Arkhios's page

So, we've been wondering, my friend and myself, whether the AP is written so that there's enough downtime to pursue crafting both mundane and magical items?

Could someone please shed some light on this matter, preferably spoiler-free otherwise, so we might decide whether we should try to get any relevant feats or not.

So, I asked this before in Society Unchained blog, but apparently the question got trampled beneath one of those pesky arguments, and ended up ignored(?)

I had a question about whether Drunken Brute archetype is applicable to Unchained Barbarian or not. The above-mentioned blog post said that Unchained barbarian can take any archetypes which doesn't affect how rage works. I took it that this would forbid all those which specifically replace rage with alternative functions entirely. Drunken Brute doesn't do that, but instead adds a side mechanic to the default Rage ability.

Raging Drunk (Ex): While raging, the drunken brute can drink a potion, or a tankard of ale or similar quantity of alcohol, as a move action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. A potion has its normal effect, while an alcoholic drink allows the barbarian to maintain her rage that round without expending a round of rage for the day (instead of the alcohol's normal effects). For each alcoholic drink consumed while raging, the barbarian is nauseated for 1 round when her rage expires, in addition to the normal fatigue that follows a rage. Tireless rage does not negate this nauseated condition but the internal fortitude rage power does. This ability replaces fast movement.

Given that Unchained Rage still requires rage rounds to be spent each round, it would seem that yes, you can take Drunken Brute, but the afore-mentioned restriction led me to wonder if not, after all. I'd like to know for sure.

I have a character that's specialized in fighting with spiked armor (also in grapple, and he's a dwarf, ofcourse! ...Some of you might recognize Thibbledorf Pwent's influence there.)

Anyway, I was wondering if it's possible to replace existing armor spikes from an existing armor without having to remake the whole armor again.

Currently he has +1 Stoneplate with +1 Furious Obsidian Spikes (anti rust monster weaponry; dwarves should know those pests well enough to hate them!) And obviously I wouldn't want to sell the whole crap just to remake it because I wanted (possibly) adamantine spikes.

Another question is, is it possible to have more than one set of armor spikes in one armor?

I just received a chronicle with which I may give a bonus trait for a newly created character.

Specifically it says:

-spoiler-. You may designate one newly created PC under your Pathfinder Society number -spoiler-. This additional training grants that PC one -spoiler- bonus trait. You must include a copy of this chronicle sheet with a new PC's records, though that PC gains no additional boons, equipment, or wealth from this Chronicle Sheet.

So, what is the definition of a newly created character, as per written. Does it mean:

Basically 3 questions, but third one is being, at least partly, discussed in another thread, and the first two I just lack the Forum-Fu to find a mention of:

1) Do monk and sacred fist levels stack for purpose of the unarmed strike damage?

2) Do monk and sacred fist levels stack for purpose of flurry of blows?

3) Does Monk & Sacred Fist Wisdom Bonus to AC from both classes stack with each other, essentially granting Wisdom modifier TWICE? Granted, Monk's ability is (Ex) and Sacred Fist's equivalent is (Su), so it would seem that they do stack, but I feel it's not supposed to. Feels more like rules-abuse.

There's one big flaw that I doubt no-one else has noticed, and that is the fact that Bolt Ace's fluff-text says "…there is a class of gunslingers that never soil their hands with powder or feel the sting of gun smoke.", yet they still do get proficiency with firearms, the gunsmith class feature and they lose guntraining, replacing it with crossbow training. The latter I'm ok with, but the first problem I just can't comprehend with. What does this archetype do anything with gun proficiency and gunsmithing when the rest of the archetype is all about crossbows? I mean, come on, some consistency, please?

Just a few suggestions to replace the proficiency and gunsmith features:

The Bolt Ace could get a free masterwork crossbow of any type when they begin their career, and instead maybe receive proficiency with ALL types of crossbows. Including exotic crossbows.

And if that's not enough to satisfy balance, give free rapid reload for the chosen type of crossbow you picked as your free masterwork crossbow.

Feel free to mark this for FAQ, or if there's already a thread addressing the issue, let me know.
I'll admit it might just as well be an editing mistake, something being forgotten from the final book.

If a character gets sneak attack from a class or prestige class that is not a rogue, what is the intent of effective rogue level.

For example, for a character that is rogue 7/halfling opportunist 4, is his rogue level effectively 11 or 7, for purposes of being able to overcome improved uncanny dodge?

Rather silly idea popped up my mind recently.
if a barbarian were to start with strength 12, could he still take Power Attack at first level, when he still can get strength to 16 with rage?

Part of me disagrees due to the fact that it'd be reasonable to have raw strength 13 to qualify for feats, but at the same time part of me agrees that there are some other scenarios where even temporary abilities qualify to take certain things. Such as druid's wild shape ability. They could take feats that increase natural attack damage dice even if they can use wild shape only a certain times per day. (no, this assumption does not include PFS special rule about those feats for a PC)

Couldn't find a generic Q&A for this one, so my apologies if this has been resolved already.

How are incremental alternative favored class bonuses intended to work.
I mean those which are gained per level by +1/2, +1/3, +1/4 or +1/6.

Can you take the listed bonus before you have the listed class feature it affects, if you would have the class feature when the increments reach a full effect?

For example, could an Elf Magus get an extra magus arcana every sixth level (gained at a pace of +1/6 per level), even if he or she doesn't have the class feature until 3rd level? As per sé having +1/6 at 1st level would be rounded down to +0 so it wouldn't give you anything until 6th level anyway, thus being somewhat useless until that point.

Do I even make any sense :D?

So, I had a few questions about taking an Improved Familiar.

First of all, how much does the feat change the base creature?
Familiar table for arcane bond states that they have somewhat fixed intelligence, but what about if the listed creature in Improved Familiar list had higher intelligence than a familiar table states at respectful level, would it get to keep it's own intelligence score, or the one listed in the table (making it dumber than it would normally be) or would its base int increase by the value how much regular familiar gets?

And what about skill ranks. How many skill ranks does a familiar have per hit die? Do they get more at any point and do I get to select these skills myself or are they set to something already?

Kneeling and sitting is addressed a bit vaguely, and I couldn't find anything that supports or goes against that if one could use a bow while kneeling or not.

By common sense I could argue, that yes, I can shoot with a bow while I'm kneeling, without penalty, since I'm capable of pulling the string as much back as if standing up.

As well, by common sense, pulling a bow-string while sitting is nigh-impossible, like while prone (which is, on the other hand, addressed in the rules, although I couldn't find where exactly on a short notice)

So, is it possible, rules-wise, to shoot with a bow while kneeling?

So, I was wondering if I chose the Mythic Eldritch Heritage and either, had Greater Eldritch Heritage already, or would get it later, would I be considered as having level for bloodline purposes equal to my character level, and therefore eventually getting the 20th level bloodline power via Mythic Eldritch Heritage?

Greater Eldritch Heritage
Your discovered bloodline power reaches its zenith.
Prerequisites: Cha 17, Eldritch Heritage, Improved Eldritch Heritage, character level 17th.
Benefit: You gain an additional power from the bloodline you selected with the Eldritch Heritage feat. You gain a 15th-level (or lower) sorcerer bloodline power that you do not already have. For purposes of using that power, treat your character level as your sorcerer level for all your sorcerer bloodline powers granted by this feat, Eldritch Heritage, and Improved Eldritch Heritage.

ELDRITCH HERITAGE (MYTHIC)
The blood of your sorcerous ancestor mingles with your mythic power to great effect.
Prerequisites: Eldritch Heritage.
Benefit: You gain sorcerer bloodline powers of the bloodline tied to Eldritch Heritage as if your sorcerer level were your character level – 2. For that bloodline's 1st-level bloodline power, use your full character level to determine its effect; for all other bloodline powers, treat your sorcerer level as your character level – 2.

emphasis mine.

Logically you'd think that if you take four (4) feats alone for that one bloodline, and one being a mythic feat, you'd be treated as a character level equal to sorcerer level AND get the 20th level bloodline power as well, but it doesn't say that in there. Besides Greater Eldritch Heritage pretty much makes Mythic Eldritch Heritage otherwise redundant.

I'm tempted to flag this one for errata.

Just noticed today (yes, I'm a bit slow at times) that in Ultimate Magic there is an Inquisition called Anger, of which 6th level granted power is Divine Anger:

Divine Anger (Ex): At 6th level, you gain the ability to rage like a barbarian. Your effective barbarian level for this ability is your inquisitor level – 3. If you have levels in barbarian, these levels stack when determining the effect of your rage. You do not gain any rage powers from this granted power, though if you have rage powers from another class, you may use them with these rages. You can rage a number of rounds per day equal to your Wisdom bonus, plus 1 round for every inquisitor level above 4th.

This one had me instantly think of the Rage Subdomain of Destruction Domain:

Rage (Su): At 8th level, you can enter a fearsome rage, like a barbarian, for a number of rounds per day equal to your cleric level. At 12th and 16th level, you can select one rage power. You cannot select any rage power that possesses a level requirement, but otherwise your barbarian level is equal to 1/2 your cleric level. These rounds of rage stack with any rounds of rage you might have from levels of barbarian.

What I'm wondering now is this: Do the effective barbarian levels stack to grant a (e.g.) Cleric of Gorum higher overall effective barbarian level?

How I read this, is that he would get more rage rounds per day at least, but if the effective levels would stack, he would go well above his own character level in his effective barbarian levels, and that's a bit sick.

So, is there any rulings about this I have missed or would I seriously get a level 20 cleric with effective barbarian level of 27? :D

There is at least one similar case of stacking effective levels that I can think of, and that's effective druid level for mounts/animal companions. I'm not that well into the rules to say if I'm interpreting this one accurately, but I do on my behalf agree that the stacking would be, in this case, a bit too powerful.

According to the spell itself, Enlarge Person only applies size bonus +2 to strength and size penalty -2 to dexterity, and -1 AC due to increased size, along with resizing your worn equipment.

According to Magic section, regarding Transmutation spells, only polymorph subschool mentions about changing your combat maneuver and stealth modifiers due to your new size. Enlarge Person is not Transmutation (Polymorph), only Transmutation, which leads me to understand that if a small creature were to become enlarged, he would still benefit from the original size +4 bonus to stealth (and suffer from the original size penalties to combat maneuvers)

Is this correct? To me it sounds a bit wonky. If I were in position to make any rulings, I'd say polymorphing rules regarding changing size would apply to size-changing spells and effects as much as with polymorph spells.

This is rather relevant since my AP character just got reincarnated from human to halfling, having his human racial bonus on strength, effectively reducing his strength by 4 (not fun, like, at all when my character is melee oriented) and I was considering buying Enlarge Person with Permanency. And I might add, stealth isn't nor will be in anyway a major factor for the character, even if he would still benefit from that wonky bonus.

I have just recently reached lvl 11 with my character and I was planning to continue with horizon walker. Levels in classes so far are ranger (guide/trapper) 6/rogue (trapsmith) 4, and my first favored terrain is underground. Which favored terrains would be best for the general purpose when the concept is an ultimate archaeologist and pathfinder to the core?

I have several questions regarding the topic.

1. When I use Explosive Missile, can I use Vital Strike with it?
1.a) if yes, how does Vital Strike affect it, since it says the original missile deals damage normally and that count as if i had thrown the bomb with it. Does Vital Strike multiply both weapon's damage and bomb's base damage separately with still being the same action, or something else?

2. Can I use Grenadier's directed blast with the above combo?
2.a) if yes, would a firearm cause restrictions to when I can use it?

Just wanted to make sure I'm reading both of these right,

1. Measured Response -feat from Faiths of Balance Player Companion book reads that you count as if you had rolled the exact average damage with melee or ranged weapon damage die or dice (1d6 ~ 3.5, 2d6 ~ 7), rounded down.

2. Dragon's Breath Alchemical Cartridge reads, that its misfire works slightly differently, because you're not making an attack roll, since it requires a saving throw from the targets. It instead misfires if you rolled 1 on any of the damage dice.

So, if decided to, and I don't see why not to, use Measured Response feat when firing e.g. Dragon's Breath with my firearm, it would seem I wouldn't practically ever misfire, since the damage is considered to have rolled the exact average (2d6; 3.5 + 3.5 = 7)

Is this correct, or even so, intended. Or am I just misreading the rules to my own favor?

Also, now that I'm planning to make my very first gunslinger (apart from the initial realization), I might as well ask does the guntraining apply to alchemical cartridges and/or scatter damage?

I was thinking of Guntank archetype and I keep wondering that when Guntank receives Armor Training (in place of bonus feats), does it count as if Fighter's Armor Training (as in, does he get the same benefit with armor speed reducement as a fighter?)

Argh, ok. So... I'm sorry to ask this one for gazillionth time here, but there are too many and too long threads about this with people arguing what's right and what's wrong, so please, if anyone can direct me to official statement and/or clarification about following issue, I'd appreciate. Please don't start yet another debate on this, ok?

Empower Spell: If I use Empower Spell on a spell that has a die roll with a numerical bonus (such as cure moderate wounds), does the feat affect the numerical bonus?

Yes. For example, if you empower cure moderate wounds, the +50% from the feat applies to the 2d8 and to the level-based bonus.

—Sean K Reynolds, 07/08/11

Does this +50% add to the total result AFTER rolling the dice and adding the bonus?

OR

Does this +50% add to the number of the dice rolled (and possible bonus) BEFORE any dice rolled?

I was wondering if I interpreted correctly the Spellbinder Archetype for Elven Wizards. The first (and only) archetype feature Spell Bond states

"a spellbinder selects any one spell that he knows as a bonded spell. As a full-round action, the spellbinder may replace a spell of the same or higher level as his bonded spell with his bonded spell. For example, a spellbinder who selects magic missile as his bonded spell could spend a full-round action to exchange any 1st-level or higher spell that he has prepared with magic missile."

It does so without saying anything about the spell's type or source.

What I was wondering is, that if I took first 3 levels as a druid (or cleric) and then 3 levels as Spellbinder Wizard, could I choose to bond with a spell from Druid's (or Cleric's) spell list or does it have to be Wizard spell?

Also, is it possible with said action to replace a prepared spell from another class (such as druid or cleric's)?

This is particularly interesting in regarding to Mystic Theurge, since this way I could be slightly more versatile on my character's future career, even though I'd only manage to bond with 2 spells.

Not that it changes much of the plans, just curious if this is correct.

First of all, with a quick search I failed to locate another post about this, so my apologizes if I'm echo-posting here.

So, I have a Trapper Ranger 6/Zen Archer Monk 2, and about to advance to ninth level (class to be determined as of yet).

I considered retraining second level of monk to rogue, and take second level of rogue as my ninth level, so that I would get Trap Spotter talent, and evasion, among with sneak attack, trapfinding AND a insane load of skill points, and I came up with a question:

If I retrained the remaining monk level to ranger instead of rogue at some point, the character would have total levels of Ranger 7/rogue 5+ at level 12 and beyond. Trapper archetype gives Trapfinding which is exactly the same as Rogue's Trapfinding; as in wording it's an exact twin.

So, what would be the total bonus from Trapfinding at level 12?

a) raw sum-up: 7 (+3.5) and 5 (+2.5), hence 7+5=12 -> +6?

OR

b) bonus rounded down first and then summed: 7 (+3) and 5 (+2), hence 6+4=10 -> +5?

Here's the deal:
A Bard who takes the feat Eldritch Bloodline (by choosing Draconic Bloodline) at 3rd or 5th level, presumably having the prerequisite Skill Focus (Perception) at 1st or 3rd level, and then, at 6th level, continues to Dragon Disciple.

So question is, does the combination above work?
Technically I don't see why not. But on the other hand, I can see that some people might disagree. To cover up my claim that it does work, here's the prerequisities that do, indeed, meet the expectations:

• A bard is spontaneous arcane spellcaster - Check!
  
• A level 5 bard can easily get 5 ranks in Knowledge Arcana - Check!
  
• If not gained through racial bonus languages due to sufficiently high intelligence, a bard can take ranks in Linguistics, and here it is: Languages: Draconic - Check!
  
• And now for the trickiest part: A character like this doesn't technically have sorcerer levels, but due to Eldritch Heritage feat, his "sorcerer level" is equal to his character level -2, and because of that, he might be compelled to choose the same draconic type as Dragon Disciple as he chose for Eldritch Heritage.
  

Let us pretend that this works out, and if (or when) it does, how would Blood of Dragons and Eldritch Bloodline (Draconic) work together?

This is one of the numerous wacky ideas I got in a whim, and I'm not sure if this one in particular has been discussed elsewhere. Point me to right direction if yes, otherwise, let's have a creative and polite discussion, and as little of flaming as possible, thank you :)

So...

Let's say I make a ninja, and take the Rogue Talent for Ki Pool instead the normal Ninja Trick (because according to RAW, I can)

Does this choice qualify for me to decide whether I want to use my character's wisdom or charisma as the ability for the Ki Pool to draw power from, without actually multi-classing to another class?

If so, and if I chose Wisdom, would I also get the bonus Ki points per half my Wisdom modifier, in addition to the normal points granted by Wisdom in the first place, due to what it says in the Talent about having a ki pool already or getting one later?

Logically I wouldn't see a problem in this. This would basically make the said talent work like a talent for bonus ki points. But likewise, logically wood should be burnt by fire, yet it doesn't in D&D because Hardness prevents it... Anyway, what I mean is that logic rarely meets the Rules As Written (especially in D&D and its derivatives), and I wonder if this option would make an exception to that?

I had this fancy idea of making a paladin who multiclasses to ninja. That's something I've decided rock-solid, and I'm not going to change it, so don't even try convince me otherwise :D

I've always wanted to play a paladin, but the code-of-conduct has been a rather turn-off. I know I can play a lawful good character, but what troubles me is how would I justify a paladin using ninja's skills without violating his code?

The basis of this idea was 'the Hand of Vengeance', a Lawful Good angel who once served the Empyreal Lord Ragathiel, but after the disappearance Aroden, pledged himself to service of Iomedae and became known as 'the Hand of the Inheritor' (Not making this up myself, it's in the lore!)

Anyhow, this character, aasimar (angelkin) paladin has the Oath of Vengeance which I find kind of appropriate since the character is a scion of this said "angel of vengeance" after all. As far as I know, a Paladin doesn't need to worship any single deity, or none at all, and this is where I'm aiming at. The character feels more akin to his inheritance, rather to any deities themselves, and follows a personal code of honor, loyalty and justice and aims to punish the wrongdoers anytime and anywhere he can - as if acting as an angel of vengeance himself.

The question is this, how to implement the ninja's skills to the playstyle without doing anything that could be seen as evil or as violating Paladin's code-of-conduct? Is it OK, for example, to use poisons as a paladin, if it serves the higher good purpose? Is it alright to use any means necessary (or at hand), such as Vanishing Trick to accomplish the missions? Where would you put the limit; where you would feel crossing the line?

There might as well be a thread for this already, but it escapes me, so I sincerely apologize possible re-post.

There's one thing I've been wondering for a while now, but it popped up in my mind again when I saw some cool possibilities with some of the new content.

IF a monk were to multiclass, (Lets say, level 4 Monk/16 something else) how would his flurry of blows work thereafter, in regards to what it reads: as in, "FoB is treated as if you were using Two-Weapon Fighting feat". Would FoB count AS the prerequisite for the following Improved Two-Weapon Fighting & Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feats later on, if/when the character eventually gets appropriate BAB and other prerequisities. And would the feats require totaling his actual BABs from the classes, OR would monk levels count as his BAB (in addition to whatever BAB the other class has) in regards to the feat prerequisite?

If they did, would his Improved and Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feats function only in Flurry of Blows?

I would appreciate your time should you pay any attention to this "problem" of mine.

...

I was thinking, could you add Decisive Strike as an "official" option for Flurry of Blows for Pathfinder RPG Monk. See Decisive Strike in Player's Handbook II.

This would add some color in Monk class.