Chris P. Bacon's page

Hey you lovely people you,

So, I'm thinking of playing a Wood Oracle in an upcoming game (not PFS or anything), and I have some questions related to using the Tree Form mystery:

1. While looking for good medium plant creatures to emulate, it dawned on me that I could just turn into a Yellow Musk Zombie. Is this actually kosher, considering they're basically zombies? I mean, they seem to qualify in that they have the Plant type and all, but it feels weird. Thoughts?

2. Since I'd essentially be in humanoid form (with bonus pretty flower on my head), would I still be able to cast spells with verbal and somatic components?

3. Yellow Musk Zombies come with a slam attack. Does this require my arms to be freed up, or can the slam be a kick or a headbutt, similar to an unarmed strike? Do both arms need to be free, or just one?

If #1 and #2 work out (I don't really care that much about #3, but it's worth asking as I won't turn down a free slam added to my weapon routine), then Tree Form seems totally worth it. Basically I'm picking up +2 Str, +2 Con, +2 Natural Armor, and Darkvision for 9+hours a day, at the cost of looking kinda gross (potentially an upgrade, since I'm taking the wasting curse lol). Plus DR 5/Slashing at 13th. Yes please!

The Mandragora also seems pretty great (small size, but great movement modes, decent natural attacks, 10' reach, and that poison is fantastic) but I'm wary about somatic components. Thoughts on that for bonus points?

Thanks in advance!

Hey gang,

So, I may have the opportunity to play a little Pathfinder in an upcoming game, and it's been a while for me, so I'm a little rusty and new to some of the more recent material. I'm thinking of playing a human Lore Warden focused around tripping and grappling, and as you know, that can get a little complicated, so I thought I'd ask for some help. Specifically, I need advice on feat selection and interpretation of some rules.

The GM is still waffling on whether we're starting at as low as 4th or as high as 9th, so I need to think ahead. Here's what I have so far, featwise:

1 - Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Grapple, Belier's Bite/Power Attack? (human bonus)
2 - Combat Expertise (bonus), Improved Trip
3 - Ki Throw
4 - Binding Throw
5 - Fury's Fall
6 - Greater Grapple
7 - Greater Trip
8 - Hamatula Strike
9 - Rapid Grappler

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but this appears to be my routine starting at 9th level, assuming there is a trippable opponent within reach:
a) make a trip attempt as a standard action
b) if successful, this provokes an AoO; attack using cestus dealing piercing damage against prone opponent
c) if attack hits, begin a grapple as a free action as per Hamatula Strike, again applying prone bonuses
d) if grapple succeeds, grapple again as a move action (Greater Grapple) to pin
e) if pin succeeds, make yet another grapple as a swift action (Rapid Grappler) to either damage or tie the target up (so as to move on to the next victim)

A couple questions about this:
* Characters who have fallen prone suffer a -4 penalty to AC; this applies to their CMD, too, correct? Likewise, they suffer a -4 penalty on attack rolls, and this applies to their CMB when grappling, right?
* When beginning a grapple with Hamatula Strike, can I apply my Weapon Training and the enhancement bonus on my cestus to my CMB in the same way that you'd apply them to a trip?
* If I trip someone, and miss my AoO, can I still use Binding Throw to attempt a grapple as a free action?

And one more general question: Is it even worth playing a grappler that isn't a Tetori monk, given how awesome Freedom of Movement is? I suppose I can still trip the hell out of casters if/once we start encountering FoM, but otherwise my damage isn't going to be particularly amazing (1d4 + str + weapon training + enhancement + either bleed or power attack). I'm sort of counting on the party rogue to just stand beside me and SA the hell out of whoever I'm pinning at the moment. :P I'm not aiming for pure optimization, but unless I'm grossly mistaken about something, this build is looking pretty okay. I've contemplated eventually adding two levels of Brutal Pugilist (Barbarian), picking up Animal Fury for the sexy bite attack, but it doesn't quite fit the image I'm going for..

Thanks in advance for taking the time to look this over. Any comments/suggestions are appreciated!

Hey guys,

I'm wondering if anyone can point me to any text that talks about a limit of natural attacks per limb - as in, you can't have 4 claw attacks if you only have two arms.

Specifically, I have a player who is currently a level 5 Barbarian with the lesser beast totem rage power (which grants two d6 primary claw attacks when raging), who is about to become a Brightness Seeker. The Brightness Seeker has an ability that can grant two d6 claw attacks and a d6 bite.

This means one of two things: either she has 5 primary natural attacks, including 4 claws (despite only having two arms), or she has a useless rage power. My gut tells me that you can't have more than one claw attack per arm, as I've never seen a monster with that kind of attack routine, but I can't actually find this in text.

If I'm right, I plan on refunding the rage power and allowing her to select a different one, while still allowing her buy rage powers that require lesser beast totem as a prerequisite. Does that sound reasonable?

Thanks,

Chris

Hey people,

So, a friend of mine offered me a cookie if I could answer a question about grappling - specifically about the Under and Over feat out of the APG - and he didn't find my answer terribly satisfying. I admit, I'm not 100% certain either, so I thought I'd ask you folks.

First, the text of the feat in question:

Under and Over (Combat)
You can slip under a foe trying to grab you, knocking him off balance.
Prerequisites: Agile Maneuvers, Small size or smaller.
Benefit: If an opponent larger than you attempts to grapple you and fails, you may make a trip attack as an immediate action against that opponent with a +2 bonus. This does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

And the question: What constitutes an attempt to grapple? Is it only when a creature spends a standard action to begin grappling, or do subsequent attempts to maintain or gain control of a grapple count as "attempts to grapple"?

My answer was that only the initial attempt to begin a grapple count for the purposes of this feat. I pointed to the flavour text that talks about a foe reaching for you, while you quickly dart beneath them.

My friend contests that RAW is what's important (and that flavour text can be misleading), and that any roll made to continue a grapple is an "attempt to grapple". He concedes that trying to escape a grapple is another matter, and wouldn't trigger this feat.

Thoughts? Official rulings? A cookie is on the line here, people.