Pounce's page

Hi y'all!

I've got the privilege of playing in a Skull & Shackles game, where I'm playing a character I've wanted to play for a long, long time - a flame oracle. She's a ton of fun to play, and I'm a fan of how she packs some decent firepower even at low levels, but I thought I'd harness the collective hivemind of the forums for advice on things that are clearly too good not to miss. We're not too decked out in gear yet, as we've had very limited opportunities to buy equipment during the campaign so far, but I anticipate that once we hit a decently sized port, we might be able to shop some. We've just hit level 4, and I am the only spellcaster in the party.

Background skills are in play, and we've got a 25 point buy to accomodate for a smaller party size. Our GM is also fairly permissive, allowing minor retraining on level ups (such as swapping out a feat or class feature).

Things I am pleased with:
- I really enjoy having a +2 CL to certain spells I feel are core to the blaster fantasy (Burning Hands, to be Fireball) with what feels like a relatively small investment (Pyromaniac + Vile Domain). It has felt deeply satisfying to feel like an effective blaster at low levels. On a similar note, adding saltpeter for +1 damage on the 'cheap' has also been a helpful boon.
- Rivethun Adherent essentially gives me a +2 to fortitude saves for 50 gp. Even better if you get to trigger the will save part of the trait.
- I like the variety of spells offered by the Flame mystery and Elemental Imbalance curse.
-Flumefire Rage's drawback (make a fortitude save or become fatigued, and you can't use the feat when fatigued) is mitigated by getting the ability to cure conditions at the level I'd get the feat.

Things I am questioning/would like advice on:
- I would love to pick up a Circlet of Persuasion, both for the social boost and also for the boost to initiative. Similarly, a Tome of Epics would also help with boosting my perform checks, so I can help the party gather infamy. What other items should I keep an eye out for?
- I've found Murderous Command to be a good back-up underwater, but with my limited spell selection, should I perhaps swap it out at level 4 due to getting Glitterdust for free that level? If so, for what?
- Compared to the trait/racial trait combination above, spending three feats on +1 DC, +1 CL, and +1 damage/dice on my fire spells seems like a relatively hefty price to pay. Is there an easier way to achieve something similar - mind, without dipping into Sorcerer? (I'd really like to avoid doing so, to avoid the loss in CL and spell progression)
- I'm debating whether to pick up Hydrophobia/Control Water as spells known later, as a way to shore up my innate challenge with casting fire spells underwater (a lesser MM Rod of Steam Spell is on my shortlist for that reason), but worry that it might just make the game boring at that point. Any play experience with those spells and this campaign?
- How necessary is Make Whole when you're onboard a ship?
- My curse makes it impossible for me to cast spells with the [air] and [electricity] descriptors, making me think that Shield of Wings is my only likely innate flight option (Wings of Fire would also work, but would be harder to fit into the build). However, Ragathiel isn't necessarily a deity or demigod that probably would embrace piracy... thoughts on how to reconcile this thematic mishmash?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Warpriests are the only full casters that do not get legendary proficiency in their spellcasting tradition.
Summoning does not rely on spell DCs in order to work.

Thus, Warpriests shouldn't be any worse than any other full casters at summoning. Normally, Clerics would not have access to low-level summoning spells outside of some very specific circumstances (Tupaliq Carver for Summon Construct), but with the release of Gods and Magic, there are quite a few options that provide access to different summoning spells.

Gendowyn (N, CG, CN, CE) - Summon Fey
Any of the Evil Elemental Lords (N, LE, NE, CE) - Summon Elemental (Air / Earth / Fire / Water only)
Chamidu (NG, N, NE) / Baphomet (CE, NE) - Summon Animal
Halcamora (LG, NG, N) / Xamen-Dor (NE, CE) - Summon Plant or Fungus
Shizuru (LG, NG, LN) - Summon Dragon
Nyarthotep (CE, NE) - Summon Entity

Any thoughts on specific synergistic combos that could work well?

Champion 1 / Cleric 1
Your faith in your deity is represented in an extremely unusual way that some might call heretical. When you select this feat, you should detail the fundamental tenets of your splinter faith, though it shouldn’t affect the deity’s edicts or anathema. Choose four domains. These domains must be chosen from among your deity’s domains, your deity’s alternate domains, and up to one domain that isn’t on either list and isn’t anathematic to your deity. Any domain spell you cast from a domain that isn’t on either of your deity’s lists is always heightened to 1 level lower than usual for a focus spell. For the purpose of abilities that depend on your deity’s domains, the four domains you chose are your deity’s domains, and any of your deity’s domains you didn’t choose are now among your deity’s alternate domains.
Special Unless you take this feat at 1st level, changing the way you relate to your deity requires retraining, as described in the Changing Faith section below. If you take this feat and previously benefited from any effect that requires a domain your splinter faith doesn’t include, such as a domain spell from Domain Initiate, you lose that effect.

So, am I right in understanding that only humans can be part of a Splinter Faith from first level, due to Natural Ambition?

You can Cast a Spell from a staff only if you have that spell on your spell list, are able to cast spells of the appropriate level, and expend a number of charges from the staff equal to the spell’s level.

How does this work with innate spells, or specifically say, a Runescarred character with a staff of Divination, and having True Strike as one of their Spell Runes. Would they be able to use a staff?

Question as posed in title.

After re-reading the Kinetic Invocation feat, and realising that Expeditious Excavation is one of the no-burn options on the list, it has kind of stuck in my head that it would be pretty cool to make a Kineticist that could essentially build a town by himself if he wanted to, at as low of a level as possible.

I'm mostly wondering what can be done without magic items, so I'm ignoring things like a Lyre of Building - got any suggestions?

Random questions about wild talents:
> Kinetic Cover - is there any way to make it more, well... more? It seems incredibly fragile, and not like it would be of any use when constructing a building.
> Shift Earth or Stone Sculptor? Shift Earth seems like it covers a lot more ground per casting, but Stone Sculptor allows for more fine control, it seems, plus it doesn't have a really annoying prerequisite.
> Water secondary or Aether secondary? Water seems like it could be fun with Kinetic Invocation, using Silent Image to juxtapose images of building plans on top of the construction site, not too unlike what it would look like when you're trying to place a building in a video game. Aether, on the other hand, would give access to Telekinetic Haul, which would be extremely useful for moving construction materials. (I know Aether Architect is really neat, but it's not exactly low level)

Pyrotechnics turns a fire into a burst of blinding fireworks or a thick cloud of choking smoke, depending on your choice. The spell uses one fire source, which is immediately extinguished. A fire so large that it exceeds a 20-foot cube is only partly extinguished. Magical fires are not extinguished, although a fire-based creature used as a source takes 1 point of damage per caster level.

What constitutes a fire-based creature for this purpose? I figure a fire elemental would be okay, but.. does this extend to anyone with the [fire] subtype?

The Arial Bloodline arcane states that whenever you are "outdoors during any form of precipitation, your effective caster level is increased by 2."

The Saltspray Ring states that it creates mist that "is exceedingly wet", and that "creatures that must remain wet or suffer a negative effect or condition have that requirement satisfied by the ring’s effect."

As precipitation is (meteorologically speaking) pretty much just falling condensed water, the wet mist created by the ring seems like it would satisfy the conditions of the bloodline arcana to me. Does it work that way, though? Any thoughts?

So I've just had the privilege of starting playing a Gravewalker Witch in Hell's Vengeance, and the second encounter we have is against an advanced ectoplasmic human, that promptly failed its will save against Bonethrall and is now under my character's permanent control.

...Yeah, I can't believe that I'm that lucky either. I figured I'd pick up a crummy skeleton, at some point.

It did however get me thinking - is there a way of advancing your necromantic minions in the game, at all? Any help would be appreciated.

For those unfamiliar with the Smoke Subdomain, it offers this power:

Cloud of Smoke: As a standard action, you can create a 5-foot-radius cloud of smoke. This power has a range of 30 feet. Creatures inside the cloud take a –2 penalty on attack rolls and Perception skill checks for as long as they remain inside and for 1 round after exiting the cloud. Creatures inside the cloud gain concealment from attacks made by opponents that are not adjacent to them. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.

This is all well and dandy, except it doesn't say

I'm not exactly the first person to wonder about this topic, as it has been around since early 2010, but somehow has never been clarified to my knowledge. The wording doesn't exactly make it seem as if the power is intended to last for one singular round.

Further, I could find a few different sources of smoke by a quick search - the most obvious one being for smoke in general, under the environmental rules / fire hazard rules:

Smoke

A character who breathes heavy smoke must make a Fortitude save each round (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or spend that round choking and coughing. A character who chokes for 2 consecutive rounds takes 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. Smoke obscures vision, giving concealment (20% miss chance) to characters within it.

Is this intended to apply? I have a hard time reading it without thinking that it should (same name, same concealment mention), but I'm probably misunderstanding something. If not, is then the intent that the smoke created by the smoke subdomain somehow doesn't make it harder to see, save for the 20% concealment granted to the ones in the smoke, that's more than 5 feet away? What about ranged weapon users, if they are targeting someone on the other side of the smoke cloud, does that only apply the 20% penalty, or not at all, since they are not in the smoke? Can they target anyone on the other side of the smoke? What about anyone with reach weapons?

Alternatively, there's the alternative of a smokestick, which says about the smoke that it makes that

The smoke fills a 10-foot cube (treat the effect as a fog cloud spell, except that a moderate or stronger wind dissipates the smoke in 1 round). The stick is consumed after 1 round, and the smoke dissipates naturally after 1 minute.

A creature within 5 feet has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance). Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker can't use sight to locate the target).

This shares the same effective area (5-foot radius is pretty much equal to a 10-foot square), but doesn't share the same type of concealment. Is this smoke any different from the other two types?

Also, there's the whole business with an eversmoking bottle, but that... seems even more confusing.

Any help?

According to this FAQ, Unsworn Shamans do have the hex class feature - which means that they qualify for taking the Extra Hex feat.

However, the Extra Hex (ACG) feat states that

You gain one additional hex. You must meet the prerequisites for this hex. If you are a shaman, it must be a hex granted by your spirit rather than one from a wandering spirit.

Problem being, the Unsworn Shaman removes the Spirit class feature.

So, how does this work?
#1: Unsworn Shamans can take Extra Hex, but it doesn't do anything for them. (This seems to be what it reads like to me, RAW)
#2: Unsworn Shamans can take Extra Hex, effectively getting to choose a hex from the current spirit the Shaman had as they got a level, and retaining it regardless of what spirit the Shaman chooses to have at a different day.
#3: Unsworn Shamans can take Extra Hex, but only gain the benefit of it when they bond with the same spirit they had when they took the feat.

Additionally - based off a certain old post by Sean K. Reynolds about new releases of options with identical names doesn't necessarily mean that an already existing option is being replaced. I've seen a post made by the PDT stating that it's mainly options from player companions and other related products that tend to be assimilated and refined into newer core-line books, stating that "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 how does this apply to already existing feats? Because as far as I can tell, there are two versions of Extra Hex on the PRD, the ACG and the APG version - and there doesn't seem to be anything saying that a Shaman / Unsworn Shaman can't select that feat as normal.

So, does this mean that:
#4: Unsworn Shamans (and other Shamans, for that matter) can take Extra Hex (APG) - selecting a non-spirit hex?

Encouraging Spell

Your inspiration provides your allies with greater support.

Prerequisite(s): Cha 13, Diplomacy 6 ranks.

Benefit(s): Any morale bonus granted by an encouraging spell is increased by 1.

Level Increase: +1 (an encouraging spell uses up a spell slot 1 level higher than the spell’s actual level.)

Blood Rage

School enchantment (compulsion) [mind-affecting]; Level adept 3, bard 2, cleric 3, sorcerer/wizard 3

CASTING

Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a drop of blood from each creature to be affected)

EFFECT

Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./level)
Targets one willing living creature per 2 levels, no two of which may be more than 30 ft. apart
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance yes (harmless)

DESCRIPTION
The targets of this spell become angrier as they fight, the pain of their wounds fueling their strength. An affected creature gains a cumulative +2 morale bonus to Strength and a cumulative -1 penalty to AC for every 5 points of damage it takes (maximum +10 Strength, -5 AC) for the duration of the spell. These bonuses last until the spell expires or the target falls unconscious.

Would an Encouraging Blood Rage give a cumulative +3 morale bonus to Strength, or just add +1 to the total?

Cartridge Savant (Ex)

...When a gun chemist fires an alchemical cartridge that deals a type of damage in place of a firearm’s normal damage (such as a dragon’s breath cartridge), he can increase the damage dealt by an amount equal to his Intelligence modifier.

Now, this seems all grand and well, but does this actually apply to any alchemical cartridge other than the specifically mentioned dragon’s breath cartridge? I can't seem to find any others...

Note: This small ramble has been inspired mostly from seeing the Ultimate Wilderness product thread, but due to the fact that I don't want to derail it and touch upon a topic that is general for the messageboards, I'll just post it here, I guess.

Is it just me, or does it seem like there's been an increase in "aggressive favouriting" going on recently when some discussions get heated? Like, I get that there's a point to showing that you like something, that you want to retain easy access to something later, or find something funny, but there seems like there can be a ridiculous amount of bandwagoning happening in order to drown out a different opinion with a "silent majority". I'm pretty sure this isn't a healthy thing for the community. Really, there's nothing else that I would like than to see that there can be held respectful conversations without the need of making someone feel isolated for what they are saying.

Maybe we could try to do something about that?

Question as in title, link to the Green Scourge.

The reason I'm wondering is because the archetype states that their "Nature's Armanents" ability only alters spontaneous casting, rather than replaces it, so since there's no mention of losing this ability... I'm sure you catch my drift.

Strength of Submission says that you gain a +1 trait bonus to attack rolls & damage rolls whenever you are under a compulsion effect. Would this work together with Sow Thought? I can't see any reason why it wouldn't, but I thought it'd be worth checking with those that have a better grasp of the rules than I do.

....asking for a friend.

As a preventive measure in case my current character bites the dust, I'm making a backup - and I'm really wanting to build a character around the Halfling Oracle FCB and the Elemental Imbalance (Air) curse, in order to get Ball Lightning as a 3rd level spell and cause plenty of havoc. (Magical Lineage + Dazing Spell is a given)

I am, however, right and properly stuck on what mystery might be a good fit, both thematically and spell-wise, especially considering how with no human FCB, the mystery spells matter more than ever. Do you have any suggestions for what mystery might work? I'm sort of alternating between Metal, Solar, and Dark Tapestry, respectively for their good revelations, generic slipperiness from spells, and the hard battlefield control offered.

Can you have a contingency spell on you and your animal companion at the same time? The spell itself says that you can only have one contingency spell active at a time, but does that mean maximum one contingency /character or one contingency /caster?

TL;DR: I'm trying to build an oracle that is decently capable in melee, and debuffing, but which also has the option of doing a bit of blasting, gather information, transportation, torment his opponents with SoS spells... etc. As such, I'm wondering if there's any gems that I've missed, or that would come recommended by the board. If you're wondering about my planned build, it can also be found in a spoiler at the bottom. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Also note that this is NOT for PFS, so don't worry about any such limitations.

Rationale for spell selection:
# Obscuring Mist and Cloud of Seasickness might be overlapping in its main effect (fog), but since Cloud of Seasickness is practically the only clerical fog spell that is not centered on the caster, I find that it has more strategic value in not giving away your position based on where the fog is. The debuff aspect of it is more of an afterthought, though it is certainly also nice.

# Burst of Radiance is nowhere to be found. I figure that Glitterdust and Fireball together can fill the duty of either an AoE damage, or blind. Further, Glitterdust makes Invisibility Purge less necessary, freeing up a 3rd level slot, and since I'm planning on picking up Shackle as a 2nd level reflex SoS spell, having another that targets reflex at that level seems like a bit of a waste.

# Heal is severely delayed due to getting wannabe Lay on Hands off the Pei Zin Practitioner archetype. For the same reason is Soothing Word picked up at level 7, as it works well together with the Master Healing Technique ability received at that level.

# Paragon Surge is picked up at level 8, rather than at 6-7, simply because I figure that it'll be much easier to burn 3rd level spell slots for niche access when you have 4th level spells available.

Questions:
# Silverlight versus Daylight - is it worth it? I know that Daylight is somewhat situational (even though when you need it, it's pretty clutch) - so I want to have a way to avoid being blinded in darkness, that's not necessarily gear dependent. (though, an Ioun Stone with Heightened Continual Flame certainly doesn't seem out of place either). Silverlight seems like a sort of toned-down Daylight, but with an additional potential debuff effect, so I wonder if it would be worth the decrease in both duration and area. Thoughts?

# Chain of Perdition - I'm thinking of picking it up to fit in with the chain theme (Barbed Chains, Shackle, Chains of Light), but at what point would doing so be a good idea? I'd imagine it'd be increasingly more outscaled over the course of levels.

# Dealing with incorporeals - what would be the best way of doing so?

# Are there any actually half-way decent 8th level cleric spells? I'm contemplating picking up Racial Heritage: Catfolk just to ensure access to Nine Lives...

# What have I missed?

The Dragon Oracle Mystery gives True Seeing as a bonus spell at level 14, which is normally a 5th level spell for Oracles.

The Dream / Haunted / Rebirth / Self-Perfection Psychic Disciplines gives Ethereal Jaunt at level 14, which is normally a 6th level spell for Psychics.

What spell level is it when they get it? What happens if they have already chosen it as a spell known? Do they then have a lower-level version in addition to the bonus spell?

This might have been asked before, but I'm unable to find anything coherent with the search function, so sorry if it is obvious or intuitive.

Staff Channel (Su) You can deliver touch spells with a casting time of one standard action or longer through a quarterstaff. Using this ability doesn’t change the casting time or other qualities of the spell, but you must make a melee attack with your quarterstaff against the target’s AC rather than a touch attack against its touch AC. If you hit the target, you deal quarterstaff damage as well as discharge the spell effect. You can hold the charge as normal when delivering a touch spell through a quarterstaff.

Is this referring to spells that normally have a casting time of one standard action, or does this preclude quickened spells from ever working? Or maybe rather, in what order does the rules interact with each other, to check if it works?

For example, Bestow Curse + Quicken Spell + Staff Channel, which one would be correct?

1) Bestow Curse -> Staff Channel -> Quicken Spell
(Bestow Curse is a touch spell with a standard action casting time, so it qualifies for being used with Staff Channel as-is. Quicken at your leisure.)

2) Bestow Curse -> Quicken Spell -> Staff Channel
(Bestow Curse is a touch spell with a standard action casting time, but due to Quicken Spell it is now a swift action cast spell. Because of that, you cannot use Quickened Bestow Curse with Staff Channel.)

Any thoughts?

Couldn't really find much discussion on this feat, so...

At least with my reading, this essentially means "you can rid yourself of the "moral" dilemmas of mental control with Enchantment and raising the dead with Necromancy, permanently, in return for getting +1 spell / level, for a feat".

Does this make the Thassilonian Specialist more palatable to any of you? To me, at least, it seems like with the limitations on not being able to specialise in subschools, Transmutation comes across as the clear winner with this, being able to actually cast Illusion spells, and in return being like, a sorcerer+ with spells for days.

It's 2:38 AM, and I really shouldn't be thinking about build ideas, but...

What about a Crossblooded Orc / Psychic Sorcerer? It seems ridiculously synergistic from my point of view (at least considering how Crossblooded cripples you), I mean:

#1: Psychic casting = no arcane spell failure = armor all day.
#2: Blood Havoc + Orc Bloodline Arcana + Harrow Chosen Trait = ow Mind Thrust - or grab Spell Focus (Whatever) off your Bonus Feats list to make it more generally applicable.
#3: The 3rd level Orc ability, Fearless, gives immunity to fear effects as you level - no more psychic casting being shut down by a mere intimidate check!
#4: Undercasting Prodigy gives you access to higher level spells to use your higher level spell slots, that you normally wouldn't have access to as a result of crossblooded.
#5: Having access to no arcane spell failure (and thus being reasonably well protected), you could maybe put the level 9 / 15 Orc bloodline abilities to work? This is more of a stretch, but...

I suppose it could be argued whether any of these bonuses together (if they even work the way I want to, at least it is my reading that the Crossblooded Sorc gets access to higher level spell slots as he levels, he just doesn't know any spells to use them with w/o metamagic) make up for the inherent loss of spells, saves, and progression that is the cost of the Crossblooded archetype, or whether or not it's simply better off with Eldritch Heritage (Orc) - it is at the very least an amusing thought.

Any forseeable snags that you fine folks can locate?

Hi!

I was pleasantly delighted when I realized that I could combine my pre-order of the hardcover Curse of the Crimson Throne together with some other products, as international shipping is quite a pain to deal with, and if the cost would be reduced I'd gladly wait a bit longer to obtain the rest. However, when I look at the order history, it seems like they'll be shipped in two separate packages still, with twice the shipping cost.

Is there a way of ensuring that they'll be in the same package, or am I being too unreasonable in hoping that the hardcover would fit in the same package as some other AP chapters? I'd rather avoid having to pay twice for shipping and still having to wait, as that becomes a case of not having my cake OR eating it, if that makes sense. Of course, I could just be confused as to the entire process, but I'm not entirely sure that is the case.

Regardless, best of wishes, and thanks! :)
- Ole G.

Would a Kineticist attacking with a Telekinetic Blast gain the +4 bonus on attack rolls from a target hit by Magnetic Infusion, provided that the Kineticist attacks with a metal weapon? Would loosening the aetheric strands, as detailed in the blast, make a difference?

Element(s) air or earth; Type substance infusion; Level 3; Burn 2
Associated Blasts charged water, electric, metal, plasma, thunderstorm
Saving Throw none

Your kinetic blast causes your foes to become mildly magnetic.

Whenever an infused blast deals damage to a foe, attacks made with metal weapons (including metal kinetic blasts) against that foe receive a +4 bonus until the end of your next turn, and the foe takes a –4 penalty on Reflex saving throws to avoid metallic objects.

Element(s) aether; Type simple blast (Sp); Level —; Burn 0
Blast Type: physical; Damage bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing

You throw a nearby unattended object at a single foe as a ranged attack. The object must weigh no more than 5 pounds per kineticist level you possess. If the attack hits, the target and the thrown object each take the blast's damage. Since the object is enfolded in strands of aether, even if you use this power on a magic weapon or other unusual object, the attack doesn't use any of the magic weapon's bonuses or effects; it simply deals your blast damage. Alternatively, you can loosen the strands of aether in order to deal damage to both the object and the target as though you had thrown the object yourself (instead of dealing your normal blast damage).

You substitute your Constitution modifier for your Strength modifier if throwing the object would have added your Strength modifier on the damage roll, and you don't take the –4 penalty on the attack roll for throwing an object that wasn't designed to be thrown. In this case, the object's special effects apply (including effects from its materials), and if the object is a weapon, you must be proficient with it and able to wield it with one hand; otherwise, the item deals damage as a one-handed improvised weapon for a creature of your size.

Other than being hopelessly behind on spell levels.

I guess, to clarify, when you contemplate the idea of a caster that has mastery over most kinds of magic, what would you want a Theurge-like character to actually do?

New books, new archetypes, new opportunities!

The Magic Tactics Toolbox released the Divine Scourge archetype, which gives limited access to some minor and major hexes starting at level 3 (including the classics evil eye, misfortune, and slumber), in return for locking you into one singular domain (the curse subdomain, to be specific, regardless of if your chosen deity offers it) and trading off Channel Energy.

Of course, the Shaman has already had access to divine hexes, gets more of them, and is a lot more flexible - but I'm thinking that cleric as a whole is better set for punching the daylight out of things, namely, it can get Improved Unarmed Strike for free, it has a high fortitude save to accompany being on the front lines, but maybe most importantly, it has a much better self-buffing spell list, or arguably better spell list, period.

So, this got me thinking, maybe this would actually make for a decent Hex Striker? Considering how it has no feat requirements beyond IUAS, it shouldn't even be hard to work into a build. My first thoughts are to go Half-Elf, get the Dreamspeaker alternate racial trait (as this thread really seems to emphasize that identical traits are the same across races, so a Half-Elf should be perfectly able to swap elven immunities for the dreamspeaker trait, given how Elf Blood lets it be treated as an elf for all purposes) together with the Mediator trait, to ensure a decent Slumber DC at low-ish levels.

Something like 16+2/13/14/7/16/7 could work, taking Hex Strike at level 3, and Ability Focus (Slumber) come level 5, and knock-out punching might just work.

Perhaps, better yet, have the character walk around with a peg leg, and cast Holy Ice Weapon to bother somebody with your cold feet :]

With that said, would working in Medusa's Wrath be worth it, do you think? With Hex Strike (Slumber) you would probably be able to trigger it semi-reliably, more so than most options, but it would not come online until level 15, and well, spending a feat on SCORPION STYLE makes me want to retch...

Either way, thoughts on how to get this train wreck that is Hex Strike into the limelight? :)

Bestiary 5 brought us beasts like the Wyrmwraith.... and then there's the portable familiar air cannon

A chuspiki will sometimes ally with a spellcaster as a familiar. A chaotic spellcaster can gain a chuspiki as a familiar at 7th level by taking the Improved Familiar feat.

A chuspiki can make a ranged attack with an intense air blast, as the kineticist wild talent of the same name, using its Hit Dice as its kineticist level.

Hit Dice: For the purpose of effects related to number of Hit Dice, use the master's character level or the familiar's normal HD total, whichever is higher.

Physical blasts are ranged attacks that deal an amount of damage equal to 1d6+1 + the kineticist's Constitution modifier, increasing by 1d6+1 for every 2 kineticist levels beyond 1st. Spell resistance doesn't apply against physical blasts.

Any suggestions as to what would go well with this? I'm slightly amused at the prospect of going Eldritch Guardian with this, essentially getting a full BAB pocket kineticist with more feats than a normal kineticist gets, though, thematically an Evangelist Cleric that gets a familiar or Duettist Bard seem to fit the idea too.

Question posed in title. I'm contemplating playing a hammering' cleric of Torag, and I'm trying to figure out what options I have (since neither Archives of Nethys nor the d20pfsrd seem to have a way of listing spells by range).

(And yes, I love the way the spells progress up until level 5 - first you can hammer the living daylight out of someone (Touch of Blindness), then you hammer their chest so hard they can't breathe for several hours (Aboleth's Lung), then you can hammer the living daylight INTO someone (Daylight)... only to at level 9 whack someone so hard that you send them to another plane of existence (Plane Shift). I'm grinning sort of stupidly to myself at that thought)

Anything notable that I've missed? Thank you for all your help!

Hi y'all!

I've been mulling over a 20 point buy Half-Orc War Drummer + Totemic (Tiger) Skald for a while now, but I'm sort of unsure where to go with it beyond the obvious strength stacking. (War Drummer mainly because getting Craft Magic Arms & Armor seems handy with a Valet Familiar, and because the AC of a raging tiger seems awful without Wild armor)

Thinking about doing a point buy a bit like
15+2 / 12 / 14 / 8 / 13 / 14 (+1 to Strength at L4 and beyond).

Questions:
#1: Arrowsong's Lament - would it be worth it? I'm mainly considering it for getting flight on a flightless class, but paying 15 rounds of raging song to cast fly out of a 5th level slot seems like a pretty bad deal, all things considered...
#2: Rage Powers - has there been any new and exciting ones released over the last year that I've missed?
#3: Natural Spell - it seems like something that makes it viable to stay in Wild Shape'd form for most of the adventuring day, but 13 Wis is pretty steep on a class that could care less about wisdom - are there any decent alternatives?

Any suggestions or thoughts? Comments are greatly appreciated :)

Yes, you read the thread title right.

Basically, I'd like to combine the spell Holy Ice Weapon with the Gnome Magus FCB, so I can sort of have the ultimate "Instant Weapon, just add water" routine.

Add one of the following weapon special abilities to the list of weapon special abilities the magus may add to his weapon using his arcane pool: defending, ghost touch, merciful, mighty cleaving, vicious; allying, conductive, corrosive, corrosive burst, menacing. Once an ability has been selected with this reward, it cannot be changed.

I know that I can do this by getting the trait Magaambyan Arcana, so my options pretty much boil down to being an Adopted Gnome, or a Human with Racial Heritage: Gnome.

I'm considering going dual talent Human with the extra +2 going to Int, but beyond that I'm currently sort of stuck on where to take the concept from there. Any suggestions on where this could be taken?

This might be the most obvious question asked in regards of kineticists past, present, and future - but I can't wrap my head around it, and humbly request aid.

Now, I understand that Weapon Focus: Kinetic Blast would add to the attack rolls done with kinetic blades, given that the weapon conjured is effectively the kinetic blast. However, since a telekineticist adds the damage that his kinetic blast does to whatever object he is wielding, what effects would modify his attack rolls? If he is wielding a dagger, would then effects such as Weapon Focus: Dagger also apply?

A blood arcanist selects one bloodline from those available through the sorcerer bloodline class feature. The blood arcanist gains the bloodline arcana and bloodline powers of that bloodline, treating her arcanist level as her sorcerer level. The blood arcanist does not gain the class skill, bonus feats, or bonus spells from her bloodline.

Starting at 9th level, whenever you gain a new level of spells, you automatically replace any psychic bloodline spells that can be undercast with the highest-level version you can cast in your list of spells known. For example, at 9th level, you would replace mind thrust I, id insinuation I, and ego whip I with mind thrust IV, id insinuation III, and ego whip II, respectively, as spells known.

How does these two interact? Initially I figured that since the Arcanist prepares spells, the "spells known" part would leave it with a dead class feature, yet it states in the spell casting part that an Arcanist may know any number of spells - so that one seems to work.

However, the bolded portions is what seems to potentially cause conflict.
As read, it seems as if the Psychic Blood Arcanist has no bloodline spells for the first 8 levels of his career - and starting from there, he automatically replaces any psychic bloodline spells that can be undercast with the highest-level version available in his spells known - no mention made of him actually having access to the spells.

Granted, the word "replace" indicates that this would only happen if you had these spells already available, but it also means to put something back - which this bloodline power does.

Thoughts on this curiosity?

So, I saw the Asmodean Advocate archetype, and I am in love. Like, seriously, I'd get to play a lawyer, and a damned effective one at that.

Now, I'm wondering, how can I make the most out of this? I'm in particular looking for ways of boosting my Profession (Barrister) skill, but any suggestions would be welcome.

What I'm looking at so far:

> Brevoy Bandit trait (Lets you add another stat in addition to Wisdom to Profession - not a trait bonus)
> Devil in the Details (Asmodean Advocate - Cleric archetype, adds +1/2 level as insight bonus to Profession (Barrister))
> Heart of the Fields (Human, adds +1/2 level as racial bonus to a Profession skill)
> Love Lost (+2 Trait bonus to a Profession skill)
> Masterwork Tool (+2 circumstance bonus)

Anyone have any suggestions?

The Wizard VMC states the following (only relevant parts quoted):

A character who chooses wizard as his secondary class gains the following secondary class features.

School: At 1st level, he chooses a school of magic in which to specialize. For all powers of that school, he treats his character level as his effective wizard level.

School Power: At 7th level, he gains the 1st-level powers of his chosen school. If any of those powers grant an extra effect at 20th level, the character does not gain that extra effect.

Since it states powers, how does this interact with the Metal, Void, and Wood elemental schools?

To be more specific, all of these schools state that you add certain spells to your Wizard spell list at level 1 as one of the listed powers, thus they seem to qualify.

However, what happens past that?
A) You get the spells added to your spell list and can prepare them as a Wizard would, if you can prepare spells?
B) You add the spells to your spell list, but since it specifically states that you add them to your Wizard spell list, and you don't cast Wizard spells, this whole thing is moot?
C) The New Spells Known FAQ applies?

With the ACG errata, the Spell Warrior Skald can now effectively pass out rage powers to his allies without raging. Which, while seeming a bit like an oxymoron, is also thoroughly unique, and something that I would like to utilise.

Now, I'm trying to build my first *real* ranged character ever (I've made some not-quite-so-good attempts in the past, as my post history well indicates), but it seems to me as if this could be a very effective way of both shooting things, counterspelling, as well as providing party support with bard casting, performance, and rage power sharing. However, I do also have a few questions, that I'm hoping that you could help me out with.

1) Rage Powers: I'm already pretty set on picking up Scent & using Pheromone Arrows to make life easier for the party, as well as getting Reckless Abandon (the AC penalty will hopefully matter less at range). Any other suggestions for good Rage Powers to share - or that would be useful at range? I'm eyeing Superstitious, Witch Hunter, and Eater of Magic, as they seems very thematically appropriate.

2) How useful would Deadly Aim be? I'm of the impression that the consensus on the boards is that Deadly Aim does almost nothing for 3/4 BAB characters, and that Arcane Strike is the better option for Bards. However, with the inherent scaling of Reckless Abandon & Enhance Weapons, would that change anything noticeably? For the record, I am planning on getting Arcane Strike before Deadly Aim, this is more of a question if the feat slot better spent on picking up Riving Strike.

3) Has there been a clarification if the penalties from Riving Strike stack?

4) As my weapon song pretty much enhances the weapons used, would there really be a point in picking up Clustered Shots at all? It seems to me as if all relevant DR would be overcome by the time I can pick it up. (L13, most likely)

The summoner's handbook has a really nifty new cleric archetype, named the Herald Caller. It trades out medium armor and a domain for pre-req free Augment Summons & Superior Summoning at L4 & L8, respectively (as well as being treated as having SF: Conjuration for feat requirements), 4 skill points / level, and spontaneous conversion of prepared spells into Summon Monster (this is seemingly in addition to the normal cure conversion of spells)

I was planning on running a LG Half-Orc with the Tactics subdomain, but I'm honestly kind of stumped when it comes to feat selection past level 11. I'm planning on getting a Ring of Summoning affinity (Archon) by level 11, thus slightly negating the need for Summon Good Monster.

Here's what I was thinking so far:

20 Point buy: 16+2 / 14 / 12 / 10 / 14 / 8

L1: Combat Reflexes
L1: Endurance (Race)
L3: Power Attack
L4: Augment Summoning (B)
L5: Sacred Summons
L7: Improved Initiative
L8: Superior Summons (B)
L9: Quicken Spell
L11: Divine Interference

Suggestions and thoughts?

Blessed Hammer feat:

You can use any warhammer you wield as a holy symbol when casting spells that require a divine focus or when you channel energy.

Furthermore, as a swift action when you cast a divine touch spell, you can choose to have the warhammer carry the charge of the spell instead of your hand. When you deliver a touch spell with your warhammer you can do so as part of melee attack made with the warhammer. If you drop the warhammer or the warhammer is disarmed while carrying a charge, the charge is lost.

So, given that certain domains grant divine spell-like abilities with a range of touch, would you be able to use this feat to deliver the SLA? And if so, would you still provoke an AoO?

So, with the release of Unchained and the VMC rules, any arcane caster that selects the Oracle VMC with the Battle mystery can now get proficiency with heavy armor & all martial weapons at L3 (Skill at Arms), thus opening up a window for entry into Eldritch Knights @ L5 with only one lost casting level.

However, considering the lack of class abilities the EK gets other than 10 levels of BAB, has this changed anything at all, would you say? Does it make the EK more attractive? For my part, I'm certainly contemplating doing a Scarred Witch Doctor Half-Orc with the Oracle VMC for the heck of it, but the lack of abilities makes me slightly iffy..

So, I had a thought that has been mulling about in my head a bit, and I've been wondering how to improve it. The basic premise is to utilise the Torture subdomain on an inquisitor, to make a character that effectively demoralises everything that he approaches. Currently I'm thinking of building a Human Inquisitor with a dip in Rogue (Thug), picking up Combat Reflexes, Power Attack, and Hurtful.

The basic premise is that the character uses a longspear, painful smite hits things for nonlethal w/ free intimidate check, gets damage done as bonus to intimidate roll, when hits can hit again as a swift action, then gets an AoO for foes panicking and leaving threatened squares. Legit? Thoughts?

I'm envisioning creating a flamboyant bardic human monster that may or may not want to create his own theme and perform it at any given circumstance. Preferably complete with lashing out at anything that might want to interrupt him. 20 pt buy, current crunch included below w/ appropriate modifiers.

I was thinking about picking up Wary of Danger and Ancestral Weapon (really, this feels like a different version of Heirloom Weapon) as my traits. FCB goes into HP unless there is a certain spell I feel would greatly benefit the character - but I guess my main goal is still to shred anything that approaches him in melee.

To accomplish this I was thinking about utilizing the sentence in the Dawnflower Dervish that states that it doubles the bonus given on the character itself. I've heard that the best way of playing these is pretty much just to ditch the dex-damage scimitar and go with natural attacks, but that'd be pretty difficult as I envision this character as a human, and the races with innate natural attacks tend to not have a strength bonus (tieflings not included).
In order to make up for it, I was thinking about using Hurtful, and since Allegro stacks well with starting a battle dance as a move action, it seems like a pretty potent combination regardless of its lack of claws or beaks.

Potential feat progression:

Bard X (Dawnflower Dervish)
L1: Extra Performance
L1: Master Performer
L1: Dervish Dance
L3: Power Attack
L5: Hurtful
L7: Cornugon Smash
L9: Grand Master Performer
L11: Discordant Voice

vs
Fighter 1 (Mutation Warrior) / Bard X (Dawnflower Dervish)
(probably grabbing Blade of Mercy > Wary of Danger)
L1: Power Attack
L1: Enforcer -> Retrain into Cornugon Smash @ L6
L1: Hurtful
L2: Dervish Dance
L3: Extra Performance
L5: Master Performer
L7: FREE FEAT!
L9: Grand Master Performer
L11: Discordant Voice

Thoughts?

So - our GM pretty much just chucked a Dire Croc at our poor L5 party, and after some tug-of-war and much summoning of pony fodder, we managed to get through it intact.

My PC got super excited about the whole thing - and is now currently lugging around a massive Dire Croc head as a trophy. But, what can I do with it? Would the teeth be useful for something alchemical ingredients that I am missing out on, weird spell components, anything?

Flying Talon

This light exotic piercing weapon consists of a three-pronged barbed hook attached to a length of chain.

Benefit: The talon gives its wielder a reach of 10 feet and deals 1d4 piercing damage (or 1d3 for Small creatures), threatening a critical on a natural 20. In addition, the wielder may initiate disarm or trip attacks with the talon, gaining a +2 bonus on either check. If the opponent resists the trip attempt and tries to trip him in turn, the wielder may drop the talon to avoid falling prone.

Ever since I saw this weapon, I've kind of drooled a little bit at the aspect of a reach magus. (Yes, I know that can be accomplished through a Whip, but this way there's no need to grab ten thousand feats to threaten with it). As it is a piercing light weapon, it is eligible for Swashbuckler Finesse, which opens up nabbing Slashing Grace and Dex-Damage.

In other words, my plan would be to go Swash 1 / Magus X. However, would you say that it is worth it? I mean, it seems pretty fun, and with all the Dervish Magi builds that have flourished the webs I have little doubt that it would be effective - but is there any unforeseen snags to this that I might not have noticed?

I suppose it should be added that depending on the archetypes, there's one race that seems like the "obvious" pick, Half-Elves getting EWP at L1 for free, and it opens up the really neat Elf Magus FCB (+1/6 arcana!) - but there's also stuff like going Kensai Goblin (WF + EWP + 4 dex + small size benefits, but loses out on spells)

Thoughts?

While raging, the barbarian is surrounded by spirit wisps that harass her foes. These spirits make one slam attack each round against a living foe that is adjacent to the barbarian. This slam attack is made using the barbarian’s full base attack bonus, plus the barbarian’s Charisma modifier. The slam deals 1d4 points of negative energy damage, plus the barbarian’s Charisma modifier.

Hypothetical situation here. Bardiche Barbarian Bill w/ Lesser Spirit Totem and Combat Reflexes wins initiative and readies an action to attack the first foe within range. The only foe is a goblin at 20 ft' away. Barbarian turn ends - spirits have no legible target.

Goblin decides to charge at Bill, eats the readied action and an aoo for leaving a threatened square - is still up (tough biscuit) Now, as it gets adjacent to Bill, would the spirits attack him before the end of the round? If so, would they attack the goblin before it gets to resolve its charge (acting on Bill's initiative), or would that happen afterwards - if even at all?

So, my group is going for a PF homebrew campaign, and I got pretty lucky with the dice rolls, to say to the least.

Rolls: 13/9/17/15/16/14 (in any order), starting at L3.

DM's okayed:
#1 picking out variant tiefling heritages
#2 picking any ability off the variant chart (with the exception of the "being a small tiefling" option, I rolled anyway and got #90, which is a +2 to Wisdom..)
#3 the old version of the heirloom weapon trait
#4 taking +1 drawback for +1 trait.

So this far I've pretty much thought that I could go for a Oni-Spawn Tiefling Monk 1 (Hamatsulatsu Master) / Ecclesitheurge X of Sarenrae build with Heroism subdomain & the Reformation inquisition, that benefits from a high Wis in practically every aspect. Something like;

16+2 STR / 15 DEX / 14 CON / 13 INT / 17+2 (+4) WIS / 9-2 CHA

Traits: Blade of Mercy / Heirloom Weapon / Magical Knack / Drawbacks: (Foul Brand)

I figured that I could take Enforcer at L1, grab Weapon Focus as a Monk bonus feat, do Power Attack at L3 (funnily enough being more of a pre-req feat) and pick up Hurtful at L5, and perhaps Extra Traits at L9 so that I could get Community-Minded just in time for the Aura of Heroism-swift action.

But other than that, I am pretty much stuck. Any recommendations for what I could do? Help would be greatly appreciated!

Hey y’all.

Tl;dr: I’d really appreciate it if you’d give me some advice on my Inquisitor build.

Aziraphale Fogbreather
Skinwalker (Werebat / Blood-Marked) Lore Warden 2 / Sanctified Slayer X
Domain: Darkness (Night)

20 Point Buy:
Str 12 (2)
Dex 18 (10) (+2)
Con 12 (2)
Int 15 (3) (+2)
Wis 12 (5) (-2)
Cha 8 (-2)

L1: HP 11 / AC 18 / Initiative +4 / Perception +2 (+4) / Fort: +3 / Ref: +4 / Will +1
L3: HP 24 / AC 19 / Initiative +4 / Perception +7 (+9) / Fort: +6 / Ref: +4 / Will +3

Werebat:
Change Shape (Su): (3+1/2 level /day) -> Scent / +4 Perception / 1d6 Bite / falling damage thing
-4 to all Cha-skills/checks when shaped vs other humanoids (non-skinwalkers)
Obscuring Mist (Sp): (SLA, 1/day)
Low-Light vision
Skilled: +2 to Perception (Night) & Fly

Traits:
Fate's Favored: (+1 to all Luck bonuses)
Adopted: Finish the Fight: (+1 to Attack rolls vs foes hurt by you last 24 hours)
Magical Knack: (+2 CL (Inquisitor))

Drawbacks:
Warded against Nature: (Animals do not willingly approach w/in 30 feet unless forced by a DC 20 Handle Animal/Ride/Wild Empathy check, save for Animal Companions / Familiars / Mounts granted by your class abilities)

The build at low levels:

.. it is 11:52 and I’m too tired to continue planning, but at least it seems pretty neat when it comes to damage dealing. At some point I’d want a Goz Mask to use together with Obscuring Mist, which actually would allow me to use the Sneak Attack for something as well, but that is as far as I’ve got for equipment.

What would you recommend?