Zombie Horse

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Goblin Squad Member. Organized Play Member. 121 posts (165 including aliases). 1 review. No lists. No wishlists. 2 Organized Play characters. 2 aliases.


Shadow Lodge

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The Dwarven Maulaxe (stats below) didn't make it into the new Equipment Guide. It originally appeared in the original Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting hardback. It was not brought into The Inner Sea World Guide, but does appear in the Adventurer's Armory (and it's errata). Since the additional resource section says everything in the book is legal (see below) with the Maulaxe not being an exception, I assume it is still OK for my Dwarf Urban Ranger?

Thoughts?

Dwarven Maulaxe

25gp, 1d4, 1d6, x3, 10ft range, 5lbs., B or S

Info:
This versatile weapon is a unique design passed down through the dwarvish lords of the Five Kings. It initially appears like a heavy-headed axe, but a skilled wielder can strike equally well with its chopping edge as with the forged sledge that backs the blade.

Benefit: This weapon can be used to deliver bludgeoning or slashing damage as the wielder desires.

Special: A dwarven maulaxe is a martial weapon for dwarves and an exotic weapon for members of other races. It is not a double weapon, and any enchantments applied to the weapon operate normally regardless of which part of the weapon’s head is used to deliver the blow, except for enhancements that apply only to blunt or sharp weapons. Such enhancements apply only to attacks dealing the appropriate type of damage.

PFS Adventurer's Armory:
Only the 2nd printing of this book or the 1st printing augmented by the current errata (released 7/21/11) are legal for play in Pathfinder Society Organized Play.
Everything in this book is legal for play with the following exceptions: a pseudodragon is not legal for purchase unless you’re a wizard with the Improved Familiar feat, elephants are never legal for play, and armored kilts are not legal.

Shadow Lodge

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Redesigning the headers was a good idea but the implementation is off. The boxes the information is in attracts the eye more than the information itself.

I know it is too late to have anything changed, but the actual text (content) should stand out more than the container holding the content. Look at some books by Edward Tufte for some examples. It does do a nice job of separating the header content from the body and having it break up the sections on a glance, but there is no reason it can't do both.

Look at the two examples of "Marshling Signals" on this page:

Link

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2005/04/because-information-is-beautiful.h tml

edit: This is also true of the awkward way "Head" is highlighted ... would have worked better to just make it bold and change color ...

Shadow Lodge

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1) A number of class powers (like those from various domains and bloodlines) give characters an ability for one round.

2) Page 178 of the Core Rulebook says "effects that last a certain number of rounds end just before the same initiative count that they began on"

3) Because many of these powers require a standard action to activate, their durations often ends before the character with the power can make personal use of them.

Resulting in:
– powers that can only be used on others at lower levels (example A)

or

-powers that have no direct function because it can't be given to others and doesn't last long enough to be used by the character (example B, unless its a swift spell I suppose)

Does anyone know if this is what the developers intended? Has it been addressed in an FAQ or in other posts somewhere? It seems like the obvious purpose would be to have the character use the power for one round (similar to True Shot), but the wording prevents it.

Example A wrote:

War Domain

Granted Powers: You are a crusader for your god, always ready and willing to fight to defend your faith.

Battle Rage (Sp): You can touch a creature as a standard action to give it a bonus on melee damage rolls equal to 1/2 your cleric level for 1 round (minimum +1). You can do so a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.

Example B wrote:

Pit-Touched

Your diabolic corruption is from a source in the deepest parts of Hell.
Associated Bloodline: Infernal.

Bloodline Arcana

Whenever you cast a spell, you gain a bonus on Intimidate checks equal to the spell’s level for 1 round.

Sczarni

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Christopher Dudley wrote:

Grapple is still impossible to play without house ruling something. They say the grappler (and the grapplee) takes a -4 penalty to AC. Went to great pains, it seems, to remove the fact that grappling gives you an automatic sneak attack target. However, the Armor Class Modifiers table on page 195 of the Core Rulebook has a footnote on Grappling. That says that you lose your Dex bonus to AC. Which in fact means that you are still vulnerable to sneak attack.

So... which is it? According to the rulebook I have, if I use every rule in it as faithfully as possible, grappled, and grappling characters both still lose their Dex bonus to AC (and are sneak-attackable). However, the only place I can still find this information is in a footnote in a table I never would have thought to look at after reading all the grapple information. It is not listed in the 2 pages on grapple (except for pinning a target, which, stupidly, makes the PINNER lose his dex bonus). It is not listed in the "grappled" condition in the condition summaries at the end of the book.

Further complicating matters, the table on page 195 again states for pinned targets that they are flat-footed (which is a different footnote than simply losing their Dex bonus to AC) WRT melee and ranged attacks, which also isn't mentioned in the text. Pinned in the text is doubly broken, because it says it's a more severe form of grapple, then it says the pinned target suffers an additional -4 penalty to Dex, then it says that grappled and pinned condition modifiers don't stack. Wait... what?

Summary? This needs errata. Either remove those footnotes from the grappled and pinned entries on the...

Some of what is written above is incorrect (grappler and grapply take a -4 to dex, not AC/ pinned condition does not say target suffers -4 to dex). I don't see any problem with the grapple rules as is. Though they are complicated.

-------------------------------------------
Lets say player A grapples player B with player C nearby.

PLAYER A gets -4 Dex, -2 to attacks other than grapple/escape, and loses his dex to AC against player C, but not B. Can still attack player B or C (with the -2), but neither is open to sneak attack.
(CMB unchanged, CMD -2, Escape Skill -2 —due to lost dex)

PLAYER B gets -4 Dex, -2 to attacks other than grapple/escape, and loses his dex to AC against player C, but not A. Can still attack player A or C (with the -2), but neither is open to sneak attack.
(CMB unchanged, CMD -2, Escape Skill -2 —due to lost dex)

PLAYER C can attack A or B with both losing their dex to AC, both open to sneak attack.

--------------------------------------------
Now player A has player B pinned

PLAYER A same as above but loses his dex to AC to player B too. Can still attack player B or C (with the -2), but can now "sneak attack" player B.
(CMB unchanged, CMD -2, Escape Skill -2)

PLAYER B is flat-footed to everyone, so loses his dex to AC to player A, and also has -4 to AC, and can no longer do anything other than grapple. No attacks directed towards B or C.
(CMB unchanged, CMD -4+ loses all +dex mod*, -0 to Escape Skill**)

PLAYER C can attack A or B with both losing their dex to AC, both open to sneak attack. Player B has an additional -4 AC.

--------------------------------------------
The table on page 195 is for a defender who is grappling (players A or B) versus someone who is not (player C).

*The big difference between being flat-footed v. losing dex to AC is that the CMD specifically says "A flat-footed creature does not add its Dexterity bonus to CMD". So players B's CMD can go down a lot once he is pinned (if he has a high dex) ... more than Player A doing the pinning. This is why they don't always say flat-footed.

** This is the one strange part, pinned condition allows for a better Escape check than grappling. This is because it is no longer -4 to dex. But remember that the Escape Skill turns a pin into a grapple. A successful combat maneuver breaks the pin and the grapple at the same time.

Grapple Condition:
A grappled creature is restrained by a creature, trap, or effect. Grappled creatures cannot move and take a –4 penalty to Dexterity. a grappled creature takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls and combat maneuver checks, except those made to grapple or escape a grapple. In addition, grappled creatures can take no action that requires two hands to perform. A grappled character who attempts to cast a spell must make a concentration check (DC 10 + grappler's CMB + spell level), or lose the spell. Grappled creatures cannot make attacks of opportunity.

Pinned Condition:
A pinned creature is tightly bound and can take few actions. A pinned creature cannot move and is flat-footed. A pinned character also takes an additional –4 penalty to his Armor Class. A pinned creature is limited in the actions that it can take. A pinned creature can always attempt to free itself, usually through a combat maneuver check or Escape Artist check. A pinned creature can take verbal and mental actions, but cannot cast any spells that require a somatic or material component. A pinned character who attempts to cast a spell must make a concentration check (DC 10 + grappler's CMB + spell level) or lose the spell. Pinned is a more severe version of grappled, and their effects do not stack.

If You Are Grappled:
If you are grappled, you can attempt to break the grapple as a standard action by making a combat maneuver check (DC equal to your opponent's CMD; this does not provoke an attack of opportunity) or Escape Artist check (with a DC equal to your opponent's CMD). If you succeed, you break the grapple and can act normally. Alternatively, if you succeed, you can become the grappler, grappling the other creature (meaning that the other creature cannot freely release the grapple without making a combat maneuver check, while you can). Instead of attempting to break or reverse the grapple, you can take any action that requires only one hand to perform, such as cast a spell or make an attack with a light or one-handed weapon against any creature within your reach, including the creature that is grappling you. See the grappled condition for additional details. If you are pinned, your actions are very limited. See the pinned condition in Conditions for additional details.