Barret Roberts's page

Clerics get additional copies of Heal or Harm via their Divine Font. These spells are provided via extra slots of your highest spellcasting level. (CRB 119)

Staves allow prepared casters to expend a spell slot on preparation to add additional charges to the staff equal to the level of the spell slot. (CRB 592)

Is there any reason I cannot expend a Divine Font slot to get extra changes in my staff equal to my highest spellcasting level?

I have some questions about using weapons with a Returning rune on it.

1) Is an Interact action required on return?
2) How do thrown melee weapons handle the Reload property?
3) Does a melee weapon with the thrown quality qualify for the damage bonus from Point Blank Shot?
4) If no to question 1, could you Double Shot or Triple Shot with a Thrown Returning weapon?

I am just thinking about a fighter bouncing starknives off his enemies. Would they be able to benefit from the fighter ranged attack feats?

Does the bonus damage from Rhino Hide apply to all attacks made by a pouncing creature?

Hi,

If I am a level 4 hunter, and I share Protection from Energy [Fire] with my companion via Improved Spell Sharing, we both have fire immunity for 20 minutes or until discharged.

The "until discharged" clause is causing a hurdle.

Feat link here

Do we:
A) both get to absorb 48 [12 per level times 4 levels], and both get it for 48 points or 20 minutes
B) combine our absorbed amounts until it totals 48, and both get it until we take a combined 48 points or 20 minutes
C) get to absorb until one of absorbs 48, then both lose protection, and both get it until one of us takes 48 points or 20 minutes
D) not get to do it at all because it could potentially have a duration of less than 1 round, making it an illegal option for the feat, and neither of us get it

The (a) result assumes the spell functionally becomes a localized communal version, giving both creatures distinct spell effects, now independent of the other.

The (b) version assumes the spell is the initial form of the spell, just with 2 potential sources of consumption.

The (c) version is both get full effect until the spell is discharged, at which point it ends for both.

The (d) version looks at what happens if the enemy hits you with 2 fireballs in the next initiative order, meaning the spell's duration is less than 2 rounds, making it non-legal to share.

Thanks for your input.

*edits for grammar and clarity and link to feat*

Hello everyone,

I have starting looking into a character that focuses on using the Grapple Maneuvers are my latest PFS character. I asked around my local GMs, including my resident VL, and got a varied response on the subject. I am going to post a series of questions, and would appreciate people citing their sources if they reference one in their answers.

I also plan to start simple, so all of these initial questions will be in reference to material in the CRB.

1) Weapon Focus explicitly calls out Grapple as an option, even though weapon proficiency grapple doesn't exist. Can I still take Weapon Focus Grapple?

2) Assuming yes to #1, does WF Grapple give my a static +1 on all my grapple attempts, regardless for source. So it would equally be +1 if I start a grapple as a standard action or if I got Grab as a Wild-shaped Druid.

3) Assuming yes to #1, as a 4th level Fighter, I can take Weapon Specialization Grapple, as per the writing of the feat. How does this feat work? Is it +2 damage whenever my grapple results in damage? (Ex: As a multiclass Fighter / Druid with constrict OR when I choose to do damage while maintaining a grapple as a standard action)

4) Armor with spikes have 2 separate equipment entries. Spiked Armor under the weapon section says I can do damage in a grapple. Armor Spikes in the armor section says I deal damage on a successful grapple attack. So if I successfully start a grapple as a standard action while wearing armor upgraded with Armor Spikes, do I get my 1d6 damage, or do I have to wait until next turn?

5) Assuming I get the damage immediately in #4, when I choose to maintain grapple the following turn, is the 1d6 from Armor Spikes freely added, or does it consume my "Deal damage with a weapon"?

6) Do I add my Strength to all damage done by Armor Spikes?

7) Assuming I get damage immediately in #4, does Weapon Specialization Grapple add +2 damage to my Armor Spikes?

8) Assuming yes to #7, if I then took Weapon Specialization Spiked Armor, would I get +4 damage on each successful grapple check?

9) Armor Spikes reference a grapple attack. Combat Maneuver checks are classified as attack rolls. Is there a difference between a "grapple attack" and a "grapple check"? (Please explicitly cite proof on this if you think there is, because the CRB as written seems there is not)

That is all I have for now. If we can get a clear set of answers to these, I will move on to other books that add more complexity to the situation.

Thanks for your input in advance, and happy pathfinding.

The title says it all.

I did a quick search and the most I found was about uses of a Vial of Voracious Medicine.

There is a new paste in Heroes of the Darklands called Blasting Jelly (which is described to be a paste), and I want to know if it works with a Grenadier Alchemist's Alchemical Weapon ability.

I can add any liquid or powder to a weapon to give the weapon the alchemical effect.

So I asked my brother, who is actually a chemist, if a paste was a liquid, and he replied "usually a slurry mixed with a liquid"

So, from a game stand point, are pastes a subtype of liquid? They flow, have to be contained to be transported, can be spread about, and dry out. Seems like a liquid to me.

I am working on a intimidate build, and the item Imposing War Paint is attractive, but the downside is quite lethal.

I did some research into realgar, and this is the official description:

PFS Legal Realgar

Source Alchemy Manual pg. 33 (Amazon)
Price 3 gp; Weight —
Realgar, also called ruby of arsenic, is a red crystal useful in creating poisons and medicines. It is commonly purified into arsenic, a crystalline metal known as the "king of poisons" for its popularity among nobles seeking to poison their rivals.
Power Component
Doses 1 (3 gp); Spells poison descriptor (see Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic)
Effect +2 DC to identify or neutralize the poison with spells or skills

It describes it as a poison, but it is not listed under the list of Poisons.

If I bought a Cracked Gamboge Nodule ioun stone, which allows immunity to a single poison, could I choose realgar and use Imposing War Paint all day?

I am just curious if this is possible, and if so, how is it handled. Also, this may fall under advice, since it is severely corner case and mostly a thought experiment. The only valid response may be: check with your GM, otherwise don't try it.

Simplest example, a kasatha duel wielding 2handed weapons. Lets assume 14 Str. Main hand, 2handed attack is 1.5x Str, so +3 damage. Off hand is 0.5x Str, so I assume +1 damage.

Alternatively, it could be like when you apply multiple modifiers (lance + spirited charge for example) and you get Str + (0.5x Str for 2handed) - (0.5x Str for offhand) = 1x Str, so +2 damage.

Whichever it is, it is safe to assume Power Attack follows suit.

The feat I am most interested in is Steadfast Slayer, however.

Steadfast Slayer (Combat)

You stand alone against creatures far larger than you.

Benefit: If you are the only character threatening an opponent and you successfully attack the opponent with a two-handed melee weapon, for each size category larger than you that opponent is, you gain a +2 bonus on your melee damage roll.

Can I get this benefit on an offhand attack, if my offhand is wielded in 2 hands? Presumably, I have 3 or more hands.

Hi, I am about to start a home game and am considering playing a druid. I understand since this is a home game, any rules questions should be asked directly to the GM, and I plan to do so, but I would like to have my stance be confident when I approach. So, that said, on to my question.

The feat Evolved Companion lists that the companion must conform to all the limitations of the chosen evolution. Since the Tentacle evolution has no limitations on it, I should be able to take it over and over and add a large number of natural attacks to my pounce kitty. However, the eidolon itself prevents you from taking evolutions that increase its natural attack count above its limit, given by summoner level.

Is the Eidolon limit on natural attacks considered to be an evolution limit for the purposes of taking Evolved Companion?

Is there any rule that prevents a PC from having 2 chronicle sheets from the same scenario, once as GM and once as a PC?

Hi. My friend and I were in a theory-crafting discussion and trying to figure out how to make the best damage cantrip at level 1. We are assuming you cannot use a level 1 spell reduced 2 times, because of the PFS campaign clarification on Wayang Spellhunter not permitting a spell level to be decreased below minimum.

This is what we have so far:

Level 1 Ice Flinger
Human Cross-blooded Sorcerer 1
Bloodlines: White Dragon, Orc
Feats: False Focus, Flagbearer (Could be point blank shot, but this is more helpful to others)
Traits: Reactionary, Havoc of the Society

Attack: Ray of Frost +4 (3 dex, 1 morale) 2d3+7 (1d3+4 Cold, 1d3+2 piercing, 1 force)

Items: Divine Focus Tattoo (100g), Flag (10g), Harimaki (8g)

Ray of frost is modified by Black Powder (+1 Elemental Damage) and Liquid Ice (+1d3 piercing damage and +1 cold damage) as material components via False Focus, Havoc of the Society (+1 force damage), Orc Bloodline (+1 damage per die), Dragon Bloodline: White (+1 damage per die on Cold spells), and Flagbearer (+1 to hit and damage within 30 feet of the flag)

Did I miss anything? 2d3+7 at ranged touch seems fine for a level 1 cantrip.

EDIT: My math was wrong and I had an extra +1 on the Piercing damage.

I went down the rabbit hole with unchained rogues and ninjas and all of the posts. I get I cannot unchain a ninja in PFS. Can I make a ninja with the Scout rogue archetype in PFS?

If this is obvious, and I missed it, I apologize. I am completely sleep deprived at the moment.

I am building a grenadier alchemist for PFS, and wondering how deliquescent gloves work with my abilities.

I understand that it will allow me to add 1d6 acid damage via the corrosive ability to weapons I hold in my hands. For bombs, does this still work? They are treated as weapons so is there a reason they cannot gain the ability? If they can, does it affect the bomb's splash damage?

Can I add the corrosive ability to alchemical splash weapons I throw?

Finally, if I infuse a weapon with an alchemical splash weapon as per the Alchemical Weapon ability, can the weapon gain the corrosive bonus damage twice, once for the weapon itself and once for the alchemical splash weapon infused on it?

Basically, I found in the Magic section of the core rulebook that penalties work like bonuses, and that only the most severe of a type applies. However, it does say most untyped penalties stack.

Also, in the very start of the CRB, it describes penalties as untyped numbers that you subtract from a roll or number, and that they usually stack.

Stumbling Bash is a shield mastery feat from the Armor Master's Handbook that applies a -2 penalty to AC on victims of your shield bashes until the end of your next turn.

If I shield bash someone twice, do the penalties stack, resulting in -4 to AC until the end of my next turn?

I am playing a character in PFS and my guy just got the feat Shield Master. Originally, I would hit sword shield sword at +6 +6 +1 before penalties and bonuses.

Now, when all is calculated, my shield swings at a higher attack bonus than my sword. The rules on a full attack say I have to attack from the highest bonus to the lowest, if I get multiple attacks due to high BAB.

Does this mean I have to hit with my shield first, because it has a higher bonus? Does hitting with my shield first stop it from being my off-hand attack?

Here's the breakdown of my weapon finesse tank:

Fighter 1 / Slayer 6
BAB 7
Dex 20
Weapon Finesse
TWF
Shield Focus
Improved Shield Bash
Power Attack
Shield Master
Stumbling Bash
Improved TWF

My gear at the moment is a +1 Rapier and a +3 Spiked Heavy Shield. I have the trait Shield Trained.

So in a full attack, Rapier Shield Rapier Shield, my bonuses (without PA) are +11/+15/+6/+10 (7 BAB + 5 Dex + 1 or 3 Enhance - 2 or 0 TWF).

If I go in highest to lowest, it would be shield sword shield sword, but if my rapier becomes my offhand, my TWF penalties get harsher.

To repeat my questions: Do I have to attack with the highest attack bonus first? Can my first attack be my offhand attack?

I am playing a game tomorrow (Tuesday) and I cannot buy the PDF until Wednesday.

I have seen posts online for 2 feats I want to use for my build, Shield Brace and Shielded Mage, but I do not know what the prerequisites are.

Am I allow to ask for feat prerequisites here, before the PDF is available for general release? I know the subscribers already have it and there are hard copies available. If so, can I get the prerequisites for those 2 feats?

Hi,

If I have 1 level in Alchemist or Warlock Vigilante, can I choose Bombs or Mystic Bolts as my weapon for Weapon Master Fighter?

I convinced a a friend to play PFS with me this coming week, and I am starting a new character to play along side him. However I am unsure what exactly I want to play come level 2.

At the moment, I have a spec'ed out a level 1 sorceress that specializes in magic missiles (+4 CL for MM, +1 damage per die). Even if I played this character past 1st level, I wouldn't be playing it this focused, or with these stats.

I am relatively new to PFS, so is this design based on the free rebuilding is considered a breach of etiquette?

My GM recently ran us through the first 2 modules of Kingmaker, because that was the AP we request. I was excited to play Fantasy Sim City alongside Pathfinder. The rest of my party couldn't care less about our town.

So on top of our group mostly ignoring a primary aspect of the campaign, we also seemed vastly overpowered for the level of challenge the combat scenarios in the AP presented to us.

Having done a fair bit of Pathfinder GM'ing myself, I know how hard it can be to provide consistently challenging and exciting combat to a bunch of players that will build highly capable combatants. (My level 7 Flying Blade Swashbuckler killed a CR 9 tree monster from full in 1 round. And he was the weak character.)

I also read on these forums that Kingmaker is one of the easier APs, combat-wise.

Can you all recommend which APs are the hardest?

Hi,

How does the trait Magical Lineage (-1 resultant spell level for 1 spell when using metamagic) affect the rounds of rage cost of Meta-Rage, from the above archetype?

If I want to Quicken Enlarge Person via meta-rage, it would normally cost 10 rounds of rage. Would Magical Lineage reduce this to 8, because the end spell level has been reduced by one?

It's listed as Slashing on the chart.

It says its functionally a light spiked shield, which is piercing.

Is that functional line for the purposes of weapon focus and proficiency, or can you pierce with it?

Hi All,

Kind of a general and opinionated question here, but what PDFs do you recommend from someone that got into PFS via the Humble Bundle?

Please be clear as to what the book adds, and what sort of build it is useful for. It would be nice to have a list to use as a guideline.

** For reference, assuming you got everything but the physical starter box in the humble bundle, you got:

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game:
Core Rulebook
GameMastery Guide
Beginner Box (PDF)
Player Character Folio
Advanced Class Guide
GM Screen
Inner Sea World Guide
Strategy Guide
Bestiary
Ultimate Equipment
Advanced Player's Guide
Ultimate Magic
Ultimate Campaign
Ultimate Combat
Bestiary 2

Pathfinder Player Companion:
Inner Sea Primer
Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide

Adventure Path:
In Hell's Bright Shadow (Hell's Rebels 1 of 6)
Turn of the Torrent (Hell's Rebels 2 of 6)
Dance of the Damned (Hell's Rebels 3 of 6)

Pathfinder Society Scenario 7-01: Between the Lines
Pathfinder Society Year of the Sky Key Scenario Mega-Pack (23 Adventures!)

Hi, I am just starting to play PFS and I know they are rules precise so I want to make sure I understand the implications of my decisions. I plan to get a MW buckler for my character.

I am currently a low-leveled Dex-based character build for Sword and Shield. My high dex lends nicely to wielding a bow as well.

Information to note:
Str 14, Dex 19, BAB 1, MW Composite Bow (+2 Str), Darkwood Spiked Large Shield, Mundane Morningstar, MW Buckler, Feat: Two-weapon Fighting, Feat: Improved Shield Bash, Class Feature: Swashbuckler's Finesse (Weapon finesse for all light and 1-handed piercing weapons), Trait: Shield-trained (Large shields are light weapons)

If I have my buckler under my heavy shield, my attack roll with the shield is +4 (1 BAB + 4 Dex - 1 Buckler)? Even though the Buckler has no ACP?

If I have my buckler under my morningstar, my attack roll with the shield is +5 (1 BAB + 4 Dex)?

If I have my buckler on and attack with my bow, my attack roll is +6? (1 BAB + 4 Dex + 1 Enhancement)

Since I am built to be a tank, I want to be able to smoothly progress from Ranged to Melee. Walk about with buckler and bow, drop bow and draw morningstar while moving to engage, draw shield for AC bonus.

Does all of that make sense and compute right? Is there a way to remove the penalty when TWF'ing with a buckler?

Hi, I was reading up on some feats and am looking at a new build for PFS. If I take 4 levels in Weapon Master Fighter, and at level 4 spending the 5 PP to retrain my level 3 feat, I can gain an animal companion from the list. Let's assume I get a wolf. I have an effective druid level (EDL) of 1.

Then from level 5 to 11 I take levels in Hunter, which gains an animal companion at full strength. Animal ally stacks the levels it gives me with the levels I gain from Hunter.

When I hit level 11, which will be my effective druid level? Will it be 8 (7 levels in 1, 4-3 levels in fighter) or will it be 15 (7 levels in hunter, 11-3 levels for animal ally)? I ask because Animal Ally specifically calls out character level, which is the summation of all your levels.

I am building a Bloodrager and have some spare feats. I decided to take the Animal Ally feat set, (Nature Soul, Animal Ally, Boon Companion). I want to take a wolf and have it trip enemies for me.

The feat Dirty Fighting will let me bypass needing 13 Int on the wolf, since it counts as 13 Int and Combat Expertise for Improved Trip.

Unfortunately, the wolf needs 3 Int to take Dirty fighting, so it cannot get it until it has 4 HD. This leaves 2 feats before I access Dirty Fighting that are not in my trip selection. Is there any way to recover those feats?

Note, the trip feat set contains: Dirty Fighting, Improved Trip, Greater Trip, Fury's Fall, Extra Magic Item Slot: Hands. Also desirable: Outflank, Tandem Trip.

Hi, this is going to be my first PFS character. I have played a bunch outside of PFS, so I am excited to try how I hold up under the gun. My party that I am joining for the first session looks to have some glass cannons and a mage, so I pulled this design I had out of the vault. I need help flushing out the feats as I progress.

Stephen Manning
Medium CG Human Slayer 1

Str 12
Dex 19
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 11
Cha 9

Defenses:
AC: 19 (10 + 3 Armor + 4 Dex + 2 Shield)
Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +0

Melee:
Rapier +4 (1d6+1 18-20x2)
Studied Target adds +1 to hit and damage as a move action.

Feats: Weapon Focus (Rapier), Weapon Finesse
Skills: 7 ranks yet undecided
Traits: Adopted (Elven Reflexes: +2 Init), Shield-Trained (Heavy Shields are light weapons for me)

Gear: Rapier, Large Wooden Shield, Studded Leather Armor, 103 gold remaining (Probably get a longbow or upgrade to chain shirt)

Not the greatest at level 1, but I have the following progression planned. Note that I do not yet know how retraining works so I planned for it being easy:

Level 2 Slayer Talent: Rogue Talent: Finesse Rogue
Retrain Weapon Finesse into Fencing Grace

Level 3 Two Weapon Fighting

Level 4 Slayer Talent: Rogue Talent: Weapon Training
Retrain Fencing Grace into Improved Shield Bash
Retrain Weapon Focus into Fencing Grace

This is where things get fuzzy.
Level 5 Improved Initiative

Level 6 Slayer Talent Ranger Style Sword and Sword and Shield, Shield Master
Favored Class Bonus Rogue Talent Combat Trick Improved Two Weapon Fighting

I know down the line I want Bashing Finish and Improved Critical (Rapier)

Can you all suggest feats? Thanks.