, is the rapier treated as a one-handed piercing weapon, or a one-handed bludgeoning weapon?

In my game, you'd still okay, but conversely you couldn't use that feat to use, say, a club with Slashing Grace. In the same way that a morningstar is still a piercing weapon in my mind even though it does B and P and a cestus is still a piercing weapon even though it optionally does B. That's probably the least confident I have been on any of these personal rulings I've made on this thread, so I could probably be persuaded to reverse my position by my players if they had a compelling argument, but either way, only one or the other would work.

To answer your original question, the way that was built into Pathfinder is this

Fighter
Advanced Weapon Training wrote:
Fighter's Finesse (Ex) The fighter gains the benefits of the Weapon Finesse feat with all melee weapons that belong to the associated fighter weapon group (even if they cannot normally be used with Weapon Finesse). The fighter must have the Weapon Finesse feat before choosing this option.

So you could take it with double weapons or monk weapons and you are golden.

Liberty's Edge

Gray Warden wrote:
Nice catch fretgod99! But, you see, it needed a FAQ to be clarified. It's the proverbial exception that confirms the rule.

Yet there is nothing suggesting that is an exception at all. Rather the opposite in fact;

Staff Magus works the same way with a two-handed quarterstaff being wielded one-handed with Spell Combat.

That same FAQ says further on that the Titan Mauler's Jotungrip ability allows a two-handed weapon to be wielded in one hand and "treated as a one-handed weapon for other effects".

Similarly, this FAQ states that any time an ability allows a two-handed weapon to be wielded in one hand, it should be treated "as a one-handed weapon for the purpose of how much Strength to apply, the Power Attack damage bonus, and so on".

The 'exception that proves the rule' would be the other way around, with the mounted lance... which is the sole clearly stated case of a two-handed weapon wielded in one-hand still being treated as a two-handed weapon (for Strength damage bonus).


Isn´t it weird how you can use dex to attack and damage with 2 light maces, but not while using quarterstaff that weighs as much as one of the maces as a double weapon?

I would suggest a custom feat, sadly as far as I am aware there is no option to handle this right now.


CB is correct. I'd elaborate, but I'm on my phone.


vhok wrote:

it is true that while wielding the weapon it IS a slashing weapon however you have to pick a slashing weapon when u take slashing grace and it is not a legal choice at that point to pick quarterstaff.

anything you have that says "while wielding a slashing weapon" do work if you have it set to slashing but it won't let u make illegal choices when you take the feat.

It is legal at the point in time the proposed build takes Slashing Grace.

Versatile Weapon is chosen at first level, Slashing Grace is not taken until third level. At the time Slashing Grace is taken, the character can treat the quarterstaff as a slashing weapon.

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