Hathdren's page

Quick question regarding the Animate Dead spell since I wasn't able to find it in the spell description. When you raise a creature using this spell as a zombie or skeleton, whose initiative do you use. Do you use the caster's initiative, letting the creature act immediately after it's been raised? Do you use the caster's initiative, but force the raised creature to wait until the caster's next turn before it can act? Or do you roll the newly raised creature into initiative?

One of my players is creating a druid using Spheres of Power, and one of the upcoming areas is on the Plane of Water. They want to play a support/utility caster, and to that end they've been talking about using the weather sphere, but unfortunately there are no rules for using the weather sphere or even control weather underwater.

How have y'all ruled using weather control effects underwater? Do I just allow the sphere effects as written, or should I create new effects due to the new environment? Should I encourage them to go into the nature sphere instead? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I want to throw everything I decided to add to my campaign up here, so anyone looking for a solution to the same issue has some potential stuff to read. I want to thank everyone who provided input, and hope this helps some of you all out as well!

To start with, I really wanted an option that made 2-handed firearms comparable to 1-handed ones without making them a free-action reload. That's how I came across Focused Shot, which I decided to alter with an errata to include and care about firearms (and the gunslinger Deadeye deed). While this does allow for Vital Strike + Int to damage stuff with bows and crossbows as well, the single-shot-by-default nature of firearms, combined with their touch AC targeting, makes them much better at this strategy than bows or crossbows.

Gun Specialization is a straight Dex-to-damage feat, as suggested by the community. A BAB requirement is in place to make sure the feat comes online only when it is needed and doesn't break early encounters. Point-Blank Shot is there because what ranged feat path doesn't have it? I felt kind of bad removing a key class feature from gunslingers, so I added the special bit at the end to give them a new toy as well.

The Easy-Access Receiver is a way to remove the keep the gun-jamming as a game mechanic, while making it a bit less punishing overall to use. Considering its cost, it's mainly there as a reminder of "y'all gain Quick Clear around level 5" without actually making it a separate rule people have to remember. The Rapid Reload rider was added since I see that as a more in-universe mechanical mastery of your weapon overall, requiring a knowledge of how your chosen weapon works as much as actual dexterity.

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Feats

Focused Shot (Combat)
Your anatomical insight adds deadliness to your shots.

Prerequisites: Int 13, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot.

Benefit: As a standard action, you may make an attack with a bow, crossbow, or firearm and add your Intelligence modifier on the damage roll. You must be within 30 feet of your target to deal this extra damage with a bow or crossbow. You must be either within 30 feet or able to make a touch attack against your target that is a result of firearms abilities to make touch attacks to deal this extra damage with a firearm, whichever is further. Creatures immune to critical hits and sneak attacks are immune to this extra damage.

Special: Starting at 2nd level, a ranger with the archery or crossbow combat style may select Focused Shot as a combat style feat. If you have the Vital Strike, Improved Vital Strike, or Greater Vital Strike feats, you may add their effects to the attack allowed by this feat.

Note: This is an errata to the feat of the same name which first appeared in the Advanced Player's Guide.

Gun Specialization (Combat)
You know your firearm inside and out, able to quickly react to the temperamental weapon.

Prerequisites: Dex 13, Point-Blank Shot, Weapon Proficiency (any firearm), Base Attack Bonus +5

Benefit: Select any one firearm with which you are proficient with. You may add your Dexterity modifier to damage rolls made with this weapon. This modifier does not stack with any other source that would add your Dexterity modifier to damage with firearms.

Special: A Gunslinger with this feat who chooses a firearm which they have already selected with their Gun Training ability no longer misfires with the chosen firearm.

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Equipment

Weapon Modification

Easy-Access Receiver
Statistics
Cost +2,000 gp Weight —
Category Modification; Proficiency Modification
Description
A firearm with an easy-access receiver provides more access to the firing mechanism without sacrificing structural integrity. Only firearms can have an easy-access receiver. The wielder of a firearm with an easy-access receiver can remove the broken condition from the as a standard action, as long as that condition was gained by a firearm misfire. A weapon with an easy-access receiver can be used by any character with the requisite weapon proficiency and a base attack bonus of +5. A character who meets these prerequisites and also possesses the Rapid Reload feat can remove the broken condition as a move action.

A character with the Quick Clear gunslinger deed and an easy-access receiver reduces the time required to remove the broken condition by one step (standard to move, move to swift with 1 grit point), but cannot reduce the time required further using the Rapid Reload feat.

I would start with a dex-to-damage feat for firearms. While this only exacerbates the higher feat requirement, it deals with the damage issue and means that bows and firearms should be relatively equal on that front; firearms deal more damage per shot, bows have higher rate of fire.

I like this idea, as it helps shore up the damage difference between the slow-firing firearms and the rapid/multishot bows. I could imagine restricting it to the first shot each round in order to prevent machine pistol or TWF shenanigans, but its not entirely necessary. Slap Point-Blank Shot and a BAB +5 prerequisite on there, as well as a no-stacking clause with other firearm dex-to-damage abilities and we should be good to go!

Next I would reduce the feat load by making firearms simple weapons so you don't need special feats for proficiency, and would also change clearing a misfire to a move action.

This is a commonplace firearms setting, so firearms are already a martial weapon. Martial types can already use them immediately, while plenty of roguish types have ways to get proficiency outside of the feat specifically (firearm training for Rogue, ect.) Move action clear seems very powerful if the shooter wasn't planning on full-attacking to begin with. Perhaps standard action, upgraded to a move if the shooter has Rapid Reload would be appropriate, upgrading Gunslingers quick reload to default to move, then upgrade with grit to swift.

As a GM, I'm having trouble making an incentive to use a firearm over a bow and arrow past the early-mid game, especially two-handed firearms. The world has commonplace guns, so I want to make it so that using firearms requires as much investment as bows to use properly, and as much specialization to master.

I want changes that have to be made on the players end to be minimal, as they already have their builds in mind and I don't want to impeed their vision. I just want the mindset for a character with martial weapon proficiency to be "both the gun and bow have their own strengths and weaknesses but similar investments, so I'll pick the one I like more for this situation."

I'm not sure which elements of firearms have to be altered here to make them viable past level 4-6 or so, and would very much like to hear how you guys have made them comparable.

I'm really liking this archetype for Bloodrager, conceptually at least, and I've been trying to get it to work for a campaign. Practically, I'm not sure where to start on how to build this. Should I be using TWF to increase the effectiveness of static rage modifiers? Should I solidify my combat styles earlier on, then add extra feats later? Does the bonus feat at level 2 bypass prerequisites a la MoMS?

As an added note, my GM is letting me stack this with Prowler at World's End and Untouchable Rager, mainly because we both liked the idea of Medium spirits, but the GM wants to run a campaign with as little of the "spellcasting" ability as possible, thus removing the possibility of Medium itself. Lastly, race is a GM-made homebrew, so we're working with +2 str and wis, -2 int, +1 natural armor, and a 1d4 bite attack. Elite array for stats.

Assuming we don't get to bypass prerequisites at level 2, the styles we could realistically qualify for are Ascetic, Crane, Demonic, Diabolic, Diva, Dragonfly, Octopus, Owl, Snapping Turtle, Stick-Fighting, and Tatzlwyrm Claw. Pretty small compared to the entire list of styles, but that's how it goes. Should I just delay going into Bloodrager entirely to qualify for more styles? Any help would be appreciated.

What it says in the title, is there any way to make the Avalancher archetype for the Slayer from Ultimate Wilderness viable? What's weird is I've seen absolutely no discussion around this archetype, so why not try and brew around it now? Pathfinder Society legality isn't really an issue for me, but all the better if it is.

Best I've been able to figure, we can use Dragonfly Style from the Martial Arts Handbook, essentially making anyone we attack from next to a wall a Studied Target Plus. Going further down the chain around 14th level, we can use Dragonfly Flight to glide about 60 feet (assuming we get a 10 foot vertical leap, which may take work) and use Fall-By-Attack from Avalancher to get a full attack while we fall/charge. I'll post what I have of my Gorum-worshiping Greatsword Slayer build here, but a throwing build with Ricochet Toss might be better, still working that out.

1st. Slayer 1. Feat (Improved Unarmed Strike)
2nd. Slayer 2. Slayer Talent (Rogue Talant (Combat Trick (Dragonfly Style)))
3rd. Slayer 3. Feat (?)
4th. Slayer 4. Slayer Talent (Ranger Combat Style (Faithful (Gorum)) (Power Attack))
5th. Slayer 5. Feat (Dragonfly Wings)
6th. Slayer 6. Slayer Talent (Ranger Combat Style (Faithful (Gorum)) (Vital Strike))
7th. Slayer 7. Feat (Divine Fighting Technique (Gorum))
8th. Slayer 8. Slayer Talent (?)
9th. Slayer 9. Feat (Lunge)
10th. Slayer 10. Slayer Talent (Ranger Combat Style (Gorum) (Improved Vital Strike))
11th. Slayer 11. Feat (Dragonfly Flight)
Can stop at Slayer 14 if you want.

If anyone has other thoughts about this archetype and how to make it work, I'd love to know.