Mira Everest's page

Take a look at one of the level 1 powers of the evocation (generation) subschool.

As a standard action, you can generate a blast of air that hurls an unattended object (or objects) or an object in your possession up to 30 feet in a straight line. If you have a free hand, you can catch an object hurled toward yourself. You can move objects weighing up to 1 pound per wizard level. Objects are not thrown with enough force to cause damage, although fragile objects like alchemical weapons shatter on contact with a creature or hard surface. To hit a creature with an object, you must succeed at a ranged touch attack. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.

At first glance, this power appears both straightforward and mostly useless. One guide refers to it as "not anything to write home about," while another remarks that "this is what mage hand is for."

But on closer examination, it seems like it could offer a lot more. So I've got a few question, just to make sure I'm not reading too much into this.

First, a couple basics:
1. If you use the blast to hurl an unattended object, how close does it have to be? Adjacent? Line of sight?
2. If you use the blast to hurl multiple objects "up to 30 feet in a straight line," do they all have to move in the same direction? The same distance?

Now, to the big stuff:

3. Does this ability allow you to make attacks with several alchemical weapons at once?

The wording strongly implies that it does, specifying that they shatter on contact and require a ranged touch attack to hit, but I wanted to make sure there wasn't some catch. So a level 7 generation wizard could spend a standard action to make ranged touch attacks to hit a nearby enemy with seven flasks of acid, dealing 7d6 points of damage if all attacks hit? Or hurl seven flasks of acid/alkali combined with a hybridization funnel for 14d6 points of damage? Or hurl a tanglefoot bag, ghast wretch flask, and some shard gel to make an enemy entangled, sickened, and surrounded by caltrops?

4. If yes, do these alchemical attacks benefit from bonuses to damage like a paladin's smite evil or an alchemist's Throw Anything?

Could a wizard 7/alchemist 1 with a 22 Intelligence score spend a standard action to hurl seven flasks of acid for 7d6+42 damage? Could a level 7 paladin with VMC wizard spend a standard action to hurl seven flasks of acid at a smite target for 7d6+49 damage?

Have you ever looked at two Pathfinder creatures and thought "why not both"?

A while back, I stumbled across the amalgam creature template and used it to create an adamantine tarrasque. Basically, the template uses a fairly interesting process to combine two types of creature into one. This seems to me like it could open up loads of fun possibilities, and I was wondering if anyone would have any suggestions for potential combinations. It's a third-party template, but the basic question applies to Pathfinder in general: what sorts of creatures would you like to see combined?

Is a 5-foot step an action?

It is placed under the category of No Action in the Actions in Combat Table.

No Action

5-foot step

However, it is placed under the category of Miscellaneous Actions later in the Combat section.

The following actions take a variable amount of time to accomplish or otherwise work differently than other actions.

Take 5-Foot Step

Finally, one of the example situations in the Combat section refers to 5-foot steps as free actions, although this may very well be an error.

She could instead limit her movement to a 5-foot step, as a free action, and not provoke any attacks of opportunity.

Does an angel's protective aura (and the constant lesser globe of invulnerability it provides) permanently prevent it from ever using any of its personal or touch range spell-like abilities (or spells) of 3rd level or below?

If not, how does it work?

Corollaries:
Is a globe of invulnerability intended to broadly suppress all spellcasting below the given level, regardless of whether offensive or defensive, and regardless of whether performed by the caster, their enemies, or their allies?
If so, does this hold true for an angel's protective aura?
Can an angel's protective aura or the lesser globe of invulnerability it provides be voluntarily dismissed? If so, what sort of action does it take to dismiss it and reinstate it?
Are there any rules for the dismissal or suppression of auras in general?

The 3.5 customer service responded to a similar question here.

But we don't have an answer for Pathfinder, and the only consensus seems to be that it doesn't work like it's supposed to.

I was considering some of the new material from the weapon master's handbook and how it might complement a sohei monk build, and I eventually decided to give it a try.

Male human monk (qinggong, sohei) 8

LN medium humanoid (human)
Init +9; Senses Perception +12
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 18 (+2 Dex, +5 armor, +2 natural, +1 deflection, +1 dodge)
hp 60 (8d8+24)
Fort +9
Ref +9
Will +8
Defensive abilities ac bonus (not in armor), evasion, purity of body, still mind
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee+1 elven branched spear +15 (1d8+19/x3)
unarmed strike +10 (1d6+10)
+1 elven branched spear flurry of blows +14/+14/+9/+9 (1d8+22/x3)
unarmed strike flurry of blows +9/+9/+4/+4 (1d6+12)
Special Attacks flurry of blows, ki weapon, weapon training 1 (spears)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +9)
1 ki point - barkskin
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 22, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 7
Base Atk +6; CMB +13 (+2 when tripping, +5 with spear, -2 with Power Attack); CMD 25 (27 vs trip, 32 vs disarm and sunder on spear)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Cut from the Air, Difficult Swings, Dodge, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Sidestep (1 ki point), Weapon Focus (elven branched spear), Weapon Style Mastery
Traits Bred for War, Reactionary
Skills Acrobatics +13, Perception +12, Sense Motive +12, Stealth +13
Languages Common
SQ devoted guardian, ki pool (5 points), maneuver training, monastic mount
Other Gear +1 fortuitous elven branched spear, +1 chain shirt, belt of giant strength +2, cloak of resistance +1, cracked dusty rose prism ioun stone, cracked opalescent white pyramid ioun stone (elven branched spear), gloves of dueling, ring of protection +1

Thoughts? Suggestions? Improvements?

The Generation focused arcane school's Lingering Evocation ability looks like it could combine excellently with the spell Litany of Righteousness. Problem is, that spell appears only on the paladin and inquisitor spell lists.

Is there any way to combine these effectively into a single build? Maybe by getting Litany of Righteousness on the wizard spell list, or by getting an arcane school on a divine caster?

Does the Burglar archetype's Distraction ability allow the character to evade detection by scent, tremorsense, blindsense, blindsight, or another means of non-visual detection?

At 8th level, whenever a burglar is detected while using Stealth, she can immediately attempt a Bluff skill check opposed by the Sense Motive skill of the creature that spotted her. If this check succeeds, the target assumes that the noise was something innocent and disregards the detection. This only functions if the creature cannot see the rogue. This ability can only be used once during a given Stealth attempt. If the same creature detects the rogue’s presence again, the ability has no effect.

This ability replaces improved uncanny dodge.

There seems to be a somewhat unresolved issue related to this FAQ.

Certain abilities change whether or not a skill is based on Strength or Dexterity, as clarified in the FAQ. Do these abilities also change whether or not an armor check penalty applies to that skill?

Examples of abilities at issue include the Empiricist's Ceaseless Observation ability, the Counterfeit Mage's Wand Adept ability, and the trait Wisdom in the Flesh.

This question has been brought before.
Wisdom in the Flesh and Armor Check Penalty
armor check penalty and x to y
Wisdom Armor Penalty
The problem is that each of these was before the FAQ, and the answers seemed to be based on the assumption that such abilities don't actually change what ability score a skill is considered to be "based on." Now we know for certain that they do.

But the rules in this area are still somewhat contradictory.

Armor Check Penalty: Any armor heavier than leather, as well as any shield, hurts a character's ability to use Dexterity- and Strength-based skills. An armor check penalty applies to all Dexterity- and Strength-based skill checks.

Armor check penalty applies to all Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks.

Armor Check Penalty: If this notation is included in the skill name line, an armor check penalty applies (see Equipment) to checks using this skill. If this entry is absent, an armor check penalty does not apply.

So does the armor check penalty change when the relevant ability score changes, or does it stay with certain skills, regardless of changes to the relevant ability score?

Is there anything preventing the combination of the feats Press to the Wall and Gang Up to achieve constant flanking against an opponent, as long as that opponent is adjacent to two squares occupied by solid objects (such as the floor)?

It was established in this thread that Press to the Wall would allow you to flank with the floor, if you are in a flanking position (in this case, above your opponent).

With Gang Up, no flanking position is required. There must simply be two other allies threatening the opponent. And with Press to the Wall, each solid, immovable object that occupies a square counts as an ally threatening the opponent.

It looks like this would work, but it seems almost to good to be true.

Thoughts?

Does freedom of movement allow a creature to move through a magic circle against evil?

This spell enables you or a creature you touch to move and attack normally for the duration of the spell, even under the influence of magic that usually impedes movement, such as paralysis, solid fog, slow, and web.

The creature cannot cross the circle's boundaries.

If it does, does this prevent binding creatures such as proteans with the planar binding spells, or can the caster simply use mundane methods of restraint, with all other aspects of the spell working normally?

Named bullet has a peculiar interaction with melee thrown weapons.

Topic 1: Named Bullet can be used on thrown weapons. Daggers, clubs, spears, and many other melee weapons are thrown weapons.
Question 1: Can Named Bullet in fact be used on melee weapons that are thrown weapons?

Topic 2: Named Bullet never says anywhere that it only has an effect on ranged attacks. In fact, several times it emphasizes that the weapon must simply be used to attack and hit the selected creature.
Question 2: If the answer to Question 1 is yes, does Named Bullet have any effect on melee attacks made on the selected creature with the chosen melee thrown weapon?

Topic 3: Named Bullet states that using the weapon to attack the selected creature ends the effect.
Question 3: If the answer to Question 2 is no, does making a melee attack with the chosen thrown weapon against the selected creature still end the effect?

So I've come up with a gestalt build based around an interesting shenanigan I found with Toppling Spell, Vicious Stomp, and the Wolf Style feat line. And I'm looking to make it better.

Basics of the build: Level 8, druid on one side of the gestalt, a brawler/fighter/monk mix on the other. He uses a toppling magic missile (aspirant's bond, Naga Aspirant ability) to make trip attempts against 5 enemies, with a +26 trip bonus. Any enemies that are tripped fall into an adjacent square of his choosing (Wolf Trip). He then gets an attack of opportunity against all of them with a +16 bonus against AC-4 (Vicious Stomp). If he's flanking any of them (and chances are he will be, because he chooses where they land), he gets to add his Wisdom (+7) to the attack roll (pack tactics Wolf Domain ability). If he hits them, the damage will activate Wolf Savage, giving them a DC 23 Fort save vs. bestow curse.

Side notes:
Firstly, this build is entirely theoretical, which means that I'll shamelessly minmax as long as it doesn't hurt the build overall. This also means that I'm not worried about it being playable at any level other than 8.
Secondly, I understand that this build isn't going to be able to use its tripping shenanigans on creatures that are immune to trip. I'm okay with that; it's just a drawback of tripping in general. The character has other druid spells and other party members. I'm created this build with the expectation that the character would be heavily dependent on tripping, and I'm just trying to make it better at what it does.
Finally, just so you know, I'm making a couple of slight assumptions about the rules as a basis for this build. I'm assuming that Toppling Spell functions like a normal trip attempt except as otherwise specified, and is therefore affected normally by feats such as Improved Trip, Fury's Fall, and Wolf Trip, the last of which I brought up in this thread. I'm also assuming that armor does not impede a monk's AC bonus ability when they are using Wild Shape and the armor is melded into their form, as has been discussed on a few threads in the past.

Anyway, here it is:

Trip bonus with toppling magic missile: Right now, it's at 26 (9 CL + 7 Wis + 6 Fury's Fall + 2 Improved Trip + 2 Maneuver Mastery). Is there a good way to get it higher? Trip bonus is my primary concern, but I also want to improve other statistics: attack bonus, AC, Wolf Savage DC, etc.

Feats: I thought Ability Focus (Wolf Savage) would be more useful than Greater Trip. Was I wrong? Any important feats I'm missing? Any more efficient way to accomplish what I have now?

Magic Items: I was hoping to get Wild stoneplate or something to boost my AC, but it was quite expensive and prevented me from getting brawling armor. Should I have gotten it after all? I also decided a monk's robe probably wasn't worth it. Was I wrong? Finally, I was considering dropping the amulet of natural armor and just using barkskin, maybe spending the money on upgrading my cloak or buying more pearls of power. Should I do that? Any important magic items I'm missing? Any more efficient way to accomplish what I have now?

Spells: Here, I'm sort of at a loss. I don't have much experience with casting druids above low levels, so I haven't settled on any spells beyond magic missile and the domain spells. I have access to a very nice selection of spells from the Naga Aspirant archetype. I get some handy buff spells from my domain, but I could use more. I also have the Wis for spells that have saves, and the Dex and BAB for spells with attack rolls. I'm just not sure what to pick. I will probably prepare greater thunderstomp once, just in case the placement of enemies is too perfect to pass up. Other than that, I could definitely use suggestions.

Any other advice?

If you use a spell or other ability to trip several enemies from a distance, such as by casting toppling magic missile, does the feat Wolf Trip still allow you to pull the creature into an adjacent square when it falls prone, regardless of the distance between the caster and the target?

Let's say you're a level 4 good inquisitor who took the teamwork feat Lastwall Phalanx.

You also have Solo Tactics, which can be used along with Lastwall Phalanx as briefly discussed in this thread.

You also have a bag of 100 lizards (let's assume they have an attitude of helpful towards you, thanks to the party druid).

You set or dump the bag into an adjacent square.

True or False: You now have a +100 sacred bonus to your AC against the attacks of evil creatures and a +100 sacred bonus to saves against the spells and abilities of evil creatures.

And would this work in PFS? (The feat is apparently legal.)

Do polymorph spells, such as Beast Shape, give a natural armor bonus, or do they give a bonus to natural armor?

If they give a natural armor bonus, is a creature affected by such a spell able to use their original natural armor bonus instead, if it is greater?

I'm looking for advice on how to improve an extremely hypothetical bloodrager build I made just for the fun of it.
I've had some ideas floating around my head for a while, and I've tried to combine them into a build that just does a lot of damage.

Things I'm wondering about:

Bloodrager vs. Barbarian
The build is too feat intensive for Extra Rage Power anyway, and Mounted Fury is incompatible with Invulnerable Rager, so it looks like it's just
Bloodrager: Spells, Level 1 Bloodline Power, one trait (barbarian has to get Adopted (Enlightened Warrior))
vs.
Barbarian: +4 AC vs spells (human favored class bonus)

Bloodline
I picked Fey on a whim, just because this will be getting a critical pretty much every round.
Is there a better option?

Rage Powers
Any necessary ones that I missed?
Disemboweling Tusks seemed nice at first, but it now seems sort of plain since it isn't multiplied like all of the other damage that's dealt. Is there something that I should replace it with?

Traits
Any suggestions?

Self-buff spells
Any suggestions?

Magic Items
So far, my thoughts for ideal items:
Helm of the Mammoth Lord (8500 gp) (if I can't get this, I'll have to take lesser fiend totem)
Horsemaster's Saddle (12000 gp) (if I can't get this or a ring of tactical precision, I'll drop Amplified Rage and possibly Ferocious Mount, freeing up feats)
+1 (or greater) Brawling Mithral Breastplate (8000 gp)
Boots of Speed (12000 gp)
Belt of Giant Strength +4 (16,000 gp)
Greater Hat of Disguise (12,000 gp)
Miscellaneous Protective Gear (standard Cloak/Ring/Amulet, Jingasa, Ioun Stone)
Other stat-boosting gear
Greater Magic Fang + Permanency (hopefully a 16th level caster shouldn't be too difficult to find, about 10000 to 11000 gp)
Anything I'm missing here?

Any other issues or improvements?

Is there a rule preventing creatures from attacking with multiple natural attacks from the same limb or part of the body during a single full-attack action?

Examples:
a tiefling alchemist with the alternate racial trait for claws and feral mutagen to get four claws
a barbarian with Lesser Fiend Totem and a Helm of the Mammoth Lord to get two gores

All of the relevant rules text seems to refer only to the combining of manufactured and natural attacks, and not to the use of multiple natural attacks.

One standard use for the Horizon Walker is using the Terrain Mastery rogue (or slayer) talent and the Terrain Dominance ability to get insanely high favored enemy bonuses against anyone native to your chosen terrain.

I was wondering if the following two abilities combined could greatly increase the DCs of rage powers:

"Terrain Dominance: At 3rd level, a horizon walker learns total dominance over one terrain he has already selected for terrain mastery. When dealing with creatures native to that terrain, the horizon walker treats his favored terrain bonus for that terrain as a favored enemy bonus (as the ranger class feature) against those creatures.This bonus overlaps (does not stack with) bonuses gained when fighting a favored enemy."

"Amplified by Hate (Ex): At 9th level, a hateful rager adds half her favored enemy bonus to the DC of any rage power she uses against a favored enemy. This ability replaces trap sense +3."

Does anyone know if these would interact? It seems like they would, but I'm not quite certain.

Question: How does one tell whether a slam attack is associated with a particular limb?

This issue has come up a couple of times in the past, and as far as I know, it has never really been resolved.

The primary problem with this is the bestiary.

It contains many creatures that seemingly use arms to slam. Examples:
Genies
Mariliths
Storm Giants

It also contains many creatures that seemingly do not use arms to slam. Examples:
Animated Objects
Dolphins
Gelatinous Cubes

Even worse, it contains some creatures that are pretty much up in the air. Examples:
Apes
Earth Elementals in a shape that's humanoid enough to hold weapons
Zombies

There's a quote from the bestiary:
"Creatures with natural attacks and attacks made with weapons can use both as part of a full attack action (although often a creature must forgo one natural attack for each weapon clutched in that limb, be it a claw, tentacle, or slam)."

And a quote from a magus FAQ, of all places:
"For example, unarmed strikes, claws, and slams are light melee weapons associated with a hand"

But neither of those change the fact that there are clearly creatures that make slams without using arms.

So, how can you tell?

This can't really be determined just with common sense, and it can be very important to many characters that use natural attacks to fight (coughapeshamanscough).

So, how can you tell?

Is there anything stopping these two feats from working together?

If not, then I'm not sure I can resist building a Mutagenic Mauler using Pummeling Charge with a katar.

If there are multiple stirges that hit with their touch attacks against the same target, how does the grappling work?

The grappling part of the combat section seems to imply that it is always impossible for multiple creatures to grapple independently of each other. But this seems like a very different situation than just effectively using Aid Another to give an ally a +2 bonus. There isn't even a grapple roll, really.

Specific issues:
Could multiple stirges all deal Constitution damage at once?
Could the target escape from all stirges with one grapple or Escape Artist check?

I was mildly inspired by the Conqueror Ooze, and I was considering possible ways of improving on that raw amount of damage. So here's a build I wanted to run by people: The Conqueror Hippopotamus:

Half-Orc Bloodrager (Rageshaper) 12 [Destined Bloodline, or something else, it doesn’t matter all that much]
with a
Samsaran Arcanist (Brown-Fur Transmuter) 10
cohort

If a cohort isn't an option, this can be achieved with the help of a brown-fur transmuter party member. If one is lacking, you could theoretically do this on your own with a 4 level dip in druid, or a lesser version of this with a wand of Beast Shape II. But at that point it would probably just be surpassed by the Conqueror Ooze.

There are some possible problems that I can think of. Among them are the following:

Would all of these damage increases stack? It seems like they're different enough, but I can't tell for sure.

Is the Cloak of Fangs a polymorph effect? It says absolutely nothing about that. Alter self is one of the requirements, but that has no mechanical effect as far as I know.

What action would it be to put the cloak on the Rageshaper after they were turned into a hippopotamus (hippopotamuses do, in fact, have shoulder slots)? Is there a way to have the cloak not be transformed when the Rageshaper is, or to activate the cloak after it is transformed?

So, thoughts? Problems? Possible improvements?

How can I increase the DC of the Wolf Savage feat?
(besides being high level, having high wisdom, and Ability Focus)

Character: Bloodrager/Oracle/Mystic Theurge

Abilities: Greater Bloodrage, Combined Spells

Question: Which of the following spells could they cast on themselves while entering a rage?

A. Oracle spells cast using bloodrager spell slots.

B. Bloodrager spells cast using oracle spell slots.

C. Neither.

D. Both.

My question is this: Could a character with the pounce ability perform a full attack after a charge in a surprise round?

I'm pretty sure the answer is yes RAW, but I can't find any specific ruling on this, and I wanted to check.

The reason I'm asking is that I created this build which uses that mechanic to do insane amounts of damage.

Relevant quotes:

Charge description, page 198, Core Rulebook:
"If you are able to take only a standard action on your turn, you can still charge, but you are only allowed to move up to your speed (instead of up to double your speed) and you cannot draw a weapon unless you possess the Quick Draw feat. You can't use this option unless you are restricted to taking only a standard action on your turn."

Surprise round description, page 178, Core Rulebook:
"If some but not all of the combatants are aware of their opponents, a surprise round happens before regular rounds begin. In initiative order (highest to lowest), combatants who stated the battle aware of their opponents each take a standard or move action during the surprise round. You can also take free actions during the surprise round."

Pounce description, page 302, Bestiary:
"When a creature with this special attack makes a charge, it can also make a full attack (including rake attacks if the creature also has the rake ability)."

There's also an FAQ answer relating to this:

"If a creature with pounce is under a slow effect, and it charges, does it still get its full attack from pounce?

According to the rules as written, pounce would allow the creature its full attack, despite the slow effect. (This happens because there is no "partial charge" action.)"

Does anybody know of other rules, FAQs, or posts that might confirm or refute this idea? Any input will be appreciated.