Grenouillebleue's page

Yeah, I see your point - although at level 16 with a monk's robe, a 2d10 temple sword is a +6,5 increase in damage over an 1d8 temple sword.

Certainly not earth-shattering at a level where wizards are creating demi-planes, but much better than anything a martial could dream of in terms of increasing damage (especially considering the number of attacks a monk deals).

You gave me great perspective, though, and I'll definitely think about that, thanks (that's not a polite way to say I won't do a thing, btw ^^).

What are your thoughts about Jabbing style ?

Eh, I'm not that sure about the scaling damage since Ascetic Strike specifically gives the weapon scaling damage at level - 4. It might be RAW, but it's certainly not RAI so my GM won't allow it.

However, the other abilities seem good and I understand the appeal, yeah. Guess I'll take it.

So at level 11, with 22 STR, a +2 weapon, PA and weapon focus, I could use one ki and elbow smash to do +17/+17/+17/+17/+12/+12/+7 for 1d8+20 (17-20)(one of those non-lethal).

If I use stunning fist and it lands, that's +17/+17/+17/+17/+17/+17/+12/+12/+7

Not too shabby.

Hello,

I'm DMing for a group and the wizard says he's using programmed image to cast an illusionnary wall in front of him. Trigger: someone is charging him.

I'm having trouble finding the correct rules to play this out.
Let's say a giant charges the mage. That's a full-round action. As a reaction, the wall pops into place.

Then what ? The rules specifically say that the giant only gets a save if he interacts with the wall. So he's charging - does he stop his action (CAN he stop his action) ? Does he go through the wall (and thus gets a save) ?

How do the rules go ?

Good point about the whip !
I'm still confused on why ascetic style is good, though.

Benefit(s): Choose one weapon from the monk fighter weapon group. While using this style and wielding the chosen weapon, you can apply the effects of feats that have Improved Unarmed Strike as a prerequisite, as well as effects that augment an unarmed strike, as if attacks with the weapon were unarmed attacks.

What feats are they talking about, exactly ? If it's merely being able to use stunning fist with a weapon, that's a bit meh.

Benefit(s): You can use the chosen melee weapon with any class ability that can be used with an unarmed strike, such as an unchained monk’s style strike ability. In addition, you are treated as a monk with a level equal to your character level for the purpose of determining the number of times per day that you can use feats with uses per day that depend upon your monk level, such as the Stunning Fist or Perfect Strike feats.

Ok, the first part is actually quite good. The second one seems to fit a monk-dip, not a full monk.

Benefit(s): You can use the unarmed strike damage of a monk 4 levels lower than your character level (minimum 1st) instead of the base damage for the chosen weapon. Ascetic Strike functions in all other ways as the brawler’s close weapon mastery class feature.

In addition, you ignore the still mind class feature prerequisite for the Monastic Legacy feat.

First part is... ok, I guess. Though it starts being good for a temple sword at level 12 and onwards.

Second part is irrelevant.

So you're not the first one to tell me about ascetic strike, but I fail to see how it is better than the incredible defense Crane Style gives (plus crane riposte means more dps).

Hello,

I'll start an unchained Monk in an upcoming campaign (15 pt buy), and I'm torn between those two builds.

Our GM decided that dragon style DOES NOT allow 1,5x Power Attack, and we agreed on this, so it's not about whether he's right or not, merely something to factor in.

Both builds will have the same race (half-orc with sacred tattoo) and the same stats:

STR 15 (+2)
DEX 14
CON 12
INT 10
WIS 14
CHA 7

So, here we go:

FIRST BUILD: Punchy McPuncher.
1: Power attack
M1: Dodge
M2: Combat Reflexes
3: Dragon Style
5: Dragon ferocity
6: Improved trip
7: Vicious stomp
9: Weapon focus (unarmed)
10: Medusa's Wrath

SECOND BUILD: Slashy McSlasher
1: Power attack
M1: Dodge
M2: Combat Reflexes
3: Crane Style
5: Crane Wing
6: Improved trip
7: Crane Riposte
9: Improved Critical (Temple sword)
10: Medusa's Wrath

Seems to me Slashy would be cheaper (no AoMF) and sturdier, and the increased crit and increased PA would mean more damage.

On the other hand, unarmed strikes (elbow smash, medusa's wrath, stunning fist strikes) would be much more effective with Punchy.

So, yeah, I'm torn, but more inclined to go with Slashy. Any advice ? Any thoughts ?

Thanks !

Thanks a lot, this thread has been very helpful to me, with lots of great ideas and advices.

I'll probably pass on the ancient loremaster since my group isn't that much into optimization, and I don't want to overshadow others. I'll go with an half-orc (with Fate's Favored and Sacred Tatoo) and throw a buff every fight before trashing my opponents senseless ^^

Now there's one question left: what are your best long-duration buffs ? If I don't go the heroism route, I don't see that many buffs that last 10mn/level or longer. Most of the 1rd/level and even 1mn/level can't be precast when you're walking out in the open, and they'll run out pretty quick even when dungeon crawling.

So, what ? Remember I'm an oracle, so my spell selection will be slim, even with the half-orc FCB.

Magic vestment ? Greater Magic Weapon ? Magic circle against evil ? Air walk ? Freedom of movement ?

Ancient Lorekeeper looks so juicy I could cry. Dunno if my DM will let me use it, though.

If I can take it, however, I'll stick with the battle mystery. The revelations are juicier for a fighter than lore or nature, and I don't really care about CHA to AC if I'm wearing full plate.

But, yeah, yummy Ancient Lorekeeper ^^

Badbird, Now that's interesting, how would you grab heroism on a battle oracle (without too much shenanigan) ?

Yeah, I edited, sorry ^^

However, my understanding was that Divine Favor and Righteous Might stacked, so I could quicken the former and cast the latter on the same round.

Hello,

At higher levels, a battle divine caster can use quicken spells to get ready for a fight, but at lower levels, we can usually only cast one spell before going into the fray - more and the fight might already be over, or heavily tipped one way or the other.

So let's assume you're unbuffed and you suddenly enter a fight. You don't need special abilities to fight them (so no air walk, no invisibility purge needed). Other players are pretty balanced, melee, ranged and spells.What spell would you use at every level ?

Here are my answers but I might be doing something wrong.

Level 1-3: Bless or nothing and wade into the fray
Level 4-5: Bless or Bull's strength (if 2H) or Divine Favor (with Fate's Favored)
Level 6-7: Divine Favor
Level 8: Blessing of Fervor (and now maybe a Quickened Divine Favor with the right trait).

Any favorite of yours ? What do you cast when entering combat?

Humpty Bumpty :o

That's a great concept, however I really like the full caster angle, especially considering all the nifty spells an oracle can throw per day.

But I agree with both of you, I can actually use buffing spells alongside colorspray and go with the flow.

It's just that for instance calm emotions has long been a favorite of mine to take a few opponents out of the fight while we focus on those who saved. Now ? Color spray trumps that tenfold. How about hold person ? Oh, wait, color spray can target more people, other than humanoids, and doesn't give a save per round. Command, greater command ? P-uh -lease. Holy smite ? Bah.

The only limit to color spray is the short range and the targetting, but a smart player should almost always be able to get one or two opponents in the blast. Also, selective wands are dirt cheap.

It's not only a problem with samsarans but a regular problem with save or lose spells. As treantmonk said in his god wizard guide, SoL spells make you either lose your round or win the encounter, which might not be fun for everybody.

The issue here is the fact that he has a high DC and high spell penetration from what you're saying. However even without the samsaran shenanigan he could have cast mass suggestion and ended the fight has well. Same goes at lower levels with color spray, sleep, hold monster and the like.

Now what could his DC possibly be ? He might have 26 int (with +4 item) so 8 bonus +2 focus+6 spell Level is 26. Spell penetration would be 13+d20 with double spell penetration. I don't know of any way before spell mastery to get more than 40 on a SR roll.

So against a CR11 demon with 22 SR and let's say 11 Will, there is 40% chance of the spell not bypassing SR and 30% of getting the will save. That's 42% chance of the spell working on one mob and 16% on both.

Also, if they had been immune to mind-affecting, that would have been solved.

Hello,

I'm still building a controlling oracle for an upcoming campaign and now contemplating the heavens mystery.

Awesome display combined with color spray is known to be very powerful, but I'm concerned it might be too powerful in comparison to my other options on a round basis.

With a maxed-out charisme and metamagic galore (persistent or heighten come to mind), I'm afraid the best use of my round, every round, would be "I move to find the best spot for my 15-wide cone then cast color spray". I mean, what can possibily beat stunned for 3d4+1 round ?

I know there are limits, like mind-affecting and such, but still, if I can get at least one enemy (let alone a boss), that beats even blessing of fervor.

So I guess I'm concerned about casting the same thing over and over like a warlock of old. I'm also concerned about stealing the thunder from other players, especially if I start optimizing through going gnome and dual-cursed.
Is it a legitimate concern ? What are your experiences with this revelation ?

Thanks a lot for your insight !

@Dragonchess: I agree that Many Form is not the end all/be all of polymorphing, but I find it pretty neat on paper ^^

@Quenly: I like your tricks, but they're more geared toward fighting than support/control. I don't plan to get into melee much, so I was more looking for a way to expand my options (like being able to burrow, swim or fly).

Hello,

Let's say I'm a level 7 oracle of the Dark Tapestry.

I use Many Forms to Beastshape into a medium beast (let's assume everyone's favorite deinonychus). Since I don't have Natural Spell, I can't cast any spell while in beast form.

But:

1) Does my Cloak of Darkness merge with my body ? Do I lose the AC bonus ?
2) Can I simply recast it since it's a supernatural ability, thus gaining the +6 AC bonus on my beast form ?

Thanks a lot

Hello,

Many Forms makes me drool every time I read the entry. It looks to me like an amazing ability, probably one of the best of all mysteries. Alter self ? Beast Shape ? Then Polymorph ? ALMOST AT WILL ?

I'm saying almost at will, because by the time you're level 7 and get Beast Shape, you already can use it seven times a day for 1mn, that's actually more flexible than a druid could ever be.

So, yeah. Those were my first thoughts.
However, no Natural Spell makes it less than ideal. It should be very useful on a STR oracle, shapeshifting to get many natural attacks.

But I'd like to build a CONTROL/DEBUFF oracle, and STR will probably be my dump stat. So I'm not looking for combat damage, more about utility.

So could you help me out ? What kind of tricks would you pull (at low level with alter self, at higher level with the other abilities) with Many Forms as a controller ?

Flight comes to mind, but then there's a revelation that also gives flight so that's a bit redundant.

Thanks a lot !

Hello,

I'll be starting a new campaign soon and wanna play a full casting cleric. He won 't focus on summons since my last character did this already, but on buffing, debuffing and battlefield control.

The thing is, it's a powertul and flavorful build at higher levels but the first ones (say, from 1 to 5) will be a bit of a pain. Also, in my experience, controllers suffer from the "i'll keep spells for the next encounter" syndrom. I'll throw a big spell on first and maybe second round then twiddle my thumbs while the party mops up.

So, any options I could take to use on those low-maintenance rounds ?

For instance, I''m thinking about taking the inevitable domain for its level 1 power that gives me 8 commands a day with 20 Wisdom. So on any round I have nothing to do, I can throw this around - even at higher levels.

I also thought about a dark tapestry Oracle with gift of madness: endless confusion !

Any other options you could think of ? Other domains ?
It's a 15 point buy so I won't be able to simply raise dex and get a crossbow :D

Thanks !

Hello,

Simple question there. A cleric wants to use the spell command to make a wolf sit.
Would it work ?

Thanks :D

Hello,

Since I was a kid, I've always been a big fan of Shiryu, and so I wanted to pay a tribute to him in our next campaign.

Highlights are fist fighting, big armor and shield, so I went with this build, that I found surprisingly effective on paper:

I know other races might be better than human, but I'm going for flavor here.

So, without further ado:

Shiryu
Human fighter (brawler) 4/monk (master of many styles, qinggong monk) 4 (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat 44, 59, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 51)
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +12
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 28, touch 13, flat-footed 26 (+10 armor, +1 deflection, +1 Dex, +1 dodge, +5 shield)
hp 76 (8 HD; 4d8+4d10+28)
Fort +13, Ref +8, Will +9 (+1 vs. fear); +2 bonus vs. sleep, paralysis, and stunning, +2 vs. enchantments
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee gauntlet (from armor) +17/+12 (1d3+16) or
unarmed strike +17/+12 (1d8+16)
Special Attacks close combatant, stunning fist (5/day, DC 15)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 24, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Atk +7; CMB +15 (+16 bull rush, +16 drag, +16 reposition); CMD 27 (28 vs. bull rush, 28 vs. drag, 28 vs. reposition)
Feats Crane Style[UC], Crane Wing[UC], Dodge, Dragon Ferocity[UC], Dragon Style[UC], Improved Unarmed Strike, Monastic Legacy[UC], Shield Focus, Stunning Fist, Toughness, Weapon Focus (unarmed strike), Weapon Specialization (unarmed strike)
Traits indomitable faith, resilient
Skills Acrobatics +6 (+2 to jump), Climb +5, Escape Artist -1, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +4, Knowledge (religion) +4, Perception +12, Sense Motive +12, Stealth -1, Survival +5, Swim +5
Languages Common
SQ fuse style, ki pool (3 points magic), maneuver training, slow fall 20 ft.
Other Gear +1 full plate, +2 heavy steel shield, amulet of mighty fists +1, belt of giant strength +4, cloak of resistance +2, ring of protection +1, 180 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Close Combatant +1/+3 (Ex) +1 to hit and +3 damage with close weapons.
Crane Style Penalty when fighting defensively reduced to -2 and dodge bonus increases by 1.
Crane Wing Your sweeping blocks and graceful motions allow you to deflect melee attacks with ease.
Dragon Ferocity +3, 1d4+7 rds Gain bonus on unarmed attacks, and you can cause opponents to be shaken
Dragon Style +2 vs. sleep, paralysis, and stun, first unarmed strike in a rd deals 1.5x Str, and can ignore difficult terrain/allies when charging.
Fuse Style (2 styles) (Ex) At 1st level, a master of many styles can fuse two of the styles he knows into a more perfect style. The master of many styles can have two style feat stances active at once. Starting a stance provided by a style feat is still a swift action, but whe
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Ki Pool (3/day) (Su) You have a ki pool equal to 1/2 your monk level + your Wisdom modifier.
Maneuver Training (Ex) CMB = other BABs + Monk level
Shield Focus +1 Shield AC
Slow Fall 20 ft. (Ex) Treat a fall as shorter than normal if within arm's reach of a wall.
Stunning Fist (5/day, DC 15) You can stun an opponent with an unarmed attack.
Stunning Fist Helper This is a dummy ability to add an extra entry for the stunning fist feat in another section of the statblock (since it is shown with a different name in the two places, we can't use sbName).

Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
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At level 1, I'm just a regular fighter with a sword, a shield and a suit of armor. With my 18 STR, I should be just as efficient as any other fighter.

At level 2, things get serious. I take Dragon Style, and ditch my 1d8+4 sword for my 1d6+6 fist.

At level 3, I take Crane style as a regular feat and Crane Wing as a level 2 master of many style. In full plate, with a shield and no magic item whatsoever, I now have 22 AC that can go up to 29 for a -2 on my attack. Not too shabby.

Level 4: Fighter 2, taking Monastic Legacy. A bit lackluster but eh.

Level 5: Fighter 3. Now that's a nice level. I pick up dragon ferocity for a nice bonus to damage, and I get +1/+3 on my unarmed strikes thanks to being a brawler.

Level 6: Monk 3. Bah.

Level 7: Monk 4: Woohoo, I now have some ki. Not much, mind, so let's get the extra ki feat for some Quingong shenanigans.

Level 8: Fighter 4, picking up weapon specialization and getting ready for crane riposte next level

So at level 8, I have 28 base AC and can go up to 35 with crane style. I can attack twice at +17/+12 for 1d8+16. I have great saves, good HP and a dash of utility. I'm a bit slow, though, but I can switch a feat to get +5 feet move.

What do you think ? ^^

Noble Scion is awesome, didn't know about it. With it and the +2 init trait, that's going to give me +9 init, enough to play first most of the time.

Dweomer essence is a good idea as well. As for the Seeker archetype, it would be awesome, but we're not playing PFS.

So I'll probably go:

1: Noble Scion, Spell focus (evocation)
3: Varysian tatoo
5: Empower spell
7: Elemental spell (acid)
9: Spell Specialization (scorching ray)

I have the blackened curse, even if it overlaps.

This should give me a capped 10d6 fireball (and a 15d6 one with a 4 level slot) and a capped 4d6x3 Scorching Ray. Not too shabby for a healer.

Hello,

Our group wiped last game and we all created new level 9 characters. I'll be playing with a barbarian, a rogue, a 2 handed ranger and a zen archer.

So, yeah, no arcane, no divine.

I decided to fill in as a divine caster, and also help with AoE damage that we sorely lack. Never tried Fire Oracle, so went for it.

I plan to have a big initiative, throw a Fireball at the beginning of the fight, then heal or blast as needed. I know blasting isn't that optimal without a dip in sorcerer but, hey, still sounds fun.

Soooo, here's my question. I have A LOT of feats that I plan to take, and only 6 feats (5 for level 9, 1 for human).

In no specific order:
- Elemental spell (acid): for those pesky immune, seems mandatory, and might come up too often for me to just get a wand.
- Intensify Spell: Useful for Burning Hands, somewhat useful for Fireball if it's my specialized spell, and WILL be useful in the near future anyway.
- Empower Spell: Especially useful on Fireball, considering I'm taking Magic Lineage.
- Spell focus (Evocation): Self explanatory
- Spell Penetration OR Piercing Spell (dunno which one would be better)
- Spell Specialization (fireball) and/or Varysian tattoo.
- Improved Initiative.

I wanna go first on most cases, so Improved Init seems a given. Same with Empower. So I'm stuck deciding between 7 feats and 4 slots. And I might have missed some other stuff as well.

So, hey, any advice to make me a happy blaster (slash) bandaid (slash) divine caster ?

Thanks a lot ;)

Why would you give the tiger Improved Natural Attack on its bite? It's much more interesting to buff the claws, either with INA or just Weapon Focus to improve to-hit rate.

Because INA on claws makes it 1d8 instead of 1d6, hence a +1 damage increase. Even with two claws, that's only +2.

INA on bite makes it a 2d6 instead of 1d8, hence a +2,5 damage increase.

What is your number crunching. I have never sat down and down the math to prove the tiger is the best. I just went with what I thought would likely be the best, which is the same as what almost everyone else came up with.

At level 10, let's assume they both have GMF on (because why not, it's hours/level). They both got improved natural attack (bite for tiger, gore for rhino)

Tiger: Bite +13 for 2d6+8, 2 Claws +13 for 1d6+8, 2 rake +13 for 1d6+8
With Power attack, it's +11 for 2d6+12/1d6+12

Target AC is 24, standard AC for level 10.

So on a pounce (+2 to hit on a charge), average damage is 0,55*(15+11,5*2+11,5*2)= 33,55 without PA and 0,45*(19+15,5*2+15,5*2)=36,45 with PA.

Against a mere 5 DR, our damage go down to 25,2 with PA
Against 10DR, we're down to 13,95 with PA.

On a regular round, average damage is 0,45*(15+11,5x2)=17,1 or 0,35x(19+15,5*2)=17,5 with PA against no DR

Against DR 5: 12,25 DPR
Against DR 10: 7 DPR

Now let's see how our Rhino's doing.

Rhino: Gore +15/+10 (with +2 magic fang) for 3d6+14
With Power attack, it's +13/+8 for 3d6+20
While Powerful Charging, it's +17 for 6d6+18
While Powerful Charging and Power attacking, it's +15 for 6d6+24

So on a charge, average damage is 0,65*39=25,3 and 0,55*45=24,75 with PA
Against 5DR, that's 22 damage (with PA)
Against 10DR, that's 19,25 damage (with PA)

On a regular round, average damage is 0,55*24,5+0,3*24,5=20,8 against no DR
Against DR 5: 15,6 DPR
Against DR 10: 13,3 DPR

And then, there's also the Vital Strike line, that will let you punch through DR easier.

TL,DR: On a pounce against no DR opponents, the tiger is clearly better. But monsters with DR are the exception at higher levels, and charging every round isn't always doable and/or a good idea (lower AC, opportunity attack, positioning). When there's no charging involved, or when DR comes into the equation, the Rhino (or any One-Hitter, really) comes ahead - while also being more sturdy.

I recommend Tiger over the Rhino.

However that only really works in a wilderness exploration game. I highly recommend you thing about something with a max size of medium. If your playing in any other type of game. Large animals look great until you spend most of your time underground or in buildings. Where large size is more of a hindrance.

Reduce animal is perfect for that. Level 2 spell, hours/level, and a resized large animal is still better than a medium one to begin with ^^

Rhino might have the edge at lower levels, but the tiger will soon out damage him.

Well, that's my point: people seem to think tiger is better, but my number crunching doesn't show this. Tiger has pounce, but Rhino has powerful charge (and later the vital strike line, one extra attack when full attacking, bigger haste benefit and a much better DR management).

Tiger has grab, though.

Hello,

I'll be playing a druid in a new campaign, and our DM has specifically banned all dinosaurs from his setting. We're mostly Core/APG/UM/UC only, but can sometimes include other feats if they're considered balanced.

(He's an awesome GM, so the issue isn't whether it's a good idea or not to ban many options, but how to deal with it ^^).

So... i'm torn between a rhinoceros and a tiger.

At level 1 w/o feats:
- Rhino gives me 13hp, 16 AC, and a very respectable attack (+3 for 1d8+3 damage)
- Tiger gives me 11hp, 14 AC, and 3 attacks at +2 (1d6+1, 1d4+1 x 2).

They're both medium, with scent/low-light and 40ft move.

So it looks like Rhino's tougher and deals more damage with better accuracy, especially since tiger doesn't have pounce yet. The only time tiger is better is when full attacking AND getting three lucky rolls.

At druid level 7 w/o feats and spells, they both got bigger.
- Rhino now has 52 gp and 22 AC, one attack at +10 that deals 2d6+10 and Powerful Charge for 4d6+15
- Tiger now has pounce. It has 46hp, 19 AC, three attacks at +9 that can grab (at 1d8+6 or 1d6+6) and two rakes if pouncing or grabbing.

So Rhino's still tougher, but his damage looks a bit on the down side in comparison to a tiger.

HOWEVER:
- Greater Magic Fang can be used more effectively, for a +2 at level 8, +3 at lvl 12 and so forth, while the tiger is stuck with a +1
- Likewise, Improved Natural Attack is much more impressive on the Rhino single attack, especially with Powerful Charge
- Same goes with power attack (x3 instead of x2).
- The Rhino will get another big attack at level 9 with multi-attack.
- The Rhino will be less impacted by DR.
- Strong Jaw, while not stacking with INA, gives one more size increase, which makes it now 6d6
- The Vital Strike line might help keeping it useful at later levels.

On the other hand, I don't see many ways to increase a tiger damage output, apart from a +1d6 amulet of mighty fist (+2d6 starts to be really pricey).

So at the cost of 2 feats (Power Attack and Improved Natural Attack), our level 7 Rhino can now hit for 3d6+19 and charge for 6d6+24, and will continue to improve.

Did I miss something ? Apart from the grab, if we're looking at raw dps, is the rhino better ?

Thanks a lot ;)

Bleh. Thanks anyway, hopefully he'll listen to reason ^^

Thanks for all these answers (and I did look at all those places, hence my confusion :D ).

I know from a mechanical standpoint that Powerful Charge seems to do double dice damage and add 0,5 STR to the regular damage. But that's not RAW.

My DM is really into RAW, which is why I posted this question: is there somewhere, anywhere, a FAQ or errata that specifically states how it works ? Because I already know that the answer "meh, it works this way for the other critters" won't cut it, especially since it's an AC.

Same goes for INA: gore. A level 8 Rhino AC with 30 STR and INA will do 3d6+15 damage on an attack, that's RAW. But saying Powerful Charge would then do 6d6+20, while logical, isn't RAW...

Hello (and sorry for my bad english, it isn't my native ;)).

I'm using HeroLab to fiddle with my characters, and creating a druid for our next campaign.

I wanted to take a Rhinoceros Animal Companion. At level 7, the Rhino goes Large and gets Powerful Charge.

The problem is, HeroLab tells me I have a 4d6 Powerful Charge, while d20pfsrd says:

7th-Level Advancement

Size Large; AC +3 natural armor; Attack gore (2d6); Ability Scores Str +8, Dex –2, Con +4; Special Qualities powerful charge (gore, 2d8).

And this very wesbite doesn't give any damage after Powerful Charge:

7th-Level Advancement: Size Large; AC +3 natural armor; Attack gore (2d6); Ability Scores Str +8, Dex –2, Con +4; Special Qualities powerful charge.

So:

1) Which one is right ? In what book can I find the real, absolute RAW Rhino animal companion ?

2) I deal 1,5 x STR bonus (and 1,5x Power Attack) with my regular single attack. Do I deal more on a Powerful Charge ?

3) If my Rhino takes "Improved natural attack: gore", does it also affect Powerful Charge in any way ?

Thanks a lot !

Hello,

I'd like to try a battle druid for my new campaign, but I have my concern about the very low AC of a shifted druid before he can buy wildheart armor.

If I understand correctly, at level 6, I can turn into a large animal. This gives me +4 Str, +4 Nat and -2 dex.

Assuming a 12 dex, which is already plenty for a druid who'd like to have both STR and WIS (and CON as well), that means while shifted at level 6 I get 14 AC, 15 with a +1 ring that I should have at this level.

Even with Barkskin, that's a whopping 18 AC. Enough to get mauled as a frontliner.

So, how could I raise my AC ? Meanwhile, the other frontliners are either clad in armor for 22 AC without shield or spell(+9 for +1 fullplate, +1 Nat, +1 dex, +1 ring) or sporting the same AC through a dex build.

What are my options between level 6-10 ?

Thanks for your help

Burning hands is 1d4/level not d6

Yep, typo, my bad :D

1. How are you getting +187 points of damage on a Chain Lightning? I'm going to guess typo, but just to be sure...some math work would be appreciated.

Level 20 Chain Lightning with specialization (+2CL), tatoo (+1) and 1 point boost from arcanist (+2CL) is 25d6 thanks to empowered.

Orc bloodline adds +1 so that's 25d6+25.
Maximise makes it a flat 175.
Empowered adds 12d6+12.

So there, 12d6+187.

empower takes the 13d6 and multiplies the result by 1.5. You don't roll more dice with empowered.

So 13d6+13, empowered is (13d6+13)*1.5

Thanks, that's an even better answer.

The part where we disagree is that you apply Empower, then apply orc bloodline on the already-empowered spell, then apply empower again on the orc bloodline. Which makes no sense to me.

Basically, it seems RAW and RAI say:
- We have 13d6
- We put orc bloodline in and get 13d6+13
- We empower this spell and get 19d6+19.

You could make a case of saying:
- We have 13d6
- We empower this spell and get 19d6
- We then put orc bloodline and get 19d6+19.

Which is the exact same thing.

Really interesting guide, thanks.
However:

An Intensified, Empowered Fireball is a 5th level spell for this 10th level spellcaster due to the Metamagic Master trait, and it will deal 19D6+33 points of damage. He gets 19 dice because he has 13 CL, 10 base + 2 Spell Specialization + 1 Mage's Tattoo, and you increase the dice amount by 6 via Empowered. Thanks to the Orc Bloodline Arcana, he adds +1 damage for each damage dice used (which is 19). With Empowered, that bonus is then increased by 50%, due to the wording of the Empowered feat, which says:

Empowered wrote:

All variable, numeric effects of an empowered spell are increased by half, including bonuses to those dice rolls.

I'm pretty sure that's now how it works.

You don't get to apply half of the empowered feat, THEN apply orc bloodline, THEN apply the rest of the empowered feat.

Else a maximised spell wouldn't even HAVE an orc bloodline bonus.

Ill make a side-by-side comparison between a tier 9 spell and Composite Blast.

Composite blast (energy) does 2d6+(0.5)constitution modifier multipled by up to 9. Lets say its Con 28-9 for the situation. 72 average damage

Tier 9 Meteor Swarm does 8d6 damage and has 4 attacks. Without damage modifiers its 28 average damage per hit and 112 average with one spell. also each attack has a 40foot blast radius.

Actually, no sane blaster would use meteor swarm to do damage.

To keep in theme with what OP asked, and using a blood arcanist, it would be more like:
- Cast an intensified empowered (free-maximized)Chain Lightning with 1pt boost for 12d6+187 damage on up to 25 targets.
- Use rod of quickening (greater) to cast the same spell for the same damage.
- Profit.

I"m leaning toward the Kineticist, simply because of the at-will Kinetic Blast.

I'm so sorry, but you cannot, and I mean CANNOT even think about "viability" with daily uses for spells.

You cannot use Shocking Grasp, Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning at will, let alone 3 times per day or more. Sure, they might be more powerful than the Kinetic Blast, but they're not at readily available. Yes, you MIGHT not get into that many encounters per day, but you NEVER know what to expect in any game session.

A Kineticist can snap a finger and throw a lightning orb at any time and doesn't need to worry about wasting a spell slot.

Yes, you can. Let's break it up by level to see that. For this, I'll use the aforementioned Blood Arcanist (orc bloodline).

Level 1
Your Kineticist (20 con) throws lightning at will for 1d6+2
My Arcanist (20 int) can cast burning hands FOUR TIMES for 4d6+4, effectively ending encounters. Else i'll rely on a cantrip dealing 1d3 damage against touch or a crossbow doing 1d8 damage against AC, so I can end 4 encounters but if there's more, you have more staying power - although at this level, your piddly 1d6+2 damage will make all martials laugh.

Level 4
Your Kineticist (Con 23) still throws lightning at will for 2d6+2. Not too shabby.
My Arcanist (Int 23) can cast those:
- 4 x scorching ray for 4d6+4 (double your damage) or 4 x intensified burning hands for 7d6+7
- 6 x burning hands for 5d6+5

So basically, if I want to focus on blasting and forego utility, I can already blast almost all day long.

In all honesty, I'll probably burn a spell on mage armor to get the same AC you have, so there, I can only blast 9 times.

Level 8
Let's assume your kineticist has 3 burn to take advantage from overflow. You now have 26 (28 with overflow) CON and can cast all day an empowered simple blast for (4d6+15)x1,5 so about 45 damage. You can also gather power/accept burn and go nova with an empowered composite blast for (8d6+15)x1,5 so around 65 damage. Not that bad for this level, especially targetting touch... but it's not really at will, since you'll burn yourself to ashes doing this. And lightning resistance will prove annoying.

Meanwhile, my Arcanist (Int 26) can throw:
- 4 x Empowered fireball for (10d6+10)x1,5 or 67 damage in a huge radius, no strings attached.
- 6 x Intensified Fireball (+1 point from arcane reservoir) for 12d6+12 (that's 54 damage average)
- 6 x Intensified Burning Hands for 10d6+10 so around 45 damage. Hey, look, that's how much damage you deal with your fully overflowed blast !
And let's not even menting level 1 spells.
If I meet a monster with resistance, I'll admixture the blast and still do damage.

And that's without even trying. I only took spell specialization as a feat and magical lineage, as a trait, both being in the first, widely used books. I could deal much more damage with a wizard dipping crossblooded and using other shenanigans. But why should I when the damage is already vastly superior ?

Also, I didn't throw rods in there because, you know, that would be unfair.

Now about defenses. Kineticist (especially earth or aether) might have better defenses on the fly. But DR 4/-, while nice, won't save the day. If the opponent really try to reach the arcanist and your BSF doesn't help you, then improved invisibility or mirror image (or resist energy against specific monsters) trumps whatever you have. An air kineticist does have invisibility, but it's not improved, so you cannot use it AND blast.

About utility.
You get fly at will. That's really nice. I mean it. That's, like, all kinds of awesome. I envy you, I do. Should have gone air wizard with crossblooded dip, just to show you how much that ability is awesome. But since I didn't, well, you ARE better there. But that's about the only utility you can bring to the table, and it's self only. Meanwhile, IF the need arises, I could cast fly on the whole party so we can all cross this chasm. Or haste them. Or cast water breathing. Or invisibility on everybody. Or Resist energy. Or Protection from evil. Or Rope Trick. Or Mount. Because, you know, Quick Study.

What is true is you CANNOT do everything at once. I CANNOT blast all day while also giving fly to the whole party. But then, the kineticist cannot give fly at all, so there's that.

So TL,DR, a naked arcanist blaster:
- Will do consistently (i.e. 16 times per day) more damage than your at-will blast AND will do it AOE.
- Will do a better nova than you do
- Will deal with resistance/immunities better
- Will deal with SR better
- Will have better defenses if neeeded
- Will have more utility
- Will be more useful out of combat

A Kineticist
- Will fly better
- Will make a better scout

I'd really like the kineticist to be the better blaster, but it's not.

That's awesome, thanks a lot !

Hello,

I'm currently playing an occultist, and have a lot of bookkeeping with all the wonderful monsters I get to summon.

I did a lot of google search, but I didn't seem to find a (printable) chart that summarize at a glance what I can summon for a given level. All the infos are on this website, or at PFSRD, but I have to click on every monster, one at a turn, to get its stat. Then I have to manually add Augment Summoning.

So I was wondering if someone already made an easy-to-use, at-a-glance summoning chart per level.

If it does exist, it would help me tremendously ^^

Thanks a lot

Hi,

I guess this has been asked before but I couldn't find it through google, so there :D

"At 6th level, a bear shaman’s wild shape ability functions at her druid level – 2. If she takes on the form of a bear, she instead uses her druid level + 2."

(Replace "bear" by the animal shaman you chose).

What does this mean exactly ? It doesn't REPLACE Wildshape, so am I correct in assuming this ?

Level 4: You get wildshape like any other druid.
Level 6: Other druids get a better wildshape. You count as 8 for your bear form and as 4 for other forms.

Also, does it change the number of times you can Wildshape ?

A regular level 6 Druid can wildshape twice.
What's correct ?
1) A level 6 Bear Shaman can also wildshape twice (but with the aforementioned bonus/malus).
2) A level 6 Bear Shaman can only wildshape once (level 4) into something different than a bear, and has two (level 8 - level 4) bear transformations.

Thanks a lot, it might seem stupid but I'm a bit confused there :D

Well, I read the whole guide/FAQ and still have one last question.

Let's say I'm a level 8 magus (with +6/+1 bab)

I'll use spell combat to cast chill touch. So i'll get a free attack (at -2) empowered by Chill Touch and two regular attacks (at -2 as well) also empowered by Chill Touch.

Next round, I still have at least 5 uses of CT, so if I keep attacking, I still have the bonus. Sounds good.

BUT this also means using Spell Combat anymore would stop the spell, right ? If I use Arcane Mark to give myself another attack next round, Chill Touch stops, right ?

So, would my rounds look like this or did I get something wrong ?

Round 1: Declare Spell Combat. Use Chill Touch. Make 3 attacks w/ Chill Touch (+4/+4/-1).

Round 2: Declare Spell Combat. Make two regular attacks w/ Chill Touch (+4/-1). Cast Arcane Mark to get an extra attack WITHOUT Chill Touch (+4).

And now, the Chill Touch spell is spent. Right ?

Sorry, it's still a bit confusing :D

Thanks, I didn't see the FAQ. And I also just realized there was a full guide as well.

I'm really sorry about that, thanks for your answers ^^

Hello,

I'm playing a magus for the Skull and Shackles campaign, and I'm still struggling to understand some of the finer rules about spellstrike and spell combat.

1) Holding a touch spell.

"Touch Spells and Holding the Charge

In most cases, if you don't discharge a touch spell on the round you cast it, you can hold the charge (postpone the discharge of the spell) indefinitely. You can make touch attacks round after round until the spell is discharged. If you cast another spell, the touch spell dissipates."

Let's say I cast shocking grasp and fail my attack. Does this mean that the spell is not discharged and I can try again ?

But then, it seems I can use spellstrike only when I get a free touch attack from casting a spell. So I shouldn't be able to use my weapon next round.

Is this correct ?

Magus casts shocking grasp.
Magus can spellstrike at - 2. If Magus misses, spell is not discharged
Magus then resolves other attacks at -2.

Next round: Magus can either cast a new spell, ending the previous one. Or Magus can try a touch attack, but that would be a standard action, and it'll be a basic spell, without all the advantages of a spellstrike.

2) The Frostbite conendrum

What happens if I didn't cast Shocking Grasp, but Frostbite ? I get as many frostbites as my level. Can I spellstrike them every round ? Or RAW, can I only spellstrike the first one ? What do I do with the next ones ?

Thanks a lot, I'm totally lost there :D

Hi,

We were playing yesterday and ran into a Dire Bear. Our 7th level rogue got grabbed by it, and tried to escape the grapple.

He had 20 dex and maxed out Escape Artist, which gave him +15 to escape the grapple. The Dire bear had +26 CMD, so he had 50% chance to get free.

50%. And we're speaking about someone who's very talented at escaping.

Any other level 7 character wouldn't have escape artist (or 20 dex) and would rely on CMB. This means a fighter would have around +11/+12, a cleric probably +5 and a wizard even less. So they're screwed.

But, you say, a grapple is supposed to be hard to break. 50% chance is not so bad for your rogue, and your fighter would have around 30% chance.

But that's the thing: a bear isn't even GOOD at grappling.
An Allosorus has 29.
A Lurker above has 30
One level earlier, a Havero Tentacle has 28.

Long story short, any kind of monster using grab is likely specced for it, which means a huge grapple CMD, which means very little chance to escape.

Did I miss something ? Aren't the rules a bit harsch ? I can understand that a scrawny wizard shouldn't be able to escape a grapple easily, but a fighter or even a slippery rogue won't have much of a chance. Do we have to assume that once we're grappled, we won't ever escape ?

Thanks for your input ;)

Thanks for these advices.
As for spell penetration, I usually don't use offensive spells (at least, not those that require a spell check). Most of the time, I make do with summons, pits, buffs and walls. But yeah, sounds interesting.

And I forgot about concentration checks, this is awesome ;)

I'm playing a level 6 Wizard in an upcoming campaign and decided to go for the Foresight school.

It has pretty powerful abilities, including this one:

Prescience (Su): At the beginning of your turn, you may, as a free action, roll a single d20. At any point before your next turn, you may use the result of this roll as the result of any d20 roll you are required to make. If you do not use the d20 result before your next turn, it is lost. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.

I wanted to know how you used this ability and if there were some nice tricks to do with it.

So far, it seems useful for:
- Skill checks
- Save (if you know you'll get targeted or have ongoing effect)
- Grapple, Trip & stuff
- Touch spells

...and that's about it. It's a bit underwhelming TBH because touch spells aren't usually that hard to land, using combat maneuvers isn't usually a Wizard's schtick, getting out of grapple is easier with a spell, and that leaves only skill checks and ongoing saves.

I know a level 1 ability isn't supposed to be game breaking but it looks so damn sexy on paper I wish we could do more with it. I'd love to create a character that can contribute meaningfully with this ability (without being a gish and dipping only 1 level wizard).

I already took Snake Style with my wizard. It cost me two feats (with Unarmed Strike being useless for me) but the trade-off seems wonderful for me - and Prescience makes it even better.

Any other ideas ?
Thanks a lot !

Good points there.

Didn't want to go the reach route, which is why I didn't pick up combat reflexes. I could do it though, just switching dex and con around. However, call me paranoid, but I always liked toughness for extra HP.

However, I'm always concerned about being in a tight spot where my reach would be a hindrance. Like in dungeons, if I cannot take a 5-foot step, I just cannot attack. Sure, I can keep a spare sword, but that's still some action economy down the drain.

I'll probably put all my increases in CHA anyway. As for intimidate vs diplomacy, it's more of a roleplaying thing than a minmax one. I'm big, scarred and wasting away. What's not to like ? :D

Hey everybody,

I'll start playing a battle oracle in a new PF campaign, and wanted to know if my build was ok.

Other players will be a rogue, a fighter (shield user with high AC) and an enchanter.

We rolled our stats and I got 8, 11, 12, 14, 14, 18.

Here's what I came up with:

Human battle Oracle
Curse: Decaying

STR 20
DEX 12
CON 14
INT 8
WIS 11
CHA 14

Feats: Toughness, Extra Revelation
Revelations: Skill at arms, War Sight
Spells known: Bless, Protection against Evil, Cure Light Wounds

Weapon: Greatsword +5, 2d6+7
Armor: Scale (AC 16)

Skills: Perception, Intimidate, Sense Motive, Spellcraft

Any thoughts ?

I've been toying with the idea for some time, and now a new PF game gives me the opportunity to try it out.

I'll start out at level 5 with a 20 point buy. I started to build the guy as a run-of-the-mill TWF but they're always starved for feats and I wasn't pleased with the result. So here's what I'd like to do instead:

Human Fighter 1/Ninja (scout) 4

STR 18
DEX 13
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 10
CHA 14

Feats:
1: Toughness
1h: Dodge
1f: Weapon focus (falchion)
3: Iron Will
5: Extra Ki

Ki tricks:
- Vanishing trick
- Befuddling strike

Stuff:
+1 Falchion
+1 Full plate
+1 ring of protection
+1 amulet of natural armor
+1 cloak of resistance

This gives him 24 AC, not too shabby and 6 ki, which is ok as well. Since he doesn't rely on dex, I could go for scout and lose Uncanny dodge.

His regular attack is +9 for 2d6+6
When he's flanking or charging, that's +11 for 4d6+6.

He can use his ki to get another attack, go invisible or basically mess with the opponents plan.

As for drawbacks, he only has 20ft move (that's ok I guess, since I don't want to be the first in melee) and -5 armor penalty (that hurts like hell, no acrobatics for me and that sucks).

Any thoughts ? Opinions ? Would it be fun to play ? Would it be powerful enough ? Any ideas on better feats to take ? Any feats out there that would help me with my armor penalty or my move ?

Thanks a lot for your time ;)

Thanks guys,

It did help ;)

1) A player asked me how much an item able to cast "Magic Armor" would cost.

I searched through my DM guide and found these rules: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items#Table-Estimating-Magic-Item-Gold-Piece- Values

Use-activated or continuous ---->Spell level x caster level x 2,000 gp2

(The ² tells me that a spell in hours per level makes no adjustment to the price).

So basically, bracers that would give him permanent mage armor would cost a measly 1 x 1 x 2000 = 2000 gold ?

What's the point of bracers of armor, then ?

2) Another player wanted to have gloves that would allow him to cast "gravity bow" 3 times a day, as a zen archer.

So that's the same formula as above (except that the price is doubled for a spell in minute per level) = 4000 gold to have a continuous effect.

Charges per day----> Divide by (5 divided by charges per day) = 2400 gold

This sounds dirt cheap again. Did I get something wrong, or does that mean that you can emulate some very powerful level 1 spells (lead blade, gravity bow, mage armor, shield...) with very little coin ?

Here's a last example I thought of: with this formula, a ring of permanent SHIELD spell would cost 4000 gold. So what's the point of the "ring of force" that cost 8500 gold and is half as useful ?

Hello,

I'm posting here because my last two games were nightmarish, with me getting stomped on at every single encounter.

I'm playing as a level 12 wizard, and I'm very happy about what my character can do as far as utility, damage, buffing and debuffing is concerned. However, i'm questioning my survivability and wondering what I am doing wrong.

In the earlier levels, I was quite safe through using mirror image, fly, displacement and all those lovely illusion spells that made me feel comfy. But now, we're at a level where almost every encounter has a mob with true seeing in it (and I guess it'll get worse the higher level we are).

Basically, a fight goes like this: I cast haste on the party, a mob charges me or, worse, teleports to me(cuz I'm a wizard, so I'm a squishy target) and go apeshit on my low-AC, low-HP ass. Or the boss is an archer and will hit me with a hail of arrows and drop me in a round.

With true seeing, none of my defense work. And when we're in a dungeon, overland flight isn't that much of an asset.

Did I overlook some spells ? What could I use to be more resilient - apart from StoneSkin, which is costly and can actually benefit the tank more than me ?

Thanks for your input.