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As an additional question to this, If i was Stalker 3/Warlord 3, and used a warlord gambit to recover maneuvers, would it only recover maneuvers from the Warlord side, or could I recover some from the Stalker side as well?

Hey guys,

I'm making a Grappling build, and taking a look at the Order of the Penitent ability Expert Captor for Cavaliers:

At 2nd level, as long as he has rope, the cavalier can tie up a grappled opponent, even if the opponent is not pinned, otherwise restrained, or unconscious, and he does not take the usual –10 penalty on his combat maneuver check to do so. When determining the DC to escape bonds secured by the cavalier, the cavalier's Combat Maneuver Bonus increases by 1/2 his cavalier level.

It makes sense that this would work for an opponent that you have grappled. What about in cases where the opponent has the grappled condition, but you are not the controlling grappler, such as when the enemy is grappled by another PC, or when the enemy is the controlling grappler? Can you still tie up the opponent?

Hey guys,

I saw this style feat in Inner Sea Combat:

Unfolding Wind Rush (Combat, Style)

Thrown weapons fly from your hands as if blown by a gale, and you leave behind a wake of wind as you move.

Prerequisite(s): Dex 13, Wis 13, Mobility, Perfect Style, Quick Draw, Unfolding Wind Strike, base attack bonus +13 or monk level 13th.

Benefit(s): When using Perfect Style and wielding thrown weapons, you can combine a full attack action with a single move action. You must forgo the attack at your highest bonus but may take the remaining attacks as normal at any point during your movement. You can spend 1 ki point as a swift action to create a path of wind along your path of movement that functions as wind wall for 1 round; this effect does not affect your ranged attacks.

Maybe I'm overthinking it, but it seems that the feat only says I need to be wielding the weapon and using Perfect Style. It doesn't say that I have to be using the thrown weapon as part of the attacks that I take during the full around (After forgoing one attack as per the feat). Does this mean that RAW, I can wield a shuriken or something in one hand, and a longsword in the other hand, use this feat, and then make all my attacks with the longsword?

Haha, trying to justify game mechanics with physics never makes any sense, like with an Aqueous Orb in a Create Pit spell. :P

James, Do you know where I can find this post?

Thanks for your comments :) This is in a PFS setting, so any FAQs/other RAW interpretations would be greatly appreciated, although I was not able to find one either.

MurphysParadox, I agree that it may not be in accordance to the intent of the rule, however, I don't believe that it is necessarily overpowered, at least enough to warrant variation in a home game if there is a RAW interpretation. On the one hand, I get loads of armor with no armor check penalty or proficiency restrictions, On the other hand, I paid a bunch of gold for it :p

Hey guys,

I have a Druid with levels of Monk, who is currently wearing a +1 Wild Tower Shield, and a +1 Wild Stone Plate.

According to the Wild Enchantment, you retain whatever armor/enhancement bonus the armor has when polymorphed, i.e Wildshaped.

Wild: The wearer of a suit of armor or a shield with this ability preserves his armor bonus (and any enhancement bonus) while in a wild shape. Armor and shields with this ability usually appear to be covered in leaf patterns. While the wearer is in a wild shape, the armor cannot be seen.

A few weeks ago, I heard from a very reputable source that when I was wildshaped, I would not get my monk bonus to AC, since I have an armor/shield bonus. This doesn't make sense to me though, since normal monks retain their bonus Monk AC when under the effects of Mage Armor, or Shield.

Monk AC: When unarmored and unencumbered, the monk adds his Wisdom bonus (if any) to his AC and his CMD. In addition, a monk gains a +1 bonus to AC and CMD at 4th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every four monk levels thereafter, up to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.

These bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the monk is flat-footed. He loses these bonuses when he is immobilized or helpless, when he wears any armor, when he carries a shield, or when he carries a medium or heavy load.

It was my understanding that I would have both my Wild Armor/Shield bonuses, as well as the Monk AC armor bonus while wildshaped, since I would not count as wearing armor while polymorphed for the effects of the Monk AC. Is this true?

Okay, thanks for the help. Sorry about the multiple posts, my internet messed up and I ended up pushing the submit post button a few too many times.

Hey Guys,

Is it possible to have both a Wizard's Familiar, and also have the Diaboist Imp Animal Companion out on the field at the same time?

Hey Kazumetsa,

I've got a level 8 melee druid. I've only ever seen animals that have 2 claws/1 bite and rake, not 4 claws/1 bite. Are there any shapes you know that have this?

Awww yeeeah multi-classing! All three of my characters:

1.Druid/Barbarian/Monk/Ranger

2.Cleric/Fighter/Monk

Or my personal favorite,

3.Oracle/Cleric/Paladin/Mystery Cultist

Hey Guys,

I'm currently playing a melee druid in PFS, and one of the glaring weaknesses I've noticed with my build is the inability to hit anything in the air. I'd like to get Winged Boots, but am unable to speak the command word to activate it. Are there any PFS legal options I have?

One potential candidate is the Animal Totem Tattoo from Magical Marketplace, allowing me to use the Totem Transformation Ability of a 5th Level Druid (Dragon Shaman), but I'm not sure this is legal.

Hey Guys,

I'm a little confused how cleric domains work in Pathfinder Society. The Cleric Domain ability is as follows:

A cleric's deity influences her alignment, what magic she can perform, her values, and how others see her. A cleric chooses two domains from among those belonging to her deity. A cleric can select an alignment domain (Chaos, Evil, Good, or Law) only if her alignment matches that domain. If a cleric is not devoted to a particular deity, she still selects two domains to represent her spiritual inclinations and abilities (subject to GM approval). The restriction on alignment domains still applies.

Does this mean that if I were to not pick a deity, I could pick any combination of domains/sub-domains that I wanted, provided they aren't conflicting alignment domains?

Hi guys,

I asked this in a previous post of mine, but it made more sense the make a new thread for it. Here's the situation: my brother and I are both currently playing Oradins (Oracle 1/Paladin X)with the Life Oracle Mystery in order to get the Lifelink Revelation. We play with a third friend, and would like to both cast Lifelink on him to keep him alive as long as possible, as he's somewhat new to this game :p

Life Link (Su): As a standard action, you may create a bond between yourself and another creature. Each round at the start of your turn, if the bonded creature is wounded for 5 or more hit points below its maximum hit points, it heals 5 hit points and you take 5 hit points of damage. You may have one bond active per oracle level. This bond continues until the bonded creature dies, you die, the distance between you and the other creature exceeds medium range, or you end it as an immediate action (if you have multiple bonds active, you may end as many as you want as part of the same immediate action).

Typically, this wouldn't stack as per the Same Spell with Differing Effects rule.

Same Effect with Differing Results

The same spell can sometimes produce varying effects if applied to the same recipient more than once. Usually the last spell in the series trumps the others. None of the previous spells are actually removed or dispelled, but their effects become irrelevant while the final spell in the series lasts.

Since the Lifelink ability is Supernatural, however, does it have the same limitations as magical effects in regards to stacking?

Hrm, I suppose RAW, if two Shield Others are cast on the same person, each character involved would take 50% of the damage dealt, resulting in more efficient damage by the monster. According to the "Same Effect with Differing Results" Rule mentioned earlier, this means that the Shield others can't stack, since I don't think it was intended to in the first place.

Matthew Downie's suggestion of casting them in such a way to make a Shield other Chain, rather than having two cast on one is useful, and something I'll consider for the future. I think we'll call this question solved, unless anyone has further input.

Follow up question, If two life oracles have life linked the same target, does the life link stack?

It does seem to make sense that the subject takes half, and the casters split the rest. Thanks, guys :)

Hey Guys,

I'm working on a Hungry Ghost Monk, and planning on taking Butterfly Sting at some point. Here are the two abilities I'm having an issue with.

Steal Ki (Ex)

At 5th level, a hungry ghost monk can steal ki from other creatures, though this ability is controversial in some circles of monks, who see it as nothing less than a form of vampirism. If the monk scores a confirmed critical hit against a living enemy or reduces a living enemy to 0 or fewer hit points, he can steal some of that creature’s ki. This ability replenishes 1 spent ki point to the monk’s ki pool, as long as the monk has at least 1 ki point in his pool. He cannot exceed his ki pool’s maximum.

Butterfly Sting:

When you confirm a critical hit against a creature, you can choose to forgo the effect of the critical hit and grant a critical hit to the next ally who hits the creature with a melee attack before the start of your next turn. Your attack only deals normal damage, and the next ally automatically confirms the hit as a critical.

If, as a Hungry Ghost Monk, I confirm a Critical Hit, then choose to pass the Critical Hit to the next ally who attacks the target, do I still get the effect of Steal Ki?

Hey guys,

According to the Shield Other Spell,

Shield Other:
This spell wards the subject and creates a mystic connection between you and the subject so that some of its wounds are transferred to you. The subject gains a +1 deflection bonus to AC and a +1 resistance bonus on saves. Additionally, the subject takes only half damage from all wounds and attacks (including those dealt by special abilities) that deal hit point damage.

It says that the subject takes only half damage. If the subject has two Shield Other spells active on him, does the damage get split up half and half so that the casters each take half of the total damage, and the subject takes none? Or does one caster take half damage, and the other caster takes half of the remaining damage, so 1/4 of total damage?

Hey Guys,

I think Vincent and Malaq really nailed the head on the problems I've been having, namely the 15 minute workday, and the BBEG intelligence. As of now, I've been having battles in chunks, with time to retreat and heal up during them, since many of the monsters just fight to the death. In order to make the battles more challenging, I need to work on having the encounters feel more fluid and organic: if the stone giants are having trouble, retreat and get reinforcements, or use cover and guerrilla tactics. The party just arrived at Jorgenfist, which means that they're thoroughly in enemy territory now, and I think Mokmurian should take advantage of that as much as possible. I need to have the enemies adapt and react to the PCs, rather than just line up to be slaughtered.

@Akmed:

Other modifiers to look at include black tentacles, entangle with plant growth, and swarms (and I suggest using the swarm template for new and different swarms)for caster offset. Sounds like there is a lot of ranged damage taking place, so take them underground. That will eliminate the flying and limit the ranged stuff pretty hard ad well as making the AOE difficult combined with movement issues.

This is a good idea :p

@Emmit Svenson: Sundering the Banner is one of a number of solutions to deal with their items, but I haven't felt that any of the creatures, save for the BBEG casters, have a high enough spellcraft check to identify it as a magical item. That being said, the Stone Giant's they're facing now have an Int of 10, so they might just go ahead and sunder it anyway on a whim :p

That is very high for some of them; although I am finding the archer/spellcasters a bit high (ex-paladins loose divine grace as far as I remember, but I could be wrong). Otherwise, listen to vincent takedas advice; if they dont want challenging combat, well they wont like being ultra-challenged.

Still, those saves are eerily high, i've never managed to get them that high in theorycrafting (although I never consider buffs). Might be interested in a full build of your barb/druid/monk.

The Ex-Paladin doesnt have Divine Grace, only the Paladin 8, Fighter 3. The Paladin Part is just for weapon proficiencies, as well as some flavor.

I can post full builds of both the Eldritch Knight, as well as my Druid/Barbarian/Monk if you'd like, but probably a little later tonight. :p

@Vincent:

My players enjoy a tough combat, and, unfortunately, are not particularly interested in the roleplaying encounters. If a kid was scooped up by a dragon and taken away, I think they would be more disappointed that they missed the EXP/Loot from killing the dragon, rather than sad that they couldn't save the kid.

I'm definitely interested in hearing from more experienced GMs about any possible solutions. I've been GMing for almost a year now, but I know I still have a long way to go. I've posted the builds above, but please let me know if there's any more information I can give.

Thanks for your input guys. Here's a little background on the characters, I apologize after looking at the characters, that the saves were very slightly exaggerated. Each character has around 80-90k gold, which is somewhat consistent with the Wealth By Level Curve.

@LazarX: No, we have not been allowing custom item creation, or crafting, or permanency, or leadership, or any of the other typically "broken" systems. Just saves me a lot of headaches :p

@Williamoak: I have a Level 9 PFS Druid/Barbarian/Monk with 19 Fort, 17 Ref, 21 Will, so it's not entirely unreasonable. He did spend most of his feats/traits/money on Save boosting stuff, and also has heroism cast on him constantly however :)

1. Evangelist Cleric 11 with Flagbearer Feat and Banner of the Ancient Kings.
On a move action, can provide entire Party with +5/+5 to Attack and Damage. I've checked the bonus types to ensure that they aren't stacking improperly with bonuses the characters already have.

Defenses: I don't have the character sheet on me, but I believe they are
Fort: 13
Ref: 7
Will: 17
AC: 25

He has around 24 Wis, which results in a pretty high will save, as well as a +3 Cloak of Resistance. Has 25 armor.

2. Hippogriff Rider Ranger 11. Deals an average of 130 DPS per round on a full attack with longbow and haste (as well as the cleric's buffs), but saves are the weakest.

Defenses:
Fort: 10
Ref: 16
Will: 6
AC: 24

3. Two Weapon Fighting Paladin 8/Fighter 3. Focuses on Kukris and Critical Feats, as well as Smite Evil for damage.

Defenses:
Fort: 18
Ref: 16
Will:15
AC: 31

Gets Cha Bonus to Saves, and is immune to Charm, Fear, and Disease. Has 12 Wis and +3 Cloak

4. Archer/Spellcaster. Specific Build is Ex-Paladin 1/Wizard 5/Eldritch Knight 5. Casts numerous Hour Per Level or Extended 10/Min per level Buffs before combat, and focuses on full attacking with a longbow.

EDIT: Does about 80 Damage a round with a full attack.

Defenses:
Fort: 16
Reflex: 17
Will: 17
AC: 29

Defensive Buffs Cast:
Darkvision
False Life
Countless Eyes
Greater Magic Weapon (+2 enchantment)
Heroism
Overland Flight

Gets +7 to all Saves with a +3 Cloak of Resistance, Extended Heroism, and a Stone of Good luck, in conjunction with the Fate's Favored trait.

Hey Guys,

I'm currently GMing for a table of 4 people going through the Rise of the RuneLords Adventure Path, which runs from level 1-17. The characters are all level 11, and are fighting CR appropriate monsters. The issue is that all four characters are optimized in that they have high damage, armor, and saves, and it's very difficult for the monsters as written to put a dent in them, let alone live past the first round.

The characters themselves are legal(after numerous audits to confirm this), and we tend to use PFS rules when it comes to whats banned and whats not for simplicity's sake in order to ensure that the resources they have available are not inherently overpowered.

I've tried to make the combats harder to compensate for the player's capabilities, but it seems hard to do that without making the encounter arbitrary. It's simple enough to apply the advanced template to the monsters, or put a few more in there, but after a while the battles feel contrived: I'm just throwing in more numbers to compensate for their strength, and the players don't feel rewarded when they beat an encounter. It's either too easy, or too difficult because I had to bump the AC of the monsters higher so the PC's don't hit so often, and put 3 more guys in so there's more stuff to hit.

I've also put in a number of different environments or terrain-based obstacles, but they can all either fly, or ignore the obstacles, be it caves, dense forest, darkness, etc. Part of it is the players themselves are well prepared for these environments, but it's basically reducing every battlefield to a flat plane, where their damage will outdo their enemy's every time.

I run each scenario according to the tactics listed and the appropriate intelligence of the monster, and for creatures with high intelligence, I'd like to think that I give them especially brutal tactics, just as if I were playing them as a PC. Regardless, the sheer number and resource difference between a monster, even a powerful human, and the PC's is too big to make the fight more than a speed bump.

Lastly, I've put high level spell casters into a number of the fights, but 3 out of the 4 characters have around 18 to all their saves at this level, and it's difficult to justify a level 11-12 caster with DC 28 spells, unless I create custom, heavily optimized enemies, which I'm reluctant to do.

Given that I've tried a multitude of solutions already, is there anything else that I could do to make these encounters harder?

Thanks guys :D

Catling, I signed up both myself and my guest for December 26th under David Z, so hopefully I'll see you there later this week :)

Hey Guys,

I'll be visiting Minneapolis from Dec 21st through the 28th, and I was wondering if there were any stores or events that would be running PFS games during this time, which I know is during the Holiday season. :P

Totally willing to GM as well if there's some players looking for an evening of Pathfinder, although once again, preferably at a store since we can't exactly use my house. Anything close to the Eden Prairie area would be great, thanks :)

Awesome, thanks :)

Lets say I have a Prehensile Tail as a Tiefling, and I have a tower shield in one hand, and a locked gauntlet in the other, effectively occupying both of my hands. Is it possible to use the prehensile tail to pull potions out as a swift action an drink them as a standard, without needing to drop the tower shield to move the potion to my hand?

Okay. The fact that the shield bash is optional, and the possibility of performing the bashes after all sword attacks are complete helps alleviate some of the potential downsides I had in mind. Thanks guys. :)

Hi Everyone,

I'm currently making a weapon and shield ranger, and every post about it I'm seeing recommends Shield Slam at level 2. I dont quite understand the appeal though, so maybe you can enlighten me.

The reason I'm confused is that Shield slam works in two scenarios

1.Single Shield Bash or Charge: In this case, you perform a single bull rush maneuver and push them back some amount of space, but unless there's a wall or obstacle in the way for them to hit, it doesn't seem particularly impressive.

2.Multiple Shield Bashes: Lets say I have Improved Two Weapon fighting, and I have 3 Main hand and two offhand attacks, I'm next to an enemy so I can full attack. I begin the attack with the main hand sword or whatever, then hit with the shield. I succeed the shield bash and subsequent bull rush maneuver, and push him back 5 feet. In order to continue attacking, I have to use a 5 foot step. I 5 foot step forward, hit with sword again, then hit with shield and succeed on the bull rush, pushing him back 5 feet again. In this case, I've lost my final sword attack, since I can no longer follow him.

I'm aware that shield slam\bull rush simply provides more optionsbut is it worth having at all?

Hey Guys, just a quick question.

I'm currently playing the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path, and in it there are Stone Giants. The Stone Giants have the following ability:

Rock Catching
The creature (which must be of at least Large size) can catch Small, Medium, or Large rocks (or projectiles of similar shape). Once per round, a creature that would normally be hit by a rock can make a Reflex save to catch it as a free action. The DC is 15 for a Small rock, 20 for a Medium one, and 25 for a Large one. (If the projectile provides a magical bonus on attack rolls, the DC increases by that amount.) The creature must be aware of the attack in order to make a rock catching attempt.

Does this ability work like Snatch Arrows in that it would allow them to catch arrows as well as rocks?

I suppose it makes sense that it would only give you DR Good, I was just curious since I'd like to be able to deal with Evil things and Ghosts without having to spend an exorbitant amount of money on my neck slot. Thanks for your input. :)

I have a character that uses predominantly natural attacks, and has a Holy Amulet of Mighty Fists, which is a +2 Weapon Enchantment. Does this also Bypass DR Magic in the same way a +1 Amulet of Mighty Fists would, or would I have to buy a +1 Holy Amulet of Mighty Fists for a total of +3 Weapon Enchantment Bonus in order to bypass both DR Good and Magic?

To sum up your question: Do I have options in wildshape? The answer is basically no, unless you have certain feats or make certain decisions.

You can't use potions or other items unless you have fingers, and some way to stop the items from being melded into your new form(maybe making a backpack suited to your new form.)

You can't case spells unless you have the Natural Spell Feat, which you should probably get if you're a caster :P

You can't use magic items with a command word or wands unless you take the Wild Speech feat, which lets you speak in wild shape, since you actually have to say the word for the wand to activate.

Basically the only thing you have are you skills, stats, passively functioning magic items, and your imagination :p

Hi All,

I'm currently making a melee combat oriented Druid, and was looking into the Jungle Domain as a possible domain for him to take primarily to use this ability:

Brachiation (Ex)
As a free action for a number of rounds per day equal to your druid level, you may climb with a climb speed equal to your land speed, and gain a bonus on Acrobatics checks equal to your druid level. These rounds do not have to be consecutive.

I'm wondering what sorts of applications this could have. A few that I've brainstormed are

1.Crossing a large chasm: Have the party mage cast feather fall on me, tie a long rope to myself, fall down the chasm, and run up the other side with the climb speed.

2.If the GM rules it, and the roof is sufficiently un-flat, run along the walls or the roof to get to an enemy hiding behind a frontline of fighters.

Does Climb Speed work in this way or am I misinterpreting something.

Rake is usually two claw attacks so the pounce/rake cats and the allosaurus have 5 attacks on a pounce.

Oh...so that's why they're so good. How often am I charging though? Once per encounter? I can deal some serious hurt to one enemy then, but then my combat ability goes down a bit.

Hey guys, thanks for all the advice.

I know the Deinonychus has 4 attacks, but it seems a bit silly to not take advantage of the size modifiers for being larger, although using the Lesser Beast totem instead of the Lesser Fiend totem for two claw attacks with this dinosaur seems like a very interesting idea. The issue with that is that I'll have to find a Huge creature at level 8 that has 3 attacks, but no claws..hrm.

Also, Diviner, is pounce really that good? I mean, yes it is obviously, but the DR 5 and energy resistance from Planar wildshape should make me invincible through levels 5 and 6, then I can just pick it up at level 7. Sorry if this is a silly question, I'm new to this. :p

Blackbloodtroll, so you're telling me that once I hit level 6, I can just be a giant octopus and run around with 9+ natural attacks with grab, and also have reach? That's hilarious, and also seems a little broken. I suppose the issue is that the tentacles are all secondary attacks, and it doesn't seem like I can get the multiattack feat in PFS.

Hey guys, just had a quick question. I'm working on a simple melee Druid Wildshape build right now, starting as a Human Druid, then working towards Barbarian, then maybe Fighter later. I know that most Druids of this kind take two levels of Barbarian for Lesser Fiend Totem to get a gore attack, bringing them up to 4 Natural Attacks with a Dire Tiger or Allosaurus Wildshape. Is there a way to gain another Natural Attack by dipping into a class or taking some sort of feat?

Here are a few details of the build.

Stats (20 point buy)
Str 18 (16+2)
Dex 17 (15+2)
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 12
Cha 7

I obtain +2 in two stats by using the Dual Talent racial trait for humans, found in the ARG.

Traits:
Scholar of the Great Beyond (Knowledge(Planes) as a class skill)
Carefully Hidden

Feats:
1: Toughness
3: Power Attack
5: Planar Wildshape
7: Shaping Focus (I won't get Wildshape II until level 7)
7A: Fighter Bonus Feat: Furious Focus?
8+: ???

Levels 1-4: Druid with Animal Companion
Levels 5-6: Barbarian for Lesser Fiend Totem
Levels 7+ : Possibly Fighter for feats, or Barbarian for more Rage

Unfortunately, this character is currently Level 3, as I didn't think of gaining more Natural Attacks until a few days ago, but I doubt it'll make much of a difference. Thanks for any input you guys might have :D