CMantle's page

Yeah I agree. But when you ask for the rules on something in the Rules Questions forum the written rules, FAQ, and designer quotations take precedent. No one is marching into your game night with an armed squad to demand you follow the RAW, but the Rules Questions forum isn’t for everyone’s opinion on the most balanced way to rule it, it’s for the actual Official Rules to be given so that the OP can make their own informed decision on how to let it effect their game.

Edit: in the spirit of irony, in case you think that’s just my opinion on the purpose and use of this Forum, here’s the RAW on it too:

“What this subforum is NOT for:

Lengthy rants about the way the rules have been written. ”

I think the actual answer is "If you move into range you make a saving throw at that time".

While you might think that, I can’t find it anywhere RAW. The only saves you make against a Gaze attack are if you *start* your turn inside the gaze, or if the creature uses a standard action to “actively gaze” at a creature, per the quoted section of the Universal Monster Rules below:

“A creature with a gaze attack can actively gaze as an attack action by choosing a target within range. That opponent must attempt a saving throw but can try to avoid this as described above. Thus, it is possible for an opponent to save against a creature’s gaze twice during the same round, once before the opponent’s action and once during the creature’s turn.”

“The opponent” here is who the creature with a gaze attack is targeting. It can save once “before the opponent’s action” (aka “at the beginning of his or her turn”) and also if the creature actively targets it as a standard action (attack action).

The *only* way you have to make a save for entering the range of the gaze attack is if the creature took a readied action to use his standard action Gaze against a foe who enters (and then it would only be the single foe, not every opponent who enters).

EDIT: (comment) everything I say is from my best understanding of RAW. If someone finds RAW that contradicts anything I’ve said i’ll happily change how I view it. Can only do the best with that I’ve read though

"Two characters are engaged in melee if they are enemies of each other and either threatens the other."

What this means is if two characters are within melee range, are enemies, and at least one of them threatens the other (Meaning they could take an AoO if that person tried to move away), then precise shot would be needed to not take a -4 penalty. Including if they have reach of some sort, it would still count because one person is still threatening the other with a melee weapon, just like Meirril said.

But if you continue reading, the section I posted is almost directly after that quote. Reach *does* matter for shooting into melee. If an enemy is at least 10ft away from all allies, you do not take the penalty for shooting into melee. Or if it is a large (10x5 or larger) creature, taking up multiple squares, *if* you can target a square of the creature that is not adjacent to any allies, you do not take penalties for shooting into melee.

Y'all need to start reading entire rules sections

EDIT: TL/DR? Engaged in melee =/= shooting/throwing into melee. Penalties for shooting/throwing into melee *only* occur when you target a square of the creature that is adjacent to any ally.

baggageboy wrote:

I disagree that longspear is the "best" simple weapon.

Thousands of years of Asian martial arts tradition disagrees [Wikipedia: Qiang]. In Pathfinder terms, what other weapon can nearly every 1st level PC use to delivers multiple attacks per round at full BaB and damage? P.s. I've wandered off-topic, so maybe ignore this post.

The Greeks and every other ancient civilization also disagree. The long spear was a revolutionary weapon as much as the longbow, crossbow, and black powder firearms. It forever changed how warfare was done. It was an incredible weapon for its time, so much so that it’s first major battle (the battle of Megiddo) is what our coined term “Armageddon” is based on. The longspear is legit

Yes, one idea is to polymorph a container of lava into a baby. Use the baby as bait to get eaten by the monster... wait the remainder of the 20min until polymorph wears off... the damage done to the baby by being eaten no doubt means the container is broken... lava spilling into the creature's inside is *at least* the same damage as being fully submerged.... 20d6 unsaveable damage per round, with essentially no way to stop it. Then if something is heat resistant just use acid, 10d6 per round, etc...

As written you cannot use Selective Spell with Detonate. Selective Spell requires a duration of ‘Instantaneous’ and Detonate has a duration of ‘1 Round, then Instantaneous.’ While instantaneous is *included* in the duration of the spell, the duration of the spell is not ‘instantaneous.’

That aside, if your GM wants to overlook it, you would benefit from Selective Spell. The language in Detonate needs to be taken in context. The point of “You automatically take half damage from the explosion, without a Saving Throw” within its context is ruling that the caster does not get a saving throw for his own spell, but he only takes half the damage instead, because it makes no sense that you could “reflex” your way out of an explosion that is emanating from your own body. Then it goes on to say “but any other energy resistance or energy immunity effects you may have in place can prevent or lessen this overflow damage caused by the explosion.”

This is not restrictive language, it’s example-giving language. It’s not saying “only energy resistance or immunity effects can prevent or lesson,” it’s giving precedence for all sorts of magical immunity to the spell. Given that selective spell grants magical exclusion to a spell, It’s well within the intention of both “Detonate” and “Selective Spell.”

Lastly, no you can’t “get out of the AoE of the explosion.” The spell isn’t centered on your body, it’s coming from it. “You flood yourself with a potent surge of elemental energy.

One round after completing the casting of the spell, the energy explodes from your body.”

Even if you somehow managed to cast a teleportation spell or be the target of one as the explosion happened, the point of the spell is that it’s an overflow of magic energy *leaving your body*. So in a role play scenario, rather than rigidly action-based, you are taking the damage right before the enemy is. The energy bursts out of your body, damaging you, then floods the area of the radius of the spell, damaging anyone who doesn’t reflex out of the way