Pathfinder Design Team's page

No FAQ Required: This is not a rules FAQ for any Pathfinder RPG product, but rather a question about our publishing practices on pick-ups. When a new book comes out in the RPG line, chances are at this point that there have been Player Companions, Campaign Settings, or other products on a related topic at some time in the past, but these products have smaller print runs than RPG line products. At product launch meetings, staff members including the developers of these previous products suggest other books to reference for pick-ups. A pick-up essentially means that a rules element begs for a broader audience, rather than asking a freelancer to produce something new but almost identical without regard to the essential foundation built from the design and development work on the previous lines. That said, a pick-up is not a reprint: those pick-ups receive multiple additional development passes just like the new material for the book, refining them beyond their original version. Sometimes these development passes won’t yield any change, and sometimes they lead to substantial changes.

The fully refined version will be Paizo's default version for adventures, NPC compilations, and the like moving forward, since it benefited from two development cycles and is available on the PRD, but as always feel free to use the version that your group prefers, or make your own variant. In Pathfinder Society, always check the Additional Resources page to see what versions are legal and the Campaign Clarifications page for the Pathfinder Society team’s updates on how to use those options in the Pathfinder Society campaign.

Answered in FAQ!

Mirror Image and Miss Chance: If I have a miss chance and a mirror image, how do I combine them?

Miss chances generally only apply when an attack hits. For most miss chances, such as blur, there’s no need to roll them if an attack would hit a mirror image because a hit and a miss by 5 or less would both pop the image. The only exception to this rule is blink and similar effects, which already have some other exceptions from normal miss chances due to moving you to another plane (for instance, unlike other miss chances, blink protects you from targeted effects). The 50% chance to be on the Ethereal Plane protects both the caster and the images.

Answered in FAQ.

Spirit Guide Oracle: What happens if a spirit guide oracle gains the arcane enlightenment hex, which adds spells “to the list of shaman spells she can prepare?”

An oracle doesn’t prepare spells, so that particular hex isn’t useful for her.

Answered in FAQ.

Negative Levels: On page 562, it says that you get a save to remove temporary negative levels each day, but the universal monster rule for energy drain, as well as nearly every mention of temporary negative levels I can find, say that after 24 hours, the temporary negative levels become permanent if I fail my save. Which one is right?
The rule on page 562 is the general rule, but almost every specific rule in the game functions differently, and specific overrides general. Incidentally, the universal monster rule for energy drain doesn’t explicitly say that the negative levels are considered temporary before they become permanent (it just says “negative levels”), and we want to make it clear that they are temporary negative levels at that time (and thus that you can remove them more inexpensively withrestoration). The only text directly in error is the reminder text at the end of enervation which claims that becoming permanent after 24 hours is the general rule.

The FAQ has received an official adjustment. The answer now reads:

First add up the total cost of the base item, including any special material. Then multiply by any multiplier for the size and unusual shape from Table 6-8. After that, add any additional cost for masterwork, if that isn't already part of the special material. Finally, apply any multiplier for discounts such as the 1/3 cost multiplier for crafting the item. For example, a chain shirt costs 100 gp and a mithral chain shirt costs 1,100 gp after the +1,000 gp cost for mithral. If you were applying the 1/3 cost multiplier for crafting the item using the Craft skill, the cost multiplier from Table 6-8 based on size and body type, or both, you would apply those multipliers to the full 1,100 gp cost for the mithral chain shirt. This means a mithral chain shirt built for a rune giant costs 8,800 gp and a mithral chain shirt built for the tarrasque costs 35,200 gp. On the other hand, a Large masterwork cold iron greatsword costs 500 gp (50 gp for a greatsword, doubled for cold iron, doubled again for a Large weapon, then adding masterwork last because cold iron isn't always masterwork).

The FAQ has received an official adjustment, both in this thread and on the FAQ page. The answer now reads

First add up the total cost of the base item, including any special material. Then multiply by any multiplier for the size and unusual shape from Table 6-8. After that, add any additional cost for masterwork, if that isn't already part of the special material. Finally, apply any multiplier for discounts such as the 1/3 cost multiplier for crafting the item. For example, a chain shirt costs 100 gp and a mithral chain shirt costs 1,100 gp after the +1,000 gp cost for mithral. If you were applying the 1/3 cost multiplier for crafting the item using the Craft skill, the cost multiplier from Table 6-8 based on size and body type, or both, you would apply those multipliers to the full 1,100 gp cost for the mithral chain shirt. This means a mithral chain shirt built for a rune giant costs 8,800 gp and a mithral chain shirt built for the tarrasque costs 35,200 gp. On the other hand, a Large masterwork cold iron greatsword costs 500 gp (50 gp for a greatsword, doubled for cold iron, doubled again for a Large weapon, then adding masterwork last because cold iron isn't always masterwork).

Answered in FAQ.

Cost Multipliers for Items: When an item has a cost multiplier, for instance for its size, unusual shape, or composition, does that apply before or after additional costs such as for making the item masterwork or using a special material?First add up the total cost of the base item, including any special material. Then multiply by any multiplier for the size and unusual shape from Table 6-8. After that, add any additional cost for masterwork, if that isn't already part of the special material. Finally, apply any multiplier for discounts such as the 1/3 cost multiplier for crafting the item. For example, a chain shirt costs 100 gp and a mithral chain shirt costs 1,100 gp after the +1,000 gp cost for mithral. If you were applying the 1/3 cost multiplier for crafting the item using the Craft skill, the cost multiplier from Table 6-8 based on size and body type, or both, you would apply those multipliers to the full 1,100 gp cost for the mithral chain shirt. This means a mithral chain shirt built for a rune giant costs 8,800 gp and a mithral chain shirt built for the tarrasque costs 35,200 gp. On the other hand, a Large masterwork cold iron greatsword costs 550 gp (50 gp for a greatsword, doubled for cold iron, doubled again for a Large weapon, then adding masterwork last because cold iron isn't always masterwork).

Answered in FAQ!

Temporary Hit Points: When determining my current hit point total for effects like power word kill, do I include my temporary hit points?

Yes, add your temporary hit points together with your remaining normal hit points to determine your hit point total for the purpose of effects that have differing effects based on your current hit point total.

Answered in FAQ!

Mythic Form of the Dragon: Mythic form of the dragon says that it increases my breath weapon damage to 10d6, but 10d6 isn’t actually an increase for form of the dragon II or III. Does that mean the mythic version reduces my damage?

No, instead mythic form of the dragon should increase your breath weapon damage by 2d8. This will be reflected in the next errata.

Gaining a higher bonus that does not itself bypass DR (like greater magic weapon or transferral from a ranged weapon to its ammunition) does not remove the ability to bypass DR via the original bonus.

Answered in FAQ.

Magic Ranged Weapons and Ammunition: When a ranged weapon shares its enhancement bonus with its ammunition, does this count as “true” enhancement bonus or more like a temporary bonus like greater magic weapon? In other words, does the shared enhancement bonus allow the arrow to bypass damage reduction as if it was cold iron, silver, adamantine, and aligned?

No, other than the ways indicated in the Core Rulebook (if the ranged weapon is at least +1, they count as magic, and if the ranged weapon is aligned they count as that alignment as well) the enhancement bonus granted to ammunition from the ranged weapon doesn’t help them overcome the other types of damage reduction. Archers and other such characters can buy various sorts of ammunition or ammunition with a high enhancement bonus to overcome the various types of damage reduction.

Answered in FAQ.

Natural 20 and Natural 1: On attack rolls and saving throws, a natural 20 is an automatic success and a natural 1 is an automatic failure. But should I treat them differently than other results when deciding if a roll succeeded or failed by 5 or more, when comparing two opposed attack rolls to see which is a higher result, or other similar situations?

No, unless a specific rule tells you otherwise, treat a natural 20 or natural 1 result on an attack roll or saving throw the same as any other result when comparing the total result to other numbers. For example, if a fighter rolls a natural 1 for a total of 31 against the wizard’s AC of 33, the attack misses by 5 or less and destroys one of the wizard’s mirror images.

Answered in FAQ!

Magus, Kensai: Many of the kensai’s abilities refer to “his chosen weapon.” Is that the “single martial or exotic melee weapon of his choice” from the Weapon and Armor Proficiency ability? If it isn’t, how do I decide what his chosen weapon actually is?

The chosen weapon does indeed refer to the single martial or exotic melee weapon he chose.

Answered in FAQ!

Unsworn Shaman: The unsworn shaman’s minor spirit ability tells you exactly when you gain hexes, but it doesn’t technically say you don’t gain the other hexes from the class progression. Pre-errata, it replaced the hex class feature entirely, which unambiguously removed them. How many hexes does the unsworn shaman receive?

Unsworn shaman still only receives the hexes from minor spirit and does not gain hexes at any other levels. The change from ‘replaces’ to ‘alters’ fixes a problem where the unsworn shaman used to have hexes while simultaneously removing the hex class feature, but the way the minor spirit ability alters the hex class feature is that it changes when you gain hexes to the listed levels.

Answered in FAQ!

When I use Perception as a move action to search for traps or other secrets, how wide of an area can I search? The Core Rulebook doesn’t say, and Pathfinder Unchained mentions a 10 by 10 area, but it’s part of an optional consolidated skills subsystem.

As per Ultimate Intrigue, there are two ways Perception checks happen in the game. The first way is automatic and reactive. Certain stimuli automatically call for a Perception check, such as a creature using Stealth (which calls for an opposed Perception check), or the sounds of combat or talking in the distance. The flip side is when a player actively calls for a Perception check because her PC is intentionally searching for something (this is the relevant type of Perception used to find traps, unless you have the trap spotter rogue talent, which makes it reactive). This always takes at least a move action, but often takes significantly longer.

The core rules don’t specify what area a PC can actively search, but for a given Perception check it should be no larger than a 10-foot-by-10-foot area, and often a smaller space if that area is cluttered. For instance, in an intrigue-based game, it is fairly common to look through a filing cabinet full of files. Though the cabinet itself might fill only a 5-foot-by-5-foot area, the number of files present could cause a search to take a particularly long time.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that the GM or player needs to roll a Perception check for every 10 foot by 10 foot area, however. It’s much smoother to have the GM roll several secret Perception checks for each searching character and then apply each roll only when the PC is searching an area that actually has something to find.

FAQed!

Throwing Shield: The throwing shield says that it has special straps “that allow you to unclasp and throw it as a free action.” It seems likely that “unclasp and throw” means “unclasp in order to throw” but it could also mean “unclasp and additionally throw” which could give a character any number of extra attacks. Which interpretation is correct?

Throwing shield’s wording means you can unclasp as a free action in order to throw it. The wording will be updated to disambiguate in the next errata.

FAQed!

Haste: Haste says a hasted creature can make an additional attack during a full attack with a natural or manufactured weapon, but what about other sorts of attacks like unarmed strikes?

Unarmed strikes and other attacks that work via full attacks (such as mystic bolts, kinetic blade, and flame blade) all allow an extra attack with haste. However, single attacks such as incorporeal touch attacks or melee touch spells delivered round by round after holding the charge do not.

Touch Spells: In the Magic and Combat chapters, it says that I can touch a single ally as a standard action or up to six allies as a full-round action and that I can combine delivering a touch spell with a natural attack or unarmed strike. But what if I just want to deliver the touch spell to an enemy? It just says I can do it “round after round.”
Making a touch attack against an enemy by touching it, beyond the free action to do so as part of casting the spell, is a standard action. It can’t be used with a full attack.

Hello all!

Question:Does the Shield Master feat remove penalties imposed by feats like Power Attack, or Conditions like Sickened?

Due to the threads
Here
Here
Here
And Here
I feel as if this is a question asked frequently enough that it might deserve an FAQ.

The basic arguments go like this

RAW:The feat says you take no attack roll penalties.

RAI:The intent of the feat seems to be that it only applies to TWFing.

Shield Master wrote:

Shield Master (Combat)

[i]Your mastery of the shield allows you to fight with it without hindrance.[i]

Prerequisites: Improved Shield Bash, Shield Proficiency, Shield Slam, Two-Weapon Fighting, base attack bonus +11.

Benefit: You do not suffer any penalties on attack rolls made with a shield while you are wielding another weapon. Add your shield's enhancement bonus to attacks and damage rolls made with the shield as if it was a weapon enhancement bonus.

Answered in FAQ!

Shield Master: When Shield Master says “You do not suffer any penalties on attack rolls made with a shield while you are wielding another weapon” it seems like in context it means you don’t take the penalty for Two-Weapon Fighting, but it just says “any penalties” so it isn’t clear. Which penalties does the feat let a character ignore?

Shield Master allows a character to ignore the Two-Weapon Fighting penalties on attack rolls with a shield while wielding another weapon, but not any other penalties.

Answered in FAQ!

Dim Light: When an ability requires a character to be near shadows or an area of dim light (like the shadowdancer’s shadow jump or hide in plain sight), how does that interact with low-light vision, darkvision, and the like?

While it’s true that most creatures in the game have low-light vision or darkvision, when the rules talk about being in or near an objective light level (for example “in an area of dim light”), they always refer to the state of light and darkness from the perspective of normal vision, like a human. The exceptions, effects that depend on an observing creature’s perspective, such as the heavens shaman’s enveloping darkness ability, call this out with text indicating that the ability alters or depends on that creature’s perspective, rather than the overall light level.

Answered in FAQ!

Reflex Saves: If I’m paralyzed, held, dying, or otherwise completely immobilized or insensate, can I still attempt a Reflex save?

Yes, you can still attempt a Reflex save, but since your Dexterity is set to 0, you’ll have to replace your Dexterity bonus with a –5 penalty, so you’re not likely to succeed. If you do succeed, it might be due to the power of your <i>cloak of resistance</i>, a good angle for cover, or even luck. Either way, follow the rules of the spell for a successful Reflex save, even if this would change your space, like <i>create pit</i>. However, you lose evasion in these circumstances. If you are under the influence of a rare effect that causes you to be immobilized or insensate and allows ongoing Reflex saves to escape the effect, as an exception to the rule, you can use your full Dexterity bonus (instead of a –5 penalty) for the purpose of attempting those ongoing saves only, since your full Dexterity is at work within the confines of the spell, trying to break free.

Answered in FAQ.

Adamantine: Adamantine says it bypasses hardness less than 20, but hardness says adamantine bypasses hardness of 20 or less. Which one should I use?

Use “less than 20” from the adamantine entry. Adamantine, which has 20 hardness, is strong enough to stand against adamantine (this is also why adamantine armor provides DR/— rather than DR/adamantine).

If the attacks are not simultaneous they also only benefit once?

For example if I cast a spell that lets me make a ranged attack each round as a standard action, do I get the benefits from point blank shot only on the first attack?

That would be a case where you measure it by uses, since it allows multiple uses. To create an example where it's easier to draw the distinction, consider a spell called scorching ray artillery that let you fire off three scorching rays each round for 1 round per level as a standard action each round. In that case, you would add the damage each time you used it, but still only to one of the three rays each time.

...special abilities that deal damage on a successful attack roll apply them on hit point damage only, and only once per casting or use...This doesn’t apply on area effects with the rare potential for extraneous attack rolls, like fireball.

Answered in FAQ

Weapon Attacks and Special Abilities: Many places in the rules use the term “ranged weapon attacks” and similar terms, but how does this apply to spells, spell-like abilities, supernatural abilities, and extraordinary abilities (heretoafter called special abilities) that require ranged attacks but might not necessarily seem like weapons?

In general, special abilities that require attack rolls benefit and suffer from all modifiers affecting attack rolls even if those modifiers mention weapon attack rolls (such as the penalty for firing into melee, the bonus on attack rolls from Point-Blank Shot and inspire courage, and the like), unless the spell specifically calls out that it doesn’t apply them (for instance spiritual weapon calls out that it isn’t affected by feats and combat actions, but it would still have to deal with cover, and firing into melee if ranged).
When it comes to modifiers that affect weapon damage rolls, or simply “damage rolls” (such as the bonus on damage rolls from Point-Blank Shot, inspire courage, and smite evil), special abilities that deal damage on a successful attack roll apply them on hit point damage only, and only once per casting or use, rather than once per attack. For instance, if a spell or special ability launched a dozen different ranged attacks simultaneously, only one (of the user’s choice) would receive bonus damage. This doesn’t apply on area effects with the rare potential for extraneous attack rolls, like fireball. However, there is a category of abilities that deserve a special note: Abilities like Arcane Strike that specifically enhance a character’s weapon or weapons themselves never apply to special abilities (with the exception of special abilities like the warlock’s mystic bolts that specifically call out that Arcane Strike applies).

In the same vein as abilities like Arcane Strike that affect a character’s weapons, abilities that say “with a weapon,” “with a melee weapon,” and “with a ranged weapon” almost never work with special abilities because such wording is almost always used as shorthand for “manufactured weapon,” “manufactured melee weapon,” and “manufactured ranged weapon.” The exception is abilities that deal damage when a creature touches or hits you in melee (for instance, the occultis’s energy ward focus power), which should also deal damage when a creature makes a melee touch attack against you but rarely call them out directly.

Certain special abilities (for instance rays, kinetic blasts, and mystic bolts) can specifically be selected with feats like Weapon Focus and Improved Critical. They still aren’t considered a type of weapon for other rules; they are not part of any weapon group and don’t qualify for the effects of fighter weapon training, warpriest sacred weapon, magus arcane pool, paladin divine bond, or any other such ability.

Abilities that modify the action usage of ranged weapon attacks or require their own special action almost never work with special abilities, since special abilities require their own actions. For instance, Pinpoint Targeting wouldn’t work with scorching ray or the soundstriker’s weird words because each of them requires its own action to activate and thus can’t be part of the feat’s specific standard action. Rare exceptions include mystic bolts and kinetic blade, which can specifically be used as part of other actions.

Answered in FAQ

Bloodrager Bloodlines: Can a bloodrager use abilities that require sorcerer levels and relate to sorcerer bloodlines like robe of arcane heritage?

No. Some hybrid classes, like the brawler, have a class feature allowing them to use items related to their parent class, but the bloodrager doesn’t.

Answered in FAQ!

Bodyguard: The Bodyguard feat says that I can spend one of my attacks of opportunity to use aid another to increase the AC of an adjacent ally, but it doesn’t say one way or the other whether this removes other restrictions on aid another? Particularly, do I need to threaten the attacking enemy? Also, has that enemy provoked an attack of opportunity from me?

You still need to fulfill all requirements of aid another, including threatening the attacking enemy. Bodyguard uses up one of your attacks of opportunity for the round, but the enemy hasn’t provoked an attack of opportunity from you, nor are you making one (which is relevant for abilities like Paired Opportunist).

Answered in FAQ:

Psychic Bloodline Sorcerer: Psychic bloodline’s bloodline arcana changes the psychic bloodline’s spells from arcane spells to psychic spells. Clearly this means that a psychic bloodline sorcerer qualifies for abilities that require the “ability to cast psychic spells” and not abilities that require “the ability to cast arcane spells”, but what about abilities that require an “arcane spellcasting class” like the half-elf’s arcane training, where you might be selecting the class before you even took levels in sorcerer and chose the psychic bloodline? Does this apply generally to abilities that change my spellcasting between arcane, divine, and psychic?

This particular combination leads to a complex interaction; at the time of the half elf ability, the term “arcane spellcasting class” was unambiguous because archetypes were new and we were still years away from any archetypes or bloodlines that changed which type of spells a character casts. Essentially, a half-elf with the arcane training ability that chooses sorcerer is choosing “the arcane spellcasting class sorcerer”. If she then takes levels in psychic bloodline sorcerer, she isn’t taking levels in her favored class. The ability would still have a small effect, though, in that since she had no levels in her favored class, she would still count as a 1st-level “arcane spellcasting sorcerer” and be able to activate arcane scrolls accordingly (whereas normally she would need Use Magic Device to use arcane or divine scrolls even if they were on her spell list).

This is the first time to our knowledge of this principle being necessary, but it would apply in other situations that switch your type of magic and even beyond that, such as if an alternate racial trait restricted your favored class bonus to “a single class that grants proficiency in heavy armor” and you picked fighter but then took levels in fighter with an archetype that traded out proficiency in heavy armor, your chosen archetype of fighter would not be your favored class.

Also, you could use this principle in reverse. If the half-elf ability requested you to choose a psychic spellcasting class instead of arcane, you could pick sorcerer expecting to take the psychic bloodline, but the racial trait in that case wouldn’t do anything until you had actually taken levels in sorcerer with the psychic bloodline, since sorcerer isn’t normally psychic without the psychic bloodline.

Also, as to the other example, Improved Familiars, we have a separate ruling, which we're giving early because it's related and we didn't address Improved Familiar in the first FAQ:

Improved Familiars: There are various ways for characters other than arcane spellcasters to gain familiars at this point, and some of those options even grant Improved Familiar as a bonus feat, but technically each Improved Familiar option requires a certain arcane spellcaster level to take it. Does that mean that non-arcane characters with Improved Familiar have a dead feature? How does it work? If it does work, can I take an Improved Familiar as some kind of variant familiar or a temporary familiar like the occultist’s soulbound puppet?

The Improved Familiar description was written back when only arcane spellcasters could have familiars, and it wasn’t sufficiently future-proofed. To that end, you can always substitute your effective wizard level for the purpose of determining your familiar’s abilities for “arcane spellcaster level” to determine the available improved familiars for your character. In general, you can take Improved Familiars for class-granted variant familiars like a shaman’s spirit animal, with a few exceptions: First, temporary familiars like the occultist’s soulbound puppet can’t become Improved Familiars from the Improved Familiar feat, and those class features don’t qualify you to take the Improved Familiar feat. Second, tumor familiars, as lumps of flesh in the shape of animals, can’t become Improved Familiars. In other cases, treat Improved Familiar as if it was an archetype to see if it stacks with other familiar options: since the two things it alters from a regular familiar are that it removes the ability to speak with animals of its kind and it prevents changing the creature type for non-animals, you couldn’t make a familiar that changes the creature type of non-animals or alters or removes speak with animals of its kind an Improved Familiar.

And with that, our next FAQ Friday won't be until after GenCon!

Thanks for those klarifications. They do clear up a lot, but...

Pathfinder Design Team wrote:

...but it is otherwise similar to using a spiked shield (for instance, the damage doesn’t stack with the bashing ability...

In which way do they not stack? Does a klar with bashing deal the same damage as a small shield with bashing? Or since the klar counts as benefitting from one size increase from its shield spikes would it still deal damage as one remaining size larger with the bashing enchant?

It otherwise counts as a light shield, so it would be a light shield two size categories larger (specifically, 1d6 damage for a Medium light shield).

Answered in FAQ.

Klars: A traditional klar “counts as a light wooden shield with shield spikes”, and a metal klar “counts as a light steel shield with shield spikes”. What exactly does this mean? Particularly, a klar is a one-handed weapon that deals damage like a heavy spiked shield, and it deals slashing damage instead of piercing damage, so where do the differences end?

A klar counts as a light shield for the purpose of using it as a shield (for instance, it grants a +1 shield bonus to AC, has a –1 armor check penalty, and has a 5% arcane spell failure chance). For the purpose of using it as a weapon, it is a one-handed weapon that deals 1d6 slashing damage, but it is otherwise similar to using a spiked shield (for instance, the damage doesn’t stack with the bashing ability, you lose the shield bonus to AC when attacking with the klar unless you have Improved Shield Bash, and so on). As a side note, anywhere that lists klars as counting as shields with “armor spikes” is a typo that will be handled in the next errata.

I'm creating this thread to prevent further derail of the havoker witch thread. Feel free to discuss positive and negative energy here, as well as the lack of a direct definition of what they are and how they work. It's also fine to FAQ this post if you'd like to see these definitions directly stated in a FAQ (things like "positive energy healing effects don't heal undead, even if the individual effect doesn't mention undead at all" which right now is inferable but not directly stated).

Here's your answer, you rapscallion!

Positive and Negative Energy: These two terms show up in a variety of abilities, but they have no definition outside those abilities, and the abilities aren’t always consistent. How do positive and negative energy work?

Positive and negative energy are two damage types, though despite their name, they are usually not included on the list of energy types you can choose with spells like resist energy or feats like Elemental Spell. You’ll sometimes come across both the phrasing “deals X damage; this is a negative energy effect” and the phrasing “deals X negative energy damage”; these two are functionally equivalent.

Positive energy often heals living creatures, though not always (for instance channeled positive energy to harm undead or the life blast spell). It often harms undead creatures, though not always (for instance channeled positive energy to heal living creatures). Individual effects will tell you whether they heal living (if they mention healing without specifying what they heal, they always mean only living creatures), harm undead, or both. Positive energy never heals or harms creatures or objects that are neither living nor undead (such as constructs), and it never directly damages the living or heals undead, barring some special effect that explicitly changes this like a dhampir’s negative energy affinity. These rules extend to the fast healing from positive-energy attuned planes as well (though overhealing on a major positive-energy attuned plane can be dangerous as well); only living creatures gain fast healing on such a plane.

Negative energy works just as described above for positive energy, reversing living creatures and undead in all cases (it often heals undead, it often harms living creatures, if it mentions damage without specifying what it damages, it always means only living creatures, and so on).

No FAQ Required: As per this FAQ on effective size increases, two effective size increases do not stack. Shield spikes and bashing both grant effective size increases, so they do not stack. The extraneous mention of armor spikes in Ultimate Equipment’s spiked shield entry is in error, and it should be reflected in the next errata.

Answered in FAQ.

Barbarian Increased Damage Reduction: The increased damage reduction rage power says it increases the “barbarian’s damage reduction”, but does that refer to the barbarian class feature “damage reduction” or to any damage reduction the barbarian might possess. In particular, the invulnerable rager archetype trades away the barbarian’s damage reduction class feature for a new ability called invulnerability that gives a slightly different form of damage reduction, so would the rage power work with that?

The rage power refers to the class feature damage reduction, meaning that it doesn’t help invulnerable ragers’ invulnerability class feature. The suggestion for the archetype to take that rage power in the suggested rage powers is in error and will be removed in the next errata.

Answered in FAQ!

Reach increases and size increases: The description of Large or larger creatures with reach weapons says that they can strike up to double their natural reach but can’t strike at their natural reach or less. Do I calculate this doubling before or after effects that alter my reach like Lunge or longarm?

Double the base reach for a creature of your size first, then add in all the other abilities afterwards. So for instance, an ogre with the longarm spell wielding a longspear and using the Lunge feat would be able to attack creatures that were 15, 20, 25, or 30 feet away but not creatures that were 0, 5, or 10 feet away.

Answered in FAQ!

Dragon Totem Resilience: Dragon totem resilience says that I get energy resistance equal to twice my barbarian DR, but then it says “This DR increases by 2 for each dragon totem rage power she possesses”. From the context, it seems like it meant that the energy resistance increases. Which one is right?

It should say that the energy resistance increases by 2 for each dragon totem rage power. This will be reflected in the next errata

A FAQ page now exists for Ultimate Intrigue, and like with Occult Adventures, we launched it with several entries, including suggestions from this thread. Thanks guys!

Answered in FAQ!

Greater Feint: Greater Feint says the target is denied its Dexterity bonus to AC until the beginning of my next turn in addition to against my next attack. Is that just against my attacks, which probably won’t be more than just my next attack until my next turn, or is it against my allies as well?

Greater Feint makes the target lose its Dexterity bonus against all melee attacks by anyone until the start of your next turn, not just you. Unless a feint ability specifically mentions ranged attacks (like the Ranged Feint feat), it always denies Dexterity bonus against melee attacks.

Answered in FAQ!

Skald: The skald class says “If the skald has rage powers from another source, he (but not his allies) can use those rage powers during an inspired rage,” what exactly does it mean by “another source”?

Another source means any source other than the rage powers gained at 3rd level and every 3 levels thereafter. A few examples of other sources are rage powers gained from multiclassing in barbarian, rage powers gained from Extra Rage Power, and rage powers gained from a magic item.

Answered in FAQ.

Trample: The Trample Universal Monster Rule indicates that the monster is moving around as part of the trample, but it never says how far it can move. How far can a trampling creature move?

A trampling creature can move up to twice its land speed as part of the trample.

It seems ambiguous to me. At first glance, the answer appears to be yes, since the class ability says that extracts are drunk like potions. Drinking a potion provokes. However, unlike drinking a potion, an alchemist can get an extract out and drink it in one standard action, or if he has the infusion discovery, can get it out and use it on an ally as a standard action. I've determined this by reading the various threads on the subject that a search of this forum has turned up.

From what I can see, there's been a lot of assuming that extracts share the property of potions that drinking them provokes. And I would assume this is the case for a non-alchemist drinking an extract, since they don't have the class feature Alchemy in which alchemists get to draw and drink extracts as a single standard action.

Yet, it seems unclear. Does anyone have a firm indication that it does provoke, other than the inference that it's like a potion and provokes because drinking a potion does?

No FAQ required. Drinking extracts provokes attacks of opportunity just like drinking a potion.

Posting here since it was the most recent of many threads on this topic:

Answered in FAQ.

Oracle Bones Mystery: What exactly does the raise the dead revelation mean when it says you can summon a skeleton or zombie to serve you? Do I need a corpse? If not, can I just summon whatever I want, like a tarrasque fast zombie?

The raise the dead doesn’t require a corpse; you summon the creature (rising up out of the earth is a potential visual for this effect). You summon the base creature from the Bestiary in either case (human skeleton or human zombie) aside from the modifications from the revelation (adding extra HD, fast or bloody, and the advanced template). At the GM’s discretion, an oracle with a noticeably different body or bone structure might summon skeletons and zombies with this ability that look cosmetically more similar to the oracle than to a human, but this doesn’t affect their game mechanics.

Answered in FAQ

Abilities that work “as a spell”: How do I calculate the DC of an ability that says it works as or like a particular spell?

Some abilities that work as a spell tell you what their DC is, like the bard’s fascinate performance. An ability that doesn’t tell you anything about its DC has a DC of 10 + the spell level + the key spellcasting ability score of the class that granted it (or Charisma otherwise). In the case of a spell with multiple spell levels, use the spell level from the class that granted the ability if that class has the spell on its spell list, and otherwise use the spell level that’s most appropriate (usually sorcerer/wizard for an arcane ability, cleric for a divine ability, and psychic for a psychic ability).

Please click FAQ on this post.

Can a Rogue gain Sneak Attack damage dice using a Ranged Longbow attack while in flanking position with an ally?

Quote:

When making a melee attack, you get a +2 flanking bonus if your opponent is threatened by another enemy character or creature on its opposite border or opposite corner.

When in doubt about whether two characters flank an opponent in the middle, trace an imaginary line between the two attackers' centers. If the line passes through opposite borders of the opponent's space (including corners of those borders), then the opponent is flanked.

No FAQ Required: As per the Gang Up FAQ "flanking specifically refers to melee attacks," so no, the rogue can't do so. As an aside, though it isn't the question asked here, someone threatening with a ranged weapon can provide a flank to an ally who is using a melee weapon.

Answered in FAQ!

Tiny and smaller creatures: In the section on Tiny and smaller creatures, it says that entering a creature’s space provokes an attack of opportunity, but typically 5-foot steps don’t provoke an attack of opportunity. If a Tiny or smaller creature took a 5-foot step into a creature’s space, would it provoke an attack of opportunity?

Yes. Even with a 5-foot step, a Tiny or smaller creature entering a creature’s space provokes an attack of opportunity (unless it is using a more specific ability to avoid the attack of opportunity such as the Monkey Shine feat). This doesn’t mean that a Tiny or smaller creature entering a creature’s space and moving out of a threatened square with a move action provokes two attacks of opportunity from that creature, for the same reason that moving out of multiple of a creature’s threatened squares in the same move action doesn’t provoke two attacks of opportunity.

FAQed!

Dead Shot: When it says you make the number of attack rolls based on your base attack bonus, would that also include extra attacks from things like haste or Rapid Shot?

No, dead shot only includes attacks from base attack bonus (so two attack rolls at 7th, three at 11th, four at 16th). Dead shot is meant more of a backup option for particular situations (such as shooting against something with high hardness or avoiding misfires).

FAQed!

Nauseated and Actions: Does the nauseated condition really mean what it says when it says “The only action such a character can take is a single move action per turn” or does it just mean I can’t take a standard action?

The nauseated condition really means what it says. You are limited to one move action per round, and not any other actions. Compare to the staggered condition, which says “A staggered creature may take a single move action or standard action each round (but not both, nor can he take full-round actions). A staggered creature can still take free, swift, and immediate actions.”

Answered in FAQ!

Flight and Magical Flight: Can a paralyzed or stunned creature keep flying with magical flight? Does a creature with magical flight not apply bonuses or penalties to Fly checks because it doesn’t have a “natural” fly speed? Does flying make a creature immune to being flat-footed?

No, any creature that loses all actions can’t take an action to attempt a Fly check to hover in place and thus automatically falls. That includes a paralyzed, stunned, or dazed creature. Magical flight doesn’t act any differently, even for paralysis, as it isn’t a purely mental action. A creature with 0 Dexterity can’t fly, and paralysis sets a creature’s Dexterity to 0. Despite the fact that the Fly skill mentions that bonuses and penalties from maneuverability apply to creatures with natural fly speeds, they apply for any fly speed. If they didn’t apply to creatures that gained flight artificially or through magic, then those maneuverabilities (like the listed good maneuverability for the fly spell) would have no game effect. Finally, the statement “You are not considered flat-footed while flying” means that flying (unlike balancing using Acrobatics or climbing) doesn’t automatically make you flat-footed or force you to lose your Dexterity bonus to AC; it doesn’t mean that flying makes you immune to being caught flat-footed.

Answered in FAQ!

Paladin’s Detect Evil: Does a paladin need to spend a standard action to activate detect evil before spending a move action to concentrate on a single creature or item?

No, the first sentence is discrete from the rest of the ability, and offers an alternative option for using detect evil. A paladin can use the move action on a single creature or item in lieu of the standard action to activate a normal detect evil.

Answered in FAQ.

"Does not stack with" and spells with effects other than bonuses: What does it mean if a spell tells me it doesn’t stack with another spell or "similar effects" if some of the effects aren't bonuses?

If you have two spells with effects other than bonuses and those spells or effects are called out not to stack, that means that the effects that apply to the same rules component or situation do not stack, so if they apply different non-bonus effects to the same rules component, the most recent spell takes precedent. For example, aspect of the falcon specifically doesn't stack with any other effect that expands the threat range of a weapon, such as Improved Critical or keen. This means that the part of aspect of the falcon that applies to criticals doesn't stack with those effects, but it doesn't prevent someone with Improved Critical from receiving the competence bonuses on attack rolls and Perception checks. If a character with Improved Critical (light crossbow) cast aspect of the falcon, his criticals would change from 17–20/x2 to 19–20/x3. Similarly, blessing of fervor does not stack with haste, which means that the increased speed, extra attack, and attack roll/AC/Reflex save bonuses wouldn't stack between the two spells, but if you had both spells active, you could still get those three benefits from haste while choosing to stand up as a swift action or apply metamagic to a low-level spell.

FAQed!

Pack Flanking: Is Pack Flanking a combat feat?

Yes, Pack Flanking should be a combat feat. This change will be reflected in the next errata.

Answered in FAQ! However, additionally, you guys made a really good case for the scimitar in this thread and the other, so we've adjusted the chart a bit from the one in the thread back in 2012.