Muzzy's page

From the SRD:

Each round the target suffers excruciating pain and takes 2d6 points of nonlethal damage, 1 point of Dexterity damage, and 1 point of Constitution damage, and its speed is reduced by 10 feet. Once per round as a free action on its turn, the target can attempt a new Fortitude saving throw to resist the spell for 1 round.

My question is, are these effects cumulative? So round 1 the target fails to save and takes 2d6 nonlethal damage, 1pt dex damage, 1pt con damage and speed reduced by 10 feet. On round two does the target take additional nonlethal and ability damage? Is it's movement reduced by 20 feet total now?

Furthermore if the target resists for one round, what happens to the ability damage and speed reduction on the following round? Does it reset to 0, or does it pick up where it left off?

From the Advanced Class Guide Playtest 2:

Effortless Aid (Ex): The investigator can perform aid

another actions as a move action instead of a standard
action. An investigator can expend one use of inspiration
to instead perform an aid another action as a swift action.
Spending inspiration in this way is a free action.

Does this mean that an Investigator with this talent can perform multiple Aid Another actions in the same round? RAW, it seems like you could perform one as a move action, and another as a standard action. Or you could perform three aid another actions by spending inspiration.

The CRB says this about Natural Weapons:

All characters are proficient with unarmed strikes and any natural weapons they gain from their race. A character who uses a weapon with which he is not proficient takes a –4 penalty on attack rolls with that weapon.

But I am unable to find any rules regarding proficiency of natural weapons as the result of class features such as the Alchemist's Feral Mutagen, the Barbarian's Beast Totem, multiple Sorcerer's Bloodline Powers, etc.

It seems that, RAW, any character using natural weapons they receive as the result of a class feature would have to take a -4 penalty to attack rolls. The only class which is an exception to this is the Druid class which has proficiency with all natural weapons.

Is my interpretation of the rules correct?

Can a cleric of Irori or Pharasma channel negative energy, but also cast cure spells if they pick the Healing Domain? I realize that their spontaneous casting will always be for inflict instead of cure, but does this extend to the domain spells as well?

Today I Learned: You do not receive additional natural attacks for a high base attack bonus.

Which diminishes my plans for an Abyssal Bloodrager or a Beast Totem Barbarian, because after level 5 you won't gain any additional attacks. I'm stumped to find a feat or special ability which breaks this restriction and allows a player to gain additional attacks for a high base attack bonus. Unless Vestigial Arm somehow allows this, but it doesn't appear to.

So are natural attacks worthless after level 5 for a full-BAB class?

I've become a tent card convert. I find them to be terribly useful around the table. Unfortunately I'm not finding designs which I like, so I've created a few of my own. I'd love to get some feedback on these designs:

Four Tent Card Designs

Ugh, I am trying to wrap my head around the crafting rules and having a hard time. I'm unable to find a simple FAQ. Can someone tell me if I have these calculations correct?

Assume character is a level 5 wizard, 17 INT with a Craft (Alchemy) score of 10, and a Spellcraft of 10.

If the Character were to try to craft a flask of Acid (1d6 damage, 1 use, 10gp list price).

First they would need to acquire 1/3rd the list price for raw materials. In this case, 34 sp. The DC to complete this task is 15. d20 + craft vs DC 15. Lets assume the player rolls a 5, just matching the DC and succeeding.

Now I have to multiply that result and the DC of the craft (15 x 15 = 225)and then divide that answer by the list price of the good in silver pieces (10gp = 100sp, 225 / 100sp = 2.25). Then divide 7 by that value to determine how many days it took to complete (7 / 2.25 = 3.11 days).

So lots of arithmetic to determine that it took the character 3.11 days to turn 3.4 gp worth of raw materials into a single flask of acid worth 10gp on the open market.

Conversely, if the Wizard was going to craft a wand of acid splash (1d3+1, 50 uses, 375gp list price), that would require the Craft Wand feat, and either spellcraft or some applicable craft skill.

The DC would be 5 + the caster level (1), for a DC of 6. With a spellcraft of 10, it's impossible to fail the DC check. So lets move on to costs.

The cost is listed as 375gp * spell level * caster level. (375gp * 0.5 * 1 = 187.5gp) And the list price is double that.

The time to craft is 8 hours per 1000gp in the list price. 375gp/1000gp * 8 hours = 3 hours.

Do I have this right? This seems really off. Why does it only take 3 hours to make a wand, vs. 3 days to make a flask of acid? Why do non-magic items have a cost of 1/3, while magic items have a cost of 1/2?

I can't help but wonder if I don't "get it" or if this system is just broken (for Alchemical creations at least). The DC to create a sunrod is 25, but a wand of light is 6? When a caster reaches level 5 they're pretty much assured to pass the DC on a wand of light... but they'd have to roll a 15 to pass the DC check to create a sunrod.

Assuming you are a cleric of the fire domain, some of your domain spells are arcane (i.e. Fireball). Do you have to roll for arcane spell failure when wearing armor? Or are these spells considered to be divine even though they are normally arcane?

From the rules on Panther Parry:

"...If your retaliatory unarmed strike deals damage to an opponent, that opponent takes a –2 penalty on attack and damage rolls with the triggering attack of opportunity."

Panther Claw, a pre-req for Panther Parry, allows you multiple retaliatory strikes. Does the -2 penalty on attack and damage rolls stack? i.e. If a player manages to deal damage to an opponent twice with retaliatory strikes, does the opponent take a -4 penalty on attack and damage rolls for the AOO?

Normally a Monk can spend 1 point from his ki pool to make one additional attack at their highest attack bonus when making a flurry of blows attack. Does this apply to Flurry of Maneuvers for the Maneuver Master Monk subclass as well? RAW indicates that it does not - but I'm hoping that there might be some errata on this.

The Stone Golem description has the following text:

A stone to flesh spell does not actually change the golem's structure but negates its damage reduction and immunity to magic for 1 full round.

However, the spell "Stone to Flesh" can be resisted. Golems are immune to any magic spell which can be resisted. Furthermore the Stone to Flesh spell has a fortitude saving throw to negate. All Golems have the construct trait which makes them immune to anything which requires a fortitude save.

It seems to me that the Stone Golem is doubly protected against the Stone to Flesh spell. So what's the deal? Is Stone to Flesh an exception to the Golem & Construct immunities? Are there any other spells which get an exception against Golems and Constructs?

This came up in our game session this past weekend. A mid-level Cleric attempted to use his Artificer's Touch domain ability on a Flesh Golem. The DM ruled that since the Golem is immune to magic, and the Artificer's Touch is a spell-like ability, that the Golem must be immune to Artificer's Touch.

I don't disagree with the logic, but I'm wondering if there is a FAQ which covers this. Artificer's Touch seems designed specifically for use against constructs such as Golems. Is this supposed to be a supernatural ability instead of a spell-like ability? There are very few constructs which aren't Golems. Denying this ability for use against Golems seems like a mistake to me.

I think I'm being overly dense on the subject of Flurry of Blows, and I'm unable to find a FAQ which answers my questions.

If you are a medium sized level 1 monk with a Sai...

A: When flurrying does your first attack have to use the Sai? Or can you use Unarmed Strike for all attacks?

B: When making a standard attack or a single melee attack (i.e. Attack of Opportunity) do you have to use the Sai, or can you opt to use your unarmed strike instead?

C: If your primary weapon was a quarterstaff instead of a Sai, would you get twice as many flurry attacks because it is a double weapon?

The rulebooks say this about Spell Resistance:

Spell resistance does not stack, but rather overlaps.

Which is great, because stacking Spell Resistance would be very powerful. However the rulebook doesn't spell out how that overlap works exactly. Lets assume you have a Dwarf Monk, level 13. Lets also assume that this Dwarf has the alternate racial trait of Magic Resistance.

His racial trait gives him spell resistance of 5 + Level (Total: 18). At level 13 he gains the Monk ability of Diamond Soul, which gives him 10 + Level (Total: 23) spell resistance.

Mr. Evil Wizard decides to cast Magic Missile on our Dwarf friend. Now what happens? As I can see it, there are two possibilities:

1: Mr. Evil Wizard makes a roll to overcome the SR of 23. If successful the Dwarf takes some 1d4+1 damage. Otherwise the Dwarf has resisted and no damage is dealt.

2: Mr. Evil Wizard makes a roll to overcome the SR of 18. If successful, Mr. Evil Wizard has to make another roll to overcome the SR of 23. If successful the Dwarf takes some 1d4+1 damage. Otherwise the Dwarf has resisted and no damage is dealt.

Which is it?

I'm considering dipping 1 level of Druid (Frog Domain) to get the Sticky Strike ability. Being able to cast Magic Fang on myself would be a nice bonus, but what about Stone Fist?

DESCRIPTION

This spell transforms your hands into living stone. While this spell is in effect, your unarmed strikes do not provoke attacks of opportunity and deal 1d6 points of lethal bludgeoning damage (1d4 if you are Small). In addition, your unarmed strikes ignore the hardness of any object with a hardness less than 8.

Does the 1st level Druid Spell "Stone Fist" stack with a Monk's Unarmed Damage? Would I retain my Monk Unarmed Damage, or would my unarmed damage now be 1d6?

Being able to ignore hardness would be a nice addition to sunder attempts.

Can an alchemist ready a dispelling bomb to use as a counterspell? If so, who does the alchemist target? The spell caster or the target of the spell being counterspelled?

The Polearm Master fighter archtype gains the ability of Sweeping Fend at level 13. It reads:

Sweeping Fend (Ex)

At 13th level, a polearm master can use any spear or pole arm to make a bull rush or trip maneuver, though he takes a –4 penalty to his CMB when making such attempts. Weapons with the trip property do not incur this penalty on trip maneuvers.

This ability replaces Weapon Training 3.

Does this mean that you normally can't make a trip maneuver with a polearm? Or is the penalty normally greater than -4?

If you can't normally make a trip maneuver with a polearm, why do some CRB polearms have the trip property? The Polearm Master archtype didn't appear until the APG.

You don't need a trip weapon to perform a trip maneuver, and I can't find anything in the rulebook which says you can't make a trip maneuver (or bull rush for that matter) with a polearm.

I'm unable to find a description in the rules of what happens to the target of a combat maneuver if that target has the grappled condition.

Example 1:
(A) has successfully grappled (B). (C) charges and bull rushes (A), beating the CMD by 10. (A) should, in theory, be pushed back 15 feet. Since (A) is grappled with (B), does (B) also move 15 feet? Does (C) have to make a bull rush CMB check against (B), just as if (A) & (B) were not grappled, but (B) was standing behind (A) in the line of the charge? Or does (B) stay in place and the grapple is broken by (A) being moved 15 feet?

Example 2:
(A) has successfully grappled (B). (C) knocks (A) prone by means of a successful Overrun or Trip maneuver. Is (A) still grappling (B)? Or has the grapple been broken now that (A) is prone?

What happens when a player attempts to overrun the target of a charge? Lets assume the following:

1: The attacking character has a move of 30'
2: The target is 40' away
3: The attacker has improved overrun as a feat (to keep things simple)
4: There is nothing between the two, and it is not difficult terrain
5: The attacker and the target are both the same size

The attacking character charges the target with the intention of performing an overrun. If the character fails to overrun, the charge ends and the character stops directly in front of the target. Their turn ends, and we move on to the next player/creature. That seems pretty obvious based on page 201 of the core rule book.

But what happens if the overrun is successful? I assume it's going to be one of the following:

A: The attacking character stops on the square immediately behind the target, in the path of the charge. Their turn is over.
B: The attacking character continues past the target, stopping at exactly 2x their move distance in the direction of the charge (assuming there isn't anything in the way) and their turn is over.
C: The attacking character can choose to end it's movement anywhere between A and B above. And if so, does the character have to declare their intended stopping point before making the attack?

Now to complicate things a little. What happens if the square behind the target is occupied by another creature or is a wall? Does this prevent the overrun from even being attempted? Or do we copy the Bull Rush rules and assume that the attacker must continue the overrun at a -4 CMB penalty for each additional creature? Or does the attacking creature displace the first target, and if so where does the target creature move to?

Can someone confirm my understanding of the rules regarding what can and what cannot be done as part of a charge?

It appears that you can attempt the following combat maneuvers on the target of a charge:

• Bull Rush
  
• Overrun
  
• Disarm
  
• Sunder
  
• Trip
  

• Feint
  
• Drag
  
• Grapple
  
• Reposition
  
• Dirty Trick
  
• Steal
  

Is this correct?

If a player uses a one-handed weapon with both hands they get 1.5x Strength bonus to damage. Does this bonus apply to combat maneuvers as well? Since there's no such thing as "damage" when it comes to a maneuver, would it boost the CMB? Say a player attempts to disarm using a one-handed Flail with both hands. Would their CMB go up for the attempt?

The Pathfinder Core Rule Book states (p182)

An unarmed character can't take attacks of opportunity.

And earlier it says (p180)

If you're unarmed, you don't normally threaten any squares and thus can't make attacks of opportunity.

So my question is, does this only apply to player characters? Or does it also affect NPC's and/or Monsters? Obviously creatures with natural weapons would still threaten and get attacks of opportunity, but what about an unarmed Goblin, Ogre, Hill Giant, etc?

If a player character disarms a creature who normally has a weapon (i.e. Ogre Mage, Hill Giant, Storm Giant, etc), would that creature be unable to threaten? Would it provoke an attack of opportunity by striking unarmed?

If the target of Force Punch (Ultimate Magic) fails a fortitude save, it is pushed 5 feet per 2 caster levels, minus some distance if the target is large, huge, etc.

Does the target of Force Punch provoke attacks of opportunity when it is pushed? The spell does not specify. Is the push like a Bull Rush performed by someone without the Greater Bull Rush feat?

What happens if other creatures are blocking the path? Does the original targets motion stop at that point, or does the second target also have to make a fort save or be pushed back?

If a character has to make a spell caster check, say to overcome spell resistance, the roll is d20 + spell caster level. Why doesn't the spell caster get a bonus for their primary ability? Wouldn't a Wizard with an INT of 18 have a better chance of overcoming spell resistance than a Wizard of the same level with an INT of 13?

Is there a specific reason for this rule, or was it an oversight?

I love the spell Shadow Projection from the APG. It's got a great feel to it. It's wonderfully spooky and alien, something straight out of a Ray Harryhausen film. But I have to wonder if it's too powerful.

Consider an 8th level arcane spell caster who picks up this spell. That spell caster gets 8 hours of being immune to non-magical attacks (provided his physical body is secured). What's to stop that level 8 spell caster from killing a CR14 Great White Whale all by himself? The Whale has no magical attacks, and the spell caster just has to slowly wear away at the Whale's 50 strength. It shouldn't take more than 14 or 15 rounds actually.

When you consider the debate as to whether or not spell casters could also cast spells while in the form of a shadow, it gets even crazier.

Thoughts?

I can't seem to find this in any of the FAQ's. What happens when a creature without an ability (i.e. many animals have no INT, AD&D Shriekers have no DEX, incorporeal creatures have no STR) take ability drain damage? Does a single point of ability drain damage knock them unconscious or are they immune to ability drain for any ability they do not have?

The rulebooks say that any creature who has an ability reduced to zero is immediately made unconscious. However some creatures naturally have a zero in an ability score. So how are these creatures even functioning?

Assuming you have a level 8+ Sorcerer of the Aberrant bloodline who can cast Shadow Projection, can the Aberrant Sorcerer use their Long Limbs ability from level 3 while in the form of a Shadow?

I'd say, "Yes" since the shadow is based on their physical form and their physical form has the long limbs. However the prospect of doing 1d6 Strength damage from 10, 15 or 20 feet from your target might be overpowering and abusive.