Cieyrin's page

I've been thinking about uses of the Merciful ability and wondering how pervasive the clause 'all damage it deals is nonlethal damage' actually is. I'm specifically interested in its interaction with Vicious and whether a)it converts the bonus damage to nonlethal and b)whether Merciful will affect Vicious' backlash damage in turning it into nonlethal as well. Considering the clause says it affects all damage the weapon deals, that could be interpreted to include the backlash damage.

I've discussed it already with my local PFS group, as well as local PFS Venture Captains and Lieutenants and have received the consensus that I should open it up online to see if I can get a specific PFS interpretation on how it should work, so here I am. I'd be quite happy with it just affecting Vicious' bonus damage and still taking lethal backlash damage, as the least stretched interpretation of Merciful, which I've coined 'Killing with Kindness,' especially with the addition of building off of a chassis of either a Sap Master Rogue or a Magi with Merciful Spell. If it stretches further than that, I'm not going to be displeased, either, considering the cost of +3 weapon (+1 merciful vicious whatever) in PFS as-is. :) Just looking for further thought on it.

A thought occurred to me with the Core Assumption and Additional Resources about the Summon Monster and Summon Nature's Ally line in that if you're required to own the book you draw from, does that mean a Wizard, Sorcerer, Druid or Cleric built entirely out of the Core Rule Book can't use either line if they don't own a Bestiary? Not to mention Wild Shape or any Polymorph related magic as well, that would be a real hit to any prospective Druids.

There's a rules inconsistency when it comes to items that are broken between what's in the Craft skill section and what's under the description for the Broken condition.

You can repair an item by making checks against the same DC that it took to make the item in the first place. The cost of repairing an item is one-fifth of the item’s price.

If the item is magical, it can only be repaired with a mending or make whole spell cast by a character with a caster level equal to or higher than the item's. Items lose the broken condition if the spell restores the object to half its original hit points or higher. Non-magical items can be repaired in a similar fashion, or through the Craft skill used to create it. Generally speaking, this requires a DC 20 Craft check and 1 hour of work per point of damage to be repaired. Most craftsmen charge one-tenth the item's total cost to repair such damage (more if the item is badly damaged or ruined).

Craft says you have to pay 1/5 the cost to repair it but not how long it takes. Broken says there's no cost unless you pay a craftsman to do it, who does the repair at a loss, as well as not varying depending on what you're fixing.

So, it's about as clear as mud. Anybody got an idea?