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A maul has the shove trait. If equipped with a crushing rune, does a critical shove impose clumsy 1 and enfeebled 1? Or is that limited to only strikes?

The crushing rune states that it imposes the conditions when you “critically hit a target.” A shove has the attack trait, so is a critical shove a “hit” that inflicts the conditions?

Thanks!

Does party movement granted by the Air Kin impulse Four Winds trigger reactive strikes? Is that a Stride? Or is it more like forced movement which ordinarily doesn’t provoke?

Thanks!

I’m toying with a Summoner build. If a large or huge eidolon has burrowing…

1) Can it stay mostly burrowed and only partially emerge?

1a). If so, does it have cover?

1b) And would it still have reach?

2) Could it use this trick to fit in places where large/huge creature ordinarily could not fit?

Seems like it could be a great way to have a huge pet and avoid some of the drawbacks.

We are about to finish up our 1e Rise of the Runelords campaign, and after that we're going to launch our first 2e campaign. I'm doing a little theorycrafting with a new character, but since I'm not yet experienced with 2e I don't know how good this build might be.

I saw a couple posts about using the monk base and stumbling stance, coupled with the assassin archetype, to make a pretty good "drunken master" build. It sounded fun, so I've been tinkering.

I'm starting with a versatile human and Dex 18, Str 14, and Cha 14. Starting feats are stumbling stance, ki strike (from Natural Ambition), and Toughness.

At level 2 I can take the assassin dedication for the additional feinting bonuses and to better benefit from imposing the flat-footed condition.

Then as follows:

4. Expert backstabber
6. Stumbling feint
8. Sneak attacker
10. Wholeness of body

This seems fairly strong to me, but admittedly I don't have a feel for the number ranges. I understand that getting +1 is a bigger deal in 2e. With this combo, I get bonuses to feinting, free attempts to feint, and extra benefits from catching an opponent flat-footed.

At level 8 (without equipment), he'd be +1 to feint base and +3 to feint vs. an opponent who is marked for death. And if flat-footed, he'd be getting +2 flat damage and +1d6 from sneak attack. It appears that he'd have a lot of opportunities to feint (including for free with stumbling feint) and plenty of bonuses for doing so.

I'd appreciate feedback from those of you who are more familiar with the system (most of you), especially if you've played a monk. Am I on the right track?

Thanks!

I'm making my first 2e character: a magic-using thief. I don't plan on using magic very offensively--the idea is that he'd use magic to supplement his thievery and backstabbing (e.g., ghost sound, mage hand, invisibility, illusory object, etc.). I would want to sneak attack to inflict damage.

The new Eldritch Trickster doesn't impress me very much, but perhaps I'm missing something. I feel like I'd get more mileage out of using the Thief racket and using either the Wizard or Sorcerer dedication, but I am open to being persuaded.

Some questions:

First, am I on the right path with rackets?

Second, is there a compelling reason to chose Wizard over Sorcerer dedication? I was leaning toward Sorcerer because I'd rather have a higher CHA than INT so that I can use diplomacy and deception more.

Third, which is better for setting up a sneak attack: Tumble Behind or Twin Feint? I'm leaning toward Tumble Behind because I think it'll be easier to land in most instances. There is no MAP for Tumble Behind, and now that attacks of opportunity are more rare I'm less worried about a failed acrobatics check than in 1e. My bonus to hit will be about the same as my tumble check (I think) since they both use the same stat and proficiency bonus, but the tumble check doesn't have MAP.

Any other advice for a magic-supplementing thief would be appreciated.

I had an idea to create a dwarf brewer/professional drinker and discovered the alchemist mixologist archetype. It doesn't seem very potent (pardon the pun), but it looks fun and fits the theme I had in mind.

It references rules about intoxication I cannot find. Are the rules in the SRD? If not, where are they?

I also had a question about the level 14 power, "Mixologist Master." It reads, "At 14th level, a mixologist can have up to two alcoholic extracts for each level of extracts he can prepare as long as he can prepare at least two extracts of that level."

Perhaps I'm not thinking clearly (again with the puns), but I read that two ways. It could mean that you get double the extracts . . . So, for example, at level 14 you can prepare and cast/consume 5 level 1 extracts per day, but with this power you could do 10 per day? That seems rather potent.

Or it could mean that you can combine two extracts into one as an action economy enhancer. For example, you could prepare a single extract that gives the effect of both Barkskin and Bear's Endurance in a single gulp. If that's the case, does it use 1 or 2 of your extracts per day? This language is confusing to me.

If anyone has played this archetype (or something similar), I'd be grateful for any other advice on how to make a fun alcoholic dwarf brewmaster.

We had an issue arise last night with the Druid spell "Resinous Skin," which reads as follows:

"You coat your body with a resinous substance, protecting you from attacks and binding weapons that strike you. You gain DR 5/piercing, as well as a +4 circumstance bonus to your CMD against disarm attempts and on saving throws against effects that cause you to drop something you are holding. Additionally, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus on combat maneuver checks to initiate a grapple, maintain a grapple, and pin a foe. Any enemy you grapple takes a –2 penalty on attempts to break the grapple and to escape the grapple using Escape Artist. Any weapon, that strikes you becomes stuck unless its wielder succeeds at a Reflex saving throw. Such a weapon can be pulled free of you only with a successful Strength check (DC = your saving throw DC for this spell). This spell has no effect on unarmed strikes or natural weapons."

Our Hunter cast it on his big cat Animal Companion, who then went into battle with a troll wielding a trident. Troll hit the cat, failed his Ref save, so the weapon was stuck. OK, all good so far.

So then it's the cat's turn. However, it's stuck 10' away from the troll with a reach weapon stuck to it that the troll is still firmly holding. So what now? Can the cat take a 5' step toward the troll? Can it retreat? Seems to me that the troll is now holding the cat at bay with the trident at 10' unless the cat can either disarm the troll or succeed in an opposed STR check.

Nothing in the spell description says anything about a free disarm maneuver. Even if there was a free disarm check, does the troll then get an AoO on the cat because it doesn't have Improved Disarm?

And is the Strength check to tear it free a free action or a standard action? Ordinarily I would think it would be a standard action, but this was a weird situation.

It seems to me that adding a free disarm check to the spell makes it too powerful for a low-level spell. On the other hand, if the troll gets to simply hold onto the weapon and keep the cat at bay until it's turn to tear it free, the spell actually would be disadvantageous to the recipient (the cat).

I didn't give the cat a free disarm check, but I did give it a free action to attempt a STR check to separate from the trident (which it did). That seemed unsatisfying though. The weapon got stuck as intended, but the supposed beneficiary of the spell had to basically end the effect prematurely so that it wasn't severely disadvantaged.

How would you handle this? Is there a rule I'm missing?

Lately I've been intrigued by the Druid archetype Swarm Monger. I was wondering if there is a thematically similar archetype for an arcane caster? I'm more interested in the theme than a direct match in mechanics. Any wizards/sorcerers/others out there that focus on summoning (or becoming) swarms?

Thanks!

I am the GM, and I have questions about how illusions can be used to conceal spellcasting.

If a wizard, say, casts major image to create a fake wall to hide behind, can the wizard see through it (because the caster does not believe it)?

If so, can the hiding wizard cast a spell from behind it and not be seen (thereby masking any somatic components)? Could this be used to avoid any attacks of opportunity (because the targets do not see the casting)?

I would think it would work for spells with only somatic components, or for spell-like abilities (which have no verbal or somatic components).

More specifically, if a creature with the SLA to cast charm monster hid behind an illusory wall, could the creature cast this spell against the PCs without being detected? I understand that if it did so in plain sight that the PCs would be able to detect it, despite the lack of V or S components, right?

I want to make a fight with a lamia matriarch interesting. If prepared, she could hide behind her illusion and try to get off some charm monster spells before initiating melee combat.

Thanks!

I really love the flavor of the Gun Chemist Alchemist archetype, but I'm not sure how viable it is (or at least how it compares to the Grenadier). I like the idea of using a gun to deliver bombs, and I also like the possibility of making a gun viable as a back-up weapon when I'm out of (or saving) bombs. But I have questions about how it works.

First of all, for what ammunition types does Cartridge Savant work? It reads, in part:

"When a gun chemist fires an alchemical cartridge that deals a type of damage in place of a firearm’s normal damage (such as a dragon’s breath cartridge), he can increase the damage dealt by an amount equal to his Intelligence modifier."

For what other types of cartridges does Int get added to damage? If I'm reading it correctly, it pretty much only works on dragon's breath and on the different types of mage shot. Am I reading that incorrectly? What else could I shoot and add Int to damage? I didn't really want to use a spread gun, so dragon's breath doesn't excite me.

Secondly, if I have to use Mage Shot, can I craft that with Gunsmith, or do I have to have Craft Magic Arms and Armor? And whatever I use, how much does it cost to make? Mage Shot (Fire), for example, says it costs 98 gp to craft. Is that for a single shot, or for multiple pieces of ammo? If the latter, how many get crafted for that cost? And is there a further discount for having Gunsmithing feat? It seems odd to me that the retail cost of Mage Shot (Fire) is 178, but the craft cost is 98 (which is more than half).

Third, is Gun Chemist even worthwhile as compared to Grenadier? It seems to me that the fault with guns is that you basically are firing a bag of money at enemies. I guess Paizo wanted to balance guns with cost, but that seems like a poor way to accomplish balancing.

I may just take Grenadier and use a long bow, but re-skin it to be a gun using the bow's stats. I like the concept of a gnome alchemist using a homemade gun, but it's hard to justify unless I'm reading the rules incorrectly.

Thanks!

I'm about to run the Ripnugget/Stickfoot fight in RotR, and I'm scratching my head about how to handle the mounted combat with the giant gecko. My questions:

What's the DC of the Ride check for a rider to take his mount onto the walls or ceiling? Is there a chance he'd fall off?

Is there an attack penalty to the rider for attacking while his mount is on the wall or ceiling?

Can a rider use the Ride-by Attack feat to charge, attack, and then run up the wall onto the ceiling? Or use the wall during part of the charge to go around people?

I think this fight could be really fun if Ripnugget is running all over the walls, but I don't know how to run it.

Thanks!!

I want to create a plant-based kineticist, but I'm having a difficult time with it. My concept is something akin to Groot, but it doesn't have to be completely true to that character.

I'm considering either a ghoran or a leshy, using the wood element. However, wood is just so bad that I can't create a viable build. I also considered doing earth and re-skinning some of the abilities (tough bark rather than flesh of stone; vine-based entangle rather than rocky, etc).

Has anyone had any success with a phytokin kin build? Are there 3PP fixes/improvements to wood out there? Should I try a totally different path to this concept?

Thanks!

I'm making a 1st-level witch, and I've chosen the Cartomancer archetype primarily for flavor reasons. However, the Cartomancer seems like a bad deal to me.

You trade an animal familiar for a harrow deck. By third level you get to deliver touch spells as a ranged touch attack (nice), or you can throw cards as a very weak (but flavorful) damaging attack.

But you lose everything that a familiar would provide: a skill bonus, the alertness feat, scouting capabilities, a wand wielder, etc.

Getting a ranged touch attack is nice, but a familiar can deliver a touch attack anyway (albeit at a risk of damage to it).

I guess the harrow deck is less likely to "die," so that's a good thing.

It seems to be a bad trade . . . PLUS you lose a hex to get the feats for the weak attack.

Am I missing something?

I'm considering a house rule that lets the Cartomancer have the Alertness feat and a +3 to sleight of hand to balance it out a bit.

Thoughts?

I'm struggling with a build for an alchemist character concept. I want to create a gnome alchemist who is primarily a bomber/buffer/controller. However, the use of mutagen doesn't work with the concept--I like the mutagen feature for other builds/concepts, but not this one. So I'm looking for an archetype that changes or alters mutagen.

Using cognatogen is the obvious choice, but I don't really like that concept either (I can only be smarter if I'm weaker?). Yes, I know I'm being picky.

I was looking at the engineer or the toxicant, but would like some other ideas. I also thought it would be interesting to have a mutagen that did something different than alter stats . . . like add movement speed and/or a dodge effect.

I'm also looking for a back-up weapon when I'm low on bombs or when they're not practical. As a low-strength (STR 7 or 8) small creature, a bow doesn't make sense. I like the idea of using a crossbow or a firearm, but it's so difficult to make them good in an alchemist build. Thoughts? Thanks.