Curious if, for the purposes of Break Guard, does the Magus' Spell Combat ability function as a second weapon so long as you use a spell that requires an attack roll?
Search Posts
This may well be a "flavor of the month" deal, but I'm kicking around the idea of a character who features a style of combat based on Jeet Kune Do, which is effectively the antithesis to other martial arts due to it's prioritization of personalization and customization. And it's boiled down to whether to go Barbarian or Monk. Since it's an unarmed combat style, Monk, and especially Martial Artist, "feels" thematically and mechanically like the best choice. Any abilities that don't seem immediately compatible could always get a fluff treatment. By the same token, the style features methods of attack that rely on feinting and appearing weak, which screams "Come and Get Me" circa Barbarian. If Brawler and Improved Brawler weren't such traps as far as Rage Powers go, there wouldn't be a contest; just start off as an Urban Barbarian and go to town. If I go down the Feint maneuver route, then maybe even Vivisectionist or Rogue might be worth considering, in order to make that flat-footed condition really hurt. Inquisitor with Broken Wing Gambit would fit the same vein without actually making them flat-footed, now that I think about it. What I really need, is for someone to talk me into one set path. It doesn't need to be the cheesiest game-breaking thing you can think of, just something you can snapshot every few levels and get a gauge of how long it takes to get up to steam. Oh, and this isn't PFS or 3rd-party friendly, just as a heads-up.
Seeing how Tattooed Sorcerers gain Varisian Tattoo for free even if they don't have Spell Focus, do they still need to take Spell Focus in order to get Greater Focus? Or do they need to take Spell Focus first in order to take Greater Focus? If this is the case, do they have to choose the same school for Spell Focus as they picked for Varisian Tattoo?
I was toying around with the idea of making a switch-hitting cavalier who dabbles in Ranger (maybe Freebooter/Skirmisher or somesuch so I can reduce bookkeeping on favored foes and terrains) but I'm having some trouble visualizing the final concept. At the end of the day, I'm learning toward spreading my Feats out so I can do melee alongside my mount, atop it, or without it--archery is a secondary concern for Feats (thus going back to the Ranger dip). 15pt buy Human for the skill points and feat, with the Rich Parents (so I can arm myself and my mount adequately) and Civilized traits (backstory reasons due to character's societal caste). All Paizo material, with DM discretion, is allowed but I'd prefer to shy away from anything too cheesy since I'm playing with a new DM. FirstSister the LN Human Cavalier (Order of the Sword) 1
It's not optimized, but the hell with it, that's why she has a fraternal twin sister with near similar conditions (15 pt Human w/ Rich Parents, other trait could be negotiable and she could specialize much more into whatever style of combat I preferred while at the table). Main issue is with Feats: trying to find that balance of mounted/unmounted isn't too rough, but it gets a bit more challenging when you have to fit a couple of archery feats (and probably Quick Draw for any switches you'd have to do). Bonus points if you manage to fit sword-and-board in there somewhere via Ranger, seeing they get early access.
Let's face it: if you don't have Rich Parents (or Traits in your game at all), you're going to try and make every copper stretch when gearing up. By a train of Alchemic thought along the lines of, "Wow, longbows are expensive. I haven't taken Weapon Focus on anything, so let's see what alternatives I have until I get Explosive Missile. Oh, slings shoot stuff. I don't think a bomb will be able to fit, though... why not just make a larger sling?" we get to this thread. So, let's start by looking at the sling, as sized appropriately:
d20pfsrd's take on the Sling:
A sling is little more than a leather cup attached to a pair of strings.
Description: Your Strength modifier applies to damage rolls when you use a sling, just as it does for thrown weapons. You can fire, but not load, a sling with one hand. Action: Loading a sling is a move action that requires two hands and provokes attacks of opportunity. You can hurl ordinary stones with a sling, but stones are not as dense or as round as bullets. Thus, such an attack deals damage as if the weapon were designed for a creature one size category smaller than you and you take a –1 penalty on attack rolls. With a small leap of faith, we can say a sling is a one-handed weapon but requires two hands to load, akin to a hand crossbow. The rest of what I say operates upon this fact: that even though it is under the ranged weapon category, the description given would allow one to call it a one-handed ranged weapon. With that out of the way, let's continue with the PRD's weapon size rules:
PRD's CRB Equipment:
A weapon's size category isn't the same as its size as an object. Instead, a weapon's size category is keyed to the size of the intended wielder. In general, a light weapon is an object two size categories smaller than the wielder, a one-handed weapon is an object one size category smaller than the wielder, and a two-handed weapon is an object of the same size category as the wielder.
Inappropriately Sized Weapons: A creature can't make optimum use of a weapon that isn't properly sized for it. A cumulative –2 penalty applies on attack rolls for each size category of difference between the size of its intended wielder and the size of its actual wielder. If the creature isn't proficient with the weapon, a –4 nonproficiency penalty also applies. The measure of how much effort it takes to use a weapon (whether the weapon is designated as a light, one-handed, or two-handed weapon for a particular wielder) is altered by one step for each size category of difference between the wielder's size and the size of the creature for which the weapon was designed. For example, a Small creature would wield a Medium one-handed weapon as a two-handed weapon. If a weapon's designation would be changed to something other than light, one-handed, or two-handed by this alteration, the creature can't wield the weapon at all. So we get to a sling being a two-handed weapon if we increased it's size category. Except the action of loading an appropriately sized sling is already a two-handed action: so would you be able to load a large sling by yourself at all? If it follows the same rules as the rest of the weapon I would imagine not. Sadly, it only gets into more grey area from here-on out: would a large sling give you one and a half your Strength mod for projectiles since it requires two hands to use? Would it be large enough to use with potions, alchemical weapons, or the like? (I'm assuming the typical flask is larger than a common stone, which prompted this idea in the first place.) Even better, would a large sling be a two-handed melee weapon for those characters that took the appropriate feats? TL;DR:
I'm looking for how everyone would interpret this, with evidence if possible. (And because I know someone is going to bring it up eventually, the Bomb Launcher just doesn't fit the same vein since it only augments your bombs, where a large sling is much more versatile)
One of the big hooks for Archaeologist is being a psuedo-caster with a load of rogue-like skills, especially Disable Device. This is reinforced from second level onward due to Clever Explorer & Trapfinding. Only one problem: Bards don't get D.D. making these abilities useless, given it's a trained-only skill and all. Is this a misprint, an obscure rule that gives Archaeologists proficiency at 2nd level since they get a Misc bonus at that point, as intended, or some other possibility I'm overlooking?
I'm planning on making a monk that utilizes thrown weapons. In order to mitigate the cost of replacing weapons without buying Conserving Returning, the Blinkback Belt made the most sense, since "the weapon teleports back to its strap or sheath immediately after the attack is resolved." Is this compatible with a Monk's Flurry of Blows, since it lets you make additional attacks during a full-attack action? Would I be able to effectively throw one weapon 2/4/6 times in a round because the Blinkback Belt returned it after the attack, or does it only return the weapons at the end of the attack action (in this case, the end of the round)?
Obj: Create a "guard" PC elf using sword and board (preferably not twr). It does not need to be optimized, just needs to hold its own in 1:1 combat. Rolls: 13/18/12/17/17/13
LvL: 5 Ideas thus far: Run as ShieldedFtr 5 with TWF, Shield Focus, and Bash. Grants some party assistance if outnumbered while still capable of dmg output. Run as a Guide/Warden 5, focusing more on the defensive. Force enemies into a war of attrition once in familiar territory. Only issue I see with Warden is the loss of combat feats (the Hunter's Bond and Favored Enemies don't really appeal). While this role would be better fit by a BattleCleric setup, due to the campaign and character backstory this would be implausible. So, how would you guys write it up? |