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So, I ask this to a lot of players, and in all honestly, not a single one of them ever gives me the same answer.

When wild shaping, you apply the size modifier of the creature you are shaping into. Size categories, and thus their bonuses to Stealth, CMB, CMD, and AC, seem mutually exclusive to me. So basically the question I have involves wild shaping from a creature with previous size bonuses to another shape which also has size bonuses.

From gnome race description:
"Size: Gnomes are Small creatures and thus gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks."

A large creature instead gains -1 to AC, -1 to attack rolls, +1 CMB, +1 CMD, and -4 Stealth.

OK, now the question: Do you remove/reverse previous size bonuses before applying new ones? In other words, would a gnome wild shaping into a large creature have a net 0 bonus to AC, because small size grants +1 and large size grants -1, and likewise for other things effected by size? Or would the gnome have a net -1 AC, because the old size modifier is first removed (-1 to cancel out the +1 bonus) and then the new one is applied?

Thanks in advance for any responses clarifying this.

I know about the MS/pistolero thing already. This is only somewhat related. Mostly, what I want to know is, does anyone else think the MS is severely underpowered? I am not posting this only as a gripe, but if anyone can point out a strong advantage I missed, I would appreciate it.

The luck bonus and deed replacements are OK. Nimble is defensive, so this seems like a 1:1 swap.

The CHA instead of WIS for grit doesn't have an obvious advantage to me, other than maybe complimenting a RP character. True, it might help with point buy, but WIS is useful enough on its own that this doesn't seem like a highly favorable trade.

And then there's stranger's fortune... And in a flawless sweep of it's hand, the MS loses much of its capability to deal damage, compared to any other archtype except for maybe gun tank.

You lose the ability to add bonus damage based on your DEX mod at lvl 5 (which also slowly increments at later levels) in order to ignore a number of misfires up to your CHA modifier per day. I understand you lose quick-clear, so this kind of makes up for that, but there's something wrong here. Stranger's fortune never increments. So already, you lose, outright.

But the MS also never gains an innate damage to bonus. Sure, ignoring misfires for weapons is OK, but if you look at Musket Training or Pistol Training, they both state that at a certain level (which is high, I know, BUT) you don't misfire with that weapon type at all. Ever.

The deed you gain to add damage output instead costs grit to use, and even though it multiples with dead shot, it also never increments and still seems exceedingly lackluster. Am I missing something?

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Addendum: As for the pistolero misprint issue, I'm not convinced it isn't RAI. Sure, as written, you'd get 2xDEX bonus damage, assuming you're using your gun training on pistols. But comparing musket master to pistolero, the musket master gets a bonus feat the pistolero does not, essentially making reloading just as fast as pistols, but for the higher-damage outputting muskets. Factor into that that pistols, depending on type, have half the range increment and do almost but not quite half the damage, and the two seem almost even to me.

EX: we'll say DEX mod for the example is 2.
MM has a musket (1d12) + DEX. So on a max roll, that's 14dmg.
P has a pistol (1d8) + DEX + DEX. So on a max roll, that's 12dmg.
This is just using innate damage bonuses, and not factoring in up close and deadly, or other abilities. Sure it can be hacked, but I think I understand the intent at work here, even if the execution isn't perfect. You'd still be limited to half the range of a musket and not be doing as much damage without grit. You could also burn a feat for weapon proficiency (firearms) and use gun training on non-pistol weapons for versatility.

Regardless, I would love a clarification or revision from Paizo on this. As Ultimate Combat has been out so long without a word one way or the other, I'm guessing it's not coming though.

In the Pathfinder Campaign Setting (and maybe other sources as well) there is an item called perfume, exotic which adds a +2 circumstance bonus to diplomacy checks. The item descriptions says that perfumes come in vials which contain 10 uses, but the pricing for said item is listed as 100gp/dose (not per vial).

So, my question is, does this mean 1 vial, containing 10 uses is 100gp? Or does a single use cost 100gp, meaning a vial of 10 uses would be 1000gp?

I know this seems like a very basic question, but the language is unclear. Any help is appreciated!

Hey, I had a weird question about wild shape that I wanted to ask and felt it might be too open for me to pull an answer from the text. So, when using wild shape, you apply two modifiers, the actual modifiers for the beast shape spell stats and modifiers for size if the size of the creature you become is different than your original size, correct?

But let's say, with the ARG coming out recently and all, that you're not a medium or small creature and you are still using wild shape. I remember an errata someone mentioned about apply a size modifier to these non-Medium or Small creatures, but aren't you applying a size-mod anyway?

I guess my question is, when a non-medium or small creature is wild shaping, do you modify their size to be medium, then apply the beast shape and size modifiers? Or is there some other way this is supposed to work?

Hey all. I've been working for a bit on a custom race which is a fey creature, but the more I research -- on messages boards like this one, in game content, and on other, non-related lore websites -- I question whether or not fey can be player characters?

There can be seemingly helpful fey, like the brownie.

But there are also evil fey. But aren't fey creatures supposed to be crazy and obsesses with asserting their dominance in the prime material plane? Or at least preserving the areas of it they hold?

The other question I guess I had was, fey are supposedly immortal, are they not? So how would this translate to a PC? Do they mean immortal in so far as Tolkein elves where they can live indefinitely but killed otherwise? Or do the fey have even the ability to cheat death itself and return to form after being slain?

Just wanted to get a fair degree of opinions on this. I'm kind of 50-50 on the matter, but I think it would be really helpful to get insight from a cross section of players who might have struggled with this decision before or used fey in their campaigns.

I am very new to the boards, apologies in advance if this is a repost!

I was actually in the process of creating and balancing a race within our campaign group when someone pointed out that the race creation playtest had come out.

I downloaded it, but they pointed out something I would also agree is confusing. In the core race examples at the end of the material, you see something like Gnome Magic which comes with various benefits, including 4 spell-like abilities; dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, and speak with animals.

Assuming for the sake of argument that all of these spell-like abilities are level 0 spells, that should still be 4 RP. And yet in the breakdown for gnomes, this only accounts for 1 RP. I was wondering if anyone could explain / account for this discrepancy? Because as it stands now, I think that kind of makes at least that magical racial ability broken.