Qaianna's page

So, other ancestries can be half-elf or aiuvarin. And ‘elf atavism’ is still a thing. And it calls out that you can’t use it to grab Ancient Elf unless your base ancestry can be centuries old. So … a dwarf could pick it up, right? Asking for some theorybuilding cheese that’s been fermenting (and also trying to imagine a player trying to do this with a goblin aiuvarin) …

I've been pondering the viability of a few things, and keep coming across that piercing is the 'worst' weapon damage type. That said, would it be a viable thing for a primary weapon for a martial character? And for a caster as a backup?

Any thoughts on if the monk is going to get anything new or different in the remaster? Or if they need anything in particular? I do wonder about their survivability.

On another note, with how key Reactive Strike is for martials in general, should it be given a bit more freely instead of just being The Mandatory Class Feat for nonfighters?

While dithering on whether to build a kitsune or anadi monk, I had a flash of madness. Both let you change into a humanoid. So, a kitsune could change into an anadi if they somehow justified growing up in a hidden spider village. But … what abilities, if any, come with it? It’s not as clear as Pest Form. (Hopefully the remaster is clearer too … )

For the first time I'm really looking over the witch class. I saw an interesting feat, Rites of Convocation, and wondered about the summoning spell you choose for it. Namely, does it count as one of your familiar's spells known? (And if not, would it hurt if it did?)

So, the new and improved ruffian can sneak attack with all weapons, assuming that they aren’t more than d6 damage if martial or advanced. Die size increases do count against this. And … three weapon traits mess with it.

I assume Fatal shouldn’t affect it since it only applies on a critical hit. I just wonder about Two Hand (and its antithesis, Jousting). If a rogue tries to snea attack with an earthbreaker, will they lose sneak attack damage if they two-hand d10 it? And can that same rogue mount up and lance someone one-handed with sneak damage?

Imagine a dhampir druid in their wild shape battle form. Would that mess with negative healing?

So, anadi in their spider form gain the Fangs ability, granting a 1d6 piercing unarmed attack. While reading things over, I don't see anything about restricting strikes, so ... can an anadi in spider form kick (and otherwise avail itself of the 'fist' unarmed strike)?

I wasn't able to find where this is mentioned, so I thought I'd ask here.

How much can a summoner change how their eidolon looks? Can an angel eidolon vary its non-game appearance and go from one form to another? Can a devotion phantom change its clothes so it looks fancy, camouflaged, or armoured? And if so, how often can they do this?

Or are they entirely mutable as far as appearance as long as their crunchy statistics stay the same?

(Personal opinion is that they have to look like 'themselves' but can vary ornamental bits as needed, like ornaments, trinkets, clothes, et cetera. Notwithstanding the summoner sigil that they always show off.)

I'm fiddling with the idea of a catfolk swashbuckler (gymnast). Str and Dex 16 as far as this theorizing goes.

I'm also wondering what to equip her with, and while a buckler and claws looks like a good idea, I'm also thinking of whether a gauntlet would be a good idea. Access to Duelling Parry (she has a weapon), she can still wrestle ... are there any downsides to a kitty with boxing glove(s)? (And would she still have use of the catfolk claws for the extra damage die?)

OK, I've always wanted to get a grapply sort of character going, and I now see Wrestler as an archetype in Grand Bazaar. While dithering on whether it'd be good on a Gymnast Swashbuckler or not, I see the Suplex feat. 'Make an unarmed melee Strike against the creature you have grabbed or restrained; on a success, the target lands prone, and on a critical success, the target lands prone and takes an additional 2d6 bludgeoning damage.' Having used too many headbutts in life, I'm not able to determine what should happen.

What I want:
Critical success: the target lands prone and takes 2d6 bludgeoning on top of normal damage from the Strike.
Success: the target lands prone and takes normal Strike damage.

Is that how it would be, or do you not get oyur striking damage when sending an ogre crashing down on its back?

So, an enterprising young wizard takes the Hand of the Apprentice feat and spell, which for a focus point lets them toss a weapon five hundred feet. Everyone loves prerequisites.

Since the spell uses a spell attack roll to do weapon plus Intelligence modifier damage, most properties are moot -- you're not getting any use out of Trip or Shove, and who cares about Reach when you're hitting someone at ranges that challenge longbows. But there are a few I wonder about. Assume that somehow the wizard knows how to use a weapon with that property for this purpose:

Deadly and Fatal. In case you crit, do these add their dice?
Two-hand. Can you choose this? (This is the one that inspired me -- after all, a staff is d4 damage, but Two-Hand d8.)
Agile and Backswing. It's a bad move, but if you do waste a focus point on this spell while enjoying the multiple attack penalty, can this help?
Backstabber. 'Help! Halfling and goblin wizards are trying to kill me!'

I also assume Versatile is fine since that can sometimes come down to which end you hit the enemy with and the spell can adjust for that.

This might answer why some unarmed attacks have the Trip trait, especially if they're Agile. Agile weapons use a lower multiple attack penalty, -4/-8. Trips (and other Athletics moves) suffer from said penalty. If you're using an Agile Trip weapon, does using a trip for your second attack (questionable as it may be as a strategy) take the -4 or -5?

Just to make sure I'm reading it right ... bucklers can be Raised if you're not wielding a weapon in the hand they're on. Which means a greatsword/buckler build is really a greatsword build with more encumbrance and cash used.

But characters with unarmed attacks like monks, catfolk, and catfolk monks can strap on all the bucklers they want because they're not wielding weapons. Nice fast unarmed attacks will help, say, swashbucklers since they can grab with one hand, then claw, then raise the buckler anyway.

Right?

I've seen a lot of folks mentioning how important the plus one to anything is, and I can understand how that is. I'm wondering something else, though.

In the Starfinder game I'm in, I have a vesk mechanic. Short version, Int class with a race that's -2 to Int. She's managing allright (sadly, she's also the party meatshield, which explains issues regarding hit point loss). So it seems viable there.

How viable is it in Pathfinder Two? Can a barbarian survive with a sixteen Strength and, say, beef up her Dexterity? Or even her Charisma to be the charmingest slayer of dozens at the table? Or is it going to be enough of a hindrance to Cause Issues Within the Party?

I've been toying with the idea of a grappling sort of build. The problem is figuring out what to do once she's grabbed someone. Assume that she has a one-handed weapon and a non-bite natural weapon. Aside from taking potshots at someone who's stuck there and is flatfooted, what else can you do with a grapplee (and if potshots, can the natural weapon come into play)?

Two questions for when I finally build my boom-headshot ranger with a crossbow.

First ... Hunt Prey lets you 'ignore the penalty for making ranged attacks within your second range increment'. Sadly, Elmer's prey is 300' away and for reasons he can't get any closer. That's the third increment for a crossbow, so does he still ignore the second increment's penalty and shoot at -2, or does he still take them both and -4?

Second ... let's say Elmer had his crossbow loaded and uses a routine of Hunt Prey, Strike, Reload. Crossbow Ace applied nicely. Next turn, and he's still shooting. Strike, reload, strike sounds like the way to go ... but would Crossbow Ace still apply as he's still hunting his prey from last turn? Or must he actually spend the action to Hunt again for its benefits?

I haven't found this yet, so I figured I'd ask.

Ever since second edition of a more famous game, bucklers were something an archer could use while archering as a way of dealing with an enemy's unfavourable reaction to arrows. Weird, but it was In The Rules.

So here we are at Pathfinder 2d edition.

Buckler: 'You can Raise a Shield with your buckler as long as you have that hand free or are holding a light object that’s not a weapon in that hand.'

Bow: 'You can hold a weapon with a 1+ entry in one hand, but the process of shooting it requires using a second to retrieve, nock, and loose an arrow. This means you can do things with your free hand while holding the bow without changing your grip, but the other hand must be free when you shoot. To properly wield a 1+ weapon, you must hold it in one hand and also have a hand free.'

So ... this likely means that Lefty the Archer can't strap a buckler on the right arm since that's the one holding the bow. But could Lefty strap it on the other arm -- the + instead of the 1 -- and be within The Rules?

I've tried reading the new book forward and back, and I still can't quite sort out where focus spells determine their ability modifier for attacks and DCs. This seems obvious for actual casters, but when the noncasters get their toys, I wonder.

I vaguely remember the monk's Ki Blast relying on the class DC (so a Strength monk is using her mighty magic muscles), but I don't know if this is a specific or general sort of thing.

OK, so my unchained barbarian has her +1 furious greataxe. She likes it, and it likes her. But sooner or later we have to add more to it. And I'm wobbling a little. What I know I want:

-four more plusses
-Transformative
-Keen (because transformative kind'a makes Improved Critical useless, doesn't it?)

Due to certain damage-related issues, I've decided that Vicious won't work out. So ... er, which of these things should she get first? And is there anything else that should be on the shopping list?

So, you have a +1 flaming longsword. Yay!

You are now in a situation where you want to do nonlethal damage. You haven't had a chance to 'turn off' the flame yet; it's your turn in the round, you need to take that person alive, and if you spend the action to turn off the fire, you fail. You take your swing at -4 to hit, and do your d8 + other nonlethal damage.

How about that d6 of flame?

(Related: You now have a +1 flaming whip but none of the other feats that make whips lethal. You whip an enemy in full plate anyway. Do you still get your d6 of fire?)

I think I know how this goes but I figured I should run it by here anyway.

A noble warrior has specialised in the lucerne hammer; the pertinent parts of this are the bludgeoning or piercing damage. She then wishes it to become Keen. As a (part-time) piercing weapon, it should qualify. So, would that expanded range apply only when she's swinging to pierce, and not when she wants to mash skeletons?

Sam the Barbarian for reasons of her own decided to grab those two ultimate martial feats, Master Craftsman (using her Craft (weapons) skill) and Craft Magic Weapons and Armour. Her primary goal is a +1 furious greataxe. She's level 6, has cash, and has indulged in the retraining rules to avoid waiting for level 7.

First: Furious says it requires rage. Is she taking the +5 DC for not casting it, despite having the much cooler rage feature?

Second: When I tried to search the forum for this answer, I thought I saw someone with Craft (armour) trying to make magic weapons with this. Is this really allowed? If so, there's this bow that could use some magicing up, not to mention a lot of armour ...

I've been thinking about building someone who, as suggested in the subject, specialises in the whip and combat manoeuvres. It was inspired when reading one of the bard guides and it suggested it as something of a dare, but the 3/4 BAB worries me as far as CMB is concerned, falling behind even faster than a full BAB would.

To that end I've been imagining either a fighter or brawler, some race to get whip as a weapon out of the gate (human, half-orc, half-elf are the ones I know of), focusing on Str to avoid wasting a feat on Weapon Finesse, and either a spiked shield (fighter) or a bare fist (brawler) for threatening and actually hurting people (and a little AC for fighters).

Naturally, one downside is having two weapons--even if Whippy isn't truly TWFing her way through life, enchanting is going to be a pain in the coin purse. But is this actually survivable, assuming I give my party a head's-up that I'm not going to be the primary basher?

Barbie the Barbarian has just improved her favourite greatsword to a +1 furious, which means its enhancement bonus becomes +3 under rage. She then finds herself up against fey with DR/cold iron.

When she rages, her sword's bonus goes to +3 ... would this kind of thing be good enough to trigger the usual '+3 gets around DR/cold iron', like a plain +3 weapon, or is she still going to lug around her old cold iron warhammer?

Scenario: An evil centaur finds himself facing an enlarged, enraged barbarian. He and his friends would like to get past Barbie and get to the squishies, but ... well, large barbarian. And as a centaur, he finds himself using a medium greatsword. He charges ... and the rules questions come in when he tries to get from 10' away to 5' away. He still occupies that square 10' away (and a few others), but he's moving in that threatened area. Should he get tagged with an attack of opportunity? (I'm leaning towards yes, in the spirit of the reach rules.)

The thread on wizard intelligence reminded me of something that's been bothering me, and something that's made me shy away from prepared spellcasting classes for decades now.

Namely ... how do you decide which ones to pick up for the day? How do you decide that you need two Colour Spray, or one Colour Spray and one Grease, or two Grease, or just stick a metamagic Dancing Lights in that spot and cry?

I've not really seen any guides to point out how to decide on this, especially at later levels when your spellbook takes up two cases in your castle library. Is there a guideline, or are you just subject to learning from Prof. Trial and Dr Error? (Dr Error's a harsh one, too.)

I've got an idea for a storyline/RP theme for my barbarian, but I'm running into an issue with it.

The idea: she's the one who makes her own weapons.
The issue: Master Craftsman at level 5, Craft Magic Arms at 7.

Yes, the idea's suboptimal, but I'm now wondering ... at what point is the normal frontline fighter 'supposed' to have at least a +1 weapon? My only estimate is to base it off the WBL chart, which suggests 4th to start with, but when is it less 'neat' and more 'you may as well just throw your shoes at the monster'?

We haven't gotten to this point yet, but I figured I'd ask about the general situation. Here's the party:

STR 18 barbarian greataxing her way through life.
STR 13 cleric with a cold iron mace.
STR 13 rogue stabby.
STR 10 sorceror.
STR 11 bard.

As you can guess, the main melee are the barb and cleric; the rogue and bard prefer archery but have waded into melee too.

Let's say that we stumble across a Belt of Physical Strength +2. Is this better helping one of the backup melee, or should the barbarian yell 'mine' and run off with it giggling?

OK ... so far, I've found myself in a few cases where the best place to be is on one side of the enemy in front of me who happens to be parked right in a chokepoint. The last two times this happened, rather than cringing at the attack of opportunity, I just plowed on through. (One whiffed. The other got me but was floored for his efforts.)

Do you guys think this happens often enough to invest in Improved Overrun? Just a little feat-starved here ...

Imagine, if you will, a desperate wizard. She sees someone menacing a vital character nearby, not paying attention to her in her invisibility, and also nearby is a warhammer from a fallen foe. Could this brave wizard use Mage Hand on that 5lb warhammer and do anything useful with it? (I'm guessing it'd work as a melee attack, -2 for being distant, based on casting stat, with any proficiency issues too.) And what if she used the full Telekinesis spell?

I brought this up in another thread, but it's better to ask here.

Let's say I finally get that +1 glammered agile breastplate. I have it glammered into a fine gown for the fancy ball, and then the fancy ball gets attacked. Would the resulting bloodstains actually be on the glammered dress, would they disappear when you turn it back to armour (or some other outfit), or would it only show when back in its native form?

(You can replace bloodstains with other effects that you think would be important, and assume that for reasons no-one feels like casting prestidigitation on me to clean off. Maybe I just keep saving against it despite how much the party wants me to clean up now.)

OK, after being in a few arguments over alignments and how nebulous those are, I'll ask a question about others' experiences in a crunchy area:

Critical hits in melee.

Namely, especially at low- to mid-level, how often does it seem that the extra damage an x3 weapon gets over an x2 has made a significant difference in what happens to the victim? In my current game, I've seen both ends -- on the one hand, my barbarian has had two crits with her greataxe and generally left debris fields, but caught one from a ranseur and was feeling very unhappy. Figuring this is a rather trivial sample size, figured this would be a place to ask how it's gone for them?

I'm not asking to factor in crit ranges here--just whether x3 represents the over- to an x2's kill.

OK, my GM decided we were going to use the Unchained version of barbarians (his explanation to our group was disgust at the rage cycling concept). I'm actually pondering how to get my little rageball to get along should our bard start trying some buffs. From what I see, Accurate Stance won't really get along, being a competence bonus to things ... am I heading for Reckless here? This would mean no Lethal Accuracy, of course. (And no Elemental Stance, and I hate to metagame, but +1 scaling to hit vs +1d6 damage tends to go in a certain direction ... ) And what other powers would mesh well? (Assume the rest of the group is made of newbies. This includes me, in a way; just trying to anticipate peril. Except I dropped Danger Sense.)

Edit: Forgot to mention. Currently level 2 (and picked Animal Fury for rage power there because I love seeing NPC reactions to it), feats at 3, 5, and 7 are already assigned, and just nosing out what might be good.

'A halfling sling staff can be used as a simple weapon that deals bludgeoning damage equal to that of a club of its size.'

So, let's say a slingstaffer gets her hands on a magical one, +1 flaming for the sake of discussion. Sadly, while throwing her bullets, one target comes up close and personal. Figuring that would be a bad time to throw another shot, she brings both hands to the weapon's handle for some bludgeoning damage.

-In melee, the damage is equal to a club's. Should it count as using the club's category (one-hander) too?
-Will any of the magic properties work? (I'll assume ranged only ones will fail.)
-Could someone with more gold than sense put melee properties on one for this situation and have it work?

OK ... imagine a barbarian who took Animal Fury. She's raging, and even angrier because due to whatever reason her greatweapon is not in her hands anymore. When she hauls off and chomps her foe as her only attack ... would this be counted as a primary attack at full BAB with 1.5 x Strength bonus on damage?

The power itself talks about using it as part of a full attack at -5 but I'd rather avoid the gaming-the-systemness of 'Well, it's just a standard attack' and see if it's a primary natural attack or not.

OK, so bucklers can be used when using a two-handed weapon, as long as you don't mind a -1 to hit and losing the shield bonuses. Do enchantments (like, say, Fortification) count as being lost when you're trying to be this cheesy?

On a related note, how free is your hand when using a light shield? I know you can't wield a weapon in that hand ... can you reload one? Hold one without wielding? Hold a rope? And would any of these cost you your shield stuff like above?

OK, question on avoiding the dreaded Attack of Opportunity using Acrobatics. The skill reads: 'You cannot use Acrobatics to move past foes if your speed is reduced due to carrying a medium or heavy load or wearing medium or heavy armor. If an ability allows you to move at full speed under such conditions, you can use Acrobatics to move past foes.' Barbarians have Fast Movement, so does this qualify as such an ability to let me try the check in medium armour, or is it still considered reduced?