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Hi everyone,

One of my regular GM's in the Pathfinder Society has ruled that when my polearm master has the spell enlarge person cast on him, he can hit targets 15 or 20 feet away with no penalty, 5 feet away with a -4 penalty, and he can't hit targets 10 feet away at all. The key word is "adjacent", as shown in the description below:

"At 2nd level, as an immediate action, a polearm master can shorten the grip on his spear or polearm with reach and use it against adjacent targets. This action results in a –4 penalty on attack rolls with that weapon until he spends another immediate action to return to the normal grip. The penalty is reduced by –1 for every four levels beyond 2nd."

I think the problem with my GM's reasoning is that the above description does not take into account the fact that my character is Large when Enlarge Person is in effect. He believes that since 10 feet away from my character is not adjacent, he can't hit a target at that distance. I think that both 5 feet and 10 feet away should be considered adjacent, as the character is Large, and takes up four x 5 foot squares, compared to a Medium creature which takes up only one 5 foot square.

Any thoughts please? I need to get this rule clarified, preferably in my favour, as I play only reach based fighters, and this ruling from my GM is crippling.

Thanks in advance,

Captain Picard.

The following numbers are shorthand for the different square distances you can threaten/attack, 1 being adjacent.

Medium sized: 1
Medium sized, long arm: 1 and 2
Medium sized, reach weapon: 2
Medium sized, long arm, reach weapon, 2 and 3
Enlarged: 1 and 2
Enlarged, long arm: 1, 2, 3
Enlarged, reach weapon 2 and 3
Enlarged, long arm, reach weapon: 2, 3 and 4

As I understand long arm is natural reach (doesn't specify, I further assume that this growth in arm length extends the reach for the weapons you're holding in them), so is enlarge. And enlarge gives +5 natural reach.

Correct?

An enlarged person with a reach weapon is 3 and 4, ie they can hit creatures 15 and 20 feet away, but not 5 or 10 feet away. An exception is the pole arm master (a fighter archetype) which can hit creatures 5 and 10 feet away with a pole arm, at a -4 penalty, though that penalty is reduced at higher levels.

An enlarged person with long arm and a reach weapon will be 3, 4 and 5. Pretty awesome with Whirlwind Attack, which is what I am aiming for. If you have the Lunge feat on top of that, it is 3, 4, 5, and 6.

If the loss of BAB is what is worrying you look at taking a level in Bloodrager. They have booth enlarge person and bulls strength on their spell list as well as some other useful spells. It also gives you a few rounds of rage per day and a useful special ability.

That's a good idea, I will look into it.

vhok wrote:

There is a fighter archetype that gives spell casting. Child of something and something

Then the VMC is much more relevant. But that's only if he has the archetype. Personally, I doubt that he does.

No I don't, my fighter is a polearm master, hence the desire

to use a wand without UMD you need to have the spell in your spell list of your class, and since you do not have any spell list, and VMC wizard only give you one cantrip as a at will SP and no spell list and thing the like, you do not fulfill that requirement. would be better to take one dip in wizard to use wand, you do not need to have the lvl to cast the spell, like how a lvl 1 paladin can use wand that have paladin spell in it

Hi John,

Yes, I thought long and seriously about taking a level in wizard, but I don't really want to, because they don't get a base attack bonus at level 1. Also I don't care about the wizard powers, familiars etc. All I want to do is use a wand, particularly since there is no arcane spell miscast failure chance, unlike casting spells. My character has full plate armour, so I would rather use a wand or potion.

Alternately, pump UMD. It's not so hard; you have feats to spare as a fighter.

Yeah, I guess I could take Skill Focus as a feat, though not until I get Whirlwind Attack, as that is first priority. I can't wait to get that, especially with twenty foot reach, being Large and having a reach weapon.

VMC

1. The VMC rules do not bother to define whether you count as your secondary class in any way, shape, or form, so good luck getting a consistent answer on wand use.

2. Normally, if you want to VMC, you have to choose to do so at 1st level. If your GM allows retraining, you may be able to retrain into the secondary class. Technically, there's nothing to retrain away, only toward, so they may just allow you to proceed as if you had chosen to VMC in the first place.

3. Once you start down the VMC path, forever will it dominate your destiny (unless you retrain the whole thing away later).

I have to ask: Why fighter/VMC wizard?

Hi Blahpers,

To answer your question, I have a polearms master who likes to drink potions of enlarge person to double his reach. Wands are a lot cheaper than potions, so it would be more cost effective to get an enlarge person wand. I want to use a wand without having to use Use Magic Device, or take a full level as a wizard. A wand of Bulls Strength would be very handy as well.

Hi Everyone,

I am seriously considering adding the secondary class of wizard to my 2nd level fighter. I have three questions: 1. Can I use a wand for any spell on the wizard spell list? (first and second level spells in particular). I understand that I can't cast spells when variant multiclassing in the first secondary class feature of wizard, so wands would be the next best thing.

Also, can I choose to have a secondary class when my main class (fighter) is at second level, or did I have to make that decision when my character was still at first level? Do I need to do some kind of retraining to make this possible?

Last question; Am I obligated to keep going with the variant multiclassing, ie trading in feats every four levels for aspects of the wizard class, or can I stop after the first class feature? All I want to do is use wands to cast spells without having to use the Use Magic Device skill, and without having to take a level in a class other than fighter.

Thanks in advance,

Captain Picard.