Eoran's page

Most of the classic Witch patron Hex Cantrips removed the temporary immunity clause of the spell, including Stoke the Heart, Shroud of Night, Evil Eye, and Nudge Fate. Is it intended that Discern Secrets still has that temporary immunity?

Also is it deliberate that the spell's effect allows an unlimited use Free Action to Seek, Sense Motive, or Recall Knowledge? Take-20 is a relic of a previous edition and even then it took a significant amount of time. Having an effective Take-20 for Seek or Sense Motive at Free Action speed appears to be an error.

The unexpected URL inside invalid 'img' tags is suspicious.

Needle of Vengeance and Blood Vendetta would also be options.

Though if Nettleskin being a spell is too cost prohibitive, both of these options likely will be as well.

I would suggest a Witch that has a familiar that is incapable of participating in combat. However, the Familiar of Flowing Script ability is of so low impact and high risk that it still qualifies.

Have you considered that perhaps you are too stubborn for your own good?

Don't ask LLMs for game rules

Or anything else that needs to be factually correct.

It's almost always worse for the enemy to see us than for us to be seen by them.

I am not certain how to parse this sentence.

The Total Package wrote:

Our Magus identifies sometimes. I don't have Wall of force in my repertoire as level 6 is a very competitive spell level. Should I be carrying perhaps a scroll of it for use?

A scroll for this is never a bad idea unless you already have too much to carry!

The difficulty may come in using the scroll though. It would effectively require two rounds to cast. One round to draw the scroll and all three actions of the next round to cast the wall.

The exception being if you are a Magus character that has a hand available for holding items. Many Magi do not. Starlit Span Magi generally use 1+ hand weapons and would not have a hand available for carrying items. Inexorable Iron Magi use 2 hand weapons. Laughing Shadow Magi generally need to have a hand completely free including free of items.

The Witch starts with four abilities instead of two

Only three are selectable. The fourth one is permanently chosen by the Patron. But that detail should not be very important in this case for a Kineticist.

Several of the familiar master abilities are designed for use for a spellcaster and would have no effect on a Kineticist. Cantrip Connection, for example, would not grant an additional Cantrip. But many master abilities will continue to function properly, as will all of the abilities that affect the familiar itself.

This is its downside, yeah. You can land this and cripple things, right up until they realize the familiar is a threat and kill it. It doesn't have the defense to survive against any kind of significant threat.

There are options available to mitigate this problem. Phase Familiar, Lifelink, and Protect Companion being the most direct. Since Ongoing Misery does have a 15 foot range, positioning the familiar behind allies can also be indirectly effective.

And in the worst case, living familiars would follow the same death and dying process as other allies, so Stabilize, First Aid, Treat Wounds, and healing spells would all be effective to keep the familiar available for the next fight in the day even if an enemy does decide to target them.

They can't attempt to copy the spells into their new book for free either like the Witch's Paper Shredder does.

Witch can not copy spellbook spells for free either. The familiar can only consume scrolls to learn the spell from.

It can learn any spell on your tradition's spell list by physically consuming a written version of that spell over the course of 1 hour. This can be a scroll of that spell, or you can prepare a written version using the Learn a Spell exploration activity.

To acquire spells from a spellbook, the Learn a Spell activity is still required in order to create uncastable special scrolls that can then be given to the Familiar.

Ant Haul and Carryall are staple spells for this purpose.

Out of combat simple traps are a bit of a trap option (pun intended). Either the trap is powerful enough to one-shot a PC from the Massive Damage rules, or it is a trivial speed bump that costs the party nothing more than a couple of 10 minute activities to recover the HP lost.

So perhaps when adventuring with a necromancer, the party will stop trying to swindle me into walking down the hallways first.

It may also be that the words of the Warpriest player are not directed at the Sorcerer player directly. Perhaps they are giving permission to that player to play in a less strictly optimal manner. Acknowledging that the party may be missing some of the magical tradition and Recall Knowledge skill coverage as a result, but that this would be acceptable.

I'm basically being relied on to be the party face and the party knowledge bot.

Why are you being relied upon to fill all of those roles? What is the rest of your adventuring party comprised of? And why can they not make some adjustments to take on some of this burden as well?

I also expect that it is not allowed to Dismiss the 'unable to use Breath Weapon' effect. Also because there is no effect.

My opinion is that a good GM makes it useful until its overused. Then you start getting laundry lists.

Considering that it costs a Rank 3 spell slot each time that it is cast, what would you consider overusing the spell?

I'm pretty sure there is an oxymoron in there somewhere.

That is an excellent example of vague surface thoughts, but we are looking for a definition.

Resentment Witch familiar ability would extend the paralyzed duration. Possibly also the Frightened condition, though that depends on GM ruling.

But that cannot be gained from the archetype.

a newish PFS scenario were we had 3 back-to-back combats with explicitly no time to rest in-between.

Out of curiosity, what did your focus point casters do?

Admonishing Ray also exists.

Familiars seem like a lot of work for what you get out of them

Indeed.

With unremarkable Dexterity, you will still be low on AC even with Mystic Armor. You will also be low on HP.

'Wading into melee combat' is likely too optimistic of a tactic. You would be able to handle melee combat, but only briefly and only if you are not the focus of attention of multiple enemies.

A better description may be 'opportunistically attacking weakened or isolated enemies' or 'standing ground in melee when an enemy attacks your position'.

I noticed some of these minions have spells that cost three actions ie. Wall of Stone, so would that mean they can't cast these?

It is most likely not possible for them to cast such spells.

Theoretically it would be possible if they were given a Quickened effect either with no restrictions, or specifically allowing the additional action to be used on the Cast a Spell activity.

Summons are minions and minions do not have reactions unless some other ability gives them one.

As for Bards, any one Bard can only have one Composition spell active at a time. That applies to both Composition cantrips and Composition spells that do cost focus points.

It is always questionable why people use the word 'drink' for potions.

>aberration

Man, that would be a cool school. What spells should we give it? Gouging claw for starters, I think

It would likely be similar to the School of Protean Form.

*Reads thread title.*

Posts are natural objects, usually made out of wood. I expect that they would always be Neutral.

I had not considered Hand of the Apprentice. That makes the frequency marginally higher than I was estimating.

At highest levels, the difference between trained in class DC and legendary in spellcasting DC is a 30% difference in success rates. Which is noticeable.

Personally, I would not adjust my own combat style even for a noticeable success rate increase for something that only happens once in five combats if I spend all of my combat resources on that one tactic.

In any case, the rules themselves seem clear enough. Individuals, including the Pathbuilder app developer, can houserule things as they see fit.

Out of curiosity, how often do you expect your Wizard to crit with the warhammer?

But if you look on pages 304-305 (arcane list of spells) and 312 (primal list of spells), it does indeed show up twice, once for rank 1 and once for rank 3.

Is it the same spell in both printings? Grease does not appear to have any heightened effect, so I do not see any reason why it would have a different spell Rank for different traditions. Most likely the Rank 3 version is misprinted.

They have only come out with two new skills, not a massive number.

Specifically, the number increased from 16 skills to 18 skills - not counting Lore subtypes since those are often thought of and gained separately from other skills. That is a 12.5% increase in the number of skills.

Since most classes give 4 skills trained at level 1, increasing that value by 12.5% to compensate would result in classes needing to provide 4.5 skills at trained proficiency at level 1.

I do not think that is feasible.

Also, this does not address concerns about the number of skills at proficiency ratings higher than Trained. I feel that the concern being noticeable at level 1 and mathematically unsolvable there indicates that a different approach is needed.

So the more valuable information is for the feedback of the playtest to indicate if the slight increase in the number of skills feels detrimental to the characters.

Probability is not intuitive.

I still do not understand the insistence on parity of tradition.

It is not a concern that Witch has very few Divine or Arcane tradition Patrons. Or that Sorcerer has very few Occult Bloodlines. It is also not a concern that Druid has no Divine, Arcane, or Occult options, or that Psychic has no Divine, Arcane, or Primal tradition choices.

What problem does it cause if a particular tradition has fewer class choices overall?

For an extreme example, if Pathfinder had only the Cleric available for Divine tradition. Oracle ceases to exist, and Witch, Sorcerer, and Summoner no longer have Divine as a tradition choice. What problem does this cause?

Changing both (or even just one of them) to occult would mean that it's comparatively way overrepresented, especially when compared to whichever poor tradition is only getting one fifth of one half of the casters in the game.

I am uncertain why this is a concern. Witch has 13 Patron themes. Of those, 1 is Arcane tradition and 1 is Divine tradition.

PC2 agrees with PC1:

Player Core 2 p. 283 wrote:

A splash weapon or effect deals any listed splash damage to the target on a failure, success, or critical success and to all other creatures within 5 feet of the target on a success or critical success.

Based on that, I feel like the more likely assumption is that GM Core is wrong. Lots of stuff for the next round of errata to sort out.

I am unwilling to assign correctness or incorrectness of any of the general rules based solely on quantity of repetition. The sample size is simply too small.

Similarly I am unwilling to assign correctness or incorrectness of the general rule based on whether the rulebook is intended primarily for GMs or players.

If it was one item that had a different rule for its splash mechanics, then it would be an override of the general rules and the item's rule would take priority, but only when resolving the actions involving that item. The general rules themselves have no such heuristic for prioritization.

Failure, Success, or Critical Success: All creatures within 5 feet of the target (including the target) take the listed splash damage.

That is what GM Core says.

PC1 says that only the target takes the splash damage on a failure. The creatures within 5 feet of the target only take the listed splash damage on a success or critical success.

It is fascinating how these responses appear to be correcting each other even though they all say nearly the same thing.

You seem to be very emotionally invested in your opinions.

I will leave you to them.

All of which is to say that Scales of the Dragon is far more expensive and less accessible than Scaly Hide, and provides a much less impactful benefit due to being a higher-level feat, which is why the feat is relatively unproblematic in its current state. Making that benefit accessible at level 1 and at the cost of just an ancestry feat, rather than two class feats, makes a massive difference,

I question the accuracy of this cost analysis.

The difference between level 1 and level 4 is not very large. And is during a time in the game where characters often do not have all of the components of their build completed. And is during a time in the game where enemies are not doing a lot of damage at once when they do hit.

Also, saying 'just an ancestry feat' is misleading. It also costs the heritage option. Which is a much more limited resource of build choice than class feats.

I had +4 Dex and Mage Armor - now named Mystic Armor - at level 1. Yes, I am reasonably effective at avoiding being hit. Especially after I gained Alchemist archetype and learned to make Drakeheart Mutagen.

Having an equivalent AC to a martial doesn't make me a tank though. Or even make me a martial.

A legendary skill feat for Arcana that teaches myself and Farien of all of the common Arcane spells would be quite useful too. It is certainly better than having to pay for learning each spell individually.

It still would not compare very well to Cleric and Druid that are given that effect at level 1 with no cost.

Arcane Witch here. I don't necessarily disagree. I have the same difficulties, challenges, and tradeoffs regarding prepared spellcasting that you mention for the Wizard.

I have other compensations such as familiar abilities, focus spells, and useful feats.

Do you have any suggestions or recommendations for changes to the Wizard that would improve the gameplay without causing the Wizard class to become objectively more powerful than related classes such as Arcane Sorcerer or Arcane Witch?

Mindless minions do nothing after a minute no direction.

Animals start following their instincts.
Sapient creatures do what they want.

Is this nothing?

It is not quite nothing, but it is pretty close.

Is Farien an animal, or sapient?
If I don't give commands to Farien, what does he do before that minute of time elapses? Given the consideration that we are discussing Exploration mode where time is not tracked carefully, at what point does that minute of time duration start?

What if I do give a command?
If I do give a command, how long does he follow that command for? If I do not repeat my command, does Farien continue to follow the command for a minute before doing ... which ever of those options Farien is categorized into?
Since I have given a command, does Farien count as a minion that has not been given a command? Do these rules even apply at that point?

Or does it mean they act like any other NPC the GM controls?

While in exploration companions become NPCs that a GM has to make decision about.

A familiar is part of my class budget. If that becomes controlled by the GM, then that is a problem.

Tridus wrote:

Finoan wrote:

Yes. If an item only says "Usage: worn" then it doesn't conflict with other worn items no matter what the name of the item might imply.

JRPG protagonists everywhere rejoice as wearing 7 belts is allowed RAW. ;)

Unless of course "Usage: worn belt" also exists. (I don't know)

Lifting Belt and Dancing Scarf would conflict. You may be able to put multiple of them on, but not invest them or use their magical properties.

Eoran wrote:

This also appears to be an improvement over the previous iteration of this item - the Gloves of Storing - which had 'Usage: worn gloves'.

I wish they had done something similar with Handwraps of Mighty Blows so wearing them didn't conflict with wearing Healer's Gloves.

Yes. Most notably because the handwraps affect all unarmed attacks no matter which body part is utilized for the attack. It is unexpected that these items must only be placed on the one specific part of the body.

This also appears to be an improvement over the previous iteration of this item - the Gloves of Storing - which had 'Usage: worn gloves'.

I am not certain how necessary it is to be able to target Will saves specifically. Though having the option available is more useful than not having it.

The best options that I can think of would be spellcasting archetypes. Preferably ones that have focus spells that target Will saves. A second option would be one that has a spellcasting tradition with plenty of spells that target Will saves.

Psychic archetype would likely be a good choice.