Erudite Owl

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Goblin Squad Member. Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Accessories, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber. **** Pathfinder Society GM. Starfinder Society GM. 243 posts (378 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 13 Organized Play characters.




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Normally, when underwater, bludgeoning/slashing melee attacks take a -2 penalty, bludgeoning/slashing ranged attacks automatically miss, and fire actions can't be used at all.

The Gather Element action specifically lets a kineticist gather fire and use fire impulses underwater, but it doesn't do anything to help use water impulses underwater. A fire Elemental Blast can be used with no penalty underwater since it doesn't deal bludgeoning/slashing damage, but a Water Elemental blast takes the full penalties.

There's a level 4 water impulse feat, Return to the Sea, that lets a creature ignore the underwater penalties for bludgeoning/slashing attacks. Not only do you need to invest in that feat, it also takes 3 actions to use.

Please either give water impulses a general exception to the underwater fighting penalties, or update the Water trait to allow attacks with that trait to ignore underwater fighting penalties.


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I've always assumed the answer to this is no. If a player non-critically fails, they know they failed by 1, failed by 9, or somewhere in between, but they don't know where in that range their roll was. But something from Dark Archive is making me less sure about this.

A psychic with the infinite eye conscious mind gets a pretty nice amp for guidance. For those who don't have the book yet, you can see the full text 17 minutes into the Rules Lawyer's preview video. Here's the relevant paragraph, with the important part bolded:

Quote:
You can cast an amped guidance spell as a reaction triggered when your ally fails or critically fails an attack roll, Perception check, saving throw, or skill check, and the bonus from guidance would change the failure to a success or the critical failure to a normal failure. The bonus from guidance applies retroactively to their check.

Because the trigger for the reaction requires that the bonus from guidance would be enough to upgrade the degree of success of the roll, that suggests that the player of the psychic needs to know when one of their allies within range fails (or critically fails) a roll by 1. Without that information, the psychic can't know when the trigger for their reaction is met.

As far as I know, this is not standard information for a GM to give players, but maybe I've missed something. Is there any guidance in something like the Gamemastery Guide that says GMs should give players this information? Is the ability to gain this information just something that is implicitly granted to infinite eye psychics? If that's the case, should I post about this in the Dark Archive errata thread, requesting for clarification?

How would you all handle this?


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Can a swashbuckler with the wit style use Bon Mot on a creature that cannot be affected by the Bon Mot (for example, due to no shared language), but still roll Diplomacy vs. Will DC and gain panache if the skill check is successful?

The wit style says

Quote:
You gain panache during an encounter whenever you succeed at a Bon Mot against a foe.

Bon Mot has a bunch of traits limiting it - Auditory, Emotion, Linguistic, and Mental. In particular, the Auditory trait makes a distinction between succeeding at an action and having an effect with that action.

Quote:
An action with the auditory trait can be successfully performed only if the creature using the action can speak or otherwise produce the required sounds. A spell or effect with the auditory trait has its effect only if the target can hear it.

Since it talks about success and effect separately, that seems to suggest that you can succeed without having any effect. Which would then mean you can Bon Mot on someone who cannot be affected, but you can still roll the skill check to try to gain panache. But I'm not 100% certain on that, so I'd like to get some other opinions.


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Normally, a stance immediately ends if you stop meeting the requirements of the stance. For example, if a fighter has Point-Blank Shot active and is disarmed of their weapon, the stance will end because they no longer meet the requirement of "You are wielding a ranged weapon".

Nearly every monk stance has the requirement "You are unarmored". Monks generally do not don armor mid-combat, so there's not really any worry about the requirement.

Mountain Stance, however, has the trigger (not requirement) "You are unarmored and touching the ground". Since this is a trigger and not a requirement, that would mean that you only need to be on the ground when entering the stance, but it does not end if you leave the ground.

But the glossary in the back of the Core Rulebook defines a trigger as "A specified event when you can use a reaction or free action". Mountain Stance is not a reaction or free action, which suggests that the stance's use of trigger instead of requirement is a typo.

So, which is correct?

1. Mountain Stance's use of trigger instead of requirement is intentional. This is a specific exception to the rule that triggers are only for reactions and free actions. A monk in Mountain Stance can leave the ground without dropping the stance.

2. Mountain Stance's use of trigger instead of requirement is a typo. Triggers are only for reactions and free actions. A monk in Mountain Stance cannot leave the ground without dropping the stance.


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Normally, a composition ends if you cast another composition, and you can only cast one composition per turn.

The Harmonize bard feat removes some of these restrictions. A harmonized composition does not end if you cast a non-harmonized composition, and casting a harmonized composition does not prevent you from casting another composition in the same turn.

That sounds great, but there are still enough restrictions that I cannot find any way to effectively use this ability with Lingering Composition.

Even though casting a non-harmonized composition does not end a harmonized composition, the opposite is not true. The Harmonize feat does not prevent a harmonized composition from ending a non-harmonized one. So, if you use Lingering Composition to cast a composition in round 1 that will last a few rounds, and in round 2 you cast a harmonized composition, your composition from round 1 immediately ends.

So, you might think that to use Lingering Composition and Harmonize together, you just need to use both on the same composition. But you cannot, because both of those actions require that your next action is to cast a composition.

As far as I can tell, the only thing Harmonize can be used for is to spend three actions to cast two compositions, with no ability to use Lingering Composition to save on actions. It seems very strange that the maestro-specific bard feat that says "You can perform multiple compositions simultaneously" is not usable with the maestro-specific bard feat that helps you with action economy while maintaining compositions. Is Harmonize really this restrictive, or am I missing something?


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There are a lot of weapons which, while they are available at multiple levels, have large gaps between the different levels of the weapon. A vanguard focused on using a specific weapon will face multiple levels where that weapon just won't be usable with their primary class feature. Take, for example, the immature xenolash (a level 4 weapon from Pact Worlds). A vanguard can use that weapon with entropic strike through level 6. Upon gaining level 7, they suddenly lose the ability to entropic strike with the xenolash, even though the entropic strike damage doesn't even improve at level 7. The next xenolash isn't until level 10, leaving a three-level gap where you have to find a different weapon to use.

I really dislike the concept of a character losing capabilities by leveling up.

I understand the the reasoning behind the item level requirement is probably to prevent someone from greatly increasing the damage of a level 1 weapon. But is there some middle ground? Maybe a vanguard can choose to act as being lower level for purposes of entropic strike? So, to use my example of the immature xenolash, perhaps it could be used for entropic strike by a vanguard of any level, but it can never deal more than 2d6 damage (the damage for entropic strike at level 6, which is the item level + 2).


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The null-space grip, stock, and gunner harness from Armory all have this effect:

Armory (pg. 60) wrote:
As a move action, you can activate the grip to pull the weapon into an extradimensional space, leaving only a disk 1-1/2 inches in diameter. This disk is easy to hide on your person, granting you a +4 circumstance bonus to your Sleight of Hand check to do so. Additionally, the disk might not be recognized as a weapon without Engineering or Mysticism and detect magic used together to identify the item. As a move action, you can squeeze the disk to return the weapon to normal form.

A null-space gunner harness also is reduced down into the disk along with its attached weapon:

Armory (pg. 60) wrote:
It functions like a null-space grip (see left) that turns the harness and its attached weapon into the disk. A null-space gunner harness otherwise functions as a heavy gunner harness.

Question 1: What is the bulk of such a disk? The weapon was pulled into an extradimensional space, which tends to reduce or eliminate bulk. But nothing in the item description actually says it reduces the bulk. Is this an oversight? Or does sending a null-space gunner harness with an attached reaction cannon into the extradimensional space cannon really leave you with a 1.5" disk with 5 bulk?

Question 2: Can weapon fusions be activated on a weapon that has been reduced down to a disk? For instance, can you use the called weapon fusion to teleport the disk to your hand? If you throw a returning weapon with a null-space grip, and an enemy then activates the grip to turn the weapon into a disk, does the disk fly back to your hand on your next turn?

Question 3: When turning a null-space gunner harness from a disk back to a harness+weapon, does it appear already donned on you, or does it appear in your hands, requiring that you spend a full action on your next turn to put it on? Or do you get a choice if it appears on you or in your hands?


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I want to make a Starfinder Society character who uses the Summon Creature spell. The 1st level version of the spell summons a Tiny Elemental with a graft. I found some ambiguities in the rules for Tiny creatures, and wanting to avoid the dreaded "table variation" in organized play, I was hoping to get some sort of official clarification on how a Tiny Elemental functions in combat.

(All cited rules in a spoiler at the end)

Question 1: What is the space and reach of a Tiny Elemental?

The Core Rulebook says that a Tiny creature typically has a space of 2-1/2 ft. [1] and creatures who occupy less than 1 square of space typically have a reach of 0 ft. [2] The Core Rulebook and Alien Archive also say that a creature's size determines its space and reach. [3]

However, the Tiny Elemental's stat block does not have space or reach entries. The Core Rulebook and Alien Archive say that a creature's space and reach are listed if they are anything other than a 5 ft. space and a 5 ft. reach. [4, 5]

There seem to be two different rules saying different things here. One says the Tiny Elemental should have a space of 2-1/2 ft. and a reach of 0 ft. The other says it should have a space of 5 ft. and a reach of 5 ft.

I think the intent is that it should have a space of 2-1/2 ft. and a reach of 0 ft., and the exclusion of the space and reach entries was a mistake, rather than implicitly making the creature bigger. But if that's the case, that leads to another question.

Question 2: How does a creature with 0 ft. reach attack in melee?

The Core Rulebook says that a creature with a reach of 0 ft. must enter an enemy's square to attack in melee. [2] However, the movement rules forbid ending your movement in a square occupied by a non-helpless creature. [6] In Pathfinder, there was an exception for creatures of size Tiny or smaller [7], but Starfinder has no such exception. Starfinder does allow up to four Tiny creatures to share a square [1], so that seems like a specific exception to not ending movement in an occupied square - you could have four Tiny creatures in a square attacking each other.

Aside from the specific exceptions allowing four Tiny creatures to share a square, or for a creature to share a square with a helpless creature, there seems to be no way in Starfinder for a Tiny creature to end its movement in an occupied square and attack.

I think the intent is that Tiny creatures should be allowed to function as they did in Pathfinder, and the exclusion of the rule that lets them move into occupied squares was an oversight. But it's also possible that the Starfinder devs intended Tiny creatures to normally be nothing but a nuisance, suddenly becoming deadly when a party member is downed and the Tiny creatures can swarm into their square for the kill.

Cited rules:

1. Starfinder Core Rulebook, pg. 255 wrote:

Size and Space - Fine, Diminutive, and Tiny

These creatures take up less than 1 square of space. This means that more than one such creature can fit into a single square. A Tiny creature typically occupies a space only 2-1/2 feet across, so four can fit into a single square. Up to 25 Diminutive creatures or 100 Fine creatures can fit into a single square.

2. Starfinder Core Rulebook, pg. 255 wrote:

Reach and Threatened Squares

Creatures that take up less than 1 square of space typically have a natural reach of 0 feet, meaning they can’t reach into adjacent squares unless using weapons with the reach special property. They must enter an opponent’s square to attack in melee. This movement may provoke an attack of opportunity from the opponent. You can attack into your own square if you need to, so you can attack such creatures normally. Since they have no natural reach, they do not threaten the squares around them. You can thus move past them without provoking attacks of opportunity, and they also can’t flank enemies.

3. Both Starfinder Core Rulebook, pg. 420 and Alien Archive, pg 4-5 wrote:

How to Read Stat Blocks - Alignment, Size, Type, and Subtype

A creature’s size determines its space and reach.

4. Starfinder Core Rulebook, pg. 420 wrote:

How to Read Stat Blocks - Space and Reach

The creature’s space and reach are noted here; if the creature’s space and reach are a 5-foot square and a reach of 5 feet, respectively, this entry is omitted. Any special reach (from weapons or the like) is listed in parentheses.

5. Alien Archive, pg. 5 wrote:

How to Read a Stat Block - Space and Reach

The creature’s space and reach are noted here if they are other than a 5-foot square and 5 feet (those values are the default). Any special reach (from weapons or the like) is listed in parentheses.

6. Starfinder Core Rulebook, pg. 256 wrote:

Moving through Occupied Squares - Ending Your Movement

You can’t end your movement in the same square as another creature unless that creature is helpless.

7. Pathfinder Core Rulebook, pg. 193 wrote:

Moving through Occupied Squares - Very Small Creature

A Fine, Diminutive, or Tiny creature can move into or through an occupied square. The creature provokes attacks of opportunity when doing so.

Sorry for the long post, especially for questions that seemingly have common-sense answers. Like I said, I'm just hoping to have something official I can cite to avoid table variation.


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According to the Core Rulebook, Tiny creatures typically have a space of 2-1/2 ft., and creatures with a space less than 1 square (5 ft.) typically have a reach of 0 ft.

Relevant citations:
Starfinder Core Rulebook, pg. 255 wrote:

Size and Space - Fine, Diminutive, and Tiny

These creatures take up less than 1 square of space. This means that more than one such creature can fit into a single square. A Tiny creature typically occupies a space only 2-1/2 feet across, so four can fit into a single square. Up to 25 Diminutive creatures or 100 Fine creatures can fit into a single square.

Starfinder Core Rulebook, pg. 255 wrote:

Reach and Threatened Squares

Creatures that take up less than 1 square of space typically have a natural reach of 0 feet, meaning they can’t reach into adjacent squares unless using weapons with the reach special property. They must enter an opponent’s square to attack in melee. This movement may provoke an attack of opportunity from the opponent. You can attack into your own square if you need to, so you can attack such creatures normally. Since they have no natural reach, they do not threaten the squares around them. You can thus move past them without provoking attacks of opportunity, and they also can’t flank enemies.

According to the Core Rulebook and Alien Archive (the two have nearly-identical text), a creature's space and reach will be listed in its stat block if they are not both 5 ft.

Relevant citations:
Starfinder Core Rulebook, pg. 420 wrote:

How to Read Stat Blocks - Space and Reach

The creature’s space and reach are noted here; if the creature’s space and reach are a 5-foot square and a reach of 5 feet, respectively, this entry is omitted. Any special reach (from weapons or the like) is listed in parentheses.

Alien Archive, pg. 5 wrote:

How to Read a Stat Block

Space and Reach: The creature’s space and reach are noted here if they are other than a 5-foot square and 5 feet (those values are the default). Any special reach (from weapons or the like) is listed in parentheses.

I could only find three examples of Tiny creatures: Apari Constituent (Alien Archive pg. 14), Tiny Elemental (Alien Archive pg. 46), and Quig (hover drone for the iconic mechanic). None of these creatures' stat blocks have listed space or reach entries.

But creatures smaller than Tiny do have space and reach entries. I found two examples: Skittermander Whelp (Diminutive, Alien Archive pg. 106) and Symbiend (Diminutive, Alien Archive pg. 112). Both have a space of 1 ft. and a reach of 0 ft., though the Skittermander Whelp has a 5 ft. reach for its bite attack specifically.

I'm trying to reconcile these rules and stat blocks, and I'm not sure which conclusion to come to.
1. The Core Rulebook is correct about the space and reach of Tiny creatures; they have a space of 2-1/2 ft. and a reach of 0 ft. Every Tiny creature created by Paizo thus far erroneously excludes the Space and Reach entries.
2. The Core Rulebook is incorrect about the space and reach of Tiny creatures; they should have a space of 5 ft. and a reach of 5 ft. Every Tiny creature created by Paizo thus far correctly excludes the Space and Reach entries.
3. The Core Rulebook is correct about the space and reach of Tiny creatures, but it says "typically", not "always". Every Tiny creature created by Paizo thus far is an exception to the rule (the specific creatures override the general rule), and those creatures' stat blocks correctly exclude the Space and Reach entries.
4. Something else?

In the absence of a FAQ/errata clarifying this, I'm inclined to assume the rules and stat blocks are all correct, and go with #3.

Thoughts?


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OK, so I'm slightly confused about how shatter weapons works.

Shatter Weapons (Ex):
Whenever a character strikes a caryatid column with a weapon (magical or nonmagical), the weapon takes 3d6 points of damage. Apply the weapon's hardness normally. Weapons that take any amount of damage in excess of their hardness gain the broken condition.

What exactly triggers the auto-broken part of this ability? For example, let's say someone attacks the column with a +1 longspear (hardness 7, hp 20).

1. If the column rolls 10 damage for shatter weapons, 3 damage gets through hardness. Does this qualify as taking damage in excess of hardness, or is the weapon only taking 3 damage, so it does not automatically become broken?

2. Assuming the spear does not become broken after the damage from question 1... let's say the spear-wielder attacks again, and the column rolls 12 damage. 5 damage will get through hardness, so the spear will have a total of 8 points of damage. Is the spear now broken, since the total damage it's taken from shatter weapons exceeds its hardness? Or does the weapon need to take damage in excess of hardness in a single triggering of shatter weapons in order to become automatically broken?


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A human is wielding a heavy shield, which normally does 1d4 damage. The shield has shield spikes (+1 damage size) and the bashing ability (+2 damage sizes). He then casts lead blades (+1 damage size) and enlarge person (+1 damage size) on himself.

Do these all stack? Why or why not? If they do all stack, how much damage does the shield bash do (I can't tell if it should do 3d8 or 4d6)?


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Normally, blasphemy allows a Will save to reduce the effects. It also has a separate banishment effect that can be negated by a Will save at a -4 penalty. Presumably, a synthesist summoner is subject to both of these effects, but how do the saves work?

A) The synthesist makes two Will saves - one against the regular effects and a second save (at -4) against the banishment effect.

B) The synthesist makes a single Will save at no penalty against both the regular effects and the banishment effect.

C) The synthesist makes a single Will save at -4 against both the regular effects and the banishment effect.

D) The synthesist makes a single Will save against both the regular effects and the banishment effect, but lower the save result by 4 to determine if the eidolon is banished.

Which of these is correct? Or is there a fifth option I'm missing?


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Does a ranger need to know an enemy is one of his favored enemies in order to get his favored enemy bonuses? What if he incorrectly perceives an enemy to be one of his favored enemies.

So, let's say there are two rangers, Hubert and Otto. Hubert has Favored Enemy (Humanoid [human]), while Otto has Favored Enemy (Humanoid [orc]). They're fighting an orc disguised as a human, and neither ranger sees though the disguise. Which of the rangers gets his favored enemy bonus?

My first instinct is to say that Otto gets his bonus, but Hubert doesn't. However, that seems like it would allow the favored enemy class feature to automatically penetrate a disguise used to disguise yourself as a different race. "I don't trust this guy, I'm going to Sense Motive on him. Wait, I get my favored enemy bonus on the check? That means he's an orc!"

Or should the bonus be applied secretly by the GM? Maybe give the ranger an extra check to see through the disguise after every roll he makes which gets the favored enemy bonus? This could represent the ranger's particular fighting style and social quirks being extra-effective against orcs, and as either combat or a roleplaying encounter progresses, he picks up on subtle orcish quirks the disguised enemy has.


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I've always thought that caster level bonuses did nothing more than increase your caster level (to determine spell damage, range, duration, etc.), but did nothing to affect your spells per day, spells known, etc. For instance, a Cleric 5/Rogue 3 with the Magical Knack talent would cast spells as a 5th level cleric, but at CL 7.

However, the spellcaster guild in Inner Sea Magic seems to contradict this with its Eclectic Training reward.

Quote:
Eclectic Training (5 Fame): Guilds often require members to master and train in different subjects. When your Fame score in a guild reaches 5, choose one spellcasting class you have at least 1 level in - you increase your effective caster level in that class (including the number of spells you know and can cast per day) by +1, to a maximum caster level equal to your total Hit Dice. Single-classed spellcasters should still pick a class to which this bonus applies, since this bonus is retroactive.

This organization reward boosts your caster level, including your spells known and spells per day. The use of "including" implies that caster level bonuses also increase your spells known & per day. If the reward used something like "in addition" instead of "including", that would mean the increase to spells known & per day is specific to this reward and is not part of all caster level bonuses. So, I see two possibilities:

1. Caster level bonuses increase your spells known and spells per day.
OR
2. Inner Sea Magic has a typo and needs to be errata'ed.

Which is it?