Raziel Hethune's page

Hiya folks! I've been working on this project for a while now and the its finally ready for some feedback. It's a hybrid of the Zodiac and Nexus classes that use the Akashic Magic system from Dreamscarred Press.

The class is a summoner type that binds itself to a plane of existence for greater power and the ability to call upon helpful spirits of that plane for aid. Rough name currently is Binder. Here's a link to the googledoc:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YsoNne0xPa50HyreJ_JwJ6ot9lp55u4aGI5CAen K0Y0/edit?usp=sharing

I'm looking for feedback and possibly playtesting if possible so please help!

The Rajah veilweaving/martial discipline class from Dreamscarred Press is a pretty good choice for nobles and rulers. With abilities like Royal Mandate, House of Servants, Heraldry, Regality, and others. It is both martial and taps into the idea of a mystical royalty.

So I know there was a terribly worded and poorly executed template in Magic of Incarnum that could grant monsters soulmelds/shaping capability, did it ever get a fix or get updated in one of Dreamscarred Press's new "veilweaving" books?

What happened to the Chimera Soul Discipline? That was one of the cooler parts of the playtest and fed in perfectly with the moonlight meditant and Varsark.

Look here:

http://www.againsttheshadow.org/index.php?topic=1695.0

Hey, looking for people in and around Orem, Utah to get together and play Pathfinder. I am willing to GM, I have been playing since 2010 and just moved back here. Also wanting to play D&D 3.5, Savage Worlds, BESM, Heroes Unlimited, Exalted, etc. Had experience playing all of them and experience running most of them. Not super interested in playing Society.

To Saethori: I had posted this in both the Advice and Homebrew areas in hope of help and received None.

I actually kept the bonuses as Enhancement bonuses for a reason. The Shifter druid does not benefit from any equipment while shifted (not even Wild armor) and thus using Enhancement is preferred as Inherent and other bonuses can still be applied. I do agree giving the Natural spell feat (which the Shifter could not use) probably a certain number of times per day.

So this is the third time I have posted this and have yet to receive any help.

So I am currently GMing a game where one of my characters is using a shapeshifter druid archetype, and while at the start I was happy because it was her first time playing and I was relieved that she wouldn't have to search in the Bestiary every time she tried to use wild shape, I am now worried that her character just won't quite measure up in a lot of ways compared to the rest of the party and a regular druid in general. To try and help her out I suggested the following changes to try and help her out. Suggestions and criticism please, this is her first time playing Pathfinder and I would prefer she enjoy it!

-Predator Form: This form, such as that of a wolf, panther, or barrucuda, is the first one a shapeshifting druid learns. While in predator form, you gain a primary bite attack that deals 1d6 points of damage. You have the reach of a long creature of your size (5 feet for Small or Medium). You gain a +4 enhancement bonus to Strength, and your natural armor bonus improves by 4. Your base speed becomes 50 feet. Aquatic foms lose the ability to breath air but gain water breathing.
At 4th level, you gain Mobility as a bonus feat whenever you are in predator form (even if you don’t meet the prerequisites) and land forms gain 2 claws dealing 1d4 damage each, aquatic forms gain an appropriate secondary attack. Also at 4th level, whenever you shapeshift into predator form you gain the benefit of two of the following abilities appropriate to your new form until you shapeshift again or return to your natural form: darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, or scent. Everytime you shapeshift into Predator Form you may select different abilities each time. At 6th level you instead gain the benefit of three of the following abilities appropriate to your new form: climb 20 feet, darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, scent, grab, pounce, and trip. And finally at 9th level you gain a +4 enhancement bonus to Dexterity and instead gain the benefit of four of the following abilities appropriate to your new form: burrow 20 feet, climb 20ft, blindsense 30 feet, darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, scent, ferocity, grab, jet, poison, pounce, rake, trample, or trip.

-Aerial Form: At 6th level, you can shapeshift into a flying creature. Traditionally resembling an eagle, vulture, or bat, the aerial form enables fast travel and the ability to soar out of harm’s way. While in aerial form, you gain a primary talon attack that deals 1d6 points of damage. You have the reach of a long creature of your size (5 feet for Small or Medium). You gain a +2 enhancement bonus to Strength and a +2 enhancement bonus on Reflex saves, and your natural armor bonus improves by 2. You gain a fly speed of 40 feet (good maneuverability) and the benefit of two of the following abilities appropriate to your new form until you shapeshift again or return to your natural form: darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, or scent. Everytime you shapeshift into Aerial Form you may select different abilities each time.
At 9th level, you gain Flyby Attack and Hover as bonus feats whenever you are in aerial form and you instead gain the benefit of three of the following abilities appropriate to your new form: darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, scent, grab, and pounce. And finally at 12th level you gain +2 enhancement bonus to Dexterity and instead gain the benefit of four of the following abilities appropriate to your new form: blindsense 30 feet, darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, scent, ferocity, grab, poison, poison, pounce, or rake.

-Ferocious Slayer Form: At 9th level, you can shapeshift into a large and fierce predatory form, such as a tiger, brown bear, dire wolf or shark. Land forms gain a primary bite attack that deals 1d8 points of damage and two secondary claw attacks that each deal 1d6 points of damage. Aquatic forms recieve a bite attack and a tail attack. Your size increases by one category (to a maximum of Colossal), and you have the reach of a long creature of your size (5 feet for Medium or Large). You gain a +8 enhancement bonus to Strength and a +4 enhancement bonus on Fortitude saves, and your natural armor bonus improves by 8. Your base speed changes to 40 feet. Aquatic foms lose the ability to breath air but gain water breathing. You also gain the benefit of two of the following abilities appropriate to your new form until you shapeshift again or return to your natural form: darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, or scent. Everytime you shapeshift into Ferocious Slayer Form you may select different abilities each time.
At 12th level, you gain Improved Critical (bite) and Improved Critical (claw) as bonus feats whenever you are in ferocious slayer form and instead gain the benefit of three of the following abilities appropriate to your new form: climb 20 feet, darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, scent, grab, pounce, and trip. And finally at 15th level you gain +4 enhancement bonus to Constitution and instead gain the benefit of four of the following abilities appropriate to your new form: burrow 20 feet, climb 20ft, blindsense 30 feet, darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, scent, constrict, ferocity, grab, jet, poison, pounce, rake, +5ft reach, trample, or trip.

-Forest Avenger Form: At 12th level, you can take the form of a massive plantlike creature, similar to a shambling mound or a treant. (Druids not native to forest terrains typically rename this form to fit their environment.) While in forest avenger form, you gain a pair of primary slam attacks that deal 1d8 points of damage each. Your size increases by one category (to a maximum of Colossal) and you have the reach of a tall creature of your size (5 feet for Medium, 10 feet for Large). You gain a +12 enhancement bonus to Strength and a +4 enhancement bonus on Fortitude and Will saves, and your natural armor bonus improves by 12. Your base land speed becomes 20 feet. You gain damage reduction 5/slashing while in forest avenger form and you also gain the benefit of three of the following abilities appropriate to your new form until you shapeshift again or return to your natural form: darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, constrict, grab, or poison. Everytime you shapeshift into Forest Avenger Form you may select different abilities each time.
At 14th level, you gain Improved Overrun as a bonus feat while in forest avenger form (even if you don’t meet the normal prerequisites).
And finally at 16th level you gain +6 enhancement bonus to Constitution, your slams now deal 2d6 damage and you instead gain the benefit of four of the following abilities appropriate to your new form: darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, constrict, grab, poison, +5ft reach, regeneration 5, or trample.

-Elemental Fury Form: At 16th level, you can shapeshift into a giant form of air, earth, fire, or water (your choice each time you shapeshift). While in elemental fury form, you gain a pair of primary slam attacks that deal 2d6 points of damage each +1d6 of the associated energy below. Your size increases by two categories (to a maximum of Colossal), and you have the reach of a tall creature of your size (10 feet for Large, 15 feet for Huge). You gain a +16 enhancement bonus to Strength and a +4 enhancement bonus on Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saves, and your natural armor bonus improves by 16. You do not gain any new modes of movement in elemental fury form, nor does your base land speed change. You gain immunity to critical hits and stun while in elemental form. You also gain immunity to an energy type related to the element chosen (air = electricity, earth = acid, fire = fire, water = cold). You don’t need to breathe while in elemental fury form.
Finally at 18th level, you gain Great Cleave as a bonus feat while in elemental fury form (even if you don’t meet the normal prerequisites). You gain a +6 Enhancement bonus to your Wisdom and now use your Wisdom modifier to determine your HP and Fortitude Saves. Your slam attacks now deal +2d6 of their associated energy types and you gain special abilities depending on the element chosen:
Air elemental- You gain fly 60 feet (perfect), darkvision 60 feet, and the ability to create a whirlwind.
Earth elemental- You gain darkvision 60 feet and the ability to earth glide equal to your base landspeed.
Fire elemental- You gain darkvision 60 feet and the burn ability.
Water elemental- You gain swim 60 feet, darkvision 60 feet, the ability to create a vortex, and the ability to breathe water.

My main focus was to give her some Aquatic options for the Predator and Ferocious Slayer forms (the original Shapeshifter alternate feature had no aquatic options period!) and some variance to her forms to add some flavor and keep all of the forms viable. I am also dropping her to 0-6 levels of spells instead of 0-9

I have never seen anywhere that Spell-like and Supernatural abilities aren't allowed during rage, not even in 3.5

And there are plenty of Bloodrager bloodline abilities that are Supernatural and Spell-like (thus would not be affected by their Blood Casting ability) that are ONLY usable during bloodrage. So it would seem that Spell-like and Supernatural abilities are okay for use.

I believe he was basing it on the fact that Sneak Attack requires careful aim and thus it would be some debate in rage. I personally don't see an issue with using gather power during rage. Just because you are furious doesn't mean you can't focus on the most important thing: ruining whatever pissed you off's day. It never seemed to cause Goku a problem :P

I would generally agree, except for the fact there are Blasts that require patience/concentration (Mobile Blast) and ALL of the following Wild Talents do as well:
Aether Puppet, Elemental Grip, Forest Siege, Reverse Shift, Spark of Life, Suffocate, Telekinetic Globe, Water Manipulator, Wind Manipulator

So would I be barred from using these during bloodrage?

So I was making a new character for a campaign I am joining and I have some questions. I was planning on making a multiclass Bloodrager/Kineticist as I think there is a lot of synergy there and it could be fun. What I am confused on is Wild Talents/Blasts and Bloodrage. Now, Bloodrage says the following:

"While bloodraging, a bloodrager cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except Acrobatics, Fly, Intimidate, and Ride) or any ability that requires patience or concentration"

and normally this would keep a Bloodrager from casting its own spells if not for the following class feature:

"Blood Casting (Su): At 4th level, the bloodrager gains the ability to cast spells even while bloodraging. He can also cast these spells defensively and can make concentration checks for these spells while bloodraging. While bloodraging, he can cast and concentrate on only his bloodrager spells (see below); spells from other classes cannot be cast during this state."

This can be very limiting for multiclass casting bloodragers, if not for the following feat:

"Mad Magic (Combat)
Source Advanced Class Origins pg. 27 (Amazon)
Magic is in your blood, allowing you to cast spells no matter how furious you become.
Prerequisites: Bloodrage class feature or perfect clarity rage power.
Benefit: You can cast spells from any class that grants you spells while in a bloodrage, and you keep your rage benefits when using moment of clarity during a rage. If you have the greater bloodrage class feature, you also gain a +1 bonus to the save DCs of spells you cast while in a bloodrage."

and that is fine for casters. But as many people have pointed out in the 12 or so threads on here, Kineticists are NOT casters, have no caster level, and Wild Talents are NOT spells. All of their abilities are Spell-Like or Supernatural. Now normally this would be a "Hooray!" moment, if not for that caveat in Bloodrage about "...or any ability that requires patience or concentration." Most bloodline abilities are spell-like or supernatural and are usable during bloodrage so this would seem to say they could possibly use Wild Talents/Blasts.

So now the questions: would Kineticist Wild Talents/Blasts be usable during bloodrage? If not would the Madness Magic be any use whatsoever?

I would consider GM Fiat that any class that increases a warlock's eldritch blast and invoker level etc. would do the same to the kineticist. It just sucks, as there are a few 3.5 Prestige classes that would be interesting. Particularly Arcane Trickster, Mindbender, Eldritch Disciple/Theurge, Wild Mage, and Blood Magus (Blood Kineticist archetype was MADE for this). It also bothers me about Item Creation feats. Somebody who can manipulate raw elemental forces and matter can't create anything? Bummer. "Oh, I can create earth and metals with this ability, or I can create wood and water with this ability, but nope. Can't do anything with them."

So, I have a question that has been bugging me on and off since Occult Adventures came out. Kineticist is a great class, but can it take prestige classes for casters? It seems very similar to my old favorite the 3.5 Warlock, and in Complete Arcane it gives the following rules for them:
"A warlock cannot qualify for prestige classes with spellcasting level requirements, as he never actually learns to cast spells. However, prestige classes with caster level requirements, such as the acolyte of the skin, are well suited to the warlock. A warlock’s caster level for his invocations fulfills this requirement."

But I have yet to find any such rules for the Kineticist. Do the same rules apply using their Kineticist level as their caster level for their Infusions/Wild Talents?

Thanks, now I just have to figure out a way to use the bow on it without the -3 strength penalty to damage, short of using a belt of strength.

Ah, thanks. Never mind, the info on outsiders was more detailed in Bestiary 1

This is for my Duettist Bard/Skald, so it seemed a really cool idea. Is there a reference anywhere for whether or not the AC value of armor changes for larger/smaller creatures? I'm also not seeing the reference in Bestiary 2 under Outsider that they are proficient with simple and martial weapons.

Was actually thinking of giving it a bow. That would give it the ability to aid me with some of my teamwork feats and not engage in melee combat (because squishy)

So my character has a Lyrakin Familiar via the Improved familiar feat and I was thinking of outfitting it with magic items, and I stumbled upon an interesting question while going over the Animal Archive after reading the following:

"Creature body types marked with an asterisk (*) are able to grasp and carry one object at a time in their paws, claws, or hands, including
weapons, rods, wands, and staves, though they may not be able to use such items effectively (GM’s discretion) and take penalties for
nonproficiency as usual."

My Lyrakin is a Biped (Hands) type and they just said I could give it a weapon/armor! So how in the heck do I go about giving it proficiency in said weapon? Familiars don't get feats like Animal Companions do, and the only way I have found is by forking over 10,000gp for an Opalescent White Pyramid Ion stone and giving that to my familiar, and even then that is only proficiency with a weapon and not the armor. Short of crafting my own item similar to this Ion Stone that grants armor proficiency and paying another 10,000gp, is there any other way?

I was making a Musetouched Aasimar Skald when the question arose, as the Skald has the exact same class features in this instance as the Bard and the idea of the Arcane Healer Bard Archetype appealed to me.

Question about Hybrid classes, can a hybrid class take an archetype that they have all the class abilities required for it? For instance, a Skald is a hybrid of the Barbarian and Bard class, can it take the Arcane Healer Bard Archetype? The archetype replaces the Versatile Performance and Loremaster abilities, both of which a Skald possesses, that are identical to the Bard class abilities.

Hmm, not really what I'm going for. Its for a Bonded Witch/Winter Witch.

So I haven't found the answer to this question in any of the other threads, mostly just a bunch of people asking why something can't be an Arcane Bonded item. My question is as follows: I know of the Amulet of Spell Cunning and the Amulet of Spell Mastery, but is there any other magic item that has extra abilities or effects if used as an Arcane Bond?

By the way, if you are going to stick with weapon-like spells, you might want to look at ones like Moonblade (3.5) Icicle Dagger (PRPG) Prismatic Bow (3.5) Wreath of Blades (PRPG) Cloud of Knives (3.5) Ring of Blades (3.5) Shadow Blade (3.5) and Umbral Touch (3.5)

Moonblade is a particular favorite of mine and Umbral touch is a 3rd level Conjuration that does 1 min/lv, 5d6 per touch and they must fort save or be slowed everytime you hit them.

The classification also has to do with ease of use and how the weight is distributed. Of course there are weird exceptions, there are one handed weapons that Impact can apply to that it really shouldn't. If you can think of a good way to apply the Impact quality to a Rapier without bludgeoning someone to death with the hilt, I'd like to hear it. Oh, and none(?), lightx6, one handed x6.

You wield it as if it was a scimitar, so feats that could apply to a scimitar would apply to Flame Blade. Since the blade is weightless and you can't add Strength to the damage, any feats/traits/items that apply extra fire damage to spells are your friend. Weapon Finesse>Slashing Grace would let you add your Dexterity modifier to the damage. Demonic Smith's Gloves (Inner Sea Combat) and Deliquescent Gloves (Ultimate Equipment)allow you to do an additional 1d6 fire or 1d6 acid on all melee touch attacks and grant unarmed strikes or wielded weapons the flaming or corrosive quality. So those are also a good idea. They are pretty darn cheap too (8,000 gp each)

If you feel that way then go with it. Ultimately the rule above all is "The GM said so."
I always use the Story Trumps Rules dynamic: if it makes the story better and you want to use it, do so.

Classic Horrors Revisited, Derro:

Crystal Chakram: Shaped and carved from quartz or stranger subterranean crystals, these circular throwing discs have
jagged razor-sharp edges. When a crystal chakram strikes a foe, the weapon shatters into tiny sharp fragments; if it misses,
there is a 50% chance the chakram shatters when it hits the ground or another solid object; otherwise it can be retrieved and
used again. A crystal chakram is treated as ammunition for the purpose of creating magic weapons.

Crystal Chakram 20 gp 1d4 1d6 18–20/×2 — 2 lbs. S

There you go. Same basic thing, is an exotic ranged weapon. Might be fun to use with Ki Charge ninja trick or the wounding enchantment if they are going to be exploding into shards of pain in their face anyway.

I would assume you could move, but no further than the range limit of the spell. The hair grapples them in place and can't reposition the enemy (its given a CMB and CMD but not a strength score, so it can't move people) since its a spell, it would overcome DR/Magic but nothing else unless your unarmed strike damage has the capacity to overcome other DR (monk is a good example) since it states "1d6 points of damage or your unarmed strike damage, whichever is greater." Honestly, I would just treat it as a Constrict natural attack and have it do bludgeoning damage since you have to maintain the grapple to deal damage. Since it acts independently, yes they would get their actions. Though the spell make its grapple checks on their turn and would fail if they left its range.

The enhancement bonus on magical armor and weapons is the +1, it does not include the price for the bonus used for the ghost touch property or the armor bonus. So this means the ghost would only get the +1 to AC. Unless you are like myself and Scythia and homerule that you don't require at least a +1 bonus before you enchant, in which case you count the ghost touch property (+3 cost) then the ghost would get +4. The Ghost Touch armor property was not made to make ghosts tougher, it was designed to make it easier for players to fight them. In the case of an incorporeal creature it is usually easier just to use Mage Armor (armor bonus, wouldn't stack with the chain shirt anyway) or a ring of protection (deflection bonus to AC). Though if I remember correctly, incorporeal creatures get a Deflection Bonus to AC from their Charisma modifier, so Ring of Prot. might not work either.

In theory, doesn't mean you don't have weak magey wrists incapable of lifting said ghost touch weapons.

Actually, given that last part I'm a little surprised they don't cost more as thematically, I wouldn't want to sell you ghost touch items, have you get killed, then have an angry ghost running around wearing my ghost touch items chasing me or other people....

I agree that the wording is ambiguous, but let me try one more time.
A Ghost Touch weapon basically becomes "solid" to what ever it hits. Thus a human can hit a ghost, and a ghost can pass through a wall and stab a human. Ghost Touch armor/shields are less useful. They are "solid" to incorporeal creatures when corporeal creatures wear them because that is the point of their magic, however when ghosts use that magic to transform the physical armor itself incorporeal, the armor can't be solid and have a ghost wear it and all you get is the enhancement bonus. An armor bonus is the armors physical capacity to turn aside or blunt blows, if the armor counted as solid against corporeal foes then that means the ghost wearing it couldn't go through walls and it would be able to be hit/have its armor broken, and that would make it completely detrimental for them to wear it. Its the same reason why incorporeal creatures can't have NAT AC, they have little to no physical presence by their very nature. I would rule that a Ghost Touch armors' armor bonus applies against ghost touch weapons for incorporeal creatures though, so there is still a reason for them to wear it. And you are right, Ghost touch armor was not designed for ghosts, it was designed to fight them. I would tend to think of their properties when wielded by ghosts as accidental and that most magic arms/armor creators would look at them as being unavoidable side affects considering they just weaponized a vengeful ghost if the person buying the ghost touch items gets killed.

Ah, sorry about that, I meant the 50% damage reduction don't know why I typed miss chance. Anyway, it states that it acts as both corporeal and incorporeal, but by your reasoning wouldn't a corporeal creature using it on another corporeal creature use it as a touch attack? No. It treats incorporeal creatures as corporeal for attacks and allows incorporeal creatures to wield/wear corporeal objects (which normally they can't affect at all, their touch attacks aren't physically affecting corporeal bodies, its a negative energy effect) That is what it meant when they stated it is both incorporeal and corporeal.

It probably shouldn't be. You apply centrifugal force to a sling to launch the stone, you aren't actually throwing it. Same with the sling staff and... blowgun? Really?

"Both its enhancement bonus and its armor bonus count against the attacks of corporeal and incorporeal creatures." Seems to count only when a corporeal creature wears it, so your ghost would only get the enhancement bonus to AC. As for the Ghost Touch weapon property, it simply negates the incorporeal 50% miss chance. In a ghost's hands it would deal regular weapon attacks against corporeal foes, and against other ghosts would ignore the 50% miss chance. The weapon affects incorporeal foes as if they were corporeal, and allows incorporeal creatures to hit corporeally while still being able to pass through objects.

Also: In complete agreement that the rule that you need at least a +1 before enchanting with properties sucks balls. I usually ignore it as a rule and use the total enhancement bonus for determinations.

Actually, Impact wouldn't work on a Dagger to begin with. A dagger is a light weapon and Impact can't be applied to light weapons :)
And that actually makes sense as a light weapons weigh very little. Is kinda sad that few Weapon Finesse capable weapons will be able to take advantage of it. On another note: Impact weapon + Effortless Lace= weapon finesse + impact?

To answer the questions posed here:

1: No you do not need Improved Familiar to take this familiar, it is a construct that is created using the following:
IOUN WYRD
CL 5th; Price 1,500 gp plus ioun stone
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Construct, animate object, lesser geas;
Skill Knowledge (arcana) DC 15; Cost 1,000 gp plus ioun stone

So unless you have the required materials and Craft Construct you can't take this familiar without paying someone for it.

2. This familiar could actually be relatively useful. It gains all the benefits you would normally grant a familiar and it can absorb a number of additional Ion Stones equal to 1/2 its HD. It also grants all the benefits of every Ion Stone it contains to its master as long as it is within 30ft. That could be useful if you want to use Ion Stones but don't fell like playing nanny to your own personal solar system.

In the game with our Titan Mauler I just homeruled that once Massive Weapons reduced the penalty to -0 it was usable as an appropriately sized weapon for her. So she was able to use Large weapons at 6th and huge at 12th. It made for a pretty fun game and it felt like that was where the Archetype was originally going, otherwise why would they bother making Massive Weapons scale to a total reduction of -6 to 0? Just seemed the right call instead of letting a character have a class ability that scaled uselessly.

A feat that does the opposite of the Reach Spell metamagic feat would be pretty nice in that regard, even with the spell level bump. Thanks for the help.

They probably should have done with the Winter Witch archetype what they did with the Magus Spellstrike and specified "Spells with a range of Touch" as opposed to "Touch Spells"

The Close Range Magus Arcana doesn't either, though it only applies to rays
Close Range (Ex): The magus can deliver ray spells that
feature a ranged touch attack as melee touch spells. He
can use a ranged touch attack spell that targets more than
one creature (such as scorching ray), but he makes only one
melee touch attack to deliver one of these ranged touch
effects; additional ranged touch attacks
from that spell are wasted and have no
effect. These spells can be used with
the spellstrike class feature.

Weird.

The Ranged Spellstrike for the Myrmidarch doesn't refer to them as Ranged Touch Spells either looking at it now. It calls them a "single-target touch attack ranged spell"

Then why are Ranged Touch spells listed under Touch Spells in Combat in the Core Rulebook?

I was looking through the Combat section of the Core Rulebook and I'm curious about something. I understand how spells with a range of "Touch" are usable with Spellstrike as it specifies those are the only ones usable, but the Winter Witch archetype from Inner Sea Magic uses a more ambiguous wording for its Frozen Caress Hex:

Frozen Caress (Su): Whenever the winter witch casts a
touch spell, she can infuse the magic with cold as a swift
action. This grants the spell the cold descriptor, and adds
1d4 points of cold damage to the spell’s effect. If the touch
spell allows a saving throw, a successful save negates this
additional cold damage.

Looking in the Core Rule Book, Touch Spells are spells with a range of Touch that use Touch Attacks and can hold charge, but then it states this:

Ranged Touch Spells in Combat: Some spells allow
you to make a ranged touch attack as part of the casting
of the spell. These attacks are made as part of the spell
and do not require a separate action. Ranged touch
attacks provoke an attack of opportunity, even if the
spell that causes the attacks was cast defensively. Unless
otherwise noted, ranged touch attacks cannot be held
until a later turn.

It refers to them as Ranged Touch Spells? So my question is thus: while its obvious a magus would be unable to use a ranged touch spell for Spellstrike as it specifies spells with a range of Touch as opposed to Touch Spells, would a Witch with the Winter Witch archetype be able to use Frozen Caress on spells like Snowball, which require Ranged Touch Attacks as they are Ranged Touch Spells which are apparently still Touch Spells?

I actually have a question regarding that. The weapons like Rope Gauntlets and Cestus state they allow you to deal different damage with the unarmed strikes, but the Emei Piercer and Dan Bong state they "Enhance" and "Augment" unarmed strikes.

Emei Piercer
This weapon is used to augment unarmed martial techniques.
It consists of an 8- to 10-inch-long, dual-pointed steel spike
set on swivels and mounted on a ring, so that it can be spun
around at high speeds when slipped over the wielder’s ring
finger. The ring prevents the wielder from being disarmed and
turns unarmed strikes into piercing attacks.

Dan Bong
These short, blunt sticks are held in
the hands to enhance unarmed martial
techniques and secured by a cord
looped over the thumb. They provide
the wielder with the ability to lock an
opponent and target pressure points,
granting you a +2 bonus on combat
maneuver checks to grapple.

If they are enhancing or augmenting unarmed strikes instead of replacing them, wouldn't they use the unarmed strike damage?

That's what I thought. Seems kinda redundant if so. To bad. Thanks.

Actually, its a Kata Master/Kensai. Thought it might be fun to make a Sword Saint. Thus, Flurry of Blows and Spellstrike/Spell Combat are available to this character. Flurry of Blows allows the monk to make extra attacks as if he had Two Weapon Fighting with any combination of Unarmed Strikes or monk weapons. Since an unarmed monk has a hand free to cast a spell, an unarmed strike counts as a light weapon, a touch attack can be delivered by unarmed strike, and Spell combat is two weapon fighting with the spell being the off hand weapon (even though a monk has no unarmed offhand) there is no conflict when using Spell Combat as an offhand attack during flurry of blows, as it is essentially an offhand unarmed strike.

If the character already posses the two deeds from another class (such as Swashbuckler or Kata Master) would it really be necessary to take Flamboyant Arcana to take the Arcane Deed Arcana and gain other Swashbuckler Deeds?

Downside to that is you just used a heck of a lot more spell slots than I did. Also Core Rule Book:
"If the attack hits, you deal normal damage for your unarmed attack or natural weapon and the spell discharges. If the attack misses, you are still holding the charge."

The monk that I built to do this is a Kasatha with Pummeling Style. Usually anything I hit with this is either suffering from massive damage, dead, or doesn't have enough strength left to do much (or even move) by the end of 2 rounds.