Gil-Gandel's page

If attempting a Will saving throw isn’t a “purely mental action” then nothing is.

Circumstances force me to disagree with you. You can make saving throws when it is not your turn (that's the usual case...) so if it were an action at all it would have to be an immediate one. But you are not restricted to only one, nor does it use your next swift, so making a saving throw cannot be an "action" at all.

"Some activities are so minor that they are not even considered free actions. They literally don’t take any time at all to do and are considered an inherent part of doing something else, such as nocking an arrow as part of an attack with a bow."

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/combat/ "not an action"

Thank you, all. I haven't seen this archetype talked about much, but it seems to have quite a lot going for it. You're strapped for ki powers to trade for qinggong abilities until you get to 11th level, but you get a fair bit for the lower-level ones, and that continuous *freedom of movement* at 13th is a doozy.

I can't find this FAQ'd anywhere, so apologies if it's just my poor google-fu. Wanderer Monk archetype.

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Wanderer’s Wisdom (Ex)
At 7th level, the wanderer can dispense excellent advice in the form of philosophical proverbs and parables. As a swift action, the wanderer can inspire courage or inspire competence as a bard of his monk level by spending 2 points from his ki pool. This affects one creature within 30 feet and lasts a number of rounds equal to the wanderer’s Wisdom modifier (minimum 1 round). This ability is language-dependent.

This ability replaces wholeness of body.

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May I assume that the Wanderer is in fact within 30 feet of himself? And can advise himself (time pauses, young disciple in candlelit monastery hall questions blind old master, time resumes with the older version of the young disciple suitably inspired)?

WagnerSika wrote:

And then they take the Dragon style line of feats to get 2xStr on first attack and 1.5xStr on iteratives. Also multiclass to druid and wild shape into a behemoth hippo. Improved natural attack and now they are flurrying with 6d8 bites :)

don't forget the druid spell (i think 'strong jaw' ?)

Yes. That bumps it to 8d8 (it doesn't stack with INA since these are both "as if" size increases).

Apologies if this has been answered before but I have been unable to find it:

Is the pseudopod Slam granted by this spell a primary natural attack that can be used as part of a full attack in conjunction with any other natural attacks, or not? I thought it ought to be, though it's not world-ending if not.

Thanks in anticipation.
GG

And indeed an observer who is paying really close attention can say "Wait, that's not really a giant octopus, it's a druid pretending to be one".

Crane Style (Combat, Style)
Your unarmed fighting techniques blend poise with graceful defense.

Prerequisites: Dodge, Improved Unarmed Strike, base attack bonus +2 or monk level 1st.

There you go; you don't have to be a monk for this. If any style feat had "monk level" and no alternative as a prerequisite, that would be another thing.

From your own quote there, while breathing isn't extraordinary or supernatural, neither is it mentioned as being lost along with natural attacks and movement types. Nor does polymorph say anything about "form dependent" abilities, let alone that they are lost.

Gil-Gandel wrote:

Agreed. This is distinct from the Giant Octopus, which does attack with a primary bite and eight secondary tentacles. Still, a single attack with a mass of tentacles gives you a lot of damage to punch through DR, and a vicious Constrict.

From the point of view of a Wild Shape druid, it's a shame that not only is the squid immobile on land, but it's over the size limit for Sky Swim. :D

There is the question if a druid wildshaped into an aquatic creature can breathe air, too.

Are lungs a "for dependant" ability?

Wild Shape works like Beast Shape, which inherits properties from the Polymorph rules, which say you never lose your inherent ability to breathe, only gain extra capabilities from forms that can swim or burrow.

Don't forget you don't gain templates, either, and someone who takes a really close* look at you can say "hey, that's not a real squid - it's a druid pretending to be one". Weird, but that's how it's written.

Polymorph rules

*Doesn't need to be all that close, either: it's only +10 to Disguise, a skill you probably haven't wasted many ranks on. :D

Agreed. This is distinct from the Giant Octopus, which does attack with a primary bite and eight secondary tentacles. Still, a single attack with a mass of tentacles gives you a lot of damage to punch through DR, and a vicious Constrict.

From the point of view of a Wild Shape druid, it's a shame that not only is the squid immobile on land, but it's over the size limit for Sky Swim. :D

Well, but you are better at "not letting them get out of it" once you have Grappled them. Before you Grappled, they didn't have to do anything to not be Grappled, and now they have to make a roll.

A lot of grappling monsters are hard enough to escape anyway, without giving them a +5 to CMD for being the dominating grappler.

> (i would still give the one controlling the grapple when you grabbed the +5 to be the dominant grappler)

But the grapple check isn't an opposed die roll.

I think your first sentence is probably the argument I was looking for. The ability to *start* a grapple isn't the same as "a free grapple attempt for any purpose you like". Grab's already powerful enough without it giving you a free attempt to become the dominant grappler while you're full-attacking. And being grappled isn't necessarily a serious problem for someone with lots of natural attacks.

One thing I'd forgotten is that Grab doesn't work on creatures larger than you. Damn, I need Powerful Shapes more than I thought I did.

So here I am, Wild Shaped into a tiger and some monster or other has just grappled me. As a rule you can make a Grapple check as a standard action to become the controlling grappler (the one who can then drop the grapple as a free action, gets +5 to Maintain the grapple, and can upgrade it to a Pin). However, the grappled tiger can claw and bite normally, and all of those natural attacks have Grab, meaning a free grapple attempt if they hit.

So...

Can you take over the grapple this way? Anything to say for certain Yes or No?

(This exact situation came up last weekend but I just got on with ripping the creature grappling me a new exit passageway. I was pretty sure it was about to swallow me whole and I was more than willing for it to do so. But some other time it might matter.)

Barbanera the Charging Dragon-snake

The idea here is to use the synergy between Dragon Style (can charge over difficult terrain and through friends) and Pummelling Charge (can full-attack with unarmed strikes at the end of a charge). Snake Style is added for the sake of (i) counterstrikes (ii) Sense Motive to confirm the occasional critical and (iii) extra defence. There's also (iv) piercing damage, which may be occasionally useful.

Since Dragon Ferocity makes Elemental Fist available, there seems no reason not to make for this a.s.a.p. -- in the campaign I plan to play Barbanera, he'll be built to 15 points and I'm not prioritising Two-Weapon Fighting at the outset; that will have to wait until I can afford to buy him a dex belt or similar. But I'm hoping to retrain a feat at 5th level, just when the superior-version Elemental Fist hits 2d6. It goes like this:

1. Snake Style; Combat Reflexes; Toughness
2. Pummelling Style. ([i]Useless at this level but easier to buy it now than later)
3. Dragon Style.
5. Dragon Ferocity; Elemental Fist. (Toughness trained away)
6. Wildcard (Can be used as Snake Sidewind)
7. Snake Sidewind (or Two-Weapon Fighting if enough DEX)
8. (Wildcard can now be Pummelling Charge)
9. Two-Weapon Fighting or Snake Sidewind, whichever wasn't taken at level 7. (Wildcard can be Snake Fang, Pummelling Charge or Dragon Roar)
10. Wildcard (Can now use any two from three)

One possible way to continue this is to build towards Janni Rush as this is yet another charging style. While this doesn't have the direct damage output of a flurry monk, this has a lot of counterpunch potential in addition to the strong charge.